EXPLANATION OF THE DESIGN FOR A SELF-SUPPORTING INSTITUTION.

THE object of the Institution may be described in the words, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things The means to be employed and the spirit in which they should be employed, are in accordance with the Old and shall be added unto you.' New Testaments-"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."-"Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven;" and "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good-will toward men," is the result which may be hoped for in obeying these Divine commands.

DESCRIPTION OF
THE Square of Buildings encloses an area of thirty-four acres, and
consists of 300 Cottages for 1,200 persons, or 300 families, averaging
four persons in each family, besides public Buildings and private
Official Residences: each Cottage has four rooms, a front and back
room, both on the ground and upper floors. A married couple
without children will occupy two rooms on the ground-floor of a
Cottage, and in that case the two upper rooms can be united to the
adjoining Cottage, making six rooms for a large family.

The large Room over the Gateway at the Entrance of the Square
is the Committee-room; the Apartments on each side are appropriated
as lodging-rooms for the Visiting Committee and for Strangers, as well
as for the residence of the Secretary.

Passing round the Buildings to the right:-the Angle_Building
in the foreground is the Infirmary, with the Surgeon's Residence
adjoining.

The Residence of the Clergyman has a garden at the back, with a
pathway leading to the Church.

The second Angle Building consists of an Infant School on the
ground floor, and a Girl's School on the upper floor, and a house for
the Schoolmistresses, with playground adjoining the Schools.

The next large building is the Hall of Assembly for music or any
general secular purposes.

In the third Angle Building is the Boys' School on the ground

THE BUILDING.

floor, a Library and Lecture-room on the upper floor, the house for the Schoolmaster, and a playground.

The Kitchen-garden, extending from one playground to the other at the back of the Buildings, is to be cultivated by the children in connexion with their education.

The Governor's House is immediately opposite that of the Clergyman. The fourth Angle Building is the Store-house, with the Storekeeper's Residence adjoining.

The centre Building comprises a large Kitchen with a Dining-hall
above for those who have no particular desire to dine in their own
cottages.

At a short distance on the left of the Buildings is a Manufactory
for Shoe-making, Carpentering, Hat-making, Smith's work, &c., &c.;
some cleanly employments, such as Tailoring, &c., would probably be
carried on in the cottages.

A little further on, to the right of the Manufactory, is the Laundry
and Baths.

Behind the Hall of Assembly, and the Gardens cultivated by the
Children, are the Farming Establishment, Bailiff's House, &c.
On the hill is a Windmill belonging to the Institution.

The whole to be surrounded by 1,000 acres of land; but should the
inmates consist of a large proportion of the Agricultural labourers, and
the locality be eligible for Farming, more land might be occupied.

The principle of Economy, for which the Buildings are designed, is not necessarily confined to those of one religious persuasion; but as the number of members is not large, it would be desirable that an uniformity of sentiment and feeling should prevail in each Establishment, thus constituting a congregation.

PREFACE.

IN the manifold phases of society, whether in its rudest stages and in its progress, or as it may now be seen in different parts of the world, there may be recognised, among minor variations and resemblances, five distinctive features-the Hunting State, the Pastoral, Agricultural, Commercial, and Manufacturing.

When it was perceived that nations the most advanced in civilisation were not the most moral; that their vices, if less gross, were more numerous; that they had corrupted or exterminated the Aborigines of newlydiscovered countries-it is not surprising that some error should have been suspected to exist in the very foundations of society, nor is it unworthy of remark, that those authors who, from time to time, have speculated upon better systems of polity, were the most distinguished in the age in which they lived, for transcendent talent and profound wisdom. The views of Milton himself may be inferred from his opinion on the respective works of Plato, Lord Bacon, and Sir Thomas More:

A

"That grave and noble invention, which the greatest and sublimest wits in sundry ages, Plato in 'Critias,' and our two famous countrymen, the one in his 'Utopia,' the other in his New Atlantis,' chose, I may not say as a field, but as a mighty continent, wherein to display the largeness of their spirits by teaching this our world better and exacter things than were yet known or used."-Milton's Apology for his Early Life and Writings.

To these may be added the "Oceana" of Harrington, and the "Gaudentia di Lucca" ascribed to Bishop Berkeley. That Bishop Burnet belonged to the same school may be concluded from his translating More's Utopia."

66

That these distinguished authors, so devoted to the good of mankind, should have written imaginative works upon this subject, and upon no other, shows how much importance was attached to the widest spread of their opinions, and to the necessity of securing general consent before their hopes and lofty aspirations could be realised. The idea of commencing de novo with a detached portion of the community, and illustrating their principles by an epitome of society, had not then occurred: but in modern times the principle of Association has been often resorted to for the accomplishment of many important objects; it remains only to be adopted for the attainment of the most important, to prevention as well as remedy, to training in the right path as well as correcting in the wrong, and numerous weaknesses and disorders, physical and moral, will disappear from society.