SHEPHERD'S BUSH AND HAMMERSMITH

Between the Uxbridge Road and Wormwood Scrubbs there lies quite a large tract of land available for building, and as yet unbuilt upon; forming the only really considerable space of the kind within the boundaries of London north of the Thames. The next largest, that in Fulham, is also included in the present chapter; and we are again forced to look forward to what may come, in the light of what has come, and actually does exist, in the adjoining areas of Kensal Town and Notting Dale. But before pursuing this subject further and considering the needs of those for whom the houses are not yet built, it will be convenient to run through the parishes which lie between these two areas of open ground and see how far the physical and spiritual needs of their present inhabitants are met.

The first parish we come to (St. Stephen) is one of those which has lost the suburban well-to-do class and may perhaps lose the ordinary middle class also, unless the latter should be retained by the advantages resulting from the opening of the Central London Railway. So far, there are few poor, but in the

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offertory gold gives way to silver, and silver to copper. By means of the day schools and Sunday schools the clergy get to know both children and parents, but in the church itself, the working-class is practically unrepresented, and indifference to church matters is spreading, the clergy say, in the class above. Of this, Sunday bicycling is said to be 'a symptom rather than a cause. It only makes neglect easier.' The service of the church is High, and the music beautifully given. But it is mainly women and children who attend. There are clubs for men and boys which exercise a humanizing but, admittedly, no religious influence. Variety entertainments are held with the same aim. From the adjoining parish we have a similar account: all the best people leaving; pew-rents falling;' but here there are two distinct classes more definitely dealt with, resulting in two distinct congregations: the pew-rented portion of the church filling in the morning and the free side in the evening. The secularization of Sunday is felt in the difficulty of obtaining workers even more than in the reduction of congregation; and beyond this, in the demoralization which results from pleasure and excitement. Here, too, an attempt is made to meet the trouble homoeopathically by entertainments. The religious work is not unsuccessful; the congregations are very fair as to numbers and include all classes. But, nevertheless, the reports are gloomy reading. The tide is flowing against the Church.

From parish to parish we meet the same story : A process of decay, long going on and now proceeding rapidly; family after family moving out; workers difficult to find; present population friendly, but indifferent, just above district visiting level; no neighbourliness; working class portion ignoring church services, and so on; and usually we find the same rather desperate resort to comic entertain

ments, with animated pictures, step and clog dancing, solos on the bones and other attractions, provided as items of parish organization.

Yet it should be said that the impression gained from visiting these churches as to the genuine religious value of their work, is more favourable than that given by the clergy, so far as they have been seen. And this is not of common occurrence.

The services are moderately High and the church buildings more than usually commodious and beautiful. Most are finished in brick, inside and out, with highpitched roof over the nave, and wide aisles. A good deal of money must have been spent on them. The internal decorations depend partly on the character of the ritual. The style of architecture adopted undoubtedly requires something to relieve the rather chilly perfection of the builders' work, and this the banners and pictures connected with High Church ceremonial do, to some extent, supply.

With a proportion of the middle class in this population the Congregationalists are very successful. They identify themselves with Liberal and Progressive party politics, and in religion are ranged against priestly doctrines. Large congregations gather, especially in the evening; but the working classes do not come, and the mission service for the poor of Starch Green is of no avail. They come if tea is provided. For their own people there is a literary society and lectures are given. The work is certainly successful in its way, and yet, once again, the report is rather gloomy.

For the Wesleyans also, the district is not unfavourable, and they have two very smart-looking congregations. We are told that half of those who attend are Wesleyans born and bred, and the rest mostly drawn from other Nonconformist bodies. Very few come from the great outside indifferent population, and the open-air services conducted by the young

people of one of these churches for the neighbouring poor are seemingly quite futile.

The Baptists are not yet fully above the ground in this neighbourhood. They have two churches, to both of which access is obtained by stepping down from the level of the street. Both look forward to the building of a proper tabernacle, with schools below and church above. The temporary structure occupied by the Shepherd's Bush congregation is at present fully large enough. The bulk of those who attend are tradesmen drawn from round about, with a sprinkling of retired servants and some artisans. The other body, that in Hammersmith, used at first a small iron building, but is now accommodated in the basement of the tabernacle that is to be, which is roofed over in some fashion, and into which one descends as into a catacomb. This congregation includes a fair proportion of working men, and great confidence is expressed that, given a good building, it could be filled. It is, indeed, not improbable that as the population changes this Church may wax while others wane, but, all told, the number of its adherents is at present small.

An Undenominational Nonconformist church, a small Salvation Army barrack, and a Church of England Evangelical Mission, started to oppose the prevailing Ritualism of the parish churches, complete the religious equipment of the northern part of this locality.

It is a district of which the marked characteristic at the present time is transition. It contains a considerable amount of poverty, especially in the neighbourhood of Starch Green, and here and there the beginning of something worse, as in Southbrook Street and Leffern Road; but there is nothing yet past preventive cure; there are no hopeless slums which call for destruction. To the south of Goldhawk Road we have a varied