Such, then, is the fact, that, by the original constitution of human nature, inequality uniformly finds its way, in spite of every obstacle. The stream which is constantly setting against the barriers raised to oppose it, has a source so deep and permanent, that it has always, at no distant period, either found a channel, or forced one. There is no country which, in the course of a century or two, has not exhibited the same spectacle of abundance and poverty; of some who have accumulated the superfluous produce of their labours; and of others who are eager to exchange their labour for a portion of that superfluity.

In the gradual progress of time the inequality becomes more and more striking, and all the arts of civilization follow in its train. A certain portion of the society being exempted from the necessity of labour, apply to other pursuits; literature is cultivated, genius is excited and encouraged. A chain of innumerable links is formed from the colossal fortunes of the highest rank, to the large and increas

ing class who are obliged to give their daily labour for their daily subsistence. It is by means of this class that all those works of utility are accomplished, which adorn the beautiful structure of a civilized country, and which, in a healthy state of things, reflect their share of advantage upon the hands that labour in their execution. And it is by a union of all the various classes that the community flourishes in strength and opulence; that the arts are every day ministering some new comfort to man's wants, or some assistance to his labours; in a word, that the gradual enlargement of the sources of knowledge and improvement of the human condition takes place, which has been shown to exalt and dignify civilized man.

It has thus appeared, from a brief statement of the laws which regulate population, that the instinctive principle which attaches the sexes to one another, and rears a family, keeps the inhabited districts of the world so continually full, as to call into action all their resources,

and oblige them to economize the means of subsistence, by making them the reward of individual exertion. I have also traced the progress by which this principle necessarily leads to an inequality of ranks and fortunes, which effect, indeed, it has constantly and universally produced in a greater or less degree, from the earliest date of history. For the primary agent is all along to be found in that original law, which multiplies the consumers of the fruits of the earth faster than the fruits themselves. The difference of men's habits and powers would signify nothing, if food were so plentiful that it could be procured without a return of labour. Were it the law of the universe, no matter how brought into execution, that every man born into the world should find himself heir to indolence and plenty, then there need be no division of property, since no one could possibly, according to the supposition, possess what his neighbour wanted, or require what his neighbour had. Or if it had been appointed that all mankind should possess the same genius, the same powers of mind and

body, and be exempt from physical evils, the division of property would not necessarily have been accompanied by inequality. But since the fact is ordained otherwise, and, for reasons already shown, wisely ordained; since men are born with various capacities of mind, and different degrees of bodily strength; since the necessaries of life can only be produced by labour; and since there are, in all countries, more claimants for the necessaries of life than can be easily or plentifully supplied with them; it must inevitably follow that possessions shall be appropriated and unequally divided; and that the conveniencies of life shall belong, in the greatest abundance, to the head which is most fertile in resources, or the hand which is the most industrious in exertion.

If, then, the wisdom is to be estimated by the fitness of the design to its purpose, and the habitual exercise of the energies of mankind is allowed to be that purpose, enough has been said to confirm the original proposition. The Deity has provided, that by the operation of

an instinctive principle in our nature, the human race should be uniformly brought into a state in which they are forced to exert and 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 should be suddenly removed, it is not easy to determine what life would be except a dreary blank, or the world except an uncultivated waste. Every exertion to which civilization can be traced, proceeds directly or indirectly from its effects; either from the actual desire of having a family, or the pressing obligation of providing for one, or from the necessity of rivalling the efforts produced by the operation of these motives in others.