The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1909-08-05
a Voice From
the Grave
Remarkable Address of Horatio Sey-
mour, Auburn Prison on
July 4, 1879.

year to make public addresses, but
when your warden asked me to speak
to you today made up my mind to do
so. although at the hazard of my alth.
My interest in the inmates of this and
other prisons grows out of official du-
ties, as have had to act on many cases
of applications for pardOns. l have
learned fromNa long Iexperience with
men in all conditions of life, that none
are without faults and none without
virtues. have studied characters with
care. Ihave associated with those held
in high honor by the American people.
have placed the lives of criminal men
in my hands, and it has been my duty
to decide if they should live or die.
The period in which / took the most
active part in public affairs was one of
great excitement, when passion and
prejudices were aroused; and in COM
mon with all others engaged in the
controversies of the day have felt the
bitterness of partisan strife; neverthe-
less experience has taught me to think
kindly of my fellow men. The longer
l live the better think of their hearts
and the less of their heads. Every
where from the Presidents mansion to
the prisoners cell have learned the
wisdom of that prayer which begs that
we may be delivered from temptation.
Another great truth is taught by ex-
perience-hope is the great reformer.
We must instill this into mems minds
if we wish to cultivate their virtues or
enable them to overcome their vices.
1t has been said that despair is the un-
pardonable sin, for 1t paralyzes every
sentiment that leads to virtue or happi-
ness. For this reason when Governor
of this state [ did all could to gain the
passage of laws which enable each one
of you by good conduct to shorten the
terms of your imprisonment, and if |
had my way you would have share in
the profits of your labor.
But stand before you today to speak
of another ground of hope, of higher
and more lasting character than mere
money gain or shortened terms of pun
ishment, and what have to say does
not point to you alone, but to men of
all conditions. do not mean to take
the place of those who teach you your
religious duties. They are far more
able than am to make these clear to
your minds yet it is sometimes the case
that we see things in light in which
they are not usually placed before US,
and some thoughts which have occurred
to me in a review Of life may be of in
terest and value to you. When we
grow old we are struck with the fleet
ness of time; our lives seem to be COM
pressed into one brief period, and we
suddenly find that pursuits we have
followed are closed, and we are con-
'fronted with the question not what we
have gained, nor what positions we
have held, but what we are ourselves.
We know it is our duty to do what is
right, and to avoid doing wrong, and
when we look back if we add up all
our good deeds on the one hand and
our bad acts on the other, we find a
startling balance against US. When
men reach my time of life their minds
turn toward the past, and they travel
backward the paths they have followed
They see things from the opposite side
on which they were viewed from youth
onward. and are struck by truths which
never break upon their minds unit
they look back upon them.
Sitting before my fire on winters
evening and musing, as old men art
apt to do about their acts and errors
their successes or their failures, it oc
CURED to me what would do if I hat
the power and was compelled to wip'
out twenty acts of my life. At first i
seemed as if this was an easy thing t