5/ . Vu^ NOTES AND NARRATIVES OF A SIX YEAHS^ MISSION, f rittrijiiillif nmntig tliB Mb nf tmhn. BY E. W. VANDERKISTE, LATE LONDON CITY MISSIONABY. [ Second Edition. 2000. Are they not men, though Knowledge never shed Her quickening beams on each neglected head ? Are they not men, by sin and sulfering tried ? Are they not men, for whom the Saviour died ?" MONTGOMEBY. HALF THE PROFITS OP THIS 'WOKK ABE DEVOTED TO ,^ . Olt- LioTHB PITNDS OP THE MISSION". ^U£QH^ ^>^ LONDON: JAMES NISBET & Co., 21, BEENEES STEEET HAMILTON & ADAMS, PATERNOSTEK KOW. MDCCCLII. — PEICE 3s. 6d. IN CLOTH. lOKDOW : BLACEBVBir AND BITBT, FRIKTEBS, HOLBOBK HILL. CONTENTS. PAGE PEEFACE . . . V INTRODTJCTION viii CHAPTER I. A GENEEAL DESCEIPTION OP PAETS OF OLEEKENWELL . 1 CHAPTER II. THE EOMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION . . . .81 CHAPTER III. THE PEOPESSEDLT INPIDEL POPULATION . . . 115 CHAPTER lY. SOCINIANISM . . . 150 CHAPTER y. INTEMPERANCE 172 CHAPTER VI. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION 232 103328 IV CONTENTS. CHAPTEE VII. PAGE THE CEIMINAL POPULATION — (Concluded) . . . 265 CHAPTER VIII. MISCELLANEOrS 312 CONCLUSION Note. — The case detailed at pages 19, 20, appears to carry an impression that the party referred to is now a regular attendant on Diyine worship. Such, however, is not the fact. He was, as stated, for a lengthened period most regular in attendance, but is not so at the present time. His sufferings from rheumatic gout are very great ; he is distorted from head to foot, chalk works out of his joints, and he can only crawl a step at a time, resting every few yards, and with intense exertion. The nearest place of worship is to him a very long journey indeed, from his sufferings ; he is also an object of much unpleasant attention and remark. He is instructed at home. This note, under such circumstances, may appear unnecessary. If so, I beg the reader's indulgence. PEEFACE TO THE FIKST EDITION. Purposing to write a work illustrative of the general labours and successes of the City Mission, the writer submitted a plan of the intended volume to the Secretaries of the Society — the Revs. Messrs. Garwood and Robinson. With the kindness ever received from those highly valued advisers, they carefully examined the prospectus, and expressed a decided opinion that it would be far better to write an account of personal labours, than to attempt any account of the labours of the Missionaries generally, within the limits of a single volume. Had not that advice been given very strongly, the writer would certainly have declined the pub- lication of a work of so personal a character. INTEODUCTIOK The following pages contain some details, selected from many more, of six years' labours in con- nection with the London City Mission. As an introduction to those details, it is purposed to furnish a few general particulars respecting the Society, and the mode in which its operations are carried on. The London City Mission originated in the year 1835 ; its founder was a philanthropist in humble life, Mr. David Nasmith. The Eev. Dr. Campbell has well sustained the office of biographer to that eminent man. The constitution of the Society is entirely un- sectarian. Its Committee, Secretaries, and other officers, are selected from various denominations of Trinitarian Christians — Churchmen and Dis- senters, and amongst its Missionaries are members of all Trinitarian denominations also, the one object contemplated by the Society being, not the propagation of any one particular form of Christian denominationalism, but the propagation siniply of Christianity itself. One law of the Mission is as follows : — " Every Missionary must avoid controversy upon the con- INTRODUCTION. IX stitution and government of Christian churches, his great ohject being to teach the people on his district the way of salvation by Jesus Christ." * Lest this regulation should be lost sight of, in the instructions to Missionaries t it is reiterated thus : — " Do not interfere with the peculiar tenets of any individual respecting Church government.'* This rule is strictly enforced ; otherwise the City Mission, instead of being yet an exemplification on a large and increasing scale, of the practicability of Christian union, would probably have proved quite ephemeral, and been numbered ere now amongst the existences of the past. The Society was established in the year 1835 ; the number of Missionaries employed during that year was four. ^' From that small beginning, by the good hand of the Lord its course has been one of undeviating prosperity. Tear by year the number of its friends, and the amount of its funds, have gone on increasing. Its receipts for the past year were £23,053, and the number of Missionaries employed 245. J * t See Appendix to the Annual Eeports of the Society. X Since the issue of the first edition of tliis work in April, another Mission year has elapsed, and the annual accounts have again been made up. The receipts of the present year amount to £23,216, an increase of only £163 on the previous year. The number of Missionaries has been increased to 270, a most serious responsibility/ upon so small an increase of funds^ and one which the urgent spiritual necessities of London alone could justify. X introduction; It is affecting however to remember, that this is only just one-half the number which from a very careful computation — not forgetting efforts made by other Societies — is found to be most urgently needed, to bring the mass of Metropolitan heathen- ism under visitation. As respects the character of the agents of the Society, the mass are men of simple and rudimental education. The Society however has always had a class of learned men. A Doctor of Divinity, a man of the commonest education, and a Graduate of Oxford or Cambridge, might have been seen sitting side by side at its domestic meetings. In an official document,* published by the Mission some time since, the following passage occurs : — " The Committee are anxious to engage only such persons as are thoroughly qualified for the work, feeling assured that, under God, the adaptation of the agency to the work to be accomplished is of the first importance. Among these Missionaries there have been, and still are, men of superior education ; but the generality have had only the ordinary advantages of common schools. It is considered important, however, that every Missionary should be familiar with his Bible, well instructed in the evidences of religion, and capable of refuting the common objections adduced by sceptics and infidels ; and it is also considered desirable that he be well * Appeal. INTRODUCTION. XI read in the Eomish controversy, and able, when necessary, to defend the truth against the various assailants he may meet with on his district. Sincere and humble piety, diligence, perseverance, a catholic spirit, a desire of mental and spiritual improvement, with habits of prayer, are what the Committee most appreciate and seek after, being fully persuaded that men of this class, if otherwise eligible, will soon improve and become good Missionaries." The work of the Mission is, of course, quite incompatible with the prosecution of literary habits in the ordinary sense. On this account, the Society very wisely prohibits its Missionaries from publish- ing books, or in short, from undertaking any duties calculated to hinder the prosecution of the work of the Institution, which is strictly — the visitation and religious instruction of the poor in their own dwellings. Having thus made a single remark respecting the origin and progress of the Society, and the character of the agents employed, next let us just glance at the worh hefore it. From statistics, very carefully collected, five years since, by the City Mission — statistics which have been admitted as correct on all hands, it is found that after deducting for infants and parties neces- sarily left in charge of houses and property, five- eighths, or 1,312,500 of the population might and ought to attend Sunday service in our churches and chapels, but the number of sittings being less than half that number, it follows that upwards of XU INTRODUCTION. 700,000 persons could not attend public worship if they were willing to use the leisure they possess in so doing. But to show how far the godless popu- lation are from hallowing the Sabbath or reverencing the sanctuary, it is an appalling fact that the atten- dance on public worship did not reach by one-tHied the accommodation provided, whilst the accommoda- tion provided was less than one-half of what ought to be required, and could he made use of, did all pos- sessing the opportunity so to do attend. Further, it is an astounding statement, which, did it not rest on the plainest evidence, would be unbelievable, that in the Island of Jamaica there were more communicants out of a population of 380,000, than there were in all London, with a population, in 1841, of 2,103,279 * * This is 80 startling a statement as to be almost un- believable; a word in explanation had better therefore be added. " In Jamaica there were, besides the Government provision of clergy, and the efforts made by America, Missionaries supported by six different Missionary Societies, viz., the Society for the Propagation of the Grospel, the Church Missionary Society, the Moravian Missionary Society, the London Missionary Society, the Wesleyan Missionary Society, and the Baptist Missionary Society. The returns of two only of these Societies, namely, the Wesleyan and the Baptist Missionary Societies, give m 1845 no less than 59,662 com- mmiicants. " The number of churches and chapels in London, in 1843, was only 799. But if we reckon them at 800, and allow 70 communicants for each church and chapel, (which is a number almost more than we can reckon as an average, INTRODUCTION. Xlll Once more, it is proved that in three of the South Sea Islands, Tonga, Habai, and Yavan, numbering 18,000 inhabitants, the attendance on public worship was 9,000, or one-half, whilst in the most favoured parish in London, Islington, with a population, in 1841, of 55,690, the whole of the churches and chapels were capable of seating less than one-half, and various of those churches and chapels were, and are, very far, indeed, from being filled. The statements respecting Jamaica and the South Seas are given on the authority of the Eeports of the great Missionary Societies occupying those promising scenes of labour. If the reader wishes to see more of such illus- trations, reference is given to the City Mission Magazines. We most earnestly contend for a very great extension of Foreign Missions, but we contend also, that to neglect our own home population, whose godless condition is thus terribly proved, necessarily involves guilt on the part of the Church, for which we must yet give account. remembering how large a number of the churches are in the City, and very nearly empty, and how large a number of the chapels are small buildings,) 800 times 70 wUl give us but 56,000." — London City Mission Magazine, January, 1846. Unbehevable as this statement might at first sight appear, its truthftdness is perceived to admit of no question. May its appalling character stimulate every Christian heart to increased prayer, and increased effort ! XIV INTRODUCTION. The object of the London Citj Mission is the evangelization of the vast mass of heathenism in our midst, commencing with the very poorest and most neglected portions of London. It seeks to effect this object by a system of visitation of the poor at their own dwellings, teachikg the gospel PLAN OF SALVATION, and by every possible means exercising spiritual care over those who are "as sheep having no shepherd." It has been a favourite phrase with some minds, to term the Established Church the Church of the poor, and with others to speak of Metho- dism as the poor man's religion, but the fact is — Heathenism is the poor man's religion in the Metropolis. Multitudes of neglectors of public worship are to be found amongst classes of society removed from the poor, but the poor are, in the dense mass, neglectors of public worship altogether. The parish in which I have long laboured — Clerkenwell — is civilly, one parish ; ecclesiastically, two, St. James and St. John. The population was, in 1851, 53,584 souls. In the two parish churches, the average attendance of poor is about eighty at each church ; many of these are pensioners, and others receive occasional temporal relief. At the district churches and Dissenting places of worship, the attendance of poor is small indeed. I do not believe in the whole parish, one hundred poor people could be found attending public worship, who do not, more or less, INTRODUCTION. XV frequently receive eleemosynary relief to induce them so to do. Thus, about one poor person in fifty occasionally attends public worship ; or, where the attendance is regular, it arises generally from a share in the distribution of weekly bequests of bread. It will be perceived that the really fearful statistics of neglect of religion in the Metropolis are founded on the census of 1841. It would not be surprisiag if some Christian reader, oppressed with their appalling character, should grasp at the hope that the census of 1851 might have revealed a better state of things as respects accommodation for public worship, and more cheerful statistics respecting the proportion of the population availing themselves thereof. Such a hope, if indulged, is doomed to more than disappoiatment. The Missionary of the district to which this book refers, has been supported during the past ten years by a single annual contribution from a member of the British Legislature, Osman Eicardo, Esq. There only wants the Christian heart, and at least two hundred and fifty members of that House could each support a Missionary, without the slightest personal inconvenience or self-denial. It seems impossible that the truly converted soul should become acquainted with the facts con- tained in the preceding statement, without feeling a deep interest, and making some effort to aid this hallowed object. The Lord works by human instrumentality, the universe is a universe of means, XVI INTRODUCTION. but tlie Society must look through the means to the hand that moves them, to Him that " sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers," Isa. xl. 22. Eespecting the prosecution of greatly increased efforts on behalf of London, we may truly say, what Napoleon is reported to have said, when informed by his famished and half-frozen army, that the advance beheld the gilded miuarets of Moscow, glittering in the distance — " It is high time^ " Thus saith the Lord my God ; Feed the flock of the slaughter ; whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty : and they that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord ; for I am rich : and their own shepherds pity them not," Zech. xi. 4, 5. This was one of the sins which had determined the Lord of old to deliver his people into the hands of the fierce Chaldean invaders. * Meditating then on the terrible ungodliness around us, and remembering that vengeance is Grod's, who will assuredly repay, (Rom. xii. 19,) in view of the perishing condition of many tens of thousands of souls on every hand, we cannot but cry with Habakkuk : — " O Lord, 1 have heard thy speech, and was afraid : O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known ; in wrath remember mercy." Amen. * See the whole chapter. OFTHS "^A '••RSITY NOTES AND NARRATIVES OF A SIX YEAES^ MISSION. CHAPTER I. A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF PARTS OP CLERKENWELL. Clei'kenwell, past and present — Description given in the "Illustrated London News" — Testimony respecting the labours of the Mission — Missionary triab and consolations — Treatment of the police — Strange characters at a tea meeting — A policeman murdered — Kemarkable interview — Adaptation of the London City Mission to the wants of the poor — Former condition of the district — Improved system of police — The Gospel alone capable of saving the lost — "Jack Ketch's warren" — Executions at Newgate from the district — The old watch — A woman alive after she was hung — One pound notes — House of call for foot- pads and highwaymen — Systematic confederation of vil- lany — An old watchman's testimony respecting the new poHce — A housebreaker's testimony to the Missionary — His plan to abohsh pick-pocketing of handkerchiefs — The fears of the guilty — " Treasures of wickedness profit nothing" — Irish fights — Strange detail of an old Bow Street officer — Vulgarity not to be sympathized with — Ignorance — Benefits of school efforts — Statement of a superannuated dustman — Sparkles and heaven — Ignorance respecting the amount of MetropoUtan ignorance^ Grant from the City of London — Fortune-telling a proof of }i A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ignorance — Description of fortune-tellers — Hopeful con- version of a forfiine-teUer — Further particulars of her case — Her hopeful death — Gross ignorance respecting our Saviour — Eespecting baptism — Prayerlessness — Vain doggrel — Absence of education in the district — Mode necessary in instructing the ignorant — A yoimg Missionary deceived — Lamentable ignorance of a sweep — Chimney sweeps' cancer — His death — Geographical ignorance — Further details of ignorance, the Ganges and Adam — Ignorance of many who attend pubUc worship — Depravity and dirt— The Fleet Ditch— A flood— Loss of life— Help- lessness of the decent poor respecting the locaUty of their habitations — Mortahty, disease, and intemperance from sanitary evils — Further general details — Want of cleanli- ness — The Missionary labours under suspected itch — Bugs, fleas, etc. — Stanches — Starvation — Affecting details — A description of starving — The forsaken — Horrid temptation — ^A happy dream — A word to the yoimg — A clean shirt under difficulties — A clean gown — Case of a sick cabman — Intention of these details — Want of clothing — An unusual garment — Reflection — Beds packed top and bottom — Strange occupations — A reduced lottery agent — Another case, dirt and cholera — A strolling player's tes- timony respecting fairs, gaffs, etc. — Object of these details — Lamb and Flag Ragged Schools — Hon. and Rev. B. W. Noel's statement — "Record" newspaper — Encom*aging response — Day Schools established — Mr. Bennoch's state- ment — Vote by the Common Council — Testimony of the " Quarterly Review" as to Missionary usefulness — Pubhc meeting — Extract from Sixth Annual Report — Lines on the schools by a barrister and poet — Concluding observa- tion, London City Mission Magazine. Presuming the reader to have perused the introduction — this work being not a book of opinions, but of incident, narrative, and fact — PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 3 it is proposed to introduce, without any further preface, a general description of the district which the writer was appointed to visit. The portion of Clerkenwell known in the City Mission as the " Cow Cross District/' was occupied by the writer for a period of six years. Two hundred years ago, St. John Street, upon one portion of which the district abuts, formed the northern boundary of London, and a battery and breastwork defended this entrance to the metropoHs at the previous period of the civil wars. It so happened, although the circumstance was quite unknown to the authorities of the City Mission, that on his entering their service, the writer was appointed to a district in the same parish, and but a very few minutes' walk — within view — of the very spot of his birth. At that comparatively recent period, fields stretched around to the north and east, where all is now for several miles a mass of human habitations, filled with immortal souls. In describing and illustrating the Police Courts of London, the "Illustrated London News '' makes the following observations respect- ing the neighbourhood : — B 2 4 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF "We have mentioned the general character of the district, over which the Clerkenwell Court exercises its police control. Many of our readers are no doubt familiar with the densely peopled, dirty, confused, huddled loca- lity which stretches around the Middlesex Ses- sions' House. Many of them have, we doubt not, been bewildered amid the dingy, swarming alleys, crowded with tattered, sodden-looking women, and hulking, unwashed men, clustering around the doors of low-browed public-houses, or seated by dingy, unwindowed shops, frowsy with piles of dusty, ricketty rubbish, or reeking with the odour of coarse food; lumps of carrion-like meat simmering in greasy pans, and brown crusty-looking morsels of fish, still gluey with the oil in which they have been fried. Many of our readers, we say, have probably congratulated themselves with a cosy self-satisfied shrug, as they emerged from these odoriferous haunts into the broad thoroughfare, where the shops do not look like dens, nor the passengers ruffians and sluts. In Clerkenwell there is grovelling, starving poverty. In Clerkenwell broods the darkness of utter ignorance. In its lanes and alleys the lowest debauch, the coarsest enjoyment, the most PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 5 infuriate passions, the most unrestrained vice, roar, and riot. The keeper of the ^^ fence " loves to set up in business there — low public-houses abound where thieves drink and smoke — Jew receivers lurk at corners — brazen, ragged women scream and shout ribald repartees from window to window. The burglar has his " crih '* in Clerkenwell — the pickpocket has his mart — the ragged Irish hodman vegetates in the filth of his three-pair back. It is the locality of dirt, and ignorance, and vice — the recesses whereof are known but to the disguised policeman, as he gropes his way up ricketty staircases towards the tracked housebreaker's den; or the poor, shabby genteel City Missionary, as he kneels at midnight by the foul straw of some convulsed and dying outcast.^'* Such is the condition of the district where the writer, by the sustaining hand of the Lord, was enabled to proclaim the Gospel from house to house, and room to room, day by day, during the past six years. Continually in the midst of fever and infectious disorders, breathing an atmosphere of filth and dirt, and at the time of the dreaded cholera nearly falling a victim to * " Illustrated London News," May 22nd, 1847. b A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF that disease, he was sustained by the good hand of his God upon him for six long years. As is well known to some, grace was given him to relinquish prospects and openings of more than competency, to embark in this Missionary enter- prise — this forlorn hope. He has never for one moment regretted the undertaking. A rich reward has been granted. It is a great promise which our Lord Christ makes, that no man shall make sacrifice for his service without being rewarded an hundredfold for that sacrifice, even in this present life, (Mark x.) In the writer it has been amply fulfilled. I have lacked no good thing, my soul has been greatly blessed with Christ's presence, and on carefully examining the large volumes which form my private journals and general records of Missionary labour, I find very many cases of persons who appear more or less hopefully to have been brought to a saving know- ledge of the Redeemer, instrumentally through Missionary visitation. They have in many instances, some few of which will be detailed, been, humanly speaking, the most unlikely persons, desperate characters, respecting whom the faithless might have seen no hope; but it is a small matter with the PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 7 Almighty to apply truth with power to the hearts of the most hardened. He can — " Speak with a voice that wakes the dead, And bids the sleeper rise, And bids his guilty conscience dread The death that never dies." It should not, however, be supposed that the results named have been effected without much that is trying to the flesh having been endured. The Westminster Auxiliary, in one of its addresses, remarks very truly : — ^' It is little known to what an extent of disease, insult, and every kind of outrageous and disgusting conduct, those are exposed who devote themselves to visiting in such districts." It cannot be otherwise. Mr. Walker, one of the Westminster Missionaries, reports that he has seen as many as forty policemen beaten out of a court in which they had attempted to secure a prisoner; and on the writer's district, twenty policemen have been most severely handled whilst securing two prisoners. Both these men are now partially reformed characters, but not converted, and might have been seen at a tea meeting held in the Ragged School upon the writer's district. 8 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF I will here narrate a circumstance which much impressed my mind some ten years since, several years previous to my entering the London City Mission. A policeman had been brutally mur- dered at Spitalfields, and the scene of his murder was described as being one of great violence and criminality. One evening, shortly afterwards, the writer happened to be in the neighbourhood, and observed that a very great disturbance was going on. He was led to dive into the nest of courts and alleys towards the scene of violence, and stopped at a door. A man who was standing there made a remark to the writer, and said, he was once riotous and dissipated, but had learned better now. I inquired how he had become changed. " I have cause to bless God,'' said the man, whom I understood to have become a member of * * * — "I have cause to bless God for the visits of a City Missionary.'' I could not but feel very forcibly struck by the circumstance of finding the first person I addressed in a most depraved neighbourhood, in the very street, if I mistake not, in which an officer of justice had just been brutally murdered, by his own confession, a convert under the labours of the London City Mission, PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 9 A Society so eminently adapted to meet the spiritual wants of the poor, its sphere of labour the metropolis of the world, the centre of British glory and wealth, should not be so positioned as to be unable, even whilst exercising the greatest economy in the disbursement of the funds in- trusted to its care, to employ more than half the number of Missionaries really needed to visit properly the poor of London; and with great humility it must be added, for the vast import- ance of the subject demands the avowal, such a Society would not be so positioned was the Christian public in any sense properly alive to the great responsibility which overshadows it. Desperate and depraved as the scenes of the writer's labours still are, nevertheless their former condition was far worse. The change is in a measure attributable to the efforts of the London City Mission. The im- proved system of constabulary police, introduced by the late Sir Robert Peel, has also had much to do with the alteration. Whilst, however, most thankful for the greatly increased measure of order which an improved system of police has introduced, we most carefully bear in mind, that the most 10 A GENtlRAL DESCRIPTION OF perfect system of worldly order will not convert one soul. The law may become increasingly "a terror to evil doers" under wise government, but it is only by the terrors of the Lord that men can be brought to "repent and become converted." Formerly a large portion of this district was called "Jack Ketch's Warren/' from the fact of the number of persons who were hung at Newgate from the courts and alleys, especially at the period when £\ notes were in circulation, and forgeries so common. Aged men, who were formerly watchmen in this locality, have described to me the desperate scenes which were formerly enacted. The disturbances which occurred were of so des- perate a character, that from thirty to forty con- stables would be marched down with cutlasses, it being frequently impossible for officers to act in less numbers, or unarmed. The most extra- ordinary characters lived here. Those who have read the Newgate Calendar, may remember a notorious female foot-pad who is described as living in Sharp's Alley. A woman also lived close by who was hung at Newgate, but lived for many years afterwards. She kept harbours for thieves and other bad characters for nearly twenty PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 11 years subsequently. This person was condemned to death for passing forged £1 notes, and by some means managed to introduce a silver tube into the gullet. Prison regulations were at that period very lax. As many as ten and even more persons would be executed at Newgate at once, and the care which is now exercised was not taken then. She was delivered to her friends for burial immediately after the execution, and hurried home, where, after considerable difficulty, she was restored to life. But as many thieves and old officers have informed me, most of the old gangs are broken up. The White Hart, in Turn- mill Street, opposite Cock Court, formerly a noted house of call for foot-pads and highway- men, has long ceased to be a public-house at all. Twenty and thirty years ago, a systematic con- federation of all kinds of desperate persons existed in this neighbourhood, of which the present con- dition is a mere relic. The old system of paro- chial boards of watch was a mere farce. "You see, sir,^^ said an old watchman to me, " there ain't no comparison between the old charleys and these new poHce. If a watchman brought many people to the watch-house he'd get a hint, (you understand me,) not to make himself quite so 12 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF busy/' The cost of prosecutions to the county was considered, and unless it was some very daring offence that had been committed, little effort ap- pears to have been made to apprehend offenders. We used to read of some inebriated ruffian knock- ing down twenty or thirty watchmen as fast as they came up. It is quite true that many men employed were old, or feeble, or deficient in sta- ture and physique, and easily knocked down, but there can be no doubt also, but that watchmen who were said to be knocked down, frequently tumbled down. They had their orders not to put the county to needless expenses for prosecutions. Under the present improved system, the very reverse is the fact, and no pains are spared to detect and bring thieves to justice. "It ain't no go, as it used to be," said a housebreaker to me. " How is that ? " said I. He replied, (I omit some vulgarities,) '* Why, if you get inside a house quietly, don't you see, jist as yer a coming out, there's some policeman a waitin' to ketch you in his arms, and they puts such lots on at nights so thick, it ain't no use a trying." This young man attended my meetings, and appeared to have given up his habits of depreda- tion. He told me lately : " Mr. Wandecum," PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 13 said he, (few pronounce my name correctly,) "you may believe me or believe me not, but I sees things werry differently to what I used to do. I'd rather live upon a penn'orth of bread a day got honestly, than have lots of ffrub the other way — that I would ; not but what there's a deal to be made, perticularly by handkerchiefs,* but you're always in fear, yer conscience wont let yer rest, every sound you hears, may be on the passage or on the stairs, when you're a-bed, any how, you starts up and thinks it's some peeler (i.e., policeman) come to take yer ! It's a miser- able life, that it is; there ain't no luck in it. Please the Almighty, I've done with sich ways altogether, and means to get my bread honestly." This man further remarked in illustration of his truthful sentiment respecting dishonesty, that there was " no luck in it," that he had had lots of money, but it all went, to use his own expres- sion, " nobody hardly knows how ; " and he added, " he knew two housebreakers who would think it a bad night's work when they went out, if their * A thief once observed to me, gentlemen might do away with pick-pocketing — "Let them use cotton handkerchiefs, and it would not answer for us, they fetches a mere nothing." 14 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF share was not a hundred pounds, but they was always poor, as poor as he was, and hadn't a sixpence to bless themselves with." These appear to have been very adept cracks- men or house-breakers. Such men are sent for from very long distances, to effect burglaries on premises containing a large amount of property. Such robberies are called plants. Sometimes the accounts I have received re- specting the formidable disturbances which once took place on my district and in the neighbourhood have been of a very strange character. An old Bow Street officer, who yet lives in the neighbour- hood, has detailed strange and terrible scenes to me. One I will give as nearly as possible in his own words, omitting some unpleasant vulgarities : " One of my mates come to me, as near as I can guess it might 'be two o'clock in the afternoon. Says he, ' P , you must come up to the office directly.' It was in Hatton Garden then, sir, close by. ' What for ? ' says I. ' Oh ! ' says he, 'there's the Irish murdering one another on Saffron Hill, and the place is blocked up with the mobs.' So I takes my staff, and my cutlash, and my pistols, and away I went up to the office. It wasn't a minute's walk scarce, you know. PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 15 Well, sir, there they was, breaking one another's limbs on Saffron Hill, hundreds of Irish, with great sticks and pokers ; ever so many had been taken off to the hospitals wounded ; they was so spiteful, the shopkeepers put up their shutters, and the place was full of Irish, cutting and slashing like mad, and coming from all parts, taking sides and fighting one against another. Well, sir, there was only six of us, and we found we must turn out. 'My lads,' said the head constable — and he didn't like it at all, he didn't — says he, 'this is a queer job, but ffo we must !' Well, sir, away we went, but it warnt no use at all ; the mob didn't mind our cutlasses a bit ; great big fellows come up to us with their pokers, and we warnt in no pleasant situation in no respect. Well, I saw there'd be murder very shortly, and suddenly a thought struck me, and away I went round the corner — may be you knows the shop — it was a shop where they sold almost everything then. Well, I knocked, but they were afraid to open the door. Says I, ' It's me, Mrs. , and do let me in;' so they let me in. Says I, 'Let me have some red paint of some sort himmediately ;' so they gave me some rouge or carmine, I don't know which 16 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF it was. So I took out my pistols and put in a charge of powder, then some paper, then I wetted a lot of this paint and put it in, and some paper loose over it, and off I went. Well, there was my mates hemmed in, but no lives lost, thank God ; they was fighting away ; well, a great chap come up to me with a poker or a fender a-fighting with, so I outs with a pistol, and, says I, ' Stand back'/ and presents it at him. Well, he didnH stand back, so I fired at him. Well, sir, you may depend on it, (I shall never forget it,) the force of the powder and wadding knocked him right ofi" his legs. It caught him in the forehead, and the red paint made his face look just as if it was all covered with blood. They made sure he was a dead man, and some carried him off to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and the mob got frightened at us and dispersed. They didn't know whose turn might come next. Well, sir, when they came to examine my man at the hospital, and washed his face, it set 'em a wonder- ing, for they found there wasn't no wound at all. The man was partly stunned, and soon walked home. Well, sir, the story got wind, and them Irish was so pleased with it afterwards, (when they come to their proper reason and sobriety. PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 17 they could see it had perhaps prevented real murder, for they was getting terrible spiteful when I let fly) — they was so pleased many of 'em would have done anything for me afterwards. The housekeepers in the neighbourhood, too, made us a handsome present, and I was told about that red paint job a long while afterwards, you may depend on it, sir/' The reader will probably excuse the vulgarities contained in the previous statements, and will please not to imagine me as sympathizing in the least with vulgarity. Perhaps, however, in at- tempting to illustrate such a subject, to be always grammatical might sometimes hinder one's being graphic y and I wish to convey to the reader a real idea of the place and the people, that their ignorance and destitution may be duly appre- ciated, and their need of the gospel of the grace of God become more apparent, and their condition form a subject for prayer in many pious hearts. The condition of the humbler classes is most materially affected, both spiritually and tempo- rally, by want of education. The writer has pursued most extensively a system of inquiry, and the result has been, that in the case of very nearly all those persons who have been observed 18 A, GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF battling nobly with the tremendous difficulties of extreme poverty, and maintaining a degree of order, cleanliness, and endeavour after spiritual life, only to be secured by great and incessant exertion, it has been discovered that in very nearly all these cases, the parties had in youth attended some National, or British, or other charity school. By the pursuit of this inquiry for many years, so adept has the writer become in this matter, that on entering a room and making observations respecting the demeanour, persons, and habits of the parties visited, he has almost invariably determined aright in his own mind previous to questioning the parties upon the subject. If this be so, what vast, what amazing benefits have the educational efforts of the present century conferred on a class of the lowest order of society! But in visiting very poor persons in the decline of life, it has been also most invariably found, that in their youth or afterwards, they had received no instruction in the very elements of knowledge. Such have frequently bitterly lamented, that when they were children charity schools were scarcely known in one parish of the country in a hundred. To attempt conveying religious instruction to this PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 19 class is a very painful task, followed in general by most unsatisfactory results, or rather by no results at all. An aged and superannuated dustman, etc., whose limbs are sadly contorted by rheumatism, the result principally of exposure, whilst pursuing the more repulsive branch of his occupation under all circumstances of weather, spoke thus to me ; he can neither read nor write : — " Bless you, sir,'' said he, " why, when I was a boy, there warnt no larning for gals and boys as there is now, not for miles there warnt; besides if there had been, it warnt no use to me. My father was a brickmaker, and time I was seven years old he had me to work, and it was up afore daylight with me, and pretty quick too, or you'd catch it smartly, and into the field and at work as long as daylight lasted, and then up again. There warnt no time for schooling allowed me, depend on't sir." For several years this man appeared to pay little attention to my religious instructions, but at last was persuaded to attend a place of worship, and has since then, for a period of several years, been most regular in his attendance, but his ignorance is extreme. He is nearly seventy years old, and c 2 20 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF for some time came to our evening classes at the Ragged School, to endeavour to learn his letters, but failed. On one occasion I was endeavouring to raise some spiritual aspirations within him by describing the glories of heaven, and what we lost if we were lost, to which he was deeply attentive, and evidently felt what I was saying, as the tears came in his eyes. At last he said, '' I wished to ax yer a question, sir, and I thought Td ax yer, because I knowM you could set me right, if Fm wrong. When I gets to bed, I says my prayers as you bid me, and I puts my hands afore my eyes so, (covering his face with his hands,) well, I sees such beautiful things, sparkles like, all a floating about, and I wished to ax yer sir, if that aint a something of heaven, sir.'' Not only is the extreme ignorance of the lowest classes to be deplored, but the extreme ignorance of some in high places respecting that ignorance, is to be deplored also. For example : Several years since, it was proposed at one of the City sittings that the Corporation of the City of London should make a grant to the City Mission,* and various statements respecting the extreme igno- rance of the lowest classes were detailed, similar * A grant of £'300 was carried. PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 21 to the one I have just quoted from my journals. One councilman, whose name I suppress, stated he did not believe such ignorance existed; nor was he alone. Very little, indeed, is known, comparatively, respecting the mental condition of large sections of the community by too many in the higher walks of life. '' Fortune-telling '^ is an evidence of ignorance that prevails to a considerable extent, and is patronized not by any means alone by the lowest classes. I am acquainted with four fortune- tellers, who lived within the limits of a single street, and who appeared to be visited by persons of a character that would hardly be supposed to place confidence in such delusion. One of these fortune-tellers ^ who with the others was of course visited by me with a view to their conversion, attempted repeatedly to make a convert of me. She assured me " gentlemen of my profession had their fortunes told,^' and would have been very happy to lay out the cards for my personal benefit. She informed me on various occasions respecting most remarkable revelations she had made to persons ; and as no one was present to contradict, and as, somehow 22 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF or other, in every instance, there was no clue to the persons named, it was of course impossible for me to contradict her statements. This sooth- sayer was a woman capable of imposing upon many. She was of commanding figure, and had an eye of piercing sharpness, a very prominent nose, and a large projecting chin, and spoke with so correct a diction, and so much earnestness, that I cannot feel surprised she should have many dupes. Mrs. was in the habit, I am informed, of waving a lighted torch outside her window every morning at two o'clock. She always received my missionary visits very re- spectfully, and listened attentively to rehgious instruction respecting sin and salvation, but I never was enabled to affect her heart with a sense of the impropriety of fortune-telling. She has gone to her final account, and I am deeply grieved to have so little favourable to report respecting her last end. It is a great pleasure to be enabled to record the hopeful conversion of one of these fortune- tellers, Mrs. T . When first I visited her, and reproved her with the wickedness of pre- tending to usurp the prerogative of God, she constantly contended that there was no harm in PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 23 it. ''It was a honest bit of bread/^ she said, and made other excuses, all of which could not for one moment be entertained. On one occasion, another fortune-teller being present, I read the account of Ely mas the sorcerer, and also of the damsel possessed with a spirit of divination, (Acts xvi.,) showing that the influence was infernal, and enlarging on the consequences. The younger fortune-teller could not bear this, and jumping up darted out of the place before I could attempt to stop her for prayer. Mrs. T., who was an aged woman, always listened re- spectfully to my reading in the Scriptures, instructions, and prayers; and regarding her as one of my special cases, I had up to the period of her decease, about a year since, paid more than ordinary attention to her case. At length the Word of God appeared to produce some effect, and she professed to feel herself a sinner — previously she always maintained the contrary. I told her it was useless to talk about repentance, unless she broke off her sins, and urged her to desist from ^^ fortune -telling " She would not promise, she said. A favourite phrase with her was, " I likes to speak my mind, and shall tell no lies." After a further lapse of time, however, 24 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP she professed to begin to feel the sinfulness of fortune-telling, through, as she said, " my being always at her.'^ She, however, failed in her good resolutioDr to practise this evil no more, several times, and admitted to me that she had so failed — " It was for a bit of bread,^^ she said. "What am I," added she, "but a poor old widow ? May be I'll be sitting here without a morsel of fire, or a bite or sup in the place, or a bit of bacca, (she smoked,) well, just then the silly fools will come to have their fortunes told to be sure ; I suppose the devil sends them just then to tempt a poor old creature; but, please the Lord, and the blessed Jesus you tell me about,** said she, clasping her hands, "I'll wash my hands of it altogether, for there's no luck in it, and I see now, bless the Lord, its wickedness,'* I had a strict watch kept upon Mrs. T., and I have every reason to believe she kept her promise to the end of her life, under circumstances, too, of great temptation. The parish would not allow Mrs. T. any out- door relief, and she declined going into the house for the following reason. Her only son is a pedlar, and has been in the habit formerly of enacting the part of the " Wild Indian'* at fairs. Some qf PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 25 my readers may possibly have seen the " Wild Indian/' surrounded by fairies, robbers, etc., in front of the shows at fairs, dancing a hornpipe in fetters. I have expostulated with my poor friends upon the subject. I believe this man to be a strictly honest person. He returns to London for a day or two from his peddling tours in the surrounding counties about once in three weeks. The business is extremely bad, but he has always managed to pay his poor old mother^s rent, and leave her a loaf of bread and one or two other necessaries when he goes away ; and Mrs. T. would say, " I likes to keep a roof for him, and to see his face when he comes to London, if I am half-starved, so that he may not have to go to any of them low lodging-houses and bad places ; for I^m his mother, you know, though he is sixty years old.'' I must not dilate upon this case, but will just mention one circumstance to show the altered condition of my poor old friend, who I have a very good hope of meeting in a better world.* * I think it right to state that Mrs. T. was a woman of remarkably independent spirit j such expressions as these miglit mean little upon some persons' lips, but they meant a great deal (those who knew her would consider, I think) upon hers. S6 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF Said she, '' I sees the benefit of praying now, Mr. Vandikum, and may the Lord Almighty bless you for coming to teach a poor old sinner, and I knows," she said, " my prayers is answered. You may believe me or believe me not, but the other day I was hungry and starving, I hadn't a bit of fire in the place, and I didn't expect my son home for weeks ; but as I sat at the door, very faint and low, I says, * Oh ! God Jesus Christ, I wish you would send my son home to his poor old mother,' and I kept on saying that ere it seemed so strong on me, and as I'm a living sinner," (said Mrs. T., formerly she never would own she was a sinner,) " I looks up, and I'm blest but if there wasn't Jim a-coming up the court. So he throws down his pack, and, says he, ' So I've come home, mother.' * Yes,' says I, 'so I see.' Says he, *I shouldn't, but I've been thinking very much about you, but,' says he, ' I'm very hungry, so let's have some victuals as quick as you can.' " — Then followed an exact account of what my friend Jim sent out for, down to half an ounce of 'bacca — " And we sat down to a nice cup of tea and a good fire," said Mrs. T., " and wasn't I thankful to the Almighty, for it was His doings, and Jim said the same." PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 27 This was all Jim could do, to pay his mother^s rent, and when he came to town, leave her perhaps the value of eighteenpence ; and a beggar woman who lives close by, I have often found washing her out, as she expressed it, " a few bits of things because the poor old crittur couldn't,'^ and giving her a bit of bread sometimes, and a few tea leaves she had collected now and then. Jim would, I believe, have supported his mother like a lady, but he had not the means. ' Had a person entered Mrs. T.^s little dark cell in B alley, in the comer a little pallet would have been seen, which might have been mistaken for a stump bedstead, and as a piece of cotton over it looked tolerably clean, it might have been said, as I once did, to Mrs. T., " Vm glad to see you lay pretty comfortable." It was winter time, very keen, and she looked at me with surprise, and after musing for a while, said, "Well, you shall see; but," added she, "I don't make no complaint." On lifting up the piece of cotton and an old gown, I saw a little straw was laid on an old shutter, and I think a few bricks supported this at each end. " My bones," said she, " Fm so thin, gets very sore a-laying in winter, with scarcely any food, often none." The wonder is 28 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF she was not perished; as it was, there can be no question but that the distressing asthma from which she laboured was much increased for want of food, as such invalids require warmth internally and externally. The gnawings of hunger she relieved by *'a smoke of tobacco." I should have felt very happy to support Mrs. T., but surrounded constantly by a mass of sick persons daily, whose complaints, by the admission of the parish doctor, as often required food as medicine, and by hundreds of persons in extreme destitution in addition, I could not do so. For several years previous to her decease it was an immense toil to attend my meetings for prayer and exposition, although she lived close by. She walked a step and stopped, her breath being very bad, and when she entered she fre- quently was obliged to be led to her seat, gasping for breath very painfully. " But,'' said she, " if I can crawl I like to come, for it's an hour's happiness to me, a little heaven." I should suppose few persons who heard the impressive manner in which she would utter this, coupled with her remarkable appearance, would soon forget it. Those who are at pains to attend worship are not likely to find the Lord invites to PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 29 an empty entertainment. Being a woman of exceedingly strong mind, althougli totally un- educated, unable even to read a syllable, (which she deeply lamented, saying, '' Oh ! if I could read my Bible!") I could add many other vQry interesting sayings of Mrs. T.^s to this brief narrative, which I am sure would very much interest the pious reader, but must conclude her case. At last came that time which must come in the history of all, " a time to die :"— *' Oh ! death ! great conqueror, to thee Must all mankind submit, Until a mightier conqueror comes, To crush thee 'neath his feet." This time comes to most in the morning of life, and to fewest in old age — an affecting thought. Mrs. T., as her end drew near, appeared to wish to have me constantly with her. That, however, could not be ; but the strong manner in which I hung upon her memory may be aptly illustrated by a little incident that occurred shortly previous to her death. One of the most alFecting attendants upon a dying bed is that delirium which so frequently is the precursor of dissolution. It is our lot some- times, even if not amongst the poor, to hear the 30 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF lips that have instructed others in wisdom utter dark and foolish sayings. Delirium in a dying hour, and perhaps for a lengthened period pre- vious, is not the lot alone of the poor and igno- rant. Mrs. T. was delirious, and I was told would not know me, and knew no one. I addressed her, to which she replied, ^'I don't know you; who are you?'' and then looking very hard at me, her countenance underwent a great change; she smiled, and said, "Oh yes! bless you ! it's Mr. Vanderkiste ;" and she gave me, considering her feebleness, a very pleasing account of the dependence and faith she was exercising in our Saviour, and the good hope she possessed of being happy in the world to come. So she died. Jim did not at all like the idea of his mother being buried by the parish, but his poverty prevented him being able to raise the funds needful to bury her. Under such circumstances, some undertakers perform the last offices for the poor on condition of being paid at the rate of eighteenpence a week ; so he went to one of these tradesmen, and buried his mother, as he termed it, "respectable." Jim, the " wild Indian," is only an occasional PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. BX attendant on public worship; but I pray the careful burier of his mother, may be himself buried with Christ in that baptism, from which he shall rise a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. Death is always a solemn matter — a solemn reminder of sin by which it entered into the world, and of the anger of God against sin — a solemn reminder of disease and suffering , its heralds and accompaniments ; but we have cause to joy over this old fortune-teller; "she died hopefully in the Lord,^' and those who so die are " blessed/^ She has gone — " Where the hidden wound is healed ; Where the blighted life re-blooms ; Where the smitten heart, the freshness Of its buoyant youth resumes. " Where the love that here we lavish On the withering leaves of time, Shall have fadeless flowers to fix on, In an ever spring-bright clime. " Where we find the joy of loving, As we never lov'd before ; Loving on, unchilled, unhindered. Loving once and evermore." 32 A GENERAL DESCRIPTIOX OF May we not hope — *' Sister, we shall meet and rest, 'Mid the holy and the blest." Upon the subject of religion I have found the grossest ignorance imaginable to prevail amongst the lowest classes. Numbers of persons visited have astonished me to find them ignorant as to who our blessed Saviour was. I recollect being sent for to visit an elderly man who was very ill, and who was a stranger to me, not having resided any length of time where I saw him. According to my rule, when practicable, I cate- chised him. He knew who made him ; and now, said I, my friend, do you know who the Lord Jesus Christ is ? '' Why, sir,'^ said he, " I have always been given to understand he was the father of our blessed God Almighty ! '' I varied the question, but found such was really his impression. I have also been exceedingly tried by the extreme ignorance of such persons respecting baptism. I recollect as an instance out of many, one woman declared to me that before her child was christened it was very sickly, but that through being baptized it had throve amazingly, I might multiply such details, but space can only PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 33 be made for one more. It is an extract from my journal : — " I was informed by Mrs. M that a young woman at was very ill, for which informa- tion I expressed my obligations to her. I make particular request of these people that they will always inform me, immediately when any one is ill. In company with Mrs. M., I visited this young woman; her name is H . She was lying on the floor, having no bedstead, an infant, six weeks old, on one side of her, and another, sixteen months old, on the other. She is only twenty-four years of age. The poor girl appeared to be in a rapid consumption, spitting up large quantities of purulent matter from her lungs. I inquired whether she had been in the habit of attending any place of worship whilst in health ; she replied in the affirmative, and stated that whilst residing with her father at No. 7, Eagle Court, she had attended St. John's, Clerkenwell. I afterwards read to her the third chapter of John — one of the chapters in constant requisition with me — and then said, "Mrs. H., do you understand what being born again means ? " She rephed very sedately, "Why sir, I have always understood that being born again, means D 34 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF being christened, and unless a child is christened, it cannot go to heaven.'^ Thus, while she thought the passage of Scrip- ture applied to baptism outwardly, she was, unaware it applied to an inward renewal. How forcibly does this illustrate the necessity for more pastoral visitation ! The amount of ignorance prevailing would exceed the belief of those who do not spend much of their time in domiciliary visitation. This poor creature died shortly after- wards, and her youngest child also. On inquiring of the parents upon my district what prayers they have taught their children, I have in general found they were taught none whatever. Some have said, '^ Oh ! I teach them the 'Our Father' and 'Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.'" The first prayer alluded to is of course the Lord's Prayer — the last is a Romish doggrel for saintly intercession — " Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Bless the bed that I lay on ! " The class of persons to whom I have alluded are, with scarce an exception, unable either to read or write, and have in early youth received no school training whatever. I calculate that not more than one-third of the PART^ OF CLERKENWELL. 35 adults upon my district can read at all, and that not more tlian one-sixth can even read tolerably. On asking many who have said they could read, to read a portion of a tract, they have at once confessed their inability. The proportion who can write is, as may readily be imagined, much smaller than the proportion who can read. Religious instruction, or indeed any instruc- tion, to be made intelligible to such persons, must be clothed in the simplest language. At the period when the writer first devoted his energies to the evangelization of such persons, having received a good education, and mixed with parties well educated also, he spoke as in usual discourse, read a portion of a chapter, prayed, and so closed his visits, pleased in very many instances with the apparent close attention paid, the ready response to the justice of his remarks, such as, " That's true, sir.'^ " Oh, yes, indeed.'^ " Certainly, your reverence." " What a nice prayer,'^ etc. After conducting visitation thus for some time, a circumstance arose which occasioned some suspicion, and led to a system of catechising, and the result so afi*ected the writer that he had almost decided upon relinquishing his charge. Pursuing this system of inquiry, d2 36 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF after reading a portion of a chapter in the Testament, which would be listened to with the greatest attention, I would inquire, "Do you at all know what I have been reading about V varying the interrogatory; and I found in the great majority of instances, that no leading idea whatever was possessed of what had been read — no leading idea even of the subject : the reply would, perhaps, be, "About God/' "About good;" "Telling you to do your duty," — some mere guess, — no real intelligent attention what- ever had been paid. Some pleaded that they had " such a poor head-piece •/' others that they were "no scholards." I found this to be a general result of my inquiries, and that I must pursue a widely diflferent course. The mass of these wholly uneducated people, did not possess the mental apprehension of a second class scholar in our Ragged School. Missionaries who have just entered the Mission, and who have been sent to visit with me, have repeatedly been astonished. Visiting a sick man with one new Missionary, I requested him to read and instruct him, which he did, detailing to him our fallen condition, our need of salvation, and the redemption pur- chased for us, in a very correct manner, and then k PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 37 reading a portion of a chapter in the Gospels in proof of what he had said. The poor man listened with every appearance of attention, and when my young friend said, "You know, Mr. /' or any other interrogatives, he replied, "Certainly, sir;" or, "In course, sir." My companion appeared pleased with the man's attention to instruction, and I thought it time to undeceive him. " Mr. ," said I, " my friend has been taking much pains to instruct you, and now I will ask you a few questions. "Do you know who Jesus Christ was ?" "Well, no," said he, after a pause, " I should say that's werry hard to tell." " Do you know whether He was St, John's brother?" "No, that I don't." " Can you tell me who the Trinity are ?" " No, sir." "Are you a sinner?" "Oh, certainly, sir, we are all sinners." — A pause. " Have you ever done wrong ? " " Why, no, I don't consider as ever I have." "Did you never commit sin ?" " Why, no, I don't know as ever I did." " But do you think you're a sinner ? " " Oh, certainly, sir, we're all sinners." "What is a sinner?" " Well, I'm blest if I know rightly ; I never had no head-piece." My companion was astonished. He had never 38 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF been in the habit of visiting such persons, and declared he had been completely deceived. It may perhaps be well to give a few par- ticulars respecting this man's case. He was by occupation a sweep, and could neither read nor write. The disease under which he laboured was the "chimney-sweeps' cancer.^'* He lingered about four months after this visit, and then died. Whilst in health I very rarely had an opportunity of conversing with this man. He would not permit it, and was little at home. When not at work, he would spend his time at the river Lea angling, and would attend Sadler's Wells Theatre sometimes three and four nights in the week. From the time of the visit above described, I visited him very often, although the stench of his cancer, which dripped on the floor as he sat, was almost insupportable, as very many sick cases are. I would read and catechise him like a child, and notwithstanding the most unpromising aspect of his case, from excessive * Scarcely a sweep known to me has escaped this dreadful disease, caused by swallowing soot. I re- member but one who has not been operated upon, some many times, and several known to me have died. PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 39 ignorance, as described, it seems very doubtful whether those instructions did not result instru- mentally, in the salvation of his soul. Nor must the ignorance of this man, extreme as it was, be supposed a solitary case. I have known people to declare they would not believe there were any other countries in the world but " England, Ireland, France, and Scotland.'