gence of the females has entirely dissipated the long prevailing error, that their intellectual powers are inferior to those of men; and while they display an elevation of character that commands admiration, they possess a sweetness of disposition and a kindness of manner that win upon the heart.

But language would fail me were I to attempt a description of the rapid progress made by the children, animated by an insatiable thirst for the acquisition of knowledge, and an enthusiasm in the exercise of benevolent feeling. I have had frequent opportunities of observing with great pleasure their attention to the aged; but one instance proved so interesting to me that I must relate the particulars.

One evening after wandering alone among the lovely scenery that skirts the lake, I sauntered up a meadow in which there was a gently sloping hill crowned with a wood. As I ascended the hill, my ear was saluted with the sweetest melody, accompanied by the voices of children. Curiosity prompted me to draw near; and I seated myself upon a rustic chair, under a hawthorn hedge, sufficiently nigh to hear, though the party were obscured from my view. They were singing some stanzas from one of their favourite poems, 'Beattie's Minstrel,' and I could distinctly hear the following:

"O how canst thou renounce the boundless store
Of charms which Nature to her votary yields!
The warbling woodland, the resounding shore,
The pomp of groves, and garniture of fields;
All that the genial ray of morning gilds,
And all that echoes to the song of even,

All that the mountain's sheltering bosom shields,
And all the dread magnificence of heaven,-

O, how canst thou renounce, and hope to be forgiven!"

In a short time the music ceased, when I beheld a venerable old man blind, with a harp hanging by

his side, and a number of young children walking with him. They were relating some of the occurrences of the day, upon which he appeared to be commenting and deducing useful instruction.

I must not omit to mention a very striking peculiarity in the character of the inhabitants of these happy communities. At every period of life they manifest the same artlessness of manner and ingenuous conduct so interesting in children.* Their countenances are not disfigured by the corroding cares of perpetual strife; they have neither the superciliousness of pride, nor the dejection of poverty but every where you meet with a cheerful serenity and a dignity unaffected.

There is no appearance of that monotony of character of which some have been apprehensive; as a great diversity of dispositions and pursuits prevails. They are uniform in those qualities only which distinguish men of superior education: having acquired an early taste for the scenes of Nature, their minds are better prepared to promote and to enjoy a corresponding order and beauty in the moral world. Their love of Nature's works is so general, as to appear almost instinctive.

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-the love of Nature's works

Is an ingredient in the compound man,

Infused at the creation of the kind.

And, though th' Almighty Maker has throughout
Discriminated each from each, by strokes

And touches of his hand, with so much art
Diversified, that two were never found

Twins at all points,-yet this obtains in all,

"I cannot help considering all, or almost all that which is called original corruption, and evil disposition, to be the effects of the system of civilization (falsely so called); and particularly that prominent feature of it, the great inequality of property. Do we not see in children artless simplicity,

That all discern a beauty in his works,

And all can taste them: minds that have been form'd
And tutor'd, with a relish more exact,

But none without some relish, none unmoved."*

When I have remarked upon, and extolled, these excellencies, they reply, that if the conduct of their fellow citizens exhibited not a combination of all that is really estimable, they would immediately deem their institutions imperfect, and then search for the cause either in the matter of instruction in their colleges, in the laws of the community, or in some of the minor regulations; for it has been their constant endeavour to form a union of such circumstances only as experience has proved are most conducive to virtue and to happiness.

I can observe scarcely any distinction in the deference and attention they pay to each other, excepting that which age or experience commands.

pure disinterestedness, and benevolence, so constantly, as to be characteristic of that age; and does not Scripture itself. characterize children by those qualities, and, as such, declare them fit for the reception of the Gospel? As they advance in life, the natural dispositions of that age become gradually altered and corrupted. I would ask, whether any other cause whatever is so well adapted to counteract and destroy these good qualities of simplicity, disinterestedness, and benevolence, as the mine and thine established in such a rigorous and unrelenting manner?

"What so effectually opposes disinterestedness, as the necessity they see, as soon as they can observe any thing, their parents are under, of considering themselves only; and that, with all the attention to themselves only, and to their wants, they are still so ill provided."-Dr. Hall: Effects of Civilization, p. 269.

It is curious to remark the different arguments against systems of mutual co-operation: they are even more opposed to each other than to the constitution of society which they join in condemning. The one saying that "it is impossible to make all men alike:" the other, that "a dull uniformity of

I should, however, except those also who are afflicted with any disease or natural infirmity, for they are the objects who chiefly attract the sympathy of the whole community; and it is truly gratifying to behold to how great an extent their sufferings appear to be alleviated by the assiduous and affectionate attention of surrounding friends.

Such is the delightful result of the application to practice of those invaluable principles of which you have so long been the unwearied and ardent advocate. Proceed then, Almured, in your enlightened and glorious career; suffer not Persia to exhibit those melancholy scenes which once disgraced this country; when the light of knowledge and the darkness of ignorance were co-existent; when the clouds of prejudice intercepted the rays of truth; when a religion inculcating the sublimest precepts of charity was professed, while a system was upheld, fruitful in all the vices which that religion condemned; when riches and poverty dwelt together in the same land, and with pampering luxury and wasting famine shared in the desolation of the human frame. Far different will be the fate of Persia,

character will be produced." This last attributes more power to the principle of Co-operation than its warmest friends contend for. The limits of this power are well defined by Mr. Owen:

"Man then is born with combined propensities and qualities, differing in degree and power, and in combination, sufficient to create through life individuality and distinctness of person, and character.

"But, however much the power and combination of these propensities and qualities may differ in individuals at birth, they may be all so directed by subsequent circumstances, as to be made to form general characters, and these characters to be of any, of the most opposite nature, even to be made entirely irrational or rational.”—Mr. Owen's Public Address in London, August 7, 1817.

and of all countries, when science, dawning upon the social economy of man, shall have taught a beneficial appropriation of wealth: then shall health be enjoyed, purer than the lilies of Teflis, and more fragrant than the roses of Cashmere; the intercourse of nations shall be harmonious as the songs of Mirza; "there shall be no leading into captivity, and no complaining in our streets;" for then shall the widow cease to mourn, and the orphan no longer need a protector.*

But if among the splendid results of this transcendent change, the alleviation of misery and the banishment of moral evil are the primary objects of our solicitude, we may still be allowed to hail in the approaching æra, the rapid advances which mankind will make towards the attainment of that intellectual greatness and elevated character, to which they are evidently destined. When we reflect upon the myriads who have passed their allotted time upon the earth, and observe how small is the number of those who have displayed any mental superiority, they appear to have served merely as lights to exhibit the extent of the surrounding darkness. But, if with the very limited cultivation bestowed upon the human mind, the world has been enlightened with the profound discoveries of a Kepler and a Newton,-enchanted with the grandeur and sublimity of a Homer and a Milton,—

*"We guarantee to each other, that the young children of any person dying within the community shall be equally protected, educated, and cherished with the children of the living members, and entitled, when they become adult, to all the advantages and equal proprietorship thereof. In this community, no children can be reduced to the destitution of orphans in the present state of society."-Vide" Articles of Agreement (drawn up and recommended by the London Co-operative Society) for the formation of a community.