Two Voyages to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land

by Thomas Reid

15th.—This day, according to the usual rule, the prisoners were assembled to hear religious instruction; but as the weather was very hot, it appeared most proper that I should read the discourse to them on deck, where the Reverend Mr. Reddall, Captain Brown, and his officers, attended. The behaviour of the women was discreet and orderly: their manners have assumed a certain sedateness which recommends them to particular notice. Several have been employed in plaiting straw, and doing needle-work; many are quite devoted to reading and conversing on the Scriptures, thus filling up their time very usefully.

16th.—This day, about 11 A. M., there came on a heavy squall from the S.E., which blew with tremendous fury for nearly an hour, accompanied with very heavy and incessant rain. Being aware of its approach, I had ordered the beds to be carefully covered in the netting. As this was the first appearance of any thing like a storm, many of the women from a motive of curiosity remained upon deck until the hurrying exertions of the sailors, and the loud voices of the Captain and officers giving the necessary commands for the management of the ship, excited their terror and drove them all below drenched with rain.

I had been occupied in the hospital with the sick patients when the confusion on deck was in its height, and on coming into the prison was presented with a sight which, I must confess, gave me inexpressible gratification. Most of the women were on their knees devoutly engaged in prayer;—they did not appear to notice me, so great was their abstraction;—all was silence, and religious awe. The apprehended danger seemed to have brought forth the feelings of fervent devotion, and their appearance, as they were then to be viewed, was similar to that of a well ordered assembly at church.

The matter, altogether, made an impression on my mind which will not soon be removed; because at that instant I had the most satisfactory proof of the results I had always anticipated from the system adopted. Here, for instance, was a moment to try their faith. All the feelings seemed now absorbed in religious thought, and they appeared firm in reliance on the protection of Divine Providence;—an idea to which many of them had been hitherto strangers, and the majority of them did not dare to indulge. The shallow sceptic, who would despair of producing religious impression on the minds of convicts, might, in this happy and unexpected occurrence, find enough to convince him of his error, and to make him change his opinion, were his ignorance formed even of the most stubborn materials.

A subsequent circumstance also persuaded me that the alarm created by the squall was the means of calling up in their minds more lasting reflections of a religious nature; for, about 4 in the evening, Sidney Williams, whose conduct in Newgate was so extravagantly wicked as to induce the Surgeon of that establishment to propose her removal to Bethlehem Hospital, came to me with a hymn, which I had given her some time before to learn, with a promise of some mark of approbation in case of attention, and recited the whole with feeling and correctness. I engaged her immediately to commit to memory my first address, and have very little doubt of her performing the task.

The example of Sidney Williams was followed by many others, to the number of twenty nearly, who have also undertaken to commit the same address to memory, in expectation of gaining the proposed reward. I must not omit to mention here another trait of improvement noticed and reported to me by Captain Brown:—Within the last few days some of the younger convicts, who appeared more volatile than others, were in the habit of using sacred words in ordinary conversation, not as oaths, but as harmless expletives: but now, however, all such expressions have been laid aside.

18th.—Sunday.—The weather being fine, the convicts were assembled on deck, and a sermon read to them by the Reverend Mr. Reddall, to which they gave undivided attention, and appeared to acknowledge the force of the arguments by correspondent feeling. After sermon I addressed them in a concise exhortation on the necessity of frequent self-examination, urging its important advantages in the guidance of every part of their conduct, and have reason to hope the admonition was not lost upon them.

Having long considered that some mode of keeping their minds in constant action could not fail of producing good moral effects, and as a state of idleness had been generally attended with injurious consequences when they were imprisoned in England, it appeared to me manifest that nothing could be more desirable than to devise some means of producing that activity with as little delay as possible. As every day now seemed to bring forth in their conduct the dawning of some good quality which had been obscured in the darkness of their former lives, and as their minds appeared strongly attached to religious reflection, I thought it most expedient to employ them in committing to memory some short moral or religious composition, proposing, as an inducement, a copy of the Bible with the name of the successful candidate for the first place of merit, in my own hand-writing; and to the two next, a copy of some religious book, one to each, marked in the same manner; also to the next seven, another small favour, with a similar mark of approbation.

I further informed them, that an account of their success should be entered in the journal with their respective names, which would be submitted to the Governor at Sydney, backed with particular commendation from myself, as they deserved; and that a copy of those names should also be transmitted to London. They unanimously and cheerfully presented themselves in competition for the proposed reward; and I had the pleasure of understanding that many would undertake the task purely from a sense of duty, and gratitude for the care which they experienced during the voyage. This latter feeling was evinced by many of the Newgate prisoners, among whom I was particularly gratified in seeing Sidney Williams. The change in this girl is astonishing, not only as it regards herself individually, but as her altered conduct serves as an useful lesson and example to others.

I cannot refrain from repeating my firm conviction, that the very best consequences would be found to result, during the voyage to New South Wales, were the convicts provided with means of constant employment in some useful and light way befitting their sex; as I find uniformly their minds much more tractable and obedient when they are so employed. One obvious benefit would attend such a provision,—they would thereby, having their attention profitably engaged, avoid allurements to improper or useless conversation, and would rather turn their thoughts, as these do at present, to religious or moral subjects. This latter intention might be promoted by grouping the workers into certain classes, according to their employment, and appointing one of their number best qualified to read from some edifying book, instructive discourses, or such passages of moral entertainment as might be selected for that purpose; in time, use would render this custom familiar and pleasing.