The Life of the Sev- 
 enth Earl of Shaftes- 
 
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 TJ wmttwtMHlUBaRB 
 
 
 ^^yiii'iifl'.i III-, |-| I
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 ^ 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 llrs, Ben B, Lindsey
 
 The Life of the Sev- 
 enth Earl of Shaftes- 
 bury, K,G,(^<^y 
 
 BY 
 
 JENNIE M. BINGHAM 
 
 CINCINNATI : CURTS & JENNINGS 
 
 NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS 
 
 1899
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY 
 THE WESTERN METHODIST BOOK CONCERN
 
 HV 
 
 life of iLorD ^ijaftcsibut'^ 

 
 31ntrot)uction 
 
 WHEN a man becomes so great as was 
 the Earl of Shaftesbury', his name and 
 fame are a part of the common heritage of 
 the human race. Measured by what he did 
 and what he was, this illustrious man deserved 
 the encomium passed upon him by the Duke 
 of Argyle when he said : 
 
 "My Lords and Gentlemen, — All the 
 great reforms of the past fifty years have been 
 brought about, not by the Liberal party, nor 
 by the Tory party, but by the labors of one 
 man — the Earl of Shaftesbury." 
 
 How he accomplished these reforms, how 
 
 he abolished child slavery in the mining 
 
 regions of England, how he shortened the 
 
 hours of labor in the factories and threw the 
 
 broad shield of British law over the heads of 
 
 hundreds of thousands of working people, is 
 
 told with graphic power in this book. 
 
 3
 
 4 Introduction 
 
 Shaftesbury earned the right to say to ever)^ 
 other reformer, "Let no one despair of a good 
 cause for want of helpers. Let him persevere, 
 persevere^ PERSEVERE, and God will raise up 
 friends and helpers." 
 
 The stor}^ of this wonderful life as here 
 
 portrayed, should be placed in the hands of 
 
 every boy and girl in the Republic. It would 
 
 be "extravagant economy" to deny them the 
 
 inspiration of the life of a man whose name 
 
 is a household word in England, and should 
 
 become so in America. 
 
 CHARLES C. McCABE.
 
 ConttntiS 
 
 Introduction, - - - - - - -3. 4 
 
 Chapter I, ------- 7-i6 
 
 Chapter II, -------- 17-28 
 
 Chapter III, 29-47 
 
 Chapter IV, 48-59 
 
 Chapter V, ■'- 60-79 
 
 Chapter VI, - 80-98 
 
 Chapter VII, 99-126 
 
 Chapter VIII, ------ 127-158 
 
 Chapter IX, 159-182 
 
 Chapter X, 183-200 
 
 Chapter XI, 201-233 
 
 Chapter XII, 234-263 
 
 Chapter XIII, 264-289 
 
 5
 
 The Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 Cl^aptet: I 
 
 THE life-story of Anthony Ashley Cooper, 
 the seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, is one of 
 the rarest and most beautiful ever lived or 
 written. Victor Hugo's ''Good Bishop" in 
 "Les Miserables" is said to be immortal, be- 
 cause he acted like Christ. In a far more en- 
 during way will this noble nobleman. Lord 
 Shaftesbury, take hold of coming centuries, 
 because he, not as a novelist's creation, but as 
 a real man, acted like Christ. 
 
 During a public life of over fifty years he
 
 8 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 was identified with more organizations for the 
 uplifting of humanity than any man who ever 
 Hved. 
 
 He literally gave up all to follow Christ. 
 He resigned honors of state, luxuries of home, 
 time for intellectual culture, and spent all his 
 income to help the wretched and degraded. 
 The lower down they were, the greater their 
 claim to his service. 
 
 When he was urged to accept a place in the 
 ministry of the realm, he replied : 
 
 *'I can not satisfy myself that to accept 
 ofifice is a divine call ; but I am satisfied that 
 God has called me to labor among the poor." 
 
 A little later, when a position of high 
 honor was ofifered, he said : "One million and 
 six hundred thousand operatives are still ex- 
 cluded from the benefits of the factory acts, 
 and so long as they are unprotected I can not 
 take office." 
 
 He was very fond of literature and all 
 branches of science, especially astronomy; 
 never so happy as when he could spend his
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 9 
 
 days in close application to books and instru- 
 ments, and his nights in the observatory with 
 the eminent astronomer, Sir James South, 
 whose firm friend he was. He dared to hope 
 that he, too, might become an astronomer. 
 
 But the duties of his life-work began to 
 press upon him. His visits to the observator}' 
 became less frequent until they ceased alto- 
 gether. He says of himself at last: 
 
 "I was called to another career, and now 
 I find myself, at the end of a long life, not a 
 philosopher, not an author, but simply an old 
 man who has endeavored to do his duty." 
 
 He did not receive the inspiration for his 
 life of beautiful service from his parents, but 
 from a humble servant who was housekeeper 
 in the family. She formed a strong attach- 
 ment for the gentle, serious child, and would 
 take him in her arms and tell him the sweet 
 story of the Manger of Bethlehem and the 
 Cross of Calvary. 
 
 Although not yet seven years old, there 
 was in his heart a distinct longing to be Christ-
 
 lo Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 like, which uUimately developed into an in- 
 telHgent faith. She taught him a prayer — the 
 first he had ever learned, and which he never 
 omitted to use in the trying days so soon to 
 follow. When an old man. he often found 
 himself repeating those simple words. 
 
 "The greatest man that England has ever 
 produced," says one, "was this Ashley Cooper, 
 Earl of Shaftesbury, and he was brought to 
 Christ by a humble, unlettered servant girl." 
 
 This lowly handmaid little knew that gen- 
 erations unknown and years untold would rise 
 up to bless her. He delighted to honor her 
 memory, and the watch which she left him 
 was the only one he ever carried. He was 
 fond of showing it, and would say, "This was 
 given to me by jMaria jMillis, the best friend I 
 ever had." 
 
 His father was absorbed in business, and 
 his mother gave all of her attention to the gay 
 life of the society about her. It is evident that 
 Lord Ashley and his brothers and sisters ex- 
 perienced unkindness, almost amounting to
 
 IviFE OF Lord Shaftesbury ii 
 
 cruelty, from both parents, when they were 
 young, but especially from the mother. They 
 were aristocratic and worldly in the extreme. 
 
 When only seven years old he was sent to 
 school at Chiswick. In later years he said : 
 
 "The memory of that place makes me shud- 
 der. I think there was never such a wicked 
 school before or since; the treatment was 
 bullying, starvation, and cruelty." 
 
 Here he lived in a state of constant terror 
 from the cruelty of the elder boys, and suf- 
 fered exquisite misery for years through the 
 neglect of the teacher to provide the neces- 
 sities of life. Dickens, in "Nicholas Nickleby," 
 has shown us the sort of schools which ex- 
 isted at the beginning of this century. They 
 were hotbeds of every kind of evil and mis- 
 chief, where might was right, and weak and 
 timid boys suffered intolerably. He knew 
 what it was to shiver with cold through the 
 long nights, and to be pinched with starvation. 
 
 It was noticed in Lord Shaftesbury that a 
 certain sadness surrounded him lik« an atmos-
 
 12 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 phere. It was, no doubt, in a measure due 
 to the scenes of suffering and sorrow which 
 were constantly before him. But it was also 
 attributable to the fact that there had been no 
 lightheartedness in his childhood. His biog- 
 rapher suggests that in these years he was 
 graduating for his life-work. He had known 
 what it was to be oppressed, lonely, suffering, 
 hungry ; henceforth he would plead the cause 
 of the oppressed and suffering, and bring joy 
 and gladness to the hearts of little children. 
 
 His first great grief came at a time when he 
 was least able to bear it. Maria Millis, the 
 only grown-up person in the world whom he 
 loved, and the only one who had ever sym- 
 pathized with his simple child-faith, was called 
 to her rest. He felt that his last chance of 
 happiness had gone. Without a soul on earth 
 to whom he could go for comfort, he turned 
 to the old Book that she had loved, and spread 
 his sorrows before the Heavenly Friend whom 
 she had taught him to regard as full of pity 
 and tenderness.
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 13 
 
 At about sixteen he went to live with a 
 clergyman, distantly related. He was sent 
 there, in fact, to be got out of the way; for the 
 clergyman never professed to teach him any- 
 thing. 
 
 Lord Ashley's father determined to put 
 him into the army ; but a friend of whom Ash- 
 ley spoke with the deepest gratitude, per- 
 suaded the father to send him to Oxford Uni- 
 versity instead. 
 
 Here he had a fine tutor, whose first ques- 
 tion proved to be a stimulus to the young 
 fellow. It was, ''Do you intend to take a 
 degree?" 
 
 This was a strong demand on one who had 
 lost so many years, but he answered, "I will 
 try." He did try, and the result was that he 
 led in classics. Referring to this in after-life, 
 he said, modestly : 
 
 "I have had a great many surprises in my 
 life; but I do not think I was ever more sur- 
 prised than when I took honors at Oxford." 
 
 He could remember the day-«id hour in
 
 14 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 which he determined upon a philanthropic 
 career. It was when a schoolboy of fourteen, 
 he was one day walking down Harrow Hill, 
 and was startled by hearing a great shouting, 
 and the singing of a low, drinking song. Pres- 
 ently the noisy party turned the street corner, 
 and to his horror he saw that four or five 
 drunken men were carrying a roughly-made 
 cofifin containing the body of one of their fel- 
 lows for burial. No solitary soul was there 
 as a mourner. A fellow-creature was about 
 to be consigned to his grave with indignities 
 to which not even a dog should be subjected. 
 Young Ashley exclaimed, "Can this be per- 
 mitted simply because the man was poor and 
 friendless !" 
 
 Before the sound of the drunken song had 
 died away, he had faced the future of his life, 
 and determined to make the cause of the poor 
 his own. 
 
 He wrote in his journal : 
 
 "Time was when I could not sleep for am- 
 bition. I thought of nothing but fame and
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 15 
 
 immortality. I could not bear the idea of 
 dying and being forgotten. But now I am 
 much changed. I desire only to be useful in 
 my generation. 
 
 "I have been considering my future career. 
 The first principle, God's honor; the second, 
 man's happiness; the means, prayer and un- 
 remitting diligence." 
 
 He was all his life very sensitive to criticism, 
 and had a nervous fear of failure, which made 
 him shrink from every undertaking. When 
 we think of the abuse to which he was sub- 
 jected as he "went about doing good," we get 
 a glimpse of the heroic spirit of the man. 
 
 His first appointment was on the India 
 Board, and here he labored against sutteeism 
 (the burning of the widow on the death of her 
 husband). He was put down at once as a 
 madman, and was told never to mention such 
 a thing again, that the natives would murder 
 the English if they passed a law against sut- 
 teeism. 
 
 But Lord Ashley would not be silenced until
 
 i6 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 this outrageous evil was abolished. His next 
 effort was to introduce horticulture into India. 
 He wisely argued that the introduction of 
 choice vegetables and potatoes into India 
 would not only become a resource in calam- 
 itous times, but would bring about a more 
 friendly feeling between the natives and Eu- 
 ropeans. 
 
 In his journal he says : 
 
 "India, what can I do for your countless 
 myriads? There are two things — good gov- 
 ernment and Christianity! O God, tip my 
 tongue with fire!"
 
 Cl^aptct II 
 
 IN 1830 occurred an event of great impor- 
 tance relating to Lord Ashley's private life. 
 He had written a year before : 
 
 "If I could find the creature I have in- 
 vented, I should love her with a tenderness 
 and truth unprecedented in the history of 
 wedlock. 1 pray for her aljundantly. God 
 grant me this purest of blessings !" 
 
 That prayer had been answered; and on 
 the loth of June, 1830, he was married to 
 Emily, daughter of the fifth Earl Cowper. 
 For forty years she shared her husband's 
 struggles, inspired his efforts, and was, as he 
 himself has described her, "a w'lie as true, as 
 good, and as deeply beloved as God ever gave 
 to man." 
 
 Referring to this period of Lord Ashley's 
 
 life. Lord Granville, who had known him from 
 
 boyhood, says: 
 
 "He was a singularly fine-looking man. 
 2 - 17
 
 18 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 He had that striking presence and those manly 
 good looks which, I believe, help a man more 
 than we sometimes think, and they helped him 
 when he endeavored to inspire his humble 
 fellow-countrymen with his noble nature. 
 Those good looks he retained to the end of 
 his life. At the time I am speaking of, he was 
 about to marry that bright and beautiful 
 woman who afterward threw so much sun- 
 shine on his home." 
 
 On the anniversary of his wedding-day, 
 Lord Ashley wrote in his journal : 
 
 "No man, I am sure, ever enjoyed more 
 happiness in his married life. God be praised ! 
 Were I not married to a woman whose happi- 
 ness, even for an hour, I prefer to whole years 
 of my own, I could wish to be carried away 
 from this scene of destruction, rather than see 
 my country crumble before my eyes." 
 
 Lord Ashley entered so thoroughly into 
 the sorrows of life, that the delights of home 
 companionship were necessary to keep him 
 from despondency. He was often in utter
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 19 
 
 despair over his public work, and he needed 
 a wife who beheved in him, and who believed 
 in all that he hoped. When he was asked to 
 enter the House of Commons, and knew that 
 it meant a political career, the expenses of 
 which would be very heavy for his slender 
 income, and the trials of which would make 
 it a thorny path, he wanted to turn back to 
 private life. Robert Southey, his friend, ad- 
 vised him so to do ; but to turn back meant 
 that he must give up the reforms which 
 he was hoping to establish, and which he 
 knew must be advocated in the Houses of 
 Parliament. 
 
 His first important speech in Parliament 
 was on behalf of the most unfortunate, the 
 most wretched, and the most ill-treated of his 
 fellow-creatures — the pauper lunatics of Lon- 
 don. In it he sounded the keynote of his 
 whole Parliamentary career. From that day 
 forward his whole life was devoted to the great 
 interests of humanity. 
 
 In the early part of this century, lunatics
 
 20 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 had passed the period of being canonized as 
 saints, burnt as heretics, or hanged as crimi- 
 nals. If only suspected of being dangerous, 
 society, in terror, took the most cruel precau- 
 tions for its own safety, with an utter disre- 
 gard for the feelings of the unfortunates, or 
 for their chances of recovery. Lunatics were 
 kept constantly chained to walls in dark cells, 
 and had nothing to lie upon but straw. The 
 keepers visited them, whip in hand, and lashed 
 them into obedience. They were half- 
 drowned in "baths of surprise," and in some 
 cases semi-strangulation was resorted to. The 
 ''baths of surprise" were so constructed that 
 the patients in passing over a trap-door fell 
 in. Some patients were chained in wells, and 
 the water made to rise until it reached their 
 chins. One horrible contrivance was a rotary 
 chair, in which patients were made to sit and 
 were revolved at a frightful speed. Women 
 as well as men were flogged, chained to iron 
 bars, and confined to iron cages. Londoners 
 out for a holiday paid their twopences to stroll
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 21 
 
 through Bedlam and laugh at the poor 
 lunatics. 
 
 The only act of Parliament providing for 
 the care of pauper lunatics, authorized any two 
 justices to apprehend them, and have them 
 locked up and chained. Any one who chose, 
 could get a license to keep an asylum, and 
 though the College of Physicians could receive 
 reports of abuses, they could do nothing fur- 
 ther. 
 
 The Society of Friends had started at York 
 a "Retreat" for insane members of their soci- 
 ety. Attention was drawn to this enlightened 
 experiment, and at the same time to the fright- 
 ful abuses at a large asylum in the same city, 
 A committee was appointed, and a bill for the 
 investigation of madhouses was passed by the 
 House of Commons, but was thrown out by 
 the House of Lords. The old idea that con- 
 nected madness with evil spirits, and made the 
 safety of the community the only matter of 
 consideration, was long in giving place to 
 sounder views. -
 
 22 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 This was the state of things when Lord 
 Ashley made his first speech in ParHament. 
 He spoke in favor of a bill which provided for 
 the appointment of fifteen commissioners, and 
 the requirement of two me'dical certificates for 
 patients. Lord Ashley was one of the com- 
 missioners appointed. In the following year 
 he became chairman of the Commission, and 
 continued in that office till his death, a period 
 of fifty-seven years, his great interest in the 
 welfare of the insane having been sustained 
 throughout that long period with unflagging 
 energy. Afterward, when the commissioners 
 were salaried, he remained the unpaid chair- 
 man. 
 
 Nothing of striking importance was accom- 
 plished for several years. During this period, 
 Lord Ashley did not leave a stone unturned 
 which could be of assistance to the contem- 
 plated reform. He visited the asylums in 
 London and the provinces, and saw the filthy 
 condition, the horrible attendant circum- 
 stances, the misery and degradation of the in-
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 23 
 
 mates. He saw for himself that the lunatics 
 were chained to their beds, and left from Sat- 
 urday afternoon till Monday without attend- 
 ance, and with only bread and water within 
 tlieir reach. He saw that the violent and the 
 quiet, the clean and the uncleanly, were shut 
 up together in foul and disgusting cells. But 
 what astonished him more than anything else 
 was, that people knew and cared absolutely 
 nothing about it. So shocked and horrified 
 was he with the revelation of misery and cru- 
 elty that he vowed he would never cease 
 pleading the cause of these poor creatures till 
 either death silenced him or the laws were 
 amended. And, as we shall see, he kept his 
 vow. 
 
 A record in his journal says: 
 
 ''Yesterday I spent with our Lunatic Com- 
 mission. There is nothing poetical in this 
 duty; but every sigh prevented and every pang 
 subdued is a song of harmony to the heart. I 
 have chosen political life, because I have, by 
 God's blessing, many advantages of birth and
 
 24 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 situation which, although of trifling vaUie if 
 unsupported, are yet very powerful aids if 
 joined to zeal and honesty." 
 
 Political papers derisively called him "the 
 Lunatic's Friend," 
 
 It has been well said that the services which 
 Lord Ashley rendered to this cause alone 
 would have carried his name down to pos- 
 terity in the front rank of English philan- 
 thropists. 
 
 This extract from one of his speeches shows 
 us how he sought to lay this matter on the 
 hearts of his hearers : 
 
 "These unhappy persons are outcasts from 
 all the social and domestic affections of pri- 
 vate life, and have no refuge but in the laws. 
 You can prevent by the agency you shall ap- 
 point the recurrence of frightful cruelties. 
 You can soothe the days of the incurable, and 
 restore many sufferers to health and useful- 
 ness. For we must not run away with the 
 notion that even the hopelessly mad are dead 
 to all capacity of intellectual or moral exer-
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 25 
 
 tion. Quite the reverse; their feelings, too, 
 are painfully alive. I have seen them writhe 
 under supposed contempt, while a word of 
 kindness and respect would kindle their whole 
 countenance into an expression of joy. Their 
 condition appeals to our highest sympathies. 
 I trust that I shall stand excused for havinir 
 consumed so much of your valuable time, 
 when you call to mind that the motion is made 
 on behalf of the most helpless, if not the most 
 afflicted, portion of the human race." 
 
 He cited the case of a lady who had been 
 shut up as a lunatic, but, as far as he and three 
 other commissioners could judge, she was as 
 sane as any woman in England. He spared no 
 pains in sifting the evidence on both sides, 
 and prosecuted the investigation day by day 
 until he had proof indisputable that the lady 
 was the victim of a cruel conspiracy, and was 
 perfectly sane. She was, of course, set at Hb- 
 erty with the least possible delay. 
 
 He narrated an anecdote to show that emi- 
 nent men sometimes formed their opinions as
 
 26 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 to the sanity of a patient on very flimsy evi- 
 dence. Once, when he was sitting on the Com- 
 mission as chairman, the alleged insanity of 
 a lady was under discussion, and he took a 
 view of the case opposite to that of his col- 
 leagues. One of the medical men who was 
 there to give evidence crept up to his chair, 
 and in a confidential tone said, "Are you 
 aware, my lord, that she subscribes to the 
 Society for the Conversion of the Jews?" "In- 
 deed," replied Lord Ashley, "and are you 
 aware that I am president of that society?" 
 
 One story out of many, illustrating the 
 characteristic promptness with which, even 
 late in life, he would examine a case and take 
 immediate action, may be given here : 
 
 A lady, Mrs. A , was on visiting terms 
 
 with Mrs. B , a woman of fashion and po- 
 sition. There was very little in common be- 
 tween the two, and the visits of Mrs. A 
 
 would have been less frequent than they were, 
 had she not taken a more than passing interest 
 in a charming young lady who was living in
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 27 
 
 the home of Mrs. B . One day when Mrs. 
 
 A called, Miss C was not there, and 
 
 on making very pointdd inquiries, she was, 
 after some hesitation, informed that her young 
 friend was out of her mind, and was in an 
 
 asylum fifty miles out of town. Mrs. A 
 
 felt troubled and distressed. She had seen 
 
 Miss C only a week before, and perceived 
 
 no indication of a disordered mind. At length 
 it occurred to her that Lord Shaftesbury was 
 a commissioner in lunacy, and she went 
 straight to his house, found him at home, and 
 told him the whole story. It was evening 
 when she arrived in Grosvenor Square, and 
 dinner was on the table ; but within a quarter 
 of an hour Lord Shaftesbury was on his way to 
 the railway station to go down to the asylum 
 and investigate the matter for himself. He 
 did so, and on the following day the young 
 lady was released, it having been authorita- 
 tively stated that she was not insane. 
 
 In his seventy-sixth year, his portrait was 
 painted by the famous artist, Sir John Millais.
 
 28 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 The Times, in its art critique, said: 
 "These worn lines in the face of the great 
 philanthropist would be painful were they not 
 pathetic." 
 
 About this time he wrote in his journal : 
 "Beyond the circle of my own commis- 
 sioners and the lunatics that I visit, not a soul 
 in great or small life has had any notion of 
 the years of toil and care that, under God, 1 
 have bestowed on this melancholy and awful 
 question." 
 
 The year before he died, the commissioners 
 of lunacy were attacked in the House of 
 Lords, and it looked for a time as if Lord 
 Shaftesbury's work would be overturned. Very 
 pathetic are the outpourings of his heart as he 
 contemplates the possibility of the labor, the 
 toils, the anxieties, the prayers of more than 
 fifty years being in one moment brought to 
 naught. After a few weeks, the bill against 
 the commissioners was shelved, and Shaftes- 
 bury remained with the great work which he 
 had carried on to such blessed success.
 
 Cljaptet HI 
 
 IT was when Lord Ashley was beginning his 
 * public career that attention was called to 
 the position of the workingman. His only re- 
 source was self-defense, his only argument 
 was violence. Education was at a deplorably 
 low ebb. It was found that a factory district 
 with over one hundred thousand population 
 did not have one public day-school for poor 
 children. The amusements of the people were 
 a fair index of their general condition. There 
 was universal rioting and carousal at Easter; 
 drunkenness was the great prevailing vice ; un- 
 chastity was fearfully prevalent, and low-class 
 dancing saloons, and still lower-class cheap 
 theaters were largely frequented. The factory 
 system, as we shall presently see, was cruel in 
 its oppression. Mines and collieries were 
 worked in great measure by women and chil- 
 dren. Sanitary science was practically un- 
 
 29
 
 2,0 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 known. Ragged schools, reformatory and in- 
 dustrial schools, and workmen's clubs had not 
 begun to exist. The newspaper was fettered. 
 Taxation was oppressive and unjust. The 
 poor laws were pauperizing and degrading. 
 The cheap literature reflected the violent pas- 
 sions which raged on every side, and the 
 Church was in a state of lethargy from which 
 it was not effectually aroused for many years. 
 In 1829, Sir Robert Peel's Act laid the 
 foundation for the present police force. Be- 
 fore that time the public were dependent for 
 their protection upon a staff of parochial 
 watchmen, who were muffled up in heavy 
 cloaks, and beat a stick upon the pavement to 
 announce their approach, and allow evil-dis- 
 posed persons to get out of their way. At 
 night they carried lanterns, whicli served, as 
 the stick by day, to announce their where- 
 abouts, and after they had made their rounds 
 they retired to their watch-boxes. Robbery of 
 all kinds was committed with impunity, and
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 31 
 
 after sunset it was not safe to venture on the 
 street. 
 
 Strangely enough, the Robert Peel Act met 
 with fiercest opposition and invective. It was 
 considered an interference with personal lib- 
 erty and a menace to public peace. The pop- 
 ular prejudice yielded when it was found the 
 best protection for life and property. 
 
 It was fortunate for Lord Ashley that the 
 police force should have been instituted at this 
 period. It would have been impossible for 
 him to get personally acquainted with the dens 
 of infamy and the abominations in the hovels 
 of the lowest of the low, without the assistance 
 of the police, a body of men to whom he al- 
 ways acknowledged his indebtedness. 
 
 In 1833 the great work of factory legisla- 
 tion began, in which for twenty years Lord 
 Ashley was to take so prominent a part. 
 
 Machinery was invented which children 
 could manage almost as well as adults. A 
 demand for child-labor was created, and it
 
 32 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 was supplied in a manner which scarcely seems 
 credible to the humanity of to-day. Large 
 numbers of children were drafted from the 
 workhouses of London, Edinburgh, and other 
 great cities, and placed in the mills as "appren- 
 tices," where, at the discretion of sordid over- 
 seers, they were worked unmercifully and bru- 
 tally treated. Voices had been raised in pro- 
 test against the cruel wrongs inflicted on these 
 poor children, who were continually being sent 
 down to Lancashire by barge-loads from the 
 London workhouses. But in the excitement 
 of stirring events, which were then occurring 
 at home and abroad, those voices were un- 
 heeded. 
 
 ]\Ieantime, the condition of these unfortu- 
 nate children was growing so bad, that the 
 cruelty of the system under which they were 
 held was hardly paralleled by the abominations 
 of Negro slavery. A horrible traffic had 
 sprung up ; child jobbers scoured the country 
 for the purpose of purchasing children, to sell 
 them again into the bondage of factory slaves.
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 33 
 
 The waste of human life in the factories to 
 which the children were consigned was simply 
 frightful. Day and night the machinery was 
 kept going, one gang of children working it 
 by day and another set by night, while in times 
 of pressure the same children were kept work- 
 ing day and night by remorseless taskmasters. 
 
 Under the "apprentice system" bargains 
 were made between the churchwardens and 
 overseers of parishes and the owners of fac- 
 tories, whereby pauper children, some as 
 young as five years old, were bound to serve 
 until they were twenty-one. 
 
 In some cases alluring promises were made 
 to them. They were told they would be well 
 clothed and fed, have plenty of money, and 
 learn a trade. These deceptions were prac- 
 ticed in order to make the children wish to 
 go, and thus give an opportunity to the traf- 
 fickers to say that they went voluntarily. 
 
 Their first labors consisted in picking up 
 loose cotton from the floor. This they did 
 amidst the din of machinery in a burning at-
 
 34 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 mosphere laden ^vitll fumes of the oil with 
 ^\ hich the axles of twenty thousand wheels and 
 spindles were bathed. 
 
 With aching backs and ankles inflamed 
 from the constant stooping, with fingers lacer- 
 ated from scraping the floors, parched and 
 suffocated by dust, the little slaves toiled from 
 morning till night. If they paused, the brutal 
 overseer, who was responsible for a certain 
 amount of work being performed by each child 
 under him, urged them on by kicks and blows. 
 
 When the dinner-time came after six hours 
 labor, it was only to rest for forty minutes and 
 eat black bread and porridge. As they grew 
 older, employment involving longer hours and 
 harder work was given to them. Lost time 
 had to be made up by overwork, and they were 
 required every other day to spend the dinner- 
 hour cleaning the frames. They sank into the 
 profoundest depths of wretchedness. In 
 weariness they often fell upon the machinery, 
 and almost every factory child was more or 
 less injured.
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 35 
 
 There was no redress of any kind. The iso- 
 lation of the mills aided to conceal the cruel- 
 ties. The children could not escape, as re- 
 wards were offered for their capture, and were 
 eagerly sought. They could not complain 
 when the visiting magistrate came, for they 
 were in abject fear of their taskmasters. If 
 they perished in the machinery, it was a rare 
 thing for a coroner's inquest to be held. 
 
 When their indentures expired, after years 
 of toil averaging fourteen hours a day, with 
 their bodies scarred with the wounds inflicted 
 by the overseers, with their minds dwarfed and 
 vacant, with their constitutions injured, these 
 unfortunate apprentices arrived at manhood, 
 to find that they had never been taught the 
 trade they should have learned, and that they 
 had no resource whatever but to enter again 
 upon the hateful life from which they were at 
 last legally freed. If they had become crippled 
 or diseased during their apprenticeship, their 
 wages were fixed at the lowest possible sum. 
 
 Some laws had been passed against the ap-
 
 36 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 prentice system, and limiting- the hours of 
 labor for children, but all this applied to cot- 
 ton factories only, and the abuses in woolen, 
 linen, and silk factories were as great. Then 
 a ^Ir. Sadler introduced his famous "Ten- 
 hour Bill" in the House of Commons; but he 
 was violently opposed, and finally not returned 
 to Parliament. Then the poor mill-hands felt 
 that the death-blow had been struck to all their 
 interests. 
 
 It was then that Lord Ashley, who had 
 supported the Ten-hour Bill, was asked to 
 take up the cause of the factory people. On 
 the one hand lay ease, influence, promotion, 
 and troops of friends; on the other, the most 
 unpopular question of the day, unceasing 
 labor amidst every kind of opposition, perpet- 
 ual anxiety, estrangement of friends, and a life 
 among the poor. It was between these he had 
 to choose. 
 
 Had he been ambitious of political distinc- 
 tion, his abilities, his popularity, and his great 
 oratorical powers would have commanded a
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 37 
 
 prominent position in his party. Already he 
 had won an appointment in the Government 
 under the Duke of Wellington, whose conti- 
 dence he enjoyed, and whose approbation he 
 had won. 
 
 But Lord Ashley was not a man to be in- 
 fluenced by these considerations. "Already 
 he had passed through the strait gate of his 
 path in life, and had entered the narrow way." 
 He remembered that day at Harrow when he 
 vowed that he would fight against the mon- 
 strous cruelty that allowed the weak to be 
 trampled upon, simply because they were 
 poor. 
 
 But that vow had been made when he was 
 a mere boy. Now he had a wife and a child, 
 a home and a position. To espouse the fac- 
 tory cause was to give up home comfort and 
 domestic leisure, to relinquish scientific and 
 literary pursuits. 
 
 He laid the matter before his wife, painted 
 in dark colors all the sacrifice it meant for her, 
 and waited fgr her verdict. "It is your duty to
 
 38 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 go forward," she said, "and the consequences 
 we must leave." 
 
 It was characteristic of Lord Ashley that 
 he did not wish to receive more than his share 
 of credit. Later in life, when his speeches on 
 this subject were published, he wrote: 
 
 "I desire to record the invaluable services 
 of the remarkable men who preceded me. 
 Had they not gone before and borne such an 
 amount of responsibility and toil, I do not 
 believe that it would have been in my power 
 to have achieved anything at all." 
 
 Lord Ashley had made it a principle at the 
 outset of his career, not to advocate any cause 
 until he had acquainted himself with all the 
 facts by close personal investigation. "I made 
 it an invariable rule," he said, "to see every- 
 thing with my own eyes, to take nothing on 
 trust or hearsay. In factories I examined the 
 mills, the machinery, the homes, and saw the 
 work and workers. In collieries I went down 
 into the pits. In London I went into lodging- 
 houses, and thieves' haunts, and every filthy
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 39 
 
 place. It gave me a power I could not other- 
 wise have had. I could speak of things from 
 actual experience, and 1 used often to hear 
 things from the poor sufferers themselves 
 which were invaluable to me. I got to know 
 their habits of thought and action and their 
 actual wants. I sat, and had tea and talk with 
 them hundreds of times." 
 
 When the Committee of Investigation was 
 in Manchester, the entire company of child 
 operatives marched in a body to the hotel. 
 These men had never looked upon such a pro- 
 cession before — three thousand ragged, 
 wretched little ones, attended by at least fifteen 
 thousand spectators. It was an argument of 
 overwhelming force. 
 
 Robert Southey wrote Lord Ashley, beg- 
 ging him not to go to the manufacturing dis- 
 tricts any more. He said : "The distressful 
 recollections will be impressed upon you, and 
 burnt in, and your health will be affected seri- 
 ously thereby." 
 
 Southey did not know that the whole path-
 
 40 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 way of his friend's life would lie throuorh 
 scenes of suffering "burnt in," which need not 
 have been his lot if he had not dedicated him- 
 self to the poor and friendless. 
 
