NEW THEORIES OF PRISON DISCIPLINE AND MANAGEMENT.
Mrs. Fry's opinions on prison discipline and management were necessarily
much opposed to those which had obtained prior to her day. No one who
has followed her career attentively, can fail to perceive that her
course of prison management was based upon well arranged and carefully
worked out principles. In various letters, in evidence before committees
of both Houses of Parliament, and in private intercourse, Mrs. Fry made
these principles and rules as fully known and as widely proclaimed as it
was possible to do. But, like all reformers, she felt the need of
securing a wider dissemination of them. Evidence given before
committees, was, in many points, deferred to; private suggestions and
recommendations were frequently adopted, but a large class of inquirers
were too far from the sphere of her influence to be moved in this way.
For the sake of these, and the general public, she deemed it wise to
embody her opinions and rules in a treatise, which gives in small
compass, but very clearly, the _rationale_ of her treatment of
prisoners; and lays down suggestions, hints, and principles upon which
others could work. Within about seventy octavo pages, she discourses
practically and plainly on the formation of Ladies' Committees for
visiting prisons, on the right method of proceeding in a prison after
the formation of such a committee, on female officers in prisons, on
separate prisons for females, on inspection and classification, on
instruction and employment, on medical attendance, diet, and clothing,
and on benevolent efforts for prisoners who have served their sentences.
It is easy to recognize in these pages the Quakeress, the woman, and the
Christian. She recommends to the attention of ladies, as departments for
doing good, not only prisons, but lunatic asylums, hospitals and
workhouses. At the same time she strongly recommends that only _orderly_
and _experienced_ visitors should endeavor to penetrate into the abodes
of vice and wickedness, which the prisons of England at that day mostly
were. Among other judicious counsels for the conduct of these visitors
occur the following, which read as coming from her own experience. That
this was the case we may feel assured; Mrs. Fry was too wise and too
womanly not to warn others from the pit-falls over which she had
stumbled, or to permit anyone to fall into her early mistakes:--
"Much depends on the spirit in which the worker enters upon her
work. It must be the spirit not of judgment but of mercy. She must
not say in her heart, 'I am holier than thou'; but must rather keep
in perpetual remembrance that '_all_ have sinned,' and that,
therefore, great pity is due from us even to the greatest
transgressors among our fellow-creatures, and that in meekness and
love we ought to labor for their restoration. The good principle in
the hearts of many abandoned persons may be compared to the few
remaining sparks of a nearly extinguished fire. By means of the
utmost care and attention, united with the most gentle treatment,
these may yet be fanned into a flame; but under the operation of a
rough and violent hand they will presently disappear and be lost
forever. In our conduct with these unfortunate females, kindness,
gentleness, and true humility ought ever to be united with serenity
and firmness. Nor will it be safe ever to descend, in our
intercourse with them, to _familiarity_, for there is a dignity in
the Christian character which demands, and will obtain, respect;
and which is powerful in its influence even over dissolute
minds.... Neither is it by any means wise to converse with them on
the subject of the crimes of which they are accused or convicted,
for such conversation is injurious both to the criminals themselves
and to others who hear them; and, moreover, too frequently leads
them to add sin to sin, by uttering the grossest falsehoods. And
those who engage in the interesting task of visiting criminals must
not be impatient if they find the work of reformation a very slow
one.... Much disadvantage will accrue generally from endeavors on
the part of visiting ladies to procure the mitigation of the
sentences of criminals. Such endeavors ought never to be made
except where the cases are remarkably clear, and then through the
official channels. Deeply as we must deplore the baneful effects of
the punishment of death, and painful as we must feel it to be that
our fellow-creatures, in whose welfare we are interested, should be
prematurely plunged into an awful eternity, yet, while our laws
continue as they are, unless they can bring forward _decided facts_
in favor of the condemned, it is wiser for the visiting ladies to
be quiet, and to submit to decrees which they cannot alter."
In reference to the choice of officers, she strongly insists that all
officers--superior and inferior--shall be females. She prefers a widow
for the post of matron, because of her superior knowledge of the world
and of life; and never should she or her subordinates be chosen "because
the situation is suited to their wants, but because they are suited to
fill the situation." She holds it of the first importance that the
matrons should not only be of a superior station in life, but that they
should be decidedly religious. This little book was written in 1827, but
from her insistence upon this as a first requisite in proper dealing
with female prisoners, it appears likely that the then recent act of
George IV., had not been commonly complied with. This act provides that
a "matron shall be appointed in every prison in which female prisoners
shall be confined, who shall reside in the prison; and it shall be the
duty of the matron constantly to superintend the female prisoners."
