Mary Anne Wellington (2)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1846 edition. Excerpt: ... trators of this law, but men for the most part deeply interested in keeping down the relief as low as they can! And the law gives them a very powerful arm to do so. Can any one be surprised that they should exercise it? The surprise would be, that they did not. But our heroine was reduced to the necessity, and she went; she had no alternative, but to starve or do so. She sat down amidst numerous applicants, till she was called in to the Board-room. She entered, with a heart beating violently, and limbs trembling till they knocked one against the other; and yet, as she entered, every eye beheld a tall, straight person, in deep mourning, with a countenance that spoke much sorrow; but with an air of past independence, that seemed now to say, indeed, The wolf terrifies me. Walk up here, Mrs. Hewitt, said a voice from the chair. What is your application here to-day? The poor woman stood before the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and a numerous body of Guar, dians, the Clerk of the Board, the Relieving Officers, and the Governor of the House, and had to answer publicly any question which any man there present chose to put to her. Severe, sometimes, are the cross-examinations which an applicant has to undergo; and, not always in the gentlest terms; for there sit, too often, accuser, judge, and jury, and the poor man has but little chance of escaping the utmost rigour of the law. Such, however, was not in reality the case with the Board before whom the soldier's widow stood, though, to her terrified vision, it might appear as if she stood before them like a criminal. What is your name? Where do you live? What age are you? How many children have you? What are your earnings? What do your children earn? How long have you been a widow? Have you any pension?...