*-*• 
 
 
 
 

 
 LIBRA RY 
 
 OF THL 
 
 U N I VERSITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS
 
 PROCEEDINGS 
 
 HELATINO TO THE laTACLlSIIMENT OF 
 
 Jaratbial Councib 0f dl^Ijaritii 
 
 IN THE VKIOK, AKD CHARITY ORGANISATION DISTRICT, OF 
 
 ST. GEORGE'S, HANOVER SQUARE, 
 
 IX FEBEUAEY, MAECH, AND APEIL, 1S71 ; 
 
 beisg: 
 
 PAGES 
 
 I.— Parochial Map of the Union, and Statement of the 
 
 Population of the District Parishes 3 
 
 11. — Circular Letter to the Incumbents of the District 
 Parishes in the Union, wnn Suggestions for the 
 Formation of Local Organisations with a view to 
 THE Improvement of Charitable Relief in the Union 5, G 
 
 HI. — Report of a Conference of the Clergy and Laity held 
 IN THE Board-room of the Union on Thursday, 
 March 16, 1S71 S 
 
 IV. — Eesolutions Passed at the Conference 36 
 
 V, — Eeport of THE Committee Appointed under the above- 
 mentioned Eesolutions 37 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY W. J. JOHNSON, 
 121, Fleet Street, E.C. 
 
 Price Sixcence.
 
 LONDON : 
 PRINTED BY W. J. OHNSOX, 121, FLEET STREET, LONDON, E.C.
 
 CIRCULAR LETTER TO THE INCUMBENTS OF 
 THE DISTRICT PARISHES IN THE UNION. 
 
 28, Mount Street, Grosvenor Square, 
 February 8, 1871. 
 
 Eeverend Sir, —In accordance with a resolution of the St. George's 
 Committee for Organising Charitable Relief and Repressing Mendicity, 
 I have the honour to enclose copies of suggestions for the improvement 
 of the mode of administering relief in the various districts comprised in 
 the Parishes of St. George's, Hanover-square, and St. Margaret's and 
 St. John's, Westminster. I venture to request that you will give these 
 suggestions your most careful consideration, and will consult on the 
 subject your district visitors and such of your parishioners as are in- 
 terested in improving the condition of the poor. 
 
 The St. George's Committee has now been in existence for upwards 
 of twelve months, and its principal work has been the investigation of 
 the cases of applicants for relief. In the three parishes more than 
 2,000 cases have been carefully inquired into, registered, and, in many 
 instances, assisted in a manner calculated to do permanent good. The 
 result of the experience thus acquired is, that the greatest care is re- 
 quired in the minute investigation of every case, and in the application 
 of sound principles of administering relief. The Committee are now of 
 opinion that the time has come to endeavour to give these principles a 
 more extended application. 
 
 I therefore earnestly invite your attendance at a Conference of all the 
 incumbents of the various districts within our sphere of operations, to 
 be held at the Board-room of the Union, Mount-street, on the IGth day 
 of March, 1871, at three o'clock. Time will thus be allowed for all to 
 give this important subject that consideration which I cannot but think 
 it so much requires, and I trust that a meeting of those who have so 
 great experience will produce a beneficial result. 
 
 In the event of your being unavoidably prevented from attending 
 yourself, the Committee trust that you will nominate one of your clergy 
 or parishioners to represent you on this occasion, so that the collective 
 opinion of all may be arrived at. 
 
 As bearing on this question, I beg to encloje a report of our Central 
 Council on Ilouse-to-housc Visitation, together with a pamphlet con- 
 taining extracts from the report of the Edinburgh Association, which 
 has achieved such important results in this direction. — I have the 
 honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 Westminster, Chairman. 
 B 2
 
 6 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR THE FORMATION OF LOCAL 
 ORGANISATIONS, 
 
 With a Fieir to the Improvement of the Administration of Charitable 
 Belief in the Parishes of St. George, Hanover-sqtiare, and St. Mar- 
 garet and St. John, Westminster. 
 
 1. That a Relief Oommittee be formed in each Ecclesiastical District. 
 The Incumbent (or a layman, if the Incumbent prefer it) to be Chair- 
 man, and the Members to consist of the Clergy, District Visitors, and 
 other persons who may be elected. This Committee to meet at stated 
 times for the formation of general rules, but to appoint from among its 
 Members a Eelief Sub-Committee, which shall meet three times a-week, 
 or oftener if necessary, to discuss and deal with all cases proposed for 
 relief in the District. 
 
 2. That the District Visitors shall, in future, except in very urgent 
 cases, on no account give, even at their own expense, any relief without 
 the previous sanction of the Eelief Sub -Committee. In a very urgent 
 case, the circumstances under which relief may have been given shall 
 be reported at once to the Sub-Committee. 
 
 3. That the District Visitors shall, when cases come under their notice 
 which appear to them suitable for relief, prepare a statement of the cir- 
 cumstances which seem to render assistance necessary, for the conside- 
 ration of the Eelief Sub-Committee, and shall afterwards administer 
 such relief as may be authorised. 
 
 4. That one of the Members of the Committee be appointed to act as 
 Honorary Secretary, to keep a record of the cases relieved, and the 
 various sums expended. 
 
 It is hoped that the following results may attend the adoption of this 
 plan : — 
 
 1. That a uniform system of relief, not only throughout each ecclesi- 
 astical district, but throughout the whole area of the three parishes, 
 will be arrived at. 
 
 2. That a larger number of the laity may be induced to join in 
 the work of endeavouring to improve permanently the condition of the 
 poor. 
 
 3. That relief will be administered in a wiser and more discriminating 
 manner by a Committee in which the persons of most experience will 
 acquire the most influence, rather than by the unequal, and compara- 
 tively unaided skill of the different District Visitors. 
 
 4 That there will be a cessation of those small doles which (with the 
 best intentions) have often been hitherto given to undeserving persons, 
 or to those who should be too independent to receive them, and who, by 
 getting them, lose self-reliance and habits of providence. The really 
 suitable cases will receive more substantial relief. 
 
 b
 
 5. That the District Visitors, being no longer aaaociated iu the minda 
 of the poor with the " dropping of tickets," will stand in a more satis- 
 factory position, and will be able to devote their energies to assisting 
 the poor by their influence and advice, and to raising their moral con- 
 dition, with better prospects of success. 
 
 The main feature of the scheme consists in the entire stopping of all 
 relief other than that administered according to the most intelligent 
 system, and in the best manner that can be devised. 
 
 If some such plan as is here sketched out were put in operation, the St. 
 George's Committee of tlie Charity Organisation Society would be pre- 
 pared, on the invitation of the Local Committees, to detail one or more 
 of its members to serve on each Local Relief Sub-Committee, and thus 
 secure co-operation between the Local Charities and the Society, 
 which it is hoped would produce the most beneficial results. The St. 
 George's Committee would also use its best endeavours to procure from 
 the richer portions of the three parishes the services of District Visitors 
 for those districts where there are comparatively few residents who can 
 undertake such work, and would entertain the question of assisting 
 with grants of money those Local Committees which, in very poor dis- 
 tricts, may urgently need funds. The services of the Inquiry Officers of 
 the St. George's Committee would be available, when requested, for the 
 investigation of cases in which their experience might be of value, and 
 the circumstances of which District Visitors may be unable themselves 
 to ascertain. 
 
 It is sincerely hoped that thus a cordial co-operation may be esta- 
 blished among all Societies and individuals interested in the welfare of 
 the poor.
 
 REPORT OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE 
 CLERGY AND LAITY. 
 
 The Secretary read a letter from the Marquis of West- 
 minster, as follows : — 
 The Marquis of " Eaton, Chester, March 15. 
 
 WrsTMiNSTER. " Dcar Captain Fitzroy, — I have not been very well 
 lately, and shall not, I am afraid, be able, in consequence, 
 to be in London to-morrow to attend the Conference at 
 three o'clock, I am very sorry to have to write an excuse 
 instead. The Society is one of very great imi;ortance for 
 the progress of the organisation of charitable relief, and 
 I sincerely hope the meeting may be convinced of the 
 great importance of combination and co-operation in the 
 work of relieving those, and those only, who may be found 
 to be deserving of it, and of doing this on a regular 
 system, such as our Committee proposes. 
 
 " There are many members on our Committee more fully 
 qualified than myself to preside on the occasion, from their 
 practical experience in the working of our Society, after 
 many dajs and years of hard work in the ofiBce. 
 
 " I am sorry not to be able to be present, and be kind 
 enough to say so from me. 
 
 " Very truly yours, " Westminster." 
 
 It was moved and seconded and carried unanimously, 
 that Sir Charles Trevelyan take the chair. 
 Sir^CHARLEs CHAiraiAN: Ladies and Gentlemen, — It is greatly to be 
 
 regretted that the Marquis of Westminster, who has been 
 such a consistent and liberal supporter of this cause, is not 
 able to preside over the meeting. 
 
 I must crave your indulgence, for I was to have taken a 
 much humbler place. As it is considered best that I should 
 still move the second resolution, which had been intrusted 
 to me, I will begin by reading it. It is to this effect : 
 " That, in order to commence with tmy hope of success the 
 great work of elevating the character, and improving 
 the condition of this pauperised and demoralised popula- 
 tion, it is indispensable that the laity of every religious 
 persuasion should come to the aid of the clergy." 
 
