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diff --git a/old/50973-0.txt b/old/50973-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a18f88f..0000000 --- a/old/50973-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10807 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, "About My Father's Business", by Thomas Archer - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: "About My Father's Business" - Work Amidst the Sick, the Sad, and the Sorrowing - - -Author: Thomas Archer - - - -Release Date: January 20, 2016 [eBook #50973] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "ABOUT MY FATHER'S BUSINESS"*** - - -E-text prepared by Richard Hulse, Chris Pinfield, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images -generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries -(https://archive.org/details/americana) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive/American Libraries. See - https://archive.org/details/aboutmyfathersbu1876arch - - -Transcriber's note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Small capitals have been replaced by full capitals. - - - - - -"ABOUT MY FATHER'S BUSINESS." - - -(The Rights of Translation and of Reproduction are Reserved.) - - -"ABOUT MY FATHER'S BUSINESS" - -Work Amidst the Sick, the Sad, and the Sorrowing - -by - -THOMAS ARCHER - -Author of -"Strange Work," "A Fool's Paradise," "The Terrible Sights of London," -"The Pauper, The Thief, and the Convict," etc., etc. - - - - - - - -Henry S. King & Co. -1876 - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - THE RARITY OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY 1 - - WITH THE CHILDREN OF THE STRANGER 9 - - WITH THE CHILDREN'S CHILDREN 18 - - WITH THE STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND 34 - - WITH THOSE WHO ARE LEFT DESOLATE 44 - - WITH THEM THAT GO DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS 53 - - WITH THEM WHO WERE READY TO PERISH 62 - - CASTING BREAD UPON THE WATERS 74 - - WITH THE FEEBLE AND FAINT-HEARTED 84 - - WITH THE LITTLE ONES 100 - - IN THE KINGDOM 112 - - WITH LOST LAMBS 125 - - WITH THE SICK 135 - - BLESSING THE LITTLE CHILDREN 144 - - WITH THEM THAT FAINT BY THE WAY 157 - - IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH 165 - - WITH THE HALT AND THE LAME 178 - - WITH THEM WHO HAVE NOT WHERE TO LAY THEIR HEADS 190 - - TAKING IN STRANGERS 200 - - FEEDING THE MULTITUDE 209 - - GIVING REST TO THE WEARY 220 - - WITH THE POOR AND NEEDY 227 - - GIVING THE FEEBLE STRENGTH 248 - - HEALING THE SICK 261 - - WITH THE PRISONER 273 - - - - -"ABOUT MY FATHER'S BUSINESS." - - - - -_THE RARITY OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY._ - - -Would it not be useful to ask ourselves the question whether we are -forgetting the true meaning of "charity" in the constant endeavour to -take advantage of organized benevolent institutions, about the actual -working of which we concern ourselves very little? As the years go on, -and what we call civilisation advances, are we or are we not losing -sight of "our neighbour" in a long vista of vicarious benefactions, -bestowed through the medium of a subscription list, or casual -contributions at an "anniversary festival?" - -At the speeches that are made on such occasions, when the banquet is -over, and the reading of the amounts subscribed is accompanied by the -cracking of nuts and a crescendo or decrescendo of applause, in -proportion to the liberality of the donors, we are so frequently -reminded of "the good Samaritan," that we begin to feel that we may -claim some kind of relationship to him; and may shake our heads with -solemn sorrow at the inexcusable conduct of the priest and the Levite. -It would be worth while, however, to ask ourselves whether we quite come -up to the mark of him who, finding the man wounded and helpless by the -wayside, dismounted that he might convey the sufferer to the nearest -inn; poured out oil for his wounds and wine for his cheer; left him with -money in hand for the supply of his immediate needs; and did not -scruple--with a robust and secure honesty--even to get into debt on his -behalf: since the crown of good-will would be the coming again to learn -of the patient's welfare. The debt was a pledge of the intention. - -That was the Lord Christ's way of looking at charitable responsibility, -and at benevolent effort; and even granting that He illustrated the -answer to the question, "Who is my neighbour?" by an extreme case of -sudden distress, the longer we look at the peculiar needs of the man who -was on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho, the more perhaps we shall be -convinced that there are greater, far greater evils, and more terrible -accidents, than to fall among thieves, who temporarily rob, strip, and -disable their victim. - -The present fashion of dealing with such an unfortunate traveller would -very much depend on which particular class of philanthropists the modern -Samaritan who found him by the road-side happened to belong to. - -Of course, it would be a scandal to our Christianity to follow either -priest or Levite, although our cowardly sympathies might lie between the -two; so, in order to make all safe, we hit on a compromise, and, -according to our circumstances, try to find a medium line of conduct -between Samaritan and Levite, or Samaritan and priest. We are ashamed to -pass on without doing something, and so we call at the inn on our way, -and leave the twopence there, in case anybody else should think fit to -bring on the man who is lying, stunned and bleeding, in the roadway. Or -else, having contrived to rouse the poor fellow to a little effort, we -borrow an ass and take him back with us, to find some organised -institution for the relief of those who fall among thieves, where the -wine and oil are contracted for out of the funds. And there we leave -him, without remembering anything whatever about the twopenny -contribution which would represent our own share in the benefaction. - -It is an awful thought, and one which it may be hoped will soon become -intolerable, that, with the mechanical perfection of means for relieving -the necessities of those who are afflicted, there seems to grow upon us -a deadly indifference to the very deepest need of all--that personal, -human sympathy, without which all our boast of benevolence is but as the -sounding of brass and the tinkling of a cymbal. Can it be possible that -we are approaching a condition when, refusing to have the poor and the -afflicted, the widow and the orphan always with us, we shut them away -out of our sight, leaving the whole duty of visiting them, of clothing -them, of giving them meat and drink, to be done by an official -committee; a charitable board, distributing doles, exactly calculated, -on a carefully devised scale, and divided to the ounce or the inch, in -supposed proportion to the individual need of each recipient? Will there -ever come a time when we shall persuade ourselves that we fulfil the law -of Christ by paying so much in the pound for a charity rate, and leaving -all the actual "relief" to be effected by an official department, or a -series of official committees? - -The present aspect of charitable administration would be truly appalling -if this were likely to be the result, for there are far too many -evidences of that deadly indifference which will get rid of all real -personal responsibility by paying a subscription, and will pay -handsomely, too, at the same time smiling grimly, and half satirically, -at the recollection that there are a number of people who always have on -hand "cases," of whom they are anxious to rid themselves by placing them -in any institution that will receive them without payment. - -Let it not be imagined that these latter words of mine are intended to -apply to those workers among the poor, who, with small means of their -own, cannot do much more than speak words of advice and comfort, and -give their earnest help to better the condition of sordid homes and of -neglected children. There are scores of true, tender-hearted women who, -spending much time amongst the sick and the afflicted, feel their hearts -sink within them as they see how much more might be done, if they had -but the wherewithal to appease the actual physical needs of those to -whom they try to come spiritually near. - -If but the miracle so easy to others were first performed, and the five -thousand fed, then indeed might follow that still greater miracle, the -earnest listening of the once turbulent multitude to the words of the -Bread of Life. - -But there are those who pursue what they regard as "charitable work" as -an excitement--an amusement--just as children are sometimes set to play -with Scripture conversation cards, and puzzles out of the Old Testament, -with a kind of feeling that the employment comes nearly to a religious -exercise. There is as much danger of these persons missing the true work -of charity as there would be in the employment of paid officials--indeed, -the latter would have one advantage; they would be less likely to be -imposed upon by those who to obtain some special advantage would cringe -and flatter. - -The first great difficulty in visiting and temporarily relieving the -lower class of destitute poor, is to disabuse their minds of an -inveterate notion that the benevolent visitor and distributor is paid by -some occult society, of which the recipients of bounty know nothing, and -for which they care very little. Unfortunately, the sharp determined -amateur visitor, who "does a district" as other people with leisure do a -flower show or a morning concert----but, alas! these very words of mine -show how common is that lack of true charity of which I designed to -speak. Who am I that I should sum up the disposition and the heart of my -brother or my sister? Only I would say that this suspicion on the part -of the ignorant poor, which is so often complained of--the notion that -their interviewers are paid for the work of charity--can only yield to -the conviction that the work itself is undertaken with warm living human -sympathy. Before the true relief shall come to any man, it must come by -faith. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness," and _in_ -righteousness also. - -The two tendencies that are driving us away from charity to a kind of -selfish economy, are the habit of "relieving our overcharged -susceptibilities by secreting a guinea," and thinking we have thereby -fulfilled the claims of religion and humanity, and the practice of going -about seeking where we may find candidates for other people's guineas, -and so becoming a kind of charitable detectives, with an eye to -reputation and advancement in the force. - -We are forgetting that heartfelt sympathy, that clasp of the hand and -beam of the eye which will make even a cup of cold water a benefaction, -if we have no more to give, or if the need goes no further than a -refreshing draught, that shall be turned from water into wine by the -power of loving fellowship. Or we may be saying, "Be ye clothed, and be -ye fed," trusting to some other hand to do the necessary work, without -having ourselves first wrought for the means of taking our part in it, -either by a deep personal interest in the relieving institution or in -the destitute recipient. - -"Yet one thing thou lackest,"--even though out of thy great possessions -a large proportion is given to the poor; "follow thou me." "Go about -doing good," do not think to have fulfilled the law without love--that -which you call charity; the mere _giving_--is but to offer a stone when -bread is required of you, unless it be done with love in your -heart--personal, human, and therefore Divine love. "If ye have not been -faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which -is your own?" Use the benefits of institutions--even though you use them -only for others--as you would use your own property. Recommend only -cases that are known to you to be worthy and necessitous, and, should -the institution depend on voluntary support, let a contribution -accompany your "case," if you can any way afford it, as an act of -justice as well as of mercy. - -Don't join in the traffic in votes, and never go begging for "proxies," -in order to have an exchangeable stock on hand, that you may secure a -candidate for any particular institution. This kind of gambling is a -cancer that is eating the heart out of genuine, pure, charitable effort, -and is making way for the cold impersonal system of distribution, which -is now being advocated by those who would make the relief of human -wretchedness and distress a mechanical organisation without the soul of -love. At the same time, let us not forget that no charitable effort -which would be efficacious in affording relief to the widely-spread -distress by which we are surrounded, could be even so much as attempted -without associations established for the express purpose of relieving -particular forms of suffering. This, indeed, is the glory of our -country, that humanity is so strong among us as to lead us not only to -combine, but to emulate. The absolute concentration and centralization -of charitable effort would be a calamity. The breaking up of the best of -our institutions, which have grown from small beginnings in almsgiving -into wide and influential centres of benevolent effort, would be -destruction. - -If anything that may be written hereafter concerning some representative -(large and small, but still truly representative) efforts to do the work -that Christianity demands as its first evidence of reality, should lead -to a deeper and wider personal interest in their behalf, it will be -matter for rejoicing. The larger the number of people who ask what is -being done, the greater will be the desire to continue the good work, or -to declare it. The attention that might in this way be directed to the -mode of affording relief would exercise so keen an influence in the -reformation of abuses, and the adoption of improvements, that all our -charities would soon become truly "public." With the more earnest -conviction of the duty of personal inquiry, and real sympathetic -interest in the individual well-being of our poorer brother or sister, -would come the satisfaction that we belonged to an association, or to a -chain of associations, which will afford to him or to her the very -relief which otherwise we should despair of securing. - -I purpose in another chapter to ask you to read the story of an -institution that was in its day wonderfully illustrative, and even now -serves to take us back for two centuries of history. Only yesterday I -was speaking to some of its inmates. One of them had nearly completed -her own century of life, most of them had seen far more than the -threescore years and ten which we call old age; but they come of a -wonderful race, the men of fire and steel; the women of silent -suffering--the old Huguenots of France. - - - - -_WITH THE CHILDREN OF THE STRANGER._ - - -A hundred and eighty-seven years ago a French army invaded England and -effected a landing at various places on the coast. Smaller divisions of -that army had previously obtained a footing in some of the chief towns -of Great Britain; and for about fifty years afterwards other contingents -arrived at intervals to find the compatriots settled among the people, -who had easily yielded to their address and courage, and by that time -were apparently contented to regard them as being permanently -established in the districts of which they had taken possession. The -strange part of the story is, that for a large part of this time England -was successfully engaged in war with the country of the invaders, and -not only with that country, but with a discarded prince of its own, who, -having received assistance from France, strove to regain the throne -which he had abdicated by raising civil war in Ireland. Then was to be -seen a marvellous thing. A detachment of the French army of occupation -in England went with King William to the Boyne, and when the mercenaries -who were at the back of James in his miserable enterprise came forth to -fight, they beheld the swords of their countrymen flash in their faces, -and heard a well-known terrible cry, as a band of veteran warriors cut -through their ranks, fighting as they had been taught to fight in the -Cevennes and amidst the valleys and passes of Languedoc. For the army -that invaded England in 1686, and for four or five years afterwards, was -the army of the French Huguenots, against whom the dragoons of Louis -XIV. and the emissaries of Pope and priests had been let loose after the -revocation of the Edict of Nantes. - -Four hundred thousand French Protestants had left their country during -the twenty years previous to the revocation of that pact, which had been -renewed after the siege of Rochelle, and though the attempt to escape -from the country was made punishable by the confiscation of property and -perpetual imprisonment in the galleys, six hundred thousand persons -contrived to get out of France, and found asylums in Flanders, -Switzerland, Holland, Germany, and England, after the persecutions were -resumed. - -Comparatively few of the men who came in the second emigration had -fought for the religion that they professed. They had learned to endure -all things, and with undaunted courage many of them had suffered the -loss of their worldly goods, the burning of their houses, hunger, -poverty, and the imprisonment of their wives and daughters in distant -fortresses, because they would not forswear their faith. Hundreds of -their companions were at the galleys, hundreds more had been tortured, -mutilated, burned, broken on the wheel. Women as well as men endured -almost in silence the fierce brutalities of a debased soldiery, directed -by priests and fanatics, who had, as it were, made themselves drunk with -blood, and seemed to revel in cruelty. With a resolution that nothing -seemed able to abate, pastors like Claude Brousson went from district to -district, living they knew not how, half famished, in perpetual danger, -and with little expectation of ultimately escaping the stake or the -rack. Nay, they refused to leave the country, while in the woods and -wildernesses of the Gard great congregations of their brethren awaited -their coming, that they might hold services in caves and "in the -desert," as they called that wild country of the Cevennes and of Lozére. -These men were non-resistants. They met with unflinching courage, but -without arms. Those of them who remained in France stayed to see the -persecutions redoubled in the attempt to exterminate the reformed faith. -They were the truest vindicators of the religion that they professed. Up -to the time of the siege of Rochelle, and afterwards, Protestantism was -represented by a defensive sword, but these men discarded the weapons of -carnal warfare. Only some years later, when the persecutors (rioting in -the very insanity of wrath because their declaration that Protestantism -was abolished was falsified by constant revivals of the old Huguenot -worship) directed utter extermination of the Vaudois, did the grandeur -of the non-resisting principle give way before the desperation of men -who came to the conclusion that, if they were to die, they might as well -die fighting. - -It must be remembered that some of them knew well how to fight. Some of -their leaders--men of peace as they were, and men of an iron -determination, which was shown in the obstinacy with which they refused -to take up the sword--had come of stern warriors and were -_Frenchmen_--Norman Frenchmen--Protestant Norman Frenchmen. A rare -combination that;--cold hard steel and fire. - -But it was not till some time afterwards that these men became the -leaders of the peasantry, the chestnut-fed mountaineers who came down -from their miserable huts and joined what had then become an organised -army of insurrection. Before this time arrived a strange aberration -seemed to move the people. The old simple non-resisting pastors had been -done to death by torture and execution, and the people met, it is true, -but often met amid the ruin of their homes, or in desert places, and as -sheep having no shepherd. Then a wild hysterical frenzy appeared among -them. Men, women, and even children claimed to be inspired, and at -length fanaticism leaped into retaliation. On a Sunday in July, 1702, a -wild mystic preacher, named Séguier went down with a band of about fifty -armed men to release the prisoners. They were confined in dungeons -beneath the house of one Chayla, a priest, who directed the -prosecutions, and invented the tortures which he caused to be inflicted -for the conversion of heretics. The Protestants broke open his door, -forced the prison, and ultimately set fire to the house, in attempting -to escape from which Chayla was recognised and killed. This was the -beginning of a series of retaliations by the tormented people, the -success of which changed the whole attitude of the Protestants of the -district. They had formerly endured in silence; now they were desperate -enough for insurrection. And the insurrection followed. Séguier was -captured, maimed, and burnt alive; but others took his place. The war of -the "Camisards" had commenced. Then it was that the leaders of the -Protestant army in the Cevennes arose;--Roland and Cavalier, and the men -who for a long time waged successful warfare against the royal forces, -till defeat came accompanied by a new _régime_. - -The rumbling of the revolutionary earthquake was already shaking the -throne and the persecuting church. Voltaire, educated by the Jesuits, -and hating religion, was helping to deliver the martyrs of the -Protestant faith even before he began to "philosophise." - -The struggle of the Camisards can only be said to have ceased when the -persecutions were nearly at an end, and France itself was tottering. But -what of that great Huguenot contingent which had invaded Britain, and -was growing in number year by year as the _émigrés_, leaving houses and -land, shops, warehouses, and factories, fled across the frontier, or got -down to the shore, and came over the sea in fishing-boats and other -small craft, in which they took passage under various disguises, or were -stowed away in the holds, or packed along with bales of merchandise, to -escape the vigilance of the emissaries who were set to watch for -escaping Protestants? It is a little significant that of these -non-combatant Protestants eleven regiments of soldiers were formed in -the English army; but the truth is that of the vast number of _émigrés_ -who left France, some 30,000 were trained soldiers and sailors, and -doubtless a proportion of these came to England, though probably fewer -than those of their number who served in the Low Countries. At any rate, -in 1687, two years after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, there -arrived in England 15,500 refugees, some of whom brought with them very -considerable property, and most of them were men of education, or -skilled in the knowledge of the arts, or of those manufactures and -handicrafts which are the true wealth of a nation. At Norwich and -Canterbury they quickly formed communities which became prosperous, and -helped the prosperity of the districts, where they set up looms, and -dyeworks, and other additions to the local industries. In London they -formed two or three remarkable colonies, so that when Chamberlain wrote -his "Survey of London," there were about twenty French Protestant -churches, the greater number of which stood in Shoreditch, Hoxton, and -Spitalfields--in fact, above 13,000 emigrants had settled in or near the -metropolis. The one French Protestant church founded by Edward VI. was, -of course, inadequate to receive them, and their immediate necessities -were so great that a collection was made for their relief, and a sum of -60,000_l._ was by this means obtained in order to alleviate their -distress. - -Among these _émigrés_ were many noblemen and gentlemen of distinction, -who, with their wives, were reduced to extreme poverty by the -confiscation of their property. These had learned no trade, but with -characteristic courage many of them set themselves to acquire the -knowledge of some craft by which they might earn their bread, while some -of their number learned of their wives to make pillow-lace, and so -continued to support themselves in decent comfort. - -To those who knew the "old French folk," as they came to be called in -after years, when the later emigration had again increased the number of -the weavers' colony in Spitalfields, nothing was more remarkable than -the cheerfulness, one might almost say the gaiety, that distinguished -them. Reading the account given by French writers of the old Huguenots -in France, one might be disposed to regard them as stern and sour -sectaries, but that would be a very erroneous opinion. Perhaps the -sudden freedom to which they came, the rest of soul, and the opportunity -to endeavour to serve God with a quiet mind raised them to a tranquil -happiness which revived the national characteristic of light-heartedness; -but however it may have been, the real genuine old French weaver of -Spitalfields and Bethnal Green was a very courteous, merry, simple, -child-like gentleman. The houses in which these people lived, some of -which are still to be seen with their high-pitched roofs and long leaden -casements, were very different to the barely-furnished, squalid places -in which their descendants of to-day are to be found; and, indeed, the -Spitalfields weaver even of seventy years ago was usually a well-to-do -person; while in the old time he could take "Saint Monday" every week, -wear silver crown-pieces for buttons on his holiday coat, and put on -silk stockings on state occasions. This was in the days when French was -still spoken in many of the little parlours of houses that stood within -gardens gay with sweet-scented blooms of sweet-william, ten-weeks-stock, -and clove-pink. When there was still an embowered greenness in -"Bednall," and Hare Street Fields were within a stone's throw of -"Sinjun"--St. John, or rather St. Jean Street,--or of the little chapel -of "_La Patente_," in Brown's Lane, Spitalfields. Even in later times -than that, however, I can remember being set up to a table, and shown -how to draw on a slate, by an old gentleman with a face streaked like a -ruddy dried pippin. I was just old enough to make out that the tea-table -talk was in a strange tongue; but I can remember that there were -evidences of the refinements that the old refugees had brought with them -across the sea. Not only in their neat but spruce attire, in their -polite grace to women, in their easy, good-humoured play and prattle to -little children, in their cultivation of flowers, their liking for -birds, and their taste for music, but in a score of trifling objects -about their tidy rooms, where the click of the shuttle was heard from -morning to night, these old French folk vindicated their birth and -breeding. By tea-services of rare old china, rolls of real "point" lace, -a paste buckle, an antique ring, a fat, curiously-engraved watch, a few -gem-like buttons, delicately-coloured porcelain and chimney ornaments; -by books and manuscript music, or by flute and fiddle deftly handled in -the playing of some old French tune, these people expressed their -distinction without being aware of it. It has not even yet died out. -Unfortunately, many of their descendants--representatives of a miserably -paid, and now nearly superseded industry--have deteriorated by the -influences of continued poverty; and even so long ago as the evil -war-time of Napoleon I., many of the old families anglicised their names -in deference to British hatred of the French, but there are still a -large number of people in the eastern districts of London whose names, -faces, and figures alike proclaim their origin. - -But we must go back once more to the time when the great collection was -made. It is at least gratifying to know that the £60,000 soon increased -to £200,000, and was afterwards called the "Royal Bounty," though -Royalty had nothing to do with it during that reign. In 1686-7 about -6000 persons were relieved from this fund, and in 1688 27,000 applicants -received assistance, while others had employment found for them, or were -relieved by more wealthy _émigrés_ who had retained or recovered some -part of their possessions. But there were still aged and sick people, -little children, widows, orphans, broken men, homeless women, and lonely -creatures who had become almost imbecile or insane through the cruelties -and privations that they had suffered. For these a refuge was necessary, -and at length--but not till 1708--an institution was founded in St. -Luke's, under the name of the French Hospital, but better known to the -"old folks" as the "Providence." - -Of what it was and is I design to tell in another chapter. - - - - -_WITH THE CHILDREN'S CHILDREN._ - - -That great invading French army of nobles, gentry, artists, traders, -handicraftsmen, of which some account has already been given, was added -to from time to time, even as lately as the Revolution, and the -restoration of the dynasty after the downfall of Napoleon, when a -strange reaction against the Protestants was commenced, partly as a -pretence for concealing political animosity. The department of the Gard -was once more the scene of horrible atrocities, against which Lord -Brougham invoked the aid of the English Parliament, and obtained the -help of Austrian bayonets to protect the people, who were being -murdered, tortured, or outraged, in defiance of feeble local -authorities. But by this time there was a new generation of the first -great Anglo-French colony in London. Spitalfields had grown to the -dimensions of a township. Bethnal had begun to lose its greenness. There -was, as there still is, a remarkable settlement about Soho. "Petty -France" was as well known as the exhibition of needlework in Leicester -Square, or Mrs. Salmon's wax figures in Fleet Street. - -Those poor refugees who fled to escape from the horrors of Sainte -Guillotine, or the ruthless cruelties at Nismes, came to brethren many -of whom had never seen the glowing valleys and golden fields of -Languedoc, whence their forefathers escaped only with life and hands to -work. They had preserved their national characteristics; they attended -churches and chapels where the pastors still spoke their native tongue, -and where they had established schools for their children; but they had -settled down to a quiet, though a busy life, in the heart of the great -workshop of the world, and only a few of them--principally the gentry, -some of whom had regained a portion of their property--felt frequent or -urgent impulses to return. More than a hundred and twenty years had -elapsed since the "Royal Bounty" had been expended in the relief of the -27,000 _émigrés_ who yet were without any permanent refuge for the -destitute, the sick, the aged, and the insane among their number. This -was in 1688, and it was not till nearly twenty-eight years afterwards -that any regular institution was organized. The earlier refugees had -become aged or had died, after having obtained such temporary help as -could be afforded by subscriptions or the large benefactions of their -more wealthy fellow-countrymen. Still, the later emigrations increased -the number of applicants for permanent relief. At last, in 1718, a great -concourse of French refugees assembled in a chapel which formed a -special portion of a building only just completed, but which had already -received the dignity of forming the subject of a Royal charter granted -by His Majesty King George I. to his "right trusty and right -well-beloved" cousin, Henry de Massue, Marquis de Ruvigny, Earl of -Galloway, and a number of trusty and well-beloved gentlemen, all -naturalized refugees, who made the first governor and directors of the -"Hospital for Poor French Protestants and their descendants residing in -Great Britain;" otherwise known as the French Hospital, but soon to be -spoken of with simple pathetic brevity as "La Providence." - -The idea of founding such a charity was due to a distinguished refugee -in Holland--no less a personage than M. de Gastigny, Master of the -Hounds to Prince William of Orange; a ruddy, jovial-looking gentleman -withal, whose portrait, should you go to see it, will set you wondering -whether he could ever have been classed among the "sour sectaries" to -whom it was the fashion to attribute a disregard of social pleasures. A -bequest of a thousand pounds sterling from the bluff keeper of the -kennels was to be divided into equal sums--£500 for the building, and -the interest of the remaining £500 to be spent on its maintenance. - -Not a very adequate provision, truly, for any such purpose; but -sufficiently suggestive to set the more prosperous members of the great -Anglo-French colony to increase the amount. The astute Master of the -Hounds must surely have foreseen this result when he left this legacy to -the management of the trustees of the already existing relief fund, -still miscalled "the Royal Bounty." They exhibited that prudence in -money matters which is a French characteristic, and let the thousand -pounds accumulate for eight years, after which a general subscription -was invited from successful merchants and traders, while with a just -appreciation of the benefits which had been conferred by these good -citizens on the land of their adoption, some wealthy Englishmen added -their contributions to the general fund. - -Thus it came about, that a piece of land was purchased in the Golden -Acre--a queer old half-countrified precinct of St. Giles, -Cripplegate--that a building was erected for the reception of eighty -poor persons, that a charter was granted, and that the new charitable -association was consecrated in the new chapel by Philippe Menard, the -minister of the French Church of St. James's and secretary of the -enterprise. - -This was, indeed, something worth working for. The aged or afflicted -poor among the refugees were no longer mere mendicants living on -precarious alms. Out of their abundance the more prosperous gave -cheerfully. In 1736 another adjoining site was purchased, and another -side of the great open quadrangle of garden ground was built upon, so -that by 1760 the "Providence" numbered 230 inmates. This, however, was -its culminating point of usefulness. Religious persecution had -diminished, and at length may be said to have ceased altogether. Even as -early as 1720 only 5000 persons required relief from the "Bounty," so -that eventually the trustees were enabled to devote part of it to the -assistance of those who fled from the Revolution--many of whom were the -descendants of those who had been the persecutors of the Protestants. -The great industrial colony, prudent, temperate, and industrious, had -almost grown beyond its earlier needs--and all that it required was that -some adequate provision should be made for infirm or aged men and women, -who being widowed or unmarried, and without means of support, required a -refuge in which they might peacefully end their days. The same causes -which had diminished the number of applicants had also reduced the -amount of current subscriptions, so that some portion of the building -was removed, as being no longer necessary, and in order to secure a -sufficient endowment an Act of Parliament was obtained, empowering the -directors to let their land on building leases. By that time the -neighbourhood was known not as "the Golden Acre," but as St. Luke's, and -on the ground once purchased by the Marquis de Ruvigny and his trusty -and well-beloved companions, grew Radnor Street, Galway Street, Gastigny -Place, and part of Bath Street, while the number of inmates was reduced -to sixty--that is to say, about twenty men and forty women, all of whom -were to be above sixty years of age, of French extraction, and -professing the Protestant religion. It was a queer old range of -building, that retreat; pleasant enough, perhaps, when as a rather blank -series of red brick houses, it looked across its own formal walled -garden to the pleasant fields and open country, but strangely silent, -and with a crumbling, dreary look about it, when the lunatic asylum of -St. Luke's dominated all the surrounding tenements of a crowded, sordid -neighbourhood. Only the initiated could easily find the little low black -door that opened in the bare wall, and led to the large irregular space, -which was laid out in weedy beds and stony borders, distinguished by an -air of decay rather than of production--especially where in certain dank -corners a tangle of sapless stalks and tendrils indicated some faintly -hopeful attempt to rear an arbour, in which persons of robust -imagination might fancy they were sheltered from impending blacks that -issued from the manufactory chimneys close by. The visitor to this -out-of-the-way corner of the great city, seeing the old people walking -up and down the paved causeway in front of the row of crooked-paned -lower windows, or airing themselves at the doorsteps, might be excused -for the fancy that they had the imaginative faculty of children; and -were expected to "make believe" a good deal before they could quite -reconcile themselves to the notion that this dingy area of quadrilateral -plots and paths, in which the wet stood in small puddles, was ever a -"pleasaunce" gay with garden blooms, and smelling of knotted marjoram -and fragrant thyme. Yet there were still evidences of the invincible -cheerfulness of the old French nature, among the old creatures with -faces streaked like winter apples, and hands which, even though they -trembled, were swift of gesture and of emphasis. - -There were old fellows there who had still about them indications of -true comeliness and grace that distinguished them from all vulgar -surroundings;--ancient gentlemen, who would go out on wet days to sweep -away any rainpools that might lie before the doors of the old ladies, -and so besmirch an otherwise immaculate shoe. It should be remembered, -too, that there was no livery there. Those who had some one to help them -to the garb of gentility wore what pleased them; those who were -dependent on the charity for clothing, were neither bound in one -pattern, nor condemned to the uniform of poverty. Neat or lively cotton -prints, or warm stuff gowns, with proper hose and caps and kerchiefs, -for the women; plain Oxford mixture, black, steel grey, or brown, for -the men, and each one measured for his suit. Those who entered there -were not the recipients of a dole grudgingly conceded. It was no -poorhouse, but the "Providence." Only eleven years ago there were some -evidences of the old meaning of the place in the remnants of the antique -furniture which adorned the queer rooms. They were not wards or -dormitories, but veritable bedrooms; and each one had its own -peculiarities, even in the bedsteads with spindle posts and dimity -hangings, the boxes and cupboards, and special chairs which -distinguished it from the rest. Some of these things had evidently been -heirlooms either of the institution or of the individual; and, indeed, -the preservation of individuality was a cheerful feature of the place, -despite its dim and somewhat dreary surroundings. - -The Board Room was, in its way, one of the most extraordinary apartments -in London: with its tables supported by a tangled puzzle of legs, its -high-backed, polished chairs with leather seats, worn till they reminded -one of the cover of an antique ledger bound in unfinished calf; its -wonderful old black-framed prints representing the meetings of the -Huguenots in the Clerk's field in the times when men and women carried -their lives in their hands, and dragoons rode congregations down and -slashed them with sabres as they fell. Its dimly-seen portraits of the -noble, broad-browed, dark-eyed Ruvigny (the first governor), who refused -to go back to France even at the invitation of the King; of the gentle -Pastor Menard, with high, capacious forehead, and calm, strong mien; of -hale, shrewd, ruddy Gastigny; and of some men of later date, with -Frenchman written in every line of their finely-marked faces. - -The little room set apart as a chapel--a barely-furnished place enough, -with desk and raised platform and plain seats--was venerable because of -all the meaning that lay in its studied absence of all ornament, and -because of the significance it must once have had to the sad-eyed men -who crowded into it, some of them thinking, perhaps, how it had come -about that they could stand there in peace and without a hand upon the -hilt of a sword. - -There were, even at that later time, old men and women in the dim old -building who could repeat family legends of the emigration--for they -lived to a great age, these French folk, many of them being still alert -of eye and ear, and foot, even though they had heard the click of the -shuttle and the rattle of the loom eighty years before. - -Some of them have survived the old place itself; for while they are in a -new home, the ancient building has changed, if even it be not altogether -dismantled. The leases paid good interest, and eight years ago a new -French hospital arose--away from the dingy old precinct of the Golden -Acre. - -To see this later "Providence" aright, you must come through the very -heart of that neighbourhood which was once the great Silk Colony, thread -the bye-ways of Poverty Market, note the tall silent houses where the -looms no longer rattle, nor the sharp whirr of the shuttle stirs -cage-birds to sing; pass across the debatable land lying on the edge of -Shoreditch, where human beings live in sties built in the backyards of -other houses, in streets that are still with the blank silence of misery -and want. You should walk amidst pigeon and dog fanciers; call in at -certain dingy, slipshod taverns, where at night a slouching company will -meet to hear bullfinches pipe for wagers, and where starving men and -women stand and drink away the pence that are all too few to buy food -for the starving brood at home, and so are flung upon the sloppy counter -in exchange for the drugged drink that feels like food and fire in one. -Through Bethnal Green, with its "townships" and its "Follies," extending -in sordid rows of tenements built to one dreary pattern. Over districts -which, only a few years ago, were fields and open spaces, leading to -farm lands and hedgerows, and so away to the great expanse of marsh land -where the dappled kine wade knee-deep in the lush pastures, and the -stunted pollards stand like patient fishermen upon the river's brink. - -Yes, the present "French Hospital"--New Providence--was built ten years -ago in the border-land beyond the Weavers' Garden, that great garden and -pleasure-ground known as Victoria Park. It is the only garden left to -the descendants of those old craftsmen who once dwelt in houses every -one of which had its gay plot of flowers, its rustic arbour, or its -quaint device of grotto-work, built up of oddly-shaped stones and -pearl-edged oyster-shells. Do you think there is now no remnant of the -old French folk left? Come for a stroll among the grand beds and -plantations of this East-end playground, and you shall see. On holidays -and alas! on those days when (to use the expressive term handed down -from prosperous times) the weaver is "at play"--that is to say, waiting -for woof and weft, and so wiling away the sad and often hunger-bringing -hours--you will see him, with his keen well-cut face, his dark -appreciative eye, his long delicate hands, his well-brushed, threadbare -coat and hat; and the mark of race is plainly to be noted in his -intensity of look and his subdued patient bearing. He comes of a stock -which had it not been of the hardiest and the most temperate and -enduring in the world, would have disappeared a century ago. On Sunday -mornings, when the bells are sounding round about him, he is to be met -with lingering (with who shall say what inner sense of worship) by the -strange shrubs and flowering plants, or standing with a pathetic look of -momentary satisfaction on his lean, mobile face, to mark the rare glow -and gush of colour made by the blooms in a "ribbon" device of flowers on -a sunny border by a dark background of cedar. But come and see what his -forefathers might have called, in their Scripture phraseology, "the -remnant of the children of Israel;" the old inmates of that French -Hospital founded so long ago when De Ruvigny was the "beloved cousin" of -George I., and Philippe Menard preached at St. James's; when the Duchess -de la Force brought donation after donation to the work, and Philippe -Hervart, Baron d'Huningue gave £4,000, all in one splendid contribution, -to the building fund. Could they have seen (who knows that they have -not?) this great French château rising beyond the park palings in a -neighbourhood fast filling with houses, but still open to the air that -blows from the Weavers' Garden and from the great expanse of land -leading towards the forest, they would have recognised the familiar -style of those grand mansions which in France succeeded the castles of -the feudal nobility when Henry Quatre was king. The high-pointed roof -with its irregularly picturesque lines, the quaint towers and spires, -the slate blue and purple, and rosy tints of colour in slope and wall -and gable; the various combinations of form and hue changing with every -point of view, make this modern copy of the old French château a -wonderful feature in any landscape, and the unaccustomed visitor seeing -it as it stands there in its own ornamental ground, surrounded by a -quaint wall decorated in coloured bands, wonders what can be the meaning -of a building so full of suggestion; while if he be of an imaginative -turn, he may fall into a daydream when he peers through the gate that -stands by the porter's lodge. - -But let us pass through this gate, and so up to the entrance-hall, and -we shall seem to leave behind us not only the Weavers' Garden, but most -things English. The hall itself, paved with encaustic tile, leads to a -flight of broad, shallow steps, beneath an arched ceiling of variegated -brick and two screen arches. These steps conduct us at once to a central -corridor, extending for the entire length of the building, and rising to -the greatest height of the open roof of timber with its lofty skylights. -In front of us is a double stone staircase, one branch being for the old -ladies, the other for the men; and immediately at the foot of the former -division is the entrance to the refectory, a large handsome dining-hall, -where, at two long tables, this wonderful company assemble, only the -very infirm having their meals carried to the upper ward, where they are -waited on by paid attendants. Separate staircases are provided for the -servants of the establishment, whose rooms are in the tower above the -main wards--or rather, let us say, principal apartments, for they are -not so much wards as a series of twenty-two large bedrooms, linen-rooms, -and two bath-rooms. The steward of the hospital, a venerable gentleman -with the courteous air and speech of some seneschal of olden time, has -also his own apartments, reached by a third stair, his sitting-room and -office occupying a space close to the entrance. On the right of the main -staircase and at the end of the corridor is the ladies' sitting-room, a -fine high-windowed light and lofty place, admirably warmed, as indeed -all the building is, and so furnished that at each large square table -four old ladies can sit and have not only ample space for books or -needlework, but on her right hand each can open a special separate -table-drawer with lock and key, wherein to keep such waifs and -strays--shreds, patches, skeins, and unconsidered trifles--as children -and old women like to accumulate. There is another day-room beside this, -and a similar, though not quite so large an apartment is provided for -the men, both rooms being furnished with sundry books and a few sober -periodicals of the day. - -It must not be forgotten though that many of the old gentlemen have -grown accustomed to the use of tobacco, and here in the basement is a -smoking-room, quite out of the way of the ordinary sitting and -dining-rooms, and not far from the laundry and drying-rooms, which form -an important part of the establishment. - -But, hush! there is a hymn sounding yonder in the refectory; a hymn sung -by voices, many of which are yet fresh and clear, though the singers -number more than eighty years of life, and of life that has often been -hard and full of heaviness. - -It is the grace before meat, and the hot joints, with the fresh -vegetables from their own garden, have just come up from the big kitchen -by means of a lift to the serving-room. - -There are no servants to wait at table, and the family dinner-party is a -private one, inasmuch as it is the custom here for the most active of -the inmates to agree among themselves who shall be butler, or -_beaufetière_, for each day during the week. So the dinner-time goes -pleasantly and quickly, the meat, the vegetables, and the capital -household beer, of which each man has a pint twice a day, and each woman -half a pint, being the only articles that require serving. - -The good old-fashioned family custom of everybody having his or her own -teapot is observed here. A great gas-boiler stands on one side the -refectory, and a row of convenient lockers on the other; and each inmate -has tea and coffee from the stores, while bread and butter are also -served out for consumption according to each individual fancy, and not -in rations at each meal time. Thus those old ladies and gentlemen who -have spending money, or friends to bring them some of the little -luxuries that they so keenly appreciate, can add a relish to their -breakfast or to the evening beer. - -We will not go in while they are at dinner, for there are those here yet -who "might have been gentlefolk" but for the mutability of mortal -affairs. Stay! here come the old ladies, with old-fashioned curtseys, -which are more than half a bow, and not a mere vulgar "bob." There is no -mistaking some of their faces. You may see their like in French -pictures, or in old French towns still. Some of them with eyes from -which the fire had not yet died out; with deftly-moving fingers; with a -quick, springy step; with an inherited remnant of the French _moue_ and -shrug, as they answer a gentle jest about their age and comeliness. - -"Eighty-four; and I don't know how it is, but I don't seem to see so -well in the dark as I used. When I went out to see my brother-in-law, I -was quite glad he came part of the way home with me." - -"Turned eighty, but I can't get upstairs as I used to do." - -"You speak French, madame?" - -"Pas beaucoup, monsieur;" this from one of the only two actual French -women now in the establishment, the rest being lineal descendants only. -The oldest, who is now going quietly and with a very pretty dignity out -of the refectory, is ninety-four, and can not only hear a low-toned -inquiry, but answers it in a soft, pleasant voice. She bears the weight -of years bravely, but the burden has perhaps been heavy; and she speaks -in a mournful tone, as one looking forward to a mansion among the -many--to a house not made with hands, may sometimes speak when even the -grasshopper becomes a burden. - -As to a young person of sixty-five or thereabout, nobody regards her as -having any real business to mention such a trifling experience of life; -while of the men--most of whom seemed to have filed off for their pipe -or newspaper--one remains finishing his dinner, for he has been on duty -for the day, and is now winding up with a snack of bread-and-butter and -the remainder of his mug of porter--a stoutly-built, hale, -stalwart-looking gentleman who, sitting there without his coat, which -hangs on the back of a chair, might pass for a retired master mariner, -or a representative of some position requiring no little energy and -endurance. I fancy, for the moment that he must be an official appointed -to serve or carve and employed on the establishment. - -"Eighty-four," and one of the old weaving colony of Bethnal Green. - -There can be no mistake about it. Every inmate provides certificates and -registers enough to make the claim undoubted; and as to the right by -descent, half the people here carry it in their faces, and to the -initiated, are as surely French, as they are undoubtedly weavers. - -The morning here begins with family prayers, which the steward reads -from a desk in the refectory, and so the day closes also. The Sunday -services are in the chapel, and such a chapel! To those who remember the -dim, barely-furnished room in the old building at St. Luke's, this gem -of architectural taste and simple beauty at the end of the main corridor -comes with no little surprise. Its beautiful carved stone corbels, -mosaic floor, and charming ornamentation; its broad gallery entered -immediately from the upper floor, so that the feeble and infirm may go -to worship directly from their sleeping-rooms; its glow of subdued -colour and sobered light from windows of stained glass; its simple -decorations, and its spotless purity, are no less remarkable than the -plainness which characterises the general effect. It is to be noticed, -too, that there is no "altar," but "a table;" that neither at the back -of the communion nor on the carving of the lectern, nor even in the -windows, is there to be seen a cross. Where the Maltese cross would -occur amidst the arabesques of the stained glass, we see the -fleur-de-lis. French Protestantism, has perhaps, not yet lost its -intense significance, at all events here, in this chapel where the -service of the Church of England is observed, and an ordained clergyman -ministers to the family of the children's children of the ancient -persecuted people of Languedoc, the symbol under which the Protestants -were burned and tortured and exiled has no place. This is probably in -accordance with the traditions left by De Ruvigny, by Gastigny, by -Menard, and by their successors, whose portraits still hang in the fine -board-room of the new "Providence." - -Of course, no contributions or subscriptions are now asked for to -support this old French charity. With it are associated one or two gifts -of money, such as that of Stephen Mounier for apprenticing two boys; and -the bequest of Madame Esther Coqueau for giving ten shillings monthly to -ten poor widows or maidens; but the directors do not seek for external -aid. To the charity when it was first chartered was added a portion of -the accumulations of the benefactions of the French Church at Norwich, -and it may here be mentioned that at Norwich, where a contingent of the -army of refugees had settled, the Society of Universal Goodwill was also -established by Dr. John Murray, a good physician, who strove to extend -to a large organisation a plan for relieving distressed foreigners. This -was but ninety years ago, and it was less successful than its promoter -desired, so that part of the funds accumulated were judiciously handed -to another admirable society in London, of which I shall have something -to say, "The Society of the Friends of Foreigners in Distress." - - - - -_WITH THE STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND._ - - -Do we ever try to realise the full meaning of the declaration that they -who are afar off shall be made near by the blood of Christ? Surely it -does not stop at the nearness to God by redemption, for the only true -redemption is Christ-likeness, and nearness to God assumes nearness to -each other in the exercise of that loving-kindness which is the very -mark and evidence of our calling. - -It would be well if we sometimes ceased to separate by our vague -imaginations "the next world," or "the other world," from the present -world, which is, perhaps in a very real sense, if we could only read the -words spiritually, "the world to come" also;--as it is obvious that the -world means the people around us--ourselves, those who are near and -those who seem to be afar off; and no world to come that could dispense -with our identity would be of any particular significance to us as human -beings. - -Let us then, for the present purpose, try to see how effectually -Christ-likeness should bring near to us those who are afar off, by -taking us near to them; how He who came not to destroy but to fulfil, -looks to us to entertain strangers; and to "be careful" in the -performance of that duty, as to Him who will say either, "I was a -stranger, and ye took me in," or the reverse. - -At the beginning of the present century, with the exception of the -French Protestant organisation, there existed in London no established -association for the relief of destitute foreigners who, having sought a -refuge here, or being, as it were, thrown upon our shores, were left in -distress, hunger, or sickness,--unheeded, only obtaining such temporary -casual relief as a few charitable persons might afford, if by any chance -their necessities were made known to them. At that time the foreign -Protestant clergy, to whom alone many of these destitute men and women -could apply for relief, were themselves mostly the poor pastors of -congregations consisting either of refugees or of artisans and persons -earning their livelihood by precarious labour connected with the lighter -ornamental manufactures. The means at their disposal for charitable -purposes outside their own churches were consequently very small, and -they were unable to render any really effectual assistance, even if they -could have undertaken, what would at that time have been the difficult -task of verifying the needs for which relief was claimed. - -Some attempt had already been made by Dr. John Murray, a good physician -of Norwich, to extend to London the benefits of his "Society of -Universal Goodwill;" but the scheme had been only partially successful. -To him, however, the credit is due of having striven to give definite -shape to an association which was afterwards to take up the good work of -caring for strangers. The foreign Protestant clergy settled in London -met to consider how they might best organise a regular plan for -relieving the wants of those who had so often to apply to them in vain; -and having settled the preliminaries, which were heartily approved by -several foreign merchants, and others, who were willing to assist in any -scheme that would include inquiry into the circumstances of those who -sought assistance, called a public meeting in order to found a regular -institution. This was on the 3rd of July, 1806, and the result of the -appeal was the formation of the society of "The Friends of Foreigners in -Distress." By the following April, a committee had been formed and the -Charity was in working order, nor were funds long wanting with which to -commence the work in earnest. The cases requiring relief were so -numerous, however, and the demands on the society's resources were so -constant, that though some large donations were afterwards obtained from -senates, corporations, wealthy merchants, ambassadors, noblemen, and -Royal benefactors, a considerable subscription list became necessary in -order to enable the society to grant even partial relief to cases, the -urgent claims of which were established by careful inquiry. - -There is a wonderful suggestiveness in the list of "Royal Benefactors -(deceased)," headed by his late Majesty King William IV., and her late -Majesty the Queen Dowager Adelaide. More than one of the Royal donors -themselves died in exile; and several of those who shared their -misfortunes, and were their faithful followers, have shared the small -benefits which the Society had to bestow. "His late Majesty King Charles -X. of France" contributed £300; "His late Majesty Louis