{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_29797/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_29797","id":"gutenberg_29797","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29797","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - American","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Prison chaplains","Prisoners -- Religious life","Prisons -- New Hampshire"],"text":"Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRISON CHAPLAINCY,\nAND ITS EXPERIENCES.\n\nBY REV. HOSEA QUINBY, D. D.,\nEX-CHAPLAIN OF N. H. STATE PRISON.\n\nIN TWO PARTS.\n\nCONCORD, N. H.:\nPUBLISHED BY D. L. GUERNSEY\nBOOKSELLER AND STATIONER.\n1873.\n\nEntered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by\nD. L. GUERNSEY,\nin the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.\n\nMORNING STAR STEAM JOB PRINTING HOUSE,--DOVER, N. H.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nPART I.\n\nUNDER THE REFORMATORY SYSTEM.\n\n\n1. Emotions at the Idea of Assuming the Position, and Object of these\nPages, 7\n\n2. Our First Meeting for Worship, 8\n\n3. The Sabbath School, 10\n\n4. General Appearance of the Convicts, 11\n\n5. The Warden, 11\n\n6. Educational Means found in Operation, 12\n\n7. Influence Left by the Former Chaplain, 13\n\n8. Prison Order, 13\n\n9. Chaplain's Routine of Duty, 14\n\n10. General Description of the Prison and Prison Management, 15\n\n11. General Remarks upon the Prisoners, 22\n\n12. Prayer-meetings Commenced, 25\n\n13. Pike, the Hampton Murderer, 28\n\n14. Doctrinal Discourses, 34\n\n15. Effect of the Prayer-meeting on Prison Order, 34\n\n16. The New Chapel, 35\n\n17. Prison Repairs and Mistakes, 36\n\n18. Profanity Attacked, 37\n\n19. Efforts for a Son, from a Mother's Plea, 38\n\n20. Warden's Efforts for a Young Man, 40\n\n21. Experience with noble appearing Heads in Prison, 42\n\n22. The Warden Admits Presents to Prisoners from Friends Outside, 44\n\n23. Warden Decides to Resign, 45\n\n24. Prisoners' Anxiety at the Rumored Resignation, 47\n\n25. Governor and Council Memorialized by the Prison S. S. Teachers and\nChaplain, 48\n\n26. Prison Funerals, 49\n\n27. Educational and Sabbath school summing up, 49\n\n28. Religious Success, 51\n\n29. Fourth of July at the Prison, 52\n\n30. The true Principle of Imprisoning and Prison Managing--on the Idea\nof Reform in the Convict, 53\n\n31. The Commutation System, 59\n\n32. Chaplain's Proposed Attempt at Tobacco Reform, 60\n\n\nPART II.\n\nUNDER THE PUNITIVE AND MONEY-MAKING SYSTEM.\n\n\n1. Warden Chosen, and new Arrangements for the Chaplain, 61\n\n2. Chaplain almost Resolved to Resign, but Decides to Continue and\nArranges his Work, 64\n\n3. Cells Cleared of Trinket-making and Tracts, 65\n\n4. Necessity for the Chaplain's Undertaking what He Did, 65\n\n5. New Phase at the Prison, and the Chaplain's Efforts, 66\n\n6. Sabbath School Commences, 69\n\n7. The Warden's Views Considered, 69\n\n8. Chaplain's Restrictions, 73\n\n9. Prisoner's Aid Association, 76\n\n10. Complaint of Prison Hunger, 76\n\n11. Chaplain's Object in hearing from Released Prisoners and Others, 77\n\n12. B. and E.'s request, and the Connected Abuse, 78\n\n13. Alleged Prison Conspiracy, 80\n\n14. National Prison Reform Congress, 81\n\n15. Money-making and Punishing, the Paramount Objects in our Prison\nManagement, 83\n\n16. Waste Paper in the Cells, 83\n\n17. Defective Beds and Bedding, 84\n\n18. Cracked Wheat Dinner, 86\n\n19. Bad Fish, &c., 87\n\n20. Prison Suffering from Cold During the Winter of '70 and '71, 88\n\n21. Lighting the Hall, 93\n\n22. The Aid of the Association to Released Prisoners, and Warden's\nCourse, 94\n\n23. Lecturing for the Prison Aid Association, 99\n\n24. Prison Correspondence under the New Rule, 100\n\n24 1-2. Chaplain under a System of Espionage, 102\n\n25. The Chaplain's Pacific Efforts severely Taxed, 104\n\n26. Death of Gideon Sylver, 109\n\n27. The Sylver Case Excitement and Hearing before the Governor and\nCouncil, 115\n\n28. Preparing for the Adjourned Session, 118\n\n29. The Adjourned Hearing, 120\n\n30. Motives for Desiring the Chaplain's Removal, 122\n\n31. Chaplain's Change of Course, and the Question as to who should\nConduct the Prison Correspondence, 124\n\n32. Change, for a Time, in the Warden's Management, 127\n\n33. The Fate of Henry Stewart and others, 129\n\n34. Warden's Want of Courtesy to Prisoners' Visitors, 132\n\n35. Effects of the new Order upon the Prisoners, 133\n\n36. Comparative Prison Order for the two years, 139\n\n37. Good Traits in the Warden for Prison Service, 143\n\n38. Chaplain's Inability to Prevent Knowing more or less of the\nPrisoners' Troubles and the Prison Management, 143\n\n39. Secular School Success, 144\n\n40. Sabbath School Success, 147\n\n41. Religious Success, 149\n\n42. Lack of Truthfulness at the Prison, 149\n\n43. Reported Quarrel between the Warden and Chaplain, 151\n\n44. Prison Report for '71, 153\n\n45. Efforts of the Prison Aid Association for Legislation in Favor of\nthe Prison, 163\n\n46. Experience with the new Government, 169\n\n47. Chaplain Determines to Have an Investigation into the Charges\nagainst Him, 170\n\n48. Anniversary of P. A. Association for '71, and remarks on our Jails,\n171\n\n49. Fourth of July at the Prison in '71, 173\n\n50. Chaplain's Removal from Office, 174\n\n51. Prison Fare under the new Government, 176\n\n52. The Warden Question, 177\n\n53. Experience at the Prison subsequent to Dismissal, 178\n\n54. Prison Report for '72, 181\n\n55. International Penitentiary Congress, London, July 3-13, '72, 188\n\nConclusion, 197\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRISON CHAPLAINCY.\n\n\n\n\nPART I.\n\nUNDER THE REFORMATORY SYSTEM.\n\n\n1. _Emotions at the idea of assuming the position, and object of these\npages._ The proposal of friends that I become chaplain of our State\nPrison at first struck me with much disfavor, from the idea that the\nposition, instead of affording the encouragement and satisfaction\nattendant upon my former labors in schools and churches, must be up-hill\nwork, and repulsive to the finer feelings of the heart. Still, having\nbeen no little accustomed to laying aside personal tastes and\nconveniences for the good of others, I yielded, and commenced the work\non the first Sabbath in July, 1869.\n\nThe experience gained in this connection, with the hints and suggestions\non collateral subjects, is set forth in the following pages, not for the\npurpose of personal notoriety, but for the sake of correcting important\nmisconceptions by giving the true facts, and making a humble effort\ntowards awaking in the public mind a deeper interest on a subject in\nwhich every citizen should feel a concern, and on which he should\nbecome duly informed, and thus be prepared to act intelligently. For\nthis preparation he needs light, which light the real working of things,\nproperly set forth, would surely give. Experience is ever regarded as\nthe best school-master, the proper touchstone to all our theories.\n\nNever was the community more widely and deeply stirred than now on the\nquestions, \"What course will prove the most corrective of crime with the\nleast public burden? What is the true method of managing penal\ninstitutions?\"\n\nThese are questions of no trifling moment, questions which bear largely\non the public weal. From the days of Howard, the philanthropist, they\nhave been rising in the public estimate, now to stand among the more\nprominent of the age.\n\nOn these, widely differing theories are brought face to face in earnest\nantagonism; some contending for the sterner type of the vindictive, for\nrendering the condition of the wrong doer as repulsive as possible, thus\nto terrify him from erring,--others contending that they have found a\nbetter and more effective way in humane, reform, gospel\nefforts,--efforts prompted by the principles of enlightened\nChristianity.\n\nThe writer, while touching upon a somewhat wide range of points, will\nconstantly aim at as great brevity in statement as may be consistent\nwith perspicuity, go into detail only so far as shall appear needful to\nthe end in view, and feel amply compensated for his labors, if the\ndevelopments and suggestions here made shall in any degree aid the cause\nof prison reform.\n\n\n\n\n2. _Our first meeting for worship._ In assembling, while the ladies and\ngentlemen, admitted from the city, were taking their places at my left\nand front, the female prisoners were being arranged at my right, closely\nfacing the wall, with the matron and assistant beside them, that they\nmight not indulge in looking about upon others, for such an act was held\nas a misdemeanor. This done, and the south door securely bolted, that\nleading to the hall was unbarred, and the male prisoners, some one\nhundred and twenty, were marched in by divisions and regular file,\ntaking their seats with perfect order before me, and filling every\navailable foot of otherwise unoccupied space in that small and ill\nventilated room called \"the chapel,\" thus packing it as closely\napparently as could be.\n\nWhat a sensation thrilled every nerve on this my first experience in\nattempting to dispense the gospel, thus locked within walls of granite\nand iron, with a military guard at each window ready to deal summarily\nwith any who should attempt escape, or commit a disorderly act. Then\nwhat mingled emotions of sorrow and pity at the thought of so great an\namount of talent present, which had been devoted to crime, and the\ndepths to which their iniquities had sunk the wrong doers,--enough to\nmake angels weep.\n\nThe singing by the prison choir, a young lady of the city presiding at\nthe instrument, was exhilarating, voices good, all in time, and movement\nspirited, the whole having a peculiar charm. Many a choir outside might\nhave listened with advantage. The Scripture reading was responsive, the\nchaplain repeating a verse and then the audience. As the speaker\ncommenced his sermon, every convict's eye was fastened upon him,\napparently with the deepest interest, continuing thus to the close.\n\nThis fixed attention, with all the connected circumstances, acted as a\npowerful stimulus to his intellect and heart, causing thoughts and\nwords to flow almost unbidden, and those of a peculiar unction, thus\nrendering preaching in the place easy. The numerous moistened eyes and\nearnest countenances seemed plainly to say, \"Here are minds responsive\nto the truth, a field which can be cultivated for God and humanity.\"\n\nThose anticipated feelings of repulsion did not arise, but rather the\nassurance that success and pleasure would attend a faithful dispensing\nof the word for reforming and elevating the prisoner in his bonds, as\nwell as in efforts to save sinners under more favorable surroundings.\n\n\n\n\n3. _The Sabbath School._ This met Sabbath afternoon in two places, the\nfemales, eight in number, in their work room, with the matron and other\nladies who might attend from the city as teachers; the males in the\nchapel, a number of Christian ladies and gentlemen from outside\nattending and hearing classes, some having long been laborers here in\nthe work, one having, years previous, helped set the school in\noperation. The toils of these earnest workers were evidently being\nblessed, under God, to the good of their pupils, producing impressions\nupon some, which greatly aided them in their efforts at reform. My\nattendance was with the latter, and the interest was fully equal to that\nI had witnessed in the forenoon worship.\n\nThe prisoners were required to attend the latter, while the Sabbath\nschool attendance was left to the inmates as a voluntary matter, and yet\nsome ninety males attended this, about three-fourths of the whole\ncompany from which the audience was usually drawn,--a much larger\npercentage probably than any outside congregation can boast of.\n\n\n\n\n4. _General appearance of the convicts._ Judging from appearance as they\nsat in the assembly, a few were evidently hard cases, narrow-minded,\nsordid, ugly. To a number, dame Nature had dealt bountifully on the\nscore of mind, they having noble foreheads, and bright, sparkling eyes,\nindicative of no small natural ability. One would think that some of\nthese would have shone conspicuously in any of the learned professions,\nbusiness circles, or common industries of life had they bent their minds\nin the right direction. Certain visitors at the prison and State House,\nin time of the legislative session, were wicked enough to say that they\nfound the likelier appearing company at the former place. Other inmates\npartook more of the low cunning, the artful, leading them to accomplish\ntheir ends by more adroit means, while a small number seemed bordering\non insanity, two on idiocy.\n\nIn dealing with these, as a whole, while at large, no doubt the police\nhad found their own shrewdness, at times, keenly taxed, and been made to\nfeel that they were called to grapple with mind worthy of a better\ncause.\n\n\n\n\n5. _The warden._ He was found to be a man of generous impulses, an\nearnest Christian worker, with a heart full of kindness, professing to\nact for the prisoners' highest good. He would furnish them with enough\nof suitable food, good clothing and bedding, all needed care in\nsickness, with the requisite means for mental, moral and religious\nimprovement, fully believing in the practicability of labor to reform\nthe wayward and elevate the fallen, that reform is the primary purpose\nof the institution. As one great means to this, he seemed to feel it\nneedful that the inmates be kept under strict, wholesome discipline,\nand required at all times, when able, to perform their tasks fully and\nfaithfully.\n\nHe was accustomed to hold correspondence with other prison officers of\nlike faith with himself on prison management, and profited by any\nfeasible hints thus gained. His motto was, \"Keep the prisoners on good\nfare, provide them all needed means for reform and make all the money\npracticable from the prison as subordinate to these.\"\n\n\n\n\n6. _Educational means found in operation._ By the combined effort of the\nwarden and my predecessor, what we may term a secular school had been\nestablished in the chapel, to be held evenings, in sessions of one hour\neach, as often as a guard could be spared from other prison duties. This\nwas voluntary on the part of these gentlemen, and was intended to be\nopen for all the male prisoners of good behavior to attend, and take\nsuch of the common branches as each should need.\n\nThe legislature had so far recognized the move as to vote the chaplain\nan increase of salary in consideration of his labors as teacher in the\nschool. But here it stopped, and that short of its full duty. It ought\nto have gone further, and made the thing a fixed fact, obligatory upon\nall prison officers, as really as our common school system outside is\nupon town officers. Why not? The State has taken the convicts under her\ncare as wards, moved them from their vicious surroundings, and put them\nwhere, with a little additional painstaking on her part, many of these\nmay be led to the daily habit of devoting their otherwise idle or\nsquandered moments to storing up valuable ideas for future use, a long\nstep towards their true reform.\n\nAs leading in the same direction, these gentlemen had adopted the custom\nof having occasional lectures in the chapel for the men by outside\nspeakers, also readings by a lady elocutionist, and meetings for\ninstruction and drill in singing.\n\n\n\n\n7. _Influence left by the former chaplain._ This influence was of a\nhighly salutary character among the prisoners. A number would feelingly\nrefer to his efforts for their best being, and from which they had been\nconstantly striving to profit. Some professed to have experienced a\nchange of heart under his ministration, and were still living in the\nexercise of daily Bible reading and prayer, being obedient prisoners,\nduly attentive to all the prison rules, and in good repute among the\nofficers of the institution. They continued thus till leaving prison,\nand had not fallen from their integrity when last heard from. Eternity\nalone can unfold the amount of good secured to those once degraded men\nby these efforts.\n\n\n\n\n8. _Prison order._ While intent on reform measures, we were not for a\nmoment to lose sight of the strictest order. The warden would have the\nrounds for this carefully observed, that no risk should be run with\nregard to the safe keeping of the prisoners and their due observance of\nthe rules. Hence, the chaplain was not allowed to hold his school in the\nchapel for instructing the men, or have any gathering of prisoners there\nwithout a guard. Then, previous to their admittance, we were required to\nbe certain that the south door to the chapel was securely fastened, and\nthe key, for safe keeping, passed through an opening to the guard-room.\nAnd when the exercises were ended, and the men secured in their cells,\non a given signal, the keeper of the key would open for our release.\n\nThis order was not to be deviated from under any circumstances. From\nthis fact, had the prisoners, at any time, risen in rebellion,\noverpowered the guard and chaplain, they would have found no means in\nthe room for escaping. Or had any professed goodness, or pretended to a\ngreat desire for education with the hope of being taken to the chapel\nunder circumstances favorable to their getting away, they would have\nfound it of no avail. Good or bad, professedly reformed or not, all were\ntreated alike in this respect. And, so far as I had the opportunity of\nobservation, the same strictness was observed in all other departments\nof the prison.\n\nTrue, one escaped, but from no lack of internal watchfulness or order.\nHis time had almost expired, he having been a faithful, obedient,\nwell-disposed prisoner. The warden set him at work doing chores about\nthe stable and outer yard, not supposing that he would leave for so\nshort a period, and thereby forfeit his commutation and render himself\nliable to be returned at any time through life. But after serving here a\nfew days he absconded.\n\n\n\n\n9. _Chaplain's routine of duty._ In this were embraced, not only the\nSabbath morning service and the Sabbath school care, but also visiting\nthe cells for giving words of advice, visiting the hospital for\nimparting religious consolation, managing the secular school, changing\nthe library books for the inmates, Saturdays, learning, from the\nprisoners, enough of their past history to enable him to judge of the\ninstruction adapted to each, and, in fine, to speak such words here and\nthere as would conduce to the requisite order. This gave a wide range,\nan important field. I seemed to have returned to my school keeping days;\nand found my long habit of reading human nature in students of no little\nuse, aiding me to understand the best manner of approaching each so as\nto gain his confidence. Also my custom in school discipline, which had\nat times been complained of as being too strict, now served an excellent\npurpose, prompting me, at every step, to move in decided contrariety to\nall irregularity and disorder.\n\n\n\n\n10. _General description of the prison and prison management._ The old\npart of the prison was erected in 1812, favored by Mason, Woodbury and\nother distinguished men of that day, the avowed purpose being to have an\ninstitution where the criminals of the State could be gathered and put\nunder reformatory influences. Thus it appears that the idea of reform\nwas a fundamental one in the founding of the establishment. Some years\nsince the north wing, for the male prisoners, was erected, which is\nthree-storied and contains 120 cells, each about three and one-half feet\nwide, seven feet long and seven high, the bedsteads being of iron and\nmade to turn up. The south wing, or old part, contains a tenement for\nthe deputy and cells for the female prisoners.\n\nThe warden occupies the main building, or middle part. Here, too, are\nthe cook room for the male prisoners, the chapel, the office, guard\nroom, hospital, dormitories for the guards and overseers, and the\nreception room, in which the library is kept.\n\nThe prison yard is surrounded on three sides by a granite wall, perhaps\nsixteen feet high, the prison itself constituting the wall on the fourth\nside. In the yard are two buildings of brick, each two stories high, one\nmuch larger than the other: the smaller, on its lower floor, affording a\nwash-room, tailor's shop, &c., the second story and attic rooms used for\nstorage or any needed mechanical purpose, sometimes as shoe shops; the\nlarger building is devoted to bedstead manufacturing, the machinery\ndriven by steam.\n\nFrom this engine these two buildings are warmed by means of steam pipes,\nthe boiling in the wash-room being done by the same. The hall is\nfurnished with a steam boiler, which not only warms that, but also the\nguard and reception rooms, and the chapel, and the steam is used in the\nmen's cook room, all other warming and heating in the prison being done\nby wood fires. To economize fuel as much as possible, a steam pipe has\nbeen extended from the engine room to the prison to conduct the waste\nsteam of the shop boilers for use in those apartments.\n\nThe female prisoners eat at a table in the warden's kitchen and from the\nsame food as goes to his own table. The men have a prescribed diet,\ncalled rations, the allowance of each being dealt out in a tin\nbasin,--meat, potatoes, gravy, &c., all together, the potatoes unpared.\nCoffee is given in a tin dipper. The meals being ready, the men are\nmarched through an entry by a long table standing contiguous to the\nkitchen and loaded with their rations, each taking what belongs to him,\ncarrying it to his cell and partaking in solitude. Their mode of eating\nis quite a curiosity. They generally use their beds for tables, and each\nhas a knife, fork and spoon in his cell of which he takes the exclusive\ncare. He fishes out his potatoes and pares them; but where shall he put\nthe parings, dripping as they are? He has no extra dish. Then how shall\nhe wash his knife, fork and spoon? He can use his tongue, for he has\nnothing else, and he may or may not have a towel on which to wipe them,\nbut his jacket sleeve or pants' leg is wonderfully convenient.\n\nWhat a dehumanizing system! Why not let the men eat at tables the same\nas the women, and have some decency about the matter? Then how much\nbetter in another respect. By the present system, rations must be dealt\nout to all alike, giving the same quantity to each, with the result of\nhaving more or less food returned or a part not have enough, some eating\nmore than others. But if at a table, each can eat as he needs, and thus\navoid suffering or waste.\n\nThe men are provided with means for ablution by a few bathing-troughs in\ntheir wash-room. An old man gave me quite an amusing description of the\noperation, thus: \"The bathing department here is a wonderful\ninstitution. They will march a file of men into the wash-room, old and\nyoung together, fill the troughs with water, put in a little soap, then\na nigger or two to grease it with; when done, the men must strip and go\nin one after another. A wonderful institution! I never would go that.\"\n\nThe female prisoners are employed in mending and making apparel for the\nmen, and in domestic labors in the family apartment. The feeble men are\nemployed in light work about the hall, such as dusting, carrying water\nto the cells, whitewashing, sweeping, &c., or in repairing clothes. Two\nable-bodied men are required in the cook room, another in the wash-room\nand to do chores, and part of the time still another. The remaining men\nare let to a contractor, who pays a stipulated price per day for each\nwhen he works.\n\nThe needed officers to the institution are the warden, deputy,\nphysician, chaplain, hospital steward, four overseers, four guards, and\ntwo night watchmen, fifteen at least. All of these must be paid from the\nprison earnings. When to this is added the cost for supporting the\nprisoners, the ordinary repairs, printing the Report and annual\napprisal, we have the net prison gain. But the outsets, with the\nstrictest economy, must always of necessity be large, showing that crime\nis an important drawback to industry and thrift.\n\nWhen I commenced my labors at the institution, it was about emerging\nfrom an experience which had brought no little opposition to the warden\nfrom some in the city, especially in the line of his reform moves.\n\nHe took the prison in '65, the inmates, numbering seventy, being let on\na contract of forty cents per day; the bedding extremely limited; the\ncells swarming with those pestiferous attendants on sleeping hours,\nevery crevice between the stones and bricks affording a safe resort; the\nfood for the inmates insufficient for prison demands.\n\nHe at once commenced a war of extermination in the cells. Having secured\na change of bedding, and taking a division at a time, he would remove\nall the articles for washing and boiling, and inject burning fluid into\nthe cracks and crevices, setting fire to it, and thus literally burning\nout each apartment. He found it essential to renew this attack, however,\nas months rolled round.\n\nFinding, from the best authority at hand on prison fare, that it is not\nsafe to run the supply to a man lower than twenty cents per day in cost\nfor the raw material as the market usually is, and that flour bread is\nan economical food for prisoners, as well as being humane, he resolved\nto adopt this with a diet commensurate with nature's real demands,\nbuilt a baker's oven, and hired a baker for instructing certain selected\ninmates in the art of baking, and established the daily supply seen in\nthe Bill of Fare at the end of this article. Under the head of\n\"vegetables\" are embraced all the articles commonly used as such on our\ntables,--onions, beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips and cabbage. Not,\nhowever, using all at any one meal.\n\nIn the chapel service the warden gave the prisoners liberty to look upon\nthe speaker,--a great relief from the former downcast method,--and the\nchaplain introduced the responsive manner of reading, denounced by some\nas a most dangerous innovation. The Sabbath school was held the year\nround, instead of simply during the session of the legislature, and a\nfew months beside.\n\nBut it required close calculation and strict economy with the warden to\nmeet the current expenses with the wages of forty cents per day to a\nman, though he did that and gained a little.\n\nThe war ending, the tide began to set towards the institution,\nincreasing the number in '66 to 111, '67 to 118, and '68 to 135, the\nhighest number ever reached by the institution. The current then turned,\nthe prisoners numbering in '69, 129, and in '70, 118.\n\nIn '67 the authorities relet the prisoners at ninety cents per day\ninstead of forty, a great advance, brightening the financial prosperity\nof the institution. But in doing this they had to make a great outlay in\nenlarging the shop, obtaining a new engine, boilers, &c. There were,\nalso, important repairs, with improvements in the drainage and\nventilation, made.\n\nThese outlays were mostly made by the warden, the Governor, for the\ntime, assenting and advising. In '69 the Governor and council relieved\nthe warden of all financial responsibility, appointing one of their\nnumber to act as prison agent, and make the purchases and meet the\noutlays at the prison, in which year they put a new roof to the south\nwing and made other important alterations and repairs. From the\nlegislative grants and prison earnings all these expenses were met, and\nthe year closed with the institution free of debt, in good repair, and\nwith all needed labor appliances, which was a great relief to all having\nthe care and responsibility of the concern, rendering the task of\nkeeping things tidy and in comfortable order much easier than formerly.\nIt is better and more economical for the State. That constant patching\nup and fixing over in numerous places, swallowing up money, no one\nhardly knowing how, is now nearly ended, permitting the real gains of\nthe institution to accumulate and stand prominently in view, though\neverything there is not quite perfection yet.\n\nThe drainage and ventilation were found very defective and in bad order,\nbut by the remodeling are made as good, perhaps, as can be in the\nsituation.\n\nIn this general fitting up, the prison officers and men voluntarily\ncontributed to quite an extent, of which no account anywhere appears,\nthough the State enjoys the gain. In the summer and fall of '69 and the\nspring of '70, I frequently saw the deputy, out of the usual work hours,\ngoing with squads of men to labor on the sewers or wherever they could\nadvantageously.\n\nThe prison is lighted by gas. In the hall the burners, thirty-two in\nnumber, are placed along the outer walls, each from eight to ten or\ntwelve feet from a cell, but being old and leaking badly, they give a\npoor light, the bars to the cells casting shadows on the books or papers\nthe prisoners may attempt to read. Hence, one of the governors ordered\ncandles to be furnished to the cells extra when desired. These were so\nextensively called for that in '69 the gas had been largely dispensed\nwith for the candles.\n\nIn case a prisoner is attempting to run away, or is rising upon an\nofficer, the officers are held at liberty to shoot, knock down, or use\nwhatever means may be needed in self-defense or in preventing their\nescape. Otherwise prison rule does not allow an officer to strike a man,\nbut he must be punished by the solitary or ball and chain at the\ndiscretion of the warden, who found it needful to use no little\nprecaution as to the length of the former, \"for too great severity in\nthat tended to insanity on the part of the punished.\"\n\nIn letting the prisoners on contract, the State furnishes the shop to\nthe contractor rent free, also the motive power, shafting and belting,\nkeeping these in repair.\n\nIn managing the prisoners, each officer has his assigned position and\nduty, and everything is conducted with a precision closely approximating\nthat of a military character.\n\nThe south door to the chapel, spoken of, opens to the female part in the\nsouth wing and to the pass-way down two nights of stairs and out of\ndoors.\n\n\nBILL OF FARE\n\n_At New Hampshire State Prison._\n\n\nSUNDAY:\n  _Breakfast_--Baked beans, brown bread, and coffee.\n  _Supper_--Rice pudding, brown bread, and coffee.\n\nMONDAY:\n  _Breakfast_--Flour bread, brown bread, and coffee.\n  _Dinner_--Corned beef, vegetables, and brown bread.\n  _Supper_--Flour bread, molasses, and coffee.\n\nTUESDAY:\n  _Breakfast_--Corned beef, warm brown bread, and coffee.\n  _Dinner_--Codfish, potatoes, butter gravy, and brown bread.\n  _Supper_--Flour bread, molasses, and coffee.\n\nWEDNESDAY:\n  _Breakfast_--Fish hash, brown bread, and coffee.\n  _Dinner_--Fresh beef soup with vegetables, and brown bread.\n  _Supper_--Flour bread, molasses, and coffee.\n\nTHURSDAY:\n  _Breakfast_--Meat hash, brown bread, and coffee.\n  _Dinner_--Stewed peas with pork, and brown bread.\n  _Supper_--Flour bread, molasses, and coffee.\n\nFRIDAY:\n  _Breakfast_--Meat hash, warm brown bread, and coffee.\n  _Dinner_--Baked fresh fish or chowder, potatoes, and brown bread.\n  _Supper_--Flour broad, molasses, and coffee.\n\nSATURDAY:\n  _Breakfast_--Meat hash, brown bread, and coffee.\n  _Dinner_--Fresh beef soup with vegetables, and brown bread.\n  _Supper_--Flour bread, molasses, and coffee.\n\n\n\n\n11. _General remarks upon the prisoners._ When entering my service here,\nthe prison had more inmates than cells. Eight were females. The\ncommunity was reaping a sad harvest from the demoralizing effects of the\nlate war. Six or eight were U. S. prisoners.\n\nAll treated me with due respect. The most were easily approached, free\nin conversation, readily giving account of themselves, admitting their\ncrimes and the justice of their sentences, which probably they would not\nhave done to one in whom they could not confide. A very few would plead\ninnocence, some, no doubt, rightfully; three probably having been\nvictims of fiendish plots. Two or three were very reticent, one saying,\n\"No one here shall ever know my real name, native place, or business of\nlife.\"\n\nIt was heart-sickening to listen to their tales of wrong and suffering,\nclearly showing that \"the way of the transgressor is hard.\" Sin has a\nmost debasing effect upon its victims. Three-fourths or more doubtless\ncame to prison directly or indirectly through strong drink. True, in\nmany cases, more remote causes lay back of this, a native inclination to\nsin, loss of parents, parental neglect, family infidelity, vicious\nassociates, ignorance, Sabbath-breaking and the like. A very few had\nused no strong drink. A large share were young, some mere boys on their\nalternate sentence. Many, on entering, could neither read nor write.\n\nThe crimes were various, extending from the worst murder cases down to\nthe lower grades of iniquity, some perfectly fiendish, horrible. It\nwould seem impossible for men and women to do such deeds.\n\nBut these inmates were evidently not all the wrong doers of the State\nwho merited punishment. In a few cases, no doubt, the prosecutor rather\ndeserved the doom. Then there are those rum-sellers, keepers of billiard\nsaloons, gambling dens, and houses of ill fame, all inciting to crime.\nNumbers of them stand really in the light of _particeps criminis_ to our\ninmates, and perhaps were more deserving of this confinement. How long\nwill the people see this class making criminals of our sons and\nbrothers, yea, of our daughters and sisters too, and remain inactive?\nWhy do not the very stones cry out?\n\nI found all the prominent religious persuasions here represented, from\nthe Universalist to the staid Quaker; a number had been Sabbath school\nattendants, one quite an Advent speaker, who seemed positive he would be\nable to convert us all to his notions could he have the stand for a\nsuitable time, a privilege he earnestly strove for. More came from the\nCatholics than from any other sect, and more from the shoe-makers than\nfrom any other business class.\n\nWhen introducing the subject of personal piety to each, no little care\nwas required to bring it forward in such a manner that it should not\nstrike the mind repulsively, and thus fill it with needless prejudice,\nbut rather conciliate and convince, leading to free conversation upon\nthe subject. In this a great advantage would be gained.\n\nThe larger portion acceded to the just claims of religious truth upon\nthem, some hoping that their imprisonment was being sanctified to their\nhighest good. One feelingly said, \"I was swiftly floating on the stream\nof sin and corruption towards that awful gulf in which I must have\nlanded ere this, had not the prison walls caught and saved me, as I\ntrust.\" Some I found professing a belief in infidelity, a few in real\natheism.\n\nAs weeks passed on, it became evident that something beyond human power\nwas at work in the minds of a few. Personal conversation developed the\nfact that they were really and seriously considering their ways. A case\nof much hope would occasionally present itself. \"But,\" says one, \"these\nfellows were professing this with the hope of getting out.\"\n\nThat could not have been the case with some, most surely, as their term\nhad nearly expired and they neither asked nor looked for a pardon. The\nwork must have been genuine with these, if not with all. Nor could I see\nany reason to doubt the sincerity of any, and I scrutinized closely.\n\nThe classification of prisoners, as to their crimes, affords an\ninteresting subject. It will be largely found that the wrong doing of\neach is of a specific character rather than a general. Thus that of one\nis simply in the line of murder; that of another, robbery; of a third,\nstealing, or picking pockets, acting the burglar, assaulting female\ncharacter, or of whatever sort. Then, thieves can be classified into\nhorse thieves, sheep stealers, leather thieves, watch and money thieves,\nand so on.\n\nSome commit crimes only when influenced by strong drink, and then steal,\nquarrel or murder. Many can not help their wrong doing, or will not, and\ntherefore should remain in prison, where they can live as very good men,\nand aid the State instead of cursing society by their wrong deeds.\n\nThey do not all steal for the gain, but for the sake of stealing. Hence\nhere is one who will hoard up his booty and never go to it afterwards. I\nasked an old man, a burglar, what induced him to lead such a life, and\nreceived this answer: \"There is something peculiarly exciting in the\nengagements. I never engaged in it for what I could obtain.\"\n\n\n\n\n12. _Prayer meetings commenced._ Previous to the present fall, no prayer\nmeetings had been established at the prison, the need of which we now\ngreatly felt. After much thought on the matter, I asked the warden if we\ncould not introduce them, and he answered, \"Oh no, that can't be. There\nare so many hypocrites among the prisoners, who would take advantage to\nsay what they might choose, and to the disgust of the others, that we\ncan not control the matter.\" This came from no lack of interest in the\nsubject, for it was the very thing that had found a large place in his\ncontemplations and desires, though he had seen no time when he could\nfeel it safe to take the step. Not being able to put the idea out of\nmind, I soon brought it before him again, but in connection with the\nSabbath school teachers. After duly considering the pros and cons, the\nquestion was decided thus,--\"Start such a meeting, to be held weekly, if\nfound practicable. Next Sabbath let each teacher, when hearing his\nclass, select such of the number as he may think fitted for the\nexercise; passing the names to the warden for him to invite them in at\nhis discretion, the meeting to commence the following Monday evening.\"\n\nTo prepare their minds for the occasion, the discourse, the next\nSabbath, was on hypocrisy, the text being the account of Ananias and\nSapphira, with the attempt to point out the enormity and danger of that\nsin, that the truly sincere should not be kept from duty by hypocrisy as\nseen in others, or by being accused of it in themselves by the\nmalicious. At the close, the warden, grasping my hand, said, \"We will\nlet all go in who choose. We will make no selection,\" and we appointed\nthe meeting accordingly.\n\nMet at the time appointed, nearly one hundred being present, for it was\na novel matter there. In the commencement I clearly stated what would be\nexpected of all who might engage in prayer or speaking, referring to the\nsubject of the sermon the past day, and said that the opportunity was\noffered for those only to improve who sincerely desired to become better\nand were truly determined to act accordingly, expressing the full\nconviction that none would presume to come forward under any\nhypocritical pretenses.\n\nA few of the Sabbath school teachers present took part to good\nacceptance. Then two or three of the inmates offered prayer, and three\nor four spoke of their feelings and desires. They could not have been\nmore appropriate in their words, spirit, or manner. To all appearances\nthey were sincere.\n\nPerfect order prevailed,--a most profound and respectful attention. Much\nof the time the dropping of a pin upon the floor could have been heard.\nAn overpowering spirit seemed to pervade the room, not so much in the\nwords uttered as in the convictions of each man's own heart, it was an\nimpressive season. How was my soul relieved at this triumph over our\nfears and rejoiced at the way God had evidently opened before us.\n\nThus the meetings commenced and that too indicating, as the first\nresults, the very blessing I had been hoping and praying for, a deeper\nimpressiveness to our Sabbath and other religious efforts. Shortly\nafter, we found that hearts not sensibly touched before, were being\ndeeply impressed, among them one of the worst cases perhaps in prison.\nIt was taking a new start in the right direction.\n\nIn laboring with these men now, as at all times, I felt that a great\nresponsibility rested on me; that this was no place for dealing softly,\npetting them with insinuations that they had been more sinned against\nthan sinning, and that nothing was needed for them but a professed\ndetermination to amend, with a few efforts in that direction. Duty\nseemed imperative that I should labor to bring the wrong doings of each\nas clearly and impressively as could be before him, how deeply he had\nsinned against his own best good, his fellows and his God, enforcing the\nabsolute necessity of true repentance, and turning to the right through\nfaith in Christ; that he must make a thorough, radical work of the\nmatter, or it would avail nothing. Thus plainly, yet coupled with a\nfeeling heart, I invariably met the prisoners on these subjects. And\nwhere no evidence could be found of a realizing sense of sins committed\nand true compunction therefor, we could found no hope in the case.\n\n\n\n\n13. _Pike, the Hampton murderer._ On entering, I found him in prison,\nnot at work, but confined to his cell according to our present law,\nthat, when one is condemned to execution, he shall be confined in the\nState Prison one year, at the end of which the sentence shall be carried\nout, unless receiving a reprieve or commutation.\n\nBy law also, the criminal has the right to choose his own spiritual\nadviser, and, much to my relief, I found that Pike had arranged with my\npredecessor about this before he left. Still I volunteered to the doomed\nman all the aid in my power, for which he appeared highly grateful.\n\nThe plea of insanity had been used on the trial, or that the accused was\nin a state of mind, when committing the offense, that rendered him\nirresponsible for the crime alleged, which plea Pike would ever make to\nme, sometimes alluding to the great injustice of his being hung. But as\nMr. Holman had undertaken to fathom that, I never pressed him with any\nparticular inquiry on the matter.\n\nIt would seem impossible for one manifesting the spirit Pike always did\nto us, to commit so horrid a crime, and probably he never would had he\nbeen free from rum. In prison, he at all times appeared gentlemanly and\nkind-hearted, helped me a number of days in repairing the library, and\nseemed glad of the opportunity.\n\nWhen laboring with those he afterwards murdered, he was uniformly\npleasant, ready to do anything for them they needed. They parted on the\nmost friendly terms, the old people earnestly urging him to continue\nwith them still longer.