GOODNESS OF THE DEITY. 327 



all the studies of cookery, or than the most costly conipila- 

 lion of forced or far-fetched dainties I 



Nature has a strong tendency to equalization. Habit, 

 the instrument of nature, is a great leveller ; the familiarity 

 which it induces taking off the edge both of our pleasures 

 and ou; sufferings. Indulgences whixjh are habitual, keep 

 us in ease, and cannot be carried much further. So that 

 with respect to the gratifications of which the senses are 

 capable, the difference is by no means proportionable to the 

 apparatus. Nay, so far as superfluity generates fastidious- 

 ness, the difference is on the wrong side. 



It is not necessary to contend, that the advantages de- 

 rived from wealth are none — under due regulations they are 

 certainly considerable — but that they are not greater than 

 they ought to be. Money is the sweetener of human toil ; 

 the substitute for coercion ; the reconciler of labor with lib- 

 erty. It is, moreover, the stimulant of enterprise in all proj- 

 ects and undertakings, as well as of diligence in the most 

 beneficial arts and employments. Now, did alffuence, when 

 possessed, contribute nothing to happiness, or nothing be- 

 yond the mere supply of necessaries, and the secret should 

 come to be discovered, we might be in danger of losing great 

 part of the uses which are at present derived to us through 

 this important medium. Not only would the tranquillity of 

 social life be put in peril by the want of a motive to attach 

 men to their private concerns ; but the satisfaction which 

 all men receive from success in their respective occupations, 

 which collectively constitutes the great mass of human com.- 

 tbrt, would be done away in its very principle. 



With respect to statio72, as it is distinguished from riches, 

 whether it confer authority over others, or be invested with 

 honors which apply solely to sentiment and imagination, the 

 truth is, that wdiat is gained by rising through the ranks oi 

 life, is not more than sufficient to draw forth the exertions 

 of those who are engaged in the pursuits which lead to ad 

 vancement, and which, in general, are such as ought to be 



