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The children who were watching were stunned. Just having food did not impress them, and they also had to go to the workhouse to learn some knowledge. That was such a boring thing, and it was not as enjoyable as playing outside.
"Go! Go! Let's play!"
Seeing that Professor Wayne had expressed his stance, Jim stood up with a fierce look on his face and waved his hands to drive away the children surrounding him.
The children dispersed in a hurry, mocking Jim for being an old bachelor as they ran. Seeing that Jim was angry and wanted to chase them, they hurried back to join their own small group.
"Hmph, they are a bunch of ill-educated brats who are still gossiping about the women at home when they are young."
Jim was still angry and was
He felt ashamed when a group of kids revealed the fact that he was not married yet.
Although not getting married is normal.
Professor Wayne smiled and said, "Let's go."
"That is to say, gentlemen are kind-hearted. If they encounter a gentleman with a bad temper, they will ask the servant to whip him."
"Some time ago, two of our children were severely punished with a whip because they bumped into someone. The clothes on their backs were soaked with blood."
"But they didn't dare to step forward to stop them. Finally, the parents of the two children came over. They didn't dare to say anything. They could only hold their children home in tears. It is said that they are still lying in bed recovering from their injuries."
Jim talked more.
"Didn't they think about asking the attacker to pay compensation?" Lecturer Foren, who had remained silent until then, couldn't help but speak.
Jim chuckled, "Of course there is compensation, but that is the child's parents apologizing to those gentlemen. It depends on whether the other party is willing to disclose the matter.
If they encounter those unreasonable and barbaric gentlemen, they will whip the children and their parents as well."
“……” Lecturer Follen was stunned for a moment, his face turned pale, and he didn’t say anything else.
……
The Sunrise Workhouse is located at the end of the dock area, halfway up a hill. Whenever the sun rises from the sea level in the early morning, this is always the first place to see the sunrise.
“Let those who are poor and suffering welcome their own sunrise earlier.”
This is the meaning of the name given to this almshouse by a marquis who funded its construction in full more than thirty years ago.
When Hastur and his party arrived at the Sunrise Workhouse, the scorching sun in the sky was hanging over the top of the mountain.
Jim glanced at the workhouse, forced a smile and said, "Sir, my guide mission has been completed. I hope you will have a good time in the next few days."
"You are a very qualified guide."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Jim smiled and left, taking the 12 soli guide fee with him.
Professor Wayne is a frequent visitor here, and his arrival was warmly received by Dean Dan of the Sunrise Workhouse.
Hastur, who was standing behind him, noticed that his expression looked a little unnatural, with a mixture of happiness and slight anger.
He just looked at Dean Dan for a few seconds and then shifted his gaze to the poorhouse.
Because it is located halfway up the mountain and it is easy to quarry stones, the walls of the workhouse are made of large stones. They are nearly four meters high, and the walls are flattened and covered with moss, which greatly eliminates any way of entering or exiting except through the gate.
Surrounded by stone walls are gray-black houses, which are basically three stories high. The overall layout is in the shape of a "sun". Only the tower at the highest point protrudes, slightly destroying the overall structure.
The whole thing looks more like a school.
Professor Wayne chatted with Dean Dan for a while, then introduced Hastur and Lecturer Foren. When Dean Dan learned that Hastur was a distinguished baron, his face was full of smiles.
"It's getting late. Shall we go have lunch first and then talk about other things?" Dean Daen said.
Professor Wayne smiled and said, "Of course it's up to you."
After entering the gate of the orphanage, there was a faint chilly breeze and the temperature around suddenly dropped by several degrees.
"real
It’s cool.”
Lecturer Foren smiled and spoke, and Hastur also smiled.
I did sweat a lot walking under the sun. It was extremely hot when I was climbing the mountain just now. Entering here is like entering an ice cellar. I feel much more energetic.
After passing through two open areas similar to playgrounds, we arrived at the restaurant on the third floor at the innermost part.
"Every time I come here, I prefer to dine with children. It makes me feel younger."
As Professor Wayne spoke, he glanced at Hastur again.
Hastur understood and said with a smile: "I like children too. It's more fun to have a lively atmosphere."
Dean Daen looked surprised, but he did not object. He smiled and said, "I'm just worried that the children are ignorant and might disturb you while you are eating."
Professor Wayne said: "For us, this is also a rare experience."
"Okay then, I'll have someone arrange it right away."
After Dean Dan finished speaking, he asked two managers of the orphanage to go to the first floor to prepare the dining table and food.
"Dean Dahn, how many people do you have here currently?"
Lecturer Foren asked curiously. He had just observed that this workhouse was very large. There were hundreds of three-story houses connected together on all sides, not including the basement and the other three independent houses.
He had been to the almshouse near St. Samuel's Church, which was large, but this one was equally large.
