very rare. Husband and wife work at the same occupation, and get good earnings, which makes living easy. The skillful workman soon builds his own house.[1] The women can earn from three to fifteen francs a day; the greater number, however, less than five. They like their work, but become, in consequence, less clever as housewives; give themselves no time to attend to cooking, and their clothes, and often not even to take care of the child which is ill, which cannot be compensated for by any amount of pecuniary gains. This working-life is assuredly not altogether good for married women. For the unmarried, it
- ↑ The High-valleys of Neufchâtel have produced several
remarkable tradesmen and citizens. One of these, M. David
Pury, whose statue stands in one of the principal marketplaces
of the city of Neufchâtel, was a poor, fatherless, and
motherless boy, supported by some of the towns-people, yet by
industry and genius, he became one of its wealthiest men.
Grateful for past kindness, he bequeathed by will, the whole of
his large, self-acquired fortune, amounting to four and a half
millions of francs, to the town. One little trait of this man's
life has appeared to me so beautiful and instructive, that I cannot
avoid here mentioning it. A young man in M. Pury's office,
one day, cut up a pen with his pen-knife, and then threw it
away, carelessly, from him.
“Why do you throw that pen away?” inquired his principal, mildly; “I will show you that it will still serve for some good purpose.”
He took up the pen, mended it carefully, and then wrote with it a check for a large sum, which he immediately handed to the young man, for the benefit of his indigent family.
“Osterwald,” is a name which the inhabitants of Neufchâtel reckon amongst their great names, “perhaps, because we, ourselves, are small!” pleasantly, said one of the representatives of the Canton to the Federal Council.—Authors Note.
