ess she was able to
furnish proof of her allegation. She knew the facts only upon hearsay,
and only in case a misdemeanor were actually proved would it be possible
for the police to interfere as she desired. The charitable feelings of
the lady would not permit her to stop here. She made inquiries among
benevolent societies. But here again she experienced a check. The
societies could not receive the child except upon legal commitment by an
order of court. And charitable persons with the most benevolent
tendencies, being consulted on this difficulty, confessed themselves at
a loss to suggest a remedy in the case, and declared that it was
dangerous to interfere between parents and children; that in so doing
one is liable to become involved in inextricable difficulties, since the
heads of the family are the best guardians of their children. However,
the sorrowful appeal of the dying woman echoed continually in the ears
of her whose charitable aid had been implored. She resolved upon a
supreme effort to rescue this child. She sought Mr. Henry Bergh, a man
who has never been deaf to a cry of despair, and who has devoted his
life to the protection of animals. Mr. Bergh considered the life of a
child to be quite as valuable as that of a beast, and gave it as his
opinion that the tribunals should be appealed to. A warrant was
immediately procured and the child was produced in court, its face
covered with horrible wounds. A pair of scissors with which these wounds
had been inflicted were produced. The facts in the case caused a
profound sensation in the court and throughout the city. The
mother-in-law was arrested, found guilty, and the little girl was taken
from her hands to receive an education which has rendered her an elegant
and accomplished young woman.

Humble beginnings, which it will be well for us to bear in remembrance
for the confusion of our pride! It is from the protection of animals
that has sprung, in New York, that of the child. And, when we
contemplate the great number of societies in the United States,--the
Humane Society of Saratoga, of Bangor, of Keene, of Taunton, of
Connecticut, the Western Pennsylvania, the Tennessee Society, those of
Nashville, of Cleveland, of Cincinnati, of Indianapolis, of Chicago, of
Peoria, of Sangamon, of Quincy, of Minnesota, of Minneapolis, extending,
simultaneously, their help to children and to the brutes, we shall be no
longer astonished either at the combination of effort expl