The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-03 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1870. (

Lord MACAULAY'S terrible words descriptive of
the pauperism of England-4' Heathens in the midst
of Christianity, and Savages in the midst of Civili-
zation"—have unconsciously furnished the text of
the impressive discourse just now addressed to the
whole, community by Sir CHARLES TREVELYAN. The
force of logic brought to hear upon his argument is
simply irresistible. Reading it, as of course he will
read it, or rather has already read it, Mr. GOSCHEN
might with reason exclaim in the saddest of all ti
melancholy words uttered by Hamlet—

" The time is out of joint; 0 cursed spite
That ever I was born to set it right."
In London, upon an average, 1.50,000 paupers--as
many as would make the population of a whole city
in other countries. In London, not far short of
2,000 vagrants—about as many as there have been
years since the fonnding upon earth of Christianity.
In London from £4,000,000 to £7,000,000 spent an-
nually in public and private charities. In London
150,000 children living in the midst of destitution
—lOO,OOO of them littered about the streets, gra-
duating for the goals and, the gallows. A world of
misery, of squalor, of utter and altogether hopeless
wretchedness, under all the roaring life and dazzling
wealth of this vast capital of ours " the metropolis,"
as Sir CHARLES describes it, " not only of the United
Kingdom, but also of an empire upon which the sun
never sets, including the vassal continent of India,
-itself an empire." The magnitude of this stupendous
gathering together of human beings upon one spot—"a
province of houses," as it bas, before now, been well
called—Sir CHARLES TREVELYAN realises to us all
anew very strikingly where he observes—" The popu-
lation of London is as large as the aggregate popula-
tion of the three next largest European cities—Paris,
Vienna, and Berlin, and it closely approximates to
that of Scotland, is nearly equal to the population of
Holland, and is not quite three times greater than
that of Wales." It is with the Pauperism of this
unparalleled capital that our system of Poor-Law
Relief is still most confusedly and most ineffectually
dealing : as it has been ever since the days of Queen
ELIZABETH, when, for the first time in English His-
tory, a Poor Law was ever heard of—the btittery
batch of the monastic establishments, scattered
up and down the country, relieving, until then,
the wants and miseries of the population. Having to
take heed, now, here, in London alone, of from 1,000
to 2,000 vagrants, and of from 140,000 to 170,000
paupers, habitually, the executive or administrative
departments have hitherto failed, most deplorably
to deal effectively with an evil devolving upon their
officers an apparently overwhelming and, at this
moment, an almost paralysing weight of responsibi-
lities. Is it really hopeless, then, to dream of this
monster evil being at last grappled with effectually ?
Much was looked for from Mr. GOSCHEN, when be
was first placed at the head of the Poor Law Board
as its President. How far have those hopes been, as
yet, in any w ay justified ?

• If .ever there was an establishment which might
write " Nil Desperandurn " over its portals it is
certainly the asylum at Redhill. Idiocy is at once
the most deplorable and the most seemingly hope-
less of human calamities, and it is no great wonder
that in earlicr and less enterprising generations men
despaired of mitigating its intensity. So painful is
the spectacle of the uncouth idiot or imbecile, so
jarring the discordant cry or senseless chatter, so
distressing the association with a being often far
below tha animal creation in intelligence and appre-
hension, that men of sensitive feelings and refined
sympathies naturally shrunk from them. They were
left to the charge of the rough, the unfeeling, the
indifferent, those who were least conscious of their
deficiencies, and, therefore, least able to supply them.
Much as we boast of the progress of modern civilisa-
tion, it is only very recently that the treatment of
the insane and the imbecile has ceased to be
a disgrace to us. That it has so ceased.
that the invincible power of gentleness and
kindness, the unerring instinct of that sympathy
which outstrips all acquired knowledge, have received
so remarkable an illustration, is mainly due to the
exertions and the self-devotion of one man, the late
Dr. ANDREW REED. It is a lesson for selfish sensi-
bility and shrinking fastidiousness to learn that Dr.
REED began his life with a strong aversion to idiots.
Those who have studied the records of Earlswood,
and have explored its recesses, who have seen the
gradual development of intelligence, the varying de-
grees of mental consciousness and physical aptitude
evoked from what seemed hopeless chaos, can answer
'to what purpose this natural aversion was overcome.
The annals of the institution record some most sin-
gular cases. There was one boy who did not know a
dog's head from his tail when admitted, who, after,
some years of treatment, painted a picture which
attracted the attention of no less an art critic than
the late Prince CONSORT, who would not at first be-
lieve that the painter had not, and never would have,
his full senses. Often it is discovered that the children
have one particular turn or talent, which, when culti-
vated, raises their whole tone. Sometimes no
mental aptitude at all is discoverable, but the
boy or girl can be trained to happy ac-
tivity in cooking or gardening, or some other
manual work. It is the first step in the task of
education when the idiot can be induced to employ
his fingers in any regular and useful occupation, and
straw-plaiting, mat-making, &c., are invaluable edu-
cational agents. One of the most hopless cases re-
mained for weeks insensible or indifferent to all efforfis
to arouse him from his sullen lethargy ; but a carefkil
watch was kept, and one day, while he was lying in
the sunshine in the garden, the helpless, hopeless
fingers were seen to twirl a straw. This was enough
to encourage the kindly guardians, and their perse-
vering efforts were subsequtntly crowned with the
most signal success..

The report for the current year, which is just
issued, supplies gratifying evidence that the good
work is going on steadily and prosperously. The
number of inmates is at present 483, of whom
314 'are males, and 169 females. The number of
males employed has increased from 147, in the year
1867 to 268 in the year 1869. Them. are sixteen
difftrent kinds of etnp!oyment for the males and six
for the females, while the educational reports are
equally encouraging. Three hundred and sixty-six
letters have been written by the patients to the it
friends during the year, in most cases entirely without