A Wise Father and Sensible Daughter.
JUDGE A was a leading lawyer and a prominent Christian in the city of B, a man of property and influence, honored and respected by all who knew him. One of his children was a daughter, highly educated and accomplished, and a favorite in her social circle. She had every comfort in the home of her parents, and their property was such as to give her the prospect of ample means if they should at any time be taken away. But the father was wise and the daughter was sensible. So one day he said to her:— “You have every prospect, my daughter, of comfortable provision for the future, and that, in case of my death, you would be independent as to property, and without care or anxiety as to the means of living. But the changes of life are beyond our control, and reverses often come when we least expect them. And I think if you were to learn some trade or business, so that if you were left poor you could earn a living for your self, and, if need be, help others, it would be the wisest and best thing you could do.” And he reminded her of the old Jewish maxim, that “he that brought his son up without a trade, brought him up to be a thief,” and that our Saviour himself probably worked at the trade of a carpenter till he entered on the work of his public ministry, telling her still further that though she might never be dependent on her own exertions, it was well to be prepared to support herself if it should ever be found necessary. The daughter at once understood and fully appreciated the sensible views of her father, and fixed on dressmaking as that to which she would give her attention; and an arrangement was made with a leading dressmaker of the city, that from her she should thoroughly learn the business, just as any young apprentice might do. She did so; and while many in the leading society in which she moved wondered that the daughter of Judge A should ever think of such a thing as learning dressmaking, she quietly kept on with her work till she understood thoroughly all its details, as well as in aiding her mother in many ways for which she was before unqualified. And now mark the result. Within a year or two after the time alluded to, she met and soon became engaged to marry a gentleman well known to the world as one of the most scholarly and devoted missionaries that ever went forth from this country. And, as the accomplished and educated wife of such a man, she was not only useful as an instructor in the female seminary connected with the mission, but in teaching the girls as to their own dresses, and giving most valuable suggestions and help to the mothers and families of the vicinity. She led them on to views of domestic economy and comfort and civilization, to which they might long have been strangers but for her personal and practical knowledge of dressmaking. And she often remarked that she never could be thankful enough that her father had been so thoughtful and wise as to suggest the course she had taken. A somewhat similar case is that of an only son of wealthy parents, who graduated at college with high honor, and then entered a machine shop, and began at the very lowest point and diligently and faithfully worked his way up through all the steps of locomotive building till he made himself thoroughly familiar with the rolling stock of railroads and the connected engineering. His college associates and friends went, for the most part, to some one of the professions; but he went steadily on with his mechanic employment, coming home at night to take off his greasy and soiled clothing, and appear as a gentleman in the parlor, and in the morning rising for breakfast long before the family, and going off to his work for the day. And the consequence was that, having thoroughly mastered the details of his work, he was at once called to an important and lucrative position on one of the large railroads of the land, with a fair prospect of rising to its highest office of honor and trust. Are not these facts full of instruction? Are there not many young ladies of wealthy families who would be wise if they would in some way, by the knowledge of some business, prepare to be able to support themselves if in the changes of life they should be left dependent? And instead of crowding the professions, as such multitudes of our young men are doing, where for years they can, for the most part, expect but a limited and precarious income, would they not be far wiser to engage in those mechanical employments which are so conducive to the progress of society, and almost always amply remunerative to those who intelligently follow them?— Christian Weekly.