THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THE 
 
 PROGRESS OF SOCIETY. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE LATE ROBERT HAMILTON, 
 
 LLD, F.R.S. 
 
 PROFESSOR OK MATHEMATICS IN THE MARISCHAL COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 ABERDEEN ; 
 
 AUTHOR OF "AN ENQUIRY CONCERNING THE NATIONAL DEBT." 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. 
 
 MDCCCXXX. 
 
 3 3 6 s ''
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY W. CLOWK"^, 
 
 Stamford-struet- 
 
 ■ ft K 6 - 
 
 C « t (
 
 H-IT 
 
 r 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 G ■ 
 
 CO 
 
 >- 
 <: 
 
 S£ Inthodlction .....••• V 
 
 General Princii'I-es .,....• 1 
 
 Chapter I. Of Human Welfare 8 
 
 II. Sketch of the Progress of Society . . 14 
 
 ^( _ III. Of Wealth and Industry . . • .26 
 
 •" IV. Of Rewards for Inventions ... 48 
 
 ^ ^ _ V. OfCajutal &* 
 
 ^ _ VI. Of Money ^^ 
 
 — VII. Of Value and Price 77 
 
 ^ — VIII. Of the component Parts of Value . . 9& 
 
 ^ IX. Distribution of the Produce of Britain , .100 
 
 — X. Of Rent 129 
 
 — XI. Of Tithes 163 
 
 XII. Distribution of Wealth .... 175 
 
 — XIII. Equalization of Wealth . . . .196 
 
 A2 

 
 n CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Chapter XIV. Of Property 224 
 
 — • XV. Education of the lower Ranks , . . 245 
 
 — XVI. Effect of Numbers in a State . . . 252 
 
 — XVII. Of Commerce . . . ... 273 
 
 — XVIII. Population 320 
 
 — XIX. Artificial State of Society . . . .354 
 
 — XX. Paper Currency ..... 376 
 
 — XXI. Of the Corn Trade 352 
 
 Concluding Reflections . . . . . . 410
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The work now offered to the favourable reception of 
 the public, being from the pen of the late Dr. Hamil- 
 ton, of Aberdeen, and evidently composed with an 
 eye to publication, stands in no need of a prefatory 
 recommendation. A life extended beyond the ordi- 
 nary limits, and passed chiefly in public and important 
 situations, and in the course of which he published 
 various valuable works, has made Dr. Hamilton well 
 known to the greater number of those who are likely 
 to take an interest in this volume. But as it is pro- 
 bable that no more of his writings wiU be submitted 
 to the public, a short notice or memoir of the Author 
 may not prove unacceptable to the community at 
 large, and will be particularly gratifying to his friends 
 and acquaintance. 
 
 Dr. Hamilton's grandfather was Dr. William 
 Hamilton, well known as Professor of Divinity in the 
 University of Edinburgh, and afterwards Principal of 
 that seminary. He was a cadet of the family of 
 Preston. His father was Gavin Hamilton, an emi- 
 nent publisher and bookseller in Edinburgh, who 
 was distinguished for his loyalty during the Rebellion 
 
 b
 
 VI 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of 1745. Mr. Hamilton married Helen, daughter of 
 James Balfour, Esq., of Pilrig; and Dr. Robert 
 Hamilton, the subject of this memoir, was the eighth 
 child of that marriage, and was born on the 11th day 
 of June, 1743. 
 
 In infancy Dr. Hamilton was of a delicate consti- 
 tution, which improved as he advanced in years ; and, 
 with the exception of lumbago, to which he was much 
 subjected in the htter part of life, and which occa- 
 sioned his stooping very much, he scarcely had a 
 serious ailment during his long life, till within three 
 weeks of his death, which was occasioned by a total 
 loss of appetite, and consequent decay of bodily 
 strength. 
 
 He was an excellent scholar in every department 
 of literature to which he applied, and his strong de- 
 sire to acquire knowledge made him a favourite with 
 all his teachers, and more especially with the cele- 
 brated Matthew Stewart, professor of mathematics in 
 the University of Edinburgh, who was indignant 
 when informed that his favourite pupil was intended 
 for business. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton was always partial to a literary life ; 
 but, yielding to circumstances, he was induced to 
 spend some time in the banking-office of Messrs. 
 William Hogg and Son, in order to fit him for pro- 
 secuting that line, or for becoming a general 
 merchant. 
 
 Soon after this, his father gave up business as a 
 publisher, and retired to a paper-mill which he pos-
 
 INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 sessed in a beautifully romantic situation near Edin- 
 burgh. 
 
 About this time, the subject of this memoir formed 
 several of his most lasting friendships, particularly 
 with Dr. Charters, Dr. Wodrow, Robert Scott Mon- 
 criefF, Esq., &c. About this time also, he and some 
 other literary young men formed themselves into a 
 debating society, which existed for a season or two, 
 and which led to the foundation of the present Spe- 
 culative Society of Edinburgh. 
 
 It may not be uninteresting to notice, that he 
 became personally acquainted with Lord Kaimes in 
 rather a singular manner, but highly creditable to 
 both. He wrote an anonymous criticism, in one of 
 the magazines of the day, on one of the works of that 
 celebrated author. This criticism attracted Lord 
 Kaimes's attention so much, that he inserted a notice 
 in the ^same periodical , requesting that if the author 
 of the criticism in question was already known to him, 
 he might have the pleasure of knowing him better ; 
 and, if he was a stranger, begging that he might 
 have the honour of becoming acquainted with him. 
 It was with much difficulty that Dr. Hamilton was 
 persuaded to reveal himself to Lord Kaimes; and 
 when he did so, his Lordship could scarcely believe 
 that, in this young man, he saw before him his able 
 critic. But so much was he pleased with the con- 
 versation of his new acquaintance, that he gave him 
 a general invitation to his house as often as suited his 
 convenience. Availing himself of this invitation, it 
 
 b 2
 
 viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 proved the means of introducing Dr. Hamilton to 
 many of the first hterary characters of the time. 
 
 In 1766, the mathematical chair in Marischal 
 College having become vacant by the death of Mr. 
 Stewart, the earnest solicitation of Dr. Hamilton's 
 friends prevailed with him, although reluctantly, 
 being then only twenty-three years of age, to offer 
 himself as a candidate for the office. He was un- 
 successful (Dr. T-ail being appointed) ; but the im- 
 pression of Dr. Hamilton's talents and acquirements, 
 which his appearance upon this occasion made upon 
 the minds of the judges, was very strong, as several 
 letters which are now before the writer of this memoir 
 plainly show. One of these, from a most respectable 
 professor in King's College, one of the examinators, 
 addressed to Dr. John Gregory, of Edinburgh, it is 
 hoped, may not prove unacceptable to the reader. 
 
 • Dear Doctor, 
 
 ' Mr. Hamilton called upon me yesterday, but, 
 ' having missed him, a due regard to that young 
 
 • man's merit obliges me to put you to the expense 
 ' of a postage, that I may have an early opportunity 
 ' of signifying my sentiments of the good appearance 
 ' he made at the trial. In every exercise that was 
 ' given the candidates, Mr. Hamilton discovered a 
 
 • remarkable genius for mathematics, and a justness 
 
 • of apprehension and perspicuity that is rarely to be 
 ' met with. He is an excellent demonstrator; always 
 
 ' planned out his demonstration with judgment, and
 
 INTRODUCTION. ix 
 
 * apprized his audience where the stress lay, so that 
 
 * he brought it to a conclusion in the most perspicuous 
 
 * manner, and in such a way that no person of com- 
 ' mon understanding could miss it. All the exami- 
 
 * nators were highly satisfied with the candour of his 
 ' written performances, on which he never attempted 
 
 * to throw dust, or conceal where he was at a loss; 
 
 * and even upon those occasions, from the ingenious 
 ' attempts he made to get himself disengaged, the 
 ' judges formed the most favourable opinion of his 
 
 * ability. Mr. Trail was preferred to him ; but 
 
 * justice requires that I should acquaint you, that he 
 ' trode very closely at Mr. Trail's heels. I look 
 
 * upon it as a very agreeable circumstance of the trial, 
 
 * that I had thereby an opportunity of knowing a 
 ' young gentleman of so much real merit, and every 
 
 * way so agreeable. If any more formal testimony 
 
 * can be of any service to Mr. Hamilton, I know that 
 ' the least hint will procure it from all the examinators. 
 
 ' I am, with great truth, yours, 
 
 (Signed) 'Thomas Gordon.' 
 
 After this competition Dr. Hamilton became a 
 partner in the paper-mill, and, his father having died 
 the following year, the whole charge of the business 
 devolved upon him. The concern being burdened 
 with the shares of all the rest of the family, and the 
 drudgery of it being foreign to his inclinations, and 
 breaking in upon his literary habits and pursuits, he 
 gave it up, having appointed a manager to take
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 charge of it, and in 1769 obtained the rectorship of 
 the academy at Perth. 
 
 In 1771 he married Miss Anne Mitchell, of Ladath, 
 but had the misfortune to lose her in 1778. She left 
 him three daughters, Anne, Helen, and Marian, all 
 living at the date of this memoir. The eldest, to 
 whom her father bequeathed his house in the country, 
 is unmarried ; the second is widow of Andrew Thom- 
 son, Esq., of Banchory, in the county of Kincardine ; 
 and the youngest is married to the Reverend Robert 
 Swan, of Abercrombie, in Fife. 
 
 In 1779 Dr. Hamilton was presented to the natural 
 ])hilosophy chair in Marischal College, which is in the 
 gift of the crown, and in the autumn of that year 
 removed with his family to Aberdeen. For one 
 session Dr. Hamilton taught the class to which he 
 had been presented ; but Dr. Copland having removed 
 from the chair of this class to the mathematical chair, 
 and neither finding themselves so much at home in 
 the situations in which they were now severally placed, 
 they arranged an exchange before the commencement 
 of another session, and from that time forward Dr. 
 Hamilton taught the mathematical class. It was not, 
 however, till 1817, that he became, by presentation, 
 professor of mathematics. 
 
 In 1782 Dr. Hamilton entered again into the 
 married state, having espoused Jane, daughter of 
 James Morison, Esq., of Elsick. 
 
 In 1814 Dr. Hamilton, finding the duty of teach- 
 ing his three mathematical classes too laborious, en-
 
 INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 gaged an assistant, witli the permission of tlie Senatus 
 Acadeniicus, to which his age, and his long and faitli- 
 ful services, weU entitled him. This assistant was 
 Mr. John Cruickshank, who for many years in- 
 structed the two youngest classes, whilst the Doctor 
 continued to teach the higher branches of the science 
 himself; and so entire satisfaction did Mr. Cruick- 
 shank give both to Dr. Hamilton and to the other 
 members of the college, that, on their joint appli- 
 cation, the town council appointed him as assistant 
 and successor to Dr. Hamilton, at the same time that 
 the Doctor himself obtained a presentation to the 
 mathematical chair. 
 
 In February, 1825, his second wife, by whom he 
 had no family, died, leaving him again a widower. 
 From this period, he passed much of his time at his 
 cottage in the country, where his valuable life was 
 terminated in the bosom of his family, on the 14th day 
 of July, 1829, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. 
 
 Having thus briefly detailed the leading events of 
 Dr. Hamilton'^s life, before attempting an outline of 
 his character, it will be proper to notice his publica- 
 tions. 
 
 In 1777 the first edition of his 'Merchandise' 
 appeared, whilst he was superintending the academy 
 at Perth, and it has gone through several editions. 
 
 In 1790 he printed, for the use of his class, a set 
 of Mathematical Tables. 
 
 In 1796 he published his ' Arithmetic,' which has 
 been often reprinted.
 
 xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In 1800 he published, for the use of his students, 
 • Heads of a Course of Lectures on Mathematics.' 
 All his publications of a strictly professional character, 
 being the result of a thorough acquaintance with his 
 subject, and distinguished by luminous perspicuity, 
 have been highly valued, and will ever retain a re- 
 spectable place among works of that nature. 
 
 He published in 1790, without, however, affixing 
 his name to it, ' An Essay on Peace and War.' In 
 this short treatise, by exhibiting, in a clear point of 
 view, the slender grounds upon which bloody and 
 expensive wars are often undertaken, and the inade- 
 quacy of national advantages to compensate the loss 
 of men and money incurred by the retention of foreign 
 acquisitions, he ably combated that unbounded spirit 
 of retaliation and conquest in which high-minded 
 nations are too ready to indulge. 
 
 In 1813 the first edition of his work on the 
 ' National Debt and Sinking Fund' was given to the 
 public, and it has passed through three editions. 
 This work has raised his name higher in the scale of 
 political authors than any of his other publications, 
 and must, indeed, render it immortal. It exhibited the 
 fallacy of the arguments by which financiers had been 
 blinded, and by means of which, for a considerable 
 period, the nation had been kept in the dark ; and it 
 opened their eyes to the simple truth, that debts can 
 only be liquidated by a surplus of income over ex- 
 penditure. 
 
 Whilst noticing his printed works, we must not
 
 INTKODUCTION. xiii 
 
 omit to mention a valuable small pamphlet on ' Pau- 
 perism,' called forth by the state of the poor in 
 Aberdeen, and an inquiry into the most eligible means 
 of relieving their wants, without having recourse 
 to poor's rates, to which last he was, on strong 
 grounds, always hostile. In this pamphlet, he treats, 
 with that perspicuity for which all his writings are 
 remarkable, of the various claims of indigent persons 
 on the charity of the public, and to what extent 
 those claims deserve attention. The doctrine of this 
 pamphlet is of general application, and ought to be 
 widely diffused. 
 
 It may be noticed here, that Dr. Hamilton, although 
 he did not send many of his works to the press, wrote 
 at great length on various subjects connected with his 
 favourite study of political economy. This appears 
 from several essays found among his papers, viz., — 
 ' On the American War' — ' On Government,' — ' On 
 the Corn-bounty,' and others ; and it is to be regretted 
 that none of them are so far finished as to admit of 
 being laid before the public. 
 
 From what has been said above, it will be readily 
 anticipated that Dr. Hamilton's correspondence must 
 have been extensive. Many eminent mathematicians 
 received their education at Marischal College, who 
 in after life acknowledged their obligations to Dr. 
 Hamilton, in a manner highly gratifying to him, and 
 his professional publications attracted the attention of 
 many, both at home and abroad : this led to an ex- 
 tensive epistolary correspondence, which was greatly
 
 xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 augmented by the force of reasoning displayed in his 
 political essays. On the subject of these last, he ex- 
 changed many letters with Lord Lauderdale, Mr. 
 Grenfell, and other members of the British parlia- 
 ment; and had also communications with Mons. J. 
 Baptiste Say, and Baron Fahrenberg, of Carlsruhe, 
 which last requested permission to translate his work 
 on the ' Finances' into German, with a view to its 
 publication in his native city. 
 
 Dr. Hamilton, in the midst of all his more mo- 
 mentous duties and avocations, with which he never 
 allowed any other pursuit to interfere, devoted no 
 inconsiderable portion of his time to the management 
 of the college funds and bursaries, and still more dis- 
 interestedly to every subject connected with the good 
 and prosperity of the town in which he resided. 
 The demands upon him in the latter of these depart- 
 ments were numerous, owing to the confidence of those 
 in office in his talents, and accuracy in business ; and 
 his opinion was uniformly listened to with deference 
 and respect. 
 
 In 1807, in compliance with the deed of settlement 
 of the late John Burnett, of Dens, an advertisement 
 appeared in the newspapers, intimating that that gen- 
 tleman had bequeathed a sum, not less than 800/., 
 to be paid for the best, and 400/. for the second best 
 treatise on the following theme : namely, ' The 
 * evidence that there is a Being all-powerful, wise, 
 ' and good, by whom everything exists; and this, in 
 ' the first place, from considerations independent of
 
 INTRODUCTION. xv 
 
 < written revelation ; and, in the second place, from 
 ' the revelation of the Lord Jesus ; and to point out 
 ' the inferences most necessary for, and most useful 
 ' to, mankind.' 
 
 By the deed of settlement, also, the ministers of the 
 established church of Aberdeen, the principals and 
 professors of King's and Marischal Colleges of Aber- 
 deen, and the trustees of the testator, were appointed 
 to meet and make choice of three judges, to decide 
 upon the comparative merit of such treatises as should 
 bo laid before them. This meeting took place in 
 1814, when the three judges elected were Dr. Gerard, 
 professor of divinity in King's College, Mr. George 
 Glennie, professor of moral philosophy in Marischal 
 College, and the subject of this memoir. They ac- 
 cepted the office ; and the number of treatises given 
 in amounting to no fewer than fifty, the judges found 
 that the task which they had undertaken proved 
 extremely laborious, and the anxiety of Dr. Hamilton 
 to ascertain with the strictest impartiality the respec- 
 tive merit of the writers was very great, as appears 
 from the copious notes found among his papers, taken 
 by him during the perusal of the treatises, which as- 
 sisted, not a little, in enabling the judges to come to 
 an unanimous decision. 
 
 As an elder of the church, he considered himself 
 peculiarly called upon to give his attention to the 
 management of the poor's funds, and the best means 
 of rendering them efficient. In this capacity, too, he 
 was frequently commissioned by his college to repre-
 
 xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sent that body in the General Assembly of the Church 
 of Scotland, and took a deep interest in their proceed- 
 ings ; and when he offered his sentiments on any 
 subject of debate, which, from his innate modesty, 
 was but seldom, he was listened to with profound 
 attention. 
 
 No one understood better, and few indeed so well, 
 all the details connected with the Church's Widows' 
 Fund, or was more truly solicitous for its improvement 
 and success. 
 
 A firm believer in divine revelation, Dr. Hamilton 
 early became a member of the Auxiliary to the British 
 and Foreign Bible Society formed at Aberdeen, and 
 deeply deplored the intemperate manner in which the 
 broachers of the apocryphal controversy carried it on, 
 and the schism which it gave rise to. 
 
 He was shocked with cruelty, when exercised even 
 upon the meanest of the inferior animals ; and of 
 slavery, and its dreadful consequences, both as they 
 respect the bodies and the souls of mankind, he had a 
 great abhorrence. Under the influence of this feel- 
 ing, he was an original member of the Antislavery 
 Society of Aberdeen, and was unanimously called to 
 the chair as their president — a situation which he held 
 till his death. 
 
 The above notices of Dr. Hamilton will serve in 
 no inconsiderable degree to develop his character. 
 Among his papers we find regulations for his future 
 conduct in life, written when he was only twenty-two 
 years of age, at which time he had the prospect of
 
 INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 entering into business. They are extremely interest- 
 ing, and embrace resolutions in respect to almost every 
 situation in which he possibly might be placed in the 
 course of Providence. They breathe throughout a 
 most Christian and philanthropic spirit, and prescribe 
 the most uncompromising rectitude of conduct, and 
 the most open-handed charity ; and although many of 
 the supposed contingencies were never realized, on a 
 review of his life we evidently perceive that he never 
 lost sight of them. 
 
 Dr. Hamilton's talents were of the highest order, 
 and sedulously improved ; and it was a merciful dis- 
 pensation for himself, as well as for the community of 
 which he was so valuable a member, that his faculties 
 were unimpaired to the close of life. Three weeks 
 before his death, he attended a meeting of the Senatus 
 of Marischal College, met on business connected with 
 the royal visitation, and delighted his colleagues with 
 the distinctness of his perceptions, and the importance 
 of his remarks. And even many days after this, when 
 his strength had greatly sunk under the pressure of 
 disease, he was frequently employed in revising and 
 correcting the work to which this memoir is prefixed. 
 
 Dr. Hamilton was naturally unobtrusive and re- 
 tiring, and by strangers was considered as an absent 
 man. Addison says, ' I distinguish a man who is 
 
 * absent because he thinks of something else, from a 
 
 • man who is absent because he thinks of nothing."* 
 In the latter sense. Dr. Hamilton was never absent ; 
 in the former, he might sometimes be said to be so,
 
 xviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 when what was passing before him was unimportant : 
 when otherwise, he was so merely in appearance, from 
 being silent, and withholding his opinion, which had 
 he given would have been highly gratifying. This 
 has not seldom been matter of regret to the writer of 
 this memoir, who frequently had the happiness to 
 enjoy his society. 
 
 Dr. Hamilton's favourite recreations were the culti- 
 vation of flowers, of which he was particularly fond, 
 and making excursions with a few friends, most com- 
 monly to such parts of the island as he had not before 
 visited ; but it is remarkable that, in the year 1820, 
 when in his seventy-eighth year, he joined a family 
 party in a tour on the Continent. On such occasions he 
 possessed the happy talent of shaking his mind loose 
 from professional and other cares, and entering, with 
 all his heart, into the pursuits of his party ; exploring 
 every object worthy of notice, and putting down his 
 observations in a regularly-kept diary. 
 
 Dr. Hamilton's piety was rational, fervent, and un- 
 ostentatious ; in his charities, which were as extensive 
 as his circumstances permitted, he was solicitous that 
 ' his left hand should not know what his right hand 
 did ;' and his attention to his religious duties was 
 uniform and unceasing. His affection for his family 
 and relatives was of the warmest kind, and his 
 friendships were steady and sincere. His talents, his 
 virtues, and his dcvotedness to the duties of the re- 
 spectable situation which he held in the University, 
 as well as to the promotion of the best interests of the
 
 INTRODUCTION. xix 
 
 community at large, will be respectfully remembered 
 by all who knew him even by character ; and that 
 these impressions may be handed down to posterity, 
 it is highly creditable to the present generation, that 
 they have opened a subscription for a monument to 
 his memory, to which many respectable persons in 
 both kingdoms have put their names.
 
 THE 
 
 PROGRESS OF SOCIETY. 
 
 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 
 
 THE earth and its produce, and the animals 
 with which it is stocked, are the sources from 
 which man derives every article that contributes 
 to his maintenance or enjoyment. 
 
 These commodities, bestowed on man by the 
 gift of nature, require, in general, to be modified 
 by human art, before they be fit to answer the 
 purposes to which they are subservient. 
 
 The effect of labour in preparing commodities 
 for use is augmented by acquired skill, by 
 division, by the use of tools, by the aid of the 
 strength of animals, and of other powers, natural 
 or artificial. 
 
 The division of labour is limited by the extent 
 of the market, and, in a state unconnected ^vitli 
 
 B
 
 2 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 
 
 others by commerce, will be regulated by the 
 extent of territory and population. 
 
 A considerable share of the commodities pre- 
 pared by art and labour is not consumed im- 
 mediately, but reserved for future use, or applied 
 as the means of farther production. This con- 
 stitutes wealth, or capital. 
 
 The wealth of a country depends on the fer- 
 tility of the soil, the industry and skill of the 
 inhabitants, and the accumulated capital trans- 
 mitted to them by their predecessors. 
 
 The use of wealth is to furnish the means 
 of enjoyment to mankind. The measure of 
 enjoyment which it affords depends upon its dis- 
 tribution, as well as its absolute amount. An 
 equal distribution of wealth is neither practicable 
 nor desirable : but great inequality and accumu- 
 lation of great fortunes is detrimental to general 
 happiness. 
 
 Wealth is formed and increased by industry. 
 It is diminished by any operative engine of de- 
 struction. Of these war is the most general and 
 the most effective. 
 
 In war a large proportion of the inhabitants 
 is withdrawn from the labours of useful industry, 
 and engaged in military service, or preparing the
 
 GKNERAl. F'RINCIPLliS. 3 
 
 apparatus requisite thereto. Another portion, 
 in the country Avhere the ^^ar is waged, is pre- 
 vented from following their usual occupations. 
 
 The object of war is destruction. The fields 
 are ravaged ; cities demolished ; villages burnt ; 
 noble works of art, whose construction was the 
 labour of years, destroyed in an hour. It is the 
 severest scourge to which humanity is subject, 
 and tends most powerfully to impair wealth and 
 enjoyment. 
 
 The acquisition of wealth Avhich a victorious 
 nation obtains from the plunder of the van- 
 quished, seldom repays the expense of the war. 
 The increased activity and prosperity of some 
 particular classes in time of war is a delusive 
 mark of general prosperity. 
 
 A nation of considerable extent may acquire, 
 by industry and skill, a large share of wealth, 
 without the aid of foreign commerce. 
 
 Commerce has been considered as a means 
 by which one nation is enriched at the expense 
 of another. Industrious, skilful, and enterpris- 
 ing n.itions have been supposed to gain from the 
 indolent, the ignorant, and the timid. Were this 
 a just view of the effects of commerce, it Avould 
 
 not afford much o-round of euloc;iuni in its favour. 
 
 B 2
 
 ^ GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 
 
 It ^A'oiild not promote the general welfare of the 
 human race : but the view is altogether erroneous. 
 
 No commerce can be considerably beneficial to 
 one nation, nor permanent, unless it be also bene- 
 ficial to those nations with which it is carried on. 
 
 The advantages of commerce are to bring to- 
 gether the products of different climates into the 
 same country, and thereby increase the means 
 of human enjoyment. 
 
 It enlarges the effects of the division of labour 
 by presenting a more extensive market. 
 
 It diffuses through the commercial world, on 
 moderate terms, those articles in the fabrication 
 of which different nations have acquired superior 
 skill and dexterity. 
 
 By promoting an intercourse between nations 
 of different manners, and in different states of 
 civilization, it tends to the enlargement of know- 
 ledge, and the improvement of the intellectual 
 and active poAvers of man. 
 
 In commerce a nation receives what it Avants 
 in exchange for what it has to spare. Export 
 and import are reciprocal. The jjayment of a 
 balance in money is a temporary measure, not 
 much used, and of no advantage to the nation 
 which receives it. The value in exchange of
 
 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 5 
 
 exports and imports is ultimately equal ; ])ut the 
 value ill use of imports should be greater, other- 
 wise commerce is not beneficial. 
 
 Commerce, in order to yield these advantages 
 in the highest degree, should be subject to no 
 restrictions ; neither should it, except in special 
 and rare cases, be promoted by artificial en- 
 couraa^ements. 
 
 Notwithstanding this, when a restrictive sys- 
 tem has been long established and become incor- 
 })orated Avith the constitution of the society, it 
 cannot be suddenly relinquished without occa- 
 sioning much distress to numerous classes of 
 the community, and even impairing for a time 
 its general prosperity ; and as human happiness 
 is the object of wealth, an alteration of system, 
 though ultimately beneficial, should be had re- 
 course to cautiously and gradually. 
 
 A country of any considerable extent should 
 be chiefiy supplied with food from the produce 
 of its own soil. So long as there is a sufficient 
 supply of food in the existing state of agricul- 
 ture, or in that Avhich may be speedily obtained, 
 there is no reason to desire a restriction in the 
 number of inhabitants. If there be not some- 
 thing faulty in the general system, they will find
 
 b GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 
 
 einployineiit, and obtain a share of the comforts 
 of life. 
 
 Where there is not a sufficiency of food in 
 the existing state of agriculture, or where em- 
 ployment cannot be found for the laborious in 
 the existing state of society, emigration should 
 be encouraged. 
 
 Emigration is a powerful means of conferring 
 the blessings of civilized society on countries at 
 present barbarous and comparatively desert. 
 
 There are at present on the earth extensive 
 territories, of considerable fertility, uninhabited 
 or thinly peopled, for the reception of emigrants ; 
 and this is likely to be the case for many suc- 
 ceeding ages. 
 
