At the request of a person who has claims on me that I must not disown, I consent to look back through a long interval¹ of years and to describe events which took place within the walls of an English prison during the earlier period of my appointment as Governor.

Viewing my task by the light which later experience casts on it, I think I shall act wisely by exercising some control over the freedom of my pen.

I propose to pass over in silence the name of the town in which is situated² the prison once confided³ to my care. I shall observe a similar discretion⁴ in alluding⁵ to individuals—some dead, some living, at the present time.

Being obliged to write of a woman who deservedly suffered the extreme penalty of the law, I think she will be sufficiently⁶ identified if I call her The Prisoner. Of the four persons present on the evening before her execution three may be distinguished⁷ one from the other by allusion⁸ to their vocations⁹ in life. I here introduce them as The Chaplain, The Minister, and The Doctor. The fourth was a young woman. She has no claim on my consideration; and, when she is mentioned, her name may appear. If these reserves excite suspicion, I declare beforehand that they influence in no way the sense of responsibility which commands an honest man to speak the truth.

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