A FEW WORDS ABOUT COAL. 317 



increase of national commercial prosperity, not (as at 

 first view might seem to be the case) a gradual deca- 

 dence. It is as though a merchant, whose gains, 

 already large, had been increasing year by year, say by 

 1,000., should find them still increase year after year 

 by 900Z., 800., YOOZ. (the change occupying many 

 years), until, at length, the annual increase settled 

 down to some constant or nearly constant sum, such as 

 (say) 2001. The prosperity of such a merchant could 

 hardly be regarded as failing ; for his gains, large at 

 first, would have grown larger and larger throughout, 

 and in the final stage they would still be growing 

 larger and larger from year to year. So it would be 

 in the case of those uses of coal which are already 

 known. Already large, they would grow larger and 

 larger (on our supposition, which we believe to be 

 in accordance with all experience); they would not 

 throughout the change fail to increase ; and, at the 

 last, they would settle down to a nearly constant rate, 

 not of consumption, but of increase of consumption. 



So soon as such processes begin to operate freely 

 (and, as we have said, they are already operating to some 

 extent) they will reduce the rate at which the whole 

 consumption is increasing. Operating against them 

 would be the progress of invention, by which fresh uses 

 for coal are continually springing up. Yet this cause 

 would not act solely to increase the consumption ; for 

 many of the inventions which require directly or indi- 

 rectly the employment of coal, operate to remove or to 

 reduce some other cause also requiring the consumption 



