"Clara," said the brother, speaking seriously, "is there anything wrong, abstractly, in being a watchmaker?" "I did not say there was." "Or in teaching music?" "No; not wrong." "May not a watchmaker be as much a gentleman as a physician?" "I suppose so." "Then, in the fact of being a watchmaker there is nothing that should make one man less esteemed than another man, no better than he is, who follows a profession. Both are useful employments, and so far as they are concerned, he who most faithfully and honestly discharges the duties of his calling, and his social and domestic obligations, is the best man, let the world think and say what it pleases. And not only the best man, but the best friend a man who wants one can choose. So much for the watchmaker. And the same may be said of the music teacher. I don't know that there is any greater honor in receiving musical instruction than there is in imparting it. The general impression is, that the preceptor is superior to the scholar, just in the degree that knowledge is considered superior to ignorance." "But that doesn't show that you ought to go below your own sphere in society and marry a music teacher, Edward." "In marrying, sister," replied Baldwin, "a man takes a companion for life, and, therefore, he should select one whose qualities are of a substantial kind, and promise to last through life. Don't you think so?" "Certainly. Everybody admits that." "Very well. Suppose I, for instance, see two ladies, for each of whom I feel a preference above others, and wish to select one of them for my wife. One, I find, has been raised in what is called the best society; the other in what is called an inferior grade. Both are equally well educated; or, if there be any difference, it is in favor of the latter. The former has many conventional ideas of right and wrong, and is governed more by them than she is by her own clear sense of propriety: she is very apt to hesitate before doing a thing, and ask the question, What will people say? or, What will be thought of this? The other is free from mere conventional trammels, and is governed in all her acts by her own clear intuitions. She does not hesitate before she acts, except to ask, Is this right? Will this injure another? Now, admitting each to possess equal personal attractions, which of the two ought I to choose? Which would make me the most faithful and sustaining companion in the journey of life?" "The latter, of course," replied the sister without hesitation. "Undoubtedly." "But, Edward, you draw a case that has no counterpart," urged Clara. "There you are in error. It has its counterpart. Ella Hudson is as far superior to any young lady that I ever met in fashionable circles, as is one of the supposed individuals I have introduced, to the other. As for Miss Elbert, she is far less refined, lady-like, and accomplished then Ella Hudson, and far less worthy the love of any man." "You speak strongly, Edward."