\n\nBut when Pike was under the influence of liquor, he was a very different\nman, and at times a highly dangerous character. In this he was fully\nresponsible, for he could have let the drink alone, and did when he\nchose. I saw nothing leading me to doubt his full responsibility in the\nmurder. But others also are responsible,--those who helped him to his\nliquor and thus caused his madness. Against them, also, the blood of\nthose mangled forms cries loudly from the ground to a righteous God for\nvengeance. The community likewise, which, by supineness and inactivity,\npermitted those persons to carry on their nefarious traffic, must come\nin for its share. The blame of that startling act does not all lie at\nPike's door, though he was guilty enough.\n\nWhen I attempted to urge upon him the importance of a full preparation\nfor the dread event before him, he seemed strangely inclined to put it\noff and almost callous to the magnitude of his sin. He would admit that\nhis career had been one of desperate wickedness, but did not appear\ntruly moved in spirit by its real enormity, or as having genuine\nrepentance over the matter, a thorough breaking up of the fallow ground\nof the heart. Trusting to the idea of his non-responsibility as a\nshielding circumstance, he no doubt felt almost perfect confidence, till\nnear the last, that a pardon, or commutation, would be granted, and\nventured on that assurance. I constantly discouraged the idea,\nrepeatedly urging him to put no confidence in that, but earnestly to set\nabout a preparation for the worst. The final decision of the executive\npower, not to interfere with the decision of the court, came to me, but\nin such a way that I was not at liberty to announce it till officially\ndivulged. Still, feeling so anxious for the criminal, I went as far as\nthe circumstances would allow, and said to him, \"From what I hear, your\ncase is finally decided, but not in your favor. And I am perfectly\nsatisfied that my information is reliable.\" But it was not official, and\nthe very fact of its being withheld inspired him with hope that I was\nmistaken.\n\nThe rulers, no doubt, did as they thought best in the matter, but it\nwould seem that there was an error on their part in not communicating\ntheir finality to the criminal as soon as made. It was a grave matter to\nhim, and the last few days he reflected no little upon the course.\n\nIn our labors with the doomed man, we had two prominent points before\nus, one to fit his mind for going upon the gallows with the needed\nfortitude, the other to lead him to a due preparation for appearing\nbefore his God. During the last week, by his desire, clergymen from the\ncity visited him. A few of the singers from the city, also, by the\nwarden's invitation, occasionally called and spent a short time with\nhim, singing some of those devotional pieces so well fitted to his case,\nwhich were followed by prayer and then all retired. His cell was now in\nthe hall. This occurred when the other prisoners were in the shop at\nwork, for at no other time were visitors allowed at his cell. Two or\nthree of his last days were spent in the hospital, which then had no\nsick occupant. The strictest care and watchfulness were observed by the\nofficers, so that, whether in his cell or in the hospital, he could not\npossibly escape if he attempted it.\n\nThe day appointed for the execution was Tuesday. Monday the criminal\nfrankly admitted to his adviser, that he knew what he was doing that\nterrible night, and was fully responsible for the deed, which\nacknowledgment he signed in writing. He also dictated a letter to his\nyoungest brother, faithfully warning him against following his own ways\nof wildness and drinking, also a note containing good advice to two\nyoung men who had been officers in the prison, and finally an address to\nbe read on the scaffold. Brothers and other relatives took leave of him\nMonday afternoon and Tuesday morning.\n\nThe fatal hour was fixed at eleven, A. M. Pike was up in due season,\ntook a slight morning repast, dressed for the day, had devotional\nexercises, and finished parting with friends at nine, that he might have\nopportunity for becoming duly rested and composed in mind for that\npainful occasion. At ten the other officers retired, leaving him alone\nwith us two. What an hour before us? I had never experienced the like\nbefore and hope never to again. It was much like standing on the\ncrumbling verge of time and looking into eternity's vast abyss.\n\nWe had a season of prayer, then conversation for the purpose of learning\nhis present feelings and convictions. He professed a hope that God had\nforgiven his sins and would accept him at last; said that no doubt it\nwould be better for him to go then than be pardoned and return to the\nworld once more, for, in that case, his appetite might overpower him\nagain and he do other horrid deeds. Still, it was hard to die in the way\nhe must.\n\nPersonal conversation over, we continued bringing to his mind fitting\nportions of Scripture and appropriate verses from hymns and thus\noccupied the moments till eleven slowly arrived.\n\nOur door opens. The sheriff with his attendants enters. We march to the\nscaffold in the hall, where are gathered many reporters for the press\nand other gentlemen. The address being read and prayer offered, Mr.\nHolman at his right and myself at his left lead him upon the fatal drop,\nand there support him while the preparation for the last is being made.\nDuring the adjustment of the black cap and noose, I feel a tremor in\nhis arm. He is taken forward from us and placed under the beam. His legs\nare bound, his arms pinioned, the sheriff reads extracts from the doings\nof the court, and gives the final sentence. The spring is touched, the\ndrop falls, the surgeon calls for the rope to be drawn higher, as the\nfeet touch the floor. This done, life ends in about a quarter of an\nhour.\n\nAs the drop fell, Mr. Holman settled back in a chair, faint. I led him\nto a window where he soon recovered, but serious illness followed,\ncaused by the excitement and anxiety of his labors here.\n\nNow, if men must be hung, humanity would call for the work to be\nperformed differently in these respects: That mortal long reading from\nthe court doings should be dispensed with, that is, long for the place.\nIt can be of no sort of use. A short formula, consisting of the last two\nor three sentences, uttered by the sheriff, would be all sufficient.\n\nThen, again, that black cap should be different. Binding the limbs\nconsumed a few moments, and the reading, referred to, still more. But\nprobably after the cap was on and the noose fitted over it, the criminal\nexhausted all the oxygen available to him in three or four breaths, and\nwas forced to suffer the process of suffocation during that occupied\ntime. How near death he was when the drop fell, I can not say, but he\nappeared to be suffering greatly before the binding was completed. That\ncould all be remedied by having an orifice in the cap opposite the mouth\nfor breathing.\n\nFurther, that sad mistake about the rope should never be allowed to\nhappen. He who permits himself to be appointed to such a duty, ought so\nto understand his business that such an accident shall be impossible.\n\nSome of the papers, especially in New York, roughly criticised our\nefforts to prepare Pike for his end, said it was an outrage on society\nto give a wretch like him so much attention; that, in it, we exhibited a\nsickly sentimentalism, appeared as though we would raise crime to a\nsaintship, and more in the same line. A few words only on this must\nsuffice.\n\nWe supposed that the sentiment, \"The criminal has a right to the benefit\nof the clergy,\" really meant something; that, though this man had been\ncondemned to execution by his compeers for a most outrageous crime, he\nyet had a right to means for preparing himself to pass the ordeal of the\nscaffold with due composure, and for becoming reconciled to his God, if\nthat could be. We did not dream that anybody short of heathendom would\nobject to this. Supposing we were appointed to work for that end, we\nwent to the task with a sincerity of purpose. If we were not appointed\nto do just the things we did, for what were we, pray?\n\nWe simply followed the usual course pursued at the bedside when one is\nnear death, had religious conversation, prayer, singing, parting with\nfriends; though, in this case, we had no extreme feebleness caused by\ndisease to meet, but rather crime, in one of its most revolting forms,\nto recognize in bringing gospel appliances, concerning which crime we\nendeavored to be duly faithful.\n\nHence, all that feverish editorial brain-work over this pretended wrong,\nand that amount of printer's ink and paper thus used were simply wasted\nupon, what never occurred, or that which was only a usual, honest effort\nto do our duty with fidelity.\n\nBut this tirade, no doubt, came through the agency of some living not\nfar away, who designedly put a newsmonger on the wrong scent, for the\npurpose of venting their own spleen at the idea of having those around\nwho would treat a helpless, fallen man better than a dog.\n\n\n\n\n14. _Doctrinal discourses._ In pursuing my labors among the prisoners, I\noften met those skeptical views, before alluded to, which were sometimes\nquite boldly avowed. Some of them would constantly attend the Sabbath\nschool, doubtless simply from the pleasure derived in puzzling their\nteachers with questions. They were acute, shrewd fellows, keen in\nargument, quick to see a point and turn it, hard to meet. To help these,\nif possible, I decided to give a few discourses on the evidences of the\nexistence of a God as seen from the light of nature. Those of the\nskeptical class as well as others manifested no little interest in the\nsubject. Soon evidences began to appear of a material softening among\nthem in their opposition to Bible truths. One young man said to the\nwarden, \"When the chaplain commenced those discourses, I felt sure of\nbeing impregnably fixed in my ideas. After hearing one, I would retire\nto my cell and sit down with the purpose of figuring out the want of\nconclusiveness in his arguments. But the more I figured, the more I saw\nthat I was in the wrong and not he; that, from what we see all about us,\nthere must be a God, whom I am convinced I ought to love and obey.\" This\nman became altogether changed in his habits and entered upon a really\nhopeful course. Nor was he alone among those thus yielding, who had long\nbeen accustomed to shut their eyes against the true light.\n\n\n\n\n15. _Effect of the prayer meeting on prison order._ These meetings had\nnow continued a number of weeks with no abatement of interest, having\ngained the reputation of being the best in the city. But it became\nneedful for us, at this time, to suspend all our chapel exercises for a\nwhile, to give place to the proposed enlargement of the room. Hence, at\nthe close of the last meeting previous to this vacation, the warden\nsaid, in substance, \"We have been holding these meetings several weeks.\nAt first I thought them wholly impracticable in the place, but am truly\nglad to find I was so greatly mistaken. As an act of simple justice, I\nfeel that I ought to bear testimony, before you all, to the influence\nthey have exerted on the morals of the inmates. Since they commenced, we\nhave not had a single case for discipline in this institution, a fact\nwithout precedent in the past, so far as my knowledge extends, for so\nlong a time. And I most devoutly hope that this state of things will\ncontinue and the meetings grow more and more powerful in their influence\nfor good.\"\n\nSuch a result of our efforts was in advance of what I had dared hope\nfor. Though fully convinced that the influence must be in that\ndirection, I had not realized so clearly that we were setting in\noperation what would prove so effective an aid to order in the prison.\n\n\n\n\n16. _The new chapel._ At length the chapel was completed and made a gem\nof a room, as it seemed to us, in comparison with what it previously\nwas, having been enlarged to nearly double its former size, extending\nthe whole width of the building and taking in the windows on both sides,\nthus giving us great improvement in air and general comfort; the\npainting also was neat and cheerful. We all felt truly thankful for so\ngreat a blessing, thankful, too, for the opportunity of meeting again to\nresume our worship. As the poor fellows entered, one after the other,\nand cast their eyes about upon the beauty and neatness before them, I\ncould see the joy flash over their countenances. The singing sent a new\nthrill to the heart, and it seemed much easier to speak to them.\nEverything appeared more hopeful for good.\n\nDuring the recess, I had been assiduous in visiting the prisoners,\nSabbaths and other days, and endeavoring to influence them in the right.\nBut now that the meetings had commenced, we could rationally look for a\ngreater success to our efforts.\n\nNor did we look in vain, for soon some professed a full determination to\nforsake their ways of sinning and seek to become what God required.\nThese indications, as is usual in the outside world, tended to give the\ngeneral moral tone, in the prison, a deeper impressiveness.\n\n\n\n\n17. _Prison repairs and mistakes._ Previous to the enlarging of the\nchapel, general repairs and important alterations had been made in the\nsouth wing, consisting of a new French roof, a great improvement in\nappearance and utility, new cells for the female prisoners, and other\nrooms fitted for the officers and general prison use. The mechanics\nworked most diligently, and the money appropriated by the State was, no\ndoubt, most economically laid out. The agent, one of the council,\nevidently felt no little satisfaction in having it said that he could\naccomplish so large amount of work with so little money.\n\nBut either he, or some one else, made at least two grave mistakes. One\nwas in locating the cells for the females, which are in the third story,\nrequiring the occupants, in going to and from their meals, and attending\nto much of their work, to pass over two, and sometimes three, flights\nof stairs. All understanding minds know that this must prey most sadly\non female health, and that apartments for this class should be as near\nthe ground as can be.\n\nThe other mistake was in the stairs. In the old arrangement the females\nhad their private stairway, where they could pass unobserved by any\nexcept their attendants. But in the change, that private way was laid\naside and the women required to use the public stairs, subjecting them\nto great inconvenience. I called the attention of the agent to this\nmatter, but to no effect.\n\nAnother thing of trifling expense should have been attended to. The\nfemale wash-room should be arranged so that those laboring there, in\nturning out the waste water, should not be required to lift their tubs\nas high as, and, in some cases, higher than their heads; and, while\nwashing, they should not be obliged to stand on ice so much. Blinds,\nalso, should have been put to those large hospital windows to prevent\nalmost broiling the sick in hot weather.\n\n\n\n\n18. _Profanity attacked._ Profanity appeared to be a common evil in the\ninstitution, not only among the convicts, but also with many of those\nwho were over them. A prisoner said to me one day, with no little\nemotion, \"Chaplain, I am in a hard case. Swearing is my besetting sin.\nIf I become vexed with my work, or anything else, that is my resort at\nonce. In the meetings, I hear preaching, prayer and singing, under the\ninfluence of which, I feel a strong impulse to leave my sinful ways, and\nseek to become good and live an upright life. Almost resolved on this, I\ngo to my work and am there forced to hear more or less profanity. They\nwill swear at me, and I fall to swearing, too. Thus I am in a hard\ncase.\" The deputy said, \"There is swearing enough here daily to sink the\nwhole concern clear down out of sight.\"\n\nThus assured, it seemed important that a move specifically against that\nsin be made. True, we might not reach those who most indulged in it, as\nthey never attended our gatherings, but we could work for the prisoners.\nHence, one evening, after speaking of the folly and sinfulness of the\nhabit, an appeal was made direct to the men, soliciting all who would\nwholly abandon the practice to rise in their seats, to which some forty\nresponded. At the next meeting, on requesting those who had succeeded in\nkeeping their pledge to rise, the largest part signified their success.\nThe next day as I passed about, some told me that, the past week, they\nhad failed once or twice, but felt determined to struggle on and\nconquer. Subsequently one and another would assure me of their full\ntriumph, that they had not been overtaken since that first week. How far\nthe reform went, I shall never know, but it was in the right direction,\nsuch a reform as should be carried out everywhere, for no gentleman will\ntake God's name in vain. It is a vulgar, mean practice.\n\n\n\n\n19. _Efforts for a son, from a mother's plea._ During the spring of '71\nand, while our religious interest was progressing, a mother visited her\nson in prison, having a temporary home with a lady friend in the city.\nWe will call the mother, Mrs. A., the son, B., and the friend, Mrs. C.\n\nMrs. A., witnessing the subduing influences pervading our meetings, and\nfeeling a strong desire that her son might be benefited thereby,\ndetermined to do what she could in that direction. This son was a youth\nwho might have stood high, had he followed the right, but he had gone\ndeeply into crime, causing his parents and friends untold sorrows.\nStill, this mother clung to him as only a mother can, hoping and praying\nfor his rescue from his downward course.\n\nThe two families, here represented, had previously lived in near\nproximity and in happy union, when B. was an innocent youth, just\nemerging from childhood, a mother's pride and a father's hope.\nConsidering this circumstance, and knowing that Mrs. C. had a class in\nthe prison Sabbath school, and was an intelligent Christian worker, of\ngood standing in the community, Mrs. A. conceived the idea that she\nperhaps might now essentially help her son, and solicited her to make\nthe attempt. She replied, \"I have no objection to attempting what I can\nto reclaim your son, with the warden's assent.\" This assent obtained,\nthe two met in his presence. For a time B. appeared averse to talking\ndirectly of his convictions concerning the soul's interest. But she at\nlength secured his confidence, thus leading him to speak of his feelings\nand desires to reform more freely, perhaps, than he had to the chaplain\nor warden. She referred to the past, what he once was, what his parents\nhad done for him, what he might have been; to his fall, what he had\nlost, his present condition, his mother's agonized feelings in his\nbehalf. The recital cut him keenly. Like Peter of old, he wept bitterly.\nShe then pointed him to the Saviour as the only means of hope and\nrelief. Thus she met him a few times and to good effect. He had been\nreally interested in his religious welfare for a long time previous. But\nthese efforts helped him greatly to decide fully to follow his\nconvictions of duty. He became more alive to his true condition,\nperhaps, than ever before, would mourn over the heinousness of his sins,\nand evidently appeared to be drinking the bitter cup of repentance. He\nwould be at times in real agony of mind at the view of himself.\n\nWhile in this state, the warden invited those especially interested in\nthe subject of religion to meet in the chapel, from twelve to twenty in\nnumber, for an inquiry meeting. We conversed with them severally and\nthen proposed a season of prayer in which each should engage, which they\ndid, B. among the rest, after which he appeared more calm, as if he had\nobtained a measure of relief, though he did not feel satisfied that he\nhad really experienced a change of heart, but seemed decided about\npursuing the right.\n\nWe encouraged him to press on as he had begun, and to take part in our\nmeetings, to the latter of which he replied, \"No, I will not attempt\nthat. Should I, they will say, 'I am playing good with the hope of\ngetting out.' That I won't do. I despise hypocrisy, however bad I may be\nin other things.\" Thus he took his stand, still interested in daily\nreading God's word, prayer, Sabbath school, and the general religious\nexercises. Other prisoners noted the change in him and would say, \"He\nhas been converted.\" But he was called to meet sore trials in the\nprison, trials hard to bear, of which we will speak hereafter.\n\n\n\n\n20. _Warden's efforts for a young man._ This young man, here called E.,\nfrom the middle walks of English society, parents well to do, with a\ngood trade, superior mental powers, commanding high wages, came to this\ncountry to seek his fortune, fell into bad company, bad habits, and\nfinally the State Prison. The warden became deeply interested in him,\nfound that he was anxious about his religious state, and seeing the\nsuccess of Mrs. C.'s labors invited Mrs. D. F., another prison Sabbath\nschool teacher, resembling Mrs. C. in efficiency, character and\nstanding, to make an effort with him for his good. She assented, and met\nhim in the presence of the warden. She first took measures to satisfy\nherself that he was sincere and truthful with her, and proposed numerous\nquestions about his home affairs, his history, &c. He answered her\ninquiries with apparent frankness, said that he was then under an alias,\nnot wishing by his wrongs to disgrace his friends or real name,\npurported to give his true name, which she was not to reveal, the name\nof his minister and thus on. Mrs. D. F. had been acquainted with this\nminister, wrote to him, as she thought best, and in due time received an\nanswer conclusively showing that E. had been truthful in his personal\nstatements. She then conversed with him concerning his religious\ninterests with about the same results as in the former case, except that\nhe did not give so clear an evidence of a thorough work as did B.\n\n\n\n\nThe warden was particular to have the prison visits of these ladies in\nhis presence, and sometimes that of the chaplain, too, not only that\nthere should be no deviation from the rules of strict order, but also as\na safeguard against evil reports. He well knew that there were\nill-disposed persons who were ready to distort and misrepresent all his\nefforts at reform; and had a lady been admitted to private interviews\nwith a prisoner, it would have given them just such stock to work with\nas would have delighted them.\n\n\n\n\n21. _Experience with noble appearing heads in prison._\n\nFacts have shown that, in meeting an assembly, whether in prison or out,\nwe can not always judge correctly in regard to the mental caliber of\nthose composing it by the view of their heads. The apparent superior\ndevelopment may be deceptive, the work of disease. Among the \"noble\nappearing heads\" alluded to on a previous page, a part were of that\nclass, or at least contained diseased minds. We will look at two cases,\nusing substituted letters for the names, as previously.\n\nH. is of good form, head finely proportioned, forehead high, eyes\nbright, all indicating, at a little distance, that he might possess no\nsmall share of intellect. Occasionally he will make pertinent, well\ntimed remarks, but is greatly wanting in mental ability. I have been\ninformed that his mother was intemperate, and had the delirium tremens\njust previous to his birth. He, also, years before, had at times\nappeared as though Satan himself possessed him, and was evidently\ninsane, which, passing off, would leave him all right for a season. He\nhas some remembrance of learning to read a little, can count almost one\nhundred, but has no power to combine numbers otherwise, at least none\nthat I could find after persistent labor in drilling him almost daily\nfor some four weeks on the same figures; thus, in addition table 8 and\n1, 8 and 2, &c., ending where we commenced. Ask him, \"How many are 8 and\n2?\" and he would as quickly answer, \"11,\" or \"9,\" as anything. Still he\nappeared earnest to learn, and was about twenty-four years old. He would\ndetain me with him as long as possible to help him catch the idea, and\nwould often say, \"When I go out, I mean to find a good place where I can\ngo to school, for I intend to obtain a good education.\" At times he\nwould appear very religious, and talk and pray in our meetings; but,\nshould anything irritate him, he perhaps would fly into a rage beyond\nall self-control, in which, if he could, he would kill a man as quickly\nas he would a fly. Still, an officer of the needed prudence and skill,\nby studying his infirmity and managing with due discretion, would have\nbut little trouble with him, and he would readily earn his living. He\nwould be an unsafe man to go at large, as dangerous, if fired with\nanger, as any raving maniac. He should ever be under firm control\nsomewhere, with proper treatment and labor.\n\nIt would be difficult for us to determine how far moral responsibility\ncan be affirmed of this man. God alone can decide that.\n\nJ. was another fine looking man of some twenty-eight years, gentlemanly\nappearing, with a good education, kindly disposed, usually of good\nhabits, honest, so far as known, except in two cases, and those in much\nthe same way. He would hire a team for a ride, go to a hotel and put up,\nexchange or sell the horse, or harness, or carriage, or all together,\nwander about awhile, and then return home for his father to help settle\nthe matter, making no effort to escape arrest. The first time he was\narrested, but not convicted, as neighbors pleaded in his behalf. The\nsecond time he was sent to prison. On this trial neighbors urged the\nfather to put in the plea of insanity, but he refused, as so many were\nresorting to that. Still, all said that he had the best of reasons, as\nhis own brother, or the young man's uncle died in an insane asylum, and\nthose exceptional acts of his must have been performed through an insane\nimpulse. Receiving a pardon previous to the close of his sentence, he\nwent into good employment, worked steadily about a year, and took the\nsame step again, when the court put him under guardianship, instead of\nsending him to prison, which was no doubt the most judicious course; for\nif kept from that horse hiring, he will doubtless be all right, as he\nhas never manifested any inclination to wrong except in that particular\npoint, and that only when his mind was evidently unhinged.\n\nThere were others who exhibited each his peculiarity. Some of these,\ncould we look within their mental structure and there take a just\nsurvey, would perhaps be found possessed of such a native taint, or\nbias, or disorder, that their wrong doings, for which they were in\nprison, would be regarded in the light of misfortunes rather than\ncrimes.\n\nThis subject of hereditary mental taint or disorder, in connection with\nwrong doing, opens to the phrenologist a wide and important field for\ninvestigation. But when he is forced to the conclusion that the one has\nacted from a disordered impulse of mind, uncontrollable, and he\ntherefore not responsible for his acts, it can make no difference with\nthe fact that the wrong doer must be restrained and put where he can not\ntrespass upon the rights of others. It will rather lead to the questions\nof where he shall be confined, how employed, after what manner treated,\nand in what light regarded; perhaps showing clearly the need of\nimportant modifications in our present system of prison management.\n\n\n\n\n22. _The Warden admits presents to prisoners from friends outside._ He\nwould permit friends outside to send soothing dainties to the sick, or\npackages of fruit or home comforts to the well; or florists of the city\nto send bouquets to stand upon the speaker's desk on the Sabbath, for\nthe prisoners to admire, and each received a flower or sprig to carry to\nhis cell as a memento of innocence and purity, and a stimulus to love\nthe Author of such beauty. It was really gratifying to see what cheer\nto the fallen these remembrances from the outside world would bring. All\npackages thus sent to prisoners were most carefully examined by\nofficers, that nothing wrong should pass.\n\n\n\n\n23. _Warden decides to resign._ He had not found his place a bed of\nroses. Certainly it possessed its thorns, and these, at times, largely\npredominated. His efforts for bringing the prison, in all its\ndepartments, to what it was, had cost him a great struggle, many anxious\nhours of planning, and at times perplexities in executing. But his\ngreatest vexation came because of opposition, from certain ones without,\nto what he felt assured was for the best good of the institution, and\nfrom the misrepresentations of those opposed to all prison reform and\nimprovement, who think it an outrage to the State to treat a prisoner\nbetter than a brute. He says one complained of him thus: \"You give the\nprisoners too good fare, and make things too comfortable for them, on\naccount of which they will wish to return. Whereas, the prison is a\nplace for punishment, requiring you to keep the inmates on poorer food,\nand food so prepared that it shall be a punishment to eat it, and make\neverything around them a source of discomfort, that, after leaving, they\nmay thereby be deterred from crime through dread of being returned.\"\n\nFrom all considerations, the warden resolved to resign at the close of\nthe year, yet, while remaining, to continue the usual prison rations and\nefforts at reform. His wife also heartily joined in his efforts, having\nfrom the first done much towards the excellent fare of the prisoners,\nand seeing that the sick were properly cared for. Hence, on one\noccasion, finding a man gradually wasting away with consumption, the\nskin wearing from his emaciated limbs by the hard prison couch, she\nsent in her own feather bed, that he might pass the remainder of his\ndays in what comfort he could.\n\nBut what shall we think of the assertion that \"the food should be so\nprepared that it shall be a punishment to the men to eat it?\" Can it be\npossible, that one in New Hampshire, at this late day, uttered a\nsentiment like that? So the warden most positively asserts. To say\nnothing of its inhumanity, common worldly policy would repudiate such an\nidea. Of food thus prepared one at first would eat as little as possible\nto live, his powers for labor therefore depart, his appetite gradually\nfails, and he goes down to death.\n\nAll who use horses or oxen, except the worst of men, would scout such a\npractice. They say, \"To have teams work well, feed well.\" So it must be\nwith men, whether in prison or elsewhere. Power for muscular labor can\nbe furnished only by generous food.\n\nThen the fear that good prison fare would induce the prisoners to return\npurposely on recommitments, must have been expressed without due\nconsideration, or being taught by prison facts. Statistics show that,\nwhere the prison is the most cruelly managed and the inmates are kept on\nthe poorest fare, the greatest number return on second or third\nsentences. Then as to our own prison, the very year this complaint was\nmade, more pardons were granted, I think, than had ever been before in\none year since the founding of the institution. And most surely none\nrefused to accept of the offer and depart. Besides, nearly all who had\nfriends, except those soon to go out by commutation, were constantly\nimportuning them to intercede for their pardon, while those who had\nnone, were persistent in their pleadings with the warden, chaplain and\nother prison officers to help them in efforts for the desired boon. Why\nthis, if good fare would be an inducement to return? Would the utterer\nof that sentiment have sanctioned the idea of leaving the prison doors\nall unlocked and unbolted for one night? What a skedaddling there would\nhave been, old or young, sick or well, the infirm and decrepit, hobbling\noff as best they could, leaving their good fare behind and their cells\n\"to let.\"\n\nWhat an idea! The good prison living, which at best can not be made\nequal to the comforts in our most common families outside, lead men to\ndesire to be locked up in those gloomy cells for its sake and subjected\nto the general prison regime! That man may fear it who will.\n\n\n\n\n24. _Prisoners' anxiety at the rumored resignation._ This rumor soon\nspread through the prison, not however to bring joy, but sorrow. I had\nnot imagined that the prospect would cause the prisoners so much\nanxiety. Probably the slave of former days on the auction block, about\nto be struck off to a new owner, and all uncertain as to his future\nfate, would experience feelings allied to theirs. Their first anxiety\nseemed to be about their educational and religious privileges, lest\nthese might be cut off or largely curtailed. Said one, \"I have served on\nboard of a whaleman and been accustomed to the most rigid discipline\nfound there. I fear nothing in the line of strictness of rules, but can\nnot bear the idea of being deprived of our school and meeting\nopportunities. I would do almost anything for the sake of enjoying\nthese.\" This was the feeling.\n\nThen, they were deeply anxious about the character of the man to be put\nover them, whether he would be humane, or the reverse. And no wonder,\nwhen we consider how completely they are left to his control. Probably\nno other state officer is so irresponsible as the warden of our state\nprison,--that is, in a position where those under him are so completely\nat his mercy, and where he can exercise real cruelty, if disposed, and\ncover it up with a fair outside show. None but a man of humane\ninstincts, one especially qualified for the post, should be put in that\nposition.\n\n\n\n\n25. _Governor and Council memorialized by the prison S. S. teachers and\nchaplain._ Sustaining the relation we did to the prison, we thought it\nappropriate for us to set forth our views and desires to the Governor\nand Council touching the appointment of the warden; not respecting who\nshould be appointed, but the principles to be secured. Hence, by a\ncommittee, we drew up a paper to be laid before them, giving account of\nthe religious and educational privileges we had been laboring to secure\nto the inmates for the purpose of throwing around them all the\ninfluences possible for securing good order in the prison, and a\npreparation, on their part, for going out reformed, and duly prepared to\nact the part of good citizens, and also soliciting their honorable body,\nthat they would so recognize these arrangements and labors of ours, in\ntheir contemplated appointment, that they should not be curtailed, but\npermitted to go on, gathering around them such improved facilities as\nmight be devised from time to time, thus securing the best discipline in\nthe prison and the highest ends of imprisoning.\n\nWe were treated on the occasions with due respect, and permitted to\nspeak freely on the points as we judged best. Some of the gentlemen\nresponded in most commendatory terms at what we had been doing,\nregarding the influence as highly salutary in regard to order and\ngeneral good in the prison.\n\n\n\n\n26. _Prison funerals._ The methods of procedure at the interment of the\nprisoners had been various, at times not very complimentary to a\nprofessedly Christian people. But more recently the custom had obtained\nof having prayer and remarks appropriate to the occasion, the men being\narranged in the prison yard, after which they were to retire to their\nwork. In this way we conducted our first funeral after my entrance. At\nthe next, we observed this form: Had all things ready when the men were\nhad eaten, say at twenty-five minutes past twelve, and then took them to\nthe chapel for the usual prayer and remarks, which ended, we conducted\nthem in file through the reception-room for leave-taking of their\nlifeless comrade, the body being there laid out with some little taste,\nand then they passed on to the shop. This method is chaste and\nappropriate, hinders nothing about the shop labor, and manifests due\nrespect for the occasion.\n\nThe matter of funerals has ever been held as of great importance by all\ncivilized nations. Nor is it any the less important to a well conducted\nprison than elsewhere. Proper funeral observances will tend to the good\nof the prisoners as well as to that of others, and help impress upon\nthem the idea of their own mortal career and accountability. How much\nmore like men they will cause the inmates to feel than would putting the\nbody in a rough box and hauling it off the back way, in a cart, like a\ndead dog.\n\n\n\n\n27. _Educational and S. school summing up._ The year closed upon our\neducational efforts with a good measure of success, though of necessity\nlimited in comparison with what ought to be accomplished by a like\nnumber in our public schools outside. For, it will be borne in mind,\nthat all our pupils had to perform their daily tasks at manual labor\nfrom early morn till night; that their cells are not the most\nadvantageous rooms for study; that what they obtained they had to gain\nin these pent up places, in the odds and ends of their time, as best\nthey could. Then, again, we could have our school only when the guards\ncould be spared from their common prison duties. Still, with all the\ndrawbacks, a number of the inmates made commendable proficiency. They\ndid what they could. They had become inspired with the idea of putting\nthemselves earnestly to the task of cultivating their intellects and\nhearts, so far as they could, and thus be prepared, on leaving prison,\nfor common business. Some had really waked up to what they had lost by\ntheir sinful courses, and now appeared determined to do their best, in\nthe future, at making amends. Thus spurred on, they were diligent. And\nit was truly a pleasure to be permitted to help forward these minds,\narousing, as they were, to a higher and better life. Sordid indeed must\nbe that heart which would not fire up with energy for encouraging such\nto go on.\n\nSome forty of the young were among those who were striving in this\ndirection, a very few others of that class not possessing sufficient\nmental capacity for learning. Then others had obtained a good education\npreviously, and chose to spend their time in reading from the library,\nexcept that some would wish a better knowledge of arithmetic, and\nperhaps other branches, when about to close their term.\n\nWe had been favored with a few interesting lectures from outside\ngentlemen, with three readings by lady elocutionists, and a number of\ndrill exercises in singing. A gentleman also gave us a number of lessons\nin penmanship.\n\nWe had repaired the books of the library, added nearly two hundred\nvolumes, obtained a new catalogue, two large blackboards for drill\nexercises in arithmetic, &c., a set of charts on penmanship, a set also\nof outline maps in geography, purchasing likewise such books or material\nas appeared needful to the school, expending in all $260.45, being\nallowed to use in this way the money gathered from the admission fees of\nvisitors, all of which we did not use.\n\nWe endeavored to do what we could towards beginning what we confidently\nhoped would soon become an institution duly established by the State\nwith all needed provision for security. The Sabbath school continued\nwith unabated interest from the first, numbers varying but little,\nseldom falling below eighty, average, eighty-six.\n\n\n\n\n28. _Religious success._ From my first day at the prison, the religious\nstate had been encouraging, nothing to mar the interest transpiring.\nTrue, there had been no revival at any time, but a steady, healthful\ndrawing in the right direction, that from which the most is ever to be\nhoped. A goodly number had, at different times, become professedly fixed\nin the determination to a thorough reform, while the others had, to\nappearance, largely lost their prejudice against religious truth; and\nentered more freely into conversation upon those subjects, many\nadmitting the justness of their claims. And, taking all things together,\nour prospects had never appeared better than at the end of the year,\nindicating that, should our rulers possess wisdom enough to select the\nright man for warden, still more cheering results might be anticipated\nfrom subsequent efforts.\n\nBut we could not presume to judge correctly as to how much of this\nprofession was well founded. That we had to leave for God to take care\nof. We had one important certainty, however, connected with this\nmatter,--the certainty that all true good is found with just such\nsurroundings as we had at the prison, the love of prayer, interest in\nGod's Word, delight in attending meetings, desire for mental culture and\na professed seeking for holiness; but not with the contrary, such as\nswearing, contentions, hatred of God's truth, and the like.\n\n\n\n\n29. _Fourth of July at the prison._ The Fourth came with no new warden\nappointment. Therefore, the incumbent determined that he would celebrate\nthis at the prison as his own yearnings prompted, and as it would be\nobserved at some other prisons. Hence, at early morn, he announced to\nthe men that he was about to give them a real Fourth, causing their\nhearts to leap for joy.\n\nAt 9 o'clock they met in the chapel for the reading of the Declaration\nof Independence, singing, &c., after which they marched into the prison\nyard, where were tables beautified by floral decorations and spread by\nfair hands, with picnic dainties, lemonade being prepared expressly for\nthe prisoners. The blessing asked, the men having done ample justice to\nthe good cheer, and the tables having been removed, speaking by a number\nof distinguished gentlemen from various towns followed. This ended and\nprayer offered, the sports followed as various as the different tastes\ncould devise. Nothing rude, boisterous, insubordinate, or unkind\nappeared from any. One standing outside the walls would not have\nsupposed, from anything heard, that a real, live Fourth was being so\ngreatly enjoyed within. And probably the pleasures of the day were\nnever more keenly felt anywhere, in prison or out. One and another would\nsay, \"This is the happiest day of my life.\" A somewhat large delegation\nof ladies and gentlemen from various parts of the State was present, who\nseemed delighted with the occasion. The female prisoners partook of\ntheir picnic dainties in their own room, but were permitted, with their\nattendants, to witness the yard scenes from the chapel windows.