^ I was endeavouring to attract one man's mind to my instructions by detailing the particulars of a Hindoo festival on the Ganges, and said, " Do you think washing in the Ganges can wash away a person's sins ? '' to which he replied, " Why, I don't see why it shouldn't." Another man professed to be an infidel, and said, it was all stuff to suppose Jesus Christ hadn't a father: he said, "Any one ought to know better than that." I said, " Do you believe there ever was a first man ? " " Why, of course," said he, "else how could there have been a second." " Tell me," said I, " who was the first man's father ? " " Oh, you're talking about Adam and Eve," said he, " that was in the other worldJ' Even amongst persons upon my district, (and they are a sad minority,) who have attended 40 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF public worship, I have found much ignorance on the plainest Scriptural doctrines. One extract from my journal must suffice as an illustration of this subject : — "Visited Mr. King. He was playing very sweetly on the accordian when I knocked at his door. He readily accepted my tract on ascer- taining it was not to be called for, and was about to bow me out, when anxious not to leave without imparting to him some religious instruction, I pleasantly told him, to attract his attention, that his music reminded me of a passage of Scripture. This appeared somewhat to surprise him. His curiosity predominated over his desire to be ridded of a religious teacher, and I obtained his permission to read the passage to him. I read Ezekiel xxxiii. 32 : ' Thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.^ I said, 'My friend, I sincerely trust this is not your case ; I hope you not only hear the words of God, but do them.^ Mr. K. said very politely he was a member of the Church of England, hoping perhaps thus to divert the conversation from personal religion into a controversial channel, a PARTS OP CLERKENWELL. 41 common expedient with unconverted persons. I asked him mildly, how he expected his soul to be saved, a question I generally ask. He hesi- tated, and then said there were different opinions, and added that he always endeavoured to avoid discussion on religious subjects. He spoke also of the propriety of every one being permitted to hold his own opinion. I asked him, as he was a member of the Church of England, if he had a Prayer-book, upon which he produced two very nice ones. I said, ' We will read what the Church of England says in reply to the question I ad- dressed to you respecting your sou?s salvation,^ — and turning to the Thirty-nine Articles, I read to him those which bear upon the subject, and explain so clearly justification by faith alone and sanctification by the Spirit. He said, ' Stop, if you please, I should like to see if these two Prayer-books agree,' adding, that some differed very much. I explained to him the baselessness of such a supposition, and told him the modern Prayer-books of the Church of England were all alike. I observed Mr. K. to be a very intelligent man, and the fact of an intelligent person, an attendant on the ministry of the Church of England, being ignorant of the teachings of his 42 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF own creed, should forcibly illustrate to the minds of all Christians the necessity which exists for increased domiciliary visitation. The ignorance frequently to be found amongst otherwise intelli- gent persons, attendants at public worship, on the simple doctrines of Christianity, I could never have conceived, but for the extensive acquaintance with mankind I have acquired, after years of daily labour as a Missionary/' The depravity with which I have met upon this district has been very great. In a work intended strictly for family reading, I am wholly unable to go to any extent into this subject. On visiting one young woman, who had recently been confined with twins, and who was represented to me as being in an almost starving condition, which was the case, I found both her mother and herself, had been and were, living unlawfully with one man, by whom they had both had several children. Some of these children attended our Ragged School, and were intelligent and well behaved, but were one day discovered by the teacher to be literally loaded with vermin, and were for the sake of children in a less filthy condition, compelled to be sent away. In a future section, several pleasing instances PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 41^ of usefulness amongst abandoned women will be given. Sin and misery are twins. " The way of transgressors is hard/^ Prov. xiii. 15. The extract from the "Illustrated London News," which occurs at the commencement of this chapter, conveys some idea of the physical condi- tion of the district. Whole courts and alleys are furnished with but one water-closet, and that in a perfectly inapproachable condition. In one instance, a cess-pool, built above ground in White Horse Court, burst, and the contents were allowed to remain until the parish interfered. On visit- ing a few days afterwards, I found fever had broken out in several tenements, which appeared to be spreading. A paper was written by me upon this occurrence, which found its way into influential quarters. The Fleet Ditch forms the western boundary of my district, the stench of which at times is very bad. Dean Swift in his day complained of this ditch, making it the basis of a satire on Homer's description of a storm. We find, too, in former ages, legal enactments were made respecting it. It is now partly covered, and although frequently almost stagnant, possesses at times a current sufficient to turn a mill of forty horse power. A 44 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP person well acquainted with water machinery has given me this information. On one occasion, after a heavy thunder-storm in 1847, the current became so rapid, that the arch to the Thames could not carry it off. It burst upwards with terrific force, carrying away two houses and filling one street. Lower Bowling Street, and BulFs Head Court at the lower end, to the depth of seven feet, almost instantaneously. I measured the water mark on the walls. Heavy articles of furniture were washed away, and several persons narrowly escaped with their lives. On another occasion a man ventured down on a ladder to draw water, whilst the stream was in rapid motion, and was swept away and perished. The stench arising from the open portion upon my district, is at times exceedingly offensive, and various of the inhabitants immediately contiguous, appear to have suffered severely in their health in conse- quence. They have bitterly complained of the annoyance, but have added, " What are poor people to do ? we can^t go to better lodgings ; we can hardly pay our shilling or eighteenpence a week here ; and if we could, they wouldn^t have famihes in one room in 'spectable streets.'^ This illustrates the importance of the very PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 45 desirable improvements in progress in London, which remove these wretched habitations, being accompanied by the erection of others more suit- able for them. As these improvements may be said, in this sense, to be made at the expense of thousands of the industrious and honest very poor, who are compelled to live in company with abandoned characters, and to whom a central situation is very important on various accounts, does not justice require some arrangement should be made, to provide them with decent habitations ? The following extract from the first address of the Metropolitan Working Classes Association, will be read with painful interest, and exhibits in a striking light, how truly the lower orders of society, both temporally and spiritually, are " the flock of the slaughter/^ The statement is taken from Mr. Chadwick's Report to the Poor Law Commissioners, July, 1842. It refers to Bethnal Green : — " The average age at death of the gentle- men residents is 45 years, that of the working population only 16.^^ Dr. South wood Smith has remarked upon the peculiar depression of spirits and emaciation, produced by inhaling the impure atmospheres of 46 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF these close, filthy, and ill- ventilated neighbour- hoods. This amiable and learned physician con- siders such depression to be one cause of the intemperance of the working classes — a statement with which I entirely coincide. A common ex- pression is, " You feels low and dull like, and a drop of gin cheers yer.'^ It is admitted on all hands, that within the last six years, degraded as the district allotted to me was on my leaving it, yet considerable improve- ment had taken place from what it once was. If it was then a lowest depth of degradation^ — " Still in the lowest depth, A lower depth was found." The following is an extract from the preliminary observations to my first Annual Report to the City Mission, 1845 :— " The Cow Cross district appears ever to have been regarded, as one of the very worst class of districts visited by the City Mission. Indeed, the state and character of the inhabitants on various portions of the district, almost baffles description. But the other day a woman was heard, whilst washing her little child, teaching the child to utter abominable PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 47 expressions, and threatening the infant with chas- tisement if it disobeyed. Such a circumstance is far from uncommon. Extreme ignorance and extreme drunkenness prevail on the district. Bred in vice and ignorance, as above fearfully described, the childi-en hear oaths and execra- tions around them continually. They grow up hardened and vicious. Half-starved and half- naked, the boys crowd in shoals, meditating plunder; and Mr. Serjeant Adams, at the Sessions House, abutting on the district, remarked lately on the vast numbers of juvenile delinquents brought from the vicinity. The shopkeepers complain loudly to your Missionary of the con- tinued losses they sustain, by the abstraction of goods from their shops. '^ Fifty shops are open on th.e district for trade on the Sabbath-day. "Fights are very common on the district, amongst women as well as men. On one occasion four women fought onSy and, in common phraseology, nearly beat her to death. She was represented as a mass of bruises from head to foot. A mere child, named S , residing in , only eleven years of age, is now in the House of Correction. The charge was theft and threatening 48 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF to stab the prosecutor.* The police are abused and defied by some of the inhabitants from their windows; and, on a recent occasion, whilst con- veying a party to the Station-house, charged with committing a desperate assault on the super- intendent of our Ragged School on the Sabbath, were stoned and pelted by the partizans of the dehnquent in a most savage manner. One woman, the other day, kicked another violently in the bowels, only the day previous to her confine- ment. — But we must pause; suffice it to add, that speaking with the utmost caution, two out of three adults on the district appear to be drunkards, and it is well known how peculiarly mischievous this vice is, in extinguishing right feelings, and even natural affection, and lifting up in the soul the rampant influences of the flesh and the devil." The dirtiness of the habits of the people in many instances is extremely repulsive ; this arises partly from their extreme poverty, and partly from dissipation. On my first appointment to the district, in 1845, I was called upon to * This youth has since become reformed, and is in India. An account of him will be found in a future chapter — Criminal Population. W^'' PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 49 encounter a severe trial. I was seized with violent itchings between the joints, accompanied with redness. I appeared to have caught the itch. Dr. West, one of the honorary physicians to the Mission, could not decide whether it was itch or not, nor could I decide positively, although I had studied for several years with a view to the medical profession. I was careful, however, to keep away from my friends in a room by myself, and after a few days the intolerable itching went off. A large amount of itch existed on the district, and it is possible I was labouring under an incipient stage of the complaint, which strict habits of cleanliness speedily checked. I was much discouraged, and shortly afterwards very nearly closed with an offer, to take co-charge of an extensive missionary establishment in India, However, having but just commenced this arduous mission, I did not like to be baffled thus, and prayed much, and saw afterwards the providence of God in remaining. As will be seen, I was shortly afterwards made eminently useful in con- nection with the Ragged Schools upon the district, then only Sunday Schools, and was further en- couraged by some most blessed cases of conversion and usefulness, which will hereafter be narrated. 50 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF Bugs and fleas, and other vermin abound, and have tormented me sadly. I have been compelled to submit my apparel to diurnal examination, and whilst visiting at night, have sometimes seen numbers of bugs coursing over my clothes and hat, and have had much trouble to get rid of them. The stenches, also, have sometimes been so bad that my mouth has filled with water, and T have been compelled to retreat. There exists amongst many of the poor, an unconquerable aversion to entering a workhouse or union, and very many would submit to little short of actual starvation, rather than be shut up in those asylums, and, as they express it, ''deprived of a breath of fresh air.'' I have found upon the district a mass of extreme poverty, such as would hardly appear credible. On visiting one family in Frying-pan Alley, I found the husband, who had long been out of work, gnawing something black, and inquired what it was; he appeared reluctant to explain, but upon pressing the inquiry, said it was a bone he had picked off a dunghill, and charred in the fire, and was gnawing. What little fire they had consisted of cinders picked off a dustheap on his way to the chemical works at Mile End, in search of PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 51 employment, where he had worked for many years, and was discharged on a reduction of hands taking place. I am not sure my eyes did not fill with tears. These people were actually starving ; they had been without food for two days. I imme- diately gave them some money for food, which was instantly procured, and on eating it, the wind in both parents occasioned so much hysteric that I was really alarmed. Another poor man known to me to be in extreme distress, was describing the effects of fasting for three days. "The fust day," said he, " ^taint so werry bad if you has a bit of 'bacca ; the second it^s horrid, it is, sich gnawing ; the third day it 'taint so bad agin, you feels sinkish like, and werry faintish.'^ This man is ex- tremely industrious and very sober. He is a gipsey. A very large amount of temporal distress is attributable to indiscretion, and to sin. The following is an instance: — A young woman, named , was about eighteen years of age at the period referred to, and far from vulgar in appearance or demeanour. When first I visited her, she had an infant about six months old, and was endeavouring to support herself and child by E 2 52 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP shirt-work and shoe-binding. The poor creature was worn to the bone by hard work, starvation, and trouble. Only by extreme toil could she pay the partial rent of a room, and obtain a couple of scanty meals a day — commonly a little bread and tea. She was in respectable service at the period she fell into temptation. I saw the father of the child on one occasion ; he allowed her nothing for months, and appeared heartless and vain. She was called to the door, and the poor person with whom she resided informed me by whom. I could hear the few words that passed, which led me to form the above opinion concerning him. She could not bear the shame, she said, of going before a magistrate respecting him. Her child was exceedingly fractious, and would not sleep in the day, and so hindered her in her work, that she was almost starved. She wept on several occasions, and appeared wretched. Into what awful circumstances of temptation may one false step lead us ! Illustrative of this, she told me on one occasion she had been dread- fully tempted. The child was so cross she was prevented from working much in the day, and had to sit up in the night, hungry and cold, to stitch shirts and bind shoes, or she " could not PARTS OP CLERKENWELL. 53 get a bit of bread at all ; " '^ and when I looked at that little thing/' she said, ^^and thought how miserable and starved I was on account of it, and if I hadn't it I might be well fed in a com- fortable place as I was before, I felt horribly tempted to destroy it, and it seemed," said the poor young creature, passing her hand over her forehead, " it seemed to come so strong upon me, I was almost doing it ; when one night I dreamed I had done it, and the baby was laying dead in a little coffin. I felt dreadful, and I heard a voice say — it seemed like God — 'Thou shalt do no murder/ Well," said she, "when I woke up and found the child was not dead, and that I had not killed it, oh ! how thankful I was ! and I didn't have those horrid thoughts afterwards." The tears ran down the poor creature's wan cheeks, and she pressed the unconscious infant to her with anything but the embrace of a murderess, but she had, I doubt not, been dreadfully tempted. A dream is often vanity, yet there are occasions when " God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed ; then he openeth the 54 A OENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword," Job xxxiii. 14 — 18. " Some dreams are useless, moved by turbid course Of animal disorder ; not so all. Deep moral lessons some impress, that nought Can afterwards efface : and oft in dreams The master passion of the soul displays His huge deformity, * * Warning the sleeper to beware, awake."* The parish would not receive her unless she affiliated her child ; this she refused to do, and after enduring these manifold afflictions for a time, became dangerously afflicted with typhus fever. Six persons, three in one room, were laid by in this small house with fever of a very malig- nant type. The malaria was so strong, I was not ridded of it from my nostrils for some time after my repeated visits. One person was removed to the Fever Hospital and died. The others ap- peared to have much groundless dread of being removed to that excellent institution. * PoUok. PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 55 Whilst delirious, it was very affecting to see this poor girl's child crawling and playing over her. It was an ideal of helplessness and misery. When recovered, she commenced attendance on public worship, and I have some hope respecting her condition of mind. It is an axiom that impurity and misery are sooner or later unfailing in companionship. Blessed would it have been for this poor child of woe, if she had borne the yoke of obedience to Christ in her youth ; she would not have walked in the ways of much vanity, and her voice would not have been heard in fellowship with sinners (Lam. iii.) Blessed, thrice blessed is that religion, which rises in the soul in life's morning ! My young reader, this case may have a message from God to thee; want of religion in youth may pre- cipitate into many remediless errors besides impurity : — " Oh ! smile not ! nor think it a worthless thing, If it be with instruction fraught ; That which will closest and longest cling, Is alone worth a serious thought ! Should aught be unlovely with power to shed, Grace on the living, and hope on the dead. 56 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF " Now in thy youth beseech of Him, Who giveth, upbraiding not ; For light in thy heart, that shall never grow dim, And love, that Christ be not forgot. And through life, and in death thy God wiU be. Honour, and glory, and strength to thee." I could fill a volume with details of extreme want and starvation. The extreme penury of numbers arises from intemperance, but this is very far from always being the case. Those of my readers who have their clean shirts, etc., three times a week, nicely aired, and ready for use at their beds' heads, may hardly know many of the difficulties in the way of clean- liness, that the very poor have to encounter. One poor lad upon my district, destitute of a home, lodging at a threepenny lodging-house when he could obtain the threepence, and in carts and stables, or on staircases, etc., when he could not, lately pleased me very much in the matter of cleanliness. He had only one shirt, but he managed to have it clean, and I was asking him how he effected this arrangement. " Why, you see, sir,'' said he, " I goes to some bye place, and there I whips off my shirt ; well, then, I runs to a blind alley up Whitecross PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 57 Street, where some waste hot water runs from some works through a pipe in the wall — there I washes my shirt. Well then I runs to the lime- kilns, the other side of Blackfriars Bridge, and there I dries my shirt and puts it on. A clean shirt for me — it makes you feel so comfort- able — I can't abear no filth. ^' This anecdote found its way into various periodicals, and the poor lad received several other clean shirts, and presents in money. On another occasion, visiting a very poor family — sweeps — but who kept themselves mar- vellously clean for their calling, I found Mrs. C in bed, and told her I was sorry to find she was ill, commencing some suitable remarks upon the uncertainty of health and life, inquiring if she was receiving proper medical advice. To my surprise, the poor woman said, '^I^m not ill, sir, thank you.^' " The fact is, sir,'' she added, " I've only one gown, what you see on the line there, (I did not observe it before,) and I don't like being dirty, so I shall have to lay a-bed till it's dry." This is far from the only instance of the kind I could name. The dijficulties in the way of cleanliness presented by extreme poverty, are very great. 58 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF Visiting a cabman one day, who was seriously ill in bed, I found him dressed up in a fine cast- off woman^s bed-gown, with a large frill round his neck. Some one had, I suppose, given this to his wife, and I should not be surprised if it constituted his whole stock of linen. This man is subject to fits, and cab proprietors will not employ him. / certainly should not mention these odd details, except with the view of exciting sympathy on behalf of such destitute persons. Many of the poor people upon my district are almost perished from the absence of sufficient clothing to protect them from the weather, and many visited appear to have contracted illnesses from which they have died from this cause. Many a poor woman has said to me, " IVe nothing upon me, Mr. Vanderkiste, but the gown you see." One poor lad, a gipsey, nearly a man, who works when he can 'obtain it in Smithfield Market, had no lower garments, until I bought him an old pair, except an old sack fastened at the waist, and hanging round him. He attends our Evening Ragged School. When the north wind blows, reader, it may be well to consider — PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 59 " Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er yon are, That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm, How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides. Your looped and window'd raggedness defend you From seasons such as these ? Oh ! I have ta'en Too little care of this." I have sometimes been desired to visit sick persons late at night, and it has been curious and painful to observe, how a whole family would be stowed into one bed, the children placed in a row at the bottom. Five and six persons lie in a bed thus. Some of the occupations followed by persons upon my district are very strange. The fine and beautiful morocco leathers, in use for splendid Bibles, etc., are prepared by a particular kind of animal refuse.* I will give some very brief par- ticulars respecting three persons who are thus occupied. An aged man who followed this employ, a man of excellent address, once gave me the subjoined account. In his youthful days he followed the dashing occupation of travelling agent to Mr. Bish, the noted lottery speculator and agent. * No chemical preparation is found to answer the purpose. 60 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF He saved enough in that person's service to enable him to set up in business on his own account, but his money did not prosper, (Prov. xiii. 11; XX. 21, etc.,) and he afterwards became reduced to the occupation of bill -sticking. Em- ployment in that line becoming scarce, he took to the occupation to which I have alluded, in addition to bone-picking and rag-gathering ; but so many persons have embarked in these humble occupations through poverty that they afforded but a very scanty living. During the sprat season he obtained a dinner in the following manner. He attended Billingsgate Market during the unloading of the sprat vessels — many poor persons do. He would perhaps collect as many as a pennyworth of sprats that were dropped on their way to the proprietors, and to which no one laid any claim. This man had evidently been very well educated, and was in his diction and address quite the gentleman. He preferred being in the fresh air, he said, to being shut up in a workhouse, as God was pleased to give him his health. The second person, Mr. S , I had long visited, and am not without hope respecting him. He dehghted much to hear the Bible read, and PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 61 to be prayed with, but was very ignorant, could neither read nor write. He died of the cholera of 1849. On visiting him, the stench from accu- mulations of his gatherings was awful; I was almost beaten out of the room by it. Mr. S. was struck with that terrible scourge suddenly. His power of speech was gone. I said, " Mr. S., do you know me ? are you praying for forgive- ness through our Lord Jesus Christ, as I have so often taught you ? ^' He could not speak, but he smiled, and nodded his head. To hear the Scriptures read and be prayed with, was always very pleasant to him. I have seen something of other society, besides that of the very poor, and I have known men to die in ancestral halls and mansions, less hopefully than that poor dung-gatherer. The third party is a stroUing player, named , who prefers this employment to the theatrical profession. Said he, " When Richard- son was alive, I used to go round the country with his company. Richardson, your reverence knows, was the greatest man in the line. He was a very religious man, Richardson was, and wouldnH have not so much as a nail knocked in his booths on a Sunday. He would not allow no bad songs, 62 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF nothing of the sort for him. His company was married people principally, he didn't like single ones. If you went along with Richardson you must behave yourselves, I can tell you, or you wouldn't do.'' " As to the rest, j (mentioning one,) and so on, it's quite different with them; nothing's bad enough; the going's on is awful; I can't express what I've seen, sir, it's too bad — such songs, too. I'm not what I should be, and I know it, but thanks be to God I'm not bad enough for that. When I was at your tea- meeting, what was said, and the prayers, made the tears come into my eyes. It put me in mind of several things. " 1 took a stable, by Shoreditch Church, some months ago, for a gaff ; that's some of the scenery what you see in the corner, sir ; there was the boy there and another young man. Me and the old woman did the comic business. I only took the stable for a week, but I was forced to close it up in three days, it didn't answer ; first night there was lots ; but when they found I wouldn't suffer no blackguard goings on, and there wasn't no bad songs — nothing's bad enough — they wouldn't come, and the third night there wasn't half a PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 6S dozen. I consider it honester to go about getting dung and bones than to be a tbeatrical ; I hate it — it's worse than I can repeat. You know, sir, I'm a tailor by trade, but I never properly learned the business, worse luck.'' This strange and sad detail I have thought well to give in his own words, as an experienced witness to the evils of such places. I have long known this man, and some of these particulars were given in answer to questions. I forbear to multiply such details as these, and should not have presented those given, was it not that they are very illustrative of the lost class among whom the City Mission, to a large extent, unostentatiously imparts the Gospel. Such a work seems the very acme of mercy. The Lamb and Flag Ragged Schools, Clerken- well Green, are, as has been stated, situated upon my late district, and are numerically the largest in London. It will, I am sure, be gratifying to those who have sustained the City Mission by their donations and prayers, to be informed that this important establishment was founded by a City Missionary. The first Annual Report of the Schools (1846) contains the following passage : '^ Your Committee 64 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF think it right, in justice to others, briefly to refer to the circumstances attending thie establishment of these schools. A small, confined, and unhealthy room, in Lamb and Flag Court, was opened for the reception of children of the very destitute poor, under the care of the City Missionary/' In the second Annual Report, the following passage occurs : " Let any man inquire as to the origin of the few Ragged Schools in the Metropolis, and it will be found that this great work, in which the whole of our social system is so deeply interested, has been begun in almost every case by a few pious laymen — often by a City Mission- ary,* as in the case of the school for whose interests the Committee now most earnestly plead.'' On the appointment of the writer to this dis- trict, now six years since, the schools consisted simply of a boys' and girls' Sunday School, num- bering about sixty children. This was the sole effort that was being carried on. The Committee, consisting of men engaged in business from early morn to late eve, did not feel themselves in a position to extend their operations. Any amount of philanthropic exertion, under such circum- * Mr. Humphreys. PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 65 stances, cannot but be esteemed highly com- mendable. The writer, however, was led to send the following letter to the daily press. It was kindly inserted by the "Record'' newspaper, and cannot but be regarded as the foundation of those enlarged efforts, which have since proved so great a blessing to this neighbourhood : — The Cottets at the Back of Safpeon Hill and Field Lawe. To the Editor of the Becord. Sir, — These courts leading out of Turnmill Street, Clerkenwell, adjoining the Sessions' House, formed the subject of a leading article in the "Times" newspaper of January 12th last; their excessive depravity was there freely commented upon : and at the Annual Meeting of the London City Mission, at Exeter HaU, May 17th, 1841, the Hon. and E-ev. B. "W. Noel quoted the reports of four Mis- sionaries who had investigated the neighbourhood. The following is an extract from the report of one Missionary : — " I have been engaged for the last twenty years as a visitor to several neighbourhoods, but I never saw such awful scenes or heard such shocking language before." The other three gen- tlemen furnished similar reports. The City Mis- sionaries have been made very useful here, shock- ingly depraved as the place is. But what greatly cramps the energies of the Missionaries is the want of educational provision for the hundreds of dirty and half-naked children whose parents reside here. They are in a state 66 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF precluding their admission into any decent charity school, and besides, the parents will not pay for their education at all. The experiment of a two- penny week-day school has been tried since the appointment of the writer to this district, but proved a failure. The temptation to purchase gin with the money prevails ; and besides, many of the parents who are not drunkards are really, poor things, half-starved. A Sabbath School has been established in Lamb Court, leading off Clerkenwell Green, but a debt remains on the building, which there is no immediate prospect of liquidating ; and although no effort has been spared, unless the public generally will subscribe the funds necessary for the engagement of a schoolmaster and mistress, there is no prospect whatever of the formation of a Day School. Will the public suffer this appeal to be made in vain? There has been much said lately about juvenile delinquency, etc. ; who will act ? "Who will sell an old coat and send the money, or change a gold watch for a silver one, and remit the differ- ence ? It is ruination to suffer these children to rove about all day. They are ultimately found at the Sessions' House, Parkhurst, and the penal settlements. E.eader, if God has blessed thee with a good education, let the prayer of the Missionary on behalf of these poor children sink into your heart. Articles of clothing, male or female, will be thankfully received at the Schools, or fetched, if a line be addressed to the City Missionary at the Schools. E. W. Yandeekiste, London City Missionary. PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 67 This letter, which appeared in the " Record" on 9th of April, was, a few days afterwards, re- sponded to in the following pleasing and very encouraging manner : — To the Editor of the Becord. Sir, — In your journal of 9th instant, I observe an appeal made by Mr. Vanderkiste, London City Missionary, to the public for funds to maintain a DAY School for the children, etc. He adds, " Much has been said lately about juvenile delin- quency ; who will act ? " For one, I answer that I will, so far as I can ; and, on my return to town (d.v.) in a few days, I will send you ten pounds by way of beginning, and if you will insert this letter, I have not any doubt that others will do the same. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, A VERY OLD Subscriber. Brighton, April 13^A, 1846. Another benefactor also sent a donation of ^20, and in the course of a few weeks a con- siderable sum of money was in hand at the Record Office, for the establishment of my proposed Free Day Schools. The Committee, on the receipt of this public encouragement, at once engaged a regularly trained master and mistress. A Free Day Infant School was subsequently added to the establishment. Very shortly after the appearance of the above f2 ____.___.._ _____.__: ____ _._.__.:2^ bo A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF letters, (on 16tli April following,) Mr. Bennoch petitioned the Court of Common Council, on behalf of the Ragged School Union, for a grant in aid of their funds. He spoke of several localities, and amongst them Saffron Hill ; Mr. King seconded the motion, which was una- nimously carried, and a grant of j8300 after- wards made by the Corn, Coal, and Finance Committee. The Quarterly Review, Dec, 1846, honoured Ragged Schools with an able tribute to their usefulness, and thus spoke of their origin : " The Ragged Schools owe their origin to some excellent persons in humble life, who went forth into the streets and alleys, not many years ago, and in- vited these miserable outcasts to listen to the language of sympathy and care. We are not able to say when, exactly, the first beginning was made, nor to apportion the merit of the earlier efforts, but praise and fame are the last things such men thought, or think of. Much, no doubt, must be ascribed to the zealous humanity of the City Missionaries." Be it so, and to God be all the glory ! From the small beginnings named in the case of the Lamb and Flag Schools, an institution has progressed, supported now at an annual out- - PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 69 lay of nearly ^300, and of whicli the following are interesting extracts from the Annual Report for 1850-51, read at the public meeting, the Earl of Chichester in the chair, supported by Admiral Vernon Harcourt, Mr. Kingsmill, Chap- lain of the Model Prison, Pentonville, Dr. Grain- ger, of the Board of Health, etc. : — ■ ' " In presenting their Sixth Annual E-eport, your Committee desire first to acknowledge the unfailing goodness of Almighty Grod, in fostering this insti- tution, and sparing to them kind friends, whose contributions enable them to persevere in the enterprise of mercy in which they are engaged; nor would they forget the Lord as the author of that grace which alone can crown their efforts with success. " Tour Committee would observe, that it is a happy omen of the times, that the claims of Ragged Schools upon the sympathy of the godly are in- creasingly acknowledged. Many who were formerly ignorant of their value are now their firm and hberal friends, and their value is admitted even in quarters where the claims of religion are not on all occasions so readily acknowledged. " It is pleasing to call to mind, that the Ragged School movement, which is now fostered by royalty itself, (our beloved Queen and her Royal Consort having become munificent contributors,) originated, not many years since, in the efforts of the excellent missionaries of the London City Mission ; and that in so short a course of years it should have won the confidence of the British public, and become registered by universal opinion amongst the greatest 70 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF movements of the day, is only to be accounted for by the very great and palpable success which has attended its operations. Under the more than magic — the Divine influence — of instruction in all religious, good, and useful knowledge, metamor- phoses are accomplished with which the classics of heathen antiquity have nothing to compare. The thief in many instances becomes honest, the harlot chaste, the ignorant enhghtened in the knowledge of glory and virtue, and whole neighbourhoods in which these institutions are established are found to derive a most beneficial influence from the efforts made. The good that has been done, the souls that have been saved, the crimes that have been prevented, will never be fully known to us in this present state ; but it is most pleasing to find that blessed results in large numbers are continually being brought to light even now, and these can only be regarded as the first-fruits of a future harvest, should the liberality of the Christian public enable the operations of these institutions to be extended as they should be. " Being anxious to furnish a report of facts, your Committee will not further detain their kind friends in the way of introduction, but will now enter into details respecting the charge intrusted to their care. " On the books of the Day School there have been, during the past year — Boys 116 Girls 122 238 Averaging a daily attendance of 160. Of these, 75 can read well in the Old and New Testament, the rest have all made more or less progress in reading; 31 can write well in copy books, 70 can write well on slates j 70 understand common arith- ' PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 71 metic ; 40 girls can sew well, and all are learning to sew. " Upwards of 100 garments have been made in the schools during the past year. " Your Committee, in bringing this division of their Export to a close, would give the following extracts from the E-eports received from the master and mistress, Mr. and Miss Turner, as being en- couragiQg to persevere in this good and laudable work : — "'One boy, about 14 years of age, lately applied for admission, and was received. A short time elapsed before the teacher was made acquainted with the circumstances of this boy, and that some movement was taking place amongst the scholars with regard to him. It appears that he was in a state of comparative starvation, and was compelled nightly to sleep upon some straw under one of the open arches in Victoria Street, from whence it was his custom to come each morning to school. At last, being discovered by the police, he was driven from thence (on a threat of being locked up) to wander through the streets by night. The boys and girls becoming acquainted with his condition, raised a subscription in farthings, and halfpence, and pence, by which he was enabled to pay for a bed; and, in addition, they brought to school a portion of their own meals to supply his wants. " 'With regard to the principle of honesty, the teacher is often gratified. A person unknown lately dropped a penny in the school-room one evening. In the morning it was found by a boy, unobserved ; notwithstanding which, it was immediatiely brought to the teacher to find its owner, thus evidencing the growth of right principles as the efiect of the exposition of the Word of Grod.' " The mistress thus writes in reference to the airls' School:— 72 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP " * To inform the mind will avail but little, unless the heart is affected. This is the constant and prayerful aim of all our instruction. Sometimes we enjoy the happiness of seeing the efforts succeed. As a proof of this, one instance will be recorded, which occurred a short time since: — " * An unhappy feeling of rivalry had arisen among the elder girls, which was endeavoured to be suppressed. It soon spread into a party spirit, each side assuming that they were greatest. So bitter they became towards each other, that every look was construed into an offence, and certain seats were claimed by each, and contended for. The teacher, feeling that such a state of thuigs ought not to be permitted to continue, endeavoured to reach them by means of the Bible lesson. The subject of it was, ' The choice of Jesse's youngest son to be king over Israel ; ' the text for the day being, ' The Lord seeth not as man seeth ; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.' In the course of the lesson it was shown, that neither age, beauty, nor talents, were any recommendation to Him who looketh at the heart ; but the ornament of a meek and gentle spirit, and a contrite heart are his delight. The hate- fulness and misery resulting from the indulgence of strife and envy, etc., were pointed out ; while the example of Him who when reviled, reviled not again, was exhibited as their model. This had the desired effect : that day not a girl was found to occupy the seat which for some time had been the object of contention ; on the contrary, all ran to take the lowest place ; and imbroken peace and harmony have pre- vailed ever since. " ' The general appearance of the girls is marked by neat- ness and' cleanliness ; and their affection toward their teacher is unbounded, often even kissing her hand as they pass out of school. " ' Nor are the parents deficient in gratitude for the benefit which their children receive, often declaring, they could not afford to pay for education, as their means are so scanty, PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 73 therefore their children would remain in ignorance were it not for the schools.' " Intant School. — The attendance at the Infant School has averaged, during the past year, 60 daily. " It is much to be regretted that the very con- fined school-room is not at least three times its present size ; if so, it could be filled, as the teacher has continually the painful task of refusing admit- tance to many children who are brought by their parents, and much disappointment is expressed. " Tour Committee have no doubt the following extracts from the Eeport of Miss Gomm, the Infant School teacher, wiU be very interesting to their friends, as they add great weight to the necessity of enlarging this branch of their operations : — " ' The greatest attention possible is paid by many during the Scripture lessons. The delight the little creatures take in the Bible stories is remarkable, always asking, before each lesson, if what they are about to be told of is in real earnest, because it is supposed many of the parents are in the habit of deceiving them. To show the interest taken in these lessons, the following facts will prove. Whilst teaching one day in reference to the willingness of Grod to give to every one that asketh of Him a new heart, a Uttle boy was observed sitting with his hands folded, and apparently thinking ; all at once he said, 'Teacher, when God does give people good hearts, what does he do with the bad ones ? ' " ' At another time the Scripture lesson was upon the suf- ferings of ovir Saviour, when a very httle girl said, ' Teacher, Jesus Christ was very foolish to leave that beautifiil place in heaven, Hve in a stable, be beat, spit upon, and crucified. I would not have done so ; I would have stopped in heaven.' The teacher endeavoured to show her what would have become of us if He had not suffered. To which this little 74 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF child replied, * Oh ! then it was very kind, and I love Him for it.' " ' Many of these little infants will not go to their beds unless they are allowed to say their prayers. One mother told the teacher, that her boy, who is about two years and a half old, will go by himself and repeat the Lord's Prayer every night before retiring to rest. Another mother stated, that her boy almost drove her crazy when she hurried him to bed without having said his prayers, and that she was glad to make him get out again to say them, to stay his crying.' " Sunday School. — The attendance during the past year has been as follows : — On the books — Boys 110 Girls 145 255 Infants 80 Average attendance, 155. " Of these 90 can read with various degrees of proficiency, some very well ; 52 are in the element- ary class. " There is evident improvement in the children, and the progress made is very encouraging. The operations of the Sabbath School, however, are much hindered by the want of male teachers. ' The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.' Tour Committee hope that their hea- venly Master vdll raise up pious labourers to enlist in this honourable and self-denying work. " To Mr. Le Dieu, the superintendent of the Sabbath School, and to the teachers, your Com- mittee are under deep obligations, for the unremit- ting attention and persevering zeal with which they have continued their efforts to train up the dear children committed to their charge, in the love and fear of God. PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 75 " Evening School. — On the books— Males 90 Females 96 186 Showing an increase of 34 since the last Eeport. The average attendance, 100. " The boys make considerable progress, evincing great eagerness to attain the rudiments of educa- tion. Many come from the manufactories in which they are engaged straight to the school ; and the desire for instruction must indeed be strong to induce them to attend school at eight o'clock at night, after having been engaged in laborious employment from the break of day. Such pursuit of knowledge under difficulties cannot but be grati- fying in the extreme. " The girls also make visible progress, and are equally desirous of self-improvement ; on the whole, their demeanour, attention, and progress, is of the most encouraging nature. " It is greatly to be regretted that the various appeals to pious young persons to aid as teachers in this field of usefulness, have hitherto been so coldly responded to, but the calls of the uneducated class are loud and urgent. "If, notwithstanding the present deficiency in the number of teachers, most encouraging improve- ment is discernible, how much greater progress might reasonably be expected were this urgent call responded to by a few active, diligent, pious, young people. May our Saviour incline the hearts of such to give a helping hand to those who are at present so praiseworthily and successfully sowing the seeds of usefulness, industry, and piety, upon that ground that so greatly needs mental culture ! " To Mr. Crompton, the superintendent of the 76 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF Evening School, and to the teachers, your Com- mittee also are under deep obligations for their unwearied exertions in the work of educating the poor and ignorant souls who crowd these courts and alleys. " In connection with the schools it may be satis- factory to mention, that the following books have been distributed amongst the scholars, in exchange for reward tickets given for punctual attendance and good conduct : — Union Spelling & Eeading Books, upwards of 400 Magazines (Children's) upwards of 1000 Bibles and Testaments, upwards of 50 Various Religious Works 35 Small Eeward Books, upwards of 635 School Hymn Books 75 " Clothing Fui^d. — Your Committee have much pleasure in laying before the Subscribers the grati- fying progress of the Clothing Fund : — £. s. d. In 1848-49 the Deposits amounted to 10 19 8 and Premiums to 2 15 8 In 1849-50 the Deposits amounted to 21 16 11 and Premiums to 7 4 4 In 1850-51 the Deposits amounted to 23 1 5 and Premiums to 7 4 9 " The above figures show that this Fund is much appreciated by the parents of the children. Money that would doubtless have been spent in the mad- dening beverages of the public-house has been happily expended in procuring necessary and com- fortable habiliments for their oifspring. " The following is a list of the articles issued to the children belonging to this useful and necessary portion of your Committee's operations : — PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 77 Boots and Shoes 92 pairs Coats 7 Suits of Clothes 4 Shirts 17 Trowsers 4 pairs Procks 51 Petticoats 29 Pinafores 40 Under Grarments 19 "Sunday Evening. — Your Committee, finding from frequent inquiries that very many of the poor residing in the courts and alleys which surround the schools did not attend any place of worship, being very destitute of clothing, resolved to open the school-room (there being no other opportunity offered them) for devotional purposes, in the hope that many who frequent the beer-shop and spend the Sabbath evening in rioting and drunkenness might be led to attend, and, Grod blessing the effort, they may be 'plucked as brands from the burning,' and be led through his mercy 'to flee from the wrath to come.' " It was opened on the 26th Pebruary last, and the attendance and attention paid has been equal to the most sanguine expectations. " Tour Committee desire publicly to record their acknowledgments to Mr. Yanderkiste, the inde- fatigable City Missionary of the district, for his kind co-operation and exertions to advance the interests of the institution. " To the Daily Press your Committee are deeply indebted for the very favourable notice taken of the schools on several occasions. " Having thus briefly stated their circumstances, your Committee would commit this good cause to Grod, and to the word of his grace, knowing that he 78 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP who hath promised will perform, and that we shall reap if we faint not. " To be useful in their day and generation — to diminish crime — to promote peace and happiness — above all, to save souls — such are the objects con- templated by your Committee in their efforts on behalf of their fellow-men ; and they pray that Grod our Saviour may grant, that when their earthly probation ends, it may be given them to meet the present objects of their care in the heavenly man- sions of unfading glory. " By order of the Committee, " W. J. Watts, " Hon. Secretary ^^ To Mr. Terry, the Treasurer, and to Mr. Christopher White, the late Hon. Secretary, many thanks are due for their fostering care of this institution. Our good friend, Councillor Payne, at one Annual Meeting presented the friends, in the course of his speech, with the following effusion of his poetic genius, suggested by the name of the court in which the schools are situated, and from which they derive their name. Various portions of this parish were connected with the Knights'- Templars : — " The ' Lamb and Flag ' the Templars brave Upon their banners bore, When, loved Jerusalem to save, They fought in days of yore. PARTS OF CLERKENWELL. 79 " They fear'd not death, they reck'd not loss ; Their aim that all might know, Their flag was fasten' d to a cross — As ancient pictures show. " And we, who to the battle go, To rescue fallen youth, . Upon our Christian banner show This scene of Gospel truth. " The ' Lamb ' betokens Christ the Lord ; The ' Cross,' his sufferings' weight ; The ' I'lag,' the triumphs that record His condescension great. " Yes, in our Eagged School we find This bright heraldic sign, To cheer the drooping Teacher's mind, And prove his work Divine. " The ' Lamb ' shall teach him patient zeal ; The ' Cross,' rebuke to bear ; The ' Flag,' the triumph he must feel "When victory crowns his care. " Then, Teacher of the Eagged School, Fear not, nor be dismay 'd ; By love these rebels seek to rule. And look to Christ for aid. " The Lamb, who bore the Cross fol* thee. Still lives in Heaven to save. And stretch the Elag of Victory O'er Satan and the grave ! " In terminating this general description of my late district, it seems important to notice that it 80 A GENERAL DESCRIPTION, ETC. constitutes but one of a class. The readers of the Monthly Magazine of the London City Mission are well aware of this fact, from the mass of information brought before them in that important periodical. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 81 CHAPTER II. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. Preliminary observations — Discouraging encounter of bigotry — Narrow escape from violence — Another case — Hopeful conversion of a Roman Catholic — Rome a "miserable comforter" — The bane of earth — Hopeful progress of the case — Reference to former priestly dependence — His as- surance of faith — Hopeful death — Cases of two sisters — Violence to the Missionary — Illustration of Romish ignorance and priestly delusion — The wafer — Sad deaths — The genius of Romanism — Penance — Delusion of a Roman Catholic harlot — Penance and priestly dependence — Objection from 2 Peter iii. 16 — Reply — Termination of the interview — Reflection — Saintly worship — Affecting case — St. Dominic in the place of Christ — The locahty in the fourteenth century — Striking contrast — Ludgate and St. Dominic — Fulfilment of prophecy — Dangers from Romanism — Erroneous impression — The intrigues of Popery — Christendom warned — Conscience and priestly absoluteness — Case of spiritual thraldom — A hopeful case — The Missionary foiled — Sisters of Mercy — Hopefulness destroyed — Superstition and death — Temptation — The Romish suicide— Awful death of a Roman Catholic prosti- tute — "Waking" — Intoxication and bigotry — Visit to a barber's shop — Statement of a ferocious Romanist — Fight with seven policemen — Revenge — Attack on the police — " The breed of Luther" — Romanism, the pioneer of hatred 82 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. and malice — Altar denunciations — Statistics respecting Romanism — Polish, Hungarian, and Italian refugees — Hopeful case of a Polish officer — An affecting case, Lieut. Larokefeski — His death — Yisit to St. George's Eoman Catholic Cathedral — Candlemas-day — Description of the Cathedral — Processions — Illumination — Cardinal Wiseman — His sermon versus Dr. Cotton Mather — " Christ formed in the heart the hope of glory" — Prayer for the deluded — Cowper. Although my district contained many Roman Catholics, it did not contain so many by far as are found on some districts occupied by the Mission. I am, therefore, not so familiar with the sinuosi- ties of Popery as some of my brethren. I have, however, visited much amongst this class of the population, having obtained access to nearly all resident upon my district, through being so well known for a number of years. I have observed the lower order of Papists to be, in general, ignorant even of the teachings of the religion they profess. Like many of the lowest class of English Protestants, they can neither read nor write, and many are very neg- lectful in attendance on their erroneous form of worship, and yet extremely bigoted. The very day on which I commenced my visitations in connection with the London City Mission, I encountered a Romanist, as will be THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 83 perceived. Id a most unpleasant manner. The circumstance forms the very first entry in my journal, and was sufficiently discouraging. It is illustrative of Roman Catholic bigotry and violence : — " On entering, I said, ' I presume, Mr. Callaghan, (I had obtained his name from another lodger,) you can guess who and what I am?' He said, pleasantly, ' Why yes, sir,' and offered me a seat. We conversed very agreeably for some minutes, and he told me he attended Eoman Catholic chapel, and spoke of the priests who ministered there. He added, ' I suppose you have come to collect for the chapel.' I assured him I had not come to receive, but to impart the knowledge of the blessed Grospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 'And pray,' said he, ' what religion are you ? ' I informed him. Upon this announcement being made, a great alter- ation took place ; he became immediately violently excited, and livid with rage. In vain did I urge the propriety of discussing religion mildly and affectionately. The language he applied to me and to my religion was of a very horrible character. He rose from his seat, flung open the door, and declared that if I was not out in a moment he would kick me from the top to the bottom, which, had Provi- dence permitted, he appeared fully disposed to do. " On another occasion, bad characters, by whom I had been surrounded, behaved very respectfully to me, and several appeared much affected by a plain statement of what Christ had done to save sinners ; but one man, decently dressed, an Irish- man, was very angry, and said, ' Every cobbler now can put on a half-crown black coat on a Sunday, G 2 84 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. and go about preaching; but there was a time,' added he, ' when it would have cost a man as much as his life to do it — he'd have burned for it.' " The depth of bitterness with which this was said, induced some of the characters around, degraded as they were, to testify their disappro- bation by vehement hisses. I have been so mercifully preserved as never to have sustained any serious injury from Roman Catholics. Various of my City Missionary brethren, however, have received violent ill usage ; and one, a Mr. Bullin, we always considered to have received his death through being thrown down stairs in St. Giles's. But to this martyr, we have every reason to believe, to die was gain. I shall now introduce the reader to a very pleasing case of usefulness, in the hopeful con- version of a Roman Catholic on my district, named D . In a cul de sac, termed Frying Pan Alley, I met with Mr. D. On offering a tract, I was anything but welcomed. Mr. D., who was confined to his bed, eyed me askance from head to foot with a scowl of displeasure. Perceiving this, I did not immediately enter upon religion, but inquired the character of his illness, and what means he was using to seek recovery. I then spoke of the uncer- tainty of life, and necessity of repentance and faith ; but my visit being barely tolerated, and that THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 85 with a very ill grace, I quicklj left, after inviting the children to our Eagged School. Having, for a very long series of years, held a situation in one house of business, Mr. D., although only a labour- ing man, was enabled when in health to provide his family with the common necessaries of life. His wife, also, as I afterwards found, was an exceed- ingly industrious woman, and earned a few shillings a week by working at a " trotter yard," but sick- ness had reduced the family to a condition of abject poverty. I of course continued my visits, and their pre- judice appeared to diminish, and as soon as advis- able I introduced the subject of E-oman Catholicism. On one occasion, on entering, I found a person present not recognised by me as any minister with whom I was acquainted; he inquired who I was, and was informed by me. He did not appear at all disposed to interchange even the commonest cour- tesies of life, for immediately on hearing I was a City Missionary, he adjusted his hat, and left. I was informed he was "the priest." This led to^ conversation respecting the Eoman Catholic re- ligion. "A great question is, Mr. D.," said I, " what comfort and consolation does your religion aiford you ? You are stretched by the Almighty on a bed of sickness and pain, your circumstances are those of extreme poverty, you have a young family whom you are likely to have to leave father- less. What you require is mental support and com- fort. Now we may depend upon it," I added, " that if the good God has given us a religion, it will afford all this — does your religion aiford this to you? " The poor man began to cry ; and, after a pause, " Indeed, no," said he, " sure I'll be after telling the truth — Grod help me then — my mind is dark 86 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. and miserable your reverence."* I felt sad in contemplating the scene of human woe around me ; and the Missionary must sympathize with woe — not merely express sympathy, but must feel sym- pathy — " Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of 'Christ," Gal. vi. 2. " My friend," said I, " a religion that does not comfort, is not worth having ; and then I declared to him the offices and work of Him by whom came "grace and truth," and told him of the Holy Spirit, " the Comforter." " The word of God is quick and powerful," Heb. iv. 12, and the suiferer appeared much affected. He could neither read nor write, and " his priests had never taught him thus,'"' he said. Alas ! no ; good reason why ; the witnessing and convincing of the Spirit of God in the heart of the believer that his sins are forgiven — this Eome dreads. Her strength lays in the crushed and abject spirit, and to offer it ashes and mourning, and penance, and the spirit of hea- viness — thus to rivet the iron chain of priestly despotism, and serve her purpose. Eome preaches penance, not peace. Let the dread of future torment rule, cries Eome ; let the nations perish in their sins; and whilst they pass in exchange for coin, we will never tire of ordaining penances, hearing confessions, granting indulgences, bestow- ing holy unctions, conjuring transubstantiative mysteries, and singing masses, both ante and posthumous. The fabled Flora is represented in the spring of the year with poised wings, gyrating gracefully over our earth, surveying the rolling orb with a * The poor, especially the Irish poor, are accustomed to apply this term very profusely to religious teachers. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 87 kindly countenance, and scattering profusely the seeds of flowers, and fruits, and corn, for the pleasure and sustenance of man. Let Eome be represented as an incarnation of oppression, casting down upon the earth fetters, and fears, and snares, and torments. Make her a Ceres or Pomona, if you will, but let her cornucopia be filled with poison weeds. Who could deny the myth ? Such is Popery. Mr. D. received instruction from me during the space of two years, the whole of which period he was a great sufferer from an internal disease, which at last terminated his life. The reading and plain exposition of the New Testament, especially the Gospels, and the prayers I from time to time offered with him, were evidently much blessed to his enlightenment " in the knowledge of glory and virtue." He was led to see the vanity and delusion of the Popish views he had once held, and to which he had been so bigoted. " I did believe once," said he, " that the priests could put me into heaven, but thanks be to God for sending you to instruct me, I know tetter now ; there's none but the blessed Lord Jesus Christ, that died for sinners, that can save my poor soul ; I feel it, Mr. Yanderkiste, I do indeed, thanks be to God." I have repeatedly asked him, whether he really believed formerly, that the priest had power to secure heaven for him ; he would reply, " Why, Mr. Yanderkiste, you have no idea how ignorant and blinded the people are in Ireland, or you wouldn't ask that question ; they do believe it, the whole of them — pay your dues, con- fess to the priest, and it's all well with you," said he, nodding his head — "that's the way they're taught, poor things, and how should they know better." At last Mr. D., whose mind became more 88 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. and more enlightened " by the Word of God and prayer," was enabled to come to the " full assurance of faith," and to a knowledge of the forgiveness of his sins. He was enabled blessedly to resolve the question : — " How can a sinner know, His sins on earth forgiven ? How can my gracious Saviour show, My name inscribed in heaven ? " He could say — " We who in Christ believe, That he for us hath died, We all his blessed peace receive. And feel his blood applied. Oui' nature's turned, our mind Transform'd in all its powers, And both the witnesses are join'd, The Spirit of Grod with ours." Light chases away darkness. When Mr. D. attained to this faith, the chains of Rome were burst asunder, the scales fell from his eyes, he could say, " This one thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see." The interesting conversations I have held with this man would fill a little volume. His disease, an internal tumour, assumed a more threatening aspect, and after intense suffering he expired, wit- nessing to the last " a good confession " in Christ Jesus. Just before he died, he sent for me, and expired almost before the echo of the prayer of the Protestant visitor had died away. To be read to, and prayed with, seemed his great delight. " Mr. Vanderl5:iste," he would say, "it's sweet to me;" he might have added, " Thy words were found, and THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 89 I did eat them ; and tliy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart," Jer. xv. 16. I had many opportunities of watching Mr. D.'s outward conduct and demeanour, during the course of the very long and varying affliction which terminated his life. When able, he was careful in attendance on Protestant public worship, and his walk and conversation was "as becometh the Gospel of Christ." I will next allude to two sisters, who both lived and died upon my district. Both were educated in profession of the Roman Catholic superstition, and were two of the most desperate characters with whom I ever met. One of these poor women died of cholera in 1849, and was visited by me up to the period of her decease: the other fell to the earth in a fit, in a neighbouring court, and died very shortly afterwards. The use of strong drink (principally large quantities of beer) had so completely bloated her system, that the blood had become too sizy properly to circulate. Both these sisters would be drunk daily for a week uninterruptedly. I detail their cases as illustrative of E-oman Catholic igno- rance and priestly delusion. These women, so far as they cared for religion at all, clung to some of the deadly errors connected with the Bomish system. I have no faith whatever respecting either undergoing any change of heart. The one who died of cholera assured me she prayed for for- giveness, but I doubt it was merely said to please me. The priest was sent for whilst she was dying, 90 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. who prayed by her, and gave her the " wafer,'' * and this being done, or, to use their own phrase- ology, " the clergyman having 'prepared her for heaven^' her relatives appeared perfectly satisfied respecting her condition, whilst the soul of the stranger almost groaned in anguish over her soul. Both these women were very powerful, complete giantesses. On my mildly expostulating with them on one occasion, whilst intoxicated, I was beset * It may be well to state, for the information of any young reader who may be unacquainted with Eomanism, that the " wa/er" is a lozenge of paste, administered as the sacra- ment, at the altar^ and also privately to Roman Catholics, when in dying circumstances. The Trent Catechism, and all authoritative Romish books which allude to the matter, define the wafer as containing, after consecration hy the priest, " the very body of the man Christ Jesus, composed of flesh, blood, and sinews, together with his soul and divinity." A Roman Catholic, to whom I was made useful to some extent, on attending a Protestant place of worship to receive the ordinance, when offered the bread, opened his mouth. This occasioned surprise to some ; but so holy is this " wafer God" esteemed by Romanists, that the laity are not permitted to handle it, but receive it from their priest into their mouths. When our blessed Saviour brake the bread and gave to his disciples, saying, " This is my body," etc., " this do in remembrance of me," (Luke xxii.,) he was still alive on earth. According, therefore, to the Roman Catholic view, his tw elve disciples were actually each eating and drinking up our Lord's body and blood, whilst he sat placidly before them. That our Saviour simply meant, the bread and the wine should remind us of his body and blood shed for us, is plain. After speaking of it as a figure of his blood, our blessed Lord, in the next verse, himself declares it only to be the fruit of the vine. Matt, jxvi. 28, 29. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 91 by them, and could not avoid doing so. One declared resolutely she would drive me out of the neighbourhood, and actually commenced carrying her threat into execution, driving me before her like a child. When sober, she apologised for her conduct, but in a strange manner. The genius of the Komish teaching tends to harden in criminality, for the fact cannot be evaded, that the ignorant Romanist believes his priest can forgive his sins. It is said, " by re- pentance ; *' be it so — but the measure of the repentance, we must remember, is not the amount of sorrow to God, but of obedience to the priest — the execution of any penance he may enjoin. Whether every Romish priest teaches his flock that he can remit their sins without due repent- ance is another question ; but that the ignorant masses of Romanists confess and execute any penance enjoined, and then rest satisfied that their sins are forgiven, or rather care no more about the matter, I cannot doubt. Even a common prostitute, a Roman Catholic, has said to me, " Why do you reproach me ; I confess my sins once a week to my priest, pay my dues, and am forgiven them. / attend strictly to my religion^ The following conversation, extracted from my 92 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. Journal, illustrates the dependence placed upon the guidance of blind guides, by the Roman Catholic laity : — " At the corner of 1 observed Mr. and a man named in conversation. I stopped and addressed them, presenting a tract, and intro- ducing a remark of a spiritual character. I said, ' We must repent truly of all our sins, my friends, and trust for forgiveness to vrhat the Lord Jesus Christ has done and suffered for us.' 'Yes,' said Mr. , 'we must repent and be doing penance, and make amends by good works for what evil we do.' I made a remark in a quiet manner, knowing the character of my companions, to the effect that 'if our good works could save us, we did not want any other Saviour, but that the Holy Scriptures declared a man to be " justified by faith without the deeds of the law." ' Mr. wished to know, ' Whether it was reasonable to suppose that a layman could understand the Scriptures as well as an ecclesiastic, who devoted his whole life to their study.' Mr. persisted that a poor, unlearned man could not, if he read it, understand the Bible ; adding, that it was said therein that it was hard to be understood, and that ' the unlearned made a bad use of it.' I said, I would quote the passage to which he alluded : ' In which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction,' 2 Pet. iii. 16. It was the unconverted, I said, who were spoken of; those who were destitute not of worldly wisdom, for we were informed that 'the world by wisdom knew not God.' It was those who were destitute of THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 93 ' the wisdom which is from above,^ who were spoken of, I said ; and explained to Mr. the difference between 'the wisdom of this world' and spiritual wisdom, enlarging upon the fact that the one might be acquired from earthly tutors and books, but the spiritual wisdom in nowise so; adding, that the only way pointed out to us whereby to obtain it, was by prayer and supplication, by becoming beggars before the throne of God, as St. James speaks, 'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him,' James i. 5. Mr. now began to kick his heel against the wall, and another Eoman Catholic present, who had not hitherto taken any part in the conversation, complained of the cold, and proposed retiring. I made a suitable closing re- mark, and our little gathering dispersed, to meet at last — I pray — in heaven." The teachings of the Roman Catholic church are ever directed to the end of inducing the laity to forego the right of private judgment, and to surrender the ideas they may form, to the pro- claimed infallible teachings of the church. The worship of the saints of the Romish calendar, also practised by Roman Catholics, develops the opposition of their religion to genuine faith in our Divine and all-sufficient Redeemer. The following is an instance : — A young Irishman I visited interested me very much. He was very ingenious, and, during a 94 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. severe illness — produced, as I verily believe, by want of food, having been long destitute of employment — constructed a pair of very melodious Irish pipes, on which he one day offered to play me a tune. As he appeared desirous I should hear him play, I thought proper to humour him, but asked him to play a hymn. He said, " I only know one hymn tune," and played a very sweet little melody. " Do you know the words of that tune," said I. "I know one verse," said he : — " Saint Dominic sits at God's right hand, At God's right hand on high ; Says he, My children, come to me, And you shall never die."* * Saint Dominic is held to be a very important saint by Romanists. He was the founder of an order bearing his name. A little work, published at Antwerp in 1611, in Latin, is entitled, " The Life and Miracles of St. Dominic." There is a print on the cover which is inscribed, " Damon studiis incom- benti in forma simioe apparens jiissus est candelam ardentem tenere" — " The deril appearing in the shape of an ape to St. Dominic, intent on his studies, is ordered (by the saint) to hold the burning candle." Another print represents our blessed Saviour seated upon a cloud in the heavens, and in his hand are arrows of vengeance, which he is about to shower upon tlie earth and upon the sea. On his right hand is the Virgin Mary. On the earth are seen the two saints — Saint Dominic and Saint Francis. The print is inscribed, " Christum iratum et minas orhi intentante B. Virgo S. Domi- nicum et S. Franciscum representans placat" — " Christ enraged and holding out threats against the world, and the Blessed Virgin, pointing to Saint Dominic and Saint Francis, appeases him." Copies of these prints, which are exceedingly rare, may be seen in the Scottish " Protestant." Butler, also, in his " Lives of the Saints," eulogises this saint as pos- THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 95 I read to him various passages of Scripture, to prove such doctrine most erroneous. He said it certainly contradicted the Word of God, and pro- mised me he would pray for mercy and forgiveness through our Saviour alone. I lent him various books, as he could read well ; and when sufficiently recovered, he attended our Male Adult Evening School, as I directed him; but being unable to obtain employment, he afterwards enlisted in a dragoon regiment, and of course left the neigh- bourhood. How altered the destinies of London respecting Popery to what they once were ! Here was a poor deluded man repeating to the Protestant Missionary a doggrel of Romish intercession, through a so-called saint, whose very name would be unknown to perhaps all in the neighbourhood. sessing singular holiness, avisterity, and success in working miracles. Supposing a Koman Catholic to deny the authority in his church of the Uttle work alluded to, (for which, however, there is not the sHghtest pretence,) he cannot surely attempt to demur to the authority of Butler, universally known and admitted as an authoritative exponent of his church. I mention these references because I have met with many Eoman Catholics who never so much as heard of Saint Dominic — or perhaps half the saints of the church to which they profess to belong. How antagonist aU this to the revealed declaration of our Lord and Saviour, " I am the way, and the truth, and the life : no man cometh unto the Father, but by me," John xiv. 6. 96 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. But how different the condition of this locality to its condition five hundred years since ! The ball of a rifle fired from his window would have passed or fallen upon the spot where, at the date named, the locality known as Black Friars was largely occupied by the monastic order of this very saint. Splendid edifices, enclosed within extensive walls and four gates, a little town within itself, possessing immunities similar, in many respects, to those possessed by Oxford and Cambridge. Although within the precincts of the City, its charter exempted it from the jurisdiction of the City authorities, and its chief magistrate was its chief abbot. This was the habitation of the order of St. Dominic, called the Dominicans or Black Friars. Pennant and others describe this establishment as splendid. It extended from n. e. to s. w., from the Old Bailey to the River Thames. The commerce of the world now rushes past Ludgate Hill day by day like an avalanche, and strikes, like sparks from the anvil, into every avenue around. The bones of monks lie buried there, who, upon that very spot, once passed their lives in still cloisters, dormitories, scriptorum or THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 97 study, refectory, and church grounds or gardens, which sloped in quietude to the river-side. Criminals fled here from the arm of justice, although, did we ask the officers who peram- bulate their many beats upon this very spot, they would not even know, perhaps, that such a har- bour for delinquents had ever existed. Kings and Queens, who now, when they pass up Ludgate Hill, are on their way to exchange greet- ings with the citizens of our loved city — then, as one writer says, " entered the good and comely tower at the bend of the wall,'^ as a holy pil- grimage. The untiring foot of speculation does not know that it treads on the mausoleums of the titled and the great, the peer and the exalted — yet there their bodies are laid, wrapped in the supposed spiritual talisman, the black robe of the order of St. Dominic Austin. The memory of St. Dominic has passed away from the very locality of the possessions of his order. There is a moral in all this, or its recital were not the province of the spiritual instructor. It is a fulfilment of Divine prophecy — "Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up," Matt. xv. 13. H 98 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. We will detain the reader with hut one obser- vation before introducing the next case. Five hundred revolutions of our globe around the sun have witnessed the result named. Less than five hundred more might, unless the energies of Christendom be duly aroused, suffice to re-invest our country with the papal yoke, and all its deadening influences and institutions. It is a religion suited to the carnal heart — almost seraphic music — gaudy show — tinkling bell — perfume — and mummery. It is said, mankind- have become too enlightened for this to be possible — ^^but what does this assertion mean ? The unconverted are yet the mass of mankind, and their utmost enlightenment is not sufficient, it is seen, to lighten them over many deep pits of folly and delusion. We have observed the en- lightened in mere secular knowledge, pass from our midst into the bosom of Rome of late years, in no small numbers. Popery also appears to be gaining considerable political power. Popery can intrigue in courts as well as cloisters, and always seeks temporal might. As the Popish Dean Weston observed to the Protestant ministers, in closing insolently the debate on tran substantiation, at the Convocation THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 99 in Queen Mary's first parliament, " Ye have the word, but we have the sword/' When it is thus with Rome, woe be to those Protestants she meets with by the way. — " Should the bold, usurping spirit dare, Power o'er my faith and conscience to maintain, Shall I submit, and suffer it to reign ? Call it the church, and darkness put for light. Falsehood with truth confound, and wrong with right ? No ; I dispute the evil's haughty claim. The Spirit of the World be still its name. Whatever called by man, 'tis purely evil, 'Tis Babel, Antichrist, and Pope, and Devil.'* The following case from my journals, furnishes an affecting illustration of the struggle between conscience and the power of priestly rule over mind : — "Visited Mrs. C , a Eoman Catholic. She stated to me that her spiritual director had strongly objected to their receiving tracts, etc. Her child was very ill, so I proposed praying for its recovery. This was too much for Mrs. C.'s scruples to oppose ; the poor woman, I could see very plainly, scarcely knew what to do, although she assented, on my representing that it would be great wickedness to oppose such an act. I knelt before Grod and prayed for the child — a sweet little boy, and an old ac- quaintance of mine — meanwhile, the poor woman was in a pitiable state of perturbation, bustling about the room, moving the furniture, she knew h2 100 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. not, I conceive, for what purpose, save to endeavour to ease the perturbation of her mind." The spiritual thraldom, of which this is a specimen, is, of course, most deadly in its in- fluence, and yet this woman was not by any means a strict Romanist, or I should not have been likely to be so mildly dealt with. The next case is one of very painful interest, illustrating the manner in which Popish error fol- lows its victims, until the last gasp is gasped. The priest alluded to became sickly, returned to Italy, and has, I learn, since passed to another world. To imagine the dupe and duped, both standing before God to be judged, is a. solemn thought : — "Mrs. was a Eoman Catholic. She was much addicted to drunkenness, and when intoxi- cated, was in the habit of beating her husband furiously, and behaving otherwise with great vio- lence. She always, however, received my visits very civilly when sober, and listened attentively to my instructions and prayers. At last, her long continued habits of intoxication, and other circum- stances, brought her into a consumption, of which she died. I, of course, felt it to be my duty to lay before her, from time to time, her awful condition as a sinner before God, and Ker need of repentance and faith. She repeatedly appeared affected, and wept, declaring ' she felt miserable and wretched,' and that she was conscious she was a great sinner. She seemed to say : — THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 101 * I tremble, lest the wrath Divine, Which bruises now my sinful soul. Should bruise this wretched soul of mine. Long as eternal ages roll.' "Her case was progressing very hopefully, but several Sisters of Mercy (what a libel on that sweet word!) visited her, and brought the priest and another Roman Catholic visitor. I was very much insulted by this man on one occasion. The poor woman's good impressions appeared to wear away before the influences of the instruction she received from these visitors. She died wretchedly. "Mrs. J.'s husband was not a Romanist, and from him and another person present, I had the following account : — The priest came and adminis- tered extreme unction, and mumbled some Latin over her, according to the usual practice, and then said in broken English, (he was an Italian,) ' You good Christian now — you very joyful — you very happy — you go to heaven,' and left. I inquired of her husband, a man of little energy, why he allowed such delusion to be practised in his own apartment ; he appeared afraid of her relatives. Mrs. C , opposite, who kindly attended her until her death, informed me that, just before she died, she said, ' I should like to have five candles, but J (her husband) can't afford it — have three over me.' Mrs. C. said, ' My poor creature, what will be the use of the candles over you when you are dead ? ' * Sure,' said she, ' to light me to heaven." " The next case is one of untimely death — deplorable and affecting. Under the influence of temptation, the Christian flies to his Saviour, and his language is, — 102 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. " On Him in faith I never call, To Him I neyer flee, But what I find, my Christ — my all^ Fights well the war for me." But, under the sore influence of temptation, the unhappy Romanist finds no such refuge. Whilst depending upon a host of saintly intercessors, and mediation of the Virgin Mary, it cannot be so. Had the subject of the following notice possessed faith in Christ, instead of perishing a miserable suicide, she might have lived and died happily : — " Mrs. D was a miserable woman, a Boman- ist. She said to a Mrs. , a neighbour, in the afternoon, ' Good-bye, Mrs. , you'll never see me any more.' Mrs. said, * Oh ! nonsense ! you're always talking such stuff.^ * Aye,' said she, ' but you do not know how busy the devil is with me.' In the evening her dead body was brought home, having been taken out of the Thames, near Blackfriars Bridge. I visited her husband, a Romanist also, and endeavoured to improve the solemn event." The following account of the death of a Roman " Catholic prostitute is very shocking : — " Mrs. T had risen very early, as usual, to go to Covent Grarden for her greens, and stumbled on something in the dark on the stairs ; she recog- nised the voice of a prostitute who lived in the house, and who called her by a very shocking name. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 103 On procuring a light, she found the poor creature sadly intoxicated, lying on the stairs, with a glass in one hand, and a bottle in the other. She appears to have made her way home in the night, from some haunt of dissipation, with these articles in her possession. From the effects (it was supposed) of this debauch, she died shortly afterwards. The lodgers were afterwards, they informed me, much annoyed by the horrid din caused by what is termed * waking.'' " The Irish Roman Catholic population are, when intoxicated, particularly furious, especially towards Protestants. I have seen the police knocked about sadly. The following is an in- stance. It forms in my journals part of the detail of a visit to a barber^s shop on my district, on the Saturday evening, for Missionary purposes : — " During my sojourn in Mr. D 's shop, many customers came in; I continued there about two hours, conversing and speaking on spiritual and moral subjects the while, for their instruction. "A remarkably athletic young Irishman came in, and entered into conversation. I was speaking just then on the sin and folly of men spending their hard earnings in public-houses and gin-shops, and the evils to which drunkenness led. ' Faith, then,' said the Irishman, ' sure, master, you are right now ; I never was in trouble (that is, in prison) but once, and that was for drink.' From his sub- sequent narrative, I found he was the man who, about three months since, committed one of the most desperate outrages I remember to have occurred 104 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. in this neighbourhood. * I went,' said he, ' into Mr. 's shop, in , and he said to me, says he, I shan't serve you with any more, you can't walk straight as it is. Well, I insists on being sarved, and, says he, I'll put you out, and takes hould of me to do it. "Well thin, I know my timper's bad when I've been dhrinking, and so I shuffled with him.' The fact was, he inserted his hand in the poor publican's neckcloth, and had nearly strangled him before he could be torn away. ' Well, then,* he continued, 'they sent for the police, and they come up, and as fast as they come up to take me I put 'em down one by one.' It appeared from the accounts given at the time, that this man, un- assisted by any companions, fought seven police- men, who came up in succession, knocking one down no fewer than seven times. A party in the shop made some revengeful remark respecting the police, and was reproved by me. The Romanist said, ' Eevenge was sweet.' ' Well now,' said he, ' you put me in mind of something. When I got to the House of Correction, they set me to pick oakum ; there we sat,' said he, (imitating,) ' in rows. The man that sat fronting me, it was as good to me to see him there, as if anyone had given me a sovereign.' " It appeared this prisoner had been a policeman, against whom he had conceived an enmity. I warned this man that he might come into even more serious trouble, if such were his des- perate habits when intoxicated, and gave him suitable advice, to which he listened with rough respect. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 105 I recollect seeing one Irish Romanist attack a policeman in the most savage manner, quite throwing him into the air. He professed his hatred, as he said, of " the breed of Luther," and then treated the constable in the manner described; he was intoxicated. The peculiar ferocity of some Irish Romanists, not alone when intoxicated, appears to me to arise in . no small measure from the lessons of hatred inculcated by their religion. Any nation which has been exposed for centuries to the influences of a system, which curses at the altar in the most horrible manner, curses which one would not wish our bitterest enemy — for we are taught to bless and not to curse* — such a reli- gion cannot fail to add greatly to that enmity, which always exists (whatever the creed be) in the unconverted heart. The Roman Catholic portion of the poor popu- lation of London, is estimated at one-seventh of the whole. I should have felt very happy to have given some of those many remarkable cases of usefulness amongst Papists, which abound in the records of our Mission, especially from the journals of the Irish missionaries to the Irish * Matt. V. 44 J Eom. xii. 14, 20 j etc. 106 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. Romanists, and of the Italian missionaries to the Itahan Romanists, but such details would occupy volumes. All that can be well done in a work like the present, relating to a personal effort, for the full detail of which I have very far from sufficient space, is to direct the reader to the Magazines and Reports of the Society, which abound in the most deeply interesting details of labour and success. The following are some particulars of a very interesting case of a Polish refugee : — The Hungarian, Polish, and Italian refugees have a loft upon my district, which is converted into a barrack. Berths, three deep, are fitted up against the wall, and here they live, eat, and sleep. The poor men have very little upon which to exist, and that little is supplied by the Chartists, and some have a little from the Polish Association. A. Colonel in the Roman army lives at a beershop in T Street. Their manner of living is very simple ; some cheap meat curried with much rice in the middle of the day, and perhaps a cup of coffee and a little bread in the evening ; but they get very little, and have to ease hunger by smoking. A pipe is many a poor man's dinner — learn, ye sons of ease and opulence, and learn therefore to pity. The Chartists hold ^^ halls'' here for the benefit of the refugees, which are a source of great temptation and evil, and I have reproved them respecting such practices, to which they reply that it is done for the benefit of the refugees, who would starve if they did not thus assist them. " All men have not faith," 2 Thess. iii. 2. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 107 The balls are justified, also, on the plea that the people must have amusements; and the Sunday evening political discussions are justified, also, by the assertion that " Jesus Christ was a democrat.'* They have of course been directed by me to attend the house of God on the Sabbath. The number of these refugees lessens ; some emigrate to Ame- rica, some obtain employment at their various trades. All have been soldiers in Italy and Hun- gary, and some were in France during the revo- lution of 1848, but were driven from that country after the election of Louis Napoleon as President, and fled to England. I have met with one death amongst them, that of a Pole, Lieut. . This accomplished and interesting young officer was a Homan Catholic as a Pole, and had served in the Polish revolution. After being exiled, he obtained a living in several continental countries as a civil engineer and teacher of the mathematics and lan- guages. He took part in the Italian revolution of 1848 in Tuscany, and afterwards went to France, where he was in good employment, he informed me, until the President expelled refugees from France, when he of course had to flee, and came to England. The cold, and the hardships of a soldier's life, and the wounds he had received, appear to have fostered the pulmonary disease from which he died. I found Lieut. in a miserable back garret in T Street, destitute of either furniture or a bed. A broken chair or two, and a wooden table, comprised the comforts of this humble habitation ; and this destitution of furni- ture, with the dirty walls, the whitewash of which was yellow and decayed, and the place almost in ruins, formed a strange contrast with the polite- ness and elegant manners of the occupants, who were the lieutenant and a comrade, who 108 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. remained with his officer in his extremity. The manners of armies, depraved though in many- instances they be, are frequently the heroism of philanthropy, deserving a better trade than man- slaying : — " The knight in the pride of chivalry, Clad in armour of silver or steel, — Such vision of glory must pass away, Beneath the mild and healing ray, Which Christ wiU cause the nations to feel. " And the world shall learn glory to be Not in a reeking sword. Bathed in the blood of the enemy. And blazoned for ever in heraldry. But in spreading the truth abroad. ** And the warrior of Christ shall be honoured and sung, And the herald shall tell what the Cross has won." He had been removed from the barrack, as in his diseased condition, the agglomeration of breaths in the night almost suffocated him ; he was ordered nourishment by the parish doctor who attended him, which he could not obtain ; and the female who rents the rag shop and parlour below, declared to me she believed he was being starved to death. His English being very imperfect, I conversed with him in Erench, and he appeared very anxious for spiritual instruction. He had read the Bible, and appeared to possess a very retentive memory, and could repeat portions of Scripture when prompted by me ; this knowledge he had acquired since being driven from Poland by the arms of the Euss. In his own country he was a landed proprietor, but when once exiled, no letter from or to Eussia- Poland could pass the frontier. One he sent was opened and returned; so, after a long lapse of THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 109 years, he was unable even to communicate with his friends ; there was no friendly frontier near, to which a letter could be clandestinely conveyed. I have reason to believe this child of misfortune was in a hopeful condition of mind ; the instruction he received appeared to produce much impression upon him. No priest came to visit him, nor did he wish for one ; he called me mon pere, and listened reverently to the enunciation of Divine truth. Fragments of Eomish superstition, however, hung about him to the last — remnants of " The Papal web." He did not believe that a priest could forgive sins absolutely ; I am of opinion he was too enlightened ; but he believed I could absolve him, on repentance and faith in Christ on his part. Upon the great subject — man's redemption, I of course had much conversation with him, and catechised him con- tinually, and he firmly avowed his conviction that he was a sinner by nature and a sinner by practice, that no works of his own could save him, and respecting the person and work of our one Saviour, he could give very correct account ; but the frag- ments of Eomish error hung around him to the last, although I have good reason to hope they were shattered fragments, and that saving faith had penetrated between them to his soul ; but it was " smoking flax," a feeble flame. As he approached death, he became very anxious I should hear his confession. In reply to this request, I said, " Do you feel you are a sinner ?" He emphatically declared, " I do." " Atq you," said I, " truly sorry for all your sins ? " He replied fervently, that he was. " Do you," said I, "renounce and forsake them all?" He declared very solemnly, " I do." He lay on his humble 110 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. pallet of straw, which charity had procured him, and the pallor of death, which I have seen too many hundred times to mistake, was on his face, and on his eye and clammy forehead — a period in human life when men are perhaps least apt to simulate. "Now," said I, "you have confessed; what remains is, for you to pray to our Saviour Christ for forgiveness, who only can forgive you." He said, " Yes," and we prayed. But the shattered remnants of Papal superstition hung around him to the last. He afterwards wished me to give him a crucifix to kiss, to put him in remembrance of Jesus. I told him it would not answer any good Eurpose so to do, and said, " Adore Christ in your eart;" and I then repeated a little impromptu adoration of our Redeemer. He placed his hands together, and appeared deeply engaged in Divine meditation whilst I spoke. Perhaps this young man had a fond mother, for he was evidently well and gentle bred, who would have given half the world to have been there, to have closed the eyes of her child ; or a sister, perhaps, who might just then have been thinking and weep- ing over the remembrance of her long exiled brother — thinking perhaps of the days, when, on their own lands in childhood, they played together on the greensward : — " The grateful breeze was breatliing round, And golden flowers bedeck' d the ground ; Health, peace, and calm content were there, — Those halycon days !" But there were none of earth to stand by him in the hour of death, but a comrade and a Missionary. Just before he died, he made an effort to reach my hand, which, on offering to him, he took between his own, and with extreme difficulty raised to his THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. Ill lips and kissed it, and then placed it upon his heart, and endeavoured to express his thankfulness for my visits; but "the silver cord was loosed," the " dust returned to the dust as it was, and the spirit returned to God who gave it." He passed into eternity. — " Eternity, that vast unknovm, Who can that deep abyss explore ; Which swallows up the ages gone, And rolls its billows evermore ? Oh ! may we find that boundless sea, A hrightf a hless'd eternity." The chapter will now conclude with a brief account of a visit to St. George's Roman Catholic Cathedral, South wark, on the morning of Can- dlemas-day, 1851. The writer visited this Cathedral for Missionary purposes, among other occasions, on last Candle- mas-day. A brief description of that visit will not be out of place, in a detail of the practices of Romanism : — Being a dark winter's morning favoured the exhibition, but the moiety of dayhght which was not excluded by the curtains, lessened the dramatic effect. It was of course high-mass. The altar is certainly a magnificent structure, and within its precincts, on another less important occasion, I counted no less than one hundred and fifty-six lights. On the left is the throne of the Cardinal, who, on this occasion was to preach. Abundance of scarlet and gold are seen in every part, which forms a studied contrast with the plain- 112 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. ness of tlie cathedral itself, and the organ and choir gallery, which wear an extremely mortified appear- ance. The organ is an excellently toned one, and excellently played, and the choir is full and effec- tive — the music fascinating. On entering and paying sixpence, I was presented by the verger with a ticket, of which there were different kinds given. I walked towards the middle aisle to secure a good seat, but was at once stopped by a man in a black robe, wlio I understood to be a member of a Holy Guild ; he pointed to the side aisle, and re- ceiving my ticket, said, " That way." Taking no notice, I walked forward, but he stopped me, say- ing, " You must go there." I inquired in a whisper, " Why ? " although I certainly did not fully need the information, and was told, not very civilly, " It was because I had not paid enough." In passing to this second-rate accommodation, I observed others were furnished with much worse. These were the poor, who are admitted on payment of one penny, which payment I have observed to be scrupulously exacted. These are placed in long pens on either side, at the back of the cathedral, railed off from the other portions of the edifice, as at Moorfields, etc., and are not allowed seats at all. I recollect once at Moorfields Chapel being forcibly struck with the almost barbarity of this, in the instance of various women who stood ne^ my seat. The pro- cession of priests, holy boys, etc., which passed twice round the aisles, consisted of upwards of sixty individuals, the leading priest sprinkling holi/ water on either side, which is supposed to have some sanctifying effect on the edifice and its occu- pants ; each of the members of the procession carried a candle of great size, and a number had notes, singing as they perambulated, and accom- panied by the organ. Then mass proceeded, after THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. 113 which a hymn was sung, and Cardinal "Wiseman, with mitre on head, and crook in hand, was pro- cessioned with great pomp to the pulpit. He as- cended the stairs, preceded by one attendant priest, and followed by another, who stationed themselves on each side the Cardinal in the pulpit. Positions being thus arranged, he was helped off with his mitre by the priest on his riglit, who on receiving the same, devoutly kissed his hand; the Cardinal then committed the silver-headed crook to the priest on his left hand, who also kissed his hand on receiving the same. The sermon consisted chiefly of a detail of the paraphernalia of the ancient Jewish Church, attendant on its rites and ceremonies, and of the Divine light, the Shechinah, that filled the temple,* from which a comparison was drawn of the superior glory of the Christian Church, as possessing the body, blood, and Divinity of our blessed Saviour, " ever present in the adorable sacrifice of the mass.''^ How different from such error, the pure and unsophisticated teachings of our own Protestant faith ! How well said Cotton Mather : — ""WTien the cloud of glory, which was the Sheckinah, that had our Saviour with the angels of his presence dwelling in it, came down and filled the temple of old, what a grateful spectacle was it, and what acclamations of joy and praise were heard from those who saw it ! Now a godly man is a temple of Grod, a living temple, far dearer to him than the most costly and splendid material temple in the world. And our Saviour comes into a hearty * 2 Chron. v. 13, 14. I 114 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPULATION. that is continually instructing, reforming, and solacing itself by thinking of him. * O thou heart that pantest after thy Saviour, so kind is he, so very kind, that even at the call of a thought, he will come in unto thee ! ' " This is well spoken — Christ formed in the heart the hope of glory.* Before this Rome fades. No room here for the arrogant presumptions of Homish mediators between Heaven and earth. No space for the blasphemy of miracle-mongers, who would persuade the sons of men, that by vain and impious prayers, power is committed to them, to conjure the fruits of the earth into the body and blood of the earth's Creator and Redeemer. The Lord have mercy on the deluded ! The Lord keep closer to our hearts the simplicity which is in Christ Jesus ! — " Heaven's easy, artless, unencumbered plan ! * # * * * From ostentation as from weakness free, It stands like the Cerulean arch we see, Majestic in its own simplicity. * * * Believe and live ! " Cowpeh, * Colossians i. 27. THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 115 CHAPTER III. THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. Prevalence of various forms of infidelity — Eebuke from an Ojibbeway chief — Statements of sceptics — Objections of an omnibus cad — Neglect of employers to further the Grospel — Pleasing instance of conversion — Infidel violence — Affecting details — Another case — Infidels immoral persons — The Scriptural definition of the atheist as " nahal " — Atheistic admission of something not to be identified with matter — A note on atheism — Painstaking to infase infidehty — Yic- toria Park — The writer's agent puzzled — A plausible objection — The reply — A sceptical sweep — A daring and immoral atheist — Specious geological objection — Heply — ' Importance of studying Biblical criticism — Eemark of Dr. Morison — Best mode of arguing with infidels — Discussion with an atheistic and socialist lecturer — The argument from the Jews — Hopeful conversion of an infidel, and general usefulness to the whole family — " My speech shall distil as the dew." It is very affecting to contemplate the undeniable extent to which professed infidelity prevails among the working orders. And as also we cannot consistently regard that person as a believer who I 3 116 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. is unable, when questioned, to give any good grounds for belief in Christianity, I am reluctantly compelled to conclude, from years of observation, that the majority of persons on my late district were infidels. Very little credit for sincerity can be given, I apprehend — and I speak from actual observa- tion — to such infidels as, possessing secular know- ledge, have really inquired into the evidences of Christianity. I believe such professed infidelity to be generally a mask — but, to continue the figure of speech, this maskj this iron mask, we remember, may be worn until the features are moulded into its form. The fearful denunciation is then fulfilled : " Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, and for this cause God shall send them strong delu- sion, that they should believe a lie,^^ 2 Thess. ii. 10, 11. The vulture forms of error and sin, wait but the departure of the striving Spirit of God, and then they sail down upon the understanding and heart, as carrion patent to their use. They " arise and devour much flesh.^' The profession of intellectual infidelity is, how- ever, in general a mask, and at all times but as THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 117 " sounding brass and tinkling cymbal/' as hollow, as empty, and as vain. But there is very much infidelity amongst the working classes that does not sound at all; it lurks in the human heart, " a canker worm,'' that pursues noiselessly the destruction of all right principles and virtue. The plan of this work does not admit of ex- tended dissertation, and it is difficult to make cursory remarks upon great subjects ; but a few inquiries may be well, as to how far the Church of Christ is chargeable with this state of things, or whether the Church is blameless. Surely but one answer can be given to this question, when we remember that Home Mission- ary Societies are mainly the offspring of the present century, and that even now there are to be found in the churches of several denomina- tions, some pastors and people who repudiate Missionary efforts altogether, and in their minis- trations and private efforts do not even invite sinners. The Gospel seems long to have been, in one sense, as a rusty sword in the hands of the Church, and when at last the condition of our home population had become so eminently peril* 118 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 0U8, as to awaken the Church to a sense of the necessity for some effort, the rust of apathy and of sectarianism was found so to have accumulated around it, that almost desperate efforts were necessary to band together sufficient hands, from different denominations, to expose it by a united effort to some portion of a neglected, error- stricken, and perishing multitude. When the Ojibbeway Indians were lately in London, some pious men endeavoured to convert them to Christianity — efforts which their chief declined thus : — " Now, my friends, I will tell you that when we first came over to this country, we thought we should find the white people all good and sober people ; but as we travel about we find this was all a mistake. When we first came over, we thought the white man's religion would make all people good, and we then would have been glad to talk with you, but now we cannot say that we like to do it any more. My friends, I am willing to talk with you, if it can do any good to the hundreds and thousands of poor an^ hungry people that we see in your streets every day when we ride out. We see hundreds of little children with their naked feet in the snow, and we pity them, for we know that they are hungry, and we give them money every time we pass by them. In four days, we have given twenty dollars to hungry children — we give our money only to children. We are told that the fathers of these children are in ale-houses THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 119 where they sell fire-water, and are drunk, and in their words they every moment abuse and insult the G-reat Spirit. You talk about sending black coats among the Indians; now we have no such poor children among us ; we have no such drunkards, or people who abuse the G-reat Spirit. Indians dare not do so. They pray to the Great Spirit, and he is kind to them. Now we think it would be better for you teachers all to stay at home, and go to work right here in your own streets, where all your good work is wanted. This is my advice. I would rather not say any more." The correctness of this North Western chief^s statement, respecting the condition of the Ojib- beway nation, cannot be admitted, as the Annual Report of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions for 1848 — the very period that they were in this country — will testify ; but the reproof has much force. The importance of Foreign Missions, and of their extension, is un- speakable, but sad neglect has prevailed respecting the immense mass of heathenism in our midst. One favourite argument of infidels and others, I have found to be to the following efiect : — "Religion," it has been said to me, "^5 all a sham. It's all very well to go to church and chapel, and very genteel, but I'll never believe these people consider my soul will burn in hell for ever and ever. If they do, they must be brutes indeed. "Why, if I saw a poor creature under a cart-wheel, I'd try to pull him out, but hell you say is worse still. If 120 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. they believed it, we should hear more about it than we do." Then would frequently follow some such statement as this : — " I worked for (so and so) so many years, regular people, paid you your wages regular ; not bad masters ; well, they went to their church, (sometimes it would run to their chapels ;) very strict to their religion ; but I never knew them to ask a man, woman, or child in their employ, where tJiey went on Sundays, or anything about it : no, no ; religion's for you gentlefolks, not for us poor people ; still I like your conversation.'* I have of course detailed to such persons that the religion of the Saviour, which commands "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself/' which forbids all vice, and inculcates all virtue, is that alone under which a troubled world can resty and have exhorted the objector to "repent and become converted/'* The statement made has often been far less favourable to employers, similar to this : — " Do you know the firm of (A & B, etc. ?) "Well, you see what my business is ; I have to work from six in the morning generally, to eleven at night ; I am paid so much per dozen ; I can make up so many dozen in that time ; and so, you per- * The City Mission has a very devout Rule in its " In- structions to Missionaries :" — " Read a portion of Scripture, and offer prayer^ if practicaile, in every house or room you visit." The importance of this Rule appears to me beyond all expression. These Instructions, which are truly excellent, may be seen attached to every Annual Report. THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 121 ceive, sir, I can hardly get bread for my family so. My master's a strict chapeller, and is very rich ; he never says anything to us about religion ; and you see what wages he pays, and if I don't do it others will." Another, for example, in reference to a late noted auctioneer, when reproved for not attending to the concerns of his soul, said, in a very respect- ful manner, — "I'll think it over — fact is, sir, I've been set against religion. Mr. used to drive up to London wdth his family on Sunday morning to go to church ; very particular to his church. Well, he'd come home, and come into the yard, and keep us men there for hours, to have the horses out to try their paces. A civil man he was, but that set me against religion." Large classes of the community are prevented by their occupations from keeping ^'holy the Sabbath-day.^^ This, of course, does not excuse their disobedience. Were they godly, they would far prefer to sweep a crossing, and live on a crust, than to live in habitual violation of the laws of God ; but their case is unhappily otherwise. As I sat in an omnibus, distributing tracts to the passengers — an excellent practice whilst riding, one involving little trouble, and likely to produce much good — 1 offered one to the conductor, who shook his head, and refused it thus : — 122 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. " No, sir," said he civilly, "not for me ; we are the scum of society you know, and obliged to break the Sabbath — we drive other people to their churches and chapels ; we can't go ourselves. Keligion is not for us — we're blackguards — respect- able people hate us." After a little pleasant con- versation, in which I told him I felt anything but hatred towards him, and that I hoped he was under a great mistake in such a general conclusion, he took the tract, and said, " Well, look here, sir — I wanted to get away from this work, and have time so that I might improve my mind. Doctor wanted a man to drive his phaeton, so I applied for the place ; my character's good, ask anybody here. He'd known me very well for a long time. ' I've no doubt your character's good,' said he, ' but I could not have an omnibus man to drive me, you're known to so many people.' " I mention the last statement simply to show how difficult it is in the midst of much scarcity and uncertainty of employment, for very many of the working classes to leave occupations that afford no time whatever for mental improvement. I know it is replied by employers, in the case of omnibus men, that they can forfeit a day^s pay if they wish to be saints, and employ an odd man, or one of those who, for various reasons, can obtain only casual employment. The party so acting would, however, retain employment but a short time; of course, if he had faith, the Almighty would raise up other means of THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 123 support for him, (Matt. vi. 24 — 34,) but we are speaking, alas ! of an unconverted mass of human beings. I proceed to relate a very pleasing case of the conversion of a sceptic. How readily is the soul converted when the Almighty breathes upon " these slain that they may live ! " My labours have occasionally been directed to individual cases off my district, and I think it right to state the case occurred rather more than six years since. To the neighbourhood in which the case occurred — Victoria Park — I was sent on one occasion, in company with another Missionary, to reason with the infidels who assemble there, and report to the Mission : — I had been speaking iu the open air, and was giving away tracts, previous to departing. On presenting one to a young man who had been hearing me, he appeared much troubled, and de- sirous to make some communication. He was dirty, unwashed, unshaven, and looked very dissi- pated and miserable. I made some remark on the importance of religion, on which his eyes became moistened with tears. " I feel," said he, " in a dreadful state of mind. I came out of the ," pointing to a public-house hard by, "when they turned out for church time,* and I stopped to listen to you, and now I feel wretched and miserable. * The law has been since amended, but so far only as respects the Sabbath morning. 124 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION'. I was not always," said he, pointing to his dirty and dissipated appearance, "as you see me on the Sabbath-day." In reply to further questioning, I found he had once walked in the ways of religion, and had been a member of Spitalfields Wesleyan chapel. After running well for years, he fell into temptation, through companionship with sceptical individuals, and gradually relapsed into the lost and degraded condition in which I found him, mixed with a herd of wretched and degraded men, who were turned out on the Sabbath morning from the tap-room of the Blind Beggar. My words, he stated, had gone to his very soul ; his countenance was dejected and sad; his heart seemed charged with misery. I invited him to attend a Missionary station, at which I stood engaged to conduct wor- ship in the evening, and commending him to the Saviour, we parted. In the evening I looked for my new acquaintance, but he was not present, and I feared his good intentions had proved as the "morning cloud" and "the early dew," which "goeth away," Hos. vi. The good resolutions of the unconverted are too often like the life of man, "in the morning it is green, in the evening it is cut down and withered." Time rolled on, and another year had been added to the past, when one week evening, being in the east of London, I stepped into the place of worship where the party who forms the subject of this anecdote had informed me he was once a member. After the service, on rising to leave, I observed a well-dressed young person making his way towards me, who was perfectly unknown to me, but who shook me heartily by the hand, and appeared much pleased. Amongst the very many duties and inci- dents connected with my missionary career, the one to which I have alluded had been all but for- THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 125 gotten ; and I told the party who so warmly recog- nised me, that I thanked him for his kind expres- sions, but did not remember to have known him. When, however, he reminded me of our meeting at Mile End Gate, I at once recognised him — but how changed ! In the well-dressed, neatly-trimmed, happy, and healthy-looking person who stood before me, I might well be excused for not remembering the besmeared sot, pipe in hand, unshaven, dirty, and haggard, almost in tatters, issuing from a public-house on the Sabbath-day, surrounded by vile and debauched companions — but so it was. Grod had thrown him in my path, and applied the Scriptures with power to his heart. He had found his way back that very evening to that ancient sanctuary, — " The old liouse at home," — to the seat where his mother had sat before him, and the Lord Jesus there spoke forgiveness to the heart of this troubled wanderer from his fold. The antipathy of many infidels to religious teachers is often very violent. The following is an instance : — I made my way into a house, (nearly all the doors are open upon my district continually, and the houses let out in floors and single rooms ;) I knocked at a room door, it was opened, and ]VIr. Tubbs, then a stranger to me, was within. So soon, however, as he was fully aware of the object of my visit, he became extremely violent. I said there could be no occasion to speak so harshly, as if he declined my visits I should of course leave his apartment instantly. He ordered 126 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. me to do so, and was so violent that I deemed it prudent to retire, giving him, however, as I went down stairs, a faithful, but respectful warning, that it was no light matter to insult my sacred office. Mr. Tubbs very shortly afterwards dropped down suddenly at his work, and became in a strange and reaUy fearful condition. He immediately sent for me. The impression upon his mind appeared to be that it was a judgment upon him, as, imme- diately I entered the room where he laid, he grasped my hand, and said, " Oh ! forgive me ! oh ! forgive me!" — uttering these words with a terrible ex- pression of woe upon his countenance. I felt very much for him — it was truly affecting to observe his condition of mental suffering. Dying and being damned, was the burden of the woful fears of this poor man. He might truly have said : — " My hopes and fears Start up alarm' d, and o'er life's narrow verge Look down — on what ? A fathomless abyss — A dread eternity !— how surely mine l " Conviction comes like the breath of evening over some minds, but conviction comes like the tornado on others; it had seized him, and he writhed in mental misery. Mr. Tubbs continued in this condition for a considerable space of time — several months. I made him very long visits, but he said repeatedly, "Let me have your hand!" and, "Don't go; can't you stop longer?" It appeared to be his delight to have me near him, praying with him. At last he died. I hardly know what to conclude respecting his last end ; he certainly died under great conviction of sin. I have not, however, sufficient grounds for enabling me to say I believe he died exercising faith in THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 127 Christ. I can only repeat respecting him, that it was a terrible scene. Some of the unconverted have "no bands in their death;" but there is another scripture — "Be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong." Poor Mr. Tubbs was indeed tied and bound with the chain of his sin, and felt his awful condition. To die in either of these conditions is not "the death of the righteous." The following is another remarkable case which occurred to me among the infidel portion of the community : — A member of the head families of the Gipsies, who has long resided upon my district, was inclined to infidel sentiments some years since, and utterly regardless of the Sabbath or of public worship. He has long, however, been a regular attendant upon my meetings, and has deeply studied his Bible. Although totally uneducated, he possessed very considerable shrewdness, and I sometimes was somewhat startled by his addressing me thus ; " Have you seen this here new vurk, * Mr. Yan- kerkiste?" — alluding to some very expensive issue from the press — and then he would repeat some sentiment or an extract. I was wondering how he could gain access to such expensive literature, knowing that, being a poor cripple, he could not often obtain even a sufficiency of bread by his occupation of chair-caning. He regards his suffer- ings from poverty, he says, as a punishment upon him for not making better account of his early days. A friend who visited with me, to whom his * A Gipsey pronounces the w as t?. 128 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. condition of mind was unknown, very properly asked him if he considered his sufferings would be accepted by the Lord as an atonement for his sins. " Ah ! my good sir," said he, shaking his head and pointing upwards, "■ I knows better than that now. It is Jesus Christ, and him only, who can save my poor soul." When I inquired of him how he was enabled to peruse such expensive books, he would smile and say "Never mind;" but one day (I think he had been alluding to Humboldt's *' Cosmos,") I asked him the question more point- edly, and found he hobbled on his crutch to St. Paul's Churchyard and Paternoster Eow, " And there," said he, "the books is all of a row, (don't I long to have 'em, though, sometimes,) and they turns over fresh pages, and I reads like anything. Why," said he, "I picks up a deal." Mr. argues with infidels now, and gives me an account sometimes of his discussions. I was much pleased the other day by a statement he made to me, and I quote it here as bearing forcibly upon the subject of this chapter, and illustrating the great pains taken to instil atheism and infidelity into the minds of the working classes in a variety of ways : — " The other night," said he, " there was a respect- able young man, a stranger, at the bottom of the court ; some of us was standing taking the air, and he come up to talk. I soon found out he was an atheist. He said, as how there was no Almighty ; and, says he, will you tell me if something can come out of nothing ? And pray, says I, sir, will THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 129 you have the kindness to tell me what is nothing r What do you know about nothing ? Why, says I, don't talk so foolish, young man, there is no such thing as nothing ; the very smoke in the chimlley don't go to nothing ; there aint no nothing. And, pray, said I, could you or any man place the sun where he is, or the moon, or the stars? If there was no Almighty, who placed them there ? Why, says I, look at a blade of grass, look at a flower, and don't talk such stuff to us, young man, as to say there is no Grod, for we knows better." I direct Mr. to argue with all the infidels he can meet, and these particulars were given in answer to questions as to whether he had had any discussions lately. He attends Smithfield occa- sionally on Sunday afternoons, and argues with the infidels there. The Asiatic-like vehemency of his manner and gesture, common to the Gipsey tribe, makes my poor friend really an orator. Said he to me, — " One said, there never was sich a person as Jesus Christ upon earth. So, says I, ' Pray, do you believe there vos sich a man as Julius Caesar ?' ' Yes,' says he, ' I does.' ' And pray,' says I, ' do you believe there ever vos sich a man as Alexander the G-reat ? ' ' Tes,' says he. ' And Homer ? ' says I. ' Yes,' says he. ' And pray,' says I, ' vy do you believe in them, when you wont beHeve there ever vos a Jesus Christ ? ' " When he is met by objections he cannot reply to, he falls back on those impregnable 130 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. arguments of which he is master, and lays the ohjections before me for elucidation at our next interview. Our last conversation consisted prin- cipally of a dissertation upon the Hebrew Elohim (Gen. i.,) and the argument in favour of the plurality in singularity of the Divine Being to be deduced therefrom, in connection with other passages. He had met with some objection upon the subject. Mr. L. is, I trust, to some extent, in a hopeful spiritual condition, and is one of four Gipsies who have long settled on my district. Two are for- tune-tellers, etc., and the third a street knife- grinder. I have been distressed to see this poor man wading through the mud in bad weather behind his grinding barrow, with scarcely rags to cover him, and remnants of shoes almost hanging off his feet. Had he a better opportunity to obtain a livehhood, and but for his large family, he would, I think, like to itinerate the country in a Gipsey tent. These tents are stated to me to be very warm and comfortable with a good fire, and that the health of Gipsies does not suffer from exposure. The last statement I much doubt, but use will of course effect much. Mr. L.'s grandfather, with whom he for many years itine- THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 131 rated in tents, camping in driftways, etc., died at the very advanced age of one hundred and three ; his grandson has a water colour portrait of him in his room. I wish I could speak favourably respecting the morality of those atheists with whom I have met; such, however, is very far from being the case ; I have discovered their morality to be analogous to their creed : — dark and crooked reasoning, To make the fair and lovely earth a cold and fiitherless, Forsaken thing, that wanders on forlorn, A vapour eddying in the whirl of chance." POLLOK. Their seasonings on morals, I have found to be quite as crooked. The so-called atheists with whom I have met, have proved, with few exceptions, upon being closely questioned, not really to be atheists at all. They have admitted some causation, and when pressed closely upon the subject of intelligent causation, and required to define terms, they have fairly broken down, and become angry. Atheism is to be regarded as the desperate shift of an ill-regulated mind, determined to rid itself k2 132 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. of responsibility at the expense of all reason and argument. The Scriptures speak of the atheist by the Hebrew word nahal (Psa. xiv. 1,) which has several significations. It denotes an empty fellow — a contemptible person — a villain. If his atheism be assumed^ and his object be to rid men's minds of the fear of God and belief in Christian verities for sinister purposes, he is indeed nahal — a villain ; and in any other case, his atheism can only proclaim him nahal still — a vessel of emptiness and folly. — " Tlie fool hath said, * There is no God :' No God ! Who hghts the morning siin, And sends him on his heavenly road, A fair and brilhant course to run ? Who, when the radiant day is done, Hangs forth the moon's nocturnal lamp, And bids the planets, one by one, St^ o'er the night vales dark and damp ? " No God ! Who gives the evening dew, The fanning breeze, the fostering shower ? Who warms the spring-mom's budding bough And paints the summer's noontide flower ? Who spreads, in the autumnal bower, The firuit-trees' mellow stores around ; And sends the winter's icy power To invigorate the exhausted ground ? THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 133 -^ " -^o God ! "VVTio makes tlie bird to wing i Its flight-like arrow through the sky, And gives the deer its power to spring ■' From rock to rock triumphantly ? No G-od ! Who warms the heart to heave With thousand feelings soft and sweet, And prompts th' aspiring soul to leave The earth we tread beneath our feet ? *' No God ! Who fixed the solid ground On pillars strong that altered not ? Who spread the curtain' d skies around ? Who doth the ocean bounds allot ? Who all things to perfection brought On earth below, in heaven abroad ? Go, ask the fool of impious thought. That dares to say,—' There is no God ! '" * Conversing lately with one of the most pro- fessedly stanch atheists with whom I am acquainted, after replying to a variety of geo- logical objections, I asked him if he really did not recognise a something within him which he could not identify with matter; I referred to thought, and various attributes of what others than atheists term mind. He endeavoured to evade this, but on being pressed upon the point in a variety of ways,t he at last said, " Well, I * Knox. t One method of placing this argument is as follows : — In 134 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. must confess I do/' He confessed further, that he recognised that within him of which he could not conceive as matter. It follows that this man, although professing in the strongest manner to be a materialist, could not really be one, when his conceptions carried hira above materialism. Self-contradiction is a phase of the genius of atheism. I have thrown a very important remark or two upon atheism into a note.