in its moralizing influence upon the most degraded portions of our community. The number of its delinquent inmates continued to increase until it amounted to 58-beyond which the present limited accommodations for the males, at least, admit of no extension. Of this number, 44 were boys and 14 girls. Of the former, the oldest, at the time of his admission, was 18, and the youngest 9.-The whole number admitted into the house, from its commencement to the present time, is 73. They have been received from the following sources, viz: From the Court of Sessions, for grand larceny -, for petit larceny From the Police Magistrates, for stealing and vagrancy From the Commissioners of the Alms-House, for stealing, vagrancy, and absconding 1 9 47 16 Total 73 49 have been in that prison from 1 to 7 times, 19 have been confined in the City Penitentiary. Of the whole number received in the house, 30 are the children of foreigners, and 43 are from the city and various parts of the state. They have been thus disposed of: Of the 5 boys who have been indented, 2 were placed with farmers, and the other three were bound, as seamen, to a person in whom the Managers and Superintendent place entire confidence. From one of the boys, a favourable report has been received,* the others having been recently indented, no account from them has been obtained. From two of the girls, the Superintendent has received acceptable information. The others have but lately left the house. The subjects, on their admission, have proved, with a few exceptions, to be very ignorant. Some of them The following letters from the respectable persons to whom these children were indented, afford encouraging hopes of their continued good conduct. Pe, June 21st, 1825. DEAR SIR, Believing that the Managers of the House of Refuge, as well as the patrons generally of that Institution, feel a lively interest in the welfare of those intrusted to your care, and sufficient time having elapsed since I recieved J. and J. to become acquainted with their dispositions, I write to acquaint you with their deportment. Joseph for about ten days, behaved extremely well—always attentive; but after church he came to me and asked permission to take a walk; as he had been more than a mile to church, I did not consider it necessary; and being extremely cautious that he should not become acquainted with the town boys, I refused him permission to go, and he gave out some threats to one of the servants, and refused to eat his supper. The next morning I called him to me and conversed with him for a considerable time, telling him that he must look to me for protection, which he would be sure to find whilst he conducted himself with propriety; and that he would be equally sure of punishment when his conduct was bad; and as he had been angry enough to go without his supper, he must take the field with. out his breakfast, and at noon I would inform him whether he could have his dinner. At 12 he came in with my man, evidently humbled and weak for want of food. I asked him if he was sorry for his conduct, he said he was; and after a promise of better behaviour, for the future, I gave him his dinner. Since that I have not had cause of complaint. Jane has shown nothing of that temper which I have discovered in Joseph, and I am pleased to say, her conduct has been unexceptionable up to the present time. Wishing that all those that are bound out from that Institution may conduct themselves as well as these two have so far done, I remain respectfully, Your Friend, J. W. Extract from a Letter from the same, dated 18th October. Since my last, under the date of 21st June, J. continues to conduct himself as well as boys generally who have been creditably educated. He is attentive to church and to school, and appears anxious to improve. As respects J. her conduct has been uniformly good, and I am informed by her teachers she is the best scholar in her class. Dear Sir, Di, August 30,1825. You may recollect that when I took Diana from the House of Refuge, I engaged to give you information respecting her behaviour in my family; and it is with no little satisfaction that I can with truth state to you that her conduct has been good. She has given less cause of complaint since being here, than we should have reason to expect, from a girl of her age taken from one of our well regulated families in this part of the country. The lessons taught her while under your care appear to have made a proper, and I think lasting impression on her mind. She evinces a disposition to learn what is good, and such kinds of work as is proper to employ her in, she performs with ingenuity and neatness. She is not by an irregular attendance at schools, had learned to read, but had acquired no relish for intellectual improvement. Their habits, as it respects skill and useful industry, were still more deplorable. With one exception, there has not been a girl received, who could sew even well enough to make an apron. Of washing, ironing, cooking, or baking, they knew but very little, and indeed, were unable to do any thing without instruction. But such has been the progress of the females in these important attainments, the Superintendent has been enabled to have every garment, which his subjects have required, made without charge to the Institution. The employment of the girls, in addition to the needful domestic 