MICHELIN E SH
UK28
bre
М. Лrk and
NEW YORK
1853

WILLIAML.CLEMENTS
LIBRARY OF
AMERICAN HISTORY
UNIVERSITYOF MICHIGAN

To Caroline Whaubom
with the love anespecte
V
hitberg 1884


THE HELPING HAND.






THE
HELPING HAND:
COMPRISING AN ACCOUNT OF
THE HOME,
FOR DISCHARGED FEMALE CONVICTS,
AND AN
APPEAL IN BEHALF OF THAT INSTITUTION.
BY MRS. C. M. KIRKLAND.
Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name.
Ps. exlll.
(SOLD FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE INSTITUTION.)
NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER, 145 NASSAU STREET,
1853.

C. W. BENEDICT,
STEREOTYPER AND PRINTER,
201 William Street.

TO THE MEMORY OF
IS A AC T. HOPPER,
ONE WHOSE LONG LIFE WAS GIVEN TO THE UNHAPPY; WHO WOULD
FAIN HAVE WIPED THE TEARS FROM ALL EYES, AND, LIKE HIS
DIVINE MASTER, BROUGHT BACK THE DISOBEDIENT TO THE WIS-
DOM OF THE JUST, —THIS LITTLE BOOK WHICH WAS PREPARED
UNDER HIS ADVICE AND WITH HIS APPROBATION, IS REVERENTLY
INSCRIBED.


CONTENTS.
THE HELPING HAND, .
THE PRISONER,
.
.
THE DISCHARGED CONVICT,
RE-COMMITMENT, .
.
. .
.
.
ASSOCIATION FOR RELIEF AND AID, .
CARE OF FEMALE CONVICTS, .
.
USES OF THE HOME, .
CONDITION OF THE FEMALE CONVICT AFTER HER DISCHARGE,
PLAN OF THE HOME, .
.
HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT,
ESTIMATE OF SUCCESS,
INSTRUCTION,
PARTICULARS OF THE PLAN OF, REFORM,

CONTENTS.
PAGE
61
RULES FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE HOME, .
WHAT IS OUR DUTY? .
PUBLIC DUTY, .
« ENCOURAGING CRIME,”
CHARACTER OF THE WORK,
CASES REPORTED,
THE PILGRIM, .
118
124
SCHOOL REPORT OF THE PAST YEAR,. . .
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES OF THE PRISON ASSOCIATION, .
TABLE, SHOWING THE WHOLE NUMBER RECEIVED INTO THE
HOME, FROM 1845 to 1851, INCLUSIVE, . .
ISAAC T. HOPPER,
. . .
128
129

How beautiful is all the visible world !
How glorious in its action and itself !
But we, who name ourselves its sovereigns-we,
Half dust, half deity, alike unfit
To sink or soar, with our mixed essence make
A conflict of its elements, and breathe
The breath of degradation and of pride,
Contending with low wants and lofty will,
Till our mortality predominates,
And men are—what they name not to themselves,
And trust not to each other.
WORDSWORTH.


THE HELPING HAND.
It may be they will present their supplications to the Lord, and
turn every one from his evil way.—JER. Xxxvi. 7.
THE HOME FOR DISCHARGED FEMALE CONVICTS WAS
OPENED JUNE 12th, 1845.
Since that time about nine hundred women have been
received, and retained for various periods of time,
according to their characters or their necessities. Those
found worthy, have been provided with situations; some
cases of disease have been placed in the hospitals as
unfit for the purposes of the Institution; the irreclaim-
ably vicious have been discharged, and the irresolute
have themselves withdrawn, repelled by the labor and
discipline of the Home.
Of the entire number, there is reason to hope that one-
half have been signally benefitted; from one-third good
accounts have been received, and many cases are on
record of the most remarkable reformation and return to

14
THE HELPING HAND.
virtuous life; many instances of deep and earnest
gratitude, and some most honorable efforts to repay the
Institution.
It is believed that the Home is the first Institution
of the kind in the world ; although the need of a
helping hand to the discharged convict is so obvious and
-80 pressing, that the benevolent governors of English
and French prisons have expressed the opinion, that
without such a Refuge, all that can be done for the
prisoner is useless, or nearly so.
A small, private Refuge, established by Miss Burdett
Coutts, at Shepherd's Bush, near London, receives twelve
young girls—discharged convicts—under the age of
seventeen, and, after instructing them for one year,
transports them to the Australian colonies, where places
are found for them by the resident bishops. And in
France, a benevolent clergyman has a farm on which
a limited number of male discharged convicts are
employed.
No attempt on a larger scale has, within our know-
ledge, yet been made, to carry out the benevolent intent
of prison discipline, by offering ways and means to the
discharged convict, in his helpless and outcast situation.
The sphere of the Home has no sectarian boundaries.
Its efforts are truly Catholic. To advance “the kingdom
yed.

THE HELPING HAND.
15
of our Lord and of his Christ," by reclaiming the lost
and affording opportunity of return to the penitent, has
been the sole object; and no sect or nation has been
excluded or favored. Religious instruction is given from
the Bible, by city missionaries and private friends, and
the whole system of discipline and aid is based on a
practical exemplification of gospel principles.
A school is held daily, in which all capable inmates are
taught to read and write.
Sewing in all its varieties, and other feminine employ-
ments consistent with the means of the Institution, are
taught and practised constantly. By these the inmates
are able to contribute towards their own support, and if
the plan could be so enlarged as to afford means for
performing labor on a more extended scale, important
advantages would be derived, not only pecuniary, but
moral.
The great lack of the Home is a suitable BUILDING
affording means of classification and of profitable labor
in the several departments, which cannot now be under-
taken.
For this purpose generous sums are pledged, but all
on condition that sufficient be subscribed to place the
undertaking on a secure basis.
To aid this great object this little book is offered, in the

16
THE HELPING HAND.
hope that a more complete exposition of the purposes
and success of the Institution than can be offered in the
compass of a Report, may call attention to its necessities,
while a recapitulation of the arguments heretofore urged,
may incline the public mind in its favor.

THE PRISONER.
Remember! each his sentence waits,
And he that shall rebut
Sweet Mercy's suit, on him the gates
Of Mercy shall be shut.
CAMPBELL.
AMONG the objects and obligations of Christian charity
so dwelt upon by our Saviour and his apostles, none has
engaged so small a share of the world's attention as the
condition of the prisoner. A few in every age have been
found to care for him, and perhaps each age has seen this
small number increase, in proportion to the spread of
intelligence, and the consequent increase of general
sympathy. But the taste of the public has always
influenced its choice of objects of beneficence, and while
other classes of sufferers have awakened the tenderest
interest and the noblest liberality, the prisoner alone
always associated by our Lord in his teachings with the
destitute, the sick and the wretched, whom to neglect is
to forfeit the disciple's name—has been comparatively

18
THE HELPING HAND.
forgotten. He has been treated as a public enemy;
given over, without a regret, to the law and its penalties;
as completely banished from the sympathies, and cut off
from the efforts of beneficence, as if natural as well as
civil death had been pronounced upon him. The
community at large has been even more severe than the
law; for the inflictions of the latter cease when the
allotted period of punishment has expired, while the
former continues to pursue him who has paid the legal
penalty, with a contempt, abhorrence, and total exclusion
from social privileges, which would, of themselves, be
heavy punishment for many offences.
This habit of treating the convict as the determined
and irreclaimable enemy of society, has caused him
actually to be deemed such by many otherwise humane
and liberal people, as well as by the unthinking and
selfish. Many a heart that would have been startled by
the assertion that one who has been justly incarcerated,
under the operation of our mild laws, is properly thence-
forth excluded from the fellowship of man, if not from
the mercy of God, has still given practical sanction to
this monstrous error, by omitting the convict from its list
of objects of charitable effort. There has long been a
vague, traditional admiration of the character and labors
of Howard, but very little sense of the necessity of

THE PRISONER.
carrying forward the work which he spent and sacrificed
his life to begin. The divine command to 66. visit the
prisoner," and the apostolic injunction to restore a brother
who had been found in a fault sin a spirit of meekness,"
is duly read and reverently listened to, in our churches
and elsewhere; the pulpit has occasionally—too rarely !
-given its echoes to these precepts. But the directors
of public sentiment have never, even yet, taken up the
cause of the prisoner with a heartiness of advocacy
which would make it popular. For want of this sanction,
the timid have felt it even unsafe to move in the matter.
To avow a sympathy with the criminal—to treat him as
a brother man-has seemed like confessing a toleration
for crime; and the goodness which induces men to be
generous in other cases, has really helped to lock up
their hearts and hands against this form of distress.
We rejoice that this feeling is less general than
formerly. We are happy to know there are, now, many
who believe that one human being should never pro-
nounce another hopeless, irreclaimable — the proper
object only of painful inflictions and continued depri-
vation.
Much has already been done for the improvement of
prison discipline, and for the preservation of whatever
spark of virtue may survive in the convict's unhappy

20
THE HELPING HAND.
bosom. In this good work our country has taken the
lead, so that her example is quoted wherever the subject
has awakened attention. It is a subject on which thought
is sure to lead to action. It is, from its very nature, apt
to escape notice; for the prisoner is “out of sight, out
of mind," and his sufferings do not obtrude themselves
upon onr sensibilities like those of the poor beggar by the
wayside. But when once we think of what a condition
it is to be thus forgotten, hard must be the heart, or obtuse
the imagination, that is not stirred. The horror with
which comfortable good people receive true and simple
accounts of the character and circumstances of particular
prisoners, is proof enough that they have never thought
deeply upon the condition of prisoners in general-of
imprisonment, in itself and its consequences, so produc-
tive of circumstances fitted to harrow up any feelings not
less than human. When they do once think, they are
apt to be zealous and efficient actors, as opportunity
offers.

THE DISCHARGED CONVICT.
HE feedeth on ashes ; a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that
he cannot deliver his soul.—Isa. xliv. 20.
But from the condition of the convict grows out
another-new and distinct, but perhaps more miserable
—that of the discharged convict. When one has com-
mitted an offence against the laws, and is sentenced to
the penal infliction which he consciously incurred when
he transgressed, the natural sense of justice comes in aid
of fortitude, and he bears his punishment as he may, the
thoughts of future liberty, perhaps reformation, holding
up his heart, and nerving him for exertion under the most
depressing circumstances. He needs, indeed, the cares
and sympathy of his fellow-creatures, and it is the
heaviest part of his punishment to be cut off, in great
measure, from them. If he feel one emotion of penitence,
if the faintest sigh toward a new and better life agitate
his hapless bosom, how much does he need the support
of a friendly countenance—the aid of a few friendly

22
THE HELPING HAND.
words—the stimulus of such encouragement as the
benevolent know how to offer. Without these, all but
the hardened in crime find the prison a place of more
unmitigated sorrow than any merciful laws would deem
necessary; not a few have lost their reason after a short
endurance of such isolati on.
But suppose this ordeal past; look at the convict, after
having served out his allotted time, and endured the
utmost penalty prescribed by the laws, with, perhaps,
some additions of severity which the laws did not
contemplate. See him discharged;—the gates he so
often desired to pass closed behind him; the sentinels
yesterday so watchful of his every movement, now list-
lessly witnessing his departure from those walls hung
thick with the groans of his late compeers. What are
his thoughts? Has he only to go back quietly to his
home—be welcomed by his family and friends, and look
about him for some honest occupation, that shall give
him an opportunity to rebuild his reputation, while he
repairs his shattered fortune?
Ah, how different is the true picture! The prisoner
who repents, comes out upon the world' a lost man; it is
only he who returns to society hardened in guilt, that
returns as well off as before, and with the greater hope
of success in his evil doing, because he has had time to

THE DISCHARGED CONVICT.
23
plan more cautious operations for the future. He finds
companions ready to welcome him; he is a sort of hero
among those who have never tasted the horrors of incar-
ceration; his return to the haunts of vice is an inspiration
to his fellows. But no jubilee greets the penitent. The
wicked hate and fear him; if they cannot entice him
back to the old ways, they stop at no compulsion which
may force him to become altogether such an one as
themselves; they make his life bitter with their taunts, or
drive him from them with threats and execrations.
And do the good stand ready to receive the desolate
wanderer, thus thrust forth from the ranks of his associ-
ates in crime? Are they concerned to remove all
stumbling-blocks from the new path, on which his steps,
clogged with shame and weak with evil habit, are apt
enough to falter? Is there a detachment of the great
army of the safe and happy, tender and forgiving from
the consciousness of how their own way has been hedged
about by Providence, waiting with earthly aid and
encouragement, while the angels sing hymns of joy over
the “ sinner that repenteth ?”
Alas ! how different! The old tragedy of the prisoner
of the Bastile, who begged to be taken back again
because there was no human sympathy left for him
beyond those walls, is acted over again in some shape

24
THE HELPING HAND.
every day. We fancy the wretched man, standing, feeble
and alone, in the crowded street, his eyes dazzled with the
unwonted light; his poor heart aching with solitude;
his thoughts of the future a blank; the grave the only
tolerable spot in his prospect. But we do not think that
from all our prisons, in this happy land,—this land of
humanity, justice and equal rights,—our own brethren are
issuing in a condition little better. Every eye averted;
every door closed ; every workshop dark with contempt;
the means of existence depending on labor which all
refuse to afford—who would not go back even to the
fatal warmth-the deadly comfort—of vicious compan-
ionship, rather than be thus
Alone on a wide, wide sea,
So lonely that even God himself
Scarce seemeth there to be!

RE-COMMITMENT.
Wo to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to
lift him up.—Eccl. iv. 10.
The recurrence of the same names, again and again, on
all our prison annals, is not so wonderful as it appears to
the unreflecting. We are apt to think, “ After all the
experience of misery and disgrace; of sorrow dogging
sin,'-deprivation waiting on unlicensed indulgence-
how can it be that any human creature subjects himself
again to such a fate, voluntarily ?"
Much acquaintance with prisoners and released convicts
always suffices to convince the most skeptical, that there
is little that should be termed “voluntary” in the
ordinary cases of re-commitment. Setting aside a few
utterly perverted beings, whose restless imaginations and
boiling, uninstructed energies and passions propel them
with inevitable forces into crime, till those who know
them best are the most ready to accept the plea of
“insanity"; setting these aside, the general truth is that

26
THE HELPING HAND.
if true Christian aid—i. e., aid unpoisoned by the air of
contempt and abhorrence—were proffered to every man
and woman who has satisfied the requisitions of the law;
if the state were as assiduous in prevention as in punish-
ment of crime; thousands might live to bless the day
when authority interfered to check the mad career of
evil doing, and date from the moment of arrest by a wise
and humane power, the beginning of reformation and
moral sanity. Severe should be the penalty, but kind
and hearty the effort to reclaim; that while the justice
of the one is acknowledged, the mercy of the other may
be felt. Nothing makes Justice so awful as the presence
of the spirit of Mercy.
Is it supposed that to assist the discharged convict to
return to the charities of regular and virtuous life is to
interfere with the ends of justice? Let us answer by
asking a question. Does the law require or contemplate
that to its sentence of imprisonment shall be added a
further penalty of eternal contempt and distrust, with
their concomitants of starvation and misery, or new crime
and continual re-commitment? Is it for the good of the
community to keep bad men bad, or to persuade and
help them to be virtuous ? Shall we assail weak resolu-
tion with new and increased temptation, and take away
from wavering steps those supports and that assistance

RE-COMMITMENT.
27
of society to which the strongest owe much of their
steadfastness ?
If a few kindly tears, by the merciful shed,
Touched his heart, it may be the good grain
That was sown there and rooted, though long seeming dead,
Might shoot up and flourish again.
And the smile of the virtuous, like sunshine from heaven,
Might chase the dark clouds of despair;
And remorse, when the rock's flinty surface was riven,
Might gush out, and soften all there.
O! to work such a change-by God's grace to recal
A poor soul from the death-sleep! To this
To this joy that the angels partake, what were all
That the worldly and sensual call bliss ?
MRS. SOUTHEY.

