all; finally, he will die in peace, and at last "enter into the joy of his Lord."

19. It is not unusual for fortune-tellers to predict the day of death; and although, as I said, I make no such pretensions, it may yet be expected that I should not be totally silent on the subject. And while they who presume to do so are miserable deceivers, I can with the most absoute certainty foretell what it is much more important to know, namely, that "it is appointed unto all men once to die;" the day and hour is indeed unknown; and yet each one may, for himself, look forward to a period not very distant, when he may be quite certain that he shall have reached his "long home." To know that we must die one day, is a far more interesting fact, than to know what day; and this is a circumstance which, surely, we may all foretell for ourselves.

20. Thus, having explained and exemplified my method, so as to render it clear to their comprehensions, I trust that every one of my readers will be able to predict all that is good for them to know concerning their future lives; and I doubt not they will find it profitable to do so.

21. Should any think it an unsatisfactory and uncertain plan, or flatter themselves, that although they may answer some of the above descriptions, yet that they shall escape the appropriate punishment, I must tell them that it is for want of knowing the world and themselves, and for want of considering the natural and inevitable consequences of things. The saying is as true as it is trite, that to be happy we must be good. The knowledge of this is, in fact, the grand secret of my art; and it is by consulting this simple rule, that every man may be his own fortune-teller.

LESSON CXVII.

"Among the Americans all Honest Callings are Honorable."-A foreigner's testimony.

1. AMONG a democratic people, where there is no hereditary wealth, every man works to earn a living, or has worked, or is born of parents who have worked. The notion of labor is therefore presented to the mind on every side as the necessary, natural, and honest condition of hu

man existence. Not only is labor not dishonorable among such a people, but it is held in honor: the prejudice is not against it, but in its favor.

2. In the United States, a wealthy man thinks that he owes it to public opinion to devote his leisure to some kind of industrial or commercial pursuit, or to public business. He would think himself in bad repute if he employed his life solely in living. It is for the purpose of escaping this obligation to work, that so many rich Americans come to Europe, where they find some scattered remains of aristocratic society, among which idleness is still held in honor.

3. Equality of conditions not only ennobles the notion of labor in men's estimation, but it raises the notion of labor, as a source of profit.

4. In aristocracies* it is not exactly labor that is despised, but labor with a view to profit. Labor is honorific in itself, when it is undertaken at the sole bidding of ambition or of virtue. Yet in aristocratic society it constantly happens that he who works for honor is not insensible to the attractions of profit. But these two desires only intermingle in the innermost depths of his soul: he carefully hides from every eye the point at which they join; he would fain conceal it from himself.

5. In aristocratic countries there are few public officers who do not affect to serve their country without interested motives. Their salary is an incident of which they think but little, and of which they always affect not to think at all. Thus the notion of profit is kept distinct from that of labor; however they may be united in point of fact, they are not thought of together.

6. In democratic communities these two notions are, on the contrary, always palpably united. As the desire of wellbeing is universal-as fortunes are slender or fluctuating— as every one wants either to increase his own resources, or to provide fresh ones for his progeny-men clearly see that it is profit which, if not wholly, at least partially, leads them to work. Even those who are principally actuated by the love of fame are necessarily made familiar with the thought that they are not exclusively actuated by that motive; and

*

Aristocracy, a privileged order; "aristocratic countries" are those where there is an hereditary nobility; that is, where titles of rank, and peculiar privileges, descend from father to son.

they discover that the desire of getting a living is mingled in their minds with the desire of making life illustrious.

7. As soon as, on the one hand, labor is held by the whole community to be an honorable necessity of man's condition-and on the other, as soon as labor is always ostensibly performed, wholly or in part, for the purpose of earning remuneration-the immense interval, which separated different callings in aristocratic societies, disappears. It all are not alike, all at least have one feature in common. No profession exists in which men do not work for money: and the remuneration which is common to them all, gives them all an air of resemblance.

8. This serves to explain the opinions which the Ameri cans entertain with respect to different callings. In America no one is degraded because he works, for every one about him works also; nor is any one humiliated by the notion of receiving pay, for the President of the United States also works for pay. He is paid for commanding, other men for obeying orders. In the United States, professions are more or less laborious, more or less profitable; but they are never either high or low: every honest calling is hon orable.

