at every step, the
traces of wrong: the comforts supplied the prisoners by their friends,
were often stolen by the seamen: the pledges lodged in their hands were
not restored: boxes were pillaged, and the trifles furnished by the
self-sacrifice of a broken-hearted parent, became the spoil of the
assignees of public vengeance. These evils were aggravated by the delay
of the voyage, to subserve the commercial speculations of the surgeons,
who, beyond the general gains of merchandise, were allowed a large
remission of the customs.

Dr. Bromley, who superintended the transit of prisoners on several
occasions during the first quarter of the century, availed himself
largely of these trading privileges. Thus he landed, free of duty, at
the close of one voyage, 150 gallons of spirits, one hogshead of wine,
and ten baskets of tobacco, beside a shipload of women. This profitable
form of investment excited no local complaint, and implied no disgrace.

The female convict ships continued under the same system of management,
until some flagrant instances induced the Board of Admiralty to check
the grossness of vice. Of vessels remembered for their pollution, the
_Friendship_ and _Janus_ are distinguished: the keys of the prison were
accessible during the night: the conspiracy reached from the cabin to
forecastle: the officers were libertines themselves, or, even when their
conduct was least equivocal, it was difficult to obstruct
irregularities: not even bars and bolts resisted the ingress of
forbidden guests. The wooden barriers, which covered the entrance, were
displaced by some traitress within, who left no protection to her
companions but the point of honor.

The first who improved the discipline of the convict ships, were Captain
Brown and Dr. Reed, of the _Morley_: they endeavoured, by precept and
example, to inculcate morality. Coercion had been found ineffectual, and
the women, when restricted, filled the vessel with clamour and
profaneness; but these gentlemen adopted a system of mental influence,
and their prisoners, whatever was their subsequent conduct, were far
superior to their predecessors. The result of this instance led to a
permanent amelioration, and proved what had hitherto been doubted--that
even the worst societies can be controlled, by those who unite a sense
of virtue with official authority.[70]

The safety ascribed to the system of prostitution, was but an apology
for vice, and the voyage of the _Jane Sh