Practicable Socialism, New SeriesBarnett, S. A. (Samuel Augustus)
Religion
Practicable Socialism, New Series
Barnett, S. A. (Samuel Augustus)
Great Britain -- Social conditions -- 19th century; Social problems; Working class
Let it, however, be assumed that the details have been arranged, and
that, under a wise director, a party of University men have settled in
East London. The director--welcomed here, as University men are always
welcomed--will have opened relations with the neighbouring clergy, and
with the various charitable agencies; he will have found out the clubs
and centres of social life, and he will have got some knowledge of the
bodies engaged in local government. His large rooms will have been
offered for classes, directed by the University Extension or Popular
Concert Societies, and for meetings of instruction or entertainment. He
will have thus won the reputation of a man with something to give, who
is willing to be friendly with his neighbours. At once he will be able
to introduce the settlers to duties, which will mean introductions to
friendships. Those to whom it is given to know the high things of God,
he will introduce to the clergy, who will guide them to find friends
among those who, in trouble and sickness, will listen to a life-giving
message. Honour men have confessed that they have found a key to life in
teaching the Bible to children, and not once nor twice has it happened
that old truths have seemed to take new meaning when spoken by a man
brought fresh from Oxford to face the poor. Those with the passion for
righteousness the director will bring face to face with the victims of
sin. In the degraded quarters of the town, in the wards of the
workhouses, they will find those to whom the friendship of the pure is
strange, and who are to be saved only by the mercy which can be angry as
well as pitiful. As I write, I recall one who was brought to us by an
undergraduate out of a wretched court, overwhelmed by the look and words
of his young enthusiasm. I recall another who was taken from the police
court by a Cambridge man, put to an Industrial School, and is now
touchingly grateful, not to him, but to God for the service. Some, whose
spare time is in the day, will become visitors for the Charity
Organization Society, Managers of Industrial and Public Elementary
Schools, Members of the Committees which direct Sanitary, Shoe Black,
and other Societies, and in these positions form friendships, which to
officials, weary of the dull routine, will let in light, and to the
poor, fearful of law, will give strength. Others who can spare time only
in the evening will teach classes, join clubs, and assist in
Co-operative and Friendly Societies, and they will, perhaps, be
surprised to find that they know so much that is useful when they see
the interest their talk arouses. In one club, I know, whist ceases to be
attractive when the gentleman is not there to talk. There are friendly
societies worked by artisans, which owe their success to the inspiration
of University men, and there is one branch of the Charity Organization
Society which still keeps the mark impressed on it, when a man of
culture did the lowest work.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account