The Employments of Women: A Cyclopædia of Woman's Work

1. Amanuenses.

Amanuenses are employed to write from dictation, generally by authors. Prescott, who was nearly blind for several years, employed one or more. Editors whose papers have an extensive circulation, sometimes require the services of an amanuensis. Female secretaries, or writers out of books, were not unusual in Rome. "Origen," says Eusebius, "had not only young men, but young women to transcribe his works, which they did with peculiar neatness." Some persons in London (whose employment, perhaps, scarcely brings them under this title, yet we know not where else to place them) make it a business to write letters for beggars, for which they are paid a small sum by each applicant. Amanuenses are usually employed by the week, month, or year. Some education is of course necessary, and will doubtless influence their pay. Experience increases their value still more; and those who have to exercise their brains, are of course best paid. I have been told by competent authority, that amanuenses are usually paid according to agreement; that authors of distinction can afford to pay a good price, and that the most common salary is $600.

2. Astronomers.

Maria Cunitz is mentioned as an astronomer of the seventeenth century in Germany. Miss Caroline Herschel discovered two moons and several comets. Miss Maria Mitchell, of Nantucket, Mass., discovered a new planet, and received, in consequence, a medal from the King of Denmark. She formerly observed for the Coast Survey, but was not officially recognized. She computes for the Nautical Almanac. She writes: "I know of no lady astronomers who are practical observers. Very good works have been written on the subject by women. An observing room is never warmed by a fire; and as a small part, at least, of the roof must be opened to the air, the exposure is according to the weather, as the observations must be made in clear evenings. I do not consider the danger to the health great. I know of no way in which astronomical observations can be made to pay women. They could, without doubt, make better observers than men, with the same amount of practice. The same delicacy of touch and of perception that makes them good at the needle, would make them efficient in the delicate manipulations of the micrometer. But I know of no man well paid as an observer only. There are always volunteer candidates in this department of an observatory. Women can make as good computations as men, and do their work more neatly; but here, also, the field is occupied by men, although, I think, never as volunteers without pay. I have no doubt many of the computations professedly made by men, are really the work of women employed as assistants. This has always been the case in the long and tedious computations made for astronomical objects in the early efforts of the science. My own observatory is wholly a private affair, and supported entirely by my own means, which are my daily earnings as computer to the Nautical Almanac. I employ no assistant." I am happy to say Miss Mitchell receives the same salary for the observations and reckonings of the Nautical Almanac that would be given to a man. In 1856, at the Smithsonian Institute, a paper was read by Professor Foote, on the heat of the sun's rays; after which a paper by Mrs. Foote was read by Professor Henry, giving an account of experiments made by herself on the same subject. Miss Harriet Bouvier (now Mrs. Peterson) has written a very good work on astronomy for schools. Mrs. Somerville, a distinguished astronomer of England, has added much information to the science by her discoveries. "Miss Anne Sheepshanks, sister to the late astronomer, has been elected a fellow of the Astronomical Society."

