The Ambiguities of Liberalism: Voluntarism versus State Intervention 545Charitable activities emerged as an important facet of middle-class life in
nineteenth-century Europe, in many places remaining closely tied to orga
nized religion. Growing public awareness of the appalling conditions in
which many workers and their families lived engendered impressive chari
table efforts among the more privileged. Such associations joined manufac
turers, merchants, and members of the professions in northern English
industrial towns in seeking to “moralize” the lower classes by shaping their
conduct (for example, by encouraging them to attend church and to drink
less). In 1860, there were at least 640 charitable organizations in London
alone, more than two-thirds of which had been established since the begin
ning of the century.
Despite the growing tradition of voluntarism and liberal rejection of state
interference, fear of popular insurgency could temper liberalism. Anxious
bourgeois were reassured by the greater professionalization of police forces
both in France and in Britain, where Home Secretary Robert Peel (a future
prime minister) organized an unarmed municipal police force in London.
They became known as “bobbies” in his honor. At mid-century Berlin had
only 200 policemen to watch over a population of 400,000, which they did
with military precision and occasional brutality. In British, German,
French, and Italian cities, and in the United States, as well, civilian national
guards were established, with membership limited to property owners. Such
forces on occasion supplemented the police, national police, and regular