Chapter 30: Dickens’ Social Investigation
In a dark corner at the end of the street, a young man carrying a light green canvas document bag was wrestling on the ground with a knife-wielding vagrant.
“Let go! If you don’t let go, I’ll cut you twice as hard! Don’t say I didn’t warn you, I just sharpened this knife this morning!”
“I can give you some money, but don’t even think about taking my bag!”
Seeing that the young man wouldn’t compromise no matter what, the vagrant became furious and reckless. He gripped the knife handle tightly, ready to stab the young man in the stomach.
But before he could strike, a powerful hand like a steel clamp grabbed his wrist. With a simple exertion of force, Arthur made the vagrant’s arm ache so much that he dropped the knife.
Arthur stepped on the knife and whispered into the vagrant’s ear, “You should be glad I’m off duty today. If I weren’t, you’d get more than just a beating. Now get lost before I change my mind.”
As soon as Arthur let go, the vagrant clutched his aching wrist, gave Arthur a fierce glare, and then hunched over and left.
Arthur extended a hand to the dusty young man and helped him up from the ground.
“Once night falls, it’s the scavenging time for vultures and crows. Coming to unlit places at this hour is a good way to run into them.”
The young man dusted himself off and was about to reply when he saw Arthur’s face and hesitated. Looking closer, he exclaimed in surprise, “Officer Arthur! I didn’t expect to see you here!”
Arthur recognized him too. “Charles?”
The young man was Arthur’s new friend, Charles Dickens, a court clerk.
Arthur shook his head and said, “If something happened to you here, it would be a great loss for British literature, and even world literature. You need to value your life and stay away from dangerous places.”
Dickens laughed, “Officer Arthur, there you go again. I’m just a court clerk and a newspaper reporter, not the great writer you make me out to be.”
“Even if you were an ordinary person, you shouldn’t be in St. Giles at this hour! Do you know what kind of place this is? It’s the area with the highest crime rate in all of London’s West End, comparable to the infamous slums in the East End. It’s a good thing you ran into me tonight, or you might not have made it out alive.”
Dickens looked a bit scared. “If he just wanted money, I could have given him all the coins and bills on me. But he wanted my bag, and I couldn’t let him have it, even if it meant dying. Otherwise, my whole day’s work would have been wasted.”
Arthur asked, “What’s in the bag that’s so important?”
Dickens nodded and excitedly pulled out a piece of interview manuscript from the bag, handing it to Arthur.
He said, “Thanks to you, my article about you gained some fame, and several newspapers have been commissioning me for pieces. Even a committee from the House of Commons privately hired me to conduct an investigation and interviews. I came to St. Giles to gather material for it. I was initially eager to accept the commission, but when I got here, I realized I had underestimated the difficulty. Furthermore, I’d never been to St. Giles before and still thought of it as it was in 1814, during the London Beer Flood when the Meux Brewery vats burst, destroying two houses and a tavern.
I thought I could quickly complete my investigation during the day, but I soon found out I was wrong. Most of the people living here do heavy manual labor in nearby markets, factories, commercial districts, or government departments and don’t have time to be interviewed. Even the homeless and pickpockets here know there’s little to gain locally, so they go elsewhere during the day to look for targets. I had to wait until evening when they came back to have a chance to interview a couple of energetic ones. This manuscript is from an interview I just completed. I waited all day for this, and no one’s taking it from me.”
Arthur glanced over the manuscript. Though brief, every word weighed heavily, like a stone pressing on his heart.
Interviewee: Elizabeth Bentley
Reporter: Charles Dickens
Dickens: What is your occupation?
Bentley: I’m a textile worker, working at a local factory.
Dickens: When did you start this job?
Bentley: Around 1815, when I was six years old.
Dickens: What work do you do at the factory?
Bentley: I’m responsible for spinning.
Dickens: Can you describe your job?
Bentley: When the spindle is full, I stop the machine, remove the spindle and all the bobbins, take them to the winder, replace them with empty bobbins, and start the machine again.
Dickens: How long do you work each day?
Bentley: From 5 in the morning until 9 at night.
Dickens: Since you were six years old?
Bentley: Yes, but I’m used to it now.
Dickens: That’s a long and hard job. Is it busy all day? Can you take your time or arrive late?
Bentley: No, they’d whip me with a belt.
Dickens: Have you experienced any physical deformities from long hours of labor?
Bentley: Yes, since I was thirteen, my chest has sunken, my back won’t straighten, and I often feel short of breath. Sir, can we end this interview? I just got off work and want to sleep. I’m really tired, my hands can’t lift, and my feet barely move. I don’t want to talk anymore.
Dickens: Sorry, ma’am. Here’s a shilling for your time. This is your interview fee.
Bentley: You’re very generous, sir. This is a day’s wage for me. Thank you for your kindness. May God bless you.
After reading this, Arthur looked at Dickens, his expression conveying everything he felt. He had a lump in his throat, needing to yell into the sky to release the pent-up frustration.
After a moment of silence, he said, “Charles, you’re right. No one should take this from you.”
Dickens smiled and took out a box of tobacco, offering it to Arthur.
“Care for some more? Honestly, I feel the same as you right now. I need some too.”
In the dim moonlight, one glowing red dot turned into two.
Arthur exhaled a smoke ring and asked, “Which committee from the House of Commons commissioned you?”
Dickens replied, “Technically, it’s not the House of Commons but a committee initiated by Whig MPs. They want to investigate the living conditions of the poor in St. Giles to launch an impeachment against the current Tory government. They’ve also commissioned others to investigate rural areas. You know, some agricultural counties have been suffering from famine due to the Corn Laws and high rents, compounded by poor harvests. Many farm laborers are struggling to eat even though they work the land. I’ve heard that in some severe areas, farm laborers’ wages have dropped to two or three shillings a week. Even though rural living costs are lower than in London, it’s still too hard to support a family on that.”
Arthur couldn’t hold back his anger anymore and cursed.
“The Whigs investigating the Tories sounds ridiculous. The Whigs are backed by big industrialists, bankers, lawyers, and so on. They should ask themselves why St. Giles is like this. As for the Tories, they’re backed by nobles, clergy, military men, and those who benefited from the Enclosure Acts. The Corn Laws and the ever-increasing rents are their doing. These bastards have the nerve to investigate each other? I admit there might be some good people in both parties, but on average, they’re just as bad as each other!”
(End of Chapter)
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) was a prominent English writer and social critic. He created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognized him as a literary genius.
His novels often depict and critique the social and economic conditions of Victorian England, particularly focusing on the plight of the poor and the injustices they faced. He highlighted issues such as child labor, the inadequacies of the legal system, and the brutal realities of workhouses and debtors’ prisons.
Elizabeth Bentley (also known as “Lizzie Bentley”) was a real historical figure who became famous as a witness during the parliamentary inquiries into child labor in the 19th century.
Bentley testified before the British Parliament in the early 1830s, during an investigation into the conditions of child labor in factories. Her testimony provided a stark, firsthand account of the harsh realities faced by child workers in the textile industry.
Her accounts, along with those of other child workers, played a significant role in shaping public opinion and legislative action regarding labor practices. These testimonies were instrumental in the passage of the Factory Act of 1833, which sought to improve working conditions for children, setting limits on working hours and requiring factory inspections.