Idleness ever despaireth, bewaileth!
Keep the watch wound, or the dark rust assaileth;
Flowers droop and die in the stillness of noon.
Labor is glory! The flying cloud lightens:
Only the waving wing changes and brightens,
Idle hearts only the dark future frightens.
Play the sweet keys, wouldst thou keep them in tune!”
A lady well known to a large circle of friends as a successful writer and business woman, the mother of a large family of sons and daughters, who, at the age of forty-five is the personification of health and energy, had this remarkable experience: During the period preceding the birth of her fourth child, pecuniary misfortune, and the ill-health of her husband, combined to make it necessary for her to carry on his business. She was obliged to walk nearly two miles every day to his store, where she staid all day absorbingly engaged in the duties of looking after the details of sales, keeping the books, accounts, etc., after which day’s work she walked back to her home.
Everybody said Mrs. B. would surely break down, but instead of doing so she preserved the most vigorous health, and experienced none of the sick and nervous feelings usually incidental to pregnancy. When the child was born, the extraordinary circumstance that its birth was attended with scarcely any pain, led the physician and the lady herself to inquire what might be the cause of such a happy departure from the usual rule.
No other reason could be assigned than the long, regular walks, and the vigorous state of her bodily health. Taking a hint from these facts, in all her subsequent pregnancies, she adopted the plan of taking a large amount of out-door exercise, and keeping her mind occupied by useful employment, and in every succeeding birth the same happy results were obtained.