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398 AOTAIiS 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.
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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 V. " I Am The Woman That Work...
estate , as I "believe that only young * hands are employed in this "businessowing * to the delicate manipulation requireda child ' s
touch being , lighter than a woman ' s . They must , if they , live , go forth into the world without the slightest practical knowledge _,
of any womanly pursuit that can aid them in its struggles . For domestic service they are totally unfitted , of needlework they
know nothing . If they marry , what kind of wives are they likely to prove , with no knowledge of the domestic economy so necessary
to make home what it should be ? If mothers , their ignorance will probablbe hereditary ; for even should their childrenunder
happier y auspices , be able to attend a school , no extraneous , teaching can ever instil the principles which a true mother's voice
mingles in the earliest impressions of her offspring . Yet generation after generation of this class of women are being born and bred
in this our country , with an utter indifference to the need of preparing them for life by mental culture . To supply the present call for labor
girls are forced into its ranks ; their ideas die , prematurely ripened into one directionviz . that of the necessity of gain ; in some this
engenders a sharp , restless , activity of mind , in others the mechanical work they are engaged in leads to apathy and carelessness , but
neither heart nor head education are brought to bear in the development of those deeper qualities necessary to make woman what God
intended her to be . To attempt to remove these children whose history I have nar- _^
rated , from their occupation , would not be wise , unless , indeed , one were prepared to build their future fortunes for them ; I own I was
relieved to hear no complaints , and to find that no harshness from their employer was added to their burden of labor . They looked
pale and sickly , but what else could be expected from such an unnatural life !
Mrs . S ' s strength is failing fast , but she still receives work and has occasional help from charitable sources . Poor thing ! she
makes herself worse by giving way to violent fits of hysterics and weeping , working herself up into despair in dread of the isolation
of her children which she sees in perspective . The little " woman who works for the bread , " is , however , far too independent and
shrewd a child to share her mother ' s fears ; she seems to have great confidence in her own powersand said" When I ' m twelve
years old , ma'am , I shall get six shillings , a week , . " It is also to be hoped that the little one will have her ninepence a week increased ,
and in time rise in the flower world to an equality with her sister . And here I must leave the trio , first informing my readers that
the children ' s ragged frocks have been replaced and other little comforts added to their wardrobe which I fear their own earnings
would have been long in procuring for them . They are also brought tinder the notice of those who feel for the orphanand I doubt not ,
should the God of the fatherless in His good providence , remove the
mother , He will take them under His protection and raise them
398 Aotaiis Of Needlewomen.
398 _AOTAIiS OF NEEDLEWOMEN .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1862, page 398, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081862/page/38/
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