The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1890-11-20
In Jail and Out.

beginning. led the van in every noble and
humane enterprise. 1t is meet. therefore,
that ''Prison Sunday" should have place
in it's calender. The Master has benedic-
ton for all the kind hearted, and none more
cordial than for such as bsfriend the pris-
oner. II was IN prison." said he. land ye
visited me-" Nay, Lord. remember it not
"Inasmuch as We did it unto one of the least
of these, We did it unto me-"
But with the best possible intent the
church falls short of her privilege, and in
this matter Christian people have Numbered.
and are still not right.
The first of our mistakes in this matter is,.
at the jail-door. When the culprit crosses
the threshold we think of him as morally
separated from his fellows by a great gulf.
The fact is however. that criminal SEN
tence is very much like the Tower Of
Sloan. in this. that he upon whom it falls
need not therefore be regarded as a sinner
above the rest. The inscription over the
old TOlbOOth at Edinburgh might with.
equal justice have been written above the
city gate:
sometimes place of right,
Sometimes place Of wrong,
Sometimes place of rOgues and thieves,
And honest men among"
There are some in our penitentiaries who
ought to be out, and there are probably not
few outside who ought to be in. Take
the worst of your politicians. your Hon.
hncksters. stock gamblers. your social dis
reputables, medical quacks, commercial
charlatans. respectable viOlatOrs of Sabbath
law. deters of the sixth. seventh and eighth
cOmmandmentS-put them where they be-
long and every Jail in. the commonwealth,
must have all Annex. The difference be-
tween the ms and outs is not always the
difference between guilt and innocence, but
is rather due, as Burns says, tO"The better
art O. hiddin'." The jai-birds have been
caught; the rest of us are eluding the
fowler. st. Paul says: There is no diff
ference; we are AL cOncluded-literally, in
carcerated--under sin. We have all sinned
and come short of the glory of God"
Our second mistake lies in our treatment
of the prisoner during his incarceration. If.
punishment be regarded as not merely cor
receive. but retributive as WE'LL we must
nevertheless consent that the days of tort
ure have gone by. Siberian penalties are
relic OF barbarSm. 1t is enough, at the
uttermOst. that the prisoner loses all the.
joys of freedom. the light of heaven, and
the faces OF his fellow men. There is.
nothing disciplinary in hunger. miasm and
vermin. And, so far as punishment is cor
receive it must ever be tempered with Just
kindness Did Byron's prisoner grow pen
itent when the iron entered his flesh? Nay,
he ''cursed the dungeon dew" There is
no penitence in hell.
There were no stars-no earth-no time
No check-no change-no good-no crime;
But silence and stirless breath
Which neither was of life nor death;
A sea OF stagnant idleness,
Blind boundless mute and motioness."
Our third mistake is when the prisoner
having served out his sentence comes forth
to live among men. We refuse to give him
chance. There is a brand upon his fore
head that makes an honest livelihood we'll
nigh impossible. He has spent years, per-
haps. in Jail; he is a stranger in the world,
and the world gives him the cold shoulder.
demon stands on either side of him, one
hooking at mercy, the other reckoning to
crime. Where are the angels of light?
Where are the disciples of the blessed
Christ? Who will help this man?
The prisoner of Chillon, down in his
dungeon, heard the singing of bird
"A lovely bird with azure wings
And song that said a thousand things,
And seemed to say them all to me-"
And so grateful was it that he fancied he
was visited by the soul of his brother. The
time will come; the spirit of brotherhood in
the church of Jesus Christ will reach those
who are bound in letters of iron, and will
mitigate their sufferings with music, NOV
ing to noble aspirations and better thoughts
OF truth and goodness. And as the years
pass on. righteousness will so prevail that
the need OF punishment will cease. Then.
Whittier's saying will come to pass
Through prison walls, like heaven.sent hope.
Fresh breezes blew, and sunbeams strayed:
And with the idle gallows rope
The children played"
D. j. Burrell. ID. D.. in The Northwest
ern Presbyterian.
For The Mirror