influence. Mankind saw for the first time in their chequered history, a steady current of progression, the prevalence of general principles of action, and distinctly recognised a superintending and Divine mind, which guided and regulated the whole.

The general translation of the Bible proved a mighty engine in the hands of those who had never once directed their thoughts to political principles and measures. It had for ages been a sealed book; a thing seldom seen, and only spoken of in whispers and surmises. Now, however, its secret springs were touched, and its treasures revealed to all indiscriminately. It developed the political lessons of divine teachers. It gave a mind and heart to the body politic. It imparted a unity of sentiment and feeling, not only among masses of men, but to the individual members of the domestic hearth and the rustic cottage. Controversies and discussions arose. They rested upon great and interesting questions,-questions indissolubly enterwoven with the loftiest powers and aspirations of the human intellect. The sacred truths sharpened the minds of men, even for the ordinary duties and struggles of life-and imparted to them an everliving desire to aid in their propagation, illustration, and defence. Men saw their singular and admirable adaptation to all races, climes, communities, and conditions. The Bible proved great and potent in the wastes and wildernesses of the world, as well as in the palaces of kings and nobles, or in the study of the philosopher. It was this universal aptitude to the political wants of the world, that made it eagerly hailed as the sheet-anchor of all true patriots and reformers.

CHAPTER XX.

ON THE OLD CHRONICLES, AND STATISTICAL WRITERS,

FROM THE CHRISTIAN ERA, TO THE YEAR 1400.

THE class of works included in this chapter, is an important one to the general and literary student of politics; inasmuch as he can, by this means, test abstract and speculative principles by facts and circumstances, and point out the several epochs or stages in the entire history of political literature itself. The chronicles and compilations of individual facts, were for many centuries the only materials or store-houses for both historians and politicians; and it is only in comparatively modern times that the minds of men have been carried beyond them, and have attempted, upon purely speculative grounds, to develope those leading principles of civil polity, on which all communities of mankind rest. Mere abstract principles of government, yield however, of themselves but little knowledge of a practical or available kind, unless they be supported and illustrated by a fair proportion of facts; and these can only be obtained through the medium of such works as are here enumerated.

It is not our intention, nor is it consistent with the plan of this work, to go into the general merits of these several treatises. We shall have done all

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that is requisite, by merely naming them with a brief and passing remark or two, on the peculiar character and value of some of them. There are very few that will not yield some interesting and valuable information; or fail to prove of service in illustrating some one or other of the general maxims or primary truths of political science.

The ancient historians of all countries only present their readers with a series of facts and events, in the form of chronicles, with which there is mixed up neither abstract reasoning, nor any attempts at instructive application. Such productions were not written for, nor intended to act upon, any thing that we now call public opinion. They were not considered as pregnant with any vital portion of useful instruction, but were held merely in the light of antiquarian researches, and matters of taste and curiosity. As nations, however, make advances in social and political science, the minds of politicians naturally fall back upon antiquity, chiefly with a view of verifying their general speculative conclusions, by illustrations and arguments drawn from the uniformity of national affairs, and the every-day displays of human passions, pursuits, and desires. Every phase, therefore, of ancient communities, is more or less interesting to the candid and effective investigation of truth. It is chiefly by contemplations upon the past, that the understanding can be guided and invigorated, and thoroughly instructed on important questions of laws and government. It has justly been observed, "He who studies history as he would philosophy, will distinguish and collect certain general principles, and rules of life and conduct, which must always be true; because

they are conformable to the invariable nature of things; and by doing so, he will soon form to himself a system of ethics and politics, on the surest foundations, on the trial of these principles and rules in all ages, and on the confirmation of them by universal experience."

Statistics proper, --distinguished from Chronicles, the mere relation of social and political events—constitute one of the many important branches of modern economical science. But up to the period we are now treating of, they were comparatively unknown. They were not considered by any writers on the general subject of governmental polity, as an essential ingredient of it, and necessary to its full and effective development. A certain degree, however, of statistical information, must have been coeval with all forms of government even of the rudest kind; for legislators could not make laws and social regulations, without having acquired the means of forming a judgment, however faulty, as to the matters brought under their consideration. Still, however, speaking generally, we are warranted in maintaining, that whatever documents of a statistical character there were, before the end of the fourteenth century, relative to population, revenue, trade, commerce, agriculture, and manufactures; and on the moral, social, and physical condition of the mass of the people of Europe, were things merely incidentally treated of, without any direct reference to the elucidation of purely abstract principles or theories of government.

Statistics are considered, by many able political reasoners of modern times, as strikingly illustrative of the benefit derived from the Baconican method of

investigation, in acquiring and treating of political science, as an entire system. As the astronomer deduces his laws, which regulate the solar system, from careful and patient surveys of the heavenly phenomena; so, in like manner, the political philosopher watches the progress of society, under all its various aspects, of prosperity and decay, of happiness and misery, and under all the chequered phases which mark the progress of great communities. No purely a priori reasonings, it is contended, can expound the entire economy of human society and government. We must have facts to guide us through the intricate labyrinths of speculation, and to impart validity to our general maxims and principles. Merely abstract dissertations, however ingenious and amusing on human affairs, carry no solid conviction to the understanding.

On the other hand, it is affirmed, that statistical knowledge may lead to partial and one-sided views of general polity, injurious to a state, and subversive of the happiness of its people. Mere statistics are often susceptible of a double interpretation; and they always require to be accurately verified, and likewise to be placed in juxta-position with statements, principles, and facts of a different order and complexion. These requirements are not always to be found among political writers, and heated partizans, and hence we often find, that very opposite theories of general government are zealously maintained, by a formidable array of statistical details on each side. Mere analysis-a mere collection of facts-will lead a politician into as many and great errors, as the most fanatical and desperate love of system will do. There must