MAGDALEN ASYLUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 1847, 15 April 1887, Page 22

MAGDALEN ASYLUM.

We trust that the appeal which is being ■ made by the Rev. Father Ginaty on behalf j of the Magdalen Asylum now in course of construction at Christchurch will be heartily responded to in Otago. It will be the only institution of the kind, as distinct from the ordinary refuge, in New Zealand, and its doors will be open to" unfortunates from all parts of the Colony or elsewhere, without distinction of creed. Already the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, who have been specially trained for the work, have 18 inmates under their care at the temporary residence in Ohristchurch. The institution is to be modelled upon the same lines as that at Abbotsford, near Melbourne, of which "The Vagabond" wrote so touching an account in the Argus some years ago. Ever since then the Abbotsford Asylum has maintained a strong hold upon public sympathy by the excellence of its management and the thoroughness of its work. The principle upon which the New Zealand, like the Victorian, institution is to be managed is that " work is worship," and whilst every effort is made to »awaken the repentants to some idea of the true nobility and dignity of woman, hard work is relied upon as the great practical remedy for their case. Every sympathy is extended to them, and one point of the system upon which the" good Sisters .work is that of keeping up their ! influence over their charges' after they have j returned into the world. In every respect the charity is one which can be thoroughly recommended, not only as noble and useful iv its object, but for the excellent way in which it is carried out.