The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-07-01
CRIMINALS AND RELIGION
CONTEMPLATION OF THE sUBJECT
ny ruEsING SING CHAPLAIN.
c.,x,c,. Divided Int Groups. Represent
ing tho Congsnitsi Crook. tho First o'-
se,der and tho sinner of Weak VIII.

| the man who broke the laws through
stress OF circumstances or through sudden
| temptation"
This is the way Rev. John c. 5. VEINS
! chaplain of Sing Sing Prison. sums up the
| result OF his observation Of thirteen hun
| dred and more prisoners TO whose sPitl-
| tual wants he has been minlstering LOT q
| year and half. AS he is a Keen Juuge U
| human nature, good deal OF pnittyteo
| pher and a man altogether without pias'
his views as expressed TO the represent
| tive Of the Mall and Express yesteE9sy
| are OF more than ordinary interest. M
| Wells has seen good deal Oh tne "O Iiu;
| a musket from early In 'b3 unn aiIer t ne
| surrender at Appomattox In April. %; re
| enlisted three times. HIS nrtt ekpeIlehSe
| was in the Twenty-slxth fenhsylVahla
| Volunteers under Col. Jennings, and ne
was one Of the skirmish line OF one nun
| bred men that entered Gettysburg two
days before the great three days patte
| was begun. He participated IN numerous
engagements, and after the close OF the
war entered the Washington and JEFFERSON
College and studied theology. After ms
graduation he preached the gospel IN
Pennsylvania and New York state. lbs
last charge was the Protestant Episcopal
church at Millbrook, Duchess county.
He was appointed chaplain OF Sing sing
Prison by GOV. Flower in January, lss5.
Before ] attempt to give you any idea
of nv duties or OF my study of the phil
osopbv of penalogy. said NJ. Wells "let
me explain that am state ofhcer unper
salary, and appointed by the executive
just as the warden or the physician is
appointed. The chaplain is not selected
because he is Of any particular religious
denomination. am an hplscoPanan' Dut
IL the Governor was SATISFIED mat my
teachings would benefit the inmates or
this prison ! might have been a Metho-
dist, Baptist or In fact member or
any other denomination | am not here to
proselyte. / seek 10 change no mans doc
trinal belief, but II he comes 10 me IN a
sincere spirit and asks me 10 explain the
tenets of the Episcopal church / ana nan
all in my power. have Just this moment
come from administering holy communion
10 4 prisoner VINO sent Tor M. lie - con-
fined here for committing blgamy. He Is
satisfied that he broke the law and that
his conviction was just. lie viii not live
many days and II was his wish that he
should make his peace with God before he
"Do you make regular visits to the pris-
oners?"
NO That would be impracticabie and
unnecessary. You eaa torce Ieilslo.
down a mans throat II he doesn't want
il. Conversion by compulsion would be
ridiculous. II would make religion hate
full and its agent hated. Every Sunday
we have services In the chapel, and the
services are what might be called a mod
fcaton of the regular church service
that is, Il is shortened, up TO the Psalter.
which IS given without infringement. l
limit my sermons to fifteen or twenty
minutes and never preach on secular or
sensational topics. The omnipotence OF
God. the story OF the crucihXion. and
similar subjects, / endeavor 10 present
in such language as Will reach the intel
ligence Of my hearers. and make them
think. Our hymns are the old standards,
'Rcok of Ages Jesus. Lover OF Ny Soul
Lead, Kindly Light and occasionally
some OF the melodies from the Moody
and Sankey hymn books.
1--WE have holy communion about four
times n year. and the eighty communi-
| cants have IN my congregation OF seven
hundred partake OF the bread and the
wine as reverently and with the same so
lemnity, as YOU would find In any church
| in the land"
do you find many cases Of true repen-
| tance1"
THAT depends entirely upon whichever
| OF the three classes of cOnvicts you Sc
! lect. Take the first and largest, the man
| born OF criminal parents. and the cases
| are rare. The born criminal the crook
who has been brought up TO believe that
| his means OF living and enjoyment are
to be derived from one source and by one
| method is not often converted TO lead
| an honest life. He Is not so constituted.
| Show him the opportunity 10 get a dollar
| honestly and a dollar dishonesty and
minimize the danger OF detection and he
| will select the dishonest way Of doing
! II. Religious thought or sentiment with
| these men is regarded simply as game
/ as they express ii. While they may be-
| leve preacher OF the Gospel Is sincere.
they argue that It Is his business 10 be
! 50. and that the moment he found 1t
| didn't pay pecuniarly he would abandon
| Il. No logic you can bring 10 bear VIII
/ change this opinion. II fl is apparently
| changed IL Is for a purpose. The profess
| sional crook cannot be honest IN thought
or deed. The police are his natural enc
mics and the prison officials are HIS Gus
| todians. whose favor he must court by
! good behavior so that his Communication for
| good behavior is not curiaied. He is
! willing TO resort TO any deception 10 at
| tain this object, and he imagines that the
best way he can accomplish his end is to
| profess conversion. The chaplain has no
| right 10 suspect that this profession IS
| not sincere, but he usually discovers that
II is not: that Il is made with an Interior
motive and is simply a part OF The Grim
| mails programme for the procurement of
| titiod.
1--WE have here now about thlrty-seven
| hundred and seventy prisoners convicted
! of grand larceny and attempts at larceny;
| about three hundred convicted OF burglary
| and attempts at burglary: about one hun
! dred and forty convicted of robbery and
attempts at robbery, and twenty-five or
thirty convicted OF receiving stolen goods.
/ ] would say that the majority OF these
| men were of the habitual criminal class
! the cOngenital criminals who suckle Vice
| with their mothers milk; whose fathers
| have been criminals or who were mentally
| deformed I'm the perceptive faculties.
For forgery and attempts at forgery
there are probably fifty-five prisoners-tWo
thirds OF them are in all probability re-
claimable. Their crimes We're committed
| through weakness Of the VIII TO crafty
q momentary passion in some direction
| or other or they We're driven TO IL by
| necessity or extravagant family demands.
| The remaining third are probably profess
sionai forgers, 10 whom imprisonment IS
simply an incident that is part Of their
| business, and which must be accepted as
an unpleasant but necessary evil. After
| their release these men Will be more eau
| tious than before, and seek 10 avoid the
snare which led 10 their detection In pre-
vous experiences, but 1t IS doubtful If
! they will seek TO lead honest lives.
| THE first offenders are found among
! those who are serving sentences for al
| son, for assault committed In the heat OF
| passion, for the destruction OF property,
! for compromising a felony. for malicious
! mischief and other offenses against per-
| son and property that are not necessarily
| heinous. Twenty or twenty-five will pro-
| badly cover this class. Nine-tenths Of
| them may be reclaimed and made good
and useful citizens. When requests for ad-
vice come from them / respond without
any suspicion of deception. When a pro-
fessional seeks me | look up his record
first and try TO divine his motive, for he
always has one"
What Of the higher classes of criminals
men who have enjoyed wealth ana So
ciety and have betrayed their trustsi'
They feel the stain upon their char
acters more than any other men in The
prison You will understand that, chang