with the best wishes of a loving frence M. d. WORK bet ! 25 the 1864 . OR PLENTY TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT. BY MARGARET MARIA BREWSTER, AUTHOR OF "HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY;" "SUNBEAMS IN THE COTTAGE;" "LITTLE MILLIE;" "LETTERS FROM CANNES AND NICE," ETC. ETC. THIRTY-THIRD THOUSAND. EDINBURGH EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS. HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO., LONDON. WORK. I. INTRODUCTORY. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest."-ECCLES. ix. 10. ; "Man hath his daily work of body or mind Appointed, which declares his dignity, And of their doings God takes no account." PARADISE LOST. IDLENESS has no place in the busy and beautiful creation of God it enters not into His thoughts and ways; it is opposed to all that He has said, and to all that He has done. Work -various it is true in kind and degree-is one of the laws of the universe. In our own planet at this moment, multitudes of busy hands and busy heads are to be found in all directions. The merchant at the desk,—the labourer in the field, the statesman in the cabinet,the author in the study, the red Indian in the hunting-ground, the gold-digger in the mine,and a great company whose work as a whole constitutes the very essence of social order. It is true that men have taken advantage of this to hold the scales of work with an uneven hand, and to mete an unjust measure. Hence the cry of the slave,—hence the "long hours" of the factory,—hence the mournful song of the seamstress. This does not however interfere with the fact that work is an element of our being. It is not only a barter for food, and raiment, and gold, but it is intended and fitted to produce |