Ragged homes and how to mend them

by Mrs. Bayly

I once persuaded a poor man to attend a place of worship. He went to a dissenting chapel. The next time I saw him, I asked him how he liked it.

“Well, ma’am,” he said, “I dare say it was all very good, if anybody could have understood it. I thought I should have got on a bit with the prayer; but there were such a lot of hard words in it, I couldn’t make nothing of it. Parsons don’t understand nothing about us, or, instead of praying for all them outlandish things, they’d pray a bit for us, now and then, and for our poor wives at home, that can’t never get out to pray for themselves, and got work to do that would frighten them to look at.”

This remark will shew the estimation in which the very poor generally hold the services in our churches and chapels. It would be unwise to argue from it, that some great alteration must be necessary; that the language and thoughts of every preacher should be so simplified as to be brought to the level of the uneducated. There would be a want of justice in this. The higher classes have a right to be considered, as well as the poorer; their tastes and requirements must be thought of and provided for; and as they are satisfied, edified, and instructed by things as they are, for themselves, let things remain as they are. What we want is something in addition to that which we already have, and, we think, something very different.

The college education received by our ministers of religion would not be the best possible preparation for our Ragged School Teachers and City Missionaries. The clearness imparted to the intellect by mathematical studies, the extensive knowledge of words derived from the acquirement of many languages,—in fact, the general discipline through which the mind of the student passes, gives him a mental power which sets him at an immeasurable distance from the man who does all his counting upon his fingers, and whose only knowledge of language is derived from what he has picked up in the streets.

Our City Missionaries are doing what they can to supply this want. The hired room where they sit, surrounded by the unwashed and uncombed, picturing out to them a passage of Scripture, applying its lessons to their daily life, and then praying to Him who can bless their daily toil, and give them daily strength,—these are the services appreciated by the “sons of toil,” and we thank God for having raised up these simple, earnest teachers.

It is the deep conviction which I hold that the poor can be best helped, as well as taught, by those who thoroughly understand them, that has induced me to hail with delight the introduction upon the field of labour of the Female Missionary. A sensible, true-hearted Christian woman, very little removed above the poor herself, will accomplish much more amongst them than any lady, however well inclined she may be. So many minutiæ must be considered in endeavouring to improve the home habits of these people, such a constant watchfulness is necessary to prevent a degeneration into merely amateur work, that it requires all the method, skill, and determination of the professional hand.

There are modes of argument which the poor know how to use with the poor, which would never occur to people differently situated. A few weeks ago, I requested one of our missionaries to call upon a family, where there were a number of children growing up in great ignorance, and to see if she could not persuade the mother to send some of them to school. Next time I saw her, I asked her what success she had had.

“At first, ma’am,” she said, “I couldn’t get on at all; the mother did not seem to care about the children’s knowing anything, and she said she was sure she could not afford the school-money. I told her I found it was always a saving in the end; for their shoes didn’t get worn out so fast, nor their clothes torn, and I hadn’t a-near so much washing to do for ’em, as if they did run in the streets. I told her, it often cost me more in the holidays for mending their shoes than as though I had paid the school-money. She took up with this directly, and said, if that was it, she’d send the most rackety of ’em; and if it answered, she’d send the rest after a bit.”

Now, it is just possible that it might have occurred to a lady to use this same kind of argument; but would have lost its force with the mother, because she would have known it was not the result of actual experience.

We hope, if spared to another winter, and if we are fortunate enough to obtain the requisite funds, that we shall be able to establish a paid missionary in the Potteries. Great as the improvement has been, much still remains to be effected. This poor place, that was left so many years literally wallowing in the mire, is still much behind-hand in cleanliness and home comfort. The keen eye, the ready hand, and the loving heart of some good Christian woman, who can devote the whole of her time to the work, is just what we want. We must trust in Him, who has already done so much for us, that He will open the way as we go on, and raise up for us, in our time of need, both the person and the pay.