BOSTON INSIDE OUT SINS OF A GEEAT CITY! A STORY OF REAL LIFE. BY REV. HENRY MORGAN, AUTHOK OP "NED NEVINS, THE NEWSBOY," " SHADOWY HAXD; '-n, LIFE STRUGGLES," AND "Music HALL DISCOURSES." TENTH THOUSAND, REVISED AND ENLARGED. BOSTON: SHAWMUT PUBLISHING COiMPANY 81 SHAWMUT AVENUE. 1880. COPYRIGHT, 1880, BY HENRY MORGAN. [All rights reserved.] PREFACE TO THE FIFTH THOUSAND. A FEW weeks only, and " Boston Insido Out" reaches its fifth thousand. I have waited for the critics, and they have spoken. Now is my time to speak. My life-work gives me the right to speak. For twenty years and more have I toiled for the down trodden, the poor, battled against vice and crime in Boston. I have battled, sacrificed, and toiled as no other man has done. To self-indulgence I have been a stranger. My life has been almost a torture. No vacation, no recreation, nothing but toil, toil, toil! The burdens of a sin-stricken people have oppressed me. The sorrows of lost souls have stricken me down to the borders of the grave. Poor newsboys have burdened my soul. At times, death has seemed my only relief. During all these years not an unkind word has come from the Boston press. No barbed il PJREFACE. criticisms, no sly sneer, no sarcastic taunt. The papers have berated Beecher, assailed Talraadge, handled Murray without gloves, caricatured Joseph Cook; but Henry Mor gan they have not assailed. They have re spected my motives and my character. Yet this same press I must now con demn. I must strike at the house of my friends. Why? Because the papers are derelict in duty, watchmen that do not warn. What hope with a blind press and a silent pulpit 1 Why, all the evils of which I write were known to the daily press before I sent my agents into the field. All the sins and crimes and scandals in high places. The chief mission of the press seems to be, not to expose, not to warn, not to give the news, but to suppress facts, to hide pitfalls, to conceal crime, and to divert attention. It puffs every boat race, ball club, dog show, cat show, horse race, prize fight, lottery swin dle, and every questionable theatrical clap trap; but moral reform has no advertise- mentk, piety don't pay. Hence its silence. Even Father Titus's crimes were known and PREFACE. Ill whispered to the press, but hushed. If all his deeds were published or exposed, then not another mass would be said before his body would be removed from beneath the altar which it desecrates, and the church be ex onerated from the stain. If the deeds of a dozen other priests now known to the press were given to the light, then the church build ings that have shielded them in their crimes would not only be taxed, but they would be threatened with the fate of the Ursuline Convent. ~No wonder vice abounds ! Lightning strikes the tallest trees, but justice in Boston takes only the underbrush. I have spared neither sect nor creed, not even the tall sycamores of Beacon Hill nor the underbrush of North Street. Some say " gross exaggeration." Well, the drinking scene at the Gildersleeves'~is col ored so as to present a dozen St. Botolph clubs in one. But the criminal facts are not colored; indeed, the half hath not been told. Boston is a representative city of America. As goes Boston so go the rest. What is the moral? It is this: "Flee the great cities! iy PREFACE. Oh young man, happy in your country home, come not to the great city ! Flee its tempta tions, its poverty, and its crimes. Bring not the Sarahs of your early love to the tents of the Abimelechs, or the palaces of the Pha raohs. Anchor not among the shoals and quicksands of city life." My text is the " Torch on Beacon Hill," graven on the back of the book. As that beacon torch once lighted ships entering Boston Harbor, warning them of danger, so the canvassers of this book, from New Eng land hills to the Pacific slope, cry, " Flee the sirens of the metropolis. Take no stock in the gambler's art. Woe to the unfortunate when he falls. Heaven save him, for he will have no helper." Nearly all the living characters have vis ited me and commented upon the book. Mr. Eyeglass Slippers thinks the book a slander on " doot thociety ; it ought to be thup- pressed." Jonathan Jerks is angry because half his facts were not allowed in print. Mrs. Dawkins still mourns over the fate of Frank Gildersleeve. PREFACE. V The servants at the " Haunted House " have again and again come to verify their story of the ghosts. One shows marks of ghostly scratches on the arm. Ghosts are as real to her as purgatory itself. Sambo alone is missing. Rose Delaney swears to facts more abhorrent than any I have writ ten. She declares her first and only false step was by priestly solicitation. Poor Minnie Marston is to be pitied. I intended a second volume with the story of her life, but death will close the narrative. When from out the hospital she came to see me, a wreck of health and of hope, her child dead, her lungs consumed, I said, " Can this be the young, the gifted, the beautiful Min nie Marston, the child of so many prayers and parental hopes, the child, strong and con fident in her own innocence, that launched her tiny bark out on a sea of temptation and was wrecked by another's hands?" Little did I know of the fatal consequences when I mar ried her to Frank Gildersleeve. Little did I think that my dimly lighted room at eventide was to foreshadow such dire calamities. Once more I lift my voice and cry VI PREFACE. against the "sins of a great city." I ad jure the young, " Be contented in your country homes." Dick Forceps is still at large, plying his calling. He led one young man into a den on Howard Street and fleeced him out of $1,100 in a single night. He got another entangled with an actress to the tune of $4,000. Both young men walk in high cir cles. Madame Chastini has been several times arrested, but never brought to trial. She has wealthy bondsmen, who are under strong obligations to her; they have mighty influence in court. I have omitted the chapters on the " Farce of Court Square" and the "Burlesque of Justice." I may replace them yet. Still my book and lectures have done some good. They have opened the eyes of the public, stirred the authorities to action, caused crim inals in high places to hide their diminished heads, and some to repent in dust and ashes. My prayer is, "UTINAM DEUS AUX ILIARIT BOSTONIAM." Oh that God would come to the rescue of Boston ! PREFACE TO THE TENTH THOUSAND. THE demand for "Boston Inside Out" echoes the key-note of an awakened nation. Issued in the heat of summer, it reaches its tenth thousand before the fall of the autumn leaf. Already in thirty States it sounds notes of alarm against the " sins of a great city." Still the book is not perfect. Jonathan Jerks met with woful treatment by my scribes. Jonathan's