'occupations, has been chiefly the plaiting of grass; and although they have not yet advanced sufficiently to render their skill of much pecuniary advantage, many of them have made attainments, in this branch, which justify the belief, that it may become a source of profit to the Institution, and the means of honest support to them when discharged. The most considerable occupation of the boys, has been the clearing up of the premises, by the removal and disposal of the lumber, sheds, &c., clearing and cultivating a small garden, and more especially in waiting upon, and assisting the masons and carpenters that have been engaged in various repairs, elevating the wall, and erecting a new building within the enclosure. In this exercise, they have been very efficient; a number of them have evinced a becoming spirit of ambition and desire of improvement, and cannot fail to have laid the foundation of future industry. able, (and perhaps never will be) to perform any heavy work, yet I consider it a fortunate acquisition that I obtained her from you, and if the want of order and regularity in my family should not tend to weaken or do away the habits she acquired while under your care, we should have reason to be thankful. From the cursory view I had of your establishment, a very favourable impression was made on my mind respecting the beneficial effects it might produce in society. Since that time, I have reflected much on the subject; from which, and the facts I have learned from little D. I have been led to consider the Institution as one of the most wise, humane, and (as respects your city in particular) the most beneficial of any I am acquainted with, and cannot but hope and believe that it may receive from both the corporation and the legislature, that fostering care and aid which in my opinion it so justly merits-and I am, Sir, with sentiments of respect and esteem, E. F. The principal in-door employment has been shoemaking and tailoring. In these, the boys have made no inconsiderable advancement;-one hundred and twenty-nine pair of shoes having been made, in addition to forty-one pair used in the family. With respect to manual employment, it therefore appears that although nothing has yet been done, as a source of income to the Institution, the work accomplished by both sexes has produced a positive saving, and afforded a promise, under a more favourable circumstances, of a useful and profitable extension of manufacturing skill and activity. About two hours in the day, one in the morning and one in the evening, are devoted to mental improvement. During the first hour, they are occupied in learning to spell, read, write, and cypher, and in this exercise the system of mutual instruction is followed, and they are divided into classes agreeably to the method pursued in the Lancasterian schools. On that system the 1st Class learn the Alphabet. 2d 3d 4th ters. 5th 6th 7th "words and syllables of two letters. 66 68 60 66 66 words and syllables of three and four letters. words and sentences from Scripture of five and six let words and sentences from Scripture of two syllables. words and sentences from Scripture of three syllables. words and sentences from Scripture of four syllables. 8th 66 includes the best readers, who spell and write words, with their meanings attached, and read the Old and New Testaments. Arithmetic, as far as Compound Division, is divided into nine classes, each class advancing a single rule. This explanation will enable us to understand the following statement of the Superintendent, relative to the improvement of a number of his subjects. The advancement in learning, exhibited as above, affords a very satisfactory promise of the intellectual benefit that will be likely to ensue from the present arrangements; and the Managers are further encouraged in their views of these advantages, by knowing that the Superintendent is in the daily practice of lecturing to the boys on the subject adapted to their intelligence, such as various objects of natural history, and the useful arts, availing himself of the opportunity thus afforded of enforcing moral and religious truths, and inculcating desires, which tend to elevate their minds above the low and degraded habits to which they had been accustomed, and to implant the ambition of entering upon an honourable and useful course of life. By the liberality of several citizens, a number of books have been presented to the Institution, suitable for the instruction of those who can read; thus laying the foundation of a library for the benefit of the House of Refuge which, it is hoped, will be enlarged by further appropriate donations, from benevolent individuals. To excite in those delinquent youth a fondness for spending their leisure hours, in profitable reading, will be to gain no small ascendency over their idle and corrupt propensities. The last of the two hours of the day devoted to instruction, is chiefly employed, by the Superintendent, in reading, lecturing, explaining, and questioning. Agreeably to a suggestion held out in the original report, the board of managers have availed themselves of the auxiliary superintendence of a committee of ladies, whose watchful care and enlightened counsel have entitled them to the sincere thanks of the board. Their benovolent attentions are producing conspicuous effects in relation to the domestic econo |