ry home for his fallen brother, and allowed no rest to his head, until he has done his utmost to procure for him employment. It should be added that, within a few months, a number of the "merchant princes," and other eminent philanthropists, of Bos- ton, have given Mr. Augustus a substantial testimonial of their respect for his unwearied and invaluable services. Previous to this liberal act, Mr. A. had relied upon his own scanty resources, and had found it exceedingly difficult to carry into effect his praiseworthy labors. The labors of the managers of Washingtonian Hall, and of John Augustus, have been brought into distinct review, because they present a concentration of facts, of remarkable import. They exhibit, it is believed, the great benefit which, in a humble way, has been conferred on society, by rescuing from disgrace, and from destruction, so many members of the human family. They start the inquiry, that, if so important a service to fallen humanity can be brought about with so imperfect arrangements, and with so limited means, cannot a yet more important work be accomplished by the establishment of an Asylum, calculated to carry out, with more completeness, and with far greater advantages, the objects which have been partially obtained under such great and obvious disadvantages? Although particular prominence has been given to the results which have been accomplished in the city of Boston, yet your petitioners well know that equal efforts have been made, in the country, to save men from the disgrace of imprisonment for intemperance. But such men require to be placed under a guardianship which may cure them, and not under influences which will yet more completely degrade them. Your petitioners believe that greater and more efficient than all other instrumentalities hitherto employed, for saving the drunkard, is the law of kindness. It having been demonstrated of late, in thousands of cases, that the drunkard is yet a man, and can be restored to health by kind words and kind deeds, ought he not to be placed in the most favorable position for his recovery? Has not the word gone forth in Massachusetts, never to be again recalled, that the poor maniac shall no longer shiver in his cage, without clothing, and without fire,-that his chains shall be stricken off, and that he shall henceforth find comfort, and, perhaps, restored reason, in a State Asylum? And what is the drunkard, with his periodical fits of delirium tremens, but a maniac? A shattered mind can be healed only by skilful words, uttered in tones of kindness; by efficient medicines, administered by persuasion, and not by force. Gentlemen, we hope that none of you may ever have the misfortune to have a beloved brother a houseless wanderer, by the curse of intemperance; we hope you may be spared the sorrow, in your old age, of hearing that the son of your own blood, who, in the confidence of your hearts, you have sent to the capital of the State to acquire consideration and wealth, in mercantile or other honorable pursuits, has "fallen among thieves," and perished in the dark lanes or darker dens of the city, before the good Samaritan has searched him out and placed him where a father's love can reach him and save him! We hope, gentlemen, you may be spared this terrible calamity;—but if, in the inscrutable dealings of Providence, a child of your affections should be cast forth in destitution by reason of the intoxicating cup, we trust in your wisdom, your will, with the responsibilities of your high duties pressing upon you, see now, if such an Asylum exists as the unhappy wanderer requires, which the age demands, and which your noble State, in every other great work of Christian charity is amply provided with. We have not written out the appeal of the wretched drunkard himself, who, with feeble body and broken spirit, entreats you not to send him to a charnel house of living corruption ! but to give him a Christian resting place, where he can put forth all his strength to burst the bands which have bound him; and instead of going forth from its threshold with the mark of the prison branded upon him, that he may depart with the strong courage which gratitude gives, and with thanksgivings to God that he has been restored to his right mind by the strong arm of a brother's faith, and the warm breath of a brother's love! Your petitioners, instead of having exhausted, have scarcely. entered upon an enumeration of the advantages, which, it is believed, will flow from the founding of such an Asylum. The only object they have had in view was to call the attention of the Legislature to a subject of great magnitude in its bearings, inasmuch as it is closely connected with our present pauper and prison discipline, and relates to the well being of at least three fourths of those who now crowd our prisons and alms houses. In the countless number of noble institutions which have risen up around us; in the constant exhibition of munificent charities which are daily announced to us, a testimony has been recorded, that the beautiful spirit of Christian benevolence is an active principle in our midst. And in presenting some of the reasons for founding a State Asylum for the relief and restoration of the victim of intemperance, your petitioners hope that the object will be considered worthy of the careful consideration of the Legislature, and that the growing tendencies in behalf of suffering humanity, may result in a substantial effort for the benefit of the poor drunkard! February 17, 1845, Respectfully submitted, Edgar K. Whitaker, Catharine C. Whitaker, Clarissa Ritchie, Saba A. Ritchie, Sarah Dewing, Charles T. Humphries, Clara A. Kimball, Lucy M. Marsh, Dudley Williams, William C. Moore, N. Adams, Franklin Williams, Nelson Worther, Edwin Lemist, A. R. Mathes, Ralph Sanger. MR. SCHOULER, of Lowell, moves to substitute the following for the bill concerning the Liens and Remedies of Mechanics and others. (House, No. 30.) Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and FortyFive. AN ACT To give Mechanics and others a Lien on Buildings. BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: 1 SECT. 1. When any contract or agreement shall 2 be hereafter made with the owner of any piece of 3 land, for the erecting, repairing or altering any house 4 or other building, or their appurtenances, or for 5 laboring or furnishing labor for the same, and when 6 any contract or agreement shall be made with any 7 person who has contracted with such owner, for the 8 purposes aforesaid, or with any sub-contractor, or 9 other person erecting, repairing or altering any house 10 or other building, or their appurtenances, with the 11 knowledge and consent of the owner of the land on 12 which the same shall stand, the person or persons 13 who shall, in pursuance of such contract or agree14 ment, have erected, repaired or altered such house 15 or other building, or their appurtenances, or shall 16 have labored or furnished labor for or upon the 17 same, shall have a lien to secure the payment of the 18 same, due under such contract or agreement, upon 19 such house or other building, and upon the piece of 20 land on which the same shall stand, and upon the 21 right of redeeming the same, when it shall have been 22 conveyed in mortgage, and upon the right and inter23 est which the person, or persons, with whom such 24 contract or agreement is made, may have in such 25 land or buildings. 1 SECT. 2. Such lien shall not attach, unless the 2 contract is made in writing and signed by the owner 3 of the land, or by the original contractor, the sub4 contractor, or other person erecting, repairing or 5 altering a house or other building, or their appurte6 nances, as mentioned in the first section, or by some 7 person thereunto duly authorized by such owner, 8 contractor, sub-contractor, or other person, nor un9 less it shall be recorded in the office of the clerk of 10 the town or city where the land is situated upon 11 which said house or other building shall stand, with |