Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-04-05
From the Boston Advertiser, (whie. } March 81

Il rfoui VIC Dootou huNcihscf, ult.D udrC0 Jl
On THE DKDHAo TURNPIKE, in Roxbu-
ry, just beyond Oak street, there is an
ordinary house in which school is kept
by seven ladies, Catholic "Sisters of
Charity" members of the order of Notre
Dame. They have twelve pupils, young
ladies' between the ages of ten and fif
teen, all Americans by birth. These
nineteen ladies form the whole house.
hold, with the exception of an Irishman
who is employed about the premises as
servant. The house is located upon a
thoroughfare much travelled it is not Sc
cluded in any way from public gaze, the
grounds are not surrounded by any bar
rier, nor does it have any of the charac-
teristics of monastic institution. The
ladies who reside there as teachers are
highly cultivated and accomplished, and
as much entitled to respect and courtesy
as any in the State. Their pupils are
likewise respectable, and there is not the
least evidence that their attendance at
school is forced, that they are subjected
to any rigorous discipline, or obliged to
undergo any sort of fill-treatment.
Such being the character of this estab-
llshment, the seventeen ladies residing
therein We're surprised on last Monday
afternoon to see two omnibuses drive up
to the doors, crowded with passengers,
who alight and inquire for the "lady SUI.
perior," and being met by the head of
the establishment. the spokesman of the
party informs her that the crowd is a
Committee appointed by the Legislature
to examine the house. No notification O.
the visit to be expected has been served
upon the ladies, and they are obliged to
take the statement of the members of the
party on their own authority. We have
already seen that the Committee actually
appointed by the Legislature consists Of
but seven members. We are unable to
state the number of the party protesting
to act as this Committee on this occa.
sion, but from the fact that two twelve
seat omni buses, which appeared to be
full, were required for their transport,
we can only estimate their number at
twenty-four. There may have been a
few mere or less.
| Nineteen ladies, twelve of them less
than fifteen years of age, could not, of
course, oppose any effeetual obstacle to
the entrance of twenty-four full grown
men into common house, even had the
ladies known the rights guaranteed them
by the constitution and laws of Massa-
chusetts, and had they been disposed to
maintain those rights by force. The
! 'gentlemen" presume we must call
members Of the Legislature by this title
t-roamed over the whole house from at
tic to cellar. No chamber, no passage.
no closet, no cupboard escaped their Wig
liant search. No part of the house was
enough sacred or enough protec ed bY
respect for the cOurtesies Of civilized life
to be spared in the examination Ihe
ladies dresses hanging in their wardrobes
were tossed over. The party invaded
the chapel and showed their respect-as
Protestants, we preSume-for the One
God whom all Christians worship by
talking loudly, with their hats on, while
| the ladies shrank in terror at the desc
Grafton of spot which they believe hal
| lowed.
While in the chapel the ladies declined
| holding any conversation with their per
secutors; but in another part of the house
| the principal expressed her perfect will
| llngness to answer any questions pro-
pounded by the COMMITTEE. One of
the gentlemen pats her affectionately
| on the back with one hapd, turns over
the rosary suspended round her neck
with the other, and asks her if she is con-
tent with her situation, whether she can
leave when she pleases. The young la
dies were of course subjected to ques-
tiOnS even more rude-whether there are
any boys boarding in the establishment
what punishment they suffer for mis-
demeanors, &c. It is scarcely necessary
to describe such conversation in detail;
the reader can readily imagine what the
scene must have been. The examining
party, Of course had their own way, and
when their searches and insults had been
protracted to the extent of their pleas
ure they took their leave. 1t is scarcely
necessary to say that they "found-no
matter what-it was not that they
sought the object of their visit
was simply clark" at the expense of
the State, in which case the object was
doubtless attained. There were no nuns
| immured alive in contracted cells, nor
any evidences of abuse Of any sort call
ing for legislative interference or even in
quiry.
Now, we ask the rejecting men and
women of Massachusetts-we even ap-
peal to the candor of the eighty thousand
voters who put the present Administra-
ton in power-is such record as the
above fit to form page in the history
of the free and enlightened Common
wealth of Massachusetts, in the nineteenth
century ! Make any allowance you please
for exaggeratiOns in the story which may
have been caused by the natural fears of
the terrified witnesses, md does the rec
ord stand fair and clear! Is such the
treatment that defenceless women ought
to receive? Is such the behaviour of
| gentlemen in the LEGISLATURE? IL is