Questions.—What is a democratic people, par. 1? What is hereditary wealth? Which is the most favorable state of society for the promotion of virtue and happiness, that where every honest employment is deemed honorable, or where labor is held to be degrading? Is industry the duty of all men? Are the duties performed by professional men, as lawyers, physicians, clergymen, and teacners, as truly labor, as the employments of the farmer or the blacksmith? Is industry, or idleness, most favorable to happiness?

LESSON CXVIII.

The Steam-Boat Trial.

1. In the year 1807, Fulton made his first experiment in steam on the Hudson, amid the unbelief and derision of the whole country.

2. "When I was building my first steam-boat," said he to Judge Story, "the project was viewed by the public at New York, either with indifference or contempt, as a visionary scheme. My friends, indeed, were civil, but they were shy. They listened with patience to my explanations, but

with a settled cast of incredulity upon their countenances. I felt the force of the lamentation of the poet :

'Truths would you teach, to save a sinking land?

All shun, none aid you, and few understand.'

3. "As I had occasion to pass daily to and from the building-yard, while my boat was in progress, I have often loitered, unknown, near the idle groups of strangers, gathering in little circles, and heard various inquiries as to the object of this new vehicle. The language was uniformly that of scorn, sneer, or ridicule. The loud laugh rose at my expense; with the dry jest, the wise calculation of losses and expenditure; the dull but endless repetition of the Fulton Folly.' Never did a single encouraging remark, a bright hope, or a warm wish, cross my path.

4. "At length the day arrived when the experiment was to be made. To me it was a most trying and interesting occasion. I wanted my friends to go on board, to witness the first successful trip. Many of them did me the favor to attend, as a matter of personal respect; but it was manifest they did it with reluctance, feigning to be partners of my mortification, and not of my triumph.

5. "I was well aware that, in my case, there were many reasons to doubt of my own success. The machinery was new and ill-made; and many parts of it were constructed by mechanics unacquainted with such work; and unex⚫pected difficulties might reasonably be presumed to present themselves from other causes. The moment arrived in which the word was to be given for the vessel to move. friends were in groups on the deck. There was anxiety,

mixed with fear, among them.

My

6. "They were silent, sad, and weary. I read in their looks nothing but disaster, and almost repented of my efforts. The signal was given, and the boat moved on a short distance, and then stopped, and became immovable. To the silence of the preceding moments now succeeded murmurs of discontent and agitation, and whispers and shrugs. I could hear distinctly repeated, I told you so,— it is a foolish scheme,-I wish we were well out of it.'

7. "I elevated myself on a platform, and stated that I knew not what was the matter; but if they would be quiet, and indulge me for half an hour, I would either go on, or abandon the voyage. I went below, and discovered that a

slight maladjustment was the cause. It was obviated. The boat went on; we left New York; we passed through the Highlands; we reached Albany! Yet even then, imagina tion superseded the force of fact. It was doubted whether it could be done again, or if it could be made, in any case, of any great value."

8. What an affecting picture of the struggles of a great mind, and what a vivid lesson of encouragement to genius, is contained in this simple narration!

9. The steam-boats on the Hudson River were increased in number, before the death of Fulton, to five; and a sixth was built, under his direction, for the navigation of Long Island Sound. He afterwards engaged in building a large boat, planned for the navigation of the ocean.

10. This was constructed with the intention of making a passage to St. Petersburgh; but this scheme was interrupted by his death, which took place at the moment he was about to add to his glory, as the first constructor of a successful steam-boat, that of being the first navigator of the ocean by this new and mighty agent.

LESSON CXIX.

Bulk of the Earth.

1. THE earth is a globe, whose diameter is nearly 8,000 miles, and its circumference about 25,000; and, consequently, its surface contains nearly two hundred millions of square miles—a magnitude too great for the mind to take in at one conception. In order to form a tolerable conception of the whole, we must endeavor to take a leisurely survey of its different parts.

2. Were we to take our station on the top of a mountain, of a moderate size, and survey the surrounding landscape, we should perceive an extent of view stretching 40 miles in every direction, forming a circle 80 miles in diameter, and 250 in circumference, and comprehending an area of 5,000 square miles. In such a situation, the terrestrial scene around and beneath us-consisting of hills and plains, towns and villages, rivers and lakes-would form one of the largest objects which the eye, or even the imagination, can steadily grasp at one time.

3. But such an object, grand and extensive as it is, forms