The Society continues to have the benefit of the labors of William J. Mullin, who for so many years has filled the place of “Agent” at the County Prison. His services are important to the Society, in the amelioration of the condition of a vast number of men, women, and even children, whom he finds in the cells of the prison, victims of the errors of public officers, of their own follies, of the vindictive feelings of unkind neighbors, of their own inordinate love of litigation, or their own or their parents’ crimes. He is not called to look to the cases of those who may be released by the Inspectors. His labors are with the prosecutors, the aldermen, the district attorney, and the court; and those labors resulted in the release of one thousand four hundred and ninety-one persons during the year 1863. These releases, of course, were all effected with the consent of some established authority. And it may be added, that of the whole number released, forty-three were children.

The amount of domestic misery consequent upon the arrest and incarceration of the 1491 persons is almost inappreciable. The injustice corrected by the successful interference must have been immense, and the pleasure brought to a suffering family by the restoration of parent or child to approved innocence, and the duties and comforts of home, must have been truly great.

But we are not to consider all these 1491 persons entirely innocent of the charges brought against them. The magistrate had the commitment supported by the oath of some complainant, and the complainant himself was undoubtedly often justified by the conduct of the prisoner. The blow for which assault and battery was charged, was probably given, and the fruit or toy whose loss led to the imprisonment for larceny, was taken by the accused. The pane of glass in the tavern window was probably broken by the intoxicated creature who was charged with “malicious mischief.” Nor, under these and similar circumstances, are we always to censure the magistrate for taking the oath of a citizen. He commits to prison, or holds to bail for trial, those who stand accused of the violation of private rights. The offender knew, before he entered upon his offensive conduct, that he was about to do wrong. But probably he did not understand the extent of that wrong, and especially was he ignorant of the extent of the penalty which he was about to incur.

We all know the axiom of criminal law, that “ignorance of the law excuseth no man;” but we all know, also, that the axiom is not of equal force in moral law; and the administration of criminal law itself has practical exceptions to the rule. We have already said that a large number of cases sent to court might easily be settled by the parties, but especially by the interference of the magistrate; and we may add, that more than two-thirds of the cases in which the magistrate holds, or commits the prisoners for trial, could, before reaching the prosecuting attorney, be settled, with benefit to the community and the offender. The requirements of the law are seen and felt by the accused before he finds himself committed. The vengeance of the law would do little towards reforming one who already sees his fault, and is ready, as far as possible, to make reparation. In such cases the interference of the Agent has been found most beneficial, not merely in procuring the discharge of the innocent, separating him from the association of untried vagabonds and thieves, and sending him back to his family and business, to work out and work off the stain which even false imprisonment has set upon his character. But greatly advantageous has been that interference in behalf of the guilty, of him who had actually committed the act charged, but who felt the danger of his position as well as the error or turpitude of his conduct, and who needed only to be saved from the actual verdict of the jury and the sentence of the court, to become a candidate again for public confidence and general respect. To all visitors of prisons it is known that hundreds, who commit a violation of the criminal law, never feel the degradation of their act, or submit their minds to its disgraceful consequences, till they are made companions of culprits in the prison cells,—that to be known to the good as having done a notable wrong, is a mortifying means for repentance and amendment; while to be in companionship with the admitted bad, is to be almost certainly sealed to future infamy. This strong but correct view of the cases of new offenders, is that upon which the Agent has based his action; and it is not only due to him, but to the plans and labors of the Society, to say, that while it is probable that some of those whom he, with much labor, has released from prison, have shown that they did not improve by his beneficent efforts, it is most true that by far the largest portion have shown by their subsequent conduct that they appreciate the benevolence that interposed in their behalf, and were ready to make the only compensation which is acceptable to their benefactor, viz., an amended life.

It is dangerous—it is at least wrong—to make a low estimate of the labors that take a human being from the cells of a prison, when his character is such as to lead to a belief that he will do no wrong, by example, to society, nor sink in the scale of morals. It is wrong to say that the verdict of a jury fully acquits a man, restores him at once and entirely to society, and wipes away the stain which a prison cell has imparted. Thousands hear of the charge who never know of the acquittal,—thousands recollect the man as the inmate of a prison, who have no remembrance of the full cause of his release. The adverse statement of the press, as it regards the act, or the adverse testimony on the trial, lives in the minds of many who do not know, or scarcely would care, about all that was said in behalf of the accused to induce a complete acquittal.

