“‘I was an accomplished thief for one so young. There was nothing in that queer Latin of the thief’s lexicon that I was not thoroughly conversant with, and, being acquainted with all the secret signals, I was enabled, at almost every point of my journey, to form any variety of acquaintance in my now peculiar life.
“‘I could “fake” a “wipe,” or “crib” a “spoon,” with the best of them, and was not long in teaching the swell-mob of the eastern coast more than they knew, and, moreover, what was not imported from foreign countries either.
“‘But, somehow or another, I was not naturally inclined to the profession, and, accident befriending me, I became a lawyer’s clerk in Philadelphia.
“‘My employer had a very extensive library, and so much did I enjoy reading, that I remained with him for a number of years, improving my mind, and robbing my employer so moderately it was imperceptible.
“‘I dressed well, and moved in decent circles, but, when eighteen years of age, I overstepped my modesty, robbed my master of two hundred dollars, and fled, for I knew he would not forgive me.
“‘He pursued, arrested, and imprisoned me. This sealed my fate. Allow me to say to you sir, that I know it to be both wrong and impolite, to steal; but in some cases I can convince you that it can’t be helped. My imprisonment was of brief duration, but it was sufficient to confirm me as a villain and a wretch.
“‘This system of solitary confinement can never reform a criminal. I have tried it for many years, and I ought to know.’
“The prisoner-for-life paused contemplatively, and I could not help wondering at these unusual comments from such lips.
“‘No,’ he continued, ‘they will never succeed in reforming the world that way; I am certain of it. Look at it yourself from my point of view, and you will see it in the same light. Here am I, say, arrested for theft. Grant the crime—what’s the use of denying it after you’re judged?
“‘And I will credit the law by saying this much, that I was never imprisoned unjustly in my life. I am suddenly picked up from the street, and, after a brief trial (I would willingly dispense with that, because my word goes for nothing, and I have no friends), placed in solitary confinement for six months, a year, or two years.