Pagina 564 van 1391

There have been evils which have arisen out of the attempt to

identify them, and this has led to the separation or antagonism

of them, which has been introduced by modern political writers.

But we may likewise feel that something has been lost in their

separation, and that the ancient philosophers who estimated the

moral and intellectual wellbeing of mankind first, and the wealth

of nations and individuals second, may have a salutary influence

on the speculations of modern times. Many political maxims

originate in a reaction against an opposite error; and when the

errors against which they were directed have passed away, they in

turn become errors.