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Frivolity, shamelessness, grevious ingratitude, audacious perverseness, excessive laziness, strife and ill-nature, were the more ordinary manifestations of the inward evil. A certain satiety of bodily food even, no less than the bread of life, prevailed; and we tried the experiment of enforced abstinence from both. The experiment succeeded to a great extent with a considerable number, but only temporarily. The crisis had not yet arrived. Several attempts at escape, false accusations, and a series of offences of the most scandalous character, gradually drew attention to two boys as the principal authors of the mischief. One, 19 years old, had for three years abused our pa tience; the other had been four years with us. Both finally made their escape, and fell into the hands of the police. From this time our community gradually recovered its moral health.

"1843. During the past year we have had eleven attempts at escape (successful and unsuccessful.) Three of these originating in temporary causes, are of little importance; the other eight were serious, planned deliberately and cunningly, residents of some standing, and accompanied by aggravating circumstances. The majority of the boys showed themselves very zealous in the pursuit. It has occurred that a runaway has voluntarily returned; but most have been traced with much difliculty. There have also, of course, been many instances of underhand disobedience and bad conduct in the course of the year.

"We now turn to the brightest side; but here the very multiplicity of instances baffles our endeavor to give a just notion of our progress. On the whole, the spirit of obedience, gratitude, industry, reverence for God's Word, and religious ordinances, the spirit of love and truth, reign among our children; so that any one dwelling among them must be happy, notwithstanding occasional temporary disturbances, from which no society can be exempt.

"I instance first, the renewed love of the children to their parents and relations. This is almost always the result of their residence here; and none can fully appreciate the change, without being aware of the dreadful estrangement, or ill-treatment on one side or both, which before existed, Money has more than once been offered me by parents as the price of their children's amendinent.

", a girl, who had formerly attacked her mother's life, now sits in tears a whole afternoon, if disappointed of a visit from her. When asked the cause, she replied that when she lived with her mother, she did not love her, and often wished to leave her; but that she now loves her infinitely. And her actions prove that love and fidelity, not only to her mother, but to all, have become part of her being. We sometimes overhear, (without listening, which is wholly forbidden here,) two children talking together of their love for parents and brethren, a feeling before unknown to them. When the Brothers' visit the parents on Sunday, they are frequently shown letters received by them from the children, often most expressive of renewed filial love. One young boy had wholly estranged the affection of his parents by his excesses; when he one afternoon went from us to visit them, they wholly ignored his presence, not recognizing him by even an angry word. Yet at length a letter from him rejoiced them with the conviction of his amendment; the means remained a riddle to them. These people were in comparatively easy circumstances. Another mother, excellent but poor, had wholly despaired for her son; now this boy is often accessible to no other influence than that exercised on him by the mention of his mother, and after a visit from hin she repeated his words, addressed to her: How glad I am to have gone to the Rauhe Haus; now if my mother should die, I should not be the cause of it, as I should have been before when I gave her so much trouble.' A gay, powerful lad returned weeping from a visit to his parents. His brother had run away from home. When he described his mother's grief, he wept still more violently; but in relating how his father had bade her not trouble herself so much about the lad, his heart seemed ready to break. All night he could not sleep, and next morning insisted on starting off to Hamburgh in search of his brother. And this boy when he came to us three years ago, had nearly destroyed his mother by twenty attempts at running

away.

"We might go on to speak of those already long dismissed, who have commended their brothers to us, or have supported their families by their own labor.

"We frequently allow the children to go home; last year nearly fifty have sometimes visited their parents on the same afternoon. At certain hours, 7, 7 1-2, or 8, all return punctually, and never but once has any real evil arisen.

"The mutual influence of the children on each other is wonderful. For instance: A very wild intractable boy, of considerable age, entered, after his novitiate, one of the families. A certain gentleness, and susceptibility to affection, occasionally gleamed through his rude nature. He seemed to suit none of the boys in that house; but another boy, far less developed in all respects, attached himself to him. The intercourse was undisguised, and gave cause for both hope and fear. The younger seemed bound to the elder by some instinct, till his milder nature, without intention on his own part, seems to have leavened the whole character of the other. "We have little difficulty in disposing of our dismissed pupils; on the contrary, it is impossible for us to comply with all the applications from master artizans in Ham

burgh and its environs, and even more remote districts. At Easter, 1845, 33 such applications were made, and several who had before had apprentices from us.