\nEverything passed off satisfactorily. The speaking was excellent, just\nfitted to the occasion, showing the need of laws and prisons, that those\npresent were here for crimes, yet that they could reform, for which they\nshould strive, that numerous willing hands were reached out for their\nencouragement and aid.\n\nThe time at length came for separating, when each man went to his cell\nwith a cheer of heart which he had never carried there before. And this\ncheer long pervaded their minds, leading them to obey with greater\nalacrity. Nor did I hear of a case of a contrary character. They would\nafterwards often refer to the occasion as that _happy day_.\n\n\n\n\n30. _The true principles of imprisoning and prison-managing on the idea\nof reform in the convict._ For the sake of brevity these principles are\nhere set forth mainly by questions and answers.\n\nWhat is the object of imprisoning?\n\nThis object is fourfold:\n\n1. To prevent the criminal from injuring the public.\n\n2. To deter from committing crime.\n\n3. To punish the wrong doer.\n\n4. To reform the erring.\n\nOn the first two of these two points there is no dispute, while some\nwill not admit the third, and others proscribe the fourth. Let us,\nhowever, admit the four.\n\nWho has the right to imprison and assign the terms and conditions to the\nimprisoned?\n\nThe State alone, or society organized in a body politic, has this right,\nand that is to be exercised by due process of law, in which exercise she\nis, first, in her legislative capacity, to point out clearly, by her\nenactments, for what a man shall be imprisoned, specify the terms of the\nimprisoning and the conditions to which the imprisoned shall be\nsubjected; second, in her judicial capacity, assign the wrong doer his\nmerited doom; and, third, in her executive capacity, to carry out in him\nthe decisions she has made, no individual having a right to interfere\nwith this in any way, except as specially authorized by State\nenactments.\n\nHence, the criminal, when standing at the bar and hearing the sentence\nof the judge, can understand exactly what lawfully and justly awaits\nhim, provided that he demean himself uprightly in his new condition.\n\nSuppose the sentence, in a given case, is this: \"You are to be confined\nat hard labor in our State Prison for five years.\" In this all that can\nlawfully be inflicted upon the convict is involved. So say the judges\nthemselves. Hence, should any man, or party of men, bring upon him\nadditional infliction during that time, the imprisoned would, just so\nfar, become the sufferer of a wrong, and those making that infliction\nwould be the wrong doers. Let us, then, analyze this sentence and thus\nascertain its elements.\n\nBeing confined in prison for the term, all admit, involves the idea that\nhe is to enter those walls and not be permitted to pass out till his\ntime is ended.\n\nAs the term, \"hard labor,\" is not defined, it must be determined by the\ncommon custom of workmen at the same or similar business outside. So say\nthe judges again. To illustrate: if ten hours constitute a day's work\nwith these, so with the prisoners,--not twelve or fifteen. Again, if, in\nbedstead making, turning one hundred posts, in the one case, is required\nfor a day, so in the other, not one hundred and fifty or two hundred.\nThis laboring day after day, during the specified number of years,\nconstitutes the \"hard labor\" in the meaning of the court.\n\nThe law assigns no further punishment to the imprisoned, if duly\nsubmissive to wholesome prison rules. But, should he be stubborn,\nrefusing to perform his task, or obey the regulations generally, or\nshould he rise in rebellion, of necessity discretion must be left with\nthe officers to use such means, even to taking life, as shall be\nessential in bringing the delinquent to subordination. These means,\nhowever, may be limited by law, as they are to a great degree in our\nState, and are ever to be used as humanity dictates.\n\nWhat rights does the State take from the criminal in imprisoning?\n\nShe takes from him the right to live and act outside of prison walls, to\nbe a master to himself inside, and to receive his earnings as his own.\nThese constitute the sum total. As he had used his liberty and the\nmastery of himself to the public damage, she justly steps in, deprives\nhim of the one and takes upon herself the other, thereby assuming the\nguardianship over him during the specified time. She takes his earnings\nas a compensation, so far as they will go, for his damage and expense to\ncommunity, and as an important element in his punishment. She becomes\nhis guardian for the purpose of so educating him that, on going out, he\nshall live an upright, harmless life.\n\nWhat rights remain to the imprisoned?\n\nThere is a wide range, a long list of these, which the State does not\npretend to cut off or interfere with, such as the right to suitable\nfood, clothing, lodging, ventilation, drainage, care in sickness or\ninfirmity: in a word, to what will tend to corporeal vigor; the right to\nmeans for mental, moral and religious culture, or what will tend to the\ndevelopment in him of true manhood. If this is not so, which right is\ncut off or curtailed? and where is the law that does it?\n\nWhat duties does the State take upon herself in thus imprisoning?\n\nThese are of two classes, one relating particularly to herself, and the\nother to the imprisoned.\n\nDuty to herself is done, 1st, in protecting society from the crimes of\nthe imprisoned, which she does by imprisoning; 2nd, in keeping the\ncriminal diligently at work, thereby obtaining pecuniary compensation,\nso far as can be, for her trouble and expense on his account; 3d, in\nusing all feasible efforts for rubbing off the rust of sin, washing away\nthe corruption of iniquity, found in those taken in charge, and making\nof them true men,--good, industrious, honest, upright citizens.\n\nThe latter part is of the highest moment, far exceeding all\nconsiderations of mere dollars and cents, drawing as much real manhood\nas possible from the material put in her hands. If she takes one who is\ndangerous to society, and works in him an entire reform, she\naccomplishes a work in comparison with which gold and silver will weigh\nbut little. Making men is the high mission of the prison, and the State\ncan not be regarded as having performed anything like her whole duty,\ntill she has used every feasible means to this great end.\n\nThe duty of the State to the prisoner is performed by securing to him\nwhat he needs in his corporeal, mental, moral and religious departments.\n\nIf she withholds in any of these, so far she becomes delinquent towards\nthe imprisoned, a violator of his rights just as really as he had been a\nviolator of others' rights when in his wild career of sinning.\n\nMore than this. In such withholding she becomes chargeable with real\ncruelty. For she has put the man in a state where he can not supply his\nown needs, and, if she neglects them, he must suffer. This is surely a\ngrave matter, one which should be looked to with the utmost care;--a\nplace where the State can afford to be highly generous rather than\nexpose herself to a suspicion of such a wrong.\n\nWhat are the proper means of reform?\n\nAmong these will be found, the State guardianship, the labor system,\nstrict discipline, kind treatment, stimulating hope, mental, moral and\nreligious culture.\n\nThe State guardianship will tend to form in the convict the habit of\nduly regarding the rights of others and of looking up, with respect, to\nwise and beneficent direction; the labor system, that of uniform\nindustry, of profitably employing the time instead of in idle\nindulgencies; strict discipline, that of cheerful submission to\nwholesome rules, regardful of the principles of right. Kind treatment\nwill tend to inspire the recipients with confidence in the sincerity of\nthe reform efforts used, trust in the proffered friendship, and an\nassurance of success in struggles for good. Stimulating hope will rouse\nthe better nature to action and secure confidence in overseers.\nCultivating the intellect will prepare one intelligently to conduct\nhimself in the affairs of life, and open to him sources of satisfaction\nfar above those of his former life. Moral culture will arouse\ncontrolling ideas of the bounds of human rights, and the importance of\nobserving them. The religious cultivation, having been made through deep\nconviction of sin, resulting in a hatred to wrong and a love for good,\nwill lay a broad and deep foundation for a life of right.\n\nLet these means be honestly and efficiently used, and they will most\npowerfully influence to ways of goodness. None of them can be spared.\nEach is a link in the chain which will be mighty to elevate the fallen.\nAnd if one can not be reformed by them, it is proof positive that he\nought not to be at large.\n\nWhat kind of prison officers are essential?\n\nThey should be of good moral character, ever setting proper examples\nbefore the prisoners, humanely disposed, capable of complete\nself-control, alive to efforts for reforming the inmates. Those more\nespecially charged with the administration of affairs will need, in\naddition, to be good disciplinarians, studying the peculiarities of each\nand endeavoring to heal the weaknesses of mind.\n\nThe warden should possess great breadth of mind and force of character;\nbe capable of bringing to his work large heart power; patient, yet\ndecided; abounding with humane instincts, yet capable of using sterner\nmeans when essential; ever keeping wisdom at the helm, using true\ndiscretion, and be controlled by a strong desire for the highest good\nof all. He will be intent on studying how to address reform means to\neach with a view to the greatest success. At the same time he should\nlook well to the true pecuniary interests of the institution.\n\nThe chaplain should be truly a man of God, enabled to bring large\nmental, moral and religious force to his duties, and alive, heart and\nsoul, to the great work of raising up those under his care and\npresenting them to the world redeemed and saved.\n\n\n\n\n31. _The commutation system._ This is a system established by\nlegislative enactment a few years since; on condition of good behavior\nand a faithful performance of duty in one, to grant him a specified\nshortening in his term of sentence, and complete restoration to\ncitizenship.\n\nIt was really interesting to witness the effect of this provision on the\nconvicts, stimulating as it did their hope, and leading them to do the\nbest they could to obtain this much coveted boon. The case of one will\nillustrate this feeling. He had been in the solitary, but did not seem\nto mind his sufferings there in the least. His great anxiety was whether\nhe should lose his commutation. He suffered no little in mind in this\nrespect. Indeed, every day gave us a clear exhibition of the influence\nthis system had over the inmates' minds for good, helping the officers\ngreatly in keeping order in their efforts at reform.\n\nNow, if hope could be thus stimulated, and that to such great advantage,\nby this simple provision, what might not be accomplished by following\nmore largely the same line of policy, that is, the hope-stimulating\nline?\n\n\n\n\n32. _Chaplain's proposed attempt at tobacco reform._\n\nThe chaplain made this proposition to the governor and council: \"Put the\nprisoners on their option as to tobacco using with the condition that\nany who will disuse it, receive, once a month, or quarter, as the case\nmay be, the amount thus saved in money, to be kept funded in the bank\nfor him to receive, on certain conditions as to time, &c., after his\nrelease.\"\n\nThis proposition was made with at least four prominent objects in view.\nThe first was to convert as many as could be from tobacco using; the\nsecond, to give an additional stimulus to hope among the prisoners; the\nthird, to create an interest in the men in looking after money matters,\na care for small items; and, fourth, to help them form the habit of\nsaving and laying up.\n\nThis privilege was, of course, to be granted on condition of good\nbehavior, and therefore as effective as could be toward prison order.\n\nThe proposer conceived that here was an element of great power for good\nto the prison and State. This forming a habit, in the former careless\none, of looking particularly into the smallest items of money, with\ncarefully saving and laying up, might work an entire revolution in more\nthan one, leading them to habits of honest industry and thrift, an\nimmense gain to the individual and the community.\n\nBut the rulers did not see fit to heed the proposal. If they had, no\ndoubt quite a large number of the prisoners would have adopted the\nplan.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRISON CHAPLAINCY\n\nPART II.\n\nUnder the Punitive and Money-making System.\n\n\n1. _Warden chosen, and new arrangements for the chaplain._ Some weeks of\nthe new year had passed, when the warden's place was filled by the\nchoice of J. C. Pillsbury, of Concord. Report said that the delay had\nbeen by reason of a division of sentiment on the case in the council\nchamber.\n\nI directly waited on the new incumbent, at his office, to arrange for my\nduties. He seemed to feel that he had been put there for correcting\nimportant abuses that had grown up in the prison management, in what\nparticular department I did not learn. But he laid out my work as\nfollows:\n\n\"Chaplain, we will have the meetings held in the chapel as heretofore;\nthat is, the males assemble Sabbath mornings at nine and enjoy the same\nexercises as usual, none else to be admitted except at my special\ninvitation; Sabbath school continue Sabbath afternoons, and I will\nselect such teachers as I think best. Wednesday evening prayer meetings\nto continue, I inviting in some of the religious men of the city to help\ncarry them on, and not a prisoner be allowed to open his head in them.\nThese fellows are here to be punished. They must not be called men, but\ncriminals, for such they are.\"\n\nSuch in substance was my programme, on which this colloquy followed\nbetween myself and warden:\n\n\"Warden, you did not speak of admitting the female prisoners to the\nSabbath worship in the chapel.\"\n\n\"No, I don't purpose to admit any females to that service.\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: I understood his objection to be, that the sight of a woman\nis demoralizing to a prisoner.]\n\n\"But we can have a screen so arranged, that the women can not be seen by\nthe men, though assembled as formerly, and I will be at the labor and\nexpense of fitting it.\"\n\n\"No, I won't have a woman in the chapel.\"\n\n\"But do not the rules require the warden to assemble the females as well\nas males in the chapel Sabbath mornings for worship?\"\n\n\"Oh, I call the women's work-room their chapel.\"\n\n\"But, if I am to hold a service with the women in their work-room after\nthe chapel service, it will double my labors, and then not be as\ninteresting and useful to them as if hearing the discourse with the\nspeaker fresh and unfatigued.\"\n\n\"I don't ask you to hold a second service with the women, for giving\nthem a sermon. Only go into their room any time in the week, some\nevening if more convenient, and offer prayer, and that will be all\nsufficient.\"\n\n\"How about commencing the school in the chapel?\"\n\n\"Oh, I can't have anything to do with that, we are so tired, when night\ncomes, with our other duties.\"\n\nThus matters were before me. What a cutting off! The question would be,\n\"Is this cutting off a part of the proposed correction of prison\nabuses?\" No secular school, no religious instruction of note to the\nfemale prisoners, and the screws put upon our prayer meeting so tightly\nas to render them of but little account to the prisoners.\n\nAs to the latter, I felt that, could the prisoners enjoy the privilege\nof taking part in them as previously, having only the warden, guards and\nmyself present, it would be preferable to the new plan. This I proposed,\nto which the warden finally assented, and that from the fact, as I\nsupposed, that it would rid him of so much outside attendance. This then\nwas gained, though the other points remained immovably fixed.\n\nI understood the warden to remark, \"It is of no use for the chaplain to\npreach and labor with a hope of reforming these prisoners, for they\ncan't be reformed.\" Then this expression, as of his saying, was told\nme,--\"I will break up that Methodist camp meeting at the prison.\" What\ndid the assertion mean? Was it a slur on our previous religious efforts?\nOr was it indicative of a shortening of our religious privileges? We\nhad, at no time, any rush at our meetings, but few being admitted for\nwant of room. A small number had attended and helped in our prayer\nmeetings, more in the Sabbath school. All denominations were alike\ninterested in the matter. Indeed, we had no denomination about it.\n\nI brought the matter of the school and that of the females assembling in\nthe chapel for worship to the notice of the governor, but the warden\nprevailed.\n\n\n\n\n2. _Chaplain almost resolved to resign, but decides to continue and\narrange his work._ Thus things put on so forbidding an aspect in every\nway, that it did not seem that I could accomplish any further good at\nthe prison. True, I could draw my salary with almost nothing to do, the\nname go out that the institution had a chaplain, but being expected to\ndrift on with the current, whichever way it might set, and at the end\nmake up a glowing report of the prison doings and success, no matter\nwhat the facts might be. But my feelings rebelled at such an idea, and I\nthought, for a time, that I must resign, and almost resolved upon the\nstep. Then the question would arise, Is it right to leave those who have\nappeared so earnest to improve and reform? Something said, \"No.\"\nFriends, too, learning my feelings on the subject, said decidedly that I\nmust remain at the post.\n\nI was in a hard place. There were the sentiments as uttered above, then\nthe general spirit manifested, speaking louder than words, that \"reform\nmoves are all interlopers in prison, having no sort of business here.\"\nAfter looking the ground carefully over in my mind and thinking of all\nthe connections, I saw that, by a greatly increased amount of labor, I\ncould furnish the prisoners with a partial substitute for the chapel\nschool. I had a right to visit them in the privacy of their cells, from\nmorn till the hour for retiring in the evening. I could therefore hear\ntheir recitations there separately. No one could justly complain of\nthis. Hence, I decided to remain, and laid out my work thus:--Sabbath,\nusual service with the men from nine to ten, and services in the women's\nwork-room till eleven; then in the hospital with Jones, the murderer,\nand others as their cases allow, till twelve; Sabbath school services in\nthe afternoon, besides visiting cells as much as possible; on other\ndays, to spend noon and evenings visiting the cells in turn, hearing\nrecitations and imparting instruction in the common school branches;\nbesides changing the books Saturdays, as already, to change them at any\nother time when called for.\n\nThus I voluntarily undertook three times as much real hard work for the\nprisoners as my duty had previously demanded. The new order seemed to\nrender it imperative, for I could do nothing in the educational line\nwithout it.\n\n\n\n\n3. _Cells cleared of trinket-making and tracts._ The former warden was\naccustomed to distribute tracts among the prisoners. He also, by the\nassent of the government over him, had allowed the men, who desired it,\nto employ their otherwise idle moments by making small trinkets, as hair\nchains, paper folders, tooth-picks and small fancy boxes in imitation of\nwhat was done in certain other prisons, thereby, as was supposed,\nsecuring greater contentment and better order among the men. The new\nwarden condemned all this as a great violation of good prison order. The\ncandles, also, were condemned, and everything of the kind, with all the\nwriting material or waste paper found in the cells, was removed, the\nspoils carefully measured, and the number of bushels sent the rounds of\nthe papers as an evidence of the former abuses in this prison and of his\nlabors to correct them.\n\nI asked if the prisoners did not need to have the waste paper, at least,\nremain. \"Oh,\" said he, \"they will look out for that themselves.\" I could\nnot then see how, but subsequently learned, much to the cost of the\nState.\n\n\n\n\n4. _Necessity for the chaplain's undertaking what he did._ This\nnecessity arose, not simply from the demands of the inmates for\neducational and reformatory means, but also from considerations of good\nprison order. True, the warden had the vanity to think he could control\nthe men in whatever way he might undertake. The show of his cane would\nbe sufficient for any emergency. But there was human nature in the\nprison as well as out, and, from the circumstances, it would be strange\nif it did not show itself. By taking away the prisoners' educational\nprivileges, and the various articles referred to, much idle time would\nbe left. How would this be employed? These men would naturally feel\nangry at being deprived of what they had enjoyed so long, and prized.\nThis now unemployed time would give them ample opportunity for studying\nmeans of revenge, and some would no doubt turn their acumen in that\ndirection. If a prisoner had any smartness, he would feel, from the\ncircumstances, almost impelled to give vent to mischief, and thereby\nmake as much trouble as possible.\n\nBut, could I step in, and, by dint of effort, keep those minds agreeably\noccupied, I should do so much towards helping the warden to the desired\nsubordination and order. No previous time in my prison experience seemed\nto demand so great efforts in that direction as now. Hence, duty\nappeared calling me to step forward, as I did.\n\n\n\n\n5. _New phase at the prison, and the chaplain's efforts._ The first\nSabbath morning came for chapel worship under the new order, and a\nsadder appearing company I never met, their countenances being\nexpressive of anxiety and gloom commingled. The singing dragged, the\ninstrument standing voiceless, as the one who had usually made it speak,\nwas of the sex here proscribed, and the warden had not found another to\ntake her place. It was hard preaching, for these once earnest hearers\nseemed to have hearts too full for hearing. But I endeavored to give\nwords of hope, and to direct their minds to a heavenly Father who will\never carry his trusting children through the scenes they are called to\npass. Of course I could make no allusion to present circumstances, or\nappear to recognize any change in the surroundings; but somehow I could\nnot call the hearers \"criminals.\" I pursued the usual course, addressing\nthem as _men_, or _friends_, or perhaps _brothers_, for I was\noccasionally guilty of all that; but the word \"criminal\" never hung on\nmy lips when addressing the inmates on subjects of improvement. In my\nview, such a course would have been like attempting to light a fire by\napplying the match with one hand and dashing on water with the other.\n\nAt the close of our services, as the warden, in his peculiar way, was\ngiving some of his orders, I could see the crimson flush on more than\none cheek, indicative of the feelings stirred within, the character of\nwhich I could only conjecture. One of his assertions was, as I\nunderstood it, thus: \"I am warden here now. The days of bouquets and\nflowers are played out here,\" and more in the same vein.\n\nIn the women's room the countenances were not so anxious. They rather\nliked this part of the change, for it would free them from the task of\npreparing, Sabbath mornings, to appear in public. Still, anxiety was not\nentirely wanting. Sabbath school was this day omitted, as the warden had\nnot obtained his corps of teachers.\n\nOn going my rounds for private counsel to the men in their cells, I\nfound, in most cases, gloom and discouragement, they having generally\nheard of the warden's disbelief in their reform. It was really wonderful\nto witness the change a few days had wrought in the moral aspect of the\nprison. A frost in June would not make a greater change on the face of\nnature. I could but ask myself, \"Why are things thus?\" \"At what are our\nrulers aiming?\"\n\nI went to each with all the cheer I could, exhorting them not to indulge\nin these downcast feelings, but to look upward with hope, and gave them\nthe assurance that their educational privileges, as well as religious,\nwould be continued, only with some change in their application, and\npointed out in brief the manner, saying that each could advance in study\nas rapidly as in his power.\n\nIf any referred to their cell amusements being taken away, I met them\nwith the remark,--\"Don't trouble about that. You shall be furnished with\nall the books you can read and study, and I will hear your recitations.\nIn this way, your time can be pleasantly and profitably occupied,\nperhaps making you the gainers.\" A few of these former trinket workers\nbecame more interested in their studies, but the most could not, by\nreason of their sight, thus being left to endure their privation as best\nthey could.\n\nWhen one would refer to his discouragement on account of the warden's\ndisbelief in reform, I would meet him thus, \"You are to look only to\nyourself and your God in this matter. What a fellow mortal believes or\ndisbelieves concerning you is of no account. You have the power to go on\nin the right and be a good man. I know you have, and others who are good\nand true, men upon whose views we can all rely, also know it. What\nmatter if the warden does think as you suppose? It is only his opinion.\nHe wishes you to do well, and will be glad if you succeed in the right.\nBut, should you turn back, it will confirm his views that you can not\nreform. You will meet with harder things than this in life, yet must\nnot think of yielding the struggle, let what will arise.\"\n\nThese efforts tended materially to lift the cloud from the prisoners'\nminds, and give them more hope. It really gladdened the hearts of many\nto learn that the privileges, which they had come to love so well and\nesteem so highly, were still to be theirs.\n\n\n\n\n6. _S. school commences._ The next Sabbath the S. S. was resumed. Nearly\nthe usual number were present. A few Christian gentlemen from the city\nwere teachers, a sufficient number to guard each prisoner and see that\nnothing contraband passed. These were good men, some having long been\nlaborers in the school. On the whole, things appeared more encouraging\nthan on the Sabbath previous. That frosty appearance had in a measure\ndeparted, though it was by no means wholly gone.\n\n\n\n\n7. _The warden's views considered._ The idea that \"prisoners can not be\nreformed\" is contrary to Scripture, history, and experience. The former\ngives the assurance that the vilest, the chief of sinners, those whose\nsins are as scarlet or crimson, may be saved. Then history deals in\nfacts where such have been radically reformed, and have become good men.\nSome who were once in prison are now upright, industrious citizens.\nHence, the assertion shows lack of confidence in Scripture assurances\nand historical knowledge.\n\nBut one asks, \"Do you think it possible to reform all, or a large\nproportion of prisoners?\" We can assume it of those here as of the world\nin general. Whether out of or in prison, we are to sow the seed, and\nsome will germinate. We must work, use all right appliances, and leave\nthe event with God, not knowing \"which shall prosper, this or that.\"\n\nAgain, the objection comes: \"Prisoners will be often hypocritical,\nprofess goodness from sinister motives, pretending to have reformed for\na time, and then become as bad as ever.\"\n\nAdmit all this. But are not just such traits found in the world all\nabout us? Where are there more wicked wretches than some outside the\nprison, who have \"put on the livery of heaven to serve the devil in?\"\nWhat meaner men inhabit God's earth than some who have succeeded in\nworking themselves into the church, and can boast of coming to the\ncommunion regularly? How many profess and fall away on every hand, yes,\nsink deeper in corruption than before! The fact is, this pretended\nargument to the disadvantage of the prisoner is all a sham.\n\nThe prison, if rightly conducted, possesses certain means of reform,\nwhich can not be had outside. To illustrate: Here is a young man, who\nhas never entered a school-house, or a place of worship, but has spent\nhis time with vicious companions and in vicious habits. He falls into\nprison, where his home is a cell and silence his constant companion.\nHere he is removed from his former surroundings and opportunities for\nsinful indulgence. The loneliness and tedium of his condition soon\nbecome unendurable. He must, in some way, have relief. But no means lie\nwithin his reach except those connected with reform appliances. To these\nhe is forced, by the pressure of his nature, to resort, simply for\nself-gratification, which he can find in hearing the human voice and in\nthe connected exercises. He hears truth which he had never heard before,\nbut which is permitted to fall on his mind with its full weight. He is\nthus led to reflect, repents of his sins, and becomes really a reformed\nman, a brand plucked from the burning.\n\nThe tendency of things, then, in a properly conducted prison, _is_\nreformatory. Therefore, let ours be managed on that principle, and all\nin our State, worthy of such a place, be there assigned for the\nrequisite time, and, no doubt, one good, devoted, wide-awake man could\ndo them more good than they now receive from all the religious means and\nlabors outside put together.\n\n\"The sight of a woman is demoralizing to a prisoner.\" The reader will\nreadily understand in what respect. If this be true, what a demoralized\nclass must be our grown up, unmarried sons, our bachelors and widowers,\nwith women constantly in sight. Then how wickedly does the warden\nhimself proceed in taking certain of his men among the women to work;\nand in permitting women and girls dressed up in their finery to\nperambulate freely about the shops and buildings in sight of the men.\n\n\"But,\" it is answered, \"the men are not allowed to look at visitors.\"\nTrue, but not being allowed is one thing, and not looking is quite\nanother. If any man can make himself believe that, when a woman is\nconducted right into the presence of a prisoner, he will not obtain a\nsight of her, he possesses more credulity than falls to the common lot\nof men. The fact is, visitors about the shops are seen by the prisoners\nand thought of and talked about by them, no matter who pretends to the\ncontrary. Every one knows this, who knows anything of a prison, let him\nsay what he will. Then why select one spot, the chapel on the Sabbath,\nas a place where the sight of a woman is to be branded as a most\npolluting sin, and no objection raised to her being seen elsewhere\nalmost daily and hourly? Consistency is a jewel.\n\nIf the sight of a woman is so demoralizing to a man confined in prison,\nhow demoralized must he speedily become on leaving and meeting them\neverywhere! And what sinners prison managers in numerous other States\nhave become through admitting women to moral labors in their\ninstitutions! What egregious sinning on the part of that State which\nemploys a woman as chaplain of its prison, and she permitted to go\nfreely from cell to cell in her ministrations of mercy!\n\nIn the army, in hospitals, or whatever place men are found needy and\ndependent, true women are freely admitted as ministering angels, with no\nthought of demoralization. Yes, the world lauds the heroism and devotion\nof many of these in poetry and song.\n\nSo far as I could learn, the influence of the women in the chapel did\nnot produce the effect alleged. I inquired of some on this point, at the\ntime of their leaving, and solicited the real truth. Take the answer of\nan intelligent young man, one whom I have no doubt is sincere and\nreliable,--\"The influence on my feelings were not in a wrong direction,\nbut wholly to the contrary. I should have been ashamed of myself at\nindulging an impure thought towards that lady under whose care I was so\nlong in the Sabbath school. I rather felt humbled and filled with\ngratitude, that she should condescend to take me, a poor, wicked\nprisoner, not able to read or write, and labor so patiently and\npersistently to help me to what I now am, redeemed, I trust, and made a\ndifferent man, largely through her labors. They were her words of hope\nand assurance which first stimulated me with the idea of an earnest\neffort to rise from what I was.\"\n\nThe fact is, some men have their passions and will think, whether seeing\nany of the other sex or not; and more or less are inclined to deeds of\nwrong. But, in the opinion of our best minds, the true course to pursue\nis, to admit judicious ladies, those of character and influence, to help\nin labors of reform.\n\n\"Motives of safety required the cell clearing.\" This was the pretended\nreason, but could not have been the real one, according to the warden's\nown words. One day, in passing along the cells with company, he\nremarked, \"Gentlemen, vigilance, vigilance, is the only safety here!\nLock me in one of those cells, and I would walk out in half an hour.\nThere is no safety in this prison but in the watchfulness of the guard.\"\nThis being true, the small articles which the warden found in the cells\ncould make no difference in regard to safety, therefore, their removal\nmust have been from other motives.\n\n\n\n\n8. _Chaplain's restrictions._ These were not given at once and in\ndetail, but were learned by experience. One afternoon, the prisoners\nbeing in the shop, I took the key, as sometimes before, when needful, to\nenter the chapel by the south door, where there could have been no\npossible danger had the men been passing to their cells; having gone a\nfew steps, I heard the voice of the warden calling out,\nsternly,--\"Chaplain, here, what are you doing with that key?\" I informed\nhim, and received the reply, \"Bring that key right back. You must not\ntouch a key.\" Quietly obeying, I returned the article and never touched\nit again, thinking, \"If he will speak out to me as an irritated father\nto a vexatious boy, what can be expected for the prisoners?\" He had a\nperfect right to require me not to use the key, and I had a right to a\ngentlemanly treatment. I uttered not a word, though I could not help\nthinking. Afterwards when needing to enter the chapel, I must ask a\nguard, perhaps a mere boy, to go and unlock and lock the door for me,\nwhich seemed really ludicrous. Shortly after, I heard the warden\nspeaking of his enormous burden in the line of watchfulness,--\"I have to\nwatch not only the prisoners to keep them right, but also the workmen,\noverseers, guards, steward, physician and chaplain.\"\n\nAt another time I asked him to change the position of a class in the\nSabbath school to accommodate the singing, and received an answer not so\ninsolent in tone as before, but, with the connected circumstances,\nequally clear for me to understand that I must propose no move, make no\nsuggestion whatever about the school, leaving everything in that line to\nhim. I could open and close the school and hear also those not otherwise\nprovided for.\n\nAgain, finding a man in his cell with no lesson, he having broken his\nglasses, I passed them to the deputy to be repaired. Days passed, and no\nglasses were returned. Meeting the warden, I alluded to the matter. He\nreplied, \"Chaplain, I would have you know that when a man needs\nanything, he must speak of it to the deputy or to me. You have no\nbusiness with these things.\" To my inquiry, \"Am I to understand that\nnow, after speaking to you about the glasses, and putting them in the\ndeputy's hands, the man must speak to one of you himself, before they\ncan be returned?\" he answered, \"Certainly.\" Hence, on my next round, I\nsaid to the owner, \"Please speak to the warden or deputy about your\nglasses, and they will return them, probably, all right,\" not giving him\nthe least hint as to how matters really stood, though I could but think,\n\"Here is red-tapeism with a vengeance; not permitted to speak of\nanything in my own department.\" Waiting for a time, and thinking that\nneither law nor gospel would object to my lending him my own, this I\ndid, which he used until liberated. True, after some weeks, glasses were\nbrought him, in which, however, he could not see.\n\nThus I was effectively taught my bounds, to touch nothing about the\nprison but my books, to suggest no change any way, and to bring nothing\nto the warden, or deputy, about a prisoner, which bounds I was ever\ncareful to observe.\n\nThere was an attendant rule to this red tapeism, as I understood it,\nthat bore hard on the prisoners,--that one must ask for a thing but\nonce. Some would ask me to help them to an article, when I would say,\n\"You must go with that to the deputy, or warden.\" They replied, \"I have,\nwith the promise of it, but it does not come.\" Or, perhaps, \"I ventured\nto ask the second time, and received the stern reply, 'Don't you ever\nmention that to me, again.'\"\n\nA forlorn condition this,--the State placing her wards helplessly under\na man who is not to be reminded of a request, which had slipped his\nmind, perhaps, through the multiplicity of business. Surely, such a man\nshould be very considerate and particularly careful about attending to\nthe needs of his dependents.\n\nThe lessons taught me, the spirit manifested with all the surroundings,\ngave me to understand that I must walk in everything with the utmost\ncircumspection or be mercilessly dealt with. True, I had ever labored to\ndo all things in my prison management just as I should, ever acting with\nan eye single to the best prison order; but circumstances now evidently\ndemanded of me a double care, that my every step should not only be\nright but appear right, and no shadow of grounds for complaint be any\nway found.\n\n\n\n\n9. _Prisoners' Aid Association._ In the spring of '70, a company of\nladies and gentlemen organized under the N. H. statutes into a corporate\nbody by this title, to hold its annual meeting in the city of Concord,\nthe second Tuesday of each June, the avowed purpose being to aid the\ndischarged convicts by proper advice, and help them to places of labor\nwithout delay, where they may enjoy the needed society privileges,\nguardian care, and a general influence in favor of their best success,\npaying for them such small bills as may be necessary for this purpose.\n\nThe legislature of that season voted the Association three hundred\ndollars, to aid it in its benevolent work, I being appointed agent for\nthat purpose.\n\n\n\n\n10. _Complaint of prison hunger._ Late in the summer, a man, leaving\nprison, complained that the prison living was not as good as that of the\npast year, the rations being poorer in quality, and less in quantity;\nthat, at times, he had really so suffered with hunger that he could not\nsleep at night. I questioned him carefully, and he appeared honest in\nhis statements, still, this being the first I had heard of such\ncomplaints, I would not form an opinion from this assertion, for he\nmight be telling the story to injure the warden. But he gave this\naccount here and there in the city, so that it was circulated widely. A\nlady, as she asserts, asked the prison physician if the rations had been\nreduced, and he replied that they had to some extent.\n\nThe reader will understand, that while I had no right to converse with\nthe inmates about their food, and other like subjects, and did not while\nthey were there confined, yet, when they had been released and become\ncitizens, nothing lay in the way of my freely conversing with them on\nall matters as with others.\n\n\n\n\n11. _Chaplain's object in hearing from released prisoners and others._\nThis object was purely to learn the true working of things, and thus be\nprepared to conduct myself understandingly in all my prison duties. I\nhad served a year under a certain system, studying with care its\nworkings and effects on the men, and had now entered service under one\nthat seemed measurably different, the operations of which, also, I ought\nto comprehend. I would, therefore, listen to those who were released,\nstudy what might come to hand in this way, from personal observation in\nofficial intercourse, or from reading authors, and use whatever hints\nwere gained, to the best advantage.\n\nBut one says, \"Those fellows from prison will lie.\" Grant that. Grant\nthat here are twenty of the greatest liars in the State about to leave\nprison in course. But they have no opportunity, while there, for mutual\nconversation and planning a particular story to tell on leaving; nor do\nthey even know of having an opportunity, outside, to talk with me or any\nparticular one. They severally leave their confinement, each giving\naccount of his experience, which I put down. On looking these carefully\nover, a line of substantial agreement is found running through the\nwhole. We cut off whatever, in any, seems essentially deviating. But\nevery judge in the land will admit that that general line contains the\ntruth.\n\nThis illustrates my course of procedure, and my grounds for believing\nprisoners. Then, again, where one voluntarily, without my alluding to\nthe matter, gave me an account of a subject, part of which I knew to be\ncorrect, I had every reason to believe the remainder was correct, also.\n\n\n\n\n12. _B. and E.'s request, and the connected abuse._ These men, before\nspoken of, had become much interested in the moral and religious\ninstruction given by those lady friends, Mrs. E. and D., to whom they\nhad been introduced in the manner already pointed out. Request was\nextended to the warden that they might have the privilege of\ncorresponding, but he peremptorily refused; why, none could conceive,\nthough some would contend that the reason must be found in the\nvindictive, for the correspondence was to go through the usual channel\nand be open to his own inspection, that, had anything objectionable\nappeared, he could have suppressed it, or stopped the whole\ncorrespondence. Those ladies were capable of writing excellent letters,\nletters by which any right-minded man would be benefited, the warden\nhimself being judge. I have no doubt that should he meet some of their\nproductions, unaware of their authorship, he would pronounce them of a\nsuperior character, and say that \"the more of such writings the\nprisoners can have to read, the better.