But the possessor of these riches is poor and
miserable. With all the materials of clothing offered to him almost
spontaneously, he is ill-clad; with the most productive of soils, he is
ill-fed: though we are told that the labour of a week will there procure
subsistence for a year, famines are of frequent occurrence; the hut of
the Indian, and the residence of the landed proprietor, are alike
destitute of furniture and convenience; and South America, helpless and
indigent with all her natural advantages, seems to rely for support and
improvement on a very small portion of the surplus wealth of England.
It is impossible to consider these phenomena without feeling anxious to
account for them; to discover whether they are occasioned by
circumstances unsusceptible of investigation or regulation, or by causes
which can be ascertained, and may be within human control. To us, as
Englishmen, it is of still deeper interest to inquire whether the causes
of our superiority are still in operation, and whether their force is
capable of being increased or diminished; whether England has run her
full career of wealth and improvement, but stands safe where she is; or,
whether to remain stationary is impossible, and it depends on her
institutions and her habits, on her government, and on her people,
whether she shall recede or continue to advance.
The answer to all these questions must be sought in the science which
teaches in what wealth consists, by what agents it is produced, and
according to what laws it is distributed, and what are the institutions
and customs by which production may be facilitated, and distribution
regulated, so as to give the largest possible amount of wealth to each
individual.
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