skill; a fixed
taxation, for which the whole free inhabitants of every municipality
were jointly and severally responsible, to meet the increasing
military establishment required by these perils; a declining, and at
length extinct, agriculture in the central provinces of the empire,
owing to the deluge of cheap grain from its fertile extremities,
wafted over the waters of the Mediterranean; multitudes of turbulent
freemen in cities, kept quiet by daily distribution of provisions at
the public expense, from the imperial granaries; and a half, or
two-thirds, of the whole population in a state of slavery--neither
bearing any share of the public burdens, nor adding to the strength of
the military array of the empire. Such are the discoveries of modern
philosophy, as to the causes of the decline and ultimate fall of the
Roman empire, gleaned from a few facts, accidentally preserved by the
ancient writers, apparently unconscious of their value! It is a noble
science which, in so short a time, has presented such a gift to
mankind.

Guizot has announced, and ably illustrated, a great truth, which, when
traced to its legitimate consequences, will be found to go far towards
dispelling many of the pernicious innovating dogmas which have so long
been afloat in the world. It is this, that whenever an institution,
though apparently pernicious in our eyes, has long existed, and under
a great variety of circumstances, we may rest assured that it in
reality has been attended with some advantages which counterbalance
its evils, and that upon the whole it is beneficial in its tendency.
This important principle is thus stated:--

"Independent of the efforts of man, there is established by a law
of providence, which it is impossible to mistake, and which is
analagous to what we witness in the natural world, a certain
measure of order, reason, and justice, without which society
cannot exist. From the single fact of its endurance we may
conclude, with certainty, that a society is not completely
absurd, insensate, or iniquitous; that it is not destitute of the
elements of reason, truth, and justice--which alone can give life
to society. If the more that society developes itself, the
stronger does this principle become--if it is daily accepted by a
greater number of men, it is a certain proof that in the lapse of
time there has been progressively introduced into it more reason,