Recollections of Windsor Prison Part 15

THOMAS EDDY, of New York, in a pamphlet on Prison Discipline, mentions a case, in which a number of desperate villains, in one room, within the walls of a Prison, were engaged in the business of counterfeit money, and were enabled to prosecute it by the connivance and a.s.sistance of a keeper.

Even in the Prison at Auburn, which is in many respects so worthy of commendation, the Commissioners mention, in a late Report to the Legislature, that "one Terrence Heeney who was never fit for the trust of a guard, was three times appointed to that place, and three times removed for misconduct." They also say, that "several other cases have been proved of the appointment of incompetent or unfit men; but, in general, they were removed as soon as their unfitness became known."

Mr. LYNDS, the superintendent of the Prison at Sing Sing, speaks of the character required in this situation as peculiar: viz. equanimity, quick discernment of character, impartiality, resolution, vigilance, prompt.i.tude, besides honesty and temperance, and, more than all, a habit of seeing much and saying little. He has not been without his difficulties in getting the right men. He mentions a case, in which an a.s.sistant keeper at Auburn was detected in employing convicts to steal for him.

ROBERTS VAUX, of Philadelphia, in a pamphlet ent.i.tled 'Original and successive Efforts to improve the Condition of Prisons,' &c., mentions, that, in the Prison in Philadelphia, many years since, 'the keeper had been a long time connected with criminals, under circ.u.mstances which caused him to be suspected of a more intimate knowledge of the depredations committed in the city, than comported with that unblemished reputation which ought to belong to such an officer.'

In the Baltimore Penitentiary, an officer was understood to say, that two a.s.sistant keepers had been discharged for circulating counterfeit money for convicts."

There is another part of the discipline recommended by this Society, of which I cordially approve; it is that which relates to religious instruction. May G.o.d bless all their labours to give this part of their discipline a permanent residence in every prison on earth! I expect the time when prisons will be purified from sin--I expect a time when they will be no longer needed--and I expect this through the universal and perfect diffusion of the principles of the gospel. "When in the wisdom of G.o.d the world by wisdom knew not G.o.d, it pleased G.o.d, by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." The means of _grace_, then, are the only means of reformation. The means of _cruelty_ can effect no good in any heart. The gospel, _the gospel_; _this_ is the power of G.o.d unto salvation, and this alone can effect a salutary change in the soul.

I hold to punishment, but it is the punishment of _mercy_. Let the sinner endure the consequences of his crime, but let _goodness_ inflict the rod. Let his punishment be _severe_, if necessary, but never capricious; let its object be the good of the sufferer, not vengeance; and when he is penitent, let the punishment cease.

But the reformation of prisoners is only a small fraction in the reformations which are called for. The whole world needs reforming; and the reformation of prisoners will keep pace only with the reformation of those who are free; and as long as these places must be under the control of corrupt and depraved minds, alas for the cause of reform! Some of the iniquity of prison keepers has been discovered by the public eye, but what has been seen by _that_ eye, is only a drop to a fountain, compared with the whole.--Enough is known about the guilt of _prisoners_, because the keepers who make the report are _believed_; but the keepers have no observers of _their_ conduct but _prisoners_, and these are not _credited_ when they tell the truth. It is believed _in general_, that prison keepers are tyrants. The voice of every age and country unites in describing this cla.s.s of men as coming the nearest of any in moral resemblance to Satan; and yet no prisoner is believed when he complains of abuse. Let some great Howard go through the prisons in the United States, and take his accounts from _prisoners_ as well as keepers, and he will give a different Report from the one before me. There is as much need of a society to reform _keepers_, as there ever can be to reform prisoners; and there can be but little ground to hope for success _in prison_ till the _keepers_ become not merely _honest men_ but _pious christians_.

My statements in respect to the destruction of the chapel and the neglect of the means of grace in the Windsor Prison, are confirmed by the Reports of this Society. In the FIRST REPORT, pages 32, 33, the Society say, that, "In the Vermont Penitentiary, one hundred dollars only are appropriated for religious instruction. The chapel has been converted into a weaver's shop. The services on the Sabbath are irregular, and the Scriptures are not daily read to the a.s.sembled convicts."--SECOND REPORT, page 56, "The duties of Chaplain are very irregularly discharged. In truth there is no stated Chaplain whose services can be relied on."

