mental and moral condition of the white slaves in great britain.

the moral degradation and mental darkness of the labouring classes in great britain in the middle of the nineteenth century, are appalling to contemplate. beneath the wing of a government professedly christian, there is sheltered a vast number of people who must be characterized as heathen—as fit subjects of missionary labours, such as are freely given to the dark sons of india and africa. they know nothing of god but his prevailing name; and the bible's light is hid from them as completely as if its pages were inscribed with egyptian hieroglyphics. their code of morals is the creature of their sensual inclinations; their intelligence seemingly the superior instinct of the animal. scotland is far beyond other portions of great britain in the moral and mental cultivation of its people; but there is a large class in that country to which the above observations may be justly applied.

according to kay, more than half the poor in england [pg 380] and wales cannot read and write, while the majority of the remainder know nothing of science, history, geography, music, or drawing, and very little of the scripture history. in the great mercantile and manufacturing towns, it is true that poor men, if they defer their marriage, and have no extraordinary encumbrances, may improve their condition; but scarcely any facilities are offered for their acquiring the intelligence necessary for the control of passion. the schools in the towns are wretchedly arranged and managed. many are nothing more than "dame schools," conducted often in cellars or garrets, by poor women, who know how to read, but who often know nothing else. the schools for the peasants are still fewer in number, and inefficient in character; and hence the result, that the english peasantry are more ignorant and demoralized, less capable of helping themselves, and more pauperized, than those of any other country in europe, if we except russia, turkey, south italy, and some parts of the austrian empire. a writer in a recent number of "household words," makes some remarkable statements in regard to the ignorance of the english masses:—

"wherever we turn, ignorance, not always allied to poverty, stares us in the face. if we look in the gazette, at the list of partnerships dissolved, not a month passes but some unhappy man, rolling perhaps in wealth, but wallowing in ignorance, is put to the experimentum crucis of 'his mark,' the number of petty [pg 381] jurors—in rural districts especially—who can only sign with a cross is enormous. it is not unusual to see parish documents of great local importance defaced with the same humiliating symbol by persons whose office shows them to be not only 'men of mark,' but men of substance. we have printed already specimens of the partial ignorance which passes under the ken of the post-office authorities, and we may venture to assert, that such specimens of penmanship and orthography are not to be matched in any other country in europe. a housewife in humble life need only turn to the file of her tradesmen's bills to discover hieroglyphics which render them so many arithmetical puzzles. in short, the practical evidences of the low ebb to which the plainest rudiments of education in this country has fallen, are too common to bear repetition. we cannot pass through the streets, we cannot enter a place of public assembly, or ramble in the fields, without the gloomy shadow of ignorance sweeping over us. the rural population is indeed in a worse plight than the other classes. we quote—with the attestation of our own experience—the following passage from one of a series of articles which have recently appeared in a morning newspaper: 'taking the adult class of agricultural labourers, it is almost impossible to exaggerate the ignorance in which they live and move and have their being. as they work in the fields, the external world has some hold upon them through the medium of their senses; but to all the higher exercises of intellect they are perfect strangers. you cannot address one of them without being at once painfully struck with the intellectual darkness which enshrouds him. there is in general neither speculation in his eyes nor intelligence in his countenance. the whole expression is more that of an animal than of a man. he is wanting, too, in the erect and independent bearing of a man. when you accost him, if he is not insolent—which he seldom is—he is timid and shrinking, his whole manner showing that he feels himself at a distance from you greater than should separate any two classes of men. he is often doubtful when you address, and suspicious when you question him; he is seemingly oppressed with the interview while it lasts, and obviously relieved when it is over. these are the traits [pg 382] which i can affirm them to possess as a class, after having come in contact with many hundreds of farm labourers. they belong to a generation for whose intellectual culture little or nothing was done. as a class, they have no amusements beyond the indulgence of sense. in nine cases out of ten, recreation is associated in their minds with nothing higher than sensuality. i have frequently asked clergymen and others, if they often find the adult peasant reading for his own or others' amusement? the invariable answer is, that such a sight is seldom or never witnessed. in the first place, the great bulk of them cannot read. in the next, a large proportion of those who can, do so with too much difficulty to admit of the exercise being an amusement to them. again, few of those who can read with comparative ease, have the taste for doing so. it is but justice to them to say that many of those who cannot read have bitterly regretted, in my hearing, their inability to do so. i shall never forget the tone in which an old woman in cornwall intimated to me what a comfort it would now be to her could she only read her bible in her lonely hours.'"

from statistics given by kay, it is apparent that the proportional amount of crime to population, calculated in two years, 1841 and 1847, was greater in almost all the agricultural counties of england than it was in the mining and manufacturing districts. the peasants of england must be subjected to a singularly demoralizing system to produce so terrible a result. the extreme poverty of the agricultural labourers is the great stimulant to crime of all kinds; but the darkness of ignorance is also a powerful agent. poverty renders the peasants desperate, and they are too ignorant to see the consequences of crime.

in a former part of this work, it was mentioned that [pg 383] the miserable cottages in which the peasants are compelled to reside have considerable influence in demoralizing them. this deserves to be fully illustrated. the majority of the cottages have but two small rooms; in one of which husband and wife, young men and young women, boys and girls, and, very often, a married son and his wife all sleep together. kay says—

"the accounts we receive from all parts of the country show that these miserable cottages are crowded to an extreme, and that the crowding is progressively increasing. people of both sexes, and of all ages, both married and unmarried—parents, brothers, sisters, and strangers—sleep in the same rooms and often in the same beds. one gentlemen tells us of six people of different sexes and ages, two of whom were man and wife, sleeping in the same bed, three with their heads at the top and three with their heads at the foot of the bed. another tells us of adult uncles and nieces sleeping in the same room close to each other; another, of the uncles and nieces sleeping in the same bed together; another, of adult brothers and sisters sleeping in the same room with a brother and his wife just married; many tell us of adult brothers and sisters sleeping in the same beds; another tells us of rooms so filled with beds that there is no space between them, but that brothers, sisters, and parents crawl over each other half naked in order to get to their respective resting-places; another, of its being common for men and women, not being relations, to undress together in the same room, without any feeling of its being indelicate; another, of cases where women have been delivered in bedrooms crowded with men, young women, and children; and others mention facts of these crowded bedrooms much too horrible to be alluded to. nor are these solitary instances, but similar reports are given by gentlemen writing in all parts of the country."

the young peasants from their earliest years are accustomed to sleep in the same bedrooms with people [pg 384] of both sexes; and they lose all sense of the indecency of such a life, taking wives before they are twenty years of age to sleep in the same room with their parents. the policy now pursued by the aristocratic landlords, of clearing their estates, tends to crowd the cottages which are allowed to remain, and thus the demoralization of the peasantry is stimulated. adultery is the very mildest form of the vast amount of crime which it is engendering. magistrates, clergymen, surgeons, and parish-officers bear witness that cases of incest are increasing in all parts of the country. an eminent writer represents the consequences of the state of the peasant's cottages in england and wales in the following startling, but unexaggerated terms:—

"a man and woman intermarry, and take a cottage. in eight cases out of ten it is a cottage with but two rooms. for a time, so far as room at least is concerned, this answers their purpose; but they take it, not because it is at the time sufficiently spacious for them, but because they could not procure a more roomy dwelling, even if they desired it. in this they pass with tolerable comfort, considering their notions of what comfort is, the first period of married life; but, by-and-by they have children, and the family increases, until, in the course of a few years, they number, perhaps, from eight to ten individuals. but in all this time there has been no increase to their household accommodation. as at first, so to the very last, there is but the one sleeping-room. as the family increases, additional beds are crammed into this apartment, until at last it is so filled with them, that there is scarcely room left to move between them. i have known instances in which they had to crawl over each other to get to their beds. so long as the children are very young, the only evil connected with this is the physical one arising from crowding so many people together [pg 385] into what is generally a dingy, frequently a damp, and invariably an ill-ventilated apartment. but years steal on, and the family continues thus bedded together. some of its members may yet be in their infancy, but others of both sexes have crossed the line of puberty. but there they are, still together in the same room—the father and mother, the sons and the daughters—young men, young women, and children. cousins, too, of both sexes, are often thrown together into the same room, and not unfrequently into the same bed. i have also known of cases in which uncles slept in the same room with their grown-up nieces, and newly-married couples occupied the same chamber with those long married, and with others marriageable but unmarried. a case also came to my notice, already alluded to in connection with another branch of the subject, in which two sisters, who were married on the same day, occupied adjoining rooms in the same hut, with nothing but a thin board partition, which did not reach the ceiling, between the two rooms, and a door in the partition which only partly filled up the doorway. for years back, in these same two rooms, have slept twelve people of both sexes and all ages. sometimes, when there is but one room, a praiseworthy effort is made for the conservation of decency. but the hanging up of a piece of tattered cloth between the beds, which is generally all that is done in this respect, and even that but seldom, is but a poor set-off to the fact, that a family, which, in common decency, should, as regards sleeping accommodations, be separated at least into three divisions, occupy, night after night, but one and the same chamber. this is a frightful position for them to be in when an infectious or epidemic disease enters their abode. but this, important though it be, is the least important consideration connected with their circumstances. that which is most so, is the effect produced by them upon their habits and morals. in the illicit intercourse to which such a position frequently gives rise, it is not always that the tie of blood is respected. certain it is, that when the relationship is even but one degree removed from that of brother and sister, that tie is frequently overlooked. and when the circumstances do not lead to such horrible consequences, the mind, particularly of the female, is wholly divested [pg 386] of that sense of delicacy and shame, which, so long as they are preserved, are the chief safeguards of her chastity. she therefore falls an early and an easy prey to the temptations which beset her beyond the immediate circle of her family. people in the other spheres of life are but little aware of the extent to which this precocious demoralization of the female among the lower orders in the country has proceeded. but how could it be otherwise? the philanthropist may exert himself in their behalf, the moralist may inculcate even the worldly advantages of a better course of life, and the minister of religion may warn them of the eternal penalties which they are incurring; but there is an instructor constantly at work, more potent than them all—an instructor in mischief, of which they must get rid ere they can make any real progress in their laudable efforts—and that is, the single bedchamber in the two-roomed cottage."

