some other person, and at no very distant period. The art of printing, therefore, is intitled to be considered as a step in the natural history of man, no less than the art of writing; and they who are sceptical about the future progress of the race, merely in consequence of its past history, reason as unphilosophically, as the member of a savage tribe, who deriving his own acquaintance with former times from oral tradition only, should affect to call in question the efficacy of written records, in accelerating the progress of knowledge and of civilization.

What will be the particular effects of this invention, (which has been hitherto much checked in its operation by the restraints on the liberty of the press in the greater part of Europe,) it is beyond the reach of human sagacity to conjecture, but, in general, we may venture to predict with confidence, that, in every country, it will gradually operate to widen the circle of science and civilization; to distribute more equally, among all the members of the community the advantages of the political union; and to enlarge the basis of equitable governments, by increasing the number of those who understand their value, and are interested to defend them. The science of legislation, too, with all the other branches of knowledge which are connected with human improvement, may be expected to advance with rapidity; and, in proportion as the opinions and institutions of men approach to truth and to justice, they will be secured against those revolutions to which human affairs have always been hitherto subject. Opinionum enim commenta delet dies, naturæ judicia confirmat.

The revolutions incident to the democratical states of antiquity furnish no solid objection to the foregoing observations: for none of these states enjoyed the advantages, which modern times derive, from the diffusion and from the rapid circulation of knowledge. In these states, most of the revolutions which happened, arose from the struggles of demagogues, who employed the passions of the multitude in subserviency to their own interest and ambition; and to all of them, the ingenious and striking remark of Hobbes will be found applicable; that "Democracy is nothing but an aristocracy of orators, interrupted sometimes "by the temporary monarchy of a single orator." While this continued to be the case, democratical constitutions were, undoubtedly, the most unfavourable of any to the tranquillity of mankind; and the only way to preserve the order of society was, by skilfully balancing against each other, the prejudices and the separate interests of different orders of citizens. That such balances, however, will every day become less necessary for checking the turbulence of the democratical spirit in free governments, appears probable from this; that among the various advantages to be expected from the liberty of the press, one of the greatest is, the effect which it must necessarily have in diminishing the influence of popular eloquence, both by curing men of those prejudices upon which it operates, and by subjecting it to the irresistible control of enlightened opinions. In the republican states of antiquity, the eloquence of demagogues was indeed a dangerous engine of faction, while it aspir. ed to govern nations by its unlimited sway in directing popular councils. But now, when the effusions of the orator are, by means of the press, subjected to the immediate tribunal of an inquisitive age, the eloquence of legislative assemblies is forced to borrow its tone from the spirit of the times; and if it retain its ascendant in human affairs, it can

only be, by lending its aid to the prevailing cause, and to the permanent interests of truth and of freedom.

Of the progress which may yet be made in the different branches of moral and political philosophy, we may form some idea, from what has already happened in physics, since the time that Lord Bacon united in one useful direction, the labours of those who cultivate that science.— At the period when he wrote, physics was certainly in a more hopeless state, than that of moral and political philosophy in the present age. A perpetual succession of chimerical theories had, till then, amused the world; and the prevailing opinion was, that the case would continue to be the same for ever. Why then should we despair of the competency of the human faculties to establish solid and permanent systems, upon other subjects, which are of still more serious importance? Physics, it is true, are free from many difficulties which obstruct our progress in moral and political enquiries; but, perhaps, this advantage may be more than counterbalanced by the tendency they have to engage a more universal, and a more earnest attention, in consequence of their coming home more immediately to our "business and our bosoms." When these sciences too begin to be prosecuted on a regular and systematical plan, their improvement will go on with an accelerated volocity; not only as the number of speculative minds will be every day increased by the diffusion of knowledge, but as an acquaintance with the just rules of inquiry will more and more place important discoveries within the reach of ordinary understandings. "Such rules," (says Lord Bacon) "do, in some sort, equal men's wits, and leave no great advantage or pre-eminence to the perfect and excellent motions of the spirit. To "draw a straight line, or to describe a circle, by aim of hand only, "there must be a great difference between an unsteady and an unprac "tised hand and a steady and practised; but, to do it by a rule or compass, it is much alike.'

