ul, the most natural work of a woman,--work
alternating with rest, and diverting thought from painful subjects by
its variety, and, what is more, a kind of work in which a good
Christian woman might have satisfaction, as feeling herself useful in
the highest and best way; for the child's nurse, if she be a pious,
well-educated woman, may make the whole course of nursery life an
education in goodness. Then, what is far different from any other
modes of gaining a livelihood, a woman in this capacity can make and
feel herself really and truly beloved. The hearts of little children
are easily gained, and their love is real and warm, and no true woman
can become the object of it without feeling her own life made
brighter. Again, she would have in Marianne a sincere, warm-hearted
friend, who would care for her tenderly, respect her sorrows, shelter
her feelings, be considerate of her wants, and in every way aid her in
the cause she has most at heart,--the succor of her family. There are
many ways besides her wages in which she would infallibly be assisted
by Marianne, so that the probability would be that she could send her
little salary almost untouched to those for whose support she was
toiling,--all this on her part."

"But," added my wife, "on the other hand, she would be obliged to
associate and be ranked with common Irish servants."

"Well," I answered, "is there any occupation, by which any of us gain
our living, which has not its disagreeable side? Does not the lawyer
spend all his days either in a dusty office or in the foul air of a
court-room? Is he not brought into much disagreeable contact with the
lowest class of society? Are not his labors dry and hard and
exhausting? Does not the blacksmith spend half his life in soot and
grime, that he may gain a competence for the other half? If this woman
were to work in a factory, would she not often be brought into
associations distasteful to her? Might it not be the same in any of
the arts and trades in which a living is to be got? There must be
unpleasant circumstances about earning a living in any way, only I
maintain that those which a woman would be likely to meet with as a
servant in a refined, well-bred Christian family would be less than in
almost any other calling. Are there no trials to a woman, I beg to
know, in teaching a district school, where all the boys, big and
little, of a neighborhood congregate? For my part, were it my daughter
or sister who was in n