,,the ,,bitter ,,cry    ,,of            
,,outcast ,,london4    ,,an ,,inquiry   
,,into    ,,the ,,condition ,,of        
,,the ,,abject ,,poor4    ,,london3     
,,james ,,clarke  ,,co41  #ac1 ,,fleet  
,,street1 ,e4,c4      99 99,we desire   
thankfully to acknowledge the assistance
 kindly  afforded us in the pursuit of  
our investigations by the ,secretary and
  ,agents of the ,london ,city ,mission1
 and also by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,g4 ,,brown  
of  the ,east ,london ,tabernacle1 and  
his ,missionaries4    ,all              
communications should be addressed to   
,rev4 ,,andrew ,,mearns1 ,london        
,congregational ,union1 ,memorial ,hall1
 ,farringdon ,street1 ,e4,c4      ,,the 
,,bitter ,,cry    ,,of    ,,outcast     
,,london4      ,there is no more hopeful
 sign in the ,christian ,church of      
to-day than the  increased attention    
which is being given by it to the poor  
and outcast  classes of society4 ,of    
these it has never been wholly          
neglectful2 if it  had it would have    

ceased to be ,christian4 ,but it has1 as
 yet1 only  imperfectly realised and    
fulfilled its mission to the poor4      
,until  recently it has contented itself
 with sustaining some outside           
organizations1 which have charged       
themselves with this special function1  
or what is worse1 has left the matter to
 individuals or to little bands  of     
,christians having no organization4 ,for
 the rest it has been satisfied  with a 
superficial and inadequate district     
visitation1 with the more or  less      
indiscriminate distribution of material 
charities1 and with opening  a few rooms
 here and there into which the poorer   
people have been  gathered1 and by which
 a few have been rescued4 ,all this is  
good in its  way and has done good2 but 
by all only the merest edge of the great
 dark  region of poverty1 misery1       
squalor and immorality has been touched4
 ,we  are not losing sight of the       
,london ,city ,mission1 whose agents are
  everywhere1 and whose noble work our  

investigations have led us to value     
more than ever1 but after all has been  
done the churches are making the        
discovery that seething in the very     
centre of our great cities1  concealed  
by the thinnest crust of civilization   
and decency1 is a vast  mass of moral   
corruption1 of heart-breaking misery and
 absolute  godlessness1 and that        
scarcely anything has been done to take 
into this  awful slough the only        
influences that can purify or remove it4
    ,whilst we have been building our   
churches and solacing ourselves with    
our religion and dreaming that the      
millennium was coming1 the poor have    
been growing poorer1 the wretched more  
miserable1 and the immoral more         
corrupt2 the gulf has been daily        
widening which separates the lowest     
classes of the community from our       
churches and chapels1 and from all      
decency and civilization4 ,it is easy to
 bring an array of facts which  seem to 
point to the opposite conclusion--to    

speak of the noble army of  men and     
women who penetrate the vilest haunts1  
carrying with them the  blessings of the
 gospel2 of the encouraging reports     
published by  ,missions1 ,reformatories1
 ,refuges1 ,temperance ,societies2 of   
,theatre  ,services1 ,midnight ,meetings
 and ,special ,missions4 ,but what does 
it all  amount to8 ,we are simply living
 in a fool's paradise if we suppose that
  all these agencies combined are doing 
a thousandth part of what needs to  be  
done1 a hundredth part of what could be 
done by the ,church of  ,christ4 ,we    
must face the facts2 and these compel   
the conviction that  ,,this ,,terrible  
,,flood ,,of ,,sin ,,and ,,misery ,,is  
,,gaining ,,upon ,,us4 ,it is rising    
every day4 ,this statement is made as   
the result of a long1 patient and  sober
 inquiry1 undertaken for the purpose of 
discovering the actual  state of the    
case and the remedial action most likely
 to be effective4  ,convinced that it is
 high time some combined and organized  

effort was  made by all denominations of
 ,christians1 though not for            
denominational  purposes1 the ,london   
,congregational ,union have determined  
to open in  several of the lowest and   
most needy districts of the metropolis1 
suitable ,mission ,halls1 as a base of  
operations for evangelistic work4  ,they
 have accordingly made this diligent    
search1 and some of the results  are set
 forth in the following pages1 in the   
hope that all who have the  power may be
 stimulated to help the ,union in the   
great and difficult  enterprise which   
they have undertaken4    ,two cautions  
it is important to bear in mind4 ,first1
 the information  given does not refer  
to selected cases4 ,it simply reveals a 
state of  things which is found in house
 after house1 court after court1 street 
after street4 ,secondly1 there has been 
absolutely no exaggeration4 ,it  is a   
plain recital of plain facts4 ,indeed1  
no respectable printer would  print1 and
 certainly no decent family would admit 

even the driest  statement of the       
horrors and infamies discovered in one  
brief visitation  from house to house4  
,so far from making the worst of our    
facts for the  purpose of appealing to  
emotion1 we have been compelled to tone 
down  everything1 and wholly to omit    
what most needs to be known1 or the ears
  and eyes of our readers would have    
been insufferably outraged4 ,yet even   
this qualified narration must be to     
every ,christian heart a loud and       
bitter cry1 appealing for the help which
 it is the supreme mission of  the      
,church to supply4 ,it should be further
 stated that our  investigations were   
made in the summer4 ,the condition of   
the poor during  the winter months must 
be very much worse4                     
,,non-,,attendance ,,at ,,worship4      
,it is perhaps scarcely necessary to say
 of the hundreds of thousands who       
compose the class referred to1 that very
 few attend any place of  worship4 ,it  
is a very tame thing to say1 and a very 

