It has been very often said, that the convicts in state-prisons are
either atheists, deists, or universalists, than which, however,
nothing can be farther from the truth. I have known as many as five
hundred while they were in confinement, and I have always made it a
practice to learn the religious opinions of all with whom I have
conversed; and what I am going to write may be depended on as the
actual result of my personal inquiries.
Those whom I have known have been educated in the doctrines of the
endless punishment school, and but few have departed from these
doctrines. I have found only _two_ atheists, not one deist, and but
_one_ universalist. The doctrine of endless punishment is strongly and
broadly speaking, the orthodoxy of state prisoners. I am confident of
the truth of this statement, and I make it, not by way of _slur_, or
_insinuation_, against any sect of christians, but as a fact which
_all denominations_ may use as they may have occasion. Very many of
the convicts have been members of churches, and a few of them have
been preachers. This is a subject of painful reflection; it shows how
extremely liable the _best_ of men are to be overcome by temptation,
and says to those who glory in their own strength, "let him that
thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." It is no argument
against religion, that some of its votaries disgrace it. There are
faithful soldiers in an army, from which many desert; and christianity
is from _heaven_, though many of her avowed friends appear to have
come from _beneath_.
In respect to the religious _feelings_ of the prisoners, it is true to
say, that each one manifests a very strong attachment to the faith in
which he was brought up; and hence there are warm and zealous
advocates for almost every creed. It is also proper to remark, that
many of them evince a very uncommon acquaintance with the Sacred
Scriptures, and a shrewdness and skill in defending their particular
systems, which is truly astonishing; and it is not often that a
convert can be made from his long cherished opinions. There is one
point in which these disputants are unanimously agreed, and this is,
that all the means of grace are confined to this life, and
consequently, if a man die in sin, his doom is fixed in misery for
ever. I know of only _three_ who entered the prison with a contrary
opinion, and only _one_ who was converted from it afterwards.
I had an opportunity of witnessing a very general time of religious
awakening among the prisoners, and of perceiving how firmly every mind
clings to long fostered notions, even when it is under the process of
genuine and reforming sorrow for sin. Among the _many_ converts, those
who had been _Baptists_ by education, were Baptists _still_; _Methodist_
were Methodists _still_; and so of all the rest; but it was truly
delightful to see how, notwithstanding these little complexional
differences of opinion on some points, they all united in _one_ spirit
in their religious exercises. Though I was not of the general belief
in regard to endless suffering, still they knew no difference of
feeling, and the happiest hours of my whole life were those which I
spent with them, in the cementing feelings of universal brotherhood,
and in mingling my voice with theirs in prayer and praise to the one
God and Father of us all.
This delightful state of things, however, was of short duration. After
a few months, arrangements were made for sabbath schools, and then the
question of _doctrine_ came up. Every one was very anxious that
nothing but the _truth_ should be taught, and much depended, for this,
on the faith of the teachers. On looking over this subject with much
solicitude, it was determined that no _heretic_ should be placed in
the chair of instruction; and it was not difficult to draw the line
between orthodoxy and heresy in the proper place. Those who were
agreed in subscribing to the doctrine of eternal pain, how much soever
they might differ in other things, were considered orthodox; and these
were all the believers except _one_. This one had some time before
espoused the doctrine of the _Restitution of all things_, and for this
he was considered a heretic, and judged an unfit person to give
religious instruction. This was all the crime that could be found
against him; he was exemplary in all his conduct, had instructed many
of the youthful convicts in the rudiments of science; was devoted to
books, and to the study of the scriptures in particular; and all were
fully persuaded that he meant in all things to keep a conscience void
of offence; but he did not believe in endless misery, and this was
crime enough. As soon as the opinion of the Chaplain was known to be
against committing the care of a Sabbath school to a Restorationist,
the whole orthodoxy of the prison was set in the same way, and the
poor heretic was allowed no peace in the Temple.
I mention this as a historic fact for the use of christians. It shews
that mankind are the same under all circumstances, and exhibit the
same deformities of religious character in the dungeon as in the
cathedral. Man is a fallen creature, and the fragments of ruined
greatness are visible in every developement of his moral history. In
that little circle of worshipping prisoners, I saw the same principles
at work which have divided christians in every age and country--the
same principles of perverted christianity which exalted an ambitious
mortal to the throne of spiritual empire, and created the inquisition
for the torture of heretics--the spirit of misguided zeal which has
drawn the sword of conquest and drenched the earth with blood. In all
these we see the consequences of sin, the actions of erring humanity;
and I have not yet so perfectly rooted the principles from which they
spring, from my own breast, that I can feel safe to bring an
accusation against any of those whom I consider wrong. Nor dare I even
call on the _Lord_ to rebuke them. If I have suffered, I freely pardon
my enemies, and I hope that, in coming times, all these phenomena of
christian character and conduct will cease, and all men be brethren in
feeling and in conduct.
I desire also to inform those who are daily denouncing the doctrine of
the _Restoration_ as tending to licentiousness and crime, that there
are no _grounds_ for such denunciation. I was educated in the schools
of Calvin and Wesley, and I had been in Windsor many years before I
was convinced of my errors, and became a believer in God as the
Saviour of all men. And of the five hundred who were, at different
times, my companions, I never found over _three_ who were not firm
believers in endless ruin. I do not say that the doctrine of endless
punishment is immoral in its tendency, for I think very different from
this; and I know that the _opposite_ sentiment is not. Nothing is
more out of place, than the mutual charges of immorality which
professors throw on each other's creed. The infidel smiles when he
hears these mutual criminations; and who can blame him for not
espousing a cause which, judging only from its effects on some of its
professed votaries, is calculated to set friend against friend, and
break up the harmony of social life? If he has never tasted for
himself that the Lord is gracious, can we suppose he will be won over
to the love of a principle, which appears from the exhibition before
him, to be perfectly hateful? No. And not until the representatives of
christianity represent her as she _is_, will the unbeliever condescend
to give her claims to inspiration that solemn and respectful notice
which they deserve. Let, then, all crimination, and recrimination,
among professors be done away. Let no man be denounced on account of
his religious creed, but let the test of every man's character be his
_actions_, and his _life_; if these are good, the man is good, the
anathemas of sectarian zeal to the contrary notwithstanding. "By their
_fruits_ ye shall know them." The orthodoxy of Calvin can never
sanctify his persecution of the martyr Servetus; nor did the ignorance
of Cornelius in respect to the true faith prevent his prayers from
ascending to God. If the _heart_ is right, if the man is _sincere_ and
_honest_, no error in his creed can corrupt his principles, or stain
the moral purity of his soul; and I would much rather do right and
serve God by _chance_, than err and sin by _rule_.
To what extent the principles of religion are loved and cherished in
the prison, it may not be easy to determine, though it is a truly
melancholy fact, that the number of sincere and hopeful christians is
very small. It must not, however, be inferred, that the great mass of
mind, in that place, is totally depraved; for there are frequently
discovered by the candid observer of that field of moral ruin, some
bright and pleasing fragments,--some beautiful specimens of what is
true, and lovely, and honest, and of good report. Like the beclouded
heavens, in which a few cheering stars are still seen, or the mighty
and varied desert in which a few green and fertile spots are visible,
that waste of ruined virtue is specked over with some pleasing
vestiges of what it once was--some green and flowery spots for the
mind to repose on, and some stars to guide it, while wandering amidst
the thick darkness and cheerless wastes of moral desolation. Indeed I
never found there, amidst all those sons of guilt, a single mind in
which the pulse of virtuous principles was not still beating, though
feebly, and I doubt whether one can be found in the universe.