every other kind of machinery with which they were acquainted, and the actual uses to which each particular part was applied being no longer observable, they also were defeated in their attempts. Most people had at last come to regard each of the edifices and all its contents as a single large storehouse occupied by a single tenant; but a few, particularly of those who, had peeped in at the windows while business was going on, insisted that, in fact, each building was subdivided into a variety of parts, each inhabited by a partner, who carried on a distinct branch of business for the general behoof. But it remained for Gall the German to put their real nature beyond a doubt; and he succeeded where others had failed, only because, instead of contenting himself with looking in at the window of occupied tenements, or with inspecting forsaken ones, he persevered in his entreaties till he was let in at the door, and had an opportunity of seeing with his own senses the kind of use to which every individual part of the machinery was applied.

Gall, Mr Editor, was a very curious and a very reflecting man, and he made his discovery in a very curious manner. Being placed by accident in the immediate vicinity of one of the communities, he was often made to suffer from the pertinacious loquacity of a voluble little man, with very big eyes, and who was never amissing from his station under the porch in front of the edifice, where he seemed ever on the watch for a new victim on whom to inflict his ceaseless prattle. Cu-. riosity prompted Gall to enter into conversation with him, and to inquire how it happened that he was always at the door, apparently idling away his time to no purpose. His little friend told him that this was a sad mistake, and that he was there in discharge of the important duty of interpreter and speaker for the whole establishment, (not a speaker, like he of the House of Commons, a non loquendo ;) and that, besides, he assisted the secretary in reading the correspondence and in the composing of his letters, neither of which the secretary could accomplish without him, whether from nature

or from habit he was uncertain, as it was not within his province, but belonged to another member to think. He farther added, that not one member of the whole community could either speak, write, or read, a single word without him, however trivial and schoolboy-like such accomplishments might seem to be; and that he, in executing all these multifarious functions, discharged his share of the duties, and consequently was entitled to and received an equal share in all the comforts which the community could command. He also informed Dr Gall, that in these establishments every member, on the true principle of a division of labour, was intrusted with a particular department of business, and was answerable for its proper execution, and that every thing being thus regulated, and each having his own lodging fitted up expressly for himself, and adapted to the nature of his employment, it was astonishing how successfully business went on.

Gall was at first greatly surprised at this information, and was long doubtful of its truth; but having kept up his acquaintance, he at last prevailed upon his little friend to introduce him to some of the other inmates, that he might have an opportunity of observing how the system worked; and then, to be sure, he saw between twenty and thirty members, each installed in a lodging of his own, occupied exclusively in his own peculiar business, but contributing his share to the common good.

Scarcely had Gall satisfied his curiosity by gaining admittance to one building, than a strong desire to inspect a great many more all at once seized upon his mind; and, in looking around him, he was amazed to observe that he had actually been living in the midst of them, without ever suspecting what was going on within. The other buildings, to be sure, varied in size, in convenience, and in furniture, but were all erected on the same general plan, and with the same number of apartments and of tenants; and it now appeared that it was their very number and similarity that had hitherto prevented their true government from being inquired into.

Thus, the first person that he came into contact with, in approaching all of them, was always the little big-eyed interpreter seated under the porch in front; and what struck him as very remarkable was, observing that his little friend's fluency and volubility of utterance was exactly proportioned to the size and accommodation of his apartment. At first he was surprised to meet with some of those gentlemen, whose monosyllabic answers and dearth of words seemed to indicate almost an absence of the power of speech; but he soon gathered from them, and, indeed, saw with his own eyes, that this arose from their own diminutive stature, and from the scanty furniture and narrow limits of the lodge putting copiousness'entirely out of their power. And it was this observation that, pursued farther, ultimately led him to remark, that the capabilities and efficiency of all the members were exactly proportioned to the extent of their accommodation; and, after a great deal of trouble, and time expended in visiting an immense multitude of communities, he ascertained, that although all were occupied by the same number of individuals, intrusted with the same functions, and domiciled in the same apartments, yet immense differences were to be met with in regard to the extent of accommodation possessed by each; and thus it appeared, that all were not carried on with equal success or with perfect harmony, as will afterwards be more fully explained.