Again, another clause of the Act says, "Females shall in all cases be
attended by female officers." That these provisions had only been
partially carried out, is proved by her words relative to this clause:
"Since the passing of the late Act of Parliament for the regulations of
prisons, our large jails have been generally provided with a matron and
female turnkeys; but it is much to be regretted that in many smaller
prisons no such provisions have yet been adopted. Nor ought it to be
concealed that the persons selected to fill the office of matron are, in
various instances, unsuited to their posts; and in other cases are
unfitted for its fulfillment, by residing out of prison."
With respect to the classification of prisoners, Mrs. Fry recommends
four classes or divisions which should comprise the total:--1st.
Prisoners of previous good character, and guilty only of venial crimes.
This class, she suggests, should be allowed to dress a little better and
be put to lighter labors than the others. From their ranks, also, should
temporary officers be selected, while small pecuniary rewards might be
with propriety offered. 2d. Prisoners convicted of more serious crimes.
These should be treated with more strictness; but it should be possible
for a prisoner, by constant good conduct and obedience to rules, to rise
into the first class. 3d. In this class the privileges were to be
considerably diminished, while the 4th class consisted only of hardened
offenders, guilty of serious crimes, and of those who had been
frequently committed. "This class must undergo its peculiar privations
and hardships." Still, that hope may not entirely give place to despair,
Mrs. Fry recommends that even these criminals should be eligible for
promotion to the upper classes upon good behavior. It will be seen that
this system partook somewhat of Captain Machonochie's merit, or
good-mark system, introduced by him with such remarkable success into
Norfolk Island.
Among other suggestions relative to the classification of prisoners we
find one recommending the wearing of a ticket by each woman. Every
ticket was to be inscribed with a number, which number should agree with
the corresponding number on the class list. Each class list was to be
kept by the matron or visitors, and was to include a register of the
conduct of the prisoners. In the case of convicts on board convict-ships
proceeding to the penal settlements, Mrs. Fry recommended that not only
should the women wear these tickets, but that every article of
clothing, every book, and every piece of bedding should be similarly
numbered; even the convicts' seats at table should be distinguished by
the same numbers in order to prevent disputes, and to promote order and
regularity.
She considered the most thorough, vigilant, and unremitting inspection
essential to a correct system of prison discipline; by this means she
anticipated that an effectual, if slow, change of habits might be
produced.
With regard to the instruction of prisoners, she held decided views as
to the primary importance of Scriptural knowledge. The Bible, and the
Bible alone, was to be the text-book for this purpose, while nothing
sectarian was to be admitted; but in their fullest sense, "the essential
and saving principles of our common Christianity were to be inculcated."
She recommended reading, writing, arithmetic, and needlework, the last
to carry with it a little remuneration, in order to afford the women
some encouragement. While acknowledging the wisdom of the Act of
Parliament which provided that prayers should be read daily in all
prisons, she strongly urges visitors and chaplains to teach privately
"that true religion and saving faith are in their nature practical, and
that the reality of repentance can be proved only by good works and by
an amendment in life and conversation."
For the employment of prisoners she recommends such occupations as
patchwork, knitting stockings, making articles of plain needlework,
washing, ironing, housework, cooking, spinning, and weaving. It should
in all cases be _constant_, and in the worst cases, _disciplinary_
labor. She recommends, under _strict limitations_, the treadmill for
hardened, refractory, and depraved women, but only for short periods.
All needleworkers especially should receive some remuneration for their
work, which remuneration should be allowed to accumulate for their
benefit by such time as their sentences expire, in order that when they
leave prison they may possess a little money wherewith to commence the
world afresh. Her words are: "The greater portion of their allotted
share of earnings, however, must be reserved for them against the time
of their leaving prison and returning to the world. The possession of a
moderate sum of money will _then_ be found of essential importance as
the means of preventing an almost irresistible temptation, the
temptation of want and money, to the renewal of criminal practices. And
if, in laboring for this remuneration the poor criminal has also gained
possession of the _habit_ of industry, and has learned to appreciate
the sweets of regular employment, it is more than probable that this
temptation may never occur again."
