COTTAGE IDEAS. 195 



' Then what did she do ? ' asked the mistress, know- 

 ing they were very poor people. 



* Oh, she stopped at home.' 



' But how did she live ? ' 



' Oh, her father had to keep her. If she wouldn't go 

 out, of course he had to somehow.' 



This mother would not let her daughter go to one 

 place because there was a draw-well on the premises ; 

 and her father objected to her going to another because 

 the way to the house lay down a long and lonely lane. 

 The girl herself, however, had sense enough to keep in a 

 situation ; but it was distinctly against the feeling at her 

 home ; yet they were almost the poorest family in the 

 place. They were very respectable, and thought well of 

 in every way, belonging to the best class of cottagers. 



Unprofitable sentiments ! injurious sentiments — 

 self-destroying ; but I always maintain that sentiment 

 is stronger than fact, and even than self-interest. I see 

 clearly how foolish these feelings are, and how they 

 operate to the disadvantage of those whom they in- 

 fluence. Yet I confess that were I in the same position 

 I should be just as foolish. If I lived in a cottage of 

 three rooms, and earned my bread by dint of arm and 

 hand under the sun of summer and the frost of winter ; 

 if I lived on hard fare, and, most powerful of all, if I had 

 no hope for the future, no improvement to look forward 

 to, I should feel just the same. I would rather my 

 children shared my crust than fed on roast beef in a 

 stranger's hall. Perhaps the sentiment in my case 

 might have a different origin, but in effect it would be 

 similar. I should prefer to see my family about me — 

 the one only pleasure I should have — the poorer and 

 the more unhappy, the less I should care to part with 



