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14
Parish of Saint George the Martyr, Southwark.
would be indignant if he were asked to kennel his hounds in such foul dens for a single
night." "Grouse and Blackcock so many brace to the acre; men and women so many
brace to the garret." "I often wonder," says Buskin," what the Angelic Builders and
Surveyors—the Angelic Builders who built the many mansions up above there, and the
Angelic Surveyors who measured the four-squared city with their measuring reeds: I wonder
what they think of the laying out of the ground of this nation, which has set itself as it
seems, literally to accomplish word for word, in the person of those poor whom its Master
left to represent Him, what that Master said of Himself, that the foxes and birds had homes
but that He had none."
For an experiment, some lease-hold and some free-hold property were bought in the
East end of London, to see by practice what could be done by taking a just rent, and by
improving the habits and comforts of the poor. The result which followed the experiment
was, that the lease-hold paid 5 per cent., but then the family which previously had occupied
but one room, enjoyed two; and a little surplus was left. The free-hold paid only 3 per
cent. In both cases, as we may most readily believe, the families "became more content,
more orderly, and more helpful." The word helpful in this respect, signifies much to those
who have witnessed the utter helplessness shown by this class. I once heard an old woman
living in St. George's New Town, when speaking of her home or room, declare that" it
was only fit for a stable, and gave no heart nor courage to live in it." Hope dies out:
there remains nothing to stimulate effort, nor sustain self-respect, and things go from bad
to worse.
A man whose surroundings are such as I have just been describing, and which are only
fitted for the beast, can never develope the virtues which are inherent in humanity; full
surely he will develope the vices which therein dwell. We do not sufficiently consider
how greatly morals depend upon health and comfort. I have always been desirous of
placing before you illustrations to prove the truth of that which I have said; hence, I now
quote the description of the uncivilised and the civilised poor as written by two master
minds. "No where" says the Rev. Canon Kingsley, in his "At last" "are to be seen
those haggard, down-trodden mothers grown old before their time, and so commonly to be
met with in England. Rude health is the mark of the negro man and woman ; their faces
shine with fatness, they seem to enjoy, nay do enjoy the mere act of living. It may be said
they are meant for something else than mere enjoyment. Doubtless. But surely they are
meant for enjoyment also. Now we have here in England thousands of paupers, roguesi
and what-nots, who are not a whit more cultivated, intellectual, or virtuous than tho negro,
and in the meanwhile, neither healthy nor comfortable. The negro may have the sound
body without the sound mind. But what of those whose bodies and souls are alike unsound.
If we cannot have both let us have one, for that is so far good." And what said the late
Alexander Smith about the civilised lower classes? "Within sound of the rich man's
chariot wheels, within hearing of multitudinous sabbath bells, I have met with evil scents,
and sounds, and sights ; of windows stuffed with rags; of female faces that look out upon
you as out of a sadder inferno than that of Dante; of faces of men containing the debris of
the entire decalogue, faces which hurt you more than a blow would; of infants poisoned
with gin, of children bred for the prison and the hulks."