MISS TWINING'S REMINISCENCES.*
THILIVA can be few people better qualified than Miss Louisa Twining to pass in review the losses and gains of civilisation during the last half-century. On the one hand she herself has played a prominent part in the many weial reforms which have been effected during that period, and on the other she has too great a love and tenderness for the memories of her youth to be entrapped into the common fault of glorifying the present by a wholesale condemnation of the past. As a nation we have made progress during those fifty years, but that progress is no matter for boasting,—hardly much matter indeed for self-:congratulation. To-day, even as in 1840, England has her dark places that are full of cruelty, upon which the search-light of public opinion has not been turned; nor is it well to judge our forefathers harshly, when we know not what verdict posterity two generations hence may pass upon ourselves. Miss Twining is evidently animated by a very earnest desire to keep an even mind between the uncompromising and, discouraging attitude of the laudator temporis acti and the enthusiastic self-satisfaction of the modern reformer. On the whole, she succeeds fairly well in steering clear of these two extremes, though, with all her care, she does not save herself from occasionally running aground upon the shoals of prejudice. Prejudice, however, is a failing too universal and too venial to be made the subject of serious reproach ; moreover, it is one which sometimes, especially in the case of a reformer, approaches very nearly to being itself a virtue.
Where the author shows her prejudices most strongly, and one might add most naturally, is in the contrast that she draws between the education and modes of life of fifty years ago and those of to-day. Of the latter she has nothing good to say. Evidently she is of opinion that the benefit which is supposed to be derived from the modern growth of familiar intimacy between parents and children is too illusory to be worth discussing. No doubt, some of the criticism which she passes upon the precocity and early vanity of the childhood of to-day is not altogether un- deserved; still, ehe is so manifestly out of touch with the present system of education, that one is tempted to say a word or two in its defence, the more so since she returns again and again to the charge. For example, she exclaims against the self-consciousness of the day, a defect which she thinks was entirely lacking to her own generation by reason of their different bringing-up :— "For my own part. I have often had reason to be thankful that no outward circumstances or position contributed to endow me with so hurtful and objectionable a quality of mind. Being the youngest of a large family I was, happily, little thought of, never set up, but kept in my proper place, in fact, subjection.' I do not remember any lectures on obedience because such was the recognised law of those days—and we never thought of trans- greesing it. I can hardly be wrong in believing this was then the prevailing tone among children. I remember sitting by and listening to conversations between my elders and their friends, and secretly longing for the time when I, too, might be old enough to open my lips and give utterance to the thoughts that were * Becolloclions of Ififo and Work. By Louisa Twining% London i Ildward Arnold. within me. Especially on one occasion, when the Roman Catholic Emancipation Bill was being discusaed, do I remember this feeling. I cannot help asking, will any children of the present day be able to look back on their experiences fifty years hence and give a similar testimony as to their youthful cogitations ?"
Most likely not. But, on the other hand, the unrepressed and unsubjected modern child feels no secret longing to share in the conversation of its elders, least of all when these discussions are upon political questions. It remains still an open question which is the least self-conscious—the spoilt little girl who never listens to the conversations of her elders because she never dreams that they can concern her or amuse her, or the prim and well-behaved little woman who listens in demure silence while she burns to contribute her opinion on the Roman Catholic Emancipation Bill. We should not insist so much upon this attitude of the author's, were it not that by her oft-repeated and sweeping strictures she does serious injustice to the girlhood and young-woman- hood of the day. These, according to their censor, are generally self-conscious, self-assertive, self-seeking, and in every way selfish, with no object in life but their own pleasure and luxury. Now, many of the good works which Miss Twining has set on foot have necessarily needed the co-operation of the modern young women. Have they shown themselves backward in giving their aid I' When one thinks of the crowds of young women who are not only willing, but even eager, to devote their lives to the service of others, who besiege the doors of hospitals, anxious to share in their arduous and unremunerative toil, and whose zeal in self-sacri- fice, if sometimes rather misdirected and ridiculous, is at least unmistakable,—one cannot but resent such an injustice on their behalf. It is difficult not to think that the case is the other way, and that the rising generation of young women take, as a rule, a wider view of their duty towards their neigh- bours than their grandmothers did, and regard their perform- ance of that duty lees in the light of a meritorious action- This, however, is rather by the way. Miss Twining's account of her own girlhood and early recollections is a very pleasant and interesting one, and her quotations from a youthful diary are not without value. There are many tales of travel, and of the delights of posting, and the discomforts of stage- coaches. On one occasion she records the memorable fact of her first railway journey, and her description of Euston Station and the sensations of that tremendous experience is amusing. She also witnessed as a young girl the coronation of the Queen, of which function she gives a full account. Of the amusements of the day--the panoramas, the orreries, the dioramas, and other chastened delights which were supposed to satisfy a child's need of diversion—she seems to have had her full share. Also she visited the wild beasts ; but in those days wild beasts had not their habitat in the Zoological Gardens, but at Eieter Change, in the Strand. Altogether, she succeeds in drawing a very clear and very charming picture of a child's life in the early part of the century.
The name of the author, however, is chiefly connected in the public mind with the part she has taken in certain social reforms that date from the year 1850. Her visits to the poor about that time led her to make investigations into the condition of the workhouses, and her visits to these institutions induced her to enter upon a vigorous crusade for ameliorating the condition of the more deserving of their inmates. If it were only for her successful endeavours to reform the Metro- politan workhouses, Miss Twining would still deserve the gratitude of her fellow-countrymen. After many rebuffs and much labour on her own part, she succeeded in gaining the public ear. In 1865, what was known as "The Lancet Commission "made common cause with her, and after sundry public meetings had been held, the Government took the matter up and passed Mr. Gathorne Hardy's Bill of 1867, which was the beginning of most of the reforms that have since taken place. To quote a daily paper of that time, the administration of the Poor-law was little short of a national disgrace. "The subject is one which deeply concerns the honour, and touches the conscience of the people. The exposure of the evils which demand a cure was not due to an official hand, it was a private work ; to which the power of public opinion, and the expression of an universal sympathy in the press, gave a force that compelled official action ; and the officials of the Poor-law Board are walking in the rear rank of a procession in which the foremost banners are borne by private individuals." Of these private individuals, few rendered earlier or more effective service than Miss Twining. Nor was the reform of our work- houses the only work to which she turned her hand. She has been indefatigable in her efforts to better the condition of the poor and sick, and to protect friendless girls. Moreover, she has shown in her own person, as a member of a Board of Guardians, how useful a woman can be in official life, and has set a shining example of the merits of woman's work. Her autobiography is of interest to all who are concerned in philanthropic works, and withal, is written pleasantly enough to reward even the more general reader.
Previous page
