The Bitter Cry of London.

VEN for the horrible condition of our wretched City there is a remedy. To those who are thoroughly acquainted with the present condition of the miserable classes of the metropolis, it may seem incredible that London is certainly on the mend, and was once, for its size, in a more deplorable condition than it is to-day. Things are unutterably bad, but they are not untinged with hope. One might be led to infer, from the commotion made, that the London Congregational Union had come upon some new discovery; whereas the details published are such old truths, that our wonder is that the Independents have so long been content to neglect that pioneer work in the slums which has been so greatly needed. The fact is patent to all who know anything upon the subject, that the Baptists have originated and carried on the principal and the most successful of those home-mission agencies which, as counteractives of the spread of evil, have been the salt of the great City. We have only to look east, west, north, or south to find examples. To raise an outcry of distress may be of service, if thereby new interest be attracted, and additional aid secured; but nothing short of arduous effort in the future can make atonement for lack of service in the past. We would avoid false impressions engendered by sensationalism. There are earnest souls abroad whose philanthropic instinct has not been tempered by experience, and these are led, by what they see around them, to suppose that everything is now at its worst; whereas, if they were more familiar with the past, they would know that London has seen darker days than these. Such were the early days of the City Mission and the Ragged-school crusade-times when ignorance abounded to such a degree that London might truly have been likened to a volcano which was ready at any moment to burst into conflagration.

As Lord Shaftesbury said a short time ago, we are suffering from the omissions and neglects of our forefathers; but the large-hearted Earl is himself an evidence that we have done something to repair the gigantic evil. Oh, that it had been more! Squalor there must be in any fourmillion-peopled city; but the worst things of our day are not quite so hideous as the savage heathenism which Cranfield and the earlier pioneers were compelled to encounter in making a beginning.

Though the persevering efforts which have been made have produced an effect on London that is apparent to all who look at the subject in a right light, the abounding evils are still of a kind to occasion anxious concern in the hearts of the best friends of the poor. Poor London is in a sufficiently sickly state to need skilful treatment; but those who deal in remedies must understand the disease, or their labour will be more than thrown away. In the account of his labours in the East for 1883, Mr. A. G. Brown asks us to remember that "in regard to the depressed

classes, there has been too much lumping them, and prescribing for them as a mass," whereas the truth is that there are several classes, each of which, being distinct from the others, requires treatment suitable to its needs. Mr. Brown also touches upon another truth, the significance of which ought not to be overlooked-drunkenness is the failing of only a class; it is not characteristic of the whole so that fully half, and probably a still larger proportion, "suffer a cruel wrong," as Mr. Brown honestly declares, "when the whole problem is glibly described as the result of drink." How common this representation is, our readers are well aware; for it has been reiterated through the press, in the pulpit, and on the platform, until the authors themselves may probably believe in the truth of what they affirm. A similar error is made in regard to the causes of crime. A well-known judge recently said on the bench that drink was the cause of three-fourths of the crime committed in these islands; while, at the same time, even a son of the Queen was found fathering the dangerous notion that drink was the only real enemy which England had cause to fear, as if the evil one had only one arrow in his quiver; or as if the cause of reform could be served by magnifying the evil wrought by one particular kind of vice, and overlooking the havoc wrought by others equally deadly, such as unbelief and licentiousness. According to Mr. Howard Vincent, of the Criminal Investigation Department, only about a fifth part of the crime committed in London is traceable to drink; and such representations will, on comparing notes, be found to agree in the main with the opinions of Mr. A. G. Brown. Others bear similar testimony. If the public would know the whole truth about this great problem, they must listen to the utterances of men who retain sufficient self-possession to enable them to take a correct impression of the situation. Sanguine enthusiasts who are captivated by one idea are not trustworthy witnesses. Drunkenness is indeed a giant evil; but to suppose that this one enemy includes all other evils, is to go beside the mark altogether.

