subjected which it is possible to endure,
that is more to be dreaded than confinement. Those long, weary, lonely
hours that the prisoner spends in his cell are laden with the greatest
of all continuous sorrows. There is but little danger of surfeiting him
with kindness and advantages, so long as he is deprived of his freedom.
If there is any hope for the reformation of the vicious and depraved, no
better place can be found to commence that reformation than while he is
an inmate of the prison. While there, he is shut out from the society
of his wicked companions; he is not subjected to the same temptations
in prison as on the outside. Save being deprived of his freedom, he
is placed in the most favorable position for reformation that it is
possible for one to occupy. If he is not reformed here it is not likely
he ever will be. It is to the highest interest of the State that these
opportunities should be improved. Every effort should be put forth to
make these men better while they are in prison. They are worth saving.
It must not be forgotten that one of the essential features in a
thorough reformation of a man, is to drive away the mists of ignorance
by which he is surrounded. Other things being equal, he is the better
prepared to wage successfully life's warfare, who is educated. He will
be better able to resist the temptations which he will meet when his
days of bondage are over. Yes, by all means, let every prison have its
school. It is of the greatest importance to the prisoner, likewise to
the State. As I was passing through these cell-houses, reading the
names of the convicts, placed above the cell door, I came to one which
contained four brothers. Five brothers were convicted of robbery and
sent to the prison, but a short time ago one of them was pardoned, and
the four now remain. The liberated one was on a visit to his brothers
while I was at the prison. Reader, is it not a sad thought that these
four young men, brothers, should spend ten of the best years of their
lives in a prison? Surely the way of the transgressor is hard.

Young man, you who have as yet never been an inmate of a prison,
imagine, if possible, the loneliness experienced as one spends his days,
weeks, months and years behind these frowning prison walls, shut up the
greatest portion of the time in these small cells that I have described
in this chapter. If you do not wish a life of this nature, shun the
company of wicked and vicious associates,