 In moving this resolution I feel as if we were for the 
 first time brought face to face with our task. The most 
 unsettled and questionable part of the population of these 
 
 Teevelyan.
 
 islands and of the neighbouring countries have for cen- 
 turies poured iuto this great metropolis. And what are 
 the inliuences they are here subjected to ? The absence of 
 all proper sanitary conditions — overcrowding, insufficient 
 ventilation, insufficient distribution of water. Room, air, 
 water — the indispensable means of health — all wanting. 
 Then there are the usual temptations and corruptions 
 incident to all great towns ; and, more especially, our 
 national vice of drunkenness, that pest of this country, is 
 pandered to in this metropolis beyond any other place 
 — (hear, hear) — and it is remarkable that the parts of the 
 metropolis where the greatest facilities are afforded for 
 indulgence in this vice are those very parts from which 
 the most urgent appeals come for charitable relief. 
 
 Then there is the Poor Law. You will, perhaps, think it 
 strange that I should name the Poor Law among the 
 pauperising influences of the metropolis ; but out-door 
 relief is administered in London in a mode at once in- 
 discrimiuate and insufficient, and the consequence is that 
 it is regarded by all parties as a licence to beg. 
 
 Then comes the abuse of charity, which exists to an un- 
 precedented extent. But this part of the subject I will 
 leave to those who will follow me. 
 
 The general result is that we have in London a large 
 population physically deteriorated and morally depraved, 
 living, not by honest labour, but by preying upon society 
 in some shape or other, from the common mendicant to the 
 housebreaker. 
 
 The Charity Organisation Society was established for 
 the purpose of counteracting, as far as possible, these great 
 evils. The principle of centralisation, and the principle of 
 local administration, are combined in the constitution of 
 the Society. The metropolis is divided into districts, in 
 each of which there is a Committee composed of the clergy, 
 the guardians of the poor, the leading members of the 
 charitable societies, and the representatives of the bene- 
 volent public generally ; and there is a Central Council 
 composed of delegations from all the District Committees. 
 The Society has had all the success that could have been 
 expected in the time ; the different charities have been to a 
 certain extent organised ; a considerable check has been 
 given to mendicancy ; and a number of cases have been 
 relieved whiuh were capable of being dealt with on the 
 principle of restoring the persons assisted to a state of
 
 10 
 self-respect and self-support, the chronic and dishonest 
 cases having been left to the operation of the Poor Law. 
 
 In this state of things it has appeared to the Committee 
 of your district that the time has come for an aggressive, 
 forward movement — for, although we may, for the present, 
 retain our name of a Society for Organising Charity, the 
 time is approaching when the Society ought to be dis- 
 tinctly recognised as one for improving the condition of the 
 poor ; for raising them from their lapsed, dependent condi- 
 tion ; and making them, as far as possible, honest, self-sup- 
 porting labourers. Although the flame has, in some degree, 
 been kept under, the fire is smouldering below, ready to 
 break out at any time. Although his excursions have been 
 checked, the enemy is still entrenched in his stronghold. 
 
 How, then, is tliis contest to be brought to a successful 
 issue P By bringing the educated intelligence of thia 
 great metropolis into close connexion with its ignorance ; 
 its benevolence with its misery ; its wealth with its 
 poverty — subject always to proper conditions ; or, trans- 
 lated into practical language, by establishing a sound 
 principle of house-to-house visitation among the poor. 
 Everything else would follow from this. 
 
 It is greatly to the honour of our clergy that, as they 
 took the lead in the education of the people, so, in this 
 part of London at least, they have initiated this movement 
 also ; and in the twenty-one parishes into which this district 
 is divided, a system of house-to-house visitation has been 
 more or less established. As the trustees of our national 
 religious endowments, and still more as the depositaries of 
 the purity of our faith, the clergy are our natural leaders 
 in this good work. Everybody who has read Macaulay's 
 History will remember how he describes the superior 
 cultivation and liberality of the London clergy. The 
 country clergy have since greatly improved ; but the 
 London clergy have also advanced, and have fully main- 
 tained their relative position. At a recent meeting of thia 
 Society at Chelsea I heard a clergyman discourse on the 
 difference between true and false charity, and the educa- 
 tional influence of true charity, in a manner which delighted 
 me. And in October last, the Rev. A. W. Thorold, Vicar 
 of St. Pancras, spoke as follows at the Church Congress at 
 Southampton, on the Organisation of Charitable Relief in 
 its Relation to Church Work : — 
 
 " li is a fair question for discussion how far it would be 
 for the advantage of all concerned if we could be altogether
 
 11 
 
 relieved of these duties, I only hope our lay brethren will 
 speak out their minds now that they have the chance ; and 
 it is indeed a pity if we cannot listen to their advice once 
 a-year, when they have to listen to ours once a-week. For 
 this, at any rate, we may feel sure of— that you do not 
 wish us to forget our ordination vows, nor to become mere 
 men of the cloister and library — a kind of painted figure- 
 head to ornament a vessel's bow, but not to steer her : nay, 
 that you like us the better when we are strong all round ; 
 and that, recognising our obligation to discharge all the 
 duties involved in our office, whether we like them or not, 
 you are not so unjust as to identify habits of business with 
 a worldly or unspiritual mind. Yet may the day soon 
 come when in every English parish, of a size to require it, 
 there shall bo a recognised Church body, to be the incum- 
 bent's parliament and the poor man's brotherhood; when 
 we can really begin to believe that private relief may be 
 given without encouraging improvidence, and that the five 
 millions now said to be bestowed among the English poor 
 of London alone shall not smother, but stimulate their life." 
 But I can refer you to higher authority than Mr. 
 Thorold's. " It is not reason that we " — the Apostles — 
 "should leave the word of God and serve tables. Where- 
 fore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men [this was 
 addressed to the laity] of honest report, full of the Holy 
 Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 
 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the 
 ministry of the world." I conceive, with submission to the 
 many excellent clergymen I see around me, that the truth 
 thus enunciated by the Apostles applies as much mw, 
 in London, as it did in those days ; and if the clergy were 
 relieved of the ordinary secular business connected with 
 charity, they would be able to apply themselves with greater 
 energy to the spiritual ministrations which specially belong 
 to tliem. God forbid that I should be supposed to advocate 
 the divorcement of charity from religion. What I advocate 
 is the divorcement of charity from the sympathetic weak- 
 ness which, by encouraging the undeserving, turns charity 
 into a demoralising influence. I advocate this, that charity 
 should be divorced from the great mistake of endeavouring 
 to make proselytes from one Christian persuasion to 
 another. I contend that charily sliould be divorced from 
 hypocrisy. Our Saviour, Christ, in Ilis administration ot 
 charity, laid great stress on that point : "Ye seek me, not
 
 12 
 
 because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the 
 loaves and were filled." I will not attempt to improve upon 
 that. 
 
 Your District Committee, composed of all classes of the 
 community, clergy, guardians of the poor, nonconformist 
 ministers, members of the public services (the military 
 service is ably represented in it), and numerous members 
 of the other professions, mercantile men, bankers, and so 
 forth, invite the clergy to co-operate with them, or rather, 
 I should say, they offer themselves as helpers of the clergy 
 to act according to such rules as may be determined upon; 
 and they propose a joint committee of the clergy and laity 
 to prepare those rules. So anxious are they to avoid 
 imposing any trammels upon the clergy, that they do not 
 propose that these rules should be obligatory, but merely 
 that they should be recommended to the clergy and chari- 
 table people of all classes within the respective parishes, to 
 be adopted with any modifications upon which they may 
 determine. 
 
 I have already read the resolution proposed for your 
 acceptance, and I thank you for the kind attention with 
 which you have listened to my remark,?. 
 
 Eev. J. H. The Kev. J. H. Hamilton, Vicar of St. Michael's, Ohester- 
 Hamilton. square : I rise to second the resolution proposed by the 
 Chairman. And I do so with thankfulness that this Com- 
 mittee has at length been brought together, and that it 
 is founded upon principles which afford a fair promise of 
 success. 
 
 Some of you may remember what is told of Dr. Chal- 
 mers, that, when preparing his book on the " Christian 
 and Civil Economy of Large Towns," he made it his 
 business to examine the working of the Poor Law in various 
 towns and agricultural districts of England, and the con- 
 viction which this investigation forced upon hU mind was 
 that " the Poor Law was dragging down England to her 
 grave." That was his conclusion from the operation of 
 the Poor Law as it was then administered, and had the law 
 not been amended, his foreboding must have proved true. 
 But the new Poor Law, based on Mr. Chadwick's report, 
 however harsh it may have seemed in some respects, 
 arrested the evil which was then rapidly increasing, and 
 for some years checked the growth of pauperism. At the 
 same time, the principles which Dr. Chalmers had taught.
 
 18 
 
 with a truly Christian spirit and the most persuasive 
 eloquence, gradually informed the public mind upon the 
 true method of relieving distres?, and have ever since been 
 workinj; their vray in the country at large. It is in har- 
 mony with these principles that the present movement for 
 placing charitable relief on a sounder basis has taken place. 
 
 When the new Poor Law was introduced, many years 
 ago, I had the opportunity of observing its working in a 
 large country parish with many poor, of which I was then 
 the incumbent. It certainly was a great improvement 
 upon the old law. But since that time it appears to have 
 been more and more relaxed, till the esjienditure has 
 become greater than ever. Within the last four years the 
 expense of the poor in London has increased by fifty-six 
 per cent. This is indeed a deplorable fact, while in the 
 same short period the wealth of the country has been 
 everywhere increasing, and there has been and still is an 
 enormous demand for labour. Yes, the pace of pauperism 
 has so increased, that it will, if not checked, bring about that 
 result which Dr.Chalmers anticipated from the law as it then 
 stood. It is perhaps a harsh thing to say, but the efforts of 
 the benevolent have gone far to aggravate this evil. (Hear, 
 hear.) I have seen a good deal of this kind of charity. 
 It is distressing beyond measure to see the injudicious 
 manner in which money is lavished upon begging-letter 
 writers and other persons who are for the most part 
 impostors. You cannot exaggerate the amount of mis- 
 chief done in that way, The mendicant is encouraged, and 
 the honest labourer discouraged. The poor honest man 
 sees his worthless neighbour living in luxury on the con- 
 tributions of the wealthy, whilst he can barely earn a sub- 
 sistence for his family. That is a thing that ought not to 
 be. ^Hear, hear.) 
 
