Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 5, March, 1858 by Various
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Various >> Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 5, March, 1858
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"None of us know," replied Dr. Wichern, solemnly, "what we may be left
to do in the hour of temptation; but the danger is, nevertheless, not so
great as you think. Our children are fed and clothed like other peasant
children; they are not encouraged to hope for distinction, or an
elevated position in society; they are taught that poverty is not in
itself an evil, but, if borne in the right spirit, may be a blessing.
Our instruction is adapted to the same end; we do not instruct them
in studies above their rank in life; reading, writing, the elementary
principles of arithmetic, geography, some of the natural sciences, and
music, comprise the course of study. In the calling they select, we do
what we can to make them intelligent and competent. Our boys are much
sought for as apprentices by the farmers and artisans of the vicinity."
"Many of them, I suppose," said I, "had been guilty of petty thefts
before coming here; do you not find trouble from that propensity?"
"Very seldom; the perfect freedom from suspicion, and the confidence in
each other, which we have always maintained, make theft so mean a vice,
that no boy who has a spark of honor left will be guilty of it. In
the few instances which do occur, the moral sense of the family is
so strong, that the offender is entirely subdued by it. An incident,
illustrative of this, occurs to me. Early in our history, a number of
our boys undertook to erect a hut for some purpose. It was more than
half completed, and they were delighted with the idea of being able soon
to occupy it, when it was discovered that a single piece of timber,
contributed by one of the boys, had been obtained without leave. As soon
as this was known, one of the boys seized an axe, and demolished the
building, in the presence of the offender, the rest looking on and
approving; nor could they afterward be induced to go on with it. At
one time, several years since, there were two or three petty thefts
committed, (and a good deal of prevarication naturally followed,) mainly
by new pupils, of whom a considerable number had been admitted at once.
Finding ordinary reproof unavailing, I announced that family worship
would be suspended till the delinquents gave evidence of penitence. The
effect of this measure was far beyond my expectation. Many of the boys
would meet in little groups, in the huts, for prayers among themselves;
and ere long the offenders came humbly suing for pardon and the
resumption of worship."
During this conversation, we had left the Rough House and visited
the new Lodge, erected in 1853, for a family of boys and a circle of
Brothers, and the "Beehive," (_Bienenkorb,_) erected in 1841, in the
northeast corner of the grounds, the home of another family. Turning
westward, we came to the chapel, and a group of buildings connected with
it, including the school-rooms, the preparatory department for girls,
the library, dwellings for two families of girls, the kitchen,
store-rooms, and offices. It was the hour of recess, and from the
school-rooms rushed forth a joyous company of children, plainly clad,
and evidently belonging to the peasant class; but though the marks of
an early career of vice were stamped on many of their countenances, yet
there were not a few bright eyes, and intelligent, thoughtful faces.
Seeing Dr. Wichern, they came at once to him, with the impulsiveness of
childhood, but with so evident a sense of propriety and decorum, that I
would not but compare their conduct with that of many pupils in our best
schools, and not to the advantage of the latter. The Doctor received
them cordially, and had a kind word for each, generally in reference to
their improvement in behavior, or their influence over others.
"This," said he, turning to me, as a bright, blue-eyed, flaxen-haired
boy seized his hand, "is one of our peace boys."
I did not understand what he meant by the term, and said so.
"Our peace boys," he replied, "are selected from the most trustworthy
and exemplary of our pupils, to aid in superintending the others. They
have no authority to command, or even reprove; but only to counsel and
remind. To be selected for this duty is one of their highest rewards."
"There must be among so many boys," I remarked, "and particularly
those taken from such sources, a considerable number of
_born-destructives_,--children in whom the propensity to break, tear,
and destroy is almost ineradicable; how do you manage these?"
"In the earlier days of our experiment," he replied, "we had much
trouble from this source; but at last we hit upon the plan of allowing
each boy a certain sum of pocket-money, and deducting from this, in part
at least, the estimated value of whatever he destroyed. From the day
this rule was adopted all destructible articles seemed to have lost a
great part of their fragility."
"Do the pupils often run away?" I asked.
