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THE GOVERNESS QUESTION. 169
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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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^«»» " Governesses Again? We Really Thou...
school-room , hearing tliem all alive and merry below ; never once do we find lier in the drawing-room ; verily if the wine of a
governess's temper turns to vinegar it is not surprising . The governess seems born to be a souffre douleuras the French say .
, The good feeling and right spirit shown in these attacks on the defenceless shall not be here discussed . There is a book which has
been held in great reverence for some eighteen hundred years , for which profound veneration is expressed in this countrywhich
more-, over has been translated into almost every known language , to teach the Cherokees , the Chickawaws , the Chocktaws , etc ., their duty ;
which book contains such sentences : — " A bruised reed shall he not break . " * " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself . " f " Whoso
mocketh the poor reproaclieth his Maker . " J " Blessed is he that considereth the poor ; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble . " ||
" The rich and the poor meet together ; the Lord is the maker of them all . " § " Speak not evil of one another . " _^} " To have respec t
of persons is not good * ' * These precepts of course do not apply to governesses , who are a race apart , pariahs . Many have heard the
thunders of applause which follow the recital of Shakespeare ' s celebrated lines ; the applause we presume given to the sentiment : —
" Feels The poor a pang beetle as great that we as tread when upon a giant dies . '
Hannah More has some lines which might bear on this question . '' And Since half trifles out make the from sum of human foibles things ,
Since life ' s bes misery t joys consist in peace and springs ease , And Oil ! let w the can ungentle save or serve iri , t but learn all from may thence please ;
A . small unkindness is sp a great offence " , What a pity that the sentimental admiration so generally
expressed for these and similar thoughts , should evaporate with the breath that utters it , and hardly ever be reduced to practice !
Some actor boasted once , and justifiably , in . answer to aspersions on his class , that there was no instance of an actor ever being tried
for a capital offence ! a boast few other classes could make . Take governesses as a classconsider the multifarious temptations they
, encounter in every shape , and it will be difficult to name any other equal number of women who conduct themselves with such uniform _,
propriety ; many with manners , grace , and elegance which would adorn any station , and which their superiors would gladly emulate .
" God is no _respecter of persons ; "ff the despised governess has profound consolation in store !
Some persons will say these remarks do not apply universally , but when we "talk of a rainy summerwe do not mean there have
been no fine days . Some with vast philo , sophy console you , and tell
* Isaiah 42 , _T St f . Matthew James 2 . 22 . ** $ Prov Prov . . 17 28 . . || Psalm ft _Acts 41 . _» § Prov . 22 .
The Governess Question. 169
THE GOVERNESS QUESTION . 169
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Nov. 1, 1859, page 169, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01111859/page/25/
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