Bessie Grove:

get postage stamps instead , but she will sadly miss her tea , for she gets no beer . " "We can trust her , " said Mr . Owen ; " I feel sure she is honest . " " Too honest to get in debt , and not be able to pay , " said Mrs . Allen " she has

; only her work to depend on , and sometimes she is too ill to do it . It is beautiful fine lace work , but she is paid little for it by the shop-people . " Mr . Owen was now quite interested . " I will talk to my lady about it" he said ;

, " she is fond of lace , and might give a better price than the shop , and yet get it cheaper than buying it there , besides helping the young lady ; " and he added turning to the shopman , "Put up the quarter of tea ; I shall not enter it in the

books . That ' s all ri ght , Mrs . Allen . Good morning . Bring a bit of the work with you next time you come . " Mrs . Allen hastened back , and told her young friend the good news . A pretty piece of work was completed ,

and purchased by a friend of Mrs . Owen ' s . And soon more was ordered , and poor Bessie got nearly double what she had done before . Many people became interested in her , and the list of subscribers was passed from hand to hand ; each

selected a few names of people they could ask for their votes ; many did not even object to finding the stamps , because it was only a few from each . Bessie had been warned not to write to all the subscribers , which is very expensive , and seldom does

much good . The first election was looked forward to with great anxiet y , though of course with no hope of succeeding in that or several others . She was , however , stirprised to find how well , she got on for the first time , and encouraged to apply to other she

persons had known in prosperity . The replies were seldom satisfactory , but still several more friends were added to her list , and they also asked their friends , so that another list of subscribers had to be got , and they wore seldom at home .

During the summer Mr . Peirceall came to see the Lovedays , and called upon Bessie . He congratulated her on getting on so well , and added , " Of course it must take time , as there were so many applications before yours , most of them so sad

that it makes my heart ache to read them . " " But , sir , " said Bessie , " should we not get in quicker if the Committee managed it , instead of the trouble of getting votes ?" " I am glad you mentioned this , " said

Mr . Peirceall ; "it gives me the opportunity of explaining the matter . First , you cannot get in till there aie vacancies , and when these do occur there are many more applications than can be admitted at once ; some must wait . I know a poor widow

who waited three years , and then the committee told her they could not keep her name on any longer . I happened to meet one of the Committee shortly after , and asked him about it . He said , ' Oh ! I am sorry I did not know you were interested

in the creature ; but we have so many people at us . I sometimes almost wish I had nothing to do with it , only it helps one to oblige a friend sometimes . You see , some time ago my wife wanted to get in her servant ' s sister , which we did the first election ; but then all those who helped her in expected me to take up their candidates . ' I asked him if they

did not have the merits of the different candidates laid before them . He replied , that the Secretary did certainly get up something of a statement , but they seldom had time to study it , and there were sure to be cases of their own to attend to . I asked him if the case of the servant ' s

sister was a very distressing one , and if so I should not have liked to stand in the way . He laughed saying . ' Oh ! no , my dear fellow , she was not hard up ; but . £ 20 extra was acceptable , and by a little management we made her income appear

to be within the rules . ' So much for election by a Committee . Those who form it are men of like passions with ourselves , and quite as likely to favour their own cases . When the power rests with a large body of subscribers there is a

counteracting influence ; and I know many people who will not promise a vote till they have looked into the case . Another of the new schemes is sending all proxy papers to the Secretary , which I think unsafe and bad , more especially where many votes are allowed , as by exchanging the names between the different papers he can secure success to as many as are to be elected . 1