JNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO 
 
 3 182201961 1672
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UMTVWMffV Of 
 SAN DIEGO
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AN DIEGO 
 
 3 182201961 1672
 
 NINE YEARS 
 
 * 
 
 AMONG THE CONVICTS: 
 
 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 BY ELEAZER SMITH, 
 
 LATE CHAPLAIN OF THE HEW HAMPSHIRE STATE PRISON. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 FOR SALE BY J. P. MAGEE, 5 CORNHILL. 
 
 CONCORD, N. H. : MERRILL & MERRIAM. 
 
 AND BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 1856.
 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, 
 
 BY ELEAZER SMITH, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 CEO. C. IlASl) & AVKKY, I'ltlXTEKS, 3 CuKMIILL, UOSTOK
 

 
 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Chapter I. Prison History, . 9 
 
 n. State Prison Statistics, 19 
 
 HI. Candidates for the Penitentiary, 33 
 
 IV. Picture of Prison Life, 48 
 
 V. Catholic Convicts, 68 
 
 VI. State Prison Eeligion, ... ... 72 
 
 VH. Sketch of Thomas Carr, 86 
 
 VTO. Hicks, the Burglar, 92 
 
 IX. The Gipsey Family, 106 
 
 X. The Railroad Robber, 116 
 
 XI. The Penitent Murderer, 128 
 
 XH. Martin Schlegel, 150 
 
 XIH. Parker Paul, 175 
 
 XIV. The Roman, 191 
 
 XV. Maitland, 195 
 
 XVI. Bible Influence, 199 
 
 XVII. Anecdotes, 205 
 
 XVIII. Executive Pardons, 213 
 
 XIX. Discharged Convicts, 220 
 
 XX. The Convict's Funeral, 228 
 
 XXI. The Convicts' Burial Ground, 234 
 
 XXH. Prison Discipline 244 
 
 XXIII. Farewell Sermon, 263
 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 DURING my Chaplaincy I endeavored to acquaint myself 
 with the history of each individual under my charge, and 
 to mark the various incidents that might be supposed to have 
 aided in the formation of his character. And this I found it 
 easy to do, as the convicts -were not allowed to converse with 
 any other person, except in the few words necessary to carry 
 on their work, or an occasional conversation with the Warden 
 or Deputy. 
 
 There are few persons in whom " secretiveness" is so largely 
 developed as not to wish to divulge to some one. Shut up 
 alone in silence, pondering over their life hour after hour, they 
 long to speak ; their secrets become painful and hard to keep, 
 and the pleasant countenance and kind manners of a Chaplain 
 will call them out. Of hundreds I have associated with as 
 pastor, few, very few, seemed to hesitate to speak freely of 
 their past history, and I think most of them truthfully. 
 
 Of course I shall not betray the confidence thus reposed in 
 me, by spreading upon the pages of this book the history of 
 these men, to their injury, or to the shame or grief of their 
 relatives. It has been my object in writing these pages, 
 
 1st. To write only what I believe true. I could have intro- 
 duced hundreds of pages of a most marvellous character, 
 strange events, " moving accidents by field or flood," and ac- 
 counts of things most wonderful, and these possibly, and 
 1*
 
 VI PEEFACE. 
 
 perhaps probably true. But I choose to note only such as in 
 my judgment are sustained by sufficient evidence. 
 
 2d. I have written nothing that I think -will afflict the living, 
 either " in body, mind, or estate." To have done this (though 
 it might give much interest to the book.,) would have been an 
 unpardonable breach of confidence, and I should deserve the 
 reproach of all good men. And to say nothing of other con- 
 siderations, the love I bear my quondam parishioners would be 
 sufficient to restrain me. 
 
 3d. I have spoken sparingly of revolting crimes. Let no 
 one on taking up this book expect to find " The Thieves' Direc- 
 tory," or " The Best Methods of Committing Burglary," or 
 the " Robber's Own Book." I could, no doubt, write a large 
 volume that would " sell well" and be read by multitudes with 
 avidity. From the history of so many hundreds I could furnish 
 most thrilling accounts of thefts, robberies, and all the terrible 
 catalogue of crime, creating a wild excitement in the young 
 mind and gratifying curiosity to the utmost. 
 
 But I know that such a book, while it would bring cash to 
 the author, would bring mischief to the reader. Such records 
 of guilt must not be made. The reader might perhaps at first 
 be shocked and in his heart detest crime, but a familiarity, as 
 all will allow, soon injures the moral sense : 
 
 " For seen too oft familiar with its face, 
 We first endure then pity then embrace." 
 
 " Will you be so kind as to get me the Pirates' Book ? " said 
 a very wicked young man, who had just been committed. " I 
 love to read it." And he thought it strange when I informed 
 him that I could not allow such a book in the library, or in the 
 hand of a prisoner. " Please get me a book about murders 
 and highway robbers," has been the request of many of our
 
 P E E F A C E . Vll 
 
 young men, evincing a passionate desire for such books ; and 
 these requests came from those who, though young in years, 
 were old in crime. 
 
 And did book-makers and book-venders but realize the de- 
 moralizing influence of such works, they would, as friends of 
 virtue, throw no more of them out into community to corrupt 
 the hearts and morals of the young. 
 
 4th. I have sought to publish only that which shall subserve 
 the cause of sound morals and true religion. I have endeavored 
 to make every page illustrate the great Scripture doctrine that 
 " Wisdom's ways are pleasantness, and all her paths are peace ;" 
 that " the way of the transgressor is hard," and that though 
 justice may not soon overtake or speedily punish, yet that 
 habits are forming by the lawless which will be ruinous, unfit- 
 ing the soul trained to wickedness for its high destination to 
 " glorify God and enjoy him forever." 
 
 I indulge the hope that the suggestions respecting the 
 proper treatment of the guilty, whether under arrest, on 
 trial, as inmates of the penitentiary, or discharged and at 
 liberty, may be of use ; and that a spirit of vigilant kindness 
 may be promoted in our communities, which the poor despond- 
 ing sinner 
 
 " Seeing, may take heart again." 
 
 Much has been said, and something has been done to im- 
 prove prison discipline ; and though there is much of ignorance 
 yet pervading the public mind on this subject, and though the 
 happy medium between the opposite extremes of remissness 
 and severity is not yet clearly understood, yet we have reason 
 to rejoice in the great advancement already made. 
 
 And if this unpretending volume should in any case promote 
 a love for the spiritual welfare of the convicts if it should
 
 viii p E E P A c E . 
 
 direct attention and enkindle prayer for our fellow sinners, and 
 in any degree enlist the aid of religious people in the salvation 
 of these outcasts, then will I be thankful. I shall have done 
 something to promote a work that shall remain when " the 
 earth and all the works therein shall be burned up." 
 
 " The sun is but a spark of fire, 
 A transient meteor in the sky ; 
 The soul, immortal as its sire, 
 Shall never die."
 
 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PRISON HISTORY. 
 
 THE New Hampshire State Prison was first 
 opened for the reception of convicts, in 1812. Its 
 first occupant was one Drew, who, for several 
 months, was the sole tenant of that large but 
 gloomy hall. The first man. But what a sad 
 train have followed, and will follow. 
 
 The Institution has, in its general management, 
 been perhaps as successful as any one of the class in 
 our country. Cases of mismanagement have, no 
 doubt, occurred; but, on the whole, the State has 
 been fortunate in the selection of its chief officer 
 the Warden. This has been the case, without ex- 
 ception, for the last twelve years ; beyond which time 
 I have no sufficient grounds for forming an enlight* 
 ened judgment.* This success has not, however, 
 resulted from the natural working of the New 
 Hampshire method of doing the thing. It is sur-
 
 10 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 prising that the people of this State, famed for 
 intelligence and shrewdness and especially in 
 that which lies so near their hearts as money do 
 not disconnect their prison management from polit- 
 ical partizanship. There is an annual election of 
 "Warden, and, consequently, of all the officers con- 
 nected with the prison. The Warden may have 
 been an officer of great merit, with the experience 
 of years. The affairs of the prison may have been 
 managed with the most entire success. But that 
 success will make capital for his party. There 
 is an incentive to originate and circulate scandalous 
 reports, for political effect. Disappointed or aspir- 
 ing men, or political enemies, are interested in 
 this ; and besides other and greater evils, commit- 
 tees are sometimes needlessly appointed, and the 
 time of the Legislature needlessly taken up, in ex- 
 amining into alleged abuses, and all to no profit, 
 but at great expense. 
 
 On the other hand, is the management bad, the 
 party by whom the appointment was made have 
 great inducement to conceal it. It will injure any 
 party if known. He is our man, and must be sus- 
 tained, though possessed of not a single qualifica- 
 tion requisite for the office. Why do not the men 
 of our State who hire laborers, select only those of 
 their own political faith. A Whig employer should
 
 PRISON HISTORY. 11 
 
 hire a Whig employee ; a Democratic employer a 
 Democrat, and a Free Soiler look well to it that 
 the man who cultivates his potatoes, is sound on 
 the Nebraska question. 
 
 And though the men thus engaged are both idle 
 and vicious, it is enough that he is of our party, 
 and must be kept in office, in preference to an hon- 
 est and industrious servant of another political 
 faith. In such a case, a man would speedily earn 
 the reputation of a fool ; I speak as to wise men, 
 charging no party, exonerating no party, nor hav- 
 ing allusion so much to what has happened, as to 
 what may, and will be likely to, from the legiti- 
 mate operation of our present system. There is 
 considerable human natur, as the renowned Sam 
 Slick would phrase it, in all parties ; and its devel- 
 opments are marvellously alike in Democrat, Whig, 
 Free Soil, and all other parties. 
 
 Could an individual of very humble attainments 
 and pretensions advise the " wisdom of the Gen- 
 eral Court convened," he would say, Find that 
 rare man who possesses the ability to balance and 
 adjust all the separate and conflicting interests con- 
 nected with the prison who with a vigilant eye 
 and an impartial hand, will manage well for the 
 State, the contractor, and the prisoner the man 
 of gentlemanly deportment and condescending man-
 
 12 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 ners, combining the qualities of firmness and 
 kindness, and cooperating in all the suitable efforts 
 to reform and instruct the convicts. Let such an 
 one be found, elected and sustained. Let him 
 know that he is under no obligation to any party, 
 that his success depends on a faithful attention to 
 his business, and not on the amount of service ren- 
 dered his political friends ; and all improper influ- 
 ences will be removed, leaving the office free from 
 all other influence or inducement than such as 
 should actuate an honest, pure-minded public ser- 
 vant. Let this be done, and the prosperity of the 
 prison will be made sure. 
 
 My connection with the prison commenced during 
 the administration of Samuel G. Berry, Esq., and 
 continued through that of James Moore, Rufus 
 Dow, and Gideon Webster, Esqs. It would be 
 highly improper for me to go into a detailed state- 
 ment of the affairs of the prison during their 
 several administrations ; but it gives me pleasure 
 to express my opinion, that all of them were faith- 
 ful public servants ; and taking into account busi- 
 ness embarrassments of some portions of the time, 
 all succeeded well. A desire to benefit the con- 
 vict, manifested itself in a cooperation with the 
 Chaplain in his efforts ; and the discharged convict, 
 to this day finds the friendship and aid of these
 
 PRISON HISTORY. 13 
 
 men worth seeking. My personal acquaintance 
 with these officers was of a pleasant character, and 
 is often a source of pleasure in the retrospect. 
 
 Of the efforts to improve the intellectual and 
 moral condition of the convicts up to 1830, I can 
 give but little information. The labors bestowed 
 were probably of small amount, and entirely gra- 
 tuitous. In 1830, Rev. Samuel Kelly was stationed 
 by the Methodist Conference, in Concord, and en- 
 gaged to devote a part of each Sabbath to preach- 
 ing and instructing the convicts. This he contin- 
 ued to do with great faithfulness and ability for 
 two years. The preacher at the Methodist Chapel 
 for the time being, officiated in like manner, and 
 very acceptably, up to 1840, when Rev. Edmund 
 Worth, an able and pious minister of the Baptist 
 denomination, was appointed Chaplain, and con- 
 tinued till 1843, when Rev. John Atwood, of the 
 same denomination, succeeded. He was also State 
 Treasurer ; and for three years, with -honesty and 
 fidelity kept and disbursed the public treasure, and 
 gave to the poor prisoner "his portion of meat in 
 due season." The writer was appointecj to suc- 
 ceed him in part, that is to say, the ministerial 
 part. The other part he knew he could not get, 
 and therefore was most wonderfully content with 
 a single office. To that he was re-appointed annu- 
 2
 
 14 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 ally for eight additional years, by Governors Wil- 
 liams, Densmore, Martin, and Baker. 
 
 The salary for the first year was one hundred 
 and fifty dollars ; after that, two hundred dollars 
 up to 1855, when it was raised to three hundred. 
 How it came to pass that two hundred dollars was 
 fixed on as his salary, is not known to the writer ; 
 but it is fair to presume that our executive officers 
 were conversant with the old British Poets, and 
 there ascertained that the reverend " pastor of the 
 church and congregation " of " Auburn, loveliest 
 village of the plain," was " passing rich, with forty 
 pounds a year ; " and, further, that his salary ena- 
 bled him to abound in charity, so that " his house 
 was known to all the vagrant train," and the 
 " broken soldier, and the ruined spendthrift, now 
 no longer proud," were welcomed and relieved. 
 
 Hence they very considerately fixed on that sum, 
 or as nearly so as could well be expressed in 
 American currency. Of this the Chaplain was not 
 disposed to complain, as but a small part of the 
 week except the Sabbath could well be devoted to 
 the improvement of the convicts. 
 
 During the first two years, two religious services 
 were held on each Sabbath ; and as the citizens, 
 male and female, were allowed to attend, the 
 chapel was well filled. In 1 848, a Sabbath School
 
 PRISON HISTORY. 15 
 
 was organized, and held in place of one of the 
 religious services, and the attendance of the citi- 
 zens prohibited, unless as invited friends of some 
 officer of the prison. The attendance of the con- 
 victs on the Sabbath School, unlike that of the reg- 
 ular religious service, is voluntary. About two- 
 thirds of the whole number have generally chosen 
 to attend. Besides some seven or eight classes 
 engaged in the ordinary studies of the Sabbath 
 School, there is the " infant class," composed of men 
 from fifteen to fifty years of age, learning to read 
 and spell. 
 
 These classes are all instructed by the students 
 in the Methodist Biblical Institute, in this city. 
 These excellent young men, actuated by the noblest 
 motives, have rendered great service to the cause 
 of humanity and religion, by their self-denying, 
 faithful, and long-continued labors, and richly de- 
 serve, at least, a Legislative acknowledgment. 
 Very considerable improvement has been made in 
 religious knowledge by most of our convicts ; and 
 the accurate and critical knowledge of the Bible 
 attained to by many of them, would shame the 
 ignorance of many a whiskered dandy or conceited 
 collegian. On establishing a Sabbath School, I 
 thought it necessary to give the convicts some 
 knowledge of Sacred Geography, in order to a bet-
 
 16 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 ter understanding of their lessons. I therefore 
 provided myself with a set of maps executed by 
 my daughter, and assembling the men, hung them 
 up. Stick in hand, a la lecturer, I commenced my 
 very interesting labor. An oppressive conscious- 
 ness of my want of the requisite natural qualities, 
 and entire lack of experience, made me very mod- 
 est. I had, however, somewhere read of a lecturer 
 who, provided with " superb representations," once 
 lectured oh Sacred History. The subject intro- 
 duced was, " Daniel in the Den of Lions." This 
 our lecturer announced in the most interesting 
 manner, and then, in proceeding, said : " You will 
 find no difficulty in determining which is Daniel, 
 only recollect that is him with the blue cotton um- 
 brella under his arm. All the rest are lions." 
 How much I profited by this example, I ought not 
 to judge. 
 
 In order to impress the minds of my audience 
 with the general form of Palestine, and the com- 
 parative localities of its most prominent places, I 
 compared Palestine with New Hampshire. I said, 
 in substance, there is a remarkable similarity in 
 the size and form. There is Nazareth, the scene 
 of our Lord's early life, occupying about that place 
 on the map of Palestine that Sandwich does on that 
 of New Hampshire. Jerusalem, in Palestine, an-
 
 PRISON HISTORY. 17 
 
 swers to Concord, and Hebron to Nashua. And 
 here, I added, is Gaza, answering to our Keene. 
 Now when you read of Sampson's visit to that 
 place, you will locate it on that part of Palestine 
 answering to Keene. Sampson, you know, once 
 thought of putting up there over night ; but some 
 of the Gaza boys made a demonstration that con- 
 vinced him he had better leave, which he did dur- 
 ing the darkness, taking with him the gate of the 
 city. Whether he ever returned it, I do not know. 
 Here many questions were asked. One inquiring 
 how large the gate probably was ; another, whether 
 I supposed it as large as the great gate leading out 
 of the prison yard ; another, rather drily inquiring 
 if I supposed any man now living could carry off 
 that, intimating that " the thanks of the meeting " 
 would be due to one who would accomplish the 
 feat. Upon the whole, I had, as we sometimes say, 
 " a good time," but I soon found that I had sig- 
 nally failed to make myself understood, in at least 
 two cases, as I will now proceed to confess. 
 
 The next day after, one of the convicts, who 
 was known among us by the nickname of " Spright- 
 ly," (so named because of his possessing largely 
 the opposite qualities,) came to the Deputy, and 
 inquired, " Do you know that ere feller what the 
 Chaplain told on yesterday." What fellow, 
 2*
 
 18 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 pray ? " " Why he said as how a man, I b'lieve a 
 Methodist preacher over here to Keene, got up in 
 the night, and stole a gate, and carried it off in 
 the night ; and when he heard from him last, he 
 had not carried it back." The Deputy was sadly 
 puzzled to understand the matter, until an Irish- 
 man, stepping up, explained "Plase ye, Mr. Dip- 
 uty, the felly is a fool axing your pardon. It was 
 Sampson the Chaplain was spaking of, entirely." 
 " ! ah ! y-e-s," drawlingly responded Sprightly ; 
 " that was his name," 
 
 Soon after, I was urging the importance of reli- 
 gion on a man who had been brought up in deplor- 
 able ignorance, a foreigner by birth. I spoke to 
 him of Jesus, and the necessity of knowing and 
 loving him. He listened to my remarks with be- 
 coming seriousness, and when I paused, with evi- 
 dent honesty observed, " I think you told us last 
 Sabbath, that he was born up in Sandwich, in this 
 State. 
 
 Another illustration of the truth of the remark 
 made by the great poet of Scotland, respecting the 
 failure of " the best designs of mice and men."
 
 STATE PRISON STATISTICS. 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 STATE PRISON STATISTICS. 
 
 THE following statistics, taken in part from the 
 Warden's Report, for 1855, will be interesting as 
 giving the ages at which the prisoners then in pris- 
 on were sentenced, their employment, &c. } together 
 with a general table, containing the statistics of 
 the prison from its first opening in 1812, to 1855. 
 At that last date there were in confinement in all, 
 97; their birth-places as follows: 
 
 United States, - - 78 
 
 Ireland, - - 12 
 
 British Provinces, 2 
 
 England, - 2 
 
 Scotland, - 1 
 
 Italy, - 1 
 
 Germany, - - - 1 
 
 97
 
 20 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Crimes for which convicted. 
 
 Theft, in various forms, - - 33 
 
 Burglary, - 27 
 
 Counterfeiting and passing, &c. - 4 
 
 Forgery, - - 2 
 
 Burning houses and other buildings, 10 
 
 Obtaining goods under false pretences, 3 
 
 Rape and attempt, 5 
 
 Manslaughter and attempt, - 5 
 
 Murder, 3 
 
 
 97 
 
 Statement of Convicts. 
 
 Male convicts now in prison, - - 91 
 Female convicts now in prison, - 6 
 
 97 
 
 Convicts are employed as follows : 
 
 In cabinet shop, - - 34 
 
 Shoe shop, - 30 
 
 Machine shop, - 17 
 
 Shop waiters, - - 3 
 
 Cook, - 1 
 
 Engineer, - 1 
 
 Tailor, 1
 
 STATE PRISON STATISTICS. 21 
 
 Washing and mending, - - - 2 
 Sweeping, whitewashing and gardening, 2 
 Females, - - 6 
 
 97 
 
 Whole number, June 1, 1854, - - 105 
 Received since, - 26 
 
 131 
 
 Discharged since. 
 
 By pardon, - 17 
 
 By expiration of sentence, - 10 
 
 By death by disease, - - 4 
 
 By death by suicide, - - 2 
 
 By removal to Insane Asylum, - 1 
 
 34 
 
 Remaining in prison, June 1, 1855, - 97 
 
 Ages of prisoners when convicted. 
 Of those in prison June 1, 1853 
 
 From 12 years to 16 years, - - 7 
 
 16 20 - 21 
 
 20 25 " - 28 
 
 25 30 - - 17 
 
 30 40 - 23 
 
 40 " 50 " - - 9 
 
 " 50 60 4 
 
 Total, ----- 109
 
 16 
 
 u 
 
 20 
 
 u . 
 
 20 
 
 u 
 
 25 
 
 u 
 
 25 
 
 u 
 
 30 
 
 u . 
 
 30 
 
 It 
 
 40 
 
 u * 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 1C . 
 
 50 
 
 il 
 
 60 
 
 u 
 
 22 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Committed from Juno 1, 1853, to June 1,1854, 
 
 1 
 
 - 5 
 3 
 
 - 4 
 5 
 
 - 8 
 2 
 
 Total, - - 28 
 Those in prison June 1, 1854 
 
 From 12 years to 16 years, - 6 
 
 16 20 - - 16 
 
 20 " 25 " - 22 
 
 " 25 30 - 17 
 
 " 30 " 40 " - 24 
 
 " 40 50 - - 15 
 
 *50 " 60 - - 5 
 
 Total, - 105 
 Of those in prison June 1, 1855 
 
 From 12 years to 16 years - 3 
 
 16 " 20 " - - 15 
 
 " 20 25 - 17 
 
 25 30 - 16 
 
 30 40 - 29 
 
 " 40 50 - - 14 
 
 " 50 " 60 3 
 
 Total, - - - "97
 
 STATE PRISON STATISTICS. 23 
 
 " * "^ 
 
 Number of Convicts in Prison, committed, discharged, pardoned, deceased 
 and escaped, in each year since the establishment of the Institution, in 1812. 
 
 Year. In Prison. Com'ted. Dlsch'ged. Pardon'd. Kem'ved to In- Died. Escaped. 
 
 sane Asylum. 
 
 1812 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1813 
 
 12 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 1814 
 
 22 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 
 1815 
 
 23 
 
 13 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 1816 
 
 48 
 
 31 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 1817 
 
 59 
 
 29 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
 1818 
 
 69 
 
 26 
 
 16 
 
 
 1819 
 
 02 
 
 17 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 1820 
 
 61 
 
 18 
 
 15 
 
 2 
 
 1821 
 
 65 
 
 23 
 
 15 
 
 2 
 
 1822 
 
 57 
 
 16 
 
 19 
 
 2 
 
 1823 
 
 66 
 
 26 
 
 11 
 
 5 
 
 1824 
 
 62 
 
 19 
 
 17 
 
 5 
 
 1825 
 
 60 
 
 24 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
 1826 
 
 59 
 
 13 
 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 1827 
 
 48 
 
 I'M 
 
 14 
 
 7 
 
 1828 
 
 56 
 
 20 
 
 S 
 
 4 
 
 1829 
 
 50 
 
 11 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 1830 
 
 68 
 
 31 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 1831 
 
 81 
 
 24 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 1832 
 
 82 
 
 19 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 1833 
 
 81 
 
 16 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 1834 
 
 79 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 11 
 
 1835 
 
 78 
 
 23 
 
 6 
 
 16 
 
 1836 
 
 86 
 
 21 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 1837 
 
 72 
 
 12 
 
 15 
 
 10 
 
 1838 
 
 70 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 1839 
 
 73 
 
 30 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 1840 
 
 78 
 
 24 
 
 4 
 
 14 
 
 1841 
 
 84 
 
 28 
 
 13 
 
 7 
 
 1842 
 
 92 
 
 20 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 1843 
 
 99 
 
 28 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 1844- 
 
 89 
 
 25 
 
 19 
 
 15 
 
 1845 
 
 81 
 
 ' 14 
 
 8 
 
 12 
 
 1846 
 
 74 
 
 30 
 
 12 
 
 22 
 
 1847 
 
 61 
 
 14 
 
 12 
 
 18 
 
 1848 
 
 77 
 
 42 
 
 11 
 
 14 
 
 1S49 
 
 82 
 
 17 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 1850 
 
 91 
 
 36 
 
 10 
 
 14 
 
 1851 
 
 95 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 11 
 
 1852 
 
 111 
 
 44 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 1853 
 
 109 
 
 24 
 
 9 
 
 15 
 
 1854 
 
 105 
 
 23 
 
 13 
 
 13 
 
 18-55 
 
 97 
 
 26 
 
 10 
 
 17 
 
 944 455 816 2 63 15
 
 24 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 1* r> 
 
 The number of Convicts received from each County 
 during the year ending June 1, 1855. 
 
 From Rockingham 2 
 
 " Strafford, - 4 
 
 " Belknap, - 
 
 Carroll, - - 
 
 " Merrimack - 2 
 
 " Hillsbo rough, - - 14 
 
 " Cheshire, - 
 
 Sullivan, - 1 
 
 Grafton, - 2 
 
 " Coos, - - 1 
 
 Total, - 26 
 
 During the first thirty years of the history of 
 our prison, up to 1852, I find that eight hundred 
 and three individuals have been committed. Of 
 that number, there had died in prison forty, aver- 
 aging just one per year, with an average number 
 of convicts of about eighty a much less propor- 
 tion than in our community in general. 
 
 Of this number, four hundred and eighty-seven 
 were convicted of thefts or attempts to steal, in 
 which number I reckon breaking, when done with 
 a thievish intent. Of these, thirty-four have been 
 returned to our prison for the second time, two for 
 the third time, and one for the fourth time. Of
 
 STATE PRISON STATISTICS. 25 
 
 the remaining one hundred and sixty-five, impris- 
 oned for what are deemed higher offences, but two 
 have been returned, and neither of them for a repe- 
 tition of the crime for which they were first im- 
 prisoned, but for crime of another class. 
 
 Of those committed for theft, one in about thir- 
 teen were recommitted. Of all other offences, one 
 in eighty-three. It will be seen that nearly three- 
 fourths of all were committed for theft in some 
 form ; and that it is not only the most common 
 form of crime, but that there is for these offenders 
 the least hope of reform. The following table will 
 make this plain : 
 
 
 
 Committed. 
 
 Recommitted. 
 
 For 
 
 Theft, 
 
 487 
 
 37 
 
 u 
 
 Counterfeiting, 
 
 44 
 
 1 
 
 u 
 
 Forgery, 
 
 31 
 
 
 u 
 
 Manslaughter, 
 
 17 
 
 
 u 
 
 Attempt to Kill, 
 
 13 
 
 
 11 
 
 Burning, 
 
 9 
 
 
 Cl 
 
 Attempt at Rape, 
 
 9 
 
 
 (I 
 
 Rape, 
 
 4 
 
 
 it 
 
 Arson, 
 
 6 
 
 
 (( 
 
 Perjury, 
 
 6 
 
 
 11 
 
 Murder, 
 
 2 
 
 
 (I 
 
 Maiming, 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 u 
 
 Other Offences, 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 2 
 

 
 26 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 I have no doubt these facts will surprise many, 
 as I must confess they did myself. And they 
 should be known to those honorable bodies with 
 whom is lodged the pardoning power. I do not 
 think them generally known or well considered, by 
 such, it being only an incidental and (by most con- 
 sidered) unimportant item of their official busi- 
 ness. Hence I have found that when petitions for 
 the pardon of criminals have been presented, and 
 the inquiry is made, What is his offence ? the case 
 of one guilty only of theft is, by nearly all, looked 
 upon with most favor. A man who, for the crime 
 of manslaughter, having suffered perhaps ten years, 
 his friends can no longer restrain their pity, and 
 send in petitions for his pardon. It is easy to see, 
 when the man's crime is announced, that his case 
 will be likely to go hard. The first feelings nat- 
 urally rise against the liberation of such a man. 
 Why, even now his hands seem to be dripping with 
 blood; and the dictate of prudence seems to be 
 by no means let him out to murder others. And 
 yet, forty men guilty of manslaughter or attempt to 
 kill have gone out from our prison, not one of 
 whom has ever been known to repeat his offence, 
 or to be guilty of any other, such as would impris- 
 on him in our State Penitentiary. 
 
 Another has suffered many long years for the
 
 STATE PEISON STATISTICS. 27 
 
 crime of rape. His friends ask for mercy, but the 
 common feeling is he is a dangerous man ; it will 
 not do. Without a wish to extenuate the guilt of 
 him who commits this great offence, I would still 
 take into the account this fact, that of the thirteen 
 who have gone out, not one has been charged with 
 a second offence of the kind. And when the libera- 
 tion of one guilty of forgery or counterfeiting is 
 prayed for, the objection at once arises : Why, he 
 will be into his old business again; the offence is a 
 very grave one, and he will be back with his old 
 confederates, bent on mischief, and making sad 
 work again. But we have seen that, of the 
 seventy-five guilty of these crimes who have gone 
 out, not one has been recommitted for a repetition 
 of his offence, and but one of this number has ever 
 been returned for any other. Were I a member of 
 an Executive Board, I should be compelled, with 
 these facts before me, to act with great caution in 
 pardoning out one who had deliberately, and in a 
 sober mind, been guilty of stealing. This is a 
 matter that concerns parents, and all others having 
 charge of the young. It is an alarming fact that a 
 habit of stealing 'is almost incurable ; great pains 
 should be taken to impress this on the young mind, 
 and to make it feel that all practices not perfectly 
 agreeing with the strictest honesty should be
 
 28 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 avoided. There seems to be in the history of the 
 persistent thief a point beyond which he loses all 
 self-control. Stealing is a perfect mania. He 
 plunders community, not because he is avaricious, 
 perhaps ; but he is almost irresistibly impelled to 
 the act by an influence he himself cannot under- 
 stand or explain. Some of this class steal 
 indiscriminately any thing and every thing they can 
 lay their hands on. An inventory of the possessions 
 of some of these men, when justice at last over- 
 takes them, would do something at least toward 
 furnishing a farm, a workshop, a boarding house, 
 and a cabinet of curiosities. Others seem 
 inclined to take some particular article, or to 
 confine themselves to one particular branch of 
 business, following the plan of a " division of 
 labor." " Dealing in horses and carriages" is a 
 very popular employment in these times. As these 
 articles of property command " a good price, and 
 ready sale," and as these are considerations pecu- 
 liarly interesting to such men, there has been a 
 manifest tendency toward this branch of industry, 
 until the business seems rather overdone at all 
 events many poor fellows have been undone by it. 
 There is a class of thieves who, from their 
 earliest developments have manifested an incurable 
 propensity for this vice. An instance we now have
 
 STATE PRISON STATISTICS. 29 
 
 ,in our prison, in the person of one " Chandler" 
 I am credibly informed that as soon as he was able 
 to creep about the house, he manifested this 
 propensity in a remarkable manner. For instance, 
 give him an apple or any desirable thing, and he 
 seemed quite indifferent whether he took it or not. 
 But let the same article be laid where he could get 
 at it, and, as soon as he supposed no one saw him, 
 he would seize it eagerly and with the utmost 
 sagacity secrete it. On such an occasion his 
 gratification seemed excessive. In a short time he 
 would become indifferent to his treasure, and 
 perhaps throw it away, and yet take the earliest 
 opportunity to pilfer some article of the same 
 kind and manifest a like gratification. As he grew 
 up, this propensity continued. No correction or 
 instruction seemed to have the least effect on him. 
 In every other respect he was a well-disposed lad, 
 peaceable, kind hearted, liberal, of a very amiable 
 disposition. Every one seemed disposed to bear 
 with him. But, at the age of twelve years, the 
 patience of the neighbors was exhausted, and he 
 was arrested, tried, committed and sentenced to 
 seven year's imprisonment. These were served 
 out, and within a few months he was arrested and 
 brought back to his old quarters on another sentence 
 of the same length. The other seven years passed 
 2*
 
 30 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 away not so soon or so pleasantly as did the 
 second seven years of the patriarch when earning 
 his Rachel. They however did pass. Chandler 
 enjoyed the sweets of liberty a few months, and 
 came home again to his old residence crime, 
 stealing an old bedstead of perhaps the value of 
 ten cents. It being his third sentence it was made 
 for life. After another (and the third) seven years 
 were passed, he having become much enfeebled 
 from his prison life, in which he had passed twenty 
 one consecutive anniversaries of his birthday, some 
 benevolent persons interested themselves in his 
 condition, and succeeded in procuring his pardon. 
 And now every one seemed anxious that poor 
 Daniel should taste the sweets of liberty for the 
 remaining days of his life. He was treated kindly, 
 supplied with work, married a wife, built him a 
 house, (very modest, but still, a house,) and for a 
 year or more seemed to have subdued his old 
 propensity. But at length some small articles of 
 property were missing, and Chandler was suspected 
 and threatened. In the course of three years his 
 petty larcenies became so frequent, that the 
 community began to think of casting him once more 
 on the State. At length in attempting to steal a 
 padlock (an article in which he always seemed
 
 STATE PRISON STATISTICS. 31 
 
 much interested) from a railroad switch frame, 
 he ran a whole train off the track, to the loss of 
 some hundreds of dollars, and the extreme jeopardy 
 of many lives. This settled the business, and 
 Daniel was duly installed in his old position for 
 the fourth term. This is unquestionably to be a 
 " finality" with the unhappy man. On examining 
 his stock on hand there were found articles almost 
 numberless and almost valueless. It was a singu- 
 lar trait in this man's character that he never 
 aspired to " high things." He left gold watches, jew- 
 elry, or ready cash to the care of the aristocratic 
 thief who might covet such useless things. It was 
 sufficient to content the unaspiring, unobtrusive 
 Daniel that he could be the humble gleaner of such 
 things as old buckles, padlocks, hammers, pegging 
 awls, gimlets, <fcc. ; these were his treasures. Now I 
 humbly submit whether this man is not a fit subject 
 for the Insane Asylum rather than the State Prison. 
 And his is not the only case of the kind among us. 
 There is a class who, like him, arc not of sane 
 mind. They are the victims, not of crime but 
 'misfortune. The propensity is inherent and 
 incurable. To be sure, great caution should be 
 observed in coming to this conclusion in any given 
 case, for in most instances no doubt it is like other
 
 32 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 bad habits ; and if the man has now lost his self 
 control, he should be held guilty and punished 
 accordingly. But in"cases like that of Chandler, I 
 submit whether such should not be held and treated 
 as monomaniacs.
 
 CANDIDATES" FOR THE PENITENTIARY. 33 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CANDIDATES FOR THE PENITENTIARY. 
 
 From what classes are convicts for the State 
 Prison service drawn ? This is a question that I 
 propose to answer^s we preachers say, 
 
 1. Negatively. 
 
 Not from religious families, truly such. I have 
 taken great pains to inquire into the history of the 
 New Hampshire State Prison, and I can find few, 
 very few cases of exception to this. For the past 
 nine years in which I have had a personal acquaint- 
 ance with several hundreds of convicts, I have not 
 found a son of a clergyman, deacon, class leader, 
 steward, or church warden, among them, except one 
 who was early adopted into a wealthy but wicked 
 family. And I cannot learn of but one other who 
 had been in prison previous to that time, and he 
 was discharged soon after his committal, on the 
 ground of insanity. There are a few who had a 
 pious parent, perhaps a mother: but whose family 
 connections were of an unfavorable character, and 
 who were thrown into community at a time when 
 counsel and restraint were most needed. I can
 
 34 PRISON REMINISCENCES. ' 
 
 recollect of but one who, up to the age of eighteen, 
 was brought up by pious parents, and of his guilt 
 in the matter charged there is much doubt. These 
 facts show the salutary effects of religious education, 
 and overthrow the oft repeated statement that 
 ministers' and deacons' sons are more vicious than 
 others. Carefully collated statistics have shown 
 long since the falsity of that opinion to the satis- 
 faction of well informed persojj^ ; and as a friend 
 of religion I am happy to add the above facts. 
 
 There are, however, frequent cases of persons 
 committed who had once been church members, 
 though most of them had given up their Christian 
 profession or been expelled before the commission 
 of the crime which brought them to prison. These 
 persons were not blessed with a good religious 
 education, and hence however sincerely they may 
 have professed religion, in the time of trial or of 
 temptation, they erred " from the good and the 
 right way," and made shipwreck of faith. And all 
 the pains-taking of ministers and laymen will 
 succeed but seldom in supplying the gross lack of 
 an early education. These professors of religion 
 in almost every instance, fell through intemperance. 
 Of what religious persuasion or denomination were 
 these men ? I answer, frankly : Of all the several 
 denominations among us ; all are here represented.
 
 CANDIDATES FOR THE PENITENTIARY. 35 
 
 I have carefully inquired and compared, and I think 
 each has about its fair representation as to number. 
 
 I know this statement will not flatter the bigot 
 who sees nothing but perfection in his own church, 
 and all imperfection elsewhere ; but it may do him 
 good, and hereafter he may not so confidently 
 exclaim, " The Temple of the Lord are we," or 
 imagine that other denominations are responsible 
 for all the immoralities of the land. In the above 
 calculation I have spoken of Protestant denomina- 
 tions only. The Catholics are much more largely 
 represented. About one-eighth of the convicts are 
 Catholics, which is probably four-fold their propor- 
 tion. It is but justice, however, that I should say 
 that the Catholic convicts were not as a general 
 thing devout, church going Catholics, but generally 
 men who had not much instruction or much venera- 
 tion for the religion in which they were brought 
 up. A small number bring with them a prayer 
 book or some small religious volume, such as 
 " Patrick's Book for Beginners, " and seem to 
 manifest some attachment to their religion. 
 
 I have often been written to and inquired of, 
 whether any considerable proportion of the 
 convicts had been Sabbath School scholars, and 
 have taken much pains to ascertain. The result is, 
 I have not found one who had from early youth to
 
 36 PKISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 years of maturity, been an attendant on any Sabbath 
 School. More than one-half never saw such a 
 scliool ; a considerable number were once attendants 
 for a short time, some one season, others only a 
 few Sabbaths, but in not a single instance that has 
 come to my knowledge, has one been connected 
 with any Sabbath School, for a time sufficient to 
 make any considerable improvement. Nor do I 
 recollect of a convict trained to a strict observance 
 of the Sabbath, but in a single instance. There 
 are many families not professedly pious, who yet 
 regard that sacred institution, and these families 
 are not found represented in our State Prison. 
 
 The learned professions furnish few convicts. 
 There is a tradition that many years since, a man 
 who had been a Baptist preacher, but who "in 
 consequence of intemperance had given up his 
 credentials and his religious profession, was after- 
 wards convicted of crime, and for several years 
 an inmate of our prison ; and also that another man 
 who was a " Christian Baptist," so termed, and a 
 licentiate, was formerly among the convicts. It is 
 not known whether he was imprisoned for an offence 
 committed during his days of religious profession, 
 or whether, like the other person named, he first 
 abandoned his profession. At all events, he was 
 not an ordained minister. It is, therefore, certain
 
 CANDIDATES FOR THE PENITENTIARY. 37 
 
 that no minister of any denomination has yet been 
 within these walls as a prisoner. 
 
 Of physicians, I know of but one, though some 
 half-dozen have, within the last eight years, had a 
 very narrow escape, and that by the payment of heavy 
 bonds. These cases do not, however, seriously 
 affect the reputation of that most worthy class of 
 our citizens, who (whatever may be said of them 
 by the grumbler or the joker) are certainly most 
 cordially greeted at our bedsides in extreme cases, 
 and who it is equally true, are generally the friends 
 of sound morals and piety. 
 
 I cannot learn that any instance has yet occurred 
 of a regular practising lawyer being caught and 
 held to trial and found guilty, and transferred from 
 the county jail to the prison. As great liberties 
 are sometimes taken (in the way of joking) with 
 the legal profession, would it be strange if some 
 one should insinuate that this very worthy class of 
 men made use of their knowledge of law to escape 
 its penalties, and that the use of weapons had not 
 only made them skillful in the offensive but also in 
 the defensive. Two or three of this profession 
 have recently, in this State, escaped imprisonment 
 by the forfeiture of their bonds. They were, 
 however, lawyers "to fortune and to fame un- 
 known." 
 
 4
 
 . 
 
 38 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 I have the happiness to number among my friends 
 many printers ; but though it may seem to imply 
 either a lack of ability on the part of the minister, 
 or the want of the qualities that are necessary in 
 order to appreciate good preaching on the other 
 part, yet I will reveal the fact that I have never 
 succeeded well with that class. For the nine long 
 years, and with all the inducements offered, njot one 
 of that trade has connected himself with my con- 
 gregation. And I do not think a man could be 
 found of all who ever tenanted our prison, who 
 could set up a column of type. I leave the reader 
 to make his own comments, only remarking that 
 this cannot be accidental, nor can the explanation 
 be, that the employment keeps one ignorant of 
 prevailing vices and immoralities ; nor yet that 
 young printers are removed from the large masses 
 where corruptions engender and spread. In all 
 these respects this class is much exposed. It is 
 evident, we think, that the employment has an 
 elevating tendency, and is favorable to intellectual 
 and moral improvement. 
 
