Mrs. Barnett, wife of the Vicar of St. Jude's, Whitechapel, has received the following reply to a memorial, which was signed by nearly 5,000 women of the labouring classes of East London, asking the Queen to "call upon her servants in authority and bid them put in force the law which already exists to close bad houses, within whose walls such wickedness is done, and men and women are ruined in body and soul":-
"Madam, - I am directed by the Secretary of State to inform you that he has had the honour to lay before the Queen the petition of women inhabitants of Whitechapel, praying that steps may be taken with a view to suppress the moral disorders in that neighbourhood, and that Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to receive the same.
"I am to add that the Secretary of State looks with hope to the influence for good that the petitioners can exercise, each in her own neighbourhood, and he is in communication with the Commissioners of Police with a view to taking such action as may be desirable in order to assist the efforts of the petitioners, and to mitigate the evils of which they complain.
"I am, Madam, your obedient servant,
"GODFREY LUSHINGTON."