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    XXXVII—A NIGHT IN WESTMINSTER.

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    When mention is made of Westminster, the...

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    T*

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    ( 265 )

    Xxxvii—A Night In Westminster.

    XXXVII—A NIGHT IN WESTMINSTER .

    When Mention Is Made Of Westminster, The...

    When mention is made of Westminster , the mind , as a natural consequence , reverts to her magnificent Minster , her Courts of Law , and

    Houses of Parliament . Coronations , royal marriages and burials , bishops , ecclesiastics , barons ; tapers , spurs , doves and rods , state

    trials , eloquence , intellect , cultivation , and refinement , mingle and march across that broad panorama which imagination and memory

    so readily depict . This rival city of London , ( so called as late as 1776 ) now no longer

    , the " terrible place , overrun with thorns , " of elder historians , has however its social as well as its public history , its secret tears and

    sorrows as well as its more prominent smiles and rejoicings . Lazarus still lies at the gate of Divesand the body of the uncomplaining

    , sufferer is yet covered with sores . The pen of many a ready writer has described the pageant of the purple and the fine linen , —how

    few have had the heart to imitate the compassionate dogs , and comfort the outcast men and women , who lie fainting and weary at our

    very feet . to The be admired history of and the to poor excite in Westmin the astonishment ster , needs of onl Christendom y to be known —¦

    , , tales of trials , of temptation resisted , of poverty borne not only - without complaining but positively with cheerfulness , of sickness ,

    of desertion , of destitution , could be told which might challenge the universe for parallel examples . Down in the dark alleys and

    dismal slums of Westminster , dwell men and women whose unceasing industry scarcely secures for them the bare necessaries of life ; reared

    in ignorance , not only of their duty towards God , but also of their duty to their fellow-men ; living in the closest vicinity of vice , and

    exposed to every description of temptation , the marvel to our mind is , not that missionaries and scripture readers have effected so little

    for the people , but that the people should so largely have availed themselves of these opportunities of self-improvement .

    One method in particular which has proved very efficacious in raising the women of Westminster , has been a meeting held once

    or twice a week in various localities , for the purpose of instructing them in habits of frugality and cleanliness . These societies , started

    generally by a few pious ladies , assisted occasionally by the clergy , though more frequently by their lay agents , are in most cases

    attached to some church or chapel in the vicinity ; they are conducted on distinct principles , governed by different rules , and held on various

    nights of the week . Some—that , for instance , held in Queen ' s Square Chapel , and conducted by an eminent dissenting

    body—include a sick fund , a burial club , and a clothing collection . The instruction there given in needlework is subservient to the clubs and

    vox . ii . u

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1858, page 265, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121858/page/49/