* It is quite evident the course of about seren years, it is conceded by all physio- logists, a man has not one particle of matter in his body or bones he had previously, but mind remains — -jpersonal identity and recollection even of the incidents of childhood are preserved. * To deny a cause to an effect is contradictory to man's ordinary mental impulse. This we see in the structure of every language under heaven — language the expression of man's ideas. In all languages we find such words as cause, efficiency, effect, production, produce, effectuate, create, generate, etc. ; and all verbs, moreover, in all languages, except intransitive impersonal verbs and the verb substantive, involve causation and efficiency ; and atheists who profess belief in eternal opera- tions of matter without a previous cause, beUe their own creed in ordinary conversation. For example, if we suppose an atheist to have been robbed, and to call his servants together, and say, where there is a theft there must be a thief it would be quite useless for the delinquent to assert that, according to his master's theological sentiments, an effect did not always require to be preceded by a cause. And further, it is conceded ahke by atheist and Christian, that we do see in the heavens above, in the earth beneath, and THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 135 that great efforts are being made to insinuate atheism and infidelity into the minds of the working classes. Having been an attendant at various of the Socialist and infidel halls of London for the purpose of pursuing my studies upon the subject, I have observed this fact with much pain. Men who have really some pretensions to learning, are found frequently indoctrinating the minds of others with the subtle poison of infidelity, in a manner which proves they know the falsity of what they promulgate as truth. The following is an instance : — in the waters under the earth, innumerable proofs of adapta- tion, utility, power, and beauty. Here again let us meet the atheist in the common walks of life — Does he not intuitively reason from the watch to the maker, from the artistic edifice to the builder ? — does he not day by day intuitively reason in ten thousand instances from the development of intelhgent design unto an intelhgent cause ? There is but one reply — he does. By a parity of reasoning he does not, therefore, deny an iatelligent cause to the intelligently designed creation which is around him, without perpetrating sheer and unmiti- gated folly, and palpable anomaly and self-contradiction. Is there no adaptation to the wants of man in the fruits of the earth ? Is not the eye adapted to sight, the ear to hear- ing, the mouth and larynx to speaking ? Is not the hand as cunningly devised as a rake or a spade ? " Who is this that darkeneth coimsel by words without knowledge ? Gird up now thy loins like a man ; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foxmda- tions of the earth ? . . Whereupon are the foundations thereof 136 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. I have alluded to Victoria Park. Several of the avenues leading to this park have been occupied all day on Sundays, and nearly every evening on week days, by infidels, who seek to proselytize with a zeal worthy of a better cause. A party to whom I have been made useful, oc- casionally circulates tracts for me amongst these persons, and argues with them. He came to me one morning, some time since, and said he felt much cast down, in consequence of having met with objections to which he could not reply. Amongst his opponents was a gentleman, who, fastened ? . . Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days ; and caused the dayspring to know its place ? " — Job. Surely there is as much design in the wing of the bird as in a garment made by hands. To concede, therefore, intelligent causation of the one, and to deny it to the other, would be — but for the consequences involved — simply ridiculous. Who taught the bee the results of intricate mathematical fluxions ? — " Profound geometer, who taught the bee Intricate science, and to rival thee ? With even hexagons to fill the plane. Thus ample room with utmost strength to gain ? Nor fill the plane alone ; through all the mass No waste of substance and no loss of space : Each cell descending in the angle true, As great Maclaurin by his fluxions knew ? . . . The appointed customs of each busy kind Display the working of thy master mind. THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 137 after the discussion, went into a neighbouring house of respectability ; a Jew was also opposed to my poor friend, who had been completely puzzled. One objection raised was this : Is it not said by Christ, he was asked, in Matthew xii. 40, " As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly ; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth ? '* This, the infidel said, contradicted the account elsewhere given, of (our Lord) Christ dying on the Friday evening, and rising on the morn of Fountain of science, spring of all that's wise, Thy moving power their energy supplies. Wisdom of God, high partner of his throne, The Father's pleasure, with the Father one — From Thee of heauty flow the varied streams. With marks of Thee exuberant nature teems : Thy influence spreads above, around, below, The best philosophy is Thee to know." Startling as the statement may be, it is proved that a drop of water, tenanted by the smallest animalcules known, termed monads, contains a number equal to that of the whole human population of the globe. An experimenter with some of the larger orders of animal- cules, but quite invisible to the naked eye, (Dr. Dick,) dropped by accident two minute portions of the matter containing difierent classes of animalcules into a Uttle water, one portion sunk and the other remained on the surface. He brought the microscope to bear upon the water, to examine what 138 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. the Sabbath. I could not gainsay this, said my friend, and it appeared to produce much eflfect on the crowd present, which consisted principally of poor labouring men like himself — men who were out strolling on the Sabbath morning, and who had strolled there to hear the discussions that are continually taking place. This objection, which is one of a large class — utterly baseless, but most plausible and telling until explained — and which are continually brought forward by men who know better, I mention for the purpose of illustrating the pains taken to leaven the lower orders with infidelity. Those poor uneducated men, would leave the ground increasingly divested of that moral restraint, which belief of Christianity throws around minds but even partially enlightened; they would effect would be produced by the contact of such immense numbers of beings of different orders and habits. He found that as those armies which inhabited the matter upon the surface in their descent from it, came near those who had been disengaged from the simken matter in their ascent^ no confusion occurred, as the latter, evidently designedly/ and bt/ instinct, separated into two bodies, allowing the descending myriads to pass between them, which they did, keeping close together. The creation we thus see is fuU of design, even beneath the ken of man's natural powers of vision. THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 139 depart sadly strengthened in tlie practices of drunkenness, debauchery, and other sins.* Some of the objections brought forward by atheists and others, to confute the chronology of Moses, are very specious, exceedingly calculated to beguile ignorant persons, ready and willing to evade their responsibiHty to God in any way. The following extract from my journal will pro- bably be read with interest : — "Mr. H , a sweep, who resides here, still persists in avowing his unbelief in the existence of a devil. I said to him, * I shall put it to you in this way, Mr. H.' — I am compelled to use the plainest form of speech to these people, as many monosyllables as possible, otherwise I should not be understood. — I said, ' I shall first prove to you that the Bible is the "Word of God ; next, that the Bible declares there is a devil ; so that if the Bible be true, and the Bible says there is a devil, of course there must be a devil.' Mr. Harvey, who can neither read nor write, acquiesced, and I proceeded * The reader is referred to a number of learned authori- ties for the explanation of this objection, which is yery simple. Space only can be found here to name, that amongst the Jews, whom oiir Saviour was addressing, an onah, (or, in the Greeks, nuchthemeron) was a day and night, or any part of a day or night. This may be seen by Esther iv. 16, and is conj&rmed as the method of reckoning time amongst the Jews by various of their leading Eabbies, of which a fuU account may be seen in Dr. Clarke, who quotes from Lightfoot, etc. 140 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. to treat of the moral character of the Scripture writers, confining myself, for want of time, to the New Testament, proving them to be historians worthy of credit. In the midst of my exposition, Mr. , a champion of atheism and' infidelity in these courts, stepped from his room opposite, and walked into Mr. H.'s apartment. Mr. allowed the argument to proceed for some time, when he asked me how I knew there was a Grod. I asked him, if he thought things made themselves. He, Mr. , continued his objections, and I my argu- ments, he summing up every now and then by saying, * You're a fool,' of which I only took notice good humouredly to remark, that that was rather a poor argument. Mr. has read considerably upon this subject.* He then brought forward a geological objection to the chronology of the Bible, which was to the following effect. I believe this objection was first introduced by Brydone, in his Tour through Sicily and Malta. I have read it in the seventh letter of that book ; it is in substance as follows. When speaking of his acquaintance with the Popish Canonico Eecupero at Catania, who was then employed in writing a Natural History of Mount ^tna, he says : — " ' Near to a vault, wliich is now thirty feet below ground, ahd has probably been a burying-place, there is a draw well, where there are several stratas of lavas, (that is, the liquid matter formed of stones, etc., which is discharged from the mountain in its eruptions,) with earth to a considerable thickness over each stratum. Recupero has made use of * This person has had much enmity against me on account of my constantly reproving his immoral conduct, in leaving one poor woman, with a number of children, and cohabiting with another. THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 141 this as an argument to prove the great antiquity of the eruptions of the mountain. For if it requires two thoiisand years and upwards to form but a scanty soil on the surface of a lava, there must have been more than that space of time between each of the eruptions which have formed these strata. But what shall we say of a pit they sunk near to Jaci, of a great depth ? They pierced through seven distinct lavas, one under the other, the surfaces of which were parallel, and most of them covered with a thick bed of rich earth. Now, says he, the eruption which formed the lowest of these lavas, if we may be allowed to reason from analogy, must have flowed from the moimtain at least fourteen thousand years ago. Eecupero tells me he is exceedingly embarrassed by these discoveries, in writing the history of the mountain. That Moses hangs like a dead weight upon him, and blimts all his zeal for inquiry, for that he really has not the conscience to make his mountain so young as that prophet makes the world. " ' The bishop, who is strenuously orthodox — for it is an excellent see — has already warned him to be upon his guard, and not to pretend to be a better natural historian than Moses, nor to presume to urge anything that may in the smallest degree be deemed contradictory to his sacred authority.' " Had I not happened to have dived somewhat into the geological objections to the Bible, I should not have been enabled to reply to this one. Although I could have fallen back, of course, upon many evidences of a very plain character, yet a seeming advantage would have been gained by my opponent, and probably, an unfavourable impression produced upon the mind of the party 142 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. I was endeavouring to instruct, when interrupted by this atheist. I replied, however, and the substance of the reply may be seen in Bishop Watson's Letters to Gibbon. It will be perceived how this certainly plausible objection is annihilated by a reference to other facts. " It might be urged/' says Bishop Watson, — "That the time necessary for converting lavas into fertile fields must be very different according to the different con- sistences of the lavas, and their different situations with respect to elevation and depression, or their being exposed to winds, rains, and other circumstances, as for instance, the quantity of ashes deposited over them after they had cooled, etc., etc., just as the time in which heaps of iron slag, which resembles lava, are covered with verdure — is different at different furnaces, according to the nature of the slag and situation of the furnace ; and something of this kind is deducible from the account of the Canon Recupero himself, since the crevices in the strata are often full of rich, good soil, and have pretty large trees growing upon them ; but fhould not aU this be thought sufficient to remove the objection, I will produce the Canon an analogy in opposition to his analogy, and which is grounded upon more certain &cts. "jEtna and Vesuvius resemble each other in the causes which produce their eruptions, in the nature of their lavas, and in the time necessary to mellow them into soil fit for vegetation, or if there be any sUght difference in this respect, it is, probably, not greater than what subsists between different lavas of the same mountain. This being admitted, which no philosopher will deny, the Canon's (Recupero's) THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 143 analogy will prove just nothing at all, if we can produce any instance of seven different lavas, with interjacent strata of vegetable earth, which have flowed from Motmt Vesuvitis within the space, not of fowrteen thousand, hut of somewhat less than one thousand seven hundred years, for then, accord- ing to our analogy, a stratum of lava may he covered with vegetable soil in about two hundred and fifty years, instead of requiring two thousand for that pv/rpose, " The eruption of Vesurius, which destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii, is recorded by PHny's nephew in his letter to Tacitus — this event happened a.d. 79 ; but we are informed by unquestionable authority, namely, ' Remarks on the Nature of the Soil of Naples and its Vicinity,' by Sir William Hamilton, Philosophical Transactions, vol. Ixi. p. 7, that the matter which covers the ancient town of Herculaneum, is not the produce of one eruption only, for there are evident marks that the matter of six eruptions has taken its course over that which lies immediately over the town, and was the cause of its destruction. These strata are either of lava or burnt matter, with veins of good soil between them." I have been induced to give this objection and its reply at length, referred to by a poor mechanic, as a sample of very many. I think it illustrates the importance of all Christians paying some attention to Biblical criticism. A minister of very high standing in the Church of Christ, and to whom I cannot but defer — Dr. Morison of Chelsea — was one of the six clerical examiners by whom I had the honour of being examined, according to the Rule of the Society — previous to being accepted for the work of the City Mission. 144 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATIO^T. After examining and giving me much sage counsel, with the kindness of a father — and it is not every- one who will take so much pains with a stranger — the conversation turned upon infidelity, and I well remember that my studies of objective infi- delity received considerable stimulus from a saying of Dr. Morison's, — "Not," said he, ''that we expect to convert them by answering their objections; that must be effected by the opera- tion of Divine grace; but we like to silence them, to let them see we know as much as they do/' This is, doubtless, the philosophy of the matter. The real objection to Christianity in the case of infidels, does not, after all, lay so much in the head as in the heart. Accordingly, whilst the herald of the Cross is able and willing, to defend the Book of his God from every species of assault, he must be careful to follow up the advantage of silencing his opponent, by direct appeals to his heart and conscience, and by a ckar exhibition of the redeeming love of God in Christ. The infidel will never see his path to Mount Zion, save from Mount Calvary. He will never have believed to the saving of his soul, until he can say : — THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 145 In His blest life I see the path ; and in His death the price ; And in His great ascent, the proofs supreme Of immortaUty." May the Holy Spirit breathe this knowledge on every unbelieving soul ! The argument in proof of Christianity derived from the Jews, is, if properly studied, capable of silencing where other arguments fail. I had on one occasion been arguing with an Atheist, a Socialist Lecturer, who has since, I am informed, become a Mormon elder — and I well recollect the effect produced upon him by a detail of the Jewish argument, as I have noticed in very many cases. His reply was perfectly absurd, and I think he felt it to be so. " I can recognise," said he, "in the preservation of the Jews as a distinct people, no greater marvel than the preservation of the Egyptians; therefore, I cannot accept that preservation as a proof of what you are pleased to term the truth of prophecy." On the whole case however being brought forward, he was compelled to admit that the case of the Jews was dissimilar to any known case of national preservation. On being pressed with the consequences of this admis- sion, he evaded them by shirking the question, and turning to some presumed objections to avoid the subject. The argument in favour of the Divine records, to be deduced from the prophecies re- specting the Jews, from the Pentateuch to the Gospels, and the fulfilment of those prophecies as matter of history, is, if properly studied, one of 146 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. which the infidel especially dislikes the introduc- tion.* The present chapter will now conclude with some details of a very interesting case of the hopeful conversion of another infidel upon my district. Mr. was, when first I visited him, a very strong professor of infidelity, and his wife also. They were formerly attendants at the B/Otunda, in the TBlackfriars Koad, where an infidel lecturer, the Rev. Robert Taylor, formerly a clergyman of the Church of England, made himself ridiculous in attempting to ridicule the Christian religion, styling himself the devil's chaplain, and enacting blas- phemies to which it does not seem necessary further to aUude in this place. My instructions to these people did not appear to be productive of any immediate effect, and I have repeatedly been much discouraged respecting them; but as afterwards transpired, my endeavours to enlighten their minds were producing a much more pleasing effect than appeared upon the surface. Whilst he was at his work, and !Mrs. also, (they were skin dressers,) I would take up some line of Scriptural evidence, prophecy, internal evidence, etc., and lecture per- haps for an hour, meeting any objections brought forward. After the lapse of some considerable * I do not remember to have seen this argument more lucidly presented anywhere than in Dr. Keith's "Evidence of Prophecy." The shilling abridgment of the larger work, by the Religious Tract Society, is a very admirable con- densation. THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 147 period of time, tlae family removed away from my district, and I lost sight of them for several years. They then returned again to the neighbourhood, and I recommenced visiting them. Mr. B became seriously ill, the effect it is believed of his unhealthy occupation, so much dust, and dirt, and hair find their way down the throat. His lungs became affected. He suffered exceedingly mentally, and did not find infidelity capable of supporting his mind in affliction — this he owned. " The men of Grace have found, Grlory begun below ; Celestial fruits on earthly ground. From faith and hope do grow. « The hill of Zion yields A thousand sacred sweets, Before we reach the heavenly fields. Or walk the golden streets." But it is not so with the infidel. Affliction with him has no rainbow painted on the cloud; it is, indeed, " a day of darkness and of gloominess." His sentiments underwent a great change, and whilst I was praying for him, he would frequently be affected even to tears, pressing my hand ear- nestly, and thanking me. He found a consolation in prayer that he never found in infidelity, and became very anxious to be visited frequently, send- ing for me if I was absent longer than usual. When in health, he would not even permit his children to attend a school where Scriptural in- struction was imparted — now they were regularly sent. Mr. B. died in a very hopeful condition of mind. There is reason to believe a deep work was wrought in his soul — a work of dependence on L 2 148 THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. Christ. Previous to his death, he exhorted his wife very solemnly to renounce infidelity, to attend Divine worship, and take care his children were instructed in the principles of the Christian re- ligion, exacting from her a promise she would do so, which promise she has faithfully kept. It is well for the Christian instructor to be long-suffering and patient. There is a promise — " My speech shall distil as the dew/^ We must await the process, and await in faith, believing that " God is able of stones to raise up children unto Abraham .^^ Reverting to another subject. In the early portion of this chapter, painful reference has been made, to the infidelizing effects produced upon working people, by godlessness on the part of employers. I might readily multiply such details. Was the vast influence possessed by employers to farthecr the Gospel properly exerted, most blessed results would follow. Happily, we are not without proofs of this, in the Metropolis and in the world. Honour- able instances of solicitude for the spiritual welfare of those employed are to be found. It would be pleasing to allude further to such cases, and to show what has been effected ; and it THE PROFESSEDLY INFIDEL POPULATION. 149 is more than humiliating that such instances should constitute honourable exceptions to the rule, instead of being the rule itself, which is, — the fact cannot be concealed, — anything but attention on the part of employers to the spiritual condition of those whose sinews and energies minister to their wealth. In blessing Abraham, the Almighty said, in commendation : — "All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him; for I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him,'' Gen. xviii. 18, 19. Happy nation, then, whose employers are imitators of faithful Abraham ! — happy labourers who are in such a case ! " 111 fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates and men decay." 150 SOCINIANISM. CHAPTER IV. SOCINIANISM. Origin of Socinianism — Its remedy — Not a popular form of infidelity — Efforts among the poor — Unitarian Almanac — Statistics of Socinianism — Visits to Finsbury Chapel — A secular oration — An interesting case — The Cato Street con- spiracy — Hopeful case of one of the few surviving conspi- rators, formerly a Socinian — Another noted character — His. atheistic opposition — Strange assertions — His death — Necessity for meekness — Hopeful conversion of a Socinian — Concluding observations. Closely connected with the subject of the pre- ceding chapter is Socinianism, which is but another form of infidelity.* Its origin must be sought for in '^ the pride and folly of unsanctified * Socinians are so called from Faustus Socinus, who died in Poland, in 1604. The rejection of Christ's divinity is the great heresy of those who are so called. " In what then," says a learned author, " does Unitarianism differ from Deism ? Deists deny the essential doctrines of Christianity by reject- ing the whole of the Christian revelation. Unitarians reject the Christian revelation by denying aU its peculiar and essen- tial doctrines." SOCINIANISM. 151 intellect. The propensity so natural to man, of dissipating every shade of mystery, and casting the light of his own understanding around the subjects of his contemplation."* There is but one remedy for this, namely, conviction of our condition as fallen, guilty sinners, and this remedy the Spirit of God only can impart, (John xvi. 7 — 13.) When this blessed influence over- shadows the soul of man, his former high and lofty estimate of his natural character becomes a dissolving view. The strong pillars lose their balance, the lofty edifice wanes, all becomes dim, and the finished and glowing picture he had once vainly thought himself, changes into a cold and gloomy ruin. He finds it but as a mirage in the desert. It is well if he creeps to the foot of the Cross amid this darkness and desolation, and holds on whilst the tempest howls around, until the voice that raised the storm shall bid the storm " be still." Then, when the Sun of righte- ousness arises " with healing in his wings," (Mai. iv. 2,) the ruin will be built again, (Isa. liv. 11 — 13;) he will become a temple, not filled with his own light, an ignis fatuus to lure him to destruction ; he will attempt no more * Eichard Watson. 152 SOCINIANISM. to warm himself with the sparks of a fire of his own creation, (Isa. 1. 10, 11,) but Christ will give him light, (Eph. v. 14.) His language will be : — " I heard the voice of Jesus say, I am this dark world's light, Look unto me, your mom shall rise, And aU your day be bright. " I came to Jesus, and I found In Him my star, my sim, And in His light of life I'll walk, TiU travelling days are done." * His body will become " the temple of the Holy Ghost," and " the Spirit of God dwell in him/' (1 Cor. iii. 16; vi. 19.) "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature : old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new,'' (2 Cor. v. 17.) Socinianism, however, as a friend possessed of great experience respecting the condition of the Metropolitan population judiciously remarks, "I have found to be not the popular form of infidelity with the poor. The system has not made much way with them. They do not scruple to avow themselves infidels plainly, in most * Bonar. OF THE ^c. UiUVERSiTY o sociNiildsii. ojW^x^ 153 instances in which other classes would be likely to shelter themselves from that disgrace by professing themselves Unitarians/' * I perceive by the note prefixed to the Unitarian Almanac for the present year, (1852,) that it has been thought advisable not to give '' the statistics of progress or otherwise '^ of the body. If we are to infer from this that the Socinian interests generally, are in a retrograde condition, they are only circumstanced like the leading chapel in London, (Mr. Fox's, Finsbury,) which is half deserted. In former years this chapel was crowded to excess, but at the present time the average attendance is probably little more than one hundred. On each occasion I have attended to take notes, I have been unable to count two hundred persons present. I have heard Mr. Fox lecture to barely one hundred. In some instances Unitarian chapels do not number the congre- gation of a Bible class, but are perpetuated by endowments. * The Unitarian body have carried out to some extent the system of the City Mission among the poor by the formation of the " London Domestic Mission." The London City Mission Magazine, April, 1849, contains some particulars con- nected with this movement. 154 SOCINIANISM. Previous to detailing several cases of usefulness among Unitarians, I purpose giving some little account of a visit to Moorfields Chapel, on — th last : — The morning service commenced as usual hy a hymn, sung by two rows of professionals ranged in front of the organ. I did not observe three of the congregation sing the hymn; to do so would perhaps be deemed an interruption to the pro- fessional display. The hymn was succeeded by "a reading" from "Milton's Defence;" then fol- lowed a prayer, but, indeed, I know not how it could well be called a prayer, for there was little petition in it. It was more essayistic than suppli- catory. I would not willingly have endured the distress of mind occasioned by witnessing, on the morning of God's blessed Sabbath-day, so miserable a bur- lesque on worship, on any other account than missionary service. Alas ! O Jesus ! for these deluded souls ! — " How sweet it is, on Sabbath-days, to meet with friends in prayer ! And sweeter still, to find the sovereign Lord of all things there; To feel the Holy Spirit descending like a dove, To breathe upon the weary mind the breath of peace and love." Then followed a reading from " Mazzini's Oration over the Brothers Bandierse," then a hymn, and then the discourse. The discourse was simply a political speech, referring to the various events of the year, and the probable future policy of Louis SOCINIANISM. 155 Napoleon. There was no direct reference what- ever to the Scriptures, and the words, "Divine providence" occurred three times, "God" five times, "heaven" twice. Christ was not named at all. The discourse contained various contradic- tions ; for example, after alluding to the " Postal Eeform," "Peace Arbitration" was stated to be the only proper means by which nations should decide their quarrels ; but afterwards, in reference to the Cafire war, it was said, " FerJiaps we were compelled to defend ourselves;" but, at last, we were plainly instructed, that when the desired event could not otherwise be effected, nations were to " tear down despotic powers." I merely men- tion this as a specimen of contradictions. After alluding to the wars in various parts of the world, especially in Europe since 1848, we were told it was "the feeling of man to love all," — a somewhat curious contrast to the details of blood- shed and vindictively inflicted misery to which I had been listening patiently for one half-hour. Such are some of the inconsistencies of Soci- nianism. Such eff*usions would be simply absurd and contemptible, but that the eternal happiness of immortal souls is imperilled ; they therefore become deadly errors, invested with an importance which we cannot fully estimate. Sad that such persons should neglect the salvation of the Grospel ! It has been truly said of such : — " Free was the offer, free to all, of life And of salvation ; but the proud of heart, Because 'twas free, would not accept ; and stiU. To merit wished ; and choosing, thus unshipped, ^ Uncompassed, unprovisioned, and bestormed, *_ To swim a sea of breadth immeasurable, 156 SOCINIANISM. They scorned the goodly bark, whose wings the breath Of God's eternal Spirit filled for heaven, That stopped to take them in — and so were lost."* I proceed to detail a very interesting case : — I was requested to visit a person who was very- ill, and who resided in a street adjoining my dis- trict, in a parish consisting of 12,325 souls, but where no pastoral visitation was carried on except the occasional visitation of a sick case when pressed; but as my district formerly extended considerably into this parish, I have the means of knowing that no systematic visitation whatever had been carried on for many years. I once applied to the rector respecting a deeply interesting case, but was not permitted to proceed further than his passage, with the door held open by the servant, and was dismissed, I regret to say, in the most uncour- teous manner. On visiting the sick person referred to, I found him to be a noted character of former times. Many of my readers, who can remember the poli- tical events tliat transpired thirty and forty years since, would remember this person by name as the companion of Thistlewood and others. Thistlewood and various conspirators were apprehended, it will be remembered, at Cato Street, Paddington, on which occasion Mr. Smithers, a Bow Street officer, was killed. They afterwards underwent the ex- treme penalty of the law at Newgate. Mr. would have been found at the loft in Cato Street also, his family informed me, but escaped through the strange friendship of a go- vernment spy, who will be remembered by some * Pollok. SOCINIANISM. 157 in connection with this sad matter, his name was Castles. This man advised Mr. not to attend on that occasion, and always appeared ex- ceedingly friendly disposed towards him. Mr. was, however, privy to all the plans of his confederates, although bloodshed appears to have been less tasteful to him. By a species of retributive providence, of which the world is full, he who was disinclined to shed the blood of others, died peaceably in his bed many years after his more sanguinary disposed accomplices, had had their blood shed by their fellow-man on the scaffold. Mr. , like those with whom he associated, entertained infidel sentiments at that period of time; but afterwards I am informed by his wife, was unable to resist the evidences by which he found the Bible to be supported on examining to some further extent into those evidences, and became a Socinian, or, as he called himself, an Unitarian. He was visited by a brother Missionary on an adjoining district, where he then resided.* About twelve months prior to his death, I am informed by his wife, his mind became dissatisfied with Socinianism, and he resolved to study the Bible again throughout, which resolution he carried into effect, making notes as he proceeded. After so doing, he stated to her his conviction that Soci- nianism was untenable, and that the Christ of the Scriptures was a Divine Bedeemer, in whom, he added, he desired to trust. As death approached, my poor friend appeared * Mr. Tomtins, the pains-taking Missionary of the Field Lane District, who was much better acquainted with this ease than mvself. 158 SOCINIANISM. deeply anxious for Christian visitation and prayer, and received the sacrament, not, however, so far as I could learn, attaching any undue importance to this unaffected remembrance of our blessed Saviour. Shortly before he died, he took my hand, and pressed it very warmly. I suppress his name out of consideration to his friends. He is gone, we hopefully believe, — " Into the silent land Of all perfection! tender, blessed visions Of ransomed souls ! Heaven's own band Shall bear hope's tender blossoms Into the silent land. "Oland! Oland! For aU the broken-hearted, The herald by our fate allotted, Beckons, and doth stand. To lead us vrith a gentle hand, Into the land of the bless'd departed, Into the silent land." Is not this " a brand plucked from the burning ? ' On the occasion of one visit to Mr. I found another noted character present. He was commonly known as " ." The fol- lowing passage occurs in my journal : — " Various individuals were present, amongst others, a noted agitator named . In the course of conversation, I inquired how often he had been in prison for political offences? * Let's see,' said Mr. , who still retains the Hunt's Radical hat, ' there was twice in the Comp- ter, Giltspur Street, eighteen months each; once, SOCINIANISM. 159 in bliort, he reckoned up twenty imprison- ments. ' "Well, now,' said I, ' Mr. , do you think you will reach heaven after all.' His reply was very shocking, — ' There's nothing above, and there's nothing below that I'm afraid of,' said he. ' But you will have to die,' said I, ' and then what will become of your soul?' I shall never die,' said he, with much emphasis, 'I always was and I always shall he ;' he added, ' when my breath leaves my body, I shall give back to earth what I took from it.' ' But your soul,' said I, ' what will become of that?^ ' Soul! ' said Mr. , ' tJiere is no soul; who ever saw a soul? the soul's the breath, and the breath's the air.' " I replied, first, that it was not always necessary, in proof of existence, that we should see — illus- trating this by the instance of the wind; and I entered into definitions respecting the distinction between perceptions themselves, as sight, hearing, etc., and the organs of those perceptions, the eye, ear, etc. ' What is it,' said I, ' that enables people to think?' 'Why the air,' said he. 'And do you really believe,' said I, ' the air makes people think ? ' ' Why, of course,' said he ; ' when the breath goes, they can't think any longer.' It is sometimes difilcult to reply to sheer folly except by the use of irony, (Prov. xxvi. 5,) so I said, ' Well, Mr. , in my labours as a Mis- sionary, I find want of thought a great hindrance to the reception of the Grospel; I cannot induce numbers of people 1 visit to give due thought to the subject of religion ; now if you have discovered any species of air that will set people thinking, by all means manage to confine a case of it, and I will handsomely pay you, then when I meet with thoughtless persons I can administer a dose.' " After a general laugh had subsided, my erring 160 SOCINIANISM. opponent next turned his attention to undeniable abuses, which we all deplore. I have not, how- ever, space to enter further into the conversation which ensued. It was impossible, as it is with infidels in general, to keep him to a question, and I was obliged repeatedly to reprove him for stvear- ing, a strange and inconsistent thing for an atheist to do. " Here was a poor ignorant man, destitute of all «eZ/^government, imagining himself capable of setting in order the affairs of a great nation ; imagining, in the midst of his weakness, that he had— * Atlantean shoulders, fit to bear The weight of mightiest monarchies.' " Mr. is since dead, and laid in state for some days at a public-house adjoining my dis- trict. The room was decorated with flags, one out of the window. He belonged to the . "Would that I could record he belonged to ' the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus,' Gal. iii. 29." In arguing with unbelievers, in enduring the foolish contradictions, and ofttimes insults of sinners, I have often thought of the words oi Herbert : — " Be cahn in arguing, iov fierceness makes Error a fault, and truth discoiu^esy ; Why should I feel another man's mistakes^ More than his sickness or his 'poverty 1 In love I should, but anger is not love, Nor wisdom neither, therefore gently move." S0CINIANI8M. 161 ^ The next case I have the happiness to detail is that of the truly hopeful conversion of a con- firmed Socinian, a man of great general intelli- gence : — The person alluded to is a Grerman bj birth, an aged man, on the verge of eighty. I became intro- duced to Mr. E about three years since, being sent for to visit a member of his family who was very ill, and desirous to receive religious instruc- tion. I find the first entry in my reports respecting him, under date, July, 1848, as follows : — " I interrogated the father, Mr. E., respecting 'repentance toward Grod, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.' With a frankness with which I coidd not but feel pleased, deeply as I regretted the occasion of its exercise, Mr. E. informed me he held Socinian views. ' I believe,' said he, ' in the authenticity and inspiration of the Bible, but the idea of Grod's having a Son, does appear to me most derogatory to the majesty of the Almighty; I cannot believe Christ to be more than a good manj and an example to us.' " I felt deeply grieved to hear such were his views, and said, ' A religion without a sacrificial Saviour could not make a man "just before God," even according to the law of Moses, (Lev. xvii. 11,) nor,' I added, ' could such a religion yield lasting joy and peace, as our Saviour Christ saith, " Let not your hearts be troubled : ye believe in Grod, believe also in me,'' (John xiv. 1.)' " Mr. E. said he hoped I would not be offended, but that he always considered it best frankly to state his mind. "I directed my aged friend's attention to those 162 SOCINIANISM. passages in the Gospels, in which our Saviour emphatically asserts his own proper divinity, and to those numerous passages also, both in the Old and New Testaments, where divinity is ascribed to him.* To these citations and their exposition Mr. E. listened with great attention, and replied that ' he considered our Saviour had asserted the pos- session of such attributes, although he knew the fact was not so, from a benevolent motive — to add weight to his teachings and admonitions — that he might obtain the greater power over the minds of msnfor their benefit,^ * In attempting to convey this cardinal truth, it is well to dwell upon the fact that our Saviour asserts his pre-existence as coming down from heaven (John iii. 13.) Socinians have attempted to evade the force of tliis argument by stating that our Redeemer was taken up into heaven previous to com- mencing his pubhc ministry to be instructed in his future duties. This, of course, is merely one of the desperate shifts error is ever reduced to, and is an absurdity. Our Lord declares himself to have existed before Abraham, (John viii. 58.) Om* Lord's language was unmistakeable ; he asserted his Godhead, and the Jews so understanding him, took up stones to stone him, (ver. 59,) the punishment awarded by the law to a blasphemer, (Lev. xxiv. 16 ;) and again, in John X. 30, our Lord declared himself and his Father to be one. The Jews again, who perfectly understood him as asserting his Grodhead, and not merely any assimilation and conformity with the mind of God, a doctrine they admitted, treated bim as a blasphemer agara, and " took up stones again to stone him," John x. 31. Our Lord also asserted his omnipresence, declaring himself as being " in heaven " whilst yet before the eyes of his disciples on^earth (John iii. 13 ;) and that where two or three meet together in his name he is in the midst of them, (Matt, xviii. 20 j) and that he would be with his SOCINIANISM. 163 " I met this specious idea, by alluding to the most emphatic instruction given in the Gospels to practise undeviating truth, and alluded to the case of Ananias and Sapphira also. I said, ' As Mr. E. believed Jesus Christ to be " a teacher sent from God," it would be falsifying his own teachings for our Saviour to have pursued such a course.' I afterwards lent him the late philanthropist's, Joseph John Gurney's, ' Portable Evidences,' which contain much fulness upon this subject considering the size of the work ; and I pray his mind may be perfectly illuminated, to discern the offices and glory of that Eedeemer, whose name, ' Immanuel,' (Isaiah vii. 14,) being interpreted is, God with us. disciples " to the end of the world," (Matt, xxviii. 20.) Thus our Lord also proclaims his omniscience. Our Lord also asserts his omnipotence as having " life in himself," and " quickening (or giving life) to whom he will," (John V. 21, 26 ;) the Jews, therefore, " sought the more to kill him," because he made " himself equal with Grod," (ver. 18.) To the same effect are the numerous predictions relative to Messiah in the Old Testament, and the testimony of the apostles, especially John L and Hebrews i. The concluding canon of Revelation is also vocal with this cardinal and supreme truth. " Against the Cross, death's iron sceptre breaks ! From famished ruin plucks her himian prey ! Throws wide the gates celestial to his foes ! And as deep human gmlt in payment fails ; prohibits our despair ! Enjoins it, as our duty, to rejoice ! And, (to close all,) omnipotently kind, Takes ' his dehghts among the sons of men,' (Prov. viii.) What are all mysteries to love like this ? " Young. M 2 164' SOCINIANISM "Thus commenced my acqaaintance with this aged Socinian. " On a subsequent occasion, being alone with him, I had a better opportunity of inquiring more particularly as to the state of his mind, and found he was dark and unhappy. " It is not the grasp of a man Christ Jesus, that can enable the conscience at all awakened to await fearlessly and with confidence the time when we shall come to * appear before God.' The soul at all awakened must feel it has hold on a GrOD Christ Jesus also, to enable that soul to meditate on death and judgment in peace. " Mr. E. was much affected, but said, with his accustomed mildness, ' he could not help his con- dition,' and that it would be hypocrisy for him to profess what he did not believe. " A commonly repeated objection to our Sa^dour's divinity was, that he considered it derogatory to the majesty of God to suppose him to have a son. To this objection I replied, ' That all creation might be spoken of under the idea of offspring — as emana- tion — and that there was nothing in the nature of the case to render the fact of God dwelling in a visible form derogatory to the Divine character, more than for God to be present amongst his works, and to enter and to influence the human heart, a doctrine which Socinians admit.' * Eurther,' I remarked, ' that the idolatry of many nations was a proof that the idea of a visible and incarnate deity, was a truth the human mind had ever grasped after. But to tread on surer ground,' I further observed, * revelation must he our only guide, and that dog- matically to pronounce it derogatory to the Divine character, to invest a human form, was illogical, if revelation asserted it, because the mental capacity which so pronounced it derogatory, was vastly, SOCINIANISM. 165 incomparahly inferior to the mental capacity whose acts it arraigned. The whole scheme of divine action,' I further remarked, 'in the government and arrangement of the universe, was not before us.' " Mr. E. said, that was a very important remark. "'Suppose,' said I, 'the earth to have always been so positioned with respect to the sun, that only a segment of the sun's sphere had ever been visible. Mankind would, in such a case, have pro- nounced what is reaUy a sphere or globe to be but a hemisphere — and equally may we be mistaken,' I added, *in our ideas respecting the nature and propriety of the Divine actions, when the whole case is not before us. But,' I added further, ' there were many ways in which it might clearly be proved that God " manifest in the flesh " to take away our sins, furnished really a surpassingly glorious devC' lopment of glorious attributes of Deity. " 'But upon the whole question,'! said, ^revela- tion trnist be our guide — reason was wholly insuffi- cient. Divinity,' I continued, 'was at least as superior an order of intelligence over man, as man's intellect was over the instinct of the lower animals. Many of man's actions we plainly knew to be in- comprehensible to the brutes, and it would, there- fore, be very wonderful if many of Grod's ways were not incomprehensible to us.* " Presumptuous man ! the reason wouldst thou find. Why formed so weak, so little, and so blind ? First, if thou canst, the harder reason guess — WTiyfornCd no weaker^ blinder, arid no less ? " * The heathens admitted this, so Homer makes Jove to say; — im SOCINIANISMi As one has said, " a religion without a mystery, is a religion without a God." ' " I illustrated this argument by an anecdote, which appeared considerably to impress Mr. E.'s mind. ' You may, perhaps,' said I, * have read of St. Augustine.' Mr. E. said he had. I then named an incident related of St. Augustine, with which the reader may or may not have met. He is stated to have been walking on the sea-shore, meditating on the Trinity, and endeavouring to comprehend more respecting that most glorious and mysterious truth than it was possible for man to know. Whilst so engaged, he observed a child seated on the sand, holding in one hand a small shell, and with another pouring water into it. After observing the child for a while, Augustine inquired the nature of his employment. * I am trying,' said the child, ' to €mpty the sea into this shell.' 'Foolish child,' said the saint, * can you think such an action pos- sible ? ' ' Not more foolish than you, St. Augustine,' replied the child, ' to endeavour, with the reason of a man, to comprehend fully the Divine Trinity.' The legend, I added, stated the child to have been an angel; and, however fabulous, we might learn an important lesson from it — a lesson we are taught in various places of Scripture. * Canst " Seek not thou to find The sacred counsels of Almighty mind. Involved in darkness Ues the great decree, Nor can the depths of fate be pierc'd by thee. WTiat fits thy knowledge, thou the first shalt know ; # # # # * But thou, nor they, shall search the thoughts that roU Deep in the close recesses of my soul." Pope's Translation^ Iliad, book i. SOCINIANISM. 167 thou by searching find out God ? canst t"hou find out the Almighty unto perfection ? It is as high as heaven ; what canst thou do ? deeper than hell ; what canst thou know ? ' Job xi. 7, 8. ' Such knowledge is too wonderful for me ; it is high, I cannot attain unto it,' Psa. cxxxix. 6. " Mr. E., who had listened with suspended breath to this little essay, appeared exceedingly impressed by it ; he heaved a heavy sigh, as if relieved, and commenced repeating the substance of what I had said — a common practice with him, ' to fix it,' as he said, ' on his memory.' " I added, that the greatest point was to obtain in tJie heart an evidence of Christ's divinity, a sense of his presence in the soul, without which all was * vanity and vexation of spirit ; ' pointing my aged and interesting Mend to the Scriptures in which this blessing is emphatically promised, especially the 14th John, which I explained. " Upon the subject of sin, Mr. E.'s views were extremely vague, ' hut in 'proportion as a growing conviction of our Saviour's divinity impressed his mind, in just such proportion did his due apprecia- tion of the sinfulness of sin increase also.'' He who is brought to believe that a God ' manifest in the flesh' (1 Tim. iii. 16) has been the atonement necessary for sin, cannot but feel that that which required such a sacrifice must be sinful indeed. " My conversations with Mr. E. would occupy a volume. Light gradually appeared to be breaking upon his mind. He was, however, exceedingly critical, and ' slow of heart to believe.' " He said on one occasion, ' Mr. Yanderkiste, I cannot conceal anything from you; I have been thinking much respecting the Scriptural statement as to the punishment of heE being eternal ; I find 168 SOCINIANISM. I cannot believe it. Oh no ! ' added he, * God is too merciful to torment his creatures thus ; do you really believe, sir,' said he, * that the Almighty will torment his creatures for ever and ever, for the sins of a few brief years ? ' " I replied that Mr. E. must refer to the argu- ment I had repeated to him on a former occasion, respecting the reasonable insufficiency of human judgment to arraign correctly the acts of omni- potence. I repeated this argument at length ; and added, that the question reasonably was, and rea- sonably must be, * whether the Almighty had informed us such was his intention — that it was quite impossible for us to apportion what was the due punishment of sin, since we could not estimate fully the turpitude of sin. It clearly exceeded our calculations. Judging of its deadly character by its effects, they were found in this world to expand from a small origin to circles of time and con- sequence we could not measure, and to produce wretchedness and misery beyond all our powers of estimation. The objection,' I added, * that what occupied only a few years in commission was not worthy of a punishment beyond computation, was a proposition by which men w^re not influenced in the infliction of human justice,' — illustrating this.* I added, ' that if the Scriptures were to be believed, and that mankind had forfeited all claim to heaven in justice, or on account of deserving, and that redemption was purely and wholly an act of mercy — ^then the man or woman who lived and died * A murder, for example, occupying perhaps but a few- seconds in committal, receives a punishment in the depriva- tion of life, and consequences to those connected with the murderer, which are quite incalculable. SOCINIANISM. 169 neglecting that "great salvation" could not surely have any further claim whatever on the mercy of God.' " These and other arguments appeared much to impress Mr. E., but not until he was brought to feel the power of praying to Grod through Christ — • the sweet influences of that prayer — then only did he cease to arraign the judgments of the Almighty at the bar of his fallible judgment. Not until then could he say : — ' I argue not Against Heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot Of heart or hope, but still bear up and steer Right onward.' Or with David : ' Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise my- self in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother : my soul is even as a weaned child. Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for ever,' Psa. cxxxi. " To watch the progress of a human soul from a condition of impenitence, — * The stormy winter of our discontent,' — to a saving knowledge of Christ, is surely the most interesting study on earth. It is — what shall we say? — it is as when the ices of winter burst asunder, and the mists fly upwards, and before the influences of the sun, the bud is on the tree, and the verdure clothes the barrenness that was, and one flower and then another decks the earth, until beneath the full summer shining of the Sun of righteousness, 'the heart be established with grace.' 170 SOCINIANISM. " Mr. E. was at last happily brought to a condi^ tion of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. " He has long been bedridden, and has to read through an enormous lens, fixed in a tube, which he has himself constructed, any ordinary glass being useless to his fading eyesight. He is also excessively deaf. Shouting to him for hours has made me sometimes quite hoarse ; but there are so many pleasing circumstances connected with his case, his faith is now so simple, his penitence for past neglect of God our Saviour evidently so sincere, that it is a great pleasure to visit him, and to converse with him, and to hear him repeat the prayers he has committed to memory, which is very vigorous and retentive, notwithstanding his extreme age. . " I have every reason to believe he is among those blessed ones who * worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,' Phil. iii. 3." Socinianism has its origin ''in the pride and folly of unsanctified intellect.'^ When our Lord Christ is formed in the heart, ''the hope of glory/' then all such deadly errors flee. Rejoic- ing in the beatific vision already given, the soul can then say : — " Answer thy mercy's whole design, My God, incarnated for me : My spirit make thy radiant shrine ; My light and full salvation be. And through the shades of death imknown, Conduct me to thy heavenly throne." SOCINIANISM. 171 In concluding, we remark, that although the poor of London are not found to be led away to any considerable extent by the errors of Soci- nianism, their ignorance and irreligion render them nevertheless pitifully the prey to various forms of the wildest and most visionary emana- tions of perfect folly. We had proposed alluding to several of these forms of error, and giving some particulars of the Mormon delusion among others, and of interviews and discussions with Mormonites. Interesting, however, as such statements and narratives would doubtless prove, the limits of a single volume prevent their inser- tion, except to the exclusion of cases of more direct spiritual result, and consequent greater interest. 17«J INTEMPERANCE. CHAPTER V. INTEMPERANCE. Drinking usages of society — Homer's Hector — The certain guide of the Gospel — Morbid alcohoHc cravings — Prison preferred to liberty — The slavery of sin — An affecting result of investigation — Facihties for drunkenness on the district — EepUcation of sin — Formation of Total Abstinence Society on the district — A bricklayer's oration — Narrative of a returned transport — A hopefully converted coal-heaver — Cases of benefit from temperance — Narrow escape from - suicide — Extravagance and intemperance — " Deliriima tremens" — Testimony of the Earl of Shaft-esbury — An explanation — American statistics — Drunkenness and want in old age — Pleasing narrative — Personal recollections — Sad excesses — A pleasing case of hopeful' conversion — A personal observation— Joseph John Gumey. The drinking usages of society oppose an in- superable barrier to the moral and religious improvement of the labouring classes — and in- deed, in proportion as they prevail, of all classes of society. These customs must be changed before we can possibly see the moral desert " rejoice and blossom as the rose.'^ INTEMPERANCE. * 173 Wisdom in all ages has deplored their existence. Homer, with the feeble, uncertain, and erring ray of heathenism, thus alludes to the popular fallacy as inimical to great achievements : — " Then with a plenteous draught refresh thy soul, And draw new spirits from the generous bowl : Spent as thou art with long laborious fight, The brave defender of thy country's right." The valiant Hector, however, is made by the poet to decline the inebriating cup : — " Far hence be Bacchus' gifts, (the chief rejoin' d,) Inflaming wine, pernicious to mankind. Unnerves the limbs, and duUs the noble mind."* We who have Christianity to guide us into all truth, and to show us things to come, know that the miseries of the unrepentant drunkard are not confined to this life. The word of God assures us, that "no drunkard can inherit the kingdom of God,'^ 1 Cor. vi. 10. Drunkenness is indeed morally a sin, but drunkenness is also physically a disease. A very large class of persons of drinking habits I have found not more to possess the power to drink * Pope's Iliad, book vi., 320. 174 * INTEMPERANCE. short of actual drunkenness, and there stop, than the waves of the sea have to quiet the winds that lash its surface into foam. Total abstinence is the physical remedy in such cases, by which the uncontrollable morbid craving of the stomach for alcoholic stimulus ceases, and the stomach is weaned. Conversing with a woman resident upon my district, a very violent character when intoxicated, who had only that morning been discharged from prison, to which she had been committed for an assault whilst intoxicated — she listened very respectfully and attentively to my exhortations, and wept in a very piteous manner, and said with great earnestness, she wished to God she was always in prison, as there she could not obtain "the drink/' She returned when she left prison, as she well knew, to a neighbourhood where invitation and temptation to intoxication would meet her at almost every step. It was affecting to hear a fellow-creature observe, that in prison she was comparatively happy ! Yet such was doubtless the fact in her case, and is so in the cases of multitudes of similar intemperate characters. Sin inflicts a worse slavery on the human heart INTEMPERANCE. 