The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1861-02-04
TIE HOILGE OR REHLLE Z,

the eooQ WoTK which they have so n0bly underta-
ken to perform.
TIE HOUSE or REFUGE.
In compliance with an invitation from the Board
of Managers, Mayor Brown, and the members of
the City Council, together with quite number of
other gentlemen, paid an interesting visit to the
House of Refuge on Saturday last. Under the
guidance of Mr. Lincoln, the very able and urbane
Superintendent of the Institution, they made tour
of inspection to all parts of the building, and were
witnesses to the everyday operations which are
carried on within its walls. The dormitories, the
work-rooms, the refectory, the hospital were all
examined in their turn, and all presented air of
simple neatness and cleanliness; of systematic man
agement, and of thorough attention to details,
which could scarcely be surpassed. We were not,
therefore, surprised to find that the general feeling
of the visitors was one of unalloyed satisfaction,
not only with respect to the internal
organization of the Institution and the man.
in which all the various departments were
conducted but also in regard to the happy effects
produced upon the poor outcast chiloren-the waits
and estrays fsociety-who have here found home,
and are trained to become useful members OF the
commonwealth. If there is any one thing, against
which objection might be urged, it relates to the
ce-like character of the dOrmitories which, with
their lattice DOORS resemble too closely those of our
jails and prisons. In House OF Refuge, the idea of
punishment should be subordinated to that of re-
formation, and the less its interior arrangements
impress the imagination with a sense of degrade
ton, the more readily will the good intentions of
the founders of the Institution be carried out But
the fault, to which we allude-if fault it be is
wholly one of construction and we are happy to
know that it has been carefully avoided in planning
the noble edifice, in process of COM
pletion, adjacent to the present House of Ref.
uge but separated from it by a wall, and which,
when finished, is intended for the reception of girls
only; leaving the original building to the exclusive
use of the boys. At the present time there are in
the Institution Isl of the latter, and SO of the for
mer, by far the larger portion being of ten
der age and therefore most susceptible to the kind
ly and thoughtful influences by which they are
surrounded. Contrary to what one might suppose
to be the case, they a happy-looking crowd of
children, and with but few exceptions bear no i'm
press their cOuntenances of the low and immoral
associations from whch-fortunately for them.
seves-they are now rigidly excluded They are
all healthy too. Pure air and frequent change of
diet have doubtless, assisted in producing this re.
suit; but much also is evidently due to cleanliness
of person and to that alienation of labor with
study which constitutes the essential feature of the
system on which the Institution is conducted. 1t
is certainly an attractive sight, to sec this
multitude of children busily engaged in the va
ri0us departments of industry, or at their
school exercises, or their play grounds-for the
hours CT labor and instruction, and relaxation sue.
coed each other by turns-and we dwell upon it the
attention of citizens to the very obvious merits
and great moral value of this excellent reformato-
~ Institution.
We now turn to the incidents connected with the
official visit that took place on Friday last Be-
sides Mayor Brown and the members of the City
Council, there present on the part of the
Board of Managers, Rev, Dr. McCron and
Kelso, Wilson, Smith and Hynes. Mr.. W.
C. Barclay, the British Vice Consul was one
OF the invited guests, as was also Enoch
Pratt, ESQ, and several other prominent citizens.
After thorough examination of the original House
of Refuge, and of the new building adjacent there
to, the company proceeded to the public hall,
where the inmates Of the establishment to the num-
Der of three hundred and upwards, had in the mean
time, assembled. The proceedings here were par
ticularly interesting-the more So indeed from
the fact, that with the exception of the opening ad
dress of welcome, which written for the occa-
sion, all the exercises were of an impromptu char
acter, none of the boys knowing which of them
would be called upon to recite on the occasion until
selected in the presence of the company by the
Superintendent. The opening, address was deliv-
cred by Richard Coulter, one of the inmates of the
nstituton-quite fine looking boy-and was re-
markably well recited. at the close of the ad.
dress, few remarks were made by Superintendent
Lincoln, after which the military band COM
posed wholly of boys connected with the establish
ment, under the able instruction of Prof J. NJ
Deems, discoursed excellent music. Then fol-
lowed in succession, Rotations and singing
music again, and dramatized anecdote of Stephen
Girard, in regular alienation. The Rev. Doctor
McCron, one of the managers, made brief address
to the Mayor and City Council, relative to the
moral and social value of the Institution and the
necessity of sustaining it by generous support He
said that it was no charity that was asked for he
considered the House of Refuge to be the best in.
vestment that was ever made by the combined &C
ton of private munfcence and public liberality
He alluded to the fact that they had seen
the Institution tricked out for the occasion but
in its every day garb, and that they had only to
look at the cheerful countenances around them to
be convinced the great good which it was accom-
plishing. He expressed the belief that the same
amount of happiness within its walls was scarcely
to be found amongst an equal number of child
rem elsewhere. He stated what the wants of the
! institution were; the pecuniary embarrassment
under which it was likely to labor, in consequence
losing the State appropriation of $40 900 by an
unfortunate mistake, and appealed to the City
Council to grant such relief under the circumstan-
ces as would enable the Board of Managers to keen
the children together, instead of being reluctantly
compelled to send them out into the world. Mayor
Brown responded. He had been greatly gratfed BY
what he had seen. 1t was not the first time he had
visited the Institution and he was therefore to
extent, familiar with its workings. He regarded it
as the best charity in the city, and deeply in
terested in its prosperity. After visiting the Aims
house, the Jail and the Penitentiary, he had come
away profoundly grieved at the vast amount of sin
and depravity which they contained; and be felt
that in these Institutions all projects of reform were
hopeless. The House of Refuge was school which
afforded the only ground for hope and encourage.
ment. He contrasted the condition and prospects
of the children before them with those of the children
that abounded everywhere in the streets and lanes
and alleys of the city, and who were constantly in
danger of being drawn into evil ways and of end
| ing lille OF crime by death of shame lie
believed that every child had a right to an
education, and that if the parents were Door it was
the duty of the city and State to furnish it, He
was satisfied that the greater number of the chill
aren before HIM, under the excellent and salutarv
| V tvar i
| become worthy and useful citizens and he felt
| sure that the City Council would not hesitate to
sustain the good work. At the close of his remarks
which were most warmly applauded, the services
OF the band were again called into requistion and
| the exercises were terminated by a brief speech
| from Mr.. Lincoln, the Superintendent in refer
ence to this particular feature in the programme.
| After a complimentary allusion-which was GER
tany well deserved-to the rapid progress in mu-
sic which the youthful members of the band had
made, under the teaching of Prof Deems, he stated
that there had been recently purchased for them a
new set of brass instruments, at cost of some four
| hundred dollars The money yet remained I'M
| paid, and with the consent of the Board Of Man
ayers it was proposed that the juvenile musicians
should give concert at the Maryla Institute for
the purpose of obtaining the necessary means of
liquidating the debt. The proposition was well re-
ceived by the assembled guests, and we sincerely
trust will also meet the substantial approval of the
community. The day on which the concert is to
be held is not yet fixed, but will be made public in
due time. The proceedings were wound up with an
excellent cold collation., to which, as is usual in
such cases, ample justice was done, and finally the
company separated well pleased with what they
had seen and thoroughly impressed with the per-
feet system and order which prevailed in all the
varied departments of the Institution, and with
the courtesies of which they had been the reel.
pients
The REPORTED RESURRECTION IN Sr. MARYs CoVN-
Tive published, few days ago, an extract
from letter received in Washington, from Leon
aFu'o~n' st.Mary's county, stating that negro in
surfectlon plot had been discovered II; that r;o;,;