LETTER TO LORD SIDMOUTH.

97

to die for comparatively slight offences were always unwearied and frequently successful. It is difficult to believe now, that so late as 1813 the greatest efforts were necessary to prevent the extreme sentence of the law from being carried into effect on a poor wretch, not twenty-two years of age, extremely ignorant, unable either to read or write, and exhibiting no indications of a ferocious disposition, who, it seems, crept in at the window of a house, stole property to the amount of a few shillings, and withdrew without any attempt to commit a personal injury. Yet this was the fact. Well might Mr. Allen, writing, as a last resource, a long personal letter to Lord Sidmouth, indignantly exclaim, Shall a person, to whom, be it remembered, society has failed in its duty, by suffering him to grow up in ignorance,-for the crime of stealing to the amount of a few shillings, and without any aggravating circumstances, suffer the very same punishment which you inflict upon him who has been guilty of the most barbarous murder, and, in short, endure the greatest punishment which one human being can inflict upon another? To reform the guilty, and to restore them as useful members of the community, is a glorious triumph of humanity, and marks a state rising in the scale of civilization; but to have no other resource than the punishment of death reminds me of the

K

98

SAVINGS BANKS AND LASCARS.

miserable subterfuge of a barbarous age, barren in expedients to save, strong only to destroy.'

6

It is gratifying to know that this appeal was successful. 'I am glad,' says Mr. Allen, in a letter to Sir Robert Harry Inglis, that this affair has given me an opportunity of being better acquainted with Lord Sidmouth's real character, of which, from what I have seen myself, I shall think more highly than ever.'

Early in the year 1813 Mr. Allen was planning the establishment of Savings Banks.' 'Hast thou' (he writes to Richard Reynolds, of Bristol,) turned thy attention to the subject of a bank for the poor, in which their little savings of threepence or sixpence a week might accumulate for their benefit? I have consulted Morgan, the great calculator, and he is to sketch me a plan.' Three years afterwards (January the 20th, 1816,) he notes, 'Charles Barclay, Charles Dudley, and Robert Stevens, met me at Plough Court, on the subject of savings banks for the poor, and we laid the first stone of the building.'

On the 13th of February, 1814, Wilberforce calls upon him, and states that he has heard that the Lascars and Chinese kept at Ratcliff had been very ill used.' Would Clarkson and himself see what could be done? This was enough. Away he flies to the rescue of these

NEW PERIODICAL

PHILANTHROPIST.' 99

unfortunate strangers. An order was immediately obtained, to visit and inspect the barracks where two hundred were lodged; and a 'Lascar Society' is immediately founded. The committee meet regularly at Plough Court; Mr. Wontner, of the Minories, and other humane inhabitants of the district, having kindly undertaken to act on behalf of these poor creatures. The same year he is assisting in the formation of the Peace Society,' and in 1815 projecting an institution for the reformation of juvenile criminals.

But there is literally no end of his devices for doing good. The diary groans under his activities. The very pages become heavy and oppressed with the ever returning record of conferences, committees, and appointments. We shall therefore only add, that in June, 1816, with the sole object of stimulating to virtue and active benevolence, by pointing out to those who have the disposition and the power the means of gratifying the best feelings of the heart, and to show that all, even the poorest, may render material assistance. in ameliorating the condition of man,' he established, and with the help of friends conducted, a periodical entitled the Philanthropist.' This journal, which was warmly supported by Clarkson, Brougham, William Crawford, and many other benevolent individuals, was continued till 1820, having by that time extended to seven octavo volumes.

100 MR. ALLEN VISITS LANCASTER,

To the promotion of popular education, Mr. Allen, it is well known, was through life zealously devoted. In mentioning the first visit he paid to Lancaster's school, in the Borough Road, he says, I can never forget the impression which the scene made upon me. Here I beheld a thousand children collected from the streets, where they were learning nothing but mischief, all reduced to the most perfect order, and training to habits of subordination and usefulness, while learning the great truths of the gospel from the Bible. The feelings of the spectator while contemplating the results which might take place in this country and the world in general, by the extension of the system thus brought into practice by this meritorious young man, were overpowering, and found vent in tears of joy."

In the year 1808, Lancaster resigned his affairs, which were then sadly embarrassed, into the hands of trustees; and on the formation of the British and Foreign School Society, which took place in the course of that year, Mr. Allen became treasurer.*

His

advances for some years after the appointment were heavy, and frequently under circumstances which involved risk of repayment. An extraordinary effort was required to raise funds for the liquidation of the debt

* This office he sustained for thirty-five years.

AND DEVOTES YEARS TO HIS CAUSE, 101 with which the Society was encumbered, and it was at length only accomplished by enormous sacrifices of time on the part of a few individuals. The misunderstanding which soon after sprang up between Lancaster and his trustees greatly aggravated a burden which had already become nearly insupportable.

The first thing needed was a regular set of books, and properly arranged accounts. These Mr. Allen undertook to prepare, and he speaks of labouring as hard in unravelling matters' as ever he did in his own concerns. This, however, was but the beginning of trouble. The books and accounts arranged, and a sufficient sum of money raised on loan at five per cent., to place the establishment on a permanent basis, subscriptions had to be secured, expenditure reduced, operations systematized, `buildings erected, a society in name to be made a society in fact; and all had to be effected under a load of obloquy, and in the face of unceasing misrepresentation. A work like this required years of labour, and the diary bears witness that years were cheerfully devoted to it.

In 1811, notes occur to this effect:- Very much overdone this week. I think school concerns altogether have taken up nearly three days.' Again, in 1812, 'Of all the concerns that I have anything to do with, the