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                          STEPHEN H. BRANCH’S
                               ALLIGATOR.


 Volume I.—No. 20        SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4,           Price 2 Cents.
                                  1858.




                        And they Stoned Stephen.


We are told by the Holy Scriptures that one of the Apostles, who,
preaching integrity and truth to the Pharisees of old, offended those
who belonged to the Tabernacle of libertines, was brought before the
council, which, by arousing public sentiment in a seditious manner,
caused Stephen to be stoned. And in our modern day they have likewise
stoned Stephen by placing him, unaccustomed to toil, and guiltless of
all crime, save the free exercise of opinion, to labor in a quarry along
with felons, thieves, and other obnoxious convicts; and in this wise
have our modern Pharisees stoned Stephen.

The Warden of the Penitentiary, suffering from din of public opinion,
has seen proper to extenuate his conduct by stating that he was
compelled, by rigidity of duty, thus to place Mr. Branch in a position
of labor. Thus has he communicated his thoughts for publication to the
editor of the _Sunday Mercury_, and when he uttered them he was well
aware that they were a mere subterfuge to avoid personal indignity. And
now we challenge the Warden to show one single word in his instructions
rendering it compulsory upon him to employ any one soul in the quarrying
of stone. On the contrary, his instructions particularly enjoin upon him
the exercise of moderation and forbearance as a taskmaster, and most
explicitly direct that no prisoner, incapable of physical labor, shall
be employed at manual servitude. The law of the State, despite the
tendencies of Mr. Fitch, recognizes every being, created in human form,
to be possessed of a soul, as well as being of value to the
commonwealth; for a man incarcerated in the penitentiary, is not devoid
of civil life as is the case with a convict to the State prison, and
wherefore then did he stone Stephen?

Mr. Fitch, the Warden, may remember that a woman, convicted of the most
brutal of crimes, which the law unfortunately has left unvisited by
proper punishment, that of the murder of the innocents, as yet unborn,
was, during her residence at the Island, favored not only with the
comforts, but the luxuries of an easy existence. And still they stoned
Stephen.

The Warden, in addition to this instance of the famous Madame Restell,
may remember that a French gentleman, convicted of a most gross and
obscene libel upon the Rev. Mr. Verien, was not only suffered to remain
in idleness, and without the prison clothes, but was absolutely lodged
in the Warden’s house, remunerating him for his comfortable existence by
instructing his daughters in a knowledge of the French tongue. And still
they stoned Stephen!

The Warden may remember, moreover, that Mr. Judson, convicted of a
misdemeanor in exciting the Astor Place riot, was allowed two days of
weekly absence to attend the publication of a journal by him published—a
fact notorious to every reader of _Ned Buntline’s Own_. And still they
stoned Stephen!

We are sorry that the Warden so far committed himself as intentionally
to persecute a harmless, unoffensive man, whose true crime is a steady
adherence to truth. Allow us to assure him that while we admire his
penitence for the moment, we cannot forgive the fact that he stoned
Stephen!




              Is the Atlantic Telegraph Actually Complete?


It is still doubted by many whether the Atlantic cable is actually laid
and perfect, as is reported. There is, we believe, no actual proof of
the fact, beyond that in the hands of those who have a pecuniary
interest in its being completed. It is said that the Queen’s message and
the President’s reply have been transmitted. Have they? Who knows?

Mr. Field has notified the public that the line will not be opened for
its use in much less than a month—that he also has resigned the
directorship. Has he sold his stock, and thus disqualified himself from
holding office? And will most of the stock have changed hands within the
month? And will something have happened to the cable in the meantime to
render it useless? Will the directors prove the fact of the cable being
securely laid and in working order, by transmitting a message and
returning an answer, if it is but a single sentence? If they are able to
transmit one word they can do this. It would certainly be too bad if it
should prove to be a Kidd salvage affair. Then all the gas which has
been evolved, and all the powder burnt in the extreme jollification,
would be a total loss; together with part of the City Hall, and Justice
into the bargain. We certainly would advise those who have been lately
canonized to show these surmises to be false before their honors grow
dim.




                      A Commotion in the Jarsies.


The ALLIGATOR, feeling himself some pump