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Early in 1771 attempts were made | evidently had a large share in the proto give fuller reports of the debates ceedings against her. She was divorced in parliament; but these were resisted and conveyed to Zell, where she died by the members. The city functiona- about three years afterwards. ries, among whom was Wilkes, lately chosen an alderman, opposed the authority of the House of Commons, releasing some of the printers who had been called to account. The house committed to the Tower the lord mayor, Crosby, and alderman Oliver, for a breach of privilege, but allowed Wilkes to set their authority at defiance. This led, as in other similar cases, to a display of popular feeling in favour of those under the censure of the house, kept up till they were released by the usual prorogation: the end was, that the debates were allowed to be published, although for a long time very imperfectly. Other subjects also agitated the national assembly. Chatham urged a dissolution, and even spoke in favour of parliaments continuing only for three years. Sawbridge made a motion to that effect, which he repeated every year, when it was regularly negatived. The earl of Halifax died in June, upon which the duke of Grafton came again into office: he was attacked by Junius, who endeavoured to connect the appointment with the earl of Bute.

This year was also marked by a revolution in Sweden, and by the first partition of Poland, when about 4000 square miles, nearly a third of the best portion of that kingdom, was divided between Russia, Austria, and Prussia. The former power also this year obtained large advantages over the Turks, with the cession of considerable territories. These foreign proceedings were allowed to pass unnoticed; but at the commencement of the session in 1772 the attention of parliament was drawn to the rapid increase of the power of Russia. The most important home measure was a petition from a number of the clergy and others, that signature to the thirtynine articles might be no longer required from the clergy and graduates of the universities. This had originated with parties holding Socinian views, though some of other denominations were quite willing to avail themselves of such a measure. The petition was rejected by 217 against 71. Without at all entering into the question of the lawfulness or expediency of imposing subscriptions, it may be here stated, that this petition avowedly London was agitated by political squab- emanated from the increasing indifference bles in its corporation, during which Wilkes to the doctrines of the reformation, and was elected sheriff; but a quarrel ensued, that this relief was sought, not because in which Horne (afterwards known as toleration was denied, as when the puritans Horne Tooke) had a desperate contro- and others groaned under the persecuversy with Junius-the former had the tions of the Stuarts, but from an increasadvantage; he was fully equal to Junius ing dislike to the scriptural doctrines for in the use of his weapon, the pen, and which the puritans, as the successors of the cause he supported was better than the reformers, had contended. This state that of the anonymous vituperator. of things was strongly shown by the SoThese quarrels produced a thorough ex-ciety for Promoting Christian Knowledge, posure of the frauds, profligacy, and meanness of Wilkes, while they exhibited his unsuccessful intrigues to obtain a pension, and the disappointments which caused him to set up as a patriot. This certainly weakened the opposition; but the public estimate of morality was so low, and the adroitness of Wilkes was such, that his popularity did not suffer from the disclosures.

On February 8th, 1772, died the princess dowager of Wales. Her youngest daughter, the queen of Denmark, had been shortly before dethroned, and confined on the charge of criminal intercourse with a courtier. She had been imprudent, but always denied the allegations of her enemies. Political matters

directed by the leading churchmen of that day, discontinuing to reprint the thirty-nine articles in their Books of Common Prayer; while no one thought, either as a matter of trade, or from higher motives, of printing and circulating the spirit-stirring and soul-sustaining statements of the way of salvation through a crucified Saviour, as set forth by the Bradfords, the Ridleys, and others of the worthies of the Reformation. It was not concealed that the proceeding just mentioned emanated from the increase of Arian views, tenets subversive of the atonement, openly refusing the only way of salvation for ruined and sinful man. In connexion with this state of feeling on religious subjects, may be

noticed the expulsion of six scholars | nent was the burning a small vessel of from the university of Oxford in 1768, war which had run on shore off Rhode who were acknowledged to be pious and island. The commander had been active correct characters, the only ground of against smuggling. accusation against them being that they used to meet, pray, expound the Scriptures, and sing hymns, in a private house. One of the heads of the university defended them, and very properly said that as these gentlemen were expelled for having too much religion, it might be proper to inquire respecting others who had too little; but on a charge for blasphemy being proved against another scholar, he was excused upon his begging pardon, and alleging that he was drunk at the time!

A sermon had been preached as usual before the House of Commons on Jan. 30th, attended only by four or five members. It strongly opposed the principles of the revolution in 1688, but thanks were passed to Dr. Nowell, the preacher, as a matter of course. When the sermon was printed its contents attracted notice, the thanks were expunged, and many severe remarks were expressed against the Stuarts and their proceedings, an attempt being unsuccessfully made to get rid of the observance of the 30th of January.

