hers dependent upon us becomes
greater than our strength suffices to answer. In such a case I can
imagine that the married man may wish himself single again, and that
the married woman, when she sees her husband over-exerting himself to
maintain her and her children, may almost wish--out of the very force
of her affection for him--that it had never been her lot to add to
the weight of his responsibilities. Most desirable then is it that
all, both men and women, should have the power and the will to work
for themselves--most advisable that both sons and daughters should
early be inured to habits of independence and industry. Birds teach
their nestlings to fly as soon as their wings are strong enough, they
even oblige them to quit the nest if they seem too unwilling to trust
their pinions of their own accord. Do not the swallow and the
starling thus give a lesson by which man might profit?

'It seems to me that your kind heart is pained by the thought of what
your daughter may suffer if transplanted from a free and indulged
home existence to a life of constraint and labour amongst strangers.
Suffer she probably will; but take both comfort and courage, my dear
sir, try to soothe your anxiety by this thought, which is not a
fallacious one. Hers will not be a barren suffering; she will gain
by it largely; she will "sow in tears to reap in joy." A governess's
experience is frequently indeed bitter, but its results are precious:
the mind, feeling, temper are there subjected to a discipline equally
painful and priceless. I have known many who were unhappy as
governesses, but not one who regretted having undergone the ordeal,
and scarcely one whose character was not improved--at once
strengthened and purified, fortified and softened, made more enduring
for her own afflictions, more considerate for the afflictions of
others, by passing through it.

'Should your daughter, however, go out as governess, she should first
take a firm resolution not to be too soon daunted by difficulties,
too soon disgusted by disagreeables; and if she has a high spirit,
sensitive feelings, she should tutor the one to submit, the other to
endure, _for the sake of those at home_. That is the governess's
best talisman of patience, it is the best balm for wounded
susceptibility. When tried hard she must say,