courtship is expunged. Mrs. Dawkins did not receive her deserts. She gave me more information on " sins of high life " than all other persons. The troubles of John Delaney were written by his own hand. I hold the copy. The sworn facts of seven years of priestly inti macy have not been denied. Even Catho lics laugh at the crime as a thing common among celebates. "Priests are privileged; they have not the comforts of family life. PREFACE. would advertise heavily. He did advertise. He ran up the bill to $1,300, but refused to pay, was sued, sent to jail, at last took the poor debtor's oath, and the paper, paying cost and board, got nothing. To reform great cities, you must reform the daily press. Its lightnings speak from the ends of the earth ; its intelligence flashes with every morning meal. The press is part of our being, our piety, our virtue, our life ; yet what has done more to corrupt society? "Who builds up the monopolist? makes the rich richer, the poor poorer? adver tising the rich man's wares at half price, charging the poor man double ? Who suppresses the rich man's crimes, yet exposes the sins of the poor and w^eak? Who praises temperance in theory, but al ways throws its weight for the liquor in terest? The daily press. Who puffs to the skies the lowest theatres? Hires the best reporters to write up the horse race, wrestling match, prize fight, not to expose them, but to make them doubly attractive? Who demoralizes society by placing be fore it reports of every murder, robbery, and PREFACE. XI scandal within a thousand miles, for Chris tian family reading? Who breaks down the Sabbath? swells the steamboat and railroad excursion? paints in gaudy hues their wonderful value and virtue? Who empty the churches? Make men dissatisfied with Sabbath devotions? Bob the workingman of his rights, his Sabbath, his rest, his wages, his home hours, by pandering to the greed of capitalists? Reform the press, and you reform the Christian world! If Lucifer, "Son of the Morning," had fallen at this late date, he would start a newspaper, write editorials on piety and temperance, get the sanction of the bishop to increase its circulation for liquor and lottery advertisements. He would advocate prohibition ; then, just before election, sell out to the liquor party. Would decry the aggressions of Catholicism, with a Jesuit at the counter, and a Jesuit in the chair, to suppress all church and priestly scandal. In fact, Lucifer in Boston would not materially change the editorial status of the once Puritan city. XI 1 PREFACE. Reform the Boston press, and Boston will be redeemed. Seated on her triune hills, a Venice of the sea, her golden dome rising like a star over her island shores, day spring of hope to the oppressed and benighted of the Old World, and pride of the New; her intelligence ra diant with churches, schools, and colleges emblazoned on every New England hill, her benedictions sending greeting to all her children of the far West, the halo of her glory travelling with the sun to the Golden Gate, and setting with benign effulgence on every distant New England child! Such will Boston become when reclaimed! Who will not be proud of her? What child of this great Union will not rise from his knees to bless her? Hasten the time, O God, when Boston, proud Boston, shall humble herself in the dust, repent of her sins, be cleansed from her heaven-defying crimes, rise from her ashes, and stand among the foremost of the cities of the world ! CONTENTS, CHAPTER PAOB Introductory. "Why this Expose 5 I. Outward Bound. Gil dersleeves of Beacon Hill 21 II. Paris or Boston, Which? Jerks, Slippers, Sun day IIorse-Hace 41 III. Lecture in Boston Music Hall. Dark Revela tions of Crime ,, 57 IV. Gildersleeve Mansion. Servants in a Frolic. .. 71 V. Visit to Mr. Gildersleeve's Office. My Agents at Work 86 VI. Midnight at the Huh. My own Explorations .. 98 VII. On the Common. Frank meets Minnie 108 VIII. Frank in the Dentist's Office. Minnie tells her History 116 IX. Minnie at the Theatre. Jerks on Boston's Fun, 124 X. Frank and Forceps at Faro Bank. Jerks " turning the Crank " 132 XI. The Sibyl invoked. Minnie has her Fortune told 142 XII. A Diabolical Plot. Frank on his Knees 152 XIII. The Gildersleeves at Home. Dining and "Win ing on Beacon Hill 163 XIV. Minnie's Troubles. On the Brighton Road 178 XV. In the Grand Stand. Jerks and Slippers on Trotting Parks 188 XVI. Liberalism vs. Catholicism. Mr. Poindexter and Father Titus 202 XVII. Rose Delaney goes to Church. Spider and Fly, 211 XVIII. The Jealousy of a Niece. Rose's Temptation and Fall... . 221 CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE XIX. Rose's Remorse and Contrition. Happy Home destroyed 233 XX. Madame Chastini and Forceps. Two Partners in Crime 238 XXI. Minnie's Wedding Night. Doubts and Fears . . 244 XXII. Minnie Deserted. A Startling Revelation 256 XXIII. Minnie and Mrs. Gildcrsleeve. Mother and Son 276 XXIV. Rose Delaney in the Toils. Preparation for a Journey 295 XXV. Spiritual Uncle and Niece. A Visit to New York 303 XXVI. Minnie's Wanderings. Alone in a Great City, 312 XXVII. John's First Suspicions. Shadows on the Cur tain 321 XXVIII. Rose's Confession. A Husband's Terrible Grief! 331 XXIX. The Now Hampshire Farm. Minnie's Country Home 339 XXX. Driven to Despair. Minnie takes the Fatal Draught 352 XXXI. The Streets at Night. A Father's Search for his Lost Lamb 362 XXXII. Jerks and Sambo take a Stroll. From Eve to Dawn 372 XXXIII. The Undertaker's Story. Rev. John Marston's Gleam of Hope 378 XXXIV. Frank's Appe.il to his Mother. Sent to the Asylum 392 XXXV. In u Mad-House. Funeral without a Mourner, 411 XXXVI. Minnie found at Last. Pathetic Meeting of Child and Parents 423 XXXVII. The Haunted House. Gertrude's Visions 433 XXXVIII. Jerks to the Rescue. The Proud Mother humbled 446 XXXIX. Gertrude's Infatuation. A Convent or the Tomb 455 XL. Last Night Alive. Father Titus's Tragic End, 467 XLI. Funeral of Father Titus. Sinners in Broadcloth, 481 XLII. Cost of Boston's Fun. Fun, Fun, Bread or no Bread 493 INTRODUCTION. WHY THIS EXPOSE? TRUTH is stranger than fiction. Two years ago if an angel from heaven had told me what I have since learned I should not have believed the report. When I was in Paris, I found it fashionable for certain Americans to condemn America ; for Bostonians even, to decry Boston. Men who had obtained fortunes by questionable means, some by bogus stocks, quackery, and shoddy, some by oppressing mill hands, longest hours, shortest wages, some by renting disreputable houses, these were first and loudest to condemn Boston. "Worse than Paris! Worse than Paris! " said one in our Paris hotel. "What!" said I, "Boston worse than Paris! Then I am needed at home ; I cannot spend money abroad with these cries in