^44 "" Stuart'' J elements, -^"g. I. 



nature. How trifling are the effects wliuh the bodily 

 strength of an i.idividual is able to produce, (however 

 great may be his natural endowments,) when compared 

 ■with those which have been accomplifhed by the conspi- 

 ring force of an ordinary multitude ! It was not the single 

 arm of a Theseus, or a Hercules, but the hands of men such 

 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 j and 

 while they humble the importance of the individual, to ex- 

 alt the dignity, and to animate the labours of the species. 

 " These views, with respect to the probable improve- 

 ment of the world, are so conducive to the comfort of 

 those wlio entertain them, that, even although they were 

 founded in delusion, a wise man would be disposed to 

 cheriih them, Wliat fliould have induced some respectable 

 writers to controvert them with so great an asperity of 



.exprelsion, it is not easy to conjecture ; for whatever may 

 be thought of their truth, their practical tendency is sure- 

 ly favourable to human happinefs j nor can that temper of 

 mind, which disposes a man to give them a welcome re- 

 ception, be candidly suspected of designs hostile to the in- 

 terests of humanity. One thing is certain, that the great- 

 est 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 proporti- 

 on as the contrary opinion becomes general, it realises the 

 event which it leads us to anticipate. Surely if any 

 thing can have a tendency to call forth in the public ser- 

 vice 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 en- 

 lighten them. As in ancient RomC; therefore, it was re- 