\" The men did not ask for a\npersonal interview with those ladies, but simply their words; words\nwhich would stimulate them to higher aims, and enable them the better to\nendure the trials of prison life. The warden possessed the right, if he\nchose to exercise it, to interdict this correspondence wholly. But I\nprotest that he had no right to defame those ladies, villify their\ncharacter, and speak of them to those men, and to prison visitors from\nwhatever part of the country, as \"those mean women,\" \"those base women,\"\n\"those low women.\"\n\nAs before stated, they were ladies with the best of characters,--earnest\nChristian workers, invited to the interviews by the mother and warden,\nand always having them in the presence of the latter. These visits were\nfor a most praiseworthy purpose. If it is ever right for a high-minded,\nupright, Christian lady to call on the fallen for the purpose of helping\nthem rise from their degraded state, those ladies are to be commended\nfor the efforts they made in behalf of those prisoners.\n\nBut these men were forced to suffer no little abuse in relation to those\nvisits,--not by fellow prisoners, understand. They were taunted in the\nmost vulgar, low, indecent language. One day it went so far with one,\nthat he became aroused beyond endurance, and replied, \"You know that is\na ---- ---- lie,\" filling the blanks with two most profane words as\nqualifying \"lie.\" On my next round he told me his trouble, what he had\nsaid, how he was being assailed, and that he probably must relinquish\nall idea of being any better. I replied, \"Don't you understand what all\nthis is for? It is the work of Satan, for your destruction. They would\nexcite you to anger and turn you to your old life of profanity and\nwickedness; if possible, sink you as low as ever. You have but one\ncourse to pursue, and that is, to pay no attention to them. Let them say\nwhat they may, give it no more notice than the idle wind. Be sure and\nnot suffer yourself to become irritated, or say a word in return, and\nthey will probably leave you. But if not, endure it patiently, and pray\nGod to forgive what you have done amiss and keep you in the future.\" In\nfollowing this course, he succeeded better.\n\n\n\n\n13. _Alleged prison conspiracy._ The next one who left made no complaint\nof the living, he had been sick and received all the food he desired,\nbut he asserted that trouble was brewing at the prison; that they were\nplanning to kill the warden. I made light of the idea as something of\nhis own conjuring up, that the prisoners would not undertake such a\nmatter. Finally he said, \"Mark my words, Chaplain, there will be blood\nshed over there within a month.\" This man was a singular genius, and I\nthought he might wish to start such a story to nettle the warden.\nBesides, they were as vigilant as possible at the prison, and the\ninmates would find them alert, should they attempt to rise. From all\nconsiderations, I thought it not worth while to speak of the case to\nany. Still, it would do no harm to prepare and deliver a discourse from\nthe text, \"Vengeance is mine and I will repay, saith the Lord,\"\ndesigning to show the impolicy of attempting to take vengeance into\none's own hands, and that vengeance should be left for God to\nrepay.--The discourse was given, and things passed on as usual, no\nsigns of an outbreak appearing, and I finally gave the matter up as one\nof the man's imaginings.\n\nBut, the next spring, one of the prisoners, when leaving, alluded to a\ncombination of a number, the year previous, and said considerable\npreparation for the work had been made, but after hearing that Sabbath's\ndiscourse, so many abandoned the project that the leaders had to\nrelinquish their effort. This was repeated in substance by another.\nHence, after all, it appeared that what the first man said may have been\ntrue, and that, possibly, my poor labors may have been of service to the\nwarden, perhaps saved his life. Certainly, I did what I could.\n\n\n\n\n14. _National Prison Reform Congress._ In October this body assembled\nfor deliberation at Cincinnati, O., it being the first gathering of the\nkind. Delegates were present from a large number of the United States,\nalso from the British Provinces and South America, but I was the only\none from New Hampshire. The great, central ideas pervading the body were\nthe finding of the best method of prison management and how to introduce\nthis to general and uniform use. All the subjects so earnestly grappled\nthere, would hinge around these. The field was somewhat widely examined\nand much discussion awakened,--discussion earnest, though courteous. The\nreligious element largely predominated, and great harmony prevailed.\nTrue, an atheist attempted to throw in a firebrand by making a cat's paw\nof the Jew, but wholly failed, not exciting a single remark in reply. A\nU. S. judge was present, several State judges, a number of governors and\nex-governors, lawyers, clergymen, philanthropists in private life and\nprison officials, showing that the move had taken strong hold of that\nclass, especially, which will push it forward.\n\nThose prison officers present who had ever persisted in the knock-down\nargument of former generations, were moved forward many years. I thought\nof N. H., and wished that some of her fossils could have been present\nand become vitalized. What a blessing it would be to the State!\n\nThe points considered and settled, so far as that body could settle\nthem, were drawn up in thirty-seven articles for general distribution.\nOne set forth reform as the paramount object of imprisoning, another,\nthat kindness and humane treatment should prevail in all prison\nmanagement. But the reader would be well repaid by sending for the\n\"Transactions\" of the body, a work of some seven hundred pages, and\ncarefully perusing it. It will cost three dollars, and is to be had of\nRev. E. C. Wines, D. D., No. 48 Bible House, N. Y.\n\nThe convention was not only pleasant in itself, but also in its\nsurroundings. The city extended it a welcome through an excellent\naddress by the Mayor, inviting the body to a dinner and visit to its\npublic institutions and places of interest, and furnishing coaches to\nconvey the members. It also provided a convenient hall for the sittings.\nA number of the city societies also invited us to their gatherings.\n\nThis Congress arranged for its perpetuity by becoming an incorporate\nbody in some State and holding its sessions biennially. This has been\nconsummated by obtaining a charter in the State, of New York,\nEx-Governor Seymour being President, and Rev. E. C. Wines, Cor.\nSecretary. It also took incipient steps for an international congress to\nbe held in London, England, choosing Dr. Wines also as Commissioner to\ncarry the proposal into effect.\n\n\n\n\n15. _Money-making and punishing, the paramount objects in our prison\nmanagement._ For a time, I had been at a loss about the real objects of\nthe present manner of conducting prison affairs, but it had become\nevident that money-making and punishing were those objects. To the\nformer the prison agent and warden seemed bending their united energies\nas best they could. They would make a better exhibit of gains than ever\nbefore, a great compliment to the one as a financier and to the other as\na prison manager. To this end, they would bend their efforts in\npurchasing and disbursing, having, to appearance, left all moral\nconsiderations out of the question. I was informed that the warden said,\n\"I will clear five thousand for the State this year, if I have to use up\nevery man in doing it.\"\n\nThen punishment was to go hand and hand with this gain making, as the\nwarden was reported as saying to the prisoners, \"I mean to use you so\nthat you will not wish to come back,\" meaning, of course, usage beyond\nwhat the law and courts contemplate.\n\n\n\n\n16. _Waste paper in the cells._ The warden's clearing the cells of this\nhas been spoken of and a connected point, I could not comprehend. In the\ncourse of months, all became clear. The fly leaves of the library books,\nand some of the other leaves, were gone, which told the story.\n\nHad it been the season previous, I should have detected the matter\nsooner and stopped it, but now I could not. Then, when the general\nrepairs were made to the library, I found that many of the books had\nbeen lost, to avoid which, in the future, I adopted a new method here,\nof charging every book let out and crediting its return. But this\nrequired no little increase of labor, in consideration of which, the\nformer warden furnished me an assistant in the book charging and book\ninspection. On two Saturdays after the new warden came in, I asked for\nthe usual assistance, but, from what passed, I found it best to ask no\nmore for aid, and decided to do the work myself as best I could,\ncontinuing the account keeping, however, though with no possibility of\nthe former inspection.\n\nI supposed the warden desired me to curtail the book changing, for,\npassing the table one day, loaded with books ready for the hall, he\nsaid, \"Why, chaplain, the men don't need all those books.\" My reply was,\n\"They called for them all.\" \"Well,\" said he, \"they can not read them;\"\nmeaning, as I took it, that I should not furnish so many. But I was\nparticular to give out all called for, a more generous supply, it is\ntrue, than formerly, for the purpose of keeping the men engaged and\nquiet under his peculiar management.\n\n\n\n\n17. _Defective beds and bedding._ Those iron cross bars to the bedsteads\ncut the straw, hence the former warden made it a point to refill the\nbeds once a quarter, but the latter filled them perhaps once in six\nmonths. Indeed, some would be neglected till nothing could be found in\nthe bed-tick but a mass of chaff-like substance to which the straw had\nbeen reduced, thus leaving the occupant with little besides the bare\nslats on which to sleep. Men would at times complain that, from that\ncause, they could obtain but little rest at night, and were in the\nmorning so sore and stiff that, for a time, it would be difficult for\nthem to move.\n\nDuring the fall they did not attend to the needed general mending and\nrefitting of the old comfortables and bedspreads, though some were\nragged and filthy, or worn so thin as to be but little better than so\nmany strainers. The cells on the lower floor were exceptions. But few of\nthese were used. All the beds were kept well filled; having good\nspreads, sheets and pillow cases. They made a few comfortables for these\nunused beds, and indeed all these cells were kept in good order, nicely\ndusted, &c., and the doors were set open by day for visitors to admire.\nHence, I would hear them crying out, \"How nice you keep things here!\nWhat comfortable beds! How neat!\" I would think within,--not aloud, for\nthat would not do,--\"O that you could look into those higher up. You\nmight cry out, 'Pig's nests!'\" These new comfortables were made only\ntwo-thirds the usual width, answering well for an unused bed. Still I\ndid occasionally see one on a bed in use.\n\nAs I was informed, a gentleman from outside had a view of those upper\ncells, the warden saying, in excuse for their condition, that he put the\nmore slovenly in them, those who would not keep their cells in order.\nBut the real truth of that matter is, some of the neatest men occupied\nthose higher cells intermingled with those not so neat, the men being\nlocated as to their cells according to their position at work in the\nshop.\n\nThe sheets were so scarce as not to afford a full change for washing,\nrequiring some to use dirty sheets, for a time, from another's bed,\nthough less dirty than their own.\n\nThe former warden had been aiming to have, so far as could be, two suits\nto a man, a common, every day suit, and one better for Sabbaths, &c., it\nbeing thought that this would tend to refine and elevate the prisoners.\nHence, he left them with a generous supply, well fitted up. But it would\nneed more or less renewing and refitting in the fall, which it did not\nreceive, but was made to answer by patching. Hence, patched and ragged\nclothes would be of no uncommon occurrence, as all became thin from long\nwear, the under-clothing, especially, much needing repairs and renewing.\n\nThe main seamstress left the next April, and told me that after this\nwarden came in, up to that time, they had made one new suit and one\nother jacket, the new suit for the Newmarket murderer, who was too large\nfor any they had on hand.\n\n\n\n\n18. _Cracked wheat dinner._ In the fall, there was much complaint among\nthe prisoners that their Monday dinner, which they formerly prized as\nthe best in the week, had been changed to a dish that few liked and many\ncould not eat. It was boiled cracked wheat with a little meat chopped\nin, no sauce or other relish upon it. I mentioned the case to the\ndoctor, who said, \"They purchased a quantity of potatoes, half a peck of\nwhich I took to my house and cooked, finding only one or two, among the\nwhole, fit to put into the human stomach. Hence, I looked over my army\ndietary, found the cracked wheat answered a good purpose, and proposed\nit here.\" The potatoes were watery.\n\nMy attention had now been so loudly called to the prison living by the\ncomplaints of those liberated, that I determined to observe for myself,\nso far as opportunity might offer, keeping my own counsel in this as in\nall other matters, that I might be the better prepared to judge of the\ntruthfulness of their stories. Notwithstanding the cracked wheat, those\npotatoes were set before them. If not at this meal, they were at others,\nbut largely returned untouched. The substituted dish would also be\nregularly returned by a large number. But why purchase these potatoes\n\"not fit to be put into the human stomach\"? True, many such were in the\nmarket, but there were good ones, too, though costing more money.\nFamilies in the city found no difficulty about obtaining a good article.\nThese, of course, came at a low figure, favoring here, as did everything\nelse, this money-making idea.\n\n\n\n\n19. _Bad fish, &c._ In the fall, the agent informed me, he had made for\nthe state what he considered a great bargain, in the purchase of between\none and two tons of fish. He said, \"I found this in the hands of a man\nwho had attempted to prepare it after a certain patent, but had, some\nway, missed his point and could not sell it. Had he succeeded, it would\nhave brought thirteen cents a pound. He offered it to me for three. I\ntook some to the prison, and they said that they could use it, hence, I\npurchased the whole.\" He further remarked, that the article was covered\nwith a reddish mold. This, I was informed, is a sign of decay in fish.\nHe also alluded to the great reduction in price he obtained on his\nprison supply of molasses.--It should be understood that this is used at\nall times in prison, on bread, as a substitute for butter.\n\nAfter this, those leaving prison had these additional grounds for\ncomplaint. They complained, also, that the tobacco was very bad in\nquality and scant in quantity, the very cheapest article. One said that\nthe scent of the fish carried into his cell at noon, would not be gone\non his return at night. A woman, a waiter on the prison family table at\nthe time of the purchase of the fish, informed me of its ordeal there.\nNothing having been said to call her attention that way, but of her own\naccord, she said, \"They bought a lot of bad fish at the prison, and the\nwarden would have some prepared for the family table. He ate of it\nhimself, pronounced it good, and wished the deputy, guards and overseers\nto eat of it also; but they would not, though he offered one a dollar,\nif he would.\" Now, as this woman's story was true as to the purchasing\nof the article and its quality, we have every reason to suppose it true\nin other respects. One said of the cracked wheat, that he could not\nforce it down; it would made him sick; that others about him were\nsimilarly effected in their attempts to eat of the article.\n\n\n\n\n20. _Prison suffering from cold during the winter of '70 & '71._ From\nthe character of the food and clothing, the one not fitted to generate\nthe needed supply of warmth within, nor the other to give the requisite\nprotection without, the men, to pass the rigors of winter, especially\nsuch as that of '70 and '71, without suffering, would need an unusually\ngenerous supply of artificial heat in the hall and shop. But instead of\nthat, they were forced to experience the biting reality of a cutting off\nhere, too, the place being too important for money-saving not to be\nused. True, it would cost something, but the custom had been to keep\nthe hall comfortable through cold weather. Early in the morning they\nwould let the steam into the shop and have that warm when the men were\nready to commence their work, and keep it so during the day. But a\ndifferent policy had now been adopted.\n\nThe present fall had nearly passed and no steam had been admitted into\nthese apartments at all, the cook-room and reception-room drawing from\nthe waste steam and engine boilers. People outside had long been using\nfires constantly and freely. At length, a remark of the warden to\ncompany, revealed the theory he was pretending then to act upon. The\ntemperature, at the time, was low in the hall, and some excuse evidently\nappeared to be needful. The remark was this: \"I have not let the heat\ninto this hall yet, for I think it best to do with that as people ought\nto do with regard to under-clothing, keep it off as late as possible in\nthe fall, and it will do them more good in winter. And, besides, these\nstones were so heated up last summer, that they have not become fully\ncooled yet.\" \"What a happy thing for the men, when shivering here, as\nthey do with the cold, could they find some of that stored up heat,\"\nthought I. But they could not, and hence were called to experience a\nsevere foretaste of what lay before them in still colder weather.\n\nBut at length the hall boiler was set to work, bringing warmth and\ngladness to the men. And how cheerful and thankful they appeared! It was\nreally a comfort to witness their relief, as I went about my labors.\nThis, however, was only for a few days, for a great drain was being made\nupon the wood-pile, incurring too large a draft upon the prison gains to\nbe endured. The boiler was stopped, to be run no more for the winter,\ndependence for heat here, in the future, to be had upon the steam, waste\nor otherwise, from the shop boilers, and even that but sparingly.\n\nThe custom adopted was to let the steam into the hall pipes just before\nthe men were to enter from work, could it be spared from the cook room,\nsometimes perhaps ten or fifteen minutes, and then turned off early in\nthe evening. That, of course, could do but little good, and hence a\nreally keen atmosphere would at times be felt in the hall, causing much\nsuffering there. How great the contrast to that of the office, which was\nso warm that the occupants would be at work with coats off; or the\nreception room, where I would perspire in labor upon my books, and enter\nthe hall to find it much like going directly out of doors. Twice I thus\ntook severe colds, after which I usually wore an overcoat to this\napartment during the severe weather.\n\nWhen those keen nights came on, some of the men would beg of me most\npitiably for more bed-clothing, asserting that they were suffering\nalive, it sometimes seeming as though they must perish. I could only\ndirect them to the warden or deputy for this. One said, \"I have asked\nthe warden, who replied, 'You have more clothes on your bed now than you\never had at home,' and passed on.\" This man had one of those\nstrainer-like spreads and another somewhat thicker, doing well enough\nfor early fall, but not a suitable protection in such weather. Another\nsaid, \"Suffering so with cold that sleep is out of the question, I\narise, dress, wrap about me what bedding I have, and walk my cell for\nthe night, in that way keeping as much as possible from suffering.\"\n\nThe first evening after hearing these earnest pleadings, I met the\nsteward and asked if he could not furnish these men with more clothing,\nwith the answer, \"The fact is, these fellows are down on the warden and\ndetermined to keep asking for something.\" To which I replied, \"They very\nmuch need more clothing, and must greatly suffer without it.\" He\nanswered, \"Oh, our soldiers in the army suffered a great deal more than\nthese fellows do, and you thought nothing of that. The fact is, you have\ntoo much feeling for these men.\" I left, with the remark, \"I think we\nought to have some humanity about us.\"\n\nThus was the attempt made to plaster over this outrageous cruelty by\nalluding to events which could not, in the very nature of things, be\navoided. I say outrageous, for there was bedding enough on those unused\nbeds, such as it was, to have done something towards relieving this\nsuffering, but they would not permit them to have that. Then New\nHampshire possessed wood and water enough to keep that room comfortable.\nIf the boiler needed repairs, workmen for doing that were at hand; or,\nif it needed renewing, that could have been easily accomplished. Or they\nmight have set large coal stoves at work.\n\nBut all did not thus lack for bedding. Some, by oversight or favoritism,\nhad a surplus, using comfortables as a substitute for straw. A man thus\nsupplied sent one of his extra number to the relief of another, as this\nsufferer subsequently informed me.\n\nOn those cold Sabbaths, the men would wrap their bed clothing about\nthem, sit reclining on their beds, and read. The warden would not allow\nthe shop to be warmed at all. Those cold mornings and those cold days it\nwas excessively severe. The overseers had to bundle up with extra\nclothing to prevent suffering. One day the men had become too much\nbenumbed to work and the foreman stopped the machinery, let the steam\ninto the shop, thawed them out, and then went on again.\n\nHaving heard the warden say that the water in their reservoir was low,\ncausing him fears of its failing, and meeting the governor, to his\ninquiry about our prison affairs, I alluded to the coldness there and\nthe warden's remark, and received the reply, \"Why, it won't do to let\nthe men suffer with the cold. If need be, he must haul water from the\nriver,\" and he sent the warden a letter to that import. But no water was\nhauled, and no amelioration had from the cold till, at length, when the\nseverest weather had nearly passed, one of the council visited the\nprison and ordered a coal stove to be placed in a part of the hall,\nwhich gave a measure of alleviation. Still the men continued to suffer\nmore or less till the change of weather brought the desired relief. They\nwill ever look back to that as a suffering winter.\n\nThe women probably suffered less from the cold than the men. Still, they\nwere put on short allowance and were obliged to carry their wood up\nthose two flights of stairs, taking it from quite a distance out of\ndoors, some of it being very large. One of those cold Sabbaths, entering\ntheir room for meeting, I found it so cold as to endanger my health,\nand, not then knowing the restrictions, I attempted to kindle the fire,\nbut found only a few coals in the stove and one large stick in the box,\nwhich I placed with the coals, but with little effect. We had short\nexercises, and I left them to endure this temperature as best they\ncould.\n\nThe women would watch the warden and steal a little extra, when he\nstepped out of sight, thus occasionally enjoying the genial warmth; if\ndetected, however, to receive a gratuitous lecture. Finding, at length,\nthat this extra labor was preying sadly upon their health, and having\nrepeatedly importuned the warden for relief in vain, they turned to his\nwife, who informed him of the real effects being produced, with the\nassurance that the continuance of this drudgery would shortly bring the\nsufferers upon beds of sickness, requiring him to hire outside help, to\ncare for them and perform the tasks in which they had failed. This\ngained the victory, but not till great injury had been done to the\nvictims, the strongest, on whom the burden of carrying the largest had\nfallen, having thus laid the foundation for weeks of severe sickness and\nleaving prison an invalid, though previously a robust, healthy woman.\n\n\n\n\n21. _Lighting the hall._ The candles having been banished from the\ncells, the gas was set at work when evening arrived. But at length the\nmen began to complain of the great strain upon their eyes, and finally\nof failing sight. Advising them to lay aside reading and study till\nrelief could be had, I reported the matter to the doctor, and, I think,\nto the governor. Not seeing any remedial move, however, I resorted to\nthe dollar and cent consideration, and, on investigating, found that,\nwhile they were paying $50 per month for that poor light, I could light\nthe cells with candles, three a week to a cell, probably for fourteen\ndollars. I offered to obligate myself to do it for twenty, and receive\nonly the actual cost whatever it might be below; also to see that no\nadditional trouble came from the melting of the tallow. This argument\nprevailed, and the warden was ordered to furnish the candles, though he\nallowed only two a week to a cell. Some of the men were amused and some\nprovoked at the manner of his announcing the change: \"I have concluded\nto furnish you with candles, for your good, and hope you will use them\nas such;\" for, it seems, they knew by what means the relief had come,\nthough how I never understood.\n\n\n\n\n22. _The aid of the Association to released prisoners, and warden's\ncourse._ The Association proved itself as advantageous to the discharged\nprisoners as the most ardent laborer for its establishment had hoped. An\nunusually large number left prison the present year, forty-two. In warm\nweather many would not require pecuniary aid, while others would. Thus,\none required cooper's tools to the amount of six and one-half dollars;\nanother, a railroad pass to Ohio, for twelve dollars; a third, a pass to\nWisconsin, at thirty-one dollars; a fourth, carpenter's tools at six\ndollars; then smaller sums, here and there.\n\nThe Wisconsin man left prison sick, and must have been a public charge\nhere, while his friends would give him a home, if with them, though\nunable to pay his fare thither.\n\nThe Association had not arranged for furnishing the men with clothing,\nsupposing the State would properly attend to that, as previously,\nthrough her warden. But as the winter now approached, the society found\nitself driven to the necessity of helping in this, too, by the fact that\nthe present warden would furnish the men with only the same outfit as in\nsummer, the under-clothes they might happen to have on at the time,\nadded. And, in making out this summer suit, he would construe the letter\nof the law in the superlative degree, which says, \"A suit of cheap\nclothing,\"--he obtaining the cheapest, the most miserably poor. To\nillustrate, a man left prison in one of those suits, and, before walking\na mile, was obliged to call and borrow sewing implements to repair them.\nThe day after, another left, and had worn the shirt furnished him about\none day, when, taking him to a shop for the purpose of trying on a\ncoat, I found that one sleeve of the shirt had wholly parted from the\nbody, and the other about half. Another man had worn his pants less than\ntwelve hours when they needed mending.\n\nI went to the shop-keeper and lectured him for such dealing, to which he\nreplied, \"I have to be governed by the price the warden will pay. He\nwill not pay for anything better. If he would, I should furnish a better\narticle, and prefer that to this method.\"\n\nAt almost every turn I was met with this money-making system. Well, this\ncould be endured in warm, balmy weather, though truly annoying to the\npoor fellows; but in the full rigors of the winter of '70 and '71, it\nwas cruel, to say the least.\n\nLet us take a few specimens of this practice. In nearly the severest\nweather of that winter, a man came to me from the prison to be sent\nhome, some two hundred miles beyond Bangor, Me. As I looked at him I was\nperfectly astonished that we had a man among us who would think, for a\nmoment, of sending away a dependent, human being, and sickly, too, in\nsuch a plight; a rather thin coat, vest and pants that might last him\ntwo or three days; no collar, cravat, mittens, overcoat, or boots, but\nbrogans, and those not mates, one of which so pinched his foot that he\nwas forced to remove it shortly after coming in. His person and clothes\nwere filthy indeed, not having seen water for weeks. I could but\nexclaim, \"What a condition! The law says, 'a suit of cheap clothing\nsuited to the season,' and this is such a suit!\"\n\nIn addition to all this, as the man asserted, the warden asked him, on\npassing out, \"How long do you think it will be before you will contrive\nto get back here again?\" Was not that cool? He himself robbing the\nfallen one of his just due, a suit of comfortable clothing fitted to\nthe season, and turning him away under those circumstances which would\nalmost of necessity force him to steal to avoid perishing, and then\ntaunt him with such a question?\n\nAs yet, our Association had not practiced clothing the men, and of\ncourse the warden had no reason to suppose we should.\n\nKeeping my feelings under calm subjection, I went to the prison and\nasked him if he did not purpose to furnish the man with boots, overcoat,\n&c., to which he responded in his short, pompous way, \"No; when I was\ndeputy here, the men were sent out in just what they happened to have on\nat the time.\" After talking till evidently of no further avail, I\nremarked, \"I am a native of New Hampshire, and have some regard for the\nhonor of my State, and I will never disgrace it by sending a man to\nMaine in such a plight as you propose. I shall fix him up.\" To which he\nanswered, \"I would not carry the matter too far.\" Well, I did not carry\nthe matter too far, but took the man to the store, shivering by the way,\nand purchased for him the needed articles, cheap but good,--boots $5.00,\novercoat $6.50, and so on,--and returned home with him, where he cast\noff his \"filthy rags,\" took a warm bath, donned his new under-clothes\nand came out feeling like a different man, though feeble. He took a bad\ncold that day by being out in his thin apparel, and passed a hard night,\nleading us to fear that he would have a fever. But his anxiety helped\nhim the next morning, when he set off, the railroad men giving him a\nfree pass, thus showing that humanity was not all dead in this region.\n\nSoon another was released in a somewhat worse condition, as to clothing,\nthan the above, though with better health. His drawers had one leg\nwholly minus, the other coming down nearly to the knee, what pretended\nto remain being in tatters.\n\nTwo from western Maine were pardoned one evening and went away early the\nnext morning in the suit given by the warden, without my knowledge. The\nsevere weather must have caused them no little suffering, especially as\nthey must end their journey by a long walk through a deep snow, with\ntheir brogans, and one of them was a sickly man.\n\nAnother, liberated without my knowledge, started on foot for Providence,\nR. I., to follow the railroad track. Learning the fact in a few moments,\nI hastened after him, but to no avail. I heard that his outfit was\nsimilar to those above described. I should have clothed him comfortably\nand furnished a pass by rail, had I overtaken him.\n\nThe warden now maintained that he had no concern with the men after\nleaving prison, and usually took no pains to inform me of their\ndeparture; hence, if I did not keep a close watch myself, more or less\nwould leave without my knowledge. My practice usually was to obtain a\nlist each month, from the deputy, of those who would leave during the\nfour following weeks.\n\nThe reader will see that I had a good opportunity of knowing the state\nof the men's under-clothing, from those thus leaving; and further, I\nwould find more or less mending their clothes on the Sabbath. One day a\nman was at work on his pants, which had become perfectly indecent to\nwear. On a week day, finding a man in bed in his cell, I inquired if he\nwas sick, to which he replied, \"No, I am having my pants mended.\"\nAnother man brought out the shoes he had been accustomed to wear in\nprison. No, he could not do that; but they came out; how, I never knew,\nand he brought them to me. It would be difficult to tell which most\nabounded, holes or leather. I knew they were his, for I had often seen\nthem on his feet in the prison; though they appeared much worse on a\nnear inspection than at a distance.\n\nAn aged prisoner, whose feet were large and lame, wore his shoes sandal\nfashion, tying them on with such strings as he could find. When I would\nask him how he did, he usually replied, \"Oh, lame and suffering terribly\nwith my feet.\" Having nothing but his stockings to protect them from the\ncold, this must have been severe in winter, though, when in the shop,\nhis fellow prisoners would heat bits of plank and pass to him, on which\nhe could stand and thus be relieved in a measure. I asked him if he\ncould not wear his shoes in the usual way, to which he said, \"No, they\nare too small. Had I very large ones I could. I have asked for such, but\nthey will not obtain me any.\" The requisite shoes must have been made\npurposely for the convict, large and of very soft leather, costing, no\ndoubt, more than ordinary shoes. But they would have brought great\nrelief to an old, suffering man.\n\nBut our Prison Aid Association, notwithstanding its efforts for good,\nmet those who opposed it. Hence, one told me that the concern was\norganized for the purpose of running an opposition to the prison, all I\ncould say to which was, \"If helping the men, as above described, be\nrunning an opposition to the prison, it was organized for that very\npurpose; otherwise, not.\" But the man was, no doubt, nettled that the\nprisoners were looked after on leaving prison, and not permitted to go\nas the warden provided.\n\nSome, again, pretended that the influence of the Association was in\nfavor of having the prisoners remain in and about Concord. This was the\nvery thing we labored against, or one of them, at least. The Agent, and\nevery active member, invariably used their influence in favor of their\ngoing to other places, and especially to keep them away from their old\nhaunts and associations. I knew, however, that there were influences\nused here, and among prison officers, too, to keep men in the city.\nSome, for whom I had provided good places away, were tampered with and\nthus influenced to remain.\n\n\n\n\n23. _Lecturing for the Prison Aid Association._ To widen the influence\nof this body and become personally acquainted with places where we could\nsend our men for suitable employment and care, the idea was conceived of\ngiving occasional lectures, in favorable localities within the State, on\nthe interests in question. For this purpose, I went out four times\nduring the winter. Besides treating upon the objects and needs of the\nAssociation, I alluded to some of the prison matters, such as the\nproposition in the governor's then late message for the management of\nthe institution to be put under a permanent Board, the responsibility of\nwhich the legislature largely shirked, by turning the whole matter into\nthe hands of the governor and council;--for reasons given, the very\nplace where it should not be;--expressed the hope that the next\nlegislature would do its full duty upon the matter; referred also to the\nmuch needed repairs just made, and hoped they would be carried still\nfurther, improving the manner of lighting the prison by having a small\ngas jet at each cell, also provide a library room, &c.; but of course I\nwholly avoided alluding to the internal management of matters at the\ninstitution. My attention was called particularly to this point,\nhowever, in one place, by the question being publicly asked by a\ngentleman, \"How are the prisoners treated there?\" in reference to which\nI begged the gentleman to excuse me from answering his question, as I\nwished to keep the mind on other points. That was true, but it was not\nthe whole of the truth. The question itself was not a proper one to\nanswer then in that place. Could I have conscientiously said, \"Well,\" it\nwould have been done in a moment and been all right, but that I could\nnot do, and besides, I hoped that our rulers would soon get their eyes\nopened, or the next legislature put things on a proper basis and matters\npass off without having anything publicly said. Indeed, I knew but\nlittle then of the prison workings in comparison with what I afterwards\nlearned.\n\n\n\n\n24. _Prison correspondence under the new rule._ The former warden had\nsolicited me to assist in the correspondence, and I would write for a\nprisoner occasionally, but pass it to the warden for his examination,\ntill he said, \"You need not pass them to me, send them yourself. You\nknow what to write just as well as I do.\" Hence, I sent a very few in\nthe course of a year without his examination. The reader will understand\nthat all letters, to and from a prisoner, must be thoroughly examined,\nthat nothing prohibited may pass. They are allowed to speak of personal\nfamily matters, but nothing of general, secular affairs. The prisoner\nwould not be permitted, of course, to express any dissatisfaction at\nprison fare or treatment.\n\nThe new warden put the entire matter of correspondence into the hands of\nhis deputy, without asking me to do anything about it. Hence, when\nsubsequently solicited to pass a letter as before, I would answer, \"I\nhave no right to do that, and can not. You must pass your letter to the\ndeputy.\" On one occasion, being rather hard pressed to step over the\nbounds and pass a line, with the assurance it should never be known,\n&c., &c., I gave the decided negative, adding, \"It makes no difference\nwhether known or unknown, the step will be violating the prison rule and\nmy purpose is so to proceed that at all times and under all\ncircumstances, I can say with a clear conscience, I have duly observed\nevery rule.\" This ended all attempts to influence me in that direction.\n\nStill, I supposed it proper and nothing inconsistent with good prison\norder, for me to speak of a prisoner's health and success to a friend\nwhom I met outside and to the prisoner of having met the friend and of\npersonal family concerns; or to encourage the prisoners to write to\ntheir friends, if thus requested by letter; or to write to friends\nmyself, by request of the prisoners. I did something in this line a very\nfew times, perhaps not a half dozen in all.\n\nMeeting a sister of a prisoner out of the city, one day, I answered her\nearnest inquiries about his health, and his reform efforts, carrying\nback to him also a word about her health and a request that he write and\nsend to the new place to which she was about to locate.\n\nA man had a petition before the governor and council for pardon. As\nagent for our Association, I inquired of him if he had friends to whom\nhe could go, if successful, or what arrangement he would need made for\nhim. He answered that he left friends in England, years before, knew not\nwhether then living or dead, but he would like to return to them if\nliving. Writing as he directed, I soon received a reply stating that\nsome were living, and some were gone, and the earnest desire that he\nreturn home at once to see his father alive, of which I informed him,\nand on account of which his pardon was soon granted, and he left.\n\nFinding a man, who had been here a number of months, in a gloomy and\ndespairing state because friends had not written him since being here,\nthus giving him reason to feel that they had cast him off, in which case\nhe could not think of living, I wrote to these friends, urging them to\nwhat they ought to have performed before. Soon he addressed me, when\npassing, with a tone of cheer unknown in him since entering prison:\n\"Chaplain, my folks have not cast me off. I have received a good letter\nfrom them. They will stand by me, which makes me feel a thousand dollars\nbetter.\" Nor has he learned how his friends were stirred to write.\n\nThus, in a few cases, I acted in this direction and that for the purpose\nof removing anxiety without and securing cheer and quietness within,\nthough making no allusions to the one about prison managing or to the\nother of secular affairs.\n\n\n\n\n24 1-2. _Chaplain under a system of espionage._ The former warden had\nbeen accustomed to keep his eyes upon the officers, as well as upon the\nmen, to know that everything was moving orderly. The new incumbent took\nthe same course, the correct one so far as that was concerned, in order\nto keep all matters in the prison perfectly straight. Nor did it lay me\nunder any restraint, as I wished to do right, for the place, in\neverything, even though no eye might be upon me. My only anxiety in the\ncourse would be that I might so walk as to have my steps appear as they\nreally were. Hence, my conduct there was constantly as though under the\nstrictest inspection. And, of course, under these circumstances, I would\ndo nothing but what I supposed to be correct, even if otherwise\ninclined.\n\nThus, having passed a number of months with our new warden, a prisoner\nsaid, one day, as I approached his cell, \"Be careful, Chaplain; they are\nwatching you to see if they can't find some cause for turning you out.\"\nAsking no questions, I passed on, not knowing what he meant. But it\nstarted a new idea. \"Am I under a system of especial surveillance?\" I\nthen recollected having seen the guards frequently about where I would\nbe hearing lessons, though I had not noticed but that they were looking\nafter the men. By giving attention now, however, it was plain to see\nthat they were listening to what I said.\n\nAt length an overseer left the prison, and, on leaving, unfolded to me\nthe whole matter,--that they were set by the warden to watch my actions,\nnote with whom I conversed, hear what was said, put it down, and report\nto him. He said, \"I was set evenings to watch you from the guard-room,\nthrough the spy-hole, but never found anything to report.\"\n\nLearning this, I could but exclaim, \"Consistency indeed! The warden can\nfurnish men enough for a system of espionage over me in the hall, when\ntoiling under such disadvantages and fatigues to help the convicts in\ntheir efforts for knowledge, but will not spare even one to guard in the\nchapel, where I could teach with comparative freedom from all these\ndrawbacks.