The experiences related in this volume fell to me in the summer of 1902. I went down into the under-world of London with an attitude of mind which I may best liken to that of the explorer. I was open to be convinced by the evidence of my eyes, rather than by the teachings of those who had not seen, or by the words of those who had seen and gone before. Further, I took with me certain simple criteria with which to measure the life of the under-world. That which made for more life, for physical and spiritual health, was good; that which made for less life, which hurt, and dwarfed, and distorted life, was bad.
The chief priests and rulers cry:-
"O Lord and Master, not ours the guilt,
We build but as our fathers built;
Behold thine images how they stand
Sovereign and sole through all our land.
"Our task is hard - with sword and flame,
To hold thine earth forever the same,
And with sharp crooks of steel to keep,
Still as thou leftest them, thy sheep."
Then Christ sought out an artisan,
A low-browed, stunted, haggard man,
And a motherless girl whose fingers thin
Crushed from her faintly want and sin.
These set he in the midst of them,
And as they drew back their garment hem
For fear of defilement, "Lo, here," said he,
"The images ye have made of me."
James Russell Lowell.
Madisyn was stunned to discover that she was not her parents' biological child. Due to the real daughter's scheming, she was kicked out and became a laughingstock. Thought to be born to peasants, Madisyn was shocked to find that her real father was the richest man in the city, and her brothers were
Kallie, a mute who had been ignored by her husband for five years since their wedding, also suffered the loss of her pregnancy due to her cruel mother-in-law. After the divorce, she learned that her ex-husband had quickly gotten engaged to the woman he truly loved. Holding her slightly rounded bel
In order to fulfill her grandfather's last wish, Stella entered into a hasty marriage with an ordinary man she had never met before. However, even after becoming husband and wife on paper, they each led separate lives, barely crossing paths. A year later, Stella returned to Seamarsh City, hoping
It was a big day for Camilla. She looked forward to marrying her handsome groom. Unfortunately, he abandoned her at the altar. He never showed up throughout the wedding. She was made a laughingstock in front of all the guests. In a fit of rage, she went and slept with a strange man on her wedding n
Chloe was the second daughter of the Bishop family, she was the girl who had it all breathtaking looks, a foster father who loved her as much as his own biological daughter, and a fiance who was handsome and rich. But nothing was perfect in this world. It turned out she also had a foster mother and
Two years after her marriage, Ximena lost consciousness in a pool of her own blood during a difficult childbirth. She forgot that her ex-husband was actually getting married to someone else that day. "Let's get a divorce, but the baby stays with me." His words before their divorce was finalized sti
The People of the Abyss
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Preface
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Chapter 1 The Descent
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Chapter 2 Johnny Upright
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Chapter 3 My Lodging and Some Others
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Chapter 4 A Man and the Abyss
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Chapter 5 Those on the Edge
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Chapter 6 Frying-Pan Alley and a Glimpse of Inferno
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Chapter 7 A Winner of the Victoria Cross
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Chapter 8 The Carter and the Carpenter
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Chapter 9 The Spike
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Chapter 10 Carrying the Banner
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Chapter 11 The Peg
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Chapter 12 Coronation Day
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Chapter 13 Dan Cullen, Docker
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Chapter 14 Hops and Hoppers
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Chapter 15 The Sea Wife
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Chapter 16 Property Versus Person
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Chapter 17 Inefficiency
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Chapter 18 Wages
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Chapter 19 The Ghetto
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Chapter 20 Coffee-Houses and Doss-Houses
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Chapter 21 The Precariousness of Life
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Chapter 22 Suicide
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Chapter 23 The Children
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Chapter 24 A Vision of the Night
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Chapter 25 The Hunger Wail
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Chapter 26 Drink, Temperance, and Thrift
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Chapter 27 The Management
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