ELIZABETH FRY, capital punishment were especially subjects on which she exerted every influence she could com- mand. In 1818, there was a woman namedHarriet Skelton, who had been condemned to death for passing forged notes. Her case created an un- paralleled excitement, for it offered many points of compassion and palliation. Under the evil influence of the man she loved, she had committed the deed for which she was to suffer ; and her conduct in prison had been so exemplary that frequently her companions in guilt would say that they supposed she was chosen for death because she was better prepared than the rest of them. Mrs. Fry was urged to exert herself on behalf of the poor creature ; and she did so with heartfelt energy. She applied, among others, to the Duke of Gloucester, and induced him to visit Newgate. They had not seen each other since the old days of " the scarlet riding habit and the military band " at Norwich ; and what a strikingly different meeting was this ! He made a powerful effort to save Harriet Skelton by an application to Lord Sidmouth ; he accompanied Mrs. Fry to the Bank Directors ; but their joint exertions were in vain, for the law finally took its course, and the woman was executed. Sorrow often pressed upon Elizabeth Fry; but she felt it to be that sorrow which is better than laughter. Repeated attacks of illness; the ravages made by death in her beloved family circle ; the marriage of her elder sons and daughters out of the 36
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