Golden Gate District Fair Association. 249 



make it a success. Of course I do not refer merely to manual labor; 

 nor, indeed, do I refer to labor at all, as I understand that word, for 

 there is a wide diti'erence between labor and work. Work is our 

 ])usiness in the world, our normal employment, that for which we 

 were made, and ii\ which we find our ha]ipiness and welfare. Labor 

 is the |)erversion of work — it is attended with friction, worry, loss. 

 Work is the action of our powers, as the Creator ordained; labor is 

 their action, wliere every effort is made under protest and at disad- 

 vantajie. Work will be a large i)art of the bliss of heaven; for the 

 rest that is mentioned as the portion of its inhabitants, is relief rather 

 than inaction; and no doubt one guarantee of their security, as well 

 as of their joy, is in their i)erpetual round of obedience, and omi)loy- 

 ment of their i)Owers. Labor will never be known tjiere, and hence 

 the declaration respecting the good who die, "They rest from their 

 labors, and their works do follow them!" This work is not alone of 

 the hands, nor is that idleness which does not present itself with 

 liard hands and proofs of i)hysical toil. There can be as severe, as 

 constant and more exhausting work in the office, the counting-room, 

 the store, as in the shop or on tlie farm. Yet I would do something 

 to remove the feeling which, as I have said, is opposed to this latter, 

 so that when other modes of employment are liooded, as they seem 

 to be now, men shall not stand with folded hands, and faces of despair, 

 saying they have nothing to do, if they are dependent on their 

 efforts for subsistence, nor excuse themselves, for this season, for 

 idleness, if they are not absolutely obliged to work that they may 

 live. Let us, then, consider first its effect upon individual and gen- 

 eral prosperity, that we may learn its worth. A man's highest honor 

 is attained when he has found his place, and is faithful in it; not 

 when he assumes that he really ought to have a place which Provi- 

 dence has not opened to him. Every one is in pursuit of success. 

 Will the private soldier gain it by assuming that he is to have Napo- 

 leon's, or Grant's, or Sherman's career, and sitting down until he can 

 see that the door to such a career is open to him? Will the peasant 

 gain it by taking for granted that he is to be a Stewart, or \'ander- 

 l)ilt, or Astor, and waiting tilF the highway to fortune is opened to 

 him? No, the way to success is the way that is open to a man, not 

 the wa\' that is not open. It may lead into broader avenues after a 

 time, but this will be as he moves on; it may become more delight- 

 ful and cheering, but this will be in proportion to his progress, and 

 he will learn that, step by step, through the effect of continued work, 

 he must expect success. He may stand at .some closed door and 

 knock, and wait, and starve; stern necessity will not be moved by his 

 wishes, or his tears, if she points to the path which he does not like 

 to enter, for she knows that it is mercy to keep him from a way upon 

 which he could not travel, even though he were allowed to begin it. 

 So, too, if prosperity be measured by happiness, habitual industry is 

 essential. 



"Did the Almighty," saj's Lessing, "holding in His right hand 

 Truth, and in His left hand Search for Truth, deign to proffer me the 

 one I might prefer, in all humility, but without hesitation, T would 

 request St^arch after Truth." We live only as we exercise. Pleasure 

 is the reflex of unimpeded energy, and in action is contained the 

 happiness, improvement, and i)erfection of our being. There are 

 examples all around us of this truth. You cannot find a really 

 hai)py idler, unless he has stupefied his nature. This calls out for 



