In addition to the above-mentioned schools, there was established, in December 1846, The Child's Asylum, whither all the children found begging on the streets are brought by the police. During the first year of its operation 95 children were brought-56 boys and 39 girls-and applications from destitute parents on behalf of 149 children were made. The numbers brought in by the police continued to decrease, till in the fourth year only 12 appeared. Last year they amounted to 17, of whom two were sent to the juvenile school, and 15 were delivered to their parents. Applications were made during the same year on behalf of 109 children—88 boys and 21 girls-of whom 54 boys were sent to the boys' school, 42 boys and girls to the juvenile school; 2 were referred to Inspectors of Poor; 10 refused as improper. The asylum was established for the temporary accommodation of mendicant children brought in by the police, and charged with some offence. The Committee which manages the whole is entrusted with the task of inquiring into the cases of the children brought in, admitting such as are eligible into the schools, and restoring those who are not to their parents. During the first two years of its administration, it inquired only into the condition of the mendicant and delinquent children apprehended by the police; but juvenile vagrancy had so much diminished, that these no longer filled the schools, and the Committee then received applications from destitute parents who have applied for admission into the schools for their children. The Child's Asylum was set going after the establishment of the Juvenile School of Industry, which took in children of a still lower grade than the pupils of the Boys' and Girls' Industrial Schools, and was opened under the following circumstances :

The Local Police Act for Aberdeen gives power to put an end to begging in the street by seizing the beggar, but provides no mode for enabling him to live. The original industrial schools still left a portion of the outcast population unreached; and it was proposed to lay hold of this portion summarily, by putting the Police Act in force, and taking every child into custody who was found begging in the streets, and providing him with food and instruction. The police

authorities approved the scheme, and agreed to pay from the funds the expense of teachers for a time; the sum of 41. was collected in aid of the experiment, and the managers of the Soup Kitchen gave the use of their building, gratis. Accordingly, on the 19th May 1845, the police were directed to carry every child found begging to the soup kitchen; 75 were taken, of whom only four could read. A scene of indescribable uproar and confusion followed, but the children when dismissed were invited to come next day, and promised food and teaching. The greater part returned! The school went on prosperously; 150l. were contributed by the wealthier inhabitants, and the working men collected 2507. in aid of it. Some of the labouring class living near the school were asked, "Why do you take so great an interest in this school, and contribute so liberally to its support, when it is not for the use of your own children?" The reply was, " Before this school was opened, we were afraid to trust our children a moment out of doors alone-they were exposed to learn, and did learn, all manner of mischief; but now this school has cleared the streets of the little vagabonds who corrupted them, we are not now afraid to let them out, and thefore we support this school." After a time the aid from the police and soup kitchen was withdrawn, and the school is now supported by subscription.

The progress and present state of the school are shown by the following table:

The larger amount of earnings in the first year, and the greater number who got employment, is owing to the pupils being, many of them, some years older than in subsequent years.

The first year that the juvenile school was opened there were many removals and desertions, and of the deserters six are known to have been committed to prison; but since the full organization of the school, not one child who has been in attendance there is known to have been in prison or in the hands of the police; that is, for a period of five years, from 85 to 105 children have been in constant attendance at this school, and from them not one recruit has gone to join the ranks of criminals. About seventy of the children have been placed in permanent situations, and are now self-sustaining, and reported to be " doing well."

Thus, in the course of ten years, Aberdeen has been almost entirely freed from the class of mendicant and criminal children, owing to the establishment of the four institutions above described. Before these schools were in operation, there were 280 of these unhappy beings living by begging and thieving; last year there were 17 apprehended, of whom only 2 were destitute, and therefore admissible to the schools. At the present time about 400 children are being fed, educated, and trained by the Aberdeen Industrial Feeding Schools.

III.

The Mary-le-Bone Charity School for girls, supported by subscription, maintains, clothes, educates, and qualifies for useful servants 135 girls, children of poor parishioners, from the age of 9 to 15. The Report for 1850 states the annual expenditure at 2,2001. 2s. 8d. Of this sum, 3837. 13s. 8d. is spent on the children's clothing, and 1,0467. 6s. 7d. on their food; thus giving the cost per head of about 77. 15s. a year for maintenance, and 21. 8s. 10d. for clothes. When the girls are placed out in service, the school trustees continue their care for their good conduct, by giving rewards to those who, within three years of leaving the school, can produce a certificate of having lived 2 years in the same situation, or within 5 years of having kept two places for 3 years. If,

during this time, they have conducted themselves well, the sum of two guineas is given them out of the regular school funds.

IV.

The Durham Refuge for Discharged Prisoners, established in 1848, proves how many may be saved from relapsing again into crime, if the chance is given them of returning to an honest course of life. With very small means, and with only a room in the house of one of the gaol schoolmasters for the young women discharged, this excellent institution has been the means of restoring 499 out of 537 prisoners who, in the course of 4 years, have passed through it to their homes, or of placing them in respectable situations. The total cost during these 4 years has been 1987. 17s. 11d.-Third Annual Report for the year ending on the 30th April, 1852.