3. Authors.

Many superior works of fiction have been written by ladies of America, some of which have been translated into the languages of Europe and introduced into those countries. Many of our fair countrywomen have distinguished themselves by their poetical effusions, and quite a number have published their poems in book form. Mrs. Everett Green, author of the "Lives of the Princesses of England," is now employed by the English Government upon state papers. Research into historical data, and the nice, careful arrangement of details, are well fitted to the patience of woman. Several years ago, Queen Victoria granted to Mrs. Gore and Mrs. Jamieson each $1,000 a year as pensions. These are not by any means the only instances of her liberality to literary women. During the year ending January, 1860, she granted pensions to thirteen ladies, either for literary merit of their own or that of some relative. The French Academy awarded to Madame Louisa Collet, in 1851, the prize of $1,000 for poetry; also one to Mlle. Ernestine Druet, a governess in a school at Paris. Mlle. Royer received the prize, a short time ago, from the University of Lausanne, for a philosophical essay. The labor of authors is not rewarded as well as other kinds of intellectual labor of the same extent: for instance, a physician or lawyer, with the same abilities, amount of learning, and application, would derive a greater reward pecuniarily. In the United States an author can retain the profits of his work a certain number of years, being at liberty to make any arrangement with his publisher he sees proper. In France and Russia he possesses the profits arising from the sale of his work during his life, and his heirs receive them during twenty years. The following is an extract from H. C. Carey's article on the Rewards of Authorship: "Mr. Irving stands, I imagine, at the head of living authors for the amount received for his books. The sums paid to the renowned Peter Parley must have been enormously great; but what has been their extent, I have no means of ascertaining. Mr. Mitchell, the geographer, has realized a handsome fortune from his school books. Professor Davies is understood to have received more than $50,000 from the series published by him. The Abbotts, Emerson, and numerous other authors engaged in the preparation of books for young persons and schools, are largely paid. Professor Anthon, we are informed, has received more than $60,000 for his series of classics. The French series of Mr. Bolmar has yielded him upward of $20,000. The school geography of Mr. Morse is stated to have yielded more than $20,000 to its author. A single medical book, of one octavo volume, is understood to have produced its authors $60,000, and a series of medical books has given its author probably $30,000. Mr. Downing's receipts from his books must have been very large. The two works of Miss Warner must have already yielded her from $12,000 to $15,000, and perhaps as much more. Mr. Headley is stated to have received about $40,000; and the few books of Ik Marvel have yielded him about $20,000. A single one, 'The Reveries of a Bachelor,' produced $4,000 in the first six months. Mrs. Stowe has been very largely paid. Miss Leslie's cookery and recipe books have paid her $12,000. Dr. Barnes is stated to have received more than $30,000 for the copyright of his religious works. Fanny Fern has probably received not less than $6,000 for the duodecimo volume published but six months since. Mr. Prescott was stated, several years since, to have received $90,000 from his books, and I have never seen it contradicted. According to the rate of compensation generally understood to be received by Mr. Bancroft, the present sale of each volume yields him more than $15,000, and he has the long period of forty-two years for future sale. Judge Story died, as has been stated, in the annual receipt of more than $8,000, and the amount has not, as it is understood, diminished. Mr. Webster's works in three years can scarcely have paid less than $25,000. Kent's 'Commentaries' are understood to have yielded to their author and his heirs more than $120,000; and if we add to this, for the remainder of the period, only one half of this sum, we shall obtain $180,000, or $45,000 as the compensation for a single octavo volume—a reward for literary labor unexampled in history." It is necessary that the reader, in considering the figures given, remember that the reputation of an author has much to do with the price paid by a publisher for manuscripts. The number of women authors is much greater than one unacquainted with the statistics in regard to the subject would suppose. "In 1847 Count Leopold Feni died at Padua, leaving a library entirely composed of works written by women in various languages, the number of volumes amounting to nearly thirty-two thousand. Whether the English and American lady writers were included in his list we do not know, but we wish some woman of taste and fortune, in our country, would make a similar collection." It is said that two thirds of the writers in Chambers' Edinburgh Journal are women. Some of the writers of our best periodicals are women. The success of women in works of fiction is unquestioned. This class of books requires less time, less study, and less money, and rewards the authors pecuniarily better than any other kind of work, considering, of course, the comparatively small amount of application required. As the females of our land become more generally educated, and have more leisure for the cultivation of their minds, no doubt more attention will be devoted to literary effort. The easy, natural manner of female authors is a marked feature. Different motives prompt to authorship—love of fame, wealth, influence, and a desire to do good. Persons are generally prompted to write by feeling that they know more of some particular subject than most people, or something entirely unknown or unthought of by any one save themselves. Some collect and arrange information obtained from books, observation, or experience, or all combined. E. Hazen says: "The indispensable qualifications to make a writer are—a talent for literary composition, an accurate knowledge of language, and an acquaintance with the subject to be treated." Good health and freedom from care are necessary for one who would give him or herself up to the severities of mental labor. Dr. Wynne says: "With him whose occupation is either intellectual or sedentary, or both, the nervous energy necessary to digest food is already abstracted by the operations of the mind; and the meal taken under the circumstances is but partially digested and appropriated to the use of the body. The remainder acts as an irritant, and, if the practice be persevered in, terminates in dyspepsia, followed by that Protean train of nervous diseases which destroys the equanimity of mind, and finally terminates the life of so many of our most efficient and worthy business men, at the very time when their services are most valuable to their families and the community. The cares of business should be dismissed with the termination of the hours devoted to their pursuits, and their place supplied by those exercises or amusements which bring with them cheerfulness and exhilaration." Of all studies, the quiet and contemplative kind are most favorable to long life. Those of an exciting nature produce a reaction, sometimes, of the physical as well as intellectual powers.

