It was one of the most popular waif stories of the nineteenth century improving fiction for Victorian children whose purpose, although primarily religious was also social and political. My teeth fell out shortly after reading this as this is probably the most saccharine novel of mid-Victorian poverty and death that I've ever read. Then raising his voice to a loud pitch the shouted, “Mike, come down here: there’s a chap that ‘as five pun’ in his pocket; let’s collar him quick!

If you are able to ignore the moralistic and didactic overtones of each chapter, the narrative is an important tale of the conditions on the streets of Liverpool when there was no Government safety net, healthcare, sanitation or empathy for the disadvantaged . Hocking has none of Dickens’ humour and his descriptions, particularly of Little Nell, Benny’s sister, are sentimental to the point of embarrassment.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. Didactic in intent, yet sympathetic in tone, his 'rags to riches' tale was well calculated to appeal to a contemporary audience. Benny’s father’s drowning in the dock – gurgles and all – and the scene where Joe invites his docile fellow workers to hear him read the bible are similarly absurd. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Helped by their friend the night-watchman Joe Wrag, and 'Granny' Betty Barker, manage to retain their independence and learn to lead Christian lives.

Still, it seems like perfect plot fodder for a farce about a Victorian character who follows people around, dying again and again. Her Benny, an improving story for young people about Liverpool street children, was first published in 1879. A varied cast ranges from night watchman Joe, whose Calvinistic leanings at first prevent him, almost literally, from seeing the light, to well-intentioned gentry and kindly farmers. Benny is given several chances to improve himself and even when he and Nell are down on their luck he always steers away from stealing and any thing dishonest. Their mother is dead, their father a drink-sodden brute, who dies later on in the story, becomes violent towards Nelly and the two children run away from home.They are the apple of each others eye and cling together for survival like a couple of limpets on the Albert Dock wall. It sounds like some sort of terrible Dickensian street urchin euthanasia where the kids have been brain washed into wanting to go to heaven and just sort of pine away. Gilt decorated blue cloth with a black and white illustrated frontis and black and white illustrations throughout.