omen and children was too dreadful to describe, and she felt
that the only way to introduce law and decency into this 'hell upon
earth' was by influencing the children.

She founded a school in the prison, and it was not long before there
was a marked improvement in the appearance and behaviour of both the
children and the women.

The success of her work attracted public attention, and a Committee
of the House of Commons was appointed to inquire into the condition
of the London prisons. Mrs Fry was called upon to give evidence, and
she recommended several improvements, _e.g._ that prisoners should
be given some useful work to do, that rewards should be given for
good behaviour, and that female warders should be appointed.

She visited other countries in order to study foreign prison systems,
and her work in the prisons led her to consider what could be done
to improve the condition of the unfortunate women who were
transported as convicts. She succeeded in improving matters so much
that female warders were provided on board ship, and proper
accommodation and care on their arrival at their destination.

Even such a tender-hearted man and friend of the poor as Thomas Hood,
author of "Song of the Shirt," misunderstood Mrs Fry's aims, for in
a poem called "A Friendly Address to Mrs Fry," he wrote:

No--I will be your friend--and, like a friend,
Point out your very worst defect--Nay, never
Start at that word! But I _must_ ask you why
You keep your school _in_ Newgate, Mrs Fry?

Your classes may increase, but I must grieve
Over your pupils at their bread and waters!
Oh, though it cost you rent--(and rooms run high)--
Keep your school _out_ of Newgate, Mrs Fry!

In the face of domestic sorrows and misfortunes, Mrs Fry persevered
until the day of her death in 1845 in working for the good of others.

The work in this direction was continued by Mary Carpenter, whose
father was the headmaster of a Bristol school. She began her life's
work after a severe outbreak of cholera in Bristol in 1832. At this
time there were practically no reformatory or industrial schools in
the country, and Mary Carpenter set to work with some friends to found
an institution near Bristol. She worked to save children--especially
those whose lives were spent in the midst of sin and wickedness--from
becoming criminals, and in order to bring this about she aimed at
making their surroundings as homelike and cheerful a