"Our surveillance of those who have left us is in no respect altered. It is no police superintendence, but a paternal oversight, exercised by the writer of this report, in co-operation with the resident brothers. If necessary we visit the apprentices at their masters' houses weekly, but in the ordinary way, only once a fortnight; and every fortnight I assemble them on Sunday afternoon or evening, in summer at the Institution, in winter in the town. When on Good Friday 70 of us celebrated the Lord's supper, there were among the number all our apprenticed pupils but one, who was hindered by no fault of his own. It is not to be expected that among so many young people no disorders should arise; but a whole month frequently passes without any complaints of the apprentices; and when such do occur, they are mostly of such faults as are common among all apprentices; there are individuals, however, of whom no complaint has ever been heard. Our correspondence, were its publication allow able, would be the strongest proof that our labor has not been lost."

The daily routine of the families is thus given in the Report for 1843-4.

"The best houses (unfortunately only three) have the rooms on the ground floor. Each contains a dwelling room, with tables, benches, and chests; and a sleeping-room adjoining for the 12 children. The brother' or 'sister' shares both rooms with them. These three houses have an adjoining kitchen, with an apparatus for washing, shoe cleaning, &c. All the furniture is home-made. Before the house is a play-ground, more or less shaded. Round the play-ground lie the flower beds of the twelve inmates and of the brothers;' adjoining is a well-kept kitchen garden. Such vegetables as are raised by the childrens' own labor, afford the family certain extra delicacies for the table, instead of being merely converted, like the rest, into common soup.

"At half-past four in summer, five in winter, the tower bell rings, and the whole family rises. The brother or sister pronounces a short morning prayer; the beds are made, and all wash and dress. In summer all the boys go to bathe in the pond. The rooms are then arranged, the shoes cleaned, &c. Those who have time sit down to study, or work in the kitchen garden. The brother regulates all. At six the bell again rings, and the family accompany the brother, their bibles under their arm, to the prayer hall, where the whole number are assembled to family devotion. After about an hour the several families return to breakfast in their own dwellings. Then the family is dispersed among the various workshops till twelve. (An hour's instruction, however, generally precedes these labors.) At twelve the family reassemble, with the brother. One of them appointed to that office, has already prepared the table; two others fetch from the mother-house' the food prepared in the general kitchen, the brother pronounces a short prayer at the commencement and conclusion, and all eat their meal amid familiar conversation; each having his own plate. Then follows a free interval, in which they play, cultivate their flower-beds, read, &c. The 'table waiters' for the day wash the dishes and arrange the room. An hour from the commencement of the meal the bell rings for work. At half-past four each family reassembles for the evening repast. From five to seven, work and instruction. not in the private dwelling. From seven to eight, leisure time, each family circle reassembling; at eight, the general family devotion; and at a quarter to nine, having supped, each family withdraws to its dwelling, and shortly after to bed. The brother sleeps in the midst of his family but goes later to bed. Every Saturday two or three children of each family scour the house thoroughly; and from five to six in the evening, the whole family unite to put their play-ground and kitchen garden in order."

The weekly conferences and the peculiar occupations of the Sundays and holidays must not be omitted. They are recorded in the reports for 1845 and 1846.

"From six to seven on Saturday evening each family holds a weekly discourse;' that is, a weekly text' is selected at this hour by the family; and the following Saturday the brother makes this the ground of an address to the children on the domestic occurrences of the past week. Each member is now instructed, by a table of occupations,' what employment is allotted to him for the following week; and all those who have had charge of the domestic affairs during that just past, are required to deliver back their various utensils, in good order to the presiding brother.

"The weekly conferences are as follows: Each brother writes, in the course of the week, a journal, in which he notes everything worthy of remark respecting his children. These papers are delivered to the superior, for careful perusal; and these furnish materials for the conference at which all the brothers, without exception, are present.