Philippe," 100 -guineas; the unfortunate Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, £25; and his -late Imperial Majesty Napoleon III., £50: while their Magnificencies the -Senates of the Free German Towns, as well as the humbler companies of -London's citizens, appear to have given liberally. Notwithstanding all -this, however, the Society has not been able to retain funded property -to any considerable amount, and it is to the annual subscription -list--to which our Queen contributes £100, the Emperor of Germany £100, -and the Emperor of Austria £100--that the charity must look for support. - -Unhappily there are evidences that these annual subscriptions are fewer -than they should be. There seems still to be some reluctance on the part -of the general public steadily to support an effort which has a very -distinct and pressing claim upon Englishmen, who pride themselves, -justly enough, upon the free asylum which this country affords to -foreigners, and who appear ready to give largely in the way of -occasional aid. The disparity between the number of handsome donations -and of very moderate annual subscriptions is a painful feature of the -Society's report, and even public appeals have hitherto been followed -rather by increased applications from persons recommending cases for -relief, _without accompanying the recommendation with a subscription_, -than by any decided augmentation of the funds. The Friends of Foreigners -in Distress are principally to be found amongst prosperous foreigners in -London, and doubtless this is no less than just; but until larger aid is -given by the English public, we have no particular reason to include -this association in any boastful estimate of British charity. - -That the committee does its work carefully, and that cases of distress -are relieved only after due inquiry, and with no such careless hand as -would encourage idle dependence or promote pauperism, is evident enough -to anybody who will take the trouble to inquire into the method of -assistance. Let us go and see. - -Perhaps not one Londoner in a thousand could tell you offhand where to -find Finsbury Chambers. It is probably less known even than Prudent -Passage, or what was once Alderman's Walk; and may be said to be less -attractive than either, for it is a dingy, frowsy, little out-of-the-way -corner in that undecided and rather dreary thoroughfare--London Wall. It -is, in fact, a space without any outlet, and looks as though it ought to -have been a builder's yard, but that the builder took to erecting houses -on it as a speculation which never answered, even though they were let -out as "chambers;" that is to say, as blank rooms and sets of offices, -the supposed occupiers whereof committed themselves to obscurity by -causing their names to be painted on the doorposts, and leaving them -there to fade till time and dirt shall wholly obliterate them. - -And yet it is in one of these lower rooms, occupying the ground floor of -No. 10, that a good work is going on; for here, in an office almost -representatively bare and dingy even in that place, the Society of -Friends of Foreigners in Distress holds its weekly meetings of -directors, and the secretary, Mr. William Charles Laurie, or his -assistant, Mr. C. P. Smith, gives daily attendance (Saturdays excepted), -between eleven and one o'clock. Assuredly, the funds of the charity are -not expended in luxurious appointments for its headquarters. Even a -German commission agent just commencing business could scarcely have a -more simply-furnished apartment. The objects which first strike the -visitor's attention are a row of japanned tin candlesticks, meant for -the use of the board at any of their Wednesday meetings which may be -prolonged till after dusk. The furniture, if it was ever new, must have -been purchased with a regard for economy in the very early history of -the society. The work is evidently so organised as to require no long -daily attendance. The place is furnished only according to the temporary -necessities of business quickly dispatched. Neither in official -salaries, nor in expensive official belongings, are the funds of the -institution wasted. - -The system is, in fact, simple enough, and is conducted on the -principles laid down by the first meetings of the committee above -seventy years ago, with one important exception. Formerly, applicants -for relief must have been for some time resident in England; but changes -in transit, and the more rapid intercommunication of nations, have made -it necessary that some ready aid should be granted to those who find -themselves cast upon the terrible London wilderness without a friend to -help them, ignorant to whom to apply for help, and little able even to -make known their sufferings. - -Every Wednesday, then, the directors meet for receiving applications for -relief, and reports of cases that have been investigated by the Visiting -Committee. - -The plan adopted is to issue to the governors of the charity a number of -small tickets, each of which, when signed and bearing the name of the -applicant for relief, entitles the latter to apply to the weekly -committee for an investigation of his case. Every subscriber of a guinea -is regarded as a governor for a year, and there are, of course, life -governors also. Both these are entitled to recommend cases either for -what may be termed casual relief, or for election as pensioners to -receive weekly assistance (of from 2_s._ to 5_s._, and in cases of -extreme old age or great infirmity, 7_s._ 6_d._ a week), sick -allowances, or passage money to enable applicants to return to their own -country. - -It may easily be believed how a small weekly contribution will often -save a destitute man or woman, or a poor family, from that utter -destitution which would result from the inability to pay rent even for a -single room; while in cases of sickness, the regular allowance even of a -very trifling sum will enable many a poor sufferer to tide over a period -of pain and weakness, during which earnings, already small, are either -reduced or cease altogether. - -In cases of urgent necessity four superintendents are appointed from the -board of directors, with the power to grant immediate relief; and of -course many applicants receive temporary assistance from the governor -who recommends them, until their case is investigated by the committee, -and they are on the list of the worthy and indefatigable "visitor." - -After the expulsion of the Germans from Paris during the late war, that -little dingy quadrangle in London Wall was filled with a strange crowd -of lost and helpless foreigners, whose condition would admit of only a -temporary inquiry, and indeed needed little investigation, since want -and misery were written legibly enough in their faces. For a large -number of these, passage money had to be paid, and the relief was -continued till the press of refugees from France abated. There was a -special subscription for the relief of these poor creatures, raised -chiefly among German merchants living in London, and even now the -Society has to extend a helping hand to some who still remain. - -Any one wandering by accident into Finsbury Buildings on a Wednesday -forenoon, would wonder what so many subdued and rather anxious-looking -men were waiting about for in such an out-of-the-way locality--some of -them leaning against the wall inside, others sitting in the bare room, -just within the barer passage. Every one of these has had his -circumstances carefully inquired into, and is in attendance to receive -what may be called temporary relief. During the official year of my -latest visit 150 homeward passages had been paid, and in the two years -from 1871 to 1873 the number of persons who received relief was 21,333, -who with their wives and families represented a considerable community -of poverty. During the year 1,983 grants were made of sums varying from -less than 10_s._ to 1,324 persons, 10_s._ to 431, 15_s._ to 47, £1 to -135, and so on to £5, which was allowed in a few instances, while sick -allowances were granted in 292 cases. One important and suggestive -feature of this excellent Society is that it numbers among its members -not only subscribers to other charitable institutions, but members of -the medical and legal professions, who frequently render their aid to -applicants free of expense, in order either to relieve them from -suffering, or to protect them from the errors or impositions to which -their ignorance and helplessness might expose them. - -There is no restriction either as regards creed or nationality, and -though each case is matter for inquiry, the only persons disqualified -for receiving relief are those who are detected as impostors--persons -who are deemed to have sufficient support from any other source, those -who cannot give a good reason for having come to this country, and proof -of their having striven to obtain work and to labour for a maintenance, -those who are proved to have been guilty of fraud or immoral practices, -and beggars, or drunken, dissolute persons. - -As regards the numbers of persons who have received relief since the -institution was founded, there is the tremendous total of 21,645 -applicants on behalf of 129,299 individuals. What an army it represents! -Of these Germany (which till recently included Austria, Hungary, and -Bohemia) represents 71,913; Sweden and Norway, 9,422; Holland, 8,878; -France, 7,339; Russia, 7,006; Italy, 5,415; Belgium, 4,578; Denmark, -4,215; the West Indies, 1,716; Switzerland, 1,685; and so on in a -diminishing proportion till we come to "Central Africa!"--a very recent -case, no doubt. - -Can any one question the good that has been effected by an institution -so careful not only to relieve with rigid economy, but also to do its -work on so truly voluntary a principle? If the temporary and -comparatively casual aid afforded to poor and destitute strangers works -so beneficially, however, the pensions, to which only very extreme cases -are elected, are even still more in the nature of help given to those -who are ready to perish, Here are some specimen cases: - -A watchmaker of Frankfort, seventy-four years old, and nearly seventy -years in this country, disabled by paralysis, with a wife, who is a -waistcoat maker, unable to compete with the sewing-machine; one son, -twenty years old, who, having some small situation, lives with them, -pays the rent, and "does what he can;" a boy of fourteen who works as an -errand boy. - -An Italian looking-glass maker, seventy-three years old, and fifty-three -years in this country. Has lately lived by making light frames, but -health and strength fail, and he is suffering from asthma. His wife, an -Englishwoman, and aged sixty-six, works as a charwoman. He has two sons, -each married and with large families, so that they can do nothing for -him. - -A French widow, sixty-seven years old, and thirty-two years in this -country, and paralysed for the last thirteen years. Her only daughter -who is in delicate health, earns her "living" by needlework, but can -only gain enough for her own maintenance. - -These are only three of the first cases in the official report of -pensioners, and they are not selected because of their peculiarly -distressing character. When it is remembered that this society has not, -in a general way, sufficient means to grant more than _two shillings a -week_ in the way of relief, and when we take the trouble to observe that -in the majority of cases where a pension is granted the recipients have -been so long resident here that they may be said to have lost their -nationality in ours, will it be too much to ask of England--alike the -asylum for the persecuted and the teacher of liberty and of -charity--that the "Friends of Foreigners in Distress" shall be regarded -as the friends of all of us alike in the name of Him of whom it was -said, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" - -But I have not quite done with the pensioners. I must ask the reader to -go with me to Lower Norwood, where amidst a strange solitude, that is -almost desolation, we will visit three ladies of the _ancien régime_, -one of whom, at least, began life nearly ninety years ago as a fitting -playmate for the daughter of a king. - - - - -_WITH THOSE WHO ARE LEFT DESOLATE._ - - -There is something about the aspect of Nature as seen from the railway -station at Lower Norwood on a damp and misty day which, if not -depressing, can scarcely be regarded as conducive to unusual hilarity. I -speak guardedly because of my respect for the district, and lest I -should in any way be suspected of depreciating any particular locality -as an eligible place of residence. In the latter regard I may mention -that the immediate neighbourhood of Lower Norwood Station is not at -present converted into a small township by the erection of long rows of -tenements on freehold or long leasehold plots. My remarks apply only to -the general outlook from the road, amidst an atmosphere threatening -drizzle, and beneath a sky betokening rain. As far as houses are -concerned, there seemed to me, on the occasion of my last visit, far -more probability of pulling down than of building. In fact, I went for -the purpose of inspecting a whole series of very remarkable tenements -which I had heard were soon either to disappear from the oozy-looking -green quadrangle of which they formed three sides, or were to be -converted to another purpose than that of the dwelling-places of a few -elderly ladies who occupied one dreary side, whence they could look at -the desolation of the closed houses on the other.[1] - -It will not be without regret that I shall hear of this intention being -carried out, for the houses are devoted to the sheltering of alms-folk; -and the alms-folk are the elder pensioners of that admirable -association, the Society of the Friends of Foreigners in Distress, -which, for above ninety years, has been doing its useful work among -those who, but for its prompt and judicious aid, would feel that they -were "alone in a strange land." - -As a part of its original provision for the relief of some of the -applicants who, after long residence in this country, had fallen into a -distressed condition at an age when they were unable any longer to -maintain themselves by their own exertions, the society instituted the -almshouses at Lower Norwood. There is now an impression among the -directors of the charity that their intentions may be carried out in -future by some better method than placing a number of aged and -frequently infirm persons in a comparatively remote group of dwellings, -where they are peculiarly lonely, and lack frequent personal attention -and general sympathy. There can be no doubt that almshouses have -frequently been associated a little too closely with that monastic or -conventual practice with which they mostly originated, and that the -retirement, almost amounting to seclusion, into which the inmates of -such places are removed, may be very far from affording to the aged the -kind of asylum which they most desire. Alas, in many instances, to be -placed in an almshouse is to be put out of the way,--to be conveniently -disposed of; with the inference that every possible provision has been -made for comfortable maintenance. Thus, susceptibilities are quieted. -The aged pensioners are supposed to be periodically visited; their wants -attended to by somebody or other who "sees that they are all right," and -the whole matter is conveniently forgotten, except when a casual -traveller passes a quaint, ancient, mouldy-looking, but still -picturesque block of buildings, and inquires to what charity they -belong; not without a kind of uneasy fancy that there is a custom in -this country of burying certain old people before their time--shutting -them out of the light and warmth of every-day companionship; or, to -change the metaphor, making organised charity a kind of Hooghly, on the -tide of which the aged, who are supposed to be nearing the end of their -mortal life, are floated into oblivion until the memory of them is -revived by death. - -It is no part of my intention to represent that the almshouses at Lower -Norwood bore such a significance, but the conditions to which I have -referred appear to be so inevitable where places like these are -concerned, that I cannot question the good sense of the directors of the -Charity in determining to supersede them, and to carry on the work by -annual or monthly pensions only. On behalf of the few remaining inmates -of these queer, half-deserted, and failing tenements, it was desirable -that the proposition should be acted on at once, and a more comfortable -provision be made, at least, for those who wait on, with constantly -deferred hope, doubly heart-sickening when so little time is to be -counted on, in which something will be done before the houses -themselves, crumbling to decay, become but a type of their own forlorn -old age. - -It is with some such thoughts as these that I stand at the entrance to -the green, with last year's weedy aftermath still dank and tangled with -wind and rain. The queer little one-storied dark-red houses of the -quadrangle bear a melancholy resemblance to a set of dilapidated and -discarded toys, the box for which has been lost. They are built, too, on -a kind of foreign-toy pattern, with queer outside staircases, leading to -street-doors under a portico, which is the only entrance to the upper -storey, the lower doors in the quadrangle communicating only with the -ground-floor. The crunch of my footsteps along the moist path, gives no -echo; the place seems to be too dull and lifeless even for that kind of -response. The left wing and far the greater portion of the centre block -are still with the silence of desertion. Peering through the dim leaden -casements, I see only small, bare, empty rooms. There is a sense of -mildew and of damp plaster peeling from the walls,--of leaky -water-pipes, and a humid chill, which no glowing hearth nor bright July -weather could utterly subdue. Such is the feeling with which the whole -place strikes me on this leaden wintry day, when the vapour from the -engine on the railway trails slowly upward to meet the ragged edge of -the dun cloud that streams slowly downward; when a big, black dog -crouches on the threshold of the village chandler's shop, to get out of -the drizzle; and the butcher, who has sold out, closes his half-hatch, -with the certainty that he may take his afternoon nap by the fire, -undisturbed by customers. - -Even when I pause before one of the little narrow portals to which I -have been directed, there are few more signs of life, except that at the -same moment I hear other footsteps behind me, and a baker stop to -deliver a loaf. This is promising, as far as it goes, and enables me to -present myself unostentatiously, under cover of the baker's basket, to a -lady who opens the door. Unless I am greatly mistaken, that lady has a -French face, and as it is a French lady for whom I am to inquire, I -begin to think I have come to the end of my quest. It is evident, -however, from the surprised questioning look which greets my appearance, -that visits from strangers are not of very frequent occurrence there. I -can trace in the rather shrinking recognition accorded to my request to -see the lady to whom I bring an introduction, the sensitiveness that -belongs to that kind of poverty which has learned to endure in seclusion -reverses that would be less bearable if they were exposed to a too -obtrusive expression of sympathy. It is a positive relief to be left -alone for a minute, standing in that narrow lobby, looking into a room -which has the appearance of a disused scullery, while my errand is made -known in another room on the right, to which I am presently bidden. It -is a poor little place enough; poor, and little, and dim, even for an -almshouse, and scarcely suggestive of comfort though a bright fire is -burning in a grate, which somewhat resembles a reduced kitchen-range, -and though the table which stands beneath the casement bears some -preparations for the evening meal, and the cheap luxury of a cut orange -on a plate. The walls are dim, the ceiling cracked and discoloured by -the evident overflow of water in the room overhead; the furniture -consists of a kind of couch which may do duty for a bed by night, and of -two or three Windsor chairs, one of which has already been placed for -me. It is a poor place enough; and yet the lady to whom I am at once -introduced is ready to do its honours with a grace and dignity that well -become her appearance and her name. Madame Gracieuse B----, for more -than forty years resident in England, and speaking English with a purity -of accent that is only rivalled by the more perfect music of the French -in which she addresses me, has passed the threescore years and ten which -are counted as old age. Yet seeing her sweet, calm face; her smooth, -broad, intelligent brow; the mild, penetrating scrutiny of her gentle -eyes; the soft hair put back under the quaint French cap, shaped like a -hood; those years remain uncounted; until, with a pleasant smile, only -just too placid for vivacity, she tells how she came to this country in -1830, after the ruin of the fortunes of her house by the revolution -which dethroned Charles X., and made her a governess in England, where -so many of the old nobility sought a refuge and a home. - -But before this is said, she has presented me to a third lady--to whom, -indeed, my original introduction extended--already long past the limit -of that short period which we call long life; for she is more than -eighty years old, and by reason of the infirmity which has lately come -upon her, does not rise to receive me, but remains seated in the couch -by the fire. It is a very limited space in which to be ceremonious; but -were this lady sitting in one of a suite of grand rooms in some -aristocratic mansion, with all the surroundings to which her birth, her -high connections, and the recollection of her own personal -accomplishments entitle her, she might not lack the homage which too -often only simulates respect. - -It is possible that she may long ago have learned to assess it at its -true value, for she has seen it at a court where it could not save a -king from banishment; and if we may judge from a face with strong -determined lineaments, a brow of concentrated power, and eyes the light -of which even the recent paralysis of age has not extinguished, she has -been one who could undergo exile, poverty, and even the sadder calamity -of being forgotten, with a wonderful endurance. - -Yes, Madame la Comtesse Maria de Comoléra, friend and fellow-student of -that Madame Adelaide whose name has become historical, when your father -was Monsieur l'Intendant of the Duc d'Orléans, and when you lived within -the atmosphere of the French court, spending quiet days at the easel in -your painting-room, or preparing the delicate _pâte_ of Sèvres -porcelain, on which to paint the roses and lilies that you loved, the -grim visions of exile and poverty may never have troubled you. When the -house of Bourbon crumbled, and you escaped from the ruin it had made, -you had still your art left to solace, if not to gladden you; and for a -time at least you lived by it, and took a new rank by the work that you -could do. There were flowers in England, and your hands could still -place their glowing hues on canvas. Witness those pictures of yours that -now hang on the walls of the gallery of the Crystal Palace, or adorn -some private collections. Witness, too, the recognition of some of our -own painters when Sir Charles Eastlake was president of the Royal -Academy, and when you found a friendly patron in Queen Adelaide of -gentle memory. Alas, the hand has lost its cunning; and if its work is -not altogether forgotten, those who look upon it are unaware that you -are living here in this poor room--pensioner of a charity which, were it -but supported as it might be, could better lighten your declining years. -Yet I will not call you desolate, madame. Two faithful friends are with -you yet. The sunset of your calm life, whereof the noon was broken by so -terrible a storm, is dim enough; but it goes not down in complete -darkness. Gentle and admiring regard survives even in this dull place; -and with it the love that can bring tears to eyes not over ready to weep -on account of selfish sorrows, and can move ready hands to tend you now -that your own grow heavy and feeble.[2] - -As I become more accustomed to the subdued light of the room, I note -that amidst the confusion of some old pieces of furniture or lumber -there are pictures, unframed and dim, leaning against the walls. One of -them--a large painting of some rare plant, formerly a curiosity in the -Botanical Gardens at Regent's Park, while the rest are groups of flowers -and fruit. Just opposite me, on the high mantel-piece, the canvas broken -here and there near the edges, obscured by the dust and smoke that have -dulled their surface, are two oil-paintings which I venture to take down -for a nearer inspection. Surely they must have been finished when madame -was yet in the prime of her art. Exquisite in drawing, delicate in -colour, and with a subtle touch that gives to each petal the fresh -crumple that bespeaks it newly-blown, and to fruit the dewy down that -would make even a _gourmet_ linger ere he pressed the juice. It is -almost pain to think that they are left here uncared for; and yet, who -knows what influence their presence above that dingy shelf may have upon -the wandering thoughts and waning dreams of her who painted them when -every new effort of her skill was a keen delight? - -Nay, even as I hold them to the light, and in a pause of our chat -(wherein Madame la Comtesse speaks slowly and with some difficulty) say -some half-involuntary words of appreciation, she has risen, and stands -upright by the fire with an earnest look in her face and a sudden -gesture of awakened interest. The artistic instinct is there still, -after more than eighty years of life, and the appreciation of the work -animates her yet. Not with a mere vulgar love of praise (for Madame is -still la Comtesse Comoléra even though she spends her days in an -almshouse), but with a recognition that I have distinguished the best of -the work that is left to her to show. I shall not readily forget the -sudden look of almost eager interest, the effort to speak generous words -of thanks, as I bow over her hand to say farewell, and feel that I have -been as privileged a visitor as though madame had received me in a -gilded _salon_, at the door of which a powdered lacquey stood to -"welcome the coming--speed the parting guest." - -And so with some pleasant leave-takings, and not without permission to -see them again, I leave these ladies--the fitting representatives of an -old nobility and an old _régime_--to the solitude to which they have -retired from a world too ready to forget. - -If by any means for the solitude could be substituted a pleasant -retirement, and for the sense of desolation and poverty a modest -provision that would yet include some grace and lightness to light their -declining days, it would be but little after all. - -[1] Since this was written the Almshouses have been closed, and their -two or three remaining inmates "lodged out." - -[2] Since these lines were written, Madame Comoléra has gone to her rest. - - - - -_WITH THEM THAT GO DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS._ - - -It is possible that those portions of the sacred history which have -reference to the association of our Lord Jesus Christ with ships, and -the wonderful portions of the great narrative where the Divine Voice -seems, as it were, to come from the sea, may have a special attraction -for us who live in an island and claim a kind of maritime dominion. - -Surely the words "Lord, save me, or I perish," and the instant response -of the outstretched hand of the Saviour of men, must have been read with -an awful joy by many a God-fearing sailor on the homeward voyage. "It is -I, be not afraid," must have come with an intensity of meaning to many a -heart which has known the peril of the storm, wherein the voice of man -to man has been almost inaudible. - -There is something very solemn in the prayers we send up for those at -sea. Most of us feel a heart-throb when we lie awake listening to the -mighty murmurs of the wind, and waiting for the shrill shriek with which -each long terrible blast gathers up its forces--a throb which comes of -the sudden thought of lonely ships far out upon the ocean, where men are -wrestling with the elements, and looking with clenched lips and -straining eyes for the lingering dawn. - -Yet, with all this, it is a national reproach to us that until a -comparatively recent date we have done little or nothing for our -sailors--little for those who have been ready to maintain the old -supremacy of our fleet--almost nothing for that greater navy of the -mercantile marine to which we are indebted for half the necessaries and -for nearly all the luxuries which we enjoy. - -A national reproach, because not only have charitable provisions for -destitute, sick, infirm, or disabled sailors been neglected, but -subscriptions demanded by the State from seamen of the merchant service -were never properly applied to relieve the distress of those for whom -they were professedly received. Considerably over a million of money has -been contributed by merchant seamen, by deductions of sixpences from -their monthly pay for the maintenance of Greenwich Hospital, and in -addition to this there have been accumulated in the hands of the -Government the examination fees of masters and mates passing the Board -of Trade examination, and the penny fees paid by common seamen on -shipment and unshipment, while the unclaimed wages and effects of seamen -dying abroad are calculated at about £8000 a year. - -Now there can be no doubt that Greenwich Hospital was originally -intended to include merchant seamen in its provisions, for the preamble -to the original scheme of William III. recites, "Whereas the King's most -excellent Majesty being anxiously desirous to promote the Trade, -Navigation, and Naval strength of this Kingdom, and to invite greater -numbers of his subjects to betake themselves to the sea, hath determined -to erect a hospital," &c. For this purpose sixpence per man per month -was to be paid out of the wages of all mariners to the support of the -Hospital, and every seaman was to be registered. Why? That the charity -might be "for the relief, benefit, or advantage of such the said -registered Marines, or Seamen, Watermen, Fishermen, Lightermen, -Bargemen, Keelmen, or Seafaring Men, who by age, wounds, or other -accidents shall be disabled for future service at sea, and shall not be -in a condition to maintain themselves comfortably; and the children of -such disabled seamen; and the widows and children of such of them as -shall happen to be slain, killed, or drowned in sea service, so far -forth as the Hospital shall be capable to receive them, and the revenue -thereof will extend." - -So far as words went, therefore--and subsequent Acts of Parliament -confirmed them--Greenwich Hospital was open to all registered seamen. -The fact has always been, however, that it was barely able to meet the -claims made by the disabled and infirm sailors of the Navy alone, and -therefore the mercantile marine was practically excluded, while the -payments were still demanded. - -Now let us see what past Governments did for the relief of those old, -infirm, or disabled men who having "seen wonders on the great deep," -came home and sought help. - -A charitable trust, called the "Merchant Seamen's Fund," had been -established by merchants and shipowners of the City of London, who gave -large sums to it, in order to try to make up for the injustice by which -these sailors were virtually excluded from Greenwich Hospital, to which -the men of the mercantile marine still had to pay sixpence a month. By a -remarkably knowing piece of legislation, an Act was passed (the 20th of -George II.) which incorporated the Merchant Seamen's Fund, appointed -president and governors, and gave authority to purchase land for -building a hospital, to help pay for which another sixpence a month was -claimed from the pay of merchant seamen and masters of merchant vessels. - -Not till the year 1834, by an Act passed in the reign of William IV., -were the merchant sailors relieved from compulsory payment to Greenwich. -They had contributed to the hospital for 138 years without having -derived any direct benefit from it; and though they were not unwilling -to subscribe for their brethren in the Royal Navy, the injustice which -demanded their contributions, though their own fund was inadequate to -pay for the promised building for which it was intended, became too -glaring to be continued. It was therefore determined that a grant of -£20,000 should be made to Greenwich Hospital out of the Consolidated -Fund, and that the merchant sailors should go on paying their shilling a -month for their own benefit (masters paying two shillings), and that a -provision for widows and children should be included in the charity, the -benefits of which were to be extended to Scotland and Ireland. - -The hospital never was built. The Board of Trade taking the management -of the contributions, appointed trustees, who were altogether -incompetent, and did their duty in a perfunctory or careless manner. In -1850, only £20,000 was distributed among old, infirm, and disabled -seamen, while £41,000 was bestowed on widows and children; the -allowances varying at different ports from £1 to £7, each place having -its own local government. Of course a collapse came. The fund was -bankrupt; and in the following year an Act was passed for winding it -up--for, says the Board of Trade Report, "the Government has had no -control over the matter. The London Corporation and the trustees of -outports could not by any management have prevented the insolvency of -the fund, as long as they were guided by the principles which the -several Acts of Parliament laid down ... the whole system was vicious." - -By the winding-up Act of 1851 compulsory contributions ceased; but those -who chose to continue to subscribe voluntarily might do so. It is hardly -to be wondered at that the merchant seamen lost confidence in the -paternal protection of the Board of Trade. A few thousand pounds were -left from the compulsory contributions, and when this came to be -inquired for, nobody knew anything about it. It had somehow slipped out -of the estimates, and nobody could tell what had become of it. - -That is what past governments have done for poor mercantile Jack. - -What has the great British public done for him? Not so very much after -all. The truth is, that the sailor, who has always been spoken of as "so -dreadfully improvident," has been practically regarded as being most -self-helpful. All the time that we have been shaking our solemn heads, -and lifting up our hands at the improvidence, the folly, and the -extravagance of these frequently underpaid and sometimes overworked men, -we have made even the help that we were willing to extend to them in -their deeper necessities partially dependent on their own constant and -regular subscription to the same end. - -Poor improvident Jack!--poor thoughtless, incorrigible fellow!--it was -necessary for the Government of his country to look after him, in order -to protect him against his own want of forethought, and the result has -been to run the ship into shoal water, and go hopelessly to wreck -without so much as salvage money. - -Jack ashore! Don't we all still look at the sailor in the light of the -evil war-times, when the king's men were said to draw pocketsful of -prize-money and to spend it in low debauchery or wild wanton folly? Even -now we repeat the stories of frying watches along with beefsteaks and -onions, or eating bank-note sandwiches. Nay, to this day in the -fo'c's'le of merchant vessels some of the melancholy old songs in which -sailors are wont to satirise themselves are occasionally sung, telling -how - - "When his money is all spent, - And there's nothing to be borrowed and nothing to be lent, - In comes the landlord with a frown, - Saying, 'Jack! get up, and let _John_ sit down, - For you are _outward_ bound.'" - -There's a world of meaning in that grim suggestive summary; but, thank -God! it has less meaning now than it once had. Until quite lately, -sailors of merchant ships could be kept for days waiting to be paid, -and, sickened with lingering for long weary hours about the office of -the broker or agent who withheld their money, fell into the hands of the -harpies who were, and still are constantly on the look-out to plunder -them. Men with all the pure natural longing for home and reunion with -those near and dear to them, were compelled to loiter about the foul -neighbourhood of the dock where their ship discharged its cargo, lodging -in some low haunt with evil company, and liable to every temptation that -is rife in such places, till too often so large a portion of their -hardly-earned wages had been forestalled, that in a dreary and desperate -madness of dissipation they were tempted to fling away the small balance -remaining to them, and to awake to reason only when, naked and nearly -destitute, they were compelled to go to sea again, with a slender stock -of clothes, and a week's board and lodging paid for with advance notes. - -From long confinement and monotony on shipboard, the sailor even now -comes to a sense of temporary freedom, giddy with the unaccustomed sense -of solid ground and the wild toss and uproar of the ocean of life in a -great city. What are still the influences which in many seaports await -him directly his foot touches the shore, and sometimes even before he -has come over the vessel's side? With a boy's recklessness, a man's -passions, and the unwonted excitement of possessing money and boundless -opportunities for spending it, a shoal of landsharks are lying ready to -batten on him. The tout, the crimp, and all the wretches, male and -female, who look upon him as their prey, will never leave him from the -time when they watch him roll wonderingly on to the landing-stage, till -that desperate minute when he flings his last handful of small change -across the tavern counter, and calls for its worth in drink, since -"money is no use at sea." - -This was far more frequently the termination of mercantile Jack's spell -ashore, before the new regulations as to prompt payment of seamen's -wages came into force. At that time you had only to take a morning walk -across Tower Hill, where the bluff lay figure at the outfitter's door -stands for Jack in full feather, and thence to America Square, or the -neighbourhood of the Minories and Rosemary Lane, to see dozens of poor -fellows lounging listlessly about the doors of pay-agents, waiting day -after day at the street-corners, with an occasional visit to the -public-house, and the perpetual consumption of "hard" tobacco. It was -easy afterwards to follow Jack to Ratcliffe, Rotherhithe, Shadwell, and -the neighbourhood, where his "friends" lay in wait for him to spend the -evening; in the tap-rooms of waterside taverns, where he sat hopelessly -drinking and smoking during a hot summer's afternoon; to frowsy, -low-browed shops of cheap clothiers, to hot, stifling dancing-rooms, to -skittle-alleys behind gin-shop bars, where a sudden brawl would call out -knives, and the use of a "slung-shot" as a weapon would make a case of -manslaughter for the coroner; to very minor theatres, where he could see -absurd caricatures of himself in the stage sailors, dancing hornpipes -unknown at sea; to the dreadful dens of Bluegate Fields and Tiger -Bay--to any or all of these places you might have followed Jack; and may -even yet follow his fellows who have not yet been redeemed from the evil -ways of those bad times, when there were no homes for sailors amidst the -bewildering vice and misery of maritime London, and other seaport towns -of this great mercantile island. - -It so happened that I made my first intimate acquaintance with the one -real, publicly representative "Sailors' Home" in Well Street, near the -London Docks, after having seen Jack under several of the terrible -conditions just referred to, so that, with this painful knowledge of him -and his ways, it was with a kind of delighted surprise that I suddenly -walked into the great entrance-hall of the institution, where he and his -fellows were sitting on the benches by the wall with the serious, -contemplative, almost solemn air which is (in my experience) the common -expression of sailors ashore, and during ordinary leisure hours. There -they were, a good ship's crew of them altogether, sitting, as I have -already said, in true sailor fashion--stooping forward, wrists on knees, -lolling on sea-chests and clothes-bags, taking short fore-and-aft walks -of six steps and a turn in company with some old messmate, smoking, -growling, chatting, and generally enjoying their liberty; not without an -eye, now and then, to the smart officer who had come in to see whether -he could pick up a brisk hand or two for the mail service. - -This was some five or six years ago, and it is a happy result of the -plan on which the Home was first established (which was intended -ultimately to make the institution self-supporting, if the cost of -building were defrayed) that the whole scheme has been so enlarged since -that time, that anybody who would see what our mercantile seamen are -like, may now go and see them, in a largely increasing community, in -this great institution. So many come and go and reappear at intervals -represented by the length of their voyages, that 10,120 officers and men -had partaken of its inestimable benefits during the year from the first -of May, 1872, to the end of April, 1873. - -But the institution itself was founded in earnest faith, and built with -the labour that is consecrated by prayer. Both to the Home and to its -companion institution, the Refuge for Destitute Seamen--we will pay a -visit on our next meeting. - - - - -_WITH THEM WHO WERE READY TO PERISH._ - - -On the 28th of February, 1828, a very terrible calamity happened in the -place known as Wellclose Square, Whitechapel. A new theatre called the -Brunswick, had been erected there on the site of a former building, -known as the Old Royalty. It had been completed in seven months, and -three days afterwards, during a rehearsal, the whole structure gave way -and fell with a crash, burying ten persons amidst the ruins, and -fearfully injuring several others. Such a catastrophe was very awful, -and the people of the neighbourhood looked with an almost solemn -curiosity at the wreck of an edifice in which they themselves might have -met with death suddenly. - -Very soon, however, they began to regard the heap of ruins with -surprise, for early one morning there appeared two officers of the Royal -Navy, surrounded by a gang of labourers with picks and shovels, and -before these men (some of whom were Irish Roman Catholic) began to work -they listened attentively while one of the officers offered up an -earnest prayer to God for a blessing on the results of the labour they -were about to undertake. Morning after morning their labour was thus -sanctified, and evening after evening it was celebrated by the voice of -thanksgiving, till at length the ground was cleared, and on the 10th of -June, 1830, the first stone of a new building was laid. The building was -to be a Home for Sailors, and as a necessary adjunct to the Home, it was -intended to establish a Destitute Sailors' Asylum. - -The two naval officers were Captain (now Admiral) George C. Gambier, and -Captain Robert James Elliot, now gone to his rest, who with Lieutenant -Robert Justice afterwards Captain, and now with his old comrade, in the -heavenly haven, had been seeking how to ameliorate the condition of -seamen, numbers of whom were to be seen homeless, miserable, and -frequently half naked and destitute, in that foul and wretched -neighbourhood about the Docks and beyond Tower Hill. - -The task was a difficult one, and might have daunted less brave and -hopeful men, for it was intended to demolish the piratical haunts where -the enemies of the sailor lay in wait for his destruction; where crimps -and thieves and the keepers of infamous dens held their besotted victims -in bondage, while they battened on the wages that had been earned during -months of privation and arduous toil. - -It was necessary, therefore, first to provide a decent and comfortable -lodging-house for the reception of sailors coming into port,--a place -where they might safely deposit their clothes and their wages, and where -they could "look out for another ship" without the evil intervention of -crimps or pretended agents. It was a part of the intended plan also to -establish a savings bank, for securing any portion of their wages which -they chose to lay by, or for safely transmitting such sums as they might -wish to send to their relations. In short, the design was to provide a -home for the homeless, and hold out helping hands to those who were -ready to perish. - -Those ruins of the theatre stood on the very spot for such an -establishment, and the two captains, Gambier and Elliott, began by -buying the ground and the wreck that stood upon it, not by asking for -public subscriptions, but mostly with their own money, to which was -added a few contributions from any of their friends who desired to join -in the good work. - -It is impossible to use more earnest or touching words than those in -which the late Rear-Admiral Sir W. E. Parry spoke of the labours of his -friend and fellow-supporter of the Sailors' Home, in an address to -British seamen at Southampton, in 1853. "And now," he said, "let me just -add that, from the first moment in which Captain Elliot stood among the -ruins of the Brunswick Theatre, till it pleased God to deprive him of -bodily and mental energy, did that self-denying Christian man devote all -his powers, his talents, his influence, and his money, to this his -darling object of protecting and providing for the comfort of sailors. -Connected with a noble family, and entitled by birth, education, and -station, to all the advantages which the most exalted society could give -hm, he willingly relinquished all, took up his abode in a humble -lodging, surrounded by gin-shops, near the 'Home:' denied himself most -of the comforts, it may almost be said some of the necessaries of life, -in order the more effectually to carry out his benevolent design; and -for eighteen years of self-denial and devotion, made it the business of -his life to superintend this institution." - -For the noble officer lived to see the building for which he had wrought -and prayed, complete and successful. In 1835 300 sailors could be -received and welcomed there. The piratical lairs began to empty of some -of those who had been shown a way of escape, and the good work went on. -In the adjoining Seamen's Church the congregation was largely augmented -by the boarders from the Sailors' Home, while the Honorary Chaplain and -the Missionary attached officially to the institution, became not only -parson and preacher, but friendly adviser and instructor, ready to -speak, to hear, and to forbear. The addition of a book depository, where -various useful publications may be purchased, and Bibles are sold at the -lowest possible prices, and in various languages, was a valuable -auxiliary to moral and religious instruction, and at once increased the -home-like influences of the place. - -The institution having gone on thus prosperously, under the direction of -a goodly number of officers and gentlemen, added to its possessions by -acquiring other plots of freehold ground, extending backward to Dock -Street; and in 1863 Lord Palmerston laid the stone of an entirely new -block of building, which was inaugurated by the Prince of Wales in 1865, -since which time 502 boarders can be received, each being provided with -his separate cabin. - -Since the opening of the institution in 1835 it has received 246,855 -seamen of various countries and from all parts of the world. Of these -72,234 have been old or returned boarders, and most of them have -conducted their money transactions through the "Home," and have made -good use of the savings-bank. - -There are 270 inmates under that protecting roof as I step into the -large entrance hall in Well Street to-day; and the two hundred and -seventy-first has just gone to look after his kit and sea-chests, which -have been carefully conveyed from the Docks by one of the carmen -belonging to the institution, who has "The Sailors' Home, Well Street," -worked in red worsted on his shirt, and painted on the side of the van -from which he has just alighted. - -It is evident that our friend No. 271 has been here before, for he knows -exactly where to present himself in order to deposit some of his more -portable property with the cashier or the superintendent. He scarcely -looks like a man who will want an advance of money, for he is a smart, -alert, bright-eyed fellow, with a quiet air of self-respect about him -which seems to indicate an account in the savings-bank; but should he be -"hard-up," he can ask for and receive a loan not exceeding twenty -shillings directly his chest is deposited in his cabin. Just now the -chest itself, together with its superincumbent bundle, stands against -the wall along with some other incoming or outgoing boxes, more than one -of which are associated with brand new cages for parrots, and some -odd-shaped cases evidently containing sextants or other nautical -instruments. There is a whole ship's crew, and a smart one too, in the -hall to-day; while a small contingent occupies the clothing department, -where one or two shrewd North-countrymen are being fitted each with a -"new rig," knowing well enough that they will be better served there -than at any of the cheap outfitters (or the dear ones either) in the -neighbourhood. Fine blue broadcloth, pilots, tweeds, rough weather, and -petershams are here to choose from "to measure," as well as a wonderful -collection of hats, caps, underclothing, hosiery, neckties, boots, and -shoes so unlike the clumsy specimens that swing along with the tin pots -and oilskins in some of the little low-browed shops about the district, -that I at once discover the reason for the smartness and general -neatly-fitted look of most of the men and lads now pacing up and down, -talking and smoking. It is quiet talk for the most part, even when half -a dozen of the inmates adjourn to the refreshment-room, where they can -obtain a glass of good sound beer (though there is a much more general -appreciation of coffee) and sit down comfortably at a table like that at -which two serious mates are already discussing some knotty point, which -will probably last till tea-time. - -Tea-time? There is the half-past five o'clock signal gong going now, and -light swift steps are to be heard running up the stairs into the large -dining-hall, where the two hundred and seventy-one, or as many of them -as are at home, sit down like fellows who know their business and mean -to do it. It is a pleasant business enough, and one soon despatched; for -there are so many big teapots, that each table is amply provided by the -alert attendants, who dispense bread-and-butter, watercresses, salads, -and savoury bloaters and slices of ham and tongue, the latter having -been already served by a carver who is equal to the occasion. It is -astonishing how quickly the meal is over when its substantial quality is -taken into account; but there is no lack of waiters, the number of -attendants in the building being sixty-five, some of whom, of course, -belong to the dormitories and to other departments. - -The meals here are, of course, served with the utmost regularity, and -without limit to quantity. Breakfast, with cold meat, fish, bacon, and -general "relishes," at eight in the morning; dinner at one: consisting -of soup, roast and boiled meats, ample supplies of vegetables, -occasional fish, stupendous fruit-pies and puddings, and a good -allowance of beer. After tea comes a substantial snack for supper, at -nine o'clock, and the doors of the institution are kept open to -half-past eleven at night; those who wish to remain out later being -required to obtain a pass from the superintendent. - -Of course it is requested that the boarders come in to meals as -punctually as possible; but those who cannot conveniently be present at -the regular time, can have any meal supplied to them on application. -Indeed, two or three belated ones are arriving now, as we go to the end -of the long and lofty refectory to look at the crest of the late Admiral -Sir William Bowles, K.C.B., which, supported by flags, is painted upon -the wall, as a memorial of a gallant officer and a good friend to this -institution and to all sailors. - -Leaving the dining-hall, we notice a smaller room, set apart for masters -and mates who may desire to have their meals served here; and on the -same extensive storey is a large and comfortable reading-room well -supplied with periodicals, and containing a capital library consisting -of entertaining and instructive books. - -The board-room is close by, and is of the size and shape to make an -excellent mission-room, where week-night services and meetings of a -religious character are held, and well attended by men who, having seen -the wonders of the Lord upon the great deep, join in His reasonable -service when they are at home and at rest. This vast floor also contains -two dormitories: but most of the sleeping cabins are in the second and -third floors. - -There are few sights in London more remarkable than these berths, which -are, in fact, separate cabins, each closed by its own door, and -containing bed, wash-stand, chair, looking-glass, towels, and ample -space for the seachest and personal belongings of the occupant. The -cabins extend round a large area rising to a great height, and -surrounded above by a light gallery reached by an outer staircase, round -which are another series of berths exactly resembling the lower ones; so -that there are, in fact, double, and in one or two dormitories treble -tiers of cabins, and the upper ones may be entered without disturbing -the inmates of those below. One of the three-decker areas is of vast -size, and, standing in the upper gallery and looking upward to the lofty -roof, and then downward to the clear, wide, open space between the lower -rooms, the visitor is struck by the admirable provision both for light -and ventilation; the former being secured at night by means of properly -distributed gas jets, which are of course under the care of the night -attendants, who are on watch in each dormitory, and may be summoned at -once in case of illness or accident. - -Not only is there provision against fire by a length of fire-hose -attached to hydrants on each storey, but the water supply to lavatories -and for other purposes is secured by a cistern holding 4,000 gallons at -the top of the building; so that there is complete circulation -throughout the various parts of the building. - -It is time that we paid a visit to the basement of this great -institution, however; for, in more senses than one, it may be said to be -at the foundation of the arrangements. Yes, even with respect to the -amusements provided for the inmates--for while chess, draughts and -backgammon are to be found in the library and reading-room, and -billiards and bagatelle hold their own on the great landings of the -first storey, we have down here a skittle-alley of a character so -remarkable, that some of us who have read Washington Irving think of the -reverberations of the giants' pastime in the mountains, while we wonder -where sailors can first have acquired a taste for this particular -amusement. It is a good and healthy one, however, and is wisely -provided, since it adds one more efficient inducement to the men to take -their pleasure among their true friends instead of seeking it amidst the -evil influences of a filthy tavern, or in the garish heat of some vile -Ratcliff Highway bowling-alley, where men are maddened with drugged -drink, and greeted with foul imprecations by the harpies who seek to rob -and cheat them. - -There is much to see in this basement, and to begin with here is No. two -hundred and seventy-one sending his chest up by the great luggage-lift -to the second floor, where he will find it presently in his cabin. We -cannot stay to speak to him, however, for we are on the very verge of -the kitchen, to which we are, as it were, led by the nose; for wafted -thence comes an appetising perfume of new bread just taken from one of -the great ovens devoted to the daily baking. There are lingering odours -also of today's dinner, though the meat ovens and the great boilers and -hot plates are clean and ready for the morrow. The pantry door, too, is -open, and there are toothsome varieties of "plain-eating" therein, while -the storerooms savour of mingled comforts, to which the gales of Araby -the blest offer no parallel, and the butcher's shop has a calm and -concentrated sense of meatiness which is suggestive to a robust appetite -not already satiated with a chunk from one of a whole squadron of soft, -new currant-cakes. After a peep at the large and busy laundry with its -peculiar moist atmosphere, the coal and beer cellars, the pumping -machinery and boiler-room may be passed by, and little curiosity is -excited by this long and convenient apartment where hot and cold baths -are prepared to order at a merely nominal charge. There is a door close -by, however, where we stop instinctively, for there is a cheerful light -inside, and a sound of easy and yet interrupted conversation which can -belong to only one department of society. There can be no mistake about -it--a veritable barber's shop, and a gentleman with a preternaturally -clean chin complacently surveying himself in a looking-glass of limited -dimensions, while another waits to be operated upon by the skilled -practitioner who carries in his face the suggestion of a whole ropery of -"tough yarns," and was--or am I mistaken--tonsor to the _Victory_ or to -some ship of war equally famous when the British seaman shaved close and -often, and pigtails had hardly gone out of fashion. There is no time for -testing the great artist's skill this evening, though I could almost -sacrifice a well-grown beard to hear some rare old fo'c's'le story. But -no story could be more wonderful than the plain truth that for all the -generous provision in this excellent institution the rescued sailor -brought within its wholesome influence pays but fifteen shillings a -week. Yes, men and apprentices, fifteen shillings; and officers, -eighteen and sixpence. - -The evening lowers over the outer world of Mint Street and Leman Street, -and the great blank void of the Tower ditch is full of shadow. Standing -again in the large entrance hall, which reminds one more of shipboard, -now that the lights are dotted about it, leaving it still a little dim, -I hear the trickling of a drinking-fountain, and associated with its -fresh plash hear as pleasant a story as any yarn that ever the barber -himself could have spun for my delight. - -The fountain, which is of polished Aberdeen granite, was opened last -November in proper style, a platform being erected, and the chair being -taken by the Secretary to the "Metropolitan Drinking Fountains -Association," supported by several ladies and gentlemen. Mr. Lee made an -appropriate speech, and called attention to the gift, and pointed to the -inscription; and it was quite an emphatic little observance for the -inmates who had gathered in the hall on the occasion. And well it might -be, for the fountain bears this modest