little thing  compared with what must   
follow1 but it is needful to a proper   
statement  of our case4 ,before going to
 the lower depths1 where our            
investigations  were principally carried
 on1 we find in the neighbourhood of    
,old ,ford1  in #adg consecutive houses1
 inhabited for the most part by the     
respectable working class1 #bab         
families1 #aah of which never1 under any
  circumstances1 attend a place of      
worship4 ,out of #bbij persons living in
  consecutive houses at ,bow-,common1   
only #hh adults and #dg children ever   
attend1 and as #fd of these are         
connected with one ,mission ,hall1 only 
#bd  out of the entire number worship   
elsewhere4 ,one street off ,leicester   
,square contains #bdf families1 and only
 #ab of these are ever represented  at  
the house of ,god4 ,in another street in
 ,pentonville1 out of #ajj  families    
only #ab persons attend any sanctuary1  
whilst the number of  attendants in one 
district of ,st4 ,george's-in-the-,east 

is #ci persons  out of #dbce4 ,often the
 numbers given of those who do attend   
include such  as only go once or twice a
 year1 at some charity distribution1 so 
that  our figures are more favourable   
than the actual facts4 ,constantly we   
come across persons who have never been 
to church or chapel for #bj  years1 #bh 
years1 more than #cj years2 and some    
persons as old as #fd never  remember   
having been in a place of worship at    
all4 ,indeed1 with the  exception of a  
very small proportion1 the idea of going
 has never dawned  upon these people4   
,and who can wonder8 ,think of          
,,the ,,condition ,,in ,,which ,,they   
,,live4    ,we do not say the condition 
of their homes1 for how can those places
 be  called homes1 compared with which  
the lair of a wild beast would be a     
comfortable and healthy spot8 ,few who  
will read these pages have any          
conception of what these pestilential   
human rookeries are1 where tens of      
thousands are crowded together amidst   

horrors which call to mind what we  have
 heard of the middle passage of the     
slave ship4 ,to get into them you  have 
to penetrate courts reeking with        
poisonous and malodorous gases  arising 
from accumulations of sewage and refuse 
scattered in all  directions and often  
flowing beneath your feet2 courts1 many 
of them  which the sun never penetrates1
 which are never visited by a breath of 
fresh air1 and which rarely know the    
virtues of a drop of cleansing  water4  
,you have to ascend rotten staircases1  
which threaten to give way  beneath     
every step1 and which1 in some places1  
have already broken  down1 leaving gaps 
that imperil the limbs and lives of the 
unwary4 ,you  have to grope your way    
along dark and filthy passages swarming 
with  vermin4 ,then1 if you are not     
driven back by the intolerable stench1  
you  may gain admittance to the dens in 
which these thousands of beings who     
belong1 as much as you1 to the race for 
whom ,christ died1 herd together4  ,have

 you pitied the poor creatures who sleep
 under railway arches1 in  carts or     
casks1 or under any shelter which they  
can find in the open  air8 ,you will see
 that they are to be envied in          
comparison with those  whose lot it is  
to seek refuge here4 ,eight feet        
square--that is about  the average size 
of very many of these rooms4 ,walls and 
ceiling are  black with the accretions  
of filth which have gathered upon them  
through  long years of neglect4 ,it is  
exuding through cracks in the boards    
overhead2 it is running down the walls2 
it is everywhere4 ,what goes by  the    
name of a window is half of it stuffed  
with rags or covered by  boards to keep 
out wind and rain2 the rest is so       
begrimed and obscured  that scarcely can
 light enter or anything be seen        
outside4 ,should you  have ascended to  
the attic1 where at least some approach 
to fresh air  might be expected to enter
 from open or broken window1 you look   
out upon  the roofs and ledges of lower 

tenements1 and discover that the sickly 
air which finds its way into the room   
has to pass over the putrefying         
carcases of dead cats or birds1 or viler
 abominations still4 ,the  buildings are
 in such miserable repair as to suggest 
the thought that if  the wind could only
 reach them they would soon be toppling 
about the  heads of their occupants4 ,as
 to furniture--you may perchance        
discover a  broken chair1 the tottering 
relics of an old bedstead1 or the mere  
fragment of a table2 but more commonly  
you will find rude substitutes  for     
these things in the shape of rough      
boards resting upon bricks1 an  old     
hamper or box turned upside down1 or    
more frequently still1 nothing  but     
rubbish and rags4    ,every room in     
these rotten and reeking tenements      
houses a family1 often  two4 ,in one    
cellar a sanitary inspector reports     
finding a father1  mother1 three        
children and four pigs6 ,in another room
 a missionary found  a man ill with     

small pox1 his wife just recovering from
 her eighth  confinement1 and the       
children running about half naked and   
covered with  dirt4 ,here are seven     
people living in one underground        
kitchen1 and a  little dead child lying 
in the same room4 ,elsewhere is a poor  
widow1 her  three children1 and a child 
who had been dead thirteen days4 ,her   
husband1 who was a cabman1 had shortly  
before committed suicide4 ,here  lives a
 widow and her six children1 including  
one daughter of #bi1  another of #ba1   
and a son of #bg4 ,another apartment    
contains father1  mother and six        
children1 two of whom are ill with      
scarlet fever4 ,in  another nine        
brothers and sisters1 from #bi years of 
age downwards1 live1  eat and sleep     
together4 ,here is a mother who turns   
her children into the  street in the    
early evening because she lets her room 
for immoral  purposes until long after  
midnight1 when the poor little wretches 
creep  back again if they have not found

 some miserable shelter elsewhere4      
,where there are beds they are simply   
heaps of dirty rags1 shavings or  straw1
 but for the most part these miserable  
beings huddle together upon  the filthy 
boards4 ,the tenant of this room is a   
widow1 who herself  occupies the only   
bed1 and lets the floor to a married    
couple for #bs4  #f;d4 per week4 ,in    
many cases matters are made worse by the
 unhealthy  occupations followed by     
those who dwell in these habitations4   
,here you  are choked as you enter by   
the air laden with particles of the     
superfluous fur pulled from the skins of
 rabbits1 rats1 dogs and other  animals 
in their preparation for the furrier4   
,here the smell of paste  and of drying 
match-boxes1 mingling with other sickly 
odours1 overpowers  you2 or it may be   
the fragrance of stale fish or          
vegetables1 not sold on  the previous   
day1 and kept in the room overnight4    
,even when it is  possible to do so the 
people seldom open their windows1 but if