175 than can be found from any other cause in the universe. True liberty exists only for the renewed in soul — all are slaves besides : — " True freedom is, where no restraint is known, That Scripture, justice, and good sense disown j Where only vice and injury are tied. And all, from shore to shore, is free beside : Such freedom is." Cowpee. He who is our Redeemer has said, " If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed/' Matt. viii. 36. My missionary experience respecting the slavery of drunkenness has been very large. Condensation, a difficult matter under many aspects, I find to be especially so in writing this chapter. I have studied this subject intensely for many years — ^physiologically, politically, mentally, and morally — and the lowest depth of this curse to our nation, and to the world, I find I have yet to fathom. From all I have read and seen, I am compelled to coincide with the generally received opinion, that we are yet the most drunken people on earth,^ * London contained, according to the Post Office Directory, in 1848, Chambers' Journal informs us : — 176 INTEMPERANCE. The object of the present work, however, does not include a theoretical treatise on drunkenness. The clinical studies of the hospitals are apt to convey knowledge in one hour, that could not be amassed by much laborious reading, although that reading is also indispensable in its place. I have to present the reader with a few specimens of my clinical studies of drunkenness, pursued, not in the hospital, but on my district — a very few, selected from a large mass. The following is a brief extract from my Annual Report for 1850. It discloses an awful fact in relation to a neighbourhood yet replete with violence and degradation : — "There are upon my district sixteen public- houses, beer-shops, and gin-shops. The number of bakers, and butchers, and shops where bread is sold, (bread is sold at several general dealers,) 2,500 bakers 990 buttermen and cheesemongers 1,700 butchers 3,000 grocers and tea-dealers 900 established dairy-keepers 400 fislunongers 1,300 greengrocers and fruiterers Total 10,790 and 11,000 public-houses ! INTEMPERANCE. 177 is sixteen also. That there should be found as many shops devoted to the sale of intoxicating liquors, as shops devoted to the sale of the common necessaries of life, argues the existence of fearful demoralization and misery. '^ I have been given to understand by reformed characters, that the cheapest way of getting drunk is to mix spirits and beer. Some persons inform me they formerly got drunk in this manner for twopence halfpenny, provided they had eaten but little. It would require ten times that amount to make some persons intoxicated, particularly those who do not smoke. A very large proportion of the intoxication prevalent amongst the very poor, arises from insufficiency of food, in which condition the nerves and brain are most readily excited by alcohol. I know a large number of persons who become intoxicated by drinking a pint of beer whilst fasting through poverty — with this they are very often treated by companions, who would not give them a penny loaf. '' I have nothing in the cupboard — will you give me a penny loaf instead of the drink ? '' " No ; but FU treat you hand- somely if you like." Such is a melancholy sample of the conversation common between those 178 INTEMPERANCE. who, to use their own language, ''are in luck/' and those who are " out of luck/' And the very absence of food, that causes a small quantity of liquor or beer to produce intoxication, is often itself a consequence of the expenditure of that money in drink which should have been laid out in food. All forms of vice and misery run into one another, and act by replication. On my first appointment to the Cow Cross District, in conjunction with good friends, I was made instrumental in the establishment of a Total Abstinence Society. This institution became the means, under Pro- vidence, of enlightening the minds of numbers of persons respecting the blessings of sobriety. Many reformed drunkards from the courts and alleys around, might afterwards be counted, listen- ing to the speeches and prayers at the bi-weekly meetings. Sweeps, costermongers, etc., etc., became reformed characters, and some of the speeches delivered by such individuals were very characteristic. I will extract the substance of one from my Journal : — " Our Total Abstinence Meeting this evening was addressed by Mr. B., Mr. W., Mr. T., and a second Mr. B. INTEMPERANCE. 179 "The last speaker^ a bricklayer, possesses one of the most extraordinary, powerful, and mascu- line voices I ever heard. He used to be called 'drunken Bob,' he says, but now he is a tee- totaller folks call him Mister Baldwin — before he had only a hand snack to his door, but now if you wish to call upon him, you must pull a bell — his pocket was once so empty that he had not the cash ' to pay toll for a walking-stick,' but now he has a pound or two laid by against a rainy day — all this, and many more strange contrasts and facetious allusions, appeared to take with the people exceedingly.'' The observation which follows in my Journal I may well insert : — " I suppose we must be content to get on step by step, and by the grace of God it is not hard to become ' all things to all men, that we may by all means save some,' 1 Cor. ix. 22 ; but the less of this seeming nonsense, the better I like it — still it conveys a powerful moral." A club was afterwards connected with this institution. I am sorry to add that in conse- quence of friends leaving the district and other causes, I was not enabled to carry this institution on. Some of its members, however, joined N 2 180 INTEMPERANCE. Temperance Societies in the neighbourhood. I found it impossible to compass this labour, and efficiently to discharge the many other duties of my office. It is now purposed to give some deeply inte- resting cases. The first is one of a member of this Society, a returned convict — a sweep. He is a very well- behaved, reformed character, a remarkably quiet and inoflfensive man, and has received great benefit from temperance. Said he : — " "When I was about twenty years of age I was a sweep, same as I am now. I used to go to the public-house very much, spending my earnings in drunkenness and dissipation, though I never, as you may say, went on like some on 'em does ; but them places is ruination to anybody. So one night after we had been drinking, and I didn't know properly what I was after, some chaps as I was along with was for going after some carts. They know'd of some somewheres, they said, that stood in the open air with nobody to mind 'em, in a court down by Gray's Inn Lane it was. Well, I helped to drag this here cart (worse luck) all the way up to Marrowbone you must know, sir, a nice job it was surely. I knows better now, thanks be to God. If I'd know'd then what I knows now it wouldn't have happened. Well, we was cotched, and they was werry severe then, so I took my trial at Newgate, and was sentenced to seven INTEMPERANCE. 181 years' transportation beyond the seas, and I was sent off along with a lot more convicts." How forcibly does this remind us of the words of Cowper, alluding to such evil resorts ! — " "lis here they leam The road that leads from competence and peace To indigence and rapine ; till at last Society, grown weary of the load. Shakes her encun^ibered lap, and casts them out." Some time after reaching Sydney he was employed as a hut-keeper to one of the colonists. Subsequently to following this employment he became qualified to take the charge of a flock, and in the employment of several masters, (as a convict on ticket of leave,) traversed the country, he informed me, four hundred miles west of Sydney over the mountains. The accounts this man has given me of Bush lifCj and incidents he met with at the Antipodes, are very interesting . Everything that relates to these rising and important colonies cannot fail to be so, but they would be out of place here. He encountered many dangers. The following is an account of a conflict with Bushrangers, which has a bearing on the subject of intemperance. Very probably but for the intoxicating drinks which those men risked their lives to obtain, they would never have become convicts or Bushrangers. " Them Bushrangers," said he, " 'scaped convicts, as takes to the Bush, is some on 'em terrible fellows. I never took 182 INTEMPERANCE. any harm from 'em though, but we had several scrimmages. Once we was commg down to Sydney with a dray load of wool ; we'd just pitched a camp for the night, when some convicts or Bushrangers come on us. We hadn't only one old gun amongst the four on us. We didn't much mind about guns, sir. Well, I got the gun off the load, and we told 'em to keep their distance. We got sticks out of the cart, and had a set-to with them ; we wasn't going to give in without defending the property, you know, no how. So we laid on to one another, but there wam't no lives lost. When they seed we was determined, they made a parley ; we was all out of breath. They wanted to know how much 'bacca and rum we'd give 'em if they'd go. At last we settled with 'em, and gave 'em what they wanted, and glad to get rid on 'em with no harm done. Another time they driv our bullocks off in the night, and next day we found 'em miles off in a swamp hollow, and a man close by minding 'em J he made off though as soon as ever he ketched sight on us." An account he has given me of another convict, who murdered an overseer, and took to the Bush, is very terrible. He lived in the woods, and came armed to the huts to demand provisions for some time, but imagined he was continually haunted by the spirit of the man he had murdered. At last he delivered himself up to the authorities, declaring his life to be a burden. He was to be seen for days dogged, as he con- ceived, by the spectre of his victim, and escaping from tree to tree. Much has been said respecting the conversion INTEMPERANCE. 183 of the Australian natives and New Zealanders. The neglected population who leave our own shores as convicts, or free, constitute too generally, by reason of ungodliness, a lamentable hinderance to the evangelization of these aborigines. Instead of being '' witnesses for the Lord^' to these nations afar off, they lead the tribes, by their vicious conduct, to form a very low estimate of the Christian religion. In how many ways do a neglected home population prove a bane to the whole world ! Amongst many accounts respecting the Australian blacks, with whom Mr. F. was much in contact, he mentioned the following : — " The hut-keepers and shepherds plays 'em up all sorts of tricks ; it's none to their credit. I recoUect one day having to go to a station about ten miles from ours for something ; there was a picanniny black feUar there ; he might be about ten years old, I should suppose. The hut-keeper, a joking sort of a man, said he'd have a la/rJc with the yoimg black. His tribe was camped maybe seven or eight miles off, and one on 'em had died. Well, you must know, sir, there was some wheat a-drying on a blanket a little way off the hut, and a crow was a-feeding close by. The hut-keeper, he spoke to the crow, and asked him who he was, and then he mimicked as if the crow was a-answering, and made bim gay once he was a black fellar, mentioning his name, the one as was dead, and then he eat flour, but now he was a crow and eat the com. The boy Hstened, and then started up, and away he flies 5 it wam't no use to persuade him it was a trick ; off he set, and perhaps if his tribe was eight miles off, he wouldn't 184 INTEMPERANCE. stop runnin' once till he reached 'em, they're such runners ; then he'd tell 'em the black was turned into a crow, and what he heerd, and they'd be sure to beheve him, and it wouldn't be no use trying to beat it out on 'em when once they got hold of it." My poor friend, however, considered the hut- keeper was badly employed in teaching such absurdities to the blacks, and expressed his opinion that, if they were properly instructed, they might be Christianized; for, said he, "they're werry ingenious, and lams anything werry quick, only they're so lazy/' This person saved about one hundred pounds in Australia, and might, he stated, have saved much more. He was unsettled on account of an acquaintance he had left in England, and "his old mother," and came home for the purpose of marry- ing the one, and returning with both, I believe, to Australia. In a wine- house, at a port in Spain where he stopped, he lost all his money, and coming home penniless, found his female acquaint- ance and his mother both dead. When the City Mission first occupied this district, he was found to be living unlawfully with a person, and was persuaded to marry. He was one of the earliest members of our Total Absti- nence Society, but I cannot report him as con- INTEMPERANCE. 185 verted to God. He was, however, remarkably fond of hearing the Scriptures read. The next case is that of a man whom I trust to have undergone the great change of heart, which is indispensable to fit us for the kingdom of God. He was, during many years, a coal- heaver by occupation, and of exceedingly intem- perate habits. If the reader saw this man sitting placidly in his seat at , listening to the Gospel, and partaking of the emblems of our Saviour^s dying love, he would perhaps be sur- prised to learn that the individual before him was formerly a companion of fighting men, and has waded through much wickedness. His father was professedly a Thames fisherman, and followed that occupation until his death ; but he added to it one not so reconcilable to honesty, — he was a smuggler. He married a second time, and expended as much as eight hundred pounds in little more than twelvemonths after his marriage, attend- ing Drury Lane, Vauxhall, Kanelagh, etc., totally neglecting his occupation, and indulging in all kinds of extravagances and folly. When his money was nearly spent, he again purchased a fishing craft and nets, and resumed his former occupation. " Gen- tlemen," says Mr. H., "would be closeted with my father, and the best china service was brought out for tea. I was never allowed to know what they talked about, but I have seen many a dozen golden guineas lay on the table, and then it was, * Good 186 INTEMPERANCE. night, Mr. H., it's all arranged,' and father would be away with his craft perhaps a week, fishing^ I was told, but I was never allowed to go on those kind of fishing voyages. Mr. H. generally accom- panied his father, when really engaged in fishing, for some years, and became well acquainted with the river from Battersea to the Nore. "I can count up eighteen dead bodies we have picked up," said he, "sometimes in the net; father used to search them, and then we took them ashore and buried them." He does not appear to have re- ceived any religious instruction whatever from his father, but to have been initiated into much vice. His father appears to have placed more faith in a child's caul, which he wore upon him in foul weather, than in aught Divine. At last, perhaps to please the step-mother, he turned his child away. Edward appears to have been little loth to depart, tired of ill usage. "I had an aunt," said he, "a poor woman, who sometimes gave me good advice," (I forgot whether he said she was in a workhouse.) "She would say, 'Edward, my lad, whatever you do, keep your hands from what don't belong to you.' " After being turned adrift by his father at the tender age of fourteen, he wandered about, associating with bad characters, lying in the parks part of the day, sleeping sometimes in a bed, when he could raise the pence to pay for it, but frequently under the fruit shambles in Covent Grarden market. About this time he was very near coming to be hanged. He became acquainted with two dissolute youths, one was apprenticed to an uncle, a silver- smith in St. Martin's Lane. A burglary was planned as they lay on the grass in St. James's Park. "It was all to be done so easy," said Mr. H., " and my share was to be so large, that INTEMPERANCE. 187 I was nearly drawn into it — the temptation was so strong upon me — but my aunt's words seemed to come into my mind, and a kind of terror came upon me, so that I did not go." The burglary was com- mitted, the burglars detected, and one, a boy like himself, (he was now about seventeen,) was hung, and the nephew transported. " It was shocking to see what quantities of people was hung in those days," said Mr. H., "mere boys!" This acted as a caution to my poor friend respect- ing common honesty, which he never forgot. He, however, pursued the same vagabond kind of life, sometimes raising a meal's victuals in very odd ways, and sometimes destitute of food or bed. After this he went out as a mariner to China, and met with some strange incidents of travel, wallow- ing also in much sin. Eeturning home, he became a coalheaver, an occupation which formerly enabled men to earn considerable wages by great exertion, and in a short space of time. He would then attend prize fights, bear and bull baits, cock, rat, and badger pits, the theatres, etc., and drink, and waste his money, and then return to his work, when, as it is expressed, " stumped out." Mr. H. was a great drunkard and swearer, and, to use his own expression, "set the Almighty at defiance in a manner it's horrid to think on." Such outrageous ways might be expected to bring prema- ture decay, even on a good constitution. Working beyond his strength at the coalheaving, fulfilling inordinate task- work to raise money for debauchery, having laid about for many years previously on the ground, exposed to damps, at last Mr. H. received a bodily affliction so as to be unable to continue his occupation, and was reduced to beggary. His former companion having died, he then cohabited 188 INTEMPERANCE. with another woman, and they traversed the country for years, as what are called tramps, selling matches, laces ; sleeping in barns, outhouses, etc. ; and sub- sisting by cadging, or begging, rather than by the sale of wares. During the winter he hired a room in a court upon my district, and lived there when I was appointed to the district. To use his own expression, " Before I was visited and instructed, I knew no more than a horse or a cow." Mr. H. has now long been a member of a Christian church and a communicant, and is of course lawfully married to the person who is now his companion. He has taught himself to read and to write in his old age, and copies out portions of the Scriptures. He is a man of faith and prayer, possesses a "good hope through grace,'' and his language breathes a grateful testimony to the goodness of that Saviour, who, as he says, " has preserved him in a many ways, blessed be His name ! '' The next case is a shadow to this sunbeam, but mercy, it will be seen, shone through the cloud. Those who make light of religious or moral obligations upon which they have entered, frequently present awful warnings to the world that the Almighty is not to be trifled with : — The 's have long resided on my district. INTEMPERANCE. 189 The father, but especiallj the mother, were for- merly drunkards, Mrs. was a great drunkard, and their destitution, in consequence of the ex- cesses of both, was very great. At length a brighter ray broke upon their history — they happily became interested in the total abstinence movement, and both signed the pledge. A striking improvement soon became visible. They raised a comfortable home around them, and for some years were strictly sober. Both belonged to benefit clubs connected with the temperance movement. An inundation from the Meet Ditch happened in this neighbourhood, and a number of houses were saturated with water. Mr. became wet through in cleaning his goods after this flood had subsided, and remaining in his wet clothes, laid the foundation of a rheumatic disorder, which prevented his following his employment (that of selling fish in the streets) for many months. He had, how- ever, a comfortable provision from his club during the whole of his long illness ; and it was a pleasure to me to see this poor man sitting by his own fireside, when able to sit up, with his hymn-book in hand, his wife busily engaged with her employment, the brush business, and the whole family comfort- ably provided for, although the father was unable to work. They were indeed reaping the benefits of temperance. Neither, however, I have reason to believe, were truly converted Christians, although stanch teetotallers. In the conversations I have held with them, I could not but observe this with sorrow. They were very hopeful characters, but they did not possess the spiritual experience of the children of Grod. Eeliance on self was not extin- guished. A moment of temptation came, which they had not grace to withstand, and I received the unwel- 190 INTEMPERANCE. come intelligence that they had abandoned total abstinence. On visiting them to expostidate, they informed me they considered they could drink moderately, " take a pint of beer," as they ex- pressed it, and yet be sober. From their previous habits I could not but regard them as very dan- gerously positioned, and told them my impression that great evil would be likely to result from the step they had taken. Both continued to drink moderately for some considerable time, but suddenly they burst out into drunkenness in the most awful manner. Debauched for days and days, day and night. The goods were sold, the furniture pawned, destitution and misery ensued. When sober enough to sur- vey the dismal wreck they had made of their home and their happiness, they lay and quarrelled, and cursed, and swore all night, and about daybreak the husband rose penniless from the side of his wretched partner, and paced the streets, to ease his fiery rage, his aching head, and conscience- stricken heart. A young man who slept above them, and who had over-night heard their fierce quarrelling, was awoke by, or after he had awoke, heard a gurgling, choking noise in the room below ; he listened, and became fearful something was wrong ; he accord- ingly, to relieve his apprehensions, came down stairs and knocked at the door. E-eceiving no answer, he burst into the room, and discovered poor Mrs. suspended to the bed's head, by which she had hung herself in remorse at past ex- cesses and consequent destitution. He immediately cut her down, and in time, I rejoice to add, to save her life. How much may depend upon a moment ! A few moments later, and she would have passed into eternity in her sins. So soon as I was INTEMPERANCE. 191 informed of the affecting circumstance, I called, to endeavour to persuade them to rejoin the Temperance Society, and found they had antici- pated my request. They are again improving in circumstances, and I have exhorted them, of course, to cease from all self-righteousness, and to live " a life of faith in the Son of Grod." May it be so ■with both ! The most vehement resolutions made in our own strength are not to be depended upon. The mere signing of a pledge is very far from sufficient. I am cognizant of this fact from many years' experience in the temperance movement. This noble reformation has suffered much scandal from the unconverted within its ranks, and how- ever eminent their position, is likely to suffer much more from such persons. Embracing as it does amongst its leaders the choicest evangelical spirits of the day, its hopes under God are with such. To the excellent Society of Friends it is under lasting obligation. From other advocates than Christians, however eloquent or distin- guished, its expectancy can be but small. From the effect of the ligature and coagula- tion, Mrs. 's throat swelled enormously for some weeks after this narrow escape, which was indeed providential. 192 INTEMPERANCE. The following case presents an instance of the enormous sums spent in these baneful articles by labouring people. The subject of this notice was born on my district. The following conversation with him on his return to England, diseased and penniless, after between twenty and thirty years' absence, affords an affecting view of the effects of drunken- ness. The poor fellow, it should be premised, was very respectful in his demeanour, and appeared keenly to feel his past sinful follies : — Miss. — "Where did you go when you left England?" Stephens. — " To the United States, in the Ame- rican, your reverence. Then I went whaling." M. — " "Where did you return to from your whaling voyage ? " S.— "To New Bedford." M. — "How much did you bring back as wages ? " S. — " About sixty pounds." M. — " How long did that last you ?" S. — " Not long, (jerking himself up,) I may as well tell the truth. Oh yes! — about a fort- night." H.— " What did you drink chiefly ? " S. — "Brandy and rum. I liked champagne — treated everybody." M. — "Did you go to New Holland from the United States ? " S. — "Yes, and went from there to the coast INTEMPERANCE. 19S of New Guinea for sandal-wood and tortoise-shell in a cutter ; capital wages, first-rate. We went' ashore for water, and the sailors left aboard thought they'd like to come ashore too, so they left the vessel at anchor ; when we come back she was gone swamped." M. — " How did she get swamped ? " S. — " Oh ! the natives watched us all ashore, and went and plundered her, and swamped her. They're very treacherous, them New Guineans; they is cannibals, too ; they killed one of our men." M. — "Have you been shepherding in A.us- tralia?" S. — " No, not shepherding, but hut-keeping. At that time the wages to a single man was thirty-five pounds per annum and rations." M. — "You used to come down to Sydney to take your wages, I suppose, as usual ? How often?" S. — " Once a year." M. — " How long would your wages last you at Sydney?" S. — " Not long," (shaking his head.) M. — " How long did your money last you ? " S.—" About a fortnight." M. — " How did you spend it ? — in drink ? " S. — " Oh yes ! and the publicans, when you was drunk, would score you two for one. I wasn't robbed of it — oh no! I've laid in the mud in Sydney streets all night, with notes in my pockets. I wasn't robbed, though. Drank it up." M. — " Did you stop ashore for many years ? " S. — "Oh nol Went trading to the Cape, to Isle of Erance, and from port to port in New Holland, Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land, and to New Zealand." 194 INTEMPERANCE. M. — " Why you might have saved at least £800. Drank it aU?" S. — " Oh yes ! When I was ashore, I went to the public-house and stopped maybe till eleven at night ; sometimes went back again by three in the morning — treated anybody — drank till it was all gone." M. — " How came you back to England ? " S. — " Why we went to the Isle of Erance, and there I was seized with this here complaint in my side. Went to the hospital ; Dr. said there was nothing the matter with me, but Dr. showed him better; he examined my side, and squeezed it, and him and the other doctor talked together in their Hugo, in course I didn't under- stand it, and then he see what it was. I'd nothing the matter with me till I came to the Isle of France (Mauritius.) It's a shocking unhealthy place, always people being buried at Port St. iiouis. They asked me which I'd like to come to, England or go back to New Holland. I said for England ; so they made an ascription as I wasn't able to work my passage, and I came home in the ' Camatic,' (a fine ship ;) but I didn't know what a poverty-struck place London had become." M. — " Why did you come to England ? " S. — " Why I wanted to see my old mother and my friends ; and when I come I found her dead, and my relations dead .too." M. — " You should have written to see if they were alive." S. — " So I did, but I never got no answer." M. — " Did you get your letters back ? " S. — "Oh no! I didn't put them in the post. They plays such tricks with the letters. I used INTEMPERANCE, 195 to sew 'em up in a bale of wool. I was put up to that by my mates." M. — " Do you know the cause of your disease ? '* S.— " Well, not exactly." M. — " It's the result of long-continued drunken- ness." S. — " "Well, that's what the doctor said it was. So I suppose it must be so." This man remained some time upon my dis- trict, and became improved in health. He fre- quently sought my advice as a religious teacher, and acting upon what I advised respecting his drunkenness, resolved, he declared to me, to become a total abstainer. He was advised to get out to Sydney, where he was well-known, as soon as possible, and obtain a hut-keeper^s place as far up the Bush as possible, because the further from Sydney the more difficult is it to obtain alcoholic drinks. "Aye," said he, "I shall take your reverence's advice; it's for my good it is ; and you're lucky to me. When I was out of reach of the cussed drink, I did very well I did, sober and solid as you may say." This poor man, J. S., could neither read nor write, and was one of those reckless sort of sailors who are at the mercy of every rogue. Full of the drollest sayings imaginable, and, poor wretch ! full also of misery. From the condition to which o3 196 INTEMPERANCE. his liver had become reduced, if he recommenced drinking I should consider he would very soon die. He appeared pleased to receive instruction respecting his soul. I pray it might have pro- duced more conviction of sin than was apparent. I give the case simply as illustrative of drunk- enness being as great a bane to our colonies as to the mother-country. I could, did the dimensions assigned to this work permit, relate various other instances of enormous individual expenditure in drink. One sailor, who voyaged to the Arctic Circle with Sir John E-oss, informed me that after a whaling voyage he spent sixty pounds in a few days. At the time he men- tioned this circumstance he was a member of a Temperance Society. As respects the duties on alcoholic liquors, we remember that they are to a large extent consumed in the punishment of crime. A very different sum also to eleven millions sterling annually, would suffice for poor's-rates, but for the drinking usages of the lower orders. The national energy requisite to shake off this incubus is to be derived from but one source — the "prevalence of vital Christianity. The only true security for a man's sobriety is his spi- rituality. All real blessing abides secure only under the wing of Jesus : — INTEMPERANCE. 197 " There is no hope for a sinful earth, Nor caii there eyer be, Save in that new and heavenly birth. That fits for eternity." Delirium tremens is a very affecting disease produced by drunkenness, with which I have repeatedly met. The delusions attendant on this horrid disease, which is a malady of common occurrence to drunkards, are really numberless. One eminent medical writer. Dr. Grindrod, in "Bacchus,'^ thus sums up the concomitants of this terrible disorder : — " Pale countenance, weakness, langour, emaciation, want of appetite, coldness of the hands and feet, cold moisture over the whole surface of the body, cramp in the extremities, slow pulse, giddiness, nausea and vomiting, with extreme anxiety about the most trivial circumstances, combined with frightful dreams, are among the most prominent of these painful and distressing symptoms, which stamp the character of this disorder, and indicate its awful approach. " The mind becomes indescribably harassed with phantasies of the most hideous and unnatural description. Objects most calculated to produce loathsome and horrifying feelings, keep the unfortimate sufferer in a state of inexpressible dis- quietude and anxiety. At one period, for example, they imagine disgusting vermin to be creeping about the body ; at other times, dangers of an appalling description are looked upon as holding out prospects of momentary destruction ; while the most alarming suspicions are entertained even of those who, under different circumstances, were esteemed as valued relations and friends." " To produce this condition of the system," says Dr. 198 INTEMPERANCE. Grindrod, "it is not necessary that an extreme degree of intoxication be superinduced. It is not unusual for indivi- duals to be capable of attending to the concerns of life with some degree of propriety, and yet be in such a state that at some favourable opportunity this terrible disease shall sud- denly display itself in all its terrific characters. By some medical writers, delirium tremens has been considered as 'forming a sort of connecting link between mania and fever.' " * Parties labouring under this chastisement for their sins, I have observed to be quite sensible that delusions by which they were infatuated were delusions, and yet, as one expressed to me, " they seem as strong as if they were real." The hallucination of snakes crawling about the person, and dogs gnawing the joints, is not an uncommon form of delusion under which such sufferers labour, and the sleeplessness and mental misery induced I have observed to reduce the system deplorably. One person who came under my notice was remunerating a man to sit up with him, as he felt so horribly inclined, he said, to commit suicide; whilst thus guarded he kept a bottle of gin under his pillow, and in frequent use ! The delusions under which he laboured were of a most extraordinary character; the sufferer was * " Armstrong on Fever," p. 310. INTEMPERANCE. 199 worn to the bone by sleeplessness and agony of mind. He was persuaded to abandon all intoxi- cating drinks, and in the course of several months became an altered man. One scene of morbid imagination previously present with him he described thus : — "There, as I lay in my bed, no sooner were my eyes closed, than the room seemed filled with beings of the most horrid appearance; they were searching aU round the room, and talking to one another; all appeared to have some design upon me ; I heard one say, ' He'll soon be dead ; we shall soon have him vrith us ; ' then a large black horse came tearing down some hiUs, making straight for the bed, whilst I trembled, and the perspiration ran off me." In the day he was harassed by the most extraordinary delusions, as he walked, as he sat, everywhere. A man of much muscular power, he was being worn to a skeleton, and to the weakness of a child, beneath the effects of this terrible result of sin. Dr. Macnish, an eminent physician of Glasgow, in his "Anatomy of Drunkenness," states his opinion that patients who die of this malady generally die in convulsions. One person, whilst expiring in the throes of delirium tremens in my presence, produced a series of the most unearthly sounds I ever heard. How true the maxim of Seneca, — " Ebrietas est voluntaria iusania :" 7 200 INTEMPERANCE. And there is wisdom in the words of one from whom we cannot always quote, — " The leprous distilment : whose effect Holds such enmity with the blood of man, That swift as quicksilver it courses through The natural gates and alleys of the body ; And with accursed poison it doth infect The wholesome blood." And above all, in the words of inspiration, — " Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise/' With the exception of the public professions, the great mass of mankind know comparatively so little respecting the ailments of their fellow- men, that it may be supposed the terrible disease to which we have alluded is a rarity in medical practice. This is, however, very far from being the fact. Dehrium tremens is one form of temporary derangement resulting from intemperance, and is apt to merge into confirmed mania. Insanity in general is also closely connected with intem- perance. In a recent speech, the Earl of Shaftes- bury remarked first upon the impoverishing, and next upon the maddening effects of strong drink, as follows : — INTEMPERANCE; 201 "I don't know whether you have seen a little treatise published some time ago by my friend Mr. Porter, of the Board of Trade, called Self-imposed Taxation, in which he showed that the working classes spend annually on beer, spirits, and tobacco, no less a sum than £50,000,000 sterling per annum. Just imagine if the half of this £50,000,000 were used by the working classes for the improvement of their worldly condition, the improvement of their dwellings, the education of their children, in elevating amusements, and in making a store for an evil day — would not that go far to place the work- ing classes in a position very different in the social scale to that now occupied by that body ? " Not to dwell longer on that, let me go to another point: and here I speak of my own knowledge and experience, for having acted as a Commissioner of Lunacy for the last twenty years, and acting as Chairman of the Commission during sixteen years, and having had, therefore, the whole of the business under my personal observation and care ; having made inquiries into the matter, and having fortified them by inquiries in America, which have confirmed the inquiries made in this country, the result is that fully six-tenths of all the cases of insanity to be found in these realms, and in America, arise from no other cause than the habits of intemperance in which the people have indulged."* This is an appalling statement. Some expla- * Lord Shaftesbury's speech at Manchester Town Hall, Monday, November 24th, 1851, for establishing a Society for the better regulation of public-houses, and other places of entertainment. — Reeordy November 2Ht\ 1851. 202 INTEMPERANCE. nation is necessary ; on turning to the Statistical Tables of the Commission, a cursory glance I find, might lead the reader to suppose this speaker greatly mistaken. He will find fifteen per cent, only set down to intemperance. But it will have to be carefully borne in mind that these returns are scarcely intended for the non-professional reader; were they so intended, considerable additional explanation would be needed. Thus, a certain per centage will be found to be attributed in those tables to the following causes : — 1. Yiee and sensuality. 2. Hereditary predisposition. 3. Bodily disorder. 4. Moral causes. It is evident the excessive use of alcoholic liquors must have shared very largely in the production of insanity, under each of these heads. This is not to be regarded as an hypothesis — it is an undisputed fact. Upon each of these causes about fifty per cent, is generally attributed to intemperance, (rather more,) which makes the statistics quoted quite unexceptionable. American statistics we have consulted, fully tally with this view. INTEMPERANCE. 203 The second Annual Eeport of the "Worcester Asylum, Massachusetts, gives jper cent, as fol- lows : — Intemperance 56 111 health 18 Family troubles 11 Dr. Carter, of the Philadelphia Infirmary, states that no less than 145 cases of delirium tremens were admitted in six months. The institution at Baltimore, one of its physicians. Dr. Wright, says, received from sixty to seventy cases annually. But during the last few years the progress of the tem- perance movement, especially in the Northern States of the American Union, has been so marvel- lous that a great change has come over this state of things. In the New England State of Maine on the sea-board, which embraces an extent of 35,000 square miles, the retail of all descriptions of intoxi- cating liquors is absolutely interdicted by law, except by the apothecary. The Statistical Eeport on the sickness and mortality of the troops in the "West Indies, 1838, returns delirium tremens at upwards of fifty per cent, on all cases admitted. In British Gruiana, the same official Eeport in another section, gives upwards of fifty per cent, to delirium tremens also. The same per centage applies like- wise to the Bermudas, given in another Eeport.^^ # * Dr. Carpenter, Examiner in Physiology in the University of London, has vmtten a work which obtained a prize of one hundred guineas, on the " Use and Abuse of AlcohoUc Liquors." Mr. GWpin has pubHshed this Prize Essay at a very low price, and it may be consulted as a popular physio- logical treatise on the subject, with great advantage. With it shoidd also be read the concluding portion of " Bacchus," (a Prize Essay,) by Dr. Grindrod. If the reader has not 204 INTEMPERANCE. As will be seen by Mr. Porter's pamphlet, already referred to, the annual expenditure of the working classes on intoxicating liquors (beer and spirits) and tobacco is ^850,000,000 annually. Many costermongers upon my district could have been independent in their old age — as coster- mongering was formerly a very lucrative business — had they not consumed vast sums in intoxicat- ing drinks. But the word of God is fulfilled in them, " The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty/' Pro v. xxiii. 21. Numbers of old people, not in a workhouse only because they prefer semi-starvation with the open air, (to which they have been so much accustomed,) have said to me, "Yes, sir, that's right, we had our chance, and was fools, and now we feels it." This has, of course, afi'orded me an excellent opportunity to open man's state by nature as a sinner to them, and to point them to the Rock of Ages.* perused tMs really gigantic literary effort, he will find it well worthy his attention. * The late J. Poynder, Esq., then Under-Sheriff of Mid- dlesex and London, remarked, (see ParHamentary Evidence on the PoHce of the Metropolis, 1817,) " The evil of drinking lies at the root of all other evils in this city, London, and elsewhere. I have long been in the habit of hearing crim i nals INTEMPERANCE. 205 With a person to whom I trust I have been made useful, I held some time since the follow- ing conversation. His narrative respecting a companion in debauchery is very illustrative of the " great gain " attendant on godliness : — " If," said I, " you had converted to a good use that money you have spent in drink, Mr. D , your decHning years might be cheered by inde- pendence." "Mr. Yanderkiste," said my poor friend, "my mind is ill at ease. I lay on that humble pallet on the ground, and (the tears starting in his eyes) I can't sleep." Poor man ! there is and has been, to my know- ledge, much benevolence in Mr. D. I have known him to feed the hungry and take the houseless beneath the shelter of his roof. Benevolent, but a great drunkard. I prevailed upon Mr. D., by God's assistance, to abstain for some time. How it fares with him now I know not, as he has removed I know not whither. I assured him on the occasion of my last visit, that if he was resolved to seek the salvation of his soul through the merits of a crucified Eedeemer, and avoid strong drink, he might anticipate better days. Adding, that religion, which includes sobriety, effected great and beneficial changes, not only in refer all their misery to tkis source, so that I now almost cease to ask them the cause of their ruin." The late Mr. Wontner affirmed that " nineiy-nine out of eyery hundred prisoners that came to Newgate, committed their crimes in consequence of intemperance." 206 INTEMPERANCE, men's morals, unspeakably the most important consideration of course, but in their worldly cir- cumstances. Said my poor friend, Mr. D., " I have known that, too ; there was my old friend F ; there's an instance." I inquired the particulars respecting F. " Why sir," said he, " F. is a shaver, like me. I've known him for many a year ; old acquaintances we've been, and pot companions. He certainly was an awful character, and his wife, too. I think the greatest drunkards I ever knew. Never do I recollect to have gone to his house without seeing either a bottle of rum or gin on the table. For years and years I knew them, and they went on just the same, beggared and poverty-stricken, not an article scarce in their place for use. They were regularly done up at last. Well, sir, I lost sight of them for some years, but since I had to give up my shop, (sinking his head on his chest — it was through his habitual drunkenness,) and was wan- dering about starving, trying to obtain employment, I went into one very handsome hairdresser's shop, over the water, amongst others, to ask if they wanted a man. Well, I was surprised ! who should answer me but F. Bless me, says I. Well sir, we stood looking at one another ; and at last, said he, (pointing round,) 'Tou see me very diiferently situated to what I was.' Well, sir, I humm'd and ha-ah'd, for I didn't know what to say. ' It was different, indeed,' said Mr. D., lifting up his hands and eyes impressively, ' it was different ! ' * Yes,' said Mr. F., ' you see me very different to what I was.' Well, sir, he asked me into the parlour, nicely furnished, and introduced me to Mrs. F., and she wasn't like the same woman. They seemed INTEMPERANCE. 207 quite pleased to see me, made much of me, and, said Mr. P., ' I'm sorry I don't want a man, for I manage all my business myself ; but I'm going to Bamsgate for a week, for the benefit of my health, and if it's worth your while to come for a week, D., do.' "Well, sir, it turned out somebody had per- suaded him and his wife to turn religious and teetotallers, and there they were in a shop and business worth £60 or £70 to come into. I engaged to take the place for a week, and gladly ; and before he went, ' Now, Mr. D.,' said he, * there are one or two things I have to say. I allow no spirits, or beer, or liquor of any kind, on no account into this place.' 'Very well,' said I, ' there's an end of it.' * And another thing,' said he, ' I do no business on the Sunday ; all shut close. I pay you for a week just the same ; but six days is my week's work now' Well, sir, they were both members, I found, of Chapel; and that week I seemed almost in heaven. His wife used to talk so as would do anybody good to hear — no hypocrisy — ^but so changed ; prayer night and morning. Well, sir, when Mr. F. came home, of course there was no further occasion for me, but he gave me £1, besides my board and lodging, for the week's work, and, says he, 'D., I do wish I wanted a man for old acquaintance' sake, but you see how it is, I don't ; but whenever you are this way, don't fail to look in and do as we do.' " The following is a painful reminiscence of my boyhood days, but it is full of instruction : — When quite a youth, being extremely fond of music, I occasionally attended a London Grlee Club 208 INTEMPERANCE. of a very superior character. Several singers of note attended this club, which was conducted in a very respectable manner. It was strictly private, and admission was given only to members, who had the privilege of introducing a friend. All improper conversation or drunkenness was strictly prohibited; and the chairman, an intimate friend of my own, was empowered immediately to call to order, and, if necessary, to order out of the room, any party so offending ; but this arrangement was never, to my knowledge, enforced. It was fre- quented only by those who, to use the phrase, liked a quiet song and an hour's conversation. I never heard a lewd word or saw a person become drunk there. So very respectable was it con- sidered, that my schoolmaster, whose well-known establishment was distant but a few yards from the quiet inn, in the assembly room of w^hich the meet- ings were held, has sat opposite me, smoking his cigar and drinking his glass of wine and water, without its being considered any bad example for him to do so. Probably this club was more dan- gerous to many on the very account of this re- spectability, than it would have been otherwise conducted. It served as a keen edge of the wedge to initiate many into vice. This effect was pro- duced in a variety of ways. Professionals who gratuitously attended here, of course expected the members to take tickets for their benefits. Other benefit tickets were introduced for sale, and a theatrical acquaintance was formed by many through this means. In short, numbers of men were ruined by attending this introduction to vice, vindicating the necessity of avoiding the very " appearance of evil," of keeping from the edge of the boundaries of sin. INTEMPERANCE. 209 About this time the Almightj laid his hand heavy upon me, and said, " My son, give me thy heart," in louder tones than he does to many, and pleaded with me by terrible things in righteous- ness. My taste in singing and music underwent a change, and I lost sight, for many years, of these acquaintances. I was induced, however, some time since, to make inquiries respecting them, wishful to have a little spiritual reasoning with them. One I found was in Newgate, a convicted felon, awaiting transportation, and was walking about behind two rows of iron bars in the midst of murderers and felons of all descriptions. His story was soon told : theatrical, and acquaintances of a like idle character, gamblers, could not be kept up without greater expenses than could be met by his situation in the City and the house of trade he carried on also. Fever precedes inflammation; such is the pathology of disease; and it is equally true that the circumstances we have named — expenditure beyond income — do in general constitute the precursors of embezzlement, forgery, etc. If people would but argue respecting sin as they do respecting everything else, how much crime would be avoided ! " Have any of your thea- trical or gambling acquaintances come to see you in Newgate ? " said I. " WeU," said he, " I must own not one, and I take it exceedingly kind of you to do so, and shall read your book you may depend upon it," as I handed a copy of Doddridge's " Eise and Progress" to the warder for him, who sat in front of the bars like the keeper of a wild beast den. " But for the glee club, etc.," said I, "you would probably not have been here." He pressed his head against the bars, and gave me a look, as I turned away, such as I shall not readily forget. 210 INTEMPERANCE. The last I heard respecting two other attendants at this club was their bankruptcy under, I fear, far from creditable circumstances. But the point under the particular head of this chapter to which I wish to draw especial attention is, that I am sorry to find the moderation of many of the members of that glee club has since merged into habitual and ruinous drunkenness. I met, some time since, one who, by his patrician politeness, obliging disposi- tion, talents, and voice, was quite the soul of that club. He was in easy circumstances, and one of those men whose engaging demeanour makes them your friends at once. I should say in dress he was a model of neatness and gentility. How altered now ! a haggard, careworn, dirty, threadbare drunkard stood before me, lounging along with one hand in his pocket. His moderate — very moderate — drinking of years had merged into disgusting habitual intemperance, and the steady hand that could once but I forbear — could now develop that gift of beauty no more. His afiairs had gone to wreck and ruin. Two others had become drunkards and madmen, and I could much enlarge, but space forbids. There was one who used to sing the wicked song : — " G-aily now my moments roll, Whilst I quaff the flowing bowl ; Care can ncTor reach the soul That deeply drinks of wine." Care reached his poor soul — he went mad, and died in the flower of his days. How true the lines of Prior : — " Memory confused, and interrupted thought, Death's harbingers, he latent in the draught, INTEMPERANCE. 211 And in the flowers that wreath the flowing bowl, Fell adders hiss, and poisonous serpents roU." "Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder," Prov. xxiii. 31, 32. In various instances murders have taken place upon my district through strong drink, not indeed with that rapidity to make the perpe- trators amenable to the law, but various women have died so bruised that there could I apprehend be little doubt of their deaths having been much accelerated, and in several instances caused, by ill usage. Mutilation, broken limbs, etc., are of very common occurrence. Many very narrow escapes from instant destruc- tion have taken place. 1 will mention one : — After a prayer meeting on my district I re- quested an aged friend to accompany me to an immoral house I was endeavouring to break up — and shortly afterwards succeeded. The proprietors were persuaded to be lawfully married, and after- wards left the neighbourhood. On entering the court, we heard a furious altercation and strug- gling taking place in Mr. M.'s room. On entering, a very sad scene presented itself. Mr. M. was drawn up at one end of the room, and was livid with rage. Mrs. M. was drawn up at the other, the blood running down her face. Both thoroughly exhausted by fighting, were taking breath prepara- p 2 212 INTEMPERANCE. tory to a fresli onset. Mr. M. was induced to accompany us to his father's in Court. Mrs. M. says, " I shall always consider you pre- vented mischief, maybe murder, by coming in just then, and God sent you, for I was looking for a knife just then; you know," said she, "my skull being fractured, I'm mad when I'm drunk." When sober, both are extremely quiet, inoffensive, and hard-working people. It is admitted by Christians of all shades of doctrine, that mankind cannot always perform all the wickeduess they intend; but for this the world would long since have been an aceldama — my district more sanguinary than many localities. I can attribute the absence of hundreds of murders to nothing else than the providence and restraining hand of God amongst these people. Until the rise of the temperance movement, during the present century, the use of beer, or wines, or spirits, was considered as necessary to the maintenance of health and vigour as our daily food. Being partaken of as necessary diet, and pre- senting a marked and melancholy distinction in their action upon the human stomach to water, the natural beverage of man and other mammalia animals, as well as all animals of all orders, all INTEMPERANCE. 213 existences with which we are acquainted, above, around, and in the waters under the earth, this has become the fruitful source of intemperance. A certain quantity of wholesome food, in general, stills the monitions of hunger, and more food then becomes repulsive to the stomach. But the action of alcohol is very dilBPerent. As Dr. Johnson is recorded to have remarked to Mrs. Hannah More, when solicited to take a little wine after his dinner, " Ah child ! I can^t take a little." Not being a natural beverage, the human stomach does not instinctively furnish any sure monition when danger of intoxication is com- mencing. The eating of two, or perhaps, by a hearty and healthy person, three slices of animal food, does not beget any desire for more ; but in the mass of mankind, the action of alcohol upon the stomach is continually to induce desire for additional stimulus. Meat is not palatable after sufficient has been eaten, except in certain morbidly craving con- ditions of the stomach; but the appetite of the wine-bibber increases at every draught. Many uninformed minds too, formerly were. far 214 INTEMPERANCE. from imagining even the excessive use of alcohol inimical to health. A publican who had by excessive drinking bloated his system to an enormous size, once declared to me I was entirely mistaken in my views : " what hurts people," said he, " is mixing their brandy with so much water ; the water preys on the stomach. I," said he, " can drink twenty tumblers of brandy and water during the day, made stiff', but people have so much water mixed with the brandy that it naturally preys on their insides." Well has Milton said : — " O madness to think the use of strongest wines And strongest drinks our chief support of health ! When G^od, with these forbidden, made choice to rear His mighty champion, strong above compare. Whose drink was only from the limpid brook." Such delusions, however, have now little hold upon the public mind comparatively ; the sin of drunkenness is now, therefore, the greater. In the providence of God a great temperance re- formation has progressed during the past twenty years. The total abstainers in England and Wales are numbered at one million and a half, principally labouring people. In one iron foun- dry, with which I was acquainted, exactly two- INTEMPERANCE. ^15 thirds of the hands employed were total ab- stainers. The Messrs. Chambers have furnished a very- excellent tractate upon this subject, entitled, " The Temperance Movement.'^ The document also, entitled the '' Medical Certificate,'' is signed by fifteen hundred medical men, including the heads of the profession, declaring in the strongest manner the far worse than uselessness of all intoxicating drinks in health — beer, wines, or spirits — under any circumstances. However those drinks may whip the system, they add no strength to it, but on the contrary debilitate. I cannot omit here to state my personal acknowledgments to Dr. Ralph Barnes Grindrod, LL.D., for the perusal of his admirable prize essay, "Bacchus,'' a perfect encyclopaedia upon this subject, needing indeed no feeble commenda- tion of mine. That work has, perhaps, by its extensive circulation both in this country and in America, obtained the highest commendation it could possibly receive. Parties who might not feel themselves equal to the study of so learned and voluminous a treatise would do well to peruse the Rev. Benjamin Parsons' "Anti-Bacchus," a great literary effort, but smaller in compass. 216 INTEMPERANCE. These two works, the circulation of which has already been very extensive, descend with their authors to posterity as national blessings. They will, I venture to assert, possess monu- mental niches in the hearts of the wise and good until time shall be no longer. In all those happy instances in which I have observed temperance to take the place of habits of intoxication, the change has only been effected under Providence, by following out the advice of a great genius, who well observes : — " Evil habits are so far from growing weaker by repeated attempts to overcome them, that if they are not totally subdued, every struggle increases their strength ; and a habit opposed and victorious is more than twice as strong as before the contest. The manner in which those who are weary of their tyranny endeavour to escape from them appears, by the event, to be generally wrong; they try to loose their chains one by one, and to retreat by the same degrees as they advanced ; but before the deliverance can be completed, habit is sure to throw new chains upon the fugitive. Nor can any hope to escape free but those who, by an eflfort sudden and violent, burst their shackles at once, and leave her at a distance." * The only influence, however, we remember that can be depended upon to enable man to do this, that can emancipate man from the thraldom of sin, is " the fear of the Lord,^^ which is " to * Dr. Samuel Johnson. INTEMPERANCE. 217 depart from evil." That fear — that blessed fear — which comes upon the careless soul suddenly perhaps, like " the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings/' Oh ! glory be to the Giver of that fear ! There is omnipotence in its wings — omnipotence to overcome all obstacles to piety and peace. Whether it so comes, or whether it steals o'er the soul noiselessly like the day -break, there is omnipotence in that fear; and beneath its influence, the long-formed evil habits of a life are uprooted, like the tall trees of the forest before the breath of the tornado, or withered and scattered, like the oak before the shaft of the lightning. Resistlessly and omnipotently that fear comes, and evil is before it but as the roUing thing before the whirlwind, or the dew before the sun- beam, or Satan before the mighty power of God. Oh ! send that loved fear, blessed Saviour, into every soul of man ! Surely among men who view human nature in the aggregate is the City Missionary. Imagine him plunging into the depths of some apparently interminable neighbourhood of gordian-knotted 218 INTEMPERANCE. courts and alleys, from day to day. He has opportunities indeed of studying human nature ; and he finds that — " Lawless and unrestrain'd, the human race Rushes through all the paths of wickedness." Traces of grace received are few and far between — " Oases ill the moral desert rare." The pious reader will, I doubt not, feel affected by the case of poor B — B . My acquaintance with B — B commenced about four years since, in one Frying-pan Alley. Here she was a terror to many. She always reminded me of the fabled accounts of the Amazons. She was of colossal stature, and a fiery red com- plexion. I have seen her little more than half- dressed, her long, coarse, jet-black hair streaming almost to her waist, sally forth from her room, maddened by drink, and, armed with a long broom, daring the whole court to combat. Surely, if ever any case appeared almost hopeless it was hers. I shall not conceal that I felt afraid of her. Not so much afraid of her, however, as of suffering her soul to change worlds without warning ; but I expected to be knocked down ; and although it would not have been the first time I have been knocked down, that is not, after all, a matter to which a man becomes perfectly used and recon- ciled. But B — B never knocked me down j INTEMPERANCE. 219 she has insulted me ; but her broom she reserved for Mrs. and others, who furnished themselves with brooms to match. B — B , fierce as she was, at last appeared to listen to my warnings as the warnings of a friend, and permitted me, when she was sober, to read and pray with her ; but her drunken habits continued the same. It has been already stated in this chapter that we succeeded in forming a Total Abstinence Society — one of the earliest members was this woman. Many drunkards, sweeps, costermongers, dustmen, etc., joined, and became reformed characters. I shall not soon forget sitting on the platform at a tea festival of this our Society, at which about two hundred persons were present, and seeing B — B and a dozen or twenty others handing the good things of this life about with the most astonishing activity. "Mind yourselves, gentle- men!" said one, (who has spent a guinea a week in drink when costermongering was better than it is now,) handing a huge teapot down to the boilers, and calling out, " More water, you there ! " Mrs. B also was indefatigable in handing round the cake and bread-and-butter; the rest were equally alert in attending to the comfort of the party ; and it was a pleasant sight. But something better remains. B — B not only became a teetotaller, she became also a fre- quenter of 'public worship; and I can almost see her now, sitting with her arms a-kimbo. Not a word uttered by the speaker escaped her. "Well, she saved money ; she was well dressed ; she relin- quished Sunday trading ; she attended my meetings, and the big tears have I seen roll one after another down her cheeks, as I discoursed concerning the love of Christ ; and no one who saw her and knew 220 INTEMPERANCE. her would doubt but that they were tears of the right sort. Mrs. B could neither read nor write ; but could pray, and she did pray. She prayed for mercy. Her prayer was answered ; and she could soon talk about her blessed Saviour — and mean ivhat she said, too — as well as if she had been at college, and better tlian some can who have been there. It were well could we end here, but we cannot. She went on well for a long time ; and then, alas ! a shadow came over her heart. That shadow was pride; a dark shadow, come when and where it may. She bought trumpery, in the shape of trinkets, rings, etc., and disfigured herself with them — a vanity not confined to the lower orders of society, a vanity that does not always bow its farewell to the proud spirit even at the entrance to the tomb.* "Pride," however, "goeth before * The following is an instance : — "Among the noticeable personages buried in this part of the nave (Westminster Abbey) is Mrs. Oldfield, the actress, who was buried in a very fine Brussels lace hood, a Holland robe with a tucker, and double ruffles of the same lace, a pair of new kid gloves, etc. — circimistances which Pope has made the most of in his lines : — * Odious ! in woollen, 'twould a saint provoke, (Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke.) No, let a charming chintz and Brussels lace Wrap my cold limbs, and shade my lifeless face ; One would not, sure, be frightful when one's dead ! And — Betty — give this cheek a Uttle red.' " Knighfs London. Mr. Knight well observes, that some of the tombs in the old Abbey are remarkable only for the fact that the parties they commemorate should ever have been buried there. INTEMPERANCE. 