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sors, as tended to perpetuate this equality as far as human regulations could restrain the natural current of events. Yet this unnatural state of things was of short duration. "The course of human affairs," says Adam Smith, "by marriage, by succession, and by alienation, necessarily deranged this original division, and threw the lands, which had been allotted for the maintenance of many different families, into the possession of a single person. This was the case with many other of the ancient republics, where similar laws were established. The natural tendency to inequality broke through all the restraints of human arrangements, and, in spite of them, produced those salutary distinctions on which the fabric of society is reared.

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"The Deity has provided, that, by the operation of an instinctive principle in our nature, the human race should be uniformly brought into a station in which they are forced to exert and to improve their powers; the lowest rank to obtain support, the one next in order to escape from the difficulties immediately beneath it; and all the classes upward, either to keep their level, while they are pressed on each side by rival industry, or to raise themselves above the standard of their birth by useful exertions of their activity, or by successful cultivation of their natural powers. If, indeed, it were possible, that the stimulus arising from this principle were suddenly removed, it is not easy to determine what life would be, except a dreary blank, or the world, except an uncultivated waste."+

EIGHTH WEEK-THURSDAY.

EFFECTS OF PROPERTY IN THE SOIL.

THERE are some social arrangements so intimately connected with the moral constitution of man, that they * Smith's Wealth of Nations, vol. ii.

Sumner on Creation, vol. ii. p. 132.

invariably attend the progress of civilization, being at once the natural effect of that progress, and a necessary step to further advancement. Of these, none perhaps is more remarkable than the acquisition of property in the soil. I have already shortly adverted to the principles of our nature, which lead to this appropriation. What I have to remark at present, is, that, without this propensity to take possession of the soil, accompanied as it is by a natural feeling which concedes the right of possession to him who has actually obtained it, man must, in all probability, have remained in a rude and unimproved state, and the earth, uncultivated and waste, would have denied. the abundant harvest, on which not merely the prosperity, but the very existence, of civilized society depends.

As soon as the soil has begun to be cultivated, it becomes, as I have stated, by that very operation, the property of individuals; because the pains which have been bestowed by these individuals in preparing it, stamp a certain value on it which it did not previously possess. It has by their industry been cleared of bushes, roots, and other incumbrances, perhaps freed of its superfluous moisture by draining, and defended from encroachment by enclosure. All these circumstances, not to mention the single circumstance of occupation, which is itself sufficient, constitute a right to the soil, felt by the individual, and respected by neighbors. On this principle, the law of property is founded, and that law forms the strong bond of society, and may be said to be the starting point for the prosperity of nations. It is by the operation of this law, that agriculture is converted into a regular system, and becomes an art of such essential importance to the welfare of society. Were it not for the appropriation and subdivision of the land, the whole face of the country would remain nearly in its natural condition, as is still the case among those savage tribes where civilization has not yet penetrated; and the means of support for human

* If the reader desires to prosecute this inquiry, he would do well to consult Dr. Chalmers's Bridgewater Treatise, chap. vi." On those special affections which conduce to the civil and political wellbeing of society."

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beings would have been comparatively scanty. Among some tribes of North American Indians, and in various parts of Africa, and especially among the aborigines of Australia, the effects of this state of things are obvious. The human inhabitants, ignorant and barbarous, are thinly scattered over large extents of country, which are naturally fertile, perhaps, but almost destitute of vegetable productions fit for the use of man. Pulse of every species is rare; there are few esculent roots, and no grain. trast with this, the appearance and resources of such parts of these very regions as have become the habitation of civilized man. There the land, having become private property, has been subjected to the transforming influence of cultivation, and instead of yielding food almost exclusively for the inferior creation, has become a granary for the support of rational beings; the consequence of which is, that while the human species, living in abundance, and cultivating the peaceful arts, are rapidly increased in numbers, and improved in their intellectual powers, the very beasts of the field receive important benefits, from what might, in one view, be considered as a usurpation on their native domain.