ASSOCIATION FOR RELIEF AND AID.
In December, 1844, the Board of Inspectors of the
State Prison at Sing Sing invited public attention to the
condition of the discharged convict, in the following
words:
56 It is of frequent occurrence, that prisoners afford
satisfactory evidence of sincere repentance and earnest
desires to reform; yet, when they go forth into the world,
they are often, for want of employment, reduced to great
distress and subject to sore temptations. To starve or
steal is often the only alternative presented to them. The
power of the Inspectors to afford relief in such cases, is
confined by law to the mere pittance of three dollars to
each person.”
A society was then proposed, and, soon after, organ-
ized, for the purpose of general aid to the prisoner, under
the following heads :

RELIEF AND. AID.
29
“1. The amelioration of the condition of prisoners,
whether detained for trial or finally convicted :
62. The improvement of Prison Discipline generally:
53. The relief of discharged convicts by affording
them the means of obtaining an honest livelihood."
Our present limits oblige us to confine ourselves to the
case of the discharged convict, and especially the con-
dition and difficulties of the female members of this
unhappy class.
O FATHER, gracious was that word, which closed
Thy sovereign sentence—that Man shall find grace ;
For which both Heaven and Earth shall high extol
Thy praises, with the innumerable sound
Of hymns and sacred songs, wherewith thy throne
Encompass'd shall resound Thee ever blest.
For should Man finally be lost; should Man,
Thy creature still so loved—thy youngest son,
Fall circumvented thus by fraud, though join'd
With his own folly—that be from Thee far,
That far be from Thee, Father, who art Judge
Of all things made, and judgest only right.
MILTON.

CARE OF FEMALE CONVICTS.
Sad regrets for past existence
Came like chilling breath ;
Shadowed in the forward distance
Lay the Land of Death.
The Prison Association of course included in its plan
the condition of female convicts, and under its constitu-
tion a number of ladies were invited to unite in a plan
of action for their relief. This department dates its
existence as a regularly organized body, from January
18th, 1845. Previous to that period, some ladies had
prepared themselves for the work by visiting the various
prisons, and reports of these visits were read at the
initiatory meeting, to give a definite idea of the objects
in view. The conclusion drawn from these reports, and
from various statements of facts made on the occasion, was
that little effectual could be done by the discharged
female convict without a place of reception, where she

CARE OF FEMALE CONVICTS.
31
could be preserved from evil influences and subjected to
beneficial ones, while a situation was being found for
her
Frequent meetings were held during the winter, at the
house of one of the members, to report on the condition
of female prisons, and to devise means of aiding the
women after their release. It was ascertained that many
of the inmates of our prisons professed a desire to lead
new and better lives if help could be offered them, and
of these not a few presented appearances which afforded
rational ground of hope that they might be restored to
respectability and usefulness. When women of this
character were discharged, the Ladies' Committee en-
deavored to find shelter and employment for them, and
some even received them into their families, rather than
disappoint the expectations excited by the visits and
conversation of the Association at the prisons. But the
difficulty of procuring board in decent families, for
women fresh from prison, proved so great, that it became
evident to all that the Female Department could do
nothing materially to benefit the subjects of their care,
without a HOUSE in which to receive them; a temporary
HOME, where kindness, order, neatness and industry,
might all be brought into action, to fit them for residence
among the regular and the good, who would, it was

32
THE HELPING HAND.
hoped, be induced to give them a trial in that best of all
moral schools, the humane and religious private family.
It is needless to recount the toils and delays which
beset the attempt to open such a House of Refuge.
Differences of opinion as to the expediency of the plan;
forebodings of failure for want of public support; and
a thousand other discouraging considerations, sincerely
urged and deeply felt, seemed destined to impede, if not
to crush entirely, any present effort towards the founda-
tion of an institution, which aimed at no less an object
than to assist a great city in caring for a very large and
most degraded class; to thin the ranks of female prison-
ers by preventing re-commitments, and to produce certain
important changes in the condition and usefulness of
prisons themselves.
But every month's records making it plain that without
a house nothing could be done for the hundreds of
females committed and re-committed for every variety of
offence, doubts and fears gave way to the necessity of the
case, and the Ladies' Committee, as with one voice, were
urgent with the parent Association to aid them in estab-
lishing a Home, for the temporary reception and training
of such discharged female convicts as might show a
disposition to reform.
The consent of the Association having been obtained a

THE HELPING HAND.
33
house was at length procured, and, on the 12th of June,
1845, opened for the reception of such females as should
come recommended by the proper authorities of the
several prisons. Competent matrons were secured, and a
considerable amount of furniture contributed by various
benevolent individuals.
Her history is written in her face ;
The bloom hath left her cheek, but not from age;
Youth, without innocence, or love, or grace,
Blotted with tears, still lingers on that page!
Smooth brow, soft hair, dark eyelash, seem to wage
With furrowed lines a contradiction strong :
Till the wild witchcraft stories which engage
Our childish thoughts, of magic change and wrong,
Seem realized in her-so old, and yet so young !
Oh, since this is and must be, by a law
Of God's own holy making, shall there not
Fall on thy heart a deep, reflecting awe,
When thou shalt contemplate the adverse lot
Of those by man but not by Heaven forgot?
Bend to the lowly in their world of care ;
Think, in thy palace, of the wretch's lot ;
And justify the still unequal share,
By all thy power to aid, and willingness to spare !
MRS. NORTON.

USES OF THE HOME.
But let us measure help by their deep woe;
Are we, indeed, as powerless to aid
As they to struggle ? Conscience whispers “No!"
Conscience, that shrinks, uneasy and afraid,
Condemn’d, if that brief answer must be made ;
Though in the cowardice that flies the pain
A spark of better nature is betrayed,
Proving, if their appeal could entrance gain,
Our hearts could not be roused and spoken to in vain !
MRS. NORTON.
WITHOUT attempting to give, in this little manual,
anything like prison statistics for the city of New York,
ample tables of which will be found in the Annual
Reports of the Prison Association, we may observe that
the amount of commitments of women for short periods
is so large, as to astonish those who notice that in our
State Prisons the number of women confined for crimes
is small in proportion to that of men. This is accounted

USES OF THE HOME.
SE35
for, only by a knowledge of the fact that an enormous
proportion of the degradation of women in this city, is
the direct consequence of strong drink. The habit of
indulging in it, and the incessant desire for it, prove the
most formidable obstacles to any effort to redeem the
unhappy creatures from their wretched condition, even
when their own wish is sincere. After tears and
promises evidently genuine, and even after partial
reformation, this is their great difficulty. It is only by
the most incessant watchfulness, and the total absence of
all temptation for a length of time, that there is any
hope of release from this terrible bondage.
That an establishment like the Home is imperatively
demanded by the necessities of this city, cannot be
doubted by any, who will give the subject one moment's
reflection. All the arguments urged with irresistible
force for the formation of the original Association, apply
without modification to the provision of a shelter for
released females, who can be aided in no important
respect while they are wandering in the haunts of
infamy, beset with temptations on every side, and sure
to have whatever good resolutions may have dawned in
their benighted souls swept away, by those who lie ever
in wait to prevent any escape from the ranks of degrada-
tion. Whatever reformatory influences might be exerted

36
THE HELPING HAND.
in the prison—and unfortunately those are at present
sadly disproportioned to the necessities of the case—when
a woman leaves prison penniless, or with a few shillings
in her pocket, her almost inevitable fate is a return to
vice, unless an asylum be at hand. Benevolence may
exert itself to procure a situation for her, but for this,
time is required ; and where is the outcast to remain in
the interval? Where can she stay for a single night?
This may seem extravagant, but those who have made the
attempt will testify that to find any respectable home,
bed or board, for the recent female convict, is almost an
utter impossibility. To say to her “Go for the present,
and when I have found a place I will send for you,” is to
send her back almost certainly to a state “worse than
the first.” Without character-money-clothes-home
-friends-what is, what can be her resource? Let our
city records answer; let perpetual re-commitment-street
brawls-- midnight murder— despairing suicide-speak
what language is inadequate to describe.

CONDITION OF THE FEMALE CONVICT AFTER HER
DISCHARGE.
What hope remains ?
Seest thou not thou hast sinned ? That thou hast sinned
It glads me not to speak of, and grieves thee-
Then let it pass from both, and seek thyself
Some outlet from despair.
WHATEVER has been said of the hopeless condition of
the discharged convict in general, when the case of the
female convict comes to be considered; when we see the
desolate creature humbled to the dust, trembling under
the sense of weakness and degradation, and scarcely
believing in the existence of human sympathy-we feel
that the half has not been told us. The first impression
is that of almost despair as to the power of any thing
short of miracle to raise the abject being to any sense of
self-respect. A degraded woman is proverbially lowest
in the scale of humanity; and when years have confirmed
vicious habits, and hardened the offender into recklessness,

THE HELPING HAND.
we acknowledge the difficulty of any attempt to implant
new principles, or awaken a regard for character. But
with the young, and with the numerous class who still
retain a remnant of womanly feeling and a hope of
redeeming the past, with these, to say the least, there is
yet hope. But Society naturally confounds all in one
general estimate, one sentiment of abhorrence. Without
some special aid from such as make the subject their
study, and who by attention and practice become conver-
sant with its details, it is impossible that the public
should discriminate. A woman who has ever been
imprisoned--a discharged female convict-must neces-
sarily be an outcast from society. Who will employ such
an one? What family will receive as an inmate a
creature fresh from the penitentiary? Who can trust a
woman who has been convicted of theft? What mother
will introduce among her daughters or her servants one
familiar with the Tombs? It cannot be expected.
Whatever may have been the conduct of the prisoner
during her incarceration; whatever certificates she may
have been able to obtain, even from faithful and judicious
officials, so seldom found—there is a moral atmosphere
about her which effectually repels even the charitable,
and which makes the unthinking and the selfish turn
from her with abhorrence. She may starve—she may

CONDITION AFTER DISCHARGE.
39
beg-she may return to vice, or she may put an end to
her hateful life, nobody feels to blame. But here the
Prison Association steps in. If there be a remnant of
decency—if the least faint wish to try a better life-the
Home is opened to receive her. A kind matron wel-
comes her, inquires into her wants, her history, her
feelings ; gives her the means of cleanliness and decency;
finds employment for her; ascertains her character and
disposition ; searches for what germs of goodness may yet
be remaining; and if there be but a smouldering spark
of virtuous hope, sedulously preserves it from extinction.
She remains in the Asylum, treated, not with a
supercilious, a cold, a spurious kindness, but as a woman
and a sister, until her views, ber powers, her qualifica-
tions for earning a subsistence, and the sincerity of her
desire for reformation, have been fully tested ; and, if the
result prove satisfactory, a place suited to her ability is
provided, and she is placed with those who, understanding
clearly her past history and present condition, are willing
to try her. If, from any cause, the first attempt meet
with ill success, the Home is again open, lest destitution
should once more betray her into the dens which night
and day yawn for such victims; and it is not until
repeated trials have extinguished all rational hope, that
she is ever abandoned to her evil fate.

PLAN OF THE HOME.
And what is this place not seen
Where Hearts may hide serene?
'Tis a fair house well-kept,
Which humble thoughts have swept
And holy prayers made clean.
All the security required by private benevolence
before it dare offer the hand of Christian love and pity
to the returning wanderer, is afforded by an institution
where time and opportunity are given for ample insight
into the character of the released convict. Her general
condition, her turn of mind, her capacity for usefulness,
are all tested here. The quiet regularity of a well-
ordered family is brought to bear upon her erratic habits;
neatness and industry exhibit themselves to her in place
of the disorderly idleness in which she grew up; rules
press upon her; plain fare, devoid of stimulants, is
substituted for the alternate want and riot to which she

PLAN OF THE HOME.
41
has been accustomed ; motives are offered her; encour-
agements for good behaviour held out, with the certainty
of rejection if she refuse to submit to or attempt to elude
the necessary restraints. She is emphatically on her
good behaviour; for as her stay is entirely voluntary, the
only condition being conformity to rule and willingness
to labor, her sense of honor is called up, and she begins
to be aware of such a power within her. Let those who
know that fallen one, the female convict, only by hearsay,
smile, if they will, at this expression. We who have
had ample opportunity to read her heart for ourselves,
know that even in that dark recess there is still a spark
of what well deserves the name of honor; something that
with culture and happy influences may, in no small
number of instances, prove to be the germ of future
good. Few, indeed, whom it has been our lot to en-
counter, have been destitute of this ground of hope. In
few is a desire to be respected, or even a feeling of
womanly pride, entirely extinguished. Far from learning
to think worse of these unhappy creatures by frequent
intercourse and close observation, the more we see of
them the more we feel encouraged in the labor of
restoration. They often begin with a feeling of distrust
towards us still greater than ours toward them. They
disbelieve in the reality of our friendship; they have not

42
THE HELPING HAND.
the least faith in disinterested benevolence. It is sad to
see how keenly they watch for our motives, and how long
it takes, in some cases, to obtain their confidence. But
when once they are convinced ; when the suspicion of
sinister design, which is but the reflex of their own
unhappy lives, is dispelled-how quickly do their cunning
reserve and their false pride melt away! When they
once believe that we are come to meet them, as woman
to woman, in the sole hope of doing them good, their
hearts are touched at once; and even though evil habit
and hereditary ill-tendency, and the hankering after
well-remembered companionship in revelry and license,
may crush the benign impulse, and seem to render
abortive all our efforts and our hopes, we have reason to
believe that even then, our labors have not been thrown
away. God only knows what is accomplished; but even
we are permitted to know, sometimes, that when all
seemed lost there was yet a fruitful seed remaining,
ready to spring up and bear fruit in after time, as if to
leave us no excuse for despair in any case.

HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT.
And so my hope was slain
Had it not been that Thou wert standing near ;
0 Thou who saidest “Live !" to creatures dying !
For Thou her forehead to Thy heart didst rear,
Making its silent pulses sing again,
Pouring a new light o'er her darkened eyne
With tender tears from thine.
Mrs. BROWNING.
WHEN we would attempt to plead for the female
convict, we are ready to ask a feather from an angel's
wing! How else render attractive a subject naturally so
repulsive? How expect to gain the attention and sym-
pathy of those, who, having never been tempted to quit
the beaten path of rectitude, find it hard to believe that
the poor, disgraced wanderer, to whom a prison atmos-
phere has become natural, and the society of felons
congenial, is still a woman and a sister? We might
indeed comment largely upon the impulsive benevolence
of most human hearts, if nothing intervened to check its

44
THE HELPING HAND.
flow; but society has, by general consent, fixed a limit,
beyond which benevolence is not expected to extend.
Ignorance, and want, and sorrow, and temptation, are
legitimate claims to Christian sympathy up to a certain
point; but if they lead to the prison door, all obligation-
all brotherhood ceases. “Bid Hope farewell, all ye who
enter here,” might well be inscribed over the door of
every female prison. As far as society is concerned,
these prisons are, in fact, oubliettes; not, indeed, always
furnished with implements of physical torture, like the
dens so called in the castles of the feudal ages; but, like
them, places in which to be forgotten, lost; stricken from
the rolls of humanity; given over to perdition without a
struggle or a thought. By some strange fallacy of social
arbitration, a man who has outraged all laws, divine and
human, is still a subject of hope; he may serve out the
dreary years of his prison life, and enter upon a new one
afterwards with fresh opportunities and unbroken spirit;
while a woman once fallen is renounced by her kind.
Why should the cases be so different? We concede that
even a comparatively small fault shows hideous in the
female character; the feeling is an instinctive testimony
(let the seeming arrogance be pardoned !) to the general
goodness of the sex. But when a woman who has been
unsexed by baneful early influences, or led astray more

HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT.
45
through weak virtue than through intentional wickedness,
is drawn into crime by the example or deception of those
she loves, and falls so low as to bring herself under the
condemnation of the law of the land, has she justly cast
herself off from all future claim upon the care and
sympathy of her race? Punishments for ordinary offences
are usually of limited duration ; is that of woman to be
considered as rightfully extending to the term of her
natural life? If the law is satisfied with incarceration
for one or two or five years, is it the duty of society to
superadd perpetual banishment from the sphere of all
those sweet and gentle charities, concessions, compromises
and allowances, so necessary to us all ? Forbid it justice !
forbid it humanity ! forbid it that secret sense of ill-
desert, lying deep in the heart of every one of us, in view
of our accountability to God, and our dependance on His
mercy!
We should be disposed to view the determined
exclusion of the female convict from the ordinary sym-
pathies of the world, as unmitigated cruelty, if we looked
upon it in the abstract, and simply as a question with
regard to society at large. But, after much observation
and experience in the matter, we are aware that,
practically, almost insuperable obstacles rise up in the
path of individual benevolence, when it would step

46
THE HELPING HAND.
forward to the relief of the discharged female prisoner.
Without greater opportunity for the study of character
than is possible in most cases, the risk of receiving into
a private family a woman with the prison atmosphere
still thick about her, is too great to be encountered by any
but Howards, or Sarah Martins; and even those pioneer
saints in the great crusade against inhuman neglect,
confined their efforts to the melioration of the prisoner's
fate, keeping still inviolate the sanctity and safety of
their own homes, and leaving the further lot of those who
outlived prison horrors to be provided for by another
class of philanthropists. Even they would have been
startled by a proposition to receive into their families the
objects of their heaven-inspired care. This has been
done, again and again, in our own land, our own city, by
those whose good deeds are never blazoned to the world ;
but it is what we can expect of very few. It needs
indeed a portion of the Master's spirit and of the zeal of
Peter and the nobleness of Paul, for such works as these.
But ordinary benevolence requires some security, before
it can receive the discharged female convict without a
shudder of fear and disgust. It asks that some probation
shall intervene between the prison and the family. It
would know, and very reasonably too, whether some
taint of disease may not have accompanied the prison

HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT.
47
inmate beyond the walls; and whether there be sufficient
desire or willingness for reformation, to secure the
unhappy penitent from the first temptations of liberty.
Thus shut out, by sad necessity, from natural homes,
best schools of human character, the refuge of the
discharged female convict is the Home created expressly
for her sore need and outcast destitution by the hand of
benevolence. Here everything is adapted to her peculiar
condition; here her shame is in a manner hidden, while
better thoughts and habits are growing up in her; bere
she is taught the means of honest livelihood, and what-
ever ability she has is brought out and fostered. Here
many have, already, in this humble, quiet retreat,
discovered the secret of life; here many have mourned
over the delusions of the past, and formed new resolutions
for the future-resolutions which, our records attest, have
in many instances been nobly kept.

ESTIMATE OF SUCCESS.
ACCOUNTS that may be summed up in dollars and cents
admit of exact balances and actual demonstration ; those
whose subject matter is human souls demand a wider
scope—a more liberal margin-different grounds and
bounds of calculation. In mentioning the number of
weak and wavering creatures that have sought the kindly
shelter of our Institution—the proportion of that number
who have been enabled to maintain the upward step,
made when they accepted our guardianship, and the
sadder class, whose virtue went out at the first breath of
temptation, as a scarce lighted lamp dies by the summer
breeze—we state facts—dry facts—of more or less value;
of great value, as affording sure ground for future acting
and future hope; of less, as giving the least sanction to
the suggestions of timidity or indolence, or as furnishing
heartless reasons for the carelessness of the selfish or the
scoffs of the unbeliever in the possibility of moral

ESTIMATE OF SUCCESS.
49
recovery. For while we may indeed rejoice, with thank-
ful hearts, over such as prove, by continuance in well-
doing, how true was their yearning after a better life, how
can we say what seeds of good may have been sown in
minds once more led astray, by temptations whose power
we can but dimly guess at? Again and again have we
had occasion to find that even repeated aberration is not
inconsistent with a leading desire for better things.
More than once has it been our comfort to discover, that
even those who, after repeated trials, we had learned to
class among the hopeless, had still preserved, in some
happier corner of the better nature, a remembrance of
our advice—our entreaties—our cautions—our promises
of aid ; which, after all, and when we ourselves had
almost forgotten them, in new cases of interest, have led
back to our doors the repentant wanderer, with tears of
humility and persuasion, true waters of healing, gracious
promise of new aims and resolutions, never again to
languish beneath the baleful power of evil habit and
evil association. If we see too often the bitter fruit of
deep-sown seeds of vicious sentiment, we witness no less
clearly the greater and more surely germinating power
of truth and goodness; and every day teaches us the
value and efficacy of a practical adoption of our motto-
“ Never Despair."

อีก
THE HELPING HAND.
Holding, as we sincerely do, and as our practice shows
that we hold—these views as to the proper ground for a
computation of our success, it is, perhaps, not wonderful
that those who think differently of the good to be
accomplished among women so lamentably fallen that
society has shaken them from her lap as refuse, should
find our hopes extravagant, and our account of results
futile or vain-glorious. We have but one appeal to make
to those who sincerely make this objection—Come and
see! The way to think well of this work—i. e., to obtain
a true idea of it—is to engage in it personally. One
year's service at the Home, in the capacity of manager,
and in the duties of the various committees that divide
among them the labors of each month, will do more
towards giving a just idea of the nature of the under-
taking, and the encouragements which cheer us onward
and authorize the hopeful tone of our Reports, than whole
volumes of argument. We long to have our doings and
our successes searched into and sifted; for we need an
accession of hearty workers in the cause, and we know
that a nearer survey of the field would result in bringing
laborers to the harvest. Rich grain there is, though
beaten down by storms; trampled under foot of men ;
nipped by cruel frosts; thunder-smitten; decaying; all
but lost! Lost it need not be, for with God there is help,

ESTIMATE OF SUCCESS.
51
and He condescends to work by humble instruments and
seemingly simple means. Woman is the natural and
God-appointed aid of woman in her needs; the woman
that feels not this, has yet to learn her mission aright.
Among the most precious of Woman's Rights is the
right to do good to her own sex; “ against such there is
no law," but in its favor every law of fellow-feeling, of
sisterly kindness, of modesty and propriety. Sad it is
that fallen woman hopes less from her sisters than from
her brothers; that it is more difficult to convince her of
woman's forgiveness than of man's or God's. It is time
this were altered. It is time that women-excused from
many of the severer duties assumed by the other sex-
should consider themselves as a community, having
special common needs and common obligations, which it
is a shame to them to turn aside from, under the plea of
inability or distaste. Every woman in misfortune or
disgrace is the proper object of care to the happier and
safer part of her sex. Not to stretch forth to her the
helping hand-not to labor for her restoration to respect-
ability—not to defend her against wrong and shield her
from temptation—is to consent to her degradation and to
become, in some sense, party to her ruin. Because, from
the very nature of the case, if women deny her claim, she
has no natural friend ; none who can fully sympathize

52
THE HELPING HAND.
with her, or whose countenance and aid will incline the
world in her favor. To the ladies of this city, therefore,
to the possessors of happy homes; to honored wives and
devoted mothers, whom Providence has blessed abun-
dantly and guarded on every side, we look for efficient
aid in the maintenance of the Home. Let those who
have leisure, give their time; let those who are occupied,
give their money ; let the wise give counsel, and the
young energy and activity-only let all help in their
degree and measure. Much has been done more re-
mains to be done. The Home has been sustained ; its
inmates have labored for their subsistence; charitable
women have given their services to it for years ; its
matrons have been true friends and sisters to the unhappy
wanderers, who have found peaceful shelter and honest
employment within its walls. But all has been accom-
plished under more or less disadvantage. Operations
have been curtailed; usefulness limited ; labor wasted,
for want of due accommodations. A building is neces-
sary—one which shall be so adapted to the wants of an
Institution unique in our country, and, as far as we know,
in the world, as to afford facilities not only for the shelter,
treatment and instruction of a larger number of inmates
than we are now able to receive, but for the performance of
various kinds of business in so advantageous a way as

ESTIMATE OF SUCCESS.
53
may conduce largely to the support of the house. Such
experience, in this direction, as we have been able to
accumulate, under many restrictions and disadvantages,
has taught us to how great an extent this is possible.
Our inmates being neither invalids nor children, nor yet
deprived of the use of any of their bodily senses, it is
obvious that we ought to make the labor which we find so
conducive to their moral sanity, efficient in lessening the
cost of their support. Besides the hours spent every day
in school-instruction—the beneficial results of which we
can hardly over-rate—there remains time enough for a
large amount of business, hitherto performed in an
imperfect and losing way for want of the proper room
and means. We trust this state of things will not be
allowed to continue; but that public liberality, in aid of
the funds which we have been anxiously accumulating
for the purpose—the fruit of generous donations, bequests,
&c.—will enable us to commence, with the opening
spring, such a building as will afford us an opportunity
of trying what may be done towards restoring the
discharged female convict to the feelings and duties of
womanhood, and so, in the only effectual way, preventing
her from successive re-commitments—a fruitful source of
increasing vice, as well as of serious increase to the
burthens of the community.

INSTRUCTION.
The heart has tendrils, like the vine,
Which round another's bosom twine,
Outspringing from the parent tree
Of deeply-planted sympathy,
Whose flowers are hope, its fruits are bliss,
Beneficence its harvest is.
There are some bosoms, dark and drear,
Which an unwatered desert are :
Yet there a curious eye may trace
Some smiling spot, some verdant place,
Where little flowers, the weeds between,
Spend their soft fragrance all unseen.
Despise them not-for wisdom's toil
Has ne'er disturbed that stubborn soil ;
Yet care and culture might have brought
The ore of truth from mines of thought ;
And fancy's fairest flowers had bloomed
Where truth and fancy lie entombed.

INSTRUCTION.
55
Insult them not! Their blackest crime
May, in our Maker's eye sublime,
In spite of all thy pride, be less
Than even thy daily waywardness ;
Than many a sin and many a stain
Forgotten and impressed again.
There is, in every human heart,
Some not completely barren part,
Where seeds of love and truth might grow,
And flowers of generous virtue blow.
To plant, to watch, to water there,
This be our duty, this our care!
And sweet it is the growth to trace
Of worth, of intellect, of grace,
In bosoms where our labors first
Bid the young seed of spring-time burst ;
And led it on, from hour to hour,
To ripen into perfect flower.
Flow on, Instruction, ever flow!
Change Nature's face to man below;
A paradise once more disclose,
Make deserts bloom with Sharon's rose;
And through a Saviour's mercy shed,
Raise each forlorn and drooping head.
DR. BOWRING.

PARTICULARS OF THE PLAN OF REFORM.
Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I
will not offend any more. That which I see not, teach thou me; if I
have done iniquity, I will do no more.
He looketh upon man, and if any say I have sinned, and perverted
that which was right and it profited me not, He will deliver his soul
from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.-JOB.
The house at present and for several years occupied as
the Home, is an ordinary three story one, 191 Tenth
Avenue, on the western side, commanding from its back
windows a fine view of the Hudson and its opposite
shores, and having also the benefit of a free circulation
of air-one of the requisites for health, vigor and cheer-
fulness in the inmates. Whatever accommodations such
a dwelling can afford, have been made the most of, and
all the arrangements are promotive of comfort, neatness,
regular habits, and economy both of time and money
Equal skill and care employed in an edifice calculated for

PLAN OF REFORM.
57
the purpose, would tell very differently on the usefulness
and prosperity of the Institution ; for confined space and
deficient accommodations are more disadvantageous, both
morally and industrially, than can well be conceived by
any but those engaged in the undertaking. The inmates
share the household labor among them, being alternately
called on to aid in the kitchen ; while on the second
floor two large rooms are always devoted to needle-work
and instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic, in
which many have made encouraging progress, under the
care of faithful and devoted teachers. It is the practice
of these ladies to read aloud to those occupied in sewing,
and the value set upon this by the inmates is quite
remarkable. Hymns are also sung—an exercise in which
they greatly delight.
It need hardly be said, that in an Institution intended
for the reformation of a peculiarly lawless class, and who
come and remain at their own choice, and only during
pleasure, all harshness is avoided, and only appeals to
reason and the better feelings, alive in almost every heart,
employed in the attempt to train these poor creatures.
There are stringent rules, however, and much care is
taken to make the Home a place of discipline, and not
of ease or license. The matrons use no hauteur towards
even the most degraded, but endeavor to approach and

58
THE HELPING HAND.
interest them by kindly sympathy, while they allow no
trifling with the rules of the house. In most cases they
very soon obtain, in some degree, the confidence of the
new comer, and by learning some of the particulars of
her past life, are able to judge of the best mode of
treatment and the prospect of good to be accomplished.
As has already been stated, strong drink is the main
cause of degradation among our subjects, and as this is,
of course, excluded from the Home, it requires not a
little vigilance and firmness to prevent its being obtained
secretly, and to dissuade from the use of it, turning the
attention to better things. One of the rules of the house
prohibits any inmate from going out without leave; the
temptation to this being principally liquor. Tea and
coffee are allowed, of moderate strength, but no other
stimulants. The table is strictly frugal, offering no
inducements to the idle or vicious to remain for the saku
of living free of cost. This, with the requisition of
constant, regular and quiet labor, proves ample security
against any inmate remaining after she has lost all
intention to reform. When any one arrives at this
point, she is generally quite as anxious to leave, as we are
desirous of getting rid of her. Yet even after this mad
preference of the misery of a life of infamy to one of
decency with labor, there are sometimes instances of a

PLAN OF REFORM.
59
return to sanity, when humiliation, repentance and
entreaty induce another trial, not always fruitless.
Each inmate, when received, undergoes an examination,
and a thorough cleansing, the bath being made one of
the duties of the establishment. Decently clothed, she is
then introduced to the work and school rooms, her
abilities ascertained, and her labor assigned ; the rules of
the house are read to her and her assent required, with
the explanation of her duties and a full understanding on
her part of what is expected of her. Special watchful-
ness is exercised for a certain time, in order to judge of
her sincerity, and if her story renders it probable that she
may have some decent relatives, an attempt is made to
excite their interest, in aid of her desire to return to
regular life. Many have been so evidently the victims
of the wickedness of others, that strong hopes are
entertained of them, from the outset; and in many cases,
the event proves that the moral gradations are as observ-
able among convict women as in the broader field of the
world. If all the true stories of these women were
written down and published, the world would open its
eyes with astonishment, at the things going on unsus-
pected under the specious surface of society. Such
instances of deception, enticement, sedulous corrupting
of inexperience, and dreadful cruelty, no writer of

60
THE HELPING HAND.
romance ever invented. Not that all the stories of the
discharged convict are to be received as true, for if there
be any vice developed in the course of a life of intem-
perance and its consequences, it is that of falsehood. If
we would believe prisoners, no one of them was ever
incarcerated justly. They are all innocent victims of
society, which they seem to consider as delighting to
persecute and oppress them.
we
was ever
“ The world is not their friend, nor the world's law."
But experience pays little heed to these claims of inof-
fensiveness. When we speak of sad stories, we intend
only those of which ample proof is forthcoming. These
are quite numerous enough to make good our remarks ;
and perhaps there will some day be an attempt to collect
and publish them from our records, that some, at least, of
the causes of female degradation in our city may be
known.

