SPEAK TO HIM KINDLY.
Oh! speak to him kindly—the boy has a heart,
Pray think, ere you bid him in anger depart;
His tatters and rags will not darken your door;
Perhaps its not his fault he’s dirty and poor!
Would you wonder to find him a rogue or a fool,
With Distress for his master—the Street for his school?—
Some feeling of pride in his bosom may beat,
Though he stands at your door without shoes to his feet.
Do you question his story, and turn on your heel?
Starvation can teach him to beg and to steal;
Would you drive him to pilfer by scorn and rebuke?
Oh! a beggar has virtues as well as a duke.
Remember a man’s not the wisest and best
Because of the star that may shine on his breast:
The poorest on earth may nobility own,
And a king be a villain in spite of his throne!
Yes! there’s found in the garret again and again
A power that softens e’en poverty’s chain;
A spirit of honest endurance, that brings
More comfort than throbs in the bosoms of kings.
Then turn not away from that fatherless boy—
His soul is not dead to the feeling of joy;
A kind word on his path like the sunshine will fall,
And his dull eye light up to repay you for all.
Oh! treat him not harshly—but win if you can;
The boy in his rags will one day be a man!
That urchin before you—so haggard and pale
May live in a workhouse, or die in a jail!
But virtue and truth may be found in him still.
Then turn not aside—you may save if you will:
Can you leave him to grow up a knave or a sot,
With a home or a school not a mile from the spot?
Then speak to him kindly—’twill cost you no more—
Oh, drive him not hungry away from your door!
But give him, in pity, a morsel to eat,
A coat for his back, and some shoes for his feet.
The humble though homeless by Jesus are prized,
Remember that He was both poor and despised—
And oh! think on his words, ere impatient you be,
“Inasmuch as ye did it to these, ’twas to Me.”
Novel Residence of a Den of Young Thieves.—From a late London paper, we take the following remarkable sketch of the rendezvous of a gang of juvenile depredators. We have some such domicils, and some such tenants of them, in our own cities.
Five ragged and filthy boys were charged with trespassing on property belonging to the South Western Railway Company. An officer stated, that at three o’clock, on the preceding morning, he examined the arches under the terminus of the South Western Railway, and observed a hole, capable of admitting a man’s body in one of them, situated in Granby street. On looking through this aperture he discovered the prisoners, some of whom had pipes in their mouths, smoking, while others were talking and laughing; and all seemed as if they were perfectly secure from discovery in their hiding place. The moment he threw light upon the groups, they all started upon their feet, but the arch being enclosed on all sides, they had no opportunity of escape, and were secured without difficulty. They had worked holes, and undermined the arch in several places. In a hole, covered with a piece of board, he found small parcels of coffee, sugar, pepper, candles, &c. There was also a quantity of coals, and straw covered a portion of the ground.
The magistrate then asked the witness if he knew the prisoners? The officer said that they had all been convicted of petty offences. The officer of the South Western Railway said that a number of their companions were convicted some time ago for a similar offence, and that it cost the Company £75 to repair the arch which they damaged by taking up their quarters in it! Seventy-five pounds expended in good schooling, would have gone far towards making good boys of them.
They were sentenced to imprisonment for various terms, from 25 to 40 days—probably to come out ten-fold more the children of evil than when they went in.
Cases of Theft at a Single Term on Perth Circuit, Scotland.
No. Articles Stolen. Previous Convictions. Sentence. 1 A tub, 4 (1 in Justiciary) 10 years trans. 2 A pail, 5 (1 in Justiciary) 10 “ 3 A purse, with 5s. 4 (1 in Justiciary) 10 “ 4 Purse, with 1s. 8½d., and trinkets, 2 7 “ 5 Silver watch and appendages, 3 7 “ 6 10 lbs. lead, 4 7 “ 7 Jacket, vest, cap, and boots, 3 7 “ 8 Jar, pepper-box, and 2s. 6d. 2 7 “ 9 Gown and pair of shoes, 5 (1 in Justiciary) 10 “ 10 Quantity of soap, (1 in Justiciary) outlawed. Note.—The value of the articles stolen may not in all exceed £5; there were 33 previous convictions, of which five were by the Circuit Court of Justiciary.
The investigations and trials of these ten persons must have cost the country at least £1000, which would have thoroughly educated in an Industrial School 200 children.
Singular Association.—Lord Campbell tells us that he once heard a judge at Stafford sentencing a prisoner convicted of uttering a forged £1 note, and after having pointed out to him the enormity of the offence, and exhorted him to prepare for another world, the dignitary thus concluded:—“And I trust that, through the merits and mediation of our blessed Redeemer, you may there experience that mercy which a due regard to the credit of the paper currency of the country forbids you to hope for here.”
