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.18 . A HOUSE OF MEBCY .
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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Transcript
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
. At A Few This High Days Institution Ga...
made known the duties tliat had to be performed , and the times and seasons were fixed . All goes on like clock-work . The great thing
is to adhere firmly and calmly to the few laws laid down , and also to simplify those laws as much as possible . I find , too , that to gain the
confidence of each girl is of the highest importance , and to treat her as an individualand not as one of a mass . I cannot treat any two
, of these girls exactly after the same fashion , because their natures , although alike in their broad features , differ in the detail . I receive
a report every week from the Sisters of each girl ' s conduct , but it is not from this alone that I judge ; I judge from my own observation .
I am constantly amongst them , both when they do and when they do not expect me . These apple-trees wereas I said , a great
stum-, bling-block on my arrival . They were legislated against , but that "was of no avail . Such a state of affairs would never do : I made it
known , therefore , that all apple pilfering was a cause of great displeasure to me ; and I therefore put the girls upon their honour .
This year you see "what a crop we have , and the windfalls have lain safely beneath the trees . I know , however , only of three
apples having been taken this autumn . I noticed C , one of the prettiest and most intelligent of the girls here , skipping one
morning off the grass very nimbly . She had no business to be where she was . I called her to me . c C / I said , ' put your hand in
your pocket and show me what you have got there . ' She turned very redand drew forth an apple . * 0 , ' I continued , ' I am
, ashamed of you ! ashamed of your doing such a mean , paltry thing ! to break my trust in you for a mere apple ! I am ashamed , 1 am
disappointed indeed ! I expected much better things from you !' " You cannot imagine" pursued the Warden , " what a distress
, this was to her . It cut her up fearfully , because I had never concealed from her that I considered her a girl of first-rate abilities ,
and capable of almost any improvement . She is a wonderful little creature , this girl , sharp of mind , and agile of frame , and
full of emulation . She would be at the top of the tree wherever she might be : she feltthereforemy disappointment keenly .
, , " The second apple I found , with a piece bitten out , in the middle of a walk where one of the classes had been taking
exercise . I took it into the classroom immediately , and showed it , saying that I felt convinced some of the class had been -weak
enough to disobey my wishes . All denied . I said this only made the matter much worse , because there was the apple with the
piece bitten out of it , found where they only had just been : it testified against some one present—some one whose conscience
must be now reproaching them with falsehood . I left them to be judged by God ' s voice within them . One of the oldest girls
of the class burst out crying : 'Oh , Warden ! I did it ! I did it ! oh , why did I disobey for a nasty apple ? I don't know why I
took it ; I _clid not really care for it . Oh , forgive me ! ' She was
.18 . A House Of Mebcy .
. 18 . A HOUSE OF MEBCY .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), March 1, 1858, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01031858/page/18/
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