314 



humboldt's cuba. 



If the pursuit of wealth should pervade to an 

 absolute degree all classes of society, it would infal- 

 libly produce the evil that is deplored by those who 

 contemplate with sorrow what they style the prepon- 

 derance of the industrial system,, But the increase 

 of commerce — multiplying the friendly ties between 

 nations, opening an immense sphere to the opera- 

 tions of the mind, pouring capital into the lap of 

 agriculture, and creating new wants through the 

 refinements of luxury — presents in itself the remedy 

 for the danger which they believe to exist. In this 

 extreme complication of cause and effect, time is 

 needed to establish the equilibrium between the dif- 

 ferent classes of society. We cannot say, at any 

 given period, that civilization, the progress of know- 

 ledge, and the development of the public mind, 

 may be measured by tons, by the value of exports, 

 or by the state of the industrial arts. Nations, like 

 individuals, should not be judged by a single period 

 of their lives, for they must run the entire course of 

 their destiny, passing through the whole scale of a 

 civilization adequate to their physical condition, and 

 consonant with their national character. 



