cloth, and forge more iron, without any direct reference to his moral and intellectual improvement?

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If a person unaided by animal or mechanical power had wished to travel from Manchester to Liverpool, a distance of thirty miles, he would have been under the necessity of devoting ten or twelve hours of time and considerable muscular energy to the task. When roads and carriages were constructed, and horses were trained, he could, by their assistance, have accomplished the same journey in four hours with little fatigue; and now, when railways and steam-engines have been successfully completed, he may travel that distance without any bodily fatigue whatever in an hour; and I ask, For what purpose has Providence bestowed on him the nine or ten hours of spare time which are thus set free? I humbly answer, That he may be enabled to cultivate his moral, intellectual, and religious. faculties.

When mechanical inventions shall be generally diffused over the world, they will increase the powers of production to such an extent as to supply, by moderate labour, every want of Man; and then the great body of the people will find themselves in possession of reasonable leisure, in spite of every exertion to avoid it. Great misery will probably be suffered from persevering in the present course of action before their eyes shall be opened to this result. The first effect of these stupendous inventions threatens to be to accumulate wealth in the hands of a few, without proportionally abridging the toil or adding to the comforts of the many. This process of elevating a part of the community to affluence and power, and degrading the rest, threatens to proceed till the disparity of condition_shall become intolerable to both, the labourer being utterly oppressed, and the higher classes harassed by insecurity. Then, probably, it may be recognised that the real benefit of physical discovery is to give leisure to the mass of the people, which is the first requisite of true civilisation, knowfedge being the second. The science of human nature will enable men at length to profit by exemption from excessive toil; and it may be hoped that in the course of time sincere attempts will be made to render all ranks prosperous and happy, by institutions formed in harmony with all the faculties of Man, and with the order of God's providence on earth.

The same means will lead to the realisation of practical

Christianity. A man whose active existence is engrossed by mere bodily labour, or by the pursuits of gain or ambition, lives under the predominance of faculties that do not produce the perfect Christian character. The true practical Christian possesses a vigorous and enlightened intellect, and moral affections glowing with gratitude to God and love to Man; but how can the people at large be enabled to attain this condition of mind if stimulus for the intellect and the nobler sentiments be excluded by the daily routine of their occupations?

The objection has been stated that even in the most improved condition of the mass of the people there will still be found a considerable proportion of them so deficient in talent, so incapable of improvement, and so ignorant, that their labour will be worth little-and as they must obtain subsistence, no alternative will be left to them but to compensate their deficiency in skill by protracted exertion; and that hence their long-continued labour, furnished at a cheap rate, will affect all the classes above them, and indeed prevent the views now advocated from ever being realised.

This objection resolves itself into the proposition, That the people have been destined by the Creator to be labouring animals, and that, from their inherent mental defects, they are incapable generally of being raised to any more honourable station: which is just the great_point at issue between the old and the new philosophy. If mankind at large (for the industrious classes constitute so very great a majority of the race, that I may be allowed to speak of them as the whole) had been intended to be mere hewers of wood and drawers of water, I do not believe that the moral and intellectual faculties, which they unquestionably possess, would have been bestowed on them; and as they do enjoy the rudiments of all the feelings and capacities which adorn the highest of men, and as these faculties are improvable, I cannot subscribe to the doctrine of their permanent incapacity.

The great cause of the stolidity of a portion of the people is their want of mental training and instruction in childhood. The mind acts by means of the brain, and the brain is subject to all the laws of physiology. An untrained and uneducated man is one whose moral and intellectual organs are incapable of vigorous action through disuse, just as his legs would have been if he had never been permitted to walk. He is not only ignorant but he is dull stupid, and incapable

of spontaneous reflection and persevering action in pursuit of a distant good. I speak, of course, only of average men; for individuals appear who are naturally so energetic that they educate themselves. The incapacity of the former may be removed by early training.

I consider the operatives to be capable of learning, in the course of successive generations, to act as rational beings; and I believe that whenever the great majority of them shall have acquired a sense of the true dignity of their nature, and a relish for the enjoyments afforded by the exercise of their higher powers, they will so regulate the supply of labour in reference to the demand as to obtain the means of subsistence in return for moderate exertion. When the natural laws shall have been fulfilled for some generations, it is possible that few imbeciles will exist, and that these few will be easily provided for by the multitudes of generous and enlightened persons who will exist around them.

