ESSAYS-1 [25]
put to spinning of wool; and this was always represented to them, and considered by them, as an honorable promotion. Upon this occasion they commonly received some public reward, a new shirt,--a pair of shoes,-- or perhaps the uniform of the establishment, as an encouragement to them to persevere in their industrious habits.
As constant application to any occupation for too great a length of time is apt to produce disgust, and in children might even be detrimental to health, beside the hour of dinner, an hour of relaxation from work, (from eight o'clock till nine,) in the forenoon, and another hour, (from three o'clock till four,) in the afternoon, were allowed them, and these two hours were spent in a school; which, for want of room elsewhere in the house, was kept in the dining-hall, where they were taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, by a school-master engaged and paid for that purpose[11]. Into this school other persons who worked in the house, of a more advanced age, were admitted, if they requested it; but few grown persons seemed desirous of availing themselves of this permission. As to the children, they had no choice in the matter; those who belonged to the establishment were obliged to attend the school regularly every day, morning and evening. The school books, paper, pens, and ink, were furnished at the expence of the establishment.
To distinguish those among the grown persons that worked in the house, who showed the greatest dexterity and industry in the different manufactures in which they were employed, the best workman were separated from the others, and formed distinct classes, and were even assigned separate rooms and apartments. This separation was productive of many advantages; for, beside the spirit of emulation which it excited, and kept alive, in every part of the establishment, if afforded an opportunity of carrying on the different manufactures in a very advantageous manner. The most dexterous among the wool-spinners, for instance, were naturally employed upon the finest wool, such as was used in the fabrication of the finest and most valuable goods; and it was very necessary that these spinners should be separated from the others, who worked upon coarser materials; otherwise, in the manipulations of the wool, as particles of it are unavoidably dispersed about in all directions when it is spun, the coarser particles thus mixing with the fine would greatly injure the manufacture. It was likewise necessary, for a similar reason, to separate the spinners who were employed in spinning wool of different colours. But as these, and many other like precautions are well known to all manufacturers, it is not necessary that I should insist upon them any farther in this place; nor indeed is it necessary that I should enter into all the details of any of the manufactures carried on in the establishment I am describing. It will be quite sufficient, if I merely enumerate them, and others, who were employed in carrying them on.
In treating this subject it will however be necessary to go back a little, and give a more particular account of the internal governments of this establishment; and first of all I must observe, that the government of the Military Work-house, as it is called, is quite distinct from the government of the institution for the poor; the Work-house being merely a manufactory, like any other manufactory, supported upon its own private capital; which capital has no connection whatever with any fund destined for the poor. It is under the sole direction of its own particular governors and overseers, and is carried on at the sole risk of the owner. The institution for the poor, on the other hand, is merely an institution of charity, joined to a general direction of the police, as far as it relates to paupers. The committee, or deputation, as it is called, which is at the head of this institution, has the sole direction of all funds destined for the relief of the poor in Munich, and the distribution of alms. This deputation has likewise the direction of the kitchen, and bake-house,
As constant application to any occupation for too great a length of time is apt to produce disgust, and in children might even be detrimental to health, beside the hour of dinner, an hour of relaxation from work, (from eight o'clock till nine,) in the forenoon, and another hour, (from three o'clock till four,) in the afternoon, were allowed them, and these two hours were spent in a school; which, for want of room elsewhere in the house, was kept in the dining-hall, where they were taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, by a school-master engaged and paid for that purpose[11]. Into this school other persons who worked in the house, of a more advanced age, were admitted, if they requested it; but few grown persons seemed desirous of availing themselves of this permission. As to the children, they had no choice in the matter; those who belonged to the establishment were obliged to attend the school regularly every day, morning and evening. The school books, paper, pens, and ink, were furnished at the expence of the establishment.
To distinguish those among the grown persons that worked in the house, who showed the greatest dexterity and industry in the different manufactures in which they were employed, the best workman were separated from the others, and formed distinct classes, and were even assigned separate rooms and apartments. This separation was productive of many advantages; for, beside the spirit of emulation which it excited, and kept alive, in every part of the establishment, if afforded an opportunity of carrying on the different manufactures in a very advantageous manner. The most dexterous among the wool-spinners, for instance, were naturally employed upon the finest wool, such as was used in the fabrication of the finest and most valuable goods; and it was very necessary that these spinners should be separated from the others, who worked upon coarser materials; otherwise, in the manipulations of the wool, as particles of it are unavoidably dispersed about in all directions when it is spun, the coarser particles thus mixing with the fine would greatly injure the manufacture. It was likewise necessary, for a similar reason, to separate the spinners who were employed in spinning wool of different colours. But as these, and many other like precautions are well known to all manufacturers, it is not necessary that I should insist upon them any farther in this place; nor indeed is it necessary that I should enter into all the details of any of the manufactures carried on in the establishment I am describing. It will be quite sufficient, if I merely enumerate them, and others, who were employed in carrying them on.
In treating this subject it will however be necessary to go back a little, and give a more particular account of the internal governments of this establishment; and first of all I must observe, that the government of the Military Work-house, as it is called, is quite distinct from the government of the institution for the poor; the Work-house being merely a manufactory, like any other manufactory, supported upon its own private capital; which capital has no connection whatever with any fund destined for the poor. It is under the sole direction of its own particular governors and overseers, and is carried on at the sole risk of the owner. The institution for the poor, on the other hand, is merely an institution of charity, joined to a general direction of the police, as far as it relates to paupers. The committee, or deputation, as it is called, which is at the head of this institution, has the sole direction of all funds destined for the relief of the poor in Munich, and the distribution of alms. This deputation has likewise the direction of the kitchen, and bake-house,