RULES FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE HOME.
The Matron shall regulate the household arrangements,
subject to the supervision of the Board of Managers.
Applicants are to be examined at the first meeting of
the House Committee; if retained, they are to remain at
least one month, unless discharged for a specified reason.
The Home shall protect, support, and find places for
those who labor diligently and conform to the rules of the
house. When such places are found as the Committee
deem suitable, the inmates shall accept them, or be liable
to immediate dismission.
The inmates are expected to conduct themselves in an
orderly, peaceable manner; to avoid all profane and
indecent language; to give up in every mode the use of
tobacco, and to treat one another with kindness and
respect.
Persons received into the Institution having money in

62
THE HELPING HAND
their possession, are required to give it into the hands of
the Matron for safe keeping.
No inmate to leave the premises, or make purchases,
without the approbation of the Matron.
An inmate going out on an errand and returning
intoxicated, is liable to immediate dismission.
An inmate who has wilfully left the Home, without
the approbation of the Committee, cannot be received
again without the consent of the Executive Committee.
The bell shall ring at half-past five o'clock. Family
worship to commence at six; every member of the family
shall be present, unless prevented by sickness; and every
case of absence to be reported to the committee. Upon
these occasions the Scriptures shall be read, and such
other religious exercises as shall be deemed expedient.
Breakfast at half-past six, and the business of the day
to commence at seven.
No work to be taken out of the sewing-room.
Religious worship to be held regularly on the Lord's
Day, when every member of the family shall be present,
unless prevented by causes beyond their control ; all
cases of absence to be reported.
The inmates are expected to retire to bed at nine
o'clock; every light in the chambers to be extinguished
at half-past nine, unless by order of the Matron.

GOVERNMENT OF THE HOME.
63
No press of work to interfere with the regular progress
of the school.
It is earnestly recommended that every inmate should
bathe at least once a week; oftener is desirable.
No inmate to go into the kitchen on any occasion
whatsoever, unless by order of the Matron, excepting
those who are selected to do the household work.
The inmates shall pay all due respect to the Officers
of the Institution, under pain of dismission; and shall
treat each other with courtesy. All ungenerous remarks,
personal allusions, or sarcastic language, shall be carefully
avoided, by which the feelings of any inmate may be
wounded, or the business or harmony of the Institution
be interrupted.
These Rules are to be read to each person upon being
admitted into the Institution. Any infringement or
neglect of them must be reported to the House Committee,
who shall inquire into the case, and dismiss the offender,
or receive an apology, at their discretion.

WHAT IS OUR DUTY?
LET us commence what we have to say on this subject,
by quoting a portion of one of the Reports of our beloved
friend and helper in this cause, Father Hopper, now
gone to his reward :
6 The reign of the Messiah, who will have all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,' is
foreshadowed by the prophet in the following terms :
"Then shall the wolf take up his abode with the lamb,
And the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
And the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together,
And a little child shall lead them ;
And the heifer and the she-bear shall feed together,
Together shall their young ones lie down;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
And the suckling shall play upon the hole of the aspic;
And upon the den of the basilisk shall the new-weaned child lay
his hand :
.

WHAT IS OUR DUTY?
65
They shall not hurt, nor destroy, in all my holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah,
As the waters shall cover the depths of the sea.'
“When the day shall come, so beautifully portrayed
by the prophet, we shall then look upon all men as
brethren, the children of one father, and delight in doing
one another good; the erring will be the objects of our
peculiar sympathy and regard. And in what holier or
better work can we be engaged, than in extending to
such, a hand of help; it has a tendency to soften and
purify the heart, and warm the affections; while we are
doing good to others, we are receiving good ourselves.
Then let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season
we shall reap, if we faint not; let us persevere, and if we
cannot accomplish all the good we wish, let us do all the
good we can. Let us do whatsoever our hands find to do,
and not be reaching forward to objects that we can never
attain to."
One of the objects that do certainly lie within the
compass of rational effort, is the diminishing of crime
and destitution in a great city. In our own city of New
York, so favored in many respects—in advantages of site,
prosperity and intelligence-crime and misery have been
steadily on the increase, until we now surpass the

THE HELPING HAND.
metropolis of the Old World in all that can disgrace and
degrade human nature. To speak of a single item-in
the crime of murder, New York exceeds London five-
fold; and in the ways that lead to murder we are trav-
elling with ever accelerating speed. Prevention is of
course the first dictate of prudence, as well as humanity;
to sit down calmly in the face of a state of things such as
is now unfolding under the researches of men determined
on City Reform, is equally foolish and wicked. Some-
thing must be done, even for the public safety; something,
surely, on higher grounds!
A recent leading article in the New York Courier and
Enquirer commences thus :
66 Want, Vice, and Crime have Increased in this City,
are Increasing, and ought to be Diminished. Believing
most firmly that they can be diminished, it is our solemn
duty to labor towards that end. We shall do it, and
shall do it thoroughly, systematically, and perseveringly.
We have declared regular war against this enormous
curse upon the city's prosperity, and shall fight it out to
the end. If our cotemporaries join us, well; if they do
not, our determination remains the same. Of measuring
the extent of the evil there has been enough; of idle
wonderment and vain lamentation there has been enough;
he.

WHAT IS OUR DUTY?
67
of sedate moralizing and fretful remonstrance there has
been enough, quite enough. The time has come for
action. It will no longer answer to stand still and gaze
at the consequences, for every hour is adding to their
volume and intensity. The causes and sources must be
hunted up, cost what effort it may, and the needed
corrective be applied. There is a growing sense of the
necessity of this, and, so far as lies in us, we shall aid in
giving it expression, strength and efficient direction. We
pledge ourselves to do our part of the work with a will
and a purpose.
“ Capitalists, men of public spirit who have wealth at
your command, will you hear us for our common cause ?
We come to-day on a matter of pure business. Listen
and judge."
To snatch the young from destruction by placing them
in schools and subjecting them to moral training, is
obviously the best of all modes to provide against the
threatened evils of the future; but there is also a work
to be done for the immense class already fallen. For the
female part of this unhappy multitude we must plead as
for the wretchedest of the wretched—the most helpless
among the helpless. We repeat that mere weakness of
purpose is often sufficient to prevent their recovery, and

68
THE HELPING HAND.
that our plan deserves its recognized place among
preventive measures. We prevent re-commitments; we
can prove that we have prevented them in numerous
cases, after women had become fairly denizens of our
prisons in consequence of successive re-commitments.
We can point to women now dwelling with their families
in peace, who date their emancipation from the habit of
going to prison, from the day of their acceptance of our
care and instruction. To prevent re-commitment is the
business of our Institution ; and if the city felt the
importance of an effort, we should not need to importune
the public for funds, which the authorities would see it
their interest to furnish.
Our effort labors under the disadvantage of being
distasteful in its aspect. It is not long since we heard a
lady of no little benevolence say—“There are two classes
that I cannot have anything to do with—lunatics and
prisoners; I have an invincible disgust to them.” And
this feeling is often present when it is not so frankly
avowed.
While minor ills, for such we must consider any
physical deprivation, and any suffering unconnected with
moral degradation, command the attention and enlist the
generous and brotherly sympathy of our citizens, the
condition of those who are suffering, body and soul, under

WHAT IS OUR DUTY?
69
the consequences of ignorance and depravity, has failed
in acquiring its rightful place in the long list of Christian
benevolences. We do not say that it has secured no
place. We gratefully acknowledge the liberality of the
few; and we feel that where we have succeeded in
obtaining a hearing, we have met with such responses as
we could desire; but our hearts sink when we are forced
to contrast the magnitude of the work we have under-
taken with the measure of means with which the public
at large have as yet been induced to entrust us. We are
at no loss to account for this comparative indifference.
We perceive it to be perfectly natural. Lack of the
senses necessary for the business and enjoyment of
common life, appeals at once and unanswerably to every
human creature not utterly separated by selfishness from
his kind. Widowhood and orphanage touch all hearts
that have ever known the sweetness of family affection.
No arguments are needed when we would enlist the
general sympathy in the condition of sufferers by
unmerited misfortune. Nature speaks for us, and fore-
stalls our petitions. A man hardly dares refuse of his
superfluity to sustain and console and instruct those whom
Providence has thus directly thrown upon the sympathies
of their fellow creatures.
But it is far otherwise with the unhappy objects of our

70
THE HELPING HAND.
care. They are in possession of the bodily senses they
have abused, and retain, nominally at least, the family
ties they have neglected or disgraced. They do not
belong to the class of idiots, nor are they incapacitated
from many kinds of occupation by means of which the
necessaries and even comforts of life are obtained. They
seem to be what they are, and to stand where they stand,
by their own perverse choice; and the first and most
natural thought is to let them abide by that choice.
They are supposed to have made a deliberate election of
6 the pleasures of sin for a season,” rather than that
condition of plenty and credit, which is the reward of
industry, sobriety and good citizenship; whilst the
spontaneous notion of justice which springs in all our
bosoms, and which we apply so conscientiously to all sins
but our own, decrees them outlawry at once, thus pur-
chasing the right to dismiss the case and rid the mind of
a painful subject.
But has there in truth, been any such deliberate choice
-any such insane election ? Our experience, which we
have now a title to urge, has shown us conclusively that
in nine cases out of ten, no choice was ever made, for
none was offered. Hereditary tendencies have their
share; evil associations theirs. Temptations subtly plan-
ned by the old in crime ; lack of any kindly aid after the

WHAT IS OUR DUTY?
71
first offence; the daily example of vicious companions ;
the cruel desertion of those who should protect; the hard
trials of poverty, harder for women than for the stronger
and bolder sex; the passion for drink, seldom missing in
those who are otherwise depraved, and often itself the
cause of degradation; these are a few of the causes by
which the women who have come under our care are
brought to the wretched point at which we take them up.
When we inquire as to the beginning of their downward
career, it is rarely that they can fix upon any particular
period in memory as the time when they cut themselves
off from decent fellowship, and felt that they had
become the antagonists of society. It is true that they
sometimes date from seduction, and sometimes from the
contamination of a new acquaintance, old in vice; but
ordinarily we cannot but perceive that from the very
outset they have lacked the usual safeguards. Hedged in
and guarded on every side as the happier classes of
God's weak and erring children are, it is hard for them to
appreciate the condition of those who from infancy have
lived with companions, perhaps nearest relations, in
whose mouths blasphemy is familiar, and with whom
pleasure means vice. We are scarcely conscious of half
the influences which conspire to keep our feet from
wandering far from the path of safety; yet all these

72
THE HELPING HAND.
prove ineffectual to resist the seducing power of evil.
How, then, can we be pitiless toward the transgressions
of the untaught, the unwarned, the neglected ?
But if their present state were the result of fatal
choice, would they not, to the Christian, be more the
objects of pity, of effort, prayer, sacrifice, than they are?
Those who say that they “ have need of nothing,” yet all
the while are 6 wretched, and miserable, and poor, and
blind, and naked,” demand our deepest sympathy. What
is physical blindness to that darkness of soul to which
evil seems like good, and all moral colors confounded in
black confusion and despair? What deafness is like that
of the heart, wilfully shut against every virtuous sugges-
tion? What widowhood so desolate as hers who has
forfeited and contemned all the sweet and saving charities
of home? What orphanage so deep and bitter as that
which renounces the fatherhood of God? If the ordinary
woes of humanity move our hearts and force us to feel
and own thė tie of brotherhood, surely the deeper ills of
the soul, aggravated, as is meet, with personal suffering
and debasement, should not fail to do at least as much.
We ought to feel, at least, as much pity for sin, which is
an evil in which we all partake, as for those misfortunes
whose pressure we have never felt. We know how easy
it is to sin ; shall we utterly condemn and consign to

WHAT IS OUR DUTY?
73
social death, any who shall have fallen below a certain
mark, the position of which is determined by ourselves ?
“But there is something so disgusting in the idea of
meddling with convicts, 'and above all with female
convicts !” We know it, but we are willing to undertake
the personal part of the work. Many years' practice has
acquainted us with the nature of it, and taught us that
with all its trials it has rich rewards. All we ask is
means, means to work advantageously, to spread wide the
benefits of our institution, which may be considered a
pioneer in its path, and to show the world by our success
what it ought to do for those who have suffered the full
earthly penalty of crime. Prison officials in London and
Paris, and those who have given the fullest attention to
the case and condition of the prisoner, both before and
after his discharge, say to our members, that without an
institution like ours, all that can be done for the prisoner
during his incarceration is useless. M. Panisse, the
intelligent and benevolent governor of the great female
prison of St. Lazare, in Paris, spoke to one of our
members of a home for the discharged female convict, as
a necessary adjunct or complement of prison discipline, a
provision against re-commitment, which public authority
ought not to abandon to private benevolence, since it is
demanded by the plainest dictate of expediency.

74
THE HELPING HAND.
Out of the multitude of women who go through all the
degrees of crime in our prisons and penitentiaries, those
who might be induced to reform are not to be counted by
scores but by hundreds. Every thing we have done has
served to show us how much more we might do, if we
had larger means of usefulness, and to deepen our regret
that our facilities are so limited.
A home, in the widest sense of that benignant word, is
the very heart of the undertaking in behalf of female
convicts. Household influences, including those of in-
dustry, order, self-restraint, temperance, kindness and
religion, are the anchors of our hope. These require
space, utensils, suitable furniture, opportunities for classi-
fication and separation ; in short, many things which
are not to be attained without the possession of a large
and well organized establishment. The first step toward
this is an appropriate building, planned with express
reference to our needs, and affording the means of
carrying out our design to the best advantage. Thus far
we have been confined within the walls of an ordinary
three-story house, denied the use of many of the conve-
niences by the aid of which labor is now so greatly
forwarded, and obliged to crowd our inmates in a way
very unfavorable to the best operation of our plans,
rather than turn from our doors one sinner that would,
fain repent.

PUBLIC DUTY.
THOUGH to give timely warning and deter
Is one great aim of penalty, extend
Thy mental vision further and ascend
Far higher, else full surely shalt thou err.
What is a state? The wise behold in her
A creature born of time, that keeps one eye
Fixed on the statutes of Eternity,
To which her judgments reverently defer.
Speaking through Law's dispassionate voice, the state
Endues her conscience with external life
And being, to preclude or quell the strife
Of individual will, to elevate
The grovelling mind, the erring to recall,
And fortify the moral sense of all.
WORDSWORTH.