"Very seldom, of late years; formerly we were occasionally troubled in
that way. It was, of course, easy for them to do it, as no fences
or other methods of restraint were used,--our reliance being upon
affection, to retain them. If they made their escape, we usually sought
them out, and persuaded them to return, and they seldom repeated the
offence. Some years ago, one of our boys, who had repeatedly tried our
patience by his waywardness, ran away. I pursued him, found him, and
persuaded him to return. It was Christmas eve when we arrived, and this
festival was always celebrated in my mother's chamber. As we entered the
room, the children were singing the Christmas hymns. As he appeared,
they manifested strong disapprobation of his conduct. They were told
that they might decide among themselves how he should be punished. They
consulted together quietly for a few moments, and then one, who had
himself been forgiven some time before for a like fault, came forward,
and, bursting into tears, pleaded that the offender might be pardoned.
The rest joined in the petition, and, extending to him the hand of
fellowship, soon turned their festival into a season of rejoicing
over the returned prodigal. The pardon thus accorded was complete; no
subsequent reference was made to his misconduct; and the next day, to
show our confidence in him, a confidence which we never had occasion to
retract, we sent him on an errand to a considerable distance."
"How did they behave at the time of the great fire?" I inquired; "the
excitement must surely have reached you."
"No event in our whole history," answered Dr. Wichern, his fine
countenance lighting up as he spoke, "so fully satisfied me of the
success which had attended our labors, as their behavior on that
occasion. On the second day of the fire, the boys, some of whom had
relatives and friends in the burning district, became so much excited by
the intelligence brought by those who had escaped from the flames, that
they began to implore me to permit them to go and render assistance. I
feared, at first, the consequences of exposing them to the temptations
to escape and plunder by which they would be beset; but at length
permitted a company of twenty-two to go with me, on condition that
they would keep together as much as possible, and return with me at
an appointed time. They promised to do this, and they fulfilled their
promise to the letter. Their conduct was in the highest degree heroic;
they rushed into danger, for the sake of preserving lives and property,
with a coolness and bravery which put to shame the labors of the boldest
firemen; occasionally they would come to the place of rendezvous to
reassure their teacher, and then in a moment they were away again,
laboring as zealously as ever, and utterly refusing any compensation,
however urgently pressed upon them. When they returned home, another
band was sent out under the direction of one of the house-fathers, and
exerted themselves as faithfully as their predecessors had done. But
their sacrifices and toils did not end here. Among the thousands whom
that fearful conflagration left homeless, not a few came here for
shelter and food. With these our boys shared their meals, and gave up
to them their beds,--themselves sleeping upon the ground, and this for
months."
I could not wonder at the enthusiasm of the good man over such deeds
as these on the part of boys whom he had rescued from a degradation of
which we can hardly form an idea. It was a triumph of which an angel
might have been proud.
I was desirous of learning something of the industrial occupations of
the pupils, and made some inquiries respecting them.
"A considerable portion of our boys," said Dr. Wichern, "are engaged in
agricultural, or rather, horticultural pursuits. As we practise spade
husbandry almost exclusively, and devote our grounds to gardening
purposes, we can furnish employment to quite a number. For those who
prefer mechanical pursuits, we have a printing-office, book-bindery,
stereotype-foundry, lithographing and wood-engraving establishment,
paint-shop, silk-weaving manufactory, and shoe-shop, as well as those
trades which are carried on for the most part out of doors, such as
masonry and carpentry. The girls are mostly employed in household
duties, and are in great demand as servants and assistants in the
households of our farmers."
Passing westward, we came next to the bakery and the farmer's residence,
catching a glimpse through the trees of the Fisherman's Hut, at a little
distance, near the bank of the larger of the two sylvan lakes on the
premises, where another family are gathered, and then approachd a large
building of more pretension than the rest.
"This," said Dr. Wichern, "is the home of the Brothers of our Inner
Mission, and the school-room for our boarding-school boys, the children
of respectable and often wealthy parents, who have proved intractable at
home."
"What," I asked, "do you include in the term, Inner Mission?"
"I must take a round-about method of answering your inquiry. When we
found it necessary to form new families, our greatest difficulty was in
procuring suitable persons to become house-fathers of these families.
