Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Cobwebs and Cables: “Sin spreads misery around it only when there is ground ready for the bad seed”
    Cobwebs and Cables: “Sin spreads misery around it only when there is ground ready for the bad seed”
    Cobwebs and Cables: “Sin spreads misery around it only when there is ground ready for the bad seed”
    Ebook374 pages6 hours

    Cobwebs and Cables: “Sin spreads misery around it only when there is ground ready for the bad seed”

    By Hesba Stretton

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Hesba Stretton was the pen name of Sarah Smith who was born on July 27th 1832 in Wellington, Shropshire, the younger daughter of bookseller, Benjamin Smith and his wife, Anne Bakewell Smith, a devout Methodist. Although she and her elder sister attended the Old Hall school in town, they were largely self-educated.

    Smith became one of the most popular Evangelical writers of the 19th century. She used her "Christian principles as a protest against specific social evils in her children's books." Her moral tales and semi-religious stories, mainly directed towards the young, were printed in huge numbers.

    After her sister submitted, without her knowledge, a story on her behalf ('The Lucky Leg', was a bizarre tale of a widower who proposes to women with wooden legs) Smith became a regular contributor to Household Words and All the Year Round, two popular periodicals begun by Charles Dickens. Dickens would collaborate with many writers to produce his part-work stories. Smith writing under the pseudonym Hesba Stretton (created from the initials of herself and four surviving siblings: Hannah, Elizabeth, Sarah, Benjamin, Anna and the name of a Shropshire village; All Stretton) contributed a well-regarded short story, ‘The Ghost in the Cloak-Room’, as part of ‘The Haunted House’. She would go on to write over 40 novels.

    Her break out book was ‘Jessica's First Prayer’, published in the Sunday at Home journal in 1866 and the following year as a book. By the end of the century it had sold over one and a half million copies. To put that into context; ten times the sales of ‘Alice in Wonderland’. The book gave rise to a strand of books about homeless children in Victorian society combining elements of the sensational novel and the religious tract bringing the image of the poor, under-privileged, child into the Victorian social conscious.

    A sequel, ‘Jessica's Mother’, was published in Sunday at Home in 1866 and eventually as a book, some decades later, in 1904. It was translated into fifteen European and Asiatic languages as well as Braille, depicted on coloured slides for magic lantern segments of Bands of Hope programmes, and placed in all Russian schools by order of Tsar Alexander II.

    Smith became the chief writer for the Religious Tract Society. Her experience of working with slum children in Manchester in the 1860s gave her books great atmosphere and, of course, a sense of authenticity.

    In 1884, Smith was one of the co-founders, together with Lord Shaftesbury and others, of the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which then combined, five years later, with societies in other cities to form the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Smith resigned a decade later in protest at financial mismanagement.

    In retirement in Richmond, Surrey, the Smith sisters ran a branch of the Popular Book Club for working-class readers.

    Sarah Smith died on October 8th, 1911 at home at Ivycroft on Ham Common. She had survived her sister by eight months.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHorse's Mouth
    Release dateAug 24, 2018
    ISBN9781787801189
    Cobwebs and Cables: “Sin spreads misery around it only when there is ground ready for the bad seed”

    Read more from Hesba Stretton

    Related to Cobwebs and Cables

    Related ebooks

    Literary Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Very Hampstead, very Kingsley Amis

      Oct 29, 2020

      I HEARD THESE WORDS in the Flask Bookshop in Flask Walk, Hampstead — which I owned and ran from 1975 until 1988 — while slumped in the back room on my leather swivel chair, quite as usual, smoking a pipe and reading: I was always reading. It was a un

      10 min read

    • Article

      In Pursuit Of The Light

      May 10, 2023

      In Pursuit Of The Light
      6 min read

    • Article

      An Appreciation Of Muriel Rukeyser, “St. Roach”

      Sep 1, 2021

      For that I never knew you, I only learned to dread you,for that I never touched you, they told me you are filth,they showed me by every action to despise your kind;for that I saw my people making war on you,I could not tell you apart, one from anothe

