body, education for the mind, religion for the heart. Then came the Steenbeek Asylum for 'Magdalens,' with its admirable rules and spirit, the Talitha Kûmi, and Bethel, for the details of which the reader must seek the book itself. We have mentioned these incidents because they are remarkable, and really give great interest to the work.

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Another feature that will not fail to attract attention, is the literary character of many of these foreign charities. Some have their printing presses, and issue a cheap literature for their own use and that of outsiders; others have their special organs, usually edited by the presiding genius of the establishment, in which its activities and its claims are faithfully and continually presented. This excessively Germanic element comes out strongly in contrast with our own heavy system of dull annual reports. Thus Fliedner's Deaconesses' Institution, at Kaiserwerth, has a monthly publication, cheaply produced on the spot, and called 'The Friend of the Poor and Sick' (Der Armen und Kranken-Freund). It is ably written,' says Mr. de Liefde, and gives full information about the work of the deaconesses in particular, and also regarding the social and religious condition of the people and mission work in general. Father Zeller, of the School for the Poor, at Beuggen, also published a Monthly Journal of Beuggen' (Monatsblatt von Beuggen), as a medium of communication between the establishment and the brethren educated there and scattered all over the world. 6 'Perhaps there never was a periodical published in the German tongue which had such an extensive and beneficial influence upon school and family life. Wherever there is a Christian philanthropic establishment, or a Christian school, or even a Christian family taking interest in philanthropic pursuits in the South of Germany, Zeller's "Monatsblatt" is to be found in the library, in the study, or on the bookshelf of the parlour.' Some very useful and suggestive aphorisms by Zeller, collected from the memories of his own children, the teachers, servants, and pupils, were given in that periodical in 1861. The Deacon House at Duisburg, on the Rhine, has a cheap weekly journal in connection with it, having a circulation of 5,000 copies, and largely contributing to the unity and success of the diaconate. It is called the 'Sunday Paper' (Sonntagsblatt), and chiefly deals with the Inner Mission for Rhineland and Westphalia. Every deacon, no matter where he may be, in Europe or America, has it sent to him, and is thus enabled to know how every branch is. going on. And if a specially important letter arrives, it is copied with chemical ink, and each brother gets a copy of it at once. The same spirit and power is seen in the Correspondenzblatt,'

pondenzblatt,' issued by Pastor Bräm, of Neukirchen, of whom we have more to say presently. These publications not only pay their own way, but foster everything that can contribute to the success of their respective institutions, keep up the interest of old servants and inmates, and knit all scattered workers into loving unity and power. The hint they give to us is a useful one, and well deserves consideration. We can scarcely say as much for some of the methods mentioned whereby funds have been procured for some of the institutions. Mr. Spittler's box is certainly a charitable curiosity, and there should have been an engraving of it. Twice has it been disposed of by lottery, and twice has it been given back again to the Beuggen institution; and now it is kept,' says Mr. Zeller, as a remembrancer till the Lord give us further hints about its destiny.'

If anything could add to the evidence already existing of the permeating power of Christian truth, charity, faith, and teaching, it is the account of these institutions, their rise, progress, sustenance, and success. It even struck the veteran educationalist, Pestalozzi himself, when he visited the school at Beuggen. Thus, as Pestalozzi wanted the children, as it were, continuously to bathe in the rivers of creation, Zeller wanted them at the same time to bathe in the ocean of divine truth-the Scriptures. Nor was Pestalozzi opposed to this; he only lacked the requisite simplicity of sight to see how it could be effected. But he saw it realised at Beuggen, and he marvelled at it with joyful surprise. It was in July, 1826, that the patriarch visited Zeller's establishment. Upon entering the house, his way on both sides was lined with a row of children and pupil teachers, who welcomed him with a hymn. Moved to tears, the venerable grey-headed old man walked up the broad flight of stairs to the large school-room, and took his place at the teacher's desk. An oak wreath was presented to him, but he put it on the head of Zeller's little son, saying, in a voice almost stifled with tears, "Not to me! Not to me! This wreath becomes innocence !" He stayed four days at the establishment, and inquired minutely into its organisation, and the spirit in which it was conducted. And what was the impression made upon him? When walking through the house he constantly said to himself, as overwhelmed with surprise, "What a power! What a power!" It is also asserted, that after having seen Zeller's work, he said, "I wish I could begin my labours over again."

Some persons may object to the monastic character of most of these institutions, but it is a necessary element of their power. In most there is perfect freedom, and the inmates can

statement.

leave when they choose; nay, a dismissal is generally resorted to as a punishment when all other discipline fails. Of course, no criminal reformatories are included in the book, or this It is not an easy idea to fix in popular minds as to what such institutions are. Some good but ignorant people about Strasburg frighten their children into submission by saying they will send them to Neuhof, but that is extremely unlike either a convent or a prison. English people, however, must regard the name Wichern gave to his brethren as an unfortunate one. They are called convicts, not because they have been convicted of any crime, but from the monkish Latin convivo, to live together, which really expresses the simplicity, earnestness, and family feeling which characterises all their relations. It is just this family feeling and organisation which constitute the life and soul of such institutions as Wichern's, Father Zeller's School, Pastor Dietrich's Asylum for Discharged Prisoners and Neglected Men, the Neuhof School, and many others mentioned by Mr. de Liefde. There is nothing like it, so far as we know, in England. Wichern's system is in many respects the best, as it is the most complex. Twelve boys of varying ages form a family, and have a house, garden, &c., of their own. The young ones have older ones near to help them, and the older ones are pleased to see themselves looked up to. Each family clects its own Friedensknabe, or Boy of Peace, who is the leader, counsellor, and arbiter of their daily affairs. Over him stands a brother, who is called the House-father, and is one of another family band of convicts' who share the same roof. A Candidate of Theology also lives with them, and forms the link connecting the family to Wichern himself. The brothers are as elder brothers to the young family, and a most cordial attachment exists between them. As the children are of all ages, so are they of all trades and characters.

