LATE CONVICT ESTABLISHMENT. 391 
Monday, 7th. Fine weather ; the Bishop and 
myself went through the prisons and other de- 
partments of the Convict Establishment, but no 
sound was there of good or eviL They were 
merely dreadful mementos of the past. Still it 
was harrowing to pass through these barriers of 
wood and stone, and to be continually stepping 
on bolts and shackles, and using much strength 
to swing on their hinges the ponderous doors of 
cells and dungeons, which, when closed, were 
impervious to the light of day. And it seemed 
to me that even the very air was forbidden to 
enter except in very insufficient quantities. Oh, 
there were irrefragable proofs of the depravity 
of the nature of man ! that being whom God 
made upright, but whose rebellious perverseness 
brought upon himself tribulation and wrath to 
the uttermost. In the evening the Bishop held 
a public meeting, in which the interests of the 
community, temporal and spiritual, were dis- 
cussed : his Lordship also appealed to our 
sympathies in regard to the heathen, especially 
those among the islands he is now about to visit. 
A proposal was also made by him, that we should 
receive a few children from these islands into 
our families, and teach them the principles of the 
.Christian religion and industrious habits, so that 
'in a few years they might return to their native 
lands and instruct others. I see no objection 
^to our receiving a few children among us to be 
civilised, as far as civilisation has obtained here. 
[I have consented to have one child under my roof, 
and will do all I can for its welfare, by God's help. 
Tuesday, 8th. Weather very fine; the. 