One quotation more on this subject is all that I can now make. It is from the SEVENTH REPORT, page 10. "The legislature of Vermont, at the last session, provided by law an additional compensation for a Chaplain; so that the state now pays three hundred dollars per annum for this service, and a chaplain has been appointed to discharge the duties of the office."

Will the Secretary of this Society be so good as to inform the public in his next Report, how much service the Chaplain in the Vermont Penitentiary renders for his salary of three hundred dollars?

My time does not permit me to copy any more from the Reports of this Society. In the remarks that I have made upon its doings, I have had no design to impugn its _motives_. I doubt not that the managers of the Society mean to do good. I impeach not their _views_, but I doubt the wisdom of their _policy_. I know what they never can; and I am only opposing facts and experience to a fair but deceptive theory. The hope of effecting a reformation among prisoners, by stripes and solitary cells, can never be realized. It will be of no use for _me_ to reason on this subject, for I am too small to be noticed. Nothing that I can say will tell on the great minds which compose the Society whose doings I condemn. But I must be allowed to give my opinion. "THE PRISON DISCIPLINE SOCIETY" is combining the talent of the country, and the wealth of the country, for a purpose which appears to itself benevolent, but which will, past all doubt, result in sinking our prisons to the lowest point of cruelty, and the darkest region of despair; and from his knowledge of human character and the effect of cruelty on the heart, I should suppose that Lucifer would be its most efficient patron.

A few lines more and I shall have done with this article. I was in Windsor when Rev. LEWIS DWIGHT, the Secretary of the Society, visited that prison. I know from what source he obtained his information, and I know how extremely imperfect was some of the account he obtained, and how much was hidden from him entirely. And taking what relates to this prison, in his Reports, as a specimen of what he has related of other prisons, I am certain that much more light is needed to guide him to the evils of penitentiaries, and to their cure, than he has yet obtained, _Prisoners_ ought to have been consulted, as well as _keepers_; an _ex parte_ examination contains only part of the truth.

Prisoners ought to be treated by christians on terms of _equality_, if any good is to be effected in the work of reformation; and before any thing can be done to effect their lasting good, they must be treated with kindness and respect. No other means can reform them. You may _snarl_ them into sin, and tread them down to _h.e.l.l_, but you must _love_ them into _repentance_, and _support_ them up the ascent to _heaven_.

DESIGN OF PENITENTIARIES IN RESPECT TO THE TREATMENT OF CONVICTS, ACCORDING TO THE VIEWS OF THE DIRECTORS OF THE CONNECTICUT STATE PRISON, WITH REMARKS.

"Upon the subject of the general treatment of the convicts, and the discipline of the inst.i.tution, we would remark that the State Prison _is designed to be_, and _emphatically is_, a place of PUNISHMENT. The feelings of _humanity_ and _mistaken mercy_ should not be suffered to interpose, _to disarm its punishment of that rigor due to justice and the violated laws of the land_.

While a proper regard is had to the health of its inmates, their comfort should not be so far studied as to render it a desirable residence, even to those whose condition in society is attended with the _severest privations_. When this becomes the case, our criminal code becomes a bounty law for crime."--_Sixth Report, page 94._

This is throwing off the mask completely, and boldly declaring that "_punishment_," SEVERE punishment, a punishment in which there is no tincture of "_humanity_," is the _design_, and _emphatically_, the _discipline_, of that prison. The _comfort_ of the prisoner is not to be sought in any way inconsistent with _punishment without humanity_.

His _reformation is not to be sought at all_. A more unsound and disgraceful principle of penitentiary discipline, was never avowed by any similar committee in this country before; but it is the _very one_ on which all American penitentiaries _are governed_. "That _rigor_ due to _Justice_ and the violated _laws_ of the land!" Yes; "Justice and the violated laws," demand "_rigor_." It is not enough to have the sinner _securely confined_--he must be _uncomfortable_. His _health_ must be attended to; let him live; but his cup of gall must be full and overflowing. Let him live--_not_ for _comfort_, but to _groan_ in the ear of _heaven_ the "_rigor_" of "_Justice_" and of the "_violated laws_." Punishment is G.o.d's "_strange work_," his "_strange act_," but it is the _common_ work of his creatures.

According to _my_ views of a penitentiary, it is not _unqualifiedly_, a place of _punishment_, but a place of _reformation_, to be effected by the _mildest_ means, and to be under the constant direction of _humanity_. Cruelty never should enter its walls. Satan was no more out of his place in Eden, than is cruelty in a place of reformation.

