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    Served , that if a government of this kind should be once established on any spot ., the advantages of it would be so visible , and it would strengthen and extend itself so fast , that in time it would be very likely to become universal / ' ( Price ' s Diss . 4 th Ed . 1777 , p . 137 . )

    £ ) r . Price appears to have had in his recollection the second and third Prospects in Dr . Wallace * s work . The second crives € C the model of a perfect government /* formed chiefly on TVtore * s Utopia ^ and of which the following are described as the fundamental maxims : —

    16 That there should be no private property . —That every one should work for the public , and be supported by the public . —That all should "be on a level , and that the fruits of every one ' s labour should be com * mon for the comfortable subsistence of all the members of the society . — And , lastly > that every one should be obliged to do something , yet none should be burlhened with severe labour / ' ( P . 46 . )

    The author appears to have been led to indulge the idea of such a constitution of human affairs from his observation of the very imperfect provision for the happiness of the whole ., which he saw around aim * How far the following description of the -state of things nearly half a century ago may be now applicable I leave to your readers to determine . Dr . W » thus concludes the second Prospect : —

    " How defective are all the plans of government which have evef foe ^ n actually established ! How miserably has the good ead of government been defeated ! How little care has been taken either of the souls or of the bodies of men ! What are great numbers of the poor but slaves and beasts of burthen to the rich ! In what ignorance do multitudes live ! To what severe labours are they subjected ! How hard do they toil , yet how scanty and unwholesome is their diet ! In what nasty cottages do they live ! How few of the comforts of ] ife fall to their share ! How many have died by hunger and painful diseases * being cruelly neglected by their fellow-creatures ! Yet all these unhappy mortals were as much qualified by nature as the most fortunate of their kind * for a more agreeable life and nobler enjoyments . What . government so fit for men , as that which equally provides for the hap * piness and improvement of the whole species . " ( Pp . 50 51 . )

    The third Prospect is on the question whether government ' according . to the preceding model , can be established and maintained in the "world 2 " On this subject the author has the following just and devout reflections ^ to some of which very late events haVe given a peculiar interest . ic If the great Governor of the world intends to establish such an Equitable government , it is perfectly agreeable to the profound wis-& ® m and in ) St ® mm * workings of his providence , to accomplish this d « f

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    41 S Wallace ' s " Prosatc' ts of Mankin d * " &c >

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1807, page 518, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2385/page/10/