476 



THE JRU ISlAXnS. [chap, xxiii. 



force liiiii to lalvnir ; ami if irnn ft*ere as <lear as silver, and 

 calico as costly as satin, the e'fect would be beneficial to 

 him. As it is, he lias more iiHe hours, get^ a more constant 

 supply of tobacco, and can intoxicate himself with aiTack 

 more frequently and more thoroughly ; for yonr Arn man 

 scorns to f?et half drunk — a tumbler full of ai'rack is but 

 a sliglifc stiniuhis, and notliin^ less than hall" a pallou of 

 spirit will make him tipsj' to his own satisfaction. 



It is not af^reeaUe to retlect on this state of thinL^s, At 

 least half of tho vast multitudes of nucivilized peoples, 

 on whom our gigantic niannfacturing system, enormous 

 capital, and intense competition force the produce of our 

 looms and workshops, would be not a whit worse off 

 physically, and wonld ccrtaiidy be improved momlly, if 

 all the articles with which we supply them were double 

 or treble their present prices. If at the same time the 

 ditTerence of cost, or a large portion of it, could tind its 

 way into the pockets of the manufacturing workmen, 

 thousands would he raised from want to comfort, from 

 starvation to health, and would be removed from one of 

 the chief incentives to crime. It is difificnlt for an P^lnglish- 

 man to avoid contemplating with pride our gigantic and 

 ever-increasing manufactures and commerce, and thinking 

 everything good that renders their progi-ess still more 

 rapid, either by lowering the price at which the articles 

 can be produced, or by discovering new markete to wluch 

 they may be sent If, however, the question that is so 

 frequently asked of the votaries of the less popular 

 sciences were put here — '* Cui bono ? " — it would be found 

 more difficult to answer than had been imagined. The 

 advantages, even to the few who reap them, would be seen 

 to be mostly physical, while the wide-spread moral and 

 iiiteHeetnal evils resulting from unceasing labour, low 

 wages, crowded dwellings, and monotonous occupations, to 

 perhaps as large a nnmljer as those who gain any real 

 advantage, might be held to show a balance of evil so 

 greatj as to lead the greatest admirers of our manufactures 

 and commerce to doubt the advisability of their further 

 development. It will be said: "We cannot stop it; 

 capikd must be employed ; our population must be kept 

 at work ; if we hesitate a moment, otlier nations now hard 