 they did  it is questionable whether   
much would be gained1 for the external  
air is  scarcely less heavily charged   
with poison than the atmosphere within4 
,wretched as these rooms are they are   
beyond the means of many who wander     
about all day1 picking up a living as   
they can1 and then take refuge at  night
 in one of the common lodging-houses    
that abound4 ,these are often  the      
resorts of thieves and vagabonds of the 
lowest types1 and some are  kept by     
receivers of stolen goods4 ,in the      
kitchen men and women may be  seen      
cooking their food1 washing their       
clothes1 or lolling about smoking  and  
gambling4 ,in the sleeping room are long
 rows of beds on each side1  sometimes  
#fj or #hj in one room4 ,in many cases  
both sexes are allowed to  herd together
 without any attempt to preserve the    
commonest decency4  ,but there is a     
lower depth still4 ,hundreds cannot even
 scrape together  the two-pence required
 to secure them the privilege of herding

 in those  sweltering common sleeping   
rooms1 and so they huddle together upon 
the  stairs and landings1 where it is no
 uncommon thing to find six or eight  in
 the early morning4    ,that people     
condemned to exist under such conditions
 take to drink and  fall into sin is    
surely a matter for little surprise4 ,we
 may rather say1  as does one recent and
 reliable explorer1 that they are       
entitled to  credit for not being twenty
 times more depraved than they are4 ,one
 of  the saddest results of this        
over-crowding is the inevitable         
association  of honest people with      
criminals4 ,often is the family of an   
honest  working man compelled to take   
refuge in a thieves' kitchen2 in the    
houses where they live their rooms are  
frequently side by side1 and  continual 
contact with the very worst of those who
 have come out of our  gaols is a matter
 of necessity4 ,there can be no question
 that numbers of  habitual criminals    
would never have become such1 had they  

not by force  of circumstances been     
packed together in these slums with     
those who were  hardened in crime4 ,who 
can wonder that every evil flourishes in
 such  hotbeds of vice and disease8 ,who
 can wonder that little children taken  
from these hovels to the hospital cry1  
when they are well1 through dread  of   
being sent back to their former misery8 
,who can wonder that young  girls wander
 off into a life of immorality1 which   
promises release from  such conditions8 
,who can wonder that the public-house is
 the ,elysian  field of the tired       
toiler8      ,,immorality    is but the 
natural outcome of conditions like      
these4 ,marriage1 it has  been said1 as 
an institution1 is not fashionable in   
these districts4  ,and this is only the 
bare truth4 ,ask if the men and women   
living  together in these rookeries are 
married1 and your simplicity will cause 
a smile4 ,nobody knows4 ,nobody cares4  
,nobody expects that they are4 ,in      
exceptional cases only could your       

question be answered in the             
affirmative4 ,incest is common2 and no  
form of vice and sensuality causes      
surprise or attracts attention4 ,those  
who appear to be married are often      
separated by a mere quarrel1 and they do
 not hesitate to form similar           
companionships immediately4 ,one man was
 pointed out who for some years  had    
lived with a woman1 the mother of his   
three children4 ,she died and  in less  
than a week he had taken another woman  
in her place4 ,a man was  living with a 
woman in the low district called ,the   
,mint4 ,he went out  one morning with   
another man for the purpose of          
committing a burglary  and by that other
 man was murdered4 ,the murderer        
returned saying that  his companion had 
been caught and taken away to prison2   
and the same  night he took the place of
 the murdered man4 ,the only check upon 
communism in this regard is jealousy and
 not virtue4 ,the vilest  practices are 
looked upon with the most matter-of-fact

 indifference4  ,the low parts of       
,london are the sink into which the     
filthy and  abominable from all parts of
 the country seem to flow4 ,entire      
courts are  filled with thieves1        
prostitutes and liberated convicts4 ,in 
one street  are #ce houses1 #cb of which
 are known to be brothels4 ,in another  
district  are #dc of these houses1 and  
#dbh fallen women and girls1 many of    
them not  more than #ab years of age4 ,a
 neighbourhood whose population is      
returned  at #aj1ajj1 contains #djj who 
follow this immoral traffic1 their ages 
varying from #ac to #ej2 and of the     
moral degradation of the people1 some   
idea may be formed from an incident     
which was brought to our notice4 ,an    
,east-end missionary rescued a young    
girl from an immoral life1 and  obtained
 for her a situation with people who    
were going abroad4 ,he saw  her to      
,southampton1 and on his return was     
violently abused by the girl's          
grandmother1 who had the sympathy of her

 neighbours1 for having taken  away from
 a poor old woman her means of          
subsistence4    ,the misery and sin     
caused by drink in these districts have 
often been  told1 but these horrors can 
never be set forth either by pen or     
artist's  pencil4 ,in the district of   
,euston ,road is one public-house to    
every #ajj  people1 counting men1 women 
and children4 ,immediately around our   
chapel  in ,orange ,street1 ,leicester  
,square1 are #ajj gin-palaces1 most of  
them  very large2 and these districts   
are but samples of what exists in all   
the localities which we have            
investigated4 ,look into one of these   
glittering saloons1 with its motley1    
miserable crowd1 and you may be         
horrified as you think of the evil that 
is nightly wrought there2 but  contrast 
it with any of the abodes which you find
 in the fetid courts  behind them1 and  
you will wonder no longer that it is    
crowded4 ,with its  brightness1 its     
excitement and its temporary            

forgetfulness of misery1 it  is a       
comparative heaven to tens of thousands4
 ,how can they be expected  to resist   
its temptations8 ,they could not live if
 they did not drink1  even though they  
know that by drinking they do worse than
 die4 ,all kinds  of depravity have here
 their schools4 ,children who can       
scarcely walk are  taught to steal1 and 
mercilessly beaten if they come back    
from their  daily expeditions without   
money or money's worth4 ,many of them   
are taken  by the hand or carried in the
 arms to the gin-palace1 and not seldom 
may  you see mothers urging and         
compelling their tender infants to drink
 the  fiery liquid4 ,lounging at the    
doors and lolling out of windows and    
prowling about street corners were      
pointed out several well-known  members 
of the notorious band of ,forty         
,thieves1 who1 often in  conspiracy with
 abandoned women1 go out after dark to  
rob people in  ,oxford ,street1 ,regent 
,street and other thoroughfares4 ,here  

