lization of the nineteenth century. The Machine, then--the agent
which links the gratification to the want--is born of necessity. But we
must make a distinction between those instruments which are positively
essential, and those, for instance, which merely answer the demands of
luxury or indolence.

And this brings up the question of the _comparative_ uses of
Machinery--the foremost place being assigned to those implements which
are absolutely indispensable to man's existence upon the earth. But
between this absolute degree, and that of frivolous invention, there are
countless grades of utility. And the question of usefulness must be
decided according to the _standard_ of utility which we apply. If bare
subsistence is assumed to be the end of man upon the earth, most of our
modern inventions are useless. We can travel without a locomotive, and
procure a meal without a cooking-range. The moment we rise above the
grossest conception of human existence, the test of usefulness becomes
enlarged, and we can make a safe decision upon whatever increases man's
comfort, adds to his ability, or inspires his culture. In this way, new
things _become_ indispensable. That which was not necessary _a priori_,
_is_ necessary now, in a fresh stage of development, and in connection
with circumstances that have sprung up and formed around it. That which
was not necessary to man the savage, living on roots and raw fish, is
necessary to man the civilized, with new possibilities opening before
him, and new faculties unfolded within him. The printing-press was not
absolutely necessary to Nimrod, or to Julius Caesar, but is it not
absolutely necessary now? Strike it out of existence to-day, and what
would be the condition of the world to-morrow? You would have to tear
away with it all that has grown up around it, and become assimilated to
it--the textures of the world's growth for three hundred years. Paul
moved the old world without a telegraph, and Columbus found a new one
without a steamship. But see how essential these agents are to the
present condition of civilization. How many derangements among the
wheels of business, and the plans of affection, if merely a snow-drift
blocks the cars, or a thunder-storm snaps the wires! Our estimate of
necessity, and, therefore, of utility, must be formed according to
present conditions, and the legitimate demand that rises out of them;
these conditions themselves being the necessary developments of socie