inscription:--"The gift of -William McNeil, Seaman, in appreciation of the great benefits he has -derived on the various occasions during which he has made the -Institution his _Home_, for upwards of 25 years." - -I think very little more need be said for the Sailors' Home than is -indicated by this plain, earnest testimony to its worth. Yet it is -necessary to say one more word. This Sailors' Home is in a way -self-supporting, and at present seeks only the kindly interest of the -public in case it should ever need another response to an appeal for -extending its sphere of usefulness. Not a farthing of profit is -permitted to any individual engaged in it, and even fees to servants are -prohibited, though the crimps and touts outside endeavour to bribe them -sometimes, to induce sailors to go to the common lodging-houses, where -land-rats seek their prey. All the profits, if there are any at all, are -placed to a reserve fund for repairs, improvements, or extensions. At -any rate, no public appeals are being made just now. - -But there is another institution next door--another branch of the stem -which has grown so sturdily from the seed planted by the good -captain--the Destitute Sailors' Asylum. That is a place full of -interest, though there is nothing to see there. Nothing but a clean -yard, with means for washing and cleansing, and a purifying oven for -removing possible infection from clothes, and a great bare room, just -comfortably warmed in winter, and hung with rows of hammocks, like the -'tween-decks of a ship. - -That is all; but in those hammocks, sometimes, poor starved and -destitute sailors go to sleep, after they have been fed with soup and -warmed and comforted; and in the morning, when they turn out, they are -fed again with cocoa and bread, and if they are naked they are clothed. -There are not very many applicants, for, strange as it may appear, since -sailors' homes have come in fashion there are but few destitute seamen; -but there _need be no unrelieved destitute sailors at all in London_, -for anybody can send such a one to the Asylum in Well Street, London -Docks, and he will be admitted. Here then, is an institution that may -claim support. - - - - -_CASTING BREAD UPON THE WATERS._ - - -One of the old Saxon commentators on the Holy Scriptures, in referring -to the passage, "Cast thy bread upon the waters, and it shall be found -after many days," ventures to suggest as a meaning--"Give succour to -poor and afflicted seamen." Whatever may be the conclusions of critical -Biblical expositors, there can be no doubt that the pious annotator was -right in a true--that is, in a spiritual interpretation of the text. - -Should it be necessary to appeal twice to the English nation--which has, -as it were a savour of sea-salt in its very blood--to hold out a helping -hand for those who, having struggled to keep our dominion by carrying -the flag of British commerce all round the world, are themselves flung -ashore, weak, old, and helpless, dependent on the goodwill of their -countrymen to take them into some quiet harbour, where they may, as it -were be laid up in ordinary and undergo some sort of repairs, even -though they should never again be able to go a voyage? It is with -feelings of something like regret that an average Englishman sees the -old hull of a sea-going boat lie neglected and uncared for on the beach. -Not without a pang can we witness the breaking-up of some stout old ship -no longer seaworthy. Yet, unhappily, we have hitherto given scant -attention to the needs of those old and infirm seamen, who having for -many years contributed out of their wages to the funds of the Naval -Hospital at Greenwich, and having been again mulcted of some -subscriptions which were to have been specially devoted to found an -asylum for themselves, are left with little to look forward to but the -workhouse ward when, crippled, sick, or feeble with age, they could no -longer tread the deck or crack a biscuit. - -It is true that there are now hospitals or sick-asylums in connection -with some of the sailors' homes at our seaports, and to the general -hospitals any sailor can be admitted if he should be able to procure a -letter from a governor. The 'tween-decks of the _Dreadnought_ no longer -form the sole hospital for invalided merchant seamen in the Port of -London; but even reckoning all that has been done for sailors, and fresh -from a visit to that great building where three hundred hale and hearty -seamen of the great mercantile navy find a home, we are left to wonder -that so little has been accomplished for those old tars who, having -lived for threescore years or more, going to and fro upon the great -deep, can find no certain anchorage, except within the walls of some -union where they may at last succeed in claiming a settlement. Surely -there is no figure which occupies a more prominent place in English -history than that of the sailor--not the man-o'-war's man only--but the -merchant seaman, the descendant of those followers of the great old -navigators who were called "merchant adventurers," and who practically -founded for Great Britain new empires beyond the sea. In the poetry, the -songs, the literature, the political records, the social chronicles, the -domestic narratives of England, the sailor holds a place, and even at -our holiday seasons, when our children cluster on the shingly shore or -the far-stretching brown sands of the coast, we find still that we -belong to a nation of which the sailor long stood as the chosen -representative. Nay, in the midst of the life of a great city we cannot -fail to be reminded of the daring and the enterprise which has helped to -make London what it is. - -The poet, who, standing on the bridge at midnight, and listening to the -chime of the hour, found his imagination occupied with serious images -and his memory with solemn recollections, would have been no less moved -to profound contemplation had he been a temporary occupant of one of the -great structures that span the silent highway of the Thames. There is -something in the flow of a broad and rapid stream which has a peculiar -association with thoughts of the struggle and toil of human life, and as -we look on the ever-moving tide, we ask ourselves what have we done for -the brave old toil-worn men who have seen the wonders of the great deep -for so many years, and have brought so much to us that we can scarcely -speak of food or drink without some reminder of their toilsome lives and -long voyages? Well, a little has been done,--very little when we reflect -how much yet remains to be accomplished; and yet much, regarded as a -fair opportunity for doing a great deal more. I have already recounted -some part of the sad story of what a provident Government did when it -thought to undertake the affairs of poor improvident Jack. How it -collected his money, and neglected to give him the benefit of the -enforced subscription; how it administered and laid claim to his poor -little effects and arrears of pay, if he died abroad and nobody came -forward to establish a right to them; how it demanded additional -contributions from his monthly wages, in order to show him how to -establish a relief fund; and how somehow the scheme went "by the board" -(of Trade), and the balance of the money was lost in the gulf of the -estimates. - -As long ago as 1860 it became clear to a number of leading merchants, -shipowners, and officers of the mercantile marine that nothing was to be -looked for from the State when the subject of making an effort to -provide for aged and infirm sailors was again urgently brought forward; -but it was determined to make a definite movement, and "The Shipwrecked -Mariners' Society," which had then 40,000 officers and seamen among its -subscribers, was appealed to as a body having the power to form the -required association. - -It was not till 1867, however, that the actual work of providing an -asylum for old sailors was commenced. The society had then put down the -sum of £5,000 as a good beginning, a committee had been appointed, of -which the late honoured Paymaster Francis Lean was the indefatigable -honorary secretary, and Captain Thomas Tribe the secretary, whilst the -list of patrons, presidents, vice-presidents, and supporters included -many eminent noblemen and gentlemen who took a true interest in the -undertaking. - -Several public meetings were held, and "a Pension and Widows' Fund" was -first established. Then the committee began to look about them for a -suitable house in which to begin their real business, and had their -attention directed to a large building at that time for sale, situated -on the breezy height above Erith, and formerly well known as the -residence of Sir Culling Eardley, who had named it Belvidere. The -property, including twenty-three acres of surrounding land, cost -£12,148, and £5,000 having already been subscribed, the balance of -£7,148 was borrowed at five per cent. interest. Not till the 5th of May, -1866, however, was the institution inaugurated and handed over to a -committee of management. - -It is admirably suggestive of its present occupation, this fine roomy -old mansion, standing on the sheltered side, but near the top, of the -lofty eminence, whence such a magnificent view may be obtained, not only -of the surrounding country, but of the mighty river where it widens and -rushes towards the sea. Here on the broad sloping green, where the tall -flagstaff with its rigging supports the Union Jack, the old fellows -stroll in the sun or look out with a knowing weather-eye towards the -shipping going down stream, or sit to smoke and gossip on the bench -beneath their spreading tree opposite the great cedar, while the cow of -the institution chews the cud with a serious look, as though it had -someway caught the thoughtful expression that characterises "turning a -quid." A hundred infirm sailors, each of whom is more than sixty years -old, are serenely at their moorings in that spacious square-built house, -where the long wards are divided into cabins, each with its neat -furniture, and many of them ornamented with the curious knick-knacks, -and strange waifs and strays of former voyages which sailors like to -have about them. There is of course a sick-ward, where those who are -permanently disabled, or are suffering from illness, receive medical -attention and a special diet; but the majority of the inmates are -comparatively hearty still, though they are disabled, and can no longer -"hand reef and steer." - -There are a hundred inmates in this admirable asylum, and ninety -pensioners who are with their friends at the various outports of the -kingdom, each receiving a pension of £1 a month, called the "Mariners' -National Pension Fund," the working management of which, with the -"Widows' Annuity Fund," is made over to the "Shipwrecked Mariners' -Society." - -A hundred and ninety worn-out and disabled seamen now provided for or -assisted, and a total of above 300 relieved since the opening of the -institution. A good and noble work truly. But can it be called by so -great a name as _National_, when we know how large a number of old -sailors are yet homeless, and that at the last election there were 153 -candidates who could not be assisted because of the want of funds to -relieve their distress? Looking at the number of men (2,000 to 5,000) -lost at sea or by shipwreck every year, and at the inquiry which has -been made, through the efforts of Mr. Plimsoll and others, with respect -to the conditions under which the service of the mercantile marine of -this country is carried on, is it not a reproach to us that during the -nineteen years since this institution was founded, so little has been -done? Year by year it has been hoped that the Board of Trade would -relinquish its claim to take possession of the effects of sailors dying -abroad, and would transfer the £1,200 a year represented by this -property to the funds of the society, but hitherto the committee have -waited in vain. The donations from all sources are comparatively few; -and though the annual subscriptions are numerous, they are rapidly -absorbed. - -Many masters, mates, seamen, engineers and firemen pay to this -institution a subscription of five shillings a year, for which they have -a vote at each annual election; or any such subscriber may leave his -votes to accumulate for his own benefit when he shall have reached the -age of sixty years, and becomes a candidate for admission. - -One-fifth of the candidates admitted are nominated by the committee on -the ground of their necessities or special claims to the benefit of the -charity, while general subscribers or donors have privileges of election -according to the amount contributed. Perhaps one of the most touching -records of the subscription list is, that not only did the cadets of the -mercantile training-ship _Worcester_ contribute something like £100 in -one official year, but that the little fellows on board the union -training-ship _Goliath_ lying off Grays, have joined their officers and -their commander, Captain Bourchier, to send offerings to the aid of the -ancient mariners, of whom they are the very latest representatives. On -many a good ship these small collections are made for the same object, -and at the Sailors' Home in Well Street there is a box for stray -contributions; but much more has yet to be done. Perhaps it is far to go -to see this great house on the hill, but most of us have caught a -glimpse of its tall towers and its flagstaff in our excursions down the -silent highway of London's river, and it might be well to think how -little effort is required to give to each cabin its inmate, and to fill -the dining-room with tables, each with its "mess" of six or eight old -salts, who are ready to greet you heartily if you pay them a visit, and -to salute you with a grave seamanlike respect. Would you like to know -how this rare old crew lives in the big house under the lee of the -wind-blown hill? To begin with, the men who are not invalids turn out at -eight in winter and half-past seven in summer, and after making beds and -having a good wash, go down to prayers and breakfast at nine or -half-past eight, breakfast consisting of coffee or cocoa and -bread-and-butter. - -At ten o'clock the ward-men, who are appointed in rotation, go to clean -wards and make all tidy, each inmate being, however, responsible for the -neatness of his own cabin, in which nobody is allowed to drive nails in -bulkheads or walls, and no cutting or carving of woodwork is permitted. -The men not for the time employed in tidying up or airing bedding, &c., -can, if they choose, go into the industrial ward, where they can work at -several occupations for their own profit, as they are only charged for -cost of materials. Dinner is served in the several messes by the -appointed messmen at one o'clock, and consists on Sundays of roast beef, -vegetables, and plum-pudding, and on week-days of roast or boiled meat, -soup, vegetables, with one day a week salt fish, onions, potatoes, and -plain suet-pudding, and in summer an occasional salad. A pint of beer is -allowed for each man. The afternoon may be devoted either to work, or to -recreation in the reading and smoking rooms, or in the grounds. Tea and -bread-and-butter are served at half-past five in summer and at six in -winter, and there is often a supper of bread-and-cheese and watercresses -or radishes. The evening is devoted to recreation, and at half-past nine -in winter, and ten in summer, after prayers, lights are put out, and -every one retires for the night. - -None of the inmates are expected to work in the industrial wards, and of -course there are various servants and attendants, all of whom are chosen -by preference from the families of sailors, or have themselves been at -sea. The whole place is kept so orderly, and everything is so -ship-shape, that there is neither waste nor confusion, and yet every man -there is at liberty to go in and out when he pleases, on condition of -being in at meal-times, and at the time for evening prayers, any one -desiring to remain away being required to ask permission of the manager. -It must be mentioned, too, that there is an allowance of ninepence a -week spending money for each inmate. - -The men are comfortably clothed, in a decent sailorly fashion, and many -of the old fellows have still the bright, alert, active look that -belongs to the "smart hands," among whom some of them were reckoned -nearly half a century ago. The most ancient of these mariners at the -time of my first visit was ninety-two years old, and it so happened that -I saw him on his birthday. He came up the broad flight of stairs to -speak to me, with a foot that had not lost all its lightness, while the -eye that was left to him (he had lost one by accident twenty years -before) was as bright and open as a sailor's should be. This is a long -time ago, and William Coverdale (that was his name) has probably gone to -his rest. Significantly enough, at the time of my latest visit, the -oldest representative of the last muster-roll was James Nelson, a master -mariner of Downpatrick, eighty-five years of age; while bo's'n Blanchard -is eighty-one; able seaman John Hall, eighty; William Terry (A. B.), -eighty-two, and masters, mates, quartermasters, cooks, and stewards, -ranged over seventy. With many of them this is the incurable disability -that keeps them ashore; the sort of complaint which is common to sailors -and landsmen alike if they live long enough--that of old age. It will -come one day, let us hope, to the young Prince, whom we may regard as -the Royal representative of the English liking for the sea. For the -asylum for old and infirm sailors at Greenhithe has not been called -Belvidere for some years now. Prince Alfred went to look at it one day, -and asked leave to become its patron, since which it has been called -"The Royal Alfred Aged Merchant Seamen's Institution"--rather a long -name, but then it ought to mean so much. - - - - -_WITH THE FEEBLE AND FAINT-HEARTED._ - - -Is there any condition wherein we feel greater need of human help and -true loving sympathy than in the slow, feeble creeping from sickness to -complete convalescence, when the pulse of life beats low, and the -failing foot yet lacks power to step across that dim barrier between -health and sickness--not far from the valley of the shadow of death? - -In the bright, glowing summer-tide, when the sun warms bloodless -creatures into renewed life, our English sea-coast abounds with -visitors, among whom near and dear friends, parents, children, slowly -and painfully winning their way back to health and strength are the -objects of peculiar care. In all our large towns people who have money -to spend are, at least, beginning to make up their minds where they -shall take their autumn holiday;--in many quiet health-resorts wealthy -invalids, and some who are not wealthy, have already passed the early -spring and summer;--at a score of pleasant watering-places, where the -cool sparkling waves break upon the "ribbed sea-sand," troops of -children are already browning in the sun, scores of hearts feel a throb -of grateful joy as the glow of health begins to touch cheeks lately -pale, and dull eyes brighten under the clear blue sky. - -Thousands upon thousands are then on their way to that great restorer, -the sea, if it be only for a few hours by excursion train. England might -seem to have gathered all its children at its borders, and very soon we -hear how empty London is, while a new excuse for a holiday will be that -there is "nothing doing" and "nobody is in town." And yet throughout the -busy streets a throng continues to hurry onward in restless activity. -Only well-accustomed observers could see any considerable difference in -the great thoroughfares of London. Shops and factories look busy enough, -and if nothing is doing, there is a mighty pretence of work, while the -nobodies are a formidable portion of the population when regarded in the -aggregate. - -Early in August the census of our large towns still further diminishes. -Prosperous tradesmen, noting the decrease of customers, begin to prepare -to take part in the general exodus. "Gentlefolks" have concluded -bargains for furnished houses on the coast and put their dining and -drawing-rooms into brown holland. In West-End streets and squares the -front blinds are drawn, and all inquiries are answered from the areas, -where charwomen supplement the duties of servants on board wages. -"London is empty," the newspapers say, and in every large town in the -kingdom the great outgoing leaves whole districts comparatively -untenanted. Yet what a vast population remains; what a great army of -toiling men and women who go about their daily work, and keep up the -unceasing buzz of the industrial hive. What troops of children, who, -except for Sunday-school treats, would scarcely spend a day amidst green -fields, or learn how to make a daisy-chain, or hear the soft summer wind -rustling the leaves of overhanging trees. - -It would perhaps astonish us if we could have set down for us in plain -figures how many men and women in England have never seen the sea; how -many people have never spent a week away from home, or had a real long -holiday in all their lives. It may be happy for them if they are not -compelled by sudden sickness or accident, to fall out of the ranks, and -to leave the plough sticking in the furrow. It is not all for pleasure -and careless enjoyment that the thousands of our wealthy brethren and -sisters go to the terraced houses, or handsomely appointed mansions, -which await them all round the English shore. Into how many eyes tears -must need spring, when the prayers for all who are in sorrow, need, or -adversity are read in seaside churches on a summer's Sunday. By what -sick-beds, and couches set at windows whence wistful eyes may look out -upon the changeful glory of wood and sea and sky, anxious hearts are -throbbing. What silent tears and low murmuring cries on behalf of dear -ones on whose pale cheeks the July roses never more may bloom, mark the -watches of the silent night, when the waves sob wakefully upon the -beach. What thrills of hope and joy contend with obtrusive fears as, the -golden spears of dawn break through the impenetrable slate-blue sky, and -a touch of strength and healing is seen to have left its mark upon a -brow on which the morning kiss is pressed with a keen throb that is -itself almost a pang. - -The first faltering footsteps back to life after a long illness or a -severe shock, how they need careful guidance. Let the stronger arm, the -helping hand, the encouraging eye be ready, or they may fail before the -goal of safety be reached. - -"All that is now wanted is strength, careful nursing, plenty of -nourishment, pure air--the seaside if possible, and perhaps the south -coast would be best." Welcome tidings, even though they herald slow -recovery, inch by inch and day by day, while watchful patience measures -out the time by meat and drink, and the money that will buy the means of -comfort or of pleasure, becomes but golden sand running through the -hour-glass, which marks each happy change. - -Yes; but what of the poor and feeble, the faint-hearted who, having -neither oil nor wine, nor the twopence wherewith to pay for lodging at -the inn, must need lie there by the way-side, if no hand is stretched -out to help them? - -While at those famous health-resorts, the names of which are to be read -at every railway station, and in the advertisement sheets of every -newspaper, hundreds and thousands are coming back from weakness to -strength, there are hundreds and thousands still who are discharged from -our great metropolitan hospitals, to creep to rooms in dim, close courts -and alleys, where all the tending care that can be given them must be -snatched from the hours of labour necessary to buy medicine and food. -How many a poor sorrowing soul has said with a sigh, "Oh! if I could -only send you to the sea-side. The doctors all say fresh air's the great -thing; but what's the use? they say the same of pure milk and meat and -wine." - -It may be the father who has met with an accident, and cannot get over -the shock of a surgical operation--or rheumatic fever may have left -mother, son, or daughter in that terrible condition of utter -prostration, when it seems as though we were in momentary danger of -floating away into a fainting unconsciousness, which not being oblivion, -engages us in a struggle beyond our waking powers. - -Alas! in the great summer excursion to the coast these poor fainting -brethren and sisters are too seldom remembered. Here and there a -building is pointed out as an infirmary, a sea-side hospital, or even as -a retreat for convalescents, but the latter institutions are so few, and -the best of them are so inadequately supported, that they have never yet -been able to prove by startling figures the great benefits which they -confer upon those who are received within their walls. - -One of the oldest of these truly beneficent Institutions, "The Sea-side -Convalescent Hospital at Seaford," has just completed a new, plain, but -commodious building, not far from the still plainer House which has for -many years been the Home of its grateful patients. So let us pay a visit -to the old place just before its inmates are transferred to more ample -quarters, to provide for which new subscriptions are needed, and fresh -efforts are being made. The visit will show us how, in an unpretentious -way, and without costly appliances, such a charitable effort may be -worthily maintained. - -Curiously enough, Seaford itself is an illustration of declension from -strength to weakness, and of the early stages of recovery; for though it -is one of the famous Cinque Ports, it has for nearly 200 years been an -unnoted retreat. - -But it is still a place of old, odd customs, such as the election of the -chief of the municipality at an assembly of freemen at a certain -gate-post in the town, to which they are marshalled by an officer -bearing a mace surmounted with the arms of Queen Elizabeth. It is -famous, too, for Roman and other antiquities, and its queer little -church dedicated to St. Leonard, has some rare specimens of quaint -carving and a peal of bells which are peculiarly musical, while the -sounding of the complines on a still summer's night is good to hear. In -fact, for a mere cluster of houses forming an unpretentious and secluded -town, almost without shops to attract attention, with scarcely the -suspicion of a high street, and destitute of a grand hotel, Seaford is -remarkably interesting for its legendary lore, as a good many people -know, who have discovered its greatest attraction, and take lodgings at -the dull little place, where even the martello tower is deserted. The -chief recommendation of the place, however, is its healthfulness, and -the grand air which blows off the sea to the broad stretch of shingly -beach, and the range of cliff and down-land which stretches as far as -Beachy Head, and rises just outside the town into one or two bluffs, -about which the sea-gulls whirl and scream, as the evening sun dips into -the sparkling blue of the water. It is just at the foot of the boldest -of these ascents that we see an old-fashioned mansion, once known as -Corsica Hall, but now more distinctly associated with the name of the -Convalescent Hospital, of which it has long been the temporary home, the -London offices of the charity being at No. 8, Charing Cross, London. - -The institution, which was founded in 1860, has for its president the -Archbishop of Canterbury, and for its patronesses the Duchess of -Cambridge and the Duchess of Teck, and it has done its quiet work -efficiently and well, under difficulties which must have required -staunch interest on the part of its committee. - -It is difficult at first to understand that the big many-roomed house -just by the spur of the cliff, and peeping out to see over the shingle -ridge, is in any sense a hospital; but here is a convalescent who will -give us a very fair idea of the work that is being done; a tall fellow -who is but just recovering from acute rheumatism, and is now able to go -about slowly but with a cheery, hopeful look in his face. Presently, as -one comes near the front door, a lad, who having come from a hospital -where he has been attended for fractured ancle, has been sent here to -recover strength, is hobbling across a poultry-yard, where a grand -company of black Spanish, Polish, Cochin China, and other fowls are -assembled to be fed, and beneath a pent-house roof in this same yard, on -a bench, which would be well replaced by a more comfortable garden-seat -if the funds would allow, there is a sheltered and comfortable corner -for the afternoon indulgence of a whiff of tobacco. Twenty-five men and -twenty-four women are all the inmates, besides attendants, for whom -space can be found; and an inspection of the airy and scrupulously clean -dormitories, or rather bedrooms, on each side of the building, will show -that all the accommodation has been made available. It must be -remembered, however, that as the period of each inmate's stay is but a -month of twenty-eight days, fresh cases are constantly admitted during -all the summer months; so that though as late as at the end of March -only fourteen men and six women were distributed in the wards, the -average number admitted during the last official year has been 511 (an -increase of twenty-four over the year before), while the total number of -cases received since the opening of the institution amounts to nearly -5,000. - -There are evidences that in this old house, with its long passages, and -little supplementary stairs leading to the bedrooms, economy has been -studied, and yet all that can be done to adapt the place to its purpose -has been effected. The sense of fresh air and cleanliness is the first -noticeable characteristic. There are no slovenly corners; in -sitting-rooms, corridors, or dormitories, whether the latter be little -rooms with only two or three beds, or either of the large apartments, -with their wide bay-windows looking forth upon the sea. Plainly and even -sparely furnished, they have an appearance of homelike comfort, and it -is pleasant to note that in the larger bright cheerful room devoted to -women patients there are evidences of feminine taste and womanly -belongings, even to the egg-cups holding little posies of wild flowers -and common garden blooms that deck the broad mantelshelf in front of the -toilet glasses. The same home-like influences are to be observed in -other departments, and though this old country house--of which the -institution holds only a short term as tenants--is not altogether suited -for the purpose to which it has been applied, the arrangements are not -without a certain pleasant departure from the too formal and mechanical -routine which is observed in some establishments to have a peculiarly -depressing influence on the sick. - -The kitchen is like that of some good-sized farm-house, with brick -floor, an ample "dresser," and a big range, flanked with its pair of -ovens, and just now redolent of the steam of juicy South-down mutton and -fresh vegetables about to be served for the patients' dinners. - -It is a property of the Seaford air to make even persons with delicate -appetites ready for three plain meals a day, with a meat supper to -follow, and the convalescents are no exception to the rule. Tea and -bread-and-butter for breakfast, bread-and-cheese and ale for the men, -and cake and ale for the women as a snack in the way of lunch, good -roast meat and vegetables for dinner, with occasional pies or puddings, -with another half-pint of ale; tea as usual; and a supper consisting of -a slice of meat, bread, and another draught of beer--this is the most -ordinary diet; but in many cases milk is substituted for ale, and there -is also a morning draught of milk, or rum-and-milk, a lunch or supper of -farinaceous food, and wine or special diet, according to the orders of -the house surgeon, who visits the patients daily, or as often as may be -required. Following the odour of the roast mutton, we see the male -patients preparing to sit down to dinner in a good-sized room, where, to -judge from the pleased and grateful faces of men and lads, they are -quite ready to do justice to the repast. Barely furnished, and with -table appointments of the plainest kind, the dining-room is not -indicative of luxury; but the sauce of hunger is not wanting, and as we -bow our leave-taking, there are signs that the money spent at this -Seaford Hospital is well represented by the wholesome but expensive -medicine of pure food and drink in ample quantities, prescribed under -conditions which build up the strength, and restore life to the -enfeebled frames of those to whom a month of such living must be an era -in their history. - -The women's dining-room is, I am glad to see, more ornamental than that -of the men. The walls are bright with gay paper, containing large and -brilliantly coloured scenery, while the wide windows look seaward, and -fill the large room with cheerful light. - -This is all the more essential as there is no other sitting-room for the -female patients, and the more convenient furniture, especially a low -wooden couch covered with a mattress, is adapted to the needs of those -who require indoor recreation as well as frequent rest. The men have a -separate sitting-room in the basement, not a very cheerful apartment, -but one which in the warm summer-time is cool, and adapted for the -after-dinner doze, or for reading a book when the weather is not quite -favourable for sitting out of doors. - -There is, by the bye, a very decided need of entertaining and pleasant -books for the patients' library at Seaford, the few which are on the two -or three shelves being mostly old, and of a particularly dreary pattern. -It is obvious that, in an institution where, in order to meet the -constant needs of those who seek its aid, every shilling must be -carefully expended, only a small sum can be devoted to literature; but -it may only have to be made known that the convalescents really need a -few cheerful volumes to help them along the road from sickness to -health, and out of the abundance of some teeming library the goodwill -offering may be made. - -It is time that we--that is to say, the kindly and judicious secretary, -Mr. Horace Green, the examining physician, Dr. Lomas, and the present -writer--should yield to the influences of the grand appetising climate -of this airy nook of the English coast, and after a short turn into the -poultry-yard, a glance at the deliberate cow, and a passing greeting to -the great black cat with collar and bell and a mew that is almost a deep -bass roar, and to the most exacting, ugly, and voracious pet dog it was -ever my lot to encounter--we accept the invitation to test the quality -of the Southdown mutton and other Seaford fare, with a following of that -delicately boiled rice and jam to which the healthy palate returns with -childlike appreciation. - -On hospitable thoughts intent, the bright and active lady who is -superintendent matron of the hospital, has for the time adopted us into -her hungry family, and with the knowledge of the effects of the breeze -blowing over that high bluff, and curling the waves along the shingle -ridge, has set out a repast in her own pleasant parlour, where she does -the honours of the institution with a simple cheerful grace that speaks -favourably for the administration which she represents. But I should now -be writing in the past tense, for the larger building is completed. The -inmates will have a better appointed home. - -In order to maintain the objects of the charity, and to ensure the -comfort of those for whom its provisions are intended, some -well-considered regulations have to be adopted and enforced; and the -most discouraging circumstances with which the committee and their -officers have to contend, are those which arise from the negligence of -subscribers nominating patients, or from the demands made on the charity -by those who constantly expect more benefits from the institution than -their contributions would represent even if they were paid three times -over. - -It is, perhaps, not to be wondered at that people, anxious to secure for -their protégés the advantages of such means of recovery as are -represented by a temporary hospital where there has only been one death -in five years, should readily contribute their guinea for the sake of -gaining the privilege, even though they may add to that small -subscription the five shillings a week which is the sum required with -each patient. What has to be complained of, however, is that constant -attempts are made to introduce cases which are so far from being -convalescent, that they are still suffering from disease, and require -constant medical or surgical treatment. In order to do this, nominations -are frequently obtained from country subscribers, and it has required -the constant vigilance of the examining physician and the committee to -avoid the distressing necessity of obtaining for such patients admission -to other hospitals, or sending them back to their own homes, not only -without having received benefit from the institution, but perhaps -injured by the journey to and fro when they were in a weak and suffering -condition. - -It should be remembered that the Seaford Hospital is not for the sick, -but for persons recovering from sickness,--those for whom the best -medicines are regular and ample meals, grand bracing air, sea-baths, -long hours of quiet and restorative sleep, and that general direction of -their daily progress towards complete recovery, which will often make -them strong and set them up completely, even in the twenty-eight days of -their sea-side sojourn. - -To send patients who require the medical care and attendance which can -only be provided in a hospital for the special disorders from which they -suffer, or who are afflicted with incurable diseases, is unjust, both to -the poor creatures themselves and to the charity which cannot receive -them. - -For consumptive patients, except in the early or threatening stage of -phthisis, Seaford is unsuitable, but a month at the hospital for -patients of consumptive tendency has been known to produce remarkably -beneficial results. It is in cases of recovery after rheumatism and -rheumatic fever, or when strength is required after painful or -exhausting surgical operations, in nervous depression, debility, -pleurisy, and recovery from accidents, that the fine air is found to be -wonderfully invigorating; for Seaford is high and dry, the subsoil being -sand resting on chalk, so that there is little surface evaporation, -while the shelter afforded by Beachy Head screens this little bay of the -coast from the east wind. - -It is not to be wondered at that the Archbishop of Canterbury, the -Bishop of London, and the late Bishop of Winchester should have joined -many of the London clergy, and more than eighty of the most eminent -physicians and surgeons connected with metropolitan hospitals, to -recommend this charity as one especially deserving of public support. -Those who are ever so superficially acquainted with the homes and -difficulties of the poorer classes in London know that the period of -debility after sickness, when the general hospital has discharged the -patient, or when the parish doctor has taken his leave, is a terrible -time. Too weak to work, without means to buy even common nourishment at -the crisis when plentiful food is requisite, and stimulated to try to -labour when the heart has only just strength to beat, men and women are -ready to faint and to perish unless helping hands be held out to them. -Try to imagine some poor cabman or omnibus-driver, lying weak and -helpless after coming from a hospital; think of the domestic servant, -whose small savings have all been spent in the endeavour to get well -enough to take another place; of the poor little wistful, eager-eyed -errand-boy, scantily fed, and with shaking limbs, that will not carry -him fast enough about the streets. Try to realise what a boon it must be -to a letter-carrier, slowly recovering from the illness by which he has -been smitten down, or to the London waiter, worn and debilitated by long -hours of wearying attendance to his duties, to have a month of rest and, -re-invigoration at a place like this. In the table of inmates during the -last few years are to be found a host of domestic servants, mechanics -and apprentices, warehousemen and labourers, 36 housewives (there is -much significance in that word, if we think of the poor wife or mother -to be restored to her husband and children), 46 needlewomen, 19 clerks, -15 teachers (mark that) 41 school-children, 9 nurses, 1 policeman, 3 -seamen and watermen, 1 letter-carrier, 4 errand-boys, 7 Scripture-readers, -and others of various occupations. - -It is no wonder, I say, that the general hospitals should regard this -Convalescent Home at Seaford as a boon; but, unfortunately for the -charity, the appreciation which it receives from some of those wealthy -and magnificently-endowed institutions operates as a very serious drain -on its own limited resources, which are only supplied by voluntary -subscriptions, contributions, and legacies. Every subscriber of a guinea -annually, and every donor of ten guineas in one sum, has the privilege -of recommending one patient yearly, with an additional recommendation -for every additional subscription of one guinea, or donation of ten -guineas. The payment of five shillings a week by each patient admitted -is also required by the guarantee of a householder written on the -nomination paper, and the travelling expenses of the patient must also -be paid, the Brighton Railway Company most benevolently conveying -patients to the hospital by their quick morning train, in second-class -carriages at third-class fare. - -Now it is quite obvious that the five shillings a week, though it -removes the institution from the position of an absolute charity, goes -but a very short distance in providing for the needs of the inmates, and -when the guinea contribution is added to it, there is still a very wide -margin to fill before much good can be effected. Let us see, then, what -is the effect of every subscription of a guinea representing a claim, as -in the case of the patients sent from the general hospitals. - -The cost of those admirable medicines, food and drink, wine, milk, and -sea-baths, together with the expenses of administration, and the rental -will represent at least £4 8s. per head for each patient, and as Guy's, -Bartholomew's, St. Thomas's, and the London Hospitals, each subscribing -their ten guineas annually, demand their ten nominations in exchange, -the account stands thus:-- - -For each case, five shillings per week for four weeks, and one guinea -subscription = £2 1_s._, which, deducted from the actual cost (£4 -8_s._), leaves £2 7_s._ to be paid out of the funds of the Seaford -Institution, which, on ten patients a year, represents £23 10_s._ as the -annual contribution of this poor little charity to each of the four -great charitable foundations of the metropolis. - -But there is now an opportunity for acknowledging this obligation, and -for recognizing the useful career of this really admirable institution. -The lease of the present house has already expired, and the committee -have been obliged to give up possession. It is therefore necessary to -support the new hospital for those who need the aid that such a charity -alone can give, and the building has already been erected, only a few -yards further in the shelter of the bluff, where it has provided another -home. With a commendable anxiety to keep strictly within their probable -means, the committee have decided not to imitate a too frequent mode of -proceeding, by which a large and splendid edifice would saddle their -undertaking with a heavy debt, and perhaps cripple resources needed for -carrying on their actual work; but they have obtained from Mr. Grüning, -the architect, a plain building which will provide for their needs for -some time to come, and may be hereafter increased in accommodation by -additions that will improve, rather than detract from, its completeness. -A great establishment, with a hundred beds, laundries, drying-houses, -and hot and cold sea-baths on the premises, would cost £13,000; and as -the actually available funds in hand for building purposes were not more -than £5,000, with another probable £1,000 added by special donations -expected during the year, the committee, however reluctantly, folded up -the original plan, and estimated the cost of a plain unpretentious -building, calculated at first to receive thirty-three male and -thirty-three female patients, but capable of additions which will raise -its usefulness and completeness to the higher demand, whenever there are -funds sufficient to pay for them. The expenditure for the new hospital -was about £7000, and, should the anticipated donations be increased -fourfold, there will be no difficulty in crowning the work, by such -provisions as will include the full number of a hundred faint and -failing men and women within the retreat where they find rest and -healing. - - - - -_WITH THE LITTLE ONES._ - - -Yes, and amidst the mystery of suffering and pain,--the beginning of -that discipline which commences very early, and continues, for many of -us, during a whole lifetime, at such intervals as may be necessary for -the consummation which we can only faintly discern when we begin to see -that which is invisible to the eyes of flesh and of human understanding, -and is revealed only to the higher reason--the essential perception -which is called faith. - -I want you to come with me to that eastern district of the great city -which has for so long a time been associated with accounts of distress, -of precarious earnings, homes without food or fire, scanty clothing, -dilapidated houses, dire poverty and the diseases that come of cold and -starvation. The place that I shall take you to is quite close to the -Stepney Station of the North London Railway. The district is known as -Ratcliff; the streets down which we shall pass are strangely destitute -of any but small shops, where a front "parlour" window contains small -stocks of chandlery or of general cheap odds and ends. The doorways of -the houses are mostly open, and are occupied by women and children, of -so poor and neglected an appearance, that we need no longer wonder at -the constant demands made upon the institution which we are about to -visit. Just here the neighbourhood seems to have come to a dreary -termination at the brink of the river, and to be only kept from slipping -into the dark current by two or three big sheds and wharves, belonging -to mast, rope, and block-makers, or others connected with that shipping -interest the yards of which are, many of them, deserted, no longer -resounding to the noise of hammers. The black spars and yards of vessels -alongside seem almost to project into the roadway as we turn the corner -and stand in front of a building, scarcely to be distinguished from its -neighbours, except for the plain inscription on its front, "East London -Hospital for Children and Dispensary for Women," and for a rather more -recent appearance of having had the woodwork painted. But for this there -would be little more to attract attention than might be seen in any of -the sail-makers' dwellings, stores, and lofts in the district; and, in -fact, the place itself is--or rather was--a sail-maker's warehouse, with -trap-doors in the rough and foot-worn floors, steep and narrow stairs, -bulks and baulks of timber here and there in the heavy ceilings and -awkward corners, not easily turned to account in any other business. -Some of these inconveniences have been remedied, and the trap-doors as -well as the awkwardest of the corners and the bulks have been either -removed or adapted to present purposes, for the business is to provide a -home and careful nursing for sick children, and the long rooms of the -upper storeys are turned into wards, wherein stand rows of Lilliputian -iron bedsteads, or tiny cribs, where forty boys and girls, some of them -not only babes but sucklings, form the present contingent of the hundred -and sixty little ones who have been treated during the year. Not a very -desirable-looking residence you will say, but there are a good many -inmates after all; and the scrupulous cleanliness of the place, as seen -from the very passage, is an earnest of that plan of making the best of -things which has always been characteristic of this hospital at Ratcliff -Cross. Some eight or nine grownup folks, and from thirty to forty -children, make a bright, cheerful home (apart from the suffering and -death which are inseparable from such a place) in that old sail-maker's -warehouse, if brightness and cheerfulness are the accompaniments of good -and loving work, as I thoroughly believe they are. - -It was during the terrible visitation of cholera, nearly twelve years -ago, that this work of mercy was initiated, and the manner of its -foundation has about it something so pathetic that it is fitting the -story should be known, especially as the earnest, hopeful effort with -which the enterprise began seems to have characterised it to the present -day. Among the medical men who went about in the neighbourhood of Poplar -and Ratcliff during the epidemic, was Mr. Heckford, a young surgeon, -who, having recently come from India, was attached to the London -Hospital, and who took a constant and active part in the professional -duties he had undertaken. In that arduous work, he, as well as others, -received valuable and indeed untiring aid from the ready skill and -thoughtful care of a few ladies, who, having qualified themselves as -nurses, devoted themselves to the labour of love amongst the poor. To -one of this charitable sisterhood, who had been his frequent helper in -the time of difficulty and danger, the young surgeon became attracted by -the force of a sympathy that continued after the plague was stayed in -the district to which they had given so much care, and when they had -time to think of themselves and of each other. They went away together a -quietly married couple; both having one special aim and object in -relation to the beneficent career upon which they had entered in -company. Knowing from hardly-earned experience the dire need of the -district, they at once began to consider what they could do to alleviate -the sufferings of the women and children, so many of whom were sick and -languishing, in hunger and pain, amidst conditions which forbade their -recovery. If only they could make a beginning, and do something towards -arresting the ravages of those diseases that wait on famine and lurk in -foul and fœtid alleys;--if they could establish a dispensary where -women--mothers too poor to pay a doctor--could have medicine and careful -encouragement; if they could find a place where, beginning with a small -family of say half a dozen, they might take a tiny group of infants to -their home, and so set up a centre of beneficent action, a protest -against the neglect, the indifference, and the preventable misery for -which that whole neighbourhood had so long had an evil distinction. - -The question was, how to make a beginning: but the young doctor and his -wife had been so accustomed to the work of taking help to the very doors -of those who needed it, that all they wanted was to find a place in the -midst of that down-east district where they could themselves live and -work. Out of their own means they bought the only available premises for -their purpose--a rough, dilapidated, but substantial, and above all, a -ventilable sail-loft with its adjacent house and store-rooms, and there -they quietly established themselves as residents, with ten little beds, -holding ten poor little patients supported by themselves, in the hope -that voluntary aid from some of the benevolent persons who knew what was -the sore need of the neighbourhood would enable them in time to add -twenty or thirty more, when the big upper storeys should be cleansed and -mended and made into wards. That hope was not long in being realised, -and on the 28th of January, 1868, after a determined effort to maintain -the institution and to devote themselves to its service, a regular -committee was formed and commenced its undertakings, the founders still -remaining and working with unselfish zeal. From twenty to thirty little -ones were received from out that teeming district, where a large -hospital with ten times the number of beds would not be adequate to the -needs of the infant population, the mothers of which have to work to -earn the scanty wages which in many cases alone keep them from absolute -starvation. The struggle to maintain the wards in the old sail-lofts was -all the harder, from the knowledge that in at least half the number of -cases where admission was necessarily refused, from want of space and -want of funds, the little applicants were sent away to die, or to become -helpless invalids or confirmed cripples, not less from the effects of -destitution--the want of food and clothing--than from the nature of the -diseases from which they were suffering. - -The young doctor and his wife dwelt there, and with cultivated tastes -and accomplishments submitted to all the inconveniences of a small room -or two, from which they were almost ousted by the increasing need for -space. With a bright and cheerful alacrity they adapted those very -tastes and accomplishments to supplement professional skill and tender -assiduous care: the lady--herself in such delicate health that her -husband feared for her life, and friends anxiously advised her to seek -rest and change--used books and music to cheer the noble work, and -always had a picture on her easel, with which to hide the awkward bulges -and projections, or to decorate the bare walls and brighten them with -light and colour. - -It was at Christmas-tide seven years ago that I first visited the -hospital, and there were then very pleasant evidences of the season to -be discovered in all kinds of festive ornament in the long wards, and -especially in the smaller rooms, where this loving woman had attracted -other loving women around her, as nurses to the suffering little ones; -and was there and then engaged in the superintendence of a glorious -Christmas-tree. But the time came when the hoped-for support having -arrived, Mr. and Mrs. Heckford felt that they could leave the family of -forty children to the care of those who had taken up the work with -heartfelt sympathy. They had laboured worthily and well, but, alas!