Chamberss Edinburgh Journal, No. 433 | Page 2

wash for them, cook for them, act as
their nurses. They treat themselves less kindly, for out of the broken
victuals on which exclusively the house is supported, the old women
always get the first selection, and the ladies only the remaining scraps.
It is altogether the most striking example of self-denial and
self-devotion which has ever happened to fall under our attention in
this country.

We were received in a faded old dining-room, by a Sister whose age
surprised us, for she did not appear to be above five-and-twenty. Her
dress consisted of coarse black serge, and a linen cap, such as is worn
by poor old women in the country. She was evidently a well-educated
and refined English lady, who, under a different impulse, might have
very probably been indulging at this moment in the gaieties of Almacks.
With great courtesy, but without for a moment departing from the
serious manner in which she had first addressed us, she conducted us
through the house, and explained its various arrangements. We were
first shewn into a large hall in the rear, where we found about thirty
little beds, only a few of which were occupied, the greater number of
the inmates being able to sit up and move about the house. Nothing
could exceed the homeliness of the furniture, though everything was
remarkably clean. In another dormitory up stairs, we found ten or
twelve bedrid women, one of them within a few months of completing
the hundredth year of her age, but able to converse. Another was a
comparatively young woman, who had three months ago had a limb
amputated. A Sister, in her plain dark dress, stood in this room, ready
to attend any of the poor women. We were next conducted to a large
room, where a number of the inmates were at dinner. They rose
modestly at our entrance, and we had some difficulty in inducing them
to resume their seats. We were curious to see the viands, knowing that
they were composed solely of the crumbs from the rich man's table, and
having some idea, that as most of the Sisters were French, there might
be some skill shewn in putting these morsels into new and palatable
forms. We did not, however, find that the dishes were superior to what
might have been expected in a workhouse. The principal article was a
pudding, composed of pounded scraps and crusts of bread, and bearing
much the appearance of the oatmeal porridge of Scotland. Ladies attend
the old women at table, acting entirely as servants do in a gentleman's
dining-room, though only in the limited extent to which such services
are required at a meal so simple. It is only after this meal is concluded,
that the ladies sit down to their own equally frugal fare. We were
curious to know if they indulge in tea, considering this as a sort of
crucial test of their self-denying principles. We were informed that the
article is not bought for them, on account of its being so expensive.
Used tea-leaves are obtained from the tables of certain families of rank,

and are found to be of service for the comfort of the more infirm
women. After the inmates are served, if any tea be left, it is taken by
the ladies.
We next descended to the kitchen, and there found a young woman at
work as a cook, not a Sister, but one who may be so ere long, if she
passes her novitiate successfully. The magazine of crusts and lumps of
bread, of broken meat and cold soups, coffee and tea, which we saw
here, was a curious sight. We were also shewn the pails and baskets in
which the Sisters collect these viands. Two go forth every morning, and
make a round of several hours amongst houses where they are
permitted to apply. Meat goes into one compartment, bread into another.
A pail of two divisions keeps a variety of things distinct from each
other. Demurely pass the dark pair along the crowded thoroughfares of
the metropolis, objects of momentary curiosity to many that pass them,
but never pausing for a moment on their charitable mission. The only
approach to a smile on our conductress's face, was when she related to
us how, on their return one afternoon, a poor woman who had lost a
child, traced them to the door, and made a disturbance there, under a
belief that the cloak of one of them, instead of covering a collection of
broken meat, concealed her infant.
We were curious to trace the feelings which actuated these ladies in
devoting themselves to duties so apt to be repulsive to their class.
Viewing the whole matter with a regard to its humane results, we did
not doubt that benevolence was