things," it was because the language was too small for the grandeur and magnificence of his conceptions.

We must now take a reluctant leave of Bacon and his critics. We might have noticed many other strictures which have been offered upon his philosophy; but we have wished to confine ourselves to those which present questions of the greatest interest and importance to our consideration. Having derived our knowledge of Bacon's philosophy from a careful study of his works, we have been greatly surprised at the gross caricatures and misrepresentations of it which are afloat in the world; and we have been desirous to correct them. If our imperfect endeavors in this way shall have the effect of inducing other persons to study for themselves those great and wonderful productions, from which we have derived so much instruction and delight, our object will be fully attained. The student of Bacon will often find himself transported with views of the grand and beautiful, but never lost or bewildered in the cloudy heights of the transcendental. He says,

"We do not desire to assume or acquire any majestic state for these our discoveries, by the triumph of confutations, the citing of antiquity, the usurpation of authority, or even the veil of obscurity, which would easily suggest themselves to one endeavoring to throw light upon his own name, rather than the minds of others. . . . We exhibit things plainly and openly, so THAT OUR ERRORS CAN BE NOTED AND SEPARATED BEFORE THEY CORRUPT ANY FURTHER THE MASS OF SCIENCES."

Nor, on the other hand, will he who carefully and candidly studies this great master ever find himself shut up in the narrow confines of a sensuous philosophy, which necessarily excludes the light of a spiritual world, and of all divine things. In one word, he will find that Lord Bacon is the master of no school or sect; but that he is as he has been well called, "the master of wisdom."

ART. III.-On certain Prejudices existing in the Community against Labor, against educated and professional Men, and against Men of Wealth.

THERE are often found in communities constituted like our own certain prevalent notions or prejudices, as they may be termed, which have their origin in the circumstances and modes of thinking that pertain to different classes and orders of society, and which, if cherished and suffered to gain strength and widely diffuse themselves, are attended with danger. At least they tend to hinder that mutual co-operation, that carrying forward together of the common work, which the prosperity of each individual, of each class, and of the whole, imperiously demands. They tend also to mar the happiness and disturb the quiet of the social state, creating jealousies and strifes, and arraying against each other those who should dwell together as brethren. And when, as it sometimes happens, these prejudices connect themselves with civil divisions, and serve as the foundations of political parties, they even threaten the ruin and overthrow of the state. Such was the Agrarian party in ancient Rome; and such were some of the factions which led to the overthrow of the French monarchy. It will readily occur, that the prejudices of which we speak are the results of limited views, of looking at subjects in wrong lights, and through an obscuring and distorting medium. Hence, all which seems required to set the mind free from these wrong biases and erroneous notions, is to get on to higher ground, to rise above obscuring mists and deceitful shadows, and, looking over a wider and more extended field of vision, to see better the bearings of things,-to discern not only how they may affect our own interests, but their bearings on the welfare of others, and on the public good.

Let us then consider some of the more obvious and widely diffused prejudices of the kind to which we have referred. Let us endeavor distinctly to learn what these erroneous impressions are, in what views they have their origin, and what can, and may, be done for their correction and removal.

And here we may incidentally remark, that there is especial need of this attempt in a free, representative government, such as we enjoy. Divisions and parties will indeed always be found in a republic; for those who have freedom of thought and speech on questions of national policy will not always think alike on such topics. But it is ever deemed important that the grounds of party divisions should have as little of permanency attached to them as possible. VOL. VII.-4

And such in truth they most generally are ;-mere foundations of sand heaped together by some strong conflict of elemental strife, to be scattered by the succeeding commotion. But let a party in the state be based on some principle permanent in its nature, and one which deeply interests the feelings and affects the prospects and standing of a large class in the community, and we are in the midst of danger. Little abiding evil is to be apprehended from the agitation of a presidential election, or from the allotments of the loaves and fishes of office to one individual or to his rival; but let there spring up in a self-governing community a rich men's party, or a working men's party, and other distinctions based on the permanent relations of the social state, and no assurance remains for security or peace.

Entering, then, upon our proposed subject with a sense of its importance as connected with the public good, we would first ask the attention of our readers to an impression which, to some extent, prevails at the present day, that the laboring classes of the community have interests differing in some degree from those of other classes; and that there is something less eligible-less to be desired in the condition of those thus occupied, than in that of others; in fact, that there is something rather degrading in labor. We do not affirm that this opinion is often or ever distinctly avowed and defended. Few, indeed, would venture to express an opinion disparaging those to whose exertions they are indebted for the supply of so large a proportion of their wants, and to whose hands, it may be, they look for the bestowment of the coveted honors and emoluments of office. Still, we may detect the existence of the opinion to which we have referred, in the fact, that many hesitate to do for themselves or their friends, before others, those offices which, able-bodied men and at leisure as they are, they might perform. They would be ashamed to be caught in the soiled dress of the working-man; and, if found with an ax or a spade in their hands, would be very ready to assure the passer-by that they were working for exercise. We may, also, detect the existence of this impression in the reluctance of so many of our young men to share their fathers' toil on the farm and in the workshop, preferring rather to crowd the ranks of professional life, or to press in throngs to our cities, urged on by the adventurous spirit of mercantile prsuits.