 It is very seldom that a man having a trade in 
 any one of the mechanical pursuits finds his way to 
 prison. Not one in ten, I think, of all the impris- 
 oned, had any particular calling or employment, and 
 those few of such pursuits as required a large
 
 CANDIDATES FOE THE PENITENTIAKY. 39 
 
 number to be employed together, and in our large 
 villages or cities where temptations to sin abound. 
 The owner of the soil is rarely found in a felon's 
 cell. I know of scarce one who owned and culti- 
 vated land. No ; the ownership of land gives one 
 an elevation of mind, a sort of conscious superiority 
 over him who can claim no spot of all God's green 
 earth as his. I would give a man who finds himself 
 inclined to immoral practices, such as lead to 
 disgrace and prison, this recipe : buy land, though 
 it be but an acre, pay for it, and cultivate it. If 
 convicts, then, are not taken from these classes, 
 whence are they ? 
 
 From vicious families, idle and unprincipled 
 parents, who neither fear God nor regard the moral 
 condition of their families ; themselves vicious, and 
 by precept and example corrupting their children. 
 No wonder such children throng our prisons. And 
 what being on God's earth is so guilty, so detesta- 
 ble, as a parent training up his household for 
 destruction, and leading the way before them. The 
 case of such children calls aloud for our pity, and 
 patient and persevering aid. 
 
 There are other families where the example and 
 persuasion of a good mother succeeds in saving the 
 most of the children, though it generally happens 
 that the vicious father will have at least one son to
 
 40 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 tread in his footsteps, and to curse the world when 
 his bones and his memory have perished. A large 
 proportion of convicts come from that class known 
 as shameless and unblushing Sabbath breakers. It 
 is well known that a great proportion of crime is 
 planned and perpetrated on the Sabbath. The idle 
 and vicious meet, and from associating become 
 doubly corrupt. Then are laid plans of mischief 
 and of crime, the execution of which brings many a 
 young man to prison. I could give narratives here 
 that would startle the inhabitants of some of our 
 large villages and cities, but that their publication 
 would, in my judgment, be prejudicial to the interests 
 of morality. 
 
 Every one will be prepared to hear that intem- 
 perance is the highway to prison. Perhaps, 
 however, a less proportion of our convicts are from 
 the class of drunkards than in almost any peniten- 
 tiary in the United States. I judge that about 
 one-fourth were outright drunkards, and another 
 fourth occasionally drunk. Of the rest, very few 
 were " total abstinents" not more than one in ten. 
 Nearly all would drink occasionally. We are to 
 place to the account of intemperance, therefore, 
 most of the crimes committed in New Hampshire, 
 that are punishable with State Prison confinement; 
 either directly or indirectly, at least three-quarters 
 of our convicts are the victims of rum.
 
 CANDIDATES FOR THE PENITENTIARY. 41 
 
 " Had drunkenness anything to do with your 
 coming to prison ?" asked a temperance man, ad- 
 dressing a prisoner. " No ; that is O ah yes. 
 The sheriff was drunk when he brought me here." 
 This to be sure, was rather indirect influence, but 
 I apprehend not a solitary case of the kind. A 
 very large proportion of the convicts were left 
 orphans at an early age. "Have you a mother ?" is 
 a question I generally put to a young man on my 
 first introduction to him. The answer, in perhaps 
 half of the cases, is " My mother died when I was 
 small ;" or, " I was sent from home when very young." 
 Very seldom do we find one who, up to the age of 
 twenty-one, has had the benefit of wholesome 
 maternal influence. Poor fellows ! A mother's hand 
 never smoothed down those young locks ; a mother's 
 tear never fell on them ; a mother's gentle voice 
 never calmed the passions of thy young heart, nor 
 spoke to thee of Jesus and eternal life. A mother 
 never knelt beside thee and with prayer such as 
 only a mother can offer, consecrated thee to God. 
 A mother never taught thee to say, " Our Father 
 which art in Heaven," nor that 
 
 " Religion should our thoughts engage 
 
 Amid our youthful bloom; 
 
 'Twill fit us for declining age 
 
 And for the awful tomb." 
 
 2*
 
 42 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Left to the care of some heartless relative, or, 
 perhaps, thrown upon the public for maintenance, 
 the result should surprise no one. 
 
 Within a few years past, a large number of our 
 young men have left their mountain homes in 
 Vermont and northern New Hampshire, to seek 
 more lucrative employment in our villages and 
 cities. These are thrown into circumstances of 
 great peril. They are no longer under the eye of 
 a vigilant parent, or influenced by the presence of 
 their early virtuous associates. The home circle 
 no longer operates to secure their morality. But 
 a thousand temptations at once present themselves, 
 of the existence of which they were hardly aware, 
 and coming in a form so alluring as to almost defy 
 resistance. With money at their command, and 
 with hours and days of leisure, they gradually yield 
 to these temptations. "Evil communications cor- 
 rupt good manners," and from this class a large 
 number has been convicted of crime and incarcer- 
 ated. 0, how many a father and mother from 
 northern New England, have I seen weeping over a 
 son whose morals, a few months before, were sound ; 
 who was the pride of his parents, the boast of the 
 little school district, and the loved of all his 
 acquaintance ! " Why bless me," exclaimed the 
 astonished neighbors when the dreadful truth came
 
 CANDIDATES FOR THE PENITENTIARY. 43 
 
 out, " I should as soon have thought it of any young 
 man in our town." I will not attempt to describe 
 the anguish of those parents. The father looks up- 
 on his son, his character gone, and all his prospects 
 for life blighted. He puts on no airs of fashiona- 
 ble mourning; " the iron has entered his soul;" his 
 is " the silent manliness of grief." He was not 
 called a proud man, but he was proud ; proud of 
 his favorite son, and proud of the family character, 
 a character on which no stain had rested heretofore. 
 " With louder plaints the mother told her woes." 
 Ah, those convulsive sobs and cries, they indicate 
 no common sorrow. They come up from the deep 
 fountains of the heart a mother's heart. 
 
 Imagine, if you can, the feelings and appearance 
 of the poor young man. Guilty, speechless ; 0, 
 how his heart aches as he looks upon his parents, 
 and as all their care and love for him are remem- 
 bered ! Now the thought, I am bringing their " grey 
 hairs with sorrow to the grave," is overwhelming. 
 But why do I attempt to describe a scene like this ! 
 Language is inadequate. I pray God that the 
 families, into which this book may enter, may never 
 experience grief and shame, such as have over- 
 whelmed the family of many an honest farmer or 
 mechanic, in our rural districts. 
 
 It has already been remarked that a large pro-
 
 44 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 portion of Catholics, and mostly of Irish extraction, 
 are convicted of crime. These are, in almost every 
 instance, the victims of intemperance. All know 
 the social habits of Irishmen, and how at their 
 numerous holydays, wakes, burials, weddings, &c., 
 the custom of drinking is almost universal. Hence 
 it is easy to account for the frequency of crimes 
 among them, without the necessity of reckoning 
 them as naturally thievish or quarrelsome. Indeed 
 we seldom find an Irishman convicted of theft, or 
 any other offence, committed when alone and sober. 
 It generally happens on this wise : at the close of 
 a holyday, a party meet at the hospitable mansion 
 of one of the party. For awhile all goes on well 
 and peaceably. Stories of the " ould counthry" 
 are told ; songs of " sweet Erin" are sung, and 
 many a merry joke is uttered; the time passes 
 rapidly and so does the bottle. Now, " Mike," 
 having imbibed freely, begins to feel the moving of 
 the spirit of " Donnybrookfair" He talks loud 
 and fast, and is evidently aiming to get up a " free 
 fight." For a time good counsels prevail, but the 
 whiskey circulates, and so does the war spirit that 
 originated with Mike. That distinguished individ- 
 ual soon finds an antagonist worthy of his weapons. 
 The first blow is struck, the first blood is shed, and 
 the war has commenced in earnest. Both parties
 
 CANDIDATES FOR THE PENITENTIARY. 45 
 
 are reinforced, for enlistments are rapid, the sinews 
 of war being supplied by " Patrick," Commissary 
 General of both armies ; who, like a wise officer, has 
 made good provision for a long campaign, fill ing his 
 large keg with liquor and his pockets with cash. 
 " Long time in even scale the battle hung," nor is 
 it known to this day which of the contending parties 
 won the field. Both gave and received many 
 dreadful wounds. The beautiful face of many 
 a brave Celt was sadly disfigured, and the holyday 
 dress of many a luckless one hung like the tattered 
 sail of a vessel in a hurricane. The field of con- 
 flict was strewn with the wreck of furniture, clothing, 
 broken earthen, and wounded and drunken men 
 and women. 
 
 At length the neighborhood, out of all patience, 
 called to their aid the slow but strong arm of the 
 law. The police come upon them, and, though both 
 parties would be glad to unite against these dis- 
 turbers of their enjoyments, yet their exhausted 
 strength is not equal to a successful contest, and 
 one after another reluctantly surrenders. Then 
 comes the summing up of the matter. The exas- 
 perated citizens are resolved to break up the haunt, 
 and each combatant is anxious to clear himself of 
 blame and lay it on another. After a most exciting 
 trial and much very doubtful swearing, the record
 
 46 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 * 
 
 of the court reads thus : " Mike O'Leary and Jerry 
 O'Neale, for assault with intent to kill, twenty years 
 each in the State Prison;" Patrick Flinnegan, 
 assault, five years ; young Thomas Doherty, a very 
 improper attempt of a very indecent character, old 
 Mrs. Murphy being the insulted one, ten years in 
 State Prison and nineteen days solitary ; and divers 
 others, imprisonment in the county jail for a speci- 
 fied number of months. 
 
 " O these furriners, what can be the occasion of 
 such quarrels ! "Why cannot they love one another 
 as we Yankees do ?" exclaims old Miss A., whose 
 tongue walks through the village, sparing neither 
 age, sex, nor condition. " A cuss to our country," 
 mutters old Shylock who has drained the pockets 
 and impoverished an hundred families. 
 
 The question is asked each prisoner on his 
 arrival, " Have you a trade ?" " No, sir," is the 
 almost invariable answer. " What have you been 
 accustomed to do ?" " "Well, work out by the day at 
 almost any kind of work;" " have worked some on 
 a farm, generally tended stable or worked in a 
 tavern, done a little of most everything." Now it 
 is easy to perceive that such a way of living, exposes 
 a young man to all kinds of temptations ; whereas 
 the young man with a good trade, or the farmer, 
 possessed of his small farm, will seldom stray far 
 from the path of integrity and uprightness.
 
 CANDIDATES FOR THE PENITENTIARY. 47 
 
 These suggestions may be of use to parents and 
 guardians, to whose good sense I appeal in behalf of 
 the young committed to their care. 0, make the 
 question of their morals the paramount question 
 in determining their calling for life ! Do not hazard 
 their reputation and jeopardize their best interests 
 by allowing them to go into employments where 
 temptations to evil beset them at every step. Seek 
 out a calling, such as seems to be indicated by the 
 taste or genius of the lad ; but let both his occupa- 
 tion and home be selected with reference to his 
 moral and spiritual interests, and in the end you 
 will rejoice in the selection.
 
 48 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 >f\ 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PICTURE OF PRISON LIFE. 
 
 MANY of the readers of this book have never 
 seen a State Prison ; to such, this chapter will be 
 interesting. It is, however, impossible to give any 
 description on paper that will convey fully to the 
 mind a just conception of the subject here intro- 
 duced. To realize this, it is necessary to take into 
 the account a great many things that cannot well 
 be brought forward in one short chapter. 
 
 At an early hour the prison bell rings briskly, 
 awakening the poor fellows from their slumbers, in 
 which, perhaps, they had imagined themselves with 
 friends, dear friends, at home. It was a happy 
 fancy that had stolen the captive from his cell and 
 placed him beside hearts that loved and welcomed 
 him ; but, alas ! the bright vision has died. The 
 first stroke of that hated bell, knelled its departure. 
 And now the business of the toilet is, completed, 
 perhaps not always in taste to suit the fastidious, 
 but no matter. A few moments are left before 
 marching; some spend them gloomily standing or 
 sitting on the side of their couch, thinking bitterly
 
 PICTURE OP PRISON LIFE. 49 
 
 of the past, and inwardly forming new plans of 
 mischief or of crime. Some are sorrowfully con- 
 trasting the days of innocence and happiness with 
 these days of guilt and misery. Here and there 
 one lies upon the cold stone floor and with uplifted 
 heart, weeps over his sins, " the remembrance of 
 which is grievous to him." On the placid counte- 
 nance of another may be seen the indications of a 
 heart at peace with God and man. Listen to his 
 prayer as his lips move in whispers, " Lord, I will 
 praise Thee, for, though Thou wast angry with me, 
 thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortest 
 me." He rises slowly from his knees, and from 
 that small, rough shelf takes down the blessed 
 volume and opens it. Now listen again : " There is 
 therefore, now no condemnation to those that are 
 in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but 
 after the Spirit." "For the law of the spirit of life 
 in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of 
 sin and death." A moment is yet left ; he opens his 
 hymn book and reads, 
 
 " While blest with a sense of his love, 
 
 A palace a toy would appear. 
 And prisons would palaces prove 
 If Jesus would dwell with me there." 
 
 The bell strikes ; each man steps from his cell to 
 5
 
 50 PEISON KEMINISCENCES. 
 
 the platform in front of the cell, and, at the given 
 signal, moves away tramp, tramp, tramp, the so 
 called lock step, and, in divisions of some twenty, 
 they make their way to their worshops. There for 
 the day no eye is raised to meet the eye of another 
 convict, or officer, or visitor. No word is uttered 
 but to convey the few needful directions of the over- 
 seers of the work. Again the bell ; it is noon. In 
 an instant all leave work and fall into line, marching 
 in as they marched out. In passing the cook room, 
 each man takes his food from a shelf, without leaving 
 the rank, and the division passes on to the platform 
 when each steps into his cell, closing the door which 
 is self locked. 
 
 The coarse, but nutritive meal is soon finished ; a 
 short time remains for rest, and off again to the 
 shops to resume the work of the morning slowly 
 pass the hours, but night comes. 
 
 How different the circumstances of the closing 
 day from those of former days. Then labor wea- 
 ried and exhausted the body, but 
 
 " With joy the man, his daily labor done, 
 Saw the broad shadows and the setting sun." 
 
 For there was a home humble and unadorned, to 
 be sure but a home. And there were hearts 
 that loved him, and voices that greeted him, and
 
 PICTUKE OF PRISON LIFE. 51 
 
 faces that smiled upon him. But now poor 
 man march on to thy nightly rest; but thy 
 mother shall not take thy hand and bless her 
 weary boy. March on, man, but 
 
 " For thee, alas ! no blazing fire doth bum, 
 
 Nor busy housewife ply her evening care, 
 Nor children run to greet their sire's return, 
 And climb his knees the envied kiss to share." 
 
 That home is now desolate, but more desolate that 
 more than widowed heart that still clings to the 
 loved and lost. 
 
 Those little ones who faintly and yet fondly 
 remember a father, are scattered abroad. They 
 can recollect how father once came home and did 
 not smile or speak ; how dear mother wept ; how 
 strong men came, strangers, and looking stern and 
 hard, how they bound poor father's hands and led 
 him off. This, like a hateful dream, still haunts 
 the young mind. And all this is now passing in terri- 
 ble review before the mind of that man who marches 
 to his cell. May the faithful God of love send his 
 spirit there to soothe thy heart, thou man of guilt 
 and grief; and in years to come may thy voice be 
 heard to utter as experience : " It is good for me 
 that I have been afflicted, for before I was afflicted 
 I went astray, but now have I learned to keep thy 
 precepts."
 
 52 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 The hall is well lighted with gas, and an excel- 
 lent book from the library, with a chapter or two 
 from " the Book" occupies the attention, soothes 
 the feelings, and improves the heart. And yet how 
 many sleepless nights are there passed. The 
 mind wanders to past scenes of innocent engage- 
 ments, to friends still dear, though years, long, sad 
 years have intervened since meeting; while with 
 others, there is the presence of guilt resting heav- 
 ily on the soul. The remembrance of past life, a 
 life of transgression, harrows up the feelings and 
 makes night terrible. 
 
 Slowly and with silent tread the watchman passes 
 his accustomed rounds, and the hours pass on until 
 at early dawn the business the wearying monot- 
 onous business of another day begins. Here are 
 no cheering days of relaxation, no holidays for 
 amusement, no fine excursions to mountains or to 
 lakes, to mineral springs, or sea-side j no agree- 
 able fireside conversation to beguile the tedious- 
 ness of a " winter's night or summer's day." It is 
 work, work, work; and all without the usual agree 
 able stimulant, remuneration, or the agreeable ac 
 companiments of labor. 
 
 How do the convicts appear, and how do you 
 manage to gain and keep their confidence and love ? 
 There is with young offenders generally, an indica.
 
 PICTUEE OP PRISON LIFE. 53 
 
 tion of extreme sadness and shame, and with the 
 old, of sullenness and suspicion. On my first visit 
 they were generally found either covered up in 
 their couch or sitting at the farther end of their cell. 
 The voice of kindly greeting falls strangely on their 
 ear. They have been fugitives from justice, pur- 
 sued and hunted down, caught, ironed, thrust into 
 jail, and brought through all the stages of their 
 trial, followed through the streets by mobs of men 
 and boys, and heard but little said of themselves 
 or to themselves of a very flattering character, or 
 in very kind terms. From the court they come to 
 the prison, stared and gazed at, as so many con- 
 quered beasts of prey; and no one comes and 
 speaks pleasantly and kindly, inquiring after their 
 welfare. 
 
 Many of these men had been accustomed to de- 
 spise religion and hate ministers. It generally re- 
 quires two or three visits to gain the friendly at- 
 tention of such, but it is surprising how soon even 
 they will learn to reciprocate true kindness. The 
 footsteps of the chaplain are soon distinguished, 
 and they are at the door, ready to welcome him. 
 
 Few, very few withhold their confidence, or fail 
 
 to exhibit proofs of affectionate attachment. 
 
 Nearly all confide all the secrets of past life to the 
 
 chaplain, unsolicited by him, and this attachment 
 
 5*
 
 54 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 continues often after their liberation. Often when 
 visiting in various sections of the country, will a 
 man come quietly by my side, silently grasp my 
 hand, and whisper in my ear, "Do you not know 
 me? it is A. B., once 'inside,' you know." (" In- 
 side," and " outside " are prison terms, and are 
 more convenient, and also sound better than " in 
 prison," or " out of prison.") Such interviews are 
 often very affecting, and the hearty " farewell, God 
 bless you," often raises the question in the sur- 
 rounding crowd, of an acquaintance or perhaps re- 
 lationship. 
 
 The few minutes allowed each convict for con- 
 versation with the Chaplain are highly prized, and 
 generally well improved. Inquiries are made re- 
 specting the Sabbath School lesson, the sermon or 
 some passage of scripture not well understood. 
 Some of the more intelligent wish to discuss the 
 merits of some interesting book they have read 
 during the week, or the sermon preached by the 
 stranger preacher who last addressed them. Then 
 the sad* ones are to be comforted the inquirers 
 to be enlightened the sick to be pitied and 
 prayed for, and a word of encouragement and a 
 look of kindness for them all. 
 
 After the Sabbath School and religious services, 
 the remainder of the Sabbath is devoted to the
 
 PICTURE OF PRISON LIFE. 65 
 
 above named duties in connection with changing 
 their books. This, by the way, is no small item 
 in the account, for much time and pains are needed 
 to suit the wants or tastes of all, so that each may 
 find agreeable and profitable reading for the week. 
 From a small beginning, the library has now become 
 one of much value, numbering some nine hundred 
 volumes. Besides these, a Bible, and book of Ele- 
 mentary Instruction, are furnished, also to each 
 man attending Sabbath School, a Question Book, 
 and copy of " Malcom's Bible Dictionary." The 
 library is a judicious selection of books of all the 
 various branches, Theology, Biography, Travels, 
 Poetry and Miscellaneous. 
 
 About one in eight of all the convicts on 
 entering prison cannot read or write, but most of 
 them set about learning soon, and in earnest, and 
 very few go from prison unable to read the Bible ; 
 and having no amusements, and plenty of time, 
 most of them become great readers. Pass through 
 the hall at any time when the men are in, and you 
 will find nearly every man with his open book; 
 converse with them, and you will find that they 
 are understanding what they read. Copy books, 
 are supplied for all who wish them, and also slates. 
 Many of them study with much interest Chemistry, 
 Natural and Moral Philosophy, Logic, Rhetoric,
 
 56 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 &c. All this, added to a good trade acquired 
 while in prison, has contributed to send forth many 
 a convict a wiser and a better man. 
 
 They must be very happy when the day of re- 
 lease comes, you are thinking. Doubtless with all 
 there is a gladness to see the opening of the prison 
 doors, and to feel that they are free to walk forth 
 into the bright sunlight,- and breathe the sweet 
 breath of heaven. But there is another view of 
 the subject, which the poor man is compelled to 
 take. " 0, could I go home with a reputation un- 
 stained, could I meet my old acquaintances as for- 
 merly, could I walk the streets of my native vil- 
 lage erect, and conscious that I engaged the entire 
 confidence of my old neighbors, then liberty would 
 be really invaluable, but this cannot be." 
 
 " Some will openly insult me and spurn me from 
 their society. Others will treat me with cold civ- 
 ility, a few will pity me, and even their tears will 
 distress me. If I go to other parts, I am no sooner 
 there than some familiar face stares upon me. If 
 a thousand miles from my prison home, I commence 
 business and begin to prosper, some ill wind wafts 
 a man to that far off place who kindly informs the 
 people of the place ' that man has been in the State 
 Prison.' The fatal announcement is the death-knell 
 to my prosperity in that place." Thus even the
 
 PICTURE OP PRISON LIFE. 67 
 
 day of liberty forces upon the mind of the thought- 
 ful man a sense of his degradation, and he feels it 
 more acutely than when in company with those 
 who were his companions in guilt. Often do they 
 sit down and weep bitterly, and seem irresolute 
 and undetermined where to go or what to do. 
 
 No, the day of liberation is not, to the thoughtful 
 man, a day of exultation. Often have I seen the 
 tear, and heard the sigh that told the sorrow of 
 the heart of one, who, though no longer in prison, 
 was departing with the consciousness that earth 
 had, to a great extent, lost its charms to him, and 
 that henceforth, aside from the mercy of God and 
 the pity of good men, he had but little to hope for.
 
 58 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CATHOLIC CONVICTS. 
 
 ABOUT one eighth of the convicts, on an average, 
 for the last nine years, have been Catholics. The 
 question is often asked whether anything can be 
 done for their benefit, or whether their prejudices 
 of education do not prevent their profiting from 
 any instruction imparted by a Protestant. To 
 Catholic or Protestant who may chance to read 
 these pages, I will speak truly in answer to this 
 question. 
 
 In the first place, I have endeavored to instruct 
 such of them as are ignorant, to read, spell, and 
 write. More than one-half I think, from year to year 
 are of this class ; and I find than nearly all are 
 willing to undertake, and most of them are capable 
 of learning with considerable alacrity. The Bible 
 is put into the cell of every prisoner and is much 
 read by most of them. But few of the Catholics 
 have any knowledge of either their own or the 
 Protestant versions. I do not mean that they have 
 no knowledge of the things taught in the Book of
 
 CATHOLIC CONVICTS. 59 
 
 God, for with much of tradition and superstition, 
 there is also much scripture truth communicated to 
 the Catholics through their liturgies, and other meth- 
 ods of instruction. But I cannot recollect of more 
 than three or four who had ever read either version 
 of the blessed volume, and but one, who brought a 
 Catholic Bible with him to the prison. He was a 
 well educated man, brought up by a most excellent 
 mother, who, though a Catholic, is in my judg- 
 ment, a sincere and devout Christian. This man, 
 to the end of his confinment, adhered zealously to 
 his faith, and was very eager to defend it. There 
 were undoubtedly others, who at heart remained 
 more or less attached to that church, but manifested 
 no prejudice against other religious denominations. 
 Several of them have told me that on finding a 
 Protestant Bible in their cell, they avoided it with 
 a superstitious hatred, and for days, perhaps for 
 weeks, it lay unopened. But at length this feeling 
 wore off, and motives of curiosity impelled them 
 to take up the book and read. 
 
 The Catholic convict is always respectful in his 
 deportment to all the officers, and especially so to- 
 wards the Chaplain. In this he is an example to 
 the Protestant. He may be suspicious of^the 
 character of our religion, but will never be guilty 
 of disrespect, or even of inattention to the 
 teacher.
 
 60 PKISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 As with all others, I sought first to show them 
 that their own good was to be promoted in their 
 imprisonment, and especially in the intellectual 
 and religious instruction imparted to them. As 
 our acquaintance improved, the subject of religion 
 was of course more directly introduced. Believ- 
 ing as I do that the best method" is to show to 
 such as are in error, a more excellent way, I en- 
 deavored to teach and impress the mind with the 
 great essential truths of religion, and more especi- 
 ally the necessity of* coming to God through Jesus 
 our only mediator ; of seeking directly, every one 
 for himself, for pardon, salvation, and eternal life ', 
 and of searching the scriptures, that each might 
 know the way. I made no attack on " the Church,' 1 
 but urging the important doctrine and duties 
 above named, and exhorting them from Sabbath to 
 Sabbath, each man to give diligence to make his 
 calling and election sure, waited for these instruc- 
 tions and exhortations to produce their results. 
 Of course in a short time there would be an anxiety 
 to converse on some points of disagreement be- 
 tween the sentiments of the Bible and the teachings 
 of the priesthood, as also the various points of 
 difference between Protestants and Catholics. I 
 always aimed to deal frankly and with perfect hon- 
 esty in all such conversations. Though I never in-
 
 CATHOLIC CONVICTS. 61 
 
 dulge in harsh and uncharitable terms, yet I told to 
 them plainly and honestly, the difference between 
 the Protestant and Catholic versions of the Bible, 
 and said to them, " If you are not satisfied I will 
 procure you a copy of the ' Douay,' provided you 
 will read it with proper attention." I have gener- 
 ally found the Catholics the most attentive readers 
 of the Bible. And let me here bear testimony to 
 the transcendent power of that Book not only to 
 reach the heart and sound the depth of the unbeliv- 
 ing soul, but also to overthrow erroneous and false 
 doctrines, and lead into all truth. As one brought up 
 to revere the Holy Volume, and to look to it with 
 certain confidence in its inspiration, I had always 
 believed in its efficacy to save the soul. 
 
 The son of a mother who from a child had 
 known the scriptures, who had them substantially 
 imprinted on her memory, and who, when infirm 
 and blind, had such an undying attachment to God's 
 truth as to keep it where she could lay her hands 
 upon it, a mother whose whole life was a beauti- 
 ful comment on the faithfulness and purity and love 
 there taught, I say the son of such a mother 
 could but revere that "Book of Books." But 
 never did I see its power to correct false views of 
 religion as among that people. Could I be a con- 
 scientious Catholic priest, and believe that there 
 6
 
 62 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 could be no salvation out of that church, I should 
 dread the influence of the Bible more than all other 
 influences. Instead of burning heretics, I would 
 direct my attention to the book that so effectually 
 teaches the heresy. While the Bible is abroad 
 in the world, there is no safety for Catholicism. 
 A convict having read this blessed word of truth a 
 few weeks, asks, " Why do our priests keep this 
 book from us ? I can see nothing here of a bad 
 tendency, nothing to make a man the worse Chris- 
 ian, or citizen, or husband, or father, or sou." He 
 reads on, and again asks, "Why do not our 
 priests give us this book ? " I never found any- 
 thing that reached my heart like this ; it is just 
 what / want just what it seems to me every one 
 wants." I reply to such questions, " read on." 
 Here is the book ; God, in his providence has placed 
 it in your hands ; his Spirit indited it; go and 
 read read and pray pray and meditate. Let 
 no man, no Catholic, no Protestant dogmas divert 
 you from that work. Above you, and yet always 
 near you, is " the God with whom you have to do." 
 To Him, and Him alone, are you responsible. The 
 whole matter lies between Him and yourself. He 
 is the " true Shepherd," find your way as a lost 
 sheep back to Him. Read and remember there is 
 one God, and one mediator between him and guilty
 
 CATHOLIC CONVICTS. 63 
 
 man. With steady eye, and undivided attention, 
 and unshaken purpose seek through that Mediator 
 to find your way to the Father. Here I rest the 
 whole matter. I am not careful to express all my 
 views of the Church of Rome, though I always, as 
 I am able give reasons for my Protestant faith. 
 But I wish to induce that frame of mind, in which 
 God may speak to the erring, and awaken a 
 serious inquiry, " What is truth ? " My opinions 
 can have but little influence, and I choose that God 
 may, utter his voice. I am quite content to abide 
 the issue if the man will read his Bible, cherish 
 the Divine Spirit in its visits to the soul, and hon- 
 estly and earnestly pray to God. The affectionate 
 intercourse of the Chaplain, his faithful conversa- 
 tion, and fervent prayers, and occasional aid in re- 
 moving any seeming difficulties or apparent dis- 
 crepancies in the Bible ; all this is undoubtedly to 
 be prized. But after all, these are but of secondary 
 importance. 
 
 There is in this manner of dealing with Catholics, 
 something so fair and frank, something that so com- 
 mends itself to the man's good sense, something so 
 strikingly in contrast with all the teachings and in- 
 struction to which he has been accustomed, that a 
 most favorable impression is the result. If, added 
 to this, he sees the spirit of true Christianity, ex-
 
 64 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 emplified in the life of such as profess the Protest- 
 ant religion, there needs no controversy to deter- 
 mine the result. 
 
 I could give several instances of the efficacy of 
 this method of benefitting such men. One, the 
 reader will find in the case of " Thomas Carr" in 
 another chapter of this book. I will mention only 
 one other : a man, whose name perhaps I had bet- 
 ter withhold, some twenty-four years of age was a 
 few years since brought to our prison for the al- 
 leged attempt to abuse a female. The affair hap- 
 pened at an Irish drinking party, and whether any 
 one was really insulted, or if so, whether poor 
 
 C was the offender, no one knows, or ever 
 
 will know. C. was one of the few Irish laborers 
 who have been favored with the means of educa- 
 tion. He would be marked a medium scholar in 
 one of our New England schools. His father died 
 leaving him when quite young to the care of an ex- 
 cellent mother, who spared no pains or expense 
 within her means to benefit her son. Not only did 
 she send him constantly to the parish school, but 
 spent much time and labor to help on his educa- 
 tion. 
 
 At the same time she was greatly anxious to im- 
 press his mind with religious truth. She conversed 
 with him privately, read to him often from her Bi-
 
 CATHOLIC CONVICTS. 65 
 
 ble of the love and sufferings of Jesus, and other 
 interesting portions of the Sacred Writings, and 
 then kneeling down with him commended him to 
 God in solemn prayer. From the history of this 
 woman, as given by her son, I have no doubt she 
 was one of the most devoted of Christians. She in- 
 sisted on keeping and reading her Bible, and from 
 many of her remarks which have been repeated to 
 me by C., I believe she was one who held daily 
 and intimate communion with God, and whose 
 whole soul was fully consecrated to' Christ and His 
 cause. And who can doubt that there are such con- 
 secrated souls scattered among the millions of that 
 church ; keeping themselves pure, " fearing God 
 and working righteousness " according to their best 
 light, and being accepted of Him, in spite of the 
 corrupting influence of the " priestly intervention," 
 and kindred errors, and assisted by such great 
 fundamental truths as are taught in that church, 
 and through the Divine influence granted all who 
 sincerely seek after the truth. I am happy to be- 
 lieve a great multitude will come up at the last day 
 from the ranks of that church, whom God will ac- 
 knowledge as His people. I am the more confirmed 
 in this, by an acquaintance with the " Life and 
 writings of the Marquis de Renty," Thomas a Kem- 
 pis, Madame Guyon, and others who lived and
 
 66 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 died in that communion. Souls more truly sanc- 
 tified to God, never passed away from earth to 
 heaven. 
 
 The impressions made on the youthful mind of 
 C., by the faithful labors of his mother were very 
 strong. Often, said he, did I weep profusely over my 
 sins, as I thought of my Redeemer's sufferings, and 
 often felt a degree of peace and confidence. At 
 length by the marriage of the mother with a very 
 unworthy man, their little paradise was destroyed, 
 and all that had made life so pleasant was inter- 
 rupted. That husband was a drunkard, and 
 very abusive. The son could not see his good 
 mother suffer abuse without interference, and the 
 base man drove him from her. 
 
 A homeless wanderer, the poor unhappy boy for 
 a while retained his religious impressions. The 
 recollections of mother, and home, and the Bible, 
 and those seasons of blessed instruction and prayer 
 kept him from evil. But temptations arose, many 
 and strong. Little by little he yielded to them, 
 and especially that almost universal propensity 
 among the Irish, the use of intoxicating liquors. 
 Social, generous, intelligent, he was sought as a 
 companion in all the circles of his countrymen, and 
 at length his early religious training ceased to re- 
 strain. Not that he was an abandoned sinner ; his
 
 CATHOLIC CONVICTS. 67 
 
 one vice was intemperance, and that only on great 
 occasions, as fairs, or wakes, or holydays. It 
 was in this way, as I have before stated, that he 
 became charged with crime. The sight of a Pro- 
 testant Bible in his cell, and the idea of being shut 
 up with it, was to him quite repulsive. He had 
 supposed that the Protestant and Catholic versions 
 were no more alike, than the writings of Joe 
 Smith, and the Apostle Paul. For a long time the 
 book lay unopened on his shelf, but he was very 
 unhappy. Memory tormented him. The past was 
 always reproaching him ; God in heaven seemed 
 to frown upon him ; hell from beneath to await 
 his coming, and earth was utterly void of good for 
 him. 
 
 Slowly at last, and with some misgivings, he 
 raised his hand and took the volume and read. 
 How great was his surprise to find, that page after 
 page taught no other doctrine than that taught in 
 his mother's Bible. He read of the same God, 
 of the same Jesus, and of the same duties, re- 
 sponsibilities, promises, and warnings. His mind 
 was at once made up to converse freely with the 
 Chaplain, and to make known his state of mind. 
 It wad easy to convince him that he was lost and 
 undone without a Saviour, but not so easy for him 
 to learn the simple way to Christ. His sinful hab-
 
 68 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 its had operated to darken and confuse his mind, 
 and unfit him for the carrying out of a steady pur- 
 pose to throw himself on the Divine mercy. And 
 his old superstitions still clung to him ; so that 
 while his judgment, enlightened by scripture, de- 
 cided on their falsity, they still retained a hold on 
 him, of which he was hardly aware. He longed 
 for spiritual liberty, but for some time sought it in 
 vain. This state is forcibly described by that em- 
 inent Christian poet, Rev. Charles Wesley : 
 
 " My Saviour bids me come ; 
 Ah, why do I delay ; 
 He calls the weary sinner home, 
 And yet from Him I stay. 
 What is it keeps me back, 
 From which I cannot part; 
 Which will not let the Saviour take 
 Possession of my heart? " 
 
 The matter was made plain to him at last, and 
 singularly enough too, in a manner which I will 
 now relate, as he gave it to me. " I lay down at 
 night," said he, " after reading and praying long 
 and earnestly, and endeavoring to search out the 
 hindrance to my deliverance from sin. I pondered 
 over the subject, but could get no light, and 
 wept most bitterly. Weared out, at length I fell 
 asleep, and dreamed you came in, walking with an
 
 CATHOLIC CONVICTS. 69 
 
 uncommonly light and bouyant step, and coming 
 quickly up to me as I stood in tears said, C., here 
 is something for you, holding out to me a new shirt 
 of the most beautiful material I had ever seen. 
 This shall be yours if you will accept it. Over- 
 whelmed with gratitude, I hardly knew what to do 
 or what to think, but finally took the garment. You 
 said to me, put it on, otherwise you cannot have it. 
 I immediately attempted to do so, but found it a 
 most difficult matter to accomplish. After repeated 
 unsuccessful attempts I began to despair, when you 
 spoke to me and said, C., what are you trying to 
 do ? To put on that beautiful shirt you gave me. 
 "What ! over your old one ? I looked at my old 
 prison garment, and 0, how ragged and filthy. 
 Never did I see it look half so bad before. In 
 great disgust I laid hold of it, tearing it from 
 me and throwing it as far from me as I could. I 
 then with the most perfect ease threw on the new 
 one, which seemed almost of itself to take the 
 place of the old one. I looked at the new gar- 
 ment, fitting most perfectly and of the most beau- 
 tiful texture and whiteness, and such was my joy 
 that I sprang to my feet, and was at once wide 
 awake. 
 
 " And now all was made plain. I needed no one 
 to explain or comment on instruction thus commu-
 
 70 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 nicated by Him who ' speaketh to man by dreams 
 and visions of the night, that he may keep back 
 his soul from death.' I saw the whole, and look- 
 ing up to God, made the surrender required, quit- 
 ting, as I trust, forever, my dependence for salva- 
 tion on all others, and accepting Jesus. Instantly 
 I was filled with ' peace in believing, and joy in 
 the Holy Ghost,' and my whole soul adored the 
 1 riches of his grace.' " 
 
 In this frame I found him on the morning of a 
 beautiful Sabbath. A more joyous countenance I 
 never saw, nor have I often heard words more elo- 
 quently describe the emotions of a soul on fire. The 
 intelligent reader will need no notes by way of ex- 
 planation of this vision. C. had perhaps uncon- 
 sciously trusted, after all his care and caution, in 
 part, to some fragments of his old traditions, and 
 the instruction was not only beneficial in that hour 
 but was his directory for time to come. I know 
 not how a volume of Evangelical sermons could 
 have made the way more plain. " Vy capitals" 
 said a German convict to whom I related the story, 
 " veil, veil, Neander could not have done pettare." 
 He had studied under that great and good 
 theologian. 
 
 From the time of the " dream of the shirt," 0. 
 has gone on his way with much perseverance,
 
 CATHOLIC CONVICTS. 71 
 
 " hungering and thirsting after righteousness." 
 He has read with profit the writings of Dr. Up- 
 ham, and Wesley, and Fletcher, as well as the Bi- 
 ble, and the theme of inward holiness seems more 
 than any other to absorb his whole soul. He is 
 still in prison, and we cannot know for certainty 
 how he may conduct himself on attaining his lib- 
 erty, should he be spared to hail that event ; but he 
 gives bright promise of stability and usefulness.
 
 72 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 STATE PRISON RELIGION. 
 
 " I DON'T think much of State Prison religion," 
 said a learned and very respectable minister of the 
 gospel to me one day. Had the expression fallen 
 from the lips of one of the multitude, who think 
 lightly of religion itself, I should not have noticed 
 it at all ; for such entertain precisely the same opin- 
 ion of that reverend gentleman, and all his brethren 
 in the ministry and laity. And the skeptic assigns 
 the same reasons for his opinion that the above 
 named clergyman did, viz. : " I knew two or three 
 of them who professed religion in prison, and on 
 coming out, in a short time were as bad as ever." 
 Now I do not doubt the good brother's knowledge 
 of these instances of hypocrisy or apostacy, but I 
 object to his conclusion. The same method of 
 reasoning would fully sustain the skeptic in his 
 conclusions drawn against all religion. " I have 
 known two or three ministers who became wicked, 
 therefore I don't think much of the piety of minis- 
 ters." As I pondered over that expression, I was 
 sad. Is it so ? Is there, then, no hope for a poor
 
 STATE PRISON BELIGION. 73 
 
 sinner in prison? Must we conclude that they 
 who pass this gate can never in any wise enter 
 into life ? 
 
 But why not these be saved as well as other sin- 
 ners ? Have we not one Father, even God ? 0, 
 but they are so wicked. True, but " as I live, saith 
 the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of 
 the wicked, but rather that he turn and live ;" and 
 " though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made 
 whiter than snow." " Is anything too hard for 
 the Lord ? " 0, Christian ! let me ask whose 
 prayer was the last that fell on the ear of the dy- 
 ing Saviour ? Faintly he heard the trembling ac- 
 cents of a poor sinner's prayer ; and that sinner 
 was a felon. Who, of all the pardoned throng to 
 whom the Saviour spake forgiveness, was the last 
 accepted one ? A convict. Jesus lingered in the 
 pangs of his crucifixion, and in the more terrible 
 agonies of a soul made an offering for sin, that he 
 might save whom ? A rich sinner ? An honora- 
 ble sinner ? A sinner from among the princes ? 
 0, no ! that he might save a condemned malefac- 
 tor ! Blessed Jesus ! thy " grace aboundeth to 
 the chief of sinners." With an eye fixed on Cal- 
 vary, often have we joined in our prison worship 
 in singing, while almost every convict seemed to 
 melt with tenderness 
 7
 
 74 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 " 0, thou who hanged'st on a tree, 
 
 Our guilt and suffering to remove, 
 Pity the souls who look to thee, 
 And save us by thy dying love. 
 
