The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-07-25 00:00:00

RAGGED SCHOOLS

There can be no doubt that whatever differenee,il
opinion may exist as to some of the characteristics red
tendencies of the present period, or to certain c„.00
questions of commercial and financial policy, the being ii
on which the virtue, happiness, and social well- der
communities very largely depend are more clearly ilepte
stood, and-more distinctly recognised, than they everrtioo,s
been before. Even the sordid and apathetic Pewit's
of society are beginning to perceive that they cannot'itio°
safety to themselves, remain indifferent to the conuot
of the masses around them, and suffer them, witll3 de.
countervailing effect, to grow up in ignorance 91'
pravity. Nor has the progress which has been nil tIO
this direction been confined to a mere admission et lot°
truth. Speculative convictions have been carried (14 P°'
action which has established their soundness. 11 ft)!
by increasing the severity, or adding to the terrors ee,
penal code, or by multiplying policemen, that proPoo'
to be protected, crimes prevented, or the mor 1 berSnitelf
the community promoted. This end will be itnpoli
better attained by the bestowal of care and attentionho
those swarms of houseless and neglected children ly (Pi
to be found in all our large towns and cities, bereft ofd
mestic and parental discipline, deserted by their nedlrci
guardians, destitute of moral feelings or perceptielT
ject to the all-powerful influence of evil examPleA
without any means of subsistence, except such as
city or theft hold out to them. We need not svooo
out of such classes as these the ranks of our crime' settle;
recruited, our gaols constantly filled, and our pen'll4Bslllf
ments made the sources of moral pestilence to tho-3000
0 . are themselves but imperfectly supplied with the 111eoll'e.
moral culture. It is seldom, if ever, that men an", inti°:'
suddenly or abruptly quit the paths of honesty and wioe",j
try for those of theft and vice. The neglected anu.ool;
able children of whom we have before spoken, bYJeng e";
steps ascend the ladder of crime, and after furnisP4jo,,,"
pensive and laborious employment for our courti:,,,ein
tice end their days in the hulks or convict sett-i`A-51tiel'ci
Those are. (to use the expressive words of Lord `,41],14
the seed-plots of nineteen-twentieths of the criee' ettl"n,
disgraces the country. The best means of coricatcieA
them into useful and industrious members of og,
which have been devised appear to be those of To
and Industrial Schools, with the general nature I,lleof
jects of which our readers are already familiar• asseseb
sults which have followed the withdrawal of the cid ssos
children in question from tae vitiating influence 10°,
evil example, of imparting to them moral and retieinstruction, of training them to habits of systen',„
dustry. and in some measure preserving them fire" 1010
tation by supplying their bodily wants, have bet o Pof
gratifying and encouraging, unpromising as mig'orl. De
sight appear the materials on which they had to sc ins lea
the general character of these materials some ides„oa !of to
gathered from the recent speech of Lord AshleY
subject in the House of Commons. In speaki,.l):oll3-1)
habits, pursuits, and " natural history," as be to ice'
of the class for whom he spoke, he referred .4;4149
scholars whose names are on the books of fifteenp
lar Ragged Schools, the average attendance in vifisoltelt'
about 1600. Of these, 162 had often been in P'or 51",09
lived chiefly by begging, 216 had neither shoes of b. a
ings, 280 no cap, hat, or bonnet, 101 no scrsPgept le"rs,
linen, 249 had no recollection of ever having „cootl2o-05
bed ; 68 were children of convicts, 125 of stej,ools,
306 orphans. The average attendance on the setbis eCoa'
some 4000: the proportions above, if applied t? of
ber, gave 660 who lived by begging, 178 childienstioeit'd
victs, and 800 orans. Glancing at their ocenoPes,
street-sweepers, match-sellers, holders Of h orils,, the
agents of dealers in marine stores—in other wdicateaes.
on the staff of receivers of stolen goods—be WI brleAlll
mode in which they passed their nights—en' of
tl'
o ev
viaducts, door-ways, in saw-pits, lime-kiin9, cone,,,oe
vehicles, in the open air, on the bare earth.l
it thruotlee
whom Lord Ashley had spoken personally, s elron rto
the inclement winter of last year in the greriat d, 000thr
in the Regent's Park. This boy had a f t,e
boy, who was even worse off than himself
citi leis
boy he went one day, and said " Come,.,3l_° blbrough, to'
and I'll let you into a good thing." lle,‘„it
friend to the iron roller, and the two boysiisa'croantitiool
gether for the remainder of the winter. A 010
cur in representing tbe ragged inmates of ..„tioet..pr
in question as showing great aptitude for instr' their to'
they become orderly and docile, and attache_adato,o3ls
structors ; and there have been many aloe,
stances of reclamations of relations and t
h the
provement in considerable localities, thro3t_is. thi
of reformed juvenile pupils of Ragged SO
so' vvhavvbicP,
on former occasions given some particulaotodow' or's_ hor,
been done in our own town in aid of the al;
those schools are carrying on, efforts scbl'„9(el3l,
that the Christian and philanthrophic be succv:ll: '
and expr_SbG
now making to extend their operations willao
All such efforts have our warmest sympathy
good whales.

July 2:

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