Mrs. Fry quotes largely from the Act of Parliament, relative to the
matters of diet, medical attendance, clothing, bedding, and firing. It
seemed to be the fact that the provisions of this Act did not extend to
prisons which were exclusively under local jurisdiction; she therefore
recommends lady visitors and committees to see them enforced as much as
possible. While preserving even-handed justice between criminals and the
country whose laws they have outraged, by suggesting that their
treatment should be sufficiently penal to be humiliating, that their
hair should be cut short, and all personal ornaments forbidden, she
pleads earnestly for proper bedding and firing. She says: "During
inclement weather, diseases are sometimes contracted by the unfortunate
inmates of our jails, which can never afterwards be removed. I believe
it has sometimes happened that poor creatures committed to prison for
trial, have left the place of their confinement, acquitted of crime, and
yet crippled for life."
From the same volume we find that Government had then inaugurated a
wiser, kinder system of dealing with the convicts destined for the
colonies. By the new regulations, females were allowed to take out with
them all children under the age of seven years; while a mother suckling
an infant was not compelled to leave England until the child was old
enough to be weaned. Again, the convicts were not to be manacled in any
way during their removal from the prison to the convict-ship; "but as
the rule is often infringed, it is desirable that ladies of the
committee should be vigilant on the subject, and should represent all
cases to the governor of the prison, and afterwards, if needful, to the
visiting magistrates." Further, the Government, or the boroughs, had to
provide the transports with needful clothing for the voyage; and, at the
end of it, the surgeon's or matron's certificate of good behavior was
sufficient to ensure employment for most of the women. Altogether it
seems certain that a new era for prisoners had dawned, and new ideas
prevailed in regard to them. How much Mrs. Fry's labors had contributed
to this state of things will never be fully known; but her work was
almost accomplished.
This little book, which is a perfect _Vade Mecum_ of prison management,
was written in the interest of lady visitors, and for their use. It is
still interesting, as showing Mrs. Fry's own mode of procedure, and the
principles upon which she acted. The few quotations given in this
chapter will, however, suffice for the general reader. She concludes
with a pregnant sentence: "Let our prison discipline be severe in
proportion to the enormity of the crimes of those on whom it is
exercised, and let its strictness be such as to deter others from a
similar course of iniquity, but let us ever aim at the _diminution of
crime_ through the just and happy medium of the REFORMATION OF
CRIMINALS."
Not only in the published page, but in other ways--in fact in every
possible way--did Mrs. Fry continue to proclaim the need of a new method
of ordering criminals, and also of so treating them, that they should be
fitted to return to society _improved_ and not _degraded_ by their
experience of penal measures. In 1832, she was called upon to give
evidence before another committee of the House of Commons, upon the best
mode of enforcing "secondary punishments" so as to repress crime. On
this occasion she dwelt particularly upon the points noticed in her book
published five years previously, and added one or two more. For
instance, while advocating complete separation at _night_, she quite as
earnestly contended against what was known as the "solitary system." On
this point she maintained that "solitude does not prepare women for
returning to social and domestic life, or tend so much to real
improvement, as carefully arranged intercourse during part of the day
with one another under the closest superintendence and inspection,
combined with constant occupation, and solitude at night." In her
evidence there occurs the following passage:--
Every matron should live upon the spot, and be able to inspect them
closely by night and by day; and when there are sufficient female
prisoners to require it, female officers should be appointed, and a
male turnkey never permitted to go into the women's apartments. I
am convinced when a prison is properly managed it is unnecessary,
because, by firm and gentle management, the most refractory may be
controlled by their own sex. But here I must put in a word
respecting ladies' visiting. I find a remarkable difference
depending upon whether female officers are superintended by ladies
or not. I can tell almost as soon as I go into the prison whether
they are or not, from the general appearance both of the women and
their officers. One reason is that many of the latter are not very
superior women, not very high, either in principle or habits, and
are liable to be contaminated; they soon get familiar with the
prisoners, and cease to excite the respect due to their office;
whereas, where ladies go in once, or twice, or three times a week,
the effect produced is decided. Their attendance keeps the female
officers in their places, makes them attend to their duty, and has
a constant influence on the minds of the prisoners themselves. In
short, I may say, after sixteen years' experience, that the result
of ladies of principle and respectability superintending the female
officers in prisons, and the prisons themselves, has far exceeded
my most sanguine expectations. In no instance have I more clearly
seen the beneficial effects of ladies' visiting and superintending
prisoners than on board convict-ships. I have witnessed the
alterations since ladies have visited them constantly in the river.
