the administration of the prison, and this gave me an opportunity of observing its management and government. The good order, comfort, cleanliness, industry, and devotion which prevailed, as long as the Friends had the management of the institution, were very remarkable. But in 1800, when there was a great revolution in political power, those who had effected the change thought their influence should be felt every where; and though there was no emolument annexed to the office of governor of the prison, there were those of the dominant party, whose ambition was to be gratified by being put in the place of the Friends who were managers of the institution. The difference between the government of those who took the office merely from motives of philanthropy, and who devoted themselves to the discharge of its duties, and those who held it as an honorary distinction, that deserved but little sacrifice of their private business, was soon perceived. The new management was so bad, that it had very nearly occasioned the failure of this great experiment; and nothing was more common than to hear it said, even by many of its original advocates, that it had done so, and that there was no resource but in the former sanguinary penal code. I have often heard Mr. Eddy lament this state of things; but he never abandoned the hope of seeing a system, of which he very justly considered himself as one of the founders, established; and he lost no opportunity of inviting the public attention to means by which he thought the objections to the new code might be obviated. He proposed that county or district prisons or penitentiaries should be erected. That the prison of the State should be reserved for offenders of the highest grade, while those of a lower degree should be punished in the former. I am convinced that among his manuscripts will be found many pieces that he has written on this subject.

There was nothing in which Mr. Eddy took a deeper or more active interest, than in the establishment of our free schools. But I had no particular connexion with that institution. I can therefore only say, that I have often visited them with him, and been witness of the zeal he manifested for their prosperity. Governor Clinton was the great patron of this and other benevolent establishments, in which Mr. Eddy was concerned; and I believe we owe the assistance they have derived from Mr. Clinton's great talents and influence, more to Mr. Eddy than to any other man. The history of the New York canals will show how large a share Mr. Eddy had in directing Governor Clinton's attention to these great projects.

I found Mr. Eddy a governor of the New York Hospital, (of which he died president) when I was elected to that office about the year 1812. I believe he had been in that station from a very early date. There, as elsewhere, he was one of the most efficient

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and useful members of the institution to which he belonged. In the year 1816 I think, the legislature made a very liberal grant of an increased revenue to the hospital. This was obtained entirely by the exertions and address of Mr. Eddy, who spent the greater part of a winter at Albany, to obtain the grant. Perhaps the institution is more indebted to the good management of Mr. Eddy, than to the liberality of the legislature. For it has been said, and I believe, not without foundation, that the members of the legislature were not aware of the extent of their endowThe duration of annuity which is granted, depends on the duration of a previous grant, which, it is said, was supposed to be more limited than upon examination is found to be the case. But this ample provision induced the governors of the hospital to turn their attention to a separate establishment for the insane, for whom the accommodations afforded by the city buildings were very inconvenient. In making a new provision for this class of patients, Mr. Eddy engaged with his accustomed energy, and from his exertions, and the co-operations of those associated with him, grew the magnificent Lunatic Asylum at Bloomingdale, He was Chairman of the committee of Governors of the Hospital under whose superintendence the buildings were erected, and who had the management of the concern till the patients were removed to it; and till long after a system was arranged for the government of the house and the treatment of the subjects. In all this, no one had so large a part as Mr. Eddy, and no one devoted so much time and attention to the establishment.

As any thing I may write can only serve as memoranda, which will direct the attention of Mr. Eddy's biographer to the history or records of the institutions with which he was connected, I may mention that I was a long time associated with him as a member of the Humane Society. This was an association which had its origin long before I knew any thing of it. The objects of this association were to provide food for the destitute, and, particularly, to supply the debtors in prison with some of the necessaries of life. At that time these objects of charity made an irresistible appeal to the attention of the benevolent. For it is strange that the laws which shut a person up within the walls of a prison, because he did not, and in most cases could not, pay his debt, made no provision for supplying him either with fire, food, or raiment. As you well know, the first soup house that was ever opened in New York was established by this society, and it should not be forgotten, that the fears of the members that their funds were not equal to this enterprise, were overcome by your liberal engagement to defray out of your own purse all that might be required, beyond the means the friends of the society could afford.

The views which were presented to many members of this society, of the condition of the poor in the city of New York, led

to the formation, in the year 1816, of a society for the prevention of pauperism; in the establishment of which, and in its action, Mr. Eddy took a more active part than any other man. This society was merged in the Society for the reformation of Juve-nile Delinquents, or House of Refuge, which was incorporated in the year 1824. This institution, after it had been in operation two years, Mr. Clinton described in his annual message to the legislature of 1826, as "perhaps the best penitentiary institution which has ever been devised by the wit, and established by the beneficence, of man." I had a more intimate association with Mr. Eddy in this charity from its origin to his death, than in any of the others of which we were members. Though there were many who participated with him in this humane enterprise, yet I do not think it is going too far to say that its foundation and success was in a great measure owing to him; at least it may be questioned whether, without his indefatigable exertions, this important measure for the prevention of crimes would have been adopted so soon. He devoted so much of his time to this establishment, and occupied himself so much with its concerns for several years, that he seemed to have no business of a public or private nature which he thought so important, or so deserving his attention. It may be worthy of remark, that though there had been penitentiaries or asylums for infant criminals in Europe, previously to the establishment of the House of Refuge, yet there had not been any institution for the reformation of juvenile delinquents. This differed from all others that before existed in this important feature; that the laws subjected to its discipline persons under age, previously to their having committed any crime when they are without parents, or abandoned by them, and are left without guardian or protection, and are found pursuing vicious courses, they may be committed to the House of Refuge, where they are withdrawn from the power of their parents even, till such provision is made for them as the law prescribes. The idea of giving this very enlarged power to magistrates and managers of the House of Refuge, I believe, originated with Mr. Eddy. If the society for the reformation of juvenile delinquents was deprived of this power, it would lose the greater part of its usefulness. Another of our most important and benevolent institutions owes its origin to the members of the society for the prevention of pauperism; I refer to the Savings Bank. To this Mr. Eddy devoted himself with his usual zeal and energy, and remained one of its most efficient and active managers while he lived.

