the fact that conversation is employed more than any other means for such a purpose is a convincing proof of its importance and its power it is so natural to converse that one of the inflicted upon degraded human nature is that of being denied the liberty of speech how desirable is it then that what is done every hour in all classes of society and under almost every variety of circumstance should be done for some good purpose and done in the best possible manner to converse well in company is a point of ambition with many women and few are insensible to the homage paid by the most sincere of all � a group of attentive the of listeners so far as this talent a woman of elevated mind to give a higher tone to conversation in general it is indeed a valuable gift but that of being able to converse in an agreeable and appropriate manner in a sick room with an aged parent or distressed relative or with a friend in delicate and trying circumstances is a of far higher and more character i have already remarked that attendance upon the sick is one of the most frequent and familiar at the same time that it is one of the most sacred of the duties upon the class of women here described it is much to be able gently and to smooth the pillow for the aching head to administer the cordial draught to guide the feeble steps and to watch through the sleepless and protracted hours of night but these are services rendered only to the suffering body the mind � the mind may all the while be sorely in need of the oil with which its lamp should still be trimmed and how shall this be administered the practised nurses hired for the sion make rude and ill advised attempts tp raise the ing spirits of the patient by their vulgar books are too wearisome and tell only of far off and by gone things when the whole interest of the sufferer is ted into t ie present moment and fixed upon himself it happens more frequently and more happily amongst the middle classes in england that nurses and cannot be hired and that the chief attention required by the patient upon the females of the family how differently in this case is the sufferer dealt with is no appearance of coming in expressly to converse lit of with him but while a gentle and kind hearted woman with noiseless tread about the room arranging every article of comfort and giving to the whole apartment an air of refreshment or repose she is watching every indication of an opening for conversation that may the lingering hours of their and lead the sufferer to forget his pain there are moments even in seasons of sickness when a little well timed is far from being she watches for these and turns them to account by going just so far in her as the exhausted frame can bear without injury when sympathy is called for as it is on such occasions almost she it freely and fully though not to any prolonged extent as regards the case immediately under her care but continuing the same tone and manner and with evidently the same feeling she speaks of other cases of suffering of some friend or neighbour and the more recent and immediate the instances the more likely they will be to divert the mind of the patient from himself these of course are not brought forward with anything like a ing that the patient is not worse than others but simply as if her own mind was of the impression they are calculated to excite and by these means her voice and her countenance to the facts she is relating she them with an interest which even to the selfish invalid is irresistible varying with every change in the temper and mood of the patient her conversation every variety that is calculated to please always subdued and kept under by such delicate touches of feeling such intense of and such lively sensibility that the faintest shadow cannot pass across the aching brow nor the slightest indication of a smile across the lips but it serves as an index for her either to change the subject of her discourse to be silent or to proceed there is along with all this a kindness in her voice which no pen was ever so eloquent as to describe and there are moments of appealing weakness on the part of the invalid when she forth the full tide of her affection in language that prosperity and health would never have taught her how to use beyond these seasons of intercourse however and of far deeper value are those in which the soul of him who feels himself to be fast hastening to the of eternity will sometimes seek a human ear for the utterance of its anxieties and fears and appeal to a human heart for counsel in its hours of need it may be that the individual has never been accustomed to converse on these subjects knows not how to begin � and is ashamed to condemn as he feels that he must do the whole of his past life who then but the friend who has been near him in all his re cent and trials who has shared them both to her very utmost and thus obtained his confidence � who but his patient and nurse can mark and understand the struggle of his feelings and lead them forth by partial so gently that he is neither pained nor by the whole confession perchance it is at the hour of midnight when fever gives him strength and darkness hides his countenance and ha hears the sweet tones of that encouraging voice now to the expression of a sympathy the most intense and of a love that many waters 