Is there any possible connection between these two facts? Perish the thought!
One more before closing this bundle of letters. In the first chapter reference was made to a friend to whom I first mentioned my plan of going to prison. Soon after that incident I received a letter from him enclosing one coming from an imaginary Bill Jones to the imaginary Tom Brown. Its cleverness, its wisdom, its underlying pathos, its witty characterization of social conditions and their relation to the Prison Problem make it a real contribution to the discussion.
Hon. T. M. Osborne, Auburn, N. Y.
My dear Friend: Enclosed you will please find a note for a very dear friend of mine, Tom Brown by name, who was recently released from Auburn Prison. Brown is a perfectly good fellow, although you wouldn’t believe so if you were to judge him by his prison record alone; but the truth of the matter is that he is a party of decided views, possessing an individuality of his own; and being of this type he was bound to bump into things while on the inside looking out.
Hand him this note, do what you can for him, and believe me as ever,
Yours most sincerely,
W—— N. R——.
Enclosed in this letter was the following.
Oct. 9, 1913.
Thomas Brown, Esq.,
Auburn, N. Y.