      15 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Matt Seidel

      Dec 9, 2017

      I tend to buy used books in bunches, which means the haul from some expeditions stays buried for weeks, months, years even. For this entry, I highlight three finds that, breaking custom, I bought and read almost immediately this year: Hugo Charteris’

      6 min read

    • Article

      Rewriting Her World

      Feb 18, 2021

      Rewriting Her World
      8 min read

    • Article

      A Special Relationship

      Mar 20, 2024

      A Special Relationship
      5 min read

    • Article

      LITERARY HOUSE lessons

      Dec 18, 2021

      LITERARY HOUSE lessons
      11 min read

    • Article

      Michael Wood On…

      May 11, 2023

      Michael Wood On…
      3 min read

    • Article

      Washington Danced Here

      Jan 22, 2019

      Washington Danced Here
      3 min read

    • Article

      They Were One-offs

      Apr 6, 2022

      HOW I wish I’d written this book! Matthew Kelly celebrates four women whose work created the organisations and attitudes to conservation we take for granted today. Two are well known, two are not; all their stories enrich us. The well-known two are O

      7 min read

    • Article

      The King Of Westminster

      May 24, 2023

      The King Of Westminster
      5 min read

    • Article

      Nadar’s Livre d’or

      Jul 5, 2017

      Nadar’s Livre d’or
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Lord Of The Books

      Mar 8, 2023

      The Lord Of The Books
      6 min read

    • Article

      Apparition

      Mar 26, 2020

      Apparition
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Old Un’s Notes

      Sep 22, 2021

      The Old Un’s Notes
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Most Unreliable Culture Warrior

      Jan 27, 2022

      ONE OF THE STRONGEST POINTS in J.C. Squire’s favour is the well-nigh fabulous contempt in which he was held by the liberal intelligentsia of his time. F.R. Leavis declared he was the epitome of all that was meant by the word “philistine”. Virginia Wo

      4 min read

    • Article

      Shock Therapy

      Jun 8, 2021

      Shock Therapy
      15 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Aug 22, 2022

      Books
      6 min read

    • Article

      “Angels In The Commonplace”

      Jun 3, 2020

      “Angels In The Commonplace”
      19 min read

    • Article

      Venice Peach

      Oct 2, 2023

      1. THE DRESSMAKER AND THE HIDDEN SOLDIER by Doug Gold (A&U) WWII thriller about Kiwi soldier and Greek dressmaker 2. SUMMER FAVOURITES by Vanya Insull (A&U) Recipes from @vj_cooks 3. TE REO KAPEKAPE: Māori Wit and Humour by Hona Black (Oratia) Having

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Cobwebs and Cables

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Cobwebs and Cables - Hesba Stretton

