Man speaking to other men in bar
The sick man was evidently startled by the appearance of the visitor, who set him at ease by observing, "You must have plenty of time for reading, so I thought I would call and give you some interesting little books which I intended to have left in your room."
Several were then handed to him, and accepted with the remark, "I can't read much, but I'll ask the chaps what reads the papers to read them to me."
The men who were standing round asked for tractsand then listened with deep interest while the Missionary repeated the parable of the builders. Only a few remarks were made upon it, when the landlord in an angry tone assured the visitor that, "They were not natural fools, to believe a set of lies made up by the Jews."
"The words I have repeated," was the calm reply, "were uttered by the Saviour of the world in mercy to sinners. Believe them, and your soul shall live."
By this time the customers had gathered from the other compartments, attracted by the novelty of religious teaching in such a place. The landlord spoke quietly to several men who were standing near the bar, and immediately after one of them made his way towards the Missionary, and tore the leaves of a tract, formed them into paper lights. He lit his own pipe with one of them, observing in derision,—
"These here are useful things, guv'nor, to light up with: give us some more."
A general laugh was suppressed by the prompt answer,—
"Of course I will, as they are useful things. I have given enough already to light you all up,—that is, in the right way; and I'll give you some more, and tell you what I mean. Now, there are some people who are always in the dark, because they are blind; and there are some people who are always dark in their souls. They don't see with their minds the beautiful things that are in the Bible, so they live badly, just as if there was no God. That's a miserable way of living; and when they are taken ill they are afraid to die, because the grave is a dark place to go to. Now, if a man reads these tracts, and thinks about what he reads, he will light up his soul. Why, at the end of this tract there isa little bit out of the Bible which would do it for all of you: 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' When a man believes that, he becomes sorry for his sins, and asks God for pardon, because Jesus died upon the cross for him. He is then forgiven, and by the Holy Spirit of God made good and happy. He has then no fear of death, because he is certain of being in heaven with the Saviour for ever."
Further remarks were prevented by the landlord, who, forcing his way through the crowd of eager listeners, seized the speaker by the arm, and with an oath thrust him into the street. And thus ended the first missionary visit to the public-houses.
A few days after the wife of the costermonger came up to the Missionary, who was passing the court, and said, "Please, master, my poor husband wants to be religious; he says that he is all dark, and he wants to hear some reading, and I've got no learning; and he has not been in the bar, as he thought maybe that you would call."
"I will see him at once," was the reply; and the Christian visitor stepped with her into the room.
Before a word of greeting could be uttered, the poor man exclaimed, with all the eagerness of one in spiritual distress, "Sir, I have been dreadful wicked in my time, and it's dreadful to be ill, and I don't know what prayers to say."
The visitor looked with pity into the careworn, pallid face of the all-but-dying man, and, taking a seat by his side, told him in simple words the wondrous and soothing story of a Saviour's love, and before leaving taught him a few sentences of prayer. Such visits were repeated daily, as the increasing weakness of the sufferershowed that the time for instructing him in the way of salvation was short indeed.
Upon the last of these visits he listened with absorbing interest to the narrative of the Lord's ascension, and then, with a smile of peace, exclaimed, "He died for poor me, and He has made it all right now, and I shall go up to Him."
That night he passed away; and it was for some time the talk of the Court that he died happy, because he was made a Christian in the public-house.
One evening, about thirteen months after this event, a crowd of persons, among whom were many of the respectable inhabitants, stood around the gin-palace in earnest conversation. It was so unlike the noisy crowds which assembled when drunkards were ejected, that the Missionary, who was passing, inquired the cause.
"The landlord has broken a blood vessel," was the reply: "three doctors are with him, and we are waiting to know the result."
Upon its being stated that the doctors gave hope of his recovery, the people separated. For days it was rumoured that his life was in danger, and at the little mission service held in the Court, prayer was made on his behalf. Several mornings after, the Missionary inquired of the servant, who was standing at the private door, as to the state of her master's health.
"A little better," she replied; "but he is still in the club-room, as the doctors say it will be dangerous to remove him for some days."
Acting upon the impulse of the moment, the Missionary passed the servant, and with an ejaculatory prayer for success, ascended the stairs, and tapped at the club-room door.
"Come in," said a faint voice; and the visitor entered and saw the landlord lying upon a couch, near the fire.
