Tempted London : Young Men. (Hodder and Stoughton.)—Thia volume is
a reprint of papers which have appeared in the British. Weekly. It abounds with strange, interesting, and, it need hardly be said, often very painful facts. It is not only the openly im- moral agencies that contribute to the general corruption. When a bank, for instance, places a clerk in charge of a suburban branch with a salary of £75, he having as much as £2,000 in his hands, it is distinctly exposing him to temptation. The chapter on "City Clerks" is, indeed, a doleful one. When we come to such subjects as "Drink," "Gambling," "Impurity," of course we expect shocking revelations, and certainly find them. The gambling sore is frightfully prevalent. The law, apparently stringent in its provisions, is really ineffective. It hunts down a couple of lads who play cards for halfpence under a hedge, but
allows gigantic schemes of betting to be paraded before the eyes of the public. Betting-houses are prohibited in England, unless
they can shelter themselves under the easy alias of a club ; but
they are established at Boulogne, and are allowed to publish their advertisements in the sporting papers. One sometimes longs for a despot to put down summarily these noxious prints. If that cannot be, at least the advertisements of illegal things might be proceeded against. But it is not only the sporting papers that are to blame. Every newspaper that publishes lists of betting is guilty in a degree. Cannot they combine to keep them out ? About the theatre the writer speaks in no uncertain language.
"The theatrical calling is certain ruin, both mental and physical, to the bulk of the persons who embrace it." "To send a daughter to the theatre for her living is in 90 per cent. or more
cases to expose her to temptations presented in such guise that it is impossible for her to resist them and to prosper in her pro- fession." What has Mr. Irving got to say to that ?
Previous page
