FOOD, DRESS, AND " CREDIT." 291 



He continued : 



" The women are helped in the matter of obtaining 

 clothing for themselves and children by the institution, 

 common, I believe, to all our villages, and known by the 

 name of the clothing club,' over which the clergyman's 

 wife ordinarily presides. Those who take advantage of 

 this institution and most of the women do pay into 

 that lady's keeping a weekly subscription of from one 

 penny to sixpence, to which one penny weekly is added 

 out of the fund subscribed by the benevolent persons of 

 the parish. At the year's end each member of this club 

 receives a ticket representing the sum due to her, which 

 ticket she takes to the draper's and makes her purchases. 

 I believe it is the rule of these clubs that all purchases shall 

 be submitted to the manager for her approval. This rule 

 serves as a precaution against the money being expended 

 on light, useless finery ; but it is not offensively carried 

 out. We have in this small agricultural town what is 

 called a lying-in charity,' which gives twenty-five shillings 

 each to fifty poor women for the purchase of substantial 

 clothing on the special occasion the nature of which the 

 name of the charity indicates. Then there is the Blanket 

 Loan Club.' A blanket is lent to any poor woman who 

 likes to apply for one from November to June, year by 

 year, for six years, at the expiration of which period the 

 blanket becomes her property ; but she has to pay sixpence 

 a year for the first two years and fourpence each year after- 

 wards during the remainder of the six. Amongst other 

 minor benevolent institutions is the '- Marriage Portion 

 Charity,' which every year gives ten pounds each to 

 three or four young women on the point of being married. 

 This charity is dispensed at Easter." 



A clergyman from Dorsetshire wrote to us : 



" If finery indicates an improvement in dress, then there 

 is an advance, but it may be questioned whether too much 

 does not go on the back as much as, expended on an im- 

 proved bill of fare, might do real good to a whole family. 

 But with the example set by the ' upper ten,' what else can 

 be expected than what is now visible everywhere ? " 



A correspondent, writing from South Devon said 



" The everyday ordinary dress of the Devonshire peasant 

 has nothing to commend it to a romantic mind, even the 

 ' smock frock ' being now, to a large extent, conspicuous 

 by its absence. I must not, however, forget to mention 

 the suit of black cloth, worn on Sundays, holidays, and 



