RAGGED SCHOOL UNION MAGAZINE. www ""Tis the cruel gripe, That lean, hard-handed Poverty inflicts, Of fluttering, loitering, cringing, begging, loose, O thou, resort and mart of all the earth, Than Sodom, in her day, had power to be, For whom God heard his Abraham plead in vain."-CowPer. VOLUME V. LONDON: PARTRIDGE & OAKEY, PATERNOSTER ROW. It is a good old custom in issuing a Volume to prefix a few sentences addressed to its readers. To this practice we feel it a privilege to conform on the present occasion. The year now closing has been an eventful one in the history of Ragged Schools. We have laboured for years, in concert with those great and good men with whom the movement originated, to bring the cause into that position of interest and usefulness which it now occupies. Not without congratulations to all friends, and above all, with fervent thankfulness to Almighty God, do we review the past and contemplate the future. This Volume, in its successive Numbers, has not only given ample details of facts, and statistics illustrative of popular ignorance, poverty, and crime, especially among the young, but it also contains most gratifying records, either of new enterprises starting full in their beneficent career, or else of golden sheaves gathered, after much prayer and praise, from fields long cultivated, and for some time at least, apparently cultivated in vain. We have also given a series of leading articles, by which attention has, we trust, been concentrated on specific objects, and difficulties and objections as to their practicability or usefulness, thoroughly considered and obviated. We have also noticed the hopeful signs of the times manifested in the increased attention which, contrasted with the past, is now given by political economists, by writers of the press, by persons of rank and influence, and by the British Legislature itself, to the condition of those in whom we are so deeply interested. The working of the "Common Lodging House Act" is truly gratifying, while the operations of the "Board of Health," the parish authorities, under its direction, the auspicious movements of “The Ragged Church and Chapel Union," together with the proposed Bills of Lord Shaftesbury and Mr. Adderley, have all received our particular attention, and will continue to do so. We shall be happy to receive continued and increased co-operation from all our Subscribers and Friends. This can be rendered in various ways: First,-By seeking to extend the circulation of our "Magazine." Past experience has proved, as a rule, that fresh readers become subscribers and warm supporters of the "Union" and its objects. And are there not many more who would help in this blessed work, if it were but brought before them by a periodical which is entirely devoted to its advancement ? Secondly. We also entreat our friends to take a warmer interest in "Our Children's Magazine." We fear there are many supporters of our Schools and Refuges who are not aware of the existence of this little monthly messenger. It is specially designed for the children of our schools, who eagerly read it; but it is equally adapted for the children of the better classes, and we believe that Christian parents will best teach their own children "to feel another's woe," and train them to become the active friends of Christian philanthropic movements in their generations, by awakening in them love and pity for the outcast young by such instrumentality as this. price of each number is one halfpenny. It is illustrated by wood engravings. Many a child has here received its first lessons in natural history, in sacred music and poetry, in the blessedness of prayerful habits, in the hatefulness and misery of sin, and, above all, in the power and love of a Saviour, and the grace of the Holy Spirit. The Thirdly. We shall be happy to receive original articles, suitable anecdotes, accounts of public meetings, and anniversaries of schools; condensed, however, into such a brief compass as our pages require in order to preserve variety in the contents, and to do justice to the many kindred objects demanding our notice. Fourthly.-We ask for liberal and increased support to the funds of the Ragged School Union, and also of those local efforts now in operation. Fresh ground, too, must be broken in the coming year. Let no obstacle be thrown in the way by lack of means. Lastly.-Let prayer be made to God continually for his blessing. The officers of the Society, the teachers of the various Schools and Refuges, with their coadjutors, all say, "Brethren, pray for us," And those little ones whom we seek to rescue from ruin, and to save with an everlasting salvation, all seem to stretch forth their hands, and re-echo the cry, "PRAY FOR US!!" 1 Exeter Hall, December, 1853. THE RAGGED SCHOOL Magazine. JANUARY, 1853. Papers, Original and Selected. THE PAST AND THE FUTURE OF RAGGED SCHOOLS. IN entering on the labours of another year, we invite the friends of Ragged Schools to join with us in devout thanksgivings to Him who has crowned our toils with such encouraging success. It is never to be forgotten, that by the systematic operation of these institutions, a shaft has been sunk into a lower depth of society than was ever reached before. What the Daily School and Sunday School did not, and perhaps could not have accomplished, has now by the Ragged School begun to be performed. The children of misery and crime, of both sexes, who had hitherto been treated as hopeless outcasts, have been made the subjects of a new and bold experiment, such as only a divinely imparted faith could have inspired. The "set time for favour had come, ," the leaders, and the troops needed for the crisis started forth armed for the holy war, and many trophies have already been brought to the Saviour's feet. There has been the auspicious union of courageous resolution, of wise counsels, and prayerful perseverance; and as the result, not merely in the Metropolis, but all over the empire, crime has been prevented as well as diminished, industrious habits have been formed, the seared conscience has been made tender, the hard heart has been softened. The ragged boy and girl have grown up at home, or gone forth to distant lands, with minds well informed, and with worldly prosperity awaiting them. Above all, through the Divine blessing on the teaching of the truth as it is in Jesus, we have reason to believe that Christian principle has been implanted, and many souls have been made rich for eternity. The lecture lately delivered on “The Rise, Progress, and Results of Ragged Schools," by John Macgregor, Esq., A.M., embodies a series of authentic facts, which amply justify us * This pamphlet is published by Sampson Low and Co., Ludgate Hill, price sixpence, and is the most complete summary of the Ragged School movement that has yet been printed. NO. XLIX.-VOL. V. B |