\"\n\nUsually, in this cell instruction, we spoke very low, just to hear each\nother and thus not disturb those in near cells, or interfere with the\nrule about stillness in the apartment; but, after this discovery, when\nseeing the guards hanging about, I would purposely speak loud enough for\nthem to hear, and also when the warden himself would be listening to my\nSabbath school instruction. And they had the privilege of hearing as\ngood, wholesome truths as I was capable of bringing out.\n\n\n\n\n25. _The chaplain's pacific efforts severely taxed._ We are beings of\nwant, and if locked in a cell unable to provide for ourselves, it is\nwonderful to think how many things we should need to have furnished by\nothers, or suffer. True, we can curtail our wants to a number very much\nfewer than artificial life would claim, but, when coming to the\nindispensables, they are not a few. Hence, prisoners, under the kindest\ntreatment and well-furnished with food, clothing, warmth, and all that\nnature would seem to crave, will need to call more or less frequently\nfor attentions, or find themselves lacking not a little. But under the\nsaving system of this year, calls from the cells must multiply, and, if\nunheeded, give occasion for uneasiness, angry feelings and disorder.\nHence, under such circumstances, the chaplain would naturally be called\ninto the most active service. For, if we can not offer a man food enough\nto satisfy the cravings of his appetite, the next thing is to reconcile\nhis mind to going without, or so engross his thoughts, that he shall not\nso keenly feel the gnawings of hunger. Or, if one is cold, and we can\nnot bring the means of warmth, by presenting a satisfactory excuse or\ninteresting the intellect, we may do him essential service in helping\nhim calmly endure what he otherwise could not.\n\nPrecisely on these principles I acted, and engrossed the prisoner's\nattention as earnestly and interestingly as possible, always, when\npracticable, taking special pains to immediately furnish the thing\ncalled for; or to excuse, when I could; or turn one's sufferings to as\nprofitable a lesson as could be, to him. Hence, when the cold was\nreigning almost unmitigated in the cells, for a few days, I would repeat\nto one and another what I heard the warden say, that \"the water was low\nand he feared it would wholly fail.\" Among the replies, one said, \"Well,\nthen, we must bear it the best we can, though it is hard.\"\n\nOne day, coming to a man's cell to hear a lesson, he said, \"I have no\nlesson, I have been in the solitary. They did so and so to me, at which\nI got mad, and would not do as they wished, and they put me in there.\" I\nthought it likely, from the circumstances, that the impatience of an\nofficer and his irritating course had much, too much, to do with the\nmatter. But that was not for me to hint at, even. I rather said, \"Well,\nyou say you got mad and have been in the solitary. See what you have\nsuffered for getting mad. How much better for you to govern your temper.\nYou know where you are, what you did to bring yourself here. You\nunderstand what is required, and that refusal on your part is of no\navail. Now, why not govern yourself, no matter what they say? If you\nreally think they bear hard upon you, control your angry passions, and\ndo what they require as cheerfully and promptly as possible. Thus, you\ncan become accustomed here to governing yourself, that, when you go out,\nyou will be the better able to meet the vexations of the world. Now,\nwill you not try this course?\" He replied, \"I don't know, Chaplain, it\nis a hard case.\" In a few days he remarked, \"Chaplain; I have been\nalmost constantly thinking of what you said the other day, have come to\nthe conclusion that your way is the best, and am resolved to attempt\nputting it in practice.\" With most hearty congratulations on his new\nresolve, I left him again. Some weeks after I received from his lips\nthis satisfactory report: \"Well, Chaplain, I have been practicing your\nmethod since our last conversation, and find it works like a charm. I\nhave but little trouble now, and am determined to keep on as I have\nbegun.\" Thus he proceeded till released. This man was naturally\nirritable and easily angered. He had not previously labored to control\nhimself in regard to this important point; but now, when summoning all\nhis better powers to the task, he resolutely addressed his mind to it,\nand a noble victory was his.\n\nThere was another man here who also could be easily aroused, but was\nperhaps still more stubborn, when angry. He, too, had been an inmate of\nthe solitary more or less. To him I appealed in a manner similar to the\nabove, and, after persistent labors, succeeded in inducing him to\nearnestly try the proposed course, and with like results. But he was a\nman who needed frequent encouragement to help him calmly endure the\nvexations and annoyances almost constantly surrounding him. Hence, he\nmaintained his self-control and kept from trouble while he had one to\nlabor for his continuance in well-doing, but afterwards he fell into\ndifficulty again, and would consequently become an inmate of the\nsolitary. Thus I proceeded, and, by assiduous efforts, robbed this dark\nabode of many hours of occupancy.\n\nThere were others not rendering themselves liable to the dungeon, but\nwho would become filled with angry, revengeful emotions at what they\nwere forced to endure. I would labor to induce these to use what they\nexperienced as a means of self-culture, to leave the acts of others in\nthe hands of God, submit calmly to what they could not avoid, do their\nown duties faithfully, and in all things keep themselves strictly in the\nright. Thus I was almost constantly called to speak a word here and a\nword there to a pacific end, and labored untiringly in that direction.\n\nIn the women's department, also, these efforts were found needed. One of\nthe inmates, whom we will call K., had often caused them no little\ntrouble. With all their efforts, she would contrive to keep almost a\nconstant broil among them. Hence, I decided to see what could be done,\nin her case, by moral and religious efforts. Therefore, one Sabbath,\nafter our usual service, I remained awhile for personal conversation\nwith the inmates respecting their desires and feelings on the subject of\nreform, purposely coming to K. last. After conversing awhile with her on\nreligious subjects, I came to the direct inquiry, \"Now, K., will you not\nturn from your former course and seek to become a true Christian?\" She\nlooked upon me as though perfectly astonished at the question, and\nanswered, \"Why, Chaplain, that would be of no sort of use. Here I have\nbeen going on in my career of life these twenty years, and, should I\nattempt to turn now and become good, no one would put the least\nconfidence in me. It is of no kind of use.\" I labored to assure her that\nshe was mistaken in this idea, that would she truly repent and turn from\nevil, people would see it, and learn to confide in her the same as in\nothers who had reformed, also asserting that she had the power for\nmaking of herself a most excellent, useful woman, if she would use it\naright. I referred to what she might have been, what she had lost, how\nmuch she had suffered, the condition to which she had brought herself,\nand the prospect still before her, if she went on. At length the tears\nbegan to glisten in her eyes; she yielded and said, \"Chaplain, I will\ntry.\" The next Sabbath I asked her how she succeeded, with the answer,\n\"Not much, but I am trying the best I can.\" Retiring from their room, I\nasked the attendant how they had prospered the past week. \"Oh,\" said\nshe, \"first rate. We have had a perfect reformation. Everything has been\npeaceful and quiet, no fretting and scolding,--a perfect change.\" And so\nit was when I left the prison. But I learned that K., after my leaving,\nbecame discouraged, was thrown from the track and returned to her former\nhabits. And no wonder, there was so great a lack of prudence and skill\nin managing there, so much of a vexatious character.\n\nMy position was one of difficulty, needing all the wisdom and discretion\nI could command. The prisoners were looking to me for direction on the\none hand, while jealous watchfulness followed every step on the other.\n\nThus I went on, constantly doing what I could for the best good of the\ninstitution in whatever way practicable. No matter what course others\ntook concerning me or the prison, my duty was to act with fidelity and\nin the fear of God, which I endeavored sacredly to do.\n\nOne rule I constantly carried with me, never deviating from it on any\noccasion, which rule was, not to give a word, or hint even, against any\nprison officer or prison move. This seemed essential to the best being\nof the prisoner. For, if really wronged, my deviation from that rule\nwould tend to impress him more deeply, make him feel his wrong more\nkeenly, and excite to greater irritability, resulting, on his part,\nperhaps, in more disorderly acts, and, consequently, greater trouble.\nThen, on my own part, such a deviation must be perfect suicide, so far\nas the plan might be concerned, showing the authorities conclusively\nthat I was unfit for the position, and giving them the most urgent\nreasons for putting another in my place.\n\nA moderate share of common sense would teach one to keep very wide of\nsuch deviation. Then it could be of no avail. If censurable things were\nbeing done in the prison management, the rulers were the parties for one\nto approach respecting them, those having the power to apply the remedy.\n\n\n\n\n26. _Death of Gideon Sylver._ This man had been in the army, was a good\nsoldier, strong and vigorous; very quiet and obedient; faithful to his\ntask and never complaining, but seemed intent on doing the best he could\nto please those over him and thus share their good will. He was set to\ncarrying lumber in and out of the dry room, exposed to extremes of heat\nand cold, at times perhaps having wet feet from want of proper shoes,\ntill, failing in health, complaining of distress about the chest, the\ndoctor ordered him to lighter and less exposed work, when he was set to\nrunning a planer, said, however, to be a very hard machine to run,\nthough subsequently made easier by rollers attached. Here he grew no\nbetter, but had severe attacks. One day, in his distress, he fell on his\nknees, girding his arms about him and groaning repeatedly. The deputy\ntook him from the shop and returned him relieved. But soon he wholly\nfailed, was taken away for the last time and kept in his cell, part of\nthe time quiet and then groaning more or less intensely. To my inquiry\nabout the locality of his distress, he put his hand over the left lung.\nSabbath evening, Feb. 10th, I think, his distress came on with great\nseverity, he, making no little ado, said, to my inquiry whether he\nneeded anything more, \"I have a powder to take, which will no doubt\nrelieve me,\" and appeared disposed to make the best of his condition.\nMeeting the steward, I asked if all was being done for the man that\ncould be, with the answer, \"Yes, I think there is. The fact is, not much\nails him. He is nervous; thinks he is dreadful sick, and makes a great\nado.\" I passed on, thinking that Sylver must be a very sick man\nnotwithstanding these views, that, when one naturally so patient and\nquiet makes such demonstrations, there must be reason for immediate\nassistance. It seemed to me that the hospital was the proper place for\nhim, and that he ought to be there receiving suitable warmth and close\nattention. But understanding that I might say no more, and meddle no\nfarther, I retired, feeling that the man was in a forlorn condition.\n\nThe cold in the hall was not as severe now as formerly, for the weather\nhad become milder without, and that coal stove, before referred to,\nstood not far from Sylver's cell. This helped in a measure, but came\nshort of the warmth needful to a sick man like him. Things passed thus,\nwith more or less of his moaning when I was in, till Wednesday evening,\non which, by reason of the prayer meeting, I did not visit the\napartment. Thursday noon I heard no moaning, but when the men had\nretired for their work, I called to visit the sufferer and found his\ncell empty, he having been carried to the hospital. I went to my dinner,\npurposing to return and visit the hospital immediately after; but, being\ndetained, at length saw a coffin carried to the prison, and, on inquiry,\nlearned that Sylver was dead. He died a few minutes past twelve, when I\nwas known to be at work in the hall, but nothing was said to me about\nthe event. How my heart sank within me, though, of the events of that\nterrible Wednesday night, I then knew nothing. The facts subsequently\ncame to light in their revolting features. They were gathered from the\nsteward, overseers, guard and released prisoners, investigated with all\ncare, and are, no doubt, correct, as follows:\n\nSylver grew worse Wednesday evening, groaning often. The steward came,\nand, after giving him the usual attention, said, \"Now, Sylver, there is\nno use in your making such a fuss as this. Dry up and go to sleep.\"\nSylver replied, \"I would, if I could; but my sufferings are so great I\ncan't help it;\" to which the steward responded, \"Yes, you can, if you\nonly think so. Dry up, if you don't want to go into the solitary,\" and\nleft, with the groans falling on his ears as he passed from the\napartment.\n\nAt nine the night watch went to his task in the hall, and found the\ninmate almost incessantly groaning, with interludes of prayer,--\"Lord\nhave mercy on me; do help me; forgive my sins,\" and so on, also\nsuffering intensely with the cold, locked in his cell that none could\napproach him in attempts at relief. The watchman's heart was stirred,\nfor humanity's promptings were not dead in him. He looked about for\nsomething that might afford warmth to the agonized man, and found some\nbricks, which he warmed and passed through the grating to the sufferer,\nwho for a time had strength to take and place them around him for\nrelief.\n\nThe other prisoners could not sleep. Raps would be heard from one and\nanother for the watch to go to them and explain. Others would cry out,\n\"Call the deputy and have that man cared for.\" At about eleven, the\nprisoners began to stir determinedly, when the watch called a guard and\nsent for the deputy to come and care for Sylver. But he gave no heed to\nthe summons, except to send the guard back to the hall, who went to the\nsick man's cell, made efforts to still him, and left. Those near said\nthey heard the word _gag_ there used, and understood that the sufferer\nwas receiving threats of being gagged, in case he did not stop his\nnoise.\n\nAs the guard retired from the hall, all hope of relief for the doomed\none came fully to an end, he being now literally left to his fate. He\nwould still engage in prayer,--\"Lord, have mercy on my soul; Lord, why\nwon't they come and do something for my relief?\"\n\nHad the cell door been left unlocked, the watch could have done much\nmore towards affording the needed warmth, and been more effective in\nefforts for his relief. But that privilege would not be allowed. At\nlength the man became too weak and exhausted to take and use the\nproffered bricks, which ended the offices of kindness the watch was\nstruggling to perform. Finally, the moaning grew more and more faint,\nand was of such a tone as to give clear indication that death had\ncommenced its work. The sad hours wore slowly away. The morning finally\narrived, and the men were called to their tasks, the now feeble moans\ndying upon their ears as they passed out. At length, when suiting his\nconvenience, the warden went to the dying man's cell. Seeing the result\nof their work, he hastened for the doctor, whom he found just starting\non an imperative call. But he hurried to the prison to see the man a\nmoment and direct the means to be used till his return. He found him\nthoroughly cold, as though dead, and ordered him to be taken at once to\nthe hospital, the most vigorous rubbing to be used by two men, and other\nmeans for restoring warmth. For a time he revived somewhat, but these\nefforts, however beneficial they might have been in season, were of no\navail now, for death soon closed the scene.\n\nThe brothers, summoned by a telegram, were present in a few hours. A\npost-mortem examination was had, at which one asked, \"What was the\nmatter with the man?\" to which the doctor answered, \"Probably some\ndifficulty about the heart.\" An invited physician responded,--\"From what\nI hear, I think it a clear case of congestion of the lungs;\" one of the\nworst cases of which, it was found to be. A consulting physician said\nthat the case must have been a number of days in progress.\n\nThe reader must make his own comment on this whole affair.[2] My\nfeelings were never more stirred. We were terribly shocked at Pike's\nmurder of the Browns, those feeble, old people. But he dispatched them\nat once; neither, perhaps, experiencing a moment's sensibility of\nsuffering. True, the man lived a number of hours, but was probably not\nsensible of pain. But Sylver, in his agonies, begging and pleading for\nhelp, was forced to pass that terrible night carefully locked in his\ncell, and no heed given to his cries. Had they ended his sufferings with\na single blow, without any threats of the dungeon or gag, he would have\nbeen thereby saved from the piercing agonies of those slowly dragging\nhours. Would not that have been compassion in comparison with what they\ndid? But one says, \"That would have been murder.\" True, and what was\nthat treatment in reality? With due care and attention the man might\nhave recovered, but they so proceeded that it was absolutely impossible\nfor him to live. No man with a lung difficulty could survive such\ntreatment. The blow of an ax, severing his head from his body, could\nhave been no surer means of death.\n\n[Footnote 2: Important facts on this matter are withheld in the\nnarrative above, as the possessors were unwilling, at the examination,\nto divulge them publicly except under the shield of an oath.]\n\nI know the deputy attempted to exonerate himself from blame before the\ngovernor and council, by asserting that the guard, sent for him, failed\nto do his errand correctly, and that he understood himself called to\nstill the noise among the men, and for this sent the guard back.\n\nHad that really been the case, why did not the guard go among the men\nand endeavor to still them? Why go to Sylver's cell and expend his\nefforts there? Or, admitting the deputy's statement to be true, did that\nhelp the matter for him in the least? If summoned by the watch to quell\na rising tumult, was he, as an officer, acting the part of duty by\nremaining quietly in bed and sending nothing but a guard to the work,\nwho could effect no more than the watch himself? All the circumstances\ncombined in forcing one, understanding the matter, to the conclusion\nthat they acted knowingly and intentionally respecting the man.\n\nDo not understand me as charging them with intentionally and\ndeliberately murdering their victim, for this I do not, but that he fell\na sacrifice to a system of prison management that they were intent on\nestablishing; a system under which the officers are to be the sole\njudges of the prisoners' needs, use them as they may choose, put them in\nwhatever condition they may see fit, and they in turn not allowed to\nutter a word, nor give the slightest expression of feeling any more than\nthe dumb, driven ox. If they die, \"it is of no account; he is only a\nprisoner,\" as an officer said to me, respecting another who had died.\n\nOn entering the hall the evening after Sylver's cruel death, I found the\nprisoners greatly excited. One exclaimed, as loud as he thought prudent,\n\"Murder! murder! They have murdered one of our number.\" Another\nremarked, \"Well, we see what the fate of any of us may be, if taken\nsick.\" Marked anxiety was depicted upon all their countenances; and who\nwould wonder?\n\n\n\n\n27. _The Sylver case excitement and hearing before the Governor and\nCouncil._ The brothers were greatly aroused at what they could see and\ngather about this death, felt that deep iniquity had been practiced in\nconnection with it, and resolved on a criminal prosecution of the\nwarden. But, finding, from legal counsel, that they probably could not\nmake a case in that line hold, they were thrown into doubt respecting\nwhat to attempt.\n\nMeanwhile the story of the affair spread in the community, carrying with\nit exaggerated reports, that \"Sylver was really murdered; was gagged and\nleft to die alone,\" and thus on. When passing the streets in the city, I\nwould be inquired of, if such were really the facts, to which I would\nrespond in the negative, that he died in the hospital with attendants\nabout him, but could explain no farther. Execrations at the prison\nmanagement were often heard.\n\nWhether true or not, I never ascertained, but report had it, that the\ndoctor felt called upon to demand an investigation of the affair before\nthe governor and council, and that the warden favored looking into the\nother departments, and so a hearing was appointed to be had at the\ncouncil chamber one Friday evening, in the latter part of February, or\nin early March. I was summoned to be present, but with no intimation for\nwhat purpose. The Sylvers, when cherishing the idea of a criminal\nprosecution, had looked about a little for evidence, and had secured\nthe statements of an overseer at the prison, when the death occurred,\nwritten out in the form of an affidavit and sworn to before a justice of\nthe peace, and also those of a released prisoner. These were in the\nhands of the lawyer they had employed, or purposed to employ, to manage\nfor them. This lawyer appeared, but it was understood that the brothers\nhad become disheartened and ceased to interest themselves in looking up\nevidence, preparing for a thorough investigation of the death in\nquestion; why, we know not. None were put on oath, hence the hearing\nfailed of bringing out important matter, as the men having it, would not\ndivulge unless under oath.\n\nI was called on first to testify and asked to state about the Sylver\ncase, but, as before related, I then knew but little of material value.\nThe transactions of that Wednesday night, I had, at that time, heard\nsomething of, but to me they were only matters of report, and among the\npoints requiring the efficacy of the oath to bring them out. Hence, I\ncould say nothing of them. I was asked some questions about the prison\nliving, but on points concerning which I knew but little, and then was\nturned directly to my own prison management. It seemed by the\nquestioning that, in this summary manner, with no opportunity to prepare\nfor defense, I was virtually put on trial for a violation of prison\nrules on two points,--the correspondence, and passing information to\nprisoners,--and called on to testify against myself. But I had nothing\nto cover up, had acted in all cases as I thought to be right, so frankly\nstated my whole proceedings in the matters, as near as I could recollect\non the spur of the moment, and also explained my motives, excepting that\nI could not, of course, allude to anything of the warden's procedure as\nmaking my efforts especially needful to the best order of the prison.\nNo one else was called to testify on these points; but I was kept\nstanding during the narrations and questionings till so far exhausted\nthat, perhaps between ten and eleven, I had to ask the privilege of\nsitting.\n\nThen I was called on to state about my lecturing for the Prison Aid\nAssociation, whether I had alluded to the prison or not. Having become\nsomewhat confused in mind, for the time, I could not recollect a single\nallusion I had made, and therefore answered unqualifiedly, \"I have not,\"\nnot thinking to say, \"I have not to my present recollection.\" The\nGovernor replied, \"There must be some mistake in the matter, for I have\nreceived two letters from places where those lectures were given,\nstating differently,\" and he called for another witness.\n\nAs to the Sylver matter, the effort was made to leave the impression on\nthe mind that the patient really died of a heart difficulty, though he\nprobably would have died of the congestion, but not so soon. No\npretense, however, was made that any unhealthy condition was found about\nthe heart, except in the attending physician's assertion, that, on\npuncturing the pericardium; a little gas, as he thought, whizzed out,\nand that he recollected of having read in two medical works, of cases\nwhere such a gas collection had proved fatal. The physicians whom the\nSylvers employed on the post mortem, were not present, and hence no\nlight was gained from that source.\n\nThe lawyer presented the written statements of the released prisoner,\nreferring to the death, the cold, food matters, &c., at the prison, but\nthis was summarily swept from the board by the testimony of the steward:\n\"There is not a word of truth in his statement.\" I happened to know\npersonally, then, that some of the points in that statement were true,\nand what I did not know myself agreed exactly with the general testimony\nof the men leaving prison. But I was not referred to on the point and\nthus that testimony was useless. The affidavit from the overseer, I\nthink, was not presented.\n\nAt about two o'clock at night, the hearing was adjourned until the next\nMonday evening, after which I arranged with the Governor to see him\nMonday, P. M. I saw the letters referred to, which contained the\ngrossest misrepresentations, uttering sentiments I never thought of, or,\nif I had, should not have expressed there, unless demented.\n\nI went home with a strong conviction that efforts were being made, by\nwhom I knew not, to turn the whole force of thought upon me and make of\nme a scape goat in the matter. I retired, but not to shut my eyes in\nsleep for the night. For a time my mind remained in confusion about\nthose lectures, but after resting awhile, and the excitement had passed\noff, all came clearly to view, as given on a former page.\n\n\n\n\n28. _Preparing for the adjourned session._ Saturday morning I wrote to a\nfew understanding and reliable gentlemen, who heard the lectures in\nquestion, alluded to the letters and their allegations, and by return\nmail received answers, asserting that, as nearly as they understood, and\nby inquiry from others who heard, no such ideas were received as charged\nin the missives, giving some ideas that were uttered, a very different\nsentiment from the letters, and what no one could censure. That day, I\nmet the writer of one of those letters in the city, and to my inquiry,\nhe replied, \"Oh, I did not hear the lecture, or know anything about\nwhat was said, personally; but my son was present, and gave me what\ninformation I had.\" I could but think, \"A bright son that!\"\n\nIn the afternoon, I called on the Governor as appointed, and found him\nvery much excited over the matter. He talked almost incessantly for a\nlong time, but occasionally giving me opportunity for putting in a word.\nI attempted to assure him that he was laboring under a great mistake\nabout my acts at the prison, that I had not been guilty of anything he\nhad in mind, and that he must have been misinformed. But my assurances\nseemed to carry but little weight. He finally said, \"Mr. Quinby, your\nmanagement at the prison has caused me more trouble and anxiety than all\nmy State business put together.\" I was perfectly astonished. There were\nmy incessant and most arduous labors for peace and quietness in the\ninstitution, my great painstaking, with the sole view of leading the\nprisoners to do right in every respect, with never a hint from me, to a\nprisoner, of disapprobation of any prison officer or his acts,--with\nnever a word of dispute between any of us as officers, besides my\ncareful observance of all the prison rules to the letter, as I\nunderstood them, to which I had ever felt impelled by a sense of duty,\nand on which, for a long while, I had felt the importance of double and\nthribble care. How could my management in these things cause the\nGovernor such trouble and anxiety? The truth now flashed in mind, that\nsetting the guards and overseers to watch me, had its purpose. Then,\nthere must have been a long and persistent course of running to his\nExcellency with a tissue of misrepresentations. Had it really befallen\nme as it befel the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho? Things\ncertainly looked in that direction, and perhaps it was nothing more than\nmight have been anticipated; for, if one would persistently slander\ninnocent ladies, it would be natural for him to misrepresent me. If, at\nevery opportunity, he would defame the character of another, could I\nrationally suppose that mine would be any safer in his hands?\n\nHaving left the Governor with the settled conviction that my days of\nincessant prison toil were virtually ended, a gentleman of influence in\nthe place, rode up to me in haste, with the remark, \"Step aboard, Mr.\nQuinby, you must have legal counsel in these matters. A combination is\nformed to crush you, and the really guilty go free. I have volunteered\nto engage such lawyers, and they wish to see you at once to learn the\ntrue state of things and how to take hold of the case.\" Though I\ninsisted that it would be of no avail, he gave no heed to that, and soon\nlanded me at the proposed office door. I related, in brief, the general\nfacts as they had occurred, and the interview just had with the\nGovernor, to which the eldest of the number replied, \"Your case is a\nforegone conclusion. It is already decided. You can not do a thing.\" But\nanother proposed to consult with the attorney already in the work, and\narrange as thought advisable.\n\nReturning home, I found a friend waiting to inform me of the proffered\nservice of still another lawyer. Thus friends were aroused and clustered\naround ready to help, as I had not anticipated. No little excitement\nprevailed in the place.\n\n\n\n\n29. _The adjourned hearing._ I went to this with ideas clear, thoughts\ncollected, mind pretty thoroughly aroused, and feeling ready to attempt\na vindication of the right. Being again called on first, I commenced,\nreferred to the assertion that I made the previous evening about not\nalluding to the prison in my lectures, that I was wrong in this, that I\ndid refer to it, stating on what points, and the sentiments uttered,\npresenting the letters that I had received, showing that I uttered no\nsuch ideas as alleged, and gave a general outline of my reform moves at\nthe prison and the motives that impelled me to voluntarily assume such\nexcessive labors, closing thus: \"And now, gentlemen, if, after doing all\nthis, I am to be crushed, it will be a hard case.\"\n\nThey now referred to the other cases on which but little more was\nbrought out. Before closing, one of the council, turning to me,\nremarked, \"Now, Mr. Quinby, if you know of anything wrong at the prison,\nnot here developed, we wish you to be free and state it, for we desire\nto understand the truth.\" But I did not think it best for me to say\nanything farther then, for, if I did, it would be opening a square fight\nwith the warden, which I by no means desired, and for which I did not\nfeel myself prepared. It would have been really stepping forward as\nleader in the matter, a position which I did not wish. Then, again, as I\nsupposed, such prejudice had somehow been aroused against me, that,\nshould I attempt to make further development, it would be of little or\nno use, and perhaps be worse for the cause than my silence. Besides, I\nhoped that the time would come, and that not far distant, when our\nrulers would have their eyes opened, and matters be so effectually\nsifted as to find the real truth.\n\nThus, the hearing closed, and we left the deliberating body to make up\njudgment, which was that \"no blame is to be attached to any one,\" or to\nthat amount. This was just as I had anticipated respecting the Sylver\ncase, the food, &c., for the investigation really amounted to little in\nthose respects. I was truly disappointed, however, concerning myself,\nnot that any wrong, or even a shadow of it, was brought against me, but,\nas I judged from the Governor's remarks and the general drift of things,\nthat certain ones had worked underhandedly, and so effectually as to\nrender my removal a sure matter. But they did not succeed.\n\n\n\n\n30. _Motives for desiring the chaplain's removal._ One asks, \"What could\nbe the motive of any for seeking your removal, if you had uniformly\nproceeded at the prison as before set forth?\" That was the puzzle to me,\nfor not a word had been said in that direction, except the note of\nwarning from the prisoner, till conversing with the Governor, and then\nnothing specific; hence, I was left wholly to conjecture. My persistent\neffort to keep alive, as far as possible, what I could of the reform\nsystem of the past year, was, no doubt, repulsive to the warden, and in\norder to be rid of that, he would need to be rid of me. This might be\none motive. Again, no little stir was being made in the city about\nprison usages, prison suffering, &c. Probably he thought I was at the\nbottom of that; that I wrote down facts inside, and divulged them\noutside. Hence, the nettling that one of my practices caused.\nOccasionally, I would be solving a long question in arithmetic for the\nprisoner at the striking of the signal for retiring to the shop, at\nwhich I would step aside, sit down, finish my solution, return the slate\nto the prisoner's cell, and leave. I also, at times, noticed that the\ndeputy was watching me far more earnestly than the men. Then the\nquestion was asked at the hearing, what I was writing on these\noccasions.\n\nNow, if he considered me as the cause of this stirring up, he, of\ncourse, would wish me away. This would be a strong motive. But I was\nnot. True, I wrote the stories of a number of the men, as they came out,\nor till all were found telling over and over the very same thing, in\nsubstance. These, however, I laid away in my drawer, saying nothing\nabout them to any one. But these men would also call on their former\nSabbath school teachers, or other acquaintances they had met in prison,\nand relate to them their stories, and thus they spread. Neighbors would\ncall at my house, and be talking these matters over, I being as reticent\nas possible, but would not come out squarely and lie in the matter by\ncontradicting the accounts. And, further, the points which I had brought\nto the governor's notice were, without doubt, unsatisfactory to the\nwarden. Then, also, my fitting up the prisoners as they left. He perhaps\ndesired a man for the place, who might wish it so much as to be willing\nto pass on with doing but little of what I was attempting.\n\nFor months I supposed these the great motives which prompted that\nremoval. But the next year I learned of another and perhaps greater than\neither of these. A man, retiring from prison, said to me, \"Chaplain, how\namused we would feel sometimes, last year, when you were preaching, at\nthe appearance of the warden, to see him turn pale, and then red, and\nhitch on his seat. We understood it.\" Another, usually present, not a\nprisoner, said also that he had noticed the same thing.\n\nAt the time in question, I was treating upon the moral code from Sabbath\nto Sabbath, and would, in one discourse, take up lying, and point out as\nclearly as I could its influence upon the one practicing it, and upon\nsociety in general; then, perhaps, stealing, or swindling and thus on.\nIn these efforts, I was intent on discharging my duty to the prisoners,\non leading them from those sins, having nothing to do in the matter with\nthe warden as to any of his steps in life. If personal applications were\nmade, I was not responsible for that. I arranged for no such purpose.\n\nBut when the man, on his release, made the remark given, the idea\nflashed in my mind that here was a stirring motive to efforts for\ngetting rid of me, with the hope of obtaining one who might be willing,\non coming to certain sins, to let the plow of truth turn out, and not go\nstraight through.\n\nWhether that running to the Governor and that stirring him up so\ngreatly, was prompted by one or another of the above reasons, or all\ncombined, or something else, still, I never ascertained. Had charges\nbeen preferred against me openly and squarely, I could have met them\nface to face, known what was what, and shown their falsity. But as\nthings were, I was left in the dark as to how to proceed, and to what\nconclusions I should come as to the motives prompting to the struggle to\nmy disadvantage.\n\n\n\n\n31. _Chaplain's change of course and the question as to who should\nconduct the prison correspondence._ After this hearing, I decided to\nchange my course in two respects, the one about going out to lecture on\nAssociation matters, the other about writing to prisoners' friends.\nThese I wholly abandoned. True, nothing was said to me suggestive of\nthese changes, nor had I taken any wrong step on the points, but, in the\ninvestigation, I was led to see that these were _the_ sources whence\nmisconception would be the most likely to arise, and where evil-minded\npersons might pretend a wrong, with some show of plausibility, without\nreally any shadow of grounds in truth. I would not only shun every evil,\nbut every appearance of evil, or what might be construed into an\nappearance.\n\nGreat sensitiveness pervades too many minds on the idea of attempting to\nshow benevolence to a released prisoner, they holding it as a wrong to\nsociety. These will not hear on the subject understandingly, but with\nprejudice and a proclivity to misrepresent. Though the class does not\nembrace, in its numbers, the more intelligent, worthy citizens, yet it\ncontains more or less who possess the power of casting mists of\nblindness before the well-disposed and honest seekers for the right.\n\nIn this class, we find the ideas of the brutal and vindictive freely\ncropping out in their utterances. \"Those fellows ought to suffer. They\nwere put in prison for punishment, now let them have enough of it, so\nthat they may thus learn to do better, no matter if it were ten times\nworse.\" These persons seem to think that the correct way of prison\nmanagement would be to select the most hard-hearted, cruel men of the\nState for officers, and deliver the convicts into their hands, for them\nto exercise their brutal feelings upon as fully and freely as they may\nchoose. These points, then, evidently need to be agitated in the State,\nby lecturers and through the press, but it were better that this work be\ndone by others than by the prison chaplain.\n\nThe loss of my occasional writing was severely felt, especially by\noutside friends. Thus, on Fast day of '71, a prisoner wrote a letter to\na sister in the West, and asked for an envelope and stamp that he might\nsend it, but weeks and months passed and none were forthcoming. There\nwas the idea, \"You must not ask a second time.\" The sister became\ndeeply troubled at not hearing from or about the brother, not knowing\nwhether he were dead or alive, and wrote to me, earnestly beseeching to\nbe informed. But as I was now under the ban, I did not answer her. She\nalso wrote to the ex-warden, but he was away and did not answer. In the\nfall, when that gentleman of Concord was chosen warden, she wrote to\nhim, but, as he was sick and knew nothing of the matter, he did not\nrespond. And no doubt she also wrote to the warden himself; but probably\nhas not heard to this day.\n\nFormerly, I should have written her something like this: \"Your brother\nis alive, in usual health, and progressing well. Don't be over-anxious\ntill he may write you.\" In this way I could have satisfied her,\nmeasurably, at least with no reflection, in any way, on prison\nmanagement.\n\nThis neglect of the deputy seemed the more cruel from the fact that the\nman was a most faithful, obedient prisoner, and that this sister had\npreviously furnished him with ample writing materials, that he might\nwrite frequently with no expense to the State, which materials the\nwarden had confiscated on coming into office.\n\nIn connection with this matter, the important question comes up, In\nwhose hands, really, should the prison correspondence be placed?--in\nthose of the warden or chaplain? The correspondence, to be well managed,\nrequires no little labor, especially if the inmates are permitted to\nwrite as they should and receive answers in return. If, in the warden's\nhands, it would tend to crowd other business too much, or itself be too\nmuch neglected, the latter having been the fact.\n\nTo avoid all this, in various places, they put the management in the\nhands of the chaplain. This would seem the more appropriate, being\nrather in his line of duty, and more easily performed by him. A schedule\nof the points of information, which should be allowed to pass, could be\nmarked out by the competent authority and laid before him for his\nguidance, that matters might be correct in that respect.\n\nThis question ought to receive the careful attention of our law-makers,\nfor proper letter writing should not be restricted in any degree in the\nprison. Good letters from home and friends will bring with them no\nlittle reformatory power and influence to quietness and order. Indeed,\nthe privilege, by proper management, can be made a great force in\ndisciplinary efforts among the prisoners.\n\n\n\n\n32. _Change, for a time, in the warden's management._ Shortly after the\ndeath of Sylver, a man, occupying a cell near by, was taken sick, but\ncould sit up the most of the time. As he said, the warden went to him\nand remarked, \"I am warden here. Be free, and ask for whatever you need,\nand you shall have it.\" He permitted this man to sit with his cell door\nunlocked, and to go to the stove when he chose, and, to all appearance,\nproperly cared for him, giving reason for much commendation. True, he\nwas shortly to leave prison, and his statement would go towards\ncounteracting the reports of prison cruelty circulating outside, and\nsome were uncharitable enough to contend that this was the object of the\nbetter treatment.