ally their
companions,--or when their manners were superior to their class,
corrupters of a higher rank were always at hand to betray or destroy
them. Reformation has been commonly deemed unattainable, and precautions
useless.

The influence of such persons on the tone of society, the temper of
masters, the morals of children, and even the conduct of the convict
men, has proved everywhere disastrous, unless checked by incessant
vigilance. Smoking, drinking, swearing, and prostitution, have very
commonly formed the character ever present to the tender mind. The
stranger entered perhaps a splendid dwelling, and found all the
advantages of opulence, except what money could not procure--a comely
and honest-hearted woman servant. The eye at length became more familiar
with lineaments bloated or rigid with passion and debauch, and the ear
accustomed to the endless vicissitudes of the servants' hall, which
discharged and received an endless succession of the same debased,
despised, and unhappily despicable beings. The writer has not forgotten,
for a moment, that under the protection of a virtuous mistress, some
unfortunate but not depraved females have escaped the terrible ordeal,
and have found in the land of their exile the comforts of a home.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 274: Letter from Chief Justice Forbes, 1836.]

SECTION XXVI.

Lord Stanley devoted commendable and humane attention to the management
of female prisoners. They were comprehended in his scheme of probation.
He resolved to establish a penitentiary, on a large scale, within twenty
miles of Hobart Town. The women were to be carefully classified and
separated, and trained for the duties of domestic life. The discipline
intended rather to restore than to punish: those remitted in disgrace to
the government, were not to re-enter this place of reform. Instructions
were forwarded to prepare the ground and collect the material (1843);
but the local officers were averse to the plan. They complained that the
contemplated site was remote and inconvenient, and they succeeded in
postponing and finally defeating the project.

Mrs. Bowden, a lady of majestic presence and enlightened mind, who had
acquired considerable experience in the management of the insane, was
appointed matron. Her fertility of resource, courage, and zeal, had been
greatly admired at Hanwell, where many hundreds of the unfortunate were
relieved from the greatest of human calamities. The reputation