The unanimous opinion of all ages and countries has been, that prison
keepers are _tyrants_. Regarding the prisons of earth and the prison
of gehenna, in the same light, the directors and servants of both have
been considered as drinking at the same fountain, and as possessing
the same traits of moral character. This opinion, however, like many
others which have obtained in the world, is not universally true, for
there are prison keepers who possess every moral excellence, and who
are more like angels of mercy, than fiends of darkness. But it is to
be lamented that these exceptions are rare, and that it is too
generally true, for the honor of humanity, that the term _gaoler_ is
synonymous with _despot_.
From this general truth, a very humbling inference necessarily
follows. We cannot resist the conclusion to which it leads the
reflecting mind, that cruelty is a radical element in the moral nature
of fallen man, and never fails to develop itself when circumstances
permit. Human nature is, in its fallen and unregenerate condition,
only a cluster of shapeless and uncomely fragments, and presents every
where the same bold and darkened _outlines_ of depravity; and to
adventitious circumstances is to be principally attributed the small
complexional difference in the _filling up_ of the picture. Like the
mouldering, moss-grown ruins of some temple, which was once the wonder
of the world, man is only the wreck of what he was when his heart was
the throne of Deity, and his soul the image of his glorious Creator.
_Then_, holiness was his element, but _now_ sin. _Then_, angels
sought, but _now_ they shun his society. _Then_, like a field warmed
by the sun, moistened by the rain, and fully prepared by the tiller's
hand, he brought forth fruit unto God; but _now_ he exhibits the
sterility of a desert, in respect to what is good, but the
fruitfulness of a garden in respect to evil. _Then_, mercy and
gentleness were the seraph principles of his conduct, but _now_ he is
the cruel and savage playmate of the tiger.
This, I am aware, is a very repulsive truth, and one to which the
pride of man will not readily subscribe. It is, notwithstanding, a
truth, stereotyped on every page of his moral history; and it applies
equally to the little Satan of a family and to the tyrant of a world.
The seeds are in every breast, and they never fail to germinate under
auspicious circumstances. Invest man with _authority_, and you
commission a _despot_; and nothing but the restraining principles of
the gospel, will prevent him from becoming a curse to those who are in
his hands. The history of Hazael fully confirms the truth of this
remark. He was sent to Elisha the prophet to inquire whether Benhadad
the king of Syria would recover from a disease with which he was
afflicted. As soon as he came into the presence of the prophet, Elisha
fastened his eyes steadfastly on his countenance and wept. The
astonished Syrian inquired the cause of his weeping. "I weep," said
the man of God, "because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the
children of Israel; their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and
their young men wilt thou slay with the sword; and wilt dash their
children, and rip up their women with child." Indignant at the
imputation of such monstrous cruelty to him, Hazael replied, "Is thy
servant a dog that he should do this great thing!" "But," said the
prophet, "the Lord hath shewed me that thou shall be king over Syria."
While he was only an inferior officer, Hazael's soul shuddered at the
bare mention of those cruelties which in a more elevated rank he was
going to commit; but when informed that he was to become the king of
Syria, the unhallowed principles of his nature began to quicken into
exercise. The first act of his life after this was the murder of his
master, and the language of the prophet is the history of his future
life.
This is by no means a solitary exemplification of the truth which I
have asserted. Nero, when he ascended the throne, is said to have been
a merciful man; and when he was called upon to sign a death warrant,
he is said to have expressed his regret that he had learned to write.
Such was Nero once, but what was his character afterwards? His history
is written in the blood of his murdered mother, and of Seneca his
tutor; and in the tears, and cries, and broiling flesh of a thousand
martyrs. Here is a fair specimen of the effect of unbridled authority
on the nature of man; and while it holds up a hydra monster to the
execration of all mankind, it says to all of us, in language of the
most thrilling import, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed
lest he fall."
Having made these general observations on the nature of man, and the
influence of circumstances upon him, I shall enter upon the subject of
this sketch.
Perhaps no prison on earth ever had better keepers than the one in
Windsor. Though many of these have been as bad as humanity under such
circumstances could possibly become, and though much of their conduct
cannot be contemplated without the deepest horror of soul, the number
of such monsters has been comparatively small. The frequent changes
which take place in the officers, and the shortness of their residence
there, are very fortunate circumstances, not at all favorable to the
production of perfect tyrants. The longer a keeper stays there, the
more cruel and heartless he becomes. This is a truth which experience
has taught to every observing prisoner. Hence it is equally true that
prisons grow worse as they grow older. They all had their origin in a
merciful design, but by the authority with which the officers are
clothed, they become little empires, and gradually sink down into the
gloom of unalleviated despotism.
There are but few of the keepers who continue there over one or two
years, some not so long, and but now and then one who stays five or
six years. These are invariably the most hardened, and having the most
power, they give tone to the conduct of the others and gradually
induce them towards their own degree of severity. Influenced by them,
many a young keeper and guard have been led to stain their souls with
deeds of cruelty, which they could not think of afterwards without
horror. The truth of the case is this--there are a few of the officers
who have fully reached that dark eminence of perfect inhumanity, which
is ascribed to a fallen spirit; and from this unenviable distinction
there is a gradual softening down to the common level of human
character.
