Irtttro tu eiritur.

THE BISHOP OF LONDON'S CHARGE. LETTER II.

Loudon, 16th November 1854. Sire—A considerable part of the Bishop's Charge was devoted to reflections upon the present condition of the working classes. His Lordship congra- tulated the public, (to whom, rather than to the clerus, his charge was ad- dressed,) upon the unprecedented tranquillity now prevailing in this coun- try, which he attributed partly to the discovery made by the working classes that they are no match for the powers that be, and partly to the genial in- fluence which the labours of the clergy and the philanthropy of the rich have diffused upon the common people. But he lamented that, as the census bad proved, such large masses were living in worse than heathen ignorance, left a prey to the devouring ravages of Infidelity, Mormonism, and Roman- ism. The picture of society which his Lordship drew exhibited a liberal and enlightened upper class, a humane and devoted clergy, and in the back- ground, dense dark masses of heathenism. This is the view taken by the large majority, no doubt, of those with whom his Lordship converses, by statistical reporters, and by evangelizing societies. Now, I would first ask, supposing this to be a correct picture, can we re- gard it as an encouraging one? No one, it is true, pretends that it is satisfactory; but many seem to think that we may infer from it that we are improving and doing very fairly. But was the England of our fathers such a heathen country, that all the liberal, enlightened, and philanthropi- cal persons of our day are to be reckoned as so much pure gain, our " hea- then" being inherited ? I believe, on the contrary, that in the last and preceding generations, when executions for robbery and sedition were fre- quent, and the upper classes were not half so decorous as they are now, the notion of "masses" hidden in clouds of ignorance and barbarism, if applied to any section of their countrymen, would have struck our fathers as strange and slanderous. That term "masses" is the peculiar opprobrium of our time. The fact represented by it is our worst danger. I do not believe, however, that things are nearly so bad with us as that picture would force us to conclude, although I am sure that the approaches we are making towards such a state of things threaten us with dissolution and ruin. There are some revolting statements made by Mr. Mann, and

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quoted the other day by the Bishop, to the effect I have just represented, against which the honour of our country calls for an emphatic protest. My denial is of course worth nothing, except as inviting your readers to doubt and to judge for themselves. With this view, I deny that there are any masses in London sunk in ultra-heathen ignorance. Mere statistics of non- attendance at public worship, however unimpeachable, are inconclusive as to the heathenism, on two grounds : first, they do not prove that those who "ever go to church or chapel are utterly ignorant ; secondly, they do not prove that multitudes, who are generally absent, do not go there occasionally. The most degraded parts of London are those chiefly qccupied by Irish Ro- nan Catholics; and they, however disorder) and wretched, are not by any means untaught. One of the most squalid-looking fellows I ever saw was an Irish dock-labourer, who could bring a pocketful of books, and quote by the hour out of Bellarmine and Baronies. If yen take one of the lowest English quarters, and visit the houses consecutively, you may find that a

great number of the children are unbaptized ; but most of the parents will profess to belong still to the Church, and will acknowledge that it is only through carelessness and not being sought after, that they have put off the baptism of their children. It will only be in very rare exceptional instances that Christianity will be disavowed, or its leading features unknown. Every- where a clergyman or an agent of the Church will meet with an almost uni- form welcome.

And as for Infidelity and Mormonism, the Infidels and Mormonites must be very much surprised at the character and influence attributed to them. By Infidelity is of course meant the speculative form of it, propagated by books and meetings and lectures. Of this I assert confidently, that in the Eastern parts of London there is hardly a church or Dissenting chapel, taken by it- self, which is so weak in supporters as the whole Infidel propaganda. The Infidels themselves speak in terms of supreme contempt of the " masses," regarding themselves as a select enlightened few, allied by rending and knowledge to the upper classes. Mormonism is represented here and there by a small " upper chamber" ; but a visitor going in, if he has regarded Mormonism with horror, will be surprised to find a little body of earnest re- ligious people, wonderfully familiar with the contents of the Bible, and pro- fessing to reproduce New Testament Christianity in its every trait and de- tail. He will perhaps hear what a friend of mine fairly called " a very good High Church sermon " about baptism and the laying-on of hands. He will smile as much as he pleases at allusions to miracles actually performed in the nineteenth century, and at claims of priestly and prophetical powers advanced for Joseph Smith and his successors ; but if he makes acquaintance with any of the " saints" in private life, he will find them to be persons of more earnestness and reflection than their neighbours in general, exhibiting the virtues of a zealous and exclusive religious body, and as free as any class from the taint of immoral living. He may wonder to the end at the incre- dible things which they believe ; but their practised logic will not impro- bably lead him to discover weaknesses in his own position which he has not before suspected.

