many of us had already struggled too early with adversity, to be much unmanned by the dread of failure; and there were few of us who had not experienced the senseless misdirection of controlling relatives. Some had made a compromise with their families, to claim no more than the small annuity required by the society, provided it were secured to them; others had generously sacrificed a portion of their moderate incomes, to enable friends to embrace the scheme-for the plan and its discussion had excited a considerable enthusiasm of a noble sort among us, and we had drilled our minds and bodies to enter into the spirit of the institution, and to encounter the hardships which might present themselves in its formation. It was habitual with us to rise at six, and undergo a routine of exercises similar to the modern gymnastics, which some of us had practised in Germany. This was thought a necessary preliminary to reception into the society; for it was deemed, that he who could not overcome habitual laziness, was unfit to belong to a co-operating community; and early rising was thought to be the best safeguard against dissipation and profligacy; and it was found, that mental activity was excited, and mental fatigue relieved, by bodily exertion. It tended too, to divert the thoughts from old associations, and to give a tone of manliness to the whole character,-endowing the nervous with courage and moral force, and the gloomy with openness and hilarity. Our mental occupations consisted of conversations conducted with zeal and spirit, on subjects interesting to us all; the examination of Plato's or Xenophon's principles of community,-the feasibility of modern plans of union, such as those of the benevolent Owen and Miss Whitwell,— and generally the constituent principles of civil society. This led into historical disquisitions, and lecturers were appointed among ourselves, to collate different authors, examine their credibility, and impart the results to the society. Dissertations on various subjects were also required, according to his ability, from every member; thus the study of one was made instrumental to the instruction of all. Every effort was made to substitute oral for book information, because it was thought an infinitely more useful practice, both for the intellect and the organs, than silentious reading, particularly where the droning habit had been acquired, in schools and colleges, of slurring over words and sentences with little or no attention to their meaning. But above all, no discipline of mind or body was judged efficient, unless it strengthened and confirmed that moral sense within us all, whose approbation confers outward dignity and inward nobleness upon man; giving independence of thought and action to him who abandons it not to the direction of ignorant or artful teachers, and prostitutes it not to the seductions of vicious and heartless companions.

Our voyage terminated favourably on the third day, and we landed at St. Brelade's, where our companions waited to receive us. We lost no time in gaining our new habitation, where every preparation had been made to celebrate the taking of possession. Part of our furniture was transferred thither the very day of our arrival, and before night the house was tenantable: each had his quarters assigned to him; in the fitting up of which, the zeal of our companions left us

nothing to desire. Neatness and plainness had directed their efforts, and the apartments admirably tallied with the simplicity and durability of the furniture that we had imported. At evening we sat down to a symposium, and quaffed, but not to excess, the choicest wines of France, in commemoration of our occupation: wit and song went round-and we cheered each other with prospects and exhortations, till the pulse of youth was at its fullest tide, and another cup must have made it flow above reason's mark.

The succeeding morning we rose at our ordinary hour, and collected upon the arena which had been selected for athletic feats. It was an elongated plain of about two acres, kept close cropped by sheep; on one side thatched sheds had been erected. Here we pursued our usual course of active exercises, as if no alteration had occurred since our last performance of them. This tended to allay that insatiate curiosity which would have led us to explore our new precincts, and possibly might have induced us to form rash projects, or unfavourable anticipations, at a time when all of us felt that the utmost self-possession was necessary for the ensuing conference. We thence proceeded to the bath, a large reservoir of welling water; and as each member plunged into its crystal bosom, he formed some unbidden vow, suggested by the scene, and the enthusiasm of the moment, that he would not disturb nor pollute the sanctity of his new dwelling by idleness, contention, or vice-and we called the bath," The Fountain of the Oaths."

We adjourned then to our commons-hall, where we breakfasted; and thence to the council-room, where we entered into deliberation, and passed the resolutions which were to govern our immediate conduct. Officers were appointed to control different departments of domestic management; parties were nominated for specific purposes; the hours for labour and study, for meals, rest, and recreation, were fixed on; and it was agreed to meet from day to day in council, until order and method were completely established, and to alter no rule without the consent of two-thirds of the members on the island. Finally, the habitation was proclaimed by the name of Newhome.

