TWO YOUNG ADVENTURERS. 117 explained to her the way of salvation; and God blessed what he said to her conversion. Having now obtained light in her own soul, she could not be at rest while her friends were still in darkness. "O that my father were here! I am sure he knows nothing of all this!" In two days she left the house where she was visiting, and returned to her home. She soon found an opportunity of speaking to her father. He was surprised and alarmed, and gave her this decided answer: "I desire that you will never speak to me on this subject again. It has never before been brought into my family; and I beg I may never hear of it more." She spoke next to her mother, who also was surprised and distressed, and said, "I am your mother; I am not to be schooled by you. Let me hear no more of this.' She then tried her brothers and sisters, and had to endure a long season of persecution; everyone wondering what had happened to Betsy. But she gradually won them over by her sweet and amiable deportment. At length she obtained permission from her father to have family worship; and twenty persons assembled, night and morning, at that house, while she read the Scriptures and prayed. A minister in the neighbourhood had the happiness of admitting into his church nine ploughmen from the estate on which the farm stood; and they all dated their conversion to the efforts of the farmer's daughter. The young minister who has figured in this anecdote went abroad as a missionary, and long acted a distinguished part, for Christian usefulness, on the continent of Europe. On his return to this country, he paid a visit to the farm. The father, who had now grown to be an old man of eighty, came out to meet him; and while his silver locks flowed down on his shoulders, he exclaimed, Now, sir, we are a whole family going to heaven, through Christ. And dear Betsy has been the instrument of accomplishing it all." 66 TWO YOUNG ADVENTURERS. Ar a recent meeting of the Dundee Industrial Schools, the Rev. J. Burns, one of the speakers, in showing the advantages of such institutions, not only in a moral, but also in an economical point of view, introduced the following startling extract, from the confession of a reclaimed thief: 66 'He and another young man, on the first day of their expedition from Manchester, made about £4 by picking pockets at Chorley. They then went to Preston, and in a fortnight got a decent sum—about £30.' Thence they went to Garstang, where they took £12 from a drunken man. In the ensuing week, at Lancaster and Carlisle, they did very fair.' In a short time they went to Hexham, where, in about three minutes, they 'flattened the nose' of a flour dealer, and relieved him of £25. They left for Newcastle that night, and got into a warehouse, from which they took goods to the value of £15. To Durham they next proceeded, 'to look at the Cathedral, but did nothing there,' and were equally unsuccessful at Darlington; but at Stockton, in the following week, they made about £12, for which they were apprehended, and had a month of solitude in Durham jail. On their emancipation from this duresse, they went to Sunderland for a week, where the party making the confession could find no other book but the Bible, in which he read a passage that troubled him for some weeks. On the road between Sunderland and Shields they made £8; and determined to work back to Manchester.' Before they arrived at York, they were low,' and had only made £14. 10s. At Leeds they got some little-about £10;' at Bradford, £3; and arrived in Manchester on the 25th of May, from which they went to Ashton and Huddersfield, and obtained £10 by picking pockets, but had to fly very quick.' Wakefield stood' 25s.; and Selby and Hull 'some few pounds.' At Beverly and Scarboro' they made '£30 at two hauls;' and at Hartlepool 'we lit on ་ an old sailor just landed, who had got £25, (his wages just received,) and picked his pocket.' On they drove to Edinburgh, where we 'drawed' a grocer's till, which yielded £30. At Glasgow they were a fortnight, ‘got about £20 the day before we went out, to help us on the road.' Thence to Greenock, which is described as a pretty town, but we did not choose to do much.' Ayr yielded a more liberal return in £50, which was taken from the pocket of a female, but which roused the hue and cry after them. They escaped, however." OPINION OF JOHN HOWARD.-In the great work of the "Ragged Schools,” there must be many discouragements and disheartening impediments, therefore it is well to be encouraged by all the sanction and experience of those who have especially considered the subject. Among the most valuable authorities may be reckoned the benevolent and persevering John Howard. He mentions in his journal, that when he visited Amsterdam, he was surprised to find the general average of crime remarkably low. There were at the time of his visit but six delinquents in the jails of that rich commercial depôt; and what is still more remarkable, only eighteen debtors. The restraining agents were moral, not material, resulting from education and public opinion, rather than from fear of bodily suffering. To be in prison for debt was considered in Holland as an indelible disgrace. The principal cause that debtors as well as capital offenders are few, is the great care that is taken to train up the children of the poor, and indeed of all others, to industry. They act upon this professed maxim, "Make them diligent, and they will be honest." Correspondence. "3, Charlton Crescent, Islington, April 4th, 1851. "DEAR LORD ASHLEY,-I think if the inclosed was published in the Ragged School Magazine, it would be found very useful to those boys and girls who think of emigrating. Sincerely yours, HINTS TO EMIGRANTS FOR PRESERVING HEALTH. C. CHISHOLM, In reply to various recent inquiries respecting the best means of preserving health on board ship, we insert the following extracts, selected by Mrs. Chisholm, for the use of her emigrants, from the letters of several female emigrants, respecting the very first essential of health, cleanliness. Extract No. 1.