 In a speech at Leeds, Lord Ashley in- 
 stanced the case of a young woman in a mill 
 at Stockport, who had been caught by the 
 machinery, whirled around, and dashed to the 
 ground, with limbs broken and body muti- 
 lated. Her employers deducted eighteen 
 pence from her wages for the remainder of 
 the week after the accident happened ! Lord 
 Ashley prosecuted the mill-owners, with the 
 result that they had to pay £ioo damages to 
 the girl, and expenses on both sides, amount- 
 ing to £600. He showed them that the ex- 
 penditure of a few shillings in properly boxing 
 the machinery would have saved the financial 
 loss to the mill-owners, and the more terrible 
 loss to the injured girl. 
 
 In a speech he called attention to some 
 boys who were made to work for thirty-four 
 hours successively in the foul cellar of a York-
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 41 
 
 shire factoiy, the air of which was so bad that 
 workmen tied handkerchiefs around their faces 
 before going into the place. He reminded the 
 House that when, in its wisdom and mercy, it 
 decided that forty-five hours in a week was a 
 term of labor long enough for an adult Negro, 
 it would not now be unbecoming to consider 
 whether sixty-nine hours a week were not too 
 many for the children of the British Empire. 
 
 Just when factory legislation became the 
 burning question of the day, and it looked as 
 though Lord Ashley would win his cause, an 
 endeavor was made to thwart him from an- 
 other standpoint. He was offered a position 
 in the Government where it would be impos- 
 sible for him to carry on a great political agi- 
 tation. 
 
 The pretext was made that his ''high mo- 
 rality" required his services in the royal house- 
 hold. Sir Robert Peel, who planned the 
 scheme, did not know the man with whom he 
 had to deal. He was incapable of realizing 
 the high and generous motives of one who, for
 
 42 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 the sake of the poor and oppressed, was ready 
 to sacrifice position and emolument, and close 
 upon himself the gates leading to poHtical 
 power. 
 
 This was his reply: ''There are still i,6oo,- 
 ooo operatives excluded from the benefits of 
 the Factory Acts; until they are brought 
 under the protection of the law, I can not take 
 office." 
 
 Later, in speaking of the obstacles which 
 beset him at this period, he said : 
 
 "I had to break every political connection, 
 to encounter a most formidable array of cap- 
 italists, mill-owners, and :nen who, by natural 
 impulse, hate all 'humanity mongers.' They 
 easily influence the ignorant, the timid, and 
 the indifTerent." 
 
 A record in his journal shows the spirit 
 with which he worked: 
 
 "Addressed a body of operatives last night. 
 Admirable meeting. Urged the most concili- 
 atory sentiments towards employers. Urged, 
 too, the indispensable necessity of private and
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 43 
 
 public prayer if the}^ desire to accomplish their 
 end. Told what I felt, that unless the Spirit 
 of Christ had commanded my service, I would 
 not have undertaken the task. It was to re- 
 ligion therefore, and not to me, that they were 
 indebted for benefits received. What a place 
 is Manchester — silent and solemn ; the rumble 
 of carriages and groaning of mills, but few 
 voices and no merriment. Intensely occupied 
 in the production of material wealth, it regards 
 that alone as the grand end of human exist- 
 ence. Thirty-five thousand children, under 
 thirteen years of age, many not exceeding five 
 or six, are worked at times for fifteen hours a 
 day ! O blessed Lord and Savior of mankind, 
 look down on these lambs of thy fold, and 
 strengthen me for this service !" 
 
 There were times when the outcome of his 
 cause looked dark. This appears most pathet- 
 ically in his journal : 
 
 "Twelve years of labor, anxiety, and re- 
 sponsibility! I have borrowed and spent in 
 reference to .my income enormous sums of
 
 44 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 money, and am shut out from every hope of 
 emolument and path of honorable ambition. 
 My own kinsfolk dislike my opinions, and per- 
 secute me. I am excluded from my father's 
 house because I have maintained the cause of 
 the laborer. It has been toil by day and by 
 night, fears and disappointments, prayers and 
 tears, long journeys and unceasing letters." 
 
 It was not until Lord Ashley had given 
 fourteen years of such service that his bill was 
 passed, and received the royal assent. This 
 great victory was received throughout the 
 country with intense enthusiasm. The rejoic- 
 ing- in the manufacturing districts was such as 
 had never been seen before. Lord Ashley was 
 greeted with ovations wherever he went. 
 Medals were struck in commemoration of the 
 event, one of which was sent to the Queen 
 from the operatives by the hand of Lord Ash- 
 ley. His record of this event says: "I can find 
 neither breath nor sense to express my joy. 
 Praised be the Lord ! Praised be the Lord !" 
 
 The bill limited the time of children to six
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 45 
 
 hours a day. There was protection against 
 accident, death, or mutilation from the un- 
 guarded state of machinery, and the provision 
 that no woman should work over twelve hours 
 a day. Buildings must be kept clean. Chil- 
 dren must not clean machinery while in mo- 
 tion. A certain number of holidays were im- 
 posed. The children must go to school, and 
 the employer must have a certificate to that 
 effect. 
 
 Lord Ashley's perseverance brought over 
 to his side many of those who had bitterly 
 opposed him. One who had been particularly 
 hostile stood forth in Parliament, and made 
 his public recantation. He said : 
 
 "Very early in my Parliamentary career. 
 Lord Ashley, now the Earl of Shaftesbury, in- 
 troduced a bill of this description. I opposed 
 him, and was very much influenced in my op- 
 position by what the manufacturers said. They 
 declared that it was the last half-hour of the 
 work performed by their operatives which 
 made all their profits, and if we took away that
 
 46 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 last half-hour, we would ruin the manufac- 
 turers of England. I listened to that state- 
 ment, and trembled for the manufacturers; 
 but Lord Ashley persevered. Parliament 
 passed the bill which he brought in. From 
 that time down to the present the factories of 
 this country have been under State control, 
 and 1 appeal to this House whether the manu- 
 facturers of England have suffered by this 
 legislation." 
 
 This was greeted by loud cheering. It was 
 officially declared that factory legislation had 
 consolidated society, swept away a great mass 
 of festering discontent, and placed the pros- 
 perity of the district on a safe, educated, con- 
 tented basis. 
 
 In i860, on an August day, about four 
 thousand persons assembled in the Free Trade 
 Hall at Manchester, to witness the presenta- 
 tion to the Countess of Shaftesbury of a fine 
 marble bust of the noble Earl as a testimonial 
 of the gratitude of the factory operatives.
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 47 
 
 The Countess, in acknowledging the pre- 
 sentation, said : 
 
 "My good friends, it will not require many 
 words for me to express the deep and heartfelt 
 gratitude with which I receive this testimonial. 
 I prize it highly as coming from a large body 
 of my countrymen, whose intelligence and 
 morality qualifies them to estimate at their 
 true value any efforts made for the welfare of 
 the community. . Having watched your exer- 
 tions with lively interest, I warmly rejoiced in 
 your success; and it is my fervent prayer to 
 God that it may be blessed through many gen- 
 erations to you and your children." 
 
 The bust, besides being an admirable like- 
 ness, was an exquisite work of art, and it was 
 gratifying to know that the cost of it was de- 
 frayed by a collection, almost entirely in pence, 
 from the operatives.
 
 Cl^aptct: IV 
 
 JV A R. PHILIP GRANT, in his ''History of 
 -^ " ^ Factory Legislation," says : "The sacri- 
 fice made by Lord Ashley can only be appre- 
 ciated by those who best understood the 
 pecuniary position of this noble-minded man. 
 He had, at that time, a large and increasing 
 family, with an income not equal to many of 
 our merchants' and bankers' servants, and a 
 position as the future representative of an an- 
 cient and aristocratic family to maintain. Po- 
 litical power, patronage, social ties, family 
 comforts were laid down at the feet of the fac- 
 tory children, and freely given up to the sacred 
 cause of which he had become the leader." 
 
 Added to this was personal hostility and 
 fierce opposition from the Prime Minister, the 
 ruling statesmen, and the leading newspapers. 
 That all of this was hard to be borne appears 
 in his journal : 
 
 ''By chance I picked up the Morning Post, 
 
 48
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 49 
 
 and found there the most violent and venom- 
 ous article I ever read against any public man, 
 directed against myself. This is only a sample 
 of the things which I endure. ' Were I just 
 coming into public life, I should die outright ; 
 but though affected, I am acclimated, and 
 having endured other attacks, shall recover a 
 part of my health, but no more." 
 
 "The tone now is, among my adversaries, 
 'a well-meaning, amiable sort of man, with no 
 fragment of penetration.' " 
 
 "The Times charges me with weakness. 
 How can I be otherwise, not having in the 
 House even a bulrush to rest upon? 'No poli- 
 tician!' 'No statesman!' I never aspired to 
 that character ; if I did I would not be such a 
 fool as to attack every interest and one-half of 
 mankind, and only on behalf of classes whose 
 united influences would not obtain for me fifty 
 votes." 
 
 He had, however, a firm friend in Prince 
 Albert and Queen Victoria. The Prince had 
 said when the position was offered Lord Ash-
 
 50 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 ley which he declined to accept : "I have asked 
 that a peer be appointed to my household; 
 but if I can get such a man as Lord Ashley, I 
 will gladly take a man from the House of 
 Commons." 
 
 In his journal he speaks often of the 
 Queen's interest in him and his work : 
 
 "I am here at Windsor Castle by desire of 
 Her Majesty. From the hour she became 
 Queen to the present day, I and mine have re- 
 ceived one invariable succession of friendly 
 and hospitable acts." 
 
 "Dined last night at the palace. I can not 
 but love the Queen; she is so kind and good 
 to me and mine. Poor soul ! she was low- 
 spirited. O that she knew what alone makes 
 a yoke easy and a burden light !" 
 
 On one occasion Prince Albert said to him: 
 "We want to show our interest in the work- 
 ing classes, and we have sent for you to advise 
 us how to do it." 
 
 Lord Ashley had an answer ready: "Put 
 yourself at the head of all social movements
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 51 
 
 which bear upon the poor. On the i8th of 
 May next, the anniversary of the Laborer's 
 Friend Society will be held, and if your Royal 
 Highness will accompany me, first to see some 
 of the dwellings of the poor, and afterward to 
 preside at the meeting, I am satisfied it will 
 have a good effect." 
 
 The Prince at once fell in with the sug- 
 gestion. But when some of the lords heard 
 thereof, they were frantic with fear, and 
 brought to bear every possible objection. 
 Lord Ashley encouraged the Prince to perse- 
 vere in his intention, as he finallv did. With 
 his brilliant cortege he visited house after 
 house in Lord Ashley's company, and was 
 everywhere received with great enthusiasm. 
 Later, when he took the chair at the meeting, 
 he "made it the occasion for the speech which 
 first fairly showed to the country what he 
 was." 
 
 The little touches of domestic life and affec- 
 tion, as they appear in Lord Ashley's records, 
 are very tender and beautiful. Beginning with
 
 52 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 the first anniversary of his marriage-day, he 
 says: "Mark this day with the red letters of 
 joy, hope, and gratitude. How much more I 
 should enjoy this visit to Oxford if Minny 
 were with me ! I can not bear the shortest 
 separation from her." He says concerning 
 the christening of his Httle son : 
 
 "May God, in his mercy, grant that as the 
 child was this day signed with the sign of the 
 Cross, so he may never be ashamed to confess 
 and fight for a crucified Savior !" 
 
 "Took a walk with Minny. Much interest- 
 ing conversation with the darling. She is a 
 most bountiful answer to my prayers. Often 
 do I recollect the very words of my entreaties 
 to God, that he would give me a wife for my 
 comfort, improvement, and safety. He has 
 granted me to the full all that I desired, and 
 far more than I deserved. Praised be his holy 
 name !" 
 
 "Minny is gone, and I am all alone — not a 
 bairn with me. I now taste by separation 
 more truly the blessings of God's goodness.
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 53 
 
 His gracious bounty has JDestowed upon me a 
 wife and children — and such a wife and such 
 children !" 
 
 "My four blessed boys brought me to-day 
 some money for the bishopric at Jerusalem. 
 They offered it most willingly, even joyfully." 
 
 "]\Iinny and I, through God's mercy, took 
 the sacrament together. Afterwards, towards 
 evening, we had a walk on the seashore, while 
 the blessed children ran about the sands. We 
 recalled the past, and anticipated the future 
 in faith and fear and fervent prayer." 
 
 Lord Ashley next turned his attention to 
 the "climbing boys" employed by chimney 
 sweeps. For more than a hundred years the 
 miseries of these poor little creatures had been 
 kept before the public by philanthropic indi- 
 viduals, and yet their wrongs were not abol- 
 ished. Little children from four to eight years 
 of age, the majority of them orphans, inveigled 
 from poorhouses, or apprenticed by poor-law 
 guardians, or sold by brutal parents, were 
 trained to furce their way up the long, narrow,
 
 54 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 winding passages of chimneys to clear away 
 the soot. In order to do this, they had to 
 move up and down by pressing every joint in 
 their bodies against the hai:d and often broken 
 surface of the chimneys; and to prevent their 
 hands and knees from bleeding, the children 
 were rubbed with brine. Their skin being 
 choked with soot, they were liable to a fright- 
 ful disease called chimney-sweeper's cancer, 
 involving one of the most terrible forms of 
 physical suffering. They began the day's 
 work at four, three, or even two in the morn- 
 ing. They were half stifled by the hot sul- 
 phurous air in the flues, and often they would 
 get stuck in a chimney, and become uncon- 
 scious from exhaustion and foul air. They 
 lived in low, ill-drained, ill-ventilated cellars, 
 and often slept on the soot-heaps. They re- 
 mained unwashed, and on Sundays they were 
 generally shut up together, so that the neigh- 
 bors might not see their miserable condition. 
 They were morally and intellectually degraded 
 to the lowest possible point. Out of three
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 55 
 
 hundred and eighty-four boys examined by 
 the Commission, only six could write and 
 twenty-six could read very imperfectly. The 
 labors of Lord Ashley in Parliament were, as 
 a rule, the least part of his work on behalf of 
 any cause he espoused; and it was so in this 
 case. He went to see the climbing boys at 
 their work; he confronted the masters; he 
 took legal proceedings at his own expense as 
 "test cases," and even made provision for life 
 for the poor little sufferers whom he was able 
 to rescue from their living death. 
 
 In his speech he said that he had no idea 
 that cruelties so barbarous could be practiced 
 in any civilized country as had come under his 
 notice. It was a fact within his own personal 
 knowledge that a child four and a half years 
 old was at the present moment employed in 
 sweeping chimneys. The practice led not only 
 to loathsome disease, but also to extensive 
 demoralization. The children were sent up 
 without clothing, and often spent the night on 
 the soot-heap unclothed. As regarded the
 
 56 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 demoralizing effect, he stated that there were 
 at that time twenty-three climbing boys in 
 Newgate for various offenses. 
 
 He became interested in a sweep whom he 
 first saw back of his own house in London. 
 He tried to buy him from his master; but the 
 master saw his advantage, and refused to re- 
 lease him. Lord Ashley sought the unnatural 
 father, and tempted his help by the offer of a 
 free education. This availed, and the boy, 
 who proved to be of a very lovable disposition, 
 was removed from his hateful bondage to a 
 boys' Christian school of a most pleasant sort. 
 
 The bill Introduced by Lord Ashley, for- 
 bidding the employment by chimney-sweepers 
 of climbing boys, was opposed by the Duke of 
 Wellington, the great insurance companies, 
 and many of the lords who feared that the 
 safety of the metropolis was threatened. 
 
 He kept on pleading for the ''four thousand 
 children who were at that time engaged in this 
 disgusting and unnecessary employment." At 
 last he took up the case of two little boys who
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 57 
 
 were suffocated in chimneys, and succeeded in 
 having one of the masters arrested and sen- 
 tenced to six months hard labor. Then the 
 Times took up his cause, and in the agitation 
 his bill was passed. His records have this 
 item, which every reformer should read : "Let 
 no one ever despair of a good cause for want 
 of helpers. Let him persevere, persevere, per- 
 severe, and God will raise him up friends and 
 assistants !" 
 
 We are convinced that Lord Ashley must 
 have been an orator of no small power. A 
 "word-portrait," written in 1838, says: 
 
 "Lord Ashley possesses the purest, palest, 
 stateliest exterior of any man you will see in 
 a month's perambulation of Westminster ; in- 
 deed, it would be difficult to imagine a more 
 complete beau-ideal of aristocracy. His de- 
 livery is fluent ; his voice rich and fine in tone. 
 When he addresses an audience he stands with 
 his hand resting on the platform rail ; he looks 
 his hearers directly in the face, and with a very 
 slight bowing movement, barely sufificient to
 
 58 "Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 save him from the appearance of stiffness, he 
 delivers, without a moment's hesitation, and 
 with great dignity of voice and manner, a 
 short, serious address. The applause with 
 which he is alwa}s heard seems rather an in- 
 terruption than a pleasure to him. I have 
 heard that his lordship is very nervous, and 
 yet his most striking feature is self-possession, 
 which he never loses for a moment." 
 
 His biographer said of him near the close 
 of his life: 
 
 "Of the thousands of speeches made by 
 Lord Shaftesbury on every conceivable sub- 
 ject, he was always guided in their preparation 
 b}' a few simple rules. He did not write his 
 speeches, and never used notes. He got to- 
 gether all his evidence and everything he 
 wished to quote, and these he put in shape ; 
 but the connecting matter he never formally 
 prepared. He thought the subject well over, 
 made himself master of the facts, and trusted 
 for the rest to the inspiration of the moment.
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 59 
 
 It was a saying of his, that it was not of great 
 consequence how a speech was comijienced, 
 but it was all-important how it ended, and he 
 almost always prepared his peroration, some- 
 times committing it to memory."
 
 Cl^apter V 
 
 A X rHILE still a student, Lord Ashley be- 
 ^ ' came greatly interested in the study of 
 Hebrew, declaring that he loved and vener- 
 ated the Jews and everything that concerned 
 them. We find him sending money to a He- 
 brew convert in Jerusalem, saying that he 
 wished to revive the practice of apostolic 
 times, and "make a certain contribution for 
 the poor saints that are at Jerusalem !" 
 
 He prevailed on Parliament to ask for pro- 
 tection and encouragement for the Jews, and 
 through his instrumentality a vice-consul was 
 appointed from the nation and a bishop from 
 the Church, who were to establish an Anglican 
 bishopric in Jerusalem, and build a church on 
 JMount Zion. He said in his plea: 
 
 "For centuries, the Greek, the Romanist, 
 
 the Armenian, and the Turk have had their 
 
 places of worship in the city of Jerusalem. 
 
 60
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 6i 
 
 The pure doctrines of the Reformation have 
 alone been unrepresented amidst all these cor- 
 ruptions," 
 
 Frederick William IV, King of Prussia, who 
 had always been interested in the Jews, pro- 
 posed that the two nations unite in the sup- 
 port of the bishopric, and so include all Prot- 
 estant Churches in the Holy Land within its 
 pale. This brought forth hearty ''Te Deums" 
 from Lord Ashley, who felt that the desire of 
 his heart was being realized. He wrote : "The 
 beginning is made, please God, for the resto- 
 ration of Israel. Our bishops can not endure 
 the notion of a Jeiv elevated to the episcopate. 
 They remember that Moses says, 'They shall 
 be a byword,' and forget that Paul declares 
 them 'beloved for the Father's sake.' The 
 order of Providence now seems to be, that in 
 proportion as we have abased the Jew, so shall 
 we be compelled to abase ourselves. His fu- 
 ture dignity shall be commensurate with his 
 past degradation. Be it so; I can rejoice in
 
 62 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 Zion for a capital, in Jerusalem for a Church, 
 and in a Hebrew for a king." 
 
 Lord Ashley never had a shadow of doubt 
 tliat the Jews were to return to their own land, 
 that the Scriptures were to be literally ful- 
 filled, and that the time was at hand. Indeed, 
 it was his daily hope and prayer. He always 
 wore on his right hand a ring, on which was 
 engraved, ''O pray for the peace of Jeru- 
 salem !" The words were engraven on his 
 heart as well. 
 
 In 1843, Lord Ashley took up official alli- 
 ance with a cause which, for more than forty 
 years, was to receive his advocacy. He spoke 
 against the opium trade with China, which 
 was the first great indictment of the opium 
 trade ever uttered within the walls of Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 The history of the exportation of opium to 
 China by the East India Company is briefly 
 this: The company began enriching itself by 
 the cultivation of opium, and the sale of it to 
 Dutch merchants and others. Then the
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 63 
 
 opium was clandestinely sold to the Chinese. 
 Some of the East India officials and London 
 directors objected to the importation of opium 
 into China against the wishes of its rulers. 
 But they pocketed the revenue, and openly 
 sold the drug in Calcutta to merchants who 
 shipped it off to China. Chinese authorities 
 issued edicts enforcing severe penalties on the 
 importation. But the company compensated 
 merchants who had suffered loss through Chi- 
 nese interference. The intelligent class in 
 China saw that the nation was becoming en- 
 feebled by the growing use of opium. The 
 emperor determined on a bold stroke. He 
 had his commissioner seize and destroy twenty 
 thousand chests of smuggled opium. Eng- 
 land declared war, and defeated the Chinese 
 in spite of their gallant resistance, and by the 
 Treaty of Nankin five ports were thrown open 
 to the British trade, twenty-one million dollars 
 were paid by China as a war indemnity and as 
 compensation for the destroyed opium, and 
 Hong Kong became a British possession.
 
 64 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 But in spite of all pressure brought to bear 
 on them, the Chinese steadily refused to legal- 
 ize the opium-traffic, although it was useless 
 to try to enforce laws against it. 
 
 Such was the state of affairs when Lord 
 Ashley began his long crusade against the 
 opium trade. The first words on the subject 
 in his journal are about the war: 
 
 "I rejoice that this cruel and debasing 
 opium war is terminated ; but I can not rejoice 
 (it may be unpatriotic) in our successes. We 
 have triumphed in one of the most lawless, 
 unnecessary, and unfair struggles in the rec- 
 ords of history; it was a war on which good 
 men could not invoke the favor of Heaven, 
 and Christians have shed more heathen blood 
 in two years, than the heathen have shed of 
 Christian blood in two centuries !" 
 
 When he was preparing his speech he 
 wrote : 
 
 "O what a question is this opium affair! 
 Bad as I thought it, I find it a thousand times 
 worse, more black, more cruel, more Satanic
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 65 
 
 than all the deeds of private sin in the records 
 of prison history. O God, be thou with me 
 in the hour of trial, and touch my lips, like 
 Isaiah's, with fire ofT the altar !" 
 
 He brought the subject before the House 
 of Commons by moving, "That it is the opin- 
 ion of this House that the continuance of the 
 trade in opium, and the monopoly of its 
 growth in the territories of British India, are 
 destructive of all relations of amity between 
 England and China, injurious to the manufac- 
 turing interests of the country by the very 
 serious diminution of legitimate commerce, 
 and utterly inconsistent with the honor and 
 duties of a Christian kingdom ; and that steps 
 be taken as soon as possible to abolish the 
 evil." 
 
 He declared that he had no hostile feeling 
 
 toward the East India Company, that they 
 
 had conferred great benefits on the Empire 
 
 they were appointed to govern, and the guilt 
 
 was not theirs exclusively; it was shared by 
 
 the Legislature and the whole nation. 
 5
 
 66 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 From the testimony of witnesses, he 
 showed that all Chinese society, from the im- 
 perial family down to the lowest ranks, suf- 
 fered from the baneful effects of the drug, that 
 officials were corrupted and multitudes ruined, 
 and that the trade was a source of danger, 
 shame, and disgrace to all concerned. He 
 showed that no progress had been made in 
 commerce with China; testimony was over- 
 whelming that the Chinese were anxious for 
 trade, but the opium-traffic stopped the way. 
 He then proceeded to give a vivid description 
 of the general effects upon its victims, of in- 
 dulgence in opium as a luxury ; their physical, 
 mental, and moral debility; their hideous dis- 
 figurement and premature decay, resulting in 
 misery almost beyond belief, destroying myri- 
 ads of individuals annually, and casting its 
 victims into a bondage with which no slavery 
 on earth could compare, and from which there 
 was scarcely a known instance of escape. It 
 stood in the way of the progress of society, 
 the civilization of man, and the advancement
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 67 
 
 of the gospel. Opium and the Bible could not 
 enter China together. He showed them that 
 the Baptist Missionary Society had decided to 
 work through the agency of American mis- 
 sions, because the public feeling in China was 
 so strong against the English, that if the mis- 
 sionaries hoped to work at all, it must be 
 through America, which had kept aloof in a 
 great degree from the disgraceful traffic. So 
 it had come to this, that England, which pro- 
 fessed to be at the head of Christian nations, 
 was shut out by her own immoral conduct 
 from sending her own missionaries to that 
 part of the world which she herself had opened 
 for civilization and Christianity ! 
 
 He demanded that Parliament should de- 
 stroy the monopoly which the East India 
 Company possessed, of the growth and manu- 
 facture of opium in India, and prohibit the 
 cultivation of the drug in the territories of the 
 East India Company. 
 
 The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, asked 
 him to withdraw his motion. He indulged in
 
 68 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 a line of argument, the gist of which was that 
 as we could not put down gin at home, we 
 need not concern ourselves about introducing 
 twenty thousand chests of opium into China 
 every year. 
 
 The Times said that Lord Ashley's speech 
 was grave, temperate, and practical, well 
 stored with facts, authorities, and arguments, 
 and more statesmanlike in its views than those 
 by which it was opposed, whose arguments 
 amounted to this: 
 
 "That morality and religion, and the happi- 
 ness of mankind and friendly relations with 
 China, and new markets for British manufac- 
 tures were all very fine things in their way; 
 but that the opium trade was worth £1,200,000 
 a year; and upon the whole we could not af- 
 ford to buy morality and religion, and the 
 happiness of mankind and friendly relations 
 with China, quite so dear." 
 
 His journal has this entry: 
 
 "Last night, opium! Though I did not 
 succeed in carrying my motion, yet I made a
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 69 
 
 sensible impression on the House, and, I hope, 
 on the country. I was, perhaps, more master 
 of myself than on any former occasion, yet 
 down to the very moment of commencing my 
 speech I was in great dejection. God was with 
 me, and I reached the consciences, though I 
 could not command the support of several 
 members. Spoke for nearly three hours; 
 nevertheless, the House listened to me 
 throughout with patience and sympathy." 
 
 In 1840, Lord Ashley moved in the House 
 that a humble address be presented to Her 
 Majesty to direct an inquiry to be made into 
 the employment of the children of the poorer 
 classes in mines and collieries, and in the va- 
 rious branches of trade and manufacture in 
 which numbers of children work together. 
 He said in conclusion: 
 
 "I have been bold enough to undertake this 
 task because I regard the objects of it as be- 
 ings created as ourselves, by the same Maker, 
 redeemed by the same Savior, and destined to 
 the same immortality. It is in this spirit I
 
 70 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 entreat the investigation and removal of those 
 sad evils which press so deeply and extensively 
 on such a large and such an interesting por- 
 tion of the human race." 
 
 After a short discussion, the motion was 
 agreed to, and a commission granted, — a con- 
 vincing proof of Lord Ashley's power as a 
 social reformer in the House of Commons. 
 
 In 1842 the report of the commission was 
 issued. A mass of misery and depravity was 
 unveiled, of which even the warmest friends 
 of the laboring classes had but a faint concep- 
 tion. 
 
 A very large proportion of the workers 
 underground were less than thirteen years of 
 age; some of them began to toil in the pits 
 when only four or five. Young, timid chil- 
 dren descended the steep shafts into mines 
 which were always damp, dark, and close; 
 water trickled down the sides; the floor was 
 ankle-deep in black mud, and all around a 
 labyrinth of dark, gruesome passages. 
 
 The first employment of a very young child
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 71 
 
 was that of a "trapper." The ventilation of a 
 mine was a complicated affair not easily ex- 
 plained. Suffice it to say, that were a door or 
 trap left open after the passage of a coal-car- 
 riage through it the consequences would be 
 very serious, causing perhaps an explosion. 
 Behind each door, therefore, a little child or 
 trapper was seated, whose duty it was, on hear- 
 ing the approach of a whirley or coal-carriage, 
 to pull open the door, and shut it as soon as 
 the whirley had passed. From the time the 
 first coal was brought forward in the morning, 
 until the last whirley had passed at night — 
 that is to say, for twelve or fourteen hours a 
 day — the trapper was at his monotonous work. 
 He had to sit alone in the pitchy darkness and 
 the horrible silence, unable to stir for more 
 than a dozen paces with safety, lest he should 
 be found neglecting his duty and suffer ac- 
 cordingly. He dared not go to sleep — the 
 punishment was the "strap," applied with 
 brutal severity. The mines were infested with 
 rats, so bold t-liat they had been known to run
 
 73 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 off with the lighted candles in their mouth, and 
 explode the gas. All the circumstances of a 
 little trapper's life were full of horror, and 
 upon nervous, sensitive children the effect was 
 terrible, producing a state of imbecility and 
 ofttimes idiocy. Except on Sunday, they 
 never saw the sun; their meals were eaten in 
 the dark, and they had no hours of relaxation. 
 As they grew older, the trappers were 
 passed on to other employments, "hurrying," 
 "filling," "riddling," "tipping," and occasion- 
 ally "getting," and in these labors no distinc- 
 tion whatever was made 'between boys and 
 girls in their mode of work, in the weights they 
 carried, in the distances they traveled, or in 
 their dress, which consisted of no other gar- 
 ment than a ragged shirt or a pair of tattered 
 trousers, "Hurrying" — that is, loading small 
 wagons with coals, and pushing them along a 
 passage — was a barbarous labor, performed by 
 women as well as by children. They had to 
 crawl on hands and knees, and draw enormous 
 weights along shafts as narrow and as wet as
 
 L/iFE OF Lord Shaftesbury 'j^ 
 
 common sewers. When the passages were 
 very narrow, and not more than eighteen or 
 twenty-four inches in height, boys and girls 
 performed the work by girdle and chain; a 
 girdle was put around the naked waist, to 
 which a chain from the carriage was hooked 
 and passed between the legs, and, crawling on 
 hands and knees, they drew the carriages after 
 them. Their little bodies were bruised and 
 blistered from contact with the walls, and their 
 ankles strained out of all human semblance. 
 They did the work of beasts of burden, be- 
 cause human flesh and blood was cheaper in 
 some cases, and horse-labor was impossible in 
 others. 
 
 "Coal-bearing"^carrying on their backs 
 on unrailed roads burdens from half a hun- 
 dred weight to one hundred weight and a 
 half — was almost always performed by girls 
 and women, and it was a common occurrence 
 for little children of six or seven years to carry 
 burdens of coal of half a hundred weight up 
 steps that, in^the aggregate, equaled an ascent
 
 74 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 fourteen times a day to the summit of St. 
 Paul's Cathedral ! The coal was carried in a 
 basket formed to the back, the straps of which 
 were placed over the forehead, and the body 
 had to be bent almost double to prevent the 
 coals from falling. Sometimes these straps 
 would break in ascending the ladder, when the 
 consequences would be serious to those who 
 were following. 
 
 Another form of severe labor to which chil- 
 dren as young as eight years of age were fre- 
 quently put, was that of pumping water in the 
 under-bottom of the pits. The little workers 
 stood ankle deep in water, performing their 
 unceasing tasks during hours as long as those 
 in the other departments of labor, and were 
 sometimes required to work thirty-six hours 
 continuously. In addition to the hard labor, 
 the apprenticed children suffered terribly from 
 the cruelty of the overlookers, who bargained 
 for them and used them as they pleased. 
 Brutal punishments were inflicted for trifling 
 offenses, and the food of the children was al-
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 75 
 
 ways insufficient and of the coarsest sort. Of 
 course, these Httle beasts of burden suffered 
 terribly in health, and lived short lives. Acci- 
 dents of falling down the shaft, coal falling 
 upon them, suffocation by gas, drowning from 
 the sudden breaking in of water, were of the 
 most common occurrence, which better regu- 
 lations and machinery have now made very 
 rare. 
 
 Education was totally neglected, and the 
 morals of the people were in the lowest pos- 
 sible state. Wages were unreasonably low, 
 and in some districts they were paid in goods 
 from a neighborhood shop, where the neces- 
 saries of life were very much dearer than else- 
 where. 
 
 For all the revolting cruelties practiced 
 upon the poor children in mines and collieries ; 
 for all the dreadful sufferings to which they 
 were subjected ; for all the horrible indecencies 
 daily passing before their eyes; for all the ig- 
 norance, licentious habits, and social disorgan- 
 ization springing out of this state of things.
 
 76 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 the main excuse given was, that without the 
 employment of child-labor the pits could not 
 possibly be worked with a profit; that after a 
 certain age the vertebras of the back do not 
 conform to the required conditions, and there- 
 fore the children must begin early. Further- 
 more, unless early inured to the work and its 
 terrors, no child would ever make a good 
 collier. 
 