Stepping gently forward, he said in a subdued tone, "I must ask you, sir, to forgive this act of apparent rudeness. The truth is, that since hearing of your illness I have been praying for you."
There was a momentary embarrassment, until the patient, with a troubled expression of face, whispered,—
"Who asked you to pray for me? I don't believe in theology."
"No one asked me," was the reply; "but if you will keep from speaking, which may retard your recovery, I will, in a few words, tell you why prayer was made to God in your behalf. After years of Bible-study I know its statements to be true; and then I have tested its promises, and know the blessings to be real. You, perhaps, from want of opportunity, have not done the one, and are therefore without the blessings now that you most need them. I have felt as anxious about you as though you had been an old friend; and we have prayed that your life may be spared, and your soul saved."
"It's no use: I can never believe," was the reply; but it was delivered so feebly, and with such an expression of mental and physical pain upon the countenance, as to draw forth emotions of sympathy.
"Permit me," said the visitor, "to repeat two passages of Scripture, and then I will leave you: 'Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as aman, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in the earth, and things under earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.'" Placing his pocket Bible upon the table, with the passage turned down, the visitor took the hand that was offered to him, and said, "I will leave my card: send to me as a friend whenever you please; and may you find peace in the love of Jesus."
During the conversation, the wife had entered, and following the visitor out of the room, thanked him for calling. "I was religious once," she observed; "but years before the bar has ruined me altogether; you cannot do a first-class gin trade and keep religious."
The old question about the profit of gaining the world and losing the soul was put to her, and so they parted.
Three mornings after, the potman called at the Missionary's house with the message that his master wished to see him as soon as he could call in.
"Thank you for coming," was the greeting with which the landlord received the visitor, who had hastened to obey his request: "I want to ask you to forgive me for treating you so badly when you came into the bar to see the poor fellow who was ill. I was in liquor—that's how I came to do it."
"Don't think of that," was the reply; "besides, I made excuse for you, as it was a strange thing for me to enter your bar and talk about religion."
"It was," he replied; "but after the man was dead, the widow used to tell us that he died so happy; and I have often thought that you then acted as though you believed the Gospel to be true, because following him into my bar was seeking the lost sheep, and no mistake."
This introduced the subject of the internal evidence of the Bible; and the visitor, after reading portions of the fifth chapter of 2 Corinthians, commented on the words, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature;" showing that among the pillars of evidence which support the Bible is the experience of the fact that all who exercise saving faith in the Lord Jesus become the possessors of a sealed peace, and prove by holy living the change of the inner nature.
This visit was the commencement of a friendship between the Christian teacher and the publican, who remained ill for several months. His sceptical objections to the truth were examined and gradually removed; while the constant reading of that Word, the entrance of which into the soul gives light, gradually wrought a change in his views and feelings. He made no profession of religion, but the change was apparent to all who knew him. He overcame the habit of profane swearing, and showed an interest in good things. His presence in the bar effected a change in the character of the house. He not only checked blasphemous and bad language, but he refused to serve persons who were in liquor, and would not allow mothers with infants in their arms to stand in the bar. The visits of the Missionary were encouraged. After conversation with the family, he used to go into the serving-bar for conversation with the men; and after that visited the four compartments usedby customers, reasoning with them about righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to come. This teaching was blessed to souls, as a desire to know the truth was manifested by several of the worst characters in the neighbourhood. They used to accept the invitation to come and hear the Scriptures read in a room down the court, and as the gracious result, several became converted. Amongst these were two drunken women, who used to boast of the number of times they had been locked up; a youth of eighteen who had lived by thieving; and a journeyman shoemaker.
The good influence was increasing in the publican's family, when he was suddenly taken ill, and it became evident that his sickness was unto death. He lingered for some time in great weakness, but was happy in the love of God. Shortly before his death, he said to the Missionary, "I have settled my affairs, as I have no hope of recovery; and now I have to ask a great kindness of you: it is that you will promise me to take a friendly interest in my wife and children when I am gone." Upon the promise being given, he added, "I should like, for my comfort, to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, because I have renounced my infidelity, and am trusting for salvation to the blood-shedding and merit of the risen Jesus."
A few hours after, the Rector and the Missionary entered the gin-palace, and passing into the sick-chamber, commemorated with the dying publican that offering of Himself by which the Redeemer procured for His disciples a present salvation and victory over death and the grave.
