Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-01-24 00:00:00

THE MAGDALENE INSTITUTION,

AFTER the occasions that have lately come
before us, and of which we have humbly endea-
voured to take advantage, of exposing some of the
enormities of that dire Social Evil, which is one
of society's greatest curses, and urging their miti-
gation, it would be an unpardonable neglect on
our part, if we did not devote some attention, in
this portion of our columns, •to that excellent
sheltery or reformatory institution for fallen women,
of which our own town, to its honour and credit,
can boast, and the proceedings of whose anniver-
sary meeting we reported a day or two since--we
mean the Liverpool Magdalene Institution.
The success of this charitable institution, accord-
ing to its means, affords most conclusive evidence,
not only of the need of such humane and charitable

efforts for rescuing from infamy and degradation
the abandoned women that infest our streets, but
of the practicability of so considerate and truly
Christian an object. These poor prostitutes are often
such from the want of any opportunity of escaping
from their most miserable and degraded position.
As the worthy Chairman of the meeting truly
said, " bad as many of them appeared to be, they
were not altogether hardened and seared. Many
of them were visited with uneasy consciences ;
they were haunted by the memory of the respecta-
bility, the comfort, and the endearments of home,
which they had lost ; many of them were so
wearied and disgusted with their sinful lives that
they would be only too glad to escape, if they
knew how. It was to women in that state of
mind that institutions such as this proved to be a
source of mercy and blessing ; and it was a very
peculiar and admirable feature of this institution
that it afforded such easy access to those who
wished to enter it." It is, in fact, a house of
refuge. Its doors are opened at all times—" every
day in the week, and every hour in the day, so
that any poor woman who really wished to turn

away from a life of sin and to betake herself to
better things had only to knock at the door." And
within that refuge, those who have become the
wretched outcasts, cut off from all human sym-
pathy, excluded from all virtuous association, but
left to sink lower and lower in the depths of
degeneracy and defilement, without one friendly
hand stretched forth to save them, are kindly
received, as returning penitents ever ought to be—
there they breathe a new and purifying moral
atmosphere ; all that surrounds them there tells of
virtue and charity and respectability ; and they
find all their good resolutions immediately encou-
raged and strengthened. As the Report of the
Committee sets forth, "it is shown that the disci-
pline of the institution imparts a knowledge of
work, a habit of industry, and a strength of
character which enable those who have only par-
tially received its benefits, to withstand the temp-
tations and inducements which would otherwise
have led them back again to their former life."
And what greater practical good could be put in
their way than this, introductory, as it is, to their
full restoration to the inestimable blessings of
Christian life and character ?

That there should be difficulties to be encoun-
tered, in such a course of moral reformation, were
the most natural thing in the world. "In truth,"
as the Report observes, " the work is full of
difficulty ; many a disappointment has been felt,
many a hopeless case has failed. It is generally
found that these poor girls, even when free from
everything like confirmed depravity, have con-
tracted from their past lives such a weakness and
infirmity of moral character that they have little
or no aptitude to receive or retain good impres-
They may be, and very often are, sincere,
grateful, obedient, and willing to work; but, on
the other hand, they are in general sadly deficient

in temper, in thoughtfulness, in firmness of pur-
pose, and in the power of resolving and acting as
if they were bent on recovering their lost position
in society. Hence," as it is sensibly and encou-
ragingly added, " the necessity for a sound system
of industrial and moral discipline, accompanied by
such religious teaching as may, by God's blessing,
lead them to true repentance, subdue their evil
propensities, develope their good qualities, and
lead them to look up to Him who can impart
strength to the weakest of His servants, and
work in them both to will and to do of His good
pleasure.'"

Now, surely, an institution in our midst so. truly
Christian in its character, and so eminently calcu-
lated to promote the highest interests of society,
as this is, one might expect, in so large and
wealthy a town as Liverpool, and where its ope-
rations, as is seen on every hand, are so urgently
needed, would receive such general and such
liberal support as to enable it to meet, in some
degree, the growing necessities of the case. And
yet the very reverse, it is sad to think, is the fact.
Its funds amount to only hundreds of pounds,
where they ought at least to be thousands. Its
means of usefulness, therefore, are most grievously
limited. And the Report, as a matter of course,
has again to complain, " that the number of women
refused admittance during the past year has been
large, and had the house been twice the size it
could have readily been filled,"—the Committee
feelingly adding, that "it is lamentable to think
how many lead this life of sin, and that Liver-
pool holds a sad pre-eminence in this respect
over other large towns ; and they especially
regret to state, on public authority, that
a large increase of this unhappy and de-
graded class has taken place in the last year."
This is certainly to be deplored—in a Christian
community it is indeed to be wondered at also :
nay, even in a moral and social point of view, to go
no further, it is astonishing that the importance of

such a reformatory institution is not more
generally recognised, and its object more liberally
supported. The appeal with which the Report
winds up ought to find a response in every
reflecting mind, at any rate, when it declares,—
" This trade in human• souls is shocking, and
calculated to arouse all Christian people to exert
themselves to suppress it ; and though the Com-
mittee cannot hold out to themselves the hope of
contributing much to this great end, yet they have
the satisfaction of knowing that their institution
has proved a shelter to not a few real penitents,
who could not otherwise have escaped from their
state of bondage; and they can, with the
confidence arising out of experience, ask the
continued support of their present subscribers,
while they would, at the same time, solicit the
sympathy and aid of all benevolent persons to a
work of mercy which is commended to us
by the precepts and example of the Saviour of
Sinners."