Another important measure was the Royal Marriage Act. The dukes of Cumberland and Gloucester, brothers of the king, had married ladies who were British subjects. This was a point on which the king was most bigoted, considering any such union a degradation of his family. The brothers were forbidden to appear at court, and an act brought in, prohibiting any of the royal family, under twenty-five years of age, from marrying, unless with the consent of the king. Above that age they might marry, though the king refused, if after a year's public notice neither of the houses of parliament presented an address against the union. The measure was strongly resisted, but was eventually carried. It certainly was an unwise, immoral, and oppressive regulation. In its results it had nearly caused the extinction of the family of George III., numerous as it once was. At the end of this session, Fox quitted office, but the power of North appeared to be firmly established.

The discontents in America continued to increase, while a more determinate resistance to the principles contended for by the mother country was gradually organizing. Various tumultuary proceedings had taken place. The most promi

The state of Ireland during the first twelve years of this reign was far from peaceful. The earl of Halifax, the first ford-lieutenant of the period, sought to discourage party proceedings, and those of the dominant political party. But his measures were not acceptable to the leaders, who profited by the barbarous state of things then prevalent in that island. The turbulent populace were encouraged to enter into illegal associations, under the name of Whiteboys and other appellations, whose practice was to prevent all improvements, by maiming or even taking the lives of all they marked for vengeance. Of course there were some really oppressive proceedings against which they contended; such as the extent to which the lower classes of agriculturists were ground down by subletting their holdings through several middle-men. These party disputes caused many to leave Ireland for America, thus adding to the colonists those who were justly displeased with the British government for not protecting them from acts of violence, as well as those who fled to avoid punishment for the acts of violence they had committed, and were ready to join in similar proceedings. Matters thus continued for some years, the government being left to lords justices, till, in 1767, lord Townsend was sent over as a lord-lieutenant. He possessed popularity; to increase this it was resolved to make some concessions, the leaders of the popular party adroitly contriving to obtain a law, fixing the duration of the Irish parliament to eight years instead of for the life of the monarch. This being followed by the election of a new parliament, efforts to establish its independence soon began, but for a time they were repressed by the influence and patronage at the command of the ruling party.

In pausing at the end of the first twelve years of the long and eventful reign of George III. the reader should recall to mind, that the matters noticed are not to be considered only in reference to that period, or as developments of what had preceded them. They are rather to be marked as containing the germs, and manifesting the first indications of others that followed; the momentous events whereby society has becn shaken to its foundations, and which, it

may be believed, will continue to rock, till every superstructure erected contrary to the will and word of God is precipitated in ruins. Nor let the Christian be saddened at the details that are about to follow. He will see subjects resisting powers ordained over them, and rulers forgetting that they were sent of God "for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well;" he will see men differing as to their Christian duties, some, by submission to what was required by error and bigotry, willing to rivet the bonds of their fellow-men, even to enslave the mind as well as the body; others, forgetful of the apostolic injunction, that though free, they were not to use their liberty for a cloak of that which is evil. Amidst all these conflicting scenes, let the follower of Christ pray that wisdom may be given him from above, rightly to discern the duties to himself and others which he is called to discharge. With earnest prayer for Divine grace, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, let him seek to carry on his Master's work, whatever he may be required to perform; then, whether he may be labouring at one occupation or another, and though at times apparently in opposition to many he believes to be fellow-labourers, or even counteracting his own previous efforts, still, all shall be made to work together for good to himself and to others.

MRS. FRY.

THE recent death of this excellent and devoted lady gives a fresh interest to the following admirable sketch from the pen of Mrs. Sigourney :—

MRS. FRY AT NEWGATE PRISON.

The harsh key grated in its ward,
The massy bolts undrew,

And watchful men of aspect stern,
Gave us admittance through-
Admittance where so many pine
The far release to gain,

Where desperate hands have madly striven
To wrest the bars in vain.

What untold depths of human woe
Have roll'd their floods along,

Since first these rugged walls were heaved
From their foundations strong!
Guilt, with its seared and blacken'd breast,
Fierce Hate, with sullen glare,
And Justice, smiting unto death,
And desolate Despair.

Here Crime hath spread a loathsome snare
For souls of lighter stain,

And Shame hath cower'd, and Anguish drain'd
The darkest dregs of pain.

And Punishment its doom hath dealt

Relentless as the grave,

And spurn'd the sinful fellow-worm,
Whom Jesus died to save.

Yes, here they are, the fallen so low,
Who bear our weaker form,
Whose rude and haggard features tell
Of passion's wrecking storm;
And still, on ring or trinket gay,
Are bent their eager eyes,
As though by habitude constrain'd
To seize the unlawful prize.