"On Sunday none but indispensable work is done. Clean linen and best clothes are put on. The families take it by turns to go early in the morning, with gardening implements, to the Rauhe Haus grave' in the churchyard, where three inmates have reposed for nearly eleven years. The grave is marked by a tall oaken cross, with the words: Christ is my life. The children put the spot in order, weed the flower-bed

round the cross, and sometimes hang up a garland. In the afternoon, after the short service, all the families go for a walk, greeting kindly many whom they meet. A few children are visited by their parents, others go to visit them.

"Many festivals are celebrated. At Advent, the children have each their own poor allotted to them; these they visit, with gifts purchased from their savings, or made by themselves. The birthdays of the father' and the 'brothers' are generally discovered, however carefully concealed, and gifts are prepared with all possible secrecy in play-hours. One of themselves, on his birthday, is often awakened by the song and greetings of his comrades; and when the family is gathered at table, he has generally a gift from each. One boy, on such an occasion, remained so melancholy as to cause questions; it was found on that very day twelve months, he had tried to escape. Nine days before the present birthday, he had vainly endeavored to dissuade a new comer from doing the like.

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"Every superintendent of a family is confined to his own circle, in which he is in like manner free from the interference of others; while the neighborly intercourse of the various families is also a peculiar and valuable feature."

Since the foundation of the Institution in 1833, 207 children, 157 boys and 50 girls have been received into it:

"117 have left us; the condition of these is as follows:
Now under the exclusive care of their parents

Emigrated

Sailors

Day-laborers

Agricultural laborers, gardeners, &c.

At various trades

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21

5

48

1 13

6

117."

Of all these only five can be deemed failures, three males and one female having been imprisoned, one female having become a vagrant.

Such are the results of nearly twenty years of patient labor; labor made sweet by the consciousness that it was God's work which was being carried on. The spirit which animated it is manifested in the following address of its founder on one of their anniversaries.

"For the Anniversary of the Swiss House, July 20, 1834.

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'Yearly, on the 20th of July, the Rauhe Haus, with all therein small and great, remembers how on this day, in the year 1834, our dear Swiss House was consecrated to the Saviour, as the good Shepherd; on a Sunday noon, in such bright sunshine that only God's love could shine more brightly.

But since God has blessed us with rich and manifold blessings through the erection of this house, and since besides this house was the first which the hands of our dear boys aided, strongly and strenuously, to build, for themselves and their succeeding brothers, we will relate among ourselves the history of this house; how it originated, when it was begun, and, how it was finally completed, to God's honor, his ereatures' joy, his childrens' blessing.

"Therefore we thus relate:

"We know of the 12th Sept., 1833, in what spirit and with what aim the Rauhe Haus was founded, and how it was occupied by twelve boys to the end of that year. These twelve boys were our William, Charles, Christian, David I., Edward, John, Cornelius, Nicholas, George I., Thomas, Augustus, Frederick; all of honorable memory among us; who have adorned the Rauhe Haus with many a permanent memorial of their joint industry, not to be forgotten. We will name in this place only one ;the removal of the wall, which once surrounded our garden to the west and south. The labor was completed on 25th Jan. 1834. They designed to show thereby to all future comrades and friends forever, that the Rauhe Haus is a house of free love, which suffers no walls, no bolts; because the love of Christ binds more strongly than either walls or bolts. At times even till late in the night, by lamplight, these boys spared not the sweat of their brow, to accomplish this first united labor, till house and garden lay clear to all eyes; a sign at the same time that our work is not done in a corner, but publicly before the eyes of men, as before God.

"Then came the month of February, and with it the first life of spring in the year 1834. Many blessed and sanctifying days had the Father in heaven already bestowed on his poor family in the Rauhe Haus, to his praise be it said, hope glanced with longing toward our native city, asking whether the faithful God would make it possible

that yet other dear children, in our house, should learn to approach Him through His Son. Parents and friends of children in need of help and rescue, knocked at our door, till then scarcely opened but to inmates, and begged for the reception of the children whom they loved.

