Chapters II and III

Chapter II
The Real Ragged School

Mr. Kirk was still a young man of twenty, in the office of the Pure Literature Society, when the call came to what has practically proved his life-work.

As has been mentioned, he was already associated with Ragged School work, and in that connection had come into touch with Mr. J. G. Gent, then and for many subsequent years secretary of the Ragged School Union. The Society’s offices were two rooms in Exeter Hall, the Exeter Hall of olden days, recognized throughout the English-speaking world as the centre of Christian philanthropic agencies.

The Ragged School Union was the Earl of Shaftesbury’s institution. The gulf between the aristocrat and the coster and the poor was vast but the Christian Earl –despite his tendencies to narrowness– could bridge it with delight to himself, and with joy to the recipients of his bounty and interest. Like all men of means and position, he was besieged with begging letters, and was content to seek the knowledge and aid of the Ragged School Union’s secretary, Mr. Gent.

The Strand was not a long way from his lordship’s house, 24 Grosvenor Square, afterwards occupied by another Ragged School Union president, the Earl of Aberdeen, and by others, and he was a frequent visitor to the office, and a fairly diligent attendant at the meetings of the committee and of sub-committees. It was also the practice of Mr. Gent, and after him of Mr. Kirk, to call upon Earl Shaftesbury once or twice weekly and keep him au courant with the Society’s affairs.

Mr. Gent himself, who died in 1894, at the ripe age of eighty-two, was an elderly, good-natured official of the quiet Times-reading type existing before typewriters, telephones, and a dozen mails a day had solved the problem of perpetual motion. The chief business of the Ragged School Union of the sixties was to aid in the maintenance of day schools for the poorest and most unkempt classes. In the year of the Second Reform Bill the Union had 200 such schools under its wing.

The British and Foreign School Society had united educational reformers throughout the country, who were caring for the children of those trade and artisan Nonconformists who objected to the Establishment. In London hundreds of thousands were unreached by Anglican, Catholic, or Noncomformist, and Ragged School workers did their best to empty the gutters. It was a heroic effort, heroically maintained, and, after all, could but touch the fringe of the population. The workers themselves were not readily endowed with this world’s goods, being recruited from tradesmen, foremen and superior clerks. The well-to-do who supported the Ragged School Union were comparatively few, and their gifts for a twelvemonth only aggregated £4,008.

The committee of the Union did not undertake direct work. They gathered funds and distributed them in grants to local committees who were facing the burden of day-school maintenance. A generation has grown up which knows nothing of those days of the lean kine; many missions to-day conduct operations in substantial buildings. But forty years ago the working philanthropists took what they could get, and the best was bad. Sheds and tenements of low pitch, ill-ventilated, without sanitation, with damp and dirty walls, unrelieved by maps and pictures, and fitted with desks and benches hardly good enough for firewood were the Victorian equivalent for the modern school palace.

These buildings were used by day for teaching, by night for clubs, meetings, and sundry purposes, and on Sundays for schools and services. In many cases one section of supporters would be most interested in the Sunday religious work; then came divided counsels and rough working.

Of course there were limited Government grants, awarded by H.M. inspectors, who lived in a state of chronic discontent at the miserable accommodation. But remonstrances were unavailing. Even had the early committees been as wise educationists as they were devoted philanthropists, their reply must have been the same: “No Funds!”

For the chief requisite in teaching is the teacher, and the teacher could no more live on air than a Scotch dominie, and he was less fortunate than his Highland brother in that he had not been early taught the value and economy of oatmeal. But it was hard work to provide the teachers’ salaries, small as the were. The ablest men and women of course obtained the best posts in Church and British and Wesleyan schools; those without certificates, and some who had never tried for parchments, gravitated to these poor Ragged Schools. The united incomes of husband and wife managing a boys’ and a girls’ school often failed to reach £100 a year, and where a headmistress of to-day receives £300 (it is true supervising many more scholars), the woman teacher of that day could often not count on more than £30.

Their qualifications varied; yet clearly, in many cases, the attainments were low; and in the early days of the London School Board, when, one by one, these schools were closed because not reaching an “efficient” standard, it was quite easy for an arrogant young solicitor to make merry before the magistrate over a teacher’s misuse of h’s and a sad indifference to Lindley Murray.

These workers must not, however, be wholly judged by such standards. Many, indeed most, came to their work with a zeal and a sympathetic interest in the children beyond all praise. Men like Mr. Kirk, whose experience and memory reach back to these early days, are the best able to realize what enormous strides have been made. But they aver, also, that no sooner was a school even of the humble and imperfect character just described, opened in a neighbourhood, than it gradually and unconsciously affected its inhabitants.

The schools were free; no payments were exacted from the scholars. The urchins who came were shoeless and hardly clad at all; they were ill-fed and often starving; they were the poorest of the poor. But soon there arose a feeling of amour proper; often stimulated by the efforts of teachers and committee to lighten their dark lot, they would try to come washed, and better clothed, and slowly dark ignorance gave way to the elements of knowledge. These keys, in turn, opened to many doors of wisdom, usefulness, and progress.

Every effort, too, such as that of the Ragged School Union, drove one more dart into the national conscience and helped to pave the way for the attempt made by Mr. W. E. Forster to institute a really national system of education in 1870.

It was in this seething time of reform and agitation that Mr. Kirk was appointed assistant secretary of the Ragged School Union. One day he was in Mr. Gent’s room when that gentleman was opening letters from candidates for the then vacant post. A happy thought struck the Secretary, who said in his quiet tones:

“Why don’t you apply for the post? You are just the man who could serve us.”

This was October 1867. Mr. Kirk took the hint, wrote his letter, and, with the slow haste characteristic of committees, in December the appointment was formally completed, and the young man entered on his duties.

They were far less onerous than have become those of his successors. With the aid of a boy, two or three copies of the monthly Ragged School Union Magazine had to be issued, subscriptions acknowledged, and full records kept of the Society’s connection with the Ragged Schools aided by grants.

Oversight was maintained through two inspectors of visitors, salaried by the Committee. One of those, Mr. E. J. Hytche, spent his time in calling and reporting on the schools north of the Thames, and Mr. R. J. Curtis visited those in South London.

Few names that can be recalled of the committee and workers of the sixties live now in public remembrance, though “their works follow them.” Mr. Robert Mountstephen, a ruddy-faced hay salesman in Smithfield Market, was a very devoted worker and a model Superintendent of his Ragged School in Field Lane. A one-armed man named Watts, a railway employee, proved what splendid service the humblest ranks may render. Mr. R. J. Snape, a barrister, who for forty years served on the committee, was a valuable co-worker. Miss Snape, his sister, became the wife of Prebendary Cadman, who at one time had no fewer than seven Ragged Schools under his immediate care.

The name of George Holland is indissolubly associated with George Yard, Whitechapel. He was a special favourite of Lord Shaftesbury, and often associated with H.R.H. the Duchess of Teck and with members of the aristocracy. Queen Victoria sent him a copy of her Life in the Highlands, with an autograph inscription. He was a real power in East London, and a neighbouring clergyman said of him that his life-work was the most perfect and satisfactory he knew.

Earl Cairns, Lord Chancellor, was a man remarkable for many gifts, and not least for his labour as a Sunday school teacher. He, too, was associated with Ragged School work. Dr. Stoughton, the Congregational historian and eminent divine, was also in fellowship with the movement, as was Rev. Henry Allon, the gifted and musical minister of Union Chapel, Islington. The Ragged School in Nichol Street was under his aegis, and Mr. Henry Spicer, with members of his family, were devoted teachers, as were also Mr. Henderson and Mr. Erlebach.

Dr. Allon’s successor, the Rev. W. Hardy Harwood, who is a great lover of children, is a vice-president of the Ragged School Union.

Dove Row Ragged School bears an honoured name, one of whose worthiest adherents has been Mr. Hardy, a day-school teacher. Mr. George Kelsey, who long served as treasurer, has but recently died. Mr. Cotsford, still living was until recently superintendent, and was associated with Mr. Gent in Agar Town even before the Ragged School Union was formed.

It is not always that workers see or know of the beneficent results of their toil. Yet sometimes the deeds of these worthy men come to light. In January of 1907 Mr. Kirk, while at Hove, met a grocer who in boyhood had been taught in Hatfield Street School by a Mr. Robottom, and now when groups of children are lodged in Hove working-class homes through the summer, gathers and cares for them the whole of Sunday. In this way he endeavours to requite the kindness shown him in early days.

Mr. John Macgregor (Rob Roy), whose energy and enthusiasm oozed at every pore, was deeply interested in the dissemination of pure literature. As everybody knows he was the originator of the Shoeblack Brigade, an offshoot of the Ragged School movement. In its early days no embers were enrolled save those who were nominated by teachers of Ragged Schools. The committee of the Union voted £200 towards the erection of premises for lodging and recreation in Saffron Hill, and in other ways assisted the movement. One of the most devoted workers in the Brigade was Mr. Martin Ware, long the superintendent of Peace Cottage Ragged School, St. Pancras, and a veteran standard-bearer of the Union. Mr. W. J. Taylor, Secretary of London Female Preventative and Reformatory Institution of Euston Road, also served his apprenticeship to Ragged School Union work at Peace Cottage.

One of Rob Roy’s marked characteristics was the persuading other people to work, and it was only natural that he should find valuable recruits in the legal profession with which he was himself connected. One of the most distinguished of these was the young student who has been so long known as the upholder of Christian statesmanship in the House of Commons and the advocate of Christian missions everywhere –Sir John Kennaway, Bart, M.P.

One of the men who companioned with him on the Conservative benches was the late Earl of Harrowby, better known as Viscount Sandon. When Mr. Forster’s Education Bill was in the air he was a constant caller at the Ragged School Union office to confer with the officials and the committee.

On the general question it was rather remarkable that Lord Shaftesbury, the unswerving friend of the poor, should have taken umbrage at Mr. Forster’s proposals. Of necessity they had to start from the premises of efficient education, which implied efficient teachers and efficient buildings. All schools and buildings, private or public, which, after a fair interval, failed to come up to a reasonable standard, must necessarily be regarded as inefficient and shut out from receiving government aid. Lord Shaftesbury was, as we have said, deeply interested in his clusters of Ragged Schools, and foresaw their doom, since it would be impossible, from private sources, to raise the amount needful to adapt them to the law’s new requirements. He therefore assumed a somewhat rather antagonistic position, and the Education bill had to be carried through without the valuable aid which, had he looked at the matter from another standpoint, he would have been able to render.

His view was not shared by all members of the committee, and Rob Roy, seeing that the change must come, and with an ever alert mind, was among those who resolved to adapt themselves to the new order of things and find some other channels of usefulness for the Ragged School centres in the metropolis.

The good Earl’s fears were well founded. On the formation of the London School Board, and its enquiry as to which were efficient schools, one after another of the poorly-equipped Ragged Schools were condemned, and had to be abandoned by the committees. The Sunday departments were maintained, but hardly one-tenth remained for secular education, and the last of them, Stephen-the-Yeoman, continued until 1906.

This mission in Marigold Place still continues its varied useful agencies, and may be described as an example of the very poorest. It is situated in Marigold Place, about fifty yards off Jamaica Road, Bermondsey on the one side, and a stone’s-throw from the river on the other. It is neighboured by a population largely consisting of dock labourers, and besides the drink cause of poverty, has that of casual and often scarce labour.

In 1859, in a room at the street corner, a very humble educational beginning was made, and in 1863 a small one-storeyed building was erected on the present site, to which Lord Shaftesbury was a constant visitor. So late as 1901, his son, the Hon. Evelyn Ashley, presided at the annual meeting of the Mission.

Through Lord Shaftesbury, Miss Charlesworth, author of that delightful book, Ministering Children, and aunt of the Miss Charlesworth who became a Salvationist and married one of General Booth’s sons, was led to take an interest in this particular school. She, with many of her friends, also became visitors. Miss Charlesworth was a lady of rare heavenly-mindedness and of great generosity, expressing itself in a variety of ways. On one occasion she came to the school, accompanied by a coster, whose entire barrowful of apples she had purchased. She specially set aside £100 from the profits of her book, English Yeomen, towards a new building in 1861 (hence the name of its hero, Stephen-the-Yeoman). Her brother, the Rev. Samuel Charlesworth, contributed generously to a second building twenty years later. It has two storeys, several class-rooms, and kitchen apparatus.

