The Express.
London, England, 1859-01-15 00:00:00

HOMELESS POOR.

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Sts,—With your kind pwmissiiia I will resume
the narrative of the Cave. It was warm, and the boys
were in good spirits, especially No. 8, whose cheeks
were full and red, and his eyes all in a glow,
indications these of his sanguine temperament. These
lads might have been in the Refuge: there was plenty
of room, and the muter was no bugbear, but most
kind, and a warm-hearted friend of the homeless.
They knew it too, and in their own odd way filly
appreciated his readiness to serve them.
Two or three gave as a reason why they slept in
this place, that they sweated to be in the market two
or three hours before the time came for opening the
Refuge to let the inmates out : the rest could give
so reason at all. I can put this peculiar preference
of theirs in a much stronger light. On the same
night that I discovered the fourteen boys in the
hole, I was inquiring for a particular boy for whom
the Refuge muter had a few days before applied
for admission to our " Home." He was not there,
but one of the boys told me I should find him out-
side Westminster Workhouse. Thither I went, and
found him sleeping on the pavement, but not alone ;
for in one promiscuous heap there lay between sixty
and seventy pennies, yosaN and old, of either sex.
What a sight it was! A tightly-packed mem, sacs
ceremony, sans order, sans almost everything—the
heads of some " cropping " out between the bodies
of others, and almost all sound asleep. On the edge
of ths line of sleepers, at the feet of its mother,
wrapped up in a shawl, and with only another old
shawl between its poor little body and the cold
pavement, nestled • nice little girl between three
and low years old. I recognised amongst them
many whom I knew as having been many months
upon the streets, apt had resisted all efforts to make
them reputable members of society. The boy I
went in search of was on the same morning
admitted to our " Home" with another lad
whom I pulled out of the same bundle. The
latter left us the next day at his own re-
quint, in order not to be separated from his
mother, who was a vagrant; he called on me a yser
ago to tell me that he was working in a coal shed
in Fetter-lane, and his mother wee living in • room
hard by. The former boy absconded from us twits,
and was ultimately discharged for attempt;ng to
rob us under very aggravated circumstances.
It is difficult to convey to anyone a correct notion
of the details and movements of these outlying heaps.
' They are, however, belonging to the past, and one
may safely predict that their day is " gone about,"
! never to return again.
To anyone who has attentively watched them it
has been apparent that there has been for the last
L four or five years a steady decrease of homeless
people. And although just now the public mind
Is considerably excited upon this question, it is never-
! Useless true that there is at this moment less home-
r lemur in the metropolis than has prevailed for
many years. More than this, the decrease will, in
, obedience to certain laws, still continue. I must,
however, further postpone the consideration of these
laws and their phenomena in order to state a few
feats, in confirmation of this statement, gathered from
recent observation.

Accompanied by the Incumbent of All Saints,
Lambeth, I went last Wednesday night to ascertain
by inquiry whether the accommodation for these
casual lodgers was equal to the demand. We
started at nine o'clock p.m., beginning at the
Dudley Stuart Night Refuge, finishing at White-
chapel, at one in the morning, sufficiently tired to
make us wish ourselves at home. We visited in
secession the following institutions—Dudley Stuart
Refuge, St. Pancras Workhouse, Clerkenwell Work-
house, Field-lane Night Refuge, Playhouse-yard
Night Refuge, St. Lake's Workhouse, and White-
chapel Workhouse. The next morning we went to
the Lambeth and Westminster Workhouses. You
must allow me to gladly acknowledge the ready
courtesy of the various officials without a single ex-
ception ; we were specially indebted to one who will-
ingly left his bed to give us the desired information.
Here you have the result—Dudley Stuart Refuge,
space for men, 51 ; present, 67—theses in excess
were going to lie on some forms in the sitting room;
for women, 50 ; present, 25. One woman was re-
fused admission in consequence of her being intoxi-
cated. This Refuge bad been able to take in all
applicants through the winter. St. Pancras Work-
house: space for 108; preeent, 64; had not been
full all the winter. Clerkenwell Workhouse : room
for 8 ; present, 4. Field-lane : room for 170 men
and boys, full • 60 women, hill ; and one in excess.
Playhouse-yard : room for about 760 ; present
nearly 600, consisting of men, boys, and women ;
opened ten days; had not been full. St. Lake's
Workhouse: room for H; present, none. White-
chapel : room for 40; present, a nightly avenge for
one week, 6. We inquired of a policeman who
was on duty about the workhouse whether
he had seen many homeless people sleeping
in the streets ; his reply was, " I have seen only one
case this winter, a woman and child, and I took them
to Bethnal-green." Lambeth Workhouse : room for
28, present 14. Westminster Workhouse : room for
70, present 2. The superintendent, on showing us
the books, said, " We've had hardly any tramps for
months, and I can't think where they are got to."
We went to all those places where, four years ago, I
used to find little groups sleeping, but through the
whsle journey we did not find one person lying out
for want of shelter.
The women seemed, as far as appearance went, to
be in much better case than the men. Generally the
women were in fall flesh and of healthy aspect. One
hears of starving looks and wasted frames, but to find
them, as a rule, we must go to the rooms, garrets,
and cellars of some of the wretched diatncts of
London, not to the casual ward or nightly. refuge.
Occasionally we find among those we admit to our
own Home a mere moving skeleton ; such a specimen
I selected last Saturday; but, on the whole, they are
in tolerable condition. I do not wish to make
any observation on last Wednesday night's statistic.
We hear the homeless poor enumerated in the
most loose way, some speaking of them as number-
ing tens of thousands, others going much further.
Things are not so bad as this, nor so bad but that
they may be remedied. The Ragged-school Union,
end the men of Ragged-schools, began the work, and
they are the men to end it. Money they want, bat
not spasmodically; money, but not money alone.
Money, sympathy, prayer ; give them bat these,
and the work would be dope, let the evil be ten times
greater than it is.—l am, &c.,
WILLIAM DRIVER.
Home kw Outcast Boys, Belvedere-crescent,
Lambeth, S.

