eventually, overwhelming the agent with disappointment and sorrow. It is true, that for a time, such an one may seem to flourish in his schemes, and command the applauses of those who look up to him in his, apparently, fortunate elevation. But in the very nature of things, if his heart could be sounded, there is no one whom he looks down upon, who is not more at ease than himself. His day of humiliation may be at hand, in the course of events which he cannot control; and, if not, he learns, when it is too late to correct his error, that he has misapplied the impulse of self-love. This misapplication is to be seen in many cases of daily occurrence, and in things of little, as well as in those of comparatively great importance. The principle is every where the same.

231. It may be answered, perhaps, that all this is incident to human nature. There is no help, it is said, for these evils. Every boy who has learned Latin, repeats the maxim, humanum est errare, (it is human to err.) A more mischievous maxim was never invented. If men understood, as most certainly they may do, that they need not err, and that it is best for them they should not, they would rather adopt as a maxim that none but the wilfully ignorant, and the wilfully foolish, err. Such a state

of things is yet afar off. It may seem to be foolish indeed, to assert that any society should ever come to be so well informed as to make a proper use of self-love. Let us not despair. Society may improve very slowly; yet, if every one does even the little that he can, in showing, by precept and example, what things a rational and accountable being should desire, and what he should avoid and reject, certainly, the time may come when self-love will never be so misapplied, as to be necessarily followed by penitence and sorrow.

232. Will it be denied, that there is a certain best course of action for every human being, in every possible condition in which he may find himself? Or, that no small proportion of human suffering arises from not having discerned that it was best,

in past circumstances, to have acted differently, or not to have acted at all? Or, that whether one did or did not act, in the supposed case, that his motive was to secure to himself the greatest good of which that case was supposed to allow ? If these things cannot be denied, then the great end of life is so to regulate self-love as that it may secure the greatest good. Let us suppose that every person in society knew what it would be best for him to do or not to do, so that his physical, intellectual, and moral condition, should be as good as he could make it. His self-love would never be directed to any end which would impair his bodily powers, or keep his mind in ignorance, or misinformed, or make him a subject of reproach, or contempt, in his own view, or in that of others. This, it will be said, is an impossible state of things. So it was said that it would be impossible to root out the use of ardent spirits. This great change is not wholly accomplished, but does any one doubt that great advance has been made towards its entire abolition? Let us go on, then, in the work of improvement. Let every one try to show the proper uses of self-love. The day may come when every one will admit, that all the sufferings which may visit the human family, are of their own making, those only excepted which arise from the general laws of the Creator. As to those, they may be greatly mitigated by intelligent moral agency. When these come, they can and will be endured with piety and resignation, if the sufferer can console himself with the certainty, that he has done no wrong thing, nor neglected any proper one, to which the cause of his sufferings may be referred.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Duties to One's-self, continued.

(LABOR, HABIT.)

233. Labor. It is commonly considered that labor is the curse declared to mankind, as a consequence of the transgression of the first man. It is foreign to our purpose to enter into any discussion, as to the true meaning of this historical, or allegorical account; the Christian revelation may not be dependent on a literal understanding of it. ever this may be regarded, under the influence of further reasonable research, we must take man as he is; and so considering him, labor is not an evil, but a pleasure. Is it a curse to man, as he now is, to be enabled by labor, to comprehend the existence of the Deity, and the beauty and utility of his works? to adorn the earth and bring its productive power into action? to apply the material substances of the earth to reasonable use, convenience, and ornament? to expand and improve the human mind to cultivate and strengthen the moral power? Certainly these are the effects of labor, and labor so applied constitutes man's highest happiness.

234. There are two kinds of labor: 1. Mere bodily labor; 2. Labor of the mind. These two are sometimes necessarily combined. The mind, and the body, demand some sort of employment. No one whose mind is free from natural defect can prevent its action. It will think of something, good or evil, profitable or foolish. Every one who attends to the operations of his own mind must be convinced that this is so. The body and limbs cannot be kept in any one position for any considerable space of time, unless they have been in action, and demand repose. If it were painful to us to direct the action of the mind to useful labor; and if it were distressing or inconvenient to us to exercise our muscles, for purposes which we believe to be proper, then it might be that labor is a curse. But many, nay

all, who require of the mind to perform its duties to any useful purpose, and especially those who have disciplined the mind to an accustomed service, find that the absence of employment is an affliction. This cannot be otherwise, unless man's relation to the universe has been entirely misunderstood.

235. As to bodily action, it is seen that children in their sports go through a series of exertions, often exceedingly violent too, from mere pleasure. Men frequently exercise the body much more severely in matters of amusement, than they have any occasion to do in necessary labor. This action seems to be a dictate of nature. In many cases of indisposition, bodily motion is the prescribed remedy, and is commonly a successful one. There are

sound reasons why this should be so. We have noticed in a former section, the universal action of the material system to which man belongs; and the continual waste and demand for supply. Excepting only in the involuntary movements in man's. structure which are not confided to his care, he is required to aid nature in her operations. If he would put himself in the best condition to receive, and derive pleasure from his daily food, he must keep himself in action. Those who have the least pleasure in using, what was given to be used, as the means of pleasure to the senses, are those who keep the body inactive. This is true of those who labor with the mind only; more strikingly true of those whom affluence excuses from labor, of body and mind. They seek happiness in indolence, and in luxury. They find it not, because they violate a law of nature. No product of the vineyard, the field, or the sea, however aided by inventive art, will furnish a welcome repast to one who sits in listless idleness, on a downy cushion, from breakfast time, till dinner. The day laborer who sits down to his coarse meal, has a pleasure to which the luxurious idler is a stranger. The one receives a rational benefit from the kind and just bounty of nature; the other seeks it where nature has decreed that it shall not be found.

236. The labor of muscular action is not only in itself a pleasure, but it is the means prescribed to us for the acquirement of subsistence; for the gradual improvement of society; for applying natural and artificial products to our comforts, to our convenience, and to reasonable luxuries. Nor only so: this is the ground work of all the beautiful and imitative arts; of the discovery and application of the chemical power of matter; of the wonderful contrivances by which man securely moves on the face of the ocean; by which he cultivates his acquaintance with the stars, and raises his thoughts to the Author of all being. Let us not then regard labor as a curse, but a blessing, and rank it among the many causes for thankfulness. It is obvious that muscular action would have been given to us in vain, if it were not directed by intelligence. There must then, be labor of the mind. This is no where said to be a curse. If there be anything for which men should be specially thankful, certainly it is that they are blessed with the power of mental exertion. This labor is, in itself, a source of happiness; and in its fruits, has made, out of savage men, a rational and improving social being. The most restless and comfortless of all creatures is he, who has no occupation for his mind. If one would invent the most miserable condition for a human being, other than mere physical suffering of the most excruciating kind that can be without extinguishing life, it would be, to deprive him of all employment of body and of mind.

237. Can there be a doubt, that in man's present condition, the ability to labor is his exalted privilege? And is he not accountable for this privilege? Is not reason given to direct him in the use of it? It is well known to those who have compared the condition of mankind in different ages, how much the labor of body and mind, has been able to accomplish. Even within the last half century the most surprising changes for the better, have taken. place, from the right use of this productive power. On this depends the condition of the human family.