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    68 NOTICES OF BOOKS.

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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.

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    The "Workwoman .. . "I? Cie Ouvriere ., ...

    ratively speaking , the children of tlie j > oor a race of orphans in this nineteenth century is truly horrible . Certainly the remedies applied

    to cure tlie deep-laid evil of females working * in the manufactory has "been most partial and ineffectual . As an instance of this we niight

    . mention the institutions at Jujurieux , & e ., species of wokring * establishments for young * womenconstructed hy some French

    philan-, thropist to screen the occupiers from the dangers of large towns . Here all the melancholy routine of a convent is observed , with the

    _compassion addition of a for sever the e poor day ' s g labor irls here . The incarcerated least tender . hearts Such houses will _vfeel of

    relief , and other systems less severe , may _guarantee , a better state of body . iC Mais Vame souffre ; " and in those few words much sad truth

    is contained . Not the least interesting sections of this volume are those treating

    of drunkenness and its fearful effects , as well on the body as on the working man and family .

    In the chapter describing the lodgings of the working-classes we come across fearful pictures of misery . A -very slight inspection

    in any of the large towns of the abodes of poverty reminds us that ' much yet remains to be done . To those who inhabit rooms

    wellventilated and lighted , who enjoy a moderate share of creature comforts , it is a difficult matter to realize life in crowded

    underground cells , where the miserable occupiers , always hungry , either stew with heat , or shiver with cold . Our readers of luxurious turn

    of mind will find M . Simon's pages act like a tonic ; indeed , it does us all good to be made justly to appreciate our position in life .

    We should not omit to mention the very excellent account of the mode of life led by working women in the cities . TJie difficulties

    they have to contend against are indeed terrible ; and by careful calculation our author shows that , with , all economy , they are often

    on the brink of ruin and starvation . As a corrective to all these ills we have just touched on , M . Simon points to the creation of

    < e family life ; " and on the principle that union is strength advocates the combined joint exertions of man . and woman .

    Towards the close- of this volume we have a chapter on the " powerlessness of direct remedies " treated in a masterly manner .

    How to struggle against the influence of manufactories which continue to enrol women and children ? As this is the principal but

    not the sole cause of the destruction of the vie de famille , M . Simon briefly glances at and criticises the various schemes which have

    been from , time to time advanced as likely to exert a retarding influence on this evil monopoly of woman's labor . One of these

    schemers _ajDpears to have arrived at the conclusion that the only and best mode of striking a blow is to open to women every

    possible source of employment , and in a list are specified the occupationsconsiderable in numberparticularly suited to female laborers .

    , , We do not altogether endorse the opinion that women in this country have hardly any other chance of working _btit in the

    manufactory . We cannot see the objections to their gaining a living * by

    68 Notices Of Books.

    68 NOTICES OF BOOKS .

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Sept. 1, 1861, page 68, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01091861/page/68/