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Untitled Article
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Untitled Article
The system of entail , and the descent of property , en masse , to the first-born of each generation , constitute the basis of the
aristocracy of England . In every country , but especially in one so essentially ' moneyed' as this is , civil power exists , in pretty nearly equal ratio , with the wealth of the individual . Of course we allow for the growing influence of intellect , but it may be truly asserted that even in the present day , and in this country , the
power of intellect forms but an exception , a mere discount , to the power of wealth . This being admitted , it becomes the first object of the governed , that wealth ( being synonymous with government ) should be vested in the hands of those who are the most competent to use the power it confers with advantage to the general interest of the nation . Let us examine how far this object is fulfilled by the present system of inheritance . Let us see whether , by corrupting
those to whom it assigns power , it does not stand an effectual barrier in the way of all legislative improvement , by perpetuating and fortifying the abuses of mis-government ? Whether , in a word , so far from securing to the governed the best and cheapest government , —it does not directly tend to entail on them the worst and dearest .
It is the natural order of things that the enjoyment of possessions is the especial right of those who have amassed them . Nor is this a principle merely of abstract right . It is one pregnant with the highest utility ; for the personal accumulation of property is , in itself , a security for its proper employ ment , and a guarantee for the due and honest exercise of that power , which we have shown to be closely identified with its possession . Though the acquirement of possessions by the individual may arise from accident , or good fortune , or even from dishonesty and
violence , still we maintain that such instances form but exceptions to the general mass of those , wherein industry and talent have alone acquired possessions a ^ id influence , above the common standard of society . It is by no means contended that the accumulation of gain , is an unfailing proof of moral merit ; but , it may be safely asserted , that , where no artificial barriers impede the fair competition and exertion of industry and talent , —the condition of mankind admits of no stronger general practical evidence of a man ' s fitness to have and to employ the power which property gives , than is comprised in his personal acquirement of it . We are quite sure that , at least , such a man has sonic of the chief qualifications , which tend to render him fit to employ his self-acquired influence to the benefit of others . Bent ham , in his Reform Catechism , thus illustrates the grand principle that
industry is a qualification for the exercise of civil power : — ' If of two candidates , knowing nothing of either , but that one was an apothecary , and the other a gentleman of 10 , 000 / . a year , ( inherited , )
Untitled Article
348
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THE EVILS OF PRIMOGENITIVE INHERITANCE .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1834, page 348, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2633/page/36/
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