teapot is observed here. A great gas-boiler stands on one side the
refectory, and a row of convenient lockers on the other; and each inmate
has tea and coffee from the stores, while bread and butter are also
served out for consumption according to each individual fancy, and not
in rations at each meal time. Thus those old ladies and gentlemen who
have spending money, or friends to bring them some of the little
luxuries that they so keenly appreciate, can add a relish to their
breakfast or to the evening beer.
We will not go in while they are at dinner, for there are those here yet
who "might have been gentlefolk" but for the mutability of mortal
affairs. Stay! here come the old ladies, with old-fashioned curtseys,
which are more than half a bow, and not a mere vulgar "bob." There is no
mistaking some of their faces. You may see their like in French
pictures, or in old French towns still. Some of them with eyes from
which the fire had not yet died out; with deftly-moving fingers; with a
quick, springy step; with an inherited remnant of the French _moue_ and
shrug, as they answer a gentle jest about their age and comeliness.
"Eighty-four; and I don't know how it is, but I don't seem to see so
well in the dark as I used. When I went out to see my brother-in-law, I
was quite glad he came part of the way home with me."
"Turned eighty, but I can't get upstairs as I used to do."
"You speak French, madame?"
"Pas beaucoup, monsieur;" this from one of the only two actual French
women now in the establishment, the rest being lineal descendants only.
The oldest, who is now going quietly and with a very pretty dignity out
of the refectory, is ninety-four, and can not only hear a low-toned
inquiry, but answers it in a soft, pleasant voice. She bears the weight
of years bravely, but the burden has perhaps been heavy; and she speaks
in a mournful tone, as one looking forward to a mansion among the
many--to a house not made with hands, may sometimes speak when even the
grasshopper becomes a burden.
As to a young person of sixty-five or thereabout, nobody regards her as
having any real business to mention such a trifling experience of life;
while of the men--most of whom seemed to have filed off for their pipe
or newspaper--one remains finishing his dinner, for he has been on duty
for the day, and is now winding up with a snack of bread-and-butter and
the remainder of his mug of porter--a stoutly-built, hale,
stalwart-looking gentleman who, sitting there without his coat, which
hangs on the back of a chair, might pass for a retired master mariner,
or a representative of some position requiring no little energy and
endurance. I fancy, for the moment that he must be an official appointed
to serve or carve and employed on the establishment.
"Eighty-four," and one of the old weaving colony of Bethnal Green.
There can be no mistake about it. Every inmate provides certificates and
registers enough to make the claim undoubted; and as to the right by
descent, half the people here carry it in their faces, and to the
initiated, are as surely French, as they are undoubtedly weavers.
The morning here begins with family prayers, which the steward reads
from a desk in the refectory, and so the day closes also. The Sunday
services are in the chapel, and such a chapel! To those who remember the
dim, barely-furnished room in the old building at St. Luke's, this gem
of architectural taste and simple beauty at the end of the main corridor
comes with no little surprise. Its beautiful carved stone corbels,
mosaic floor, and charming ornamentation; its broad gallery entered
immediately from the upper floor, so that the feeble and infirm may go
to worship directly from their sleeping-rooms; its glow of subdued
colour and sobered light from windows of stained glass; its simple
decorations, and its spotless purity, are no less remarkable than the
plainness which characterises the general effect. It is to be noticed,
too, that there is no "altar," but "a table;" that neither at the back
of the communion nor on the carving of the lectern, nor even in the
windows, is there to be seen a cross. Where the Maltese cross would
occur amidst the arabesques of the stained glass, we see the
fleur-de-lis. French Protestantism, has perhaps, not yet lost its
intense significance, at all events here, in this chapel where the
service of the Church of England is observed, and an ordained clergyman
ministers to the family of the children's children of the ancient
persecuted people of Languedoc, the symbol under which the Protestants
were burned and tortured and exiled has no place. This is probably in
accordance with the traditions left by De Ruvigny, by Gastigny, by
Menard, and by their successors, whose portraits still hang in the fine
board-room of the new "Providence."