A still more striking evidence, perhaps, of the salutary effect produced by the appropriation and consequent cultivation of the soil, may be found by seeking for it in those countries which formed the early seat of agriculture, but have since been abandoned through the agency of a grinding despotism. The whole extent of the Turkish dominions, especially in Asia, at this day, exhibits a melancholy and instructive example of this kind.*

Now, the lesson which I am anxious to inculcate on my readers from all this detail, is, that there is a remarkable correspondence between the constitution of external nature in these respects, and the moral constitution of man, exhibiting the clearest indications of beneficent design in Him who is the Author of both. If the earth requires to be cultivated, before it gives forth its supplies, in great abundance, for human support, there are principles in the

* Keith on Fulfilled Prophecy.

mind of man, which are obviously intended to inspire him with a predilection for agricultural employments, which protect and encourage him in the exercise of these employments, and which render that exercise not less salutary to his moral and intellectual faculties, than it is invigorating to the powers of his body. Or, to take the converse of the proposition, if man is naturally endowed with mental qualities, which require to be roused by difficulties, and called into vigorous action by some powerful necessity, then the state of external nature, in reference to the produce of the soil, is precisely such as to present these very difficulties, and to stimulate the mind with a sense of that very necessity. In whichever way we view the subject, it is impossible not to perceive, that a wise Creator has adapted man to his circumstances, and these circumstances to the benefit of man.

EIGHTH WEEK-FRIDAY.

BENEFITS DERIVED FROM THE PRINCIPLES WHICH STIMULATE AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT.

THERE can be no doubt, that, in the progress of society, the principle of which we have been considering, a vast change takes place in the various relations of life; but it has been a matter of dispute, how far that change has, upon the whole, been salutary; or, at least, whether or not it will, in the last result, prove to be so. It has been alleged, that, "if the rapid multiplication of the species augments the treasures of civilized society, it also entails upon civilization a certain inheritance of want, and pain, and misery, and that the human race are little benefited by arts and improvements, which are wrung from them by the urgency of their necessities; that, however plain it may be made, that the means employed accomplish their apparent object, still it is by a mode so harsh and ungentle in its operation, that the wisdom of the Creator is impeached, rather than displayed, when the

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intricate web of human society is thus unfolded, and its texture unravelled."

That the reader may be furnished with a proper answer to these plausible objections, he must keep steadily in view the principles already laid down for judging of the operations of Providence. This world is not a state of happiness, but of discipline. All its adaptations, contrivances, and processes, must therefore be viewed with reference to this state. We are not to look for perfection, but for plans and operations, suited to lead a sinful and imperfect creature to the attainment of it; not for a full developement of the Creator's designs, but a partial view of the commencement of an amazing scheme, which has eternity for its theatre of action.

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"If we were peopling an Utopia," says Bishop Sumor amusing our fancy, after the manner of the ancient philosophers, with creating an imaginary republic, we should undoubtedly be inclined to banish from it all necessity for severe labor. We should omit the curse denounced upon the first transgressors, and literally fulfilled upon their posterity, ordaining that the earth should bring forth thorns and thistles, and that man should eat bread by the sweat of his brow. But these sports of imagination deviate from the real state of things in one most important particular. They all suppose, that this world is the final object, as well as the limit, of man's existence."

However beautiful such views might be, as they do not exhibit the condition of man in his present state, they ought not to be taken as the rule by which we judge of the adaptation of the material world. Taking man as he is, I have already shown how a state of labor,—of even severe coercion to labor,—is suited to call into action his latent faculties. I am far from pretending to say, that no evils accompany the law which binds him to this state. I know, on the contrary, that there are numerous evils arising from the wealth, as well as the poverty, to which it gives rise. But then these evils are much more than compensated by the advantages which flow from it. It is not difficult to suppose a state of things in which plenty should constantly attend the human race, however numer

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