 " Numbered among transgressors thou, 
 
 Between the felons crucified, 
 Speak to our hearts, and tell us now, 
 Wherefore hast thou for sinners died? 
 
 " For its wast thou not lifted up ? 
 
 For us a willing offering made? 
 That we the objects we might hope 
 Thou hast for us a ranson paid. 
 
 " ! might we, with believing eyes, 
 Thee in thy bloody vesture see, 
 And cast us on thy sacrifice ! 
 Jesus, my Lord, remember me." 
 
 Never will these seasons be forgotten, by me at 
 least. To see scores of rough men men long 
 unaccustomed to weep for sin subdued, humbled 
 before God, and evidently thinking with amaze- 
 ment and wonder on the condescending love of 
 Jesus, to see this, and then to feel 
 
 " The speechless awe that dares not move, 
 And all the silent heaven of love," 
 
 this, more than any thing I ever saw, illustrated 
 the saying, " This man receiveth sinners." 
 
 One of these prayer meetings is alluded to in 
 the following communication made to the editor of
 
 STATE PRISON RELIGION. 75 
 
 "Zion's Herald," by Rev. Martin C.'Briggs, now 
 president of the " University of the Pacific," and 
 published in that excellent paper, February 20th, 
 1850. 
 
 While I was in Concord, N. H., Rev. E. Smith, 
 Chaplain of the New Hampshire State Prison hon- 
 ored me with an invitation to attend a prayer 
 meeting in his charge, which I was' the more de- 
 sirous to do on account of having some old acquaint- 
 ances then boarding at the public expense, within 
 its walls rather a suspicious fact to confess through 
 the medium of your excellent paper. When the 
 prisoners came up from their cells into the prayer 
 room, it was not easy to repress the conviction 
 that I had been there before." 
 
 Mr. Briggs had several times preached to the 
 convicts and had taught some of them in our Prison 
 Sabbath School. To this, as above seen, he play- 
 fully alludes. 
 
 " In truth it was good to be there. It has not 
 often been my happiness to attend a meeting of 
 equal interest. The addresses to the Father were 
 in the main, intelligent, fervent and humble ; and 
 some gave penetrating evidence of deep and inti- 
 mate communion with God. The thought would 
 suggest itself, that it might be well to send 
 some forth to bless, by their example, the convicts
 
 76 PEISON EEMINISCENCES. 
 
 of a higher tribunal, without the circumvallations 
 of granite. 
 
 " Mr. Smith, notwithstanding the burden of en- 
 feebled health, has surmounted obstacles in the dis- 
 charge of his delicate duties as Chaplain, which 
 few men are bold enough to encounter. But the 
 cloud appeared at length on the horizon of assured 
 hope and a season of refreshing came. The good 
 seed sprang up with a rapidity of growth truly as- 
 tonishing and greatly to the praise of Him who 
 rewards the husbandman's toil with waving 
 harvests. 
 
 " Our brother now numbers about twenty in his 
 little flock, who give such evidences of piety 
 that even scoffers at inward religion, are compelled 
 to admit the validity of the change. This should 
 afford new courage to those who ' preach to the 
 spirits in prison.' " 
 
 To this I may add the following communication 
 giving an account of a religious awakening and 
 revival, in a State penitentiary during the present 
 year. 
 
 " Protestant Episcopal Convention for Illinois : 
 " This body held its session in Alton, week be- 
 fore last. The proceedings were of an interest- 
 ing character. Among other items, we notice the
 
 STATE PRISON RELIGION. 77 
 
 following, in connection with the State peniten- 
 tiary in Alton. 
 
 " The Convention adjourned at an early hour for 
 the purpose of proceeding to the penitentiary in 
 order to be present at the administration of the 
 solemn rite of confirmation, to a large number of 
 the convicts who have manifested a deep repentance 
 for their sins, for some months past. As about one 
 half of them had never been baptised, this sacred 
 ordinance was in the first place administered to 
 twenty-three of them, by Rev. Dr. McMasters, 
 Chaplain of the prison, under whose ministrations 
 they have been brought to a sense of their guilt, 
 followed by a solemn exhortation from the same 
 gentleman, and another from the Rev. Dr. Arnett, 
 of Milwaukie. 
 
 " After the close of this affecting ceremony, the 
 Bishop addressed the recipients, for the space of 
 perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes, in one of the 
 most powerful and eloquent exhortations to which 
 it has ever been our privilege to listen; and which 
 we are pursuaded, can never be forgotten by any 
 one who heard it, but of which, we feel unable to 
 give even a slight sketch. Suffice it to observe 
 that the strong walls and barred windows of the 
 hall in which the rite was performed, the prisoners, 
 nearly all of whom were bathed in tears, the 
 7*
 
 78 PRISON EEMINISCENCES. 
 
 deep and sympathetic emotion, visible in the coun- 
 tenances of the members of the Convention, and 
 other spectators, the solemn and earnest language 
 of the Bishop, and the deep tones of his voice, as 
 he briefly alluded to the past lives, the present con- 
 dition, and the future destiny of the persons to 
 whom he was speaking, altogether, formed a scene 
 such as probably never before has been witnessed 
 in the United States, or perhaps in any other 
 country, and which, we think cannot fail to make a 
 salutary impression not only upon those most 
 interested in it, but also upon every beholder." 
 
 I have also noticed an account of another re- 
 vival among the convicts of another State peniten- 
 tiary, in which a minister of the Baptist denomi- 
 nation, baptized a large number. Of the expedi- 
 ency of administering the Christian ordinance to 
 convicts, while in prison, I have not been fully per- 
 suaded ; but it will be seen that others, whom I am 
 quite willing to call wiser and better men, have 
 believed it right and duty. " Let every man be 
 fully persuaded in his own mind." With all this 
 weight of evidence, from respectable sources, I 
 have but little to add. The doubt entertained by 
 many as to the religion of the prisoners, it is pre- 
 sumed, does not, so far as Christians are concerned, 
 arise from any want of confidence in the goodness
 
 STATE PRISON RELIGION. 79 
 
 of God. Such cannot doubt the love of our 
 Heavenly Father, or the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 toward the vilest of sinners, and would be 
 ashamed to preach or to avow any other sentiment. 
 But the doubt arises from the improbability that 
 these men, so long accustomed to evil, will be per- 
 suaded to seek and obey the Lord. They are too 
 ignorant to know, or too depraved to embrace 
 " the truth as it is in Jesus." 
 
 To such I commend the arguments they them- 
 selves employ on behalf of missions to the Hot- 
 tentots, Caribs, and other of the more degraded of 
 the heathen. I know that many of the converts 
 are ignorant, but I know too, that Jesus' Gospel 
 comes 
 
 " A light in every heart to shine." 
 
 'And to them who sit in darkness, and in the re- 
 gion of the shadow of death, has great light 
 come." It has been abundantly demonstrated that 
 the Gospel can reach the heart and conscience of 
 the sinner, in the most degraded and benighted 
 condition, and that the idea once entertained that 
 such must first be civilized and then Christianized, 
 is just reversing the true order of things. " Strike 
 at the root ! aim at the heart," is the true Gospel 
 method.
 
 80 PEISON KEMINISCENCES. 
 
 0, let the poor ignorant man know that there is 
 .One above him who cares for him; tell him the 
 simple story of Calvary ; fix this in his mind, that 
 "Jesus loved and died for me," and add a knowl- 
 edge of the simple truths essential to a man's sal- 
 vation, and you have accomplished more than if 
 you had trained his intellect to the highest point 
 ever reached by man, and overlooked the heart. 
 It is also true that many of our convicts are very 
 wicked men. I say many, for there are some who 
 are mere children in years as well as knowedge ; 
 and others are not guilty of rejecting parental 
 counsel, and sporting with the tears and prayers 
 of a father and a mother, and trampling on the 
 writhing heart of a pious companion, but are men 
 whose sins, to some extent at least, are sins of ig- 
 norance. Now " why should it be thought by you a 
 thing incredible that God should raise the dead ? " 
 should bring from death to life these poor men ; or 
 even that more hardened sinners should at last 
 yield " to be saved by grace." 
 
 All who have attended our religious services, 
 will, I doubt not, agree with me, that a more at- 
 tentive and interested congregation can nowhere 
 bo found. During my ministry of nine years in 
 this prison, I never saw an indication of levity, or 
 an instance of apparent contempt for religious or-
 
 STATE PRISON RELIGION. 81 
 
 dinances. The convicts hear with deep and earn- 
 est attention, and often with tears. I am convinced 
 that there is a greater amount of deep and con- 
 scious feeling on religious subjects in this, than in 
 congregations in general. And, judging by what is 
 in other congregations deemed satisfactory evi- 
 dence, I have no doubt genuine conversions are 
 frequent. I know that we are here met with the 
 suggestion, that this is, in most cases, mere pre- 
 tence on the part of the convict, and is enacted 
 with the hope of securing favor, and perhaps ulti- 
 mate pardon. To this I desire to reply more at 
 large. 
 
 That there is an inducement to make a hypocrit- 
 ical profession of religion, I allow; but this induce- 
 ment is, I think, much overrated. I have never 
 urged, or heard urged by others, the piety of a 
 convict, as an argument for his liberation. 
 
 His peaceable and orderly habits are mentioned, 
 but never his religious pretensions. This is well 
 known to the convicts, as we are careful to present 
 no motives to induce hypocrisy ; and this objection 
 would lay equally against the piety of any other class 
 of persons. No one will deny that there are tempta- 
 tions to pretended piety everywhere. Here is a 
 mechanic, for instance, living in a village where the 
 business men are generally members of some influ-
 
 82 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 ential church. He sees that one of his calling 
 who belongs to that church, is preferred, in most 
 cases, to himself, and that his interest would be 
 much promoted by a religious profession, and a 
 connection with that prevailing denomination. 
 The same is true of the merchant, the lawyer, the 
 physician, and in fact, of all classes ; not even ex- 
 cepting the immaculate seeker after political office. 
 Now it is to be hoped few become members of a 
 church, from such base and unworthy motives ; but 
 still there is the inducement, as well as in the case 
 of the convict. All that can be done in any case 
 is to acquaint ourselves intimately with the pro- 
 fessed experience and life of the pretended con- 
 vert, and decide according to the Divine rule " By 
 their fruits ye shall know them." 
 
 Now as to the convicts, I have seldom been mis- 
 taken in the judgment I have formed as to their 
 piety. A man of ordinary sagacity and experience, 
 conversing intimately and confidentially with one, 
 through all the stages of his professed experience, 
 will be able, certainly in most cases, to detect hy- 
 pocrisy, and to discern between the true and the 
 false ; and this is the easier done in the case of 
 prisoners in general, than in that of others, who 
 have been educated to know everything about re- 
 ligious experience, and therefore better able to 
 deceive.
 
 STATE PRISON RELIGION. 83 
 
 I have often found individuals who would attempt 
 to deceive, but who, not knowing what really be- 
 longed to a true religious experience made a very 
 awkward business of it; and though perhaps a tear 
 should have been excited rather, still I have some- 
 times found it hard to suppress a smile at the 
 want of success of the poor wretch, in his attempt 
 to imitate the religion of Jesus. 
 
 Farther, I have always found that those who 
 gave good evidence of piety, were far less anxious 
 for pardon, than others. I have known many who 
 have assured me that they had no desire at the 
 present time, to be released, partly because they 
 were willing to suffer just punishment for- their 
 sins, and partly because they were convinced that 
 until their minds became further fortified against 
 temptation, and established in religion, they had 
 better remain in prison. And in cases of clear re- 
 ligious experience, though the man might desire 
 rather his liberty, yet there is always " resignation," 
 and a quiet waiting for the providence of God to 
 accomplish deliverance. I admit that, as a class, 
 convicts are not so stable as men in general. Of 
 course their religious impressions are not as likely 
 to be permanent ; but a very large proportion of 
 those who have died, have given good evidence 
 that they " died in faith, " and some have departed
 
 84 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 in much triumph. Beside these, I know of a con- 
 siderable number who are good and acceptable 
 members of the Christian church. 
 
 There was a young man who was possessed of 
 brilliant talents, but who, at the early age of 
 seventeen, was brought to prison. He was a con- 
 firmed infidel, and could use with much skill and 
 readiness all the infidel arguments, of all the 
 schools of infidelity. The word of God, however, 
 found way to his heart, and as I was speaking on 
 the general judgment, he became so powerfully 
 affected that he sprang from his seat, and rushing 
 by the officers, ran down into the hall, and threw 
 himself upon his couch, in awful agony. He soon 
 found deliverance, and is soon to graduate from a 
 Presbyterian Theological Seminary, having been 
 educated under the patronage of a celebrated 
 clergyman of that denomination. On the whole, I 
 find that in respect to religious matters, State 
 prisoners are not another race of beings, widely 
 separated from the mass of mankind, but that all 
 the characteristics of the human kind belong to 
 them. And this is likewise true, as to intel- 
 lect. Some seem to imagine that convicts are an 
 uncommonly dull and ignorant class, while others 
 imagine a set of men of great sprightliness, and 
 of intellect superior to men in general. I am per-
 
 STATE PRISON RELIGION. 85 
 
 suaded that the truth is with neither opinion, but 
 judging from the hundreds I have known, I rank 
 them with the community, and neither below or 
 above it. 
 
 In regard to education they are below the New 
 England medium, but fully equal to the average of 
 communities in other parts of the United States. 
 8
 
 86 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THOMAS CARR. 
 
 THOMAS CARR was physically and intellectually 
 an honor to that " finest pisintry in the world." 
 Of good form, and handsome features, and pos- 
 sessed of great kindness of heart, he was, from his 
 first corning among us, a great favorite with all the 
 officers. He was, in his religious training, and 
 honest convictions, a Catholic. His education was 
 otherwise neglected. He had not learned the 
 alphabet of the English language. At the time of 
 his commitment, a considerable number of the con- 
 victs, by permission of the Warden, held weekly 
 meetings for prayer and religious conversation ; 
 the meetings being conducted by the Chaplain. 
 The Sabbath services were also listened to with 
 interest and all the meetings were crowned with 
 the Divine blessing. 
 
 Tommy was quite attentive, though somewhat 
 suspicious of the character of our religion. In a 
 short time he appeared very thoughtful. I spoke 
 to him, kindly urging in a general manner the im- 
 portance of religion, without startling his preju-
 
 THOMAS CARE. 87 
 
 dices. For some time I saw Ms convictions were 
 deepening ; at length his feelings became so intense 
 that he, unsolicited by me, divulged them. 
 
 " Mr. Chaplain," said he, " I do not know what 
 to do ; my heart is very sad entirely. I say my 
 prayers over and over again, but I get no pace ; I 
 lie down at night and I get no pace. 0," said he, 
 as his tears fell fast, " what shall I do, your river- 
 ence ; what shall I do ? " I hastened to set be- 
 fore him the crucified Jesus as his only hope, and 
 fix his eye steadily on him. With some reluctance 
 he consented to attend our prayer meetings, and 
 bowed himself in supplication. After some time 
 spent in earnest and importunate prayer, in which 
 he cried aloud for pardon and forgivness, he, like 
 Jacob, prevailed and found deliverance. 
 
 0, how that face shone, as did that of the an- 
 cient Prophet. And with what true Irish eloquence 
 did he give glory to God for his wonderful deliver- 
 ance, " 0, glory be to Jesus ! " exclaimed he, " I 
 find that this way of praying and confession does 
 the business ; I am blist ! 0, I am blist entirely ! " 
 We wept together tears of grateful joy, and from 
 that time Tom went on his way rejoicing. " Show 
 me the name of Jesus," said he to me one day, 
 handing to me the Bible. I did so ; he looked 
 at it a long time steadily, and at length hia
 
 88 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 eyes filled with tears, "01 think I shall know it," 
 said he, with deep emotion. 
 
 But cannot I learn to read his words for myself? 
 he inquired ; I assured him of assistance, and that 
 by close application he might soon be able to 
 search the blessed record, and read and understand 
 the truths that make wise unto salvation. And 
 in a few months he made such proficiency as to 
 make out pretty accurately whole chapters. He 
 also took great delight in committing hymns. 
 Some students of the Methodist Theological Insti- 
 tute gave him a fine copy of the hymn book, and 
 at his death I found the leaves on which the most 
 devotional hymns are, very much worn. Such hymns 
 as that commencing, " Alas, and did my Saviour 
 bleed," and " Plunged in a gulf of deep despair," 
 were evidently much studied. 
 
 He seemed anxious to learn to write, and on 
 procuring him a slate, he discovered a most re- 
 markable readiness in acquiring this branch of 
 knowledge. From his first attempt he would imi- 
 tate my copies almost perfectly, following copy, de- 
 fects and all, with most amazing accuracy. One 
 day on passing his cell he held up his slate filled 
 with well formed letters, though at this time he 
 could not read a word. " See ! " said he, his honest 
 face glowing with commendable pride at his success.
 
 THOMAS CAKE. 89 
 
 I looked, and found that the roguish young fellow 
 on guard had set him for a copy a most wicked 
 sentence, which Tom had fully written out to the 
 bottom of his slate, imitating every letter without 
 knowing one of them. I commended his skill, and 
 dashed out the writing, and Tom never knew but it 
 was a very fine passage of scripture. 
 
 Thus he continued to make rapid advancement 
 as well in reading, spelling, and writing, as in re- 
 ligious knowledge and experience. But his time 
 was short. Suddenly he was found laboring under 
 a disease which, though unattended with pain, rapidly 
 undermined the foundations of life. He was aware 
 of it, but only rejoiced, " because," said he, " I shall 
 go to Jesus. " Through his last sickness all was 
 calm and tranquil, and his sun set without a cloud. 
 That dying scene is indelibly impressed on my mem- 
 ory. All was silent in that gloomy apartment but 
 the slow, hard breathing of the dying man. I 
 prayed and rejoiced with him. " 0," said he, "you 
 told me of Jesus, and how to find him. I love 
 every body, but you more than all, and next to 
 Jesus. 0, how I wish I had something to leave 
 you as a token of my gratitude ; " as if recollect- 
 ing, " 0," said he, " I have a five cent piece, will 
 you please accept it, and let it bring to your mind 
 Tommy Carr when I am in heaven."
 
 90 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Ah, had it been as many thousand dollars it could 
 not have made more apparent the gratitude of that 
 honest heart, now faintly beating its last pulsa- 
 tions. Opening his eyes, and smiling as he looked 
 around on us, then closing them with expressions 
 of holy triumph, he ceased to breathe. 
 
 0, what a transition from a prison to a pal- 
 ace ; with what transports did that spirit look out 
 upon the heavenly city 
 
 " That city so holy and pure, 
 No sorrow can breathe in its air." 
 
 How strange a liberation ; at once from the cold 
 walls of stone and from the walls of flesh. How 
 strangely changed his companions 1 From a sad 
 company of gloomy, guilty convicts, to an innumer- 
 able company, glorious, triumphant, " brighter than 
 the noonday sun." 
 
 In our city cemetery, in the " Prisoners' Lot," re- 
 pose the mortal remains of Thomas Carr. The 
 foot prints of parent, brother, sister, marked not 
 the path to that lone home ; but rest, my brother, 
 
 "Peaceful in thy grave so low." 
 
 " God, thy Redeemer lives, 
 And ever from the skies 
 Looks down, and watches all thy dust, 
 'Till he shall bid it rise."
 
 THOMAS CARR. 91 
 
 No stone marks the place, but the grave of little 
 Benjamin, the lamented of his father, the President 
 of the United States, reposing near by, shall be 
 no more faithfully remembered than thine, nor 
 shall it at the resurrection yield up a form more 
 glorious.
 
 92 PEISON EEMDTISCENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 HICKS, THE BURGLAE. 
 
 THE name of this individual is familiar with 
 many, and his history suggests some useful thoughts, 
 and may, perhaps, be read with interest and profit. 
 The above is not his sirname, but the one by 
 which he was generally known. In person, Hicks 
 was of small size, but possessed of great muscular 
 strength and activity. There was something in 
 his countenance which indicated intellect set in 
 motion. His mind was incessantly active, and was 
 capable of grasping almost any subject, and pur- 
 suing it with steadiness and accuracy. But his 
 early training was very defective. A strong hand 
 should have controlled him, and a strict discipline 
 checked his waywardness, and sleepless love should 
 have watched over his youth. 
 
 Unfortunately he never had a father to control 
 and guide him in his childhood and youth, and he 
 was too impulsive and obstinate for the feeble 
 hand of a mother. He soon went beyond her con- 
 trol, and became known as a daring and reckless
 
 HICKS, THE BURGLAR. 93 
 
 lad, possessed of some fine traits of character, but 
 of others of an opposite and dangerous kind. 
 His moral sense s-eems never to have been but im- 
 perfectly developed. 
 
 He acquired a tolerably good English education, 
 and was quite fond of reading, and very fluent in 
 conversation. His views of religion were very pe- 
 culiar. He professed to believe without a doubt in 
 the existence and the providence of God, and few 
 could state, or defend more clearly and skillfully 
 those great doctrines than Hicks. But he never 
 could be persuaded of the doctrines peculiar to 
 Christianity. He seemed to treat the subject with 
 candor, and was never to my knowledge, guilty of 
 rudeness towards any whom he thought sincere 
 in their professions of piety. But the idea of a 
 scheme of pardon, the saving without inflicting 
 merited punishment, the " forgiving iniquity, trans- 
 gression and sin," he was quite unwilling to re- 
 ceive. He professed to believe that God, the 
 father of all, delighted in justice, and in his admin- 
 istration would at some time, and in some way, 
 bring it to pass ; and further, that he employed 
 right-minded men to assist him in his administra- 
 tion of justice upon the earth. If one is an op- 
 pressor and unjust, if he is illiberal or an extor- 
 tioner, and human laws will not or do not reach
 
 94 PBISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 him, it becomes the duty of a lover of justice to 
 make the matter right. He should, in the most 
 convenient way, dispossess the rich man of his ill- 
 gotten gain, and restore it to its proper owner, or 
 to some of the same class. Thus the extortioner 
 and oppressor would be taught a salutary lesson, 
 and find that " riches gotten by deceit are soon 
 wasted; " the poor man, while he was made com- 
 fortable in his circumstances, would learn to be 
 patient and to bear up under the ills of life until 
 justice came to his relief. 
 
 Now whether Hicks' thievish propensity sug- 
 gested this theory, " the wish being father to the 
 thought," or whether his doctrine led to his practice, 
 or whether each gave strength and activity to the 
 other, is left to the judgment of the reader. Such 
 were his avowed sentiments, and such his acknowl- 
 edged course of life. I have never seen a man 
 who, in my opinion, so faithfully represented the 
 celebrated chieftains of brigands of the Old "World, 
 in these things ; and had the physical and moral 
 conditions of our country been similar to that of 
 some others, I should have looked for him as the 
 renowned leader of an hundred desperate men. 
 He would have inspired them with confidence in 
 his leadership, and the most unbounded attachment 
 to himself. He would have nerved them up to
 
 HICKS, THE BUEGLAR. 95 
 
 efforts the most hazardous, and to the endurance 
 of great fatigue. He would have cultivated in 
 them the kindliest affections toward the poor and 
 suffering, and checked all the remonstrances of 
 conscience by making them the champions of jus- 
 tice, the friends of the poor, and the protectors of 
 the weak. He would have fed the hungry and 
 clothed the naked as zealously and as kindly as a 
 Christian man could do ; and the luckless free- 
 booter who should have been known to injure the 
 person or the property of a weak, defenceless, or 
 destitute person, would have brought down the most 
 terrible punishment upon his devoted head. 
 
 His resources would, of course, have been drawn 
 from the affluent ; the pockets, or the shop, or the 
 parlor, of the wealthy, and especially such as had 
 acquired their wealth by unjust or oppressive 
 measures. His men would have been trained to 
 the most exact justice among themselves, and no 
 disorderly member would have been suffered to 
 remain among them. No cruelties would have 
 been allowed except in cases of " necessity." They 
 would have been trained to rob with politeness, 
 and to disburse to the needy with great liberality 
 and cheerfulness. In a word, he would have been 
 the American " Rob Roy" But the state of things 
 in our land is not favorable to such organization.
 
 96 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 The depredator here, generally finds it safest to 
 go forth in his " individual capacity," or at most, to 
 take in but a single partner. Here a reader stops 
 short and throws out some intimations about some- 
 body plundering the people. I do not know that 
 I get his meaning, but it is something about getting 
 an "act of incorporation," and "worthless stock," 
 and " over issue," and the " defaulting of gentle- 
 men of our first families." 
 
 I presume, however, the man does not mean 
 anything serious, only disposed to be a little face- 
 tious ; it can't be that he intends to be understood 
 that the transactions hinted at are robberies. O, 
 no, you do not feel a robber's hand in your pocket, 
 or hear his footsteps in your parlor, or see his 
 beautiful revolver with its many eyes, looking you 
 in the face. To be sure, the property is gone, but 
 " are they not all honorable men ? " 
 
 I am not prepared to give the whole history of 
 Hicks, if indeed it were desirable to do so. He 
 is said to have committed many daring robberies, 
 and to have plundered property to a considerable 
 amount. He was generally successful in evading 
 his pursuers, and while the officers of justice were, 
 as they supposed, in close pursuit of him, he would 
 be in some other locality, " driving a rousing busi- 
 ness." He often made hair breadth escapes from
 
 HICKS, THE BURGLAR. 97 
 
 the many who were ambitious to take one so re- 
 nowned, or were stimulated by the offer of a rich 
 reward. Frequently did he suffer much from cold, 
 and hunger, and fatigue. On one occasion, having 
 made a successful attempt to replenish his funds, 
 he found that his "cash on hand," amounted to 
 one hundred dollars. His first care was, at the 
 setting in of night, to find food, for he was almost 
 famished. He was on one of the Green Mountains 
 of Vermont, and wandered long, and suffered much; 
 at length he discovered a small, poor looking 
 house, and on arousing the inmates, found it ten- 
 anted by a poor widow, recently bereft of her hus- 
 band, and with a large family of children. He 
 spake kindly to the woman, giving her assurance 
 of safety, and she brought out her little store of 
 food, a large proportion of which Hicks eagerly 
 devoured, and then, after a little rest, taking out a 
 very small sum from his one hundred dollars, 
 placed the rest in the hand of the widow, with his 
 warmest thanks for her hospitality. This trait of 
 character was always very prominent in his prison 
 life. His sympathies were always active where he 
 knew of flie sufferings of any of the convicts. On 
 no other occasion did he ever evince a wish that I 
 should evade or violate any rule of the prison. 
 But several times, (and sometimes with tears,) did 
 9
 
 98 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 he urge me to take portions of his own food, or 
 tobacco, to men, who either by the order of the 
 physician, or as a punishment for insubordination, 
 were deprived of their ordinary rations. And if 
 any one was evidently destroying his health by 
 vicious indulgence, or if any were unable to read 
 or write, it was wonderful how a man of his habits 
 of life should show such evident proofs of a sym- 
 pathetic feeling and generous heart. On one occa- 
 sion he attempted to correspond with another con- 
 vict, which was, of course, a violation of the prison 
 rules. A few lines written by H. and directed to 
 the other prisoner, was put into the clothing that 
 had been washed, so that when distributed the let- 
 ter would find its place, when the man who works in 
 that department had made the proper assignment 
 of the articles. Of course, that functionary, though 
 entirely innocent, was suspected, and his denial of 
 any knowledge of the affair was not satisfactory 
 proof of his innocence. Circumstantial evidence 
 was strong against him, and poor G. was marched 
 off to No. 1, as that undesirable locality designed 
 for the accommodation of unruly convicts, is called. 
 The Old Man refused to " own up," and his sup- 
 posed obstinacy was likely to cost him a long con- 
 finement. 
 
 By some means the matter became suspected by
 
 HICKS, THE BURGLAR. 99 
 
 Hicks, who sent a request for the officer to call at 
 his cell. "Sir," said Hicks, "will you tell me 
 whether the Old Man G. is in No. 1?" "Why, 
 what is that to you ? " responded the officer. 
 " Perhaps nothing," said Hicks, " but if he is there 
 for writing that letter, or for having any knowledge 
 of it, he should be at once released, and I should 
 take his place, which I am now ready and anxious 
 to do." He was informed of the fact, and at once 
 started and followed the officer to the solitary cell, 
 and expressing the utmost sorrow for poor G., en- 
 tered cheerfully the lone place. I do not think his 
 confinement was very long, nor his " suffering intol- 
 erable," for that officer was capable of fully appre- 
 ciating such an honorable act as he had witnessed ; 
 an act that would do honor to any one in like cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 I have named these incidents in this place, out 
 of their order of time, because I wished to give 
 an illustration of his character. I now return to his 
 history. After many unsuccessful attempts, he was 
 at last arrested, tried, and sentenced to the Ver- 
 mont State Prison, where he spent several years. 
 On coming out he immediately commenced his old 
 practices, and soon had another company of sher- 
 iff's at his heels. More than once he was arrested, 
 but by some cunning manoeuvre or some desperate
 
 100 PBISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 effort, he would succeed in escaping again. At 
 length he was taken and confined in the County 
 Jail in Charlestown, N. H. "While awaiting his 
 trial, he, with another prisoner, set fire to their 
 apartment to just burn their way out. But the 
 fire kindled and burned more fiercely than they had 
 expected or desired, and at length they found them- 
 selves compelled to cry "Jire," and alarm the peo- 
 ple. " The miserable sleepy fellows ! " said he, in 
 relating the story, " it did seem that they had no 
 regard for us, and were willing to jeopardise our 
 valuable lives." After a long time the inhabitants 
 began to wake up and to bestir themselves. They 
 had, however, waited so long, that it was not ne- 
 cessary to strike a light to find where the fire was. 
 The whole building was in flames, and all of the 
 exertions of the villagers was not sufficient to 
 check the devouring element. It " broke jail," and 
 went out destroying dwellings, stores, offices, out- 
 houses, and the beautiful Unitarian Church, one 
 of the most costly and beautiful edificies in the 
 state. Poor Charlestown suffered a calamity from 
 which it has not yet fully recovered. 
 
 Hicks was charged with arson, brought to trial, 
 convicted, and sentenced to imprisonment for life 
 On arriving at the prison he seemed rather sad, 
 and yet no way desponding. The massive walls
 
 HICKS, THE BURGLAR. 101 
 
 and strong doors looked rather forbidding, but he 
 was not the man to give up without a trial. Year 
 after year his ever active mind was intensely em- 
 ployed in forming some plan of escape. But this 
 (such is the modern arrangements of prisons, 
 and such the caution of the officers,) is no easy 
 task. At night, the most favorable time for such 
 an attempt, the hall in which the sleeping apart- 
 ments are situated, is well lighted, and an armed 
 man is always on his feet, and many others within 
 call. The cells are not built against the walls of 
 the building, but in the centre of the hall, so that 
 should a convict dig out, he would find himself still in 
 the prison, alone with an armed man, and if he 
 could overcome him so quickly as to give no alarm, 
 it would require more than three hours (the time 
 allotted to a watch,) for the convict to work his 
 way through stone and iron, into liberty. This is 
 so well known that few are bold enough to at- 
 tempt an escape. But Hicks could not bow his 
 spirit to patient bondage. In company with some 
 half dozen others he laid a plan for escaping which 
 had well nigh been successful. The plot was a 
 good one, and all the actors Averc ready to per- 
 form their parts severally assigned, but one of 
 their number treacherously revealed the whole 
 matter, and the poor fellows saw enough to con- 
 9*
 
 102 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 vince them that they were suspected and watched ; 
 so the planning and hard labor of six months was 
 all lost. 
 
 "With the failure of this, his great and ingeni- 
 ous plan, Hicks was quite'disheartened. He gave 
 up all hope of escape, and became quite sad. His 
 native good humor and cheerfulness quite forsook 
 him. He fell into a sour, complaining frame of 
 mind, and from this time was an uncomfortable 
 prisoner. Several instances of disobedience were 
 passed over without summary punishment, and 
 when at last it .became absolutely necessary to 
 subdue him, he made a desperate attempt to reach 
 the officer with a knife which he had concealed. 
 Assisted by a convict, the officer succeeded in 
 subduing and securing him, but not until he had 
 broken the back of his hand badly by striking it 
 against an iron instrument with which the convict 
 was trying to secure him. "With this encounter 
 the poor fellow gave up all hope either of escape 
 or resistance, and seemed more than ever broken 
 down in spirit, humbled, but sullen. He, however, 
 always conversed pleasantly with his chaplain, and 
 seemed anxious to please him. 
 
 His health now began gradually to decline, and 
 it became quite evident that his constitution was 
 yielding under the pressure of a prison life of nine
 
 HICKS, THE BURGLAR. 103 
 
 years, made more unendurable by the ceasless ac- 
 tivity of a mind that could not rest. 0, how ex- 
 cellent, coming in at this time, would have been 
 the light and strength of religion. 
 
 Now, when all hope of pardon was gone, when 
 health had fled, and not a solitary star of hope 
 appeared to give promise for the future, how 
 would the wretched man have found in the "love 
 of God shed abroad in the heart," the blessedness 
 that never faileth. Could that deathless spirit 
 that had so long " sought rest, and found none," 
 but have returned to "its rest," then had his set- 
 ting sun, so long and dreadfully obscured by clouds 
 and tempests, shone out clearly at its decline. 
 
 These thoughts often passed through the mind 
 of one who felt deeply for his spiritual welfare. 
 The subject of the soul's salvation was often pre- 
 sented and urged, I dare not say with all possible 
 diligence, or faithfulness, or affection, but at least 
 with some frequency and feeling. The poor man, 
 however, though perfectly respectful in his deport- 
 ment, and evidently capable of appreciating the 
 kindness of a friend, evinced no desire for the 
 great blessing urged upon his attention. With 
 the most perfect composure he saw his flesh and 
 strength decay. Nerving himself for the last trial 
 of his firmness, he waited the approach of death.
 
 104 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 But how different from the calm trusting confidence 
 of a dying Christian man. It evidently required 
 great effort to maintain his firmness, and there was 
 no comfort, no hope, no triumph. Just before he died, 
 being alone with him, and feeling an intense desire 
 to say something that might reach his heart, I ad- 
 dressed him very plainly. He saw my deep emo- 
 tion, and seemed attentive. I said to him, "Hicks, 
 it is an overwhelming thought, that I am now sit- 
 ting beside a man who will be dead to-morrow ; 
 that I now speak to a man to whom I cannot speak 
 to-morrow, that I have now prayed with one who 
 will never pray after this day, that I am alone 
 with one who soon must open his eyes on the 
 changeless scenes of eternity '." I paused and looked 
 him full in the face. A single tear started, and 
 stood on his cheek. I waited for a word from 
 him, inwardly praying God to incline his soul to 
 repentance. After a minute's pause he spoke. 
 " Mr. Smith will you be so kind as to bring me in 
 some bits of paper with which to cover my medi- 
 cine ? " I went out, too sorrowful to weep. His 
 last words were but no, I will not write them. 
 Young men let this brief history instruct you. 0, 
 let not the possession of some good points of char- 
 acter, kindness, benevolence, or any commendable 
 trait, be made your excuse for immorality or irre-
 
 HICKS, THE BURGLAR. 105 
 
 ligion. The evil will grow with your growth, and 
 strengthen with your strength, overshadowing the 
 good which, like a shaded, sickly plant, will strug- 
 gle for a poor existence, and die out ; while plants 
 of noxious quality will grow with rank luxuriance, 
 and bear their deadly fruits. Give diligence to 
 forsake the way of the foolish and live. "Avoid 
 that which is evil cleave to that which is good." 
 And most of all, go and wash in that fountain 
 for sin and uucleanness opened in the gospel of 
 Jesus. Go, all polluted and perishing; go, and 
 in that fountain, surpassing in its healing virtues 
 infinitely, 
 
 "Bethesda's pool, or famed Siloam's flood," 
 
 find moral purity, the foundation of a holy life, a 
 triumphant death, and a fitness for a resurrection 
 to eternal life and heaven.
 
 106 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE GIPSEY FAMILY. 
 
 THERE lives in the eastern part of New Hamp- 
 shire, a family rejoicing in the rather unpoetic 
 name of " Leathers." It is said they are the de- 
 scendants of a Gipscy family who came to that 
 place at an early day, and who for several genera- 
 tions have been in all respects, remarkable for 
 possessing the traits of character peculiar to that 
 strange class of human beings. 
 
 Who has not known the " Lealherses ? " Who 
 but he " to dumb forgctfulness a prey," will not 
 recollect how they came year after year, " heavily 
 freighted " with brooms and baskets, and with the 
 various articles of produce taken in exchange and 
 intended for "home consumption." Theirs was 
 an interesting portion of our " internal," and even 
 of our coast-wise trade. Their manner of living 
 approached very near to that of primitive simpli- 
 city. They have never coveted the costly elegan- 
 cies of "modern degenerates" The neighbor of 
 this ancient family 
 
 " Sees no contiguous palace rear its head 
 To shame the meanness of his humble shed."
 
 THE GIPSEY FAMILY. 107 
 
 In a word, in habitation, furniture, apparel, and 
 all the details of domestic life, they were Gipseys. 
 And let none do them the injustice to suppose that 
 they were useless; for better brooms and baskets 
 were nowhere to be had, " terms easy," and pay- 
 ment in anything eatable, drinkable, wearable, or 
 miscellaneous. But disturbances will take place 
 in the best regulated families. It was the fault of 
 this, that love- of intoxicating liquors was inherent, 
 and as far as means would allow, cultivated. Many 
 a hard earned dollar has gone for very poor New 
 England Rum. Many a well filled jug from the 
 shops of "gentlemen " traders, has made its advent 
 into the unpretending habitations of this family, 
 and many a night has been made hideous to the 
 neighborhood compelled to listen, first to the in- 
 cipient skirmish, and then to the sound of general 
 action, as the combat thickened. The aggregate 
 of courageous and well sustained conflicts kept 
 up by this family through all its generations, would 
 (for aught I know to the contrary) have been suf- 
 ficient to take " Sebastapol." 
 
 At length, in one of these contests, one of their 
 number, an old man, received from the hand of 
 Eben Leathers, Jr., a blow with a billet of wood, 
 which caused his death in a few hours. Eben, sen- 
 ior, a brother of the murdered man, Eben, Jr., and
 
 108 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Robert, a brother of the last named, were ar- 
 raigned, tried, and sentenced alleged crime, 
 murder in the second degree sentence of Eben, 
 Jr., "twenty, of the other two, fifteen years hard 
 labor in the State Prison." It was sad to see the 
 old man, seventy-four years of age, with his two 
 sons, both having families, enter the prison on a 
 charge of so aggravating a character, and for a 
 term of years that seemed to make it impossible 
 that either of them would go out alive. And now 
 the work of the court is ended ; the people of 
 the neighborhood relieved of what they considered 
 a large portion of a great nuisance ; and outraged 
 justice likely to obtain redress. But the Chap- 
 lain's responsibilities here commence. Can any- 
 thing be done for these poor men ? Is there a 
 deathless spirit shut up in those rude habitations 
 of flesh and blood ? Is that spirit capable of 
 knowing, loving, and .enjoying God ? And can it 
 be reached? These were questions of vast im- 
 portance, for duty was to be determined by the 
 conclusion. The common sentiment was, "you 
 can't do anything with a Leathers, no use to try; 
 can't learn can't make them understand not 
 like other folks." 
 
 But another voice says, they are God's creatures. 
 "All souls are mine saith the Lord." These, then
 
 THE GIPSEY FAMILY. 109 
 
 are some of his treasures that have been buried 
 up ; deeply, darkly buried. If not his brightest jew- 
 els, they are by him deemed worth saving, and they 
 are thy kindred immortals, sharing the same divine 
 care and oversight ; redeemed on the same cross ; 
 accessible to the same spiritual influence ; candi- 
 dates for the same heaven. This is sufficient. The 
 path of duty is now plain now then to the 
 work. 
 
 The efforts to teach them to read were nearly 
 fruitless. In respect to the old man there seemed 
 no hope. Robert, after a short trial, gave up. 
 Eben, though he made considerable effort, for years 
 was not able to read so as to be profited. But oral 
 instruction succeeded much better. Great pains 
 were taken to make a few of the most vital truths 
 of religion plain, and to accustom their minds to 
 sober thought. In language they could understand, 
 and by methods of reasoning on a level with their 
 capacity, they were taught their relation and duty 
 to God and man, and the consequences of a virtu- 
 ous and vicious life. 
 
 The aged man often wept when I spoke to him 
 of these things, and expressed much regret that 
 his life had been misspent. He seemed desirous 
 to know and practice better things, and I am in- 
 formed that since his liberation (which was by 
 10
 
 110 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 pardon) lie has shown that the labor bestowed on 
 him was not lost. Robert was very soon after his 
 committal the subject of religious impressions, and 
 his improvement in general knowledge quite en- 
 couraging. At length, after some weeks of evident 
 deep conviction, and seasons of earnest prayer, in 
 which the poor fellow often lifted up his voice and 
 wept aloud, he seemed to find his way to the cross. 
 
 It was wonderful how clear and intelligent his 
 views of religious truth became. No one could 
 well doubt that he had been with Jesus and learned 
 of him. The love of Christ seemed shed abroad 
 in his heart, and to be the all absorbing theme of 
 his thoughts and conversation. 
 
 His conduct was from that time perfectly exem- 
 plary, and to the time of his pardon, I never heard 
 a word spoken of Robert that did not justify his 
 profession. His health slowly declined after a 
 few years' imprisonment, and for a long time he 
 seemed sinking to the grave with pulmonary com- 
 plaints. During his confinement to the hospital 
 he manifested the utmost reconciliation to the 
 Divine Will. Always obedient, cheerful, and full 
 of holy hope, all connected with the prison were 
 accustomed to say " if there is a Christian among 
 us, it is Robert." In consideration of his excel- 
 lent character as a prisoner, and his very low state
 
 THE GIPSEY FAMILY. Ill 
 
 of health, indicating plainly that he could not long 
 maintain his hold on life, especially in prison, ho 
 was pardoned, and I rejoice to be able to say that 
 he is reported as maintaining well his religious 
 profession. 
 
 Eben Leathers was in some respects quite unlike 
 his brother. He was a man of great muscular 
 strength, but very sluggish, and his intellect infe- 
 rior to that of Robert. His temper, especially 
 when aroused by intoxication, was terrible. At 
 the times of general conflict spoken of heretofore, 
 Eben always sought the thickest of the fight, and 
 when he fought all fell before him. He seemed 
 skilled in- bringing into the encounter every availa- 
 ble means of attack or repulse, clubs, stones, brick- 
 bats, feet, fists, teeth, were all employed, and all 
 to the best possible advantage. Poor Robert's 
 nasal organ is minus a considerable portion, which 
 it is said his warlike brother bit off, and as if re- 
 solved that the family should lose nothing, delib- 
 erately chewed and swallowed it. And he gave 
 the fatal blow when his old uncle fell, and for 
 whose killing the three were imprisoned. 
 
 The progress of poor Eben was painfully slow. 
 There was no sudden emergence into light, no 
 rapid marches up the hill of science, noByronic flight, 
 
 " Scaling -with case those heights 
 Where angels bashful look."
 
 112 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Still there was progress ; plain truths were appre- 
 hended, dimly at first, for like the ancient blind 
 man, he saw " men as trees walking." But " la- 
 bor omnia vincit." It was clear that the thinking 
 machinery was in motion, though that motion was 
 slow and irregular. 
 
 He seemed anxious to learn, and especially in 
 respect to religious matters. Great pains were 
 taken to set forth and explain religious truth ; and 
 it was wonderful how that glorious system into 
 which " angels desire to look," and which furnishes 
 scope for the most powerful intellect, "conde- 
 scended " to this " man of low estate." He saw, 
 and began to comprehend its vital points, and his 
 moral feelings were soon affected. His lost con- 
 dition, his manifold wickedness, his terrible expo- 
 sure, were beginning to be to him fearful realities, 
 and he was often found in tears tears of true 
 penitence. 
 
 The duty of prayer was of course urged, and 
 as opportunity presented, he seemed to join with 
 great anxiety. On some occasions, not satisfied 
 with the prayer offered for him, or with his own 
 mental sighing after pardon and peace, he. prayed 
 aloud. It would not be expected that his language 
 on such an occasion would be captivating to " ears 
 polite," or of the most appropriate character ; and
 
 THE GIPSEY FAMILY. 113 
 
 yet, in his way, he gave evidence that he had some 
 just views of his true condition and his wants. I 
 well remember that he would often pray on this 
 wise, " Lord, I sped I'se been a drifful critter, 
 a tebble bad man, but du you forgive, du pray for- 
 give ; I know Jesus died for me, and for all poor 
 sinners. 0, forgive." "And this poor man cried, 
 and the Lord heard him, and delivered him out of 
 all his troubles." 0, how much more acceptable 
 to God such a cry, coming up from a penitent and 
 contrite heart, than that "most elegant prayer, ad- 
 dressed to a most fashionable congregation, by a 
 most learned and accomplished, but unconverted 
 minister. 
 
 " Vainly we offer each ample oblation, 
 Vainly with gold would his favor secure ; 
 Richer by far is the heart's adoration, 
 Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor." 
 
 There was nothing remarkable in the experience 
 of this man, only as its points seemed more excel- 
 lent in one who had been so debased. That the 
 prophet's great valley was filled with a host of 
 living men, was not remarkable. But the wonder 
 was that countless dry and scattered fragments 
 of the human form should rise up in life and vigor 
 and beauty. And to the moralist, and especially 
 the Christian, there is much of interest in remark- 
 10*
 
 114 PRISON REMINISCENCES* 
 
 ing how humanity in its lowest forms, is capable 
 of receiving the life divine. The material is 
 rough, and incapable of a high polish, but may, 
 notwithstanding, receive the Divine Image. And 
 how blessed to trace the image of the heavenly, 
 though roughly sketched, on an immortal spirit. 
 Eben, from this time, was patient, obedient, and 
 evidently possessed of love to God and all around 
 him, and in all respects demeaned himself as a new 
 man; and thus he finished up what remained to 
 him of life, fully trusting to the last in the Lord 
 Jesus. 
 
 It is remarkable that this singular family, though 
 fitted in their physical organization for great en- 
 durance, and who encountered all the privations, 
 exposures, and excesses of their wandering and 
 intemperate lives, without the least premature de- 
 cay, should, on their confinement, soon decline, 
 and every possible effort of skill and kindness, fail 
 to restore them. We have before noticed that the 
 father and Robert were pardoned, as their only 
 chance for life. 
 
 Eben, being more guilty in the affair, was re- 
 tained, and sunk gradually away and died. lie 
 retained his reason to the last, seemed perfectly 
 conscious that his hour was come, and to the end
 
 THE GIPSEY FAMILY. 115 
 
 maintained a childlike and unshaken confidence in 
 the great Redeemer. 
 
 Thus, while the " wise and prudent," fail through 
 pride or obstinacy, to find the way that leadeth 
 unto life, "the wayfaring man," of feeble intellect, 
 but of honest heart and purpose, " shall not err 
 therein."
 
 116 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE RAILROAD ROBBER. 
 
 " THE way of the transgressor is hard." This 
 is seldom more clearly seen than in the history of 
 J. S. He was born in Sullivan county, New Hamp- 
 shire, and had opportunity to acquire the common 
 branches of an English education, such as has suf- 
 ficed to make intelligent and enterprising men of 
 many thousands of the citizens of our state. Both 
 in physical and intellectual endowments he was not 
 at all deficient, and withal, he was possessed of a 
 good mechanical genius. 
 
 But from early life he manifested a strong pro- 
 pensity to dishonesty, and, as is almost always the 
 case with such, to lying. Had these propensities 
 been early checked and overcome, I know not why 
 J. might not to-day have been the owner of a 
 pleasant home, surrounded by a beloved family and 
 respected and esteemed by all. He might have 
 spent this hour in grateful recollection of a life 
 crowned with blessing from God, and full of useful- 
 ness to others. Perhaps he might at this moment 
 have been seen surrounded by a respectable house-
 
 THE BAILED AD ROBBER. 117 
 
 hold just opening the holy book of God, and saying: 
 " Come let us bow down and worship, let us kneel 
 before the Lord our Maker." Or had it pleased 
 God to remove him into eternity, his name might 
 have been as precious ointment, and in some place 
 where sleep the honored dead, there would have 
 been (we may suppose) a monument inscribed "To 
 the memory of J. S., an honest man, a valuable 
 citizen, an indulgent husband, and a kind father. 
 The memory of the just is blessed." And the 
 soul might have stood among the great company 
 of the Redeemed who are "forever with the 
 Lord." But sin, the destroyer, has wrought out 
 and completed its work with him. All that he 
 might have been of a desirable character ; all to 
 which he might have attained; all, all is lost. 
 The poor wreck of a manly form lies low in a 
 felon's grave, unhonored and unwept. His memory 
 like his dust must perish. No sweet recollections 
 of his life can rise to bless the heart of the living. 
 All, all to the gloomy grave is sad and revolting. 
 And then, the soul Oh, the soul ! 
 
 Young man, for your sake, principally, I sketch 
 this man's history, I would set it up before you as 
 a solemn warning. Come then, read on, and see 
 what were the fearful and fatal results of yield- 
 ing to a vicious propensity. You will perhaps
 
 118 PEISON EEMINISCENCES. 
 
 under some favoring circumstance experience the 
 rising desire for something not your own, and be 
 tempted to make it yours by dishonest means. Just 
 then (it may be, having read this book,) you may 
 think of J. S., and banish the unholy thought 
 of committing a sin which would have been the 
 first step to an end like his. 
 
 At a very early age S., as was before inti- 
 mated, manifested a disposition to dishonesty. 
 He soon became troublesome by his petty lar- 
 cenies ; and these became more frequent, and soon 
 extended to more valuable articles. For a long 
 time the inhabitants of the town bore with his 
 depredations, loth to resort to the dreadful alter- 
 native of imprisonment, to which, however, they 
 were finally driven.. 
 
 He at an early age was condemned to seven 
 years' hard labor in the state prison. The impris- 
 onment of those years was of a much more severe 
 character than of later times, as will elsewhere 
 be shown. "We do not propose to follow him 
 through the long years of his confinement, every 
 one of which a thousand times furnished to the 
 poor fellow proof of the truthfulness of the divine 
 saying, " The way of the transgressor is hard." 
 At last came the day of deliverance, and the bright 
 sunshine and the smiting earth seemed to welcome
 
 THE RAILROAD ROBBER. 119 
 
 the young man as he came forth from the dreari- 
 ness of his prison to taste the sweets of liberty. 
 He returned to his native place and was received 
 by the inhabitants of that very respectable town 
 with kindness. He commenced working at his 
 trade, that of shoemaking, and for a short time 
 hopes were entertained that he was truly a reform- 
 ed man. He professed to have experienced the great 
 blessing of religious regeneration, and became a 
 member of the Baptist Church. But all these 
 fondly cherished hopes of the friends of this man 
 were soon shaken, and he left the place. He was 
 soon believed to be the perpetrator of several 
 thefts in several places, and fled to escape from 
 justice. Long time was he a fugitive and vaga- 
 bond in the land. By day, secreted in some lonely 
 wood like a hunted beast of prey ; by night, stroll- 
 ing around to obtain something on which to subsist, 
 or to find some one of his old comrades in crime 
 whom he might trust. Thus suffering from cold 
 and hunger, and fear of detection, months passed 
 away and he eluded his pursuers. On one occa- 
 sion he was betrayed by one whom he thought his 
 friend, (his own wife, as he told me,) and when 
 crossing a bridge over the Connecticut river found 
 himself confronted as he approached the Vermont 
 shore by the officers of justice ; turning back he
 
 120 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 met another posse from New Hampshire. Having 
 no other possible chance for escape, he thought for 
 a moment, on the one that was truly his "forlorn 
 hope. 1 ' The bridge was, probably, forty feet above 
 the riyer, the current rapid, and filled with floating 
 ice, and his chance of escape with life very small. 
 
 With a courage, which in a good man would 
 have won for him the reputation of a hero, he 
 made the desperate leap. The officers saw it, and 
 heard the reckless man plunge in the boiling, 
 eddying water far below. Amazed and horror 
 struck they walked away without the slightest 
 thought that the poor thief would ever trouble the 
 world farther. Great was their astonishment to 
 learn days afterward, that he had risen to the sur- 
 face, avoided the masses of floating ice and the 
 rapids, and far down the river made his way to the 
 shore, and to some hiding place, from whence he 
 might emerge and prey again on the community. 
 
 The fellow, however, was at last arrested and 
 brought to trial, and sentenced to another seven 
 years imprisonment. He was rather an obedient 
 and peaceful prisoner, and an excellent workman. 
 After his second term was mostly suffered out, 
 some few who pitied him made some efforts to 
 procure him a pardon, but without success. He 
 became very restless, and longed for liberty, much
 
 THE RAILROAD ROBBER. 121 
 
 as he abused it. He became afflicted with soreness 
 of eyes, increasing until it was feared total blind- 
 ness would be the result. This was undoubtedly 
 the effect of the application of some poisonous 
 substance, applied for the purpose of inducing the 
 Executive to pardon him, he being useless and ex- 
 pensive, confined as he was to the hospital. This 
 was n'ot so apparent at the time, and many became 
 urgent for his release, which was at length granted. 
 For some time he lived on the liberality of benev- 
 olent people, slowly recovering his sight, but much 
 more quickly resuming his old practices. While 
 yet he could hardly distinguish one object from, 
 another, he purloined several articles from his best 
 friends, and most liberal benefactors. These good 
 men let the matter pass, for in the kindness of 
 their heart, they were loth to shut the miserable 
 man up again. As soon as he had well recovered, 
 he commenced working by himself, on stock brought 
 from abroad, returning the shoes when made. 
 Soon he married and appeared disposed to live 
 quite retired. He was quite industrious, and 
 earned sufficient to have well supported him without 
 reckoning his ill-gotten gain. 
 
 Thus two or three years passed on. He was 
 often suspected of theft, but as he seemed inclined 
 to keep at home and labor diligently, he was not 
 11
 
 122 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 arrested on any of these suspicions. At length 
 various articles of property were missing from the 
 railroad trains, as well as from shops and other 
 places in the city. The company were called upon 
 to meet losses to a great amount, and the matter 
 seemed to grow worse and worse. The vigilance 
 of sheriffs and police officers were baffled week 
 after week, until circumstances very unequivocal, 
 pointed to our quondum parishioner, who, after 
 all the good preaching to which he had listened, 
 was so imprudent as to fall under strong sus- 
 picions of dishonesty. He was arrested, and his 
 house and its appendages examined, and lo ! what 
 plenty of good things were found there. He had 
 laid up provisions of all kinds for the supply of 
 his family, and, perhaps a surplus for sale. That 
 he might not be idle, and so expose himself to 
 temptation to dishonesty, he had laid in a fine 
 stock of leather of good quality, and prepared 
 himself to " supply on short notice, and on easy 
 terms an excellent assortment of boots and shoes," 
 and that he might " drive a smart business on a 
 small capital," he " borrowed " sundry boxes of 
 " ready made." 
 
 The officers found it much harder to find the 
 merchant than the merchandise. But officer 
 Lowell Eastman was not the man to be baffled by
 
 THE RAILROAD ROBBER. 123 
 
 even this prince of shrewd ones, and he at length 
 had him forthcoming before " His Honor." He was 
 tried and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. 
 Within a few weeks he made an attempt to escape 
 from prison, which was most ingeniously planned, 
 and in a masterly manner executed with great 
 success. For a considerable time he wandered in 
 woods and by-places. The weather being quite 
 cold, his feet were not only horribly cut and 
 mangled, but terribly frozen, and his whole condi- 
 tion such as would excite the pity of any one 
 toward even such an unprincipled and abandoned 
 man as he was known to be. Yet even now he 
 manifested great skill in evading justice, but in 
 vain, for his old friend Eastman was on his track 
 and at length brought him " home again" 
 
 The miserable man now finding no hope of 
 escape, became dejected and sullen. It was a 
 most sickening sight to look upon his wasted form, 
 so changed by the exposures and privations of 
 his fe,w past weeks, that they who had known him 
 most intimately before, would now hardly recog- 
 nize him. He seemed disinclined to converse 
 . much, and especially on the subject of religion. 
 Indeed, for several years he professed no regard 
 for religion, but on all occasions manifested, if not 
 rather contempt, at least an entire disrelish for
 
 124 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 it. It was plain that sin had destroyed his moral 
 sense, and had wholly unfitted him for esteem- 
 ing the things " lovely and of good report." He 
 did not deny his guilt, but yet seemed to have no 
 feelings of regret or shame. 
 
 Finding him inclined to suicide, I strove to 
 change his purpose, by remarking that perhaps yet 
 God might have some blessings in store for him, 
 if he would cultivate penitence and turn to the 
 Lord with full purpose of heart. " I should think 
 he ought to have by this time," was the reply, indi- 
 cating the entire want of gratitude for past bless- 
 ings, and an entire lack of consciousness of his 
 own multiplied and aggravating transgressions 
 that had so often been repeated and re-repeated. 
 He had twice attempted self-destruction, but was 
 prevented. He at length made a third effort which 
 well nigh succeeded. Passing one Sabbath my 
 usual round from cell to cell, to hold conversation 
 with the convicts and to exchange their books, I 
 found him hanging by the neck, suspended by a 
 strip of leather tied to a nail in the wall of his 
 cell. By a spasmodic jerk of his arm and a gurg- 
 ling sound, I saw that he was not yet dead, and 
 alarmed the guard. A considerable delay in pro- 
 curing the key of his door, in which, seconds 
 seemed minutes to me, gave me fearful appre-
 
 THE RAILROAD ROBBER. 125 
 
 hensions that we should be too late. At length 
 the door flew open, and we had him on his couch 
 in an instant. After terrible struggles and suf- 
 fering, he recovered. Miserable and worthless as 
 was the poor fellow, and slight as was the hope 
 of moral improvement, I felt sensations such as I 
 pray God I may not be called to feel again. There 
 was a fellow being, a man possessed of an immor- 
 tal nature, rashly rushing into the presence of a 
 just and holy God, unbidden and unprepared, 
 madly seeking to fly from the sufferings of time, 
 and thus to go, he knew not where, and to be, he 
 knew not what. After a few months he seemed 
 in better health and spirits, but suddenly, and 
 after but a half hour's awful distress, died. 
 
 It appeared that he had been in the habit of swal- 
 lowing poisonous substances, such as pieces of 
 plastering taken from the walls of his cell, and his 
 object was unquestionably to bring on a bad state 
 of health, with the hope of pardon. But the result 
 was different from what he expected, and his death 
 sudden. 
 
 Now let the youthful reader review the whole 
 story, and judge whether even in this life, " the 
 way of the transgressor is not hard." How few 
 have suffered so much in the cause of liberty or of 
 patriotism as did this man in his unworthy career. 
 11*
 
 126 PEISON EEMINISCENCES. 
 
 How few for the sake of Jesus, and to obtain a 
 "better resurrection," have endured so much. It 
 is a terrible thing to be "led" captive by the devil 
 at his will." Hard, cruel, and oppressive are his 
 exactions. What a vast aggregate of suffering did 
 poor S. endure. "Wandering in the wilderness and 
 on the mountains by day ; creeping forth stealthily 
 by night, alarmed by every quivering leaf or sud- 
 den flaw of wind, or cry of bird or beast ; startled 
 in his dreams a thousand times, by the imagined 
 hand of an officer ; and more than all, a God omni- 
 scient, looking with fearful displeasure upon him, 
 and an inward torment like a scorpion's sting, 
 rankling in his soul. All this when at large, and 
 then the scorn of community, the loss of reputa- 
 tion, (more to be prized than life itself,) and then 
 the sufferings of prison life for so many long years, 
 and all this for no valuable consideration. 
 
 To toil for another for no compensation is hard, 
 but what slavery is like that of sin. Through what 
 a painful journey he travelled to reach a dishonor- 
 able grave. The honest citizen looks on that spot 
 with a look that seems to say " It is a cursed soil," 
 gather not my bones where they may mingle with 
 his, lay me any where else but there. The devout 
 man as he looks on that hillock is sad, and men-
 
 THE RAILROAD BOBBER. 127 
 
 tally exclaims : 0, the great day of dread decision 
 and despair ! 
 
 All connected with such a life is revolting, all 
 connected with its end terrible, for 
 
 " 'Tis not the whole of life to live, 
 Nor all of death to die." 
 
 " There is a death, whose pang 
 
 Outlasts the fleeting breath ; 
 0, what eternal horror hangs 
 Around the second death."
 
 128 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE PENITENT MURDERER. 
 
 IT is frequently remarked that the practice of 
 many in giving publicity to accounts of murders, 
 and murder trials, and especially the dying addresses 
 of men executed for that horrible crime, is perni- 
 cious ; especially is this objected to where the crim- 
 inal is encouraged to assume the place of a moral 
 or religious teacher on the scaffold, and as though 
 he were a martyr rather than a terrible transgres- 
 sor, inform the multitude that he forgives all men, 
 and dies without malice toward any, and then 
 closes with a religious exhortation. 
 
 Now that there are grounds for these complaints 
 I admit ; such men should be regarded with pity, 
 and should have all possible instruction and assist- 
 ance in aiding them to repent, if perhaps God may 
 grant them forgiveness. But they should know 
 and feel the greatness of their guilt, and no sym- 
 pathy should be so misdirected as to abate their 
 sense of their own vileness. 
 
 And when religious hopes are at length enter-
 
 
 THE PENITENT MURDERER. 129 
 
 tained, and religious feelings obtain the ascend- 
 ency, they should be cautiously and very modestly 
 expressed. Alas, for the poor doomed wretch 
 when he imagines himself the "lion of the day," 
 as is sometimes said ; and when, in place of deep 
 self-abhorrence and loathing; his vanity is excited 
 by the publication of his prison sayings, and his 
 expectation that his affecting farewell address, de- 
 livered on the gallows, will read well in the papers 
 of the day. And I am aware that when the crim- 
 inal is dead, and can no longer be affected by any 
 transaction on earth, that the living may be so 
 taught as to form a sort of morbid sympathy for 
 such offenders, inducing one to look on crime with- 
 out that abhorrence which every one should culti- 
 vate, and which is perfectly consistent with the 
 most tender and Christian regard for the poor 
 transgressor. 
 
 In what I may say of Ferguson, or of any other 
 criminal, I hope I may not be understood as enter- 
 taining a weakened sense of the vileness of such 
 men. A long and intimate acquaintance with this 
 class of our sinful race has, I trust, not at all 
 abated my detestation of crime. And why should 
 it ? Have I not seen it in all its hideous deformity ? 
 have I not witnessed its desolating course through 
 the scathed and blasted community over which I
 
 
 130 PRISON EEMINISCENCES. 
 
 have watched these many years ? Have I not had 
 ample opportunities to observe and learn its disas- 
 trous and crushing effects on thousands of innocent 
 hearts, bound by strongest ties to the transgres- 
 sor ? I know that under certain circumstances, a 
 familiarity with crime decreases our detestation of it. 
 But this is true, also, in like circumstances of famili- 
 arity with human sufferings. He who familiarizes 
 himself with scenes of suffering, without actively 
 interesting himself to remove, or relieve it, will 
 harden his heart ; and whoever becomes familiar 
 with scenes of sin and guilt, must, for self-protec- 
 tion, as well as from a sense of duty to others, 
 interest himself actively on the part of virtue and 
 purity. 
 
 In like manner I would write of criminals, not 
 by any means to excuse or extenuate, but to move 
 the heart to pity and the hand to bless the erring 
 one. The cases of evident reform should be 
 known, that good men may be encouraged to labor 
 on in hope, and to pray with increased faith and 
 fervor for the salvation of the guilty. How do 
 such instances of divine interposition justify and 
 illustrate the blessed declaration, "As I live saith 
 the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of 
 the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way 
 and live."
 
 THE PENITENT MURDERER. 131 
 
 Bradbury Ferguson was a native of Sandwich, 
 N. H., and belonged to a family that had for sev- 
 eral successive generations been cursed with a love 
 of rum. Like thousands of others, they were 
 laborious and faithful men, and when sober not at 
 all inclined to vice. But the fiery deluge had passed 
 through at least three generations, blasting the 
 happiness of each family circle, and leaving in its 
 course all its accustomed attendant evils. 
 
 No wonder then, that one born and reared thus, 
 became from his youth a drunkard. It could not 
 well be otherwise. In addition to a hereditary 
 love for alcohol, to be nursed in infancy, to be 
 quieted to sleep supperless by a dram, to be trained 
 to look to it as a " panacea for all the ills that 
 flesh is heir to," such instructions and such pro- 
 pensity combining, must, unless a miracle inter- 
 pose, make a drunkard. And then there was the 
 public sentiment, almost universally prevalent and 
 practically adopted that stimulating or intoxicating 
 drinks were necessary to help the poor laboring 
 man in his toils and hardships, and that with mul 
 titudes it was reckoned as " lodging, meat, and 
 drink, 11 and the life and soul of all pastimes and 
 festivities ; all this seemed to fix the unhappy man 
 in his inebriation almost beyond the hope, and 
 quite beyond fhe probability of reform.
 
 132 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 The history of the family would be heart-rend- 
 ing, though not at all singular in the annals of 
 drunkenness. Ferguson was, when intoxicated, 
 one of the violent and quarrelsome class, 'there 
 are some who make very stupid and sleepy drunk- 
 ards, perfectly harmless, and incapable of either 
 good or bad. Another class become extremely 
 active and entertaining. One will hold forth with 
 great vehemence, if not eloquence, on themes the- 
 ological, political, literary, or mixed ; it being the 
 natural working of their potations. Who of us 
 have not been amused in our young days, with such 
 outbursts of patriotism from some drunken orator, 
 inspired for the occasion, clinging to the sign-post 
 as if remembering, " united we stand, divided we 
 fall ; " with what wonderful energy did he assure 
 us of his determination to " defend our liberties, 
 or perish in the last ditch." Ah, he was a man of 
 spirit, and we were assured that with him, and his 
 like, the country was quite safe. Then there is 
 another class who are made extremely polite and 
 kind, but excessively sickening and silly. Now in 
 whichever of these classes a husband, or a brother, 
 or a son is found, it is sufficiently afflicting and 
 mortifying to the family. But worse the affliction 
 of that circle which embraces a drunkard of the 
 stamp of Ferguson. The very demon of rage
 
 THE PENITENT MURDERER. 133 
 
 seemed to dwell in him and control him, and no 
 threats could intimidate, no persuasion change, no 
 kindness conquer. The early history of Fergu- 
 son need not be written. In all our towns, forty 
 years since, there were many of that " same sort." 
 " Good-hearted boy if he would'nt drink too much." 
 "Good fellow to work," "kind hearted," "ready to 
 help always." These were the sayings of the peo- 
 ple of the neighborhood, and they were true. He 
 acquired a trade, and was a good workman, earn- 
 ing enough to have made himself and a family com- 
 fortable, but spending it mostly in drink. 
 
 His known habits of intemperance did not pre- 
 vent his marrying a very respectable young woman j 
 and had intoxication been then abandoned, his 
 family would no doubt have been happy and pros- 
 perous. Mrs. Ferguson was a good wife, and a 
 good mother. Ferguson, also, when sober, was 
 kind, attentive, and affectionate ; and they, unques- 
 tionably, but for the demon intemperance, would 
 have been in prosperous circumstances. 
 
 All the blessings of a home where true affection 
 presides, and where humanity approaches nearest 
 the blessings of the heavenly state, could have 
 been theirs, and poor Ferguson might have closed 
 a well spent life in the honorable approval of God 
 12
 
 134 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 and man, and his memory have been cherished 
 through following generations. 
 
 Year after year rolled on, bringing its seasons 
 of hope sometimes, but more often of despondency, 
 to the poor wife. Her children were growing up 
 around her, and while their welfare sadly burdened 
 her heart, they were still a great comfort to her. 
 But the days of evil were many. Oh, how did she 
 look with dread to the approach of every public 
 day. The military muster, the annual town meet- 
 ing, the fourth of July, and all like occasions were 
 dreaded like the day of death, or of judgment by 
 the guilty. 
 
 Well did she know what she must suffer. Pain- 
 ful experience had taught her what would be her 
 portion for those days of merriment and relaxa- 
 tion. 0, how faint must be our conceptions of the 
 sufferings of such a wife and mother. No language 
 can adequately describe it. No imagination reach 
 the reality. If ever the good man's indignation is 
 too strong for his religious principle ; if ever he 
 finds it hard to keep the divine injunction, " Bless 
 and curse not ; " if ever he reluctantly yields to 
 that divine saying, " Vengeance is mine, I will re- 
 pay, saith the Lord ; " it is when he sees beings 
 in the human form, for a bit of silver, put to the 
 drunkard's lips the maddening cup, knowing that its
 
 THE PENITENT MURDERER. 135 
 
 contents will certainly transform that kind hearted 
 husband and father to a fiend, and that his return 
 to his family will be as when a band of savages 
 rush in to torture and torment the helpless. 
 
 Hark ! that scream of agony, that half stifled 
 cry of suffering innocence, that piteous appeal of 
 young voices for help for themselves and their strug- 
 gling, bleeding mother. Listen, thou man of iron 
 heart and bloody hands, to the hoarse voice of him 
 thou hast turned loose upon them. 0, how his 
 oaths and curses join in with the shrieks of his 
 victims, to make dreadful music for thy soul. See, 
 they fly, bleeding, and with torn garments, as haply 
 they escape from the giant grasp of the madman. 
 They fly to seek a shelter with some kind neigh- 
 bor, or perhaps in some lone field or forest. 
 
 Come let us go in. Nay, do not plead another 
 engagement, or talk of attending to your own 
 business. This is your own work come along 
 then and see how it prospers. Courage, man, 
 don't tremble, " The righteous are bold as a 
 lion." Walk in. Oh, horrible ! look around. 
 Here are the scattered fragments of table, chairs, 
 crockery, and apparel in that corner skulks a 
 half-clad child, hardly daring to breathe freely 
 there another is crawling forth, encouraged by the 
 sound of approaching footsteps, to hope for rescue.
 
 136 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 There is the wife, the mother. Deep, and dread- 
 ful are the wounds the wretched man has inflicted 
 on her delicate frame ; deeper, and more dreadful 
 those inflicted on her heart. 
 
 She raises her meek eyes to heaven in gratitude 
 that help has come. God, help thee woman ! She 
 turns her eyes, swollen with grief and blows, to 
 where her wretched husband lies. 0; what a look, 
 "more in sorrow than in anger." No vengeance 
 speaks in that eye, no curses break from those 
 lips, no revenge nerves that arm. How is this ? 
 0, why do we hear her whisper, " pity him." The 
 spirit of him who prayed for his murderers, " Fa- 
 ther forgive" has settled over her soul, and pos- 
 sesses it. But stand a little back. It were better 
 that she should not look upon your face. In pity 
 to her, stand aside. It might prove a trial too 
 severe for even her meek and patient spirit. And 
 in pity to yourself, too, man of guilt ; for to meet 
 the eye of that woman would, next to the eye of 
 her avenging God, be terrible. 
 
 Now then go back and enjoy the hard earned 
 quarter taken from that man. None can say you 
 gave him nothing in return. no ! That you paid 
 him well there can be no doubt, " it was wholly his 
 fault that he became intoxicated, miserable fellow." 
 O, thou child of the devil, thou but " the
 
 THE PENITENT MURDERER. 137 
 
 Lord rebuke thee." I will not utter the burning 
 thoughts that agitate me. Vengeance will over- 
 take thee at last j justice has a terrible reckoning 
 to make with thee, and though her claims may be 
 long deferred, yet know, they will at length be 
 presented, and urged, and exacted. Then how 
 canst thou hope for mercy, rendering none. Go, 
 now, and sleep quietly if thou canst; go, and 
 dream of angels and ministering spirits, if such 
 communings are congenial. But no, I will not 
 mock thee, but dismiss thee with the expression 
 of a feeble hope that yet grace may come to thee, 
 "the chief of sinners." 
 
 The closing act in this sad tragedy now comes 
 on. Ferguson attended a military muster in a 
 neighboring town, and, as usual, came home drunk. 
 He was soon raving in all the horrors of delirium 
 tremens. His poor wife tried in vain to compose 
 his mind. The prevailing impression on his mind 
 seemed to be that his wife was the devil, and had 
 come to carry him to his own place. He loaded 
 his gun, charged it with shot, and placed himself in 
 an attitude of defence. As the poor woman in her 
 kindness, sought to restrain him, and not knowing 
 but one of her children might be the victim, he 
 discharged the contents of the musket into her 
 body. 
 
 12*
 
 138 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 The wound did not produce instant death, and 
 she begged him to lay her on the bed. He took 
 her up gently from the floor on which she had 
 fallen, and carefully laid her on the bed. His con- 
 sciousness (as he often related the story to me,) 
 now gradually returned. He stood and looked 
 awhile upon the sufferer, and the terrified children, 
 who were weeping around their dying mother ; and 
 then came the thought of guilt and danger. He 
 fled, and after a few hours of agony, death released 
 her from her earthly sufferings, and she closed her 
 eyes on what had been to her, at least, " a vale of 
 tears." 
 
 In a secluded spot in the forest, the wretched 
 man, now, in part conscious of what had taken 
 place, concealed himself. Imagine, if you can, his 
 feelings. They were not those of a malicious, 
 cold, deliberate murderer. There was no fiendish 
 satisfaction, like that of one who had accomplished 
 a purpose on which his demon heart had been set. 
 Far from that. In his sober hours he loved his 
 wife, the mother of his children. And now reason 
 had been so far restored as to give some dreadful 
 intimation of what had been done. He has several 
 times given me a relation of the occurrences of 
 that fatal night; as there are some parts of 
 his narrative that are quite singular, I will endeavor 
 to relate them as he gave them to me.
 
 THE PENITENT MURDERER. 139 
 
 The night was very dark, and as, after -gaining 
 his hiding place, he endeavored to keep perfectly 
 still, lest he should be detected, all was silent as 
 the abode of the dead. The silence at length be- 
 came painfully oppressive, and his feelings more 
 and more intense as the fatal transactions of the 
 evening seemed more and more to grow from indis- 
 tinctness into an awful reality. It was as if some 
 horrible picture had hung before him, on which 
 were images imperfect and dim, yet of an alarming 
 aspect, and as he looked at them, these images be- 
 came more and more life-like, and with every pass- 
 ing moment, sending a new thrill of horror and 
 anguish through his soul. He strove to turn away 
 his eyes, but had no power to do so all at length 
 was plain the whole picture was finished. All 
 his past life seemed to pass in living lines of fire 
 before him, and especially that part of it with 
 which his wife was associated ; the wife of his early 
 love, whose fond, faithful heart had always been 
 true to him, and whose dying eye looked up from 
 her bloody couch with pity and forgiveness. The 
 scene seemed to chill the very fountains of life, 
 and horrible despair seemed for a time to possess 
 him. At length he imagined he heard in the dis- 
 tance the sound of a human voice. He listened, 
 and could distinguish music soft and sweet. It
 
 140 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 seemed far off, but approaching. By degrees the 
 sound became more familiar, until he could plainly 
 distinguish the voice of his wife. She sung as 
 when living, only a thousand times more sweetly, 
 an air which had been a favorite with them both. 
 Her voice was soft and plaintive, and as she came 
 nearer and nearer, he could distinctly hear every 
 note, and mark her approach, until at length she 
 seemed, judging from her voice, close to him. 
 With a strong effort he opened his eyes and looked 
 up. There she stood bending over him, so near 
 he could almost have reached her. He did not 
 think it a corporeal substance. It was a dim 
 and shadowy form, resembling most perfectly his 
 wife. She ceased to sing, and stood bending over 
 him, and for a minute or two, looking him full in 
 his face, with a look beyond all description pity- 
 ing and forgiving. 
 
 Then turning slowly away she sang again, louder 
 and more cheerful, the sound ringing out in the 
 stillness of the night, through the wilderness far 
 around. He heard the sound die away in the dis- 
 tance until he could only distinguish it faintly, as 
 when he heard it at the first. The visit was twice 
 repeated during the night, she coming and singing, 
 and passing off each time as at the first; only 
 at the last her look seemed more expressive of
 
 THE PENITENT MUBDEEEB. 141 
 
 sympathy and kindness, and her music more strong 
 and enchanting. I asked him many questions, sug- 
 gested some doubts, and proposed some explana- 
 tions, but I found the whole a reality with him j 
 and I think he had not one lingering doubt that 
 all was real. At all events, the effect wrought on 
 his -mind was wonderful. In the first place his 
 despair gave way to hope, "my wife forgives me, 
 she pities me, and comes to me with sweet songs 
 and looks of kindness." He heard with less dread 
 the approaching footsteps of his pursuers, he felt 
 a strange confidence in all his gloomy weeks of 
 jail imprisonment. The scenes of the court room, 
 and all the details of his trial as a murderer, were 
 attended * with the recollection of that forgiving 
 spirit ; and with the roar of cursing and reproach 
 from the infuriated multitude, there was always 
 mingling in his imagination the soothing strains 
 of that night's music. And when, to the awful 
 question proposed by the clerk, the foreman of 
 the jury answered guilty and when his sentence, 
 " imprisonment for life," was pronounced, he was 
 not dismayed still he thought of that wonderful 
 appearance, accepting it as proof that he still had 
 grounds of hope, at least that there was one 
 blessed one in heaven who loved him. Nor could 
 the combined efforts of legions of infidels make
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 142 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Bradbury Ferguson doubt the reality of the exist- 
 ence of spirits in a state separate from the body. 
 He seemed to think it an insult to him if his nar- 
 rative was doubted. " Do you think I am a fool ? 
 don't I know my own wife ? don't I know her 
 singing ? and could I look into her eyes for min- 
 utes, so near that I could reach her, and yet be 
 mistaken ? And who else but my wife would come 
 .to comfort me and sing to me ? " 
 
 And I found that from that night he had prayed 
 to God daily, for mercy and grace, being encour- 
 aged to do so by what he thought he saw and 
 heard. He evidently, afterward, saw that there 
 had been a sort of trust in the supposed interces- 
 sion of his wife, not according to the plan of sal- 
 vation ; but to his dying hour, I do not think he had 
 a solitary doubt of the reality of what he then 
 related. And as I saw no harm likely to result 
 from his continuing in this belief, I suggested no 
 doubt for years before he died. 
 
 I leave the reader to his own opinion regarding 
 this matter. I will, however, say, that were I a 
 believer in modern " spiritualism," I should insist 
 on this, as one of the best instances of spiritual 
 intercourse with the living. It is the only instance 
 of a spiritual visit of a useful character, of which 
 I have read or heard of late. Spirits waked from
 
 THE PENITENT MUKDEKER. 143 
 
 the " vasty deep " come among us for no good pur- 
 pose whatever. None are profited by their commu- 
 nications, except the leaders of the " entertainment." 
 For their pecuniary profit we are asked to believe 
 that the spirits of Wesley and Edwards come forth 
 to deny the religion they taught, and the faith in 
 which they triumphed at the last. That Franklin 
 and Webster are present, to " play fantastic tricks " 
 like clowns in a circus, and that John Bunyan, a 
 tavern keeper in the "spirit world," is making 
 some progress round the " everlasting circle," 
 though rather outstripped by his " boarders " 
 " Tom Paine and Ethan Allen." 
 
 And here the profit ends j we poor unbelievers 
 being only treated to pranks that make the blood 
 chill, and our hair to stand on end like the fretted 
 porcupine. Of this, however, we are fully con- 
 vinced : if these are the antics of inhabitants of 
 the other world, there is vastly more need of reform 
 there than here. I would respectfully suggest to 
 the pure minded and benevolent leaders in this 
 great " reformatory movement," the establishment 
 there of a school of manners, and that none but 
 graduates should hereafter be " called up." Also, 
 an asylum for idiots and insane ; and, as many of 
 the spirits act marvellously like drunken men, a 
 good " prohibitory liquor law " might be of essen- 
 tial service.
 
 144 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 How much more reasonable the account Fergu- 
 son, a plain and unlearned man, gives of the sup- 
 posed visit of his wife, than any of the narrations 
 of even learned judges or apostate ministers. 
 She came with a dignity befitting an inhabitant of 
 eternity, with pity and kindness, such as pure 
 spirits delight in, with songs such as are heard 
 in paradise, on an errand worthy of a glorified 
 intelligence, and to perform a work no living per- 
 son had the courage or the heart to undertake. 
 Indeed all the circumstances of the case would 
 almost justify the thought that infinite goodness 
 did on that occasion " send one from the' dead." 
 
 The general opinion will be, undoubtedly, that 
 all this was but the operation of a delirious mind, 
 and in this view even we see cause of gratitude 
 to God, on behalf of the poor wretch. How mer- 
 ciful to control and give his delirium that direction 
 that should save the sinner from utter despair, and 
 lead his mind toward heaven, and through long 
 years operate as a charm to draw the soul upward, 
 and to fix it in the firm belief of great religious 
 truth. 
 
 Whatever may be the opinion of the reader, 
 therefore, as to the matter, I trust none will think 
 I have related it as a mere ghost story to gratify 
 curiosity, or to amuse the children. I can see, I
 
 THE PENITENT MURDERER. 145 
 
 think, something of the compassion of our heavenly 
 Father towards a miserable man, overruling (on the 
 supposition of delirium) the madness consequent 
 on his guilty course, for the moral improvement 
 and better preparation for more direct religious 
 instruction. 
 
 When, in 1846, I entered on the duties of the 
 chaplaincy, I found Ferguson an orderly, well- 
 behaved prisoner. He loved books, and soon be- 
 came quite celebrated for his historical knowledge. 
 But his principal delight was in mathematical 
 studies. He went through and through all the 
 arithmetics I could procure for him, and like 
 another Alexander, sighed for more worlds to con- 
 quer. He was also a good Sabbath school scholar, 
 and manifested not only a good degree of biblical 
 knowledge, but also much readiness and skill in 
 defending the doctrines of the holy scriptures. 
 
