Speeches, Addresses, and Occasional Sermons, Volume 1 (of 3)Parker, Theodore
Religion
Speeches, Addresses, and Occasional Sermons, Volume 1 (of 3)
Parker, Theodore
Sermons, American; Unitarianism
Whole No.
in prison. Average sentence.
In Conn. 189, March 31, 1841, 7 yrs. 3 mos.
Va. 181, Sept 30, 1839, 6 " 10 "
Mass. 322, Sept. 30, 1840, 5 " 9 "
La. 68, Sept 30, 1839, 5 " 1 "
N. J. 152, Sept. 30, 1840, 4 " 7 "
Ky. 162, Sept. 30, 1839, 4 "
D. C. 79, Nov. 30, 1840, 3 " 8 "
Md. 104, 3 "
Phila. 129, Sept. 30, 1840, 2 " 5 "
The difference between the average term of punishment in Connecticut and
Philadelphia is 300 per cent! If the same result is effected by each,
there has then been a great amount of gratuitous suffering in one case.
[35] I refer to the prisons at Stretton-upon-Dunmore in Warwickshire,
that at Horn near Hamburg, and the one at Mettray near Tours in France.
The French penal code allows the guardian or relatives of an offender
under age to take him from prison on giving bonds for his good behavior.
While these pages were first passing through the press, I learned the
happy effect which followed the execution of the license laws in this
city. In 1846, from the 10th of March to the 24th of April, there were
sent to the House of Correction for intemperance one hundred eighty-nine
persons. During the same period of the year 1847, only eighty-four have
been thus punished! But alas, in 1851 the evil has returned, and the
demon of drunkenness mows down the wretched in Boston with unrestricted
scythe.
IX.
A SERMON OF POVERTY.--PREACHED AT THE MELODEON, ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 14,
1849.
PROVERBS X. 15.
The destruction of the poor is their poverty.
Last Sunday something was said of riches. To-day I ask your attention to
a sermon of poverty. By poverty, I mean the state in which a man does
not have enough to satisfy the natural wants of food, raiment, shelter,
warmth and the like. From the earliest times that we know of, there have
been two classes of men, the rich who had more than enough, the poor who
had less. In one of the earliest books which treats of the condition of
men, we find that Abraham, a rich man, owns the bodies of three hundred
men that are poor. In four thousand years, the difference between rich
and poor in our part of America is a good deal lessened, not done away
with. In New England property is more uniformly distributed than in
most countries, perhaps more equally than in any land as highly
civilized. But even here the old distinction remains in a painful form
and extended to a pitiful degree.
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