we progress, the more we comprehend that the man who works is the true nobleman and that he who does nothing is a man whom we have much to forgive, however rich he may be. In the United States, the man who does nothing is considered an enemy of society. Mothers protect their daughters from him and all sensible people withhold their respect from him. That he who does nothing will end by doing evil is the right conclusion of the Americans.” No small part of Washington’s work consisted in regulating the labor of his servants, overseeing them, and disposing the right forces in the proper places. As we have said, he was as anxious to keep his slaves from being overworked as he was to keep them from idleness. In his diaries we find notes of how he managed to preserve the balance. He noted exactly how much this or that piece of work progressed in a given time and made a plan for the day’s work in accordance with this observation. Of course he took into consideration the delays which are inevitable under certain conditions. The best of all was that he often lent a hand himself. One great feature of the evil which slavery brought into the world consisted in the feeling which grew up among the masters that any form of farm work or manual labor was degrading. As the slaves had to do all of this “degrading work,” they felt that they were under a curse. These were the common views of antiquity, and during slavery times in the American colonies they began to acquire a fresh hold. It is somewhat of a question whether even now more sensible opinions prevail among those who call themselves aristocrats. At Mount Vernon the slaves often saw their master at work in the garden or in the fields. At one time he spent several days in the smithy with his negroes, fashioning a new plough of his own invention. The work was carried out to his satisfaction, and thereupon the negroes saw him set to work ploughing up a new piece of meadow land. One of his mills was in danger of being destroyed by a flood. In a pouring rain he marched out at the head of his servants and helped to do the work which was needful in order to save the building.