 I recollect, how, on one occasion, he gave his 
 sanction to my remarks in a manner that gave indi- 
 cation of this, and much amused the convicts. A 
 man who had been in several of our state peniten- 
 tiaries and spent some thirty years of his life in 
 them, was rather disposed to cavil at some remarks 
 made as to the purity of Christian morals. The 
 prisoners were all present, and as great liberty was 
 allowed them in those days, any one might suggest 
 13
 
 146 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 doubts or make inquiries, provided it were done in 
 a respectful manner. 
 
 I spoke of the beautiful morality of Jesus, and 
 all seemed to assent. The old man H., however, 
 was not pleased. He was a well educated and 
 extremely polite man, and his hatred of religion 
 never burst out in floods of profanity or vulgar 
 abuse, but rather at times " leaked out " in some 
 insinuation or significant question. 
 
 At this time the question proposed was, whether 
 " I had ever seen one, who according to Christ's 
 teaching, was the practical Christian." I assured 
 him I had seen hundreds of such, old and young, 
 rich and poor, sick and well, living and dying, beau- 
 tiful examples of a living Christianity. In defense 
 of our holy Christianity, I became quite animated, 
 and should have been eloquent, but for one defect, 
 the lack of the requisite qualities. 
 
 But H. still held out, alledging he " had not 
 found such, though an old man." I replied it made 
 some difference where a man had spent his life, 
 and with whom he had associated. I paused here 
 knowing that H., being a shrewd man, would in his 
 own mind finish the argument and make the appli- 
 ation, which, not wishing to be too severe, I chose 
 he should do. But Ferguson in a moment, with 
 most provoking plainness, and yet with great good
 
 THE PENITENT MURDERER. 147 
 
 humor, took up and finished both. " That's a fact, 
 parson Smith," said he, " that's a fact, and it can't 
 *be expected that H. and I, whose lives have been 
 spent either in prison, or in getting fitted for it, 
 should have found many beautiful specimens of 
 Christianity." H. was pretty essentially confused, 
 and I never heard that question started again by 
 him or any other of those there present. This, 
 though fitted to the latitude and longitude of a 
 state prison, may answer without sensible variation 
 for other localities. 
 
 In the winter of 1850, Ferguson, who, (as we 
 have before remarked,) had been in the daily habit 
 of prayer, began more earnestly to desire and seek 
 an evidence of hia acceptance and peace with God. 
 His conversation was principally directed to this 
 point, and his prayers became fervent petitions at 
 the throne of grace. He at length rather gradu- 
 ally found peace in believing, and his mind settled 
 into a calm composure and confidence. From that 
 time until his death, (nearly three years,) no one I 
 think who knew him doubted his sincerity, or the 
 genuineness of the work of God on his heart. He 
 gave no trouble to any one. His health began to 
 decline, and for months he slowly wasted away 
 until 
 
 " The wearv wheels of life at last stood still."
 
 148 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 His confidence in a sin-forgiving God was more 
 and more intelligent and firm. He to the last re- 
 tained his love for his children, and often wept 
 when he spoke of his wickedness, having destroyed 
 his usefulness as a father. He often expressed 
 deep sorrow for his course of intemperance, which 
 had brought such fearful calamities upon his family. 
 As he grew weaker he still retained his reason, and 
 to the last hour calmly trusted in, and loved the 
 Saviour, whose infinite mercy had been extended 
 to one so guilty and debased. His dying counte- 
 nance as well as his dying words, assured us that 
 there was passing from us a " sinnner saved by 
 grace." Thus lived and died, one, who, but for 
 intemperance, that destroyer of millions, might 
 have been living in the midst of a happy family, 
 and as an honorable and useful member of the com- 
 munity. He fell where thousands of our best 
 intellects have been blighted and destroyed. A 
 terrible retribution awaits some, whom God will 
 recognize as participants in his crime ; not only the 
 man who furnished the last dram, under the influ- 
 ence of which, he murdered his wife, and completed 
 his own degradation, but those who trained him up 
 to drunkenness by ministering to his appetite. 
 
 May all those as truly repent, and find as full 
 and free forgiveness, and as abundant mercy at the
 
 THE PENITENT MURDERER. 149 
 
 last, as did the poor victim of their unhallowed 
 traffic. In looking over this narrative, one is com- 
 pelled to exclaim, " What is man, that thou art 
 mindful of him 1 " 0, what in all the intelligent 
 creation so loathsome and so abhorrent to a virtu- 
 ous mind as a man enslaved to appetite or passion, 
 " led captive by the devil at his will," and proof 
 against all the remonstrances of reason and of 
 grace. To call such an one a brute, would be in- 
 justice to the animal. The term used by Whitfield, 
 "half beast and half devil," is hardly too strong; 
 and yet, curse him not whom God seeks to bless. 
 The Deity in heaven stoops to help him, and asks 
 you to cooperate with Him in saving the wretch 
 from death. Oh, lover of God and suffering hu 
 manity, . 
 
 " Join bands with God to make the poor man live." 
 
 13*
 
 150 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MARTIN SCHLEGEL. 
 
 IN November, 1850, a young man eighteen years 
 of age was committed to our State Prison, under 
 the name of Martin Schlegel. He was found 
 guilty of stealing a horse and carriage. Omitting 
 many stories, that, if believed, would make him 
 famous in the annals of crime, but of which no 
 tangible proofs exist, I will state of him only what 
 I know to be true. 
 
 He came to Manchester, N. H., and presented 
 letters of recommendation and introduction from 
 several eminent clergymen in the West and South, 
 setting forth that he was a licentiate in the minis- 
 try of the Calvinist Baptist Church, and an agent 
 for raising money for the building of a German 
 Baptist Church in the vicinity of New Orleans. 
 He preached on the Sabbath in that city, and also 
 in Milford, N. H., a few days after, and at both 
 places with much ability. In Manchester he hired 
 a horse and carriage, and after some days pawned 
 them to a man in Boston, as security for a sum of
 
 MARTIN SCHLEGEL. 151 
 
 money paid him, promising to call at a given time 
 and redeem them. In the mean time the owner 
 suspected him of dishonesty, followed and arrested 
 him ; and he was brought to trial. The evidence 
 of intentional theft was slight, and the presiding 
 judge remarked to me that he thought it hardly 
 justified the verdict, on which he was sentenced to 
 five years' hard labor in the State prison. 
 
 In person, Schlegcl, (as he called himself,) was 
 decidedly a good-looking German; in conversation 
 remarkably fluent and engaging, and in manners 
 very easy and polite ; furnishing proof most con- 
 clusive, on but a short acquaintance, of having as- 
 sociated in highly refined and aristocratic circles. 
 He conformed, however, with great alacrity and 
 good nature, to his lowly and degraded position. 
 Still, to the sagacious eye, it was evident that he 
 felt most deeply the transition from a high rank to 
 the condition of a degraded convict. 
 
 But he put on no airs of superiority, claimed no 
 exemption from the fare or work of a common 
 felon ; and though by no means swift in acquiring 
 his trade, (that of a shoe maker,) or remarkably 
 profitable in working at it, yet he seemed disposed 
 to do all he could. Towards the close of his term 
 he was transferred to the cooking department. I 
 soon found him possessed of extraordinary Intel-
 
 152 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 lect, and (for one so young) a great amount of gen- 
 eral knowledge. His acquaintance with the Eng- 
 lish language was quite imperfect, but he made in 
 this, as in everything else pertaining to books, 
 rapid progress ; and at the time of his leaving us, 
 could speak and write our language correctly and 
 fluently. 
 
 I procured for him text-books of the Spanish 
 and Italian languages, of which he had some knowl- 
 edge, and which he studied with much apparent 
 success. He also gave great attention to the the- 
 ological works of American and English authors ; 
 and seemed to appreciate the superior character 
 of the religion they taught, over the semi-infidelity 
 of German theologians. 
 
 He was a fine writer, and furnished some arti- 
 cles of much merit. I have some specimens of 
 his poetic talent, which I consider quite good; 
 especially when his age (he was but twenty) and 
 his slight knowledge of the English language are 
 taken into the account. And I find that after his 
 liberation from prison, the same estimate was put 
 upon his talent for both prose and poetry, and 
 also for public lectures, as appeared from notes 
 in newspapers where he had resided. I will here 
 introduce some lines composed by him in a time 
 of ill health. They were beautifully written out
 
 MARTIN SCHLEGEL. 153 
 
 on a page of brown paper taken from the cover 
 of one of his books. I copy from it as it now 
 lies before me. I will also add another written 
 in his cell, into which the moon shines beauti- 
 fully, on its first rising. 
 
 SOBROW SANCTIFIED. 
 
 1. My spirits droop with sadness now, 
 Yet would I with submission bow, 
 My heavenly Father, to thy will. 
 
 I would not breathe a single thought 
 With unbelief or murmur fraught, 
 But suffering, own and love thee stilL 
 
 2. And yet, there is a pensive air 
 Steals o'er me ere I am aware, 
 And clasps me in its soft control; 
 A mildly melancholy mood 
 
 Of sickness, and of solitude, 
 Sad, and subduing to the soul. 
 
 3. At times I wipe the stealing tear, 
 And think, my Father, thou art here, 
 And I am thine, forever thine. 
 
 Should blow succeed to chastening blow, 
 Thou art the very same, I know, 
 And future blessings dost design. 
 
 4. Whence, then, this sadness that I feel ? 
 Why do these tears unbidden steal ? 
 And whence this deeply mournful mood ? 
 Still must I weep ? then vanish pride, 
 And let this grief be sanctified, 
 
 And gush in holy gratitude.
 
 154 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 6._ Breathe, Holy Spirit, on ray pain, 
 And I will weep o'er Jesus slain, 
 Drench'd in his bursting blood for me, 
 When in that dreary period 
 Of insult, agony, and blood, 
 He languished on the fatal tree. 
 
 6. He was no servant once ; as God, 
 He saw me from his high abode, 
 
 Deep sunk in sin, and guilt, and shamo: 
 Compassion kindled with that look, 
 For me, a servant's form he took, 
 And down to earth, to save me, came. 
 
 7. 0, it might gush an angel's tear, 
 To see the "man of sorrows," dear, 
 Rejected and despised of men; 
 For angels knew how rich, before, 
 He was ; what poverty he bore, 
 
 To bring us back to God again. 
 
 8. Melt thou, my soul, 'twas for thy guilt 
 Jesus' atoning blood was spilt. 
 
 He could not sink in suffering lower: 
 Oh, if thou hast one spark of love 
 For him who left his throne above, 
 Go, weeping, go, " and sin no more." 
 
 MOONLIGHT. 
 
 1. Gentle moon a captive calls ; 
 
 Gentle moon awake, arise ; 
 Gild the prison's sullen walls, 
 Quench the tears that drown his eyes. 
 
 2. Throw thy veil of clouds aside, 
 
 Let those smiles that light the pole, 
 Through the liquid ether glide, 
 Glide into the mourner's soul.
 
 MARTIN SCHLEGEL. 155 
 
 3. Cheer his melancholy mind, 
 
 Soothe his sorrows, heal his smart ; 
 Let thine influence, pure, refined, 
 Cool the fever of his heart. 
 
 4. Say, fair shepherdess of night, 
 
 Who thy starry flock doth lead 
 To the rills of living light, 
 On the blue etherial mead, 
 
 6. At this moment, dost thou see, 
 
 From thy elevated sphere, 
 One kind friend who thinks of me? 
 Thinks, and drops a silent tear ? 
 
 6. On a brilliant beam convey 
 
 This soft whisper to his breast, 
 
 " Wipe that generous tear away, 
 
 " He for whom it falls is blest ; 
 
 7. " Blest with freedom unconfin'd. 
 
 " Dungeons cannot hold the soul; 
 
 " Who can chain the immortal mind? 
 
 " None but he who spans the pole. 
 
 8. " Fancy, too, the nimble fairy," 
 
 With her subtle, magic spell, 
 In romantic visions airy, 
 
 Steals the captive from his cell. 
 
 9. On her moonlight pinions borne, 
 
 Far he flics from grief and pain, 
 Never, never, to be torn 
 From his home and friends again. 
 
 For nearly two years he made no disclosure re- 
 specting his parentage or rank in society, otherwise
 
 156 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 than in general terms, claiming both to have been 
 respectable. He frequently remarked to me that 
 it was his intention to keep his condition a secret 
 from his friends until the close of his imprison- 
 ment, knowing that the consequences of such a 
 disclosure would be fatal to the mother, and terri- 
 ble to the whole family. 
 
 This resolution he kept, as above stated. I 
 often observed, however, that anything recalling 
 the idea of mother deeply affected him. At length 
 he said to me in substance, as follows : 
 
 " I cannot longer endure the thought that my 
 poor dear mother, for three long years has had no 
 intelligence from her first-born son. Oh, how many 
 dreadful nights has she passed sleepless, and wildly 
 pondering over my fate. In how many dreadful 
 forms has she in her imaginings witnessed my 
 death, or perhaps worse, my privations, temptations, 
 ruin. I shall write," said he, " though at the risk 
 of exposing my shame and degradation. Yes, I 
 must relieve that fond heart of its dreadful load." 
 With the approval of Col. R. Dow, the excellent 
 warden of the prison, I consented to take charge 
 of his letters sent, mailing them where his friends 
 would not be likely to suspect his imprisonment, 
 and directing those letters sent in return to my 
 address, keeping the same object in view. Schlegel
 
 "MARTIN SCHLEGIL. 157 
 
 agreed to practice no deception in the matter, fur- 
 ther than to hide from his friends his imprisonment. 
 It may perhaps be questioned, whether even this 
 could be justified as consonant with sound Chris- 
 tian morals. I will only say that after maturely 
 weighing the matter in all its bearings, I consented 
 to this plan, yet with some misgivings. 
 
 In his letter he spoke of his voyage to America, 
 said many things of us that evinced great skill and 
 readiness in examining and judging of the merits 
 of our civil, literary, and religious institutions, and 
 gave a most glowing description of the general 
 prosperity and happiness of our Republic, but at 
 the same time confessed he had not done well as 
 yet, though he was disposed to blame only himself 
 for the want of success. 
 
 To my surprise he directed his letter to Sir 
 a " Professor of Philology, Dresden, Sax- 
 ony." I doubted whether a letter from a convict 
 addressed to such a titled personage as " My be- 
 loved father," would be responded to, but to my 
 surprise, in due time I received an answer from 
 that nobleman to his beloved son Martin. Accom- 
 panying, was a letter from his mother, full of such 
 affectionate sentiments as only an intelligent fond 
 parent can so well express. 
 
 The correspondence continued for some months, 
 14
 
 158 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 as will be more particularly noticed elsewhere. 
 By my request he drew up a history of his life 
 with the fact before him, that I should make use 
 of the correspondence of his friends, and other 
 sources of information to confirm or refute his 
 statements. I also reminded him that I would 
 avail myself of the knowledge I had of the names 
 and residence of his friends for the same purpose. 
 And I am persuaded he gave me a true account 
 of himself; for I have not found a single statement 
 of what I insert of his narration contradicted 
 from any one of these sources. I now present the 
 reader with that part of his history that I deem 
 well sustained by corroborating testimony, and 
 which I think will be read with interest. 
 
 " I was born at Hamburg, the largest commer- 
 cial city in Germany. I never knew my parents 
 until my sixth year. My father was at the time of 
 my birth, Sub-governor of the Military College of 
 St. Petersburg, (Russia,) and entertaining some 
 fears lest the rigor of a Russian winter should 
 prove fatal to the delicate health of my mother, 
 (and as she also wished to await the period of her 
 confinement at her mother's in Hamburg,) my 
 father sought for, and obtained a furlough for three 
 months. 
 
 "My parents at once embarked for Hamburg
 
 MARTIN SCHLEGEL. 159 
 
 where at the house of my maternal grandmother, 
 I drew my first breath. Being a sickly child, the 
 family physician thought it dangerous to expose me 
 to the fatigues of a sea voyage, and as my father's 
 furlough was nearly expired, my parents left me 
 with my grandparents, embarking themselves for 
 St. Petersburg. 
 
 " Here I spent my childhood. When I was 
 about six years of age, my father's health began 
 to decline, and the physician recommending a 
 milder climate, he resigned his office and embarked 
 for Hamburg, accompanied by his wife. When 
 arrived there, I left the happy home of my child- 
 hood, and accompanied my parents to Dresden, 
 the capital of the kingdom of Saxony. Here my 
 father lived for a year or two in retirement, al- 
 though urged by the Russian envoy to be pre- 
 sented at Court. As his health, however, was 
 rapidly improving, he became desirous to enter 
 again into active life. At the recommendation of 
 the Emperor Nicholas, he obtained the appointment 
 of ' Professor of Philology ' to Prince Albert, heir 
 presumptive- to the throne, (now King of Saxony, 
 Ed.} Three years afterward he was made Knight 
 of the order of St. Andrew, and immediately ap- 
 pointed privy counsellor to his majesty, Frederic 
 Augustus^ II., by the grace of God (or of Satan,)
 
 160 PEISON BEMINISCENCES. 
 
 King of Saxony and Poland (!!!) Prince- of Mis- 
 nia and Thuringia, Duke -of Anhalt, Count of some- 
 thing else, etc., etc., etc. I may add that my 
 father is a member of the King's Privy Counsel to 
 this day. 
 
 " At the age of fourteen I was admitted to the 
 University of Leipzig, (the ancient Roman Lipsia,) 
 and there it was that those habits were formed, 
 that have since proved my ruin. Our German 
 Universities are not conducted in the same man- 
 ner as those in the United States. In Leipzig, 
 where there are constantly from one thousand to 
 fourteen hundred students in theology, law, medi- 
 cine and philosophy, they are the law-givers, and 
 whatsoever they deem right is right. Do they wish 
 to have a feast, the wine cellars are forcibly 
 entered at night time, (the watchmen are of course 
 afraid to interfere,) the poultry yards robbed, and 
 the bakers kindly relieved of their wares, and woe 
 to the man who complains, for his dwelling house 
 sooner or later will be disturbed by a masked 
 band, called the Avengers. Theatres, balls and 
 concerts, form the order of the day. Duels are 
 fought for the most trivial offenses, and many a 
 talented young man, the only joy of his aged 
 parents, and the pride of his townsmen, has lost 
 his life in these honorable meetings.
 
 MARTIN SCHLEGEL. 161 
 
 " Having an ample quarterly allowance, I plunged 
 headlong into all these extravagant habits, in which 
 even a French student is hardly a match for a Ger- 
 man, and to my cost I learned the truth of the 
 heathen's assertion, " Facilis," &c. Should you ask 
 whether theological students do not maintain a 
 more moral character, I am sorry to say they do 
 not. This, however, is owing partly to the world- 
 liness of our Professors of Theology, who visit 
 balls and theatres more frequently than the house 
 of God, and to the neglect of the holy scriptures. 
 If you will refer to your standard authority, Wat- 
 son's Dictionary, pp. 695-6, my statements will be 
 found to be correct. 
 
 " The Revolution. Previous to 1830, the gov- 
 ernment of Saxony had been an absolute monarchy. 
 The French revolution of that year aroused the 
 people of Saxony to a sense of their own condi- 
 tion. They arose in a body, and the kingdom 
 would at that time have been transformed into a 
 Republic, had not the Prince Regent, (the present 
 king,) granted a Constitution which converted the 
 government from an absolute to a limited monarchy. 
 For the space of eighteen years, Saxony had enjoy- 
 ed the blessings of general prosperity, but the 
 Constitution was generally believed to be defective, 
 in that it left too much power in the hands of the
 
 162 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 king and nobility. The French revolution of 1848 
 gave rise to a new outbreak in Saxony, in the same 
 year, in which some important changes were made. 
 These, however, were not satisfactory to the peo- 
 ple in general, and in 1849, a third revolution 
 broke out, more sanguinary than either of the 
 preceding. For an entire week the people fought 
 against the military forces in the streets of Dres- 
 den, streams of blood flowed down the streets, 
 father fought against his soldier son, and brother 
 against brother, and it was computed that over 
 ten thousand lives were lost on both sides. But 
 Saxon bayonets, aided by more than sixteen thou- 
 sand Russian troops, sent to aid the king, proved 
 too much for our undisciplined though brave men, 
 and we were compelled to disband, and flee under 
 disguise from the city. Several patriots were 
 made prisoners, tried by courts martial, and shot, 
 and all who had borne arms against the king, were 
 declared traitors and outlaws, and condemned to 
 death. Last December I was informed that his 
 majesty had granted a general amnesty to all 
 political offenders, and that such were at liberty 
 to return home as had fled. 
 
 " Revolutionary Incidents. It was about four 
 weeks after I. graduated, and while I was yet 
 attending lectures at the university, that the rev-
 
 MARTIN SCHLEGEL. 163 
 
 olution of 1849 broke out with unprecedented 
 fury in Dresden. The leaders of the people 
 called on the students of Leipzig to come over and 
 help them. The call was at once responded to 
 by us, and at 6 P. M., on the same day we had 
 received the letter, we monopolized the cars for 
 Dresden, distant about one hundred miles. We 
 were regularly organized as a regiment, under a 
 Colonel commandant, Lieut. Colonel, and Major. 
 The regiment was composed of several compan- 
 ies, according to the associations to which the 
 students belonged. Each company was command- 
 ed by its 'Senior,' assisted by two lieutenants 
 chosen by himself. 
 
 "Being the only graduate of my association, 
 the l Anhattiner,' I held the command of our 
 company. Our club being mostly composed of 
 aristocrats, (who of course would not join us,) 
 numbered but thirty-five men, from the age of 
 fifteen to twenty-two, fearing neither God nor 
 devil, for the most part believed in neither. Ar- 
 rived in Dresden, we reported ourselves to Gen- 
 eral Lenz, commander-in-chief of the insurgents, 
 who assigned us our various posts. Barricades 
 had already been erected in the most frequented 
 parts of the city, and I was ordered to proceed 
 with my men to Schlossgasse, and garrison the
 
 164 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 two barricades leading respectively into Frauen 
 and Bruedergrasse. 
 
 11 Stationing fifteen men under the command of 
 lieutenant Linke, at the barricade on Brueder- 
 grasse, I proceeded with the remainder to the 
 other part about forty rods distant. It being a 
 cold rainy night, we placed two sentinels on 
 either end of the barricade and retired to the 
 left side which leaned on an oyster cellar, which 
 we converted into a temporary guard room. 
 During the night several attacks were made on 
 us by a body of light infantry. They were, however, 
 repulsed with some loss. "We took an ensign who 
 was badly wounded. 
 
 " The next morning I received a letter from my 
 father, who had been made acquainted by some 
 officious friend with my movements. In this letter 
 he peremptorily demanded my instant withdrawal 
 to his country seat, ' or if you will fight,' said he, 
 'fight for your lawful sovereign.' To this I re- 
 plied, that I chose to remain where I was. At 
 three o'clock P. M., lieutenant Taller came to re- 
 lieve me and to deliver a message from my Col- 
 onel, which called me directly to head quarters. 
 There I was privately informed that General Lenz 
 had ascertained that a steamer was expected to 
 arrive that night from ' Koningstein,' (a strong
 
 MARTIN SCHLEGEL. 165 
 
 fortress on the Elbe, twenty miles above Dresden, 
 to which the royal family had fled,) with military 
 stores for his majesty's troops, and that it was 
 highly important to capture the boat, as this would 
 furnish us with powder and balls, of which we were 
 in great want. 
 
 " He informed me also, that General Lenz had 
 entrusted the expedition to our regiment, and that 
 as I was better acquainted with the surrounding 
 country than any other one, (having been there 
 ever since my sixth year, my college life excepted,) 
 he entrusted the expedition to me. I must confess 
 that this unexpected disclosure startled me. An 
 honor it certainly was if successful, if not, it 
 would cost me my head. But having once embark- 
 ed in the cause, I resolved to execute my orders to 
 the best of my ability, and took my leave. The 
 enterprise had to be executed by stratagem, and I 
 employed the following 'ruse de guerre' Selecting 
 six of our most daring men, I clothed them in the 
 uniform of the king's soldiers who had been slain, 
 taking myself the uniform of the ensign we had 
 made prisoner the preceding night. 
 
 " Taking a barge, we left the city in quest of the 
 steamer. About ten miles above Dresden, we 
 descried our prize. I at once steered alongside the 
 boat, and jumping on board followed by my men,
 
 166 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 I requested an interview -with the captain, who 
 knew my father and myself. I informed him that I 
 was sent by Marshall Cherreni, (commander of the 
 royal troops,) to inform him that ' Newstadt,' the 
 part of the city in possession of the king's troops, 
 and where the steamer had been directed to land 
 her stores, had fallen into the hands of the in- 
 surgents, and that the Marshall had ordered him 
 to land his passengers one mile above the city, and 
 to proceed with the stores to the ' Boule,' which I 
 told him was in possession of his majesty's forces, 
 but which was, in fact, in possession of our friends. 
 The captain deceived by our uniform, and knowing 
 
 me to be the son of Sir , one of his 
 
 majesty's privy council, went into the trap. My 
 plan was completely successful. The passengers 
 were landed above the city, from thence the steam- 
 er proceeded to l Brublesche terrace,' where a com- 
 pany of our regiment was concealed in a schooner 
 near by, who took quiet possession of the steamer.' 
 We obtained beside the military stores, six hogs- 
 heads of brandy, which was quite acceptable. 
 
 " I will not weary you with a recital of all those 
 scenes of blood and horror, which are common to 
 all civil wars. One of our last attempts, was to 
 storm the arsenal, when we were encircled by the 
 Royalists and indiscriminately slaughtered. In 
 this terrible conflict I was wounded in the back by
 
 MAETIN SCHLEGEL. 167 
 
 a grape shot, and in my thigh by a bayonet thrust, 
 the scars of which are visible to this time. 
 "Wounded as I was, my father refused to allow me 
 to be brought to his house ; but his early friend, 
 and my god father, Sir Edward L., the father of my 
 affianced, received me hospitably, although an aris- 
 tocrat. Here for three days I was nursed with 
 unceasing care by my betrothed, (the lady Anne A. 
 mentioned by my father in his letters,) but after 
 the city was taken, search was made for the rebels, 
 and I was obliged to leave Dresden in the night 
 on an ox-cart, with three of my companions. 
 
 " Arrived in Hamburg, my wounds heald slowly, 
 and as soon as I was able, I embarked for Amer- 
 ica, being presented with five hundred dollars by 
 my uncle in Hamburg. The rest of my story is 
 soon told. I came to Manchester, hired a horse 
 and buggy, and proceeded to Boston, where I 
 pawned the property to a broker for four weeks, 
 paying the interest in advance. Before I had time 
 to redeem it, I was arrested, tried, and found guilty 
 of theft ; and sentenced to the state prison for five 
 years, half of which has now expired. What I 
 have suffered in this time is indescribable. 
 
 And though no tears bedew the eye, 
 Nor outward signs of grief appear, 
 
 The brain may burn without a sigh, 
 The heart may break without a tear."
 
 168 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 The part of the narrative that is not supported 
 by corroborating testimony, I have omitted, resolv- 
 ing to publish only what is supported by such evi- 
 dence. That he is the son of Sir Henry , 
 
 there can be no doubt ; eighteen letters have pass- 
 ed to Martin, from the father, the mother, and 
 uncle, (brother to his mother, and a military officer 
 well known through the civilized world,) and a 
 young military officer, a class-mate of Martin. 
 
 The letters sent were, of course, all carefully 
 examined by the Warden and myself, as were also 
 the letters received. All bore the regular post- 
 marks of Dresden and the intermediate places. 
 All the father's bore the seal of his knighthood. 
 We also communicated with the father through a 
 most respectable house in New York ; receiving 
 various articles through them, from the father and. 
 mother. Three drafts,, amounting to one hundred 
 and seventy-five dollars, were accepted by that 
 house ; and in a personal interview with one of 
 the firm, (a gentleman born in the same city with 
 Martin,) I found him well acquainted with the fam- 
 ily. I have also myself corresponded with the 
 father directly. 
 
 The uncle referred to, as furnishing money for 
 his escape to America, is a military gentleman of 
 high standing, whose name is not unknown to those
 
 MARTIN SCHLEGEL. 169 
 
 acquainted with the present military establishment 
 of Germany. From this uncle three letters were 
 received, in which an extraordinary attachment to 
 this nephew was clearly manifested. From the 
 correspondence thus carried on, I find all the 
 essential parts of this narrative well supported. 
 In a letter frt)m the father I find the following: 
 " In consequence of the serious illness of his Maj- 
 esty, a special Council of State has been selected 
 from the ordinary council of Twelve, consisting of 
 six members, (besides his Royal Highness, tho 
 Crown Prince, who presides,) for the government 
 of the kingdom." Of this sub-council, he informs 
 us he is a member. 
 
 In respect to his connection with the revolution 
 of 1849, the letters of all his friends make fre- 
 quent reference to it, fully sustaining the narra- 
 tive ; while the sad scars on his person show the 
 character of his wounds. That on his back gave 
 him most trouble, as he feared the inference might 
 be unfavorable to his courage ; and he most ear- 
 nestly desired me to assure all concerned, that he 
 was charging bravely up to a circular battery when 
 he received that wound ; and we Americans allow 
 a very brave and distinguished man to deprecate a 
 "fire in the rear." 
 
 I will only add that the letters of the mother 
 15
 
 170 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 are exceedingly beautiful. She is undoubtedly a 
 lady of strong and highly cultivated intellect, and 
 possessed of those qualities of mind and heart 
 that make the accomplished and affectionate parent. 
 Her letters, also, breathe the spirit of true piety. 
 The following is a translation of part of one of 
 them, written in the German language. The trans- 
 lation, of course, but imperfectly conveys to the 
 reader the beauties of the original. 
 
 Mr DEAEEST MARTIN : 
 
 "Whenever the post-boy brings a letter from 
 you, it is always a holiday for me. With sorrow, 
 I learned from your last, that you had been sick. 
 This is a terrible thought to me. To be sick in a 
 strange land, among strangers, and so far from 
 your parents ; for only a mother knows how to 
 nurse her child. But you are (praised be God,) well, 
 and I am happy. The Almighty will further pro- 
 tect you, and screen you from all danger. My dear 
 boy, tell me freely, whether or not you are 
 pleased with America. If not, return. Your 
 .father has already informed you 1<hat his Majesty 
 has been graciously pleased to grant a general 
 amnesty for all political offenders. You may, 
 therefore, return with perfect safety ; and that our 
 house and our arms are opened to you, I need not
 
 MARTIN SCHLEGEL. 171 
 
 mention. Yes, return. You have already, and 
 too early, gone through the school of privations 
 and hardships, and I feel I know it experi- 
 ence has taught you a lesson, which even a Straube 
 (a noted demagogue,) cannot efface. My dear 
 Martin, I congratulate you on your twentieth birth 
 day. Happy am I that you are now out of your 
 teens, and I hope also out of your mad, revolution- 
 ary schemes. Your brothers are charming chil- 
 dren, and give me great delight. But you, my dear 
 child, you are my first-born; and what yearning 
 has a mother for her best-beloved, though erring, 
 child. I always imagine I see you quite strong 
 and well ; and the thought always brings tears into 
 my eyes. You left me a lad you will return a 
 man. yes, return. Bless your mother with 
 your sight once more, and then I will cheerfully 
 die." 
 
 In view of all the circumstances, and with the 
 cooperation of Col. Dow, who had retired from 
 his office as Warden, and with the consent of G. 
 "Webster, Esq., then Warden, I arranged the papers 
 containing the copy of his trial; the minutes of 
 the State's attorney and the presiding judge, and 
 presented them to the Executive ; giving them in 
 substance the facts set forth in these pages, and
 
 172 PEISON EEMINISCENCES. 
 
 placing in their hands copies of much of the cor- 
 respondence, and such proofs of its truthfulness as 
 I could produce. His excellency, Gov. Martin, with 
 his usual caution, examined the matter well ; and 
 after some delay, with the unanimous advice of his 
 Council, consented to pardon him, on condition 
 that his father would furnish the money for his 
 return to Germany, and his pledge to make no delay. 
 It was a day of indescribable happiness to the lib- 
 erated convict. I attended him to New York, 
 where we met many of his countrymen, some of 
 whom were acquainted with the family of Martin. 
 After engaging his passage to Hamburg, the vessel 
 not being ready to sail, I left him and returned. 
 For several months I heard nothing from him. At 
 length, taking up a newspaper published in. the 
 great West, and looking at a notice of a very 
 respectable and flourishing institution in the vicin- 
 ity, I saw it announced that professor Martin 
 
 had been engaged as professor of German Litera- 
 ture, and congratulating the institntion on the acces- 
 sion of so learned and accomplished a scholar. I 
 immediately wrote him. He excused his breach 
 of promise made the Executive to return to Ger- 
 many, by presenting a good many plausible reasons, 
 though I cannot say to my satisfaction. I coun- 
 selled with a judicious friend of high ecclesiastical
 
 MARTIN SCHLEGEL. 173 
 
 standing, and we agreed to watch his deportment 
 carefully ; but so long as he continued to do well, 
 to make no disclosure of his former history. I 
 am sorry to say that at the close of his second 
 term, he became so involved in pecuniary matters 
 that his connection with the institution was dis- 
 solved ; and he left the place with rather a dam- 
 aged reputation, though I have not learned that he 
 was guilty of anything positively criminal. 
 
 I have thus very imperfectly sketched the history 
 of one who might, with established principles of 
 integrity, and a sound religious conversion, have 
 been an eminent man, and a blessing to our race. 
 He possessed some very amiable traits of charac- 
 ter, and with all his faults and foibles, one is in- 
 clined still to love him. It was his misfortune to 
 be separated from that most estimable mother, 
 during the years of his childhood ; leaving him un- 
 disciplined and ungoverned. Then, after a short 
 time spent with his parents, came his removal to a 
 German University, at the early age of fourteen 
 years ; and who can think it strange that, in that 
 place, where genuine religious influence is almost 
 unknown, and where spoiled young men do as they 
 please, almost without restraint; where reckless 
 students from all parts of Europe, (most of them 
 infidel in doctrine, and in morals unboundedly 
 15*
 
 174 PBISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 licentious,) are the pestilent examples placed be- 
 fore the inexperienced. Who, I ask, could expect 
 any good result ? It would have been a miracle, if 
 this young man had come forth with integrity of 
 heart, or soundness of morals. 
 
 And further, the refusal of his father to allow 
 him, when dreadfully wounded and mangled, to be 
 brought into his house ; and leaving him to welter 
 in his blood, or to die as the victim of enraged 
 monarchy; has, in my judgment, much to do with 
 the wayward course of the son. It threw him into 
 a land of strangers, with no skill to labor, and no 
 friend to help. He felt it keenly, and I have no 
 doubt this decided him not to return to Germany. 
 It made his repugnance to monarchy a perfect mad- 
 ness, and his respect for the founders of free in- 
 stitutions almost idolatry. I recollect on passing 
 the sacred place on Bunker Hill, where the brave 
 and accomplished Warren fell, he threw himself on 
 his face, and, weeping, kissed the stone that marks 
 that spot. Russia shared his most inveterate ha- 
 tred, for the part she took in the Dresden insur- 
 rection ; and while I write these lines, were I, as 
 a Yankee, to guess his whereabouts, I should locate 
 him in the " Crimea."
 
 PARKER PAUL. 175 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PARKER PAUL. 
 
 PARKER PAUL was a native of Exter, N. H. He 
 svas not of pure African descent, but I think one 
 quarter white. The family was, in point of intel- 
 lect, much superior to the majority of families, 
 whether white or black. The name of one, at 
 least, is familiar in New England, as a very talent- 
 ed and useful minister of the gospel, who was ex- 
 tensively known and as extensively respected. 
 
 The immediate ancestors of Parker, however, 
 were very vicious. Their reputation was of the 
 basest kind, and the circumstances of the birth of 
 the poor fellow too bad to be named on these pages. 
 It may well be supposed that, entering life thus, 
 his prospects were of the most forbidding charac- 
 ter. Indeed, the condition of a colored child in 
 New England is most discouraging. We boast of 
 our hatred of slavery, and are loud in our pro- 
 fessions of attachment to the doctrine that "all 
 men are born free and equal." But our practice 
 as a community, is sadly at variance with our pro- 
 fession. I do not think that this is so much the
 
 176 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 result of prejudice against color, as a foolish love 
 of sport and mischief. The little urchin who is 
 so unfortunate as to have a black skin, finds him- 
 self treated much as a pet dog, or monkey. If a 
 lively and intelligent child, he is the village pet. 
 His pranks of innocent, or even of a mischievous 
 character, are related in his hearing, and he is 
 commended as a " smart little darkey." And if per- 
 chance he becomes a little too bold in his mischief, 
 and somewhat troublesome, many still commend 
 him ; so that the praise of smartness more than 
 compensates for the ill-timed and lawless punish- 
 ment his conduct may have procured him. Thus 
 he grows up with no proper training, having no 
 higher ambition than to sing Nigger songs, "jump 
 Jim Crow," and otherwise amuse the villagers. 
 
 If, on the other hand, the lad is rather dull or 
 petulant, he is kicked about like a bad dog who 
 evades the uplifted arm of one, only to receive the 
 descending blow of another enemy. He soon 
 learns to retaliate, and to make reprisals. The 
 community in general entertain no sympathy for 
 him. The voice of kindness or instruction is sel- 
 dom heard from any one. Wherever he goes lie 
 hears the exclamation, " The worst nigger on 
 earth" and he comes to count men as his enemies. 
 He joins issue with them, and fights his way along
 
 PAEKBR PAUL. 177 
 
 as best he can." His hand is against every man, 
 and every man's hand against him. The poor fel- 
 low through much tribulation, finds his way to the 
 jail, the state prison, or perhaps to the gallows. 
 
 Thus without intending any harm, or really hav- 
 ing any wish to persecute the negro race, we, by 
 injudicious management, spoil most of the colored 
 children of New England. The birth and parent- 
 age of Parker Paul, was, as we have already re- 
 marked, of a character that subjected him to the 
 worst possible inconveniences. No respectable 
 person would associate with the family. The col- 
 ored people of Exeter themselves, (who as a class 
 were highly respectable,) would have no connection 
 with them. Good and pious persons felt that under 
 the existing circumstances, the proper training of 
 the boy was impossible. Some efforts were no 
 doubt made, probably no community would have 
 done better, but poor Parker grew up a nuisance, 
 and in time became a terror to the people. 
 
 He was a young man of commanding form and 
 good features for one of his race, tall and well 
 proportioned, of great muscular strength and 
 activity ; he was altogether what one of the south- 
 ern "patriarchs " would call a very valuable boy." 
 His intellect was also good, much above an average, 
 and his proud spirit could not well submit to play
 
 178 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 the monkey, or amuse the villagers by songs or 
 dancing. He would not be the pet dog of the 
 place, and easily took the other course we have 
 indicated. It is not my purpose to follow this 
 unfortunate young man through his career of folly 
 and of crime. The testimony of the whole village 
 was, " he is a very bad fellow." I have been in- 
 formed that at one time he seemed to be the subject 
 of some religious impressions, but these soon van- 
 ished leaving him of course, worse than before. At 
 length he committed the horrible offense that 
 blighted forever the earthly prospects of a most 
 worthy female, and consigned the miserable offen- 
 der to the state prison for life. Terrible indeed 
 was the rage of the infuriated multitude against 
 him, and had it not been restrained by the more 
 prudent arid sober, the prison would have been rob- 
 bed of its inmate, and the wretched man have lost 
 the precious opportunity of seeking the salvation 
 of his soul. 
 
 For a time at least, the prison seemed to him as 
 a desirable sanctuary of retreat from the deep and 
 awful curses of the people, whose indignation 
 knew no bounds. Nor to the day of his death 
 would the majority of that community consent to 
 his release by pardon. Considering his past life, 
 and especially the offense, so brutal and surpass- 
 ingly cruel, they can hardly be blamed.
 
 PARKER PAUL. 179 
 
 i 
 
 And now that the iron gate has closed forever 
 upon the miserable man, let us go in and look at 
 him. Let us sit down and acquaint ourselves with 
 his thoughts, and inquire of him concerning his 
 past and present and future. He wonders why 
 God ever gave him a place among the living. His 
 earliest recollections recall only scenes of wicked- 
 ness and wretchedness. They bring up none of 
 those hallowed scenes so dear to your heart and 
 mine. Ah, that bright morning of life on which 
 others look back with undying interest even from 
 hoary age ! The virtuous father, with look and 
 voice of love, bending his manly form to mingle in 
 your childish sports ; then when these sports had 
 wearied, told you of your heavenly father. 
 
 " And as the bird each fond endearment tries, 
 To tempt its new fledged offspring to the skies, 
 He tried each art, reproved each dull delay, 
 Allured to brighter worlds and led the way." 
 
 And then that mother too, whose blessed image 
 is associated with all your young days j that true 
 mother, whose gentle voice soothed your childish 
 griefs, or fretful tempers, and who by all those arts 
 which none so well know how to practice as a 
 mother, subdued your wrong dispositions, checked 
 your unreasonable desires, and wisely cooperated 
 with the divine influence to eradicate the evil from
 
 180 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 your heart. That mother, fond yet faithful, who 
 by precept and example 
 
 " In teaching you the way to live, 
 Hath taught you how to die." 
 