 'Jhe Poor Law, appKing itself only to relief, does not ex- 
 ercise any influence to raise the labouring man to self- 
 respect, nor to help hiin forward to woik for the support of 
 his family. It is abolutely inoperative for that purpose. 
 It has no tendency to raise and elevate the character and 
 improve the condition of the pauperised and demoralised 
 portion of the population. 
 
 The benevolence lavished upon the poor by visitors is 
 another way of producing the same result. I do not think 
 I ever saw a person receive for a few weeks charity of this 
 kind without being paralysed as to personal effort. (Hear,
 
 14 
 
 hear.) He rapidly sinks into a state of apathy and becomes 
 dead to eveiy better motive. 
 
 I feel that, under these circumstances, it is most impor- 
 tant, on the one hand, to separate the visitation of the poor 
 from the administration of relief; and, on the other, to 
 provide that relief by a distinct agency for the purpose. 
 I believe that to be the first principle of all sound societies 
 for the benefit of the poor, such as that at Edinburgh and 
 other places, which have worked with so much success in 
 this good cause. 
 
 The next principle to be considered is, that there should 
 be a district visitor to every ten or twelve families of those 
 who are in a condition to require the help of those above 
 them. But who is to undertake this office ? In a London 
 parish, containing many hundred families, it is plainly im- 
 possible for a clergyman to visit all. But, even if it were 
 possible for the clergy to do it, it would be most undesir- 
 able that they should. The administration of charit ible 
 relief is that which breaks down our spirits, exhausts our 
 energies, and distracts our minds from tha higher and 
 nobler objects of our care ; and although we are not to 
 forget that we are the servants of Him who went about 
 doing good both to the body and soul, yet we ought not to 
 be called upon to do more than to lay down the principles 
 of Christian almsgiving, to remind our people of these prin- 
 ciples, to minister to the requirements of the sick and 
 afiiicted amongst our flocks, and to carry out the other 
 work of our office which properly devolves upon us. But 
 the duty of rendering help and sympathy to our brethren 
 belongs equally to all the members of 0:irist'3 Church, 
 whether lay or clerical. This great principle is laid down 
 in that source of all instruction, both in regard to prin- 
 ciples and conduct — the Holy Scriptures. " Whether one 
 member suffei-, all the members suifer with it ; or one 
 member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it." 
 As in the natural body, so it is in the spiritual body 
 of Christ, the Church. What is the Christian Church but 
 one large family, in which every individual is so bound up 
 with all the rest, that he must feel a deep interest in their 
 well-being ? 
 
 Accordingly, all who can, should devote some portion of 
 their time to visiting their poorer brethren, in order to 
 show a real, unafi'ected interest in their welfare, to speak a 
 word in season in all the varied circumstances of their
 
 15 
 
 family life, to encourage tliem under trials, and afford 
 such help as may enable them to^rise out of the depths of 
 dependence and improvidence and vice, in which bo many 
 are now sunk. Visits of this kind) will infallibly tend to 
 produce a wholesome effect. It is not in nature that men 
 or women should be receiving the disinterested ministra- 
 tions of one above them, particularly if a layman (who 
 they feel is not paid for his services), without gratitude ; 
 that they should see a man sacrificing a portion of his time 
 regularly, by visiting from house to house and there acting 
 as their counsellor and friend, lookini^ after the education 
 of their children, and renderingl'them such services as it is 
 always in the power of a superior to bestow on an inferior; 
 they cannot experience all this without great benefit to 
 their character and habits. It must tend to create in them 
 that feeling of self-respect and- desire for improvement 
 which we all desire them to possess. A layman is more 
 fitted for all these things than a clergyman by his greater 
 knowledge of business and wider experience of life. And 
 if the work is to be thoroughly done, it is indispensable 
 that every gentleman who can should come to the aid of 
 the clergy, and I would earnestly desire and pray to see 
 all religious bodies unite in one great effort thus to do good 
 to their poor neighbours. In such a combination there 
 could be no real difficulty. 
 
 It was pitiful to see the miserable obstructions thrown 
 in the way of the Education Act by the petty squabbles 
 about the " religious difficulty," as they called it. There 
 really was no such difficulty, as appeared when the subject 
 was fairly grappled with. Nor need there be any more 
 difficulty here. All sects and denominations may combine 
 in this work, without any compromise of their particular 
 opinions. 
 
 I remember one stormy day in winter, coming homo 
 through a field, I saw a sheep "cast" into a very deep 
 ditch. I ran, forgetting the weight of the animal, and. 
 sliding down the bank, endeavoured to pull him < ut. Of 
 course I found myself powerless to do it. So 1 looked out 
 for help, and beckoned to two men at a distance, who 
 promptly turned out of their way and hastened to my 
 assistance. One of them was a Baptist, and the othr r a 
 recent convert to Romanism. They were certainly cha- 
 racters with whom I f^hould not have been ready to asso- 
 ciate in my paiish, but I did not on that account declirc
 
 16 
 
 their help. I said, " Come, now, let us save this animal." 
 We jumped down together into the ditch, all three laid 
 hold of the struggling creature, and, with one great effort, 
 drew it out of the mud, in which it would soon have 
 perished, and put it on its legs safe upon the hank. The 
 principles of the three agents were different, but we com- 
 bined in the object of saviog a neighbour's sheep. Why 
 should we not combine to save Christ's sheep, that are 
 wandering from the right way, and bring them into the 
 path of uprightness, apart from the pure abstract doctrines 
 of religion ? It is n«t necessary that every one should 
 agree with us in every point of doctrine in order to join 
 with us cordially in this great work of benevolencp. We, 
 the clergy, should be happy to have the laity co-operating 
 with us in it. We are not called upon to give it up alto- 
 gether ourselves. (Hear, hear.) We shall, of course, be 
 ready to minister, where we can, to the relief of the poor ; 
 but that is a very different thing from carrying it out in 
 the wholesale way in which it has been done. If we can 
 get ladies and gentlemen to aid us we shall be most happy. 
 Ladies are most essential, I conceive, for the due and com- 
 plete performance of this good work. (Hear, hear.) And 
 if we can get a lady or gentleman to visit every ten or 
 twelve families (never more to each), and thus provide for 
 the visitation of the whole parish, we shall have tlie ma- 
 chinery desired. Call the labourers thus associated by 
 any name you please — committee, or society, &c. — one in 
 each of the ecclesiastical districts and subdivisions of 
 St. Geoige, Hanover-square, and St. Margaret and St. 
 John, Westminster, and all communicating with the cen- 
 tral office — wti shall thus have uniformity introduced, 
 and not have one going after another into the same house, 
 and persons obtaining relief in half-a-dozen places, which 
 is at present too commonly the case. 
 
 Under the circumstances I may leave, very safely, a 
 great deal that has yet to be said upon this resolution to 
 those who are to follow me. Upon the few principles I 
 have mentioned I think it will be acknowledged that a 
 right system of administering relief may be founded, so as 
 not to demoralise the objects of it, but to effect great and 
 substantial good. 
 
 Chairman : I will now, with your permission, put the 
 resolution for the adoption of the meeting; but we should 
 first be glad to hear any gentleman who wishes to make
 
 37 
 
 any remark on the points on •which the mover and seconder 
 
 have said their say. 
 
 The Eev. Brymek Belcher, Vicar of St. Gabriel's, War- Ti'c Rev. Bry- 
 . , T Ti . 1 ii 1 1 • merBelcher. 
 
 ■wiCK-square : I did not know that you were speaking on 
 
 the second resolution. I should like to say a few words 
 on it. I presume the resolution is intended to ask the 
 assistance of laymen ? 
 
 CiiAiRMAX : Yes, that is so. 
 
 The Rev. Bryjieu Belcher : There are very few clergy- 
 men who have not the assistance of ladies in their parishes. 
 I may observe, in passing, that the clergy and the dis- 
 trict visitors are spoken of in a somewhat curious way. It 
 is in the third result that is [mentioned as likely to follow 
 the suggestions for the formation of local organisations. It 
 is this : — 
 
 " 3. That relief will be administered in a wiser and more 
 discriminating manner by a committee in which the 
 persons of most experience will acquire the most influence, 
 rather than by tho unequal and comparatively unaided 
 skill of the different district visitors." 
 
 I confess we were rather at a loss to understand how we 
 should benefit largely from the introduction of laymen. 
 We do not think that the district visitors deserve to be 
 spoken of as giving relief in an unequal and comparatively 
 unaided way. No clergyman can have any objection to 
 be assisted by laymen. My district, however, differs from 
 others in the parish. Very few men in my district have 
 any time to give to the work, as we liave not many rich. 
 I am, tlierefore, obliged to depend on the assistance of the 
 ladies, of whom I have a very large staff. We allot ten or 
 twelve families to each, and we flatter ourselves we do not 
 succeed badly. I regret the words " pauperised and de- 
 moralised population." I presume it is meant only to 
 apply to a segment of the whole ; but, as it stands, it 
 applies to the wliole ; and I must hold up my hand against 
 adjectives of that sort being applied to the whole. 
 