--the -reward came late--late at least for him, who had been anxious to take -his wife away to some warmer climate, in an endeavour to restore the -strength that had been spent in the long effort to rear a permanent -refuge for sick children in that dense neighbourhood. It was he who -stood nearest to shadow-land,--he who was soonest to enter into the -light and the rest that lay beyond. Mr. Heckford died, I believe, at -Margate, after a short period of leisure and travel, which his wife -shared with him. His picture, presented by her to the charity which they -both founded, is to be seen in the boys' ward. Another portrait of -him--a portrait in words written by the late Mr. Charles Dickens, who -visited and pathetically described the children and their hospital in -December, 1868, conveys the real likeness of the man. - -"An affecting play was acted in Paris years ago, called the Children's -Doctor. As I parted from my Children's Doctor now in question, I saw in -his easy black necktie, in his loose-buttoned black frock-coat, in his -pensive face, in the flow of his dark hair, in his eyelashes, in the -very turn of his moustache, the exact realisation of the Paris artist's -ideal as it was presented on the stage. But no romancer that I know of -has had the boldness to prefigure the life and home of this young -husband and wife, in the Children's Hospital in the East of London." - -What the hospital was then, it has remained--but with such improvements -as increased funds and a more complete organisation have effected. It is -still the ark of refuge for those little ones who, smitten with sudden -disease, or slowly fading before the baleful breath of famine or of -fever, or ebbing slowly away from life by the fatal influences that sap -the constitutions of the young in such neighbourhoods, are taken in that -they may be brought back to life, or at worst may be lovingly tended, -that the last messenger may be made to bear a smile. - -But the hope for the future of this most admirable institution has grown -to fill a larger space. It is indeed essential to any really permanent -effort in such a district that it should be increased, and the founders -looked forward with earnest anticipations of the time when, gathering -help from without, they could enter upon a larger building, which will -soon be completed, and will be more adequate to the needs of such a -teeming population. The area embracing Poplar, Mile End, Whitechapel, -St. George's, Limehouse, Ratcliff, Shadwell, and Wapping numbers some -400,000 inhabitants, and strangely enough--as it will seem to those who -have not yet learnt the true characteristics of the really deserving -poor--many of the distressed people about that quarter will conceal -their poverty, and strive as long as they are able--so that when at last -they go to ask for aid the case may be almost hopeless, and the delay in -obtaining admission may be fatal. There are already so many more -applicants than can be received that it may be imagined what must be the -vast amount of alleviable suffering awaiting the opportunity of wider -means and a larger building. It would be easy to shock the reader by -detailing many of the more distressing diseases from which the poor -little patients suffer, but on visiting the wards you are less shocked -than saddened, while the evident rest and care which are helping to -restore and to sooth the sufferers ease you of the greater pain by the -hope that they inspire. - -It is Sunday noon as we stand here in the dull street where, but for the -sudden opening of a frowsy tavern and the appearance of two or three -thirsty but civil customers, who are not only ready but eager to show -you the way to the "Childun's 'orsepital," there would be little to -distinguish it from a thoroughfare of tenantless houses. Ratcliff is at -its dinner at present, but we shall as we go back see the male residents -leaning against the doorposts smoking, and the women and children -sitting at the doors as at a private box at the theatre, discussing the -sordid events of the streets and the small chronicles of their poor -daily lives. - -But we must leave the cleanly-scrubbed waiting-room and its adjoining -large cupboard which does duty as dispenser's room. It is dinnertime -here too, or rather it has been, and there are evidences of some very -jolly feasting, considering that, after all, the banqueters are mostly -in bed and on sick diet, which in many cases means milk, meat, eggs, and -as much nourishment as they can safely take. Indeed, food is medicine to -those who are turning the corner towards convalescence--food and air--of -which latter commodity there is a very excellent supply considering the -kind of neighbourhood we are in. Here and there we see a little wan, -pinched, wasted face lying on the pillow; a listless, transparent hand -upon the counterpane--which are sad tokens that the tiny sufferers are -nearing the eternal fold beyond the shadowy threshold where all is dark -to us, who note how every breath bespeaks a feebler hold on the world of -which they have learnt so little in their tiny lives. There are others -who are sitting up with picture-books, or waiting to have their -abscesses dressed, and arms bandaged, or eyes laved with cooling lotion. -Hip-disease and diseases of the joints are evidence of the causes that -bring so many of the little patients here, and there are severe cases of -consumption and of affections of the lungs and of the glands; but as the -little fellow wakes up from a short nap, or catches the eye of the "lady -nurse"--a lively and thoroughly practical Irishwoman, who evidently -knows how to manage, and has come here, after special training, for the -love of doing good--they show a beaming recognition which is very -pleasant to witness. With all the nurses it is the same. - -They are young women who, receiving small pay, have come to devote -themselves to the work for Christ's sake and the Gospel's--that is to -say, for the love of humanity and of the good tidings of great joy that -announce the love of Him who gave Himself for us. - -In the girls' ward there is the same freshness and cleanliness of the -place and all its belongings, the same wonderful patience and courageous -endurance on the part of the baby inmates, which has been my wonder ever -since we went in. Here is a mite of a girl sitting up in bed, holding a -moist pad to her eye, her poor little head being all bandaged. She never -utters a sound, but the little round face is set with a determined -endurance. "What is she sitting up for?" She is "waiting to see muvver." -Another little creature, who is suffering from abscesses in the neck, -submits to have the painful place poulticed only on the condition that -she shall decide, by keeping her hand upon the warm linseed-meal, when -it is cool enough to put on. These are scarcely pleasant details, and -there are sights here which are very, very sad, and make us shrink--but -I honestly declare that they are redeemed from being repulsive because -of the evidence of love that is to be witnessed,--the awakening of the -tender sympathies and sweet responses of the childlike heart. But for -its being Sunday--which involves another reason to be mentioned -presently--the beds would be strewed with toys and picture-books, while -a rocking-horse, which is a part of the hospital property, and a fit -kind of steed to draw the "hospital-carriage," which is represented by a -perambulator--would probably be saddled and taken out of the stable on -the landing. On the topmost storey we come to the real infants, the -little babies, one of whom is even now in the midst of his dinner, which -he takes from a feeding-bottle, by the aid of an india-rubber tube -conveniently traversing his pillow. - -Everywhere there are evidences of the care with which the work is -carried on, and as we descend to the waiting-room again we have fresh -proofs of the benefits that are being effected in the great district, by -the provision made for the little creatures, many of whom would -otherwise be left to linger in pain and want. For the waiting-room is -filled--filled with mothers and elder sisters and little brothers, -tearfully eager and anxious for the weekly visit to the fifty children -upstairs. Here is the secret of the brave little patient faces in the -beds and cots above. - -It is infinitely touching to think how the prospect of "seeing muvver" -sustains that chubby little sufferer,--how the expected visit nerves the -stronger ones to endurance, and sends a fresh throb of life through -those who are still too weak to do more than faintly smile, and hold out -a thin pale hand. - -If Mr. Ashby Warner, the Secretary at this Hospital for Sick Children at -Ratcliff Cross, could but send some responsive thrill into the hearts of -those who, having no children of their own, yet love Christ's little -ones all over the world,--or could bring home to the fond fathers and -mothers of strong and chubby babes the conviction that to help in this -good work is a fitting recognition of their own mercies; nay, if even to -sorrowing souls who have been bereaved of their dear ones, and who yet -believe that their angels and the angels of these children also, do -constantly behold the face of the Father which is in heaven, there would -come a keen recognition of the blessedness of doing something for the -little ones, as unto Him who declares them to be of His kingdom--there -would soon be no lack of funds to finish building that great new -hospital at Shadwell, which is to take within its walls and great airy -wards so many more little patients, to help and comfort by advice and -medicine so many more suffering mothers and sisters than could be -received in the old sail-loft and its lower warehouse at Ratcliff Cross. -For the hope of the founders and their successors has at last being -realised--a larger building than they had at first dared to expect is to -be erected on ground which has been purchased, still within the district -where the need is greatest--and when the time comes that the last touch -of carpenter and mason shall have been given to the new home, and the -picture of Mr. Heckford shall be hung upon another wall, there may well -be a holiday "down east"--as a day of thanksgiving and of gratitude, to -those who may yet help in the work by giving of their abundance. - - - - -_IN THE KINGDOM._ - - -"Of such are the kingdom of heaven;" and "whosoever doeth it unto the -least of these little ones, doeth it unto Me." Surely there is no need -to comment again on these sayings of Him who, in His infinite -childlikeness, knew what must be the characteristics of His subjects, -and declared plainly that whosoever should enter into the kingdom must -become as a little child. One thing is certain, that those who are -within that kingdom, or expect to qualify themselves for it, must learn -something of the Divine sympathy with which Christ took the babes in his -arms and blessed them. Thank God that there is so much of it in this -great suffering city, and that on every hand we see efforts made for the -rescue, the relief, and the nurture of sick and destitute children. -Would that these efforts could relieve us from the terrible sights that -should make us shudder as we pass through its tumultuous streets, and -witness the suffering, the depravity, and the want, that comes of -neglecting the cry of the little ones, and of those who would bring them -to be healed and sanctified. - -Only just now I asked you to go with me to Ratcliff to see the forty -tiny beds ranged in the rooms of that old sail-maker's warehouse which -has been converted into a Hospital for Sick Children. There is something -about this neighbourhood of Eastern London that keeps us lingering there -yet; something that may well remind us of that star which shone above -the manger at Bethlehem where the Babe lay. The glory of the heavenly -light has led wise men and women to see how, in reverence for the -childlikeness, they may work for the coming of the kingdom, and those -who enter upon this labour of love, begin--without observation--to find -what that kingdom really is, and to realise more of its meaning in their -own hearts. - -To the cradle in a manger the wise men of old went to offer gifts. To a -cradle I would ask you to go with me to-day; to a whole homeful of -cribs; which is known by a word that means crib and manger and cradle -all in one--"The Crèche." - -There is something, as it seems to me, appropriate in this French word -to the broad thoroughfare (so like one of the outer boulevards of Paris) -out of which we turn when we have walked a score or two of yards from -the Stepney Station, or where some other visitors alight from the big -yellow tramway car running from Aldgate to Stepney Causeway. The -Causeway itself is a clean, quiet street, and is so well known that the -first passer-by can point it out to you, while, if the inhabitants of -the district can't quite master the _crunch_ of the French word, they -know well enough what you mean when you ask for the "babies' home," or -for "Mrs. Hilton's nursery." The home itself is but a baby institution, -for it is only five years old, but it might be a very Methuselah if it -were to be judged by the tender, loving care it has developed, and the -good it has effected, not only on behalf of the forty sucklings who are -lying in their neat little wire cots upstairs, like so many human -fledglings in patent safety cages, and for the forty who are sprawling -and toddling about in the lower nursery, or for the contingent who are -singing a mighty chorus of open vowels on the ground-floor; but also in -the hopeful aid and tender sympathy it has conveyed to the toiling -mothers who leave their little ones here each morning when they go out -to earn their daily bread, and fetch them again at night, knowing that -they are fresh and clean, and have been duly nursed and fed, and put to -sleep, and had their share of petting and of play. - -The sound of the forty singing like one is not perceptible as we -approach the house, which, with its large high windows open to the soft, -warm air, lies very still and quiet. The wire-blinds to the windows near -the street bear the name of the institution, and over the doorway is -inscribed the fact that the Princess Christian has become the patroness -of this charity, which appeals to all young mothers, and to every woman -who acknowledges the true womanly love for children. Each day, from -twelve to four o'clock, visitors are welcomed, except on Saturdays, when -the closing hour is two o'clock, as, even in some of the factories down -east, the half-holiday is observed, and poor women working at -bottle-warehouses and other places have the happiness of taking home -their little ones, and keeping them to themselves till the following -Monday morning. Do you feel inclined to question whether these poor, -toil-worn women appreciate this privilege? Are you ready to indulge in a -cynical fear that they would rather forego the claim that they are -expected to assert? Believe me you are wrong. One of the most hopeful -and encouraging results of the tender care bestowed upon these babes of -poverty is that of sustaining maternal love, and beautifying even the -few hours of rest and family reunion in the squalid rooms where the -child is taken with a sense of hope and pride to lighten the burden of -the day. Early each morning the little creatures are brought, often in -scanty clothing, sometimes shoeless, mostly with a ready appetite for -breakfast. Then the business of matron and nurses begins. But, come, let -us go in with the children, and see the very first of it, as women, -poorly clad, coarse of feature, and with the lines of care, and too -frequently with the marks of dissipation and of blows upon their faces, -come in one by one and leave their little living bundles, not without a -certain wistful, softened expression and an occasional lingering loving -look. - -The house--stay, there are actually three houses, knocked into one so as -to secure a suite of rooms on each floor--is as clean as the proverbial -new pin; and as we ascend the short flights of stairs, there is a sense -of lightness and airiness which is quite remarkable in such a place, and -is by some strange freak of fancy associated with the notion of a big, -pleasant aviary--a notion which is strengthened by our coming suddenly -into the nursery on the first-floor, and noting as the most prominent -object of ornament a large cage containing some sleek and silken doves, -placed on a stand very little above the head of the tiniest toddler -there. - -There is enough work for the matron, her assistant, and the four or five -young nurses who receive these welcome little guests each morning. The -rows of large metal basins on the low stands are ready, and the -morning's ablutions are about to commence, so we will return presently, -as people not very likely to be useful in the midst of so intricate an -operation as the skilful washing and dressing of half a hundred babies. - -There is plenty to see in the neighbourhood out of doors, but we need -not wander far to find something interesting, for on the ground-floor of -these three houses which form the Crèche--the babies' home--provision -has also been made for babies' fathers, in the shape of "a British -Workman," or working-man's reading, coffee, and bagatelle room, with a -library of readable books, and liberty to smoke a comfortable pipe. - -Of the servants' home, which is another branch of this cluster of -charitable institutions, we have no time to speak now, for our visit is -intended for the Crèche, and we are already summoned to the upper rooms -by the sound of infant voices. Doubt not that you will be welcomed on -the very threshold, for here comes an accredited representative of the -institution, just able to creep on all fours to the guarded door, thence -to be caught up by the gentle-faced young nurse, who at once consigns -the excursionist to a kind of square den or pound, formed of stout bars, -and with the space of floor which it encloses covered by a firm -mattress. There, in complete safety, and with two or three good -serviceable and amiably-battered toys, the young athletes who are -beginning to practise the difficult feat of walking with something to -hold by, are out of harm's way, and may crawl or totter with impunity. -They have had their breakfast of bread and milk, and are evidently -beginning the day, some of them with a refreshing snooze in the little -cribs which stand in a row against a wall, bright, as all the walls are, -with coloured pictures, while in spaces, or on low tables here and -there, bright-hued flowers and fresh green plants are arranged, so that -the room, necessarily bare and unencumbered with much furniture, is so -pleasantly light and gay, that we are again reminded of a great -bird-cage. Out here in a little ante-room is a connected row of low, -wooden arm-chairs, made for the people of Lilliput, and each furnished -with a little tray or table, and, drumming expectantly and with a -visible interest in the proceeding, sit a line of little creatures, -amidst whom a nurse distributes her attentions, by feeding them -carefully with a spoon, just as so many young blackbirds might be fed. -Already some of the little nurslings are sitting up in their cribs, -quietly nodding their round little heads over some cherished specimen of -doll or wooden horse. One wee mite of a girl, quite unable to speak, -except inarticulately, holds up the figure of a wooden lady of fashion, -with a wistful entreaty which we fail to understand, till the quick-eyed -lady who accompanies us spies a slip of white tape in the tiny hand, and -at once divines that it is to be bound about the fashionable waist, as -an appropriate scarf, and at once performs this finishing stroke of the -toilet, to the immeasurable satisfaction of everybody concerned. This is -in the upper room, the real baby nursery, where the age of some of the -inmates is numbered by weeks only, and there is in each swinging cot a -sweet, sleepy sense of enjoyment of the bottle which forms the necessary -appliance of luncheon-time. - -At the heads of several of these cots are inscribed the names of -charitable donors, happy parents, bereaved mothers, sympathetic women -with babies of their own, either on earth or in heaven, who desire to -show gratitude, faith, remembrance, by this token of their love for the -childlikeness of those they love and cherish in their deepest memories, -their most ardent hopes. In more than one of the little beds there are -signs of the poverty or the sickliness in which the children were born, -and the effects of which this home, with its freshness and light and -food, is intended to remedy. No cases of actual disease are here, -however, since a small infirmary for children suffering from more -serious ailments has been added to the institution, and the Sick -Children's Hospital is but three street lengths distant. - -The first most remarkable experience which meets the visitor -unaccustomed to observe closely, is the freshness and beauty of the -children in this place. Squalid misery, dirt, neglect, starvation, so -disguise and debase even the children in such neighbourhoods, that -squeamish sentimentality turns away at the first glance, and is apt to -conclude that there are essential differences between the infancy of -Tyburnia or Mayfair and the babyhood of Ratcliff and Shadwell. Yet I -venture to assert that if Mr. Millais or some other great painter were -to select his subjects for a picture from these rooms of the old house -in Stepney Causeway, he would leave the galleries of Burlington House -echoing with "little dears," and "what a lovely child!" and popular -prejudice would conclude that from birth the little rosebud mouths were -duly fitted with silver spoons instead of being scant even of the -bluntest of wooden ladles. - -At this Crèche at Stepney Causeway the reasons of the true childlike -freshness, alacrity, and even the engaging impetuosity and loving -confidence which characterise these little ones, is not far to seek. As -you came up you noticed row after row of blue check bags, hanging in a -current of fresh air on the wall of the staircase. - -Those bags contain the clothes in which these children are brought to -the Home in the morning. They are changed with the morning's ablutions, -and clean garments substituted for them until the mothers come in the -evening to fetch away their bairnies, and by that time they have been -aired and sweetened. It is noticeable that this has the effect in many -instances of inducing the women to make praiseworthy efforts to improve -the appearance of the children, and, indeed, the whole tendency of the -treatment of the little ones is to develop the tenderness and love which -lie deep down in the hearts of the mothers. Even the endearing nicknames -almost instinctively bestowed upon the tiny darlings have a share in -promoting this feeling, and the pretty rosy plump little creatures, or -the quaint expressive bright-eyed babies, who are called "Rosie," -"Katie," "Pet," "Little Old Lady," and so on, all have a kind of happy -individuality of their own in the regards of the dear lady who founded -and still directs the institution, and in those of the nurses who tend -them. Sometimes the names arise from some little incident occurring when -the children are first brought there, as well as from the engaging looks -and manners of the little ones themselves. "The King," is a really fine -baby-boy, the recognised monarch of the upper nursery, but his sway is -strictly constitutional; while a pretty little wistful, plump lassie, is -good-humouredly known as "Water Cresses," and has no reason to be -ashamed of the name, for it designates the business by which a -hard-working mother and elder sister earn the daily bread for the -family. - -Did I say that the charge for each child is twopence daily? Nominally it -is so; and let those who desire to know something of the real annals of -the poor remember that even this small sum--which of course cannot -adequately represent anything like the cost--is not easily subtracted -from the scanty earnings of poor women engaged in slopwork, or selling -dried fish, plants, crockery, and small wares in the streets, or going -out to work in warehouses, rope-walks, match-making, box-making, and -other poor employments, where the daily wages will not reach to -shillings, and sometimes are represented only in the pence column. Let -it be remembered, too, that the husbands of these women (those who are -not prematurely widows, or whose husbands have not deserted them) are -employed as dock labourers, and are often under the terrible curse of -drink, or are in prison, while the women struggle on to support the -little ones, who but for this institution, would perhaps be -left--hungry, naked, and sickly--to the care of children only two or -three years older than themselves; or would be locked in wretched rooms -without food or fire till the mother could toil homeward, with the -temptation of a score of gin-shops in the way. - -Each of the bright intelligent little faces now before us has its -history, and a very suggestive and pathetic history too. - -Look at this little creature, whose pet name of Fairy bespeaks the -loving care which her destitute babyhood calls forth; she is only ten -months old, and her mother is but nineteen, the widow of a sailor lost -at sea two months before the baby was born. - -Katie, of the adult age of five years, is the child of a man who works -on barges. Rosie, one of the first inmates, has a drunken dock-labourer -for a father, and her mother is dead. Dicky represents the children -whose father, going out to sea in search of better fortune for wife and -children, is no more heard of, and is supposed to be dead. "The King" is -fatherless, and his mother works in a bottle-warehouse. The pathetic -stories of these children is told by Mrs. Hilton herself, in the little -simple reports of this most admirable charity. They are so touching, -that I cannot hope to reproduce them in any language so likely to go -straight to the heart as that in which you may read them for yourself if -you will either visit the Crèche, or send ever so small a donation, and -ask for a copy of the modest brown-covered little chronicle of these -baby-lives. Standing here in the two nurseries, where the dolls and -Noah's arks, the pictures and the doves, nay, even the baby-jumpers -suspended from the ceilings, are but accessories to the clasp of loving -arms and the softly-spoken words of tender womanly kindness, I wonder -why all one side of Stepney Causeway has not been demanded by a -discriminating public for the extension of such an institution. -Loitering in the lower room, where one little bright face is lifted up -to mine, as the tiny hands pluck at my coat-skirt, and another chubby -fist is busy with my walking-stick, I begin to think of the workhouse -ward, where mothers are separated from their children night and day; of -a prison, where I have seen a troop of little boys, and a flogging-room -provided by a beneficent Government for the recognition by the State of -children who had qualified themselves for notice by the commission of -what the law called crime. - -A pleasant odour of minced beef, gravy, and vegetables, known as "Irish -stew," begins to steal upon the air. The wooden benches in one of the -rooms are suddenly turned back, and like a conjuring trick, convert -themselves into tiny arm-chairs, with convenient trays in front for -plates and spoons. The little voices--forty like one--strike up a fresh -chant, and a whisper of rice-pudding is heard. So we go out, wondering -still, and with a wish that from every nursery where children lisp -"grace before meat," some gracious message could be brought to aid and -strengthen those who believe with me that the most profitable investment -of political economy, the most certain effort of philanthropy, is to -begin with the men and women of the future, and so abate the fearful -threatenings of coming pauperism, and the still more terrible menace of -a permanent "criminal class." - -The policy of the authorities, says Mrs. Hilton, in her interesting -narrative of the Crèche, in stopping outdoor relief to poor widows with -children is causing much sorrow. The 2_s._ 6_d._ or 3_s._ received from -the parish secured their rent, and they managed, with shirt-making or -trouser-finishing, to earn a bare subsistence; but now the battle for a -mere existence is terrible. Doubtless, the children would be better -cared for in the House, but mothers cannot be persuaded to give them up. -One such case has just passed under my notice; but the woman shall speak -for herself. "'Oh, Mrs. Hilton, they have taken off my relief!--I, with -four little ones who cannot even put on their shoes and stockings. They -offer me the House; but I never can give up my children. Look at baby; -he is ten months old; his father died of small-pox six months before he -was born; he was only ill five days.' I told her I was afraid she would -not be able to earn enough to keep them all. 'Well,' she said, 'I must -try--I will never go into the House.'" - -"But these women have very little feeling for their children, they are -so low and brutalised." Are they? Let those who think so visit this -Cradle Home, and witness the bearing of the mothers who come to take -their little ones home, or to nurse the sucklings at intervals snatched -from work. Let them hear what such poor women will do for children _not_ -their own, even to the extent (as recently took place, in one instance, -at least) of sharing with their less necessitous babes the natural -sustenance that the mother cannot always give. - -Sixty-five children received daily and a hundred or more on the books, -with space needed for many more than can be admitted; children who, some -of them infants as they are, have learned to lisp profane oaths and -babble in foul language, and to give way to furious outbursts of -passion, the result of neglect and evil example, and the life of the -street and the gutter. It is but a short time, however, before this -strange dreadful phase of the distorted child mind disappears, and the -pet name is bestowed along with the gentle kindness that obliterates the -evil mimicry of sin. The baby taken home from this purer atmosphere of -love becomes a messenger of grace to many a poor household, as the short -annals of the Crèche will tell; and even the pet names themselves are -adopted by the mothers in speaking of and to their own children. One -short story from the first report sent out by Mrs. Hilton, and we will -go our way with a hope that some words of ours may win a fresh interest -for these little ones. - -"A precious babe died, and the mother, too poor to bury it, sent for a -parish coffin. The child was very dear to us, and we had named her our -nursery Queen which had degenerated into 'Queenie.' It was a sore trial -to us to see the golden curls mingled with sawdust, which is all that -was placed in the coffin; and yet we could not spend public funds on the -funeral, and feared to do it privately. In a few hours a mother came and -said, 'Come and look at your Queenie now.' We went and saw that loving -hands had softened all the harsh outlines. A little bed and pillow had -been provided, a frill placed round the edge, and some children had lain -fresh-gathered flowers on the darling's breast. The cost had been -9½_d._, paid for by those mothers, and although so freely and lovingly -given, it was the price of more than a meal each." - -If every mother in London with a well-stocked larder would give the -price of a meal for the sake of a living child--but, there! my duty is -not to beg, but to describe. - - - - -_WITH LOST LAMBS._ - - -Only quite lately I had to write about the old French colony in -Spitalfields, and of the changes that have come over entire -neighbourhoods which were once associated with what is now a failing -industry, or rather with one which, so far as London is concerned, has -nearly died out altogether. - -Not that the public has ceased to hear sundry reports of those quarters -of the metropolis of which the name of Bethnal Green is an indication as -suggesting dire poverty, neglected dwellings, poorly-paid callings, and -constant distress. Some few years ago it became quite a fashion for -newspaper special reporters (following in the wake of one or two writers -who had begun to tell the world something of the truth of what they knew -of these sad regions) to make sudden amateur excursions beyond -Shoreditch, for the purpose of picking up material for "lurid" articles -about foul tenements, fever, hunger, want, and crime. Bethnal Green -became quite a by-word, even at the West End, and certain spasmodic -efforts in the direction of charitable relief were made by well-meaning -people, so that for a time there was danger of a new kind of -demoralisation of the "low neighbourhood," and the price of lodgings, -even in the wretched tenements of its notorious streets, were expected -to rise in proportion to the demand made by emigrants from other less -favoured localities, to which the special correspondent had not at that -time penetrated. One good work was effected by the attention of sanitary -authorities being called to the fever dens during a time of terrible -epidemic, and a certain provision of medical aid, together with -purification of drains, whitewashing of rooms, and clearing of sties and -dustheaps, was the result. This was but temporary, however; and those -who best know the neighbourhood lying between Shoreditch and Bethnal -Green, and disclaimed by the local authorities of both because of its -misery and dilapidation, are also aware that in various parts of the -whole great district from the Hackney Road to Bishopsgate, and so -embracing Spitalfields and part of Whitechapel, far away to Mile End and -"Twig Folly," there can be discovered more of want, hunger, and disease -than could exist in any free city under heaven, if men were not such -hypocrites as to defy and disregard the laws which yet they claim to -have a hand in framing, and a power to enforce. - -Only those who are personally acquainted with such a district can -conceive what is the condition of the children of its streets, and yet -every ordinary wayfarer of the London thoroughfares may note to what a -life some of them are committed. About the outskirts of the markets, -round the entrances to railway stations, cowering in the shadows of dark -arches, or scrambling and begging by the doors of gin-shops and taverns, -the boys--and what is even worse, the girls--are to be seen daily and -nightly, uncared for, till they have learnt how to claim the attention -of a paternal government by an offence against the law. When once the -child, who is a mere unnoted fraction of the population, has so far -matriculated in crime as to warrant the interposition of the police, he -or she becomes an integer of sufficient importance to be dealt with by a -magistrate. Let an infancy of neglect and starvation lead to the -reckless pilfering of a scrap of food from a counter, or the abstraction -of something eatable or saleable from a market-cart or a porter's sack, -and the little unclassified wretch is added as another unit to a body -recognised, and in some sense cared for, by the State. As a member of -the great "criminal class," the juvenile thief becomes of immediate -importance. Even though the few juvenile criminal reformatories be full, -the gaol doors are open, and the teachings of evil companionship are -consummated by the prison brand. The individual war against society -gains strength and purpose, for society itself has acknowledged and -resented it. The child has entered on a career, and unless some extra -legal interposition shall succeed in changing the course of the juvenile -offender by assuming a better guardianship, the boy may become an -habitual thief, a full-fledged London ruffian; the girl----? - -It was with a deep sense of the terrible significance of this question, -that a small party of earnest gentlemen met, twenty-seven years ago, in -that foul neighbourhood to which I have referred, to consider what -should be done to rescue the deserted and destitute girls, some of whom -had already been induced to attend a ragged school, which was held in a -dilapidated building that had once been a stable. - -These thoughtful workers included among them two men of practical -experience; one of them, Mr. H. R. Williams, the treasurer of the -present institution, the other the Rev. William Tyler, whose bright -genial presence has long been a power among the poor of that district, -where even the little ragged children of the streets follow him, and -lisp out his name as the faithful shepherd, who both gives and labours -in one of the truest "cures of souls" to be found in all great London. -To them soon came the present honorary secretary, Mr. J. H. Lloyd, a -gentleman already familiar with teaching the poor in a neighbouring -district no less wretched and neglected. They were the right men for the -business in hand, and therefore they began by moving sluggish boards and -commissions to put in force the sanitary laws--and, in spite of the -opposition of landlords with vested interests in vile tenements let out -to whole families of lodgers from garret to basement, and of the -malignant opposition of owners of hovels where every abomination was -rife, and pigs littered in the yards, while costermongers shared the -cellars with their donkeys--insisted on the surrounding streets being -paved and drained, and some of the houses being whitewashed and made -weatherproof. - -Nothing less could have been done, for the terrible cholera epidemic was -already raging in that tangle of courts and alleys. Application was at -once made for a share from the Mansion House Relief Fund, and the -committee had to use every available shilling in order to supply food -and medicine, blankets and clothing, to the wretched families; to visit -whom, a regular relief corps was organised, carrying on its beneficent -and self-denying work, until the plague began to be stayed. Then with -scarcely any money, but with unabated hope and fervid faith, this little -company of men and women began to consider what they should do to found -a Refuge for the children (many of them orphans, and quite friendless) -who were everywhere to be seen wandering about, or alone and utterly -destitute in the bare rooms that had been their homes. There were -already certain institutions to which boys could be sent, for then, as -now, the provision for boys was far greater than for girls. This is one -of the strange, almost inexplicable conditions of charitable effort, and -at that time it was so obvious which was the greater need, that the -committee at once determined to commence a building on a waste piece of -land which had been purchased close by, and to devote it to the -reception of thirty destitute girls, who should be snatched from deadly -contamination, and from the association of thieves and depraved -companions. - -Surely, if slowly, the work went on, the plan of the building being so -prepared that it could be extended as the means of meeting the growing -need increased. Almost every brick was laid with thoughtful care, and -when subscriptions came slowly in, the funds were furnished among the -committee themselves rather than the sound of plane and hammer should -cease; till at last, when the King Edward Ragged School and Girl's -Refuge was completed, a large edifice of three spacious storeys had -superseded the old ruinous stable amidst its fœtid yards and sheds, -and, what was more, the building was paid for, and a family of children -had been gathered within its sheltering walls. At the time of my first -visit to the institution no more than twenty had been taken into this -Refuge; but every foot of the building was utilised until the money -should be forthcoming to add to the dormitories, and enable the -committee to fulfil the purpose that it had in view. - -In the large square-paved playground forty happy little members of the -infant-school were marching to the slow music of a nursery song; and the -numbers on the books were 196, in addition to 304 girls who came daily -to be instructed in the great school-room, where they were taught to -read, and write, and sew. A hundred and twenty boys were also being -taught in the Ragged Church opposite, while seventy children over -fifteen years of age attended evening classes, forty-two young men and -women were in the Bible class, and a penny bank, a library of books, and -a benevolent fund for the relief of poor children in the neighbourhood, -were branches of the parent institution. - -This, however, was seven years ago, and since that time so greatly has -the work flourished, that the Ragged and Infant Schools have premises of -their own on the other side of the way; and the great building having -been completed by the addition of an entire wing, its original purpose -is accomplished, and it is "The Girl's Refuge," of the King Edward -Certified Industrial and Ragged Schools, Albert Street, Spitalfields. - -It is to the receipt of munificent anonymous donations that the -committee owe the completion of the building, and in order to extend the -usefulness of their Refuge they have certified it under the provisions -of the Industrial Schools Act of 1866. That this was in accordance with -their ruling principle of making the most of every advantage at their -command may be shown by the fact that when the School Board, almost -appalled at the need for making immediate use of any existing -organization, began to send cases to existing "Homes," only eight of -these institutions could receive the children, and in these eight no -more than forty-four vacancies existed for Protestant girls. The -consequence of opening the King Edward Refuge under the Act was that it -received nearly all the cases of the year, and that in the twelve months -it was certified ninety new inmates after found an asylum within its -walls. - -If you were to go there with me to-day, you would not wonder that the -supporters of this institution were anxious to erect another building in -some part of London, where another hundred lambs straying in this great -wilderness could be taken to the fold. Passing through the neat -dormitories, with their rows of clean white beds; peeping into the big -toy cupboard, where the kindly treasurer has recently placed a whole -family of eighty dolls, and other attractive inventions to induce -children to play, some of whom have never known before what play really -meant; looking at the lavatory with its long rows of basins let into -slate slabs, and each with its towel and clean bag for brush and comb; -noting the quiet "Infirmary," with its two or three beds so seldom -needed, and remarking that from topmost floor to the great laundry with -its troughs and tubs, a constant supply of hot water provides alike for -warmth and cleanliness, I begin to wonder what must be the first -sensations of a poor little dazed homeless wanderer on being admitted, -washed, fed, and neatly clothed. Why, the two kitchens--that one with -the big range, where most of the cooking is done, and the other cosy -farmhouse-looking nook, with its air of comfort--must be a revelation to -all the senses at once. Then there are the highly-coloured prints on the -walls, the singing of the grace before meat; the regular and wholesome -food; the discipline (one little rebel is already in bed, whither she -has been sent for misconduct, and an elder girl demurely brings up her -slice of bread and mug of milk and water on a plate); the provision for -recreation; the occasional visits of parents (many of them unworthy of -the name) at stated seasons; the outings to the park, the Bethnal Green -Museum, and other places; the Christmas treat; the summer presents of -great baskets of fruit; the rewards and prizes; the daily instruction in -such domestic work as fits them for becoming useful household servants. -What a wonderful change must all these things present to the children of -the streets, whose short lives have often been less cared for than those -of the beasts that perish! Everywhere there are marks of order, from the -neat wire baskets at the foot of each bed in which the girls place their -folded clothes before retiring to rest, to the wardrobe closets and the -great trays of stale bread and butter just ready for tea. Everywhere -there are evidences of care and loving kindness, from the invalid -wheel-chair--the gift of the treasurer to the infirmary--to the splendid -quality of the "long kidney" potatoes in the bucket, where they are -awaiting the arrival of to-morrow's roast mutton, three days being meat -dinner days, while one is a bread and cheese, and two are farinaceous -pudding days. - -As we sit here and sip our tea--for I am invited to tea with the -committee--and are waited on by three neat and pretty modest little -women--one of them, a girl of eight, so full of child-like grace and -simplicity, that there would be some danger of her being spoiled if she -were not quite used to a little petting--who can help looking at the -inmates now assembling quite quietly at the other end of the room, and -thinking that in some of those faces "their angels," long invisible -because of neglect and wrong, are once more looking through, calm, -happy, and with a hope that maketh not ashamed. Do you see that still -rather sullen-looking girl of thirteen. She came here an incorrigible -young thief--her father, a tanner's labourer, and out at work from five -in the morning--her mother bedridden--her home was the streets--her -companions a gang of juvenile thieves such as haunt Bermondsey, and make -an offshoot of the population of a place till recently called "Little -Hell." - -That girl, aged ten, was sent out to beg and to sing songs, and was an -adept in the art of pretending to have lost money. There is the daughter -of a crossing-sweeper, who cut his throat, and yonder a child of nine, -driven from home, and charged with stealing, as her sister also is, in -another Refuge; and close by are two girls, also sisters, who were found -fatherless and destitute, wandering about famishing and homeless, except -for a wretched room, with nothing in it but two heaps of foul straw. I -need not multiply cases: and but for the known power of love and true -human interest, in which the very Divine love is incarnated, you would -wonder where some of these children obtained their quiet docile manner, -their fearless but modest demeanour, their bright, quiet, sweet faces. - -One case only let me mention, and we will go quietly away, to think of -what may be done in such a place by the discipline of this love and true -Christian interest. Do you see that emaciated little creature--the pale, -pinched shadow of a child sitting at a table, where some of her -companions tend her very gently? She is the daughter of a woman who is -an incorrigible beggar. She has never known a home, and for four out of -her eight years of life has been dragged about the street an infant -mendicant; has slept in common lodging-houses; and in her awful -experience could have told of thieves' kitchens, of low taverns, and of -the customs of those vile haunts where she had learnt the language of -obscenity and depravity. But that has become a hideous, almost forgotten -dream, and she is about to awaken to a reality in a world to which the -present tenderness with which she is cared for is but the lowest -threshold. It is only a question of a month or two perhaps. One more -bright sunny holiday with her schoolmates in the pleasant garden of the -treasurer, at Highgate--whither they all go for a whole happy day in the -summer--and she will be in the very land of light before the next -haytime comes round. She wants for nothing--wine and fruit and delicate -fare are sent for her by kind sympathetic hands; but she is wearing -away, not with pain, but with the exhaustion of vital power, through the -privations of the streets. From the Refuge she will go home--a lost lamb -found, and carried to the eternal fold. - -But another building has been found; a large, old-fashioned mansion in -St. Andrew's Road, close to the Canal Bridge at Cambridge Heath, and -there the more advanced inmates of this original home in Spitalfields -are to be drafted into classes whence they will go to take a worthy part -in the work of the world, so soon as the necessary subscriptions enable -the committee to increase the number of lambs rescued from the wolves of -famine and of crime. - - - - -_WITH THE SICK._ - - -The memory of the pleasant summer holiday remains with many of us when -we have come back again to the duties of the work-a-day world, and it -will be good for us all if the gentle thoughts which that time of -enjoyment brought with it remain in our hearts, to brighten our daily -lives by the influences that suggest a merciful and forbearing temper. - -It is perhaps remarkable that few of the charitable institutions at -places to which holiday-makers resort are to any commensurate extent -benefited by the contributions of those visitors who, while they are -engaged in pursuing their own pleasures, seldom give themselves time to -think that as they have freely received so they should freely give. -Considering that while we are engaged in the absorbing business of -money-making, or in the exacting engagements of our daily calling, we -can afford little time for the investigation of those claims which are -made upon us to help the poor and the needy, it might not altogether -detract from the higher enjoyment of a period of leisure if we devoted a -few spare hours to inquiring what is being effected for the relief of -suffering in any place wherein we take up our temporary abode. - -With some such reflection as this I stand to-day on the spot which to -ordinary Londoners is most thoroughly representative of the summer -"outing," without which no true Cockney can feel that he is content--a -spot, too, which has become, for a large number of English men and -women, and notably for a whole host of English children, the synonym for -renewed health and strength--the head of Margate jetty. - -It is a strange contrast, this moving crowd of people, with their bright -dresses and gay ribbons fluttering in the breeze; the smiling faces of -girls and women amidst a toss and tangle of sea-blown tresses; the green -sparkle of the sea beneath the shining sky; the voices of sailors, the -shrill laughter of boys and girls coming from the sands below; the gleam -of white sails; the flitting wings of fisher-birds; the gay tumult of -the High Street; the traffic of hucksters of shells and toys--a strange -contrast to the scene which may be witnessed in and around that large -building which we passed only yesterday as the Margate boat stood off -from Birchington, and passengers began to collect coats and bags and -umbrellas as they saw friends awaiting them on the landing-stage of this -very jetty. - -It seems a week ago; and just as these few hours seem to have separated -us far from yesterday's work, and the routine of daily life, does the -short distance along the High Street and past the railway station seem -to separate us by an indefinite distance from the sickness and pain that -is yet in reality so near. Even as we think of it in this way, the -division is less marked, the contrast not so strange, for in that -building Faith, Hope, and Charity find expression, and bring a cheerful -radiance to those who need the care of skilful hands and the sympathy of -loving hearts. - -The name of the place is known all over England, for within its walls -are assembled patients who are brought from the great towns of different -shires, as well as from mighty London itself, that they may be healed of -that dread malady, the most potent cure for which is to take them from -the close and impure atmosphere of their crowded homes, and exchange the -stifled breath of courts and alleys for the boundless æther of the sea. - -For the building, to visit which I am here to-day, is the "Royal -Sea-Bathing Infirmary, or National Hospital for the Scrofulous Poor, -near Margate," and there are at this moment 220 men, women, and children -within its sheltering wards. Stay--let me be accurate. I said within its -wards; but here, as I pass the gates and the unpretentious house of the -resident surgeon to the broad sea front of the building, I note that -under the protecting screen of the wall that bounds the wide space of -grass-plot and gravel-paths a row of beds are placed, and in each of -them a patient lies basking in the warm sunlit air; while a little band -of convalescents saunter gently, some of them with the aid of crutch or -stick, with the enjoyment of a sense of returning strength. If I mistake -not, there are two or three "Bath chairs" crunching the gravel paths a -little further on, and down below upon the space marked out and -separated from the outer world upon the beach, the two bathing-machines -of the establishment are occupied by those for whom convalescence is -growing into health.[3] - -The full meaning of such a change can only be realised by those who know -how terrible a disease scrofula becomes, not only in the deadly -insidious form of consumption, but in the various deformities and -distortions of the limbs of which it is the cause; and in those cases -where, to the pain and depression of the disorder itself is added some -terrible affection of the skin, which the sensitive patient knows can -scarcely fail to be repulsive to those who witness it, unless, indeed -they have learnt to regard it only as a reason for deeper compassion and -for more earnest consolation. - -Almost every form of the disorder is to be seen out here in the wide -northern area of this inclusive building, which has long ago been bought -and paid for, along with the three acres of freehold ground on which it -stands. - -Of the deep sympathy with which it has been supported by those who early -learned to take an interest in its beneficent work, the fountain which -has been erected in the centre of the green to the memory of the late -Rev. John Hodgson, one of its trustees, is a mute witness. Mr. Hodgson -laboured earnestly to secure those casual interests which might be -obtained from the vast number of persons who visit Margate every year. -In order to make the most of small regular contributions, he appealed -for "five shillings a year," and since his death in 1870 this fund has -increased, so that in one year nearly 6,000 subscribers had contributed -£1,405 7_s._ 4_d._ Never was holiday charity more appropriately applied, -as anybody who will visit the institution itself may witness in those -long wards beyond the open passage, to which the card of Dr. Rowe, one -of the three visiting surgeons, has directed me. - -Since the first establishment of the institution, seventy-seven years -ago, when sixteen cases were treated as a beginning, above 29,000 -patients, from London and all parts of the country, have received -relief; and to-day the number in the institution (taking no account of a -contingent of "out-patients") includes 42 men, 50 women, and 120 -children, none of whom are local cases, but all from other parts of -England, whence they come frequently from a long distance. - -In each of the six wards, of which four are on the ground floor, there -is a head-nurse and an assistant, with six helpers for the children's, -and four for the adult department, beside the night nurses, who sit up -in case of any emergency. There is accommodation for 250 sufferers and -for the 40 nurses, attendants, and domestics required for the service of -the hospital; so the 220 patients there now, represent the approaching -period when a new wing will have to be added, even if only the urgent -cases are to be admitted. - -The year's list of occupants of the 250 beds shows a total of 721 -patients, of whom 614 had been discharged in January, 399 being either -cured or very greatly benefited, 171 decidedly benefited, and only 44 -obviously uncured; a very large amount of actual gain to humanity, when -we reflect on the conditions of the disease to remedy which the -institution is devoted. - -If out of 721 cases 399 are either cured or have received such marked -benefit as to render their ultimate cure highly probable, it is an -achievement worthy of the earnest work of which it is the result, a -contribution to beneficent efforts well worth the £7,966 which has -necessarily been expended in the provision, not only of the appliances -which give comfort and rest, but of the generous food and drink which, -with the glorious air from the sea, is the medicine necessary to build -up the feeble frames and renew the impoverished blood of those to whom -meal-times come to be welcome events in the day, instead of merely -languid observances. - -Down in the kitchen, with its great cooking range and its capacious -boilers, there are evidences of that "full diet" which is characteristic -of the place; and it is difficult to decide which are the most -suggestive, the long row of covered japanned jugs which hang -conveniently to the dresser-shelf, and are used for the conveyance of -"gravy," or the mighty milk-cans standing in a corner, ready to be taken -away when the evening supply comes in from the Kentish dairies. Half a -pound of cooked meat for dinner is the daily allowance for each man and -for every boy over fourteen years of age, while women and girls receive -six ounces, and children four ounces. Breakfast consists of coffee and -bread-and-butter, varied in the afternoon by tea, and supper of bread -and cheese for adults, and bread and butter for children. Roast and -boiled meat is served on alternate days, with accompanying vegetables, -and there are three "pudding days" for those who can manage this -addition to the fare; while every man and woman may have a pint of -porter, and each child a pint of table ale, at the discretion of the -doctors. This, of course, represents the ordinary diet, in which -specific differences are made for special cases where other or daintier -food is required. Perhaps I should have said that this is the scale -adopted in the refectory, a large airy room, to the long table in which -the patients who are able to "get about" are now advancing with a -cheerful premonition of dinner. There is no space to spare, and there -are at present no funds to spend in additional building, so that this -great airy refectory is used as chapel and assembly room. The Bread of -Life, as well as the temporal bread, is distributed here; and those who -would object to the necessity may either contribute to build another -room, or may come and learn how every meal in such a place, and for such -a cause as this, should become a sacrament. Many varieties of the forms -taken by scrofulous disease may be seen here; and yet the hopeful looks, -the cheerful influence of the bright summer weather, the green glimpses -of the sea through doors and windows, and the fresh bracing air, impart -to these sufferers an expressive lively briskness, which somehow removes -the more painful impressions with which we might expect to witness such -an assembly. - -It is so perhaps in a still greater measure in these large airy wards, -where children sit or lie upon the beds, some of them wholly or -partially dressed, where the disease has produced only deformities under -surgical treatment, or such forms of skin disease as affect the face. Of -the latter there are some very severe and obstinate cases, and from -these the unaccustomed visitor can scarcely help turning away, but often -only to _re_-turn, and mark how cheerfully and with what a vivid -alacrity the little patients move and play, and look with eager interest -on all that is going on. For here--in the boys' ward--there is no -repression of youthful spirits, so that they be kept within the bounds -of moderate decorum, nor do the patients themselves seem to feel that -they are objects of melancholy commiseration. To speak plainly, even the -worst cases are not reminded that there are people who may be revolted -at their affliction. Indeed I, who am tolerably accustomed to many -experiences that might be strange to others, am rather taken aback by -one little "case," whose face and limbs, though apparently healed, have -been so deeply seamed and grooved by the disorder, which must have -claimed him from babyhood, that he has evidently learned to regard -himself as an important surgical specimen, and, on my approach to his -bed, begins with deliberate satisfaction to divest himself of his -stockings, in order to exhibit his legs. Hip and spinal disease are -among the most frequent and often the most fatal forms of scrofula. One -boy, with delicate and regular features, his fragile hand only just able -to clasp in the fingers the small present I am permitted to offer him, -shows the shadow of death upon his face. In his case the disorder has -shown itself to be beyond medical, as it has already been beyond -surgical aid, and his short hurried breathing denotes that before the -summer days have been shortened by the autumn nights, and the leaves are -lying brown and sere, he will be in a better and a surer home, and -healed for evermore. - -It will be a peaceful end, no doubt, and he will yet have strength -enough to be taken home to die, where other than strangers' hands will -minister to him at the last, but not more tenderly, it may be, than -those that smooth his pillow to-day. - -As we leave the boys' wards--clean, and bright, and fresh as they -are--we encounter a cosy little party of juvenile convalescents, who are -comfortably seated on the door-mat, engaged in a stupendous game of -draughts. - -There is more of beauty than deformity, more of life than of death, more -perhaps of living eager interest than of sadness and sorrow to be seen -here, after all; and this is particularly remarkable in the -large-windowed spacious ward where the girls can look fairly out upon -the gleaming sea. Properly enough, the room occupied by these young -ladies has been made more ornamental than that of the boys. The walls -are gay with coloured prints, and there are flowers, and a remarkably -cheerful three-sided stove, which gives the place an air of comfort, -though, of course, it has now no fire in it. Then some of the girls -(with those thoughtful delicate faces and large wistful inquiring eyes -which are so often to be observed among lame people) are engaged in -fancy needlework as they lie dressed upon the beds to which they are at -present mostly confined, because of deformities of the feet or legs -requiring surgical treatment. There is a library (which needs -replenishing), from which patients are allowed to take books; and those -children who are able to leave the wards, and are not suffering from -illness, are taught daily by a schoolmaster and a schoolmistress, while -a visiting chaplain is of course attached to the hospital. - -[3] This was written in the latter part of July, 1874. - - - - -_BLESSING THE LITTLE CHILDREN._ - - -I cannot yet leave that sea-coast where so great a multitude go to find -rest and healing. The Divine Narrative may well appeal to us in relation -to such a locality, for it was by the sea-shore that the Gospel came to -those who went out to seek Jesus of Nazareth; it was there that the poor -people heard Him gladly; there that the sick who were brought to Him -were made whole: there that He fed the great company who lacked bread. - -All the deeds of humanity were recognised by Him who called himself the -"Son of Man." The blessing of little children is one of those needs of -true human life which the Lord recognised gladly. He recognises it -still; and His solemn mingling of warning and of promise with regard to -its observance, has an intensity that may well appeal to us all, now -that, after eighteen centuries of comparative neglect and indifference, -we are discerning that the only hope of social redemption is to be found -in that care for children which shall forbid their being left either -morally or physically destitute. - -There is a house, standing high above the sea, in that great breezy -suburb of Margate, known as Cliftonville--to which I want you to pay a -visit when the bright, cheerful, airy wards, the light, spacious -dining-room, and comfortable, home-like enlivening influences of the -place will entitle it to be regarded as the fitting consummation of two -other admirable institutions for the nurture and maintenance of orphan -and fatherless children. - -The modest little building referred to is named "The Convalescent and -Sea-side Home for Orphans," Harold Road, Margate. The parent -institutions are "The Orphan Working School," at Haverstock Hill, and -that most attractive series of pretty cottages on the brow of the hill -at Hornsey Rise, which have been more than once spoken of as "Lilliput -Village," but the style and title of which is "The Alexandra Orphanage -for Infants"--a name, the distinguishing feature of which is that it is -immediately associated