2jf> MINUTES QV EVTDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE Mr- Second size - l Isaac Stewart. Third, ditto - - - 2 —/ Kish of apples ------ 2 ( 30 May.) Car load of ditto 6 Small basket of nuts Clive of ditto -.- 3 Ditto of wall- fruit or hothouse fruit ----- 2 For every article not herein enumerated - - . - - 3 It was formerly sold at coal- quay in the open street, free of any charge. The Lord Mayor removed the people from this place by force. There is a printed board put up in the market with those fees marked on it, and said to be by 47 Geo. 3d, but I cannot find in the statutes any such Act." You stated that fruit was formerly sold in the open street, and the sellers were removed from thence by the Lord Mayor?— They were; I recollect their being removed. Are you aware that the people selling fruit on the quay was any annoyance to the citizens of Dublin?— lam not aware of that; but they obstructed the passage at certain times of the year. When there were crowded large markets, they obstructed the passage in some degree; but for my own part I never considered it any incon- venience. Are you aware that the Lord Mayor removed them at the special application of the benchers of the Society of King's Inn, who were obstructed in going into Court? — I am not. Are you aware that frequent complaints used to" be made, both by the military guard and the benchers of King's Inn, of the nuisance of exposing this quantity of fruit for sale in the open streets ?— No. I beg to correct a mistake in a statement which I made in a former part of my evidence, into which I was led by the writer of a letter which I hold in my hand. He now writes to me, in order to correct his previous information. I mentioned that Mr. Oulton received fees from the measuring of coals, and I find in that respect I was not quite correct: he receives fees, but not as a measurer. Sabbati, 31° die Mail, 1823. THOMAS SPRING RICE, ESQUIRE, IN THE CHAIR. Thomas Spring Rice, Esq. the Chairman of the Committee, Examined. T. S. Rice HAVE you taken any pains to inform yourself of the state of the different Gaols Esq. ' in Ireland ?— I have taken pains to investigate the present state of the gaols in the a Member. province of Munster, and have been for many years concerned in the management ^ 1 and the internal arrangements of the prison of the county of Limerick. ( 31 May.) Has there been a new gaol lately erected in the county of Limerick?— There has. Have you been much concerned in the arrangements for that building, and the consequent arrangement of prisoners and classification of prisoners in it?— I was one of those who originally introduced the subject to the notice of the grand jury ; and after an inquiry of above a year, and communication with all the best authorities*, both professional and of other descriptions, in this part of the united kingdom, we adopted a plan, economical in its execution, and perfectly calculated to carry all the present provisions of the law into full effect; that has been built, and has beer* occupied, between two and three years; and the result has been satisfactory to those concerned in the management of the prison, and as we hope highly conducive to the public interest. You had an opportunity of investigating the evils which existed under the old system?— We had.. Can you shortly state the most prominent of them ?— In the former prison of the county of Limerick, which had been built within a few years, but which had been built in utter defiance of all the regulations of law, there was an entire absence of classification; the accommodation for prisoners was infinitely less than the necessity of