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719.-Unlimited Desire of Power.-Power is a means to an end. The end is, every thing, without exception, which the human being calls pleasure, and the removal of pain. The grand instrument for attaining what a man likes, is the actions of other men.

Power, in its most appropriate signification, therefore, means security for the conformity between the will of one man and the acts of other men. This, we presume, is not a proposition which will be disputed. The master has power over his servant, because when he 'wills him to do so and so—in other words, expresses a desire that he would do so and so, he possesses a kind of security that the actions of the man will correspond to his desire. The general commands his soldiers to perform certain operations, the King commands his subjects to act in a certain manner, and their power is complete or not complete, in proportion as the conformity is complete or not complete between the actions willed and the actions performed. The actions of other men, considered as means for the attainment of the objects of our desire, are perfect or imperfect, in proportion as they are or are not certainly and invariably correspondent to There is no limit, therefore, to the demand of security for the perfection of that correspondence. A man is never satisfied with a smaller degree, if he can obtain a greater. And as there is no man whatsoever, whose acts, in some degree or other, in some way or other, more immediately or more remotely, may not have some influence as means to our ends, there is no man, the conformity of whose acts to our will we would not give something to secure. The demand, therefore, of power over the acts of other men is really boundless. It is boundless in two ways; boundless in the number of persons to whom we would extend it, and boundless in its degree over the actions of each.-Mill.

our will.

720. On Domestic Duties.—Seeing that almost the whole of the day is devoted to business abroad, and the remainder of my time to domestic duties, there is none left for myself—that is, for my studies. For on returning home, I have to talk with my wife, prattle with my children, and converse with my servants. All which things, I number among the duties of life: since, if a man would not be a stranger in his own house, he must, by every means in his power, strive to render himself agreeable to those companions of his life whom Nature hath provided, chance thrown in his way, or that he has himself chosen.-Sir Thomas Moore.

721. Fitness of Men for Public Employment.-As he that knows how to put proper words in proper places evinces the truest knowledge of books, so he that knows how to put fit persons in fit stations, evinces the truest knowledge of men. It was observed of Elizabeth, that she was weak herself, but chose wise counsellors; to which it was replied, that to choose wise counsellors was in a prince the highest wisdom.-Lacon.

722. The Education of the People.-That before long, something must and will be done on an extended scale for the education of the people, there can be no doubt. It is, therefore, highly important, that the Dissenters, as a body, should be prepared to state with distinctness and decision, what they will accept, and what they will oppose. The resources of private benevolence are confessedly inadequate to the task of bringing the schoolmaster to every man's door. In large towns, a great deal has undoubtedly been effected by enterprising and benevolent individuals; but in villages and thinly scattered districts, comparatively little has been, or can be done. The difficulty of raising a sufficient sum to afford a decent maintenance for a respectable schoolmaster, is, in these situations, generally too great to be overcome without some compromise of principle. As a natural result, persons are frequently appointed to the office, whose only qualification is to be found in their deriving emolument from some other occupation, such as that of parish clerk or sexton, by the aid of which they are enabled to maintain themselves, and thus keep open the school doors, Now it is in cases like these, that the aid of Government is indispensably necessary. How it may be most effectually imparted, is an interesting and as yet, an open question.--Eclectic Review.

723. Importance of Political Economy.-The principles which regulate the wages of labour form, without any exception, the most interesting and the most important division of Political Economy. The labouring classes compose the great bulk of every community; and a country is happy or miserable, as they are well or ill supplied with the necessaries, comforts, and enjoyments of life. The study of Political Economy, if it did not teach the way in which labour may obtain an adequate reward, might serve to gratify a merely speculative curiosity, but could scarcely conduce to any purposes of practical utility. claims the peculiar attention of the benevolent and good, mainly because it explains the causes, which depress and elevate wages, and thereby points out the means by which we may mitigate the distress, and improve the condition, of the great majority of mankind. Political Economy is not, as has been erroneously stated, the appropriate science of the statesman and the legislator; it is peculiarly and emphatically, the Science of the People.-Robert Torrens.

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724. Doctrine of Passive Obedience.-The doctrine of passive obedience is so repugnant to the genuine feelings of human nature, that it can never be completely acted on. A secret dread that popular vengeance will awake, and nature assert her rights, imposes a restraint which the most determined despotism is not able to shake off. The rude reason of the multitude may be perplexed; but the sentiments of the heart are not easily perverted.-Robert Hall.

725. True Liberty.—

This is true liberty when free-born men
Having to advise the public, may speak out,
Which he who can and will, deserves high praise;
Who neither can nor will, may hold his peace;

What can be juster in a state than this?—Euripides.

