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shuttle. The hand is not more necessary to execute than the head to contrive. Some very valuable discoveries have no doubt been the result of accident; while others have naturally grown out of the progress of society, without being materially advanced by the efforts of any single individual. These, however, have not been their only, nor, perhaps, their most copious sources; and every one, how little soever he may be acquainted with the history of his species, is aware that we are indebted to the labour of the mind, to patient study and long-continued research, for numberless inventions, some of which have made almost incalculable additions to our powers, and changed, indeed, the whole aspect and condition of society.

CHAPTER II.

Progressive Nature of Man― Means by which the Productive Powers of Labour are increased.—SECTION I. Right of Property.-SECTION II. Division of Employments. -SECTION III. Accumulation and Employment of Capital-Definition and Source of Profit-Circumstances most favourable for the Accumulation of Capital.

It is the proud distinction of the human race, that their conduct is determined by reason, which, though limited and fallible, is susceptible of indefinite improvement. In the infancy of society, indeed, being destitute of that knowledge which is the result of long experience and study, without that dexterity which is the effect of practice, and without the guidance of those instincts which direct other animals, man seems to occupy one of the lowest places in the scale of being. But the faculties of most animals come rapidly to maturity, and admit of no further increase or diminution; whereas, the human species is naturally progressive. In addition to the necessity which obliges man to exert himself to provide subsistence, he is, almost uniformly, actuated by a wish to improve his condition; and he is endowed with sagacity adequate to devise the means of gratifying this desire. By slow degrees, partly by the aid of observation, and partly by contrivances of his own, he gradually learns to augment his powers, and to acquire an increased command over the necessaries, conveniencies, and enjoyments of human life. Without the unerring instinct of the ant, the bee, or the beaver, he becomes, from a perception of their advantage, the greatest storemaster and builder in the world; and without the strength of the elephant, the swiftness of the hound, or the ferocity of the tiger, he subjects every animal to his power. Having felt the advantages resulting from improved

accommodations, he becomes more desirous to extend them. The attainment of that which seemed, at the commencement of the undertaking, to be an object beyond which his wishes could not expand, becomes an incentive to new efforts. "Man never is, but always to be blessed." The gratification of a want or desire is merely a step to some new pursuit. In every stage of his progress, he is destined to contrive and invent, to engage in new undertakings, and, when these are accomplished, to enter with fresh energy upon others. "Even after he has attained to what, at a distance, appeared to be the summit of his fortune, he is in reality only come to a point at which new objects are presented to entice his pursuits, and towards which he is urged with the spurs of ambition, while those of necessity are no longer applied. Or, if the desire of any thing better than the present should at any time cease to operate on his mind, he becomes listless and negligent, loses the advantages he had gained, whether of possession or skill, and declines in his fortune, till a sense of his own defects and his sufferings restore his industry."1

It has been said that nations, like individuals, have their periods of infancy, maturity, decline, and death. But though the comparison strikes at first, and history affords many apparent instances of its truth, it is, notwithstanding, inapplicable. The human body is of frail contexture and limited duration; but nations are perpetually renovated; the place of those who die is immediately filled up by others, who, having succeeded to the arts, sciences, and wealth of those by whom they were preceded, start with unprecedented advantages in their career. It is plain, therefore, that if the principle of improvement were not countervailed by hostile aggression, vicious institutions, or some other adventitious circumstance, it would always operate, and would secure the constant advancement of nations.

Powerful, however, as is the passion to rise-to ascend still higher in the scale of society-the advance of the arts

'Ferguson's "Principles of Moral and Political Science," vol. i. p. 56.

has not been left wholly to depend on its agency. Had such been the case, it is reasonable to suppose that the earlier inventions and discoveries would, by rendering others of comparatively less importance, have slackened the progress of civilization. But in the actual state of things, no such relaxation can ever take place. The principle of increase implanted in the human race is so very powerful, that population never fails of speedily expanding to the limits of subsistence, how much soever they may be extended. Indeed, its natural tendency is to exceed these limits, or to increase the number of people faster than the supplies of food and other necessary accommodations provided for their support. This tendency, as will be afterwards shown, is, in civilized societies, checked and regulated by the prudential considerations to which the difficulty of bringing up a family necessarily gives rise. But, despite their influence, the principle of increase is at all times, and under every variety of circumstances, so very strong as to call forth unceasing efforts to increase the means of subsistence. It forms, in fact, a constantly operating principle to rouse the activity and stimulate the industry of man. The most splendid inventions and discoveries do not enable him to intermit his efforts;—if he did, the increase of population would speedily change his condition for the worse, and he would be compelled either to sink to a lower station, or to atone for his indolence by renewed and more vigorous exertions. The continued progress of industry and the arts is thus secured by a double principle: man is not merely anxious to advance; he dares not, without manifest injury to himself, venture to stand still. But, because such is our lot, because we are constantly seeking an imaginary repose and felicity we are never destined to realize, are we, therefore, as some have done, to arraign the wisdom of Providence? Far from it. In the words of the able and eloquent philosopher to whom we have just referred, "We ought always to remember that these labours and exertions are themselves of principal value, and to be reckoned amongst the foremost blessings to

which human nature is competent; that mere industry is a blessing apart from the wealth it procures; and that the exercises of a cultivated mind, though considered as means for the attainment of an external end, are themselves of more value than any such end whatever."1

In tracing the progress of mankind from poverty and barbarism to wealth and civilization, there are three circumstances, the vast importance of which must strike even the most careless observer; and without whose conjoined existence and co-operation, labour could not have become considerably productive, nor society made any perceptible progress. The first is the establishment of a right of property, or the securing to every individual the quiet enjoyment of his natural powers, and of the products, lands, and talents he may have inherited or acquired by labour or industry. The second is the introduction of exchange or barter, and the consequent appropriation of particular individuals to particular employments. And the third is the accumulation and employment of the produce of labour, or, as it is more commonly termed, of capital, or stock. All the improvements that ever have been, or ever can be made, in the art of producing necessaries, comforts, and conveniencies, may be classed under one or other of these three heads. It is, therefore, indispensable that principles so important, and which lie at the very bottom of the science, should be well understood.

SECT. I.-RIGHT of PROPERTY.

It would occupy the reader's time to no good purpose were we to state the different theories that have been advanced by jurists, and writers on public law, to account for the origin of the right of property. This, indeed, appears to be sufficiently obvious. All the rude products furnished by nature have to be appropriated; and, as already seen, not one in a thousand, perhaps, of these products is, in its natural

1 Ferguson's "Principles of Moral and Political Science," vol. i. p. 250..

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