 Where a portion of the inhabitants have emi- 
 grated and established themselves in a distant 
 land, a commercial intercourse between these 
 settlers and the parent state may be established 
 to their mutual advantage, and no other con- 
 nexion is desirable. The attempt to draw a 
 revenue from colonists in aid of that of the 
 parent state has never succeeded ; and the im- 
 position of commercial restrictions depresses the 
 progress and jn-osperity of the new states, and 
 renders their commerce with the parent state
 
 GENERAL PKINCIPLES. 
 
 less extensive. This is fully evinced by the 
 increase of the commerce of Britain ^vith the 
 United States of America since their emancipa- 
 tion, though few had the penetration to foresee 
 this previous to that event.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OF HUMAN WELFARE. 
 
 The amelioration of the condition of mankind, 
 and the increase of human happiness, ought to 
 be the leading objects of every political insti- 
 tution, and the aim of every individual, according 
 to the measure of his power, in the situation he 
 occupies. 
 
 The science of political economy has only been 
 lately cultivated, at least upon enlarged prin- 
 ciples. One of the ablest writers on this subject 
 published his valuable work about half a century 
 ago. Since that time able treatises have been 
 produced in almost every country of Europe, in 
 which the doctrines of Dr. Adam Smith have 
 been elucidated, enlarged, and sometimes redar- 
 gued. 
 
 The chief point to which these ^vriters have 
 directed their attention is the increase of wealth, 
 though they have not entirely overlooked other 
 objects that contribute to human welfare. They 
 seem sometimes to lose sight of what renders
 
 OF HUMAN WELFARE. 9 
 
 wealth valuable. As the miser labours to accu- 
 mulate money which he has not the heart to 
 spend, so the political economist inquires into 
 the means of increasing general wealth without 
 paying sufficient regard to its only real use, the 
 increase of general happiness*. The statesman 
 too often considers the public wealth not as a 
 means of increasing the happiness of the people, 
 but as a fund from which he may draw addi- 
 tional taxes to be employed in pursuing his 
 ojjjects of ambition and aggrandizement. 
 
 Few will deliberately maintain that the acqui- 
 sition of Avealth, individual or national, is the 
 principal ingredient in human happiness. The 
 rational moralist and the pious Christian will 
 agree that the enjoyments which wealth affords 
 are generally overrated, and the true welfare of 
 man consists not in the extent of his possessions, 
 or the gratifications they aftord, but in the per- 
 fection of his moral and intellectual nature, and 
 the improvement and employment of his active 
 powers. 
 
 At the same time the stoical doctrine which 
 ascribes no value whatever to external enjoy- 
 
 * To this censure some writers are more liable than others, 
 but none whom we have seen are entirely free from it.
 
 10 
 
 OF HUMAN WELFARE. 
 
 ments is inconsistent with the present state of 
 humanity. The bountiful productions of nature 
 are intended as a source of enjoyment, which the 
 active powers Ave are endued with enable us to 
 diversify and enlarge, while the exertions made 
 for their attainment tend to improve these poAvers. 
 The abundance of articles subservient to the 
 comfort or convenience of life, providing they 
 be not misapplied to intemperance, afford no 
 inconsiderable addition to human happiness. 
 
 The objects which promote human Avelfare, 
 arranged according to their relative value, may 
 stand nearly in the folloAving order. 
 
 The first place is due to the improvement of 
 our moral nature. We are not at present to 
 enter into an inquiry concerning the foundation 
 of virtue, or a detail of its several branches. It 
 has been variously defined by different sects of 
 philosophers, Avho, notwithstanding some differ- 
 ences and some errors, agree on the whole in 
 regard to it. Its apprehension is so congenial to 
 the human mind that it is seldom much mis- 
 taken. It is best delineated in those writinefs 
 which Christians consider as inspired, as well as 
 enforced in them by the most poA\^erful sanctions. 
 So pre-eminent is its value in the estimate of
 
 OF HUMAN WELFARK. H 
 
 human welfare, that no other ol)ject oui^ht to be 
 brought into competition with it ; and if any 
 state of society appear clearly more favourable 
 for promoting moral virtue than another, that 
 state is entitled to a decided preference. 
 
 The improvement of our intellectual, inven- 
 tive, and active powers may be ranked in the 
 second place. 
 
 Thirdly, whatever contributes to the health 
 and vigour of our bodies, and the due exertion 
 of their various powers and operations. 
 
 Fourthly, the aljundant possession and proper 
 distribution of those articles, provided by nature 
 and improved by art, Avhich supply us with 
 food, clothing, and habitation, or contribute in 
 any way to the comfort and enjoyment of life. 
 
 Fifthly, the cultivation of the polite arts, and 
 consequent improvement of these arts ; viz. — 
 painting, sculpture, architecture, music, poetry, 
 elo(juence, and the various branches of polite 
 literature. 
 
 Sixthly, such an extent of population as is 
 consistent with the comfortable subsistence of 
 the inhabitants. It is desirable to procure the 
 greatest practicable share of happiness to the 
 greatest number of intelligent and sentient beings.
 
 12 OF HUMAN WELFARE. 
 
 Along with all these it is necessary to main- 
 tain such political establishments and public force 
 as may secure personal safety, and the protection 
 of liberty and property, against foreign enemies 
 or domestic violators of the public peace. 
 
 Inquiries of the kind now suggested are some- 
 times regarded as visionary and treated with 
 ridicule. They are considered as the effusions 
 of an enthusiastic imagination, and altogether in- 
 applicable to the state in which mankind ever 
 have been, and ever will be placed. It cannot be 
 denied that some men, actuated by the purest 
 benevolent motives, but not under the regulation 
 of a sound judgment, have advanced extravagant 
 doctrines, and proposed impracticable schemes. 
 These, however, have done little harm, unless 
 so far as they gave room for cavilling, to those 
 who are disposed to sneer at every attempt for 
 amelioratins: the condition of mankind. It is 
 evident that the state of society has undergone, 
 and is still undergohig alterations ; that it has 
 sometimes improved, sometimes degenerated ; 
 and there seems no good reason to doubt that 
 it is susceptible of higher improvement than it 
 has hitherto attained. The belief of the per- 
 fectibility of human nature, and the uttaimnent
 
 OF HUMAN WELFARE. 13 
 
 of a golden age, in which vice and misery have 
 no place, will only be entertained by an enthu- 
 siast : but an inquiry into the means of improv- 
 ing our nature and enlarging our happiness is 
 consistent with sober reason, and is the most im- 
 portant subject, merely human, that can engage 
 the mind of man. No moral writer was ever 
 censured for hiying down as perfect a system of 
 duty as he could, although it was not expected 
 that this would be practised, even by the best, 
 to its full extent.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETY. 
 
 In speculations relating to the progress of so- 
 ciety, the occupations of hunting, of pasturage, 
 and agriculture, are generally considered as the 
 principal stages by which man advanced, from 
 the state of rudeness ascribed to him in his ori- 
 ginal condition, to the high degree of civilization 
 wliich he afterwards attained, and now in many 
 countries possesses. The comparative merit 
 and happiness of these states have been dis- 
 cussed, and there have not been wanting inge- 
 nious men* to embrace the cause of savage 
 nature, and maintain its superior excellence, 
 with all the powers of eloquence. These opi- 
 nions, however, have never made any progress ; 
 and it may be doubted whether they ever ob- 
 tained a firm hold on the minds of those who 
 advanced them. Even on the supposition that 
 the doctrine were not altogether unfounded in 
 reason, it is too repugnant to the sentiments 
 
 * Rousseau, &s.
 
 SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETY. 1-^ 
 
 which men imbibe in an advanced state of so- 
 ciety, to be embraced in earnest. It may float 
 lightly on the imagination of a few, but it will 
 not alter their character, or hifluence their con- 
 duct. 
 
 Speculations on this subject are necessarily 
 involved in much obscurity. In the earlier 
 stages, direct evidence is necessarily wanting. 
 Until a very considerable progress has been 
 made in art, men are unable to record any me- 
 morials which might transmit information to 
 |)osterity. AVhen an intercourse is formed be- 
 tween a civilized nation and a rude tribe, by 
 means of colonization or otherwise, their asso- 
 ciation not only much accelerates the improve- 
 ment of the latter, but may induce a change in 
 their condition, by fewer intermediate steps, 
 and in difierent order, from A^diat A^'ould have 
 taken place if they had been left to the unas- 
 sisted expansion of their own powers. Ingeni- 
 ous men who have speculated upon this subject, 
 have been generally addicted to hypothesis, and 
 fond of raising an amusing theory on a slight 
 foundation. Besides, we are ignorant of the 
 original state of human nature. We see man in 
 very different conditions, from the utmost degree
 
 16 SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETi', 
 
 of ignorance and rudeness, to a high degree of 
 advancement in knowledge and refinement. Yet 
 we may be wrong in pronouncing the first to 
 have been his original state, or in considering the 
 several intermediate stages as necessary steps 
 for conducting him to that degree of civilization 
 which he has now in many countries attained. 
 Revelation does not favour this opinion ; history 
 does not prove it ; the fables of the poets are un- 
 worthy of credit ; and the reasonings which have 
 been adduced in support of it are extremely 
 conjectural. 
 
 The progress of society is, however, an un- 
 doubted fact ; and its chief steps may be rea- 
 sonably presumed to have taken place with con- 
 siderable uniformity, and furnish matter for 
 rational inquiry. Investigations of this kind 
 should not be considered as merely tending to 
 gratify curiosity and afford scope for ingenious 
 conjecture. If we can conduct them aright, they 
 will unfold principles of the highest importance 
 to mankind in every condition, and furnish rules 
 by which we may judge of the wisdom or folly 
 of the systems and measures adopted in that 
 state of society under which we live. 
 
 We must not attempt to trace this subject to
 
 SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETY. 17 
 
 its source. As the origin of tlie human race 
 eludes entirely the researches of our natural 
 faculties, we must begin our speculations con- 
 cerning man by viewing him as placed in some 
 certain condition ; and, however low this may 
 be supposed, we shall be Avrong unless we assign 
 him powers and attainments superior to, and 
 essentially distinct from, those of the inferior 
 animals. The faculty of speech with which he 
 is endued in the rudest state gives him a decided 
 and inestimable superiority. 
 
 We find, in the present state of mankind, 
 examples of tribes or nations in a great variety 
 of situations ; and history presents us with still 
 greater variety. 
 
 The supply of food is the first demand of 
 nature, and will therefore call forth the first 
 exertions of human power, and may for a time, 
 in a great measure, engross them. In this early 
 stage of society, an important distinction in the 
 conditions of man will arise from the climate 
 under which he lives. His energies, liis em- 
 ployments, and manner of living will be regu- 
 lated in conformity thereto. It will have much 
 influence in forming his character, not only in 
 
 that early stage, but at every subsequent period. 
 
 C
 
 18 SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETY. 
 
 A warm climate sometimes affords a sufficient 
 quantity of food with little or no labour. The 
 bread tree, the cocoa tree, and some others yield 
 a supply of wholesome and palatable food, almost 
 at every season. The inhabitants of such a 
 clhnate derive their nourishment chiefly from 
 vegetables, and procure it easily. As they are 
 not urged to severe exertions, nor exposed to 
 frequent dangers, their character inclines to in- 
 dolence and gentleness, and the nature of the 
 climate is favourable to these dispositions. A 
 considerable number can j^rocure subsistence in 
 a territory of moderate extent. They are 
 therefore likely to increase rapidly, so long as 
 they find a sufficient supply of food, and to 
 acquire a relish for social intercourse, and be 
 stimulated by those desires which spring up in 
 the bosom of society. 
 
 As a cold climate Avithout culture affords little 
 food for man, his chief dependence is upon the 
 animals he can catch by hunting. This employ- 
 ment requires severe exertion, frequently ex*- 
 poses him to hazard, and after all his success is 
 precarious. He therefore becomes accustomed 
 to brave danger, to undergo hardships, and endure 
 hunger. His dis})ositions are harsh and unso-
 
 SKETCH OF THE PROGRKSS OF SOCIETY. J 9 
 
 cial. A large extent of country is necessary for 
 his range, and therefore a country of hunters is 
 thinly inhabited. 
 
 The superiority of man's understanding, in 
 contriving means for accomplishing his ends, is 
 conspicuously displayed in the invention of tools 
 for the various purposes to which his exertions 
 are directed. As none of the inferior animals 
 appear capable of this expedient, and as it is 
 practised in some degree by the rudest of man- 
 kind, it has been considered by some as the dis- 
 tinguishing characteristic of the hmiian species, 
 and man has been quaintly defined a tool'maMng 
 animal. ^Vithout some kind of tool the hunter 
 could hardly procure food. Although he acquires 
 by habit a degree of swiftness, rarely attained by 
 those who are more advanced in civilization, he 
 cannot equal that of many of the animals ; and 
 the few which he might soinethnes catch by 
 surprise would afford too precarious a supply. 
 To aid his natural defects, the use of the dart 
 is universal, and that of the bow very common. 
 In the management of these the savage acquires a 
 dexterity Avhich men bred in different habits can 
 seldom equal. 
 
 The materials which a savage is possessed of 
 
 C 2
 
 20 SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETY. 
 
 for constructing his tools are scanty. He points 
 liis arrows with sharp bones and flints. His axe 
 is formed of the same materials. With this 
 axe he cuts the bough of a tree, and shapes it 
 into various instruments. He uses a tough 
 animal fibre as a string to his bow. Yet, in the 
 construction of these weapons, he displays a de- 
 gree of ingenuity which, under the same disad- 
 vantages, we should find it diflicult to equal. 
 
 In countries bordering on the sea, and on the 
 banks of rivers, men have generally obtained a 
 part of their subsistence by the occupation of 
 fishing. The apparatus requisite for this pur- 
 . pose is more complex than that used in the em- 
 ployment of hunting. It cannot be carried on 
 to advantage Avithout boats or canoes. These 
 are formed, sometimes by excavating a tree, 
 sometimes by constructing a wooden frame and 
 covering it with skins. These boats are managed 
 at first by oars or paddles, and in the course of 
 time sails are employed. By these means men 
 were emboldened to venture on the watery ele- 
 ment, and the first rudiments were laid of an 
 art, which has since attained an immense magni- 
 tude, and produced most important effects on the 
 condition of mankind.
 
 SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETY. 21 
 
 Even in the earliest periods of society and in 
 the most unfavourable climates, the whole of a 
 man's time is not required for procuring food, 
 and some parts of it are employed in supplying 
 his other wants, of which clothing and habitation 
 are the principal. These wants are not equally 
 urgent in every climate, and travellers mention 
 some savage tribes that go entirely naked : yet, 
 with few exceptions, a considerable part of 
 human labour and ingenuity has been employed 
 in supplying these articles. 
 
 In warm climates, the materials for clothing 
 as well as food are chiefly obtained from the 
 vegetable kingdom. Leaves of trees sewed to- 
 gether formed the first garments, and afterwards 
 bark prepared with more or less art. The labours 
 of the loom were not introduced till a later period. 
 In a country of hunters, the hides and furs of 
 animals killed for food afibrd a sufficient stock of 
 materials for clothing. 
 
 The habitations of mankind also vary with the 
 climate. In cold climates defence against the 
 storms of winter is the most important object ; 
 and, for attaining this, cavities are sometimes dug 
 in the earth, especially in the sides of moun-
 
 22 SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETY. 
 
 tains*. In warm climates shelter from the heat of 
 the sun and from the rains that prevail at certain 
 seasons is chiefly regarded. The woods supply the 
 materials. A sufficient number of stakes are driven 
 into the ground, and the interstices wattled with 
 branches and covered with leaves. The roofs 
 are formed in a "jimilar manner. In some places 
 the huts are constructed of turf or clay. The 
 manufacture of bricks from clay mixed with 
 straw, and dried in the sun, or by fire, was an 
 early invention. 
 
 Fuel may hold the next place among the ne- 
 cessaries of life. In cold climates mankind can 
 hardly subsist without it ; and even in warm 
 climates the practice of preparing victuals by fire 
 is so general; that it cannot easily be dispensed 
 with. In every country, except the coldest, 
 which are hardly inhabitable, there is, previous 
 to the introduction of agriculture, a sufficient 
 quantity of wood for fuel as well as for other 
 purposes, at hand, and nothing is wanted but the 
 labour of cutting and breaking it. The working 
 
 * Our navigators in the most inhospitable regions have lately 
 discovered that even ice and snow are used as materials for 
 habitation during winter.
 
 SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETY. 23 
 
 of coal-iniiies belongs to a later period of society, 
 after wood has become scarce in consequence of 
 the extension of agriculture. 
 
 Another source of exertion arises from the ne- 
 cessity of defence against ferocious animals, and 
 against hostile tribes of men. The arts and 
 means of defence are similar to those employed 
 by the hunter in procuring food, but more cir- 
 cumspection is required, and the united efforts 
 of numbers is necessary. 
 
 If the desires of mankind had been limited to 
 a supply of food and necessary clothing, habi- 
 tation, and fuel, his progress in art would have 
 been very limited, and the expansion of his facul- 
 ties much circumscribed. But a desire for con- 
 venience and a taste for ornament is congenial 
 to his nature, and manifests itself, at a very early 
 state of society, in the decorations, however 
 rude, of the dress and utensils of the savage. 
 This improves, as society advances, into elegance, 
 and afterwards degenerates into the caprices of 
 fashion and fantastical refinement. 
 
 These secondary desires have been improperly 
 called artificial. Under different modifications 
 they are universal, and they have a considerable 
 influence in drawing forth the inventive and
 
 24 SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETY. 
 
 active powers of man. Their energy, however, 
 depends much upon education and external cir- 
 cumstances. It is cherished by plenty, and re- 
 pressed by hardship. Hence the exertions of 
 mankind in a cold climate are chiefly urged by 
 necessity. In a warai climate they are drawn 
 forth by the influence of new desires, which 
 expand according to the measure of the comfort 
 and security they enjoy. 
 
 Although the objects Avhich gratify these 
 desires are valued on their own account, the 
 pursuit of them is much invigorated by variety 
 and emulation; by a desire of shining in the 
 eyes of others, and of excelling others. A gen- 
 tleman would be little interested in the elegance 
 of his house and equipage, a lady would pay 
 little attention to her dress and ornaments, were 
 these never to be admired by others, or compared 
 with those of their neighbours. 
 
 Emulation, in its various forms, is one of the 
 most powerful principles of human nature. Its 
 earliest direction is to a display of superior 
 bodily strengtli, or a superiority in those exer- 
 cises and exertions which have room to operate 
 in a savage state. When art and elegance are 
 cultivated, it is directed to a display of superior
 
 SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETY. 25 
 
 art and elegance. When distinction of property 
 takes place, it is directed to a display of superior 
 riches. This direction, the most reprehensible 
 of any, in a degenerate state, ahnost engrosses 
 every other. The superiority of one man above 
 another is estimated by the extent of his posses- 
 sions, and a display of splendour is set forth, not 
 on its own account, but as a proof of the wealth 
 of the possessor. 
 
 In the earlier stages of society there is little 
 distinction of rank or fortune. These are intro- 
 duced with the increase of wealth and the pro- 
 gress of art, and, increasing as these advance, 
 attain a great magnitude, though considerably 
 diversified in their attending circumstances. In 
 some states a considerable share of the comforts 
 of life is ^vithin the reach of all ranks ; in others 
 the labouring classes are restricted to mere neces- 
 saries, and in too many they are held in slavery. 
 In some states there is a progressive gradation 
 from the lowest to the highest rank, and every 
 man has a hope of rising by exertion above his 
 original station. In others there are only two 
 classes, the noble and the vulgar, and their 
 separation is marked by barriers almost insur- 
 mountable.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 
 
 Although the possession of wealth is not the 
 most important article in the estimate of hmnan 
 happiness, it holds a principal place in the spe- 
 culations of the political economist, not only as 
 being the chief object to which the exertions of 
 mankind, individually or collectively, are gene- 
 rally directed, but as being, in a considerable 
 degree, the instrument by which the different 
 states of society operate on the human mind, and 
 produce effects, good or bad, on the condition of 
 mankind. 
 
 Wealth has been defined as consisting in the 
 abundant possession of those corporeal articles 
 which are necessary, useful, or agreeable to man- 
 kind. This definition, if not altogether free 
 from objection, is sufficiently accurate for every 
 useftil purpose. 
 
 The materials of all we possess are supplied 
 l>y nature : but the quantity of many of them is
 
 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 27 
 
 greatly increased by human industry, and the 
 rude materials which nature furnishes are thereby 
 prepared and adapted to the various purposes 
 which contribute to the support or accommoda- 
 tion of human life. 
 
 Tlie amount of our wealth, therefore, depends 
 on the fertility of the country we inhabit, and the 
 quantity and skilful direction of the labour em- 
 ployed in cultivating the earth, and working up 
 its produce for the supply of our wants, and the 
 gratification of our luxuries. 
 
 Industry lays the foundation of wealth. The 
 disposition to industry is very different in dif- 
 ferent communities, and also in different mem- 
 bers of the same community. Some ascribe 
 this to natural, and some to moral causes, and 
 both may have their efficacy. A climate mode- 
 rately cold, which braces, but does not chill the 
 human constitution, which does not afford abun- 
 dance of spontaneous fruit, but yields a liberal 
 return to the labours of the husbandman, is na- 
 turally favourable to industry. A system of 
 polity which allows every man to follow the em- 
 ployment most suitable to his genius and inclina- 
 tion, and in the place in which he can carry it on 
 to most advantage, and secures him the safe
 
 28 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 
 
 possession and free disposal of Avhat lie acquires, 
 promotes it by its moral tendency. 
 
 At the same time, so remarkable a diversity is 
 observed in the disposition of different nations 
 towards industry, that some have been led to 
 believe there Avas an inherent difference in the 
 races of men, as there are in the breeds of ani- 
 mals ; and ascribe the superiority Avhich some 
 possess to a native energy granted to certain 
 tribes, but denied to others. 
 
 However this may be, the industry of man in 
 his actual state can only be drawn into exertion 
 by the motives Avhich influence human nature. 
 Although it be true that a life of industry is 
 happier than a life of idleness, it is no less true 
 that some motive of hope or fear, some good to 
 be enjoyed, or some evil to be avoided, is neces- 
 sary to call forth his activity. 
 
 The West Indian slave is compelled to labour 
 by the lash of the overseer. The European 
 labourer may be forced by the dread of starving, 
 or he may be swayed by the more cheering 
 motives of procuring for himself and family a 
 competent share of the enjoyments of life. 
 
 Although these incitements to industry may 
 in some degree be blended, it is of importance
 
 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 29 
 
 to determine which ought to predominate ; whe- 
 ther the exertions of the hibourer should be 
 chiefly forced by necessity, or induced by the 
 hopes of ameliorating his situation. 
 
 These systems will not entirely coalesce. If 
 compulsion be resorted to for obtaining labour, 
 the utmost exertions of the labourer will be 
 required to aflford him subsistence, and there is 
 little more he can expect. If comfort and a 
 share of affluence be the reward of much indus- 
 try, a moderate share of industry will be suffi- 
 cient for procuring necessaries, and sometimes 
 no more may be exerted. 
 
 Ai-guments said to be founded on experience 
 are adduced in favour of the harsher system. It 
 is alleged that in time of plenty less labour is 
 performed ; that a man who can earn subsis- 
 tence by working three days in a week will not 
 easily be induced to continue at work for six 
 days ; and that an increase of wages, from what- 
 ever cause, leads to intemperance. 
 
 If we extend our views to the improvement 
 of human nature and the promotion of general 
 happiness, there cannot be room for hesitation. 
 A system which condemns the most numerous 
 and useful part of mankind to earn a scanty
 
 30 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 
 
 subsistence by hard labour, without hope of im- 
 proving their circumstances, or cheering the 
 intervals of labour by a share of the comforts 
 which natiu-e and industry afford ; a system 
 which considers that portion of our fellow crea- 
 tures as mere machines, to be employed in 
 gratifying the luxury, or soothing the caprice of 
 their superiors, for whose service they were 
 formed; a system which tends to stifle every 
 generous sentiment, and call forth the malig- 
 nant passions of envy and hatred, or reduce the 
 mind of the labourer to the lowest degree of 
 abasement, — such a system cannot be reprobated 
 in terms of too great severity. 
 
 It may be thought this picture is overcharged. 
 Perhaps it is so : but the bad effects of the sys- 
 tem are only limited by the impracticability of 
 carrying it fully into execution. Its tendency is 
 to produce the evils abovementioned, and it only 
 falls short of doing so because it cannot be en- 
 forced completely. 
 
 If we confine our attention to the quantity of 
 work performed as the only valuable object, even 
 in that limited point of view, there are sufficient 
 reasons for preferring the more generous system. 
 Hope is a more enlivening and active principle
 
 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 31 
 
 tlian fear. If a man's prospects be confined 
 to procuring necessaries from day to day by 
 hard labour, his spirits are depressed, and his 
 exertions enfeebled. Hope, indeed, is so na- 
 tural to the human mind, that it can hardly 
 be eradicated by any treatment, however severe : 
 but so far as the coercive system is established, 
 hope is damped, with all the energy that springs 
 from it. Let industry be rewarded by compe- 
 tency, and we need not fear but industry will in 
 general prevail. 
 
 The man who can procure necessaries by part 
 of the labour which he is capable of performing, 
 will seldom stop at that point, but will endeavour 
 by further exertions to obtain a share of such 
 things as contribute to his present gratification, 
 or to lay up a store for future exigencies : yet 
 labour, when carried too far, either in severity 
 or duration, is oppressive to human nature, and 
 every man will stop at a certain point. This 
 will be different in different men, not only from 
 the inequality of their bodily strength, but the 
 difference of their spirit, activity, and habits, and 
 the force of their acquired desires ; but all will 
 stop at a lower point than if they Avere labouring 
 to keep themselves from starving. It does not, 
 however, follow that a smaller quantity of work
 
 32 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 
 
 will be done under cheering views, than when 
 the labourer is forced to exert his strength to 
 the utmost. Such compulsion may produce a 
 greater temporary effect ; but it exhausts the 
 powers both of body and mind, and brings on im- 
 becility and premature decay. 
 
 A man is induced to continue at labour by the 
 prospect of obtaining a reward for it ; he is in- 
 clined to discontinue it by fatigue. The stronger 
 motive will prevail. Whatever adds to the force 
 of the former, or weakens that of the latter, will 
 increase the quantity and produce of labour. 
 
 The strength of the motives to labour depends 
 upon the quantity of desirable articles which 
 that labour can procure, and the relish which 
 the man has for the enjoyments they afford. 
 He will exert, if he can thereby procure a certain 
 measure of wealth. If the acquisition within 
 his reach be lower, he may give Avay to indo- 
 lence. Every improvement in art and skill which 
 renders labour more productive, adds to the 
 quantity of labour performed by offering a higher 
 reward for it. It is, therefore, an erroneous 
 system to tax the luxuries of the poor, and lessen 
 their enjoyments, with the design of forcing their 
 industry. For necessaries a poor man will exert 
 himself to the utmost, but in regard to luxuries
 
 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 33 
 
 he will balance the fatigue of obtaining them 
 against the gratification they afford. It is absurd 
 to suppose he will work more for the sake of 
 obtaining a smaller than a greater share of enjoy- 
 ment. Things, not in themselves necessary, 
 become so in a great measure from habit ; and 
 when the habit is acquired, a man will exert 
 himself much rather than forego his wonted 
 gratification. Tobacco is at first a nauseous 
 drug ; but those Avho are accustomed to use it 
 cannot easily dispense with it, and will work 
 hard rather than go without their tobacco. 
 