-"My cabin was a damp one, and I had reason for blessing you for giving me a gallon of sand. I used to sprinkle a little on the floor of my cabin at night, and in the morning I gave it a good scrub with the hard brush I had, and after sweeping up the sand clean, rubbed the floor with a dry flannel, and in a fortnight my cabin looked so much better than the others, that the captain and doctor asked me how I kept it so comfortable. I told them by taking a leaf out of Mrs. Chisholm's book, which I picked up at one of her group meetings. Well the order was gave there and then, and there was a general scrub every morning, and some of them used to grumble very much, as some are so lazy that they would rather have fever than work with the scrubbing brush ten minutes a day. We had much wet weather, but our berths and between decks never had any washing, it was all dry scrub as we call it." No. 2.-"Small onions keep well if hung in a net in your berth. Sweep under your bed every day; shake your bed well, and your blankets and sheets; it is surprising how dust and filth gathers every day. Wipe everything dry after using it. Be very careful in putting up your knives and forks after use. Take a pound of coffee if you can." No. 3.-"I used to chop some suet fine and make a crust, and then sprinkle on it some spice and sugar; it made a nice roll pudding. I was very sorry for not having with me a trencher or a bit of wood, so used the top of a box. Take some worsted needles with you, and worsted and darning cotton; it is a surprise how quick holes come in a ship. We were sadly put to it at times for a little pepper and a drop of vinegar." No. 4.-"Lime juice, lime juice, whatever you go without, be sure you take three bottles with you; it drinks beautiful. We all enjoyed the pickles. The children were fond of the cocoa, but I could not bear it. You be sure and take two pounds of coffee extra." No. 5.-"I had no brush with me for sweeping my berths, and was miserable; be sure you take one, and a Bath brick for your knives. People be much noticed at sea, and them there captains are howdacious talkers about folks, but we had some in our ship enough to make your flesh crawl to look at them; actually we had some gals that the doctor was obliged to order to be washed, and employed two women to see it done. Some of the men did not even comb their hair, and when they were told to do it turned regularly savage. Upon my word I'd rather be at the wash-tub for a week than have the command of a ship for a day; it's night-work and day-work, and when a man does his best he can't please every one; we were often uncommonly sorry for our captain." No. 6.-"Without great care you cannot keep children clean at sea, but be sure you attend to their feet; wash them well once a week at least, and see that their boots are laced and their shoes tied; many young children had bad falls through neglect in this way." Intelligence. LAMBETH RAGGED SCHOOLS. WE lately reported the proceedings connected with the opening of the new Ragged Schools in Doughty Street, Lambeth. At that time it was determined by the committee that the day should be set apart for the proceedings connected with the interesting opening ceremony, and the annual meeting was in consequence deferred. The 23rd of April being the anniversary of the birthday of the benevolent donor of the new building, the third annual meeting was held in the capacious new school-room of the institution. The meeting was a crowded one, and was attended by a very respectable audience, amongst whom the ladies predominated. The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor occupied the chair. The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said that he had to crave the indulgence of his hearers while he made a few remarks regarding the subject of that interesting meeting. Perhaps it might be said by some that amongst the manifold duties which the chief magistrate of the City of London had to perform, his attention would be sufficiently occupied by continuing his patronage, assistance, and support, to those benevolent institutions within the walls of his own city. But although that might be said by some, he (the Lord Mayor) thought it was the duty of the chief magistrate of London, not only to do good in his own city, but, if possible, to extend his usefulness to all around. (Cheers.) He had come among them that evening under this feeling, and with an anxious desire to assist them in carrying on the good work, because he believed that if there were one duty more incumbent upon them than another in this large city and its suburbs, it was attention to the education of those who had hitherto been uneducated. It was well known that they had their schools for evening classes, their parochial schools, and their infant schools. All these were highly deserving of their support. Until, however, a very recent period, under the auspices of a distinguished nobleman, they had no one to care for the lowest of the low. (Applause.) He believed that if they had not taken the step of establishing Ragged Schools in order to reclaim the most miserable and degraded class of the community, with a full determination to carry on the work with energy and zeal, the land would have been overrun, and they would have been visited from on high for their neglect. Mr. F. Doulton, the secretary, read the Report, congratulated the friends of the institution on its highly prosperous condition, and stated that the suitability of the 23rd of April for holding the annual meeting, and combining it with a treat to the children, had been suggested to the committee by the fact