第37章 A STUPENDOUS UNDERTAKING.(1)

Such,then,is a brief and hurried survey of Darkest England,and those who have been in the depths of the enchanted forest in which wander the tribes of the despairing Lost will be the first to admit that I have in no way exaggerated its horrors,while most will assert that I have under-estimated the number of its denizens.I have,indeed,very scrupulously striven to keep my estimates of the extent of the evil within the lines of sobriety.Nothing in such an enterprise as that on which I am entering could worse befall me than to come under the reproach of sensationalism or exaggeration.Most of the evidence upon which I have relied is taken direct from the official statistics supplied by the Government Returns;and as to the rest,I can only say that if my figures are compared with those of any other writer upon this subject,it will be found that my estimates are the lowest.

I am not prepared to defend the exact accuracy of my calculations,excepting so far as they constitute the minimum.To those who believe that the numbers of the wretched are far in excess of my figures,I have nothing to say,excepting this,that if the evil is so much greater than I have described,then let your efforts be proportioned to your estimate,not to mine.The great point with each of us is,not how many of the wretched exist to-day,but how few shall there exist in the years that are to come.

The dark and dismal jungle of pauperism,vice,and despair is the inheritance to which we have succeeded from the generations and centuries past,during which wars,insurrections,and internal troubles left our forefathers small leisure to attend to the well-being of the sunken tenth.Now that we have happened upon more fortunate times,let us recognise that we are our brother's keepers,and set to work,regardless of party distinctions and religious differences,to make this world of ours a little bit more like home for those whom we call our brethren.

The problem,it must be admitted,is by no means a simple one;nor can anyone accuse me in the foregoing pages of having minimised the difficulties which heredity,habit,and surroundings place in the way of its solution,but unless we are prepared to fold our arms in selfish ease and say that nothing can be done,and thereby doom those lost millions to remediless perdition in this world,to say nothing of the next,the problem must be solved in some way.But in what way?

That is the question.It may tend,perhaps,to the crystallisation of opinion on this subject if I lay down,with such precision as I can command,what must be the essential elements of any scheme likely to command success.

SECTION I.--THE ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS.

The first essential that must be borne in mind as governing every Scheme that may be put forward is that it must change the man when it is his character and conduct which constitute the reasons for his failure in the battle of life.No change in circumstances,no revolution in social conditions,can possibly transform the nature of man.Some of the worst men and women in the world,whose names are chronicled by history with a shudder of horror,were those who had all the advantages that wealth,education and station could confer or ambition could attain.

The supreme test of any scheme for benefiting humanity lies in the answer to the question,What does it make of the individual?Does it quicken his conscience,does it soften his heart,does it enlighten his mind,does it,in short,make more of a true man of him,because only by such influences can he be enabled to lead a human life?Among the denizens of Darkest England there are many who have found their way thither by defects of character which would under the most favourable circumstances relegate them to the same position.Hence,unless you can change their character your labour will be lost.You may clothe the drunkard,fill his purse with gold,establish him in a well-furnished home,and in three,or six,or twelve months he will once more be on the Embankment,haunted by delirium tremens,dirty,squalid,and ragged.Hence,in all cases where a man's own character and defects constitute the reasons for his fall,that character must be changed and that conduct altered if any permanent beneficial results are to be attained.If he is a drunkard,he must be made sober;if idle,he must be made industrious;if criminal,he must be made honest;if impure,he must be made clean;and if he be so deep down in vice,and has been there so long that he has lost all heart,and hope,and power to help himself,and absolutely refuses to move,he must be inspired with hope and have created within him the ambition to rise;otherwise he will never get out of the horrible pit.

Secondly:The remedy,to be effectual,must change the circumstances of the individual when they are the cause of his wretched condition,and lie beyond his control.Among those who have arrived at their present evil plight through faults of self-indulgence or some defect in their moral character,how many are there who would have been very differently placed to-day had their surroundings been otherwise?

Charles Kingsley puts this very abruptly where he makes the Poacher's widow say,when addressing the Bad Squire,who drew back "Our daughters,with base--born babies,Have wandered away in their shame.

If your misses had slept,Squire,where they did,Your misses might do the same.'

Placed in the same or similar circumstances,how many of us would have turned out better than this poor,lapsed,sunken multitude?