THE CHRISTMAS-BOX.
THE baths and lavatories in Orange Street, Leicester Square, have been opened by Sir Henry Dukenlield,—a great Christmas- box to the poor elasses of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields.
The old style of Christmas-box is disappearing, and a decided move has been made against it this year. There are solid reasons for discontinuing the practice, What was once a spontaneous token of good-will has degenerated into an extorted fee ; the free gift has become a trade in vails; your servant connived to favour particular tradesmen on condition of an annual fine out of the
profits, which were of course calculated to cover the said fine. Parish servants extort the yearly fee by importunity; other irre- gular servants extort it under pain of neglect or insolence. The free offering had grown to be an odious impost, unredeemed by any trace of good-will; and it is going out of use. Thus, how- ever, be it remembered, disappears one of the last relics of old customs that maintained some friendly relations between the several classes of society. As we grow freer, classes, as such, grow also more estranged, until at last the only relations that survive are those of trade. We are teaching the working and servile classes to be " independent." Baths and washhouses are a real boon to the working classes, as mechanics institutions have been and may yet further be. Whatever tends to remove ignorance and soften rude manners tends to diminish the distance between the severed classes; and the extension of soap will wash away still more powerful barriers. But beneficial as such boons provided by the care of the rich for the poor may be, they lack the attribute of being personal. In that respect they are no substitute for the Christmas-box. Kindness, indeed, needs never be obsolete; "progress," which cannot ultimately abrogate the friendly relations of class with class, must have better in store. But meanwhile?
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