We know the power of conscious innocence; but we know also the effect of conscious disgrace. A man who has been imprisoned long, on a criminal charge, may, in his chamber, or in his family, feel the peace of a “conscience void of offence;” but, abroad in the world, he will feel himself continually on the defensive,—always anxious to show that he is still worthy of the confidence he seeks,—always fearful that some act or word of his, unnoticeable in others, may be construed as consistent with charges which he has publicly disproved; and he feels that the months or weeks of imprisonment which he has suffered, are not to be redeemed by a whole life of liberty and honorable conduct.

There is something in the atmosphere of a criminal prison which seems never to forsake the liberated prisoner: he feels its influence, and suspects all to be guarding against its infection. In his imagination, the deadly mephitic air is always about him. A reflection of innocence, or a sense of repentance and full reparation, may appease the conscience, but they will not take away the remembrance of the incarceration; and it is to be feared that such painful reflections have, when acting upon a morbid sensibility, led to suicide, or to a return to crime. To diminish the evil, to lessen the effect of guilt, to save self-respect, and restore man to the duties and enjoyments of society, are the objects of the labors of the Agent, when he interferes to save even the offender from such a punishment as shall operate upon him beyond the demands of the law, and, reaching even over the culprit, shall bring misery and disgrace and ruin upon his dependent family.

It is in this light the services of the Agent are to be regarded. He releases hundreds of innocent persons, every year. He restores to family and friends those who have been detained for insignificant offences. He calls from the cells of the prison such as may have done acts that would have lead to a criminal life, and he gives them their freedom before association with the bad has weakened their moral perception,—before they can have formed resolutions to revenge upon society the offence of their incarceration. He assists to save the convict from a return to the haunts of vice, and the associations that led to his crime and his protracted imprisonment, and, supplying trifling sums, and aiding in the application of funds furnished to him, he has seen the prisoner leave the cell which he had occupied for more than a year, and return to a distant family, to commence a life of improvement, and become a useful member of the community in which he was reared; and it may be added that, in one instance, at least, while the care of the Agent, in connection with an Inspector, saved the released female from fulfilling an engagement of crime which she had rashly formed, it placed her in the bosom of a family that received her as a child, and made her feel all the comforts and confidence of home which can be felt by the repentant and the forgiven.

The immense saving to the city and county, resulting from the efficient labors of the Agent, by which is saved the cost of maintenance in prison, and of trial and acquittal in court, is worthy the consideration of the tax-payer, and is appreciated by the Inspectors of the prison, who administer the moneys appropriated to the maintenance of the imprisoned. This Society is specially concerned in the moral and physical results of the labors of the Agent, and feel that the objects proposed in the formation of the Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Prisons, have been greatly promoted by the successful labors which they authorize and which they approve.

The Agent of the Society for the County Prison makes a monthly report of his labors, and his small expenditures for clothing furnished to the outgoing prisoner, and for his fare to some other place. These reports show the constancy and the value of his labors in the right direction. We have already mentioned the number of the releases secured by his efforts. We may, perhaps, appropriately repeat here a remark elsewhere made, that the services of the Agent are not required with prisoners whom the Inspectors are by law competent to discharge,—such as are committed for drunkenness, disorderly conduct, vagrancy, breach of the peace, and such offences; but to cases that require the intervention of the magistrates or the courts to release the accused, the interference of the Agent is directed. Among the many cases which he has reported to the Society, we select a few which serve to illustrate the character of his labors, and their influence in alleviating the miseries of prisons, and serving the cause of the unfortunate innocent, whose errors may have led them into questionable situations, or whose poverty may have placed them in bad company or adverse circumstances.

Case First.—A woman was incarcerated upon the charge of the larceny of two fifty dollar notes, of which she was innocent. Her imprisonment was very unjust. She was taken from her home, with her little infant in her arms, and committed to the prison, and separated from her three other children. The Agent ascertained on inquiry that the prosecutor had accused three other persons at different times for taking the money that the prisoner was accused of taking. When the Agent informed the “Court and District Attorney” of these facts, her case was ignored, and she was released from prison, there not being a particle of evidence against her aside from the mis-representation made by the prosecutor.

It is scarcely necessary to comment on this case, for though the justice of the movement is sustained by the judicial officers of the court, we have few of the facts which gave poignancy to the innocent sufferer.