A tablet over one fireplace records Miss Charlesworth’s virtues, and another on the opposite side, below a portrait of Lord Shaftesbury, records his introduction of that lady. It was rather a sad coincidence that on the very day (October 1, 1885) the new foundation stone was laid, Mr. Kirk received a telegram announcing Lord Shaftesbury’s death.

It was a mixed school, accommodating about a hundred and fifty children. The four lady teachers constituting the staff drew a salary aggregate of £194, and in 1901 the Government grant amounted to £204. All other outgoings had to be met by donations. Each teacher wrought cheerfully in some other department of the mission. Miss Challis, the principal, after forty years’ service, is still, in optimistic youthfulness, continuing her self-sacrificing labours, and finds warm friends in Lady Newnes whose philanthropy iis as retiring as it is generous and in Miss Friedrichs, of the Westminster Gazette. Mr. Charles Morley, M.P., is president of the whole mission. Among other workers are Mr. Farmer –who founded the school– Mr. John and Mr. James Menzies, and Mr. J. H. Challis.

The kindergarten teacher was twelve years at work, and so gentle were her methods that even H.M. inspector mentioned the fact in one of his reports. Another assistant took entire charge of the breakfasts and dinners given in the winter months. The fourth rendered valuable service in the Sunday school held on Sunday evening. This is crowded with scholars, most of the boys among whom have, at one time or another, been in far too close touch with the police.

The various agencies of this and kindred schools are maintained in a truly Christ-like spirit –Sunday services, Band of Hope, Girls’ Friendly Society, Evenings for the People, Penny Bank, Flower Show, and the like. The Mothers’ Meeting at Stephen-the-Yeoman, long conducted by Mrs. Menzies and Miss Stone, is held on a week evening for the convenience of the women, and is largely attended. Strenuous efforts have been continuously made to find clothes for the children, wretchedly clad beyond any conception of West End folk. Sometimes a girl attends with absolutely only one garment, many without shoes and stockings, and the majority appear to wear foot-gear utterly useless for protection and originally the property of adults. The condition of some of the boys is pitiful in the extreme, and yet there is great difficulty in extending relief, for in many families a pawnable article does not long remain.

It is surprising what charming little people are some of these children in the infants’ department. Golden hair, lovely eyes, and pretty ways would make some them priceless treasures for the artist. They are quite a joy to the teacher, and, though sometimes mischievous, are remarkably obedient. A girl of six, who has quite a talent in recitation, one day suddenly altered a line, and declared, “It drives me fair balmy!” When reproved, she argued that she “Quite forgot herself.”

It is in the years of boyhood and girlhood that the influence of home (!) and surroundings is felt for evil, and the teachers’ difficulties increase.

But the twentieth century student of social problems will find, if he cares to visit, a real Ragged School in Marigold Place, Bermondsey.

Each Ragged School has almost invariably been a similar hive of useful agencies for adults as well as children. They were originally pitched in the most densely populated quarters and amid the worst slums. The conductor and his friends would raise their voices in hymn or speech in some court or alley, and women would open their windows, look on, and listen, the men perchance lounging against the walls with pipes in their mouths.

The next step was that some would be induced to enter the mission-room. To attract and hold them, clubs were formed and pleasant evenings maintained. When, perforce, day-teaching was stopped, additional efforts were made in this direction. Gymnasia were found to delight and recreate the children and the elder lads; Bands of Hope were sustained, and special services for children were promoted.

The Committee of the Ragged School Union altered also their method of making grants. Hitherto such monies as they received had been given solely to day-school managers; now they made smaller gifts in aid of every kind of useful effort which local committees set on foot.

Yet in face of the appalling ignorance of the masses, the educational idea was ever uppermost with men of the type of John Macgregor, and evening schools were started in very many of the buildings. Teachers of a superior stamp, employed by the London Board and Voluntary School managers, were not averse to adding to their income by working a couple of hours on several evenings of the week.

Evening schools are difficult at all times, even with the most ambitious pupils, for after a day’s physical toil or mental study, the penultimate hours before bed are the very worst for fixing intellectual powers on new subjects. Experience proved that in the poorer classes of working folk, fatigue, weak health, and insufficient nourishment subtracted largely from the power and willingness to learn. Nor did the evening school teachers cherish the same personal interest in their pupils as that felt by the less qualified men and women who had entered into the work largely as a labour of love. So year by year the number of these schools diminished. Now they are entirely merged in the London County Council Evening Continuation Schools.

It was necessary, of course, that they should be supervised on behalf of the Ragged School Union Committee. Mr. Curtis, already mentioned, retained his connection, paying in the evening the visits of inspection formerly made in the day. Mr. Hytche having retired, Mr. Kirk, whose position as assistant secretary made him familiar with the schools, took a share in the duties of inspection.

Secretaries and others calling at headquarters naturally took a liking to the young fellow of genial bonhomie and Christian courtesy with whom they had most to do. He was not a mere official, but a Ragged School worker like themselves, and numerous were the invitations he received to visit them on Sunday afternoons and evenings. Through the four decades following, this relish for Mr. Kirk’s presence has been preserved, and every mission affiliated to the Ragged School Union of to-day not only seeks his name for the printer’s placard, but gives him hearty welcome on arrival.

The young inspector, being known as a friend, was gladly received by the conductors of the evening schools, and in the course of time he became familiar with every school and with every department of local enterprise.

The committee felt equal confidence, for on Mr. Kirk’s acceptance of the secretaryship of the Open-Air Mission (to which our next chapter is devoted), he continued for some months to attend the Ragged School union office during the day and to discharge his mission duties in the evening. Very quickly, however, these increased, and the Open-Air Mission demanded the whole day, leaving only the evenings for the Ragged School Union service.

