Page:Life of Isaiah V Williamson.djvu/84

66 termination and without vagueness or flabbiness, he concentrated and consecrated himself to his self-chosen task. It was noticeable to his old friends that a new light was in his eyes. He practically withdrew himself from the world at large and took long walks of inquiry into existing benevolences, with a view of helping them rather than multiplying organizations. Just as he had done on Market Street, when in business, in examining into the character, capacity and actualities of business firms that sought to buy goods of his firm on credit, so did he go into the objects of charitable and other institutions, the quality of work, their methods of management, and the accuracy of their reports and financial statements.

He would put his finger on the weaknesses and waste of organizations that directors and trustees seemed to be ignorant of, and he made it a rule to leave those which he decided were sentimentally impractical so severely unhelped as to call down upon him the condemnation of some of his friends, who did not know the facts about their institutions as well as he knew them. For hours he would sit