erected, and reserving the right, at will and on terms to be agreed upon, of purchasing it of the stockholders. Little, I trust, need be said, of the importance of a new and very different building from that now used, for the purposes of this institution; of a building at once suited for security of the inmates against elopement, and yet having as little as may be of the structure and the appearance of a prison. The fact is, that for far the greatest number of boys in this School, after a short residence in it, no peculiar provisions for confinement would be required. But such provisions would be requisite for some, and must therefore be made. Still they should not be extended beyond the necessity of the case. It is important, also, for the purposes of the institution, that there should be a building, which will admit of classifications and divisions of the children sent to it; and, which will be favorable to the various work, in which it may be thought proper to employ them. By the admirable discipline and order which he has established in his School, Mr Wells has done all, which I believe any man could do, to obviate the disadvantages which are inseparable from the building, in which the School is now established. But I leave this topic, convinced that, should the interest which it deserves be excited in regard to the institution, the first improvement which will be called for will be a house, which shall be suited for the purposes of a School of Reformation. There are, however, two other topics suggested in these propositions, of which I beg leave to say a few words.

First. What is the great end, and aim, of this institution; and, how should it be viewed, and represented by us?

I answer, in the words of Mr Sargeant, President of a similar institution in Philadelphia, it is, in the strictest sense of the terms, a work of charity and mercy. Whatever else may be contemplated, and certainly extensive public advantages are to be expected from it, is only incidental. This School presents no vindictive, or reproachful aspects. It threatens no humiliating recollections of the past. It holds out no degrading denunciations for the future.' It is, indeed, a School for those who have greatly violated duty, and are to be reformed. But though its inmates are sent to it by public authority, and can be discharged from it only by the authority of those who sent them there; and though in leaving the institution they are to pass into the charge of others, who will be accountable for them till they shall be of lawful age to those, from whose immediate watchfulness and care they have received them; still it is to be regarded, not as a prison, but as a school. Mr Wells considers every boy who cnters his school as reclaimable. His object is, to give to each one an intellectual, a physical and a moral education, which will prepare him to be a respectable and a respected member of society a useful and happy man. And most encouraging is the promise of this institution. Let not the children, then, who are sent there, unnecessarily be made to feel, that they have the brand of crime upon their foreheads, and that they are to be recognised as having been criminals. Many of them are not morally worse than are other boys, who will not be sent there; and who, through the faithful guardianship. of judicious and kind friends, into whose charge it has been their privilege to fall, will be recovered to virtue, and loved and valued as if they had never fallen from it.

To treat them as if they are reclaimable, and will unquestionably be reclaimed, will be one of the most effectual means of securing their salvation.

Secondly. Who are the proper subjects of this institution; and, how are they to be sent to it, and retained in it?

I would reply, that, except under very extraordinary circumstances, no one should be admitted into this School, while he is under ten years of age. But, with certain restrictions, it should be open to any one under twenty years old. The extreme age to which any one should be sent there, with a view to apprenticeship in the country, should, perhaps, be fifteen years; with the opportunity of remaining a year in preparation for this apprenticeship. But if any shall be sent who are over sixteen years of age, it should be for discipline and instruction, preparatory to a whaling voyage. And unspeakably great would be the gain to the individual and to the community, if, instead of sending any minor either to our Jail or House of Correction, where a confinement of a fortnight or three weeks only will almost certainly complete and insure his moral ruin, our courts were required to sentence every criminal who is brought before them under lawful age, unless he shall be sent to the State Prison, to the School of Reformation; there to remain, only till a voyage can be obtained for him, which will remove him for one or perhaps two years from the scenes and associates of the iniquity, from which he has been taken. I know not, indeed, how public attention is to be aroused to a sense of the magnitude and enormity of the evils of our two county prisons. There is a strange indifference, a most lamentable apathy among us, in regard to

these institutions, the influences of which are almost exclusively of the worst character. They are almost as certainly fatal to every remaining principle of virtue in the young who are sent to them, as would be a pest house to him who is predisposed to small pox or to plague. But I will not here dwell upon them; especially as but a brief space remains which I can occupy in this Report.*

I have spoken of the ages, within which I think members should be admitted into the School. In regard to character, I would say, that it should be a school, not for those only who have fallen into crime; but for those also, of whom there is a moral certainty, that if left to themselves they will soon become criminals. I would not indeed propose any encroachment upon the rights of parents, or upon the proper liberty of children. But applications have been made to me by parents, to obtain a place for their children in this School, because these children were wholly beyond their control and

* I have wished to ascertain the number of lads who have been sent to our House of Correction. But the ages of those committed to this prison are not recorded in the books of the institution. By a reference, however, to the names of those who have been committed since the 2d of December, 1823, -the date at which one of the turnkeys began his service there, it is recollected by this turnkey, that eightysix, between the ages of 10 and 17 years, have been sent to this prison. This number, considerable as it is, is yet, without doubt, short of the number of the lads, who within this term have been sent there. We may, I think, safely suppose this number to be a hundred. I know not how this fact may be viewed by others. But to my mind it is an evil which cries to heaven for a remedy. -- Of the eightysix who are distinctly remembered, three have been committed 6 times; one 5 times; three 4 times; five 3 times; and five twice.

were in the way to destruction, while yet they had committed no offence cognisable by the laws. To such parents I would give the privilege of committing their children to the charge of this institution. But in cases of this kind, as well as in many others, I would save parents and friends from the painful necessity of a prosecution of children in the Police Court. Let it be that there are cases, in which a trial in open court is rightfully to be required and insisted upon. All I contend for is, that there are others, in which it is neither necessary nor expedient; and that it is expedient, and will save from much suffering and will conduce to no evil, if a more private trial may be had, with the decisions of which all the parties concerned may be entirely satisfied.

As the law now is, no one can be sent to the School of Reformation, but through the Police, or the Municipal Court. And if, indeed, they must pass through one of our existing courts, I have no objection to the law as it now stands. No one has a higher respect for the Judges of these courts, than I have. They are worthy of entire respect and confidence. But why may not the Legislature give to the Directors of this School a judicial power, for the specific purpose of sending or of committing children to the School; with the right reserved to parents, guardians and friends, of appeal to either of our higher courts? There would be here no more abridgment of personal liberty, than there is in the constitution of our Police Court. And why make it indispensable to arraign children before a court, where they are exposed to the gaze of a crowd, no eye of which should see them? Why oblige parents, and even mothers, to the distressing necessity of appearing,