but it
was from hand to mouth. He did not have to work steadily towards a
future good. He had no gift but that of music, so that even if he had
been a musician he would have ranked far lower in the scale of manhood
than the shoemakers of the village; but he would have done the best he
could do, while as a shoemaker he was despicable.

I knew a good teacher, capable of taking responsibility, who hated it so
that she gave up work the moment she had acquired a miserable pittance.
She lived ever after a pinched life, whose chief source of happiness to
herself was the negative satisfaction of escaping responsibility; for
she was too poor to gratify any of her many beautiful tastes. She had
the power to lead a large, full life, but she had not the will and
courage to meet the obstacles in her way. She chose instead to stunt
herself and be a drudge. She swept her poor rooms clean, and she was
willing to sweep them, but I do not think she "swept them as to God's
law," for though she often made them "fine," I do not think she made
"the action fine."

But such a case is rare. More people choose work too high for them. We
all like to think we have some touch of genius, though we may be
discreet enough not to say so. But few of us have talents at all equal
to our tastes, and we must beware of trying to get our livelihood in the
direction of our tastes rather than of our talents.

One girl in ten thousand has the voice of a _prima donna_. Ten other
girls in ten thousand have voices so good that they believe them to be
like that of a _prima donna_. The first will succeed beyond her wildest
dreams. She will have fame and fortune. The other ten will have some
success, success which will seem great to the lookers on, but they will
have heart-breaking disappointments within their own breasts. A hundred
girls in the ten thousand have more talent for music than for most other
things, and if they are well educated, they may perhaps make a good
living as teachers, church singers, organists, or accompanists. This is
not what they hoped, but they do the work that belongs to them, and on
the whole may be counted successful. Another hundred like music, and can
learn enough to add to their enjoyment and to that of those about them.
They might even teach music, if the demand for teachers were not already
filled by those who have a greater gift. But now it is clear their bread
must depend on other work for which they have less taste. These are t