Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-10-21

erably lower in the City of the Orphans
than the average mortality of England
While in London-one the healthiest OF
the large cities-the rate of mortality i
over 30 per annum for every thousand liv
ing, the rate in the city at Ashley Down
is little more than half this,-a fact which
is rema able when it is known that many
of the orphans lave naturally weak con-
stitution. The healthful and Cheerful
appearance of Mr. Mulers children is Il
matter of remark by all who see them. In
their play-rooms they have plenty of toys
contributed by the public,-and it is .
matter of real interest to see hundreds o.
them together in these vast apartments
indulging in all kinds of childish sport,
and games They are a happy communl
ty. full of animal spirits, and apparent
ly as capable of enjoying life as the most
favored children in the country.
T 1t is long since the City OF the Orphans
acquired far more than local interest.
We have only to look through the mos
recently published of Mr.. Muller's . Mar
ratives' to see how widelr the institution
is known As we glance casually over the
pages we see that baker in Bedtordshlr,
sends 20, being a penny on every sack o.
-four he bakes, and the first money he
takes in morning in his little shop;
Bristol donor sends 600; from Devon
shire (no further particular being sup
plied.) $50 2s. Id. from AppenZel
Switzerland. g from Holland, 10 fiorin>
from Blackheath, 600; from shipownei
fl00 instead of insuring his ships; from
r. S. c., Calcutta. 95; from Demerara
"a from Bengal 100 rupees from tn
neighborhood of Brth, $500 from Scot
land, IS. From every po'ut of the com
pass. from far and near, Mr.. Muller nov
receives aid and it may be truly said THAI
there are few foreign mails which do no
bring donations towards the support of the
orphans at Ashley Down.
The wonderful progress of the great
work has already started in the minds o.
active philanthropists a very important
question as to the future of the orphans o
England We cannot in this country d.,
what is done at " The Howard Mission an
Home for little Wanderers" at New York
that is. take in destitute children and keeI
them till homes can be found for them.
This country is densely populated, and
idDOE - uOl 81 d> AZ Ah'NA iSh
consequently the demand for children to
adopt is not so great here as in the United
States There are still left to US. however.
three ways in which we can take care o.
the orphan population. We can keep them
in workhouses, as we do at present ; we
can take them out of warehouses, and
place them with families giving with them
a certain amount per week. as recon-
mended in Miss Florence Hills invaluable
work - The Children of the State" or we
can expand the City of the Orphans
founded by Mr.. Muller.
The first of these plans is the worst o
all. An orphan may not be of paupel
parents but, place the child in work
shop for half dozen years, and it is
a confirmed pauper, with little chance o!
being anything else. The second plan has
been tried, it Is said with success, in
particularly at Edinburgh, and
as an initiative experiment in Wiltshire.
If it could be made general,-as it ought
to bet would simply be an extended
system for granting outdoor relief, for
the money paid W tn the child would have
to come out of the poor-rate. In this
case. therefore, the child does not get clear
the pauper influence altogether.
These facts make phianthropists look
with great interest to the development o
Mr.. Muller's plan. National scandals have
been entirely removed by voluntary effort.
4 case in point is supplied by the Roya
National Lfe-boat Institution. Before th-
organization of this truly noble society,ouI
coasts were comparative unprotected
through its effprts there are lfe-5oats on
almost every dangerous part of the coas
We have still the national scanlal OF
neglected community Of orphans, Is it
not possible that Mr.. Muller's orphanages
may yet do for these poor waits OF human
ty what the Life-boat Institution has done
for the seamen wrecked on our shores? ? In
few years Mr.. Muller has provided
accommodation for sixth of the destitute
orphans of the country he is still in Wig
orous manhood, and there cannot be a
doubt, if we may take the past as guide
TO the future, that his five great houses for
.. 100 children are only the forerunners of
other houses of a similar character. What
the institution will lead to. the future must
determine but, according to all present
appearances, it seems destined d bring
about the solution of question which has
baffied all the pr ctical philanthropists OF
our time.
Practical Jokes.