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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
E&pntrkum > tha dojrt ^^ heriwreliefe ^ i ^ fhfe yievfey ; tfieifcalmtiess and -dignity : ' 0 f ' 'hi * maorier ; nlwfairn > ete ; of IMs statements . ) atid th& impdrtiai ¥ de ernd benrg ' rtily of fai& purposes / are ? a / felicitous c 6 mbtuaU ^ nwhit ? h ! makes us receive tha ami < mncbment k ) fna new w < tfk from his pen , as a most dep ^ rtdvble tarotaiise' of' gratification
and instruction . There is but one way in which we can < review such a writer , viz . by description and analysis ,, preserving in the task that fidelity to our own minds which demands the e-xjiresaioii of doubt or dissent , whenever they occur . To this ; therefore ^ we shall apply ourselves ; passing- over the introductory chapters ,, as of less moment , and coming at once to the main body of the work .
The first chapter treats of the proper object and province of government ; the former is defined to be the good of the com « iu > nity , and the latter , ' to promote the happiness of the commuikity associated under it , by such measures as cannot , be undertaken by individuals or subordinate associations for themselves , or cannot foe undertakeu with equal advantage . ' - i : \ Subordinate associations are introduced into the 'definition ;
be £ aus £ there are a number of advantages attained * by > combinations of men forming only a part of the political community , which tive members so uniting could not attain by their solitary effbrte j such combinations , for instance , as benefit societies , philosophical and literary clubs , and mechanics' institutes * ' The purposes of ? these institutions are evidently not of a natwre to be accomplished by persons acting singly , and yet they are for' the rrfost' part' attained without the care or control of the supreme authority of the state . '
On the foregoing definition our author proceeds to argue > that the- ' fu ^ ve ^ ions of government are chiefly of a supplementary and nefinalive character , and that great mischief has arisen from regarding it c in the light of an all-pervading , all-directing power , thje ^ otifce of all the arrangements which administer to the order and happiness of society . ' The definition , however , is not very restrictive . It leaves ' ample scope and verge enough * for the interposition of government . The real question , on our author ' s view , aftd on that which he censures , will be the same . It is
supposed on the one hand that there are comparatively ^ ew cases , and on the other that there are comparatively many , in which individual effort , or partial and voluntary social eftbrt , is not attended with equal advantage to government interference . But whether there be many or few , the condition of such interference is the'daine , —its proved advantage .
Th © number of such cases must continually increase with the progress of governments towards perfection . The imsciuef df tnt&rffrrefioe ha « comnnonly been , that it was ignoranft or stlfish i « tfcrfe ^ tlo * u III' 1 proportion « A the represent at ive &ystein i # i = hjc > c ^ « s i \ d » i ^ i cofi sl ' ituti'Fig' a o * v ernme itt 8 of the moat enttghtef&d vri ** Mwti >* f- W t ^ tutiiimi ^ sUid > by rn ^ uis t >( - rebpankibility i in di ^
Untitled Article
S ^ The R * t *< mvte df Po ' ^ dPH * *^
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1835, page 320, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2645/page/28/
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