Of course, no contributions or subscriptions are now asked for to
support this old French charity. With it are associated one or two gifts
of money, such as that of Stephen Mounier for apprenticing two boys; and
the bequest of Madame Esther Coqueau for giving ten shillings monthly to
ten poor widows or maidens; but the directors do not seek for external
aid. To the charity when it was first chartered was added a portion of
the accumulations of the benefactions of the French Church at Norwich,
and it may here be mentioned that at Norwich, where a contingent of the
army of refugees had settled, the Society of Universal Goodwill was also
established by Dr. John Murray, a good physician, who strove to extend
to a large organisation a plan for relieving distressed foreigners. This
was but ninety years ago, and it was less successful than its promoter
desired, so that part of the funds accumulated were judiciously handed
to another admirable society in London, of which I shall have something
to say, "The Society of the Friends of Foreigners in Distress."
_WITH THE STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND._
Do we ever try to realise the full meaning of the declaration that they
who are afar off shall be made near by the blood of Christ? Surely it
does not stop at the nearness to God by redemption, for the only true
redemption is Christ-likeness, and nearness to God assumes nearness to
each other in the exercise of that loving-kindness which is the very
mark and evidence of our calling.
It would be well if we sometimes ceased to separate by our vague
imaginations "the next world," or "the other world," from the present
world, which is, perhaps in a very real sense, if we could only read the
words spiritually, "the world to come" also;--as it is obvious that the
world means the people around us--ourselves, those who are near and
those who seem to be afar off; and no world to come that could dispense
with our identity would be of any particular significance to us as human
beings.
Let us then, for the present purpose, try to see how effectually
Christ-likeness should bring near to us those who are afar off, by
taking us near to them; how He who came not to destroy but to fulfil,
looks to us to entertain strangers; and to "be careful" in the
performance of that duty, as to Him who will say either, "I was a
stranger, and ye took me in," or the reverse.
At the beginning of the present century, with the exception of the
French Protestant organisation, there existed in London no established
association for the relief of destitute foreigners who, having sought a
refuge here, or being, as it were, thrown upon our shores, were left in
distress, hunger, or sickness,--unheeded, only obtaining such temporary
casual relief as a few charitable persons might afford, if by any chance
their necessities were made known to them. At that time the foreign
Protestant clergy, to whom alone many of these destitute men and women
could apply for relief, were themselves mostly the poor pastors of
congregations consisting either of refugees or of artisans and persons
earning their livelihood by precarious labour connected with the lighter
ornamental manufactures. The means at their disposal for charitable
purposes outside their own churches were consequently very small, and
they were unable to render any really effectual assistance, even if they
could have undertaken, what would at that time have been the difficult
task of verifying the needs for which relief was claimed.
Some attempt had already been made by Dr. John Murray, a good physician
of Norwich, to extend to London the benefits of his "Society of
Universal Goodwill;" but the scheme had been only partially successful.
To him, however, the credit is due of having striven to give definite
shape to an association which was afterwards to take up the good work of
caring for strangers. The foreign Protestant clergy settled in London
met to consider how they might best organise a regular plan for
relieving the wants of those who had so often to apply to them in vain;
and having settled the preliminaries, which were heartily approved by
several foreign merchants, and others, who were willing to assist in any
scheme that would include inquiry into the circumstances of those who
sought assistance, called a public meeting in order to found a regular
institution. This was on the 3rd of July, 1806, and the result of the
appeal was the formation of the society of "The Friends of Foreigners in
Distress." By the following April, a committee had been formed and the
Charity was in working order, nor were funds long wanting with which to
commence the work in earnest. The cases requiring relief were so
numerous, however, and the demands on the society's resources were so
constant, that though some large donations were afterwards obtained from
senates, corporations, wealthy merchants, ambassadors, noblemen, and
Royal benefactors, a considerable subscription list became necessary in
order to enable the society to grant even partial relief to cases, the
urgent claims of which were established by careful inquiry.
