578 LETTER II. TO [PART III* 



wind, the fire: any thing that will help him. 

 Cattle of some sort or other were, for a long 

 while, his great resource. But, of late, water- 

 powers, wind-powers, fire-powers. And, in 

 deed, wondrous things have been performed 

 by machines of this kind. The water and the 

 wind do not eat, and require no grooming. 

 But, it sometimes happens, that, when all 

 things are considered, we resort to these grand 

 powers without any necessity for it ; and that 

 we forget how easily we could do the thing we 

 want done, with our own hands. The story, 

 in Peregrine Pickle, about the Mechanic, who 

 had invented a water machine to cut off the 

 head of a cabbage, hardly surpassed the reality 

 in the case of the machine, brought out in 

 England, some years ago, for reaping wheat ; 

 nor is it. much less ridiculous to see people 

 going many miles with grist to a mill, which 

 grist they might so easily grind at home. The 

 hand-mills, used in England, would be inva 

 luable with you, for a while, at least. 



1032. But, it is of a mill of more general 

 utility, that I am now about to speak to you; 

 and, I seriously recommend it to your consi 

 deration, as well as to other persons similarly 

 situated. 



1033. At Botley I lived surrounded by water- 

 mills and wind-mills. There were eight or ten 



