WORK AMONG WORKINGMEN.*
A BOOR that bears the impress of coming from the writer's heart is sure to appeal directly to the hearts of its readers. It * Work amongst Working-Men. By Ellice Hopkins. London ; Siraban and CO. 1819. may be criticised, or disparaged, or repudiated, but it leaves its mark. All expression of deep-seated conviction bears weighty testimony on its own side of any question. It is this character- istic that makes Work among Working-Men, by Miss Ellice Hopkins, so striking. The book is not one of theories only; Miss Hopkins has done much and varied work among the class she writes about. Guided solely by the desire to make other people as happy in religion as she was herself, she set to work to find out the best way of personally carrying out the purpose she had at heart. The way she chose might easily have daunted an older experience than she possessed at the time she began. Many women are tempted to take up philanthropic work in order to benefit the poorer classes, but few are either able or willing to take the special line Miss Hopkins took. It is quite open to argument whether her choice of work was the best imaginable ; anyhow, it was one to which she felt herself powerfully drawn, and it is rare that really telling results are accomplished, unless the worker does feel strongly drawn to some special line of work. After trying in smaller ways to reach the hearts of the people, Miss Hopkins, though still quite a girl, resolved' to appeal to them by direct preaching. From childhood she had been struck by the absence of "bare heads" in church, and she set her- self to solve the question whether it is the special mode of teaching given in church, or the teaching itself, that fails to attract working-men. Backed up by her father, a man well known in the world of science, and by the clergyman of the district who, fortunately for the experiment, possessed larger views than many of his brethren, she found herself one "even- ing, at half-past five, seated in a cottage with sixteen men." The position was a formida.ble one, if it be remembered that Miss Hopkins was at the time quite a girl, working in a suburb of a University town—a suburb occupied in large part by "law- less roughs "—and this ten or fifteen years ago, when it was much less the fashion than it is now for women to take any prominent position in philanthropy. A few ladies worked with her, chiefly by going personally to the houses of the men to per- suade them to attend the meetings, and as a rule one or two of these ladies attended at the meetings themselves. Whatever it was that attracted the working-men, Miss Hopkins not only managed to get them to come once in a way, which might have been from curiosity, but she appears to have succeeded in making them come night after night, and in great numbers. At the same time, she was by no means free from very natural alarm. One night, when the friends who generally accompanied her happened to be absent, she set off to face her audience quite alone. She says herself that she "had reached that convenient stage of terror which turns the corner and rounds upon courage." The room was "full of wild, rough men, who had never been known to come together in large numbers without some row taking place," and she "was the only woman in the room." The courage required for such work from a young woman brought up in all the refinement of an intellectual life was immense. If it had been undertaken from any motives but the highest, she could never have carried it through so as to touch the heart of such an audience. The close of the meeting tolls how surely noble work appeals to unsophisticated natures. "When it was over, and they crowded around me to shake hands with me and thank me, my own brothers could not have been more reverent and careful of me than these rough men." One great help Miss Hopkins had in carrying out such work was her keen sense of humour. Aiming, as she did, at converting the worst characters in the neighbourhood, she did not allow her sense of responsibility to hide from her the humorous side that is always to be found in work, especially among the uneducated. The mixture of pathos and comedy is to be met with incessantly among the poor. The little and the great in their lives are inextricably mingled. The conven- tional polish of the upper classes is quite wanting, and each indi- vidual realises and expresses his feelings in a strongly individual fashion. It is greatly to the help of both the work and the worker that these elements of humour should be seized and appreciated, and Miss Hopkins understood this well. A witty reply from the men often furnished her with material for a strik- ing simile, which came straight home to her hearers. To work successfully among the poor, it is often necessary to work with the tools they themselves furnish ; and it is impossible to seize them readily, unless a sense of humour underlies the seriousness of purpose which urges people to the work. One amusing story may be quoted, as an instance of dexterity in arriving at a desired end. A. poor woman, much given to gossip but anxious to soar
to higher things, is explaining to Miss Hopkins her means for ridding her house of the gossips of the neighbourhood. In answer to a remark of Miss Hopkins, that "the Bible tells us to be courteous, and that to turn folk out of our house, however much in the way they may be, is apt to look rude," she replies :—
"The first thing I did was to get the brush and dust-pan, and lay them handy 'grand any neighbour corned in. Soon, in pops Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith,' says I, you won't mind my doing a bit of dustin', will you, while you're talkin'P Of course she couldn't but be agreeable to that. So down on my knees I goes, and begins to dust with all my might. But somehow, it was a very carious thing, and the dust alias would gather just tinder the chair my neighbour was a-sittin' on. She'd shift and shift, but I'd alias be arter her with my old dustpan ; and the dust 'nd get up her nose, and she'd begin to sneeze over so—keteher I ketcher I—and soon she'd say,' Well, I think—ketcher call in another day, Mrs. Simpson, as I see you are—ketcher I—busy.' And so, in less than a week, I 'tad dusted all my neighbours out of my house."
