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THE NATU11E AND CAUSES OF

make the same computation with regard to all the counsel-lors and students of law in all the different inns of court,and you w ” " ’ ’ ' al gains bear but a very small

proportion m«..i uuuuui ^ A pense, even though you ratethe former as high, and the latter as low, as can well be done.The. lottery of the law, therefore, is very far from being aperfectly fair lottery; and that, as well as many other libera,and honourable professions, is, in point of pecuniary gain,evidently under-recompensed.

Those professions keep their level, however, with otheroccupations, and notwithstanding these discouragements, allthe most generous and liberal spirits are eager to crowd intothem. Two different causes contribute to recommend them.First, the desire of the reputation which attends upon superiorexcellence in any of them ; and, secondly, the natural confi-dence which every man has, more or less, not only in his ownabilities, but in his own good fortune.

To excel in any profession, in which but, few arrive atmediocrity, is the most decisive mark of what is called geniusor superior talents. The public admiration which attendsupon such distinguished abilities, makes always a part oftheir reward; a greater or smaller in proportion as it is higheror lower in degree. It makes a considerable part of that re-ward in the profession of physic ; a still greater, perhaps, inthat of law; in poetry and philosophy, it makes almost thewhole.

There are some very agreeable and beautiful talents, ofwhich the possession commands a certain sort of admiration;but of which the exercise for the sake of gain is considered,whether from reason or prejudice, as a sort of public prosti-tution. The pecuniary recompense, therefore, of those whoexercise them in this manner, must be sufficient,^not only topay for the time, labour, and expense of acquiring the ta-lents, but for the discredit which attends the employment ofthem as the means of subsistence. The exorbitant rewards ofplayers, opera-singers, opera-dancers, &c. are founded uponthose two principles; the rarity and beauty of the talents,and the discredit of employing them in this manner. It seemsabsurd at first sight that we should despise their persons, andyet reward their talents with the most profuse liberality.While we do the one, however, we must of necessity do theother. Should the public opinion or prejudice ever alter withregard to such occupations, their pecuniary recompense