374 THE REIGN OF LAW. 



Other forces which before had conspired against 

 it, were so guided as to work along with it, not 

 only in perfect harmony, but in close alliance. 

 He made, in short, its invariable energies sub- 

 ject to the variable conditions of Adjustment. 

 And so, he governed it and controlled it, and 

 handed it over to the Human Family as the 

 servant of their Will for ever. 



The work of Adam Smith was not dissimilar 

 in its relation to the Reign of Law. It was his 

 labour to prove that in the rude contrivances of 

 Legislation, due account had not been taken of the 

 natural forces with which it had to deal. He 

 showed that among the very elements of human 

 character there were instincts, and desires, and 

 faculties of contrivance, all of which by clumsy 

 machinery had been impeded, and obstructed, and 

 diverted from the channels in which they ought to 

 work. He could not, however, test his reasoning 

 as the Inventor could by continual experiment. 

 He had to rely on abstract reasoning, and on such 

 verification as could be drawn from the compli- 

 cated phenomena of the Body Politic. In this 

 respect the work of Adam Smith was harder than 