There is, however, force in the last-mentioned objection, considered in reference to the present generation. In throwing out these views, I embrace centuries of time. I see the slow progress of the human race in the past, and do not expect miracles in the future. If a sound principle, however, be developed-one having its root in Naturethere is a certainty that it will wax strong and bear fruit in due season; but that season, from the character of the plant, may be a distant one. All who aim at benefiting mankind should keep this truth constantly in view. Almost every scheme is judged of by its effects on the living generation; whereas no great fountain of happiness ever Hlowed clear at first, or yielded its full sweets to those who opened it.

It is now an established principle in political economy that Government ought not to interfere with industry. This maxim was highly necessary when rulers were grossly ignorant of all the natural laws which regulate production and the private interests of men, because then their enactments were, in general, absurd-they often did much harm, and they rarely did good. But if the science of human nature were once fully and clearly developed, it is probable that the rule might with great advantage be relaxed, and

*At least in the case of men. It is recognised that women and children require protection. -Ep,, 1893.

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that the Legislature might considerably accelerate improvements by adding the constraining authority of human laws to enactments already proclaimed by the Creator. Natural laws do exist, and evil is suffered if they are not obeyed.

Now, if the great body of intelligent men in any State saw clearly that a course of action pursued by the ill-informed of their fellow-subjects was the source of continual suffering, not only to the evil-doers themselves, but to the whole community, it appears to me allowable that it should be averted by legislative enactment. If the majority of the middle classes resident in towns were to request Parliament to ordain shops in general to be shut at eight o'clock, or even at an earlier hour, to allow time for the cultivation of the rational faculties of those engaged in them, it would be no stretch of power to give effect to the petition—no evil would ensue, although the avaricious were prevented by law from continuing ignorant, and from forcing all their competitors in trade to resemble them in their defects.

If the Creator has so constituted the world that men may execute all necessary business, and still have time to spare for the cultivation of their rational faculties, any enactments of the Legislature calculated to facilitate arrangements for accomplishing both ends would be beneficial and successful, because accordant with Nature, although the prejudiced and ignorant of the present generation might complain and probably resist them. Their ignorant resistance would be the only real obstacle to the success of a law supported by the order of Nature; but while they continued ignorant they probably would defeat its beneficial operations. Were it not for this ignorant unbelief in the advantages which follow from obedience to the natural laws, legislative enactment might go much further than it does; for its only limits seem to me to be those of the real knowledge of Nature.

As long as the Legislature enacts in conformity with Nature, and the subjects give the law a willing and intelligent obedience, the result will be beneficial. At present ignorance is too extensive and prevalent to authorise Parliament to venture far. From indications which already appear, however, I think it probable that the labouring classes will one day recognise the natural laws as deeply interesting to themselves; and whenever their minds shall be opened to rational views of their own constitution as men, and their position as members of society, I venture to

predict that they will devote themselves to improvement with a zeal and earnestness that in a few generations will change the condition of their order.

The consequences to the middle ranks of the community of departing from the moral law are in accordance with the effects on the lower. Uncertain gains-continual fluctuations in fortune--the absence of all reliance, in their pursuits, on moral and intellectual principles--a gambling spirit--an insatiable appetite for wealth-alternately the extravagant joys of excessive prosperity and the bitter miseries of disappointed ambition-render the lives of manufacturers and merchants too often scenes of vanity and vexation of spirit. Viewed as the chief occupations of a nation, manufactures and commerce are disowned by reason; for, as now conducted, they imply the permanent degradation of the great mass of the people. They already sap England's strength, and unless they shall be regulated by sounder views than those which at present prevail, they may eventually involve the population in misery.

The oscillations of fortune which almost the whole of the middle ranks of Great Britain experience in consequence of the alternate depression and elevation of commerce and manufactures are attended with extensive and severe suffering to individuals. Deep, though often silent, agonies pierce the heart, when ruin is seen stealing, by slow but certain steps, on a young and helpless family; the mental struggle often undermines the parent's health, and conducts him prematurely to the grave. No death can be imagined more painful than that which arises from a broken spirit, robbed of its treasures, disappointed in its ambition, and conscious of failure in the whole scheme of life. The best affections of the soul are lacerated and agonised at the prospect of leaving their dearest objects to struggle with a cold and selfish world. Thousands of the middle ranks, unhappily, experience these misfortunes in every passing year.

Nothing is more essential to happiness than fixed principles of action, on which we can rely for our present safety and our future welfare; and the Creator's laws, when seen and followed, afford this support and delight to our faculties in a high degree. It is one, and not the least, of the punishments that overtake the middle classes for neglecting these laws that they do not, as a permanent condition of mind, feel secure and internally at peace with themselves. In days of prosperity they continue to fear adversity. They