 Chairman : 'J'hcre was no intention of characterising the 
 whole of the population of the metropolis, but only a jiar- 
 ticular part, as being demoralised and pauperised ; and it 
 was far from being our intention to cast any reflection on 
 Mr. Belcher's district visitors. Few clergymen, however, 
 will deny that most ladies, especially young ladies, find it 
 very difficult to avoid giving doles to the poor. It is to
 
 18 
 
 enable them to visit the poor, without being liable to that 
 kind of pressure, that the resolution was framed. 
 
 The Eev. Brymer Belcher : I do not quite understand 
 the last words of the resolution. Is it intended that the 
 words "of every religious persuasion" should be added 
 after the word " clergy," so as to make it read, " should come 
 to the aid of the clergy of every religious persuasion?" 
 Lord Alfred Churchill : After the very able addresses 
 Churchill, delivered before us, I should be very sorry to put any 
 unnecessary question. I wish thoroughly to indorse the 
 views of the seconder of the motion as to the evils of the 
 present Poor-law system. I think that the method of 
 administering relief to the poor is faulty to a degree. There 
 is a very large amount of pauperism in this town, amounting 
 to from 120,000 to 150,000 souls daily in receipt of charitable 
 relief, and it is to alleviate this that the Poor Law gives that 
 indiscriminate relief — that out-door relief — which is the 
 cause of so much pauperism and demoralisation. The 
 work done by the boards of guardians is very great, but 
 I know from experience that they have their whole time 
 occupied in attending committees and that sort of thing, 
 and this is the cause why the primary duty of admi- 
 nistering relief is not looked after with the discrimination 
 that it ought to be. Relieving officers are not supplied in 
 sufficient numbers, and have not the sense of responsibility 
 that they would have if a number of ladies and gentle- 
 men were looking after the poor in the different districts. 
 I believe that it is quite necessary to combine the lay 
 with the clerical element for the purpose of properly in- 
 vestigating the circumstances of every poor family. I 
 think that can best be done by means of house-to-house 
 visitation, and that the visitors should not have too many 
 families on their hands, and should not themselves admi- 
 nister relief without first obtaining the sanction of a super- 
 intending committee. (Hear, hear.) These lady visitors go 
 round the districts with the best intentions, but they are 
 liable to be imposed upon. (Hear, hear.) If they were 
 not to afford relief then and there, but were to 
 report as to the relief proposed to be given, I think 
 you might then be able to put a stop to much of the injury 
 inflicted on the poor by practised impostors. There is the 
 clerical element and the lay element in the Church, and the 
 onus is as much upon the one as upon the other. It is the 
 duty of the lay elemeat to help in the investigation of every
 
 1.9 
 
 case requiring relief. I do not care whether they are 
 members of the Established Church, or Nonconformists, or 
 Roman Catholic priests ; they ought all to unite together 
 upon the question of the administration of charity. It is 
 a question on which we may all meet upon broad ground, 
 and with a desire to simply endeavour to meet the difficul- 
 ties incident to it. 
 
 The Rev. William Gill, Minister of Robert-street Chapel, The Uev. w. 
 Grosvenor-square, said : I have had the honour, as a Non- *^'"- 
 conformist minister, to receive an invitation to attend this 
 Conference, and it gives me pleasure to say a few words in 
 support of the present resolution. For many years it has 
 been my privilege to labour in the cause of Christian civili- 
 sation among the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, and 
 until lately I had no idea that so much ignorance and dis- 
 tress existed in this West-end of London as I now find. 
 It appears to me that nothing can be more important in the 
 matter of relief than that ministers and laity of every re- 
 ligious persuasion should unite in an organisation of the 
 kind now contemplated, to meet the necessities of the case. 
 I would remind the Conference that every Nonconformist 
 congregation has organisations consisting of lay agents, 
 male and female, for the purpose of aiding, as far as in 
 their power, the wants of the sick and the poor. 
 My own church has its house - to - house visitors, 
 its Dorcas and Maternal Societies, and its Benevo- 
 lent Society. Large numbers of cases relieved by these 
 societies are not only not connected with our own Church, 
 but with no Church at all. We feel that their misery and 
 distress constitute their claim upon our charity, and 
 accordingly we relieve them. But our difficulty is, that 
 we frequently find that these very same persons are being 
 relieved by the charities of visitors from one, two, or more 
 Churches in the district. Now I apprehend it is the object 
 of the proposed Committee to meet this difficulty. If, 
 therefore, you contemplate inviting the co-operation of 
 Nonconformists in devising the best method of so giving 
 relief as to do away with the evils of the present isolated 
 systems, I am quite sure you will find botli the ministers 
 and laity of the Nonconformist Churches heartily willing 
 to unite and to render all the practical assistance in their 
 power. (Hear, hear.) In conclusion, and in reference to 
 the remarks of the Rev. Mr. Hamilton, about the help 
 he once accepted from two ministers of other Churches 
 
 C
 
 20 
 
 than his own to get a poor sheep out of a ditch, I will 
 venture to hope that there may be found many Noncon- 
 formists whose service of help in the relief of the poor may 
 not only be acceptable to the clergy and laity of the Church 
 of England, but who would be found not unworthy of being 
 recognised by them as Christian brethren elsewhere. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 Chairman: I have great pleasure in giving the assur- 
 ance to our friend that it is fully intended to invite the 
 co-operation in our object of ministers of the Christian 
 religion of all denominations. Mr. Gill has given a prac- 
 tical illustration of the necessity for this. We propose that 
 a Committee be appointed for the purpose of laying down 
 the best rules for the purpose of attaining this object, with 
 the result, we hope, " that a uniform system of relief, not 
 only throughout each ecclesiastical district, but throughout 
 the whole area of the three parishes, will be arrived at." 
 This is the first result anticipated from the adoption of this 
 plan. 
 
 Eev. BnvMER Belcher : The simple alteration I suggest 
 is as follows ; " It is indispensable that the laity generally 
 should give their assistance to the clergy and ministers of 
 all denominations." 
 
 Eev. W. Gill : The ol jection seems to be to my being 
 called a clergyman. In America I should be — but per- 
 haps it would be better not to press it. (Hear, hear.) I 
 should not have raised the question. (Hear, hear.) Here 
 I am not usually called a clergyman, but a Noncon- 
 formist minister. 
 Mr. Fleming. jjj.^ Fleming, Guardian of the Poor : I would say one 
 
 word upon this resolution, as a very humble member of 
 the Board of Guardians. I believe the Poor-law system 
 to be both costly and cumbrouS; and that it is desirable for 
 the laity to come forward and help. You would hardly 
 oral it it, that in so large a parish as this, where there are 
 so many men of " idle intelligence," so large a number of 
 poor should be waiting for relief which the Guardians 
 cannot administer. We shall never get this sort of thing 
 corrected if we do not expose it. I am not speaking of 
 this as a matter of complaint against my fellow-Guardians. 
 I do not deny that they give all the time they can to the 
 work of their ofBce, but I do hope that retired tradesmen, 
 and gentlemen too, will give some portion of their time to 
 this charitable object. There is plenty of leisure time to
 
 21 
 
 give, but, strange to say, in the committee-room overhead 
 you may have thirty or forty attending to the business of the 
 parish, who Avill not come down hero to attend to the real 
 wants of the poor of the parish. I do not speak in such 
 temperate language, perhaps, to them as I am no\v using. 
 ("Hear," laughter.) 
 
 Ch.virman: We all know that there are many excellent 
 persons on the Board of Guardians, and it is not their fault, 
 but the fault of the system, if the Poor Law does not work 
 well. I will now read the resolution amended as proposed. 
 (Reading it.) I think we are all pretty well agreed. 
 (Perfectly satisfied.) I will now put the resolution to the 
 meeting. (After a Bhow of hands.) It is passed un- 
 animously. 
 The resolution so passed was as follows : — 
 " 2. That, in order to commence, with any hope of success, 
 the great work of elevating the character and improving 
 the condition of this pauperised and demoralised portion of 
 the population, it is indispensable that the laity of every 
 religious persuasion should come to the aid of the clergy 
 and ministers of all denominations." 
 
 Colonel Fremantle, of the St. George's Charity Organisa- Coionoi Fur- 
 tion Oominittee, in proposing the first resolution, said : At m^:^" - 
 the first commencement of the operations of the St. George's 
 Charity Organisation Committee, about a year and a 
 quarter ago, I was deputed to wait upon the different 
 incumbents and ask for their co-operation, which I need 
 hardly say I obtained, for I may remark that in no part 
 of London have the clergy co-operated more heartily with 
 the objects of the Society than in St. George's My first 
 question to the incumbents was this, " Have you sutiicient 
 funds at your disposal for the relief of the ordinary distress 
 in your district?" The answer I received, as a general 
 rule, was in the afiBrmative. The Curate in charge of St. 
 Paul's, Knightsbridge, indeed added, very naturally, that it 
 would be a great disgrace to so wealthy a district if tho 
 contrary had been the case. The report I was able to make 
 of the result of my interviews with the incumbents was 
 considered very satisfactory by tlio Committee. I felt 
 myself justified in saying to the Committee that they need 
 bi under no alarm lest they should establish a new relief 
 agency in a district in which it was notorious that ample 
 funds for the purpose already existed. I said that the 
 
 c 2
 
 22 
 
 clergy had sufficient money, and that when we had inquired 
 into a case, and had satisfied ourselves that it was a good 
 one for relief, we had only to send the case to be dealt 
 with satisfactorily by the local charity. But, I am sorry 
 to say, we have been disappointed in this expectation. 
 
