Prisons and Prayer; Or, a Labor of LoveWheaton, Elizabeth Ryder
Religion
Prisons and Prayer; Or, a Labor of Love
Wheaton, Elizabeth Ryder
Evangelistic work; Prisons
God enabled me to deliver His message and eternity alone will reveal
the results of the seed scattered there that morning. After shaking
hands with the men I was introduced to the old gentleman whom I had
met on the train the day before. To my surprise he proved to be the
President of the Board of Prison Inspectors of the state. I saw him no
more after that time, but a year later I visited the prison of which I
had told him. I saw at the depot a young colored man nicely dressed,
but I knew by his clothes that he was one of the prison boys. He had
come to get the morning paper for the warden. I walked with him to the
prison, and on the way asked him how they all were at the camp. "All
so nicely, thank you," he replied. "Who is your captain now?" I asked.
"Has there been any change since I was here last year?" "O yes, ma'am,
soon after you was here ma'am, just as soon as Massa (meaning the
President of the Board) could find a good man to take de place ob de
ole captun what treated de men so bad and 'bused you so, he sent him
away." "Oh, is that so?" I said. "Yes, an' we's got a good time now to
what we had befo' God sent you heah ma'am. He certainly did send you
heah ma'am dat time." So I had only suffered these indignities that
these abused ones might have better officers and treatment. The new
captain received me very kindly and giving me a seat said my breakfast
would be ready as soon as the prison women could prepare it for me.
Well, surely the Lord had been at work. Such a change all around! We
had a grand meeting and much good was accomplished, the captain
furnished a buggy to take me to the next camp and bring me back to the
depot.
HELPING TO BURY A PRISONER.
After visiting the hospital department of a stockade where I had never
been before, I saw the guards nailing up a long, apparently heavy,
box. I said to them, "What have you in that box?" One replied, "A
man--a dead man." Soon after I heard an officer say to a guard, "Send
five prisoners to go with me to bury that box." I arose from where I
had been praying, and hurried out and asked permission to accompany
the men with the box, but was refused--the officer saying they had no
guard to spare to assist me up the mountain side. "Oh, just please let
me go," I said. "I do not need any one to help me to climb the
mountain. Please, won't you let me go?" He then consented, and I did
not wait for either bonnet or help; but with my shawl over my head I
hurried out after the men bearing the corpse. On we went up the
mountain side, until we came to a very steep place, and the poor weak
prisoners began to tremble under the heavy burden, along in front of
the guard who had his gun in hand. I knew if one should fall, the
guard might suppose he was trying to escape from him, and fire at him
and kill him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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