That labor and laborers should be lightly esteemed in slaveholding communities might reasonably be expected. The association is an easy one which connects the employments of the slave with his degraded condition. In those countries, too, where the distinc

tions of rank are strongly marked, where an hereditary nobility and the ceremonials of a court are found, there will be those who think it degrading for a man to be engaged in any useful employment. At least, they will esteem it disreputable to one of noble birth to be thus engaged, as if to belong to a class of society, the end of whose existence is to do nothing, were to be of a privileged order. But it should not be so in a community of freemen, of those of equal rights and privileges, and whose dependence on each other in the social state is close and mutual. The idea, that there is anything degrading in any honest employment, which ministers to the general good, and tends to the supply of the common wants, is opposed to the spirit of our free institutions. It is also at variance with the economical interests of the community. A large proportion of our national supplies is derived from national industry. Here also is the main source of that increase of national capital, which is the attendant and index of national prosperity. By the estimate of one of our political economists, at least three-fourths of the annual national income is drawn from the industry of the people. Another able statesman has asserted, that the value of the work done in the single state of Massachusetts is more than one hundred thousand dollars every day. What then must be the ruinous effect of an impression which leaves in listless idleness or unprofitable amusement a large class of the inhabitants of a land? Besides, who sees not, as is sufficiently obvious to all, that there is in reality no ground for a distinction of the nature we are considering, since the dependencies of life are mutual? Of what avail are the treasures of the affluent to their possessors, if they are not surrounded by those skillful and able to minister to their wants? Indeed, of the two, is not he far more independent, who can help himself to the supplies furnished at nature's feast, than he who receives these supplies through the medium of another?

Why, then, the inquiry returns upon us, if this mutual dependence exists, and no honest employment is to be disparaged in this land of freedom and equality, why do we find so prevalent the prejudice against labor, of which we have spoken? We can offer in reply no better explanation than to say, that it is to be traced to certain associations which, even here, are wont to connect themselves with the employment and condition of the laborer. To some of these associations we will now advert; at the same time endeavoring both to show that they rest upon no good foundation, and to offer some suggestions which may tend to their removal. Labor, then, is looked upon as degrading, because there is, in

most cases, a necessity that it be performed. It is the condition on which those who labor obtain their daily bread, and this idea of dependence and compulsion is by no means a grateful thought. Indeed, a different condition, that of wealth, or at least of competency, is ever looked upon as desirable; it is the aim of most during a great portion of their lives. Perhaps, too, in this connection, the thoughts sometimes wander back to the sentence pronounced upon guilty Adam and his race,-"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground;" and they thus recur to the doom of man with any feelings rather than those of self-abasement and humility.

But here it may well be asked, Are these opinions as to the relative advantages of different conditions of life well founded? Is it certain, that he who feels no necessity for exertion resting upon him, is a happier man than his willing, plodding neighbor? Put this inquiry to the man of wealth, and he will acknowledge that his views on this subject differ much from those which he entertained in an earlier part of his course. He will have much to say of his cares and anxieties, his fears of losing, and his perplexities and vexations in the management of his multiplied concerns. Perhaps, if we could look into his heart, we should find him almost ready to envy him who is, as he once was, a poor man. At least, he will assure us that the satisfaction of acquiring far exceeds that of possessing.

And then again as to this necessity of labor, from which so many would be free, we have only to look at the human constitution, both mental and physical, to be persuaded that an exemption of this kind is by no means desirable. Man must have employment. He is made for daily toil. Deprive his mind or body of action, and they are at once shorn of their glory. The former sinks into idiocy or madness, the latter becomes enfeebled and diseased. The necessity, then, that men should labor, arises not from any condition in life. It is not imposed by man on his fellow-men. It is one which God imposes, and it must be obeyed. Even those who do not devote themselves to any useful toil, must, and do, seek employment. Hunting, fishing, riding, and even gambling and fighting, are only means, some of them objectionable enough, of obeying this fixed law of our natures.

A second unfavorable association, which in the minds of some is connected with labor, leads them to look upon the operations of industry as of a mechanical nature; or, we might rather say, to look upon the laborer himself as a machine,—perhaps a part of a machine. Hence they readily associate with labor, ignorance and