to avoid that or to merely help him. Air, too, she wants
rather than any such great exertion as wearies; and, as regards this
latter, let her understand that letter-writing, of which many women are
fond, must be altogether set aside.

It is, however, the moral aspects of life which will trouble her most.
The cares which once were easily shaken off stick to her like burrs, and
she carries them to bed with her. I have heard women say that men little
know the moral value to women of sewing. It becomes difficult when
people are nervous, but this or some other light handiwork is then
invaluable.

By this time she has learned that her minor, every-day duties trouble
her, and when about to meet them, if wise, she will put herself, as we
all can do, in an attitude of calmness. This applies still more forcibly
to the larger decisions she must so often have to make as to children,
house, and servants. Worry, as I have elsewhere said, is as sand in the
mental and moral machinery, and easily becomes a mischievous habit. We
can stand an immense deal of work, and can, even if weak, bear much, if
only we learn to dismiss small questions without worry or unreasonable
reconsiderations. As concerns temper, we constantly prepare ourselves to
meet even just causes of anger, and thus by degrees learn more and more
easily, and with less and less preparation, to encounter tranquilly even
the most serious vexations. In health, when not nervous, a woman well
knows that there are seasons when she must predetermine not to be
nervous; and when ill-health has made her emotional, she must learn to
be still, more constantly on guard. Above all, it is the small
beginnings of nervousness which she has to fear.

Tears are, for the nervous woman, the seed of trouble. Let her
resolutely shun this commencement of disaster. The presence of others is
apt to insure failure of self-control. A word of pity, the touch of
affection, the face of sympathy, double her danger. When at her worst,
let her seek to be alone and in silence and solitude to fight her
battle. Fresh air, a bath (if she can bear that), even the act of
undressing, will often help her. I once quoted a valued friend as saying
that "we never take out of a cold bath the thoughts we take into it,"
and the phrase is useful and true.

Above all, let such a woman avoid all forms of emotion. Her former
standards of resistance apply no longer, and what once did not disturb
will now shake her to the c