but such cottages will continue to be the dwellings of the peasantry until the system of lord and serf is abolished, until they can obtain ground of their own, and have no fear of eviction at a moment's notice. it has often been a matter of wonder that there is less discontent and murmuring among the miserable peasants than among the workmen in the manufacturing towns. the reason lies upon the surface. the workmen in the factories are generally more intelligent than the agricultural labourers, and have a keen feeling of their degradation. it requires a certain degree of elevation to render a man discontented. the wallowing pig is satisfied.

we need not be surprised to find that where so much misery prevails crime is frightfully frequent. the "times" of the 30th of november, 1849, shows the [pg 387] terrible increase of crime in the last few years in dorsetshire. the "times" says—

"we yesterday published, in a very short compass, some grave particulars of the unfortunate county of dorset. it is not simply the old story of wages inadequate for life, hovels unfit for habitation, and misery and sin alternately claiming our pity and our disgust. this state of things is so normal, and we really believe so immemorial in that notorious county, that we should rather deaden than excite the anxiety of the public by a thrice-told tale. what compels our attention just now is a sudden, rapid, and, we fear, a forced aggravation of these evils, measured by the infallible test of crime. dorsetshire is fast sinking into a slough of wretchedness, which threatens the peace and morality of the kingdom at large. the total number of convictions, which

"in 1846 was 798, and

"in 1847 was 821, mounted up,

"in 1848, to 950;

"and up to the special general session, last tuesday, (dec. 1849,) for less than eleven months of the present year, to the astonishing number of 1193, being at the rate of 1300 for the whole year! unless something is done to stop this flood of crime, or the tide happily turns of itself, the county will have more than doubled its convictions within four years! nor is it possible for us to take refuge in the thought that the increase is in petty offences. in no respect is it a light thing for a poor creature to be sent to jail, whatever be the offence. he has broken the laws of his country, and forfeited his character. his name and his morals are alike tainted with the jail. he is degraded and corrupted. if his spirit be not crushed, it is exasperated into perpetual hostility to wealth and power.

"it is, then, no light affair that a rural county, the abode of an ancient and respectable aristocracy, somewhat removed from the popular influences of the age, with a population of 175,043 by the late census, should produce in four years near 4000 convictions, [pg 388] being at the rate of one conviction in that period for every sixty persons, or every twelve householders."

we might express our doubts of the real respectability of the ancient aristocracy of dorsetshire. they do not injure society in a way of which the laws take notice; but had they nothing to do with the making of the 4000 criminals? in 1834, an english writer estimated that about 120,000 of the people were always in jail. at the present time the number is still greater.

the humane and able author of "letters on rural districts," published in the "morning chronicle" of london, thus speaks of the frightful immorality among the agricultural population of norfolk and suffolk counties:—

"one species of immorality, which is peculiarly prevalent in norfolk and suffolk, is that of bastardy. with the exception of hereford and cumberland, there are no counties in which the percentage of bastardy is so high as it is in norfolk—being there 53.1 per cent. above the average of england and wales; in suffolk it is 27 per cent. above, and in essex 19.1 per cent. below the average. in the two first-named counties, and even in the latter one, though not to the same extent, there appears to be a perfect want of decency among the people. 'the immorality of the young women,' said the rector of one parish to me, 'is literally horrible, and i regret to say it is on the increase in a most extraordinary degree. when i first came to the town, the mother of a bastard child used to be ashamed to show herself. the case is now quite altered; no person seems to think any thing at all of it. when i first came to the town, there was no such thing as a common prostitute in it; now there is an enormous number of [pg 389] them. when i am called upon to see a woman confined with an illegitimate child, i endeavour to impress upon her the enormity of the offence; and there are no cases in which i receive more insult from those i visit than from such persons. they generally say they'll get on as well, after all that's said about it; and if they never do any thing worse than that, they shall get to heaven as well as other people.' another clergyman stated to me, that he never recollected an instance of his having married a woman who was not either pregnant at the time of her marriage, or had had one or more children before her marriage. again, a third clergyman told me, that he went to baptize the illegitimate child of one woman, who was thirty-five years of age, and it was absolutely impossible for him to convince her that what she had done was wrong. 'there appears,' said he, 'to be among the lower orders a perfect deadness of all moral feeling upon this subject.' many of the cases of this kind, which have come under my knowledge, evince such horrible depravity, that i dare not attempt to lay them before the reader. speaking to the wife of a respectable labourer on the subject, who had seven children, one of whom was then confined with an illegitimate child, she excused her daughter's conduct by saying, 'what was the poor girl to do! the chaps say that they won't marry 'em first, and then the girls give way. i did the same myself with my husband.' there was one case in cossey, in norfolk, in which the woman told me, without a blush crimsoning her cheek, that her daughter and self had each had a child by a sweep, who lodged with them, and who promised to marry the daughter. the cottage in which these persons slept consisted of but one room, and there were two other lodgers who occupied beds in the same room; in one of which 'a young woman occasionally slept with the young man she was keeping company with.' the other lodger was an old woman of seventy-four years of age. to such an extent is prostitution carried on in norwich, that out of the 656 licensed public-houses and beer-shops in the city, there are not less than 220, which are known to the police as common brothels. and, although the authorities have the power of withholding the licenses, nothing is done to put a stop to the frightful vice."

[pg 390]

a want of chastity is universal among the female peasants of wales, arising chiefly from the herding of many persons in the small cottages. in the vicinity of the mines, the average of inhabitants to a house is said to be nearly twelve. the rev. john griffith, vicar of aberdare, says—

"nothing can be lower, i would say more degrading, than the character in which the women stand relative to the men. the men and the women, married as well as single, live in the same house, and sleep in the same room. the men do not hesitate to wash themselves naked before the women; on the other hand, the women do not hesitate to change their under garments before the men. promiscuous intercourse is most common, is thought of as nothing, and the women do not lose caste by it."

the welsh are peculiarly exempt from the guilt of great crimes. but petty thefts, lying, cozening, every species of chicanery and drunkenness are common among the agricultural population, and are regarded as matters of course.

infanticide is practised to a terrible extent in england and wales. in most of the large provincial towns, "burial clubs" exist. a small sum is paid every year by the parent, and this entitles him to receive from ￡3 to ￡5 from the club on the death of the child. many persons enter their children in several clubs; and, as the burial of the child does not necessarily cost more than ￡1, or at the most ￡1 10s., the parent realizes a considerable sum after all the expenses are paid. for the sake of this money, it has become common to cause the death [pg 391] of the children, either by starvation, ill-usage, or poison. no more horrible symptom of moral degradation could be conceived.

"mr. chadwick says, [101] 'officers of these burial societies, relieving officers, and others, whose administrative duties put them in communication with the lowest classes in these districts, (the manufacturing districts,) express their moral conviction of the operation of such bounties to produce instances of the visible neglect of children of which they are witnesses. they often say—you are not treating that child properly, it will not live; is it in the club? and the answer corresponds with the impression produced by the sight.

"'mr. gardiner, the clerk of the manchester union, while registering the causes of death, deemed the cause assigned by a labouring man for the death of a child unsatisfactory, and staying to inquire, found that popular rumour assigned the death to wilful starvation. the child (according to a statement of the case) had been entered in at least ten burial clubs; and its parents had had six other children, who only lived from nine to eighteen months respectively. they had received from several burial clubs twenty pounds for one of these children, and they expected at least as much on account of this child. an inquest was held at mr. gardiner's instance, when several persons, who had known the deceased, stated that she was a fine fat child shortly after her birth, but that she soon became quite thin, was badly clothed, and seemed as if she did not get a sufficiency of food.... the jury, having expressed it as their opinion that the evidence of the parents was made up for the occasion and entitled to no credit, returned the following verdict:—died through want of nourishment, but whether occasioned by a deficiency of food, or by disease of the liver and spine brought on by improper food and drink or otherwise, does not appear.

"'two similar cases came before mr. coppock, the clerk and [pg 392] superintendent-registrar of the stockport union, in both of which he prosecuted the parties for murder. in one case, where three children had been poisoned with arsenic, the father was tried with the mother and convicted at chester, and sentenced to be transported for life, but the mother was acquitted. in the other case, where the judge summed up for a conviction, the accused, the father, was, to the astonishment of every one, acquitted. in this case the body was exhumed after interment, and arsenic was detected in the stomach. in consequence of the suspicion raised upon the death on which the accusation was made in the first case, the bodies of two other children were taken up and examined, when arsenic was found in their stomachs. in all these cases payments on the deaths of the children were insured from the burial clubs; the cost of the coffin and burial dues would not be more than about one pound, and the allowance from the club is three pounds.

"'it is remarked on these dreadful cases by the superintendent-registrar, that the children who were boys, and therefore likely to be useful to the parents, were not poisoned; the female children were the victims. it was the clear opinion of the medical officers that infanticides have been committed in stockport to obtain the burial money.'"

such parents must be placed upon a level with the swine that devour their farrow. we are led to doubt whether they could sink much lower in the animal scale; poverty and ignorance seem to have thoroughly quenched the spark of humanity. the author of "letters on labour, and the poor in the rural districts," writing of the burial clubs in the eastern counties, says:

"the suspicion that a great deal of 'foul play' exists with respect to these clubs is supported, not only by a comparison of the different rates of mortality, but it is considerably strengthened by the facts proved upon the trial of mary may. the rev. mr. wilkins, the vicar of wickes, who was mainly instrumental in [pg 393] bringing the case before a court of justice, stated to me that, from the time of mary may coming to live in his parish, he was determined to keep a very strict watch upon her movements, as he had heard that fourteen of her children had previously died suddenly.

"a few weeks after her arrival in his parish, she called upon him to request him to bury one of her children. upon his asking her which of the children it was, she told him that it was eliza, a fine healthy-looking child of ten years old. upon his expressing some surprise that she should have died so suddenly, she said, 'oh, sir, she went off like a snuff; all my other children did so too.' a short time elapsed, and she again waited upon the vicar to request him to bury her brother as soon as he could. his suspicions were aroused, and he endeavoured to postpone the funeral for a few days, in order to enable him to make some inquiries. not succeeding in obtaining any information which would warrant further delay in burying the corpse, he most reluctantly proceeded in the discharge of his duty.

