d succession of events; he would, by wanting precise
standards, have remained ignorant of admeasurements; and without the
definite proportions which numbers confer, property would be a vague and
uncertain name.

From these remarks an opportunity is now presented, to enumerate the
important achievements of the human hand; but as a powerful objection
may be urged, against the views which have been sketched out concerning
this subject, it will be proper to notice them, in order to refer their
discussion to another and more appropriate chapter. It will naturally be
stated that the hand is the mere auxiliary, in fact, the servant, of the
mind; and in a healthy state of intellect is regulated by its
directions, in the performances it executes. The truth of this, it is
not intended to deny; but the examination of the objection must be
referred to that part of the work, which treats of the influence, which
does so regulate and direct, namely, the will, or, as it has been more
scholastically termed, volition.

We readily acknowledge that he who is born blind can have no perception
of visible objects, and that the same negation may be extended to the
other senses when defective: thus, if man had been created without
hands, and, consequently, without the acute organ of touch, which
resides in the extremities of these members, we must at least have been
strangers to the "cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, and the
solemn temples" which he has reared. Had the upper extremities of the
human body terminated at the wrist, such a man as Phidias might have
existed, but his occupation would have been unknown. Thus truncated, how
would the fleet have been constructed which reaped the laurel at the
Nile, at Copenhagen, and Trafalgar? The eternal city could not have
existed, nor would our own metropolis have had a being. If we reflect
for an instant, we shall perceive that all the conveniences we enjoy,
all the arts we practise, and the sciences which elevate and dignify our
nature, could never have been realised in a handless community. Speech
might indeed have prevailed, but its record could not have been
established, and intelligent sounds would only have served to breathe
forth the lamentations of misery and despair, or the accents of
discontent. We must have remained naked, and perished from the
inclemency of weather: man would have owed "the worm no silk, the beast
no hide, the sheep no wool." It would be superfluous to pursue th