FROM A NEW ENGLAND HILLSIDE. 97 



had been driven from it by the dull and 

 monotonous thud, thud of the engine. And 

 I quite shared in her feeling. We do not 

 desire to shirk labour here, but it is hand 

 labour and head labour and heart labour 

 that is to our liking, and naught that re 

 minds us strongly of the great hives of in 

 dustry which we have left behind us. 



And what of those hives? I do not know 

 whether it is particularly profitable to spec 

 ulate about the effect of inevitable and un 

 avoidable conditions, or relations which 

 must be lived through. I am inclined to 

 think, though, that there are certain advan 

 tages to be derived from sometimes trying 

 to get them into proper perspective, and 

 from picturing to ourselves their causes and 

 consequences, their necessity and value or 

 uselessness, their transitoriness or perma 

 nence. 



When Hero of Alexandria constructed 

 his seolipile or James Watt his workable 

 steam engine, how little either of them 

 thought that he was dealing with an agency 

 which should not only transform the world, 

 but should transform the race also ! Think, 

 if you can, of what the world would be to 

 day had the steam engine never been in 

 vented. No communication between place 



H 