There is a wonderful suggestiveness in the list of "Royal Benefactors
(deceased)," headed by his late Majesty King William IV., and her late
Majesty the Queen Dowager Adelaide. More than one of the Royal donors
themselves died in exile; and several of those who shared their
misfortunes, and were their faithful followers, have shared the small
benefits which the Society had to bestow. "His late Majesty King Charles
X. of France" contributed £300; "His late Majesty Louis Philippe," 100
guineas; the unfortunate Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, £25; and his
late Imperial Majesty Napoleon III., £50: while their Magnificencies the
Senates of the Free German Towns, as well as the humbler companies of
London's citizens, appear to have given liberally. Notwithstanding all
this, however, the Society has not been able to retain funded property
to any considerable amount, and it is to the annual subscription
list--to which our Queen contributes £100, the Emperor of Germany £100,
and the Emperor of Austria £100--that the charity must look for support.
Unhappily there are evidences that these annual subscriptions are fewer
than they should be. There seems still to be some reluctance on the part
of the general public steadily to support an effort which has a very
distinct and pressing claim upon Englishmen, who pride themselves,
justly enough, upon the free asylum which this country affords to
foreigners, and who appear ready to give largely in the way of
occasional aid. The disparity between the number of handsome donations
and of very moderate annual subscriptions is a painful feature of the
Society's report, and even public appeals have hitherto been followed
rather by increased applications from persons recommending cases for
relief, _without accompanying the recommendation with a subscription_,
than by any decided augmentation of the funds. The Friends of Foreigners
in Distress are principally to be found amongst prosperous foreigners in
London, and doubtless this is no less than just; but until larger aid is
given by the English public, we have no particular reason to include
this association in any boastful estimate of British charity.
That the committee does its work carefully, and that cases of distress
are relieved only after due inquiry, and with no such careless hand as
would encourage idle dependence or promote pauperism, is evident enough
to anybody who will take the trouble to inquire into the method of
assistance. Let us go and see.
Perhaps not one Londoner in a thousand could tell you offhand where to
find Finsbury Chambers. It is probably less known even than Prudent
Passage, or what was once Alderman's Walk; and may be said to be less
attractive than either, for it is a dingy, frowsy, little out-of-the-way
corner in that undecided and rather dreary thoroughfare--London Wall. It
is, in fact, a space without any outlet, and looks as though it ought to
have been a builder's yard, but that the builder took to erecting houses
on it as a speculation which never answered, even though they were let
out as "chambers;" that is to say, as blank rooms and sets of offices,
the supposed occupiers whereof committed themselves to obscurity by
causing their names to be painted on the doorposts, and leaving them
there to fade till time and dirt shall wholly obliterate them.
And yet it is in one of these lower rooms, occupying the ground floor of
No. 10, that a good work is going on; for here, in an office almost
representatively bare and dingy even in that place, the Society of
Friends of Foreigners in Distress holds its weekly meetings of
directors, and the secretary, Mr. William Charles Laurie, or his
assistant, Mr. C. P. Smith, gives daily attendance (Saturdays excepted),
between eleven and one o'clock. Assuredly, the funds of the charity are
not expended in luxurious appointments for its headquarters. Even a
German commission agent just commencing business could scarcely have a
more simply-furnished apartment. The objects which first strike the
visitor's attention are a row of japanned tin candlesticks, meant for
the use of the board at any of their Wednesday meetings which may be
prolonged till after dusk. The furniture, if it was ever new, must have
been purchased with a regard for economy in the very early history of
the society. The work is evidently so organised as to require no long
daily attendance. The place is furnished only according to the temporary
necessities of business quickly dispatched. Neither in official
salaries, nor in expensive official belongings, are the funds of the
institution wasted.