I heard formerly of the most dreadful iniquity, confusion, and
frequently great distress; latterly I have seen a very wonderful
improvement in their conduct. And on the voyage, I have most
valuable certificates to show the difference of their condition on
their arrival in the colony. I can produce, if necessary, extracts
from letters. Samuel Marsden, who has been chaplain there a good
many years, says it is quite a different thing: that they used to
come in a most filthy, abominable state, hardly fit for anything;
now they arrive in good order, in a totally different situation.
And I have heard the same thing from others. General Darling's
wife, a very valuable lady, has adopted the same system there; she
has visited the prison at Paramatta, and the same thing respecting
the officers is felt there as it is here. On the Continent of
Europe, in various parts--St. Petersburg, Geneva, Turin, Berne,
Basle, and some other places--there are corresponding societies,
and the result is the same in every part. In Berlin they are doing
wonders--I hear a most satisfactory account; and in St. Petersburg,
where, from the barbarous state of the people, it was said it could
not be done, the conduct of the prisoners has been perfectly
astonishing--an entire change has been produced.
On the 22d of May, 1835, Mrs. Fry was desired to attend the Select
Committee of the House of Lords, appointed to inquire into the state of
the several jails and houses of correction in England and Wales. She
went, accompanied by three ladies, co-workers, and escorted by Sir T.
Fowell Buxton. The Duke of Richmond was chairman of the committee, which
included some twelve or fifteen noblemen. An eyewitness wrote afterwards
respecting Mrs. Fry's behavior and manner: "Never, should I think, was
the calm dignity of her character more conspicuous. Perfectly
self-possessed, her speech flowed melodiously, her ideas were clearly
expressed, and if another thought possessed her besides that of
delivering her opinions faithfully and judiciously upon the subjects
brought before her, it was that she might speak of her Lord and Master
in that noble company."
The principal topics treated of in her evidence before this committee
were connected with the general state of female prisons. Among other
things, she urged the want of more instruction, but that such
instruction should not be given privately and _alone_ to women; that the
treadmill was an undesirable punishment for women; that matrons were
required to be suitable in character, age, and capability for the post;
that equality in labor and diet was needed; and she insisted on the
imperative necessity of Government inspectors in both Scotch and English
prisons and convict-ships. She enlarged upon these matters in the manner
the subject demanded, and gave the committee the impression of being in
solemn earnest. Her quiet, Christian dignity impressed all who listened
to her voice, while the most respectful consideration was paid to her
suggestions. In reply to a question touching the instruction of the
prisoners, she says:--
I believe the effect of religious and other instruction is hardly
to be calculated on; and I may further say that, notwithstanding
the high estimation and reverence in which I held the Holy
Scriptures, before I went to the prisons, as believing them to be
written by inspiration of God, and therefore calculated to produce
the greatest good, I have seen, in reading the Scripture to those
women, such a power attending them, and such an effect on the minds
of the most reprobate, as I could not have conceived. If anyone
wants a confirmation of the truth of Christianity let him go and
read the Scriptures in prison to poor sinners; you there see how
the Gospel is exactly adapted to the fallen condition of man. It
has strongly confirmed my faith; and I feel it to be the bounden
duty of the Government and the country that these truths shall be
administered in the manner most likely to conduce to the real
reformation of the prisoner. You then go to the root of the matter,
for though severe punishment may in a measure deter them and others
from crime, it does not amend the character and change the heart;
but if you have altered the principles of the individual, they are
not only deterred from crime because of the fear of punishment, but
they go out, and set a bright example to others.
