┌──────────────┬────────┬──────────────────────────────────┬_Report to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State For the Home Department, from the Poor Law Commissioners, on an Inquiry Into the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain; With Appendices

│ CLASSES. │ │ │Proportion│

│ │ Total │ │of Deaths │

│ │ No. of │ │ from 20 │

│ │ Deaths │ │ Years to │

│ │between │ Proportion of Deaths which │ 60 to │

│ │ 20 and │ occurred at the under-mentioned │ Total │

│ │ 60. │ periods of Age. │ Deaths. │

├──────────────┼────────┼───────┬───────┬────────┬─────────┼──────────┤

│ │ │Between│Between│Between │ Between │ │

│ │ │ 20–30 │ 30–40 │ 40–50 │ 50–60 │ │

├──────────────┼────────┼───────┼───────┼────────┼─────────┼──────────┤

│ _Gentry and │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Professional │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Persons and │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ their │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Families._ │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│Manchester │ 13│1 in 18│1 in 14│1 in 18 │ 1 in 18 │ 1 in 4 │

│Leeds │ 28│1 in 11│1 in 10│1 in 16 │ 1 in 10 │ 1 in 3 │

│Liverpool │ 34│1 in 46│1 in 15│1 in 23 │ 1 in 9 │ 1 in 4 │

│Bath │ 29│1 in 29│1 in 24│1 in 24 │ 1 in 12 │ 1 in 5 │

│Bethnal Green │ 21│1 in 25│1 in 17│1 in 25 │ 1 in 14 │ 1 in 5 │

│Strand Union │ 37│1 in 9│1 in 9│1 in 10 │ 1 in 11 │ 1 in 2¼ │

│Kendal Union │ 18│1 in 13│1 in 13│1 in 7 │ 1 in 17 │ 1 in 3 │

│County of │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Wilts │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ (Unions of) │ 32│1 in 15│1 in 15│1 in 17 │ 1 in 13 │ 1 in 4 │

│County of │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Rutland │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ (Unions of) │ 7│1 in 14│1 in 14│1 in 14 │ 1 in 28 │ 1 in 4 │

│ Total │ 219│1 in 17│1 in 14│1 in 16 │ 1 in 12 │ 1 in 4 │

│ _Tradesmen, │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│Farmers, &c._ │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│Manchester │ 220│1 in 14│1 in 11│1 in 13 │ 1 in 18 │ 1 in 3¼ │

│Leeds │ 238│1 in 12│1 in 14│1 in 14 │ 1 in 19 │ 1 in 3½ │

│Liverpool │ 481│1 in 22│1 in 13│1 in 14 │ 1 in 13 │ 1 in 3½ │

│Bath │ 109│1 in 11│1 in 7│1 in 9 │ 1 in 9 │ 1 in 2¼ │

│Bethnal Green │ 92│1 in 15│1 in 11│1 in 12 │ 1 in 11 │ 1 in 3 │

│Strand Union │ 71│1 in 16│1 in 22│1 in 10 │ 1 in 9 │ 1 in 3 │

│Kendal Union │ 43│1 in 8│1 in 14│1 in 17 │ 1 in 17 │ 1 in 3 │

│County of │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Wilts │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ (Unions of) │ 65│1 in 22│1 in 14│1 in 10 │ 1 in 12 │ 1 in 3½ │

│County of │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Rutland │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ (Unions of) │ 108│1 in 15│1 in 16│1 in 19 │ 1 in 19 │ 1 in 4 │

│ Total │ 1,427│1 in 15│1 in 12│1 in 13 │ 1 in 14 │ 1 in 3½ │

│_Agricultural │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Labourers, │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Operatives, │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│Servants, &c._│ │ │ │ │ │ │

│Manchester │ 1,149│1 in 16│1 in 14│1 in 18 │ 1 in 17 │ 1 in 4 │

│Leeds │ 773│1 in 14│1 in 16│1 in 20 │ 1 in 22 │ 1 in 4½ │

│Liverpool │ 1,205│1 in 17│1 in 18│1 in 17 │ 1 in 24 │ 1 in 4¼ │

│Bath │ 258│1 in 12│1 in 14│1 in 13 │ 1 in 17 │ 1 in 3 │

│Bethnal Green │ 228│1 in 18│1 in 23│1 in 21 │ 1 in 31 │ 1 in 5½ │

│Strand Union │ 212│1 in 13│1 in 12│1 in 13 │ 1 in 13 │ 1 in 3 │

│Kendal Union │ 113│1 in 13│1 in 14│1 in 18 │ 1 in 14 │ 1 in 3¾ │

│County of │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Wilts │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ (Unions of) │ 492│1 in 13│1 in 18│1 in 18 │ 1 in 19 │ 1 in 4 │