What, then, is this great problem which is perplexing the philanthropic portion of the public? It is not a drink question simply; nor is it concerned with an overcrowded labour-market alone; it is, as Mr. Brown reminds us, a many-sided problem which must be attacked from many sides if we would gain the victory-"The temperance advocate, the wages student, the municipal reformer, the sanitary inspector, the gospel missionary, must work in harmony." It is admitted that the gospel is the one sovereign cure for all the sin and misery which afflict the capital; "the people are wrong, as well as their houses and circumstances, and nothing can put them right but Christ in the heart." At the same time, the dreadful effects of squalid surroundings have to be taken into account. In large measure, people are what their circumstances make them; and one-room life in narrow, crowded streets, or still more foetid courts, would soon drive self-respect and energy out of the hearts of most of us. There is an immense class, who, as Mr. Brown affirms, cannot pay for more than one room, and can only raise that amount of rent with extreme difficulty. These people, in the main, are described as sober; as to industry, they labour incessantly; but their povertystricken condition is chiefly the result of fierce competition in an overcrowded labour-market. Under the condition of things now existing,

the weakest necessarily go to the wall; and, of course, the weakest in this case too often mean the widow and her children.

"If only the poor could deal directly with the manufacturers, much of the pressure would be removed," remarks Mr. Brown. "The exigencies of business-life, however, seem to demand a series of middle-men, each one of whom must get the work done at a lower figure than he is paid for it, in order to obtain a margin of profit. The work is thus let and sublet until the margin left for the last is of starvation breadth." Under such conditions, the poor creatures lose hope; things pertaining to their temporal or eternal interest cease to have any interest for them; and what is worse, thousands of children are growing up in an atmosphere morally and physically poisoned, which will deaden every sense which enables the human being to distinguish between right and wrong. It is an immense subject, which teetotal advocates and education boards will never be able to grapple with alone, much as they can do. The people want better homes; and if they could have fair wages for their toilmoney which now goes to the sweaters and middle-men-they would find no difficulty in meeting the increased expenditure. It is true that the labour-market is overcrowded; but this can be relieved by a system of emigration such as a few philanthropists like Miss Macpherson and Dr. Barnardo have organized. We have seen it intimated that the bitter cry of the London poor can be hushed in Canada; and we believe that this is the true solution of the difficulty. The labour-market is as overcrowded in London as it is ill-supplied in the Dominion; and it is distressing to think that people may fruitlessly seek work at a shilling a day in the mother country while their services elsewhere would be eagerly sought and liberally rewarded.

There is, however, another side to this question which has received too little attention: the squalid and the ignorant are not the only subjects in London who suffer from straitened means. During the last winter the truth has come out, in a manner as curious as it is convincing, that in comparatively genteel neighbourhoods, where the streets are clean, and the houses show a respectable front, there are frequently found abject destitution and despair, such as people usually associate only with what they are pleased to call "the lapsed." Poor clerks, who, through no fault of their own, lose their situations; the unfortunate professional man whose health fails him; and others who find circumstances against them, pass through times of suffering as distressing as anything experienced by their ragged contemporaries. What could be disclosed under this head would astonish the easy-going world. The facts are more difficult to discover than they would be in the slums, because the sufferers are not accessible, like the very poor, whose rooms may be entered at any hour without knocking. The respectable starving hide themselves from observation, and keep their anguish to themselves.

Those who desire to render assistance to the poor at this season will find plenty of opportunities if they seek them, and if information is required, application should be made at centres where the tried and experienced friends of the poor can be found. Mr. Orsman, Mr. Hatton, Mr.. A. G. Brown, Dr. Barnardo, and others will always be glad to enlighten those who desire to know more about existing need.

G. H. P.

Itinerating in the Bush, Victoria.

BY PASTOR W. C. BUNNING, WEST MELBOURNE.

N 1875, after a visit to the wool-sheds in the Quambatook district, I appealed to the readers of The Sword and the Trowel of February 1876, in these words:-" Pray that the church, especially the Baptist church, may be moved to send evangelists to itinerate in these regions. beyond,' carrying the word of life to the utmost borders, and all along the river Murray." I am sure readers of this magazine have prayed, for I have just witnessed the splendid answer to their prayers and ours. God has moved the Baptists of Victoria to send evangelists to that region, and now six or seven earnest men of God are carrying the word of life to three of the newly-settled districts, and are reaching more than three thousand of a scattered agricultural population, now fast settling on the virgin lands of the northern part of our fair colony. I must here utter a word of hearty praise for the enthusiasm, liberality, and genuine devotion with which the leaders of our denomination here have taken up this noble enterprize; and as they have sown, so God is now permitting them to reap. The earnest work, personal visiting of the mission fields and the missionaries, and unflagging zeal of the pastor of the mother church of our metropolis, Rev. Samuel Chapman, and his officers, are a joy to think of. Nor is the Collins Street church alone in their zealous interest and effort, the whole denomination is with them.