      ̼2^book_preview_excerpt.html}r#ٱݯR9cI=1l6I6ɞy,@ 납 ј'Kܻ $Dz#P+w^Vv}mSo6Tߝ7}XtY^|Q.[-oC7uq巿_=Emv Y6fUo53\dІMb듰yV".R%3޸j>5_O9^,yu u?S,dClŢvmQ/w;㿛>&/jo b],YxLx*ʎ;-EjC3~_Xf\P'-)˺iͲ O VeO5]uLX\&?烇MZm܂ݰܠneXmw8P"lr}5,UؼI3lQX_2qUI{!]]{hrSARYetha=\6uk/ m>_ ;Q ?\}`j ->5 |b֋n6'6˦,sTV\!RfY.o}>t+Ʒ`޻0P=[ڞۦҥE/s-v6W_7}*xXt͢H'?Jl"/Kw1~t>c4.;z|2XHo[[|7 큿Aln۴,?u㖦Nǁ8/ih >گפgכNfvOj ƻyx%P7SatX/C(g*q T#x S%OUø3<(W؋k?f Ⱥ+s X@p0 8[f8@ BGZSBWie!HɄMڞwxqgWnڼ]/MwdE K\ygew^^d"Cku]R)½)թBqꥴ*"oߕCuyPdl:tEIi 02< I,Bk5M]( K418dHY!ɾꖭ 2O˱݂@ϻY[BHBJpy %ƧPsTw[,v{ ;SEnCIi^0 gZ\SMbS+fI*Ԅz,dCSKGBt_;ipai{A.kiF*T(O9BoZu,sx:hj ΦXUef\_G}%lu /*;o*`Y|P m|?UB˧"M+Ogwe6IcO;|r?y?=~ggwW_/%Wg/>~},ó?/oo^|Λ?\3_^d7ϻO'g/g 7wsOGC ӫ7wnn?K a~n?dW^4cJ k]=eO/3Ϲه/C &_n޿r-٥7/^~~>; !;D|w<?}~wuyr/~ԅ כ7ǻ]n~g^F-rG^^>pE>.mCvq{=fWKQ!`i}L~ gw/v@>Ǫog/plW-V_>ʔO ϻyyhf9aINs~~q~n~U4Dk6Cߐtr]\^ϯ^kǫOT\W8{.gww׍^4ѽjgod[Xkvᖯ Luk!z"pCg7/_7G?o?:49z#\|'-t~;Be3?M170OS׷PklٻW֥-DnoxU7pyu^ʽ%tw7^p pvqyo*__*E/ׯ+Αw8D%_1,Ŋ{Ev~c^ߐS紋wpX:f>񷮘"+aq2-CF1^|`IU ᴼ$<03p2'컆tv$V y-qS`Ƣo*S0>h3ʆ) r?d!t3Sl(#oW]DEXI,E8 "kŠia+7.Cǔx //Rn(7,x>0.WH:k@#V)J7 OUJZ 8h 0wļ| ~vt]#66BXA#]$P12!Lv>~tz0P7Q#ryLC%:d|q@^2vh%RPSFfhL:S_rtxSP\߇we4bI_H׃IL ;VR)4Pvaχ5m2ϐ|H$Jv(ƲC/B/Cj(EIz[rq] <{( #ZGRcfGV:I5;ht-CFа/Z +uT߲" nlAPCo͍5G-bE*嵄Twۼݝ@vk7^Wnk{BL]&GΊDWeI\[u/q@\3MjIQS]'*I,-AZ)j%㫨or-D:^DgI@:5xQ^Dl(KE"K&;"Pj8Y.{CL rbE?mC٫fbFMSE6۳^l#ڛtPla$ur[XPw[?tfz4"H_?X,c } rDa!n}~00a?UYd.#˅Y,: `` Vi,qazG`Rt,@.NMHb SjG_˜#B "2εt /,2,Ls2rU^$+}I9FĢ֊^|[WbS)c%YP=T-_ycUx%ǐ)s%7h컶'i)FTAdX^lqގJI-ڕ*N (E^?',`q昅OTReB{Cmxю}oMYCcF|fwZo㭡 s=7你4V^v]9$ O^z֎ #EWo/7WvW0לuQ*9!&b1Hw +8+PRڜT5Ų :,IZ'LHՌbɸ-,ho<++[X@3_ȼ8JW!#ǂ[r9 HG )GVžԤ5ËKvn S B@E$+ rSU,3ARZ`O%~jwN;᫥bmKZHm<; p nb|I)N`cᣢ0O(6JA@c$M8%*=:&bIsU7Ag=2|){Ma.QQv[;t,}18!