I have said that it is not my intention to detail succinctly the proceedings of the brotherhood: it would but show the imperfections of every human project, were I to point out the numberless alterations which we were compelled to make, the sundry little adjustments and anomalies which we were constrained to admit, before we had brought it to its present system, in which it works almost undeviatingly, by the mere force of habit and established rule. With the assistance of a few labourers of the island, we soon had our crops in the ground; and whatever strangeness we at first felt in tilling the land, custom and duty soon reconciled us to that first labour imposed upon man. We drew examples from the old heroes of Rome, and thought upon those

who

With whom compared our insect tribes
Are but the beings of a summer's day;

Have held

The plough, and greatly independent lived.

And we endeavoured to emulate their spirit, at least in such works as were not too drudging or laborious. For these last we procured farm-servants on the island at moderate wages. But gardening, in all its varieties, formed a main part of our occupation; and auxiliary lectures were appointed to be given by one who had qualified himself by reading the choicest works, to lay down such instructions as were suitable to the season and climate; and under him the practical superintendants ordered their improvements, whether in the hothouse, the grapery, the orchard, the kitchen-garden, the parterre, the lawns, or hedge-rows. Originally every one of us contributed a portion of his labour daily to the improvement of the grounds; but now it is found that one-third of the society is sufficient to keep them in good order: unless at seasons of hurry and difficulty, such as haymaking, harvest, and apple-gathering for the cyder-press-then all who are present lend a hand, dressed in the working uniform of the society. There are always intermittent seasons of festivity and merrymaking. On ordinary occasions, those whose turn it is to attend the out-door business of the farm, receive their directions over night, and do not join the rest in their games and diversions next morning, but proceed to their allotted task, never more than a six-hours' job, on the completion of which they may return to their companions. If the work is reported to be unfinished or ill-done, no further penalty is imposed upon the transgressor, than an injunction to return and rectify his omission next day. This effectually guards against slovenly labour; but it has seldom been required to enforce any of the observances of the institution; for each member finds his comforts dependent upon the general good, and knows very well, that he enjoys infinitely more blessings at less trouble and expense in the lap of this society, than if he were thrown an isolated struggler upon the world. As to our domestic arrangements, they are under the charge of comptroller and purveyor, elected at intervals; these, assisted by a housekeeper, cook, and a few other domestics, regulate our household.

In the spring of the year we enlarged our dwelling by out-houses, containing apartments for visitors, besides closets and libraries for the literary members. We added to our offices a painting and sculpture room, a laboratory and workshop, in which those who were inclined to the fine arts, chemistry, or mechanism, might pursue their studies. These and other scientific subjects were not only canvassed familiarly in our meetings, but short histories and explanations of recent discoveries were occasionally directed to be given by their respective professors among us. We were not ashamed to assist in the erection of our own buildings. Many of us were seen, girt with our aprons, on the scaffolding of the building with plummet and trowel, aiding the hired mason in his work; some shaped coigne-stones, others adapted timbers for the roof; few were idle, and none from a frivolous notion that it was infrà dignitatem. We had abjured the silly vanity of aristocratic pride; ridicule lost its sway over us, once we had resolved to obey reason and nature, preferably to conventional modes of thinking. We had long adopted it as a maxim, that he who contributes not a share of his labour to the general good, is a freebooter upon society; and that there is a correcting dispensation in Pro

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vidence, that forbids him to enjoy, in its true sense, what he has not
earned-in short, that he must miss happiness were the world's wealth
at his feet. It was in this spirit that many among us, whose pecuniary
means would have enabled them to employ substitutes, refused to
resort to such compromising expedients; and that those who would
gladly have been excused, on the score of exerting their talents in
sedentary pursuits, also disdained unnecessarily to evade the social
compact by indolent subterfuges. The notion was not admitted

amongst us, that labour and thinking were two separate and incom-
patible offices; on the contrary, the alternation of each was thought
good, both for bodily and mental vigour; and unquestionably it has
proved productive of more common leisure and individual comfort,
than if the community had consisted of two classes of slaves, the one
overburdened with corporeal, the other with intellectual toils.