"ENCOURAGING CRIME."
When, with a glance, the eternal Judge shall sever
Earth’s evil spirits from the pure and bright,
And say to those, Depart from me forever !?
To these, Come dwell with me in endless light !
When each and all in silence take their way,
Who, mighty God! 0 who shall bear that day?
Some benevolent people look upon ours as a romantic
enterprise. Having themselves come to the conclusion
that a woman who has submitted to the degradation of
imprisonment is incurable, it is hard for them to sympa-
thise with those who think otherwise. Others look at
the immensity of the work, and shake their heads at our
attempt as visionary, because it is so puny in comparison
with what is needed. There are those again, who
disapprove of any attempt to benefit the female prisoner,
on the strange ground that we are offering a premium on

“ENCOURAGING CRIME.”
crime ! « Would you,” say they, “ offer an inducement
to the commission of offences against the laws, by opening
your doors only to those who have qualified themselves to
take advantage of your assistance by becoming inmates
of a prison ?" Still another class object to any course
which shall make the prison less dreaded ; on the suppo-
sition that such interference has the effect at once of
lessening the terrors of the law, and of mitigating the
just punishment of crime.
Without entering into elaborate disquisitions, our
experience, our hopes, the zeal we feel in the work we
have undertaken, and our confidence in the substantial
benevolence of these objectors, prompt us to offer in few
words an answer to each class. To those who call us
romantic, we must first be allowed to say that few
benevolent enterprises are begun in this selfish world
without a little romance; and it is because women are
more liberally endowed with what passes under this
name, that they originate so many of the charitable
efforts of the day, and not only originate them, but keep
them up, and carry them through triumphantly, by no
little personal sacrifice. As to the romance of this
special effort, the experience of years enables us to show
that it is at least founded upon reality ; since we are able
to point to scores of cases, to speak moderately, where

78
THE HELPING HAND.
success has crowned our endeavors to reform the female
convict. We refer this class of objectors to our annual
reports, where lists of cases, given with scrupulous
caution against over statement, will show the ground of
our hope for the future.
To those who look upon the greatness of the work as a
reason for not undertaking it, we can but say, give us
means commensurate, and we will engage, by the blessing
of God, and with the co-operation of our fellow citizens,
so to reduce this mountain of difficulty, that the least
aspiring and least hopeful philanthropist shall be able to
look over it, and encouraged to attempt its entire reduc-
tion. The intelligent deputy-governor of Newgate told
one of our number that there was nothing that the city
of London so much needed as an institution like ours,
begging at the same time for such statistics and accounts
of our undertaking and our success, as should afford aid
to those who were disposed to attempt something of the
same kind for that overgrown capital. The only institu-
tion of this nature in England at present, as far as we
have been able to learn, is one formed by private benev-
olence, female benevolence, at Shepherd's Bush, near
London. Miss Burdett Coutts, whose immense wealth
enables her to gratify her desire to do good, without the
necessity of appealing to the public for aid, has the honor

"ENCOURAGING CRIME.”
of being the pioneer, so far as England is concerned, in
the attempt to reform the female convict after her
discharge. Even the seemingly hopeless immensity of
London has not deterred her from making a beginning in
a work so obviously wise and kind. May her enterprise
be blest, and may its success inspire others !
We come now to the idea that, by aiding only those
who have been imprisoned, we are offering inducements
to the commission of crime. If we had not heard this
objection seriously urged by those whom we were bound
to respect, we could hardly have believed it would have
suggested itself to any reader of the New Testament;
but perhaps there are those who interpret the divine
command (to visit the prisoner) so literally, that they
consider the duty at an end as soon as the prisoner is
discharged, even though he be then in a position where,
without efficient and peculiar aid, he must return to
crime or die of starvation! We cannot consider him in
the light of an ordinary claimant upon charity, and
content ourselves with supplying his present need.
Without employment, he must steal or counterfeit again;
without reformation, he will inevitably return to the
haunts of ruin, for nobody will employ or trust him
unless some responsibility intervenes, such as it is the
object of the Prison Association to offer. Further than

80
THE HELPING HAND.
this : each benevolent society must place limits upon its
operations. The Asylum for the Blind will not receive
the Deaf and Dumb, though they may be equally unfor-
tunate. The Orphan House does not open its doors to the
disabled sailor. The remark, which has been made with
regard to the special object of our efforts, and the offers
of our Home, apply equally well to any other charity,
and would equally put an end to all charity. According
to these ingenious objectors, every institution should
admit all classes of unfortunates; and all system and
order, all apportionment of means, all provision for the
infinitely various tastes and turns of mind of those who
undertake the care of the unfortunate, would be abolished
and rendered useless. The object and effect of charitable
institutions is to meliorate the woes that already exist ; to
take up the unfortunate or degraded classes of society,
and endeavor to aid them and to make them better; not
to create classes who shall be fit recipients of their benefi-
cence. We might challenge any one to show that a
single individual had ever committed a crime in order to
secure aid from the Prison Association. The class with
which we have to do are not so fond of the restraints of
order and good morals as to lay plans for enjoying our
protection. Those who have no desire to reform do not
come to us; and those whose desire to reform melts away

"ENCOURAGING CRIME."
81
before temptation, are always in great haste to get rid of
us. Those who remain, are always those who are willing
to try, at least.
As to the notion that to assist the discharged convict to
return to the paths of virtue, is to interfere with the ends
of justice, we shall consider this a valid objection when
the law adds to its sentence of imprisonment a further
penalty of eternal contempt and distrust, with their
concomitants of starvation, misery, new crime, and
continual re-commitment. We contend, and can prove,
that by aiding the discharged convict in obtaining
employment, and confirming his resolution of amend-
ment, we are abetting the ends of justice, and saving the
country the expense of a continued prison residence.

CHARACTER OF THE WORK.
God seeth thee, who sees the prosperous proud
Into the sunshine of their joy go forth ;
God marks thee, weak one, in the human crowd,
And judgeth all thy grief, as all their mirth.
Bird with the broken wing that trails on earth!
His angels watch thee, if none watch beside,
Or our belief is vain in Christ the Crucified !
MRS. NORTON.
We have often had occasion to call attention to the
letters received from our former inmates; to the ability
displayed in them, to their excellent tone of expression,
and to the evidence they afford as to the moral tendency
of the Home. No candid mind but will acknowledge,
that in sensibility to kindness, in discernment as to right
and wrong, in acknowledgment of the highest standard
of duty, and in many cases, in generosity of sentiment,

CHARACTER OF THE WORK?
83
mor
mar
these poor patients of ours compare not unfavorably with
more fortunate sisters of the human family. That the
germs of these good things were yet existing in their
minds when they came under our care, even after lives
of dreadful error, we know, for our observation has taught
us that in no heart are they entirely stifled; but that the
warm atmosphere of kindness, the nourishment of good
habits, and the fostering power of religious instruction,
called them into active life, it is our happiness to believe.
To those friends who have faith and love enough to make
trial of our inmates in their families, we are able to
recommend them with confidence, since the very fact of
a willingness to remain with us during a long period of
discipline and probation, submitting to our strict rules,
performing regular labor with close confinement—for no
inmate goes beyond our doors without leave—and show-
ing by docility and obedience the sincerity of their
desire to reform, gives the best possible ground for the
conclusion as to future good behaviour. We are able to
assure those who entertained fears lest by providing a
home for the discharged female convict we were offering
a premium on crime, that from the character of our
institution it is no more likely that an unworthy person
would commit an offence for the sake of obtaining
admission to it, than that another should put out his own

THE HELPING HAND.
eyes in order to secure a comfortable shelter at the
Asylum for the Blind. Experience has proved that the
Home is quite as undesirable a place to bad subjects, as
they can possibly be unwelcome to it; and that hardly
any surer pledge of a desire to reform need be asked
than a quiet and orderly residence of some months, or
even weeks, within its walls. The peculiar power and
value of the domestic discipline of the Home, is the
opportunity it affords for reforming not only the outward
conduct, but the sentiments, which in the familiarity of
daily intercourse come under frequent discussion. Many
are led into bad courses by early example and instruction,
so that the very springs of action need purification.
Towards this end are the efforts of our matrons directed,
and to diffuse a pure and healthy moral influence is their
constant effort; to which many of the ladies who give
large portions of their time and attention to the Home,
lend their devoted co-operation. Advice and consolation,
reproof and warning, mingle with the cares and labors
of the day. It is not considered enough that an inmate
performs her stipulated task, or refrains from disturbing
those about her. Her mind is probed, her past life
examined, her ideas of the future called forth by kindly
questionings. If vicious thoughts still have the ascen-
dancy, they are sure to betray themselves to the experi-

CHARACTER OF THE WORK?
85
enced eye of a sympathizing friend, and here opens the
opportunity for dealing with the sources of action. Many
of the cases which we are able to present, show the utility
of this mode of moral trial, and the power which woman
exercises over woman when she can conquer her repug-
nance to the contact of degradation, so far as to approach
the most unhappy of her sex in the character of a
Christian sister.
And here we must take the liberty to urge upon those
who have never been induced to engage in this or any
similar enterprise for the restoration of the fallen, the
solemn fact that whatever we are able to do, in the right
spirit, for the hapless subjects of our care, is done, in
literal truth, for ourselves; that we actually learn as
much from them as they learn from us ; that the
discipline to which we subject them teaches us many a
lesson of self-command; that in attempting to show them
the beauty of humility, the safety of truth, and the
saving power of repentance, we are brought to see our
own dependence upon God, and the necessity of his help
in the simplest of these efforts. In reading these souls,
often truly laid bare before us under the influence of
helplessness and despair, we learn human nature in a
way and to a degree which opens to us the recesses of
our own hearts, and forces us to recognize the conse-

86
THE HELPING HAND.
quences which ensue from carrying out to their extremes,
the very faults which in our smoother lives look like
trifling offences. It is the habit of the careless world to
award praise or blame too much according to circum
stances; giving disproportioned credit for virtues which
cost no effort or sacrifice, and condemning, with a no less
unjust severity, transgressions which have all the apology
of ignorance, evil nurture and temptation. But without
insisting on the painful thought that under certain
imaginable circumstances we might have been no better
than the wretch we despise, we may at least soften our
indignation by the reflection that situated as favorably as
we, he might have passed through life with as little
reproach. Who knows what equality God may discern
between us! We have reason to know that even in the
lowest of his creatures he still sees something worthy of
his care and love. But in our pride of fancied virtue, we
are apt to forget this. The dreadful outward change
which a life abandoned to sin and shame produces, is
such as to make us hardly willing to own that our own
nature is still distinguishable in the criminal; but the
nearness and candor of personal intercourse force us to
perceive and acknowledge, that in the poor victim of
weakness or passion we must submit to own the resem-
blance of kindred. He is still rational, though he may

CHARACTER OF THE WORK.
87
insanely have given the reins to evil desires ; he has not
lost the knowledge of right and wrong, though his whole
life may seem to have forgotten the distinction between
them; he is still subject to tender affections, though he
may have outraged all their dictates; he even respects
goodness, though his faith in the sincerity of those who
profess it is much shaken by the consciousness of his own
misdoing. In short, we are obliged to own that the faults
of these degraded ones are our own, carried out to their
legitimate consequences; and that of what we consider
our superior virtues, they are often found to retain at
least the seeds, of a number and amount which could
hardly be expected under the circumstances. To attempt
to benefit them is therefore a severe but most healthful
school for our own hearts; and if we do them good, we
are more than repaid by the discipline to which our own
characters are subjected in the process. If this view of
the work should possess little attraction for some minds,
we are able to add that the gratitude, the docility, the
improvement of our patients afford in themselves a rich
reward. Not unfrequently is the kind word met with an
irrepressible tear, the encouraging smile with a quick
blush of animated hope, the gentle reproof or caution
with a humble confession of wrong, and a ready and
sincere promise of amendment. The hard-seeming heart

88
THE HELPING HAND.
proves itself soft, and the rude tone sinks into mildness;
the defiant eye quails before the influence of a true
sympathy and interest; affection is called forth on both
sides, and if the unfortunate feel that they owe all to us,
we on our part realize that it is more blessed to give than
to receive.
In making this general statement of encouraging
circumstances, we would, however, by no means be
understood to represent our success as universal, or the
result of our system as being invariably such as we could
wish. Many a cruel disappointment shadows the joy we
are allowed to feel over each “sinner that repenteth."
In some of our patients, the work of destruction has
been too radical for our imperfect treatment. Evil habit
has become strong as death, making even the sincerest
resolutions of amendment utterly impotent. New-born
virtue falls before the first touch of temptation, and
darkness of spirit is too apt to replace the gleams of
goodness which for a while have cheered and encouraged
us. But, by the strictest reckoning, those who fall away
after having enjoyed the full benefit of the institution,
are few, in comparison to those who show good fruits ;
and, as the main result is quite sufficient to sustain the
courage of those who perform the labor, we hope it will
also suffice to inspire the liberality of our benefactors.

CHARACTER OF THE WORK?
89
As to the general circumstances and success of the
Home, we are happy to be able to say they are prosper-
ous and encouraging. Owing to various accidental
causes which it is not necessary here to particularize, we
have been obliged, in the course of the past years, to
make some changes in its arrangement, and at certain
periods our matrons have not been retained with sufficient
permanence to ensure perfect regularity in our statistic
record. But in no case has the interest of our establish-
ment suffered from the alterations we found it desirable
to make. No interruption has occurred in the labor and
instruction of our inmates. The cholera came among us,
but there was no panic at the Home. Two of our
number were sent to the cholera hospital, where one died
and the other was retained as nurse. Another was
employed at the house of one of our citizens, as nurse to
a dying woman, and returned with a certificate of her
kindness and efficiency, and a liberal compensation for
her services. At some periods the demand for domestics
from the Home has been so urgent that the usual
amount of work there was lessened; but at other times
the inmates have contributed largely toward their own
support, by sewing and washing. Most of those for
whom places have been found, whether in private
families, or in factories in the country, have given

90
THE HELPING HAND.
ao
satisfaction to their employers, and taken pains to justify
the character that had been given of them. From this
class of patients we receive letters of the warmest
gratitude, and not unfrequently other testimonials of
regard, and little tokens of affection for the institution
and the inmates left behind. Of one who had passed the
greater part of seven years on Blackwell's Island, her
employer, after several months' trial, writes thus : “ A. B.
wishes me to say to you that she is very well satisfied
with her place, and desires to be remembered to you
and Miss Foster. C. D. expresses the same wish. They
are both doing well. A. B. has proved, in some respects,
a valuable servant. I never had in my family a more
even-tempered and obliging woman. In every thing but
cooking, she has done well for us; and I shall retain ber
as long as I can for the sake of her good qualities."
Three inmates were sent to a factory in Massachusetts.
They write: “ We earn from three to five dollars a week,
and pay one dollar and a half for board. My dear Mrs.
-, we do not yet know how to show our gratitude to
you. * * J. and E. join me in the kindest love to you."
Six were sent to a factory in this State, after careful
inquiry into the character of the proprietor and the
treatment to be expected, and we hear good accounts of
them. One inmate who had inhabited the City Prison

CHARACTER OF THE WORK.
91
ten months, has paid from her earnings thirty dollars of
borrowed money, and her whole appearance is in direct
contrast with the tenor of her past life. An inmate who
had been in a place of domestic service several months,
became so Home-sick that her employers allowed her to
return and visit her old friends and companions at the
institution. She passed one week at the Home, and at
the expiration of the time went back to her place,
contented and happy, having left the house but once, and
that to make a few purchases, accompanied by a member
of the committee.
All our House Reports speak of the order, industry,
and kind feeling which prevails at the Home. It is
evidently a school of the best affections ; its mild disci-
pline commends itself so to the reason and conscience of
the inmates, that irritation seldom occurs, and the
personal and minute attention bestowed by our matrons
and by the members of the committee, secures the treat-
ment best suited to each particular case. We wish it
were allowable to particularize those members whose
labors of love have been especially abundant, “in season
and out of season,” through all difficulties and discour-
agements; but since it may not be, we will only say, that
in this case as in many others, the labor falls on a few,
comparatively; and the least others can do, is to

92
THE HELPING HAND.
strengthen their hands, and supply them with the requi-
site means for carrying into effect their excellent plans-
which is all they ask. The Home is at all times open to
the inspection of visitors, and no valuable suggestion from
any quarter is unwelcome. We solicit visits, as the very
best mode of awakening an interest in our object. One
hour in the work-room is generally enough to convert the
most skeptical. To see those who were once the vilest of
the vile—at home only in riot, and scorning all order and
decency-sitting “ clothed and in their right mind ;"
clean, docile, industrious, quiet, respectful-pleads better
than the eloquence of Demosthenes in favor of the
rationality of our attempt. Our Sunday services are
attended regularly, and with great interest. A city
missionary officiates in the morning, and some kind
religious friend in the evening. A Bible class, or some
suitable reading, occupies the afternoon; and we have
good reason to believe that none of these Sabbath
exercises are without good results on the character of
our inmates, who would feel themselves almost injured if
they were omitted. We would take this opportunity to
return our grateful acknowledgments to the kind Christian
friends who have with constancy and diligence conducted
these exercises for us.
The direct and immediate effect of the religious

CHARACTER OF THE WORK.
93
services invariably performed at the Home on the
Sabbath, is not always as obvious as we could desire,
although some of the women evince, occasionally, marks
of sensibility to religious influence. The time of their
stay at the Home is hardly long enough to allow us to
expect any great improvement in this respect, when we
consider that the whole current of their lives has run
counter to the new set of ideas and feelings which it is
the object of preaching to implant and cultivate. It is
difficult to engraft a spirit of humility on a habit of
defiance; a sentiment of reverence to God, upon a mind
whose undisciplined impulses have never owned the
salutary control of respect for any one. Yet we have
leave to hope that even here something is accomplished,
though the implanting be but as a grain of mustard
seed. We trust that, in some cases at least, the word
does not return void, but accomplishes that whereto it was
sent. We are happy to believe that those whose benevo-
lence prompts them to offer religious services at the
Home are peculiarly fitted for the work, both by human
sympathy and godly zeal, and by a power of judicious
adaptation of instruction to the rude and dark minds for
which it is intended.
Wholly incapable of prolonged attention, the women
are yet susceptible of much good from short, easy, and