Both the _silent_ and _solitary_ systems were condemned by her as being
particularly liable to abuse. She considered the silent system cruel,
and especially adapted to harden the heart of a criminal even to moral
petrefaction. But the strongest protest was made against _solitary_
confinement. Upon every available opportunity she spoke against it to
those who were in power. Unless the offense was of a very aggravated
nature, she doubted the right of any man to place a fellow-creature in
such misery. Some intercourse with his fellow-creatures seemed
imperatively necessary if the prisoner's life and reason were to be
preserved to him, and his mind to be kept from feeding upon the dark
past. To dark cells she had an unconquerable aversion. Sometimes she
would picture the possibility of the return of days of persecution, and
urge one consideration founded upon the self-interest of the authorities
themselves. "They may be building, though they little think it, dungeons
for their children and their children's children if times of religious
persecution or political disturbance should return." For this reason, if
for no other, she urged upon those who were contemplating the erection
of new prisons, the prime necessity of constructing those prisons so as
to enable them to conform to the requirements of humanity.
Her opinions and reasons for and against the solitary system of
confinement are well given in a communication sent to M. de Béranger
after a visit to Paris, during which the subject of prison-management
had formed a staple theme of discussion in the _salons_ of that city.
With much practical insight and clearness of reasoning, Mrs. Fry
marshalled all the stock arguments, adding thereto such as her own
experience taught.
In favor of the solitary system were to be urged:--
1st. The prevention of all contamination by their fellow-prisoners.
2d. The impossibility of forming intimacies calculated to be injurious
in after life.
3d. The increased solitude, which afforded larger opportunities for
serious reflection and, if so disposed, repentance and prayer by the
criminal.
4th. The prevention of total loss of character on the part of the
prisoner, seeing that the _privacy_ of the confinement would operate
against the recognition of him by fellow-prisoners upon regaining their
liberty.
Against it the following reasons could be urged--
1st. The extreme liability to ill-treatment or indulgence, according to
the mood and disposition of the officers in charge.
2d. The extreme difficulty of obtaining a sufficiently large number of
honest, high-principled, just men and women, to carry out the solitary
system with impartiality, firmness, and, at the same time, kindness.
This reason was strongly corroborated by the governors of Cold Bath
Fields Prison, and the great Central Prison at Beaulieu. Their own large
experience had taught them the difficulty of securing officers in all
respects _fit to be trusted_ with the administration of such a system.
3d. The very frequent result of the administration of this system by
incompetent or unfit officers would be the moral contamination of the
prisoners.
4th. The enormous expense of providing officers and accommodation
sufficient to include all the criminals of the country.
5th. The certainty of injury to body and mind from the continuance of
solitude for life. The digestive and vocal organs, and the reason would
inevitable suffer. In proof she quoted the notorious imbecility of the
aged monks of La Trappe: "We are credibly informed of the fact (in
addition to what we have known at home) that amongst the monks of La
Trappe few attain the age of sixty years without having suffered an
absolute decay of their mental powers, and fallen into premature
childishness."
6th. The danger lest increased solitude instead of promoting
repentance, should furnish favorable hours for the premeditation of new
crimes, and so confirm the criminal in hardened sin.
7th. The impossibility of fitting the prisoners for returning to society
under the system; whereas by teaching them useful employments and
trades, and training them to work in company for remuneration, habits
and customs may be induced which should aid in a life-long reformation.
Two or three years after the enunciation of these principles and
reasons, Mrs. Fry addressed a valuable communication to Colonel Jebb in
reference to the new Model Prison at Pentonville, then (1841,) in course
of construction:--
We were much interested by our visit to this new prison. We think
the building generally does credit to the architect, particularly
in some important points, as ventilation, the plan of the
galleries, the chapel, etc., and we were also much pleased to
observe the arrangement for water in each cell, and that the
prisoner could ring a bell in case of wanting help.
The points that made us uneasy were, first, the dark cells, which
we consider should never exist in a Christian and civilized
country. I think having prisoners placed in these cells a
punishment peculiarly liable to abuse. Whatever restrictions may be
made for the governor of a jail, and however lenient those who
_now_ govern, we can little calculate upon the change the future
may produce, or how these very cells may one day be made use of in
case of either political or religious disturbance in the country,
or how any poor prisoner may be placed in them in case of a more
severe administration of justice.
I think no person should be placed in _total_ darkness; there
should be a ray of light admitted. These cells appear to me
calculated to excite such awful terror in the mind, not merely from
their darkness but from the circumstance of their being placed
within another cell, as well as being in such a dismal situation.
