Prisoner for BlasphemyFoote, G. W. (George William)
Religion
Prisoner for Blasphemy
Foote, G. W. (George William)
Blasphemy; Trials (Blasphemy) -- Great Britain
Colonel Milman always dressed well, and the little color he always
affected was in harmony with his exuberant figure. It was refreshing to
see him occasionally in one's weariness of the dingy prison. He usually
stood at the wing-gate as the men filed in from exercise, and answered
their salutes, with a word for this one and a smile for that. One day
I heard a handsome eulogy on him by a prisoner. He was standing in the
open air outside the gate. It was a pleasant summer morning, and he was
radiantly happy. A man behind me was evidently struck by the Governor's
appearance, for I heard him mutter to his neighbor, "Good old boy, ain't
he?" "Yes," said the other, "you're right." "Fat, ain't he?" rejoined
number one. "Yes," said number two, "like a top. It do yer good to see
_somebody_ as ain't thin."
From the great hall of Holloway prison we were conducted through a
passage under the staircase to the basement of the reception wing. Our
pockets were emptied, but not searched, and every article stowed away
in a little bag. One by one we went into an office, where a clerkly
official wrote our descriptions in a book. "What religion?" he inquired,
when he came to the theological department. "None," I replied. "What!"
he rejoined, "surely you're Catholic or Protestant or something." Then,
with a flourish of the pen, and an air of finality, he put the question
again more decisively, "What religion?" "None," I said. He stared,
gave me up as a bad job, and wrote down "Religion none." That extremely
succinct description figured for twelve months on the card outside my
cell door, and I have heard prisoners speculating as to what sort of
religion "none" was. It was the name of a sect they had never heard of.
The prisoners' cards, affixed to their cell doors, and containing their
name, age, crime, sentence, class and creed, were of two colors--white
(the emblem of purity) for the Protestants, and red (the symbol of sin)
for the Catholics. These criminal members of the two great divisions of
Christendom, like their better or more fortunate co-religionists out
of doors, do not mix in their devotions. They worship God at different
times, although, alas! the same building has to serve for both. No
special color has been found requisite for Freethinkers, who seldom
trouble the prison officials, although this fact is only another proof
of their uncommon obstinacy; for it is clear that, according to their
principles, they ought to fill our gaols, yet they perversely refrain
from those crimes which every principle of consistency obliges them to
commit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account