In view of the great interest that has been expressed in the working of this Institution daring the last few days, we have thought it advisable to take advantage of an invitation from the Rev, Mother Superior to make a personal inspection of the building and its inmates, The grant that has been asked of the Municipal Council, be it understood, was for the Building Fund, not for the current expenses of the school; and we can assure our readers that, judging from the old quarters, which are now in a falling condition, the new and spacious accommodation now being put up is a sheer necessity.
Phere are at present sixty-seven children in connection with the Orphanage, Of these, thirty are entirely dependent upon the Sisters; they are absolutely without friends, and destitute. Then there are urenty-two ezternes, of whom pay three dollars a mouth; and fifteen others, who pay a little, each one according to the ability of her friends. In the case of these children, who have parents or guardians of some sort, whatever is offered in the way of payment is accepted; for the Institution has to be managed with a view to strict economy. 'There is no distinction nade of either parentage or religion. At one time, no fewer than seventeen different uativualities were represented; and at the Gstholies, Protestants and' Pagansy all resent moment there are Jews, Greeks,
cared for with equal kindness, These children are taught to do everything there is to be done in the house, and the first room we entered was the laundry, where sume halflozen of them were washing linen. In other rooms they were engaged in needlework, and some, embroidery; for, exclusive of what may be presented in the way of cast-off oluthes, te children make all their shifts and' gowns themselves even learning to cut up men's evans and trousers to make into tippets and cap Then, again, it seems that th orders for plain and fancy 1 from outside; and the proceeds of this go to defeat a part of the expenses. The curriculum of study embraces very much the same subjects as are taught in the ordinary preparatory schools in England roading, writing, history, geography, arithmetic, ig and Bible-lessons. We glanced through all the books employed. There wore tivo readers.' One was of a purely educational nature, being devoted to stories, and fables, and spelling exercises. The other differed from it in that it was published by the Christian Brothers, and contained Roman Catholic hymns. The Bible-lessons consisted simply of short paragraphs taken from the Old and New Testaments, chiefly of a historical deseription and couched in easy phraseology. On a child being presented for admis-ion, the Sisters ask her parent, or guard-whether he wishes her to be instructed in the Catholic Catechism. If the reply is allirmative, of course the child is brought up a Catholic. If not, no steps are taken in the direction of proselytism, save that, for convenience' sake, all children are required to attend the chapel-services on Sunday but nez-Catholics are not compelled to take part in the prayers, decent behaviour being all that is exacted of them. In the reading of Scripture stories, Jewish children stop short of the New Testament; they are present when a prayer is offered at the opening of school, but are not made to kneel Breakfast is served in the morning at half-past seven, and consists of tea, milk, and bread-and-butter. Then comes the regular work of the day, all instruction being given in Buglish, with the exception of half an hour for French for the elder pupils if they wish, and half an hour for singing. At noon comes dinner, consisting of good soup, roast meat, vegetables and dessert, rice being provided instead of bread. The establishment, which we went over from top tw bottom, as rather an appearance of coldness and severity, owing to the absence of matting and the extremely simple character of the furniture; but there was neither coldness nor severity in the faces of the Sisters, and the children looked as happy and contented as one could wish. ihe dormitories are large, containing a considerable number of beds, much softer than ever fell to our own lot during our school boy days, and we were even admitted into the theatrical-property room, with wardrobes full of pretty vanities, as the Rev. Mother smilingly called them, for use at the seances of the Circle.
Without going into the question of expenses and income very deeply, we are in position to say that it is only with the greatest and most unflagging economy that the Sisters of the Providence are able to make two ends meet. We have had a rough statement presented to us which, however, we abstain, at the request of the Rev. Mother, from publishing. This is a pity, because such publicity would do good, The Sisters do not seem to grasp the fact that it is customary for charitable institutions who ap; public aid to publish regular accounts and reports for general circulation, und though they profess themselves willing to show everything and give every informes tion that may be desired it is per hay scarcely to be expected that they should break through a time-honoured observance so suddenly. It is only to be regretted that an institution of such an excellent nature should be—we will not say so much misunderstood, but—so little known, The aystem of ce-operation and mutual support that is pursued is successful in more ways than one, as it inculcates habits of fruyality and diligence that are of great value tw their possessors in after-life; many respectable and happy marriages have been arranged for the scholars when ata suitableage—thelast, weare informed, that took place was between a girl of seventeen and an English Protestant, contracted at the suggestion of the Sisters themselves,—while many in the meantime have cause to bless the Lustitution as a hospitable refuge from What would otherwise prove a life of misery, loneliness, and degradation.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.