Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-01-20

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desired. One after another Of those in
the prison found the comfort | lacked;
and it was not till wearicd and worn out
with the struggle that | vowed if God
would only give me his peace, | would
serve him as sincerely in the prison or out
of il us had tried to serve my country,
and in any way that he might direct
OH that this vow had been always more
faithfully kept
From this time / did have n steady con
Viction that ] was on the Lords side, and
that had right to commit myself and
my life to his keeping. The prison did
not prove palace; its dSCOmlorts were
still felt kccnly, and the prospect of death
by the gallOws did not appear more invit-
ing. ] would not have been the less ready
TO make any desperate venture for escape;
but had II hope which went beyond the
prison and the acknowledgement any CON
tingency of earthly fortune, while IT did
not take away any real earthly good
We all remember with deepest graft
tude the Rev. George G.. n. MacDoncll,
one Of those who attended our comrades
on the day of death. We did not see
either of the clergymen then, or know
who they were, or, indeed, that there was
such attendance until long after. Whether
Rev. Mr. Scott did visit us or not am UNI
able to state with postivcness. A minis
ter came, and was afterward told that
| his name was Scott, but he may have been
another person. as | think this one was
not resident Of the city The interview
in this latter case was unpleasant. The
preacher had been brought in by our
old iailer on the very natural presumption
that persons who prayed and sung so
much would like to meet a clergyman.
He promised the officer of the guard that
| he would talk only about religion. But
his first question built up an impossible
barrier between us. He asked how we
could be SO wicked rs to come down there
and fight against the south and try to
overturn their government We had been
| trying TO repent of our sins, but had not
got so far rs that particular one yet, and
answered n little tartly by asking how he
and his friends could be so wicked as to
rebel against good government He
answered by reference to the north try
ing to overthrow slavery, and | asked
him If it was possible that he, a minister,
was an apologist for slavery! 1t hap
pened that he was Jealous defender Of
the institution and very sensitive on this
point: and so much noise was soon made
in the discussion that the guard removed
him. He did not come again
But our interview and subsequent &C
quaintance with Rev. Mr.. Mac Donell was
Of very different character, though it
also opened unpromisingly. In his first
prayer he petitioned very earnestly that
our lives might be spared if consistent
with the good Of the Confedcracyl This
offended some Of us, but the better opinion
was that if sincere in his loyalty to the
rebel authority, he could hardly have
prayed differently. SO kind was he to us
afterward that some thought he might
possibly be Union man in real senti-
ments; but he has since assured me that he
was not in the slightest degree, and that
all he did for us was at the dictates of hui
mainly and religion. We had a very pleas
ant interview. He gave us valuable coun-
sci. and felt it a great privilege to talk
over religious questions with one so intel
ligent and sympathetic. When he left he
promised to send us some books and did
not forget to promptly forward them
These we took good care Of read thor
oughly to all in the room and then re-
turned, asking for more. These he Cener-
ally gave, and we thus continued till we
had read nearly his whole library. Those
only who know what n dreadful WeAri-
ness it is to pass days without any def
mite employment Gun realize the great
boon these good books bestowed on us. 1t
made the prison room veritablc school;
and in view of our religious efforts the
character Of the books was just what we
would most have desired, did not care
as in Knoxville, for law books, but the
fact that many, though not all, of the
minister's books were Of theological and
religious cast only made them the more
welcome This Atlanta jail was my
theological seminary