The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1890-08-21

belongs to wholly different genus. In
many cases it is not real ethical distinctions,
but simply arbitrary ruling of law that sends
some men to prison and keeps others out.
l am sometimes asked by ministers what
sort of a sermon they should preach to pris-
Oners. l say the same kind of a sermon
which they preach to their own parishion-
ers, making simply those differences in H.
lustraton or treatment that a man makes
when preaching to different audiences at
different times. If one of the Harvard
preachers were to 90 to the Elmira reform
atory with sermon fitted for the young
men at Cambridge. he would not need to
modify even the intellectual tone of his dis
course. He could give them his very best
and they would appreciate it.
By religion for the prisoner, do not
mean mere emOtiOnaliSm or sentimentalism.
The emotions are tremendous forces in life,
and cannot be ignored, but it is unwise to
appeal only to the emotions when we need
to develop the conscience and educate the
will. A good many prisoners are emo
tiOnal enough to start with. but the will and
conscience have not been trained. l have
known man to 60 to a prayer meeting. de-
liver an earnest exhOrtatiOn. and then steal
something on the way home. The southern
negroes are very religious emOtiOnally. and
yet, having lacked ethical training, they
have found lying and stealing quite consist
ent with church membership. What they
need to be taught is practical morality and
the power of self-help.
At the Elmira refOrmatOry there is no
chaplain, though there is preaching every
Sunday. Mr.. BrOckway, the superintend-
ent, supplies personal guidance and faith
erly counsel. The prison chaplain. like the
army chaplain, has been brought into dis
repute, because men have often taken these
places who could not succeed anywhere
else. Such men as Rev. Mr.. Bait of the
Massachusetts, refOrmatOry and Mr.. Barnes
of the CharleStOwn prison show what admir-
able work chaplainS may do. They gain
the respect and love of the men without re-
gard to forms of religious belief. In Con-
cord they have religious and other organiza
tions. which have proved to be very helpful
to those who belong to them. Where an
organization is formed whose purpose is to
help men forward. the weak get some of
the power of the strong. The mistakes of
the old revival methods as applied to pris-
eners has been too much to prepare them
for heaven instead of for earth. They need
to be brought under the influence of a
broader. deeper educational and disciplinary
scheme. In such scheme religion, which
is one of the mightiest forces in existence
for the development of character, cannot be
ignored.
The prisoner is not the only one who
needs more religion. The community needs
it, and it needs it, too, with reference to it's
treatment of the prisoner. Before we can
convert the prisoner into a good man we
need to convert the community to a deter
minatiOn to give him the right chance
When the New York legislature a few
years ago abolished labor in the prisons it
was as criminal an act against humanity as
was ever committed by any one of the class
it prosecuted. The community needs to be
educated from the idea OF punishment into
that of reformation. 1t is easy to bring men
under the influence of religion when in
prison; the deeper problem is to bring them
under such influence when they get out
Massachusetts is one of the most advanced
states in the Union. but in this respect it's
churches are not doing the goth part of
what they might to lift men and women
from lives of crime. If the object is to ap-
ply religion to the prisoner, don't 20 to the
prisons but to the churches. If our churches
were alive to their true work in this matter,
about two thirds of those who 90 to prison
might be kept out, and two thirds of those
who get in might be kept from relapsing
after they are released.
From The Advance we learn that the
Mount LOrettO Reform School, on Staten
Island, has a we'll drilled regiment of over
one thousand young soldiers. Each boy
has neat military suit. which he wears on
parade. The colonel of the regiment is
only thirteen years DID, and the company
captains from that age down to five years.