After the solemn service, the Minister entered the bar-parlour, and remained for some time, observing withdeep interest the attention paid by various groups of customers to the instruction of the Missionary. As they left together, he remarked, thoughtfully, "While you were in the bar, the landlady told me that, besides being the means of her husband's salvation, you have reformed some of the worst men and women who used to support the house. This is grappling with the greatest evil in my parish, and God is blessing the effort. I wish that all such houses in the parish were thus visited."
"Your desire, sir, shall be carried out as far as the district under my visitation is concerned," was the reply.
The aged clergyman, taking the hand of the lay visitor, said with emotion, "May the divine blessing make the effort powerful, that the Redeemer's work may be extended amongst these multitudes of the spiritually dead."
The landlord lived about a fortnight after commemorating the Lord's death, and his end was peace. Only a few hours before his entrance into rest, he requested that this Scripture might be engraved upon his tombstone: "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory."
A year had scarcely passed when the widow was compelled to leave the business, and she went to live in another part of London. She rapidly sank from affluence to extreme poverty. Hearing of her condition the Missionary sought her out, and was saddened to find her in a back kitchen at the East-end of London. He took her two little girls, aged eight and ten years, home with him, and through the kindness of leading men in the trade, obtained their admission into the Licensed Victuallers' School. Employment was obtained for thewidow as sick-nurse, and she has since lived a useful and Christian life.
While visiting this family the following circumstances occurred, which gave the Missionary influence with several licensed victuallers and their customers.
The potman at a very low public-house just by was taken seriously ill, and the landlord, upon hearing that a Christian man had visited another house, sent to inquire for him, and then wrote a note, asking him to call and see his man. The visit was paid, and was succeeded by others, until the young man recovered. The landlord and his wife were thankful for the attention paid, and upon each call asked him into their private room. This led to an intimacy so close that he was consulted both as to their religious and business difficulties: these can be best explained in their own words, as the visitor was seated with them one afternoon. "You see, sir," said the landlord, "that I can tell you anything, as you are not like the religious and teetotal sort of people who talk and write against us, but never call upon us, that they may understand our position. Now I don't want, and thousands in the trade don't want, to make or to serve drunkards. In our last house we lost nearly all the money my wife and I saved in a long service; but if I had pandered to vice, we might have been there now. While trying to make the house respectable, we lost 'takings' from the depraved and drunken, and, as the result, were not able to meet demands, and were obliged to leave and take this still lower class of business. The truth is, that publicans, as a respectable body of tradesmen, need sympathy and Christian influence, instead of abuse, which only worries and makes us, in self-defence, resist rather than assist in the necessary reforms; andthen, as our trade is a temptation, we need religious influences in our families: but no clergyman has ever entered my house. I have gone wrongly, as I have taken to 'sipping,' but it's hard to bear up against the trials I have had to pass through." "When we married," added the wife, "we had £200, and felt that we should do well in this business; the Sunday trade has however made me wretched. During the fourteen years I was lady's maid I went to Church twice every Sunday; and from that happy life to serving behind a bar is a dreadful change. This is not needful except for two hours at meals, when the necessary article of consumption could be supplied; and then the rows in the tap are a constant misery to me, and I wish we were out of the business altogether."
"You have my deepest sympathy," said the Missionary, "and I will advise you as a true friend. Your constant drinking, landlord, must be stopped, or you will be brought to an early grave, with the curse pronounced against the drunkard resting heavily and for eternity upon you. As regards your wife, it is wrong to expose her to the misery which a woman of Christian feeling must endure in this class of house. My advice is, get out of it. You might save sufficient from the wreck to take a small general shop, and you could then get a connection as a waiter among your old acquaintances. The great matter in this difficulty, as in all our trials, is prayer: this you have both neglected. Inquire of the Lord, and He will direct you."
A fortnight after this conversation the landlord and Missionary met the agent of the firm to which the business belonged, and an equitable arrangement was made for giving up the house. Upon leaving the tradethey took a small grocer's business, and became Church members, and prospered in their new calling.
Another publican, who was met with in this house, spoke strongly against the Sunday business.
"Grumbling is of little use in such matters," observed the visitor. "Act: get up a petition asking Parliament to close you entirely upon the Lord's-day, and request one of your Members to present it. A movement of this kind in the trade would be much to your own and to the public good."