 The industry of the labourer is best drawn 
 forth by cherishing those desires which it will 
 require all his exertions to gratify: and this 
 does not require any delicate management. 
 They spring up naturally, if obstructions be not 
 thrown in the way. The savage Indian has no 
 relish for the enjoyments of civilized life : but a 
 taste for these enjoyments begins at an early 
 period of society, and increases at every step of 
 its progress. To be well fed and comfortably 
 clothed and lodged ; to have a sufficient supply 
 of fuel in a cold climate ; to be able to engjige 
 in the connections of a family at that age Avhen 
 the propensities of nature are strongest ; to 
 
 D
 
 34 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 
 
 maintain and educate one's children in a decent 
 manner ; to lay up some provision as a resource 
 for sickness or old age ; these are desires suffi- 
 ciently powerful and universal to excite industry, 
 and sufficiently diversified to give it ample 
 scope. 
 
 Industry is promoted by the follovring means. 
 By directing education and early habits in a 
 manner that tends to increase bodily strength 
 and reconcile the mind to application and perse- 
 verance ; 
 
 By placing within the reach of the labourer 
 a competent share of those enjoyments which 
 are suitable to his station ; 
 
 By affording him, at all times, an opportunity 
 of exerting his industry to advantage ; 
 
 By securing him the free possession and en- 
 joyment of what his industry has gained ; 
 
 By offering, not only a share of the enjoyments 
 of life, but respectability and an advancement in 
 the scale of society, as a reward for successful 
 industry. 
 
 The case of an isolated individual has seldom, 
 if ever, existed. Such a being, if placed in a 
 favourable climate, and possessed of a few tools, 
 might not only continue to live, but might pro-
 
 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 35 
 
 cure some small share of the comforts of life. 
 This is Avell illustrated in the excellent fictitious 
 history of R(ibinson Crusoe, which is said to be 
 founded on the real fact of one Alexander Sel- 
 kirk having l>een left several years in a desert 
 island. Mankind, in every condition which falls 
 under our view at present, or of which we have 
 any authentic records, have been associated in 
 tribes more or less numerous, and have possessed 
 some weapons and other implements. Tlieir 
 union in society has given rise to various expe- 
 dients which increase the efficacy of labour in the 
 production of commodities, and it is instructive 
 to trace these, as far as we are able, from their 
 rudiments, and mark their progress. 
 
 By the mere co-operation of a number of men 
 many things are done which exceed the power 
 of an individual. Heavy bodies are removed 
 from places where they are cumbersome, or 
 brought to places where they are useful ; works 
 of magnitude are constructed. A single man 
 could not l)uild a modern house of the better 
 kind, though he were bred to the employment 
 and supplied with the usual tools. He coidd 
 not make or navigate a ship, nor dig and lal)our 
 
 a mine. 
 
 D 2
 
 36' OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 
 
 Among the means which have contributed, 
 successively or collaterally, to the increase of 
 vrealth, some of the more remarkable are, divi- 
 sion of labour and exchange of commodities ; 
 application of the strength of animals and other 
 natural powers ; use of metals ; machinery of 
 every kind ; appropriation of land ; use of money ; 
 lending on interest ; paper credit ; foreign com- 
 merce ; colonization, and foreign settlements. 
 Some of these are coeval with society, and find 
 place in the smallest and simplest communities. 
 Others cannot be introduced till large states 
 be formed, and mankind have made considerable 
 progress in arts and civilization. 
 
 Division of labour is justly reckoned among 
 the most efficacious means of rendering it more 
 productive, and has been much attended to by 
 writers on political economy. It commences in 
 a very early state of society. Cain, we are told, 
 was a tiller of the ground ; but Abel kept a 
 flock of sheep ; and Tubal Cain was an artificer 
 in brass and iron. Its scope is much enlarged 
 by the progress of art. A man constantly 
 engaged in any ordinary mechanical profession 
 performs more and better Avork than another 
 who applies to a variety of employments by
 
 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 37 
 
 turns ; and in the nicer works of art, the man 
 who gives all his time and attention to a single 
 manual operation acquires a high degree of de- 
 spatch and dexterity. The advantage gained 
 by the division of labour in the pin manufactory 
 is estimated to increase its efficacy at least some 
 hundred times, and instances might be adduced 
 in which its effect is still more considerable. 
 This principle, however, is not equally applicable 
 to every kind of labour, and some of the cases in 
 which it is carried farthest are comparatively 
 trivial. In the labours of agriculture, the most 
 important of any, its application is consideral^ly 
 limited. 
 
 Exchange of commodities, either by barter or 
 sale, and division of labour, accompany each 
 other. Without exchange of commodities there 
 could be no division of labour ; and there would 
 be little room for the former, unless different 
 commodities were placed in different hands by 
 means of the latter. Without recurring, as some 
 have done, to a natural instinct inclining men to 
 traffic, the utility of the practice is sufficient to 
 account for its early and universal adoption. 
 When traffic is carried on by the exchange of 
 commodities, without the intervention of any 

 
 38 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 
 
 medium or a reference to any, it is called barter ; 
 and as this is the simplest, it was the earliest 
 kind. It still takes place in the transactions of 
 civilized nations Avith those in a state of com- 
 parative rudeness, as well as in the latter among 
 themselves. The European barters his wares 
 with the Indian of North America for a certain 
 number of furs ; and our navigators trafficked 
 with the inhabitants of the South Sea islands by 
 purchasing their hogs in return for iron, fea- 
 thers, and toys. So universal is the practice, 
 that savage tribes produce their commodities on 
 the arrival of strangers, and carry on a traffic 
 by signs, when neither of them understand a 
 word of the language of the other. 
 
 It is not by his personal labour alone that 
 man supplies his Avants. He causes the stronger 
 and more tractable animals to labour for him. 
 He causes the elements of water, wind, and 
 steam, to labour for him. 
 
 The operations of agriculture were at first 
 performed by manual labour. Shovels only were 
 used in those parts of America where agriculture 
 was practised, when that country was discovered. 
 But the training of cattle, and application of their 
 strength to plowing, carriages, and other pur-
 
 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 39 
 
 poses, was introduced at an early period. Oxen 
 were used for these purposes in Egypt in the 
 time of the patriarchs, and in Arabia in the time 
 of Job. The horse, the most useful animal, 
 seems not to have been had recourse to so soon. 
 The ass, the camel, the rein-deer, and some other 
 animals, are employed in climates to Avliich their 
 nature is ada])ted. 
 
 The first natural element that man made sub- 
 servient to his purposes was fire. Universal as 
 this now is, and necessary as we deem it, there 
 is sufficient evidence that some tribes, in their 
 earliest state, were entirely ignorant of it ; and 
 in some which have lately been discovered it 
 was equally wanting. Besides its use in che- 
 rishing the human constitution in cold climates, 
 and in the preparation of food, many of the most 
 important arts almost entirely depend on it. 
 The smelting, refining, and working of metals, 
 glass-making, brick-muking, pottery, sugar- 
 baking, brewing, and many others, fall under 
 this description. 
 
 The application of water to Avork for man was 
 not a very early invention. Corn-mills were 
 wrought by manual labour, and after^\'ards 
 driven by cattle, before water was applied to that
 
 40 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY, 
 
 purpose. This invention seems to have been 
 made in Asia about the time of INIithridates, or 
 earlier. Water-mills Avere known in Rome in 
 the time of Augustus, but were not then common. 
 They had become so in the reign of Justinian, 
 as appears from his Code ; and the knowledge of 
 them was soon extended to all the nations of 
 Europe. The earliest application of water-mills 
 was for grinding corn, and it is still the most 
 important. But they are now also employed for 
 saAving timber, hammering metals, and many 
 other purposes. AY'^ater-Avheels are commonly 
 driven by the impulse of falling Avater ; but they 
 are also constructed on floAving rivers, or placed 
 on the sea-beach so as to be driven by the flowing 
 and ebbing of the tide. JModern improvements 
 in hydraulics have led to other Avays of employ- 
 ing the poAver of Avater in places Avhere Avater- 
 Avheels could not be used Avith advantage. 
 
 Wind, a more unmanageable element, has also 
 been employed to AA'ork for man. The invention 
 of Avind-mills is later than that of Avater-mills, 
 and its origin is not Avell knoAAii ; but they seem 
 likeAvise to have been an eastern invention, and 
 to have been brought into use in Europe about 
 the time of the Crusades. These mills are chiefly
 
 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 41 
 
 used in countries, such as the Netherlands, where 
 a sufficiency of running water for driving water- 
 mills cannot be procured, and have been brought 
 there to the greatest perfection. 
 
 The very important use of the power of wind 
 in navigation will fall under our consideration in 
 another place. 
 
 The power of water can only be procured in 
 certain places ; that of wind is only supplied by 
 nature at certain times. Another poAver, that of 
 steam, has been had recourse to, which is neither 
 limited in regard to place nor time, but may be 
 applied wherever fuel can be provided, and is 
 completely under management. The application 
 of this power is a recent invention. It is less ob- 
 vious than the other natural powers, and requires 
 a more intricate apparatus : but now threatens to 
 supi)lant them all. It has hardly been in use 
 a century ; and for a considerable part of that 
 time was ap})lied to no other purpose but that of 
 raising water from mines. Of late years the 
 machinery re({uisite for its operations has been 
 much improved by ]\Ir. Watt and others ; and 
 engines have been constructed on every scale, 
 from a fraction of a horse-power to those of 
 above an hundred, and applied for almost every
 
 42 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 
 
 kind of work. In tlie earlier engines the pres- 
 sure of the atmosphere was properly the acting 
 power, steam being only used for producing a 
 vacuum ; but in the present ones the elasticity 
 of the steam also acts as a power. The imme- 
 diate effect of this power is to produce a vibra- 
 tory motion ; but mechanical means have been 
 found of deriving from it a rotatory motion, 
 nearly as uniform as that produced by a water- 
 wheel. 
 
 One of the latest and most useful applications 
 of steam is that of giving motion to shipping. 
 This was first done in America, about twenty 
 years ago, and is now in common use in Britain 
 and other countries. It is particularly suited to 
 passage vessels, whose arrival at their place of 
 destination, when impelled by this power, may 
 in general be accurately depended on. By this 
 means the navigation of the river INIississippi, 
 which was formerly very difficult, is so much 
 facilitated as to promise to open the means of 
 improvement to an immense tract of country, 
 hitherto almost secluded from connnunication 
 with civilized nations. 
 
 We may also notice another artificial po^ver — 
 that of gunpowder, wliich is used in some me-
 
 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 43 
 
 chaiiical operations. The principal one is the 
 splitting of hard rocks, which can scarcely be 
 effected by any other power whatever. 
 
 The use of metals is so important, that the 
 progress of a nation in wealth and comfort 
 depends considerably on the measure in which 
 it possesses them. Some nations are entirely 
 destitute of them, and their rank in the scale of 
 society is of conse<|uence very low. The sub- 
 stances from which metals, especially the more 
 useful ones, are obtained, are generally so hidden 
 in the earth, and bear so little resemblance to 
 the metal in its perfect and useful state, and 
 require such intricate operations to be brought 
 to that state, that it is difficult to account for 
 their discovery by means merely human. The 
 most useful metals were, however, known to the 
 nations of the ancient world at an earlier period 
 than authentic history reaches to. Gold and 
 silver seem to have been first known, as might 
 be expected, from their being frequently found 
 in their metallic state. They are, however, too 
 soft, and are obtained in too small quantities, to 
 be useful for general purposes. Copper was 
 next in order. Iron, the most useful of any.
 
 44 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 
 
 being more recondite, was a later discovery. 
 The operations of smelting the ores, and forging 
 the metals, if inventions merely human, are sur- 
 prising efforts of human ingenuity. No less so 
 is the art of multiplying, in some measure, the 
 number of metals by mixture; thus forming 
 alloys, more useful for many purposes than the 
 sunple metals of which they are composed. 
 Among these, brass, a composition of copper and 
 zinc, and bronze, a composition of copper and 
 tin, deserve particular notice. The art of con- 
 verting iron from the untractable state in which 
 it comes from the forge, to a malleable substance 
 fit for ordinary purposes, or into a harder sub- 
 stance, steel, for weapons and tools, is no less 
 remarkable. At the discovery of America, the 
 more advanced nations were possessed of gold, 
 silver, and copper ; but not of iron, tin, or lead. 
 The ruder tribes had no metals whatever. 
 
 Akin to the discovery of the metals, is that 
 of glass-making; so useful for furnishing the 
 more convenient method of introducing li^ht 
 into our houses, and for many other purposes. 
 This art is later, but is of great antiquity, though 
 it has been nuich improved in modern times.
 
 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 45 
 
 Tiie art of pottery, also very ancient, affords 
 many articles Avliicli contribute to the accommo- 
 dation of mankind. 
 
 JMan can do little by his labour without the 
 aid of tools. We find no tribe entirely unpro- 
 vided with them ; but their number has been 
 much enlarged, and their structure improved, 
 by the progress of art. In agriculture, the 
 shovel and the rake have been succeeded by the 
 plough and the harrow ; and the first rude and 
 simple forms of these instruments have been 
 succeeded by others more commodious. The 
 scythe, the sowing and drilling machines, the 
 fanners, have been introduced in their proper 
 places ; and the very recent invention of the 
 thrashing-mill has nearly superseded the hard 
 manual labour by which that operation was for- 
 merly performed. 
 
 The use of tools in mechanic arts is still more 
 extensive. In timber-work, the axe, the adze, 
 the plane, the saw, and the turning-lathe, en- 
 able the artificer to shape his material into 
 innumerable forms with facility. The last- 
 named instrument has been much diversified, 
 and applied to the speedy and accurate exe-
 
 46 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 
 
 cution of many of the most curious works of 
 art. 
 
 In the department of clothing, the use of the 
 distaff and simple loom, by which the first webs 
 were formed, was a considerable advance above 
 the condition wherein skins and leaves were the 
 only materials used for that purpose. The spin- 
 ning-wheel followed — the loom was improved. 
 Yet, from these, as they were constructed some 
 centuries ago, to the machinery of Arkwright, 
 and the complex looms which fabricate damask 
 and imitate tapestry, how vast is the distance ! 
 
 The department of hardware presents us with 
 examples of ingenuity no less remarkable. By 
 the complicated machinery in the workshops of 
 Birmingham and Sheffield, an immense variety 
 of articles, ornamental or useful, are formed 
 with ease, despatch, and accuracy. We have 
 tools to make tools, in several successive grada- 
 tions. 
 
 Though we can only mention a few instances, 
 we cannot forbear taking notice of that very 
 valuable instrument, the printing-press, by which 
 writing is indefinitely multiplied, and what- 
 ever is valuable in science or literature com-
 
 OF WEALTH AND INDUSTRY. 47 
 
 municated to the public and transmitted to 
 posterity. The general circulation of news- 
 papers in the present time, however improperly 
 they are sometimes conducted, has a powerful 
 effect in the dissemination of knowledge among 
 every rank of men.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF REWARDS FOR INVENTIONS. 
 
 As the produce of labour depends so much on 
 the direction it receives from human ingenuity, 
 whatever contributes to excite or enlarge the 
 inventive powers of man, is valuable from the 
 increase thereby afforded to the materials for 
 human enjoyment, as well as for the more im- 
 portant purpose of advancing the powers of the 
 human mind to a higher degree of improvement. 
 
 Some rare instances of superior inventive 
 talents have occurred in nations still in a rude 
 and ignorant state. But in general these talents 
 expand, and become eminently useful, in a more 
 advanced period of society. Nature has endued 
 a sufficient number of mankind with such a 
 share of genius, as, with moderate culture, or 
 at least if not depressed, will exhibit itself in 
 useful discoveries, and will sometimes break 
 forth in spite of nnich discouragement. 
 
 Errors in polity may check the natural deve- 
 lopment of genius and retard the consequent
 
 OF REWARDS FOR INVENTIONS. 49 
 
 improvement of art. If a large portion of the 
 connnunity he held in actual slavery, or reduced 
 by ojipression to a state not much better than 
 slavery; if a man be obliged to follow the 
 occupation of his forefathers ; if aristocratical 
 maxims raise an insurmountable barrier be- 
 tween different ranks, and deny any counte- 
 nance to genius struggling to emerge ; if the 
 useful arts be held in contempt ; if the pre- 
 vailing sentiments favour an attachment to an- 
 cient practices, and dislike to innovation ; under 
 such discouragements genius languishes, and 
 the progress of art is slow. 
 
 It is the duty of Government to counteract 
 these errors. It has little power to call forth 
 genius by direct institutions, yet what little can 
 be done with a view to this ought not to be 
 neglected. 
 
 An adequate reward for useful discoveries 
 is a debt due by the public. This reward 
 either arises from public esteem, or is of a 
 pecuniary nature. 
 
 It is a common observation that men given 
 to scheme, although great benefactors to the 
 public, often injure their own fortunes. The 
 observation is just, and the fact much to be 
 
 E
 
 50 OF REWARDS FOR INVENTIONS. 
 
 regretted. One useful discovery may fully repay 
 the debt which every man owes to the wealth 
 of the community: but among ten schemes 
 nine are generally unsuccessful. The expense 
 of the unsuccessful experiments falls on the pro- 
 jector, and there is a risk of his being a loser 
 even by those which succeed. Before he brings 
 his discovery to perfection he bestows much 
 time, and makes many trials, and after it is 
 knovni and adopted by the public, it affords him 
 little further emolument. 
 
 There are three ways by which a useful 
 discovery may afford an advantage to its author; 
 — by his keeping it a secret ; by obtaining an 
 exclusive patent for exercising it ; or by his 
 receiving a direct pecuniary reward from the 
 public. 
 
 The method of concealment is not applicable 
 to every kind of discovery ; an operation in 
 chemistry may be kept secret ; but improve- 
 ments in agriculture and mechanics, if practised, 
 must be known. Even Avhen concealment is 
 practicable, there is always a risk of discovery, 
 and then there is an end of the inventor's re- 
 ward, at a period entirely undetermined, sooner 
 or later, as chance may order it. But the prin-
 
 OF REWARDS FOR INVENTIONS. 51 
 
 cipal objection to this mode of reward is drawn 
 from the iiijm*y the public sustains. The in- 
 ventor is deterred by the fear of discovery from 
 exercising his art so extensively as the public 
 service may require. He may be inclined to 
 confine it to a narrow scale, such as he can 
 manage personally, or with few assistants, and 
 there is a risk of the invention being lost to the 
 public at his death. 
 
 The second method of rewarding discoveries, 
 is by granting a patent for a monopoly. If this 
 be limited to a moderate duration, it does not 
 deserve the censure sometimes bestowed on it. 
 During the currency of the patent, the public are 
 gainers to a certain extent, for it is the interest 
 of the patentee to bring the subject of his inven- 
 tion to market on moderate terms; and, when 
 the patent expires, the public have the full 
 benefit. It is, perhaps, the most unexceptionable 
 mode of rewarding useful discoveries: as the 
 article for which the patent is granted must find 
 its own way to pul)lic use, the reward can only 
 attach to articles by which the public is benefited, 
 or supposes itself to be so, and the extent of the 
 reward will generally be in proportion to the 
 value of the invention. 
 
 E 2
 
 52 
 
 OF REWARDS FOR INVENTIONS. 
 
 Patents may sometimes be granted for trifling 
 articles wliich are introduced by fashion into 
 general use, and become bigbly lucrative to the 
 patentee. When this happens, an individual 
 gains without deserving it ; but the public can 
 hardly be deemed to sustain an injury. The 
 gain of the patentee is a tax on the caprice of 
 those who use the article. A patent for a paltry 
 improvement on shoe-buckles is said to have 
 made the fortune of the proprietor. 
 
 The restrictions under which patents are 
 granted by the laws of Britain, seem to remove 
 every objection to which this mode of reward is 
 liable. The duration is limited to the term of 
 fourteen years, the applicant is obliged to give a 
 full specification of his invention, and the patent 
 is set aside if the specification be imperfect, or 
 if it appear that his claim to the discovery is not 
 well founded. 
 
 In a few instances a patent of longer duration 
 has been granted by Act of Parliament. This 
 is exceptionable in regard to precedent and 
 departure from general princij)le. It would be 
 better, if in any case, from peculiar circum- 
 stances, a patent for the usual term be insufficient, 
 to aid it by a jiecuniary reward.
 
 OP REWARDS FOR INVENTIONS. 53 
 
 To this head we may refer tlie right which 
 authors have to the exclusive ])ublication of tlieir 
 works. Tiiis is now extended for a longer tenn, 
 and hi all cases subsists during the life of the 
 author. 
 
 The third method is that of a direct pecuniary 
 reward granted by the public. This method is 
 exceptionable from the risk of partiality in be- 
 stowing it. Sometimes through error, sometimes 
 through favour, rewards may be given for pre- 
 tended discoveries, or such as are of small value. 
 At other times they may be refused, or sparingly 
 bestowed, and the inventors may be driven to 
 the expedient of concealment. It is hardly pos- 
 sible, even with the best information and utmost 
 impartiality, to apportion the reward so well to 
 the utility of the invention as patents do. There 
 are cases, however, Avhere this method should be 
 had recourse to : when a valuable discovery is 
 of such a nature that it is hardly possible to pre- 
 vent it from being generally practised. A new 
 plough may be the subject of a patent; but a 
 new method of ploughing must be rewarded by 
 a premium, or not at all. The discovery of a me- 
 thod for recovering decayed trees was a proper 
 subject for a premium, being effected by a com-
 
 54 OF REWARDS FOR INVENTIONS. 
 
 position which, when known, every gardener 
 could make and use. Rewards are proper when, 
 from the nature of the invention, patents are not 
 applicable, or where there is a strong call to 
 communicate the full benefit of it at once to the 
 public. The rewards offered for discovering the 
 longitude at sea are proper. The physician who 
 introduced the practice of vaccination, received 
 most deservedly, a liberal reward from the 
 public. 
 
 Societies have been established for promoting 
 agriculture and useful arts, by bestowing pre- 
 miums on useful discoveries, or on the best 
 articles of produce or manufacture exhibited, or 
 on the performance of ordinary operations in the 
 best manner. These societies, well conducted, 
 as they generally are, may do considerable good : 
 for the small rewards they bestow are accom- 
 panied with a higher honorary gratification, and 
 it is hardly possible they can do any harm. 
 Suppose premiums granted for introducing modes 
 of agriculture into a district of the country, which 
 are practised in other districts Avith advantage. 
 These may be unsuital)le to the climate, and may 
 not succeed. But if among many trials a few 
 be successfid, the public is amply recompensed
 
 OF REWARDS FOR INVENTIONS. 55 
 
 for the expense of them all. The farmer is re- 
 strained from experiment by local prejudices, as 
 well as by the real risk of failure, and stands in 
 need of the encouragement of a premium. It is 
 in some measure owing to this, that the valualjle 
 improvements of raising sown grass, and other 
 green crops, have been introduced into some 
 parts of the country, and plantations, especially 
 of the hardy larix, cover many of our hills that 
 were accounted unsusceptible of improvement. 
 
 But premiums should never be extended be- 
 yond the term requisite for the introduction of 
 a practice into a place where it was unknown 
 before. A farmer may be prevented from sowing 
 turnips by ignorance or timidity, till he see his 
 neighbour do it with success. But the practice, 
 if proper, when once introduced, will make 
 rapid progress. To continue premiums for rais- 
 ing any article on an extensive scale, and during 
 a long course of years, is not only a useless but 
 a pernicious expenditure of public money. It 
 is forcing a species of culture which does not 
 suit the climate. The large sums bestowed in 
 Scotland for many years, in premiums for pro- 
 moting the culture of flax, seem liable to this 
 censure.
 
 56 OF REWARDS FOR INVENTIONS. 
 
 Societies formed for the promotion of sci- 
 ence, conducted upon principles entirely hono- 
 rary, are entitled to the highest respect, and 
 seem exempted from any risk of misapplication. 
 Eminent genius may not require their fostering 
 care, and if a few be engaged by their means 
 in pursuits for which nature did not intend 
 them, the public hardly feels the loss ; yet ex- 
 perience concurs with reason in evincing the 
 advantages which result from the association of 
 ingenious men in their philosophical researches. 
 
 Useful as the art of printing is, there are 
 many nice points in the apj)lication of art to its 
 various purposes which are better taught by 
 exhibition, accompanied by oral direction. Hence 
 the utility of public lectures where the applica- 
 tion of science to practical purposes is illus- 
 trated by experiment. These lectures may aim 
 at the develo[»ment of the abstruser parts of 
 science, or they may be of a more superficial 
 nature, and both are useful to different classes 
 of hearers, and deserving of encouragement. 
 
 The efficacy of labour is carried to the utmost 
 extent by the vast stock of ])ractical knowledge 
 accumulated in a succession of ages. Art and 
 skill are progressive, but their progress, in differ-
 
 OF REWARDS FOR INVENTIONS. 57 
 
 ent ages and nations, is very unequal. In China 
 some of the more useful arts were known at an 
 earlier period than in Europe, but they have 
 never attained the same perfection. The human 
 mind exerts an energy at certain periods which 
 political institutions cannot do much to forward, 
 nor can its causes be fully investigated by human 
 sagacity. 
 
 But there is little risk, as society is now 
 constituted, of losing what is once attained. By 
 means of the press and of oral instruction every 
 discovery, whether the result of investigation, or 
 the effect of accident, soon becomes generally 
 knoMH, and is introduced into general practice. 
 Every improvement in agriculture, in metallurgy, 
 and the other practical branches of chemistry, 
 in mechanics, enlarges permanently the power of 
 man over the material world. 
 
 Tiie coiupiest of the civilized world by bar- 
 barous nations is the only event that could cause 
 the loss of what has been accpiired. Something 
 of this kind took place when the Roman empire 
 was subverted, and when the polished nations of 
 Asia were overrun by hordes of Tartars. ]\Io- 
 dern Europe is little exposed to a similar hazard. 
 There does not now exist an extent of territory
 
 58 OF REWARDS FOR INVENTIONS. 
 
 in a barbarous state sufficient to furnish numbers 
 for the conquest of what is civilized, and the 
 more general diffusion of knowledge among the 
 moderns would even secure the permanency of 
 any after-conquest. The entire extermination 
 of the former inhabitants is impracticable, and 
 the conquerors would acquire the arts and adopt 
 the manners of the survivors. This has hap- 
 pened several times in China, which has been 
 subdued by Tartars, without losing the civiliza- 
 tion it had attained.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 OF CAPITAL. 
 
 To obtain distinct views of the progress of 
 Avealtli it may be proper to inquire, first, into that 
 measure of it which a community of a less or 
 greater extent may acquire by the resources of 
 its own inckistry and skill, when unconnected 
 with the rest of the world, or surrounded with 
 a wall of brass, as Bishop Berkeley supposes ; 
 and afterwards into the effects produced by a 
 commercial intercourse with other countries. 
 
 In a former chapter we have taken a cursory 
 view of the means of acquiring wealth. The 
 fruits of human industry are seldom entirely con- 
 sumed by that generation which produces them. 
 A part remains for the benefit of succeeding ge- 
 nerations. Even in the rudest state, the hut 
 which a man has built, and the simple tools he 
 has made, are useful to his children and succes- 
 sors ; and, for the most part, every generation 
 transmits a larger share of wealth to its pos- 
 terity than it received from its ancestors. The 
 wealth thus accumulated is called Capital.
 