"about a week after the funeral, mary may again waited upon him to request him to sign a certificate to the effect that her brother was in perfect health a fortnight before he died, that being the time at which, as it subsequently appeared, she had entered him as nominee in the harwich burial club. upon inquiring as to the reason of her desiring this certificate, she told him that, unless she got it, she could not get the money for him from the club. this at once supplied the vicar with what appeared to be a motive for 'foul play' on the part of the woman. he accordingly obtained permission to have the body of her brother exhumed; doses of arsenic were detected, and the woman was arrested. with the evidence given upon the trial the reader is, no doubt, perfectly conversant, and it will be unnecessary for me to detail it. she was convicted. previously to her execution she refused to make any confession, but said, 'if i were to tell all i know, it would give the hangman work for the next twelve months.' undue weight ought not to be attached to the declaration of such a woman as mary may; but, coupled with the disclosures that took place upon the trial with respect to some of her neighbours and accomplices, and with the extraordinary rate [pg 394] of mortality among the clubs, it certainly does appear that the general opinion with respect to the mischievous effects of these societies is not altogether without foundation.

"although there are not in essex, at present, any burial clubs in which children are admitted under fourteen years of age as members or nominees, still, as illustrating the evils arising from these clubs, i may state that many persons who are fully conversant with the working of such institutions have stated that they have frequently been shocked by hearing women of the lower classes, when speaking of a neighbour's child, make use of such expressions as, 'oh, depend upon it, the child'll not live; it's in the burial club.' when speaking to the parents of a child who may be unwell, it is not unfrequently that they say, 'you should do so and so,' or, 'you should not do so and so;' 'you should not treat it in that way; is it in the burial club?' instances of the most culpable neglect, if not of graver offences, are continually occurring in districts where clubs exist in which children are admitted. a collector of one of the most extensive burial societies gave it as his opinion, founded upon his experience, that it had become a constant practice to neglect the children for the sake of the allowance from the clubs; and he supported his opinion by several cases which had come under his own observation."

a vast number of other facts, of equally shocking character, have been ascertained. the rev. j. clay, chaplain of the preston house of correction, in a sanitary report, makes some statements of a nature to startle:—

"it appears, on the unimpeachable authority of a burial-club official, that 'hired nurses speculate on the lives of infants committed to their care, by entering them in burial clubs;' that 'two young women proposed to enter a child into his club, and to pay the weekly premium alternately. upon inquiring as to the relation subsisting between the two young women and the child, he learned that the infant was placed at nurse with the mother of one of [pg 395] these young women,' the wife of a clergymen told me that, visiting a poor district just when a child's death had occurred, instead of hearing from the neighbours the language of sympathy for the bereaved parent, she was shocked by such observations as—'ah! it's a fine thing for the mother, the child's in two clubs!'

"as regards one town, i possess some evidence of the amount of burial-club membership and of infant mortality, which i beg to lay before you. the reports of this town refer to 1846, when the population of the town amounted to about 61,000. i do not name the town, because, as no actual burial-club murders are known to have been committed in it, and as such clubs are not more patronized there than in other places, it is, perhaps, not fair to hold it up to particular animadversion; indeed, as to its general character, this very town need not fear comparison with any other. now this place, with its sixty-one thousand people of all classes and ages, maintains at least eleven burial clubs, the members of which amount in the aggregate to nearly fifty-two thousand; nor are these all. sick clubs, remember, act as burial clubs. of these there are twelve or fourteen in the town, mustering altogether, probably, two thousand members. here, then, we have good data for comparing population with 'death lists;' but it will be necessary, in making the comparison, to deduct from the population all that part of it which has nothing to do with these clubs, viz. all infants under two months old, and all persons of unsound health, (both of these classes being excluded by the club rules;) all those also of the working classes, whose sound intelligence and feeling lead them to abhor burial-club temptations; and all the better classes, to whom five or twenty pounds offer no consolation for the death of a child. on the hypothesis that these deductions will amount to one-sixth of the entire population, it results that the death lists are more numerous by far than the entire mass—old, young, and infants—which support them; and, according to the statement of a leading death-list officer, three-fourths of the names on these catalogues of the doomed are the names of children. now, if this be the truth—and i believe it is—hundreds, if not thousands of children must be entered each into four, five, or even twelve clubs, their chances of life [pg 396] diminishing, of course, in proportion to the frequency with which they are entered. lest you should imagine that such excessive addiction to burial clubs is only to be found in one place, i furnish you with a report for 1846, of a single club, which then boasted thirty-four thousand one hundred members, the entire population of the town to which it belongs having been, in 1841, little more than thirty-six thousand!"

the authorities from whom these statements are derived are of the highest respectability; they hear witness to a state of affairs scarcely to be conceived by people of other civilized countries. hundreds of thousands of human beings seem to be driven into an awful abyss of crime and misery by the iron rule of the aristocracy—an abyss where mothers forget maternal feelings, where marriage vows are scoffed, and where the momentary gratification of brutal passions is alone esteemed. there, indeed, there is no fear of god, and heathenism spreads its upas shade to poison and destroy.

the only amusement which the english poor possess in many parts of the country, is to visit taverns. in the towns the "gin-palaces" and the beer-houses are very numerous; and whenever the poor have leisure, these places are thronged by drunken men and abandoned women. in all the rural districts there is a frightful amount of drunkenness. british legislation has increased the number of these hot-beds of crime and pauperism.

"in the beginning of the revolutionary war the duties on malt were augmented, and in 1825 the duties on spirits were decreased. [pg 397] it was thus that whisky was substituted for ale as the beverage of the scotch, and that gin and brandy began to be generally drunk by the english poor.

"the consumption of spirits immediately increased in a tremendous proportion. from 4,132,263 gallons, the consumption in 1825, it rose in one year to 8,888,648 gallons; that is, the consumption was in one year more than doubled by the change; and from that period, with the exception of the year next following, viz. 1827, the consumption has been progressively augmenting.

"since that time the noted beer-shop act has been passed. by that act, any one was enabled to obtain a license to enable him to sell beer, whether the person desirous of doing so was a person of respectable character or not.

"but this was the least of the evils which were effected by that act. a clause, which was still more injurious, was that which prescribed that the liquor must be drunk upon the premises of the beer-house, i. e. either in the beer-house or on a bench just outside the door.

"this has the effect in many cases, where the poor would otherwise take the beer home to their own cottages, of forcing the young men who wish to have a little to drink, to sit down and take it in the society of the worst people of the neighbourhood, who always, as a matter of course, spend their leisure in the tavern. i am convinced that nothing can be more injurious in its effects upon the poor than this clause. it may be said to force the honest labourers into the society and companionship of the most depraved, and so necessarily to demoralize the young and honest labourer.

"the following is the number of gallons of native proof spirits on which duty was paid for home consumption in the united kingdom, in the undermentioned years:—

years gallons.

1843 18,841,890

1844 20,608,525

1845 23,122,588

1846 24,106,697

[pg 398]

"to the above must be added the number of gallons of foreign and colonial spirits retained for home consumption, as follows:—

years no. of gallons of foreign, &c. spirits. no. of gallons of home and foreign spirits consumed in the united kingdom.

1843 3,161,957 22,026,289

1844 3,242,606 22,042,905

1845 3,549,889 26,672,477

1846 4,252,237 28,360,934

"from the above statistics it appears that the consumption of spirits in the united kingdom is increasing much more rapidly than the population!

"the number of licenses granted to retailers of spirits or beer amounted, in 1845, to 237,345; that is, there was to be found, in 1845, a retailer of beer or spirits in every 115 of the population! of the beer licenses, 68,086 were for dwellings rated under ￡20 per annum, and 35,340 were licenses for premises rated under ￡10 per annum! this shows how large a proportion of the beer-shops are situated in the poorest districts, for the use of the poorest classes. [102]

there is a section of london, which in 1847 had 2000 inhabitants, one butcher's shop, two bakers' shops, and seventeen beer-houses. the total cost of the spirits and beer consumed in the united kingdom was, in 1848, estimated at ￡65,000,000, a sum greater, by several millions, than the whole revenue of the government. the inimitable dickens has given us a vivid sketch of a london gin-palace and its attendants. he says—

"the extensive scale on which these places are established, [pg 399] and the ostentatious manner in which the business of even the smallest among them is divided into branches, is most amusing. a handsome plate of ground glass in one door directs you 'to the counting-house;' another to the 'bottle department;' a third to the 'wholesale department,' a fourth to the 'wine promenade;' and so forth, until we are in daily expectation of meeting with a 'brandy bell,' or a 'whisky entrance.' then ingenuity is exhausted in devising attractive titles for the different descriptions of gin; and the dram-drinking portion of the community, as they gaze upon the gigantic black and white announcements, which are only to be equalled in size by the figures beneath them, are left in a state of pleasing hesitation between 'the cream of the valley,' 'the out and out,' 'the no mistake,' 'the good for mixing,' 'the real knock-me-down,' 'the celebrated butter gin,' 'the regular flare-up,' and a dozen other equally inviting and wholesome liqueurs. although places of this description are to be met with in every second street, they are invariably numerous and splendid in precise proportion to the dirt and poverty of the surrounding neighbourhood. the gin-shops in and near drury-lane, holborn, st. giles's, covent-garden, and clare-market, are the handsomest in london. there is more of filth and squalid misery near those great thoroughfares than in any part of this mighty city.

"we will endeavour to sketch the bar of a large gin-shop, and its ordinary customers, for the edification of such of our readers as may not have had opportunities of observing such scenes; and on the chance of finding one well suited to our purpose we will make for drury-lane, through the narrow streets and dirty courts which divide it from oxford street, and that classical spot adjoining the brewery at the bottom of tottenham-court-road, best known to the initiated as the 'rookery.'

