680 ON RURAL IMPROVEMENT, AND BOOK III. 



instances; but as society improves, and public bodies or com- 

 munities agree to submit to certain laws and regulations, the 

 duties of the poor, from being the result of mere necessity or 

 attachment, become such as, if neglected, are punishable by the 

 laws of their country, as a violation of order; while many of the 

 duties of the wealthy, in place of being dictated by the prin- 

 ciple of self-defence or aggrandizement, in consequence of a 

 superiority in mental energies, flow from the more noble prin- 

 ciples of benevolence to all around, love of country, and national 

 improvement. If at any time they seem to forget the impor- 

 tant duties of their stations, they are recalled to them, not by 

 laws of compulsion, but by awakening their natural sense of 

 honour and virtue; and in this case, the literary men of the 

 age never fail to effect for the general good what the clergy 

 do for individual happiness: the former appeal to humanity 

 and justice, the latter to religion and piety; and the utility 

 of both to society is perhaps seldom sufficiently known or 

 appreciated. 



1. In the first place, rural improvement demands attention 

 from its general influence on society. As it comprehends 

 the introduction both of beauty and utility, this is effected in 

 several ways. By the cultivation of what has been hitherto 

 neglected, and by the superior management of the whole, an 

 increase of produce and national riches takes place. The late 

 years of scarcity have shewn the importance of attending to 



