LETTER XIX.
RELATION BETWEEN A LANDED PROPRIETOR AND THE COTTAGERS ON HIS
ESTATE.--HOW TO RELIEVE THE POOR.--ESTABLISHING SCHOOLS.--TEACHING
THE DAUGHTERS OF THE POOR TO MAKE CLOTHES, AND TEACHING THEM
COOKING.--EMPLOYING THE POOR.--ASSISTING THE POOR IN ILLNESS.--MAKING
CLOTHES FOR THE POOR.
I have now, my dear Annie, a few words to say on a more important
subject than those I have yet touched upon; I mean the duties which are
imposed upon you by your residence in the country. As your husband is
the last descendant of an ancient family, it is particularly incumbent
upon him, and, of course, also upon you, to keep up as much as possible
the kindly feeling which existed in the olden time between the lords of
the soil and its cultivators, but which has, of late years, been too
much neglected. The proprietor of a large estate ought to be regarded
by the labouring cottagers in the light of a protector, to whom they
can look up for advice and assistance in their troubles; and as a
friend upon whose kindness they may confidently rely, and who they
know will be interested in their welfare. When this is the case, the
tenantry of a country gentleman will form his best body-guard; and,
instead of ever attempting to injure his property, they will do all in
their power to protect it.
I think it highly desirable that you should be personally acquainted
with the poor people in the vicinity of your husband's mansion, that
you may know how to afford them the most acceptable assistance, and
who are most deserving of it. For this reason, I think you should
occasionally walk through the village, instead of confining your
rambles exclusively to the park, and call frequently on your poorer
neighbours; not with the apparent wish of dictating to them how they
should live, and how they should manage their families, but with the
ostensible purpose of employing them in some little work, and in
reality to see how you can best be serviceable to them, and how you can
do them the most positive good. It is the blessed privilege of wealth
and rank that they give us the power of making our fellow-creatures
happy, with very trifling inconvenience to ourselves. A word or a kind
look from the rich to the poor speaks volumes, and carries with it
encouragement and pleasure, which no efforts of persons in their own
rank in life can give. It is, however, difficult for the rich to know
how to be of real service to the poor, as giving alms seldom does good
except in cases of sudden and unforeseen distress. The best charity is
first to teach the poor how to maintain themselves, and next to give
them employment; and when they have this, they have a better chance of
happiness than any riches could bestow combined with idleness. Perhaps,
indeed, there is no state of existence more happy than that of a person
who is usefully and profitably employed, and whose employment is of
such a nature as to exercise moderately the faculties both of the body
and the mind.
Establishing schools is an important duty which the rich owe to the
poor. Every girl ought to be able to sew neatly and well, and to read,
write, and keep accounts. I think also it would be a great advantage if
all the girls who have attained the age of fourteen were to receive a
few lessons in dress-making, and making waistcoats and boys' clothes,
from the regular mantua-maker and tailor of the village; or you might
pay for this out of your own pocket, and make it a reward for good
conduct. It is particularly useful to the wife of a labouring man to
know how to cut out and make or alter clothes, as work of this kind can
be taken up and laid down while the mother is nursing her children, or
watching the boiling of a pot, or some similar kind of simple cookery.
Many poor women waste a great deal of food by not knowing how to use
it to the best advantage; for instance, they often throw away the
water in which meat has been boiled, and of which an excellent soup
might be made by the addition of a few vegetables, and thickening it
with oatmeal, flour, or pearl barley; and they sometimes spoil meat,
when they have it, by letting it boil so fast as to become hard and
indigestible. I do not mean, by making these observations, that I
think you should make inquiries into what your poor neighbours have
for dinner, or how they cook their food, as there are no points on
which the poor generally dislike to be interfered in more than these;
but I only mean that you should, if possible, get the daughters taught
the best way of cooking food suitable to their rank in life, by some
experienced person, and that then it should be left for the mothers to
adopt these new plans or not, as they liked.
Generally speaking, I would not have you too fond of offering to have
the daughters of the cottagers taught any thing by your own servants.
The modes of living of the rich and the poor are necessarily so
different, that a cottager's daughter would reap very little advantage
from seeing how the dishes were prepared for your table, while she
might be rendered discontented by observing the very great difference
between the mode of living in your kitchen and in her own cottage.
There are, however, exceptions to this rule, in the case of girls who
wish to become servants; and, whenever that happens, I would advise you
always to have the girls sent to the mansion-house, to be placed under
the direction of the servant in whose department she might wish to be
employed.
Before commencing your visits to the poor, I would advise you to
inquire in what way you can best afford them employment; for instance,
in your neighbourhood, I believe, the country people employ themselves
generally in making lace; knowing this, you could not do better, when
calling upon some of the cottagers, than to give an order for lace, and
in doing so you might enter into conversation with them about their
patterns, the length of time they have been employed in the business,
and a variety of other topics which will suggest themselves naturally.
This will deprive your visit of the painful feeling which would have
attended it if you had called without any direct object in view, and it
will give you an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the different
members of the family, and seeing whether there are any too young or
too old to work in the same manner as the others, and for whom you may
possibly be able to find fitting employment.
Plaiting coarse straw or bulrushes is an employment that can be
followed both by old people and young children; and you will find
covers made of straw plaited into bands, and then sown together, of
great service in protecting your half-hardy plants during frosty
weather. Garden mats, baskets for flowers, and various other things,
may be made in the same manner, and you will easily find out what will
be most suitable to your _protégées_, and what they can do with least
difficulty to themselves.
In cases of illness, I am sure you will be happy to assist your poor
neighbours in every way in your power. When poor people are ill their
means of support are stopped, and they have not only to labour through
the pains of illness, but they are also exposed to the greatest
privations for the want of food, at the very moment when food of a more
nourishing nature than usual is required for them. Then it is that the
helping hand of the rich is of the greatest value to the poor, and that
charity takes its most graceful form.
Many ladies in the country employ a portion of their time in making
clothes for the poor; but with the exception of permitting young people
to make baby-linen, I question whether it is advisable that much should
be done in this way. The feelings of the poor are often hurt by having
it dictated to them what they are to wear, and they are apt to look
upon the clothes thus given to them, and which are probably quite
different from what they would have purchased for themselves, almost
as a badge of slavery which they are compelled to wear to please their
patrons, but of which they hate the very sight.
And now, my dear Annie, I shall bid you adieu with my pen, as next week
I hope to be able to accept your often repeated invitation to come and
see myself the result of my admonitions. I shall certainly be delighted
to visit your gardens, your poultry-yard, your dairy, and all your
favourite haunts; but what will give me most pleasure will be to see
you happy, and to be assured from your experience that it is possible
for a young and beautiful woman, though brought up amidst all the
gaieties of a town life, to abandon them without a sigh, and to enjoy
rationally a Country Life.
INDEX.
[Not retained in this text version]
End of Project Gutenberg's The Lady's Country Companion, by Jane Webb Loudon