Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - IV. Chapter. On the application of the penitentiary system in Sweden
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aversion and abhorrence of the criminal, then becomes his comfort and most earnestly desired recreation.
The religious instruction of the prisoner is the most certain foundation, on which all improvement must be supported, the root from which all regeneration must proceed, in order to possess freshness, and to bear good fruit. Without this all outward change in the prisoner’s conduct is only hypocrisy; his mind remains as hardened as before, having made progress only in cunning and artifice. The pastoral care in a penitentiary has consequently a great effect and must be exercised with zeal and conscientiousness. I consider that it ought to be given to a clergyman who is in the full vigour of life, and who gives himself up entirely to this work of love.
Besides his duties as a preacher, which are performed every Sunday and holiday in each separate wing, the chaplain ought not to neglect to gain the confidence of the prisoner by private conversation in the cell, zealously to endeavour to overcome his obstinacy, and to encourage with kindness his first steps on the path of improvement. The criminal, in his solitary dwelling, delivered up to agonizing remembrances and gloomy reflections, should consider his minister as a messenger of peace, a mediator between repentance and heaven. If this beautifully Christian calling be entered into with clear views, and executed with spiritual warmth, the effects will be attended with
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