The system is, in fact, simple enough, and is conducted on the
principles laid down by the first meetings of the committee above
seventy years ago, with one important exception. Formerly, applicants
for relief must have been for some time resident in England; but changes
in transit, and the more rapid intercommunication of nations, have made
it necessary that some ready aid should be granted to those who find
themselves cast upon the terrible London wilderness without a friend to
help them, ignorant to whom to apply for help, and little able even to
make known their sufferings.
Every Wednesday, then, the directors meet for receiving applications for
relief, and reports of cases that have been investigated by the Visiting
Committee.
The plan adopted is to issue to the governors of the charity a number of
small tickets, each of which, when signed and bearing the name of the
applicant for relief, entitles the latter to apply to the weekly
committee for an investigation of his case. Every subscriber of a guinea
is regarded as a governor for a year, and there are, of course, life
governors also. Both these are entitled to recommend cases either for
what may be termed casual relief, or for election as pensioners to
receive weekly assistance (of from 2_s._ to 5_s._, and in cases of
extreme old age or great infirmity, 7_s._ 6_d._ a week), sick
allowances, or passage money to enable applicants to return to their own
country.
It may easily be believed how a small weekly contribution will often
save a destitute man or woman, or a poor family, from that utter
destitution which would result from the inability to pay rent even for a
single room; while in cases of sickness, the regular allowance even of a
very trifling sum will enable many a poor sufferer to tide over a period
of pain and weakness, during which earnings, already small, are either
reduced or cease altogether.
In cases of urgent necessity four superintendents are appointed from the
board of directors, with the power to grant immediate relief; and of
course many applicants receive temporary assistance from the governor
who recommends them, until their case is investigated by the committee,
and they are on the list of the worthy and indefatigable "visitor."
After the expulsion of the Germans from Paris during the late war, that
little dingy quadrangle in London Wall was filled with a strange crowd
of lost and helpless foreigners, whose condition would admit of only a
temporary inquiry, and indeed needed little investigation, since want
and misery were written legibly enough in their faces. For a large
number of these, passage money had to be paid, and the relief was
continued till the press of refugees from France abated. There was a
special subscription for the relief of these poor creatures, raised
chiefly among German merchants living in London, and even now the
Society has to extend a helping hand to some who still remain.
Any one wandering by accident into Finsbury Buildings on a Wednesday
forenoon, would wonder what so many subdued and rather anxious-looking
men were waiting about for in such an out-of-the-way locality--some of
them leaning against the wall inside, others sitting in the bare room,
just within the barer passage. Every one of these has had his
circumstances carefully inquired into, and is in attendance to receive
what may be called temporary relief. During the official year of my
latest visit 150 homeward passages had been paid, and in the two years
from 1871 to 1873 the number of persons who received relief was 21,333,
who with their wives and families represented a considerable community
of poverty. During the year 1,983 grants were made of sums varying from
less than 10_s._ to 1,324 persons, 10_s._ to 431, 15_s._ to 47, £1 to
135, and so on to £5, which was allowed in a few instances, while sick
allowances were granted in 292 cases. One important and suggestive
feature of this excellent Society is that it numbers among its members
not only subscribers to other charitable institutions, but members of
the medical and legal professions, who frequently render their aid to
applicants free of expense, in order either to relieve them from
suffering, or to protect them from the errors or impositions to which
their ignorance and helplessness might expose them.
There is no restriction either as regards creed or nationality, and
though each case is matter for inquiry, the only persons disqualified
for receiving relief are those who are detected as impostors--persons
who are deemed to have sufficient support from any other source, those
who cannot give a good reason for having come to this country, and proof
of their having striven to obtain work and to labour for a maintenance,
those who are proved to have been guilty of fraud or immoral practices,
and beggars, or drunken, dissolute persons.
As regards the numbers of persons who have received relief since the
institution was founded, there is the tremendous total of 21,645
applicants on behalf of 129,299 individuals. What an army it represents!
