RAGGED SCHOOL UNION

MAGAZINE.

Spirit of Mercy, oh, be thou our Guide!
Lead us to where we may in God's dear name
Do something for His sake who for us died:
To do it rightly still his help we claim.
The simplest comforts of a prosperous home-
Food, raiment, money unmissed from its store-
Would oft, like sunshine, to the cottage come:
A ray of light, where all was dark before.
Oh, everywhere in this dear generous land
Are fountains of deep mercy flowing still:
The tiniest drop there added by our hand

Swells the glad stream that succours human ill :

Food for the hungry, shelter for the head,

Where else the night wind pitiless would beat`;

Relief from suffering, and the quiet bed

Where souls of death-struck men their pard'ning God may meet;

And nurseries, where trainèd plants may grow

Into fair trees, their fatherland to bless;

And infant streams be cleansèd, ere they flow
With poison-water's waste of wretchedness.

Oh, tarry not! The infant of to-day,

Whose blue eyes smile through curls of sunny hair,

A few short years on that soft plastic clay
The stamp of evil may have hardened there.

VOLUME XV.

LONDON:

RAGGED SCHOOL UNION, 1, EXETER HALL;

KENT & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW;

JOHNSTONE AND HUNTER, EDINBURGH; ROBERTSON, DUBLIN; AND

ALL BOOKSELLERS.

Tempus fugit is a sentiment that perhaps more deeply penetrates the mind of an editor than any other person, especially if his editorial duties have to be closely dove-tailed with many others of equal importance. The filling of the corresponding page to this of the last volume seems so very recent as almost to throw a doubt on the mind whether twelve months have really elapsed since writing it. That they have sped their way, and now form a part of the vast past, is but too true. The great question is, Have we done what we could for our own improvement, for the good of others, and for the glory of God, as opportunity was given? or, by neglecting those opportunities, have we proved selfish, looked on what we have-time, talent, wealth-as our own, and not considering that these we hold as stewards, and that an account will be required of our stewardship in the great final day of reckoning? Our time, like our opportunities, is fleeting, and our course may end sooner and more unexpectedly than we contemplate. The year drawing to a close has heen one in which the Ragged School Union has lost by death an unusual number of friends and supporters, and without apparently having had others to come forward to fill the vacancies so caused. This loss was one the Society was scarcely prepared for, from the fact that at the time of going to press with the finishing sheet of last year's volume it was shown that the Committee of the Ragged School Union had in the last half-year of 1862 voted £1,644 13s. 5d. more than in that period they had received from the public, and since that time it is estimated that they have voted aid and made promise of assistance to the extent of £1,000 more than they have in 1863 received from their supporters; thus showing that their resources for effectively carrying on their movement are in eighteen months lessened by nearly £3,000. It is sincerely hoped the friends of the Society will take this into their serious consideration, and give the Committee the aid they so much need.

The year closing, so far as schools in general are concerned, and Ragged Schools in particular, has been one for consolidation rather than extension, for increasing their efficiency rather than multiplying their efforts. It has been pre-eminently one in which a review has been taken of the work in hand, and of that needful to be done, but not yet touched. Many districts in London have been specially visited, and facts gathered of exact position, educationally considered. These facts in detail are both lengthy and numerous, and before they could be laid before those who were invited to consider them, had to be condensed and laid before them in multum in parvo form. This was done at a Conference of the friends of the poor, convened by the Committee of the Ragged School Union, and presided over by Lord Shaftesbury in March last. It was then clearly shown, that while there were 26,000 children in attendance at the Ragged Schools of London, there were 25,000 more of the same class, and living in the same localities, from various reasons attending no school whatever, excepting that of the street, with vice for the teacher.

The Committee of the Sunday School Union have also looked at the same question, and also called a Conference to consider it. The Conference they called was composed of the clergymen and ministers of London, and the startling fact they laid before the Conference was, that while there were on the books of the metropolitan Sunday Schools, 200,000 names of children belonging to these schools, yet there were 200,000 more that ought to be in those schools and never attended them. The great fact brought out by both these central societies is, that only half the number of children are at school that ought to be. The idea thrown out at both the Conferences, and pressed on all present for further consideration, was that suburban churches, possessing, as many of them do, a surplus of money power and teaching talent, should map out for themselves a destitute locality, and work it as their own home mission station. Efforts of such character would give a healthy vigour to such a church, and be the means of saving many souls from death. Should any church be inclined to adopt the suggestion, the officers of the Ragged School Union will have great pleasure in rendering any aid in their power in mapping out a district, and otherwise assisting in so good a cause.

1, EXETER HALL,

December, 1863.

THE EDITOR.