At the request of the committee of the Baptist Home Mission, I visited two of the districts, those of Kerang and Boort, with which I was already somewhat familiar. The great Goulburn Valley district, where we have three earnest men labouring, I hope to visit some day. But I purpose as briefly as I can to give you the result of my observation in the country lying around Kerang and Boort. Into the brief space of sixteen days twenty-two meetings were crowded, including eight tea meetings! Is it not a wonder that we survive? In that time we visited sixteen preaching stations, and had the privilege of putting the gospel before more than one thousand six hundred persons (preaching to some of them twice), and going over about three hundred and fifty miles by the horses and buggies of the missionaries. In all our journeys over rough roads, crossing through creeks, passing over rivers, we were carried by the good hand of our God without a single mishap. Hallelujah!

On the 27th of August I left Melbourne by the early morning train for Sandhurst, going thence over a new line to Pyramid Hill, one hundred and sixty miles from town, where I arrived at four in the afternoon. On getting out I saw our superintendent of the district, Rev. F. J. Wilkin, holding his horses, which, accustomed to the quiet of the forest and the plain, were scared at the unusual hissing and screaming of the engine. We were soon en route to a Baptist farmhouse four miles off, where we had tea and delightful fellowship with some Wesleyan evangelists working among the railway navvies in that neighbourhood. Then eight miles to the State school at Macorna. Here I found horses tethered in all directions to the wire fences enclosing neighbouring selections,

and in the bright moonlight could discern people coming in all directions, though not a house was in sight. Here I could but notice that encouraging feature which marked all the services we held, -the hushed silence and the apparent hunger of most of the people for the word of God. We got an opportunity of speaking personally with dozens of souls. Next day we went to Tragowel, where a tea meeting was to be held. This also was in a State school. Here I must mention first, the profound impression made on my mind of the value of the educational system of Victoria, which has dotted the wilderness all over with these wooden school-buildings, thus placing education within the reach of most of the selectors' children; and secondly, the kindness of the boards of advice which have granted permission to our missionaries to use no fewer than thirteen of these State schools for preaching stations, Sundayschools, and Bible-classes on week evenings. But for those buildings no fit place for assembling could be found; for the people are mostly too poor to build, and too scattered to find so central a place as the school affords. I am almost afraid to speak of the countenance and assistance which the school teachers, both male and female, gave us, seeing that one has just been fined five pounds by the Minister of Education, for conducting a Sunday service in a school at the request of the people assembled, because the appointed preacher, from some cause, failed to come. This is surely pushing the secular principle to an absurd and irritating extreme. Yet I cannot help testifying to my sense of grateful indebtedness for the valuable aid and the kindly welcome so many of the teachers gave us. To describe one of these bush tea-meetings is to describe all; so I will sketch this first one at Tragowel. The great pot is slung between two uprights, and the water is boiling for tea. Family waggons and carts are arriving, containing not only the eaters but the provisions, prepared with all the glory of abundant eggs, cream, and butter in the scattered and humble homesteads of the selectors. Girls and lads come dashing up on horseback. These girls are splendid equestriennes. After a sumptuous and abundant tea, whilst the tables are cleared and removed, and the room prepared for the meeting, the young people engage in games of all sorts. Sometimes the fun was quite boisterous; but I neither saw nor heard what was objectionable. Indeed, I felt more glad than I can say to miss that profuse slang and blasphemy which pollutes the ear and fills the streets here in Melbourne. In the city even lads earn high wages, temptation abounds, home comfort and attraction are, alas! unknown in thousands of cases; consequently the street corners, the hotel parlour, the low theatre gallery, and all that ilk never want numerous patronage. As one result, old young men abound. Drink, smoke, and immorality are committing fearful havoc. But there in the bush, where money is scarce, work is hard, food is plain, and many forms of temptation are absent, I was struck with the fine physique, with the better demeanour, and with the purer language which obtain. I could not help feeling, if these young men and women are won for Christ, and elevated by good literature, they will come to the front and carry all before them in the colony. The city larrakin and the effete fast young men and women will surely go to the wall. On such considerations as these, I was penetrated with a conviction of the value of the work being done by our missionaries in