94
THE HELPING HAND.
affectionate discourses ; and though too generally unused
to any attempt to lift up the heart in prayer, it is certain
that they are not incapable of joining in some degree in
the devotion of others, offered in simplicity and earnest-
ness. This portion of the exercises of the Home is
conducted by City Missionaries; to whom, and to all
friends who kindly lend their aid in the good work of
religious instruction among us, we are glad of this
opportunity to express our gratitude. Without such
assistance, an important feature of our effort to reclaim
the lost would be wanting; and we would tender our
especial acknowledgments to those who have held Bible-
class at the Home regularly, much to the satisfaction, and,
we have reason to hope, improvement of the inmates.
In closing this brief and imperfect account of the
doings of the past, we beg to be allowed a few words as
to the future. If we have been able to communicate in
this account even a portion of the conviction which is
firmly established in our own minds, of the need of such
an institution as the Home, and the possibilities of good
to be accomplished by it, we may hope that little urgency
is necessary in asking for the undertaking the hearty
support of the friends of humanity. We have shown
that the aid which suffices for the male convict on his
return to society is not sufficient for the female; that her

CHARACTER OF THE WORK.
95
condition is far more needy and desolate in every respect;
in short, that a Home, with female care and sympathy,
must be the beginning of her new life. On the expense
involved in maintaining such an asylum, we need not
enlarge. It is most obvious that without generous support
from the public, it is vain for a few individuals to
undertake the work. We may, however, be allowed to
assure those who do lend us their aid, that all that
economy can accomplish has been done, and will continue
to be done, at the Home. From the outset to the present
moment, we have been making continual improvement in
this respect, and it is the opinion of those who have
examinod our plans and their operations, that it would
hardly be possible to make the same amount of funds
equally efficient in any other way. What we now re
quire in particular is such a provision of means as would
enable us to increase the efficiency of our work-depart-
ment; to give such instruction to our inmates as will fit
them more and more to remunerate the institution by
their labor, while they are preparing themselves for
earning their own living honestly and respectably after
they leave us; we ask from the public such a contribution
to our funds as will give us leave to be as useful
as we can—as useful as experience has convinced us we
may be. Our plans are so laid that a judicious expendi-

96
THE HELPING HAND.
ture now will be sure to make large returns in future.
The labor performed by our inmates not only contributes
to their reformation, but in no inconsiderable degree
lightens the expenses of their support. We desire further
facilities to this end, and we venture to promise, in case
they are afforded us, to show, in the accounts of our
future expenditure, a proportionate increase in the
productiveness of our establishment. May God incline
the hearts of those to whom he has intrusted the good
things of this world, to give liberally of their abundance
to reclaim and restore those who must otherwise be left
to perish in degradation and despair!

CASES REPORTED.
THERE are many cases of exceeding interest that might
be narrated, but our present limits permit the insertion of
only a few. One person was an inmate of the Home
more than a year, lived in the family of a clergyman one
year, returned to the Home, and, in a short time, went to
learn a trade. She fulfilled her engagement of six
months' service, when her instructor reported her as one
of the best hands she ever had, and competent to work
for any body. She followed her trade a short time, when
she married a seafaring man, and is now making prepa-
rations for housekeeping in the spring.
J. M'C. has lived with an excellent family in this
city for two years past; she is a quiet, orderly person,
much esteemed in the family, and exceedingly neat
and capable.

98
THE HELPING HAND
M. M. was brought to the Home by a member of
the Committee, who found her in the street in great
distress, she having arrived in the city a few days
previous, and being in search of her relations. M.
S. was untiring in her efforts to assist her, to the
great joy of both parties. She left the Home after
expressing, in the strongest terms, her gratitude for
favors received.
B. S., from Blackwell's Island, has been one of
our most hopeless cases. She was several times com-
mitted to the Island, and finally became an inmate of the
Home, where she remained several months, then went to
a place in Flushing. After six months she returned to
us again, when a home was secured to her in New York;
where she conducted herself well for ten months, but her
health being delicate, she was advised to take a place in
the country, in the family of a clergyman. She has done
remarkably well; the family are much attached to her,
and she to them, and they have prevailed upon her to go
to Michigan, where they reside.
W. E., a native of England, 28 years of age,
made application to be received into the Home. She
was miserably clad, and in a state of desperation went to
the Tombs and asked to be committed six months, first
sending her only child to Randall's Island. At the

CASES REPORTED.'
99
'expiration of her sentence, she made application and was
received at the Home, and in a week was sent to a place
in Connecticut, where she is considered invaluable.
L. C., who has now been in a service place several
months, with good report of her conduct, was notorious,
even among the bad, and had been several times in the
Penitentiary. Her employers speak favorably of her
conduct while with them—a space of time long enough
to allow a hope that her reform may be permanent,
though we should be far from considering a single
relapse, or even more, proof against the sincerity of the
present endeavor. It is too much to expect that the
power of habit can be broken at once and without fail,
even by the best resolutions.
S. C. was considered a hopeless case; but after she had
been several months at the Home — too bad to be
recommended to a place, yet showing occasionally such
encouraging signs that we did not dare to reject her-
she began to improve so evidently that the records of the
House speak of it as an “ astonishing change.” From
having been very violent in her temper, she became,
under the influence of kind words and good offices, docile
and pleasant. The religious exercises of the Home
exerted an influence over her, and the Chaplain at
Blackwell's Island expressed his surprise that he had not

100
THE HELPING HAND.
seen her there for more than a year—a remarkable thing
in his experience.
C. D. has been under our care for two years and a half,
and is now one of those on whose faithfulness, industry
and good example we rely. During that time she has
lived eight months in one place, five in another, and four
in another, leaving for sufficient reasons, and returning to -
the Home. It must be confessed that during that time
she has three times been betrayed into her old habits of
intoxication, and when such influences get the better of
her, we are almost ready to conclude, from the temporary
return of the old dispositions, that no advance has been
made. But this is the suggestion of our fears ; in truth,
if we had but redeemed these two and a half years
from the wreck of a life, we ought to feel that we have
more than the reward of our patience; and we certainly
have leave to hope that in time, good habits will exert
their full power in driving out bad ones. This woman is
at the present time living respectably and taking in
sewing
M. D. was brought up from her earliest years in
infamy. Her mother was the instrument of her destruc-
tion, and the great object of the girl was to break loose
from this unnatural parent. In this she has at last
succeeded, and is now an industrious and remarkably

CASES REPORTED.
101
orderly subject of the Home, often repeating her views
of what the institution has done for her.
H. G., a young girl of prepossessing appearance and
good manners, but who had been the subject of evil
influences, resided at the Home one month, behaved
well, was recommended to a place, and has ever since
remained in it, to the great satisfaction of her employers.
The only supposable fate of a girl of this description,
without the aid of such an institution as the Home,
would have been to swell the tide of infamy in our
streets, beyond the reach of human help or warning.
M. M. was one of those who on their first reception
seem hardly human. The whole tenor of their lives,
every sentiment of their hearts, the very depths of their
souls, have become brutalized by vice, ignorance, and
hard usage. Old in prisons, they hardly count it a
disgrace to be inmates there. Yet even this creature has
improved under the influences brought to bear upon her,
until “ It is a common observation in the house,” says our
good matron, “how much Mary has improved”—the
inmates themselves thus acting as moral judges of one
another. Cases like this one may not make much im-
pression in the telling, but they cheer and encourage the
bearts of those engaged, more than it is possible to
express.

102
THE HELPING HAND.
H. S., once an inmate of the Home after a sojourn at
the Penitentiary, has now been fifteen months in a
service place, where the family consider her invaluable.
She says the Home was the saving of her.
M. C. was in the Home for several months, conducting
herself with the utmost propriety ; was then sent to a
place, in which she remained just one year. 'At the
expiration of that time she was invited home by her
husband, who had become convinced of her reformation
from the intemperate habits which alone brought her to
a prison. Her employers regretted parting with her, and
gave her an excellent character.
C. M. came to us in February, remained three months,
during which time she was a most docile and worthy
subject of our regulations. She has now been six months
in a place, and gives great satisfaction.
S. G. was one year at Sing-Sing; was at the Home a
few weeks; then went to a service-place, and behaved so
well that her friends consented to receive her home
again. Since that time she has more than once attended
the Sunday evening service at the Home.
J. D., from the Tombs, lived out six months, then went
to learn a trade, and has remained ever since in the same
place, with a good character.
M. P., forty years of age, came from Blackwell's

CASES REPORTED.
103
Island, remained at the Home six months; but has now
been nearly six months in a place on Long Island, from
whence we have frequent good accounts of her, as an
excellent servant.
E. C. was at the Home four months—then got a
situation in the country where she has done well, and as
a testimony of her gratitude to the Home, has sent
occasionally a present of butter of her own make.
E. Q., who came to us some time since, was a most
miserable creature in every way, incapable of helping
herself, struggling against bad habits, or making any
effectual attempt to earn a living. She learned after a
while to do general housework, and is now at service in
Philadelphia, doing well.
C. S., from Sing-Sing, where she had been several
years, soon after her discharge was admitted into the
Home, where she remained till we became satisfied that
she had formed a determination to live an honest,
virtuous life, when a suitable situation was procured for
her. The following is an extract of a letter from the lady
in whose service she now is :
--, May 17th, 1848.
“ C. S. is with me, and is a good faithful girl. She
has the entire management of my domestic affairs, and

104
THE HELPING HAND.
does all the work for us in the family. She has united
with the Methodist Church since she came here, and is
treated with marked attention by its members. She is
known as my house-keeper, and no one suspects the
furnace through which she has passed."
As a specimen of the circumstances and habits by
means of which our prisons and asylums are peopled,
take the following case, written down by one of our
Board, from the lips of the young woman herself :
Margaret L.,-nineteen years old — born in Lower
Canada–brought up by a father of bad character, who
was very severe with her. Her parents taught her to
fight — would hold a handkerchief between her and
another girl, and encourage them to beat and bruise each
other over it. She worked in the field, and “ did as
much work as three boys," as her father said—and in
time became very strong. When she was fourteen, her
father advised her to go and get her living without work
-instructing her at the same time how she might do so.
This she refused, and left home, working out as a servant.
In C—— (somewhere near or on the Canada Line) she
met with a girl who dared her to fight, saying she could
beat her. Seizing an opportunity, Margaret threw this
girl down and beat her dreadfully, until taken off by the
bystanders, after which the girl, much bruised, was

CASES REPORTED.
105
carried home, and Margaret tried and sentenced to jail
for two weeks. While there, she made acquaintance with
five men who were also in jail waiting to be sent to
Clinton Prison. They were confined in an apartment
directly below Margaret, and she conversed with them
through a stove-pipe. Feeling very sorry for them, she
was persuaded to assist them to escape, which she
accomplished by dislodging a large stone—a feat requir-
ing more than masculine strength. She did not herself
accompany them, as she had but a few days to stay ;-
but a boy who was also confined in the jail, being angry
because she would not allow him to go with them, he
having but a week or two to stay, betrayed her, and she
was tried and condemned to the State Prison for two
years. Behaves very well, though of very high temper,
and somewhat given to mischief in a small way. Has a
good deal of humor and a large share of sensibility, and
persists in thinking the helping of five poor fellows 5 out
of such trouble," a praiseworthy deed.
The following is a chapter from the experience of
Father Hopper, whose whole time and heart were devoted
to reclaiming the fallen :
6 Eighth Month, 13th, 1847.
, a native of this State, was convicted of
-

106
THE HELPING HAND.
perjury in one of our western counties, in May, 1842,
and sentenced to Sing-Sing for fourteen years. She was
confined in jail about two years before conviction,
the jury not being able to agree on the first trial. She
had been in Sing-Sing but a short time, before it became
evident that her mind was giving way under the weight
of her sufferings. I visited Sing-Sing after she had been
there a year or eighteen months, and my attention was
called to her. She was then much depressed, and her
mind seemed to be fast sinking into a state of listless
melancholy. This increased upon her, until it broke out
in violent derangement, so that they could no longer, with
any propriety, keep her in prison; and about eighteen
months ago she was removed to the Lunatic Asylum at
Bloomingdale. After she had been there several months
I went to see her, and I took my wife and Lydia Maria
Child with me. She expressed much gratification with
the visit. We took her a walk through the yard and
garden, and while sitting in the shade, under some trees,
one of the company remarked what a pleasant place it
was. She looked around and replied, "Yes, it is a very
pleasant place, but chains are chains, if they are made of
gold, and mine grow heavier every day I wear them.
After this visit she seemed for a short time to be much
worse—she used vulgar and profane language, and tore

CASES REPORTED.
107
up her blanket and made pantaloons of it. It was found
difficult to keep her in her room: she several times
picked the lock of the door and escaped, but was soon
re-captured and returned to her old quarters. Some
weeks afterwards I made her another visit, and found her
attired in her new costume. As soon as she saw me, she
made an effort to get out of my sight, as she did not
wish me to see her with her pantaloons on; but I called
her, and she came to me. I took her kindly by the
hand, and said, J., what does all this mean?' She
replied, 'It is military; I am an officer of state.' I then
told her that if she had been decently clad, I would have
taken her a walking, but I would not go with her in that
condition. She very earnestly entreated me to take her a
walking—said she could soon change her dress—that a
walk in the fresh air would do her much good. She then
changed her dress, and I walked over the premises for
more than an hour with her. During this time she gave
me an interesting history of her life, which had been very
far from what it ought to have been, and on the retro-
spect she wept bitterly. She said that she thought she
had not a friend in the world—that she was forgotten by
every body. I informed her that I was her friend, and
that she had many more. She seemed much more
rational than when I first saw her. Soon after this visit

108
THE HELPING HAND.
I wrote to her : the doctor told me that it had a good
effect upon her. I visited her frequently, and generally
took some of my family with me. She gradually im-
proved, and about two months ago I brought her to the
city, where she spent the day, and in the evening I
returned her to the Asylum. Doctor E., the physician,
told me several weeks afterwards, that she had conducted
with the utmost propriety ever since, and that her
coming to the city had been a great advantage to her.
Finding that exercise in the open air, where new objects
were presented, and the gloom of the Asylum hidden
for a time from her view, did her good, I again brought
her to the city on the 13th inst. She spent the day with
us — was much pleased, and I returned her to her
quarters in the evening. She was extremely gratified,
and I think improved. She is a sensible, and I hope
will yet make a worthy, respectable woman. Senator
Clark of S , told me when I was in Albany in the
spring of 1846, that J. B. was not guilty of the crime
of which she was convicted.
Eleventh Month, 1st, 1847.
66 About the middle of ninth month last, I again
brought her to the city and kept her at my house several
days, having previously made known my intentions to

CASES REPORTED.
109
the District Attorney. During this time she manifested
no symptoms of derangement-her mind appeared to be
settled and calm. Believing that continuing longer in
the Asylum would be of no benefit to her, and the
physician being of the same opinion, I made application
to the Governor on the sixteenth of last month, and he
promptly granted her a pardon. But I did not commu-
nicate the information to her, till I had procured a
suitable situation for her in the country. I soon succeeded
to my satisfaction, and have found a family in Penn-
sylvania who are willing to take her, where she will
receive all the sympathy and tenderness that her delicate
condition may require.
“The thirtieth of last month I went to the Asylum and
informed J. that she was pardoned. She wept, and for
some time was unable to control her feelings—her joy
was full. I never witnessed a more affecting, interesting
scene. I had seen her, a young, comely-looking woman
-possessing more than common good sense—driven by
the severity of her sufferings, said to be unmerited, to the
depths of despair--a raving maniac. By the skill and
kind attention of the physician and of her friends, I now
see her sitting clothed and in her right mind. I had
sympathized deeply with her in her sufferings, and I now
partook largely in her joy. I shall keep her at my

110
THE HELPING HAND.
house till I am prepared to take her to the place of her
destination, which I expect will be in a few days.
“ Eleventh Month, 29th, 1847
“J. B., not having fully recovered from the feeble
state to which her sufferings had reduced her, I did not
deem it prudent to send ber alone and unprotected to
the place I had procured for her in Pennsylvania, a
distance of about one hundred and forty-eight miles; I
therefore went with her. This was the more necessary,
as it afforded me an opportunity of explaining her case
more fully than could conveniently be done by letter, a
knowledge of which was essential to the proper treatment
of it. I left her in the care of kind friends, and she
appeared to be quite satisfied.
“ Twelfth Month, 24th, 1847.
- The following is a copy of a letter received this day
from J. B. It exhibits in vivid colors, the deep, heartfelt
gratitude of one, who by the kindness of Providence,
wasu raised from the very depths of misery and despair-
to comfort and respectability.”
660— COUNTY, December 19th, 1847.
6 DEAR FRIEND :-—I received your letter, and am
happy to hear from you. I was at times very low

CASES REPORTED.
111
spirited, but after reading your letter I felt much better.
I will assure you it was to me what a glass of cold water
would be when fainting. I pore over it so much that I
have got it by heart. You would wish to know some-
thing about my place, and how I liked it, and how the
friends here like me. So far I believe we are all satisfied.
My work is chamber and sewing, and now and then a
little leg trot for exercise. The country here looks rather
gloomy-rain plenty-rather juicy under foot--worse
than in New York. I have done better than I expected
to—well ever since I left New York. The country has a
wonderful effect. I feel grateful to you for all the
kindness, friendship and favors you have shown me; and
now may God bless and reward you for it. Friend
Hopper, you first saw me in prison and visited me-you
followed me to the Asylum-you did not forsake me.
What a change in circumstances! You, that has changed
a bed of straw for one of down-may Heaven bless you-
no tongue can express the gratitude I feel. Many are the
hearts you have made glad ; and my opinion is that they
would say with me—God bless you! Suppose all you
have dragged out of one place and another were to stand
before you at once-I think you would have more than
you could shake hands with in a month, and you would
shake hands with them all.

