nd our examination of the home on the Rue de
Reuilly. Leaving the hospital, and turning in the opposite direction
from that to which we came, we are at the house of correction. Bars of
iron before the windows apprise us of the character of the building.
There are two divisions of inmates; the one in which the discipline is
more rigid is called the _retenue_. Those placed here are generally
between fourteen and twenty-one years of age, although occasionally a
child of precocious depravity is met with, who has to be separated from
those under less restriction even at ten years of age. The
_disciplinaire_ is the division of milder restraint. The twenty-five or
twenty-six places in each of the two divisions are ordinarily applied
for in advance. Pastor Louis Valette said: "We shall not have room
enough until we have too much room."

There are three classes of inmates: those who are put here by their
parents for insubordination or other grave faults; those who are sent
here by order of a judge of the court for a limited period, and those
who are recognized guilty of a misdemeanor, but are acquitted on account
of their age, and must remain a certain time, sometimes until they have
attained their majority, in houses of correction and education.

The Minister of the Interior pays twelve cents a day for pupils of the
third class; the Prefect of Police four hundred dollars a year for those
of the second class, whatever their number, only the establishment is
bound to receive them at any time and at any hour.

There is a system of rewards, to promote good behavior, and those who
profit by it can accumulate a small sum of money, sometimes amounting to
sixteen or eighteen dollars, to have when they go out from here. In
other cases there is a large indebtedness on the opposite side, which
can never be collected.

The days are occupied in household work, washing, ironing, and sewing,
and two hours of schooling. When the nature of the work will permit,
instructive books are read aloud, or the deaconesses give pleasant talks
on different subjects that will keep the thoughts of the workers busy,
and give them helpful ideas to store away in their minds. As we went
about in the sewing-classes, we noticed that the time was invariably
utilized in some way that was profitable to the girls. Most of them are
pitiably ignorant of even the commonest knowledge demanded in life.
There are separate court-yards for the recreations of the two divis