It is not possible, in the compass of a tract, to enter into detail on all the evils of our present condition. They are too general to have escaped the attention of any careful observer. With regard to drainage and sewerage, every town in the kingdom is defective. Nearly all are equally so with regard to supplies of water; and the overcrowding in wretchedly constructed dwellings has become matter of universal complaint. The people have no control over the construction of their dwellings, little or none over the selection, as they must be near their place of work. They have to pay a high price for the most wretched accommodation. The state of living is utterly at variance with cleanliness, order, or the cultivation of decent habits. Labouring under these disadvantages, they have a right to demand of the higher classes a complete system of drainage and sewerage, an efficient water supply, and a thorough cleansing of streets—no penny wise and pound foolish policy ought to stand in the way. They have a right to demand such reforms as will make their homes the abode of comfort to their families. It is injustice, it is cruelty to withhold them. How is it that, in the active discussion of public and private rights, at present going on, there are so few to vindicate the poor man’s claims to pure air and good water? I would remind those who are in affluence and comfort of the duties of their station. Many of them can go away from the crowded streets, and spend the greater part of their time in a suburban residence; not so the poor man. The rich man can command many comforts beyond the reach of the poor man. He has to work, perhaps, in a heated, crowded workshop, and to retire to a room wretchedly small, and unwholesome. Need we wonder that he should sometimes prefer the gin-shop, or the beer-house, to his own dim, close, and dirty apartment? I make no apology for his excesses. I do not wish to excuse his faults. But I ask whether many of the errors, so conspicuous in the character of the poorer population, may not have arisen from the neglect of those who had the power to stimulate them to higher and better things? Before we reproach them with the neglect of their duties, let us see that our own are faithfully discharged. If we want to raise them up, we must begin by doing them justice. Remove the acknowledged evils that press so heavily upon their condition, and the assurance awaits us that the Almighty, who rewards all cheerful and honest labour, will bless the effort to the good of those who give and to those who may receive.