"You mean the beadle? Yes, dear."
"And do they give them food there?"
"Certainly; that is, a coarser kind of food, fit for such people."
"And things to put on?"
"And things to put on, too. They have clothes made on purpose for them. That man that you saw sweeping in front of the house was wearing a suit."
"But what a fright he was, Papa. He looked as if he had been dressed up to be laughed at. I should not like to be dressed so if I were a man."
"No, dear, nor is it meant that he should. It would never do to make a workhouse too delightful; for one great use of such places is to prevent people from becoming poor, just as houses of correction are intended to keep them from turning thieves. So the persons who go into one are not dressed and fed, and otherwise treated, so as to make their situation at all enviable. The consequence is, that those who know what they have to expect in such an asylum, learn not to be extravagant and careless, for fear they should become poor themselves."
"But can all people help being poor, Papa?"
"Most of them, my love; and those who cannot—can't be helped."
"But those poor children, Papa,—why don't they go into the workhouse?"