It was easy enough to obtain honest, intelligent men and women, who
possessed a fair education and a sufficient knowledge of some of the
mechanic arts for the situation; but we felt that much more than this
was necessary. We wanted men and women who would act a parent's part,
and perform a parent's duty to the children under their care; and these,
we found, must be trained for the place. We then began our circles of
Brothers, to furnish house-fathers and assistants for our families. We
required in the candidates for this office an irreproachable character;
that they should be free from physical defect, of good health and robust
constitution; that they should give evidence of piety, and of special
adaptation to this calling; that they should understand farming, or some
one of the trades practised in the establishment, or possess sufficient
mechanical talent to acquire a knowledge of them readily; that they
should have already a certain amount of education, and an amiable and
teachable disposition; and that they should be not under twenty years of
age, and exempt from military service."
"And do you find a sufficient number who can fulfil conditions so
strict?" I inquired.
"Candidates are never wanting," was his reply, "though the demand for
their services is large."
"What is your course of training?"
"Mainly practical; though we have a course of special instruction for
them, occupying twenty hours a week, in which, during their four years'
residence with us, they are taught sacred and profane history, German,
English, geography, vocal and instrumental music, and the science of
teaching. Instruction on religious subjects is also given throughout the
course. For the purpose of practical training, they are attached, at
first, to families as assistants, and after a period of apprenticeship
they undertake in rotation the direction. They teach the elementary
classes; visit the parents of the children, and report to them the
progress which their pupils have made; maintain a watchful supervision
over them, after they leave the Rauhe Haus; and assist in religious
instruction, and in the correspondence. By the system of monthly
rotation we have adopted, each Brother is brought in contact with all
the pupils, and is thus enabled to avail himself of the experience
acquired in each family."
"You spoke of a great demand for their services; I can easily imagine
that men so trained should be in demand; but what are the callings
they pursue after leaving you? for you need but a limited number as
house-fathers and teachers."
"The Inner Mission," he replied, "has a wide field of usefulness. It
furnishes directors and house-fathers for reform schools organized
on our plan, of which there are a number in Germany; overseers,
instructors, and assistants in agricultural and other schools; directors
and subordinate officers for prisons; directors, overseers, and
assistants in hospitals and infirmaries; city and home missionaries; and
missionaries to colonies of emigrants in America."
"What is your annual expenditure above the products of your farm and
workshops?" I asked.
"Somewhat less than fifty dollars a head for our entire population," was
the reply.
It was by this time high noon, and as we returned to the Mutter-Haus,
the benevolent superintendent insisted that we should remain and partake
with him of the mid-day meal. We complied, and presently were summoned
to the dining-hall, where we found a small circle of the Brothers, and
the two head teachers. After a brief but appropriate grace, we took our
seats, being introduced by the director.
"At supper all our teachers assemble here," said Dr. Wichern, "and with
them those children whose birthday it is; but at dinner the Brothers
remain with their own families."
The table was abundantly supplied with plain but wholesome food, and the
cheerful conversation which ensued gave evidence that the cares of their
position had not exerted a depressing influence on their spirits. Each
seemed thoroughly in love with his work, and in harmony with all the
rest. Dr. Wichern mentioned that I was from America.
"Have you," inquired one of the Brothers, "any institutions like this in
your country?"
"We have," I answered, "Reform Schools, Houses of Refuge, Juvenile
Asylums, and other reformatory institutions; but I am afraid I must say,
nothing like this. We are making progress, however, in Juvenile Reform,
and I hope that ere long we, too, may have a Rough House whose influence
shall pervade our country, as yours has done Central Europe."
"Dr. Wichern," inquired another, "have our friends visited the 'God's
Acre?'"[A]
[Footnote A: The German name of a grave-yard.]
"Not yet," was the reply; "but I will go thither with them after we have
dined, if they can remain so long."
We assented, and one of the Brothers remarked,--
"Our boys have taken especial pains to beautify that favorite spot, this
season."
"This disposition to adorn the resting-place of the body, so common
among us, is becoming popular in your country, I believe," said our
host, courteously.
I replied, that it was,--that in our larger towns the place of burial
was generally rendered attractive, but that in the rural districts the
burying-grounds were yet neglected and unsightly; and ventured the
opinion, that this neglect might be partly traceable to the iconoclastic
tendencies of our Puritan ancestors.
Dr. Wichern thought not; the neglect of the earthly home of the dead
resulted from the prevalence of indifference to the glorious doctrine of
the Resurrection; and whatever a people might profess, he could not but
believe them infidel at heart, if they were entirely neglectful of the
resting-place of their dead.
