Ever since that time, scheme on scheme of improvement has been not
only proposed but carried out. A general interest of the upper
classes in the lower, a general desire to do good, and to learn
how good can be done, has been awakened throughout England, such
as, I boldly say, never before existed in any country upon earth;
and England, her eyes opened to her neglect of these classes,
without whose strong arms her wealth and genius would be useless,
has put herself into a permanent state of confession of sin,
repentance, and amendment, which I verily trust will be accepted
by Almighty God; and will, in spite of our present shame and
sorrow, {10} in spite of shame and sorrow which may be yet in
store for us, save alive both the soul and the body of this
ancient people.

Let us then, that we may learn how to bear our part in this great
work of Social Reform, consider awhile great cities, their good
and evil; and let us start from the facts about your own city of
which I have just put you in remembrance. The universal law will
be best understood from the particular instance; and best of all,
from the instance with which you are most intimately acquainted.
And do not, I entreat you, fear that I shall be rude enough to say
anything which may give pain to you, my generous hosts; or
presumptuous enough to impute blame to anyone for events which
happened long ago, and of the exciting causes of which I know
little or nothing. Bristol was then merely in the same state in
which other cities of England were, and in which every city on the
Continent is now; and the local exciting causes of that outbreak,
the personal conduct of A or B in it, is just what we ought most
carefully to forget, if we wish to look at the real root of the
matter. If consumption, latent in the constitution, have broken