 60 OF CAPITAL. 
 
 The stock of practical knowledge above men- 
 tioned is an inheritance of great value ; but 
 seems rather to be a means of increasing the 
 power of acquiring wealth, than to constitute any 
 part of it. A more tangible inheritance is handed 
 down in every age to posterity. 
 
 Improvements in agriculture constitute a valu- 
 able part of this wealth. The earth, even in 
 the more favourable climates, requires to be 
 cultivated in order to yield any considerable 
 quantity of food. The effect of the labour be- 
 stowed on it does not always terminate with 
 the succeeding crop, but often renders the soil 
 more productive for a long time after. The 
 operations of ploughing and manuring, indeed, 
 only answer a temporary purpose ; Ijut those of 
 clearing, draining, levelling, and inclosing, are 
 beneficial for ages. Some of these improvements 
 can hardly be lost by neglect, and all of them 
 can be preserved by a much less portion of labour 
 than was requisite at first for their execution. 
 
 A person advanced in life is struck w^ith 
 pleasing astonishment when he observes the 
 improvements tliat have taken place during his 
 own time ; barren heaths converted into fertile 
 fields, rich pastures, or smiling gardens ; wretched
 
 OF CAPITAL. 01 
 
 modes of Imsbandry giving way to a spirited and 
 far more productive system ; the cattle more 
 vigorous ; the peasants exhibiting higher indica- 
 tions of plenty and comfort. If he could com- 
 pare the present state of the country with that 
 which it presented some centuries ago, the con- 
 trast would be still more remarkable. 
 
 To this head we may refer the stock of use- 
 ful plants which are cultivated in their present 
 state of perfection. Some of these, as wheat, 
 are so much ameliorated by culture, that we are 
 bardly able now to trace their native climate. 
 Others, as potatoes, have been introduced more 
 lately, and therefore their history is better 
 known, but they form an accession no less valu- 
 able to the produce of the soil. To this head 
 also belongs the stock of domestic animals, 
 which, through the gift of nature, have been 
 multiplied and improved by human cai-e, and 
 by the attention given to the choice of breeds. 
 
 Some countries are covered with wood by the 
 luxuriant hand of nature, and must be cleared to 
 render them healthy and fit for cultivation. 
 Others do not contain, at least in modern times, 
 a sufficiency of wood for shelter and other pur- 
 poses ; and industry is requisite for supplying
 
 62 OF CAPITAL. 
 
 the deficiency. The labour exerted, whether in 
 planting or clearing, so far as it renders the 
 country more fertile or more commodious, is 
 alike beneficial, and is the means of transmitting 
 a better inheritance to posterity. 
 
 The working of a mine, in some sense, ex- 
 hausts the stores of the earth. Yet as these 
 hidden stores only become useful by discovery, 
 whether accidental, or the result of laborious 
 search, the stock of general wealth is augmented 
 by known mines ; and the operations necessary 
 for setting a mine agoing constitute part of its 
 value. 
 
 Highways, bridges, and navigable canals, by 
 facilitating conveyance, promote all kinds of 
 improvement, and add much to the value of a 
 country. 
 
 The other parts of accumulated wealth con- 
 sist chiefly of the following articles : — 
 
 The great variety of tools used in manufac- 
 ture, engines and mills of every kind, with their 
 appendages, Avheel-carriages, furnaces, appa- 
 ratus for experimental philosophy. 
 
 All buildings, whether appropriated for places 
 of manufacture, for private dwelling, or for pub- 
 lic purposes ; churches, halls, colleges, schools,
 
 OF CAPITAL. 03 
 
 theatres, hospitals, granaries, warehouses, pri- 
 sons. 
 
 The quantity of corn, and other provisions, 
 laid uj) in store. 
 
 The whole stock of articles intended for fu- 
 ture consumption, whether completely prepared 
 for use, or requiring further manufacture ; wool, 
 flax, cotton, silk, leather, metals, and other ma- 
 terials, and all the commodities into which they 
 are formed. 
 
 The shipping belonging to the :iountry, arti- 
 ficial harbours, and hnprovements of natural 
 ones ; light-houses ; boats, and implements for 
 fishing. 
 
 Nor must we omit those articles which, 
 though not, strictly speaking, convertible to use, 
 become objects of desire by gratifying taste or 
 caprice. Under this head we may comprehend 
 pictures, statues, and other works of elegant art. 
 Musical instruments, libraries, and books, wher- 
 ever kept, claim a very respectable place in our 
 lists. The lowest should be assigned to those 
 which only contribute to ostentation, or are 
 sought after for their rarity ; diamonds and 
 other precious stones, and uncommon produc- 
 tions of nature or art.
 
 64 OF CAPITAL. 
 
 What place shall we assign to the precious 
 metals, to which alone the multitude consider 
 the character of wealth as belonging ? These 
 metals are applicable to some purposes in life, 
 and in this view they have a value, though not 
 a very high one. In point of real utility, silver 
 is much inferior to iron, and gold still more so. 
 But the precious metals derive their chief value 
 from their universal use as a medium of com- 
 merce, and representative of every kind of 
 wealth. When applied to this use they become 
 MONEY, the nature and advantages of which 
 require a particular discussion.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OF MONEY. 
 
 We have already mentioned barter, or the 
 exchange of one commodity for another, as the 
 simplest and earliest mode of traffic. It la- 
 bours, however, under great inconveniences. A. 
 has a commodity to spare, and B. wants it. A. 
 stands in need of a different commodity, with 
 which B. cannot supply him, though he is pos- 
 sessed of others for which A. has no occasion. 
 A. is possessed of a perishable commodity, and 
 as he has no immediate wants to supply, he is 
 desirous of parting with it, provided he can 
 thereby accpiire a power of receiving afterwards 
 what his future occasions may require. B. 
 wants something to afford him present subsist- 
 ence, or enable him to carry on his labour till 
 the article he proposes to give in return be fit 
 for use. In these cases commercial intercourse 
 cannot be carried on by barter alone. Confi- 
 dence and credit may in part supply the defect : 
 but this will be done more effectually and uni-
 
 66 OF MONEY. 
 
 versally by means of some standard article which 
 is considered as an equivalent for every kind 
 of commodity. Whoever possesses a sufficient 
 quantity of that standard may obtain any thing 
 which his wants require, and the country af- 
 fords, in return : and therefore every man is 
 willing to accept of that standard, in exchange 
 for what he has to spare. The standard upon 
 which the public has fixed this value, and which 
 is actually applied to these purposes, is called 
 Money. 
 
 The essential requisites of the materials for 
 money are rarity, durability, and susceptibility 
 of minute and accurate division. If their exter- 
 nal properties be splendid, and if they be previ- 
 ously used for purposes of ornament and magnifi- 
 cence, they will more readily acquire that popular 
 value which is necessary to give them circula- 
 tion. All these qualities are united in gold and 
 silver, which, therefore, with few exceptions, 
 have been employed as money in civilized 
 nations in every age. Copper or brass was 
 used in Rome in the earlier ages, for want of 
 gold and silver, and is still in general use for 
 articles of small value. Iron was had recourse 
 to in Sparta, with the design of banishing
 
 OF MONEY. G7 
 
 luxury. In some parts of Africa and India, 
 certain species of shells are employed as money. 
 
 The use of money commenced at so early a 
 period, that we are not to expect, nor do we 
 meet with, a distinct history of its introduction. 
 It appears to have been known in the age of the 
 patriarchs, and probably, like other institutions 
 of powerful efficacy on the state of society, it 
 was not a contrivance of speculative wisdom, 
 but derived its origin and reception from occa- 
 sional circumstances. An estimation of the 
 precious metals for other purposes preceded 
 their use as money. Abraham sent jewels of 
 gold and silver by his servants who went for 
 Rebecca. The affixing a stamp on money, or 
 forming it into pieces of a certain weight, were 
 improvements of a later period. Money was 
 weighed, not numbered, in the earlier transac- 
 tions. 
 
 Money may be considered as an engine or 
 tool by which commerce is facilitated, and a 
 very powerfid one. It contributes, perhaps, 
 more than highways and canals, to an easy 
 exchange of commodities. Gold and silver, 
 therefore, being the materials of money, consti- 
 tute, as such, a part of the public wealth. We 
 
 F2
 
 68 OF MONEY. 
 
 are at present inquiring into the wealth of a 
 country considered as detached from the rest of 
 the world, and in that view we apprehend the 
 quantity of money is of no consequence what- 
 ever. The money value of commodities de- 
 pends upon the proportion between the quantity 
 of money in circulation and the quantity of com- 
 modities brought into the market. Although 
 money be a tool, it differs in this from every 
 other tool, that the effect is produced alike by a 
 greater or a lesser quantity. If the quantity of 
 money in an isolated country were doubled, 
 other circumstances remaining the same, the 
 only effect would be to double the nominal price 
 of labour, of corn, and of every other commo- 
 dity. If the quantity of money be diminished, 
 prices would fall in the same proportion. The 
 effect of circulating paper, used as a substitute 
 for money, is in this respect the same. 
 
 Conmiercial transactions may be carried on 
 without money or other circulating medium, but 
 not with the same facility, and therefore, pro- 
 bably, not to the same extent. As commerce is 
 a principal source of wealth, any incumbrance 
 upon commerce tends to lessen the general 
 wealth ; and want of money, or an effective
 
 OF MONEY. 09 
 
 substitute, is of that nature. But the degree in 
 which money facilitates commerce is the mea- 
 sure of its value as a constituent part of wealth, 
 and this bears a certain proportion to the mass 
 of commodities brought to market, though it is 
 not easy to assign what that proportion is. A 
 small quantity of money, when prices are set- 
 tled, is sufficient to answer the purpose, and the 
 greatest quantity can do no more. 
 
 The value of the precious metals arises, as 
 we have observed, partly from their utility or 
 estimation as commodities, and partly from their 
 universal reception as a circulating medium of 
 connnerce. The latter part is by far the more 
 important. If their use for that purpose ^vere 
 discontinued, their value would greatly fall. 
 We may conceive the existence of an article 
 possessing the properties of rarity, divisibility, 
 and durability, but applicable to no useful pur- 
 pose, and entirely unfit for ornament or magnifi- 
 cence. Such an article might be adopted as 
 money. Though the supposition be imaginary, 
 it may assist us in distinguishing the value 
 which the precious metals derive from being 
 used as money, from that which arises from 
 their application to other purposes.
 
 70 OF MOiNEY. 
 
 The exchange of commodities cannot easily 
 be effected without referring their value to 
 some common standard, though nothing of this 
 kind be received or delivered in the transaction. 
 This standard may be a certain quantity of gold 
 or silver, reckoned by weight or tale, a bushel 
 of corn, a yard of cloth, a bar of iron, a pound 
 of tobacco, or a mere denomination. JMakutes * 
 are said, by Montesquieu, and some other writers, 
 (perhaps erroneously) to be of this kind. The 
 inhabitants of the coast of Angola, according to 
 their account, settle the relative value of the ar- 
 ticles which they exchange by affixing to each 
 that of a certain number of makutes, although 
 there be no such material article as a makute in 
 existence. However the fact may be, the sup- 
 position implies no absurdity. It may be 
 doubted, however, whether the assumption of 
 such a standard be not too refined an expedient 
 to have occurred to men in that simple state of 
 society which preceded the use of gold and silver. 
 
 An imaginary standard might facilitate bar- 
 
 * A Makute is now understood to be the name of a kind of 
 net-work used by the Africans for clothing. Mr. Park men- 
 tions a bar of iron, as used in otlier parts of Africa for a ge- 
 neral standard. Neither of these are usually received or deli- 
 vered in their transactions.
 
 OF MONKV. 71 
 
 ter, but could not serve the purpose of money. 
 A person who delivered goods to another with- 
 out receiving goods in return, would only have 
 the credit of the buyer to trust to for being 
 recompensed at a future time. A payment in 
 money gives him an immediate and certain 
 equivalent *. 
 
 A prejudice in regard to money as constitut- 
 
 * We have ventured, on this subject, to differ from the doctrine 
 laid down in the Edinburgh Review, in their strictures on an 
 Essay on the Theory of Money and Exchange, by Thomas Smith, 
 October, 1808. The able writer of that article, after pointing 
 out the impracticability of finding an actual standard of inva- 
 riable value, and ridiculing the recourse to an ideal one, puts the 
 question, " When you go to market with a guinea, does it not 
 purchase in proportion to the value of the metal contained in 
 the guinea ? " And observes, that " selling a sheep for a piece 
 of gold, or a piece of silver of a certain weight, is visibly the 
 same species of transaction as selling it for a certain weight of 
 salt, or of corn. The gold is the commodity purchased with 
 the sheep, in the one case ; the salt or corn is the commodity 
 purchased with it in the other. It is the barter of two commo- 
 dities, the value of which are equal. The one party has bought 
 a sheep, the other party has bought a quantity of gold. Money 
 is nothing but a commodity bought or sold for its value, like 
 other commodities ;" and a good deal more to the same pur- 
 pose. We apprehend that an important distinction is over- 
 looked in this view of the subject. Tlie sheep, the salt, the 
 corn, and other commodities which might have been mentioned, 
 have an intrinsic value, as being required for the sustenance or 
 comfort of himian life. The value of the gold is arl:iitrary, 
 arising chiefly from its use as a medium of commerce. Dis- 
 continue its application to that purpose, and its value will shrink 
 into very little.
 
 72 OF MONEY. 
 
 ing wealth is so general, that some further illus- 
 tration of our views on the subject may not be 
 improper. On this occasion, some tautology- 
 may be more excusable than too much brevity. 
 The stock of wealth belonging to a commu- 
 nity is the aggregate of whatever affords sub- 
 sistence or enjoyment, or furnishes the means 
 of procuring oi increasing them ; land, with all 
 its improvements, highways, corn in store, 
 mines, materials for manufacture, manufactured 
 goods, tools, buildings, shipping, and the like. 
 All these contribute, directly or indirectly, to 
 supply our wants or gratify our desires, natural 
 or acquired. The more of these a country pos- 
 sesses, it is the richer, and, so far as external 
 things contribute to happiness, the people are 
 the happier. But money, as such, does not con- 
 tribute to the stock of enjojinent, and ought not 
 to be accounted wealth; and if the inconsiderable 
 use of gold and silver for plate and like purposes 
 be set aside, it is a matter of indifference whether 
 the quantity of these metals be great or small, 
 or whether they be wanting altogether, provided 
 commerce could be carried on as well without 
 them. Land and goods of every kind are 
 wealth to their respective proprietors ; and the
 
 OF MONEY. 73 
 
 aggregate of their several portions constitutes 
 the mass of general wealth. A. has corn, B. has 
 cattle, C. has wine, D. has manufactured goods, 
 or tools and materials for manufacture ; E. has 
 money, with which he can purchase corn or 
 whatever he has occasion for, at the usual price. 
 The situation of E. is equally eligible as that of 
 any of the others ; and in reckoning the wealth 
 of the Avhole, why should not the money of E. 
 be included, as well as the corn of A., the cattle 
 of J3., the wine of C, and the manufactures of 
 D. ? If the money of E. Avere annihilated, still 
 the quantity of corn, cattle, wine, and manufac- 
 tures appropriated to the use of this small com- 
 munity is the same ; but E. has no share in it, 
 and depends on the generosity of the others. 
 That he may not be exposed to this hardship, 
 let us suppose that he purchases part of the 
 commodities belonging to the others, till the 
 money be equally distributed among them, after 
 which let the money be annihilated ; nothing is 
 thereby abstracted from the means of mainte- 
 nance and enjoyment which these five persons 
 command, and they ought not to be accounted 
 poorer. If a community consisted only of five, 
 or even if it were extended to fifty persons, their
 
 74 OF MONEY, 
 
 commercial transactions with each other could 
 be carried on without money; and in so narrow 
 a community, unconnected with the rest of the 
 world, money would be of no use. But in large 
 communities, as commodities cannot be ex- 
 changed without commerce, so commerce goes 
 heavily on without a circulating medium. Money 
 enal^les us more easily to obtain a supply of our 
 Avants in return for what we have to spare. 
 It therefore renders our property more valuable, 
 and may be accounted to increase the general 
 wealth in so far as it relieves commerce from 
 embarrassment. 
 
 But the advantages arising from a circulating 
 medium have only a limited value. Commerce, 
 without money, is practicable, though attended 
 with difficulties ; and a certain proportion of 
 the general industry would be applied for coun- 
 teracting these difficulties. Let us suppose that 
 the industry required for that purpose is equal 
 in value to one-twentietli part of the commodi- 
 ties annually produced and exchanged, and let 
 the value of these without money be denomi- 
 nated M ; let an amount of money, less or more, 
 be introduced ; then the embarrassment to com- 
 merce being removed, and the industry applied
 
 OF MONEY. 75 
 
 to counteract it set free, the annual produce of 
 the community will be raised to JM + -^\ M. If 
 the quantity of money introduced be five mil- 
 lions, M Avill ]^e equal to one hundred millions, 
 and the value of the annual produce of the com- 
 munity will be augmented to one hundred and 
 five millions. If ten millions of money had 
 been introduced, the value would have been two 
 hundred and ten millions, yet the real wealth of 
 the country would be the same in the one case 
 as in the other. It is not the wealth of the 
 country that has increased, but the value of the 
 currency that has diminished, when the nominal 
 value is raised from one hundred and five to 
 two hundred and ten millions, by the introduc- 
 tion of an additional quantity of five millions 
 of currency. 
 
 Since the discovery of America, an immense 
 quantity of labour and capital has been expended 
 in mining operations, attended with no small 
 waste of human life and infliction of human 
 misery. If the acquisition of the large quantity 
 of the precious metals from these mines has 
 been attended with no other consequence than 
 the increase of the nominal price of commodi- 
 ties in all conmiercial countries, how much is
 
 76 OF MONEY. 
 
 this misapplication of capital and labour to be 
 regretted ! Little has been done for the im- 
 provement of the countries which supply these 
 metals, though they be very susceptible of it. 
 What a diiferent appearance would they have 
 now exhibited if the same capital and labour 
 had been expended in purposes of real utility !
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 OF VALUE AND PRICE. 
 
 There is no subject which has given occasion 
 to more controversy among writers on political 
 economy than that of value. This arises partly 
 from the loose manner in which the term has 
 been applied ; and from its being used not un- 
 frerpiently by the same writer in different senses, 
 without his remarking, or seeming to observe, 
 that he had done so. 
 
 The term value is sometimes applied to ex- 
 press the measure of sustenance or enjoyment 
 that a commodity affords to its possessor. A 
 man may apply the articles he has produced, or 
 in any manner obtained, to his own maintenance 
 or comfort, and the benefit he derives from them 
 has been called their value in use, or absolute 
 value. Some commodities have a natural supe- 
 riority to others, as contributing more to these 
 purposes : corn is more essential than wine. A 
 good house contributes more to comfort than the 
 possession of a diamond. Value taken in this
 
 78 OF VALUE AND PRICE, 
 
 sense is nearly the same as wealth. Although 
 its attainment and enlargement is, or should be, 
 one of the chief objects of political institutions, 
 this is not the sense in which the term value is 
 commonly used by writers on political economy. 
 
 After the establishment of traffic and division 
 of labour, it is generally only a small part of the 
 commodities that the producer retains to himself. 
 The great mass is exchanged for other commo- 
 dities, and, according as he can command more 
 or fewer of these in return, his commodity is of 
 greater or less value. This has been called value 
 in exchange ; and as this is the common accepta- 
 tion in which it is used by political economists, 
 when the term is used simply, — it ought to be 
 applied in this sense, unless some other meaning 
 be specially assigned to it. 
 
 The value of a commodity applied to the use 
 of the possessor is incapable of being reduced 
 to any standard. It depends upon his necessi- 
 ties, his taste, and his caprices, and no two men 
 would agree in regard to it ; but the value of the 
 commodities which he brings to market is 
 ascertained by a steadier standard. It is mea- 
 sured by the amount of what he can receive in 
 return. The quantity of one kind of commodity
 
 OF VALUE AND PRICE. 79 
 
 that can be obtained for a given quantity of 
 another ascertains their relative value. As this 
 is the only meaning that can be applied to the 
 term, if that of the value in use be set aside, the 
 prefix relative may be omitted as superfluous, 
 and as leading to error by suggesting the notion 
 of an absolute value hi exchange. 
 
 In exchanging commodities, or transferring 
 them to the possession of others, upon condition 
 of receiving an adequate return afterwards, it 
 is convenient and usual to express their value in 
 a numerical manner, referring to certain pieces 
 of the precious metals which compose the cur- 
 rency of the country, or perhaps to a mere 
 denomination. The value of a conmiodity ex- 
 pressed in this manner is called its price. 
 
 The relative value of commodities at any given 
 time is accurately expressed by their price ; but 
 money is not on that account more a standard of 
 value than any other commodity. If the price of 
 a yard of silk be equal to that of five yards 
 of linen, it will also exchange for five times as 
 much corn, wine, or any other commodity. The 
 corn or wine given in exchange may, therefore, 
 be considered, as well as the money, as measures 
 of the relative value of the silk and linen;
 
 80 OF VALUE AND PRICE, 
 
 though money, being commonly used, or at least 
 referred to in these transactions, furnishes 
 the common way of expressing the value of 
 commodities. 
 
 The price of a single commodity gives no 
 information in regard to its value. If the price 
 of a horse be twenty pounds, and that of a quarter 
 of Avheat two pounds, we know that ten quarters 
 of wheat are of the same value as the horse, and 
 may be obtained in exchange for it, and this 
 holds without any regard to the nature of the 
 pound, whether a greater or less quantity of gold 
 or silver, or a mere denomination. But if we 
 are only told that the price of the horse is 
 twenty pounds, this gives us no information so 
 long as we are ignorant of the price of other 
 commodities ; nor does it add much to our 
 knowledge, though we be shown the quantity of 
 gold or silver that is denominated a pound. 
 
 The notion of an absolute value (we speak of 
 value in exchange) has given rise to considerable 
 errors. To raise the value of commodities has 
 been considered as a desirable object, and some 
 have gone so far as to hold the raising the 
 value of all commodities to be a most beneficial 
 measure. Nothing can be more absurd. Value
 
 OF VAI.UR AND PRICK. 81 
 
 being relative, you cannot increase that of one 
 commodity Avithout depressing that of others. 
 If you raise the vahie of corn, you depress the 
 value of the articles for which it is exchanged. 
 If you raise the price of all commodities in the 
 some proportion, you depress the value of the 
 currency, but make no alteration in the value of 
 commodities. The raising the value of a par- 
 ticular commodity may be beneficial or other- 
 wise. It may enrich some individuals at the 
 expense of others, but it does not promote the 
 public welfare upon any general principle. 
 
 A standard of value has been sought for by 
 political economists. The value of all com- 
 modities is subject to fluctuation, though in 
 very different proportions, and the desired 
 standard, were it attainable, Avould ascertain the 
 comparative value of any articles at different 
 periods of time, or in different nations at the 
 same time. 
 
 Corn has been considered by some as a correct 
 standard. The value of a commodity, it is said, 
 may be estimated in all ages and nations by the 
 quantity of corn that can be obtained for it. 
 This doctrine requires some modification. 
 
 As food is the first article of human want, 
 
 G
 
 82 OF VALUE AND PRICE. 
 
 and corn the most universal kind of food, if any 
 sinsrle article be fit for a general standard of 
 value, no doubt it is corn. Now, suppose a value 
 in corn has been affixed by general consent upon 
 all commodities brought to market, and that 
 afterwards, by improvement in machinery or 
 otherwise, some commodity, say cloth, can be 
 manufactured with less labour, and, therefore, 
 more of it brought to market, and given in ex- 
 change for corn, or other commodities, than 
 formerly, while others retain the same corn price 
 as before. Then he who possesses wine can get 
 as much corn for it as formerly, but his wine 
 goes farther in purchasing cloth. His wine is, 
 therefore, of more value than formerly. It is 
 not corn alone that men have occasion for when 
 they go to market. If they can procure a larger 
 share of articles subservient to comfort or luxury 
 along with a sufficient supply of necessaries, the 
 value of the articles which they give in ex- 
 change tor this aggregate is augmented. As 
 corn, or other common food, is an article of 
 prime necessity, and bears a considerable pro- 
 portion to the whole, it ascertains, in a great 
 measure, but not solely and exclusively, the value 
 of every other commodity. This depends upon
 
 OF VALUK AND PRICE. 83 
 
 the returns that can be obtained for them, of 
 whatever kind. If by a change of circumstances 
 a greater share of any other connnodity can be 
 obtained for mine, the value of mine is in some 
 measure increased. If a lesser share of a dif- 
 ferent commodity can only be got for it, the 
 value of mine is in some measure diminished, 
 and its ultimate value depends upon the aggre- 
 gate of all other commodities that it will ex- 
 change for, regard being always had to the 
 quantity of each that is wanted. This estimate, 
 indeed, is too complex to admit of being brought 
 to an accurate determination. 
 
 Dr. Smith proposes as a standard of value the 
 quantity of labour that it can command, as la- 
 bour may be applied to the supj)ly of ahnost 
 every A^'ant, and even to that of corn. J\Ir. 
 Malthus proposes a medium between corn and 
 labour ; and since maintenance and a command 
 of the services of others are the chief desiderata 
 of mankind, this medium is, perhaps, as accurate 
 a standard as can ])e attained. 
 
 To attain a standard that will ansAver in all 
 ages and nations is impracticable, for all com- 
 modities alter in value. Of all standards, that of 
 the precious metals is the most fallacious. Most 
 
 G 2
 
 84 OF VALUE AND PRICE. 
 
 commodities have a value in use wliich influ- 
 ences, thoiigli it does not exclusively determine, 
 their value in excJiange. But gold and silver 
 have little value in use, and derive their value 
 almost entirely from being assumed as a medium 
 of commerce, which is a device altogether poli- 
 tical and arbitrary, and which may be effected 
 by any quantity of these metals, whether great 
 or small. Accordingly we find that the prices 
 of commodities have been very different in dif- 
 ferent ages. They also differ considerably in 
 different countries at the same time, though they 
 have a tendency to assimilate, if the countries 
 be connected l)y commercial intercourse. 
 
 A determination of the causes which regulate 
 the price or relative value of different commo- 
 dities, is a point of much importance in political 
 economy. On this two opinions have been ad- 
 vanced. 
 
 The first is, that the price of commodities is 
 regulated by the quantity of labour required for 
 their production, or rather by the expense of 
 production, of which expense, labour, either past 
 or present, generally constitutes the greater part. 
 This has been called the natural or necessary 
 price.
 
 OF VALUE AND PRICE. 8.5 
 
 The second is, that price is reguhited by the 
 proportion of the supply of a commodity brouglit 
 to market with the effective demand for that 
 commodity. This is called the market price. 
 
 Though these doctrines have been considered 
 as opposed to each other, it will not be difficult, 
 by a little consideration, to reconcile them. 
 
