thought on the subject sufficiently to entitle 

 me to a decided opinion ; and I am sure if 

 you had been with us to-day, and had heard 

 the instances of the good we have already 

 effected, you would not hold so lightly the 

 exertions of even such humble individuals as 

 we. I hope I am neither neglecting my 

 business, nor my home, in these efforts ; and 

 I am confident you will rejoice with me when 

 I tell you that we have good reason to hope 

 that we are making some impression, how- 

 ever little, upon the vice and ignorance 

 which have so long made those lanes and 

 alleys at the back of our house a nuisance to 

 the neighborhood." 



" Of course, my dear," said Mrs. Mowbray, 

 " I wish always to sympathise witli you in 

 any of your efforts to do good." 



" We have some funds in hand," remarked 

 Mr. Mowbray, " and I have promised our 

 committee to visit the poor families myself 

 to-morrow, to ascertain their individual cir- 

 cumstances, and the best means of serving 

 them. Let me add, my dear," said he coax- 

 ingly, " that I hope you will accompany me, 

 and share with me the pleasure of inquiring 

 into their necessities, and endeavoring to 

 alleviate their distress." 



Mrs. Mowbray would willingly have con- 

 ceded to her husband the monopoly of this 

 pleasure ; but, after making a host of ob- 

 jections and excuses, which were successfully 

 combated by him, was at last brought to 

 acquiesce in his wish, and promised to be in 

 readiness on the following afternoon to ac- 

 company him on what she nevertheless 

 deemed a Quixotic expedition. 



The next day Mrs. Mowbray was reluc- 

 tantly ready on her husband's return from 

 business ; and, roughly attired for the occa- 

 sion, they started on their exploratory tour. 



Leaving the main thoroughfare, with its 

 genteel dwelling-houses and glittering shops, 

 they turned down a little by-street, at the 

 end of which they found themselves in the 

 midst of a huge nest, as it were, of courts 

 and alleys, which presented a striking con- 

 trast with the gaudy street they had just 

 left. Mrs. Mowbray was so shocked at the 

 sight of such wretchedness, that she hesitated 

 to proceed, till re-assured by her husband, 

 who well knew the locality, and had often 

 visited the poor families there before. 



The appearance of the spot was indeed 

 deplorable ; and not a little startling to one 

 w r hose walks had been confined to the public 

 thoroughfares. It was a lovely afternoon, 

 yet even the sun's piercing beams could 

 scarcely penetrate some of these cheerless, 

 gloomy nooks. Here were clusters of pesti- 

 ferous hovels ; some without doors, crowded 

 with human beings, though unfit even for the 

 habitation of the most valueless animal. In 

 many, the old window-panes were almost all 



broken, while in others they were so dirty, 

 and patched with paper or stuffed with rags, 

 that they but very partially admitted the 

 light of day. Ragged and vicious boys were 

 gambling in groups, and bare-footed children 

 were playing about in the slimy mud ; some 

 squalid and puny in consequence of bad air 

 and insufficient food, and others whose chubby 

 features displayed, in spite of dirt and pri- 

 vation, a robustness of health that would 

 have done credit to the nursery of a noble- 

 man. 



Here were gaunt men, with dull, meaning- 

 less countenances, sitting on their comfort- 

 less thresholds ; the bony, haggard women 

 screeching for their strayed children, while 

 the scarcely concealed forms of some of the 

 younger females might have served as models 

 for the painter or sculptor. Yet even here 

 were traces of human sympathies of the 

 purest kind. Girls were nursing their baby 

 sisters with the most patient devotedness. 

 The playful, innocent -faced kitten, a universal 

 favorite, frolicked about in the dirty window- 

 sill ; the social dog seemed quite at home 

 with the children, as they shared with him 

 their pittance of bread ; whilst from many a 

 superannuated saucepan and spoutless tea- 

 pot, at the upper windows, grew the fragrant 

 bergamot and the blushing geranium with 

 strange luxuriance. 



The appearance in such a neighborhood of 

 two well-dressed persons, soon caused an 

 unusual excitement ; especially as Mr. Mow- 

 bray was known among the poor inhabitants. 

 Whenever he appeared there, it might be 

 safely calculated there was something to be 

 given away. Children, after a hasty glance 

 at the intruders, left their playfellows, and 

 ran to their homes ; heads were thrust out 

 at the windows. Some shuffled to their own 

 rooms, that they might be ready if called on ; 

 others obtruded themselves in the way with 

 an obsequious curtsey. Some came to their 

 doors with their little ones peeping from 

 behind their aprons : and all around were on 

 the tiptoe of expectation. 



As they climbed the creaking stairs, and 

 explored the naked garrets of the various 

 houses, it was singular to mark the dis-simi- 

 larity in character and circumstances of the 

 various inmates — alike only in their poverty. 

 Even in form and feature the contrast was 

 striking. In the countenances of some, might 

 be unmistakeably read the sensual and the 

 brutish ; while in the lineaments of others 

 might be traced, notwithstanding dirt and 

 rags, the predominance of the gentle, and 

 even the refined. Here was the round- 

 cheeked boor, who fattened amid the filth 

 that seemed natural to him ; and here the 

 angular-featured man of thought and of ob- 

 servation, whom more favorable circum- 

 stances might have placed in a far different 



