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Life of Thomas Eddy

SW_WH1793_Page_139

Mr. Eddy made the subject of imprisonment for debt, one of deep reflection. He did not believe that a man could, by any contract, pledge his liberty par-tially; and it is conceded on all sides, that no mancan make himself a slave, liberty being an unalien-able right. He saw that the gaols were crowded with poor debtors, sent to those awful places forsmall sums, in general, where their health and moralswere injured, and their spirits broken down. The philanthropist alone, whose feelings are enlisted inthe spirit of reform, can come to any just calculationof the number who, in former times, suffered as poordebtors. He knew that more than ten thousandwere incarcerated in his own State, every year, forsums that would not average fifteen dollars each;and he had sufficient information from many otherStates, to discover, that the evil existed among themgenerally to as great an extent, according to their population. He frequently visited the gaol in thecity of New York, and assisted the prisoners fromhis own purse, and from monies belonging to associ-ations among the Friends. He did not live to seeimprisonment for debt abolished in the State of NewYork; but he foresaw that the time would come, when that blot on the fame of our country would bewiped away, not only in this State, but in others.He preserved in his diary, a letter, which he believedto have been written by the celebrated Indian, Brandt,who was educated at Dartmouth College. It is sofull of just remarks, and is, in itself, so great acuriosity, that I thought it worthy of being pre-served. MY DEAR SIR, Your letter came safe to hand. To give youentire satisfaction, I must, I perceive, enter into the discussion of a subject, on which I have often thought.My thoughts were my own, and, being so differentfrom the ideas entertained among your people, I