"the filthy and miserable appearance of this part of london can hardly be imagined by those (and there are many such) who have not witnessed it. wretched houses with broken windows patched with rags and paper, every room let out to a different family, and in many instances to two or even three; fruit and 'sweet-stuff' manufacturers in the cellars, barbers and red-herring [pg 400] venders in the front parlours, and cobblers in the back; a bird-fancier in the first floor, three families on the second, starvation in the attics, irishmen in the passage; a 'musician' in the front kitchen, and a charwoman and five hungry children in the back one—filth everywhere—a gutter before the houses and a drain behind them—clothes drying and slops emptying from the windows; girls of fourteen or fifteen with matted hair, walking about barefooted, and in white great-coats, almost their only covering; boys of all ages, in coats of all sizes and no coats at all; men and women, in every variety of scanty and dirty apparel, lounging, scolding, drinking, smoking, squabbling, fighting, and swearing.

"you turn the corner, what a change! all is light and brilliancy. the hum of many voices issues from that splendid gin-shop which forms the commencement of the two streets opposite, and the gay building with the fantastically ornamented parapet, the illuminated clock, the plate-glass windows surrounded by stucco rosettes, and its profusion of gas-lights in richly gilt burners, is perfectly dazzling when contrasted with the darkness and dirt we have just left. the interior is even gayer than the exterior. a bar of french polished mahogany, elegantly carved, extends the whole width of the place; and there are two side-aisles of great casks, painted green and gold, enclosed within a light brass rail, and bearing such inscriptions as 'old tom, 549;' 'young tom, 360;' 'samson, 1421.' beyond the bar is a lofty and spacious saloon, full of the same enticing vessels, with a gallery running round it, equally well furnished. on the counter, in addition to the usual spirit apparatus, are two or three little baskets of cakes and biscuits, which are carefully secured at the top with wicker-work, to prevent their contents being unlawfully abstracted. behind it are two showily-dressed damsels with large necklaces, dispensing the spirits and 'compounds.' they are assisted by the ostensible proprietor of the concern, a stout coarse fellow in a fur cap, put on very much on one side, to give him a knowing air, and display his sandy whiskers to the best advantage.

"it is growing late, and the throng of men, women, and children, [pg 401] who have been constantly going in and out, dwindles down to two or three occasional stragglers—cold, wretched-looking creatures, in the last stage of emaciation and disease. the knot of irish labourers at the lower end of the place, who have been alternately shaking hands with, and threatening the life of, each other for the last hour, become furious in their disputes, and finding it impossible to silence one man, who is particularly anxious to adjust the difference, they resort to the infallible expedient of knocking him down and jumping on him afterward. the man in the fur cap and the potboy rush out; a scene of riot and confusion ensues; half the irishmen get shut out, and the other half get shut in; the potboy is knocked among the tubs in no time; the landlord hits everybody, and everybody hits the landlord; the barmaids scream; the police come in; and the rest is a confused mixture of arms, legs, staves, torn coats, shouting, and struggling. some of the party are borne off to the station-house, and the remainder slink home to beat their wives for complaining, and kick the children for daring to be hungry."

the neglected and frightfully wretched condition of a great part of the juvenile population in the british towns has frequently excited the attention of philanthropic englishmen. on the 6th of june, 1848, lord ashley made a speech on juvenile destitution in the house of commons, in which he drew an awful picture of misery and degradation. he showed that in the midst of london there is a large and continually increasing number of lawless persons, forming a separate class, having pursuits, interests, manners, and customs of their own. these are quite independent of the number of mere pauper children who crowd the streets of london, and who never attend a school. the lawless [pg 402] class were estimated by lord ashley to number thirty thousand.

"of 1600 who were examined, 162 confessed that they had been in prison, not merely once, or even twice, but some of them several times; 116 had run away from their homes; 170 slept in the 'lodging houses;' 253 had lived altogether by beggary; 216 had neither shoes nor stockings; 280 had no hat or cap, or covering for the head; 101 had no linen; 249 had never slept in a bed; many had no recollection of ever having been in a bed; 68 were the children of convicts.

"in 1847 it was found that of 4000 examined, 400 confessed that they had been in prison, 660 lived by beggary, 178 were the children of convicts, and 800 had lost one or both their parents. now, what was the employment of these people? they might be classed as street-sweepers; vendors of lucifer matches, oranges, cigars, tapes, and ballads; they held horses, ran errands, jobbed for 'dealers in marine stores,' that being the euphonious term for receivers of stolen goods—an influential race in the metropolis, but for whose agency a very large proportion of juvenile crime would be extinguished. it might be asked, how did the large number who never slept in bed pass the night? in all manner of places: under dry arches of bridges and viaducts, under porticos, sheds, carts in outhouses, sawpits, or staircases, or in the open air, and some in lodging-houses. curious, indeed, was their mode of life. one boy, during the inclement period of 1847, passed the greater part of his nights in the large iron roller in the regent's park. he climbed over the railings, and crept to the roller, where he lay in comparative security.

"lord ashley says, 'many of them were living in the dry arches of houses not finished, inaccessible except by an aperture, only large enough to admit the body of a man. when a lantern was thrust in, six or eight, ten or twelve people might be found lying together. of those whom we found thus lodged, we invited a great number to come the following day, and there an [pg 403] examination was instituted. the number examined was 33. their ages varied from 12 to 18, and some were younger. 24 had no parents, 6 had one, 3 had stepmothers, 20 had no shirts, 9 no shoes, 12 had been once in prison, 3 twice, 3 four times, 1 eight times, and 1 (only 14 years old) twelve times. the physical condition of these children was exceedingly bad; they were a prey to vermin, they were troubled with itch, they were begrimed with dirt, not a few were suffering from sickness, and two or three days afterward several died from disease and the effects of starvation. i privately examined eight or ten. i was anxious to obtain from them the truth. i examined them separately, taking them into a room alone. i said, "i am going to ask you a variety of questions, to which i trust you will give me true answers, and i will undertake to answer any question you may put." they thought that a fair bargain. i put to several of them the question, "how often have you slept in a bed during the last three years?" one said, perhaps twelve times, another three times, another could not remember that he ever had. i asked them, how they passed the night in winter. they said, "we lie eight or ten together, to keep ourselves warm." i entered on the subject of their employments and modes of living. they fairly confessed they had no means of subsistence but begging and stealing. the only way of earning a penny in a legitimate way was by picking up old bones. but they fairly acknowledged for themselves and others scattered over the town, with whom they professed themselves acquainted, that they had not and could not have any other means of subsistence than by begging and stealing. a large proportion of these young persons were at a most dangerous age for society. what was the moral condition of those persons? a large proportion of them (it was no fault of theirs) did not recognise the distinctive rights of meum and tuum. property appeared to them to be only the aggregate of plunder. they held that every thing which was possessed was common stock; that he who got most was the cleverest fellow, and that every one had a right to abstract from that stock what he could by his own ingenuity. was it matter of surprise that they entertained those notions, which were instilled into [pg 404] their minds from the time they were able to creep on all fours—that not only did they disregard all the rights of property, but gloried in doing so, unless they thought the avowal would bring them within the grasp of the law. to illustrate their low state of morality, and to show how utterly shameless they were in speaking on these subjects, i would, mention what had passed at a ragged school to which fourteen or fifteen boys, having presented themselves on a sunday evening, were admitted as they came. they sat down, and the lesson proceeded. the clock struck eight. they all rose with the exception of one little boy. the master took him by the arm and said, "you must remain; the lesson is not over." the reply was, "we must go to business." the master inquired what business? "we must all go to catch them as they come out of the chapels." it was necessary for them, according to the remark of this boy, to go at a certain time in pursuit of their calling. they had no remorse or shame, in making the avowal, because they believed that there were no other means of saving themselves from starvation. i recollect a very graphic remark made by one of those children in perfect simplicity, but which yet showed the horrors of their position. the master had been pointing out to him the terrors of punishment in after-life. the remark of the boy was, "that may be so, but i don't think it can be any worse than this world has been to me." such was the condition of hundreds and thousands.'"

a large number of the depraved children live in what are called the "lodging-houses." most americans have heard of the "old brewery" at the five points in new york city, where more than two hundred persons of all ages and sexes were crowded together. such lodging-houses as this, (which fortunately has been destroyed,) are common in london and the provincial towns of great britain. mr. mayhew, [pg 405] in his "london labour and the london poor," has given us very full information concerning them. he obtained much of it from one who had passed some time among the dens of infamy. he says of these lodging-houses—

"'they have generally a spacious, though often ill-ventilated kitchen, the dirty, dilapidated walls of which are hung with prints, while a shelf or two are generally, though barely, furnished with crockery and kitchen utensils. in some places knives and forks are not provided, unless a penny is left with the "deputy," or manager, till they are returned. a brush of any kind is a stranger, and a looking-glass would be a miracle. the average number of nightly lodgers is in winter seventy, in the summer (when many visit the provinces) from forty to forty-five. the general charge is, if two sleep together, 3d. per night, or 4d. for a single bed. in either case, it is by no means unusual to find eighteen or twenty in one small room, the heat and horrid smell from which are insufferable; and, where there are young children, the staircases are the lodgment of every kind of filth and abomination. in some houses there are rooms for families, where, on a rickety machine, which they dignify by the name of a bedstead, may be found the man, his wife, and a son or daughter, perhaps eighteen years of age; while the younger children, aged from seven to fourteen, sleep on the floor. if they have linen, they take it off to escape vermin, and rise naked, one by one, or sometimes brother and sister together. this is no ideal picture; the subject is too capable of being authenticated to need any meaningless or dishonest assistance called "allowable exaggeration." the amiable and deservedly popular minister of a district church, built among lodging-houses, has stated that he has found twenty-nine human beings in one apartment; and that having with difficulty knelt down between two beds to pray with a dying woman, his legs became so jammed that he could hardly get up again.