Logically speaking, a place like the Docklands cannot be compared to St. Samuel's Church near Queens.
Dean Daen thought for a moment and said, "There should be more than 2,300 people, including 122 administrators, teachers, cooks, maids and other staff."
"It's really not easy." Follen knew how difficult it was to run an orphanage that housed more than 2,000 people.
"This is not only our hard work and dedication, but more of the concern from all walks of life for the charitable cause of helping the poor." Dean Dahn was very humble.
“Your humility and character are truly admirable.”
Lecturer Foren and Dean Dahn began to chat, and Hasta just listened quietly, while guessing what Professor Wayne was thinking.
Chapter 22 Small Classroom on Poor Law and Legal Knowledge
Today's Professor Wayne obviously has something on his mind, otherwise he would not have said such words just now and asked himself to cooperate with him.
He vaguely guessed some of Professor Wayne's thoughts from this behavior.
Workhouses are nominally charitable institutions that house and provide relief to the poor.
After the introduction of the George III Poor Law, workhouses were built in various places under the watchful eye of the gods.
In addition to each kingdom itself, a workhouse will be established near each church of the Seven Orthodox Churches to assist the poor and at the same time promote the love of God.
This starting point is of course good and worthy of recognition, but the greed of people will make them even want to get involved in charitable institutions such as the workhouse.
It would be the greatest irony when philanthropy becomes a sharp weapon against the poor.
Hastur believes in the goodness of people as well as their ugliness.
From what he has seen so far, and from some of Professor Wayne's words, he can foresee that there is definitely a problem with this workhouse.
Professor Wayne insisted on eating in the same restaurant as the children, probably because he wanted to find out what was wrong with this workhouse.
No matter how well the other party does on the surface, as long as there is something really wrong, it will definitely leave traces.
And children often can't hide many things.
Soon, an administrator came and said that the dining table on the first floor had been set up and it was also time for the children to have lunch.
"Our place is relatively simple, and some of the food is not that exquisite, which may not suit your appetite." Dean Dahn's smile seemed to contain deep meaning.
Professor Wayne said calmly: "I also came from a poor family, and every piece of food deserves respect."
"I'm just worried about a bad reception."
Dean Dahn said nothing more and led the three Hasturs downstairs.
On the way, Hasta observed the surroundings carefully. It was already noon. He walked out of a nearby house. There were many people coming here to eat. Most of the children were between eight and twelve years old, fifteen or sixteen years old. There are very few children.
According to the provisions of the Poor Law promulgated in the era of George III, anyone with sound limbs and able to support themselves outside cannot always occupy the resources of the workhouse, and is not allowed to stay in the workhouse overnight.
In order to show kindness and care for different groups of people, adults can come to the workhouse to receive food once a day, and children who do not live in the workhouse can come to receive food twice a day.
The so-called poverty relief food can be freely adjusted and arranged according to the economic conditions of the local workhouse.
In most almshouses, you can get dairy products and bread. In the almshouses with better conditions, you can sometimes eat meat. In the very well-off almshouses, you can even eat meat openly, and occasionally beer is provided.
Such living conditions are better than those of some working-class families.
Of course, there are only a few workhouses with such favorable conditions.
Most workhouses can barely keep people full. Some workhouses with poor conditions only provide food such as soup and water, which is not enough to eat at all. And they may only have one meal a day, leaving them hungry the rest of the time.
The children there don't have to wash the dishes after eating because their bowls have been licked extremely clean.
After every table in the restaurant was filled with people and filled with food, a manager rang the bell in his hand and shouted at the same time: "No talking, no playing, and no behavior that affects others while eating!"
After the eating rules were read out, the children began to eat quietly.
The main food at noon today was a generous portion of white bread and a glass of milk, as well as a large bowl of sweet soup that was slowly simmered.
Although there is no meat to eat, compared to black bread, having white bread as a staple food is already very good, and there is also milk, which can already meet the nutritional needs of children.
From the outside, at least from the lunch meal, there wasn't much to fault.
"It's such a touching scene."
Lecturer Foulen sighed with emotion. In his opinion, it was already remarkable that a workhouse could feed poor children.
"Yes, I hope all children can grow up healthily." Professor Wayne was also very moved.
Hastur did not comment on the scene before him. His eyes fell on the clothes on the children.
Their clothing looks similar to that of the children in the dock area. They wear gray and black old coats, loose knee-length bloomers, and some also wear round-brimmed felt hats. This is a very normal dress in the workhouse.
What made Hastur a little confused was that their clothes were loose and messy, as if someone had temporarily put them on.
Another point is that these children's behavior is too calm.
Logically speaking, children of this age like to play and learn new things the most. When facing people like themselves, even if they don't show interest, they will secretly take a few glances, right?
But since I walked through the door, every child I met along the way behaved very calmly and well-behaved, not even talking loudly or playing around.
This is not normal.