(Copy) A N o 2 M r Long to M r Bentham. —

Treasury Chambers 24 th March 1801

Sir Having laid before the Lords Commissioners of His Majestys Treasury a Letter from the Duke of Portland, together with sundry other Papers respecting the Contract for erecting a Penitentiary House and maintaining the Convicts, I am commanded by their Lordships to desire you will state, under what terms you are willing to Contract for building a Penitentiary House for 500 Persons, + and for maintaining the Convicts, if the measure should be resolved upon: and if, upon consideration of that proposal the plan should be relinquished altogether, my Lords desire you will inform them || what compensation you conceive yourself entitled to for your expenses and Loss of Time in preparing for the Undertaking. I am Ac—

+ See Note to B below: N o 3 — Mr. Bentham's Note in the letter written 28 Mar 1801

|| Their Lordships will have no such trouble. — They have no powers for any such thing: — nor could have, without a petition from me to Parliament. — When I petition, it will be for an Address for the execution of the Law, not for compensation for the breach of it. —

B. (Copy) N o 4 M r Long to M r Bentham —

Treasury Chambers 25 th March 1800.

Sir. Having laid before the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury a Letter from the Duke of Portland relative to the number of Convicts which the Panoptican, proposed to be erected by you is intended to accommodate, I have received their Lordships commands to acquaint you that the proposed building of a Panoptican is to be calculated to accommodate Two Thousand Persons. I am Ac.

N o 5 M r Benthams 2 d Note in the above Letter, written the 28 March 1801

Three years ago the Committee of Finance assumed compensation, besides 1000 Prisoners: now, the idea is — to give 500 without compensation, or compensation for the 500. But compensation is impossible. See my Evidence. — [as presented in the 28 th Report of the Committee of Finance A u 1748.

N o 6 M r Bentham's Note on N o 4. written 27 Aug. 1802.

This was in answer to a letter of mine written more than seven months before: viz: on the 17 th of August 1799: asking of M r Long the number of Prisoners I was to build for, that I might make preparations accordingly. This letter is the 7 th in the list of the documents, the publication of which is applied for by N o 10 infra.