221 destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall," Prov. xvi. 18. B — B very soon became as bad, or, if possible, worse than ever. Nearly the last time I saw her alive was one night : she was drunk, and had risen from her bed to fight with a sweep's wife. Her face was partly covered with blood, and a crowd of costermongers, thieves, etc., were look- ing on. I made my way through the mob, and approaching her, requested she would follow me in- doors, leading the way to her room ; and after giving her suitable exhortations, I left. Scarcely, however, had I cleared the adjoining court, when, as I afterwards found, the fray was renewed. Shortly afterwards I was sent for to visit Mrs. B , and was informed that she was dying. I found her very ill ; and she cast up such an awful look in my face when I spoke to her, that I felt almost chilled. She cried bitterly. Preferring drink to food, and being unable to obtain both, she had gone without nourishment until the cold had so struck her that she sunk down — to die ! She appeared truly penitent, but possessed with an awful dread that her soul would be lost. On questioning her closely, however, I discovered so much reliance on Christ, as to prevent me from deeming hers a hopeless case. "If you perish," said I, at last, " will you perish at the foot of the cross ? " " Yes ! " said she, with an agony of ear- nestness. "iVbwe," said I, " ever perished tJiere.^* Pointing to her fatherless child, for she was a widow, she made me promise, with the resistless eloquence of a dying mother, more perhaps than I should ever have been able to perform had the boy lived. She had few more hours to spend on earth. 22^ INTEMPERANCE. My prayer that night was the last prayer I was permitted to make for her. B — B is dead, and her child too ! The effects of alcohol in firing the passions, and leading to murders and various impurities, are evident to all ; there are also large connec- tions between the vice of drinking and other evil practices, which are not perhaps so obvious. Gambling may be named as an instance : — The gambling houses of London (called " hells'^) until lately exceeded all the other establishments, even the club houses, in their stock of wines. There is a close and almost inseparable connec- tion, between gambling and drinking. Crockford's, in St. James's Street, cost in erection nearly £60,000. The furnishing of this establishment cost in addition £35,000. Its cellar contained wines to suit every diversity of taste. It was kept by Crockford's son, and was valued at £70,000. It measured 285 feet in length. It is a melancholy reflection that the erection and furnishing, including wine cellar, of one London gambling house, should have exceeded, hy several thousand pounds, the whole sum in donations and subscriptions received by the London City Mission for the evangelization of London during the whole sixteen years of its existence ! Oh ! may God our Saviour have mercy on this sinful city ! The author of the " Great Metropolis," by whom the above statistics are furnished, further states that in this wine cellar, independently of innumer- able hogsheads, the number of bottles on the INTEMPERANCE. 223^ shelves amounted to 300,000. He was at a loss to know how, with only 750 subscribers, (the subscrip- tion, moreover, being only twelve guineas per annum, in addition to an entrance fee of twenty guineas,) Crockford could afford to give swperh suppers in the saloon, to those of the members who chose to partake of them, without any additional charge. The matter, however, was soon explained. " With regard to those who enter the hazard room, I saw at once the policy of plying them with the choicest wines, and with a sufficient quantity of them, because, he adds, ' when the wine is in, the wit,' according to the proverb, ' is sure to be out ; ' and men are then, of course, in the best of aU possible conditions to risk their money, and to play too in such a way as is most likely to result in their losing it." "Woe be to the man who is found at a gaming-table ! There are also peculiar affinities between infi' delity and drunkenness. We do not now so much refer to those general affinities which must exist between infidelity and every form of vice, but rather to infidelity as developed in its literature, by which the public mind has been so extensively poisoned. Thomas Paine is well known to have been a man of low, debased, drunken habits, and in all proba- bility wrote portions of his " Age of E-eason " under the influence of his cups ; otherwise, we conceive a man of Paine's shrewdness would never have been so far overcome, as to have written those numerous palpably absurd passages which Bishop Watson has so well refuted, and which even Paine, with all his general shamelessness of character, could not afterwards plausibly defend. However this may have been, and not to refer to living examples, 224l INTEMPERANCE. the author of the wretched " Don Juan,*' etc., may be named: — Mr. Leigh Hunt states that " Don Juan was written under the influence of gin and water." In an epistle, addressed to his publisher, [Mr. Murray,] he, Lord B., acknowledges the stem necessity for reform. He says, " About the beginning of the year (1819) I was in a state of great exhaustion, attended by such debility of stomach, that nothing remained upon it; and I was obliged to reform my ' way of life,' which was conducting me from the yellow leaf to the ground with all deUberate speed. I am better in health and morals." Again he says, " The third act (of Manfred) is certainly (then, we regret to say, follows an awful expression) bad, and, like the archbishop of Grenada's homily, (which savoured of the palsy,) has the dregs of my fever, during which it was written." This fever appears, according to his statement, to have followed those excesses in which this unhappy being indulged at Venice in 1817. The following passage exhibits how strongly those conditions of mind, which led him even to doubt whether he had a soul, and gave so unhappy a current to his writings, were connected with habits of intemperance. Well, has Fresnoy said, — " To temperance all our liveliest powers we owe, She bids the judgment wake, the fancy flow j For her the artist shuns the fuming feast, The midnight roar, the bacchanalian guest." Again he says : — Feb. 25th, 1831. — " Came home— my head aches— plenty of news, but too tiresome to set down. I have neither read, nor written, nor thought, but led a purely animal life all day. I mean to try and write a page or two before I go to bed. INTEMPEEANCE. 225 But as Squire Puller says, * My head aches consumedly : Scrub, bring me a dram!' Drank some Imola wine, and some punch. ... I got out, and mixing some soda powders, drank them off. . . . Eetumed to bed, but grew sick and sore once again. . . . Woke, and was ill all day. . . . I remarked in my illness the complete inertion, inaction, and destruction of my chief mental faculties. I tried to rouse them, and yet could not — and is this the soul ? " Had Lord Byron lived naturally, and not stulti- fied and deadened his mental powers by a life of debauchery and excess, would his intellect, other- wise capable of so great things^ ever have inquired, " and is this the soul ? " He says in another place, — "Wrote more of the tragedy. Took a glass of grog . . and scribbled and scribbled again ; the spirits (at least mine) need a little exhilaration, and I do not take laudanum now as I used to do, so I have mixed a glass of strong waters and single waters, which I shall now proceed to employ. . . . The effect of ale, wines, and spirits upon me is, however, strange. It settles, but it makes me gloomy." * To those gloomy misanthropic hours, the result of licentiousness and intemperance, when dissatis- * The following is the Medical Certificate referred to in a previous page : — " We, the undersigned, are of opiiiion — " 1. That a very large portion of human misery, including poverty, disease, and crime, is induced by the use of alcoholic or fermented liquors as beverages. " 2. That the most perfect health is compatible with total abstinence from all such intoxicating beverages, whether in Q 226 INTEMPERANCE. fied with himself and all around, and viewing all things through a distorted medium, are we to a large extent to ascribe the infidel folly and licen- tious rhyming of this unhappy man. How far removed this state of mind from that blessed serenity religion gives ! — " Contentment makes e'en little more, And sweetens good possest ; "Whilst faith points out the bliss in store, And makes us doubly blest." the form of ardent spirits, or as wine, beer, ale, porter, cider, etc., etc. " 3. That persons accustomed to such drinks may with perfect safety discontinue them entirely, either at once, or gradually after a short time. " 4. That total and universal abstinence from alcohoHo hquors and intoxicating beverages of all sorts, woidd greatly conduce to the health, the prosperity, the morality, and the happiness of the human race." Among the names appended to this testimony will be found those of Sir J. Clark, Bart., Physician to the Queen j Eichard Bright, M.D. r.E.s., Physician to the Queen ; John Forbes, M.D. r.E.s., Physician to the Queen's Household, etc.; Sir B. C. Brodie, Bart., Sergeant-Surgeon to the Queen, etc. It is most pleasing to see the very eminent names of those who have meritedly reached these distinguished posts, appended to this most important document, and the avowal they have made does them great honour. We do not, how- ever, observe a single name appended to this document, that we should esteem not equally in a position to judge in the matter. INTEMPERANCE. 227 The next case is a truly hopeful one : — The first occasion on which I remember to have seen Mr. C, a costermonger who resides upon my late district, is rather more than five years since ; he was on that occasion extremely intoxicated, and could scarcely stand. He said, " I understand, sir, you are our new missionary, what has come to instruct us poor creatures, and I'm worry happy to see you, sir, for we wants to be instructed bad enough." I thanked Mr. C. for his kind expres- sions, and said I wished to have a little private conversation with him; but he kept falling upon me, and his breath was also so exceedingly offen- sive, that it was impossible to proceed with my endeavours to benefit him. I said, "If you will allow me, Mr. C, to rest your back against a wall, I think you will be more at ease, and we can converse more pleasantly." I led Mr. 0. to the wall of a house, and placed his back against it.* Under the discouraging circumstances I thus encountered Mr. C, it might have appeared to some minds almost useless to endeavour to com- municate instruction. Of course it would have * The Spartans of old, we are informed, were in the habit of making their slaves drunk, in order to exhibit to their children the degraded and contemptible aspect induced by intemperance; and yet so rooted and grounded have the nations of the earth become in such habits, that instead of exciting horror with the multitude, the hapless sight of a feUow-creature, shorn of strength to stand, and reason to converse, by intemperance, is ridiculed and laughed at, and even gives a theme to the gambols of little children, and a character to plays and pantomimes. q2 228 INTEMPERANCE. been far preferable to have reproved him for drunkenness when sober, but I could not feel certain he might live to be sober, and we hold our own lives, too, for no definite terminable period, but are tenants at will. I therefore deemed it proper to attempt to convey to him some Christian mstruction on that occasion, respecting the physi- cal, moral, and spiritual evils connected with the sin of intoxication. Considering his case worthy of especial notice, attention was directed to his instruction in a particular manner, and I ultimately was enabled to induce him to become a total abstainer. His case has hopefully progressed, and he remains a stanch temperance man yet. He attends the public worship of Grod with exemplary regularity. In his years of drunkenness he was altogether a stranger within a place of worship : he has totally abandoned Sabbath trading, and commenced family prayer. Mr. C, unfortunately, can neither read nor write, but his eldest son, educated at our Ragged School, reads the chapter. It may be truly said of himself and family, " now has salvation come to this house." Mr. C. has, for a considerable period of time, been of great assistance to me ; forward in every good word and work. He has induced various drunken persons in these courts and alleys to join the Total Abstinence Society. This man was formerly a great drunkard, spending by his own admission occasionally as much as £2 per week in intoxicating liquors, and even a larger sum. INTEMPERANCE. 229 Mrs. C, who was formerly far from a sober woman, has also become a stanch total ab- stainer, and appears also in a very hopeful state of mind. It is ascertained from official documents that not less than forty-five millions of bushels of malt, (about one-seventh of the grain produced in Britain,) are annually consumed in the manu- facture of intoxicating liquors. For the produce of this quantity of grain, more than one million of acres of land are required. The judicious Paley pertinently observes : — "From reason or revelation, or from both together, it appears to be G-od Abnighty's intention, that the produce of the earth should be appHed to the sustenation of human life. Consequently all waste and misappUcation of these produc- tions is contrary to the Divine intention and will, and there- fore wrong, for the same reason that any other crime is so j such as destroying, or causing to perish, great part of an article of human provision, in order to enhance the price of the remainder; or diminishing the breed of animals, by a wanton or improvident consumption of the young. To this head may also be referred what is the same evil in a smaller way, the expending of human food on superfluous dogs or horses ; and lastly, the reducing the quantity, in order to alter the quahty, and to alter it generally for the worse, as the distillation of spirits from bread and corn." * I could much enlarge instances of usefulness * Paley's Moral Philosophy^ book ii. chap. ii. 230 INTEMPERANCE. amongst drunkards, for which I offer unto God thanksgiving, but space does not permit. The City Mission lays down no rule upon the subject of total abstinence. Its requirements respecting the profession and teaching of Tri- nitarian Christianity are inflexible as the solid rocks, but with matters on which Christians differ it seeks not to interfere. Total abstinence is left to the unfettered consciences of its Missionaries. Some of the oldest Missionaries of the Society, such as Hilder, Jackson, Walker, and others, are stanch total abstainers, and about half the general body of Missionaries. Having been for many years a total abstainer from intoxicating liquors, I have found it an immense advantage to be enabled to say to drunkards not simply " abstain as I advise" but " abstain as I do.'^ The dimensions of this work, however, require that the chapter should be con- cluded ; this may well be done in the words of the friend of Wilberforce and relative of one of our illustrious women, Mrs. Fry, — I allude to the late Joseph John Gurney : — " It is an excellent thing to accustom children and young people to total abstinence from fermented and therefore intoxicating liquors. This abstinence becomes easy, and even INTEMPERANCE. 231 pleasant, by habit, and it leaves both mind and body in a cool and favourable condition for all the functions and duties of life. It plucks up one of the most fruitful seeds of all manner of evil, or, to change the metaphor, it lays the axe to one of the most vigorous roots of the ' corrupt tree.' So long as we never use intoxicating drinks we are, of course, secure from the danger of abusing them ; and when we consider how large, how varied, how insidious that danger is, it seems to be the part of wisdom to teach our young people whoUy to avoid it. I well know that much allowance must be made for the long-formed habits of persons who are advanced in life ; yet when we consider how vast a multitude of our fellow-men are daily falling a sacrifice to intoxicating drink ; when we behold the awful thronging of the workhouse, the madhouse, and the jail, which is the ascertained effect of such drink ; when we carry our views further, and think of the myriads, nay, millions, whom alcohohc beverages have been the means of plimging (as we have every reason to believe) into the bot- tomless depth of everlasting ruin — we are assuredly furnished with ample reasons for entirely disusing them. So far as ovu* example can operate, let it operate on the safe side. Under these circumstances, I am compelled to acknowledge — what, tmtil of late years, I was very unwilHng to admit — that the apostle's principle of action fuUy applies to this great subject — ' destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died ' . . . * for meat destroy not the work of Grod ... it is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stimibleth, or is offended, (ffKavSaXiCeTcu,) or is made weak,' Eom. xiv. 15—21." * These are sentiments the writer has for many years cordially endorsed. * Thoughts on Sdbit and Discipline. Fourth Edition, 1847. 232 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. CHAPTER VI. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. Changes in the character of crime in England — Ancient Sokes — Further allusions — Hounslow Heath — Metropolitan Police — Chloroform — Inadequacy of the existing Female Penitent Refuges — A day's perambulations — Highway robbery of a police inspector by one of these outcasts — Improvements in prison discipline — Severity in former ages — William i. — Arnold's Chronicle — The curfew — A better curfew, the Early Closing Movement — Statement of an old oiBcer — Townsend's evidence in 1816 — Trading justices — Blood money — Executions — Difficulties in writing this chapter — Causes of criminality — Inspectors of Prisons' 10th Report — Divine promise respecting early training — Reformation of a juvenile delinquent — His letters from Australia — Testimony of an aged Wesleyan — Terrible ungodliness — Arcanum of vice — Reflections — Par- ticulars respecting two young thieves — Rehnquishment of thievery by one — Awful depravity — Suicide — Another case — Impossibihty of entering into further details — A juvenile "sneaksman" — Philosophy of Missionary efforts — The swallow — Outward reformation of a desperate character. The character of crime in England has during the lapse of ages undergone considerable alte- ration. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 233 By the presence of a dense population, by the cultivation and habitation of former forests and wastes, no organised banditti can here lurk unmolested, as in former times, in wild spots and hiding-places known only to themselves, or to a sparely scattered peasantry, their willing or awed accomplices. We know nothing of the systematic and daring brigandage of Italy, the ladrones of Mexico, or the banded Indian depredators of the western wilds. But in former ages England was far differently situated. There was a period when a wolfs head was current coin in payment of taxes. In the twelfth century the historian Fitzstephen, alluding to my district and its neighbourhood, speaks of fields and meadow land. "There are excellent springs,'' says he, " at Clerkenwell, etc., visited by the youth of the City when they take their walks of a summer's evening." Sokes or seigniories, also, abutted on my district, such as Castle Baynard, or the soke of Lord Eitzwalter, close to the Fleet Ditch. Criminals were protected on these sokes from the arms of justice. Thus London was divided " into a number of little feudal principalities, over which the owners 234 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. respectively exercised their cherished powers." There was no organised police in those days, capa- ble of bringing several thousands of men to bear upon one spot in the space of an hour.* The civic force was quite inadequate to the maintenance of order, and as a last resort, we read, the great bell of St. Paul's was wont to be tolled, a signal that the city was in danger from lawless violence. In 1595, London was placed under martial law, chiefly on account of the irrepressible tumults of the London apprentices. In passing on to notice the general state of society in the metropolis during the last half of the eighteenth century, we find the old fashioned burglaries, with the robberies and rogueries of the highway, were still perpetrated. A walk out of London after dark was by no means safe, and therefore at the end of a bill of entertainment at Bellsize House, in the Hampstead Road, St. John's Wood, there was this postscript, " For the • On Ist of January, 1852, the number of persons belong- ing to the MetropoUtan Pohee Force was 5,549. One inspecting superintendent, eighteen superintendents, one hundred and twenty -four inspectors, five hundred and eighty- seven sergeants, and four thousand eight hundred and nineteen constables. The total sum paid for the police in the year 1851, amounted to £422,299. 5*. M. The City Police in 1850 numbered five hundred and sixty men. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 235 security of the guests, there are twelve stout fellows, completely armed, to patrol between London and Bellsize, to prevent the insults of highwaymen and footpads who infest the road/^ To cross Hounslow Heath or Finchley Common after sunset was a daring enterprise, nor did travellers venture on it without being armed, and even ball-proof carriages were used by some.* As a striking illustration of the former condi- tion of these suburbs, I may mention that being in one of the prisons for the purpose of seeing a prisoner I had been requested to instruct, and conversing with one of the turnkeys upon reli- gious matters, whilst waiting, another party, connected I believe with the prison, entered, and joined in the conversation respecting prisons and prisoners many years since. "Ah!^' said he, "it is altered. I was doctor's boy to old Dr. , at Hounslow, and I recollect, one night, after dark, I was sent with a bottle of physic across part of the Heath. They hadn't taken old * See " Cromwell's History of Clerkenwell " and " Knight's London." The reader is also referred to an extremely inte- resting and cheap httle volume, published by the Eeligious Tract Society, entitled " London in Ancient and Modem Times." 236 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. Jerry Abershaw's bones down then, and he was swinging away on the gibbet ; how I did run ! " Townsend, a noted Bow Street officer, said before the Parliamentary Police Committee, in 1816:— " There is one thing which appears to me most extraordi- nary, when I remember in very likely a week there would be from ten to fifteen highway robberies. I speak of persons on horseback. Formerly there were two, three, or four highway- men, some on Hoimslow Heath, some on Wimbledon Common, some on Finchley Common, some on the Romford Road. ... As I was observing to the Chancellor at the time, I was up at his house on the Com Bill. He said, ' Townsend, I knew you very well so many years ago.' I said, * Yes, my lord, I remember your first coming to the bar, first in your plain gown, and then as king's counsel, and now Chancellor. Now your lordship sits as Chancellor, and directs the execu- tions on the Recorder's report ; but where are the highway robberies now ? ' And his lordship said, ' Yes, I'm astonished. They used to be ready to pop at a man as soon as he let down his glass, that was by banditties. People travel safely now by means of the horse patrol that Sir Richard Ford planned.' " At Kensington, and other villages in the vicinity of London, at the period to which Townsend referred, it was customary on Sunday evenings to ring a bell at intervals, to summon those who were returning to town, to form them- selves into bands for mutual protection as they wended their way homewards. Town itself did THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 237 not afford security, for George IV. and the Duke of York, when very young men, were stopped one night in a hackney-coach, we read, and robbed, on Hay Hill, Berkeley Square. Considering the vast increase of the population, did a proportionate criminal condition exist at present, the security of life and property would be indeed imperilled. In the reign of Richard II. the population of London was estimated at 37,000. At the present time the criminal popu- lation of London, including bad characters of both sexes, may be estimated at least as doubling the total population in the reign named. This mass of villany of every description is only held in check, under Providence, by the presence of a most efficient police force. A pickpocket observed to me some time since, in the vulgar mode of speaking common amongst the lowest classes, " Lots of us turns honest now, ^cause it's no go.'' Was this constabulary pres- sure upon the criminality of the metropolis to be withdrawn, a state of things would at once spring into existence which it is fearful even to contem- plate, especially since the use of chloroform is now well known among thieves, and various des- perate instruments have been invented to faci- 238 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. litate the commission of robbery and violence. The detective police system is also well-known to operate very beneficially. The following is an illustration : — A brother missionary of the Field Lane District* and the writer, were in the habit of spending con- siderable portions of time in the visitation of bad houses, by which many fallen females were re- claimed. On one occasion, three females from one place of evil resort appeared so much affected by instruction and prayer, as to desire to be placed in an asylum. As they had no means of existence, and the workhouse would not receive them, it was determined to endeavour to procure admission for them at once into asylums. At about ten o'clock on the following morning we left their wretched abodet in company with them; but one had a bonnet, the others were so poor as to be unable to procure so cheap an article of dress. We walked with those three wretched females following us, from ten in the morning until six in the evening, seeking for them admission into various asylums, east and west of London, and we could procure admission for them, or even the promise of speedy admission for them, into none. I think it went very far to prove how anxious they were for an asylum, as they walked until, to express their own language, "they were ready to drop," and we were compelled to procure them rest and refreshment. Thus foiled, they returned to their former courses. * Mr. Tomkins, now a minister in Wisconsin, N. A. t In the notorious Sharp's Alley of the Newgate Calendar. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 239 One was called by her companions, on former occasions — not then, for they were extremely serious — ^but formerly, " cross-eyed JBet.^'' She has since been transported under the following circumstances. She was in Clapham Park at night, and an Inspector of Police stopped to make some remark to her, to order her to move on ; she had chloroform in her handkerchief, and instantly applied it to the in- spector's face, who was immediately rendered incapable of resistance. She then robbed him of his watch, and was decamping, when two detective officers, who were on the other side of the hedge, at hand, immediately pursued and captured her. She was transported. Whilst exercising all due commiseration on behalf of a helpless class, we must beware of levelling the distinction between virtue and vice, and also of undervaluing laws enacted against criminals, and punishments awarded to them. After all, the strong arm of the law is a terror to evil-doers, and a praise to those who do well. I am now speaking of the criminal classes as a whole, and of the preventive as well as punitive action of the law. Who can reasonably doubt that the great probabilities of detection are the means of preventing the committal of numerous murders, robberies, etc. ? How many unprincipled men and women are only hindered from robbing their employers by the fear of detection and punishment! 240 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. As respects the classes already habitually cri- minal in the eye of the law, and who subsist by plunder, they appear reckless ; repeated imprison- ments and ultimate transportation I have found to be a type of their career. All I apprehend that can be done for these most difficult classes of the community is fully to carry out in prisons, — Discipline, Classification, Employment, and Eeligious Instkfotion, and to take care they are furnished, on leaving prisons, with some asylum which, if really so disposed, shall afford them a chance of obtaining a livelihood, by teaching them trades, or placing them, by emigration, where, on reformation, they can gain their bread honestly. One of the most desperate criminals of late years was a young man named Cooper, who was executed for the murder of a policeman at Highbury; he also seriously wounded two other persons before captured, reloading his pistols with grass for wadding, as he was pursued across the fields : a portion of the grass was found around the ball in the officer's heart. He had for some time infested the neighbour- hood, and committed various highway robberies, THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 241 Ms lair "being Hornsey "Wood. On my appoint- ment to the Cow Cross District I found his family resident there, and visited them for several years. His mother was so much affected by her child's untimely end, that she never appeared wholly to recover the shock it occasioned to her mind. She has repeatedly shown me the Bible given to him by the Lady Mayoress, and cried. I mention this man's case to illustrate the diffi- culty of parties who have lost their character earning their living. Having been imprisoned various times, he became considerably known to officers of police ; he afterwards, I am informed, apparently wished to abandon the nefarious prac- tices he had followed, and repeatedly obtained employment, and was dismissed again through constables informing his employers of his bad character. I wish it distinctly to be understood that I am very far from mentioning this as consti- tuting any reflection upon the poHce, but it illus- trates the point to which reference is made. The period of life to which the greatest amount of crime falls is between 15 and 20 years of age. The sum of crime committed at that period to the sum total is 6,236 to 25,107. Its proportion, therefore, is very nearly one-fourth of the whole. The juveniles, " aged 15 and under 20,'^ form not quite one-tenth of the population, but they are guilty of nearly one-fourth of its crime. These statistics are from a Blue Book, " Tables showing the number of criminal offenders in the 243 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. year 1846, by Mr. Redgrave, of the Home Office/' Mr. Worsley's £100 Prize Essay on Juvenile Delinquency, contains many other statis- tics on the subject; also the "Ragged School Union Magazine," May, 1850. As respects juvenile delinquents, we shall best seek to benefit this class by increasing Ragged Schools, and Ragged Infant Schools, and by disseminating amongst the parents a knowledge of Christianity, which, when it vitally impresses the heart, will lead them to bring up their chil- dren in the right way. Upon this affecting subject the Government Inspectors of Prisons make the following judicious remarks, (10th Rep. Home Dis., In- troduction) : — " It is well known that the principal causes which lead to the offences of criminal youth, may be traced to the absence of parental care and control, their destitution, and from the want of early and proper training, arising from the extreme poverty, ignorance, and depeavity of their parents and natural guardians. The pressure of indigence under which vast numbers of the poorer classes Hve — the necessity of their toiling hard, early and late, for their daily subsistence — their unavoidable absence from home, and their consequent inabihty to prevent their children from having intercourse with bad associates — frequently preclude even the most honest and industrious from bestowing on their families that attention which is indispensable to preserve them from criminal THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 243 practices. But among the offspring of persons in the yet lower ranks of poverty, the temptations to crime are still more powerful. The many thousands who, when they rise in the morning, know not where to find a meal for the day, and who are therefore absorbed in the means of obtaining a subsistence, can bestow no moral care whatever on their children, who necessarily become an early prey to their vicious propensities ; while it is needless to add of adult criminal offenders, that their children are from iofancy systematically iuitiated into crime, and become trained to the practice of nearly every species of iniquity. From the two last classes emanate a large body of deserted, or orphan children, who may be daily seen begging iu the streets, or wandering about with no other object than that of plunder. They are frequently committed to an ordinary prison, where they are generally rendered worse by their confinement. On their hberation, being friendless, they resume their preda- tory habits, corrupting, or being stiU further contaminated by those with whom they associate, until after frequent impri- sonments their career is arrested by transportation." In former years the imperfect administration of laws appears to have been sought to be made up for, by their severity. The tyrant, William I., to preserve his game, made it forfeiture of pro- perty, and imprisonment, to disable a wild beast, and loss of eyes for a stag, buck, or boar. Of these laws, the Roman Catholic clergy were zealous promoters, and they protested against ameliorations under Henry III. What, also, should we now think of a monarch, who, like William the Conqueror, should level r2 244 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. villages and add 17,000 acres to the New Forest, just to gratify his hunting propensities, and put out the eyes of an unfortunate poacher? If Government sought to pass a law so to torture even a murderer, the whole nation would protest against it.* The following is from Arnold's " Chronicle :'' — In 1278, these, (that is, " all the goldsmiths of London,") with " all those that kept the change, and many other men of the city, were arrested and taken for buying of plates of silver, and for change of great money for small money, [we presume, by recoining and giving their own coin for the king's,] which were iudicted by the wards of the city j and on the Monday next after the Epiphany, the Justices sitting at the GuUdhaU to make dehverance, that is to say, Sir Stephen of Pencestre, Sir John of Cobham, and other, which * What should we think of the cm^ew, summoning us to extinguish fire and light at eight in the evening ? " Oft on a plat of rising ground, I hear the far off curfew soTind, Over some wide watered shore, Swinging slow with sullen roar." Milton's H Penseroso. And yet such was law imtil the reign of Henry I. Since that time, the eight o'clock evening bell has been a custom only. Whilst, however, we repudiate the ancient curfew, we are sounding a more Scriptural ciu-few, in the Early Closing Movement, which tells of injustice to over-burdened and over-toiled classes of shopmen, clerks, etc. The evil this movement seeks to remove, is a Jiagrant injustice, and a disgrace to oxcc cities and towns. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 245 that these lust (pleased) to associate to them, and they were prejudged, and drawn, and hanged, three Enghsh Christian men, and two hundred four score and twelve English Jews!" So late as the commencement of the present century, from the condition of our prisons, and the treatment to which prisoners were subjected, very little reformatory effect appears to have been so much as anticipated. The number of executions was immense. '^I have seen,^^ said one old officer to me, " fifteen men and women brought out at Newgate in one morning and hung up, some it appears upon very slender evidence.^^ I have received most affecting accounts of the behaviour of condemned persons previous to their execution, who were afterwards proved to be innocent. The same old officer, whilst detailing some of such scenes to me, was so affected that the tears came into his eyes. "I acted," said he, "at one execution at Ken- nington, two were hung, one declared to the very last he was innocent, and said it would be found he was after he was dead. Well," said my infor- mant, " it came out after he was hung that he was quite innocent. I seemed to feel as if the man was speaking the truth, I had such an impression. I shall never forget it." The rope broke and let one down, and we had to get another and hang him 246 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION, up again, and there came on such a dreadful thunder-storm whilst we were turning them off, the officers was obliged to get under the gallows, one man was struck by the lightning. Thank the Almighty," said he, "they've got more careful since then ; them was horrid times." Thanks to our enlightened system of legislation, great improvement has taken place in the adminis- tration of our criminal code, and in proportion as vital Christianity makes its way in our country, may we expect to see greater improvements yet, and better still, a narrowing of the occasion for punitive institutions altogether. Respecting the blood-money system, that is, the payment of forty pounds to persons apprehending and prosecuting to conviction highway robbers, coiners, and various other sorts of delinquents, it amounted, obviously, to offering a premium for such evidence as would hang a man. Confede- racies of miscreants were detected who lived by blood-money, amongst others, Vaughan, a Bow Street officer, with seven accomplices. Upon this subject Mr. Townsend, already referred to, said in his evidence : — " I have with every attention that man covQd bestow, watched the conduct of various persons who have given evidence agaiast their fellow-creatures for hfe or death, not THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 247 only at tlie Old Bailey, but on the circuits. . , . They (officers) are dangerous creatures ; they have it frequently in their power (no question about it) to turn that scale, when the beam is level, on the other side— I mean, against the poor wretched man at the bar. Why? This, the thing called nature, says profit is in the scale ; and melancholy to relate, but I cannot help being perfectly satisfied that frequently that has been the means of convicting many and many a man. . . . Whoever we may be, in whatsoever state we are placed, nothing can be so dangerous as a pubUc officer, where he is liable to be tempted ; for, Grod knows, nature is at all times frail, and money is a very tempting thing ; and you see frequently that much higher characters than police officers and thief-takers, as they are called, have slipped on one side and kicked over places. " In those days, before the Police Bill took place at all, it was a trading business ; and there was a Justice this, and Justice that. Justice Welsh in Litchfield Street was a great man in those days; and old Justice Hyde, and Justice G-irdler, and Justice Blackborough, a trading Justice at Clerkenwell G-reen and an old ironmonger. TTie 'plan used to he to issue out warrants, and take up all the poor in the streets, and then there was the bailing them, 2s. Ad.^ which the magistrates had ; and taking up a himdred girls, that would make at 2^. 4(^., £11. 135. M. They sent none to jaU, for the bailing them was so much better." I find it quite impossible to take any sys- tematic view of our criminal population within the necessary limits of this chapter. Having for a number of years devoted much attention to the subject, upon one of the head-quarters of thievery in the Metropolis, my materials would cover volumes, nor indeed would a considerable portion of those 248 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. details be suitable for insertion in a work intended for general perusal. The principal causes of criminality I have observed to be : — 1. Absence of pious parental example. 2. Neglect of being taught some regular occu- pation. 3. Difficulty of obtaining employment. 4. Evil company. 5. Idleness. 6. Distress.* These heads would admit of many subdivisions. The first head I conceive to be the principal ; the others arise to a great extent from that. The third head is frequently dependent on the second, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth are greatly connected with the first also. The promise of the Word of God is a very great one, " Train up a child in the way he should * The following is the statement of IS. C. Hart, Superin- tendent of the House of Refuge for Juvenile Delinquents, New York : — " Character of the parents of children received into the Refuge. Parents who have been in Bridewell, twenty-five ; penitentiaries, six ; State prison, two ; intem- perate, four hundred and one ; houses of ill fame, nine.'* Out of six hundred and ninety children received, the parents of four hundred and one were drunkards. A remark of Chateaubriand has been much noticed : — " In new colonies the Spaniards begin by building a church, the French a ball-room, and the Enghsh a tavern." THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 249 go : and when he is old, he will not depart from it/' During all the most extensive Missionary experience I have had, with the opportunity of studying human nature to as large an extent perhaps in one day, as persons not set apart to Metropolitan Missionary work have perhaps in half the year, and having directed my attention to diligent examination with a view to the eluci- dation of this promise, the result I have found to be, that I have never discovered a single case of juvenile delinquency where the child had been the subject, from infancy, of the double teaching by precept and example in the ways of Christ, at the hands of parents, both of whom were evidently truly converted to God. I do not strain the promise so far as to believe such is never the case ; I simply state the result of systematic inquiry and studies of human nature, pursued most extensively for years, at no small pains. In the case of one juvenile delinquent, the mother was a very pious woman, but the father a sadly dissipated character, and a great persecutor of his wife on account of her godly ways, but even here the result is most encouraging. The father was at last won to Christ by his wife's blessed 250 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. example, 1 Cor. vii. 16, 1 Pet. iii. 1; and the mother who had prayed long and hard for her child, whilst dying was given to see the partial answer to her petitions. The following is a fuller statement of the case : — P. J. associated with vagabonds and pickpockets, and although a mere child, not sixteen ^ears of age, had a companion in sin in a Gipsey girl about his own age. I laboured for the reclamation of this youth for some years, during which time, although ne behaved very respectfully to me, never appearing at all angry at the stern things I repeated to him from time to time, yet he continued to grow worse and worse, stopping out nearly all night in com- pany with the most abandoned characters. But during all this period it would appear my instruc- tions, and his pious mother's prayers, (I incline to believe the latter more than the former means,) were producing much effect upon him. He sud- denly and remarkably threw up his evil courses, and begged me to get him sent to Australia, saying, " Mr. Yanderkiste, I'm so linked in with gangs here, that if you don't get me sent, I shdl be transported I know." He was accordingly sent from our school. He wrote from Portsmouth as follows : — " Grood bye ; give my respects to my chaps, (».e., thieves, etc. ;) thank God, I'm out of it." He has written several letters from Australia, giving a glowing account of his temporal circum- stances;* but he has yet, I fear, to learn in his * The following are not verb, et lit. : — March nth, 1849. Dear Brother, — I hope this note will find you well and THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 251 heart the way of salvation. We rejoice when the thief steals no more, because Grod has said, " Thou shalt not steal," but "what shall it profit a man, though he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?" We teach the world something more than heathen honesty. hearty, the same as it leaves me. I wish you were here with me to share what I have. I am getting from 30 to 36 shil- lings per week, and paying 12 shillings for board, lodging, and washing. I hope Jane will come out. I have sent word to Mr. Yanderkiste to send her. G-irls are more wanted than men. I would advise you to come if you can. The dogs live better here than men do at home. It is now Simday night, and I am now going out for a walk round the houses, and have got a pound-note in my pocket if I want it. I have no more to say at present. I remain, your affectionate brother, Joseph Feedk. James. Ma/reh 21st, 1849. Dear Sir, — I now take up my pen to write to you — it leaves me well and happy, and hope it will find you the same. Adelaide is more inhabited than I thought it was. It is a fine healthy country ; there is plenty of mines in the country. Most trades are better paid for here than at home. My trade is better paid for : shoemakers are earning from 30 to 36 shillings per week. I am earning 30 shillings a week, and paying 12 shillings a week for board, lodging, and washing, and am doing very well. I make bold to ask you to be my friend, to do me a kind favour to send Jane Martin out to me at Port Adelaide, and I will pay all expenses ; there is not tbne yet for me to save the money ; by the time that I have the means she might be here and earning 8 shillings per week, and by the time that she arrived I should have the money to pay for her passage. More young girls are wanted than men or boys. I hope the people in London have had a 252 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. I was conversing with an aged woman upon my district, a member of a Christian church, and introduced the subject of the Divine promise now under consideration. Her case, I found, furnished a remarkable fulfilment of it : — " My father," said she, was one of Mr. Wesley's preachers, commencing his labours towards the close of Mr, W.'s life ; " her mother was pious also. " There were seven of us," said she, " and we were all unconverted. I have often heard father, in dependence on the promise, say, ' Children, I believe the Lord will convert you all.' They were all brought to God but me," said she ; " one and then another, long ago, and several have died rejoicing in* Christ. I have been changed only about nine years, to my sorrow be it spoken, but my father's faith was realized." I have found terrible ungodliness to prevail amongst the parents of juvenile delinquents. I cannot stain these pages with the accounts I better winter than they thought they would. I hope the boys and girls of the school are well, the same as myself. I hope my brothers and sisters are all doing weU, if not they had better come here if they can. I hope Jane can come ; I shall never be settled until she does come, and we are both together. I have no more to say at present. I shall write to the school in a week or two. I shall think you the best friend I have got if she can come out. I will pay all expenses. I remain, your humble servant, Joseph F. James. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 253 could furnish. In a work intended for general perusal it is quite impossible to do so. I could not remember how many times my sleep has been hindered, and my mind racked, by the catalogue of horrors which has come to my knowledge during the day, or the tears I have shed over the remembrance of this arcanum of all that is unholy, unhappy, and wretched. After all that has been written and said, I feel fully persuaded that to the mass of the higher and middle orders of England it is yet an arcanum. I am very far from regretting that sleeplessness or that mental rack, or the tears shed. It may be said of such exercises, as frequently bodily pain may truly be referred to : — " The hours of pain have yielded good, That days of ease refused, So herbs though scentless when entire, Spread fragrance when they're bruised. *' The oaJc strikes deeper when its boughs, By furious blasts are riven, And others' woes right felt — the more Fix Christian hearts on heaven" But, too, for that mental exercise, and the prayers on behalf of these helpless objects to which it led, I should question the probability of the 254 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. Almighty Saviour having given me the success in my mission which has attended it. The parents of thieves and loose females I have found to be ungodly persons, with but few excep- tions, even in the case of either parent. I will furnish one or two illustrations : — The two C.'s had long been thieves. The elder, I am happy to state, has, since writing this, relin- quished this evil course, and procured a situation. The parents were professedly Eoman Catholics, but paid little attention to that erroneous form of reli- gious observances. The mother was a drunkard, and the father a man of dissolute ways also. The mother died suddenly from the cholera of 1849 ; the father was then aged about sixty. A niece, a girl of about nineteen, came to wait on Mrs. C. in her dying illness, and the very morning following her death she announced herself as the new Mrs. C. The two sons, although thieves, and of course very bad characters, protested against this insult to their mother's memory, and were at once turned out of doors. The father's work changing to a firm at "Whitechapel, he removed there with his paramour. Shortly afterwards, she stripped his apartment, and ran away with another man. The wretched old man, on returning from his work to bare boards, felt that "the way of transgressors is hard," Prov. xiii. 15. He returned one morning to the house upon my district, in which he had long lived, and where his wife had died, and after speaking to a lodger, went into the yard ; here he was found suspended by the neck to a hook in the ceiling, and so low was the THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 255 outhouse, that in order to accomplish his purpose he had been obhged to double his legs backward ; he was, When discovered, quite dead. The following is another instance of depravity in the parents of juvenile delinquents : — J. D. is a thief. His father lives unlawfully with his mother, and also with one of her daughters by another person. Here they had long been all huddled in one small room. The younger female, on the occasion of my last visit, had twins in her arms about a week old, the children of this mau. I have no intention of presenting more of such truly revolting details. Yet these are our fellow- creatures j we cannot sever the bond that unites them to us as fellow- men, for God " hath made of one blood all nations of men/' Acts xvii. 26. They spring from one common birth, they sink into one common grave, and they have souls of priceless worth to be saved or to be lost. Children of tender age sent out to thieve ; to pass bad coin; girls sent upon the streets by their wretched parents; mere infants taught by their parents that there is no God ; taught most abominable words and actions, and such ways laughed at as wit. I loathe the task of multi- plying such details, in remembrance of which my soul is exceedingly sorrowful. 256 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. The following are some particulars of labour and usefulness among the criminal class, selected from others : — P. D. is now nearly sixteen years of age. When he first came under my notice he was about eleven. His father worked for many years for an employer whose manufactory is situated near to my late district, until attacked by illness, which prevented his following any employment during three years, about the end of which period his disease, an internal tumour, terminated his life. Mr. D.'s case I had the privilege of reporting at that time as a very hopeful case of conversion in sickness and death. During this protracted affliction, the family, con- sisting of six persons, was, as may readily be imagined, reduced to great distress. Poor P. D., a growing lad, suffered much from hunger ; I have every reason to believe the whole family were fre- quently entirely destitute of food for a whole day, and sometimes for even a longer period of time. In this condition of starvation, young D. became a facile prey to a gang of accomplished trainers of young thieves, who are well known as infesting the neighbourhood of Clerkenwell, and who waylay boys, make them large promises, and then take them out to steal. D. they declined making a pickpocket of,* but they trained him as a snealcs- maitf which means a shop and till robber. Before commencing this career of crime, he * To use the language of sucli wretched characters, his forks were notjiy enough that is, his fingers were not suffi- ciently Uthe. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 257 repeatedly applied to me to endeavour to procure adjnission for him to the Marine Society's list, saying he was starving, and afraid of doing wrong. He was then about twelve years of age. I directed him to the Marine Society, not expecting he would be received, on account of his tender age, but just to satisfy him that I took an interest in his welfare. That admirable Society, with every disposition to assist, was compelled to refuse his application, in consequence of his being so very much below the required height and size.* He was kindly told to come again when he was four feet nine. He after- wards repeatedly came to me to be measured, desiring to be away from his evil companions ; the last time he came to be measured, although a quar- ter of an inch below the standard, I wrote a note and sent him with it to the Marine Society, who placed him upon their list. Whilst on board the training vessel, the " Venus," (h.m.p., a present from the Grovernment,) at "Wool- wich, he gave every satisfaction, and wrote me various pleasing letters. One I subjoin : — Dear Sir, — i write these few lines to you to let you now i am quite well, and hoping to find you well i have been ill since i wrote to you last i thank you kindly for Paying Mother's expence and also for being so good for sending mee what i wanted Please to send me a answer to this as it is the 3 letter Please sir to look in the 27 Acts it is very interesting and also to read 107 Psahn i wiU gust give you a verse on the other side * This may appear harsh, but it is really very far from being so. The Marine Society is compelled to adopt a stan- dard. Below that standard, if they took lads, they could not obtain berths for them after they were trained. 258 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. Jesus lover of my soul let me to thy bosom Fly while the nearer waters roll while the tempest shrills it eye hide me o my Saviour till the storm of life is Past Safe unto the heavens guide me O receive my soul at last. No more at Present from your humble Servant P B- . Excuse me for me for bad writing as i was in a hiry. Patrick went on board a collier, and I received from him another epistle, dated Sunderland, which is subjoined verb, et lit. : — Ufery 1851. Dear Sir i write these few lines to you hopeing to find you in good and mister wats and aU the gentmen Dear sir i arived at the port on thards last but we had very Bad wear- ther But the god wich commands the winds to that same god presaves the ship from danger and i trust that he will presalvs me forom hell Sir I was much pleased with your Books Sir i will alou my mouther half pay my captain name is Willean gun and my ship name is the 13 Bleave me to remain your afatun P D . He afterwards went to Spain in the C . The career of crime in which this youth was involved, and not at the present time sixteen years of age, appears to have been a very daring one. He has given me account of fourteen robberies committed by him on tills and cash boxes. The reader will, I am sure, feel sorry to read what follows : — THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 259 I always dreaded his making short voyages, and returning every two or three months to this degraded neighbourhood, to be exposed at his tender age to the contamination of his former evil associates. I regret to state he has fallen into temptation. It was my wish he should go on board a foreign vessel, bound for India or China, or the South Seas, and if to the latter that he should have remained there. To this proposition, however, his widowed mother would not consent, saying she should never see him again. The lad was quite agreeable to the arrangement I proposed, and I am very sorry it should not have been carried out. On his return from his last voyage, he laid out nearly the whole of his wages upon his mother, and but for a long, and to him unfortunate delay, in his vessel's obtain- ing a freight and being re-zinked, he would not have been exposed to the temptation by which he is at present enthralled. He is at present going on very badly indeed, cohabiting with a girl about his own age, and appears whoUy given up to dishonesty and all wickedness. Such is the influence of evil companionship upon the young. I have reason to believe strong drink has had much to do with this sad change. I beg the reader to pray for him. It is found in the work of the London City Mission that success, under Providence, in the reclamation of such characters, is frequently not unchequered by the interpolation of dark phases, and very many cases, which have ultimately resulted in most marked and permanent spiritual reclamation, have previously repeatedly disappointed expectations formed. s 2 260 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. An American poet well expresses the spirit in whicli the salvation of souls must be laboured for, whilst beholding " the fowls of the air : "^ " A swallow in the spring Game to our granary, and 'neath tlie eaves Essayed to make a nest, and there did bring "Wet earth, and straw, and leaves. " Day after day she toUed With patient heart, but ere her work was crowned, Some sad mishap the tiny fabric spoiled, And dashed it to the ground. " She found the ruin wrought. But not cast down, forth from the place she flew. And with her mate fresh earth and grasses brought. And bmlt her nest anew. " But scarcely had she placed The last soft feather on its ample floor. When wicked hand, or chance, again laid waste, And brought the ruin o'er. " But still her heart she kept, And toiled again ; and last night hearing calls, I looked, and lo ! three httle swallows slept Within the earth-made walls. " Wliat truth is here, O man ! Hath hope been smitten in its early dawn ? Have clouds o'ercast thy purpose, trust, or plan ? Have faith and struggle on." A man who had neither this faith nor persever- THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 261 ance, would indeed be a very unfit person for the work of the City Mission. The following is a cheering case of use- fulness : — As respects the residence of M S , I can only point out that as being, by day or by night, anywhere that he considered favourable to the committal of robbery and mischief. Although at the present time but seventeen years of age, S was long regarded as one of the most desperate and mischievous young ruffians in this degraded neighbourhood, distancing in vice and profligacy his compeers in crime of more mature age. His hardihood of constitution was such, that on cold nights he would come running up to me "to have a lark," barefooted, shirtless, and half- naked to the waist. He was a complete terror to many of the tradespeople in this neighbourhood, breaking windows and stealing whatever he could lay hands on. A favourite amusement was that of seizing women by the feet as they walked along, going slyly behind them, noiselessly, without shoes or stockings, and throwing them down. He was also addicted to getting drunk. He had been in prison numbers of times, once for robbery and threatening to stab ; but blows, imprisonments, and whippings appeared to produce no reformation whatever in him. I several times thought I must have given him into custody, as he repeatedly threw bricks or a large billet of wood at me, and on several occasions I narrowly escaped. One night I was threading my way up a very dark staircase to visit a sick man ; as I approached, a large drover's dog, a dan- 262 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. gerous animal, came rushing at me from a neigh- bouring house. I suppose he knew me, as I succeeded in pacifying him, and I groped my way by the wall and banister up this dark staircase. It so happened something was let violently fall overhead, and just at that moment my feet were seized in the dark. The people in the lower part of the house were, I suppose, out or a-bed, or they would have showed me a light. I providentially had hold of the banister, or I should probably have been thrown backward down stairs. I said, " Who has hold of my legs, because I mean to kick out ?" and the hold of them was released. After I had completed my visit, on going down stairs, S was sitting at the door,* without shoes or stockings ; no doubt he was the offender, although he denied it. S. attended our Eagged School, and appeared to be so far influenced by the good instruction he received that he desisted from insulting his teachers, and behaved with a rough respect, and when I used to remind him of his former wickedness appeared ashamed. He owned he was a great sinner, and that he needed to be forgiven, and learned the Gospel plan of salvation by Jiead, not yet by Tiea/rt. Observing me taking some pains with S., the cos- termongers and others have said to me, " Mr. Yan- derkiste, you only waste your breath upon him." Ajid one, a very sober, industrious young man, said, " Mr. Yanderkiste, you've got some boys off thieving, but I'll bet you a sovereign to a penny any day that you never do anything with that vagabond, he's beyond all we ever see." The instruction he received, however, was further * The street-doors of most of the houses upon my district are open day and night. