being useful, or even innocent, to _all_, is quite as certain.

It is certain, I say, that mere passive exercises are not only
unnecessary with many, but sometimes wrong. The young woman who is
trained, or who has commenced training herself, on truly Christian
principles, and who enjoys a tolerable measure of health, will hardly
find special seasons of this sort necessary or desirable. She will find
sufficient relaxation amid the routine of active life and her daily
occupations, and in her labors of love and charity.

The society, of sisters, brothers, parents, grand-parents--of
companions, indeed, of every sort with whom she mingles, at home or at
school--will afford her, at times, every enjoyment, even of the passive
sort, which she really needs; or which, if she has the true spirit of
Christ, she will heartily desire. In her duties to these--nay, even in
her very duties to herself--in the kitchen, the garden or the, field,
she will have ample opportunity of descanting on the beauties and
glories of the animal and vegetable world, and on the wonders of the
starry heavens. In pruning, and watering, and weeding the vines and
plants, she may drink in as much as she pleases of the living green, as
well as feast her eyes, anon, on the blue expanse; and in her walks of
charity and mercy, whether alone or in company with others, she may
also receive the nectar of heaven, as it glistens and invites from
Nature's own cup, in as rich draughts as if she were merely lounging,
and seeking for pleasure--nay, even in richer ones, by as much as
active exercise of body and mind, gives her the better mental and
physical appetite.

It is one of the strongest proofs that we have a benevolent Creator at
the head of the world in which we live, that he has made duty and