Mrs. George Reece offers advice from the grave: memorize a little poetry that is true or beautiful, because it may steady you in a crisis. Her own crisis came when her husband, a bank cashier, was wrongly sent to prison for a failure caused by the bank’s president, Thomas Rhodes, and his reckless son. Left with nothing but the children, she had to feed, clothe, and educate them alone. She did it, she says, by holding to Pope’s line, “Act well your part, there all the honor lies.” Her success is measured in the children she raised and launched into the world clean and strong. The voice is calm, stoic, and quietly proud. There is a current of resentment at the injustice, but no self-pity. The mood is one of hard-earned dignity—showing that honor depends on how you meet your own responsibilities, not on how the world treats you.
Mrs. George Reece — Summary
To this generation I would say: Memorize some bit of verse of truth or beauty. It may serve a turn in your life. My husband had nothing to do With the fall of the bank—he was only cashier. The wreck was due to the president, Thomas Rhodes, And his vain, unscrupulous son. Yet my husband was sent to prison, And I was left with the children, To feed and clothe and school them. And I did it, and sent them forth Into the world all clean and strong, And all through the wisdom of Pope, the poet: “Act well your part, there all the honor lies.”