"If sir," he replied, "you will write out the petition, I will sign it, and go round with you to other members of the trade, to obtain signatures."
The request was complied with, and forty licensed victuallers signed the petition for entire Sunday closing, and it was duly presented.
The arresting power of the Word of God was frequently witnessed in these gin bars. For instance: a woman one evening who entered the "Globe," and called for her first dram, was arrested by the reasoning of the missionary with some labourers. Approaching him, pewter measure in hand, she exclaimed, "You have no business here; go out, or I will throw this over you." The men pushed her away, but he said kindly, "Before you do so, let me say something to you out of this Book," and then, after a pause to find a suitable passage, he read distinctly, "Thus saith the Lord that made thee ... I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring." Only a few words of comment were uttered, when the woman placed the measure upon the bar, and raising her apron to her eyes, burst into tears, and left,exclaiming, "Oh that I was a little girl again!" She did not taste the gin, and was never after met in a bar. It was evident that an arrow of conviction had sped forth from the Word of God, but with her as with thousands of others, its ultimate effect was not known. Encouragement, this, for earnest labour and simple trust in the power and promised blessing upon the proclamation of God's mercy in Christ; yes, upon the utterance of every truth contained in His own inspired Word.
Opportunities frequently occurred for seeking the good of customers as well as landlords, and these led the Missionary to the conviction that the public-house is a very proper sphere for Missionary operations. The following is one instance. Upon passing a public-house in his district rather late one evening, the visitor noticed a woman near the door who had evidently been crying, and she had an infant in her arms. When he spoke to her she told him that her husband had just gone into the tap-room with all the money they had, and she was afraid to follow him, as he would knock her about if she did.
"Wait here," said the visitor; and then he entered the house, and passed into the tap. It was filled with low men, several of whom appeared confused at his seeing them there. He however addressed one of them in a friendly manner, and said, "You men had better be careful; there is some one outside."
"Who can it be!" exclaimed several of the men, looking uncomfortable.
"A White Sergeant," was the reply, and the announcement produced a roar of laughter. To explain the reason of the merriment a digression is necessary. Well, then, a "White Sergeant" in the tap-room parlanceis a wife who fetches her husband out of the public-house. This is considered a great offence, and men who submit to such an exercise of "women's rights" are much joked at by their companions. Many of the quarrels between husband and wife result from this cause. One Monday morning, in a court he visited, the Missionary saw five women with black eyes, all received through efforts to get their husbands home with their full week's wages. The announcement that a "White Sergeant" was waiting for one of them outside was therefore considered a capital joke.
As soon as their merriment had subsided, the visitor said gravely, "And this 'White Sergeant' is a woman of whom any man might be proud—pleasant-looking and neat in her dress, with a dear little baby in her arms; and in my opinion the man who would bring such a woman to cry outside a public ought to hang his head for shame."
The selfishness of men who for their own pleasures would act in this way, was enlarged upon, until a man rose and quietly left the room. A few tracts were distributed, and then the visitor also went out, and saw the man walking away with the "White Sergeant." He approached them and spoke kindly to the man, saying that he would like to call and give picture-books to his children. In a surly way he was told that he might "do as he liked," and he therefore went with them to their door.
Next Sunday the visitor called, and after a pleasant chat, opened the Bible to read to them, when one of the children began to cry. The father, without saying a word, took off his rough cap and threw it at the child with such force as to knock it heavily upon the floor.The poor child crawled into a corner, and, from fear, remained quiet. The parable of the Prodigal Son was read, and the man was deeply interested in it, and with the exposition showing the love of the Father. As the reader proceeded, the man looked kindly towards the child, and then went and took it into his arms. The visitor was pleased with this act, as it showed him that the man could be influenced for good. As he was leaving, the man addressed him thus,—
"You didn't know me, guv'nor, when you saw me in the tap; but I knowed you as the chap as made my pal religious, as I used to play pitch-and-toss with when a boy, and used to go out on the drunk with after we got to be men; and when I seed him a-dyin', said he to me said he, 'Bob, get religion, as it ain't no good a-goin' on bad, as Jesus Christ is our Saviour. And my old woman will tell the tract man to have a say with you out of his Book.' Well, when you comed into the tap in that 'ere way, and talked sensible, thinks I, that's 'im, and it's my Beck outside; so I misselled (slipped out), and shouldn't mind if you made Beck and me religious, that I shouldn't."