"'out of some fourscore such habitations,' continues my informant, 'i have only found two which had any sort of garden; and, i am [pg 406] happy to add, that in neither of these two was there a single case of cholera. in the others, however, the pestilence raged with terrible fury.'"

there are other lodging-houses still lower in character than those described above, and where there is a total absence of cleanliness and decency. a man who had slept in these places, gave the following account to mr. mayhew:—

"he had slept in rooms so crammed with sleepers—he believed there were thirty where twelve would have been a proper number—that their breaths in the dead of night and in the unventilated chamber, rose (i use his own words) 'in one foul, choking steam of stench.' this was the case most frequently a day or two prior to greenwich fair or epsom races, when the congregation of the wandering classes, who are the supporters of the low lodging-houses, was the thickest. it was not only that two or even three persons jammed themselves into a bed not too large for one full-sized man; but between the beds—and their partition one from another admitted little more than the passage of a lodger—were placed shakedowns, or temporary accommodation for nightly slumber. in the better lodging-houses the shakedowns are small palliasses or mattrasses; in the worst they are bundles of rags of any kind; but loose straw is used only in the country for shakedowns. our informant saw a traveller, who had arrived late, eye his shakedown in one of the worst houses with any thing but a pleased expression of countenance; and a surly deputy, observing this, told the customer he had his choice, 'which,' the deputy added, 'is not as all men has, or i shouldn't have been waiting here on you. but you has your choice, i tell you;—sleep there on that shakedown, or turn out and be——; that's fair.' at some of the busiest periods, numbers sleep on the kitchen floor, all huddled together, men and women, (when indecencies are common enough,) and without bedding or any thing but their scanty clothes to soften [pg 407] the hardness of the stone or brick floor. a penny is saved to the lodger by this means. more than two hundred have been accommodated in this way in a large house. the irish, in harvest-time, very often resort to this mode of passing the night.

"i heard from several parties, of the surprise, and even fear or horror, with which a decent mechanic—more especially if he were accompanied by his wife—regarded one of these foul dens, when destitution had driven him there for the first time in his life. sometimes such a man was seen to leave the place abruptly, though perhaps he had prepaid his last halfpenny for the refreshment of a night's repose. sometimes he was seized with sickness. i heard also from some educated persons who had 'seen better days,' of the disgust with themselves and with the world, which they felt on first entering such places. 'and i have some reason to believe,' said one man, 'that a person, once well off, who has sunk into the very depths of poverty, often makes his first appearance in one of the worst of those places. perhaps it is because he keeps away from them as long as he can, and then, in a sort of desperation fit, goes into the cheapest he can meet with; or if he knows it's a vile place, he very likely says to himself—as i did—"i may as well know the worst at once."'

"another man, who had moved in good society, said, when asked about his resorting to a low lodging-house: 'when a man's lost caste in society, he may as well go the whole hog, bristles and all, and a low lodging-house is the entire pig.'

"notwithstanding many abominations, i am assured that the lodgers, in even the worst of these habitations, for the most part, sleep soundly. but they have, in all probability, been out in the open air the whole of the day, and all of them may go to their couches, after having walked, perhaps, many miles, exceedingly fatigued, and some of them half drunk. 'why, in course, sir,' said a 'traveller,' whom i spoke to on this subject, 'if you is in a country town or village, where there's only one lodging-house, perhaps, and that a bad one—an old hand can always suit hisself in london—you must get half drunk, or your money for your bed is wasted. there's so much rest owing to you, after a hard day; and bugs and bad air'll prevent its being paid, if you don't lay in [pg 408] some stock of beer, or liquor of some sort, to sleep on. it's a duty you owes yourself; but, if you haven't the browns, why, then, in course, you can't pay it.' i have before remarked, and, indeed, have given instances, of the odd and sometimes original manner in which an intelligent patterer, for example, will express himself.

"the information i obtained in the course of this inquiry into the condition of low lodging-houses, afforded a most ample corroboration of the truth of a remark i have more than once found it necessary to make before—that persons of the vagrant class will sacrifice almost any thing for warmth, not to say heat. otherwise, to sleep, or even sit, in some of the apartments of these establishments would be intolerable.

"from the frequent state of weariness to which i have alluded, there is generally less conversation among the frequenters of the low lodging-houses than might be expected. some are busy cooking, some (in the better houses) are reading, many are drowsy and nodding, and many are smoking. in perhaps a dozen places of the worst and filthiest class, indeed, smoking is permitted even in the sleeping-rooms; but it is far less common than it was even half-a-dozen years back, and becomes still less common yearly. notwithstanding so dangerous a practice, fires are and have been very unfrequent in these places. there is always some one awake, which is one reason. the lack of conversation, i ought to add, and the weariness and drowsiness, are less observable in the lodging-houses patronized by thieves and women of abandoned character, whose lives are comparatively idle, and whose labour a mere nothing. in their houses, if their conversation be at all general, it is often of the most unclean character. at other times it is carried on in groups, with abundance of whispers, shrugs, and slang, by the members of the respective schools of thieves or lurkers."

"the licentiousness of the frequenters, and more especially the juvenile frequenters, of the low lodging-houses, must be even more briefly alluded to. in some of these establishments, men and women, boys and girls,—but perhaps in no case, or in very rare cases, unless they are themselves consenting parties, herd together promiscuously. the information which i have given from a reverend [pg 409] informant indicates the nature of the proceedings, when the sexes are herded indiscriminately, and it is impossible to present to the reader, in full particularity, the records of the vice practised.

"boys have boastfully carried on loud conversations, and from distant parts of the room, of their triumphs over the virtue of girls, and girls have laughed at and encouraged the recital. three, four, five, six, and even more boys and girls have been packed, head and feet, into one small bed; some of them perhaps never met before. on such occasions any clothing seems often enough to be regarded as merely an encumbrance. sometimes there are loud quarrels and revilings from the jealousy of boys and girls, and more especially of girls whose 'chaps' have deserted or been inveigled from them. at others, there is an amicable interchange of partners, and next day a resumption of their former companionship. one girl, then fifteen or sixteen, who had been leading this vicious kind of life for nearly three years, and had been repeatedly in prison, and twice in hospitals—and who expressed a strong desire to 'get out of the life' by emigration—said: 'whatever that's bad and wicked, that any one can fancy could be done in such places among boys and girls that's never been taught, or won't be taught, better, is done, and night after night.' in these haunts of low iniquity, or rather in the room into which the children are put, there are seldom persons above twenty. the young lodgers in such places live by thieving and pocket-picking, or by prostitution. the charge for a night's lodging is generally 2d., but smaller children have often been admitted for 1d. if a boy or girl resort to one of these dens at night without the means of defraying the charge for accommodation, the 'mot of the ken' (mistress of the house) will pack them off, telling them plainly that it will be no use their returning until they have stolen something worth 2d. if a boy or girl do not return in the evening, and have not been heard to express their intention of going elsewhere, the first conclusion arrived at by their mates is that they have 'got into trouble,' (prison.)

"the indiscriminate admixture of the sexes among adults, in many of these places, is another evil. even in some houses considered [pg 410] of the better sort, men and women, husbands and wives, old and young, strangers and acquaintances, sleep in the same apartment, and if they choose, in the same bed. any remonstrance at some act of gross depravity, or impropriety, on the part of a woman not so utterly hardened as the others, is met with abuse and derision. one man who described these scenes to me, and had long witnessed them, said that almost the only women who ever hid their faces or manifested dislike of the proceedings they could not but notice, (as far as he saw,) were poor irishwomen, generally those who live by begging: 'but for all that,' the man added, 'an irishman or irishwoman of that sort will sleep anywhere, in any mess, to save a halfpenny, though they may have often a few shillings, or a good many, hidden about them.'"

the recent report of captain hays, "on the operation of the common lodging-house act," presents some appalling facts:—

"up to the end of february, it was ascertained that 3100 persons, mostly irishmen, in the very heart of the metropolis, lodged every night, 84,000 individuals in 3712 rooms. the instances enumerated are heart sickening. in a small room in rosemary lane, near the tower, fourteen adults were sleeping on the floor without any partition or regard to decency. in an apartment in church lane, st. giles, not fifteen feet square, were thirty-seven women and children, all huddled together on the floor. there are thousands of similar cases. the eastern portion of london, comprising whitechapel, spitalfields, and mile-end—an unknown land to all of the decent classes—is filled with a swarming population of above 300,000 beggars, costermongers, thieves, ragsellers, jews, and the like. a single court is a fair example of this whole district. it contains eight houses of two rooms each. three hundred persons—men, women, and children—live there. there is only one place of convenience; and one hydrant, which is served half an hour each day. the condition of this court may be imagined; [pg 411] it is too filthy to describe. decayed matter, stagnant water, refuse fish, vegetables, broken baskets, dead cats, dogs, and rats, are strewed everywhere around. the prices of various kinds of provision in these neighbourhoods give a forcible notion of the condition of the population. you can purchase for a halfpenny fish or meat enough for a dinner.

"in this neighbourhood is rag fair. it is worth a visit. thousands of persons are assembled in the streets, which are so thickly covered with merchandise that it is difficult to step along without treading on heaps of gowns, shawls, bonnets, shoes, and articles of men's attire. there is no conceivable article of dress that may not be purchased here. it is not without danger that one even visits the place at noonday. you are in the midst of the refuse of all london,—of a whole race, whose chief employment is to commit depredations upon property, and whose lives are spent in the midst of a squalor, filth, deprivation and degradation, which the whole world cannot probably parallel. one of the london missionaries says—'persons who are accustomed to run up heavy bills at the shops of fashionable tailors and milliners will scarcely believe the sums for which the poor are able to purchase the same kind of articles. i have recently clothed a man and woman, both decently, for the sum of nine shillings. there is as great a variety of articles in pattern, shape, and size, as could be found in any draper's shop in london. the mother may go to rag fair, with the whole of her family, both boys and girls—yes, and her husband, too—and for a very few shillings deck them out from top to toe. i have no doubt that a man and his wife, and five or six children, with ￡1 would purchase for themselves an entire change. this may appear an exaggeration; but i actually overheard a conversation, in which two women were trying to bargain for a child's frock; the sum asked was 1?d., and the sum offered was 1d., and they parted on the difference.'

