might have been equally applicable, principally beeause they are presumed to be such as will affect in the most lively manner the hearts and the consciences of those to whom they are principally addressed; especially with a view to the improvement of their own country, and of others over which they can exercise influence.

Of the political uses to which I have endeavoured to convert the argument, it may fairly be said that they embrace the most interesting topics among those which may be called fundamental in the constitution of civil society, viz. the subsistence and comfort of the great body of the people, and the means by which those blessings are to be preserved as society advances from the earliest to the latest stages of its progress. It cannot be denied that these objects lie at the root of all public prosperity; for upon them mainly depend the contentment of the people, the security of governments, and consequently the offensive and defensive power of nations. The political part of the argument, therefore, does not so much refer to the temporary interests of particular states, as to the great and original principles upon which may be said to depend the existence and developement of the best systems of social polity; to the foundation, in short, of the temporal happiness of individuals and communities.

The moral uses to which the argument has been converted are, I trust, yet more interesting. To enlarge or fortify the dominion of morals over human happiness and prosperity, is at all times perhaps the

highest office in which a writer can be engaged. For surely it requires but little reflection upon the history of the past, and little experience of the actual condition of society, to perceive the utter insufficiency of mere political, or philosophical, or economical systems, to afford any permanence to the amelioration which they all profess to bestow upon the condition of mankind. The ties by which they endeavour to bind man to man are altogether too weak for the purpose without some further cement, and the principles upon which they are established are too much open to controversy permanently to command the assent of the human mind. System after system has been adopted with eager hope, and rejected in its turn with utter despair, in favour of another which has ultimately followed the destiny of its predeces

sor.

And mankind, instead of reaping the expected benefits, have found their condition deteriorated and their minds disappointed and irritated. If there ever were a time in which these truths were more palpable than at another, it appears to be the present. From all the magnificent systems which, independently of pure morals, promised so much benefit, but performed so little but mischief to society, it has come out demoralized, degraded, impoverished, unsettled, insecure and the most profligate politicians have at length been compelled to acknowledge (without, however, practically enforcing the consequence) that the only hope for the future is to be sought in a general moral amelioration. Such will ever be the end of systems which have fine sentiment on the surface,

but base selfishness at the core. I have therefore thought the opportunity not unfavourable for openly asserting and endeavouring to demonstrate the necessary connexion of moral conduct, public and private, with political wealth and prosperity; that the former is in fact the centre round which the latter must revolve. It is in vain to deny that this has been at least overlooked in political speculations, which have usually been projected in an orbit not a little eccentric to their legitimate cycle. I hope therefore that I shall not be accused of merely asserting and proving a truism in the following pages. A truth, forgotten, neglected, and no longer acted upon, may to all practical purposes be admitted as no longer acknowledged. To revive its obsolete vigour is as necessary a task and often more difficult than the first establishment of its power; for long disuse is primâ facie evidence of want of utility, and constitutes an additional prejudice to be overcome. If, therefore, I have been successful in showing that a fair attention to moral principle is of itself sufficient to free the elementary operations of society from fatal political impediments, and that all other contrivances for the purpose tend only in the end to perpetuate the evils they profess to relieve, I trust that the execution of the attempt will meet with the indulgence due on the score of originality, as well as on that of utility. The principle is certainly as new in the practice of modern politics as it is simple and uniform in its application to society. It has too this peculiar advantage, that whereas in controversies

purely political the very elements of which they are composed preclude the possibility of establishing any certain standard of reference, by which the dispute can be settled so as to lead to a safe result in practice; so, by tracing the propositions up to their legitimate standard in morals, we at once obtain the proper test by which their permanent value may be tried, and (unless we mean to deny the continued superintendence of Providence,) by which the system when reduced to certainty may be also fixed for ever as an unerring rule of conduct. Politicians, when thus confirmed in the truth of their principles will naturally display augmented courage in opposing temporary obstacles, knowing that, although the course of this world is more or less of a struggle against the principle of evil, yet success will always be proportionate to the constancy of perse

verance.

I am well aware that the introduction of morals (especially if founded upon religion) into political discussions is apt to excite feelings of disgust in some classes of readers. They delight to contemplate the superstructure of society in its various modifications and arrangements, but decline the less amusing task of inspecting the foundations, which they consider to be the exclusive concern of the professional builder. But all workmen are more or less prone to neglect that part of their work which they know will not be surveyed, till at length occasional omissions degenerate into a faulty habit. The statesman, who is the workman in the case before us, will necessarily

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follow the custom and way of thinking of the age in which he lives. If the fundamental doctrines of morality have been habitually overlocked in the practical application of politics, he cannot well restore their influence till the fatal effects of the omission have recalled the public mind to a general sense of their necessity.

The press is the great medium through which the public mind is influenced in a free country; and he who writes with that object has this advantage over the statesman, that he may, and indeed is frequently bound in conscience to, run counter to the spirit of his age, if it oppose the enunciation of what he conceives to be a profitable truth; and he may sometimes hope to reap the delightful reward of giving a new and improved impulse to the public opinion.

I firmly believe that Christian morality is the very root and principle of the questions discussed in the following chapters. I have therefore referred to it equally, as I hope, without disguise and without af fectation, and must trust to the candour and propriety with which the several references are made, as my best apology to those who are disposed to deprecate the practical association of morals and politics in such discussions.

I do not wish to disguise the fact, that throughout the whole treatise I have never lost sight of the application of the argument to our own country in its present advanced state of society, and in the progress through which it has arrived at it. This is to be ascribed to two causes. In the first place it is impos

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