│County of │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Rutland │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ (Unions of) │ 157│1 in 12│1 in 18│1 in 18 │ 1 in 27 │ 1 in 4 │

│ Total │ 4,587│1 in 15│1 in 17│1 in 18 │ 1 in 20 │ 1 in 4 │

└──────────────┴────────┴───────┴───────┴────────┴─────────┴──────────┘

┌──────────────┬────────┬──────────────────────────────────┬──────────┐

│ CLASSES. │ Total │ │ │

│ │ No. of │ │ │

│ │ Deaths │ │Proportion│

│ │ which │ │of Deaths │

│ │occurred│ Proportion of Deaths which │ above 60 │

│ │ above │ occurred at the under-mentioned │ to Total │

│ │ 60. │ periods of Age. │ Deaths. │

│ │ │Between│Between│Between │ 90 and │ │

│ │ │ 60–70 │ 70–80 │ 80–90 │ upwards │ │

│ _Gentry and │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Professional │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Persons and │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ their │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Families._ │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│Manchester │ 20│1 in 6│1 in 8│1 in 14│ │ 1 in 2¾ │

│Leeds │ 31│1 in 7│1 in 7│1 in 13│1 in 79│ 1 in 2½ │

│Liverpool │ 42│1 in 7│1 in 7│1 in 34│ │ 1 in 3¼ │

│Bath │ 85│1 in 5│1 in 6│1 in 5│1 in 146│ 1 in 1¾ │

│Bethnal Green │ 47│1 in 6│1 in 5│1 in 9│1 in 101│ 1 in 2 │

│Strand Union │ 28│1 in 7│1 in 9│1 in 22│1 in 86│ 1 in 3 │

│Kendal Union │ 19│1 in 17│1 in 7│1 in 6│1 in 52│ 1 in 2¾ │

│County of │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Wilts │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ (Unions of) │ 62│1 in 5│1 in 4│1 in 12│1 in 119│ 1 in 2¼ │

│County of │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Rutland │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ (Unions of) │ 17│1 in 9│1 in 4│1 in 6│1 in 28│ 1 in 1¾ │

│ Total │ 351│1 in 6│1 in 6│1 in 10│1 in 115│ 1 in 2¼ │

│ _Farmers and │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│Tradesmen, and│ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Families._ │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│Manchester │ 61│1 in 21│1 in 38│1 in 145│1 in 242│ 1 in 12 │

│Leeds │ 161│1 in 13│1 in 12│1 in 34│1 in 824│ 1 in 5 │

│Liverpool │ 224│1 in 16│1 in 22│1 in 51│1 in 869│ 1 in 8 │

│Bath │ 57│1 in 9│1 in 12│1 in 40│1 in 122│ 1 in 4¼ │

│Bethnal Green │ 44│1 in 13│1 in 15│1 in 93│1 in 278│ 1 in 6¼ │

│Strand Union │ 51│1 in 9│1 in 13│1 in 22│ │ 1 in 4¼ │

│Kendal Union │ 48│1 in 6│1 in 10│1 in 13│ │ 1 in 3 │

│County of │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Wilts │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ (Unions of) │ 99│1 in 7│1 in 6│1 in 10│1 in 31│ 1 in 2¼ │

│County of │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Rutland │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ (Unions of) │ 168│1 in 8│1 in 7│1 in 9│1 in 90│ 1 in 2¾ │

│ Total │ 913│1 in 12│1 in 14│1 in 29│1 in 122│ 1 in 5 │

│_Agricultural │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Labourers, │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Operatives, │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│Servants, &c._│ │ │ │ │ │ │

