191 EES PEINCIPES DE LA THEOEIE DES RICHES SES. 



enough for the work, and our author is compelled to descend from 

 his vantage-ground of rigorous scientific research, and enter into 

 contest with the " ecrivains economiques," in that very arena of 

 wordiness for which he has so justly reproached them. In some 

 places also his reasoning may with justice be impugned, and we have 

 therefore less compunction at cutting short our abstract. Enough 

 has been said to give our readers an idea of the nature of this 

 admirable treatise, and of the style of research pursued, and results ob- 

 tained in it : we think it may truly be regarded as the first attempt, ' 

 and a successful one, at founding a true science of wealth on the 

 only base of observation and induction : we must, however, not for- 

 get, that the " theory of riche3" is only one portion of the social 

 economic field : the true weal of a nation depends, not merely on its 

 wealth but infinitely more, on the mode in which that wealth is 

 distributed, and the investigation of the " how and why" for this 

 case must be the ultimate aim of all the problems of civil polity : we 

 would recommend to the attention of our readers, the following 

 eloquent and consoling remarks, with which Cournot closes his 

 book: 



We must remember that questions such us thes'e, are not resolved by the 

 argumentations of doctors, nor even by the wisdom of statesmen. A superior 

 power forces nations into this or the other, track, and when a system has had its 

 day, sound reasoning will be as unavailing as sophistry, to restore to it the life 

 it h.is lost. The craft of the statesman consists then in moderating the ardour of 

 the spirit of innovation, without trying to maintain an impossible struggle against 

 the laws of Providence. The possession of a sound theory can aid this labour of 

 resistance to abrupt changes, and helps in facilitating the transition from one 

 regime to another; by bringing more lights to the point in dispute, it extinguishes 

 the passions that are in combat, System? have their fanatics ; science, which suc- 

 ceeds to systems, never has. Lastly, if the theories connected with the organisa- 

 tion of society, do not rule contemporaneous facts, they at lea3t render plain the 

 history of facts accomplished. We may up to a certain point, compare the in- 

 fluence of theories of polity on society with that of theories of grammar on lan- 

 guage. Languages are formed without the consent of grammarians, aud are cor- 

 rupted in spite of them; but the labours of these bring day-light to the laws of 

 formation and decay of languages ; their rules hasten the period at which a lan- 

 guage reaches its perfection, and retard somewhat the invasion of the barbarism 

 and bad taste which corrupt it." 



J. B. C. 



