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Life of Thomas Eddy

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for a short term; nothing so effectually subdues theintemperate and ungovernable passions of men, andchecks the growth of depraved habits. I am appre-hensive the prison will not be erected the presentyear, but I retain a strong hope that the plan willbe carried into effect. By the Juliana, Captain Brown, I sent a smallbox, containing a number of copies of the account ofthe State Prison, and reports for 1802, for thyself andfriends. The flattering result of this institution, tobe found in this report, constitutes one of the mostpleasing circumstances of my life, since it not onlyexhibits the practicability of a system calculated toproduce the greatest good to society, but has entirely removed those strong prejudices against it, in theminds of many good men, who often treated me asan enthusiast, and visionary, but who now are ad-mirers of the establishment, and the warmest ad-vocates for the present penal code. I have the farther pleasure to state, that there is abundant reason to conclude, that the profits on thelabour of the convicts, for tile current year, will beconsiderably greater than at the time of the lastreport. I inclose an abstract of the accounts for sixmonths, ending the 1st of the present month. Shouldit be thought expedient to reprint the Account ofthe Prison in London, it would add very much tothe value of the new edition, if the report last print-ed was subjoined; and it would give it additionalcredit and circulation, if some remarks were prefixedby thee, such as would naturally occur to thy mind,and which thy leisure might permit thee to make.If this is undertaken, I should be glad if the book-seller might be directed to send me one or two hun-dred copies, to be distributed in this country, and Iwill remit to him the cost. On a late visit which I made to the Penitentiaryhouse in New Jersey, I was disappointed to findthat the plan of the building was bad, and little