 Lord Ashley exposed the iniquity of the 
 system in a speech so powerful, that it not 
 only thrilled the House, but sent a shudder 
 through the length and breadth of the land. 
 
 For two hours the House listened so atten- 
 tively that even a sigh could be heard, broken 
 only by loud and enthusiastic applause. Many 
 men wept, and a dozen members spoke in 
 quick succession praising Lord Ashley, and 
 pledging themselves to his holy cause. Mr. 
 Richard Cobden, a man of very great influ- 
 ence who had opposed Lord Ashley every 
 step publicly and privately, raised no objection 
 whatever to the Mines and Collieries Bill. On
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury ']'] 
 
 the contrary, when Lord Ashley had con- 
 cluded his great speech — a speech he always 
 considered one of the most successful he ever 
 delivered — Cobden came over to him, wruns: 
 his hand heartily, and said: "You know how 
 opposed I have been to your views; but I 
 do n't think I have ever been put into such a 
 frame of mind in the whole course of my life 
 as I have been by your speech." He subse- 
 quently declared that from that hour he was 
 perfectly convinced of the genuine philan- 
 thropy of the noble lord. 
 Prince Albert wrote him : 
 
 "My Dear Lord Ashley, — I have care- 
 fully perused your speech, and I have been 
 highly gratified by your efforts, as well as 
 horror-stricken by the statements which you 
 have brought before the country. I know you 
 do not ask for praise, and I therefore withhold 
 it ; but God's best blessing will rest with you, 
 and support you in your arduous but glorious 
 task. I have no doubt but that the whole
 
 78 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 country must be with you — at all events, I 
 can assure you that the Queen is, whom your 
 statements have filled with the deepest sym- 
 pathy. It would give me much pleasure to 
 converse with you on the subject. Believe me, 
 with my best wishes for your total success, 
 "Ever yours truly, Albert.'* 
 
 The Mines and Collieries Bill, introduced 
 by Lord Ashley, asked that all women and 
 children be excluded from coal-pits. It is 
 quite impossible to understand the prolonged 
 trouble and anxiety Lord Ashley had to en- 
 counter in putting his bills through Parlia- 
 ment. It was always easier to move the House 
 of Commons than the House of Lords. In 
 this case we find him saying : 
 
 "Much, very much trouble to find a peer 
 who would take charge of the bill. It is 'the 
 admiration of everybody, but the choice of 
 none.' So often refused that I felt quite hum- 
 bled. Disappointment and apprehension lie 
 heavy on me. I sent the bill to the Lords with
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 79 
 
 deep and fervent prayer, committing it to 
 God, as Hannah consigned her son Samuel to 
 his blessed service. May he, in his mercy, 
 have respect unto me and my offering ! Were 
 it not for public opinion, I should not be able 
 to carry one particle of the bill. The promises 
 of the ministry are worth nothing." 
 
 The long period of anxiety and disappoint- 
 ment came to an end at last. The bill, which 
 was one of the greatest boons ever granted to 
 the working classes, passed the House of 
 Lords successfully. The victory is recorded 
 thus : 
 
 "Took the sacrament on Sunday in joyful 
 and humble thankfulness to Almighty God for 
 the success with which he has blessed my ef- 
 fort for the glory of his name and the welfare 
 of his creatures."
 
 Cl^apter VI 
 
 T^HE poor were constantly in Lord Ashley's 
 ^ thoughts. If he was weary with incessant 
 labors, he would say: "I am reminded of the 
 poor seamstresses and factory women. How 
 tired they must get !" 
 
 If he was ill, he would compare his luxuries 
 and tender care with the sufferings of the sick 
 who could not afford medical attention, nor 
 even the barest comforts of life. His biog- 
 rapher says : 
 
 "He was never too proud to grasp the hand 
 
 of a poor honest man, or take up a sickly little 
 
 child in his arms, or sit in the loathsome 
 
 home of a poor, starving needlewoman as she 
 
 plied her needle. He never spoke down to 
 
 their level, but sought to raise them up to his, 
 
 and his kindly words were as helpful as his 
 
 kindly deeds." 
 
 80
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 8i 
 
 On one occasion, when addressing an as- 
 sembly of young men, he said : 
 
 "Depend upon it, the time will come when 
 you will bless God if your career has been one 
 by which your fellows have been benefited and 
 God has been honored. Christianity is not a 
 state of opinion and speculation. Christianity 
 is essentially practical, and I will maintain this, 
 that practical Christianity is the greatest curer 
 of corrupt speculative Christianity." 
 
 How truly he practiced his own theory we 
 may know from every page of his life. 
 
 When in 1848 there was an outbreak of 
 cholera in London, and every one who could 
 was running out of the city. Lord Ashley, 
 with his colleagues on the Board of Health, 
 was working night and day in the very midst 
 of the plague. Reviled by the newspapers, 
 hampered by red-tape, he persevered in his 
 labors; and be it remembered that it was en- 
 tirely unpaid service which he rendered 
 throughout the whole of the dif^cult and dan- 
 gerous time of the existence of the Board of
 
 82 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 Health. He cared not that his service was 
 unappreciated, but he wanted his physicians 
 to be known. He said : "I am unable to speak 
 with adequate praise of the medical staff, mis- 
 erably paid as they are. They have labored 
 even to sickness, and when struck down by 
 the disease have hastened back to their work, 
 not for emolument (for they received fixed 
 salaries), but for conscience' sake. And such 
 are the men whose scanty recompense certain 
 gentry would reduce by ten per cent." 
 
 Lord Ashley was troubled because in this 
 perilous time there was no turning to prayer. 
 In vain he appealed to the bishop and arch- 
 bishop. Not until there was a panic caused 
 by two thousand deaths in one week, was there 
 a call for special prayer in the churches. But 
 not until the terrible summer had passed, and 
 a fairly clean bill of health could be returned, 
 did Lord Ashley allow himself the rest which 
 he so sorely needed. 
 
 Night after night he tramped oflf to East 
 London to meet his various societies of poor
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 83 
 
 people, or to lead an evangelistic service. His 
 journal has this record : 
 
 "It seems occasionally a wearisome journey 
 to undertake on dark and rainy nights; but 
 I always rejoice when there — all is earnest, 
 pious, simple, and consolatory. The care- 
 worn faces of the men and women become al- 
 most radiant with comfort." 
 
 On the grand occasion of the army encamp- 
 ing on his estate, Lord Ashley set forth in his 
 little open carriage to meet the general and 
 his staff. On the road he met an old woman 
 hobbling along; he at once stopped, gave her 
 his place in the carriage, and himself mounted 
 the box ! In this way he drove up to the spot 
 where, in the presence of the Prince of Wales 
 and dukes, he was to be received with all mili- 
 tary honors as lord-lieutenant of the county. 
 And he was absolutely unconscious that there 
 was anything singular in the manner of his 
 arrival ! 
 
 In 1 85 1, Lord Ashley's father died, and he 
 became the Earl of Shaftesbury. He wrote
 
 84 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 on the day of his father's funeral : "And now 
 I bear a new name which I did not covet ; and 
 enter on a new career, which may God guide 
 and sanctify ! If I can by his grace make the 
 new name attain but to the fringes of his 
 honor and the welfare of mankind, I shall in- 
 deed be thankful." 
 
 Some time before the death of his father, 
 Lord Ashley had determined not to take his 
 seat in the House of Lords. But to use his 
 own expression, "The leading of Providence 
 was the other way." His two Lodging-house 
 Bills would soon pass the Commons, and he 
 must himself pilot them through the House 
 of Lords. 
 
 It is needless to say that there was genuine 
 sorrow that "Lord Ashley" had left the House 
 of Commons. Sir Robert IngHs made it the 
 occasion to speak of him on this wise: 
 
 "During the last fifteen years of Lord Ash- 
 ley's Parliamentary life he has been emphatic- 
 ally the friend of the friendless. Every form
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 85 
 
 of human suffering he has, in his place in this 
 House, sought to lighten ; and out of this 
 House his exertions have been such as, at 
 first sight, might have seemed incompatible 
 with his duties here. But he found time for 
 all, and when absent from his place on these 
 benches he was enjoying no luxurious ease, 
 but was seated in the chair of a Ragged School 
 meeting, a Scripture-reader's Association, or 
 a Young Men's Christian Institution. I will 
 add no more than that the life of Lord Ashley 
 in and out of this House has been consecrated, 
 in the memorable inscription of the great 
 Haller, 'To Christ as found in the person oi 
 the poor!' " 
 
 In June, 185 1, Lord Shaftesbury (as he will 
 hereafter be known) took his seat in the House 
 of Lords, and on the evening of that day he 
 wrote in his journal : 
 
 "It seems no place for me; a 'statue gal- 
 lery,' some say a 'dormitory.' Full half a 
 dozen Peers said to me within as many min-
 
 86 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 utes, 'You '11 find this very different from the 
 House of Commons: no sympathies here to 
 be stirred.' " 
 
 The following day he made his first speech 
 in the House of Lords. It was in behalf of the 
 inspection and registration of lodging-houses. 
 He spoke in a low tone of voice and with great 
 brevity, and took occasion to explain that it 
 was the deep interest he felt in the objects of 
 this bill, and the urgency there was for legisla- 
 tion on the subject, 'that had induced him to 
 address their lordships so early after his call to 
 their lordships' House." 
 
 It was an unprecedented occurrence for one 
 member to carry a measure through all its 
 stages in both the House of Commons and 
 the House of Lords. This was, however, ac- 
 complished by Lord Shaftesbury, and his bill 
 became law. It has been acted upon through- 
 out the kingdom, and police authorities, mag- 
 istrates, medical men, city missionaries, and 
 all whom it concerned, have been unanimous 
 in their testimony as to its beneficial results.
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 87 
 
 Charles Dickens said to Lord Shaftesbury 
 some years afterward, "That is the best law 
 that was ever passed by an English Parlia- 
 ment." 
 
 Let us look for a little at the breadth of 
 Lord Shaftesbury's sympathies and service. 
 In 1850, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote 
 "Uncle Tom's Cabin," For years Lord 
 Shaftesbury had watched every movement 
 bearing upon American slavery. He had been 
 distressed beyond measure by the Fugitive 
 Slave Law, by which "a whole nation, blessed 
 by God with freedom, wealth, and the Holy 
 Scriptures, declares it to be impossible to 
 emanicpate a slave, and penal to teach any one 
 of them the first principles of Christianity." 
 
 He wrote to Mrs. Stowe to express his 
 admiration of her work, and his gratitude to 
 God, who had stimulated her heart to write it. 
 He then drew up an address from the women 
 of England to the women of America, asking 
 them to consider how far the system of slavery 
 was in accordance with the Word of God, the
 
 88 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 inalienable rights of immortal souls, and the 
 pure and merciful spirit of the Christian re- 
 ligion. In course of time the "Address" went 
 forth, signed by tens of thousands of the wo- 
 men of England. 
 
 While Lord Shaftesbury was engaged in 
 this anti-slavery agitation, many of the Amer- 
 ican papers attacked him with great severity, 
 and urged him to turn his attention to the 
 working classes of his own country. The ed- 
 itor of one of the religious papers of the South 
 was greatly roused, and in an angry article he 
 
 wrote : 
 
 "And who is this Earl of Shaftesbury? 
 Some unknown lordling ; one of your modern 
 philanthropists suddenly started up to take 
 part in a passing agitation. It is a pity he does 
 not look at home. Where was he when Lord 
 Ashley was so nobly fighting for the Factory 
 Bill and pleading the cause of the English 
 slave? We never even heard the name of this 
 Lord Shaftesbury then."
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 89 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury enjoyed a good joke, 
 and he often told this story with great relish. 
 
 Be it known that this nobleman, Lord 
 Shaftesbury, was called the "Father" of the 
 Shoeblack Brigade. The Brigade was organ- 
 ized just before the great Hyde Park Exhi- 
 bition of 185 1. It was Lord Shaftesbury who 
 established regular stations, and "set up" these 
 friendless, penniless little fellows in a business 
 which brought them one thousand pairs of 
 shoes a day to be cleaned, and an income of 
 twenty-five hundred dollars. To-day the Bri- 
 gade is one of the permanent institutions of 
 the land, having educational extensions and 
 social improvements of many kinds. 
 
 In 1855 the army of the Crimea had a ter- 
 rible winter. The Times declared that "The 
 noblest army England ever sent from these 
 shores has been sacrificed to the grossest mis- 
 management. Incompetency, lethargy, aris- 
 tocratic hauteur, official indifference and stu- 
 pidity, reign, revel, and riot iu the camp before
 
 90 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 Sebastopol, in the harbor of Balaklava, and in 
 the hospitals of Scutari." 
 
 "Every day fresh tidings came of privation, 
 sickness, and death ; of unspeakable suffering 
 from neglect; of medical stores decaying at 
 Varna that were intended for Scutari; of tents 
 standing in pools of water for want of imple- 
 ments to dig trenches; of consignments of 
 boots all for the left foot; and so forth. One 
 good came out of the evil, destined to affect 
 every battlefield for all future time; namely, 
 the landing in Scutari of Miss Florence Night- 
 ingale and the noble band of women who ac- 
 companied her as nurses to the sick and 
 wounded. Thus was inaugurated the Geneva 
 Red Cross Association, which has since done 
 so much to mitigate the horrors of war." 
 
 In the face of fierce opposition in the War 
 Department and from political lords. Lord 
 Shaftesbury bent all his energies towards the 
 organization of a Sanitary Commission to pro- 
 ceed with full powers to Scutari and Balaklava, 
 there to purify the hospitals, ventilate the
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 91 
 
 ships, and exert all that science could do to 
 save life where thousands were dying, not of 
 their wounds, but the result of bad sanitary 
 conditions. Florence Nightingale wrote Lord 
 Shaftesbury some time afterwards, "That 
 Commission saved the British army !" 
 
 In the city of Florence there dwelt two 
 small shopkeepers, Francesco and Rosa Ma- 
 diai. They were simple, sincere, common peo- 
 ple, who, under the influence of Protestant 
 teaching, were led to regard the Church of 
 Rome as in error. The Scriptures became 
 their delight, and although warned not to read 
 them, they persevered, and endured patiently 
 the persecution which followed. The matter 
 was then referred to the Grand Duke of Tus- 
 cany, who condemned them to five years' im- 
 prisonment with hard labor in the galleys. 
 When this story reached the ears of Shaftes- 
 bury, he wrote Prince Albert, calling his atten- 
 tion to it. The King of Prussia was asked to 
 make a joint representation with the Queen, 
 and send a deputation to intercede with the
 
 92 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 Grand Duke. The deputation set forth, but 
 was unable to effect anything. The Grand 
 Duke replied : 
 
 "They are Tuscan subjects, and have been 
 condemned to five years' of punishment for 
 propagating Protestantism, which is forbidden 
 by our laws as an attack upon the religion of 
 
 the State." 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury at once announced that 
 he would start off in search of the Madiai. He 
 agitated the subject before Parliament and in 
 the newspapers. All the country was aroused, 
 and the Grand Duke could no longer stand 
 the storm of indignation which he had 
 aroused. The Madiai were set at liberty. 
 
 We would expect that Lord Shaftesbury 
 would take a lively interest in the Sepoy Re- 
 bellion, as he did. He had the courage to 
 arraign the Government of India. He urged 
 repeatedly that, instead of "harping upon that 
 odious word, neutrality in religion, there 
 should be a distinct and manful acknowledg- 
 ment of Christianity on the part of the Gov-
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 93 
 
 ernment." Throughout this anxious period, 
 when the past and future of English dominion 
 in India were in question, he showed them 
 that the revolt had opened up a wide and noble 
 field for Christian enterprise, and he urged 
 upon all missionary societies the necessity of 
 sending forth missionaries and copies of the 
 Bible. 
 
 When peace was restored, he began an in- 
 vestigation of the factory system of India, 
 which resulted in an Address to Her Majesty, 
 praying her to instruct the Viceroy of India to 
 take into immediate consideration the neces- 
 sity of passing a law for regulating the labor 
 of women and children in the factories of In- 
 dia. The movement was a success as far as 
 Lord Shaftesbury was concerned. The bill 
 was passed in India, but has not accomplished 
 all that was designed, because there was no 
 public opinion in India to demand that its 
 provisions be enforced. 
 
 The high position Lord Shaftesbury main- 
 tained in the political world, and his reputation
 
 94 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 as a lover of humanity, made him to be sought 
 by men of all nationalities. Thus it happened 
 naturally that those who were struggling for 
 the freedom of Italy wrote Lord Shaftesbury. 
 He replied with a letter of fervent sympathy 
 and commendation. This brought a letter 
 from Garibaldi, as follows : 
 
 "My Lord, — You have, in two letters pub- 
 lished in the papers, done justice to the Ital- 
 ians, and have assumed the patronage of their 
 noble cause. I express to you, in the name of 
 my country, the deepest sense of gratitude. 
 Accept, my Lord, that of a soldier and your 
 devoted G. Garibaldi." 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury replied, urging Garibaldi 
 to come in person and receive a manifestation 
 of hearty approbation. He declared that the 
 great general, "as the representative of a gen- 
 erous and oppressed people struggling for civil 
 and religious liberty, would call forth such an
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 95 
 
 expression of national feeling as would be, if 
 possible, equal to the occasion and the merits 
 of the man." 
 
 In 1864, Garibaldi came to England. Lord 
 Shaftesbury was his constant companion the 
 whole of the time he was in London, never 
 leaving him, in fact, except when Garibaldi 
 "would go to the opera." 
 
 One of the subjects which particularly in- 
 terested Garibaldi during his visit was Lord 
 Shaftesbury's work in relation to the housing 
 of the poor. He obtained all the information 
 he could, with a view to the construction of 
 better dwelling-houses for the working classes 
 in Italy. When they parted, Lord Shaftesbury 
 presented him with a copy of the New Testa- 
 ment in Italian. It had this interest attached 
 to it, that it was the only copy of the Scrip- 
 tures that was finished printing while Gari- 
 baldi was in Rome. In giving it, Lord 
 Shaftesbury begged him, as a personal favor, 
 that he would read it, and this Garibaldi prom-
 
 96 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 ised he would do. He left in Lord Shaftes- 
 bury's hand a little note full of tender thank- 
 fulness. 
 
 -Of that name," said Lord Shaftesbury, 
 referring to Garibaldi in a speech, "no man can 
 speak without emotion. He is a man that rep- 
 resents in himself the best qualities that adorn 
 
 mankind." 
 
 In 1863 all civilized nations were thrilled 
 with horror at the cruel manner in which Rus- 
 sia was engaged in putting down an insurrec- 
 tion in Poland. The tyranny of Russia had 
 provoked some bloody struggles, and when 
 in i86i some thirty thousand Poles were as- 
 sembled near a battle-field engaged in singing 
 hymns and prayer for the souls of those who 
 had fallen, and the Russian cavalry rushed m 
 and slaughtered numbers of them, intense na- 
 tional feeling was kindled. The indignant 
 populace joined in other demonstrations of a 
 patriotic character, and the result was fresh 
 massacres by the Russian soldiery. The Poles 
 were forbidden to meet together, even in the
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 97 
 
 churches, and all who were mourning for rela- 
 tives killed in the massacres were severely pun- 
 ished. The great nations tried to intervene 
 diplomatically, but their remonstrances were 
 utterly disregarded by the Czar. "Every- 
 where in Poland blood was flowing freely, and 
 the midnight sky was red with the flames of 
 burning villages and homesteads. Fines and 
 confiscations brought all the wealthier inhab- 
 itants to the verge of ruin, and the whole pop- 
 ulation of suspected villages was put to the 
 sword." 
 
 A great meeting convened in the name of 
 the Lord Mayor in London, to express Eng- 
 lish sympathy with the Poles. Lord Shaftes- 
 bury made the address, which he considered 
 the greatest speech he ever made. Referring 
 to it twenty 3^ears afterward, he said, "It tore 
 me to pieces to deliver it." When he was 
 pleading the cause of oppressed nationalities 
 his utterances had a peculiar pathos and 
 power. It was in vain that the great nations 
 
 used all of their diplomacy and moral influ- 
 7
 
 98 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 ence. Poles were executed, driven off to Si- 
 beria in crowds, and Poland lost her last item 
 of independence. 
 
 The Franco-Prussian war brought him an 
 immense increase of labor and anxiety. He 
 set forth the Christian duty of relieving the 
 horrors of war. He urged that the distribu- 
 tion of help be given equally to French and 
 Germans. The result of his agitation was the 
 establishment of the National Society for Aid- 
 ing the Sick and Wounded in time of War," 
 of which Lord Shaftesbury became president, 
 and in whose operations he took an active 
 part. 
 
 Thus the loving thought and care of this 
 sreat-hearted man included equally the little 
 friendless child and the nations of the earth.
 
 Cl^aptet VII 
 
 T ORD SHAFTESBURY'S interest in the 
 ■■— ' religious life of England is no small part 
 of his own history. In 1836, when he was 
 only thirty-five years of age, he presided at 
 a meeting of clergy and laity to discuss the 
 best method of "extending the means of 
 grace in and to necessitous parishes, in strict 
 conformity with the spirit, constitution, and 
 discipline of the Established Church." 
 
 The result of this meeting was the estab- 
 lishment of the Church Pastoral Aid Society 
 — "for the purpose of benefiting the popula- 
 tion of our own country, by increasing the 
 number of working clergymen in the Church 
 of England, and encouraging the appoint- 
 ment of pious and discreet laymen as helpers 
 to the clergy in duties not ministerial." 
 
 The Society at once met with opposition 
 
 and condemnation. It was declared that it 
 
 99
 
 loo Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 was started without Episcopal sanction, and 
 was false to the principles of the Church. The 
 High Church party objected to the lay agency 
 to be employed. Some contended that the 
 laymen should be only those who were can- 
 didates for holy orders. Many bishops, who 
 were willing that laymen should labor for the 
 spiritual welfare of those around them, ob- 
 jected to a distinct order of lay teachers, who, 
 they claimed, would not be amenable to ec- 
 clesiastical authority. 
 
 The Society was desirous to be at peace 
 with all men, and yet it was unwilling to aban- 
 don lay agency. It finally compromised by 
 declaring that lay agents might be employed 
 in destitute places, even if not candidates for 
 holy orders, but they would be under the di- 
 rection of the clergy of that district. When 
 this decision was announced, Gladstone (then 
 a young man of twenty-six), who had been 
 vice-president of the Society, withdrew, and 
 established an institution called "The Addi- 
 tional Curates' Society."
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury ioi 
 
 Shaftesbury's biographer writes : "The first 
 vears of the existence of the Pastoral Aid So- 
 ciety were years of trial, difficulty, and cease- 
 less controversy, and entailed upon Lord 
 Shaftesbury an enormous amount of labor. 
 His good judgment, his tact in smoothing 
 down differences, his experience of the re- 
 quirements of poor and neglected parishes, his 
 patient attention to the details of every new 
 move of the Society, and the influence of his 
 tongue and pen, were invaluable at this time. 
 For nearly fifty years he was hardly ever ab- 
 sent from the chair on the occasion of the 
 annual meeting, and always reserved for that 
 meeting the full expression of his opinion on 
 the state of the Church and the signs of the 
 times. His speeches on behalf of the Pastoral 
 Aid Society give the religious history of nearly 
 half a century. 
 
 "Lord Shaftesbury was appalled to find, 
 from reliable authority, the state of spiritual 
 destitution prevalent in many parts of the 
 country. He was surprised to learn from offi-
 
 I02 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 cial documents that one hundred thousand 
 souls were, in spite of every effort, annually 
 added to those who, in Protestant England 
 and under the wing of an Established Church, 
 had neither pastors, sacraments, nor public 
 worship, but were left unheeded, with no man 
 to care for their souls. It w^as this sense of 
 ever-increasing need that urged him to make 
 the Pastoral Aid Society the efficient institu- 
 tion it has become; and from first to last he 
 claimed for it, in spite of all argument to the 
 contrary, full recognition as a Church of Eng- 
 land Society, regarding the wants of the 
 Church on the one hand, and observing the 
 order of the Church on the other." 
 
 In 1 841 and 1842 there was a crisis in the 
 history of religious thought in England. Ra- 
 tionalism, imported from Germany, was mak- 
 ing rapid advances ; but the Church was in far 
 greater danger from ''foes within." The High 
 Church party issued "Tracts for the Times," 
 as they were called, being, indeed, statements 
 favorable to popery and the confessional. The
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 103 
 
 University of Oxford was the center of the 
 Tractarian movement, but every section of the 
 Christian Church felt its influence. The prin- 
 cipal leaders of the Oxford School were the 
 "seraphic Keble," Richard Froude, Dr. Pusey, 
 and John Henry Newman. Their claim was 
 that the real Catholic Church was the Church 
 of England ; that the successors of the apostles 
 were to be found in her. "The battle of the 
 Reformation had to be fought over again," 
 and for forty years Lord Shaftesbury was one 
 of the leaders in the fight on the Evangelical 
 side. He wrote to Sir Robert Peel, who was 
 about to become Prime ^Minister: 
 
 "The Church will present more serious dif- 
 ficulties than any other matter of Government. 
 There are now within its bosom two parties, 
 divided against each other on principles irrec- 
 oncilable, heart-stirring, and vital. The party 
 denominated the Puseyites are strong in num- 
 ber, possess character and learning, but are 
 confined chiefly to the clergy. Their oppo- 
 nents are the majority, but do not enjoy the
 
 I04 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 advantage of being concentrated in a univer- 
 sity; they have more piety and less reading, 
 but carry with them the great body of the 
 laity. These parties regard each other with 
 the greatest dislike and suspicion. The Pusey- 
 ites consider their opponents as little better 
 than Dissenters, the Evangelicals look upon 
 the Puseyites as almost papists. The Pusey- 
 ites assert that the Evangelicals depreciate the 
 authority of the Church and the Fathers; the 
 Evangelicals maintain that the Puseyites pre- 
 fer it to the Bible. My purpose is to point out 
 to you the consequences that must come from 
 the elevation to high ecclesiastical offices of 
 persons distinguished for the new opinions. 
 The Church will be shaken by violent commo- 
 tions. My belief is that many of that party are 
 actually Romanists in creed, and will declare 
 themselves to be such, whenever conscience 
 gets the better of Jesuitry." This last was 
 a prophecy which was fulfilled in due time. 
 
 The Puseyites put forward as candidate for 
 the chair of Poetry at Oxford a man who pro-
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 105 
 
 miilgated their views. Lord Shaftesbury re- 
 fused to vote for him, and instead supported a 
 man with Evangelical sympathies. Shaftes- 
 bury's man was elected. His correspondence 
 with his opponents, Dr. Pusey (who was his 
 cousin) and Rev. John Keble, show the spirit 
 in which he conducted his opposition. He 
 writes to Dr. Pusey: 
 
 "Every one, however deep his piety, how- 
 ever holy his belief, however simple and per- 
 fect his reliance on the merits of his Redeemer, 
 is consigned by you, if he be not episcopally 
 ruled, to the outer darkness of the children of 
 the devil, while in the same breath you desig- 
 nate the Church of Rome as the sweet spouse 
 of Christ, and hide all her abominable idol- 
 atries under the mantle of her bishops. This 
 is, to my mind, absolutely dreadful. 
 
 "For yourself, I must ever entertain real 
 kindness and esteem. No one, amidst all this 
 conflict of passion and principle, has at any 
 time doubted your sincerity and devotion. It 
 is sad that we differ, but let not that difference
 
 io6 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 amount to enmity. I have enough of foes ; 
 my public course has begotten me many haters 
 among the powerful and wealthy. You and 
 I have now lived more than half our time, ac- 
 cording to the language of the psalmist. We 
 are hastening to the grand end of all thif.gs, 
 and then may God lead you unto living foun- 
 tains of water, and in his mercy wipe away all 
 tears from your eyes !" 
 
 Closing a letter to Keble, he writes : 
 "Perhaps you have forgotten, what I well 
 recollect, that you were one of the examining 
 masters when I took my degree some nine- 
 teen years ago. Your amiable and gentleman- 
 like demeanor then made an impression on my 
 mind which has never been effaced. I can 
 not take leave of you without adding that I 
 shall always think of you with respect, not 
 unmingled with affection." 
 
 In 1844, Keble wrote: "We go on working 
 in the dark, and in the dark it will be, until 
 the rule of systematic confession is revived in 
 our Church."
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 107 
 
 An effort was then made to get an endow- 
 ment for a Catholic college, which was suc- 
 cessful. 
 
 The next move was by the Church of 
 Rome, declaring that England had been re- 
 stored to the Romish communion, and would 
 henceforth be ecclesiastically governed by the 
 new hierarchy. 
 
 A great meeting was held in London 
 to invoke aid for the suppression of Romish 
 innovation in the Church of England. Lord 
 Shaftesbury presided, and in a great speech 
 full of wise forecasting and burning patriot- 
 ism he made a profound impression, which 
 produced immediate results. The Roman 
 Catholics in England saw with regret the 
 results of their policy. They sent up an ad- 
 dress of loyalty to the Queen, and asserted the 
 purely spiritual character of their organiza- 
 tion. A Roman Catholic peer publicly re- 
 gretted the ill-advised measure of the Roman 
 pontiff, which had placed English Catholics 
 in the position of having "either to break with
 
 io8 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 Rome, or violate their allegiance to the 
 Queen." The more prominent Ptiseyites went 
 over to the Catholic Church, and Lord 
 Shaftesbury thanked God, and took courage. 
 Who but a leader of great wisdom and 
 mighty influence could have led the multitudes 
 through those trying times? 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury, although a Protestant 
 of the Protestants, entertained most charitable 
 views towards Catholics. He voted and 
 worked for Catholic emancipation. He was 
 a trusted co-worker with a big-hearted Cath- 
 olic woman, who was carrying out a coloniza- 
 tion scheme. He always spoke with deepest 
 respect of the Sisters of Mercy, who went 
 about doing good. It was only when clergy- 
 men of the Established Church, whose hearts 
 were with the pope, sought to get control of 
 the Church, or to seize or enslave his country, 
 that he assumed a bold defensive. 
 
 As we shall see, he found the Established 
 Church cold and apathetic and very conserv- 
 ative concerning the philanthropic reforms
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 109 
 
 which were of such vital interest to him. 
 When he was trying to get the Ten-hour Bill 
 for factory women, he wrote : "I find, as usual, 
 the clergy are m many cases frigid; in some 
 few, hostile. At first I could get none. I fear 
 that many of them are timid, time-serving, 
 and worshipers of wealth and power. I can 
 scarcely remember an instance in which a 
 clergyman has been found to maintain the 
 cause of laborers in the face of pewholders." 
 
 On another like occasion he wrote plaint- 
 ively: "As usual the 'saints' were against me, 
 and the 'sinners' were my helpers." 
 
 His journal has this record: 
 
 "To-day I presided at a Mothers' Meeting 
 in Westminster. A wonderful, a miraculous 
 spectacle! It was a sight to bless God for; 
 such a mighty reformation of drunken, idle, 
 profligate, dirty, and cruel parents ! As usual, 
 none of the clergy were there. A work of this 
 kind, and of this high and spiritual character, 
 effected by an unordained person, a humble 
 layman, who, without the intervention of a
 
 no Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 bishop or a college education, had nothing 
 but the grace of God and the Holy Scriptures, 
 is too powerful, too convincing, too irresis- 
 tible. It overwhelms 'apostolical succession' 
 by an avalanche of practical truth." 
 
 His creed was of the simplest sort. This 
 is revealed in a record made one Good Friday : 
 "As I taught my little children to-day, it 
 seemed to me wonderful in how small a com- 
 pass is contained the whole sum and substance 
 of Christian religion. Volumes without end, 
 years of study, years of controversy, immense 
 thought, immense eloquence, all expended, 
 and mostly wasted, to dilate or torture that 
 which may be comprehended by the under- 
 standing and relished by the soul of a simple 
 child. What will all the learning of the world 
 add to the plain facts of the fall of man and his 
 salvation by Jesus Christ?" 
 He said to his biographer: 
 "I am an Evangelical of the Evangelicals. 
 I have worked with them constantly, and I am 
 satisfied that most of the great philanthropic
 
 I^iFE OF Lord Shaftesbury hi 
 
 movements of the century have sprung from 
 them. I believe in the necessity of a *new 
 birth' through the revelation to each individ- 
 ual soul, by the agency of the Holy Spirit and 
 the Word. I believe in the Christian life as a 
 humble, continuous trust in the Atoning 
 Blood, a simple faith in Scripture, a constant 
 prayerfulness, and a recognition of the hand 
 of God in all the events of life. 
 