that it was the birthday of the benevolent donor of the building, and that it was not thought by them an inappropriate token of respect to hold the present annual meeting on that occasion, and to date the future proceedings of the society from so interesting a day. The number in attendance in the school on Sundays, from six to eight o'clock, and who are receiving religious instruction, is six hundred. The instruction to these is given by forty voluntary teachers. A week-day evening class is held five evenings in the week, instead of three evenings as heretofore The scholars attending this class number one hundred girls and one hundred boys. A working class for girls, meeting two nights weekly, is attended by an average of fifty scholars, and is superintended by an efficient mistress, under the direction of an active ladies' committee. The infant school has an average attendance of three hundred, being an increase of one hundred and seventy since the opening of the new premises, and the removal thence of the children who received instruction in the school at Palace Yard. Forty-seven boys and forty-nine girls have received articles of clothing as rewards since last annual meeting, twenty girls have been put to service in good situations and are doing well, and three boys and two girls have been assisted to emigrate to Australia, and, according to accounts, are also doing well. Mr. John Doulton, Jun., treasurer, read an abstract of accounts, from which it appeared that the income for the past year had been £243. 128. 9d., and the expenditure £246. Os 4d., leaving a balance due to the treasurer of £2.78. 7 d. The meeting was afterwards addressed by the Rev. W. Leask, Mr. J. Brown, the Rev. J. B. Brown, and Mr. C. Pearson, [who said he had come there that evening to avow himself a convert to the Ragged School system, regarding which he had formerly entertained considerable doubts. He now saw their beneficial effects, and admitted their applicability to remedy the evils they proposed to meet. He rejoiced to find that they had adopted a broad, unsectarian constitution, and concluded by remarking that he saw everything to approve of in the Ragged Schools, and nothing of which to disapprove.] Also by Joseph Payne, Esq., Mr. W. H. Bond, Mr. W. Churchill, and the Rev. T. Davis. JOHN STREET RAGGED SCHOOL, IN CONNECTION WITH SURREY CHAPEL. ON Thursday evening, March 13th, the teachers of the above school celebrated their ninth anniversary, by holding a Public Tea Meeting in their school-room, John Street, Southwark. Joseph Payne, Esq., in the chair. The room was filled by a very respectable company, and sixty-four of the scholars were supplied with tea, their smiling happy faces giving a pleasant effect to the scene. During the evening they were examined in the several branches of their education, Scriptural and secular; their ready answers in arithmetic, etc., and their correct recitation of Scripture, gave universal satisfaction. Prizes were awarded to the most deserving, and the chairman, after addressing them in his own happy manner, dismissed them, giving to each a slice of cake and a little book of Scripture extracts. The Secretary read a report of the teachers' operations for the past year. It contained many pleasing facts of good being done. Two boys had been sent out as Emigrants to Australia. A Penny Bank had also been established, to enable the scholars to save their money, which would otherwise have been squandered in sweetmeats or gambling. This, together with the expense of fitting-out the two Emigrants, had made them overdraw their account with the Treasurer to the amount of £5. 108., which the meeting was earnestly solicited to liquidate. After addresses from Mr. Thomas Irving White, and Mr. Cabell, the chairman gave the teachers a word of encouragement, expressing also his pleasure and satisfaction at what he had witnessed. LIVERPOOL INDUSTRIAL RAGGED SCHOOLS. THE Second Annual Meeting of these Schools was held in the Collegiate Institution, on the 26th of March last. From the Annual Report, which has been forwarded to us, we glean the following particulars:-During the past year, 107 boys were admitted; of these, 26 were orphans, 35 had no fathers, 16 no mothers, and only 30 had both parents alive; 32 boys have obtained situations during the year. A Girls' School was opened in July last, to which 69 have been admitted. Of these, 5 were orphans, 31 had no fathers, 6 no mothers, and only 27 had both parents alive. 7 of these girls have obtained situations during the year. The amount realised from work done by the children-chiefly in making and printing paper bags and sorting bristles-was £107.178. 1d. To the great discredit of the wealthy inhabitants of Liverpool, we have to add that, notwithstanding Jenny Lind's handsome donation of £100, the treasurer's account shows a deficiency of no less than £103. 18. 8d. This is almost unaccountable, considering the very able manner in which their attention was drawn to the subject by their late lamented magistrate, Mr. Rushton, and also by Mr. Sheriff Watson, of Aberdeen. Truly they are "slow of heart to believe," and slower still, we fear, in acting upon those self-evident truths which reason and revelation have both made so plain. Our readers will find the following sug gestion of the Committee deserving very special attention: "However much the Committee have to rejoice in the success of their labours, the root of the evil sought to be removed will never be thoroughly eradicated until some effective legal enactment is introduced. As the law at present exists, no child, unless committed for felony, can be removed from the evil example of its parents without their consent, however vicious those parents may be. It is well known that there are many abandoned parents who, even when earning a tolerable subsistence, spend the whole in