登陆注册
4717800000007

第7章 CRIME AND EDUCATION(2)

Before I describe a visit of my own to a Ragged School, and urge the readers of this letter for God's sake to visit one themselves, and think of it (which is my main object), let me say, that I know the prisons of London well; that I have visited the largest of them more times than I could count; and that the children in them are enough to break the heart and hope of any man. I have never taken a foreigner or a stranger of any kind to one of these establishments but I have seen him so moved at sight of the child offenders, and so affected by the contemplation of their utter renouncement and desolation outside the prison walls, that he has been as little able to disguise his emotion, as if some great grief had suddenly burst upon him. Mr. Chesterton and Lieutenant Tracey (than whom more intelligent and humane Governors of Prisons it would be hard, if not impossible, to find) know perfectly well that these children pass and repass through the prisons all their lives; that they are never taught; that the first distinctions between right and wrong are, from their cradles, perfectly confounded and perverted in their minds; that they come of untaught parents, and will give birth to another untaught generation; that in exact proportion to their natural abilities, is the extent and scope of their depravity; and that there is no escape or chance for them in any ordinary revolution of human affairs. Happily, there are schools in these prisons now. If any readers doubt how ignorant the children are, let them visit those schools and see them at their tasks, and hear how much they knew when they were sent there. If they would know the produce of this seed, let them see a class of men and boys together, at their books (as I have seen them in the House of Correction for this county of Middlesex), and mark how painfully the full grown felons toil at the very shape and form of letters; their ignorance being so confirmed and solid. The contrast of this labour in the men, with the less blunted quickness of the boys; the latent shame and sense of degradation struggling through their dull attempts at infant lessons; and the universal eagerness to learn, impress me, in this passing retrospect, more painfully than I can tell.

For the instruction, and as a first step in the reformation, of such unhappy beings, the Ragged Schools were founded. I was first attracted to the subject, and indeed was first made conscious of their existence, about two years ago, or more, by seeing an advertisement in the papers dated from West Street, Saffron Hill, stating "That a room had been opened and supported in that wretched neighbourhood for upwards of twelve months, where religious instruction had been imparted to the poor", and explaining in a few words what was meant by Ragged Schools as a generic term, including, then, four or five similar places of instruction. I wrote to the masters of this particular school to make some further inquiries, and went myself soon afterwards.

It was a hot summer night; and the air of Field Lane and Saffron Hill was not improved by such weather, nor were the people in those streets very sober or honest company. Being unacquainted with the exact locality of the school, I was fain to make some inquiries about it. These were very jocosely received in general; but everybody knew where it was, and gave the right direction to it.

The prevailing idea among the loungers (the greater part of them the very sweepings of the streets and station houses) seemed to be, that the teachers were quixotic, and the school upon the whole "a lark".

But there was certainly a kind of rough respect for the intention, and (as I have said) nobody denied the school or its whereabouts, or refused assistance in directing to it.

It consisted at that time of either two or three--I forget which--

miserable rooms, upstairs in a miserable house. In the best of these, the pupils in the female school were being taught to read and write; and though there were among the number, many wretched creatures steeped in degradation to the lips, they were tolerably quiet, and listened with apparent earnestness and patience to their instructors. The appearance of this room was sad and melancholy, of course--how could it be otherwise!--but, on the whole, encouraging.

The close, low chamber at the back, in which the boys were crowded, was so foul and stifling as to be, at first, almost insupportable.

But its moral aspect was so far worse than its physical, that this was soon forgotten. Huddled together on a bench about the room, and shown out by some flaring candles stuck against the walls, were a crowd of boys, varying from mere infants to young men; sellers of fruit, herbs, lucifer-matches, flints; sleepers under the dry arches of bridges; young thieves and beggars--with nothing natural to youth about them: with nothing frank, ingenuous, or pleasant in their faces; low-browed, vicious, cunning, wicked; abandoned of all help but this; speeding downward to destruction; and UNUTTERABLY

同类推荐
  • Pageant of Summer

    Pageant of Summer

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 漫作

    漫作

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 幼科指南

    幼科指南

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 皇明诗选

    皇明诗选

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 绕口令集

    绕口令集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 大明王朝的复兴:弘治中兴十八年

    大明王朝的复兴:弘治中兴十八年

    本文讲述了明孝宗朱祐樘的生平以及他开创的弘治盛世。明孝宗朱祐樘,年号弘治,明朝第九位皇帝,虽然他只有三十六年的短暂生命,却造就了一个繁华灿烂的十八年盛世。这段历史夹在大明成化朝黑暗岁月与正德朝荒唐年代之间,却带给了中国人一段足够幸福与怀念的生活。明孝宗朱祐樘被称为“中兴令主”,他在位期间励精图治,任用王恕、刘大夏等一批为人正直的大臣,开创了一个盛世,史称“弘治中兴”。本书追根溯源,全景式呈现明孝宗朱祐樘传奇式人生,同时讲述了如刘大夏、王恕、马文升等名臣的沉浮人生。
  • 落魄贵族的信仰之战

