Louisa Twining

“ It seems to me a great evil, and to imply blame to us in some way that 600,000 persons should be living in a condition which has this sort of feeling attached to it. Is it because it is a crime in itself to be poor, or because the way in which we treat poverty has led persons to think it so? Or is it because we relieve those who do not need or deserve relief, and so have continually the feeling that we are imposed upon? ”

“ There must be the higher love and the more exalted principle which true religion alone can give, if we would elevate the office above that of the merest hireling. The love of humanity alone will not suffice: it must be the love of the Saviour prompting to works of love for His sake which will alone render the work acceptable to Him who can read the heart. ”

“ Are not the entire charge of a sick ward, the kitchen or laundry for many hundred persons, posts of responsibility? And if so, why are they left entirely to the management of pauper inmates, as in so many cases? It is evident that those who framed the poor-law rules contemplated the very possible abuse of power that would ensue; but even all their precautions and warnings have failed to avert the evil.
Instances of such are only too numerous. In one infirmary where no paid nurse is employed, the pauper nurse is continually being changed; she has one helper, and no extra person at night. ”

“ It may be a fact to be lamented that there should be so large a proportion of our countrymen and women who are compelled to resort to charity for assistance, and even maintenance. But if it is a fact, the only question is how to deal with it, so that it should not become still more lamentable by the manner in which it is treated. "The workhouse" has become a by-word for all that is degraded, scorned, and outcast, and seems to imply a loss of self-respect in every one belonging to it. ”

“ If the hospital nurse was till lately untrained and untrustworthy, what must the workhouse nurse be, in the still lower depth of social life from which she is taken? It is a fact that those who have once been employed in hospitals come, as a last resource, to the workhouse, and are there set in office over wards of sick and dying persons. ”

“ As to the question of removing workhouses out of London, which has lately been suggested in some quarters, I would only remark that from my experience such a change would tend to make them still more dreaded than they are at present; the main objection being, that the poor would be more out of reach of their friends, whose visits in many cases can be their only consolation. And here I cannot help remarking on the cruelty of refusing admission to visitors on Sundays, a very general practice in London, that being the only day on which working people can visit their friends. ”

“ Not only is there the selfish motive that each one of us may at some time of our lives stand in need of help in seasons of sickness, but there is another, and that the very highest motive also. The care of the sick has been left us as a most sacred legacy by our Divine Master, in words which tell us that they are in some mysterious manner His representatives, and that in visiting and succouring them we are ministering to Himself. The question, then, for us is, how have we fulfilled this duty, which devolves upon us all as members of one Christian, social body? ”

“ I know that there are young women to spare by hundreds in the occupation of needlework, and I am sure that I am doing no injury to that calling by inviting some of you to leave it for another, which greatly needs labourers. If you determine to try it, may you find it a safe and happy occupation, bringing to you peace and satisfaction in this life, and bearing with it the promise of the life to come. ”

“ The chaplain of a prison says, "It is almost heart-breaking to witness the number of poor creatures who come to prison in preference to the union, or because the obtaining what they require from the latter place is beset with so much difficulty and delay. It is not only an anomalous state of things, but highly discreditable to a Christian country, that a poor man should be led, as is frequently the case, to seek necessary food and shelter in a prison. ”

“ Emigration has been tried as a partial means of relief, but still the evil and the complaint go on, and must go on and strengthen, because the number of workers will continue to diminish by the inevitable advance of the sewing machine. Now various other occupations are being suggested as suitable for women, and these will all help us in our difficulty, in time; but some are so novel that the public mind will not soon or quickly recognise them; and meanwhile more and more poor needlewomen will be starving.
On all sides there is a cry for "employment for women." ”

“ The lower, the more hopeless and degraded the class we have to manage and elevate, the more zeal, patience, devotion and courage must there be in the governors, and fore all arguments about the low character of our workhouse population, only go to prove the truth of what is now so strongly and earnestly urged upon the attention of all enlightened and benevolent men, who will not turn a deaf ear to the wants and sorrows, and, I may add, rights of the poor and destitute, and of him who hath no helper. ”

“ Then, again, in the homes of the poor, either in towns or villages, who does not know the urgent need that exists of some Christian women to guide and help them at times when the father or mother of the family are laid by through serious sickness, with all the cares of the little household devolving, as they generally do, upon one person? How often precious lives and strength might be saved by the timely aid brought by an active and kindly helper at such seasons of trial we need not pause to prove, because we are quite sure it must be known to every one of our readers, whether rich or poor. ”

“ It is, therefore, absolutely necessary that the chaplain should have some other cure, which prevents his giving more than one Sunday service in the union; an arrangement as unfair to the chaplain himself, as to those committed to his charge. Imagine a man having to look after his parish Sunday schools, with one whole duty, and sharing two others, having, besides, to officiate at the union, situated more than a mile from the church! ”

“ So far, then, the fact is established, that training is necessary for the office of a nurse for the sick, and few will now venture to dispute it.
There is scarcely a family where at some time or other the need of a nurse in sickness is not felt; and who can overrate the importance, not only to the patient, but to the whole household, of having one who is fitted for, and faithful to, her duties, or the misery of admitting one into the bosom of a family who, without conscientiousness or ability, has undertaken to fulfil them? ”

