er's extreme benevolence, he was rarely
imposed upon. He made it a rule to give very little money to discharged
convicts. He paid their board till employment could be obtained, and
when they wished to go to their families, in distant places, he procured
free passage for them in steamboats or cars; which his influence with
captains and conductors enabled him to do very easily. If they wanted to
work at a trade, he purchased tools, and hired a shop, when
circumstances seemed to warrant such expenditure. After they became well
established in business, they were expected to repay these loans, for
the benefit of others in the same unfortunate condition they had been.
Of course, some who expected to receive money whenever they told a
pitiful story, were disappointed and vexed by these prudential
regulations. Among the old gentleman's letters, I find one containing
these expressions: "When I heard you talk in the Prison Chapel, I
thought there was something for the man that had once left the path of
honesty to hope for from his fellow-men; but I find that I was greatly
mistaken. You are men of words. You can do the wind-work first rate. But
when a man wants a little assistance to get work, and get an honest
living, you are not there. Now I wish to know where your philanthropy
is."

But such instances were exceptions. As a general rule, gratitude was
manifested for the assistance rendered in time of need; though it was
always limited to the urgent necessities of the case. One day, the
following letter, enclosing a dollar bill for the Association, was
addressed to Isaac T. Hopper: "Should the humble mite here enclosed be
the means of doing one-sixteenth part the good to any poor convict that
the sixteenth of a dollar has done for me, which I received through your
hands more than once, when I was destitute of money or friends, then I
shall have my heart's desire. With the blessing of God, I remain your
most humble debtor."

From the numerous cases under Friend Hopper's care, while Agent of the
Prison Association, I will select a few; but I shall disguise the names,
because the individuals are living, and I should be sorry to wound their
feelings by any unnecessary exposure of past delinquences.

C.R. about twenty-nine years old, called at the office, and said he had
been lately released from Moyamensing prison; having been sentenced for
two years, on account of selling stolen goods. When Friend Hopper
inquired whether it was h