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Show . ---· ' 272 APPENDIX TO NOTES. strictly 'tJhercd to. 'Vo conf<'sS we sec <lifficulti.cs i~1 the wny, but not grr.a.tcr than 'woman's wit' might 0\'C rcomc, 1.f f~ 1 rly brought to bear u1Jon the questiou. 'L'ho customers, tho prmc1pals, th_o scam. strcs~cl!', nrc n.ll women. They arc more colllpct.mt to Ucn.l w1th each other than men could Ly nny possi!Ji lity be. 1f the Sut hc rlf~:nd-ho~so co nuni ttco wou!U fairly set the ex:uuple, and carry out thou· des1gn with s ufficient vigi laucc, wo doubt not ti.H'J could cxcc u t~ th~ task. 'l'h<'y did not s h1·ink from tho wholesale (!tflicu}ty of cma nc1pat~ng lh!l 3,000,000 o1· 4,000,000 n<'l!;roes of the UnLtcU States,-why hesetate at g rappli~;:; with the London m:~t1tuamakc rs, who arc ~epcndcnt for thou· cx1stence upon the "'Ood wlil and patronngo of th ou· customrrs? No doubt their mtclligc;ce will find a way out of Uiflicultics which puzr.le tlw ma~culine brain. u Wo should be glad iiHI<'ed to sec any cffecti \·o movement afoot which would compel the milliuers of the metropolis to employ a suffi: cieut number of h:uul:-:, anti cone;eqllcntly to work only for a. limited number of hours. God know!'!, twel\'c hours of labor and confinement arc quite sufficient for any young wonnn to go through in tho course of a day. For ourseh·cs, we can !Jut point to other climates whero toil meets with its appropri:Ltc rcwa1·d, and urge these unfortunates to lea\'c theil' nntin• Hhores ns ~oon as J~a.ssagc money can be scrap']d togl.'th cr. '!'hose who go will lind a. Letter Eugland at tho. other side of the globe, and those who remain will find the market in a more wholesome condition. A !most cn:ry we('k we hn.ve to reco1·d a strike for increase of w:1gcs among ccrt:.1.in cla~scs or nHtlc laborers-i~ is time that the turn of the ovcrworlccd women had come." From Hood's "L:1y of the Laborer:"- (4.) "' Wh:tt matters?' said n. grey-hcadrd man, in fustian, in nnswer to a wal'lling nudge n.nd whi~pcr from his neiJ!;hbor. '1f wnl!s has en.rs, they nrc welcome to what th<'y can ketc h-ay, n.nd tl1o stranger to bout--if ~;o be he don't know all nl)out us aln~ady-for it's all in print. Whnt we yarn, nnd what we spend-what wo cat, and what we drink-whn.t wo wea1·, and the cost on it from top to toewhe• ·e wo sleep, and how many on us lie in a bed-our consarus aro as common ns waste hnd.' .. '''And as mn.ny g:cesc and donkeys turned on to them, I do think!' cried a. you n~ fellow in wh·ctccns-• to hear how folk cackle and bray about our state~. And tll<'ll the queer remedies ns is prescribed, like, fOr a stn rrin,::; man! A Bible, says one-a. r eacling made easy, !lays another-a tcmpc1·ance mc<lal, sayi3 another-or maybe :~ h:l;;ricultuml prize. Hut what is he to cat, I n.x? Why, says one, a Corkasaian Jew-says anothr1·. a crickct·h:tll-says :1.nothcr, a mn.y-polcnncl says n.nothcr, the "'enuf.l bound for ll or.<::ctra ilye.' "• As if idle h:wds and ('lllpty pockets,' fla iU the g•·cy-hcadcd man, 'did not make s ig ns, of lhrmsclres, for work and wng:cs-and a hungry belly for brert.d and chPosr. ' "''J.'hnt's true, any how,' sn id one of the water-drinkers. 