New-York daily tribune., 1844-07-27

AMONG the hopeful hicica'iohS 'l"' '0J
s,owiv. bu, surely, emerging from the carH"ess o.
the Pas, into the DIM twilight OF that glorious
Fu,rre whose vision has 50 often inspired the soul
&c P,oobet and Bard, is the cheering fact that
wiser as well as truer and deeper interest is DC
o;npinp-to be fc.t in the welfare OF the uniof'u'
n.,e inmates of our prisons and pcnitcnliarics
call them unfortunate, not in sympathy with
that specious philosophy which denies their guilt
bp, the more because they are guilty, and on &C
count of the blindness and degradation involved
:, that sorrowful fact. The too prevalent opinion
10. bcen. that person whose crimes imposed the
,scessity of imprisonment was beyond the hope
&c oenuine reformation and as little has been eX'
n.c,ed, so little, comparatively, has been achieved
h, the means hitherto employed to raise from
their fallen state this numerous class OF our fellow
won No, few regard our prisons only as pla-
-. of nunsbment-cagcs for the saie-kccp!ng OF
n.,sons whom it would be dangerous to permit to
10 at large; while the duties OF the keepers, like
tbose of the mcnagcrie men, arc supposed to con-
sist chiefly in feeding and exhibiting the ANIMALS
committed to their care. In selecting persons TO
take charge of the abodcs of criminals, we have
mt been sufficiently careful to inquire for those
of high moral excellence, an exalted sense of the
dignity and worth Of the human soul, and deep
snritual insight-persons OF enlarged philanlhro.
nv. solid Christian experience, and warm sImpa'
tbv. The trust has too often been coniided to
persons whose chief recommendation was, that
thew were willing to undertake a disagreeabe task
for a small compensation, and that they would
sdmniste. the punishment prescribed in The stat
ute with the necessary degree OF steTnness and
harGihood.
This inattenton OH the part of society to the
dictates of humanity, like every other wrong, has
been productive of bitter eyils-evils which have
been felt not by TIE criminal alone, but by the
whole community 1t is obviously no less the
dictate of policy than of religion 10 treat the In.
mates of our prisons in such manner as to fOs-
ter all that remains within them of virtue and
sel.respect, that they may go out into the
world at the expiration of their sentence, ii
possible, better prepared than they were before to
struggle with the temptations to which they will
be exposed Instead OF this, they are too often dis
CHARGED with minds more dobased and hearts more
obdurate than when they entered The prison to
them has been a nursery OF evil passions, school
OF sin, when peradrenlnre 1t might have been,
under q wise administrator OF its discipline, the
means of developing the higher and nober facul.
ties Of their nature To sucn extent as to save
them from subsequent traasgress'on. The iurk.
ing fires of setshness aud passion, which, under
more genial influences, might have been extin.
guishsd, have been kept burning with fearful in
tcnsity during their confinement, to burst out in
sill more terrible conhlgration when forceirl
appliances are withdrawn.
No person who has investigated the causes OF
crime can for moment doubt, that a large pro-.
portion Of the inmates of our prisons might have
been saved from their present condition, if in
early life they had been blessed with the ncedful
opportunities for intellectual ana moral improve
ment: and as society has shsmcfuly neglected
to furnish these opportunities, it is to fearful ex.
tent responsible for the crimes which render i'm
prisonmcat necessary. There are signs that this
responsibility is beginning TO be felt, and that the
public conscience IS awaking from It's long and
dreadful slumbor. The Christian and the Phi
lanthropist are anxorsiy inquiring into the con-
diton of the prisoner. and Faith in the power Of
Love is rapidly supplantng Reliance upon Force.
The sentiment so beautifully expressed by Honey
wood, one of the earliest of American Poets Ii
now extensively appreciated:
"Wise is the law. and gsodlike is lis aim.
Winch irowus To mead, and chas;ens reclaim,
Which secks,he stOtus o. passion TO control.
nj WINK q N Snul
For all. perhaps, the vIest Of our race
Bear IN their breasts some smo,heed sparks of grace
Nor vain the hope mad the attempt
Those smo&hered sparks 10 Virtues purer blaze
The change which has recently taken place in
the management of the Female Department OF
the State Prison at Sing Sing has already been
noticed in the Tribune in appropriate terms OF
congratulation and hope. | took my pcn not to
wfitc an essay, but TO describe, as well as may,
touching scene which recently occurred at that
prison, and which | think worthy of especial no.
tice as illustrating tho power of Kindness and
Love over the fallen and degraded. The story
deserves to be told by a more skillful narrator,
but hope shall not quite spoil it by my awk.
wardness.
Mrs. Farnham and her Assistants commenced
their labors under very uniayorable circumstan.
ces. Their predecessors, however good their in
ten!ions, had utterly failed to maintain that
wholesome discipline, without which prison
must ever resemble Bcdlam. Loud conversation
and profanc and obscene language were con-
stantly heard, and not u'fiequently did the PMS
oncrs get into open quarrel with each othcr,
and sometimes even with their keepers. | do
not mention this to condemn the former MaIons
for ausht know they did their bcs: TO keep
order-bu, simply to show the state of things at
heprison when their successors entered upon their
duties Not month, perhaps not week, had
elapsed before Mrs. Farnham and those associa.
ted with her had gained by kind moral nfu-
ence complete ascendency over the minds Of
those committed TO their charge. The rules OF
the prison, with few exceptions, were readily and
chepYfuijv nheycd-3bo lonl of RAGE and esi,u