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 as possible.
She even helped to teach the children herself, as she found great
difficulty in finding good assistants.
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