"the following is a bill delivered by a dealer to one of the missionaries, who was requested to supply a suit of clothes for a man and woman whom he had persuaded to get married several years after the right time:—

[pg 412]

s. d.

a full linen-fronted shirt, very elegant 0 6

a pair of warm worsted stockings 0 1

a pair of light-coloured trousers 0 6

a black cloth waistcoat 0 3

a pair of white cotton braces 0 1

a pair of low shoes 0 1

a black silk velvet stock 0 1

a black beaver, fly-fronted, double-breasted paletot coat, lined with silk, a very superior article 1 6

a cloth cap, bound with a figured band 0 1

a pair of black cloth gloves 0 1

——

3 3

"the man had been educated, and could speak no fewer than five languages; by profession he was, however, nothing but a dusthill raker.

"the bill delivered for the bride's costume is as follows:

a shift 0 1

a pair of stays 0 2

a flannel petticoat 0 4

a black orleans ditto 0 4

a pair of white cotton stockings 0 1

a very good light-coloured cotton gown 0 10

a pair of single-soled slippers, with spring heels 0 2

a double-dyed bonnet, including a neat cap 0 2

a pair of white cotton gloves 0 1

a lady's green silk paletot, lined with crimson silk, trimmed with black 0 10

——

3 1

throughout the country there are low lodging-houses, which do not differ much in character from those of london. in all of them the most disgusting immorality is practised to an extent scarcely conceivable by those who do not visit such dens of vice and misery.

[pg 413]

the story of the jew fagan, and his felonious operations, in dickens's oliver twist, is a true representation of a most extensive business in london. there are a large number of notorious receivers of stolen goods. some of them keep a number of boys, who are instructed in stealing, and beaten severely when unsuccessful. mayhew mentions one notorious case in george-yard. a wooden-legged welshman, named hughes, and commonly called taff, was the miscreant. two little boys were his chief agents in stealing, and when they did not obtain any thing, he would take the strap off his wooden leg, and beat them through the nakedness of their rags. he boarded and lodged about a dozen chelsea and greenwich pensioners. these he followed and watched closely until they were paid. then, after they had settled with him, he would make them drunk and rob them of the few shillings they had left.

the brutal treatment of servants, which we have already touched, drives many of them to the low lodging-houses, and to the commission of crime. in the following narrative, which a girl communicated to mr. mayhew, we have an illustration of this assertion, as well as some awful disclosures in regard to "life among the lowly:"—

"'i am an orphan. when i was ten i was sent to service as a maid of all-work, in a small tradesman's family. it was a hard place, and my mistress used me very cruelly, beating me often. when i had been in place three weeks, my mother died; my [pg 414] father having died twelve years before. i stood my mistress's ill-treatment about six months. she beat me with sticks as well as with her hands. i was black and blue, and at last i ran away. i got to mrs. ——, a low lodging-house. i didn't know before that there was such a place. i heard of it from some girls at the glasshouse, (baths and wash-houses,) where i went for shelter. i went with them to have a halfpenny worth of coffee, and they took me to the lodging-house. i then had three shillings, and stayed about a month, and did nothing wrong, living on the three shillings and what i pawned my clothes for, as i got some pretty good things away with me. in the lodging-house i saw nothing but what was bad, and heard nothing but what was bad. i was laughed at, and was told to swear. they said, 'look at her for a d—— modest fool'—sometimes worse than that, until by degrees i got to be as bad as they were. during this time i used to see boys and girls from ten to twelve years old sleeping together, but understood nothing wrong. i had never heard of such places before i ran away. i can neither read nor write. my mother was a good woman, and i wish i'd had her to run away to. i saw things between almost children that i can't describe to you—very often i saw them, and that shocked me. at the month's end, when i was beat out, i met with a young man of fifteen—i myself was going on to twelve years old—and he persuaded me to take up with him. i stayed with him three months in the same lodging-house, living with him as his wife, though we were mere children, and being true to him. at the three months' end he was taken up for picking pockets, and got six months. i was sorry, for he was kind to me; though i was made ill through him; so i broke some windows in st. paul's churchyard to get into prison to get cured. i had a month in the compter, and came out well. i was scolded very much in the compter, on account of the state i was in, being so young. i had 2s. 6d. given to me when i came out, and was forced to go into the streets for a living. i continued walking the streets for three years, sometimes making a good deal of money, sometimes none, feasting one day and starving the next. the bigger girls could persuade me to do any thing they liked with my money. i was never happy [pg 415] all the time, but i could get no character, and could not get out of the life. i lodged all this time at a lodging-house in kent-street. they were all thieves and bad girls. i have known between three and four dozen boys and girls sleep in one room. the beds were horrid filthy and full of vermin. there was very wicked carryings on. the boys, if any difference, was the worst. we lay packed, on a full night, a dozen boys and girls squeedged into one bed. that was very often the case—some at the foot and some at the top—boys and girls all mixed. i can't go into all the particulars, but whatever could take place in words or acts between boys and girls did take place, and in the midst of the others. i am sorry to say i took part in these bad ways myself, but i wasn't so bad as some of the others. there was only a candle burning all night, but in summer it was light great part of the night. some boys and girls slept without any clothes, and would dance about the room that way. i have seen them, and, wicked as i was, felt ashamed. i have seen two dozen capering about the room that way; some mere children, the boys generally the youngest. * * * there were no men or women present. there were often fights. the deputy never interfered. this is carried on just the same as ever to this day, and is the same every night. i have heard young girls shout out to one another how often they had been obliged to go to the hospital, or the infirmary, or the workhouse. there was a great deal of boasting about what the boys and girls had stolen during the day. i have known boys and girls change their 'partners,' just for a night. at three years' end i stole a piece of beef from a butcher. i did it to get into prison. i was sick of the life i was leading, and didn't know how to get out of it. i had a month for stealing. when i got out i passed two days and a night in the streets doing nothing wrong, and then went and threatened to break messrs. ——'s windows again. i did that to get into prison again; for when i lay quiet of a night in prison i thought things over, and considered what a shocking life i was leading, and how my health might be ruined completely, and i thought i would stick to prison rather than go back to such a life. i got six months for threatening. when i got out i broke a lamp next [pg 416] morning for the same purpose, and had a fortnight. that was the last time i was in prison. i have since been leading the same life as i told you of for the three years, and lodging at the same houses, and seeing the same goings on. i hate such a life now more than ever. i am willing to do any work that i can in washing and cleaning. i can do a little at my needle. i could do hard work, for i have good health. i used to wash and clean in prison, and always behaved myself there. at the house where i am it is 3d. a night; but at mrs. ——'s it is 1d. and 2d. a night, and just the same goings on. many a girl—nearly all of them—goes out into the streets from this penny and twopenny house, to get money for their favourite boys by prostitution. if the girl can not get money she must steal something, or will be beaten by her 'chap' when she comes home. i have seen them beaten, often kicked and beaten until they were blind from bloodshot, and their teeth knocked out with kicks from boots as the girl lays on the ground. the boys, in their turn, are out thieving all day, and the lodging-house keeper will buy any stolen provisions of them, and sell them to the lodgers. i never saw the police in the house. if a boy comes to the house on a night without money or sawney, or something to sell to the lodgers, a handkerchief or something of that kind, he is not admitted, but told very plainly, 'go thieve it, then,' girls are treated just the same. anybody may call in the daytime at this house and have a halfpenny worth of coffee and sit any length of time until evening. i have seen three dozen sitting there that way, all thieves and bad girls. there are no chairs, and only one form in front of the fire, on which a dozen can sit. the others sit on the floor all about the room, as near the fire as they can. bad language goes on during the day, as i told you it did during the night, and indecencies too, but nothing like so bad as at night. they talk about where there is good places to go and thieve. the missioners call sometimes, but they're laughed at often when they're talking, and always before the door's closed on them. if a decent girl goes there to get a ha'porth of coffee, seeing the board over the door, she is always shocked. many a poor girl has been ruined in this house since i was, and boys have boasted about it. i never knew boy or girl do [pg 417] good, once get used there. get used there, indeed, and you are life-ruined. i was an only child, and haven't a friend in the world. i have heard several girls say how they would like to get out of the life, and out of the place. from those i know, i think that cruel parents and mistresses cause many to be driven there. one lodging-house keeper, mrs. ——, goes out dressed respectable, and pawns any stolen property, or sells it at public-houses.'

"as a corroboration of the girl's statement, a wretched-looking boy, only thirteen years of age, gave me the following additional information. he had a few rags hanging about him, and no shirt—indeed, he was hardly covered enough for purposes of decency, his skin being exposed through the rents in his jacket and trousers. he had a stepfather, who treated him very cruelly. the stepfather and the child's mother went 'across the country,' begging and stealing. before the mother died, an elder brother ran away on account of being beaten.

"'sometimes,' i give his own words, 'he (the stepfather) wouldn't give us a bit to eat, telling us to go and thieve for it. my brother had been a month gone (he's now a soldier in gibraltar) when i ran away to join him. i knew where to find him, as we met sometimes. we lived by thieving, and i do still—by pulling flesh, (stealing meat.) i got to lodge at mrs. ——, and have been there this eight months. i can read and write a little.' this boy then confirmed what the young girl had told me of the grossest acts night by night among the boys and girls, the language, &c., and continued:—'i always sleep on the floor for 1d., and pay ?d. besides for coke. at this lodging-house cats and kittens are melted down, sometimes twenty a day. a quart pot is a cat, and pints and half-pints are kittens. a kitten (pint) brings 3d. from the rag-shops, and a cat 6d. there's convenience to melt them down at the lodging-house. we can't sell clothes in the house, except any lodger wants them; and clothes nearly all go to the jews in petticoat-lane. mrs. —— buys the sawney of us; so much for the lump, 2d. a pound about; she sells it again for twice what she gives, and more. perhaps 30 lbs. of meat every day is sold to her. i have been in prison six times, and have [pg 418] had three dozen; each time i came out harder. if i left mrs. ——'s house i don't know how i could get my living. lots of boys would get away if they could. i never drink. i don't like it. very few of us boys drink. i don't like thieving, and often go about singing; but i can't live by singing, and i don't know how i could live honestly. if i had money enough to buy a stock of oranges, i think i could be honest.'"

mr. mayhew called a meeting of thieves and beggars at the bristol union school-room, shakspeare walk, shadwell. one hundred and fifty of them—all under twenty years of age—attended. it may be doubted whether such a meeting could have been brought about in any other city. the young thieves and beggars were very fair samples of their numerous class. of professed beggars, there were fifty; and sixty-six acknowledged themselves habitual thieves. the announcement that the greater number present were thieves, pleased them exceedingly, and was received with three rounds of applause! fourteen of them had been in prison over twenty times, and twenty stated that they had been flogged in prison. seventy-eight of them regularly roamed through the country every year; sixty-five slept regularly in the casual wards of the unions; and fifty-two occasionally slept in trampers' lodging-houses throughout the country.

the ignorance prevailing among the vast number of street-sellers in london, is rather comically illustrated by mr. mayhew, in the following instance:—

"one boy gave me his notions of men and things. he was a [pg 419] thick-limbed, red-cheeked fellow; answered very freely, and sometimes, when i could not help laughing at his replies, laughed loudly himself, as if he entered into the joke.

