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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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known to those who most cared to know that there was no solace to the mother ' s heart , —no softening of the son ' s . He treated her like a servant ; and in the way that goodnatured people never treat servants . He repelled her affection ; he mocked .. . But I cannot dwell on this . One summer morning the hearse and two mourning coaches were seen moving from the door under the shady trees in the close . Old friends hardly knew whether to be glad or sorry that all was over . They would have been glad if there had been any domestic resource for the mother ; any other survivor to make the old home somewhat like itself . But was ever any worn-out being more lonely ? One old acquaintance , —by no means an intimate friend , —saw that it would now be right to go . She dreaded the visit inexpressibly ; but she saw that it was right to go . She went ; and she shed a lapful of tears when she came home .
She found Mrs . Woodcock immeasurably more haughty than ever before . She could scarcely rise at first from the rheumatism she had caught by night watching ; and when she sat down on her faded old sofa she worked her thumbs and twitched her fingers , as if impatient of her visitor , and cut short or contradicted everything that was said . She still harped on Oxford ; on which , however , it was impossible to say anything to please her . At last , — whether it was that the effort was of itself too much for her , or that old tones of voice and a kindly expression of countenance touched the spring of tears ,
I do not know , —but she was overtaken by such a passion of weeping as it was heartrending to witness . She wellnigh choked before she would acknowledge her own tears ; but when she laid her head against the back of the sofa her sobs shook the very room . She did not stop speaking for this . She said but one thing , but she said it incessantly . " Don't pity me , Mrs . A . I cannot bear to be pitied . I am not at all unhappy . I cannot bear to be pitied . You must not pit } ' me , " and so on .
Such a life could not last long . I forget exactly how long it was . Probably , in the suspense of our compassion , it seemed longer than it would now in the retrospect . It could not , I think , have been many months before the hearse was again moving away from the door under the trees , and we felt that the household which had been once so much to the city was extinguished . Nothing was left but that which still remains , —the portrait of the mayor in his robes in the great hall , and the aching remembrance in many hearts of the fate of his wife and only child .
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EXHORTATION . Down—down—down , From the light of the summer day , To cellar , and alley , and crowded street , Where the dead and the living for ever meet /
And Fever holdeth sway ! Back—back—back , From the eight of the noble and proud , — Back to needle , and back to loom , —• Stinking gutter and filthy room j Go earn yourselves—a shroud !
Fly—fly—fly , The eyes of the good and the great ; Impious wretches , -who grumblo and brawl , Cursing the Lord , -who disposeth of all , In daring to curse your fate .
Hnsto—haste—haBte , Your pestilent bodies will kill ; Be quiet arid humble , your rulers are kind And , when they ' vc tho time and when t '/ icy Vo the mind , They'll give you—a Poor-law Bill 1 Nov . 2 , 1850 . II . It * Nic-HOLLS
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GOD'S WORLD IS WORTHY BETTER MEN Behold ! an idle tale they tell : But who shall blame their telling it ? The rogues have got their cant to sell , The " World pays well for selling it ! They say this world ' s a " desert drear , " Wrapt in their own stark blindness ; That men were sent to suffer here : — What ! by a God of kindness ?—
That , since the world has gone astray , It must be so for ever ; And we must stand still and obey Its Desolaters . Never ! We ' 11 labour for the better time , With all our might of Press and Pen Believe me , ' tis a truth sublime , God ' s World is -worthy better Men .
With . Paradise the world began , — A world of love and gladness ; Its beauty hath been marred by man , With all his crime and madness . Yet ' tis a bright world still . Love brings Sunshine for spirits dreary ; With all our strife , sweet Rest hath wings To fold o ' er hearts a-weary . The sun , in glory like a god ,
To-day in heaven is shining ; The flowers upon the bloom-rich sod Their sweet love-lessons twining , As radiant of immortal youth As they were fresh from Eden . Then , Believe me , ' tis a noble truth , God ' s World is worthy better Men . O , they are bold and over bold , Who say we f re doomed to anguish ; That men , in God ' s own image souled ,
Like hell-bound slaves should languish Probe Nature ' s heart to its red core , There ' s more of good than evil ; And man—down-trampled man—is more Of angel than of devil ! " Prepare to die " ?—Prepare to live ! We know not what is living ;
And let us , for the world ' s good , give , As God is ever giving ! Give love , thought , action , wealth , and time , To win the primal age again . Believe me , ' tis a truth sublime , God ' s World is worthy better Men I Gerald Massey
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A STAKE IN THE COUNTRY . My uncle Brown is a large man in drab gaiters , slightly bald , decidedly ventripotent , yet not obese , and perfectly respectable . He takes in the Leader , for he is a sturdy Radical . He professes not to make head or tail of our Socialism , and wants to know what we are driving at : but he is a bold man , and is dreaded at election meetings , where he " speaks his mind , " strong in sentiment though loose in syntax . He is the father of a family : nine ruddyfaced children , all under fourteen years , sit at his board 5 sturdy , hopeful children enough , with large feet and indifferent noses . To look at my aunt you
would never believe her capable of such maternal energy : a little , narrowchested , low-voiced , delicate , pretty woman , apparently destined to pass her life on the sofa , or in the sick room . Yet that little woman is a treasure to her husband , and an ornament to society 5 though I say it . Insignificant she may be to the casual observer ; those who know her respect her as a woman of irreproachable principles and copious maternity . She also admires the Leader ; but mainly for the gay fascination of the articles signed by me . Among her qualities delicate appreciation of talent should not be forgotten !
Well , here is a family which as Brown energetically says has a stake in the country . He poohpoohs the vulgar claptrap in favour of hereditary legislators and class legislation on the ground that noblemen and landed proprietors have a " great stake in the country . " Not a greater stake than he has . " What stake can be greater to me than my life , and the lives of my nine little ones ? " The question startled me , as my uncle thumped it on the table , and then inserted the delicate end of the clay pipe between his lips , awaiting my answer . I had never thought of that before . " Uncle , " said I , " the
fallacy lies open to me now ; it is in the word ' country . ' A stake in the country really means a stake in the present system ; but that system may not be beneficial to tlie country , may be rather hurtful to the great mass of its inhabitants . " " So it is , " shouted my uncle . < f But those who . profit by it won t have it altered ; they dread change , because they are comfortable enough with things as they are ; so were the thieves under the old system of Charlies , " laughed he , " and didn't at all like the change into police . What I say is just this here : My nine children must get on in the world as well as
they can , and as well as the world will let ' em , now don't you see that I have a thumping big stake in the peace , order , welfare , and justice of society , because according to these will the efforts of my nine children to do their duty be rewarded . I must live , they must live . Is that stake of life not as big as the stake of some acres of land , that ' s what I should like to know ? Don ' t tell me . If the present state of things be good I have a stake in it—a large stake—and will preserve it ; but if the state happen to be bad , have I not also a stake in it , and must I not look after altering it ? That ' s where it is . "
Three vigorous and successive puffs completed this exposition of his political faith . A pale and delicate hand was gently laid upon the broad fist that rested on the table ; and a low , sweet voice said , " John , dear , don ' talk politics just after dinner , you know it always disturbs your digestion . " John took the tiny hand in his giant but loving grasp , pressed it affectionately , and gave her a smiling nod , as if recognizing the gentle counsel of his better angel . I instantly resolved to marry and have nine children myself . Vivian .
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Nov . 23 , 1850 . ] ® t > £ : Mt ap * t ? JB 37
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 23, 1850, page 837, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1860/page/21/
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