    落魄贵族的信仰之战

    中世纪的法国小镇上,瓦尔特虽然是一个贵族,但是因为瓦尔特不是自己家中的长子,自然也就没有继承权。所以在瓦尔特的父亲亚尔弗列得死去之后,全部的家产都会由家中的长子阿尔杰来继承。而瓦尔特这个出身在贵族家庭的年轻人除了得到一个爵士的封号之外,什么都得不到。一次意外的听到演讲,瓦尔特决定出门参加远征,路上遇到风风雨雨,最终回到家乡。
  • 著名财富家成才故事(中国名人成才故事)

    著名财富家成才故事(中国名人成才故事)

    本套书精选荟萃了中国历史上最具有代表性的也最具有影响力的名人,编辑成了这套《中国名人成才故事》(共10册),即《著名政治家成才故事》、《著名军事家成才故事》、《著名谋略家成才故事》、《著名思想家成才故事》、《著名文学家成才故事》、《著名艺术家成才故事》、《著名科学家成才故事》、《著名发明家成才故事》、《著名财富家成才故事》、《著名教育家成才故事》等,这些故事既有趣味性,又蕴含深刻的道理,能够带给我们深刻的启迪,是青少年课外不可缺少的精神食粮。
  • 山奴

    山奴

    生老病死,人生四大轮回,。其中占这四大轮回中的四分之三是苦的,而人又是哭着来到人世间,世人真如宗教所说的那样生来就是赎罪的?山奴,背负轮回大山的奴隶。
  • 寄董武

    寄董武

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 喊风来

    喊风来

    那一天太阳泛白,是人们常说的那种毒日头,光到最强烈时总是这种颜色。资江流域有句气象民谚说:白太阳久晴,红太阳近雨。唐家观就是匍匐在资江中下游北岸的一个小镇,这里的人都知道未济老师不怕太阳只怕雨。太阳有什么可怕?未济说,万物生长还靠太阳哩,要是真晒得我眼冒金星了,就往江河里一潜,与鱼儿们嬉戏耳语一阵,再上得岸来时,啧啧,红翅白翅就像是来寻伴一样,都会争着要往我的渔篓里飞。那才过瘾呢!未济老师口中津津乐道的红翅和白翅,是山溪里两种不同类型的小鱼。
  • 你拿什么改变世界:乔布斯给年轻人的100条成功忠告

    你拿什么改变世界:乔布斯给年轻人的100条成功忠告

    《你拿什么改变世界(乔布斯给年轻人的100条成功忠告)》是一本关于成功励志的通俗读物。史蒂夫·乔布斯,这位亲手打造苹果帝国奇迹的 男人,创造了当代历史上不可思议的商业辉煌。自他离世后,世人都在思考:是什么让乔布斯成为了改变世界的天才呢? 在《你拿什么改变世界(乔布斯给年轻人的100条 成功忠告)》中,作者黄薇收集和整理乔布斯的名言 警句后,归纳总结出乔布斯给年轻人的100个忠告, 将乔布斯跌宕起伏的人生经历精彩地呈现给读者,研究乔布斯的思维,找出他成功的秘诀,用生动的案例和简单的道理给予读者诸多人生启示。乔布斯的经历无法再现,但只要敢于尝试,你也可以成就一番了不起的事业。
  • 红楼之黛心如玉

    红楼之黛心如玉

    贾府谋了财还要害命,且看贾府如何再坏事做尽后惨淡收场绝代风华的林妹妹,在走出贾府后尽享自由,且看妹妹在这大千世界里如何洒脱风神俊朗的王爷清新俊逸的世子高贵典雅的皇子义薄云天的侠客到底谁才能俘获美人心?
  • 些许遗忘

    些许遗忘

    单身的我坐到电脑前,看着屏幕,不知道写些什么,电话里陌生的骚扰电话不断,耳边嘈杂的音乐,缓缓地闭眼,或许,重头再来也还不错
  • 萌物王妃

    萌物王妃

    世界上最崔悲的事儿不是一朝穿越,沦为爹不详的小可怜,而是她一个如花似玉的小美人被误认为是男人。苍天啊,她很想一巴掌拍死他,可郁闷的是,十个她也不是这二货的对手?好吧……小女子报仇十年不晚。她发誓总有一天要把他打成猪头,连他爹妈都不认识的那种……王爷有什么了不起,本姑娘照扁不误!