I am always fearful of any punishment, beyond what the law publicly
authorizes, being privately inflicted by any keeper or officer of a
prison; for my experience most strongly proves that there are few
men who are themselves sufficiently governed and regulated by
Christian principle to be fit to have such power entrusted to their
hands; and further, I observe that officers in prisons have
generally so much to try and to provoke them that they themselves
are apt to become hardened to the more tender feelings of humanity.
They necessarily also see so much through the eyes of those under
them, turnkeys and inferior officers, (too many of whom are little
removed either in education or morals from the prisoners
themselves,) that their judgments are not always just.
The next point that struck us was, that in the cells generally the
windows have that description of glass in them that even the sight
of the sky is entirely precluded. I am aware that the motive is to
prevent the possibility of seeing a fellow-prisoner; but I think a
prison for separate confinement should be so constructed that the
culprits may at least see the sky--indeed, I should prefer more
than the sky--without the liability of seeing fellow-prisoners. My
reason for this opinion is, that I consider it a very important
object to preserve the health of mind and body in these poor
creatures, and I am certain that separate confinement produces an
unhealthy state both of mind and body. Therefore everything should
be done to counteract this influence, which I am sure is baneful in
its moral tendency; for I am satisfied that a sinful course of life
increases the tendency to mental derangement, as well as to bodily
disease; and I am as certain that an unhealthy state of mind and
body has generally a demoralizing influence; and I consider light,
air, and the power of seeing something beyond the mere monotonous
walls of a cell highly important. I am aware that air is properly
admitted, also light; still I do think they ought to see the sky,
the changes in which make it a most pleasant object for those who
are closely confined.
When speaking of health of body and mind, I also mean health of
soul, which is of the first importance, for I do not believe that a
despairing or stupefied state is suitable for leading poor sinners
to a Saviour's feet for pardon and salvation.
Mrs. Fry held quite as decided opinions upon lunatic asylums and their
keepers. It was something terrible to her to know that poor demented
creatures lay pining, chained and ill-treated, in dungeons; knowing no
will but the caprice of their keepers. She spared no efforts to improve
their condition; by tongue and pen she sought to enforce new principles
and modes of action, in relation to lunatics, into the mind of those who
had to govern them. So incessant were her labors to attain the ends she
had set before her, that there was not a country in Europe which she
did not influence. Almost daily communications were coming in from
France, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, and other countries,
detailing the success of the new plans which she had introduced and
recommended to the respective Governments. A regular correspondence was
kept up between her and Mr. Venning of St. Petersburg, by order of the
Empress of Russia, who took the greatest interest in the benevolent
enterprise. From some letters given in the _Memoirs of Mrs. Fry_ it
seems that the Empress felt a true Womanly compassion for the inmates of
the Government Lunatic Asylum, and inaugurated a system of more rational
treatment. How far her influence on behalf of the imprisoned and insane
was induced and fostered by the English Quakeress, was never fully known
until after her death, when a most interesting letter, addressed to the
children of Mrs. Fry, was published. This letter was sent to them by Mr.
John Venning, brother to Walter Venning, who had opened the
correspondence, but who had, like the benevolent lady with whom it was
maintained, "passed over to the majority." From this correspondence it
was found that the Emperor and Empress of Russia, the Princess Sophia
Mestchersky, Prince Galitzin, and many ladies of high rank, had been
stirred up to befriend those who had fallen under the strong arm of the
law, and to make their captivity more productive, if possible, of good
results.
