At present but few people have had the courage to
brave the current social prejudice. We draw such fine distinctions
between the wholesale and retail traders that our cotton-spinners, calico-
makers, and general merchants seem to think that they belong to a totally
different sphere, from which they look down on the lady who has had
sufficient brains, capital, and courage to open a shop. But the old
world moves faster than it did in former days, and before the end of the
nineteenth century it is probable that a gentlewoman will be recognised
in spite of her having entered on commercial pursuits, especially as we
are growing accustomed to see scions of our noblest families on our Stock
Exchange and in tea-merchants' houses; one Peer of the realm is now doing
an extensive business in coals, and another is a cab proprietor.' Miss
Faithfull then proceeds to give a most interesting account of the London
dairy opened by the Hon. Mrs. Maberley, of Madame Isabel's millinery
establishment, and of the wonderful work done by Miss Charlotte Robinson,
who has recently been appointed Decorator to the Queen. About three
years ago, Miss Faithfull tells us, Miss Robinson came to Manchester, and
opened a shop in King Street, and, regardless of that bugbear which
terrifies most women--the loss of social status--she put up her own name
over the door, and without the least self-assertion quietly entered into
competition with the sterner sex. The result has been eminently
satisfactory. This year Miss Robinson has exhibited at Saltaire and at
Manchester, and next year she proposes to exhibit at Glasgow, and,
possibly, at Brussels. At first she had some difficulty in making people
understand that her work is really commercial, not charitable; she feels
that, until a healthy public opinion is created, women will pose as
'destitute ladies,' and never take a dignified position in any calling
they adopt. Gentlemen who earn their own living are not spoken of as
'destitute,' and we must banish this idea in connection with ladies who
are engaged in an equally honourable manner. Miss Faithfull concludes
her most valuable article as follows: 'The more highly educated our women
of business are, the better for themselves, their work, and the whole
community. Many of the professions to which ladies have hitherto turned
are overcrowded, and when once the fear of losing social position is
boldy disregarded, it will be found that commercial life offers a variety
of more or less lucrative employments to ladies of birth and capital, who
find it more congenial to their tastes and requirements to invest their
money and spend their energies in a business which yields a fair return
rather than sit at home content with a scanty pittance.'

I myself entirely agree with Miss Faithfull, though I feel that there is
something to be said in favour of the view put forward by Lady Shrewsbury
in the Woman's World, {289} and a great deal to be said in favour of Mrs.
Joyce's scheme for emigration. Mr. Walter Besant, if we are to judge
from his last novel, is of Lady Shrewsbury's way of thinking.