On this page
-
Text (1)
-
78 ANNALS OF NEEDLEWOMEN.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
_ Chapter I. That Tlie Realities Of Life...
versed in religious theories , she had abiding trust in God's protection . "How elseMa ' amcould I have borne up ? He was my
, , only friend . He led me here , ( speaking of the Institution -for Needlewomen , ) and I ' ve done better since then . " On inquiring what
she had earned since these better days , she told me when her little girl had assisted her at the shirts she had sometimes earned eight
shillings per week , and this she considered riches compared to her previous remuneration . On one occasionhaving * been absent
from town for some weeks , I inquired on my , return for Mrs . M -. I learned in reply that she was ill . I sent to the house where
she lived , and weak as she was she answered my inquiries ki person , bringing * with her her childrenthree fair blue-eyed little _girls
, , notwithstanding- their scanty clothing , neat and clean . Never shall I forget the scene I then witnessedproving that nature's holiest
, feelings may be nursed and bloom even where want and sorrow are the sorest . On inquiry , I found the children had had no food
that day . I sent out for some bread and placed a roll in each of their hands , expecting that hunger would make them devour it at
once ; a simultaneous thought seemed , however , to enter each young heart , instinctively each child divided the rolland rushing forward
, to where the mother stood , forced it on her , begging " Mother to eat now , " whilst the poor woman amid tears and sobs kissed them ,
and returning the bread , whispered , " she did not want it . " It was no got-up scene—nature was too strong to bear any mask at such
a , moment . The history of that family ' s life was as clearly revealed as if noted down from hour to hour . The mother's strong
endurance , the orphans' affection for their parent—want , nay , positive faminewith self-denying * love on both sideswere before meand
, , , I am not ashamed to say my own tears flowed freely ; whilst I could but look on the woman before me in the light of a heroineadmiring
, her fortitude . What temptations she must have resisted in those eight years of struggle for existence ! Deeply interested in the
whole family , I at once determined to take tliem under my protection , and see what could be done towards improving their condition .
Pin cling on inquiry that Mrs . M was more than ever anxious to earn her own living , and only desirous of a little out-relief towards
her rent , I requested a gentleman friend to see the relieving officer of the parish in which she lived , and lay the case before him .
This was done , but without success . The old answer , " unless Mrs . M coidd prove she belonged to that parishor would go into the
house altogether , nothing could be done . " I , then wrote myself to the aforesaid official , bearing my own testimony to the merits of the
case , saying the woman could earn from 5 s . to 6 s . per week , when wellat needlework ; but while illat least I trusted out-relief would
be g , iven . This appeal produced , no better effect , and although several friends aided me in trying to trace out to what parish the
unfortunate widow belonged , all inquiries have failed . She would
therefore still be left to starvation _Tbut for the Society ' s aid , of
78 Annals Of Needlewomen.
78 ANNALS OF NEEDLEWOMEN .
-
-
Citation
-
English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1862, page 78, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041862/page/6/
-