34 ' I Assembly 



and States are created with bewildering rapidity, and the sudden 

 influx of population and business into new regions of fresh 

 fertility, pours wealth into the possession of many who seem to be 

 exonerated from the conditions upon which it is ordinarily at- 

 tained. But great natural or acquired advantages will not of 

 themselves alone either give or secure to us agricultural or na- 

 tional prosperity. 



The skies of Italy are as bright, her air asgenial, and her soil 

 as productive as when Rome was mistress of the world ; yet now 

 her independent existence is questionable. Her ancient dominion, 

 at this time is rivalled by a people occupying a limited and insular 

 position. " It is the proud boast of Britain," to use the language 

 of one of our orators, " that the sun never sets upon her dominion, 

 and that the beat of her morning drum makes one continuous 

 strain of music round the world." But vast as is the fabric of 

 British power, and immense as is the accumulation of her wealth 

 and resources, let her inhabitants for six short months adopt the 

 habits of the modern Italian, and universal bankruptcy would 

 overwhelm her, her power would crumble and its huge remains 

 encumber the circle of the globe. The power of the British Em- 

 pire is sustained by the intelligence, toil and labor of her farmers 

 and her artizans. The old world is strewed with the remains of 

 ancient empires, and the antiquarian examines with curious eye, 

 the hills and mouldering bricks to determine the site of Baby- 

 lon, or muses over the splintered columns that half survive 

 the wreck of Thebes ; or wanders through Athens and Rome 

 where traces of beauty and greatness still linger. 



All these bear witness that position and natural advanta- 

 ges fail to secure perpetuity of prosperity or power. 



The Providence which governs this world, nowhere creates 

 prosperity for an ignorant or an inactive population, nor on the 

 other hand does it withhold from intelligence and industry, their 

 reward, although they may be exerted under the most unfavorable 

 circumstances. It may be asserted as a great general truth that 

 the condition of every community or class depends upon " the 

 sentiments which pervade it.^^ The prosperity of society is the re- 

 sult of its own efforts. Its degree depends upon its intelligence 