If 1867 – 73 was the most easeful period of Mr. Kirk’s strenuous life, that of 1873 – 9 must have been about the hardest, since through nearly the whole period he would, during five evenings of each week, visit something like a score of the evening Ragged Schools.

Advantage lay, however, in meeting a host of self-denying workers. There were men of ripe experience, as their grey hairs testified; men in the prime of life and devoting their best energies to the uplifting of their fellows; some were men of the same age, who have marched step by step with john Kirk in the varied developments and advances which have arisen in the Ragged School movement. Many have been called to higher service, and others are perforce resting from their labours, yet able to write or dictate a letter at times to show their unabated interest in the ever-increasing usefulness of the Ragged School Union.

Sir Charles Gage Brown, for some time medical adviser to the Colonial Office, was a member of the Ragged School Union Council, until failing health compelled him to retire. He was one of the first to write his good wishes for the Testimonial Fund, and his desire, if possible, to be present at the Mansion House meeting. The honoured secretary of the Church Missionary Society, Prebendary H. E. Fox, when Vicar of Christ Church, Westminster, was associated with the Ragged School there; in the house of Mr. Robert Baxter he and Mr. Kirk often met. Mr. Baxter was a Parliamentary solicitor, and father of the Rev. M. Baxter of Christian Herald fame.

Mr. James Pascall, a former member of the London School Board, was a worker for twenty years in the Croydon Ragged School.

Mr. J.T. Dunn, long connected with the Metropolitan Tabernacle, was superintendent for many years of the Richmond Street Ragged School, Walworth, and with his energetic colleague, Mr. C. G. Barr, Mr. Kirk has long worked in cordial intimacy.

Baptists are, generally speaking, hard workers, and Mr. Kirk has found no more faithful supporter than in the Rev. William Cuff, whose peculiar gifts have so long maintained in spiritual prosperity the manifold agencies of Shoreditch Tabernacle.

To the Lambeth school the members of the Briant family have been attached for two generations, Mr. Frank Briant, member of the London County Council, being still interested. With this in its early days some of the Doultons were associated. At present it rejoices in the superintendency of Mr. William Medwin, who is a worthy successor of the somewhat noted leader, Mr. W. H. Miller, who has long since passed to his rest.

********************

Chapter III
The Open-Air Mission

On July 17, 1873, Mr. Kirk was appointed secretary of the OPEN-AIR MISSION, another of the Christian agencies which were the outcome of Rob Roy’s ceaseless activity.

The Committee’s choice was not made because Mr. Kirk was himself an ardent open-air preacher, although in the summer of 1880 he had but one “dumb” Sunday. His natural gifts do not lie in the way of oratory. Long practice in the exposition of subjects more especially his own has made him an effective speaker, and wide reading and close observation have added a great wealth of illustration. But the office life of a busy man, when followed by an engagement from home almost every evening in the week, leaves scant opportunity for that quiet meditation which enables a man to plan with sermonic and scientific exactness a logical arrangement of thoughts. Speaking often, and frequently on the same platform at distant intervals, the best that he can do is to take the though which comes uppermost and clothe it with facts or anecdotes noted that day in the newspaper or the office correspondence.

Mr. Kirk’s easeful fluency of speech comes out to greatest advantage seated at his desk or across the dinner table. There, in cultured and dignified phrase and in quiet tones, he presents his argument with force and paints word-scenes with picturesque effect.

Nor was it in any way essential that the new secretary of the Open-Air Mission should himself be a street preacher. His business was to organise, guide, protect, support, and unite the company of earnest men who, in London, the provinces, and elsewhere, were intent on carrying the Gospel to the people.

The first committee of the Open-Air Mission was constituted in June 1853. The only name among the eight gentlemen who composed it which survives the lapse of years is that of Mr. John Macgregor (Rob Roy), who filled then, until his death, the post of honorary secretary. For several years the secretarial work was undertaken by Mr. John Wilde Taylor at an office in Robert Street, Adelphi, removed in later years to Duke Street.

The first report reads like a defence of open-air preaching, and this shows how marked the influence of the Mission has been on public opinion, since to-day no one would consider the practice needful of defence.

Its difficulties are common to every age, and they are outlined in the very first Occasional Paper issued by the Society. “There are, to begin with, the imprudent and indiscreet men who open up controversy they are not sufficiently well equipped to maintain. Then, a single mischievous person can disturb the congregation. And there are the peculiarities in the English climate which affect both speakers and hearers. One friend of the Mission, a University man, compiled a thirty-two age pamphlet to show that laymen had a right to preach.”

The new movement, however, went steadily on, extending to fairs and race-courses in the provinces, to public executions, and to any great concourse of people, such as a Royal visit. Other friends spent their summer vacations in rendering similar service.

In the course of a few years auxiliaries to the Mission were formed in several London districts –Southwark, St. Pancras, and Islington being specially to the front.

Early use was made of literature, and from the outset generous grants were made by the Religious Tract Society. The Mission also provoked other bodies to similar good works, such as the London City Mission, the Church Pastoral Aid Society, the Lay Helpers’ Association, Young Men’s Societies, and the London Diocesan Home Mission. An early record shows that some of the plans for regular week-night services included the leading clergymen and ministers of the neighbourhood.

A register was kept of lay preachers associated with the Mission, and a common rallying-point was found in a meeting held on the last Monday evening in each month. Speakers and subjects were highly varied, and proved extremely useful.

In 1860 Mr. Gawin Kirkham succeeded to the post of secretary, and except during the years 1873 – 7, was connected with the society until his death. His name is inextricably linked with the mission; he was a persuasive and powerful open-air speaker, a man of wide brotherly sympathies, and of a deeply spiritual nature. On his devoting his whole time to the office, the range and extent of its operations very considerably increased; permission had been obtained for services in the parks, others being regularly conducted in lodging-houses. Large and clearly-printed Scripture placards were regarded as effective silent preachers.

An amusing line in the report of the ninth annual meeting records that “Mr. Payne (subsequently Deputy Judge of the Clerkenwell Sessions) read his 1738^th poetic effusion.” At the same meeting one of the speakers was Mr. Robert Baxter, who, until his death, was one of the mission’s warmest friends.