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 263 blessed, and he consented to enter the Marine Society. On making inquiries, I found he behaved much to the satisfaction of the chaplain and officers whilst training at "Woolwich, and shortly after- wards sailed for the East Indies, promising his widowed mother a liberal proportion of his wages. Such an alteration in this degraded youth is very encouraging. May he become truly converted ! It should not be supposed I have not other cases of usefulness amongst criminal youths to which I could refer — cases of great interest — but this portion of the subject must be closed. I shall feel very happy if these details have increased in any heart an interest in fallen humanity. Let us live for something. " Thou- sands of men/^ said the late Dr. Chalmers, "breathe, move, and live, pass off the stage of life, and are heard of no more. None were blessed by them, none could point to them instrumentally as the means of their redemption ; not a line they wrote, not a word they spoke, could be recalled, and so they perished: their light went out in darkness, and they were not remembered more than the insects of yesterday. " Will you thus live and die, man immortal ? Live for something. Do good, and leave behind you a monument of virtue. Write your name by 264 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. kindness, love, and mercy, on the hearts of thousands/^ " Seek not in Mammon's worship, pleasure, But find your richest, dearest treasure, In Christ, his word, his work, not leisure : The mind, not seTise, Is the sole scale by which to measure Your opulence. " This is the solace, this the science. Life's. purest, sweetest, best apphance, That disappoints not man's rehance, Whate'er his state ; But challenges, with calm defiance, Time, fortune, fate." THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 265 CHAPTER VII. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION, (Concluded.) Conventional use of tlie term — Unhappy females — Caution to tlie young — A scene of woe — Typhus fever — Affecting delirium — Awful death — Physical siifferings — Eoyal Free Hospital — Awful death of a young profligate — Search for the fallen — Pleasing result — Asylums — Death from a broken heart — Reclamation — Breaking up of a den of wickedness — Pleasing changes — Dialogue between a housebreaker and a thief — Reclamation — G-eneral details — Letter from the Grovemor of Coldbath Fields — Necessity for increased efforts — Foundation of Field Lane Ragged Schools and Dormitory by City Missionaries — Concluding observations. This term, criminal population, is, of course, used in the popular signification, as referring to those persons whose deeds expose them to the penal action of the law of the land. We may not forget that we are all criminal before God, by nature and by practice. 268 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. Unliappy women form a class of the criminal population. Such persons, amongst the lower orders especially, are usually thieves or the accom- plices of thieves ; and there can be no question, but that amongst the higher order of women of the town, frequenting the West End of London, robberies are far more frequent than is supposed by some persons. A feeling of shame in many cases prevents prosecution, and in a very large number of instances, whatever moral proof might exist, legal proof to convict the thief would not be obtainable. My young readers, who would meditate cor-, redly respecting impurity, must associate it in their minds with all that is deadly, hateful, and miserable. My heart really sickens at the memory of the scenes I have witnessed : — " A part, how small, of the terraqueous globe Is tenanted by man ! the rest a waste — Rocks, deserts, frozen seas, and burning sands : Wild haunts of monsters, poisons, stings, and death. Such is earth's melancholy map ! But, far More sad ! this earth is a true map of man. So bounded are its haughty lords' dehghts To woe's wide empire ; where deep troubles toss, Loud sorrows howl, envenomed passions bite, THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 267 Ravenous calamities our vitals seize, And tkreatening fate wide opens to devour." YotTNG. The following case is illustrative of the misery of sin in this class of the population : — In one small room in B S lay three of these wretched women, and the aged sinner under whose roof they resided. All three were confined to their beds with malignant typhus fever, and I was sent for to visit them. The person they lived with had formerly kept a rendezvous for young thieves and delinquents, both male and female, in Grolden Lane, until the police, from the number of crimes associated with her den of evil resort, received, I believe, particular directions respecting her, and she was glad to leave the neighbourhood. She had pursued this mode of existence, I under- stood, for very many years. One of the women found by me here had recently been discharged from prison, having been apprehended on suspicion of strangling a procuress whilst intoxicated, who was found dead with her in a cab. She was so drunk as to be able to give, or at all events did give, little account of herself or her dead companion. The fever poison arising from these hapless women was so strong, that but for the fact of their being in a dangerous condition, I should not perhaps have felt justified in remaining with them an hour at a time, reading and prayiag. But the circumstances of the case of at least one, were peculiarly afiecting, and interested me much. She was an orphan, and when about ten years of age exhibited an extremely wild disposition. 268 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. Some pious persons who were Primitive Me- thodists met with her, and for a time she " did run well," but afterwards entered upon a course of vice and profligacy. She was but seventeen years of age when I found her in this miserable abode, and during the delirium of fever she would alternately sing hymns and utter pious expressions — the sunshine of her life was then passing before her ; afterwards in her delirium came the storm of her life — abominable songs, wretched expressions, the thunder and lightning of wickedness, such as she had sung and uttered in her darkness. The whole of these degraded women recovered, to break the fervent promises they made me during sickness. The old hag died miserably. She was a most blasphemous creature, protesting that she knew her duty, and was as good a Chris- tian as I was, and that she gave the poor girls shelter, because they had nowhere to go. She was well known to have lived by inciting children to crime for many years. During her dying illness — she was then eighty years of age — it was fearful to witness her move- ments ; some woman appeared to be haunting her imagination ; she would say, " Take her hand off" my shoulder, loosen her gripe of me," and would move her head as if to struggle with some one. I said to the miserable beings present, " What does she mean?" One shook her head and said, "She's gone through much wickedness, and perhaps some of it's haunting her — it's something. ''' This was an old acquaintance of her's, who appeared to me to know more than she chose to tell me. I men- tioned the case to a pious person, who had, in former years, some slight knowledge of one of these young women. Himself and wife visited the THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 269 wretched abode, and, perhaps unadvisedly, had their youngest child, about three years of age, with them. The poor little creature was so affected by the scene, that she was quite deranged for some time, telling her mother to take the old woman away — she had been more attentively regarding her ways than was imagined. The bodily suffering endured by unhappy women is very great. For several years part of my Sabbath duties consisted in conducting two devotional services in two wards of an hospital devoted to this class. Some would be * lying about " covered with sores/' some dying, nothing to relieve the sad scenery but an occasional glimpse of a friend who had been distributing tracts and instructing them, and who would be leaving about the time my duties commenced. The shadows of evening were closing on one occasion, and just as I had finished reading the chapter, I happened to glance my eye along the extensive avenue of the lazar house. I was really startled to observe a large black object crawling along the floor; another glance informed that it was a miserable sufferer of this class, who had, I afterwards found, lost the use of her spine by dis- ease, and was crawling nearer that she might hear more distinctly "the way of life." Few decidedly of this class live to be old : exposure to night air and damps, drunkenness, and disease, illustrate that " the years of the wicked shall be shortened," Prov. X. 27. 270 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. I recollect the case of one young man, who died at twenty years of age, through general habits of dissipation, and associating with such characters. I was visiting a place, the very evil resort of housebreakers, thieves, and loose women, and was reading and reasoning with the parties present, who received me very civilly, offering one of the only two seats in the apartment, which were two bushel baskets turned bottom upwards, and placed on each side the fire. I was informed that P was dying in St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and wished to be visited, and they inquired if I would go and see him, begging me to do so. I of course consented, and repeated the visit several times at the poor suf- ferer's earnest desire. Whilst with him he was extremely quiet, saying, "How beautiful! read some more, now pray, now read, don't go, can't you stop longer ? " The sister of the ward said to me one day, " We think P. must be sent away, sir, and the doctors think so too." I inquired the reason, as the young man was evidently sinking fast, and was informed by the sisters and nurses, that although quiet and well-behaved whilst I was with him, a large portion of his time was spent in cursing and imprecating everyone near him, and that the other patients' cases were likely to be badly influenced by such noise and tumult. I intimated that no doubt he was delirious, but respecting this the attendants appeared very du- bious. He died miserably. This youth's degraded history is recorded in the 7th Proverbs. Aiid we THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 271 wHo read such details stand bj faith. But for the grace of God, we should live and die in sin. Never may we forget, — " Qod^s Spirit hath the difference made Between the hving and the dead ; Thou only, Lord, canst e'er inspire One single pure or good desire. Lord, haste the time, earth's wanderers call. An d quicken and convert them aU." Among all the terrible cases of human suffering and disease that have been before me during the past six years, I remember one possessing features dissimilar from the others. Its very name knells upon the ear more sadly than many a tale of woe — I mean a "broken heart.'' Some persons imagine there is not really such a disease, but there really is, and of existence more common than is often imagined. The continued turmoil of passions and emotions of the mind, which disturb the heart's action, is capable of at last producing death. Grief, and excitement of mind attendant on grief, produce not unfrequently a cessation of the circulation and death — a broken heart. I was requested on one occasion to visit a person resident a few streets distant from my district, of whom I had no previous knowledge, but was in- 272 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. formed she desired to be visited, and was extremely ill. I found her disease to be occasioned by mental anxiety respecting her children. Two daughters had become abandoned, and were deeply degraded in sin, and she said, as she lay on her bed, crying bitterly, "they were hreaMng her hearty The poor soul could scarcely breathe, and she placed her hand on her heart continually, declaring "it was hreahing.^^ She was correct : it was. These two young women had left their home, and were tenanting a haunt of wickedness, which she named, situate near Golden Lane. " Do go," said she, " and seek out my poor girls ; let me get out of bed to go down on my knees to you to try and bring back my poor girls." Such entreaty was of course not to be resisted, — "Mothers pleading for their oflfspring, have melted iron hearts, Where pity seldom dwelt before." " Eachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not," Matt. ii. 18. I asked her to be calm, promised I would endeavour to rescue her children, and, after exhorting her on soul matters, offered prayer and left, to execute my commission. But she was an unconverted woman, and was depending more upon mere human effort to save her children than upon God, and yet He alone could say to her, "Eefrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears : . . . they shall come again from the land of the enemy . . . thy children shall come again to their own border," Jer. xxxi. 16, 17. Eour years have elapsed, but I have yet poor Mrs. M vividly before me, writhing in agony THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 273 on her bed, dissolved in tears, one liand pressed upon her heart, and calling wildly and almost frantically for her wretched daughters. It seems to be one of those enduring pictures the Lord has engraven on my mind above others, to impress upon me the woes of my race. I called upon an aged friend, who accompanied me on this errand of mercy, and some time after noon we walked towards Golden Lane. "We found the obscure alley to which we had been directed, with some difficulty ; it was tenanted by abandoned characters. "We inquired if J M was known there, and were directed to one door at which a young woman of degraded habits stood, who was nursing a child. On making an inquiry, we were received with foUy and immodest demeanour, and were informed J. M. had been absent for two days. Whilst we stood conversing with this fallen girl, endeavouring to convince her of the error of her way, and lifting up our hearts to Grod in prayer, she said, " Why here comes Jane;" and on looking towards the end of the court to which our attention had been directed by this remark, we observed a young woman dressed in black making her way towards us. "Is that J. M.?" said I. "Yes," said this young person, " that's her, sure enough." I said, " We wish to speak with you privately, let us enter." Some difficulty was raised, which we overruled, and were allowed to walk to the garret in this house of ill- fame, which we found to be rented by J. M. and by the young woman we had conversed with at the door, and a third young woman named . It was with great reluctance we were permitted to go up-stairs, and these young persons appeared disposed to be insolent, but ther« was mercy in store for 274 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. them. When all were seated, my friend and myself occupying the only two chairs in the wretched apartment, I commenced giving J. M. some account 01 the afflicted condition of her mother, and the promise she had exacted from me to make some effort for the reclamation of herself and sister, (who was still absent.) I then read a portion of Scripture appropriate to their case, commenting upon it, and caUed upon my friend to pray. "We paid as little attention as possible to the levity and ill-smothered laughter of these degraded outcasts. On rising from our knees, my friend read another portion of Scripture, accompanied by suitable observations, after which I prayed. Disencouragingly as this interview commenced, it terminated far differently; one began to sigh, and whilst I was soberly describing the condition of the lost in hell, their remembrance of slighted opportunities of turning from their sins whilst on earth, and a variety of other affecting particulars connected with that unalterable state of misery, they appeared much moved. W© read and prayed with, and exhorted these outcasts uninterruptedly for three hours, at the end of which time they were totally subdued, and ready to say, "Master, we will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.'* They were willing, they said, to enter a peni- tentiary at once; "But," said the one we had conversed with at the door, "what am I to do with my child ? " This was certainly a difficulty ; however, on ascertaining that her parents were persons in competent circumstances, residing not very far distant, we announced our intention of endeavouring to prevail upon them to take the child under their care, which their daughter was of opinion they would on no account consent to do. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 275 "We then said, that her child should not, at all events y constitute a hinderance to her reformation. The next diJficulty was the fact of their owing a week's rent, and the keeper of the brothel was unwilling they should leave untd the money was paid. This difficulty being overcome, we left B C in company with these three young women. Numbers of bad characters crowded at their doors, some to admire, some to jeer, inquiring if we would take them with us, which with much seriousness we declared our entire willingness to do. In the first instance we sought to overcome the difficulty presented by the child. On reaching the parents' residence in W Street, we found both at home, and announced the object of our visit. The father appeared angry, and at once refused, saying, " As she had made her bed so she must lie." After, however, some very serious admonition, the grandmother took the child in her arms, who appeared quite at home, and smiled, and crowed, and made a speech that really appeared to produce more effect than the oratory of either of us. "Father," said the grandmother, "I think we had better take the child." " You may do as you like," was the grandfather's reply, and the child accord- ingly found a home. The hour being too far advanced for reception into an asylum, we accompanied them to our Eagged Schools, (to which schools reference has been made in the first chapter of this work,) and all being worn out and hungry, we sat down to tea together, and a draper in the neighbourhood, one of the Committee of the schools, having kindly lent some rugs for that purpose, the wife of the school- keeper made them up a bed on the floor, and next t2 276 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. morning they were housed in the Probationary- House, "White Lion Street, Pentonville. S. D., the young woman we first met with at the door, became from this time an altered character. On leaving the Probationary House, she obtained a situation in household service, and from the last I heard of her, there appears some very good ground for hoping that her reformation has been far more than simply an outward one. Here we dismiss her case. S., I deeply regret to say, returned to her former evil courses, and we must here dismiss her case also ; not that by any means it is therefore to be supposed she received no good impression or benefit from the institution, for I have found, and it is continually being discovered, that many unfortunate females who enter such asylums, and leave them under the most discouraging circumstances, are yet ultimately benefited by them, even hopefully to the conversion of their souls. Many such have declared, when dying from vice and dissi- pation, that they never totally forgot, in the midst of all their wickedness, the lessons of godliness and virtue they were there taught. Those good impressions frequently spring up at the eleventh hour.* * The London City Mission Magazine for January, 1849, contains a very interesting account of the Penitentiaries of London, the good effected by them, and the great need of their extension. Some extension has since been carried out by the formation of the " London Female Dormitory and Industrial Institu- tion," 20, Clarendon Square, New Road, of which Lord Shaftesbury is President. This Institution, however, is at present very inadequately supported. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 277 Poor Mrs. M. appeared extremelj grateful for the pains that had been taken ; her elder daughter was in an asylum, and her younger one, a mere child, was persuaded to return home. This weight of maternal anxiety being removed, her health much improved. Had poor Mrs. M. become the subject of saving grace, her prayers and example towards her children might have averted the dark page that foUows, but she remained an unconverted woman. Her eldest daughter returned again to her vicious courses, and the younger one in addition to the evil of so doing, carried with her from her home on departing, even a portion of her mother's wearing apparel. This threw Mrs. M. again on a bed of sickness. She lost strength, complained continually that her heart was breaking, and after a brief ilkiess died. The sad circumstances of her case being known to various persons, the funeral was attended by a large crowd, to whom I distributed tracts, returning home with the father and mourners, and reading and praying with them. The elder daughter I reproached as being the murderess of her mother. She afterwards became hopefully reformed, apparently stricken with the consequences of her wickedness, in causing the death of her parent. She forsook her path of depravity, and obtained a situation. The younger I have just heard has left the streets. May both become truly converted to God ! I will next refer to the-^itire breaking-up of a 278 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. place of ill-fame upon my district. The account formed a portion of my Monthly Report for February, 1846, from which it is extracted : — "I have much pleasure in being enabled to commence this Monthly Eeport by the narration of particulars connected with the entire breaking-up of a house of ill-fame of the lowest class situated upon my district. I had decided not to allude to the event in my Report until the case had been examined by a General Superintendent of the Mission who has visited with me.* * This will afford some little insight into the domestic arrangement of the City Mission. It is very far from the wish of the rulers of the Society to burden the brethren with unnecessary labour, but the supporters have of course a right to be made acquainted with the operations that are being carried on. It is therefore found necessary that in addition to a daily journal, monthly and annual Eeports should be furnished. By a recent arrangement, however, the monthly Reports have been dispensed with, except in cases where parties who take a special interest in districts wish to be furnished with one, as is the case happily on some districts — ^my late district, for example — upon which the Mis- sionary is, and has for many years been, kindly supported by a single contribution from a Christian gentleman, Osman Eicardo, Esq., m.p. The Annual Reports are frequently quite volumes. The writer's last Annual Report consisted of sixty- four large quarto double columns. The Journals and Reports of the Missionaries are carefully read by the Secretaries, and submitted, as a rule, weekly, by the Missionaries to their local Superintendents, who are noblemen, members of parlia- ment, private gentlemen, and clergymen and ministers, who interest themselves sufficiently in the Mission to encourage the Society by undertaking this office. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 279 " This den of infamy was situated in "W- H C , T Street. It consisted of one small room on the ground floor, and parties might well be excused for remaining dubious, as to whether so small an area could have been so replete with pestiferous moral influence to the neighbourhood, as this place has unequivocally been. " On commencing my labours upon the district, I found the place becoming worse and worse. Additional bad women and thieves were resorting to it, and it was much connected with other thieveries. " I was in the habit of visiting this place morn- I have found much facEity in writing this work from the fact, that the principal details furnished, and very many besides, have been written by me previously seven times, exclusive of writing this work. First, there was my own private journal ; secondly, a copy for the Society ; thirdly, a condensation of the month's labours ; fourthly, the Society's copy of the same ; fifthly, my kind supporter's copy ; sixthly, an annual condensation of the year's labour ; and seventhly, the Society's copy of the same. My own private copies form large and handsome volumes in my hbrary upon which I should be sorry to set a price. The success of the Mission, under Providence, is in no small measure to be attributed to the excellent arrangements referred to. Without fixed rules such an institution woiild, of course, speedily become a mass of confusion, and as uncom- fortable to spiritual agents as unsatisfactory to the ofiicers and supporters. The executive of the Mission are nearly all men of business, and the benefits of method and order, which are found so indispensable in secular affairs, have been con- veyed by them to the Society in the carrying out of the arrangements named, and other arrangements. 280 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. ing, noon, and night, accompanied, when I could obtain his company, by an aged friend, bursting in upon them in the midst of their criminality, at other times visiting them whilst labouring under the depressing effects of their previous night's debauch. It may be inquired, perhaps, how it happened such a course was practicable. The fact is, I appeared to have a great influence given me over the proprietor of this wretched place and others, in consequence, perhaps, of attentions I had paid to one of their companions, who died in a very dreadful manner. They appeared to retain so grateful a sense of these attentions, that they could not insult me. It constituted one of the strangest sights in the wide world, to see me enter this place at night, sometimes alone — on one occasion my companion was ordered away ; it was said to him, * You go, else perhaps you'll have a knife put into you. He (me) may stop ' — disturb- ing all kinds of wickedness, and merely saying, 'I've come to read to you.' Standing in the midst of ferocious and horrible characters, reading the Scriptures, and explaining portions concerning our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, heaven and hell, and a prostitute holding the candle to me. This young woman has since abandoned her evil course of hie. Then would* foUow some discussion ; one would say, ' I don't believe there's no hell — it's in your heart, mister.' Then some prostitute would burst out into indecent profanity, who would be sworn at until she was quiet. Then I would go down on my knees in the midst of them and pray, waiting to see if the Spirit of God would act, (and the Spirit of God did act.) On one occasion whilst so engaged, with my hand over my face, I left a small space between my fingers for the purpose of THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 281 making an observation, and perceived small articles (stolen, I suppose) being passed from one to another. They had no idea I was observing them. " Two of the bad women who resided here were at last so much affected by religious instruction, as to be prevailed upon to enter penitentiaries. " The proprietor of the place, who was a common thief, and the prostitute with whom he lived, next became affected. M related to me a conversa- tion which took place between himself and Gr , a housebreaker, whilst detailing to me his mental feelings. Gr., who goes by the name of ' Snob,' has related to me particulars of several burglaries in which he has been engaged. " Gr. said, ' Come M., let's go out and look for something.'' M. paused, and said, 'I don't know, Bm, I don't think I shaU go.' 'Why not?' said G-., ' you can't starve.' ' I tell you what, Bill,' said the other thief, 'I find out Grod Almighty can pay debts without money.'* ' Oh ! ' said the other, * you're becoming rehgious, then, are you ? you're no good;' and he then went out by himself to attempt plunder. " Erom this time an alteration took place in M. He was also much impressed about this time by being taken into custody under the following cir- cumstances. ' I was walking along,' said he, * and a policeman come up to me, he know'd nothing on me, nor I on him ; says he, and he lays hold on me, says he, " You must come with me." " What for ? " says I, and in course I says, " I'm a 'spectable * This is a plirase used among the lower orders to denote that the Lord can punish in a mysterious and overruling manner. 282 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. young man." "That's no odds," says he, "you must come on suspicion." So he took me to the Mansion House, and I was locked up till Mon- day morning. "Well then he took me up afore the Lord Mayor. He said he took me up on suspicion. The Lord Mayor asked if anybody know'd I was a thief. Nobody know'd me there* so they let me go directly. In course,' said he, * he'd no business to take me, as he know'd nothing agui me.' * But was you abroad for a dishonest purpose,' said I. * Yes,' said he, ' but he couldn't know that, as I was walking on quietly,' and he expressed his opinion that there was ^a mark on him hy God Almighty^ " One morning previous to leaving home, I had felt particularly impressed respecting these evil characters, and much drawn out in prayer on their behalf. The first morning visit I paid was to this court, and was informed by one of the neighbours, the mother t of the prostitute with whom M. * Had he been taken to Clerkenwell Police Court, the case would have resulted very differently. t This unhappy being was a great drunkard, and when intoxicated extremely furious, but she was always respectful to me. During the prevalence of the awful cholera, in 1849, I was walking round my district, after service, on a Sabbath morning, and was called in to see her. At midnight on the Saturday she had, whilst in a drunken condition, been calling upon the Almighty to strike her dead. Scarcely twelve hours had elapsed, and now she was dying with the dreaded cholera. Her speech was already gone. " Mrs. P ," said I, " you have been a great sinner, you have utterly neglected God, do you feel this now ? " She nodded her head. " Now," said I, " Jesus Christ ! Jesus Christ ! I have so often instructed you about, died for sinners — will cast out none — pray to be THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 283 lived, that they had been inquiring particularly for me. "On visiting them I was informed they had made up their minds to relinquish their evil courses, and be married, as they felt miserable. They were accordingly married, and left the place, renting an upper room opposite. This evil resort, which had. formerly prevented the neighbours from resting in their beds throughout the night, in consequence of the drunkenness and riotous conduct of the very numerous bad characters who frequented it, I had the satisfaction of seeing padlocked, empty, and 'to let.' "M. commenced obtaining a livelihood in an honest manner by selling articles in the streets, and when at home I have knocked at his door unawares, and been much pleased to find him with his Bible and other reHgious books before him. Shortly afterwards he obtained a situation in a large manufactory, where he laboured for several years until discharged by a reduction of hands being made, which took place at the period of the commercial difficulties in 1848. He has since followed the occupation of a hawker, but in order to avoid his former evil associates, he has removed to the south of London, thinking it better, he said, to do so. The young woman with whom he lived was formerly very violent, but when I have some- forgiven — pray to be forgiven — or your soul will be lost — will you pray ? " She nodded her head so animatedly, that those who were with her were surprised she was capable of taking so much notice. " I am not afraid of the cholera," said I, " but I am afraid of your soul being lost." I prayed, and I hope the poor creature prayed too. I continued exhort- ing and praying as long as I well could ; she was too weak to be remained with long. Two hours afterwards she died. 284 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. times reminded her of her former evil conduct to move her to repentance, the tears would start in her eyes. I pray both these young people, who attended my meetings, may speedily be amongst those who have ' washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,' Eev. vii. 14." The next case is a remarkably blessed one. The Spirit of God is not pleased to operate so suddenly in the mass of cases wherein mankind are brought under the influence of spiritual im- pressions, but such cases, when the Lord is pleased to vouchsafe them, are peculiarly en- couraging. Soon after my appointment to the Cow Cross District, the superintendent of our Sabbath School was walking down a neighbouring alley with me, and informed me that one of the most desperate characters in London lived in a house we were passing. This young woman had been a street-walker and notorious drunkard for seven i/ears, and had but the day before insulted him in a very shameful manner. As the Lord was pleased to order it, whilst we were speaking, an elderly man passed, exchanging re- cognitions with my friend. "That," said he, "is the father of the young woman, and is a member of a Christian church — a Wesleyan." He collected some rents in the locality, I found. I addressed him and said, "I have been informed respecting your daughter, come with us and pray over her." " Oh ! " said he, shaking his head very deliberately, as if what he was about to utter admitted of no denial, THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 285 "It's of no use whatever, she'll only insult you." However, the impression was so strong upon me to induce this man to go with me and pray over his daughter, that I said to him very solemnly, " You profess, I find, to be a converted man ; you crnmot therefore refuse to do so," and I really partly dragged him up the stairs, my other friend following. Both appeared fully convinced we should not be admitted, or if admitted, " only be abused." As I have stated, I had just commenced occupying the district, and had never seen this unhappy female, but on opening the door I perceived her, and merely said very seriously and quietly, " We have come to pray for your poor soul, go down on your knees." She looked at us quite furiously, snatching her apron in her hand as if preparing a volley of insult ; but on my repeating very mildly, but authoritatively, " Gro down on your knees," slie went down on her Tcnees. Each prayed ; the writer last. Whilst so engaged, I heard strange heavings from where she knelt, and when we arose she arose also, but how altered ! her hardness of heart was exchanged for a condition of intense mental suffering, pitiable to behold. "Oh! my poor father!" she sobbed, as the tears rolled down her face, " my poor father, how badly I have treated you!" and she threw herself on the bed and wept bitterly. She was at once quite changed as respects outward demeanour. But one power could I apprehend so metamor- phose the human soul; but that power is an omni- potent power, and " is there anything too hard for the Lord?" " The Lord unto my Lord hath said, Sit thou in glory sit, Till I thine enemies have made To bow beneath thy feet. 286 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. " Nature is subject to thy word, All power to thee is given, The uncontroll'd Almi ghty Lord Of hell, and earth, and heaven. " To Christ shall earth and hell submit, And every foe shall faU, Till death expires beneath his feet. And Q-od is all in all." Yesterday she would not admit a religioui^ visitor, but shamefullj abused one — to-day she was ^^hrokert'lieartedr I proposed her entering an asylum immediately, and found her quite willing to do so. I walked with her to the Probationary House, in "White Lion Street, PentonviUe, where she was — contrary to rule — at once admitted. Her mother, a pious woman, was delighted; and after she had remained a short time in the Asylum to test her sincerity, in order that the family might not run the risk of exposure to the disgrace and serious inconvenience of some outrageous proceeding on her part, she was received home. She had become so changed, that I was informed by the family she would not eat without first praying. After having been at home for some time, behaving in quite an exemplary manner, a young man of respectable appearance, of whom her father had some slight knowledge as being in a competent position, walked into his workshop and said, "Mr. O , I have something particular to say to you, (or some such words, I understood,) I wish to marry your daughter Ja/ne.^^ Her father was surprised, and told me he hardly knew what to say. " Jane and I," continued the young man, " have talked to one another, and she's agreeable if you are." The father at last said, " The fact is, young man, I suppose you know I profess to be a religious man THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 287 in some sort, and take tracts about, so it wont do for me to play the hypocrite and deceive you. You know very little about Jane, and you don't know how wild she has been." "Well," said this hasty suitor — and hasty marriages in general are greatly to be condemned — "what you've been saying don't make me call o^ at all. If she's been a wild one, I haven't been much better, so there's a pair of us." Her father was not proof against such philosophy, and they were married. The last I heard of Jane she had a comfortable home — she had been married about five years — and I am assured that if at any time she has had occasion to go into a part of town near her old haunts, she has taken a circuit of a mile, fearful of coming in contact with any of her former evil associates. I mention this case simply as one of outward reformation. She has certainly been under very strong spiritual impressions, but I dare not venture to assume her a fully converted character. She sent a message to me a few days since by her mother, to say " she had not forgotten what I had done for her." Perhaps I do the poor woman an injustice in questioning her full conversion, but she does not give that clear evidence upon the subject, in the absence of which I could not speak confidently. These are too serious matters to be trifled with. As respects the mass of unhappy women, their case is very truthfully described in the following letter by Mr. Glanville, Secretary to the Cambridge Heath Asylum : — " Upon the general subject, it ought, I think, to be known, that a very large proportion of women who infest the streets. 288 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. especially in the east of London, consists of persons who have been neglected in their youth, and who, from want of previous moral and domestic instruction at home, have been cast upon the world totally unquahfied to obtain a subsistence by any description of female labour; and who, consequently, have embraced the facilities imhappily supplied by the existence of pubhc brothels, to enter upon a Ufe of infamy. Such being the case, I entertain no hope of the vice alluded to being diminished until the careless, negUgent parents among the poor, can be induced to watch more carefully over the morals of their children, and to train them wlule at home to habits of order, cleanliness, and industry. If this was done, and those infamous houses which encourage and foster the vice, and without which it could not be carried on to any great extent, were put down, we should soon perceive a great decrease in the number of abandoned women in our streets. "J. Glanville."* « Cambridge Heath, Sept. 4, 1848." Neglect of moral and religious training in youth is the prolific source of crime-f * BritisJi Banner^ September 6, 1848. t So Horace : — " Fingit equiun tenera docilem cervice magister Ire viam, qui monstrat eques ; venaticus, ex quo. Tempore cervinam pellem latravit in aula Militat in sylvis catulus. Ntmc adbibe puro Pectore verba, puer ; nunc te melioribus offer. Quo semel est imbuta, recens, servabit odorem Testa diu." Hoe. Ep.j lib. i ep. ii. ver. 64. " The docile colt is formed with gentle skill To move obedient to his rider's will, THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 289 "It is lamentable," says the Chaplain to the Reformatory Prison at Parkhurst, "to observe how large a majority of the prisoners here, con- sists of destitute, or otherwise unfortunate children, suffering either from the loss, the negligence, or the vice, of their relatives. For example : out of 131 prisoners, 13 only appear to have been brought up in any way approaching to decent and orderly habits ; and but 14 are possessed of such connections as afford them a prospect of a liveli- hood in future, so far as their native country is concerned. Of that number, also, 51 are either friendless, or with prospects even more wretched through the crimes of their relations.'^ And how wretchedly is female labour too often remunerated. Except amongst pious and feeling people — the great minority of our population — domestic service is rendered a complete slavery, and ill temper is vented by the mistress and her daughters upon somt unhappy servant, who is converted into a In the loud hall the hound is taught to bay, The buck skin trail' d, then challenges his prey Through the wild woods. Thus, in your hour of youth From pure instruction quaff the words of truth : The odours of the wine that first shall stain The virgin vessel, it shall long retain." Feancis. T7 290 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. kind of lightning conductor, to receive the effects of their wrath and morbid feelings. The late hours kept, and the necessity for early prepara- tion of the master's and young gentlemen's breakfasts, leaves the servant frequently but about five hours for sleep. I have continually met with young women who have left their situations com- pletely worn down, some with swelled legs from running up and down stairs. In addition to incessant labour, scarce to obtain a kind word or civil expression, has a brutalizing effect upon the mind, so that as some have said, "I felt so miserable I did not care what became of me, I wished I was dead.'' An amount of ingenuity appears too often to be exercised, worthy of a better cause, in obtaining the largest possible amount of labour out of the domestic machine; whilst the young ladies are screaming to the piano and guitar, or ringing bells for amusement, or copying Jullien's polkas, instead of running more sensible polkas up and down stairs, to assist the unfortunate maid of all work. Godless families drive thousands of young wometl on the streets, who are destitute of vital religion. Others, disgusted with service, attempt a miserable existence by needlework, and are THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 291 again tempted by semi- starvation to sin. At a singular meeting, held about two years since, at the British School Room, Shad well, more than 1,000 female slop-workers were present, by far the greater part in clothing to which the word *'rags'^ was literally applicable in its fullest meaning. On the question being asked — How many had earned Ss, last week ? not a hand was held up throughout the whole assembly. 7s. was next tried, but with a like result. 5 had earned 6s., 28 had earned os., 13 had earned 4^. 6d., 142 had earned 35., 150 had earned 2^. 6J., 71 had earned 2s., 82 had earned Is. 6d., 98 had earned only Is.j and of this last class 88 stated they were entirely dependent upon their own exertions for support ; 92 females had earned under Is., and 223 had had no work at all during the whole of the week. The author of a recent Prize Essay,* speaking of indigence as a cause of crime, well re- marks : — " The consolidation of property is a badge of the present times. It is stated that about the year 1770, the lands of * " Juvenile Depravity." By Eev. H. Worsley, Rector of Easton, Suffolk, Gilpin, London. u 2 292 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. England were diyided among no fewer than 250,000 families ; but at the close of the revolutionary war in 1815, they were found to he concentrated in the hands of only 32,000. Pro- perty and wealth naturally draw more property and wealth to them. That property should gather in large masses is according to the natural tendency of things ; and every obstruction and hinderance to the operation of natural causes has in recent times been removed. Not only, therefore, is the small farmer extinct, but the small landed proprietor belongs to an order that is rapidly vanishing, and has, in a great degree, already disappeared. The tradesman, moreover, who has little capital, is now contending at a ruinous disadvantage with outbidding rivals. The trade which prospers most in villages and small towns in these times is, it may well be feared, the pubhcan's. All classes are merging into one of two, the indigent and the opulent. The chasm between rich and poor has widened and is widening. England's greatest splendour, and England's most abject poverty, are admirably adapted as subjects for the display of the artist's skill in painting contrasts; and two such pictures well executed would present a powerful practical illustration of the poet's — * First and last — ^the immensely distant two.' " We should ever remember with humiliation, in connection with this subject, that sin of a higher order than the petty larceny of some poor hungry outcast who may steal for a morsel of bread, may exist in forms not punishable by human law. Many a man of opulence and passable character, sinning against more light, more knowledge, and more intellect, may consequently be more guilty in the sight of God, without ever becoming THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 293 amenable to the laws of his country, than some half-idiotic transport. We are taught on the highest possible authority that there are grada- tions in guilt, dependent not only on the recog- nised scale of crime, but on the scale of intellect and favourable influences possessed by the offender. " That servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, (so clearly,) and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes," Luke xii. 47, 48.* This Divine mode of estimating guilt, we are reminded by our blessed Saviour, is endorsed even by the ungodly in the ordinary affairs of life. "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required : and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more," V. 48. "Let all," says the gentle Doddridge, "who are in any measure distinguished by the gifts of the Divine bounty to them, or by their * We are nowhere informed that this has any reference to the duration of the punishment of sinners in a future state, which is always spoken of as eternal, but to the intensity of that punishment. 394 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. stations, whether in civil or sacred offices, atten- tively dwell on this great truth, so solemnly repeated again and again; let them consider it with a view to their own account, and may they never have reason to reflect with confusion and anguish on what is now their honour and joy/^* To take, for example, the case of common honesty. Sitting in my study with a comfortable fire, engaged in writing this volume, surrounded by the necessaries of life, food when I require it, a good bed on which to lie, clothes to wear, and how many other mercies ! What temptation have I to steal ? But how different the condition of thousands of poor, uneducated, tradeless wretches, hungry, tattered, cold, and penniless ! If one such miserable being steals my handkerchief, or in any other way defrauds me, how different the temptation ! " Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry,^' Prov. vi. 30. But how different such a theft from the dishonesty of some clean-washed and competently circumstanced defrauder, who shall, perhaps to cover the loss of some gambling transaction or the expenses of profligacy, descend, well-fed and well-clothed, into the office of his * "Expositor." THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 295 unsuspecting employer, and by a clever stroke of his pen, or by the artful mystification of some account, render himself a thief and a villain. This is surely crime of an altogether higher order, and yet by that erring judgment, which is so apt to hang about the best of us, too many are much more apt to pity the latter than the former. In the case of Fauntleroy for example, how great efforts were made to save a culprit from the scaffold, whilst hundreds of ignorant poverty- stricken criminal — but far less criminal unfor- tunates, — who had stolen a few shillings from the person, were hung up at Newgate yearly, unpitied and uncared-for. How little compassion, comparatively, has been felt in our Metropolis for those, who were really the most pitiable ! And we might dwell on the mass of delin- quencies in trade and commerce, the nefarious misappropriations of public trusts to the personal benefits of trustees or chapters, and to one hundred descriptions of delinquencies not reached by the law, and we hardly know, criminal as they are, how in many instances they could be. Then, v/again, as respects female crime. What law reaches the thousands of men now in the enjoy- 296 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. ment of ease and fortune, (nay, some seated in the very senate,) who have been the seducers of women now infesting the streets, and in whose service, or in the service of whose parents, in thousands of instances, they once lived ? I could mention one man of large wealth, whose life appears to be systematically devoted to the seduction of girls, who employs female agents among the degraded objects I have visited, who spares neither money nor effort, and who actually, I am informed, kept a carefully noted journal of his assignations and moneys expended. Of this book he was robbed, adjoining my district, and the document afforded much wretched diversion to the thieves and prostitutes in the vicinity. Of the prostitutes of tender age, and others who infest our streets in thousands, it is an ascertained and undisputed fact that immense numbers have been seduced by the masters in whose families they have lived as servants, or by some junior branch of the family. The law does not meet such cases. — " Many a crime deemed iimocent on earth Is registered in heaven." Some approaches, however, have been made we remember, towards more adequate appropria- THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 297 tion of punishment to various crimes, and we hope yet to see many further advances in the right direction. In the mean time, perhaps such reflections may increase our pity for those, whose crimes have justly rendered them amenable to the law. One head, given in a former chapter amongst the causes of juvenile delinquency, is idleness. One of the many modes in which idleness deve- lopes itself is in Sabbath breaking, loitering away the blessed holiday, instead of redeeming the time in devotion and religious instruction. There are physical reasons connected with town occupations which are presumed to render an excuse for Sabbath breaking. Shut up all the week in unhealthy manufactories and workshops, many a youth draws an excuse from this fact for Sabbath excursions with idle companions. Amongst the lower orders such excursions commonly result in poaching from orchards and gardens, and the mind is by such minor delinquencies initiated into the commission of thefts of a higher cha- racter. Multitudes of young women, also, attri- bute their ruin to Sabbath profanation. Sabbath breaking is a great sin and a great evil. The due observance of the Sabbath has 298 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. peculiar promises awarded to it. Its profana- tion is attended by peculiar curses. With the details of this sad subject a volume might readily be occupied. We are in London, as the late Mr. Bickersteth very truly observes, called "A City of Sabbath Breakers;* though it be honoured and observed * Those who are almost worshippers of antiquity, and with whom age is nearly an imiversal canonizer, will receire no hurt by reading the mode in which England spent the Sabbath in the reign of Henry viii. The following extract is from " Leland's Collectanea," and the " Antiquarian Keper- tory," in reference to that monarch's marriage with Katherine of Arragon. The court departed the next Sunday for Rich- mond, where, after an exordium on the proper way of spend- ing the Sabbath^ our informant teUs us, that " after Divine service, the king sped with the court, through his goodly gardens (Whitehall) to his gallery, upon the walls, where were lords ready set to play ; some with chesses^ (chess- boards,) some with tables, (or backgammon,) and some with cards and dice ; besides a jframework with ropes was fixed in the garden, on which went up a Spaniard, and did many wondrous and deUcious points of tumbhng and dancing." — Agnes StricJcland' s Lives of the Queens of England. The piety of those days was just " Popish piety" so Miss Strickland quotes from Sebastiano Q-uistiniani, the Yenetian resident in England in 1519, in his description of this unhappy king. " He possesses a good knowledge of the French, Latin, and Spanish languages, and is very devout. On the days on which he goes to the chase he hears mass three times, but on the other days as often as five times. He has every day service at vespers and complin. He is uncom- THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 299 in so truly Christian a way by the more Christian part of the Metropolis. In a circuit of eight miles of St. PauFs Cathedral, after we have included Episcopal and orthodox Dissenting places, filled according to their usual attendance, and not only these, but also the chapels of Socinians, and Papists, and the synagogues of Jews, and every place where our Supreme God is publicly wor- shipped, there are probably one million persons who are in health and full capability of attendance, totally neglecting all public worship. The existing places of worship are on the whole average only occupied to five-eighths of their capability of holding worshippers. The greater part of Sabbath breaking is not seen, though its existence is too well ascertained. The Lord's day is employed for monly fond of the chase, he takes great delight in bowHng, he plays with the hostages of France, and it is said they sport from 6,000 to 8,000 ducats in a day." Such was standard Popish piety in those days of Papal ascendancy. Such is standard Popish piety now. As Romanists are very partial to alluding to Henry viii,, in connexion with the British Reformation — as if a rose ceased to he a rose because handed to us in the spirit of evil ! — we present them in return with a striking reminiscence of days which are designated in Romanist circles as " those most blessed days of British faithfulness to the JSoly jStee," and to the genius of which so many appear desirous to return. 300 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. festive purposes only by thousands, and these entertainments cause thousands of tradesmen's dependents and domestics, to violate God's sacred commandment." These statistics Mr. Bickersteth quotes from the City Mission Magazine, which, as is well known, is regarded as a very high authority respecting the spiritual condition of the Metro- polis. The Editor, the Rev. Mr. Garwood, has at different times presented very elaborate calcula- tions on this subject — such as "A summary of every parish in the Metropolis, and the number of sittings in every place of religious worship." — See Magazine for January, 1843. The Census of 1851 for the first time contains this information. Special reference may also be made to the Maga- zines for January, 1844; March, July, and August, 1845; January, 1846; (this is a very remarkable document;) July, 1850, contains evi- dence given by two City Missionaries before a Committee of the House of Lords on Sabbath profanation. Such a vast body of information respecting the spiritual and moral condition of London as these extraordinary volumes contain, has not been laboriously compiled in vain. The blessing in THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 301 various ways which has followed has been very great. In closing this notice of the criminal popula- tion, I cannot but advert, with much earnestness, to the great necessity existing for the extension of efforts for their reclamation.* ,1 A very excellent institution of a reformatory character is the London Ragged Colonial Train- ing School of Industry and Dormitory, Great Smith Street, Westminster, near the Abbey. This and the Juvenile Kefuge, in Pye Street, and small institutions of a similar character, conducted by the City Missionaries, at Westminster and Ratcliffe Highway, are the only institutions in the Metropolis (exclusive of the House of Occupa- tion and Philanthropic Society) in which criminals * The duties of the Chaplain of Newgate thirty years ago, in return for an income of £300 a year, are thus described in a ParUamentary Report of 1814 : — " Beyond his attendance in chapel and on those who are sentenced to death, Dr. Forde feels but few duties to be attached to his office. He knows nothing of the state of morals in the prison ; he never sees any of the prisoners in private ; though fourteen boys and girls, from nine to thirteen years old, were in Newgate in April last, he does not consider attention to them a point of his duty ; he never knows that any have been sick till he gets a warning to attend their funeral ; and does not go to the infirmary, for it is not in his instructions." — Knight's London. 302 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. are received on their discharge from prison, with a view to their reformation. The reader may remember, some time since, a clergyman in Sussex, named Holiest, being shot by burglars who had broken into his house; he shortly after- wards died of the wound. The murderer who fired the fatal shot, it has been ascertained, applied about ten days previously for admission at the London Ragged Colonial Training School. But it is found quite impossible to admit one- twentieth part of the applicants. Could he have been admitted, the life of a Christian minister, and afterwards his own, would not probably have been sacrificed. Until within the last four years, a very admirable institution existed at Hoxton for the reformation of criminal characters, and was largely supported by a Government grant. The Govern- ment, however, withdrew the grant, acting upon what — with the most sincere respect as good subjects towards " the powers that be " — those persons best versed in the philosophy of Metro- politan criminality, could not but regard as a most mistaken view of economy. This admirable institution was obliged forth- with to be relinquished. THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 303 There are in and around the Metropolis thirteen prisons for the punishment of criminals, sup- ported at a very large, though quite necessary- outlay— between £60,000 and £70,000 per annum.