d 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
end