Produced by the Infliction of the "Silent System"[1] in prison punishment.
by T. Roscoe, Esq.
Originally published in Ainsworth's Magazine: A Miscellany of Romance (Chapman and Hall) vol.10 #5 (1846).
Soul-terror's "silent system!" the heart's cell!
That must be felt, no tongue could ever tell—
New torture of the brain; refined excess
Of cruelty in mercy's name t'oppress!
Life, thought—th' etherial fire—mysterious gift—
Silence and darkness from their bright seat, swift
Back to their source impel! His wrongs unknown
The idiot sits on god-like reason's throne;
And the mask'd face, crush'd heart, and spirit's dread
Have done their work upon the living dead.
Speak not of torture bann'd from freedom's land,
And slavery's bonds! both in the lenient hand
Of modern gaol-reform combine their power,
And mock the captive in his dying hour.
Once closed those gates—no more on him shall shine
One ray of hope—or Nature's breath divine,
'Mid her free haunts inspire the love, the joy,
Known to worst hearts—man only can destroy:
Racks every sense, back on itself impels,
Bleeding and shrinking to thought's inmost cells!
Bright spirits of the just! say, did ye dare
Meet face to face the despot? teach to spare
The fallen—to recall the sinner's doom,
And walk unscath'd through plagues to Howard's tomb,
For this, th' unmitigated war of hate—
Revenge for deeds man's tyrannies create?
The social Saturn that devours its kind,
Th' Infernal gate, that leaves not Hope behind.
1. Sir Peter Laurie took the opportunity of denouncing the "Silent System" adopted in the New Prison, and promised to declare certain facts in a forthcoming pamphlet, which he had prepared for the press, which could scarcely fail to establish the justice of his views, of what he considered to be the most abominable punishment ever designed for evil-doers.—Meeting of the Marylebone Vestry. From "The Times," of April 13, 1846.