you pass a  coffee-house1 there a       
wardrobe shop1 there a tobacconist's1   
and there a  grocer's1 carrying on a    
legitimate trade no doubt1 but a far    
different  and more remunerative one as 
well1 especially after evening sets     
in1--all traps to catch the unwary4     
,these particulars indicate but  faintly
 the moral influences from which the    
dwellers in these squalid  regions have 
no escape1 and by which is bred infancy 
that knows no  innocence1 youth without 
modesty or shame1 maturity that is      
mature in  nothing but suffering and    
guilt1 blasted old age that is a scandal
 on  the name we bear4    ,another      
difficulty with which we have to        
contend1 and one in large  measure the  
cause of what we have described1 is the 
,,poverty    of these miserable         
outcasts4 ,the poverty1 we mean1 of     
those who try to  live honestly2 for    
notwithstanding the sickening           
revelations of  immorality which have   
been disclosed to us1 those who         

endeavour to earn  their bread by honest
 work far outnumber the dishonest4 ,and 
it is to  their infinite credit that it 
should be so1 considering that they are 
daily face to face with the contrast    
between their wretched earnings and     
those which are the produce of sin4 ,a  
child seven years old is known  easily  
to make #ajs4 #f;d4 a week by thieving1 
but what can he earn by such  work as   
match-box making1 for which #b;d4 a     
gross is paid1 the maker  having to find
 his own fire for drying the boxes1 and 
his own paste and  string8 ,before he   
can gain as much as the young thief he  
must make #ef  gross of match-boxes a   
week1 or #abif a day4 ,it is needless to
 say that  this is impossible1 for even 
adults can rarely make more than an     
average  of half that number4 ,how long 
then must the little hands toil before  
they can earn the price of the scantiest
 meal6 ,women1 for the work of  trousers
 finishing 7i4e41 sewing in linings1    
making button-holes and  stitching on   

the buttons7 receive #b;d4 a pair1 and  
have to find their  own thread4 ,we ask 
a woman who is making tweed trousers1   
how much she  can earn in a day1 and are
 told one shilling4 ,but what does a day
 mean  to this poor soul8 ,seventeen    
hours6 ,from five in the morning to ten 
at  night--no pause for meals4 ,she eats
 her crust and drinks a little tea as   
she works1 making in very truth1 with   
her needle and thread1 not her  living  
only1 but her shroud4 ,for making men's 
shirts these women are  paid #aj;d4 a   
dozen2 lawn tennis aprons1 #c;d4 a      
dozen2 and babies' hoods1  from #as4    
#f;d4 to #bs4 #f;d4 a dozen4 ,in ,st4   
,george's-in-the-,east large  numbers of
 women and children1 some of the latter 
only seven years old1  are employed in  
sack-making1 for which they get a       
farthing each4 ,in one  house was found 
a widow and her half idiot daughter     
making palliasses at  #a;d4 each4 ,here 
is a woman who has a sick husband and a 
little child to  look after4 ,she is    

employed at shirt finishing at #c;d4 a  
dozen1 and by  the utmost effort can    
only earn #f;d4 a day1 out of which she 
has to find  her own thread4 ,another1  
with a crippled hand1 maintains herself 
and a  blind husband by match-box       
making1 for which she is remunerated on 
the  liberal scale mentioned above2 and 
out of her #b;d4 a gross she has to  pay
 a girl a penny a gross to help her4    
,others obtain at ,covent ,garden  in   
the season #a;d4 or #b;d4 a peck for    
shelling peas1 or #f;d4 a basket for    
walnuts2 and they do well if their      
labour brings them #aj;d4 or a shilling 
a day4 ,with men it is comparatively    
speaking no better4 ,my master1  says   
one man visited by a recent writer in   
the ,fortnightly ,review1  gets a pound 
for what he gives me #cs4 for making4   
,and this it is easy  to believe1 when  
we know that for a pair of fishing boots
 which will be  sold at three guineas1  
the poor workman receives #es4 #c;d4 if 
they are  made to order1 or #ds4 #f;d4  

if made for stock4 ,an old tailor and   
his wife  are employed in making        
policemen's overcoats4 ,they have to    
make1 finish1  hot-press1 put on the    
buttons1 and find their own thread1 and 
for all  this they receive #bs4 #aj;d4  
for each coat4 ,this old couple work    
from  half-past six in the morning until
 ten at night1 and between them can     
just manage to make a coat in two days4 
,here is a mother who has taken  away   
whatever articles of clothing she can   
strip from her four little  children    
without leaving them absolutely naked4  
,she has pawned them1 not  for drink1   
but for coals and food4 ,a shilling is  
all she can procure1  and with this she 
has bought seven pounds of coals and a  
loaf of bread4  ,we might fill page     
after page with these dreary details1   
but they would  become sadly monotonous1
 for it is the same everywhere4 ,and    
then it  should not be forgotten how    
hardly upon poverty like this must press
 the  exorbitant demand for rent4 ,even 

the rack-renting of ,ireland1 which so  
stirred our indignation a little while  
ago1 was merciful by comparison4  ,if by
 any chance a reluctant landlord can be 
induced to execute or pay  for some     
long-needed repairs1 they become the    
occasion for new  exactions4 ,going     
through these rooms we come to one in   
which a hole1 as  big as a man's head1  
has been roughly covered1 and how8 ,a   
piece of  board1 from an old soapbox1   
has been fixed over the opening by one  
nail1  and to the tenant has been given 
a yard and a half of paper with which   
to cover it2 and for this               
expenditure--perhaps #d;d4 at the       
outside--threepence a week has been put 
upon the rent4 ,if this is  enough to   
arouse our indignation1 what must be    
thought of the following8  ,the two old 
people referred to above have lived in  
one room for #ad  years1 during which   
time it has only once been partially    
cleansed4 ,the  landlord has undertaken 
that it shall be done shortly1 and for  

