There are some trades which are held by popular sentiment in disrespect, as requiring less manly qualities, or as subjecting their followers to menial services; such are those of barbers and tailors. The profits of their labor, which is comparatively light, are enhanced by these disparaging circumstances. On the other hand, the occupation of a soldier, which is often one of toil, and always one of danger, has commonly but a small pecuniary reward; but the honor and glory associated with this employment constitute a part of its remuneration.

The small compensation which clerical men often receive arises partly from the high respect in which their profession is held, and partly from the influence which it gives to clergymen over the minds of so many of their respective congregations. A similar regard to honor and power often induces a lawyer to accept the office of a judge, with a salary of less than half of his former professional gains, though the lighter labors of his new occupation may have also exerted some influence. We see the same principle operating on militia offices, in which there is generally not only no emolument received, but a certain expense incurred, in the purchase of an uniform, epaulettes, and other trappings of office.

In countries in which there is a privileged class, the honor of belonging to it is deemed a very high reward. The rank of a peer, in monarchial countries, and even that which is merely personal, as the post of a knight of the garter, are by many estimated beyond a large pecuniary pension. James II. raised a considerable sum of money by appealing to this desire of distinction in the sale of baronetcies. The sum paid for the honor was about $5000 - equivalent, in the scale of wealth, to more than $10,000 at the present day.

Some occupations receive higher rewards in consequence of the dangers to which they are exposed. Thus those who work in mines, from the dreadful explosions that there occasionally occur, receive high wages. So do those who are employed in working steam-engines. The compensation to ordinary seamen would also be augmented by its dangers as well as its hardships, if their occupation were not attractive to the young and adventurous by reason of those very dangers; and if it were not afterwards pursued by the force of habit, and because the seafaring life in a great measure unfits its followers for other employments.

Thirdly. The moral qualities required for the competent discharge of some employments have an influence on their compensation. Wherever integrity is essential to the faithful exercise of their duties, the remuneration is proportionally high. Hence the liberal pay which is given to public functionaries, according to their responsibility, and the confidence reposed in them. So of those who are entrusted with the safekeeping of money. The frequent instances which have occurred in our country of abuses of such trusts, by bank-officers and others, seems to show that the rewards paid to honesty have been below the standard which justice and policy would prescribe.*

The effect of moral qualities in raising the pay of services which confer no special honor, is seen in the remuneration received by superintendents and overseers. As the value of their services depends mainly on an unremitting circumspection, and a close as well as honest attention to little things, which qualities are found by experience to be rare, they are proportionally well rewarded; and one overseer of a plantation or farm can as easily obtain a salary of $800, or even $1000, as another can obtain one of $200.

Fourthly. The irregularity or unsteadiness of an employment tends to raise its remuneration. When a trade can be carried on only at particular seasons, its wages must be sufficient to compensate for the time unemployed. Thus a bricklayer, or plasterer, who cannot work in very cold weather, must have higher wages than a carpenter, who can work at all seasons. Hence, their pay, which may be different by the day, may be the same in the year. The labors of some professional men are doubtless better rewarded for the time they are unemployed. The same circumstances increase the remuneration of undertakers, musicians, and of all whose services are required only on rare occasions.

* It was a memorable saying of a former Treasurer of Virginia, on resigning his office, that "he trusted he had quitted it with clean hands, as he certainly did with empty ones." He was indeed of unimpeachable integrity, but his last remark took away much of the merit claimed by the first, since it is only full hands which, on such occasions, are likely to be soiled.

Fifthly. The probability or improbability of success in an employment has a proportional effect on its rewards. In some trades, which at once minister to the ordinary wants of mankind, and are of easy acquisition, an ordinary degree of industry is certain to be successful. But where they minister to the wants of only a few, or require peculiar talents, failure is more common than success, and the rewards of the small number who are successful are the greater from the diminution of the competitors. Hence the high remuneration which is occasionally received by some lawyers, physicians, and surgeons. The prizes which they have drawn in the lottery of life may be nearly equal to the losses of those who have failed.

But they are probably never quite equal. It has been observed that the uncertainty of success in any sort of business or employment, though it does enhance its remuneration in the way just mentioned, commonly does so to a less extent than that to which it seems to be justly entitled. The reason is that the occasional high rewards - like high prizes which have been drawn in lotteries - have more effect in attracting competitors than the failures have in lessening their number. The extraordinary gains now and then made in a new branch of commerce, are sure to be followed by others with a reckless eagerness which often terminates in bankruptcy and ruin. The large income obtained by one lawyer or physician out of fifty, is thus a main cause of these professions being so over-stocked.