The Nation Behind Prison BarsHerr, George L. (George Lewis)
Religion
The Nation Behind Prison Bars
Herr, George L. (George Lewis)
Church work with criminals; Evangelists
In his story which he gave out last night Jett freely admits his guilt
of the crimes that are charged against him. He added, when he said that
it was a good thing that he had been put in the penitentiary:
"I do not mean that it was good to kill men."
He said that whisky was largely responsible for his misdeeds and he
wanted to do good now that he had done so much harm. The following is
Jett's story as he wrote it in his cell:
Jett's Story.
"State Prison, Frankfort, Ky., March 13, 1909.--To the Whole World: I
want to let the whole world know what God in his great mercy has done
for me, and prove to you by words which are true that Jesus is willing,
able and does save to the uttermost. After a life of sin and shame, God
sent his Holy Spirit into my soul and made a new man out of me. It was
in this wise: A dear, good woman who is dead now, but who then lived in
Lexington; her name was Mrs. Fanny A. Penn--I shall never forget that
name--she wrote me a good Christian letter, full of good advice, and
begged me to become a Christian. I had never seen her, or she me, as I
know of; she had only read in the press regarding what a desperado and
outlaw I was. I read her letter and it sounded like a fairy tale to me,
with no sense in it; but after reflection, I answered it, and we began
to be good friends, and she kept begging me to turn from my sinful ways
and be a Christian man.
Read New Testament.
"I want to state right here that because a man is in prison, he don't
have to be a Christian or behave himself; and Mrs. Penn sent me a small
revised Testament and begged me to read it. At first I laid it up and
would not read it. I don't remember of ever reading a whole chapter in a
Bible up until that time in my whole life; and at last, by her begging
me in every letter to read my Testament, I began to read it, and started
out with a resolution to read it through, and after I began to read, I
became interested in it, and the more I read it the deeper I became
interested in it, and God's Holy Spirit began to work in me, and I began
to pray. At first it seemed that I was afraid that God would not answer
my prayers, but still something made me pray anyway, and it wasn't long
until I was praying to God every night from one to three times, from the
depths of my heart. I had taken his name in vain ever since I was a
child, and I asked him to make me quit taking his name in vain, and
after a day at my work, and when I would curse God, I would think of my
prayers, and then at night when I would go to my cell, I would let my
thoughts wander over a day that had just passed, and I could tell after
reflecting that I hadn't cursed so much that day. And little by little
God removed that evil spirit, cursing, from me, until one night when I
went to my cell and my thoughts wandered over the day that had just
passed, and not an oath had I uttered, and I was happier than ever
before, I fell on my knees on the hard stone floor, and thanked God for
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