On the whole it may be stated, that there are no objects of thought or grounds of union which are more readily taken up by the working classes than those which are exclusively religious. There are no reading-rooms or libraries in the poor quarters of London which attract so many members as those which are based on particular religious opinions. There are no meet- ings for any purpose, political, literary, or social, so well attended as religious meetings. There are no men so popular as favourite preachers. There are no books so commonly found in the houses of the poor as religious books.

But while I confidently affirm all this, I regard our condition with much more fear and despondency than either the Bishop or Mr. Mann does. There is just one measure or canon, (and it was quoted by the Bishop in his charge,) by which we are to estimate the social condition of a people. How nearly do they fulfil the mutual relations of a body ? The inspector of society has to ask himself, in what state of repair are the joints and bands of the social machine ? Are those invisible spiritual sinews which link men together as members of families, as workers, as citizens, strong enough to resist the ten- sion of trying circumstances ? How can we fancy they are, when we have begun to talk familiarly of "masses" ? The word itself suggests dissolution of membership, perished sinews, mere material cohesion and inertia, without organic force. And there is too much truth in these hints. There is reason to fear that among the poorer classes, home-life is leas pure and strong than it used to be. Juvenile labour on an independent footing, indoor apprentice- ship having passed away, has withdrawn boys and girls from parental author- ity. Parents are glad to throw off their responsibility on schoolmasters and clergymen and Sunday-school teachers. Homes are less united and comfort- able than they once were. It is an uncommon thing, though not at all un- exampled, to meet with a favourable specimen of domestic life among the poor of London. In conversing, the other day, with a knot of prostitutes, I found that two out of five complained that they had been driven from home by the unkindness of their mothers. They had been at school and lived re- spectably before. Those who retain old English feelings about home and parental discipline will see frightful auguries in such facts. Again, let the existing relations of employers and employed be compared with what they were till recently. Which of the two set forth most nearly the conditions of a body ? I have more than once heard sad confessions and regrets from masters, lamenting that the close blending of former genera- tions, often interrupted as it was by collisions, has been replaced by the smooth chasm bridged over only by labour given and wages paid for it. The general loosening of the social bonds which are the strength of a peo- ple is summed up and represented by the changes taking place in the re- sidences of the various classes. The severance between the dwellings of the richer and poorer classes is daily becoming more complete. If we look at all that is implied in this, we shall see, with whatever sorrow and despair, that a ragged school in every alley, and the incursions of five hundred mission- aries, will not compensate for this change. Comfort and respectability are very respectable idols, but the worship of them is destroying us. The con- tinued desertion of the poorer parts by those who get on and can manage to have houses in the respectable suburbs, not only withdraws the more valuable members of society, but gives a ruinous air of depression to the condemned neighbourhood.

The Bishop remarked not long since at a public meeting, how delightful it is to see those who live on the sunny heights of life looking down with compassion on those who drudge in the vale of tears below. Thank God, there are yet some tears shed on our Olympus ; there is still sunshine in our Tartarus ; but as long as the heights and depths are becoming more distinct and distant, the most gracious smiles and the missionary visits of angels, however delightful to contemplate, will not avail us much. Artisans and

labourers, and poor people generally, do not want condolence : they want common hopes and a common purpose with their richer fellow countrymen.

Whatever it is that will arouse the working classes out of their miserable apathy, it is sure to be something that will touch the common humanity of both rich and poor.

Lest any of your readers should quarrel with me for suggesting nothing but despondency, I will venture to add that, though I do not think ragged schools and missionaries very potent regenerators of the "masses," t ere are many things which I should like to see attempted. I would extend and propagate municipal responsibilities. I would have the bishops and resident

clergy multiplied, so as to be more adequate to the population. I would

have our pollee, both the system and the men, improved and increased, and would bid them wage an internecine war, with the help of amended laws,

against rascality and abominations of every kind. A well-ordered city

should no more tolerate human refuse than physical. It should persecute to extermination thieves and drunkards and prostitutes and " Arabs," and

all professed vagabonds. The chief right to be recognized as belonging to them should be that of being mercifully restrained; and, if possible, made useful to the State.

These, perhaps, and many other movements, might be attempted with some hope, if we were brought to regard ourselves as all members of one body,

redeemed in one Head. As long as we are content with casting compassionate glances at our brethren, as if they belonged to another species, we shall not feel the burden of our responsibilities, nor rise up manfully to discharge

them. I am your faithful servant, D.