"In the first place, some of the most prominent people in Merton have actually lived in this settlement house, and have given their time and their strength and their brains to the actual redemption of the place. For instance, there is Judge Vernon, whose son I mentioned. He has been a resident a part of the time. It had been his custom once a year, before the settlement house was built, to go off with two or three old college classmates on a month's hunt or camping expedition. He has frequently, in past years, given that amount of time to residence in the settlement. He told me that his service there had proved as full of recreation and stimulus as any of his previous vacations. He is a man of great influence, and his example has been a wonderful one for other men in Merton. "By the way, I meant to tell you that it was found several years after his son's death that the negro, Williams, who it was supposed was the cause of it, was innocent. A confession made by one of Claude Vernon's social acquaintances disclosed the fact that on the way home that night he had quarrelled with another companion, while both were under the influence of liquor, and blows were exchanged with fatal results to Judge Vernon's son. His companion shielded himself behind the bad reputation of the negro, and revealed the facts only on his own death-bed. "I mention this because it had a good deal to do with the change in public opinion towards Freetown on the part of many families, notably the judge's own. His married daughters, Isabel and Winifred, I have met once or twice. They belong to the fashionable society here, and I suppose have no great sympathy with the unusual interest taken by their father in Freetown. "The Carlton family is another remarkable help to the work done by the settlement. Father, mother, and daughter have been for the most part permanent residents. Miss Inez is a beautiful young woman of great force of character. She has made her life-work the redemption of the place. Mrs. Carlton has given much money to the work; but that is a small thing by the side of her own personal attention to the work itself. I was struck repeatedly with the unusual charm of her manner, and wondered that a woman of such social distinction as she evidently was had been willing to live in such surroundings. Her daughter also impresses every one in the same way. "Mr. Douglass, pastor of the Emmanuel Church, has, with his wife and family, lived in the house a part of the time. He has been obliged to work out the problem of the residence in connection with his own church-work. His church heartily stood by him, notably his Christian Endeavor society, which has furnished during these years some of the best material in the city for residents. The young man who was president of the society the year the settlement house was built is now the head resident, and manages the business of the house when Mr. Douglass is absent.