if it be not done in concealment, yet must pass into
concealment--the soil will be laid smoothly in, and thrown over this
stone, and with the walls which we rear into the daylight we in the end
are seldom remembered. The works of the stone-cutter and the carver
remain under the eyes; but for us it is not to complain when the
plasterer blots out the last trace of our hands, and appropriates our
work to himself; when he overlays it, and smooths it, and colors it.

"Not from regard for the opinion of others, but from respect for
himself, the mason will be faithful in his calling. There is none who
has more need to feel in himself the consciousness of what he is. When
the house is finished, when the soil is smoothed, the surface plastered
over, and the outside all overwrought with ornament, he can even
penetrate through all disguises and still recognize those exact and
careful adjustments to which the whole is indebted for its being and for
its persistence.

"But as the man who commits some evil deed has to fear, that,
notwithstanding all precautions, it will one day come to light--so too
must he expect who has done some good thing in secret, that it also, in
spite of himself, will appear in the day; and therefore we make this
foundation-stone at the same time a stone of memorial. Here, in these
various hollows which have been hewn into it, many things are now to be
buried, as a witness to some far-off world--these metal cases
hermetically sealed contain documents in writing; matters of various
note are engraved on these plates; in these fair glass bottles we bury
the best old wine, with a note of the year of its vintage. We have coins
too of many kinds, from the mint of the current year. All this we have
received through the liberality of him for whom we build. There is space
yet remaining, if guest or spectator desires to offer anything to the
after-world!"

After a slight pause the speaker looked round; but, as is commonly the
case on such occasions, no one was prepared; they were all taken by
surprise. At last, a merry-looking young officer set the example, and
said, "If I am to contribute anything which as yet is not to be found in
this treasure-chamber, it shall be a pair of buttons from my uniform--I
don't see why they do not deserve to go down to posterity!" No sooner
said than done, and then a number of persons found something of the
same sort which they could do; the young ladies did not hesitate to
throw in s