tion of wealth, in the employment of capital, and the
exercise of labour. The first principles on which modern civilization is
based, are taxed as the origin of all the evils that afflict society.
All our soundest maxims of political economy are discarded and
disgraced. That each man shall be free in the choice and practice of his
trade or calling--that the field of competition shall be open to
all--that each individual shall be permitted to make the best bargain he
can, whether for the wages of his labour or the price of his
commodities--all these trite but invaluable maxims are incessantly
decried, and nothing is heard of but the evils of competition, and the
unequal recompense of labour. In their fits of impotent benevolence,
these speculative physicians assail, as the cause of the existing
distress, those principles which, in fact, are the conditions of all the
prosperity we have attained, or can preserve, or can hope in future to
attain.

This title of the individual, whether workman or capitalist, to the
control and conduct of his own affairs--this "fair field and no favour"
system--is not to be described as if it were a mere theory of political
economy, and disputable like some other branches of a science not yet
matured. It is the great conquest of modern civilization; it is the
indispensable condition to the full development of the activity and
enterprise of man. The liberation of the artisan and the labourer, is
the signal triumph of modern over ancient times whether we regard
classic or Gothic antiquity. Viewing things on a large scale, it may be
considered as a _late_ triumph; and, without depreciating its value, we
may easily admit that there remains much to be done in the cultivation
of the free artisan, to enable him to govern himself, and make the best
of his position. But any scheme, which, under the pretext of
ameliorating his position, would place him again under tutelage, is a
scheme of degradation and a retrograde movement. He is now a freeman, an
enrolled member of a civilized state, where each individual has, to a
great extent, the responsibility thrown upon himself for his own
well-being; he must have prospective cares, and grow acquainted with the
thoughtful virtue of prudence. That release from reflection, and anxiety
for the future, which is the compensating privilege of the slave or the
barbarian, he cannot hope any longer to enjoy. Whatever its value, he
must renounce it. He must become one