Rotterdam central juvenile prison. System peculiar. The institution where the above dialogue took place is the great central prison at Rotterdam for male juvenile criminals. The large and plain edifice is known as "the spin-house," from the circumstance of spinning once having formed the chief task-work of the inmates. "Here are confined all the boys and lads under eighteen years of age who have been convicted of crime in any part of Holland. It contains no young female criminals, these being confined in a similar establishment at Amsterdam, while all the older criminals are, as I believe, sent to certain penal settlements in a remote part of the country." The principles on which the establishment is conducted are as follows:-Turnkeys or guards dressed in uniform have the charge of the institution; which fact, with the uniform of the delinquents, "consisting of a coarse linen jacket, buttoned up to the throat, trousers of the same material, woollen stockings, and wooden shoes," imparts too much of a prison air, and savours too little of a reformatory school to be to our liking. No chaplain is appointed, but an efficient master, of "mild but firm demeanour,” undertakes, with the assistance of "one of the best behaved and most advanced pupils, and also a lad from the town," the moral and intellectual training of the scholars. Arrangements, however, are made by which the youths of various creeds have religious instruction, at stated intervals, from their own religious teachers. In the industrial department, where various handicrafts are taught, the youths are "classified into three divisions, indicated by a particular mark in their dress; and their treatment and comfort partly depend on the industry they exercise in their allotted employment. Those who are promoted to the third, or best division, are allowed small payments for over-work, and are at liberty to smoke, and to purchase small luxuries from a shop within the courtyard. The payments are in zinc coins, which can circu late only within the gaols; this prevents the prisoners from making an improper use of their money, and what they save is changed for the ordinary money of the country when they are released from confinement." discharge. Upon discharge the youths are apprenticed, or situations After are found for them: and for two or three years "they continue, to a certain extent, under the surveillance of the police or of functionaries connected with the prison." Upon inquiry it was found that "but few" return to the establishment after they have been dismissed. On the whole, therefore, it would appear that the mild- Observation. ness of juvenile delinquency and the paucity of criminal cases have rendered it less necessary to adopt extraordinary expedients in Holland than in France, England, and America. While some suggestions may be conveyed by a review of the Rotterdam Juvenile Prison (for such it is, and nothing more), it is plain that we have higher models to imitate in our own and foreign lands. Should it be found impracticable to influence the legislature so as to rescue the child of crime entirely out of the grasp of the prison functionary, the Rotterdam institution may serve as the basis of our appeal. The entire separation from adult criminals, the industrial training, the gradual preparation for honest dealing with zinc coins, and the provision made upon discharge, are features of Dutch imprisonment of juvenile delinquents that contrast with our judicial treatment to our national dishonour. In Berlin there exists an institution of a reformatory Berlin. character, which is conducted by an individual of no pretensions, but of a noble spirit. This establishment is supported by, as it originated in, private benevolence. Accommodation is provided for about 100 vagrant, destitute, and, in some instances, criminal children. Under the pious and disinterested labours of its founder, Kopf, many juveniles of both sexes have been either educated and and Kaiserskerst, trained, or reformed and placed in situations. At KaisersDuisberg. kerst, on the Rhine, a similar institution exists, which Dusseldorf. Count Von der Recke. was established by a clergyman, Pastor Friedner, and, in part, is designed for the reformation of female delinquents. At Duisberg, a kindred establishment, under the charge of Mr. Hermon, who is assisted by voluntary teachers, as in our ragged schools, affords a reformatory course to youths anxious to reclaim their lost character. These are establishments necessarily on a limited scale, but, conducted on the principles of Christian benevolence, are deserving of universal imitation. But, after the institutions already noticed, they present nothing distinctive or remarkable to require a particular investigation into the nature and mode of criminal treatment observed. With a hasty glance we proceed to notice two interesting establishments, with which this chapter is to conclude; the one being, as those above mentioned, in Prussia, and the other in Germany. In the heart of the Prussian manufacturing district there are two picturesque and flourishing towns, Elberfeld and Dusseldorf, separated from one another by about half a day's journey. An ancient monastery, known by the name of Dusselthal, stands near to these towns. The devastations of war had deprived numbers of children of their natural protectors, and turned them loose upon the world. Some of them had become absolute savages or wild children of the woods, subsisting on roots and herbs when not able to beg or steal. One of these, about thirteen years of age, could give no account of his early history. His "most pleasant recollections seemed to be his familiarity with the Westphalian swine," by which he was in part suckled, as others have been or are said to have been by more ferocious animals. The deplorable circumstances of these deserted children drew out the sympathies of Count Von der Recke, a noble man by nature as well as aristocratic connections. His father united with him to throw open their own dwellinghouse to a few of these wretched beings. Eventually, by the sacrifice of personal property and the assistance of friends, the Abbey of Dusselthal was purchased as an Dusselthal. asylum and school. Some 200 individuals form the family of this philanthropist, over whom he has watched with a degree of assiduity that has made serious ravages upon his own health. The management of such children was a still more diffi- System. cult undertaking than that of simply criminal youths. "To gain their affections without indulging their early vicious propensities, was no easy task; but until this was accomplished, nothing could be done effectually for reclaiming such wayward vagabonds. The training is threefold; and while the object of each division is distinct, they are all three carried on together in harmony with one another. In the industrial department, mechanical aptitude, and such practical habits as may tend to secure a livelihood, are aimed at; in the mental department, an endeavour is made to develop the powers of the understanding, and impress it with religious truths. The moral department is conducted so as to awaken the conscience, to inspire the love of God, and to open the heart for the reception of the Holy Spirit."* The success attendant upon this godlike enterprise may Results. be gathered from the following extract, which we give, moreover, as indicative of the temper and disposition of him who presides over the inmates of the Abbey of Dusselthal:-"Come," is the enthusiastic appeal of the Count come and see what the compassion of God has already done for this little flock, once wild, corrupted, debased beyond conception, sunk almost beneath the level of the brutes. Oh, come and admire the wonderful * "Illustrations of Faith." T Rauhen Wichern. transforming power of the Gospel, which of these fierce lions' cubs hath made tame meek lambs. Come and rejoice over the modesty and obedience they evince; their love and attachment, not only to their teachers and benefactors, but even to strangers. See their industry, activity, and desire to be useful. Come, listen to the harmonious songs with which they praise their Creator and. Redeemer, and hear from their tender lips their gratulations over their deliverance. Especially come, oh, come and unite with us in prayer and thanksgiving to our Lord and Saviour, who has never left himself without a witness among his creatures." a A very similar institution exists at the village of Horn, about three miles from Hamburgh, but within the jurisdiction of that city. Instead of the Abbey at Dusseldorf, here existed "a one-story straw-roofed house . . smutty cottage," standing in about an acre of land, "covered with sprawling bushes, ditches, hillocks," &c. This spot and shed were taken possession of by Mr. J. H. Wichern in 1833, and converted into the institution now enjoying a world-wide reputation, under the name of "Rauhen Haus," as a reformatory school for those who have been brought up in the haunts of vice in the neighbouring city. After necessary preparations, fourteen "young vagabonds," from five to eighteen years of age, were introduced into "the fold of his family circle." This "day of small things" has passed away. Additions have been made to their little establishment, which is now described, by a recent visitor, as a "cottage-village of boyfamilies, with workshops and dwelling-houses, a little chapel, a wash and drying house, a printing-office, a bakehouse," and every other convenience requisite to the working of the training apparatus. This interesting group comprises about twelve buildings of various capacity, and differing according to the use made of them respectively. |