Not only so, but lunatics, more helpless than prisoners, had been cared
for, as the outcome of Mrs. Fry's visits to St. Petersburg, and her
communications with the powers that were at that era. With these
preliminary words of explanation, the subjoined letter speaks for
itself:--
I cheerfully comply with your desire to be furnished with some of
the most striking and useful points contained in your late beloved
mother's correspondence with myself in Russia, relative to the
improvement of the Lunatic Asylum in St. Petersburg. I the more
readily engage in this duty, because I am persuaded that its
publication may, under the Lord's blessing, prove of great service
to many such institutions on the Continent, as well as in Great
Britain.... I begin by stating that her correspondence was
invaluable, as regarded the treatment and management of both
prisoners and insane people. It was the fruit of her own rich
practical experience communicated with touching simplicity, and it
produced lasting benefits to these institutions in Russia. In 1827,
I informed your dear mother that I had presented to the Emperor
Nicholas a statement of the defects of the Government Lunatic
Asylum, which could only be compared to our own old Bedlam in
London, fifty years since; and that the dowager Empress had sent
for me to the Winter Palace, when she most kindly, and I may say,
joyfully, informed me that she and her august son, the Emperor, had
visited together this abode of misery. They were convinced of the
necessity, not only of having a new building, but also of a
complete reform in the management of the insane; and further that
the Emperor had requested her to take it under her own care, and to
appoint me the governor of it. I must observe that in the meantime
the old asylum was immediately improved, as much as the building
allowed, for the introduction of your dear mother's admirable
system. Shortly after, I had the pleasure of accompanying the
Empress to examine a palace-like house--Prince Sherbatoff's--having
above two miles of garden, and a fine stream of water running
through the grounds, situated only five miles from St. Petersburg.
The next day an order was given to purchase it. I was permitted to
send the plan of this immense building to your dear mother for her
inspection, as well as to ask from her hints for its improvement.
Two extensive wings were recommended, and subsequently added for
dormitories. The wings cost about £15,000, and in addition to this
sum from the Government, the Emperor, who was always ready to
promote the cause of benevolence, gave three thousand pounds for
cast-iron window-frames, recommended by your dear mother, as the
clumsy iron bars which had been used in the old institution had
induced many a poor inmate, when looking at them, to say with a
sigh, "Sir, prison, prison!" Your dear mother, also strongly
recommended that all, except the violent lunatics, should dine
together at a table covered with a cloth, and furnished with plates
and spoons.
The former method of serving out the food was most disgusting. This
new plan delighted the Empress, and I soon received an order to
meet her at the asylum. On her arrival she requested that a table
should be covered, and then desired me to go round and invite the
inmates to come and dine. Sixteen came immediately, and sat down.
The Empress approached the table, and ordered one of the upper
servants to sit at the head of it and to ask a blessing. When the
servant arose to do this, they all stood up. The soup, with small
pieces of meat, was then regularly served; and as soon as dinner
was finished, they all rose up spontaneously and thanked the
Empress for her motherly kindness. I saw that the kind Empress was
deeply moved, and turning to me she said, "_Mon Cher_, this is one
of the happiest days of my life." The next day the number increased
at table, and so it continued increasing. After your dear mother's
return from Ireland, where she had been visiting, among other
institutions, the lunatic asylums, she wrote me a letter on the
great importance of supplying the lunatics with the Scriptures.
This letter deserved to be written in letters of gold; I sent it to
the Imperial family; it excited the most pleasing feelings and
marked approbation. The court physician, His Excellency Dr. Riehl,
a most enlightened and devoted philanthropist, came to me for a
copy of it. It removed all the difficulty there had been respecting
giving the Holy Scriptures to the inmates. I was therefore
permitted to furnish them with copies, in their various languages.
It may be useful to state the result of this measure, which was
considered by some to be a wild and dangerous proceeding. I soon
found groups collected together, listening patiently and quietly to
one of their number reading the New Testament. Instead of
disturbing their minds, it soothed and delighted them. I have
witnessed a poor lunatic, a Frenchman, during an interval of
returning reason, reading the New Testament in his bed-room, with
tears running down his cheeks; also a Russian priest, a lunatic,
collected a number together, while he read to them the Word of God.
On one occasion I witnessed a most interesting scene. On entering
the institution, I found a young woman dying; her eyes were closed,
and she was apparently breathing her last breath. I ordered one of
the servants of the institution to read very loud to her that
verse, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life." Dr. K---- observed, "Sir, she is almost dead,
and it is useless." On my urging its being done, lo! to the
astonishment of all present, she opened her eyes and smiled. I
said: "Is it sweet, my dear?" She nodded assent. "Shall it be read
to you again?" A smile and nod of the head followed. She evidently
possessed her reason at that moment, and who can trace, or limit,
the operation of the Holy Spirit, on the reading of God's own Word
even in her circumstances?
