might bring him into difficulty with his superiors, gave the man her card, and desired him to tell the man in command of the station that she had spoken to him with the sole object of inquiring after the welfare of the men and their families. A few days afterwards, the lieutenant who commanded at that post, waited upon Mrs. Fry, and, contrary to her fears, welcomed her enquiries as auguries of good. He confessed to her that the officers, men, women, and children, all suffered much from loneliness, privation, semi-banishment—for the stations were mostly placed in dreary and inaccessible places—unpopularity with the surrounding people, and harassment by constant watching, through all weather, for smugglers. The nature and regulations of the Coast Blockade or Preventive Service, precluded anything like visiting or personal kindness. There was really no way of benefiting them except by providing them with literature calculated to promote their intellectual and religious good, beside furnishing an occupation for the dreary, lonely hours which fell to their portion. This course Mrs. Fry immediately adopted.
She first applied to the British and Foreign Bible Society; the Committee responded with a grant of fifty Bibles, and twenty-five Testaments. These were distributed to the men on the stations in that district, and most gratefully received. As a proof of the gratitude of the recipients, the following little note was sent to Mrs. Fry by the commanding officer:—
