HUMAN LIFE, THE SUM OF TRIFLES; OR, "A PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY GAINED," LIZZY GLENN; OR, THE TRIALS OF A SEAMSTRESS. CHAPTER I. LIZZY GLENN--MRS. GASTON AND HER SICK CHILD. NEEDLE-WORK, at best, yields but a small return. Yet how many thousands have no other resource in life, no other barrier thrown up between them and starvation! The manly stay upon which a woman has leaned suddenly fails, and she finds self-support an imperative necessity; yet she has no skill, no strength, no developed resources. In all probability she is a mother. In this case she must not only stand alone, but sustain her helpless children. Since her earliest recollection, others have ministered to her wants and pleasures. From a father's hand, childhood and youth received their countless natural blessings; and brother or husband, in later years, has stood between her and the rough winds of a stormy world. All at once, like a bird reared, from a fledgling, in its cage, and then turned (sic) lose in dreary winter time, she finds herself in the world, unskilled in its ways, yet required to earn her bread or perish. What can she do? In what art or profession has she been educated? The world demands service, and proffers its money for labor. But what has she learned? What work can she perform? She can sew. And is that all? Every woman we meet can ply the needle. Ah! as a seamstress, how poor the promise for her future. The labor-market is crowded with serving women; and, as a consequence, the price of needle-work--more particularly that called plain needle-work--is depressed to mere starvation rates. In the more skilled branches, better returns are met; but even here few can endure prolonged application--few can bend ten, twelve, or fifteen hours daily over their tasks, without fearful inroads upon health. In the present time, a strong interest has been awakened on this subject. The cry of the poor seamstress has been heard; and the questions "How shall we help her?" "How shall we widen the circle of