 "I believe that the sole remedy for the dis- 
 tracted state of the Church is to do what we 
 can to evangelize the people by preaching on 
 every occasion and in every place, in the 
 grandest cathedral and at the corner of the 
 street, in the royal palace and in the back 
 slums, preaching Christ to the people. I do 
 believe that the preaching of Christ is still the 
 power of God unto salvation. If it has ceased 
 to produce its effect, it is because so many of 
 the sermons (not from Church of England 
 pulpits alone, but also from some Noncon- 
 formists), instead of setting forth the gospel 
 in its simple yet majestic power, are mere milk-
 
 112 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 and-water dilutions of the saving truths. This 
 may satisfy fine folks, but the great mass of 
 the poorer sort of people and our agricultural 
 laborers will either have religion of the best 
 quality, or none at all. I have been very much 
 among this class, and I know that the religion 
 for them is that which addresses itself to their 
 inmost affections, softens all their sorrows, and 
 alleviates their miseries by showing them that 
 they bave ttie sympathy of their fellow-men and 
 the still higber sympathy of a Heavenly Father. 
 "I remember one night at the George Yard 
 Ragged School. A magic-lantern had been 
 purchased to interest the poor things, and I 
 went down to have a talk with them. Some 
 pictures on the Life of Christ were to be ex- 
 hibited. There were about four hundred peo- 
 ple in the room, and the police told me that 
 between four and five hundred were turned 
 away. The interest in the pictures was in- 
 tense, and I shall never forget their earnest, 
 excited faces as the scenes in the sacred drama 
 passed before them. The last picture repre-
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 113 
 
 sented our Lord standing beside a closed door, 
 and the text at the foot of the picture was, 
 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.' The 
 effect was startling; it seemed to bring the 
 story home to every heart, and when I said, 
 'What you see there is going on at the door 
 of every house in Whitechapel,' they were 
 moved to tears. It was a revelation to them, 
 and when I told them that if they w^ould throw 
 open the door He would 'come and sup with 
 them,* there was something so coz}^ and com- 
 fortable to them in the idea of it, that they 
 came pouring round me and thanking me. 
 Poor, dear souls! they do not care much for 
 churches and chapels and the outward forms; 
 they like their religion to be cozy. It fills 
 them with hope of what may some day be 
 their lot, for now they have no comforts in 
 their lives. I wonder how it is they do not die 
 of despair!" 
 
 As late as 1855 Lord Shaftesbury found an 
 unrepealed law forbidding gospel teaching 
 
 and worship in private houses where, beside 
 8
 
 114 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 the family, more than twenty persons were 
 gathered. Any rehgious gathering not under 
 the protection of the Established Church 
 might be dispersed. Lord Shaftesbury moved 
 for its repeal. He presented the facts: mil- 
 Hons of non-church-goers; all the Churches 
 together unable to overcome the prevailing 
 immorality and infidelity; and this law in full 
 force, which could shut up every Sunday- 
 school, Cottage School, Ragged School, and 
 city mission. Strangely enough, he encoun- 
 tered fierce opposition. Some said that the 
 decree was a dead letter. He replied that "a 
 dormant reptile is not dead, and may be 
 warmed into life when occasion serves.'* 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury, with his accustomed 
 zeal, investigated the working of the law, and 
 found that it had been repeatedly used for pur- 
 poses of intimidation, and he quoted a case in 
 which it had been enforced: 
 
 A gentleman, a county magistrate in a 
 northern county, early in 1854, came to reside 
 on his estate, and found the parish in a most
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 115 
 
 neglected condition. At the gates of his park 
 was a large coal-mine, and a dense population 
 around it. One evening in every week he 
 went to the largest cottage, read a chapter of 
 the Bible and some religious tracts. The 
 meetings were largely attended; but after a 
 few months he was obliged to close the serv- 
 ice. And why? It was hinted to him that per- 
 sons were about to bring information against 
 him for a breach of the Conventicle Act. He, 
 being an active county magistrate, felt that it 
 was not right in him to set an example of 
 breaking the law, so he gave up his reading. 
 The gentleman might have had a cock-fight 
 or any sort of amusement, and nobody would 
 have objected to it, but the moment this gen- 
 tleman, commiserating the religious destitu- 
 tion of the people, went to their cottages, read 
 to them a chapter in the Bible, and joined with 
 them in religious worship, the law said, "Mind 
 what you are doing, for if you are caught at 
 this again, you will be fined £20." 
 
 Eleven bishops opposed the repeal of this
 
 ii6 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 law, and finally offered a clause granting per- 
 mission to offer prayer in opening or closing 
 a service. The very idea of "permission" to 
 pray was intolerable to Lord Shaftesbury. 
 
 "It may as well be said," he exclaimed, in- 
 dignantly, "that I am to have permission to 
 breathe the air !" 
 
 The law was repealed by a majority of one 
 
 vote. 
 
 In speaking of the opposition which met 
 him in his own Church, he said: 
 
 "They call me a Dissenter and the greatest 
 schismatic who was ever produced. A schis- 
 matic, according to the Bible, is one who de- 
 nies the doctrines which Christ taught. But to 
 apply this word to one because he can not con- 
 form to all the decrees of the bishops and 
 every form of priestly assumption is, I hold, a 
 great profanation of the word, and a want of 
 principle in the man who so dares to use it." 
 
 He was so in the habit of looking at every 
 question from the standpoint of the poor, that
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 117 
 
 when the subject of Evening Communion was 
 being considered by the clergy, he made a 
 strong plea in favor thereof. He said : 
 
 "We must remember that vast numbers of 
 these people have not a moment's leisure from 
 domestic duties until the evening, and the rec- 
 tors of large parishes tell me that for one poor 
 man or woman who has attended morning 
 communion, fifteen have attended evening 
 communion. And it is the testimony of those 
 who have witnessed such scenes, that it is quite 
 refreshing to observe the earnest, humble, and 
 devout manner in which these poor creatures 
 assemble around the table of their blessed 
 Lord. If it is announced that the ministers 
 do not care to consider their convenience and 
 necessities, they will certainly stay away from 
 the churches altogether. And how, I ask you, 
 in such a refusal, can the Church of England 
 call herself the 'Church of the People?' " 
 
 He was a warm advocate of open-air 
 preaching, and, in fact, was an open-air
 
 ii8 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 preacher himself, having spoken most effect- 
 ively on such occasions. He said of them: 
 
 "I look upon these services as perfectly- 
 normal; they are certainly primitive. The 
 very earliest preaching of the gospel was in 
 the open air, on the shores of the Lake of Gali- 
 lee, by our blessed Lord himself. And they 
 are unquestionably ecclesiastical. In the ear- 
 liest times of the Reformation there was open- 
 air preaching at Paul's cross. All the wor- 
 thiest of the bishops preached there; there, 
 too, Bishop Latimer preached to hundreds 
 those words of truth which brought forth 
 good fruit." 
 
 In 1857 we find Lord Shaftesbury rejoic- 
 ing that a special religious service was to be 
 held in Exeter Hall on Sunday evenings. 
 They were designed to bring the clergy and 
 people more closely together, and to remove 
 the impression that the clergy were "only gen- 
 tlemen who wore black coats and received 
 large salaries." They appealed especially to 
 the working classes, by providing that there
 
 Life of Lord- Shaftesbury 119 
 
 should be no distinction of persons, no re- 
 served seats, no collections, and, in short, that 
 every one should be on the same footing as if 
 he were the first man in the land. 
 
 Twelve services were held, and, notwith- 
 standing the heat of the weather, five thousand 
 eager listeners thronged the hall, and half as 
 many more were sent away for want of room. 
 
 At this juncture the clergy of that parish 
 forbade the minister who had been engaged 
 to ofificiate at those unusual services. Al- 
 though Lord Shaftesbury doubted the legality 
 of the inhibition, his judgment was overruled, 
 and the services were stopped. Application 
 was made for another hall, but this clergyman 
 was afraid of an irregular service, and forbade 
 it. Just here the Nonconformists came to his 
 help, and of them he declared in his speech: 
 
 "To the members of the Nonconformist 
 body we owe a debt of gratitude for the man- 
 ner in which our places have been supplied. 
 They have, in this instance, acted with a deli- 
 cacy and -a forbearance which redound infi-
 
 I20 Life of Lord Shaftesrury 
 
 nitely to their credit. They declined to engage 
 Exeter Hall until they had ascertained that it 
 would be quite impossible for us to renew our 
 services; and having taken the hall, they of- 
 fered to give it up whenever we might desire. 
 They selected the hymns which we used to 
 have sung, and the officiating minister read a 
 lesson and a portion of the Litany of the 
 Church of England, while in his discourse he 
 never, directly or indirectly, alluded to the 
 difficulties under which the Church of Eng- 
 land was placed, or to the freedom of the party 
 to which he belonged." 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury proposed a clause to the 
 Religious Worship Act which would legalize 
 these services, but it was refused. The Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury introduced a bill mak- 
 ing necessary the sanction of the bishops, and 
 this was carried, and after some delay the 
 sanction was obtained. 
 
 In i860 seven great theaters were opened 
 for religious worship, with an average attend- 
 ance of twenty thousand people. Lord
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 121 
 
 Shaftesbury often led those vast meetings him- 
 self. It was an interesting sight when he stood 
 upon the stage, Bible in hand, and read a 
 chapter of the "sweet story of old." From 
 floor to ceiling, the great house was thronged : 
 costermongers, street-cadgers, and laborers; 
 women in fluttering rags, many with babies in 
 their arms; boys in their shirt-sleeves; young 
 men and maidens in their gaudy "Sunday 
 best." Before the service there was much con- 
 fusion, but when the opening prayer was of- 
 fered, the silence throughout the whole house 
 was intense and solemn. When Lord Shaftes- 
 bury rose to read the Scripture, there was a 
 buzz of approbation. Like the priests in Ezra, 
 he "read in the book of the law of God dis- 
 tinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them 
 to understand the reading," and thereby 
 touched their hearts and consciences. When 
 the preacher told the simple story of the gos- 
 pel of Christ, the people listened as if they had 
 never heard the subject before. 
 
 It soon became apparent that these services
 
 132 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 were accomplishing a vast amount of good. 
 As we might expect, the movement did not 
 meet with universal approval. A certain Lord 
 Dungannon arose in the House of Lords "to 
 call attention to the performance of divine 
 service at the theaters Sunday evenings, and 
 to move a resolution that such services were 
 highly irregular, and calculated to injure the 
 progress of sound religious principles." 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury, "the only culprit in the 
 House, and one of the principal movers in 
 originating these services," replied. His 
 speech was the most interesting of its kind 
 ever heard in that august House, With terri- 
 ble earnestness, in graphic language, he held 
 his audience for nearly three hours as he told 
 the story of the movement. He quoted letters 
 from the chief of police, testifying that at every 
 service the people had conducted themselves 
 with the greatest propriety. In conclusion, 
 
 he said: 
 
 "My lords, you must perceive the rising 
 struggle to get the gospel. Will you say to
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 123 
 
 these destitute and hungering men, 'Come, if 
 you like, to Episcopal Churches, and there you 
 shall be preached to in stiff, steady, buckram 
 style? We will have you within walls conse- 
 crated in official form; otherwise you shall 
 never hear from us one word of gospel truth !' 
 
 "Do you admit that the Church of England 
 is bound so tightly by rule and rubric? In 
 that case the people will reply : 'Let the Non- 
 conformists do the work then, but let the 
 Church of England take up her real position 
 as the Church of a sect, and not that of a na- 
 tion!" 
 
 It was perceived that Lord Shaftesbury had 
 the sympathy of a majority of the House, and 
 Lord Dungannon withdrew his motion. 
 
 Contrary to what one would expect, Lord 
 Shaftesbury was not in sympathy with the Sal- 
 vation Army movement. When It was only 
 a year old, he was invited to join. He refused, 
 and gave his reasons. He felt that the ex- 
 cesses of the Army produced great Irreverence 
 of thought and action, turning religion into
 
 124 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 a play, and making it grotesque. He could 
 not believe that the proceedings were founded 
 on Scripture. 
 
 He acknowledged that there was need of 
 an increase of lay missions in the great city, 
 and he spoke with great respect of the gifts 
 and influence of General and Mrs. Booth, 
 while he commended their temperance work 
 as the strongest point of the Salvation Army. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury was a stout opponent of 
 the revision of the Bible. But after the re- 
 vision appeared, he acknowledged that his 
 fears had not been realized. He feared that 
 the sturdy Saxon would be set aside for 
 Frenchified or Italian words. He speaks lov- 
 ingly of the "racy old language, which is music 
 to everybody's ears, and which, like Handel's 
 music, carries divine truth and comfort to the 
 soul." He rejoiced to know that the King 
 James Version was not set aside, but loved and 
 studied more than before. 
 
 For the Young Men's Christian Associ- 
 ation Lord Shaftesbury entertained an almost
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 125 
 
 parental affection, and was wont to speak of 
 its members as his sons. He said : "I have al- 
 ways looked upon this association and all kin- 
 dred associations in all parts of the United 
 Kingdom and in America as grand cities of 
 refuge." 
 
 In 1875, Moody and Sankey commenced a 
 series of "revival-meetings" at Islington. 
 Lord Shaftesbury contributed to the fund, and 
 regarded the arrival of Mr. Moody as that of 
 the right man at the right hour. His descrip- 
 tion of the service is most interesting as com- 
 ing from a Church of England man. He says : 
 
 "The music was the simplest possible, 
 adapted to the poorest and least taught mind. 
 And yet it went to the inmost soul, and 
 seemed to empty it of everything but the 
 thought of the good, tender, and lowly Shep- 
 herd. The preacher was clad in ordinary 
 dress; his language was colloquial, abounding 
 in effective illustrations, often bordering on 
 the humorous. The voice was ill-managed. 
 There is no eloquence, and yet the result is
 
 126 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 striking and effective. These two simple, un- 
 lettered men from the other side of the Atlan- 
 tic have had no theological training and never 
 read the Fathers ; they are totally without skill 
 in delivery, and have no pretensions to the 
 hio-hest order of rhetoric. God has chosen 
 the foolish things of the world to confound the 
 wise. Moody will do more in an hour than 
 Canon Liddon in a century. I agree with 
 Gamaliel, 'If this thing be of men, it will soon 
 come to naught; but if it be of God, ye can 
 not fight against it.' To my mind there is 
 something in it superhuman." 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury's friendship with Mr. 
 Spurgeon, the well-known Baptist minister of 
 the Metropolitan Tabernacle, was close and 
 beautiful. In spite of the eccentricities of his 
 eariy days. Lord Shaftesbury prophesied that 
 his great gifts would become the inheritance 
 of the whole Church of Christ.
 
 Cl^apter Vin 
 
 TN 1843, I-'Ord Shaftesbury first turned his 
 -'■ attention toward the Ragged School ques- 
 tion. For some years the condition of the 
 waifs, the vagrants, and outcasts of London 
 had been a source of great anxiety 'to him. 
 Because they seemed utterly neglected and 
 left to perish, soul and body, his big loving 
 heart took them in. But the problem of how 
 to reach them and how to hold them was a 
 great one. It was in his thought day and 
 night. And in the meantime he saw that 
 there was growing up in London an enormous 
 population of thieves and vagabonds. He did 
 not know of any effort that was being made 
 to reclaim them. "They lived in filthy dwell- 
 ings or under arches; they begged or stole; 
 they grew up in horrible ignorance of every- 
 thing that was good, and with a horrible 
 
 knowledge of everything that was evil; and 
 
 127
 
 128 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 sooner or later they became acquainted with 
 the prison or the hangman." 
 
 One February day, Lord Shaftesbury read 
 in the Times this advertisement : 
 
 Ragged Schools. 
 
 field lane sabbath-school 
 
 "The Teachers are desirous of laying before 
 the public a few facts connected with this 
 school, situated in this most wretched and de- 
 moralized locality. It was opened in 1841 for 
 instructing, free of expense, those who, from 
 their poverty or ragged condition, are pre- 
 vented from attending any other place of re- 
 ligious instruction. The school is superin- 
 tended by the London City ^Mission, and is 
 opened on Sunday and Thursday evening with 
 an attendance of seventy adults and children. 
 The teachers are encouraged by the measure 
 of success which has attended them. But 
 money and teachers are needed at once to 
 give permanency to a work of charity, com- 
 
 t>
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 129 
 
 menced and supported by a few laymen whose 
 means are inadequate." 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury said : "I never read an 
 advertisement with keener pleasure. I could 
 not regard it as other than a direct answer to 
 my frequent prayer." 
 
 The first reply to this notice was from him. 
 He entered heartily into the movement, and 
 from that day to the close of his life he was 
 the champion and leader of every effort in be- 
 half of Ragged Schools. 
 
 He made himself personally acquainted 
 with every detail of the work, and the neigh- 
 borhood in which it was carried on. Field 
 Lane, where the Ragged School was situated, 
 was one of the most disreputable parts of Lon- 
 don. It was in the heart of what was known 
 as "Jack Ketch's Warren," so named because 
 a great number of the people who were 
 hanged at Newgate came from this district. 
 The disturbances which occurred here were of 
 so desperate a character that policemen vis- 
 ited it in companies of forty or fifty, well-
 
 130 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 armed men, it being unsafe to act in fewer 
 numbers. 
 
 "For a century this district had been the 
 resort of the most notorious evil-doers. Some 
 of the houses were close beside the Fleet 
 Ditch, and were filled with dark closets, trap- 
 doors, sliding panels, and other means of con- 
 cealment and escape, while extensive base- 
 ments served for the purpose of concealing 
 stolen goods, and in others there were furnaces 
 used by coiners. On the north side of the 
 street were a number of tenements fearful to 
 approach, called Black Boy Alley. The 
 method pursued by the Black Boy Alley Gang 
 was to entice the unwary by means of prosti- 
 tutes; then gag them so that they could not 
 give the alarm ; after which they would drag 
 their victims to one of their dens, and, hav- 
 ing robbed and murdered them, throw their 
 dead bodies down into the ditch. These 
 atrocities became so common that special 
 steps were taken by the Government to pursue
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 131 
 
 the offenders, nineteen of whom were exe- 
 cuted at one time." 
 
 In such a locality as this the Ragged School 
 work was born. It was not long before Lord 
 Shaftesbury was as famiHar with this district 
 of Field Lane as with the neighborhood of 
 Grosvenor Square, where he Hved. Only a 
 genuine love for human beings could have 
 drawn Lord Shaftesbury from his happy home 
 to these loathsome haunts, where visitors must 
 close their senses to sickening sights and 
 sounds and smells. 
 
 Charles Dickens described his visit to this 
 Ragged School when it was first started, and 
 again after Lord Shaftesbury had taken it 
 under his protection. 
 
 "I found the Ragged School pitifully strug- 
 gling for life under every disadvantage. It 
 had no means; it had no suitable rooms; it 
 derived no power or protection from being 
 recognized by any authority; it attracted 
 within its walls a fluctuating swarm of faces,
 
 132 Life of I^ord Shaftesbury 
 
 young in years, but youthful in nothing else. 
 It was held in a low-roofed den, in a sickening 
 atmosphere, in the midst of taint and dirt and 
 pestilence, with all the deadly sins let loose, 
 howling and shrieking at the doors. The 
 teachers knew little of their office. The pupils 
 derided them, sang, fought, danced, robbed 
 each other, seemed possessed by legions of 
 devils. Some two years ago I, found it quiet 
 and orderly, lighted with gas, well white- 
 wasbed, numerously attended, and thoroughly 
 established." 
 
 Under Lord Shaftesbury's direction there 
 was established a free day-school for infants; 
 an evening school for youths and adults; a 
 woman's evening school to teach housekeep- 
 ing and other domestic arts; industrial classes 
 to teach youths tailoring and shoemaking; a 
 home for boys ; a night refuge for the utterly 
 destitute; a clothing society for the naked; 
 a distribution of bread to the starving; baths 
 for the filthy; Bible-classes, through which 
 about ten thousand persons were brought to
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 133 
 
 know the gospel story; a school missionary, 
 who scoured the streets and brought in the 
 wanderers ; and a Ragged Church for the wor- 
 ship of God. 
 
 "Having taken the matter in hand, he at 
 once proceeded to get a firm grip of it by 
 seeing for himself everything that was to be 
 seen in connection with the work, and hearing 
 for himself all that was to be heard. He went 
 into the vilest rookeries, and became ac- 
 quainted with the most ignorant and de- 
 praved. He visited the few Ragged Schools 
 that were in existence at that time, and in- 
 spired hope and courage in the teachers by his 
 presence. He took his place in the school 
 beside them, and spoke kindly words to the 
 wondering listeners. 
 
 A strange sight was a Ragged School audi- 
 ence in those days. There were to be seen the 
 cunning expression of the cadger; the sharp, 
 acute face of the street minstrel ; the coster- 
 monger out of work ; the cropped head of the 
 felon, who had just left prison ; the pallid and
 
 134 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 thinly-clad woman weakened by long-continued 
 sickness and penury; tke spare form of him who, 
 once in affluence, had wasted his substance in 
 riotous living. And among this motley assem- 
 bly Lord Shaftesbur}' would sit, with his calm 
 eyes gazing sorrowfully upon them, and his 
 pleasant voice tr^'ing to utter words of hope." 
 When he saw what was being accomplished 
 in one district, he longed to have the work ex- 
 tend. Isolated efforts could not affect the 
 general condition of the waifs and strays of 
 the metropolis. There were thousands of the 
 children of the lowest and most ignorant 
 classes springing up, sturdy of growth as 
 weeds in a wheatfield. "They swarmed the 
 streets; they gamboled in the gutters; they 
 haunted the markets in search of castaway 
 food; they made playgrounds of the open 
 spaces; they lurked under porches of public 
 buildings in hot and wet weather; and they 
 crept into stables or under arches for their 
 night's lodging. They lived as the street dogs 
 lived, and were treated much in the same way;
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 135 
 
 everybody exclaimed against the nuisance, but 
 nobody felt it to be his business to interfere. 
 The first practical effort to reach these street 
 Arabs was to lure them to the Ragged 
 Schools." 
 
 It was at just this time that three Ragged 
 School teachers, men in humble positions, 
 met and discussed the hardest problem of the 
 day. They resolved, "That to give perma- 
 nence, regularity, and vigor to existing 
 schools, and to promote the formation of new 
 ones throughout the metropolis, it is advisable 
 to call a meeting of superintendents, teachers, 
 and others interested in these schools for this 
 purpose." 
 
 This was the beginning of the Ragged 
 School Union. Lord Shaftesbury was very 
 scrupulous about giving honor to whom 
 honor was due, and when he was called the 
 founder of the Ragged Schools he modestly 
 declared that while he would rejoice if it were 
 true, he was neither the founder of the schools 
 nor the Ragged School Union.
 
 136 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 This, however, is true, that from the time 
 he joined the movement, it grew marvelously 
 in importance and power, and for forty years 
 his love and zeal in its behalf knew no abate- 
 ment. 
 
 The Executive Committee consisted of 
 Shaftesbury, William Locke, and Joseph Gent, 
 whose names appeared in all public announce- 
 ments and on the certificates of deserving 
 scholars. Curiously enough, these names 
 stood in a similar position two hundred and 
 fifty years ago in a bit of history connected 
 with America. 
 
 King Charles II gave to the first Earl of 
 Shaftesbury a tract of land in America in the 
 latitude of Charleston City. The two rivers 
 bounding the city north and south were named 
 Cooper River and Ashley River, in honor of 
 the Earl. He framed a constitution for the 
 embryo colonies, and called to his help the 
 illustrious Locke and a man named Gent, who 
 visited America, and whose emigrants built
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 137 
 
 the village which subsequently became the city 
 of Charleston. 
 
 Shaftesbury's biographer compares the 
 work of the two sets of men, and says: "The 
 labors of the latter trio have been to reclaim 
 the moral wilderness, to purify and cultivate 
 the moral wastes, and to set up spiritual fort- 
 resses that shall be unassailable by the great 
 enemy." 
 
 Public meetings were held in most of the 
 churches and halls of London and the large 
 towns. Lord Shaftesbury presided at these 
 occasions, and in short, earnest addresses set 
 forth the claims of the poor. He also was in 
 the chair at the quarterly-meetings, where 
 practical subjects were discussed and progress 
 was reported. 
 
 "For many years the ragged children of 
 London were rarely out of his thoughts, wak- 
 ing or sleeping. He visited them in their 
 wretched homes and at their daily work. He 
 sat beside them in their schools. He let them
 
 138 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 come to his house to tell him their troubles. 
 He pleaded for them in religious and political 
 assemblies. He carried their cause into the 
 House of Commons and into the House of 
 Lords. He interested the whole country in 
 their welfare, and, as we shall see, he achieved 
 great things for them." 
 
 In 1846 he chose two companions, and ex- 
 plored the unknown parts of London to see 
 for himself the alleys and lanes and houses in 
 which the poorest of the poor and the lowest 
 of the low dwelt. 
 
 One of his companions was a physician, and 
 the other was a missionary. 
 
 Such a mission needed no ordinary man, 
 and Lord Shaftesbury brought to it no ordi- 
 nary gifts. He could enter an abode of filth 
 and wretchedness where every sense was sick- 
 ened, and appear perfectly at ease. He could 
 win the confidence of the poor and outcast. 
 He could benefit without patronizing, and pre- 
 serve his own dignity amid the rough and law-
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 139 
 
 less, without placing any barrier to mutual 
 approach. 
 
 This great-souled man saw in the miserable 
 creatures before him, "not thieves and vaga- 
 bonds and reprobates, but men with immortal 
 souls that might be saved, and with human 
 lives that might be redeemed from their cor- 
 ruption. In the woman with unkempt hair 
 and tattered garments, he saw, not the aban- 
 doned harlot, but the woman that was a sin- 
 ner, who might yet be brought to the feet of 
 Him who would say to her in the tenderest of 
 human accents, 'Go, and sin no more.' " 
 
 His special sympathy went out to little 
 children. He was throughout his life the 
 champion and friend of children. 
 
 He was wont to say that the greatest com- 
 pliment ever paid to him came from a little 
 child. He was standing at a street crossing 
 in the heart of London. A little girl stood at 
 the curb, afraid to attempt going alone. She 
 glanced from face to face with an anxious
 
 140 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 look, and then slipping her tiny hand into 
 Lord Shaftesbury's and looking up into his 
 face with a trustful smile, said, "Will you 
 please carry me over?" 
 
 His biographer says : "It is no exaggeration 
 to say that in the whole course of his life he 
 hardly ever passed a ragged child in the street 
 without the desire to stop and talk to it. 
 Morning, noon, and night the welfare of the 
 uncared-for and unthought-of children 
 weighed upon his heart, and he looked upon 
 any day as lost in which he did not do some- 
 thing to make the weariness of their lives less 
 weary, and their sadness less sad. The words 
 of the Master were ever ringing in his ears, 
 'Feed my lambs.' 
 
 "He possessed in perfection the art of 
 speaking to children, and few men ever spoke 
 to them with greater effect ; not because he 
 was a 'lord,' but because he could lay hold of 
 the heart of a child, and because the whole 
 bearing of the man impressed the fact that he 
 was intensely in earnest. Year after year he
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 141 
 
 had seen the law of kindness produce the most 
 wonderful effects on the minds of the wildest, 
 the rawest, the most ungovernable children. 
 It was always through the children that he 
 hoped to win the parents. 
 
 "Wherever he went, the people clustered 
 about him in groups, and received him with 
 respect." 
 
 In fact, throughout his life, although he 
 went freely among vagrants, thieves, and crim- 
 inals of every kind, he never received an in- 
 sult. The people everywhere seemed grateful 
 for his interest, and freely answered his ques- 
 tions. 
 
 He found a condition of things a hundred- 
 fold worse than he had thought possible. He 
 found large populations packed into the area 
 of a good-sized barn, without drainage, venti- 
 lation, or sunlight, where contagion and dis- 
 ease ran riot. He found that there were few 
 house-rents so high as those paid by the veri- 
 est outcasts of the street. 
 
 "The tenant of a mansion paid a lower
 
 142 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 nightly rent, in proportion to the space he oc- 
 cupied and the cubic feet of air he breathed, 
 than did the miserable urchin, who spent his 
 two or three pence for permission to stow him- 
 self under a bed of a low lodging-house filled 
 to suffocation by the most abandoned of all 
 ages — one of the twenty or thirty inmates of 
 a space not large enough for the accommo- 
 dation of more than two or three." 
 
 He made these facts public before an influ- 
 ential audience met with the "Society for Im- 
 proving the Condition of the Working 
 Classes." He told his audience of rooms so 
 foul, that W'hen a physician who was used to 
 such places visited them, he was obliged to 
 write his prescription outside the door. He 
 gave them graphic descriptions of courts and 
 alleys thronged with a dense, immoral popu- 
 lation, defiled by perpetual habits of intoxica- 
 tion, and living amid riot and blasphemy, tu- 
 mult and indecency. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury recommended that the 
 society erect a model lodging-house, where
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 143 
 
 human beings might have the decencies and 
 comforts of life at a moderate rent. This was 
 the beginning of the great model lodging- 
 house system, which has transformed many 
 of those London courts and alleys which were 
 reeking with filth and misery into abodes of 
 comfort. 
 
 His journal shows how the subject of Rag- 
 ged Schools was absorbing him : 
 
 "April 28th.— This is my birthday. Al- 
 though the day was very tempting here at 
 home, I took the chair at a Ragged School 
 as a sort of thankful offering and appropriate 
 duty." 
 
 "May 29th. — Dined yesterday with . 
 
 The courtesies of life and friendship demanded 
 it. A splendid display of luxury and grandeur. 
 The contrast was so great to the places where 
 I have spent so many hours lately, that I felt 
 almost uneasy. The few pounds, too, that I 
 want, and shall not get, for the establishment 
 of Ragged Schools, seemed wasted in every 
 dish. A greater simplicity would be more
 
 144 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 beneficial to the poor, to society, and to them- 
 selves. O, if some Dives would give me two 
 or three hundred pounds, the price of a pic- 
 ture or a horse, I could set up schools to edu- 
 cate six hundred wretched children !" 
 
 "Jwne 1 2th. — I am now begging for four 
 objects. Busy in founding a Ragged School. 
 Alas ! alas ! I can set up a school, which shall 
 give education every evening to two hundred 
 and eighty children, for fifty-eight pounds a 
 year, hardly more than it costs to prosecute 
 one criminal — and yet I can barely collect the 
 sum !" 
 
 "July 6th. — Much rain yesterday. My 
 poor little children of the One Tan Ragged 
 School had a day in the country, and must 
 have been sadly disappointed because they 
 could not roll on the wet grass. Poor little 
 things ! No doubt they bore it well — better 
 than we higher folks should have done. 
 
 "Do you want to read the story of a sturdy 
 beggar? Rambling in the lowest parts of 
 Westminster, I found a Ragged School held
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 145 
 
 in a deserted stable, cold and vile. I went 
 back to the House of Commons, stood at the 
 entrance of the House, and asked every one 
 whom I thought well disposed to the cause, 
 to give me a sovereign. Having got twenty- 
 eight pounds, I went back and ordered the 
 place to be put in repair. I was very proud 
 of the act then, and I am proud of it now." 
 
 In seven years after its organization, a hun- 
 dred new schools were added to the Union, 
 attended by more than ten thousand children. 
 Lord Shaftesbury's labors multiplied with the 
 schools. Each had its opening ceremonies, or 
 its anniversary, or its prize distribution night. 
 It required constant diligence to perform the 
 duties devolving upon him. Conferences with 
 teachers, interviews, correspondence day after 
 day; and in all parts of London the inevitable 
 speeches night after night. Every detail of 
 the Union was in his thought and care. When 
 he saw that, as order was established and de- 
 cent rooms were supplied, there was a tend- 
 
 enc}^ to admit children of a class and con- 
 10
 
 146 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 dition for whom the schools were not in- 
 tended, he said : 
 
 : "So long as the mire and the gutter exist, 
 you must keep the schools adapted to their 
 wants, their feelings, their tastes, and their 
 level. I feel that my business lies in the gvit- 
 ter, and I have not the least intention to get 
 out of it." 
 
 He inspired the teachers with his own in- 
 domitable activity and courage. In a fervid 
 address to them he gave utterance to this con- 
 viction : 
 
 "I tell you, my friends, that if, with all the 
 success you have attained, with all the knowl- 
 edge you have acquired, with all the blessings 
 you have received, you pause in your course 
 a,ny longer than is necessary to take breath, 
 gather strength, survey your position, and 
 thank God — why, then, I say. never again 
 come into this hall, for, if you do, I will be the 
 first to say to you, as Cromwell said to the 
 House of Commons, 'Out upon you ! begone ; 
 give place to honester men.' "
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 147 
 
 The industrial classes, refuges, and homes, 
 which were the outgrowth of the Ragged 
 School Union, all felt the touch of his sym- 
 pathy and the wisdom of his guidance. 
 