my ears." Now I had willed the property acquired by my lectures to the fraternity of churches in Boston for carrying the gospel to the poor. My church, (> INTRODUCTION. dwellings, bank stock, with an income of $3,000 a year, for preaching. What ! Boston so bad ! And the gospel so inefficient ! Then I will spend part of this estate in striving to reform Boston while I live. I started for home, and on arriving I hired over fifty agents to probe Boston's sins ; over twenty to write up the facts embodied in this book. Not half my facts have I used. The most .startling have been suppressed. Some of the characters have been veiled to cover reputations that suffer, heads that ache, and hearts that bleed. If no awakening is produced, no action taken to suppress the evils I expose, no warning note sounded by pulpit, press, or people, then I shall be heard again. Then I shall publish a key of these facts, also facts withheld, giving names, dates, places, and particulars. Among my agents were ex-officials, ex-police men, ex-drinkers, ex-gamblers, ex-priests, ex- undertakers, and ex-hackmen. Now, what a hack- man don't know " ain't worth knowin\" One of my agents, a female, visited the secret lying-in hospitals ; " baby farms" so called. These are a branch of husbandry not set down in works of agriculture. Baby farming is a kind of hus bandry where the husbands are generally minus, non est inventus. INTRODUCTION. 7 My ngent said to one, " Have you any children you want to get homes for ? " " Yes, madam. Walk right in. I have got five, the dearest little pets in the world. Some fat, some lean, all as lively as crickets." How ever, my agent could find none to suit. " Are these all you have ? " "Yes, all just now. I have been here only a month." "How many babies have you received in that time ? " "Only about thirty; business, you see, hasn't found me out yet. I shall do better by and by. Why, I have cared for three hundred babies in a year." " Good gracious ! How benevolent you must be ! " "Yes, my work is a great charity ! But some how, folks don't see it in that light. Police are ever on the watch, and I have to move often, you see." One of these female physicians was arrested and brought to court, one baby found dead in the room. The judge asked, " Have you any di ploma ? " "No, your Honor! My diploma is from the higher powers. Mine is a benevolent institution ! What would city folks do without me? What would you do, Mr. Judge ? " 8 INTRODUCTION. And the judge colored and blushed, and tried to smile. "And what would you do, gentlemen attor- neys?" And the attorneys blushed and tried to smile. Then said the judge to the attorneys, "Do you wish to persecute this poor woman?" " Oh, no ! no ! no ! your Honor ! We wish nothing of the sort." " Then I will place the case on file, and let her go on her own recognizance without bail." So she went out with a high head, has been run ning the same establishment, advertising "board and nursing" ever since. She declared in court she could have disposed of the baby for a dollar, but had neglected to do so. Many of these illicit death-pens, however, were invaded and broken up. Babies were found dead on the floor, on the shelf, and in the bureau drawer. Some visited the quack doctors. Of the two hundred quacks in Boston, only about a dozen are graduates from any institutions, except penal ones. Many have no medical certificate, except from the jail. They have been arrested for mur der, prenatal murder, passing obscene literature through the mail, passing counterfeit money, forgery, baby farming, keeping disreputable INTRODUCTION. houses, and black-mailing. Yet these are called doctors. " Medici Doctor es. " Some have purchased diplomas from bogus medical colleges at $5 and $10 apiece. One graduated from a horse-car, having no certificate but a bell-punch. He, however, is not the head of an advertised institution. He left the bell- punch when he could n't make it work to his profit. One graduated from a gambling den, then worked at his trade, a painter, then turned "doctor" Alas! for the painter's medical skill, the first patient he doctored was found dead in his room. He was taken to jail, but escaped for lack of evidence. One boasts that ne has brought 2,000 into the world, but don't say how many of tJtem were alive. He was arrested a year ago for malpractice upon a mother from Dedham. Some of these quacks are very pious. They invoke the spirits. Oiie was a butcher, who cured by laying on of hands. He touched the lame, and "they did leap as a hart." He retained their crutches as tiophies of his healing power. AY hen exhausted he retired to a private room to recuperate, leaving scores of patients waiting in rows extending far into the street. He said he retired to communicate witn the Spirit, get help from on high. The inith is, he communicated \vith a pocket battery charged will) electricity. 10 INTRODUCTION. lie purchased the battery on Bromfield Street. From 'his lingers oozed the healing sparks of life. Five dollars a touch, and five hundred touched in a few hours ! It was only to touch and be touched, and you are healed ! Oh, the efficacy, the healing power of a touch ! Who would not be touched, and who would not be healed for $5? Others of iny agents visited the faro-banks, policy shops, and lottery dens. I had eighteen policy dealers arrested at one time. They were indicted by the grand jury, but all of them escaped ! Why? Not for lack of testimony, but for lack of public opinion to back the law ! Churches were at the same time advertising lotteries. Law cannot make fish of one and flesh of another. I therefore publicly declared in Boston Music Hall that "the first church in Boston, of whatever sect or creed, that sets up, advertises, or promotes a lottery, shall be prose cuted to the full extent of the law." The first fair advertised was the Cathedral Fair under Archbishop Williams. A committee of nine had been appointed on " lotteries" I wrote an open letter to the Archbishop, stat ing my vow, my determination, and reciting the law. The law says, "Every person who sells or offers to sell any ticket, number, chance, or token INTUODUCTION. 