In many other respects, too, these communities were found by Gall to differ from those patronized by Mr Owen. Mr Owen's, as you, Mr Editor, well know, are intended for two or three thousand members; but those seen by Gall, and which abound in the world, are on a much smaller scale, none of them containing more than from thirty to forty individuals, although he was informed that a few of the members had escaped his notice, and had been confounded by him with others with whom they were in the habit of associating. Mr Owen, being fond of straight lines and sharp corners, places his societies, as you know, in stiff parallelograms.

Those described by Gall are placed in edifices of a very different shape and construction. With a little variety of form, most of them are of an irregular oval oblong shape, of unequal height and breadth, but many of them exquisitely proportioned, and of beautiful elevations. Indeed, some of the finer specimens are so inimitably beautiful as to seem fitter for the abodes of immaterial spirits than of beings of an earthly form; and from this circumstance we find one of them denominated "the palace of the soul" by a late great poet, who saw it to infinite disadvantage, after it was abandoned by its inhabitants as unfit for use.

When Gall began to visit these communities, with the view of ascertaining the number of their inhabitants, their occupations, and general economy, he was very often repulsed by a very grave, timid, croaking, dismal-looking fellow, and a smooth-faced, twinkling, sly person, who were urgent for his exclusion. The former sounded fear and alarm till the very walls shook; and the latter insisted that nobody should see their secret, and thus be enabled to lay plots against them. But as the one had shown himself a coward, even when no danger existed, and the other had often shown more duplicity than veracity, their objections were generally overruled, and Gall was admitted; and the only assistance he then required was to guard himself against being misled by the lies and mystery in which his disappointed enemy endeavoured to envelope every transaction. But in this also, thanks to a very upright and honest member living in another apartment, he completely succeeded.

Gall soon found, that in these, as in other well-regulated communities, each member was accommodated with a couple of apartments, one on each side of the building, and that, to prevent mistakes, each had his own number on both of his doors. Those, however, who reside in the central part have their apartments so close to each other that one large folding door served for both, and one number was all that was required. This idea of numbering the residence of the mem

bers is convenient in more respects than one; for, as the existence of these communities was first discovered in a foreign country, many of the members still retain the long and uncouth foreign-like names and titles which were at first attached to them; and hence, to avoid circumlocution, it often happens that the individual occupant is spoken of numerically, instead of nominally. Thus, the dignified president of the Society is often styled simply No 10, his residence being at No 10 in the building. Again, that grave, long-faced, apprehensive-looking person, Mons. de la Circonspection, is known to every one as No 12, and never takes this numerical designation at all amiss. This your readers will at once recognize to be the plan practised at inns. The unknown gentleman sleeps in bed-room No 9 for instance, and, on asking for his bill, he finds, " No 9.-Dinner, 5s., Claret, 10s. 6d.," &c. &c., which he pays, and leaves the house as mysteriously as he entered it.

The most delightful thing observable in the domestic economy of these communities is the strict impartiality which regulates the distribution and furniture of the different apartments, the size, situation, and splendour of each being admirably proportioned to the wants of the occupant and to the extent and importance of the duties with which he is intrusted. Here, for instance, as in all well-regulated communities, those who have the charge of the household arrangements, and perform the coarser work, and attend to the eating and drinking departments, and take care of the children, are domiciled on the sunk floor or base of the building, while those who superintend the moral, religious, and intellectual welfare of the flock occupy the higher apartments in front and on the upper floors. A few, indeed, there are, whose office is almost a sinecure, but who, nevertheless, are useful enough in their own way, and whose constant watchfulness and occasional assistance are quite indispensable to the comfort and success of the establishment. These occupy the lower rooms in front, at Nos 20, 21, 22, 28, &c., where, it