the past  three months has been taking  
#f;d4 a week extra for rent for what he 
is  thus going to do4 ,this is what the 
helpless have to submit to2 they  are   
charged for these pestilential dens a   
rent which consumes half the  earnings  
of a family1 and leaves them no more    
than from #d;d4 to #f;d4 a day  for     
food1 clothing and fire2 a grinding of  
the faces of the poor which  could      
scarcely be paralleled in lands of      
slavery and of notorious  oppression4   
,this1 however1 is not all2 for even    
these depths of poverty  and degradation
 are reached by the ,education ,act1 and
 however beneficent  its purpose1 it    
bears with cruel weight upon the class  
we have  described1 to whom twopence or 
a penny a week for the school fees of   
each of three or four children1 means so
 much lack of bread4    ,amidst such    
poverty and squalor it is inevitable    
that one should be  constantly          
confronted with scenes of               
,,heart-,,breaking ,,misery--    misery 

so pitiful that men whose daily duty it 
has been for years to go  in and out    
amongst these outcasts1 and to be       
intimately acquainted with  their       
sufferings1 and who might1 therefore1 be
 supposed to regard with  comparatively 
little feeling that which would         
overwhelm an unaccustomed  spectator1   
sometimes come away from their visits so
 oppressed in spirit  and absorbed in   
painful thought1 that they know not     
whither they are  going4 ,how these     
devoted labourers can pursue their work 
at all is a  marvel1 especially when it 
is remembered that the misery they      
actually  see suggests to them the      
certain existence of so much more which 
no  human eye discovers4 ,who can even  
imagine the suffering which lies  behind
 a case like the following8 ,a poor     
woman in an advanced stage of           
consumption1 reduced almost to a        
skeleton1 lives in a single room with a 
drunken husband and five children4 ,when
 visited she was eating a few  green    

peas4 ,the children were gone to gather 
some sticks wherewith a  fire might be  
made to boil four potatoes which were   
lying on the table1  and which would    
constitute the family dinner for the    
day4 ,or1 take  another case1 related by
 ,rev4 ,archibald ,brown1 who1 with his 
missionaries is doing a noble work      
amongst the poor in the east of         
,london4 ,people had doubted the        
accuracy of reports presented by the    
missionaries1 and he accordingly devoted
 a considerable time to personal        
visitation and inquiry4 ,he found case  
after case proving that but little  of  
the wretchedness had been told1 and here
 is a fair specimen4 ,at the  top of an 
otherwise empty house lived a family2   
the husband had gone to  try and find   
some work4 ,the mother #bi years of age1
 was sitting on the  only chair in the  
place in front of a grate1 destitute of 
any fire4 ,she  was nursing a baby only 
six weeks old1 that had never had       
anything but  one old rag round it4 ,the

 mother had nothing but a gown on1 and  
that  dropping to pieces2 it was all she
 had night or day4 ,there were six      
children under #ac years of age4 ,they  
were barefooted1 and the few rags  on   
them scarcely covered their nakedness4  
,in this room1 where was an  unclothed  
infant1 the ceiling was in holes4 ,an   
old bedstead was in the  place1 and     
seven sleep in it at night1 the eldest  
girl being on the  floor4    ,this is   
bad1 but it is not the worst4 ,in a room
 in ,wych ,street1 on the  third floor1 
over a marine store dealer's1 there was1
 a short time ago1  an inquest as to the
 death of a little baby4 ,a man1 his    
wife and three  children were living in 
that room4 ,the infant was the second   
child who  had died1 poisoned by the    
foul atmosphere2 and this dead baby was 
cut  open in the one room where its     
parents and brothers and sisters lived1 
ate and slept1 because the parish had no
 mortuary and no room in which  post    
mortems could be performed6 ,no wonder  

that the jurymen who went to  view the  
body sickened at the frightful          
exhalations4 ,this case was given  by   
,mr4 ,g4 ,r4 ,sims1 in his papers on    
,how the ,poor ,live2 but all the       
particulars are found in the dry        
newspaper reports of the inquest4 ,in   
another miserable room are eight        
destitute children4 ,their father died a
  short time ago1 and on going into the 
house to-day1 says the  missionary1 the 
mother was lying in her coffin4 ,here is
 a filthy  attic1 containing only a     
broken chair1 a battered saucepan and a 
few  rags4 ,on a dirty sack in the      
centre of the room sits a neglected1    
ragged1 bare-legged little baby girl of 
four4 ,her father is a  militiaman1 and 
is away4 ,her mother is out all day and 
comes home late  at night more or less  
drunk1 and this child is left in charge 
of the  infant that we see crawling     
about the floor2 left for six or eight  
hours  at a stretch--hungry1 thirsty1   
tired1 but never daring to move from her

  post4 ,and this is the kind of sight  
which may be seen in a ,christian  land 
where it is criminal to ill-treat a     
horse or an ass4    ,the child-misery   
that one beholds is the most            
heartrending and appalling  element in  
these discoveries2 and of this not the  
least is the misery  inherited from the 
vice of drunken and dissolute parents1  
and manifest  in the stunted1 misshapen1
 and often loathsome objects that we    
constantly meet in these localities4    
,from the beginning of their life  they 
are utterly neglected2 their bodies and 
rags are alive with vermin2  they are   
subjected to the most cruel treatment2  
many of them have never  seen a green   
field1 and do not know what it is to go 
beyond the streets  immediately around  
them1 and they often pass the whole day 
without a  morsel of food4 ,here is one 
of three years old picking up some dirty
  pieces of bread and eating them4 ,we  
go in at the doorway where it is        
standing and find a little girl twelve  