In the third year of our establishment we constructed a theatre for our lectures; around the walls and galleries of which we formed cases and compartments for such objects of natural history as composed the museum of the society. The whole was surmounted by a dome, the chamber of which made a rude observatory for astronomical purposes. A wilderness of intermingled trees, creepers, and underwood, darkens the northern side of the hill on which this simple structure is raised; the labyrinth gradually loses its wildness in rows of finer and finer shrubs, till, in the meridian aspect, the mount becomes enriched with the rarest plants and exotics.

The same year we purchased a small vessel, or corsaire, which had been used as a privateer by the hardy marines of St. Aubin's; in this, under the command of a member who had been an officer in the navy, we all took our turns, till we became expert mariners, hardened to the sea, and acquainted with all the neighbouring coasts. It not only served us as a fishing smack, but enabled us to take voyages of pleasure to the coasts of France, and fowling parties to some of the little rocks of the Cesarean Isles, on which woodcocks, barnacles, and other migratory fowl alight, and where no game-laws impede the pleasure of the sportsman. A few hours took us to Normandy; and St. Maloes became our market for several commodities which could be had cheaper there than in St. Helier's, or the other towns of the islands. Two of our brethren have been occasionally furnished by the society with the means of travelling into countries, the language of which they had learned from natives admitted into the institution. On such occasions they were usually disembarked on some part of the French coast, and thence, as pedestrians, have found their way into Spain, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland, reaping information every foot of the road, and consulting the interests of the society by purchases, not only of pure wines, but of manufactures and mechanical inventions; and by transmission of specimens of botany and mineralogy to Newhome. The voyagers often send us home letters, which are read with delight by the assembled inmates; they also at times bring back estimable strangers, whose conversation and accomplishments instruct and enchant the little republic. It is thus that the poetry and music of Germany and Italy have been naturalized among us. Our walls are hung with pictures touched by foreigu masters.

Our

porticoes abound with statues moulded in Florence and Vienna. The arts flourish here, unseared by professional devotion and taste-withering anxieties. The future does not engulph imagination in cares and ambitious dreams, but leaves it at liberty to explore whatever is beauteous or sublime in surrounding nature, or in ancient monuments. The use of arms is familiar to the community, who know that the arts and blessings of peace depend upon the warlike virtues; and who, as citizens of the state, may one day be called upon to protect the country in which they pride themselves, and in which they enjoy such manifold rights: regular days are appointed for drill, platoon exercise, and horsemanship, at which officers who have served in war generally preside. The boast of the institution is, to render every one of its members a benefactor to all the rest; to excite and foster emulation in as many useful arts of life as possible, that every one may excel in some one branch. This is the only division of labourthat each member being pre-eminent in some particular art or science, may confer the benefit of his acquirements upon the whole community. We have almost as many professors as members: and such is the diversity of human genius, when free to choose its own direction, that scarce two individuals manifest the same leading talent. The only professorships which we repudiate are those of ethics, philosophy, and divinity, from a persuasion that herein none of us can profitably take our guidance from another, but that we are all equally bound to be perfect in the knowledge of our duties, and to habituate ourselves to receive them from a higher source than nominated instructors. Oratory is not cultivated as a separate art; but is either a habit acquired by freedom and fearlessness of speech, or a spontaneous effusion springing from enthusiasm and the consciousness of virtue. Poetry, however, has its honours amongst us; for we hold it, to conjoin art and skill, with genius and feeling; to be something more than music and painting combined.

One half of our quæstors in London are replaced monthly, unless when it becomes necessary for any one to exceed that limited time for a specific object, such as medical study or tasteful pursuit. Most of our financial concerns are entrusted to their management, the investment of capital, the purchase of commodities, and the disposal of the productions of the Newhomians, whether literary, artistical, or mechanical. By good faith and management the funds of the society are in a flourishing condition; every member too has a thorough insight into our dealings, and is become, in a degree, conversant with mercantile transactions.

It may be thought exaggeration, that so small a sum as sixty pounds should be adequate to ensure all these advantages. But it must be considered, that all articles of consumption are laid in at wholesale price, or purchased for ready money in markets where they can be bought cheapest. Able workmen, supported by the institution, make up our clothing, without respect to fashion or extravagance. Every thing is of the best quality, and consequently elegant. Our diet is neither sparing nor luxurious, consisting of the best provisions purchasable in the cheap markets of St. Helier's or St. Maloe's. We bake, brew, and churn, at home. From the peculiar circumstances of the