Since in later years we have experienced the salutary change of executions being privately conducted, the younger generation can hardly realise that throughout the greater part of the Victorian era vast crowds were wont to witness the spectacle of a man or woman being hurled into eternity.

The records, e.g. of the Mission in 1862, describe a scene at Lancaster, when, to avoid the shame of a public execution, the prisoner drowned himself: “As the crowd of three thousand or four thousand people who had assembled would not go away, they were addressed for three hours by the secretary, the town missionary, a local minister, and a Yorkshire farmer. Many persons in the crowd had walked ten, twenty, and even thirty miles; and so morbid were the tastes of some that they shouted for the dead body to be brought out and hung up. It was deeply interesting to see the people sitting on the churchyard wall, and crowding round the preachers as they stood under the castle and spoke the words of eternal life.”

Many other executions were attended that year, and at that of Catherine Wilson, forty workers distributed 60, 000 tracts.

It is interesting to turn back to these days of the sixties and seventies of last century —days since which so much has happened— and learn the qualifications deemed essential for open-air preachers.

1. A good voice.

2. Naturalness of manner.

3. Self-possession.

4. A good knowledge of Scripture and of common things.

5. Ability to adapt himself to any congregation.

6. Good illustrative powers.

7. Zeal, prudence, and common sense.

8. A large loving heart.

9. Sincere belief in all he says.

10. Entire dependence on the Holy Spirit for success.

11. A close walk with God by prayer.

12. A consistent walk before men by a holy life.

Very few such Admirable Chrichtons were to be found; but while some men entered upon the work from egotism or unworthy motives, the majority of those identified with the Open-Air Mission were earnest godly men.

The value of union lay in mutual protection and counsel. Among a number of hints given by the South London Auxiliary —and often reprinted in the Mission papers— were sensible instructions, such as these: —

Work with others whenever you can, and as much as possible regularly with the same group.

Let there be an acknowledged leader with each group.

Avoid services at late hours, noisy singing, vulgar tunes, shouting, and ridiculous gestures.

Do not preach on controverted doctrines.

Do not attempt fine language or artificial manners.

Never resist the police.

Always speak courteously.

Give place to brethren who can speak better than yourself.

Always speak reverentially of God.

Never thrust tracts at persons.

At the time Mr. Kirk entered upon the work of the Mission — Mr. Gawin Kirkham having left it to assist the Rev. W. Pennefather at Mildmay— the number of members was 160, and the income from donations and subscriptions was £394. The races visited numbered 42, fairs 39, and other special gatherings 26. Enough fields were occupied to engage one man’s time and to require his ability. Mr. Macgregor, the Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, who was treasurer, and other members of the committee had wisely judged that Mr. Kirk’s gifts of organisation and his eagerness for work would lead to the extension alike of fields, methods, and income. Nor were they disappointed, as the records of six and a half years’ service show.

The only remaining members of the original committee of the Mission, after twenty years of work, were Rob Roy and the late Hugh Owen (afterwards Sir Hugh Owen).

But in numbers and social weight the committee was now stronger, including Colonel Wilmot Brooke, Colonel Kelly, Colonel Roxburgh, Admiral Fishbourne, Mr. Robert Baxter, Sir C. Douglas Fox, Mr. Henry Gibson, Mr. Lockhart Gordon, Mr. Richard Turner, Mr. Joseph Weatherley, and others.

There was also a special list of distant corresponding members residing in various cities of the United Kingdom, and in Australia, Canada, Holland, Belgium, and the United States. Conspicuous among these was Mr. D. L. Moody, then located at Chicago.

The most delightful feature of the Open-Air Mission was, and is, its thoroughly unsectarian character. The first annual meeting arranged by Mr. Kirk was held at the Wesleyan Church, Approach Road, Victoria Park. On another occasion addresses were delivered by the Vicar of Blackwall, the Presbyterian Dr. Edmond, and Dr. Samuel Manning of the Religious Tract Society.

The first complete yearly report presented by Mr. Kirk showed considerable advance. In 1856 the fairs and races visited numbered 18; in 1872 the total was 107; in this year —1874— it had risen to 217, ranging from Deal to Plymouth, from Yarmouth to Southport; and the number of tracts presented by the Religious Tract Society alone numbered 223,000. The leading religious journals seem, from time to time, to have printed appreciative notices of the work done.

The twelve monthly conferences, held in various parts of the metropolis, had been full of interest. Rob Roy lectured on “The Sea of Galilee”; and it is interesting to note that thirty years ago Dr. Lorimer described “St. Paul Preaching at Rome,” and the Rev. Mark Guy Pearse dwelt upon “The Gospel Preached to the Poor.”

In this year, too, we come upon a report from the Christian Mission under the superintendence of William Booth, now General of the Salvation Army. He records that at their 34 stations, 7540 open-air services had been held; these in East London and some large provincial towns. A Hastings correspondent writes in the same year: “At Warrior Square we had services almost every fine Sunday evening, and a mission, under the superintendence of the Rev. W. Booth, held meetings in the Fish Market, Hastings.”

Provincial items came from numerous towns, such as Abingdon, Brighton, Cambridge University, Cardiff, Leeds, and Portsmouth, and Mr. Gawin Kirkham made his annual trip to Yorkshire, very truly remarking that “Seven services a day are enough to test any man.” Encouraging notes came also from Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee, from Halifax in Nova Scotia, and from Hobart Town, Tasmania.

The next year’s report (1876) showed that 200 members had been elected, who were assisted by some 600 workers, all being invited to the monthly conferences. Besides arranging this central series, Mr. Kirk had attended some 50 smaller conventions and meetings to extend open-air work. That year a service in French was held regularly in Soho, and Bank Holidays were being turned to good account.

Happily the old style of fair, with its crowds and excesses, was largely passing away, but a new departure had been taken in assisting, by special speakers, whose expenses were paid, various clergymen and ministers who undertook special missions. These in 1876 numbered 244, and included an encouraging month’s work in Guernsey. This involved increased expenditure; but the Mission was growing in public confidence, and the year’s subscriptions and donations amounted to £731, including a special gift of £100 from the Baroness Burdett-Coutts.

