The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-08-02

OF revenue TO the State. Ihis is
certainly as it should bc--the guilty
should not live idly upon the toll of
others; but the painful conviction was
not the less forced upon US, that these
institutions have tho effect to lower
the price Of labor in the market, and
thus defraud the hard.working me-
chanic of his just dues. We could
not but call to mind the many poor,
squallid looking women whom we had
seen sitting upon the ground in front
of the dwellings, surrounded by dirty
children, while they earned poor
pittancc by seating old chairs. We
could not but contrast the appear
ance Of these unfortunates with that
of the guilty incumbents Of the pris,
on, and SO far as bodily comfort is
concerned, the fclon has a position
far in advance Of the honest laborcr.
We need great souls among us who
will so out in aid Of the large class
Of people willing to toll, but who do
SO 20 little purpose, and who, by their
judgment and forecast, win help to
secure labor and just remuneration
for the poor. If our legislators and
philanthropists would lend their encr.
gies to the prevention rather than
the punishment Of crime; We should
need no more salRshouse, no more
.ialls, nor penitcntiaries.
TIE cEgE.
We entered one iofsthcsc, s the oc.
cupant of which had been removed
upon duty elsewhere. Here again
the fclon We saw WAS much better.
lodged than the majority of working
men. There was the narrow, but
neat bed, d stool, small table, upon
which were books and other articles
Of convenience necessity. Upon
narrow shelf we're a dozen or fif.
teen books, including a bible. Upon
another was q small glass with sha-
wing apparatus, and some rude,
sketches and drawings. -','y'tt :
'Do pou not fearstogallow the pris..
oners a razor! z z, 4. 4. .issSSasii
No; we keep a Strict watch over.
them, and if any Of them seem to be
moping like, we.know they are groay.
ing luncy, and we take it awey. We
can always tell when they begin to
lune. We've never had anv acci.
dents
a iount at one corner gave the
prisoner an abundant supply of good
water. The room was Ventilated by
means Of an apaturc, iucIining down
wards flo,I the floor, sufficiently
large to admit air, and to serve the
purposes Of drainage~ Immediately
above this is window also, heavily
grated, and too high 70 admit any
view Of the world without. All was,
neat and orderly, but there was the
sense Of utter isolation, of dread.
blank solitude, haunting the place as
with a presence. When was ever a
human heart condemned to hear 10.
thing but the play Of its own solitary
pulses witlIont sending forth from its
own chambers the spcctres of its un-
rest to fill the space with phantoms
Of dread ? We may incarccratc the
offender in gloomy walls, and cut
him of from all human companion.
ship, but he is never less alone than
when alone The people who meet
US in the great thoroughfarcs Of life,
are ia" less our companions than the
creatures projected from the action
Of the soul itself, who sit down By
us, and people our solitude, making
us alive 10 ali holy and benign innu-
cnccs, or causing Us to shuddcr with
irrcprcssiblc dread These gil the
sphe.c in which We move. draw
around US the sunshine and the bios.
som, all that is lovely and beautiful,
Of to make the walls damp, and the
air heavy, and the whole space dark,
gloomy and funeral. Thus was it
that their empty cell seem pcoplcd to
us, aud the atmosphere oppressed lis
with irrcprcsslJlc grief. Poor, poor
crrlnS humanity, it seems to US that
even less than an incarnatc, God
would be willing to suffer and die to
work out thy redemption
At one side was heavy staple
driven into the solid wall; we knew
that chain was its adjunct. We
know that when the tiger becomes
fully predominant, chains must be
brought in to check its lcrocity. We
turned away with terrible sickness
Of the heart.
- -e.S7s's -rrp.----
NOT MUCH OF i CUEIOSI.ry - Tho