. Meekin, pray."

"'I am aware that you will hear accounts of cruelty and tyranny, said,
by the malicious and the evil-minded haters of the Government and
Government officials, to have been inflicted by gaolers on convicts. To
be candid, this is not the dreadful place it has been represented to be
by vindictive writers. Severe flogging and heavy chaining is sometimes
used, no doubt, but only in rare cases; and nominal punishments are
marked out by law for slight breaches of discipline. So far as I have an
opportunity of judging, the lash is never bestowed unless merited.'"

"As far as he is concerned, I don't doubt it!" said Frere, cracking a
walnut.

"'The texts of Scripture quoted by our chaplain have comforted me much,
and I have much to be grateful for; for after the rash attempt I made to
secure my freedom, I have reason to be thankful for the mercy shown to
me. Death--dreadful death of soul and body--would have been my portion;
but, by the mercy of Omnipotence, I have been spared to repentance--John
iii. I have now come to bitterness. The chaplain, a pious gentleman,
says it never really pays to steal. "Lay up for yourselves treasures in
Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt." Honesty is the
best policy, I am convinced, and I would not for L1,000 repeat my evil
courses--Psalm xxxviii 14. When I think of the happy days I once passed
with good Mr. Blicks, in the old house in Blue Anchor Yard, and reflect
that since that happy time I have recklessly plunged in sin, and stolen
goods and watches, studs, rings, and jewellery, become, indeed, a common
thief, I tremble with remorse, and fly to prayer--Psalm v. Oh what
sinners we are! Let me hope that now I, by God's blessing placed beyond
temptation, will live safely, and that some day I even may, by the will
of the Lord Jesus, find mercy for my sins. Some kind of madness has
method in it, but madness of sin holds us without escape. Such is, dear
father, then, my hope and trust for my remaining life here--Psalm c 74.
I owe my bodily well-being to Captain Maurice Frere, who was good enough
to speak of my conduct in reference to the Osprey, when, with Shiers,
Barker, and others, we captured that vessel. Pray for Captain Frere, my
dear father. He is a good man, and though his public duty is painful and
trying to his feelings, yet, as a public functionary, he could not allow
his private feelings, whether of mercy or revenge, to step between him
and his duty.'"