see this principle carried to its full extent in prac- 

 tice, I am not so sanguine as to imagine. As he 

 has himself observed, the passions, the ignorance, 

 and, what is worse, the narrow interests of men, 

 unite to oppose it. But it is surely not too much 

 to expect that we should keep the height we have 

 gained, and not, in this enlightened age, fall 

 back into the prejudices of barbarous times, and 

 forge new fetters for ourselves, while we feel the 

 weight of those already entailed upon us. 



cry out for more amendments; but they are not aware, that the 

 only error is, that there should be a compulsive institution on 

 any of them, in our statute-book. 



The only new laws that will ever improve any of these branches 

 of internal policy, will be such as abrogate the old, without put- 

 ting any thing in their place. But this must be cautiously and 

 gradually done. It is the great loss of artificial systems, that 

 their very evils ensure their continuance. 



On this subject, I beg leave to refer to the masterly Treatise on 

 Usury, by Mr Bentham. I wish that gentleman, in some of the 

 late hints which he has given towards the improvement of our do- 

 mestic policy, had preserved the same temperate and practical 

 spirit which appears in that performance. 



