Year: 1865

expiration of her sentence if she behaved
we'll. Jacobs made suitable responses anc
very humble Acknowledgements but one
thing struck me as remarkable, and it was
never omitted in one of their visits-they
never went without asking if she had come
to proper repentance of her great sin yet
and Jacobs as invariably answered, "Tm
afraid | have not" This was so regularly
done that | at last concluded it must have
some religious signification known only to
the Jews. The conduct of the Josephs
toward their convicted kitchen-mad was
certainly more amiable than Gentiles gen
orally show in like circumstances. But we
matrons and assistants soon began to think
that the cause might be found in Jacobs
herself A more civil or submissive Great.
ure no prison officer could desire to have in
charge. In fact, Jacobs required little care;
she scrubbed the stone floors, made the
rough bags, was locked up at night, and
even attended the chapel with the same un-
murmuring humility. Jacobs gave no
trouble and anybody accustomed to look
after female convicts will have an idea OF
what a rare jewel she must have appeared
in our eyes, and what contrast she pre-
sented to the other women of the ward.


| am not going to enter on the woes of an
assistant-matron but the uneXampled good
behavior of my new prisoner, while it spar
ed my nerves and temper, could not but
gain my best regards | positively liked
Jacobs before she had been a fortnight un-
der my charge, and the poor Jewess seem
ed to return my goodwill There was no
trouble she wouldn't have taken, no haste
she wouldn't have made to serve me she
ran without being called, fetched and car
ried without being bidden; and when allow
ed to clean my room, as reward for good
conduct, because it conferred additional lib
erty, she made everything look as bright
and polished as if it had been new | was
pleased, of course but cleaning and scour-
ing seemed to be Jacobs hobby-an uncom-
mon one for a Jewess-and still more rare
among the inhabitants of our wards. All
the time she could spare from prison work
was devoted to sweeping, scrubbing, and
polishing up her own cell in every corner.
/ Walls, floors, and even the ceiling got the
benefit of her exertiOns she reached them
with an agility which nobody could expect
from her squat figure Almost the entire
ward was indebted to her i'll this way, which
brings me to the only troublesome inclina-
ton Jacobs ever showed There was no
such thing as getting her to rest or remain
in cell more than two or three weeks
once it was fairly secured out, and there
was nothing more for Jacobs to clean, not
a speck of dust left on its bare walls or in
its four corners, she became uneasy restless,
always imploring leave to change with her
next neighbor. Prison-rules do not recog-
nize such humors but, as in the working
of every system, rules will be relaxed and
modified according to character and circum-
stances, so in female convict establishments,
the goodwill Of officers, the consideration
of directors, and sometimes the general de-
sire for as much Of a quiet life as can be
got in such places, admit of small matters
and allowances beyond the strict regula-
tions. Jacobs seemed to understand the
fact and took her measures accOrdingly.-
The only request she ever made to directors,
ady-superintendent, or chaplain--the only
privilege she ever coaXed from me, in return
for her spontaneous geryices-the only APP
proach to intimacy with her fellow-prisoners
she ever tried, was for leave to exchange
her cell. There was a report among us-I
know not how it originated-to the effect
that the Josephs had made interest in her
favor with the prison authorities. What
ever the influence brought to bear on the
case might be, certain it was that Jacobs's
request was always granted she got leave
! to exchange. Icould not be as obdurate as
the directors to creature who served me
with such zeal and as for her fellow-pris-
oners, though by no means inclined to assist
or crafty each other generally they were
somehow willing enough to oblige Jacobs.
In short, before half the time Of her SEN
tence elapsed, she had made the round of
| the ward and at last requested, with her
usual pertinaeious humility, an Immediate
transfer to No. 40, the last cell at the ex-
tremc end of the corridor, and the only one
| she had not tried.


! No 40 was indeed sort of forgotten or
unused cell, partly because it was out of
! the way, and partly because there was a
/ dark tradition attached to it. ! must tell
you that my ward formed part of what was
called the old prison-a division of the
/ building much more ancient than the rest,
which, in former times, had been appropri-
ated to male convicts, and noted burglar
was said to have escaped public execution
/ by hanging himself in that very cell. Such
stories never can be got to die out, partic-
ticularly in prisons but it was hushed up
as far as possible, TO save the officers troub-
lie in case the cell should be wanted THAI
did not happen, to my great satisfaction, and


No 40 was left in its emptiness till Jacobs
took fancy to occupy it. Whether she
had heard the tale or not had no certainty:
it was very likely that some old inhabitant
of the prison would soon make her aware
of it. | advised the Jewess against her
meditated exchange, told her she could not
expect to have another after going round
the ward as she had done, warned her that
No. 40 was the most solitary, and probably,
from its long emptiness, coldest of all the
cells; but my advice and warnings were all
in vain. Humby obstinate as ever, in
Jacobs would go, and in she went. de-
termined in my wrath that she should not
make another fitting in hurry whatever
recollections of the burglar might arise
But TO my agreeable surprise Jacobs ap-
peared to think nothing about him she
scrubbed and cleaned and polished No 49
with as much energy as she bad shoWn in
her former apartments--if possible, thought
more. The ward-women were unanimous
| that she knew all about the burglar, but in
| the cell Jacobs remained, as if perfectly
satisfied at last and when nearly month
/ had passed away congratulated myself on