rning. I shall
always remember them.

"Look not mournfully upon the past; it cannot return.

"The present is yours; improve it.

"Fear not the shadowy future; approach it with a manly heart."

This is as I recall it. It may possibly not be exact--however the
sense is the same.

If Mr. Osborne half realized what an influence for good his stay here
had been to every single man in the place, I feel sure that he would
not feel that his privations and hardships of the past week had been
in vain.

Sincerely,
E. O. I., No. 32--.

Of course it may be urged with some force that such letters are not
conclusive, for it can not be proved that the writers have received any
permanent help; that even those, like Jim, who straighten out may get
tired of a virtuous life and relapse. That is perfectly true. For
instance, my lively jail friend in Cell Four, Joe, in spite of all efforts
to help him upon his release, failed to make good.

But such an argument misses the point. The important thing is that these
men have good in them--a statement that can not be made too often. It is
true that they are bad--in spots. But they are also good--in spots. And
with a right system the good could be developed so as to help in driving
out the bad. If Joe had received proper training in prison he would have
gone straight after he got out. What I am just now trying to prove is the
existence of good--and a large measure of it.

Here, for instance, is a letter from a man who has failed to go straight
since his release.

135 State St., Auburn, N. Y.,
Sunday, Oct. 19, 1913.

Hon. Thomas Mott Osborne, Auburn, N. Y.

Dear Sir: As this is the last letter yours truly will ever write in a
prison cell (that is, I hope to God and his blessed and holy Mother
it is the last), I don't know of a person other than T. M. Osborne I
would rather write to. I don't know of a single case ever recorded
in the U. S. if not in the world where fourteen hundred men left a
meeting house--men, understand, in public life who would not stop at
anything--those same men left that chapel on Oct. 5 crying like
babies! And I, being prison steam-fitter here, I heard some very good
stories of Mr. Osborne--going around to the different shops Monday
morning. It only shows that with a little kindness shown toward these
same men that you co