Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 3.djvu/189

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When in 1743 this Act was repealed, it was shown during the debates that—

Here, then, with absence of the looked-for benefit, there went production of unlooked-for evils, vast in amount. To recur to our figure, the original warp, instead of being made less by these direct blows, was made greater; while other distortions, serious in kind and degree, were created. And beyond the encouragement of fraud, lying, malice, cruelty, murder, contempt of law, and the other conspicuous crookednesses named, multitudinous minor twists of sentiment and thought were caused or augmented. An indirect demoralization was added to a direct increase of the vice aimed at.

Joining with the prevalent fallacy that results are proportionate to appliances, the general political bias has the further effect of fostering an undue faith in political forms. This tendency to ascribe every thing to the visible proximate agency, and to forget the hidden powers without which the agency is worthless—this tendency which makes the child gazing at a steam-engine ascribe every thing to the