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Life of Thomas Eddy

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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