5. Bible Readers.

An incalculable amount of good has been accomplished by this class of persons. The originator is Mrs. Raynard, the L. N. R. of the "Missing Link," "The Book and its Story," &c., who lived in London. "One hundred ladies have joined her as managers and superintendents. The ladies each select from among the uneducated class the best women they can find, and send them out to read Bibles and sell them to their own class. They have now two hundred such Bible women in England, Ireland, Scotland, and France, and they are meeting with unheard-of success. Mrs. Raynard told me they made soup for the poor in winter, and sold it to them very low, and in such a way that the poorest could have his bowlful for some trifling service; and while one is serving the soup, others serve them with portions of God's word. Then the lady superintendents have tea meetings without number, and sewing meetings, and clothing meetings. Beside, the ladies must first instruct their readers every week or day in the Scriptures, in teaching, in meekness, in manner, in helping the sick, and sympathizing with all suffering, and, above all, teach them to lean only on God. They must also pay the Bible women, who give up their time to this work, and keep an account with each one. These lady readers or superintendents in England publish a monthly of their own, conducted by dear Mrs. Raynard, so that they can all communicate with one another; and God sends them funds to the amount of $35,000 the year." A lady of Baltimore writes me: "The Maryland Bible Society employs three paid Bible readers—all women—at eight dollars per month each. These are purposely selected from the poorest class of pious women, because it is thought that persons of that class have readier access to the homes and hearts of the poor, beside the aid it affords to honest poverty. Independently of this Bible effort, another has originated from the London charity, unfolded in the 'Missing Link.'" The lady of Baltimore (Miss W.) wrote from the Maryland Bible, &c., through the Word Witness: "Just one year ago, I engaged a pious poor woman, at two dollars per week, to labor among the destitute, vicious poor—a class that could not be reached by ordinary methods of voluntary effort, dwelling in localities that ladies might not safely visit. The work was to humanize these people; to wash and clothe the children, and put them in Sabbath and public schools; to read and pray, and teach their mothers; and to relieve personal suffering. She has done a good work. Another woman has been employed in South Baltimore, in the same calling. Recently, the ladies of the First Presbyterian Church have formed a union, and raised the salary of one of these female colportors, and thus the experiment promises to expand itself into a permanent benevolent organization. I may say that the plan adopted, if vigorously and efficiently carried out, would rid our crowded alleys of half the suffering and nearly all the vices and impositions that now render them intolerable to the refined. On Christmas, I assisted to serve up a supper, provided by a good lady for the poorest of the poor. It was given in the district, and at the house of a widow, and under the care of our colportors. There were forty-eight women and children present, not ragged and hopeless, as they were one year ago, but tidy and bright, looking hopefully to the future, as though they felt there is kindness in the world. It was a pleasant sight to witness." The New York Female Auxiliary Bible Society now employs thirteen Bible readers. A brief but interesting account is given of them in the last report of that society, from which we copy: "From the reports of the Bible readers for only a part of the year, we find that they have paid more than seven thousand visits, gathered more than two hundred children into the Sunday school, sold and distributed Bibles, induced many to attend church, ministered to the wants of the destitute, established sewing schools, and, in more ways than we can enumerate, have gone about doing good." A Bible reader is now employed in Philadelphia by the Pennsylvania Bible Society.