Yet be not strict their faults to mark,
Nor hasty to condemn,

O thou, whose erring human heart

May not have swerved like them; But with the tear-drop on thy cheek Adore that guardian Power Who held thee on the slippery steep Amid the trial-hour.

Who entereth to this dreary cell?

Who dares the harden'd throng,
With fearless step and brow serene,
In simple goodness strong?
She hath a Bible in her hand,
And on her lips the spell
Of loving and melodious speech,
Those lion-hearts to quell.

She readeth from that holy book,
And in its spirit meek
Doth warn them as those straying ones
Whom Christ vouchsafes to seek;
She kneeleth down and asketh Him
Who deign'd the lost to find,
Back to his blessed fold to lead
These impotent and blind.

Then gently, as the mother lures
Her child from folly's way,
Good counsel eloquent she gives,
To guide a future day;
When in the convict-ship they sail,
And sore temptation tries,
Or when an exile's lot they bear
'Neath Australasian skies.

For soon the dangerous deep they dare:This is the parting hour;

And lo! their burning eyeballs pour

A strange and plenteous shower;
And oh, may watching angels scan,
Beneath that troubled tide,
Some pearl of penitence to glow,
Where ransom'd souls abide.

Oh, beautiful! though not with youth,
Bright locks of sunny ray,

Or changeful charms that years may blot,
And sickness melt away;

But with sweet lowliness of soul,
The love that never dies,
The purity and truth that hold
Communion with the skies.

Oh, beautiful! yet not with gauds,
That strike the worldling's eye,

But in the self-denying toils

Of heaven-born charity.

Press onward, till thou find thy home
In realms of perfect peace,
Where, in the plaudit of thy Lord,
All earthly cares shall cease.

Friday, March 5, 1841.

Bolts and bars, and the creaking of sullen hinges, and the clang of massy doors, and the meagre aspect of narrow, grated windows, how repulsive! how the veins chill at passing these dreary threshholds! and yet what mighty pains have we taken to arrive at this prison-house, and to gain admittance to its precincts!

Riding_through one of the most terribly dense London fogs, swallowing its mephitic atmosphere, saturated with coal in sickening mouthfuls, to our present annoyance as well as future peril, plunging into black, glutinous mire, and all for what? To be let in where multitudes are longing to be let out-where, for so many years, such masses of human crime and misery have tossed, and fermented, and been cast forth to banishment and to death.

Well, here we are, indeed, at Newgate, seated in the midst of a throng of female convicts. How rude and hardened is the aspect of many of them! what savage and hateful glances do they bend on the unfallen. Ah! here are young faces, with curious searching eyes, taking note of every ornament of dress; others turned away with a mixture of shame; others expressing only stupid indifference. Oh, children! had ye no mothers to warn you of this?

I am told that in some cases, their mistresses, for the theft of a slight article of dress, have given them up to such ignominy. It was painful to look upon the sin and sorrow thus exhibited by my own sex. "Who maketh thee to differ?" was never before so forcibly impressed, or with such a humbling consciousness of innate infirmity.

The brief pause was broken by the entrance of a lady of commanding height, and of plain garb and countenance. Every eye was fixed on her, and the dignity of her calm benevolence seemed to be felt by all. There was about her the quietude of a soul conversant with high duties, and not to be satisfied with so poor an aliment as the applause of man.

This was Mrs. Fry. With a peculiar melody of voice, and that slow intonation which usually distinguishes the sect to which she belongs, she read from the Bible, and after a few simple remarks and touching admonitions, knelt in prayer. But neither in her comments nor in the solemn exercise of devotion was there a single allusion which could harrow up the feelings of the unfortunate beings who surrounded her. Over the past a veil was drawn. It was to the future that she urged them to look, with " newness of life.' She came with all gentleness of speech, as to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." Like a mother to her erring children, she spoke of the infinite compassion of the Redeemer-of the joy that there was among angels over one sinner

that repenteth. Those who despairing had said, "No man careth for my soul,' laid aside the defiance of guilt, and seemed ready to become as little children.

More than usual feeling was pressed into this interview. It was a parting scene. The class of convicts whom she now addressed were the next week to be transported to Botany Bay. With increasing earnestness she recapitulated the instructions given during their previous intercourse, which must now never more be renewed. She exhorted them to an exemplary deportment during the long voyage that was before them; to convince all with whom they should in future associate that their teaching had not been in vain; to bear with patience the evils, and discharge with fidelity their duties, in a foreign land: fortifying their good resolutions by every hope drawn from this life and the next. Surely the spirit of that Master was with her, who wrote with his finger upon the ground, effacing the accuser's threat, and sparing to condemn the sinful soul, abashed at its own guilt. Nor were her appeals in vain. Sobs and moans, on every side, attested that hardened natures were becoming as wax before the flame. The stony-hearted and the fiery-eyed seemed ready to change, like Niobe, into a fountain of tears. A stronger contrast could scarcely be imagined, than the appearance of the audience at her entrance and her departure. May the hallowed counsels of their benefactress go with them over the far waters, and be to them, in the land of their banishment, as a voice turning many to righteousness.

