290 Statistical Notices. 



and fiirnish an incessant supply of occupation, the want of 

 which is sure to open the door to the incursion of all the 

 worst propensities and basest vices. They bring into action 

 all the resources of human ingenuity ; all the aids of fortitude 

 and enterprise ; all the trials of patience and perseverance; all 

 the equanimity demanded by the constant mutations and I'ota* 

 tions of fortune. It is not to be denied^ moreover, that the first- 

 rate virtues of beneficence, charity, and hospitality, take root 

 and flourish with peculiar vigour in a commercial commu- 

 nity. The fluctuations of condition to which almost every man 

 knows himself liable, and the constant proximity of distress 

 and opulence, ofier perpetual excitements to the benevolent 

 affections. ■ . 



These, it must be confessed, are important ingredients in the 

 composition of human happiness; but considerations not less 

 momentous present themselves on the opposite side, for every 

 thing in human affairs is on a system of compensations. It is 

 ^not to be denied that a state of society, in which one-half of the 

 population is cotigregated in towns, and nearly a moiety of this 

 half crowded together in enormous factories, is highly unpro-. 

 pitious to virtue, to health, and to happiness. In these huge 

 receptacles of human labour, it would be absurd to expect that 

 the women should be distinguished for their modesty and pro- 

 priety, or the men for their prudence, temperance, and regula- 

 rity. It is an unhappy law of human nature, that the force of 

 example is most prevalent on the side of vice. A few depraved 

 characters scattered amongst a multitude are commonly found 

 sufficient to corrupt the whole mass : hence we may always 

 expect to find, in the seat of a great manufactory, all the 

 worst ingredients of civilized society ; all the base depravities 

 of a luxurious and opulent community, combined with much 

 of the grossnes^ and rudeness of the savage state : in a word, 

 all the corruptions of high civilization without any of its |)olish. 

 Nor is this mode of life, generally speaking, more favourable 

 to health and comfort than to good morals. The constitution 

 of the young is impaired, and their growth retarded by exces- 

 sive labour and close confinement. Those of maturer age 

 are glad to seek relief from the depressing effects of a weari- 

 some and monotonous labour, unwholesome air, and constant 