Of these Germany (which till recently included Austria, Hungary, and
Bohemia) represents 71,913; Sweden and Norway, 9,422; Holland, 8,878;
France, 7,339; Russia, 7,006; Italy, 5,415; Belgium, 4,578; Denmark,
4,215; the West Indies, 1,716; Switzerland, 1,685; and so on in a
diminishing proportion till we come to "Central Africa!"--a very recent
case, no doubt.
Can any one question the good that has been effected by an institution
so careful not only to relieve with rigid economy, but also to do its
work on so truly voluntary a principle? If the temporary and
comparatively casual aid afforded to poor and destitute strangers works
so beneficially, however, the pensions, to which only very extreme cases
are elected, are even still more in the nature of help given to those
who are ready to perish, Here are some specimen cases:
A watchmaker of Frankfort, seventy-four years old, and nearly seventy
years in this country, disabled by paralysis, with a wife, who is a
waistcoat maker, unable to compete with the sewing-machine; one son,
twenty years old, who, having some small situation, lives with them,
pays the rent, and "does what he can;" a boy of fourteen who works as an
errand boy.
An Italian looking-glass maker, seventy-three years old, and fifty-three
years in this country. Has lately lived by making light frames, but
health and strength fail, and he is suffering from asthma. His wife, an
Englishwoman, and aged sixty-six, works as a charwoman. He has two sons,
each married and with large families, so that they can do nothing for
him.
A French widow, sixty-seven years old, and thirty-two years in this
country, and paralysed for the last thirteen years. Her only daughter
who is in delicate health, earns her "living" by needlework, but can
only gain enough for her own maintenance.
These are only three of the first cases in the official report of
pensioners, and they are not selected because of their peculiarly
distressing character. When it is remembered that this society has not,
in a general way, sufficient means to grant more than _two shillings a
week_ in the way of relief, and when we take the trouble to observe that
in the majority of cases where a pension is granted the recipients have
been so long resident here that they may be said to have lost their
nationality in ours, will it be too much to ask of England--alike the
asylum for the persecuted and the teacher of liberty and of
charity--that the "Friends of Foreigners in Distress" shall be regarded
as the friends of all of us alike in the name of Him of whom it was
said, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
But I have not quite done with the pensioners. I must ask the reader to
go with me to Lower Norwood, where amidst a strange solitude, that is
almost desolation, we will visit three ladies of the _ancien régime_,
one of whom, at least, began life nearly ninety years ago as a fitting
playmate for the daughter of a king.
_WITH THOSE WHO ARE LEFT DESOLATE._
There is something about the aspect of Nature as seen from the railway
station at Lower Norwood on a damp and misty day which, if not
depressing, can scarcely be regarded as conducive to unusual hilarity. I
speak guardedly because of my respect for the district, and lest I
should in any way be suspected of depreciating any particular locality
as an eligible place of residence. In the latter regard I may mention
that the immediate neighbourhood of Lower Norwood Station is not at
present converted into a small township by the erection of long rows of
tenements on freehold or long leasehold plots. My remarks apply only to
the general outlook from the road, amidst an atmosphere threatening
drizzle, and beneath a sky betokening rain. As far as houses are
concerned, there seemed to me, on the occasion of my last visit, far
more probability of pulling down than of building. In fact, I went for
the purpose of inspecting a whole series of very remarkable tenements
which I had heard were soon either to disappear from the oozy-looking
green quadrangle of which they formed three sides, or were to be
converted to another purpose than that of the dwelling-places of a few
elderly ladies who occupied one dreary side, whence they could look at
the desolation of the closed houses on the other.[1]
It will not be without regret that I shall hear of this intention being
carried out, for the houses are devoted to the sheltering of alms-folk;
and the alms-folk are the elder pensioners of that admirable
association, the Society of the Friends of Foreigners in Distress,
which, for above ninety years, has been doing its useful work among
those who, but for its prompt and judicious aid, would feel that they
were "alone in a strange land."