with its first patroness, the Princess of Wales. - -Of the Home at Margate I need not now speak particularly, except to note -that it is for the reception of the little convalescents, -who--suffering, as many of them do, from constitutional and hereditary -weakness, which is yet not actual sickness, and recovering, as many of -them are, from the feeble condition which has been to some extent -remedied by the careful nurture, good food, and healthy regimen, of the -large institutions near London--are not fit patients either for their -own or any other infirmary wards, and yet require to be restored to -greater strength before they can join the main body of their young -companions in the school or the playground. - -Enough that it is picturesque and substantially pretty, as becomes a -place which is to become the home of thirty children, taken from among -nearly six hundred, the parents of nearly half of whom have died of -consumption, and so left to their offspring that tendency to a feeble -constitution which can be best remedied by the grand medicine of -sea-air, wholesome nutritious food, and a judicious alternation of -healthful exercise and rest. - -It is to Mr. Joseph Soul--the late indefatigable secretary of the -Working School, with which he has been connected for nearly forty years, -and the honorary secretary of the Alexandra Orphanage, of which he may -be regarded as the virtual founder--that the proposal to establish this -Convalescent Home was due, and its affairs are administered at the -office of the two charities, at 63, Cheapside. - -But it is necessary to tell as briefly as possible the story of the -oldest of the two institutions of which this building is to be an -accessory--not only the oldest of these two, but probably _the oldest_ -voluntarily supported orphan asylum in London, since it dates from 116 -years ago, when George II. was King, when Louis XV. was scandalising -Europe and preparing the Revolution, when Wesleyan Methodism was -commencing a vast religious revival, when Doctor Johnson had but just -finished writing his dictionary, and when William Hogarth was painting -those wonderful pictures which are still the most instructive records of -society and fashion as seen in the year 1758. - -It was in that year, on the 10th of May, that fourteen periwigged and -powdered gentlemen met at the George Inn, in Ironmonger Lane, in order -to discuss how they might best found an asylum for forty orphan -children--that is to say, for twenty boys and twenty girls. - -They soon came to a solemn decision that there was a "sufficient -subscription for carrying the scheme into execution," and a record to -that effect was soberly entered in the very first clean page of the -first minute-book of the Charity, with the additional memoranda that a -committee was chosen, and a treasurer appointed to collect and take care -of the money necessary to support the undertaking. - -The early minute-books of this charity, by the way, are models of -serious penmanship. Grave achievements of caligraphy, with engrossed -headings, elaborate flourishes, and stiff formal hedge-rows of legal -verbiage, suggestive of the fact that the secretaries were either -attorneys or scriveners, and regarded the entries in a minute-book or -the opening of a new account as very weighty and important events not to -be lightly passed over. In this they were probably right: and, at all -events, just so much of the old methodical exactitude has come down to -the present day in the history of the institution, that the published -accounts of the Orphan Working School have been referred to by the -_Times_ as models of condensation with a clearness of detail, which may -be regarded as the best indication of a well-ordered and economical -administration. - -It might not be too much to say that the old principle of carrying a -scheme into execution only when there are sufficient subscriptions still -characterises the operations of the institution. At all events, Mr. Soul -had secured enough money for the completion of the new building at -Margate before the actual work commenced, and his experience told him -that funds would be forthcoming to maintain it. - -The founders of the original Orphan Working School, however, laid their -wigs together to obtain a house ready built, and at last found one -adapted to the purpose, in what was then the suburban district known as -Hogsden--since gentilised into Hoxton. Like all really good work, the -enterprise began to grow--there were so many orphans, and this was still -the only general asylum maintained by subscriptions--so that, as funds -came in, two other adjoining houses were rented, and in seventeen years -the number of inmates had increased from forty to 165. - -Reading the formal and yet most interesting records of this parent -institution for the care of the orphan and the fatherless, I fall into a -kind of wonder at the enormous change in the method of "nurture and -admonition," of teaching and training, which has taken place in the past -eighty years. Even in this house at Hoxton, whereof the founders appear -to have been kindly old gentlemen, the discipline was enormously -suggestive of that stern restriction and unsympathetic treatment which -was thought necessary for the due correction of the "Old Adam" in the -young heart. We know how great an outcry has quite lately been made at -the discovery of the remains of that mode of chastisement which seems to -have been abandoned almost everywhere, except by a special revival in -gaols, and at two or three of the public schools to which the sons of -gentlemen are consigned for their education. - -The discipline at the Orphanage at Hogsden was cold and repellent -enough, perhaps--had very little about it to encourage the affections, -or to appeal to the loving confidence of a child--but it was less -barbarous than the code which at that time found its maxim in the -saying, "Spare the rod, spoil the child." Only very flagrant -disobedience, persistent lying and swearing, were punished with public -whipping. But even in the case of ordinary falsehood, a child was placed -with his face to the wall at meal-time, with a paper pinned to his back -with the word "Lyar" written on it, till he was sufficiently penitent to -say, in the presence of all the rest of the children, "I have sinned in -telling a lie. I will take more care. I hope God will forgive me." - -The name, "Working School," was then interpreted so strictly, that there -was comparatively little margin for education. Arithmetic appears to -have been regarded with peculiar jealousy by the founders of this -institution, who, being perhaps bankers, accountants, and capitalists, -looked upon such instruction as calculated to give the poor little boys -and girls notions beyond their station. - -For ten years the teaching of figures was altogether ignored; and it was -only when some of the children, having heard that there was a science -called "summing" known to the outer world, begged to be taught, that a -solemn meeting of the Governors was called to consider the question, -when it was conceded, after great deliberation, and no little opposition -from the anti-educational part of the Committee, that arithmetic should -be permitted to be taught, as far as addition. - -Thus, to their few and rigidly ordered recreations, their hours of -manual labour in making nets, list-carpets, slippers, and other cheap -commodities, to their instruction in plain reading, and to their times -for partaking of plain and even coarse food, served in not too tempting -a way, was added the art of writing, and of the first two rules of -arithmetic. - -This was the condition of the orphans in 1775; but still the charity -grew--grew out of house-room; and as the funds grew also, it was -determined that it should have a building of its own, on a plot of -ground in the City Road, where, improvements having set in, the grand -old charity moved with the march of modern improvement. Life became less -hard, and instruction more extended. The influences of modern thought -and education had superseded the old severity, and new Governors -succeeded the bewigged and powdered founders, who had, after all, so -well ordered their work, that it increased with the growth of -intelligence. - -During the seventy-two years from 1775 to 1847, the institution had -received 1,124 orphans; and again the dimensions of the house were -unequal to the demands of the inmates; while the house itself, and the -ground on which it stood, had become so valuable, that it was determined -to buy a plot of land at Haverstock Hill, and there to found a truly -representative Home for 240 orphan boys and girls--a number which has -now increased (as the building itself has been extended) till 400 -orphans are taught, fed, and clothed in one of the most truly -representative charities in all great London. - -The obvious distress and suffering of those who are destitute, and whose -claims are constantly before us, may lead us to forget the frequent -needs of a large number of people who represent uncomplaining poverty. -There is a tendency to identify general appeals to benevolence with -efforts for the relief of that extreme necessity which demands immediate -and almost undiscriminating aid, and requires the prompt distribution of -alms or the provision of a meal, warmth, and shelter. Doubtless, the -actually homeless and destitute claim our first attention--especially in -the case of deserted and neglected children--and I have tried to show -what is being done for those little ones, whose presence in the streets -of this great wilderness of brick and stone should of itself be an -appeal strong enough to move the heart of humanity in their behalf. - -There is, however, another class of poverty, which makes no sign, and -bears distress dumbly. There is a need, which, without being that of -actual destitution, requires a constant struggle to prevent its -representing the want of nearly all the luxuries, and some of those -things which most of us regard as the necessaries of life. - -We find this among that large section of the middle class represented by -persons holding inferior clerkships, small official appointments, and -situations where the salaries are only sufficient to yield a bare -subsistence, and there is little or no probability of their improvement, -because, among the number of candidates who are eager to fill such -positions, there exists a degree of distress not easily estimated, even -by the appearance of those who are the sufferers. Of course, relief -cannot reach such people through the poor-law, or by any direct -legislation. They are far above the reach of almsgiving, or even of -societies for distributing bread and coals. They have a just pride in -maintaining a position of independence; and though they may sometimes -look with a feeling too near to envy at the more prosperous mechanic or -the skilled artisan, who can earn "good wages," dress in fustian or -corduroy, send his children to the Board School, and regulate working -hours and weekly pay by the rules of a Trade Union, they mostly keep -bravely on, hoping that as the children grow up, they may get the boys -"into something," and find some friend to help them to place the girls -in situations where they may partly earn their own living. - -With rent and taxes often absorbing a fourth part of his entire income, -with market cliques combining against him to keep up the prices of food, -with dear bread, dear potatoes, boots and shoes always wearing out, and -respectability demanding cloth clothes, even though they be made of -"shoddy," how is the clerk, the employé, the small tradesman, the -struggling professional man, to follow the prudent counsel which -wealthier people are always ready to bestow upon him--and "lay by for a -rainy day?" Rainy day! why his social climate may be said to represent a -continual downpour, so far as the necessity for pecuniary provision. He -lives (so to speak) with an umbrella always up, and it is only a poor -shift of a gingham after all. The half-crown which is in his pocket -to-night is already bespoken for to-morrow's dinner. As he listens to -the account of the week's marketing, and knows that his wife and -children have been living for three days out of seven upon little better -than bread and dripping, he feels like an ogre as he thinks of the -sevenpenny plate of meat that he consumed at one o'clock, because it was -only "a makeshift" at home. - -How is he to pay even the smallest premium to insure his life, when he -is obliged to meet ordinary emergencies by a visit to the pawnbroker -after dark? - -Insure his life! Ah, the time may come when the hand of the bread-winner -is still, when the little money left in the house is scarcely sufficient -to pay for the "respectable funeral" which is the last effort of genteel -poverty, when the red-eyed widow gathers her fatherless children about -her, and wonders amidst her stupor of grief what is to become of the -younger ones who yet so need her care that she will not be able to go -forth to seek the means of living. To what evil influences may they be -exposed while she is absent striving to earn their daily food?--the -temptations of the streets for the boys: the certainty that the elder -girls must either starve at home to mind the little ones, or must become -drudges before they have learnt more than the mere rudiments of what -they should be taught. It is then she feels that dread of degradation, -which is amongst the sharpest pangs of the poverty which would fain hide -itself from the world. - -It may be that the children are left a parentless little flock, huddling -together in the first dread and sorrow of the presence of death, and the -sense of utter bereavement, and awaiting the intervention of those who -are sent by the Father of the fatherless. Then, indeed, prompt and -certain help is needed--help efficient and permanent--and such aid can -seldom be secured except by organised institutions. - -But let us see to what that Orphan Working School, established in 1758, -has developed in 1874. We have but to take a short journey to the foot -of Haverstock Hill, and there, in that pleasant locality named Maitland -Park, part of which is the property of the Institution, we shall see the -successor of the old house in Hogsden Fields, while its plain but large -and lofty committee room is the modern representative of the parlour of -the George Inn, Ironmonger Lane, where plans were first laid for the -maintenance of forty orphan children. - -This wide and lofty building, with its handsome front entrance and its -less imposing side gate in the wing, is the home for nearly three -hundred boys, and nearly two hundred girls, when its funds are -sufficient to keep each of the long rows of neat beds in the great airy -wards appropriated to a little sleeper. - -I mention the dormitories first, because both on the girls' and on the -boys' side of the building these are illustrative of the complete -orderliness and excellent management of the Institution--illustrative of -what should always be the first consideration, namely, to bring comfort -to the child's nature, to join to necessary discipline a sense of real -freedom and happy youthful confidence without dread of repression and -the constant looking for of punishment. - -As to the appliances that belong to the building, they are such as might -almost raise a doubt in some prejudiced minds whether we are not doing -too much for children in the present day, and thinking too constantly of -their comfort. But, alas! it needs many compensations to make up for the -loss of parents; and in any such an Institution where, 400 children form -the great family, the arrangements must be on a large scale, so that it -is only a matter of experienced forethought to combine a generous -liberality with the truest economy. Thus, there are baths, and long -well-ordered lavatories, to each wing, even to a large plunge bath for -each side; and there is a great laundry, where the girls are taught to -wash, clear-starch, and iron, not in the regular patent steam-heated -troughs only, but in genuine homely tubs. There is a great handsome -dining-hall, with a painted ceiling, wherein the vast troop of quiet, -orderly, and happy-faced children sit down to well-cooked wholesome -meals of meat and pudding. There are two great school-rooms, one divided -into class-rooms for the girls, and another wherein the boys assemble to -be taught, not in the narrow spirit of the first directors of the old -building in the City Road, but with a full appreciation of the duty of -giving these young minds and hearts full opportunity to expand. Next to -the admirable evidences of _family_ comfort, and bright _domestic_ -influences, which pervade this place, we may regard the efficient -education of the children as the truest sign of its liberal and -enlightened management. Not only the three R's to the extent of -practised elocution, caligraphy worthy of the old minute books of the -first scrivening secretaries, and the lower mathematics,--but history, -geography, the elements of physical science, French, drawing, and vocal -music, are among the subjects thoroughly studied. It only needs a -perusal of the reports of the educational inspectors and examiners to -see that the work of this great hive goes on healthily. The boys have -already achieved a great position in taking Government prizes for -drawing at South Kensington; and the girls are celebrated for their -beautiful needlework. There is but little time to walk through all the -departments of this great home--the kitchens with their spacious -larders, and store-rooms, and mighty cooking apparatus; the great airy -playgrounds; the large and handsome room used as a chapel (for those who -do not go out to evening service), and containing its convenient reading -desk, and sweet-toned organ. Let us not forget, however, that many of -the things which add so vastly to the beauty and completeness of the -building and its various departments are themselves gifts from loving -and appreciative supporters of the Institution. - -But we are due at that Lilliput village on the brow of Hornsey -Rise--that series of cottage homes, where, on each lower and upper -storey, with their exquisitely clean nursery cots and cradles, and their -tiny furniture, a neat nurse is to be seen like a fairy godmother, with -a family of chubby babies, or a more advanced charge of infants able to -run like squirrels round the covered playground or to spend the -regulation hours in that great glorious school-room, where learning is -turned into recreation, and lessons are made vocal, gymnastic, -zoological, picturesque, or even fictional, as the times and -circumstances may dictate. "The Alexandra Orphanage for Infants" has -become so well-known amidst the numerous institutions which have been -established for the care of the orphans and the fatherless, that one -might think it would be full of eager admirers who on visiting days go -to see the two or three hundred. Why are not all the cottages full, and -each little toy bedstead complete with its rosy, tiny sleeper, who, from -earliest infancy to the maturer age of eight years form the assembly for -which Mr. Soul set himself to provide by public appeal? - -These, then, are the two institutions to which that modest little -convalescent home in Harold Street, Margate, is a worthy appanage, and -they may well find support among those whose maxim it is to do with all -their might what their hands find wants doing. - - - - -_WITH THEM THAT FAINT BY THE WAY._ - - -There are perhaps few conditions demanding greater sympathy and more -ready aid than that of poor women who, from temporary sickness or the -weariness that comes of hope deferred, are unable to follow the -employments, often precarious and yielding a bare subsistence, by which -they strive to be independent of charitable aid. It is only those who -know to what extremities of need they will submit for shame of making -their poverty known, and what mental suffering they will endure as they -find their scanty savings dwindling day by day, and their few household -goods, or even their clothing, and the little family mementoes, which -they can only part with as a last resource, going piece by piece, who -can fully realise all that is meant by the genteel phrase, "very reduced -circumstances," as applied to women of refined feelings, and frequently -of gentle nurture, who find themselves without the means of obtaining -necessary food and medical care when health and strength give way, and -they can no longer work at those few callings by which they can earn -enough to enable them to avoid a dreaded "application to friends." - -Quite lately, the subject of some kind of provision for poor governesses -who are sick, or have to subsist during long holidays on the small -balance of their quarterly wages, has occupied public attention, and it -would be well indeed if means could be found for giving the healthy -temporary employment, and the weakly a quiet home where their strength -might be restored without the sacrifice of independence. - -There are others, however, for which such help is equally needed--the -dressmaker, or the shop-woman, on whom long hours of tedious and often -of exhausting toil in an unhealthy atmosphere, has begun to tell too -severely; the servant of good character and respectable habits, who is -not so ill as to be admitted to a hospital, and yet is breaking down in -strength, and regards with dread the necessity for going into some -obscure lodging, where her surplusage of wages will barely pay for rent -and food during two or three weeks enforced idleness; the girl who has -learnt some ill-paid business, which affords her no more than a mere -contribution to the family funds, and leaves no margin for extra food or -medicine, or the fresh air that is as important as either. - -Any careful observer standing at the door of a general hospital, and -watching the throng of out-patients waiting wearily to see the doctor, -will be able to distinguish a score of cases for which a temporary rest -with wholesome food and the sympathy and loving-kindness that refresh -the soul would bring true healing. - -No large establishment in the nature of a hospital or a refuge affords -the kind of help for such distress as theirs. They cannot be dealt with -as occupants of wards; for they have either recovered from the actual -crisis of some serious disorder, or are pining in a depressed condition -to which no definite name can be given to classify it for admission to -any public establishment for the cure of disease. To many of them the -idea of entering a large charitable refuge--and I know of none in London -adapted to such needs as theirs--would be repulsive, as suggesting that -horror with which persons even of a lower grade regard the union -workhouse; what they need is a temporary home, and if ever the time -should come when a well-supported scheme for such a provision should be -adopted, it will have to take the form of what is now known as the -"cottage system." Indeed, in hospitals, as well as in other large -charitable institutions, the defects of the old plan of maintaining a -great number of adult persons in one vast building have been recognised. -The immense ward with its long rows of beds, the divided and necessarily -confusing duties of attendants, the ill-served meals at a great -dinner-table where there is no possibility of escaping from a too rigid -routine, the depressing, not to say degrading, influence, resulting from -the loss of individuality, would make any vast institution for -convalescents or invalids far less effectual in its operation. I make -this reference only with regard to the probable inauguration of homes -for invalid women in or near London, and because I have just visited -one, which, although it is not on the cottage system, but is established -in a rare old mansion of the period of Queen Anne, has yet the happy -characteristic of being a family whose scanty means is largely increased -by loving gifts, instead of an institution every corner of which bears a -reminder that it is "supported by charity." - -In the pleasant airy High Street of Stoke Newington, and within a -stone's throw of the famous Cedar Walk of Abney Park--that locality made -famous by the prolonged visit of Dr. Watts, who went to spend a week -with Sir Thomas Abney, and remained for the rest of his long blameless -life the honoured guest of the family--is the house I speak of, "The -Invalid Asylum for Respectable Females in London and its Vicinity," -superintended by a ladies' committee, and with weekly visitors, and a -matron to carry on the practical work of the executive. - -There is nothing remarkably picturesque, nothing very striking about -this home for thirty respectable invalid women employed in dependent -situations, to whom it affords a temporary asylum, widely differing from -the crowded receptacles for the sick in the metropolis. One of its -peculiarities is, that the purity of the family circle is maintained, by -the fact that no patient is admitted without a certificate of conduct -signed by two housekeepers or by an employer, while her case is also -recommended by an annual subscriber or life governor; and there is a -sense of repose and quiet confidence about the inmates which is -particularly suggestive of the care taken to recognise their individual -claims, and the interest which is manifested in them during the time of -their sojourn. - -This very quietude and sense of rest, and gradual renewal of health and -strength in a serene retreat is, in fact, the feature which attracts my -attention. It is not too much to say that I am ready to attribute much -of such influences to the fact that the institution was originally -established by ladies representing the unobtrusive beneficent work of -the "Society of Friends," and that the order and peace which is its -delightful characteristic, may in a great measure be traced to that -foundation. At any rate, these qualifications so identify it that I feel -justified in regarding it to some extent as a worthy example of the -method to be adopted in any institution, which, without being altogether -a free "charity," takes only such a small sum from the patient or her -friends as suffices to keep away the degrading feeling of pauperism, or -of utter dependence on the bounty of strangers. It is true that the -principal life-governorships include the privilege of sending entirely -gratuitous patients, but in ordinary cases the annual subscriber of a -guinea recommends the case, and when the patient is admitted, the sum of -twenty shillings is received for the month's medical attendance, -lodging, and full board, "including tea and sugar," for a time not -exeeding one month, after which, should the case require a longer stay, -the ticket must be renewed by the same or another subscriber, on the -further payment of twenty shillings. If the patient be in the employment -of the subscriber, the payment of this sum will suffice, without the -renewal ticket, an arrangement which should commend the institution to -every benevolent employer of female labour. - -It need hardly be said that no cases of infectious disease are admitted, -and that every applicant is examined by the medical attendant. No -patient is admitted who is not above ten years of age; and neither -"private cookery," nor the introduction of spirituous liquors by -visitors, is permitted, any more than gratuities to servants of the -Institution. - -It may be remarked that though a large number of cases are received -during each year, the very fact of contributions being made by the -patients themselves, who are thus relieved from the sense of utter -dependence, appears to have prevented the Institution from receiving as -large a degree of public support as it might command if it were an -ordinary charity. This is to be lamented, for the Institution is, after -all, less a hospital than a temporary home, and it appeals on behalf of -a peculiar form of distress, the claims of which are of a specific and -none the less of a very urgent character. But in order to realise the -kind of work that is most needed, and is here being accomplished, let us -pay a visit to the house itself. We have been hitherto standing on the -broad flight of steps inside the tall iron gates, and have hesitated to -sully their hearthstone purity, for it is Saturday, and we may well have -an inconvenient sense that the short hand of the clock is already close -to the dinner-time of the institution. - -With a long experience of paying unexpected visits, I am prepared to -encounter remonstrance, even though it only take the form of a critical -glance at my boots as a means of possible maculation of the -newly-cleaned hall and passages. Conscious of having judiciously -employed a member of the shoe-black brigade, I can endure this scrutiny, -and, with a few words of explanation, am conducted, by the matron -herself, over the grand old house, whose broad staircase and elaborately -carved balusters of black oak at once attest not only its antiquity but -also its aristocracy. I have already said that there is nothing here on -which to found a "picturesque description," and yet the air of repose, -the sense of almost spotless cleanliness, the freshness of the large -lofty rooms containing from three to five or six comfortable beds with -their snowy counterpanes, the general order and pleasant seclusion, are -remarkably suggestive of the intention of the place. Two of the -patients, to whom I make my respects, are not yet sufficiently recovered -to join the daily dinner-party in the neat dining-room. One of them, an -elderly lady, who has only just been brought here, is slowly recovering -from very severe illness, and cannot even sit up in the bed, whence she -regards me with an expression which seems to intimate that she has -reached a haven of rest. Her companion, a young woman--also in bed in -the same room--is sitting very upright, cheerfully engaged in some -problem of needlework, and responds with a hopeful smile to the -declaration of the matron, that they "mean to make a woman of her if she -is good." - -Close to this room is the neat lavatory with its bath, supplied with hot -and cold water, and on the landing I note another bath, on wheels, for -use in any part of the house where it may be required. All the -accessories are home-like; and in the invalid sitting-room, on an upper -storey, where two convalescents, not yet able to get downstairs, greet -me from a pair of easy chairs, there is the same pervading influence -which distinguishes the house from those large institutions where -everything is characterised by a depressing mechanical dead level. The -library--a pleasant cheerful room--is in course of refurnishing; and I -am glad to learn that our best known periodicals find a place there, -while the stock of books, either gifts or loans, are likely soon to be -replenished, a matter wherein extra aid would be appreciated, and could -readily be afforded by those who have volumes to spare. - -Already the cloth is laid in the dining-room, and dinner itself consists -of hot meat with the usual accessories every day, except on Sundays, -when there is a cold dinner, while, of course, the invalids who are -ordered medical diet have fish, custards, or other delicate fare -specially provided. Each patient has a pint of ale or beer daily, and -wine as a remedial stimulant, according to the doctor's orders. - -There is just time before dinner is served to walk through the room into -the grand old garden which extends from a pleasant sheltered lawn and -flower-garden, with a glorious fig-tree in full leaf and fruit against -the sunny wall, to a great kitchen-garden and orchard, with a wealth of -fruit and vegetables (and notably a venerable and prolific mulberry -tree), and extending in a pleasant vista of autumn leaves. On the other -side of the high wall is the Cedar Walk already mentioned; and the whole -place is so still and balmy on this autumnal day, that we may go away -with a very distinct appreciation of the rest and peace which, with -regular nutritious food, rest, and medicine, may bring restoration to -the physical health, just as the hopeful ministrations of good and pious -women who visit the home daily may bring a sense of peace and comfort to -many a weary spirit and burdened heart. - - - - -"_IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH._" - - -There are some of whom we might be ready to say, they dwell in that -valley;--that the shadow of death lies darkling before them, constantly -enwrapping them,--enshrouding them in gloom. We are accustomed to think -so of persons suffering from what we call incurable diseases, some of -which are painful, occasionally agonising, others susceptible of relief -from the suffering that attends them. - -We are so apt to forget that we are every one of us incurable. Though we -may not at present be aware of the disease that will bear us farther and -farther into that valley, where the wings of the great angel, so seeming -dark as to overshadow all things, may yet be revealed to us as glowing -with the brightness of the light which our unaccustomed eyes cannot -behold, we are none the less certain to succumb to it. It may be that -some of us will live to be conscious of no other than the most fatal of -all diseases--because no mortal cure has been or ever will be found for -it--incurable old age. There have been those who lived long enough to -look calmly at the slowly lengthening shadow in the valley, and almost -to wonder if Death had forgotten and were departing from them, leaving -only the black trail behind; but the time at last came, perhaps when -they had learnt to see more than shadow, to catch the glint of the -heavenly glory beyond. - -It is a happy thought that many poor afflicted children of God have seen -this too, and continue to see it daily, although, like St. Paul, they -also die daily. It is comforting to believe that many who know what -their disease is--who are pronounced to be "hopelessly incurable" in a -rather different sense to that in which we may all be declared to be -hopelessly incurable also--do not dwell perpetually in the Valley of the -Shadow. Christ has come to them and taken them out of it, that even in -this life, where He is they may be also, secure in the love of the -Father, having already, if one may so speak, overcome death through Him -who is the Resurrection and the Life. The great, the essential -difference between these sufferers and the rest of mankind is that they -are almost always conscious of the disease which is incurable because of -its accompanying pain, and that they are disqualified for many of the -ordinary uses, and also most of the ordinary enjoyments of life. Perhaps -the chief poignant sense of their condition is that they are no longer -capable of fulfilling the ordinary duties of life either. They must be -dependent always; and to many souls the suspicion that they may live -only to be a burden on others, to take instead of giving, to lean upon -instead of supporting, is itself almost intolerable, until they learn to -look higher, and acknowledge that not only all the things of the world, -but we ourselves, they and theirs, belong to God, and that life and -death, height and depth, principalities and powers, are but His -creatures, incapable of separating us from His love. The same -reflection, coupled with that of our own incurability and our own -constant liability to be stricken down with hopeless and painful malady, -should surely lead us to recognise the duty of helping some among the -thousands who have not only lost health, but with it the means of -maintaining life, and, more sadly still, the hope of restoration to -former strength, or even temporary recovery. - -I have already spoken of the work done by convalescent homes and -hospitals; but there are those who, being sick unto death, yet do not -soon die--those who must be discharged from hospitals uncured, in order -to make room for the curable, and who, unable to work, unaccustomed to -beg, and almost ready to meet death itself rather than sink into sordid -abject pauperism, know not whither to turn in their dire necessity. It -was to aid these that an appeal was written twenty years ago, asking for -funds to establish an institution for the reception of those suffering -from hopeless disease. It is to see what has been the result of that -appeal that I visit the Royal Hospital for Incurables at Putney Heath -to-day. - -It was in 1854 that Doctor Andrew Reed--to whose indicating hand we are -indebted for the installation of many of our noblest charities--made an -urgent appeal on behalf of those who, being discharged as incurable from -various hospitals, were left helpless, and often destitute, since, -amidst all the institutions which beneficence had founded, there was -none to which they could prefer a claim. - -Let us see what has been done in twenty years to alleviate what might -seem to be almost hopeless suffering. - -Let us, coming face to face with the mystery of pain, and looking as it -were from afar on that dark shadow which yet always lies so near to -every one of us, note how in the heart of the mystery there is hidden a -joyful hope for humanity, how in the very shadow of death there is a -light that never yet has shone on land or sea. - -It is a still autumnal day, and, as we turn up the wooded lane on the -left of the hill leading from the Putney Railway Station to Wimbledon, a -tender gleam in the grey clouds betokens coming rainfall. A light, -hanging drift descends upon the distant hills, and breaks into pale -vaporous shapes amidst the wooded slopes and valleys. The yellow leaves -that strew the ground lie motionless, as though they waited for their -late companions to fall gently from the branches overhead and join their -silent company. - -Coming into a broader roadway, and passing through the gate of a lodge, -we come almost suddenly upon a glorious sloping lawn, adorned with -goodly trees, worthy of the great building--meant for a ducal residence, -and now put to nobler uses--which, for all its stately look, has about -it a home-likeness that is full of promise. Even the matchless landscape -lying around it--the expanse of wood and dale, the soft slopes of Surrey -hills, the deep-embowered glades where the bronze-and-gold of moving -tree-tops takes a changeful sheen from slowly-drifting clouds, or -reflects strange gleams of colour from the glistening silver of the -rain--will not hold us from the nearer glow of windows bright with -flowers, which give a festal look to the place, although it is so quiet -that we stand and imagine for a moment what it is that we have come to -see. For this great mansion, with its long rows of windows and -wide-spreading wings, is the home of a hundred and fifty-four men and -women, some of whom have been suddenly stricken down, others having -slowly fallen day by day into a condition of incurable disease, and, in -many cases, also into a condition of utter bodily helplessness. They, -and the attendants whose constant kindly services are essential for -their relief, constitute the family of what is known, plainly enough, as -"The Royal Hospital for Incurables." There are no distinctions among its -members, though in their previous lives they have belonged to various -grades--no distinctions, at least, except those which arise from -personal qualifications. - -The claim for election to the benefits of the charity is the necessity -which is implied in the name of the institution itself: and once within -its sheltering walls the patients, whose failing eyes brighten, and -whose wan cheeks flush with every loving mention of it as their home, -are all alike sharers in its benefits. - -Not only the 154 at present within its walls, however, but 327 of those -who, having family and friends with whom to dwell, receive pensions of -£20 a year each, and so cease to be a heavy burden to others. - -Do you think at first sight, and from the external appearance of the -building, that charity here has gone beyond precedent in providing such -a place--a palatial pile standing amidst scenery that one might well -come far to see? Remember what is the need of those who have to be -lifted out of the dark, hopeless depths of what is almost despair; of -those who, finding themselves banished from hospital wards, unable to -earn their bread, feeling themselves a burden upon those for whom they -would almost consent to die rather than live upon their poverty; of -those who, in the midst of hourly pain, have the mental anguish of -knowing that the long calendar of darkening days may find them utterly -dependent on the toil of others most dear to them, and whose few -expedients can bring little ease, and will not serve to hide the -ever-present sense of disappointment and distress. - -Think how much wealth is wasted daily in the world, and what a small -part of it suffices to lighten by every available means the burden of -such lives as these; the sorrow of those who, in the dreadful -deprivation of what to us seems almost all that makes life dear, have no -resource between that provided for them in such a place as this and the -infirmary-ward of a workhouse, amidst sordid surroundings and the hard, -mechanical, unfeeling officialism which in such cases is little more -than organised neglect. - -There are people who would reduce all charitable institutions--yes, even -such as this, of which living personal interest and the care that comes -of more than merely casual benevolence are the very foundation and -corner-stone--to a dead level of official rule, in which benevolence -should be represented by a mechanical department, and the sentiment of -charity by a self-elected board of control, dealing with public -subscriptions as though they were a poor-rate, and recognising neither -individual interest nor the right of contributors to give it expression. -Such a system would lack the very qualification most needed here, and to -be found only in that voluntary personal interest that brings to the -recipients of bounty more than the mere bounty itself, the heart-throb -of sympathy, the feeling that the gift means more than the cold official -recognition of a national duty, that it is the expression of -loving-kindness ever active and living; and so making for the helpless, -the destitute, and the dying, not a mere asylum, but a home. - -The entrance into the hall of a cheerful, genial gentleman, with a -kindly, brisk manner, and a reassuring expression of deliberation and -repose in his observant face and easy bearing, rouses us from melancholy -fancies, and with a few words of courteous welcome we are at once -conducted to the door that is to open to us the first scene in this -wonderful visit. - -A spacious assembly room--let us call it by the good old name of -"parlour," for there is much quietly animated talk going on--talk, and -needlework of all kinds, from the knitting of a warm woollen shawl to -the manipulation of delicate lace, and the deft handling of implements -for making those exquisite tortures of society known as antimacassars. -With ever so wide an experience of halls, salons, suites, or -drawing-rooms, the visitor can see nothing resembling this wonderful -parlour elsewhere. A room of noble proportions, one end of which is -occupied by an organ; the great windows reaching almost from floor to -ceiling, and overlooking a broad expanse of lawn, with a glorious view -of hill and woodland beyond; on the tables flowers, books, ornaments; in -every kind of couch and chair--many of which are comfortable beds on -wheels and springs--a company of women, with bright, cheerful, -intelligent faces, full of a recent interest, and, even in cases where -some paroxysm of pain is passing, with a certain serene satisfaction -which it is infinitely good to see. - -There has been a morning service, conducted by a visiting clergyman, and -there is a general expression of approval which, if the reverend -gentleman himself were present to witness it, would surely prove highly -gratifying. The congregation has settled down to easy talk, and has -resumed its occupation of plain and fancy needlework. Here is an old -lady whose silver hair adds to her natural grace and dignity, who is -busy with wool-knitting, and at the same time engages in a -discriminating criticism of the address to one of the many visitors who -sit and spend an hour of their afternoon in agreeable chat. There is a -pretty but rather sad-eyed _mignon_ lady, whose excellently-fitting silk -dress, delicate hands, and general "niceness" of appearance, quite -prepare us to see the beautiful examples of all kinds of fancy work of -which she never seems to tire. Every year, in June, they hold a grand -bazaar at the hospital, so that those who are skilful and capable are -able to earn enough money to clothe themselves as they please--everything -except clothing being found by the charity, except to two or three -inmates who are able to pay for their own maintenance. Now we hear the -low tones of cheerful talk, the pleasant ripple of laughter--note the -brightening glance, the quick smile, the feeble but earnest finger-clasp -which greets the cheerful salutation of the house governor, Mr. -Darbyshire, or the presence of his wife, the lady matron of this great -happy family of incurables, we begin to wonder at our gloomy estimate of -the place before this visit. - -Nor is the revelation of cheerfulness, of light in shadow, less -remarkable in the dormitories themselves. But then what rooms they are! -Each bed is, as it were, set in an alcove of its own snow-white -hangings, relieved by bits of colour which would delight an artist's -eye--pieces of embroidery, framed illuminated texts, bright flecks of -Berlin woolwork, or glistening designs in beads, or deep glowing -knick-knacks wrought in silk and lace. Each little bedside table, though -it may hold medicine and diet--drink and requisites for the sick--is -decked with flowers and little framed pictures, gaily-bound books, and -bright-hued toys and trifles, that make it look like a miniature stand -at a fancy fair. In some cases the sense of combined purity and glow of -colour is so great, that it is difficult to realise that we are in one -or other of a series of sick-rooms. Everything is so spotless, so -exquisitely clean and orderly, that nothing less than perfect nursing -could explain it--for be it remembered that the place is open to -visitors every day--and amidst some of the most terrible afflictions -from which humanity can suffer there is nothing revolting. Expressions -of pain and of utter prostration and weakness there are, of course; but -even these are only alternative with the general placid contentment and -thankfulness that is the prevailing characteristic. - -Even in two severe cases of cancer the terrible effects of the malady -are less notable, because of the surrounding conditions. A sprightly and -engaging girl, with features and social life alike marred and -obliterated by this dreadful malady, is surely one of the saddest of all -the sad sights in such an institution; but here the brightness and -genial influence of the place, and of those who are its ministrants, -have had their effect, and even the half-obliterated features gain a -grateful, loving, cheerful expression; the poor eyes beam with pleasure -as the governor starts some reminiscence of that pleasant summer -water-party of his, in which one of the two sufferers had to be carried -to the boat in his arms, and both of them, deeply veiled, were rowed by -those same guarding arms for a glorious voyage on the river, where the -summer's sunshine and gladness stole into the hearts of the sufferers, -and left a halo of remembrance that is not perhaps so very far from the -anticipations of that stream which maketh glad the children of God. - -Here are rooms wherein only two or three beds are placed, while few of -them contain more than six, but all of them are bright, airy, lofty, -full of space, and with the same sense of purity. And from every window -some fresh and lovely view of the surrounding landscape, with all its -changeful aspects, may be seen--the beds being so placed that every -patient has her own special expanse of territory to solace her waking -hours, even though she be unable to go down to the assembly-room. Here, -in a room particularly bright and cheerful, lies a young woman with a -wealth of dark hair on the pillow where her intelligent face beams with -a certain courage, although her body and limbs have been for years -immovable--only one arm, for an inch or two, and three fingers of the -right hand, can be stirred--and yet, as we stand and talk with her, some -small simple jest about her own condition causes her to laugh till the -bed shakes. She has learnt to write by holding a pencil in her mouth, -and inscribes neat and legible letters on paper placed on a rest just in -front of her face. She is not only cheerful, but actually hopeful, -though she has been for years in this condition; and her relations, -great and small, visit her, to find her always heartily determined to -look on the bright side. At the foot of her bed, near the window, is a -swing looking-glass on a pedestal, and in this she sees reflected the -distant prospect of autumn wood and field, extending miles away. Judging -from her nobly equable and smiling face, she must be the life of the -room of which she has been so long an occupant. In another apartment a -poor schoolmistress suffering from hemorrhage of the lungs lies reading -for many hours a day, her face bearing a painful expression, her manner -eager, her constant craving to work on, by the study of books concerning -the problems of this earthly life and the sciences that strive to -demonstrate them and yet only bring us to the barrier of the eternal -world. She yearns for one more day amidst her classes, and for the -opportunity of testing the results of sick-bed thoughts on a method of -education which should adapt itself to the individual temperament and -mental peculiarity of each child. Amidst a troubled tide of thoughts -that are perhaps sometimes too much for the weary brain, she may learn -to recognise the rest that comes after hearing the Divine voice say, -"Peace! be still;" and so a great spiritual calm may fall upon her, and -give her rest. - -Yet another visit, and we find a girl who, from an accidental fall, is -as immovable as a statue, her dark questioning eyes and mobile face -alone excepted. Yet she is sometimes lifted into a wheel-chair that -stands stabled by her bedside, and joins the company in the great -parlour downstairs. There is another little parlour, with quite a select -coterie, under the presidency of an elderly gentlewoman, who is busily -knitting at a table, while her friends recline at the windows, on their -special couches; and in several of the dormitories patients are sitting -up, reading, working, or looking at the fitful aspect of earth and sky -on this October afternoon. Sufferers from heart-disease, with that -anxious contracted expression so indicative of their malady, are -numerous; but the larger number of the patients seem to suffer from -rheumatism, or paralysis--among them one lady, with silvered hair, and -yet with bright expressive eyes, and still bonny face, who was once a -well-known singer in London. She is unable to rise from couch or bed, -but the readiness of repartee, the bright inquiring look, the quick -appreciation and retort, remain, as do a certain swift expressive action -of head and hands, which is marvellously suggestive of dramatic gesture; -for, happily, her hands and arms are still capable of movement, and she -has several periodicals on the coverlet--among them the latest monthly -part of a magazine, in one of the stories in which she is evidently -interested. She, with two or three others, are inmates of the hospital -at their own charges. - -We have but little time to devote to the men's side of this great -institution; but its dormitories and furniture, its large day-room, -where daughters sit talking in low voice to fathers, sisters to -brothers, wives to husbands--its pleasant out-door contingent, who have -just returned from slowly perambulating the grounds in wheel-chairs, or -sit basking outside in the latest gleam of sunshine--its club in the -rustic hut especially appointed for this purpose--all might bear -comment. Here is a sturdy youth, who, falling from a tree, and alighting -on his heels, incurably injured his spine, and now lies all day, mostly -out of doors, and without a coat, frequently engaged in knitting. There -is a poor gentleman, who has for sixteen years been almost immovable, -from rheumatism, even his jaw being so fixed that he takes food through -an aperture in the teeth. He has been through two or three hospitals, -and under the care of the most eminent surgeons, and has come here now -as to an ark of refuge, where he can read and talk, and be wheeled about -the neighbourhood on occasional visits. Only one case of all those that -we witness is startling in its melancholy sense of terrible loss and -incurability; that rigid, grimly-set face, in the ward where the corner -bed in which the grizzled head lies is the only one occupied this -afternoon. The body belonging to that face is almost immovable--the ears -are deaf, the tongue is mute, the eyes are nearly sealed--not by sudden -calamity, but by gradual yielding to decay or disease. He has been an -inmate several years, and is the one case here before which we may -almost quail in our solemn sense of affliction; and yet, to the touch of -certain loving hands that dead face kindles; that mind, seemingly locked -in stupor, wakes to life; that intelligence, encased in a casket -iron-bound and motionless, can understand the signs that are made upon -his own hands or forehead, and interpret them so as to give some kind of -grateful answer. It needs the touch of the lady nurse to bring out this -strange music from an instrument so unstrung; but that it should be done -at all is an evidence of the hold that loving sympathy and some subtle -influence almost beyond mere bodily capacity of expression has taken in -these dear souls of the sick and the afflicted. That is where the shadow -lifts, even in the darkness of the valley; that is how the Spirit of -Christ may abound; and the soul, in recognizing the work of the -disciple, may recognise the Lord therein, and remember the Living -Word--"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will -fear no evil, for Thou art with me." - - - - -"_WITH THE HALT AND THE LAME._" - - -I suppose there are few people in England, who are at all accustomed to -keep Christmas amidst a loving family circle, who have not during the -sacred festivities of the season, and all the household sentiments with -which they are inseparably associated, made some reference to the -"Christmas Carol," that famous story of the great novelist whose -presence in the spirit of his books has brightened so many a Christmas -hearth, and moved so many gentle hearts to kindly thoughts and words of -loving cheer. - -Amongst all the well-known characters to which Mr. Dickens introduced -thousands of readers--characters who, to many of us, became realities, -and were spoken of as though they were living and among our ordinary -acquaintances--there have been none, except perhaps little Nell, who -have evoked more sympathetic recognition than Tiny Tim, the poor -crippled child of Bob Cratchit--the child, the sound of whose little -crutch upon the stair was listened for with loving expectation--the -shadow of whose vacant chair in the "Vision of Christmas," gave to the -humbled usurer as keen a pang as any sight that he saw afterwards in -that strange dream of what might come to pass. So completely do we share -the anxiety of Scrooge in this respect, that we can all remember giving -a sigh of relief when, at the end of the story, we learn that the poor -crippled boy remains to bless the fireside where even his afflictions -were felt to be a hallowing influence to soften animosities, and to draw -close the bonds of family love. - -"Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself" (says Bob Cratchit), -"and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming -home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a -cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas-day -who made lame beggars walk and blind men see." - -If I needed an excuse for so long an allusion to that pathetic story, -which has stirred so many hearts throughout England, I might find it in -the passage I have just quoted; but I seek none. I refer to the -"Christmas Carol," because in it the figure of the crippled boy, -occupying so small a space, yet is such a living, touching influence as -to be one of the household fancies that associate themselves with our -thoughts of Christmas-tide in poor homes; because there are so many -little crutches the sounds of which are heard--though fewer than there -used to be before _orthopædic_ surgery became a special branch of study, -and hospitals were founded for its practice; because, though Tiny Tim -may represent so many crippled children who are the helpless members of -poor families, where they are tended with as kindly care as working -fathers and mothers can find time for--there are hundreds of other -deformed or maimed lads whose lot is made the harder because of the want -of sympathy and ready aid that would lift them out of utter -helplessness, or give them such light labour to perform as would -diminish their sense of dependence. Finally, because I desire you to -bear me company to one place in London where this last need is -recognised, and where forty crippled boys, suffering from various -incurable deformities, which yet have left them the use of their hands, -are not only taught a trade, but are encouraged, fed, and nurtured for -the three years during which they are inmates of the home--"The National -Industrial Home for Crippled Boys." - -Alighting from the railway carriage which conveys us from Mansion House -Station to the pleasant old High Street of Kensington, we are close to -the place that we have come to see, for the building itself--a quaint -old house, with a central doorway between two projecting deep -bay-windowed fronts, and built of the reddest of red brick--stands at -the end of Wright's Lane, looking us full in the face as we approach it -to read the style and title plainly painted across its upper storey. - -The house has good reason for looking the world thus bluffly in the -face, for it is an independent building, bought and paid for: -hearth-stone, roof tree, and chimney, freehold, and without debt or -mortgage. Till this was done, all thought of considerable extension was -put aside. The question was how to provide, out of voluntary -subscriptions and contributions, for the fifty inmates who could be -admitted within those sheltering walls. It must be premised, however, -that ten pounds a year has to be paid for each boy who is accepted, -during the three years that he remains there, to be taught in the -evening school and in the workshop, not only how to read and write and -cipher, but to become a good workman at tailoring, carpentering, or -die-engraving and colour-stamping. - -These are at present the only three trades taught in this truly -industrial home, but they appear to be very admirably suited to the -cases of those who are deformed or crippled in various ways; and they -are taught well, as an inspection of the work accomplished will prove. -For the workshops are real workshops, where the boys do not play at -work, but are taught their trades in a way that will enable them when -they leave the institution to gain a decent livelihood, or even, if they -can save a little money, to go into business for themselves. - -This has been lately done, in fact, by two youths, who, having -thoroughly learnt the relief-stamping process, have contrived to buy a -press and the materials for their trade, and are now in partnership in a -country town, and earning a respectable maintenance. Of sixteen lads who -left during the year, twelve were doing well as journeymen at the -industries they had learnt; one had set up in business for himself (the -relief-stamping gives the greatest facility for this); and two had -returned to their friends because of ill health, while one had not -reported himself But during the same period forty of the former inmates -had been to visit the old home, and gave a very encouraging account of -themselves. Let us add, in a whisper, that amongst these visitors were a -"team" of old boys who had come to accept the challenge of a "team" of -the new boys, to play a match at cricket. Yes, and that these teams of -cripples have, over and over again, carried off their bats against -opponents who, if they expected an easy victory, found themselves to -have been most amazingly mistaken. I don't think this is mentioned in -the Report, but it is well to know it, because it serves to prove how -truly beneficent a work is being done here, in removing boys from a too -often almost "hopeless" condition to one of useful, intelligent, skilled -labour, and to healthy self-forgetfulness and association in the -ordinary duties and recreations of their fellows. It must be remembered -that every boy there is, in a certain sense, incurable. After having -been nominated by the person willing to contribute the annual payment of -£10, the medical officers of the institution (or if in the country, some -qualified practitioner) examine the candidate, who must be above twelve -and less than eighteen years of age, and neither blind, deaf and dumb, -nor without the use of his hands. The name of the candidate is then -added to the list of those waiting for admission--of whom there are now, -unfortunately, above seventy--and when there is a vacancy, and funds are -sufficient to maintain the full number of inmates, these candidates are -taken in succession, without voting, by order of the Committee of -Management, of whom the President is the Earl of Shaftesbury, and the -Honorary Secretary Mr. S. H. Bibby, of Green Street, Grosvenor Square. -There is also an efficient Ladies' Committee for the household -management and for advising as to the education of the boys, the visits -of the friends of the inmates, and the domestic affairs of the Home -generally. There are some severe cases of deformity here--club-foot, -spinal curvature, and various distortions of the legs--and in many cases -instruments are worn, but the Institution does not profess to provide -these. Frequently they are procured by special contributions, and among -the latest gifts of this kind is a serviceable wooden leg or two, which -have had the happy effect of relieving their recipients from the -necessity of using crutches; but it is distinctly insisted on that the -Home is not a hospital, and is only curative in the sense of improving -the condition of those who, having been pronounced incurable, are yet -capable of greatly increased activity and strength by means of -nourishing and regular food, interesting occupation, and healthy -exercise with companions who themselves are to be numbered among the -halt and the lame, and yet are, in a very certain sense, made to walk -and to leap and to praise God. For see, at the very moment that I am -speaking, a little figure darts out of the passage yonder and scampers -across the large open green space at the back of the house on his way to -the new range of workshops that are now nearly completed, and are also -paid for. Is it possible to apply the term cripple to such an elf, who -is out of reach before one can ask his name? Yes; that very elf-like -look is the result of a deformity which stops growth, though it leaves -the limbs as active as you see them. But come up-stairs to the first of -the present workshops, and you may note among the colour-stampers, -sitting on their high stools before the dies and presses, cases of more -decided deformity or of crippling by accident. These boys follow an -artistic, pretty business, and visitors may do worse than give a small -or a large order for notepaper and envelopes, stamped with crest, motto, -or quaint design. So well is the work executed, that the Home has orders -constantly in hand for the trade, and some of the dies are really -beautiful examples of engraving. I think that in this long pleasant -upper room, with its high bench running along the window, fitted with -the presses and implements for the work, there are more severe cases of -deformity than will be seen in either in the tailors' department on the -same floor, or the carpenters' shop below. One reflects on the numerous -accidents to which the children of the poor are liable, such as falls -down flights of stairs; to the inhuman neglect of old women who are paid -as "minders" by mothers compelled to go out to work in neighbourhoods -where no infant crèche, no babies' cradle home, has yet been -established, or in country towns where such institutions have scarcely -been heard of. One remembers with pity the scores of poor little -creatures who have to nurse and tend children almost as big as -themselves, so that they and their charges too often become deformed -together, the nurse with lateral curvature of the spine and the baby -with vertical curvature or with deformities of the feet or legs. One -thinks, in short, of the many perils to healthy life and well-formed -limb that beset the children of the poor, and then coming back to the -figures of this _National_ Home, which yet, with careful management and -due economy, can only receive forty or fifty crippled boys--wonders how -long it is to be before the ruddy old house in Wright's Lane will expand -its broad bosom and stretch out long arms on either side to embrace -three-score more lads, taken from present neglect and want and probable -ill-usage, to be fed and taught and nurtured for three years, during -which the whole future will be changed for them, and their lives -redeemed from the degradation that had threatened them just as their -bodies expand with renewed health and strange developments of -unsuspected strength, and their souls are lighted with hope and the -sympathy of loving words and hearty manly encouragement. - -A beginning has been made already; for that munificent anonymous -benefactor, whose thousand-pound cheques have helped so many of our -deserving charities, showed his usual nice discrimination by taking a -walk in the direction of Wright's Lane. The result of this has been the -erection of those long workshops which extend across one side of the -wide green area, with its ornamental trees, at the back of the -building--an area which is a good part of the acre on which the property -stands, and forms a capital recreation-ground, without quite leaving out -of sight the pleasant kitchen-garden beyond, or the little building in -the further corner, which is intended as a cottage infirmary in cases of -sickness. There are the workshops, quite ready for another contingent of -lads, such as are now busily at work in the tailoring department, where -they are sitting on the board in the proper tailor-fashion, sewing away -at one or other of the many private orders for gentlemen's clothes, or -"juvenile suits," which are the better appreciated because they _are_ -hand-sewn, instead of being made with that machine, at the end of the -room, to learn the working of which is, however, a necessary part of the -modern tailor's trade. Quite ready, also, for our friends the -relief-stampers, and for an additional crew of young carpenters to join -those who are now busy below amidst a fine odour of fresh deal and the -cheery sound of hammer, chisel, and plane. One of our young friends of -the wooden legs--a strapping fellow of seventeen--is just deftly -finishing off a very attractive chest of drawers, which will only need -to be taken to the painting and varnishing rooms that form a part of the -new building to be a very capital example of the workmanship of the -establishment. For it cannot be too strongly insisted on that the -customers of the Industrial Cripples get value for their money, whether -it be in ornamental stationery, in plain furniture, packing cases, -boxes, and general carpentry, or in "superfine suits" to order, or "own -materials made up and repairs neatly executed." It is no sham industrial -school, but a real practical working establishment, and when the new -buildings are quite completed, and the dwelling-house has that other -wing added to it, in order to provide proper dormitories and a -school-room, dining-room, and lavatory, at all in proportion to the -number of boys who are waiting anxiously for admission---- - -Ah! but the question is, When shall this be? Not till another £5,000 is -added to the funds, I am told--about as much money as is sometimes spent -in some public display which lasts three or four hours, and going to -look at which probably half a dozen men, women, or children are lamed -and crippled in the crowd. Judging from the present arrangements, with -very little room to spare, and a not very conveniently-adaptable space, -the money would be carefully spent; for there is no tendency to undue -luxury, and the present household staff would still be sufficient for -providing meals and looking after the family needs of these robust and -independent young cripples. That it would be a work all the more -beneficial, because of this very independence with which it is -associated, it needs few arguments to prove; but, should reasons be -asked for, let us take three cases for which the benefits of the Home -are earnestly sought, and they will speak in suggestive accents of the -need of that extension for which an appeal is being made. I need not -tell you the names either of those who nominate the cases or the boys -themselves; but be assured that the former would be sufficient guarantee -of the need which it is sought to relieve:-- - - No. 1.--"The father is paralysed, and can do no work. The mother is not - a very satisfactory person. Family consist of-- - - 1. The eldest, a boy of twenty, who does odd jobs. - - 2. The cripple. - - 3. Boy, works, and gets 5s. - - 4. Boy, sells lights in the City. - - There are four little girls at home besides. The cripple is in a very - wretched state from want of food, but he has the use of his hands." - - No. 2 (EDINBURGH).--"Was never at school more than a year in his life, - and never attended regularly two months together. He can neither read - nor write, and has been neglected and often half-starved by his - dissipated parents. His mother pawns everything she can get to buy - drink, and the boy has little benefit from the wages he makes, which - are about 5s. per week. Their house is miserably dirty, Mrs. ---- (the - mother) being always drunk or incapable on the Saturday and Sunday. The - boy works at Mr. B----'s Pottery, P----. He is honest and industrious. - He is more miserable at home of late since he is left alone with his - mother. It would be a great advantage to the boy if he could be - admitted to the Industrial Home at Kensington, where he would be well - trained, and where he would be quite beyond his mother's reach." - - No. 3 (recommended by a Clergyman).--"Has been very regular at our - school, and has been attentive and got on very well. His mother, a - widow, lives with her sons, all of whom she has brought up well. She is - an industrious, honest woman, and receives no help from the Board of - Guardians excepting an allowance made for the maintenance of the - cripple, and which, in case of his being accepted at the Home, they - have promised to continue to pay for his maintenance. I may add that - the Board, when he was called before them the other day, gave great - praise to his mother for the cleanliness and respectability of his - appearance." - -Poor, depressed, starved, neglected, hopeless crippled boys, how long -will it be before they come here for shelter, for hope, and renewal of -life? I should ask the question--though the answer could only be a -guess--but I am suddenly diverted by the tremendous ringing of a -hand-bell, on which one vigorous young cripple is ringing a peal, which -is almost loud enough to announce to all Kensington that it is -"tea-time." The sound has the effect of bringing all the forty from -their work--a contingent of young carpenters staying behind for a little -while to dispose of some waste shavings which have been swept out of -some corner where they may have been in the way. Then they come trooping -into the big room, where they present so strange a variety of height and -appearance, and also so remarkable a diversity of twist and lameness and -distortion, that we are impressed at once with the melancholy fact that -every boy there is in reality a cripple, and yet with the cheering -reflection, inspired by some of the lively smiling faces, that there are -vast mitigations of such afflictions--mitigations that come so near to -cures as to make our neglect of them a very serious evil, when the means -lie near at hand. - -In this big room, which is neither dining-room, nor kitchen, nor -refectory, but a homely combination of all three, there is no ornament, -no sign of luxury, or of unnecessary expenditure-plain deal forms or -stools at plain deal tables, on which are arranged a regiment of -full-sized mugs of good sound tea, and plates, each containing a -substantial half-pound slice of bread from a homely two-pound loaf, -spread with butter or dripping. For breakfast the same quantity is -provided, with the substitution of coffee for tea; and dinner consists -of a half-pound of roast or boiled meat, with plenty of vegetables, and -dumplings, pies, or puddings; while bread and cheese, or bread and -butter, is served for supper. For it must be remembered that these are -working lads, and that they require to be substantially, and, from the -nature of their bodily affliction, even generously fed, so that these -supplies of pure plain diet are not by any means excessive; and they are -such as one very ordinary kitchen can supply--a kitchen, by the bye, -which will probably be superseded by a more convenient one when the new -wing shall be finished. Yet there is something in these unadorned, bare, -almost too plainly appointed places, which brings with it a reassuring -conviction that the institution has never been pampered. The -dining-room, which has to do duty for a school-room also--the play-room, -which is a rather dim kind of retreat on this November evening--and the -plain, rather bare, but still clean and airy dormitories (especially -those in the big bay-windowed front rooms of the old red brick house), -are evidences that the place does not belie its name; that it is really -a home, but essentially an industrial home, where work goes on as part -of each day's blessing, and the title to play freely and with a light -heart is thereby ensured. - - - - -_WITH THEM WHO HAVE NOT WHERE TO LAY THEIR HEADS._ - - -There is a degree of poverty which, while it is not absolute pauperism, -often has deeper needs than those which are alleviated by parochial -relief--a destitution which is none the less bitter because those who -suffer it cannot stoop to actual mendicancy, and shrink from the -degradation of the casual ward and its contaminating influences. - -Those of us who at this season of the year are surrounded with comforts, -and can meet together to enjoy them, should feel that there is no sadder -phase of the life of this great city than that to which our attention is -called by the statistics of those same casual wards, and the -accompanying certainty that every night there are men, women, and -children, who, amidst surrounding luxury and splendour, have not where -to lay their heads, and for whom the repellent door of the nearest union -workhouse is closed, even if they could summon such courage as comes of -desperation, and dared to enter. - -Happily, the numbers of those who seek what is called casual relief have -diminished in proportion to the general abatement of pauperism; and it -is perhaps encouraging to know that the applicants for nightly shelter -at Refuges for the homeless and destitute are fewer than they were three -or four years ago. This is a fact which should be made public, because -some of these Refuges have been accused of offering inducements to -casual paupers to seek food and shelter provided by charitable -subscriptions, instead of betaking themselves to the night-wards -provided for them at metropolitan workhouses. The complaint was made on -altogether insufficient grounds, at a time when, during a hard winter, -and with a fearful amount of distress among the poorest class of the -community, the workhouse night-wards themselves were frequently -inadequate to the demands made upon them; while, apart from the persons -who were known as casual paupers, there were hundreds of unfortunates -suffering from temporary starvation and the want of a place in which to -find a night's lodging, who yet were altogether removed from what is -known as pauperism, and dreaded the abject hopelessness which they -associated with "the Union." - -It should not be forgotten, either, that the task which is, and was -then, imposed upon the pauper on the morning following his night's -lodging and its previous dole of gruel and bread, renders it almost -impossible for the recipient to obtain work. Before his job of -stone-breaking or oakum-picking is accomplished, the hour for commencing -ordinary labour outside the workhouse walls has passed, and his hope of -resuming independent employment, and the wages that will provide food -and lodging for the next four-and-twenty hours, has passed also. This -alone is always sufficient to make a very marked distinction between the -regular casual pauper and the temporarily unfortunate man or woman who, -having failed to get work, and seeking only the aid that may give rest -and strength for a renewed effort, might look in vain for succour but -for the existence of places like that admirable Institution to which I -wish to take you to-night. - -The shameful spectacle of groups, and, in many instances, of crowds, of -houseless, starving, and half-naked creatures huddled about the doors of -casual wards, to which they had been refused admission in direct -defiance of legislation, led to the establishment of Night Refuges. -There was then no time to dispute. While boards and committees were -squabbling and vilifying each other, the poor were perishing. But even -now that a better system prevails, and pauperism has so considerably -diminished, there is much necessity for the continuance of these -institutions and their adaptation to the relief of that kind of distress -which is all the more poignant because it is at present only temporary, -but would receive the brand and stamp of permanence if it could find no -other mitigation than that secured by an appeal to workhouse officials, -the shelter of the casual shed, the union dole, and the daily task -required in return. - -At the time that Night Refuges were first founded, in consequence of the -failure of the Houseless Poor Act, there were one or two institutions -which went on the plan of offering no inducement whatever to those who -sought shelter within their walls. The provisions were barer, the beds -harder, the reception little less cold and unsympathetic than they would -receive at any metropolitan union. - -Those of my readers who remember the Refuge for the Houseless Poor which -once stood in Playhouse Yard, close to that foul tangle of courts that -still exists between Barbican and St. Luke's, and is known as "The -Chequers," will understand me when I say that there were no alluring -inducements for the houseless and the destitute to seek its aid. - -I have seldom seen a more painfully suggestive crowd than that which -waited outside the blank door of that hideous building on a cold drizzly -evening when I paid the place a visit, only a short time before it was -finally closed. I cannot deny, however, that the applicants for -admission consisted of those persons for whom the institution seemed to -be especially designed. The very lowest class of poverty, the -representatives of sheer destitution, made up the 350 men and the 150 -women who were to occupy the bare wooden bunks in the two departments of -the building that night, and to accept, as a stay against starvation, -the half-pound of dry bread and the drink of water. What I would call -emphatic attention to, is the fact that this place was filled nightly at -that time, because the inmates could leave early in the morning to seek -a day's work, and so rise out of that depth of destitution which was -represented by the nightly return to the casual ward. But let us -remember that, though this Institution could scarcely be characterised -by the warm name of "charity," it received all applicants who were not -suffering from infectious diseases, and therefore its policy was -deterrent. In order to separate itself from the idle casual, it made its -provisions little short of penal, and, indeed, very far short of those -common comforts that are to be found in prison. - -But the Refuge in Newport Market was one of those which had been founded -on a different principle. It was never intended as a supplement to the -casual ward, or as having any relation to poor-law relief; though, -during the terrible distress that overtook the houseless in that severe -winter when our poor-law arrangements broke down utterly, it was -impossible for any place founded in the name of Christian love and -charity to be very particular in excluding famishing and frozen men and -women on the suspicion that they had already somehow obtained parochial -relief the night before. - -This "Refuge" was originally established by the influence and the -personal exertions of Mrs. Gladstone, and a few ladies and gentlemen -who, knowing of the extreme distress that prevailed in all that -poverty-stricken neighbourhood about Seven Dials, around the -alien-haunted district of Soho, and in the purlieux of Drury Lane, and -the courts of Long Acre, set about providing some remedy for the misery -that homeless, destitute men, women, and children had to suffer during -the bitter nights of winter. First, a regular mission was established in -an ordinary room, and, after a time, space was secured to make a -Refuge--first for six, then for ten, and afterwards for twenty of the -most destitute cases which came under the notice of the mission-woman. -This went on till the funds were sufficient to warrant a very earnest -desire to obtain larger premises, and at last to make a bid for that -queer ramshackle old slaughter-house, which was the rather too indicative -feature of the locality. The landlords of this place were fully alive to -the value of any property rising in proportion to the anxiety of somebody -to become its tenant, and they demanded a high rent accordingly. Still, -the work had to be done, and the slaughter-house--cleansed, repaired, -whitewashed, and divided into several queer, irregular-shaped wards and -rooms, which were reached by strange flights of steps and zig-zag -entries--was opened with cheerful confidence and hope, under the earnest -superintendence of the Rev. J. Williams, who was at that time incumbent -of the parish of St. Mary, Soho. It was at that period that I first made -acquaintance with the Institution, and with the quiet, undemonstrative -work of charity which was carried on there, and is continued to this -day, though it is less arduous now that the neighbourhood itself has -felt the influence of such an organization--not so much in the -diminution of actual poverty, as in the humanising and constantly -suggestive presence of men and women who have brought a gospel to those -who were hopeless, and seemed to have none to care for them. - -The need to receive numbers every night to the utmost limits of the -Institution has passed now, except occasionally during very severe -weather; and though the cases admitted are still those where deep, and -sometimes apparently almost fatal, misfortune is the claim, there is no -longer the urgency which forbade a too discriminating selection, and the -regular casual stands no chance under the quick and experienced eye of -the superintendent, Mr. Ramsden, whose military tone and manner are, by -the way, modulated so as to carry the sense of detection to the -pretender, and to support and give courage to the weak and -faint-hearted. - -The same complete, quiet method of receiving applicants who await -admission enables me to repeat the impression which I received during -the time that the demands upon the night Refuge were more urgent. The -experienced visitor who stands at the gate of this rehabilitated -building that was once the old slaughter-house, and who watches the -people go in one by one, and listens to their low-voiced pleas for food -and shelter, cannot mistake them for casual ward cases. Just as, in some -other Institutions, the pain of the spectacle is the degraded poverty of -those who seek aid, the most affecting element here is utter -destitution, without that _accustomed_ debasement which would find a -fitting resource at the workhouse door, leading to the night shed. - -These are broken-down men and women; old men beaten in the battle of -life, and full of present sorrow; young men who have fought and failed, -or who have eaten of the husks, and seek occasion to rise to a better -mind; middle-aged men not altogether crushed or hopeless, but in sore -want, and needing the sound of a kindly voice, the touch of a friendly -hand; women who have lost youth and worldly hope together--women who, -more weak than wicked, and without resource, need some stay alike for -fainting bodies and for wandering souls; women worn and hungry, because -of the lack even of ill-paid work, and asking for rest and food till -they can seek employment: some who will go forth in the morning and set -out afresh; others who, if they can secure two or three nights' lodging, -with a mouthful of food and drink morning and evening, have a good hope -of doing better in the future. - -To those who know how the demand for certain kinds of labour varies, and -frequently slackens towards the winter months, when need is sorest, this -latter most merciful provision comes with a sense of truest charity. -Tickets of admission are issued to friends and visitors of the -Institution (and any one may be a visitor who chooses to ring at the -bell of the old slaughter-house), entitling the holder to admission -after the regular evening hour of half-past five to six, so that in -bestowing one of these the judicious subscriber (not necessarily, but -surely from sympathy a subscriber) can be a true benefactor. For these -tickets will admit the really deserving nightly for a week, with supper -of bread and coffee or cocoa, or occasional savoury soup, and breakfast -of bread and coffee. And even this time is occasionally extended, if -there be a reasonable prospect of obtaining work. Not only -ticket-holders, but every applicant, may have the same privilege, if it -can be shown that he or she is really likely to obtain employment. But -there is more than this. There are men here--truest of gentlemen, beyond -that social stamp of rank which rightfully belongs to them--who, with a -real, manly instinct, know how to take poverty by the hand without -offensive patronage or untimely preaching. There are ladies who, in -their true womanhood, can see the contrition in faces bowed down--the -shame that is caused, not by evil doings, but by the feeling of dismay -which comes of having to ask for charity--can sympathise with broken -fortunes, with gentle nurture--cast upon a hard, relentless world, with -that poverty which is "above the common." - -More still. Among the supporters and the constant visitors are those who -can use special influence for cases that need it most, and obtain for -them admission to hospitals and other asylums, or introduce to -situations those who by sudden calamity have been deprived of the means -of living. - -Yes, even in their deepest need, poor, wandering, homeless women may -come here and find help, for in that large, lofty, yet warm and -well-lighted room, the women's dormitory--one side of which is composed -of a series of niches where the comfortable beds are placed--there are -to be seen a row of doors, which seem to belong to a series of cabins, -as, indeed, they do. Each door opens into a small bed-room--small, but -with room for a chair, a tiny table, and the neat bed. They are the -lodgings set apart for women, who, in the midst of their poverty and -destitution, are looking forward fearfully to the time when children -will be born to them, and so to a period of weakness, and of the sad -mingling of maternal pity and desponding sorrow. Let me say, in one line -from the Report, that last year eight young women were received into the -Refuge some time before their confinement, were passed on to Queen -Charlotte's Hospital, and were helped until such time as they were able -to help themselves. - -I think the knowledge of this is so cheerful an instance of the value of -this most representative Refuge, that even the sight of the bright, -warm, glowing kitchen, with its great boiler of hot coffee, and its -noble kettle of soup occupying the jolly range, scarcely imparts an -extra beam to the picture; while the long rows of white mugs, the -pleasant, clean, fragrant loaves, the big milk-cans, the courteous -_chef_, who has a true and pardonable pride in his surroundings--no, not -even the cosy, rug-covered berths and bunks in the dormitories, nor the -quaint little corner-room to which I have to climb a crooked staircase -to shake hands with the sister who is in charge, nor the equally quaint -and cornery, not to say inconvenient, sitting-room of Mr. and Mrs. -Ramsden, who have left their tea unfinished to do the honours of the -Institution--can suggest to me a better word to say than that which is -suggested by the picture of the poor wandering, weary, fainting women, -who, almost in despair, not only for a real, but for an expected life, -come here to find rest and peace. - -Stay; one word more. Who are the class of people for whom the Refuge -doors are ordinarily open? Let us see what were the most numerous cases -among the inmates who during the year received 6,669 nights' lodgings -and 16,889 suppers and breakfasts. Among the men "labourers," of course, -are most numerous; then discharged soldiers--poor fellows who have -perhaps foolishly snatched at liberty when offered, and foregone the -advantages of re-engagement and a pension; next in numerical order come -_clerks_--a very painfully suggestive fact, especially when read by the -light of the advertisement-columns of our newspapers, and the sad story -of genteel poverty in that great suburban ring which encircles the -wealthiest city in the world. Of house-painters there were 24; of -servants, 21; of tailors, 13; of seamen, 8; and other callings were -represented in remarkable variety, including 1 actor, 6 cooks, 1 -schoolmaster, 2 surveyors, and 1 tutor. Among the women, 199 -servants--show sadly enough the truth of the old adage, "Service is no -inheritance;" while in numerical succession there were, 55 charwomen, 41 -laundresses, 37 needlewomen, 31 tailoresses, 27 dressmakers, 26 -machinists (alas! how many women still utterly depend on "the needle" -for a subsistence!), 24 cooks, 20 ironers, 16 field-labourers. There -were 4 governesses, 1 actress, 1 mission-woman, and 1 staymaker, the -rest being variously described. - -From among these, 94 men and 193 women obtained employment, 77 women -having been sent to Penitentiaries and Homes, while 18 were supported in -the Refuge or elsewhere by needlework, 13 were sent to their friends, 60 -obtained permanent work, and 14 girls of good character were sent to -Servants' Homes. - -But I have left out one thing now. Among this great representative -company of refugees were 60 children, of whom 37 were sent to nurse or -to school, while those who were old enough---- Well, just listen to that -burst of military music in a distant upper-room of the old -slaughter-house. I must tell you something about the Newport Market boys -in another chapter. - - - - -_TAKING IN STRANGERS._ - - -Yes; listen to that startling clangour of military music coming from an -upper room. We are standing, you know, in the cheerful kitchen of that -Refuge for the Homeless in the renovated old slaughter-house in Newport -Market, and I want you to come with me to see the boys' school, which -occupies a very considerable portion of that weatherproof but ramshackle -building. - -Only those who are acquainted with the poverty and the crime of this -great metropolis can estimate the deep and urgent need that still exists -for refuges in which homeless, destitute, and neglected children can be -received for shelter, food, and clothing. Only the practical student of -the effect of our present administration of the Education Act can -calculate how vast a necessity is likely to exist for the reception and -instruction of the children of the poorest, even when all the machinery -of the present School Board is put in motion for vindicating the -compulsory clause. - -Let that clause be interpreted in the most liberal manner--which would -be in effect to provide State education without cost to the parents--and -the Act will still leave untouched a vast number of children for whom -nothing can be done until their physical necessities are provided -for--children who are perishing with cold, starving for want of food. A -visit to some of the big buildings recently erected by the London School -Board will reveal the fact that there are many such children now in -attendance; neglected, barefoot, half-clothed, hungry, and with that -wistful eager look, sometimes followed by a kind of stupefaction, which -may be observed in the poor little outcasts of the streets. There is no -reasonable hope of doing much with these little creatures till the -"soup-kitchen" and the "free breakfast" are among the appliances of -education, where the necessity is most pressing, and the children perish -for lack of bread as well as for lack of knowledge. - -As it is--I need not refer again to the escape which is always open from -the streets to the prison. The few Government industrial-schools to -which magistrates occasionally consign young culprits brought before -them are intended only for those who come within the cognisance of the -law. - -The operations of these reformatory-schools are successful so far as -they go. They represent seventy-five per cent. of successful reformatory -training as applied to juvenile transgressors committed by magistrates -to their supervision. - -Perhaps, when we are fully impressed with the meaning of the statistics -which are published each year in the Report of the Inspectors of -Certified Schools in Great Britain, we shall begin to consider how it -will be possible to regard destitute children in relation to the -guardianship of the state _before_ they qualify themselves for -Government interposition by the expedient of committing what the law -calls a crime. - -The last Report states distinctly that the sooner criminal children are -taken in hand, the more complete is their reformation. There are fewer -"criminals" of less than ten years of age than there are hardened -offenders of from twelve to sixteen. This is, so far, satisfactory; but -when we consider that (including Roman Catholic establishments) there -are but fifty-three reformatories in England, and twelve in Scotland -(thirty-seven of those in England and eight in Scotland being for boys, -and sixteen in England and four in Scotland for girls), and that in -1873, when the Report was issued, the sum-total of children in all these -institutions was but 5,622, of whom one-fourth were in the Roman -Catholic schools--we cease to wonder at the vast number of homeless, -neglected, and destitute children in London alone--a number which, -notwithstanding the efforts of philanthropy and the activity of School -Board beadles, exceeds the total of all the inmates of the State -reformatories throughout the kingdom. - -This refuge at Newport Market had included destitute and starving boys -among those who were brought to its shelter from the cruel streets, the -dark arches of railways and of bridges, and the miserable corners where -the houseless huddle together at night, long before its supporters could -make provision for maintaining any of the poor little fellows in an -industrial-school. But the work grew, and the means were found, first -for retaining some of the juvenile lodgers who came only for a night's -food, and warmth, and shelter, and afterwards for receiving them as -inmates. - -Some of these are sent to the Refuge by persons who are furnished with -printed forms of application, or by mothers who can afford evident -testimony that they can scarcely live on the few shillings they are able -to earn by casual work as charwomen, or by the no less casual -employments where the wages are totally inadequate to support a family; -while a few lads have themselves applied for admission because they were -orphans, or utterly destitute and abandoned by those on whom they might -be supposed to have a claim. - -A portion of the old building, which has been adapted to the purpose, -and has been added as the need for increased space became pressing, is -now devoted to the dormitories, play-room, and school-room of some fifty -to sixty of this contingent of the great army of friendless children; -and at the time of the last Report fourteen had but just left to be -enlisted in military bands; two had become military tailors; situations -had been found for others; while one had been regularly apprenticed to a -tailor in London. - -There are frequently several boys ready for such apprenticeship, for -tailoring is the only regular trade taught, the time of the lads being -occupied in learning to read, write, and cipher, to acquire the outlines -of history and geography, and to take a place in the military band which -is at this moment making the cranky old building resound with its -performance on clarinets, hautboys, cornets, "deep bassoons," and all -kinds of wind instruments, under the direction of an able bandmaster, -who keeps the music up to the mark with a spirit which bespeaks -confidence in the intelligence of his pupils. - -This confidence is not misplaced, for during the past year eleven -youthful recruits have been drafted from among these boys into the bands -of various regiments, while there are above ninety applications still on -the books for more musicians who have chosen this branch of the military -service. It is a matter of choice, of course; and there are some who -prefer to become sailors, or to go into situations and learn the trade -of tailoring, that their instructors may be able to recommend them to -respectable masters as apprentices. - -But let us walk through the kitchen, and ascend the short zig-zag stairs -which lead us by a passage to the school-room, where most of the boys -are at work with their slates. Very few of the little fellows are more -than thirteen years old, and some of them have been but a short time at -school; but even those who came here totally uninstructed have made -admirable progress, and some of the writing-books containing lessons -from dictation are well worth looking at for their clean and excellent -penmanship and fair spelling; while in arithmetic the boys who have been -longest under tuition have advanced as far as "practice." There is -nothing superfluous in school-room, work-room, or play-room--indeed, one -might almost say that they are unfurnished, except for desks and forms -and plain deal tables. The play-room is a lower portion of the old -slaughter-house, with a high ceiling, to a beam in which is fixed a pair -of ropes terminating in two large wooden rings by which the youthful -gymnasts swing and perform all kinds of evolutions, while a set of -parallel bars are among the few accessories. - -It is evident that nothing is spent in mere ornament, and that the -expenditure is carefully considered, though recreation, and healthy -recreation too, is a part of the daily duty, which is regulated in a -fashion befitting the rather military associations of the place. Even -now, as the cheery superintendent, Mr. Ramsden, who was lately -quartermaster-sergeant of the 16th Regiment, calls "Attention!" every -boy is quickly on his feet and ready to greet us; and what is more, the -boys seem to like this kind of discipline, for it is kind in its prompt -demand for obedience, and the regularity and order includes a kind of -self-reliance, which is a very essential part of education for lads who -must necessarily be taught what they have to learn in a comparatively -short time, and are then sent out where order and promptitude are of the -utmost service to them. Economy is studied, but the recollection of the -cheery kitchen suggests that there is no griping hard endeavour to -curtail the rations necessary to support health and strength. In fact, -the boys are sufficiently fed, warmly clothed, and are encouraged both -to work and play heartily. Breakfast consists of bread and coffee; -dinner of meat and vegetables three days in the week, fish on one day -(Wednesday), pudding on Monday, soup on Friday, meat and cheese on -Saturday; tea or coffee with bread and dripping, while on Sundays butter -is an additional luxury both at breakfast and tea; and on Thursdays and -Sundays tea is substituted for coffee at the evening meal. All the boys -are decently and warmly clothed, and though only some of their number -"take to music" as a profession, and choose to go into the military -bands, they all receive instruction. They are taught to keep their own -bunks and dormitories neat, and, in fact, do their own household work; -while, morning and afternoon, personal trimness is promoted by the -military "inspection" which is part of the discipline. There is half an -hour's play after breakfast, another quarter of hour before dinner, -three-quarters of an hour for "washing and play" after dinner, a quarter -of an hour before tea, and from an hour and a half to two hours for -boot-cleaning and play before bed-time, besides out-door exercise daily, -except in wet weather, when drill and gymnastics take its place. They -also go to Primrose Hill on Tuesday and Saturday afternoons, there to -run in the fresh air and disport themselves in cricket, or such games as -they can find the toys for, by the kindness of the committee or generous -visitors. Even with these recreations, however, they find time to go -through a very respectable amount of work in the fourteen hours between -rising and bed-time; and the letters received from lads who have left -the school are an evidence that they remember with pleasure and with -gratitude the Refuge that became a home, and to which they attribute -their ability to take a place which would have been denied to them -without the aid which grew out of pity for their neglected childhood. - -Here is a short epistle from one of the juvenile band, at Shorncliffe -Camp, written a year or two ago:-- - - "I now take the pleasure of writing these few lines and I hope all the - boys are all well, and all in the school and please Mr. Ramsden will - you send me the parcel up that I took into the school it was laying in - the bookcase in the school-room and I hope that all the boys are all - getting on with their instruments and the snips with their work and I - should like you to read it to the boys and I wish that you would let - ---- answer it and I am getting on with my instrument very well, and I - will be able to come and see you on Cristamas season." - -This is a characteristic schoolboy letter, which shows how much boys are -alike in all grades. The following is another letter from Shorncliffe:-- - - "Dear Sir, - - "I received your kind and welcome letter along with mothers, and I - wrote back to tell you we have all been enlisted and sworn in, and we - expect to get our clothes next week and we all feel it our duty to - express our deeply felt gratitude to you Mr. Dust and the Committee, - and we are all very happy at present please give our respects to Mrs. - Ramsden Sister Zillah Mr. McDerby Mr. Mason Mr. Goodwin Miss Cheesman - and please remember us to all the boys. Leary is on sick furlough since - the 15th of Decr. and has not returned yet and Brenan, Lloyd Graham - McCarthy Henderson and all the others are very jolly at present and - been out all the afternoon amongst the snow. So I conclude with kind - thanks to one and all and believe me to be Dear Sir - - "Your late pupil ---- - - "Band ---- Regt." - -The following will show how the memory of the old slaughter-house and -the school in Newport Market remains after the boys have left and have -entered on a career. It is addressed from Warley Barracks:-- - - "Dear Sir - - "I now take the opportunity of writing to you hoping you and all the - rest of the school and the sister also. It is a long time since I left - the school now and I dont suppose you would know me if I was to come - and see you I was apprenticed out off the school along of J---- R---- - to Mr W---- in 1869 I think it was as a Tailor. I should like you to - write and tell me if you know what rigment J---- H---- belong to his - school number was 34 and mine was 35 me and him was great friends when - we were in the school and I should like to know very much were he is. - When I left the School Mr. L---- was Supperintendant and I dont suppose - I should know you sir if I was to see you I shall try to come down and - see the School if I can on Christmas for I shall be on pass to London - for seven days and I should like to know where J---- H---- is so as I - should be able to see him. I have a few more words to say that is the - school was the making of me and I am very thankful to the school for it - so with kind love to you all - - "I remain your humble servant, - "Band ---- Regiment, - "Warley Barracks, Essex. - - "J---- H---- number was 34 and mine was 35. - - "Excuse me addressing this Letter to you as I dont know anything about - you sir." - -There is something pleasant indeed in letters like these; and I for one -am not surprised that the boys should go to their musical practice with -a will. - -They are just preparing to play something for our especial delight now, -and so burst out, in a grand triumphant blast, with "Let the Hills -Resound," after which we will take our leave, and, we hope, not without -melody in our hearts. Just one word as we go through this kitchen again. -Two West End clubs supply the Newport Market Refuge with the remnants of -their well-stocked larders. Did it ever occur to you how many hungry -children and poor men and women could be fed on the actual waste that -goes on in hotels, clubs, inns, dining-rooms, and large and ordinary -households every day? M. Alexis Soyer used to say that he could feed ten -thousand people with the food that was wasted in London every day; and I -am inclined to think he was not far wrong. At all events, an enormous -salvage of humanity might be effected if only the one meal daily which -might be made of "refuse" pieces of meat and bread, bones, cuttings of -vegetables, cold potatoes, and general pieces--was secured to the -thousands to whom "enough" would often indeed be "as good as a feast." -To people who know how much that is really good for food--not the -plate-scrapings and leavings, but sound and useful reversions of meat -and bread and vegetables, bones, and unsightly corners of joints--is -either suffered to spoil or is thrown at once into the waste-tub, both -in hotels and private houses, the additional knowledge that there are -hungry children in every district in London to whom a bowl of nourishing -soup or a plate of minced meat and vegetables would be a boon, may -easily be a pain, because of the inability to suggest how to organise -the means of utilising what one is tempted to call undeserved plenty. - - - - -_FEEDING THE MULTITUDE._ - - -I suppose there are people still to be found who have but a vague notion -of what it is to be really hungry. They may be conscious of possessing a -good appetite now and then, and having the means of obtaining food, and -to a certain extent of choosing what they will eat, regard being rather -"sharp set" as a luxury which gives additional zest to a dinner, -enabling them to take off the edge of their craving with a plate of warm -soup, and to consider what they would like "to follow." - -Of course we most of us read in the papers of the distress of the poor -during the winter, of the number of children for whom appeals are made -that they may have a meal of meat and vegetables once or twice a week, -of the aggregate of casual paupers during a given period, and of cases -where "death accelerated by want and exposure" is the verdict of a -coroner's jury; but we do not very easily realise what it is to be -famished; have perhaps never experienced that stage beyond -hunger--beyond even the faintness and giddiness that makes us doubt -whether we could swallow anything solid, and would cause us to turn -hopelessly from dry bread. There is no need here to detail the -sufferings that come of starvation. They are dreadful enough; but if our -charity needs the stimulus of such descriptions we are in a bad way, and -are ourselves in danger of perishing for want of moral sustenance. - -Those who need assurance of the hunger of hundreds of their poor -neighbours need not go very far to obtain it. A quarter of an hour at -the window of any common cook-shop in a "low neighbourhood," at about -seven o'clock in the evening, when the steam of unctuous puddings is -blurring the glass, and the odour of leg-of-beef soup and pease-pudding -comes in gusts to the chilly street, should suffice. There is pretty -sure to be a group of poor little eager-eyed pinch-nosed boys and girls -peering wistfully in to watch the fortunate possessor of two-pence who -comes out with something smoking hot on a cabbage-leaf, and begins to -bite at it furtively before he crosses the threshold. - -Of course, according to modern social political economy, it would be -encouraging mendicity, and sapping the foundations of an independent -character, to distribute sixpenny pieces amongst the juvenile committee -of taste who are muttering what they would buy if only somebody could be -found to advance "a copper." But it is to be hoped or feared (which?) -that a good many people yet live who would instinctively feel in their -pockets for a stray coin to expend on a warm greasy slab of baked or -boiled, or on half a dozen squares of that peculiarly dense pie-crust -which is sold in ha'porths. This is a vulgar detail; but somehow poverty -and hunger _are_ vulgar, and we should find it difficult to get away -from them if we tried ever so hard. Even School Boards, peeping out upon -the children perishing for lack of knowledge, find themselves in a -difficulty, because there is no provision under the compulsory or any -other clause for the children who are also perishing for lack of food. -The Board beadle does not at present go about with soup-tickets in his -pockets; and for the poor shivering shoeless urchins who are mustered in -the big brick-built room where they assemble according to law there is -no free breakfast-class. - -It must one day become a question how they are to learn till they are -filled. Grown people find it hard enough to fix their attention on the -best advice or the most saving doctrine while they suffer involuntary -hunger. The multitude must mostly be fed before they are taught. Even -disciples have had a revelation of the Bread of Life in the breaking of -bread that perishes. Do we still need a miracle to teach us that? - -Happily, efforts are made to give meat to the hungry. During the winter -weather food is distributed in various ways amidst some of those -poverty-stricken neighbourhoods to which I am obliged to take you during -our excursions; but the demand far exceeds the supply, and people suffer -hunger at all seasons, though most of all in the time of bleak winds and -searching cold. - -I want you to come to-day to a kitchen which is open all the year -round--the only kitchen of the kind in London which does not close its -doors even when the spring-tide brings buds of promise on the shrubs in -Leicester Square, and the London sparrow comes out from roofs and eaves, -and preens his dingy plumage in the summer sun, as though Great Windmill -Street had something in common with its name, and sweet country odours -came from the region of the Haymarket. - -For, you know, we are still in the district of Soho. I have but just now -brought you out of Newport Market, and now we are in a very curious part -of this vast strange city. The streets are dim and dingy, but not so -squalid as you might have imagined. They are still and silent, too, as -of a neighbourhood that has seen better days, and even in its poverty -has a sense of gentility which is neither boisterous nor obtrusive. - -You will remember that I referred to this neighbourhood of Soho when I -spoke of those old French refugees who came and made industrial colonies -in London after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. This is the only -really foreign quarter of London which has lasted until to-day; but that -is to be accounted for by the fact that it became representative of no -particular industry, and that, probably from the fact of many of the -patrons of literature and art having then town houses about Leicester -and Soho Squares, the more artistic refugees took up their abode in the -adjacent streets. - -From the time when William Hogarth painted his picture of the Calais -Gate till only a short time ago, when refugees fled from besieged Paris -to find some poor and wretched lodging in the purlieus of Cranbourne -Street, where they might live in peace and hear their native tongue, -this has been the resort of poor foreigners in London. It almost reminds -one of some of the smaller streets of a continental city; and as we look -at the queer shabby restaurants, and the shops with strange names -painted above them in long yellow letters, we almost expect to find the -pavement change to cobble-stones, and to see some queer wooden sign -dangle overhead, so like is the place to the small _bourgeois_ quarter -that in our earlier days lay behind the Madeleine and the Porte St. -Denis. - -For here is an actual _crêmerie_--a queer compound of cook-shop and -milkseller's--with a couple of bright dairy cans outside the door, and a -long loaf or two amidst the cups and plates and sausages in the dingy -window. Over the way you see "_Blanchisseuse_" in large letters; and -next door is a _laiterie_, which differs from a _crêmerie_ as a _café_ -alone differs from a _café restaurant_ with its "_commerce de vins_" -painted in big capitals in front of a long row of sour-looking bottles -and a green calico curtain. It is a quaint jumble, all the way to Dean -Street, and till we reach the edge of the Haymarket--a jumble of Brown -and Lebrun, of Jones and Jean, of Robin (_fils_) and Robinson; but for -all the little musty-smelling _cafés_, the blank bare-windowed -_restaurants_, the _crêmeries_, and the _boulangeries_, there is nothing -of a well fed look about the district, especially just at this corner, -leading as it seems to a stable-yard or the entrance to a range of -packers' warehouses. There is one open front here--is it a farrier's or -a blacksmith's shop?--where they appear to be doing a stroke of -business, however, for there is a clinking, and a fire, and a steam; but -the steam has a fragrant odour of vegetables--of celery and turnips, of -haricots and gravy--the clink is that of basins and spoons getting -ready, and the fire is that of the boiler which simmers two mighty -cauldrons. - -Step to the front, and you will see in big white letters right across -the house, "Mont St. Bernard Hospice." You may well rub your eyes, for -you are in the heart of London, and stand in Ham Yard, Leicester Square, -before the soup-kitchen that is open all the year. - -There is something very appetising in the steam that arises from both -these huge cauldrons, one of which is the stock-pot, containing bones, -remnants of joints (_not_ plate-clearings), and reversions of cold meat, -&c., from two West End clubs. To this are added vegetables--celery, -haricot beans, or barley--making it a fresh palatable stock, not -remarkable for meatiness, but still excellent in flavour, as you may -find for yourself if you join me in a luncheon here. But the real -strengthening gravy has yet to be added, and the cauldron on the left -hand is full of it--real, genuine gravy soup, made from raw meat and -bones purchased for this purpose. As soon as this has simmered till it -is thoroughly ready, the contents of the two cauldrons are mixed, and -the result is a delicious stew, which is ready to be turned out into -these yellow pint basins, for the hungry applicants, who will sit down -at one of these two deal tables, each of which has its rough clean form, -or to be dispensed to those who bring jugs, bowls, cans, saucepans, -kettles, pipkins--any and almost every receptacle in which they can -carry it steaming away to their families. - -Let us stand here and see them come in. Here is a poor famishing fellow, -who looks with eager eyes at the savoury mess. He has evidently seen -better days. There is an unmistakable air of education about him, and as -he sits down with his basin and spoon, and the handful of broken bread, -which is added to the soup from one of a series of clean sacks emptied -for the purpose, the superintendent, Mr. Stevens, scans him with a quick -eye, and will probably speak to him before he leaves. There is a -foreigner--an Italian, by the look of his oval olive face--who takes his -place very quietly, and as quietly begins to eat; and yonder a -famished-looking, rough fellow, who has already devoured the basinful -with his eyes, and is evidently in sore need. Men, women, and children, -or, at all events, boys and girls, come and present their tickets, and -receive this immediate relief, against which surely not the most -rigorous opponent to mendicancy can protest. The cadger and the -professional beggar do not go to the soup-kitchen where nothing is -charged, for they do not need food, and will only see a ticket where it -is likely to be accompanied by the penny which will buy a quart. Be sure -that there are few cases here which are not so necessitous that they are -not far from starvation; and many of them represent actually desperate -want. - -The tickets for obtaining this prompt relief--often only just in time to -save some poor creature from utter destitution and crime, and as often -administered when a family is without food, and yet clings to the hope -of finding work to prevent that separation which they must submit to by -becoming paupers--are placed in the hands of clergymen, doctors, -district visitors, Bible-women, and those who know the poor, and can -feel for them when in hard times they pawn furniture, tools, and -clothes, and suffer the extremity of want, before they will apply for -parochial relief, and have offered to them the alternative of "going -into the house." - -The annals of the poor, from which extracts occasionally appear in the -newspapers in the accounts of coroners' inquests, prove to what dreadful -sufferings many decent but destitute people will submit rather than -become recognised paupers; and no system of charitable relief outside -the workhouse walls will be effectual or useful which does not recognise -and respect this feeling. Who would let the possible accident of some -unworthy person getting a gratuitous pint of soup stand in the way of a -work such as we see going on here, where one year's beneficent action -includes above ten thousand persons relieved?