These, according to their authority and moral temperament, exert a
malignant influence on the administration of the prison, and on the
peace and comfort of the prisoners. Generally taken from the very
humblest employments, illiterate, and destitute of a proper
acquaintance with mankind, and invested with an authority little less
than absolute, extending virtually to the life or death of their
subjects, they are intoxicated with their power, and seek every
possible occasion to display it. To speak civilly to a prisoner is
considered beneath their dignity; and their cup of joy is full only
when they can say--"I have sent the rascal to the solitary cell."
Armed with a sword, and placed over one of the shops, they ape the
monarch and claim the homage of a god.
The same spirit accompanies the stripling when he ascends the wall to
act the _soldier_ in his turn. Though serving for a stipend of eight
dollars a month, and doomed by a decree which he is unable to violate,
to the lowest walks in society, he fancies now that he is somebody,
and makes all who are under his shadow feel the full weight of his
self-importance. Over one entire quarter of an acre of this world,
strongly walled in, he holds divided empire with his brother on the
other side; he imagines that his bench is a throne, his gun a sceptre,
and the limit of his dominions the everlasting hills. It is not easy
to treat this subject with seriousness, and yet it is too solemn to be
trifled with. See him pacing his post like a private in the army. Be
careful how you smile, for he has the instrument of _death_ in his
hand, and he it was who took the life of _Fane_.[1]
[Footnote 1: A prisoner that was shot.]
But these servants of the prison are not only inhuman and vain, there
is no _meanness_ to which they will not stoop; and they delight in all
those little vexations with which they can perplex the prisoners. They
are employed in making little rules and regulations for the
prisoners, when they are in the yard, and these are so numerous, that
no one can remember them, and so contradictory, that to obey _one_, at
least _half a dozen_ must be violated. Their common language to their
subjects is--"Go here!--go there!--do this!--do that!--shut your
head!--mind your business!--what are you doing!--out of the
vault!--you shall go to the solitary for that!"
Nor is such mean and cruel conduct peculiar to the _subordinate_
powers, they often are found _in_, and are copied _from_, the
_highest_. I have seen those who occupied the chief seats in the
synagogue, try every expedient to vex the prisoners into a war of
words, and having accomplished their object, punish them for those
very words which they provoked them to utter. I have heard them insult
the prostrate objects of their power with words which I should blush
to write. I have know them authorize vexatious regulations which the
heart of Verres could not have enforced. I have seen one of these
gather a number of prisoners around him, and though he had a _wife_
and _daughters_, lead and give spirit to a conversation, which would
have imprinted a blush on the cheek of impurity itself.
This conduct is the more conspicuous from the fact, that the laws of
the prison require every officer, and the head one especially, to have
an especial reference, in all things, to the _good_ and _moral_
reformation of the prisoners. This also renders their conduct the more
_criminal_; and to this as one of the principal causes must be
referred the hardening effect of state-prison discipline upon its
subjects.--_They_ know the laws by which the keepers are bound; _they_
know that the community and the government of the state require them
to be merciful, and to treat the convicts as if they considered them
human beings; and when they see these officers so outrageously sinful
against the most solemn obligations, and the most sacred and
obligatory laws, and yet as cruel to _them_ for trifling and shadowy
offences, as if they themselves were immaculate, they cannot help
despising them in their hearts, and kindling with a flame which sets
reformation at defiance. And it is not too much to say, that many a
prisoner has been hardened in crime by the example of those very men
who were commissioned to reform him. If I had the power, and desired
to have the angel Gabriel become a devil, I would send him to Windsor
prison for three years.
But I should do violence to my own feelings, and injustice to this
part of my subject, were I not to give a very different character to
_some_ who have held offices in this Institution. As there are a few
who have reached the climax of depravity, so there are some who have
exhibited characters which do honor to human nature. Like stars in the
dark, they were the angel spirits of that "house of wo and pain." They
were warmed with the pure glow of benevolent and christian feeling;
and if all the keepers had manifested the same temper and sympathy for
the suffering, many a mountain of grief would have been rolled from
their bleeding breasts--many a refractory spirit would have been
charmed into obedience--many a hard heart would have been softened
into tenderness--many a guilty soul would have been washed into
purity--many a mother's heart would have been gladdened with the
return of a prodigal child--and many a wife would have been blessed
with a husband reclaimed. To these, I owed much of my comfort while I
was a prisoner. I remember them with gratitude, and I am sure that
they will have the blessing of the merciful.
