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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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said she . She would not believe it so fatal a thing to do . She did not see how Messrs . A . and B . could stand in his way , if he chose to go elsewhere . It seemed to her that they were rather in Russell's power than he in theirs . If his being married was an obstacle to his being engaged elsewhere , whyneed he say , unless expressly asked , that he was married ? For a time , they would be content with his spending at home the only hour in the day he had in his own power ;—the hour after closing . When his value became understood , the marriage might be avowed . Anything was better than going on with his new employment .
. When Russell gave notice of his intention to quit , the partners were extremely surprised , and inquired whether he had any complaint to make of Mr . Elmot , —his superior in the underground department . He had not ; and he now felt obliged to him ; for , when the partners were evidently disposed to threaten him , a iew whispered words from Elmot seemed to change their mood . They wished him well ; said he had given them satisfaction on the whole ; and they had little doubt they should see him back before long . " Yes , " said Elmot to Russell , " we shall be working together again one of these days . "
As a matter of prudence , Russell made his next application at the distance of so many streets as not to be under the observation of the people belonging to Messrs . A . and B . Mary said that , if he settled , nothing would be easier than for her to change her lodging ; and , if he was to pass for a single man , it was better that she should be out of reach of his evening hour for the first week or two . There was Sunday , meantime . Mr . C , of the firm of C . D . and E ., did not happen to ask whether Russell was married . When
he had heard that Russell ' s salary as shopman had been too small , and that he wished to see a superior kind of business , he seemed quite satisfied , for the next thing he did was to take down a bible , and question Russell about his religious opinions . Now , Russell happened to be a Dissenter , while Messrs . C . D . and E . were very strong members of the then-called Clapham , or Simeon Church , which in its early days was talked over for good or for evil whenever men met together . Mr . C . turned
over the leaves of his bible , and began a series of catechetical inquiries . But Russell , retreating towards the door , observed that he came to offer himself for a situation in the shop , and not to discuss theological questions , —about which , he added , he felt too strongly to enter upon them lightly with strangers . Mr . C . beckoned him back , put the bible on the shelf , and proceeded to engage the young man on the understanding , that the engagement was dissoluble at a minute ' s
notice . Russell found that this intimation was one of the few true things that were said in that establishment . On the first rainy Friday morning he found himself dismissed , with half a dozen other young men , on some slight pretence , which had evaporated on Monday morning , when he was taken on again , after the loss of two days' salary , and three days' board . It would not do to move Mary yet . Moreover , he was losing the power of doing so ; for he was beginning to be in arrear for her lodging .
He was growing very unhappy . He thought the Friday dismissals , which he found were no unusual thing , very immoral ; yet there was no end to the religion in the establishment . There were not only prayers , very long and precise , in the eveningN , but expoundings of Scripture , at which ^ very member of the household was expected to be present . These were ho offensive to him , ho ignoruut , an he , with his small knowledge , was aware , that he soon absented himself , repairing to a news-room , to get a eight of the papers . lie was no longer what ho was . His conscience was ill at ease , for he was
growing corrupt . Under strong temptation , under the fear of losing his situation , he had said that he . fan a single man ; and , having said it once , he said it again . When'questioned about where be went in hia evening hour , ho at first fought oil" the inquiry ; but , when he had once been to an evening service , under un evangelical clergyman , und it had become known , and had brought him praise , ho let it be supposed that be often went—that it was bis object in going out ; and that difficulty , too , enme to the issue of a downright lie . Soon everything conspired to make him areless , and then disgusted , about matters on which lie had o lately felt too atrongly to speak of
them to a stranger . His internal uneasiness , and the religious tone of the house , tended alike to ruin his religious sensibilities . When he had found himself unable to dispose of a box of ribbons of a fashion that was passing away , he was rebuked ; and , when he declared he could not help it , he was asked solemnly , — " Have you made it the subject of prayer ? How can you expect success , if you do not seek a blessing ? " And he was compelled to hear , when on his knees with the rest , an earnest
" wrestling" m prayer for a blessing on the offer of a lot of ginghams which did not strike the fancy of purchasers . And then , in the midst of the most sanctified conformity , the young men indulged in such infamous talk ; and the bickering among the young women , their vanities , and their fibs to purchasers , made his very soul sick . His heart swelled when he thought of his Mary , growing thin in the face , and shabby in clothing , while these girls , unworthy to hear her name , were flaunting in finery ; and he bitterly reproached himself for having married her , and for becoming unworthy of her , —faster and faster every week . He was truly unhappy . It came to an end . By slow degrees some lace , of a peculiar fabric , made
its appearance from the cellar . Some of it was sold ; but some was not , when the agent of the house where alone it was manufactured , caught a sight of it in passing . A call , and some extensive business transactions , were the consequence . The lace had been stolen from a cart , some years before , and had lain a long while in the cellar . There were no legal proceedings . It was more convenient to all parties to arrange the affair in a quieter way . The pillaged firm made extensive sales to Messrs . C . D . and E ., paying themselves for their loss by large profits on their sales . The truth oozed out among the shop people ; and Russell was so disgusted that he held on only till the next rainy week , when , being dismissed once more , he did not return .
