Chelsea in the olden & present times / by George Bryan.

  • Bryan, George
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Chelsea in the olden & present times / by George Bryan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    174/240 (page 162)
    a rather ancient-looking place of resort. It was well-conducted, and occasionally a great many persons visited it. On its site is now a very respectable tavern. Near to this house, a little to the east, about i8i8, a poor man was sitting by the road side, apparently in the most pitiable state of hunger and destitution. A pensioner belonging to Chelsea Hospital, a man of colour, was passing along at the time with a can of soup and a small loaf of bread, which he had just previously received as his dinner allowance, some of the men being allowed to have private lodgings. The pensioner gazed for a moment at the wretched object of misery, and then, with a heart full of sympathy, gave him some of the soup and bread. Such an act of benevolence excited the attention of a very young man, who, whenever he met the kind-hearted black pensioner, always felt a feeling of respect for him. Some time aftenvards it came to the knowledge of this youth that the pensioner had been convicted of a certain crime, not now a capital offence, and sentenced to be executed. This commu- nication very much surprised him, but he could not erase from his memory the humane conduct he had witnessed. Accordingly, he went to Newgate on the following day, unknowm to his friends, to see the condemned malefactor. On his arrival at the prison the turnkey at the entrance door refused him admittance, and told him, in a gruff manner, that he must get an order. He then went direct to the Sherift’s residence, and, after some conversation, obtained a special order for admission. The turnkey now became very respectful, and the young man was immediately conducted to the yard where the condemned prisoners took the benefit of the fresh air. The aged convict’s appearance was much altered, and during nearly the whole time of the visit tears rolled down his cheeks. He was thus visited several times, and, at length, through a petition presented by the authorities at Chelsea Hospital, and another from some of the parishioners, the unhappy black man’s sentence was miti- gated to transportation for life. At one of the interviews, the culprit asked for some memorial of the young man’s kindness, having been previously told that his life would be spared, and a Bible was given to him, with the name of the youthful donor written in it. An assurance was given that he would see him again that week, but when the young man went the poor black pensioner had been removed from the prison, and he never heard of him afterwards. The evidence produced at the trial fully justified the verdict of being guilty of the charge, but there was gross culpability on the part of the prosecutrix.