 There too was the charm of young hearts and 
 voices, brothers and sisters, loved and loving. 0, 
 how busy recollection brings along the panorama 
 of the past to you. There as it passes are friends, 
 dear, true, virtuous bright skies above you, a 
 smiling earth beneath and all around you, and ten 
 thousand treasured memorials of your early and 
 later days. 
 
 0, man, loved and cherished by such friends, nur- 
 tured and matured in such an earthly paradise, 
 look not with cold contempt or with an unpitying 
 heart on that man, guilty as he is. He is now 
 thinking of the past. His panorama moves on be- 
 fore his mind's eye. He looks, but no scenes of 
 loveliness greet him. All along the moving picture 
 are painted images of evil. No forms of beauty 
 or kindness bend over his cradle, no voice of in- 
 struction enlightens his ignorance, no reproof cor- 
 rects his waywardness, no word of kindness cheers 
 his sadness. 
 
 No finger points to heaven, no note of prayer 
 falls on his ear and sinks into his heart. He had 
 heard somewhere that there is a God, the creator
 
 PAEKER PAUL. 181 
 
 of all, and he asks in the bitterness of his soul, 
 why was I brought into existence ? All along the 
 heavens above me have been shrouded in the storm- 
 cloud, and no bow of promise has ever betokened 
 9fiy good for me. Baleful examples have minis- 
 tered to my ruin. Cold contempt or heartless 
 indifference have fixed me in the love and practice 
 of vice. All the past is an unvarying scene of 
 moral desofation and death. 
 
 And then the present. Oh, the gloomy present. 
 As I muse, my heart becomes like these walls of 
 stone, cold and hard and insensible. He now looks 
 into the future, but what are his prospects. No 
 day of liberation, to which to look forward. Were 
 there a limit to his imprisonment, though that day 
 were far off, yet like a remote star it would shed 
 some faint light to cheer the horrible gloom. But 
 limitless bondage dreadful thought. In some 
 far off day these gates will open to me, but I shall 
 pass them unconsciously. They who love me not 
 nor lament me, will carry forth my worn and wasted 
 body to a convict's burial, and before that hour my 
 soul will have passed away, and where shall I find 
 my destined place ? Shall I my everlasting days 
 with fiends or angels spend? Thoughts like these 
 were often expressed to me by this poor man dur- 
 ing my long intimacy with him. 
 16
 
 182 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Several years had passed since his imprisonment 
 when I entered on the duties of the chaplaincy. 
 I learned that his general conduct had been good, 
 but that he was subject to occasional seasons of 
 violence, when the spirit of wrath and revenge 
 seemed to possess him, and exercise entire control 
 over him. He was at such times very troublesome 
 and dangerous ; all who were within his reach felt 
 themselves in great jeopardy. He was with 'much 
 difficulty restrained from acts of violence, and on 
 some occasions came to blows with his fellow 
 prisoners. On one such occasion a convict, an 
 " Italian," of whom something is said in another 
 place, in a paroxysm of anger, sprang at him and 
 with a sharp knife he had been using, cut him from 
 a little back and below the ear, quite to the corner 
 of the mouth, inflicting a deep wound nearly reach- 
 ing the jugular vein, and leaving to his death a 
 most undesirable scar. 
 
 Not satisfied with this, he drew his knife across 
 the abdomen, cutting nearly around it, and so deep 
 as to mark the membrane in some places. The 
 poor fellow, however, was mercifully preserved, as 
 we hope for his good, and by great care and kind 
 attention at length recovered. 
 
 On my first acquaintance with him he could read 
 but poorly, but soon made good improvement and
 
 PAEKEB PAUL. 183 
 
 became quite fond of books. He also manifested 
 much skill in penmanship, and made some profi- 
 ciency in arithmetic. On my first inquiry as to his 
 religious views and feelings, I found him much in 
 the frame of mind indicated in these last pages. 
 Notwithstanding his ignorance of religious truth, 
 he had for some time, (under the faithful instruc- 
 tions of my predecessors,) as he informed me, 
 thought seriously of his condition as a sinner, and 
 at times he had sought the Lord by prayer. These 
 attempts would, however, be given up after a few 
 days, and then again after a season renewed. I 
 first endeavored to impress upon his mind the great 
 truth, that there was one in heaven who cared for 
 him, that God loved him with a pitying love. He 
 could hardly be persuaded to entertain this idea 
 for some time, but hesitated. "Why then has he not 
 given me some proofs of that love such as he gives 
 most men ? Why am I of a race, hated, despised, 
 persecuted every where abused? Why was I 
 left to circumstances which almost of necessity 
 brought me here ? These questions must be met. 
 I showed him that God spared not his own son, but 
 freely gave him up as a ransom for us all, and that 
 this one gift was infinitely better than all that God 
 had withheld ; for that although he had not given 
 him wealth, fame or friends, yet that in Jesus' love
 
 184 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 for sinners, and his redemption of the soul, provi- 
 sion had been made for a better than an earthly in- 
 heritance, and that heavenly love was more than 
 sufficient to compensate for earth's hatred or con- 
 tempt ; and that in the retributions of eternity, there 
 was ample scope for the justification of God's moral 
 government, in regard to those things which are 
 painful mysteries to us at present. The thought 
 that the Father of all cared for him, seemed to 
 waken up new feelings. It was a new idea, and 
 one that much encouraged him to seek after God. 
 He began once more to pray and read the Bible 
 diligently, and was anxious to converse on the sub- 
 ject of experimental religion. At times he would 
 seem not far from the kingdom of heaven, and then 
 some provocation, perhaps slight and unintentional, 
 would stir up his violent temper and blight the 
 hope of his reform. I strove to fix in his mind 
 the necessity of divine influence in order to the 
 subduing of this, and all his unholy appetites and 
 propensities, urging that the " carnal mind is en- 
 mity with God," and as his own experience plainly 
 showed, " was not subject to the law of God, neither 
 indeed can be." I reminded him how his best 
 resolutions were inefficient, and his strongest efforts 
 unavailing, and that this state of things would con- 
 tinue until the stronger than the strong man armed
 
 PARKER PAUL. 185 
 
 should bind him and cast him out ; in a word, that 
 the power of divine grace only could accomplish 
 the work, and that while he carefully watched over 
 all his temper and passions to prevent their break- 
 ing out and triumphing, he should cry to God in un- 
 ceasing prayer for deliverance from the dominion 
 of sin. While thus from time to time the subject 
 was continued, he seemed to be almost persuaded 
 to cast all on the Saviour, and cry " God be merci- 
 ful to me a sinner !" and then discouraged and 
 gloomy. At length all my hopes of him were well 
 nigh destroyed by another freak of anger, in which 
 he severely injured several prisoners, and was sub- 
 dued only after a dreadful struggle. 
 
 The Warden very properly shut him in solitary 
 for several weeks, and I had nearly given up all 
 hope of him. His case is utterly hopeless, was the 
 general sentiment, and the only question seemed to 
 be how he could be best secured from harming 
 others. The time passed on, and at length I found 
 Paul in his cell again. I was struck with his ap- 
 pearance. Physically he had not suffered as I 
 expected he would ; but his countenance, his words, 
 his whole demeanor were quite changed. 
 
 " I have been praying," said he. " I became fully 
 satisfied that I was in nearly a hopeless condition. 
 I saw in my solitary state as I pondered over my 
 16*
 
 186 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 past life and present condition, that to cry to God 
 in good earnest was my only hope, and I have done 
 so ; and though he does not yet deliver my soul, yet 
 I think he has been with me and has given me some 
 good desires, and some tenderness of heart." 
 From this time I noticed a marked change in his 
 views of himself, no longer seeking to extenuate 
 his sins, no longer harboring revengeful feelings 
 towards others, and withal, looking upward for 
 help from above. I had several opportunities of 
 praying with and for him, at which times he prayed 
 most fervently for his own salvation, and with tears 
 and very strong emotion, seemed striving to enter 
 in at the "straight gate." At length God who 
 always hears the penitent, 
 
 " revealed His gracious name, 
 
 And changed his mournful state." 
 
 Great indeed was the joy of that poor man 
 when Jesus appeared to him, the one altogether 
 lovely and the chiefest among ten thousand. His 
 religious experience was to me of an uncommonly 
 satisfactory character. With him " old things were 
 done away, and all things became new." His feel- 
 ings were not of a uniform kind to be sure j at 
 times I found him oppressed with doubts. It was 
 often suggested to his mind that he was too vile a
 
 PABKER PAUL. 187 
 
 sinner to find such great mercy, and that he must 
 have deceived himself. In these hours of tempta- 
 tion and fear, I often found him much depressed, 
 but never manifesting any disposition to give over 
 his efforts to serve God. And soon the cloud 
 would break in blessings on him, and with all the 
 overwhelming exstacy which is a marked character- 
 istic of the negro's piety, he would rejoice with ex- 
 ceeding joy. " Such was my transport this morn- 
 ing," said he to me one Sabbath, " that I involunta- 
 rily laid hold on my couch to keep from going up, 
 for I really felt as if I were rising upward." At 
 such times I never saw human countenance more 
 expressive of joy, and it often required great effort 
 on his part to keep the silence which the prison 
 rules required. But a still more satisfactory proof 
 of the genuineness of his conversion appeared in 
 his subdued temper. I think to the day of his 
 death he was never found sullen or wrathful in a 
 single instance, and that he never gave occasion for 
 reproof from an officer. It was clearly seen that 
 he not only sinned not in this respect, but that he 
 had no disposition of heart to do so. There was 
 a quietness and contentment so unlike his former 
 self as to fix a strong conviction in the minds of 
 all, that he was at heart another and a better man. 
 His love for the Bible and other good books was
 
 188 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 remarkable, and in Sabbath school, as well as pri- 
 vate conversation, he manifested that his reading 
 was not without much profit. Another marked 
 change was visible in his reconciliation to his con- 
 dition. He often spoke with much apparent grati- 
 tude of this, ascribing it all to the grace of God 
 that had made his prison home even an endeared 
 place to him. Said he to me, " 0, how I have cursed 
 these cold stone walls, and these dark iron doors, 
 and the officers, as they looked in upon me. I have 
 cursed them not only in my heart, but how often in 
 a suppressed voice muttered deep curses with my 
 lips, and in language at the thought of which I now 
 shudder. 
 
 " But now I feel an attachment to this cell in 
 which Jesus appeared to me as my deliverer at the 
 first, and in which he has so often blest me. I love 
 this stone floor on which my tears of penitence 
 fell, and on which I have so often knelt in prayer, 
 and towards the officers I have no feeling but that 
 of love." At another time he remarked that from 
 a consideration of his debased position in society, 
 on account of his color, he had often thought that 
 could his skin be taken off inch by inch and its 
 place be supplied by a white one, he would gladly 
 submit to the operation. " But now," said he, "could 
 the change be made by the expression of a wish, I 
 do not think I should dare to utter it."
 
 PAEKER PAUL. 189 
 
 The thought seemed to be this : " God has loved 
 me as a negro ; Jesus died for me, a negro ; the 
 spirit of grace and truth visited me as a negro, and 
 renewed my soul. The Deity does not scorn to 
 dwell in the heart of the humble and contrite Afri- 
 can. All this, and all the blessings of His grace 
 and providence have been bestowed on me as one 
 of the outcast race. I had rather still remain as 
 God formed me, and in the class of humanity where 
 he has acknowledged and blest me." 
 
 One year and a half passed on after the great 
 change above related, and then came the day that 
 more fully tests the character of our religion. 
 Paul's giant frame was laid on the bed of death. 
 For some months it was evident that he could not 
 much longer survive the wasting effects of prison 
 life. His noble, erect form was beginning to bend 
 under the burden, and unmistakeable symptoms 
 admonished him to be ready. These were per- 
 ceived by him, but without dismay or dread. As 
 long as his physician thought best, he continued at 
 his work, manifesting a wish to do all he could. 
 When brought to the hospital it was pleasant to 
 sec and converse with him. The attendants found 
 him quiet and thankful for their attention. He 
 expressed the utmost gratitude to the officers for 
 their kindness, and his sorrow for having given
 
 190 PRISON BEMINISCENCES. 
 
 them so much concern and trouble in former years. 
 For all his former acquaintances he also expressed 
 much affection, and the most anxious desire for their 
 religious welfare. He felt no emotion of ill-will 
 toward any who had assisted in his prosecution, but 
 great sorrow for his crime. His confidence in 
 God's mercy, as manifested through the Redeemer, 
 was unshaken. He seemed to rest his whole soul 
 on the divine promise, and with remarkable clear- 
 ness to read his title to the inheritance with the 
 saints in light. "We often joined in prayer together, 
 in wfiich he greatly delighted, and seemed much 
 blest. All his sufferings were endured with uncom- 
 plaining patience, and through his sickness no mur- ' 
 mur was heard. At the last in perfect conscious- 
 ness and composure, he commended his soul to the 
 keeping of its great Redeemer, and we trust that 
 they who attended Lazarus to his home in paradise, 
 were present on their mission. 
 
 " Spirit, leave thy house of clay; 
 
 Lingering dust, resign thy breath: 
 Spirit, cast thy chains away ; 
 
 Dust, be thou dissolved in death. 
 Prisoner, long detained below, 
 
 Prisoner, now with freedom blest, 
 Welcome from a world of woe, 
 
 Welcome to a world of rest."
 
 THE ROMAN. 191 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 THE ROMAN. 
 
 " I AM A ROMAN," was the proud boast of thou- 
 sands, in the palmy days of that great empire ; 
 and so is Peter De Nos, the only Roman who ever 
 gained a residence in our excellent institution, vul- 
 garly called a " State Prison." Of this Roman I 
 propose to speak. I would do so with all venera- 
 tion for the land that gave him birth. " Proud, 
 mighty city of the world," "Eternal city," "Land 
 of the Caesars," "Seat of the true Church," and 
 birth place of Peter De Nos. Who can speak of 
 thee or thine but reverently. 
 
 I claim for Peter that he is a worthy son of 
 Rome, and should be ranked with its founders, 
 statesmen, and heroes. The immortal founders of 
 that city, dwelt in a solitary place, cherished and 
 nourished by the maternal Lupus. They honored 
 their Alma Mater, by plundering largely the sur- 
 rounding countries, and by supplying their reason- 
 able wants from any and every source. They also
 
 192 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 founded a city : " The Eternal City." Peter also 
 chose his home in the deep recess of a forest. 
 " 0, for a lodge in some vast wilderness," fully ex- 
 presses the sentiment of this great but modest Ro- 
 man, as he prepared an humble cave, and bowed 
 his lofty spirit to his lowly circumstances. He 
 now, like a good Roman, provided for himself 
 abundantly; asking no doubtful questions as to 
 ownership or title. He is a practical man, and 
 troubles not himself with fine-spun theories of 
 abstract rights. He cannot pause to settle great 
 moral questions. It is true, Peter founded no city, 
 nor did he imitate his countrymen, the founders of 
 that great empire, in their vigorous and rapid 
 courtship, by which their rude homes were changed 
 to an earthly paradise. But this was not his fault. 
 The times and circumstances (to say nothing of the 
 fates or the sheriff's,) were unpropitious. Allow- 
 ing for these, few would have done better. His 
 possessions increased daily. Clothing in endless 
 variety ; food in rich abundance ; all the necessa- 
 ries and many of the luxuries of life, crowned his 
 labors ; and had he been unmolested in his profit- 
 able, though unostentatious "course of duty," he 
 would, perhaps, long ere this, have made some" 
 American lady the happy sharer of his heart and 
 home.
 
 THE EOM1N. 193 
 
 If the captious are disposed to inquire "whether, 
 like the immortal twins, he drank from wolfish 
 fountains, I reply that anological reasoning, which 
 is the method of deducing from the similarity of 
 things in certain respects, the conclusion that they 
 are similar in other respects, proves that he did. 
 "We have shown several similarities, hence the con- 
 clusion. If this is not sufficient, then prove that he 
 did not. 
 
 The true Roman is seen in Peter's military ex- 
 ploits. It will be recollected that the most terri- 
 ble foe of Rome was Carthage in Africa. Peter 
 inherits the eternal enmity that was sworn into the 
 juveniles of the other party. The presence of an 
 African at any time, sadly disturbs his equanimity. 
 His mind, rich in classic reminiscences, cannot 
 slumber over the wrongs inflicted by that race on 
 his beloved Rome. 
 
 On one occasion a gigantic negro, for aught I 
 know to the contrary, a lineal descendant of Han- 
 nibal, named Parker Paul, offended our Roman. 
 Like his great countryman, Scipio Africanus, he 
 determined to "carry the war into Africa," and 
 like him, also, resolved it should be a war of ex- 
 termination. He fell upon this powerful foe 
 struck out with a vigorous arm and a brave heart ; 
 cut and thrust; and was brought from the field 
 17
 
 194 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 covered with the blood of his enemy, who was left 
 wholly subdued, and nearly lifeless. 
 
 It does not yet appear that our hero professes 
 the spirit of poetry or song. It may be, however, 
 that some future occasion may awake that spirit, 
 and that, like Shakspeare's musical heavenly bod- 
 ies, he may " like an angel sing," rivalling even the 
 renowned poets of Rome's former days. 
 
 The last trait of the Roman character in this 
 wonderful man, of which I shall speak, is love of 
 power. This, like the great Julius Caesar, our hero 
 has "largely developed." He is an almost abso- 
 lute master of a part of our United States fifty 
 by one hundred and fifty feet. He sweeps, and 
 dusts, and scours, as one born to command. 
 
 " He is monarch of all he surveys ; " 
 
 and that, too, in bold defiance of that motto, 
 " Americans shall rule America." Finally, 
 
 " He is a man, taking him all in all, 
 I shall not look upon his like again."
 
 MAITLAND. 195 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 MAITLAND. 
 
 MAITLAND, was the son of a highly 
 
 respected local preacher in Bristol, England. The 
 father was licensed by JOHN WESLEY, and his house 
 was often the temporary abode of that great and 
 good man, as also of BENSON and CLAKKE, and 
 other eminent men of that denomination. He was 
 a younger son of an ancient family of some dis- 
 tinction, and the family estates of course devolved 
 on the elder brother. The family of the younger 
 Maitland, however, were in easy circumstances, and 
 well educated, especially in morals and piety. Un- 
 fortunately for young M., at an early age he was 
 adopted by his elder uncle. Here all was changed. 
 From being the member of a household, who, 
 
 " Along the cool sequestered vale of life, 
 Had kept the noiseless tenor of their way," 
 
 and from the pure and heavenly influence of paren- 
 tal piety, he was thrown in boyhood into a circle 
 of gay and fashionable sinners. 
 
 " God was not in all their thoughts." A thou-
 
 196 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 sand unholy influences acted upon a mind active 
 and ambitious. The struggling conscience offered 
 less and less resistance, passion and appetite gained 
 fresh victories, and the soul became a moral deso- 
 lation. 
 
 " This is a bright day in my history," thought the 
 happy lad, as he left the modest cottage of his 
 father for the princely mansion of his uncle, wend- 
 ing his way from the rural abode of piety and con- 
 tentment, to the home of luxury and extravagance. 
 
 Ah, how in after life did he most bitterly curse 
 that day. We will not dwell on the young man's 
 history. Is it marvellous that he became corrupt, 
 vile, "giving to headlong appetite the reins?" Is 
 it strange that early influences ceased to restrain, 
 or that at an early age the mere wreck of his 
 former self, he was driven out from among those 
 who caused his ruin ? 
 
 Too proud to ask re-admittance to the home of 
 his adoption, and too much ashamed to seek a 
 sanctuary in his childhood home, he embarked for 
 America. Here he was diligent and found plenty 
 of work and friends. Generous and noble in his 
 nature, and possessed of great personal attractions, 
 he might have spent an honorable and useful life 
 in this western home, but unhappily his habits of 
 intemperance continued, and blasted all his pros-
 
 MAITLAND. 197 
 
 pects. In a state of inebriation he committed a 
 theft, (an act of meanness of which he would never 
 have been guilty in any other state,) and was 
 brought to a gloomy prison. 
 
 0, how the first sight of those gloomy walls and 
 iron gates smote the soul of young Maitland, and 
 how did his proud heart agonize in laying off his 
 fashionable garments, and assuming the coarse, 
 parti-colored prison uniform. Who that looks at 
 him but pities him. There he stands. Time has 
 not furrowed his brow, nor has labor bent that firm 
 form, but shame covers his countenance, and re- 
 morse tears his young heart. 
 
 Is he not now thinking of that early home, 
 
 " Where peace and plenty blest the laboring band;" 
 
 of the morning and the evening prayer, and song 
 of praise j of the ten thousand nameless endear- 
 ments of virtuous, social life ? And now there comes 
 over him a sense of guilt, his apostacy from the 
 God of his father, and the bringing of grey hairs 
 with sorrow to the grave. How he trembles ! 
 a deadly paleness overspreads his countenance, 
 terribly, yet but imperfectly indicating the storm 
 raging within. 
 
 Through six long years poor Maitland toiled on, 
 suffered on. Beloved by officers and convicts, 
 17*
 
 198 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 faithful, obedient, and I think prayerful, though I 
 regret to say he found no clear sense of his accept- 
 ance with God. The day at last came, long 
 desired. 0, how long ! The prison doors slowly 
 opened as if reluctant to introduce the poor young 
 man to the smiling world without. 
 
 He went forth ; but where could he go ? A 
 stranger in a strange land, and a degraded convict. 
 He was too sensitive not to shrink from the eyes 
 of those who knew him. One path seemed open 
 before him. The war with Mexico had commenced, 
 and in the midst of the " pomp and circumstance " 
 of war, he might forget the past. Here life would 
 be jeopardized ; but what was life to him ? He en- 
 listed, and for his good conduct and bravery, was 
 made a subordinate officer. 
 
 The remnant of that army returned to their own 
 land. Well had they sustained the fame of our 
 country, in campaigns that find no parallel on the 
 pages of history. 
 
 But our Maitland : As the thinned ranks moved 
 on, his fine, military form was not seen among 
 them. In a soldier's grave in a distant land, the 
 hands of his brave comrades had laid him down, 
 and their honest tears fell on his uncoffined dust.
 
 BIBLE INFLUENCE. 199 
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 BIBLE INFLUENCE. 
 
 I HAVE referred to the influence of the Bible on 
 the heart and life. The importance of the subject 
 will justify the additional testimony of this chapter. 
 
 W. S. was a native of Lyndon, Vermont. It was 
 his misfortune to lose his parents by death when 
 quite young, and thus be thrown upon the world 
 without a relation to provide for, or guide, or in- 
 struct him. He was an active lad, impatient of 
 restraint, and yet not considered vicious until he 
 came to reside in one of our cities, where he formed 
 acquaintance with some of our " fast young men," 
 and having had no proper training, and no knowl- 
 edge of religious truth, soon fell in with their evil 
 practices and infidel notions. I do not learn that 
 he was ever charged with crime, until the offence 
 for which he was imprisoned. 
 
 He was charged in the indictment, and found 
 guilty of breaking into the house of ONE DANIEL 
 WEBSTER, in Franklin, and stealing therefrom sundry 
 articles. The house was not inhabited at the time. 
 The great " Expounder of the Constitution " kept
 
 200 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 the paternal mansion furnished, and at certain por- 
 tions of the year came and spent some weeks of 
 happy intercourse with the good people of his 
 native place, to the great delight of his old friends, 
 and also of the young, in whose society he always 
 delighted. During his absence, young S. was per- 
 suaded, by an older and more wicked sinner, to 
 commit the offense. He never denied it, but 
 through all my acquaintance with him, seemed to 
 abhor that low, mean vice, lying, which is generally 
 found connected with a propensity to steal. 
 
 There was something in the countenance of this 
 young man exceedingly prepossessing. He would 
 be noticed among an hundred others, as one of su- 
 perior intellect, as well as of dignified and pleas- 
 ant manners. He had been but a few weeks in 
 prison when, as I came to his cell one Sabbath, 
 holding out his Bible in his hand, he said to me, 
 " Mr. Chaplain, I have never been so much surprised 
 at anything in my life, as I am to find in the world 
 a book like this. I do not know that I ever read 
 a chapter of it carefully until I came here, though 
 I knew there was a book called the Bible, and had 
 been accustomed to see it and hear something said 
 of it when I went to a religious meeting, which was 
 very seldom. Yet I thought it wholly unworthy 
 of credit; a collection of senseless stories and
 
 BIBLE INFLUENCE. 201 
 
 serious fiction, got up by ministers for selfish pur- 
 poses; and I have been accustomed to hold it in 
 the most perfect contempt. But I was forcibly 
 struck with my first lesson, and I am filled with 
 surprise as I continue to read. I can feel but little 
 interest in any other book." He then spoke of its 
 language, its history, biography, and expressed a 
 determination to make the Bible his study for the 
 present, at least. He lived six years afterwards, 
 and to the last was emphatically " a man of one 
 book." He would take up some portion, for in- 
 stance the history of the creation, and requesting 
 me, if I knew of any book that would help him in 
 his examination of that subject, that I would pro- 
 cure it for him ; would proceed to his work and 
 never leave it until the subject was well understood, 
 and all doubt dissolved. He would then take up 
 another subject, and proceed in like manner. I 
 gave him Watson's Apology, and other books of 
 the kind, and kept him well supplied with such 
 books as would give the exact meaning of words 
 and terms. Availing himself of all the helps, he 
 continued to his death a student of the Bible. 
 
 He did not search the scriptures from a love of 
 controversy, or a wish to establish a favorite creed, 
 or even to overcome any doubts of their authen- 
 ticity ; for on this he was well assured. Nor were
 
 202 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 his religious fears greatly awakened, or his desires 
 for his personal salvation at any one time very 
 ardent. But his whole soul was moved with an 
 intense desire to read and understand the Bible as 
 the "Book of God." To "read, understand, and 
 inwardly digest " the sublime and saving truths of 
 revelation, was his favorite employment. All his 
 conversation was directed to this pursuit; all the 
 energies of his mind here employed. 
 
 And it would be exceedingly gratifying could I 
 give the reader a just idea of his " profiting withal." 
 His countenance, always intelligent, became won- 
 derfully expressive of deep, calm, deliberate 
 thought. In his manner he was dignified, yet hum- 
 ble ; serious, but not sad ; familiar, yet not so as to 
 offend the most fastidious. As a prisoner, so far 
 as any intercourse with his fellow prisoners could 
 be permitted, he was always kind and affectionate, 
 but he seemed to have no interest in any of the 
 little incidents that are generally much noticed by 
 convicts, and which, with many, beguile the tedious 
 years of confinement. 
 
 No commentator, intent on searching out and 
 giving to the world the true sense of the sacred 
 writings, could be more diligent in making use of 
 all the means within his reach, than was poor S.
 
 BIBLE INFLUENCE. 203 
 
 during his last four months in the study of the 
 book of Revelation, a portion of the holy volume 
 in which he much delighted. There remained but 
 about one year to complete his sentence. What 
 course he might take, on regaining his liberty, so 
 far as morals or piety are concerned, was a ques- 
 tion well settled in the minds of those who knew 
 him in the last years of his life. 
 
 I fondly hoped to see him in some department 
 of religious service, useful to the church and world. 
 Often in pondering over the condition of the con- 
 victs has his case caught up my mind, and I have 
 many times looked with cheering hope to the time 
 when I should see community blest with the sub- 
 stantial fruits of my care and labor bestowed on 
 this man. 
 
 He has gone from the prison. His Bible is 
 laid aside. His young heart, so in love with 
 God's word, is cold in death. His noble, manly 
 countenance is covered by the " clods of the 
 valley," and his spirit has flown home, and is at 
 rest. 
 
 Farewell, friend, pupil, almost son, farewell. 
 I had thought to see thee nobly redeeming thy lost 
 reputation, and honoring on earth the " grace that 
 aboundeth to the chief of sinners." But I bow
 
 204 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 submissively, though sadly, to the decree of infi- 
 nite wisdom. If thou hast found 
 
 " The house of our Father above, 
 The palace of angels and God," 
 
 then will that home be sweet to thee, who never 
 knew an earthly home.
 
 ANECDOTES. 205 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ANECDOTES. 
 
 The Double Blessing. A well educated and 
 intelligent man of Scottish descent, was impris- 
 oned for house breaking. He was of a very 
 respectable family, and after years of travel by 
 sea and land, he for some time had command of 
 a coasting vessel. In one of his " high times " 
 when in port, being intoxicated, he broke into 
 a rum shop, for which offense he was impris- 
 oned for one year. As his time was so short, he 
 was able to keep his condition a secret from his 
 friends, and for this reason his name is suppressed. 
 He was an infidel on coming among us, but by 
 carefully reading the Bible, "Butler's Analogy," 
 and kindred works, together with much conversa- 
 tion on what had been to him doubtful points, he 
 became convinced of the truth and excellence of 
 Christianity, and professed to have experienced 
 its renovating influence. 
 
 He travelled for some time with an English 
 gentleman, whose name and travels are familiar 
 18
 
 206 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 with many, and who made the tour of Italy, Greece, 
 Turkey, and the east in general. His travelling 
 companion was a young French gentleman, who had 
 for a servant a Frenchman. Our friend officiated 
 in that capacity for the Englishman. 
 
 The following anecdote, (for the truth of which 
 I cannot vouch, though for several reasons I think 
 it genuine,) he related to me. In Corfu, on the 
 Sabbath, the travellers were sitting together on the 
 piazza of the hotel. Opposite was the cathedral. 
 It was during the celebration of " high mass." The 
 French servant came to -his master and asked for 
 some money, which was denied him. " Veil," said 
 the Frenchman, in bad English, "I sail 'ave ze 
 money some how." He had noticed that the people 
 on entering the cathedral opposite, deposited their 
 offerings in a box, placed near the door. As if a 
 new thought struck him, rubbing his hands together 
 he exclaimed, " Zat vill do, ze money vill be all ze 
 petter for being consecrated," and across the street 
 he ran. Seeing no one near or looking on, he 
 quickly forced off the top of the box, and soon 
 filled one pocket, but just then the tinkling of a 
 bell announced that the service had closed. 
 
 He had time only to replace the cover of the box, 
 when out came the bishop and priest, followed by 
 the congregation. The Frenchman still clutching
 
 ANECDOTES. 207 
 
 a handful of coin he had taken from the box, at 
 once brought his face into a most sanctimonious 
 form, and began to pray, dropping at each sentence 
 a coin into the box. His remarkable piety and 
 liberality at once attracted the attention of the 
 reverend fathers, who looked on a moment, then 
 coming up to him, the bishop laid his hands most 
 kindly upon his head, and called down blessings 
 upon him from the " Holy Trinity, St. Peter, St. 
 Paul," etc., etc. The Frenchman as he dropped 
 the last coin in his hand r bowed with the most 
 admirable grace, and expressed the most unbound- 
 ed gratitude. Then walking quickly across the 
 street to the travellers, who were writhing in their 
 efforts to keep from outright laughter, exclaimed, 
 " Tank heaven, tank heaven. Vy I am doubly 
 plessed. You hear ze blessing of ze bishop. 
 Zat was ver good, ver fine, ver rich ; but zis" slap- 
 ping his hand on his well filled pocket, " zis much 
 bettare! zis splendid ! zis magnificent ! 
 
 Selecting a Place. Several years since at 
 the time of the year when the wisdom o the 
 state was gathering into Concord, a gentleman 
 having on a " bran new coat, hat, boots," etc., etc., 
 and evidently not unconscious of the fact, came 
 with eager haste into the prison office, and walking
 
 208 PEISON EEMINISCENCES. 
 
 up to the Warden, with the air of one determined 
 to be known as somebody, addressed him, " Sir, I 
 have come to pick out my place." The Warden 
 supposing the man inclined to be a little facetious, 
 merely smiled, and said, " Very well, we will do our 
 best for you when the proper time comes." 
 
 " But," said the gentleman, " there will be a rush 
 bum-by, and I shall get crowded into some con- 
 sarned corner. I want a good place." The War- 
 den began to mistrust that the man had, as the 
 saying is, " got into the wrong pew," and suggested 
 that he doubted the validity of his claim, telling 
 him that of course the proper papers must be forth- 
 coming, or his name could not be entered on the 
 books, nor he recognized as a member. 
 
 " Understand that" said the man, with a signifi- 
 cant shake of the head, as much as to say, " you 
 don't manage to cheat me out of my right ;" and 
 taking out his old pocket book, he produced a care- 
 fully folded document, and read, " This certifies," 
 &c., it being a certificate of his election as a Repre- 
 sentative to the " Honorable General Court," from 
 
 the town of . " This settles the question," 
 
 the Representative elect triumphantly exclaimed, 
 but lo ! just then a movement in the yard attracted 
 his attention, and looking out he saw the unmis- 
 takeable signs of his mistake. He turned short
 
 ANECDOTES. 209 
 
 and was off; and as a. modern novelist would say, 
 " There might have been seen about this time a 
 man " going down State street, indisputably a fast 
 man, the skirts of his new coat fluttering out far 
 behind him, "Like streamers long and gay." 
 Whether he found in the place where he brought 
 up, better men, or men more profitably employed, 
 the deponent saith not. 
 
 " A good text and good preaching," said a 
 convict to his chaplain, as he was about to leave 
 the prison. I shall never forget the first time 
 you preached here. The text was in Micah, 6th 
 chapter, and 8th verse. "He hath showed the old 
 man what is good." " 0, it was a good text and a 
 good sermon." My parishioner made rather a 
 ludicrous blunder, but we in prison are not the 
 greatest of blunderers after all. I recollect on 
 one occasion, after closing ray sermon, a ministe- 
 rial brother arose, and after putting himself into 
 an attitude of oratory began thus : " The subject 
 that our beloved brother has so fully disgusted" 
 
 I of course chose to call it the blunder of a man 
 ignorant of language. Perhaps, however, there 
 was no mistake. 
 18*
 
 210 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 John H., is a Polander, a native of Warsaw, 
 and one of the brave men who made the last 
 unsuccessful attempt to regain their country's inde- 
 pendence. After their defeat, Johnny came to 
 America, and I am sorry to say, to the state prison 
 also. It was, however, believed that his impris- 
 onment was unjust. The offense charged against 
 him, was breaking and stealing a quantity of cop- 
 per coin, and the principal circumstance, on the 
 strength of which he was judged guilty, was the 
 agreement of Johnny's boots with the size and 
 form of the depredator's made in the snow path. 
 Now it was undoubtedly according to law and 
 evidence, that a true bill should have been found 
 against said boots, but it somewhat changed the 
 aspect of the case when it came out that a certain 
 woman, not at all connected with John, went with 
 said boots on that special occasion. 
 
 Notwithstanding all this, Johnny did the " state 
 some service." Especially was he useful on the 
 Sabbath in our choir. With a powerful clarionet 
 he discoursed such music as would have blest the 
 cars and stirred the blood of a regiment of cavalry, 
 horse and rider, and have brought them up to des- 
 perate deeds of valor. He was often cautioned to 
 ease off a little, and suit his music to the sacred 
 hour and place. And he would do so, for his was
 
 ANECDOTES. 211 
 
 a yielding spirit and a devotional heart, "but when 
 the music began to go well, John's old martial spirit 
 was stirred within him, and he could not well sub- 
 due it. He would seem to imagine himself on the 
 field of glorious strife, and bound to stir a fever 
 in the blood of men of war. His sounds would 
 begin to take the martial air, turning up his eye 
 toward the chaplain or warden, as much as to say, 
 " Pray excuse." Now then, and 0, such a blast, 
 and such flourishes. One would wonder how even 
 the Czar of Russia ever succeeded against Warsaw, 
 so long as Johnny played the clarionet. Ah, Johnny 
 was not the man for treason, stratagem and spoils. 
 " Music in his soul ? " Bless you, his soul was full 
 of music, though rather better suited to the field 
 than the orchestra. 
 
 Johnny was something of a wit as well as musi- 
 cian. Previous to his coming to prison, he worked 
 for a gentleman, well known and beloved in New 
 England, as a day laborer. His wife was a very 
 pious woman, but John thought her a little too 
 liberal in her demands on the services of the 
 workmen. Especially did he object to being sent 
 out to chop wood before breakfast. One day Mrs. 
 
 felt it her duty to speak with John on the 
 
 subject of religion, and asked him what his views 
 and experience were. John replied that he was
 
 212 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 certainly pious, "got 'ligion, plenty of 'ligion." 
 " Well what kind of religion ? " "-0, what we have 
 in our country." "Well, what is the. religion of 
 your country ? " " 0, good 'ligion, very good 
 'ligion." " Well, but what does your religion re- 
 quire ? " 0, serve God, be sure." " Well how ? " 
 " 0, pray to God, and not send hired men out to 
 shop wood 'fore breakfast. 
 
 The Innocent Irishman. There is among 
 convicts as well as other men, a great inclination 
 to deny their guilt, and refuse to own up. This is 
 true of all classes, but the Irishman is peculiarly 
 eloquent on this theme. I recollect the protesta- 
 tion of one poor fellow. " Master Chaplain," said 
 he, " I am quite innocent entirely. I know nothing 
 about it. I am as innocent as a child that had 
 never been born, and whose parents had been dead 
 many years." This, if true, certainly left but 
 slight grounds for suspicions of guilt.
 
 EXECUTIVE PARDON. 213 
 
 CHAPTER XYIII. 
 
 EXECUTIVE PARDON. 
 
 IN all rightly constituted governments, while 
 penalties, justly incurred,' are inflicted, there is a 
 pardoning prerogative lodged with some branch of 
 that government. This is highly proper, for several 
 reasons. Circumstances may transpire to show 
 the delinquent less guilty than was supposed, and 
 consequently deserving of less punishment. Or, 
 in other cases, something may arise to show the 
 man wholly guiltless in the matter charged. Or 
 there may be something in the moral improvement 
 of the convict, or in his declining health, that ren- 
 ders pardon right and proper. 
 
 But this power should be used sparingly, and not 
 without good reason. Next to the task of satisfying 
 expectant office-seekers, (a task fully equal to that 
 of Hercules, or Ixion, or Sysiphus,) the executive 
 finds the exercise of the pardoning power difficult 
 and vexatious. The difficulty begins with the sen- 
 tence, which in many cases is unreasonably severe. 
 This may be in some cases the fault of the statute ; 
 in others, of the court. Within the last few years,
 
 214 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 however, there have been but few cases of unrea- 
 sonable sentence. Previous to that, the severity 
 of our New Hampshire courts was proverbial. 
 
 Young men were sentenced to from seven to 
 fifteen years for offences which,, in Massachusetts, 
 would be punished from two to five years. It could 
 not be expected that these men would linger and 
 suffer on that length of time, peaceably and pa- 
 tiently ; nor would community submit to it. The 
 executive table groaned beneath the burden of pe- 
 titions praying for the pardon of such ; and these 
 petitions could not well be disregarded. From an 
 annual pardon of two, or three, or five, suddenly 
 the number went up to from ten to twenty a year. 
 That some of these were granted unwisely, there 
 can be no doubt, for the men composing our exec- 
 utive boards, like all other men, are liable to err 
 in judgment. But most of the pardons granted 
 were in favor of worthy applicants. 
 
 The evil complained of is not confined to the 
 executive. The whole prison is perpetually an- 
 noyed by the subject. To give one not conversant 
 with the prison management, an idea of the con- 
 stant vexation and perplexity occasioned by the 
 present system, would be impossible. No convict, 
 or at least, not one in ten, on coming to prison, 
 expects to remain to the end of his sentence.
 
 EXECUTIVE PAEDON. 215 
 
 " For how long a time were you sentenced ? " I 
 generally ask a convict, on my first visiting him. 
 "0, I was sentenced for seven, or ten, or twenty 
 years; or for life," as the case may be; "but I do 
 not expect I shall have to stay long." 
 
 "My prosecutor said that he had no thought that 
 I should get more than a year or two, and lawyer 
 A. says that it is perfectly outrageous, and the 
 sheriff told me to be of good courage, and that my 
 friends would get up a petition, and have me out 
 soon." Now all this is wrong. I know the pros- 
 ecutor would be glad to soften down the wrath of 
 the prisoner ; perhaps from pity, or it may be from 
 a fear of his revenge. The same motives may ac- 
 tuate others who make promises they can never 
 hope to keep. The convict is, to be sure, soothed 
 and quieted at the time, but so long as he remains 
 under the delusion, he makes no improvement. 
 The necessity of learning to read or write, is 
 urged upon him, as also of acquiring a good trade ; 
 or, if already somewhat educated, the importance 
 of taking a more systematic and advanced course 
 of study. But, says the deceived man, "I shall 
 not stay long enough to make it an object. I cannot 
 do much in so short a time." 
 
 And now he thinks of nothing else ; and wishes 
 to converse on no other subject but pardon. Time
 
 216 PKISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 rolls on, and the man -wonders what his friends are 
 about. Winter comes and goes, and spring and 
 summer follow; but no intelligence of anything 
 doing for him. Friends seldom write, and when 
 they do, say nothing of his liberation, or else give 
 him a homily on patience; a thing well enough at 
 the right time, but of no use now. Still the man 
 hopes, and still experiences that " hope deferred 
 maketh the heart sick." He becomes at length, 
 gloomy, dejected, obstinate. In his heart, at least, 
 he curses those who have deceived him; and per- 
 haps meditates revenge on them. 
 
