A
throng
{of
bearded men},
{in sad-coloured garments
and grey steeple-crowned hats},
inter-mixed
{with women},
some wearing hoods, and others bareheaded,
was
assembled
{in front} {of a wooden edifice},
[Adjectival
to "edifice" the
door
{of
which}
was
heavily
timbered
{with
oak},
and
studded
{with
iron
spikes}.]
/
The
founders
{of
a new colony},
[Adverbial
(condition) to "have
recognized" whatever Utopia
{of human virtue and happiness}
they
might
originally
project,]
have
invariably
recognised
it
{among their earliest practical necessities}
to allot a portion {of the
virgin soil} {as a cemetery}, and
another
portion
{as
the site} {of a
prison}.
/ {In
accordance} {with this rule} it
may
safely
be
assumed [Note
#1 that
the
forefathers
{of
Boston} had built
the first prison-house
somewhere
{in the Vicinity} {of Cornhill},
almost as seasonably [Adverbial
to previous "as"Note # 2 as
they
marked out
the first burial-ground,
{on
Isaac Johnson's lot},
and
{round about his grave},
[Adjectival
to "lot" and "grave" which
subsequently
became the
nucleus
{of
all the congregated sepulchres}
{in the old churchyard} {of King's Chapel}.]]]
/ Certain it
is
[Note
#3 that, some
fifteen or twenty years {after the settlement} {of
the town}, the wooden jail
was
already
marked
{with weather-stains
and other indications} {of age},
[Adjectival
to "weather-stains" and
"indications" which
gave
a yet darker
aspect
{to its beetle-browed
and gloomy front}.]]
/ The
rust
{on the ponderous iron-work} {of
its oaken door} looked
more
antique
{thanNote
#4 anything else}
{in the New World}.
/ {Like all}
[Adjectival
to "all" that
pertains
{to crime},]
it
seemed
never to
have known
a
youthful era.
/
{Before this ugly edifice},
and
{between it and the wheel-track}
{of the street},
was
a
grass-plot,
much
overgrown {with
burdock, pig-weed, apple-pern, and such unsightly
vegetation},
[Adjectival to "burdock,"
"pig-weed," "apple-pern," and "vegetation"
which evidently
found
something
congenial {in the soil}
[Adjectival to "soil"
that had so
early borne
the black flower
{of civilised society}, a
prison.]] / ButNote
{on one side} {of the
portal}, and rooted almost
{at the threshold},
was
a wild
rose-hush, covered,
{in
this month} {of June},
{with its delicate
gems}, [Adjectival
to "gems" which
might
be imagined to
offer
their
fragrance and fragile beauty {to the prisoner}
[Adverbial to "offer"
as he
went in,]
and {to the condemned
criminal}[Adverbial
to "offer" as
he
came forth
{to his doom},]
{in token}Note #5 [Adjectival
to "token" that
the deep
heart {of
Nature} could
pity and be
kind
{to him}.]]
/
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