The meaning of the word "conversion" was explained to him in simple language, and an appointment made for further instruction. These visits were continued for some months, and a marked change for the better had taken place, until he one night yielded to temptation, got drunk, and became worse than he had ever been before. He stripped the house of every comfort, and all the labour appeared to have been lost upon him. He was, however, met with one afternoon when hawking crockery, and induced to sign the pledge. This he kept for three months, and again relapsed. His friend hadcome to the conclusion that his case was hopeless, when he received an unexpected visit from the man.
"Please, mister," he said with some confusion, "I am a-comin' to live right agin you. I seed a room with a loft over a stable and I took it, and I shall feel strong like bein' agin you, and shan't be near my pals as gets me to drink. It 'tain't 'pertinent like, is it, my comin' here?"
The poor man was commended for his strange but wise resolution, and his friend called to see them very frequently. As a result, the children were sent to a Sunday school, and the man was seen in the free seats at church, clean, but in his hawker's clothes. The reformation went on with him, and he became sober and well conducted. One morning he called upon his friend, and said, "I never cared, sir, for my children, for I was a drunkard, and I didn't know nuffin' of our souls and religion, and Beck and I wants the young uns to be christened, that we does, and we are goin to stick to church like as if we was made new inside, as is religion."
A few days after this conversation the curate called and instructed the parents and the elder children in the Christian faith, and then he arranged for the baptism. As the Missionary stood at the font with the six children before him, he rejoiced and gave thanks because of the change which had passed over the family. The "White Sergeant" and the drunken hawker had changed in every way since he saw the one crying outside the public-house, and the other seated in the tap-room. They remained in the neighbourhood for several years, and were among the most respectable of the poor.
In this marked way it pleased the great Head of theChurch—who is always gracious to His servants who strive to win souls—to honour the effort made to secure the salvation of the poor costermonger; and the leadings of His providence also made it an open door by which the Gospel has been made known to hundreds of thousands of the London poor. The Missionary, in accordance with his promise to the minister, commenced the regular visitation of the fourteen public and beerhouses upon the district. This was trying and difficult, but good results were granted; and the Committee of the London City Mission, after examining into the work, requested him to visit all the public-houses in a large parish, as his sphere of duty. Results were so satisfactory that they appointed Missionaries to the same class of houses in nine other parishes, and are now making efforts to extend the work. It is pleasing to know that in the bars, tap-rooms, and parlours of 3,450 out of the 10,340 licensed houses in London, earnest effort is made for the spiritual enlightenment of the men and women who frequent them. As the gracious and known result, hundreds of these have been reclaimed from drunkenness and other vices, and many of them are members of Christian Churches. The influence upon publicans, and through them upon the trade, has been in many instances remarkable for good. Some houses have been entirely closed; others upon the whole of the Lord's-day; while the character of many has been changed for the better. Bar and other servants, who form a large and important class, have received great benefits; not a few have been induced to leave the business, and others have been fortified against its temptations and snares. In addition to all this, there is a large daily distribution of Gospel and Temperancetracts, while publications of a high Christian and moral tone are pressed into circulation. It may, indeed, be said that a new field for Christian enterprise was opened by the discovery that it ispossibleto grapple with the withering curse of drunkenness at its very fountain-head, and so bring many hitherto unreached multitudes in our great cities under the influence of Christian teaching.
Decoration9
The Book in the Bars:
ITS SPIRITUAL POWER.
"Sir, did you ever walk along a street,A low back street, at night, where drunkards meet!Where the gin palace turns the night to day,And public-house and beer-shop line the way?Say, did you listen? What, sir, did you hear?Our English workmen were enjoying beer.Did the rude clamour come from happy men,Or wild beasts maddened, raging in their den?You heard the fiendish laugh, the oaths, the strife,The curses heaped upon a helpless wife;The wretched harlot's song, the drunkard's roar,The noisy fiddle and the rattling floor;You saw the ragged mother sick and pale,You heard the miserable infant's wail;—That was the Englishman's happy lot:That was the music to the poor man's pot:You heard it? Yes,—our workmen mad with drink!Something to make a sober Christian think!"Mrs. Sewell.