Mr. Kirk was also successful in inducing Archbishop Tait to permit the use of Lambeth Palace grounds for the annual meeting of 1876, and himself to give an address. That statesman-ecclesiastic rightly observed: “Whatever efforts may have been made to extend the usefulness of the Church according to its prescribed and regular machinery, you will all see that it is quite impossible for any regular efforts of ordained clergy to keep pace with the ever-growing population…It is of the very essence of such efforts as that which has brought us here to-day, to endeavour to reach those who cannot be reached by the ordinary ministrations of our churches.”

The conferences of the year were maintained at their usual high level. Opened in January by Rob Roy, the chairmen included Lord Ebury, Sir George Williams, Mr. T. B. Smithies, Prebendary Row, and the Right Hon. Cowper Temple. Dr. Culross spoke on “The Preacher’s Commission”; Pastor William Cuff asked, apropos of Mr. Moody’s visit, “What has the Revival left Us?” Dr. Donald Fraser dealt with “Regeneration, as related to Gospel Preaching”; and Mr. W. R. Cooper delivered an instructive lecture on “Ancient Egyptian Theology and Literature and their relation to the Holy Scriptures.”

Thirty-five pages of the report are filled with interesting memoranda from the various districts. Mr. W. J. Orsman, so long the honorary superintendent of Costers’ Hall, says of St. Luke’s, Clerkenwell: “For our open-air services we have no banners or texts, but simply a hundred good singers, who are led by a small harmonium.” The Rev. Styleman-Herring regularly conducted open-air preaching in the barbican. At Ramsgate services were held nightly on the sands.

This was the year following Messrs. Moody and Sankey’s great missions, and everywhere sounded echoes of their speech and song. Even in France evangelistic efforts were being made. The Rev. W. F. Cobb organised five weeks’ energetic work among the Kentish hop-pickers. For the tenth consecutive year Mr. Kirkham visited the great Gala Day of Bury St. Edmonds, and was assisted by a hundred preachers and singers. The increased number of private race-courses had unfortunately provided further scope for effort.

The persistent efforts of the Mission had largely removed the scruples cherished by some Christian people as to the propriety of such visitation, and inherent difficulties of the work were slowly disappearing the Secretary’s love of reading led him to quote in the new report a passage from Conybeare and Howson’s Life of St. Paul, showing that the Great Apostle pursued an absolutely similar plan in visiting festivals at Corinth, Ephesus, and other cities.

His appreciation of books led to an attempt to form an office library for the preachers. Publishers and friends contributed, and some books were bought, but the collection hardly reached the dimensions or the usefulness that Mr. Kirk desired.

The number of towns visited during the year rose in 1877 to 271; and so general was the demand for capable helpers on the part of local friends, that Mr. Gawin Kirkham (after the death of the Rev. W. Pennefather) was appointed travelling secretary, devoting his whole time to open-air work. This, together with the expenses of other helpers, increased the expenditure, though, so great was the hospitality of friends, only once did he have occasion to use a hotel. Happily, under Mr. Kirk’s fostering care, the income also increased, the amount of donations and subscriptions in 1877 reaching £897, besides a legacy of £200. In addition, free grants of tracts were received of the nominal value of £258. The total of tracts, scripture cards, and other publications issued during the year grew to the large total of 637,500.

Mr. Kirk found another source of income and of greater public interest by enlisting the aid of London clergy and ministers. Sunday, May 5, 1877, was used in 187 pulpits to advocate the claims of the Mission, and gifts from the collections to the amount of £66 reached the Mission treasurer. Of these, forty-eight preachers belonged to the Established Church, and included many notable men, some of whom have long since joined the Master, while others are still proving their devotion by service. Among them may be mentioned Dr. Whittemore, Rev. Gordon Calthrop, Rev. R. C. Billing, Rev. H. E. Fox, Rev. C. Neil, Canon Hussey, Canon Money, Rev. Henry Sharpe, and Prebendary Webb-Peploe.

Among the ten Presbyterians were the Rev. J. B. Woffendale, who in his teens had carried the reference books to which, if needful, Rob Roy appealed when combating atheistic arguments in the still popular debating square near St. Pancras Station.

Baptists were specially cordial in this new movement, forty-five ministers lending their aid. The Rev. J. P. Chown, sturdy alike in form and principle, and in the zenith of his fame at Bloomsbury Chapel, was a faithful and powerful supporter of the Mission. Dr. Dawson Burns upheld the banner in Paddington, Pastor Cuff in Shoreditch, Dr. Culross in Highbury, George W. M’Cree in Borough Road, Charles Stanford in Camberwell, Pastor Frank White in Notting Hill, Rev. J. R. Wood in Upper Holloway, and Pastor C. B. Sawday at King’s Cross.

Congregationalists were less numerous, but included some able exponents –Rev. W. F. Adeney, M.A., at Acton, Dr. Fleming in Kentish Town, Dr. M’Auslane in Finsbury, Rev. James Knaggs at Stratford, G. D. M’Gregor at Paddington Chapel, Thomas Sissons at Woolwich, Josiah Viney at Highgate, and J. De Kewer Williams at Hackney.

Quite a number of Wesleyan ministers then in the London circuits assisted, among them Thomas Champness, George Curnock, Professor Findlay, Allen Rees, and John S. Workman. Other denominations were represented, and some unattached bodies. (General) William Booth was then at a Mission Hall in Whitechapel Road, George Hatton in Clare Market, Gawin Kirkham at Conference Hall, Mildmay Park, and Mr. W. J. Orsman at Foresters’ Hall. A hundred other ministers, who wrote, sympathising with the objects of the Mission, from various causes were unable to unite in preaching.

In other respects 1877 was a year of progress. The register of members increased from 200 to 314. A list of 142 stations, occupied at regular times in London for preaching the Gospel, was issued to members. Many were sustained throughout the whole year. Twelve auxiliaries were maintained, and others were in course of formation. The single badge of membership –a small lettered ribbon to hang from the Bible– and only given after careful scrutiny, was being increasingly valued as a cementing link between the qualified preachers.