│Manchester │ 374│1 in 20│1 in 43│1 in 149│1 in 772│ 1 in 12⅓ │

│Leeds │ 377│1 in 20│1 in 23│1 in 62│1 in 485│ 1 in 9 │

│Liverpool │ 385│1 in 27│1 in 47│1 in 102│1 in 1865│ 1 in 15 │

│Bath │ 130│1 in 16│1 in 19│1 in 45│1 in 149│ 1 in 6¾ │

│Bethnal Green │ 122│1 in 21│1 in 28│1 in 97│1 in 419│ 1 in 10¼ │

│Strand Union │ 95│1 in 12│1 in 23│1 in 84│1 in 225│ 1 in 7 │

│Kendal Union │ 114│1 in 11│1 in 9│1 in 15│1 in 207│ 1 in 3¾ │

│County of │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Wilts │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ (Unions of) │ 615│1 in 11│1 in 9│1 in 11│1 in 108│ 1 in 3½ │

│County of │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ Rutland │ │ │ │ │ │ │

│ (Unions of) │ 227│1 in 10│1 in 8│1 in 10│1 in 75│ 1 in 3 │

│ Total │ 2,439│1 in 18│1 in 23│1 in 43│1 in 338│ 1 in 8 │

On comparing the proportion of deaths amongst all classes between one

district and another, as well as between class and class, the general

influence of the locality becomes strikingly apparent. The difference of

mortality between one large district of the metropolis and another is

shown in the following tabular view, made up by Mr. Alexander Finlaison,

from the superintendent-registrar’s weekly returns of the mortality

prevalent in the chief registration districts of the metropolis during

the different seasons of the year. But the extremes of difference are

more strikingly exhibited in smaller districts:—

Table of the Comparative Mortality of the Five following Divisions of

the Metropolis:—

┌────────┬──────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┐

│Seasons.│Weeks.│ West │ North │ Central │ East │ South │

│ │ │District.│District.│District.│District.│District.│

│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │

├────────┼──────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤

│Winter │ 13 │ 2,127│ 2,588│ 3,064│ 3,227│ 3,542│

│Spring │ 13 │ 1,611│ 2,066│ 2,264│ 2,264│ 2,682│

│Summer │ 13 │ 1,486│ 1,817│ 2,064│ 2,220│ 2,458│

│Autumn │ 13 │ 1,518│ 1,959│ 2,144│ 2,476│ 2,655│

│ Totals │ 52 │ 6,742│ 8,430│ 9,536│ 10,187│ 11,337│

├────────┴──────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤

│Population │ 300,705│ 365,660│ 373,806│ 392,496│ 438,060│

│ enumerated, │ │ │ │ │ │

│ 1841. │ │ │ │ │ │

├───────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤

│Deaths out of │ 224│ 231│ 255│ 260│ 259│

│ 10,000 │ │ │ │ │ │

│ inhabitants │ │ │ │ │ │

│No. of │ 44·60│ 43·38│ 39·20│ 38·53│ 38·64│

│ Inhabitants │ │ │ │ │ │

│ out of which │ │ │ │ │ │

│ 1 death │ │ │ │ │ │

│ happened │ │ │ │ │ │

└───────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┘

┌────────┬──────┬───────────┬────────┐

│Seasons.│Weeks.│ Whole │ Deaths │

│ │ │Metropolis.│ in the │

│ │ │ │ Four │

│ │ │ │Seasons │

│ │ │ │ out of │

│ │ │ │ 10,000 │

│ │ │ │Persons.│

├────────┼──────┼───────────┼────────┤

│Winter │ 13 │ 14,548│ 78│

│Spring │ 13 │ 10,887│ 58│

│Summer │ 13 │ 10,045│ 54│

│Autumn │ 13 │ 10,752│ 57│

├────────┼──────┼───────────┼────────┤

│ Totals │ 52 │ 46,232│ 247│

├────────┴──────┼───────────┼────────┤

│Population │ 1,870,727│ │

│ enumerated, │ │ │

│ 1841. │ │ │

├───────────────┼───────────┼────────┤

│Deaths out of │ 247│ │

│ 10,000 │ │ │

│ inhabitants │ │ │

│No. of │ 40,464│ │

│ Inhabitants │ │ │

│ out of which │ │ │

│ 1 death │ │ │

│ happened │ │ │

└───────────────┴───────────┴────────┘

The West District comprises Kensington, St. George, Hanover Square,

Westminster, St.

Martin-in-the-Fields, St. James.