 An isolated individual nmst perform every 
 operation requisite for his life and comfort the 
 best ^vay he can. Robinson Crusoe was his own 
 huntsman, agriculturist, carpenter, tailor, potter, 
 and basket-maker. If several persons be placed 
 in some spot where they have no communication 
 with the rest of mankind, they will not long con- 
 tinue to work each for himself, as the isolated 
 individual does. They had, perhaps, before 
 being placed in this situation, been bred to dif- 
 ferent mechanical occupations, the articles sup- 
 plied l)y each of which are needed by every 
 member of this small comnnmity. The carpen- 
 ter, the blacksmith, the shoemaker, will each 
 supply that article which, from education and 
 practice, he can produce in less time, and of 
 better quality than the others can do, and will 
 receive from the others in return those connno- 
 dities, in the production of which they possess a
 
 86 OF VALUE AND PRICE. 
 
 like advantage. There seems to be no other 
 rule for regulating these transactions than that 
 every article be exchanged for another which 
 requires an equal quantity of labour for its pro- 
 duction. A day's work of the shoemaker, or its 
 produce, will be given for a day's work of the 
 carpenter ; or, what comes to the same thing, 
 each member of the community ^Yl\\ receive a 
 share of the whole commodities produced in 
 proportion to the quantity of labour he has con- 
 tributed to their production. The natural and 
 market-price will thus be the same in the situa- 
 tion here supposed ; nor will they deviate much 
 even when the comnmnity is considerably en- 
 larged, due allowance being made for such cir- 
 cumstances as assign higher wages to some kinds 
 of labour than to others. These are chiefly the 
 following : — 
 
 1st. Some kinds of labour are more severe, 
 more disagreeable, more dangerous, more un- 
 healthy than others, and therefore will not be 
 vmdertaken without a higher reward. For some 
 or all of these reasons the wages of labourers 
 employed in mines is always higher than of 
 those employed in agriculture. 
 
 2d. Some employments retpiire t-uperior abi-
 
 OF VALUE AND PRICE. 87 
 
 lities, natural or acquired, or an extensive course 
 of education ; others require dexterity and 
 skill, which long practice only can confer. A 
 skilful surgeon receives a higher rcAvard for the 
 time he is employed than an artist, and an inge- 
 nious artist more than an ordinary mechanic. 
 
 3d. In some employments there is almost a 
 certainty of accom})lishing the ohject intended. 
 In others the success is very precarious. In 
 some mechanic arts the operator is exposed to 
 the constant risk of l)reaking his work, while 
 others are nearly exempt from that hazard. 
 Agriculture is a surer means of procuring sub- 
 sistence than fishing ; the profits of mining are 
 still more precarious. The projector is exposed 
 to the greatest hazard of any ; and, therefore, 
 when his schemes succeed, and prove beneficial 
 to the pul)lic, he is entitled to a liljcral rovard, 
 though he does not always receive it. 
 
 4tli. Another circumstance which consideraljly 
 affects the value of labour is the time which 
 elapses before the article on which it is exerted 
 be fit for use. In many mechanic arts the article 
 is ready so soon as the labour is performed. In 
 agriculture the greater part of the labour pre- 
 cedes the reaping of the crop by several months,
 
 ^S OF VALUE AND PRICE. 
 
 and much labour is often exerted when no 
 return is expected for several years. If a 
 plough till five hundred acres of land before it 
 be worn out, the labour of making the plough 
 is part of the labour of tilling five hundred 
 acres. But it may be employed ten years 
 before it perform that quantity of work, and the 
 average time between making the plough and 
 deriving advantage from its use is five years. 
 The same takes place in mining and in some 
 complicated manufactures. An additional re- 
 ward is due to such labour on account of the 
 delay before any return be received. This 
 belongs to the article of interest, the principles 
 of which require a separate consideration *. 
 
 Any circumstance, natural or artificial, which 
 facilitates the production of an article, dimi- 
 nishes its natural value. Any circumstance 
 which obstructs or retards its production in- 
 creases its natural value. 
 
 But in large comnmnities the exchange of 
 commodities is not always regulated by the 
 expense of their production. A deviation from 
 that proportion frequently takes place both in 
 
 * See this subject more fully treated in Dr. Smith's Inquiry, 
 part i., chap. 10.
 
 OF VALUE AND PRICE. 89 
 
 the exchange of manufactured commodities for 
 rude produce, and in tliat of one manufactured 
 article for another, o^ving to the unequal mea- 
 sure of the supply of commodities to the wants 
 of those who have something to give in return. 
 The proportion of the different commodities 
 wanted hy the whole community is nearly fixed 
 by their established habits, and if the quantity 
 of each kind brought to market be in the same 
 proportion, those which require equal measures 
 of labour for their production will be exchanged 
 for each other, and the market price will be the 
 same as the natural. If a greater quantity of 
 cloth be brouo^ht to market than those Avho fre- 
 quent it have occasion for, when acting accord- 
 ing to their usual habits, a proportion will 
 remain in the hands of the manufacturers after 
 the first demand is supplied ; and, rather than 
 carry this home, where he can turn it to no pre- 
 sent advantage, he will give it in exchange for 
 other commodities that required less time for 
 their production. This induces the other fre- 
 quenters of the market to purchase a greater 
 quantity of cloth than they intended, and supply 
 their families more liberally with that article, or 
 lay up a part of their purchase for future use.
 
 90 OF VALUE AND PRICE. 
 
 Thus the price of cloth falls. On the other 
 hand, if the quantity of cloth brought to market 
 be less than is wanted, those whose wants are 
 most exigent, when they perceive a dijfficulty of 
 obtaining a supply, will offer a larger share of 
 their own productions in return ; and others 
 whose wants are less exigent or have less to 
 offer in return, must go away unsupplied. Thus 
 the price of cloth rises. If more corn be brought 
 to market than is required to supply the con- 
 sumers during the time they usually provide for 
 at once, the farmer, rather than carry back the 
 surplus, will offer it at a lower rate, and this will 
 induce the purchaser to lay in for a longer time, 
 and the price of corn will fall. On the contrary, 
 a deficiency in the supply will cause the price 
 of corn to rise by the converse of this operation. 
 
 The deviation of the market price from the 
 natural one may take place in a considerable 
 degree even in articles of internal produce and 
 manufacture, and much more so when a great 
 part of the supply or demand proceeds from 
 foreign commerce. 
 
 The market price, however, has always a 
 tendency to approach to the natural one, at least 
 in articles of home production. If the supply of
 
 OK VALUR AND PRICK. 91 
 
 any article exceed the demand, and the price, in 
 consequence, fall, the production of that article 
 will be lessened or discontinued till its price 
 rise so as to obtain the usual reward of labour. 
 If the demand exceed the supply, and the price 
 rise, more of that article will be produced and 
 brought to market, till the price fall to its usual 
 rate. A deficiency in articles of prime neces- 
 sity may occasion a great rise in their market 
 price above the natural one. A deficient crop, 
 though necessarily accompanied with a rise in 
 the natural price of corn (as a smaller quantity 
 is produced by the same labour, in a bad 
 season), may increase the market price in a 
 higher proportion. For food must be procured, 
 if it can, at any price. A deficiency in materials 
 for clothing is not likely to produce this effect in 
 the same degree ; for many will rather cause 
 the clothes they have at present to serve, till a 
 supply on reasonable terms can be procured. 
 Perishable commodities fall very low in price by 
 what is called a glut in the market, as they 
 must be consumed immediately, or lost. Those 
 of a more durable nature may be withdrawn 
 from the market, in hopes of a rise. 
 
 The natural value has in most cases a present
 
 92 OF VALUE AND PRICE. 
 
 ejffect on the market price, and this latter, there- 
 fore, does not depend altogether on the propor- 
 tion between supply and demand. So natural 
 does this appear, that a rise in the exjjense of 
 production, occasioned by a new tax, or any 
 other cause, likely to be permanent, immediately 
 raises the price of the article to which it is 
 applied, although it cannot, for some time, alter 
 the supply or demand in the market. 
 
 The supporters of these opposite doctrines in 
 regard to value seem to differ only in degree. 
 Those w^ho argue for the natural price, as de- 
 pending on the expense of production, acknow- 
 ledge that the market price differs frequently, 
 and sometimes greatly from it. Those who 
 argue for the market price, as regulated by the 
 proportion between supply and demand, acknow- 
 ledge that this will be modified in time by the 
 effect of the natural price. The length of time 
 required to produce an equalization seems to be 
 the only point of difference between them. This 
 depends on the facility of procuring materials, 
 and the time required for the production of the 
 article, including that of constructing the re- 
 quisite machinery and tools, and of acquiring 
 the requisite skill for their use.
 
 OF VALUE AND PRICE. 93 
 
 Relative value is continually varying. At 
 one time three yards of cloth may be obtained 
 for a quarter of wheat ; at another time only 
 two yards. When this happens, shall we say 
 that the value of the wheat has fallen, or that 
 the value of the cloth has risen? To answer 
 this question, Ave observe that at the former 
 time the quarter of wheat would exchange for 
 a certain quantity of butcher's meat, wine, fur- 
 niture, fuel, or other commodities, and three 
 yards of cloth would then exchange for tlie same 
 quantity of these commodities. At tlie latter 
 time, two yards of cloth will purchase as much 
 of these commodities as a quarter of wheat will 
 do. Either, therefore, a greater share of other 
 commodities, taking them in the aggregate, will 
 be obtained for the yard of cloth, or a smaller 
 share for the quarter of wheat than before. In 
 the former case, the value of the cloth has risen ; 
 in the latter case, the value of the wheat has 
 fallen. It may happen that the alteration in the 
 relative value is occasioned partly by the rise in 
 that of one of the connnodities, and partly by 
 the fall of that of the other. 
 
 The estimation of the value of a commodity 
 by the quantity of labour required for its pro-
 
 94 OF VALUE AND PRICE. 
 
 ductioii, is not the same as that estimated by 
 the labour that it will purchase when produced, 
 though they in some degree tend to assimilate. 
 The former is the natural value ; the latter, 
 which Dr. Smith assumes as a standard, is the 
 market value.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 OF THE COMPONENT PARTS OF VALUE. 
 
 The price of commodities, considered as reou- 
 lated by the expense of their production, is re- 
 solved by political economists into three parts, 
 — rent of land, profit of stock, and wages of 
 labour ; to which may be added any special 
 taxes they are charged with. The profits of 
 stock may be again resolved into former rent, 
 and former labour ; the larger part being former 
 labour. 
 
 To ascertain the proportion of these different 
 parts, as well as the amount of the whole, com- 
 pared with the population under existing cir- 
 cumstances, is an object of considerable im- 
 portance. 
 
 In that state of society, where land is not yet 
 parcelled out and appropriated, the whole value 
 of commodities arises from the labour required 
 for obtaining them, and preparing them for use. 
 But subsequent to the appropriation of land, 
 there is scarcely any article, the whole value of
 
 96 OF THE COMPONENT PARTS OF VALUE. 
 
 Avliich can be resolved into labour. In estimat- 
 ing- the expense of the production of any com- 
 modity, the price of the material must be added 
 to that of the labour bestowed upon it ; and so 
 far as this does not arise from former labour, it 
 arises from rent. The farmer is employed in 
 raising corn, and his implements are made by 
 artificers bred to their several employments : 
 but the rent of the wood which furnishes timber 
 for his carts and ploughs, and the rent of the 
 mine which supplies them with iron, as well as 
 the rent of the land which he cultivates, must 
 all be paid by the price of his corn. The price 
 of wool forms a part of the price of cloth ; and 
 this is almost entirely resolvable into rent, as 
 the labours of the shepherd are inconsiderable. 
 The price of butcher's meat also arises chiefly 
 from rent. The price of houses is partly com- 
 posed of the rent of the quarries which supply 
 the builder with stones. In the more exquisite 
 works of art, the value of the material bears so 
 small a proportion to that of the labour, as 
 almost to escape observation. The value of the 
 balance-spring of a watch exceeds by ten thou- 
 sand times that of the steel which it is made of; 
 yet the rent of the mine from which the steel is
 
 OF THE COMPONENT PARTS OF VALUE. 97 
 
 obtained forms a part, though a very small one, 
 of the price of the balance-spring. The pro- 
 perty of animals obtained by hunting and fish- 
 ing, in places where these occupations are per- 
 mitted freely, is another instance where little is 
 assignable to rent. Yet if the hunter use a gun, 
 or even a bow, the rent of the land which fur- 
 nishes wood, or of the mine which furnishes 
 metal for these weapons, composes a part of the 
 price of the game he kills. A very trivial ex- 
 ample, mentioned by Dr. Smith, of property 
 arising entirely from labour, — that of pebbles 
 gathered on the sea-shore, and afterwards 
 wrought into trinkets, is the only one we at 
 present recollect. 
 
 A catalogue somewhat larger may be adduced 
 of articles A^hose value arises from rent only : 
 this includes all the spontaneous productions of 
 the earth. The extent of these is very different 
 in different climates. 
 
 The value of the far greater part of commo- 
 dities is composed jointly of rent and labour, 
 present or former ; and for the most part labour 
 contributes the greater share. 
 
 The use of tools is necessary for the execu - 
 tion of work ; and the materials must be sup-
 
 98 OF THE COMPONENT PARTS OF VALUE. 
 
 plied, and the labourers maintained, during the 
 time the commodities are preparing. The pro- 
 prietors of the tools, the materials, and the food, 
 have a right to a share of the manufactured 
 commodity ; or what is more common, may 
 assume the property of the whole, on paying 
 the labourer an adequate consideration in name 
 of wages. The value of the article produced is 
 divided between the owner of the capital and 
 the labourer ; and the equitable rule of distri- 
 bution seems to depend on the proportion be- 
 tween the former labour expended in raising 
 the capital, including an allowance for rent, and 
 the present labour employed in making the 
 commodity. In ascertaining this proportion, 
 we should estimate all the labour that has been 
 exercised, directly or indirectly, in producing 
 the article, making due allowance for the time 
 which has intervened between the exertion of 
 each portion of the labour and the full accom- 
 plishment of its object. The actual distribution, 
 however, will frecpiently be different, in the 
 same manner as the market price of commo- 
 dities is different from the expense of their 
 production. 
 
 If the labourer provide his own tools, or
 
 OF THE COMPONENT PARTS OF VALUE. 99 
 
 maintain himself while the work is carrying 
 on, he is so far a capitalist, and what he earns 
 belongs to the head of profit of stock, as well as 
 wages of labour.- 
 
 IMr. Ricardo makes the supposition, of a ma- 
 chine which costs twenty thousand pounds, and 
 lasts an hundred years, during which time it 
 produces commodities without the aid of human 
 labour. Chimerical as this supposition appears, 
 it is useful in analyzing the component parts into 
 which the expense of production is resolved. 
 
 H2
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF THE PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 
 
 We cannot treat of this subject, without stating 
 specific sums, in the estimation of general wealth. 
 We are aware, however, of the difficulty of 
 obtaining accurate statements: a difficulty aris- 
 ing partly from the extent and variety of the 
 subject, and partly from the continual fluctua- 
 tion both of the mass of wealth, and the value of 
 the standard in which it is estimated. All we 
 can expect is such an approximation as may 
 assist our views, without leading to any im- 
 portant error. 
 
 The necessary or ordinary expenses of the 
 labouring part of the community in Britain*, 
 including men, women and children, may be 
 taken at sixpence a day, or nine pounds in a year 
 
 * We have made these statements in regard to Britain rather 
 than the United Kingdom, because we have not authentic infor- 
 mation of some particulars respecting Ireland, and also because 
 the circumstances of the countries are different in essential 
 points.
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF THE PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 101 
 
 each. Sir Frederick Eden estimated the annual 
 expense of the English cottage, in the year 
 1796, at 6/. 4*. a head. This is too low for the 
 present thne, and the expense of tradesmen and 
 manufacturers in towns is greater than that of 
 country cottagers. If Ave take the average 
 expense of all ranks at double that of the la- 
 bourer, we may not be far from the truth. The 
 number of inhabitants in Britain, by the last 
 census, was a])out fourteen millions. Their 
 expenses, therefore, at eighteen pounds a head, 
 amounts to two hundred and fifty-t^vo millions. 
 
 If the wealth of a country remain stationary, 
 the annual income of the whole community, or 
 value of the productions applicable to the use of 
 man, is equal to the annual expenditure. If the 
 amount of productions exceed the expenditure, 
 so much is added to the public wealth in 
 agricultural improvements, houses, furniture, 
 machinery, or some other form *. If the expen- 
 diture exceed the income, so much is deducted 
 from the public wealth. 
 
 * Some have erroneously stated money saved and lent as an 
 addition to the national wealth. When there is a lender, there 
 is a borrower. The interest which the one receives the other 
 pays. The general mass of wealth is no ways affected by these 
 transactions.
 
 102 DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
 
 It is difficult to ascertain the alteration in the 
 mass of general wealth, but the quantity added 
 to it, or deducted from it, in any year, never 
 exceeds a small proportion of the produce of that 
 year ; the greater part of what is produced being 
 always consumed within the year. It is certain, 
 however, that in Britain there has been an 
 increase of wealth, more or less, for many years. 
 Tliis is obvious from the better cultivation of our 
 fields, and greater extent of cultivated ground, 
 the increase and improvement of our houses and 
 furniture, the superior machinery in our manu- 
 facturing establishments, and other indications 
 of wealth which strike our eyes, to whatever 
 quarter we turn them. 
 
 Suppose eighteen millions added annually to 
 the national wealth : the annual income then 
 amounts to two hundred and seventy millions; 
 and this is divided among the landholders for 
 rent, the capitalists for profits, the labourers for 
 wages, and those who participate of the public 
 revenue. Some share is given in charity, to those 
 who have no property, and are incapable of 
 labour. 
 
 This sum of two hundred and seventy millions 
 comprehends the value of every article produced
 
 PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 103 
 
 or in any way obtained witliin the year, for the 
 maintenance and accommodation of mankind, 
 and also the annual value of things not produced 
 within the year, but which remain useful for a 
 length of time, as houses and the like. But it 
 does not include the value of the services of 
 professional men, and of those who contribute to 
 anmsement. If it be thought proper to include 
 these, an addition must be made to the foregoing 
 sum, and an alteration will be requisite in some 
 of the following statements. 
 
 As the laljouring part of the community seldom 
 accumulate much wealth, their annual earnings 
 are nearly equal to their annual outgoings. 
 This we have stated at nine pounds a year each. 
 If a family consist of five persons, a man, his wife, 
 two children who can do some labour, and a 
 young child, their aggregate expense amounts to 
 forty-five pounds. If the man gain eighteen- 
 pence a-day, for three hundred working days, 
 his wages amount to twenty-two pounds ten 
 shillings in the year, and if the wife and two 
 children gain as much among them, the requisite 
 sum is made up. Tliey can j)rocure food, cloth- 
 ing, lodging, furniture, and other articles to the 
 extent which that sum will purchase. This may
 
 104 DISTRlBUTIOxN OF THE 
 
 be an average case *. If the man possess a small 
 capital, or if he can practise some art that is paid 
 above the common rate, he may live so much 
 better, or save something. If he have a large 
 family of young children, he will be liable to 
 save little or nothing, and his fare will naturally 
 
 be worse. 
 
 To persons in these circumstances food is the 
 principal article of expense. According to Sir 
 Frederick Eden, it amounts to three-fourths of 
 the whole. The income of a labourer is bur- 
 thened with a part of the taxes which supply the 
 national revenue. He pays little in direct tax- 
 ation, but he pays indirectly, in the price of 
 beer, leather, candles, soap, tobacco, and other 
 articles. If these commodities were not taxed, 
 he would be better fed, clothed, and lodged, for 
 the same nominal expenditure. Among families 
 in better circumstances the proportion required 
 for food is smaller. In those of middle rank it 
 may be about one-half ; and in those of higher 
 rank much less. Such families require the 
 personal service of one or more of the inferior 
 
 • Perhaps we should be still nearer the truth, if we stated the 
 average wages of the lal)ourer a little higher, and that of the 
 other members of the family a little lower.
 
 PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 105 
 
 classes. Those in affluent circumstances gene- 
 rally employ a large number of menial attendants. 
 When we estimate the average expense of each 
 person in Britain at eighteen pounds, we include 
 the food, dress, houses, furniture, establishment, 
 travelling and miscellaneous expenses of the 
 rich, but not the wages and maintenance of their 
 domestics. These form a part of what the 
 average of eighteen pounds is composed of, and 
 would be twice reckoned if each domestic were 
 charged separately as an individual, and at the 
 same time collectively as a part of the establish- 
 ment to which be belonged *. The annual 
 
 * It may be objected to this method of statement, that we es- 
 timate the wages of the tradesmen who supply the wealthy with 
 commodities in determining the average, but not the wages of 
 the domestic, though both are maintained at the expense of the 
 employer. The cases, however, are not the same. A num- 
 ber of the most necessaiy tradesmen may unite to supply 
 themselves with lodging, furniture, and clothing, each fur- 
 nishing the article which the employment he is bred to enables 
 him to produce. If to these be associated a sufficient number 
 of farmers on like terms, all the members of such a society 
 would be fed and otherwise accommodated with considerable 
 fulness, provided they were possessed' of land and capital requi- 
 site for their several employments. But if these be wanting, 
 they must give part of what they produce and manufacture, or 
 its value, to the owners of the land and capital, and be satisfied 
 with inferior fare and accommodation. The mass of the pro- 
 ductions of such a society would be divided into two parts, one 
 given to the landholder and capitalist, the other retained for 
 their own use, and each part would have its distinct value. 
 There is nothins similar to this in the case of domestic servants
 
 106 DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
 
 income of two hundred and seventy millions 
 comprehends the produce of the land which is 
 appropriated to the use of man, or of horses kept 
 for pleasure, or which supplies materials for 
 manufacture, but not that part of the produce 
 required for seed, or for maintaining horses or 
 other cattle employed in agriculture, Avliich is 
 immediately reabsorbed. It includes also the 
 produce of our mines, woods, and fisheries, and 
 all that is added to the value of the raw ma- 
 terials by our various trades and manufactures ; 
 also the profits of our foreign commerce, and 
 whatever is drawn by persons residing in Bri- 
 tain from their properties in our colonies *. 
 
 A large share of this mass of wealth is inter- 
 cepted by public burthens of various kinds. 
 The taxes paid to government, and constituting 
 the revenue of Britain, amounted, on an average 
 of three years preceding the 5th of January 1823, 
 nearly to fifty-five millions, including the expense 
 of collection, but deducting what Avas repaid in 
 drawbacks and bounties. During the late war 
 
 who produce nothing, but are retained to indulge the indolence, 
 or gratify the vanity of their masters. 
 
 * We propose, in general, as the distinctest way of conducting 
 these inquiries, to consider separately the internal sources of 
 wealth, and that acquired by commerce or colonization. It was 
 necessary, howevcr.in thegeneral estimate here given, to compre- 
 liend the whole national income, from whatever source arising.
 
 PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 107 
 
 it sometimes amounted to upwards of seventy 
 millions. 
 
 Of this revenue about twenty-eight millions 
 and a half are paid to the public creditors in 
 dividends and annuities, and about one million 
 and a half for interest on Exchequer bills. 
 About five millions are applied for the reduction 
 of the national debt ; and the remainder, amount- 
 ing to twenty millions, is expended on the army 
 and navy, and the payment of public function- 
 aries of every rank, from the sovereign to the 
 meanest clerk. 
 
 The other public burthens are tithes, poor- 
 rates, and county and other local assessments. 
 
 The tithes, exclusive of those belonging to 
 lay impropriators, which should be accounted a 
 species of land-rent, may amount to about four 
 millions. 
 
 The poor-rates, when highest, exceeded seven 
 millions and a half. Tiiey are noAv (1823) under 
 seven millions. 
 
 The county and other local assessments, as 
 far as can be ascertained, may amount to one 
 million and a half. 
 
 These burthens, which, that we may be with- 
 in bounds, we shall estimate at twelve millions, 
 are generally paid, in the first instance, by the
 
 108 DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
 
 farmer ; but are immediately devolved on the 
 proprietor of the land, who receives so much less 
 rent from the farmer as these burthens amount 
 to. It is not clear that the landholder can reim- 
 burse himself by devolving these burthens on 
 other classes of society. In regard to tithes* 
 and local assessments, there is no reason to be- 
 lieve he can ; and if poor-rates were only applied 
 to their proper purpose, the maintenance of those 
 who are disabled, by age or otherwise, from la- 
 bour, they would also fall on the landholder 
 without reimbursement. If they be applied in 
 such a manner as to reduce the wages of labour, 
 this system, however exceptionable, by lessening 
 the farmer's expenses, enables him to pay a 
 higher rent, and thus affords the landholder 
 compensation to a certain extent. 
 
 The sums levied by taxes of any kind may be 
 beneficially applied for the public welfare. It is 
 true they may also be excessive, or misapplied. 
 
 * The tithes are here considered as a part of the rent paid to 
 the titheholder, instead of the landholder. Some respectable 
 writers maintain that tithes do not partake of the nature of 
 rent, and that their tendency is rather to increase than to lessen 
 it. We shall consider this opinion more fully in a following 
 Chapter. However this may be, it does not affect the follow- 
 ing statements, which proceed upon the rent as it actually is, 
 when modified by all the circumstances that tend either to in- 
 crease or lessen it.
 
 PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 109 
 
 But the people are obliged to pay them, whether 
 they consider themselves as deriving equivalent 
 advantage from them or not ; and this constitutes 
 an essential difference between that part of the 
 national expenditure, and the part which is 
 voluntarily paid to that class of the community 
 who are accounted unproductive labourers. 
 
 The distinction between productive and un- 
 productive labour was, we believe, first pointed 
 out by Dr. Smith, and it appeared to him clear 
 and important. Some later writers have en- 
 deavoured to represent it as futile, and their 
 argument chiefly rests on the adduction of cases, 
 in regard to which it is difficult to say whether 
 they should be assigned to the one class or the 
 other. This may be admitted, and it neverthe- 
 less may be true, that the distinction, in most 
 cases, is sufficiently marked. It is well knoA\Ti 
 that, in every branch of science, classification is 
 useful, and even necessary : yet the different 
 classes, by whatever rule we arrange them, 
 sometimes approximate so much, that we cannot 
 always determine whether a particular subject 
 should be referred to one class or another. 
 The sovereign, and all concerned in public
 
 110 DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
 
 administration, judges and magistrates, tax- 
 gatherers, the army and navy, the established 
 clergy, are all unproductive labourers whom we 
 are obliged to pay, and who, therefore, may be 
 overpaid. Under this head we may also class, 
 in England, the poor, whom we are obliged to 
 pay, though they may not labour at all. 
 
 Physicians, who door should afford us health; 
 schoolmasters and dissenting clergymen who 
 give us instruction, lawyers who assist us in the 
 protection of our property, musicians and other 
 public performers who supply us with amuse- 
 ment, and the numerous body of domestic ser- 
 vants who contribute to our accommodation, are 
 unproductive labourers whom we pay voluntarily, 
 and who are not, therefore, likely to receive 
 more than a suitable recompense for their 
 services. 
 
 We resume our attempt to calculate, as nearly 
 as we can, in what proportion the income of two 
 hundred and seventy millions is distributed 
 among the various classes of the community. 
 We shall first consider the whole as distributed 
 among the proprietors of land, the capitalists, and 
 the labourers, and then consider to what extent
 
 I 
 
 PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 1 1 1 
 
 these are burthened with national or other 
 taxes, the produce of which is applied to the 
 maintenance of other classes of the community. 
 
 The circumstances which give rise to and 
 egulate rent will be the subject of a separate 
 discussion. At present it is only the amount 
 of it Avith wliich we are concerned. 
 
