ECONOMY. 
77 
labor; but bis employer, who speculates from month to 
month, has no respite from one end of the year to the 
other. 
- In short, I am convinced, both by faith and experi¬ 
ence, that to maintain one’s self on this earth is not a 
hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and 
wisely; as the pursuits of the simpler nations are still 
the sports of the more artificial. It is not necessary 
that a man should earn his living by the sweat of his 
brow, unless he sweats easier than I do. 
One young man of my acquaintance, who has in¬ 
herited some acres, told me that he thought he should 
live as I did, if he had the means . I would not have 
any one adopt my mode of living on any account; for, 
beside that before he has fairly learned it I may have 
found out another for myself, I desire that there may be 
as many different persons in the world as possible; but 
I would have each one be very careful to find out and 
pursue his own way, and not his father’s or his mother’s 
or his neighbor’s instead. The youth may build or 
plant or sail, only let him not be hindered from doing 
that which he tells me he would like to do. It is by a 
mathematical point only that we are wise, as the sailor 
or the fugitive slave keeps the polestar in his eye; but 
that is sufficient guidance for all our life. We may not 
arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we 
would preserve the true course. 
Undoubtedly, in this case, what is true for one is 
truer still for a thousand, as a large house is not pro¬ 
portionally more expensive than a small one, since one 
roof may cover, one cellar underlie, and one wall sep¬ 
arate several apartments. But for my part, I pre¬ 
ferred the solitary dwelling. Moreover* it will com- 
