Untitled - Electric Scotland

1857-59] SPECIAL SERVICES 261
Describing one of these Bethnal Green Services, the
Times 1 wrote :
"
Long before eight o clock, the time appointed
for the com
mencement of the service, the spacious church was densely
crowded by such an auditory as it is quite safe to say was never
before seen in any church in England. The people who
assembled were of the poorest possible classes men with fustian
jackets and unshaven faces ; women whose faces betokened the
sad privations they are called upon to endure, and many in
absolute rags. . . . The church was crowded to suffocation, and
hundreds of persons who had vainly struggled to obtain admis
sion assembled in the adjacent streets, and occupied them
selves in discussing the nature of this new movement for their
edification."
The Guardian 2 thus described the first sermon of the
course :
"
Three-fourths probably of the audience were men a very
considerable proportion of them being weavers of the district.
. . . The Bishop s sermon was entirely extemporaneous, and the
striking earnestness and sincerity which characterised his affec
tionate and eloquent discourse appeared to sustain throughout
the attention of every member of the congregation. This first
service was thoroughly successful, was unmistakably attended
by the working classes, and is one of the first fruits of the newlyestablished
London Diocesan Home Mission."
A few words are necessary to explain the origin and
character of the last-named organisation. At the close
of his first year of Episcopal work, Bishop Tait convened
a meeting of the incumbents of the most populous London
parishes, and propounded to them his plan for a *
Diocesan
Home Mission organisation, which should arrange
periodically for such special services as have been
described above, and should also employ a certain number
of clergy, under the Bishop s direction, for distinctly
evangelistic or aggressive work in crowded districts,
1
Dec.ao, 1857.
2 Nov 25) r857j p. 9IO>