On board one of them [there were two convict ships lying in the river] between two and three hundred women were assembled, in order to listen to the exhortations and prayers of perhaps the two brightest personifications of Christian philanthropy that the age could boast.  Scarcely could two voices even so distinguished for beauty and power be imagined united in a more touching engagement; as, indeed, was testified by the breathless attention, the tears and suppressed sobs of the gathered listeners.  No lapse of time can ever efface the impression of the 107th Psalm, as read by Mrs. Fry with such extraordinary emphasis and intonation, that it seemed to make the simple reading a commentary.

We find in the annals of her life the particulars of another visit to the George Hibbert convict-ship, in 1734.  She had, about this time, pleaded earnestly with Lord Melbourne, the Home Secretary, for the appointment of matrons to these vessels.  She records gratefully the fact, that both his lordship and Mr. Spring Rice received her “in the handsomest manner,” giving her a most patient and appreciative hearing.  She succeeded at this time in obtaining a part of the boon which she craved.  Mrs. Saunders, the wife of a missionary returning to the colony, was permitted by the Government to fill the office of matron to the convicts.  For this service, Government gave the lady a free passage.  There was double advantage in this, because, when by reason of sea-sickness, Mrs. Saunders felt ill, Mr. Saunders occupied her place as far as possible, and performed the duties of chaplain and school-master.  The Ladies’ British Society, formed by Mrs. Fry, for the superintendence of this and other good works relating to convicts and prisons, united in promoting the appointment of this worthy couple, and were highly gratified at the result of the experiment; as appears by extracts from the books of the Convict Ship Committee.  Finally, when the voyage was ended, the Surgeon Superintendent gave good-conduct tickets to all whose behavior had been satisfactory, and secured them engagements in respectable situations.  Better than all, there was a proper building which ensured shelter, classification, and restraint.  The horrors of the outcast life, so vividly described by Mr. Marsden in his letter from Paramatta, no longer existed.  The work of these ladies, uphill though it had been, was now bearing manifold fruit.  And the results of this more humane and rational system of treatment upon the future of the colonies themselves could not but appear in time.  There were on board this very vessel, the George Hibbert, 150 female convicts, with forty-one children; also nine free women, carrying with them twenty-three young children, who were going out to their husbands who had been transported previously.  When it is remembered that these people were laying the foundations of new colonies, and peopling them with their descendants, it must be conceded that in