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    A HOUSE OF MERCY. 17

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    . At A Few This High Days Institution Ga...

    Sister saw all the girls in their beds , and removed the light . At 6 in the morning she opened their door and aroused them . At 7 they

    all assembled for prayers in the chapel . The class-room ,, which was opposite tflie dormitory , on the same

    floor , "was like an ordinary school-room , with bare floor , and with a ldeal table in the centre . "Very litrtle scholastic instruction ,

    h arge owever , can at present be given , as the Sisters' powers are already so much over-taxed by their _superintendence of the religious and

    domestic instruction . We found the _gials in one class-room emloyed in sewingin preparing clothes for those who were ready to

    leav p e the establishment , . I noticed that & ibove the chimney-piece of this room various instructions for the week were written up ; their

    hours of silence , of religious service , & e . Also I observed that there "was a list of the girls' names—naianes by which they were

    known in the establishment ; each girl receiving a new name and new clothes when she enters this _Penitentiary , and , as it is to be

    hoped , commencing a new life . The naames were peculiar : they were Gertrudes , Amandas , Rosalines , Helenas , & c . I saw but a

    small number of Ruths , Marthas , or Marys . It is thought best on many accounts to give each girl a new name ; it breaks off old

    associations , also helps to prevent her being immediately recognised in instancesboth "within the _institutionand also when she

    leaves many itand can , resume her old _baptismal cognomen , . I rather wonder wh , y such romantic names _shoxaid have been given ; it

    striking me that in many instances it miight be injudicious in any way to foster the element of love of romantic distinction in these poor ,

    frail , ignorant human breasts . We also saw the girls walking up and aLown the broad walks of

    the beautiful grounds attached to the _hoxuse , or sitting at work on benches beneath the old chestnuts or Poirtngal laurels . The

    sunshine falling upon their white caps and pale grey dresses made them , seen in the distance , grouped in the * leafy arcade , resemble a

    flock of doves . Alas ! poor , torn , desecrated doves , whose plumage had for their been soiled purification by the and filth emanci of great pation cities ! ., how The one Sister ' s sp in irit her longed black

    attire was seen moving about amongst tihe groups , talking with them The , or Ward sitting en alone drew , a little attention apart , readimg to tit © . abundance of apples ,

    my wh " W ich hen almost I came wei here ghed last down year , " many he said large , < * u these old trees apple in -trees the garden caused . of rules inst

    us app a le great -stealing deal , and of annoyance many oth . er There rules . _weres Vet , the course first , thing which aga I

    did was to put them aside . ' We will hav « o no formal code , ' I said , ' till we see what laws are absolutely _necessary . The fewer the _lwicontinued heto

    rules the better . ' I have found my p , " , " answer admirabl * To break a rule is an act of disobedience : let

    us therefore have y as . few as possible to break . The Sisters and myself

    vol . i . c

    A House Of Mercy. 17

    A HOUSE OF MERCY . 17

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), March 1, 1858, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01031858/page/17/