11 by lottery or raffle is subject to a fine not exceed ing $2,000." Also, "Whoever aids either by printing, writing, advertising, or is in any way concerned in setting up a raffle or lottery, is sub ject to the same fine." And again, "Whoever lets or allows a building to be used for such pur poses is also liable." Now it may be said, " These lotteries are for charity." Yes, but no Christian would lie or steal for charity. Then why gamble? Gambling is a worse evil than theft. It causes more deaths than murder. It poisons a larger class ; is harder to suppress. I can name six recent suicides in and around Boston, all from gambling. These are more than all the murders in the State during the same time. Some took their first lessons at the church fair. " But we want money ! Must have it ! " Ay ! And what church can command more money than the Catholic? The richest organization on the face of the globe. The whole Democratic party bows to its bidding. It holds the political purse- strings of the nation. One sixteenth of the taxes of New York City are paid to the church. Mayors and governors are its tools. Let Tammany's chief come to Boston Theatre on Sunday night, and all the leading State and city officials must 1 2 INTRODUCTION. play "figure-head" to the ceremony. No church is so exempt from taxation. Millions upon mill ions of property .untaxed ! The church in which this fair was held is untaxed, though not now used for religious worship. While my church, always open for worship, is taxed to the utmost limit. When the Cathedral fair opened, my agents were on hand to buy tickets. " Who are these tickets for ? " "For Mr. Morgan." " For what purpose?" " He wishes to execute the laws against raffling." " Very well. Tell Mr. Morgan he need not trouble himself further. Public opinion and the laws shall be respected." That night lottery tickets were withdrawn and the "wheels of fortune" turned upside down. Afterwards, however, there were "shares" sold, but not such as came within the letter of the law. Thus the Catholics yielded to public sentiment. When the gamblers combined to deprive me of Boston Music Hall, when the quack doctors had sued me for $10,000, putting an attachment on my church, the excuse for closing the hall was that I had offended the Catholics. They would raise a mob and "run off with the big organ!" I said, " This is a mistake. The Catholics are my friends. My night-school boys, bootblacks, and INTRODUCTION. 13 newsboys were mostly Catholics. The man that helped me repair my church more than all others, giving a thousand dollars to the work, was a Catholic. The men that have written me more congratulatory letters on church reform more than I have received from all other sects com bined are also Catholics. The advanced Catholic sees danger to the church. Infidelity has become a colossal giant. It says, "Churches shall be taxed, and more, the church that degrades manhood, undermines public schools, breeds ignorant paupers and drunkards, is a tool for demagogues, votes solidly with the lawless, that church shall come under a ban ! A united church to any party is more dangerous than a united South, Jesuits in America shall be treated like Jesuits in republi can France." Now the above charges are not all true, but they have a grain of truth. Nothing but a puri fied priesthood can save the church. In these pages I have pictured only one delinquent priest, and that in faint colors. I have chosen that one because of his high position. Circumstances may compel me to paint not only one, but twenty, and in full colors, giving habits, location, and names. Heaven spare me the task ! Treasurers must be appointed for the church 14 INTRODUCTION. under a legal corporation. Uncounted millions in hands of irresponsible priests are too great a temptation ! Most of the churches are mortgaged clear up to the eaves. Fairs are held, money raised, but the mortgage hardly ever lifted. Where goes the money ? I could tell a tale that would startle the public ear, and awaken indig nation threatening and appalling, but I forbear. If this book shall put the priesthood on their guard, lessen the number of nameless luxuries, awaken the church to duty, then my work is done. Catholics as a whole are still my friends. Now, how about the managers of the Old South Fair? Well, they showed their mettle! They boldly advertised and advocated lotteries. In their organ, the " Dial," edited by Miss Susan Hale, they said : " We advocate the most un shrinking, wholesale, deliberate course of ruffling, for small things or large things, for shares many or few, at prices of five cents or five dollars." And this done when the Federal government was exerting all its powers to expel lottery-tickets from the mails. Such is Boston's high-toned morality ! And the managers proceeded with the rafHes. On a former occasion they christened their tables with pious names : " Trinity Raffle, No. 34 ; Episcopal Raffle, No. 89 ; South Congrega- INTRODUCTION. 15 tional Raffle, No. 65 ; Universalist Raffle, No. 132." Hard on the Universalists ! Theirs was the highest number ! So much for the ethics of high society I This same "cultured" society attempted to reform the stage. Hard thing to reform, by the way ! To raise money a play was advertised. Xow I am in for reform, so I gave my dollar for a ticket, the first dollar I ever gave for the theatre. But what was the play? To my sur prise it was "Rip Van Winkle!" The curtain went up and out came Rip tight as a brick. "Here 's to your health (hie! hie!} and all your family ! May you live long and prosper ! " He staggered through two acts, then fell asleep. He slept twenty years. But twenty years' soaking didn't reform him. He awoke, was up and went at it again ! " Here's to your health," etc. Now that was a play to elevate the stage. The stage did n't get elevated, but the players did ! They took the money and went to Parker's. They dined and wined, and they toasted. " Here 's to your health ! May you live long and pros per ! " That is the last we have heard of the reform or the money. Now these people are the upper-crust of society. But upper-crusts and under-crusts meet at the edges. Upper-crusts of Beacon Hill, under- 18 INTRODUCTION. crusts of North Street, one of wine, the other of whiskey. When the Old South Fair opened, my agents purchased fifteen dollars' worth of tickets. I went before Judge Parmenter and asked for a warrant. He said ho " did not think it for the interest of good morals to arrest the deacons of Old South Church." I said, "Deacons or no deacons, they should not break the law ! " But they are more than deacons. They are " blue- bloods." However, he refused to issue a warrant. I then asked Gov. Long to recommend in his message an act for the " better execution of the law against gaming." This he did. I came before the Judiciary Committee with my facts. I gave terrible, startling facts ; so startling that I was silenced until the head of the police was called to meet me face to face. He at first refused ; pre ferred a hearing in private. When at last com pelled to appear, he admitted most of my facts ; confessed that he had a list of all the brothels and gambling dens, but did not think it his duty to suppress them ! Heaven save the mark ! Never was there such need of reform as to-day. Never in the world's history was so much liquor drank as now. Never scepticism so brazen. Never were American pulpits so silent toward the gigantic sins of the age. Never so many cul- INTRODUCTION. 