parts, arising from the action of antagonistic forces, in which they
endeavor to return to their natural state." Exactly. There are
thousands of women in just this condition, sustained there by the
daily pressure and excitement of hurry, and by a stern, unyielding
"must." In the treadmill of their household labor, breakfast, dinner,
and supper revolve in ceaseless course, and they _must_ step
forward to meet them. And, when more of her vitality is expended daily
than is daily renewed by food and rest, woman does, actually and
without any figure of speech, use herself up. Yes, she burns herself
for fuel, and goes down a wreck,--not always to death; often it is to
a condition made wretched by suffering, sometimes to insanity.

I would not have believed this last had I not found it in print. In an
English magazine occurs the following passage: "Some whose eyes follow
these lines will recollect disagreeable seasons when their attention
was distracted by conflicting cures and claims; when no one thing,
however urgent, could be finished, owing to the intrusion of one or
more inevitable distractions. A continued course of such inroads on
the mind's serenity could be supported but by few intellects. Most
pitiable is the mind's state after some hours of such distracting
occupation, in which every business interferes with every other, and
none is satisfactorily accomplished. Where there is a tendency to
insanity it is sure to be developed by such an undesirable state of
things." This is fitly supplemented by a statement made in an American
magazine: "We are told that the woman's wards in the New England
insane asylums are filled with middle-aged wives--mothers--driven
there by overwork and anxiety."

Not long since, I heard Mr. Whittier tell the story of a woman who
attempted suicide by throwing herself into the water. "Discouragement"