The close of our repast precluded further discussion, and at our host's
invitation we accompanied him to the rural cemetery, where such of the
pupils and Brothers as died during their connection with the school were
buried. An English writer has very appropriately called the Rauhe Haus a
"Home among the Flowers"; but the title is far more appropriate to this
beautiful spot. Whatever a pure and exquisite taste could conceive as
becoming in a place consecrated to such a purpose, willing hands have
executed; and early every Sabbath morning, Dr. Wichern says, the pupils
resort hither to see that everything necessary is done to keep it in
perfect order. The air seemed almost heavy with the perfume of flowers;
and though the home of the living pupils of the Rauhe Haus is plain in
the extreme, the palace of their dead surpasses in splendor that of the
proudest of earthly monarchs. One could hardly help coveting such a
resting-place.
It was with reluctance that we at last turned our faces homeward, and
bade the excellent director farewell. The world has seen, in this
nineteenth century, few nobler spirits than his. Possessed of uncommon
intellect, he combines with it executive talent of no ordinary
character, and a capacity for labor which seems almost fabulous. His
duties as the head of the Inner Mission, whose scope comprises the
organization and management of reformatory institutions of all kinds,
throughout Germany, as well as efforts analogous to those of our city
missions, temperance societies, etc., might well be supposed to be
sufficient for one man; but these are supplementary to his labors as
director of the Rauhe Haus, and editor of the _Fliegende Blaetter_, and
the other literature, by no means inconsiderable, of the Inner Mission.
Dr. Wichern is highly esteemed and possesses almost unbounded influence
throughout Germany; and that influence, potent as it is, even with the
princes and crowned heads of the German States, is uniformly exerted in
behalf of the poor, the unfortunate, the ignorant, and the degraded.
When the history of philanthropy shall be written, and the just meed
of commendation bestowed on the benefactors of humanity, how much more
exalted a place will he receive, in the memory and gratitude of the
world, than the perjured and audacious despot who, born the same year,
in the neighboring city of the Hague, has won his way to the throne of
France by deeds of selfishness and cruelty! Even to-day, who would not
rather be John Henry Wichern, the director of the Rauhe Haus at Horn,
than Louis Napoleon, emperor of France?
Would that on our own side of the Atlantic a Wichern might arise, whose
abilities should be sufficient to unite in one common purpose our
reformatory enterprises, and rescue from infamy and sin the tens of
thousands of children who now, apt scholars in crime, throng the
purlieus of vice in our large cities, and are already committing deeds
whose desperate wickedness might well cause hardened criminals to
shudder. The existence of a popular government depends, we are often
told, upon the intelligence and virtue of the people. What hope, then,
can we have of the perpetuity of our institutions, when those who are to
control them have become monsters of iniquity ere they have reached the
age of manhood?
The forces of Good and Evil are ever striving for the mastery in human
society. Happy is that philanthropist, and honored should he be with a
nation's gratitude, who can rescue these juvenile offenders from the
power of evil, and from the fearful suggestings of temptation and want,
and enlist them on the side of virtue and right! We rear monuments of
marble and bronze to those heroes who on the battle-field and in the
fierce assault have kept our nation's fame untarnished, and added new
laurels to the renown of our country's prowess; but more enduring than
marble, more lasting than brass, should be the monument reared to him
who, in the fierce contest with the powers of evil, shall rescue
the soul of the child from the grasp of the tempter, and change the
brutalized and degraded offspring of crime and lust into a youth of
generous, active, and noble impulses. But though earthly fame may be
denied to such a benefactor of his race, his record shall be on high;
and at that grand assize where all human actions shall be weighed, His
voice, whose philanthropy exceeded, infinitely, the noblest deeds of
benevolence of the sons of earth, shall be heard, saying to these humble
laborers in the vineyard of our God, "Friends, come up higher!"
Those who are interested in knowing what has been accomplished by the
reformatory institutions of Europe will find a full and entertaining
account of most of them in a volume recently published, entitled "Papers
on Preventive, Correctional, and Reformatory Institutions and Agencies
in Different Countries," by Henry Barnard, LL.D. Hartford: F.C.
Brownell, 1857. Dr. Barnard has done a good work in collecting these
valuable documents.
