I have heard Friend Hopper say that while he was inspector he aided and encouraged about fifty young convicts, as nearly as he could recollect; and all, except two, conducted in such a manner as to satisfy the respectable citizens whom he had induced to employ them.  He was a shrewd observer of the countenances and manners of men, and doubtless that was one reason why he was not often disappointed in those he trusted.

The humor which characterized his boyhood, remained with him in maturer years, and often effervesced on the surface of his acquired gravity; as will appear in the following anecdotes.

Upon a certain occasion, a man called on him with a due bill for twenty dollars against an estate he had been employed to settle.  Friend Hopper put it away, saying he would examine it and attend to it as soon as he had leisure.  The man called again a short time after, and stated that he had need of six dollars, and was willing to give a receipt for the whole if that sum were advanced.  This proposition excited suspicion, and the administrator decided in his own mind that he would pay nothing till he had examined the papers of the deceased.  Searching carefully among these, he found a receipt for the money, mentioning the identical items, date, and circumstances of the transaction; stating that a due-bill had been given and lost, and was to be restored by the creditor when found.  When the man called again for payment, Isaac said to him, in a quiet way, “Friend Jones, I understand thou hast become pious lately.”

He replied in a solemn tone, “Yes, thanks to the Lord Jesus, I have found out the way of salvation.”

“And thou hast been dipped I hear,” continued the Quaker.  “Dost thou know James Hunter?”

Mr. Jones answered in the affirmative.

“Well, he also was dipped some time ago,” rejoined Friend Hopper; “but his neighbors say they didn’t get the crown of his head under water.  The devil crept into the unbaptized part, and has been busy within him ever since.  I am afraid they didn’t get thee quite under water.  I think thou hadst better be dipped again.”

As he spoke, he held up the receipt for twenty dollars.  The countenance of the professedly pious man became scarlet, and he disappeared instantly.

A Dutchman once called upon Friend Hopper, and said, “A tief have stole mine goots.  They tell me you can help me, may be.”  Upon inquiring the when and the where, Friend Hopper concluded that the articles had been stolen by a man whom he happened to know the police had taken up a few hours previous.  But being disposed to amuse himself, he inquired very seriously, “What time of the moon was it, when thy goods were stolen?” Having received information concerning that particular, he took a slate and began to cipher diligently.  After a while, he looked up, and pronounced in a very oracular manner, “Thou wilt find thy goods.”

“Shall I find mine goots?” exclaimed the delighted Dutchman; “and where is de tief?”