ART. VI.-MERCANTILE BIOGRAPHY.-THOMAS EDDY.

THE character of Mr. Eddy as a merchant and a man induces us to lay it at this time before our readers. Connected as he was with those great projects for ameliorating the moral and physical condition of New York, the Erie canal, and the penitentiary system, and exhibiting the pure example of a spotless life, as well as a model of commercial integrity, it is believed that a short account of one who occupied so prominent and useful a position in the history of this state will be peculiarly acceptable to that portion of the present generation who now throng the busy marts of trade and commerce. That noble charity, the New York Hospital, stands a monument of the liberal, warm, and active spirit, which glowed in all his actions, through a long and varied life. The philanthropist Howard was his beacon light; and emulating the example of that good man, he devoted himself, body and soul, to the mitigation of human misery, in whatever shape it assumed. Such, indeed, were his virtues, that he received by general consent the appellation of the "HOWARD OF AMERICA."

Thomas Eddy was born in Philadelphia on the 5th of September, 1758. His parents were from Ireland, and had emigrated about five years before. They belonged to the Society of Friends. His father was engaged in the shipping business until 1766, when he went into that of the hardware, in which he continued until his death, which occurred in the latter part of the same year. Mrs. Eddy, with a large family of children, continued the business for a number of years after her husband's death, when she removed to Bucks county. On account of the disordered state of the times, seminaries of learning were few and badly conducted, and the scholastic acquisitions of young Eddy at the age of thirteen were comprised within narrow limits. "All the learning," he says, in a short memoir of himself, "all the learning I acquired was reading, writing, and arithmetic as far as vulgar fractions. As to grammar, I could repeat some of the definitions by rote, but was totally ignorant of its principles." At the age we have referred to, he was apprenticed to a Mr. Hoskins, of Burlington, N. J., to learn the tanning business, but some misunderstanding having occurred with his employer, he remained but two years with him.

An acquaintance formed in his sixteenth year with a young man named William Savary, seems to have given such an impulse to his moral virtues as remained through life, and gave birth to the line of conduct which has since made him conspicuous among the few who are really good. He pays a rich compliment to this friend of his early years :

"Of William Savary, it would be difficult for me to say too much. No two persons could entertain a more near and tender regard and affection for each other than always subsisted between us. He was a man of uncommonly strong mind, and good understanding. When about twenty-five years of age, he became a minister, and perhaps there never was one more highly esteemed and beloved. He was admired by all classes, and openly opposed to every thing in the least marked with bigotry or superstition. As a preacher, he was in the first rank. His manner of delivery was pleasing and solemn, his mind was cultivated and improved, and he was uncommonly liberal in his sentiments towards those of other societies. I have often thought there never was so nearly perfect a character within

my knowledge, in our society, and none that more extensively inculcated and effectually diffused true, practical, Christian principles."

Upon the evacuation of Philadelphia by the British, Mr. Eddy went to New York, shortly after his brother Charles had sailed for England. He arrived in this city on the 4th of September, 1779, with the sum of ninety. six dollars. Totally ignorant of any kind of business, and with a slender education, he struggled hard to defray his necessary expenses. In the memoir to which we have referred, and from which we make liberal extracts, he says:—"I took board with William Backhouse, in the house now occupied by Daniel McCormick in Wall street, at the rate of eight dollars per week, besides having to pay one dollar weekly for washing; Samuel Elain, late of Newport, deceased, John I. Glover, and two or three other respectable merchants, boarded at the same house; becoming acquainted with them was highly useful to me, as it was the first opportunity I had ever had of acquiring a knowledge of commerce, and the course of mercantile dealing. I knew that it was out of my power to support myself with what I then possessed, and that I must soon come to want, unless I could succeed in business. The first thing to which my attention was turned, was daily to attend auctions at the Coffee House, and being sensible of my own ignorance, I endeavored by every means in my power to acquire information, carefully inquiring of others the names of articles exposed for public sale, as it often happened that I was not even acquainted with the names of many of them. I then inquired their value, and advised with some persons previous to purchasing; sometimes, on noticing an article intended to be sold by auction, I would procure a sample, and call on some dealer in the article, and get them to offer me a fixed price on my furnishing it: in this way, by first ascertaining where I could dispose of the goods, I would purchase, provided the price would afford me a profit. On this plan I have found a purchaser for goods, bought and delivered them, and received the money, which enabled me to pay the auctioneer the cost of them, without my advancing one shilling. I was obliged to live by my wits, and this necessity was of great use to me afterwards. Some months after my arrival at New York, my brother Charles arrived from Ireland, and brought with him, on account of merchants there, provisions, linens, &c., shipped from Dublin, Cork, Belfast, and other ports. He returned to Europe in 1780, previous to which we formed a copartnership with Benjamin Sykes, under the firm of Eddy, Sykes & Co.

