27Feb1866, Refreshed by One's Comforts

LONDON, February 27th, 1866.
—I drove with Auntie P. and a Miss Smith in an excellent Greek Madame Ralli's carriage, she coming too. We went 1st to the London Hospital, where we talked and read to divers poor men and some poor little children ; then to the workhouse, a paradise of freshness, good order, and comfort compared with S. Martin's. I am to have a ward of decrepit old men, who enjoyed some peppermints I brought. There are 850 in the House. The chaplain showed me the oakum-picking room, crowded with women, some looking horrid enough, poor souls !
We dined at D. House : I hope it is not wrongly selfish to feel refreshed by one's comforts and pleasant refined things after going a little into the depths. One knows the poor people do not crave for these things, and one has been trying to cheer them ; still, it feels selfish.