'I only wish that a doctor would come n.t this minutc, and listen with his telescope ou m.v stomnch, and he would hear it n-ta.lking as ]>lain as our mn.gpie, and saying, I wants wittlcs.' APPENDIX TO NOTF.S. 273 ".Th('r(l wn,c, ry ge neral peal of mirth nt th is speech, but brief, and end in~ .:tbn1p~ly, as lau;!;htCJ· docs, whl.'n extorter! by the odd t1·rat· meut of f1; scnous suhjcet-:~ flash followed. Ly deeper ::;loom. Tho ~oHvcr~allo.n then .a~st:nncd a graver tone; cnch m:l.n in hu·n recount.. w:; l:IC tn:lls,. prLr~liOHH,, nnd visitations, of himse lf, his wife, and ch_ddz?n, or Ius nC';_g-bbor s-not mentioned with ficrccncst~, in termmgl zu ::; oaths and tln·cats, not with bi tterness-some fbw a.llusious cx;eptcd .to ~1ars h ovc r:.ccrs or miserly masters-but as soldiers or snLlors d.escrtb? tho h:trd l) hil_)H and sufl'erings they have had to encounter n.l thc1r rongh "?cation, and evidently endured in their own pcL·sons ~nth a n~anly forhtu<.le. Jf the speaker's voice faltered, or his cyet~ moestcnefl! •t was on ly when ho painted the sharp bones showinr. through the sk n.l,, tho skin through the rags, of the wife of his boso m~ or how .the trnd1twnal wolf, .uo longer to bo kept from the door, had r~ shcd Ill ~nd fastened .on Ins young ones. What a reve lation it wa s J l<.o..then:,. With m ~trc cluldren tlmn sh illing:s per wePk-mothers trav· 1uhng .ltterally 111 tho ~t1·:~w-infants starv ing before tho pnrents' eyes, wtth colt!, and f:umslung; for food I J l uma.n Cl'Catures, m:Lio ami f~malc, old nnd you_ng, uot. gnawcd and tom by single woes, !Jut worn cd t\t once _by wmtcr, d•scaso and want, as by that triple-headed dog, whelped m the realm of torments ! "l\ly ~ars tin~lcd, a~J m.y checks flu shed with self-reproach, re· memb~nng n~.Y fretfu l unpa~J cnce under my own infli ctions, no light ones cnhcr, bll_ compare~ mth tho heavy complicntions of angui . ..:h, m.oral.nn~ ph:;:sJcal, cxperrcnccd by those poor men. .1\ly heart swelled '~1th mthgnatwn, my sot~! s ickened with disgust, to recall the sobs, s1ghs, tears, and hystencs-thc lamentatio ns and imprecations beslowed by pampC'red selfishness on a s ick bird or beast, a sore finger, a 1:1~\·~Jied .t?c, ~ 1lost rub_Lcr, a miss i n~ luxury, an ill-mn.do garment, a cuhn.~ry fiulmc .-to _thmk of tho c?ld looks and harsh words cast by tho eat.no eyes and ltps, eloq uent m solf·indulgcnce, on nakedness, st::rv:~twn, and por01'ty. Wc:l.llh, with !.tis own million of money, powtmg: to the ne\~ half-~·1.\' t.lnngs as flttmg money to the milliongluttony, gorged wtth _damh~s, washed down by iced champagne, complnccn tly commcndmg- h1s l1umblo brethren to the brook of Elish:1. and the salads of Ncbuchadnczzar; and fashion, in furs and Yelrot, comfortably b~h o ldi1~g hc1· s9tmlid sisters shivering in robes do zephyr, woven by wmtcr 1tsclf, with the warp of a north, n.nd tho woof of an cast wind! '''The job up at Basely is fini shed,' said one of tho middlc-ngcd men. 'I luwo enjoyed but three tlnys' work in tho last fo1'tnir.ht and God abo~·e knows where I s hall get another, even nt a shilligg ~ day. And nme mouths to feed, big and little-and n ine backs to clothe-with th? winter a-setting in-and the rent beh ind-hand-and never:~ bed to ho on, and my good woman, poor soul, ready to-;' n chokmg sound . and n hasty gulp of water smothered the rest of tho sentence .. 'There mu s~ bo sometl!ing (Tone for us-thoro ltliST,' ho nddcd, Wlth an emphatiC slap of Ins broad, brown, bn.rky hand, that made th? gl~sscs jingle and the idle pipes clatter on the board. And C\'Cr.v VOICe m the room echoed 'there must,' my own involun tarily swelling tho chorus. 35 |