 What happens is this : we send a suitable case to the 
 clergyman or agency of the district, and it generally receives 
 a few grocery or bread tickets. We then say, " We don't 
 want you to give bread or grocery tickets, but we want 
 you to spend £2 or £3 or £4 upon the case," and so place 
 the person to be relieved in a position to gain his living 
 independently. This the loeal charity cannot do, and the 
 Organising Society then gives the necessary funds for the 
 purpose. The St. George's Committee have had tho 
 greatest difficulty to avoid becoming a neiv relief society, 
 although they feel that every penny so spent is a confession 
 of the bad appropriation of the large funds already spent 
 in the district for the relief of distress. How is it that the 
 local charity in each district cannot spend £2 or £3 when 
 necessary upon the proper relief of a case of distress ? 
 Because a very large proportion of the funds is spent in 
 small doles at the discretion of district visitors. We find 
 that these small doles, as a general rule, tend to pauperise 
 the recipients, and do not effect any permanent good in 
 their condition, often the reverse; while the fact that 
 so much money is spent in that manner cripples the 
 resources of the charity, and prevents the really adequate 
 relief which in certain cases is necessary to render them 
 permanently self-supporting. There can be no manner of 
 doubt that a very large proportion of the money devoted 
 by benevolent persons to relieve distress in these parishes 
 does a great deal more harm than good, and is a real mis- 
 fortune to the poor. 
 
 I am a member of a branch of this Society in St. Giles- 
 in-the-Fields, and I can state upon my personal experience 
 that in some respects the condition of the poor in that 
 notoriously poor district is more satisfactory than it is 
 here. They are more self-reliant, less inclined to throw 
 themselves upon charity instead of depending upon their 
 own exertions — in fact they are less demoralised by indis- 
 criminate relief. 
 
 We hope, if a scheme such as we propose should be 
 adopted, that the clergy will find it an advantage to them. 
 It will enable them in a more satisfactory manner to sepa-
 
 28 
 
 rate their duties as ministers of religion and dispensers of 
 relief. I have been told by clergymen in diflferent parts of 
 London that such is their desire, and I believe the feeling 
 is very prevalent. 
 
 We think also that the district visitors would profit 
 greatly by the change we advocate. Some few may think 
 that they acquire influence by the power of distributing 
 tickets at their own discretion ; but we believe, on the con- 
 trary, that their influence for good among the better class 
 of poor would be increased if their visits could be disso- 
 ciated in their minds from the giving of charity. Our pro- 
 posal, moreover, removes a district visitor from an unfair 
 position ; for I cannot imagine a position more unfair than 
 that of a lady going from a comfortable house in May Fair 
 or Belgravia into a miserable cellar or a garret, and being 
 made at once the judge as to Avhether relief should be ad- 
 ministered or not. Of course she must, and she does, give 
 relief; and yet, in many cases, that very relief-giving with- 
 out proper inquiry acts as a stimulant to the vices which 
 have dragged down the poor family to its present degra- 
 dation. 
 
 We think that the upper classes would be benefited by 
 our scheme, for everything which interests the rich in the 
 condition of the poor must be advantageous, and we have 
 reason to know that many laymen, who have been for a year 
 or more working in our committee, are ready to give their 
 assistance to the clergy if requested to do so. And, lastly, 
 the poor must profit by it, because the really deserving will 
 then receive more substantial assistance ; those who are 
 notoriously undeserving — the idle, the drunken, and the 
 dissolute — will be left face to face with hard work, or that 
 relief to which they are entitled by law ; whilst thoscwho 
 are simply improvident — and we fear they form a very 
 large class — will gradually be taught to understand that 
 they must no longer continue to earn large wages for nine 
 months in the year, and live upon charity the other three- 
 The resolution I have to propose is this : — 
 
 " 1. That, notwithstanding the exertions of the clergy and 
 others in this district, much of the charity that is adminis- 
 tered has a pauperising effect; and many unworthy per- 
 sons live in idleness, preying upon the kind-hearted, while 
 the really deserving poor who do not beg are in danger 
 of being overlooked."
 
 TheRev.G. H. rpj^g g^^^ q -q Wilkinson, Vicar of St. Peter's, 
 Eaton-square : I am sure Colonel Fremantle will 
 allow me in one point to take exception to what he 
 has said. In St. Peter's we have acted upon the very 
 principle he has pressed upon the attention of the meeting 
 to-day. We have long availed ourselves of the assistance 
 of the Society in investigating cases of relief, but we have 
 declined to receive any portion of the money entrusted to 
 the Committee. We have acted on the principle that any 
 amount that was needed was to be given out of our own 
 funds after the case was found to be a deserving one. 
 
 I do not dwell further upon the amount of mendicancy 
 existing', as it is well known. I will only add that it is one 
 of the greatest annoyances to the clergy to find that these 
 imposters are preying upon the public, and that the com- 
 paratively rich receive money from the benevolent, while 
 the poor deserving man has been left to starve. But this 
 resolution says also that the poor are in danger of being 
 overlooked. I have known such cases myself. In one 
 case a man has come to see me at eight o'clock in the 
 evening, and I have found that he was speaking the truth 
 when he said that one cup of tea and a crust was all that 
 he had had that day. I have seen a poor girl at a house, 
 left alone with the corpse of her mother, but too shy to ask 
 for help to bury her. Other cases I have known where 
 men have asked for, and endeavoured to find, work, and I 
 have written to people, and tried to find them work, and 
 have been unable to do so. What we want is the help of lay- 
 men — of men full (as the Chairman said) of the Holy Ghost 
 and wisdom — full of that love of God which enables a man, 
 even when imposed upon, to go on striving to save the poor 
 from degradation; men who will win others to Christ; 
 who will, at one and the same time, relieve their bodily 
 necessities and minister to the good of their souls; men 
 who will imitate that Lord who, although he rebuked 
 those who came to hear him merely for the sake of the 
 loaves which they obtained, first drew them around him 
 by ministering to their bodily relief. 
 
 There are difiBculties, and there will be difficulties, in the 
 way, before the Committee will be able to draw up those 
 rules which will be required for the purpose of bringing 
 the whole force of our religion to bear upon this work. I 
 believe that if you are to get that concentrated patient 
 spirit which will persevere until this great sore of London
 
 25 
 
 ha3 been healed, you must not only include in your ranks 
 all siiiules of religion for the purpose of carrying on your 
 operations, but you must so arrange that each separate 
 religious organisation shall work in whatever way will 
 enlirit the most hearty co-operation of its members. The 
 Roman Catholic priest, working with his Roman Catholic 
 laity, will appeal to them, if he see fit, by their love for the 
 Virgin. I should urge my workers to go frequently to that 
 holy table where the strength which their work requires 
 will specially be obtained. The Nonconformist would 
 strengthen the hands of his workers in any way that he 
 thought desirable. By each body of Christians working, in 
 its own way, but communicating freely and frequently 
 with each other, the work which we all wish to effect would 
 be most surely accomplished. I have great pleasure in 
 seconding the resolution. 
 
 The Rev. T. King, Curate of St. George's, Hanover- The Rev. t. 
 square : I beg to protest against Colonel Fremantle's '^'^' 
 speech. He spoke in ignorance of the objects of the 
 Saint George's Visiting Society. The Society does not 
 profess to administer only to the temporary relief of the 
 poor. The object of the Society is to encourage in the 
 poor economy and self-respect, the whole of the people 
 coming forward and giving as mucli money as they can- 
 In the year 1869 our expenditure was I,300Z. We are en- 
 couraging industry and economy, and the great object is 
 not merely to administer temporary relief. I object to the 
 remarks made, and I appeal to my brother clergyman, 
 who is present, as to the truth of what I say. 
 
 Chairman : Colonel Fremantle did not intend to make 
 any personal remark, but merely to call attention to the 
 general result, that there is a great deal of indiscriminate 
 charity given. 
 
 The Rev. A. Forbes, Curate of St. Mark's, North Audley- '^',': ^^''- ^^ 
 
 •^ 1 0RBK8. 
 
 street : Something was said in Colonel Fremantle's speech 
 against district visitors. I must protest against their 
 having no active part in the administration of relief. It 
 is not right to throw any reflection upon either party. It 
 is a most difficult subject. There is one suggestion I have 
 to make on behalf of some of the district visitors in their 
 own pari.-<h — that to interfere Avith private charity is not at 
 all desirable. 
 
 Ciilonel Fremantle : I am torry that this gentleman, 
 or any other gentleman, should have taken any objection
 
 26 
 
 to what I may have said in that respect. I thought it was 
 better to say the truth plain out. (Hear, hear.) I meant 
 to say it was impossible to avoid somewhat of indiscrimi- 
 nation in giving relief. I suppose I spoke too plain out. 
 (It is quite true.) 
 
 The Marquis The Marquis TowysHEND : I wish to make an amend- 
 
 TowNBHEND. jjjgnt^ and leavB out the words "in danger of being " [over- 
 looked]. It appears to me as not stating the fact, but an 
 apprehension. 
 
 The Hon. w. The Hon. W. Warren Vernox, of the St. Giles's Charity 
 
 Wakren Ver- Organisation Committee : As there seems to be some mis- 
 apprehension among some reverend gentlemen as to what 
 fell from Colonel Fremantle, I should like to explain 
 as to lady visitors. In St. Giles-in-the-Fields the visitors 
 are not inferior to any, but there is no doubt that the 
 class of persons who are visited by district visitors of the 
 Church of England are also relieved from other sources. 
 The visitoi-s find, after relieving cases, that the poor are 
 also getting relief from other persons. 
 
 Chairman : "With the permission of the meeting, I will 
 now put the resolution to the vote. (After a show of 
 hands.) Carried unanimously. 
 
