The printworks are brought under regulation, and the women
and children removed from the coalpits." His lordship adds, "The
report of inspectors which I send you will give you a faint picture of
the physical, social, and moral good that has resulted. I may safely
say of these measures, that God has blessed them far beyond my
expectation, and almost equal to my heart's desire."
The next great benevolent movement is the ragged school system. From a
miserable hole in Field Lane, they have grown up to a hundred and
sixteen in number. Of these Lord Shaftesbury says, "They have
produced--I speak seriously--some of the most beautiful fruits that
ever grew upon the tree of life. I believe that from the teachers and
from the children, though many are now gone to their rest, might have
been, and might still be, selected some of the most pure, simple,
affectionate specimens of Christianity the world ever saw." Growing
out of the ragged school is an institution of most interesting
character, called "a place for repentance." It had its origin in the
efforts of a young man, a Mr. Nash, to reform two of his pupils. They
said they wished to be honest, but had nothing to eat, and _must_
steal to live.
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