MARY CARPENTER. 95 



punishment to these wild creatures, when brought 

 out to me, put his little hand on my shoulder, and 

 sobbed out his grievances. The balm of a few kisses 

 quite restored him to a sane state ; I felt that the 

 poor little fellow felt that I loved him, and I was 

 thankful for his love." 



Can we not from these few words discover some- 

 thing of the secret of Mary Carpenter's influence over 

 the outcasts ? " She loved him," he felt that he loved 

 her, and that she was thankful for his love. She even 

 kissed him. Her conduct was very unlike that of 

 some well-meaning but mistaken philanthropists who 

 stand off from the poor, inspect them, lecture them, 

 patronise them, point out their failings and short- 

 comings to them, then look for gratitude and respect 

 from them, but not for love. Mary Carpenter's method 

 was somewhat like that of the best friend the poor 

 ever had, who, when He wanted to help a poor 

 blind man, " laid His hand on him, and toncJied him" 



Yet the inevitable disappointment was waiting for 

 her. It had been a pet idea with Mary Carpenter, 

 with her lofty notions of all the blessing that pertained 

 to family life, that in the substitute for the family 

 which was to be provided in the Reformatory, girls 

 and boys might be brought up together. But after a 

 time she had to confess that this could not be. The 

 girls were more unmanageable than the boys, and 

 when disturbances occurred it was frequently the 

 girls who led the boys into mischief. 