 The workers met with a good many dis- 
 couragements. The districts were flooded by 
 a periodical deluge of the miserable popula- 
 tion of Ireland. The best results of the work 
 were removed by the emigration scheme 
 which Lord Shaftesbury subsequently started. 
 No support came from the Government, and 
 but very little from the wealthy classes. And 
 yet Lord Shaftesbury was able to say: "We 
 have organized a system of prevention by 
 which to stop crime while it is in the seed, and 
 sin before it has broken into flower and deso- 
 lated society. We maintain that every one of 
 those whom we have reclaimed would, from 
 the very necessity of his position, have been 
 either a thief or a vagabond." 
 
 One feature of the Ragged School system 
 was the gift of a prize to each scholar who had 
 remained in one situation for twelve months
 
 148 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 with satisfaction to his employer, and for good 
 conduct. Lord Shaftesbury ahvays gave these 
 prizes, and his addresses to the children on 
 these occasions overflowed with "fathediness" 
 and loving interest. 
 
 He never lost an opportunity of saying ad- 
 miring words for the Ragged School teachers. 
 He thrilled his audiences with stories of their 
 zeal and courage. He declared that he saw at 
 Field Lane school the most remarkable exhi- 
 bition of human nature and the most beautiful 
 testimonial to woman's influence that he had 
 ever beheld in all his life : 
 
 "I have there seen men of forty years of 
 age and children of three in the same room — 
 men the wildest and most uncouth, whom it 
 was considered dangerous to meet, and per- 
 haps it would be dangerous to meet them in 
 the dark alone ; but in that room they were 
 perfectly safe. I saw there thirty or forty men, 
 none of them with shoes and stockings on, and 
 some without shirts — the wildest and most 
 awful-looking men you can imagine. They all
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 149 
 
 sat in a ring, and the only other human being 
 in the room was a young woman less than 
 thirty years of age, and, allow me to add, one 
 of the prettiest women I ever saw. She was 
 teaching all of those wild, uncouth creatures, 
 who never bowed the head to any constable 
 or any form of civil authority, yet they looked 
 on her with a degree of reverence and affec- 
 tion that amounted almost to adoration. 
 ]\Ieeting the superintendent, I said : 'My good 
 fellow, I do n't like this ; there she is among 
 all those roughs. I am very much alarmed.' 
 'So am I,' he said. 'Then why do you leave 
 her there?' I asked. He replied: *I am not 
 alarmed from the same reason that you are. 
 You are alarmed lest they should offer some 
 insult to her; but what I am afraid of is this, 
 that some day a man might drop in, who, not 
 knowing the habits of the place, might lift a 
 finger against her, and if he did so, he would 
 never leave the room alive ; he would be torn 
 limb from limb.' So great was the reverence 
 that these lawless and apparently ungovern-
 
 150 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 able creatures paid to the grace and modesty 
 of that young woman." 
 
 In i860 the Ragged School teachers made 
 a presentation to Lord Shaftesbury of an oil- 
 painting illustrative of the benefits of his 
 work. It was accompanied by an elegantly 
 bound volume, containing an address beauti- 
 fully engrossed, to which was appended the 
 signatures of no less than seventeen hundred 
 subscribers. The signatures were of all sorts 
 and conditions of men. In replying to the 
 address, Lord Shaftesbury said : 
 
 "I would rather be president of the Ragged 
 School L'nion than have the command of 
 armies or wield the destiny of empires. That 
 volume, with its valuable collection of signa- 
 tures, will show to our posterity that some 
 have been good enough to say that I have not 
 been altogether useless in my generation." 
 
 The painting hung over the mantelpiece in 
 the dining-room at Grosvenor Square ; the vol- 
 ume was kept in a case in the room, and both
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 151 
 
 were shown with pride and pleasure to visitors 
 to the very close of his life. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury took a strong personal 
 interest in every individual for whose behalf 
 he labored. 
 
 A letter written in 1849 was found, thirty- 
 six years after its date and shortly after his 
 death, in the box which he always carried 
 about with him, as containing the things he 
 most valued. It is written in a cramped, ill- 
 formed hand, with some misspelled words, and 
 is addressed: "Lord Ashley, Exeter Hall, 
 Westminster, London." On the cover Lord 
 Shaftesbury had written, ''Very precious to 
 me, this letter." It ran thus: 
 
 'Tort Adelaide, South Australia. 
 
 ''Most Noble Lord, — I arrived at Port 
 Adelaide after a pleasant passage, and am now 
 in a comfortable situation and with very pious 
 people. I have need to thank you for your 
 kindness in sending me out. I think with per-
 
 152 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 severance I shall do much better here than in 
 England. I do not think I shall ever forget 
 the good advice I received at Palace Yard 
 Ragged School, and sincerely thank them all 
 for their kindness. 
 
 "Please to accept the thanks of your obliged 
 and thankful servant, 
 
 "Caroline Walker." 
 
 On the back of the letter, v^ritten evidently 
 many years later, is the following: 
 
 "She went into service, behaved so well 
 that her master gave her in marriage to his 
 son. She became a considerable person in 
 Australia, and afterwards went to India. 
 Where is she now? God be forever with this 
 Rao;oed School girl! Shaftesbury." 
 
 •^iato' 
 
 A friend who called to see Lord Shaftes- 
 bury found him in his library at Grosvenor 
 Square, with two portraits before him. One 
 was that of a poor, puny, destitute child in rags 
 and tatters. The other was a handsome wo-
 
 IviFE OF Lord Shaftesbury 153 
 
 man in fashionable attire. He held them np 
 before his guest : "Ji^^st look at these portraits. 
 They have rejoiced my heart more than I can 
 tell. I am more delighted than if I had be- 
 come possessed of half the kingdom. Years 
 ago, late at night, there was a knock at the 
 door. Somehow it attracted my attention 
 more than usual. Presently I heard the angry 
 voice of a man in altercation with my servant. 
 I felt a strange prompting that it was my duty 
 to go and see what was the matter. There 
 was a man with a little child in his arms, which 
 he was endeavoring to thrust into the arms 
 of my servant, who, of course, would not take 
 it. 'What is ah this about?' I asked. The man 
 turned to me, and said: 'Lord Shaftesbury, I 
 have brousfht this child to vou. I do n't know 
 what else to do with it. I can not trust my- 
 self to be its father, and I can not abandon it 
 altogether.' 
 
 "I let the man in, and took down from him 
 all particulars, and the end of it was that the 
 child was left with me. I did not know very
 
 154 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 well what to do with the poor little thing, so 
 I had her sent to an inn close by for the night, 
 and the next day when she was here, a lady 
 happened in \\ho knew of a home where a 
 child was wanted. The mistress of the home 
 liked the child, and adopted her. And that 
 portrait of the fine lady is the portrait of what 
 that little ragged, destitute child has devel- 
 oped into. I feel as convinced that I was 
 moved to do what I did by our blessed Lord 
 as if I had seen him in person and heard his 
 voice." 
 
 Some one asked Lord Shaftesbury if he did 
 not find a good many hopeless cases. He was 
 aroused at once. 
 
 ''Hopeless, indeed ! Why, look at my 
 friend 'Punch' — as we called him. Punch had 
 been a source of annoyance to almost all the 
 workhouses of the metropolis. He showed, 
 himself to be one of the most abandoned 
 scamps in London. At last he came to the 
 Refuge in Great Queen Street. Seeing him 
 there, I said to him: 'Punch, how can vou iro
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 155 
 
 on ill this way? You have got some good 
 about you ; you have good abilities and you 
 have strength. Shall we make a man of you, 
 Punch?' 
 
 "Punch replied, 'Well, I do n't mind if 
 you do.' 
 
 "We set about trying, and, by God's bless- 
 ing, we did make a man of him. Having been 
 made a first-rate shoemaker, he set out to 
 Natal to carry on business there, where I hope 
 he is maintaining the honorable character 
 which he had wdien he left the Refuge." 
 
 Many stories are told of Lord Shaftesbury's 
 love for homeless children. 
 
 A little girl who was sheltered in one of the 
 Refuges, which had a new dormitory to be fur- 
 nished by subscriptions, took it upon herself 
 to write to him, and ask him for a subscription. 
 She had no name but Tiny: 
 
 "Dear Lord Shaftesburv, — You will see 
 by the address that I have changed my home 
 from Albert Street, where I remember you
 
 156 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 spoke to me, and told me about your dog. If 
 you please, Lord Shaftesbury, I want to ask 
 you if you will give a bed to our new home. 
 Fifty of the girls from the highest division 
 have been sent from Albert Street here, and 
 we have contributed the cost of one ourselves 
 out of our little store. You will come, I hope, 
 and see our new home. I am sure you will 
 like it, for I do, and my sister is with me. 
 Please come and see the pictures a gentleman 
 gave us. I remain }ours respectfully, 
 
 "Tiny." 
 
 This was his reply : 
 
 "My Dear Small Tiny, — I must thank 
 you for your nice letter, and say that, God will- 
 ing, I will certainly call and see your new 
 home, and you, too, little woman. You ask 
 me to give a bed to the new home. To be 
 sure I will. I will give two if you wish it, and 
 they shall be called 'Tiny's Petitions.' 
 
 "I am glad to see how well you write. And 
 I shall be more glad to hear from your friends
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 157 
 
 that yon are a good girl, that you read your 
 Bible, say your prayers, and love the blessed 
 Lord Jesus Christ. May he ever be with you ! 
 "Your affectionate friend, 
 
 '"Shaftesbury." 
 
 In 1871 we find this record in his journal: 
 
 "I ran to Whitechapel to-day to see a little 
 piece of stranded seaweed — a poor, parentless 
 girl of eight years old, whom God, in his good- 
 ness, has manifestly intrusted to my care. I 
 sent her in emigration to Canada with a re- 
 ligious family. May the Lord bless her in 
 body and in soul !" 
 
 The Refuge and Reformatory L^'nion, 
 which was an outgrowth of the Ragged 
 School movement, ultimately came to have 
 five hundred and eighty-nine homes, accom- 
 modating fifty thousand children ! 
 
 Three hundred thousand children were 
 brought under the influence of the society ! 
 
 To estimate the blessing which this single 
 movement brought to the neglected classes of
 
 158 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 England by simply looking at the statistics, 
 would be like calculating the blessing of sun- 
 light by trying to weigh the sunbeams. In 
 that army of lawless, ignorant street arabs was 
 the embryo of an English Revolution, which 
 in development would have turned the peace- 
 ful kingdom into a battlefield of terror and 
 bloodshed.
 
 Cl^aptct: IX 
 
 IN 1848 the spirit of revolution was abroad 
 in all Europe. Louis Philippe, King of 
 France, was expelled from his capital, his pal- 
 ace plundered, and himself cast down to a pri- 
 vate station. Riots and turbulence were 
 everywhere. All Englishmen were driven out 
 of France with circumstances of great oppres- 
 sion and dishonor. They were not allowed to 
 bring away even their property, nor to receive 
 their arrears of wages. They were denied em- 
 ployment and public relief, and were met at 
 the savings bank where their earnings had 
 been deposited with the answer of "No funds." 
 They crowded the French outposts, and 
 begged to be sent back to their ow-n country. 
 Lord Shaftesbury originated a scheme for 
 the relief of refugees, six thousand of whom 
 were brought over, cared for on their arrival, 
 
 and passed on to their respective destinations. 
 
 159
 
 i6o Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 In England the Chartists were demanding 
 their rights, and shouting, " Dissolve the Par- 
 liament!" "Give us the People's Charter!" 
 
 The great demonstration by the Chartists, 
 for which the nation had prepared strong 
 mihtary defense, and concerning which it felt 
 great alarm, proved to be not at all terrifying. 
 The meeting at no time exceeded thirteen 
 thousand people. We must believe that Lord 
 Shaftesbury's sympathy and influence with the 
 turbulent classes had not a little to do with 
 the peaceful ending of what threatened to be 
 a dangerous riot. 
 
 Although there was distress in the manu- 
 faciuring districts, the people showed their 
 appreciation of Lord Shaftesbury's kindness 
 by remaining trancjuil, some thousands of the 
 operatives enrolling themselves as special con- 
 stables. 
 
 When the panic was over, Sir George Grey, 
 Home Secretary, wrote to him, and thanked 
 him for his valuable aid. 
 
 The Times acknowledged that his influence
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury i6i 
 
 had been of a pacific sort in perilous times, 
 
 even tliongh political economists and men of 
 
 the world did vote Lord Shaftesbury a bore. 
 
 The Morning Chroui,; e had an editorial of 
 
 this sort: 
 
 "No thinking man concurs with Lord 
 Shaftesbury ; but it is a very good thing in 
 these days to have a nobleman who brings for- 
 ward the distresses and needs of the people, 
 and gives them assurances that their case will 
 be considered." 
 
 The next great practical question which en- 
 gaged Lord Shaftesbury was that of emigra- 
 tion. In the June of 1848 he brought forward 
 in the House of Commons this motion : 
 
 "That it is expedient that means be annu- 
 ally provided for the voluntan emigration to 
 some one of Her Majesty's colonies of a cer- 
 tain number of persons of both sexes, who 
 have been educated in the schools ordinarily 
 called Ragged Schools, in and about the me- 
 tropolis." 
 
 The speech was a fine piece of oratory, 
 II
 
 i62 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 filled with vivid descriptions and interesting 
 anecdotes, and with statistics, which in his 
 speeches were never dry bones, but full of life 
 and thrilling interest. He announced at the 
 beginning that as he was not introducing a 
 controversial question, or assailing any inter- 
 est, he did not expect any opposition, except 
 from those who believed they could suggest 
 a better plan. He declared that he brought 
 forward his plan, not from any overweening 
 confidence that he had hit the only true 
 method, but from a desire to excite discussion 
 and stimulate thought in this direction. He 
 stated that, through the London city mission- 
 aries and Ragged School teachers, he had 
 come to know of these thirty thousand naked, 
 filthy, roaming, lawless, and deserted children, 
 quite distinct from the ordinary poor. He 
 said: 
 
 "Till very recently the few children that 
 came under our notice in the streets and places 
 of public traffic were considered to be chance 
 vagrants or beggars, who by a little exercise
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 163 
 
 of magisterial authority might be either extin- 
 guished or reformed. It has only of late been 
 discovered that they constitute a numerous 
 class, having habits, pursuits, feelings, cus- 
 toms, and interests of their own ; living as a 
 class in the same resorts, perpetuating and 
 multiplying their filthy numbers." 
 
 He described to the House the habits and 
 dispositions of this wild race, their pursuits, 
 manner of life, and dwelling-places. He ex- 
 amined sixteen hundred of these Arabs, and 
 found that nearly two hundred had been in 
 prison many times. A hundred of them had 
 left the places they called home because of ill- 
 treatment. One hundred and seventy slept in 
 lodging-houses, which were the nests of every 
 abomination that the mind of man can con- 
 ceive. Two hundred and fifty confessed that 
 they lived together by begging. Seventy were 
 the children of convicts. Many of them had 
 lost one or both parents. 
 
 He brought forward the startling fact that 
 in the previous year there were sixty-two thou-
 
 164 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 sand persons taken into custody, of whom 
 twenty-two thousand could neither read nor 
 write, and twenty-eight thousand had no 
 trade, business calling, or occupation what- 
 ever. He said : 
 
 "These chiklren, bold, pert, and dirty as 
 London sparrows, but pale, feeble, and sadly 
 inferior to them in plumpness, retire for the 
 night, if they retire at all, to all manner of 
 places — under dry arches of bridges and via- 
 ducts; under porticoes, sheds, and carts; in 
 sawpits, on staircases, and in the open air. 
 Curious, indeed, is their mode of life. 
 
 "I recollect the case of a boy who, during 
 the inclement season of last winter, passed the 
 greater part of his nights in the iron roller 
 of Regent's Park. He climbed every evening 
 over the railings, and crept to his shelter, 
 where he lay in comparative comfort. Hu- 
 man sympathy, however, prevails even in the 
 poorest condition. He invited a companion 
 less fortunate than himself, promising to 'let 
 him into a good thing.' He did so, and it
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 165 
 
 proved a more friendly act than many a similar 
 undertaking in railway shares. 
 
 ''A large proportion do not recognize the 
 distinctive rights of meiim and tuitm. Property 
 appears to them to be only the aggregate of 
 plunder. They hold that everything that is 
 possessed is common stock; that he who gets 
 most is the cleverest fellow, and that every- 
 one has a right to abstract from that stock 
 what he can by his own ingenuity. 
 
 "They make Httle or no secret of their suc- 
 cessful operations, cloaking them with eu- 
 phemistic terms. They 'find' everything, they 
 'take' nothing. No matter the bulk or quality 
 of the article, it was 'found' — sometimes nearly 
 a side of bacon, just at the convenient time 
 and place. The buyer of these stolen goods 
 has the high-sounding title, 'dealer in marine- 
 stores ;' and many are the loud and bitter com- 
 plaints that the dealer in marine stores is ut- 
 terly dishonest, and has given for the thing 
 but half the price that could be got in the 
 market.
 
 i66 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 "These children are like tribes of lawless 
 freebooters, bound by no obligations, and ut- 
 terly ignorant or utterly regardless of social 
 duties. They trust to their skill, and not to 
 their honesty; gain their livelihood by theft, 
 and consider the whole world as their legiti- 
 mate prey. With them there is no sense of 
 shame; nor is imprisonment viewed as a dis- 
 grace. In many instances it has occurred that 
 after a boy has been a short time at one of 
 the Ragged Schools, he suddenly disappears. 
 At the end of a few weeks he comes back to 
 the very spot in the school where he sat when 
 he was last there. The master, going up to 
 him, says, 'My boy, where have you been?' 
 The boy answers, 'Very sorry, sir, I could not 
 come before; but I have had three weeks at 
 Bridewell.' 
 
 "Going to prison is with these children the 
 ordinary lot of humanity. They look upon it 
 as a grievous act of oppression, and when they 
 come to school, they speak of it as one gentle- 
 man would tell his wrongs to another.
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 167 
 
 "Fourteen or fifteen of these boys pre- 
 sented themselves one Sunday evening, and 
 sat down to the lessons; but as the clock 
 struck they all rose and left, with the exception 
 of one, who lagged behind. The master took 
 him by the arm, and said, 'You must not go; 
 the lesson is not over.' The reply was, 'We 
 must go to business.' The master inquired, 
 'What business?' 'Why, do n't you see, it 's 
 eight o'clock; we must catch them as they 
 come out of the chapels.' 
 
 "A city missionary who had endeared him- 
 self to the whole of a wretched district, one 
 evening put on a new coat, and went, about 
 dusk, through a remote street. He was in- 
 stantly marked as a quarry by one of these 
 rapacious vagabonds. The urchin did not 
 know him in his new attire, and therefore 
 without hesitation relieved his pockets of their 
 contents. The missionary did not discover his 
 loss, nor the boy his victim, until in his flight 
 he had reached the end of the street. He then 
 looked round, ai^d recognized in the distance
 
 i68 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 his old friend and teacher. He ran back to 
 him, breathless. 'Hallo/ said he, 'is it you, 
 
 Mr. ? I did n't know yon in 3^our new 
 
 coat ; here 's your handkerchief for you !' 
 
 "The affection they entertain for their 
 teachers is very striking, based on the unhappy 
 fact that, except for these devoted mission- 
 aries, they have never enjoyed the language 
 of kindness. Two gentlemen were walking 
 through the neglected district, when one of 
 them was accosted by the familiar salutation, 
 ' How are you, there ?' He turned to look at the 
 vagabond who had addressed him so familiarly, 
 and who shrank back with a disappointed face, 
 and muttered, 'O, I thought you were teacher ; if 
 you had been, I 'd 'a' shaken hands with you.' 
 
 "I have been asked, 'What will you do with 
 these children when you have educated them?' 
 I reply with a question, 'What will you do if 
 you neglect to educate them?' They are not 
 soap-bubbles nor peach-blossoms — things that 
 can be puffed away with a child's breath. 
 They are the seeds of future generations, and
 
 IviFE OF Lord Shaftesbury 169 
 
 the wheat or the tares will predominate, as 
 Christian principle or ignorant selfishness shall 
 govern our conduct. With a just appreciation 
 of their rights and our own duties, we must 
 raise them to a level on which they run the 
 course that is set before them, as citizens of 
 the British Empire and heirs of a glorious im- 
 mortality." 
 
 The proposition which he made to the Gov- 
 ernment was this : that the Government should 
 agree to take every year from the Ragged 
 Schools a number of children — perhaps five 
 hundred boys and five hundred girls — and 
 transplant them at the public expense to Her 
 Majesty's colonies. 
 
 He maintained that if it was held out to 
 these children as a reward of good conduct, 
 that the children would be eager and glad to 
 strive for such a prize as a removal from 
 scenes where everything was painful, to others 
 where they can enjoy their existence. He de- 
 clared his conviction that amongst those 
 guilty and disgusting children were many
 
 170 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 thousands who, if opportunities were given 
 them, would walk in all the dignity of honest 
 men and Christian citizens. 
 
 A grant of fifteen thousand pounds was 
 made by the Government for the purpose of 
 an experimental trial of the scheme. This was 
 all too small, and Lord Shaftesbury would 
 have found himself crippled for funds if his 
 friends had not made generous contributions. 
 Fortunately, in the course of his life there were 
 many who thought that the greatest good they 
 could do with their money was to place it in 
 the care of Lord Shaftesbury. He always had 
 schemes on hand which needed help. 
 
 "And he was like the "Good Bishop" in 
 "Les Miserables," of whom it is said : "When 
 he had money, he visited the poor; and when 
 he had none, he visited the rich." 
 
 Every one who knew him, knew that as a 
 trustee of money he was scrupulously exact, 
 and that not a penny intrusted to him would 
 fail to accomplish some direct end. At one
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 171 
 
 time a legacy of fifty thousand pounds was 
 left to him for distribution among charities. 
 
 After the first grant, the Government failed 
 to further his emigration among Ragged 
 Schools, and then he was entirely dependent 
 upon private gifts for his great enterprise. 
 
 It was a serious disappointment when the 
 Government withdrew its support, especially 
 since there never was an effort attended with 
 greater success. Testimony came from many 
 sources as to the conduct and efficiency of the 
 Ragged School boys who were sent out to the 
 colonies. 
 
 Some lord, who undoubtedly had voted 
 against a grant of funds for emigration, spoke 
 of these children as belonging to the "danger- 
 ous classes." To this, Lord Shaftesbury re- 
 sponded with fierce indignation : "Talk of the 
 dangerous classes, indeed ! The dangerous 
 classes in England are not the people ! They 
 are the lazy ecclesiastics, of whom there are 
 thousands, and the rich who do no good with
 
 172 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 their money ! I fear them more than whole 
 battalions of Chartists !" 
 
 The children were carefufly selected and 
 specially trained, and each was impressed with 
 the idea that he was to go forth as the repre- 
 sentative of a large reserve. Before each de- 
 tachment started, Lord Shaftesbury visited 
 them, and "some of his farewell addresses on 
 the eve of their departure are worthy of being 
 written in letters of gold, so full are they of 
 tender fatherliness and Christian love." 
 
 His biographer has recorded one: 
 
 "I see you now, my boys, probably for the 
 last time. You are going to a land where 
 much will depend upon yourselves as regards 
 your future prosperity and success. I hope 
 when you are far away, you will not forget 
 your friends here. The remembrance may, in 
 time of temptation, deter you from doing that 
 which would disgrace yourselves, and bring 
 discredit on them. 
 
 "Especially, let me tell you, boys, that 
 however you may rise in the world (and there
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 173 
 
 is no reason why you should not rise) you 
 must still be working men. Christianity is not 
 a speculation; it is essentially practical. You 
 have something to do for others as well as for 
 yourselves. You must not, by any misconduct 
 of yours, bring disgrace upon those who have 
 ?one out before vou. Manv of those lads who 
 are now roaming about the streets, houseless 
 and friendless, may be helped or hindered in 
 their future course by your conduct. If there 
 is one single thing more than another which 
 tends to make a man feel great, it is that he is 
 answerable for his own conduct to God and 
 to society at large. Whatever your duty or 
 circumstances may be, nczrr forget prayer. 
 You may rise to high stations; they are open 
 to you. Whatever worldly success may be 
 yours, still, my lads, never forget that the 
 greatest ambition of the Christian is to be a 
 citizen of that city whose builder and maker is 
 God." 
 
 In consequence of his speech in the House 
 of Commons, Lord Shaftesbury entered into
 
 174 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 a unique and exceedingly interesting experi- 
 ence in connection with London thieves. 
 There was a city missionary, named Thomas 
 Jackson, who had been appointed to the Rag 
 Fair and Rosemary Lane District, where he 
 was known as the Thieves' Missionary. They 
 took him into their confidence; they went to 
 his house day or night when they needed ad- 
 vice or consolation. He knew more about the 
 habits of pickpockets, burglars, and every 
 form of convicted or unconvicted roguery 
 than the most skillful policemen. He became 
 a very valuable guide to Lord Shaftesbury, as 
 well as a very close friend. 
 
 Soon after Lord Shaftesbury's speech, in 
 w'hich he set forth his emigration plan, it oc- 
 curred to him to ask a notorious adult thief 
 whether he would like to avail himself of such 
 a scheme. "I should jump at it," was the 
 reply. Thus encouraged, he had the same 
 question proposed at one of Mr. Jackson's 
 meetings, where the audience was composed 
 entirely of discharged criminals.
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 175 
 
 "It would be a capital thing for chaps like 
 us," was their unanimous answer. 
 
 Then one of them arose, and proposed that 
 they should write Lord Shaftesbury a letter on 
 behalf of themselves and all their tribe, ex- 
 tending an invitation to him to meet them, 
 and give them his opinion, and advise as to 
 how they could extricate themselves from 
 their present position. 
 
 A formal petition was accordingly pre- 
 pared and sent to Lord Shaftesbury, asking 
 him to meet them. It was signed by forty of 
 the most notorious thieves and burglars of 
 London. 
 
 A date was arranged, and without hesita- 
 tion Lord Shaftesbury accepted the invitation 
 and went. Although he was accustomed to 
 unusual assemblies, he acknowledged that he 
 was not prepared for the strange sight which 
 met his gaze. 
 
 There in a large room were four hundred 
 men of every appearance, from the "swell- 
 mob" in black coats and white neckcloths, to
 
 176 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 the most fierce-looking, rough, half-dressed 
 savages he had ever seen. 
 
 They had stationed at the door several of 
 the best known and experienced thieves to 
 prevent the admission of any but thieves. 
 There was a little suspicion about some four 
 or five individuals, and they were called for- 
 ward and put through an examination, in 
 which they proved beyond a doubt that they 
 w^ere members of the dishonest fraternity. 
 The reason for this caution, they explained, 
 was to find out if there was any one there who 
 would betray them. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury was received with genu- 
 ine enthusiasm, and, having taken the chair, 
 lie opened the meeting by devotional exercises! 
 
 He was anxious to know in which depart- 
 ments of roguery his audience belonged. 
 Some of them were exceedingly well dressed. 
 But many of them had no stockings, and some 
 of them had no shirts. The missionary an- 
 nounced : "His lordship wants to know the 
 particular character of the men here. You
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 177 
 
 who live by burglary and the more serious 
 crimes will go to the right, and the others will 
 go to the left." 
 
 About two hundred of the men at once 
 rose and went to the right, as confessed bur- 
 glars and living by the greatest crimes. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury then addressed them, and 
 declared his willingness to befriend them. He 
 proposed that they should tell him about 
 themselves. A number of the men then spoke, 
 and Lord Shaftesbury declared : 
 
 "Anything more curious, more graphic, 
 more picturescjue, and more touching I never 
 heard in my life. They told the whole truth 
 without the least difificulty, and knowing that 
 they were there to reveal their condition, they 
 disguised nothing. I had recommended a re- 
 linquishing of their old practices, and new re- 
 solves for the future. 'But how,' said one of 
 the men, 'are we to live till our next meeting? 
 We must either steal or die.' " 
 
 It was an awkward cpestion. Lord 
 
 Shaftesbury acknowledged that he had never 
 12
 
 178 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 felt so utterly impressed with the magnitude 
 of the task. He confessed that when Jackson 
 urged them "to pray, as God could help 
 them," he felt a certain amount of sympathy 
 when one of the men arose, and with great 
 earnestness said : "My Lord and Gentlemen of 
 the Jury, prayer is very good, but it won't fill 
 an empty stomach !" And at once there arose 
 a general response of "Hear ! hear !" 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury was sure of one thing. 
 These men were dissatisfied with the life they 
 were leading, and wanted to know how to 
 break away from it. Every one of them 
 was enthusiastic concerning his emigration 
 scheme, and he promised them that he would 
 do all he could for them. They asked him, 
 "But will you ever come back to see us again?" 
 "Yes," he answered, "at any time and at any 
 place, whenever you shall send for me." As 
 he said this, a low, deep murmur of gratitude 
 went round the room. 
 
 The result of that night's work can never 
 be estimated. Within three months from that
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 179 
 
 date thirteen who were at that meetnig were 
 starting life afresh in Canada, and a Httle later 
 nearly three hundred of those professional 
 thieves had emigrated, or had passed into dif- 
 ferent employments, and had no need to re- 
 turn to the old dishonest life. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury had a friend who was a 
 banker, and of whom he was wont to speak 
 as "a prince in the Israel of God." This gen- 
 erous man furnished the funds which made 
 possible the emigration of these men who so 
 sorely needed help in the right direction. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury had learned that the Gov- 
 ernment knew no gratitude. One of his keen 
 disappointments came in connection with his 
 labors on the Board of Health. It will be re- 
 membered that he had rendered services of 
 untold value, involving great personal sacri- 
 fice, during the cholera panic. This was but a 
 small item of his work. In every particular 
 he looked after the sanitation of the city. 
 
 The Times had declared : "To purify the In- 
 ferno that reeks about us in this metropolis is
 
 i8o Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 one of the labors to which Lord Shaftesbury 
 has devoted his Hfe ; and we can never be suffi- 
 ciently obliged to him for undertaking a task 
 which, besides its immediate disagreeableness, 
 associates his name with so much that is 
 shocking and repulsive. To his legislation we 
 owe the gratifying fact that lodging-houses 
 are explored by authorized persons, and that 
 ventilation, lighting, and drainage are pro- 
 vided for. To change a city from clay to 
 marble is nothing, compared with a trans- 
 formation from dirt, misery, and vice to clean- 
 liness, comfort, and at least a decent morality.'' 
 
 Nevertheless, when "the unpardonable ac- 
 tivity" of the Board had brought it into col- 
 lision with the undertakers and water commis- 
 sioners and sewer agents, the great newspaper 
 went over to their side. 
 
 It soon became apparent that the Board of 
 Health must be disbanded, and that some 
 cold, idle, comfortless, do-little office would 
 be set up in its stead. It was a positive grief 
 to Lord Shaftesbury, who declared sadly: "I
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury i8i 
 
 have given six years of hard labor, and have 
 not received even the wages of a pointer, with 
 'that 's a good dog.' We have left no arrears 
 of business. And thus closes six years of gra- 
 tuitous and intense labor. I may say v^'ith old 
 George III on the admission of American In- 
 dependence, 'It may possibly turn out well for 
 the country, but as a gentleman I can never 
 forget it !' " 
 
 In a great speech which he made on Sani- 
 tary Science, he said : 
 
 "When people say that we should think 
 more of the soul and less of the body, my an- 
 swer is, that the same God who made the soul 
 made the body also. It is an inferior work 
 perhaps, but nevertheles it is his work, and it 
 must be treated and cared for according to 
 the end for which it was formed — fitness for 
 his service. I maintain that God is worshiped, 
 not only by the spiritual, but by the material 
 creation. You find it in the Psalms : 'Praise 
 him, sun and moon; praise him, all ye stars 
 of light.' And that worship is shown in the
 
 i82 Life op Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 perfection and obedience of the thing made. 
 Our object should be, to do all we can to re- 
 move the obstructions which stand in the way 
 of such worship, and of the body's fitness for 
 its great purpose." 
 
 In 1872 he laid the foundation-stone of a 
 workman's city, called by his own name, 
 Shaftesbury Park. It was a town on all the 
 modern principles of sanitary arrangements, 
 with recreation grounds, clubs, schools, li- 
 braries, and baths. It contained twelve hun- 
 dred houses, and accommodated eight thou- 
 sand people. 
 
 On his own estate, Wimborne St. Giles, he 
 built a model village, where the cottages were 
 furnished with all the appliances of civilized 
 life, and each had its allotment of a quarter of 
 an acre, the rent being only a shilling a week.
 
