The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1891-04-23
THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 90. 1891.
LIFE IN TUE CELLARS.

steams with putrefaction. You go down
tho stairs, which are wet and decayed
with filth, and at the bottom you find
the poor victims on the floor, cold,
sick, three-fourths dead, sinking into
still darker corner under the CLEAN
of the lantern of the police. There has
not been breath of fresh air in that
room for five years, literally. The
broken sewer empties its contents upon
them, and they lie at night in the
swimming filth. There obey are, men,
women, children; blacks, whites; Mary
Magdalene without her repentance
and Lazarus without his God. These
are 'the dives into which the pick
pockets and the thieves go, as well as
great many who would like differ
ent life but cannot get it. These places
are the sores of the city, which bleed
perpetual corruption.
They are the underlying Volcano
that threatens us with a Caracas
earthquake. It rolls and roars and
surges and heaves and rocks and bias
phemes and dies. And there are only
two outlets for 1.-THE police court and
the Potter's field. In other words
they must either go to prison or to hell
Oh, you never saw it, you say. You
never will see it until on the day when
teos' staggering wretches shall come
up in the light of the judgment throne,
and while all hearts are being revealed,
God will ask You what you did to help
them.
There is another layer of poverty and
restitution, not SO squalid, but almost
as helpless. You hear the incessant
wailing for bread and clothes and fire.
Their eyes are sunken. Their cheek
bones stand out Their hands are
damp with slow consumption. Their
flesh is pulled up with dropsies. Their
breath is like that of the charnel house,
They hear the roar of the wheels of
fashion overhead, and the gay laughter
OF men and maidens, and wonder why
God gave to others so much and to
them so little. Some of them thrust
into an intidelity like that of the poor
German girl who, when told in the
midst of her wretchedness that God
was good, said: mo, no good God.
Just look at me. No good God"
In this cluster of cities, whose cry Of
want interpret, there ere said to be
as far as | can figure it up from reports
about three hundred thousand honest
poor who are dependent upon individ-
uaI, city and state charities. If all their
voices could come up at once it would
be a groan that would shake the foun-
dations of the city, and bring all earth
and heaven to the rescue. But, for
the most part, it suffers unexpressed.
1t sits in silence, crashing its teeth and
sucking the blood of its own arteries,
waiting for the Judgment day.
Oh, should not wonder If on that
day it would be found out that some
of us had some things that belonged to
them; some extra garment which might
have made them comfortable in cold
days; some bread thrust into the ash
barrel that might have appeased their
hunger for little while; some wasted
candle or gas jet that might have kim
died up their darkness; some fresco on
the ceiling that would have given them
aroof; some jewel which, brought to
that orphan girl in time, might have
kerr her from being crowded off the
precipices of an unclean life; some New
Testament that would have told them
of him who ''came to seek and save
that which was lost"
Oh, this wave of vagraney and hun
ger and nakedness that dashes against
our front doorstep! If the roofs Of all
SO we could look down into them, Just
as God looks, whose nerves would be
strong enough to stand it9 And yet there
they are. The fifty thousand sewing
women in these three cities, some Of
them in hunger and cold. working
night after night, until sometimes the
blood spurts from nostril and lips.
How well their grief was voiced by
that despairing woman who stood by
her invalid husband and invalid child,
and said to the city missionary: II am
downhearted. Everything's against us
and then there are other things"
"What other things?" said the city
missionary. "Oh," she replied, my
sin. ''What do you mean by that?'
'Well," she said, Il never hear or see
anything good. It's work from Mon
day morning till Saturday night, and
then when Sunday comes [ can't GO
out and walk the floor, and it makes
me tremble to think that have got to
meet God. Oh, sir, it's so hard for us.
We have to work so, and then we have
so much trouble, and then we are get
ting along so poorly; and see this wee
little thing growing weaker and weaker
and then to think we are not getting
nearer to God but floating away from
him. Oh, sir, do wish was ready to
| die.o
DUTY OF CHURCH AND SOCIETY.
l should not wonder if they had q
good deal better time than we in the
future, to make up for the fact that
they had such a bad time here II
wonld be just like Jesus to say: ''Come
up and take the highest seats. YOU
suffered with me on earth; now be glo
rified with me in heaven" 0 thou
weeping One of Bethany 0 thou dy
| i1sOne of the cross Have mercy OF
these starving, freezing, homeless poo
Of these great cities!
have preached this sermon for fou
or five practical reasons: Because
want you to know who are the uproot
ing classes of society. Because | wan
you to be more discriminating in you
charities. Because l want your heart
open with generosity and your hand
open with charity. Because | wan
you to be made the sworn friends o
all city evangelization, and all news
boys lodging houses, and all children
aid societies and Dorcas societies, un