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
an