14 EVILS EXPERIENCED FROM 



This has, indeed, been the stumbling-block 

 of all ages, the rock upon which the greatest 

 nations have been shipwrecked. At the very 

 moment we write, France furnishes an in- 

 teresting, although peculiar example of this 

 kind. Louis-Philippe and his coadjutors, instead 

 of cultivating labour, and trusting to the in- 

 dustry of Frenchmen, fortified Paris ; and, for- 

 getful of the troubled element on which they 

 were borne, have found their frail bark, in a 

 moment the most unexpected, dashed to pieces 

 on this very rock. The fate of kings is also 

 the fate of nations, and they who trust in aught, 

 for their daily bread, but in industry and the 

 sweat of the brow, trust in an empty bubble, 

 which must eventually explode into vapour. 

 Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland, like 

 every nation in the world since the creation 

 of man which has neglected to cultivate the 

 resources of its own industry, furnish evidence, 

 of this. Ancient and modern history teems 

 with consequences overwhelming to empires, 

 arising from the improper employment of the 

 labouring population. The sword, no doubt, 

 in many instances, has been able to quell the 

 spirit of insubordination, to quash rebellion, 