 The rents paid by the farmer for land applied 
 to the purposes of tillage and pasturage, includ- 
 ing the value of what is retained in the actual 
 possession of the proprietor, Avhether applied to 
 these purposes or laid out in pleasure-grounds, 
 and including also the tithes in the hands of 
 lay impropriators, may amount to £40,000,000 
 But if the farmers were exempt 
 
 from tithes, poor-rates, and other 
 
 public burthens, they would pay 
 
 so much more rent. We estimated 
 
 these at twelve millions ; but as 
 
 part of this falls upon other classes, 
 
 the part which falls on the land 
 
 may be stated at .... 10,000,000 
 Rent of mines, fisheries, woods, &c. 5,000,000 
 
 Gross income of landed proprietors £55,000,000
 
 112 DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
 
 The number of families chiefly em- 
 ployed in agriculture, hy the last 
 census, 1821, was .... 978,656 
 
 Of those chiefly employed in trades 
 
 and manufactures .... 1,350,239 
 
 2,328,895 
 Families of all other descriptions . 612,488 
 
 Whole number of families . . 2,941,383 
 
 And the whole number of inhabitants, exclusive 
 of the army and navy, was 14,072,331, being 
 about four and three-fourths to a family, or more 
 accurately 4.784. 
 
 The proportion of persons belonging to the 
 families of the agricultural and manufacturing 
 classes is about eleven millions, and this would 
 be the number of labourers and their families 
 if they were all employed as such. 
 
 But this is not affirmed to be the case, and it 
 is obvious that these families must include many 
 who derive part of their income from the profits 
 of capital. It includes farmers, master trades- 
 men, and manufacturers, and others of like 
 description.
 
 PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 113 
 
 We may, therefore, deduct one million, and 
 there remains ten millions of labourers and their 
 families, whose income, at 9/. per head, amounts 
 
 to £90,000,000 
 
 Gross income of landed proprietors 55,000,000 
 And there remains for the gross 
 income of the capitalists, not in- 
 cluding the public creditors, 
 whose income will be allowed for 
 otherwise 125,000,000 
 
 £•270,000,000 
 
 This gross sum is liable to the following 
 deductions : — 
 
 National revenue 55,000,000 
 
 Tithes, poor's rates, and other local 
 
 taxes 12,000,000 
 
 £67,000,000 
 
 which sum is to be deducted from the several 
 classes, but in very different proportions. 
 
 The labourers are hardly subject to any local 
 taxes, and the greater part of their expense, 
 being for simple food, is not liable to taxation. 
 We may state the duties upon any taxable 
 
 I
 
 114 DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
 
 articles they consume, and any other small 
 taxes that may fall upon them, at 1/. per head, 
 
 or £10,000,000 
 
 The landed proprietor pays, exclu- 
 sively, the land-tax, the unre- 
 deemed part of which at present 
 
 is about 1,200,000 
 
 And the remainder falls upon the 
 other classes, nearly in proportion 
 to their incomes .... 43,800,000 
 
 55,000,000 
 Of this last the public creditors pay their share, 
 as do also persons in public office, and others 
 who participate of the public revenue : but as 
 a large part of the revenue is applied to the pay 
 of the private men in the army and navy, and 
 to other objects which yield little or no return, 
 we shall state the part of the public expenditure 
 which yields a return at ten millions. The 
 clergy also contribute their share. 
 
 The proportion of taxes falling on the different 
 classes of society will be, in round numbers, as 
 follows : —
 
 PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 
 
 11.3 
 
 On proprietors of land, in pro- 
 portion to an income of . . 
 
 On capitalists, in proportion to 
 an income of 
 
 On public creditors, in propor- 
 tion to an income of 
 
 On others who participate of 
 the public revenue, in propor- 
 tion to an income of 
 
 On the clergy, in proportion to 
 an income of 
 
 43,800,000 
 
 £ 
 
 9,100,000 
 
 123,000,000 
 
 25,600,000 
 
 30,000,000 
 
 6,200,000 
 
 10,000,000 
 
 2,100,000 
 
 4,000,000 
 
 800,000 
 
 210,800,000 
 
 43,800,000 
 
 And the net income of the different classes 
 will be as follows : — 
 
 Proprietors of land, gross income 55,000,000 
 
 Deduct tithes, poor's rates, and 
 
 other local taxes .... 10,000,000 
 
 Land-tax 1,200,000 
 
 Deduct also their proportion of other taxes . 
 Net income 
 
 Capitalists, gross income 
 
 Deduct their proportion of local taxes 
 
 Also their proportion of public taxes 
 
 11,200,000 
 
 43,800,000 
 9,100,000 
 
 34,700,000 
 
 125,000,000 
 2,000,000 
 
 123,000,000 
 25,600,000 
 
 Net income 97,400,000 
 
 Labourers, gross income . . 
 Proportion of public taxes 
 
 90,000,000 
 10,000,000 
 
 80,000,000 
 I 2
 
 116 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
 
 * Net income of proprietors of land 
 
 „ of capitalists 
 
 of labourers 
 
 Dividends to national creditors 30,000,000 
 Public expenditure for army, 
 
 navy, civil list, &c 20,000,000 
 
 Applied to the reduction of the 
 
 national debt 
 
 5,000,000 
 
 Amount of public revenue .... 
 Tithes, appropriated to the 
 
 maintenance of the clers:y. . 
 Poor's rates, and other local 
 
 taxes 
 
 Amount of public burthens . . 
 
 Deduct the part which falls 
 upon the national creditors, 
 public officers, and clergy. . 
 
 55,000,000 
 4,000,000 
 8,000,000 
 
 67,000,000 
 9,100,000 
 
 Amount of national income £ 
 
 £ 
 
 34,700,000 
 97,400,000 
 80,000,000 
 
 212,100,000 
 
 57,900,000 
 
 270,000,000 
 
 We have not stated the income of professional 
 men in the allotment of national income. These 
 are paid voluntarily by the landed proprietors, 
 and capitalists ; a small part by the labourer, in 
 return for services received. 
 
 * The sums here assigned as the net income of the several 
 classes, are those which would remain for their expenditure if 
 they paid, directly, those taxes, which fall upon them indirectly, 
 by being laid upon the commodities they consume.
 
 PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 117 
 
 We do not undertake to affirm, that the sums 
 in these statements are exact. Some of them 
 may be considerably otherwise ; and we rather 
 apprehend we have stated the public income, and 
 also the expenditure of the different classes too 
 high, when the alteration occasioned by the late 
 increase of the value of the currency is taken 
 into consideration. We may also have stated 
 the annual increase of the national wealth too 
 high. An arrangement, such as given above, in 
 elucidating our views of the subject, may, how- 
 ever, be useful, and the sums only require such 
 correction as fuller information may su})ply, or 
 as may be necessary to adapt them to a future 
 time ; most of the articles being in a state of 
 continual fluctuation. 
 
 We trust, however, they are sufficiently near 
 the truth to warrant the following inferences : — 
 
 Tiiat the income of the capitalists (not in- 
 cluding the public creditors) exceeds that of the 
 labourers. 
 
 That the income of the landed proprietors is 
 much inferior to that of the capitalists or hi- 
 bourers, not amounting, probably, to one-half of 
 the latter. 
 
 That the amount of general taxes is not less
 
 118 DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
 
 than one-fifth of the national income, and tlie 
 whole amount of taxes, general and local, not 
 less than one-fourth. As a small part of these 
 taxes falls upon the labourer and small capitalist, 
 a much larger proportion than above-mentioned 
 falls upon the more affluent part of the com- 
 munity. 
 
 That in the latter part of the last war the 
 public taxes alone exceeded one-fourth part of 
 the national income. 
 
 That the income of the public creditors is 
 inferior to the net income of the landed pro- 
 prietors. 
 
 Some particulars are omitted in the foregoing 
 statements, which may nearly compensate each 
 other. The part of the dividends on the na- 
 tional debt paid to foreigners is a deduction from 
 our national income ; but that is now fully com- 
 pensated by the investment of British capital in 
 foreign funds. 
 
 The design of this treatise is rather to state 
 our opinions on tlie important subjects it relates 
 to, and the principles on which they are founded, 
 than to enter into controversy with those who 
 maintain different o})inions : but the doctrines 
 advanced l)y Mr. Simon Gray, are so opposite to
 
 PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 119 
 
 cur's, and have gained so much reception, that a 
 brief parallel statement seems requisite. We 
 shall begin with a statement of the opinions 
 wliich we entertain ourselves. 
 
 It is agreed on all hands, that it is necessary 
 mankind should be sufficiently fed, and desirable 
 that they should be well clothed, lodged, and 
 provided with other articles that afford com- 
 fort and enjoyment. It is also desirable they 
 should be instructed, properly attended when 
 in sickness, gratified at suitable times with 
 music, and other recreations. The persons who 
 supply the former are called productive labourers, 
 and those who supply the latter are called un- 
 productive labourers, by such as admit of that 
 distinction. 
 
 We do not dispute the value of the latter 
 articles. They are requisite for human happiness, 
 and for raising human nature to that rank and 
 respectability of which it is susceptible, and for 
 which it was intended. The exertions of a cer- 
 tain number of the community are directed to 
 the supply of these objects, and therefore some- 
 thing is deducted from the number of those Avho 
 furnish the tangible articles, and consequently 
 from the amount of these articles, supposing the
 
 120 DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
 
 industry and skill of those who produce them 
 equal. But this deficiency, if confined within 
 due limits, is amply compensated by the benefits 
 which these unproductive labourers confer. Still, 
 however, productive labourers are more indis- 
 pensably necessary, and the services of unpro- 
 ductive labourers, if carried too far, degenerate 
 into caprice, and do not promote human hap- 
 piness at all. 
 
 Though nature supplies the materials for 
 tangible articles, it is human industry that pre- 
 pares them for use, and the whole amount of 
 these articles that society can enjoy, depends 
 upon the measure and skilful application of in- 
 dustry, aided by tools and other contrivances. 
 Every man wishes to be well clothed, lodged, 
 and provided with other comforts, and it is de- 
 sirable all should be so as far as possible. Why 
 is not every man as well lodged, clothed, &c. 
 as a lord ? For this obvious reason, that the 
 utmost exertion of human labour, aided by every 
 possible contrivance, could not produce a number 
 of fine houses, a quantity of elegant furniture, 
 and other articles sufficient for that jjurpose. 
 Were the product of a given quantity of indus- 
 try susceptible of indefinite augmentjition, there
 
 PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 121 
 
 Avould be nothing to prevent every man from 
 being as well supplied as the lord, except in 
 regard to those wants, chiefly capricious, which 
 require the personal service of others. 
 
 In the present, or in any supposable state of 
 society, the industry of a considerable number, 
 perhaps one-third, of the connnunity is required 
 for providing food. It is desirable that another 
 proportion, not a very large one, be employed 
 in the duties of instruction, and in affording 
 amusement and other gratifications. These are 
 unproductive labourers. The rest of the com- 
 munity may and ought to be employed in provid- 
 ing houses, clothes, furniture, and whatever 
 besides renders human life comfortable, and the 
 quantity of these articles depends entirely upon 
 the number, industry and skill of the labourers, 
 aided by capital which has been amassed by 
 former labour. Its distribution among the dif- 
 ferent classes of the community is an object of 
 separate consideration. It may be proper or 
 improper. This mass of articles forms the 
 general wealth, and the measure of enjoyment 
 which a given quantity of wealth affords depends 
 much on the propriety of its distribution. 
 
 Before an article be fit for use, the material
 
 122 DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
 
 supplied by nature generally passes through 
 several hands in its way to the consumer. The 
 wool of which our cloths are made is transferred 
 from the shepherd to the Avoolcomber, and from 
 him successively to the spinner, the weaver, the 
 fuller, the dyer, and the tailor, before it reaches 
 the wearer. Each of these labourers makes 
 a visiljle alteration on the article, and brings 
 it nearer to the state in which it is useful. 
 There are other labourers, however, who, though 
 they make no visible alteration on the article, 
 yet, as their aid is required to facilitate its 
 progress, may, without impropriety, be classed 
 with those above-mentioned. Such are the 
 carrier, and the retailer. By the joint opera- 
 tion of all these persons, the wool of the 
 shepherd is brought in the form of a coat to the 
 wearer. But what is the advantage of its passing 
 through so many hands? Merely that which 
 arises from the division of labour. If the same 
 person could do as much, and as good work, 
 when he applied himself successively to the 
 operations of woolcombing, spinning, weaving, 
 fulling, dyeing, and tailoring, it would save a 
 great deal of trouble in transferring the article 
 from hand to hand.
 
 PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 123 
 
 We do not, however, overlook a great advan- 
 tage, independent of the preparation of the article, 
 which arises from its passing through different 
 hands. The human mind derives its chief im- 
 provement from the association of mankind with 
 one another, and though there be other principles 
 whicli lead men to associate, that of commercial 
 intercourse holds a considerable place. Skill is 
 cultivated, and activity brought forward in the 
 course of commercial transactions. 
 
 As wealth is the result of industry properly 
 applied, it is promoted by whatever puts industry 
 in motion. In the present state of society, a large 
 proportion of the community earn their sub- 
 sistence by labouring for others, and therefore 
 depend upon a demand for their labour. Their 
 employers set them to work, and, by doing so, 
 indirectly occasion the production of wealth. 
 There is, however, an essential distinction be- 
 tween the function which these perform, and the 
 industry which produces the articles that consti- 
 tute wealth. While we state this distinction, 
 we include those who exercise the offices of 
 superintendence and direction among the number 
 of productive labourers, as much as those by 
 whose manual labour the article is found.
 
 124 DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
 
 Neither is the unproductive labourer and the 
 idler, though they contribute their share in 
 giving employment to the productive labourer, 
 entitled, on that account, to any peculiar merit. 
 The whole mass of commodities annually pro- 
 duced, or its value, is vested in the hands of 
 the various orders of the community in the form 
 of rent, salary, wages, interest, or some other, 
 and the far greater part is annually expended, 
 and gives employment to labour. It matters not 
 to the labourer from what quarter the demand 
 comes. A stagnation of demand may occur from 
 special circumstances, and occasion much dis- 
 tress : but this is an unnatural state, and is seldom 
 lasting ; and is not less likely to occur where a 
 large proportion of the general wealth is vested 
 in the hands of idlers and unproductive labourers. 
 If their share be less, more will remain for the 
 industrious, who will expend more, and thus 
 give emplojinent to other classes of labourers. 
 
 Having stated our own opinions as clearly as 
 we can, we shall next state those of Mr. Gray, as 
 well as we are able to apprehend them. 
 
 Circulation, or that which is to be circulated, 
 is an object of principal importance in political 
 science, as, perhaps, a full moiety of human
 
 PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 125 
 
 happiness or misery depends upon it. Under 
 this head is included land — whatever depends 
 principally on the mind, as literary composition, 
 — or on the body, as manual labour — or jointly 
 on both — and also raw materials. It is circula- 
 tion alone that gives value to things. The value 
 of circulation arises from the utility of the 
 thing circulated in exchange. Each circulator 
 through whose hands it passes makes a charge 
 upon it, and thereby adds to its value. The 
 amount of these values, enhanced by succes- 
 sive changes, constitutes a general fund which is 
 inexhaustible. The more rapid and extensive 
 the exchanging or circulation is in any district or 
 country, the more wealthy that district or country 
 becomes. Some kinds of circulation are more 
 necessary than others, but all of them are sources 
 of wealth, because by all of them men become 
 circulators, and are enabled to charge on the 
 general fund. The price of things is the amount 
 of the charges made by all the circulators 
 through whose hands they pass. Whatever is 
 added to the price of things is an addition to the 
 wealth of the nation. It is paid, nominally by 
 all, and really by none. We are nominally all 
 payers, but it is through the medium of charging
 
 126 DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
 
 one another Avhicli is common to all. By draw- 
 ing and re-drawing on the common fund, it is 
 continually increased ; and out of this biexhausti' 
 hie mass, each takes, by means of others, what 
 he can, but only to replace it largely by means of 
 others. 
 
 Suppose twelve circulators, whose average of 
 circulation is 20, and that a rise of one-twentieth 
 part takes place in the price of commodities. To 
 meet this, each circulator draws on the common 
 fund, not only for this twentieth, but for another 
 twentieth to increase his means of living well. 
 The quantum each draws is now 22, and the 
 amount, instead of the former 240, is 264. The 
 difference, which is 24, constitutes an additional 
 fund. Who then loses ? The truth is, all are 
 benefited by the change. Every circulator makes 
 use of the rise to procure what he wants. The 
 various branches of circulation are the means by 
 which all are enabled to charge one another, and 
 together they form the common fund from which 
 all circulators are supplied, and to which they all 
 contribute. 
 
 The distinction between j)roductive and un- 
 productive classes is futile. There is no mean- 
 ing in the assertion, that cultivators create re-
 
 PRODUCE OF BRITAIN. 127 
 
 venue, and other circulators only use it. The 
 income made by each is so much added to the 
 general stock. A tax-gatherer who earns 300/. 
 a year, adds as much to the general stock as 
 the farmer who earns the same sum. The tax- 
 gatherer contributes as really to the farmer as 
 the farmer to the tax-gatherer. The wealthy, 
 however, reputed drones, are in reality the most 
 productive. They are the agents whom nature 
 employs, by means of circulation, to diffuse a 
 greater quantity of wealth tln-ough all classes. 
 The (juality by which circulation tends to increase 
 wealth, is not any peculiarity of form or cha- 
 racter, but the power of enabling its possessor to 
 charge for it. A lawyer, a player, a musician, a 
 soldier, a schoolmaster, a tax-gatherer, or a pen- 
 sioner, who earns 400/. a year, brings more 
 wealth to himself and the country, than a farmer 
 who earns only 300/. 
 
 The more expensive the style of living of a 
 nation, the richer ^vill it be, because the great 
 mass of circulators, by means of rapid circulation, 
 are enabled with more ease to draw their in- 
 creasing charges from the common fund. Every 
 unprejudiced person observes that, under increas-
 
 128 DISTRIBUTION OF THE PRODUCE OF BRITAIN, 
 
 ing expenses, the whole population enjoy a more 
 comfortable style of living. What can account 
 for this, but a common fund on which each 
 charges and draws for his additional expenses?
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 OF RENT. 
 
 As rent forms a part of the expense of the pro- 
 duction of ahnost every commodity, and a large 
 part of that of the most useful ones, it is of im- 
 portance to ascertain from what source it arises, 
 and by what principles it is regulated. 
 
 Rent presupposes the appropriation of land, 
 and naturally results from it. To inquire into the 
 origin of the appropriation of land is rather the 
 office of the lawyer, or the antiquary, than of the 
 political economist. It is sufficient at present to 
 take it as established. Occupation for a length 
 of time is the title by which most of our lands 
 are now held, and when this is accompanied, as 
 it generally is, by improvement, it constitutes the 
 best of titles, and is most beneficial to society. 
 If property in land were not established and 
 secured, little improvement would take place, the 
 produce of the land would be small, the popula- 
 tion scanty, and that scanty population poorly 
 supplied with the comforts and necessaries of life. 
 
 K
 
 130 OF RENT, 
 
 In the present state of society all our land, 
 whether cultivated or not, is appropriated. Our 
 mines and quarries are appropriated ; the mari- 
 time plants on our shores are appropriated ; the 
 fishings on our lakes and rivers are appropriated, 
 and though some of these are little susceptible 
 of improvement, they all afford a rent to the 
 proprietor. 
 
 A part of the rent of land is the return paid 
 for the labour which the proprietors, or their 
 predecessors, have bestowed in bringing it to its 
 present state of fertility, and partakes of the 
 nature of the profit of capital : but the whole 
 cannot be ascribed to this source, as is obvious 
 from the rise of rent which often takes place 
 without any labour or expense on the part of the 
 proprietor. Improvements in agriculture are 
 followed by an increase of rent. The soil is 
 rendered more productive, and part of the profit 
 accrues to the landlord*. 
 
 * Mr. Ricardo advances a doctrine directly opposite to this, 
 and maintains that improvements in agriculture, both those 
 which augment the produce of the soil, and those which enable 
 the farmer to raise it at less expense have a tendency to 
 diminish rent. It is obvious, that if the farmer sell his produce 
 at the same price as formerly, he will be able to pay more rent 
 in consequence of either of these kinds of improvement; and as 
 he will not be able to draw more benefit from his capital and
 
 UK RENT. 131 
 
 It is that portion of the produce of the eartii 
 which is paid to the proprietor for the use of the 
 original powers of the soil, which constitutes 
 rent in the most proper sense. As this is blended 
 with the allowance made for improvements, and 
 both paid by the farmer to his landlord at the 
 same time, they are not generally distinguished, 
 nor is it of importance that they should. But 
 as there are some who consider rent as an in- 
 jurious burthen imposed upon the connnunity at 
 large, for the benefit of a privileged few, it may 
 not be amiss to remind them how large a pro- 
 portion of rent, in its popular sense, is assignable 
 to labour, the best founded of all claims, and the 
 
 labour for any length of time than the general rate, he will be 
 obliged to do so. The only circumstance which can counteract 
 this, is the fall in the price of produce. It does not seera likely 
 that a saving in the farmer's expense would have this effect. 
 An increase of produce would lower the price, if the population 
 remained tlie same : but if the population increased in the same 
 proportion as the produce, which is likely to be the case, the 
 price would remain as before. 
 
 As far as experience can be depended on, Mr. Ricardo's doc- 
 trine is untenable. Rise of rent and agricultural improvement 
 have gone on hand in hand for a long course of time. But as 
 other causes have co-operated in the rise of rent, this argument 
 may not be deemed altogether conclusive. 
 
 Mr. Ricai'do's arguments are founded on the assumption that 
 all rent is derived from the inequality in the fertility of different 
 portions of the land ; a doctrine which we are to consider in the 
 subsequent part of this chapter. 
 
 K2
 
 132 OF RENT, 
 
 violation of which would be attended with 
 incalculable mischief to society. 
 
 It has of late been a prevailing doctrine that 
 rents proceed, in a great measure, or entirely, 
 from the difference in the quality of different 
 portions of the soil. As this is a point of much 
 importance, we shall transcribe what is adduced 
 in its favour, in the words of one of its ablest 
 supporters *. 
 
 " Grain is in no case raised without a certain 
 degree of labour or expense, which must be re- 
 paid to the grower : otherwise he cannot afford 
 to produce it. This may be said in the strictest 
 sense to constitute the intrinsic price. 
 
 " Money being accounted the common mea- 
 sure of value, this price will be affected by the 
 quantity of money that can be obtained for labour 
 in general, in that place, at that time. The 
 farmer must give those he employs, Avages in 
 proportion to what they can get in other employ- 
 ments, so that if these wages be high, the farmer's 
 charges must be high likewise, and the intrinsic 
 price of his corn must rise as the rate of this 
 charge is augmented. 
 
 * The Bee, a periodical work, by Dr. Anderson, vol. vi. 
 p. 273, &c., published at Edinburgh in the year 1791.
 
 OF RENT, 133 
 
 " Thus do we perceive that there must be a 
 necessary connection between the price of grain, 
 and the prosperity of manufactures, and the 
 degree of emolument to be derived from them ; 
 so that any attempt to advance the one at the 
 expense of the other is contrary to nature, violent 
 in its operation, and must be transitory in its 
 effects. 
 
 " The intrinsic price of grain, however, all 
 other circumstances being alike, must vary with 
 the fertility of the soil on which it is produced. 
 On a rich soil, less labour and less seed will pro- 
 duce a given quantity of grain than they would 
 do on a soil that is less productive: so that, 
 strictly speaking, this intrinsic pri^e of corn, 
 when considered only in this point of view, would 
 be different in almost every different field. How 
 then, may it be asked, can the intrinsic value be 
 ascertained over a vast tract of country, possess- 
 ing a diversity of soils of various degrees of 
 fertility, and how shall matters be so managed, 
 that all the rearers of it shall draAV nearly the 
 same price for their grain, and have nearly the 
 same profits ? All this is effected in the easiest 
 and most natural manner by means of rent. Rent 
 is, in fact, nothing else than a simple and in-
 
 134 OF RENT. 
 
 genioiis contrivance for equalizing the profits to 
 be drawn from fields of different degrees of fer- 
 tility, and of local circumstances Avhich tend to 
 augment or diminish the expense of cidture. 
 To make this plain, a few elucidations will be 
 necessary. 
 
 " In every coantry where men exist there will 
 be an effective demand for a certain quantity of 
 corn. By effective demand, I mean a demand 
 Avhich can be supplied, so that the inhabitants 
 may be properly subsisted. It is this demand 
 which in all cases regulates the price of grain : 
 for the quantity of grain required in this case 
 must be had, and the price that is necessary for 
 producing it must be paid, whatever that price 
 may be. These calls are of such a pressing 
 nature as not to be dispensed with. 
 
 " For the sake of illustration, we shall suppose 
 that the soils are arranged into classes, according 
 to the degree of their fertility, which classes we 
 shall at present denominate by the letters A. B. 
 C D. E. F. G. &c. Let those comprehended in 
 the class A. be richer than in the class B., and so 
 on, decreasing in fertility for each class as you 
 advance towards G. Now, as the expense of 
 cultivating the least fertile is as great or greater
 
 OF RENT. 135 
 
 than that of cultivating the most fertile field, it 
 must happen that if an equal quantity of grain, 
 the produce of each class of fields, can be sold at 
 the same price, the profit on cultivating the most 
 fertile fields will be greater, if no precaution be 
 used, than could be obtained by cultivating those 
 that are less fertile ; and as this profit must con- 
 tinue to decrease as sterility increases, it must 
 happen, whatever be the price of corn, that the 
 expense of cultivating some of the inferior fields 
 may be equal to, or exceed the value of the whole 
 produce. 
 
 " This being admitted, let us suppose the 
 effective demand was such as to raise the price 
 of grain, say to 16*. per boll, and that the fields 
 included in F. could just admit of defraying all 
 expenses, and no more, when corn was at that 
 price ; that those of the class E. could admit of 
 being cultivated when the price was at 15*., and 
 that in like manner the classes D. C. B. and A. 
 consisted of fields which could be respectively 
 cultivated when the prices were 14*. 13*. 12*. 
 and 11*. per boll. 
 
 " In these circumstances, it would happen 
 that the persons who possess fields in the class 
 F. would be able to afford no rent at all, nor
 
 136 OF RENT. 
 
 could any rent be afforded for those of G., or 
 other more sterile fields, j^»* the purpose of rais- 
 ing corn; but those who possessed fields in the 
 class E. could not only pay the expense of cul- 
 tivating them, but could pay to the proprietor a 
 rent equal to one shilling for every boll of the free 
 produce. In like manner those who possessed 
 the fields D. C. B. and A. would be able to pay 
 a rent equal to 2s. 3s. As. and 5s. per boll of 
 their free produce respectively. Nor could the 
 proprietor of these fields find any difficulty in 
 obtaining these rents, because the farmers, find- 
 ing they could live equally Avell upon these soils 
 after paying such rents as they could upon the 
 class F. without any rent at all, would be equally 
 willing to take these fields as the others. Thus 
 it is that rent equalizes the profits on different 
 soils in the most natural and easy manner, with- 
 out tending in any way to affect the price of 
 grain. 
 