THE CLOCK GOING WRONG—MEN OF THE FANCY—THE RAT-PIT MAN—A CHILD ON THE BARREL—TICKET OF LEAVE MAN—A ROUGH—A DRUNKARD'S HOME—A FALL AND RISE.
THE CLOCK GOING WRONG—MEN OF THE FANCY—THE RAT-PIT MAN—A CHILD ON THE BARREL—TICKET OF LEAVE MAN—A ROUGH—A DRUNKARD'S HOME—A FALL AND RISE.
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."Rom.x. 17.
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."Rom.x. 17.
TTHE following advertisement, which appeared in several of the daily newspapers, induced the Missionary to pay a farewell visit to the landlord and bar-servants:—
THE following advertisement, which appeared in several of the daily newspapers, induced the Missionary to pay a farewell visit to the landlord and bar-servants:—
"Gin Palacefor sale, in a good working and gin-drinking neighbourhood; doing £240 a week over the bar: elegant and substantial fittings. Terms moderate. Immediate possession," etc.
With this farewell purpose, the Christian visitor entered the "bottle department" early upon the following Sunday evening, but found the place so filled with customers that neither the landlord nor bar-men had a moment to spare. He therefore simply shook hands with them, and arranged to call in during the quiet hours of the following afternoon, and then commenced evangelizing work among the people.
Three high partitions divided the bar into four compartments; and, as is usual, there were separate doors to each, so that the crowds of customers could not see each other, though the noise of their converse and disputes produced a war of words, and rendered quiet conversation difficult. One would have thoughtthat the private or "bottle department" would have been the easiest to visit, as its name seemed to invite the respectable order of drinkers. To some extent this was the case, but a jury of bar-men would certainly agree in the opinion that this sly part of the house, into which so many well-dressed persons slip for their drams, is the most lucrative and usually the most crowded. Only a few weeks before, the visitor was standing with a young man in a similar compartment, when seven women, wives of working men, entered, and called for a quart of gin with ale glasses. They were laughing heartily at what they considered a happy thought of one of their companions,—the clubbing together for the purpose of ordering so large a quantity of spirits: they were much disconcerted at the withering rebuke they met with.
Upon the evening of our visit, eight or ten men and women were present. One of these, a respectable tradesman, rejected a tract with the remark, "I don't want your religious nonsense, as I do the thing that's right between man and man; and if I didn't I would not be interfered with by other people in religious matters, as I know what is right, and could do it." "The clock there is going wrong," replied the visitor, looking towards that very ornamental object, "and because it's out of repair, it does not answer the purpose for which it was made, as it is hours too slow. Now the landlord will not attempt to repair it himself, neither will he give it to a grocer or a bricklayer for that purpose: he will no doubt send it to the man who made it,—to a clockmaker who understands its mechanism; he will clean and repair it, and then the hands will go right. Well, it's just so with us men:when we do wrong it proves that we are unclean inside, and out of repair, and it is no good trying to set ourselves right, for we can't do it; or to get other people to tinker at us, as they are sure to make us worse. Our proper course of action is to approach our Almighty Maker, with the prayer, 'Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.' When this is done, we go right, and glorify God in our bodies and our spirits, which are His." After a few words about the Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, the speaker passed out, leaving the people with their eyes fixed upon the clock, and their thoughts upon the Saviour.
In the next compartment about sixteen working men had assembled, all of whom were sober. Several were annoyed, as one of them said, at "being tackled in such a place as that about religion." "Why, you are all in the building trade," exclaimed the intruder, "and if you listen to the words I repeat, and do them, you shall be likened to wise men who built a house upon a rock: 'And the rain descended, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.'" As the attention of the men was arrested by the parable, it was repeated to the end; and then, taking the Bible from his pocket, the reader observed, "These are not my words: they were spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ." "I knows a lot of the Bible," said one of the men, "and He never talked like that." "I've heard it before," retorted a companion, "and it's there." "Yes: I am right," replied the man with the Book; and then, leaning his back against the bar, he read the parable through, in a clear, expressive tone. He then looked up, and said kindly, "You arenot building on this rock; if you were you would be in the house of God, instead of this place."
"That's right!" exclaimed several, and three of them followed him into the street. "I'll go next Sunday," said a carpenter. "And so will I," answered his companion, a smith. "And I will meet you at this corner and go with you," said the reader. This arrangement was confirmed with hand-shaking; and the men went thoughtfully towards their homes, the Missionary entering the next compartment.
