t he _played truant from school_. He then got into the company of a
gang of boys, who peddle apples,--a thievish set,--and of them he also
learned to steal. He was sent to the House of Reformation; which is a
prison for boys, where they are kept at work and study, but not allowed
their liberty.

_Ruin of a Deacon's son._

Several years ago, a young man about twenty years of age, filthy in his
appearance, and shabbily dressed, called at the house of a clergyman in
the city of New York. His countenance, though haggard, bore the marks of
intelligence. The young man said he had been at his church the previous
evening, and was desirous of having some conversation with the minister.
He was requested to open his mind freely. He said he was the son of a
deacon of a Congregational church in Connecticut. His father was a man
of property and influence, and he himself had always moved in the most
respectable society. He had come to New York in order to become
acquainted with business, and prepare himself for an active and useful
life. But he soon found himself surrounded with new temptations,
without the restraining influences of home and friends. He fell into
bad company. His vicious associates led him to the theatre, and when his
passions were excited by what he saw, and stimulated by intoxicating
liquors, he was persuaded to visit places of infamy and crime. These
indulgences called for more money than he could honestly obtain; but his
appetites, once excited, could not be easily restrained; and he had
recourse to his employer's money drawer to supply the deficiency. He
eased his conscience, in this act, and deceived himself, with the hope
of repaying it before he was detected. But in this he was mistaken. He
was detected, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to the penitentiary for
six months. He had now been out of prison a week, during which time he
had been wandering about the city, ashamed to be seen or known. He had
come to ask advice. The clergyman advised him by all means to go home to
his father; assuring him that it was his only hope, for if he remained
in the city, he would fall into the company of his old associates and be
ruined. With the deepest agony, he exclaimed, "How can I ever return to
my father's house? How can I ever meet him or the virtuous companions of
my youth? No! No! I am fallen--disgraced! I have been a felon, and in
prison! No, I would rather die a vagabond in the street, than to see
the face of my f