e.

[Sidenote: THE DIFFICULTIES IN ORPHAN MANAGEMENT.]

The orphans were of different ages, from very early youth to fourteen or
fifteen. The elder ones were steeped in the spirit of the class from
which they came--as a rule the lowest class of the community; and the
younger ones had in their very blood hereditary qualities which put
obstacles in the way of successful training. We do not believe there is
in blood the overpowering efficacy which some have attributed to it; if
it had, responsibility would cease, and the effort to raise certain
tribes and classes would be hopeless; but we believe it has a strong
influence, and we think we have seen clear evidence of its hurtful
effect on Indian orphans. There were these difficulties to begin with.
And then it was impossible to bring these children under the happy
influence of an orderly living family. In our own country it has been
found highly conducive to the right bringing-up of orphans, to the
repressing of evil tendencies, and the drawing forth of the finer
elements of character, to secure for them domestic training to the
utmost extent circumstances will permit. The keeping of many together,
not merely taught together, which is very desirable, but eating
together, sleeping together, constantly acting and reacting on each
other, is found very unfavourable to the formation of the right
character, however careful, wise, and kindly the superintendence may be.
In India, where hundreds of orphans were brought at once to mission
premises, this gregarious life was unavoidable. Besides, it is
impossible to separate orphans from the community around so completely
as to leave them unaffected by its moral atmosphere.

There was of course a difference in the qualifications of those who
undertook this great charge, some being more fitted for it than others;
but this we say with the utmost confidence, after an intimate
acquaintance with the working of some of the larger orphanages, and a
general knowledge of others, that they have been managed with a
laboriousness, a patience, a wisdom, and a kindness, deserving of the
highest praise. Those in charge acted as parents, so far as that was
possible, but in the nature of things there could not be the close
attention and the fond personal affection to each of ordinary domestic
life. We remember cases where children were committed to well-ordered
Christian families with happy results, but for many years after
orphanages were founded t