4. Bankers and Bankers' Clerks.

Before the existence of savings banks, the poor had no safe place of deposit, where they could receive interest, and whence they could withdraw their deposits at pleasure. If they loaned their money, there was no certainty of recovering it. If they tried to accumulate by saving what they had, it was not always secure from depredation. Consequently they were tempted to spend any surplus money they had, and often no forethought of the future could save them from anxiety and misery. Now, by industry and perseverance, they are enabled to accumulate something for contingencies—to provide against want, sickness, old age, and slackness of employment. The idea of a savings bank was originated by a woman—Mrs. Priscilla Wakefield. It is a most worthy institution, and deserving of support and patronage. Holding office in a bank is a very responsible situation. The numerous men defaulters that have disgraced themselves in the last few years, are sufficient proof that the temptation to appropriate unjustly is very great. It requires men and women of fixed principle, whose honor is dearer to them than life itself. We think women could very well manage savings banks. They could at any rate attend in the female department, and in some parts of Europe do. We find in the census of Great Britain two female bankers reported. In the Englishwoman's Journal we read: "At St. Malo, a few years ago, the wife of a rich banker, during his absence, took her place at his desk amid the numerous clerks, received checks, and gave to the writer of this article French money in return. They are frequently found in offices, and often mainly conduct a husband's or a father's business." One of the Mrs. Rothschild, I have been told, even now spends two or three hours every day in her husband's banking house. Mrs. Mary Somerville says: "Three of the most beneficial systems of modern times are due to the benevolence of English ladies—the improvement of prison discipline, savings banks, and banks for lending small sums to the poor." Not many years ago a banking house was conducted by a lady in Nashville, Tenn. She was a widow, but had during her first husband's life attended to some of the duties of the bank, and accompanied her husband when he visited New York on business. She is now the wife of one of the late candidates for the highest office in this nation—that of chief magistrate. A lady was employed in a savings bank in Boston a few years back. A gentleman who has been cashier in a bank for many years writes me: "I have no doubt that women might be qualified for bank and brokers' clerks as well as men. In the offices of cashier and teller, they would have to come in contact with so many rough characters, I doubt whether it would do. I do not know the salaries paid in Europe, either in stores, shops, banks, or brokers' offices, but suppose it varies as it does in this country, according to the size of the city, the bank or broker's capital, the qualifications and character, and the situations the persons occupy. The cashier receives more than the teller; the teller often more than the clerk, and the clerks are graded. In large banks in the city of New York, the cashiers get from $4,000 to $6,000 per annum, while in the country banks they scarcely get half that amount. In the city their situations are very laborious, and very responsible, and many of them have been twenty-five or thirty years in the business before they got to be cashiers. Tellers receive in large cities from $2,500 to $3,000, and in small places from $1,200 to $2,000. Clerks get in New York banks from $600 to $3,000, taking the whole range from boys of seventeen to men of sixty with families and great experience. In smaller towns they receive from $300 to $2,500, taking the same range, many of them getting not more than $1,500 at any time during their lives. In stores and shops the salaries are much less, say not much over one half in very many instances; but persons in stores and shops have this advantage over bank clerks: when they learn the business, they are often taken into partnership with the proprietor, or they may set up in a similar business for themselves. But bank clerks have no such prospects before them. There may be salaries, in a few instances, over those mentioned, but very seldom; and on the other hand, some young men are placed in business sometimes without any remuneration for the first year. I would also state that the situation of bank clerk, although very much sought for, is certainly not desirable, as $1,200 or $1,500 will not support a family in any city of the United States, without the most rigid economy; and then they have little or nothing to lay up for a rainy day. Many bank clerks in this city are no better off now than they were twenty years ago, though they have lived poorly and economized all the time. So, in some respects, the store clerk or salesman has the advantage. One reason why young men prefer becoming bank clerks to mercantile clerks is, that they have more time for themselves. Say, they commence by seven o'clock in a store, and nine at bank; they get through by two or three o'clock in bank, and they have to work until night in a store.'

6. Brokers.

This is a business in which very few, if any, women engage without the aid of the other sex. We are not aware that any women are stock brokers, exchange brokers, or insurance brokers. We suppose women could not very well conduct the business without having to mix promiscuously with men on the street, and stop and talk with them in the most public places; and the delicacy of woman would forbid that. But the wife, the sister, or daughter of a broker might perhaps conduct the indoor business of the house, or keep the books at least. In Paris, where women are extensively employed in various departments of business, it would, perhaps, be more practicable for a woman to carry on the business than in this country. There are respects in which women of well-disciplined minds would be well suited for the vocation: they are their observance of order and method, and their close attention to details.

7. Colonizationists.

This is a business that would never have entered our minds for women to engage in, had it not been for the course pursued by Caroline Chisholm. Says the author of "Women and Work:" "Ask the emigrants who went out to Australia year after year, under the careful and wise system of Caroline Chisholm's colonization, how women can organize, and what professions they should fill. I think they would answer: As organizers of colonies, promoters of emigration, secretaries to colonies, &c." Many a husband and wife may thank her for the comforts of home life. Some years ago, Mrs. Farnum proposed taking from New York a shipload of women to California. The matter was laughed at and passed by; but if we may believe the reports that came from California of miners wanting wives, perhaps it would not have been a bad plan to have taken out a supply (in case they could have been had). In the early history of Virginia, women were brought over from England as wives for the men. "A society exists in England for the promotion of female emigration to Australia. Under the auspices of this society, about eleven hundred women, mostly distressed needlewomen, of respectable character, have been sent to Australia, where they find employment, and, we presume, the most of them, husbands."