The North District comprises St. Marylebone, St. Pancras, Islington

and Hackney.

The Central District comprises St. Giles and St. George, Strand,

Holborn, Clerkenwell, St. Luke, East

London, West Loudon, City of London.

The East District comprises Shoreditch, Bethnal Green, Whitechapel,

St. George-in-the-East, Stepney,

Poplar.

The South District comprises St. Saviour’s, St. Olave, Bermondsey,

St. George, Southwark, Newington,

Lambeth, Camberwell, Rotherhithe,

Greenwich.

The female is most in the house; she is the most regular and temperate

in her habits; the male is subject to the influence of his place of

occupation—the operative to his workshop, the clerk to the

counting-house, and the merchant to crowded places of business. In the

following returns made up by _Mr. Farr_, and in others that will

hereafter be cited, the mortality prevalent amongst the females is given

separately, as probably indicating most correctly the operation of the

noxious influences connected with the place of residence:—

Mean Annual Mortality of Females in the following Metropolitan districts

in the two Years and a half ending 31st December, 1839:—

Districts. Annual Deaths.

1 in

Hackney 57·87

St. George, Hanover Square 57·05

Camberwell 55·34

Islington 50·03

Rotherhithe 38·58

Clerkenwell 38·54

St. Luke 38·49

Greenwich 38·42

St. George, Southwark 33·77

East and West London 33·50

St. Giles and St. George 33·46

Whitechapel 28·15

Yet it is to be observed that the best and the worst districts present

striking instances of extremes of condition in the residences and the

inhabitants. In the Bethnal Green and the Whitechapel unions, in which

are found some of the worst conditioned masses of population in the

metropolis, we also find good mansions, well drained and protected,

inhabited by persons in the most favourable circumstances. Immediately

behind rows of the best-constructed houses in the fashionable districts

of London are some of the worst dwellings, into which the working

classes are crowded; and these dwellings, by the noxious influences

described, are the foci of disease. These returns are all from large

parishes, containing the mean results from all classes. If it had been

practicable to give correctly the average rate of mortality prevalent in

different classes of streets, the variation of results, it is to be

presumed, from the variations of circumstances, would have been much

greater. Since the character of the residences of many of the labouring

classes, and the condition of their places of work and their habits are

known, it is to be considered that where the occupations are duly

registered, returns, on the principle of those we have first given of

the average age of death amongst particular classes will afford the most

close approximation to accuracy, or the best indications of the extent

of the operation of the noxious circumstances under which each of those

classes is placed.[19]

A LINEAR REPRESENTATION

_of the number of Deaths in the Metropolis, from Epidemic, Endemic and

Contagious disease; Diseases of the Brain, Nerves & Senses; diseases of

Respiratory Organs and diseases of the Heart & Blood Vessels: also the

number of Deaths from Small Pox, Scarlet Fever, Measles; Typhus Fever,

Hooping Cough, and, all other Epidemic diseases, during each Four Weeks

of the Two Years, ended the 1st January, 1842._

(_Population of 1841.—1,870,727._)

[Illustration:

_Sanitary Report P.L.C._

]

The annexed linear view of the numbers of deaths from the chief diseases

during every month of two years in the metropolis will be of interest as

showing the influence of the seasons, and especially of the winter, when

there is the most cold, wet, and crowding.

In Scotland we have not the advantage of systematized registries of

mortality or of the causes of mortality, and we are therefore unable to

make the same comparisons as in England; yet so far as the records of

the dispensaries serve, they are confirmatory of the returns with

respect to the different rates of mortality in differently conditioned

districts in England. Thus, in a report from Leith, it is stated that—

“Contagious febrile diseases of all kinds are met with in Leith,

particularly typhus, which in certain seasons is prevalent to a great

extent. The parts of the town in which it seems to prevail chiefly (so

far as can be deduced from the records of the Leith Dispensary for the

last five years) are the central and most crowded districts in which

the number of cases amongst the poor during the last five years have

been in the proportion of 1 to 6 of the whole population, while in

other districts not so central in situation, but inhabited by persons

of nearly the same class, the proportion has been not above 1 to 13

within these districts. One locality containing a population of 1579,

has produced 433 cases of contagious fevers in general (of which 306

were of typhus) in dispensary practice, within five years, being in

the ratio of 1 to 3⅖ of fevers in general, and 1 to 5⅙ of typhus to

the gross population; of these 433 cases, 130 of all fevers, and 96 of

typhus, occurred in the two narrow streets (St. Andrew’s-street and

Giles’s-street) which bound the district to the north and south, the

remainder in the narrow lanes and closes communicating with them.