\n\nOne evening, about this time, I found a prisoner in his cell appearing\nas though he could live but a few hours, and perhaps minutes, unless\nimmediately attended to. He had been in the hospital a number of weeks\nwith a lung difficulty and, though he had not recovered, was\ntransferred sometime that day, I think, to his cell,--to a colder\natmosphere. Here, he found it difficult to speak or breathe. I hastened\nto the warden for him to attend to the matter. He hurried for the\nphysician, who soon arrived, and had the sufferer returned to the\nhospital, where he died some weeks after. This was one of my only three\nrequests or suggestions that were granted or favorably attended to by\nthe warden while I was under him. True, I was not denied many times, for\nI early learned not to propose anything or make any request, except when\nabsolutely needed.\n\nThis changed course in the warden, however, did not continue many weeks.\nThat hearing and its acquittal had passed, and the Sylver affair was\ndying away, when, at length, I thus found him returned to his former\nspirit. Though early in the season, on a warm day, he had divested the\nsick of their flannels, and I suppose all other prisoners. Soon the\nweather became cooler, and I found a sick man in the hospital suffering\ngreatly for want of his flannels, which articles, as he asserted, he had\nnot previously been without, summer or winter, for twenty years. He was\ntrembling with the cold, which much enhanced his distress. Going to the\nwarden, I presented the case, and received the reply, \"If he wants his\nflannels, let him ask the doctor.\" He could meddle in the matter enough\nto divest the man of the needed articles, but would not move to put them\non, and thus mitigate his sufferings. It was then early in the\nafternoon, and the man would have to suffer till the next forenoon, the\nusual time for the doctor to make his visit. When he came, as I was\ninformed, he lectured them severely for removing the flannels at all.\n\n\n\n\n33. _The fate of Henry Stewart and others._ Henry was said to have been\nexceedingly unfortunate in his parents, they having been largely\nchargeable with his proclivities to evil. He was highly excitable,\neasily thrown into a perfect phrensy of passion, insane at times, and,\non the whole, very difficult to manage, requiring a large amount of\npatience and skill in those over him. They needed to study his\npeculiarities and accommodate their treatment to his particular case,\nmuch the same as would the driver of a vicious, balky horse. The former\nmanagers had so treated him, that he had really improved, and his\ncondition was appearing more and more hopeful. But in the new order,\nwhere officers were not expected to bother themselves over\npeculiarities, it was different with Henry. Though laboring with\nfaithfulness generally, what was bred within would appear in outward\nacts. When a spell came on, they would \"shake him up,\" as the deputy\nsaid (the import of which I did not fully understand), and put him in\nthe solitary. At length his insanity, or whatever had impelled him,\nwould pass off, and he come out in his right mind. Confinement to his\ncell would probably have been just as effective in securing his good\ndeportment and less injurious to his health. Whenever I visited him, he\nwould appear hopeful, tell what a good boy he proposed to be, how he\nmeant to live, and not get into any more trouble; that he should soon be\nout, and would then strive to be a good man. Many air castles the poor\nfellow thus built, but to see them fall. The prison fare and general\nmanagement was now highly unfavorable to his proclivities, tending\nconstantly to make them worse. Men repeatedly told me that the officers\nwould severely beat him, and that he was sadly abused. One day, in a\nfreak of insanity or anger, he struck his overseer to the floor with a\nbed-post, coming within a hair's breadth of ending his life, and was\naiming a second blow, which a fellow prisoner arrested, and thus saved\nthe overseer. Henry was put in the solitary, and I know not how long\nkept there, nor how used; but when, at length, I found him in his cell,\nhe was greatly changed. I was perfectly astonished! He was not only\ninsane, but changed in physical appearance; shrunken in flesh and with a\nstrange expression of countenance. For a time, I could hardly believe it\nwas Henry, but finally had to admit that it was really he. I have seldom\nseen one with a fever change more for the time. Soon his insanity took a\nboisterous turn by night, keeping the other prisoners all awake, which\ninduced them for a time to confine him to the solitary during these\nhours, and keep him in his cell by day. But his howls so disturbed the\nprison family, that they next resorted to keeping him in the shop by\nnight, lying upon his back, his feet chained together, with a post\nbetween them.\n\nThus, they continued for a season, but finally, the governor sent him to\nthe insane asylum. Shortly after, I was speaking to one of Henry, in\nhearing of the warden, as being insane, to which he replied, \"No, he is\nnot insane. He is ugly, of which I could have cured him, had his time\nnot been so near out.\" I thought, \"You _would_ have cured him by death,\nand were very near it.\"\n\nAs he was taken to the asylum, the warden said to me, \"Chaplain, I wish\nit understood that he is taken out to be tried for attempting to kill\nhis overseer,\" thereby expressing the desire, as I understood it, for me\nto give that version of the matter to the prisoners. \"What an idea!\" I\nanswered in my mind, \"the chaplain going about lying for the warden!\"\n\nFisher was naturally of a low order of mind, but still possessed\nknowledge enough to work well at many things under the direction of\nanother, was to come out the early part of March, but whom I missed from\nhis cell a while previous, and, from his long absence, began to suppose\nthey had sent him off unbeknown to me. But the day previous to the\nexpiration of his sentence, I found him again in his cell, completely\ndemented. I was told by more than one, that his overseer, attempting to\ndirect him in a certain way about his work and not succeeding, seized\nhim by the collar, plunged him head foremost to the floor, and then\njerked him about, he probably now uttering some disrespectful words;\nthen the deputy was called and took him to the solitary, I was also\ninformed, and plunged him against the outer prison door, on the way,\nwith such force as to push it open.\n\nWhen first finding him in his cell, as stated, I asked where his father\nlived, and he answered, \"Enfield,\" as I understood it. But after that, I\ncould not obtain even a sound from his lips. He kept almost constantly\nspitting, would frequently laugh to himself, but I could learn nothing\nabout his legal residence. I was expected to care for him, and would not\nturn him loose to suffer and perhaps perish; but I found that I should\nbe liable for damage, should I send him to another town. True, the\nState, by her prison management, had reduced him to this wretched\ncondition, and ought to bear the expense of maintaining him, but there\nwas no law or provision for that. Hence, finding it my only safe and\nlegitimate course, I obtained a decree from the probate judge, took him\nto the insane asylum, and notified the commissioners of that county, of\nthe same.\n\nNo doubt, with proper prison fare and treatment, both of these men\nmight have come out able to earn their living, under proper guardians,\nwhich they would have needed; and that the fate of both was directly\nchargeable to the prison treatment.\n\nThere was one, also, who left after my departure from prison, belonging\nto another State, who had become nearly as demented as Fisher. Hence,\nthey obtained for him a railroad pass, and put him on board the cars\nwith a label fastened upon his arm, directing him to be transferred to\nsuch a State and town, where his friends were supposed to live. He, too,\nI doubt not, was reduced to that demented condition by the prison\ntreatment for he was far from such a state at the beginning of the year.\n\n\n\n\n34. _Warden's want of courtesy to prisoners' visitors._ By rule, no\nfriend is allowed to see a prisoner except in presence of the warden or\na subordinate that he may hear whatever is said. The time allowed for a\nvisit is usually short, and the parties, of course, wish to make the\nmost of every moment. But no little complaint was made, that, when the\ninterview was in the warden's presence, he would engross much of the\ntime in recounting his exploits in prison management, the disorders he\nfound, the corrections he had made, how they would deceive his\npredecessor, but could not deceive him, and the like. No matter how far\none had come, or at what expense, he would, perhaps, be treated thus.\nSome, on going away, having had an opportunity of saying but few words\nto the prisoner whom they visited, would utter remarks which were\nanything but complimentary to the man thus imposing upon them, as they\nregarded it, and to the State for allowing such things to occur.\n\n\n\n\n35. _Effects of the new order upon the prisoners._ The mental effects\nhave been spoken of in three cases. These were the most marked of that\ntype. The effects on the physical system were also very apparent. It\ncould not be otherwise, for the men lost no little flesh. One man said\nhe weighed himself about the time the order in question commenced, and\nfound his weight some one hundred and eighty pounds. He left after being\nunder the system a little more than six months, and had lost some\ntwenty-five pounds in weight. And I should judge this to be a fair\ngeneral average, according to their appearance, of the change in most of\nthe prisoners.[3]\n\n[Footnote 3: The Bill of Fare at the prison for this year can not be\ngiven, as it was not, to the writer's knowledge, published.]\n\nAnd why not this result? A large number did not pretend to eat any\ndinner on Mondays, and many more ate but little. There was such a\ngeneral carrying back of the food at this meal, that I decided to count\nparticularly and see exactly what the facts were. On two consecutive\nMondays in April, I think, I did this and found a dozen or over, not\neven taking their dishes to their cells, so had nothing to eat;\nthirty-two each day, returned their basins, all, I think, with the bit\nof bread gone, a large number not having touched the wheat part, some\nhaving eaten a very little, and others more, but all returning more or\nless of that; then the dishes of the remaining prisoners would be empty.\nThose were the only days I counted so carefully in the spring, but\njudged them to be fair samples for that time of the year. But the number\nwas not small who did not pretend to take this meal while the cracked\nwheat appeared. Then, as informed, they would pursue a similar course\nwith certain other meals, for instance, when the fish was served. Some\nwould not take the soup meal. The Sabbath morning repast of baked beans\nwas ever spoken of as good, satisfactory both in quality and quantity.\nOne man said his custom was to save some of the beans as a relish for\nhis meals early in the week. The peas were complained of as bad. One\noverseer said to a prisoner, who was making his dinner of these, \"I\nwould as soon take so much shot into my stomach.\" The lack of vegetables\nwas severely felt, especially that of onions, though I was informed they\npurchased a bushel, or so, in the winter, of very small onions, or\nscullions, as many call them. In the spring, I found a man in his cell\nsick, who said he was having symptoms of the scurvy, a difficulty he had\nin the army, that he was suffering much for the want of vegetables, and\nthat he knew of others also suffering from these scurvy symptoms.\n\nThe warden, of course, well knew of this dislike of the food, but the\nmen must take what he allowed or go without. A man asserted, on leaving\nprison, that the warden said to him, \"All I have against you is, that\nyou would not take your rations better.\" He replied, \"I purposed to obey\nthe prison rules, but did not feel myself bound to eat what I could not\nrelish.\" One who was sick in his cell with a dispeptic difficulty, said\nhe could not take brown bread as it soured on his stomach, but could eat\nwhite bread, for which he had asked, but to no purpose. I mentioned the\nmatter to the steward, asking if he could not have the white bread. He\nanswered, \"No. They indulged him in that under the former administration\nand he thinks he must continue to have it, but now every one is to fare\nalike, so he must take his chance with the rest.\"\n\nBut the reader will ask, \"Did not this warden allow the men who chose,\nto take anything extra?\" Certainly. The former custom had been to place\nbrown bread, cut in slices, near the rations, each man having the\nprivilege of taking as many slices extra as he might choose. Or, he\nwould convey dishes with extra rations to certain cells afternoons if\nrequested, or when the occupants were to work extra evenings. This\nwarden allowed any, desiring, to take of the brown bread extra, but only\none slice each. I would now, also, though very seldom, see dishes of\ncracked wheat setting on the beds as extra rations, or basins of\nhash-skins.--The reader understands that, in making hash, more or less\nwill dry, or burn upon the sides of the kettle, leaving a thick skin\nwhen all the eatable part is removed.--This skin, scraped from the\nkettle, composed these hash-skins, perfectly dry as husks. This was to\nsave everything and have nothing wasted.--The reader will understand\nagain, that when distributing books to the cells, and looking after the\nbooks, I could not avoid seeing these things.\n\nWith the failing flesh also went the strength to work. A man described\nthe effect on himself, thus: \"On first going into the shop after eating,\nI feel quite vigorous for my task, but soon a peculiar goneness comes\non, and finally becomes so that what I do is through fairly driving my\nsystem.\" He had been very vigorous, able to go through almost anything,\nbut what he had passed here proved sufficiently powerful to bring him\ndown.\n\nAn overseer told me, that the men in his division became so weak that it\nrequired great effort on his part to keep some of them at their task,\nthey being hardly able to stand up by their machines. But his duty\nforced him to keep them there as long as they could do anything, though\na part became unable to accomplish more than one quarter of their\nordinary work. His heart would really ache for the fellows.\n\nIt should be recollected that everything in the shop, but tending them,\nis done by machines, each operation having a machine for performing it,\nthe business of the prisoners being to pass the articles to and from the\nrespective workers. Hence, the amount of work turned out did not, of\ncourse diminish in proportion with the failing strength of the workmen,\nas must have been the case in the old method of hand planing, sawing,\n&c.\n\nI subsequently learned that food would be carried into the shop for the\nsuffering men, but I know not to what extent. At first mentioning, I\nthought that it could not have been done, and expressed the doubt, but\nmy informer explained how, showing a perfectly feasible way.\n\nThe effect of the new system was plainly visible, too, on the health of\nthe men. This, of course, could not be avoided. A man, who was very\nhealthy, and vigorous to work when it commenced, ran through the winter\ninto early spring when he began signally to fail, said he could not eat\nthe rations any longer, and went without food of any amount, still\nconstantly performing his task, till his system entirely broke down, and\nhe was taken to the hospital for a drugging course, the doctor remarking\nto me that he had \"failed with no apparent cause.\" I think the want of\nfood was sufficient cause. Had he received proper care and suitable\naliment, he would, doubtless, have been spared this sickness. I was\ninformed that, when he was near death's door, he was pardoned, to die\nwith his friends.\n\nAnother, who had fallen a victim to prison treatment and was in the last\nstages of consumption, said to me, \"Had they used me as well when I was\nin health and able to work as they now do, I should not have been here\nat this time.\" Calling the next day, I learned that he had received\npardon and been carried home, that he might die there. His stay, I\nlearned, was very short.\n\nHow many of these pardons were granted in view of death, I never knew.\nThey were gratifying to friends most certainly, but would make the\nprison mortality appear smaller than it really was. For, surely, if a\nman sickened in prison and received pardon as above, his demise should\nof right be set down as among the prison deaths.\n\nA man came out in the spring, having been a prisoner one year; was well\nand robust when entering, but the ordeal of the winter brought on a\nrheumatic difficulty, so that towards its close he was really sick, and,\nas he remarked, solicited the warden for the privilege of laying off and\ndoctoring a little, with the answer, \"I know what the matter is with\nyou, you wish to get rid of work; you can go to the shop;\" and he was\ngiven no respite, nor was anything done for him while there. He went\nhome so used up, that, as his father asserted, it did not seem that he\ncould have lived at the prison but a few weeks longer. He revived,\nhowever, with home air and home treatment, worked considerably through\nthe summer, but, as fall came on, had a return of the rheumatic trouble\ncontracted in prison, with which he suffered many months, and died. A\nnumber of others, too, on their leaving, I found completely broken down,\nwho were sent away to friends, or places of their usual abode, to be\nmaintained by relatives or at public expense. A man, when leaving, said\nthat he had there sometimes been forced to work, when so sick that five\ndollars a day would have been no temptation to him for thus laboring.\nOne was reported to me as having been kept to his machine till fainting,\nand then carried to the hospital. One, with a consumptive difficulty,\nnot able to work in the shop, was put in the cook-room to do what he\ncould there, and kept at his task till, one Sabbath eve, he was taken to\nthe hospital where he died the next Tuesday morning.\n\nBut why pursue this dark recital? All such management, of course, made\nthe prison sickness appear less in the physician's account than the\nreality. It seemed fortunate to the men that the term of sentence to\nmany so expired as to leave them under this rule but a comparatively\nshort time.\n\nIn conversation with an overseer here, who had large experience, the\nidea was started as to how long time would be required for the system\nreigning at the prison this year to use up completely the number it\ncommenced with, could all have been kept truly under its influence, with\nno respite or mitigation. His conclusion was some two years. Nor could I\nthink he was much out of the way, that is, take the case as it bore on a\nlarge share.\n\nThe system left its legitimate effects on the minds of the inmates,\naside from driving to insanity and idiocy, namely, irritability, angry\nfeeling, or moroseness. Under the former rule, the men, when leaving,\nwould generally express much gratitude towards officers and friends for\nthe interest taken in their welfare, apparently filled with a hope and\ninspiration here gained, prompting them to strive for their own best\ngood, from which no little advantage, to them, might be hoped. But under\nthis rule, how different! Men fully admitting the justice of their\nsentence, and having come with the purpose of serving it out\nsubmissively, and with not a word of fault-finding, would go away\ncomplaining of the wrongs done them in the general prison fare, their\nhearts filled with bitter feelings, prompting them to execrate those\nfrom whom they had suffered these wrongs, and curse the State for\nputting such men in power over the prison. One who was so reduced that\nhe found it a task to walk about, remarked, on leaving, \"I have some\naccounts to settle with them over there\" (meaning the warden and\ndeputy), \"and if I recover, I shall return to Concord and settle with\nthem. I will have my pay unless they are the strongest.\" Some would\nleave with the feeling of _don't care_ as to what course they should\ntake.\n\nWhat was said above as to losing flesh among the prisoners, should be\ntaken with some exceptions. The cooks could manage to satisfy their\ndemands of appetite. So also could those doing common chores. Some were\nnaturally very small eaters, and some would eat all furnished them,\nhowever prepared. The females had such food as went to the warden's\ntable, and, so far as I learned, what they needed, and ever appeared in\ngood heart, except when sick.\n\nA female prisoner, for some offence, was condemned to her cell for a\nweek and to feed on the rations from the other part, which was held by\nher probably as a God-send rather than a punishment, for it gave the\nfemales the very opportunity desired for really seeing on what the men\nhad to live. After this, when a woman left she was not slow in her\ndeclamations against the miserable fare of the men, and how they must of\nnecessity suffer.\n\n\n\n\n36. _Comparative prison order for the two years._ Some represent that\nthe present warden found great abuses in the prison, all of which he has\ncorrected. No doubt, this idea has quite extensively prevailed, and that\ninterested parties have taken no little pains to extend the impression\nas widely as possible. Let us, then, look to the point with care, and\ngive full credit for whatever has been gained in that direction.\n\nThe warden banished from the prison all bouquets and flowers, and talked\nof them in the most sneering manner, contending that the practice of\npresenting them to prisoners was the most outrageous wrong. He has put\nan end to all attendance, from the city, upon prison meetings of every\nclass, except when he may give special invitation himself; has abolished\nall lecturing to the inmates by outsiders; and would have abolished the\nsecular school, but for the persistent efforts of the chaplain; has\nended the custom of having the female prisoners assemble with the males\nin the chapel Sabbath mornings for worship, requiring all moral efforts\nmade for them to be put forth in their work room. He has also ended all\nfuneral observances at the prison, cut off all distribution of religious\ntracts to the prisoners, and all trinkets or trinket-making in the\ncells, and has forbidden the receiving of presents from friends,\nexcepting tobacco, &c.\n\nIf there were prison abuses in any or all of these, he has effectively\ncorrected them, and should receive the full credit.\n\nThen there were those two orders which he established in the shop, and\nhe should be credited with whatever good they secured. The one was, that\na man, meeting company in a door or pass-way, must turn and face the\nwall till they had passed, thus professedly not seeing them, though,\nbefore turning, he must have enjoyed the sight of all. The other rule\nwas, that the men, when waiting for work, must stand at their machines,\nand by no means sit down.\n\nIn respect to account-keeping, no comparison can be made, for, previous\nto the service of this warden, the arrangement had been entered into for\nhim to have no concern with that, the financial matters being attended\nto by an agent.\n\nWe come next to the behavior of the prisoners, the great point really to\nbe looked at,--the one which outsiders, no doubt, always suppose to be\nmeant, when reading or hearing about gains in prison order. In the\nchapel, with the most critical observation and careful weighing, I could\nnot discover the slightest difference. The behavior was good, equally\ngood at all times, in both years. So, also, in the hall, as far as my\nknowledge extended. As to the shop, I could not pretend to judge from\npersonal observation, but an overseer, who served under both, gave me\nall needed information. He said, that he found it more difficult to keep\norder in his division the second year than during the first; that some\nwere more excitable, revengeful, inclined to vent their spite on their\nmachines, if nothing else; to throw those out of order and break things\ngenerally, costing him far greater effort to manage them. The uniform\ntestimony of the men leaving prison has been in the same\ndirection,--that they were more inclined to watch their overseers and\ntake the advantage to commit little misdemeanors, as would naturally\narise from this increased prompting to vent their ill-feelings.\n\nSo far as I learned, more contraband information was smuggled in during\nthe second than the first year; certainly I heard it often alluded to.\nThey would hint at outside matters that I knew nothing of, and in a way\nthat showed considerable knowledge of them. Take an illustration: The\nday after Pike's nomination as governor, a prisoner said, half\ninquiringly, \"Well, it seems that Pike is nominated.\" I could not say\n\"No,\" in truth, and, from my position, was not allowed to say, \"Yes.\"\nHence I answered, in a joking way, \"How much you think you know about\nthe outside world;\" to which he replied, \"I do know. I had a paper\nbrought me that very afternoon, before it was dry, giving an account of\nthe whole proceedings. He will be elected, too, and we shall have\ndifferent fare at the prison.\"--What one knew would be communicated to\nothers, so, of course, this fact was generally understood among the\ninmates.\n\nI have since learned, that, during the second year, a somewhat regular\ncorrespondence was carried on between the two wings, three couples, I\nthink, thus making their arrangements for marriage, to be consummated\nshortly after their release. And the enjoyment to them was, that some of\nthese letters were passed directly before the warden's face and eyes,\nwithout his notice.\n\nOne letter from the south wing was miscarried, and fell into his hands,\nfor which the sender was locked up and thus gained the knowledge, above\nreferred to, of the men's rations. But, nothing daunted at the fate of\nthis missive, she prepared another and sent it before her release, or\nvery soon after, which passed in safety. Besides this irregularity,\nparties in prison corresponded with those even out of the State, giving\na pretty full account of the prison management, a friend of mine being\nshown quite a pile of these letters.\n\nHence, taking all things into account as to the deportment of the\nprisoners, we are forced to the conclusion that no improvement was\nsecured the second year over the first, but rather a loss, that is, so\nfar as I saw or heard.\n\nThe warden, of course, did his best towards preventing all prison\nabuses, for he considers himself a very smart prison officer, so shrewd\nthat no prisoner can get the advantage of him. But he sometimes found\nmore than his match. Some thought it not a very hard matter to \"pull the\nwool over his eyes.\" The question has more than once been asked, \"Is it\npossible that he can be so befogged?\" Why not? He is an old man, between\nseventy and eighty, of great self-esteem, perhaps entering his dotage.\nIf such a man be placed in so responsible a position, what may we\nexpect?\n\n\n\n\n37. _Good traits in the warden for prison service._ He possessed two\nmost excellent and important traits for a prison officer. He was usually\nat his post, would be but seldom away and then only for a short time,\nbut once, I think, for a few days, during the year. He would also be\nalmost constantly looking after things himself, not leaving matters\naltogether to subordinates. True, some would complain of finding him in\nunsuspected and rather out-of-the-way places, but it taught them ever to\nbe on the alert, ready for inspection at all times.\n\nWhile, however, these traits, with a moderate share of judgment, would\nqualify one for running a steam engine, other and still higher and more\nimportant qualities are needed for managing a prison.\n\n\n\n\n38. _Chaplain's inability to prevent knowing more or less of the\nprisoner's troubles and the prison management._ If the chaplain is alive\nto the prisoners' moral needs, their sorrows of heart and intent on\naffording the requisite advice, in searching for knowledge how to\ndirect his words, he will often, of necessity, learn more of things in\ngeneral than he desires. The case of the young man spoken of in Sec. 25,\nwho had been in the solitary and gave this as an excuse for no lesson,\nis in point. He was making no complaint, but simply excusing himself.\nThis plea, however, brought with it an idea that no little lack of\nprudence may have existed in a point of prison management, but of which\nI could not judge without knowing further circumstances. Thus there are\nnumerous incidental ways by which knowledge will come to mind unbidden.\nMen, thinking themselves ill-treated, or who see others wronged, will\nspeak of these things before he can stop them, and thus some knowledge\nof wrong, perhaps, is gained. For example: A man in his cell, no little\nexcited, commenced: \"How my blood boiled this afternoon at seeing them\nthrow S., that sick man, on those timbers, and hurt him so.\" But just as\nsoon as I saw his drift, I called out, \"Hold on. You know I must not\nhear about that.\" Before I could stop him, however, enough was in the\nmind to raise the supposition that the feeble one was being abused,\nwhich idea subsequently received confirmation from the fact of his\ndeath.\n\n\n\n\n39. _Secular school success._ My course was to commence at No. 120 and\ncall at every cell in succession, where the inmate would engage in\nstudy, till arriving at No. 1, and then over again in regular order,\nbeing able, to \"go the rounds,\" as we called it, about twice a week,\neach receiving my attention only so often.\n\nI had quite a variety of exercises. Two commenced their alphabet,\nalthough some twenty-four years old. A number took reading in easy\nsentences, with spelling. Some thirty took arithmetic in its various\nstages, a few, as in the year previous, taking it up in review a while\nbefore leaving. A number in this branch made good proficiency,\nconsidering their disadvantages. Two took book-keeping, one doing but\nlittle, the other obtaining such a knowledge of the science as to\nprepare him to keep books passably well. But this was under\ndifficulties. Having no blanks for practice, I obtained for him three\nlarge slates, one for day book and so on. But soon I found him with\nblanks all ruled. True, they were made of brown wrapping paper, on which\nhe would write with a pencil. Asking no questions, I looked to his work\nas he pushed on with all energy and determination. No one could be more\ndiligent.\n\nOne, having been a machinist, expressed a desire, a while previous to\nhis liberation, for an opportunity to practice somewhat on mechanical\ndrawing. I obtained some patterns, carrying him one at a time. He would\ncopy them with great exactness, and had been called on occasionally to\ndraw working patterns for machinery in the shop. How lamentable that a\nman of his talents should go into service.\n\nOne took Latin, went through the grammar, and became able to read\nsomewhat in the reader. He expressed a determination to obtain an\neducation, when released, for which he was striving, when last heard\nfrom.\n\nOne, a house painter by trade, took arithmetic, and English grammar. He\nwas quick to learn, and a keen, smart fellow. He frequently expressed\nthe wish that he could learn something of ornamental painting, and thus\nbe able to work on signs and fancy carriages, when liberated. I, of\ncourse, could do nothing for him at that, directly. But it occurred to\nme that perhaps I could, in a measure, indirectly. I could perhaps start\nhim somewhat in penciling, thus leading his mind to a practical\nknowledge of making the sketches and outlines of what he would wish to\npaint. This idea he grasped with avidity, commencing, in a drawing-book\nthat I furnished him, on simple outlines, thence to shading, and finally\nto foliage, showing as good improvement as is usually found in our\nschools. And this exhibited the more talent in him from the fact that I\ncould give only a few general hints at the work, from what I had\ngathered by hearing teachers when directing their pupils. Hence, when\ncoming to difficulties, he was left to work upon them as best he could,\ntill conquered.\n\nHaving a work on Perspective, from which I had gained a few ideas, I\ngave him some hints on that. But we had nothing to practice upon but the\ninside of the prison, the walls and windows. He labored somewhat on the\nidea of the vanishing point, and that of the diminution of the angle of\nvision as distance increases.\n\nThus, the reader will see, our school took a somewhat wide range. I\nwould interest the mind, so far as could be, in what would profit, and\nthus beget a love for truth and turn the attention away from wrong. With\nthe wholesome ideas gathered in these studies, I would also inculcate\nthe moral, to elevate the thoughts and heart to the truly good. Here, I\nconstantly kept in view the idea of the best interest of the prisoner\nand the State.\n\nThis labor was most fatiguing. Standing there at the cell doors with no\nmeans of sitting, I would, at times, become so completely exhausted as\nto be obliged to retire to rest a while. Then, taking the air from the\ncells would occasionally be most repulsive and injurious to health, the\nwhole weakening to the system.\n\nI attempted to have a short school exercise with the females twice a\nweek, but word soon came that they could not be spared for that, and the\neffort was abandoned. The pupils did as much, perhaps, as could\nrationally be expected, under the circumstances. Could we have had the\nschool in the chapel, greater results would have crowned our efforts,\nwith much less labor.\n\nThough I was wholly cut off at first from having an evening school in\nthe chapel, near the latter part of January, the warden informed me that\nI might have one there on Thursday evenings, if I would give up the\nprayer meeting, but not to begin till warmer weather. I could not harbor\nthe idea, for a moment, of relinquishing the prayer meeting, and\nsupposed I must wait for the proposed Thursday evening effort till the\nwarden moved. At length, I found that he was waiting for me, when it was\ntoo late to move in the matter at all. Indeed, had we attempted the\neffort when first spoken of, it would probably have been more trouble\nthan benefit.\n\nAs to the penciling, nothing was said by any in disapprobation of it,\nyet, after that hearing, with the thought that possibly this might be\none of the points of offense, I took from him all the materials except,\nperhaps, the slip on perspective, which he greatly regretted.\n\n\n\n\n40. _Sabbath school success._ The prison year commences the first of\nMay. The former warden continued some ten weeks into the second year,\nduring which time the Sabbath school attendance remained as usual,\naveraging eighty-six.\n\nOn the first Sabbath of the new order nearly the same number were in\nattendance. But many had no teachers provided, and I could have nothing\nto do about arranging for the school's best interest.[4] The following\nSabbath brought a great falling off, still greater the next, and so on.\nIn a few weeks the warden peremptorily dismissed one of the teachers he\nhad invited, telling him that if he would call at another time, he would\ngive his reason.\n\n[Footnote 4: In speaking of the Sabbath school teachers employed, page\n69, the author intended to say, such a number that each teacher could\nhave a guard stand by him and see that nothing contraband passed.]\n\nAt first, a prisoner would occasionally ask a question, as usual, and a\nlittle discussion spring up; but the warden at once crushed all this,\nrequiring the teachers simply to put the questions as in the book and\nthe pupil to give the answer and nothing more. The number continued to\nfall off until it went below thirty, giving me fears that none would\nattend, all my efforts for their continuance being of no avail. No\nexcuse would usually be given. But one said, \"I won't attend with such a\nwarden,\" and I judged this the general reason. At length I found\nuneasiness pervading the teachers, one having determined to resign; but\nI entreated him to remain for the sake of the prisoners and the Sabbath\nschool, for, if he left, his class would follow, dropping the number to\ntwenty or under, and all would be likely to take the same course. He did\nnot feel satisfied with laboring under such circumstances, with a guard,\nmay be a mere boy, at his side to watch him, and he, perhaps, turned off\nas unceremoniously as the other. He preferred going of his own accord.\nBut my plea prevailed, and he remained.\n\nThe average attendance after the advent of the new order was\nforty-eight; for the whole year, fifty-seven.\n\n\n\n\n41. _Religious success._ The contrast between the religious element of\nthe present year and that of the past was painful. Still, among those\nwho at first gave up all hope of struggling against the tide, a few were\ninduced to forsake that ground and struggle on; thus we hope something\nof the past was saved.\n\nIn my discourses I felt impelled to dwell more largely on the moral\ncode, to which the inmates gave respectful attention. The prayer\nmeetings were well attended, though but few of the inmates would take\nany part. One of the Sabbath school teachers was usually present, and\nlabored with good effect. We took up more of the time in Bible\nexposition, which would occasionally seem to awaken some interest.\n\nAs to our true religious success this year, or the real good\naccomplished, none but that Being who knows all things can decide. One\nthing is certain, much earnest, prayerful effort to that end was made,\nmuch hard labor performed. But it is difficult rowing against wind and\ntide. Still, we probably shared in as large success as could reasonably\nbe looked for under all the circumstances.\n\n\n\n\n42. _Lack of truthfulness at the prison._ We are often told that no\nconfidence can be placed in the word of a prisoner. But in my experience\nunder the new rule, I was taught the sad lesson that I could place no\ngreater confidence in the assertions of some of the officers. A\ncomplaint of this character had repeatedly been made by released\nprisoners. Still, it required personal experience to enable me to\nappreciate its full and lamentable force. Hence, the shock I felt at the\nvirtual request of the warden for me to join in the falsehood course, by\ntelling the prisoners that Henry Stewart, when removed to the insane\nasylum, was taken out to be tried for attempts to murder his\noverseer.--Then, again, there were the assertions I repeatedly heard the\nwarden make to prison visitors, on passing through the cook-room. \"We\ngive the prisoners good food and enough of it. We purchase the best of\narticles the market affords, and have the food well prepared.\" He would\nrepeat this in earnestness and apparent sincerity, as though he really\nbelieved it himself.--Subsequently, a gentleman of the city, of\nundoubted veracity, being about to visit the parents of a prisoner,\ncalled and asked the warden how he was, with the answer, \"He is all\nright; you may tell his folks that he is all right.\" In a few days\nafter, it was found that, at the very time of this assertion, the man\nwas so sick that the doctor had nearly given him over to die.\n\nThen I would sometimes smile and sometimes feel sorrowful at his\nchangeable appearance; perhaps if one of influence and authority came\nin, he would put on peculiar airs of suavity, and expatiate upon how\nthings were and should be in prison, while one without that influence\nmight enter and receive entirely different treatment. I here see how our\nrulers may have been led on at times, unaware of the true state of\nthings in the institution. How easy to cover up!\n\nThen in the female department, I called for a convict in order to\narrange for her disposal on leaving prison, and was told, \"The assistant\nis in the city with the key to their apartment, therefore you can not\nsee the woman.\" But how was I surprised shortly to learn that, at the\nmoment of this assertion, the assistant was in the kitchen at work, and\nknown to be there by my informant.\n\nIs it any wonder that such people disbelieve in prison reform?\n\n\n\n\n43. _Reported quarrel between the warden and chaplain._ The idea has\nbeen circulated, how extensively I know not, that the warden and\nchaplain had a quarrel between them at the prison. It seems to have\npervaded some minds in the legislature at Concord in '71, being used to\nthe disadvantage of a bill before that body in regard to the prison, the\nfate of which perhaps was made to turn on that. No doubt a certain\nConcord gentleman, who had an ax of his own to grind in connection,\nknows very well how this report was made so prevalent. Whether he or\nanother started it, I know not.\n\nBut that idea had not the slightest foundation in truth. The\ncircumstances of our official intercourse in all that passed, have been\nfaithfully set forth in the preceding pages, and the reader can see for\nhimself that there was no quarreling. When the warden told me to \"bring\nthe key back and not touch it any more,\" I did as required, without\nuttering a word. When I told him what I should do about fixing up the\nMaine man before sending him away, his remark was in no fault-finding\ntone. When he pointed out my work at first, and in our connected\ncolloquy, all our words were civil and courteous, no unpleasantness in\ntone; and when he informed me on the point of the man's glasses and the\nsick man's flannels, I gave him no unkind answer. And where was the\nquarreling? Nowhere. It did not exist. He taught me my bounds after the\nmanner he did, and I accepted them and conformed my moves thereto with\nnot a lisp of fault-finding. He never spoke a word in disapprobation of\nwhat I was doing, but that all was agreeable to his mind. Again, where\nwas that place of quarreling? Not in the prison between the warden and\nchaplain. Whenever we met, it was on the most civil terms, we invariably\npassing the compliments of the day.\n\nTrue, we each had our notions on prison reform, he thinking that\nattempts in that direction are useless, that, when one has fallen into\nprison we can not reform him, that punishment is _the_ great mission of\nthe prison, and thus on; I, supposing that reform is practicable, that\nwe should faithfully use all available means for it, and make it the\nparamount object of imprisoning. On the question of prison order we were\nexactly alike in sentiment,--perfect order, strict discipline,--though,\nperhaps, varying as to the ultimate results, he securing that as a\ndeterrent to crime; I, as an important and indispensable element in\nreform, leading the once erring to that state of mind in which he will\nhate wrong and love right.