years old4 ,where is your  mother8 ,in  
the madhouse4 ,how long has she been    
there8 ,fifteen  months4 ,who looks     
after you8 ,the child1 who is sitting at
 an old  table making match-boxes1      
replies1 ,i look after my little        
brothers and  sisters as well as ,i can4
 ,where is your father8 ,is he in work8 
,he  has been out of work three weeks1  
but he has gone to a job of two days    
this morning4 ,another house visited    
contains nine motherless children4  ,the
 mother's death was caused by witnessing
 one of her children being  run over4   
,the eldest is only fourteen years old4 
,all live in one small  room1 and there 
is one bed for five4 ,here is a poor    
woman deserted by  her husband and left 
with three little children4 ,one met    
with an  accident a few days ago and    
broke his arm4 ,he is lying on a        
shake-down  in one corner of the room1  
with an old sack round him4 ,and here1  
in a  cellar kitchen1 are nine little   
ones4 ,you can scarcely see across the  

room for smoke and dirt4 ,they are      
without food and have scarcely any      
clothing4    ,it is heart-crushing to   
think of the misery suggested by such   
revelations as these2 and there is      
something unspeakably pathetic in the   
brave patience with which the poor not  
seldom endure their sufferings1  and the
 tender sympathy which they show toward 
each other4 ,where1  amongst the        
well-conditioned1 can anything braver   
and kinder be found  than this8 ,a      
mother1 whose children are the cleanest 
and tidiest in the  ,board ,school which
 they attend1 was visited4 ,it was found
 that1 though  she had children of her  
own1 she had taken in a little girl1    
whose  father had gone off tramping in  
search of work4 ,she was propped up in a
  chair1 looking terribly ill1 but in   
front of her1 in another chair1 was  the
 wash-tub1 and the poor woman was making
 a feeble effort to wash and  wring out 
some of the children's things4 ,she was 
dying from dropsy1  scarcely able to    

breathe and enduring untold agony1 but  
to the very  last striving to keep her  
little ones clean and tidy4 ,a more     
touching  sight it would be difficult to
 present2 we might1 however1 unveil many
  more painful ones1 but must content   
ourselves with saying that the  evidence
 we have gathered from personal         
observation more than justifies  the    
words of the writer before referred to1 
that there are 7i4e41 in  addition to   
those who find their way to our         
hospitals7 men and women who  lie and   
die day by day in their wretched single 
rooms1 sharing all the  family trouble1 
enduring the hunger and the cold1 and   
waiting without  hope1 without a single 
ray of comfort1 until ,god curtains     
their staring  eyes with the merciful   
film of death4      ,,what ,,it ,,is    
,,proposed ,,to ,,do4    ,that something
 needs to be done for this pitiable     
outcast population  must be evident to  
all who have read these particulars as  
to their  condition--at least1 to all   

who believe them4 ,we are quite prepared
 for  incredulity4 ,even what we have   
indicated seems all too terrible to be  
true4 ,but we have sketched only in     
faintest outline4 ,far more vivid must  
be our colours1 deeper and darker far   
the shades1 if we are to present a      
truthful picture of ,outcast ,london2   
and so far as we have been able to  go  
we are prepared with evidence1 not only 
to prove every statement1 but  to show  
that these statements represent the     
general condition of  thousands upon    
thousands in this metropolis4           
,incredulity is not the only  difficulty
 in the way of stirring up ,christian   
people to help4 ,despair  of success in 
any such undertaking may paralyse many4 
,we shall be  pointed to the fact that  
without ,state interference nothing     
effectual  can be accomplished upon any 
large scale4 ,and it is a fact4 ,these  
wretched people must live somewhere4    
,they must live near the centres  where 
their work lies4 ,they cannot afford to 

go out by train or tram  into the       
suburbs2 and how1 with their poor       
emaciated1 starved bodies1  can they be 
expected--in addition to working twelve 
hours or more1 for a  shilling1 or      
less1--to walk three or four miles each 
way to take and  fetch8 ,it is notorious
 that the ,artizans ,dwellings ,act has1
 in some  respects1 made matters worse  
for them4 ,large spaces have been       
cleared of  fever-breeding rookeries1 to
 make way for the building of decent    
habitations1 but the rents of these are 
far beyond the means of the  abject     
poor4 ,they are driven to crowd more    
closely together in the few  stifling   
places still left to them2 and so ,dives
 makes a richer harvest  out of their   
misery1 buying up property condemned as 
unfit for  habitation1 and turning it   
into a gold-mine because the poor must  
have  shelter somewhere1 even though it 
be the shelter of a living tomb4    ,the
 ,state must make short work of this    
iniquitous traffic1 and secure  for the 

poorest the rights of citizenship2 the  
right to live in  something better than 
fever dens2 the right to live as        
something better  than the uncleanest of
 brute beasts4 ,this must be done before
 the  ,christian missionary can have    
much chance with them4 ,but because we  
cannot do all we wish1 are we to do     
nothing8 ,even as things are  something 
can be accomplished4 ,is no lifeboat to 
put out and no  life-belt to be thrown  
because only half a dozen out of the    
perishing  hundreds can be saved from   
the wreck8 ,the very records which      
supply the  sad story we have been      
telling1 give also proofs of what can be
 done by  the ,gospel and by ,christian 
love and tact and devotion4 ,gladly do  
many  of these poor creatures receive   
the ,gospel4 ,little match-box makers   
are  heard singing at their toil1 ,one  
more day's work for ,jesus4 ,if only    
mother was a ,christian we should all be
 happy1 said one2 and on his  miserable 
bed1 amidst squalor and want and pain1 a

 poor blind man dies  with the prayer   
upon his lips1 ,jesus1 lover of my soul1
 ,let me to ,thy  bosom fly4 ,another   
writes1 ,you have filled my heart with  
joy1 and my  little room with sunshine4 
,a second1 who now regularly attends a  
place  of worship1 says1 speaking of the
 visits of the missionary1 ,before he   
came to visit me ,i used to sit and make
 match-boxes on ,sunday1 but a  word now
 and then has enabled me to look up to  
the ,lord4 ,i don't feel  like the same 
person4 ,another who himself became a   
missionary to his  own class1 and       
exercised great power over them whenever
 he spoke1 was  able to say1 ,i was as  
bad as any of you1 but the ,lord ,jesus 
had mercy  upon me1 and has made me     
better and so happy4 ,this man had been 
a  coal-whipper of notoriously evil     
life1 and was rescued through his       
casually going into a room in one of the
 courts of which we have spoken1  where 
a missionary was holding a meeting4     
,such results should rebuke our         

