increased his influence, and obtained for him such respect and esteem, that he could go about the settlement, unattended, with perfect confidence.
The following abstract exhibits the average of the returns of punishment for 1826, 7 and 8, and for 1829, 30, and 31.
| Years. | No. of Prisoners in the Settlement |
No. of Prisoners sentenced. |
No. of Lashes inflicted. |
No. of days of soli- tary confinement. |
| 1826,27,28 | 312. | 188. | 6280. | 5. |
| 1829,30,31 | 255. | 56. | 973. | 209. |
The removal of a few prisoners from Macquarie Harbour, on account of good conduct, before the expiration of their sentence, had a decidedly good effect upon the others; and the labours of William Schofield, the first missionary who became resident there, were, through the divine blessing, crowned with encouraging success. He found a difficulty in prevailing upon the men to cherish hope; but when this was once effected, they began to lay hold of the offers of mercy through a crucified Redeemer, and some remarkable instances of change of character ensued. On conversing with some of the reformed prisoners, they said, that the change of heart they had undergone had altered the face of the settlement in their eyes: it had ceased to wear the gloom by which it was formerly overcast. Two, to whom it had been so irksome as to tempt them to run away, said, they were now well satisfied, and thankful they had been sent there. Others who had been placed in the less laborious part of the establishment, because of good conduct, were, at their own request, allowed to return to their old employments, which they preferred on account of being less exposed to temptation; saying, they were less afraid of labour than of sin.
A man who lost his arm some time ago, was awakened to a sense of his sinful condition, whilst in imminent danger from this accident. He said the the Lord found him when he sought Him not, yet so strongly did he feel his own desperate wickedness, that he could entertain no hope, until he was