In this several groups of persons were standing together, those near the door being sweeps, who, in honour of the day, were partly washed. One of them, a young man, said that his mother was ill and wanted some one to pray with her. The visitor took down the address and promised to call. While doing so his attention was directed to several men of the "fancy," who were in loud conversation about the difficulties of their calling. They were attired in dirty fustians, with gaudy cotton handkerchiefs round their necks, and caps which made their foreheads appear "villanously low." One of them held a bull-dog by a chain, and several puppies were peeping out of the side pockets of his coat. He was evidently the important man of the group, as his companions were listening with respect to his grievances, which he expressed in the following way: "This 'ere draining of London will be the ruin of us, that it will. Why look 'ere: I've been all this blessed day a-trying to get six dozen of rats, and I has only got two dozen; and it's ruination the price of them is. I never grumbles at buying them at fourpence each when they are fat and lively like that, I doesn't, as it's a fair price; but it's enough to make a chap go rampstairing when he has totip a bob each, or eleven shillings a dozen for them, as I did this afternoon; and it's this draining of London does it, as they be slushed away. And then last week I had a misfortune. I went out with my pal, as is ratcatcher to the Queen, for two days' catchin' about Windsor, and I left three dozen in the low pit. Well, when I comes back, my misses, as as bin queer, said, 'Oh dear me, I forgot to feed the rats!' So I went off, as I knowed how it 'ed be. When I looked in it a dozen had gone, and they was a-eating ever-so-many of one another; so I chucked in the stuff as had been mixed up for 'em, and there was an end of their barbarities, as rats are good-natured like when they has plenty of grub; but when the price is up it is, as I say, ruination."
"And so you have been all day trying to buy rats, have you? a pretty way to be sure for a man to spend his Sunday," observed the Missionary, as he turned towards the man, and caressed a pretty little spaniel whose head was resting upon the flap of his pocket.
"I has," was the sharp reply: "and I makes no profession of religion, so it's no harm; like them saints, one of which I knows as cheats you through thick and thin; so I does the correct thing, and snaps my finger, and says I, None of your religion for me."
"I see how it is," rejoined the visitor. "You have met with an imitation Christian, a counterfeit, as we call bad money, and for that reason you will not be a real Christian. Is that what you mean? If so, it is like saying, 'A man passed a bad shilling upon me, so I never mean to take a good one.'"
"That's a puzzler," replied the man, thoughtfully; "as I knows what good Christians are, as was my fatherand mother, as was Welsh, like me. They did the right thing by me; but I 'erd of people a-gettin' on in London, so I ran away from them, and begged and stumped it up here. And I got in with some young prigs in Whitechapel, and got took before the beak, as wasn't for much; and he didn't give a fellow a chance, but put on three months hard; and when I got out I couldn't get on, so I went out with a chap a-catchin' birds and rats, and married his daughter. And now I has a bird shop at Shoreditch, and a rat-pit, as was profitable afore this 'ere draining was inwented, as gents bring their dogs to be teached to kill rats first-rate, and sometimes they has a match on the quiet; and they are gents as does it and pays up, and says as I am the best rat-pit man they knows."
In reply to questions, the rat-pit man admitted that during the eighteen years he had been in London he had only once been into a church, and that was at his marriage. When reminded that he was the child of many prayers, and of parents passed into the heavens, he was softened, and said, "If I know'd somebody as is religious, I should be better; but I doesn't know a religious chap, that I doesn't."
"Give me your address," said the visitor, "and I will ask a Missionary gentleman who lives near, a friend of mine, to call upon you." This was done, and the parties left the bar together.
The fourth compartment was crowded with persons of the degraded and disorderly class, and it was evident that several men in one corner were excited with liquor. In the centre was a large barrel, and round it stood three women. One of them had turned a quart pot upside down upon the barrel, and had seated her littlechild, about a year old, upon it. She called for "a quartern and three outs" (three glasses to divide the liquor), when the Missionary, who felt the difficulty of securing the attention of such a people, approached with the exclamation: "Why, what do you think? When the Saviour of the world was here, He took a little child, a pretty little dear like that, and sat it in the midst of His disciples, and said, 'Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.'"
