Cooking and castle-building

nurse who faithfully watches and ministers to that patient do a small thing? Does the preacher who delivers a learned doctrinal discourse do a great thing, and the layman who, by a fcAv kind words, encourages some weak or wayward brother or sister to live a purer and better life, do a little thing? Does the lawyer who, for a heavy fee, defends and acquits a criminal, do a great thing, and the ^peace-maker,' who, without pay, protects the property, or saves the life of a neighbor, do a little thing ? Does the stock-jobber who amasses a million in a month by obtaining control of a corporation, and by watering or skilfully manipulating its stock, do a big thing, and the mechanic who toils faithfully a lifetime, and earns only his daily bread, do a little thing? Does the speculator who buys up the products of a thousand farms or workshops, and, by thus controlling the market, makes a fortune in a week, do a big thing ; while the owners of those farms and workshops, who toiled diligently for months, and obtained but small gains, did little things? Does the man of wealth who buys a tract of land for a few thousand dollars, and holds it unimproved till it increases in value to millions, do a big thing; and do the thousands of men of humble means, who buy of him at the increased price,, and improve and beautify their purchases w^ith pleasant homes, do little things ? Who shall say that the woman who remains quietly at home, doing daily, and with systematic neatness, the housewifely duties that render all within her influence contented and happy, is not teaching her sister women as wisely, and doing as much for the world's moral, social, and political advancement, as the one who travels from the Atlantic to the Pacific, eloquently l)leading the right of her sex to larger liberty or wider privileges? Or, which one of us is able to decide that a little poem, wrought out in obscurity, and for which its author received a few dollars only, has not effected a greater good in the world than the gigantic enterprise, inaugurated with ostentatious display and applause, that has put millions in the pocket of its projector? "If, then, we accept the principle that it is the duty of every man and woman to be engaged in work that is useful in some way to the world, why is it not as well to make beds, sweep rooms, and cook dinners, as it is to plough fields, build houses, and buy and sell corn and cotton ? And when a woman's duty lies in the way of the former, rather than of the latter occupations, why should it be distasteful to her to acquaint herself with all the details of housekeeping? Or, why should she consider it drudgery to spend her time in doing, in the most perfect manner, those little household economies that add so much to the comfort and happiness of life ? "To teach their children self-re stramt, — the control of their appetites and passions, — should be a paramount consideration with all parents ; for people who simply live to eat, or, as the poet puts it, — * who creep Into the world to eat and sleep, And know no reason why they're born But merely to consume the corn, Devour the cattle, fowl, and fish, And leave behind an empty dish,' —