to capital punishment.  The ominous name of this third story was “Mount Rascal,” intended, no doubt, as significant of the class of prisoners it contained.  It is said that genius is never idle:  the floor of these cells bore some evidence of the fact in a variety of very fine specimens of carving and flourish work, done with a knife.  Among them was a well-executed crucifix; with the Redeemer, on Calvary-an emblem of hope, showing how the man marked the weary moments of his durance.  We spoke with many of the prisoners, and heard their different stories, some of which were really painful.  Their crimes were variously stated, from that of murder, arson, and picking pockets, down to the felon who had stolen a pair of shoes to cover his feet; one had stolen a pair of pantaloons, and a little boy had stolen a few door-keys.  Three boys were undergoing their sentence for murder.  A man of genteel appearance, who had been sentenced to three years imprisonment, and to receive two hundred and twenty lashes in the market, at different periods, complained bitterly of the injustice of his case.  Some had been flogged in the market, and were awaiting their time to be flogged again and discharged; and others were confined on suspicion, and had been kept in this close durance for more than six months, awaiting trial.  We noticed that this worst of injustice, “the law’s delay,” was felt worse by those confined on the suspicion of some paltry theft, who, even were they found guilty by a jury, would not have been subjected to more than one week imprisonment.  Yet such was the adherence to that ancient system of English criminal jurisprudence, that it was almost impossible for the most innocent person to get a hearing, except at the regular sessions, “which sit seldom, and with large intervals between.”  There is indeed a city court in Charleston, somewhat more modern in its jurisprudence than the sessions.  It has its city sheriff, and its city officers, and holds its terms more frequently.  Thus is Charleston doubly provided with sheriffs and officials.  Both aspire to a distinct jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases.  Prisoners seem mere shuttlecocks between the sheriffs, with a decided advantage in favor of the county sheriff, who is autocrat in rei over the jail; and any criminal who has the good fortune to get a hearing before the city judge, may consider himself under special obligation to the county sheriff for the favor.

We noticed these cells were much cleaner than those below, yet there was a fetid smell escaping from them.  This we found arose from the tubs being allowed to stand in the rooms, where the criminals were closely confined, for twenty-four hours, which, with the action of the damp, heated atmosphere of that climate, was of itself enough to breed contagion.  We spoke of the want of ventilation and the noxious fumes that seemed almost pestilential, but they seemed to have become habituated to it, and told us that the rooms on the south side were lighter and more comfortable.  Many of them spoke cheerfully, and endeavored to restrain their feelings, but the furrows upon their haggard countenances needed no tongue to utter its tale.