Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-01-11
JIN

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I1iia - ~ U,ry 0 S,r,b,.,.. v,,Ub,
NV.
She always maintained her name was
Ginifcr though the public and her rudcr
intimates knew her only bv the abbrevia-
ton How or whence She had derived
such an original title she could not declare :
still she was very certain. very earnest
about it, as about all other convictions.
Was it perchance Ginevra she meant
This question was hazarded cautiously at a
later day Of her career "Did they think
she didn't know how to speak her own
name Some folks, they did set their
selves UP to be clever in inventing Of new
pronouncings There warn't nothing wrong
bout Ginifer as she knowed on 1t wur a
pretty name, not common-ike, and she
meant to stick to it."
Too truly there was no indefinite color
about any of Jin's opinions or statements.
She cherished her prejudices and convic-
tions with ,taunch pride worthy of better
ones moreover, she supported them. if oc-
casion demanded. with good strong oaths
| aud a highly favored vocabulary. Such
methods of asseveration are demanded of
| those in her state of life The eloduence of
epithets sits naturally on the lips Of those
bred in vice and ignorance. and little
hard swearing is required 10 carry anv
weight of meaning to ears not polite
You. my lord OF course swear by Jove
and hles, your soul kindly but the coster
monger, your brother I'm Christian phrase
ology. pray understand me. j., less cuphen-
i,tic
He claim, damages against heaven or
hell and curses different parts of his auat-
omy without favor 80 much for language
and the reiinemeuts thereof. the checks
thereon Probably YOU aud the costermon.
ger both mean much the same thing
In anv case jim was emphatic. with the
emphasis Of invocation. regarding the few
facts of her private life which she conde-
scended to disclose
Her parentage was not handed down hy
the reliable q testimony Of books. registers.
family Bibles. or ANYTHING similarly respect.
able Neither had any oral tradition in
Pride- Land recorded her origin Conse
uuently jim didn't know nothin' bout
| father and mother. ! s'pose they was a
/ bad lot leastwavs they didn't trouble
themselves bout me. and | amt got no
/ cause to he grateful | might have been
/ took to the parish
Jin's earliest recollection of "A guiding
hand was associated with Mrs. Jacobs's sin
uous iingers-ur. without hattery, grasping
claws Only she used no pretty words re-
garding the said guiding hand nor ackuowl
/ edged with gratitude the curses and tbumps
which had been exercised upon her. These
/ stimulants to work or theft had certainly
produced no beneficial effect upon Jin's inv
emile mind. rather urging her to living and
deceitful practices
The Israelitish lady who leased a rotton
tenement in slum of st. Giles, underlet-
ting her apartments to thieves and vaga-
bonds. was decidedly impartial in the use
Of her fist, towards her juvenile dodgers.
They each had their turn
Mrs Jacobs had also been known to as
sault some of her friends Of maturer wears.
and had been bound over TO keep the peace
more than once. But for defenceless chill
dren there was no magisterial redress. and
they endured with that uitable stoicism and
philosophic spirit hich we 50 often marvel
at
Naturally toward jim Mrs. Jacobs ex
tended freauent chastisement. That in
domitable spirit would not surrender the
pence she had begged or the scraps Of food
She purlained without fight But jim un-
happily got the worst of it. She was the
most friendless and unprotected of all the
unholv crew that sheltered in Pride's Lane
his gutter child but a ualuplrSS Malf
or stray. an indefinite article of humanity
such as there are thousands of about us
little parts Of speech that make up Tn, ter
rible language of vice and misery All me
the grammar of life is a perpleX king one 10
the wisest of us
Nobody ever came to claim lin and she
lived on sutferance in Mrs Jacobs is dwell
ing. If the rooms were full she silent on a
landing or in the coal.cellar otherwise the
windi4,t attic wa, allotted Ia her and She
was expected in return To do the heaviest
drudrery of the house She lived in a han
hazard way bep,,in., ar stealinf, occordin,,
To the urgency of her needs or the amnunt
Of forcibie hints received from Mrs Tocobs
jim had certainly more ,ban once du,iu,,
her short career merited magisterial nm
isbpent II is d,ttirult Ia say how She had
e.caned a refnrmatnry She had haar
puiltv Of repeatad u4ttv thefts st eatin,.
stalls and sh6p doors. and had taken toll Of
mounds of coal or drau,hts Of milk and
haer with svstarati,. re.r,lorit,, yyban sant
to purchase sucb cnmmo oiitirs 6v the lndy
ers of Pride's Lane