faithlessness4 ,even in these dark and  
noisome places the lamp of ,life  may be
 kindled2 even from these miry spots    
bright gems may be snatched1  worth all 
the labour and all the cost4    ,it is  
little creditable to us that all our    
wealth and effort should be  devoted to 
providing for the spiritual needs of    
those who are  comfortably conditioned1 
and none of it expended upon the abject 
poor4  ,it is true that we have not half
 done our duty to any class1 but this   
fact is no justification of our having  
wholly neglected this rescue  work4 ,to 
shut up our compassion against those who
 need it most1 because  we have not yet 
done our duty to those who need it less1
 is a course  that we should find it    
hard to justify to our ,master and      
,lord4 ,his tones  were ever those of   
pitying love even to the most sinful    
outcast1 but  would they not gather     
sternness as ,he met us with the rebuke3
 ,this  ought ye to have done1 and not  
to have left the other undone8 ,an      

exceeding bitter cry is this which goes 
up to heaven from the misery  of ,london
 against the apathy of the ,church4 ,it 
is time that ,christians  opened their  
ears to it and let it sink down into    
their hearts4 ,many  pressing needs are 
taxing the resources of the ,london     
,congregational  ,union1 but the        
,committee feel that this work amongst  
the poor must no  longer be neglected1  
and that they must do all they can to   
arouse the  ,churches of their order to 
undertake their share of responsibility4
 ,they  have determined to take         
immediate action4 ,having selected three
 of the  very worst districts in        
,london1 from which many of the         
foregoing facts  have been gathered1    
they have resolved at once to begin     
operations in  the very heart of them4  
,no denominational purpose will sway    
them1  except that they will try to     
awaken their own denomination to a sense
 of  its duty2 but there will be no     
attempt to make ,congregationalists or  

to  present ,congregationalism4 ,deeper1
 broader and simpler must this work be  
than any which can be carried on upon   
denominational lines4 ,in such a        
forlorn hope there is no room for       
sectarianism4 ,the ,gospel of the love  
of ,christ must be presented in its     
simplest form1 and the one aim in       
everything must be to rescue and not to 
proselytize4 ,help will be  thankfully  
welcomed from whatever quarter it may   
come1 and help will be  freely given to 
other workers in the same field1 if only
 by any means  some may be saved4 ,it is
 impossible here and yet to give details
 as to  the methods which it is proposed
 to pursue2 suffice it to say that in   
each district a ,mission ,hall will be  
erected1 or some existing building      
transformed into a ,hall having         
appliances and conveniences requisite   
for  the successful prosecution of the  
,mission4 ,services and meetings of all 
kinds will be arranged1 and1 as far as  
possible1 an agency for house to  house 

visitation organized4 ,an attempt must  
be made to relieve in some  wise and    
practical1 though very limited way1 the 
abounding misery1  whilst care is taken 
to prevent the abuse of charity4 ,in    
this matter the  injudicious and        
inexperienced may easily do more harm   
than good1  pauperising the people whom 
they wish to help1 and making hypocrites
  instead of ,christians4 ,to indicate  
what we mean we may mention one case    
pointed out to us of a woman who        
attended three different places of      
worship on the ,sunday and some others  
during the week1 because she  obtained  
charitable help from all4 ,but we cannot
 on this account refuse  to try some    
means of mitigating the suffering with  
which we come into  contact4 ,therefore 
this must be attempted along with       
whatever other  means the ,committee1 in
 conference with those who have had long
  experience of this work1 may think    
likely to answer the end they have      
before them4 ,their hope is that at     

least some1 even of the lowest and      
worst1 may be gathered in2 and their aim
 will be to make as many of  these as   
they can missionaries to the others2 for
 manifestly those who  have been        
accustomed to speak to and work amongst 
a somewhat better  section of the       
community will not be so likely to      
labour successfully  amongst these      
outcasts as will those who have         
themselves been of their  number4 ,the  
three districts already fixed upon are1 
as it will be  understood1 intended only
 to afford a field for the immediate    
commencement of this beneficent work4   
,other districts will be occupied  as   
funds come in and the resources of the  
,committee are enlarged2 but  even the  
comparatively limited operations already
 undertaken will  necessitate so great  
an expenditure and require so much aid  
from those  who are qualified for the   
work1 that they cannot wisely attempt   
more at  present4 ,for not only will the
 cost and furnishing of ,halls and of   

carrying on the work be very large1 but 
a relief fund will be needed as         
indicated above4 ,the ,committee1       
therefore1 can only hope to carry       
forward with any success the project to 
which they have already put  their      
hands1 by the really devoted help of the
 churches which they  represent4        
,,description ,,of ,,the ,,districts4   
,the district known as ,collier's ,rents
 is one of the three to which  attention
 will first be given1 and the old       
chapel1 long disused1 is now  in the    
builders' hands and will soon be ready  
for opening1 not as a  chapel1 but as a 
bright1 comfortable1 and in every way   
suitable ,hall4 ,it  would be impossible
 to find a building better situated for 
working among  the very poor and        
degraded than this4 ,it stands in a     
short street1  leading out of ,long     
,lane1 ,bermondsey1 the locality in     
which were  recently found the bodies of
 nine infants1 which had been deposited 
in a  large box at the foot of some     

