Funeral Mutual Aid Society?

Arthur walked out of old Eugene's house and looked at the muddy street in front of him, his mind still recalling the key words he had mentioned.

According to Eugene Sr., this kind of funeral mutual aid is very popular among the poor in London today.

Although the British Isles have entered the age of industrialization, many of the traditional customs have not disappeared because of the passing of the Middle Ages.

As an important ritual in Christian and British culture, funerals still have an important and unique place in the hearts of many people.

In the parish of St. Giles, every poor family has a common, unwritten rule.

They save three pence a week for the father in the family, two pence for the mother and one pence for the child, but this money is not used to improve their lives, but to prepare for their deaths.

In the traditional belief of the Britons, no matter how poor and destitute the deceased may have been during their lifetime, they should have a dignified and solemn funeral, because it may be the only dignity they can enjoy in their lifetime.

Thinking of this, Arthur felt a little familiar, but also a little sad.

Because of the different cultures, it is often difficult for him to understand some of the cultural customs here.

But the importance of mourning after death reminded him of the land that he had dreamed of countless times.

Only now did he understand why the old people stubbornly considered the burial ceremony before entering the earth, and only those who had suffered all their lives could understand the true meaning of this ceremony.

Maybe it's a little old-fashioned, but it's also a testament to their telling the world that they once lived, and it's the last trace they have ever walked in the world.

"Arthur?" Officer Tom called him softly, "What's wrong with you?" ”

"Nothing?" Arthur re-energized his extinguished pipe and asked, "Are there many funeral societies like this among the poor in London today?" ”

Tom held Adam in one hand and scratched the back of his head with the other: "It should be quite a lot." My wife also mentioned to me that there were not only funeral societies, but also medical aid associations, women's reading clubs, textile workers' support associations, and a whole lot of messy associations, some of which I couldn't name. ”

Tony frowned when he heard this: "What kind of association is this?" It can't be a quasi-Jacobin radical group like the London Correspondence Society and the Sheffield Society for the Constitutional Knowledge? ”

Hearing this, Tom hurriedly waved his hand and denied, "No, no, they are just simple mutual aid associations. For example, the Women's Reading Club is an association where ladies get together to read and learn.

Each member paid a few pence a week to borrow reading materials free of charge in their library, and if a member was sick and unable to work, the association would give her a portion of the financial support until she recovered.

For example, the medical aid society is a family that cannot afford a doctor to hire a long-term doctor to serve each member. Of course, membership dues are also calculated according to the size of the family, and the larger the number of people, the more you pay.

This is what the poor people came up with when they had no choice, not an organized group of Jacobins. ”

Arthur took a puff of his cigarette: "Even if it is, it doesn't matter, anyway, free association is allowed now, and we will only keep a strict watch on them at most."

As long as they don't make big news about the 1820 Kathu Street conspiracy to assassinate a member of the Cabinet, then we'll turn a blind eye and let them go.

After all, I don't want to hear any more news of the Army in London, and that's not good for either side.

If one day there were such mutual aid groups everywhere in and around London, I believe the world would be a better place, at least better than it is now.

By that time, perhaps our Scotland Yard policemen would not have to carry sticks around all day, and I would have been able to buy cheap penny newspapers. ”

When Tony heard this, he pouted and shook his head: "Arthur, what you think is too beautiful." I don't beg them to sell me penny newspapers, I just beg the street vendors not to spit at us when they see them in police uniforms in the future. ”

Dickens took out the notes he had left during the discussion with old Fagin just now, and while reading them repeatedly, he asked, "According to Mr. Fagin, there are people in this neighborhood who are in the business of adopting homeless people and then using them to defraud them of funeral subsidies?" ”

Arthur nodded slightly: "Although that's what I said, but if I think about it, it doesn't make sense." In other words, it doesn't explain the reason for everyone's disappearance.

Judging from the data we have so far, it is not only street children and frail women who are missing, but also many homeless people in the prime of life.

And many of them have just been released from prison, and I went to Scotland Yard the other day to get their criminal files with the Home Office, some of whom have been charged with violence.

Those who made money from the dead want to make this group of people obediently send them to death, I'm afraid it's not so easy. ”

Tony thought for a moment, then suddenly asked with a dark face, "Arthur, are you saying that the bad old man didn't tell us the truth?" I'm going back to him!" ”

Before Tony could take a step, he was stopped by Arthur.

"He should have said everything he could, but what he said wasn't the same thing as what we wanted.

Funeral subsidies defrauded by family members should do exist, but at least not on a large scale.

Otherwise, it should not be the Duke of Sussex who will call the police first, but the other families who have attended the funeral relief service.

After all, a strange family has just joined the association and started to die a large number of people, as long as it is a normal person, it will feel that something is wrong. ”

Arthur flipped through the missing list in his hand again, and he spoke, "I was just talking to Mr. Fagin, and I reclassified the missing data on hand, and it turned out that I found a very interesting problem. ”

Tony hurriedly asked, "What's the problem?" ”

Arthur said: "The disappearance of young and middle-aged men has been relatively evenly distributed, but the proportion of disappearances of women, middle-aged and elderly men and street children has been increasing in the past two months.

According to the Duke of Sussex's report, only nine women disappeared in the past six months, but six in the past two months.

Don't you think it's interesting that the number of middle-aged and elderly men and street children who have gone missing has also skyrocketed in the past two months? What does this mean? ”

When the red devil on the side heard this, he suddenly covered his mouth and snickered: "Oh! My dear Arthur, I didn't expect you to notice something was wrong so quickly. ”

Dickens was stunned for a moment, but he quickly came back to his senses: "Arthur, you mean that the disappearance is actually involved in more than one case?" ”

Arthur took a deep puff of his cigarette: "No, it's not that more than one case is involved, but I'm afraid there is more than one type of case involved." ”