Another young man, whom I will call Hans Overton, was the son of very respectable parents, but unfortunately he formed acquaintance with unprincipled men when he was too young and inexperienced to be a judge of character.  Being corrupted by their influence, he forged a check on a bank in Albany.  He was detected, and sentenced to the State Prison for two years.  When he was released, at twenty-two years of age, he did the best he could to efface the blot on his reputation.  But after having obtained respectable employment, he was discharged because his employer was told he had been in prison.  He procured another situation, and the same thing again occurred.  He began to think there was no use in trying to redeem his lost character.  In this discouraged state of mind, he applied to the Prison Association for assistance.  Inquiries were made of the two gentlemen in whose employ he had been more than a year.  They said they had found him capable, industrious, and faithful; and their distrust of him was founded solely on the fact of his being a discharged convict.  For some time, he obtained only temporary employment, now and then; and the Association lent him small sums of money whenever his necessities required.  At one time, he was charged with being an accomplice in a larceny; but upon investigation, it was ascertained that he had become mixed up with an affair, which made him appear to disadvantage, though he had no dishonest intentions in relation to it.  Finally, through the influence of the Association he obtained a situation, in a drug store.  His employer was fully informed concerning his previous history, but was willing to take him on trial.  He remained there five years, and conducted in the most exemplary manner.  Having married meanwhile, he was desirous to avail himself of an opportunity to obtain a higher salary; and the druggist very willingly testified that his conduct had been entirely satisfactory during the time he had been with him.  But in about eight months, his new employer discovered that he had been in prison, and he immediately told him he had better procure some other situation; though he acknowledged that he had no fault to find with him.  Friend Hopper sought an interview with this gentleman and represented the youthfulness of H.O. at the time he committed the misdemeanor, which had so much injured the prospects of his life.  He urged his subsequent good conduct, and the apparent sincerity of his efforts to build up a reputation for honesty.  He finally put the case home to him, by asking how he would like to have others conduct toward a son of his own, under similar circumstances.  It was a point of view from which the gentleman had never before considered the question, and his mind was somewhat impressed by it; but his prejudices were not easily overcome.  Meanwhile, the druggist was very willing to receive the young man back again; and he returned.  It seems as if it would have been almost impossible for him to have avoided sinking into the depths of discouragement and desperation, if he had not received timely assistance from the Prison Association.  How highly he appreciated their aid may be inferred from the following letter to Isaac T. Hopper: