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280 NOTICES OF BOOKS.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
"I ¦* The Domestic Mission. 1. The B Mis...
out of lier proscribed sphere of action ) exercised over the stronger matureand the judgment with which that power was employed in
, organizing measures and in carrying those measures to a successful termination . The same self-reliant courage—self-reliant because
dependant upon God for its inspiration—which brought the apparent Utopian scheme of going to nurse wounded soldiers to a completion ,
Is exemplified in the work now before our notice- — -a work not less noble because less demonstrative and less attended with eclat than _,
the one which inspired our sisters in the Bast : —nay , nobler ; for while the one could but bring comfort and succor to individual
suffering , this touches society at large , and is destined not only to ameliorate the present generationbut Is calculated to benefit
, suceeding ages . Some great truths stand out upon the face of the movement :
first , that religious improvement must precede and accompany all our efforts towards social progress ; and nextthat to effect
, ihe amelioration of the degraded classes , the influence of the educated and the _reRned must be brought to bear upon them . No
Improvement was ever yet effected by an equality , and the more degraded the subject to be acted upon the higher must be the
corresponding influence . But facts are the best expositors ; and it will be well to let each
book speak for itself of the success of its several enterprises and thence glean some useful hints and deductions .
By priority of date we must first allude to The Missing Link , with its sequel Life Workboth now so well' known that any distinct
reference to them might , seem superfluous . Still , it is impossible to notice the movement without some allusion to the main-spring of
the system , which has given it life and motion . The City Mission had for years labored in the dens and alleys of this great metropolis ;
and consequent upon the revelations made by this Association were the establishment of ragged schoolsand the erection of reformatories ;
, still , the one element was wanting—the influence of the gentler sex brought to bear upon the rude and unpolished masses . There is
something very touching in the history of " Marian , " the first who supplied the link long missed and long desiredwhich was
even-, tually to rivet into what we trust will be an indissoluble chain , through which the electric current of reciprocal sympathy may pass
and repass connecting the rich with thex _^ oor , the happy and the refined with the outcast and the miserable . Willing as she might be , the
lady cannot gain admission to the homes of the greater part of our London poor ; but while the introduction is made through the
agency of one but little better in circumstances than the party _visited , the real advantage gained by the acquaintance is still
dependent on the lady . In the first instance the Bible-woman goes from door to door and endeavors to induce the inmates to
subscribe one penny per week towards the purchase of a copy of the
Holy Scriptures . She collects thepence by weekly visits j this brings
280 Notices Of Books.
280 NOTICES OF BOOKS .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1861, page 280, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121861/page/64/
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