Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1847-11-19
Solitary Imprisonment.

Solitary imprisonment
Solitary confinement is recommended by the adj
vocaies ofihc abolition Of capital punishment as
substitute for H. To such We commend the follow
ing extract from the report Of the Physician Of the
State Prison, Dr. Ed L. Phelps. 1t discioses moth
ing new in Physiology. u-e and exercise are equal
ly necessary to the preservation Of both the mental
and physical organs, and deprived Of these they be.
como diseased and peri,h. The laws requiring the
solitary exclusion from labor and exercise should be
amended Punishment for crime, though necessa-
~, should be administered TO strengthen rnth
er than weaken the powers Of mind and bosy.
conc other death incndes the whole catalogue Of
mortality For the past year. Eugene Clifford, under
sentence Of DEATH expired on the I5th o. April, a..
The casc OF this bring peculiar, requires some
remark. lie had been in confinement nearly four
years, excluded for the whole 81 that period from
society, exercise and nearly from light. Thus sit
uaied, both body and mind sunk together; he came
TO prison stout athletic man. In the prime Of life,
all his activities IN full cxcrie from strong passions
and impulses, and from the day that the door Of his
civil grave closed apon him, bis course directly
downwarsls to that physical ono, the lot Of all Ills
case furnishes an exception TO man in general, Of
whom il il Is said, 1t Is given to him once to die
Ia, the unfortunate Clifford met with double
death, an intellectual aud physical death.
II has been my duty to watch the health Of this
man for the whole period Of his soourn In this place.
and can speak without any hesitation ofthe change
he underwent. Iii. intellect when he came here,
was unimpnircd he generally admitted his guilt TO
me, bat thought himself justified. lie even sought
at times, for few months, TO get some influence
from abroad used in his behnlf II was thc1 sup
posed that by the law be would Of necessity be ex.
ccuted At the end of the year rOn the passing of his
sentence hut such interruption was given to the
law, then recrntly passed. TUT tho Governor did
not fecl himself compelled to issue the warrant for
execution Amer The year had passed he began to
have raving turns would he noisy, abusive and vi
S In aa s g IS 70 sass d = o 20 sn sae
would bccouic manageable anil orderly. Soon after
This he was haunted with the ilea that he was UNI
lawfully confned-hc conld not understand whv be
had not been hanged at the time he expected to
have been hung, why he should still remain in
confinement; the ilca Of unjust detention las he
considered IT, would lead him continually into fiis
Of violence and insane rage. At such times the
scanfy furniture Of his narrow cell would be dcs.
troyed and his clothes would suffer the same fate
Next TO this, succeeded \ wish to be hung. Rea.
son, which now began 10 shine unsicadily, showed
him that such life, @dcaih in life was less tcsir
able than death, even in is mos, gnomiuious form
have still in my possession document which he
wished me to forward TO the Governor, in which he
begs him TO order his execution.
At this period there were great chnugcs in his
feelings, from deep dependency to correspondingy
high oxidation Of spirits,-a gloomy silence was
succeeded ly laughter continuing for hours; he
could however give little for his mirth as
his sadness. With these changes, there would lie
an occasional admixure Of the old idea Of unlawful
detention.
The ned change was refusal to tste ,.o,,. a.
meni with the intention Of s, M, h;r,sss ",d :;
ms way 70 c.ssPe sfbm life that had become in
~ 20 himself On one occasion, he eoniin-
uci to fast eight ten days, but promised to cat
I'm
stomach pump, and for iimc kept his promise
But m the last year Of his life be very unsteady
IN hts eating several times going without, four or
even six days in succession.
About year aud half before he died he became
possessed Of the idcn that there was conspiracy
against his life, and that poison continually adj
ministcrcd to him in his food. There was also an
idea of supernatural agencies operating upon him
and burning him In his bowels, an idea so far rs |
have osci we'd, peculiar in degree to insanity
from arrangement Of the digestive organs. Super
natural voices also called him names such as dirty
blackguarr and other, equally disrespectfal /
could never learn that any allusion was made by
these imaginary voices to his guilt Indeed never
saw any feeling Of reInosc Of penitcnce for the
murder Of his wife or child In the last year he be-
came less and less communicative until he would
not speak at all. and for the hast few months pre-
cceding his dissolution, he did not speak to any one
or make any vocal sound when alone cxrcpt once
few hours before he brcatled his last, and then
only VOID or two IN reply to some question rela-
tive TO the pains he seemed to be suffering. Such
was tho intellectual death Of Clifford.
The passions to which he Ind always surrender
cd his reason, seemed At last have caused lis de-
siructiou. In this, morally speaking, We see no
new principle il has ever been thus with man,
Passion, the handspring 10 crime in its devastating
progress Ofcn destroys the intellectual instruments
10y which Il carries on lis operations. The gradual
destruction Of his physical powers kept pace with
The intellectual dcpressons one stage Of bodily de-
rangcinents succeeded another, until life ceased Ii
was difficult at any time TO say whchwas least nat.
ural, the body or mind. Examination after death
revealed tuIcrcles in the lungs and in almost all
the abdominal viscera in fact, just the same pa
biological condition was found to exist as + seen
in the wild animals that die in their cages AFTER long
confinement
Il cannot be dou'iel that those who advocate the
abolition OF capital rnni hmeni 10 so from motives
of humanity Int do they not err In exchanging the
'enicnrc If deqih upon the eaows fur solitary con-
f'ntncni for lfc Could they have seen Clifford
through his confinement, and his death bed scene l
cannot bMt thiIlk the conviction would have come
home 20 their minds, that whatever control the law
might give them over the physical life Of the muir
d,ucr, III Y had no right 10 destroy is intellect and
send him NJ length into eternity an idiot or n mani
ae or IN other words, 10 nfict upon him an intel
lcctual death.
There Is nothing strange or new In this story OF
Cliiioris fate The old tale so well authenticated
Of the condition Of the prisoners released from the
Bastlle runs parallel with this, and the principle Is
equally illustrated in both, TINT the mind requires
exercise OF proper kind TO preserve its integrity