national and personal sins, let us entreat him to have mercy upor us, to turn away his wrath, to stop the shedding of blood, to return our soldiers to their homes, to relieve the sick, wounded, and suffering, to comfort those in mourning, to reward the industry of our people, to relieve them from heavy burdens, to make them safe in their persons and homes from all violence and oppression, and to give the protection of law to all conditions of men. To these ends let us pray that God will give wisdom to our rulers, purity to our legislators, uprightness and boldness to our judges, meekness and charity to our clergy, and virtue, intelligence, and godliness to our people.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name, and affixed the Privy Seal of the State, at the City of Albany, this first day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.

By the Governor.

D. WILLERS, JR.,

Private Secretary.

HORATIO SEYMOUR.

That appointing Thursday, November 26, 1864, contained the following:

"Gratitude to God is best shown by mercy and charity to our fellow-men. I therefore exhort the citizens of this State to help the poor, relieve the sick, and to comfort those who are in affliction. Many living in our large towns are threatened with a want of labor, and the means to buy food and fuel, while the withdrawal of great numbers of able-bodied men from our State into our armies, leaves thousands of helpless persons without support.

"I specially invoke the public to make contributions for the comfort and assistance of the families of those who are in the service of the armies and navies of our country."

CHAPTER XVII.

PRISON DISCIPLINE.

ONE of the most trying and perplexing duties develving upon the executive of a great State like New York, grows out of the exercise of the pardoning

power.

In the several State prisons and penitentiaries of the State, many thousand convicts are constantly incarcerated-under sentences ranging from three months to a lifetime.

It becomes the painful duty of the Governor annually to examine and pass often nearly or quite one thousand applications for pardons or commutations of sentence.

These applications are made at all hours, in season and out of season-by strong men, and by mothers, wives, and sisters.

The following incident, related by an eye-witness, will suffice to give an idea of scenes daily enacted at the Executive Chamber:

"A few days ago, after a hard day's ride, I went in the evening to the Executive Chamber of the chief magistrate of the State. I found that I had been preceded by a woman and five young children. At a glance I saw that a pardon case was awaiting the arrival of the Governor, who soon came in, greeted me in his usual bland manner, turned to the woman, and said: 'My good woman, you were here with your children last summer, and I then told you that I could do nothing to relieve your husband; and future efforts on your part

would prove fruitless. Should I pardon him, the doors of all the State prisons of the State might as well be opened and let every prisoner go forth.'

The woman sobbed and prayed, that 'his Honor would relent, and put her husband, as honest a man as ever lived, out of prison.'

"The Governor, although much annoyed, remembering the case so well, and knowing the poverty of the family, asked the woman how she was enabled to travel so far with all her children. She re

plied:

"Your Honor, I worked until I earned eight dollars.'

"He said: 'My good woman, that small sum would hardly have brought you so far with all your children.'

"Your Honor,' she said, 'I paid five dollars for myself, and the railroad men charged me nothing for the children, and I have three dollars left.'

"Have your children eaten to-day?'

"No, your Honor.'

"The Governor then asked her how she expected to go back with only three dollars.

"Touching the bell (for a different purpose than the one which one of his predecessors now uses it), he said to his messenger, after giving her some money: "Take this woman with her children to my house; see that they are well fed, and then take them to the cars.' "After the woman with her five children had left the room, he said: Judge, this is only one case among many; do you wonder that I begged our friends, last September, to give me rest.' "After a pleasant chat with him, I retired with the idea that the position of Governor of this State was no sinecure."

During his first term, Governor Seymour was struck with the defects of our criminal code, and the want of some principle in the management of our prisons, which was calculated to reform their inmates He found that our courts were forced in many cases by the letter of the law to impose unreasonable terms of punishment, which led to numerous applications for pardon. He was also satisfied that no criminal could be made a better man unless some inducement was held out which would encourage and strengthen

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143

Something had been but the obscurity of

him in his efforts to overcome his evil propensities. He held that Hope was the great reformer. He, therefore, made exertions to introduce a new principal into our criminal code. done in that direction before, the law made it a dead letter. He urged upon the Legislature as a measure of relief to the pardoning power and as a measure of mercy to the convict, that the latter should be allowed to shorten his term by his own good conduct. This would be attended by a double advantage. It would not only tend to make him conduct himself with propriety, but when he went out of prison with the proofs that his good behavior had shortened his term, it would give him a sense of his own worth, which must be felt before he would have self-confidence to enter upon a course of virtue and of industry. This mode of ending his imprisonment would also give to the world proof of his reformation. By the provisions of this law, if the sentence is for two years, good conduct would strike off a month in each year; if it was for a longer term, up to five years, it would strike off two months in each year; if for a longer period than five years, up to ten years, it would strike out three months in each year; for all terms beyond ten years, good conduct would strike out four months of imprisonment in each year.

By this system of graduation hope was given to all. It is believed that this plan of rewards is the beginning of a reform in our prisons which will hold out every encouragement to their unfortunate inmates, while it will not interfere with that certainty of pun

ishment so necessary to restrain vice. This measure has been hailed with satisfaction by those who have given thought to prison discipline; but it was only by persistent and personal appeals that the governor was able to secure its adoption by the Legislature. Indeed, it was once rejected by one branch. All who have any thing to do with the management of our prisons testify to the great good which this method has wrought out.

It has been charged as a matter of reproach to Governor Seymour that he called bad men his "friends," but he has reason to feel a just pride in the fact that, in this matter, he has proved himself to be the true friend of the unfortunate and unhappy, although guilty inmates of our prisons. We warn the modern Pharisee that our Saviour was reproached with being the friend to publicans and sinners, and that He even saluted him as 66 friend" who came at the head of armed men to betray him to a cruel death.

During the past year, a convention to revise the State Constitution, which met at the city of Albany, and was composed of a decided majority of Republicans, through one of its Standing Committees, solicited the views of Governor Seymour upon the exercise of the pardoning power. He at once responded to their call and appeared and was heard before the Committee, who in their report referred at length to the experience and views of the Governor upon this branch of executive duty.