Concerning Men and Other Papers Author:Dinah Maria Mulock Craik Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: A HOUSE OF REST I Have always had a strong feeling—looking back, I may say a fellow-feeling, for our respectable poor : those who, well-born, fairly well-educ... more »ated, with all the tastes and instincts of refinement, have been reduced, sometimes by their own fault, more often by the faults of their progenitors, not merely to earn their bread, for that is a wholesome and most desirable thing, but to earn it so hardly that existence becomes one long struggle—especially to women. For, in their case, the struggle is mostly a silent one. The clam- ourers are heard and helped. Our unrespect- able poor, who have no longer any position to keep up; our criminal classes, whom it isso ' interesting' to try and reform ; and the multitudes of helpless ones, the old, the very young, the sick, can each and all find an institution on the watch to succour them. But those who are ashamed to beg, and too proud even to complain, determined to keep ' respectable' through everything, just go working on—work till they drop. And this class is mainly composed of women. Because, whatever used to be, there is no doubt that now a large proportion of our women never are, never can be, worked for. They must work for themselves, or starve. Often, they do both ; and no one knows it, till they ' die and make no sign.' For it is beginning to be generally recognised by philanthropists— notably by the philanthropists of the East End of London—that public charity often flows in the direction least needed and merited; because the deserving poor are almost always the silent poor. Nothing but experience, or very close observation, can teach one to realise the position of a woman, usually a young woman—for such seldom reach old age—who day after day must put on decent clothes and a cheerful, or at any rate a calm face,...« less