"For such young persons it is proposed to provide, not a prison for
their restraint and correction, but a family school, where, under the
firm but kind discipline of a judicious home, they shall be carefully
instructed in all the branches of a good education; their moral
affections be developed and cultivated by the example and affectionate
care of one who shall hold the relation of a mother to them; be
instructed in useful and appropriate forms of female industry; and, in
short, be fitted to become virtuous and happy members of society, and to
take respectable positions in such relations in life as Providence shall
hereafter mark out for them.
"It is to be distinctly understood that the institution is not to be
considered a _place of punishment_, or its subjects as criminals. It is
to be an inviting refuge, into which the exposed may be gathered to be
saved from a course which would inevitably end in penal confinement,
irretrievable ruin, or hopeless degradation.
"The inmates are to be considered hopeful and promising subjects of
appropriate culture, and to be instructed and watched over with the care
and kindness which their peculiar exposures demand, and with the
confidence which youth should ever inspire.
"The restraint and the discipline which will be necessary are to be such
as would be appropriate in a Christian family or in a small
boarding-school; and the 'law of kindness' should be written upon the
heart of every officer of the institution.
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