Year: 1866

Some of the places in London ar


too low to be described, but they ar
e regularly licensed by acts of Parliament
. We get into the cab again and drive a


rapidly as we can to the Victoria Then
c ter, on the other side of the water
: This is the constermonger's theater.-
c The costermonger was Originally an ap
, pie seller, but now those who sell any
: thing are called by that name. TheI
have their own theater and ale-houses
and they are true to each other. l
t one is i'll he is visited by scores Of hi
} fellows. Religion is regular puzzle Il
} them By seeing people 60 to church
and seeing they are well dressed, they
somewhow have established in then
minds the idea of being religious with


being respectable. They do not under
stand how it is possible that you car


be interested in their spiritual welfare
|, If you went to preach the Gospel to
them you would never reach them with
out coming right down to their ideas
and let them understand that you


know what human being wants.


To show the feeling that exists among


them, will give an illustration. l was


once going along in one of the by-ways
of the city, when l saw a large crowd


at the corner of a street. Going over,


l found that man had fallen from q


scatfold and was being brought home,


and words of sympathy fell from the
lips of the crowd for the wife and her


four little children. l asked a rough


specimen of a man. "What is the


matter here ?" He said in a very rough


voice, "Stand out of the way? A gen.


tleman wants to know what Is the mat


ter" They opened the way for me


and [ went into the crowd. I saw one


woman with her eye black, and the


blood not washed from her tace from


the last nights fight, In her arms she


held a child, ,eand tears were trickling


down her face. said to the crowd,


''Is this woman very pooF2"


They answered she was so, and said


"God Almighty help the woman look


at her" In the center of that crowd,


where there were men that for a shil-


ling would have robbed me, stood


alone. had gold and silver in my


purse and gold watch in my pocket.


| said, Il will give this woman half a
sovereign if it will do her any good y


They looked at me, and in a minute
said God bless you, sir ;" "Thank you


for the woman" and 1 heard them


whisper, "Half sovereign !" turn
ed to go, and every man in that crowd


took off his ragged cap, and as passed


they said, "God bless you, SIR" Not
one in that crowd asked me to give
them penny. They convinced me of
one thing. and have tried it over and
over again. and l never found man so
low, so debased, that there was rot a
spot in his heart somewhere to tell you
it was man. Applause.


Some of the costers keep a donkey,
and they are very kind to them some
times. There was once a man endea-
voring to get donkey to pull a load
up a hill but the other donkey refused.
After trying some time, and finding it
was no use, he took the animal out of
the shafts and got in himself. Some
body passing by said, what are you
doing that for ~ "Oh," he replied.
II am trying to shame hlminto it,


Laughter. Very few of them can
read or write, but they are very shrew-
ed business men. The life of coster-
boy is very hard one. Morning, noon
and night he is helping his father
They keep q sparp lookout on the girls
One of them said to Mr.. Mayhem, "If
1 seed my girl talking to another
chap, / would fetch him such a sloock
in the COB that would soon settle that
thing"


Another one said, THAT the gals al
ways likes a feller that wollops them,
because you know, Wolloping hurts,
and she is always thinking of that chap
what hurt her., Zone of them said,
never heard about Christianity" Think
of it Living in the heart of London,
Il never heard about Christianity !'-
Another said, 81 know God Almighty
made the world, but you know, sir,
bricklayers made the houses" Eeard
a man tell once about the savior. They
seem to think he was kind of a good
ish gentleman. "But if he says a cove
is to forgive fellow what hates him, I
should say he knowed nothing at all
about it."


Another one, on the Lords Prayer
being repeated to him, coming to the
part, Forgive US our trespasses, as we
forgive those who trespass against us"
be said: "a coster cannot do that"
Another one, in speaking of the Savior.
said he was a very kind gentleman,
who ''made the Ten Commandments
and the miricles, and performed them
ALL" A poor girl once said to me.
1.-The missionary says that if we cheat |
we shall not go to Heaven. Now that
is very hard. The gentlemen who buys
apples of US tries to beat us down
Now, you know, apples Is very per-
ishing thing. and we do not make much
on them. You ask gentleman to buy
apples. and he jews US down so that if
we have chance to slip few bad ones
we do it, if. we can. Now it is very /
hard to be shut out of Heaven for that"
1 said to her, "Any man who would try
TO beat you down for apples, deserves
ten thousand times more not to go to
Heaven than you do for showing bad
apple upon him."


But here we are at the Victoria Thea
ter. We 90 into the gallery. and we
have a good sight Of it. 1t is one of
the largest in London. 1t will hold
from fifteen hundred to two thousand
people, and the generality of those as
sembled here now are from twelve to
twenty-five years of age. The men
take off their coats, the bonnets of the
ladies are hung over the railing, and
one of the amusements of the boys is
to pitch orange peels into them. When
one succeeds in getting anything INTO
the bonnets he is rewarded with shouts
Of "bravo."


Comic songs are very popular, and
when one is being sung they all join in
the chorus. They have their own way
in every thing at the theater. If they
ask for anything and it is net given,
they will break up what is going on,
and COMPEL the manager to comply
with their wishes. Suppose q play was
being performed, Richard" for in
stance, the actor proceeds-'Now is the
winter of our discontent"-'Give him
three cheers" come from the gallery,
IN hundreds of voices: "Now then,
1urrah hurrah hurrah !" The actor
makes a bow, and resumes-"Now is
he winter" "You said that before,
Did fellow" (makes a bowl "made glo-
-ious by this son Of York. $50 it, by
he Eternal; give him three cheers,
bows % ssThe clouds that lowerad oyer