To Set A Lofty Example Is The

England Was Nothing, Compared To Continental Nations Until She Had Become Commercial... Until About The Middle Of The Last Century, When A Number Of Ingenious And Inventive Men, Without Apparent Relation To Each Other, Arose In Various Parts Of The Kingdom, Succeeded In Giving An Immense Impulse To All The Branches Of The National Industry; The Result Of Which Has Been A Harvest Of Wealth And Prosperity, Perhaps Without A Parallel In The History Of The World.

The Principal Industrial Excellence Of The English People Lay In Their Capacity Of Present Exertion For A Distant Object.

The Iron Rail Proved A Magicians' Road. It Virtually Reduced England To A Sixth Of Its Size. It Brought The Country Nearer To The Town And The Town To The Country.... It Energized Punctuality, Discipline, And Attention; And Proved A Moral Teacher By The Influence Of Example.

The Spirit Of Self-help Is The Root Of All Genuine Growth In The Individual.

A Great Deal Of What Passes By The Name Of Patriotism In These Days Consists Of The Merest Bigotry And Narrow-mindedness; Exhibiting Itself In National Prejudice, National Conceit, And National Hatred. It Does Not Show Itself In Deeds, But In Boastings--in Howlings, Gesticulations, And Shrieking Helplessly For Help--in Flying Flags And Singing Songs--and In Perpetual Grinding At The Hurdy-gurdy Of Long-dead Grievances And Long-remedied Wrongs. To Be Infested By Such A Patriotism As This Is Perhaps Among The Greatest Curses That Can Befall Any Country.