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To this list of the numerous benevolent societies of which Mr. Eddy was a member, I must add another establishment, of which he was a founder, and continued a manager, until he thought its successful operation was secured. This was a society to pro

vide fuel for the poor. Those who had not the means of laying up a store, were to deposit their money with the society; who were to lay it out on wood or coal, at the proper season when these articles are cheapest; and to let the depositor draw to the amount of his deposit when it was most needed, for the cost at which it had been purchased by the society. But Mr. Eddy's other avocations obliged him, after some time, to withdraw from this institution; and for the want of that zeal with which he devoted himself to all affairs of this kind in which he engaged, or from some other cause, this very benevolent attempt to relieve the distress which so often results from cold and poverty, after one or two seasons, was neglected or relinquished. Notwithstanding Mr. Eddy was so successful and useful in the many humane institutions I have enumerated, his active and benevolent mind was engaged in other projects for the advantage or relief of the distressed; among these he had much at heart an asylum for convicts who had expiated their crime, by having suffered the punishment of imprisonment. He saw with all the sympathy of his character, the forlorn condition of those who, without money, without friends, and without character, were turned from the walls of a prison, to provide for themselves means of subsistance, and to whom there seems to be left the only alternative of commiting a new crime, or of perishing. He proposed to establish for such objects a House of Refuge, where employment of some profit should be provided for them, until by their good conduct they could retrieve their character, and by their industry provide some means of support, till they could begin the world anew.

I have not referred to Mr. Eddy's connexion with our literary and scientific institutions, of all of which I believe we were members. Of his usefulness as an associate with us in these establishments, you will be much more able to speak of him than I am. And after all, my dear sir, I can not but perceive how little more I have done than if I had given a list of our benevolent and charitable institutions, and said that Mr. Eddy was a zealous and efficient member of each of them. But then I should have lost the opportunity of saying how sincerely I respected his character, and of manifesting the desire that I have, that the memory of his great benevolence, his devotion to the welfare of mankind, and his many virtues, should be preserved; and that he may be pointed out to posterity, as an example of how much good may be done by an individual who will devote his time and talents to its accomplishment. And had I not complied with your request, I should also have lost the pleasure which I have, my dear sir, in assuring you of the sincere respect with which I am your friend and obedient servant, CADWALLADER D. COLDEN.

TO DAVID HOSACK, L.L.D., F.R.S.

DEAR SIR,

New York, April 20, 1833.

Knowing the intimacy which once existed between you and the late Thomas Eddy, whose memoirs I have undertaken to prepare for the public, from papers in my possession, and from such other sources as may be afforded me, I take the liberty to request you to favour me with any passage of his life which may be fresh in your memory, accompanied with such remarks as you may think proper to make. I am aware of the value of your time, to yourself and to others; but I will not offer you any idle apology for taxing you, as I believe you will agree with me in opinion, that if it be a duty, as we are in the habit of thinking it to be, to attend the funeral rites of a departed friend, that it is a higher duty, and of more importance to the living, to assist in giving currency to his virtues.

Most respectfully, your friend and humble servant,
SAMUEL L. KNAPP.

To Professor JOHN W. FRANCIS, M.D.

DEAR SIR,

New York, May 1, 1833.

A personal acquaintance of more than twenty years with the late Mr. Thomas Eddy might justify me in answering at some length your several interrogatories concerning his life and public services; but I have deemed it most judicious to restrict this communication to a few particulars, inasmuch as you are so amply furnished with authentic materials for your contemplated biography. Mr. Eddy was so intimately and for so long a period associated with the men and measures of most of our humane, benevolent, and literary institutions, that his career is in no small degree connected with the history of those establishments, and demonstrates that a cardinal object of his pursuit, was to meliorate the condition of human society.

Were I to select the especial objects which, amidst the great variety that demanded his services, more particularly absorbed his attention, and occupied his deepest consideration, I might dwell upon his close devotion to the interests of the African; the promotion of the leading measures of the Manumission Society; and the enactment of laws for the final abolition of slavery in the state of New York. The education of the blacks, and the establishment of African free schools, were also among the objects of his solicitude. The bettering the condition of the poor, the organization of the Lancasterian free schools, and an improved code of prison discipline, were subjects which engrossed most of his time for many years; and I think you will find many documents among his papers, which evince his successful efforts to further these benevolent purposes.