|iR A=""ag٥$P H婮U[r)9S|I'% 3,JGګҫ|57ѿi,t̸`?@C[Z+oKxW9nخR8n;x6/i+J9(yX8e`c+6L᪂.=F;0{5"A,3:G8t]|UVW). lR"b /ypV̌:,N {1[:]Dt4"Y'(ā)//)]_o>cVUrDf!9@Jl`v/(. k9@ӡGc1Tńmؔ^!tw3:jxa`-' U{1d#F" J/XTD6l=u1ФZHq%?XA-s,Pe^ǔxc]TPF&j\{a}za Dϓ3vxLS4WQ#gOtD1rPwwBpѱG G5d-L;6׳r|CgK* @vMkJͮr@6w&4_n wta|WծwzRa;M:mYT~NYJ{a3ƢE8*QϠNl?R&_k`&qÞ=lPU1csMcLs3/:$|$ُPXrqMԅx8B9juLyU@W9玮XXiiǢZ`T!dKUXt5L!FfWvi~Ca W<~lH뭭u!F2uc6AӅ);-9M|wvZ]q<&.K^N1o_n `!z+S"}{,CQ '5{"ӚM18[wB@˭bl1-JKϜSsbC1=A]OKZk|lQ['N,XH& QF4 E Cs]cY J$TRa?ܿ@ V|R_(C3hyf~Z".>z< 8t Fiٔ 8KC*2?}܍.d}|Bfﳟ~Ԩ4*香aEɬMt U5n1[u-v\K^mImaGWKUk-4{'1檥jNgݑ-VܟP|"%A%c/^za6¤cdޠ2I2ksۦ:wVayz U#鱛4A6`欢,:&e# 3Og3GyA&|E31Woenn~F˴'V4VeA9;e`Ѳw?u&K#']䔴T#1 {>qUѕ!goU5x`kh*Ϣ+GaQ7:a :Q93; ++1t uNf0RZ1D̒5'3k[a 7ޞ Pro,t*\-+Gꦂ,?ɆՊ?8/d",r˫ Xx^Cc@YΪ0DѽG;%OAC()_ I!6jCH+̑Oѷy?6 HtB,SFHr^D }|>m=A|8bUűnm"[€#SFVɻKslGҐ#VoERPDD+V2m|!k{Rd&Be(2]gﰧ*9ʦ鲿ADLv5a4iR$Q^ғaCD`SG=,Y_n}nt{-(#UpNᣎ2 wE)݊Z GnjX"1UL|Pm{V81@ed,ﴄoN/>#&s9<lVPmӶ؛JyG'q yHF./V8nۏT$)Y5k|EZ:V!忝|`Z=q|Q1!N/D>Q޶/reR)}f S>HoGѫR^fn>Y[sP,6v@/~F)&Xd@ߜXՋ`[i^Y0=1?~S`3RߨAq ~,cDx~*HNk{7J9:.ZqCIqrbO{J5T=T6_:00cl&Zrl%pK6:mנcΙ_9|rvDeҢ~jW\q6MȓC[kZOTJ.<|$v'xMkx|XHE|̳j!Hn86LzSCӬ#bSAu*JsfPnSY#+*15'z)L1qEc:bŖd#~c9ʒp;p.㩽4,zŬ4pb;$?rh58Vb=6PSoZtH:D[&C%0Fz)u:kBnNũ"Uҽۛ1H!yEB;?E86 pMomKfbP[Rr["bM?ێN3Utɂ,j{ʋ nac=J/a p7pNP[{`qQ Z AM3_ RnUfH$BX7ao؏Aې=$SRp34(Ķ):0;ǒ8m#xc+\UNc>{%gvx})gMA~Ľ0,o>bdIڀX\ +F6 l(X`N%19\$]NJ;-#3 RDa&2 MmKo?;MxިI6{'2NF\. uX(!4SbdrsX76 ^7MoJ/ ))!nRqNQa,hUw=DKHVz]y_b8Aut G'竭~ -N-6|'D9Iڤl<@&SLu+ UulpS*GDNbEn M>M-#aWm}3>d Ādrr-} Ι|4`}N =Z/IБE[{'}amnEbn6^u] {DZ獆d$)Nz;Mց!jH_y;k ̄b`C2Yeblw1XGgOR{a\S(S<[OaGgkә;GA߈Vn"mOyXg,7)g{d#91]*22I̕ak1 NaZ}PQTb[vMDţqL@.