8. Colportors.

"This is an important field of missionary labor in our own land, where women might be employed to great advantage—namely, as colportors, or distributors of tracts and books. The Boards of Publication now employ men only, whose services must be paid at a much higher rate than women would require. There are widows who need this employment for support, and single women who need employment for health, and many women would like this way of doing good. In every place, women would be found suitable and willing to undertake this profession. It is one exactly suited to them. It enters into their domestic circle of feelings and pursuits; and honorable women, not a few, would be found ready to engage in the work. A number of men would be needed to penetrate the wild places of our land; but throughout all the settled portions, women would be found the most effective agents. By this arrangement, a double gain would be secured. The talents of pious women, now allowed to be wasted on trifles, would be employed in the cause of moral improvement; and those men who now give up their time, often at a great pecuniary sacrifice, to the colportor's duty, would be at liberty to enter into other pursuits more beneficial to themselves and to society." Are there none among the gentler sex consecrated to the work of promoting the glory of God and the good of their fellow beings? Are none of those that owe all their privileges and blessings to the Bible, willing to make a sacrifice for its extension? Are all so selfish, that the desire of personal gratification is the ruling, the only object for which they live? a display in dress and style of living, the acquisition of property, or notoriety? Are these the only objects of woman's exertions? No: most women are too conscientious and unselfish to live for such a purpose. There are many that would gladly do what they could, but they have no definite plan in view. They know not exactly how to shape their course. If they were once started, they would neither lag nor faint in the race. Let such become colportors, deaconesses, physicians, painters, engravers, whatever best accords with their inclinations and abilities. Let them go forward. The mist will gradually disappear, the way be made clear, and they followed by others. It is best for one of strength and vigor to engage in the labors of a colportor. Walking from house to house all day is very fatiguing to persons not accustomed to being much on their feet. It requires a person that has at heart the good of her fellow beings, and is willing to converse with all classes and ages. It calls for a person of piety, and one of tact and judgment.

9. Copyists.

Law copying is done by young women in charge of the society in London for promoting the employment of women. Miss Rye, who is superintendent of the class, says: "Of course it took the writers some weeks to unlearn the usual feminine spider-legged fashion of inditing; some weeks more to decipher the solicitors' signs, contractions, and technical terms. We dare not pretend, in defending the opening of this trade to women, that there is here, as in printing, a deficiency of workers, a cry among the masters for more; or that woman's work here, as in the telegraph offices, is intrinsically more valuable than that of the other sex." In France, lawyers often employ women to copy for them, and a number of women are employed by the French Government to write. At Washington, ladies have been employed to copy, not only for congressmen as individuals, but to copy government documents; and received the same salaries as men. A friend told me many ladies are thus employed at Washington. She knows two who each receive salaries of $1,200 per annum. Miss N. says some ladies in Washington make from $500 to $600 a winter, copying speeches and other documents for members of Congress. She knew a lady who wrote all the year at a salary of $1,200. "In Cincinnati, some lawyers employ women as copyists, when the work can be sent from the office." Ladies employed by lawyers must write a very clear, round, legible hand; if any mistake is made, the writer must copy the manuscript anew. A young lady told me she used to write for a lawyer, and received three cents for every hundred words. One day she earned two dollars and a half. She wrote in the office of the lawyer. Many ladies, she says, are so employed in New York. Mrs. N., copyist, charges twelve and a half cents a page of foolscap, for copying, estimating her time at nine cents an hour. She writes mostly letters in English for foreigners, and receives twenty-five cents a letter, usually of one page and a half. She is very careful, she says, never to divulge the business of the individual for whom she writes—a something very essential. Mrs. Blunt used to earn in Washington $700 or $800 a year for copying. One copyist charged $5 per week if she wrote at home, and $6 if away from home. I find that in the Western cities the prices for copying vary from eight cents to thirty-one cents a page. Ladies are occasionally employed at the Smithsonian Institute for copying, and are paid 5 cents per 100 words. I believe in New York a very common price for copying is 4 cents per 100 words. Miss W., an English lady, copied music about three years ago, and sent it to London to be sold. She often earned $12 a week.

