| \-\A
throng {of bearded men,} {in sad-coloured garments
and grey steeple-crowned hats,} inter-mixed*GiveM09{with
women,} some wearing#AAv03 hoods, and
others#AAv03 bareheaded, was assembled=PV{in
front of a wooden edifice,} [RAJFthe
door {of which} was heavily timbered=PV{with
oak,} and studded=PV=CV{with
iron spikes.}]
\-\The
founders {of a new colony,} [MAVFwhatever
Utopia {of human virtue and happiness} they
might originally project,] have invariably
recognised it*INFDE26 {among
their earliest practical necessities} to allot*INFDS20
a portion {of the virgin soil} {as a cemetery,}
and another portion=CC {as
the site} {of a prison.} \-\{In
accordance} {with this rule} it may safely be assumed=PV[RNDSthat
the forefathers {of Boston} had built the
first prison-house somewhere {in the Vicinity} {of
Cornhill,} almost as seasonably [RAVFas
they marked out the first burial-ground, {on Isaac
Johnson's lot,} and {round about his grave,}[RAJFwhich
subsequently became the nucleus
{of all the congregated
sepulchres} {in the old churchyard} {of King's Chapel.}]]]
\-\Certain it is [RNDSthat,
some fifteen or twenty years#NuA05{after
the settlement} {of the town,} the wooden jail was already marked=PV
{with weather-stains and other indications} {of age,}
[RAJFwhich 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} [LAJFthat 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*GiveR30{with
burdock, pig-weed, apple-pern, and such unsightly vegetation,} [RAJFwhich
evidently found something*INFDE03 congenial
{in the soil} [RAJFthat
had so early borne the black flower {of civilised
society,} a prison.#App02]]
\-\But {on one side} {of the portal,}
and rooted almost {at the threshold,} was
a wild rose-hush, covered,*GiveR55 {in
this month} {of June,} {with its delicate gems,} [RAJFwhich
might be imagined=PV to
offer*INFDO41#RCM41 their fragrance and fragile beauty=CC{to
the prisoner} [RAVFas he went {in,}]
and {to the condemned criminal} [RAVFas
he came forth {to his doom,}]{in
token} [RAJFthat the deep heart {of
Nature} could pity and be=CV kind {to
him.}]]
|