Herald of the times, and Rhode Islander. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1846-1849, 1848-04-27
Temptation.

had placed her al the head OF her profession 80
that the leaders IN fashions glddy march
thought nothing complete until they had pass
ed through Mrs Moore hands, or at least re-
ceiyed her sanction Though not blest with
French, or even French sounding name, nor
a name admitting Of a Ffencnfed termna-
ton, that best security for success among
certain class Of our citizens, Mrs. Moore had
contrived to secure for herself goodly amount
of the gifts Of fortune, and for her only daugh- .
ter an education such as she considered beftting
the elegance of her establishment and the fine
person and good abilities of the young lady
herself The French language, m particular,
had been attended 10 until Miss Moore had
amos, forgotten the use of her English and
she danced, sang, painted flowers and worked
terrible things in worsed not in style scarcely
surpassed by any of the dashing irequenters Of
Other mother saloon. Whether her mind and
heart had received proporiionate degree OF at
tenton, may be matter of dou bt. Ii Is an un-
fortunate circumstance attendant on the busl-
ness i'm which Mrs. Moore was engaged, that
il is ant 10 induce an undue value for dress, but
we must moi anticipate. We have known dress
makers who had come 10 feel perfect disgust
for the fnery over which they were obliged TO
toll.
We have said that Mrs. Moore grew rich, lNt
we cannot say as much for those who did the
work for which she received pay. Except
the foreman, Miss Neal, who had the rcspon-
sbty of the whole, no one made more than
enough TO keep her decent'y clothed aud PLAIN
" fed, although the number OF hours spent III
the work room ought To have earned album
dance, and leisure for each. Mrs. Moore was
moi a hard hearted woman. She only did as
others did, that is 10 say, got the vpeatest pos
sbc amount of work for the smallest possible
modicum of pay; sent young girls home WIN
band-boxcs at eevca o clock at night alone
and unprotected in short, committed dreadful
wrongs without ever suspecung that she was
no, a very exemplary person.
\ Among the pale girls who sewed day and
night in her close, sky-llghted work-Toom,
shaping bodies and fashioning trimmings that
were never TO grace her own person, was one
called Amelia Brown, supposed to be all orphan,
though nobody cared much what she was, Tor
her dress bespoke extreme poverty, and hei
pensve spritlcss eye th" lack Of all hope OF any
thing better. Nobody meant TO be unklnd to
her, but they had never considered the wlther-
inu influence Of scorniul or dcrslye glance,
/ upon one already humble and discouraged by
poverty. lflhcse young girls had somebody
/ TO remind them of this, they would doubtless
have treated Amelia differently. We Amer-
cans require to have that taught us, on prln-
ciple which some other nations learn from the
mutual impulses of warmer senslblh,y.
Amelia was good working drudge work
inp lust as many hours as Mrs. Moore chose To
require. swallowing her dinner in five minutes
ar poino onitc without it, as the eXigencics OF
the day seemed to render desirable, and taking
us, such pay as her employer chose to give
. A. ia r
look disappointed when it fell short of what she
might have at selling matches through tho
street.
The secret Of all this fearful submission lay IL
the condition of her family which had once
seen better days, but had long since been rcduc
ed to the extreme Of dcsttutlon by the mscon-
duct of the father The suficrings of her moth
or and her little brothers and sisters, kept al
WAYS stript by the cruel needs of the drunk
ard. hung like milestone AZ the neck oi poor
Amelia, and made her willing To sacrifice any
thing rather than risk losing her place
The family had removed to the country, ant
Amelia lodged with a distant relative oi he
mother, distant in blood, and still more 50 IN
feeling, for she eXactcd large pay for the us'
of poor garrct-room, though Amelia consent
ed 10 have one of the children with her; Z
companion who proved about as agreeable as
an unbrokcn colt would have been ia the SAINT
circumstances When Sunday came, Amelia
destitute of decent clothing, felt ashamed "a
ioin the wcll-drrsscd throng IN the streets, anC
seldom dared to seek place OF worship. Sh'
generally spent the day in her comiortloss room
with no companion but an old Bible, unless th'
rude pir who shared the room with her, chos
10 remain 10 torment her.
{ Thus wrctchcdly situated, We canno, wondc
{ that the unfortunate girl, uniauCht and unwo
r by kindness, became duh and morose, speaking
5 seldom and showing little affection when IT va
= so unlikely 10 meet a kind return. The scwin'
' girls ri Mrs. Moore's dcspised or forgot her
and if they bore her no i'll viii, certainly esteem
I cd Ter far less than they did the beaulifu
French lap dog, with rings IN IT'S ears, whcl
D it was their delight to play with, wheneyc
they could snatch moment unmatched d!
the foreman.
: Matters went SO prospcrousy at Mrs
b Monre's that there was little TO ruie the 1--we
. Of those she employed. They were ovcrworke
I orcourse, bu, they did not know II. They onl
L thought It was their lot, and iha, when they
4 their turn should have table iull oi glrl
o working at rich silks and gnv pauzcs, the
e would enjoy their turn at tyranny and oppres
= sion.
c IL so happened mat the uaugulcI oi h',
1 'E,clyn, one Of the best customers of the esia'
lishmcni, was about to be married and the pre-
arations for splendid wedding kept ever
hand buiscd, day and night, IN cutting aud Il
!, tng and matching. and trimming such an assor
d mcni of elegant and costly material rs had net
Il or before praccd the work-room. Mrs. Moo
d herself presided among the nymIhs, aud eve
c Miss Louisa condcsc' udcd To lend her ard, hol
:, inr TO catch some new hight as 10 the lmro
d I'm, science Of costume. Dress after drc'
"a was flushed aud pinned up 10y the shoulder
30 lookinp Ike row IT hcadlcss ladies, III del
cate cabinet, whose key was almost a. snce
as that of Bucbcards closet. Canczods an
r y,,itrs. Gchu- and cOscagcs were finished on
Is by ono. cons ghcd to the louord ncep'ach
r. which Nlrs. Moore intended TO ,Ahibl' 10 sc
" l,ct party oi her own particular inonds DoioI
r she scni thcm home. =,
p The bridal dress ~ woven ha'r' was u
e. last m hand. and that too was in'hcd' ckcol
T. ,br l,n of magnificent lace which was TO reac
rron The shoulder point even io the dimplc
,lh,,, ocihe bride. This lace had been kcl
!. IN Frcnch coiut, under lock aud key, bu
/, lad seen the light occasionally, when an p
~ pecial Cayorite was To be grailud With vlunl
4. A.. 4. l. Ia