s
so very sad, Oliver, for his delicate wife and four young children are
entirely dependent upon him and his two sons--and they found it
difficult enough to make the two ends meet, even when they were all in
health; for it is hard times among the miners at present, as you know,
Oliver; and now--dear, dear, it is very, _very_ sad."

Little Mrs Donnithorne said nothing more at that time, but her mind
instantly reverted to a portly basket which she was much in the habit of
carrying with her on her frequent visits to the poor and the sick--for
the good lady was one of those whose inclinations as well as principles
lead them to "consider the poor."

It must not be imagined, however, that the poor formed a large class of
the community in St. Just. The miners of that district, and indeed all
over Cornwall, were, and still are, a self-reliant, independent,
hard-working race, and as long as tough thews and sinews, and stout and
willing hearts, could accomplish anything, they never failed to wrench a
subsistence out of the stubborn rocks which contain the wealth of the
land. Begging goes very much against the grain of a Cornishman, and the
lowest depth to which he can sink socially, in his own esteem, is that
of being dependent on charity.

In some cases this sentiment is carried too far, and has degenerated
into pride; for, when God in His wisdom sees fit, by means of disabling
accident or declining health, to incapacitate a man from labour, it is
as honourable in him to receive charity as it is (although not always
sufficiently esteemed so) a high privilege and luxury of the more
fortunate to give.

Worthy Mrs Donnithorne's charities were always bestowed with such
delicacy that she managed, in some mysterious way, to make the
recipients feel as though they had done her a favour in accepting them.
And yet she was not a soft piece of indiscriminating amiability, whose
chief delight in giving lay in the sensations which the act created
within her own breast. By no means. None knew better than she when and
where to give money, and when to give blankets, bread, or tea. She was
equally sharp to perceive the spirit that rendered it advisable for her
to say, "I want you to do me a favour--there's a good woman now, you
won't refuse me, etcetera," and to detect the spirit that called forth
the sharp remark, accompanied with a dubious smile and a shake of her
fat forefinger, "There now, see that you make better use of it _this_