87 
have been created out of surplus profits which have been in- 
vested as savings. Not only have they been the means of the 
employment of labour in their construct]' on, but are the ever- 
increasing means of providing the payment for additional 
labour. It is evident, that if the whole of this money had 
been expended in almsgiving, instead of having been invested 
as savings, every person whom our railway system, either 
directly or indirectly, partially or wholly, supplies with the 
means of subsistence, would have been left destitute of it. 
But this would not have been the only evil consequence 
attending it. Honest industry would have been discouraged, 
and idleness promoted. As at least one half of mankind would 
gladly desert labour if they could be supported by the other 
half, if all our superfluous means were expended in almsgiving, 
the virtue which is popularly designated that of generosity 
would result in the demoralization of society. 
90. While such is the teaching of political economy, and 
while its general principles are unquestionably laid on a firm 
basis of scientific truth, it must not be forgotten that both 
human nature and human society are many-sided, and that 
we can never arrive at ultimate truth unless we take into con- 
sideration the manifold aspects which man presents, and qua- 
lify our general conclusions by their results. To this kind of 
correction all moral and political reasonings are necessarily 
subject ; and unless this be carefully attended to, a partial 
truth will, in the moral world, certainly become a great false- 
hood. A large portion of the nature of man would be left a 
blank if the whole of the superfluous expenditure of society 
were limited to that particular form which is called remune- 
rative. Man has not only to live, but to live well ; and if the 
supposition in question were to become a reality, many of his 
highest and noblest aspirations would possess no corresponding 
object. Admitting also the fact, that a very large portion of 
human misery is occasioned by human folly, yet it is undeniable 
that society, as at present constituted, is liable to evils which 
lie beyond the control of the individual, and which the prin- 
ciples of political economy are incapable of effectually meeting. 
Our world is full of sorrows, misfortunes, accidents, diseases, 
death, and innumerable other ills for which this science can 
provide no sufficient remedy. The most industrious and the 
most virtuous man may become engulphed in sudden ruin, 
and his family left in utter destitution, without any deficiency 
of foresight on his part. Hence the principles of a sound philo- 
sophy are compelled to recognize the fact that society presents 
a twofold aspect, and that there is a wide and legitimate sphere 
for the exercise of the kindlier feelings ; and that the principles 