 Cljapter X 
 
 AMONG the interesting experiences into 
 ''*■ which Lord Shaftesbury entered, none 
 were more so than his acquaintance and 
 friendship with the costers. AYe find the first 
 outgoings of his heart in this direction, in a 
 book for which he wrote the Preface: 
 
 "The pursuit of knowledge under diiificul- 
 ties has always been praised, and justly so; 
 but why should not the pursuit of an honest 
 livelihood amid great temptations be alike ad- 
 mired? Both are great moral efforts ; but I am 
 inclined to think that the poor, painstaking 
 costermonger, proof against enticements to 
 fraud and falsehood, is, on the whole, the bet- 
 ter citizen of the two. Literature may adorn 
 a nation, but the uprightness of its citizens is 
 its bulwark." 
 
 What is a coster? Johnson's Dictionary 
 
 defined the term thus, "A costermonger is a 
 
 183
 
 184 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 person who sells apples," But one of the pro- 
 fession indignantly repudiated this definition, 
 and gave a more complete one: "A coster is 
 a cove wot works werry 'ard for a werry poor 
 livin', and is always a-bein' hinterfered wuth, 
 and blowed up, and moved hon, and fined, 
 and sent to quod by the beaks and bobbies." 
 
 A Mr. Orsman, a man holding a humble 
 position in Government service, started the 
 mission. He was attracted to the large popu- 
 lation of costers w^ho "'■•erded by thousands in 
 an area about Golden Lane. He determined 
 to devote his leisure time to the work of evan- 
 gelizing them, and established a mission, 
 which very soon had a valuable friend in the 
 person of Lord Shaftesbury. 
 
 It was a great day for Mr. Orsman and his 
 work when he received this letter: 
 
 "Dear Sir, — You seem to be engaged in 
 a grand work for the benefit of the poorest 
 classes of the metropolis. The secretary of the 
 Ragged School Union calls it 'a noble work.'
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 185 
 
 I shall be very glad to aid, so far as I can, such 
 admirable efforts ; and if it can be of any use, 
 to accept the office of president. 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "Shaftesbury." 
 
 Mr. Orsman found the costers to be care- 
 less, improvident, merry, and thoughtless, 
 with little rehgion and less politeness. Street 
 life necessarily cultivated coarseness of lan- 
 guage and manners. At night the donkey, 
 the children, the fathers, and mothers all hud- 
 dle together in the same room. The stock of 
 fish, fruit, or vegetables is stored under the 
 filthy bedsteads, to be carried out the next day 
 and sold on the streets. They must go to 
 market very early in summer, and as soon as it 
 is light in winter, purchasing the cheapest 
 stock when there is an over-supply, or a better 
 article which has been cheapened by remain- 
 ing too long on hand. Their profit is very 
 small, and their patronage is in the poorer 
 streets. It was discovered that many of them
 
 i86 L»iFE OF Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 made their best profit by using false weights 
 and measures. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury could n't blame them so 
 much for this, when he learned that they were 
 themselves the victims of injustice. Although 
 their capital was small, it was generally bor- 
 rowed at a most exorbitant rate of interest 
 from money lenders, who took advantage of 
 the necessities of the poor fellows. Lord 
 Shaftesburv became a sort of banker for the 
 concern, loaning them money at small interest, 
 and encouraging them to deal to others as 
 they would be dealt by. 
 
 He showed, in his speeches, how useful 
 these costers are to the people, as they bring 
 to the door of the working classes cheap fruit, 
 fish, and vegetables, which otherwise they 
 could not get, being too far from the country, 
 and not being able to patronize the large mar- 
 kets. Their income was most uncertain, de- 
 pending on the weather and the chance of 
 over-supply. Like all such people, they were 
 very improvident, and knew what it was to
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 187 
 
 suffer with hunger through the long winter. 
 Their highest ambition was to own a donkey 
 and a truck. Most of them were too poor to 
 have their own, and rented by the day or 
 week. 
 
 From the beginning of his knowledge of 
 these people, Lord Shaftesbury took the live- 
 liest interest in them. He always delighted to 
 call himself a "coster," and nothing would in- 
 duce him to lose an opportunity cf spending a 
 social evening with his "brethren." 
 
 He organized a Barrow and Donkey Club, 
 and enrolled himself as a member. This made 
 it necessary for him to buy a barrow and don- 
 key, which he would loan to those who were 
 unfortunate. The barrow was a handsome 
 one, and bore upon it the Shaftesbury arms 
 and motto. Happy and proud was the coster 
 who had the loan of these precious pieces of 
 property. 
 
 He had it in his power to help them in im- 
 portant directions. For example, the vestry 
 of St. Luke's Church issued an order forbid-
 
 i88 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 ding costermongers to trade any longer in 
 Whitecross Street. As this was a profitable 
 district, the costers were alarmed for their in- 
 terests. Lord Shaftesbur}'- made a plea before 
 the parish magistrates, and they at once with- 
 drew their order. 
 
 At one of the meetings Lord Shaftesbury 
 told the men that if at any time they had 
 grievances which he might be able to redress, 
 they should write him, and he would answer 
 promptly. 
 
 "But where shall we send our letters?" 
 asked one. "Address your letter to me at 
 Grosvenor Square, and it will reach me," he 
 replied ; " but if after my name you put ' K. G. 
 and Coster,' there will be no doubt that I shall 
 get it." 
 
 Did ever England's proud order know such 
 a combination as Knight of the Garter and 
 Coster! 
 
 It was proverbial tliat the donkeys were 
 shamefully ill-used. Lord Shaftesbury was 
 president of the Society for the Prevention of
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 189 
 
 Cruelty to Animals, and at once he set about 
 improving the condition of the patient little 
 beasts. He had tests made to show how much 
 better work they could do if they rested on 
 Sunday. He instituted donkey shows, where 
 he gave a prize to the coster whose donkey 
 gave evidence of the best care. 
 
 It was no uncommon thing to see him stop 
 in the street to salute a coster and pat his don- 
 key, and commend its appearance and ask 
 how business was going. 
 
 One day Lord Shaftesbury received an in- 
 vitation from the costers to meet them in their 
 liall, where they wished to make him a presen- 
 tation. He went, and took the president's 
 chair as usual. Over a thousand costers with 
 their friends w-ere present, and with surprising 
 thoughtfulness some ladies and gentlemen had 
 been invited, and were there on the platform. 
 A handsome donkey, extravagantly decorated 
 V. ith ribbons, was led on to the platform, and 
 presented to Lord Shaftesbury. He at once 
 vacated the chair, and made way for the new
 
 190 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 arrival. And then, putting his arm around, 
 the animal's neck, he thanked them in a short 
 speech. He said : "When I have passed away 
 from this life, I desire to have no more said of 
 me than that I have done my duty, as the poor 
 donkey has done his, with patience and un- 
 nuirmuring resignation." 
 
 The donkey was then led down the steps of 
 the platform, and Lord Shaftesbury remarked : 
 "I hope the reporters of the press will state 
 that, the donkey having vacated the chair, the 
 place was taken by Lord Shaftesbury !" 
 
 The donkey was sent to St. Giles, where he 
 was a great pet. Its death is thus recorded: 
 
 "Dear Orsman, — I am grieved to say that 
 Coster is no more. He broke away from the 
 stable, and made a dash for the paddock. In 
 so doing, he fell and smashed his thigh. The 
 veterinary surgeon was sent for, who pro- 
 nounced him incurable, and advised that he 
 should be put out of his pain. 
 
 "The friendly and useful creature was
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 191 
 
 buried with all honors in a place I have within 
 a thick plantation, where the pet dogs and 
 horses that have serv^ed the family and de- 
 served our gratitude are gathered together. 
 
 "Remember me very warmly to my brother 
 costermongers, their wives, and their children. 
 
 "Shaftesbury." 
 
 The costers sent another to supply his 
 place, and of him Shaftesbury wrote: 
 
 "Dear Orsman, — The brown donkey has 
 won the afTection of every one. My grand- 
 children declare it is the most attractive, ami- 
 able creature they ever knew. It follows 
 them like a spaniel. 
 
 "Give my love to the costers, and say how 
 happy I would be to meet them again. 
 
 "\\'hat day will suit my brother costers for 
 the show? Yours, S." 
 
 His journal has many references to the 
 costers : 
 
 "A wonderful meeting in Gold&n Lane last
 
 192 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 night. A spectacle to gladden angels — com- 
 fort, decency, education, and spiritual life, in 
 the midst of filth, destitution, vice, and misery. 
 This work of the gospel is administered by a 
 clerk in the post-ofifice, who gives all his spare 
 time and the most of his money to advance the 
 knowledge of Christ, and the earthly and 
 heavenly interests of man. It was enough to 
 humble me. Few things are more marvelous 
 than to see what can be done by one man, 
 whatever his social position, if he have but the 
 love of Christ in his heart, and the grace of 
 our Lord to lead him on." 
 
 "February 28th. — I went with Orsman 
 through Golden Lane to visit my coster- 
 mongers. Well do these poor people put us 
 all to shame. Piety, resignation, faith, in the 
 depths of penury, and seemingly without 
 hope. 
 
 "On the 5th I went to Orsman's tea-party 
 of aged costers in Golden Lane — poor old 
 dears ! Had to give them a 'hortation/ as 
 Hobbcs translates Thucydides."
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 193 
 
 Although he knew so many people, they 
 were not known to him as a class; but he re- 
 membered the individual — their particular 
 needs and circumstances. We see this in ex- 
 tracts from letters to Mr. Orsman: 
 
 "Do you ever perambulate your district by 
 day? If so, I should like to accompany you." 
 
 "Do not forget the woman who made the 
 braces. We promised her something. I have 
 sent two copies of the 'Faithful Promiser' for 
 the two wives of the cabinetmaker and the old 
 paralyzed man." 
 
 "Your missionaries must talk to the poor 
 cabinetmaker, and pray with him. He is not 
 hardened. Let him have what he wants in his 
 necessity." 
 
 "I have sent you a book for the two sons 
 of the spectacle-woman and the paralytic hus- 
 band. Also picture cards, as I promised, to 
 the little girl who is daughter of the shoe- 
 maker's wife, who went security for a water- 
 cress girl." 
 
 Thus he entered into their lives with fullest 
 13
 
 194 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 sympathy, and we must remember that the 
 costers were but one class of the many for 
 whom he thought and worked and suffered. 
 
 One night he went from the House of 
 Lords to a devotional service held by the cos- 
 ters. He contrasted these two places in a way 
 which showed where his heart was. 
 
 He speaks of the House of Lords as "that 
 vast aquarium full of cold-blooded life," and 
 then he alludes tenderly to the simple-hearted 
 piety and loving hearts which he found in the 
 costers' prayer-meeting. 
 
 He regarded the costers' mission as one of 
 the happiest successes of all the movements 
 with which he had been identified. And he was 
 especially gratified that the costers' kind treat- 
 ment of their donkeys had led to a universal 
 improvement in the care of beasts of burden 
 all over London. 
 
 In 1875, after the greatest sorrow of his life, 
 the death of his wife, he turned his thought 
 toward the watercress and flower girls of the 
 great city. In memory of his wife he estab-
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 195 
 
 lished a fund, which he named the Emily Loan 
 Fund. It was a scheme to enable these poor 
 girls, whose battle with life is very hard, to 
 earn their living when watercress and flowers 
 are out of season. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury placed in the hands of 
 the committee of the mission a sum of money, 
 from which deserving applicants might draw, 
 fo enable them to purchase stock-in-trade for 
 the winter. Poor women came in companies, 
 and made application for the loan of baked- 
 potato ovens, coffee stalls, barrows, and 
 boards. 
 
 The condition upon which the loans were 
 granted was, that borrowers must find secur- 
 ity for the full value of the article, thereby pro- 
 tecting the fund from loss, and giving the best 
 guarantee of the honesty and industry of the 
 borrower. When the value of the article was 
 repaid, it became the property of the hirer. 
 Lord Shaftesbury said : "I beheve that among 
 these watercress girls there are many as honest 
 and as pure as are to be found in all London.
 
 196 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 Those who are successful go into business, 
 and often buy a cofifee-stall, the outfit for 
 which costs as much as ten pounds." 
 
 He was one day at the office of the super- 
 intendent of the mission, when a nice-looking 
 girl came in. She said : 
 
 "I want a loan, please, of a very large sum." 
 
 "What for, my dear?" 
 
 "For flowers and basket." 
 
 "Have you anything in the world?" 
 
 "Not a sixpence." 
 
 "Can you give security?" 
 
 "O yes! the shoemaker's wife will go bail 
 for me." 
 
 "How much do you want?" 
 
 "Well, I do n't think I can do with a penny 
 less than one pound." 
 
 It was given, and every farthing was repaid. 
 
 The girls change their business with the 
 seasons. They are fruit girls in summer, 
 flower girls in spring, coffee-stall keepers in 
 winter. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury declared that it was the
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 197 
 
 most successful loan establishment in all Lon- 
 don. They had out a thousand loans, and did 
 not lose fifty pounds during the whole period. 
 Not in a single instance did they have to re- 
 cover by legal means. The little that was lost 
 was by reason of sickness or death, and not by 
 fraud. 
 
 One of the side activities of the Ragged 
 School movement was the cultivation of plants 
 and flowers under certain regulations by the 
 scholars. On a given day they were all 
 brought together in a large hall, and at this 
 flower show prizes were awarded for the plants 
 which showed the best care. 
 
 "The advantages of these flower stows in a 
 social aspect were many. They provided a 
 source of simple recreation, and gave a new 
 interest in home by adding unwonted cheer- 
 fulness to the comfortless rooms of the poor. 
 They became the means of drawing attention 
 to some of the social wants of the working 
 classes, such as the need of fresh air and venti- 
 lation and more space. They taught them
 
 198 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 simple habits of forethought and prudence; 
 for if they would win the prizes, they must 
 purchase their plants long beforehand. Their 
 chief good was that in watching the growth 
 and progress of the flowers under their care 
 the children and their parents were brought 
 into close contact with something pure and 
 innocent — something that should speak to the 
 better part of their natures, and tell them of 
 Him who has made the earth beautiful. 
 
 "It seemed almost incredible that many of 
 the plants and flowers exhibited at these shows 
 were reared and watched and tended in some 
 close cellar or garret by the little ragged 
 urchins, who, a short time before, were whin- 
 ing in the street for alms." 
 
 The flowers, humble and simple enough, 
 breathed whispers of strange histories. Some 
 were reared In crowded slums, where the 
 owner stole a few minutes from the hardest 
 toil to tend them. Some came from West- 
 minster Hospital, where they had been cared 
 for by sick and suffering children. Some were
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 199 
 
 sent from the Cripples' Home, and some from 
 the kitchens of domestic servants and the quiet 
 homes of working people. 
 
 Dean Stanley was the president of this So- 
 ciety for Promoting Flower Culture, but Lord 
 Shaftesbury always gave the prizes at the an- 
 nual flower show. He used to tell with great 
 pleasure a little incident that occurred on one 
 of these occasions. 
 
 As he was going about among the people, 
 he felt a little hand slip into his, and a little 
 girl looked up in his face, and said, "Please, 
 sir, may I give you a kiss?" The loving- 
 hearted Earl smiled down into the little 
 pinched face, and answered heartily, "I am 
 sure you may, my dear, and I '11 give you one, 
 too." In speaking of it, he said, "What would 
 London be without her children?" 
 
 The year of his great sorrow he wrote Dean 
 Stanley, saying that he had better find some 
 new and younger chairman for the annual 
 flower show, and adding that he was in the 
 condition of a tree which, as Lucan says.
 
 200 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 "casts a shadow no longer with its leaves, but 
 only by its stem." 
 
 Dean Stanley replied with the following 
 verses : 
 
 "Well said old Lucan, Often have I seen 
 A stripling tree, all foliage and all green, 
 But not a hope of grateful, soothing shade; 
 Its empty strength in fluttering leaves displayed. 
 Give me the solid trunk, the aged stem, 
 That rears its scant but glorious diadem; 
 That, through long years of battle or of storm, 
 Has striven whole forests round it to reform; 
 That plants its roots too deep for man to shake; 
 That lifts its head too high for grief to break; 
 That still, thro' lightning-flash and thunder-stroke, 
 Retains its vital sap and heart of oak; 
 Such gallant tree for me shall ever stand, 
 A great rock's shadow in a weary laud." 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury wrote under this: "I 
 knew that the dean was very kindly disposed 
 towards me. But I did not know how kindly." 
 
 He withdrew his resignation and attended 
 the show, where he made the most fervent ad- 
 dress he had ever given to these people, whom 
 he loved so tenderly.
 
 Cl^aptet: XI 
 
 1 X TE have given but small attention to the 
 ' ' personal and home life of this great 
 man. That he was very often drawn away 
 from the delights of his own circle by the 
 many calls of his public life was a constant 
 grief. Only the conviction that he was called 
 to this sacred work for the poor and neglected 
 children of men kept him in the slums and 
 missions of the great city, when his own home 
 was the spot in all the world where most he 
 wished to be. ^^^^en he placed his eldest son 
 at school, we find him writing: 
 
 "Dear Antony is about to start for school. 
 How can I let him go ! He is such a joy to 
 me ! Well can I understand the gracious and 
 precious wisdom that shone in the hearts of 
 Josiah and King Edward. O God, make him 
 like Samuel, to walk before thee in youth and 
 in age with joyful obedience!" 
 
 20I
 
 202 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 When he goes to get him to bring him 
 home for his first vacation, he is as happy as a 
 child. He says: 
 
 "I took Minny with me, and also Francis, 
 Maurice, and Evelyn. Very expensive; but 
 we had incautiously made the promise. Chil- 
 dren hold much to such engagements; and 
 the loss of money is of less account than the 
 loss of confidence." 
 
 When he was obliged to leave his little 
 flock his heart staid behind. He says : 
 
 "My heart misgave me as I saw baby 
 straining her darling little face through the 
 bars of the pier to get a last sight of me. I 
 commit my little flock unto God and the word 
 of his grace." 
 
 When he decided in favor of Rugby instead 
 of Eton as a school for his son, he gave his 
 reason thus: 
 
 "Eton fits a man beyond all competition 
 for the drawing-room, the club, St. James 
 Street, and all the mysteries of social elegance. 
 But it does not make the man required for
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 20 
 
 o 
 
 the coming generation. We must have 
 nobler, deeper, and sterner stuff; more of the 
 inward, not so much of the outward gentle- 
 man ; a just estimate of rank and property as 
 gifts from God, bringing with them serious 
 responsibilities." 
 
 In the fall of 1846 Ireland was on the brink 
 of starvation. Lord Shaftesbury maintained 
 that every one ought, by private self-denial, to 
 aid the legislative effort for relief and lessen 
 his own consumption, that "all might have a 
 little." He was one of the first to practice his 
 own preaching. When he found all provisions 
 rising in price, he gave orders that no more 
 potatoes should be bought for the house, say- 
 ing : "We must not, by competing in the mar- 
 ket, raise the cost on the poor man. He has 
 nothing after this to fall back upon." 
 
 An impression prevailed, that because Lord 
 Shaftesbury had succeeded to the earldom, 
 and possessed large landed estates, he must, of 
 necessity, be possessed of wealth. The fact is, 
 that his financial difficulties were often most
 
 204 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 distressing. As the head of a noble house 
 which must be maintained, and as the father 
 of ten children who must be educated and 
 cared for, he found his income all too small. 
 And yet these were not the largest items in his 
 expense account. 
 
 His biographer says that "heroism" is not 
 too large a word to use with reference to the 
 long, hard battle he fought in his endeavor to 
 obey the apostolic injunction, and "to owe no 
 man anything." 
 
 As a leader in every charitable organiza- 
 tion of the day he could not urge Hberal giving 
 upon others, and not give freely himself. The 
 demands upon his private charity were almost 
 incredible in number and extent. When Lord 
 Shaftesbury put his name down on a subscrip- 
 tion-list, he offered to God that which cost 
 him self-denial, self-sacrifice, and anxiety. 
 
 A lady called on him one day, and brought 
 to his attention a distressing case — a Polish 
 refugee, who was in a state of utter destitution. 
 
 "Dear me!" he said, "what is to be done?
 
 Life of LvOrd Shaftesbury 205 
 
 I have not a farthing. But the poor fellow 
 must have something at once. What can I 
 do?" 
 
 He was as distressed as though some 
 strong personal trouble had come to him. 
 Suddenly a happy thought seized him. He 
 remembered that he had put away in his li- 
 brary a five-pound note in reserve as a nest- 
 egg, and bringing it in with an air of great 
 delight, he asked his visitor to relieve the 
 man's distress as soon as possible. 
 
 We find these records in his journal : 
 "I have made up my mind that I must sell 
 the old family pictures and the old family es- 
 tates. It is painful, because ancestral feelings 
 are very strong with me. But it is far better 
 to have a well-cottaged property, people in 
 decency and comfort, than well-hung walls 
 which persons seldom see, and almost never 
 admire unless pressed to do so ; and as for es- 
 tates, it is ruin to retain them in the face of 
 mortgage, debt, and the necessary provision 
 for my children !
 
 2o6 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 "To-day I sent to St. Giles for two more 
 pictures to be sold. The house must be re- 
 paired, and I must not do it from any revenue 
 by which moneys devoted to charity would be 
 diverted. I must, therefore, surrender my 
 heirlooms, dismantle my walls, check ancestral 
 feeling, and thank God that it is no worse." 
 
 It seems incredibly sad that a man of Lord 
 Shaftesbury's ability and benevolence should 
 have had financial embarrassments. Fortu- 
 nately, he had a friend in Lord Palmerston, 
 the Premier of England, who had married his 
 mother-in-law, and who ventured to ask him 
 if his agents were trustworthy, and if, in his 
 laudable desire to improve every part of his 
 estate, he had not trusted his manager to de- 
 vote a larger portion of his income than should 
 have been allotted for such a purpose. 
 
 The inquiry came none too soon. The ex- 
 tent of Lord Shaftesbury's losses were never 
 fully known, but were probably not less than 
 fifty thousand pounds. 
 
 For many years he was to have trouble and
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 207 
 
 anxiety without ceasing, endless lawsuits and 
 vexations. Things were at their worst, when 
 Palmerston sent to Lord Shaftesbury's wife 
 five thousand pounds, stating that he must be 
 allowed to pay his half ''of his son's start in the 
 world." 
 
 This generous gift was truly appreciated, 
 and gave the temporary help which was sorely 
 needed. The dread of debt was a horror of 
 great darkness before him. He wrote to a 
 friend : "If I appear to fail in life and vigor, it 
 is not for the want of zeal, but from that kind 
 of Promethean eagle that is ever gnawing at 
 my vitals. May God be with you and keep 
 you out of dcbtf 
 
 Had he been a man of less determination 
 and courage, he would have abandoned his 
 great undertakings, overwhelmed with his per- 
 sonal obligations. Not so, Lord Shaftesbury. 
 He entered more heartily than ever into the 
 work to which he had given his life. 
 
 His journal of this time says : 
 
 "Engaged more than ever. Small works
 
 2o8 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 compared with the political and financial 
 movements of the day — a Lodging-house, a 
 Ragged School, a Vagrant Bill, a Thieves' 
 Refuge ! No wonder that people think me 
 engaged in small work, and yet I would not 
 change it. Surely God has called me to this 
 career. 
 
 "I imagine some young man saying to me, 
 '\\^ould you counsel me to follow the career 
 that you have chosen and pursued?' I reply 
 that, in spite of all vexations, disappointments, 
 rebuffs, insults, toil, expense, weariness, all 
 loss of political position, and considerable loss 
 of personal estimation ; in spite of being al- 
 ways secretly despised and often publicly ig- 
 nored ; in spite of having your 'evil' most ma- 
 liciously exaggerated, and your 'good' evil 
 spoken of, — I would for myself say, 'Yes.' If 
 you desire to rise in the world, to have a party, 
 to be much thought of, to be a great man at 
 court or in poHtics, I should say, 'No.' If you 
 desire internal satisfaction, that humble joy 
 through Almighty God that will attend you
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 209 
 
 in retirement and thoughtfulness, I say em- 
 phatically, 'Yes/ " 
 
 In a letter to his intimate friend, Mr. Hal- 
 dane, he said : 
 
 "When I was younger I had some ambition 
 for myself; I have now no desire except to 
 possess so much influence as may enable me 
 to do good. The public grows weary of its 
 servants; it is tired of 'humanity,' and dead 
 sick of mc. Whether by being out of sight for 
 a time I shall come forth like an old coat with 
 a new f^ufif, is a matter of speculation. I much 
 fear that they will find me out, and as the 
 showman said to Lord Stowell, when he went 
 to see the mermaid, 'You have been a cus- 
 tomer to me, my Lord, and I '11 not take you 
 in ; it is only the old monkey !' So they will 
 say, 'Do n't attend to that speech, it 's only 
 the old monkey !' " 
 
 On one occasion when he went into the 
 committee rooms of the House of Lords, he 
 heard one of the members say : "What ! are we 
 
 not to have any new speakers, none but the 
 
 14
 
 2IO Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 old ones?" Lord Shaftesbury said: "He 
 blurted out, not at all in an intentionally of- 
 fensive spirit, a sad truth. The guilt and pun- 
 ishment of thirty years of platform work 
 rushed upon my conscience. But I was 
 obliged to proceed." 
 
 He felt very keenly the abuse of the news- 
 papers. When he was advocating open-air 
 services for the poor people, the Daily News 
 called him "an obtrusive professor of street- 
 corner piety," and added that "the Pharisaism 
 of Lord Shaftesbury is unimpeached and un- 
 impeachable !" 
 
 He said : "A great majority of mankind as- 
 sume that if a man be stamped as a 'philan- 
 thropist,' he can not have common sense. 
 They hold that it betokens a softening of the 
 brain ! Alas ! poor Yorick !" 
 
 He was one of the most overworked men 
 in all the great city. At the beginning of the 
 year 1849 we find him laying out this pro- 
 gram for himself: 
 
 "I must stir up the Board of Health to
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 211 
 
 more vigorous efforts. One hundred and fifty 
 children have recently died of proved neglect. 
 They will be the martyrs of a cause of reforma- 
 tion. Next, I must carry out my plan for the 
 general subdivision of all the larger parishes, 
 so that the population of each parish shall not 
 exceed four thousand, a plan that I feel sure 
 will effect a greater amount of moral, social, 
 and religious improvement than a whole code 
 of laws. Then the completion of Ragged 
 School projects, especially in relation to emi- 
 gration. And, finally, the invitation to the 
 stragglers in the lanes and streets, and the 
 arrangement for evangelistic services in the 
 great theaters. Add to this the ordinary and 
 existing work, and there is my budget !" 
 
 Before many months had passed, he began 
 to have most unpleasant symptoms — terrible 
 noises in his ears, his whole body appearing 
 to vibrate like a Jew's-harp. He consulted a 
 physician, and sorrowfully records his verdict : 
 
 *'Over-toil, over-anxiety, over-sensitiveness 
 to the subjects handled during many years,
 
 212 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 have unnerved you completely. You must be 
 more moderate, or utterly disabled." 
 
 After a brief rest, he writes : 
 
 ''I am harassed by letters, interviews, 
 chairs, boards, speeches. I am worn, worn by 
 tliem all, surrendering all amusements and so- 
 ciety, giving all the day and half of almost 
 every night to business and meetings, and all 
 this in the face of weak health and tottering 
 nerves." 
 
 When it was rumored that he was very ill, 
 four hundred poor people called at his door in 
 a single day to inquire about him. This 
 touched him deeply, as the sincere attentions 
 of humble people aJways did. 
 
 After he had passed the threescore and ten 
 milestone, his activity knew no cessation. 
 There was scarcely a social, political, or relig- 
 ious movement set on foot in which his co- 
 operation was not solicited, and, if possible, 
 obtained. 
 
 He said at one of the meetings of the Rag- 
 ged School Union : "This is the ninth hour I
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 213 
 
 have been in the chair to-day. Moreover, I 
 have taken the chair for two and thirty years 
 consecutively, and having made two and thirty 
 speeches, I hardly know in what form to ad- 
 dress vou." 
 
 It is to be regretted that more of Lord 
 Shaftesbury's speeches were not preserved, to 
 take a permanent place in the literature of the 
 country. Not alone because of their literary 
 value, but because they are the utterances of 
 a man intensely in earnest, who had thor- 
 oughly mastered every subject he discussed. 
 
 It was a great pleasure to Lord Shaftesbury 
 that his wife and children entered heartily into 
 his plans and partook of his spirit. 
 
 When his son Evelyn wrote to congratu- 
 late him on the success of one of his ^reat 
 speeches, he replied : 
 
 "God bless you, my darling boy, for your 
 kind and sympathizing letter. The success 
 was indeed wonderful. You ask me how I 
 get through so much work; why, as I hope 
 you will hereafter, by hearty prayer to Al-
 
 214 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 mighty God before I begin, by entering into 
 it with faith and zeal, and by making my end 
 to be his glory and the good of mankind." 
 We find this record in his journal of i860: 
 "Last season in London my four daughters 
 attended twice a week at the Cripples' Hos- 
 pital to amuse the little, helpless ones, and 
 read to them. It was signally successful, and 
 blessed by God's grace to the teachers and the 
 taught. Never have I felt more joy than to 
 see that the more wretched the object, the 
 more degraded and helpless the sufferer, the 
 greater the sympathy of my children, and the 
 greater their devotion. 'Every good and per- 
 fect gift Cometh down from above !' " 
 
 The first great sorrow of his life was the 
 death of his second son, Francis, who sickened 
 and died at Harrow, where he had made a 
 most remarkable record as a student. He, 
 perhaps more than any other child, was like 
 his father in temperament, religious fervor, 
 and philanthropic spirit. His father reached 
 him in time to give him his blessing, and to
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 215 
 
 assure him that he had the prayers of hundreds 
 of ragged children. His face kindled at the 
 thought, and it seemed to please him most of 
 all. Lord Shaftesbury alludes to it thus : 
 
 "Yesterday, at eight o'clock in the evening, 
 it pleased Almighty God to take our blessed 
 Francis. It was the work of a moment, and 
 we were like amazed persons, so great had 
 been the promise not many seconds before of 
 returning strength. Yet we must not mur- 
 mur, for all is wisdom and mercy and love that 
 Cometh from Him. The child is with Christ, 
 which is far better. When the physician told 
 him he could not live, he simply added, 'What- 
 ever is God's will, is enough for me.' " 
 
 For many months there is scarcely a page 
 of his journal that does not record the name 
 of "my blessed Francis." His portrait was on 
 the mantelpiece in the study at St. Giles; and 
 thirty-six years later Lord Shaftesbury de- 
 clared his belief that not one day had passed 
 without some conscious memory of his be- 
 loved son.
 
 2i6 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 Within a week of the funeral we find him 
 busy with his Ragged Schools. He says a 
 new motive impelled him: 
 
 "Work of the 'Ragged' kind recalls his im- 
 age so vividly, and his dear words of sym- 
 pathy and approval. How could I please him 
 more, w^ere he here, or if he knows of my 
 doings, than by seeking the welfare of these 
 forlorn lambs of our Master?" 
 
 His son Maurice became the victim of a 
 malady which affected his intellect, and finally 
 terminated his life. Lord Shaftesbury had for 
 him a feeling of peculiar tenderness. He said : 
 
 "Wonderful it is that this feeble boy had 
 such a charm about him. I have directed a 
 monument on which will be engraved two 
 texts which he cherished and often repeated : 
 'The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want ;' 
 *It is good for me that I have been afflicted.' 
 How good, he now knows in reality ; he knew 
 it before by faith. Frequently in speaking and 
 in writing I have been permitted to comfort 
 him by quoting the words of our blessed Lord,
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 217 
 
 'What I do thou knowest not now, but thou 
 shalt know hereafter.' 
 
 '*I have lost two precious sons for the short 
 time of human life; but I have housed them 
 forever in heaven." 
 
 In 1861 his darlinj daughter, Mary, after 
 an illness of a year and a half, died with con- 
 sumption. He speaks of the beautiful love 
 between mother and daughter, which grew 
 stronger as the invalid grew weaker: "The 
 mother's devotion to the child, and the child's 
 affection for the mother, are God's own gifts." 
 
 In 1857, Lord Shaftesbury's eldest son, An- 
 tony, was elected to the House of Commons 
 from Hull. He writes : 
 
 "It was accomplished without a bribe, treat- 
 ing, or any illicit inducement. His success is 
 wonderful, and is of God's goodness. May 
 it be the beginning of a career noble, patriotic, 
 useful, religious, to his Master's honor and 
 man's welfare ! Evelyn was there, and showed 
 every quality of a clever, energetic man of 
 business."
 
 2i8 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 At a public dinner given to his son, Lord 
 Shaftesbury said: 
 
 "You have taken that youth by the hand, 
 and started him in the race of life with every 
 hope of usefulness and honor. It is a matter 
 of deep emotion that I should now see my son, 
 in his earliest years, placed in that position 
 where many men have terminated their career; 
 that I see him commencing life in the highest 
 situation that British freemen can confer upon 
 their fellow-citizens; that I see him intrusted 
 with mighty interests, and the member for the 
 third seaport in the kingdom." 
 
