things in others; if it is not too much to hope that the growth of intelligence will at last bear the majority to this point, then we may entertain the confidence of its ultimate accomplishment. The typical man then, representing the majority, will see in the largest political freedom-the equal freedom-a larger right to himself in justice than in aggression, a more secure tenure in the exact recognition of the law of tenure than in its violation, and vested interests standing upon the permanent basis of right. I conceive this to be a possibility lying somewhere on the line of future civilization. Between our present state and its accomplishment there is the necessity, doubtless, of a large increase in the average of human intelligence, and there will be, in our prog ress to it, lapses as well as advances. In the past eighteen hundred years, taking all in all, there has been a growth, gradual it is true, but with considerable persistency, and a growth in this direction. And it is this fact that affords substantial reason for the continuance of this growth until we shall reach the point upon the line where this consummation lies. But however this may be, all that we need ask for the purpose of the present examination is whether the definition which I have given is true. If it be true, if it sets forth a sound principle, then we may make it such a standard as I have indicated for measuring not only those departures from the principles which exist in the industrial conditions about us, but also for measuring the qualities of all the

reforms which are proposed concerning those conditions; and when we use it for reducing to simplicity those confusions which come from the too close consideration of multiplied and complex results, we will come to see with more clearness the force and application of those "middle principles" which underlie the whole subject.

CHAPTER II

THE INFLUENCE OF THE DISCOVERY OF STEAM AND THE MECHANICAL INVENTIONS UPON INDUSTRY

EDMUND BURKE, in 1790, pronounced a eulogy upon the age of chivalry in these words:

"The age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded, and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever. Never, never more shall we behold that generous loyalty to rank and sex, that proud submission, that dignified obedience, that subordination of heart which kept alive, even in servitude itself, the spirit of exalted freedom."

In a vein just the opposite of that in which these sentiments were conceived, Burke had long before held up the prime necessity of compliance with the order of nature as being paramount, in order to sustain

"those unalterable relations which Providence has ordained that every thing should bear to every other. These relations, which are truth itself, the foundation of virtue, and consequently the only measures of happiness, should be likewise the only measures by which we should direct our reasoning. To these we should conform in good 1 "Reflections on the Revolution in France." London, 1790, p. 113.

earnest, and not think to force nature, and the whole order of her system, by a compliance with our pride and folly, to conform to our artificial regulations. It is by a conformity to this method we owe the discovery of the few truths we know, and the little liberty and rational happiness we enjoy."

1

I place these extracts side by side in contrast, in order to show how far the foremost statesman of his age was from realizing the immense transitions which were taking place about him, and from realizing the necessity of more than ever carefully studying and conforming, "in good earnest," to the necessities of the new order of things thus inaugurated by industrial progress. Coleridge says of Burke: "He possessed and sedulously sharpened that eye which sees all things, actions, and events in relation to the laws which determine their existence and circumscribe their possibility. He referred habitually to principles, and was a scientific statesman." The condition of affairs must have been peculiar, without precedent, which could cause such a man to lose his clearer vision of the underlying principles of his surroundings, to indulge in sentimental regrets for the past, and to oppose all progress. And so, indeed, they were. The French Revolution, with all its enormities, stood prominently before the eyes of all the English statesmen; and not only gave the severest shock to the sentiments which were born of the romance period, but threatened the foundations

1 Burke's Works. Boston, 1839. Vol. I., p. 9. "Vindication of Natural Society."

of all human government. These statesmen became more than profoundly conservative, and sternly set their faces against every innovation. To them it was conclusive that, because the spirit of change had gone so far and so violently in France, it was therefore not to be allowed to take its first step in England. To them the only safety lay in the sanctions of the past. But the "stream of tendency" had set unalterably against chivalry and in favor of industry, and was not therefore to be turned. The doom of mediæval conditions, although not yet accomplished, was sealed. Chivalry and knighthood had nothing more to confer upon mankind, nor could the new spirit of the age accept from them instruction regarding the industrial lessons of life, any more than that spirit could revive within itself a faith in witchcraft or in the divine right of kings. Whatever virtues may be conceded to the chivalric period, such as the "generous loyalty of rank and sex," the "proud submission," and the "dignified obedience," it could not be claimed that the "spirit of exalted freedom was any longer to be kept alive "in servi tude." Of the laws of commercial obligation and exact justice, the cavalier knew little and cared less. As chivalry impressed upon its own age the idea that the highest sentiments of honor were compatible with the lowest sense of commercial honesty, it could confer nothing upon the subject of industrial law which could have the least value for the incoming age.