Interesting as the account of Miss Hopkins's personal work is, it raises points of still larger moment. Much earnest work is being done for the poor in all directions, and much earnest thought is expended as to the best ways of reaching the class. As with all other undertakings, the ultimate test of such work must be the success attending it. How far may we accept Miss Hopkins's own decision on this point P We have no desire to question her facts. If we appear sceptical, it is only from wonder at what she achieved. In one of her chapters she tells us that she had seen "four hundred rough, world-hardened, reckless men, weeping and sobbing like children over their sins." She goes on to say that she had seen, "Sunday after Sunday, bad men turned into good by it, men who were drunkards, profligates, blasphemers, fighters, gamblers, turned into good, devout, tender-hearted men." For months she "never spoke but this change took places two or three thus receiving the Word of life, and becoming completely changed men." If these things were really living facts, and not merely passing emo- tions roused for a season by the wonderful gift of preaching that Miss Hopkins evidently possessed, such a state-of things can only be compared to the effect produced by ths4zeaching of Wesley and Whitfield. But why did it not create more noise at the time? No doubt something may be owing to the quiet, retiring way in which Miss Hopkins worked. She made no stir about it. She often drew her helpers from among the poor themselves, and she made herself no special centre of what she undertook. It is possible, therefore, that the knowledge of what was going on never got beyond her immediate circle of intimate friends, and she probably desired as much as possible to try her plan in secret. Certainly, nothing can be plainer than Miss Hopkins's own account of the entire change of life of many of her hearers ; but at the same time, we wish she could have given more direct information as to how the men are living now. We gather that the incidents she de- scribes took place at least ten years ago ; but the form . which much of the volume is written makes it snore difficult to reckon up results. There is not a dat given anywhere. She tells us she was younekt the tin. ,, and she continued the work some three years, but whether she writes from notes or from memory she does not tell us. Unfor- tunately, much work that is really good and valuable is apt to bear an exaggerated appearance, when viewed in the light of a strong enthusiasm. it is all the more necessary, therefore, that those who are writing about it should give chapter and verse as plainly as possible. That the effects produced were remarkable there can be no doubt, but the very power Miss Hopkins has of minimising her own special gift for it tends to prevent her realising clearly the quite unusual amount Of success that she tells us she attained. This leads to another question that Miss Hopkins dwells on. In a striking chapter at the end of the book, she appeals to her readers, and especially her young readers, to try and do likewise. Though she does not urge upon them at once to be- come preachers, she yet evidently thinks that it is not at all an oat-of-the-way gift. Now, we should say that it is essentially an out-of-the-way gift. Not one in a thousand possesses the power even to interest an audience, far less to move it. To begin with, to influence your hearers effectively you must have experienced yourself what you wish your hearers to experience. Probably half the dull and unmeaning sermons preached weekly in churches owe their dulness to the fact that the preachers are preaching that which they only knows through books. Heart- stirring words must come from the heart of the speaker. To produce great desire in others, you must have experienced strong 'desire yourself. How is it possible that young people— unless, like Miss Hopkins, they have a very special gift for the work—should touch the deeps of human nature? They may persuade and attract, and possibly raise a certain kind of enthusiasm, but to reach the soul of a man, or to infuse strength against constant temptation under most adverse circumstances,. requires a personal strength of character and experience of life. that not one young person in a thousand can possess. In view of the failures in all directions to do lasting work among the poor,. even by those who are able to give their whole time to it, it is surely far beyond reason to expect that any one has only to desire. to work in such ways as Miss Hopkins has worked in order to succeed. At the same time, the advice she gives to parents has truth and force in it. Many an unhappy jar in family life. might be spared, if parents would allow their daughters as well as thei: sons to strike out lines of interest and action for them-. selves. To pass year after year in a round of more or less use- less a,cComplishments, and even these not heartily followed up,. is enough to try the cheerfulness and tems-Ar of the most kindly disposition. Energy must have an outlet somewhere, and if those who possess it should desire to help others, so much the better for the whole family. It may at least enlarge the• field of interest, even to those who are most narrow in their' sympathies.
Miss Hopkins's book is not exclusively concerned with her own: work. It contains many valuable suggestions upon other matters connected with the class for which she has done so, much. The consideration of these, however, opens up larger. question's than can adequately be dealt with here. We can only advise all who are is interested in the poor to read the book for themselves.
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