 When the first grandson was born, he wrote 
 a joyful letter to his friend Haldane : 
 
 "My little village of St. Giles is all agog 
 with the birth of a son and heir in the very 
 midst of them, the first, it is believed, since 
 about 1600, when the first Lord Shaftesbury 
 was born. The christening yesterday was an 
 ovation. Every cottage had fiags and flowers. 
 We had three triumphal arches, and all the 
 people were exulting. *He is one of us.' 'He
 
 L,iFE OF Lord Shaftesbury 219 
 
 is a fellow-villager.' The tenants, too, and 
 clergy, have, in grand consultation, resolved 
 to present a piece of plate as an heirloom. I 
 doubt whether in many counties there would 
 now be found such a feeling between the 
 owner and the occupiers of the land. Much 
 is due to Antony, who has lived among them, 
 and made himself deservedly popular." 
 
 We have seen how little this great man 
 cared for the honors of the world, although he 
 did care very much for the good-will of those 
 whom he believed to be true and good, 
 whether in high or lowly life. 
 
 When the chancellorship of Oxford was 
 made vacant by the death of the Duke of 
 Wellington, and Shaftesbury was approached 
 as to whether he would receive it, he said : 
 
 "It would, of necessity, call me away from 
 the duties I have undertaken. Is there one 
 that I would surrender for this honor? Not 
 one. It is an honor I do not covet, a com- 
 fortless dignity. Let those who are ambitious 
 for it, obtain and enjoy the post. There will
 
 220 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 be candidates enough. I had rather, by God's 
 blessing and guidance, retain those places for 
 Avhich there are no candidates — the presidency 
 of the Ragged School, the Field Lane Refuge. 
 This is clearly my province. I am called to 
 this, and not to any political or social honors." 
 In 1854, when he was fighting battles for 
 chimney-sweepers, and for the kings of the 
 east, and in behalf of Ragged Schools and 
 sanitation and pure literature, he received the 
 following letter from the Prime Minister: 
 
 *']\Iy Dear Shaftesbury, — It would give 
 me great pleasure if you would permit me to 
 submit your name to the Queen for the vacant 
 Blue Ribbon. This is not intended as a po- 
 litical appointment; for although I hope your 
 general feelings are not unfriendly to the Gov- 
 ernment, I make the proposal exclusively from 
 •a desire to mark my admiration of your un- 
 wearied exertions in the cause of humanity 
 and of social improvement.
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 221 
 
 "I am aware that honors of this description 
 are usually conferred from very different mo- 
 tives; but I feel certain that the distinction 
 was never better deserved, and I doubt not 
 that I shall myself receive credit for making 
 such a selection. 
 
 "Believe me, very truly yours, 
 
 "Aberdeen." 
 
 As w'as usual with all weighty questions, 
 Lord Shaftesbury discussed it in his journal: 
 
 "May 5th. — Though my immediate im- 
 pulse was to decline it, I prayed to God for 
 counsel and guidance. The point to be con- 
 sidered is, '^^"ill it impede or will it promote 
 my means of doing good?' IMinny wants me 
 to accept it, 'as a just acknowledgment,' so 
 she says, 'of my deserts.' I am unwilling to 
 do so, lest it should be considered a payment 
 of them, and I be told hereafter, either that 
 I was never disinterested in my labors, or, 
 when I appeal to Government for aid in my
 
 222 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 projects, that they have done enough to oblige 
 me, and that they can do no more ! It might 
 lead ignorant or malicious persons to cry down 
 all public virtue, and say that every public man 
 had his price. 
 
 "The novelty of this reward for such serv- 
 ices as mine would offend many people, and 
 lower the value of the decoration among those 
 for whom it is principally intended. 
 
 "And the fees would amount to more than 
 a thousand pounds, a sum which, if I had, I 
 must devote either to my children or to duties 
 towards my people. God give me a true judg- 
 ment!" 
 
 "jMay loth. — I have written to Aberdeen, 
 and declined the Garter. But I thanked him 
 heartily and affectionately for his kindness, 
 and for the estimate he put on my public serv- 
 ices. He understood mv difficulties, and sent 
 my letter to the Queen. I regret the necessity 
 of the determination, for I am not indifferent 
 to the honor; but I am sure that I have done 
 wisely. God be praised!"
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 223 
 
 A week later he wrote: 
 
 "The Government in the House of Com- 
 mons threw out the Chimney-sweepers' Bill, 
 and said not a word of sympathy for the 
 wretched children, nor of desire to amend the 
 law. I am ver}- sad and low about the loss of 
 the Sweeps Bill. The Collar of the Garter 
 might have choRed me. At least, I have not 
 this or any other Government favor against 
 me as an offset to their oppression. I must 
 persevere, and, by God's help, so I will ; for, 
 however dark the view, I see no Scripture 
 reason for desisting ; and the issue of every toil 
 is in the hands of the Almighty." 
 
 As we have seen, this bill was finally passed, 
 and recorded as a victory for Lord Shaftes- 
 bury. 
 
 In 1855, Lord Palmerston had become 
 Prime Minister, and he offered Shaftesbury 
 the same honor. 
 
 "I never was in such perplexity in my life," 
 said Lord Shaftesbury to his friend Hodder. 
 "I was at my wit's end. On one side was
 
 224 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 ranged wife, relations, friends, ambition, influ- 
 ence; on the other, my own objections, which 
 seemed sometimes to weigh as nothing in 
 comparison with the arguments brought 
 against them. I could not satisfy myself that 
 to accept ofifice was a divine call. I was satis- 
 fied that God had called me to labor among 
 the poor. There was no Urim and Thummim ; 
 no open vision. I could do nothing but post- 
 pone, and, in doing this, I was placing Pal- 
 merston in a most awkward position. But 
 God interposed for me." 
 
 Lord Palmerston was in a dilemma. He 
 had been unable to find any one who would 
 satisfactorily fill the vacancy, otherwise he 
 would have relieved his friend from the pres- 
 sure that he knew was intolerable. His own 
 light and hopeful spirit made him believe that 
 once in ofiice, all the objections would disap- 
 pear, and only good would ensue. But had 
 he seen any way of escape for his friend, he 
 would not have continued his urgent demands. 
 A message was sent to Lord Shaftesbury to
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 225 
 
 put on his court dress, and be at the palace at 
 a given hour. To use his own words : 
 
 "I never felt so helpless. I seemed to be 
 hurried along without a will of my own ; with- 
 out any power of resistance. I went and 
 dressed, and then, while I was waiting for the 
 carriage, I went down on my knees and prayed 
 for counsel, wisdom, and understanding. 
 Then there was some one at the door, as I 
 thought, to say that the carriage was ready. 
 Instead of that, a note, hurriedly written in 
 pencil, was put into my hands. It was from 
 Palmerston, 'Do n't go to the palace.' That 
 was thirty years ago, but I dance with joy at 
 the remembrance of that interposition, as I did 
 when it happened. It was, to my mind, as dis- 
 tinctly an act of special providence as Avhen 
 the hand of Abraham was stayed and Isaac 
 escaped." Another man had been found, who 
 was acceptable to the Queen. 
 
 Six years later. Lord Palmerston renewed 
 his offer of this honor, declaring that the na- 
 tion demanded his acceptance, and that the 
 15
 
 226 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 financial hindrance had been removed. Lord 
 Shaftesbury's acceptance of the honor is re- 
 ferred to thus: 
 
 "Strange to say, I am become a 'Knight of 
 the Garter.' I could not persist in refusal, so 
 great was Palmerston's anxiety, and so urgent 
 his arguments. I wished on iiiany grounds to 
 avoid the honor; but obstinacy in refusal 
 would have been almost personal to him, and 
 misunderstood in myself. I do not despise, 
 nor would I publicly depreciate, such rewards. 
 They have their real value. It has been de- 
 clared to be an acknowledgment of services 
 hitherto considered to be of no public value. 
 So far I rejoice. 
 
 "How my precious, precious Mary would 
 have been pleased ! But the darling has better 
 things to please her now. 
 
 "Palmerston assured me he had made an 
 arrangement with the Treasury about the fees, 
 which amount to about a thousand pounds. 
 I have reason to believe that the arrangement 
 he made was to pay the whole expense him-
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 227 
 
 self, but to keep it secret from me. This is 
 indeed generous." 
 
 In the closing years of his life many honors 
 were publicly accorded to him. In 1884 a 
 great banquet was given at the Mansion 
 House, at which he was the guest of the even- 
 ing. It was a splendid ovation, three hundred 
 persons, representing all the great social, re- 
 ligious, and political interests, responding to 
 the invitation. In June of that year, amid 
 great pomp and circumstance, he received 
 somewhat tardily the freedom of the city of 
 London. In acknowledging the honor, he 
 said that if he could not add any luster to the 
 citizenship, the time for him was so short that 
 there would be little opportunity for him to 
 tarnish it, and added that, if any one should 
 ever undertake the task of writing his biog- 
 raphy, he begged him to have the goodness to 
 record that he died a citizen of London. 
 
 In 1872 came the great sorrow of his life. 
 There is nothing in all literature more pathetic 
 than the record of his grief.
 
 228 L/iFE OF Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 On the anniversar}' of his wedding day he 
 had written : 
 
 "Forty-one years ago I was united to that 
 dear, beautiful, true, and affectionate dariing, 
 my blessed Minny. What a faithful, devoted, 
 simple-hearted, and captivating wife she has 
 been to me ! And what a mother ! Lord, give 
 me grace to thank thee evermore, and rejoice 
 in thy goodness. Lead us in the way of serv- 
 ice. She is still away with my precious, sufifer- 
 ing Constance, who is seeking health in a 
 milder climate. God in his mercy, bring them 
 home speedily and safely!" 
 
 It was while caring for her invalid daughter 
 that the health of Lady Shaftesbury gave way. 
 As soon as she ^^-as able to bear the journey, 
 she returned to London. The physicians de- 
 clared it a "grave case." In the hour of his 
 overwhelming anxiety Lord Shaftesbury 
 wrote to Mr. Orsman: 
 
 "I am writing to you with the very pen my 
 costefmonger friends gave me. I write to ask
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 229 
 
 my brothers and sisters In Golden Lane to 
 pray for me. My wife and daughter are very 
 ill I believe much in the prayers of Christian 
 people; and I know there are many among 
 you. Do not forget me. Our Lord teaches 
 us that there is mighty power in the fervent 
 supplications of the poor. The children, too, 
 must remember me, as I have often remem- 
 bered them. May God be with you! 
 
 "Shaftesbury." 
 
 For several days Lady Shaftesbury ap- 
 peared to be gaining in strength, but there was 
 a serious relapse, and on October 15th we find 
 this record in his journal : 
 
 "Minny, my own Minny, is gone. God 
 took her soul to himself at about twelve 
 o'clock this morning. She has entered into 
 her rest, and has left us to feel the loss of the 
 purest, gentlest, kindest spirit that ever lived. 
 O my God, \yhat a blow ! But we bow before 
 thee in resignation and sorrow. She whis- 
 pered to me, 'None but Christ.' What do I
 
 230 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 not owe to her and to thee, O God, for the 
 gift of her? But now to-night will be a ter- 
 rible event. For the first time I must omit in 
 my prayers the name of my precious Minny." 
 
 Four days later the body of Lady Shaftes- 
 bury was committed to the grave in the little 
 village church of Wimborne St. Giles. A sim- 
 ple tablet near the family pew bears a tribute : 
 
 "To the memory of a wife, as good, as true, 
 and as deeply beloved as God, in his unde- 
 served mercy, ever gave to man." 
 
 Expressions of sympathy poured in upon 
 Lord Shaftesbury from Her Majesty, the 
 Queen, who wrote a most beautiful and tender 
 autograph letter, and from many humble 
 Ragged School teachers, and from a multitude 
 of illiterate costers. 
 
 It seemed impossible that Lady Constance 
 Ashley could survive the shock. But she ral- 
 lied, and her physicians said her only hope 
 was on the shores of the IMediterranean. His 
 record tells of the pathetic struggle for life: 
 
 "The doctors say, Mentone; but how get
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 231 
 
 her there? How find her strength for the 
 long, fatiguing journey? How get her across 
 the water in wind and rain? O God, be gra- 
 cious to us! 
 
 "To-day I went to St. Giles on business. 
 How sad and solitary and silent it is ! When 
 it was dark I crept into the church, and prayed 
 near her dear resting-place, and I had peace. 
 
 " Mentone. — We arrived here very sorrow- 
 ful. I could enjoy nothing, for she was not 
 here to share it with me. I must live for Con- 
 stance's sake. No attention, no sympathy can 
 approach that of a mother — and such a 
 mother ! 
 
 "December i6th. — To-day my precious 
 Constance left me for heaven. Never was a 
 going so joyous. Heaven itself seemed open 
 before her eyes. Her face was radiant as she 
 spoke to every one. 'Dearest father,' she 
 said, *I want to bless you now for all that you 
 have taught me.' The darling girl taught me 
 in one half-hour more than I had imparted in 
 her whole life. She said: 'I know that I am
 
 232 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 going to die, for I feel so happy.' With these 
 words she fell into a soft sleep, and was gone. 
 Was her blessed mother there? She said, 
 'Christ is very near.' I will ever maintain that 
 this was a special mercy to mitigate our sor- 
 row. We were positively raised into joy. 
 Neither speech nor writing can adequately de- 
 scribe what it was. The sudden change was 
 like a resurrection." 
 
 "December 28th. — Yesterday was the bur- 
 ial. The day was dark and gloomy; but aa 
 we started on the procession, the sun came out 
 Hke a smile of heaven." 
 
 Whenever he returned to St. Giles, he 
 seemed to feel his loss and sorrow more 
 keenly. When his son, the Hon. Evelyn Ash- 
 ley, was returned as member of Parliament, 
 the little village held a glad celebration, and 
 Lord Shaftesbury writes : 
 
 ''The bells are ringing joyfully ; but she, my 
 beloved one, who lies beneath them, hears 
 them not. How glad would her dear heart
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 233 
 
 have been in the success of her sympathizing 
 son! But she is Hstening to other sounds — 
 the music of heaven. 
 
 "In her old age she was as beautiful to me 
 as the day when I married her."
 
 Cl^apter XII 
 
 AS we have seen, Lord Shaftesbury revered 
 *~^ the Church of England for the truths 
 which she held, and for what she might be. 
 He acknowledged sorrowfully that her clergy 
 had failed to stand by him in his great work. 
 He was often denounced and opposed by the 
 Establishment because of his broad catholic 
 spirit, which reached out to sympathize and 
 co-operate with every humanitarian effort un- 
 der whatsoever Church or creed. He declared 
 himself that he was "an Evangelical of the 
 Evangelicals." He requested his biographer, 
 "Do not tone down or explain away my un- 
 popular religious z'iezvs." 
 
 On one occasion, speaking of Church re- 
 form, he said : 
 
 "I have talked a great deal, always with a 
 
 view to the safety of the Establishment, about 
 
 ecclesiastical reforms. Ecclesiastical reforms 
 
 234
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 235 
 
 seem just as remote as they were before any- 
 thing was said on the subject. I am not going 
 to speak about such things any more, and I 
 will tell you why. Two hundred years ago, an 
 ancestor of mine, the Lord Shaftesbury of that 
 day, was making a speech in the House of 
 Lords. Behind him sat the bishops, and one 
 of them whose name I find recorded in his- 
 tory, and who disliked the Lord Shaftesbury 
 of that day, perhaps, nearly as much as the 
 bishops now dislike the Lord Shaftesbury of 
 the present day, exclaimed, 'When will that 
 lord have done preaching?' My ancestor 
 turned round to him, and said, 'Whenever 
 your lordships begin.' Well, I will not go on 
 preaching any more about ecclesiastical re- 
 form, because it would be utterly useless, be- 
 cause I know their lordships, the bishops, will 
 iiez'er begin." 
 
 He describes a ritualistic service, and closes 
 with a Scripture verse, which surely is the best 
 comment which could be made : 
 
 "On Sunday I went to St. Alban's Church
 
 236 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 in Holborn. In outward form and ritual, it is 
 the worship of Jupiter and Juno. A high altar, 
 a cross over it — no end of pictures. The chan- 
 cel very large, and separated from the body of 
 the church by a tall iron grille. Service in- 
 toned and sung, except the lessons, by priests 
 with white surplices and green stripes. 
 
 *'This being ended, a sudden clearance. All 
 disappeared. In a few minutes, the organ, the 
 choristers, abundant officials, and priests ap- 
 peared, the middle one having on his back a 
 cross embroidered as long as his body. This 
 was the beginning of the sacramental service. 
 Then ensued such a scene of theatrical gym- 
 nastics, such a series of strange movements of 
 the priests, their backs almost always to the 
 people, as I never saw before even in a Romish 
 temple. Clouds upon clouds of incense, the 
 censer frequently refreshed by the high priest 
 who kissed the spoon as he dug out the sacred 
 powder, and swung it about at the end of a 
 silver chain. A quarter of an hour sufficed to 
 administer to about seventy communicants,
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 237 
 
 out of six hundred present. An hour and 
 three-quarters was given to the histrionic part. 
 The communicants went up to the tune of 
 soft music, as though it had been a melo- 
 drama, and one was astonished at the close 
 that there was no fall of the curtain. 'God is a 
 Spirit; and they that worship him must wor- 
 ship him in spirit and in truth.' " 
 
 He speaks of presiding at a meeting of the 
 London Missionary Society in aid of their 
 missions in China, and added sadly: 
 
 "I shall, I suppose, give great ofifense to my 
 friends in the Establishment. Am sorry for 
 it ; but the cause is too holy, too catholic, too 
 deeply allied with the single name of Christ, 
 for any considerations of Church system and 
 Episcopal rule. What is the meaning of 'Grace 
 be with all those who love the Lord Jesus 
 Christ in sincerity?' Did not Morrison, Mof- 
 fatt, Williams, love him? If grace, then, was 
 with those men, shall I, vile man, presume to 
 say that I will not be with them also?" 
 
 He was thoroughly in sympathy with the
 
 23S LriFE OF Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 British and Foreign Bible Society. His inter- 
 est was first made manifest at the time of the 
 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park in 185 1. The 
 religious societies desired to make it the occa- 
 sion, while so many foreigners were in the 
 land, of pressing the claims of the gospel in 
 various ways. Lord Shaftesbury tells of his 
 efiforts to obtain a place for the translation of 
 the Bible: 
 
 "There was no difficulty whatever in ob- 
 taining abundant space for all the implements 
 of war and of human destruction that the mind 
 of man could imagine. A large proportion of 
 the Exhibition was taken up with guns, can- 
 nons, torpedoes, everything that could annoy 
 and desolate mankind. It was suggested that 
 we should erect for the Bible Society some 
 place in the Exhibition, where we could show 
 proofs of all that we had done to the praise of 
 God, and all we were capable of doing. Some 
 said we had no right to appear. I had a long 
 interview with His Royal Highness, the 
 Prince Consort, on the subject, and he took
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 239 
 
 the view that the Bible Society had no right 
 to a position there. I said : 
 
 " 'Putting aside the religious aspect of the 
 question, I will put it before you from an in- 
 tellectual point of view. I ask you whether it 
 is not a wonderful proof of intellectual power 
 that the Word of God has been translated into 
 one hundred and seventy distinct languages, 
 and into two hundred and thirty dialects? Is 
 it not a proof of great intellectual power that 
 the agents of the Bible Society have given a 
 written character to more than thirty distinct 
 languages, enabling all those people to read 
 the Word of God in their own tongue?' 
 
 "He said : 'You have proved your right to 
 appear. It is a great intellectual effort, and I 
 will do my best to secure for the Society such 
 a position as is befitting.' " 
 
 That year he took the chair for the first 
 time as president of the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society, a position which he held 
 through his long life. In moving a resolution 
 that the meeting should unite in expressing
 
 240 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 their best wishes that the blessing of God 
 should rest upon their new president, the Earl 
 of Harrowby said: 
 
 "I am sure, my Lord, that you will not hold 
 cheap the honor which has been conferred 
 upon you. I conceive that it is the highest 
 honor within the realm of England to be the 
 representative of her religious principles and 
 feelings ; and I believe that there is not a man 
 in the whole realm who enjoys the general 
 approbation of his fellow-citizens more than 
 your lordship. You have pursued your serv- 
 ice for mankind, undeterred by difficulties, by 
 opposition, by sneers; uninjured by popular- 
 ity, uninfluenced by unpopularity. We are 
 convinced that your conduct throughout has 
 been based on the deepest personal religious 
 convictions." 
 
 His biographer describes a great meeting 
 of the Society near the close of Shaftesbury's 
 life. It was at Exeter Hall, and on the occa- 
 sion he made one of his famous orations on 
 the Bible. It was an answer to the Neologists,
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 241 
 
 who had been publishing a declaration that 
 the Bible was effete. 
 
 "Multitudes are pressing in at the open 
 doors of Exeter Hall. A group of foreigners 
 on the opposite pavement are looking on in 
 blank astonishment ; they are gazing at a sight 
 which is more characteristic of English life 
 and feeling than can be seen at any other place, 
 or at any other season. It is the festival time 
 of England's great religious societies. 
 
 "Enter the building. It is thronged in 
 every part. Presently the organ ceases to 
 play, and there is a stir and a flutter in the 
 audience as divines, philanthropists, and social 
 and religious leaders take their position on the 
 platform. But the signal for a spontaneous 
 burst of enthusiastic greeting is given when 
 the secretary precedes a tall, slender, pale- 
 faced man, who gazes for a moment with cold, 
 passionless eyes upon the sea of heads and 
 the waving handkerchiefs as he holds the rail 
 of the platform nervously, and then, after a 
 
 formal bow, buries himself in the depths of a 
 16
 
 242 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 huge arm-chair. Every person in the hall 
 claims to know and revere him. 
 
 *'He rises to speak, and again the hall rings 
 with repeated cheers. He stands unmoved — 
 still as a statue. He seems unconscious that 
 he is the object of attention. As the cheering 
 continues, he seems almost displeased with 
 the demonstration, for no shadow of a smile 
 passes over the strongly-marked lines of his 
 face. When the echoes of the thunderings 
 have died away, he draws his slight form to its 
 full height, grasps firmly the rail of the plat- 
 form, and commences his speech. It proceeds 
 on a somewhat dead level, although uttered 
 with great dignity until he alludes to certain 
 philosophical works recently issued to teach 
 that the Bible is unsuited to the present times. 
 Then the whole manner of the man is 
 changed; the pale face kindles; the voice be- 
 comes clear and ringing; the slender form is 
 all alive with strength and energy; the whole 
 man is transfigured. He marshals in swift 
 array the nations of the world, and shows that
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 243 
 
 the Bible has brought to them liberty and 
 civilization and blessings untold. He closes 
 with a peroration of wonderful power : 
 
 " ' They tell us that the Bible is effete. It is 
 effete as Abraham was effete when he became 
 the father of many nations, when there sprang 
 of one, and him as good as dead, as many as 
 the stars for multitude and the sands upon the 
 seashore innumerable. It is effete as eternity. 
 It is effete as God himself is effete, the same 
 yesterday, to-day, and forever.' " 
 
 He enjoyed the close personal friendship 
 of many famous men and women — the Duke 
 of Wellington, Garibaldi, the Prince Consort, 
 and Queen Victoria. A letter written to him 
 from Daniel Webster just before Webster's 
 appointment as Secretary of State, is interest- 
 ing, as indicating the friendly feeling existing 
 between the great American statesman and 
 the English philanthropist: 
 
 "I owe you many thanks for a kind note 
 which I received at the moment of my depart-
 
 244 L<iFE OF Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 ure from London, and for the present of a 
 copy of the Holy Bible. You could have 
 given me nothing more acceptable, and I shall 
 keep it near me as a valued token of your re- 
 gard. The older I grow, and the more I read 
 the Holy Scriptures, the more reverence I 
 have for them, and the more convinced I am 
 that they are not only the best guide for the 
 conduct of this life, but the foundation of all 
 hope respecting a future state of existence. I 
 have an edition of the New Testament which 
 I am fond of using. It is the authorized text, 
 without being broken into verses. 
 
 "I read your speech on introducing your 
 bill with great interest. Indeed, I read all 
 you say, and notice all you do, with interest. 
 
 "I have the honor to be, 
 
 "Yours with faithful regard, 
 
 "Daniel Webster." 
 
 Charles Dickens was always a warm ad- 
 mirer of Shaftesbury. He sought an intro- 
 duction to him, and on several occasions aided
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 245 
 
 his labors among the poor. He paid hearty 
 tribute to the good results of Lord Shaftes- 
 bury's philanthropic work. He described va- 
 rious wretched localities as he first knew them, 
 and as they were after Lord Shaftesbury had 
 established there a Ragged School or mission. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury makes this most inter- 
 esting note on Dickens, when he receives a 
 copy of Forster's "Life of Dickens :" 
 
 "The man was a phenomenon, an excep- 
 tion, a special production. Nothing like him 
 ever preceded. Nature is n't such a tautolo- 
 gist as to make another to follow him. He 
 was set, I doubt not, to rouse attention to 
 many evils and many woes; and though not 
 putting it on Christian principle (which would 
 have rendered it unacceptable), he may have 
 been in God's unfathomable goodness as much 
 a servant of the Most High as the pagan Naa- 
 man, *by whom the Lord had given deliver- 
 ance to Syria !' God gave him, as I wrote to 
 Forster, a general retainer against all suffer- 
 ing and oppression."
 
 246 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury was no less remarkable 
 for his friends in humble life, whom he grap- 
 pled to his soul with hooks of steel. He 
 seemed to know instinctively whom he could 
 trust, and having once given work into the 
 hands of a chosen helper, he inspired him with 
 his own mighty faith and courage. 
 
 He one day happened upon a man named 
 Roger Miller, who had gathered a hundred 
 destitute and forsaken children in a tumble- 
 down building, and was teaching them. He 
 brought him material aid, and entered him on 
 his list of friends. Miller was a frequent and 
 welcome visitor in Shaftesbury's home, and 
 Lord Shaftesbury declared that the city mis- 
 sionary was so full of practical piety and cheer- 
 ful faith as to bring untold blessing with his 
 very presence. He died suddenly, and Lord 
 Shaftesbury recorded it thus: 
 
 "A far greater man might have gone out 
 of the world with much less effect. All was 
 grief on Monday at Broadwell. Children and 
 adults wept alike, and blessed the memory of
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 247 
 
 Roger Miller. I have known men of a hun- 
 dred thousand a year depart this life, and every 
 eye around dry as the pavement. Here goes 
 a city missionary at thirty shillings a week, 
 and hundreds are in an agony of sorrow. I 
 have lost an intimate friend. We took 'sweet 
 counsel together, and walked to the house of 
 God as friends.' A gap has been made in my 
 life and occupations which will not be easily 
 filled up." 
 
 It made no difference to him what a man 
 was in the eye of society or of the world, if he 
 saw in him one who possessed those qualities 
 upon which true friendship alone can rest. 
 He esteemed a man first for what he was in 
 himself, and next, for what he was doing for 
 the world to make it brighter and happier and 
 holier. 
 
 A prison philanthropist, Thomas Wright, 
 was such a friend. In a talk to young men, 
 Lord Shaftesbury said: 
 
 "Many of you must have heard of a re- 
 markable man of Manchester named Thomas
 
 248 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 Wright. He visited prisons. He was en- 
 gaged all day long in a small establishment 
 acting as foreman, covered with oil and grease. 
 The first time I ever saw him I was stopping 
 in Manchester with my friend, the great engi- 
 neer, Mr. Fairbairn. He said to me : 
 
 " ' You have heard of Thomas Wright ; 
 would you like to meet him ?' 
 
 " I said : ' Of course I should, beyond any- 
 thing.' 
 
 " 'Well, then, we shall have him to dinner.' 
 
 "So we asked him to dinner. He came, 
 and had I not known who he was, I should 
 have said he was the most venerable doctor of 
 divinity I ever looked upon. His hair was 
 white; his face was benignant and beautiful. 
 We passed the evening and went to Church 
 together. Two or three days afterward, we 
 said we would go and see Thomas Wright. 
 We knocked at the office door, and a man, in 
 a paper cap and an apron, and covered with 
 grease, opened it. I passed in, and I said : 'I 
 want to see Thomas Wright.' 'I dare say you
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 249 
 
 do/ he said; 'here I am.' Then I said: 'Bless 
 you, my good fellow, never was I so impressed 
 in my life before, as I am now with the true 
 dignity of labor.' 
 
 "When his work was over, he doffed his 
 cap, washed his face, put on his black clothes, 
 and away he went to prison, to carry life and 
 light and the gospel of Christ to many broken 
 and anxious hearts." 
 
 Never for one moment did his interest for 
 suffering childhood abate. As late as 187 1 he 
 found abuses existing among the children em- 
 ployed in pottery and porcelain works. He 
 carried through legislation to give them relief. 
 He had already investigated and relieved child 
 labor in pin and needle factories, calico-print- 
 ing and button factories. Then he learned 
 that by a technical difficulty children em- 
 ployed in brickfields were excluded from the 
 benefits of the legislation. Lord Shaftesbury 
 could not rest until this injustice was set right. 
 He addressed the House of Lords, and stated 
 that there were in the country three thousand
 
 250 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 brickyards, and that the number of children 
 and young persons employed in them 
 amounted to nearly thirty thousand, their ages 
 varying from three and a half to seventeen. 
 A large proportion of these were females, and 
 the hours during which they were kept at their 
 monstrous toil was from fourteen to sixteen 
 per day. 
 
 His efforts were successful, and children in 
 brickfields came under the beneficent pro- 
 tection of law. 
 
 He became interested in the wretched 
 seamstresses of London. He prepared a bill 
 for their protection and proper payment. As 
 usual, there was great indifference in the 
 House of Lords and with the press. He says : 
 
 "Not a paper, except the Standard, has ut- 
 tered a word in defense of these poor, helpless, 
 oppressed girls. Their sufferings are sad, 
 cruel, overwhelming. How shall I prosper 
 with my bill? All is in His hands, who cares 
 as much for the smallest, sickliest seamstress 
 as for all the grand ladies of the land."
 
 !LiFE OF Lord Shaftesbury 251 
 
 His biographer gives us a graphic picture 
 of Lord Shaftesbury's own personal service, 
 which shows us how truly he was himself 
 a missionary, how closely he followed his 
 Master : 
 
 "In one of the most depraved quarters of 
 London, in a neighborhood with a network 
 of disreputable courts and alleys, the resort of 
 notorious ill-doers, the dread of timid way- 
 farers, and the despair of the police, there sit 
 in an ill-furnished room two or three men, 
 waiting anxiously. They are men belonging 
 to humble but respectable walks of life, and 
 have, it would seem, nothing in common with 
 the people who pass along the street — the 
 crop-headed jail-birds, the cunning-faced 
 cadgers, the sickly, ill-clad women, hurrying 
 away to creep into holes and corners for the 
 night. The street grows quieter; the great 
 clock of St. Paul's has some time since 
 boomed out the hour of midnight. Presently 
 there is heard the firm, steady tread of one 
 who walks as with a purpose. The step is
 
 252 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 recognized ; the door is thrown open, and the 
 watchers grasp the hand of the stranger — a 
 tall, slight, pale-faced man, with a grave and 
 thoughtful expression of countenance. 
 
 "He returns the salutation cordially, al- 
 though it is obvious that he belongs to a dif- 
 ferent rank from those with whom he is asso- 
 ciated, and without delay proceeds to the 
 business that has brought him to this strange 
 place at this strange hour. A hurried confer- 
 ence is held, certain plans are discussed, there 
 is a still and solemn silence for a few minutes, 
 and then all the party rise, button up their 
 stout overcoats, and sally forth, one of the 
 number bearing in his hand a small parcel of 
 candles ! 
 
 "They walk in silence until they reach their 
 destination — the Victoria Arches under Hol- 
 born Hill, known as the Vagrants' Hiding- 
 place — where they light their candles, and en- 
 ter the dark, dismal vaults. As they enter, a 
 few poor, miserable, hunted wretches brush 
 hastily past, and make their escape into the
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 253 
 
 street, or plunge into the recesses of tlie hid- 
 ing-place, conscience making cowards of 
 them all. 
 
 "It is some time before the visitors can dis- 
 tinguish objects distinctly; the darkness is in- 
 tense, and some of the arches are vast. As 
 their eyes become more accustomed to the 
 gloom, they see sights which can not now, 
 thank God ! be seen, and will never more be 
 seen in the great city where vice and misery 
 are rampant. 
 
 "There, spread on the dank floor, on layers 
 of rotten straw, filled with vermin of all kinds, 
 lie wretched human beings, whose poverty or 
 wrong-doing has deprived them of every other 
 resting-place. 
 