"What we even then would willingly have done, we could not; for we had no roof to shelter more than the first twelve. But lo! Love soon found the means; we need but believe in her, and she bestows herself with all her treasures. So the unexpected question could be but to the twelve, whether they would willingly help to build a new house for themselves, and would give up the old to new comrades, twelve boys. What could be more agreeable to the Rauhe Haus' boys than this? and all had taken up their tools for the new work, when, on the 24th of February of that year, the worthy master, Lange, made his appearance, with yard-measure, and square, to measure out the site of the future Swiss House.'

"He measured the ground according to its present measurement, namely, 48 feet by 24, to the west of the old Rauhe Haus; the front of the new building looking to the south.

"With great energy, the ground was dug out by the twelve young laborers, before Thursday, the 11th of March; and on that day, at one o'clock, amid praises and thanksgivings, prayers and supplications, the foundation stone was laid, at the southwestern corner, by the treple hammer stroke of Mr. S. S., of happy memory; whom may God bless for all his love to our house! Now with diligence and joy went on the building from below, under the hands of small and great; while from above, the true Architect in heaven built and blessed; nor were His praises wanting; from the summit of the building and scaffolding echoed far around the lovely songs of those who here saw from day to day a new hut for their own future dwelling arise beneath the labor of their own hands.

"It was on the 16th of April, 1834, that the carpenter resolved to erect the gable; the day passed in the severe labor; already the sun was sinking to night in the west, beyond Hamburgh, when the work was completed. In the Mother-house, we had already twined with ribbons the gay garlands of honor; with song and jubilee the band of builders conducted him to the scaffolding; and quickly he gained the giddy height, surrounded by worthy associates of the carpentring craft, after artisan fashion. Meanwhile, on the firm earth below, the household, and some friends of the neighborhood, bad grouped themselves, looking up to the orator; who, unpracticed in oratory, unfortunately began at the end, what we wished to hear from the beginning. He was Sotschinger, the wood polisher. He uncovered his head. and delivered a poetic address; scanning at one view the beautiful distance of meadows and fields, houses and gardens, the Elbe and the Bill, Hamburgh's houses and towers.

"We thanked the carpenter for his address; for he had spoken truly; the Lord had already begun to carry out the blessing, and has more than once shown that He pronounced to this blessing a true amen.

"Without mischance or danger, the work now proceeded to its completion.

"Meanwhile we were seeking some friend of the Lord and of His children, who would be ready to gather round himself in the new Swiss House, the first family, emigrating for the old house,' like a swarm of bees. And before the completion of the building, a young man wandered hither to us from Switzerland, impelled by the love of the Lord; and on the 26th June, led by the Lord, he crossed our threshold for the first time. It was Joseph Baumgartner, whom few of our present inmates know personally, but whose remembrance we bless in love. On the 2nd July, Byckmeyer followed him. Both aided in giving the finishing stroke to the work of adorning and decking the house for the 30th July; because on that day we wished to consecrate to the Saviour this, the first of our children's houses, and to obtain his blessing on it. And the remembrance of that day we to-day especially renew.

"It was on a Sunday noon, on a summer's day, which the love of God had adorned with all the pomp and glory of His light. What we could, we also did, for our dear Swiss House. The upper story was furnished with twelve clean beds for the twelve future inmates. Within and without the new house was richly and ingeniously adorned with flowers and garlands. By about one o'clock, a large number of friends of our house had assembled; they were for the most part those whose love had helped us to build the house. For the first time sounded our organ, a former rich gift from a benefactor already named, and invited by its tones the voices of the assemblage. "A few words from the Father of the Family explained to the essembled friends the design of the festival; then I turned to you, or rather to the first twelve of our children, who were gathered around us. I still remember weil the words in which I then addressed you, from the greatest to the least, from David to Christian, and I think that you all will willingly recall with me a portion of what was then spoken. That you may be helped-for this are you all assembled around us; and that you will let yourselves be helped, you have often promised me with your whole heart. See, now, what has come to pass, and think of these benefits from the Lord, that you may become and remain truly His. Oh, that the Spirit of God might come over you, that you would allow yourselves to be subdued by this love of God! How large a No. 8.-VOL. III, No. 1.]--2.