 The Rev. F. The Eev. F. Shepherd, Curate of St. Stephen's, Eo- 
 
 HEPBERD. chester-row : In putting the third resolution to the 
 meeting, I wish to remark that hitherto we have been 
 discussing questions of principle, but that we must 
 now face difficulties of constructive detail, which may 
 account for the particular tone of the words of this resolu- 
 tion : — 
 
 " 3. That a committee be appointed for the purpose of 
 considering the arrangements under which suitable relief 
 may be given in every case of need, consistently with the 
 object of preventing cases of temporary destitution from 
 becoming cases of permanent pauperism, and of rendering 
 the poor, as far as possible, self-supporting and self-re- 
 specting, in general accordance with the suggestions which 
 have been ofi'ered by the Committee of the Charity Organi- 
 sation Society for the District of St. George, Hanover- 
 square, and St. Margaret and St, John, Westminster." 
 
 Now we may have needed discussion to secure agree- 
 ment upon some of the questions raised in the course of 
 our proceedings, but there is one point upon which we 
 shall all agree without further controversy : that no one 
 has a right to administer charity upon a demoralising
 
 27 
 
 system, and then, when he gets tired of the mendicancy 
 he bus fostered, that he should be able to throw the 
 consequences of his folly on other persons' shoulders. 
 The Committee will therefore have to consider what 
 remedy may be devised to prevent the steady deteriora- 
 tion of the poor by their habit of passing from one chari- 
 table agency to another, and whether it is possible to lay 
 down fundamental principles according to which relief 
 should be afforded. 
 
 Let me remind you of our present position. My life just 
 measures the existence of the new Poor Law, and had that 
 law been allowed to be carried out as it was designed, I 
 might now have been witnessing the most successful scheme 
 of modern legislation. Any one who has read the original 
 Poor-law Eeports will agree with me in admiration of the 
 ability and care displayed in them. But the new Poor 
 Law never had a fair chance. It was intended only for 
 those who could live neither by charity nor industry. It 
 was calculated to encourage industry, because no one would 
 work in the workhouse who could work out of it. It 
 stimulated charity by offering only such miserable living 
 as charitable people could not allow the respectable poor 
 to accept ; and thus, through the instrumentality of the 
 Poor Law, the land has been covered in one generation with 
 asylums for every class of sufferers. But from the outset 
 the new scheme was diverted from its true end. Easy 
 philanthropists cried shame on the penurious treatment of 
 the respectable poor in the workhouse ; while ratepayers 
 complained of the increase of luxuries to the ruffians of the 
 casual wards. The scales have been thus flying up and 
 down in alternations of rigour and liberality. Tlie present 
 fit is one of severity, and so we have a Bill in Parliament 
 for detaining every casual a prisoner in the workhouse for 
 three days. First of all, the Committee will have to con- 
 sider whether it may not be possible to classify the poor. 
 There is not a person here who may not come to the Poor- 
 law door. Now reflect upon what this means — that there is 
 no charity upon which you can count as a certainty beyond 
 that which is offered to the lowest rufiian. You may take 
 your chance with the charitable societies, but it is only a 
 chance. Is this right ? Is it right that a blind man, for 
 instance, of strictly honourable life, should be sent to the 
 same place and put on the same level as the ruffian who 
 has brought his mother to her grave ?
 
 28 
 
 Now the Committee contemplates the establishment of 
 district sub-committees, to be local authorities to v?hich 
 such cases, as could not with any decency be referred to 
 the Poor Law, should be submitted. You would be able to 
 say to the respectable poor in distress, " Go to the local com- 
 mittee; they will assist you." On this committee you 
 would be able to place the charitable irregulars of the dis- 
 trict, who might give their money and services in their own 
 way. The committee would communicate with all chari- 
 table societies of the district, and invite their attendance. 
 Supposing the committee thus constituted, you would have 
 a recognised body sufficiently well known to be able to 
 command the respect and support of the neighbourhood. 
 You would find that the subscribers to various charitable 
 institutions would place their orders and nominations at 
 the service of the committee, which would thus be in a 
 position to relieve every form of deserving misfortune. On 
 the other hand, the Poor Law would not be embarrassed 
 with the difficulties which it can never surmount, through 
 having to deal with two classes of poor. While, then, the 
 Poor-law Board would address itself to the simple task of 
 a£Fording relief to those who dislike work, and have ceased 
 to have any claim upon charity, the district committee 
 would take charge of the respectable poor, and save them 
 from the awful degradation of the workhouse. The two 
 classes of the poor would thus be separated and submitted 
 to a different treatment. 
 
 Allusion has been made by some of the speakers before 
 me (and I agree with their feelings on this subject) to the 
 objection which the clergy entertain' to the wearisome task 
 of taking pecuniary relief to idle and improvident people. 
 Such an occupation is not likely to tend to the spirituality 
 of the clergy. You must not send me tramping about the 
 parish to administer doles to those who repudiate every 
 word I preach, if you wish me to preach you sermons 
 which shall not speak of the weariness which comes of 
 such hopeless ministrations. 
 
 There will, of course, be many to oppose the formation 
 of this committee. We all know the jealousy of charitable 
 interests. Yet the difficulty is not so great as it is sup- 
 posed. It will be always possible to put the charge of the 
 religious poor of the different religious communities in the 
 hands of the members of the committee belonging to that 
 community. There will then be select claasea of poor who
 
 i?0 
 
 live under the rules of their own communion, and it will 
 be the duty of those who have care of them ^to discourage 
 hypocritical pretence of religion for purposes of obtaining 
 relief. Then there Avill be the great mass of respectable 
 indigence, which will be managed by the Committee and 
 the Poor-law Board, which is precluded from considering 
 any ((ucstion of good or evil — (cries '• No") — I speak of the 
 Poor Law as laid down in the original report — and will deal 
 with the case of those who have fallen below the reach of 
 charity. 
 
 I have hut one more word to say. f Suppose we do not 
 succeed in forming tliis committee, and that this movement 
 fails ? Poor-law relief is extending every 'year. It is 
 growing into an imperial system of taxation. If nothing 
 is done, the Poor Law will soon be a magnificent scheme 
 for taking the money of those who work hard and save, 
 and putting it into the pockets of those who are idle and 
 thriftless. I beg to move that this resolution be adopted, 
 and that this committee be appointed. 
 
 Sir RuTiiEKFoiiu Alcock, K.C.B., of the;,St. George's Sir RuTunm-onr. 
 Charity Organisation Committee: I rise to second this resolu- ' ''^'^'^'^• 
 tion. !Many present have already spoken with'great ability, 
 and there is the less need, therefore, that I should go into 
 much detail. I have joined with much satisfaction this 
 Society, and I feel that there is a deep debt of gratitude due 
 to those wlio have worked heretofore, and brought it to its 
 present state of organisation. Every one who looks into this 
 subject will see how much it is to be desired that earnest 
 workers should come forward to assist in rendering the 
 charitable effort- now being made on behalf of the poor a 
 blessing alike to those who give and those who receive 
 relief. Who can see the immense mass of poverty now 
 existing, and with which the organised institutions of the 
 country are ijuite incapable of dealing effectually, without 
 heartily desiring such combination for good as that now 
 proposed ? Some 100,000 poor have to be assisted, accord- 
 ing to a report quoted by the Bishop of London, and so 
 much money is given annually that there ought to be 17/. 
 available for each person . And yet, when we see the evi- 
 dence l)efore us of continued destitution and increasing 
 pauperism, it is clear that the one thing needed is the better 
 organisation of charitable relief, and a more thorough com- 
 bination of the lay and clerical elements. I am satisfied 
 that the co-operation the Society has in view will never be
 
 Bev. R. Lid- 
 dell. 
 
 30 
 
 accomplished unless all our energies are given to it, per- 
 fectly apart from any sectarian feeling. One of the clergy 
 here present has told us how, with the help of Dissenting 
 brothers, he had on one occasion to lift a sheep out of a 
 ditch to save its life ; but here we have many thousands to 
 help out of their trouble, and the work is only to be done by 
 sinking all differences of creed and religion. It matters not 
 •with whom we work. It must be done by the cordial co- 
 operation of the clergy and laity of all denominations. I 
 feel a very earnest desire to take a share in this work with 
 the Society. I am quite sure, if this principle be kept in 
 view, that it will progress favourably and end in success, 
 and that we shall soon be in a position to grapple with this 
 monster problem, how to combine charitable relief with self- 
 dependence. 
 The Hon. and The Hon, and Rev. Robert Liddell, Vicar of St. Paul's, 
 Knightsbridge : In asking your kind attention to the 
 few observations I have to make, I do so in no in- 
 vidious spirit. I fully recognise the services of this 
 Committee in their endeavours to solve one of the most 
 difficult problems in our social condition. I thank them 
 personally for the ready attention they have shown to any 
 cases of emergency which I have referred to them, and I 
 wish to give them all the assistance in my power — to ask 
 information of them, and to give it to them, when capable 
 of giving it, as to my own parish. 
 
 I observe the suggestions Nos. 1 and 2 are as follows : 
 " First. That a relief committee be formed in each eccle- 
 siastical district. The incumbent (or a layman if the in- 
 cumbent prefer it) to be chairman, and the members to 
 consist of the clergy, district visitors, and other persons 
 who may be elected. This committee to meet at stated 
 times for the formation of general rules, but to appoint from 
 among its members a relief sub-committee, which shall 
 meet three times a- week, or oftener if necessary, to discuss 
 and deal with all cases proposed for relief in the district." 
 " Second. That ther district visitors shall in future, except 
 in very urgent cases, on no account give, even at their own 
 expense, any relief without the previous sanction of the 
 relief sub-committee. In a very urgent case, the circum- 
 stances under which relief may have been given shall be 
 reported at once to the sub-committee." 
 
