The King of Ashantee had captive some British subjects--not even of English birth--in 1869.John Bull despatched General Wolseley with the pick of the British army,who smashed Koffee Kalkallee,liberated the captives,and burnt Coomassie,and never winced when the bill came in for #750,000.But that was a mere trifle.When King Theodore,of Abyssinia,made captives of a couple of British representatives,Lord Napier was despatched to rescue.He marched his army to Magdala,brought back the prisoners,and left King Theodore dead.
The cost of that expedition was over nine millions sterling.
The Egyptian Campaign,that smashed Arabi,cost nearly five millions.
The rush to Khartoum,that arrived too late to rescue General Gordon,cost at least as much.The Afghan war cost twenty-one millions sterling.Who dares then to say that Britain cannot provide a million sterling to rescue,not one or two captives,but a million,whose lot is quite as doleful as that of the prisoners of savage kings,but who are to be found,not in the land of the Soudan,or in the swamps of Ashantee,or in the Mountains of the Moon,but here at our very doors?
Don't talk to me about the impossibility of raising the million.
Nothing is impossible when Britain is in earnest.All talk of impossibility only means that you don't believe that the nation cares to enter upon a serious campaign against the enemy at our gates.
When John Bull goes to the wars he does not count the cost.And who dare deny that the time has fully come for a declaration of war against the Social Evils which seem to shut out God from this our world?
SECTION 3.--SOME ADVANTAGES STATED.
This Scheme takes into its embrace all kinds and classes of men who may be in destitute circumstances,irrespective of their character or conduct,and charges itself with supplying at once their temporal needs;and then aims at placing them in a permanent position of comparative comfort,the only stipulation made being a willingness to work and to conform to discipline on the part of those receiving its benefit.
While at the commencement,we must impose some limits with respect to age and sickness,we hope,when fairly at work,to be able to dispense with even these restrictions,and to receive any unfortunate individual who has only his misery to recommend him and an honest desire to get out of it.
It will be seen that,in this respect,the Scheme stands head and shoulders above any plan that has ever been mooted before,seeing that nearly all the other charitable and remedial proposals more or less confess their utter inability to benefit any but what they term the "decent"working man.
This Scheme seeks out by all manner of agencies,marvellously adapted for the task,the classes whose welfare it contemplates,and,by varied measures and motives adapted to their circumstances,compels them to accept its benefits.
Our Plan contemplates nothing short of revolutionising the character of those whose faults are the reason for their destitution.We have seen that with fully fifty per cent.of these their own evil conduct is the cause of their wretchedness.To stop short with them of anything less than a real change of heart will be to invite and ensure failure.
But this we are confident of effecting--anyway,in the great majority of cases,by reasonings and persuasions,concerning both earthly and heavenly advantages,by the power of man,and by the power of God.
By this Scheme any man,no matter how deeply he may have fallen in self-respect and the esteem of all about him,may re-enter life afresh,with the prospect of re-establishing his character when lost,or perhaps of establishing a character for the first time,and so obtaining an introduction to decent employment,and a claim for admission into Society as a good citizen.While many of this crowd are absolutely without a decent friend,others will have,on that higher level of respectability they once occupied,some relative,or friend,or employer,who occasionally thinks of them,and who,if only satisfied that a real change has taken place in the prodigal,will not only be willing,but delighted,to help them once more.
By this Scheme,we believe we shall be able to teach habits of economy,household management,thrift,and the like.There are numbers of men who,although suffering the direst pangs of poverty,know little or nothing about the value of money,or the prudent use of it;and there are hundreds of poor women who do not know what a decently-managed home is,and who could not make one if they had the most ample means and tried ever so hard to accomplish it,having never seen anything but dirt,disorder,and misery in their domestic history.They could not cook a dinner or prepare a meal decently if their lives were dependent on it,never having had a chance of learning how to do it.But by this Scheme hope to teach these things.
By this Plan,habits of cleanliness will be created,and some knowledge of sanitary questions in general will be imparted.
This Scheme changes the circumstances of those whose poverty is caused by their misfortune.To begin with,it finds work for the unemployed.
This is the chief need.The great problem that has for ages been puzzling the brains of the political economist and philanthropist has been "How can we find these people work?"No matter what other helps are discovered,without work there is no real ground for hope.