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portion has been bestowed on you, your hearts declare; that you felt it, your tears bear witness; but how often you forgot it, how often you look backwards, instead of forward to the goal toward which we strive. My dear, beloved children, does your past way of life in this place bear witness of this or not? However that may be-a new house, a new heart! New benefits, new thanks! New love from God, new giving up of the heart to Him who gives us all! Shall not this be our vow to-day? Dear children, you vow it to-day before the eyes of many witnesses of those who have helped us to build the house-from whom you imploringly hope that they will continue to be mindful of our poverty, and will freely show compassion, that you may want for nothing. You know not how to thank men, but I hope-the Lord, who provides for you such benefits from Christian hands-Him you can thank ! What better way to do so, than to consecrate yourselves, albeit in great weakness, to your Lord and Saviour, to serve Him in Godly fear and filial love all your life long? Begin this to-day afresh; and then we and our friends here present, your benefactors, will devote to God the Swiss House, as we name it; committing it in His name to all the protection and guardianship of His paternal love,' &c., &c.

"In heartfelt love, and with uncovered heads, the members of the household now extended to each other the hand of brotherhood, and consecrated themselves, with the new house, to the good Shepherd as his abiding inheritance. We then besought Him to deign to enter the hut, as guardian and defence; to dwell therein as the lord and owner; to supply us therein perpetually with bodily and spiritual bread: to awaken therein the longing for that far better and eternal abode of peace, which He in yonder fatherland prepares for each one who loves His appearing and patiently expects His salvation.

"The spirit of true joy and religious confidence filled all who were there assembled ; in the name of all, the beloved pastor of the parish spoke, to direct us once more to Him, who, as the once crucified, now glorified Saviour, had prepared us for this festival. The old became young with the children, the children grave with the old; and all wandered yet again through the beautiful light rooms, in which nothing but simplicity and sufficiency was to be seen, which make rich that poverty which has found its wealth in Christ.

"Among those present was an old lady of 80, a widow, an Anna, who, before this, had often entered with benedictions the circle of our children; a handmaid of the Lord, and who loved me also till her end, with a mother's love. Her heart was actually broken for joy; overcome by the witnessed fulfillment of her blessing, she was compelled, without seeing more, to hasten home in her carriage. Exhausted, she sought repose, sought it four weeks; then found it in the bosom of the God whom she had served, rather silently than loudly; in the home of peace, of which the consecrated Swiss House had been to us an image. Her memory still remains to us in the benediction, her likeness you see to-day in our house with your own eyes.

"The twelve above mentioned who, on the 21st July, took the Swiss House for their abode, and slept there for the first time, on the 22d of July vacated the old house, and so it became possible to assemble the second family. These boys were received from the 31st July to the 15th October, 1834.

The sweetest, richest experience of God's grace were our portion; and we expe rienced, for instance, on the first Sunday, that the Lord had remained in the house in blessing. All minds opened to His Spirit and His love, and perhaps in those very days He sowed a seed which-God grant it!-will bring forth abiding fruit to everlasting life. But seldom are such days of perceptible blessing vouchsafed to us. Pray ye of the Swiss House: seek, knock, that you may again find, and hold fast, love and life.

"To-day, on the anniversary of the Swiss House Dedication, all those of the first family of the Swiss House, who then solemnized it with us, have already returned to common life, and are earning their bread as carpenters, tailors, husbandmen, artizans, smiths, sailors, shoemakers, sailmakers, gardeners, &c. Our dear friend, Johann Baumgartner, who assembled here the first boy family, has already removed to a distance; there afar off, by his own hearth, to provide for other children, home and sal

vation.

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Upon all these members of the household has God's grace been variously manifested in the Swiss House. May the gracious God still remain with them! And with them may He bless anew the house, which we to-day adorn to do Him honor; which to-day we consecrate anew to Him, that in and with it we may remain confided to His mercy and grace."

PARKHURST PRISON IN ENGLAND.

In contrast with a home and industrial school, into which the organization of the colony at Mettray, and the Rauhen Haus of Hamburgh, may be resolved, we present an account of the Parkhurst Prison, established by the English Government in the Isle of Wight, in 1837, for junenile offenders. We propose to examine the principles,

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