These may be regarded as the most unhealthy parts of the town.”

An impression is often prevalent that a heavy mortality is an

unavoidable condition of all large towns, and of a town population in

general. It has, however, been shown that, groups of cottages on a high

hill, exposed to the most, salubrious breezes when cleanliness is

neglected, are often the nests of fever and disease, as intense as the

most crowded districts. The mortuary returns of particular districts (in

the essentials of drainage, cleansing, and ventilation, to which it is

practicable to make other districts approximate, and that too with

reductions of existing charges), prove that a high degree of mortality

does not invariably belong to the population of all towns, and probably

not necessarily to any, even where the population is engaged in

manufactures. The proportion of deaths appears in some of the suburbs of

the metropolis (as at Hackney), and of Manchester and Leeds, to be lower

than amongst the highest classes in two of the agricultural counties.

It appears from the report of Dr. d’Espine, one of the members of the

Council of Health of Geneva, who has examined the records of the

mortality prevalent amongst the population _extra muros_, as well as

that in the city (which will hereafter be submitted to special notice),

that the deaths were in the rural districts 1 in 39·3; whilst in the

city they were 1 in 44·7 of the whole of the population in the year

1838. In the poorest and worst conditioned of the rural districts the

proportions of the deaths were the greatest. In the year 1837 the deaths

were in the poorest of the rural districts 1 in 38·6; in the

intermediate district, 1 in 40·8; in the richest district, 1 in 53·2.

In comparison with the very high state of the chances of life in the

county of Wilts, the city of Bath presents an example confirmatory of

this view. The _Rev. Whitwell Elwin_ has supplied the following return

of the chances of life amongst the different classes in that city. Out

of 616 cases of death in 1840, the results were as follow:—

No. of Average

Deaths. Age of

Deceased.

146 Gentlemen, professional persons, and their families 55 years.

244 Tradesmen and their families 37

896 Mechanics, labourers, and their families 25

The very high average chances of life amongst the middle classes, which

is nearly the same as that of the farmers, &c. of the agricultural

districts, is the fact adduced as most strongly proving the salubrity of

the place.

“In making these returns,” says Mr. Elwin, “I have thrown out all

visitors and occasional residents, and my knowledge of the locality,

with the assistance of the clerk of the union, has enabled me to

attain complete accuracy with respect to the gentry, and a close

approximation to it in the remaining cases. The difference in the ages

of these several classes presents to my mind a tolerably exact scale

of the difference of their abodes. The large houses, the broad

streets, looking almost invariably on one side or other upon parks or

gardens or open country, the spacious squares, the crescents built

upon the brows of the hills without a single obstruction to the pure

air of heaven, give the gentry of Bath that superiority over other

grades and other cities which their longevity indicates. And herein,

it appears to me, consists the value of the return. It shows that the

congregation of men is not of necessity unhealthy; nay, that towns,

possessing as they do superior medical skill and readier access to

advice, may, under favourable circumstances, have an advantage over

the country. The situation of the tradesmen of Bath, inferior as it is

to that of the gentry, is better than that of their own station in

other places. The streets they chiefly inhabit, though with many

exceptions, are wide, and swept by free currents of air, with houses

large and well ventilated. The condition of the poor is worse than

would be anticipated from the other portions of the town. They are

chiefly located in low districts at the bottom of the valley, and

narrow alleys and confined courts are very numerous. Yet even here we

have an unquestionable advantage over most large towns. It was only

yesterday that I was expressing my horror to a medical gentleman at

some portions of the habitations of the poor, when he replied, that it

excited little attention, because they were so much better than what

was to be seen in other parts of the kingdom.