10. Deaconesses.

The order of deaconess was instituted at the same time as that of deacon, and corresponds in duty with that office. We read of deaconesses in the last chapter of Romans, Phœbe, Priscilla, Aquila, &c. The establishment of institutions for deaconesses affords a home to the unmarried women of our land, and widows without children, and furnishes them with such work as their health and previous employments fit them for. It carries out the principle, "Unity is strength." It is founded on that true spring of success—sympathy arising from similarity of circumstances and sameness of employment. Ministering to the sick and poor is so well adapted to women, that their time might be pleasantly as well as profitably spent. The desire in women to be employed is thus gratified, and the good of others as well as themselves thereby promoted. Those received as members would find it most harmonious to be of the same religion, and they should be willing to come under the regulations of the institution. Such an institution would have to be conducted by a person of discretion, piety, and wisdom. The members usually dress in uniform. Comfortable clothing is always furnished, boarding of course being provided in the establishment. The duties of deaconess in Protestant institutions are the same as those of sisters of charity in nunneries and convents. The institutions are usually commenced by public or private contributions, and some by both. When once firmly established, the members might receive a fair compensation for their services from the sick that are able and willing to pay. It might go to the support of the institution, and those who saw proper to devote themselves to teaching might throw their profits into the general fund. But such institutions should be secured on such a firm basis that those women who joined the order would ever be certain of a home, and of a kind and careful attendance in sickness and old age. If institutions are established in various parts of the United States, an inmate of one, if tired of remaining at that, might, by request, and after consideration by the principal, or a board of trustees, be permitted to remove to another. There are a number of institutions in Europe for preparing women for the duties of deaconess. The first institution of modern times was established by Pastor Fliedner, at Kaiserwerth, Germany. "It has for its object the training of deaconesses—that is, female students to take charge of the sick and the poor, and superintend hospitals, infant and industrial schools, and, in short, to be the educators and preservers of humanity." An association has lately been formed in London of this order. Its object "is the diffusion of sanitary knowledge and promotion of physical training." "In Russia, the system for the practical training of deaconesses has spread in all directions. In Paris, Strasbourg, Echallens (in Switzerland), Utrecht, and England, the institution exists." Kings have not thought it beneath them to assist in the support of such institutions. Miss Bremer mentions several going to Jerusalem to take charge of a hospital, which the King of Prussia founded at an expense of $50,000. We find two or three such institutions exist in the United States—one in New York, another in Pittsburg, and one in an incipient state in Baltimore. The one in New York is conducted by Sisters of the Holy Communion (Episcopalians). Five of them make their home at St. Luke's Hospital. One or two of the number are engaged in a parochial school connected with Dr. Muhlenberg's church. Those of the hospital nurse the sick during the day. They employ nurses to do the night nursing, except in very serious cases that require especial attention. Their dress is simple, black, with white collars and undersleeves, and, when in full dress, a Swiss muslin cap. They do not take vows like the nuns of the Roman Catholic church, nor do they give up all their property, but make a quarterly payment, according to their means. One devotes herself to the measuring out and dispensing of medicine. There is a hospital in Pittsburg in charge of some deaconesses from Kaiserwerth. They belong to the Evangelical Lutheran church. The institution was commenced by the Rev. W. A. Passavant, but is now incorporated by the State, and the "members are empowered to engage in all works of mercy, such as the care of the poor, sick, fatherless, insane, and the education of the ignorant and the orphan. The sisters live in community—dress simply, and generally alike, so as to avoid any unnecessary distinction and useless expenses. Applicants for admission go first for a month merely as visitors, and pay their own expenses going and returning. If both parties approve, they then enter on probation for three months, and afterward for nine months, or longer, as the institution may deem best. Then, if their purpose is still the same, they are received by a vote, according to the charter, as members. It is distinctly understood, that if a change in their views and purposes, or nearer or family duties require them to leave after this, they are at perfect liberty to do so, but always, only, after giving the institution a due notice of three months, unless such a notification is impossible from the circumstances of the case. Those who are preparing for the work among the sick learn the duties of an apothecary. All the sisters know how to mix medicines." Miss E. Blackwell says: "In the Catholic church the wants and talents of all classes are met. Single wealthy women become nuns, and so devote their riches and talents and time to good works. They associate with the most refined and best educated of both sexes. Poor single women find a home and social pleasures. It requires practical business habits to become even a successful sister of charity. They should enter with an active interest and zest into the duties of every-day life. These orders can never succeed well among Protestants, particularly until female physicians are introduced." The Minister of the Interior, writing from Italy to Mrs. Jameson, says: "Not only have we experienced the advantage of employing the sisters of charity in the prisons, in the supervision of the details, in distributing food, preparing medicines, and nursing the sick in the infirmaries; but we find that the influence of these ladies on the minds of the prisoners, when recovering from sickness, has been productive of the greatest benefit, as leading to permanent reform in many cases, and a better frame of mind always: for this reason, among others, we have given them every encouragement." Many young ladies of education, wealth, and influence would, on becoming pious, or when disappointed in their hopes and aspirations, be likely to join such societies. At such times, many are willing to give themselves up entirely to works of active benevolence. Such a life, of course, involves some self-denials. Bishop Potter warmly advocated the introduction of such orders, and delivered an address in favor of it. The Bishop of Exeter recommended the establishment of such orders in England, and an institution for deaconesses has been opened in London.

