ttain a reputation for piety, they become idle.

Aristocracy and fanaticism seem equally to be gaining ground in England,
particularly in the place I have mentioned; I saw very little of either
in Norway. The people are regular in their attendance on public worship,
but religion does not interfere with their employments.

As the farmers cut away the wood they clear the ground. Every year,
therefore, the country is becoming fitter to support the inhabitants.
Half a century ago the Dutch, I am told, only paid for the cutting down
of the wood, and the farmers were glad to get rid of it without giving
themselves any trouble. At present they form a just estimate of its
value; nay, I was surprised to find even firewood so dear when it appears
to be in such plenty. The destruction, or gradual reduction, of their
forests will probably ameliorate the climate, and their manners will
naturally improve in the same ratio as industry requires ingenuity. It
is very fortunate that men are a long time but just above the brute
creation, or the greater part of the earth would never have been rendered
habitable, because it is the patient labour of men, who are only seeking
for a subsistence, which produces whatever embellishes existence,
affording leisure for the cultivation of the arts and sciences that lift
man so far above his first state. I never, my friend, thought so deeply
of the advantages obtained by human industry as since I have been in
Norway. The world requires, I see, the hand of man to perfect it, and as
this task naturally unfolds the faculties he exercises, it is physically
impossible that he should have remained in Rousseau's golden age of
stupidity. And, considering the question of human happiness, where, oh
where does it reside? Has it taken up its abode with unconscious
ignorance or with the high-wrought mind? Is it the offspring of
thoughtless animal spirits or the dye of fancy continually flitting round
the expected pleasure?

The increasing population of the earth must necessarily tend to its
improvement, as the means of existence are multiplied by invention.

You have probably made similar reflections in America, where the face of
the country, I suppose, resembles the wilds of Norway. I am delighted
with the romantic views I daily contemplate, animated by the purest air;
and I am interested by the simplicity of manners which reigns around me.
Still nothing so soon wearies out the feelings as unmarked s