Bless your little hearts, dear boys! Who objects to that? Not the little girls, certainly. Isn’t it just what many of the _big girls_ are seeking to do, and the _big boys_--“children of a larger growth” than you, my little man--are striving to prevent? Where is the girl, unless she has by fashion and conventionalities been unnaturally biassed, who would not gladly, once in a while, exchange sewing, sweeping, and dusting for a run out into the free air and glad sunshine, to take your place, and do your work,--feed the chickens, weed in the garden, hoe the corn, milk the cows, or rake the hay,--though modern improvements have of late cheated them of half such pleasures? Anything that little boys can do, little girls would think “such fun,” if they might occasionally have the privilege of doing it,--country girls, we mean,--God help those whose home is in the city! There are so few pleasures there that the young can enjoy in the open air. To walk on hard, cold sidewalks, dressed like little ballet-dancers, or ride over the rough pavements, with no free, untrammeled movement, or through the dirty streets, with their vile, impure smells, can give no such joys as our country damsels, with their larger inheritance and more abundant blessings, are in daily possession of. There is nothing equal to the pleasure our little folks may find, in any kind of outdoor employment, that is suited to their age and strength. These simple labors prepare them for larger and more important duties, and the knowledge will bring abiding comfort and self-reliance as they advance in age and intelligence. “Will not such work make girls coarse, romping, and hoydenish? Rough, noisy boys are bad enough; would you have our girls become like them?” Is it the outdoor work that makes them so? Is it not rather the overflow of animal spirits that can find no way of escape but by boisterous, wild action? It is not very agreeable to the old and staid, to be sure, and it certainly is less annoying outdoors than in; yet it promotes health, and is only what we all did, or longed to do, in our youth. Age will soon tame the wild spirits, or restrain a too exuberant overflow, and nothing keeps them in check like pleasant labor. There are, to be sure, sometimes unfortunate associations with really coarse, rude natures, which are very objectionable. We would never allow girls or boys to come under such influence if we could help it; but that evil is to be found in every position,--as often in the house as in the field,--and if not inherent in your child’s own character, the influence will soon be discarded, the dross be separated, and the purer nature rise dominant. You must go out of the world to insure safety from such contact. “But country girls are not often ladylike and graceful; and work outdoors will tend to make them still more awkward. I couldn’t endure to see my little girl brought up under such influences.”