The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1897-09-04
REBECCA'S REMORSE,
BY JAMES PAWN.
copyright, 1897, by the Author.1

the east end of London and to turn
their backs upon fashionable congrega-
tons and gift slippers, and yet those
angels OF fiction" as they have been
termed, the doctors, are never credited
with the same self sacrificing motives.
No medical nan is ever described as
preferring a poor neighborhood to a rich
one. He goes to Bayswater if he can't
get to Belgravia and to Bloomsbury if
he can't get to Bayswater, but farther
east than Bloomsbury he is not found
in fiction. This is not in accordance
with his angelic character, with his
sending in his little account receipted
to his poor patient, with his giving him
the money for a seaside holiday instead
of a prescription, or with the furnishing
Of every comfort for mind and body
which that marvellous diagnosis of his
has discerned to be necessary at the first
glance. This is hard, as there really are
doctors in the east end of London, and
l once had a practice there myself.
1t was not a good one in point Of re-
muneration, but there were plenty of
patients, the sort Of practice" that
makes one perfect" from a profession
al point Of view and at the same time
absolves one from the income tax. /
confess, however, that I did not make
this choice e my own free will. mot
grace nor zeal, but a quarrel with my
respected uncle, on whom 1 was entire
ly dependent, had been the cause of it.
l had, | admit, considerably exceeded
my allowance at college, and my hos
pital career in London had been ex-
pensive, but his conduct in buying a
practice for me in the east instead of
the west as a punishment for what he
did not hesitate to term my reckless ex-
travagance was, 1 think it will be adj
mitted, vindictive. He made me, how
ever, an allowance, which, though one
would have called it moderate in a more
fashionable locality, was ample enough
for such "a neichborhood.
Pleasures were very cheap there and
not very attractive. Its concerts were
no at the time of which / am speaking
classical, though Of late years music of
quite a high class has emigrated thither,
n Bethnal Green itself has become an
art center. The dances one was invited
to (by advertisements) were of a public
nature and were too much of a mari
time character to suit the landsman.
There was no shop where you could
spend money to any extent sa We that
wonderful emporium where not only
lions and tigers are as plentiful as
chickens in Leadenhall market, but
much finer curios are to be found
than nov, lo y;pIynl -- -, D;oool:11,
But lions were not in my way, though
/ had kept "a tiger at the university,
and | was much too young to care for
curios, a taste for which does not usual
ly develop till the mind has given way
"a little.
This enforced economy had, however,
one very pleasant side to it. l generally
found myself with money in my pocket,
a most unusual experience with an east
end doctor. There is nothing more dis
t~ressing to him-if he is a good fellow
or even if he has O human heart in his
breast-than the knowledge that half
the patients who come under his care
are not so much in need of medicine as
of the necessaries of life, with which he
is unable to supply them. No one knows
what poverty is who has not seen the
east end during a bad time. For my
part it was "A revelation to me, and
when one saw how far not a shilling,
but even Il penny, was made to go it
gave Il nasty jar to remember the
hundreds one had ~squandered for spend
ing's sake. At first, indeed, brought
face TO face with such urgent want,
ones heart made one lose ones hand,
and | found myself, not from philan-
thropy, but from fastidious disgust at
squalor and wretchedness, supporting
some of the idlest and most worthless
scoundrels in the parish. But after
awhile one grew wiser or less emotional
and learned discretion, which is the bet
ter part of charity. 1t was a good school
fer me i'll many ways, though | didn't
like being sent to it.
People talk of "genteel poverty as
being the worst sort of it, but at the
risk of being thought material and COM
monplace | venture to remark that alb
ject poverty-the halfpenny worth of
bread and the sack instead of q bed ON
the tloor-is much more hard to bear.
1ICIC Tx utSlCtS SNth III tIldI, VI
rather the same wretchedness seems
greater or less according to the habits
of those who endure it. 1t is possible,
though by nj means easy, to be clearly
under the most sordid conditions. The
house, or rather the M room, may be
swept, though it cannot be garnished;
the broken teacup may be washed; the
ragged blanket may be mended. When
squalor is added to want, pity is lost in
disgust, and the attempt to cling to the
decencies of life is the most touching of
all the attributes of the very poor. 1t is
not-God help them-often made.
When everything else has gone by the
board, it seems useless to look after the
hencoop.
Star court, a locality where some of
my most wretched clients dwelt, made
very little effort in this direction,
though as a rule they were decent peo-
pie who dwelt there. We have all a
tendency to live among those of ou1
own calling-how else, since they are
far from loving one another, can the
congregation of doctors in Wimpole
street or of lawyers in Bedford row be
accounted for?-and when we have nc
calling among those of our own tastes
and habits we seek a quiet street. New
corners, impecunious as the rest of my
colony, but averse to rows and ruffian-
ism, gravitated to Star court sooner OF
1n%n, -1ol 30 fn,o, &ln,n .r,orn xr0ra