From the account already given, it would readily be inferred, that the
officers of the prison are not professors of religion. This inference
would not be true unless a few exceptions should be made. I recollect
only four, however, among the inferior officers, to whom the inference
would not fully apply. In respect to these it is right to say, that
they exhibited as much of the spirit of their profession, as could be
intelligently expected from any in their situation. The same remark is
true of the head ones, many of whom had been baptized. Christians, as
well as others, are influenced by _circumstances_, and authority is
the _worst_ circumstance in which any _christian_ can be placed. A
small historic sketch will fully illustrate the influence of power,
even on _sanctified_ humanity. One of the prisoners was a
restorationist. A friend of his, a very respectable clergyman of that
faith, sent him a book in defence of the doctrine of future
retribution, against the writings of Rev. W. Balfour. He had received
many similar books from the same source, but _this_ was objected to,
and kept from him full six weeks, but not returned to the sender, nor
any information given either way. At length a keeper informed him that
there was a letter for him in the house, from Rev. S. C. Loveland, and
a book entitled "Hudson's Reply," which the officer at the head of
affairs refused to let him have. This keeper was a man of too noble a
soul to be cramped by the unfeeling regulations of a religious
exclusive, and he gave the prisoner an opportunity to read them and
then return them to him. After this he found means of obtaining them
on the express condition, that he would not lend them to any of his
fellow prisoners. This same man, at another time, refused to let a
prisoner have a book on the subject of religion, which was written and
sent to him by his father.
This officer must have had a very conscientious regard for the moral
and religious good of the prisoners; but how he could exclude
_religious_ books from them, and yet permit them to purchase and read
the _lowest_, _dirtiest_ and most _infamous_ books that ever corrupted
_either sex_, or disgraced the literature of any age or country, he
can tell as truly as I can conjecture. This is not a solitary instance
of religious inconsistency in the officers; I could mention more, but
my limits will not permit. It shews what mankind are--a selfish,
exclusive, unfeeling, and despotic community. Every view which we can
take of man, as he comes into contact with circumstances, goes to
confirm the maxim, that if he has _power_ he will _use_ it. From the
same volume we learn the impolicy of creating _spiritual_ superiors.
Christians are brethren. Among them is no allowable pre-eminence. They
are to call no man on earth either _master_, or _father_. This is the
command of Christ himself, and from the authority with which it is
clothed, is obvious the greatness of the crime of disobeying it. Hence
the fact that a spiritual despotism is the worst that can exist. Look
to Rome; look to England; look into the cells of the Inquisition. May
the Lord never, in his anger, curse these United States with a church
establishment. _Political_ tyranny is horrid enough, but from
_spiritual_ tyranny, good God deliver us!
There was once an important officer in the prison who was a _Deist_.
He despised all religion, and even insulted and abused the Chaplain.
Frequently did he keep some of the prisoners employed in chopping wood
on the Sabbath; and when spoken to about this profanation of the
Christian's sacred day, his reply was--"_Monday_ is a good day,
_Tuesday_ is a good day, _Sunday_ is a good day, I see _no difference_
in them." There was not a single good thing in this man's official
conduct. He despised almost every thing that is called good. The
prisoners he regarded as an inferior race of animals, and rebuked the
Chaplain for calling them "_brethren_." He was too bad even for _that_
office, and as he purchased an ox for the prisoners to eat, which had
_died of disease in the heat of summer_, the Superintendent gave him a
very sudden and peremptory discharge. "I give you," said he, "till
to-morrow morning to clear out, and take away your things." This was
good tidings of great joy to all, and the prison rung with Jubilee.
I knew _another_ high officer in the prison, who was also a Deist; but
_he_ was a most excellent man, and by a kind and fatherly
administration, he endeared himself to every prisoner. His conduct
would have done honor to the highest professions of Christianity. He
adorned many of the doctrines of the gospel. He was not only an
_honest_ man, he was also a _benevolent_ one. In all things he was
influenced by _principle_, and did as he would be done by; and he did
more to bless the prisoners with the preaching of the gospel, than
many who prided themselves on their Christianity.
Among many of the inferior officers of the prison, who made no
profession of religion, there was but one sentiment in respect to
those prisoners who professed to be Christians, and this was, that
they were all _hypocrites_.--They dealt out to them a very superior
share of their contempt, and always ridiculed their professions. If
one of them was particular in reading the Scriptures, _that_ was made
the subject of light remark; and if in prayer one of them spoke so as
to be heard, he was impudently ordered to stop. And once, in
particular, a keeper told one of the serious convicts, that he would
act a more wise part, if he would say nothing about his religion, but
leave off praying and be like the other prisoners. Another prisoner
was put in the solitary cell for reading his bible in the shop, where
many a one had been allowed to read books, undisturbed, with which no
virtuous _female_ would pollute her fingers. The common vulgar cant,
with which the keepers used to assail the piety of the prisoners, was
as follows,--"They want to get _out_ I guess--they are _coming_ the
_religious_ lock--they are going to _pray_ themselves out--they are
mighty _pious_ just now, pity they had not thought of this _before_."
Such remarks as these were as frequent as the mention of the
prisoner's piety, or the sight of one who was known to read his bible
and pray; and not only the servants, but their _masters_ often joined
in such unmanly and inhuman sarcasms. "The tender mercies of the
wicked are cruel."