 All this time the Chaplain, the "Warden, and Dep- 
 uty, knew that the poor fellow was cherishing a 
 hope that would be found false, but they could not 
 well tell him so. His conclusion would, in that 
 case be, that the officers were combined to keep 
 him in prison, and were his enemies. The labor 
 of the Chaplain would be lost on him, and the sup- 
 posed enmity of the other officers would be repaid 
 by disobedience and mischief. 
 
 " I am kept here," says the man, " because I am 
 profitable." "I'll make it a hard bargain for 
 them." I speak that I know, and am confident that 
 a disappointment in respect to pardon is at the 
 foundation of most of the instances of disobedi- 
 ence and bad temper of prisoners. What, then, 
 can be done in the premises ?
 
 
 
 EXECUTIVE PARDON. 217 
 
 1st. Let the sentence be as light as can comport 
 with the protection of community and the reform 
 of the prisoner. 
 
 2d. Let the convict know that he is to suffer the 
 full penalty of his offence, unless something should 
 transpire to change greatly the principal features 
 of his case. 
 
 3d. Let the relations and all connected with the 
 case, while they commiserate and pity the man, 
 acquiesce in the decision, and by kind words and 
 frequent communications in writing, show him that 
 he is still remembered and loved. Then the con- 
 vict knows the destiny that awaits him. He is not 
 tormented with painful suspense, or maddened with 
 uncontrolable rage by the violations of promises 
 made by friends. He sets about his work, forms 
 his plans for study, and mental and moral improve- 
 ment, and all goes on pleasantly. The man is con- 
 vinced that his sentence is not of an unreasonable 
 length, and he is saved from the evils that are un- 
 avoidable under the present state of things. 
 
 Even then, there will occasionally arise a case 
 that will call for executive interference ; but those 
 cases will be few. This view of the subject, I 
 know, is entertained by the most intelligent of 
 the convicts. I recollect one very intelligent 
 man assured me that he had suffered more from anx- 
 19
 
 218 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 iety, knowing that Ms friends were seeking his 
 liberation, than from everything else connected 
 with his long imprisonment of ten years. And he 
 assured us that if ever again he should be impris- 
 oned, he would most earnestly beg his friends, if 
 efforts were made for his pardon, to^keep the mat- 
 ter wholly from him. 
 
 In respect to such as are sentenced for life, I 
 think, in most cases there should be no effort made 
 by their friends, on their behalf, until the convict 
 has suffered from eight to ten years. I fix on this 
 as a point beyond which few prisoners can remain 
 without a strong probability of breaking down 
 and becoming enfeebled for life ; and, also, that 
 whatever hop-e of reform may be- cherished, must 
 be realized, if ever. The public mind would, in 
 most cases, be outraged by an earlier effort, should 
 it be made ; and a failure at the first attempt, pre- 
 maturely made, would render the case less hopeful. 
 
 At the proper time, let the case be brought be- 
 fore the executive by some judicious friends, who 
 were acquainted with all the circumstances of the 
 case, and a decision be had. If, from his crime 
 being of a very aggravated character, it is deemed 
 improper, or if the conduct of the culprit has been 
 such as to show that it would be unsafe to set him 
 at liberty, let such be the final conclusion.
 
 EXECUTIVE PARDON. 219 
 
 But if otherwise, and if at any time it would be 
 proper to grant the individual a pardon, it ought 
 no longer to be delayed. A longer imprisonment, 
 if not destructive to life, would be so to health; 
 and liberty would be but a poor boon to a man of 
 advanced years and shattered health. I think a 
 vast majority of our communities would acquiesce 
 in such a decision.
 
 220 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 DISCHARGED CONVICTS. 
 
 How should discharged convicts be treated, is a 
 question of much importance. In this, as in every- 
 thing else of importance, there are extremes to be 
 avoided. There are men, who, from great tender- 
 ness of heart, or perhaps entertaining superficial 
 views of justice, treat discharged convicts with a 
 familiarity and intimacy quite injudicious. They 
 seem even to show a marked attention to them, as 
 if they were the victims not of sin but of misfor- 
 tune, and treat them as if returned from some 
 highly honorable but unsuccessful enterprise, and 
 whose losses were to be made up by superabundant 
 kindness, and overflowing sympathy. This error, 
 however, is not a common one. Far more fre- 
 quently does the discharged convict meet positive 
 and cruel abuse. He is cruelly taunted by some, 
 perhaps in a jocose manner, but still in a way to 
 inflict positive pain. 
 
 Sometimes remarks are made as if with the de- 
 sign to wound the feelings of the poor man, and
 
 DISCHARGED CONVICTS. 221 
 
 more frequently there is manifested an indifference 
 to his prosperity. Many -will give him no encour- 
 agement. He seeks employment, but is repulsed, 
 and in a way that shows him why. And all this is 
 the more discouraging because he is looking out 
 for unkindness. He imagines every one regards 
 him with indifference or contempt. Do the chil- 
 dren playing in the street laugh in sportiveness, he 
 thinks himself the subject of their ridicule. Does 
 the bashful female pass him with a flushed counte- 
 nance and hurried step, he imagines she knows he 
 has been a convict, and fears him. Does the man 
 of business inform him he has no occasion to em- 
 ploy help, the same inference is drawn. With 
 these feelings how greatly magnified are all real or 
 supposed neglects or insults. His resolutions to 
 reform and lead an honest life were sincere, but 
 now, discouraged by the reception he meets, his 
 hope dies within him, his purposes of living a 
 virtuous life are shaken, and his old propensities 
 return with new strength. He has expended his 
 last dollar, and fails to find either kindness or 
 employment, and what can he do. It is easy to say 
 " Let him starve rather than steal." This is no 
 doubt good doctrine, and well established Christian 
 principle would enable one to endure the gnawing 
 of hunger even to death, rather than to seek relief
 
 222 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 at the loss of virtue or honesty. But we are not 
 to look for so high a standard of Christian morals 
 among discharged convicts, and can only, therefore, 
 expect to see them fall in the day of such trial. 
 
 They become desperate; they sin, and soon 
 return to prison, and as the poor fellow comes 
 back, men are heard to say, " Oh, just as I always 
 said ; " " knew he would be back again ; " " want 
 going to have a state prisoner around me." These 
 remarks on the extremes of kindness and cruelty, 
 will suggest the true method of treating such men. 
 
 A young man comes back to your neighborhood 
 who has been in prison, and you must meet him. 
 Take him by the hand and speak freely to him. 
 Give him to understand, not only your regret for his 
 folly, and your deep sense of abhorrence of crime, 
 but let him know also, that you are interested in 
 his restoration to the favor of the community. Say 
 to him, " We are disposed to help you. We do 
 not intend, however, to receive you into our full 
 confidence, or take you back to our intimate 
 fellowship, without proofs of sorrow for the past, 
 and evident purpose of honesty and integrity for 
 the future. You are a probationer with us, a can- 
 didate for the full confidence and esteem of our 
 citizens. We shall help you, but we shall watch 
 you. Not in the spirit of unkindness, but of hope,
 
 DISCHAEGED CONVICTS. 223 
 
 and in charity we shall watch over you. Go then 
 to your work, and step by step gain back what you 
 have lost. The favor of our community will come 
 as fast as it is earned. In your honesty and integ- 
 rity we shall all rejoice." 
 
 The good sense of every man will suggest how 
 soon and how far such a man should be admitted 
 to our familiar circles as one of us. He should 
 never be taunted with a remark calculated to 
 wound his feelings. The subject of his imprisonment 
 should never be alluded to in a half-jesting manner, 
 for if inclined to take things serious, he will think 
 it intended to insult him ; or if of another turn of 
 mind, he will infer that his sinful course is after all, 
 not so much a subject of serious concern and deep 
 sorrow, since men make it a subject of merriment 
 and jest. 
 
 The liberated man should be encouraged to avoid 
 bad company wholly. He should cultivate a love 
 for books, and should as far as may be practicable, 
 lead a retired life, not seeking to mingle at once 
 in society. With the vicious he must not be found, 
 with the virtuous he cannot at present hope to 
 stand on terms of equality. Let him wait awhile, 
 and be sober, and modest, and discreet, pursuing 
 faithfully his calling, and except in the worship of 
 God, mingling but little with the crowd. And it
 
 224 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 is wonderful how soon, pursuing such a course, he 
 will stand up a man amongst good men. The last 
 few years have wrought a great change in the man- 
 ner of treating discharged convicts. I do not 
 think but our citizens generally are disposed to 
 receive such in a proper spirit, and treat them 
 kindly. But there is still a great want of knowl- 
 edge as to the best means of doing them good. 
 And in behalf of that class of our fellow men, I 
 would most affectionately urge all who may read 
 these pages to think seriously of their duty in this 
 respect. If he that converteth a sinner from the 
 error of his ways shall save a soul from death, and 
 hide a multitude of sins, then when a man from 
 prison comes among you, for his sake and for your 
 own good, look to him and help him. I do not ask 
 you to marry him to your daughter, or to make 
 him your intimate friend. Do neither at present, 
 but count him a man, a sinful man to be sure, but 
 a man. By judicious efforts seek to help him to 
 overcome his vicious propensities, to conquer his 
 besetting sins, and to rear up the principles of 
 integrity and moral purity, which are perhaps 
 struggling with but a feeble and sickly growth. 
 Thou shalt in no case lose thy reward. 
 
 These pages may be read by some who have 
 relatives in prison, or recently discharged there-
 
 DISCHARGED CONVICTS. 225 
 
 from. Is it a child, parent, brother. God support 
 and comfort you, my friend. An acquintance with 
 many honest, respectable persons, who have suf- 
 fered as you do, has given me great sympathy in 
 your behalf. Allow me to charge you, forsake 
 not the unhappy man whose conduct has brought 
 grief and shame into your domestic circle. I 
 know a high sense of honor, and a just estimate 
 of good family reputation are to be cultivated, and 
 that a blow has been struck that has nearly 
 been fatal to your happiness. But imitate your 
 Heavenly Father. Like him learn 
 
 " To hate the sin with all your heart, 
 And yet the sinner love." 
 
 How long and how kindly has God borne with 
 you. So long and kindly bear with that offender. 
 Is he in prison? Write often to him, faithfully 
 but affectionately. Encourage him to hope for 
 your love and help in time to come. And visit 
 him. " 0, I cannot bear the disgrace. I cannot 
 be known as having a member of my family in 
 prison." You very much mistake if you imagine 
 your reputation will be damaged by coming to weep 
 over a poor wretched relative. 0, no, my friend. 
 Nothing so sinks one in the opinion of men in gen- 
 eral, as to desert a friend at such a time. And
 
 226 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 what more convincing proof can you give of a pure 
 heart, and a high sense of the worth of character, 
 than a frequent visit to the wretched man, sighing 
 and groaning in disgrace, and ground to the dust 
 by a sense of shame and of condemnation. 0, I 
 have seen him when the only link that bound him 
 to hope was the fond thought, " They love me at 
 home." Show yourself worthy of a claim to 
 respectability, by taking the hand of that poor man, 
 and acknowledging that with all his faults you love 
 him still. Nothing so convinces that you are not 
 chargeable with fault in that friend's guilt as your 
 concern in his welfare. And when a convict's 
 relatives fail to write or visit them, the conclusion 
 of all the prison officers is, that man's relatives 
 are not respectable. He probably committed his 
 offense because the restraining and purifying influ- 
 ence of family kindness was wanting. There is 
 no love there, and he sought other circles for sym- 
 pathy, which did not exist at home. But when the 
 weeping parent, or wife, or brother, or sister breaks 
 away from embracing the man in a prison garb, and 
 passes off, casting a look of sorrowful affection 
 back, the conclusion is, " That convict has good 
 relations, they are respectable, he only is the 
 sinner ;" a conclusion which I find is generally just. 
 0, save me from those relations who are too
 
 DISCHAEGED CONVICTS. 227 
 
 respectable to " seek and save the lost," and who 
 have no love for a member of their household who 
 has sinned. " Unto their honor, my soul, be not 
 thou united." 
 
 Is that friend soon to come forth to liberty? 
 Meet him at the door of the prison, having first 
 provided for him some employment, and take him 
 to your home and heart. Show him that he is not 
 to be driven out like Cain, a fugitive and vagabond 
 upon the face of the earth ; but that his friends 
 possess the spirit of Him who said, " Thy sins are 
 all forgiven thee, go in peace and sin no more." 
 Help him in business, encourage him in well doing, 
 and let him know that all is not lost to him. Thus 
 a pleasant future shall open up before him, and 
 though thoughts of the past will often open the 
 fountains of tears and throw some dark shadows 
 on the future, yet his heart will take encourage- 
 ment, and when men shall speak of your reputation, 
 and wish to place it most favorably before the 
 community, among the worthy deeds that have 
 made that reputation, they will place first and fore- 
 most, your Christian treatment of that offending 
 relative.
 
 228 PBISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE CONVICT'S FUNERAL. 
 
 As there is something terrible in the thought of 
 dying in prison, so there is a sadness and solem- 
 nity in a funeral conducted in that place. 
 
 At the appointed hour, the corpse, decently clad 
 and prepared for its "narrow house," is (unless 
 the season or the weather forbids,) taken from 
 the hospital to the centre of the prison yard, and 
 placed on a table. 
 
 The prison bell is then rung, which gives the 
 surviving convicts the first notice of death's doings 
 among them. All hands now quit work, and are 
 arranged in divisions. Another stroke of the bell 
 and each division marches out of its shop, and, ap- 
 proaching the centre of the yard, form three sides 
 of a square ; the corpse, surrounded by the officers 
 and Chaplain, forming the other side. Many citi- 
 zens are seen at the windows of the officers' house, 
 looking out, and listening with interest and often 
 with tears. 
 
 And now there is a silence which is oppressive.
 
 THE CONVICT'S FUNERAL. 229 
 
 "Who is lie?" is a question which struggles in 
 each bosom, for most of them have had no oppor- 
 tunity of knowing. But that question must not 
 be asked, and it is interesting to observe the coun- 
 tenance of each, as the look at the face of the 
 dead, gives the answer. Are they the features 
 of an unknown, or of one not beloved, there is 
 an expression of relief evident. But is it a fa- 
 miliar face, and a beloved countenance, 0, how the 
 sad gleam calls forth a sigh, a tear, as, passing on, 
 the poor fellow casts his lingering, last look on the 
 rigid features of the dead. And another question 
 is doubtless often on the mind : 
 
 " Who next shall be hastened away, 
 My merciful Lord, is it IV" 
 
 The Chaplain lays his open bible on the coffin and 
 reads, " Man that is born of woman, is of few days 
 and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, 
 and is cut down ; he fleeth also as a shadow, and 
 continueth not." The selected sentences from the 
 good book, resting on the still heart of the dead, 
 as they fall from the lips of the speaker, and are 
 reverberated from the surrounding walls of stone, 
 seem to rest with unwonted weight on the souls 
 of the living ranks of listeners. The lesson fin- 
 20
 
 230 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 ished, the Chaplain may be supposed to address 
 them in substance as follows : 
 
 My brethren, a few days since we stood on this 
 spot, as we now stand. Here lay the unconscious 
 form of one who had been your companion in your 
 toils and sufferings. "We sought to improve that 
 providence by religious services, and then was 
 committed " earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to 
 dust." In your ranks there stood at that hour a 
 young man whose countenance was shaded with 
 sorrow. To-day that division is not full, his foot- 
 step was not heard when you marched out. The 
 solemn services of this hour are unheeded by him. 
 Here are his poor remains. The earthly house 
 lies here in ruins. The soul hath gone to its end- 
 less home ; fixed in an immortal state. His was a 
 sad history, all but the bright morning. Then, in 
 innocence he looked out and on his future. And 
 how bright was that future, as his fancy drew it. 
 A long unclouded day of prosperity. Perhaps a 
 happy life with loved ones, blest with quiet and 
 contentment. Or, it may be, with more ambitious 
 hopes, sketching out a life of honorable distinction 
 and successful competition in the race for a more 
 dazzling prize. 0, how he mused of years in 
 which no wish should remain uncrowned no want 
 unsupplied. But how dreadful to compare the
 
 THE CONVICT'S FUNERAL. 231 
 
 anticipated with the real. He came down from 
 those green hills a careless, yet not a malicious 
 young man; prayerless, yet not infidel ; rude, but 
 not unkind. And when, from that hill top, he 
 looked back for the last time on the home of his 
 childhood, it was plain his was not a hard heart, 
 for he wept as he turned his face towards the city ; 
 and his tears gushed out again and again, at each 
 object that reminded him of home. O, young man 
 why did'st thou not turn aside and, kneeling down, 
 say : " My father, thou art the guide of my youth." 
 Why did'st thou not, like one of old, make a cove- 
 nant with God, that he might keep thee and bless 
 thee. 
 
 But why do I ask this slumberer ? He heeds it 
 not. My words enter not into the cold ear of 
 death ; and no living spirit is within this coffined 
 dust to answer. "For the dead know not any- 
 thing." Then let the living lay this to heart. Our 
 young friend, in the gay city or the bustling village, 
 found what our first parents found in paradise a 
 tempter, and a temptation. Like them, in an evil 
 hour, he yielded and fell. And then the result. 
 Alas, my brethren, you can but imagine the scenes 
 that followed. The trampling of feet, that told 
 of the presence of his pursuers ; the loud voice 
 that first declared him prisoner; the chains, the
 
 232 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 court, the decision, the sentence, the dreary jour- 
 ney to this place, that room in which was exchanged 
 the garb of citizenship for these loathed garments, 
 whose unseemly blending witness to all beholders 
 your degraded state. All this was in the history 
 of this young man. And here his earthly career 
 ended. There was no breaking out from behind 
 that dark cloud of his life's setting sun ; and if a 
 bow of promise ever seemed to rest upon it, it was 
 but a gay illusion. He sickened, but no watchful 
 mother's eye detected the earliest symptom of dis- 
 ease. He declined, but no mother's skill or care 
 came to his rescue. He languished, but no moth- 
 ^r's soft footstep was heard, nor mother's look of 
 love shone upon those ghastly features. He died, 
 but heard no mother's blessing, no father's pray- 
 ers. He passed off, and heard no farewell sen- 
 tence uttered, and felt no parting kiss. From that 
 neat cottage on that green slope, a voice of dis- 
 tress will break out. The quiet neighbor will be 
 startled by the sound of weeping and loud lament ; 
 and wondering, to learn its cause, will run swiftly 
 to the place. Let your imagination finish the sad 
 picture. Heart broken parents. How sincere 
 that exclamation, " my son, would to God I had 
 died in thy stead. O, my son, my son ! " May 
 "he who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," 
 care for thee, and thy smitten flock.
 
 THE CONVICT'S FUNERAL. 233 
 
 Ye living men, spared in mercy a little longer, 
 to you is this voice of warning sent. Every de- 
 parture of a soul is an instructive lesson, and how 
 numerous have these always been to us. 
 
 " Deaths stand like Mercuries along our way, 
 And kindly point us to our journey's end. 
 
 Hard is the heart, and quite hopeless the condition 
 of that man whom death no longer instructs ; who 
 with an unfeeling heart can see his fellows fall by 
 shafts to which himself is equally exposed. May 
 God " so teach us to number our days, that we may 
 apply our hearts unto wisdom." 
 
 Prayer is now offered, while the stillness of the 
 coffined dead scarce exceeds that of the living. A 
 silence broken only by a sigh, or perhaps a burst 
 of grief, from some one unable to exercise self- 
 control. Again the ranks are in motion; they 
 pass the pale sleeper, cast their last look upon his 
 countenance, and march to their work. The hearse 
 enters through the great gate, and receiving its 
 dead, passes out. The officers and, attendants, in 
 number suitable to perform the simple office of de- 
 positing " dust to dust," follow on, and the work is 
 soon accomplished. 
 20*
 
 234 PBISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE CONVICTS' BURIAL GROUND. 
 
 LET us visit it. It is near at hand ; just on the 
 skirt of our beautiful city. The surrounding 
 scenery is charming. In front stands the ancient 
 temple in which, more than a century since, our 
 fathers worshipped. Its outward form is un- 
 changed. Its tall spire still points to the home 
 of those who once entered its doors. Though the 
 great congregation no longer gathers there to hear 
 the word of life, yet is it worthily occupied by wise 
 and pious teachers, and by God's young servants 
 dedicated to him and to his church, those " study- 
 ing to show themselves approved unto God, work- 
 men that need not be ashamed." 
 
 Beautiful are the surrounding homes of those 
 connected with the institution, and of the citizens. 
 Lovely the varied group of hill, and valley, and 
 plain ; and charming the tranquil river, flowing 
 slowly, and with many a' graceful bend, onward 
 toward the ocean, like the good man to the bound-
 
 THE CONVICTS' BURIAL GROUND. 235 
 
 less sea of love. We will enter. It is the early 
 burying place. Here 
 
 " Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap, 
 Each, in his narrow bed forever laid, 
 The honored fathers of the hamlet sleep." 
 
 They were an ancestry of which we are justly 
 proud. Their memory will never perish. Their 
 monuments, decent and suitably costly, perform 
 a truthful office, as they testify to the virtues of the 
 departed. Here is little of that extravagant flat- 
 tery, but little of pious falsehood, such as abounds 
 in many cemeteries in our land, and well deserving 
 of the rebuke of the witty Sydney Smith, who, as 
 he walked into such a grave yard, slowly and sol- 
 emnly lifting up his hands, exclaimed, "Here lie 
 the dead, and here the living LIE." These lines 
 of the inimitable Gray, with but a trifling altera- 
 tion, describe in this respect our cemetery. 
 
 " Their names, their age 
 
 The place of fame and elegy supply, 
 And many a holy sentence here engraved, 
 Doth teach the living Christian how to die." 
 
 Here is the usual grouping of the dead. This, like 
 all other places of the dead, is a "land without 
 order." "The small and the great are here." 
 " The rich and the poor meet together." And how
 
 4 
 
 236 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 quiet! The spirit of rivalry has departed; the 
 fires of ambition have burned and gone out; and 
 where that proud one was laid down there is but 
 a heap of dust. Here, side by side, rest political 
 rivals, blending their ashes in common soil. The- 
 ologians, once disagreeing, and it may be, rather 
 rending; than building up, the truth of Jesus, 
 though with honest aim. Men of ambitious minds, 
 now quiet, though possessed of only each his small 
 share of earth. The halls of legislation have 
 emptied themselves for this place. Here is " His 
 Excellency," the Governor, and the honorable coun- 
 cillor. The court, the judges, the sheriff, jurors, 
 counsel, witnesses, and spectators ; all are here. 
 The Asylum, the home of such as are bereft of 
 God's best gift, next to eternal life, has sent its 
 colony to this place, and they are quiet. The 
 peaceful agriculturist lies low in the earth, the sur- 
 face of which he once tilled. The merchant, no 
 longer counting on his gains ; the man of skill, 
 whose "right hand has now forgot its cunning." 
 Nor these only. Planted side by side, as is most 
 fit, are the mothers, the wives, and the daughters. 
 What a host intelligent, courageous, virtuous, 
 accomplished, beautiful have entered these gates, 
 and are associated with those whom they loved 
 and blest in life. The sweet flowers that were
 
 THE CONVICTS' BURIAL GROUND. 237 
 
 nipped by the frosts of death, in vast numbers, here 
 wait their second spring time. Then shall they 
 
 " Revive with ever-during bloom, 
 Safe from diseases and decline." 
 
 It would be gratifying to step aside and moral- 
 ize on each of the sleeping ones. There is one 
 grave we will visit. Here, under this monument 
 of decent size and good material, and which speaks 
 in the language of respect and of friendship for 
 the dead, rests the mortal remains of the last slave 
 that lived and died in New Hampshire. Her life 
 had in it nothing of slavery but the name; and 
 when she died, the last vestige of slavery nominal, 
 was blotted from our records. How long shall it 
 be ere the grateful heart shall muse at the grave 
 of the last slave in our Union. God hasten the 
 day. 
 
 Here, it seems, sleeps what was once a human 
 form. But 
 
 " Unknown the region of his birth, 
 The time in which he died unknown; 
 His name is perished from the earth; 
 His grave remains alone." 
 
 No one shall know his history until the resur- 
 rection. Around this grave there were once gath- 
 ered a group of persons. There were hearts that
 
 238 PEISON BEMINISCENCES. 
 
 loved him, and tears once fell on this grave. But 
 they who loved and wept are gone. We ask in 
 vain for more of this man's history than is sug- 
 gested by our own experience and observation. 
 
 " The bounding pulse, the languid limb, 
 The changing spirits rise and fall ; 
 We know that these were felt by Mm, 
 For these are felt by cHL 
 
 " He suffered, but his pangs are o'er; 
 Enjoyed, but his delights are fled ; 
 Had friends his friends are now no more ; 
 And foes his foes are dead. 
 
 " He saw whatever thou hast seen, 
 
 Encountered all that troubles thee, 
 He was whatever thou hast been, 
 He is, what thou shalt be." 
 
 We pass to near the centre of the yard. Here 
 is a large space on which there is no monument, 
 not even the humblest stone, or any mark of re- 
 spect for the departed. And yet the whole space 
 is broken up, and thickly tenanted by the dead. 
 How is this ? A part of these are the graves of 
 convicts ; but I am compelled to speak of another 
 class, whose history does not a little dishonor our 
 state. During the war of 1812, a battalion of vol- 
 unteers were stationed in this city for a time. 
 The terrible spotted fever broke out among them,
 
 THE CONVICTS' BURIAL GROUND. 239 
 
 and some forty of those brave young men were 
 suddenly, and far from home, carried to a soldier's 
 grave. And these are their graves ; the unnoticed, 
 unhonored, forgotten graves of those young and 
 ardent defenders of our country; now one vast 
 republic ; boundless, almost, in its extent, wealth, 
 and resources. Her sons who fell in defending her 
 in days of weakness and peril, when threatened 
 by disunion at home, and by active war with the 
 most powerful nation on earth; these sons, offered 
 on the altar of our safety, are not deemed worthy 
 of even a block of granite from our own moun- 
 tains, to perpetuate their names. The young men 
 of that war were not gleaned from the idle, and 
 worthless, and vicious, as is often the case in rais- 
 ing recruits for war. They were the sons of pa- 
 triotic fathers and mothers; bred in the stormy 
 days of the revolution, and whose love of country 
 was not mere pretence. True, self-sacrificing pa- 
 triotism had not then become scarce. A disloyal 
 spirit was frowned upon, and true love of liberty 
 honored. The history of one too young to render 
 service, but not too young to love his country, is 
 in substance the history of each of those young 
 men. He, from the earliest period of his recollec- 
 tion, had listened to the oft repeated story of a 
 father who, with bare and bleeding feet, had fol-
 
 240 PRISON EEMINISCENCES. 
 
 lowed the father of our country through some of 
 his most disastrous campaigns. Who, beginning a 
 frail youth of sixteen, bravely held on in his coun- 
 try's service, until reduced by fatigue and sickness, 
 he was borne to his home ; and then, when still but 
 half recruited, back again to assist in filling up the 
 thinned ranks of our veteran army. And he had 
 heard (sitting by his mother's side, and resting his 
 young head on her checked apron,) how her dear 
 old father, a veteran of the French war, went forth 
 again at the call of his old captain, then General 
 Putnam, taking his five sons ; and how, while at 
 times all were at once engaged in their country's 
 service, her time was divided between the atten- 
 tions demanded by an invalid mother, and cultivat- 
 ing and gathering the harvest with her own hands. 
 And then she would speak of Valley 'Forge, where 
 sleep the ashes of one of the brothers ; and of 
 Cambridge, where another fell. That lad is now 
 a man of peace, and counts war a calamity ; less, 
 however, to be deplored than bondage. And from 
 his heart he honors the memory of the dead, 
 whether they fell by disease, or the bullet, or bay- 
 onet. Now they who slumber here, were the sons 
 of revolutionary sires and mothers ; trained to the 
 motto, " God and our country," they flew to the 
 banner of freedom. The father and mother loved
 
 THE CONVICTS' BURIAL GROUND. 241 
 
 the son, but proudly, and with Spartan firmness, 
 sent him forth. He came not again. When he died, 
 he thought of home and wept, but hoped he had 
 done his duty to his country, and that his memory 
 might be cherished. And so hoped the parents. 
 Vain hope 1 In 1846, Hon. Asa Fowler, of Con- 
 cord, introduced a resolution in the House of Rep- 
 resentatives, having as its object the erection of a 
 suitable monument to their memory. It failed, 
 however ; and the soldier sleeps unremembered, but 
 not undisturbed, for from time to time the spade 
 of the sexton breaks in upon their repose, and 
 makes room for a felon's corpse. 
 
 Here sleep the ashes of departed convicts. It 
 is, perhaps, well that they should fall into forget- 
 fulness, since even their personal friends could not 
 wish 
 
 their merits to disclose, 
 
 Or draw their frailties from their dread abode, 
 Where they alike in trembling hope repose, 
 The bosom of their father and their God." 
 
 But one cannot well avoid feeling deep sorrow, as, 
 standing on this neglected spot, he thinks how 
 different might have been the life and death of 
 these men. How many of them .might have been 
 21
 
 242 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 good, or even comparatively great men. "Who can 
 say ? We need not extravagantly muse. 
 
 " Perhaps, in this neglected spot is laid 
 Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire, 
 Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed, 
 Or waked to ecstacy the living lyre." 
 
 But those are here sleeping now who possessed a 
 strong intellect or a kind heart, or untiring activity 
 or indomitable courage. But there was no re- 
 straining, guiding, helping hand, just when such aid 
 was indispensable. The child was left to the di- 
 rection that bad influence gave ; and if 
 
 " A dew-drop on the tender plant 
 May warp the giant oak forever," 
 
 it is not strange that the combined influence of 
 multifarious evils should have produced the sad 
 results. Let no one, then, walk with a proud heart 
 and a lofty footstep over these humble graves ; or 
 impiously " thank God that he is not as other men, 
 or even as these poor publicans." Be humble, and 
 remember that the conferring of superior advan- 
 tages, has placed you under increased responsibili- 
 ties ; and it shall be more tolerable for the tenants 
 of these unhonored graves, in the day of judgment, 
 than for you, unless the bounteous culture of your
 
 THE CONVICTS' BURIAL GROUND. 243 
 
 youth is crowned with a life of piety. And I can- 
 not doubt that when the voice of the archangel, 
 and the trump of God shall wake the dead, 
 there shall come forth from these graves some 
 whom Jesus will acknowledge as his sons. Some 
 who, when all else was lost friends, reputation, 
 liberty fled to their only refuge. By penitence 
 and humble prayer, they sought a better than an 
 earthly portion. God, whose "grace aboundeth 
 to the chief of sinners," heard and accepted. 
 Though they died in prison, they died in peace. 
 This shall give us comfort as we turn away from 
 this sad spot of earth. In the day of general har- 
 vest it shall yield to " the reapers the angels," 
 some sheaves.
 
 244 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 PRISON DISCIPLINE. 
 
 THAT religion, (by which I mean the "love of 
 God," showing itself in deeds of love to all of 
 human kind,) is achieving its victories, and more 
 and more prevailing ; that it is not only visiting 
 the dark habitations of cruelty in Pagan lands, and 
 subduing the ferocious passions of the heathen 
 world ; but that it 
 
 " Spreads undivided, operates unspent; " 
 
 or that, in othej* words, it increases in vitality 
 and efficiency at home, it seems no intelligent man 
 will deny. Not that every individual is more 
 religious now than a year since, or that every local 
 church is more active or prosperous. But taking 
 our communities as a whole, surveying the Chris- 
 tian world as our field of observation, and who 
 does not rejoice to find the proposition well sus- 
 tained. We are to judge of religion by its fruits. 
 By this rule of judgment, compare the present with 
 a half century past, and what do we find to be the
 
 PEISON DISCIPLINE. 245 
 
 result. Whether we take into account the codes 
 of law of all existing constitutional governments, 
 or the morals of the people, or the prevalence of 
 charity, forbearance and good fellowship, among 
 the various religious denominations, we arrive at 
 the same conclusion. The change in all these 
 respects is most gratifying. 
 
 But in no view does progr ess exhibit its blessed 
 results more than in the condition of our prisons, 
 and the treatment of convicts. 
 
 The first prison building erected in Concord, 
 was built in 1811 and 1812. I suppose it was 
 constructed after the best models of that day. Its 
 walls are of granite and of great strength. Its 
 floors and partitions of the same material. Indeed 
 granite and iron are the only materials to which 
 the convicts have access, except their scanty articles 
 of furniture and their clothing. The building is 
 about eighty feet by thirty, and three stories. An 
 aisle runs through each story, ten feet wide, and on 
 each side of this, and built on the outward wall 
 of the building, are the cells in which the convicts 
 were kept when not at work. These cells were 
 ten feet square, and six and a half feet high. 
 
 They were entered by heavy iron doors, fas- 
 tened by enormous padlocks and bars. Into each 
 of them from four to six men were put, and spent
 
 246 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 all their time in unrestrained intercourse with each 
 other, unless they became so noisy as to disturb 
 others. The only chance for ventilation was an 
 aperture left in the outer wall, twenty inches by 
 three, and what little might be had through a 
 small space of perhaps an inch wide at the top and 
 bottom of the cell door. 
 
 In the heat of summer imagine what must be the 
 state of the atmosphere when, as is often the case, 
 we have a week or ten days of intense heat, and 
 the stone walls seem as if heated by fire. Even 
 when well ventilated, at such times they become 
 very uncomfortable ; what then must they have been 
 when scarcely the least circulation could be had. 
 Added to this, the habits of the prisoners were not 
 so well attended to formerly as now. Many of 
 them were disgustingly filthy. Most of them used 
 tobacco ; and added to all, the night vessels of a half 
 dozen men, shut up during the winter months, for 
 from fourteen to sixteen hours daily, and in summer 
 from twelve to fourteen. In the winter there was 
 of course, no heat introduced, no fire, no protec- 
 tion whatever from the cold, but what the cold 
 granite walls, and their scanty clothing and bedding 
 afforded. Imagine if you can the sufferings of men, 
 with the thermometer at from zero, to twenty-five 
 degrees below, compelled to turn in from work
 
 PEISON DISCIPLINE. 247 
 
 shops and spend the night as best they could. The 
 wind, keen and piercing, finds its way through the 
 apertures of ventilation, and through the crevices 
 of the door. Almost perishing with cold, they take 
 from their scanty store of clothing, and close up 
 their only channels of ventilation. They thus pur- 
 chased a little mitigation of suffering from the cold, 
 but at the expense of fresh air, and had their choice 
 of evils, whether to freeze or suffocate. Some 
 would prefer the one, and some the other, hence 
 furious quarrels would frequently occur, and blows 
 be given and returned, officers called in, and punish- 
 ments ; for who does not deserve severe punishment 
 for refusing to be quiet when so very comfortable. 
 To me it is quite surprising that any man could 
 live a year, under such a state of things. And 
 then during the cold storms of spring and autumn, 
 the poor fellows must come from their work in a 
 state of perspiration, and first marching their rounds 
 in the rain, pass to their cells, which never felt the 
 influence of fire, and pass the nights as best they 
 could in utter darkness. 
 
 The shops in which the men wrought, were mis- 
 erably poor, choked with dust and smoke, ill-con- 
 structed, and badly ventilated. The poor fellows 
 found but little comfort by day, and less by night. 
 Now, my friend, just step in with me and visit the
 
 248 PRISON EEMINISCENCES. 
 
 prison of 1855. Here are the shops for work, 
 of convenient size and form, and arrangement. 
 Suitable avenues abundantly ventilate, and carry 
 off the dust and smoke. The floor and ceiling, 
 and all the furniture is clean and neat. 
 
 The work is made easy by machinery. All the 
 men, without looking up or around them, keep busy 
 at work. No one is hurried or overworked, and 
 every thing is as neat and well conducted as the 
 best shops outside. Here as we pass on to the 
 hall, are the rooms for cooking, which is performed 
 by steam. Every thing here is neat. Pass on : 
 here is the hall, and in its centre are the cells. 
 There are three tiers, one above another, making 
 on both sides one hundred and twenty cells. These 
 are the bedrooms of the convicts. The furniture 
 consists of a chair, a couch, turning up to the side 
 of the cell when not in use, and provided with clean 
 and comfortable bedding, and the shelf containing 
 the bible and other good books, writing apparatus, 
 slate, a small looking-glass, and the printed " rules 
 of the prison." 
 
 Around the hall, and between the cells and the 
 prison walls, is a spacious walk of some ten feet 
 in width. Part of each cell door is grated, and the 
 hall and the cells well ventilated, and kept clean 
 by frequent sweeping, dusting, and the application
 
 PEISON DISCIPLINE. 249 
 
 of whitewash. The shades of night come on, and 
 the brilliant gas lights illuminate the hall and cells 
 beautifully. By day, the well cleaned glass admits 
 the light freely. In cold weather the whole is 
 warmed by steam pipes, and the degree regulated 
 by a thermometer. Accomodations for clothing 
 are also provided, and all are required to cleanse 
 themselves and keep everything about them neat. 
 So much for the physical change. Now look at the 
 mental and moral. 
 
 In the first place we have scon that from four 
 to six convicts were formerly placed in one cell, 
 and had unrestrained liberty to converse with each 
 other during all the time they were not at work; 
 hence originated frequent plans for escape. So 
 many experienced rogues laying their wits together 
 could but form plans difficult to detect, and fre- 
 quently successful. To this they were farther 
 driven by their physical sufferings. These made 
 them desperate ; and believing they could not fare 
 much worse, they would enter readily into any 
 plans that seemed likely to bring about any change. 
 In some instances such plans would occupy the 
 minds of a gang a whole year, and require the 
 labor of months. The officers were vigilant and 
 faithful, but in some cases an ominous hole in the 
 wall, and an empty cell would show, that intense
 
 250 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 "suffering and mutual counsel would make men 
 shrewd. This, however, was not the worst of it. 
 The officers could not avoid placing men of com- 
 manding talent, leaders in wickedness, and giants 
 in crime in the same cell with young men, and men 
 just commencing a life of guilt and infamy. To 
 have put a company of the worst men together, 
 would have been to set them to butcher each other, 
 and beside the character of the convicts would not 
 always be known. Suppose then, a young man for 
 his first offense, now enters a cell for the first 
 time. He is penitent, for he is not an old offender. 
 On his way to the prison he was thinking of 
 home, and mother, and sister. 0, how the sight 
 of the granite structure chilled his soul. How his 
 heart sunk within him as he entered, and he fully 
 purposed to reform. His first crime should be his 
 last one. Such was his resolution when he first 
 walked into his cell, and such his determination as 
 looking out through the narrow aperture he saw 
 the sun setting, and thought of home. But the 
 bell rings, the convicts come in, the cell's company 
 enter, rough, hard men. He looks up and shrinks 
 from them. The impress of guilt is upon their 
 countenances j the language of hell upon their 
 lips. He trembles and weeps, but they laugh at 
 his tears, and half pitying, half jeering, tell him to
 
 PRISON DISCIPLINE. 251 
 
 cheer up, and they will make a smart fellow of him. 
 And what room is there to hope in such a case? 
 The poor fellow may hold on to his purposes of 
 amendment ; but will he be likely to do so ? Is it 
 not almost reduced to a moral certainty that, cor- 
 rupted by the moral atmosphere, seduced by the 
 tales of successful villainy, and hardened by profane 
 and obscene conversation, he will lose all his good 
 resolutions, forget all his solemn vows, abandon 
 himself to the pursuit of vice and crime, and be 
 ruined forever. 
 
 Is a convict in such circumstances exercised with 
 anxiety relative to his sinful state ; and does he 
 weep at the remembrance of his sins, he is soon 
 marked, and by a thousand arts, such as few have 
 sagacity or firmness to resist, his ruin is sought, 
 and generally effected. A very worthy and pious 
 man, once an officer in our prison, informed me 
 that in pursuance of his duty, he had often listened 
 at their cell doors, and had, hundreds of times, 
 been shocked at such language as he had nowhere 
 else heard. An old and hardened offender would 
 be relating to the listening company, how he had 
 managed to ruin some innocent and unsuspecting 
 female ; artfully giving his story a form and finish 
 that would leave the most deleterious impression 
 on the mind of his auditors. Another would give a
 
 252 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 relation of some successful attempt to rob or steal, 
 interlarded with incidents of hairbreadth escapes or 
 reckless adventure ; feats of prison breaking, the 
 best way of eluding the officers of justice, or escaping 
 detection by involving others in suspicion, would 
 come up as themes of conversation ; and when the 
 stock of original matter became exhausted, some 
 one would commence a tale of murder, or piracy, or 
 highway robbery, which he had read, and thus the 
 conversation and the interest were kept up. 0, 
 how many convicts have thus, in former years, been 
 trained to crime. They have graduated from the 
 prison ripe for the pursuit of vice. They have 
 gone out to be leaders in iniquity, and with the 
 knowledge here gained, have been the terror of 
 community, for years having learned, among other 
 things, how to avoid detection. 
 
