Let it
suffice, however, to state, that in many of our back lanes and courts
there are families in the veriest wretchedness, with scarcely enough of
rags to cover their shivering emaciated bodies; they may be found
huddled together around a handful of dying cinders, or endeavouring to
fan into flame a small heap of damp smoking sawdust Perhaps when they
have not been happy enough to procure even that scanty fuel, they will
be found, to the number of five or six--some well, some ill, and all
bearing the aspect of pinching hunger--endeavouring to procure warmth by
crouching together upon a scanty heap of filthy straw, or mouldering
wood shavings, their only covering an old worn-out rag of a blanket or a
coverlet, that has been so patched and re-patched that its original
texture or colour it would be impossible to discern. On looking around
this miserable dwelling, nothing meets the eye save the damp floor and
the bare walls, down which the rain, or condensed vapour, is plentifully
streaming. Not a stool, chair, or seat of any description, in many
instances, is to be seen, nor commonest utensil; and as for food, not so
much as would satisfy the cravings of even a hungry infant.
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