Before closing this division of the Report, it may not be amiss, even though it be a partial repetition, to notice that the visitors to the two prisons in this city agree, as it is elsewhere stated in this Report, that all other things being equal, the hopes of successful dealing with a prisoner rest much upon the length of his sentence, and the completeness of his separation from all intercourse with other prisoners. Hence the little hopes expressed of favorable results from advice and persuasive dealing with the inmates of the vagrant and drunkard’s cell, whose imprisonment does not extend beyond thirty-one days. We may remark that usually the convict is less a victim of vice than of crime; and he generally has more mind upon which to operate by argument, though, perhaps, he may have less conscience to be affected; and this applies especially to men, who, as convicts, seem by a strange law of society, to be exempted from censure for their vices, while the female convict is made responsible, not only for the crime for which she suffers, but for all the vices that are incident to an erring female. But it seems almost certain that if the vicious female should be made the inmate of a separate cell, and be the object of the gentle attention, and persuasive argument of moral visitors for as long a time as is the criminal female, she would be as likely to yield to those moral allurements as is the convict. To produce the means of alleviating misery, we must have a change in prison economy; we can, perhaps, scarcely hope for success till the House of Correction supplies the means.
MORAL INSTRUCTION.
Every effort made by the Society, in its attempt to alleviate the miseries of public prisons, is intended to be in a moral direction; and whether the person in whose behalf the agent or representative of the Society labors, is to be the tenant of a cell for years, or to be immediately released, it is to the moral perceptions that addresses are made, and it is the moral condition that is the object of public and private labor; it is for the moral improvement that the physical condition is regarded, and what may appear to the careless or indifferent observer as merely an exercise of philanthropic feeling, or of a humane sentiment, has for its great end such a disposition of the offender, or the accused, as will secure to him the means and condition of moral improvement, making the cell endurable to the felon by a growing appreciation of the justice that placed him there, and a sense of the benefit of reflection upon the past, and the comprehension of the advantage of resolves for good, which, by kind monition and gentle persuasion he is induced to adopt. The moral image defaced by vice, or buried beneath the accumulation of crime, begins to assume its earlier charms, begins to move under its superincumbent mass, and, with a recognition of its proprieties and value, vice and crime not only lose attraction, but become hideous and repulsive; the spirit of hostility to the world is gradually weakened, and a lively sensibility to all the duties of social life takes the place of that wretched resolve to misapply power by felonious appropriation, and indulge passion in the violation of the laws of decency and morals.
Or, if the prisoner is to leave his cell, the efforts are to fix in his heart the great principle of moral excellence, and to strengthen the resolutions which he formed while in prison. To follow, indeed, the liberated man to his home, if he have any, or failing that, to provide him with temporary shelter and employment, and to watch over his conduct, and guide and guard him amid the temptations upon which he has entered with delicate susceptibilities and wounded self-respect. Resolves formed in the solitude of cells, are like roots that vegetate in darkness, they are certain not to be very fruitful in their secluded condition, and are exceedingly liable to perish unproductive when exposed to the light.
Care, watchfulness, kindness, and condescension on the part of those who would perfect their work of good, are absolutely necessary to that reformation in the prisoner, which is to make him a useful citizen, and restore him to the confidence and respect of associates. It is not permitted here to give instances of the beneficial exercise of this species of practical, long-enduring kindness, lest the sensibilities of the benefactor should be wounded, and the beneficiary find his condition and circumstances injured by unnecessary publicity. But instances are not wanting of the recent criminal occupant of a felon’s cell, returning to his moral teacher to give thanks, to present the fruits of his amendment, and, while asking additional advice, to solicit continued interest in the future.
The cheerful, kind reception of the young penitent by his friend and guide, seemed to seal the work of reformation; and if he who had been justly charged with, and severely punished for, repeated felonies, felt the healing influence of Christian forbearance, and the long exercise of reforming efforts on the part of the moral instructor, who shall tell the effect upon the repentant’s future interests, upon his associates, and upon the business men of the world, with whom he must mingle, of the freedom of his access to the house of his benefactor, the cordiality of his reception and entertainment, and kindness and good wishes with which he publicly takes leave of him at the open door.
This kind of conduct is that “coup d’epaule” which denotes true dignity and greatness in the bestower, and which confers upon the recipient the freedom of virtuous society, and the power to become a useful member in a good community.
Though the publication of many striking instances of reformation that illustrate the effect of direct personal dealing with the prisoner has been forborne, lest the peculiarity of the cases should too directly point to the individual, and injure his prospects of success, yet one or two are given, that all, and especially prisoners, may comprehend the “possibility of reform,” even to the very vicious and guilty. It is believed that the offender, much more frequently than is supposed, contemplates in his cell the duties and work of reformation, while the discharge of that duty, and the commencement of that work are postponed, from the inability to see how the censure or suspicions of society are to be surmounted, or how, amid those censures and suspicions, so repulsive in their operation, he is to avoid the snares of former associates, and the temptations of former pursuits. The possibility of amendment, the practicability of virtuous resolves must be made apparent by judicious counsel and imitable example.
The effect of the moral improvement on the repentant prisoner, is soon manifested in the improvement of his physical, social, and fiscal condition. The confidence and favor of those who have promoted the change is communicated to others, and amendment of life is productive at once of an amendment of the means of living. The man of business pursuits is as anxious to procure the service of the honest and the able, as the honest and able are to obtain the patronage of active men.