Friendly Beneficial Societies.—There are 14,000 enrolled Friendly Societies in England, having 1,600,000 members, an annual revenue amounting to £2,800,000, and an accumulated capital of £6,400,000. A still greater number of minor Friendly Societies are not enrolled, and do not, therefore, possess the privileges and means of self-protection enjoyed by the former. It is estimated that there are 33,223 societies in this position in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland; having 3,052,000 members, an annual revenue of £4,980,000, and with funds amounting to so large a sum as £11,360,000, the praiseworthy accumulations of the purely industrial classes. Indeed, half of the laboring male adult population are members of beneficial societies.
Diminished Pauperism.—It appears from a late return presented by Mr. Baines, to the House of Commons, that there are well-nigh 26,000 fewer adult able-bodied paupers in the workhouses of England than at the corresponding period of last year. Of paupers, generally, no matter what their sex or age, the diminution is somewhat more than 56,000.
Intemperance and Insanity.—From an article in the Scottish Temperance Review, it appears that returns from 25 Lunatic Asylums give 24 per cent. of cases, caused by intemperance and vice. The total number of lunatics in England and Wales is estimated at 26,516. Of these, 6,629 were reduced to their lamentable condition by intemperance. The sum expended in England and Wales, for the maintenance of the insane, exceeds $3,500,000.
Metropolitan Mortality.—From a very interesting and carefully compiled statistical table, published in the London Medical Times and Gazette, on the births and deaths in the Metropolis during the past year, it appears, that the number of births was, 39,882 males, and 37,984 females, being a total of 77,866, or an excess of males over females of 1,898. The number of deaths during the same period was 28,096 males, and 27,249 females, or a total number of 55,345 deaths, being an excess of deaths of males over females of 847, or an excess of births over deaths of 22,517. The ages at death were from 0 to 15, 25,712; from 15 to 60, 17,999; and from 60 and upwards, 11,362. The proportion of deaths, in 1851, to population in the several districts of London, will be seen by the following:—In the west districts, the population by the last census was 376,427, and the deaths in 1851 were 8,326; giving a proportion of one death to 45.2 inhabitants. In the north district, population 490,396; deaths 10,860; or one death to 45.1 inhabitants. In the central district, population 393,256; deaths 9.474; or one death to 41.1 inhabitants. In the east districts, population 485,522; deaths 11,819; or one death to 41.1 inhabitants. And in the south districts, population 616,635; deaths 14,884; or one death to 41.4 inhabitants. By a comparison of the above with the former year 1850, it will be observed that the births have increased, in 1851, by 2,554, and the deaths by 6,775. In 1850, the excess of births over deaths was 26,738; while in 1851, it was only 22,517, being a decrease of 4,221. The deaths at the age of 0 to 15 have increased over those of 1850 by 4,341; at the age from 15 to 60, by 1,634; and from 60 and upwards, by 780.
The Great Washed!—During 1851, there were 213,485 bathers at the baths and washhouses establishment, situated in St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, London; the receipts amounted to £3,437 17s. 9d. There were 50,290 washers: the number of hours’ washing was 103,836; and the receipts under this head were £499 14s. 1d. So at “the Model,” in Whitechapel, there were during the same period 156,310 bathers, with £2,143 7s. 8d., receipts. There were 43,462 washers, who washed for 98,824 hours, and paid £513 1s. 2d. Taking the Metropolis generally, which as yet yields us reports but of five establishments, of which one was opened on the 2nd of September, we find that during the past year, there were 647,242 bathers, who paid in all £9,141 8s. 6d.; and 132,251 washers, who paid £1,498 19s. 2d. The sum of the combined receipts is £10,640 7s. 8d. The country returns yield similar results for the periods during which the establishments have been opened to the public.