11. Dentists.

Some time ago, in New York, a few ladies prepared themselves for the practice of dentistry. We believe only one really practised, and she but a short time. We find her name in a New York directory as a dentist. It would be more agreeable to most ladies to have their teeth cleaned and plugged by a lady. They would not feel the same hesitancy in going alone at any time to a dentist of their own sex. Extracting teeth would require more nerve and strength than most ladies possess. Yet, if a woman has nerves sufficiently firm, and ability to control her sympathies, she may succeed. There are dental schools in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. A professor in the dental school at Philadelphia writes: "I would suggest that if any ladies desire to become efficient practitioners in some branches of dentistry, it would be better for them to apply to a reputable practitioner, and with time and attention become thoroughly familiar with those branches. In doing so they will prove to the world their capability, and the rest in time will follow. Dentistry has been humorously called a 'woman's profession.'" "There is nothing even in the surgical part of dentistry, to which she is not adapted. In this profession she will have a fair opportunity to foil her enemies and accusers; and her children's teeth would not be set on edge without the possibility of instant relief. There is no mystery in the dental structure, which the turnkey, in her magic hand, could not unlock; and no terrible pain in tooth extraction, which her mystic power could not exceedingly mitigate." Most profit arising to dentists is from making and inserting artificial teeth. It is a lucrative business, when properly understood, and one which affords constant employment.

12. Editresses.

The most powerful instrument for disseminating general knowledge in the United States is the newspaper press. It does a great deal for promoting a love of letters; and the cheapness of the papers is such as to render them accessible to almost every one. The literature of the day penetrates the most remote corner of our country. Obscure, indeed, is the place that knows not the printer's power. Even in California, more than a year ago, there were published 81 newspapers. In New York city alone were published 154 newspapers, and 114 magazines. But this is not strange when we remember that no less than eighty languages are spoken there. A newspaper states that there are printed in Austria 10 newspapers, 14 in Africa, 24 in Spain, 20 in Portugal, 30 in Asia, 65 in Belgium, 85 in Denmark, 90 in Russia and Poland, 320 in other German States, 500 in Great Britain, and 1,800 in the United States. Taking merely newspaper and magazine literature into consideration, does not our republic offer inducements to intellectual culture? Does she not reward talent and encourage industry? Yes. Her general diffusion of knowledge and the learned men of her press give a positive reply. The dignity of man should be elevated, his affections purified, and his pursuits ennobled by the mighty influence of the press. Editors should live as ministers to the welfare of humanity. The aspiring character of our people and their thirst for knowledge will long make a heavy demand on the talent and taste of those who wield the editor's pen. There are several publications in the United States conducted exclusively by ladies; some in which the assistant editors are ladies; and a small number devoted to the interests of women alone. Several ladies have entered the editorial corps within the last few years. The Harpers, in their Magazine, state there are about six hundred literary and miscellaneous periodicals published in this country. If all the labor, as type setting, binding, &c., was done by women, what a fortunate thing it would be for many of the poor! I have been told that when an article is sent to a newspaper, and is known to have come from the brain and the pen of a woman, ten to one, her compensation will be smaller for it, and in many cases it will be rejected. There are a few exceptions. Fanny Fern, for instance, receives, we have seen it stated, at the rate of $100 a column from Mr. Bonner for a contribution to the Ledger. The sum total he will pay her for the amount he has engaged will be $6,000. Mrs. B. receives $600 for editing a monthly paper. Some time back contributors to the Independent were paid $3 a column, and to the New York Observer at the same rate. Mr. L. told me that a man is paid $20 a week for making out an index for the New York Tribune, which could be done by any lady with a cultivated and well disciplined mind. The man that was employed not long since had been a wood engraver, and had received no special training for his duties in the Tribune office. The papers to be sent away are directed by machinery, which a lady could attend. Some one writes me the qualifications for his business are strength of mind and body. We think there is generally a heavy draft on either one or the other in every occupation successfully pursued, and in some on both. Émile Girardin was a French editress that died recently. Mrs. Johnson, of Edinburgh, was for years editress of the Inverness Courier, which was published in her husband's name. Miss Parkes conducts the Englishwoman's Journal. Mrs. Swisshelm edited the Pittsburg Visitor with much vigor and ability. Mrs. Virginia L. French has charge of the literary department of a paper issued in Nashville, Tenn. Miss McDowell might have succeeded with the Woman's Advocate, if her noble efforts had been appreciated as they deserved.