The School Board was abroad, and in the spirit of the new educational era the committee had arranged four lectures on “The Art of Reading and Speaking” by the Rev. Alexander J. D’Orsey, B.D., Lecturer on Public Reading and Preaching at King’s College, and as the first accommodation provided proved insufficient, a larger hall was secured, in which gathered some four hundred preachers. Many profited, and some continued their studies privately.

Owing to largely increased membership, the central monthly meetings were exchanged for district gatherings; but quarterly meetings were held in the Queen’s Square Mission Room, Westminster, long maintained by Mr. Robert Baxter, and used in the day as a Ragged School. This gentleman defrayed the expenses, and occasionally entertained members at his residence in Queen Anne’s Gate.

The monthly assemblies in 1876 had included a special address to open-air preachers by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and a lecture by Dr. Thain Davidson on “London a Hundred Years Ago.” In 1877 one subject was: “John Wesley: a Model for Open-Air Preachers,” and among the speakers was Sir Stevenson A. Blackwood. At the annual meeting the Earl of Shaftesbury presided, and the speakers included Dr. Paterson and Dr. Joseph Angus. At the annual meeting in 1878 the president was Sir John Kennaway.

The annual report for 1878 –the twenty-sixth– came out in new guise. It was printed in clearer type, and its special feature was illustrations. Woodcuts in those days were expensive, but nine engravings included “Preaching in the Punjab,” “Preaching at Paul’s Cross,” “An Open-air Pulpit at St. Mary’s, Whitechapel,” and “Gwennap Pit, Cornwall,” where John Wesley preached. These added greatly to the interest of what had now grown to a voluminous pamphlet of seventy-two pages. Advance was still the key-note. Mr. Kirk could now count on 375 members and 21 auxiliaries; 331 races, fairs, fêtes, and the like had been visited, and 726,000 tracts and papers had been distributed. Donations and subscriptions reached a total of £1,168; this the second, year’s church collections realised £162, and £76 had been forthcoming from the sale of tracts and books. The balance in hand had grown from £66 to £140.

A printed list of nearly two hundred stations in London gave the day and hour of service and the minister or layman who acted as superintendent.

Since Mr. Kirk’s appointment the Committee had issued to the members a motto card:

1874. “Occupy till I come” (Luke xix. 13)

1875. “Be not far from me” (Ps. Xxii. 11)

1876. “He is faithful that promised” (Heb. X. 23)

1877. “He that winneth souls is wise” (Prov. Xi. 30)

1878. “Redeeming the time” (Col. Iv. 5)

1879. “Lay up His words in thine heart” (Job xxii. 22).

Not long before her lamented early death (June 3, 1879), that gifted hymn writer, Frances Ridley Havergal, had woven these texts into six stanzas, which she sent, together with 6,000 of her leaflets, to the Mission, saying: “I do think yours is such a brave work for Jesus. May I pass on to you a text I never noticed till this morning? ‘My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand’ (Job xxix. 20), taken with ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Col. i. 27), and ‘His bow abode in strength’ (Gen. xlix. 24). May your glory thus be fresh in you, and your bow renewed in your hand.”

This was the last complete report for which Mr. Kirk was responsible. When Mr. Gawin Kirkham heard that he had been appointed Secretary to the Ragged School Union, he remarked: “There isn’t a man in London who would not feel it an honour to be invited to fill that post.” He himself returned to the office he had previously held in the Open_Air Mission, and in which he had rendered such yeoman service.

The progress of the Mission had continued, and during 1879 had attracted considerable notice from the London Press. By this time the Christian Mission, under its larger title of “The Salvation Army,” was doing good and provoking opposition. Several Judges had upheld the Metropolitan Board of Works in refusing permission to preach on Clapham Common and Leicester Square. On the other hand, there was rejoicing at the increased toleration in Roman Catholic countries of open-air preaching, the Burgomaster of the Hague saying that “One good street preacher is worth ten policemen.”

In this connection Mr. Kirk himself contributed a brief report of his experiences at Basle, which shows his facility with the pen.

"There is a charm and attractiveness about any street novelty which conduces much to its popularity, if not success. The sight of the usual crowd at the street corner now no longer excites the query, “What is it?” but is often dismissed with the comment, “It is only the street preacher.” It was in some respects quite refreshing to confront an audience and to deal with people who had never before seen or probably heard of open-air preaching, and such an opportunity was afforded during the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance at Basle, in Switzerland, last summer.

The various conferences and meetings were deeply interesting, the unions of Christians from all lands was delightful, while a spirit of brotherly love and joy abounded. With all this it was felt that some testimony ought to be left with the people around, many of whom as in our own land, were too evidently strangers to Him whom to know is life eternal.

At my instigation an application was made to the town authorities, by General Field, for permission to preach out of doors. After some delay, Herr Sarassin intimated that there was nothing in the Swiss laws to prohibit this; he and his fellow burghers, however, did not feel justified in giving formal authority, but thought the experiment might be tried, and, it was hoped, with success and blessing.

A romantic spot was chosen at the foot of the old bridge spanning the river Rhine. A constant
stream of people passed and repassed, and the unused space on the bank of the swift-flowing stream seemed made for an open-air service. Some earnest German pastors attended, with the Revs. John Greton, De Kewer Williams, William Tyler, Wilson, and other veteran ministers; and Mrs. Michael Baxter secured the help of some ladies in the singing. Leaflets with Sankeys hymns in German were distributed to the people, who quickly began to gather round the knot of foreigners. The commencement of the singing was the signal for many more to come, and the crowd soon numbered some hundreds. It was a strange and impressive sight. Lofty houses overlooked, bearing strange-looking names; the many windows were thrown open. The surging crowd revealed a motley mixture of garb and face.

