hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich (x. 4).

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise; which provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest" (vi. 6—8).

"Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man" (vi. 10, 11).

The Talmud, on the authority of Psalm cxxviii., places the man who works above the merely pious, and upholds the labour of the hands as equally honourable with that of the intellect. (Berachot, 17). On this subject some sentences in the Talmud are truly admirable :

"Great is labour: whoso gives himself to it is nourished, exalted and ennobled."

"Only he who serves the earth receives its full bounty."

"Rather gnaw carrion in the streets than have recourse to charity."

"Whoso teaches not his son a trade brings him up to be a thief."

Here again is a story from the Talmud: A rabbi, carrying a plank from his field, was asked if there were no workmen to save him the trouble. He replied, "This I do to show the people that labour is no disgrace. It is only he who shuns it who is dishonoured." Hence the maxim, "Love labour, and hate excessive wealth."

The regions of the Tigris and Euphrates, now so desolate, once formed the Persian Empire, renowned in all antiquity for the fertility of its fields and the wealth of its towns. This prosperity was due to the blessing which Zoroastrism, a religion of great purity and elevation, pronounced upon labour. Here are some extracts from the Zendavesta in praise of toil:

"Creator of the corporeal world, Pure One! What is the increase of the Mazdayaçnian law?

"Then answered Ahura Mazda (Ormuzd, God): When one diligently cultivates corn, O holy Zarathustra. He who cultivates the fruits of the field cultivates purity" (Vendidad, iii. § 97-99. Bleek's translation).

"Creator of the corporeal world, Pure One! What is in the third place most acceptable to the earth?

"Then answered Ahura Mazda: Where by cultivation there is produced most corn, provender and fruit-bearing trees; where dry land is watered, or the water drained from too moist land."

"Creator of the corporeal world, Pure One! What is in the fourth place most acceptable to the earth?

"Then answered Ahura Mazda: Where most cattle and beasts of burden are born" (iii. § 11-17).

"He who cultivates this earth with the left arm and the right, with the right arm and the left, O holy Zarathustra ! to him it brings wealth.

Like as a friend to his beloved, she brings to him issue or riches" (iii. § 84-86).

"He who does not cultivate this earth, O holy Zarathustra, then this earth speaks to him: Man, thou who dost not cultivate me. Always thou standest there, going to the doors of others to beg for food. Always they bring food to thee, thou who beggest lazily out of doors" (iii. § 91-94).

If some religious doctrines have been singularly favourable to economic progress, certain errors have been productive of great evils. Such is the case with intolerance, that aberration of religious sentiment of which it may be said that it is not only a crime but a mistake-a crime against the majesty of man, and a great mistake in economy. Thus it was intolerance which robbed Spain of the Moors with their perfect system of cultivation, and of the Jews who created its commerce and procured its financial credit. It was intolerance, too, that ruined the Belgian provinces in the sixteenth century, and, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, chased from France its most industrious inhabitants. Religious liberty, on the other hand, attracted to Holland refugees and proscribed persons from every country, victims of every kind of intolerance; it thus contributed greatly to the prosperity of the united provinces.

§ 7. The Influence of the Moral Sentiments on the Productiveness of Labour.

There is not a virtue which does not lead to true wealth, nor a vice which is not an obstacle to wellbeing. As has been well said, "Moral progress always brings with it an increase of prosperity. But material progress, unless accompanied by an equivalent progress in morality, is always the forerunner of decline." The circumstances of the downfall of every great empire of antiquity may be cited in support of this truth.

A good conscience in a workman means a good piece of work. When the conscience is bad, the work will be little and ill done. Prudence leads to thrift, thrift gives birth to capital, capital makes labour productive.

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Prudence is a mental gift; it is the seeing future events as if they were actually present. your well before you are thirsty," says the Japanese proverb. Because they foresee needs yet to come, men save a portion of what they produce, and thus collect the means of living in greater comfort and producing more. The spirit of economy enriches, not only families, but states. Prussia, which, in the phrase of Voltaire, was only "the desert of the Marquis of Brandenburg," has become a powerful state, thanks to the spirit of order, economy, and intelligent administration, which imbued its kings, especially Frederick II., while during the same

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period France was being ruined by the extravagance of the time of Louis XIV., the immorality of the Regency, and all the disorders of Louis XV.

According to Montesquieu, the Caribbees break down a tree in order to gather its fruit. Here we have improvidence personified. From improvidence spring drunkenness and intemperance; these destroy at once the fruits of labour and the aptitude for work, and in this way misery is perpetuated.

Credit is only another word for confidence, and confidence depends on the certainty that engagements will be faithfully observed. Thus this powerful lever of commerce rests on a virtue as its support; where, as in the East, this virtue is not present, credit also is not to be found.

Perseverance, another virtue, is also a great economic force. It is by perseverance that the men of Zealand have justified their assumption of the proud motto Luctor et emergo ("I struggle and survive") by twice conquering their territory, the first time from the sea, the second, from the tyranny of Spain. It was perseverance, again, that presided at the birth of the United States, when the first emigrants had to contend against the climate, disease, and the savage tribes.

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Administrative venality and partiality in dispensing justice are great obstacles to progress in Russia. this the Emperor is not ignorant, but he knows no means of remedying the ill.

As M. Le Play remarks in his Études sur les