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Nor must we omit to mention the value which the art of printing communicates to the most limited exertions of literary industry, by treasuring them up as materials for the future examination of more enlightened inquiries. In this respect the press bestows upon the sciences an advantage somewhat analogous to that which the mechanical arts derive from the division of labour. As in these arts, the exertions of an uninformed multitude are united by the comprehensive skill of the artist, in the accomplishment of effects astonishing by their magnitude, and by the complicated ingenuity they display, so, in the sciences, the observations and conjectures of obscure individuals on those subjects which are level to their capacities, and which fall under their own immediate notice, accumulate for a course of years, till at last, some phi losopher arises, who combines these scattered materials, and exhibits, in his system, not merely the force of a single mind, but the intellectual power of the age in which he lives.

race.

It is upon these last considerations, much more than on the efforts of original genius, that I would rest my hopes of the progress of the human What genius alone could accomplish in science, the world has already seen and I am ready to subscribe to the opinion of those who think, that the splendour of its past exertions is not likely to be obscured by the fame of future philosophers. But the experiment yet remains to be tried, what lights may be thrown on the most important of all sub

jects, by the free discussions of inquisitive nations, unfettered by prejudice, and stimulated in their inquiries by every motive that can awaken whatever is either generous or selfish in human nature. How trifling are the effects which the bodily strength of an individual is able to produce, (however great may be his natural endowments) when compared with those which have been accomplished by the conspiring force of an ordinary multitude? It was not the single arm of a Theseus, or a Hercules, but the hands of such men as ourselves, that, in ancient Egypt, raised those monuments of architecture, which remain from age to age, to attest the wonders of combined and of persevering industry, and, while they humble the importance of the individual, to exalt the dignity, and to animate the labours, of the species.

These views with respect to the probable improvement of the world, are so conducive to the comfort of those who entertain them, that even, although they were founded in delusion, a wise man would be disposed to cherish them. What should have induced some respectable writers to controvert them with so great an asperity of expression, it is not easy to conjecture, for whatever may be thought of their truth, their practical tendency is surely favourable to human happiness; nor can that temper of mind, which disposes a man to give them a welcome reception, be candidly suspected of designs hostile to the interests of humanity. One thing is certain, that the greatest of all obstacles to the improvement of the world, is that prevailing belief of its improbability, which damps the exertions of so many individuals; and that, in proportion as the contrary opinion becomes general, it realizes the event which it leads us to anticipate. Surely, if any thing can have a tendency to call forth in the public service the exertions of individuals, it must be an idea of the magnitude of that work in which they are conspiring, and a belief of the permanence of those benefits, which they confer on mankind by every attempt to inform and to enlighten them. As in ancient Rome, therefore, it was regarded as the mark of a good citizen, never to despair of the fortunes of the republic;-so the good citizen of the world, whatever may be the political aspect of his own times, will never despair of the fortunes of the human race, but will act upon the conviction, that prejudice, slavery, and corruption, must gradually give way to truth, liberty, and virtue; and that, in the moral world, as well as in the material, the farther our observations extend, and the longer they are continued, the more we shall perceive of order and of benevolent design in the universe.

Nor is this change in the condition of Man, in consequence of the progress of reason, by any means contrary to the general analogy of bis natural history. In the infancy of the individual, his existence is preserved by instincts, which disappear afterwards, when they are no longer necessary. In the savage state of our species, there are instincts which seem to form a part of the human constitution, and of which no traces remain in those periods of society, in which their use is superseded by a more enlarged experience. Why then should we deny the probability of something similar to this, in the history of mankind vonsidered in their political capacity? I have already bad occasion to observe, that the governments which the world has hitherto seen, have seldom or never taken their rise from deep-laid schemes of human policy. In every state of society which has yet existed, the multitude has, in general,

acted from the immediate impulse of passion, or from the pressure of their wants and necessities; and, therefore, what we commonly call the political order, is, at least in a great measure, the result of the passions and wants of man, combined with the circumstances of his situation, or, in other words, it is chiefly the result of the wisdom of nature So beautifully, indeed, do these passions and circumstances act in subserviency to her designs, and so invariably have they been found, in the history of past ages, to conduct him in time to certain beneficial arrangements, that we can hardly bring ourselves to believe, that the end was not foreseen by those who were engaged in the pursuit. Even in those rude periods of society, when, like the lower animals, he follows blindly his instinctive principles of action, he is led by an invisible hand, and contributes his share to the execution of a plan, of the nature and advantages of which he has no conception. The operations of the bee, when it begins for the first time to form its cell, convey to us a striking image of the efforts of unenlightened man, in conducting the operations of an infant government.

