PREFACE. THERE is a great deal of philanthropy afloat in this our day. At no period, perhaps, in the history of the human mind, did a desire of doing good so earnest, meet with a spirit of inquiry so eager, after the best and likeliest methods of carrying the desire into accomplishment. Amid all that looks dark and menacing, in the present exhibitions of society, this, at least, must be acknowledged, -that never was there a greater quantity of thought embarked on those speculations which, whether with Christian, or merely economical writers, have the one common object of promoting the worth and comfort of our species. It must be confessed, at the same time, that much of this benevolence, and more particularly, when it aims at some fulfilment, by a combination of many individuals, is rendered abortive for want of a right direction. Were the misleading causes to which B philanthropy is exposed, when it operates among a crowded assemblage of human beings, fully understood, then would it cease to be a paradox,-why there should either be a steady progress of wretchedness in our land, in the midst of its charitable institutions; or a steady progress of profligacy, in the midst of its churches, and Sabbath schools, and manifold reclaiming societies. 4 The Author of the following work has been much in the way of comparing the habitudes of a city, with those of a country population; and he cannot more fitly express its subject than by assigning to it the title of "The Christian and Civic Economy of our Large Towns." Though he counts himself in possession of materials ample enough for an immediate volume, yet it suits better with his other engagements, to come forth in quarterly numbers, with the successive chapters of it. |