IMPROVEMENT. 305
and increased in goods," condescending to " light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently for the piece that was lost." It wondered, and was sub dued.
A great change in the habits of the prisoners was obvious to all who approached them. It had been the practice of those who were sentenced to transporta tion, on the night before their departure, to pull down and break every thing within their reach, to destroy their seats and fireplaces, and go off shouting with the most shameless effrontery. Now, to the surprise of the oldest turnkeys, and other officers and inmates of the prison, no noise was heard, no injury done, not a window broken. The departing ones took an affection ate leave of their companions, expressed gratitude to their benefactress and her coadjutors, and entered the conveyances that had been provided for them, in the most quiet and orderly manner.
Mrs. Fry, and the benevolent ladies associated with her, visit the convict-ships while they remain in the river, and kindly present the inmates such articles as may conduce to their comfort ; giving to each one a bag for holding her clothes, another for her work, another containing a small supply of haberdashery, materials for knitting and for patchwork, combs, scissors, and thimbles, spectacles to such as need them, useful books, religious tracts, and a copy of the New Testament, with the Psalms appended. Rules for their observ ance during the voyage are read to them, and while they are assembled to receive their gifts, kind words 20
�� �
