She wished to convince the
Government that her methods were right, and so persuade them to set
up schools of a similar kind throughout the country.
The great Lord Shaftesbury was her chief supporter, but it was not
until the year 1854 that Mary Carpenter succeeded in her desire, when
a Bill was passed establishing reformatory schools. From this time
her influence rapidly increased, and it is mainly owing to her
efforts that at the present day such precautions are taken to reform
young criminals on the sound principle of "prevention is better than
cure."
Mary Carpenter also visited India no fewer than four times in order
to arouse public opinion there to the need for the better education
of women, and at a later date she went to America, where she had many
warm friends and admirers. She had, as was only natural, been keenly
interested in the abolition of negro slavery.
One of the most distinguished women in literature during the
Victorian Age was Harriet Martineau. At an early age it was evident
that she was gifted beyond the ordinary, and at seven years old she
had read Milton's "Paradise Lost" and learnt long portions of it by
heart.
Her health was extremely poor; she suffered as a child from imaginary
terrors which she describes in her Autobiography, and she gradually
became deaf. She bore this affliction with the greatest courage and
cheerfulness, but misfortunes followed one another in rapid
succession.
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