After our departure from this scene, and during a drive in her own carriage, Mrs. Fry inquired of me much respecting American prisons, and expressed great interest in the results of those systems of discipline among us, which have in view the reformation of the offender. A

young lady, who seemed to be an active assistant in her plan of benevolence, presented me at Newgate with a book detailing the progress of these efforts in behalf of female prisoners. It seems that the first visit of Mrs. Fry to Newgate was in 1813, and that she then found, in an area of less than two hundred square yards, three hundred incarcerated females. Such were their ferocious manners and abandoned conduct, that it was not thought safe to go in among them. The governor, perceiving that she had determined to venture, deemed it expedient

to request that she would leave her watch behind her, acknowledging that even his presence might be insufficient to prevent its being violently torn from her. Almost every discouragement seemed to oppose the outset of the benevolent effort of Mrs. Fry. It was felt necessary to have a guard of soldiers in the prison to prevent outrage: order and discipline were utterly set at defiance. But her presence, and the kind interest she manifested in them, made a deep impression. At her second visit, she was, by her own desire, admitted into the wards, unaccompanied by any turnkey. She then proposed to them a school for the children and younger prisoners. This was accepted, even by the most hardened, with gratitude and tears of joy. A separate cell was procured, and the school prosperously established. Soon the older prisoners came with entreaties to be taught and employed. A matron was obtained to remain day and night in the prison, and the ordinary, governor, and sheriffs, though they had no confidence in the success of the experiment, manifested every favourable disposition towards it, and lent it all the aid in their power. At the next meeting the comforts to be derived from industry and sobriety were dwelt upon; the pleasure and profit of doing right and obtaining knowledge; and the happiness of a life devoted to virtue and piety. The prisoners were assured that no regulation would be established among them without their entire concurrence, and that neither Mrs. Fry, nor the ladies with whom she consulted, and who formed a committee, assumed any authority over them, except by their own consent. Some rules were then proposed, and it was gratifying to see every hand held up in unqualified approval. A chapter in the Bible was read to them, and after a period of silent meditation, the monitors, who had been appointed, withdrew with their respective classes to the cells, in the most orderly

manner.

The first steps towards taming the lion had succeeded beyond all expectation. Guilt had listened, and admitted the superiority of virtue, and been convinced that it was itself an object neither of indifference nor of hatred. It had seen those who were "rich and increased in goods," condescending to " light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently for the piece that was lost." It wondered, and was subdued.

A great change in the habits of the prisoners was obvious to all who approached them. It had been the practice of those who were sentenced to transportation, on the night before their departure, to pull down and break everything within their reach-to destroy their seats and fire-places, and go off shouting with the most shameless effrontery. Now, to the surprise of the oldest turnkeys, and other officers and inmates of the prison, no noise was heard, no injury done, not a window broken. The departing ones took an affectionate leave of their companions, expressed gratitude to their benefactress and her coadjutors, and entered the conveyances that had been provided for them in the most quiet and orderly manner.

Mrs. Fry and the benevolent ladies associated with her visit the convictships while they remain in the river, and kindly present them with such articles as may conduce to their comfort, giving to each one a bag for holding her clothes, another for her work, another containing a small supply of haberdashery, materials for knitting and for patchwork, combs, scissors, and thimbles, spectacles to such as need them, useful books, religious tracts, and a copy of the New Testament, with the Psalms appended. Rules for their observance during the voyage are read to them, and while they are assembled to receive their gifts, kind words of admonition are addressed to them, mingled with passages from the Scriptures. Compressed in the narrow space which for four or five months is to be their home, and about to become exiles from their native land, they often pour forth the most fervent feeling to those who sought them out in their low estate, and followed them to the last moment with offices of mercy, in the name of a common Saviour.

Most gratifying was it to the persevering originator of this effort, to find that its good results were not confined to the walls of the prison. Superintendents and physicians, on board the convict-ships, gave testimony to the marked improvement in the behaviour of the women from Newgate. On their arrival at the place of their destination, the lady of the governor, who had several of them in her family as servants, asserts that "their conduct was so uniformly correct as to merit her approbation :" a circumstance so uncommon, that she felt it her duty to acquaint Mrs. Fry with the happy change.

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