Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-03-28
Graphic poserlpsion ofconassru,lon.s :

1 Graphic Description efConflgurutions. :,
Charles Kingsley, the eloquent preacher
in lecture dClivered in Bristol, England, in
1857, on "Great cities and their influence for
good or evil" attempted a description. of a
scene he witnessed twenty-seyen years before
We give the destruction of the Bristol Jail,
a scene not dssimilar, in some respects, to
the destruction of the Pemberton Mills
| at was an afternoon of sullen antumn rain.
The fog hung thick over the docks and low
lands. Gazing through that fog, /, saw a
bright mass OF fame--almost like half-risen
sun. That, was told, was the gate of the
new Jail on FIRE. That the prisoners in ithad
been set free. The fog rolled slowly upward.
Dark figures, even at that great distance,
were fitting to and fro, across what seemed
the mouth of the pit. The flame increased---
multiplied-at one point after another, till by
ten o'clock that night seemed to be loo king
down upon Dantes Inferno, and 10 hear the
multitudinous moan and wall of the lost
spiritssurging TO andfro amid that sea of fire.
Right behind Brandon Jail---how can
ever forget it2-rose the great central mass of
fire; till the little mound seemed converted
into a volcano, from the peak of which the
flame streamed up, not red alone, but deli
cately green and blue, pale rose and pearly
white, while crimson sparks leaped and fell
again in the midst of that rainbow, not of
hope, but of despair; and dull explosions
down below, mingled with the roar of the
mob and the internal hiss and crackle of the
flame. ,-..... .....I ...
Higher and higher the fog was scorched
andshriveled upward by the fierce heat below,
glowing through and through with red re-
tiected glare, till it arched itself into one vast
dome of red-hot iron, fit roof for all the mad
ness down below,-and beneath il, miles
away, could see the lonely tower of Dundie
shining red;--the symbol of the old faith,
looking down in stately wonder and sorrow
upon the fearful birth-throes of new age.
Yes, why did say just now despair? was
wrong, Birth-throes, and not death-pangs,
those horrors were. Else they would have
no place in my discourse; no place, indeed,
in my mind. Why talk over the signs of
disease, decay, death2 Let the dead bury
their dead; and let us follow him who dieth
not; by whose command
,The old order chaDgcth, giving place to the new
And God fulflls himself In many ways" ...
Another fire scene he describes as follows:
1t was on the Tuesday or Wednesday after,
if recolleet right that l saw another and
still more awful sight. Along the north side
of Queen square, in front of ruins which had
been three days before noble buildings, lay
CHASTITY row, not of corpses, but of corpse
fragments. have no more wish than you to
dlate upon that sight But there was one
charred fragment, with a scrap of old red
petticoat adhering to it, which / never forgot,
which trust in God never shall forget
1t is good for man to be brought, once at
least in his life, face to face with fact, uti-
mate fact, however horrible it may be; and
have to confess to himself shuddering, what
things are possible upon Gods earth, when
man has forgotten that his only welfare lies
in living after the likeness of God.