All went well for a time. “Safe in the arms of Jesus” was sung heartily, followed by earnest pleading with God to bless His word to the souls of the audience, and then Dr. Baedeker told of the love of God to poor perishing sinners, amid silence and attention. A portion of Scripture, rather indifferently read, was listened to impatiently. A German pastor next gave “Herrings for Nothing,” in a German dress, and at the literal intimation of “herrings for nothing,” which, by the way, were magnified to mackerels, some one angrily interrupted. He was joined by others; and as the disturbance increased, it was deemed prudent to sing. This over, the Rev. John Greton began to speak, each sentence being translated from the English by Pastor L———. He was not allowed to continue, for a gendarme came pushing his way through the crowd to the speakers, and insisted in loud tones on the meeting being stopped. The letter from General Field was produced amid great excitement in the crowd, but this failed to satisfy the irate representative of the law, who swore and got into a great passion. As further altercation seemed likely to cause a breach of the peace, Messrs. Greton and Kirk were led off to the police station, followed by the threats and jeers of the people.

Much gesticulatory talk followed, and, after promising to appear before the town authorities in the morning, the preachers were liberated, thankful to be counted worthy to suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake. The next morning Herr Sarassin kindly undertook the responsibility from the preachers, but begged them not to make another attempt.

So impressed, however, was this godly man with the desirability of such an effort, that he secured the central space in the Barrack Square on the following Sunday, and there ministers and laymen preached the everlasting gospel to an attentive audience of two thousand people.

Thus was an effectual door opened, and the good news of the kingdom proclaimed in spite of many adversaries."

The severance of Mr. Kirk from immediate association with the Open-Air Mission was received with very general regret, but this regret was tempered by rejoicing that he had entered into a sphere of yet wider usefulness. His term of office had brought him into contact with many hundreds of London’s most earnest Christian workers; in journeyings of the had met like-minded men in all parts of the country; and the regard for him cherished by many of high and of low degree had been deepened.

All this found expression in the most sincere and grateful fashion.

First came a minute upon the records of the Committee, moved by Mr. Richard Turner, seconded by Mr. John MacGregor, and supported by Colonel Robert Wilmot-Brooke:

“That the Committee of the Open-Air Mission regret to receive Mr. John Kirk’s resignation of the post of Secretary, the duties of which he has fulfilled, during nearly seven years, with zeal, ability, and success.

“The Committee believe that they express the general feeling of the members and friends of the Mission in sincerely thanking their late Secretary for his earnest work in the past, and uniting their hope and prayer that his future labours in another part of the Christian field may continue to receive the blessing of Almighty God.

LOCKHART GORDON, Chairman.”

In April 1880 the Committee showed their appreciation by doing Mr. Kirk the honour of adding him to their membership. He still retains the post, which is honorary in the second sense that he can spare but little time to join in the Committee’s deliberations.

The “general feeling” of the members rapidly assumed a more substantial form. At a gathering in December 1879, the secretaries of the Metropolitan Auxiliaries were constituted a Committee to arrange a testimonial; and though the united subscriptions were valued from the numerical rather than the financial point of view, in less than three weeks more than £50 was subscribed by 251 contributors. The presentation took three forms: (1) a handsome writing table, which in Mr. Kirk’s home has been in almost daily use; (2) a valuable gold watch which he wears to this day; and (3) a cheque for the unappropriated surplus.

Upon both watch and the writing table is engraved this inscription:

“Presented to Mr. John Kirk by Members and Friends of the Open-Air Mission as a token of esteem on his resigning the Secretaryship and with prayerful expectation that he will be blessed and prospered in his renewed connection with the Ragged School Union.

January 26, 1880
GAWIN KIRKHAM, Sec.’

It was not the least pleasing part of the whole matter that Mr. Kirkham should have thrown himself with enthusiasm into the testimonial to his friend and co-worker, and on February 16, 1880, he writes:

“MY DEAR KIRK, —I now close my pleasant labours in connection with your testimonial by handing you a cheque for the balance, £20, 11s. 9d. The accompanying album will explain everything else, and also enable you to peruse the correspondence.

The Lord bless you in your office, in your home, and in your spiritual life. —Ever yours,

“GAWIN KIRKHAM.”

This handsomely bound quarto album referred to had pasted on its leaves all the letters sent by subscribers in remitting amounts varying from sixpence to twenty shillings, and at the beginning has an alphabetical list of those so sending. The author may be permitted to say that few men can have in their possession an object of greater appreciation and interest, or an heirloom of which children and grandchildren may be more justly proud.

Among the indexed names are those which have been casually mentioned in the course of this chapter, and among others are Bishop Billing, Rev. Burman Cassin, Canon Clayton, William Quartermaine East, Jonadab Finch, William Forbes, John Groom, Dr. Gritton, H. L. Hastings (of the Boston Christian, who sent Mr. Kirk a copy of his Critical Greek and English Concordance), Sir Duncan MacGregor, Major C. H. Malan, R. Cope Morgan (of the Christian), Hon. Captain Moreton, Hon. Thomas Pelham, Wm. Olney, jun., Samuel Gurney Sheppard, Joseph Weatherley, Edward Wright, and Charles L. Young.

The list is comprehensive, not only in its representation of individuals and districts, but by the inclusion of so many officials of kindred societies.

Many of the letters are of indifferent calligraphy, but show the regard Mr. Kirk had inspired among the artisan workers in the Mission.

A friend writes from Uxbridge: “I have always received the greatest respect and assistance.”

One from Battersea: “Will you please axcept this small Triffel as a Token of my Esteem for the Fellowship and Services of Dear Mr. Kirk.”

A Camden Town worker, remitting twelve stamps, strikes at one of the roots of Mr. Kirk’s success as a secretary: “He has filled the post so well, paying the utmost attention to any communication.”

A Brentwood correspondent adds: “I never had to transact correspondence in Christian work with any secretary I liked so much.”

A lawyer in Chancery Lane says: “Although I have not the pleasure of his personal acquaintance, judging from the nature of his work in connection with the Mission, I can heartily join in any testimonial.”

At the first quarterly meeting in 1880 (January 26) in the Queen Square Mission Hall, Westminster, the presentation was made by Rob Roy, after which the Rev. Marcus Rainsford, M.A., delivered an address on “The Secret of Success.”

The Christian World wrote: “Mr. Kirk, who was received with immense applause, and who was evidently affected by it, expressed his feelings of deep gratitude for the testimonial, the value of which had been enhanced by the way in which it had been given and the kind words with which it had been accompanied.”