In ancient Hebraic
days, Jael was accounted a good woman for murdering a sleeping man, and
Sarai stood in no danger of losing the respect of her little world when
she led Hagar unto Abraham. In eighteenth-century England, supernatural
stupidity and dulness of a degree that must have been difficult to
attain, were held to be feminine virtues--indeed, they are so still--and
authors, who are always among the most servile followers of public
opinion, fashioned their puppets accordingly. Nowadays 'slumming' is the
most applauded virtue, and so all our best heroines go slumming, and are
'good to the poor.'"
"How useful 'the poor' are," remarked MacShaughnassy, somewhat abruptly,
placing his feet on the mantelpiece, and tilting his chair back till it
stood at an angle that caused us to rivet our attention upon it with
hopeful interest. "I don't think we scribbling fellows ever fully grasp
how much we owe to 'the poor.' Where would our angelic heroines and our
noble-hearted heroes be if it were not for 'the poor'? We want to show
that the dear girl is as good as she is beautiful. What do we do? We
put a basket full of chickens and bottles of wine on her arm, a fetching
little sun-bonnet on her head, and send her round among the poor. How do
we prove that our apparent scamp of a hero is really a noble young man at
heart? Why, by explaining that he is good to the poor.
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