their hearts. On such occasions, I have been told that a
large portion of his unhappy audience were frequently moved to tears;
and the warmth of their grateful feelings was often manifested by
eagerly pressing forward to shake hands with him, whenever they received
permission to do so. The friendly counsel he gave on such occasions
sometimes produced a permanent effect on their characters. In a letter
to his daughter Susan, he says: "One of these poor fellows attacked the
life of the keeper, and I soon after had a private interview with him.
He received what I said kindly, but declared that he could not govern
his temper. He said he had no ill-will toward the keeper; that what he
did was done in a gust of passion, and he could not help it. I tried to
convince him that he had power to control his temper, if he would only
exercise it. A year and a half afterward, on First Day, after meeting,
he asked permission to speak to me. He then told me he was convinced
that what I had said to him was true; for he had not given way to anger
since I talked to him on the subject. He showed me many certificates
from the keepers, all testifying to his good conduct. I hardly ever saw
a man more changed than he is."

I often heard my good old friend describe these scenes in the Prison
Chapel, with much emotion. He used to say, the feeling of confidence and
safety which prevailed, was sometimes presented to his mind in forcible
contrast with the state of things in Philadelphia, in 1787, as related
by his worthy friend, Dr. William Rogers, who was on the committee of
the first Society formed in this country "for relieving the miseries of
public prisons." That kind-hearted and conscientious clergyman proposed
to address some religious exhortation to the prisoners, on Sunday. But
the keeper was so unfriendly to the exertion of such influence, that he
assured him his life would be in peril, and the prisoners would
doubtless escape, to rob and murder the citizens. When an order was
granted by the sheriff for the performance of religious services, he
obeyed it very reluctantly; and he actually had a loaded cannon mounted
near the clergyman, and a man standing ready with a lighted match all
the time he was preaching. His audience were arranged in a solid column,
directly in front of the cannon's mouth. This is supposed to have been
the first sermon addressed to the assembled inmates of a State Prison in
this country.

Notwithstanding Friend Hopp