“ We have frequently men and women suffering under diseases, who come to prison for the express purpose of getting that relief, in the way of medicine and nourishing food, which they have sought in vain from the workhouse, their own parish being, perhaps, miles away, and which they cannot themselves afford.
Superintendence of a responsible kind is needed, not only in the infirmary, but in every department of the house; in the kitchen more especially. I have just seen a proof of this in an account of proceedings in one of our large London workhouses, which ended in the dismissal of the cook. ”

“ Ignorant, degraded by vice of some kind, and of intemperate habits, the workhouse nurse may, with few exceptions, be said to be; for none would descend to the lowest depth of the social scale if there was any possibility of their services receiving remuneration out of doors. We have one such individual of this class now before our mind's eye, who, having filled the office of hospital nurse, came with her drunken habits, her coarse and evil language, to the workhouse. ”

“ It is only from some such reason that I can account for the very prevalent state of feeling with regard to workhouses and their inmates. The simple fact that every country has, ever has had, and I suppose ever must have, a certain portion of poor, helpless and unable to maintain themselves from a variety of causes, is surely too widely acknowledged to be doubted. If so, the fact is equally clear that they must be helped. And we do help them, it is true, and boast of the system by which no one in this Christian land can die of want. ”

“ The number and variety of callings which educated women are needed to fill, I cannot pretend to recount. But I may say, without fear of contradiction, that there is not a hospital, a prison, a workhouse, or an institution of any kind, where the presence of an educated and Christian woman would not be a blessing. In some institutions they are required, not singly, but by tens, twenties, or more. ”

“ Having very recently collected all the information I could obtain in the form of a pamphlet on the subject of Workhouses and their management, I hardly thought it likely that I could offer any new suggestions for the consideration of the present meeting. I have found, however, such a generally-awakened interest in the cause, and so many persons ready to furnish facts and observations from their own experience, that I am not without a hope that these remarks may prove of some value to the important subject of the treatment of our poor under the present poor-law system. ”

“ Surely these facts cannot be known, or such a want in our social life would not be unsupplied. Young women who are toiling in needlework (whether plain work or dressmaking) , sacrificing health and strength and eyesight to the labours of the short London season, and then are in miserable inactivity and poverty during many months of the year, will not shrink from the work of a nurse because of its hardships and fatigues and trials; and there is really much to recommend it to them as an occupation. ”

“ We are far from supposing that every woman is fitted to undertake it. Even a kindly heart and disposition alone are not sufficient, indispensable as they may be to the character of a nurse. The Notes on Nursing, lately published by one who has had a larger and more extensive experience of the subject on which she writes than any other woman, tells us what these trials and difficulties of the life are, as well as the various qualifications which are essential to the nurse's character. ”

“ If there was more time for discrimination and individual knowledge on the part of the matron, there would he many of the aged found able to do small jobs of work, who are not able to go into the work-room. In one London union the master kindly and judiciously employs the men in doing all the work of repairs, &c., required in the house, such as painting, white-washing, carpentering, and a large expense is thus saved to the parish.
It seems to be always considered a virtue that all are treated alike in workhouses, without distinction of classes or individuals. ”

“ At a time when the subject of the employment of women is pressing upon us on all sides, we ask with astonishment why comparatively few are found to undertake this most urgent and pressing duty of caring for the sick? ”

“ In such a cause truth and love will prevail; and while taking every care to train our youth of both sexes in the strictest principles of economy and prudence, we may at the same time believe that as long as the world lasts, there will ever be the unavoidable cases of poverty and suffering, and old age, which may claim a tenderer treatment from a Christian nation than they at present receive. ”

“ At a season of distress, and amidst the solemn scenes of sickness and death, how greatly is the trial aggravated by the presence of one who is not only ignorant of her duties, but is without any moral or spiritual power to sustain and guide her in them. ”

“ Lastly, if each union had a resident chaplain, gentlemen as guardians, ladies as authorized visitors, and a master with a higher salary, much good might be brought to pass. I should, besides, like to see it ordered that the master and matron had their meals in the hall with the inmates. This would effect a change both in regard to the conduct of the poor, and condition of the food. If some useful employments were introduced among the more infirm, and even some innocent games, puzzles, &c., it would tend to relieve the tedium and monotony of their lives. ”

“ We are well aware that the question of paid and unpaid labour is one that is not easy of solution in this country. All the foreign institutions, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, have acted on the principle of unpaid labour, providing only the present means of subsistence and a prospect of future maintenance in old age as inducements for the devotion of life and service to this cause. ”

“ The humblest school-boy and girl look down upon the "workhouse" child. The poorest women object to certain kinds of clothing for their children, because it is like the "workhouse dress." Some persons think this all very right, and desirable that it should be so. ”

“ And as to the unfairness of taking work from honest labourers out of doors, I do not see that this can be made an objection, for needlework is already done by the women for the shops as well as for private orders. It cannot be intended that any persons who can work, if ever so little, should live in continual idleness, and consequent misery. ”