386 Fundamental Principles of 



have commonly been sufficient for keeping the unruly 

 in order. 



If the force of example is irresistible in debauching 

 men's minds, and leading them into profligate and vi- 

 cious courses, it is not less so in reclaiming them, and ren- 

 dering them orderly, docile, and industrious ; and hence 

 the infinite importance of collecting the poor together 

 in public establishments, where every thing about them 

 is animated by unaffected cheerfulness, and by that pleas- 

 ing gayety and air of content and satisfaction which 

 always enliven the busy scenes of useful industry. 



I do not believe it would be possible for any per- 

 son to be idle in the House of Industry at Munich. 

 I never saw any one idle, often as I have passed through 

 the working-rooms ; nor did I ever see any one to whom 

 the employments of industry seemed to be painful or 

 irksome. 



Those who are collected together in the public 

 rooms destined for the reception and accommodation 

 of the poor in the day-time will not need to be forced, 

 nor even urged, to work. If there are in the room sev- 

 eral persons who are busily employed in the cheerful 

 occupations of industry, and if implements and materials 

 for working are at hand, all the others present will not 

 fail to be soon drawn into the vortex, and, joining with 

 alacrity in the active scene, their dislike to labour will 

 be forgotten, and they will become by habit truly and 

 permanently industrious. 



Such is the irresistible power of example ! Those 

 who know how to manage this mighty engine, and 

 have opportunities of employing it with effect, may 

 produce the most miraculous changes in the manners, 

 disposition, and character even of whole nations. 