licentiousness, and leave their children to misery and want; and others, again, who not only neglect, but systematically corrupt their unhappy offspring, endeavouring, through them, to obtain means for the indulgence of their own evil propensities. A measure is therefore required, by which the real culprit could be reached. While, wandering the streets, begging is so profitable, as by the mistaken kindness of some persons it is allowed to be, there will always be numbers of children who will prefer it to submitting to the confinement and discipline of school, and numbers of parents depraved enough to send out their children to beg or steal, in order that they may share in the booty. This may account, in a great measure, for the apparently large proportion of children who, during the past year, have left the school of their own accord. Instead of allowing such children to go on, training, as it were, for the prison-house, how much better would it be, were power given to the magistrates to send them to an industrial school, and compel the parents, if able, to pay the expense of their maintenance there.' PERTH INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS. Ir is gratifying to learn that the late Mrs. Fechney (after bequeathing sums to the amount of nearly £1,000 to local institutions) has left the residue of her whole means and estates, amounting to upwards of £2,000, to be invested by her trustees, and to accumulate till they find the fund sufficient "for founding and establishing a School of Industry, connected with the city and county of Perth, for the reformation and proper upbringing of the neglected youthful population of the city and county, who may, by means of proper training, physical, moral, and religious, become useful members of society-she being thereunto moved by the feelings of esteem for her deceased husband, and his connection with the community of Perth in a public capacity, as well as expressive of her earnest desire to do what good she may in her day and generation." Her trustees have full power to frame rules and regulations for the institution, etc. The following clause is well worth the insertion, perusal, and imitation:"As it is my wish that such institution should be based on broad Christian principles, so as that the greatest amount of public good may be accomplished, and in order that the interest and success of the institution may be the more speedily and efficiently realized, I would only recommend to my trustees to endeavour to enlist the community at large to co-operate with them in carrying into execution the different plans and measures for founding the institution, whereby it may be brought into more early and extensive operation." The trustees may proceed without waiting for accumulation of residue, if, with public grants, subscriptions, and otherwise, they be satisfied that funds will be forthcoming for so founding, establishing, and carrying on the institution. Original Papers. THE CHARITIES OF LONDON IN 1850. FROM THE FRENCH OF M. DE LAMARTINE. (Concluded from page 83.) "The chapter at which we are now arrived," said my friend, "has relation to the sorrows of the soul, to moral redemptions, to the reformation of criminals, to the reclamation of the fallen." [The Societies whose enumeration follows in the Essay, are those comprised in Chapters v., vi., vii., viii., ix., x., xi., and xii., of Mr. Low's "Charities of London." To attempt to translate Lamartine's picturesque catalogue would extend the present paper far beyond due limits. Moreover, in order to render the objects and character of these Societies intelligible to his own countrymen, our poet-author has so paraphrased their titles, that they would be scarcely recognizable by an English reader, thus tinted with the rainbow hues, imparted by his graceful and glowing pencil. It seems preferable, therefore, simply to indicate the chapters in Mr. Low's volume, where a notice of these charities will be found, and to leave the reader to glean from those pages all particulars of description and detail; assuring any who may feel inclined so to pursue the search, that they will find themselves amply remunerated by the results. Lamartine winds up the list of these benevolent societies as follows:-] "Lastly, the immense budget of the Poor Laws, deducting nearly three hundred millions, in various forms, from the riches of the more affluent classes, towards the relief of those in suffering and distress-The alms-offering of Great Britain. 66 Here we proceed to institutions less direct in their modes of relief, but equally preventive of misery amongst our operative classes-the pensions. These Societies are all destined to assure to workmen or workwomen a provision, either in income or transferable capital, for that period of life, when nature shall refuse the needful strength for labour. The catalogue is as extensive as that of the assisting Societies; and they are all partially supported by the supplementary subscriptions of the rich. "We have them for the army, the navy, for men of letters, for artists, for teachers, for governesses, for every social calling. "Then come associations, subscribing for the education of the poor; they occupy a moiety of the little volume.* 66 'Then Societies of a character exclusively religious, for the free diffusion of pious tracts; and then the Societies for the printing and gratuitous distribution of the Bible throughout the world. One actually recoils before the enormous cypher which represents a dissemination so limitless and so persevering of books amongst a people. Suffice it for you to know, that through the exertions of the members of this Society, every chamber of an hotel, every cabin of a * Chapters xiv., xv., xvi., of "The Charities of London." In chapter xvi. will be found an excellent account of our own "Union," and the Ragged Schools. |