is for ever mounting dragons he cannot ride. If I shake him from my
skirts to-day, he will to-morrow meet me upon the highway, and
charge me with ingratitude. Dancing-girls and politicians beset me
on all sides, reminding me that, without them, the world would go to
ruin. Political parsons and milliners daily make war upon me. And
singing women, and critics who herald their virtues for pennies,
threaten to plunder me of my glories. And, though I am not a vain
dame, many of these think me as cheaply bought as their own praise.

"I would not have you mourn over the age of poetry and oratory, for
that also is of the past. You must not forget that it is become
fashionable for men to give themselves to the getting of gold, which
they pursue with an avidity I fear will end in the devil getting all
their souls. You, son of a fisherman, shall be the object of my
solicitude. Go out upon the world; be just to all, nor withhold your
generosity from those who are worthy of it. Be sure, too, that you
make the objects of your pursuit in all cases square with justice.
Let your purposes be unvarying, nor be presumptuous to your equals.
Beware lest you fall into the company of boisterous talking and
strong drinking men, such as aspire to the control of the nation at
this day; and, though they may not have been many months in the
country, kindly condescend to teach us how to live. Also let those
who most busy themselves with making presidents for us keep other
company than yours, for their trade is a snare many a good man has
been caught in to his sorrow."

And Fame, I thought, continued discoursing to me in this manner
until I reached the cabin of my father, when she bid me good night
and departed. I entered the cabin and found my father, who was bent
with age, sitting by the great fire-place, mending his nets. My