Chapter I: Preface

I. THE DESCENT II. JOHNNY UPRIGHT III. MY LODGING AND SOME OTHERS IV. A MAN AND THE ABYSS V. THOSE ON THE EDGE VI. FRYING-PAN ALLEY AND A GLIMPSE OF INFERNO VII. A WINNER OF THE VICTORIA CROSS VIII. THE CARTER AND THE CARPENTER IX. THE SPIKE X. CARRYING THE BANNER XI. THE PEG XII. CORONATION DAY XIII. DAN CULLEN, DOCKER XIV. HOPS AND HOPPERS XV. THE SEA WIFE XVI. PROPERTY VERSUS PERSON XVII. INEFFICIENCY XVIII. WAGES XIX. THE GHETTO XX. COFFEE-HOUSES AND DOSS-HOUSES XXI. THE PRECARIOUSNESS OF LIFE XXII. SUICIDE XXIII. THE CHILDREN XXIV. A VISION OF THE NIGHT XXV. THE HUNGER WAIL XXVI. DRINK, TEMPERANCE, AND THRIFT XXVII. THE MANAGEMENT

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.