112
THE HELPING HAND.
.6"I close this. Please excuse my mistakes. Love to
your wife and all your family, to Mr. and Mrs. Hopper,
the second, Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons and family all. Love
to all inquiring friends. Please answer this on the
receipt of it.
666Yours with respect,
6J. B- '"
“ Fifth Month, 25th, 1848.
“J. — is in a respectable family in Pennsylvania,
where she is usefully employed. The friend with whom
she lives says, "She is every thing I could wish. A few
days ago I received a letter from Jane. The following is
an extract from it :- Oh, frail woman-no steps can be
recalled—it is all in the future to make amends for the
past—how true it is that virtue has its reward and vice
its punishment. I am now somewhat advanced in years,
and know that the way of the transgressor is hard. If I
had only a few years of my life to live over again, how
different would I live. For the many blessings that
Providence bestowed upon me, may I be grateful to the
good giver of them. In all my troubles God raised me
up a friend, and I believe he never forsakes me; so there
is hope for me. Don't be discouraged that you befriended
me, for, with God's blessing, you shall have no reason to
repent it."

CASES REPORTED.
113
“ Ninth Month, 2d, 1848.
“ The following is an extract of a letter from a re-
spectable friend in Philadelphia, dated the 24th ult. :
" M. W., the person with whom J. lives, called to
invite me to go out and see J., and Ann P. and I went
and spent Sixth day afternoon there—on Seventh day she
came in and staid till last eve, when she returned to M.
W's. She seems in good spirits. It is gratifying to see
the right spirit manifested, and a consciousness of the
benefits she has received. She bade me say that she
wished to make no change until she changed to heaven.
Her parting words to me were, Christian, God speed
thee.' I felt they bespoke an appreciation of the kind-
ness shown her, and gratitude for it.”
« First Month, 2d, 1850.
“J. - continues to conduct very satisfactorily. She
is modest and discreet in her deportment-industrious in
habits, and makes a very respectable appearance. As a
mark of gratitude for the attention which at different
times I have extended to her, she has sent me a pair of
handsome gloves and a bandana handkerchief. Taking
into consideration all the circumstances attending this
case, this small present affords me much more gratifica-

114
THE HELPING HAND.
tion than ten times the value, if received from any other
person. She still lives in Pennsylvania.
“She is now employed in a large family, conducting
with entire satisfaction, being an important member of it,
in the capacity of principal assistant therein. Her
economy and industry has enabled her to deposit eighty
dollars in a Savings Bank.”
C. F., (the last case reported by Father Hopper,) when
very young became the mother of an illegitimate child,
which was still-born; but the circumstances attending its
birth were such as led to a suspicion that she had
destroyed it. She was consequently arrested and cast
into prison on a charge of infanticide. She remained in
confinement several weeks, when the authorities became
satisfied that she was innocent of the crime of which she
was accused, and she was discharged without a trial.
Upon being set at liberty, she went immediately to her
sister, a reputable married woman living in this city,
but she refused to permit her to enter her dwelling.
Such conduct from a sister was very disheartening, and
she turned away sorrowing. C. was rather handsome,
and those harpies who are always on the alert to seduce
and destroy young women who may fall in their way, had
their eyes upon C., and urgently solicited her to take up
her abode with one of them, but their insidious allure-

Ꮯ ᎪᏚ ᎬS Ꭱ EᏢ 0 Ꭱ Ꭲ E D .
115
ments were indignantly rejected. Having no asylum to
which she could fly for protection, she returned to the
Tombs, and asked the Warden to take her in until a
suitable place could be procured. Here she was soon
found by one of those kind-hearted women who often
visit that abode of sorrow and misery. She took C.
home, and employed her as a domestic. By her kind,
faithful, correct conduct, she soon conciliated the respect
and regard of the family. After remaining in this situa-
tion several years, she was addressed by a respectable
industrious young man, whom she married, and they now
live comfortably together. She often calls to see the
family at whose hands she had received so much kind-
ness, and manifests affection and gratitude therefor.
A few weeks ago she called to see my family, and
brought her son, a fine looking little fellow. His appear-
ance bespoke the care of a prudent mother. It is
gratifying to contemplate the history of this woman, who
by the blessing of providence and the aid of the benevo-
lent individual above mentioned, was raised from a very
low state of degradation and misery, to respectability and
comfort. (This young woman was for a long time a
faithful and good nurse in the family of Mrs. Gibbons,
esteemed and respected by every member of it.)

THE PILGRIM.
“ And the bended bow and the voice passed on."
HEMANS
WEARY, wayworn, sad, and faint,
Pouring out my mournful plaint,
Crying with a burdened soul,
“ Jesus, save and make me whole !"-
Soon He heard my voice, and cried,
“ Look on me,—the crucified !"
Once again my soul was dark;
Hope was dying, spark by spark ;
Clouds of sorrow, fear, and sin,
Shrouded me their folds within.-
But a voice broke through the night,
“ Trust in me,—thy living light !"
Poverty with ruthless sway
Gained upon me day by day;
Tremblingly I looked around ;
-Could no help for me be found ?
Lo, a voice,-“ Fear not," it said,
« Feed on me,—thy living bread."

THE PILGRIM.
117
Sorrow came with rapid tread, -
Laid his hand upon my head ;-
Friends forsook and foes drew near,-
All my spirit shook with fear;
Still the heavenly voice was nigh, -
“ Lean on me ;-I cannot die.”
And my heart grew still, for my foes were gone,
And the hour of pain and the voice passed on.
O. A. BRIGGS.

SCHOOL REPORT OF THE PAST YEAR.
J. M., a young girl of twelve years, left for service
in Vermont in May last. The family she is with give a
most excellent account of her. When she came to the
Home she could not read. She learned to read and
write, to do sums in Addition, and also to say the Multi-
plication Table. She committed to memory twenty-three
chapters from the Bible.
A. M., a German of twelve years of age, left for
Vermont in June. She left in May, to live in this city
with a Mrs. ——'s family. After a month her parents
visited her, and found she had been badly treated by Mr.
- If she had not been a virtuous child, her character
would have been lost. When Mr. — was called on,
he did not deny any of the charges. Her parents took
her away without his knowledge, and saved her from
ruin, as it was Mr. — 's intention to have left the city

Ꮪ ᏟᎻ 0 Ꮮ Ꭱ EᏢ 0 Ꭱ Ꭲ .
119
with her the following week. The family she is with
give a most excellent report of her.
Mary A. —— left the first of May to live with Mrs.
S., where she remained only until October, the work of the
family being more than she could accomplish. She has
since been living with Mr. R., who says he could not
wish a better person.
B. W. left for service in June in Westchester County,
where they like her very much.
Mary D., H. B., and M. F., left for a factory at Herki-
mer. Good reports have been made of them all. They
are young girls.
A. F., a young girl of sixteen, residing with a family
in W— , is doing very well.
C. O'B., who has been living with Mrs. Gibbons for
some months, is doing very well.
There are now at the Home four young girls, who are
doing well in every respect.
The Home numbered thirty inmates at the commence-
ment of the year 1852. During the year, one hundred
and twenty-five women have been received. Ninety-
seven have been in school. On entering, seventy-two

120
THE HELPING HAND.
could read, eleven could spell—fourteen did not know
the alphabet.
Learned to read,
To read short sentences,
Multiplication Table,
Addition, .
Multiplication,
Rule of Three,
Calculating dollars and cents,
Writing in books,
On slates, .
•
47
Committed to memory (between school hours) two
hundred and thirty-three chapters from the Bible.
E. D. has committed the Gospel of Matthew.
J. M. (twelve years of age) learned to read, write, and
cypher as far as Division. She committed twenty-three
chapters.
The inmates, when in school, generally conduct them-
selves with a great deal of propriety. A great improve-
ment in this respect is evident, the inmates now never
refusing to come in school, whereas originally they were
very unwilling

LOOK UP!
“ Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
PSALMS.
Rouse thee, child of sorrow,
Lay thy sadness by;
Look !-a brighter morrow
Dawneth in the sky.
Night is passing over,
Vanishing away;
Rouse thee to discover
Signs of coming day.
Wherefore weeping ever,
Eyes bent on the ground ?
See! look upward !-never
Played such light around !
What in all this gladness
O'er thee kindly spread,
Seest thou for sadness ?
-Lone one, lift thy head.

122
THE HELPING HAND.
True the Past looks dreary,
True the night was long,
True thy heart is weary,
All untuned to song.
But why look behind thee ?-
Wherefore yield to grief ?-
Tears can never find thee
Comfort or relief.
Bid the “dead Past” hurry
With his phantoms grim
Far away—and bury,
Bury them and him !
Sepulchre thy weakness,
Lay it all away,-
And in trusting meekness
Wait the coming day.
Selfish is the sorrow
That refuses balm,
Loth from Heaven to borrow
Happiness and calm ;-
Evil is the spirit
That will ne'er look up,
When some friend to cheer it
Lifts the soothing cup.
Rouse thee then from weeping,
Rouse thee from regret ;
List the Future's teaching,-
“ Rally and forget !"

LOOK UP!
123
Strong for coming sorrow
If it must needs be so,
Hope that each to-morrow
Brighter signs will show.
C. A. BRIGGS.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES OF THE PRISON ASSOCI-
ATION.
As has been stated, the society originated in 1844, in
consequence of a growing sense of the forlorn condition
of persons accused, imprisoned, convicted and released,
under the existing laws, some of which have since under-
gone important modification, especially as to the treat-
ment of accused persons.
The call was made in the names of the following
gentlemen :
THEO. FRELINGHUYSEN,
W. T. McCoun,
SAMUEL JONES,
ELEAZER PARMLY,
GARDINER SPRING,
WILLIAM KENT,
W. B. LAWRENCE,
R. H. MORRIS,
JOHN JAY,
A. VANDERPOEL,
W. C. BRYANT,
B. F. BUTLER,
JAMES HARPER,
DANIEL LORD, JR.,
ISAAC T. HOPPER,
M. ULSHOEFFER,
LEWIS H. SANDFORD,
JOHN W. EDMONDS,
WM. H. CHANNING,
OGDEN HOFFMAN,
M. 0. PATTERSON,
RICHARD J. THORN,

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
125
Thos. J. OAKLEY,
CHAS. W. SANFORD,
W. WALN DRINKER,
JOB HASKELL,
FREEMAN HUNT,
SAM'L R. BETTS,
ROBT. B. MINTURN,
HENRY GRINNELL,
EDMOND L. BENZON,
CHARLES M. LEUPP,
ABRAHAM VAN NEST,
CHARLES P. DALY,
HENRY W. BELLOWS,
ORVILLE DEWEY,
Jona. M. WAINWRIGHT,
JOHN HUGHES,
JAMES MILNOR,
HENRY ANTHON,
D. P. INGRAHAM,
F. A. TALLMADGE,
HORACE GREELEY,
THEO. SEDGEWICK,
HENRY MERRITT,
J. L. TELLKAMPF,
THEO. A. TELLKAMPF,
ZEB. COOKE, JR.,
Jos. B. COLLINS,
DAVID AUSTIN,
WM. C. RUSSELL
DAVID HALE,
N. PEARCE,
LEWIS P. W. BALCH,
JOHN A. Dix,
PROSPER M. WETMORE,
JOHN T. IRVING,
EDWARD S. GOULD,
JACOB HARVEY,
WILLIAM JONES,
JAS. R. WHITING.
The following Ladies were chosen to act as the first
Executive Committee :
Mrs. EATON,
Miss E. ROBBINS,
Mrs. ABBY H. GIBBONS,
Miss STAYLEY,
MRS. S. R. INGRAHAM,
MRS. E. LANE,
MRS. TOMLINSON,
Mrs. ROBT. WATSON,
MRS. J. W. EDMONDS,
Mrs. WM. KIRKLAND,
MRS. LANGTREE,
MRS. ANDREW S. SNELLING,
MRS. DR. PALMER
Mrs. Dr. MASON,
MRS. J. H. MARTYN
MRS. DEY,

126
THE HELPING HAND.
MRS. HAWKINS,
MRS. WARD,
Mrs. G. W. HATCH,
MRS. FITCH,
MRS. BEATTY,
MRS. COD WISE,
MRS. COCHRAN,
MRS. J. L. MASON.
MRS. EATON, First Directress.
MRS. J. H. MARTYN, Second Directress.
MRS. FITCH, Treasurer.
MRS. S. D. COCHRAN, Recording Secretary.
MRS. WILLIAM KIRKLAND, Corresponding Secretary.
FOR 1852.
CATHARINE M. SEDGWICK, First Directress.
SARAH P. DOREMUS, Second Directress.
ANNA J. H. FITCH, Treasurer.
CAROLINE M. KIRKLAND, Corresponding Secretary.
ANNA CURTIS, Recording Secretary.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Miss C. M. SEDGWICK, 54 East 16th street.
MRS. THOMAS C. DOREMUS, 39 West 22d street.
MRS. A. J. H. FITCH, 42 East 15th street.
Mrs. C. M. KIRKLAND, 45 Irving Place.
MRS. JAMES S. GIBBONS, 18 Lamartine Place.
MRS. EDGAR HICKS, Court street,
Brooklyn.
MRS. ADDISON F. BOND, 84 Myrtle Avenue,
MRS. JAMES EMERY, 263 Pearl street.
MRS. A. MEAD, 81 West 20th street.
MRS. JAMES HALSTEAD, 18 West 17th street.
Mrs. W. C. BRYANT, office Evening Post.
MRS. JAMES BEATTY, 809 Greenwich street.
MRS. ALFRED HALL, 134 Franklin street.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
127
Mrs. FREEMAN HUNT, 142 Fulton street.
Mrs. BENJAMIN ELLIS, Broome, corner Elm street.
MRS. R. S. DILL, corner Greenwich and Jane streets.
MRS. E. VANDERBURGER, 10 College Place.
Mrs. H. W. SMITH, 115 Amos street.
MRS. MAHLON DAY, 129 East 15th street.
Mrs. CHARLES TRACY, 82 Lexington Avenue.
MRS. JOHN BEAM, 101 State street, Brooklyn.
Miss HANNAH UNDERHILL, 199 Henry street.
Miss SUSAN B. Day, 129 East 15th street.
Miss Amy HAWXHURST, 43 Henry street.
Miss ELIZABETI MANNING, Pacific street, Brooklyn.
Miss JANE SEDGWICK.
Miss MARGARET SEDGWICK, 19 West 9th street.
Miss A. CURTIS, 47 Lexington Avenue.
MRS. MILBANK, 213 Madison street.
MRS. HENRY B. SMITH, 11 Lamartine Place.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
Hon. J. W. EDMONDS,
ISAAC T. HOPPER,
6 JOHN DUER,
JOHN D. Russ, M. D.,
" JAMES H. TITUS,
RICHARD REED.
MATRONS.
SARAI PURINTON,
AVIS PURINTON.
TEACHER.
MISS WARD.
PHYSICIAN.
CHARLES MCMILLAN, M. D.

