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186 THE WANSTEAD INFANT ORPHAN ASYLUM.
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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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.
_ ¦Aifii I I R Snaresbrook On One Of The...
summon a matron to show _xls over the building . As we awaited lier returnour attention was directed to a piece of sculpture
, _representing Childhood , "We frolic while 'tis May , " executed and presented by Felix Martin Miller , a former pupil . At this moment
a door at the other end of the hall opened , and two and two came the children from their dinner , the boys leading the way , the different
classes headed by their respective masters , followed by the girls , conducted in like manner by governesses and nurses according to
class and age , until they dwindled down to little things of four years oldeach and all looking as healthy and happy as the most
, anxious mother could desire to see them . "We were then taken to the nursery , which is certainly not the least
interesting part of the establishment : in the first room we found a merryjoyous little group , ( all under four years of age , ) who had
passed , us on their way from dinner . They ran to us as we entered , one little fellow pushing a chair towards us as he ran , saying ,
" Take a chair , lady ; " a second brought us some painted letters ; and a third thrust into our hand a picture ( cut out of some newspaper )
of Lord Brougham . The nurse of this department then took us into the next room , where we saw sevenvounger children at dinner ,
to which they seemed inclined to do ample _^ justice , in spite of peals of laughter as they peeped over and under their table napkins . We
noticed in particular one little girl , whose bright face was in sad contrast to her mournful history ; her father had been a gentleman of
independent property , reverses came , followed by sudden death , and a widow and six children were left wholly unprovided for . While
deeply sympathizing with the sad tale the nurse simply and touchingly told usanother glance at her bright laughter-loving face
, reminded us how we should rather rejoice that her lines had fallen in pleasant placesfor the kind motherly manner of those around
, her assured us that she and her little companions are well tended and cared for ; and the short prayer over the mantel-piece of each
_Tbed-room , which is repeated night and morning by the children , showed us that their best interests are not forgotten , but that every
effort is made to bring up these little ones " in the way they should so that when they are old they may not depart from it . " After
go a , merry game with the children in the long passage leading to their rooms , we visited the chapel in which service is performed
on Sundays and Holy-days ; the Holy Communion is administered once a month , and a weekly lecture given for the superintendents ,
nurses , and servants , by the Rev . William Norman , resident chaplain and superintendent of the schools . In the gallery stands the little
organ which leads the children in the usual chants and psalms . The east window is a truly appropriate one : in the centre is the
figure of our Lord holding an infant in his arms , under which are tlie words , " And he took them in his arms and blessed them ; " on
for _tlie th rig y ht servant side is heareth Samuel ; ' in on the the attitude left is Eli of , in _praj priests _'er , " S robes peak , Lord with ,
186 The Wanstead Infant Orphan Asylum.
186 THE WANSTEAD _INFANT ORPHAN ASYLUM .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), May 1, 1859, page 186, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01051859/page/42/
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