Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-12-21
MIDNIGHT MEETING IN LONDON.
Dickens, Little Emily -

Dickens Little Emily"
There were nearly two hundred fallen
women assembled at the Cafe Royal, Re,
gent street, in the small hours of yester.
day morning (says the London Daily
News of November % The invitations
were for twelve o'clock on Thursday
night, and half an hour afterward the
spacious, handsome room was full. 1t
was a strange scene, and though the pro
|ceedDgs at one Of these midnight meet
ings and the people they assemble to-
gether have been described before, the
work they represent is of such grave i'm
port, it is scarcely possible to give it too
much publicity. fsIE
, When the doors were opened there was
rush Of girls of low class from
Charles street, Drury Lane and such
neighborhoods, and when the better
dressed women of Regent street saw this,
nothing would induce them to enter. Be
this as it may, the fact is indisputable
that a majority of the girls present we're
not of the class with which the pedes-
trian at West End is but too familiar.
There is an aristocracy in female vice,
and this did not appear to have been
reached.
The directors of the meeting give the
girls play, and let them talk and laugh
and ridlculo within certain limits until
they have all eaten and drank as much
as they wish. The real business of the
evening only begins then. A layman
mounts the platform, and in few sensi-
Bile words announces that the one OBJ
ject of the gathering is to do "the dear
sisters good. They are asked for their
own sakes to listen to what is to follow,
and to join in hymn, couple of lines
of which was read out 1t seemed a
hazardous experiment to invite such a
crew as was in our immediate vicinity
to sing aloud, but here again the pro-
moters of the meeting were right, for in
another second every girl in the room
was lifting her voice in good time and
tune, and with a fervor which was amaz-
ing. Where were the low jests, the ten
dency to horse play, the mocking and
the gibes now2 The hymn seemed to
dissolve these things ON the instant, and
the old Sunday school training asserted
its power.
Another gentleman ascenued tne plat
form now, and taking for his text the
words Little Emily" which you've
all seen on the advertisement boardings
and on the play-bills," told the story Of
poor Peggotty and his misguided niece.
There was fair average Of attention
throughout the audience. The sketch
from David Copperfeld was merely
taken in outline, the details being filed
in in the speakers own language, and
the girls grew interested. There were
some interruptions. "0h, / dessay,'
delivered with much vixenish emphasis,
was the commentary Of one young wo-
man upon the speakers attempt to de-
scribe the anguish of the old fisherman
and the faith with which the candle was
placed night by night in its old place in
the boathouse to lure the wanderer
home. But it was plain that "the tone
of the meeting" was greatly improved,
The unseemly bursts Of laughter grew
rarer. A softened look came over some
Of the worst faces, and by the time
another speaker had in few sentences
introduced the rector of st. Clement
Danes, there was general disposition to
behave well.