account of the working of the system in Scotland was sent by the Clerk of the Edinburgh Parochial Board, who described it as perfectly successful in that country as well as in Ireland.*

In 1866 a series of letters on the subject of workhouse management was asked for by the editor of the John Bull newspaper, who had seen some notice of the work of the society. These were contributed by me, and ought at least to be named as amongst the many steps and means which led to a consideration of the

and Mrs. Archer presented to him the memorial signed by more than 3000 ladies, praying that guardians be empowered to send children to board beyond the limits of their own unions, under the immediate supervision of ladies in co-operation with the Poor Law authorities, and also that guardians be authorized to deal with such ladies direct, instead of with the foster-parents with whom the children are placed." The secretary of this association is Miss Preusser, Windermere.

* The latest plan devised for improving the condition and training of pauper children is the formation of Village Homes, which are, in fact, district schools divided into families, with a "father and mother" at the head of each house. It is surprising that this admirable plan, so long adopted at Mettray, and at the Rauhe Haus at Hamburg, has not been sooner tried in this country, for the class of destitute and friendless orphans.

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subject by the public, and opened the way to legislation.

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In the same year was published a Letter to the President of the Poor Law Board," containing the results of the society's convictions, and adding as an appendix the letter to the Times on workhouse nurses in 1858, and the evidence on the Parliamentary Commission of 1861.

I think there can be little doubt in the minds of those who have followed the movement thus far, that all the work of the previous twelve years had done much to prepare the way for further action by enlightening the public mind on the subject. One result of perhaps the most importance was the "Lancet Commission," which in 1866 was appointed by the editors of that paper, for the purpose of obtaining the reliable opinions of experienced medical men as to the condition and management of workhouse infirmaries for the sick. Such authori

tative confirmation of all that had been written and said on the subject could not but have great weight and influence, not only on the public mind, but, what was still more important, on that official Board, the members of which could no longer shut their ears to such plain statements of facts. The reports were probably read and very widely circulated at the time, and the remembrance of their revelations cannot yet have passed away. They may be said to have gathered up all that had previously been told unofficially, and had become known to the now numerous body of workhouse visitors.

There were, in fact, three sets of inquiries instituted at this time. 1. The Lancet Sanitary Commission for investigating the State of the Infirmaries and Workhouses. 2. Metropolitan Workhouses (Infirmary Wards) Reports of H. B. Farnall, Esq., and Dr. Edward Smith. (Returns to an order of the House of Commons.) 3. Reports and Papers of the Society for Im

proving London Workhouse Infirmaries. The work was thus described in a daily paper : "If we affirm that all these reports disclose the most lamentable deficiencies and the most radical errors in every one of the departments of management, we shall only say that which repeated proofs of isolated shortcomings have led every one to anticipate. The subject is one which deeply concerns the honour, and touches the conscience of the people. The exposure of the evils which demand a cure was not due to an official hand; it was a private work to which the power of public opinion and the expression of universal sympathy in the Press gave a forcethat compelled official action; and the officials of the Poor Law Board are walking at the rear rank of a procession in which the foremost banners are borne by private individuals."

There is no doubt that the two cases of hardship and mismanagement which had startled and aroused the public mind in the Holborn

and St. Giles's Workhouses in 1865, gave rise to the "Lancet Commission." Mr. Ernest Hart, of St. Mary's Hospital, suggested to the proprietors of that journal that the interior of infirmaries in which such scandalous cases could occur ought to be thoroughly examined. In this inquiry the late Dr. Anstie, of Westminster Hospital, and Dr. Carr, of Blackheath, were associated.

But nine months elapsed, and the Poor Law Board was not stirred into action. In the beginning of 1867, Mr. Hart published a paper in the Fortnightly Review, giving a condensed account of their investigations, and took steps which led to the formation of a committee, consisting of influential men, some of whom were members of Parliament. Shortly after, a public meeting was held in Willis's Rooms, at which Lord Carnarvon presided, and which was crowded by a number of the most notable persons in London. Resolutions were moved