tion, will result. But a certain excellence has been premised. At least ordinary sense and virtue, on the part of the individ nal, have been taken for granted. Such a condition being assumed, or even one of a much higher order, happiness and success will result from the causes mentioned.

Finally, it may be objected that the subject has been treated too coldly and analytically. Happiness comes, it is said, spontaneously. It can neither be defined nor predicated. It is a gleam, a vision, and then gone. Joy is found in the song of a bird, the rustle of a leaf, the morning dew, the running brook, perfumes, stars, melodies. We learn to take our pleasures by the wayside, in little things, where we least look for them. Yes, thus, at present, happiness visits us. Our best words, our happiest moments, are but gleams in the general somberness and weariness of life. But what if a general state could be induced, in which these moods, these moments, could become more frequent? If genius be an illumination, joy a vision, could we not stand on a general plane, where the brightness would be less dazzling, the ascent less sudden, both attended with less weariness and recoil? The art of life is to multiply the highest moods, the profoundest emotions. It is believed that this art is to be found, partially, at least, in the attainment of the conditions supposed.

In conclusion, let us caution our readers not to overlook the value of moderate expectations, moderate purposes in life. These have in them little to dazzle or attract, especially, the youthful fancy. Yet they often lead to a more substantial success and joy than grander dreams and loftier projects. The most brilliant fancies, the most splendid ambitions, often end in disastrous failure and pain. Not that there should be less imagination, less aspiration, among the young. But let imagination and aspiration be sobered by the lessons of experience, adjusted to the requirements of life. A portion of life may be lived passionately, profoundly, but as the result, another portion may be passed in weariness and disappointment. Alas! how many there are whose youth was full of glows, and fervor, but whose mature life is a barren waste, with few flowers, little fruitage. And if there must ever be among humanity (and let us rejoice, too, in the fact,) a forlorn hope, dedicated to

originality of thought and achievement, it is not necessary for the common mind to share in the pains and disabilities, which, it would seem, are almost inevitable to the nature and work of the gifted. There is a golden mean. There is a via media, the way of sanity and peace. There is an attainable ideal. There is a life which is possible to the multitudes, serious, sensible, happy, a blessing to its possessor, and to the world.

ARTICLE II-REVIEW OF PROF. PERRY'S POLITICAL

ECONOMY.

Elements of Political Economy. By ARTHUR LATHAM PERRY, LL.D. Charles Scribner's Sons. New York.

It is impossible to over-estimate the importance of a thoroughly logical method in the exhibition of a science, to the ease, pleasure, and success of the student. The mind experiences a remarkable degree of pleasure and satisfaction in being conducted through the intricacies of a complicated and difficult subject, by a line of logic so clear, that one constantly perceives whither his progress is tending, and the precise relation of the topic at each moment in hand, to the fundamental principle from which he set out. On the other hand, if such logical method is wanting, the student is perplexed, bewildered, and discouraged; no matter what acuteness of thought the writer may exhibit, or what attractions of style the treatise may possess. This consideration is preeminently important in a class text-book. In such a work, to present the subject in a strictly logical method is much more important than entire accuracy in the opinions expressed. Erroneous opinions may be easily corrected by an intelligent teacher, but a defective method has little chance of being obviated by any efforts of the teacher, however earnest and skillful. It will weaken him, however intelligent he may be, and always render it difficult if not impossible to awaken the interest and fix the attention of the pupil.

There is in Economic Science a fundamental law, which is perfectly adapted to furnish such a guiding clue through all its intricacies; and it is of great importance, both to the teacher and the pupil, that in the construction of the treatise to be employed for the purpose of instruction, this law be made so prominent and commanding, that the student will perceive how every branch of the subject stands related to it. In a good treatise on Physical Astronomy, we never for a moment lose sight of the law of gravitation. No more should we in a trea

tise on economic science ever lose sight of the law of ownership, as acquired either by the gift of God or by the exertion of one's own powers. It is the one fountain from which the science springs, and the one law which dominates every part of the economic system.

There are few persons we suspect who have paid much attention to the subject, who would not admit, without any hesitation, that the progress of the science has been greatly hindered by the lack of such logical method, and that this has been greatly occasioned by the want of accurate definitions. Almost all recent writers on the subject have shown in one way or another, that they are aware that the prevailing modes of treating the subject are not satisfactory, and have sought in some way to remedy the evil. Some have been led by past failures to the conclusion, that a strictly scientific method is impracticable and undesirable; that the region of thought which the subject covers is so pervaded by the contingencies which always attach to human volition, that it cannot be reduced to a strictly scientific method. Perhaps it will be shown in the course of this Article, that this view of the subject results from a mistaken conception of the aim of the science.

Other writers have sought to remedy the difficulty by limiting the field of the science, giving a narrower definition than has usually been given. Professor Perry, the title of whose able work is referred to at the head of this Article, is of this number. He limits the science by his definition. Following Archbishop Whately, he defines the science as "the Science of Exchanges," or "the Science of Value." His avowed reason for pursuing this course is, that all efforts hitherto made to define wealth and the science of wealth have failed, and left the science still indeterminate. He even asserts that the word wealth cannot be so defined as to render it fit for scientific use. The reason which he gives for this opinion is, that it is used by the people, and even by writers in many senses, and so has become unfit for scientific use. The assertion that any word in any language is incapable of accurate definition, unless indeed it is a word expressing a simple idea, sounds strangely. Certainly the fact that people and even writers use it in many different senses is far enough from proving the assertion. In the English lan

guage, nearly all the technical terms used in the social and moral sciences are words employed by the people in various senses, but subjected to precise definitions for the uses of science. Value, labor, production, are specimens of this very use of technical terms by Professor Perry himself. Many others might be adduced from his own work. We are constantly using in a strictly technical sense, words taken in this manner from popular speech. The fact therefore that the word wealth is popularly used in different senses, as indeed almost all words are, is no reason why it should be impossible to define it for scientific purposes.

We are far from agreeing with Professor Perry, that the "word wealth has been the bane of the science." It is not that word that has been the bane of the science, but the want of a comprehensive concept, so defined as precisely to embrace all the entities with which the science has to do, accurately applied and tenaciously adhered to, throughout the treatise. Such a concept, so defined and adhered to, is an indispensable condition of logical method. The word wealth has been selected by many authors as the boundary of the science, and defined with sufficient accuracy. But they have failed to apply that definition to all the entities which its terms embrace. It is exceedingly obvious on the very surface of things, that those entities comprehend all existing power to labor for the supply of human want, and all unexpended products of such labor. All such powers are owned by the individuals who are endowed with them, to be used and disposed of at their option, and all the unexpended products of such labor belong, or originally did belong, to the individuals by whose efforts they were produced. This is the law of ownership, and it is the fountain. from which the science springs. It is an intuitive conception of the mind, developed in very early childhood, which no man can either define or fail to understand. Precisely that and all that which is embraced in this intuition, is the proper sphere of economic science. We shall never succeed in logically exhibiting the subject, till we recognize this original intuition as its natural and unalterable boundary. Power to labor and the unexpended products of labor are the entities with which the economist has to do. The aim of the science is to expound