Prisoner for BlasphemyFoote, G. W. (George William)
Religion
Prisoner for Blasphemy
Foote, G. W. (George William)
Blasphemy; Trials (Blasphemy) -- Great Britain
Standing outside my cell door, I perceived Mr. Ramsey, Mr. Kemp, and Mr.
Cattell already outside theirs. The few other prisoners still remaining
in Newgate (they are transferred to other prisons as soon as possible
after sentence) were ranged in a similar manner. A file was then formed,
and we marched, accompanied by officers, through a passage on the
ground floor to the chapel, passing on our way the glass boxes in which
prisoners hold communication with their solicitors. An officer stands
outside during the interview: he can hear nothing, but he is able to
see every motion of the occupants; the object of this mechanism being to
guard against the passage of any interdicted articles.
The chapel was small, lighted by a large window on the left side
from the door, and warmed by a mountainous stove in the centre. A few
backless forms were provided on the floor for unconvicted prisoners.
We were accommodated with the front bench, and requested to sit two
or three feet apart from each other, the few other prisoners occupying
seats behind us being separated in the same way. The convicted prisoners
sit in a railed-off part of the chapel, and I believe there is a gallery
for the women. On our right, facing the window, was a pulpit, below
which was the clerk's desk, flanked on the right by the Governor's box
and on the left by a seat for the officers.
After waiting some time, we heard footsteps at the door. In strode the
tall Governor and the Chaplain, the one entering his box, and the other
going to the clerk's desk, where he read the service, which was rushed
through at the rate of sixty miles an hour. Mr. Duffeld started the
hymns, but his voice is not melodious, and he has little sense of tune.
The singing, indeed, would have broken down if it had not been for the
Francatelli of the establishment, who had exchanged his kitchen costume
for the official uniform, and sang with the fervor and emphasis of a
Methodist leader or a captain in the Salvation Army.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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