stairs in an undertaker's shop4 ,there  
are  around the ,hall some #fej         
families1 or #cbej people1 living in    
#abc houses4  ,the houses are largely   
occupied by costermongers1 birdcatchers1
 street  singers1 liberated convicts1   
thieves and prostitutes4 ,there are many
 low  lodging-houses in the             
neighbourhood of the worst type4 ,some  
of them are  tenanted chiefly by        
thieves1 and one was pointed out which  
is kept by a  receiver of stolen goods4 
,in some cases two of the houses are    
united by  means of a passage which     
affords a ready method of escape in case
 of  police interference4    ,turning   
out of one of these streets you enter a 
narrow passage1 about  ten yards long   
and three feet wide4 ,this leads into a 
court eighteen  yards long and nine     
yards wide4 ,here are twelve houses of  
three rooms  each1 and containing       
altogether #cf families4 ,the sanitary  
condition of  the place is              
indescribable4 ,a large dust-bin charged

 with all manner of  filth and putrid   
matter stands at one end of the court1  
and four  water-closets at the other4   
,in this confined area all the washing  
of  these #cf families is done1 and the 
smell of the place is intolerable4      
,entering a doorway you go up six or    
seven steps into a long passage1 so     
dark that you have to grope your way by 
the clammy1 dirt-encrusted wall1  and   
then you find a wooden stair1 some of   
the steps of which are broken  through4 
,ascending as best you can1 you gain    
admission to one of the  rooms4 ,you    
find that although the front and back of
 the house are of  brick1 the rooms are 
separated only by partitions of boards1 
some of  which are an inch apart4 ,there
 are no locks on the doors and it would 
seem that they can only be fastened on  
the outside by padlock4 ,in this  room  
to which we have come an old bed1 on    
which are some evil-smelling  rags1 is1 
with the exception of a broken chair1   
the only article of  furniture4 ,its    

sole occupant just now is a repulsive1  
half-drunken  ,irishwoman4 ,she is      
looking at some old ragged garments in  
hope of being  able to raise something  
upon them at the pawnshop1 and being    
asked if  she is doing this because she 
is poor1 she gets into a rage and cries1
  ,call me poor8 ,i have got half a loaf
 of bread in the house1 and a  little   
milk2 and then from a heap of rubbish in
 one corner1 she pulls  out a putrid    
turkey1 utterly unfit for human food1   
which she tells us  she is going to cook
 for dinner4 ,this woman has just done  
seven days  for an assault upon a police
 officer4 ,we find that she has a       
husband1  but he spends almost all his  
money at the public-house4 ,rooms such  
as  this are let furnished 767 at #cs4  
#f;d4 and #ds4 a week1 or #h;d4 a night1
  and we are told that the owner is     
getting from #ej to #fj per cent4 upon  
his money4    ,and this is a specimen of
 the neighbourhood4 ,reeking courts1    
crowded  public-houses1 low             

lodging-houses and numerous brothels are
 to be found  all around4 ,even the     
cellars are tenanted4 ,poverty1 rags and
 dirt  everywhere4 ,the air is laden    
with disease-breeding gases4 ,the       
missionaries who labour here1 are       
constantly being attacked by some       
malady or other resulting from blood    
poisoning1 and their tact and  courage  
are subjected to the severest tests4 ,in
 going about these alleys  and courts no
 stranger is safe if alone4 ,not long   
ago a doctor on his  rounds was waylaid 
by a number of women1 who would not let 
him pass to  see his patient until he   
had given them money2 and a bible-woman1
  visiting ,kent ,street1 was robbed of 
most of her clothing4 ,even the  police 
seldom venture into some parts of the   
district except in company4  ,yet bad as
 it is there are elements of hopefulness
 which encourage us to  believe that our
 work will not be in vain4 ,many of its 
denizens would  gladly break away from  
the dismal1 degrading life they are     

leading1 if  only a way were made for   
them to do so2 as it is they are hemmed 
in and  chained down by their           
surroundings in hopeless and helpless   
misery4    ,such is ,collier's ,rents4  
,to describe the other two localities   
where our  work is to be commenced1 in  
,ratcliff and ,shadwell1 would1 in the  
main1  be but to repeat the same        
heart-sickening story4 ,heart-sickening 
but  soul-stirring4 ,we have opened but 
a little way the door that leads into   
this plague-house of sin and misery and 
corruption1 where men and women  and    
little children starve and suffer and   
perish1 body and soul4 ,but  even the   
glance we have got is a sight to make   
one weep4 ,we shall not  wonder if some1
 shuddering at the revolting spectacle1 
try to persuade  themselves that such   
things cannot be in ,christian ,england1
 and that  what they have looked upon is
 some dark vision conjured by a morbid  
pity  and a desponding faith4 ,to such  
we can only say1 ,will you venture to   

come with us and see for yourselves the 
ghastly reality8 ,others1 looking  on1  
will believe1 and pity1 and despair4    
,but another vision will be seen  by    
many1 and in this lies our hope--a      
vision of ,him who had compassion  upon 
the multitude because they were as sheep
 having no shepherd1  looking1 with     
,divine pity in ,his eyes1 over this    
outcast ,london1 and  then turning to   
the consecrated host of ,his ,church    
with the appeal1  ,whom shall we send   
and who will go for us8    ,october1    
#ahhc4    ,illustration3 ,decoration    
,printers3 ,,warren ,,hall  ,,lovitt1   
#hh1 ,camden ,road1 ,n4,w4              
,oh1 ,thou1 who once on earth1 beneath  
the weight       ,of our mortality1     
didst live and move1       ,the         
incarnation of profoundest love2        
,who on the ,cross that love didst      
consummate--       ,whose deep and ample
 fulness could embrace       ,the       
poorest1 meanest1 of our fallen race3   
,how shall we e'er that boundless debt  

repay8       ,by long loud prayers in   
gorgeous temples said8       ,by rich   
oblations on ,thine altars laid8        
,ah1 no6 not thus ,thou didst appoint   
the way4       ,when ,thou wast bowed   
our human woe beneath1       ,then1 as a
 legacy1 ,thou didst bequeath           
,earth's sorrowing children to our      
ministry--       ,and1 as we do to them 
we do to ,thee4         ,,anne          
,,charlotte ,,lynch4