"Did He, sir?" exclaimed several.
"Yes: He did," was the reply; "and if you will listen to me I will tell you what He meant."
At this the people gathered round the barrel, and the speaker, taking the tiny hand in his, continued: "There is no mistake about the love of a little darling like this. When it throws its arms around your neck you know it's real love" ("That it is," said the mother, giving the child a hug); "and the Saviour meant that we men and women, who are children of the great Father in heaven, ought to love Him with all our hearts, and do His holy will. Now I don't think that we all do this."
"I should think not," said a man with a coarse laugh. "If we did, we shouldn't be a-getting drunk in here on a Sunday night."
"You are right," replied the visitor. "You are not like this pretty child; you are bad children, and must, as Jesus said, be converted. The great Father loves you, and sent His Son to tell you how to be made good, and to die for your sins." Other words of exhortation were being uttered, when the address was brought to a close by another group of persons pressing into the bar.
This consisted of an old woman, and three young men of thegenusrough. The woman, who had been crying, and who had new weeds upon her head, was reluctant to enter, as one of the men said to her, "Never mind, mother; it's what we are all a-comin' to. He was a good un, as respected was everywhere. Come in and have a drop of rum."
"And have you been," inquired the Missionary, "to bury the husband and the father?"
"Yes, sir," replied the widow, sobbing. "We was married forty-two years, and it's his first night in the cold grave, and I'm so miserable, and my boys has brought me to give me some rum;" and then she sobbed so deeply that the people looked at her with pity.
"Don't touch the rum," said the visitor, "but let me go home with you and read from this blessed Book the comforting words which the merciful God has said to widows;" and then they stepped out of the bar, the sons following. They entered a house a few doors further on, and descended to the back kitchen, which was dismal, and almost without furniture. Taking a seat on the edge of the bedstead, the visitor read the account of the widow of Zarephath, and such Scriptures as "The Lord relieveth the fatherless and widow;" "Let thy widows trust in Me;" and then explained to her the meaning of being "a widow indeed." The young men were deeply interested, but when prayer was offered they stood up awkwardly, though the mother knelt; it was evident that they had never bent the knee in supplication. After more words of sympathy the widow was left much comforted, and with the promise of another visit.
After this the Missionary passed through several other public-houses with varied success, and scattered muchprecious seed. As the evening was far advanced, he entered a large beer-shop, intending a final visit. About thirty men and women of the lower class were standing, many of them with their backs to the walls, as the landlord had removed the seats to prevent his customers staying too long. Upon glancing round, the visitor noticed a middle-aged man, whom he had not seen for several years, and inquired of him where he had been?
"To prison, for assault upon a woman," he replied. "I was committed for four years, and that wasn't much, as she will never get over it; and I'm out six months afore time with a ticket-of-leave; and it was the drink as made me do it, as I wouldn't hurt nobody."
"It's no use laying it to the drink," was the reply; "speak the truth, and say that it was your love of the drink,—your vice that led you to commit the crime. You may make excuse now, but the day is coming when you will be tried again for that and for every offence of your life, as we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ; now mind, if you are condemned by that Judge there will be no escape from the prison of hell, to which you will be sent."
At the commencement of this conversation, the door swung open, and a man of a baser sort entered. He listened; but brought the conversation to a sudden close by clenching his fist, and with that malicious hiss which bad men have, he addressed the Missionary, and said, "What business has you in our shop, a-talking like that 'ere? for two pins I'd smash in your frontispiece."
The ticket-of-leave man frowned, and holding out his right arm with extended finger and thumb gave a peculiar jerk and exclaimed, "If you does I'll garotte you." And a woman, whose sister the visitor had placed in a reformatory,fearing that he would be injured, rushed before him with a half-scream. The rough, who was evidently astonished at the good feeling which existed between the Christian teacher and the persons of his own class, stepped back; but as the attention of the debased crowd in the bar was directed towards him, the visitor raised his hand and said loudly, "Never mind: I am not hurt. But it was just so hundreds of years ago, when the Saviour of the world was here. He used to feed hungry people, and heal the sick, and give eyesight to the blind; but there were men who smote Him with the fist of wickedness, and who cried out, 'Crucify Him, crucify Him,' and then they nailed Him to a cross." The speaker then dropped his voice to a solemn note, and continued, "Yes; and—