 " Let us now suppose once more, that the 
 produce of all the fields A. B. C. D. E. and F. 
 were not sufficient to maintain the nliole inha- 
 bitants of that district. In that case one of two 
 things must happen, either the price of grain 
 must rise to 17*., so as to induce the owner of
 
 OF RENT. 137 
 
 the fields in the class G. to bring them into cul- 
 ture, or a supply must be brought from some 
 other place to answer the demand. In the first 
 case, the fields G. being brought into culture, 
 those in the class F. would now be able to afford 
 a rent of one shilling per boll of the free produce, 
 and all the other classes would admit a similar 
 rise. Now then we clearly perceive that it is 
 the price of grain which affects the rent, and not 
 the rent which affects the price of grain, as has 
 been often mistakenly alleged. 
 
 " The natural effect of such increasing demand 
 for grain and augmentation of price, is the con- 
 verting of barren fields into corn lands, which 
 otherwise would never have become such. 
 
 " I must not, however, conclude, without 
 taking notice of one particular, which was pur- 
 posely kept out of sight, not to embarrass the 
 demonstration. I have taken notice of land that 
 might produce corn without affording any rent. 
 But that, though a physical possibility, cannot 
 practically happen. Land, in every case, when 
 in pasture, can afford some rent, and Avhen the 
 pasture is rich, among a luxurious people, it can 
 afford more rent in many circumstances than
 
 138 OF RENT. 
 
 while in corn. This rent must always be de- 
 ducted, whatever it is, before such land comes to 
 the state in which our reasoning above is philo- 
 sophically just*. If, therefore, the prices of 
 grain be unreasonably depressed by injudicious 
 regulations, while the price of live stock in- 
 creases, a wonderful diminution of the quantity 
 of grain raised may take place, so as to occasion 
 phenomena that may appear very inexplicable 
 to short-sighted men, and occasion alarms that 
 are altogether unfounded." 
 
 Such is the origin of rent, according to Dr. 
 Anderson, and it is a doctrine which has met 
 with a pretty general reception. Others have 
 taken into account the successive portions of 
 capital and labour bestowed upon the same land 
 to render it more productive. When the demand 
 for corn increases, instead of cultivating inferior 
 soils, a better return may sometimes be obtained 
 by employing additional capital upon land already 
 in culture ; and though this may yield less return 
 than what Avas obtained from the capital for- 
 merly employed, it may still be beneficial to the 
 
 * ** This rent, in fact, ought to be accounted part of the 
 expense of cultivating the soil, as it must be sunk w hen it is 
 sul)jected to the plough."'
 
 OF RENT. J 39 
 
 j)roprietor, and if lie do not undertake such im- 
 provements himself, he may obtain a rent from 
 another for permission to do so. A third portion 
 of capital will generally yield less additional 
 produce, and therefore will procure less addi- 
 tional rent ; and so on till farther expenditure of 
 capital ceases to be profitable, and therefore will 
 procure no rent at all. The gradation of pro- 
 duce obtained by the application of different 
 portions of capital is similar to that Avhich pro- 
 ceeds from the different qualities of the soil ; 
 and the reasoning above stated in regard to the 
 latter is also applicable to the former. As the 
 last quality of ground brought into culture, so 
 the last portion of capital expended, affords, 
 according to this doctrine, no return to the 
 proprietor. 
 
 This doctrine, however, is not to be received 
 without limitation. It is incontrovertible that 
 the price of corn must be sufficient to defray 
 the expense of cultivation on the meanest soils 
 employed, and therefore those of superior quality 
 will afford a rent equal, at least, to the value of 
 the difference of the produce : but it does not 
 follow that the whole of the rent arises from this 
 source. Rent is said to be an e(j[ualizer. What
 
 140 
 
 OF RENT. 
 
 would happen if all the land in an appropriated 
 country were of equal fertility? It will hardly 
 be affirmed that, in that case, all rent would 
 cease. If F., and other inferior lands, could be 
 raised to the same degree of fertility as A., the 
 quantity of corn, so long as all the ground was 
 cultivated, would increase ; and this, if there were 
 no increase of inhabitants, and no foreign de- 
 mand, would lower the price of corn, and bring 
 down the rent of land ; part of which would 
 soon be left uncultivated. But if the improve- 
 ment of land were attended with a proportional 
 increase of inhabitants, the rent, when all was 
 brought to an equal fertility, would be the same 
 as that of the highest before. 
 
 As the agriculturist pays the same rent for F., 
 when under tillage, that the grazier does when 
 under pasture, it is likely to be partly in the one 
 state and partly in the other. The rent of A. 
 is equal to the sum of the rent of F. and the 
 value of all the additional corn which A. pro- 
 duces more than F., including that which arises 
 from the superior quality of the corn raised on 
 the better soil. More cannot be obtained for A., 
 as the farmer, rather than give it, would luive 
 recourse to the cultivation of F., and if A. were
 
 OF RENT. 141 
 
 offered for less, the farmer would run after it, 
 and raise the rent by competition. The rent of 
 F., compared with that of A., depends upon the 
 net market value of all the corn, cattle, and other 
 produce that can be raised on the one or the 
 other, after deducting expenses. If the value of 
 the cattle reared on twenty acres of F., when 
 brought to market, after deducting the expense 
 of pasturage, be equal to that of the corn raised 
 on one acre of A., after deducting the expense 
 of tillage, then the rent of an acre of A. will be 
 equal to that of twenty acres of F. 
 
 To render this as clear as possible, we shall 
 state an example which will illustrate the prin- 
 ciple, although the numbers may not correspond 
 to existing circumstances. Suppose the produce 
 of an acre of land of the best quality to be ten 
 bolls, or rather a quantity of corn whose value 
 is equal to that of ten bolls raised on inferior soils, 
 and that the necessary expenses, including the 
 farmer's profit, are defrayed by the sale of three 
 bolls. Then the rent which the farmer can afford 
 to pay is seven bolls, or their value : but the 
 grazier who holds a possession of the quality F., 
 pays a rent per acre equal to one-twentieth part 
 of the rent of an acre of A., or -gV of a boll ; and
 
 142 OF RENT. 
 
 therefore, if a fanner cultivate land of that qua- 
 lity, he must pay as much ; and as his expenses 
 and profit require the value of three bolls, he 
 must raise 3^ on an acre. If he cannot raise 
 so much he will discontinue to cultivate. Now, 
 as A. produces 10 bolls, the surplus quantity 
 above the produce of F. is 6^^ bolls, to which 
 add the rent of F., or ^V of a boll, the whole 
 rent of A. is 7 bolls, the same as before. If the 
 cultivation of F. be discontinued, the supply of 
 corn being lessened, the price will rise, and this 
 will alter the proportion between the value of 
 land under culture and in pasturage, and produce 
 a new arrangement. 
 
 From the produce of all cultivated land, a 
 quantity nearly uniform must be reserved for the 
 seed of the following crop, the maintenance of 
 the farmer and his family, his servants and la- 
 bouring cattle. The surplus must be sold at a 
 price sufficient to pay his servants' wages, and 
 other expenses of cultivation, his OAvn profits at 
 the ordinary rate, and his rent. This last will 
 vary according to the fertility of the soil, and may 
 in some cases be little or nothing. If the demands 
 of an increasing cuhivation force inferior soils 
 into cultivation, the surplus produce nuist be sold
 
 OF RENT. 143 
 
 at such a price as to yield a sum equal to what 
 was obtained from the surplus of better land 
 before, providing all other expenses remain the 
 same, and the farmer live and thrive as well as 
 before. It is the proportion of the surplus pro- 
 duce, not the proportion of the whole produce, 
 that in this case regulates the price. 
 
 But circumstances naturally resulting from the 
 case supposed may alter this adjustment. In a 
 country where there is a sufficient quantity of 
 land, of nearly equal and considerable fertility, 
 the labour of a small proportion of the inhabitants 
 only is required for cultivating the land and 
 raising the necessary food. In the discussions 
 relative to West Indian slavery, it has been 
 affirmed that the labour of thirty or thirty-five 
 days in a year, on the provision-ground allotted 
 to the slave, was sufficient. If this Avere true, 
 the labour of one man could raise provisions for 
 ten. This representation is probably exag- 
 gerated, and at any rate it is an extreme case. 
 We shall come nearer to what takes place in the 
 most fertile soils of Europe, if we suppose the 
 labour of one-fourth part to be required for agri- 
 culture. The labour of the other three-fourths 
 will be exerted for procuring the comforts and
 
 144 OF RENT. 
 
 conveniences of life, and will afford a liberal mea- 
 sure of them : but if from a deficiency of fertile 
 land, or increase of inhabitants, it becomes neces- 
 sary to cultivate inferior soils, perhaps the labour 
 of one-third part of the inhabitants may be re- 
 quired for agriculture, and that of two-thirds only 
 will remain for other purposes. This will afford 
 a less share of the conveniences and comforts of 
 life ; and this decrease will be more felt as worse 
 land is had recourse to. Thus the inhabitants 
 of a fertile country are more affluent than those 
 of a barren one, if their industry and skill be the 
 same. Those of the latter will be worse clothed, 
 lodged, and otherwise accommodated, and not 
 fed with the same fulness : but the deficiency is 
 not likely to fall equally upon every class of the 
 community. 
 
 So long as every man had good land to culti- 
 vate for nothing, there would be little difference 
 of circumstances between individuals, except 
 what arose from the difference in their measure 
 of industry, skill, and bodily strength. The more 
 fertile the soil, the larger share of affluence would 
 be enjoyed by every member of the community. 
 But when inferior soils are had recourse to, though 
 the whole wealth of the community is propor-
 
 OF RENT. 145 
 
 tioned to the average fertility, the measure of it 
 Avhich falls to the share of those who have no 
 property in land is only in proportion to tlie 
 fertility of the worst land in cultivation. If the 
 land, at an average, require the labour of one- 
 half of its inhabitants, but the worst land in 
 cultivation require the labour of three-fourths, 
 for raising food, the inferior ranks will have only 
 one-fourth to provide themselves with other 
 articles. It is the same to them as if no better 
 land existed. The benefit arisins: from the more 
 fertile land is intercepted, in the form of rent, 
 by the proprietor. 
 
 A gradation in the value of uncultivated land, 
 according to the advantages it possesses in ferti- 
 lity or situation, may be traced on the same 
 principles. Uncultivated land derives its chief 
 value from the pasture it affords to cattle, and 
 very sterile land will answer for rearing any 
 number of cattle if the extent be sufficiently 
 ample. If there be any land so sterile as to 
 afford nothing for cattle, or so little that no 
 cattle are kept on it, such land may be consi- 
 dered as not existing, and does not affect our 
 reasoning on the subject. To re-assume Dr. 
 
 Anderson's method of illustration : Let the worst 
 
 L
 
 14G OF RENT. 
 
 land upon which cattle are kept be denominated 
 Z. Such land, according to circumstances, may 
 yield a small rent, or none at all. A grazier 
 maintains a hundred cattle on a range of ten 
 miles. If he can procure better land, and main- 
 tain the same number on a range of five miles, 
 he will derive considerable advantage from this 
 circumscription, and will cheerfully pay a rent 
 for it in addition to that, if any, which he paid 
 for Z. In the most fertile pasture lands, a cer- 
 tain extent is required for maintaining a hun- 
 dred cattle ; but there are various considerations 
 which raise the value of the requisite portion 
 above that of the ten miles of barren pasture. 
 The cattle can be kept with less labour, and 
 fewer attendants ; they are nearer to markets ; 
 they are exposed to less hazard of suffering by 
 destructive animals and severe seasons ; and the 
 grazier himself enjoys the advantage of residing 
 in a more populous and cultivated part of the 
 country. For some, or all of these reasons, an 
 additional rent will be allowed, so often as the 
 pasture land becomes better or more eligible ; 
 and thus the rent advances regularly from land 
 of the quality Z. to that of the quality G., or 
 the best that is never brought into cultivation.
 
 OF RENT. 147 
 
 In a country not fully settled, pastures of the 
 worst quality, or in the most inconvenient situa- 
 tions, yield no rent. An extent of ground is 
 occupied in pasturage, sufficient for the purposes 
 of the conniiunity ; and that is preferred which 
 is thought most eligible, on the joint considera- 
 tions of fertility and situation. Such land yields 
 a rent ; but rather than give any for the worst, 
 the grazier, unless prevented by political ap- 
 propriation, would retire to more remote lands, 
 as yet unoccupied, which he can possess for 
 nothing. 
 
 So long as the country remains in this situa- 
 tion, the rent of Z. is nothing : but, when all the 
 land is appropriated and occupied, a certain 
 rent may be obtained for Z. If the state of the 
 country be such that the expense of rearing 
 cattle on the worst pasture is barely equal to 
 their value when reared, such pasture may be 
 occupied, but can afford no rent. If the value 
 be less, such parts wiU be deserted. 
 
 When rent is allowed for Z., it depends upon 
 competition, and this upon the value which the 
 produce will afford in the market. The rent of 
 Z. regulates, upon steady principles, that of all 
 
 L2
 
 148 
 
 OF RENT. 
 
 pasture lands of superior quality to G. or F., and 
 the rent of F. regulates that of all arable lands 
 to A. If G. coincide with Z., the rent of the 
 worst arable land may fall to little or nothing. 
 If the number of intermediate gradations be 
 considerable, the rent of F. Avill rise accordingly. 
 The rent of F. is composed of the rent of Z. and 
 an addition for every intermediate class between 
 Z and F. ; as the rent of A. is composed of the 
 rent of F. and an addition for every intermediate 
 class between F. and A. 
 
 The quality of the land F., or the degree of 
 sterility which is the limit of cultivation, depends 
 on the following principles. Let us suppose, for 
 a moment, that the price of animal and vegeta- 
 ble food were proportioned to the sustenance 
 they afford, and that both were equally agreeable 
 to the human appetite. 
 
 Land susceptible of cultivation affords a 
 greater quantity of sustenance in vegetable than 
 in animal food. It has been said, that the same 
 extent of good ground which maintains one 
 man upon butcher meat will maintain twelve 
 men upon wheat, and seventy men upon potatoes. 
 This statement seems overcharged ; but cer-
 
 OF RENT. 149 
 
 taiiily the difference is great. If population be 
 the only object, the whole arable land, and all 
 that is capable of being rendered such, ought to 
 be in tillage. If the sterility of the ground 
 diminish the quantity of animal and vegetable 
 food in the same proportion, corn will still afford 
 the greater quantity of nourishment from the 
 most barren soil ; but the expense of cultivating 
 such soil increases with the extent required to 
 afford a given quantity of food, or even in a 
 higher [)roportion. There is, therefore, a limit 
 at which cultivation ceases to be profitable. 
 Land, in order to be cultivated, must yield a 
 quantity of food sufficient to maintain the la- 
 bourers, and also to maintain those who supply 
 them with other necessaries. It must also 
 maintain the labouring cattle, and replace the 
 seed, and afford an overplus for the farmer's 
 profit equal to that obtained from uncultivated 
 land. 
 
 The above supposition, however, does not 
 apply to the state of society under which we 
 live. A certain mixture of animal and vegetable 
 food seems most congenial to the human consti- 
 tution ; at least those who can procure such a 
 mixture ahnost universally prefer it, and the
 
 150 OF RENT. 
 
 proportion of animal food * is considerable. The 
 ground appropriated to pasture, on the foregoing 
 principles, is insufficient. The pressure of de- 
 mand raises the price of animal food, and as 
 pasture land becomes more valuable the limit of 
 F. takes place at a higher degree of fertility ; at 
 the same time, the rise of the price of animal 
 food restricts the use of it among the lower 
 ranks, and prevents the place of F. from rising 
 
 * The price of butcher meat may be to that of bread as four 
 to one. If the pound of bread be at a penny, the price of beef is, 
 perhaps, at four-pence, and so in proportion. It is certain that 
 more nourishment is obtained from a pound of meat than from 
 a pound of bread, though physicians and others differ greatly 
 in estimating the proportion. Mr. Gray reckons five quartern 
 loaves a week a full allowance for an average of all ages, when 
 fed altogether upon that article. This amounts to about twenty- 
 one and a half pounds weight. The allowance to our seamen, 
 till lately, was a pound of meat per day, or seven pounds a 
 weekt ; and if we suppose the nourishment it affords double to 
 that of an equal weight of bread, it is equivalent to fourteen 
 pounds of bread. But their food is not altogether of meat. They 
 also receive an allowance of bread, cheese, butter, and other 
 articles. If we suppose the quantity of these equal to one-third 
 of the bread consumed by those who live entirely on it, the 
 amount of nourishment is nearly the same to both. Our sailors, 
 indeed, are more highly fed than the average of mankind : but 
 this may be compensated by the allowance of one-third for the 
 other articles being too small. On these suppositions the 
 expense of living on butcher meat is double that of living on 
 bread. We rather apprehend the difference is greater. 
 
 t By a late regulation the allowance of meat to our sailors is 
 reduced to three-quarters of a pound, and an addition made to 
 their allowance of other articles.
 
 OF RENT. 151 
 
 SO high as it would otherwise do. The quantity 
 of land in pasture is therefore regulated by the 
 appetite for, and consumption of animal food, and 
 consequently by the number of persons who are 
 able to afford that indulgence. It is greatest in 
 that state of society in which persons of every 
 rank could afford to purchase a quantity of 
 animal food at an advanced price suited to their 
 desires, natural or acquired. 
 
 It does not affect this argument, that arable 
 land produces more food on the whole by being 
 sometimes in grass, and that sterile pastures are 
 only capable of rearing, not of fattening cattle. 
 The price of butcher meat consists of two parts ; 
 that of the lean animal, reared on our moun- 
 tains, which may be considered as a rude ma- 
 terial ; and that of the fatness superinduced ; 
 when they are brought by the grazier to our 
 richer pastures. The foregoing reasoning, though 
 it has a more direct reference to the former, is 
 also applicable to the latter; for the quantity of 
 arable land actually cultivated will be regulated 
 by the proportion of the profit obtained by 
 raising corn, and by fattening cattle. 
 
 We may notice, by the way, that there is a 
 stage in the infancy of agriculture, when the
 
 15'^ 
 
 OF RENT. 
 
 quantity of corn raised does not afford the pro- 
 portion of vegetable food most agreeable to the 
 human appetite, and is in this respect the reverse 
 of our present situation. This seems to have 
 been the general state of Europe for some cen- 
 turies after the subversion of the Roman empire, 
 and is still realized in the case of the wander- 
 ing Tartars and Arabs, and of some tribes of 
 North America, who are well supplied with 
 animal food by hunting, pasturage, and fishing, 
 but whose feeble attempts in agriculture furnish 
 only a very scanty allowance of corn. In such 
 a state corn is more in request than animal 
 food, and is therefore dearer. 
 
 In Dr. Anderson's illustrations, it is laid 
 doAvn that the price of corn must be equal to 
 the expense of raising it on the most sterile cul- 
 tivated land, and that this expense includes 
 the rent of such land when not cultivated, which 
 value must be sunk Avhen it is subjected to the 
 plough. He is therefore not correct when he 
 affirms, that rent forms no component part of the 
 price of corn. 
 
 The proposition announced by those Avho em- 
 brace his doctrine is, that all rent arises from 
 the inequality of the productive quality of the
 
 OF RENT. 153 
 
 soil, and that the rent of the best hind is equal 
 to the difiference between the value of its pro- 
 duce and that of an equal extent of the worst 
 land under cultivation. 
 
 The proposition wliich they have demon- 
 strated is, that this difference forms a necessary 
 part of rent, and as the price of corn must be 
 sufficient to defray the expense of raising it on 
 tlie most barren soils on which it is raised, it 
 is a matter of indifference to the rest of the 
 community, whether this be paid to the land- 
 lord or retained by the farmer who possesses 
 better land ; avIio, if he did so, would become 
 the proprietor of his own possession. 
 
 In the elucidation of their argument, they 
 cannot dispense with bringing into view ano- 
 ther part of rent, the value of ground Avhen un- 
 cultivated. This, they say, is part of the ex- 
 pense of raising the crop ; but it is a part not 
 arising either from present labour, or from capi- 
 tal accumulated by former labour. It therefore 
 resolves itself into rent, as much as the differ- 
 ence of the value of the produce arising from 
 the different qualities of the ground. 
 
 The rent of uncultivated land, or of the poor- 
 est cultivated land, which regulates that of all of
 
 154 OF RENT. 
 
 superior quality, partakes of the nature of a 
 monopoly, though limited in its operations by 
 peculiar circumstances. 
 
 It is an assumed principle in regard to price, 
 that every man will strive to obtain the highest 
 price he can for every article he brings to 
 market. There may be some exceptions to 
 this ; but they bear too small a proportion to 
 the whole to require any notice in general spe- 
 culations. The price which the seller can ob- 
 tain is that which the buyer is willing to give, 
 and this depends on two circumstances : whe- 
 ther he can procure the article cheaper else- 
 where ; and whether he can, and be willing to 
 dispense with the use of it rather than give the 
 price demanded. The first of these is excluded 
 in the case of a complete monopoly. If the 
 value of an article arise chiefly from the labour 
 and skill employed in its production, that of the 
 rude material bearing only a small proportion, 
 and if the right of producing it be open to all, 
 the price cannot nmch exceed that by which a 
 like quantity of labour and skill {i])plied to other 
 purposes is usually rewarded. But if an exclu- 
 sive right of producing that article be vested, by 
 legal power, in a few, or in one individual, he or
 
 OF RENT. 155 
 
 they may raise the price, till the community 
 discontinue the use of the article, or at least use 
 it so sparingly, that the patentee loses more by 
 the diminution of his sales, than he gains by the 
 highness of the price. This is monopoly in the 
 strictest sense of the word. 
 
 Another kind of monopoly is, when some ma- 
 terial, necessary for the production of the com- 
 modity, is in the hands of one, or a few indivi- 
 duals, who, by combination, may raise the 
 price to a high amount, especially if it be an 
 article the use of which cannot be dispensed 
 with. If all the iron-mines in a country were 
 in the hands of a few proprietors, and no means 
 afforded of obtaining a supply by commerce, 
 they might raise the price of iron very high. 
 But, the greater the numbers of proprietors, the 
 more difficult is it to raise the price by combi- 
 nation, and the more likely is a fall of price by 
 competition. If the number of proprietors be 
 very considerable, their power to raise the 
 price by combination is very small, though still 
 the article partakes in some degree of the na- 
 ture of a monopoly. 
 
 The connexion between the rent of land and 
 the price of corn is obvious. Land is necessary
 
 156 OF RENT. 
 
 for the production of corn. The proprietors 
 of land are very numerous. In settled coun- 
 tries, however, they are not the whole, and 
 generally not the majority of the community. 
 They possess, therefore, in some measure, 
 though in a low degree, the power of the mono- 
 polist. Mr. INIalthus calls this power a partial 
 monopoly. 
 
 The indispensable necessity of the article, sup- 
 posing foreign supply not admitted, strengthens 
 the monopolizing power ; but it is limited, on 
 the other hand, by what the laljourers can 
 afford to give. They must be able to procure 
 by their wages a supply sufficient to support 
 nature and procure other necessaries : other- 
 wise they will starve or emigrate, or rise in 
 mobs, and seize the corn by violence from the 
 granaries of the monopolists. 
 
 The rent of land is also restricted by compe- 
 tition among the proprietors. Where there is 
 no exportation of corn, the extent of land in 
 culture is limited by the demands of the exist- 
 ing popuhition. In most countries the extent 
 of land susceptible of cultivation is greater than 
 the demands of the ])o})ulation, and as it is the 
 interest of every proprietor to have as much of
 
 OF RENT. 1.07 
 
 his land cultivated as lie can, a competition 
 takes place, attended with the usual effect of its 
 being let u})on lower terms. 
 
 As the rent of land can never fall so low as to 
 allow nothing for that of the quality F., on the 
 other hand it can never rise so high as to allow 
 nothing but absolute necessaries to the agricul- 
 turists. If this were the case, every other em- 
 ployment must be reduced to equal indigence, 
 otherwise the profession of agriculture would 
 be deserted, and the profits of stock reduced to 
 the lowest possible rate, or all stock vested in 
 the hands of land-owners. Such an unnatural 
 state of things, for obvious reasons, can never 
 take place, though it is sometimes approximated 
 more nearly to than it ought to be. For 
 examples of this we need not have recourse 
 to the state of the boors in Russia and Poland : 
 we shall find one nearer home in the wretched 
 condition of the Irish peasantry. 
 
 Inasmuch as corn partakes of the nature of 
 a monopoly, its price is raised, and the rent in 
 money raised. The price received by the 
 farmer for the crops he raises is partly retained 
 by him to enable him to pay the labourer and 
 other expenses incurred in raising the crop,
 
 158 OF RENT, 
 
 including his own profit, and partly paid by him 
 in rent, for being permitted to use the produc- 
 tive power of the soil. He will not be able to 
 retain more than the usual recompense for the 
 labour and capital employed in cultivation. The 
 rest he must give away, and it may be accounted 
 rent, whether H be paid to the proprietor of the 
 land, to the tithe-holder, or to the tax-gatherer. 
 The amount is limited by the power which these 
 possess of raising the price of corn, and what- 
 ever share the tithe-holder and tax-gatherer 
 draw, the less remains for the proprietor. Some 
 peculiar consequences, however, result from 
 drawing part of the rent in the form of tithes, 
 which shall be considered afterwards. 
 
 A part of our cultivated land is applied to 
 raise other crops than corn. The price of these 
 crops is regulated by that of corn. If a crop of 
 flax be less profitable, that plant will not be cul- 
 tivated till the price rise. If it be more profit- 
 able, more land will be sown with it till the 
 price fall. The effects of commerce are at pre- 
 sent out of the question. 
 
 The rent of wood-lands is modified by the 
 slowness of the growth of timber. An acre of 
 full-grown wood, upon general principles, ought
 
 OF RENT. 159 
 
 to pay the rent of the ground during the time it 
 has been growing, and other expenses, with 
 interest, a deduction being made for the value 
 of the young trees taken out for thinning, and 
 of the pasture among the growing wood. There 
 is something, however, so discouraging in the 
 length of time before returns are expected, that 
 few would plant on these terms. A man knows, 
 when he plants, that he will not live to see the 
 trees at perfection, or derive profit from them, 
 and the concern which he takes in the affairs of 
 posterity is comparatively languid. Accordingly 
 the value of a full-grown Avood generally exceeds 
 the estimate of its cost, with every allowance of 
 rent and interest. Even this expectation would 
 be insufficient if mankind were not led to plant 
 by other inducements. A certain quantity of 
 wood is ornamental to the country, and long- 
 before the trees have attained their full size, the 
 appearance of a plantation is delightful. Our 
 bleak heaths, which present an uncouth aspect, 
 and hardly admit of cultivation, are often well 
 adapted for planting. A proprietor sees a thriv- 
 ing young wood rising in his vicinity, advancing 
 in beauty every year, and engages in extending 
 the agreeable scene.
 
 160 OF RENT. 
 
 The slowness of the growth of timber prevents 
 the quantity from being easily adapted to the 
 demands of the country. If too much or too 
 little ground be appropriated to an annual crop, 
 if too much be in tillage or in pasture, the evil 
 cures itself in a few years ; but if the quantity of 
 wood be too small, the want can hardly be sup- 
 plied, without the aid of commerce, to the present 
 generation. The price of wood, and the profits 
 of wood-land, depend upon the state of the coun- 
 try at least half a century ago. 
 
 Orchards and vineyt^'ds hold a middle place 
 between corn-lands and wood-lands. Their 
 returns are sloAver than the former, but much 
 quicker than the latter. 
 
