But this narrative of the gradual degradation of a coquette of the lower middle class shows that Crabbe possessed at least some of the best qualities of a great novelist.

Clelia is, in fact, a kind of country-town Becky Sharp, whose wiles and schemes are not destined to end in a white-washed reputation at a fashionable watering-place.

On the contrary she falls from one ignominy to another until, by a gross abuse of a public charity, she ends her days in the almshouse! One further instance may be cited of Crabbe's persistent effort to awaken attention to the problem of poor-law relief.

In his day the question, both as to policy and humanity, between indoor and outdoor relief, was still unsettled.

In _The Borough_, as described, many of the helpless poor were relieved at their own homes.