Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-12-10
IN ONES OWN CIRCLE.
a "oMAN TELLS Why SHE GAVE UP
WORK AMONG THE LoWLY.

OF summing - How
e"e Discovered That She Could Do
're Work sewhere-A Lesson for
many Who Want to Ee of Some Use.
ne experience of one young woman in
ne" FORK, whose parents could afford TO
Keep her IN luxury, but who preferred to
uo missionary work NOM the poor of the
east ,n side' is told by herself as follows:
why am no longer stunning as you
cali icF Because I have discovered that
eau 90 more good in the social circle
Where was born. That may strike you
sS strange. ] only arrived at it myself by
&C. &c, ual experience, and it surprised me too.
NIeh 1 hrst became thoroughly imbued
win The idea that ] must accomplish
some good work for the cause of humanity,
naturally thought that most could be
done Where the field seemed largest. Com
p"TthS the lot of the very poor and igno-
rant ana depraved W tn the lot of those
among whom had been brought up. there
seeUed to be no question as to where
ought to go and labor
having overcome the opposition of my
trends and having been accepted as
Worher by n society which introduced me
10 the people | wished to elevate, was
soou deal surprised t. find most of them
aiu not desire elevation in the way in which
thought best for them. They were will
ing TO be made rich, 10 be cured of diseases,
TO nave their homes improved by somebody
Else, to have their children educated bv
outsiders and to be amused and entertained
as much as you liked; but as for endurance,
patience, self denial, generosity, meekness.
virtue, sobriety, charity, these were not sc
popular.
4 found, too, that these people rather
resented my coming among them. They
watched me so closely for any sign of pat
ronizing them that often they had not time
to think of the truth of what ! said tc
them. Few OF them thanked me for nv
euorts on their behalf, and found it hard
TO remain even a tole rably welcome visitor
to their homes withou condoning dirtinesS,
l&Mness, shiftlessness, wastefulness, rude
ness and coarseness. If l were not welcome
could do no good, and if l were always
hnuing fault with the habits of lifetime
certainly would not be welcome
Deeply disappointed, after six months
OF work, at having made no appreciable
permanent improvement in the moral life
OF those among whom l labored, | asked
one godly old woman flor there are as
many saints among the poor as anywhere)
why l did not meet with more success.
= You're out of your depth, child said she.
What do you know of our lives. of our
ways, of our troubles, of our minds. of our
way of looking at things? You don't I'M
derstand us and we don't understand Won.
We don't see things in the same way, be
cause we don't look ct them from the same
point.
You tell these poor people to be clean
without knowing how much money and
time, which is the same thing, it costs to
be clean. Cleanliness is one of the dearest
things in New York You scorn laziness,
hut if you had been half fed from the era
die up, and that with food containing lit
tie nourishment, you would rot have one
tenth of the energy you now have Lazi-
ness is some peoples only luxury We're
You say, and don't save our pen
MES.
"'If ! denied myself everything but the
bare necessities of a life even such as |
live, / could not save more than five cents
q day, fifteen dollars a year, $3.50 in half q
century, which, if the bank did not burst
and rob me of it all would give me thirty
dollars a year to live on when l am
too old to work, too full of pains and
infirmities to make life on thirty dollars
year thing TO be desired. There's many
a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip in fifty
years, my girl, and we think it better to
employ our spare per aies while we are
sure of them. Rude and coarse we are,
compared with your standard, but not
ruder or coarser than people of your wealth
and rank in society were some centuries
ago, am told; so don't despair of us, my
dear, but leave us to God and ourselves
and time and go back to those who love
you.
Honestly now, don't you think there is
plenty of godlessnsss, selflshness, greed.
lust, cruelty, vanity, envy, back biting,
covetousness, dece t, folly, drunkenness
and other forms Of vice among the people
you know in your own station in life to
make a creditable record if you succeeded
in removing it2'
Yes. auntie,' / said, 4 acknowledge
that. There is much to be done even in
my own family
land don't you really think now, if
your own life and motives are such as to
command the respect of your father, moth.
er, sisters, brothers, cousins and dear
friends, that their love for you and yours
for them would give you more influence
over them than over Bill Sykes, the team
SOSir "hOhi S"0 he'1r No" disappearing IN
the room over our head and threatening to
beat his wife for not having his supper
ready9'
Eyes, auntie, 1 think you're right /
said as the truth of her words came home
to me. So here am among my own people
again, and believe now that the rich can
be elevated just as well as the poor, and
that the Creator would just as soon see an
educated person reform and lead a useful.
virtuous life as an ignorant one and car.
more easily influence the educated one TO
do so."-New York Tribune.