"This firm prosecuted business mostly in consignments from England and Ireland, and some shipping business. My partner was a good-natured, honest Englishman, but not possessed of a very intelligent, active mind; in consequence of this, the management and contrivance of the business fell to my lot, and, though very young, and without experience, I had to write all the letters, and carry on every kind of correspondence, besides mostly making all the purchases and sales. By every packet we had to write twenty or thirty letters to England and Ireland, and to accomplish this, had frequently to sit writing till twelve or one o'clock in the morning. I was sedulously and actively employed in business, and in this way acquired considerable knowledge of commercial affairs. Our concerns were extensive, and were prosecuted with tolerable success, respectability, and repu tation. My brother George was, at this time, in Philadelphia, about eighteen years of age. He possessed a remarkably sensible and comprehensive mind. Although he had no knowledge of business, he was full of enter

prise. By him, in Philadelphia, and by Eddy, Sykes & Co. in New York, an arrangement was made, with the consent of General Washington, to supply the British and foreign troops with money, who were taken with Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. The money was raised by my brother at Philadelphia, drawing on us at New York, and the moneys thus raised were paid to the Paymaster of the British and foreign troops, prisoners at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for which he received and sent to Eddy, Sykes & Co. that paymaster's drafts on the Paymaster General at New York. By an agree ment made with Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander, we were paid six per cent commission. The whole amount paid amounted to a very large sum, and proved a profitable contract."

On his arrival in New York, he renewed an intimacy previously formed in Philadelphia with Miss Hannah Hartshorne, for whom he entertained a tender and warm affection. His attachment was reciprocated, and they were united in 1782, at the Old Meeting House in Liberty street.

Before the Americans re-entered the city of New York, Mr. Eddy removed to Philadelphia, where he formed a mercantile connection with his brother George. Charles had settled in Europe, and was prosecuting business there on his own account. In January, 1784, Thomas went to Virginia for the purpose of making purchases of tobacco and shipping it to England. During the revolutionary war, tobacco, in Europe, sold at a very extravagant price; and for a year after peace was declared, great quantities were shipped, thus causing the market to be so overstocked, and the price so reduced, that immense sums were lost by the shippers. Thomas and George Eddy were included among those engaged in this unfortunate speculation. About this time the ill effects of a large importation of European goods, cut off by the war, began to be felt. The country was inundated with extensive shipments; remittances were difficult to be made; and, consequently, a great many houses, both here and in London, became bankrupt. Charles had supplied Thomas and George Eddy with goods on credit to a large amount, and they in turn had given extensive credits to their customers. The failure of the former in London expedited that of the latter. They were relieved from their embarrassments under a general act of bankruptcy for the state of Pennsylvania. To the honor, however, of Mr. Eddy's unswerving business integrity, be it said, that every farthing of the pecuniary responsibilities of the firm have since been discharged, except some few that were not legal, and which it was not deemed right to pay.

Anxious to re-establish himself in some kind of business, Mr. Eddy made a voyage to England, where he remained three months; but this proved of no advantage to him. On his return, he again settled in New York, and being assisted by the kindness of Robert Bowne and others, he commenced the occupation of an insurance broker. There were none engaged in this business at that time, and his gains were consequently rapid. "About 1792,” he says, "the public debt of the United States was funded; this afforded an opportunity for people to speculate in the public funds. In this business I made a good deal of money. I declined acting as an insurance broker, and did considerable business as an underwriter, in which I was successful. In 1793, or 1794, I was elected a director in the Mutual Insurance Company, and soon after a director in the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company, and in 1797, was appointed treasurer of that company."

From early youth Mr. Eddy evinced an uncommon zeal in every project for the amelioration of the human race. It is, unfortunately, one of the

prominent traits of mankind to be selfish, and society would present but a bleak and barren aspect were it not for the inspiration of a FEW who seem to be elected to breathe into the world the spirit of Christianity; men who, forgetful of self, nobly exert themselves as ministering angels to supply the wants and alleviate the sufferings of the victims of disease, poverty, persecution, ignorance, and crime. "Promiscuous charity," eloquently observes a distinguished writer, " has been practised by the kind-hearted and the wealthy in every age and nation. The benevolent have poured the oil and wine into the wounds of the unfortunate, to assuage their anguish, if they could not heal them; they have fed the hungry and clothed the naked, and in so doing, have received their reward in the blessings of the just. The Saviour of the world declared that, inasmuch as this was done to one of the children of misfortune, it was done unto himself. But, notwithstanding this generous current of philanthropy has been flowing in the hearts of the virtuous, in all nations, since the birth of man, yet it was left for a late age to collect facts relative to human misery, and from these to form a system for permanent relief." Such was the end and aim of Mr. Eddy's long and useful life. He was directly instrumental in the establishment of many of those institutions which are now the pride and ornaments of our state, and eloquent monuments to the memory of him who effected their being. We propose to enumerate briefly the leading events of Mr. Eddy's life, which was almost exclusively devoted to the public good, and the great works in which he was engaged.