* One is Cold Bath Fields House of Correction, the annual expenses of which, as may be seen by the Annual Reports of the Inspectors of Prisons, exceed £18,000. The following letter from the excellent Go- vernor of this prison, will illustrate forcibly the subject to which I have been alluding. I had applied to Mr. Chesterton respecting the youth named : — " Cold Bath Fields, September U\ 1850. " On the receipt of your letter, I saw the boy whose state of destitution and its cause are indeed sad. Since the abandonment of the Male Kefuge for the Destitute, it has become exceedingly difficult, nay, almost impossible to devise a means of rescue for these unfortunate youths; however, the inclination will not be wanting to serve this poor lad, if anything can be done for him." The Juvenile Refuge, Old Pye Street, West- minster, conducted by the Ragged School Union, is an admirable institution, and one greatly needing increased support, but it does not receive * See Eeports of Inspectors of Prisons, Home District. X 304 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. criminals above sixteen years of age. Separate institutions are found to be absolutely necessary for criminals who are mere children, and criminals who are more advanced in years. I have not space, however, to enter into further details. The management of the criminal population has always been a vexata qucesiio to our rulers, and the hands of our rulers are full, and those are surely Utopian views of national government, which demand that the executive shall do every thing for all. It, however, remains to be added, that the sooner increased attention is given to this subject, the sooner will a deplorable anomaly be removed — zeal in the punishment of crime, and neglect commensurately to aid the reformation of dis- charged criminals. A consummation this most devoutly to be desired. I had fully purposed entering much more largely into the subject of Ragged Schools and Dormitories, and detailing a night^s visit with the Earl of Shaftesbury (then Lord Ashley) to some of the dens of London, which led to the formation of the Field Lane Dormitory by my brother Missionary, Mr. Tomkins, aided by the THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 305 writer, and which instilution was afterwards taken under the wing of the Field Lane Ragged Schools;* but this volume will, apart from these details, be quite as large as it appears on the whole desirable it should be : the histories of the youths found by his Lordship sleeping under dry arches and in * This institution was founded by the first CTity Missionary appointed to the Field Lane District by our Society. An occasional paper, entitled, "A Brief History of the Field Lane Ragged School," which was read at a pubUc meeting, held at the New School Eoom, Victoria Street, Holbom Bridge, on Monday evening, August 7th, 18^8^ by Mr. Ware, the Secretary, and afterwards printed by the Committee, contains the following statement : — " This being a special, and not the annual meetmg, it is not the time for your Committee to predfent their yearly account of operations, but they considered it might be interesting to the friends present to spend a few minutes in giving a little history of the schools from the commencement. .... This school was called the Field Lane School from the fact of its being first opened in Caroline Court, near Field Lane. It was opened on the first Sunday ia November, 1841, in an apartment in this court, by the City Missionary of the district," etc. Forty-five children only assembled on the first occasion. Missiles were showered down on the Missionary and his aged housekeeper, for some time his only assistant, and one of his fingers was broken in forcibly preventing the ingress of improper characters, who came to blow out the lights and break up the school, prompted, no doubt, by Satan, as well as their own wicked hearts. They ran up stairs, jumped out of the window, up stairs again, and so on — called by them " Winding the cAam," and " Kee;ping thejpot boiUn^j' — ^hordes X 306 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. ruins, which I have by me, form a little volume in themselves. I desire to add, let spiritual men and women of wealth and influence visit the districts of our Missionaries, and these institutions — to nearly all of which their efforts have given birth* — and the of ruffians — ^men and boys. The police were accustomed to go in pairs here, and were, I believe, allowed cutlasses. By perseverance and prayer, in the order of Providence, this opposition was ultimately overcome, and several of the very characters who mutilated the Missionary for hfe, were afterwards, there is reason to believe, much benefited by his efforts. * The Earl of Shaftesbury, at the annual meeting of the Field Lane Schools, in December, 1846, said : — " At jvrst "he feared he should have been unable to he present, but when he recollected that this school was the one that drew his attention to the subject in the jvrst instance, he felt it his duty to corned To how many blessed results has the attention given by Lerd S. to this subject given rise ! GChe following is an extract from this nobleman's speech in the House of Commons, June 6th, 1848, which led to a temporary grant by Government towards emigrating youths from Eagged Schools : — " 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. It has only of late been discovered that they constitute a numerous class, having habits, pursuits, feelings, manners, customs, and interests of their own, Hving as a class, (etc. etc.) For the knowledge of these details, we are mainly indebted to the London City Mission. It is owing to their deep, anxious, and constant research," etc. At the annual meeting of the THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 307 more they visit, increasingly will they become interested in them. They will say the half had not been told them. They will feel a monition within the heart to aid such efforts, both by prayer and by pecuniary aid, without which such efforts could not, of course. London City Mission, May, 1848, Lord S. said : — " Wheneyer you enter a Ragged School, remember this — we are indebted for nine-tenths of them to the pious (etc. etc.) City Missionary." We have every encouragement, and much of our success is hid from us. It came to my knowledge quite in an unexpected manner, that at a Q-ipsey party on Banstead Downs an appeal for a certain benevolent object was pro- duced, in which my name appeared. One of the party, a lady, and a munificent donor of houses and money to Ragged Schools, said, " What name is that ? " On its being repeated she rephed, " Oh ! you may put down my name for so much ; it was reading Mr. V.'s letters in the Becord that jBrst drew my attention to Ragged Schools." The London City Mission is also well known to have stimulated the formation of the Church Pastoral Aid Society, and Scripture Readers' Association. These are exclusively Episcopalian. Two Sabbaths since, I heard Cardinal Wiseman lecture for nearly two hours on Monastic Estabhshments. The service (at Moorfields) commenced as usual, at half-past six, and ended at a quarter to ten. I feel persuaded that Roman CathoUcs possessing and using any considerable rea- soning powers, must have laughed in their hearts at the tissue of sophisms uttered. No wonder the Cardinal should refuse discussion with Dr. Cumming. Dressed with a kind of head s3 308 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. be continued, much less, as is so very needful, be greatly extended. An Eastern nation* has an account of a thief, who having been detected in criminality, and condemned to die, thought upon an expedient by which he might possibly escape death. dress covered with piiik bows, and a silk cape and silk sleeves, in addition to gown, I was very forcibly reminded of some old nurse, repeating some nursery tale to the dear children ; but I mention this matter on account of allusion made to the office of City Missionaries. One reason given why monastic orders should be cherished was, that in " the Church of England and elsewhere," a class of ministers, distinct from the regular priesthood^ had been found needful, and an engine of great power. The Cardinal glowingly described the access they obtained to the population, and the manner in which their office enabled them to act upon it. His estimate of the office was correct. " A magnificent seed-time," to borrow a phrase from the late Mr. Bickersteth, is certainly being slighted, or tioo hundred and fifty districts, urgently needing Missionaries, would not be left unoccupied. * The London City Mission has proved a blessing even to the East. A kindred Society is in existence in one of the three principal Anglo-Indian cities, Madras, which not only supports its own Missionaries, but remits several hundred pounds annually for London. The K.ev. Mr. Lugard, Secretary, with whom I am personally imacquaiated, will please to accept my best thanks for the perusal of his encouraging letter, received last spring (1851) by our Mission, which was handed to me on the occasion of my being offered THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 309 He sent for the jailor, and told him he had an important secret to disclose to the king, adding, that when he had done so he would be ready to die. The king commanded him to be brought into the royal presence. He informed the monarch that he was acquainted with a cabalistic secret of producing trees that would bear gold, and craved a trial of his art. The king consented, and accompanied by his prime minister , courtiers, and priest, came with the prisoner to a certain spot which he had indicated, who commenced his incantations. He then produced a piece of gold, declaring that if sown it would produce a tree, erery branch of which should bear gold. " But," he added, " this, O king ! must be buried in the earth by a person 'perfectly honest. I, alas ! am not so, and therefore I humbly pass it to your majesty." The countenance of the monarch was troubled, who at length replied, " When I was a boy, 1 remember purlo inin g something from my father, which, although a trifle, prevents my being the proper person. I pass it, therefore, to my prime minister." The prime minister received the piece of gold with many prostrations, and said, " On my eyes be it, may the king live for ever!" with many other expressions of devotion; but finding the king becoming impatient, he at last stammered out with great confusion, "I receive the taxes from the people, and as I am exposed to many temptations, how can I be perfectly honest ? I, therefore, O king, give it to the priest." The priest, with great trembling, pleaded some remembered the superintendence of the Madras Mission — a second invita- tion to India vdthin a few years. Probably the issue of the present work prevented the pleasure of my having much and loving personal acquaintance with Mr. L. I beg he wUl be pleased to accept my prayers, and to afford me an interest in his. 310 THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. delinquencies in connection with his conduct in receiving the sacrifices. At length the thief exclaimed, "In justice, O king, we should all four be hanged, since not one of us is honest." The king was so pleased with his ingenuity that he granted him a pardon. The application is very simple. We are all sinners. The language of the dying thief applies to each one of us, "Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation ? " We cannot pardon the souls of our outcast brethren, but we can instruct and direct them to the Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, and bid them regard with faith "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world,^ John i. 29. This is wisdom ; not indeed the speculative phi- losophy of a past age, nor the dreamings of learned indolence, but true wisdom, true know- ledge, which, in the words of Lord Bacon, "is not a couch whereon to rest a searching and restless spirit — or a terrace for a wandering and variable mind to walk up and down with a fair prospect — or a tower of state for a proud mind to raise itself upon — or a fort or commanding ground for strife and contention — but a rich storehouse for the glory of the Creator j and the relief of man's estateJ' THE CRIMINAL POPULATION. 311 And the days, dear reader, in which we may do good on earth are numbered : — " Oh let our souls their slumbers break, Arouse their senses and awake, To see how soon Life with its glories glides away, And the stem footsteps of decay Come stealing on. " Our lives — ^like hasting streams they be, That into one engulping sea Press on to fall : The sea of death, whose waves roll on O'er king and kingdom, crown and throne, And swallow all. " Sweet ' Christ of God,' our thoughts arise To Thee, — eternal, good, and wise. To Thee — we cry ; Gird us a useful life to run. And grant that we at last sit down, With Thee on high." 312 MISCELLANEOUS. CHAPTER VIII. MISCELLANEOUS. The cholera — Statements of the Board of Health — Filth, intemperance, and cholera — Extraordinary statistics — Cha- racteristic notice of the -writer's district in Board of Health's Eeports — Death of a Missionary after visitiijg with the writer — Hopeful case of a fowler who died of cholera — A pecuharly awful death from cholera — The writer attacked — Comforts of the Divme presence — Hope- ful case of a drover — Hopeful conversion of a life-guards- The cholera months of 1849 formed a period of much additional anxiety to the Missionaries of the City Mission, especially to those located on certain districts.* The Commissioners of the Board of Health, in a very valuable volume entitled " A Report on a General Scheme of Extramural Sepulture/' dated February 15th, 1850, stated "the epi- * See London City Mission Magazine, October, 1849, which is entirely devoted to an account of the operations of the Mission in connection with the cholera. MISCELLANEOUS. 313 demic of the last year (1849)'' to have been "the severest that has affected the country in modern times, having destroyed in the Metropolis alone no fewer than 16,000 persons/' Large, however, as was the mortality in Eng- land, it bears but a very small proportion to the mortality experienced in some parts of our Indo- British possessions. At Kurrachee, the Report of the Board of Health on "Epidemic Cholera," states that "out of 15,000 inhabitants, 1,500, or one in ten, died in the closest portion of the town. And at Hydrabad, in forty-eight hours, it carried off ninety-six out of four hundred prisoners in the jail." The connection between filth and cholera appears to have been clearly made out. "When," says this very valuable Report, " an atmosphere contaminated by the emanations that arise from filth accumulated in and about dwellings, is respired, the noxious matters dis- solved or suspended in the air are carried directly into the blood. The extent to which such matters may poison the blood, may be understood when it is considered that in the space of every twenty-, four hours an adult person breathes thirty-six hogsheads of air; that there pass at the same 314 MISCELLANEOUS. time through the lungs, to be brought into contact with the bulk of air, twenty-four hogsheads of blood ; and that the velocity of the circulation is so great that the whole mass of the blood is carried round the body in one minute.'^ " Those^ subtle, invisible, but all-powerful effluvia,^' says Mr. Grainger, "proceeding from decomposing organic matter, whether animal or vegetable, in a multitude of different, and by the general public, little suspected ways, lay the foundation for those diseases which so frequently debilitate or destroy numbers of the labouring classes.^' Abundant evidence is also furnished in this highly practical treatise of the connection between intemperance and cholera : — "Abundant evidence," says Mr. G-rainger, "was afforded during the late epidemic, that habitual drunkards were highly predisposed to cholera, and of them a large number perished. Occasional excesses also led to a vast number of attacks; thus at Hamburgh it was observed that there was among the numerous sailors in that great port a regular accession of cholera every Monday and Tuesday, owing to the men going ashore and getting drunk on the preceding Sunday. In London, also, several medical men informed me that they had noticed the same thing ; excess, either in eating or drinking, being followed by attacks, which thus became more frequent on Sunday night and Monday." In Edinburgh, in Glasgow, and in the neighboiiring manu- facturing towns in general, it was observed that periodic augmentations of the disease were coincident with the earlier MISCELLANEOUS. 315 days of the Tveek, which could only be attributed to the intoxi- cation which followed the weekly receipt of wages." " I cannot but express regret," says Dr. Sunderland, " at the small amount of restraint which has hitherto been put on this abominable vice. The whole licensing system^ and the way in which it is too frequently administered^ are a public disgrace, and call urgently for reform. In every fresh out- burst of cholera, persons of dissipated, intemperate habits have been the first to fall victims to the disease ; and I feel assured that many hves were sacrificed which might have been saved, had the vice of drimkenness met with that dis- couragement on the part of authorities and the legislature which its detestable and brutahsing tendency, as well as its injurious efiects on the pubHc health, have so long demanded." From the remarkably filthy character of my district, and intemperate habits of the majority of the inhabitants, it might reasonably be supposed the epidemic would manifest itself to a very large extent. This expectation was fully borne out by the result. I do not know an adult resident, who escaped attacks of cholera of greater or less severity. I think the first person who died of virulent attack, was a woman in Cock Court, who procured her livelihood in the following manner : — she obtained from a certain hospital the rags used in dressing wounds and sores, etc., of which she would bring home a large bagfuU at a time ; these she washed and hung up in her small apartment on lines to dry j the stench was dreadful, but she 316 MISCELLANEOUS. slept in the midst of it. This poor person, who was very quiet and inoffensive, died after an attack of a few hours' duration. I am no^ enabled to report decidedly respecting her last end. It is a remarkable fact, however, that although the attacks from cholera upon my district might be said to be universal, the deaths from cholera were far less numerous than upon more favourite and healthy spots. It will be borne in mind that London is parcelled out into sub-districts, upon each of which separate returns of mortality, as well as births and marriages, are made. Clerkenwell contains four sub-districts, and the deaths from cholera in 10,000 inhabitants during the 60 weeks ending November 24th, 1849, was as follows. See a most valuable Schedule attached to Appen- dix B of the Board of Health's Report on Epidemic Cholera : — Sub-District. Population. Deaths to 10,000. Pentonville . . . 9,474 ... 32 Amwell 13,490 ... 13 GosweU Street . . 14,327 ... 17 St. James .... 19,417 ... 27 The sub-district of Saffron Hill gives 21 deaths to 10,000 inhabitants. Brixton „ 79 „ „ „ Old Street „ 14 „ MISCELLANEOUS. 317 Not only, it will be perceived, are the averages in Clerkenwell far different to what might have been expected, but Brixton, a suburban and healthy locality, actually numbered upwards of 3J times as many death§, in proportion to its population, as Saffron Hill, which, for dirt and wretchedness, is equalled in the vicinity only by my late district, to which it is immediately con- tiguous, and of the condition of which the fol- lowing note, at p. 42 of Appendix B of the Report, is very characteristic : — " A charge of neglecting to visit a certain house where a case of diarrhoea had occurred, was preferred against Mr. , one of the medical visitors of Clerkenwell, and being called before the guardians, he stated, ' he had not visited the house in question, because, being in an out-of-the-way corner, where there was a pubUc dust-hole and dung-hill, he considered it was a place inhabited by horses, and not human beings,' Another guardian said the defence was quite satisfactory." In all forms of suffering, short of deaths the connection between sanitary evils and cholera appears to have been clearly made out, but deaths from cholera do not appear to have been reducible to rule. Whilst upon my district, thousands of attacks took place, I am enabled to number but 24 deaths that came under my notice. For upwards of three weeks I was visiting 318 MISCELLANEOUS. cases of cholera frequently ten hours during the day. The parish medical officer, Mr. Goddard, informed me on one occasion that he had not taken off his clothes for eight nights. One of our Missionaries, Mr. Clark, visited some cases with me one morning, and left apparently in spirits. To reach his residence would occupy about ten minutes, but ere he had proceeded so far, he was writhing in the agonies of this terrible disease, and was carried into his bed, to die after some hours' suffering. I consider he was predisposed to cholera. As an evidence of the gracious state of his mind, I well recollect his words as we crossed Eed Lion Street together ; we were speaking of the difficulties of the Missionary work. "Our satisfaction," observed he, "after all, must result from a con- sciousness that our persons and labours are accepted by God through Christ." Within one half hour from that time my Christian brother was rolling in agony on the floor of his bedchamber, in the unbear- able throes of this agonizing malady. What should support him then but that consciousness of which he had spoken so well ? After Mr. Clark's death, it was ascertained that he had relinquished a source of income amounting to three times the salary he received in the City Mission, in order to enter its service.* My deceased friend received his reward. It was given him to be the happy instrument of winning * A delightful little memoir appeared in the London City Mission Magazine, August, 1849. " The memory of the just is blessed." MISCELLANEOUS. 319 souls to Christ. This is the highest honour the faithful servant of the Hedeemer can receive. — "Are we the subjects of the great First Cause ? Then let us act obedient to His laws : Ours is the task to dry the falliag tear, And whisper of Christ's mercy to the ear ; To comfort the distressed, instruct the poor, Proclaim to heayen the widely opened door, — So shall we fill the circle Heaven assigned, And act as fellow-men to all mankind." I well recollect taking Mr. Clark on the occa- sion of this visit to speak a word to a hopeful case, Mr. C , which I will now narrate. As they stood face to face that morning, little did I know that within a few days both would fall before the scourge that was coursing our streets. One might say of this disease, like the locusts of Joel, " Before their face the people shall be much pained : all faces shall gather blackness.'' The party alluded to was a well-known character in the parish of Clerkenwell, during the last quarter of a century, and was by occupation a fowler. Few persons who have passed frequently through Clerkenwell G-reen, will have failed to observe a poor cripple, who stood with his birds' cages ranged along the graveyard wall. This was poor Mr. C. Like the poor little captives who were ranged at his back, he was himself in captivity — a worse captivity than that of those wantonly confined birds — the cajptivity of sin. I have heard of a poor 320 MISCELLANEOUS. sailor, who had been taken captive by the French. After regaining his liberty, passing over Blackfriars' Bridge one day, where a man was selling caged birds, he bought the whole stock, opened the doors, and set them all at liberty. There, said he, I have known what it is to be caged myself. Those who stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free, (Gal. v. 1,) have some such longings, for the freedom of their fellow-men from the captivity of sin. When first I visited Mr. C. he was living in total neglect of the means of grace, had not even a Bible, and appeared totally careless about religion. He had, however, a great taste for reading, but it was newspapers, and periodicals, and books that were not calculated to introduce the soul " to the knowledge of glory and virtue." The change of a national ministry might interest him, but in the unchangeable ministry of Christ, to give " his life a ransom for many," and to be "made unto us wis- dom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption," — in this he was unfortunately not interested. Human diplomacy to some extent en- gaged his attention, but the diplomacy of our blessed Mediator, by which justice and mercy were reconciled, and God became just and yet the justifier of the ungodly, (Rom. iv. 5,) this wisdom was fool- ishness unto him. Continuing, however, to instruct Mr. C, his mind at last became changed, his objections removed, he became a regular attendant at my meetings, and a reader of religious tracts, but he was a man very slow to make professions. His moral conduct, however, was really blameless, and he was evidently interested in the salvation of his soul. Tor some time previous to his death he appeared to be grow- MISCELLANEOUS. 321 ing in grace, "but his case was never of a peculiarly marked character as some cases are, although 1 hope and fully believe the change was equally genuine. He was seized with cholera, and a very few hours terminated his mortal life; he prayed and died. That time must come to all — " a time to die." — " Our birth is but the starting place, Life is the running of the race, And death the goal ; There all our steps at last are brought. That path alone, by most unsought, Is found of all r The case of one man who died of the cholera is extremely awful : — His name was F . I never could induce this person to pay any favourable attention to religion ; he appeared wholly possessed with evil, abusing me much, and was evidently capable of great violence. His disposition was extremely cruel. I am in- formed by the neighbours, that on one occasion the woman with whom he lived having been confined with a dead child, he took it out of its coffin, and dashed it against the wall. If I offered him a tract in visiting, or attempted to enter into con- versation with him, he would literally gnash his teeth upon me. He was detested by the poor people around here, and nearly killed the poor woman with whom he lived by kicking her in a most deadly manner. As respects his last end, the circumstances said to have attended it are as sin- gular as they are shocking. The path of wisdom does not lie in a total rejection of such accounts 322 MISCELLANEOUS. as in tbemselves unbelievable. On rising to attend bis work, according to bis custom, he first went to a certain gin-shop in T Street for " his morning" (a dram.) On entering the yard in which he worked, he swore very horribly, declaring to his fellow-work- men that ever since he had been up the devil had been calling him. He was laughed at, and pro- ceeded to slaughter some horses, declaring he knew very well it was so, and that he was not afraid of going to hell, adding (I think) that they would see whether he was not right. On returning to his breakfast, he informed the woman with whom he lived that the devil still kept calling him, and, as in the yard, swore at his supposed summonser in a most dreadful manner. Returning to his labour, he was soon afterwards seized with cramps, and had to be led home, persisting that he knew what was coming when he arose in the morning, and that the devil had been calling him all day. He laid blaspheming horribly, on account of the pain; the neighbours, wicked people, declared to me they could not stop in the room with him, and after some hours' suffering he expired. I merely relate the incident as I had it from the lips of various of the neighbours, to whom it appeared to have operated favourably to some extent, in checking their wickedness. This man certainly appeared to me the most fiend-like cha- racter with whom I ever came in contact. His whole soul appeared possessed with desperate wickedness ; he was hated and detested by all with whom he came in contact. I was told to be careful he did not do me some mischief, whilst heard by the neighbours warning him of the consequences of his sin ; he merely gnashed his teeth, and swore MISCELLANEOUS. 323 at me, which he invariably did ; indeed, he appeared to be swearing and cursing to himself as he walked along the street. The people said it was a good job he was dead, as he was too had to live. I continued for about ten days visiting cholera cases almost incessantly; and one afternoon, in a court upon my district, was called to see a poor man who lay on a little straw in a corner of the almost naked room, dying with this scourge. His speech had failed, but he appeared sensible, and made motions when I spoke to him respecting sin, and pardon through Christ — motions which might, or might not evince his interest in the subject, at least all present conceived them so to do. Whilst on my knees by this sufferer, praying that his sins might be forgiven, the stench was very bad, and I felt it — to use a common phrase — " go down my throat,^' and in a very remarkable manner. I did not terminate visiting before ten in the evening, and felt no further ill effects from the circumstance. Very early next morning however, I was seized with the unmistakable pangs of this terrible disease. The instant I awoke in great pain, I was cer- tainly startled. I had scarcely however began to pray, before such a blessed influeuce came Y 2 324 MISCELLANEOUS. upon me, that in the midst of my agony I felt quite comforted, and lay rolling about in extreme pain, praising God at the same time; the pain was very violent, but with the apostle I could say, "When I am weak, then am I strong," 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10. I was confined at home nearly a fortnight, and was only enabled to commence visiting then by taking so much laudanum, keeping a bottle in my pocket, that it produced congestion of the brain, by which I was again laid by. This is mentioned as a caution respecting laudanum. Anxiety to visit led to disregard of the danger. Two cases selected from very many must con- clude this volume : — Mr. was by occupation a drover ; he was a great swearer and a very depraved man, but occa- sionally attended Divine worship. Able, however, neither to read nor write, he understood but little that he heard. Eew persons except experienced Metropolitan missionaries, chaplains of large jails, etc., can be at all aware of the condition of mind of such persons as respects the reception of religious instruction. I have before adverted briefly to this subject, and recur to it again in passing. A sermon, uttered with moderate rapidity, and clothed in ordinary language, is to nearly the whole . of such totally uneducated persons just incompre- MISCELLANEOUS. 325 hensible. It should be borne in mind tbat such persons have grown up and continued through life destitute of any habit of thought upon religious subjects. They can neither read nor ^vrite ; they are therefore dead to most of those monitions of eternal things conveyed by these mediums, and by which others are influenced. I am perfectly sure I could never duly have apprehended the actually stultified condition of guch persons, save by most extensive visitation amongst them. One such person, now at seventy years of age. a hopeful character, through the Divine blessing on catechetical and almost infant instruction, lately told me, that until within the last three years he ]^EVER REMEMBERED TO HAVE HAD OJTE THOUGHT OP GrOD — SERIOUS OR NOT. He had sworn horribly in God's name in com- mon conversation he said, but never attached any definite meaning to such expressions more than to others — such as "***,""*** ," and various other meaningless phrases it would be tiring to repeat. Nor, he added, did he ever remember to have uttered, or thought of uttering ane prayer. lie never rememhered, he said, to have had one single thought of anything heyond this worlds and expressed his opinion that such was the condition of multitudes, in his circum- stances of inability to read or write. Had the City Mission never been sent into this neighbourhood , he would have heen likely to have died thuSy in the capital of a city, which is considered to form a nucleus of the Christianity of the world I Mr. — — , the drover, who forms the subject of the present case, was taken ill very shortly after my appointmeiit to the district. He had for some 326 MISCELLANEOUS. time been outwardly reformed to an extent, and attended Divine worship more frequently than hitherto, but yet very irregularly. Observing several religious books and periodicals on a side table, (which I afterwards understood belonged to his daughter,) I said to him, " I would venture to hope, my friend, you have not been amongst the foolish ones who put off the claims of religion until they are stretched on a bed of sickness," (I after- wards discovered how greatly I was mistaken.) He replied that " he had followed it for years." I asked the usual question, " How do you expect your soul to be saved ? " He replied, " Why as to that, sir, I'm sure I don't know." I then varied the question, to endeavour to discover what he did know, and I found to my astonishment, (I was then young in Missionary work,) that he pos- sessed no idea whatever of the only way of sal- vation. It is quite impossible to enlarge upon the con- versations I held with him ; they were very interest- ing, but my space is quite inadequate to any repetition. After much instruction during his illness, I had the pleasure of hearing him say, "My sins seem to pass before me," and he remarked, with much emotion in his own way, respecting how great they appeared to him. Prayer and instruction became really his delight. Hecovering somewhat, Mr. made his way to the dispensary for medicine, but was seized by a fit on returning, and in falling injured his hand and side. I visited him just after this additional affliction befell him, and felt much pleased with his state of mind. His condition so strikingly illus- trated the promise in Christ that " the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly," MISCELLANEOUS. S27 Isa. xxxii. 4. He had Christ in his heart, and " out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," Matt. xii. 34. I am informed he passed much of his sleepless, racking nights in prayer. The closing scene came. On going one morning I missed Mr. from his bed. The sheet which was spread on an ironing board in the room covered his lifeless remains. He had craved for me, I was told, just before he died. He had prayers read to him during the night, and managed with difficulty to join to some extent audibly with them. V Thus he died. I have always considered, with that eminent writer Eobert HaU, that "if ever Christianity appears in its power, it is when it erects its trophies upon the tomb ; when it takes up its votaries where the world leaves them, and fills the breast with immortal hope in dying moments." One other case of usefulness, is the hopeful conversion of a life-guardsman of the 2nd Life- Guards, which will conclude the volume : — In a miserable back garret, which in one of the antique houses on my district lay so hid, that I had visited the house repeatedly before I was aware of its existence, I found this young man. His bed nearly filled the apartment, and his mother and aunt were employed at the starving occupa- tions of shirt-making and stay-stitching. He was labouring under pulmonary consump- tion, and had been discharged from Windsor as incurable, with, I believe, twelve months' pay. 328 MISCELLANEOUS. My visit was not favourably received. He was extremely sullen and would not converse, so I simply said something aiFectionately respecting salvation, and embodied more matter in a prayer, after which I retired. I am not aware that he even replied to my salutation on leaving. I continued visiting frequently, but for some time he appeared to regard it as an intrusion ; I therefore did not attempt to press him with any questions, but simply inquired from time to time respecting his disorder, offered my endeavours to procure his admission to the excellent hospital at Brompton for consumption and diseases of the chest, read and commented on small portions of Scripture, and prayed. t A very considerable amount of caution is neces- sary in carrying out domiciliary visitation, perhaps especially the visitation of the sick. As respects parties in health, and strangers, a little injudicious- ness will sometimes needlessly bar a door against a visitor for ever, to which he might otherwise gain access. It seems well to recollect, that in knocking at people's doors and introducing ourselves neces- sarily unceremoniously, to convey statements which few comparatively amongst those visited understand, must obviously appear strange to the unconverted ; and if this course be coupled with anything like as- sumption, (although it might really only be zeal,) yet the intrusion is then especially apt to be re- sented. I have always prayed to be enabled to ex- hibit unaffectedly, a modest and polite demeanour, such as Paul exhibited when he said to Festus, not "I am not mad, thou heathen," but "I am not mad, most noble Eestus," Acts xxvi. 25. And in precept, when commanding by inspiration, " Be courteous to all, be pitiful, be courteous" — in MISCELLANEOUS. 329 short, the spirit of Christ when he said, "Lest we should offend them," Matt. xvii. 27. A Missionary who does not discipline his soul to this endeavouring to show Christian love, will not be welcome. It is sufficiently bitter to the irritable, unhappy, unconverted heart, to be told of its sins, even if the medicine, as good parents are wont to do, be invested in honey, and when' ever it can he done, parties should be reproved alone. As Missionaries, however, we Q,m\.not obtain solitary interviews in general with those visited, and, therefore, have additional need to avoid other causes of irritation. The politeness of the world has been compared to an air cushion ; there may be nothing in it, but it eases our jolts wonderfully. But the Christian must mean all he says, and his polite^ ness, unlike the world's, must be heart work. " How softly on the bruised heart A word of kindness falls, And to the dry and parched soul, . The moistening tear-drop calls. " Oh ! if they knew, who walk the earth, 'Mid sorrow, grief, and pain, The power that Christian kindness hath, 'Twere paradise again." Truth, however, would be a higher word than kindness, were they not identical. Sinners must be faithfully reproved : — " Thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear," Ezek. ii. 7. We pause to meditate. "Who shall teach us, blessed Saviour, to please our "neighbour for his good unto edification" 330 MISCELLANEOUS. but Thou ? It is, O Lord, by the secret converse of the soul with Thee, that we shall learn profit- ably to converse with others. All the light we can reflect must first be borrowed from Heaven — all the love flowers we can scatter, must first be gathered by us, whilst we are in soul with Jesus in the heavenly places of light and love (Eph. ii. 6 ; 2 Cor. i. 3—6.) The afflicted man whose case I narrate, after a considerable period of time had elapsed, appeared to become interested in my visits. The beautiful tracts of the Religious Tract Society were carefully perused, and I was enabled to commence catechet- ical instruction, to which I am extremely partial. I discovered he had very vague ideas respecting his condition, and did not appear to consider more necessary than to repent and reform.* I endeavoured to enlighten his mind respecting Balvation, and to impress him with due views of the exceeding sinfulness of sin; but he had never in • A lady being visited with a violent disorder, was attended by a latitudinarian physician, who insisted that repentance and reformation were all that either God or man could justly demand, and denied the necessity of an atone- ment by the sufferings of the Son of God. The lady had not " 80 learned Christ." On her recovery, she invited the doctor to tea, and in the course of conversation observed, that her long illness had occasioned him many journeys and expenses ; she further observed, I am extremely sorry that I have put you to so much trouble and expense, and also promise that on any future illness I wUl never trouble you again ; so you see I both repent and reform^ and that is all you require. The doctor shrugged his shoulders and remarked, " That will not do /or ine" Why then, alas ! should he deem it would do /or God ? MISCELLANEOUS. 331 youth been taught these things — a stranger he to a pious mother of whom he could say, — " When she taught me the prayer, When she heard me the page, Which if infancy lisps, Is the solace of age," — or to family prayer, which, as Cecil truly observes, " is a vast engine of power to the whole domestic circle, says there is a God, and inspires a reverence for his character. It proclaims a life to come, and points to the spirit land. It fixes the idea of responsibility in the mind. Eeligion begins in the family. One of the holiest sanctuaries on earth is home. The family altar is more venerable than any altar in the cathedral. The education of the soul for eternity begins by the fireside. The principle of love, which is to be carried through the universe, is first unfolded in the family." My young friend, who had | received no proper religious training in his youth, grew up wild and dissipated. A situation in a counting-house was procured for him, which he did not possess suf- ficient habits of application to retain ; and being a remarkably handsome figure, and of genteel address, he found little difficulty in obtaining admission into one of those remarkable regiments, the Queen's Life- Guards. The Almighty Spirit of God now appeared to be bringing the instruction he received to bear with power upon his heart. Sis hearty we hopefully believe, hegan to he affected with a sense of his sinful' ness. Anxiety was evidently awakened respecting the coming scenes of death and judgment. It is impossible to conceive a higher character or office than the Missionary office, ministering con- 332l MISCELLANEOUS. tinually the Gospel ministry — "the ministry of reconciliation" — to a lost world. Whatever earthly degrees or titles he may lack, it is the unalterable decree of God that, if faithful, the Missionary purchases to himself "a good degree and great boldness in the faith." We have escaped the mists of Eome, and have no sacrificial altar on earth ; our sacrifice is sacri- ficed for us by " the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all," Ileb. x. 10. Types and shadows have passed away ; the all-glorious anti- type and substance has said, " Lo, I come." We trust to the Spirit of God only savingly to aflfect the soul, and instrumentally to " the sword of the Spirit,^ which is the Word of God," Eph. vi. 17. Man is saved neither by wafer, nor by priest, but by faith in Christ. When one human being is made the instrument of conveying to another those unspeakably glorious influences which faith imparts — faith, blessed faith, of which it has been said so truly, — " Soft peace she brings wherever she arrives^ She forms our actions and she guides our lives ; Lays the rough path of peevish nature even, And opens to the soul a glimpse of heaven," — ^it then not unfrequently happens, that the bene- fited person conceives an extravagant estimate of the benefiter. This is of course likely especially to be the case with the ignorant. The tie is always of a most tender character, and is divinely compared to the tenderest tie of earth, (Gal. iv. 19.) My young friend one day, after appearing much- refreshed by my praying with him, and indeed I felt a peculiarly grateful influence of the Holy Spirit myself, said to me, looking . in my face with MISCELLANEOUS. 333 the most loving expression conceivable, and with great deliberation, "Do you know I think some- times you are an angel, for ever since you have visited me all is so altered." — A messenger of mercy to him indeed ! — I well recollect one poor man who was brought to a hopeful knowledge of the truth through visita- tion. He lay dying, and his relatives were pre- sent to witness his departure. I prayed with him, as it proved for the last time, not conceiving he could attend much to me, as he had hard work to die. On turning to leave, however, we were all startled at his suddenly raising himself upright in bed, and throwing out his long arm of skin and bone towards me, and with the pallor of death in his face, he said, in a loud tone of voice, " There goes the best friend I ever had," and then sunk back again. We were all astonished, as his exist- ence was afterwards numbered only by minutes, and capability of effort even to speak appeared to have gone. The gratitude must have been intense, indeed, that enabled him to make that effort. — The soldier whose office it had been to guard the life of a queen was about to yield up his own life, at the command of the King of kings. His gigantic frame was dissolving. How different his appearance, when, with the glitter of military pageantry, and clangour of arms, he reined in a noble steed ! But there is no discharge in the war of death : — " Some men with swords may reap the field, Plant crimson laurels where they kill, But their strong nerves at last must yield, They tame but one another still, t Early or late, '; They stoop to fate, 334 MISCELLANEOUS. And must give up their murmuring breath When they, pale captives, creep to death. " The garlands wither on the brow, Nor vainly boast arms' mighty deeds, Upon death's purple altar now — See here the martial victim bleeds. All heads must come To the cold tomb ; Only the actions of the just, Smell sweet and blossom in the dust." I cannot well prolong this narrative by detailing the gracious expressions the dying soldier uttered. He was hopefully brought to a saving knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, and read good books, and prepared to meet his Qod. His poor mother, although unconverted, was not without natural affection. He was " the only son of his mother, and she was a widow." He was, more- over, her chief earthly dependence. There is hardly a more affecting scene upon earth, than to behold a mother sitting by the couch of her dying child, tending his last moments. What a baptism of suffering is on her brow ! She suffered at the birth of that child — she is suffering now at his death. Who ever loved a mother enough ? The tear just now starts in my eye, whilst I remember many a pang I inflicted in youth on a deceased mother, although I think I could some- times have died for her. Poor Mrs. sat weeping by the bedside of her son as if she would say : — " My child, my child, and can it be, So sad a change has passed on thee ? MISCELLANEOUS. 335 Is that thine eye so sunk and dim ? Is that thine hand so pale and thin ? And these hoarse whispers now — the voice, That lately made our hearts rejoice ? * * * Here brought so low, each panting breath Telling of agony and death." As death approached, the preparation of my young friend for eternity appeared to become com- plete. It was a great pleasure and a great profit to converse with him. A young Christian lady to whom the case became known visited, and was so interested, that she obtained permission from her parents to have the sufferer removed from his suffocating abode to their own dwelling, and waited on him, and read and prayed with him frequently, with the assiduity of a sister. I visited him for the last time on a beautiful summer's evening. The sun was going down in glory, and his sun, also, was going down whilst it was yet day, (Jer. xv. 9.) An early sunset, but in glory too ! Yet the glory was shrouded. A dark halo of suffering hung round it, through which it was, however, about to burst. He was lying on his back, dying — dying terribly hard. His eye was glassy and meaningless. He had not spoken, I believe, during the day, and appeared insensible to outward things. I addressed him, and he made what appeared to be an intense effort to reply, but a faint cry was all that issued, and speech refused to act. The relatives little expected he would ever speak again ; in this, however, they were mistaken. Just before his decease, and whilst in this apparently insensible condition, they were startled by his 336 MISCELLANEOUS. audibly repeating one word — and what a comment did the utterance of that one word afford, to a text on which the spiritually-minded love to linger. He said, " Jesus ! " A realization this, indeed, of the promise, " Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me," Psalm xxiii. 4. He who strives to live to God need have no fears about dying. All those heavings of the breast — all those death-throes through which it may be our portion to pass — for some die not so, but softly as the close of music, and serenely as the breath of the morning — all those agonies if endured ^\'ill be sup- ported, yes, blessed be God ! adequately supported by Him who has said, " I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee," Heb. xiii. 5. The spirit of the holy Lazarus was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom,* (Luke xvi. 19.) But the mission of angels is not alone post- humous, " Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ? ' ' Heb. i. 14. An angel was sent to support * Tov KoKirov rov A^paafx — Abraham's bosom. A phrase used among the Jews, to signify the paradise of God. Jose- phus on Maccabees, chap. xiii. Doddridge and others observe : — " It alludes to the way of representing the entertainments of heaven^ by sharing a mag- nificent banquet with Abraham. At such entertainments among the Jews, the guest who sat next to the entertainer was said, in the liighly figurative language of the orient, to lay, etc., in his bosom. See John xiii. 23 — 25. We have some such phraseology when we speak of a bosom friend. MISCELLANEOUS. 337 the mortality of Jesus — our blessed Lord's divinity could need no support — and whilst he was in agony that angel strengthened him, (Luke xxii.) Indeed, when the angels wait upon the sons of God, in life or in death, they recognise the spiritual influence of their Master, who has a throne in such hearts : " Know ye not that ye are the temple of Grod, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? " 1 Cor. iii. 16. Let us then pray for the breath of the Holy Spirit that our souls may bloom with the fruits of holiness, and that Christ may be well pleased with us — as it is written, " Awake, O north wind ; and come, thou south ; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits," Cant. iv. 16. And now that the wintry elements of nature are dissipated, and we know something of the summer and music of godliness, we are enabled to look forward with joy when we have fulfilled the holy will of God on earth, even to departing, and shall hear with gladness the voice of Christ, at whose bidding we had before departed from the shades of sin, (Cant. ii. 10 — 13,) say once more unto us, " Kise up, my love, my fair one, and come away," where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary be at rest, (Job iii. 17,) " enter thou into the joy of thy Lord," Matt. xxv. 21. Ajid whilst we live, when the syren voices of earth would tempt, let us then hear that sweeter "Nothing," says Doddridge, "can better describe the honour and happiness of Lazarus, who had lain in so wretched a condition hefore the gluttotis gate^ than telling us he was placed next to Abraham, and so lay in his iosom.^' This note may not be unacceptable to some junior reader. Z 338 MISCELLANEOUS. voice saying, " Come away." My young reader, a word for thy young heart. The world can give thee no such pleasures as companionship of soul with Jesus aifords. Evil in its most alluring forms is not half so sweet as good. Grive thine heart now to Grod — "come away." " The carrier bird from Eastern skies When hast'ning fondly home, Ne'er stoops to earth her wings, nor flies Where idle warblers roam. But high she shoots through air and light. Above aU low delay. Where nothing earthly bounds her flight, Nor shadows dim her way. " So grant us, Lord, from faithless fear And stain of passion free. Aloft, through virtue's purer air, To hold our course to Thee. No sin to cloud, no lure to stay Each soul as home she springs — Thy sunshine on her joyful way, Thj freedom on her wings." ,eoNCLUsioN. 339 CONCLUSION. Human life has been well described as but the threshold of existence. It has also been aptly denominated a parenthesis between two eternities, the eternity of the past and the eternity of the future. In that narrow parenthesis we stand. It is an amazing thought, that we can look back to a time when we were not — the hand that now writes, once did not exist — the heart that now prays these sentences may be blessed, was once not in being. It is, perhaps, a more amazing thought, that there win never be a period in the future, when we shall cease to possess identity and conscious existence. An eternal duration of blessing or of woe is ours, and the veriest spendthrift on earth can neither alienate nor abrogate, one iota of this his inheritance. Blessed Jesus, our Eedeemer, in view of these wonders our souls are bowed. We pray for the z 2 340 CONCLUSION. Holy Spirit, that we may estimate tliem aright, and be duly affected by the survey. It is a solemn and important question, "Por what end has this marvellous existence been given tons?" Eternity alone can fulli/ reply to this question. A being of man's capacity, who had never visited this world, could never have conceived or supposed the variety of human life — occupations — ways which exist, — the variety of life and organization, animate and inanimate, comprised upon the surface of this terrestrial ball, — and eternity alone can discover to us all the secrets of " the world to come of which we speak," in which we shall be called to share an interest. We "know" but "in part," and respecting the futurity of man, Paul and John were enabled to "prophesy" but "in part," (1 Cor. xiii.) Moreover, with our present powers it seems we could not fully comprehend the glories of that future state, where we shall merge into a larger and far higher mode of existence. " The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound," Isaiah xxx. 26 ; Ix. G-reat and glorious as is the blessed light con- CONCLUSION. 3il version brings to " the people which sat in dark- ness," yet greater measures of light remain. " The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day," Prov. iv. 18; and as (in reason) we cannot but expect to receive constant additions to our " knowledge of the glory of God," in the exalted companionship and inter- course we shall as a " family " (Eph. iii. 15) enjoy in heaven with " thrones, and dominions, and prin- cipalities, and powers," and even above all, as it is written, with the Almighty E^deemer himself, our willing instructor, (Eev. vii. 17,) it follows that the arc of the glory of the righteous, has hereafter no conceivable zenith. We see it rising and rising, until tho flooding glories of eternity hide its still upward course, even from our faintest conceptions. With all, however, that concerns us to know in this time state, we are graciously made acquainted. Our chief end, both is and ever will he, to glorify Grod in our bodies and in our spirits which are his, (1 Cor. vi. 20 ;) to render unto him " glory, and honour, and power," since we were created for his pleasure, (Eev. iv. 11 ;) and if we be renewed in soul, " the love of Christ constraineth us " so to do, "because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead ; and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto 342 CONCLUglON. themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again," 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. It cannot be necessary to inform the Christian that we are to live for others ; we know who com- manded, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," Matt. xix. 19. Eeligion is unselfishness itself, for " the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but TO MINISTER, and to GIVE his life a ransom for many," Matt. xx. 28. i- Again, it is our blessed privilege that " the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God," Eom. viii. 16, but no man ever retained that witnessing Spirit and selfishness. He could as possibly retain light and darkness. Such as have tried know well the result. Bearing these axioms in mind, we remark fur- ther, that in the preceding pages it is clearly proved a great work is before the Church — a work of intense importance. In London, at our very doors, the Church of Christ is surrounded by vast and godless masses, who, considering their religious privileges, can only be regarded as living, if possible, in worse than he'athen darkness. Here is a work indeed. It becomes, then, an important topic for self- examination to every Christian, *' What am I doing towards removing this darkness ? " If the reply of CONCLUSION. 343 any heart should be, "I am making no effort," other questions such as these must be proposed : — " What respect then am I paying to the command of God the Redeemer ? " And again — " If I be paying no respect to his commands, can I be his disciple?" The reply is obvious. Such Christian- ity is not even a shadow of the original, for a shadow has resemblance. It will neither comfort in life, nor support in death, nor bear the test of the coming day of judgment. The plea also cannot be inahilit^^ail can do something, by — 1. Prayer. 2. Personal Effort. 3. Pecuniary Contribution. One or more, or all of these all can give. 1. Grive Prayer. May the blessed Lord forgive us, we are in great danger of undervaluing prayer, and in so doing, how shamefully do we sin against light and knowledge, for no Christian exists who has not felt and known the power of prayer ! It is a most blessed thing for the City Mission to know that its operations are supported by the prayers of many pious people. This thought has comforted my mind in the midst of trying labours, more perhaps than I can express. But I verily believe we are entitled to much addi- 344 CONCLUSION. tional prayer from the churches and congregations of the faithful — both public and private prayer. " When," says an eminent writer, " the real root of t4ie successful efforts of Christians comes to be discerned, it will I doubt not be found to have been closely connected with the fervent wrestling and persevering importunity of many a retired Christian, who might be but very little known to his fellow Christians. We little realize yet the reality, power, and the fulness of the promises made to prayer." The Word of God, however, is replete with such promises, and, moreover, with the records of their fulfilment. We know who taught that " men ought always to pray," and not to weary of that duty and privilege, (Luke xviii.) Eeferring also to these latter days is the command given, " Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain ; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain," Zech. x. 1. And, [we speak with awe and reverence,] when God the Father promised the world to the Lord Jesus, it was made condi- tional [for our instruction] on prayer, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession," Psa. ii. 8 ; and whilst on earth, how constantly did our blessed Eedeemer pray for mankind, and now in heaven he ever CONCLUSION. 345 liveth to make intercession for us, (Heb. vii.) All the blessings promised to the house of Israel were to be granted in answer to prayer, (Ezek. xxxvi.) Let us then pray often that the Lord will fulfil his promise — that he will pour the water of life upon him that is thirsty, and floods of converting grace upon the dry ground — that he will pour his Spirit upon the seed of man, and his blessing upon man's ofispring, that they may spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses — that one may say, I am the Lord's, and another call himself by the name of Jacob, and another subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, (Isa. Kv.) — until the knowledge of the glory of Grod shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, (Isa. xi. 9; Hab. ii. 14.) 2. All, too, can more or less, give of personal effm^t. - "Men," says Vinet, "have a right to demand from the professed adherents of Christ's kingdom, if not a perfect illustration of its excellence, cer- tainly a fair and consistent embodiment of its nature and tendencies. They look for this. They know that Christ came to propagate a faith essen- tially pure. They hear the professions of his fol- lowers, that they are a peculiar people. They have read the command of Christ to his disciples, " Let 346 CONCLUSION. your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your leather which is in heaven," Matt. v. 16. They will take practi- cally their estimate of Christian character, not from its published principles, nor from the unblemished life of Jesus, but from the every-day deportment of the members of the Church. Alas for the honour of our faith, and for the darkening prospects of surrounding impenitency, when sinners beholding the living of Christ's people, have ground to put the stinging interrogatory, " What do ye more than others?'' Matt. v. 47. If we refer, for example, to one branch of Chris- tian effort — tract distribution — how much does this need to be increased! A very large class of our Metropolitan population are not accessible at their own homes to the Missionary, and attend no place of public worship. Most of these persons, how- ever, can be reached though imperfectly by reli- gious tracts. I may perhaps mention having been in the habit of intrusting to a person on the Sab- bath morning about four hundred tracts to be delivered in the streets during jyivine service. Those tracts have scarcely ever been refused. On board steam-boats, between the bridges, I have given away hundreds at one time, whilst going from one part of the town to another, and have met CONCLUSION. 347 with refusal to accept the boon but once ; and it has constituted quite a hopeful sight for good, to see so many of these Kttle messengers of mercy being eagerly perused. I am fully persuaded the good results of this branch of Christian philanthropy, important as they are acknowledged to be, are yet greatly underrated. It has occasionally been said, " After all, we do riot hear of many conversions from reading religious tracts;" but such a disposition of the subject evinces very slight acquaintance with Scripture, or with religious experience either. In general, " the kingdom of God cometh not with observation," Luke xvii. 20, and the formation of the new man in Christ Jesus, like the formation of the natural man, is a gradual work, and one also ordinarily occupying even much longer time in its completion. It is found in the work of the London City Mission, that the perusal of religious tracts, which are kindly supplied to the Institution by the Religious Tract Society on very favourable terms, constitutes one great element of its power and usefulness.* * * Each Missionary receives four hundred monthly. Dis- tributing very large numbers in the public streets, I have not found my gratuitous supply sometimes equal even to the extent of one-fourth of the requirement. 350 CONCLUSION* Schools, in Eagged Schools for example, and in many ways can they become most powerful aux- iliaries to those whose lives are, by the Divine call, entirely devoted to spiritual labours. " As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men," Gal. vi. 10; "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin," James iv. 17. " The liberal soul shall be made fat : and he .that watereth shall be watered also himself," Prov. xi. 25. Oh ! let us neither inherit the curse nor miss the blessing ! Lastly, many can aid in the evangelization of London and of the world by pecunia/ry contribvr tion*. This is not a duty only, but a privilege. " It is more blessed to give than to receive," Acts XX. 35. Li addition to what has already been said in the course of this volume, I do not feel disposed to add one word upon the subject, further than to point — speaking soberly — to the immensity that remaiQS to be done. "Whilst occasion presents itself, our charity must be estimated by what is left, (Luke xxi. 1 — 4<.) We know who has said, " Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness ; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting CONCLUSION. 351 habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much : and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who wiU commit to your trust the true riches? " Luke xvi. 9 — 11. May the Almighty Saviour give us grace to remember, that of all we possess we are not pro- prietors, but stewards ! A Pea-tee. Blessed Lord Jesus, our Saviour and Everlast- ing Friend, be pleased to shed abroad upon the soul of every reader of this book of thy Holy Spirit. K it falls into the hands of the godless, make the records of convincing and converting grace which it contains, the means of their con- viction and conversion. If anything within its pages be injudicious, have mercy upon the in- firmity of judgment that caused it to appear. May it awaken in many hearts increased solici- tude for the salvation of those, the redemption of whose souls is precious, and (how soon) it ceaseth for ever, Psa. xHx. 8. May it stir the souls of many to offer increased prayer for support and blessing upon the labours of their fellow-citizens, who are engaged in this great work, in this great and 34S CONCLUSION. One of the most serious impressions tke writer ever received in his youth, was by having placed in his hands one evening, a well-known tract of the Religious Tract Society — " The Two Ways and the Two Ends." An idea also prevails in some minds, that religious tracts are not extensively read. People, it is said, take them, place them in their pockets, and they are forgotten. I believe this to a great extent to be a mistake. Curiosity forms too con- siderable an element in the human heart, to render it likely to be the case by far so often as is ima- gined ; and the very persons to whom religion is unfortunately the greatest novelty, are often the most likely to read from curiosity. An immense amount of the good effected by public tract distribution does not come to light. Circumstances are continually arising which pre- vent any question of the reasonableness of this supposition. An immense amount of good liowever so effected does. In illustration of this, as the present work is expected to be a personal narrative, I may men- tion having some time since written a tract on the Sabbath, of which some thousands were distributed in the public streets in walking. About twelve months afterwards, in company with a very pious CONCLUSION. 349 person, I liappened to present one of these tracts. He then related an incident so strongly illustrative of the benefits of tract distribution, that I shall be pardoned relating it. A young friend, utterly careless respecting the salvation of her soul, called upon his family very altered in demeanour; and on this change being remarked, she stated that she had for some months been a member of a Congregational place of worship. Inquiry was made respecting the circumstances which had led to her conversion, when she stated that whilst walking, a tract had been placed in her hand, which she received, but laid by on reaching home without noticing its contents. Some days afterwards, however, in an idle moment it happened to attract her attention, and curiosity led to its perusal. It pleased the Almighty to convey con- viction of sin to her mind by this simple means, and totally to alter her life and character. Bequest was made to see the tract, which on her next visit she produced, and it proved to be the one to which reference has been made. But many can give far more of personal effort than an hour's occasional employment in distribu- tion of tracts ; they can spare an hour to visit the sick, they can talk with those they meet with by the way, they can teach in Sabbath and Evening ■f 352 CONCLUSION. wicked city. May the future life of the writer be a life of increased usefulness in thy service. Finally, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, rest upon the souls of the children of men. Amen. ...Til:^^ T)OGER MILLER. By the Eev. Geoege Oeme, ^ Pastor of Henham, Essex, late City Missionary. Third Edition. Mr. Miller was Missionary of the Broadwall District, and was kUled, with sis other passengers, on the London and Birmingham Railway, whilst proceeding to the funeral of his mother. The commendations of this delightful record of labour and usefulness, which have appeared both in this coimtry and in the United States of America — where the work has been republished — are very numerous. London: C. Gilpin, Bishopsgate Steeet. LOITDOK: BLACKBUEJT AKD BXTET, PBIIfXBBS, HOLBOEN HILL. li^^^u^ J 7 DAY USE RETURN TO This publication is due on the LAST DATE and HOUR stamped below. c: r> < o 2 — .-r -n O H-^ 5E 1 CD ^ ^ > r^ ^ J* TJTll 7-an«j-1 n '73 ,^.^^'^*^ '■^-^ yA'008S2 10*^:^28 I I ^^•1 ': /:'■ : ^'. JhM^ mm In '0'i -^