“Whatever influence occupation and other circumstances may have upon

mortality, no one can inspect the registers without being struck by

the deteriorated value of life in inferior localities, even where the

inhabitants were the same in condition with those who lived longer in

better situations. The average age of death among the gentlemen was as

high as 60, till I came, at the conclusion, to a small but damp

district, in which numerous cases of fever brought down the average to

54. So again with the shopkeepers, the average was reduced two by the

returns from streets which, though inhabited by respectable men, were

narrow in front and shut in at the back. The average among the

labourers was greatly diminished by the returns from some notorious

courts, and raised again in a still higher proportion by districts

which appertained rather to the country than the town. Of three cases

of centenarians, one of whom had attained the vast age of 106, two

belonged to this favoured situation. Not but that great ages were to

be found in the worst parts as in the best, or that particular streets

did not in a measure run counter to the rule. Still, wherever I

brought into opposition districts of considerable extent, I found the

law more or less to obtain. Bath is a favourable town to institute the

comparison, from presenting such marked contrasts in its houses, and

the inquiry being little complicated by the presence of noxious

trades, which in some towns would necessarily disturb every

calculation of the kind. Even here a colony of shoemakers would bring

down the average of its healthiest spot to the age of childhood. My

attention was called to this circumstance by the clerk incidentally

remarking that more shoemakers were married at his office, and were

uniformly more dirty and ill-dressed, than any other class of persons.

The proneness to marriage or concubinage in proportion to the

degradation of the parties is notorious, and I anticipated from the

fact an abundant offspring, afterwards to be carried off by premature

disease. Accordingly I went with this view through several of the

registers, and the result was, that while the average of death amongst

the families of labourers and artisans in general was 24 and 25, that

of shoemakers was only 14. Had the shoemakers been excluded from the

former average, as for the purpose of this comparison they should have

been, the disproportion would be some years greater.

“The deaths from fever and contagious diseases I found to be almost

exclusively confined to the worst parts of the town. An epidemic

small-pox raged at the end of the year 1837, and carried off upwards

of 300 persons; yet of all this number I do not think there was a

single gentleman, and not above two or three tradesmen. The residences

of the labouring classes were pretty equally visited, disease showing

here and there a predilection for particular spots, and settling with

full virulence in Avon-street and its offsets. I went through the

registers from the commencement, and observed that, whatever

contagious or epidemic diseases prevailed,—fever, small-pox,

influenza,—this was the scene of its principal ravages; and it is the

very place of which every person acquainted with Bath would have

predicted this result. Everything vile and offensive is congregated

there. All the scum of Bath—its low prostitutes, its thieves, its

beggars—are piled up in the dens rather than houses of which the

street consists. Its population is the most disproportioned to the

accommodation of any I have ever heard; and to aggravate the mischief,

the refuse is commonly thrown under the staircase; and water more

scarce than in any quarter of the town. It would hardly be an

hyperbole to say that there is less water consumed than beer; and

altogether it would be more difficult to exaggerate the description of

this dreadful spot than to convey an adequate notion to those who have

never seen it. A prominent feature in the midst of this mass of

physical and moral evils is the extraordinary number of illegitimate

children; the offspring of persons who in all respects live together

as man and wife. Without the slightest objection to the legal

obligation, the moral degradation is such that marriage is accounted a

superfluous ceremony, not worth the payment of the necessary fees; and

on one occasion, when it was given out that these would be dispensed

with, upwards of 50 persons from Avon-street, who had lived together

for years, voluntarily came forward to enter into a union. And thus it

invariably happens in crowded haunts of sin and filth, where principle

is obliterated, and where public opinion, which so often operates in

the place of principle, is never heard; where, to say truth, virtue is

treated with the scorn which in better society is accorded to vice. I

have been rendered familiar with these places by holding a curacy in

the midst of them for upwards of a year, and my duty as chaplain to

the union, in visiting the friends of paupers or discharged paupers

themselves, keep up the knowledge I then contracted.

“I think these facts supply us with important conclusions. Whether we

compare one part of Bath with another or Bath with other towns, we

find health rising in proportion to the improvement of the residences;

we find morality, in at least a great measure, following the same law,

and both these inestimable blessings within the reach of the

legislature to secure. When viewed in this light, these

investigations, so often distressing and disgusting, acquire dignity

and importance.”

The suffering and expense of life prevalent in differently situated

districts observed in this country, are consistent with the experience

of the continent.

Report to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State For the Home Department, from the Poor Law Commissioners, on an Inquiry Into the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain; With Appendices · 第 24 / 65 段