One of the first projects which engaged Mr. Eddy's mind, was a change in the penal code of this state. Branding, whipping-posts, pillories, and solitary confinement without the relief of labor, were the means of reforma. tion in that day; and men were made to believe that the world should be governed with a rod of iron. Mr. Eddy's soul, in emulation of his sect in Pennsylvania, revolted at the recognition of such a principle. That state, through the efforts of the Friends, had effected a change in the mode of punishing crime. There was a warm desire in Mr. Eddy's breast to bring a similar plan into operation in this state. He accordingly, in 1796, engaged in that work with General Philip Schuyler and Ambrose Spencer, then influential members of the senate, and the latter, since Chief Justice of the State of New York. With the assistance of Mr. Eddy, a bill was drawn up for establishing a penitentiary system, and both gentlemen made eloquent speeches in its favor. The legislature were soon convinced of the utility and practicability of the measure, and it was passed. Five persons, among whom was Mr. Eddy, were appointed as commissioners for carrying the bill into effect, and to erect a suitable prison, the building of which was by general consent intrusted solely to him; and when it was finished, such was the interest which he took in its success, that he consented to serve as its director and agent, in which capacities he continued for more than four years. He was so assiduous and calculating in his duties, that every anticipation of his friends and of himself was more than realized. The expenses of the establishment had been less than were expected, the health of the prisoners better than that of the free and honest citizens in the ordinary walks of life. Such cleanliness, order, and moral discipline, marked the penitentiary system under the administration of this untired philanthropist, that those formerly dissipated and sickly, were made sober and healthy. He watched the results of his plans, and held to a theory no longer than he found it good in practice.

In 1801, Mr. Eddy published his celebrated volume on the State Prison of New York, one of the most admirable papers which have been written before or since on the topics of which it treats, viz: causes of crime, punishments, reformation, prison discipline, &c. No one had studied the subject more thoroughly or was better versed in its principles; and the work shows him to have been well acquainted with the writings of Beccaria, Montesquieu, Howard, Penn, and others.

While in the management of the New York prison, Mr. Eddy found that the plan of erecting and conducting such establishments, was susceptible of a great improvement, and to him belongs the merit of inventing and introducing a valuable feature which has been adopted in most of the states. We allude to the confinement of convicts in separate cells during the night. He found, from careful observation, that several confined in a cell corrupted each other, for each one told to his companions his career of vice, and all joined by sympathetic villany to keep each other in countenance. This, to the eye of the shrewd philanthropist, was not long concealed; and like a man of moral intrepidity, he avowed his error and condemned it. Through his exertions a bill was passed by the legislature, making it optional on the part of the city and county of New York, to construct a prison with solitary cells. But not being made imperative, although it was approved by Mr. Eddy's friends and the public generally, yet the new plan was not immediately introduced into this country; Mr. Eddy was, however, not discouraged. At that time, he reckoned among his correspondents on the other side of the Atlantic, such men as Roscoe, Colquhoun, Bentham, and Murray. He immediately wrote to Mr. Colquhoun, mentioning his plan. The letter was shown to Lord Sidmouth, then minister for the Home Department, who, as well as Mr. Colquhoun, gave his decided approbation to the plan, and wished it should be introduced into England; and this was done by the London Society for improving Prison Discipline, and one or two prisons were soon after built upon this plan, one near London, containing six or seven hundred cells. A prison was also built at Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, upon this construction, containing from five to six hundred cells. When the Auburn state prison was erected, Mr. Eddy urged them to have the buildings wholly divided into cells, seven by nine feet each, but most of the commissioners were afraid to try the experiment fully, but did it only in part, and this change from the old plan was made from their confidence in the judgment of the adviser.

When Messrs. Tibbetts, Allen, and Hopkins made their report to the legislature on the prisons in 1824, the object of their appointment being to inquire into the expediency of abolishing the penitentiaries, which had become somewhat unpopular from bad management, they reported in favor of the excellence of the system recommended twenty-two years before by Mr. Eddy, and the result has been its extension not only in this state, but in almost every state of the Union.

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To Mr. Eddy's energies in favor of the New York Hospital, is perhaps owing its usefulness at this day. That institution was established before the revolution, by philanthropic individuals on this and the other side of the The great event which changed the political destiny of our country, paralyzed the spirit which gave vigor to the institution to which we allude. Mr. Eddy was elected one of its governors in 1793, and through his active exertions, the legislature was induced to make liberal grants to support and extend its means of benevolence. Mr. Eddy's attention was also directed