Saint-Simon thought it necessary to add an experimental training to his theoretical one in order to prepare himself for his mission, and accomplished this by living every kind of life, from that of the wealthy entertainer of savants to one of poverty and dissipation. While this attempt to pass through all the experiences and feelings of a lifetime in a few years was not altogether unsuccessful, it was unfortunate in making him prematurely old. Saint-Simon began his career as an author and social reformer at the age of forty-three, in 1803, and never abandoned it until his death in 1825. His life was a sad one. His property was soon gone, and he often worked at his system while suffering the direst want, but he was sustained by the spirit of the martyr. Saint-Simon endeavored to bring to pass the happy future which he believed possible for the human race. “The imagination of poets,” said he, “has placed the golden age at the cradle of the human race, amidst the ignorance and grossness of the earliest times. It had been better to relegate the iron age to that period. The golden age of humanity is not behind us; it is to come, and will be found in the perfection of the social order. Our fathers have not seen it; our children will one day behold it. It is our duty to prepare the way for them.” Saint-Simon had thus devoted his life to a cause which he held sacred, and he pursued it through fortune and misfortune, through good report and through evil report. For a time he occupied the position of copyist at a salary of $200 per annum; a strange place for a scion of one of the proudest families of France. He copied nine hours a day, and robbed himself of sleep in order to develop his philosophical and social system. His health had begun to fail him, when he was relieved from his deplorable situation by the kindness of a man who had been his valet in brighter days. This servant, one of the few who never lost faith in Saint-Simon, supported him, and assisted him in the publication of his works. The death in 1810 of the former valet, Diard by name, again left Saint-Simon in a wretched state, but he continued his labors, and wrote two works, entitled “Sur la Science de l’Homme” and “Sur la Gravitation Universelle.” As he had no means of printing them, he sent them in manuscript to various scientists and other prominent men, with the following letter: