liberty, was written in blood. The tears of the sym-
pathetic, and the voice of the benevolent, had made
but slow progress against the apathy of the great
mass of mankind, and the vindictive spirit of a few,
who believe, or profess to believe, that the world
should be governed by a rod of iron. The hearts of
the people were made callous by the sight of stocks,
whipping-posts, pillories, in every shire, town, or con-
siderable village. Flagellation with the cat-o'-nine-
tails, burning in the hand, or forehead, with a hot
iron, cropping the ears of prisoners in the pillory,
were all common sights to the youngest, as well as
the oldest, portion of the community. The Friends
in Pennsylvania

were among the first people in the
Union to make an effort to change this barbarity for
some milder system, thinking, and thinking justly,
that severe punishments produced, rather than dimi-
nished crime. To this order of Christians the public
are indebted for many good examples; but if this
was the only thing they had done for mankind, they
would deservedly stand high with the historian. By
their efforts, the penal code of Pennsylvania was
ameliorated, and this good precedent has been fol-
lowed by most of the States in the Union.

In 1796, Mr. Eddy

was on a journey to Philadelphia,
in company with General Philip Schuyler, of the State
of New York. Schuyler was then a member of the
Senate of that State, and was, justly, very influential.
He had been for more than forty years a prominent
character in the country, first, as an officer in the war
of 1755, and then a magnanimous leader in the revo-
lutionary contest. He had talents, integrity, property,
and moral courage, and was the very man for the
purpose Eddy had in view, which was to engage him
in the change he wished to bring about in the penal
code of the State of New York, and for the establish-
ment of a penitentiary system. Eddy conversed free-
ly with Schuyler upon every topic that had a bearing
upon the subject, and as soon as they reached the city