144 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



tute for coercion ; the reconciler of labour with 

 liberty. It is, moreover, the stimulant of enter- 

 prise in all objects and undertakings, as well as 

 of diligence in the most beneficial arts and em- 

 ployments. Now, did affluence, 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 tran- 

 quillity 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 col- 

 lectively constitutes the great mass of human 

 comfort, w^ould be done away in its very principle. 

 With respect to station, as it is distinguished 

 from riches, whether it confer authority over 

 others, or be invested with honours which apply 

 solely to sentiment and imagination, the truth is 

 that what is gained by rising through the ranks 

 of life, is not more than sufficient to draw forth 

 the exertions of those who are engaged in the 

 pursuits which lead to advancement, and which, 

 in general, are such as ought to be encouraged. 

 Distinctions of this sort are subjects much more 

 of competition than of enjoyment ; and in that 

 competition their use consists. It is not, as hath 

 been rightly observed, by what the Lord Mayor 