As to a criminal code's becoming "a bounty law for crime," when its discipline for prisons is such as to render them a desirable residence, to those who are suffering even the "_severest privations_"

in society, that Committee need have no fears. There is no danger of any prisons ever becoming so mild as to be a _desirable_ residence for any one. Take the purest apartment in heaven, and confine a seraph there, and the simple fact that he was a prisoner would make his home a h.e.l.l. The Devil himself would prefer liberty in the world of woe, to imprisonment even in Paradise--freedom with d.a.m.nation, to salvation with restraint.

THE MEANS OF EFFECTING A REFORMATION AMONG PRISONERS.

On this subject many an enthusiast has speculated, and many a fine and beautiful theory has charmed the benevolent mind. The sacred orator from the desk, inspired by the genius of his faith, and warm amidst the holy fires of the altar, has often brought the miserable tenants of the dungeon within the sympathies of his weeping hearers. Clothed with the robes of state, the philanthropist has often urged the claims of prisoners upon the consideration of councils and legislatures. For eighteen hundred years have the altar and the throne sent abroad, in tones of commiseration, the suffering and neglected condition of prisoners; but what has been the result? Prisons are as numerous as ever, and almost every season sees a new one erected. The annual volume of crimes is as huge and black as ever. The gloom of these earthly h.e.l.ls is undissipated by the charm of operative benevolence.

And though it is two thousand years since the foundations of christianity were laid in the earth--that heavenly principle which was to say to the prisoners, "go forth,"--the notes of its rejoicing ascend in faint a.s.sociation with the deep-toned sigh of despair and misery, which is hourly bursting from the grated cell. Alas! for the times. But why have the benevolent and christian spirits of every age laboured in vain, and spent their strength for naught? The answer is obvious.

They have acted on a mistaken theory. They have confided in the integrity and benevolence of those to whose immediate care prisoners are committed, where nothing is more true than that prison keepers are, and ever have been, the cruelest of men. They have gone the whole round of experiment--imprisonment and hard labour, solitary confinement, transportation, stripes, cropping and branding--the whole machinery of torture and death has been put into various motion, in the ignorant hope of reforming a sinner by the sure and only means of making a devil. The science of architecture has been exhausted in experiments to construct a reformatory prison, as if the form of a cell could regenerate a vicious heart into virtue. Societies have been formed, books have been published, funds have been collected, and a "PRISON DISCIPLINE" has been put into practice, on the infatuated supposition, that a bad man can be made good by writing him a "VILLIAN" on every page that presents him to the public eye, and crus.h.i.+ng him under a painful and torturing humiliation which would fire an angel with resentment, and make a John a Judas. Every sermon that is preached, every prayer that is made, every hymn that is sung in prisons, tells the convicts that they are sinners above all men, because they suffer such things; and it is by means like these, by audibly and impliedly thanking G.o.d that they are not like these publicans, that the ministers of mercy to prisons are labouring to reform the wicked.

Another great fault in the operations of the benevolent in favour of prisoners, is, they are objects of attention _only_ while they are _in prison_. A wise physician will take care to _prevent_ disease, and be equally careful to prevent a _relapse_. Not so with _these_ physicians. They visit the patient at his sick bed for the first time, and there they remind him very graciously of the _cause_ of his sickness, and leave him as soon as he can leave his bed. Intelligent good will embraces its objects the moment they are discovered, and never abandons them. The grand outlines of expansive and understanding benevolence are--the prevention of crime or any other misery--the comfort of the sufferer and the reformation of the criminal--and the prevention of future distress and relapse into crime. Let the pious, and virtuous, and compa.s.sionate, keep these outlines constantly in view, and never permit their efforts to relax, but increase and multiply them over every part of the ample field which the above landmarks describe.

It would be unavailing for me to propose any _plan_ of operation in this great work. I am by far too microscopic an object in the public eye to hope for the smallest attention to any thing that I can offer.

I do not, however, regret this, for I am not much enamoured with _plans_. The best plan would not avail any thing, without a proper spirit in the management of it, and _with_ this, the poorest would be better than any which has yet been devised. On the _spirit_ of prison discipline, then, I rely for success, and on this, whether they are heeded or not, I shall make a few remarks.