"yes, he had heer'd of god who made the world. couldn't exactly recollec' when he'd heerd on him, but he had, most sarten-ly. didn't know when the world was made, or how anybody could do it. it must have taken a long time. it was afore his time, 'or yourn either, sir.' knew there was a book called the bible; didn't know what it was about; didn't mind to know; knew of such a book to a sartinty, because a young 'oman took one to pop (pawn) for an old 'oman what was on the spree—a bran new 'un—but the cove wouldn't have it, and the old 'oman said he might be d——d. never heer'd tell on the deluge, of the world having been drownded; it couldn't, for there wasn't water enough to do it. he weren't a going to fret hisself for such things as that. didn't know what happened to people after death, only that they was buried. had seen a dead body laid out; was a little afeared at first; poor dick looked so different, and when you touched his face he was so cold! oh, so cold! had heer'd on another world; wouldn't mind if he was there hisself, if he could do better, for things was often queer here. had heer'd on it from a tailor—such a clever cove, a stunner—as went to 'straliar, (australia,) and heer'd him say he was going into another world. had never heer'd of france, but had heer'd of frenchmen; there wasn't half a quarter so many on 'em as of italians, with their ear-rings like flash gals. didn't dislike foreigners, for he never saw none. what was they? had heer'd of ireland. didn't know where it was, but it couldn't be very far, or such lots wouldn't come from there to london. should say they walked it, ay, every bit of the way, for he'd seen them come in all covered with dust. had heer'd of people going to sea, and had seen the ships in the river, but didn't know nothing about it, for he was very seldom that way. the sun was made of fire, or it wouldn't make you feel so warm. the stars was fire, too, or they wouldn't shine. they didn't make it warm, they was too small. didn't know any use they was of. didn't [pg 420] know how far they was off; a jolly lot higher than the gas lights some on 'em was. was never in a church; had heer'd they worshipped god there; didn't know how it was done; had heer'd singing and praying inside when he'd passed; never was there, for he hadn't no togs to go in, and wouldn't be let in among such swells as he had seen coming out. was a ignorant chap, for he'd never been to school, but was up to many a move, and didn't do bad. mother said he would make his fortin yet.

"had heer'd of the duke of wellington; he was old nosey; didn't think he ever seed him, but had seen his statty. hadn't heer'd of the battle of waterloo, nor who it was atween; once lived in webber-row, waterloo-road. thought he had heer'd speak of bonaparte; didn't know what he was; thought he'd heer'd of shakspeare, but didn't know whether he was alive or dead, and didn't care. a man with something like that name kept a dolly and did stunning; but he was sich a hard cove that if he was dead it wouldn't matter. had seen the queen, but didn't recollec' her name just at the minute; oh! yes, wictoria and albert. had no notion what the queen had to do. should think she hadn't such power [he had first to ask me what 'power' was] as the lord mayor, or as mr. norton as was the lambeth beak, and perhaps is still. was never once before a beak, and didn't want to. hated the crushers; what business had they to interfere with him if he was only resting his basket in a street? had been once to the wick, and once to the bower; liked tumbling better; he meant to have a little pleasure when the peas came in."

the vagabond propensities of the street-children are thus described by mr. mayhew:—

"as soon as the warm weather commences, boys and girls, but more especially boys, leave the town in shoals, traversing the country in every direction; some furnished with trifling articles (such as i have already enumerated) to sell, and others to begging, lurking, or thieving. it is not the street-sellers who so [pg 421] much resort to the tramp, as those who are devoid of the commonest notions of honesty; a quality these young vagrants sometimes respect when in fear of a jail, and the hard work with which such a place is identified in their minds—and to which, with the peculiar idiosyncrasy of a roving race, they have an insuperable objection.

"i have met with boys and girls, however, to whom a jail had no terrors, and to whom, when in prison, there was only one dread, and that a common one among the ignorant, whether with or without any sense of religion—superstition. 'i lay in prison of a night, sir,' said a boy who was generally among the briskest of his class, 'and think i shall see things.' the 'things' represent the vague fears which many, not naturally stupid, but untaught or ill-taught persons, entertain in the dark. a girl, a perfect termagant in the breaking of windows and suchlike offences, told me something of the same kind. she spoke well of the treatment she experienced in prison, and seemed to have a liking for the matron and officials; her conduct there was quiet and respectful. i believe she was not addicted to drink.

"many of the girls, as well as the boys, of course trade as they 'tramp.' they often sell, both in the country and in town, little necklaces composed of red berries strung together upon thick thread, for dolls and children; but although i have asked several of them, i have never yet found one who collected the berries and made the necklaces themselves; neither have i met with a single instance in which the girl vendors knew the name of the berries thus used, nor indeed even that they were berries. the invariable reply to my questions upon this point has been that they 'are called necklaces;' that 'they are just as they sells 'em to us;' that they 'don't know whether they are made or whether they grow;' and in most cases, that they 'gets them in london, by shoreditch;' although in one case a little brown-complexioned girl, with bright sparkling eyes, said that 'she got them from the gipsies.' at first i fancied, from this child's appearance, that she was rather superior in intellect to most of her class; but i soon found that she was not a whit above the others, unless, indeed, it were in the possession of the quality of cunning."

[pg 422]

the regular "tramps," or wandering vagabonds, are very numerous throughout great britain. at certain periods they issue from all the large towns, and prey upon the rural districts like swarms of locusts. in no other country can be found so constant a class of vagrants. the gipsies form but a small portion of the "tramps." these vagrants are miserably clothed, filthy, covered with vermin, and generally very much diseased—sometimes from debauchery, and sometimes from want of food and from exposure. very few of them are married. the women are nearly all prostitutes. the manner of life of these wanderers is curious. they beg during the day in the towns, or along the roads; and they so arrange their day's tramp as to arrive, most nights, in the neighbourhood of the workhouses. they then hide the money they have collected by begging, and present themselves, after sunset, at the gates of the workhouse, to beg a night's lodging. to nearly every workhouse there are attached vagrant wards, or buildings which are specially set apart for the reception of tramps such as those we have described. these wards are commonly brick buildings, of one story in height. they have brick floors and guard-room beds, with loose straw and rugs for the males, and iron bedsteads, with straw, for the females. they are badly ventilated, and unprovided with any means for producing warmth. all holes for ventilation are sure to be stopped up at night, by the [pg 423] occupants, with rags or straw, so that the stench of these sleeping-places is disgusting in the extreme. guards are appointed for these wards, but such is the immorality and indecency of the vagrants, that the most disgusting scenes are common in them. the wards resound with the vilest songs and the foulest language; and so numerous are the "tramps" that the guardians find it impossible to separate the sexes. this vast evil of vagrancy is constantly increasing, and is a natural result of the monopolies and oppressions of the aristocracy. it is stated that on the 25th of march, 1848, the 626 unions of england and wales relieved 16,086 vagrants. but this scarcely gives an idea of the magnitude of the evil. between 40,000 and 50,000 "tramps" infest the roads and streets of england and wales every day. the majority of them are thieves, and nearly all are almost brutally ignorant.

in london there are large numbers of small dealers, called costermongers and patterers. persons belonging to these classes seldom or never rise above their trade, and they seem to have a kind of hereditary pride in their degraded position. many of the costermongers and patterers are thieves, and the general character of these classes is very debased; ignorance and immorality prevail to a fearful extent. the patterers are more intelligent than the costermongers, but they are also more immoral. they help off their wares, which are chiefly stationery and quack medicines, by long harangues, [pg 424] while the costermongers merely cry their fish, greens, &c. about the streets. the number of people dependent upon costermongering in london is about thirty thousand. the patterers are not so numerous.

concubinage is the rule and marriage the exception among both costermongers and patterers. mr. mayhew estimates that only one-tenth of the couples living together and carrying on the costermongering trade are married. there is no honour attached to the marriage state and no shame to concubinage. in good times the women are rigidly faithful to their paramours, but in the worst pinch of poverty a departure from fidelity is not considered heinous. about three out of a hundred costermongers ever attend a church, and the majority of them have no knowledge of christianity; they associate the church of england and aristocracy, and hate both. slang is acquired very rapidly, and some costermongers will converse in it by the hour. the women use it sparingly; the girls more than the women; the men more than the girls; and the boys most of all. pronouncing backward is the simple principle upon which the costermonger slang is founded.

the patterers, though a vagrant, are an organized class. mr. mayhew says—

"there is a telegraphic despatch between them, through the length and breadth of the land. if two patterers (previously unacquainted) meet in the provinces, the following, or something like it, will be their conversation:—can you 'voker romeny' (can [pg 425] you speak cant?) what is your 'monekeer?' (name.) perhaps it turns out that one is 'white-headed bob,' and the other 'plymouth ned,' they have a 'shant of gatter' (pot of beer) at the nearest 'boozing ken,' (ale-house,) and swear eternal friendship to each other. the old saying, that 'when the liquor is in the wit is out,' is remarkably fulfilled on these occasions, for they betray to the 'flatties' (natives) all their profits and proceedings.