13. Government Officers.

"Many Government offices could be creditably filled by intelligent and experienced women. Miss Wallace and Miss Thomas were employed as computers on the Coast Survey at Washington in 1854, with salaries each of $480, with perquisites making it $600. A man to do the same work would probably receive twice as much." "Mrs. Miller, at one time, was engaged in making observations of the weather—the thermometer, barometer, direction of winds, quantity of rain, &c., in which she was assisted by another person appointed by a society of which both sexes were members." Computations of this kind could be made at home. Mr. Blodgett, who had charge of the Smithsonian Institute in 1854, wrote: "The discussion of observations in physical science, meteorological observations particularly, has never been undertaken in a general manner until attempted in this department of the Smithsonian Institute, and I have found that accuracy and despatch require well-trained minds of great endurance. Only the best minds can successfully undertake scientific calculations and computations; and these must possess a sort of half masculine strength and endurance." Yet we would not offer this as a discouragement. If it has been done, it can be done again. "During Mr. Fillmore's administration, two women wrote for the Treasury Department at Washington, at salaries of twelve and fifteen hundred a year." Several ladies are employed in different parts of the United States for copying by registers of deeds; but the majority are relatives of the registers. In some towns of the East, however, other ladies than relatives are employed, who receive $1 per day for their services. Miss Olive Rose has performed the duties of the register of deeds, at Thomaston, Maine. She writes: "I was officially notified of the election, required to give bonds, &c. I am unable to state the exact amount of salary, as it is regulated by whatever business is done in the office. Perhaps it may average between $300 and $400 yearly." The Duchess of Leuchtenberg was elected to preside over the Imperial Academy of Science, in Russia, a few years ago. An acquaintance told me that in the warehouses at the London docks, silks, shawls, and such goods are exposed for sale, and many ladies go down in their carriages and purchase. If any female is suspected of concealing on her person goods that she has appropriated in the warehouse, the watchmen who guard the place remark they would like to detain her for a few minutes, and convey her to a room, where a woman is in attendance to search her. The present collector of customs at Philadelphia writes: "The only instance of employment of women in connection with the custom house here has been, while Liverpool steamers were coming to this port, some years ago, when one or two were employed to search female emigrants, to prevent smuggling on their persons. The employment was only for a day or two at a time, and is now discontinued." Some time ago it was feared that large quantities of precious stones and laces were concealed on the persons of some women, and so smuggled into New York. Consequently "two American female searchers were inaugurated in the revenue service as aids. They each receive $500 per annum, and are paid by the month. Men receive $1,095 (or $3 per day) for similar services. The qualifications needed are intelligence, tact, and integrity. They spend but one or two hours on the arrival of each steamer or passenger received from abroad." I think, in European countries, female police, who examine the persons and passports of women, receive the same salaries as men.

14. Lawyers.

We cannot question the right of woman to plead at the bar, but we doubt whether it would be for her good. She might study law, to discipline her mind and to store it with useful information. She might profitably spend, in that way, time which would otherwise be devoted to music, painting, or the languages. But the noisy scenes now witnessed in a court room are scarcely compatible with the reserve, quietude, and gentleness that characterize a woman of refinement. Theodore Parker said: "As yet, I believe, no woman acts as a lawyer; but I see no reason why the profession of law might not be followed by women as well as men. He must be rather an uncommon lawyer who thinks no feminine head could compete with him. Most lawyers that I have known are rather mechanics at law than attorneys or scholars at law; and, in the mechanical part, woman could do as well as man—could be as good a conveyancer, could follow precedents as carefully, and copy forms as nicely. I think her presence would mend the manners of the court—of the bench, not less than of the bar." A lady lawyer would not be without a precedent, for we read from a note in "Women Artists:" "Christina Pisani wrote a work which was published in Paris, 1498. It gives an account of the learned and famous Novella, the daughter of a professor of the law in the university of Bologna. She devoted herself to the same studies, and was distinguished for her scholarship. She conducted her father's cases; and, having as much beauty as learning, was wont to appear in court veiled." We suppose this is the same young lady of whom we read elsewhere: "At twenty-six she took the degree of doctor of laws, and began publicly to expound the laws of Justinian. At thirty she was elevated to a professor's chair, and taught the law to a crowd of scholars from all nations. Others of her sex have since filled professors' chairs in Bologna." While we would not encourage women to act publicly as counsellors at law, we would claim for them the privilege of acting as attorneys. Writing out deeds, mortgages, wills, and indentures, would be a pleasant occupation for such women as are qualified and fond of sedentary life. We know that the hearts of most women would prompt them to relieve the poor and oppressed: but might they not do it in some other way as efficiently as by pleading at the bar? If the weak seek their aid, let them bestow the benefit of their legal lore. If the helpless seek their protection, let them bring their information and counsel to bear upon the case, but not by public speaking. By personal effort, or by applying to the good of the other sex, they may accomplish much. If a woman involve herself in the intricacies of law, may she not lose those tender traits that endear her to the other sex, and in time discard those graces that render her gentle and lovely at home? The profession of the law is one suited to the inclinations, nature, and taste of but very few women. But if a lady will practise law, she will need great clearness of mind, a good insight into the motives of others, fearlessness in expressing her convictions of right, and ability in refraining from saying more than she should.