Each household is characterised by a family spirit peculiar to itself; and this causes a commendable ambition to keep up the family honour and reputation. Nothing is more dreaded by a family than to see one of its members censured for laziness or bad conduct in the weekly report, which is read in the presence of all the inmates of the establishment. So every one of the twelve is taught to feel an interest in maintaining the rules and regulations of his family, however multifarious these may be, and however cumbrous they may seem to be to those who stand outside. Such a thing as clannishness, however, is kept out with might and main, sufficient provision being made for the mingling of the families as one community. At school the children are classed according to their ages and capacities; in the fields and the workshops according to their

trades.

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trades. The family union there completely disappears; but no sooner does the bell ring for meals than it is formed again, each one, arranging in military file, marching to its own house, to enjoy for an hour the benefits and comforts of a happy home. To link this family life with society outside, a system of patronage was formed in 1857, in connection with Wichern's Rauhe Haus at Horn. Each family has a patron who belongs to the richer class in Hamburg. He receives a monthly account of its proceedings, and a school report every quarter. Once or twice in the year he entertains them at his own house, and when there is a family festival, he, in turn, becomes their guest. When the child leaves the house, he visits the patron, and tells him his plans and wishes, so that the after results are as beneficial as the current ones.

This family unity is admirably maintained even in religious worship, and has the effect of opening the hearts of both the children and the brethren in a way which no indiscriminate intercourse possibly could do. Confidence, sympathy, and help spring out of it. Corporal chastisement is never heard of, or even necessary. To quote Mr. Spencer's words, as applied by him to the method he has himself sketched out, they receive their punishment through the working of things rather than at the hands of individuals;'* and the result is that the children recognise its justice, and there are no displays of temper, harshness, or severity. If a child will not work, he gets no food, and if he commits a theft, he is left to experience the distrust of his own fellows. The same method is adopted at the agricultural colony at Rijsselt, called the Netherland Mettray. Some boys played at marbles instead of working, and when afternoon came for them to continue their labour, marbles were given them that they might play again, with excellent effect. Others fetched tea from the kitchen for an invalid, breaking the rules by so doing, and being fond of drawing, a cup and a saucer were brought for them to copy. They copied them, and when handing them back to the director they said, with downcast eyes, 'Sir, we understand you; it shall never happen again.' Others robbed an orchard, and no one would speak to them, or shake hands with them for eight days, by a self-concerted arrangement. Before the time was up, the culprits could bear the isolation no longer, and confessed their sin, and craved pardon. One of us has a little money,' they said; 'we will go to the farmer and pay the damage.' Even after the boys are apprenticed, the family feeling and oversight are continued. The results of

* Education: Intellectual and Moral.' By Herbert Spencer. p. 126.

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all this sympathetic oneness, as far as all the children's institutions are concerned, are marvellous, and the same may be said of a similar spirit amongst the various deacon and deaconesses' institutions upon the continent. It will be well if our kindred establishments can but be imbued with a similar spirit. Separate dwellings may be expensive for a large establishment, but the system can be easily adopted without them. To throw a boy or a girl in amongst a crowd with no organisation resembling or symbolising the family, is a dangerous proceeding, engendering coldness and hardness of heart, and creating that sense of loneliness and dislocation, which, if an analysis of character were faithfully made, would be found to have made crime and vagabondism first possible and then actual in about three-fourths of our juvenile and growing population. Let us strive to be natural first, and then our charity may flower into usefulness, order, and practical success. Otherwise, it will be long before we can point to results that will justify all our enthusiasm and warrant all our expenditure. We have purposely refrained from dwelling specially upon any one of the establishments described by Mr. de Liefde. The task would be endless; it would be but to reproduce the work itself, and we are more anxious that that should be studied than anything we can say about it, or draw out of it. But we must make one exception in favour of the Society for the Education of Indigent Children, founded by Pastor Bräm, of Neukirchen. It is unique. He seems to have taken the hint for it from the somewhat clumsy system of Poor Law administration once common in Germany. Orphans and foundlings, instead of being decently provided for, as with us, were boarded out in private families, and often sold by auction to the lowest bidder! Thus, in 1849, Ferdinand Fingado, of Lahr-Dinglingen, who founded an orphan house there, bought three girls at an auction for nine florins, that is fifteen shillings each, which sum included feeding, clothing, and education for twelvemonths. Occasionally such children were never thought of afterwards, and became slaves of their owners, begging publicly like wretched poor, and sometimes doing even worse things for their keepers. Pastor Bräm saw that the plan could be, and must be, reformed. He travelled hither and thither, lectured, wrote, and discussed. He felt sure that good families could be found to put children into, but he was laughed at as a dreamer. He tried some experiments in families connected with his own congregation, and with the happiest results. A society was formed, and received the sanction of the Government. It undertook the education of such children as were either abandoned only but not neglected,

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