I did not know, till I came in actual contact with
them, how far away the classes which lie at the bottom of great
cities are from those above them; how completely they are
inaccessible to motives which act upon ordinary human beings, and how
deeply they are sunk beyond ray of sun or stars, immersed in the
selfishness naturally begotten of their incessant struggle for
existence and the incessant warfare with society. It was an awful
thought to me, ever present on those Sundays, and haunting me at
other times, that men, women, and children were living in such
brutish degradation, and that as they died others would take their
place. Our civilisation seemed nothing but a thin film or crust
lying over a volcanic pit, and I often wondered whether some day the
pit would not break up through it and destroy us all. Great towns
are answerable for the creation and maintenance of the masses of
dark, impenetrable, subterranean blackguardism, with which we became
acquainted. The filthy gloom of the sky, the dirt of the street, the
absence of fresh air, the herding of the poor into huge districts
which cannot be opened up by those who would do good, are tremendous
agencies of corruption which are active at such a rate that it is
appalling to reflect what our future will be if the accumulation of
population be not checked.
Pages:
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94