When I received a letter from your mother I always wrote it out in
French, and presented it in that language to the Empress; and when
she had read it, it was very encouraging to see with what alacrity
she ordered one of her secretaries to translate it into Russian,
and then deliver it to me to be conveyed to the asylum, and entered
into the journal there, for immediate adoption. I remember on one
occasion, taking a list of rules, at least fourteen in number, and
the same day were confirmed by the Empress. These rules introduced
the following important arrangements; viz., the treating the
inmates, as far as possible as sane persons, both in conversation
and manners toward them; to allow them as much liberty as possible;
to engage them daily to take exercise in the open air; to allow
them to wear their own clothes and no uniform prison-dress; also to
break up the inhuman system of permitting the promiscuous idle
curiosity of the public, so that no one was allowed to see them
without permission; a room, on entering the asylum, was prepared
for one at a time, on certain days, to see their relations. The old
cruel system drew forth many angry expressions from the poor
lunatics: "Are we, then, wild beasts, to be gazed at?"
The Empress made a present to the institution of a piano-forte; it
had also a hand-organ, which pleased the poor inmates exceedingly.
On one occasion the Empress, on entering the asylum, observed that
the inmates appeared unusually dull, when she called them near, and
played on the hand-organ herself an enlivening tune.
Another important rule of your mother's was, most strictly to
fulfill whatever you promise to any of the inmates, and, above all,
to exercise patience, gentleness, kindness, and love towards them;
therefore, to be exceedingly careful as to the character of the
keepers you appoint. These are some of the pleasing results of your
mother's work. The dowager Empress, on one occasion, conversing
about your mother, said: "How much I should like to see that
excellent woman, Madame Fry, in Russia;" and often did I indulge
that wish. What a meeting it would have been, between two such
devoted philanthropists as your mother and the dowager Empress, who
was daily devoting her time and fortune to doing good.... Although
the Empress was in her sixty-ninth year, I had the felicity of
accompanying her in no less than eleven of her personal visits to
the Lunatic Asylum, say from February to October, 1828. On the 24th
of October she died, to the deep-felt regret of the whole empire.
Rozoff, a young lunatic, as soon as he heard it, burst into tears.
She would visit each lunatic, when bodily afflicted, and send an
easy chair for one, and nicely-dressed meat for others; and weekly
send from the palace wine, coffee, tea, sugar and fruit for their
use.
Among the many striking features in your mother's correspondence,
her love to the Word of God, and her desire for its general
circulation, were very apparent. Evidently, that sacred book was
the fountain whence she herself derived all that strength and grace
to carry on her work of faith and labor of love, which her Divine
Master so richly blessed.... In December 1827, when accompanying
the Emperor Nicholas through the new Litoffsky Prison, he was not
only well pleased to find every cell fully supplied with the
Scriptures--the rich result of his having confirmed the late
Emperor Alexander's orders to give the Scriptures gratis to all the
prisoners--but on seeing some Jews in the prison he said to me: "I
hope you also furnish these poor people with them, that they may
become Christians; I pity them." I witnessed a most touching scene
on the Emperor's entering the debtors' room; three old, venerable,
gray-headed men fell on their knees and cried, "Father, have mercy
on us!" The Emperor stretched out his hand in the peculiar grandeur
of his manner, and said: "Rise; all your debts are paid; from this
moment you are free"; without knowing the amount of the debts, one
of which was very considerable. I hope this feeble attempt to
detail a little of your dear mother's useful work may be
acceptable, leaving you to make what use of it you think proper.
Such testimonies as these must have been peculiarly grateful to Mrs.
Fry's family, because it is natural to desire not only success in any
good work, but also grateful remembrance and appreciation, of it.
Sometimes, however, the reverse was the case; even those whom she had
endeavored to serve had turned out ungrateful, impudent and hardened.
Yet her loving pity followed even them: still, like the Lord whom she
served, she loved them in spite of their repulsiveness and ingratitude.
And when some notably ungrateful things were reported to her respecting
the female convicts on board the _Amphitrite_, she only prayed and
sorrowed for them the more. Especially was this the case when she heard
that the ship had gone down on the French coast, bearing to their tomb
beneath the sad sea waves, the 120 women, with their children, being
conveyed in her to New South Wales. Not one hard thought did she
entertain of them: all was charity, sorrow and tenderness. And if for
one little moment her new theories as to the treatment of criminals
seemed to be broken down, never for an instant did she set them aside.
She knew that perfection could only be attained after many long years of
trial and probation. While undermining the old ideas, she set herself an
equally gigantic task in establishing the new.