Crime -- England -- London; London (England) -- Social conditions; Poor -- England -- London
At length the door opens, and we watch them pass silently in, to sleep
during the night in the boxes arranged on the floors, their bodies
unwashed, and their clothing unchanged. Happy are such women when some
trumpery theft lands them in prison, for there at any rate a change of
clothing is provided, and a bath is compulsory.
If we stand outside a men's shelter, we see a similar state of things, a
waiting crowd. A passive, content, strange mixed lot of humans. Some of
them who have been well educated, but are now reaping the harvest that
follows the sowing of wild oats. The submerged males are, on the whole,
less repulsive than the women; dirt is less in evidence, and they
exhibit a better standard of health. But many of them are harking back
to nature, and remind us of the pictures we have seen of primeval man.
I want to say a few words about the submerged that congregate on
the Thames Embankment, and the humanity we have seen enter the cheap
shelters.
My experience has shown me that they constitute the lowest grade and the
least hopeful class of the submerged. Amongst them there are very few
decent and helpable men and women who are capable of rising to a higher
life. Say what we will, be as pitiful as we may, those of us who have
much experience of life know perfectly well that there exists a large
class of persons who are utterly incapable of fulfilling the duties of
decent citizenship. It may be that they are wicked, and it is certain
that they are weak, but whether wicked or weak, they have descended by
the law of moral gravitation and have found their level in the lowest
depths of civilised life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account