Page:Reports on the State of Education in Bengal (1835 & 1838).djvu/369

Rh loss of employment or friends, and catechumens; to locate them on the farm to teach them some art or business; and to provide them with a home so long as obedience to the rules of the institution renders them worthy of protection and countenance. On this principle fourteen mendicant females have been received. Sickness and a laxity of morals have reduced their number, but eight of them who formerly lived on alms now maintain themselves by weaving tape and bobbin.

The expenditure on account of the institution is small and its resources are limited. The building of the Asylum originally cost 400 rupees; of the workshop, 500; and of the school-room or native chapel, 318; to which is to be added the cost of various improvements and additions since made. The rent of the land for a farm is 100 rupees per annum, and the European artizan and native sircar receive together 33 rupees per month. No precise estimate could be furnished of the cost of maintaining the inmates of the Asylum and of providing them with tools, machinery, and materials. To meet this expenditure, the work of the orphans and widows in part contributes: in 1835 it sold for 398 rupees. The aggregate of local subscriptions has varied from 12 to 75 rupees per month, and occasional liberal donations have been received both from friends on the spot and at a distance. The number of orphans and widows received into the Asylum is limited only by the state of the funds.

The orphans of native parents are the special objects of the institution and the purpose is to train them up as artizans and farmers. When they have completed their school-education it is not contemplated to leave them without further care or superintendence, but on the plan of Moravian settlements to form them into a community in which each when married and comfortably supported shall assist in promoting the prosperity of the whole. It is hoped that the institution, independent of charitable aid, will thus enlarge or at least continue its operations. It is still in its infancy and promises more than it has yet performed, but not more than it may be expected to perform under the same management. Even in its present condition, it must be regarded as a highly laudable attempt to rescue the orphan, widow, and outcast from destitution and crime, to educate them in the principles of Christianity and to make them industrious, moral and religious.