\n\nThen, as we had not a word of debate over our differing ideas, so there\nwas no clashing in carrying them out. The warden established his line of\npolicy, as he had a legal right, then I surveyed the ground and decided\nto go on with my reform efforts, so far, with respect to time and place,\nas I could consistently with his arrangements, at all times looking to\nthe best prison order, and at no time to interfere with any of his\nmoves.\n\nThis was our prison quarreling, and the whole of it; a very peaceful\naffair. How happy, if all quarrels were of this character! I felt\nassured that, though what I was endeavoring to promote in our prison was\nheld by those at present in the ascendant as being an interloper in such\nan institution, and wholly out of place there, truth would at length\nprevail. Prudent labors, persevering efforts, patient waiting and firm\ntrust in the great Leader, would now, as ever before, result in the\ntriumph of the right. With such views I daily toiled in quietness,\ninterfering with nobody around me.\n\n\n\n\n44. _Prison Report for '71._ I had looked for a pretty free use of\nwhitewash in this, but it goes immeasurably beyond my anticipations. I\nreally expected to find some regard for truthfulness in the statement of\nfacts. But, in my astonishment at reading, I would inquire, \"Have I\nfallen into a general confusion of names? Is black indeed white?\"\n\nLet us read, p. 13,--\"He [the warden] ... spends his whole time in and\nabout the institution, not having been absent to the value of half a day\nsince he entered upon his duties.\"\n\nThus we have it. Sum up the time spent by the warden during the year in\ngoing to the P. O., or in calls out on business, or errands, or\nattending meeting on the Sabbath, or journeying to New York even, and\nthe whole does not amount to \"the value of half a day.\" This prepares us\nfor any statement we may find. If we admit that, we can anything.\n\nLet us, then, look at the food question.\n\nOn page 6. we have,--\"The food furnished the prisoners has been\nselected with more than ordinary care and great pains have been taken in\nhaving it well cooked and served. We have a regular weight from which\nthe rations are made, and any man, wishing for more than the regular\nallowance, is always furnished with an extra quantity.\" P. 13,--\"The\nwarden is not only valuable as a disciplinarian but is economical in his\nmanagement of the affairs of the prison, at the same time allowing to\nthe prisoners liberal rations of food of the best quality, but none to\nwaste.\"\n\nThis can be admitted just as easily as the quotation preceding. How\nrejoiced the prisoners would have been to realize the truthfulness of\nthis assertion one short week,--\"Selected with more than ordinary care!\"\n\"Regular weight!\" \"Liberal rations of food of the best quality!\" That\nwill do,--decaying fish, potatoes \"not fit to put into the human\nstomach,\" and all.\n\nBut when the Report comes to the chaplain it uses a black wash with\nquite as unsparing a hand, thus, (P. 13) \"But the warden has not had\nthat sympathy and assistance from the chaplain, which should be mutually\nrendered to each other by officers of the prison. The chaplain, for\nreasons best known to himself, has not acted in harmony with the warden\nin the discharge of his various duties, a matter very essential to the\ndiscipline of a prison. He has on the other hand, manifested\npeculiarities of his own which have been very detrimental to the\ndiscipline, and, we have reason to believe, have caused some uneasiness\namong the prisoners, which has made it more difficult for the warden,\nand, in some instances, causing punishment which would otherwise have\nbeen avoided.\"\n\nBut let us read what the warden says (P. 9),--\"In conclusion, I desire\nto express my thanks to all the officers connected with the\ninstitution, for the prompt, cheerful and efficient manner in which they\nhave discharged their several duties.\"\n\nThe chaplain was one of those officers. What, then, shall we believe?\nWho tells the truth? What has become of straightforward dealing? Where\nis that trait once called honor among men? The reader, having fully\ninformed himself of the real facts, will pronounce the above charge\nagainst the chaplain as unqualifiedly untrue from beginning to end.\n\nBut one says, \"That first assertion must be true. The warden could not\nhave shared your sympathy in his acts.\" No, that first assertion is not\ntrue. It is equally false with all the rest, that is, in the sense of\nthe writer, which evidently is that the chaplain did not sympathize with\nthe warden in his desires for order, and labor with him to that end.\nOrder is the first thing to be sought in prison as everywhere else. It\nhas my fullest sympathy and for the very purpose of helping towards it,\nunder this warden, I voluntarily undertook what I did.\n\n\"The warden has not had that assistance from the chaplain,\" &c. The\nreader has seen the chaplain putting in a pacific word here and there,\ndoing all he could to interest the mind in its privations, helping men\nkeep down their angry passions, robbing the solitary of its occupants,\nexcusing, entreating, helping to order in every way possible, and is\nheld up in that light.\n\n\"Not acted in harmony.\" Not a discordant word or step is the truth.\n\n\"Manifested peculiarities of his own.\" Peculiarities! What were they?\nHonest devotion to duty and not an eye to personal popularity; most\narduous toils engaged in for helping to the best interest of the\nprison; patient efforts for reforming and elevating the fallen. All I\nsaid or did there would come within some of these points. Were those\npeculiarities? What then must be the character of the prison management?\nIf the chaplain's moves were held as peculiarities it could have been\nonly from contrasting the animus and acts of those who ruled with his.\nThey would hold the prisoners as so many \"dumb, driven cattle;\" he, as\nhuman beings, with instincts of reason to be addressed and emotions of\nright to be stirred; they, in all cases, would move their brute fears,\nthreaten, scold, drive; he, a part of the time at least, would appeal to\nthe manhood sentiments, persuade, entreat, expostulate; they would\nregard them as morally hopeless, to be cruelly treated, and made money\nof; he, as those for whom hope lives, and on whom redeeming influences\nshould be used, and efforts made for coining from them gold purer than\nearth affords.\n\nNor are these moves of the chaplain peculiarities in many other States,\nif in N. H. Nor are they original with him. Other minds had brought out\nsuch ideas and pushed them somewhat widely into public acceptance, and\nhe was only attempting to introduce something of their benign influence\nhere.\n\n\"Detrimental to discipline.\" What gross darkness!\n\n\"Made it more difficult for the warden.\" Change \"difficult\" to \"easy\"\nand the truth would be told.\n\n\"Causing punishment.\" What an idea!\n\nThe chaplain saw the changes attempted to be brought upon the prisoners,\nand thought he understood something of the effects which the move would\nproduce on their minds and the results likely to follow. He knew that to\nsome extent he had the confidence of the men, that they were looking to\nhim as their friend, and as working for their best good; that,\ntherefore, he could, by carefully using his influence in a quiet,\nunassuming way, help slide the matters round the very sharp corner which\nwas being turned, and thus, on the one hand, make things more endurable\nto the inmates, and, on the other, easier for the rulers. With an eye\nsingle to this purpose he acted, and has the satisfaction of possessing\npretty clear evidence that he prevented a measure of trouble in the\nprison, and thus rendered the warden some aid at least, and made his\ntask somewhat easier. Indeed, he did what he could in that direction,\nthough with no blowing of trumpets. And, after doing all this, to be\nheld up in this light by the agent is a pretty hard cut.\n\nNow, one of two things is true in regard to all the quotations above\nmade. The assertors either believed they were telling the truth or they\ndid not. If the former be taken, if they really thought they could\npurchase the articles they did and from them make the best quality of\nfood; if they really supposed the chaplain's moves were as deleterious\nas they represent, what does it show in regard to their judgment as\nfitting them for place and trust? or, if the other, what of their\ncharacter as to truth and veracity? Let them take which horn of the\ndilemma they may choose.\n\nOne perhaps says, \"The writers were so informed about the chaplain.\"\nCould that be any extenuation of their wrong? If such insinuations had\nbeen made to them, why did they not first give some intimation of it to\nhim, thus giving him the opportunity of showing their falsity? Why did\nthey not have the parties face to face, and thus learn the truth? But,\ninstead of this, they published what they did, and that to the injury of\nan innocent man, so far as their influence could go.\n\nBut what could have impelled the assertors to such a course? The author\ndoes not pretend to know, but it looks as though the object was in this\nway to push the chaplain to resign, and they thus be rid of those reform\nefforts. Hence p. 13,--\"The prison is a penal institution, and is\nintended for punishment, not primarily as a reformative one, as some\npeople think.\" Here is, undoubtedly, the key to this raid on the\nchaplain. But what is its full import? These reformers fully believe\nthat the sentence of the court must be strictly carried out, and that,\ntoo, as an element of reform. The above sentence must mean that the\nprisoner is put there to be punished as the State directs by its laws\nand courts, and, in addition, for the managers to \"use him so that he\nwill not wish to come back,\" or to punish him as they may choose. If the\nsentence means anything, it must mean that. This being the true way, let\nus have it so understood, and, next summer, let the legislature\nrecognize the idea by a specific act, and then let the judge change his\nsentence accordingly, putting it, \"Your sentence is, that you be\nconfined at hard labor in the State Prison at Concord for ---- years,\nand that you there be further punished at the discretion of the prison\nofficers acting for the time being.\" Let this be announced to all\nevildoers; and, further, let the warden, agent and all, give a true\naccount of the severity of their several punishments, to be published\nyearly, that the prison may thus appear as deterring to crime as\npossible. Away with this covering up and pretending to the best living\nand best usage generally, thus making the institution appear so\nattractive. A lady visited a friend there and returned, having been\nmade, by the warden's palaver, perfectly reconciled to the friend's\ncondition, remarking, \"They are kept so well there, and used so kindly,\nthat one can not feel bad at all about a friend in the prison, except\nfrom the fact that he can not have his liberty to go out as he chooses.\"\nI protest against such proceedings. But let the truth stand forth, just\nas it is, that the wicked may really know upon what they must depend.\n\nWhy not put out the sentiment squarely that reform moves have no place\nin the prison? Let us be truthful in this, too. Then dismiss the\nchaplain and save that expense to the State, for he can be of no use.\n\nIt is made evident that the writers would banish from prison all reform\nmoves from this assertion, p. 13,--\"We think, sometimes, the matter of\nreform or sympathy for the prisoners is carried so far, in attempting to\nreform, as to lead the prisoners to believe that they are injured\npersons instead of transgressors, which is, in our opinion, wrong, and\nhas a bad tendency.\" Is not the writer here a little muddled? or would\nhe hold up these reformers as so absurd a set as to think of reforming\nmen by making them believe they are good already and really sinned\nagainst? Indeed, would not the labors of such men of straw be bad? True,\nthe writer pretends to found his objections to the reform efforts on the\nfact that they are carried too far, not perhaps, feeling exactly ready,\nat this late day, to come out squarely against efforts to raise the\nfallen, and to induce the erring to become good citizens. No, but it is\n\"carrying the matter too far.\" Just as though we could go too far in\nefforts for saving the drowning man. Away with such a sham!\n\nThis indirect charge must have been aimed at the chaplain, for he was\nthe only prison officer, that year, who could rightly be accused of such\na crime as attempting reform moves.\n\nWe are again told that Mr. P. had brought the institution to where it\nwas \"with firmness, but with kindness and a Christian spirit,\" which\nunfolds the writer's views of \"kindness\" and the \"Christian spirit.\" No\ndoubt the prisoners were just wicked enough to say, \"Lord, deliver us\nfrom all such 'Christian spirit.'\"\n\nWe are further assured, that Mr. P. \"has accomplished wonders in this\ndirection, for, in our view, there is now no better disciplined prison\nin the N. E. states.\"\n\nThat is a very comfortable feeling, very much more so than the emotions\nof some, who, going into others States, are made to blush at the taunts\nthrown out about our prison management, that \"such things will do for\nyou N. H. folks, for those so far on the background.\"\n\nBut let us turn to the financial part of the Report. Long before the\ndocument made its appearance, it had been heralded far and wide in the\npapers that those now running the prison had made it produce a clear\ngain of over five thousand dollars in nine months. Of course, making\nthis announcement was for personal popularity. Let us look at the\nfigures after the Report comes to hand. Number of prisoners, 85 males\nand 6 females. Profits reported for nine months and twenty days,\n$5173.51, including $396.65 paid on roofing shop. Without deducting this\nitem, we have $5570.16 gain over the real running expenses, which, for a\nwhole year, would amount to $6914.67. Let us compare this with the gain\nof the Massachusetts State Prison for '72, that Report being at hand.\nIts number of inmates were 543. If our 91 prisoners gained what they are\nrepresented, then 543, in that proportion, would gain $41,260.06,\nwithout considering the advantage in larger numbers. Reckoning that in,\nit would raise this gain to some $45,000, no doubt, the gain of\nMassachusetts in proportion to ours. But what was her gain? It was\n$14,635.23, ours being, in proportion, more than three times as much as\nhers, we thus leaving her all out of sight.\n\nThe writers say, p. 11, in regard to Mr. P., \"His management has been\nperfectly satisfactory to your committee. The results of his\nadministration are the most conclusive proofs of its efficiency.\" Do any\nwonder that the committee should be satisfied with such showing, if\nlooking to nothing but to the dollars and cents?\n\nBut does not the announcement itself show an aggravated wrong to the\nprisoners, or a false representation? It must be one or the other, if\nnot both. There is no possible way to accomplish all this by honest\nshrewdness in financiering and rightful treatment to the convicts. All\narticles of food have their market value. If really suitable for use,\nthe value is fixed for the time being, from which no material deduction\ncan be had. Things have their wholesale and retail prices. True, these\nvary more or less, from accidental causes, such as the abundance or\nscarcity of the article, the state of the money market, or the season of\nthe year. Buyers, by watching these accidental influences, may purchase\nmore or less to their advantage. And one can look to these points, and\nprofit from them, as well as another. Prison providers, especially in\nlarge establishments, will purchase, of course, at wholesale, and those\nat Charlestown enjoy quite as good advantages, to say the least, for\nsharing in these accidentals as those at Concord; and they no doubt look\nout quite as shrewdly. If, however, one is willing to turn from articles\nfit for use, he can find those as cheap as he desires, going down from\nthirteen cents to three or one, if he likes.\n\nThen this boast of great gains at our prison gives a suspicious look,\nto say the least. If we allow for all that cruel cutting off, previously\ndepicted, and even more, that would not bring the accounts to what would\nappear probable. The agent, in purchasing legitimate articles,\nmanifested no skill beyond others. He certainly ran behind on wood as as\nI happened to learn by experience. The man who furnished the prison with\nthis, agreed to supply some for me, of the same quality and price, but\nfailed to bring it at the time, which forced me to look elsewhere for\nwhat I needed and which I found, with no extra painstaking and at a\nbargain, reckoning price and quality, better by one dollar at least per\ncord.\n\nBut if this withholding from the prisoners what they so greatly needed\nand what was their just due, will not bring the accounts within the\nregion of probability, to what source shall we look for the discrepancy?\nLet us examine the accounts carefully and see what we thus find. True,\nit is said, \"Figures won't lie,\" but men, when disposed, may so use them\nas to lead wide of the truth. In our examination we find the same\ndealing as before pointed out. Important items of expense in running the\ninstitution are deliberately omitted in reckoning. Thus, there is the\nwarden's salary of $1000, the chaplain's, $750, printing the Report,\n$121,98, appraisers', $78, amounting to $1949,98. Subtracting this from\nthe pretended gain, $6914,67 - 1949,98, gives 4964,69. Let us see what\nthis would be with the Charlestown number of men, $29,625,56, over two\ntimes the comparative gain at Charlestown, a very large margin to be\naccounted for in our withholding.\n\nCertainly we can not afford to boast very loudly over these figures, but\nshould rather blush. The reader should bear in mind, that the prisoners\nare let at both places on contract, ours at ninety cents per day, and\nthose in Massachusetts for over one dollar, so that her prison managers\nenjoy an advantage over ours for rolling up gains. And when we talk of\ngaining more than twice as much as she, we have reason to fear that\nthose hearing us will say, that too many of those dollars were ground\nout of the flesh, and blood, and sinews, and life even of the\nprisoners,--not a very welcome sentiment.\n\n\n\n\n45. _Efforts of the Prison Aid Association for legislation in favor of\nthe prison._ The Governor, in his message of '69, proposed that the\nprison be put under the management of a Board especially appointed to\nthat purpose. But, instead of this, and in connection, making such other\nprovisions for the institution as were really needed, the legislature\nsimply passed the whole matter over into the hands of the Governor and\nCouncil, as this Board, an improvement somewhat, no doubt, over the\nformer system, but an arrangement, which, in the views of many of our\nbest citizens, carries with it grave objections.\n\nThe Board, thus constituted, is a changeable body, the members never\nremaining in office more than two years, and sometimes but one. As a\nresult, the prison must necessarily be managed largely by the\ninexperienced, for the men, generally, no doubt, come to the office\nwithout having given any special attention to the subject. This is much\nlike setting a company of untaught landsmen to navigate a ship.\n\nAgain, the prison is liable to no little changeableness in its mode of\nbeing directed, a great detriment to its welfare, unless it be from bad\nto good. Men will possess their varying notions, and some, though\nlacking a knowledge of the best prison interests, will persist in\nhaving their peculiar views put in practice, however conflicting and\ncontradictory. It is also now liable to be left largely in the hands of\nthe warden to be run as he wills, besides being exposed to the\nunfavorable effects of political party influence. Finally, the\ninstitution can receive only its part of the largely divided attention\nof its managers, and thereby, at times, be liable to inconvenience.\n\nBut the best interest of the prison evidently demands the control of men\nespecially adapted to their task, men who shall form a body with all\npossible permanence, possess ripe experience, be free in their rule from\npartisan control, who shall make the institution their speciality, and\nmanage after some fixed policy involving the most enlightened\nprinciples, principles of true reform.\n\nThe Association took up these matters, and for the purpose of obtaining\nlegislation looking as undividedly in this direction as possible,\nappointed a committee, of which Rev. Mr. Sanborn of Concord served as\nchairman, who should, after due investigation and correspondence with\nother States, prepare the requisite bill for legislative consideration.\nAfter much labor, the following, as subsequently amended, was presented\nto the legislature at its session in '71.\n\n     STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.\n\n     IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND\n     SEVENTY-ONE.\n\n\n     An act in relation to the Penal Institutions.\n\n     _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of\n     Representatives in General Court convened:_\n\n     SECTION 1. There shall be a Board of directors of\n     Prisons to consist of five persons appointed by the\n     Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the\n     Senate, who shall hold office for five years, except\n     that the five first appointed shall hold their office\n     for 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years respectively, the commission\n     of each designating his term of office. Thereafter one\n     Director shall be appointed annually in the month of\n     June, to hold his office five years. Such Board shall\n     have charge and superintendence of the State Prison,\n     and shall have such power, and perform such duties in\n     respect to County Jails, the Reform School and other\n     penal and reformatory institutions within the State, as\n     the Legislature may by law impose upon it. The Board\n     may, from time to time, elect from its own members or\n     otherwise, a Secretary, who shall perform such duties\n     as the Board may prescribe, and shall receive such\n     salary as the Legislature may determine. The other\n     members of the Board shall receive no compensation,\n     other than reasonable and other traveling expenses,\n     while engaged in the performance of official duty. And\n     the limit of such expenses shall be in amount ---- to\n     each individual, which shall not be changed except at\n     intervals of five years.\n\n     SECTION 2. Such Board shall have power,\n\n     I. To appoint the Warden, Deputy Warden, Chaplain,\n     Physician and Surgeon of the State Prison, and shall\n     have power to remove either of such officers, for cause\n     only, after opportunity to be heard in his own defense\n     upon written charges. All other officers and guards of\n     the prison shall be appointed by the Warden thereof,\n     and shall be removable at his pleasure.\n\n     II. To define the powers, duties and compensation of\n     such officers, except the compensation of the Warden.\n\n     III. To establish by-laws for the government of the\n     prison.\n\n     IV. To provide for the purchase of all articles\n     necessary for the use of the prison, or the health and\n     comfort of the officers and prisoners.\n\n     V. To provide for the sale of all articles manufactured\n     in the prison or not needed for the use thereof.\n\n     VI. To make contracts, if expedient, for the support\n     and employment of the prisoners or any portion of them.\n\n     VII. To make all necessary additions, alterations and\n     repairs within the prison or its inclosure.\n\n     VIII. To provide such books and instruction as may be\n     considered necessary for the convicts.\n\n     IX. To draw its warrant through its Secretary upon the\n     State Treasurer in favor of the Warden for all\n     appropriations made by the Legislature for the State\n     Prison.\n\n     SECTION 3. Such Board shall visit the State Prison at\n     least once every month, and oftener, when thought\n     necessary, for the purposes of ascertaining whether the\n     laws, rules and regulations are faithfully observed.\n\n     SECTION 4. The Governor may remove either of the\n     Directors of the Prison for malfeasance or misfeasance\n     in office, after having furnished him with a copy of\n     the charges against him, and giving him an opportunity\n     to be heard in his own defense.\n\n     SECTION 5. All acts and parts of acts, inconsistent\n     with this act, are hereby repealed, and this act shall\n     take effect from and after its passage.\n\nThis bill was presented and went to the judiciary committee of the\nHouse, a body composed of two ex-judges and other gentlemen of\ninfluence, all of whom favored it, some saying to me, privately, that it\nwas the very thing needed. The committee reported it unanimously. It\npassed the House with no opposition, and so also the Senate, the final\nvote having been taken when some private interest in Concord started up\nto defeat the measure and induced a member of the Senate to move a\nreconsideration of that vote. His move prevailed, and the bill was\nreferred back to the Senate committee, before which this interest\nappeared in objection to the measure, while friends were present in its\nadvocacy. The committee again reported unanimously in favor of the\npassage of the document, but on taking final action it was postponed to\nthe next session of the legislature.\n\nHere was the point where the story circulated of the warden and chaplain\nquarrel, that this bill was the embodiment of certain peculiar notions\nof the latter which he was pushing to the disadvantage of the former,\nmuddling some of the Senate, and thus leading them to think it not best\nto be \"mixed up in the matter,\" and so to vote that the measure be put\nover.\n\nIt is wonderful to think how slight an influence will sometimes thwart\nan important measure in passage at the legislature. A mere whisper of\nsome whim, a little prejudice against another, perhaps may put it all\naside. How little attention is given to merit! This is true even of Hon.\nSenators. To one of these I spoke about his vote within ten minutes\nafter he had given it, and he replied,--\"I don't know, I am sure, how I\nvoted, for I did not care anything about it.\"\n\nThe fact is, this bill did not originate with me. I had nothing to do\nwith it, not being on the committee who framed it. But, as Agent of the\nAssociation, I spent more or less time at the State House, looking after\nthe interest of the measure.\n\nThe next session the bill came up in the Senate again, and, through the\nsame interest as before, probably, it was indefinitely postponed and\nanother put on passage in its stead, which went to the House committee\non prisons. But they did not think it worthy of being reported, and that\ndied. A member of the committee remarked that it appeared to be a scheme\nstarted by one for the purpose of making a comfortable place for\nhimself. And he, no doubt, had the right of it, for the prominent\nprovision was that the Board should consist of three, one of whom must\nbe a resident of Concord, and not be allowed over four hundred dollars.\nThat would be a nice thing for the Concord man. Thus matters stand at\npresent so far as legislation is concerned.\n\nIf the reader will give attention to the bill above presented, he will\nsee that it is very comprehensive, and might easily be carried out. It\ncontemplates the needed permanence, each member being in long enough to\nobtain large experience in prison management, yet changing sufficiently\noften to avoid the ill effect of remaining in office too long. It\nfurther contemplates small expenses, as each member of the Board is to\ncharge nothing for his time.\n\nIt has been suggested that the bill be further amended, by striking out\nthe words \"and other instruction,\" in Article VIII., and inserting the\nfollowing Section after Sec. 3, thus, Section 4: This Board shall\nconsider the reform of the prisoners the paramount object of the prison,\nand shall secure to them such secular, Sabbath school, moral and\nreligious instruction as, in their view, shall be most conducive to this\nend, but not therein to conflict with the labor interests of the\ninstitution.\n\nOne objects to the above bill, that, as it proposes no compensation for\nthe time spent by the members of the Board, men of efficiency can not be\nfound to act upon it. If the concern is to be run simply for\nmoney-making, that would be the fact; and of right should be. But, when\nwe come to labors for raising these fallen ones from their crimes and\ndegradation to uprightness and a higher life, in a word, to make true\nmen and women of them as we ought, it is quite another thing. In that\ncase we have men, good and true, men fully qualified for the task; men\nwho, while carrying out the primary objects of the prison,--good order,\ngood discipline and true reform every way,--would also present the best\ntruthful show of legitimate gains in dollars and cents. Certainly it is\ndemeaning to our State to think otherwise. We have men among us, of\nnoble minds and large hearts, who, by honest industry and true integrity\nof purpose, have raised themselves to that position in the public\nestimate where they deservedly share the fullest confidence of their\nfellows, for ability and fidelity to the highest and purest aims, and\nwho feel that they owe it as a gratuity to society to lend a measure of\ntheir talents in managing her public interests. Hence, no difficulty is\nfound in obtaining men to act with the highest efficiency as trustees to\nour colleges and seminaries without compensation. So, too, enough can be\nfound really fitted to run the prison as proposed.\n\nAnother objection to the bill has been, that it does not make it\nobligatory for one of the Directors to reside in Concord. As the object\nof the legislation is for the special advantage of the prison, rather\nthan to make a place for a certain Concord gentleman, it was not thought\nneedful to insert such a limitation. Then, again, railroad facilities\nare so great as to do away with the need of such an enactment. That\nwhole matter can be safely left in the hands of the appointing power,\nwho should look for the best men to the position.\n\nBut the bill, with the connected ideas, is here placed before the\nreader, with the ardent hope that it will be thoroughly studied by him,\nimproved where it can be, or a better one substituted, and thus the best\nsystem of prison management practicable be hit upon and made a law as\nsoon as may be, thereby running the institution on principles\ncommensurate with the prevailing intelligence of our people, the genius\nof our Christian civilization, and in keeping with the times in which we\nlive and what is being accomplished in other States.\n\n\n\n\n46. _Experience with the new government._ In June, '71, the Democratic\nrule gained the ascendency at Concord. When the new rulers became\nestablished in their places, and were able to give attention to prison\nmatters, the Governor sent for me to call at the council chamber, which\nI did. His desire, as well as that of his council, was to know really\nabout the state of things at the prison. It seemed that statements had\nbeen made to them tending to show something of their true character. I\ngave some general intimations as I understood matters, but could not,\nfrom the circumstances, enter into particulars as on the preceding\npages; and, indeed, had not then so learned some of the facts that I was\nat liberty to speak of them. They professed a determination to have the\nprisoners properly treated, with enough to eat and of good food, though\nthe Governor said he had not posted himself on prison matters at all,\nnot thinking it worth while from the circumstances. It will be\nunderstood that he was elected, not by the popular vote, but by the\nlegislature, and, previous to its assembling, he could put but little\nconfidence in his election there.\n\n\n\n\n47. _Chaplain determines to have an investigation into the charges\nagainst him in the Prison Report, but relinquishes the idea._ On reading\nthe Prison Report for that year, I felt not only shocked at the\ncharacter of its general statements, so far as the warden and committees\nwere concerned, but also determined on having an investigation into the\ncharges against me. Touching one's character in that way is no trifling\nmatter, and I did not feel like sitting quietly down under\nrepresentations so entirely false. Had I been guilty, I would have borne\nthe deserved rebuke without a murmuring word. Some proposed that the new\nGovernor and Council make a general investigation of the prison matters,\nand I put this in with the rest. But they were not inclined to that\nunless parties preferred charges, in which case they would hear and\nconsider them. Hence, I decided to call for a hearing on those\nallegations, and prepared the papers according to legal advice, but\nthought best, before sending them in, to consult certain influential\nfriends in the place about attempting the move, and received a decided\nremonstrance against it; they arguing that the step would stir up\nstrife, make divisions and party alienations; that, in the uncertainty\nof things, I had no assurance of obtaining satisfaction, and the like.\nSupposing this to be given in sincerity, and that, perhaps, it might be\nfor the best, I gave the matter up, and threw aside my papers.\n\n\n\n\n48. _Anniversary of P. A. Association for '71 and remarks on our jails._\nThis was held in the Representatives' Hall, at Concord, the second\nTuesday evening of June. Ex-Gov. Smyth, President in the chair.\nAttendance not large. The Agent gave a full report of the past year's\ndoings, showing that good success had attended their efforts, and that\nthe enterprise was taking hold of the public mind in a measure, though\nwith some opposition. It had been a year of planning, commencing and\ngoing forward as a new struggle in the State; the object of the\nAssociation being to aid those released from prison by furnishing them\nwith good, immediate employment, under proper influences and with\nsuitable surroundings, helping with money only as indispensable, and\nthen not intrusting it to those aided to disburse. An important\nbeginning had been made, much hard work performed, and a measure of good\nevidently accomplished, giving favorable indications for the future,\nwith the needed energy and effort. Only $100.50 of the $300 appropriated\nby the State had been expended.\n\nIn preparing this Report, the Agent had written to all the jails in the\nState, proposing over thirty questions for answers, in order to develop\nthe state of crime and the penal working in our commonwealth. Only a\npart responded, but enough to furnish us with important subjects for\nstudy and effort. The good of society, the welfare of the State, loudly\ncall for our better minds, our more influential workers to give most\nearnest attention to these matters. We should here make a great effort\nfor improvement; an effort entered into by ministers of religion and\nthose of justice, legislators and all. Woman, also, should come to the\nhelp.\n\nAs now managed our jails are prolific schools of crime. The old,\nhardened offender and the young, in comparative innocence, are huddled\ntogether, the latter to be taught in deeds of wrong and adroit methods\nof performing them of which he had never dreamed before; instruction\nthat, perhaps, fires his mind to enter these ways of sin as a business\nfor life. Does not this look to the need of a classification, in these\ninstitutions, that we now have not?\n\nIn some cases the women's cells are in the same wards with the men's,\nand they can freely talk together, though locked in separately, and\nprobably never allowed to associate further. But there is a living\nremembrance of wrong, daily seen in Concord, which should cause us to\nblush, in the person of an unfortunate boy, who had his birth in jail,\nthe mother having been in durance there one year previously as a\ncandidate for State Prison,--another sad lesson for comment and remedial\nlabors.\n\nOur jails are cultivators of indolence. Men, women and children are\nlocked in there with no useful employment,--except in that at\nManchester,--nothing to do but to impart and study lessons of crime; and\nsome manage to remain there the most of the time, preferring this to\nhonest labor. These all go to swell the burdens of the tax-payer. Why\nnot have some sort of industries connected with these places? Set these\nfellows at work on something. Keep them out of idleness, so far as can\nbe. If the employment does not bring in largely of dollars and cents, it\nwill, in what may be better. And are not some of our jails themselves\nnuisances, a disgrace to the State?\n\nWe need, at least, two work-houses. They may not be of great expense at\nornamenting, but appropriate, substantial, fitted every way to their\nuse. Then fill them with this vagabond population now floating back and\nforth between the establishments catering to vice and the jails. Give\nthem really corrective sentences. Modify essentially this\nshort-time-sentence system. If one's wrong habits are not corrected by\none sentence, let the next be longer, or till thoroughly reformed,\nreform being the object aimed at. Then should we take the keepers of\nthese rum-shops, billiard-saloons, gambling-dens and houses of ill-fame,\nwith those of their frequenters that need be, and put them here at work,\ntoo. This would be a wonderful purifier of society. Give each a dose,\nsay of six months, when, if that don't cure, repeat it till the work is\naccomplished in them also.\n\nThen, here are numerous other connected questions for us to study,\ndiscuss and settle in regard to securing a general punitive system, a\nsystem in advance of what we now possess, more corrective of crime. And\nwhat shall be done for those children coming up in idleness, ignorance\nand vagrancy?\n\n\n\n\n49. _Fourth of July at the prison in '71._ The observance this year was\nin exact contrast with that of last, the one bringing gratification and\npleasure, the other, gloom and punishment. The workmen and other help\ndesired prison work to cease that day, for their enjoyment, which was\ngranted. But, instead of studying any means for giving a moment's\npleasure to the inmates, they were locked in their cells for the day.\nBut I spent the hours with them, going from cell to cell, and making\nefforts for removing the intolerable tedium, not unfrequently hearing\nthe contrast between the last Fourth and this, alluded to with deep\nsighs. It would have been great relief to them could they have continued\ntheir work in the shop for the day. Hence, the remark of one and\nanother, \"How cruel to keep us shut up here!\" \"Oh, how much more\nagreeable to be out at work!\" \"I would rather work four times as hard as\nusual than be confined here.\" Thus, they expressed themselves. If\npunishment was the purpose, that was effectively obtained.\n\n\n\n\n50. _Chaplain's removal from office._ The custom had been for the\nchaplain to remain in office till resigning, or for an indefinite\nperiod. This seems to be needful, if he is the right man, for it takes\ntime for him to become acquainted with the inmates and establish himself\nin their confidence. Frequent changes in this office is bad policy.\nAfter serving in the place a while and finding so much interest\nconnected with this department of labor, I decided to throw my whole\nenergies into the work for a time and see what fruits could be gathered\ntherefrom. I was also at no little labor and painstaking in a change of\nlocation, moving near the institution, to be in close proximity to my\nwork. Things progressed till, a few weeks after the March election of\n'71, a Democratic neighbor remarked that, should his party come into\npower, I should have a competitor, the next summer, for my office. It\nwas understood that the competing gentleman's plea was, that, more than\ntwenty-five years previously, he had been appointed to the place and\nserved nine years, but when the Democratic party lost the power, he was\nset aside; yet he had been living all these eventful years true to those\nprinciples, and now on the party's return to power he should be restored\nalso to his former place. It was understood, too, that he had received\nthe promise of the position on this contingency. The new Governor\nobtained his election, after which Democratic friends of the city and\nelsewhere assured me that my place would not be disturbed, especially as\nI was doing so much for the prisoners; and one of their leading men\nundertook to attend to the matter when the Governor and council should\ncome to the prison questions, and present the general wish from all\nparties that I remain. I proceeded with my usual work for six weeks,\nwhen, just at night, one day, I received word that I had been dismissed.\nDirectly referring this to that gentleman, \"Why,\" said he, \"that is a\nmistake. This very afternoon, not two hours ago, at the council chamber,\nthey assured me they should not act on the prison offices till their\nnext meeting some two weeks ahead.\" But notwithstanding his assurances,\nthe step was taken just on the heel of their adjournment.\n\nOn inquiring of a councilman, if, in this dismissal, they had been\ninfluenced in any measure by the aspersions in the Report, he said they\nhad not; that they did not doubt but that I had been faithful in my\nduty, assuring me that the reason was wholly political; to which I had\nno excuse to offer, as I had been guilty of voting the Republican\nticket; and if I must be dismissed on that ground, of course no more\nwords were needed. But there did seem a lack of straightforwardness for\nthem to move as they did in the matter without giving this gentleman the\nopportunity of presenting what he wished.\n\nThe gentleman appointed was a good man, but feeble, and acknowledged to\na friend that he could not do what had been done for the prisoners the\nprevious year. But the idea seemed to prevail that he could do what was\ndesired by the warden. Hence, as is understood, the secular school is\nlargely a thing of the past, and finally the Sabbath school is given up.\nNow, this is a very nice place for him in his advanced years, he being\nover seventy, where he has no care, and but little labor.