Produced by Chris Curnow, Lindy Walsh, Julia Neufeld and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. Hyphenation is inconsistent and has been left as in the original; archaic spelling has been retained. Punctuation has been normalised and obvious printer errors corrected. Page 65 "if they speak not according to this word" transcriber supplied missing word 'this'. Page 302 "the story of Christian effort" missing word 'of' supplied by transcriber. * * * * * The Man with the Book; OR, THE BIBLE AMONG THE PEOPLE. BY JOHN MATTHIAS WEYLLAND, AUTHOR OF "ROUND THE TOWER," "A THOUGHT FOR THE WORLD," ETC., ETC. "Oh, blest the land, the city blest, Where Christ the Ruler is confest! Oh, happy hearts and happy homes, To whom this King in triumph comes." _Weiszel._ INTRODUCTION BY THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY, K.G. TENTH THOUSAND, ENLARGED. LONDON: S. W. PARTRIDGE & CO., 9, PATERNOSTER ROW. EDINBURGH & GLASGOW: J. MENZIES & CO. DUBLIN: GEORGE HERBERT. _Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London._ To HIS BELOVED WIFE AND UNWEARIED HELPER IN CHRISTIAN EFFORT THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. INTRODUCTION. To all who desire to obtain an accurate knowledge of the inner life of London, and probably of all our large towns, and would ascertain, by studying the results of experience, the best mode of grappling with its evils, the following pages will be deeply interesting. They give the history and fruits of many years' labour among the most filthy, destitute, and degraded classes of the whole Metropolis. Yet these classes are by no means the most hopeless. A grand aggressive movement of Christianity against those strongholds of vice, disease, and misery, would end in a larger victory than in one of equal vigour against the obstinacy and self-satisfaction of the great body of the skilled artisans. The publication of such papers is very important in these days, when inquiry and discussion are busy to discover the true secret of what is required at the present crisis for dealing with the vast masses of the people. So far as I can see, they have as yet reached no other conclusion (whether it be avowed or not) than that all existing arrangements and organizations, singly and collectively, are inadequate to the task. The Established Church, by itself, is feeble; the Non-conformists still more so. The two, working together in harmony, might attain some happy issues; but, even on the supposition of their cordial union, a new machinery must be devised, as an adjunct to all our actual systems of operation.