BEAUTY.
Fond lover of the Ideal Fair,
My soul, eluded everywhere,
Is lapsed into a sweet despair.
Perpetual pilgrim, seeking ever,
Baffled, enamored, finding never;
Each morn the cheerful chase renewing,
Misled, bewildered, still pursuing;
Not all my lavished years have bought
One steadfast smile from her I sought,
But sidelong glances, glimpsing light,
A something far too fine for sight,
Veiled voices, far off thridding strains,
And precious agonies and pains:
Not love, but only love's dear wound
And exquisite unrest I found.
At early morn I saw her pass
The lone lake's blurred and quivering glass;
Her trailing veil of amber mist
The unbending beaded clover kissed;
And straight I hasted to waylay
Her coming by the willowy way;--
But, swift companion of the Dawn,
She left her footprints on the lawn,
And, in arriving, she was gone.
Alert I ranged the winding shore;
Her luminous presence flashed before;
The wild-rose and the daisies wet
From her light touch were trembling yet;
Faint smiled the conscious violet;
Each bush and brier and rock betrayed
Some tender sign her parting made;
And when far on her flight I tracked
To where the thunderous cataract
O'er walls of foamy ledges broke,
She vanished in the vapory smoke.
To-night I pace this pallid floor,
The sparkling waves curl up the shore,
The August moon is flushed and full;
The soft, low winds, the liquid lull,
The whited, silent, misty realm,
The wan-blue heaven, each ghostly elm,
All these, her ministers, conspire
To fill my bosom with the fire
And sweet delirium of desire.
Enchantress! leave thy sheeny height,
Descend, be all mine own this night,
Transfuse, enfold, entrance me quite!
Or break thy spell, my heart restore,
And disenchant me evermore!
* * * * *
THE GRINDWELL GOVERNING MACHINE.
On the other side of the Atlantic there is a populous city called
Grandville. It is, as its name indicates, a great city,--but it is said
that it thinks itself a good deal greater than it really is. I meant to
say that Grandville was its original name, and the name by which even at
the present day it is called by its own citizens. But there are certain
wits, or it may be, vulgar people, who by some process have converted
this name into Grindwell.
I may be able, in the course of this sketch, to give a reason why so
sounding and aristocratic a name as Grandville has been changed into the
plebeian one of Grindwell. I might account for it by adducing
similar instances of changes in the names of cities through the bad
pronunciation and spelling of foreigners. For instance, the English
nickname Livorno Leghorn, the Germans insist on calling Venice Venedig,
and the French convert Washington into the Chinese word Voss-Hang-Tong.
And so it may be that the name Grindwell has originated among us
Americans simply from miscalling or misspelling the foreign name of
Grandville.
I incline to think, however, that there is a better reason for the name.
For a good many years Grandville has been famous for a great machine, of
a very curious construction, which is said to regulate the movements of
the whole city, and almost to convert the men, women, and children into
cranks, wheels, and pinions. As a model of this machine does not exist
in our Patent Office at Washington, I shall beg the reader's indulgence
while I attempt to give some account of it. It may be thought a very
curious affair, though I believe there is little about it that is
original or new. The idea of it was handed down from remote generations.
In America I know that many persons may consider the Grindwell Governing
Machine a humbug,--an obsolete, absurd, and tyrannous institution,
wholly unfitted to the nineteenth century. A machine that proposes to
think and act for the whole people, and which is rigidly opposed to the
people's thinking and acting for themselves, is likely to find little
favor among us. With us the doctrine is, that each one should think for
himself,--be an individual mind and will, and not the spoke of a wheel.
Every American voter or votress is allowed to keep his or her little
intellectual wind-mill, coffee-mill, pepper-mill, loom, steam-engine,
hand-organ, or whatever moral manufacturing or grinding apparatus he or
she likes. Each one may be his own Church or his own State, and yet be
none the less a good and useful citizen, and the union of the States be
in none the more danger. But it is not so in Grindwell. The rules of
the Grindwell machine allow no one to do his own grinding, unless his
mill-wheel is turned by the central governing power. He must allow the
big State machine to do everything,--he paying for it, of course. A
regular programme prescribes what he shall believe and say and do; and
any departure from this order is considered a violation of the laws, or
at least a reprehensible invasion of the time-honored customs of the
city.
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