 On this I wish to offer a few remarks. I feel that we 
 are in our infancy with regard to this institution, and are.
 
 31 
 
 as it were, feeling our way in it. But ■when T, as a parish 
 priest of now nearly forty years' standing, am asked to sub- 
 ordinate to the decision of a committee such as this is pro- 
 posed to be, the administration of the alms given by my con- 
 gregation and communicants for the relief of the sick and 
 needy, I feel a very great doubt how I can consent to that 
 proposition. 
 
 I have no objection to the formation of a lay committee 
 in my district ; I would wish to be on the most friendly 
 terms with that committee, and would give them informa- 
 tion if they wished it. But as this is to be a lay committee, 
 embracing, possibly, members of all other religious denomi- 
 nations, I think I ought to say at once that a committee 
 such as that had better be independent of me and I of it. 
 
 I do not know whether I should be taking up too much 
 of the time of the meeting by stating the kind of parochial 
 organisation I have already got, but with your permission 
 I will state what it is. 
 
 Each of my curates has a district assigned to him. He 
 goes amongst the poor simply in his spiritual capacity. 
 Each curate has a sister under him, and each sister three 
 or four district visitors, who minister under their direction. 
 Those sisters administer all temporal relief, and a record 
 is kept of all the people visited and the nature and amount 
 of the relief given. 
 
 That is the organisation which I have in my parish. It 
 works so effectively that I should be very loth to make 
 any alteration in it at present. The reasons why 1 should 
 object to make any change are threefold. 
 
 First, as regards the poor, I do not wish to substitute 
 for the quiet home relief given )>y the sisters the adir.ini- 
 stration of a mixed lay committee, which from its system 
 of searching investigation (though I recognise the need of 
 it) would practically seem to the poor to be closely allied 
 to the Poor-law relief. The best of our poor are the most 
 retiring and the most sensitive. They would shrink from 
 coming before such a committee, and they would ratlier 
 have the services and kind offices in distress or sickness of 
 one whom by experience they trusted and dearly loved. 
 Moreover, we must look at this question, not only in its 
 secular and social aspect, but also in its religious aspect. 
 The mixed character of the committee would tend to 
 create confusion in the minds of our poor. They would 
 not recognise the relief as coming through the personal
 
 32 
 
 sympathy of their spiritual mother the Church, acting 
 through her own authorised members, but only as aid 
 coming from a secular society. Their interest in their 
 parish as a religious organisation would be weakened, and 
 the visible bond of church unity loosened. 
 
 Secondly, as regards the sisters and the district visitors. 
 They would not, I know, be able to be present at the con- 
 sultations of the local committee, because they shrink from 
 all publicity. They would be doubtless qualified as re- 
 garded giving information upon any specified subject, but 
 they would dec'ine to do so personally, and any report to 
 or from them would have to pass through me. Neither 
 would they or our district visitors recognise any authority 
 in my parish but that of their own parish priest. 
 
 Thirdly, as regards my own oflSce, I have been taught 
 that I stand in the relation of a spiritual parent to the 
 people of my own flock ; and I cannot, I humbly think, 
 delegate my supreme authority in my own parish to others. 
 It is not that I want to arrogate authority to myself, but I 
 have a conviction that a certain oifice has been solemnly 
 committed to me, and I am responsible before God for the 
 fulfilment of that office ; and so I cannot consent to be 
 otherwise than the head of my own parish. And, there- 
 fore, though I may maintain the most friendly relations 
 with this Committee, I cannot consent that the alms of my 
 people should be administered under the judgment of others, 
 and not under my own judgment. I should be glad to 
 I>romote the relief of the deserving poor; but to go the 
 length of the suggestion of the second clause of these sug- 
 gestions — I cannot do it. I have given simply my reasons 
 for the declarations I have made, and I thank thi.^ meeting 
 for their patient hearing. 
 
 Mr. MoRKis, Guardian of the Poor : I think this meetinjr, 
 or this question, will not be influenced much by the la n 
 speech. (Question, question.) I have always found thfi5 
 clergymen have been the worst dispensers of alms. I do 
 think that if they had a little more of the inquisitiveness 
 of the Poor-law gentlemen it Vould be a great deal better 
 for the poor at large. 
 
 Chairmax: Are we not getting beyond our subject? 
 "We all hold Mr. Liddell's conscientious opinions in great 
 respect. The more of that conscientiousness there is in a 
 clergyman, the more he will deserve the assistance of the 
 laity.
 
 83 
 
 Hon. and Rev. R. Liddell : I cannot hear all the observa- 
 tions made at the other end of the room owing to my infirmity 
 of deafness. I am afraid I have given some pain to the last 
 speaker by something I have said. If I did so I wish most 
 heartily to withdraw my words, and assure him that no- 
 thing was further from my intention than to thi-ow any 
 aspersion on the Guardians, who give up so much of their 
 time for the benefit of the poor. No one will, 1 suppose, 
 think that I wish to say one Avord against them. 
 
 Lieut. -Colonel Fletcher, of the St. George's Charity Lieut-Colone 
 Organisation Committee : I wish to offer a few remarks on ''-etcher. 
 the subject of the resolution. It seems to me very de- 
 sirable that the several distinct agencies should be under 
 the supervision of the respective clergy and of the ministers 
 of other denominations ; but that these should avail them- 
 selves to a greater extent than at present of lay agency, 
 and, above all, recognise the great principle that those 
 whose province it is to visit the poor should not of them- 
 selves give relief, but should submit to the direction of the 
 district committees. 
 
 I have had some opportunities, when serving on the 
 Committee in Mount-street, of seeing the working of some 
 of the district visitors, and can speak highly of their valu- 
 able services. Mjiny of them are in constant communica- 
 tion with the Committee, and both give and receive infor- 
 mation from them. With respect to what fell from the 
 Rev. R. Liddell in regard to the organisation in the L>istrict 
 of St. Paul's, I would venture to give an instance to prove 
 that the organisation of that district, although possibly 
 excellent in theory, is not (juite perfect in practice. The 
 case is that of a poor man wlio, having met with an acci- 
 dent, was thrown out of work. lie received assistance 
 from the St. Paul's Local Charity, and also parish relief. 
 The case was brought before the Mount-street Committee 
 by the St. Paul's District Charity, and, as they were averse 
 to becoming a third channel of relief, they wrote to the 
 Rev. R. Liddell, asking him to continue to assist the case, 
 whilst they (the Mount-street Committee) <h-ew the atten- 
 tion of the Guardians to the insufficiency of the relief 
 afforded from the parish. Pending this decision of the 
 Guardians, Mr. Liddell again wrote to the Committee 
 asking for help, and consequently, much against their will, 
 they voted a grant. Now I would venture to remark that 
 in this case the rich district of St. Paul's should have been
 
 able to undertake the case during the time the attention of 
 the Guardians was being called to it, and that the Mount- 
 street Committee should not have been asked to step in as 
 a third source of charity. I would add that, on the repre- 
 sentation of the Committee, the Guardians increased 
 slightly the out-door relief. I merely mention this case to 
 show that some more extended organisation is required to 
 enable the several charities of the parish to work together 
 with the best prospect of producing satisfactory results. 
 
 Chairman : Mr. Liddell is under a misapprehension in 
 thinking we are committed to interference with any exist- 
 ing organisation. The committee we propose to appoint is 
 a provisional committee, for the purpose of drawing up 
 rules to be recommended to the clergy and other charitable 
 agencies, and when those rules are drawn, it will be 
 entirely at their discretion to adopt them or not. If 
 Mr. Liddell prefers his own organisation, by all means let 
 him keep it. I will now put the resolution to the meeting. 
 (After a show of hands.) Carried unanimously. 
 
 Chairman : The gentlemen proposed for the Committee 
 
 are as follows : — 
 
 The Hou. and Rev. Robert Liddell, Vicar of St. Panl'.s, I{jiiglitsbridge. 
 Tlie Rev. G. H. Wilkinson, Vicar of St. Peter's, Eaton-square. 
 The Rev. J. H. Hamilton, Vicar of St. Michael's, Chester-square. 
 The Rev. G. C. White, Vicar of St. Barnabas, Pimlico. 
 The Rev. G. D. W. Dickson, Incumbent of St. James-the-Less, 
 
 Westminster. 
 The Rev. W. H. Turle, Vicar of St. Matthew's, Westminster. 
 The Rev. S. Martin, Minister of James-street Congregational Chapel, 
 
 Westminster. 
 The Rev. F. Shepherd, Curate of St. Stephen's, Rochester-row. 
 The Rev. W. Gill, Minister of Robert-street Congregational Chapel, 
 
 Grosvenor-square. 
 The Rev. Father Cardwell, Priest of St. Mary's Roman Catholic 
 
 Chapel, Horseferry-road, Westminster. 
 
 Sir Charles Trevelyan, K.C.B. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel A. Fremantle, \ 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel H. C. Fletcher, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Hon. W. E. Sackville West, 
 Lord Edward Cavendish, 
 J. Osborne, Esq., 
 E. M. Burden, Esq., 
 G. N. Hooper, Esq., 
 
 B. Granger, Esq., Almoner of the Society for the 
 Relief of Distress. / 
 
 In the absence of any objection I will assume that these 
 
 gentlemen are appointed to the Committee, with power to 
 
 add to their number. 
 
 The Rev. H TheEev. H. Howaeth, Rector of St. George's, Hanover- 
 
 HowAETH, square : I would now suggest that we should offer our best 
 
 Members of the 
 St. George's 
 ) Charity Or- 
 ' ganisation 
 Committee.
 