Those who go on errands of mercy to prisons must convince the prisoners that they are their _friends_, or they can do them no good; and this can be done only by _being_ their friends. When they shall have accomplished this--when the prisoners feel that they have found _friends_, they will become better. With this lever, the hardest heart can be turned. Goodness finds a wors.h.i.+pper in the wickedest heart, and no sooner is it perceived in the holiness of its nature and the benevolence of its exercise, than the heart instinctively does it reverence and receives its impression.

The first thing then for a minister of reformation to prisons to do, is, to be good and feel a love for the sinner; and the next is, to make this goodness and love apparent by long and steady perseverance in acts of mercy.

The fact that goodness will beget its likeness in all minds that experience and perceive its effects, is taught plainly in the Scriptures. "We love G.o.d _because he first loved us_."--"The _goodness_ of G.o.d leadeth thee to repentance."--"He to whom _much is forgiven_, the same _loveth much_." The song of saints in heaven is grounded on the _personal benefits_ they have received from Christ.

Christians are exhorted by the _mercies_ of _Christ_ to live holy and G.o.dly lives. And the Psalmist says, that they that _know_ the name of the Lord, will put their _trust_ in him.

The truth of these principles has been practically demonstrated by those who have been humanely and charitably conversant with the suffering poor. It has not been the _benefaction_, that has bound them to the hearts of the distressed, but the spirit of _mild_, _heavenly_, _sympathetic_, _una.s.suming_, and _unaffected condescension_, with which they have _personally_ and _perseveringly_ ministered to their wants. Not the _value_ of the gift, but the _manner_ and _spirit_ of it, has converted the recipient into grat.i.tude. All experience proves this.

"But beside the degree of purity in which this principle may exist among the most dest.i.tute of our species, it is also of importance to remark the degree of strength, in which it actually exists among the most depraved of our species. And, on this subject, do we think that the venerable HOWARD has bequeathed to us a most striking and valuable observation. You know the history of this man's enterprises, how his doings, and his observations, were among the veriest outcasts of humanity,--how he descended into prison houses, and there made himself familiar with all that could most revolt or terrify, in the exhibition of our fallen nature; how, for this purpose, he made the tour of Europe; but instead of walking in the footsteps of other travellers, he toiled his painful and persevering way through these receptacles of worthlessness;--and sound experimentalist as he was, did he treasure up the phenomena of our nature, throughout all the stages of misfortune, or depravity. We may well conceive the scenes of moral desolation that would often meet his eye; and that, as he looked to the hard and dauntless, and defying aspect of criminality before him, he would sicken in despair of ever finding one remnant of a purer and better principle, by which he might lay hold of these unhappy men, and convert them into the willing and the consenting agents of their own amelioration. And yet such a principle he found, and found it, he tells us, after years of intercourse, as the fruit of his greater experience, and his longer observation; and gives, as the result of it, that convicts, and that, among the most desperate of them all, are not ungovernable, and that there is a way of managing even them, and that the way is, without relaxing in one iota, from the steadiness of a calm and resolute discipline, to treat them with tenderness, and show them that you have humanity; and thus a principle, of itself so beautiful, that to expatiate upon it, gives in the eyes of some, an air of fantastic declamation to our argument, is actually deponed to, by an aged and most sagacious observer. It is the very principle of our text, and it would appear that it keeps a lingering hold of our nature, even in the last and lowest degrees of human wickedness; and that when abandoned by every other principle, this may still be detected,--that even among the most hackneyed and most hardened of malefactors, there is still about them a softer part, which will give way to the demonstrations of tenderness: that this one ingredient of a better character is still found to survive the dissipation of all others;--that, fallen as a brother may be, from the moralities which at one time adorned him, the manifested good-will of his fellow man still carries a charm and an influence along with it; and that, therefore, there lies in this an operation which, as no _poverty_ can _vitiate_, so no _depravity_ can _extinguish_.

