A
throng
{of
bearded men},
{in sad-coloured garments
and grey steeple-crowned hats},
inter-mixed
(Gerundive to
"men") {with women},
some wearing
(Gerundive to "some")
hoods (DO of "wearing"),
and others bareheaded,
was
assembled {in
front} {of a wooden edifice},
[the
door
{of
which}
was
heavily
timbered
{with
oak},
and
studded
{with
iron spikes}.] /
The
founders
{of
a new colony},
[whatever Utopia
{of human
virtue and happiness} they
might
originally
project,]
have
invariably
recognised it
{among their earliest practical necessities}
to
allot
(InfNote #1)
a portion
(DO of "to allot") {of
the virgin soil} {as a
cemetery}, and
another
portion
(DO of "to allot")
{as the site}
{of a prison}.
/ {In accordance} {with this rule}
it
may safely
be
assumed [that
the
forefathers
{of
Boston} had built the
first
prison-house
somewhere
{in the Vicinity} {of Cornhill}, almost as
seasonably [as
they
marked out
the first burial-ground,
{on
Isaac
Johnson's lot},
and {round about his grave},
[which
subsequently
became the
nucleus
{of
all the congregated sepulchres} {in the old
churchyard} {of King's Chapel}.]]]
/ Certain it
is
[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},
[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
{than
anything else}
{in the New World}.
/ {Like 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
(Gerundive to "grass-plot")
{with
burdock, pig-weed, apple-pern, and such unsightly
vegetation},
[which evidently
found
something
congenial {in the soil} [that
had
so early borne
the black flower
{of civilisedNote
PPG society}, a
prison.]]
/ But {on
one side} {of the portal}, and
rooted
(Gerundive - PA to "rose-hush"Note #2)
almost {at the threshold},
was
a wild rose-hush,
covered (Gerundive
to "rose-hush"),
{in this
month} {of June},
{with its delicate gems}, [which
might
be imagined
to
offer
(InfNote
#3) their
fragrance
(DO of "to offer") and
fragile beauty
(DO of "to offer")
{to the prisoner} [as
he went
in,]
and {to the condemnedNote
PPG criminal}[as
he
came forth
{to his
doom},] {in
token} [that the
deep heart {of
Nature} could pity and
be
kind {to
him}.]] /
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