í*3ƽm {Y# ֫A{^{bbj.caq]TsP@~ 1/ lj' S.eš7_GOU~vNNT0ˢ;g>+"bc,󂛛/mU6Z>gp5@لT!b?jS2fY$O4!T#9JG!Ez]cLc" (R[ic3*Ty SҚdkaT }q/Qq67q Pÿ]-ƃ մGC|:'M{>ff/\:Ͱղ>52>~ugg9{F|&_('[,J~YQ>pg1AIV>N\|x> kY@oC/xoidr48|tl=in6cQh*6rA+P״cU̞CFC/Z哲|'dQ/8g1snkdNːjp@X)q4DqiD/#k,LJ%i$FۦTZj񨟧F_s<ϐ3Q4v"q B?6#bG;ܪ쎅UGXjљ8= YF PgܮhL=؉=n3=Wh̦zreijޚX䘷'DojYD&RwV}Ėi6R0ƶ8wiU|Wڊד؊s;Yk j4:,x͕ eLs|Me%JFUOD[+ kl2fڲsaH"41ɷxf@`ܣ[mhs*S[Ijp&{vn]#c؊zk8o!,Ų 9`VU?U\-h䙨϶Lv#¿d͗SȍiQ@L\6[$g x/p+-nrY=lc2:g01,J fV|Ol:f8f-ȗv]Wwl[ÊU9Rը+bf3"ov*"9,F$ -XNtʧ{wV:샼(&8c@|z^q%68b7r8h㜦+8u1HZXy5#È߽n3*{ Ӑ>oԍb(1-Kb~ljf3<! ,'#hS㼭F1ɔjRW03=Ln">: Φdp`T:q-1=!Jc}LyNwӛ;f0{M:(Ͱús͗&f5m5s,7ǣ + {lJyI?64 ~)ϲ{308N-L)E5/ %hL.ܺ񶐾бav %Ho#Zݴc{?D75q$97HE Q߈`X,~uQt*2M#u7~#l^|Q)0嗘gލEC)]7~M^E2 y=chG=?dߴ=z35)WjH:qM؅0JMI RlzUtΥԨƪHc,vral /m]$>ԧ&ճ}r2Krs66%7>8z+𔗨^񘘗!JRld*p$EȊͩ|SafSbfYH~YT]H$Ge+3[\=]F㳶rZLBTEQ_Kqs#~5*GOSVlc%IrJv}rN ]ho!6?a}hg< h_0Ks1ؖ^/I2;~{E㊌HDmu:/θ>9 1Ӥ5 xRQcj) O+59F*j03+9UZt%WDff$UIHYU FvcLEU!#m0| v2+TIps 6-e(?YMR_iF-4&0IMk?c@O30J~^GՍjUعF~ϣ7;TR;k>qU햹:4#6c=L  GE# SOG5 Ef ۃ+Ϣ[ndX[=5 Iʔy^Qq|2$̦wZcy4xɟ;ES~9R vcl=qn*~3R&y(F[]T6pjc{g=~ H<V'ɁC !bA)S>zaX^grM4G^h\?温1)jvR'aF؉G.Qeq{_oCAasWKEGN*pC&ҜD5aQcډx:Sev1F^ S[o.0~۴h<0E@۩a:'JFӉV`,|C"S)Ab-L е-ù4K,&{d7#S;9_-UT8>J+LjjoNy6{6=7^;!vؔbQh9R)f::N)>窧g*!w Q'^H&]zQ#NX "mVwz7mxKd`#"EQaQ=cր!ie|p:w#M,g<Mx)wrѰ~@fdI˖DB%3D1j.'W0wǓƁIy!ec‗vH?|.E;,:sUt`]^>UaNm޾{G*nL=b ۭJٚL4X\S,tڙ<] uԩ~2<.|s -fTWX206eh|ˮKL[syWOC%6= cUl>tvf4BW| Λ*xhIq?_%VUб^e|GbvC-c{>¡F9;ϱrQuz]N|(N3Z> j*]AH–rzľ2* ᬬ!fLIb~p.͍3NWldx muec-1ͧ] :*g n]LkH2+5k~z31r݉xhjf=hfEl۪C^4e~s+lxv|ķC726<2ӆ:vD:ԖdX?g~c :RCѦ=ϑga:b5;bZsv|L^Xn']rtzˆ(o.$9#۴7cfܫt0zzxV:<؏ꬸ3i!<ģxYkVb%^QF/]OZ3.{l?ooJLT:S
      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1