 35 
 
 thanks to our Chairman. He is almost a household word 
 whilst thinking of the best way of relieving the poor ; and 
 if the two great objects can be accomplished — the first, to 
 curb the giving of indiscriminate alms to the poor ; and 
 the second, to establish a proper house-to-house system of 
 district visiting— that result will be obtained which is so 
 greatly to be desired. 
 
 Rev. W. Gill : I should much like to have the honour 
 of seconding that vote of thanks. I am quite sure our 
 Chairman has acted with liberality and consistency on the 
 occasion, and deserves the thanks of all. 
 
 Chairman : Most heartily I return you my thanks for 
 the kindness and attention you have shown me during the 
 business of this meeting, and for the support which you 
 have accorded to me on the occasion. I will show my 
 sense of what is due from me by not detaining the meeting 
 any longer.
 
 36 
 
 The Resolutions as actually passed were as 
 follows : — 
 
 1. That, notwithstanding the exertions of the clergy and others in 
 this district, much of the charity that is administered has a pauperising 
 effect ; and many unworthy persons live in idleness, preying upon the 
 kind-hearted, while the really deserving poor, who do not beg, are in 
 danger of being overlooked. 
 
 2. That, in order to commence, with any hope of success, the great 
 work of elevating the character and improving the condition of this 
 pauperised and demoralised portion of the population, it is indispensable 
 that the laity of every religious persuasion should come to the aid of the 
 clergy and ministers of all denominations. 
 
 3. That a committee be appointed for the purpose of considering the 
 arrangements under which suitable relief may be given in every case of 
 need, consistently with the object of preventing casea of temporary 
 destitution from becoming cases of permanent pauperism, and of render- 
 ing the poor, as far as possible, self-supporting and self-respecting, in 
 general accordance with the suggestions which have been offered by the 
 Committee of the Charity Organisation Society for the District of St. 
 George, Hanover-square, and St. Margaret and St. John, "Westminster.
 
 37 
 
 EEPORT 
 
 COMMITTEE APPOINTED UNDER 
 THE ABOVE RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 Having, at meetings licld on tlio 18th and 25th March, 
 and the 15th April, 1871, fnlly discussed the subjects 
 referred to us in tlie above resolutions, we report as fol- 
 lows for the consideration of the Charitable Agencies 
 working within the Poor-law Union of St. George's, 
 Hanover-square, meaning, by the term " Charitable 
 Agencies," all centres from which relief is given in any 
 shape, whether such centres be Churches, Chapels, Com- 
 mittees, or Individuals. 
 
 No plan would be adequate to the fulfilment of the The plan must 
 objects of the resolutions which was not sufficiently elastic pHeabie to the 
 to accommodate itself to the requirements of all parts whole Union. 
 of the Union, however diflerent their circumstances 
 might be. 
 
 In this view, the only indispensable arrangement is that Parish Council 
 a Council should be constituted in each of the twenty-one 
 District Parishes of the St. George's Union* for the pur- 
 pose of enabling all the Charitable Agencies concerned 
 to meet and advise together. This miglit be called the 
 "Parochial Council of Charity," and it might consist of — 
 
 1st. The Clergy and Ministers of all denominations 
 who work over any portion of the parish ; 
 
 * The old parishes of St. George's, Hanover-square, and St 
 Margaret's and St. John's, Westminster, whicli constitute the St. 
 Georije's, llano ver-square, Poor-law Union and Cl'anty Organisa- 
 tion District, are now subdivided into twenty-one District ParisJies, 
 the aggregate population of which at the Census of IStil was 155,609 
 souls.
 
 38 
 
 2nd. The Managers of all Charitable Agencies 
 within the same area ; 
 
 3rd. District Visitors, Sisterhoods, City Missionaries, 
 and all persons engaged in helping the poor of 
 the parish ; and 
 
 4th. One or more representatives of the District 
 Charity Organisation Committee. 
 
 When the second and third classes are found too nume- 
 rous for the convenient discharge of business, arrange- 
 ments should be made for their being represented on 
 the Council by selected members. Each Council should 
 elect its own Chairman and Vice-chairman, and should 
 appoint an Honorary Secretary to conduct the corre- 
 spondence of the Council and to maintain an active per- 
 sonal intercourse between all who are working together 
 for the same end. 
 Which would In parishes where charitable organisations already exist 
 
 able services, the proposed Council would in no way interfere with their 
 whether chan- pj^n of operations, or with the distribution of their funds. 
 
 ly^existld'or' These organisations would be worked as they are now 
 not. worked, subject only to any modifications which their 
 
 members might consider desirable. 
 
 The Council would simply endeavour to strengthen 
 their hands by furnishing them with the means of inter- 
 communication, and by bringing to their aid the benefit 
 of an enlarged experience. 
 
 In parishes, on the other hand, where no efficient 
 charitable organisation has as yet been established, the 
 sphere of the operations of the Parish Council would be 
 much more extended. 
 Intercommuni- The primary object of the Parish Councils would, there- 
 cation between fore, be to furnish the means of intercommunication to the 
 
 charitable a- ' . , ^ 
 
 geucies the different charitable agencies, and to enable them all to 
 
 ject^^ ° maintain proper relations with the Guardians of the Poor, 
 for which purposes there should be a due apportionment 
 of the several classes of the poor, and a careful registra- 
 tion of the cases dealt with. 
 Completion of a Whatever may be necessary for the completion of a 
 thorough sys- thorough, and well-regulated, system of house-to-house 
 to-house visi- visitation of the districts inhabited by the poor should 
 tation. ]jjg ^jjg especial care of the Parish Councils. For this 
 
 purpose, the laity of all classes should be invited to offer
 
 39 
 
 their services as District Visitors ; the quarters of the 
 town inhabited by the poor should be divided into ma- 
 nageable sections ; and, except in very urgent cases, no 
 relief should be given without the previous sanction of 
 those under whom the District Visitors may be acting. 
 
 The Parish Councils would also enable persons of all Sanitary arrange- 
 classes who are interested in the improvement of the con- 
 dition of the poor, to consider together the best means 
 of making those sanitary arrangements which are an 
 indispensable condition of that improvement, thereby 
 bringing the whole force of the community to bear upon 
 the due execution of the Sanitarj' Acts, including the 
 reconstruction of dwellings unfit for human habitation, 
 and other works which are beyond the power of indi- 
 viduals. 
 
 The establishment of proper relations with the Guar- Relatinns with 
 dians of the Poor will require the particular attention of GuarUiaus 
 the Parish Councils. While the cases which belong to 
 the Poor Law should be left entirely to it, every endea- 
 vour should be made to obtain from the Guardians that 
 adequate relief which the law directs to be given. On 
 the other hand, charitable relief should be atibrded sufh- 
 ciently large to deal entirely with cases of temporary 
 distress, and generally with cases which are either pre- 
 ventible or reclaimable, so that the persons assisted may 
 be restored to a state of self-support and self-re^Dect, 
 and that there may be no excuse for soliciting alms from 
 several sources at once. 
 
 The St. George's Charity Organisation Committee ^ndvith the st 
 would be in constant communication with the Parochial G''i'>Kt^'s Cha- 
 
 _ . 1 T /i- 1 1 • 1 • • '"''y <^>isaiiica- 
 
 Councils, and would atiord them all the aid ni its power tioa Commit- 
 in investigating cases, and in bringing such matters as ^^' 
 may be desirable under the notice of the public autho- 
 rities, such as the School Board, Boards of Guardians, 
 Boards of Health, the Police, the Home Office, &c. The 
 Organisation Committee would also deal with such ciisea 
 as might be referred to them by the Parish Councils as 
 requiring more help than the local charitable agencies 
 could atiord — cases, for instance, in which loans are re- 
 quired, and, under exceptional circumstances, in which 
 grants for emigration or removal into the country are re- 
 commended. 
 
 While the plan we have recommended would not inter- Geneml results 
 fere with any existing agency for the benefit of the poor, obiiiucd. '° ^^
 
 40 
 
 it would strengthen them all, and would secure as much 
 uniformity as possible in the distribution of charitable 
 relief. In parishes which are already well administered 
 the new organisation would afford much friendly aid ; 
 while in those parts of the town where the poor are 
 densely crowded, without any agency having been pro- 
 vided sufficient to cope with so great an evil, new forces 
 would be brought to the rescue, representing, as we hope, 
 all that is most business-like, influential, and benevolent 
 in the laity of this district of the metropolis. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 C. E. TREVELYAN (Chairman). 
 
 ROBERT LIDDELL, Vicar of St. Paul's, Knightsbridge. 
 
 GEORGE HOWARD WILKINSON, Vicar of St. Peter's, 
 
 Eaton-square. 
 J. H. HAMILTON, Vicar of St. Michael's, Chester-square. 
 G. C. WHITE, Vicar of St. Barnabas, Pimlico, 
 • W. H. TURLE, Vicar of St. Matthew's, Westminster. 
 
 G. D. W. DICKSON, Incumbent of St. James-the-Less, West- 
 minster. 
 
 WILLIAM GILL, Minister, Congregational Chapel, Robert- 
 street, Grosvenor-squarei 
 
 WM. CARDWELL, Priest of St. Mary's, Horseferry-roadj 
 Westminster. 
 
 FREDERICK SHEPHERD, Curate of St. Stephen's, Ro- 
 
 chester-row. 
 EDWARD CAVENDISH. 
 H. C. FLETCHER. 
 ARTHUR FREMANTLE. 
 WILLAM E. SACKVILLE WEST. 
 J. OSBORNE. 
 
 GEORGE NORGATE HOOPER. 
 EDWD. M. BURDEN. 
 B. GRANGER. . » 
 
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