Why the Left Won't Leave Nuns Alone

Summary

Nathaniel Hawthorne once visited the children's ward of an English workhouse, where he encountered "a wretched, pale, half-torpid little thing." The 6-year-old foundling "held up its hands, smiled in my face, and standing before me, insisted on my taking it up." At first, Hawthorne resisted. Soon he surrendered: "It was as if God had promised the child this favor on my behalf, and that I must needs fulfill the contract."