128
THE HELPING HAND.
Table,
Showing the whole number received into THE HOME, from
1845 to 1851, inclusive, viz: 1845, 107; 1846, 126;
1847, 99; 1848, 123; 1849, 108; 1850, 148; 1851,
166--877.
1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 Tot'l
25
66
7
14
27 57 40 57 40 312
5 8 11 9 11
51
15 21 28 36 .... 114
: Doctor
Found situations for. ...
Returned to their friends....
6 to evil courses.....
Left without permission....
" to find places for themselves
Sent to Hospital..
Magdalen Asylum....
House of Refuge.
Tombs..........
Col'd Home...
Rosine, Philadelphia..
Alms House......
Female Guardian Society
Lunatic Asylum....
Randall's Island.....
Ward's Island....
" Housekeeping....
Discharged, improper conduct)...
“ not proper subjects for the Home..
In the Home ..
Not accounted for..
15
29
13 20 32 211
99 123 103 148 1661 877
Grand total.
107 126

ISAAC T. HOPPER.
Not to inform the public of what it knows very well
already, nor to forestal the volume now preparing by
Mrs. Child,-a kindred spirit;- but to gratify my own
feelings, and to give grace and sanctity to this little book,
I wish to say a few words of Father Hopper, the devoted
friend of the prisoner as of the slave; one whose long life,
and whose last thoughts, were given to the care and succor
of human weakness, error, and suffering. To make even
the most unpretending book for the benefit of the Home,
without bringing forward the name of Isaac T. Hopper,
and recognizing the part he took in its affairs, from the
earliest moment of its existence until the close of his life,
would be an unpardonable omission. A few words must
be said, where a volume would scarcely suffice.
“The rich and the poor meet together, and the Lord is
the Father of them all,” might stand for the motto of
Mr. Hopper's life. That the most remote of these two
classes stood on the same level of benevolent interest in

130
THE HELPING HAND.
his mind, his whole career made obvious; he was the
last man to represent as naturally opposite those whom
God has always, even “ to the end of the world,” made
mutually dependent. He told the simple truth to each
with equal frankness; he helped both with equal readi-
ness. The palace awed him no more than the hovel
suggested thoughts of superiority. Nothing human-
however grand or however degraded—was a stranger to
him. In the light which came to him from Heaven, all
stood alike children of the Great Father; earthly dis-
tinctions disappearing the moment the sinking soul or the
suffering body was in question. No amount of depravity
could extinguish his hope of reform; no recurrence of
ingratitude could paralyze his efforts. Early and late,
supported or unsupported, praised or ridiculed—he went
forward in the great work of relief, looking neither to the
right hand nor to the left; and when the object was
accomplished, he shrank back into modest obscurity, only
to wait till a new necessity called for his re-appearance.
Who can number the poor, aching, conscious, despairing
hearts that have felt new life come to them from his kind
words, his benignant smile, his " helping hand ?" If the
record of his long life could be fully written,—which it can
never be, since every day and all day, in company, in the

ISAAC T. HOPPER.
131
family circle, with children, with prisoners, with the insane
-“ virtue went out of him” that no human observation
could measure or describe,—what touching interest would
be added to the history of our poor and vicious popula-
tion for more than half a century past; what new honor
and blessing would surround the venerated name of our
departed friend and leader!
But he desired nothing of this. Without claiming for
him a position above humanity, which alone would
account for a willingness to be wholly unrecognized as a
friend of the afflicted, it is not too much to say that no
man was ever less desirous of public praise or outward
honor. He was even unwilling that any care should be
taken to preserve the remembrance of his features, sweet
and beautiful as they were, though he was brought
reluctantly to yield to the anxious wish of his children
and friends, that the countenance on which every eye
loved to dwell should not be wholly lost when the grave
should close above it. He loved to talk of interesting
cases of reform and recovery, both because those things
occupied his mind, and because every body loved to hear
him ; but the hearer who made these disclosures the
occasion for unmeaning compliment, as if he fancied a
craving vanity to have prompted them, soon found him-

132
THE HELPING HAND.
self rebuked by the straight-forward and plain spoken
patriarch. Precious indeed were those seasons of out-
pouring, when one interesting recital suggested another,
till the listener seemed to see the whole mystery of
prison-life and obscure wretchedness laid open before him
with the distinctness of a picture. For, strange as it may
seem, our friend had under his plain garb—unchanged
in form since the days of Dr. Franklin, to go no further
back—a fine dramatic talent, and could not relate the
humblest incident without giving it a picturesque or
dramatic turn, speaking now for one character, now for
another, with a variety and discrimination very remark-
able. This made his company greatly sought, and as his
strongly social nature readily responded, his acquaintance
was very large. To every one that knew him personally,
I can appeal for the truth and moderation of these views
of his character and manners.
A few biographical items will close what I venture to
offer here.
Isaac T. Hopper was born December 3, 1771, in the
township of Deptford, Gloucester County, West Jersey,
but spent a large portion of his life in Philadelphia,
where he served his apprenticeship to the humble calling
of a tailor. But neither the necessity for constant occu-

ISAAC T. HOPPER.
133
pation nor the temptations of youthful gaiety, prevented
his commencing, even then, the devotion of a portion of
his time to the care of the poor and needy. He had
scarcely reached man's estate when we find him an active
member of a benevolent association, and his volumes of
notes of cases, plans and efforts, date back to that
early period. To that time also we are to refer the
beginning of his warm anti-slavery sentiment, a feeling
so prominent and effective throughout his life, and the
source of some of his noblest efforts and sacrifices. For
many years he served as Inspector of Prisons in Phila-
delphia, and thus, by long and constant practical observa-
tion, was accumulated that knowledge of the human
heart, in its darkest windings, that often astonished the
objects of his care, when they thought they had been
able cunningly to blind his eyes to their real character
and intentions. After his removal to New York, and
when the occasion for his personal labors in the cause of
the slave had in some measure ceased or slackened, he
threw his whole heart into the Prison Association, whose
aims and plans of action were entirely in accordance
with his views, and indeed in a great degree based on his
experience and advice. The intent of the Prison Asso-
ciation is three-fold : first, to protect and defend those

134
THE HELPING HAND.
who are arrested, and who, as is well known, often suffer
greatly from want of honest and intelligent counsel ;
secondly, to attend to the treatment and instruction of
convicts while in prison; and, thirdly, on their discharge
to render them such practical aid as shall enable the
repentant to return to society by means of the pursuit of
some honest calling. This latter branch occupied Father
Hopper's time and attention, and he devoted himself
to it with an affectionate and religious earnestness that
ceased only with his life. No disposition was too per-
verse for his efforts at reform ; no heart was so black
that he did not at least try the balm of healing upon it;
no relapses could tire out his patience, which, without
weak waste of means, still, apostolically went on, “ hoping
all things” while even a dying spark of good feeling
remained. Up to February last did this venerable saint
continue his abundant labors; when a severe cold, co-
operating with the decay of nature, brought him his
sentence of dismissal. He felt that it was on the way,
and with the serious grace that marked every thing he
did, he began at once to gather his earthly robes about
him and prepare for the great change, which no one
could dread less. It was hard for those who saw his
ruddy cheek and sparkling eye, his soft brown hair and

ISAAC T. HOPPER.
135
sprightly movements, to feel that the time of his depar-
ture was drawing nigh; but he knew and felt it, with
more composure than his friends could summon. It
might well be said of this our beloved patriarch, that
“his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." To
the last of his daily journeyings through the city, for
which he generally used the rail-road, he would never
allow the drivers to stop for him to get on or off the
car-feeling, as he used smilingly to observe, “ very
jealous on that point.” Few ever passed him in the
street without asking who he was; for not only did his
primitive dress, his broad-brimmed hat, and his antique
shoe-buckles, attract attention, but the beauty and benev-
olence of his face was sure to fix the eye of ordinary
discernment. He was a living temperance lecture, and
those who desire to preserve good looks could not ask a
more infallible recipe, than that sweet temper and out-
flowing benevolence which made his countenance please
every eye. Gay and cheerful as a boy, he had ever some
pleasant anecdote or amusing turn to relate, and in all
perhaps not one without a moral bearing, not thrust
forward, but left to be picked out by the hearer at his
leisure. He seemed born to show how great strictness in
essentials could exist without the least ascetism in trifles,

136
THE HELPING HAND.
Any thing but a Simeon Stylites in his sainthood, he
could go among “publicans and sinners" without the
least fear of being mistaken by them for one of them-
selves. An influence radiated from him that made itself
felt in every company, though he would very likely be
the most modest man present. More gentlemanly man-
ners and address no court in Christendom need require;
his resolute simplicity and candor, always under the
guidance of a delicate taste, never for a moment degen-
erated into coarseness, or disregard even of the prejudices
of others. His life, even in these minute particulars,
showed how the whole man is harmonized by the sense
of being
“Ever in the great Taskmaster's eye.”
He died on the 7th of May, 1852, in his eighty-first
year, and a public funeral in the Tabernacle brought
together thousands desirous of showing respect to his
memory. On that occasion several addresses were made,
from one of which I will quote a single passage, truly
descriptive :
“I would refer to the early days of his life, which he
dedicated to God, to goodness, to duty, to labor in his
vocation. In that early day his strongest conviction,

. ISAAC T. HOPPER.
137
perhaps, was that the spirit of the Highest was upon him,
calling on him and anointing him “to preach deliverance
to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, and
to set at liberty them that were bruised.” That he was
faithful to the conviction, through good and evil report,
many of the poor of our land, and many a broken-
hearted slave can abundantly testify."
I subjoin the proceedings of the Prison Association on
the occasion of Mr. Hopper's resignation, with his
characteristic and beautiful reply:
“At an Adjourned Meeting of the Executive Committee Prison
Association held at 15 Centre street, February 9, 1852—
A communication was received from Isaac T. Hopper, tendering his
resignation as Agent of the Discharged Convict Committee on
account of the delicate state of his health, and expressing his continued
sympathy in the objects of the Association, and his best wishes for its
future success.
On motion-Resolved, That a Committee of Three be appointed to
take into consideration the Resignation of Isaac T. Hopper as Agent
bf the Discharged Convict Committee, and report at the next stated
Veeting. Messrs. Edmonds, Russ, and J. Russell were appointed said
Committee.
(Extract from the Minutes.)
R. N. HAVENS, Ch'n. Ex. Com.
THOS. GALLAUDET, Sec.
THOS. T. BENNETT, Clerk.

138
THE HELPING HAND.
At a Special Meeting of the Executive Committee Prison Associa-
tion held at their office, 15 Centre street, Friday evening, Feb. 13th,
1852—
The Committee to whom was referred the Resignation of Isaac T.
Hopper, Agent, reported through their Chairman, Judge Edmonds,
the following :-
This Association have received with undissembled sorrow, the
resignation of Isaac T. Hopper, as their Agent for the relief of
Discharged Convicts.
He was actively engaged in the organization of the Society, and has
ever since been its most valuable member.
His kindness of heart, and his active zeal in behalf of the fallen and
erring whom he has so often befriended, have given to this society a
lofty character for goodness, which, being a reflection of his own, will
endure with the remembrance of him.
His forbearance and patience, combined with his great energy of
mind, have given to its action an impetus and a direction, which it is
to be earnestly hoped will continue, long after it shall have ceased to
enjoy his participation in its active business.
His gentleness and propriety of deportment toward us, his associates,
have given him a hold upon our affections, which adds poignancy to
our grief at parting with him.
And while we mourn his loss to us, our recollection of the cause o
it awakens within us the belief, that the good he has done will smooh
his departure from among us, and gives strength to the cheering hoe
that the recollection of a life well spent, may add even to the happiress
that is in store for him hereafter.
On motion-Report was accepted.
Moved and seconded, that the Report be adopted, and that a copy

IS A A O T. HOPPER.
139
thereof be presented to Mr. Isaac T. Hopper, by a Committee con-
sisting of Messrs. Havens, J. Russell, and Edmonds.
Yeas and nays being called, it was adopted unanimously,
(Extract from the Minutes.)
R. N. HAVENS, Ch'n. Ex. Com.
THOS. GALLAUDET, Sec.
THOS. T. BENNETT, Clerk.
NEW YORK, March 19, 1852.
MR. ISAAC T. HOPPER—Dear Sir :-We were appointed by the
Prison Association to communicate to you their views as embodied in
the enclosed Resolutions. Our desire and intentions were to call upon
you personally in performance of that duty, but as we are prevented
from doing so, by other engagements, we avail ourselves of this mode,
and beg to add our own assurance of our continued regard for you,
and our regret at losing your fostering care and attention with the
affairs of the Association.
We are very respectfully, your friends,
R. N. HAVENS,
ISRAEL RUSSELL,
J. W. EDMONDS,
Committee.
The Committee appointed to convey the Resolutions, having impor-
tant engagements, prepared the above letter to accompany them, but
afterwards found they were able to deliver them in person.
At a Special Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Prison
Association, held at their rooms, 15 Centre street, May 8th, 1852, the
following reply of Isaac T. Hopper to Resolutions of the Committee
on the occasion of his Resignation as Agent of Committee on Dis-
charged Convicts, was read — Ordered that this reply, with the
Resolutions, be published in the newspapers.

140
THE HELPING HAND.
To the Excecutive Committee of the Prison Association :
DEAR FRIENDS :- I received through your Committee, accompanied
by Dr. Russ, your Resolutions of the 13th of February, 1852, com-
mendatory of my course while Agent for Discharged Convicts. My
bodily indisposition has prevented an earlier acknowledgment.
The kind, friendly, and affectionate manner in which you have been
pleased to express yourselves on this occasion, excited emotions which
I found it difficult to repress. The approbation of those with whom I
have long labored in a deeply interesting and arduous concern, I value
next to the testimony of a good conscience. Multiplied years and
debility of body admonish me to retire from active life as much as
may be, but my interest in the work has not abated. Much has been
done, and much remains to be done.
In taking a retrospect of my intercourse with you, I am rejoiced to
see that the great principles of humanity, and Christian benevolence,
have risen above and overspread sectarian prejudice, that bane of
Christianity, and while each has been allowed to enjoy his own
religious opinions, without interference from his fellows, we have
labored harmoniously together for the promotion of the great object
of our Association.
May He who clothes the lilies, feeds the ravens, and provides for the
sparrows, and without whose Providential regard all our endeavors
must be in vain, bless your labors, and stimulate and encourage you to
persevere, so that having, through His aid, fulfilled all your relative
and social duties, you may in the end receive the welcome, “ Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world : for I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat,
I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink, I was a stranger, and ye took me

ISAAC T. HOPPER.
141
in, naked and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me, I was in
prison, and ye came unto me.”
That this may be our happy experience, is the fervent desire of
Your sincere and affectionate friend,
ISAAC T. HOPPER.
NEW YORK, Fourth Month 15, 1852.
(Extract from the Minutes.)
R. N. HAVENS, Chairman,
GEO. E. BAKER, Sec. pro tem.
THOS. T. BENNETT, Clerk.




105.3 Leitländ, Caroline Matilda (Stanstuery)
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