"it is to be supposed that in country districts, where there are no streets, the patterer is obliged to call at the houses. as they are mostly without the hawker's license, and sometimes find wet linen before it is lost, the rural districts are not fond of their visits; and there are generally two or three persons in a village reported to be 'gammy,' that is, unfavourable. if a patterer has been 'crabbed,' that is, offended, at any of the 'cribs,' (houses,) he mostly chalks a signal on or near the door. i give one or two instances:—

"'bone,' meaning good.

"'cooper'd,' spoiled by the imprudence of some other patterer.

"'gammy,' likely to have you taken up.

"'flummut,' sure of a month in quod.

"in most lodging-houses there is an old man who is the guide to every 'walk' in the vicinity, and who can tell every house on every round that is 'good for a cold 'tater.' in many cases there is over the kitchen mantel-piece a map of the district, dotted here and there with memorandums of failure or success.

"patterers are fond of carving their names and avocations about the houses they visit. the old jail at dartford has been some years a 'padding-ken.' in one of the rooms appear the following autographs:—

"'jemmy, the rake, bound to bristol; bad beds, but no bugs. thank god for all things.'

"'razor george and his moll slept here the day after christmas; just out of "stir," (jail,) for "muzzling a peeler."'

"'scotch mary, with "driz," (lace,) bound to dover and back, please god.'

"sometimes these inscriptions are coarse and obscene; sometimes very well written and orderly. nor do they want illustrations.

[pg 426]

"at the old factory, lincoln, is a portrait of the town beadle, formerly a soldier; it is drawn with different-coloured chalks, and ends with the following couplet:—

'you are a b for false swearing,

in hell they'll roast you like a herring.'

"concubinage is very common among patterers, especially on their travels; they have their regular rounds, and call the peregrination 'going on circuit.' for the most part they are early risers; this gives them a facility for meeting poor girls who have had a night's shelter in the union workhouses. they offer such girls some refreshments, swear they are single men, and promise comforts certainly superior to the immediate position of their victims. consent is generally obtained; perhaps a girl of fourteen or fifteen, previously virtuous, is induced to believe in a promise of constant protection, but finds herself, the next morning, ruined and deserted; nor is it unlikely that, within a month or two, she will see her seducer in the company of a dozen incidental wives. a gray-headed miscreant, called 'cutler tom,' boasts of five hundred such exploits; and there is too great reason to believe that the picture of his own drawing is not greatly overcharged."

a reverend gentleman, who had enjoyed the best opportunities for observing the patterers, gave mr. mayhew the following information:—

"i have seen fathers and mothers place their boys and girls in positions of incipient enormity, and command them to use language and gestures to each other which would make a harlot blush, and almost a heathen tremble. i have hitherto viewed the patterer as a salesman, having something in his hand, on whose merits, real or pretended, he talks people out of their money. by slow degrees prosperity rises, but rapid is the advance of evil. the patterer sometimes gets 'out of stock,' and is obliged, at no great sacrifice of conscience, to 'patter' in another strain. in every large town, sham official documents, with crests, seals, and [pg 427] signatures, can be got for half-a-crown. armed with these, the patterer becomes a 'lurker,' that is, an impostor; his papers certify any and every 'ill that flesh is heir to.' shipwreck is called a 'shake lurk;' loss by fire is a 'glim.' sometimes the petitioner has had a horse which has dropped dead with the mad staggers; or has a wife ill or dying, and six or seven children at once sickening of the small-pox. children are borrowed to support the appearance; the case is certified by the minister and churchwardens of a parish which exists only in imagination; and as many people dislike the trouble of investigation, the patterer gets enough to raise a stock in trade, and divides the spoil between the swag-shop and the gin-palace. sometimes they are detected, and get a 'drag,' (three months in prison.)

"they have many narrow escapes; one occurs to me of a somewhat ludicrous character:—a patterer and lurker (now dead) known by the name of 'captain moody,' unable to get a 'fakement' written or printed, was standing almost naked in the streets of a neighbouring town. a gentleman stood still and heard his piteous tale, but, having been 'done' more than once, he resolved to examine the affair, and begged the petitioner to conduct him to his wife and children, who were in a garret on a bed of languishing, with neither clothes, food, nor fire, but, it appeared, with faith enough to expect a supply from 'him who feedeth the ravens,' and in whose sacred name even a cold 'tater was implored. the patterer, or half-patterer and half-beggar, took the gentleman (who promised a sovereign if every thing was square) through innumerable and intricate windings, till he came to an outhouse or sort of stable. he saw the key outside the door, and begged the gentleman to enter and wait till he borrowed a light of a neighbour to show him up-stairs. the illumination never arrived, and the poor charitable man found that the miscreant had locked him into the stable. the patterer went to the padding-ken, told the story with great glee, and left that locality within an hour of the occurrence."

liverpool, manchester, birmingham, and other provincial cities possess an ignorant and immoral population [pg 428] quite equal, in proportion to the entire population of each city, to that of london. in each may be found a degraded class, with scarcely any ideas of religion or morality, living in the most wretched manner, and practising every species of vice. the cellar-houses, in which many of them live, have been described in another chapter. they are the filthy abodes of a people almost reduced to a brutish condition. in liverpool parish there is a cellar-population of 20,000, a large number of whom are continually engaged in criminal practices. there are portions of the city of glasgow which a stranger could scarcely traverse safely at night, and where an amount of vice and misery may be witnessed which is not exceeded in either london or liverpool.

in the mining and manufacturing districts of england there is much ignorance and more vice. in both, there are schools of a miserable character, but those young persons who can find time to attend them learn nothing beyond reading, writing, and the simplest rules of arithmetic. the mining labour, as carried on in the mines of england, is extremely demoralizing in its tendency, as we have shown in another part of this work. the report of parliamentary commissioners contains some statements in regard to the darkness of mind and corruption of heart among young persons employed in the various trades and manufactures.

the following facts are quoted from the second report of the "children's employment commission."

[pg 429]

the moral and religious state of the children and young persons employed in the trades and manufactures of birmingham, is described by the sub-commissioners as very unfavourable. the social and domestic duties and affections are but little cultivated and practised; great numbers never attend any place of public worship; and of the state of juvenile crime some conception may be formed by the statement, that of the total number of known or suspected offenders in this town, during the twelve last months—namely, 1223—at least one-half were under fifteen years of age.

as to illicit sexual intercourse, it seems to prevail almost universally, and from a very early period of life; to this common conclusion witnesses of every rank give testimony.

wolverhampton.—of the moral condition of the youthful population in the wolverhampton district, mr. horne says—"putting together all i elicited from various witnesses and conversations with working people, abroad and at home, and all that fell under my observation, i am obliged to come to the conclusion, that the moral virtues of the great majority of the children are as few in number and as feeble in practice as can well be conceived in a civilized country, surrounded by religious and educational institutions, and by individuals anxious for the improvement of the condition of the working classes."

he adds of wittenhall—"a lower condition of [pg 430] morals, in the fullest sense of the term, could not, i think, be found. i do not mean by this that there are many more prominent vices among them, but that moral feelings and sentiments do not exist among them. they have no morals."

sheffield.—in all the sheffield trades, employing large numbers of children, it is stated that there is a much closer intermixture of the younger children with the elder youths, and with the men, than is usual in the cotton, woollen, and flax factories; and that the conversation to which the children are compelled to listen, would debase their minds and blunt their moral feelings even if they had been carefully and virtuously educated, but that of course this result takes place more rapidly and completely in the case of those who have had little or no religious culture, and little but bad example before their eyes from their cradle upward.

habits of drinking are formed at a very early age, malt liquor being generally introduced into the workshops, of which the youngest children are encouraged to partake. "very many," say the police-officers, "frequent beer-shops, where they play at dominoes, bagatelle, &c. for money or drink." early intemperance is assigned by the medical men as one cause of the great mortality of sheffield. "there are beer-houses," says the rev. mr. farish, "attended by youths exclusively, for the men will not have them in the same houses [pg 431] with themselves. in these beer-houses are youths of both sexes encouraged to meet, and scenes destructive of every vestige of virtue or morality ensue.

but it is stated by all classes of witnesses, that "the most revolting feature of juvenile depravity in this town is early contamination from the association of the sexes," that "juvenile prostitution is exceedingly common." "the evidence," says the sub-commissioner, "might have been doubled which attests the early commencement of sexual and promiscuous intercourse among boys and girls."

sedgley.—at sedgley and the neighbouring villages, the number of girls employed in nail-making considerably exceeds that of the boys. of these girls mr. horne reports—"their appearance, manners, habits, and moral natures (so far as the word moral can be applied to them) are in accordance with their half-civilized condition. constantly associating with ignorant and depraved adults and young persons of the opposite sex, they naturally fall into all their ways; and drink, smoke, swear, throw off all restraint in word and act, and become as bad as a man. the heat of the forge and the hardness of the work renders few clothes needful in winter; and in summer, the six or seven individuals who are crowded into these little dens find the heat almost suffocating. the men and boys are usually naked, except a pair of trousers and an open shirt, though they very often have no shirt; and [pg 432] the women and girls have only a thin ragged petticoat, and an open shirt without sleeves."

in the mining districts, there is even more ignorance and depravity than in the places where factories and workshops abound. the nature of the work, and various wants, such as no freemen would suffer from—want of proper schools and proper amusements—induce this state of things. an american visiting any of these mining districts, would be astounded at the dulness, ignorance, and viciousness that prevails among the labourers—men and women, boys and girls. many of them are perfect heathens—never hearing of god except when his awful name is "taken in vain." of christ and his mission they hear somewhat, but know nothing positively. newspapers—those daily and weekly messengers that keep americans fully informed of the affairs of the world—they seldom see. the gin-shop and the brothel are their common resorts.

missionaries are wanted in great britain. alas! that in the middle of the nineteenth century, there should be so many hundreds of thousands of people, in the vicinity of a costly church establishment, without any knowledge of the bible!—that a professedly christian government should keep so many souls in ignorance of christianity!—that a country boasting of its civilization and enlightenment should contain so much darkness and depravity!