The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-10 00:00:00

THE SOCIAL EVIL.

One of the most extraordinary meetings for years
past took place yesterday morning (or rather the
proceedings were to have commenced at midnight
on Tuesday), at the St. James's Restaurant, St.
James's-hall, 69, Regent-street, in connexion with
the important question of the great social evil.
The meeting was none other than one of " fallen
women," for the purposes of hearing prayer and
addresses, and originated in this manner :—Some
gentlemen connected with the Country Towns'
Missions, English Monthly Tract Society, Female
Aid Society, London Female Preventive and Refor-
matory Institution, the Trinity House, and other
institutions, feeling anxious for the welfare of the
multitude of fallen women who congregate every
night in the Haymarket, Regent-street, and the
principal casinos and cafés in the neighbourhood,
resolved, after mature consideration, to attempt to
convene some of those unhappy persons in a suit-
able place near those localities, were judicious ad-
dresses might be given, to be followed by prayer.
The mode which to the conveners appeared most
likely to succeed was to invite them to tea and.
coffee ; and a neat card, enclosed in an envelope,
was distributed among them at the casinos, cafes,
and in the streets. indited as follows :

" Tne favour of your company is requested by
several friends, who will meet at the St. James's
R-staurant, 69, Regent-street, to take tea and
coffee together, on Wednesday night, Feb. 8, at
19 o'clock precisely."
Some hundreds of these were distributed duringthe
past few days, and, as will be seen, the experiment
met with a great amount of success, notwithstand-
ing that many treated the matter with ridicule,
while numerous others thought the whole affair a
hoax. Such, however, it did not turn out to be;
for shortly before midnight a large number of those
unfortunate creatures arrived at the entrance of the
St. James's Restaurant. Here they were shown
into the large dining room of the hall, capable of
bolding some hundreds of persons. Tnere was an
abundant supply of tea and coffee, with bread and
butter, toast, and cake, to which the strange assem-
bly did good justice, at the various tables about the
room, and round which they clustered in small par-
ties of six or eight, chattin, over the peculiarity of
the 'meting, and wondering what was to be the
course of proceeding. The number graivally in-
creased till there must have been at least 500 per-
sons present, and these were solely composed of
the unfortunate creatures whose moral and social
condition the meeting had been convened to amelio-
rate, excepting some 30 or 35 clergymen and gentle-
men who had been instrumental in calling the
nu cling. Of course, the meeting was not allowed
to be a public one so far as regarded the admission
of the other sex; for, had it been so, no doubt a
very large number would have assembled out of
curiosity, if not for any worse motive. While the
repast was going on the principal gentlemen pre-
sent mustered together at a conspicuous spot for
the purpose of addresses being delivered to the
meeting. Among them were the Hon. end Rev.
Baptist Noel, the Rev. W. Brock, the Rev. W.
O'Neill, the Rev. Haughton, Mr. Latouche (the
banker), Mr. W. J. Maxwell, Mr. Theophilus
Smith, and others.

Shortly after one o'clock the Rev. W. BROCK
stepped forward and briefly opened the proceedings
by stating the object of the meeting.
• The Hon, and Rev. BAPTIST NOEL then addressed
those assembled in an eloquent, yet pathetic and
affectionate discourse, alluding to his hearers as his
" dear young friends." He commenced by drawing
a picture
of the history of a virtuous woman from
her childhood, pointing out the unspeakable love of
the father and mother for the child, the association
with sisters and brothers, the affection of the hus-
band, and at last the love which she herself bears
her own children ; and then he compared that pic-
ture with the position of those who had erred from
the paths of virtue. It was quite possible, how-
ever, he assured his hearers that some of them might
yet be happy; they might ask him how, and say it
was difficult to become so—aud so it was, he ad-
mitted, but it was not impossible, for they had a
friend who was even more tender than the mother,
and stronger in His love than the father; and One
who would never desert them. He was a friend
who would rescue them if they trusted in His bound-
less confidence. That friend was Jesus their Saviour,
wlan had died for them ; He was with them in that
room, as certain as possible, and just ready to be
their friend ; therefore he entreateu them to turn to
their Saviour. Their whole future depended upon
whether they would have Him or not ; He eoulte
take them to glory from a life which must end
in perdition, could cleanse them of their sine, and
carry them to God. If they asked him when to
do 't he should say at once, and they would be
happy for the rest of their lives; if they believed
in Flini they would be saved. The Saviour himself
said, " God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life." Would
they accept the offer or not ? He entreated them
to accept it at once and be happy for ever, thew
cheeks never fading, their conscience would sleep
in peace, and they would live long to enjoy
tke
the
esteem of those who were good. Let theta
resolution at once, and they would never
le t rt eisr efrt
oinit .
The hon. and rev. gentleman then ref
stating the
several girls who had been reclaimed,bewent on to say
happiness they felt, and
d o,lt- Of course, it
obtheer, made, but they
follow the course he pointed that his young friends might ask ask how could they
, and it would
must expect that, and help
would require some sacrificeeactho
ultimately that they had
made the sacrifice. They might think they would
not be a matter of regret
never be- loved again, but he told them they would.
Therefore, let them say like others, " Let ns make
thhreesaefrcorifieCe ;" for was it not better to be happy for
ever than to walk on to the end which was not ? In conclusion, he exhorted them not to
depart without heeding what he had said. Might
the Lord accept his prayers,,and might He also
accept those unfortunate young creatures he was
addressing, and to them he said, " Give up that
which is contrary to the will of Jesus and say; I
will take heart and be a child of God.'"
The Rev, W. Brock, Rev. Mr. Ilaughton, Rev.
W. O'Neill, and otheis then offered up prayers, and
the effect produced by the earnest and touching
appeal of the first-named gentleman, delivered iu a
deep tone of voice, was most touching.
It was announced that any present who repented
their sins would be received into the London Re-
formatory or the Trinity Home, and that further
arrangements would be made for the reception of
others elsewhere if funds could he provided.
The meeting broke up about 3 o'clock.
The conduct of those present was highly credit-
able, and quite void of levity or contumely, and we
may SE fely say that the experiment so far has been
successful.