82 THE WORLD'S WORKERS. ^ 



crime. A quarter of a century after Mary Carpenter's 

 first ragged school was opened, Mr. Forster's Educa- 

 tion Act became law, and the attendance of children 

 at school was made compulsory. The beneficial 

 effect of that Act, and of the efforts of philanthropists 

 to improve the condition of the poor, has since been 

 proved. It is very remarkable that when Miss 

 Davenport Hill (the daughter of Mr. Davenport Hill, 

 Mary Carpenter's friend) was seeking re-election as a 

 member of the School Board for London, she drew 

 attention to the fact that within twenty years juvenile 

 crime had diminished by more than half. In 1870 

 seven out of every hundred habitual criminals were- 

 under sixteen. In 1884 there were only three out of 

 every hundred, and these were almost all children 

 who had managed to escape being sent to school. 

 Thus the daughter was permitted to rejoice in a good 

 work that her father had done much to bring about. 



Years before this a friend from New York, the 

 Rev. Dr. Dewey, in talking about juvenile delinquents 

 with Mary Carpenter, had said very emphatically, 

 "Do something!" These words sank into her heart, 

 and she never rested until she had begun to " do " 

 something. As early as 1846 she had, in conjunction 

 with a few friends, made a determined plunge, and 

 opened a ragged school. This school was held in a 

 room in Lewin's Mead, a long street in which stood 

 Dr. Carpenter's chapel. Lewin's Mead was not a 

 very inviting spot, but it was exactly the place for 