--a large number of whom -are temporarily taken into the Hospice, as we shall see presently, while -a great contingent is represented by the family tickets, which enable -poor working men and women from various districts in London to carry -away a gallon of strong nourishing soup, and an apronful of bread to -their hungry little ones. You see that great heap of pieces of fine -bread--slices, hunches, remnants of big loaves, dry toast, French bread, -brown bread, and rolls--all placed in a clean wooden bin, they also come -from the two great West End clubs before mentioned, and are so -appreciated by the applicants for relief (they being usually good judges -of quality) that you may note a look of disappointment if the stock of -club bread has been exhausted, and a portion of one of the common loaves -bought for the purpose is substituted. The small broken bread in those -clean sacks is club bread also--the crumbs from rich men's tables, but -clean, and thoroughly good, fit for immediate addition to the soup, -which a hungry company of diners consume in a painfully short space of -time. - -They are not inhabitants of this district, either; comparatively few -come from the immediate neighbourhood, though, of course, some poor -families of the adjacent streets and alleys, and occasionally foreign -workmen--many of them adepts in artistic employments, who are in the -land of the stranger and in want--come here and have not only the help -of a meal, but the kind inquiry, the further aid that will sustain hope, -and enable them to look for work, and find the means of living. -Londoners from Kentish Town, Lambeth, Shoreditch, and Chelsea--poor -hungry men and women from all parts of the great city--find their way -here to obtain a dinner; and it is extremely unlikely that they would -leave even the least profitable employment and walk so far for the sake -of a basin of soup. Food alone is offered, not money, and there is -little probability of imposition when there is so little to be gained by -the attempt. But while the great cauldrons are being emptied, let us -hear what they do at this "Mont St. Bernard Hospice" at the Christmas -season. - -Here is a list of good things that were sent at Christmas-tide for a -special purpose:--A noble earl sent a sheep, if not more than one, and -other generous givers in kind--many of them manufacturers of or dealers -in the articles they contributed--forwarded loaves, biscuits, hams, -rice, flour, currants, raisins, ale, porter, cocoa, peas, and other -comfortable meats and drinks, so that there was a glorious distribution -to the poor on Christmas Eve, when 936 families were provided with a -Christmas dinner, consisting of 4 lbs. of beef, 3 lbs. of pudding, -bread, tea, and sugar, together with such other seasonable and most -acceptable gifts as were apportioned to them in accordance with the -number of their children and the quantity of miscellaneous eatables and -drinkables available for the purpose. - -But we have not quite done with it yet, for it is a hospice in fact, as -well as in name. Just as in the Newport Market Refuge, the houseless and -destitute are received with little question--the homeless and friendless -are here taken in after little inquiry, even the subscriber's ticket for -admission being occasionally dispensed with, when Mr. Stevens, the -superintendent, sees an obviously worthy case among the applicants who -come to ask for a meal. It must be remembered, however, that an -experienced eye can detect the casual very readily, and that Mr. -Stevens, who served with his friend Mr. Ramsden, of Newport Market, when -they were both in the army, is as smart a detective as that shrewd and -compassionate officer. It is so much the better for those who are really -deserving--so much the better even for those who, being ashamed to dig, -are not ashamed to beg--the ne'er-do-weels who, even in the degradation -of poverty brought about by idleness and dissipation, come down to -solicit food and shelter, and find both, together with ready help, if -they will mend their ways. There are some such, but not many: more often -a man of education, broken by misfortune, and perhaps by the loss of a -situation through failure or accident beyond his control, finds himself -starving and desolate. Such men have come here, and found, first, food, -then a lavatory, then a bed in a good-sized room, where only seven or -eight persons are received to sleep, then a confidential talk, advice, -the introduction to people willing and able to help them among the -committee and subscribers of the Institution. - -It may be a French tutor destitute in London, but with his character and -ability beyond doubt; it may be, it _has_ been, a young foreign artist; -a skilled labourer from the country, who has come to London to find work -and finds want instead; a poor school-teacher who, having lost an -appointment, and being unable to work at any other calling, is in -despair, and knows not where to turn; an honest fellow, ready and -willing to turn his hand to anything, but finding nothing to which he -can turn his hand without an introduction. Such are the cases which are -received at this hospice in Ham Yard, where they are permitted to remain -for a day or two, or even for a week or two, till they find work, or -till somebody can make inquiries about them and help them to what they -seek. - -About seven men and eight women can be received within the walls, but -there are seldom the full number there, because it is necessary to -discriminate carefully. The object is to relieve immediate and painful -distress, and to give that timely aid which averts starvation by the -gift of food, and prevents the degradation of pauperism by means of -advice, assistance, and just so much support as will give the stricken -and friendless men or women time to recover from the first stupor of -hopelessness or the dread of perishing, and at the same time afford the -opportunity of proving that they are ready and willing to begin anew, -with the consciousness that they have not been left desolate. - - - - -_GIVING REST TO THE WEARY._ - - -We have not yet done with this wonderful district of Soho. It is one of -those attractive quarters of London, which is interesting alike for its -historical associations and for memorable houses that were once -inhabited by famous men. In essays, letters, fiction--all through that -period which has been called the Augustan age of English literature--we -find allusions to it; and after that time it continued to be the -favourite resort of artists, men of letters, wealthy merchants, and not -a few statesmen and eminent politicians. In Leicester Square, Hogarth -laughed, moralised, and painted. The house of Sir Joshua Reynolds stands -yet in that now renovated space, and a well-known artist has a studio -there to-day. But the tide of fashion has receded since powdered wigs -and sedan chairs disappeared. The tall stately houses are many of them -dismantled, or are converted into manufactories and workshops. The great -iron extinguishers which still adorn the iron railings by the doorsteps -have nearly rusted away. It must be a century since the flambeaux -carried by running footmen were last thrust into them, when great -rumbling, creaking coaches drew up and landed visitors before the -dimly-lighted portals. Silence and decay are the characteristics of many -a once goodly mansion; and the houses themselves are not unfrequently -associated with the relief of that poverty which is everywhere so -apparent as to appeal to almost every form of charity. Before one such -house we are standing now, its quietly opening door revealing a broad -lofty hall, from which a great staircase, with heavy baluster of black -oak and panelled walls leads to the spacious rooms above. This mansion -is historical, too, in its way, for we are at the corner of Soho Square, -in Greek Street, and are about to enter what was once the London -residence of the famous Alderman Beckford, and his equally famous -son--the man who inherited the mysterious and gorgeously furnished -palace at Fonthill, the author of "Vathek," the half-recluse who bought -Gibbon's extensive library at Lausanne, that he might have "something to -amuse him when he went that way," and afterwards went that way, read -himself nearly blind, and then made a friend a present of all the books, -sold Fonthill, went abroad, and set about building another mysterious -castle in a strange land. - -In that big committee-room on the first floor, which we shall visit -presently, there was to be seen, four or five years ago, a stupendous -chimney-piece of oak, elaborately carved, and said to have been a -masterpiece of Grinling Gibbons. It was taken down and sold for a -handsome sum of money, to augment the funds of the Institution which now -occupies the old mansion, for the door at which we enter receives other -guests than those who once thronged it--suffering, depressed, -poverty-stricken, weary men and women, who come here to seek the rest -that is offered to them in the quiet rooms--the restoration of meat and -drink and refreshing sleep, the comfort of hopeful words and friendly -aid. It is named "The House of Charity," and the work that its -supporters have set themselves to do is carried on so silently--I had -almost said so secretly--that the stillness you observe within the -building, as we stand here waiting for the lady who superintends the -household, is suggestive alike of the repose which is essential to the -place, and of a severe earnestness not very easy to define. - -Members of the same committee, whose earnest hearty work is apparent at -Newport Market and at the Soup Kitchen in Ham Yard, are helping this -House of Charity, which has the Archbishop of Canterbury for its patron -and the Bishop of London for its visitor. - -Here, in the two large sitting-rooms opening from the hall, we may see -part of what is being done, in giving rest to the weary and upholding -them who are ready to faint. One is for men, the other for women, who -have been received as inmates, for periods extending from a fortnight to -a longer time, according to the necessities of each case, and the -probability of obtaining suitable employment. Of course the aid is -intended to be only temporary--though in some peculiar cases it is -continued till the applicant recovers from weakness following either -uninfectious illness or want. There can be, of course, no actual -sick-nursing here; but in a warm and comfortable upper room, near the -dormitory, which we shall see presently--a room which is the day-nursery -of a few children who are also admitted--I have seen young women, one -who was suffering from a consumptive cough, another an out-patient at an -hospital for disease of the hip, and wearing an instrument till she -could be admitted as a regular case. They were both sitting cosily at -their tea, and were employed at needlework, as most of the women are who -find here a temporary home. For it is one of the beneficent results of -an influential committee, that a number of cases are sent to hospitals -or to convalescent homes, and so are restored; but till this can be done -they are fed and tended--fed with food more delicate than that of the -ordinary meal--and are allowed to rest in peace and to regain strength. - -But we are still in the men's sitting-room, where several poor fellows -are looking at the lists of advertisements in the newspapers for some -announcement of a vacant situation. A supply of books is also provided -both for men and women, and the latter are just now engaged in mending -or making their clothes. - -Between thirty and forty inmates can be received at one time, and those -who are in search of employment, or who require to go out during the -day, may leave the house after breakfast, and return either to dinner or -to tea. There are, indeed, few restrictions when once preliminary -inquiries and the recommendation of a member of the committee result in -the admission of an applicant; and it is easy to see how deeply and -thankfully many of these poor depressed men and women, beaten in the -battle of life, with little hope of regaining a foothold, weak, -dispirited, destitute, and with no strength left to struggle under the -burden that weighs them down, find help and healing, food and sleep, -advice, and very often a recommendation which places them once more in a -position of comfort and independence. A large proportion of those who -are admitted are provided with situations either permanently or for a -period long enough to enable them to turn round the difficult corner -from poverty and dependence to useful and appropriate employment. Some -are sent to Homes, hospitals, or orphanages, and many return to their -own homes. From those homes they have wandered, hoping to find the world -easier than it has proved to be, and in going back to them they have -fallen by the wayside. - -There are sometimes remarkable varieties here--emigrants waiting for -ships to sail that will bear them to another land; men of education, -such as tutors, engineers, engravers, and professional men, who have -been unsuccessful, or have lost their position, often through no -immediate fault of their own. Of course, the large class of genteel -poverty is largely represented in the five or six hundred cases which -make the average number of yearly inmates. Clerks, shopmen, and -travellers are about as numerous as servants, porters, and pages. Poor -women, many of whom are ladies by birth or previous position and -education, find the House of Charity a refuge indeed, and feel that the -person who has charge of the household arrangements, as well as those -who have charge of the inmates, the accounts and correspondence, may be -appealed to with an assurance of true sympathy. Here, beside the two -sitting-rooms, is a large room which we will call the refectory; it is -plainly furnished, with separate tables for men and women, and the -quantity and description of the food supplied is such as would be -provided in a respectable and well-ordered family--tea or coffee and -plenty of good bread-and-butter morning and evening, meat, bread and -vegetables, for dinner, and a supper of bread and cheese. There are no -"rations," nor any special limit as to quantity, and if one could forget -the distress which brings them hither, the family might be regarded as -belonging to some comfortable business establishment, with good plain -meals and club-room on each side the dining-hall for meeting in after -working hours. - -Let us go upstairs, and look at the dormitories, which occupy -respectively the right and left side of the building, and we shall see -that they are so arranged as to secure that privacy, the want of which -would be most repulsive to persons of superior condition. Each long and -lofty room is divided into a series of enclosures or cabins by -substantial partitions about eight feet high, and in each of these -separate rooms--all of which are lighted by several windows or by -gas-branches in the main apartment--there is a neat comfortable bed and -bedstead, with space for a box, a seat, and a small table or shelf. - -A resident chaplain or warden conducts morning and evening prayer in the -chapel, which is built on part of the open area at the back of the -building; and I would have you consider, not only that to many of these -weary souls this sacred spot may come to be associated with that outcome -to renewed life for which their presence in the Institution gives them -reason to hope, but that it is most desirable for the invalids, who -frequently form so large a portion of the congregation, to be able to -attend worship without practically leaving the house. - -Not only because of the sick and the physically feeble, however, does -the House of Charity represent a work that needs vast extension. - -The case-book would reveal a series of stories none the less affecting -because they are entered plainly, briefly, and without waste of words. -They need few touches of art to make them painfully interesting. They -tell of ladies, wives of professional men, brought to widowhood and -sudden poverty; of men of education cast adrift through failure or false -friendship, and not knowing where to seek bread; of children left -destitute or deserted under peculiar circumstances; of women removed -from persecution, and girls from the tainted atmosphere of vice; of -weary wanderers who, in despair of finding such a shelter, and dreading -the common lodging-house, have spent nights in the parks; of foreigners -stranded on the shore of a strange city; of ministers of the gospel -brought low; of friendless servant-girls, ill-treated, defrauded of -their wages, or discharged almost penniless, and cast loose amidst the -whirlpool of London streets. - -But, as I have already intimated, it is not alone for its temporary aid -in affording a home that the House of Charity is distinguished; it -affords a good hope also, by seeking to obtain situations, for cases -where peculiar circumstances make such a search difficult--for bereaved -and impoverished ladies, and for educated men, as well as for domestic -servants and ordinary employés. Its supporters give their special aid to -the work, and, as they number amongst them many ladies and gentlemen of -considerable social influence, employment is frequently found for those -whose misfortunes would otherwise be almost irretrievable. - - - - -_WITH THE POOR AND NEEDY._ - - -"All hope abandon, ye who enter here," would, as we might fancy, be an -appropriate inscription for many a wretched court and alley in the -greatest and most opulent city in the world--a city distinguished for -its claims to be regarded as the centre of civilisation; as the exemplar -of benevolence, and of active Christianity. It is one of the marvellous -results of the vast extent of this metropolis of England that there are -whole districts of foul dwellings crowded with a poverty-stricken -population, which yet are almost ignored, so far as public recognition -of their existence is concerned. Legislation itself does not reach them, -in the sense of compelling the strict observance of Acts of Parliament -framed and presumably enforced for the purpose of maintaining sanitary -conditions; philanthropy almost stands appalled at the difficulty of -dealing with a chronic necessity so widely spread, a misery and -ignorance so deep and apparently impregnable; sentimentalism sighs and -turns away with a shiver, or is touched to the extent of relieving its -overcharged susceptibilities by the comfortable expedient of the -smallest subscription to some association in the neighbourhood. True, -active, practical religion alone, of all the agencies that have operated -in these places, gains ground inch by inch, and at last exercises a -definite and beneficial influence, by taking hold of the hearts and -consciences of the people themselves, and working from within the area -of vice and misery, till the law of love, beginning to operate where the -law of force had no influence, a change, gradual but sure, here a little -and there a little, is effected. - -We are continually hearing of the "dwellings of the poor;" and can -scarcely take up a newspaper without noting the phrase, "one of the -worst neighbourhoods in London," connected with some report of crime, -outrage, or suffering; yet how few of us are really familiar with the -actual abodes of the more degraded and miserable of our fellow-citizens! -how quickly, how gladly, we dismiss from our memory the account of an -inquest where the evidence of the cause of death of some unfortunate -man, woman, or child, without a natural share of light, air, food, and -water, reveals hideous details of want and wretchedness, which we might -witness only a few streets off, and yet are unconscious of their -nearness to us in mere physical yards and furlongs, because they are so -far from us spiritually, in our lack of sympathy and compassion. - -Even at the time that these lines are being written I have before me a -report of an examination by the coroner into the circumstances attending -the death of a woman seventy years of age, who obtained a miserable and -precarious living by stay-making, and who was found dead in the back -kitchen of a house. Her death was alleged to have been brought about by -the unhealthiness of the house in which she lived, although the landlord -was a medical officer of health for one of the metropolitan districts. - -In this case the alleged landlord, who was actually a medical officer of -health, answered the charge made against him by the statement that he -had only just come into possession of the property, and had at once set -about putting it in repair. It is to be hoped that this was the case, -and, indeed, the evidence of the sanitary inspector went to show that it -was so; but the question remains: How is it that dwellings are permitted -to be thus overcrowded, and to become actual centres of pestilence in -the midst of entire neighbourhoods, where, for one foul tenement to have -an infamous reputation amidst such general filth and dilapidation, it -must indeed be, as one member of the jury said this place was, "so bad, -that no gentleman would keep his dog there?" - -Keep his dog indeed! Why I know whole rows and congeries of intersecting -courts and alleys where a country squire would no more think of -kennelling his hounds than he would dream of stabling his horses! There -has during the past few years been a tolerably determined stand made -against the introduction of pigsties into the back-yards of some of the -hovels about Mile End and Bethnal Green; and though cow-sheds are not -altogether abolished everywhere in close and overbuilt localities, there -are some precautions taken to diminish the sale of infected milk by an -inspection of the laystalls, and the enforcement of lime-whiting and -ventilation in the sheds. Costermongers' donkeys are the only animals -besides dogs and cats which are commonly to be found in London slums -now, and as these can be stowed in any shanty just outside the back -door, or can be littered down in a spare corner of a cellar, they -remain, in costermongering districts, without much opposition on the -part of the local authorities. For, after all, what can these -authorities do? Under the 35th section of the Sanitary Act, power was -given to them to register all houses let out by non-resident landlords, -who were under a penalty of forty shillings for not keeping their houses -in repair, well supplied with water, drainage clear, &c. To those who -have an intimate acquaintance with the density of population in whole -acreages of London slums, there is something almost ludicrous in these -words, especially when they are read in the light of the fact that the -landlords of such places are frequently parochial magnates or officials -who know how to make things pleasant with subordinate sanitary -inspectors. - -What may be the ultimate result of an Act of Parliament "for improving -the dwellings of the poor" it is not at present easy to say; but -assuredly any plan which commences by a general and imperfectly -discriminative destruction of existing houses, hovels though they may -be, will only have the effect of crowding more closely the already -fœtid and swarming tenements where, for half-a crown a week, eight or -ten people eat, live, and sleep in a single apartment. It was only the -other day, in a district of which I shall presently speak more -definitely, that a "mission woman" was called in to the aid of a family, -consisting of a man, his wife, his wife's brother--who was there as a -lodger--and five or six children, all of whom occupied one room, where -the poor woman had just given birth to an infant. The place was almost -destitute of furniture; beds of straw and shavings, coverlets of old -coats and such ragged clothing as could be spared; little fire and -little food. Such destitution demanded that the "maternity box," or a -suddenly-extemporised bag of baby-clothing and blankets, should be -fetched at once; and though the mission there is a poor one, with -terrible needs to mitigate, a constant demand for personal work and -noble self-sacrifice, such cases are every-day events, such demands -always to be answered by some kind of helpful sympathy, even though the -amount of relief afforded is necessarily small and temporary in -character. - -Not in one quarter of London alone, but dotted here and there throughout -its vastly-extending length and breadth--from St. Pancras, and further -away northward, to Bethnal Green and all that great series of -poverty-stricken townships and colonies of casual labour, on the east; -from the terrible purlieux of Southwark, the districts where long rows -of silent houses, in interminable streets, chill the unaccustomed -wayfarer with vague apprehensions, where "Little Hell" and the knots and -tangles of that "Thief-London" which has found a deplorable Alsatia in -the purlieux of the Borough and of Bermondsey; and so round the -metropolitan circle, westward to the neighbourhood of aristocratic -mansions and quiet suburban retreats, where the garotter skulks and the -burglar finds refuge; further towards the centre of the town, in -Westminster, not a stone's-throw from the great legislative assembly, -which, while it debates in St. Stephen's on sanitation and the -improvement of dwellings, scarcely remembers all that may be seen in St. -Peter's, about Pye Street, and remembers Seven Dials and St Giles's only -as traditional places, where "modern improvements" have made a clean -sweep, just as the Holborn Viaduct and the metropolitan Railway swept -away Field Lane, and the new meat market at Smithfield put an end for -ever to the horrible selvage of Cloth Fair--and only left the legends of -Jonathan Wild's rookery and the "blood-bowl house." - -But the very mention of these places brings the reflection that not in -outlying districts, but in the very heart of London, in the core of the -great city itself, the canker of misery, poverty, and vice is festering -still. What is the use of eviction, when the law punishes houselessness, -and the _Poor_ Law cannot meet any sudden demand, nor maintain any -continuous claim on the part of the houseless? Summarily to thrust a -score or so of wretched families into the streets is to make them either -criminals or paupers. They must find some place of shelter; and if they -are to live _by_ their labour, they must live _near_ their labour, the -wages of which are, at best, only just sufficient to procure for them -necessary food and covering for their bodies. - -In the neighbourhood to which I have already referred, four thousand -evictions have taken place, or, at any rate, the population has -diminished from 22,000 to 18,000, because of a small section of a large -puzzle map of courts and alleys having been taken down in order to build -great blocks of warehouses. The consequence is, that in the remaining -tangle of slums the people herd closer, and that a large number of poor -lodgers have gone to crowd other tenements not far distant, and which -were already peopled beyond legal measure. - -For this acreage of vice and wretchedness of which I speak is close to -the great city thoroughfares--almost within sound of Bow Bells. It is -about a quarter of a mile in extent each way, lying between the -Charterhouse and St. Luke's, close to the new meat market at Smithfield -on one side, and Finsbury Square on the other. One entrance to it is -directly through Golden Lane, Barbican; the other close to Bunhill -Fields burial ground, along a passage which bears the significant name -of "Chequer Alley." It is a maze of intersecting and interlocking -courts, streets, and alleys, some of them without any thoroughfare, some -reached by ascending or descending steps, many of them mere tanks, the -walls of which are represented by hovels inhabited by costermongers, -French-polishers, dock-labourers, chair-makers, workers at all kinds of -underpaid labour and poor handicrafts. Many of the women go out to work -at factories, or at charing, and the children are--or at least -were--left to the evil influences of the streets, till another and a -more powerful influence began to operate, slowly, but with the impetus -of faith and love, to touch even this neglected and miserable quarter of -London with "the light that lighteth every man." - -In this square quarter of a mile--which, starting from the edge of -Aldersgate, stretches to the further main thoroughfare abutting on the -pleasant border of the City Road, and includes the northern end of -Whitecross Street--there are eighty public-houses and beer-shops! - -I tell you this much, as we stand here at the entrance of Golden Lane, -but I have no intention just now to take you on a casual visit either to -the dens of wretchedness and infamy, or to the homes where poverty -abides. I must try to let you see what has been done, and is still -doing, to bring to both that Gospel which is alone efficient to change -the conditions, by changing the hearts and motives of men. I may well -avoid any description of the places which lie on either hand, for, in -fact, there is nothing picturesque in such misery, nothing specially -sensational in such crime. It is all of a sordid miserable sort; all on -a dreary dead-level of wretchedness and poverty, full of poor shifts and -expedients, or of mean brutality and indifference. There is no -show-place to which you could be taken, as it is said curious gentlemen -were at one time conducted to the dens of the mendicants, thieves, and -highwaymen of old London. Even in the tramps' kitchen the orgies, if -there are any, are of so low a kind that they would be depressing in -their monotonous degradation. - -Let us go farther, and enter this strange wilderness by its fitting -passage of Chequer Alley, so that we may, as it were, see the beginning -of the work that has been going on with more or less power for more than -thirty years. - -I think I have some acquaintance with what are the worst neighbourhoods -of London. I have made many a journey down East; have studied some of -the strange varieties of life on the shore amidst the water-side -population; have lived amidst the slums of Spitalfields, and passed -nights "Whitechapel way;" but never in any unbroken area of such extent -have I seen so much that is suggestive of utter poverty, so much -privation of the ordinary means of health and decency, as on a journey -about this district which I long ago named "The Chequers." Each court -and blind alley has the same characteristics--the same look of utter -poverty, the same want of air and light, the same blank aspect of dingy -wall and sunken doorsteps, the same square areas surrounded by hovels -with clothes'-lines stretched from house to house, almost unstirred by -any breeze that blows, shut in as they are in close caverns, only to be -entered by narrow passages between blank walls. It is the extent of this -one solid district, almost in the very centre of City life, that is so -bewildering, and wherein lies its terrible distraction. - -The labour of reformation has begun, but the labourers are few. For more -than thirty years some efforts have been going on to redeem this -neglected and unnoticed neighbourhood, which lies so near to, and yet so -far from London's heart. - -Let it be noted that this moral effort had gone on for nearly -twenty-nine years before any very definite attempt was made to improve -the physical condition of the place. - -In 1841 a tract distributor, Miss Macarthy, began an organised endeavour -to teach the depraved inhabitants of Chequer Alley. In 1869, a sanitary -surveyor, reporting on _one_ of the courts of this foul district, -recommended that the premises there should be demolished under the -"Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Act," because the floors and -ceilings were considerably out of level, some of the walls saturated -with filth and water, the others broken and falling down, doors, -window-sashes and frames rotten, stairs dilapidated and dangerous, roof -leaky and admitting the rain, no provisions for decency, and a foul and -failing water supply. - -The "pulling-down" remedy, without any simultaneous building up, has -been extended since then in a locality where a model lodging-house, -which has been erected, has stood for years almost unoccupied, because -like all model lodging-houses in such neighbourhoods, neither the -provisions nor the rentals are adapted to meet the wants and the means -of the poorest, of whom, as I have already said, a whole family cannot -afford to pay more than the rental for a single room, or two rooms at -the utmost. - -But we are wandering away from the work that we came to see. Look at -that wistful young native, standing there quite close to the mouth of -Chequer Alley. Ask him what is that sound of children's voices from a -casually-opened doorway, and he will tell you "It's our school; yer kin -go in, sir, if yer like--anybody kin." As the name of the institution is -"Hope Schools for All," his invitation is doubtless authorised, and we -may well feel that we have made a mistake in thinking of the Italian -poet's hopeless line, for out of the doorway there comes a sound of -singing, and inside the doorway is a room containing fifty or sixty -"infants," seated on low forms, and many of them such bright, rosy--yes, -rosy--clean--yes, comparatively, if not superlatively clean--little -creatures, that hope itself springs to fresh life in their presence. It -is thirty-four years since Miss Macarthy, with an earnest desire to -initiate some work of charity and mercy, resolved to become a -distributor of tracts, and the district she chose was this same foul -tangle to which I have asked you to accompany me. Bad as the whole -neighbourhood is now, it was worse then. It was never what is called a -thief-quarter, but many juvenile thieves haunted it; and the men were as -ruffianly and abusive, the women as violent and evil-tongued as any who -could be found in all London. Instead of being paved, and partially and -insufficiently drained, it was a fœtid swamp, with here and there a -pool where ducks swam, while the foul odours of the place were -suffocating. No constable dare enter far into the maze without a -companion. But the tract distributor ventured. In the midst of an -epidemic of typhus, or what is known as "poverty" fever, she went about -among the people, and strove to fix their attention on the message that -she carried. The religious services commenced in a rat-catcher's "front -parlour," and at first the congregation broke into the hymns with scraps -and choruses of songs. The crowd which collected outside not only -interrupted the proceedings, but threatened those who conducted them -with personal violence, and even assaulted them, and heaped insult upon -them; but the lady who had put her hand to the plough would not turn -back. In the midst of her patient and difficult work she herself was -stricken down with fever. She had visited and tended those who were -suffering. When the question was asked what had become of her, the -barbarous people learnt that she was like to die. Perhaps this touched -the hearts of some of them, for she had begun to live down the brutal -opposition of those who could not believe in unselfish endeavours to -benefit them. She recovered, however; and supported by others, who gave -both money and personal effort, the beneficent work went on. - -In this large room where the children are singing we have an example of -what has been effected. Some of the little creatures are pale, and have -that wistful look that goes to the heart; but there are few of them that -have not clean faces, and who do not show in the scanty little dresses -some attempt at decent preparation for meeting "the guv'ness." - -There is a school for elder children also; and in the ramshackle old -house where the classes are held there are appliances which mark the -wide application of the beneficent effort that has grown slowly but -surely, not only in scope, but in its quiet influence upon the people -amidst whom it was inaugurated. Yonder, in a kind of covered yard, is a -huge copper, the honoured source of those "penny dinners," and those -quarts and gallons of soup which have been such a boon to the -neighbourhood, where food is scarce, and dear. Then there was the -Christmas dinner, at which some hundreds of little guests were supplied -with roast meat and pudding, evidences of how much may be effected -within a very small space. Indeed, this Hope School, with its two or -three rooms, is at work day and night; for not only are the children -taught--children not eligible for those Board schools which, unless the -board itself mitigates its technical demands, will shut up this and -similar institutions before any provision is made for transferring the -children to the care of a Government department--but there are "mothers' -meetings," sewing classes, where poor women can obtain materials at cost -price, and be taught to make them into articles of clothing. There are -also adult classes, and Sunday evening services for those who would -never appear at church or chapel but for such an easy transition from -their poor homes to the plain neighbourly congregation assembled there. -There are evenings, too, when lectures, dissolving views, social teas, -and pleasant friendly meetings bring the people together with humanising -influences. It becomes a very serious question for the London School -Board to consider whether, by demanding that ragged schools such as this -shall be closed if they do not show a certain technical standard of -teaching, the means of partially feeding and clothing, which are in such -cases inseparable from instructing, shall be destroyed. - -But here is a youthful guide--a shambling, shock-headed lad, with only -three-quarters of a pair of shoes, and without a cap, who is to be our -guide to another great work, on the Golden Lane side of this great -zigzag, to the "Costermongers' Mission," in fact. You may follow him -with confidence, for he is a Hope School-boy--and that means something, -even in Chequer Alley. - -Still threading our way through those dim alleys, where each one looks -like a _cul-de-sac_, but yet may be the devious entrance to another more -foul and forbidding, we leave the "Hope-for-All" Mission Room resounding -with infant voices, all murmuring the simple lessons of the day. That -room is seldom empty, because of the evening school where a large class -of older pupils are taught, reading, writing, and arithmetic; the adult -class, and the "mothers' meeting," to which poor women are invited that -they may be assisted to make garments for themselves and their children -from materials furnished for them at a cheap rate in such quantities as -their poor savings can purchase. The visiting "Bible woman" is the chief -agent in these works of mercy, since she brings parents and children to -the school, and reports cases of severe distress to be relieved when -there are funds for the purpose. Not only by teaching and sewing, -however, are the hopeful influences of the place supported, for, as I -have said already, in this big room the people of the district are -invited to assemble to listen to lectures, readings, and music, to see -dissolving views; and in the summer, when fields are in their beauty and -the hedge-rows are full of glory, there is an excursion into the country -for the poor, little, pallid children, while, strangest sight of all, a -real "flower show" is, or was, held in Chequer Alley. One could almost -pity the flowers, if we had any pity to spare from the stunted buds and -blossoms of humanity who grow pale and sicken and so often die in this -foul neighbourhood. - -But we have strange sights yet to see, so let us continue our excursion -in and out, and round and round, not without some feeling of giddiness -and sickness of heart, through the "Pigeons"--a tavern, the passage of -which is itself a connecting link between two suspicious-looking -courts--round by beershops all blank and beetling, and silent; past -low-browed doorways and dim-curtained windows of tramps' kitchens, and -the abodes of more poverty, misery, and it may be crime, than you will -find within a similar space in any neighbourhood in London, or out of -it, except perhaps in about five streets "down East," or in certain dens -of Liverpool and Manchester. - -One moment. You see where a great sudden gap appears to have been made -on one side of Golden Lane. That gap represents houses pulled down to -erect great blocks of building for warehouses or factories, and it also -represents the space in which above 4,000 people lived when the -population of this square quarter of mile of poverty and dirt was 22,000 -souls. This will give you some idea of the consequences of making what -are called "clean sweeps," by demolishing whole neighbourhoods before -other dwellings are provided for the evicted tenants. One result of this -method of improving the dwellings of the poor is that the people crowd -closer, either in their own or in some adjacent neighbourhood, where -rents are low and landlords are not particular how many inmates lodge in -a single room. Remember that whole families can only earn just enough to -keep them from starving, and cannot afford to pay more than half-a-crown -or three-and-sixpence a week for rent. They must live near their work, -or they lose time, and time means pence, and pence represent the -difference between eating and fasting. - -"The model lodging-house!" See, there is one, and it is nearly empty. -How should it be otherwise? The proprietors of such places, whether they -be philanthropists or speculators--and they are not likely to be the -latter--can never see a return of any profitable percentage on their -outlay while they enforce necessary sanitary laws. The top-rooms are -half-a-crown a week each, and the lower "sets" range from about six -shillings for two to eight-and-sixpence for three rooms. The consequence -is that the few tenants in this particular building are frequently -changing their quarters. Some of them try it, and fall into arrear, and -are ejected, or want to introduce whole families into a single room, as -they do in these surrounding courts and alleys, and this, of course, is -not permitted. Imagine one vast building crowded at the same rate as -some of these two-storeyed houses are! Ask the missionary, whose duty -takes her up scores of creaking staircases, to places where eight or ten -human beings eat, drink, sleep, and even work, in one small room--where -father, mother, children, and sometimes also a brother or sister-in-law, -herd together, that they may live on the common earnings; places where -children are born, and men, women, and children die; and the new-born -babe must be clothed by the aid of the "maternity box," and the dead -must be buried by the help of money advanced to pay for the plainest -decent funeral. - -I do not propose to take you to any of these sights. You could do little -good unless you became familiar with them, and entered into the work of -visitation. Even in the published reports of the organisation to which -we are now going, the "cases" are not dwelt upon, only one or two are -given from the experiences of the missionary, and she speaks of them -simply as examples of the kind of destitution which characterises a -district where deplorable poverty is the result sometimes of drink, or -what, for want of a word applicable to the saving of pence, is termed -improvidence; but frequently also, because of sickness, and the want -even of poorly-paid employment. "In such cases," says the report, -"almost everything is parted with to procure food and shelter _outside_ -the workhouse." - -One of the two "ordinary" cases referred to was that of a poor woman who -was "found lying on a sack of shavings on the floor, with an infant two -days old; also a child lying dead from fever, and two other children -crying for food. None had more than a solitary garment on. The smell of -the room was such that the missionary was quite overcome until she had -opened the window. Clean linen was obtained, and their temporal and -spiritual wants at once looked after." This was in the Report of above a -year ago; but cases only just less distressing occur daily still. This -foul and neglected district, which lies like an ulcer upon the great -opulent city, the centre of civilization and benevolence, seems to be as -far from us as though it were a part of some savage or semi-heathen land -under British influence. Indeed, in the latter case, there would be a -probability of more earnest effort on behalf of the benighted people, on -whose behalf meetings would perhaps be held, and a committee of inquiry -and distribution appointed. Still, let us be thankful that something is -done. Twenty-nine poor mothers have had the benefit of the maternity -fund and clothing, the Report tells us. "They are very grateful for this -assistance in their terrible need. Frequently the distress is so great -that two changes of clothing are given to mother and babe, or they would -be almost entirely denuded when the time arrived for returning the -boxes. Our lady subscribers at a distance may be glad to know that -blankets, sheets, flannel petticoats, warm shawls, and babies' clothing -will always be acceptable." Thus writes Mrs. Orsman on the subject, for -the mission is known as the Golden Lane Mission, and more popularly as -"Mr. Orsman's Mission to the Costermongers." Perhaps these words -scarcely denote the scope of the work; but costermongers must be taken -as a representative term in a district where, in an area of a square -quarter of a mile, there are, or recently were, eighty public-houses and -beershops, and a dense mass of inhabitants, including street-traders or -hucksters, labourers, charwomen, road-sweepers, drovers, French -polishers, artificial flower-makers, toy-makers, with what is now a -compact and really representative body of costermongers, working -earnestly enough to keep to the right way, and, as they always did, -forming a somewhat distinctive part of the population. - -Sixteen years ago, Mr. Orsman began the work of endeavouring to carry -the gospel to the rough-and-ready savages of this benighted field for -missionary enterprise. He held an official appointment, and this was his -business "after office hours." About the results of his own labour he -and his Reports are modestly reticent, but at all events it began to -bear fruit. Others joined in it; a regular mission was established, and, -with vigorous growth, shot out several branches, so wisely uniting what -may be called the secular or temporal with the spiritual and religious -interest, that the Bread of Life was not altogether separated from that -need for the bread which perishes. These branches are full of sap -to-day, and one of them is also full of promising buds and blossoms, if -we are to judge of the rows of ragged--but not unhappy--urchins who fill -this large room or hall of the Mission-house. - -It is only the first-floor of two ordinary houses knocked into one, but -a great work is going on. The parochial school was once held here, and -now the room is full of children who might still be untaught but for the -effort which made the Ragged School a first consideration in an -endeavour to redeem the whole social life of the district. Wisely -enough, the School Board accepted the aid which this free day-school for -ragged and nearly destitute children affords to a class which the -Education Act has not yet taught us how to teach. - -In four years, out of ninety-five boys and girls who entered situations -from this school, only one was dismissed for dishonesty, and it was -afterwards found that he was the dupe of the foreman of the place at -which he worked. - -Well may Mr. Harwood, the school superintendent, be glad in the labour -that he has learnt to love in spite of all the sordid surroundings. -There is life in the midst of these dim courts--a ragged-school and a -church, which is poor, but not, strictly speaking, ragged. In fact, "the -patching class" for ragged boys, which meets on Thursdays, from five to -seven in the afternoon, remedies even the tattered garments of the poor -little fellows, who, having only one suit, must take off their -habiliments in order to mend them. Occasional gifts of second-hand -clothes are amongst the most useful stock of the schoolmaster, as -anybody may believe who sees the long rows of children, many of them, -like our juvenile guide, with two odd boots, which are mere flaps of -leather, and attire which it would be exaggeration to call a jacket and -trousers. - -The school-room is also the church and the lecture-hall. It will hold -300 people; and the Sunday-evening congregation fills it thoroughly, -while, on week-nights, special services, and frequently lectures, -entertainments, and attractive social gatherings bring the costers and -their friends in great force. - -The chief of the costermongers is the Earl of Shaftesbury; and here, -standing as it were at livery in a quiet corner of a shanty close to the -coal-shed, is the earl's barrow, emblazoned with his crest. This -remarkable vehicle, and a donkey complimentarily named the "Earl," which -took a prize at a Golden Lane donkey show, designate his lordship as -president of the "Barrow Club," a flourishing institution, intended to -supersede the usurious barrow-lenders, who once let out these necessary -adjuncts to the costermongering business at a tremendous hire. Now the -proprietors of the barrows, going on the hire and ultimate -purchase-system, are prospering greatly. There are free evening classes, -mothers' meetings, a free lending library, a free singing class, a penny -savings bank, dinners to destitute children, numbering more than 10,000 -a year, a soup-kitchen, tea-meetings, and other agencies, all of which -are kept going morning, noon, and night, within the narrow limits of -these two houses made into one. It is here, too, that the annual meeting -is held, an account of which every year filters through the newspapers -to the outer world--"The Costermongers' Annual Tea-Party." The records -of this united and earnest assembly have been so recently given to the -public, that I need not repeat them to you as we stand here in the lower -rooms, whence the big cakes, the basins of tea, the huge sandwiches of -bread and beef, were conveyed to the 200 guests. But as we depart, after -shaking Mr. Harwood by the hand, let me remind you that it has been by -the hearty, human, living influence of religion that these results have -been effected. The stones of scientific or secular controversy have not -been offered instead of food spiritual and temporal. The mission-hall -has been made the centre; and from it has spread various healing, -purifying, ameliorating influences. From this we may well take a lesson -for the benefit of another organised effort which appeals to us for -help--that of the London City Mission. This institution is trying to -effect for various districts and several classes of the poor and -ignorant in and about London that introduction of religious teaching -which Mr. Orsman began with amongst the costermongers and others in the -benighted locality where now a clear light has begun to shine. - -At a recent meeting of the promoters of the City Mission work, held at -the Mansion House, it was stated that the 427 missionaries then employed -by the society were chosen without distinction, except that of fitness -for the office, from Churchmen, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, -Wesleyans, and Baptists, while the examining and appointing committee -were composed of thirteen clergymen of the Established Church and -thirteen Dissenting ministers. - -Anybody who is accustomed to visit the worst neighbourhoods of London -will know that these missionaries go where the regular clergy cannot -easily penetrate, and where even the parish doctor seldom lingers. Every -missionary visits once a month about 500 families, or 2,000 persons. -They read the Scriptures, exhort their listeners, hold prayer and Bible -meetings, distribute copies of the Scriptures, see that children go to -school, address the poor in rooms when they cannot persuade them to go -to church, visit and pray with the dying, lend books, hold open-air -services, endeavour to reclaim drunkards (1,546 were so restored during -the last year), admonish and frequently reclaim the vicious, raise the -fallen, and place them in asylums or induce them to return to their -homes, and work constantly for the great harvest of God to which they -are appointed. - -Then there are special missionaries appointed to visit bakers, cabmen, -drovers, omnibus men, soldiers, sailors, and foreigners of various -countries. They also go to tanneries, the docks, workhouses, hospitals, -and other places; and there is a vast harvest yet, without a sickle to -reap even a single sheaf. When will the time come, that, to the means -for carrying the sustaining comfort of the Word to men's souls, will be -added some means of helping them to realise it by such temporal aid as -will raise them from the want which paralyses and the degradation which -benumbs? - - - - -_GIVING THE FEEBLE STRENGTH._ - - -I have had occasion lately to take you with me to some of the worst -"parts of London." The phrase has become so common, that there is some -difficulty in deciding what it means; and we are obliged to come to the -conclusion, that in every quarter of this great metropolis, large and -lofty buildings, splendid mansions, gorgeous shops, and even stately -palaces, are but symbols of the partial and imperfect development of -true national greatness, and can scarcely be regarded as complete -evidences of genuine civilisation, if by that word we are to mean more -than was expressed by it in heathen times, and amidst pagan people. -Perhaps there is no more terrible reflection, amidst all the pomp and -magnificence, the vast commercial enterprise and constantly accumulating -wealth of this mighty city, than that here we may also find the extremes -of want and misery, of vice and poverty, of ignorance and suffering. -Side by side with all that makes material greatness--riches, learning, -luxury, extravagance--are examples of the deepest necessity and -degradation. "The rich and the poor" do indeed "meet together" in a very -sad sense. It would be well if the former would complete the text for -themselves, and take its meaning deep into their hearts. - -There is reason for devout thankfulness, however, that here and there -amidst the abodes of rich and poor alike, some building with special -characteristics may be seen; that not only the church but the charity -which represents practical religion does make vigorous protest against -the merely selfish heaping-up of riches without regard to the cry of the -poor. There are few neighbourhoods in which a Refuge for the homeless, a -soup-kitchen, a ragged-school, a "servants home," an orphanage, a -hospital or some asylum for the sick and suffering, does not relieve -that sense of neglect and indifference which is the first painful -impression of the thoughtful visitor to those "worst quarters," which -yet lie close behind the grand thoroughfares and splendid edifices that -distinguish aristocratic and commercial London. - -I have said enough for the present about those poverty-haunted districts -of Shoreditch, Spitalfields, and Bethnal Green, to warrant me in taking -you through them without further comment than suffices to call your -attention to the poorly-paid industries, the want and suffering, and the -too frequent neglect of the means of health and cleanliness which -unhappily distinguish them and the surrounding neighbourhoods lying -eastward. The weaver's colony can now scarcely be said to survive the -changes wrought by the removal of an entire industry from Spitalfields -to provincial manufactories, and the vast importations of foreign silks, -and yet there is in this part of London a great population of workers at -callings which are scarcely better paid than silk weaving had come to -be, previous to its comparative disappearance. - -Marvellous changes have been effected in the way of buildings and -improvements during the last thirty years, but much of the poverty and -sickness that belonged to these neighbourhoods remain. The looms may be -silent in the upper workshops with their wide leaden casements, but the -labour by which the people live seldom brings higher wages than suffice -for mere subsistence. The great building in which treasures of art and -science are collected is suggestive of some kind of recognition of the -need of the inhabitants for rational recreation and instruction, and -what is perhaps more to the purpose, it is also a recognition of their -desire for both; but it cannot be denied that the recognition has come -late, and has not been completely accompanied by those provisions for -personal comfort, health, and decency, which a stringent application of -existing laws might long ago have ensured in neighbourhoods that for -years were suffered to remain centres of pestilence. - -The greatest change ever effected in this quarter of London was that -which followed the formation of Victoria Park. That magnificent area, -with its lakes and islands, its glorious flower-beds and plantations, -its cricket-ground and great expanse of open field, made Bethnal Green -famous. There had always been a fine stretch of open country beyond what -was known as "the Green," on which the building of the Museum now -stands. A roadway between banks and hedges skirting wide fields led to -the open space where a queer old mansion could be seen amidst a few tall -trees, while beyond this again, across the canal bridge, were certain -country hostelries, one of them with what was, in that day, a famous -"tea-garden;" and, farther on, a few farms and some large old-fashioned -private residences stood amidst meadows, gardens, and cattle pastures, -on either side of the winding road leading away to the Hackney Marshes -and the low-lying fields beyond the old village of Homerton. It was on a -large portion of this rural area that Victoria Park was founded. Tavern -and farmhouse disappeared; the canal bridge was made ornamental; and -just beyond the queer old mansion that stood by the roadway, the great -stone and iron gates of "the people's pleasure-ground" were erected. - -Now, the mansion, to which I have already twice referred, was in fact -one of the few romantic buildings of the district, for it was what -remained of the house of the persecuting Bishop Bonner, and the four -most prominent of the tall trees--those having an oblong or pit -excavation of the soil at the foot of each--were traditionally the -landmarks of the martyrdom of four sisters who were there burnt at the -stake and buried in graves indicated by the hollows in the ground, which -popular superstition had declared could never be filled up. - -That they have been filled up long ago, and that on the site of the -ancient house itself another great building has been erected, you may -see to-day as we stand at the end of the long road leading to the -entrance of "the people's park." - -The abode of cruelty and bigotry has been replaced by one of the most -truly representative of all our benevolent institutions. The graves of -the martyred sisters might well take a new meaning if the spot could now -be discovered in the broad and beautifully planted garden, where feeble -men and women sun themselves into returning life and strength amidst the -gentle summer air blowing straight across from the broad woods of Epping -and Hainault miles away. - -The people's playground is fitly consummated by the people's hospital. -That the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, Victoria -Park, might well be called "the people's," is shown, not because it is -supported by state aid or by charitable endowment, on the contrary, it -depends entirely on those voluntary contributions and subscriptions -which have hitherto enabled it successfully to carry on a noble work, -but yet have only just sufficed to supply its needs, "from hand to -mouth." Yet it is essentially devoted to patients who belong to the -working population. Like the park itself it attracts crowds of visitors, -not only from the City, from Bethnal Green, Mile End, Poplar, Islington, -Camden Town, and other parts of London, but even from distant places -whence excursionists come to see and to enjoy it. This hospital receives -patients from every part of London, and even from distant country -places. There were seven inmates from York last year, as well as some -from Somerset, Hereford, Derby, Lincolnshire, Lancashire, Norfolk, -Suffolk, Huntingdon, Northampton, Wiltshire, and other counties; so that -in fact the districts of Bethnal Green, Spitalfields, and Shoreditch, -represented only a very small proportion of the 781 in-patients and the -13,937 out-patients, who were admitted to medical treatment during the -twelve months. More than this, however, amongst the contributions which -are made for the support of this hospital, there must be reckoned those -collected by working men of the district in their clubs and -associations, in token of the appreciation of benefits bestowed by such -an institution to failing men and women, wives and shopmates and -relatives, who being threatened or actually stricken down with one of -those diseases which sap the life and leave the body prostrate, require -prompt skill and medical aid, even if they are not in absolute need of -nourishing food and alleviating rest. - -Standing here, in front of this broad noble building, with its many -windows, its picturesque front of red brick and white stone, its central -tower, its sheltered garden-walks, and pleasant lawn, we may well feel -glad to hear that the work done within its wards is known and -recognised. What a work it is can only be estimated by those who -remember how fell is the disease from which so many of the patients -suffer, and how great a thing it has been, even where cures could not be -effected, usefully to prolong the lives of hundreds of those who must -have died but for timely aid. Nay, even at the least, the alleviation of -suffering to those on whom death had already laid his hand has been no -small thing; and when we know that of 240,000 out-patients who have -received advice and medicines, and 10,400 in-patients whose cases have -warranted their admission to the wards, a large number of actual cures -have been effected since the establishment of this hospital, we are -entitled to regard the institution as one of the most useful that we -have ever visited together. - -Let us enter, not by the handsome broad portico in the centre of the -building, but at the out-patients' door, in order that we may see the -two waiting-rooms, where men and women bring their letters of admission, -or attend to see one of the three consulting physicians. Of these three -gentlemen the senior is Dr. Peacock, of whom it may be said that he is -the organiser of the hospital, the efficiency of which is mainly due to -his direction. This is no small praise, I am aware, but there are so -many evidences of thorough unity and completeness in all the details of -management that, considering how great a variety of cases are included -under "diseases of the chest," from the slow insidious but fatal ravages -of consumption to the sudden pang and deadly spasm of heart disease, and -the various affections of throat and lungs, it may easily be seen how -much depends upon the adoption of a system initiated by long study and -experience. The perfect arrangements which distinguish this hospital are -doubtless rendered easier by ample space and admirable appliances. -Plenty of room and plenty of air (air, however, which has been warmed to -one even temperature before it enters the wards and corridors where the -patients eat and drink, sleep and walk) are the first characteristics of -the place, while a certain chaste simplicity of ornament, and yet an -avoidance of mere utilitarian bareness, is to be observed in all that -portion of the structure where decoration may naturally be expected. - -The board-room, the secretary's room, and the various apartments devoted -to the resident officers on the ground-floor, are plain enough, however, -though they are of good size and proportions, the only really ornamental -article of furniture in the board-room being a handsome semi-grand -piano, the gift of one of the committee. This is a real boon to such of -the patients as can come to practise choral singing, as well as to those -who can listen delightedly to the amateur concerts that are periodically -performed, either in the hospital itself or in one of the wards. For -they have cheerful entertainments in this resort of the feeble, where, -to tell the truth, food is often the best physic, and sympathy and -encouragement the most potent alleviations. - -As to the actual physic--the employment of medicines--it is only in some -of the large endowed hospitals that we can see such a dispensary as this -spacious room, with its surrounding rows of bottles and drawers, its two -open windows, one communicating with the men's and the other with the -women's waiting room, its slabs, and scales and measures, on a central -counter, where 380 prescriptions will have to be made up to-day before -the alert and intelligent gentleman and his assistants who have the -control of this department, will be able to replace the current stock -out of the medical stores. - -These small cisterns, each with its tap, occupying so prominent a place -on the counter, represent the staple medicine of the establishment, pure -cod-liver oil, of which 1,200 gallons are used every year, and they are -constantly replenished from three large cylinders, or vats, containing -800 gallons, which occupy a room of their own adjoining the dispensary -and the compounding room, the latter being the place where drugs are -prepared, and the great art of pill-making is practised on a remarkable -scale. - -Continuing our walk round the hospital, we come to the consulting-rooms, -where the physicians attend daily at two o'clock, each to see his own -patients, and the reception-room, where an officer takes the letters of -introduction, and exchanges them for attendance cards. This is the door -of the museum; and though we shall be admitted, if you choose to -accompany me, it is, like other surgical museums, of professional more -than general interest, and not a public portion of the hospital. Turning -into the great main corridor, with its peculiar honeycombed red-brick -ceiling and pleasant sense of light and air, we will ascend the broad -staircase to the wards, those of the women being on the first floor, -while the men occupy a precisely similar ward on the second. These wards -consist of a series of rooms of from two to six, eight, and twelve beds -each, so as to afford opportunity for the proper classification of the -cases. A day-room is also provided for each set of wards, so that those -patients who are well enough to leave their beds may take their meals -there, or may read, play at chess, draughts, or bagatelle, or occupy -themselves with needlework. These wards and their day-rooms all open -into a light cheerful corridor, with large windows, where the inmates -may walk and talk, or read and rest, sitting or reclining upon the -couches and settees that are placed at intervals along the wall. All -through these rooms and corridors the air is kept at a medium -temperature of from fifty-five to sixty degrees, by means of hot-air or -hot-water apparatus, the latter being in use as well as the former. You -noticed, as we stood in the grounds, a large square structure of a -monumental character;--that was in fact the chamber through the sides of -which draughts of air are carried to channels beneath the building, -there they are drawn around a furnace, to be heated, and to escape -through pipes that are grouped about the entire building. In order to -ensure the necessary comfort of patients requiring a higher temperature, -each ward is provided with an open fire-place. - -It is now just dinner-time. The ample rations of meat and vegetables, -fish and milk, and the various "special diets," are coming up on the -lift from the kitchens, and in the women's day-room a very comfortable -party is just sitting down to the mid-day meal. Here, as elsewhere, -greater patience and more genuine cheerfulness are to be observed among -the women, than is as a rule displayed by the men, and there are not -wanting signs of pleasant progress towards recovery, of grateful -appreciation of the benefits received, and of a hopeful trusting spirit, -which goes far to aid the doctor and the nurse. There are, of course, -some sad sights. Looking into the wards, we may see more than one woman -for whom only a few hours of this mortal life remain; more than one -child whose emaciated form and face looks as though death itself could -bring no great change. Yet it must be remembered that cases likely soon -to terminate fatally are not admitted. The severity of the diseases and -their frequently fatal character under any condition will account for -the large proportion of sickness unto death which finds here alleviation -but not absolute cure; though, of course, the sufferers from heart -disease, who are on the whole the most cheerful, as well as those whose -affections of the lungs can be sensibly arrested, if not altogether -healed, are frequently restored to many years of useful work in the -world. On this second storey, in the men's ward, there are some very -serious cases, and some sights that have a heartache in them; yet they -are full of significance, for many of them include the spectacle of -God's sweet gift of trust and patience--the mighty courage of a quiet -mind. Yonder is a courageous fellow, who, suffering from a terrible -aneurism, had to cease his daily labour, and now lies on his back, -hopeful of cure, with a set still face and a determined yet wistful look -at the resident medical officer, or the nurse who adjusts the -india-rubber ice-bag on his chest. Here, near the door, is that which -should make us bow our heads low before the greatest mystery of mortal -life. Not the mystery of death, but the mystery of meeting death and -awaiting it. A brave, patient, noble man is sitting up in that bed, his -high forehead, fair falling hair, long tawny beard, and steady placid -eye, reminding one of some picture of Norseman or Viking. Lean and gaunt -enough in frame, his long thin hand is little but skin and bone, but it -is clasped gently by the sorrowing wife, who sits beside him, and -glances at us through tearful eyes as we enter. One can almost believe -that the sick man who is going on the great journey whither he cannot -yet take the wife who loves him, has been speaking of it calmly, there -is such an inscrutable look of absolute repose in that face. He is a -Dane, and the doctor tells us has borne his illness and great pain with -a quiet courage that has challenged the admiration of those about him--a -courage born of simple faith, let us believe, a calm resting on an -eternal foundation of peace. Here, in the corridor, is a party, some of -its members still very weak and languid, who, having just dined, are -about to take the afternoon lounge, with book or newspaper, and, leaving -them, we will conclude our visit by descending to the basement, whence -the chief medicine comes in the shape of wholesome nourishing food, of -meat and fish, of pure farina, of wine, and milk, and fresh eggs, of -clean pure linen, and even of ice, for ice is a large ingredient here, -and several tons are consumed every year. The domestic staff have their -apartments in this basement portion of the building, another division of -which is occupied by the kitchens and storerooms, while lifts for coal -and daily meals and every other requisite, ascend to the upper wards, -and shoots or wells from the upper floors convey linen and bedding that -require washing, as well as the dust and refuse of the wards, to special -receptacles. - -The kitchen itself is a sight worth seeing with its wide open range, -where prime joints are roasting, or have been roasted, and are now being -cut into great platefuls for the ordinary full-diet patients. In the -great boilers and ovens, vegetables and boiled meats, farinaceous -puddings, rice, tapioca, fish, and a dozen other articles of pure diet -are being prepared, while a reservoir of strong beef-tea represents the -nourishment of those feeble ones to whom liquid, representing either -meat or milk, is all that can be permitted. We have little time to -remain in the separate rooms, which are cool tile-lined larders, where -bread and milk and meat are kept, but among the records of donations and -contributions to the hospital it is very pleasant to read of the -multifarious gifts of food and other comforts sent from time to time by -benevolent friends. They consist of baskets of game, fruits, rice, tea, -flour, books, warm clothing for poor patients leaving the hospital, -prints, pictures, fern-cases, all kinds of useful articles, showing how -thoughtful the donors are, of what will be a solace and a comfort to the -patients, while not the least practically valuable remittances are -bundles of old linen. Still more touching, however, are the records of -gifts brought by patients themselves, or by their friends. - -"I was a patient here four years ago," says a man who has made his way -to the secretary's room, "and I made up my mind that if ever I could -scrape a guinea together I should bring it, and now I have, and here it -is, if you'll be so good as to take it, for I want to show I'm truly -grateful." - -"If you'll please accept it from us; my husband and I have put by -fifteen shillings, and want to give it to the hospital for your kindness -to our son, who was here before he died." - -These are the chronicles that show this to be a people's hospital -indeed, and that should open the hearts of those who can take pounds -instead of shillings. In such cases the secretary has ventured to remind -the grateful donors that they may be unable to afford to leave their -savings, but the evident pain, even of the hint of refusal, was reason -for accepting the poor offering. Poor, did I say? nay, rich--rich in all -that can really give value to such gifts, the wealth of the heart that -must be satisfied by giving. - -There is one more adjunct to this great human conservatory which we must -see before we leave. Down four shallow stone steps from the corridor, -and along a cheerful quiet sub-corridor, is the chapel. A very beautiful -building, with no stained glass or sumptuous detail of ornament, and yet -so admirable in its simple architectural decoration and perfect -proportions, that it is an example of what such a place should be. It is -capable of seating three or four hundred persons, and visitors are -freely admitted to the Sunday services when there is room, though of -course seats are reserved for the patients, who have "elbows" provided -in their pews, that they may be able to lean without undue fatigue. The -chapel itself was a gift of a beneficent friend, and was presented -anonymously. One day an architect waited on the committee, and simply -said that if they would permit a chapel to be erected on a vacant space -in their grounds, close to the main building, he had plans for such a -structure with him, and the whole cost would be defrayed by a client of -his, who, however, would not make known his name. The gift was accepted, -and the benevolent contract nobly fulfilled. I should be glad to hear -that some other charitable donor had sent in like manner an offer of -funds to fill those two great vacant wards which, waiting for patients, -are among the saddest sights in this hospital. - - - - -_HEALING THE SICK._ - - -Amidst the numerous great charities which distinguish this vast -metropolis, hospitals must always hold a prominent if not preeminent -place. Helpless infancy, the weakness and infirmity of old age, and -prostration by sudden accident, or the ravages of disease, are the -conditions that necessarily appeal to humanity. The latter especially is -so probable an occurrence to any of us, that we are at once impressed by -the necessity for providing some means for its alleviation. Helpless -childhood has passed, old age may seem to be in too dim a future to -challenge our immediate attention; but sickness, sudden disaster, who -shall be able to guard against these, in a world where the strongest are -often smitten down in the full tide of apparent health; where, in the -streets alone, fatal accidents are reckoned monthly as a special item in -Registrars' returns, and injuries amount annually to hundreds? - -The great endowed hospitals, therefore, those magnificent monuments of -charity which have distinguished London for so many years, and the value -of which in extending the science of medicine can scarcely be overrated, -are regarded by us all with veneration. At the same time we ought to -feel a certain thrill of pleasure, a satisfaction not far removed from -keen emotion, when we see inscribed on the front of some building, large -or small, where the work of healing is being carried on, the words, -"Supported by Voluntary Contributions." One other condition, too, seems -necessary to the complete recognition of such a charity as having -attained to the full measure of a truly beneficent work--admission to it -should be free: free not only from any demand for money payments, but -untrammelled by the necessity for seeking, often with much suffering and -delay, a governor's order or letter, by which alone a patient can be -received in many of our otherwise admirable and useful institutions for -the sick. It should be remembered that immediate aid is of the utmost -importance in the effort to heal the sick, and that delays, proverbially -dangerous, are in such cases cruel, often fatal, always damaging to the -sense of true beneficence, of the extension of help because of the -_need_ rather than for the sake of any particular influence. It would -seem that we have no right to hesitate, or to insist on the observance -of certain forms, before succouring the grievously sick and wounded, any -more than we have to withhold food from the starving till ceremonial -inquiries are answered, and certificates of character obtained. There -are cases of poverty, and even of suffering, where inquiry before -ultimate and continued relief may be useful, and personal influence may -be necessary, but extreme hunger and nakedness, cold and houselessness, -sudden injury or maiming, the pain of disease, the deep and touching -need of the sick and helpless, are not such. Prompt and effectual -measures for relief, and, if necessary, admission to the place where -that relief can alone be afforded, will be the only means of completely -meeting these wants. Free hospitals, freer even than workhouses, are -what we need, and I am about to visit one of them to-day which rejoices -in its name, "The Royal Free Hospital," now in its forty-seventh year of -useful and, I am glad to say, of vigorous life. - -To anyone acquainted with that strange neighbourhood which is -represented by Gray's Inn Lane and all the queer jumble of courts and -alleys that seem to shrink behind the shelter of the broad thoroughfare -of Holborn, there is something consistent in the establishment of such a -noble charity as this hospital in Gray's Inn Road. Its very position -seems to indicate the nature and extent of its duties. Near the homes of -poverty, the streets where people live who cannot go far to seek aid in -their extremest need, it receives those who, breaking down through -sudden disease, or requiring medical and surgical skill to relieve the -pain and weakness of recurrent malady, have no resource but this to -enable them to fulfil their one great desire "to get back to work." The -causes of much of the sickness which sends patients thither may be -preventable: they may be found in foul dwellings, impure water, -insufficient clothing, want of proper food, alternate hunger and -intemperance; but whatever may be its occasion, a remedy must be found -for it. Till all that is preventable _is_ prevented, the consequences -will have to be mitigated, the fatal results averted where it is -possible; and when boards of health and sanitary measures have done, -there will still be sick men to heal, failing children to strengthen, -weak and wasting women to restore. - -It is well, then, that this Institution should stand as a landmark of -that free charity which takes help where it is needed most; and this -qualification is the more obvious when we turn from the sick wards to -the accident wards, and remember that three great railway termini are -close at hand, and others not far off; that all round that teeming -neighbourhood men, women, and even children, are working at poor -handicrafts, which render them liable to frequent injuries, and that in -the crowded streets themselves--from the great busy thoroughfare of -Holborn, to the bustle and confusion of the approaches to the stations -at King's Cross--there is constant peril to life and limb. - -There is something so remarkable in the external appearance of the -building, such a military look about its bold front, such a suggestion -of a cavalry yard about the broad open area behind this tall wooden -entrance gate, that you begin to wonder how such a style of architecture -should have been adopted for a hospital. The truth is that like -many--nay, like most of our noblest work--this great provision for -healing the sick began by not waiting for full-blown opportunities. The -need was there, and the means that came to hand were used to meet it. -This building was originally the barracks of that loyal and efficient -regiment, the "Light Horse Volunteers," and so excellently had those -gallant defenders of king and constitution provided for their own -comfort and security, that when in 1842 the premises were vacant, and -the lease for sale, the governors of the Royal Free Hospital became the -purchasers, the long rooms were easily turned into ample, cheerful, and -well-ventilated wards, and the various outbuildings and offices were -quickly adapted to the reception of patients. - -But the hospital had at that date been working quietly and effectually -for above fourteen years. Fourteen years before its inauguration in -Gray's Inn Road, this "free" hospital, which was not then "royal," had -been commenced in Greville Street, Hatton Garden, and the immediate -incident which led to its foundation is so suggestive, so inseparable -from the recollection of the want which it was designed to alleviate, -and from its own generous recognition of the unfailing freedom of true -charity, that it might well be the subject of a memorial picture. Alas! -it would be a tragic reminder of those days before any provision was -made for extending medical aid to sufferers who had no credentials save -humanity and their own deep necessity. It would be a grim reminder to -us, also, that some of our great charities established for the relief of -the sick are still trammelled with those restrictions which demand -recommendations, to obtain which the applicant is often condemned to -delay and disappointment. It would show us that our hospitals are not -yet free. - -Those of my readers who can remember the entrance to the broad highway -of Holborn nearly fifty years ago--stay, that is going back beyond -probable acknowledgment,--let me say those of us who knew Smithfield -when it was a cattle market, who had heard of "Cow Cross," and been told -of the terrible purlieux of Field Lane; who had occasionally caught a -glimpse of that foul wilderness of courts that clustered about the Fleet -Ditch; had read of Mr. Fagin, when "Oliver Twist" was first appearing in -chapters, and had dim recollections of nursery tales about Bartlemy fair -and "hanging morning" at the Old Bailey; those of us who remember the -cries of drovers, and the lowing and bleating of herds and flocks in the -streets on Sunday nights; the terrible descent of Snow Hill; the -confusion and dismay of passengers and vehicles on the steep incline of -Holborn Hill; the reek of all that maze of houses and hovels that lay in -the valley; those of us, in short, who can carry our memories back for a -few years beyond the time when the new cattle market was built at -Islington, the pens and lairs of Smithfield demolished, the whole -Holborn valley dismantled, only a remnant, a mere corner, of Field Lane -being left standing after the great viaduct was built--can imagine what -the church of St. Andrew was like when, with its dark and dreary -churchyard, it stood on the slope of Holborn Hill, instead of being as -it now is in a kind of subway. That churchyard, with its iron gate, was -reached by stone steps, which were receptacles for winter rain and -summer dust, the straw from waggons, the shreds and sweepings from -adjacent shops, the dirt and refuse of the streets. - -On those steps a young girl was seen lying one night, in the winter of -1827--lying helpless, lonely, perishing of disease and famine. - -The clocks of St. Andrew, St. Sepulchre, St. Paul, had clanged and -boomed amidst the hurry and the turmoil of the throng of passengers; had -clanged and boomed till their notes might be heard above the subsiding -roar of vehicles, and the shuffling of feet, till silence crept over the -great city, and more distant chimes struck through the murky air, -tolling midnight. Still that figure lay upon the cruel stones, under the -rusty gate of the churchyard, as though, unfriended and unpitied by the -world, she waited for admission to the only place in which she might -make a claim in death, if not in life. - -Not more than eighteen years old, she had wandered wearily from some -distant place where fatal instalments of the wages of sin had done their -work. She had come to London unknown, unnoted, to die. That she had come -from afar is but a surmise; she may have been a dweller in this great -city, lost amidst the stony desert of its streets, friendless with the -friendlessness of the outcast or the wretched, to whom the acquaintances -of to-day have little care or opportunity to become the solacers of -to-morrow; she may have crept to that dark corner by the churchyard -gate, amongst the rack and refuse of the street, as a place in which -she, the unconsidered waste and refuse of our boasted civilisation, -could most fitly huddle from the cold. She was not left actually to die -there, but two days afterwards she passed out of the world where she had -been unrecognised. Not without result, however. - -Among those who had witnessed the distressing occurrence was a surgeon, -Mr. William Marsden, who for some time before had repeatedly seen cause -to lament, that with all our endowed hospitals, our great medical -schools, and the advance of scientific knowledge, the sick poor could -only obtain relief by means of letters of recommendation and other -delay, until the appointed days for admission. The sight that he had -witnessed awoke him to fresh energy. He determined to establish a -medical charity, where destitution or great poverty and disease should -be the only necessary credentials for obtaining free and _immediate_ -relief. His honest benevolent purpose did not cool; in February in the -following year (1828), the house in Greville Street was open as a free -hospital, and it was taken under the royal patronage of George IV., the -Duke of Gloucester becoming its president. - -King William IV. succeeded George IV. as the patron of this free -hospital, and one of the earliest manifestations of the interest of our -Queen in public charitable institutions was the expressed desire of her -Majesty to maintain the support which it had hitherto received, and to -confer upon it the name of the _Royal_ Free Hospital. - -It need scarcely be said that the late Duke of Sussex took a very strong -interest in this charity, and at his death it was determined to erect a -new wing, to be called "the Sussex" wing. This work was completed in -1856; and in 1863, by the aid of a zealous and indefatigable chairman of -the committee, above £5,000 was raised by special appeal for the -purposes of buying the freehold of the entire building, so that it is -now, in every sense, a free hospital, with a noble history of suffering -relieved, of the sick healed, the deserted reclaimed, the sinful -succoured, and those that were ready to perish snatched from the jaws of -death. - -Since the foundation of the modest house in Hatton Garden in 1828 above -a million and a half of poor sick and destitute patients have obtained -relief, and the average of poor patients received within its wards is -now 1,500 annually, while 45,000 out-patients resort thither from all -parts of London. The relief thus afforded costs some £8,000 a year, and -this large sum has to be provided by appeals to the public for those -contributions by which alone the continued effort can be sustained. - -Standing here within the "Moore" ward, so called after the energetic -chairman before referred to, I cannot think of any appeal that should be -more successful in securing public sympathy than these two -statements--First, that many of the inmates have been immediately -received on their own application; and secondly, that, bearing in mind -the sad story which is, as it were, the story of the foundation of the -hospital, this ward is occupied by women. Many of them are persons of -education and refinement, who yet would have no asylum if they had not -been received within these sheltering walls, others may be poor, -ignorant, and perhaps even degraded, but divine charity is large enough -to recognise in these the very need which such an effort is intended to -alleviate. Here at least is a peaceful retreat, where in quiet -reflection, in grateful recognition of mercies yet within reach, in the -sound of pitying voices, and the touch of sympathetic hands, the weary -may find rest, the throes of pain may be assuaged. - -Here are the two fundamental rules of the hospital, and they form what -one might call a double-barrelled appeal not to be easily turned aside:-- - - IN-DOOR PATIENTS. - - Foreigners, strangers, and others, in sickness or disease, having - neither friends nor homes, are admitted to the Wards of this Hospital - on their own application, so far as the means of the charity will - permit. - - OUT-DOOR PATIENTS. - - All sick and diseased persons, having no other means of obtaining - relief, may attend at this Hospital every day at Two o'clock, when they - will receive Medical and Surgical Advice and Medicine free. - -Even while I read the latter announcement the out-patients are -assembling in the waiting-room, on the right of the quadrangle; the -dispenser, in his repository of drugs, surrounded by bottles, jars, -drawers, and all the appliances for making up medicines, has set his -assistants to work, and is himself ready to begin the afternoon's duty; -the consulting-physician of the day has just taken his seat in one plain -barely-furnished apartment, the consulting-surgeon in another, while the -resident house-surgeon has completed his first inspection of -in-patients, and is ready with particulars of new cases. - -These rooms, where patients assemble, and doctors consult, are on the -right of the pleasant quadrangle, with its large centre oval garden -plot, containing a double ring of trees; and here also is the reception -room for "accidents" and urgent cases--a very suggestive room, with -styptics, immediate remedies, and prompt appliances ready to hand, but -like all the rest of the official portion of the building, very plain -and practical, with evidence of there being little time to regard mere -ease or ornament, and of a disregard of anything which is not associated -with the work that has to be done. It is the same with other apartments, -where it is obvious that no unnecessary expenditure is incurred for mere -official show. - -The business of the place is to heal by means of food, of rest, and of -medicine, and there, on the left of the quadrangle, a flight of steps -leads downwards to a wide area, where, in the kitchens, the domestic -servants are busy clearing up, after serving the eighty-eight rations -which have been issued for dinner--rations of fish, flesh, and fowl, or -those "special diets" which are taken under medical direction. There is -something about this kitchen, the store-rooms, and offices, with the -steps leading thereto, and the cat sitting blinking in the sun, which -irresistibly reminds me of the heights of Dover and some portion of the -barrack building there; the old military look of the place clings to -this Gray's Inn Road establishment still, and the visitor misses the -wonderful appliances and mechanical adaptations of some more modern -institutions, not even lifts to convey the dinners to the wards being -possible in such an edifice. - -There is some compensating comfort in noting, however, that the nursing -staff is so organised as to secure personal attention to the patients, -and that the arrangements are touchingly homely, not only in regard to -the simple furniture, the few pictures and engravings, and the little -collection of books that are to be found in the wards, but also in the -matter of sympathetic, motherly, and sisterly help, which is less -ceremonious, but not less truly loving, than is to be found in some -places of higher pretensions. - -Here, on the ground floor, the twenty-two beds of the men's severe -accident ward are always full, and some of the cases are pitiable, -including maiming by machinery, railway accidents, or injury in the -streets. The "Marsden Ward," adjoining is devoted to injuries of a less -serious kind, so that there many of the patients can help themselves. In -the women's accident ward there are three or four children, one of whom, -a pretty chubby-faced little girl of five years old, has not yet got -over her astonishment at having been run over by a cab the day before -yesterday, picked up and brought into this great room where most of the -people are in bed, only to hear that she is more frightened than hurt, -and is to go home tomorrow. There are some other little creatures, -however, suffering from very awkward accidents, and they seem to be -petted and made much of, just as they are in the women's sick ward -above, where a delicate-faced intelligent girl, herself improving -greatly under prompt treatment for an early stage of phthisis, is -delighted to have a little companion to tea with her at her bed-side, -the child being allowed to sit up in a chair, and the pair of invalids -being evidently on delightfully friendly terms. There is a lower ward, -with half a dozen little beds devoted solely to children, who are, I -think, all suffering from some form of disease of the joints. Alas! this -class of disease comes of foul dwellings, of impure or stinted food, of -want of fresh air and water; and it brings a pang to one's heart to note -the smiling little faces, the bright beaming eyes, the pretty engaging -grateful ways of some of these little ones, and yet to know how long a -time it must be before the results of the evil conditions of their lives -will be remedied at the present rate of procedure; how difficult a -problem it is to provide decent dwellings for the poor, in a city where -neighbourhoods such as that which we have just traversed have grown like -fungi, and cannot be uprooted without pain and loss which social -reformers shrink from inflicting. Thinking of this, and of all that I -have seen in this Royal Free Hospital, I am glad to carry away from it -the picture of this child's ward and its two young nurses, though I -could wish that the walls of that and all the other wards were a little -brighter with more pictures, that a fresh supply of books might soon be -sent to replenish the library, and that the flowers, that are so eagerly -accepted to deck the tables of those poor sick rooms, and carry thither -a sense of freshness, colour, and beauty, may come from the gardens and -greenhouses of those who can spare of their abundance. To keep the -eighty-eight beds full requires constant dependence on public -contributions, and yet when we think of the work that is going on here, -not the eighty-eight only, but the whole number of 102 should be ready -for applicants, who would, even then, be far too numerous to be received -at once in a hospital which, with a royal freedom of well-doing, sets an -example that might be hopefully followed by other and wealthier -charities for healing the sick. - - - - -_WITH THE PRISONER._ - - -What is the first greeting which a convict receives when he or she is -discharged from prison? - -Imagine, if you can, the shivering, shrinking, bewildered feeling of the -man or woman who, after, undergoing a term of penal servitude, some of -it passed in hours of solitary confinement, has all this great city -suddenly opened again, with its wilderness of streets, its crowd of -unfamiliar faces, its tremendous temptations, its few resources for the -friendless and the suspected, its great broad thoroughfares, where on -every side may be seen evidences of wealth and plenty; where the tavern -and the gin-shop offer a temporary solace to the wretched; and where, -also, in every neighbourhood, there are evil slums in which vice finds -companionship, and the career of dishonesty and crime can be resumed -without difficulty or delay. - -Those who have stood outside the walls of Clerkenwell or Coldbath Fields -prison, and have watched the opening of the gates whence prisoners -emerge into a freedom which is almost paralysing in its first effects, -will tell you how the appearance of these poor wretches is greeted in -low muttered tones by silent slouching men and women who await their -coming. How, after very few words of encouragement and welcome, they are -taken off to some adjacent public-house, there to celebrate their -liberation; and how, almost before a word is spoken, the male prisoner -is provided with a ready-lighted pipe from the mouth of one of his -former companions, in order that he may revive his sense of freedom by -the long-unaccustomed indulgence in tobacco. - -I should be very sorry to cavil at these marks of sympathy. They are -eminently human. They do not always mean direct temptation--that is to -say, they are not necessarily intended to induce the recipient to resume -the evil course which has led to a long and severe punishment. That the -result should be a gradual, if not an immediate, weakening of that -remorse which is too frequently sorrow for having incurred the penalty -rather than repentance of the sin that led to it, is obvious enough; but -what else is to be expected? Not many men or women come out of gaol with -a very robust morality. Without entering into the question how far our -present system of prison discipline and management is calculated to -influence the moral nature of culprits who are under punishments for -various crimes, scarcely ever classified, and never regarded in relation -to the particular circumstances under which they are committed or the -character and disposition, the social status, or the mental and moral -condition of the offender, it may be broadly and barely stated that our -penal legislation is not effectual in promoting the reclamation of the -criminal. - -Even if some determination to begin life anew, to avoid associations -that have led to infamy and disgrace to accept any labour anywhere in -order to obtain an honest subsistence, has been working in the mind of a -convict during the period of imprisonment, and under the advice and -remonstrance of the chaplain and the governor, what is to sustain such -half-formed resolutions? Supposing even that the discharged prisoner has -been so amenable to the regulations of the gaol that he or she has had -placed to the credit account that weekly "good-conduct money," which, -when the term of punishment has ended, amounts to a sum sufficient to -provide for immediate necessities, where is employment to be looked for? -In what quarter is the owner of a few shillings--which may have to last -a week or more--to seek a lodging and a meal, and that companionship -which must be one of the keenest longings of the newly-released and yet -solitary and half-dazed creature, who is ready to receive with grateful -avidity any friendly greeting that promises relief from the long -monotony of the gaol? - -Surely, then, there can be few conditions which appeal more forcibly to -Christian beneficence than that of the captive who is released after -having undergone a sentence of penal servitude, part of which has been -passed in solitary confinement. Whatever may have been the impressions -made upon the mind during the period of punishment, and the influence -exercised by instruction or exhortation, the very fact of regaining -liberty, the excitement of freedom, and the uncertainty of the first -steps a man or woman is to take outside the prison walls, will always -involve a danger, before which a very large proportion of released -convicts will succumb. - -What, then, is being done in order to extend a helping hand to these, -who are among the most destitute and unfortunate; who, even if they have -relatives, may be ashamed to seek their aid, or are doubtful of the -reception that awaits them, while the only companionship which they can -claim at once, and without question, is that which will surround them -with almost irresistible incentives to a lawless life? - -In the very centre of this vast metropolis, at the point where its great -highways converge, and yet in a modest quiet house standing a little -back from the roar and turmoil of the main street, we shall find what we -seek. Here, on the doorpost of No. 39, Charing Cross, is the name of -"The Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society," and in two or three offices on -the first floor--one of which is, in fact, a reception-room for the -discharged prisoners themselves--the work for which there is such a -constant and pressing need is steadily carried on, under the direction -of a very distinguished committee, of whom the treasurer is the Hon. -Arthur Kinnaird, and the first honorary secretary, Mr. W. Bayne Ranken, -who is assisted by Mr. S. Whitbread and Mr. L. T. Cave. In looking at -the names of the gentlemen who are concerned in this admirable effort, -you will have noticed that some of them are also associated with other -charitable organisations which we have visited together, and notably -with those of that Soho district where we last joined in the musical -diversions of the Newport Market Refuge. As we enter this front office -at Charing Cross, we have a pleasant reminder of that occasion, for we -are welcomed by the indefatigable performer on the cornet, who, when we -last met him, was making "the hills resound" in the upper room of the -old slaughter-house, and carrying all his juvenile military band with -him in one resonant outburst of harmony that awoke the echoes as far as -Seven Dials. To-day he is carrying out his ordinary secretarial and -managerial duties, as officially representing the Society, about which -he can give us some information worth hearing. - -But there are other visitors for whom preparation has already been made -in the next room--men dressed decently, and yet having a certain -furtive, unaccustomed bearing, as though they were not at the moment -quite used to their clothes or to public observation. Some of them are -not without a truculent half-defiant expression lurking beneath their -subdued demeanour; others have an open, keen outlook; and a few others, -again, both in the shape of their head and the peculiar shifty -expression of eye and mouth, and one might also say of hand, would at -once be characterised by the experienced observer of London life as men -who had "been in trouble" more than once. On the table of the front -office the object which has at once attracted our attention is a -perfectly new carpenter's basket containing a decent set of tools, and -the man for whom it is intended will be here for it by-and-by to take it -away, just as the shoemaker who has just gone out has carried with him -"a kit," with which, in addition to a little stock of money, he is about -to begin the world afresh, under the auspices of his friends, one of -whom--either a member of the committee, or the secretary, or one of the -visiting agents--will keep him in view, and give him an occasional -encouraging call while he remains in the metropolitan district. If a -situation should be found for him in the provinces, either the clergyman -of the district, or some other friend of the Society, is informed of his -previous history, and has a sincere interest in his well-doing. In no -case have the London police anything whatever to do with watching or -inspecting discharged prisoners under the care of the Society; and, on -the other hand, it is a standing rule that where situations are found -for these men and women, the employers are informed of their previous -history, though any recommendation of the Society may be regarded as a -strong inference that their _protégé_ is trying to redeem lost -character. - -It must be remembered that a report of each of those who are under the -care of the Society is made at the office once a month, either by the -man or woman in person, or by one of the visiting agents or -correspondents of the committee of management; and that, though the -police are forbidden to interfere with them, except on strong suspicion -that they are about to commit a crime, the most accurate and careful -record of their mode of life and conduct is kept at the offices of the -Society. Should they fail to observe the regulations which the Society -demands, they are liable to police surveillance instead of friendly, -encouraging, and confidential visitation; and it needs scarcely be said -that this liability is often of itself sufficient to make them desire to -retain the aid and protection which has been extended to them. - -From a long and tolerably intimate observation of the lower strata of -the London population, and of the results of various methods adopted to -check the progress of crime, I am convinced that what is called police -surveillance, as it is conducted in this country, is altogether -mischievous in relation to any probable reformation of the offender. -Even if it be denied (as it has been) that it is a practice of -police-constables to give to persons employing a discharged prisoner, -information conveyed in such a way as to lead to the loss of employment -and despair of obtaining an honest living, it is quite certain that the -constant dread of being branded as a returned felon, and the hopeless -dogged temper which such a condition produces, must be enormous -obstacles to true reclamation. The man who could really surmount them -must, whatever may have been his casual crime, be possessed of a hardy -and indomitable desire for virtue which should challenge our profound -respect. - -But, apart from what may be called legitimate surveillance of convicts -by the police, it is unfortunately notorious that members of "the -force," who occupy positions as detectives, or "active and intelligent -officers," employ agents of their own to bring them information, and -that these agents, being men of bad character--frequently thieves--are -interested for their own safety's sake in providing "charges," or -"putting up cases," by conveying information of suspected persons. This -is according to the old evil traditions that have descended to -constables from the time of Jonathan Wild, and probably earlier; but it -is obvious that where such nefarious tools are employed for obtaining -evidence which will suffice to sustain a charge and convict a prisoner, -there is constant danger to those who, having been once sentenced for -crime, are not only peculiarly liable to be drawn into fresh offences, -but are, from their position, easily made the victims of cunningly-laid -traps for their re-arrest, on a suspicion that is readily endorsed, -because of their previous conviction and the knowledge of all their -antecedents. - -It is the removal of discharged prisoners from this probability, and -from the kind of interposition that forbids their return to the paths of -honesty, and so actually produces "a criminal class," that is, in my -opinion, the best distinction of a Society like this. - -Some of the volumes of interesting records which are preserved here -would probably doubtless confirm this view. Let us refer to one only, -where a nobleman residing in London had engaged a butler who went to him -with a very excellent character, and in whom he had the greatest -confidence. Happening to have occasion to employ a detective constable -on some business, his lordship was dismayed at receiving from that -astute officer the intelligence that his trusted servant had once been -sentenced to five years' penal servitude for some dishonest act, but had -been liberated on a ticket-of-leave. Puzzled how to proceed, the -nobleman had the good sense to apply for advice to this Society, where -it was discovered that the representation of the detective was true -enough, and that the man had been recommended to a situation by the -Society itself, an intimation of his antecedents being given to the -employer. In that situation he had remained for several months, without -the least fault being brought against him, and he then applied for and -obtained the vacant and more lucrative appointment in the family of his -lordship, who, though he acknowledged he should not have engaged him had -he known of his previous fault and its punishment, kept his secret, and -retained him in his service, where he remained at the time of the last -report, respected by the household, and faithfully fulfilling his -duties. - -Probably this was one of those cases where, yielding to sudden -temptation, a man incurs for a single crime punishment that awakens -moral resolution; and it must be remembered that there are many convicts -who, while in prison they are practically undistinguished from the -habitual or the repeated criminal, or from the convict of brutalised, -undeveloped, or feeble moral nature, are in danger of being utterly -ruined because of a single and perhaps altogether unpremeditated -offence, of which they may bitterly repent. The feeling of shame, of -humiliation, of doubt as to any but a cold and deterrent reception by -former friends, the dread of scorn, derision, or abhorrence, may lead -such men or women to abandon as hopeless any expectation of resuming -their former avocations, or even of once more attaining a respectable -position. To such as these the Society offers such aid as may keep them -from the despondency that destroys; and in every case, even in that of -the wretch who has been convicted again and again, it holds out some -hope of reformation. That there is some such hope may be learned from -the fact, that even thieves--"habitual criminals"--do not, as a rule, -bring their own children up to dishonesty, and are often careful to -conceal from them the means by which they live. The ranks of crime are -not so largely augmented from the children of dishonest parents (though, -of course, evil example bears its dreadful results) as from the -neglected children of our great towns. - -But let us see what are the means adopted by the Society for helping -discharged prisoners. Of course the procedure must begin with the -prisoners themselves, in so far that they must express their willingness -to accept the aid offered to them, and make known their decision to the -governor of the prison where they are confined, and where the rules and -provisions of the Society are displayed and explained. - -This refers to the convict prisons, since only these are eligible, the -prisoners from county gaols being assisted by other organisations; -therefore, discharged convicts from Millbank, Pentonville, Portland, -Portsmouth, Chatham, Parkhurst, Dartmoor, Woking, and Brixton, are able -to seek help; and it is gratifying to know that, according to the prison -returns, of 1,579 male prisoners discharged from these places in one -year, 796 sought aid from this and local provincial societies having the -same object, the number of applicants to the London Society being 524, -or nearly two-thirds of the whole. - -On any convict, male or female, accepting the offer of the Society, and -making that decision known to the governor of the prison, the latter -forwards to this office at Charing Cross a printed document, or -recommendation, stating full particulars of the prisoner's age, date of -conviction, number of previous convictions (if any), degree of -education, religion, former trade or employment, ability to perform -labour, and general character while in prison, together with the amount -of good-conduct money which is to be allowed for work performed during -the period of incarceration. This good-conduct money may amount to a -maximum sum of £3, and the Society takes charge of it for the benefit of -the prisoner, disbursing it only as it may be required, and -supplementing it, when necessary, by a further grant of money, or even -by advances or loans as may be deemed desirable in certain cases. - -These reports from the prison governor reach the office about six weeks -before the discharge of the convicts named in them, and following them -come other papers, each of which contains a graphic personal description -of the prisoner referred to, and a fairly-executed photograph, which is -usually not without certain striking characteristics, though you will be -surprised to find how often you fail to discover the lineaments which -you have associated in fancy with lawlessness and crime. At the time of -their discharge, the men and women are conducted hither by a -plainly-clothed messenger from the prison, appointed for the purpose, -and take their places in yonder back room, where they are immediately -identified by means of the descriptions and photographs, and are then -questioned as to their capabilities and the particular employment in -which they desire to engage. It is manifestly impossible that the -Society can provide them with employment in the particular trades which -they may previously have followed, since there may be no openings in -those industries, or they may be such as would be obviously unsuitable -for persons who are still on probation. - -Should the prisoner have friends or relatives able and willing to -receive or assist him, they are communicated with, but should he be -entirely dependent on personal exertion, the agent or secretary at once -procures for him a decent outfit of clothes, and a lodging as far as -possible from the scene of his former companions. A small sum of money -is advanced for immediate subsistence, and he usually has employment -provided for him, either in a situation, at manual labour, or by being -set up in a small way at shoemaking, tailoring, or carpentering, either -as journeyman, or, where possible, on his own account. - -From six to twenty prisoners at a time are discharged from one or other -of the convict establishments and brought to the Society's offices, and -of the younger men a considerable proportion are assisted to go to sea, -others--but, alas! too few--to emigrate, while a number obtain work as -builders and contractors' labourers; and others again resume former -occupations, as potmen, waiters, or employés in various situations, -where the masters are always (if they take them on the recommendation of -the Society) fully apprised of their position. A good many are set up -again as costermongers, and in that case the agent of the Society -quietly accompanies them to market, and advances the money for their -first purchases; others go into the country and obtain work, and not a -few of the better-educated or more skilled soon obtain engagements of -various kinds, by personal application, and without reference to the -Society, though they continue to report themselves, and to be kept in -view by the agents, and, being separated from evil companionship, and -feeling that they are not altogether friendless, retrieve their position -and regain an honourable reputation. - -Of 514 men and women who were received by the Society during the year, -180 obtained employment in London and are doing well; 156 were sent to -places beyond the metropolitan district, and were placed under the -supervision of the local police; 32 were sent to relatives and friends -abroad; 57 obtained berths on board ship; 50 had failed to report and -notify their change of address as required by Act of Parliament; 23 had -been re-convicted; 6 were not satisfactorily reported on; one had died; -and 9, who had been recently discharged at the end of the year, were -waiting for employment at the time of the Report. To read the Report -Book, recording the visits of the agents or secretary to men employed in -various avocations, and to their friends or relatives, is very -encouraging, for it shows that of a large proportion, say seventy per -cent., there is a good hope of reclamation by their long continuance in -industrious efforts to retain their situations and to work honestly in -various callings; while the reports of country cases by clergymen in the -provinces is equally satisfactory, especially as they frequently record -the return of the former convict to his family and friends, amidst whom -he earns an honourable subsistence. - -The female convicts, who are also received at the office, are, if they -cannot be sent to relatives and friends, mostly taken to a Refuge, which -has been established by the Society at Streatham, where they find a home -until situations can be obtained for them; and it is to the credit of -some earnest ladies who are willing to engage these discharged prisoners -as domestic servants that the result is often most favourable. A very -large proportion of the women return to friends, however. Of 53 who left -the Refuge at Streatham last year, 30 were received by friends, 18 -obtained situations, 3 returned to Millbank Penitentiary, 1 emigrated, -and 1 died, 25 remaining at the Refuge at the time of the report. - -In the case of these discharged female prisoners, as well as for the -sake of those men who would eagerly seize an opportunity of beginning -life anew in a new country, it would be most desirable if greater -facilities existed for promoting and assisting the emigration of such as -gave satisfactory evidence of reformation of character. The Society -finds its own funds, supported by contributions from the public, barely -sufficient to maintain, and insufficient largely to extend its useful -work. One of the committee, a resident in Canada, has rendered -invaluable assistance to emigrants recommended to his notice by the -Society. The governor of Dartmoor Prison in his Report, says:-- - -"I cannot too strongly again express my conviction that an emigration -scheme connected with the Aid Societies would be an invaluable aid to -the restoration of many casual criminals to a position of respectability -and honesty. It would be especially appreciated by those (unfortunately -a too numerous class) who had incurred the shorter sentences of penal -servitude as punishments for breaches of trust of various kinds. These -men are often cast off by their respectable friends, and, from the -shortness of their sentences, are unable to earn the additional -gratuity. With no lasting means of subsistence, and an overstocked -market for their labour, it is not to be wondered at if such men -speedily add a second conviction to their criminal career." 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