CHAP. XXIV. AND OF MATERIAL WEALTH. 



extend the power of human labour, had received 

 great improvement. A new natural power, which 

 had not before been used, was practically adapted 

 to perform that work which required the severe 

 labour both of man and of animals. The applica- 

 tion of steam to abridge labour, which had begun 

 about the middle of the period, forms of itself an 

 era in the history of the wealth of this country. 

 It is not necessary to notice the vast increase of 

 our shipping within the period, though it is both 

 an aid to wealth and a proof of its growth, for it 

 may be comprehended, with wheel carriages, under 

 the class of the facilities of distribution. 



A variety of causes may have contributed to 

 this increase of material wealth in England, some 

 of them peculiar. It may be in part owing to the 

 wars in which we have engaged, not having been 

 carried on upon our own territory ; to our freedom 

 from internal commotions ; to the security with 

 which property of all kinds is protected ; to the 

 sure if not the speedy operation of the laws ; to 

 the lightness of our taxation, which being drawn 

 from property expended in consumption, is less on 

 the mass of wealth from which it is extracted, 

 though it is greater when calculated by the num- 

 ber of individuals that pay it, than is levied in any 

 of the other countries of the civilized world. 



As far as regards England, it is not necessary 

 to prove the vast accession of material wealth 

 within the period under consideration. In the 



