THE " SWEET USES " OF PROSPERITY.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.") SIR,—An instance of the "sweet uses " of prosperity had just come under my notice when I read the article on that subject in the Spectator of October 27th. An old woman in our workhouse who had been in good service in her youth is allowed a small pension—a shilling a week—by her former employer. The Guardians permit her to receive it, and she greatly values it, as much for the slight importance and individuality it confers on her as for its purchasing power. The allowance was six months in arrears, and the poor old soul fretted sadly; she begged the chaplain to write about it, which he did, and after some delay received the amount due, which he at once took to her. The poor old woman's joy and gratitude were most touching, but the first thing she did was to insist on the chaplain (who is also the vicar of the parish) taking two shillings towards the building fund of his newly erected parish hall; and then she declared her intention of giving a tea with cake to all the women in her ward. All her best feelings of gratitude, hospitality, and kindliness were called forth by this gleam of prosperity in her grey, mono- tonous ]ife.—I am, Sir, &c., E. C. TAIT. Castle View, Strood, Rochester.
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