17 tured rascals. Never such a rage for the trashiest kind of theatricals. Never such demand for senseless novels. Never such madness for gam ing. Never were lotteries so freely advertised. Never such a mania for church raffling. Never such laxness in the execution of law. Never such Sunday desecration. No wonder vice abounds ! Look at Boston's priesthood! Over $100,000 spent by ecclesiastics alone in one year for cigars, wine, women, and horses ! Clergy of the finest cloth, belonging to drinking clubs ! In high circles sin is considered not a trangression, but a disease ! If a man knocks you down and breaks your head, he needs the plaster, not you ! If he steals at your back door, you must feed him at your front door, and " no questions asked." This is the sentimentalised that nurses crime. Ask them how much a man may drink, and stilj be a " good, temperance man ! " How much he may swear, and yet be a w pious man ! " How much ho may gamble, and yet be a " high-toned, cultured gentleman ! " How many houses he may let for disreputable purposes, and yet be one of " our best society ! " How many liquor-shops he may have open Sunday, and yet be a "pillar of the church ! " How demoralizing a theatre may be, and yet be pronounced "pure and chaste, fit for our wives and daughters ! " How far depraved 2 18 INTRODUCTION. genius may descend toward the pit, yet be lauded to the skies ! Now the great wants of the age are the "Boan erges of Thunder!" Henry Ward Beecher once filled the bill. When preaching on the prairie, acting his own sexton, ringing his own bell, preaching and lecturing to young men, thunder ing against Gambling, Drinking, Licentiousness, delivering lectures that electrified a continent ! These placed him on the highest pedestal of en nobled manhood ! Such was Beecher in his youth ! Alas ! how have the mighty fallen ! How have the voices of warning become hushed ! " Oh ! Why did n't you warn me ? " said a dying young man to his pastor on Beacon Hill. " If you only had warned me, showed me my dan ger, I should not be dying of delirium tremens. You knew my weakness. Oh ! why did you not warn me ? But you drank with me and encour aged me to drink ! " What a fearful responsibility rests upon a preacher of the gospel ! " I have made thee a watchman ! If thou speakest not to warn the wicked, and he die in his iniquity, then his blood, his blood! will I require at thy hand." Men are not so bad, so wicked, as they are thoughtless and blind. They need caution, they need warning with a trumpet's voice. INTRODUCTION. 19 The brother of New England's greatest preacher, himself a minister, was walking on a bridge from Charlestown to Boston, He was brought up in Boston and thought he knew the way. The high way has a drawbridge ; a lantern, flag, gate, and a watchman to give alarm. The railroad has neither. This preacher, instead of taking the highway, walked on the railroad track, took the wrong road. It was in the mist of evening. Rapt in thought, and in darkness, he stepped one step too far, A cry, a groan, a splash, a shriek, and that noble minister was gone forever, lost to the church and to the world ! Why was there no flag, no warn ing? Ahi He was on forbidden ground ! Oh ! young man 1 stop ! stop ! That is thy con dition ! You are on forbidden ground I Stop ! Stop ! The abyss is open ! You are on the wrong road ! You are nearing the brink when you take the first glass, play the first game ! The drawbridge is open ! Soon a shriek, a plunge, and all will be over ! Oh ! stop ! stop ! and think, before yon fall to rise no more ! A conductor on the train from Hartford to Waterbury, Ct., felt his car oif the track ! What did he do? He rang the bell, seized the brake, and with his own hands held it until the cars collided, and he was mortally wounded. Know ing that he could not live three minutes, what 20 INTRODUCTION. were his last thoughts? What did ho do? He still held the brake with one hand, waved the other hand, and with dying breath whispered, " Set the signal! Set the signal for the coming train I There's another train coming! Oh! set { the signal/ /Set the signal! /Stop the coming train!" And like a faithful watchman, he fell dead at his post ! Now, why do I reveal Boston's dark -ways? "Why expose her snares, pitfalls, and forbidden paths? It is to warn the unwary! To awaken fathers and mothers to their children's danger ! to a sense of duty ! To fire the pulpit with alarm ! To arouse the church, the press, and public opinion. Oh ! fathers and mothers, set the signal for the coming train ! For your children and your children's children 1 For gen erations yet unborn ! The forests are cleared, the road-bed raised, the bridge is built, yet the track is ajar ! Lo, the cars are coming ! Your neighbors and your neighbors' children ! Oh ! set the signal ! Set the signal for the coming- train ! Wave the flag ! Swing the lantern ! Lift the voice 1 Sound the whistle I Ring the bell ! DOWN BRAKES ! DOWN BRAKES ! Danger ahead ! Friends and loved ones are at the brink ! Ho ! to the rescue ! to the rescue ! Set the signal ! Set the signal for the coming train ! BOSTOJf INSIDE OUT. CHAPTEK I. OUTWARD BOUND. GILDERSLEEVES OF BEACON HILL. "I SWAN!" said Jonathan Jerks. "What an everlastin' crowd. Should think everybody was a goin' ter the Paris Exposition. Hullo ! Is that you, Sam Slocum? Why, how du you du? Come down ter see a fellow off, hey? That's right clever, now, I swow ter gracious ! Well, good by, good by ! Take care of yourself, my boy. Remember me ter all the folks. Tell Gaddy I'm goin' ter bring her somethin' pooty home from Paris. Good by ! Good by ! " The speaker stood in the gangway of the Eng lish steamer just clearing for Liverpool. He was a genuine Yankee from the Old Granite State, with all the peculiarities of that nearly extin guished character; with its keen, native shrewd ness, its original sly humor, its sturdy independ ence, together with the added characteristic which 22 OUTWARD BOUND. he had of twisting his head, twitching his eye and jerking his hand as if turning a crank. Beside him stood a man of an opposite stamp. He belonged to what maybe called the "ornamen tal " order of society. He was foppishly dressed, and fairly glittered with diamonds and jewelry. His features were soft and effeminate, his hair was parted exactly in the middle, his corn-col ored mustache was tastefully curled at the ends. II is affected manner and his eye-glass constantly in hand, together with the embroidered slippers usually on his feet, obtained for him the cogno men of "Eyeglass Slippers." I was standing by the companion-way when he approached and said, with a lisp and a fashionable drawl, " Ah ! There ith no doot thothiety in America. No culture except in Boston. Oh ! how I long for la belle France ! " Just then a fine-looking elderly gentleman, with an unmistakable air of good breeding and high social standing, got out of a carriage which had driven up at great speed, and hastily approached the steamer. He was followed by a young man of twenty or thereabouts, whose resemblance to himself at once proclaimed close relationship. They were Augustus and Frank Gildersleeve, father and son. A bell at that moment sounded, GILDERSLEEVES OF BEACON HILL. 23 " We arc just in the nick of lime, Frank," said the father, edging his way through the opposing tide of visitors who were hurrying to make their exit from the steamer. "I hope your mother and sister have hud no delay, I trust they have got on board." "They are here, father," said the young man, " for there comes their escort, Mr. Sparkler." "How do, Mr. Gilderthleeve !" said Mr. Spark ler, otherwise "Eyeglass Slippers," as he met them. "How do, Frank? Mrs. Gilderthleeve and Mith Gertwood are awaiting you in the tha- loon." Down in the saloon Gertrude Gildersleeve at this moment was conversing with a short, stout man, whose smooth, beardless face and clerical garb proclaimed him to be a churchman. His sleek, unctuous countenance was lighted up with a pleasant and agreeable smile as he listened to Miss Gildersleeve. "This is indeed a great surprise, Father Titus," she said, while the priest still held her hand. "You are going, then, to Europe with us?" "Yes, my child," returned the priest. "I am on my way to Rome for a brief visit, and to pay my obeisances to the holy father. We shall have an opportunity for many pleasant conferences during the voyage, I sincerely trust, my daughter." 24 OUTWARD BOUNI>. "Yes, dear father," said Gertrude, who, it should be said, had been partially educated at a fashion able school in Boston, over which Father Titus exercised some supervisory control, " nothing could have given me more delight than the benefit of thus having the advantage of your counsels. For oh ! father, there is much that I wish to ask you." Poor Gertrude ! She was starving for the spiritual bread of life. One look from that priest was a benediction to her. "You are advancing in grace, I see, my daugh ter ; but I must leave you for the present, as I perceive your father and brother are coming this way." So saying, the priest departed hurriedly, going up on deck, where the last signal is just sounding. And now ensues the usual affecting parting scenes. Now the last word is said, the last fond caress exchanged. The monster ship throbs with the moving machinery. Her head slowly turns to the sea. The band strikes up the sadly tender strains of " Sweet Home," changing to "A Life on the Ocean Wave," as, amid the shouts and cheers and waving of hats and handkerchiefs from the hundreds who lined the pier, the steamer majes tically glides out into the channel. A tender had been chartered to accompany us GILDERSLEEVES OF BEACON HILL. 25 down the harbor with music and song, giving cheer upon cheer. Q3ut many a heart was too sad to respond ; each looking back toward friends and homes now receding, perhaps forever, from view. "I swanny ! " said Jonathan Jerks to me, as we stood leaning against the taffrail, straining our eyes to catch the last glimpse of the fast receding shores, " I swanny ! I never felt so bad to leave home before in my life." And the honest Yankee brushed away a tear as he spoke. "Shust how I feels mineself," said a stout Ger man, shaking his head sorrowfully. "I hash ter leave mine vrow Katerina, und der leedle vons ; und it make me vot you calls homeshick. Yaw, das ish so ! " That night, in my cabin, I found that ocean travel subjects one to strange companions. The steamer was unusually crowded. Occupying the berth over mine was a whiskey trader, from Frankfort, Ky., a son of the Emerald Isle. He was carrying home samples of his distilled poison to introduce to his relatives and acquaintance living on the "old sod." In the berths beside the Irishman was a Cuban slaveholder, who spent the voyage in drinking brandy and decrying America. He and Jerk.-i 26 OUTWARD BOUND. had many a sharp tilt. There was also a wealthy brewer from California. Each of these persons had provided himself with liquors in boundless profusion. Cases and trunks containing whiskey and brandy filled every available space. The first business of the night was to unload the liquors. Soon glasses were clicking, and bottle after bottle was emptied. Under the influence of the stimulants, all hands, utter strangers a few hours before, were hobnob bing, laughing, and talking like old friends. For the first time in my life I had a keg of whiskey tied to my bedpost. In fact, I was sur rounded by whiskey. My situation can best be described in the words of Tennyson, slightly varied : " Whiskey to right of me, Whiskey to left of me, Whiskey in front of me, Enough for six hundred! " I noticed that Jerks withstood all invitations to drink, though he mingled in the conversation. " I swow ! " he whispered to me, with his habitual jerk of the head and twitch of the eye, "this is what you call high life, I suppose. High life with a vengeance / should say. If you will take my word for it, neighbor, two thirds of the folks on this boat are seasick, and the sicker they GILDERSLEEVES OF BEACON HILL. 27 get the more they drink. Just look at these men now. The ship heaves, and so do they. Then they take another swig of whiskey, then heave ho. again ! " Jerks was a comical genius, full of anecdote and story, and made himself at home in any com pany. He was a man of varied information, and possessed of such plain common-sense, dashed with a vein of homely philosophy, that he was seldom worsted in an argument. Generally he got the best of it. That jerk of the hand of his was an argument in itself. It carried conviction 'n every gyration. As the voyage lengthened, Jonathan became a popular personage with all on board. The bonds of social restraint are relaxed during a sea-voy age. In cabin and on deck gambling and drink ing were indulged in openly and without stint. " Look a-here, Mr. Gildersleeve," said Jerks, one day, ''this is another phase of high life, I suppose ! They don't drink and bet money like this 'ere in Boston, do they?" " Well, not quite so publicly, perhaps," said Mr. Gildersleeve, good-humoredly, " but men's passions and appetites are probably the same in Boston as they are elsewhere." "But I have allers been told that law and decency are better observed and more strictly 28 OUTWARD BOUND. enforced there than in other cities," said Jonathan. "Xow, I've been pooty well over the United States, and I swan ! I never yet saw any worse contempt for the ordinances