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224 ANNALS OP 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.
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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 Iii. Poyebty Is, At All Times,...
world—that Home where toil will be no more , arid where sorrow will be forgotten in the universal harmony of light and sound that
reigns in that heavenly place . Hitherto in my acquaintance with Mrs . D there had been ,
I could now evidently see , an attempt to conceal the extreme poverty in which she lived ; but now , having invaded her citadel ,
_concealment was no longer possible . She had , indeed , descended irom affluence to its most opposite extremeand when once she
, perceived that I recognized this fact she made me fully acquainted "with all the privations she endured . Her chief support was
obtained from her children , one or two of whom were married . They , howeverhad familiesand what little was spared was
, , evidently thouglit an effort and burthen . Still , they paid the rent of the little room their mother occupied , and made her besides
• a weekly allowance of two shillings ; now and then some trifling sum was sent her from one source or other , and thisadded to
, what little Mrs . D could make by her own exertions , formed her only resources .
She had one daughter who had been away for some time , either in service or with her sister , but who sometimes came home
to her mother for a few weeks at a time . I found Mrs . D -had no blankets on her bedand scarcely any warm clothing : whilst
, several of her possessions , both in furniture and wearing apparel , were lying amid the omnium gatherum of hoards and relics which
poverty ' s need had taken to the pawnbroker's shop . I 2 _3 rocured for her a little assistance , and wrote to some friends
from her old neighborhood , who established the truth of her tale . Her gratitude for what was done was excessive . One lady interested
in her sent a pair of blankets , another occasional supplies of soup , whilst very many additional comforts found their way into her
humble dwelling . It was a great effort on her part to return to the workroom after leaving it under such circumstances as those
before narrated ; but she was welcomed as if nothing had occurred to disturb her former position there , merely receiving the welcome
of an absentee recovered from sickness . Fortunately , the two women who had caused her the most annoyance by cavilling at her
somewhat exclusive ways , had left during * her absence . I advised her for many reasons thus to relieve the monotony of her lonely
tome life by . associating with others instead of continuing to work at
Mrs . D soon regained her cheerful countenance , and for some months all went on satisfactorily with our old friend . I
frequently received from her little presents , such as a pincushion , or a mat , or a bunch of flowers—marks of attention which I prized
as the offerings of a grateful heart . The Autumn came , and I left town for a time , and on my return ,
a couple of months later , not seeing Mrs . D in the workroom , I inquired for her . I was informed in reply , that she was gone out A-
224 Annals Op Needlewomen.
224 ANNALS OP NEEDLEWOMEN .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), June 1, 1862, page 224, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01061862/page/8/
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