anxiety for an early account of the communities. Should the intelligence I receive from you confirm the previous accounts, my influence in the councils of Persia will be considerably augmented. Already are my plans deemed less visionary since the success of the infant schools. You recollect the strenuous opposition I experienced in the introduction of that system; but now the schools are become very general and popular. Would that it could be perceived that an infant school is the epitome of what the world may one day become; and that it is only necessary to apply the same simple principles in governing adults, in order to produce the happiest results. Let rewards and punishments be abolished,-withdraw from society the useless objects of contention and rivalry, and unite the private with the public interests. But I forget that I am speaking to one who by this time may be deeply initiated, and from whom I am expecting a commentary that is to enlighten me upon the most interesting of all subjects. Adieu! May the wings of peace hover over you! And in whatever region you may wander, you will ever be attended by the anxious solicitude of your early preceptor and friend, ALMURED."

"P. S. I saw your father a short time since, and I regret to add that his health is still declining: he desired me to send you his affectionate regards, and earnestly to exhort that in all your pursuits you would never abandon the religion of your country."

This postscript was but ill-calculated to calm the agitated feelings of Saadi; and he was beginning to debate in his mind whether he should not for ever renounce all further inquiries, when he was interrupted by Douglas, who entered the apartment

accompanied by a female whose intelligent and animated countenance might have enlivened a sadder heart than that of Saadi. She was about eighteen years of age, of an elegant figure, with eyes expressive of mildness and intelligence; her complexion was fair, displaying a glow of health equally remote from coarseness and from effeminacy. She wore a Highland bonnet with black feathers.

"I come," said Douglas, "to introduce to you Margaret Mackenzie. We should have been with you earlier, had I not observed that the curtains of your window were undrawn.”

"I have had the pleasure of seeing you before," remarked Saadi, addressing himself to Margaret ; "for if I mistake not, it was you to whom Douglas yesterday presented a rose as he conducted you to the boat."

Margaret acknowledged it by a graceful inclination of the head, and an expressive look at Douglas; who, as he conducted her to a seat, evinced by his manner, that, however his affections were bestowed upon the community in general, he regarded Margaret Mackenzie with more especial favour.

Douglas." I fear that I detained you long upon the mountain last night, and that you retired too late to enjoy a refreshing sleep."

Saadi.-"No, Douglas. it was not the lateness of the hour, but the subject of our conversation, that has occasioned me some uneasiness of mind.Read this letter, and mark the postscript."

Douglas." And were any of my propositions at variance with the Koran?-if so, and the propositions themselves are true, that portion of the Koran which contradicts them must be either false or erroneously construed. You have been taught to believe that the Koran was revealed by the Deity;

but the tradition rests upon human testimony: and if it were so revealed, it has been transmitted perhaps with alterations and interpolations which may have perverted the original meaning. At all events you cannot resist the evidence of your senses regarding the formation of character. But why should you be discomposed, so long as your professions are sincere?"

Saadi.-"You know not how painful it is to live amongst a people differing in religion from yourself, and with whom you have few ideas in common upon subjects the most interesting that can engage the human mind; to be severed from the companions of your earliest years, and from those who have been endeared to you by congeniality of sentiment; to be pointed at as an infidel; to hear children cautioned to shun your society and avoid the contagion of your principles. Yet here lies my choice, either to practise the hypocrite and secure the good opinion of the Persians, or to avow ingenuously my principles and forfeit their esteem; but, what is far more distressing, to embitter the few remaining years of an affectionate and revered parent."

Margaret. "I am not acquainted with the writings of the Koran, but it is very probable that it may contain passages in unison with the principles to which you have alluded, although other parts may be seemingly opposed to it. About this time last year we were visited by a lady from the Ionian Islands who was of the Greek church. The delight she evinced in beholding the happiness of our communities was quite enthusiastic. But when we conversed together upon the first principle of the cooperative system, that the character is formed for and not by the individual,' she could not for a time comprehend it, but at length she was fully convinced of its truth. Her mind, however, became

very uneasy, from the apprehension that it was opposed to Christianity, for she was sincere and pious. But upon studying the Scriptures more carefully, she discovered many passages confirmatory of the truth;* and she resolved upon her return to the Ionion Islands to endeavour strenuously to establish communities."

Douglas. Before the days of Galileo it was considered impious to doubt that the earth was fixed, and that the sun revolved round it, because the fact was recorded in Scripture. But when it was discovered, and generally understood, that the sun was the centre of the system, a different interpretation of the Mosaic account of the creation did not invalidate the valuable part of the Bible. The principle on which the character is formed is so incontestably

*"But now, O Lord, thou art our Father: we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand."Isaiah lxiv. 8.

"For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?"1 Corinth. iv. 7.

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing."-John xv. 5.

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God."-2 Corinth. iii. 5. "For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure."-Philipp. ii. 13.

"Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us."-Isaiah xxvi. 12.

"Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potters' clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding ?"-Isaiah xxix. 16. "The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.”—Proverbs xvi. 4.

"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps."-Proverbs xvi. 9.

true, that whatever in any religion contradicts it, must be either false or misinterpreted. Pursue the course which Margaret recommends, and you will most probably find that whatever is truly valuable in the Koran will not be incompatible with the cooperative order of society.-But this morning I wish to exhibit to you a different scene to that you witnessed yesterday. The rain is falling in torrents, and all the members will be engaged in the libraries, the gymnasium, or the manufactories; for our occupations are varied according to the weather or the seasons. During the harvest when a favourable day occurs, all are engaged in the fields, and the whole of the crop of hay or corn is cut in a single day." In the depth of winter those manufactures are carried on which require large furnaces, or in which those employed are exposed to heat. But as there is no occupation from which any individual is exempt in rotation, it becomes equally the interest of all to diminish the inconvenience of any irksome or disagreeable employment; and this through the aid of machinery and scientific arrangements has to a very great extent been accomplished." The two faithful attendants upon Saadi now made their appearance with his morning's repast. They inquired if he would require them again before the evening; if not, they proposed spending a few hours in the printing-rooms. Saadi released them for the day, adding, that he should perhaps meet with them during his morning's ramble. Soon after, he walked out with Margaret and Douglas. The hotel being situate at the corner of the square, they entered one of the colonnades diverging from the community,

*.... "quæ multitudo frumentatorum, quum ad ipsum diem opportunè adsit, uno prope sereno die totâ frumentatione defunguntur."-Sir Thomas More.