and decencies of respectable society, even on board a Mississippi flat-boat, than on this here steamer ! Look a-there now ! " The Yankee pointed to a group of three or four gentlemen seated at a table in the smoking-room. They were playing cards. Little heaps of silver and gold before them, told that their sport was far from being an innocent one. Standing near by, and watching the fluctuations of the game with an eager, absorbed interest, was young Frank Gildersleeve. "Look a-there, now," continued Jerks. "Just see how your son is interested in that game of cards. A likely young lad Mr. Frank seems to IK' : honest, good-tempered, and, I should judge, high-minded, too ; but ef he was a boy of mine, sir, I should hate to see such a temptation as that placed often in his Avay. See how his eyes kindle ! See how he bends over them gamblers ! Just as ef his very soul was on fire to take a hand in the pinie. I beg pardon, sir, but ef I was you I wouldn't lose no time in giving him a caution about ever playin' a card for money." " Xo need of asking pardon, friend Jerks ; I GILDERSLEEVES OF BEACOX HILL. 29 take no offence at such well-meant freedom," said Augustus Gihlcrsleeve ; but Jonathan's words had evidently disquieted him. " Frank is above Ik 1 usual temptations of his age. He has always money at command, and need never try such a foolish and desperate hazard as gambling to fill his purse." Nevertheless, Mr. Gildersleeve did not foil to talk long and earnestly with his only son on the subject before they retired that night. Jerks saw with equal concern that the young man was assailed by another temptation, which he felt less free to mention. He saw that Mr. Gildersleeve habitually used wine and liquors at table, and that Frank was never checked or admonished when following his father's example. " That boy has got a genuine taste for strong drink, I swanny ! " said Jonathan to himself, shak ing his head and twitching his hand as usual when very much in earnest, "and I lose my guess ef he don't succumb to it, unless somebody gives him a powerful warnin'. Too bad ! too bad ! I swan, I 'in half a mind to speak to the lad myself. It 's no use sayiir any thin' to Mr. Gildersleeve. The mother, too, is one of them hard, cold, fash'nable sort of women. It is plaguy little good, sound, motherly counsel young Frank ever gits from her, I '11 guarantee." 30 OUTWARD BOUND. " \Yhat are you muttering about so earnestly, Mr. Jerks? '" said a sweet voice at his elbo\v. Turning, Jonathan perceived the smiling, beau tiful face of Gertrude Gildersleeve. She was very young, hardly seventeen, and somehow she had taken a great liking to the hon est Yankee. Gertrude's sweet disposition, unspoiled not withstanding the influence and teachings of a fashionable mother, had charmed Jerks from the first. Between Jonathan and the young heiress, therefore, a singular but none the less sincere con fidence had already sprung up. "You were saying something about my dear brother, Mr. Jerks," Gertrude went on, in a sport ive tone. "I am sure I heard you mention his name in your self-communings." "Well, yes, I must allow you are right, Miss Gertrude," said Jonathan. " I was thinkin' what a smart, manly young fellow your brother Frank was." "Thank you, Mr. Jerks, for praising my dear brother. I am very fond of Frank, and like to hear him spoken well of." She said the words so gently, and with such a tender affection beaming in her dove-like eyes, that Jerks really envied Frank Gildersleeve. "I was only regrettin' one thing about Mr. Frank," Jonathan continued. I GILDERSLEEVES OF BEACON HILL. 31 "And what is that, dear Mr. Jerks?" "That I fear he has got strong passions which oughter to have as strong a curb. But I am for- gettin' myself, Miss Gertrude. This isn't a proper subject to bring to a sister's knowledge." "And why not?" said Gertrude, earnestly, and placing her little hand on her companion's arm. * Sardy, anj'thing that concerns an only brother's welfare is of deepest interest to a sister. I love my brother very dearly, Mr. Jerks ; and no one would strive for his good more earnestly and prayerfully than myself." "Then I beseech you, my dear young lady," answered Jonathan, wirh deep feeling, " to warn Mr. Frank against what I am afraid is his beset ting sin." "Ah ! you refer to his habit of drinking wine?" "Yes, Miss Gertrude, your innocent life has never exhibited or brought home to you the evils of a habit which grows by what it feeds on, until, in nine cases out of ten, it leads its poor victim to an untimely and an unhonored grave." At moments of strong feeling, Jonathan insen sibly elevated his language, almost entirely drop ping his usual vernacular style. " I have never thought of such a thing in con nection with Frank," said Gertrude. " Though I never take wine myself, because perhaps I have a '62 OUTWARD BOUND. natural distaste for it, yet from childhood I have been so familiar to seeing it used before me, that I have never associated with it such evils as you describe. But oh ! I thank you, Mr. Jerks, more than I can express ! I will speak to Frank, and urge him with all the power of a sister's love, to give up such a dangerous practice, but there is my mother beckoning to me." And with a sweet, though somewhat sad smile, the young girl left him and joined Mrs. Gilder- sleeve. "Gertrude," said that lady, in severe tones of reproof, " I wonder what you can see so attractive in that man. I am surprised and mortified beyond measure at your conduct. Remember your posi tion and station, my child. The daughter of Augustus Gildersleeve associating with a pork merchant, or a low, ignorant farmer, or whatever he may be ! For shame ! " "But Mr. Jerks is neither low nor ignorant, mamma," said Gertrude, sweetly ; " and besides, General Grant was only a tanner, and that dear, noble Abraham Lincoln was a canal boatman. And you know, dear mamma," she added with an arch look, " that Grandpa Gildersleeve started very low down in the social scale." Mrs. Gildersleeve did not deign to make any reply to this home thrust ; and, during the re- GILDKRSLEEVES OF BEACON HILL. 33 mainder of the voyage, she forbore to return to the subject. In due time we arrived in Liverpool. " Hullo ! " said Jerks, as we walked along toward our hotel, " what's this old fellow a-doin'?" He pointed to an elderly, well-clad man sitting, hat in hand, on the sidewalk, while artistically chalked in large letters in front of him was the word " ADVERSITY." " I swanny ! " cried Jonathan, " is this the way they beg in England? Why, sir, you could n't hire a Yankee to sit there. No, sir ! He 'd creep 'round an' say, ' Help me out o' this 'ere poverty ef yer can, but for the land's sake, don't tell nobody.'" Jerks wondered at the people being so accom modating. Jonathan, on asking for a street, name of hotel, or where to find a carriage, was delighted to find them so obliging. "Wai, I swow ! " said Jerks, fervently, "ef they don't even hold out their hands to welcome a fellow to England. Course I ask 'em 'how de du?' an' 'how's their folks at home?' 