Wawa um lnoll murms)

FOREIGN-O,M; JAN. 14.—The Queen hu been
graciously pleased to make the following eppolutments
Hoe. Frederick William Adolphus Brum, now her Majesty's
Agent and Conant-General be Egypt, to be her Msjesty's
Envoy limmordinary nod Mleistm Plenipotentiary to the
Emperor of China; HOMO allaibold, , now Second
Peed Attache to her Majesty's Legation at St. Petereburg,
to be SierMary to her &Needy'', Legation in Chine. Ruther-
ford Aleoek, Bag , now her Moyeety's Consul at Canton. to
be her Majesty's Coeval-Gettersl is lapin ; Daniel Brooke
Roberta's, Esq., now bar Majesty's Coral at Shanghai, to
be her Majesty's Consul at Canton ; Harry Smith Parkes,
Eaq., sow Mr Majesty's Consul at Amoy, to be Mr Ma-
justy'• Consul at Shmigimi; Waller Henry Mahone, Esq.,
wen her Majesty'. Cement at Foo-chow-foo, to her Majesty's
Consul at Tangehow ; Thom.. Taylor Meadows, Esq., now
' Interpreter to her Majesty's Catania' at filmaghte, to be
her Majesty's Coeval at Newelterang ; Martin Crofton Mor-
rison, , now Meek Viee-Constd at Poo-chow-foo, to
be her Majesty's Cowed at Poo-ohow-foo ; William Ray-
mood (Nara, Esq.. now British Viet-Ccetwel at Amoy, to
be bar Marety's Coe el i Away; Chaise A. Sinclair,lim.,
now British Vim-Cooed at Nin to o, be Mr Mabety's Cow-
sal at Chinklans ; Fredk. E. B. Harvey, laq., sow British
Vice•Couml at Shanghai, to be bar Majesty's Cassel at
Wimp. ; George Whittinghant C•ine, Beg., now Firm As"
Meant in bee Majesty's Superintendency in China, to be bar
Majesty's Coaml Seamy • Robert Gilmour Caliphate,
Eq , now her MattarAisat and Consal-Gresral la
Wallachia, to be s Agent sad Coned-General M
Egypt , lola Green, sow her Majeety's Cowed M
Alexandria, is be bar Majesty's Agent and Conant-General
la W +Sarkis; and Edward Walter Bonham, Bag., now
• Matesty's Camel st Cade. to be her Majesty • Corneal
at Naples.
Foaelow-omaa lAN. 14.—The Queen has been
planed to approve of Mr. Swim Pp, tie Colqabovo re Con-
seil-Genera la Landon be his Royal Highame the Greed
Duke of Oldwabarg.
WHITEHALL, JAN. 13.—The Queen has been
Owed to direct letters poteat to be pawed under the great
seal, graedng the Amity of a KeMkt of the 'Jolted King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland Into Jams Buctuuma
etaaley. Bog., C. 8., some time ChM Janice of the Court
COMM Pleas for Canada West.