Under the general name of Commodity, I rank all those advantages which our senses owe to nature. This, of course, is a benefit which is temporary and mediate1, not ultimate, like its service to the soul. Yet although low, it is perfect in its kind, and is the only use of nature which all men apprehend2. The misery3 of man appears like childish petulance4, when we explore the steady and prodigal5 provision that has been made for his support and delight on this green ball which floats him through the heavens. What angels invented these splendid ornaments6, these rich conveniences, this ocean of air above, this ocean of water beneath, this firmament7 of earth between? this zodiac of lights, this tent of dropping clouds, this striped coat of climates, this fourfold year? Beasts, fire, water, stones, and corn serve him. The field is at once his floor, his work-yard, his play-ground, his garden, and his bed.
“More servants wait on man
Than he ‘ll take notice of.”
Nature, in its ministry8 to man, is not only the material, but is also the process and the result. All the parts incessantly9 work into each other’s hands for the profit of man. The wind sows the seed; the sun evaporates the sea; the wind blows the vapor10 to the field; the ice, on the other side of the planet, condenses rain on this; the rain feeds the plant; the plant feeds the animal; and thus the endless circulations of the divine charity nourish man.
The useful arts are reproductions or new combinations by the wit of man, of the same natural benefactors11. He no longer waits for favoring gales12, but by means of steam, he realizes the fable13 of Aeolus’s bag, and carries the two and thirty winds in the boiler14 of his boat. To diminish friction15, he paves the road with iron bars, and, mounting a coach with a ship-load of men, animals, and merchandise behind him, he darts16 through the country, from town to town, like an eagle or a swallow through the air. By the aggregate17 of these aids, how is the face of the world changed, from the era of Noah to that of Napoleon! The private poor man hath cities, ships, canals, bridges, built for him. He goes to the post-office, and the human race run on his errands; to the book-shop, and the human race read and write of all that happens, for him; to the court-house, and nations repair his wrongs. He sets his house upon the road, and the human race go forth18 every morning, and shovel19 out the snow, and cut a path for him.
But there is no need of specifying20 particulars in this class of uses. The catalogue is endless, and the examples so obvious, that I shall leave them to the reader’s reflection, with the general remark, that this mercenary benefit is one which has respect to a farther good. A man is fed, not that he may be fed, but that he may work.
点击收听单词发音
1 mediate | |
vi.调解,斡旋;vt.经调解解决;经斡旋促成 | |
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2 apprehend | |
vt.理解,领悟,逮捕,拘捕,忧虑 | |
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3 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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4 petulance | |
n.发脾气,生气,易怒,暴躁,性急 | |
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5 prodigal | |
adj.浪费的,挥霍的,放荡的 | |
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6 ornaments | |
n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 );点缀;装饰品;首饰v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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7 firmament | |
n.苍穹;最高层 | |
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8 ministry | |
n.(政府的)部;牧师 | |
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9 incessantly | |
ad.不停地 | |
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10 vapor | |
n.蒸汽,雾气 | |
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11 benefactors | |
n.捐助者,施主( benefactor的名词复数 );恩人 | |
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12 gales | |
龙猫 | |
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13 fable | |
n.寓言;童话;神话 | |
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14 boiler | |
n.锅炉;煮器(壶,锅等) | |
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15 friction | |
n.摩擦,摩擦力 | |
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16 darts | |
n.掷飞镖游戏;飞镖( dart的名词复数 );急驰,飞奔v.投掷,投射( dart的第三人称单数 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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17 aggregate | |
adj.总计的,集合的;n.总数;v.合计;集合 | |
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18 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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19 shovel | |
n.铁锨,铲子,一铲之量;v.铲,铲出 | |
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20 specifying | |
v.指定( specify的现在分词 );详述;提出…的条件;使具有特性 | |
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