Case Second.—Was that of a husband and his wife, imprisoned for the larceny of an old three-prong table fork, of little or no value, which he found in a pile of ashes in the street. He took, cleaned and repaired it, and put a particular mark upon it, such as he had upon all his tools in his workshop, he being said to be a respectable mechanic. He then gave it to his wife for the use of his family, and for this they were both arrested and imprisoned, on the oath of a quarrelsome neighbor, who testified that it was her fork, and she knew it by the mark upon it; which the prisoner said could not be the case, as it was he that put this the only mark upon it. It was certain that they both could not have stolen the fork, although each of them was committed to prison for the same offence. They were respectable looking people, who had never been in prison before. The woman was in great distress of mind, and on the eve of her confinement. They resided in “Columbia Avenue,” the extreme northern part of the city, and were sued before a magistrate in the extreme southern part of the city. This circumstance indicated a malicious feeling on the part of the prosecutor, and particularly so in causing the mother to be separated from her infant child that had been left at home uncared for, as the officer would not allow her to return home and take her child to prison with her. And this was mainly the cause of her mental suffering that was so apparent to all who saw her. The Agent deeply sympathized with them in their unfortunate condition, and went to the magistrate and immediately procured their unconditional discharge, all of which had been done within an hour after the Agent’s attention was called to the case. They were then released and permitted to return to their home, as it did not appear that they were in any way guilty of the charge brought against them.

Case Third.—Two young soldiers that were from the State of Maine. One of them was of a family of the highest respectability; they were accused of stealing a silver watch valued at $18, for which offence they were committed to prison. When the parents of one heard of the imprisonment of their son, they addressed a note to the Warden of our Prison expressing their surprise at his imprisonment. They stated that they had never known him to do anything wrong, but to the contrary he had always conducted himself in such a way as to command the respect of all who knew him. They wished to know whether it was necessary to send on money to employ counsel to defend him. This letter was handed to the Agent, who made himself thoroughly acquainted with their case, and who believed they were innocent. The letter was answered, and the parents were informed by the Agent that he believed their son was innocent of the charge that he was accused of, and the case would be attended to free of charge, and that it was not necessary to send any money. It was not long after this that the Agent succeeded in ascertaining that these young men were entirely innocent of the charge they were accused of, and so far from having stolen anything, they had been robbed by their prosecutor. After having been induced to drink liquor that was drugged, they became intoxicated, and were taken out under the cover of night and laid at the door of the adjoining house. The very party that robbed them, went to a magistrate and made oath that they had stolen a silver watch of the value of $18 from him; for which offence they were committed. They had been engaged in one of the late battles, and both of them were wounded and sent to the Chestnut Hill Hospital, where they had partially recovered from their wounds, and as they were convalescent, permission was granted them to visit the city, where they got into the difficulty. The Agent succeeded in ascertaining from one of the inmates of the tavern where the occurrence took place, that the young men were entirely innocent of stealing the watch, and that the prosecutor had actually offered to sell the watch the next day after they were imprisoned. Soon as this fact was discovered, the Agent got a return of the case from the magistrate, took it into Court, and informed the District Attorney of all the facts in the case; the prosecutor was sent for, but was nowhere to be found, as he had suddenly disappeared and left for New York, he having become alarmed at the Agent’s interference in the case. Their case was laid before the Grand Jury and ignored, and they were released from prison and permitted to return to their hospital where they could have their wounds properly attended to. The Agent then addressed a letter to the anxious parents of the one that their son’s innocence was fully established, and that he was honorably discharged by the Court. This intelligence was no doubt gratifying to them.

If this third case is well considered, it will present an instance of the value of the services of the Agent, and consequently of the value of the Society, which must be gratifying to every friend of humanity. It seems almost impossible to free our large cities from the haunts of the vicious into which these young men had been enticed, and while they exist it seems certain that crime will not only abound, but progress, not merely in amount but in impunity. The feelings of those interested in the welfare and character of these young men, may be imagined when they learn of their release from prison and their full acquittal of the charge of felony. The course of vice had indeed been entered, and idle curiosity (at least) had been partially gratified in the dangerous exploration by these young men, and now perhaps they may understand the significance of monitions, against entering the path that leads down to destruction and associating with those “whose feet take hold on hell.”