 "As the light falls upon their faces, some of 
 them start up with the keen, cunning look of 
 those who know that they have broken the 
 laws, and must depend upon their wits to es- 
 cape the penalty ; others turn over with a sigh 
 of weariness, and draw around them the 
 scanty garments that scarcely cover them ;
 
 / 
 
 254 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 while others break out into foul imprecations 
 upon the intruders. 
 
 "Everywhere, in holes and corners, some 
 almost burrowing into the soil, others lying 
 closely side by side for the sake of warmth, are 
 to be seen these poor outcasts, sheltering in 
 the only place where they can rest. Terrible 
 are the faces that meet the gaze of the visitors, 
 faces that bear indelible marks made by vice, 
 disease, or sorrow ; faces that haunt the imagi- 
 nation long afterwards. 
 
 ''Not to gaze and moralize, but to work, is 
 the object of the visitors; not to pity only, 
 but to help. And by two o'clock in the morn- 
 ing they have taken thirty of these wretched 
 outcasts, and have brought them from the 
 cold and darkness of the arches into the light 
 and warmth of a comparatively cheerful room 
 used as a Ragged School. Among the res- 
 cued are two boys, mere skin and bone in 
 bundles of rags, whose sunken jaws and spark- 
 ling eyes tell the story of their sickness, and 
 want, and premature .decay. They are seated
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 255 
 
 on either side of the tall, slight man, whose 
 sorrowful eyes have grown more sorrowful 
 as he looks upon them through the mist of his 
 tears. They are brothers in affliction, who 
 have been drawn together by mutual need, for 
 both are orphans. One of them remembers 
 a home: but when his father died he was left 
 friendless and destitute, and in his misery 
 found a shelter in the dark arches, where his 
 companion had slept alone every night for a 
 whole year, until this companion in misfortune 
 came to share the straw and the rags that 
 made his bed. 
 
 "But the dawning of this day has brought 
 with it the dawning of hope. The 'kind gen- 
 tleman,' beside whom they sit, has spoken to 
 them words of tenderness and pity. And 
 when they learn from him that they need no 
 more go back to the arches, but may find com- 
 fort and help and home in a Refuge for the 
 Homeless, their hearts, grown hard and cold 
 with the world's neglect, are opened, and they 
 weep for very joy.
 
 356 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 "As their rescuer returned towards his 
 home that morning, his head was bowed and 
 his heart was heavy. He knew that there were 
 hundreds, and it might be thousands, of boys 
 in the great city in as hopeless a case, who 
 were drifting from bad to worse until they 
 should be past hope; and he knew not how 
 they were to be reached. By day and night 
 the wailing of the world's sorrow haunted him. 
 The cry of the children rang ceaselessly in his 
 ears. And it was no figure of speech he used, 
 when those who saw his cheeks grow paler, 
 and his face more sad, asked him of the cause, 
 and he answered with choking voice : 
 
 " 'I have been in a perfect agony of mind 
 about my poor boys !' " 
 
 He was several times invited to meet with 
 companies of thieves, that he might help them 
 into honest employment. After such a meet- 
 ing, he said : 
 
 "Last night I met with thirty thieves. 
 What a spectacle! what misery! what degra- 
 dation! and yet I question whether we, fine.
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 257 
 
 easy, comfortable folks, are not greater sin- 
 ners in the sight of God than are these poor 
 wretches." 
 
 When visiting the Day Ragged School, 
 which he frequently did, he would go the 
 round of each section, notice their lessons, and 
 encourage them to persevere. One winter's 
 day, speaking to a poor boy with a pallid face, 
 he asked, "My man, what 's the matter with 
 you?" The boy replied, "I have had no food 
 for some time." "How long have you been 
 without?" "About twenty-six hours." 
 "Twenty-six hours !" said the Earl ; "no won- 
 der you look ill." 
 
 He questioned the scholars, and found that 
 many of them were half-starved. He turned 
 and left the room, saying, while the tears 
 rained down his face, "Poor, dear children!" 
 
 He stepped into his carriage, and ordered 
 
 his coachman to drive home. A few hours 
 
 after, large churns of soup were sent down, 
 
 enough to feed four hundred. This continued, 
 
 and that winter ten thousand basins of soup 
 17
 
 258 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 and bread were distributed to hungry chil- 
 dren — soup made in his own mansion at Gros- 
 venor Square. 
 
 In 1866, Lord Shaftesbury inaugurated a 
 movement which he had been considering for 
 several years. He sent invitations to the 
 casual wards and to similar places of resort, 
 inviting some of the homeless boys of Lon- 
 don, under sixteen years of age, to a supper 
 at St. Giles Refuge. 
 
 It was a cold, wet night, and when the one 
 hundred and fifty who had given in their 
 names made their appearance, they presented 
 a miserable spectacle. Their garments were 
 tattered and torn, and were hanging about 
 their limbs, rather than covering them. The 
 majority were barefooted, and all of them be- 
 longed to the most forlorn and wretched 
 classes of society. 
 
 On being questioned, they gave ready an- 
 swers concerning their miserable history. 
 Most of them begged for a livelihood, and
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 259 
 
 slept at night in casual wards or refuges, and 
 knew nothing whatever of their parents. 
 After a good supper an adjournment was 
 made to another room, where a kind of con- 
 ference was held as to any means that might 
 be devised for rescuing boys of this class from 
 the career of crime and misery which awaited 
 them. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury asked a series of direct 
 questions. He said first : 
 
 "Let all those boys who have ever been in 
 prison, hold up their hands." 
 
 Immediately about thirty hands went up. 
 
 "Let those who have been in prison twice, 
 hold up their hands." 
 
 Ten hands went up. 
 
 "How many in prison three times?" 
 
 Five hands appeared. 
 
 "Is it the case that most of you boys are 
 running about town all day, and sleeping 
 where you can at night?" 
 
 There was a unanimous "Yes !"
 
 26o Life of Lord Shafte&bury 
 
 "How do you get your livelihood?" 
 
 Some boys called out, "Holding horses," 
 "Begging," "Cleaning boots." 
 
 "Would you like to get out of your present 
 line of life, and into one of honest industry?" 
 
 The reply was a loud and enthusiastic 
 "Yes!" 
 
 "Supposing that there were in the Thames 
 a big ship, large enough to contain a thousand 
 boys, would you like to be placed on board 
 to be taught trades, or trained for the navy 
 and merchant service?" 
 
 There was a forest of upraised hands and 
 cries of "Yes." 
 
 "Do you think that another two hundred 
 boys out of the street would say the same?" 
 
 "We do." 
 
 The boys were dismissed with kindly 
 words ; but a happy thought was set in motion 
 that day. The Times took up the movement 
 with great earnestness. 
 
 Two projects were at once discussed and 
 approved. The first, to ascertain if the Lords
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 261 
 
 of the Admiralty would give one of the useless 
 ships of war, then lying in Her Majesty's 
 dockyards, to be fitted up as a training-ship 
 for homeless boys who would wish to follow a 
 seafaring life. 
 
 The second was to obtain, by hire or gift, 
 an old-fashioned house with about fifty acres 
 of land, a few miles from London, where those 
 boys not fitted for sea could be trained to agri- 
 cultural pursuits, so as to supply the labor 
 market at home, or to qualify themselves for 
 colonial life. 
 
 The Government at once granted the 
 Chichester, a fifty-gun frigate, which had never 
 been out of dock. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury went to see the ship in 
 preparation for the school. He said: 
 
 "This has been a dream of fifteen years and 
 more. We have dashed on, and are ready for 
 action. If the means are supplied, the result 
 is as certain as the movement of the planets; 
 but I tremble lest the zeal of my friend Will- 
 iams and my own may not have plunged us
 
 a62 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 into responsibilities beyond our reach. God 
 alone can give us of the nation's abundance, 
 and make the rich pour their bounties into the 
 treasury." 
 
 The movement proved to be in every way 
 successful. 
 
 At the inauguration of the Chichester, Lord 
 Shaftesbury said : 
 
 "Was it not a scandal that this great coun- 
 try, whose sole defense, under God, rested in 
 her navy, could not man her ships, and had to 
 depend, in a large degree, upon foreigners? 
 It seems absolutely necessary that everything 
 possible should be done to keep up the marine, 
 and I believe, if the public support the present 
 movement so that we might keep four hun- 
 dred boys on board, we might every year send 
 forth two hundred lads to navy service." 
 
 In course of time the Arethusa was granted 
 for the same purpose. Later, a ship was built, 
 and named the Shaftesbury. Lord Shaftes- 
 bury visited it frequently, and instituted a 
 system of prizes for good behavior. When-
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 263 
 
 ever he went he held a religious service, and 
 gave them a talk so full of kind wishes and 
 hope as to inspire the most hopeless fellow 
 there to do his best, and bring honor and suc- 
 cess to the movement. . 
 
 The other division, the training for agri- 
 cultural pursuits, was just as successful. 
 
 Several National Refuges for Homeless 
 and Destitute Children were established. 
 Two Girls' Refuges were opened at Sudbury 
 and Ealing. Two large schools, one of them 
 named the Shaftesbury, were founded to train 
 boys for colonial life. And all of these organ- 
 izations, which sprang from his busy brain 
 and loving heart, have been through the years 
 a blessing and an honor to the country.
 
 Cl^pter xm 
 
 JT was said that every London shoeblack 
 * knew Lord Shaftesbury, and felt that he 
 was a personal friend. One day an acquaint- 
 ance of his lordship's was having his boots 
 cleaned, and he said to the lad, 
 
 "I've seen Lord Shaftsbury." 
 
 "Have you, indeed?" answered the boy; 
 " I shall see him myself at our annual meeting 
 of shoeblacks on Friday at Exeter Hall." 
 
 A public man, anxious to find out what was 
 the real feeling of these Ragged School shoe- 
 blacks for their patron, spoke disparagingly 
 of Lord Shaftesbury to one of them, and de- 
 nounced him for assisting juvenile thieves and 
 roughs, all of whom, he said, ought to be in 
 prison, rather than at school. The poor boy 
 was at once very indignant, and, with an angry 
 voice and blazing cheeks, he cried out: 
 
 "Do n't you speak against Lord Shaftesbury, 
 
 264
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 265 
 
 sir; if you do, God Almighty will never bless 
 you." 
 
 His oft-repeated declaration was, "What 
 the poor want is not patronage, but sym- 
 pathy." The poor saw him driving into their 
 slums with his carriage full of toys for the 
 neglected little ones. The great day of the 
 year, the day spent in the country, they saw 
 him moving about among them, with a kind 
 word here, a little pleasantry there, and a 
 smile for all. In their times of sickness he sat 
 by their bedsides, and read to them from the 
 Scriptures. When he promised to see them 
 again, or send them books or comforts, he was 
 never known to leave one promise unfulfilled, not- 
 withstanding the many he made. He found 
 tools for one to get employment, and ad- 
 vanced money to another till his first wages 
 fell due. 
 
 They knew that if a poor flower-girl, or 
 little children in distress, called at Grosvenor 
 Square to tell their troubles to "the good 
 Earl," they would never be turned away.
 
 266 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 They knew that, by day and by night, he 
 went to the common lodging-houses, and 
 sought out men and women tenderly reared, 
 who were hiding away from family and friends, 
 and would not give up a case until he had 
 seen them reconciled, and, perchance, brought 
 home again. 
 
 The bare walls of those miserable lodging- 
 houses on the day after his visit were found 
 adorned with bright pictures, to produce the 
 semblance of a homelike look. 
 
 When some of them told him of cruel 
 wrong or heart-breaking sorrow, they saw the 
 tears pour down his face, and heard his falter- 
 ing exclamation, "God help you, poor dear!" 
 It is no wonder that the common people loved 
 him, and that his name was held in veneration 
 in every hovel of Whitechapel and Westmin- 
 ster. 
 
 At a large gathering of costermongers, la- 
 borers, and common people, held in Westmin- 
 ster, a gentleman was anxious to test what 
 knowledge people of this class had of great
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 367 
 
 public men. He referred to one who, though 
 well advanced in life, and pressed with a thou- 
 sand engagements, could yet find time to write 
 hymns in Latin, and translate them into Ital- 
 ian; but there was no recognition of the per- 
 son from the description. Half a dozen of the 
 leading men of the day were referred to in a 
 similar manner without recognition from the 
 audience. 
 
 But when the speaker only hinted at 
 "the labors of one who is revered in the 
 factory districts as the friend of the poor and 
 the oppressed," there was immediately a loud 
 clapping of hands; and when the speaker, to 
 make sure that they understood, asked them, 
 "I suppose, by that applause, you know to 
 whom I refer?" there was a ready response, 
 "Lord Shaftesbury." 
 
 Another gentleman, in another place, hav- 
 ing indirectly referred to the work of Lord 
 Shaftesbury without mentioning his name, 
 was surprised to find himself interrupted by 
 a storm of applause. He was sure the ap-
 
 268 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 plause was not for what he had said, but for 
 the man of whom he had spoken. Pausing in 
 his address, he said : 
 
 "And what do you know of Lord Shaftes- 
 bur>'?" 
 
 " Know of him !" answered a man standing 
 up in the audience; "why, sir, I 'm a sweep, 
 and what did he do for me? Didn't he pass 
 the bill? When I was a little 'un, I had to 
 go up the chimbleys, and many a time I 've 
 come down with bleeding feet and knees, and 
 a'most choking. And he passed the bill as 
 saved us from all that. That 's what I know 
 of him." 
 
 If the poor had many memorials of Lord 
 Shaftesbury, he certainly had many of them. 
 Over his bed in Grosvenor Square hung a 
 handsome "sampler," worked by factory girls, 
 the first-fruits of their leisure hours. The 
 clock in his dining-room was presented to him 
 by flower and watercress girls. His bed cov- 
 erlet, under which at St. Giles he always slept, 
 was made out of little bits of material, with
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 269 
 
 a figure in the middle, and a large letter "S," 
 the work of a company of ragged children. 
 
 Speaking one day at the Annual Meeting 
 of the Reformatory and Refuge Union, he 
 tried to tell how much he was indebted to 
 these children, and said: 
 
 "I believe I have been pretty well clothed 
 by day and night because of their service; I 
 have had all sorts of things made and given to 
 me ; I have had slippers and stockings ; I have 
 had shoes and waistcoats and bed linen, cov- 
 erlets, counterpanes — well, everything but a 
 coat; I have had desks and arm-chairs and a 
 quantity of writing-paper, all well stamped, 
 sufHcient for six months' correspondence. I 
 love these gifts, because they have been called 
 forth from the dear little hearts of these chil- 
 dren, and so they are more precious than the 
 noblest present could be. 
 
 "I thank God for the day when I was called 
 by his g^ace to participate in this holy work. 
 Of all the things to which I have been called 
 by his good and all-wise providence, there is
 
 270 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 not one like it, not one that has brought me so 
 much comfort, not one that I can look back 
 upon with so much consolation, and there is 
 not one that I look forward to with, so much 
 hope." 
 
 We should expect him to be kind and 
 thoughtful towards the servants of his house- 
 hold; and so he was. 
 
 When speaking on behalf of an institution 
 in which he took a great interest, the Aged 
 Pilgrims' Friend Society, he was able to refer 
 to the fact that his housekeeper had been fifty- 
 two years in his service ; that as nurse she had 
 brought up all his children; that not one of 
 them would ever think of retiring to rest in 
 his house without bidding "good night" to 
 that "female patriarch," and that she was held 
 in reverence by all the household. 
 
 He did not say, what was nevertheless the 
 fact, that every morning after prayers it was 
 his habit to shake hands with the aged house- 
 keeper, and inquire after her health, and of 
 things that were of interest in her little world.
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 271 
 
 Many who had bitterly opposed his work 
 in his earlier years, became his warm admirers 
 in the later part of his life. A great dinner was 
 given by a society of noble rank, to celebrate 
 the admission of Lord Hartington, who made 
 a speech on the occasion. He said : 
 
 '*I find upon the roll the names of Lord 
 Grey, Lord John Russell, Lord Holland, and 
 Mr. Hume; and coming down a little later, I 
 find the names of Lord Palmerston, Lord 
 Clarendon, and Mr. Cobden; and descending 
 to our own time, I find the name of Mr. Glad- 
 stone; and last upon the roll, I find the name 
 of one who has been admitted, not for political 
 services, but for services purer, nobler, and 
 more illustrious than any which we politicians 
 can hope to render; I mean that of my noble 
 friend who sits beside me — Lord Shaftes- 
 bury." 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury speaks of the occasion 
 thus: 
 
 "There was one little episode that greatly 
 pleased me. It came from Lord Hartington,
 
 272 I^iFE OF Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 the hero of the evening, as we had met to 
 honor his admission to the freedom of the 
 company. I did not expect it. I did not 
 know that he cared anything for me person- 
 ally, or had watched my career." 
 
 His humility helps us to understand how 
 great he was. On his seventieth birthday he 
 wrote : 
 
 "I have been thinking of my past career 
 and present position; and am astonished how 
 I went through one, and now stand in the 
 other. I am without pretense to literary at- 
 tainments, though with an immense fondness 
 for them. I am intellectually not strong; a 
 poor and ineffective orator, though foolishly 
 desirous of being a great one. Yet I have had 
 successes, great successes. How were they 
 attained? I know not. The only qualities I 
 can claim for myself are feeling, conviction, 
 and perseverance. These have, under God, 
 brought me to the position I now hold. What 
 is my stock-in-trade for the duties of the next 
 session? So far as I can estimate, they are
 
 LriFE OF Lord Shaftesbury 2^^) 
 
 remnants of intellectual power, remnants of 
 influence, remnants of doings considered as 
 past services, remnants of zeal, all backed by 
 a certain amount of public forbearance." 
 
 At an evening party given by Sir Henry 
 Rawlinson to the members of the Arctic Ex- 
 pedition, at which Lord Shaftesbury was pres- 
 ent. Sir Bartle Frere took the opportunity to 
 urge upon him that he should visit the United 
 States. Referring to this, he says: 
 
 "It is what I had long and often wished; 
 but as St. Paul says, 'Was let hitherto.' Now 
 I am too near the sensible decay of physical 
 and mental power for such an effort as that 
 would be. The demands on my strength in 
 every form would far surpass what I could 
 have endured, even in my younger days." 
 
 At another time he said concerning our 
 country : 
 
 ''The United States are a young country; 
 and so far as an analogy is good, have all the 
 hopes and prospects of healthy and vigorous 
 youth. They contain within themselves every- 
 
 i8
 
 274 Life of IvOrd Shaftesbury 
 
 thing, however various, that nature bestows, 
 and in abundance inexhaustible. In art and 
 science, they are equal to the best; in energy 
 of character, superior. They have nothing to 
 fear from internal dissensions; they are be- 
 yond the power of foreign aggression. Their 
 territory is nearly boundless, and so close as 
 to furnish a ready safety-valve to all their dis- 
 contented spirits. Every year adds enor- 
 mously to their numbers and resources, and 
 wealth seems to grow like the grass of the 
 field. 
 
 "The Government is essentially republican ; 
 and there is actually nothing left to contend 
 for in the way of more liberal institutions. 
 They may, and will, have party strifes and 
 struggles for the possession of place and 
 power; but what social question remains? 
 There is no State Church to be invaded ; no 
 aristocracy to be pulled down ; no king to be 
 replaced by a President." 
 
 The evening-time of his life found him la- 
 boring on, his faculties keenly alive, his heart
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 275 
 
 tender as ever, his sympathies just as fresh, 
 and his plans as numerous as at any period of 
 his life. He prayed, "O Lord, let me die in 
 the harness!" 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury's eightieth birthday was 
 celebrated as a national event. Under the au- 
 spices of the Lord Mayor, the committee of 
 the Ragged School Union took the initiative 
 to do honor to their president, and a great 
 meeting in the Guild Hall was arranged to 
 celebrate the day, and to present him with a 
 portrait of himself. It was a famous gather- 
 ing. Long before the commencement of the 
 proceedings, every part of the great building 
 was crowded. On the platform was assem- 
 bled a distinguished company, including mem- 
 bers of both Houses of Parliament, clergy- 
 men, merchant princes, men and women 
 representing every estimable phase of polit- 
 ical, religious, and social life, to do honor to 
 the man who had proved himself the greatest 
 benefactor of his generation. It was a brilliant 
 assembly.
 
 276 I^iFE OF Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 But even more suggestive was the scene 
 outside the building, where flower-girls with 
 their well-filled baskets of spring flowers, and 
 costermongers with their gayly-dressed don- 
 keys and barrows, and Ragged School chil- 
 dren, crowded around the hero of the day, 
 scattering flowers in his path, and pouring 
 upon him "the blessing of the poor, and of 
 him that was ready to perish." 
 
 The Earl of Aberdeen, Mr. W. E. Forster, 
 and the Lord Mayor were the principal speak- 
 ers. When Lord Shaftesbury arose to reply 
 to the addresses, he was greeted with a perfect 
 tempest of applause. He was calm and self- 
 possessed, and amid all the excitement and 
 fatigue he did not omit one point of interest 
 in his career, nor did he forget to render trib- 
 utes of gratitude to the many who had sup- 
 ported him in his lifelong labors. 
 
 There were many incidents in that mag- 
 nificent celebration which affected him, but 
 nothing more than the manly and generous
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 277 
 
 speech of Mr. W. E. Forster. He valued it, 
 not because of Mr. Forster's high official po- 
 sition, but because he was a mill-owner in 
 Yorkshire who knew the evils which had ex- 
 isted in the factory districts, and who had 
 been one of the first to speak a kind word to 
 him on his earliest visit to the town of Brad- 
 ford. There was one expression in the speech 
 which particularly gratified Lord Shaftesbury, 
 and he said afterward : 
 
 "If anything is told of my life after I am 
 gone, let those words of Forster's be recorded. 
 In the whole course of my life, no words 
 have gratified me more." 
 
 These were the words : 
 
 "The good conduct on the part of the pop- 
 ulation was, in a great measure, due to the 
 moderating influences which were brought to 
 bear on them by Lord Shaftesbury. How I 
 wish that all agitators, when they are advo- 
 cating the removal of great and real griev- 
 ances, would take an example from him, and
 
 278 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 remember with what care they should con- 
 sider both the immediate and the ultimate 
 effect of what they say upon those who are 
 suffering." 
 
 All the doings of that day were issued in 
 book form by the committee of the Ragged 
 School Union, a special copy of which was 
 presented to Lord Shaftesbury. On the fly- 
 leaf he wrote : 
 
 "Deep and lively is my gratitude to the 
 men who conceived, organized, and executed 
 this celebration, and much do I feel the sym- 
 pathy of those who honored it by their pres- 
 ence." 
 
 Letters of congratulation poured in from 
 all the great men and women of England ; tele- 
 grams flashed and presents were unloaded at 
 his door. 
 
 But the gift which he most highly prized 
 was a bouquet of paper flowers, made and 
 presented by the little children of the One Tun 
 Ragged School.
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 279 
 
 He received this beautiful message from his 
 sister: 
 
 "I have thought much of you to-day, you 
 dear, blessed darling. May God continue to 
 watch over your most precious life ! 
 
 "Your devoted sister, Charlotte." 
 
 Every day brought its labors — meetings, 
 speeches, interviews, letters involving deliber- 
 ation and wise action. He was eighty-two 
 years old when he made his great speech at 
 the Luther Commemoration. It was a mag- 
 nificent eulogium of "a man chosen by God 
 himself, to deliver us from the most terrible 
 and degrading thralldom of mind and spirit 
 that ever fell upon the human race." 
 
 The same day he laid the foundation-stone 
 of a place of worship at Whitechapel, and at- 
 tended a great meeting in the evening, where 
 he presided. He said : 
 
 "I got through it all without pain or fa- 
 tigue. Speeches, of course, at each. I bless
 
 28o Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 Thee, O Lord! He can, and he does, often- 
 times make an iron pillar out of a bulrush." 
 
 Large sums of money came into his hands 
 every year for the support of his great enter- 
 prises. A few months before his death, he 
 received the astonishing announcement that 
 a lady had left to him in her will for distribu- 
 tion among the charities of London the sum 
 of sixty thousand pounds ! The toil and anxi- 
 ety consequent upon the disposal of this large 
 sum can be understood only by those who 
 knew how scrupulously conscientious Lord 
 Shaftesbury was in dealing with every far- 
 thing of money of which he was trustee. 
 
 May of 1885 came, and brought the great 
 religious festivals of the year. It was his 
 earnest desire that he might be able to pre- 
 side at the Bible Society meeting and at the 
 Ragged School Union. 
 
 His friends did not see how it was possible 
 for him to bear the fatigue and excitement 
 attendant upon these great gatherings ; but he
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 281 
 
 was there. And his voice rang out as clear 
 and strong as of yore. He was also able to 
 get to the anniversary of the Flower Girls' 
 Mission. 
 
 He made two important speeches, one on 
 I behalf of Ragged Schools, at Grosvenor 
 House; and one at Mansion House, for the 
 protection of helpless women and girls from 
 dangers in the streets. When he saw that he 
 had not strength to carry this measure 
 through and secure legislation, he was quite 
 heartbroken. He said to a friend: 
 
 "I feel old age creeping on, and know I 
 must soon die. I hope it is not wrong to say 
 it — but / can not bear to leave this world with 
 all the misery in it." 
 
 It gave him great joy to install as superin- 
 tendent of a school a fine young tradesman 
 who had been a wretched little vagrant, but, 
 educated in the Ragged School, had become 
 fitted for the position. 
 
 He made his last visit to these schools.
 
 282 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 which had been his thought and care for so 
 many years. A superintendent writes: 
 
 "I shall never forget that visit. He went 
 the round of the rooms, interested in the poor 
 children and people as much as ever, speak- 
 ing tenderly and sympathizingly to sorrowing : 
 ones, and telling them of Jesus, an ever-loving 
 and ever-present Savior. Then he said : 
 
 " 'I do n't think I shall ever see you in the 
 flesh again. I am ill, and at my time of life I 
 can not expect to be long here. What a com- 
 fort it is to know Christ as a personal Savior ;' 
 and, after a pause, he added, 'My Savior.' " 
 
 His physicians decided that he must get 
 away from the excitement of London life for a 
 time at least. He left London, July 25th, for 
 the last time, and went to Folkstone, where 
 he could drink in the invigorating sea-air. 
 
 Very sacred grew that chamber where the 
 prayer was constantly breathed, "Come, Lord 
 Jesus, come quickly." He would ask his 
 daughters or his valet to read to him portions 
 of the Bible he named to them. Every morn-
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 283 
 
 ing he called for the twenty-third Psalm, be- 
 ginning, "The Lord is my Shepherd: I shall 
 not want." 
 
 His only regret was that he could not die 
 in his own home. 
 
 When a letter from the Dean of Westmin- 
 ster was read to him, in which a resting-place 
 in Westminster Abbey was proposed, he said 
 in an earnest voice, "No — St. Giles's!" 
 
 His sons and daughters, whom he had 
 loved with an untold affection, knelt for his 
 benediction. He said to them with a restful 
 smile : 
 
 "I am in the hands of God, the ever-blessed 
 Jehovah ; in his hands alone. Yes, in his keep- 
 ing, with him alone." 
 
 The first day of October, when the sun- 
 shine, which he loved so much, was flooding 
 his chamber with light, he passed, without 
 pain or sigh, into the presence of the King. 
 
 A week later, as simple a funeral procession 
 as ever marked the public obsequies of a great 
 man moved away from the door of his house
 
 284 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 in Grosvenor Square. It needed not the pomp 
 of any earthly pageant to do him honor. 
 Flowers sent by poor and rich alike formed 
 the only display. There were signs of mourn- 
 ing in the clubhouses and mansions of St. 
 James Street and Pall Mall; but it was far 
 more significant to see the thousands of arti- 
 sans, laborers, factory hands, flower-girls, the 
 poor and destitute from all quarters of Lon- 
 don, lining the streets through which the pro- 
 cession was to pass. 
 
 Even the poorest had managed to procure 
 some little fragment of black to wear upon the 
 coat-sleeve or in the bonnet. The stillness was 
 solemn and impressive. And as the simple 
 procession passed, every head was uncovered 
 and bowed as with a personal sorrow. He had 
 "clothed a people with spontaneous mourning, 
 and was going down to the grave amid the 
 benedictions of the poor." His biographer 
 says: 
 
 ^'As the funeral carriages passed into Par- 
 liament Street, a sight was seen which will
 
 Life of lyORD Shaftesbury 285 
 
 never be forgotten while this generation lasts. 
 Deputations from the Homes and Refuges 
 and training-ships, from the costermongers' 
 society, from missions and charities, each with 
 their craped banners emblazoned with such 
 words as these, 'Naked, and ye clothed me,' 
 'A stranger, and ye took me in.' As the pro- 
 cession passed, the deputations fell in, and 
 marched towards the Abbey. 
 
 "Rarely, if ever, had there been such a com- 
 pany assembled in Westminster Abbey as on 
 that day. Royalty was represented; the 
 Church, both Houses of Parliament, diplom- 
 acy, municipal power, society, were repre- 
 sented. But the real importance of that enor- 
 mous gathering, filling every inch of space, 
 lay in the spontaneous homage of the thou- 
 sands of men and women representing all that 
 was powerful for good in the whole land. The 
 Abbey was full of mourners. Never before in 
 tha memory of living men had there been 
 brought together, at one time, in one place, 
 and with one accord, so many workers for the
 
 286 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 common good, impelled by a deep and tender 
 sympathy in a common loss. For no other 
 man in England, or in the world, could such 
 an assembly have been brought together." 
 
 After the burial service, with its sweet 
 words of Christian joy and the strong words 
 of Christian confidence, that vast congre- 
 gation joined in singing Charles Wesley's 
 hymn: 
 
 "Let all the saints terrestrial sing 
 With those to glory gone, 
 For all the servants of our King, 
 In earth and heaven, are one." 
 
 The coffin was buried beneath masses of 
 exquisite wreaths — the offering of the Crown 
 Princess of Germany resting beside the 
 "Loving tribute from the Flower-girls of 
 London." 
 
 As the procession moved from the Abbey, 
 the band of the Costermongers' Society 
 played the hymn, "Safe in the arms of Jesus." 
 A poor laboring man, with a piece of crape
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 287 
 
 sewed on to his sleeve, turned to one who 
 stood beside him, and, with a choking voice, 
 said: *'Our Earl's gone! God A'mighty 
 knows he loved us, and we loved him. We 
 shall not see his likes again !" 
 
 Ten thousand such tributes as this were 
 paid that day to this English nobleman, whose 
 nobility was less that of the garter and the 
 escutcheon than of the Christian and the uni- 
 versal benefactor. 
 
 Next day, in the little church of St. Giles, 
 the "good Earl" was laid to rest in the ances- 
 tral burying-place, beside the faithful wife and 
 daughters whom he had loved so tenderly. 
 This beautiful hymn closed the simple service : 
 
 "Now the laborer's task is o'er. 
 Now the battle-day is past; 
 Now upon the farther shore 
 Lands the voyager at last. 
 Father, in thy gracious keeping 
 Leave me now, thy servant sleeping." 
 
 A plain tablet has since been placed in the 
 village church where he sleeps. He directed
 
 288 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 
 
 that there should be nothing but a little tablet, 
 and chose the Scripture verses for it: 
 
 Antony Ashley Cooper, 
 
 Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury. 
 
 Born, April 28, 1801. 
 
 Died, October i, 1885. 
 
 " What hast thou, that thou didst not receive ?" 
 "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest 
 
 lie fall." 
 
 "Surely, I come quickly. Even so, come, Lord 
 
 Jesus." 
 
 When, in 1885, the Duke of Argyll said, 
 "The social reforms of the last century have 
 been due to the influence, character, and per- 
 severance of one man — Lord Shaftesbury," 
 Lord Salisbury indorsed this eloquent tribute, 
 by adding, "That is, I believe, a very true rep- 
 resentation of the facts." •; 
 
 While those who thronged the Abbey that 
 sad day shed their tears, ten thousand times 
 ten thousand of operatives, whose labor he had 
 lightened, of orphans he had sheltered, of out- 
 casts he had rescued, of the oppressed he had 
 set free, of ragged children he had clothed, of
 
 Life of Lord Shaftesbury 289 
 
 emigrants he had transplanted to new spheres, 
 of Christian laborers whose zeal he had in- 
 creased, paused in their daily tasks to share 
 in the expression of universal grief. 
 
 The statute-books showed that his service 
 had benefited a population of two million and 
 five hundred persons! 
 
 He was the founder of a new order of no- 
 bility — an order of men who, inspired by his 
 beautiful example, and catching his sublime 
 enthusiasm for the lessening of human suffer- 
 ing and for the salvation of hnmankind, are 
 bringing in the kingdom of our Lord and 
 Savior, Jesus Christ. 
 
 Is it too much to say that he was the great- 
 est man England has ever produced? 
 19
 
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