'cause a feller's got to be civil, you know. Wai, I never see such obligin' set of people." Walking through the poverty-stricken quarter of Liverpool, we saw the terrible effects of intern- 3 o4 OUTWARD BOUND. porance. Nearly every face we met was red and blotched, showing signs of constant dissipation. Here there were hundreds of people who never have a fire, who live mostly on beer and stronger drink. " Here 's the strongest kind of a temperance lec- tur'," said Jonathan. " I SAvan, ef it ain't a burnin' shame ter the name of civilization." Here, too, we saw woman's utter degradation. Women, coarse and bold, Avould go up to the bar and cry, " Say, Sal, what '11 ye take ? " with all the nonchalance of an old toper. " Oh, give me some Old Tom gin or whiskey straight," would be the reply, and thereupon they would drink to more than beastly excess. " By hokey ! " cried Jerks, " jes' look a-there." Two bar-maids were disputing in the street, calling each other the vilest names. Then squar ing off, man fashion, they struck and clinched till their faces were battered and streaming with blood. " Great Gosh ! that 's the first time I ever saw women at fisticuffs," exclaimed Jonathan. "Ef that ain't the worst sight I ever looked on ! By gracious, jes' look at 'em. A regular prize-fight, now, ain't it? " The women kept at it for some time, drawing a large crowd around them, among the spectators being two or three police officers. GILDERSLEEVES OF BEACON HILL. 35 " Stop 'em ! stop 'em ! " cried Jonathan, swing ing his hands arid jerking his body in his excite ment. Finally a man seized one of the women. This was the other's chance. She sprang, struck, yelled, and, woman-like, went in for the last word and the last blow. " Hullo ! " said Jerks, as we went on, pointing to a rum-shop across the way, " du you see that liquor den over there ? " I nodded. "Wai, sir, captain says that 'ere place is owned by the Mayor of Liverpool. By cracky ! How a man that 's got any soul can sell liquor, and a magistrate at that, I can't see," cried Jonathan. "Why, such a man makes half the misery, woe, and crime of the world. Jes' to think of the squalid wretchedness, bruised faces, ruined chil dren in this great city brought on by drink. I swan ; I would n't have 'em point to me and say, ' At your door lies this wrong ' ; no, not for all the world ! " From Liverpool we went to London. Among other things, Jerks was not well pleased with the English Church establishment. "We Americans don't believe in the union of church and state," said Jonathan. " We tried it once, you know, tu hum, in New England. Tho State took the sinners into the church to vote. 36 OUTWARD BOUND. Soon the sinners outnumbered the saints ; then turned the saints out of doors, took the churches, and have kept them ever since." One Sunday we visited eleven churches in London. " Great Geewhiliky ! " said Jerks, as ho caught sight of the great dome of St. Paul's. "Wai, I swow ! ef that ain't some punkins, now ! " We entered the vast chancel, and took seats with the scanty few within. " Guess they hain't got a very pop'lar preacher; by the looks of things," said Jonathan; "seems like a meetin'-house with the meetin' left out." Jonathan summed up the result of our various visits as follows. Taking out his memorandum- book, he said, with a whole battery of jerks and grimaces, " Took a list of all those places, jest for curi osity, so 's to show the folks tu hum, you see. Now look a-here, won't this 'ere sound cur'ous to our church-goin' people," and Jerks proceeded to read from his notes : "St. Paul's, largest church in England, communion service, twenty-nine per sons, and six priests, to conduct the services. -At twelve o'clock, sixty-four persons and seventy- four paid ministrants at the altar ; twelve of these were priests and sixty-two singers. By Jiminy ! more officers than soldiers. Ef that don't beat GILDERSLEEVES OF BEACON HILL. 37 all! At St. Margaret's, only five persons in the congregation. All /could see, 't any rate ! Per haps rest were asleep. Paid that 'ere woman pew-opener sixpence to git a seat. Went against the grain, that did. St. Martin's had only six worshippers ; St. Nicholas, seven ; St. Vedest, nine ; St. Magdalene, nineteen ; St. James', twenty-two persons in choir, and twenty in pews ; St. Anthony's, two hundred persons. An' that was the largest congregation we saw, except at Westminster Abbey, and the eleven-o'clock preach ing service at St. Paul's. " Now that 's a mighty poor showin' for piety, we'd call it in America," continued Jonathan. " Ef that 's a fair sample of the eight hundred and seventy-two London churches of what they call the established faith, I doirt see what in thunder they want so many for ! No wonder the congre gation 's so small ! By Jimmy ! All these 'er& churches supported by the state, too ! Why, every man, woman, and child, at that rate, must cost upwards of a thousand dollars, jest for a few hours of public worship ! I saw in a newspaper that the Bishop of London alone got a salary equal lo the President of the United States. Jest think of that, now ! Then that same bishop has charire of all these 'ere churches, with the hull caboodle of officers. See here ! I tuk it all down in this 38 OUTWARD BOUND. 'ere book of mine. There's deans, archdeacons, prebendaries, canons, minor-canons, priest-vicars, rectors, by the hundred, and all drawing big sal aries. What an army of do-nothin's fed at the altar ! I tell you what," Jerks continued, work- ins: himself up into his usual energetic state, while head, eyes, and hand kept motion with his feel ings, "I tell you what, they 'd ouglitcr clean out these saps that 's eatin' right into the life of the nation. I'd jest like to turn the crank right on to 'em, an' clean 'em out, sir, clean 'em out ! " "Speaking of these churches," I said, "you must admit they are fine edifices, and show the taste of the people, while at the same time they beautify and adorn London." "I'd rather see the money they cost invested in raisin' up the poor and do\vn-trodden people of this 'ere metropolis," said Jerks, " pullin' 'em oat of the mire of beggary and degradation. Jest look at George Peabody, the American banker, giving two millions to London's poor. Now, ef some of London's big nabobs would follow that man's lead, you would n't see such a thing as I saw in the ' Times ' on'y yesterday." " What was that, Jonathan? " Jonathan again had recourse to his memoran dum-book. " Here it is ; ri