In 1813, the deplorable condition of the female felons in Newgate attracted the attention of Elizabeth Fry, and she resolved to visit them. We will not attempt to describe the details of miscalled prison discipline, nor of those flagrant abuses which, under the very eye of law, encouraged rather than diminished crime, by destroying the last remnant of self-respect in the criminal. Suffice it to say that the condition of the female convicts was a disgrace to any civilised country. Four rooms, comprising upwards of one hundred and ninety superficial yards, were crowded with nearly three hundred women, besides their children, without classification or employment, and with no other superintendence than that of a man and his son! Into this scene Mrs. Fry entered, not mailed in scorn, in hatred, or contempt, but in the armour of a pure intent. She respected human nature however fallen, and worked with it, not against it, as prison systems often do. Her gentleness at once fixed the attention of those insolent, violent, and insubordinate characters. She then read and expounded a portion of Scripture, and uttered a few words in supplication. Many of the poor creatures wept from a hitherto unfelt motive, and Mrs. Fry left, deeply affected, but without any idea of the importance or ultimate results of the labours she had begun. It was not, however, till about Christmas, 1816, that she commenced her systematic visits to Newgate, being then particularly induced by the reports of those gentlemen who, in 1815, originated the society for “The Improvement of Prison Discipline.” Under her influence the Association for the Improvement of the Female Prisoners of Newgate, was formed in 1817. The almost immediate result was order, sobriety, and neatness. This surprising change soon attracted attention, both in and out of Parliament, and in 1818, Elizabeth Fry was called upon to give evidence before a committee of the House of Commons. Arrangements similar to those adopted at Newgate were subsequently introduced into all the metropolitan gaols; and she personally inspected the prisons, lunatic asylums, and other kindred institutions in the United Kingdom, and afterwards those in the most influential nations of Europe. The enlightened and benevolent of her sex, both in our own and foreign lands became her coadjutors. Through her instrumentality important improvements took place in the treatment of female convicts sentenced to transportation. Her active and untiring philanthropic exertions on behalf of felons of her own sex, acquired for her in her lifetime the name of “the female Howard.” Only to hang, banish, and imprison convicts, ill becomes those who have sinned more against God’s laws than the worst of criminals have sinned against man’s. It has been clearly proven that women discharged from prison, and thrown upon their own resources, without a character, and consequently without any means of obtaining a livelihood, relapse into their former evil habits. We ought to provide suitable employment for them, and thus restore them to society, and prevent their children from sharing their poverty and learning their crimes.