The most remarkable indication of the state of trade in Birmingham during the past year, is to be derived from the savings of the working classes. These are shown in various ways. The accounts of the savings’-bank for the year 1851, although not yet published, are made up, and it appears that during the last twelve months, there has been an increase of 1,025 depositors, and of upwards of £20,000 in deposits. The aggregate amount of deposits, as will be shown by the report when it appears, is close upon £400,000. But this is not all. There are numerous Freehold Land and Building Societies in Birmingham, and not less than £70,000 has been paid by the artizans of Birmingham into their various treasuries.
| No. | Articles Stolen. | Previous Convictions. | Sentence. | ||
| 1 | A tub, | 4 | (1 in Justiciary) | 10 | years trans. |
| 2 | A pail, | 5 | (1 in Justiciary) | 10 | “ |
| 3 | A purse, with 5s. | 4 | (1 in Justiciary) | 10 | “ |
| 4 | Purse, with 1s. 8½d., and trinkets, | 2 | 7 | “ | |
| 5 | Silver watch and appendages, | 3 | 7 | “ | |
| 6 | 10 lbs. lead, | 4 | 7 | “ | |
| 7 | Jacket, vest, cap, and boots, | 3 | 7 | “ | |
| 8 | Jar, pepper-box, and 2s. 6d. | 2 | 7 | “ | |
| 9 | Gown and pair of shoes, | 5 | (1 in Justiciary) | 10 | “ |
| 10 | Quantity of soap, | (1 in Justiciary) | outlawed. | ||
Scotch Prisons.—The Twelfth Report of the Commissioners of the Prisons of Scotland, shows that the average number of persons in custody in the prisons of that kingdom, in 1850, was 2990 against 3143 in 1849. The total expenditure on prison account for the last year was $220,000.
Charities in London.—Taking the whole of London, and not exempting from the account such as may be correctly classed as metropolitan institutions, as Greenwich Hospital, &c., there are no less than 491 charitable institutions, exclusive of mere local endowments and trusts, parochial and local schools, &c. These charities comprise—12 general medical hospitals; 50 medical charities for special purposes; 35 general dispensaries; 12 societies and institutions for the preservation of life and public morals; 18 societies for reclaiming the fallen and staying the progress of crime; 14 societies for the relief of general destitution and distress; 12 societies for relief of specific descriptions of want; 14 societies for aiding the resources of the industrious (exclusive of loan funds and savings-banks); 11 societies for the deaf and dumb, and the blind; 103 colleges, hospitals, and institutions of almshouses for the aged; 16 charitable pension societies; 74 charitable and provident societies, chiefly for specified classes; 31 asylums for orphan and other necessitous children; 10 educational foundations; 4 charitable modern ditto; 40 school societies, religious books, church-aiding, and Christian visiting societies; 35 Bible and missionary societies; showing a total of 491 (which includes parent societies only, and is quite exclusive of the numerous “auxiliaries,” &c.). These charities annually disburse, in aid of their respective objects, the extraordinary amount of £1,764,736, of which upwards of £1,000,000 is raised annually by voluntary contributions; the remainder from funded property, sale of publications, &c.
Prison at Athens.—The following description of an Athenian prison is extracted from a letter of an American citizen, (Rev. Dr. Jonas King,) whose name is doubtless familiar to most of our readers as associated with a very extraordinary exercise of arbitrary power.
In the Prison of Athens, called Medrese, 9th March, 1852.
I am now in prison, and my name is inscribed among the vilest malefactors of Greece, in a book kept for the purpose, in which the names of all who enter are written, with the age, description of their person, and the crime of which they have been guilty. Mine is that of preaching the word of God. That of two others here in chains, is the murder of seventeen persons.
The prison is called Medrese, which is a Turkish word meaning school; and this is so called, because it was formerly used by the Turks as a school. Besides myself, there are one hundred and twenty-five persons. A few days since there were one hundred and eighty. These occupy eleven small rooms, eight of which are about ten or eleven feet square, in each of which are from eight to twelve persons. The other three rooms are perhaps two or three times as large, and in each are confined twenty-five persons. From these facts you can judge of the accommodations enjoyed here. Most of them have no beds on which to sleep, and some not very warmly clad. It is enough to make one’s heart ache to see them. The sight of them made me feel that my trials and troubles were small.—Decent looking men, and the vilest malefactors; men not yet tried, and who are perhaps innocent, and those who have already been condemned for piracy, rape, and murder; the youth who has committed perhaps his first crime, or no crime at all; and those who have grown old in iniquity, and whose consciences are seared as with a hot iron, are here crowded together in one common mass, from which proceeds an odor by no means agreeable, even now when the weather is cool, and which as the weather grows warm, must become intolerable. And just think of sleeping in a little room, about ten feet square, with ten or eleven others locked in with you for the night, and only a small window in the door for air, and one by the side of it for light, darkened by its thick heavy iron gates, and looking upon a small court within.
It is scarcely credible that a country so closely associated with the most enlightened kingdoms of Europe, as Greece, and a city so conversant with modern improvements in municipal economy as Athens, should be open to the reproach of such folly and cruelty, as this paragraph discloses.