154 PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 



education and government are the two agencies which 

 surround internal and external character, Rousseau, by his 

 action on political organisation on the one hand, and educa- 

 tional organisation on the other hand, has to a vast extent 

 shaped some of the features of modern civilisation, especially 

 when it is remembered that association and collective action 

 are derived from his scheme. 



1715 1771. Helvetius, whose views on government and 

 belief seemed offensive to so many and aroused so much 

 indignation once, deserves a place amongst great sociologists, 

 not because he devoted his life to philosophy and DUTY, but 

 because he assailed the social ordering of the ancient regime, 

 and expounded the idea of general UTILITY as the foundation 

 of social morality, which Bentham, in England, carried out 

 in legislation. " T/ze laws'' says Helvetius, "should be 

 referred to a single principle such as that of utility of the 

 public" a principle that contains all the seeds of European 

 legislation in our times. His influence, therefore, is likely 

 to last as long as civilisation. 



1723 1790. Adam Smith caused a revolution in trade 

 by his " Inquiry on the Nature and the Wealth of Nations/* 

 The principle of WEALTH IS LABOUR, not in commerce and 

 agriculture only, but in every branch of human activity. 

 The yearly labour of a nation is the source from which it 

 derives all the necessaries of life which consist either in the 

 product of the work of one nation or in what she can pur- 

 chase from other nations. Another principle is complete 

 LIBERTY OF ACTION hence FREE TRADE. Adam Smith 

 also showed the great results of division of labour. Of all 

 economists he had the greatest influence. It is not too much 

 to say that he transformed the social system. 



1727 1781. Turgot, one of the earliest practical econo- 

 mists in Europe; his "Valeurs et Monnaies," and his 

 " Reflexions upon the Formation and Distribution of Wealth/' 

 together with his economical and commercial policy as a 

 Prime Minister, inspired Adam Smith. He wanted the 

 emancipation of labour at home and freedom of trade 

 abroad. He established FREEDOM IN THE CORN TRADE in 

 J774 a reform already tried in 1749 and in 1763 by 