"Now, this is the very principle which is brought into action, in the dealings of G.o.d with a whole world of malefactors. It looks as if he confided the whole cause of our recovery to the influence of a demonstration of good will. It is truly interesting to mark, what, in the devisings of his unsearchable wisdom, is the character which has made to stand most visibly out, in the great scheme and history of our redemption; and surely, if there be one feature of prominency more visible than another, it is the love of kindness. There appears to be no other possible way, by which a responding affection can be deposited in the heart of man. Certain it is, that the law of love cannot be carried to its ascendency over us by storm. Authority cannot command it. Strength cannot implant it. Terror cannot charm it into existence. The threatenings of vengeance may stifle, or they may repel, but they never can woo this delicate principle of our nature into a warm and confiding attachment. The human heart remains shut, in all its receptacles, against the force of all these applications; and G.o.d who knew what was in man, seems to have known, that in his dark and guilty bosom, there was but one solitary hold that he had over him, and that to reach it, he must just put on a look of graciousness; and tell us that he has no pleasure in our death, and manifest towards us the longings of a bereaved parent, and even humble himself to a suppliant in the cause of our return, and send a gospel of peace into the world, and bid his messengers to bear throughout all its habitations, the tidings of his good will to the children of men. This is the topic of his most anxious and repeated demonstrations. This manifested good will of G.o.d to his creatures, is the band of love, and the cord of a man, by which he draws them; and this one mighty principle of attraction is brought to bear upon a nature, that might have remained sullen and unmoved under any other application."--THOMAS CHALMERS, D. D.

The principle so eloquently and correctly stated in the above quotations from Dr. Chalmers, is fully demonstrated and exemplified by the philanthropic efforts of Mrs. ELIZABETH FRY in the famous prison of Newgate, in England, an account of which is here presented to the reader. It was written by MADAME ADILE DE THOU, but I have copied it from the LADIES' MAGAZINE.

"MRS. FRY, on being informed of the deplorable state of the female prisoners in Newgate, resolved to relieve them. She applied to the governor for leave of admittance; he replied that she would incur the greatest risk in visiting that abode of iniquity and disorder, which he himself scarcely dared to enter. He observed, that the language she must hear would inevitably disgust her, and made use of every argument to prevail on her to relinquish her intention.

MRS. FRY said that she was fully aware of the danger to which she exposed herself; and repeated her solicitations for permission to enter the prison. The governor advised her not to carry in with her either her purse or her watch. MRS. FRY replied, "I thank you, I am not afraid: I don't think I shall lose any thing."

She was shown into an apartment of the prison which contained about _one hundred and sixty women_; those who were condemned, and those who had not been tried, were all suffered to a.s.sociate together. The children who were brought up in this school of vice, and who never spoke without an oath, added to the horror of the picture. The prisoners ate, cooked their food, and slept all in the same room. It might truly be said, that Newgate resembled a den of savages.

MRS. FRY was not discouraged. The grace of G.o.d is infinite, the true christian never despairs. In spite of a very delicate state of health, she persevered in her pious design. The women listened to her, and gazed on her with amazement; the pure and tranquil expression of her beautiful countenance speedily softened their ferocity. It has been remarked, that if virtue could be rendered visible, it would be impossible to resist its influence; and thus may be explained the extraordinary ascendency which MRS. FRY exercises over all whom she approaches. Virtue has indeed become visible, and has a.s.sumed the form of this benevolent lady, who is the guide and consolation of her fellow-creatures.

MRS. FRY addressed herself to the prisoners;--"You seem unhappy," said she. "You are in want of clothes; would you not be pleased if some one came to relieve your misery?"

"Certainly," replied they, "but n.o.body cares for us, and where can _we_ expect to find a friend?"

"I am come with a wish to serve you," resumed ELIZABETH FRY, "and I think if you will second my endeavours, I may be of use to you."

She addressed to them the language of peace, and afforded them a glimmering of hope. She spoke NOT OF THEIR CRIMES; the minister of an all-merciful G.o.d, she came there to _comfort_ and to _pray_, not to _judge_ and _condemn_. When she was about to depart, the women thronged around her as if to detain her. "You will never come again,"

said they. But she who never broke her word promised to return.

She soon paid a second visit to this loathsome jail, where she intended to pa.s.s the whole day; the doors were closed upon her, and she was left alone with the prisoners.

"You cannot suppose," said she, addressing them, "that I have come here without being commissioned. This book--she held the Bible in her hand--which has been the guide of my life, has led me to you. It directed me to visit the prisoners, and take pity on the poor and the afflicted. I am willing to do all that lies in my power: but my efforts will be vain, unless met and aided by you."

She then asked them whether they would not like to hear her read a few pa.s.sages from that book. They replied they would. MRS. FRY selected the parable of the lord of the vineyard, and when she came to the man who was hired at the _eleventh hour_, she said; "Now the eleventh hour strikes for you; the greater part of your lives is lost, but Christ is come to save sinners!"

Some asked who Christ was; others said he had not come for them; that the time was past, and that they could not be saved. MRS. FRY replied that Christ had suffered, that he had been poor, and that he had come to save the poor and the afflicted in particular.