DIVINE SERVICE is held at the Kensington Workhouse, for the inmates, on
Sundays, at 9.30 A.M. and 3 P.M. At present there are no other services;
but a new code is now being introduced which will effect a very desirable
change in this respect. At a recent meeting of the Guardians, the
“Visiting Committee” made the following report and recommendation to the
Board: “The Visiting Committee having in consideration the resolutions
passed by the Board on the 1st of February inst., and having also
considered the letter from the present Chaplain of the 14th inst., in
which he states his inability to devote a much larger portion of his time
than he has done for the last twenty five years, resolve that it is
desirable that the Chaplain of the Workhouse and Infirmary give his whole
time to the spiritual care of the inmates in the same way as the
clergyman of a parish, and that, considering the numbers of this house
and the work to be done, the least salary should be 150_l._ per annum.”
This resolution is adopted by the Board, and will henceforth be acted
upon—an urgently necessary improvement, although it may come to involve a
further change in the chaplaincy. The Rev. Dr. Frost, formerly of the
Kensington Grammar School, has held the appointment for a quarter of a
century. When he first began he had the spiritual care of less than 150
inmates. The number gradually rose until two years ago they amounted to
800. At the present time, March, 1872, the house contains 760. It will
be seen, therefore, that the religious requirements of this large number
are quite beyond the provision made under the old system; and the
Guardians have acted under a strong sense of duty in bringing about a
thorough reformation. It was not until two years ago, when the inmates
were 800, that any increase of salary was asked for on behalf of the
Chaplain. Previous to that it stood at 50_l._ per annum; since then it
has reached 65_l._ Double this sum will enable a chaplain to give a
principal part of his working time to the objects of his calling in the
house, and to bring a more decisive moral influence to bear upon the
inmates. The paucity of religious service in this workhouse up to this
time can be looked upon in no other light than a calamity; and may serve
in some measure to explain the fact that there are so many refractory and
misbehaved paupers taken hence to the magistrate at Hammersmith for
correction. We cannot but think there might have been, there ought to
have been, at least one week-night service instituted long ago; and if
the Guardians were not in a position to pay for this, among the numerous
clergy in Kensington some one might have been found who would
occasionally have taken duty gratuitously. But we fear that up to the
present time it has occurred to few to reflect that the _souls_ of
inmates required a fair amount of attention as well as their bodies.