A great variety of prejudices might be mentioned, which are found to prevail universally among our species in certain periods of society, and which seem to be essentially necessary for maintaining its order, in ages when men are unable to comprehend the purposes for which governments are instituted. As society advances, these prejudices gradually lose their influence on the higher classes, and would probably soon disappear altogether, if it were not found expedient to prolong their existence, as a source of authority over the multitude. In an age, however, of universal and of unrestrained discussion, it is impossible that they can long maintain their empire; nor ought we to regret their decline, if the important ends to which they have been subservient in the past experience of mankind, are found to be accomplished by the growing light of philosophy. On this supposition, a history of human prejudices, as far as they have supplied the place of more enlarged political views, may, at some future period, furnish to the philosopher a subject of speculation, no less pleasing and instructive, than that beneficent wisdom of nature, which guides the operations of the lower animals, and which, even in our own species, takes upon itself the care of the individual in the infancy of human reason.

I have only to observe farther, that, in proportion as these prospects, with respect to the progress of reason, the diffusion of knowledge, and the consequent improvement of mankind, shall be realized, the political history of the world will be regulated by steady and uniform causes, and the philosopher will be enabled to form probable conjectures with respect to the future course of human affairs.

It is justly remarked by Mr. Hume, that "what depends on a few 66 persons is, in a great measure, to be ascribed to chance, or secret and "unknown causes; what arises from a great number, may often be "accounted for by determinate and known causes. "To judge by "this rule," (he continues)" the domestic and the gradual revolutions "of a state must be a more proper object of reasoning and observation, "than the foreign and the violent, which are commonly produced by "single persons, and are more influenced by whim, folly, or caprice, "than by general passions and interests. The depression of the Lords, "and rise of the Commons, in England, after the statutes of alienation

"and the increase of trade and industry, are more easily accounted for

by general principles, than the depression of the Spanish, and rise "of the French monarchy, after the death of Charles the Fifth. Had "Harry the Fourth, Cardinal Richelieu, and Louis the Fourteenth, "been Spaniards; and Philip the Second, Third, and Fourth, and "Charles the Second, been Frenchmen; the history of these nations "had been entirely reversed."

From these principles, it would seem to be a necessary consequence, that, in proportion as the circumstances shall operate which I have been endeavouring to illustrate, the whole system of hu van affairs including both the domestic order of society in particular states, and the relations which exist among different communities, in consequence of war and negotiation, will be subjected to the influence of causes which are "known and determinate." Those domestic affairs, which according to Mr. Hume, are already proper subjects of reasoning and observation, in consequence of their dependence on general interests and passions, will become so, more and more, daily, as prejudices shall decline, and knowledge shall be diffused among the lower orders: while the relations among the different states, which have depended hitherto, in a great measure, on the "whim, folly, and caprice" of single persons, will be gradually more and more regulated by the general interests of the individuals who compose them, and by the popular opinions of more enlightened times. Already, during the very short interval which has elapsed since the publication of Mr. Hume's writings, an astonishing change has taken place in Europe. The mysteries of courts have been laid open; the influence of secret negotiation on the relative situation of states has declined; and the studies of those men whose public spirit or ambition devotes them to the service of their country, have been diverted from the intrigues of cabinets, and the details of the diplomatic code, to the liberal and manly pursuits of political philosophy.

CHAPTER FIFTH.

OF THE ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS.

T

HE subject ou which I am now to enter, naturally divides itself into two Parts. The first relates to the influence of Association, in regulating the succession of our thoughts; the second, to its influence on the intellectual powers, and on the moral character, by the more intimate and indissoluble combinations which it leads us to form in infancy and in early youth. The two inquiries, indeed, run into each other; but it will contribute much to the order of our speculations, to keep the foregoing arrangement in view.

VOL. I.

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