\n\nBut what of the effects upon the inmates thus left with so much idle\ntime on their hands? Anything but good. A young man, the previous year,\nwas quiet and orderly, closely attentive to his studies, making good\nadvancement; but, when left with all these unemployed moments, he turned\nhis thoughts to planning an outbreak, was arrested in the execution, and\nfor months condemned to the ball and chain. Whereas, had his mind been\nkept employed as formerly, no doubt he would have continued quiet. Does\nit pay thus to cut off educational and moral privileges and share such\nresults?\n\n\n\n\n51. _Prison fare under the new government._ I did not serve under this\ngovernment for a period sufficiently long to enable me to learn from\npersonal observation very much as to what would be gained in the fare of\nthe prisoners, but thought some steps were being taken in the right\ndirection. The cracked wheat dinner was abolished for meat and potatoes.\nThe evening after, I found the prisoners rejoicing over it. One\nexclaimed, \"_Didn't_ we have a good dinner, to-day? They have put away\nthat wheat stuff, and now give us good meat and potatoes. Oh, _isn't_\nit good?\" A woman, leaving prison, gave us an account of the warden's\nscolding, that Councillor ---- \"was about poking his nose into\neverything.\" This, if true, gave signs of a determination to know and\nremedy matters. But they had to work under difficult circumstances. They\ndid not begin sufficiently near the bottom.\n\nAs informed, they went quite thoroughly into fitting up the clothing and\nbedding,--a welcome move, for no set of fellows ever needed it more. The\nnext winter, however, I said to a man who was leaving, \"You fare better\nover there this year than last, do you not? You are kept warmer, are you\nnot?\" To which he answered, \"I don't see much difference.\" Certainly, I\nwas looking for a different answer from this, and did not know what to\nmake of it.\n\n\n\n\n52. _The warden question._ It was supposed and reported that the warden\nwould be removed; then we learned that the political muddle prevented,\nsome contending for a straight, out-and-out Democrat, others, for a\nLabor Reformer, the party with whom they had bargained and thus gained\nthe power. Then there was another element which seemed largely to\nprevail, and which some thought acted more powerfully than all\nothers,--the fear as to how the prison accounts would stand at the end\nof the year. They had found out the condition of things in the prison,\nand learned something of how they had been run the previous year, and\nhad every reason to suppose that they could not possibly make so large a\nshow of gains as was then made. A highly important matter to them, for,\nshould they run behind, their opponents would, of course, use it to\ntheir party disadvantage in future political campaigns. What could they\ndo in the matter? Of course, the most feasible way was to keep the same\nwarden, with the hope, by his manipulating, of a less falling off; or\nthe fact of their having made no change here, would blunt the force of\nthe falling-short argument materially. Hence, party interests would\nprompt them, on the one hand, to remove the chaplain for a partisan; and\non the other to retain the warden for his aid to them politically. Thus,\nit seemed that party considerations ruled the whole matter, and that the\nrulers, instead of rising to the true dignity of their position, and\ninquiring about the real interests of the prison, the best man for the\nplace, bowed obsequiously to the shrine of party. True, late in the\nfall, or in early winter, they moved in the matter by appointing a\ngentleman of Concord to the wardenship, but under such circumstances,\nthat he could not, for a moment, think of accepting, though doubtless he\nwould have improved matters had he done so.\n\n\n\n\n53. _Experience at the prison subsequent to dismissal._ This experience\nwas limited, but sufficient to open another dark chapter in the history\nof poor human nature. I still acted as agent to the Association. In\nAugust, a man was to leave, concerning whom they started the story that\nan indictment was made against him, ready for his arrest on leaving\nprison; but they promised that if he would leave within a half hour\nafter his dismissal, he could go safely. I had a place for him near a\nfriend with whom relatives had deposited money on his account, but whose\nlocality I supposed he did not know. Very early, on the morning of his\nrelease, I, by a message, solicited the warden to forward him to me, so\nthat I could send him on the five o'clock train. But seeing nothing of\nhim, I at length went to the prison office and asked the warden if he\nwould please let the man out, as I could send him by the next train. He\nanswered, \"He has gone, Sir; went this morning at five, for New York.\" I\nnow turned to the deputy as usual previously, and asked, \"Will you\nplease furnish me with a list of those going out this month?\" He\nanswered, \"No, Sir;\" when the warden said, \"You have had enough to do\nwith the prisoners, already. You are not to have any more concern with\nthem.\" I answered, \"Very well,\" and, turning to go out, remarked to a\nman about to leave, for whom I had a place in readiness, \"Come to me as\nyou leave here, and I will give you directions as to where to go.\" The\ndeputy followed me, indulging in a tirade of most abusive language. As\nhe finished the words, \"You had better not be over here making a fool of\nyourself, but keep away lest you get kicked out,\" I had arrived at the\ntop of the stairs, where I stopped, supposing he proposed to kick me\ndown, remarking, in a subdued tone of voice, nothing frightened or\nexcited, \"Here I am. If you wish to kick me down stairs, you can. I came\nin civilly on business, supposing, as a citizen, I had a right to that.\"\nThe deputy ejaculated, \"A d----d poor citizen,\" the warden also having\nfollowed, and joining freely in the vituperation. Seeing no active signs\nof putting the threat in practice, I started on and came safely away,\nbut was subsequently informed by one then standing at the foot of the\nstairs, that he kicked towards me, when I had taken a few steps. But he\ndid not hit or injure the object of his rage. In this experience I was\nmore fortunate than a guard, who, as he asserts, when leaving service\nthere, was followed to the front door and kicked down the steps by the\nwarden, upon the ground, the foot hitting his back and causing such\nlameness that he had not then, after four months, recovered. He was\npurposing to prosecute the warden for damages.\n\nThus, while they have smiles and words of suavity for some, they can\ndeal freely in such abuse to those who doubt their highest perfection.\nNow, if they would treat me and others thus, what would they do to the\nprisoners? One will say, \"They were irritated towards you, for you had\ntold the Governor and Council about the prison management.\" That was no\ndoubt the fact. And they will become irritated with the prisoners also,\nwho are helplessly in their power, where they can treat them as they\nplease.\n\nAs to the two prisoners, whether the one pretended that he would go to\nN. Y., and took passage accordingly, or was forced to that, I never\nknew. But he would have taken passage to any place the warden proposed,\nin order to escape from his hands, as, through his influence, he\ndoubtless feared the arrest. For the ticket, the warden expended the\nman's five dollars allowed by the State, and advanced him five more,\nprobably supposing that it would be paid him by the Association. The\nman, as I learn, rode until he felt safe from being seized, when he left\nthe cars, traveling on foot for lack of means to go by public\nconveyance, and, at length, arrived at this friend's, in as bad a\nplight, probably, as any before spoken of. He said he had been sick,\nconfined to his cell for weeks, was neglected, and sometimes was not\nfurnished with water to wash for days together.\n\nThe warden, himself, accompanied the second man to a place in the city,\nand put him to work as he had previously arranged. Soon hearing of his\nlocality, I called, found his new pants with a bad rent, after only part\nof a day's wear, and furnished him with suitable clothing, pointing out\nthe place also of my arrangement to which he could go, or remain where\nhe was.\n\nAnother leaving prison, and calling on me, remarked, \"I asked the warden\nwhere you lived, to which he answered, \"I don't know;\" an additional\nspecimen of the truthfulness there.\n\nBut one queries, \"Why was the warden determined that you should not see\nthe men coming out?\" He could have had but one reason, the fear that\nthey would tell me the stories of their sufferings. The one ticketed for\nN. Y., I learn, gives some spicy accounts.\n\n\n\n\n54. _Prison report for '72._ This claims a better financial show than\nthat of the previous year. Thus says the warden, p. 4, \"I am permitted\nto record another year of financial success.\" Then the committee, p. 10,\n\"The financial affairs are in a highly prosperous condition. You will\nfind, by looking at the treasurer's report, that there has been a net\ngain, to the State, of $5,501,03, after paying all outstanding bills,\nwhich is a greater gain than the previous year, considering the less\nnumber of convicts and the larger outlay for clothing, &c. When we\nconsider the large appropriations that have been required from year to\nyear to run the prison, it must be encouraging to the tax-payers of the\nState to know that the prison has added the two past years, $10760,20 to\nthe revenue of the State, with no outstanding bills, and no complicated\nmatters to embarrass the institution.\"\n\nThis, surely, is a glowing picture; one so greatly enjoyed by its\nauthors, that it would seem almost too bad to spoil it by letting in a\ngleam from the light of truth. We see from the Report that our present\nmanagers here follow closely in the footsteps of their immediate\npredecessors as to their statement of financial facts, though intent on\noutdoing them in appearances at least. Like them, they reckon only a\npart of the expense in running the prison, leaving out the warden's\nsalary, and other large items, and thus pretending the gains to be what\nthey are not. They could equally as well have omitted the sums paid the\nphysician, deputy, guards and overseers, thereby making the figures\nindicate a gain of over twenty thousand for the two years, instead of\nover ten thousand. The principle of statement would have been the same\nand equally truthful. It certainly appears as though they were straining\nevery nerve to secure the greatest personal and party popularity on the\ndollar and cent question. Nor would we, by any means, censure them for\nthat, provided they proceed with a due regard to truthfulness, the\nrights of the prisoner and the best interest of the State. But the\npeople can justly require them to give these a proper place in their\nplannings and efforts. The pecuniary question is of high import and not\nto be lost sight of for a moment, but should not be allowed to swallow\nup every other interest with a miser's greed and with even a measure of\ndisregard for what is really true.\n\nIn estimating the entire amount of expense to the community, this year,\nin running the prison, of right we should reckon a somewhat large item\nnot above alluded to, the sum expended in caring for those made invalids\nthe past year by the prison management, and thus sent out to the public\ncharge. Of these there are probably six at least,--those two sent to the\nInsane Asylum, and four others. Thus, deducting all the real\nexpenditures, but a small list of gains are left.\n\nTo be able the better to judge comparatively and see the drift of things\nin our prison management, let us select the more important items from\nthe Reports of the years '70, '71 and '72, forming them into a table,\ntaking the average number of the prisoners for each year, obtained by\nadding the numbers at its beginning and end, and dividing by two. Under\nthe food and clothing items, let us insert what they pay in\nMassachusetts State Prison per day for food, and per year for clothing,\nto a prisoner or per capita:\n\n                                      1870.         1871.         1872.\n\nAverage number,                         123 1-2       104 1-2        85 1-2\nExpense for Overseers and Guards, $5,960 03     $6,314 91     $6,613 32\n     \"      Physician,               100 00        250 38        282 00\n     \"      Provisions,            8,581 32      5,416 41      3,283 00\n     \"      \"  per capita,            69 48         51 83         38 39\n     \"      \"  per day, per capita,      19            14 1-5        10 1-2\n     \"      \"  per day in Mass. Prison,  18            18 6-10       18 7-10\n     \"      Fuel and Lights,       1,195 43        954 41        682 13\n     \"      Clothing,              1,963 94      1,447 86      1,472 24\n     \"      \"  per capita,            15 90         13 85         17 21\n     \"      \"  in Mass. Prison,       21 67         19 40         18 72\n     \"      Library,                 262 95         94 84             0\n     \"      Ordinary Repairs,      1,937 64      1,057 08      1,029 50\nEarnings of Convicts,             25,338 22     22,619 70     19,134 45\n     \"      \"  per capita,           209 22        216 41        223 79\n\nThis table tells its own story and is in perfect unison with all that\nhas been uttered on former pages. The guards and overseers, the same in\nnumber, and with no additional labors, receive increased pay from year\nto year. Nor has there been any going up in the scale of wages outside\nto cause a demand for this. Nor were they more experienced and\nintelligent, thereby claiming higher compensation. Many were mere boys,\nsome not overstocked with intelligence. They had one boy of seventeen\nfor overseer in the shop.\n\nThe physician's pay has also received a yearly rise in the scale, though\nwith a large diminishing in numbers of prisoners and, as the Report\nsays, a remarkably healthy state among them. How can we reconcile this?\nTrue, the first year he attended only when called, and subsequently\nevery morning. But why the difference between the second and third years\nwith the fewer men and alleged healthy state? This is what needs\nexplaining.\n\nBut we find the food expense going the other way,--19, 14 1-5 and 10 1-2\nper day to a man. What a cutting off! Will it go on thus till the story\nof Hierocles about the man's horse shall be verified in our prison? So,\nalso, of the lighting and fuel with no change of space to be\nwarmed,--$1,195 43, $954 41 and $682 13. No wonder there was such\nsuffering from cold that second winter, before pointed out. Then what of\nthe third? No change in the prices of the market can account for this\nvariance. It must have been sheer withholding the necessaries of life.\nWe see that the Charlestown food allowance per day, for those years\nrespectively, was,--18, 18 6-10 and 18 7-10, increasing a trifle. Nor\ndoes any great extravagance appear in that first year with us, nineteen\ncents, one cent lower than authors say should be, though one higher than\nMassachusetts.\n\nThe allowance to the library is also suggestive,--$262 95, $94 84 and 0.\nTrue, during the first year the library was repaired, enlarged and newly\ncatalogued, but the second year the appropriation was about what is\nannually demanded for keeping the books properly replenished and in\nsuitable order. It is as small a sum as should be thought of. That\ncypher, therefore, for the third year, shows an unwarrantable neglect.\nThese figures are especially suggestive, too, on the educational and\nmoral points, perhaps a good index of them. And what a show! Down, down!\nWhat a picture for New Hampshire! Grant that the chaplain preaches to\nthe men Sabbath mornings, meets them in the prayer-meetings, &c., to\nwhat does it amount in the midst of such surroundings? True, it\ngratifies them to assemble, hear the human voice, and sing. That is\nabout all the good that can be looked for under the circumstances.\n\nThe labor figures, too, are expressive,--$209 22, $216 44 and $223 79,\nwhat each earned per year; poorer fare and more work. We admit that this\nrise may, in part, be credited to the fact that, from the former\nwarden's suggestion, our rulers had arranged for the doctor to visit the\nprison daily and examine the cases desiring excuse from work, by real or\npretended sickness, with the anticipation of saving more or less labor,\nwhich that warden supposed he had lost from being left himself to do\nthis excusing, and without medical advice, which measure commenced when\nthe new warden came in. But, besides this, enough remains unaccounted\nfor in that way, no doubt, to render it highly probable that too many of\nthose complaining of having been driven to work when sick, had just\ncause for such complaints.\n\nThose figures on repairs are important,--$1,937 64, $1,057 08 and\n$1,029 50. That first year made the last of those spent in that general\nfitting up, enlarging and repairing as preparatory to running the\ninstitution at more income, less expense, and, consequently, larger\ngains than ever before, thus laying the foundation for its present\nprosperity. Those sums for the second and third years would have been\nmere trifles but for keeping the shop appliances in repair, and that of\nthe first very much less. Now that the contractor keeps these appliances\nin order himself, this repair bill for a long while to come should be\nvery small. Hence, when we hear the laudations of the present apparent\nfinancial prosperity of the prison over that of a few years ago, we are\nnot to infer that those former rulers were any the less shrewd,\nfar-seeing, or energetic in financial matters than those of later date,\nbut that the latter are only reaping from what the former sowed.\n\nThe table shows us how the increased gains are secured; mostly by\nwithholding the necessaries of life from the men, and yet driving them\nto more work.\n\nBut we turn from examining this table more directly again to the Prison\nReport of '72. It says,--\"As complaint has been made that the prisoners\nwere not properly fed and clothed, or that the food was deficient in\nquantity and quality, we say to you that we think no prisoners in this\ncountry are so well fed and clothed as the convicts of the New Hampshire\nState Prison.\" What shall we think concerning the judgment of those\nwriters? It seems that they have become conversant with the prison fare\nin all the States of our country, and, after careful examination, have\ndeliberately formed the opinion that the fare in the N. H. State Prison,\nat ten and one-half cents per day, is really better than that elsewhere\nat eighteen cents.\n\nThen again, ibid: \"No article of food has been furnished by us that was\nnot good, sweet and wholesome; and as good in quality as will average\nupon the tables of the tax-payers of the State. The remarkably healthy\nlook of the convicts is plain proof that they are well cared for, have a\nplenty to eat, and that which is good.\" It seems that the authors of\nthis part of the Report have not only traveled far and wide over our\ncountry and surveyed each prison, but have also called on every\ntax-payer of our State, scrutinized their tables carefully, and found\nthat their average living costs not over ten and one-half cents per day\nto each individual. When found they time for all this? Or are we to\nunderstand that they are purposely using the whitewash their\npredecessors left?\n\nThe chaplain is again, in this Report, brought forward thus, pp. 10 and\n11,--\"At the commencement of our labors as Prison Committee there was a\nwant of harmony between the former chaplain and the officers of the\nprison, which seemed to us against the interests of the prison, and\nought, in some way, to be removed. We could see no way to obviate this\ndifficulty other than the removal of the warden or the chaplain. After\ndue consideration, with the best information we could get, we thought\nbest to recommend the removal of the chaplain and the appointment of Mr.\nSmith to that office. By this change harmony was at once restored. Mr.\nSmith has rendered faithful and effective labor, to the entire\nsatisfaction of the committee and officers of the prison. Mr. Smith's\nprison experience, together with the deep interest he has for the\nwelfare of the prisoners, seems to indicate him to be the right man in\nthe right place.\"\n\n\"Rather hard on the former chaplain,\" said one of our editors. But what\nshall we believe? One of the subscribers to this article told him that\nhe was removed on purely political grounds, as previously narrated. Then\nthere was that corroborative assertion by the democratic neighbor that\nMr. Smith had received the conditional promise. Now this declaration is\npublished to the world. Where is the truth? Were they unwilling to put\nit out squarely that they had made a political foot-ball of the prison?\nOr would they rather sacrifice the character and reputation of an\ninnocent man, who had labored as best he could for the good of the\ninstitution? They pretend to have acted in view of a difficulty between\nthe chaplain and warden, and \"with the best information we could get, we\nthought best to recommend the removal of the chaplain.\" Where did they\nobtain that information? There was, of course, but one source, and, from\na year's experience, the writer understands something of its character,\nthat it would not be impossible for men regarding themselves rather\nshrewd to leave, wholly misconceiving the real truth. But what shall we\nsay of this course of condemning a man unheard, and on ex parte\nassertions? Is that the part of honorable dealing? But the whole subject\nis left with the reader to pass judgment upon in view of the facts\nalready set before him.\n\n\n\n\n55. _International Penitentiary Congress, London, July 3-13, 1872._ This\nresulted from the move already spoken of at the gathering in Ohio in\n'70. Dr. Wines, there selected to the important work of bringing about\nthe proposed assemblage, received due governmental qualifications by a\ncommission from our President according to a special act of Congress,\nthe Secretary of State also opening the way by communicating with the\nvarious governments represented at Washington, respecting the great\nsubject. On this mission, the Dr. visited Europe in '71, received a\ncordial welcome from the various governments, and found them generally\nin readiness to enter heartily into the move. After due consultation,\nLondon was settled upon as the place of meeting, a committee, to\nprovide for which and facilitate its general objects, was chosen in\nLondon with the Right Hon. Sir Walter Crafton as Chairman and Edwin\nPears, Barrister at Law, Secretary. This committee is represented as\ncomposed of all political parties, with Lord Carnarvon really at the\nhead, similar committees being formed in most of the other countries\nmoving in the enterprise. To prepare work for the congress and secure\nits objects, a circular was addressed to the various States containing\nthirty prominent questions on imprisoning and its connected points, for\nanswer. On assembling, this body found itself composed of delegates duly\ncommissioned from twenty-two different governments, Russia and Turkey\nincluded, all the States of Europe represented but Portugal, delegates\npresent from India, Victoria and other British colonies, South America,\nand eighteen of our United States, then representatives from various\npenitentiaries, benevolent societies for giving aid to released\nprisoners, magistracies, &c., &c., 298 in number, a gathering the like\nof which, in some respects, had never been held. Here were judges,\nprofessors of criminal law, prison managers, philanthropists, and\nvarious gentlemen skilled in the working of criminal jurisprudence.\n\nHere the commissioned dignitaries from kings and emperors found\nthemselves met with delegates from voluntary associations and democratic\ninstitutions. How could they, in justice to their dignity, submit to\nthis? But the matter was amicably adjusted, and all came upon a\ndemocratic level and acted in the greatest harmony,--an important gain\nto manhood. The meeting was held at a Hall of the Middle Temple; at the\nopening, Earl Carnarvon presiding and making the inaugural address,\ngiving welcome to the foreign delegates and making numerous important\nsuggestions. At the next session Dr. Wines presided, and gave an address\nfull of information as to the purpose of calling this congress and the\nobjects to be gained,--a universal harmony in prison managing, which\nmanaging should have certain broad principles underlying, permeating and\nvivifying it.\n\nAt a soiree given by the English committee to foreign visitors, the\nPrince of Wales and suit attended, thus showing the sanction of the\nEnglish government to the congress. This sanction was also expressed by\nthe attendance at one session of the Home Secretary of State, Right Hon.\nAustin H. Bruce, giving an official welcome to the gathering, and\nexpressing a hope of being materially profited by the deliberations. The\nmeeting, on the whole, was an important affair, of high interest from\nbeginning to end. Its transactions are published in a volume of 796\npages, to be had of Rev. Dr. Wines, New York. Then one of the\ncommissioners from New Hampshire, Mr. Allen Folger, wrote out a synopsis\nof the doings, which has been published in a pamphlet of 50 pages, by\nthe authority of our State, for distribution, showing the interest our\nGovernor and Council take in these matters.\n\nThe questions before spoken of were taken up by each country and\nelaborate answers given, papers were read upon them and thorough\ndiscussion had. The order was not to take any votes but to bring in\nfacts of the various prison workings, to interchange views, criticise\nand thus sift out the best, in which, evidently, great enlightening of\nmind was obtained, and a great advancement made in the right direction.\nOn page 537 of Transactions we have the following reform sentiments:\n\"Man, in the state of penal servitude, is no longer a thing, but a moral\nbeing, whose liberty human justice has not the right to confiscate\nabsolutely and irrevocably, but only within the limits required by the\nprotection and security of social order. The logical sequence of this\nview is, that it is the duty of society to reform the criminal during\nhis temporary privation of liberty, since, in this way only can the\nperil of his relapse be successfully combatted, and the public safety\neffectually maintained. The reformation of imprisoned criminals is not,\ntherefore, in our day, a work of philanthropy, but an obligation of the\nState.\"\n\nIn one or two prisons they have been so successful in reform efforts,\nthat, having taken some of the very worst criminals, they have led them\nto such order and good behavior, as to be able to dispense with locks\nand bars, rendering the prison more like a great family, kindness being\nthe great controlling element.\n\nIn the abridged report of the proceedings of the International Congress,\nunder the head of \"Cumulative Imprisonment,\" we learn that the following\nquestion was submitted, and several important suggestions followed its\npresentation.\n\nQUESTION: Ought prisoners on reconviction to be subjected to more severe\ndisciplinary treatment than on the first sentence?\n\nIt was opened by M. Peterson, of Bavaria, who maintained that cases\nrequired treatment according to the degree of demerit shown on the\nprisoner's trial, and therefore, that instead of laying down one\nprinciple, the right course was to leave the judges to decide what\nshould be done in each case.\n\nM. Ploos Van Amstel, of Holland, and M. Stevens, of Belgium, advocated a\nmerciful treatment as likely to have more effect than severity.\n\nMr. Aspinall, of Liverpool, read resolutions which the Liverpool\nmagistrates had passed, to the effect that it was desirable that\ncumulative principles should be applied to the punishment of all crimes\nand offences, and that the magistrates should be empowered to transfer\nwell conducting and deserving prisoners to homes for the remainder of\ntheir sentences. Voluminous statistics showed that there were numerous\nreconvictions up to seventy times, and that the conclusions arrived at,\nby the magistrates, was that it would be better for the prisoners and\nbetter for society if the cumulative principles were carried out.\n\nDr. Guillaume, of Switzerland, mentioned his experiences in some of the\ncantons of his country, which had led him to the conviction that it was\nbetter to give the reconvicted such sentences as would enable the\nprisoner to learn a trade, by which he could earn his living in the\nlabor market without being obliged to fall back upon the lines of crime,\nthan to give short and severe punishments, which, by including a\nlessened diet, sent the criminal back into the world, not only\nunimproved in morals, but deteriorated physically.\n\nIt would seem, according to his views, that the design of imprisoning\nis, to bring back to society those once injurious, but who are now\nchanged to good citizens.\n\nMrs. Julia Ward Howe, of Massachusetts, advocated the merciful and\nkindly treatment as being the way to make a permanent impression upon\nthe criminal classes.\n\nM. Robin, of France, stated that his experience led him to set his face\nagainst all pains and penalties in prison, as against Christian\nprinciples, and advocated the teaching of trades. All in all, strict\nadherence to Christian principles should be at the bottom of the\ntreatment of criminals.\n\nCount de Foresta, of Italy, held that the question was rather one of law\nthan prison discipline. He urged that there was a line of prison\ndiscipline beyond which it was impossible to go without turning the\ndiscipline into cruelty.\n\nAnother question touching \"Prison Labor,\" was brought forward and\nconsidered, as follows:\n\nQUESTION: \"Should prison labor be merely penal, or should it be\nindustrial?\"\n\nIt was opened by the reading of a long and interesting paper by Mr.\nFrederick Hill, brother of the late celebrated Recorder of Birmingham.\nThe substance of the paper was that labor, to be made useful and\nproductive, follows natural laws, which are the same in prison as out of\nprison; that it is an advantage to the prisoner to fit him for\nusefulness and to make more easy his reform; that it will help pay the\ncost of his conviction and imprisonment; that upon release, he will be\nbetter armed against relapse into crime, as well as much better prepared\nto obtain an honest living than those whose labor has been merely penal;\nthat the pains and privations necessarily attendant on the process of\nmoral reformation are so great as to make it unnecessary, for the\nmaintenance of the principle of deterrence, to superadd artificial pains\nand penalties.\n\nColonel Colville, Governor of Colbath Fields Prison, one of the largest\nLondon prisons, spoke very strongly against the tread-mill system of\npunishment which is in nearly all the prisons of England, and almost\nunanimously condemned by the prison officials.\n\nThe general opinion of the Congress was in conformity to views expressed\nby the speakers mentioned.\n\nUnder the question touching the moral value of visitation of the\nprisons by women, we find the following sensible views expressed:\n\n\"While the character of the visiting women depends upon chance, they are\nas likely to be indiscreet, and to interfere unwisely as otherwise. If\nthey were selected as men are, or ought to be, for their fitness, their\nwork would be done with good judgment and discretion. Then, again,\ncriminal men separated from their families and from all gentle\ninfluences, need the ministry of good women for their reformation. The\nmotherly influence of pure, gentle women will sometimes control and\nsubdue the violent, when even blows would fail to do so.\"\n\nThe whole force of the International Congress went in favor of the idea\nof _reforming_ the prisoners. For this the body advocated stimulating\nthe prisoners' self-interest, thus:\n\n\"In this way, the prisoner's destiny during his incarceration should be\nplaced, measurably, in his own hands; he must be put into circumstances\nwhere he will be able, through his own exertions, to continually better\nhis condition. A regular self-interest must be brought into play. In the\nprison, as in free society, there must be the stimulus of some personal\nadvantage accruing from the prisoner's efforts. Giving prisoners an\ninterest in their industry and good conduct tends to give them\nbeneficial thoughts and habits, and what no severity of punishment will\nenforce a moderate personal interest will readily obtain.\"\n\nThey also advocated using the moral force:\n\n\"In criminal treatment, moral forces should be relied on with as little\nadmixture of physical force as may be; organized persuasion to the\nutmost extent possible should be made to take the place of coercive\nrestraint, the object being to make upright and industrious _freemen_,\nrather than orderly and obedient _prisoners_. Brute force may make good\nprisoners, moral training alone will make good citizens. To the latter\nof those ends the living soul must be won; to the former, only the inert\nand obedient body. To compass the reformation of criminals, the military\ntype in prison management must be abandoned, and a discipline by moral\nforces substituted in its place. The objects of military discipline and\nprison discipline, being directly opposed to each other, can not be\npursued by the same road. The one is meant to train men to act together,\nthe other to prepare them to act separately. The one relies upon force,\nwhich never yet created virtue; the other on motives, which are the sole\nagency for attaining moral ends. The special object of the one is to\nsuppress individual character and reduce all to component parts of a\ncompact machine; that of the other is to develop and strengthen\nindividual character, and, by instilling right principles, to encourage\nand enable it to act on these independently.\"\n\nThey tell us again \"that the self-respect of the prisoner should be\ncultivated to the utmost and every effort be made to give back to him\nhis manhood.\" \"There is no greater mistake in the whole compass of penal\ndiscipline, than its studied imposition of degradation as a part of\npunishment. Such imposition destroys every better impulse and\naspiration. It crushes the weak, irritates the strong and indisposes all\nto submission and reform. It is trampling, where it ought to raise, and\nis therefore as unchristian in principle as it is unwise in policy.\"\n\nFarther, \"The system of prison discipline must gain the will of the\nconvict. He is to be amended, but this is impossible with his mind in a\nstate of hostility. No system can hope to succeed which does not secure\nthis harmony of wills, so that the prisoner shall choose for himself\nwhat his officer chooses for him. But to this end the officer must\nreally choose the good of the prisoner, and the prisoner must remain in\nhis choice long enough for virtue to become a habit. This consent of\nwill is an essential condition of reformation, for a bad man can never\nbe made good against his will. Nowhere can reformation become the rule\ninstead of the exception, where this choice of the same things by prison\nkeepers and prison inmates has not been attained.\"\n\nThey assert, too, that the officers should possess a hearty desire and\nintention to accomplish the object of reform in the prison. Regarding\nthese officers they also say thus:\n\n\"In order to the reformation of imprisoned criminals, there must also be\nin the minds of prison officers a serious conviction that they are\ncapable of being reformed, since no man can heartily pursue an object at\nwar with his inward beliefs; no man can earnestly strive to accomplish\nwhat in his heart he despairs of accomplishing. Doubt is the prelude of\nfailure; confidence a guaranty of success. Nothing so weakens moral\nforces as unbelief; nothing imparts to them such vigor as faith. 'Be it\nunto thee according to thy faith,' is the statement of a fundamental\nprinciple of success in all human enterprises, especially when our work\nlies within the realm of mind and morals.\"\n\nFinally, they assure us that \"work, education and religion (including in\nthis latter moral instruction) are the three great forces to be employed\nin the reformation of criminals.\"\n\n\n\n\nCONCLUSION.\n\n\nThe two systems of prison management, previously alluded to, are now\nbefore the reader so far as these pages have elucidated, the\n_reformatory_ on the one hand, and the _punitive and money-making_ on\nthe other. And which do you prefer? Will your choice be for the honest\neffort to raise up the fallen, to do our duty to the erring, to throw\nwhat influences can be about these disturbers of society to lead them to\nbecome upright citizens? Or, will it fall upon the crushing, cruel,\nvindictive course, the process of making them more debased, sordid,\nrevengeful? Do you prefer manhood-producing with its benign effects, or\nmoney-making attended with the blighting of the higher aspirations of\nthe soul? This subject has been taken up in the narrative form, that the\nwriter could the more easily, by incidents, and in the briefest way,\nbring out the peculiarities of the two systems in their workings and the\nanimus impelling them. He has brought forward nothing in the line of\nfacts and incidents except what had come under his own observation, or\nbeen so reported to him that he had no doubt of its truthfulness. Many\nof the incidents in Part II. he would gladly have passed in silence,\nregretting exceedingly the necessity of bringing them out. But a solemn\nsense of duty seemed to impel him to this task. He has delayed any move\nhoping the turn of events would excuse him from penning these truths for\nthe public eye. But his conscience and his God will condemn him, if\nlonger delayed. He has brought forward names with no unkind feeling, or\npurpose to expose or wound, but to show the way things have moved. No\nmatter what course others may have taken towards him, he has endeavored\nstudiously to follow the exhortation he has so often given to the\nprisoners in yielding all that into the hands of God, for his disposal.\n\nThis matter is now before the people. Will you not study the questions\ncarefully and act? Will not ministers of religion and of law, merchants\nand artisans, all those in the various industries of life, men and women\ncome to the help? True, the latter, however pure and exalted, is now\nforbidden entrance to the chapel in labors of love for the fallen men.\nHence, that somewhat recent shock to the community in the stern refusal\nof Elizabeth Comstock's request for permission to address the inmates on\ntheir moral and religious interests. How long shall such things be in\nour prison? How long shall the light of science, of morality and of pure\nreligion be virtually shut out from that abode? How long shall we work\nso as to make bad men worse, hard hearts harder, the depraved more\niniquitous, the pestiferous more destructive to the safety and quietness\nof society? Till the people shall stir effectively, make their voice\nheard and their power felt. Why not change our system of imprisoning and\nput it fully on that of reform? Why not adopt the course of dismissing\nprisoners only on condition of good evidence of reform and on further\ncondition of being returned in case of relapse into crime? Why not\narrange for those who will not reform, as some will not, to serve in\nprison for life, thus freeing society of their depradations? Then why\nnot use them humanely while keeping their time occupied in useful\nemployment, still permitting each to enjoy the means of mental, moral\nand religious culture. Many, thus situated would, no doubt, live really\ngood, pious lives, who, from their moral weakness, could not resist the\ntemptations to crime which are met on every hand without. To such, the\nprison should act as a kind, beneficent guardian.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note: The following typographical errors which were\npresent in the original edition have been corrected.\n\nIn the Table of Contents, \"B. and E's request\" was changed to \"B. and\nE.'s request\".\n\nIn Part I, Chapter 1, a missing quotation mark was added after \"managing\npenal institutions\".\n\nIn Part II, Chapter 1, a missing quotation mark was added after\n\"correction of prison abuses\".\n\nIn Part II, Chapter 6, \"laborers in she school\" was changed to \"laborers\nin the school\".\n\nIn Part II, Chapter 11, \"a line of sustantial agreement\" was changed to\n\"a line of substantial agreement\".\n\nIn Part II, Chapter 19, \"On said of the cracked wheat\" was changed to\n\"One said of the cracked wheat\".\n\nIn the original text, two chapters were numbered 24. The second of these\nhas been renumbered 24 1-2 (which matches the numbering in the Table of\nContents).\n\nIn Part II, Chapter 24 1-2, a missing quotation mark was added after \"a\nsystem of especial surveillance\".\n\nIn Part II, Chapter 26, \"Had they endeed his sufferings\" was changed to\n\"Had they ended his sufferings\".\n\nIn Part II, Chapter 27, \"asked to state about the Silver case\" was\nchanged to \"asked to state about the Sylver case\", and \"the patient\nreally died of a heart difficult\" was changed to \"the patient really\ndied of a heart difficulty\".\n\nIn Part II, Chapter 35, a missing quotation mark was added after \"take\nanything extra\", and a missing comma was added between \"irritability\"\nand \"angry feeling\".\n\nIn Part II, Chapter 36, a missing quotation mark was added after \"it\nseems that Pike is nominated\".\n\nIn Part II, Chapter 47, \"they were no inclined to that\" was changed to\n\"they were not inclined to that\".\n\nIn Part II, Chapter 51, a quotation mark preceding \"One exclaimed\" was\ndeleted.\n\nIn Part II, Chapter 54, \"Prison report for 72\" was changed to \"Prison\nreport for '72\", and a missing quotation mark was added after \"no\ncomplicated matters to embarrass the institution\".\n\nIn Part II, Chapter 55, \"the teaching of rades\" was changed to \"the\nteaching of trades\", a quotation mark following \"without turning the\ndiscipline into cruelty\" was deleted, \"should it beindustrial\" was\nchanged to \"should it be industrial\", a quotation mark was added\nfollowing \"industrial\", a quotation mark was deleted following \"views\nexpressed by the speakers mentioned\", and a quotation mark was added\nfollowing \"to act on these independently\".","title":"The Prison Chaplaincy, And Its Experiences","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":59369}