-and should, by its unflinching adhesion to lofty principles, win the respect of men. If the economics and statistics of trickery, cheating, and sneaking, whether in private or in public life, could be fairly worked out, it would be seen, to use a vulgar phrase, that vice and dishonour are things that don't pay. The government of Louis Philippe was the best modern exemplification of the inherent weakness of low cunning and selfishness applied to the affairs of state. It had on a large scale all the vices of a fraudulent shopkeeper, who adulterates his wares and cheats in weight. More completely than any other was it infected with materialism and oblivious of great moral ends. Under it France grew richer, but had no self-respect. And it fell, not because strongly assailed, but because no one thought it worth the sacrifice involved in a chivalrous defence. The moral heritage of a nation, its conciousness of great duties performed, good causes sustained, its sense of power, its recollections of its own heroic deeds-these constitute its true wealth, and when they are lost, it is a just decree of natural law, that its material prosperity should pass away.

225

CHAPTER XIX.

CONCLUSION.

It will be painful to some minds to be led to the belief that change is the necessary condition of social vitality, and to contemplate the accelerated speed with which changes take place, now that there exists in every civilized country an educated class constantly seeking and developing new ideas. The sense of repose is disturbed by the constant work of natural forces, and many will seek for stability where they can only find the motion evinced in the everlasting successions of construction, decay, and reconstruction which everywhere surround us. But a new generation is growing up, less fixed in rigid formalities of thought and action, and to these the growth of mind, and the corresponding alterations in physical conditions, will wear a different aspect. The high pressure under which so many races suffer cannot be a permanent, nor, let us hope, a long-lasting influence.

♦

We have not yet learned to use machinery for what we must believe to be its ultimate purpose: to procure for ourselves leisure for higher duties and nobler occupations. In this transition state the human engine is worked with greater velocity as our steam machinery is improved; and worse than the amount of toil which has to be crowded into brief, but weary hours, is the constant gnawing of anxiety that eats away life faster than any actual work. From what we can see of the law of evolution of mental changes, these evils are destined to be diminished, and the very restlessness of which we now complain will carry us the more speedily into pleasanter paths.

At present an enormous amount of labour is wasted in struggles which can only be necessary during the reign of ignorance, and in operations susceptible of greater simplicity and despatch. Aided by science and machinery we can increase our production faster than our population; and as greater security is obtained, not only for property, but also for the rights of industry, we may expect to find the higher elements of human character rising into importance. The progress of education will liberalize not only professions, but trades; and every year the number will diminish of those who are content to live as mere instruments of gain. It is impossi

ble to estimate the rate at which changes will take place, but we must remember that every individual added to the educated workers of a country, contributes far more than his simple numerical proportion, as a unit in the population, to the progressive powers of the day. In former times the number of persons who could be influenced by a new book or a fresh discovery in science was infinitesimally small, and no atmosphere existed to refract the rays of knowledge to a thousand homes. Now, although large numbers in what is called "good society" pass their lives in culpable ignorance of the discussions of the day, there is scarcely a street in any English town that does not contain somebody watching eagerly for fresh rays of light; and it is remarkable to what an extent the better educated of the working classes have become acquainted with the leading speculations which occupy philosophic minds. Education is not only being diffused, but is rapidly passing out of the dictatorial, authoritative stage, into the new form of suggestion and explanation. Under the old system the mind was crammed; under the new it will be developed, and those who have been taught to think at school will preserve the faculty of independent examination and judgment in after life. Thus it must be conceded that very great changes in society will soon become possible, if not

probable, and certain schools of philosophers anticipate the speedy adoption of principles very opposite to those now in operation. There are two reasons why this is not likely to occur: the first is, the strength and durability of habit and association; and the second, that existing forms of society have by no means realized all the good of which they are capable, and that they are susceptible of great modification and extension to adapt themselves to new ideas.

The various projectors of schemes commonly spoken of, rather vaguely, under the term "Socialism," have for the most part conceived of a society fundamentally differing from that in which we live; and although it would be imprudent to deny that nations might be trained up according to some of these patterns, it seems improbable that any active European race will agree to place itself under any system that is fatal to individual liberty. Co-operation is already an amazing fact in this country. Our railways alone are rapidly approaching to the employment of a co-operative capital of four hundred millions; while joint-stock banks, and a thousand other forms of associated investment, absorb a large proportion of the total capital of the country. Even competitive trade must not be totally excepted from