726. Whatever is good will always bear investigation.-Every thing that is really excellent will bear examination, it will even invite it, and the more narrowly it is surveyed to the more advantage it will appear. Is our constitution a good one? it will gain in our esteem by the severest inquiry. Is it bad? then its imperfections should be laid open and exposed. Is it, as is generally confessed, of a mixed nature, excellent in theory, but defective in its practice? freedom of discussion will be still requisite to point out the nature and source of its corruptions, and apply suitable remedies. If our constitution be that perfect model of excellence it is represented, it may boldly appeal to the reason of an enlightened age, and need not rest on the support of an implicit faith.-Robert Hall.

727. Universal Desire of Power.—That one human being will desire to render the person and property of another subservient to his pleasures, notwithstanding the pain or loss of pleasure which it may occasion to that other individual, is the foundation of Government. The desire of the object implies the desire of the power necessary to accomplish the object. The desire, therefore, of that power which is necessary to render the persons and properties of human beings subservient to our pleasures, is a grand governing law of human nature.-Mill.

728. Responsibility of High Office.—How happy the station which every minute furnishes opportunities of doing good to thousands! how dangerous that which every moment exposes to the injuring of millions. La-Bruyere.

729. Charity. It is charity only that maketh riches worth the owning. We may observe, when charitable men have ruled, the world hath flourished, and enjoyed the blessings of peace and prosperity; the times have been more pleasant and smooth: nor have any princes sate more secure or firm in their thrones than those that have been clement and benign, as Titus, Trajan, Antonine, and others. And we may observe again, how rugged and how full of bracks those times have been wherein cruel ones have had a power.-Feltham.

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730. Supposed Estimate of Man by Angels.-If there are angels, who look into the ways of man, how different are the notions which they entertain of us, from those which we are apt to form of one another. We are dazzled with the splendour of titles, the ostentation of learning, the noise of victories. They, on the contrary, see the philosopher in the cottage, who possesses his soul in patience and thankfulness, under the pressures of what titled minds call poverty and distress. They do not look for great men at the head of armies, or among the pomps of a court, but often find them out in shades and solitudes, in the private walks and bye paths of life. The evening walk of a wise man is more illustrious in their sight, than the march of a general at the head of a hundred thousand men. A contemplation of God's works, a voluntary act of justice to our own detriment, a generous concern for the good of mankind, tears shed in silence for the misery of others, a private desire of resentment broken or subdued; in short, an unfeigned exercise of humility, or any other virtue, are such actions as are glorious in their sight, and denominate men great and reputable. The most famous among us are often looked upon with pity, contempt, or indignation; whilst those who are most obscure among their own species, are regarded with love, approbation, and esteem.-Addison.

731. Slavery.--The weight of chains, number of stripes, hardness of labour, and other effects of a master's cruelty, may make one servitude more miserable than another; but he is a slave who serves the best and gentlest man in the world, as well as he who serves the worst-and he does serve him if he must obey his commands and depend upon his will.-Algernon Sidney.

732. Habits.—Unless the habit leads to happiness, the best habit is to contract none.-Zimmerman.

733.-Public Satisfaction necessary to the Usefulness of a Judge.On this occasion, as on all others, popularity is to be considered as a solid and substantial good, unpopularity as a solid and substantial evil; independently of all considerations of good and ill desert. Two properties are indispensable on the part of a magistrate of this sort; that he be a good one, and that he be thought to be so. Without he be so, he will hardly, it is true, be thought so long; but so long as it is possible to be in either case without being in the other, better he should be thought to be good without being so, than be so without being thought so. A judge may be bad in a thousand respects; he may be corrupt or ignorant in the extreme, and yet so long as his corruption or his ignorance do not transpire, no very material suffering may ensue from it let him be generally thought so, whether he be or be not so is a matter of small moment, otherwise than to his own conscience. An alarm, an opinion of insecurity, equally general, is the necessary consequence; and where there is no opinion of security, as well might there be no justice. Insecurity unapprehended is but a latent source of contingent misfortune to the few; insecurity perceived or supposed is a fund of actual and present uneasiness to the many. Possessing the confidence of the people, then, is the first requisite in this line: deserving it is but a secondary one. This in England is one of the great arguments for juries.-Bentham.

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734. Dilemma of those who oppose the Education of the People.—It is no longer deniable that a high degree of knowledge is capable of being conveyed to such a portion of the community, as would have interests the same as those of the community. This being the only source of good government, those who say that it is not yet attained stand in this dilemma; either they do not desire good government, which is the case with all those who derive advantage from bad; or they will be seen employing their utmost exertions to increase the quantity of knowledge in the body of the community.-Mill.

735. True and False Happiness.-True happiness is of a retired nature, and an enemy to pomp and noise; it arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one's self; and in the next, from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions; it loves shade and solitude, and naturally haunts groves and fountains, fields and meadows; in short, it feels every thing it wants within itself, and receives no addition from multitudes of witnesses and spectators. On the contrary, false happiness loves to be in a crowd, and to draw the eyes of the world upon her. She does not receive any satisfaction from the applauses which she gives herself, but from the admiration which she raises in others. She flourishes in courts and palaces, theatres and assemblies, and has no existence but when she is looked upon.

Addison.

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