Book Description

And I saw a gaol lifting its grimy walls to heaven. And they that passed by looked at it askance, for they said : "It is the abode of Sin." And to them the broad sky and all the earth was fair to look upon, for they saw the early buds opening, and heard the birds that had come back from the south, and they felt the sun which was new warming the hearts of beast and plant. But within the prison, and behind its cold, thick buttresses, and its small, round, triple-barred windows, that looked like tunnels, they heard faint groanings and sighings and much lamentation, and they said: "It is most just, for it is the abode of Sin." And I heard a voice saying : "Woe to the cause that hath not passed through a prison!" And I looked again, and I saw in the gaol those deliverers who in each age have saved the world from itself, and set it free, and gyves were on their wrists and ankles. And I saw Israel in the house of bondage before it came forth to preserve Duty for mankind. Woe to the cause that hath not passed through a prison! And I saw the Praetorian Hall and One that was bound therein, and the soldiers bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, and then led Him away to proclaim Love to the world. Woe to the cause that hath not passed through a prison! And I saw within the gaol them that gave liberty to the slave, and them that unbound the mind of man, and them that strove to free his conscience, and them that led onward to Freedom, and Justice, and Love. Woe to the cause that hath not passed through a prison! And I saw also, those in our own time who have counted themselves as nothing if they could but point out God's way unto their brethren; and there were many, too, of the prophets who are still to come, and these were also in bonds. Woe to the cause that hath not passed through a prison! And lo ! the sky became clouded, and night fell, and there were no birds nor blossoms, but a chill came upon the earth, and they that passed by shivered and trembled; and I beheld, and saw that they were not men, but that they were really wolves, and apes, and swine. And within the gaol was a great light, and a pleasant warmth came from the barred windows; and I heard a burst, of triumphant song. And the gyves fell from the limbs of the prisoners, and there was great joy. And they that passed by would come in,, but they could not; and now within was freedom, and without was captivity. And the hosts within held up their arms, and the marks of their shackles were upon them. But I hid my hands behind me^ for there was no mark on my -wrists. Woe to the cause that hath not passed through a prison! 'Ernest Crosby' -Pages from the Diary of a Militant Suffragette, February 4th, 1909