necessary to the
well-being of mankind: but the benefit resulting from them is not the
consequence of every individual single act; but arises from the whole
scheme or system concurred in by the whole, or the greater part of the
society. General peace and order are the attendants of justice or a
general abstinence from the possessions of others; but a particular
regard to the particular right of one individual citizen may frequently,
considered in itself, be productive of pernicious consequences. The
result of the individual acts is here, in many instances, directly
opposite to that of the whole system of actions; and the former may
be extremely hurtful, while the latter is, to the highest degree,
advantageous. Riches, inherited from a parent, are, in a bad man's
hand, the instrument of mischief. The right of succession may, in one
instance, be hurtful. Its benefit arises only from the observance of the
general rule; and it is sufficient, if compensation be thereby made for
all the ills and inconveniences which flow from particular characters
and situations.

Cyrus, young and unexperienced, considered only the individual case
before him, and reflected on a limited fitness and convenience, when he
assigned the long coat to the tall boy, and the short coat to the other
of smaller size. His governor instructed him better, while he pointed
out more enlarged views and consequences, and informed his pupil of the
general, inflexible rules, necessary to support general peace and order
in society.

The happiness and prosperity of mankind, arising from the social virtue
of benevolence and its subdivisions, may be compared to a wall, built by
many hands, which still rises by each stone that is heaped upon it,
and receives increase proportional to the diligence and care of each
workman. The same happiness, raised by the social virtue of justice and
its subdivisions, may be compared to the building of a vault, where each
individual stone would, of itself, fall to the ground; nor is the whole
fabric supported but by the mutual assistance and combination of its
corresponding parts.

All the laws of nature, which regulate property, as well as all civil
laws, are general, and regard alone some essential circumstances of the
case, without taking into consideration the characters, situations, and
connexions of the person concerned, or any particular consequences which
may result from the determination of these laws in any particular ca