Page:Life of Isaiah V Williamson.djvu/107

Rh had so appealed to William Massey, the wealthy brewer, that he had recently subscribed $100,000 to it. Williamson must have been familiar with the history of the institution from the first, as it was organized in 1826, a few months after he came to Philadelphia, and have known the long devotion to it of Isaac Collins, Alexander Henry, and their children from the first. But his attention had been particularly drawn to it for some time, leading him to make a careful study of the whole situation, and his interest in the House of Refuge became so great, through his examination of its past history and future plans, that he resolved to give it a lift whether or no. Meeting Massey a little later, their conversation is said to have been something like this:

"They tell me," remarked Williamson, "that you have given a hundred thousand to move the House of Refuge boys out into the country. That is good. There is something in nature to heal the diseased mind as well as the diseased body."

"That is true; but it is not enough. What