ELIZABETH FRY, indefatigable in her labours ; but she admits that it was like being " in the whirlwind and in the storm." In 1818, - eighteen months after the work of charity commenced-the scene in Newgate was such as to create the greatest wonder on all sides. Order and propriety prevailed ; the " wild beasts " were already " harmless and kind ; " and always indus- trious. In the course of a year, nearly twenty thousand articles of clothing, to supply Botany Bay, had been made by the women and children ; and, to the surprise of the croakers, during that time but one or two cases of damage had occurred, and even these it was difficult to trace to any culpability on the part of the workwomen. The Governor and Chaplain viewed with amazement the singular change ; the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, and Aldermen came to witness the miracle ; and Mrs. Fry was loaded with praise,-the sweetest words she heard, perhaps, being uttered by a quiet, well-conducted woman, formerly one of the most hardened criminals there : -" GOD bless her and the day she came to Newgate ; she has done us all good, and we have, and shall always have, reason to bless her." But laudation and publicity were dreaded by the sensitive Elizabeth Fry, and when she discovered tsat her name was in the papers, she was so alarmed that she would fain have abandoned her prison labours. With the women Mrs. Fry's personal influence 30
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