One great inducement to change was his desire to be near-Mary again , her confinement being close at hand , and he thought he might venture into the neighbourhood of Messrs . A . and B ., especially as there had been " a smash"there , after all , and they were resuming business in a very humble style . He applied at the great house of Messrs . F . and G ., and was taken on at once . Messrs . F . and G . employed three hundred young men , and they were glad to see new applicants , and to have as many opportunities as possible of exchanging their duller shopmen for brighter . Russell was to be in the
ribbon department , and he bad notice that it was the rule of the hovise to dismiss every assistant who could not suit a purchaser . There was nothing , he knew , to prevent his being taken on again the next morning , but it was galling to know that he would he turned off if any lady could not match or please herself with a ribbon . He soon found what a snare as well as bondage it was . Now he would press upon a customer things that she had not asked for , and now he would steal away , hoping to
be unrecognized , among 299 young men , all in black , with white cravats , and appear to be in a hurry with some other article in his hand . His case was worse than that of any of his comrades , for the shop-walker in this great establishment was no other than Mr . Khnot ; and , as they both knew , Mr . Khnot had reasons for keeping his eye upon Russell . That eye seemed to be ever upon him . Yet it did not appear to be Mr . Khnot ' s wish to get rid of him , but rather to retain and torment him .
Mr . Klmot appeared in a new character here . The partners often called on the young men to be thankful that they were under the care of one who had so remarkable u gift of prayer . It whs always Mr . Klmot who offered prayer ; and , if Russell was ever relieved from his eye for half-an-hour , it was because ( as was told all along the vast series of shops ) he was praying by the bedside of some sick comrade . Russell hoou became aa well aware that Mr . . Elmot knew he was married as Mr . Elmot was that ' Russell remembered the dark room and the hatch , and the oppression became well-nigh intolerable to the least guilty party . On " Sunday nights Russell wuk . sure to be met with the inquiry , uttered with holy severity , 44
Where have you been worshipping to-day ? It is ten hours since we parted . \ ou are ten hours nearer to heaven or hell . Where huve you been ?" And in these days Russell had not been , as of old , to chapel . Mary was not now so dressed as that she could appear at chapel . And there was the baby . She could go nowhere but where ahe could carry her infant . And , alaa ! she
had but little strength to carry her infant at all . How very unhappy was Russell now ! He had thought his own fatigue great , standing for sixteen hours , with the exception of a quarter of an hour for each meal ; and often had he complained of being too weary to enjoy even a newspaper at the end of the long day ; but what was this to seeing Mary wan and drooping over her thin baby ! He could hardly bear the sight of the long tables , loaded with good cheer , excellent tea , streaming from
handsome urns , hot joints by the dozen , with variety of vegetables , and frothing cans of porter , when he well knew that Mary was not above half fed , though he carried her every shilling he could spare from his clothes . And those clothes ! Here he was , in a handsome black , with white cravat , obliged to be as spruce every day as he was on his wedding morning ; while Mary Here was the fatal temptation . And Mr . Elmot well knew in what direction to watch for it .
When the three hundred left the shops at night , to supper , after putting on the wrappers and clearing away , they passed out through a doorway which admitted only one at a time , hands down by the sides , that it might be seen that they carried nothing , and Mr . Elmot ' s eye was upon each , but more hawklike upon the married men than the single ; and like nothing but an eagle when Russell was passing through . It was known that the married men could not support a family on their earnings ; and , if they did support a family , they lay under continual suspicion of theft . One wonders how three hundred men could be found who would go through that doorway on such conditions . They affected to laugh at it as an
inevitable bore ; but many were chafed by it , and some grew reckless . Russell would probably have grown reckless at all events , but this indignity hastened the process . It made him childish enough to long to baffle Elmot ' s eye . He thought he had done it ; but he was mistaken . HeJiad carried stockings to Mary in her great need of them ; and she had been pleased , supposing them , to he a bargain , such as shopmen can often obtain . He had carried her a remnant of cambric for caps for the child ; and again she had been pleased . When her last gown was really past mending , he took the more dangerous step of buttoning- up , under his coat , on Saturday night , a gownpiece , which made him look stouter than he was aware of . Elmot ' s hand was on his shoulder in a moment , and a policeman was within call . Russell had no mercy to expect . The great object was to be rid of him ; to send him so far as that no saintly character might be tarnished by his breath , no great bouse , rising again from " a smash , " be kept in alarm about any secrets that lie could tell . He was transported for fourteen years . Mr . Elmot offered to pray with him in . prison , but was relieved by the offer being declined ; taking care , the while , that the offer and refusal should be known . Poor Mary , with her baby in her arms , pleaded hard for mercy for her husband . She was told that it was wholly impossible to spare her husband ; but that Messrs . A . and li ., moved by Mr . Elmot , had had the extraordinary goodness to offer to send her and her infant after him ; an offer which , of course , she would gratefully accept . " Accept it , Mary , " said Russell . " There is no chance for us here . I could almost be glad I am going . If I have you , we may do well , even yet . Hut , as for being grateful . . . . "
" 0 ! don ' t , Russell ! Don ' t say we ought not to be grateful !" " Well ; perhaps Messrs . A . and H . know best about that . *'
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SCR I 1 J K * tf COM E I ) IE S . The production at the St . James ' s Theatre of Scribe's amusing comedies , lui Camaraderie and Una Chain *; , I look upon as affording useful lessons to those of our dramatists who may bo wise and modest enough to profit by tbein . It in certainly a subject to excite nm-prise that we , with so glorious a literature , with so much dramatic ambition , should , nevertbelefc-H , Ins so deplorably deficient in excellent comedies . Our drumutiNtM have a notion that Wit is the primary quality , ni once the base and pediment of a Comedy . It may be a paradox , but it \ h not the les . s a truth , that ho far from Wit being the primary requisite , n Comedy may bo lighted up with Wit and yet be wearisome , while on the other band , the
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M May 17 , 1851 . ] 3 $ e % , e * Vtt . 469 ^ *^ " ^ " ^ " ^^ ' _ _
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 17, 1851, page 469, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1883/page/17/
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