In the reign of Queen Anne, Matthew Prior was in confinement on a vamped-up charge of treason for two years, during which he wrote his 'Alma, or Progress of the Soul.' Since then, political prisoners of eminence in England have been comparatively few in number.

Among the most illustrious were De Foe, who, besides standing three times in the pillory, spent much of his time in prison, writing 'Robinson Crusoe' there, and many of his best political pamphlets.

There also he wrote his 'Hymn to the Pillory,' and corrected for the press a collection of his voluminous writings.

[219] Smollett wrote his 'Sir Lancelot Greaves' in prison, while undergoing confinement for libel.

Of recent prison-writers in England, the best known are James Montgomery, who wrote his first volume of poems while a prisoner in York Castle; and Thomas Cooper, the Chartist, who wrote his 'Purgatory of Suicide' in Stafford Gaol.
Silvio Pellico was one of the latest and most illustrious of the prison writers of Italy.