 Under the present arrangement, there can be but 
 little communication betwen the convicts. By day 
 each keeps at his work, and does not even cast a 
 look at his fellow workmen. All are under the eye 
 of an overseer, and no opportunity occurs for conver- 
 sation, except with the very few who are employed 
 as cooks, or in some service in the yard ; and these 
 are selected from the quiet and well disposed 
 class. Hence, all the corrupting influence of for- 
 mer years has ceased ; an improvement of incalcu-
 
 PRISON DISCIPLINE. 253 
 
 lable value. It is frequently asked : Is it not cruel 
 to forbid men to look at each other, or to converse 
 together ? From free conversation with the con- 
 victs, I am persuaded that the most intelligent class 
 of them do not desire it : and especially such as 
 are desirous of profiting by their imprisonment. 
 It affords no satisfaction to one who has a regard 
 for reputation, to have his countenance scrutinized 
 by every anxious visitor. To be looked at as a 
 vicious wild beast, and to know that comments are 
 being made on his character, as well as opinions 
 formed and expressed as to the indications of his 
 face. Most of the convicts had rather not meet 
 the eye of such visitors ; and though at first it re- 
 quires some care, and perhaps is really a privation, 
 yet soon it becomes easy, and not disagreeable. 
 And as to conversation with other convicts, I think 
 most of them are convinced of the wisdom of that 
 rule, however it might be pleasant to hear the hu- 
 man voice in social intercourse. 
 
 But the greatest improvement in the manage- 
 ment of prisons, after all, is found in the direct 
 and well-aimed effort to promote the mental and 
 moral welfare of the men. The true end of pun- 
 ishment seems to have been ascertained. For- 
 merly, it was supposed to be wholly vindictive, or 
 retaliatory. "Imprison him because he deserves 
 22
 
 254 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 it." "Punish him, for men must learn to respect 
 the majesty of the law." Hence, the system was 
 a very simple one, and well expressed in that vul- 
 gar saying, "take it out of his hide," "lay on," 
 "give it to him." 
 
 This view of the subject was seen by kind- 
 hearted men to be false and inhuman, and in their 
 detestation of it, they embraced an error on the op- 
 posite extreme. So true it is that the movements of 
 the public mind are like the vibrations of a pendu- 
 lum ; from one extreme to its opposite. The error 
 of these good men consisted in overlooking the 
 claims of justice altogether, and making all punish- 
 ment disciplinary, or rather in discarding altogether 
 the idea of punishment. Their doctrine was this : 
 The only end of imprisonment is the reform of the 
 offender. Hence, if the man comes to a better 
 state of mind, and gives good evidence of true 
 reform, he should be at once released. Why not? 
 True, he may have been a burglar, or even of a 
 higher grade of criminals, but then the end of pun- 
 ishment is reached, and there punishment should 
 cease. It certainly should, my kind-hearted friend, 
 if your theory is true ; but you forget, " The law 
 is to be a terror to evil doers." Its claims must 
 be regarded; its penalties suffered, at least so 
 far as to secure the end nbovenamed. the making
 
 PRISON DISCIPLINE. 255 
 
 it a " terror to evil doers," and giving security to 
 community against crime. 
 
 But let it once be understood that the claims of 
 the law cease when the criminal relents ; that pun- 
 ishment shall continue only while obstinacy con- 
 tinues, and where is the " terror of the law." A 
 man inclined to sin, reasons thus : " Beside my 
 chance for escaping detection, if brought -to justice 
 I shall only be dealt with in a way and to an ex- 
 tent to cure me of this propensity. I can close up 
 the account with justice at any moment I please, 
 by a profession of sorrow and promise of amend- 
 ment; and up to that point what I may suffer being 
 altogether of a remedial character, I ought not to 
 dread it." Such would be the reasoning of a man 
 capable of looking into the subject. Now both of 
 these views take in truth, but neither of them the 
 whole truth. The penalty of the violated law 
 should, doubtless, be suffered as punishment, and 
 thus community find protection in that fear of the 
 law which in that case would be inspired in the 
 minds of evil men. Thus the magistrate would 
 " bear not the sword in vain." 
 
 But at the same time, such punishment should 
 be so inflicted as to reform the sinner. This ob- 
 ject should never be lost sight of. The kind, and 
 degree, and duration of punishment should always
 
 256 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 be determined by a consideration of both these 
 objects. This is copying the divine administration, 
 and incorporating into our code of human law the 
 great principles of the divine government. 
 
 Losing sight of the reformative object of pun- 
 ishment, but little was done to instruct the intel- 
 lect, or benefit the heart. "We have seen how fatal 
 to all hope of improvement, (except in evil,) was 
 the old method of imprisonment. And, of course, 
 no active efforts, (had they been made,) would 
 have been likely to work reform. Suppose that 
 good books had been introduced, there was no suf- 
 ficient light by day, by which to read, and none at 
 all by night. Then there would have been but 
 little disposition to read where, of a group of a 
 half dozen, most wished to talk on matters or 
 subjects more gratifying to their corrupt minds j 
 and a sober, studious convict would find but little 
 enjoyment amid such interruptions as would con- 
 tinually occur. And, supposing, at long intervals, 
 some good man should volunteer to preach a ser- 
 mon to these poor outcasts, his words would be 
 likely to avail but little. ""Why are we frozen and 
 suffocated, and treated with such inhumanity ? " 
 would very naturally be a question that would arise 
 on going back to their cells. " The preacher said 
 we must love our enemies, and do good to all men ;
 
 PRISON DISCIPLINE. 257 
 
 feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and com- 
 miserating and relieving the distrest; and that 
 all men were alike created, redeemed and cared for 
 by God. Our law-makers and administrators of 
 justice are Christian men ; and yet who thinks of 
 us as brethren, or cares for us ? "We want none 
 of their religion or their preaching. We want the 
 fresh air of heaven, and protection from the frosts 
 of winter." 
 
 Such would be, at least, the feeling of men suf- 
 fering cruelly and needlessly. How often they 
 heard preaching I cannot determine with certainty, 
 but it must have been very seldom; and as to 
 books and papers, they were prohibited. I have 
 been told that a convict was most severely pun- 
 ished for the offence of having in possession a part 
 of a leaf of a religious tract. The poor fellow 
 said he found it in the prison yard. Probably the 
 winds of heaven, more merciful than man, had 
 wafted this little messenger of truth to the sad 
 convict, with information that Jesus loved him, and 
 that he recciveth sinners still. He confessed to 
 having read it and secreted it upon his person. 
 This was a disobedience not to be forgiven, and he 
 was punished. I do not suppose the officer was a 
 cruel man above others. He probably regretted 
 22*
 
 258 PEISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 the necessity that was laid upon him. It was the 
 fault of the times, not of that man. 
 
 But 0, think of it ; you who are groaning over 
 the degeneracy of the age ; you whose perpetual 
 lamentation is heard, " 0, tempora ! 0, mores ! " 
 Look at this : a poor trembling culprit punished 
 according to law, and without one note of dissent 
 from the people of that golden age, for reading on 
 a fragment of a leaf, a sentence of precious truth, 
 that saves the soul. " Say not in thy heart : Why 
 were the former days better than these ; for in so 
 saying thou dost not inquire wisely." Mark the 
 change ; scarcely does the cell door close upon the 
 prisoner, when a pleasant countenance looks 
 through the grates, and speaks to him of home, 
 and wife, and child ; of parent, brother, sister; of 
 God, our common father; Jesus, our redeemer; 
 and heaven, our home. 
 
 Then comes the teaching, which goes steadily 
 forward. The Sabbath, with its rest and its teach- 
 ing, and its prayers, and holy ordinances, blesses his 
 prison life ; and then the library, rich with books, 
 suited to the wants and wishes of all ; gathered 
 with care and expense from all parts of the coun- 
 try and world. The bright sun shines beautifully 
 through the well cleaned windows, on truths of 
 vast importance ; on pages full of attraction and
 
 PRISON DISCIPLINE. 259 
 
 useful history, or anecdote. The evening comes, 
 and by the brilliant gas-light he still pursues his 
 studies. Is he illiterate on coming to prison, he 
 is urged, encouraged, and assisted to read and 
 write. Does he succeed in this, he takes up other 
 branches of study, and makes proficiency. The dis- 
 cipline that forbids his looking around by day, and 
 deprives him of conversation by day or night, is 
 favorable to serious and habitual thinking, and 
 compels him to seek the company and instruction 
 of books. He has constantly urged upon his at- 
 tention the importance of improvement, and is en- 
 couraged to look for better days. Frequent let- 
 ters come to him from friends, like cheering cor- 
 dials to a fainting man ; and the privilege of com- 
 municating with friends, binds him more closely to 
 them, and to the memory of past days of inno- 
 cence ; inspiring the hope that life will yet be worth 
 something to him. All this gives a sense of God's 
 mercy, that forsakes not the penitent. 
 
 " There is mercy in every place ; 
 
 And mercy, encouraging thought, 
 Gives even affliction a grace, 
 And reconciles man to his lot." 
 
 The humane provision made for the comfort of 
 the convict, impresses his mind favorably toward 
 religion. He can but mark the contrast between
 
 260 PRISON EEMINISCENCES. 
 
 his vicious companions who seduced him from the 
 way of life, and in whose hearts the sentiments of 
 peace and exalted friendship never dwelt j and the 
 true, sincere and generous friendship of good men, 
 whose precepts and example both lead to virtue 
 and to God. 
 
 But " what are the results ? " is the question. 
 How does the character of discharged convicts 
 compare with those of the early history of our 
 prison. It would not be difficult to prove from 
 statistics, the superiority of our present system. I 
 suppose all will grant that a re-commitment to prison 
 is evidence that the design of punishment is not 
 met in the case of such an one ; and that the com- 
 parative frequency of re-commitments will show 
 which system is the most efficient. And I find, on 
 a careful examination of the prison records, that 
 re-commitments were far more common during the 
 first twenty years than during the last twenty ; av- 
 eraging, I think, in proportion of two to one ; and 
 this, too, notwithstanding the intense sufferings of 
 the former period, and the comparative comfort of 
 the last. And the reputation of discharged con- 
 victs is certainly vastly better. Formerly, when a 
 man was known as having been from the state 
 prison, he was looked upon with dread, if not with 
 detestation. The children fled into the house as
 
 PEISON DISCIPLINE. 261 
 
 he went by. Females grew pale, and avoided his 
 presence ; and all the more carefully locked their 
 doors and secured their property. Now, to be 
 sure, we watch the man for a time ; but how soon, 
 if he conducts himself well, he meets the approval 
 and kindness of the better part of community. If 
 honest and industrious, a few months places him in 
 the public regard where he can set up an honorable 
 business ; and go on, to some extent at least, un- 
 trammelled by a recollection of his former con- 
 dition. And with a few years of faithfulness, he 
 becomes rather a favorite with the people, who, 
 perhaps, take to themselves a share of the praise 
 due his worthy course, as having encouraged him 
 a claim which we by no means repudiate. 
 
 Grateful for partial success, let the friends of 
 the erring and degraded take courage. Other, 
 perhaps greater improvements, will yet be made. 
 God will inquire of us concerning these men. He 
 now inquires, " Where is thy brother ? " Let no 
 one be so forgetful of duty,, so false to sacred 
 trusts, so unpitying, so infidel, as to ask insult- 
 ingly, " Am I my brother's keeper ? " Like the 
 great Father of all, let us learn to care for all. 
 Like the blessed Saviour, let us seek and save the 
 lost. The more depraved and degenerate, the 
 louder do their miseries call for our pity, and the
 
 
 262 PRISON BEMINISCENCES. 
 
 greater will be our triumph in success, and the 
 higher our reward in heaven. 
 
 " Now thou mayest give 
 The famished food, the prisoner liberty, 
 Light to the darkened mind ; to the lost soul, 
 A place in heaven. Take thou the privilege 
 With solemn gratitude. Speak, as thou art 
 Upon the earth's surface ; gloriously exult 
 To be co-worker with the King of kings."
 
 FABEWELL SEBMON. 263 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FAREWELL SEBMON. 
 
 " Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep 
 His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring 
 every work into judgment, with every secret thought, whether it be good 
 or whether it be evil." ECCL. xii. 13, 14. 
 
 As in the conclusion of a sermon there is a 
 summing up of all the doctrines and duties set 
 forth and used, and suitable considerations pre- 
 sented to enforce attention to those doctrines, and 
 the performance of those duties, so the author of 
 this book concludes his work, " Let us," &c. 
 
 And in humble imitation of the great " Preacher 
 of Israel," I propose to close my labors with you. 
 My ministry of nine years is to close this hour. 
 I have honestly, (0, that it had been with more 
 faith, and love, and zeal,) yes honestly set forth, 
 explained, and enforced the great doctrines of our 
 holy Christianity, and these have been taken up, 
 sometimes separately, and each made the subject 
 of a discourse. At other times I have treated of 
 them in their relations to each other. It has been 
 my aim to "preach Christ fully," and to "keep
 
 264 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 back nothing that might be profitable to you." 
 And in like manner I have urged its duties, show- 
 ing that any other than a practical religion is vain. 
 
 And you will bear me witness that I have not 
 shunned to declare unto you the consequences both 
 of a virtuous and a vicious life; saying to the 
 righteous it shall be well with him, for he shall eat 
 the fruit of his doings, and "Woe to the wicked, it 
 shall be ill with him for the reward of his hands 
 shall be given him." 
 
 My sermon of nine years is now near its close. 
 " Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter." 
 I have said the text is a summary of Christianity. 
 It teaches internal and external religion. 
 
 1. Internal: "Fear God." The term fear is not 
 here used in what is with us its common significa- 
 tion, viz : a painful sense of danger, but rather in 
 the sense of reverence. It is not the result of 
 guilt, or the anticipation of punishment, but a fear 
 compatible with love. " It is," says one, " a holy 
 affection, wrought in the heart by God." It is, 
 therefore, only another name for inward piety im- 
 planted by the gracious power of God. 
 
 And this inward, spiritual work is indispensable. 
 There is for it no substitute. " Ye must be born 
 again," is the decision of your souls' physician, and 
 is addressed as well to the learned and amiable
 
 FAEEWELL SERMON. 265 
 
 Nicodemus, as to the most ignorant and immoral of 
 mankind. Not but Christianity marks partly all 
 grades of character,- and judges of every man 
 according to his deeds. But so corrupt, so fallen 
 is degenerate man, that 
 
 " No outward forms can make us clean, 
 The leprosy lies deep within." 
 
 I charge you now most earnestly never to enter- 
 tain the thought that any thing less than a true 
 moral renovation, a new creation in Christ Jesus, 
 can meet thedivine requirement; nothing less than 
 this can qualify you for life ; nothing less can make 
 you meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. 
 Until then the impure fountain will send forth im- 
 pure waters, and the bad tree continue to yield bad 
 fruit. Should you ever be disposed to content 
 yourself with any partial reform, or to satisfy your- 
 self by the performance of mere external religious 
 service, remember I pray you, that your Saviour has 
 decided otherwise. He who formed and who re- 
 deemed the soul, and who knows all its woes, and 
 all its wants has decided, "Ye must be born,gain." 
 As a sinner, a guilty sinner, you must have pardon 
 of all past transgressions, and deliverance from 
 that overwhelming sense of guilt, which brands 
 the sinner's soul as a fallen spirit, a being to whom 
 23
 
 266 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 the image of God is lost. You must be regenerated. 
 As a candidate for a holy heaven you must be sanc- 
 tified wholly, soul, body and spirit, that with the 
 church triumphant, you may say exulting, " Unto 
 Him who loved us and washed us in His own blood, 
 be glory and dominion forever and ever." 
 
 And this great inward work you have been 
 taught is to be earnestly sought after. You are to 
 "strive to enter in at the straight gate," to seek 
 first this inward kingdom, to make it the one great 
 object of your life to secure it, suffering no other 
 claim to precede, no other work to interfere with 
 the early and certain obtainment of this " pearl 
 of great price." At the same time you have learned 
 how your infinitely gracious God has provided for 
 your salvation. 
 
 You have been taught that as " all have sinned 
 and come short of the glory of God," so Jesus 
 by " the grace of God, tasted death for every man. 
 That as all have gone out of the way," so Jesus 
 was " lifted up that he might draw all nations unto 
 Him ;" and that in " suffering the just for the unjust, 
 it wa that he might bring us to God." Agreeing 
 to this foundation thus laid for the hope of the 
 guilty, all the influences of God's spirit, and all the 
 promises and invitations of His word are universal. 
 A measure of His spirit is given to every man to
 
 FAEEWELL SEEMON. 267 
 
 profit withal, and " whosoever will, may come and 
 take of the water of life freely. 
 
 And from this you have often been reminded that 
 should any one of you gain eternal blessedness, his 
 salvation must be ascribed to the grace of God, for 
 " of his mercy he saved us j" and on the other hand, 
 should any one experience the bitter pains of eter- 
 nal death, that soul would be self-ruined. And 
 finally, as we shall see more particularly hereafter, 
 you have been taught to expect the day when God 
 shall sit in judgment and yourself be judged. 
 
 2. Our text speaks of external religion. "Keep 
 his commandments." There are commandments 
 that have respect to God. That we cultivate a 
 spirit of piety in all our habits of thinking, com- 
 muning with God in our hearts, and in all our con- 
 versation, never allowing a profane word to pollute 
 our lips, speaking always with reverence of every 
 thing sacred. 
 
 Nothing is more destructive of all veneration 
 and reverence than the shocking and disgusting 
 habit of profane swearing. " Let no corrupt com- 
 munication proceed out of your mouth." God has 
 also said, " Remember the Sabbath day to keep it 
 holy," and prohibited the pursuits of pleasure or 
 wealth. "In it thou shalt do no work." It is 
 God's time, and terrible have been the results of
 
 268 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Sabbath breaking in all ages. Many of you will 
 call to mind that here commenced the course that 
 led to this place. The sound of the church-going 
 bell called you to God's house. You lingered. 
 Its last tone died away on your ear, and you were 
 standing with those young men at the corner of the 
 streets. The happy and pure hearts had entered 
 the sanctuary, and you were left with the unprin- 
 cipled. 
 
 Your better feelings at the first revolted at your 
 choice of companions. Tender recollections of 
 home and friends came over you, pleading with 
 you to avoid the evil and to choose the good. 
 You hesitated, but urged by those fine young men 
 in so friendly a manner just to " take a walk," 
 you yielded. Again and again you were shocked 
 at the recklessness of your companions, and often 
 resolved that that day should close up your acquaint- 
 ance. But another Sabbath came, and with it the 
 tempter and the temptation, and at the close of 
 another desecrated Sabbath you felt less compunc- 
 tion than at the first. You had joined more fully 
 in profane conversation, and taken a more active 
 part in iniquity, and felt a relish for sin you had 
 not felt before. 
 
 Your scruples were giving way, your repugnance
 
 FAREWELL SEEMON. 269 
 
 for vileness weakening, and from familiarity with 
 sin you became a ruined young man. 
 
 " Vice is a monster of such frightful mein, 
 As to be hated needs but to be seen ; 
 But seen too oft, familiar with its face, 
 We first endure, then pity, then embrace." 
 
 This, in substance, has been the history of many 
 a young man I now address. Had you yielded to 
 the dictates of your better judgment, how differ- 
 ent would have been the result. This hour you 
 would have been with that family circle busily pre- 
 paring for the house of God, and now walking in 
 company to the consecrated place. The eye of that 
 mother would be turned to your guiltless counte- 
 nance with all of a mother's love and hope. That 
 father with honest pride would think of you as 
 worthy to bear the family name, and as sure to 
 transmit its good character and possessions to 
 another generation. 
 
 And you of more advanced years would have 
 been leading forth your prattling happy children, 
 and your beloved wife going up to God's sanctuary 
 to seek his blessing. I know these thoughts are 
 painful, and we only indulge them to fix more 
 deeply in your minds this important truth that 
 God's command, " remember the Sabbath day," must 
 23*
 
 270 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 not be trifled with. 0, as you hope for any per- 
 manent good in yourselves, from this place keep 
 that day holy. 
 
 I do not recollect of an instance in which a 
 man discharged from this prison has become a reg- 
 ular attendant on public worship, but such an one 
 has done well. All who have been returned, and 
 all who have done badly, are of those who seldom 
 or never have kept the Sabbath. There are com- 
 mandments that regard yourself principally. Not 
 one of you should forget that you belong to God. 
 He has given you charge of a human body. You 
 are to regard its health and vigor. God will re- 
 quire it at your hands. You have no right by 
 gluttony, or intemperance, or licentiousness, to 
 break down that tabernacle so " fearfully and won- 
 derfully made." Sad and sickening has been the 
 experience of many I now address. From the 
 occasional dram, to the more frequent draught ; from 
 the moderate, to the immoderate use of strong 
 drink; from the respectable hotel bar, to the low 
 groggery bar ; and thence to the bar of justice. 
 
 How little you dreamed that this was the natural 
 course of events; and when some kind friend inti- 
 mated to you that you might yet become intemper- 
 ate, you knew not whether to laugh at what you 
 deemed his groundless fears, or to resent what you
 
 FAREWELL SERMON. 271 
 
 thought an insult. But the fears of your friends 
 were prophetic, and to you the matter is one of 
 painful and disgusting experience. I will not hold 
 the sad story up to you. Memory often performs 
 that office ; hence those tears, hence the groans and 
 sighs that often break the stillness of the night, 
 and arrest the ear of the vigilant watchman as he 
 slowly treads his accustomed rounds. 
 
 As it wa's remarked of Sabbath breaking, so of 
 drinking. Few that wholly refrain, but do well 
 on going out ; few that drink at all, do well. My 
 hope of the virtue and integrity of a discharged 
 convict dies at once, when I know he has taken 
 but a single dram, and especially if he had formerly 
 been intemperate. There is but one rule for such, 
 viz. : " Touch not, taste not, handle not." 
 
 Equally destl-uctive of health, and life, and 
 morals, is the sin of licentiousness. How clearly 
 and terribly do thesacred writers speak of this 
 vice. " For her house inclincth unto death, and her 
 paths to the dead." None that go unto her return 
 again, neither take they hold upon the paths of life. 
 Terrible sayings. The thoughtless man may be 
 slow to believe them, " but the end is bitter as 
 wormwood, sharp as a two edged sword." "Re- 
 move thy way from her, and come not nigh the
 
 272 PRISON EEMINISCENCES. 
 
 door of her house, lest thou mourn at the last 
 when the flesh and the body are consumed. 
 
 " Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes 
 not be burned ; can one go on hot coals and his 
 feet not be burned." " He goeth after her as an 
 ox goeth to the slaughter, or till a dart strike 
 through his liver, and knoweth not it is for his life." 
 "Her house is where ? On what street or road is 
 it ? It is in the way to hell, going down to the 
 chambers of death." Now remember that every 
 step you take towards her detestable dwelling is 
 a step towards death and hell, and few. that go 
 thus far towards such an end ever return. 
 
 There arc duties you owe yourselves as intel- 
 lectual beings. God never intended your mind 
 should be like a barren and uncultivated field. He 
 has made it your duty to develop ,nd train its fac- 
 ulties, to avail yourselves of all the means within 
 your reach to get wisdom #nd understanding, to 
 store your minds richly with all knowledge, and to 
 accustom yourselves to patient and serious thought 
 and reflection. Do not conclude because the morn- 
 ing of your life has been unpropitious, or perhaps 
 wickedly unimproved, that, therefore, that there is 
 no hope for you : 
 
 " For knowledge to your eyes her ample page, 
 Rich with the spoils of time doth still unroll."
 
 FAREWELL SERMON. 273 
 
 You may, you should yet make great and suc- 
 cessful efforts to be a man, an intelligent man. 
 God demands it. You will otherwise be faithless 
 to yourself as well as to God. Again, there are 
 duties you owe yourselves as religious beings. 0, 
 man, thou hast 
 
 " A never dying soul to save, 
 And fit it for the sky." 
 
 Thou art a lost spirit, " an alien from the Com- 
 monwealth of Israel." Thy principal business is 
 to come back to God. To regain the divine image, 
 to secure a title to an inheritance in heaven, and 
 by " a patient continuance in well doing," hold thy- 
 self in readiness for a summons to <: His presence 
 where is fullness of joy, and to his right hand 
 where are pleasures forevermorc." 
 
 There are duties you owe to others. It is but 
 little you can do at present to meet those obliga- 
 tions, except in way of preparation for your anti- 
 cipated liberty. 
 
 And when that day comes, ere you leave your 
 cell, kneel down and earnestly pray God to aid you 
 in your social duties. You who have a father or 
 a mother, go and let that old withered hand grasp 
 yours ; go and see how age and grief, a grief for 
 you, has bowed down and enfeebled those faithful
 
 274 PRISON KEMINISCENCES. 
 
 ones, go and seek forgiveness and the parental 
 blessing. If you love them go quickly, lest 
 
 " Death have swifter wings than love." 
 
 And you whose companion has suffered a thousand 
 deaths on your account, 0, hasten to greet that 
 faithful one. You will see her more pale and feeble 
 than when you saw her last. Gray hairs- are more 
 thickly interspersed. The rose no longer blooms 
 on that cheek; it has left forever. Sorrow has im- 
 printed its deep lines upon that countenance. Now 
 you will spare no effort to comfort her who for all 
 these long years has retained her love for you. 0, 
 let every hour in which God may permit you the 
 privilege, be devoted to her happiness ; otherwise, 
 dreadful will be your account. 
 
 To your children be a good father ; those little 
 ones have often thought of you. When their little 
 playmates have gone out to meet their father com- 
 ing from his daily toil, they have thought of you ; 
 and when their lone mother wept, they thought of 
 you. Let them find in you a true father, kind, 
 faithful, diligent. Go up with that family to God's 
 house, and worship in his temple. Gather them 
 around the family altar, and teach them the knowl- 
 edge and the fear of God. And as you mingle 
 once more with community use all proper efforts to
 
 FAREWELL SERMON. 275 
 
 regain your position in the world. You will find no 
 doubt, that man will stand in doubt of you. Good 
 and judicious men, while they wo,uld by no means 
 unnecessarily wound your feelings, or entertain 
 unreasonable suspicions, Will, nevertheless, give 
 you their confidence gradually, and as they see it 
 deserved? Nor should you regret this. It is the 
 only confidence that will be enduring. That which 
 is hastily and without reason given, may be as 
 hastily and unreasonably withdrawn. But when 
 by a " faithful continuance in well-doing," you gain 
 the confidence of community, then so long as you 
 hold on your course you can rely on that confi- 
 dence. 
 
 And do not trouble yourself much if you find at 
 first your former friends rather cool and distant. 
 You can if you will regain what you have lost in 
 this respect. Only be patient, meek and faithful, 
 and especially of all men it most behooves you to 
 entertain the most scrupulous regard for the law 
 of the land. Show your desire to be a good 
 citizen by obeying all the laws under which you 
 live, even those less important than some others, 
 or those frequently violated by many who claim 
 to be good citizens. Regard all these ; ever culti- 
 vate a habit of obeying every ordinance of the 
 constituted authorities. A violation of some un-
 
 276 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 important law might, perhaps, save you some little 
 labor at some time, but the well formed habit of 
 always doing right, will a thousand fold remuner- 
 ate. 
 
 Some of you have no parent, or companion, or 
 home to which to resort when you shall be free. 
 Cast yourself on your Heavenly Father, and go 
 forth confident of success through his good Provi- 
 dence. Seek a home and employment with the 
 virtuous; shun as you would death itself vile 
 company. By no means, and for no consideration 
 whatever, associate with such. Though your wages 
 are small, better labor for a bare subsistence, with 
 a good employer and good associates, than hazard 
 your integrity by engaging in the employ of a bad 
 man, or with vile associates. 
 
 And better a thousand times that you should 
 have no intimates than that you should select bad 
 ones. Good friends will be found; be not fearful. 
 It will be better for you for a time not to rush 
 into company. Be a serious, thoughtful man ; com- 
 mune with your own heart and with your God, 
 and all matters pertaining to social life will in 
 Providence be well arranged. 
 
 Having thus summed up the duties you owe to 
 God, to yourselves, and your fellow men, I now 
 come to our second general division, viz :
 
 FAREWELL SERMON. 277 
 
 The argument to enforce obedience. " For God 
 will bring every work into judgment, with every 
 secret thought, whether it be good or whether it 
 be evil." 
 
 The doctrine here taught is this, that God takes 
 account of every man's life, and will bring him to 
 hear the rendering. The doctrine of a future re- 
 tribution has been the doctrine of believers in 
 revelation in all ages, with few exceptions ; and is 
 in fact recognized in all religions, Pagan, Jewish, 
 Mohammedan, or Christian. God's justice is con- 
 cerned to bring man to an account at some time 
 and in some way, to reward or punish him accord- 
 ing to his deservings. But this is not done in the 
 present life. Therefore we are to look for it 
 hereafter. Attempts have been made to prove 
 that men are punished according to their deservings 
 in this life ; but I think few, very few, are fully 
 convinced of this. The truth that this life is not 
 fully, at least, a retributive state, is clear. The 
 numberless cases in which men are not and cannot 
 be punished in this state of being, and especially 
 the consideration that we are responsible for the 
 results of our wickedness after we are dead, are, 
 to most, conclusive proofs that we are to be judged 
 in another state. 
 
 But the word of the Lord settles the question. 
 24
 
 278 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Mark the passages that refer to this matter and 
 you find that 
 
 1. They always speak of the judgment as a fu- 
 ture event. "For God shall (not does) bring into 
 judgment." "For we must (not do) all appear 
 before the judgment seat of Christ. 
 
 2. They fix the event at a definite day. It is a 
 day. " The day of judgment." " The great day." 
 And Paul at Athens declares, " He hath appoint- 
 ed a day in the which he will judge the world in 
 righteousness." 
 
 3. They describe the judgment of those who had 
 long been dead as still future. " I say unto you it 
 shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah 
 in the day of judgment than for thee" (the in- 
 habitants of Chorazin and Bethsaida.) Showing 
 that the people then addressed would stand at the 
 same tribunal and on the same day with men who 
 had slumbered in death a thousand years before. 
 
 4. It is after death. " It is appointed unto man 
 once to die, and after that the judgment. And he 
 shall at the same time judge the quick (those found 
 alive at the time of his coming,) and the dead." 
 
 5. It is at his second coming, "When the Son of 
 man shall come in all his glory, and all the holy 
 angels with him. Then shall he sit upon the throne 
 of his srlorv; and before him shall be srathered all 
 
 CJ v i i^_,
 
 FAREWELL SERMON. 279 
 
 nations." Then follows a description of that 
 eventful occasion. The declaration of the char- 
 acter ; the fixing the destiny ; the final separation, 
 and the endless doom. 
 
 6. It is at the end of the world. " I saw a great 
 white throne, and him who sat on it. And I saw 
 the dead, small and great, stand before God. And 
 the books were opened ; and the dead were judged 
 out of the things found written therein. And the sea 
 gave up the dead which were in it ; and death and 
 hell delivered up the dead which were in them ; 
 and they were judged, every man according to their 
 works. And whosoever was not found written in 
 the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire. 
 This is the second death." Such is the testimony 
 of God's word. No doctrine is more clearly taught ; 
 for God would have every man know that for all 
 these things he will bring them into judgment. 
 
 How solemn a conclusion. Here is a subject of 
 infinite importance to us all. Is it so ? 
 
 " And must I be to judgment brought, 
 
 And answer in that day, 
 For every vain and idle thought, 
 And every word I say ? 
 
 " Yes, every secret of my heart 
 
 Shall shortly be made known ; 
 And I receive my just desert 
 For all that I have done."
 
 280 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 And you, more than others, can entertain some 
 just conception of standing at a judgment seat, 
 where matters of great personal interest are pend- 
 ing. Others have been there only as spectators, 
 and listened with no other feelings than curiosity, 
 or at most of sympathy. It was far otherwise 
 with you. Events you can never forget, had 
 brought you there ; and in every one of the trans- 
 actions of the day, you felt an awful interest. 
 And how deeply impressed on your memory are 
 all those transactions. The countenance of the 
 judge, and of the jurors ; the appearance of the 
 crowd assembled, the reading of the indictment, 
 the opening remarks of the prosecuting attorney, 
 and the witnesses. 0, how you scanned every 
 sentence ; and how your hope rose or fell accord- 
 ing to the strength of evidence elicited. And how 
 you listened to the pleadings, and especially the 
 charge to the jury. They retire, and in awful 
 suspense you wait. How slowly those two or 
 three hours passed. They seemed as so many 
 days. At length you sit once more in the seat of 
 crime. There they are, those twelve men who 
 hold your destiny in their hand. How painful the 
 silence of that moment you now well remember ; 
 but that silence is broken ; the dread question is 
 asked : and that word, how it fell upon your ear,
 
 FAREWELL SERMON. 281 
 
 and crushed your heart Guilty. Oh, that word, 
 so terribly significant. But why do I speak of 
 these things ? Not to distress you wantonly. 0, 
 no j but if possible, to deepen in your minds a 
 sense of the importance of that day when 
 
 " The judge descending, thunders from afar, 
 And all mankind are summoned to his bar." 
 
 And while, in many respects, the past presents 
 similarities to the coming judgment, in others, and 
 very important respects, they differ. 
 
 If, on your trial at the bar of your country, you 
 were the victims of perjury, or by the concurrence 
 of unfortunate circumstances, your jurors misjudged, 
 or moved by prejudice, condemned an innocent 
 man, no such wrong judgment will overtake you 
 there. See then 
 
 " The volume opened ; opened every heart, 
 A sunbeam pointing out each secret thought." 
 
 The just man hath nothing to fear, therefore ; nor 
 has the guilty anything to hope. No lack of evi- 
 dence, no imperfection in the law, no error in the 
 proceeding. The books shall be opened, and the 
 dead judged out of the things found written therein. 
 " The books," the record of our lives, the pages of 
 which are now filling up. That book " of leaves 
 24*
 
 282 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 more durable than those of brass," on the pages 
 of which the recording angel is now writing it, 
 shall be opened. Nor can justice be deceived, or 
 bribed ; we shall receive, every one " according to 
 the deeds done in the body." In the sentence 
 which consigned you to this place, there was a 
 limit. At farthest, it must end at death ; and hope, 
 that in this life " springs eternal in the human 
 breast," suggested thoughts of pardon, or escape, 
 or liberation by some means. But not so the sin- 
 ner doomed by the great judge. He is "to go 
 away into everlasting punishment," through that 
 gate on which is written 
 
 " Who enters here must bid all hope farewell." 
 
 0, man, think of this, and learn to dread the judg- 
 ment of -the great day as an unpardoned sinner. 
 The constant recollection of this, is proposed by 
 the wise man as a preventive of evil-doing, and an 
 incentive to good. We are to have it always in 
 mind, and think, and speak, and act, with reference 
 thereto. This will keep back our hand from doing 
 wrong in the day of temptation the thought, 
 the judge is at the door ; and this will regulate 
 our worldly desires and pursuits. 
 
 " Great day of dread decision and despair, 
 At thought of thee each sublunary wish, 
 Lets go its eager grasp, drops the poor world, 
 And catches at each reed of hope in heaven."
 
 FAREWELL SERMON. 283 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 THIS day closes my ministry of nine years in * 
 this place. They have been years of much physi- 
 cal suffering to me, such as few can conceive of, 
 though I have generally attended to the duties of 
 my ministry. I have endeavored to bear in mind 
 that my congregation were occupying a point in 
 life which would, in all probability, determine their 
 future course, and endless destiny; and as many 
 of my sermons were to be the last to some one, I 
 have felt that each should be selected and preached 
 for present results. I have found no time for 
 speculative preaching, or for discussing subjects 
 foreign to the soul's salvation. I shall look back 
 with some degree of pleasure to those years, while 
 I life. The . uniform respect you have shown me, 
 surpassed by no congregation to which I have ever 
 preached, the eagerness with which you have lis- 
 tened to my words, the earnestness which you have 
 manifested to understand " the way to the Lord," 
 and the evident improvement of nearly all, in 
 knowledge, and of many, I trust, in goodness, have 
 made these years of -great interest to me, and I 
 can never forget them. The pleasure I feel in this 
 review is, however, mingled with regret that I have
 
 284 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 done no more, and in no better spirit of devoted- 
 ness. May I " find mercy of the Lord in that day." 
 
 And I am sad too, when I think how many to 
 whom I have preached Jesus, are still strangers to 
 him. Years of loneliness, wearisome, dark, dismal 
 years have been suffered ; containing more of hu- 
 man misery than any but the experienced can con- 
 ceive of. Privations and separations, of the most 
 painful character, have been endured in vain. It 
 is a melancholy thought, that justice and mercy 
 have combined to save such, and in vain. The 
 laborer cultivates his fields with care, watches 
 over the springing blade and the unripe fruit, with 
 unsparing vigilance, and looks with joyous exulta- 
 tion to the rich harvest which shall repay his toil 
 and care. But in one fatal night all his hopes 
 perish. The untimely frosts have withered his 
 fair fields ; and they are now a wide, desolation. 
 Yet in this case, sad as it is, there is the allevi- 
 ating consideration that the destruction came to 
 the owner, not by any fault of his. He can bow 
 in submission to an inevitable providence, the wis- 
 dom of which he cannot question ; and trust that 
 he who has destroyed, and who is the proprietor 
 of the silver and gold, and the cattle on a thousand 
 hills, can and will provide. 
 
 But how much more to be deplored, when all
 
 FAREWELL SERMON. 285 
 
 you suffer here, and all the care and culture be- 
 stowed to bring a harvest unto eternal life, fails. 
 "No fruits of holiness on your dead souls are 
 found," and the fault is yours. God asks " what 
 could I do that I have not done ? " All his treasures 
 of wisdom and knowledge have been exhausted, 
 but judgments have not moved. Mercy has not 
 triumphed. The reason he announces: "Ye 
 will not come unto me that ye might have life." 
 
 I trust, however, that many to whom I have min- 
 istered, have made good improvement; that the 
 seed has not always fallen on stony places, but 
 that it has produced its thirty, sixty, and an hun- 
 dred fold. Often am I greeted with demonstra- 
 tions of strong affection, by men whom I meet in 
 my occasional wanderings. Men who had once 
 belonged to this congregation; and who became 
 virtuous, perhaps pious, while here. Often do I 
 hear by letter, and otherwise, of the exemplary 
 lives of men who have gone from us in past years. 
 
 They are now virtuous, peaceable, valuable citi- 
 zens, and blessings to their families and friends, 
 and are quietly pursuing the path that leadeth unto 
 life. Such intelligence is always to me, of the most 
 encouraging character. And I am confident that 
 there are men here whose hearts are honest, whose 
 professions are sincere, who have exercised " re-
 
 286 PRISON REMINISCENCES. 
 
 pentance unto life, and faith in our Lord Jesus 
 Christ," and will give us joy hereafter, by honor- 
 ing their profession. 
 
 And here our minds naturally revert from the 
 living to the dead. Death, who with impartiality 
 visits the palace and the prison, has not passed us 
 by. He has reaped a harvest from among the rich 
 and renowned of our land. Many a proud one has 
 been brought low; many a pillar of community 
 thrown down ; many a cedar of Lebanon prostrat- 
 ed. And yet he has not forgotten us, for he over- 
 looketh not the lowly. Twenty-six visits has he 
 made to this prison. Twenty-six men have passed 
 the dark vale of death from these apartments, and 
 as many immortal spirits have returned to God 
 who gave them being. A very few have found bu- 
 rial among friends elsewhere, but nearly all are 
 slumbering in the Prison Yard in our City Ceme- 
 tery. In company with your present Deputy * I 
 have followed each of them to the grave. No rela- 
 tive in a single instance gathered around the coffin 
 or followed the dead to his last resting place, or 
 sorrowed when we returned " earth to earth, ashes 
 to ashes, dust to dust." 
 
 * Mr. John Foss, who ha.d been connected with the prison nino 
 years; a man of great kindness and sympathy, whose care for the sick 
 and afflicted is deserving honorable notice.
 
 FAKE WELL SERMON. 287 
 
 But there was always one * sitting at the win- 
 dow of my now lonely cottage, pale, feeble, ema- 
 ciated, looking out with tears, on the sad proces- 
 sion. A new made grave near by the Prisoner's 
 Lot, contains the mortal remains of that true friend 
 of suffering humanity. Her sympathetic heart 
 there moulders back to dust, and the blow that fell 
 upon my heart so heavily, smote down one whose 
 tears had often mingled with those of your rela- 
 tives, and whose prayers often ascended to heaven 
 on your behalf. 
 
 I now commend you to God and to the word of 
 his grace. Rememember this, that in all your life's 
 vicissitudes, there lives one above you who loves 
 you; and until lam laid away where the weary are 
 at rest, will you remember that somewhere on earth 
 there is one poor heart that loves you, and one 
 whose prayer shall daily be, offered to God that 
 you may be " guided by his counsel and afterward 
 be received to his glory." 
 
 * Laura W. Smith, wife of Rev. Eleazer Smith, who died May 30th, 
 1855. Her life of extreme suffering closed in great peace and cloudless 
 hope. 
 
 " Dews fell not more gently to the ground at night, 
 Nor weary worn out winds expire so soft."
 
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