{"id":138,"date":"2020-03-26T15:56:24","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T15:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/?page_id=138"},"modified":"2021-07-12T19:30:54","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T19:30:54","slug":"charles-dickens-boys-to-mend-599","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/household-words-2\/charles-dickens-boys-to-mend-599\/","title":{"rendered":"Pg. 599"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Household<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Charles Dickens.] BOYS TO MEND. 599<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhat recently, it was\nresolved to remove the institution out of town; to enlarge and improve its\ncharacter; and, by training the boys on a farm school in the country, to\nqualify them for emigration, or for home employment distant from their old evil\ncompanions. The Farm School at Red Hill was therefore opened in April 1849, and\nby degrees the entire substance of the town establishment was carried off into\nEast Surrey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the\nPhilanthropic Farm School, follow\u00ading the information written on the sign-post,\nwe direct our steps, recalling thus the history of the place. Our way is down\nhill now, and between the luxuriant hedges crowning the high banks of red\nsandstone. Distant peeps are caught of a broad richly wooded plain that lies\nbelow. It is but a peep of country many miles away that can be seen over the\ntrees that shade our down-hill path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dog has bidden us good morning\nin a distant way, and walks before us, pausing when we pause, returning half-way\nwhen we linger, yet decidedly repulsing all familiarities. A small bird, newly\nfledged, is fluttering among the fern by the way side, and dies in the dog\u2019s\nmouth despite our intervention. Such a dog might contain the spirit of a\nMephistopheles; we quarrel with him in\u00adstantly, but still he goes before, and\nduly takes the final turning that will bring us to the Philanthropic Farm\nSchool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A pleasant, rustic house by the\nhill-side, with roses shining, in the hot sun, around its windows! Through a\nflower-garden we come to the door; and, keeping out the dog, obtain admittance\nto the dwelling of the chaplain. While we wait in the drawing-room, the dog,\nwho has coursed round the house, plunging among roses, makes a triumphant entry\nthrough the open window, and looks at us for applause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aided by the resident chaplain\nupon whom devolve all duties of superintendence, and who is in fact the local\nmanager of the whole scheme, we proceed to walk about the Red Hill farm and\nwatch the labours of its youthful population. We receive it as an encouraging\nsign, that the good chaplain does not deem it needful to put on his religion in\nthe out\u00adward and visible form of a grievous waistcoat; or to make it known to\nall men by wearing a clear-starched dog-collar round his throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of boys now at Red\nHill is a little over a hundred; and the number of acres on the farm is about a\nhundred and thirty. The boys vary in age from ten or eleven to eighteen, and\nthey vary also in the terms on which they have been admitted. Some of the\nyoungest are children who have been sentenced to transportation, and recommended\nby the directors of Government prisons as more fit to be kindly taught than\nharshly punished. These are compelled to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others, are boys who, having\nsuffered punishment by law, are sent by their parents to receive corrective\ntraining\u2014the parents, paying a part of the expense incurred on their behalf.\nThese may be removed at the discretion of their parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others, are boys who come as\nvolunteers, on the expiration of their punishment, from various Houses of\nCorrection; being assisted in their own desire to become honest men. These may\nremove themselves at their own discretion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others, are boys who, by a\nrecent law, have received conditional pardons, and have been excused some of\nthe last months of a term of imprisonment, on condition that they be trans\u00adferred\nto some place where they will receive for: a longer term educational\ndiscipline. These may be compelled by law to stay; but, after the term of their\nfirst sentence has expired, it becomes necessary to regard them very much as\nvolunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is obvious that boys differing so greatly in age, and working upon the farm under so many differing circumstances, cannot be managed by one rigid system. Military discipline does not suit children; the drill-ser\u00adgeant is an excellent man in his way, but, they are not to be drilled into honesty and virtue. We have twice visited Parkhurst, and have taken pains to get what information we could upon the subject of that Government Reformatory, and we are convinced that its failure\u2014there can be no doubt that it fails utterly\u2014is the natural result of a blind reliance upon discipline, too many unbending rules and regulations, too little comprehension of the wants and humours of a child, too much letter and too little spirit. We are glad, therefore, to find at Red Hill that the rules are few, the punishments still fewer. Boys are trained to think for themselves; each is judged on his own merits, and guided as far as possible with a strict view to the development, of his own character. Good people are multiform as blossoms in the summer hedge. A military man, turned gardener, might drill everything he found in a garden, into rows of plants, properly arranged according to their heights and sizes; and might then proceed to prune them all, water them all, smoke them all, precisely in the same way. In a year or two his process would be as clear a failure as the human gardening in Parkhurst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boys at Red Hill are taught,\nif possible, to think and. act on honest, kindly principles. Responsibilities\nare placed upon their shoulders; they are even trusted out of sight, and are,\nas it were, prisoners on parole, living where there are no bars to break, no\nwalls to climb. Dispersed about the grounds, are houses containing,\ndormitories, washing-\u00adrooms, and other chambers, a forge, a carpen\u00adter\u2019s shop,\na cottage for the farm-bailiff, a dairy, cow-sheds, piggeries, and other build\u00adings.\nIn one part, a new house is being, built to contain dormitories; and, to\nincrease the accommodation for boys on the farm, and else where, a new\nblacksmith\u2019s shop is being built. All such opportunities are used for
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charles Dickens.] BOYS TO MEND. 599 Somewhat recently, it was resolved to remove the institution out of town; to enlarge and improve its character; and, by training the boys on a farm school in the country, to qualify them for emigration, or for home employment distant from their old evil companions. The Farm School at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":664,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-138","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":725,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/138\/revisions\/725"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1853archive.com\/wp_annotation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}