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, THE ENQUIRER, No. XVI. 
Yn wHat DEGREE IS THE FUTURE 
MELIORATION OF THE STATE OF 
MANKIND PROBABLE? 
THAT man, who, during the courfe of 
a few late years, has not made very 
ferious refleStions on the condition and 
profpetts of his fellow-creatures; who 
has not been agitated with alternate hopes 
and fears, and felt his wifhes and expec- 
tations in a ftate of perpetual tumult and 
fluGtuation, mutt either have heen ab- 
forbed in ftupid and felfifh indifference, 
or mutt have arrived at that {tate of fecu- 
rity concerning all human affairs which 
is the higheft point of philofophy. For 
my own part, I have been far from either 
of thofe conditions. I have moft ardently 
fympathifed in the furrounding fcenes ; 
but from the prefent view of things, I 
could with that the tranquillity arifing 
not from indifference, but from philofo- 
phy, fhould fucceed to the painful fuf- 
penfe and uneafy apprehenfions of a mind 
too ftrongly imprefled by actual events. 
This, too, may probably be the ftate of 
“many readers of the Mozthly Magazine. 
‘Let us then fee, if, by meditating on the 
paft and prefent ftate of mankind, we can 
difcover any principles which may recon- 
cile us to what we behold, and {fecure us 
for the future againft the folly and the pain 
of expectations never likely to be gratified. 
The human race has now fubfifted fome 
thoufand years, and under all the differ- 
ences of climate and externa! circumftances - 
that can be fuppofed incident to® it. 
With refpec to what we call civilization, 
likewife, it feems to have undergone all 
the viciffitudes of which it is capable; 
for this has ina great many inftances been 
carried to a degree, which feems to have 
been the dire&t caufe of its own decline. 
States moré commercial, more military, 
-. More polifhed, more luxurious, than have 
already exifted, are not likely again to 
appear on the theatre of the world. What 
then remains on which to found expeéta- 
tions of anew ftate of things, unlefs it be 
knowledge? This, in fact, is the prefent 
anchor of our hopes for a meliorated con- 
dition of mankind; it is therefore a mat- 
ter of high importance to confider what 
that*improvement in knowledge mutt be 
which is’ to effeé&t this defirable change, 
aud what are the probabilities of its tak- 
mg place. 
Knowledge may, in a loofe way, be di- 
vided into that which is a fource of hap- 
pinefs in itfelf, and that which is a means 
of producing happinefs. . With refpect 
to the former, inaf{much as it contributes 
Monrury Mac. No. xu. 
Enquirer, No. XVI. 
9 
to the enjoyment of individuals by afford- 
ing interefting and agreeable occupations 
for their leifure, and by dignifying and 
exalting their natures, it cannot, I fear, 
be made a ground of much advantage to 
the great mafs of mankind. Fortoo few in 
fociety can ever poflefs leifure and oppor-. 
tunity fufhcient for the purfuit, or if 
they have thefe, will prefer the pleafures 
of knowledye to the more obvious ones 
flowing from the affections and the fenfes, 
to reuder advances in literature and {cjence 
the fource of much fubftantial benefit to’ 
the world. It may be added, that as it 
is purfuit and progrefs, rather than real 
attainment cf any precife obje&t, which 
gives the pleafure in this cafe, an ad- 
vanced ftate of knowledge is not more 
favourable than an early and immature 
one, to the happinefs of its votaries. 
Whatever may be the modern improve- 
ments in phyfics and metaphyfics, the 
ardour, and confequently the delight, 
with which they are purfued, cannot now 
be much greater than that felt by the 
philofophers of antiquity. 
The other {pecies of knowledge is to be 
regarded as ameans to an end; and, from 
the nature of mankind, formed capable 
of tran{mitting the experience’ and difco- 
veries of one generation to another, and 
thus making unlimited progrefs in the 
adaptation of the fitteft means to the beft 
ends, we may very reafonably expect an 
addition to the ftock of general good from 
this fource. But, in order to form fome 
eftimate of its amount, it will be firft ne~ 
ceflary to confider of what- ingredients 
human happinefs is compofed, and how. 
far it lies within the power of man to add 
to, or diminifh the general fum. 
There is, indeed, an opinion that many 
feem fond of maintaining, which, if true, 
would render unneceflary every confidera- 
tion of this fort, and induce us to fit down 
in perfeét apathy: this is, that good and 
evil are fo equally balanced in all the dif- 
ferent ftates and conditions of mankind, 
that what is gained on one fide, is loft on 
the other, and wice verfa; fo that it can 
never be worth while to attempt a meli- 
oration, by which nothing can be really 
acquired in point of happinefs. And if 
happinefs be the true end and object of 
our being, it is certain that a change, 
which does not conduce to its augmenta- 
tion, is but an idle wafte of our induftry. 
But, furely, a fair and impartial furvey 
of the world can never lead to fuch acon- 
clufion. Place happinefs as low as we 
pleafe—let it confift in mere animal en-— 
joyments, and Sai fecurity of life and 
' its 