 The price of metals consists in part of a rent 
 paid to the proprietor of the mine. The residue 
 is a recompense for the capital and labour em- 
 ployed, and the risk incurred in the business of 
 mining. If the number of known mines be fully 
 sufficient for the supply of a country, the rent to 
 the proprietor will be little. Still it is some- 
 thing. The rent increases with the scarcity of 
 the mines. It is limited by the price which the 
 community is willing to give for the article. 
 Iron is the only metal, the use of which, in con-
 
 OP KENT. Kil 
 
 siderable quantities, cannot easily be dispensed 
 with ; but it is also, l)y the wise appointment of 
 nature, the most plentiful, and therefore the rent 
 drawn for iron mines is not very great. Copper, 
 lead, and tin, are comparatively rare, and there- 
 fore, though far less useful, their mines are more 
 lucrative to the proprietor. Quarries of lime, 
 free-stone, and slate, generally yield a rent, 
 though, in remote places, they yield but little. 
 In mountainous countries abounding with granite 
 no rent is drawn for that article, except in 
 favourable situations. 
 
 In cold countries, fuel holds a considerable 
 place among the necessaries of life. The articles 
 chiefly used for that purpose are wood, turf, and 
 pit-coal. The first of these only can be increased 
 without limitation, and may by proper care 
 afford an inexhaustible supply, if the others 
 should fiiil. Of the second, our whole store is 
 at once exposed to view, and by proper manage- 
 ment it may, in some measure, be regenerated : 
 yet still it is liable to be exhausted in length of 
 time. Tlie third admits of no known renovation ; 
 but the extent of undiscovered stores cannot be 
 known. It is the most easily transported, and 
 its price is regulated by the same })rinciples as 
 
 M
 
 162 OF RENT. 
 
 that of other minerals. It is limited, however, 
 by the price of wood, which can be raised in 
 all places, and would supersede the use of coal 
 if its price were cheaper. The use of coal adds 
 to the general wealth, by saving the ground 
 that would be required for wood, and allowing 
 our mosses to be converted into arable land. 
 
 Tlie rent of appropriated fisheries depends on 
 the quantity of fish they supply, and the notion 
 entertained of their delicacy.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 OF TITHES. 
 
 We return to the consideration of the burthen 
 generally imposed on the farmer, in this and 
 many other countries, by the abstraction of a 
 determinate part of his produce for the payment 
 of tithes. 
 
 We are not at present to take into view the 
 purpose to which tithes are applied, or the 
 persons by whom they are levied ; the duty of 
 providing a suitable maintenance for the clergy, 
 the propriety of doing so in the way of tithe, or 
 the objections which may be and have been 
 urged against that system. The present ques- 
 tion is, upon whom do tithes, when exacted, fall? 
 Whether, according to some, do they fall on the 
 proprietor of the land, who receives so much less 
 rent from his tenant ; or whether do they, accord- 
 ing to others, ftill upon the community at large, 
 constituting a part of the expense of raising 
 corn, and enhancing its value accordingly ? 
 
 M2
 
 164 OF TITHES. 
 
 A tax upon land, of an invariable amount in 
 money ujjon each estate, falls upon the landlord, 
 who can never devolve it on the tenant, or any 
 other part of the community. This proposition, 
 so far as we know, has not been controverted. 
 If it does not extend to tithes, this must be 
 owing to some specialty connected with the 
 latter. It can make no difference, in regard to 
 either, whether they be in the first instance 
 advanced by the farmer, or paid directly by the 
 proprietor. The only specialty in regard to 
 tithes is their variableness, being generally a 
 certain proportion of the crop of the current 
 year, or, at most, an annual sum of money con- 
 sidered as equivalent, on an average of a small 
 number of years. 
 
 In some cases the proprietor is also the tithe- 
 holder. In other words, some lands are tithe- 
 free. It is believed no such proprietor ever drew 
 from his tenants a part of what they paid him 
 in the form of tithe, and the rest in the usual 
 way of rent, or that he could derive any advan- 
 tage from doing so. In the former chapter we 
 stated the circumstances of extent of land, fer- 
 tility, population, and competition, upon which 
 rent depended ; and apprehend that, while these
 
 of TITHES. 165 
 
 remain the same, it is not in the power of the 
 proprietor to obtain more from his tenants by 
 having recourse to a capricious system. If he 
 do so, he is more likely to injure both himself 
 and them, by laying restraints on the most 
 eligible modes of cultivation. 
 
 If the proprietor cannot draw more from the 
 tenant on the whole, by taking so much for tithe, 
 and so much for rent, it is difficult to conceive 
 how it is possible to draw more when these por- 
 tions are paid to different persons. 
 
 A large portion of rent, and according to some 
 the whole, arises from the superior produce of 
 fertile land above that of the most sterile in 
 cultivation. So long as no tithe is drawn, the 
 whole of this surplus goes to rent; but after 
 tithing, it is only the surplus of what the tithe- 
 holder leaves that is applicable thereto; and, as 
 more is witlidrawn from the fertile land, this 
 surplus is less than before, and so far the rent 
 estimated in corn is lessened, and the landlord 
 bears the burthen of the tithe without remu- 
 neration. 
 
 It is argued, that the farmer A^^ho cultivated 
 land of the quality F., previous to the establish- 
 ment of the tithing system, could pay a rent
 
 166 OF TITHES. 
 
 equal to what land of the same quality yielded 
 when uncultivated ; the corn, Avhen sold at the 
 market-price, being sufficient to afford it : but if 
 tithe be exacted, one-tenth of the produce being 
 withdrawn, the remaining nine-tenths, when 
 sold at the former price, would be insufficient ; 
 and therefore the farmer would discontinue to 
 cultivate such land unless the price of corn 
 rise, and, as the demands of the population 
 require its cultivation, the price will rise. 
 
 But the farmer may continue to cultivate and 
 sell his corn at the former price if his rent fall ; 
 and if the proprietor had no other way of dis- 
 posing of his land, the rent would fall to the 
 requisite extent. In existing circumstances, 
 the rent is not likely to fall so much, and the 
 price of corn may rise : but this is entirely 
 owing to the imposition of a burthen, which 
 falls exclusively on land under culture, and, by 
 its inequality, deranges that appropriation of 
 land which would otherwise take place, to the 
 joint purposes of agriculture and pasturage. 
 
 The exaction of tithes is a discouragement 
 to the raising of croj)s which require an expen- 
 sive cultivation, because they fall upon the gross 
 and not upon the net produce. The expense of
 
 OF TITHES. 107 
 
 cultivating an acre of hops is much greater than 
 that of cultivating an acre of corn, but the 
 value of the crop is generally so much greater 
 as to afford a sufficient remuneration to the 
 raiser. Suppose 20/. value of hops raised on an 
 acre at the expense of 15/., and 10/. value of 
 wheat raised on an acre of like ground at an 
 expense of 5/. So long as it remains tithe-free 
 there will be a surplus of 5/. for rent and 
 farmer's profit ; but when tithe is exacted, viz., 
 2/. from the hop-acre and 1/. from the wheat- 
 acre, there remains only 3/. from the former, 
 but 41. from the latter for rent and farmer's 
 profit. Thus the cultivation of hops is discou- 
 raged, unless the price rise. The same applies 
 to the cultivation of flax, perhaps in a smaller 
 degree. It would also apply to the cultivation 
 of corn, the expense of which is greater than 
 that of pasturage, even though tithe were ex- 
 acted on the produce of pasture land, to the full 
 extent ; and when we revert to the actual case of 
 land in pasture generally paying no tithe at all, 
 the advantage it possesses under a tithing system 
 is much greater. If a burthen were imposed on 
 pasture land, which pressed as much on it as 
 tithes do upon cultivated land, there A\'ould be
 
 168 OF TITHES. 
 
 110 rise in the price of corn, and the tithe, 
 though advcinced by the farmer, would fall on 
 the proprietor. 
 
 Land of the quality F. is supposed to yield 
 an equal surplus produce, after payment of all 
 expenses, whether applied to the purposes of 
 tillage or pastui'age, and to pay an equal rent. 
 So long as no tithe is levied, all this rent is paid 
 to the proprietor; but if tithe be levied, so 
 much of the produce of the land in tillage is 
 transferred to another person, and the remainder 
 only paid to the proprietor, while he continues 
 to draw the full rent for pasture land as before. 
 He therefore Avill not let such land for the purpose 
 of tillage, unless the price of corn rise so much 
 as to yield him the same money-rent as before, 
 after satisfying the demands of the tithe-holder. 
 
 Let us resume the supposition, that land of 
 the quality A. produces 10 bolls per acre, and 
 that of the quality F. 3 ^V I'olls, and that the 
 expense of cultivating an acre of either is the 
 value of 3 bolls. The rent of A., so far as it 
 depends on surplus produce, when uo tithe 
 is exacted, is 6 -if bolls. When tithe is 
 drawn, which amounts to 1 boll from A. and 
 67 of a boll from F., there remain 9 bolls 
 
 2
 
 OK TITHES. 169 
 
 of the produce of A. and S-^^ of that of F., and 
 the difference applicable to the rent of A. is 
 5^f-^ bolls, or one-tenth less than before. The 
 tenant of F. requiring 3 bolls for expenses, can 
 only pay -^-f^ of a boll in rent ; and if the tithe- 
 holder, who draws -^-^-^ of a boll from F. when 
 in culture, drew the value of a like quantity 
 from it when uncultivated, it would be impos- 
 sible for the proprietor to obtain more than the 
 very small rent above-mentioned for F. But, 
 as no tithe is drawn from F. when uncultivated, 
 none of it will be cultivated till the price of 
 corn rise. As the cultivation of the usual por- 
 tion of F. is required to afford the former sup- 
 ply to the population, a rise of price will take 
 place, and if it rise one-tenth, the money-rent 
 Avill be the same to the proprietor as before, 
 while his corn rent has fallen one-tenth part. 
 
 It formerly required the price of three bolls 
 to pay the farmer's expenses. A less quantity, 
 sold at an advanced price, will give the same 
 return in money. It will require only 2-^-^ bolls 
 Avhen the price has advanced one-tenth ; and 
 after selling that quantity to defray expenses, 
 and having -^y^ ^f ^ ^oll abstracted by the tithe-
 
 170 OF TITHES. 
 
 holder, there will remain -^^ of a boll for the 
 landlord's rent. He received before ^°-, but 
 the smaller quantity, sold at an advanced price, 
 will give the same return in money as the 
 larger quantity did before. 
 
 A still higher rise in the price of corn would 
 be required to put the farmer on his former 
 footing, if his rent be not abated. All the 
 corn raised is not sent to market. A part of 
 it, nearly uniform, must be retained for the 
 maintenance of the farmer's family and servant, 
 and his labouring cattle. Suppose 1^^^ bolls 
 retained for these purposes, there remain 2 
 bolls previous to tithing, and 1 iff after tithing, 
 to be taken to market. These must be sold for 
 equal sums, to afford an equal allowance to the 
 farmer for his miscellaneous expenses and profit ; 
 and if such a rise took place, the money rent of 
 the proprietor would be increased. 
 
 But it is not probable that the price would 
 rise to that extent. Any rise that takes place is 
 occasioned by an additional quantity of F. being 
 offered to the grazier, in consequence of which 
 the rent of such land ap})lied to pasturage will 
 fall, and the j^rice of corn is likely to settle at
 
 OF TITHES, 171 
 
 some intermediate rate between the former and 
 that which would give the farmer a full equiva- 
 lent for the tithe. 
 
 A derangement of the natural price of the 
 produce of land, Avhen under tillage or in pas- 
 turage, is thus occasioned by the exaction of 
 tithes from the former, and not from the latter. 
 To illustrate this further, we shall state an 
 imaginary case. Suppose a country entirely 
 agricultural, where the only crops raised are 
 wheat and barley, and where the land, being all 
 appropriated, is rented at a higher rate than that 
 resulting from the difference of fertility. The 
 priced of these two kinds of grain, and the quan- 
 tities raised of each, will be regulated by the 
 general expense and produce of an acre of each, 
 and the relative demand for them : these points 
 being adjusted when the land is tithe-free, let us 
 suppose a tithe imposed on the wheat, but not on 
 the barley. What would be the consequence ? 
 The farmer could not continue to cultivate wheat 
 and sell it at the former price and pay the former 
 rent. The price of wheat would rise, or the 
 rent of wheat-land would fall, or both these 
 alterations would take place to a certain extent. 
 But, as land of the same quality would be let by
 
 172 OF TITHES. 
 
 the proprietor at the same rent, whatever pur- 
 pose the farmer applied it to, the rent of barley- 
 land would also fall ; and the expense of raising 
 that crop being the same as before, the natural 
 and consequently the actual price of that grain 
 would fall, and from the difference of price, it is 
 likely that a smaller quantity of wheat and a 
 larger quantity of barley would be consumed by 
 the inhabitants than before. The demand and 
 supply being the same as formerly, the whole 
 rent paid by the farmer, tithe included, will also 
 be the same, the portion dravv^n from wheat-land 
 by the tithe-holder being compensated by the 
 general fall of rent paid to the proprietor. 
 
 If a deficiency of one-tenth of the usual crop 
 of corn be occasioned by blight, this, unless a 
 supply can be procured by importation, must 
 occasion a more parsimonious consumption, and 
 the price will rise. But if importation be per- 
 mitted, and a sufficient supply procured from a 
 country where corn is raised at less expense, the 
 price may not rise. The effect upon the market 
 will be much the same, whether the tenth of the 
 usual crop, being destroyed by blight, be supplied 
 by the foreigner, or whether, being withdrawn 
 in tithe, it is immediately poured into the market
 
 OF TITHES. 173 
 
 by the tithe-holder. The only difference is, that 
 the tithe-holder's quantity being limited, he 
 cannot depress the price of corn below its former 
 rate ; whereas the supply by importation, if un- 
 limited, might depress it much lower, and force 
 much of the inferior soils out of cultivation. 
 
 Different views in regard to rent and tithe 
 have been taken by writers on political economy. 
 But on one point they are nearly unanimous, 
 that each writer's own system is attended with 
 evidence equal to that of mathematical demon- 
 stration. We have endeavoured to trace what 
 appears most probable, with all the care we can, 
 though we deliver our opinion with considerable 
 diffidence, as consequences may arise from dif- 
 ferent modes of polity, or from supervening cir- 
 cumstances, which it is very difficult to foresee. 
 
 On the whole, notwithstanding very respect- 
 able authority on the other hand*, we incline to 
 the opinion that, in most cases, tithe falls chiefly, 
 if not entirely, on the proprietor. 
 
 As the revenue of the tithe-holder is deterio- 
 rated when land is thrown out of culture, his 
 interest will induce him not to exact rigorously 
 tithe from sterile land, but to compound for it 
 * Ricardo on Political Economy, chap. ix.
 
 174 OF TITHES. 
 
 Oil moderate terms. In like manner, in the 
 imaginary case above supposed, he would com- 
 pound easily for the tithe on wheat-land, to pre- 
 vent it from being converted into barley-land. 
 
 The foregoing reasoning proceeds on the sup- 
 position that tithe is drawn in kind, or at least 
 is fixed annually upon an assumed valuation of 
 the crop for the present year. If the tithe be 
 compounded for at a fixed sum for a term of 
 years, or during the life of the incumbent, it is 
 clearly a part of the rent kept back from the 
 landlord. This is also the case in Scotland, 
 where tithes (there called teinds) are levied on 
 a different system, and at a fixed rate, payable 
 sometimes in grain, sometimes in money.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 
 
 Wealth is only desirable as a means of in- 
 creasing human enjoyment ; and the relative 
 value of different quantities of wealth ought to 
 be estimated by the degree in which they promote 
 the happiness of the owners. This depends upon 
 the mode of its distribution, as well as upon its 
 absolute quantity. 
 
 An inquiry into this subject is apt to raise an 
 alarm in the minds of a considerable portion of 
 society. They dread the introduction of level- 
 ling principles, the invasion of property, and 
 subversion of the present establishment of society. 
 These fears, which the higher ranks are at all 
 times ready to entertain, have been much in- 
 creased by the evils which accompanied the 
 French Revolution. Though redress of poli- 
 tical grievances only Avas at first held forth 
 by the promoters of that event, it soon led to 
 the dissolution of property, and to atrocities of 
 the most enormous kind. Whilst we hold that
 
 176 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 
 
 the preservation of social constitutions should be 
 maintained with the strictest care, and even 
 where defects are manifest, that remedies should 
 be applied with extreme caution, — we cannot 
 go the length, which some do, of condemning 
 indiscriminately every proposed amendment in 
 the present arrangements, from the dread of 
 the evils which may attend innovations. While 
 we consider discussion on these points as 
 conducive to the true interest of society, we 
 would not willingly offend the feelings, or incur 
 the indignation of alarmists. We hold that a 
 certain measure of inequality in the distribution 
 of wealth is not only unavoidable, but is con- 
 ducive to human welfare, both in regard to ex- 
 ternal enjoyment and moral improvement ; and 
 if, upon a fair inquiry, it should appear that a 
 nearer approach to equality, than at present 
 takes place in most civilized states, is desirable, 
 we not only reprobate the attainment of this by 
 a violent invasion of j)roperty, but we disap- 
 prove of any measure which would occasion 
 a sudden alteration in the present state of things, 
 or which is revolting to the feelings which 
 habit has established in the minds of a re- 
 spectable class of the community. We may
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 177 
 
 not approve these feelings : we may wish them 
 gradually extinguished ; but while they subsist, 
 they ought not to be rudely violated. 
 
 By the gifts of nature and returns of in- 
 dustry mankind are possessed of ampler stores 
 than are re([uisite for mere subsistence. A 
 portion is applied for procuring comforts, ele- 
 gancies, and luxuries. All must be provided 
 in necessaries ; but we may conceive the over- 
 plus either equally distributed among the whole 
 community, or accumulated in the hands of a 
 few, or of any part less than the whole, and that 
 in all variety of proportions. 
 
 In a small and simple community, there is 
 little inequality of circumstances. In a large 
 and flourishing state the inequality is commonly 
 very great. If the income of a common labourer 
 in Britain be accounted one, there are some 
 whose incomes exceed one thousand ; and in most 
 other countries of Europe the inequality is equally 
 striking. Oriental countries present examples 
 of still greater inequality. In the flourishing 
 times of the Roman commonwealth and emj)ire, 
 the fortunes of the rich were enormous. 
 
 Let us suppose a small portion taken from the 
 income of a rich man who has a thousand, and 
 
 N
 
 178 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 
 
 added to that of a labourer. An addition of one- 
 tenth would sensibly increase the enjoyments of 
 the labourer, and the want of it would hardly 
 be felt by the rich man. The loss, if he knew it, 
 might give him uneasiness, but is merely ima- 
 ginary. His house, his furniture, his table and 
 equipage, Avould undergo no sensible alteration. 
 An increase of happiness is, therefore, obtained 
 by this transfer of property. Such, at least, is 
 its immediate consequence. If this be repeated 
 a second, a third, and a considerable number of 
 times, the successive additions do not in the 
 same degree increase the enjoyments of the 
 poor man, and the loss comes to be sensibly felt 
 by the rich man. 
 
 There is a limit beyond which equalization of 
 property ceases to be desirable. A state of 
 complete equality is unsuitable to human nature, 
 and would detract from those energies, the exer- 
 tion of which, under due regulation, promotes 
 the improvement of our intellectual and active 
 powers, and extends the sphere of our higher 
 enjoyments. 
 
 Industry is excited by the hope of improving 
 our circumstances. This hope is founded on 
 the supposition of inequality, and supported by
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 179 
 
 the expectation of a suitable reward, and secure 
 possession of what is obtained. Hence exer- 
 tions are produced, which add to the mass of 
 general wealth, and by their invigorating influ- 
 ence operate in a still more essential manner to 
 the increase of human happiness. 
 
 Without some inequality of situation the 
 powers of the human mind could not be brought 
 to a liigh pitch of improvement. The acquisi- 
 tion of knowledge and cultivation of genius 
 require a share of leisure incompatible with 
 absolute equality. It is requisite that some 
 men be exempted from manual labour, in order 
 that they may apply to those studies and pur- 
 suits which not only raise their own minds to 
 superior excellence, but lead to improvements 
 of general use to society. A certain measure of 
 competence affords facilities in these pursuits. 
 Knowledge is collected from books, or acquired 
 by general conversation and travelling, or inves- 
 tigated by expensive experiments ; all of which 
 are beyond the reach of the poor man. 
 
 Some regard is also due to the enjoyments 
 afforded by the elegant arts, and other sources 
 of innocent gratification, which affluence con- 
 fers, and the more refined state of social inter- 
 
 N 2
 
 180 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 
 
 course which prevails in the higher ranks of 
 society, and extends its influence in some mea- 
 sure to the inferior ones. 
 
 There is also reason to believe that the va- 
 riety of duties resulting from the distinction of 
 stations contributes to the improvement of our 
 moral nature. The man who, under the influ- 
 ence of virtuous principles, discharges properly 
 the duties he owes to his superiors, equals, and 
 inferiors, appears to hold a higher place in the 
 scale of moral excellence than he who has only 
 one class of duties to discharge. The obliga- 
 tions arising from a greater variety of connec- 
 tions may be considered as a school of moral 
 discipline, under which virtue is exercised, and 
 advanced to a higher degree of perfection. 
 
 It is, therefore, desirable, first to ascertain 
 the degree of inequality of circumstances most 
 conducive to human happiness ; and then, if the 
 actual inequality exceed that measure, to in- 
 quire into the practical and admissible means of 
 approaching to it, without doing violence to 
 property, or introducing other disorders into 
 society. 
 
 In regard to the former, it is obviously im- 
 practicable to fix the measure with precision.
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 181 
 
 Some general principles, however, may be pro- 
 posed which ascertain it within certain limits. 
 
 The wisdom of the prayer of Agur must be 
 admitted even by those who do not acknow- 
 ledge the authority of the book in which it is 
 contained. The eligibility of the middle station 
 of life is become almost proverbial, and is the 
 conclusion which a candid inquiry can hardly 
 fail to lead to ; and that, either upon the reli- 
 gious and moral views on which Agur founds 
 his preference, or in regard to mere physical 
 enjoyments. That it is preferable to a state of 
 poverty, none will be found to question : that it is 
 preferable to a state of great affluence is a doc- 
 trine that will not be relished by the ambitious 
 and worldly-minded. But the philosopher, 
 who considers the temptations to indolence and 
 dissipation which affluence affords, and wliich 
 are so seldom effectually resisted, and that want 
 of relish for social and innocent enjoyments 
 which is the frequent effect of an unrestrained 
 course of enjoyment, can hardly fail to concur in 
 Agur's supplication. 
 
 This leads us to desire that as large a propor- 
 tion of mankind as possible be placed in the 
 middle station of life, neither very rich, nor
 
 182 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 
 
 very poor. Under this class several descrip- 
 tions of men are comprehended : those who 
 enjoy a moderate competency from landed or 
 other property; the greater part of those en- 
 gaged in commerce, or who gain a livelihood 
 by following the liberal professions ; many who 
 are employed m manufactures, but who are 
 occupied in superintending others rather than in 
 manual labour. These persons are not idle, but 
 their employments are not servile or incessant, 
 and they have leisure and opportunities for 
 intellectual improvement. Though something 
 is deducted by the existence of this class from 
 the quantity of manual labour performed, the 
 loss is fully repaid by their exertion in superior 
 occupations, from which all ranks derive ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 But all cannot and ought not to be in the 
 middle station. Such equality, were it prac- 
 ticable, which it is not, in civilized society, 
 would be subversive of social order and happi- 
 ness. 
 
 Let us inquire into the measure of wealth 
 which would fall to the share of each person if 
 it were fully equalized. This is not so great as 
 most persons, upon a transient view, would be
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 183 
 
 apt to suppose. The rich are so few in number, 
 compared with the whole community, that the 
 distribution of their wealth would not raise the 
 general circumstances above a moderate compe- 
 tency. 
 
 In a former chapter we stated the average 
 expense of the labouring classes and their fami- 
 lies at nine pounds each person, and that of the 
 aggregate of all ranks at eighteen pounds. If 
 this be nearly correct, a system of complete 
 equality would only raise the labourer's income 
 to the last-mentioned sum. If only one half of 
 the wealth at present possessed by the higher 
 ranks were transferred to the labourer, it would 
 raise his income to thirteen pounds ten shil- 
 lings, and this seems the utmost extent to which 
 the levelling system could be extended, without 
 introducing consequences utterly subversive of 
 the welfare of society. Whether a transfer to 
 this extent would leave sufficient distinction of 
 circumstances to answer every useful purpose, 
 is a point not easily determined. 
 
 We maintain, however, without hesitation, 
 that an alteration in the present state of society 
 in this country, which would add something to 
 the condition of the labourer, if such a change
 
 184 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 
 
 were effected gradually and imperceptibly by 
 the silent operation of natural causes, would 
 tend, on the whole, to the increase of human 
 happiness. 
 
 A benevolent man, Avhose duty or situation 
 leads him to visit the cottages of the poor, and 
 inspect the manner in which they live, will 
 observe, with regret, that the family is often very 
 inadequately provided with lodging, furniture, 
 and clothing ; that sometimes they have not a 
 sufficiency of wholesome food and fuel ; and that 
 not unfrequently the labourer is obliged to work 
 too hard, or too long, in order to obtain a sup- 
 ply of mere necessaries to his family. 
 
 These hardships, however, do not press 
 equally at all times, or upon every description 
 of labour, and very much depends on the sobriety 
 and good management of the heads of the 
 family. 
 
 When these qualities prevail in times of or- 
 dinary plenty, and when labour is in ordinary 
 demand, the visitor will frequently find a com- 
 fortable cottage, sufficient to accommodate the 
 family without exposing them to the risk of dis- 
 ease, or want of cleanliness, from being over- 
 crowded ; provided M'itli the most useful arti-
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 185 
 
 cles of plain furniture, and, perhaps, a few orna- 
 mental ones ; their clothes decent, and sufficient 
 for every-day wear, though plain, with a better 
 suit for Sunday. The husband, when he re- 
 turns from his labour, then receives a cheerful 
 reception from his wife and family, and after 
 partaking of a frugal, but unstinted meal, relaxes 
 himself in innocent conversation till the family 
 retire to rest. This picture is not Utopian ; we 
 have often witnessed it, and it is a state of 
 comfort which may be brought within the 
 reach of all the labouring classes, unless they 
 deprive themselves of it by intemperance, or 
 some other kind of misconduct. 
 
 The bulk of mankind must be employed for 
 the greater part of their time in manual labour, 
 but they ought not to be forced to such severe 
 exertion as exhausts their strength prematurely ; 
 nor should their labour be so long continued 
 as to leave no time for relaxation and intel- 
 lectual improvement. In general ten hours' 
 labour in the day, from six to six, with two 
 hours of interval, is as much as they should 
 undertake. Those engaged in the labours of 
 agriculture usually work longer in time of 
 harvest, as manufacturers do upon urgent occa-
 
 186 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH, 
 
 sions, and this may be compensated by extend- 
 ing the hours of relaxation when circumstances 
 admit of it. When labour is unusually hard, the 
 time of its continuance should be proportionally 
 shortened. 
 
 That sacred institution which withdraws one 
 day in seven from the ordinary employments of 
 life, and assigns it to religious and moral im- 
 provement, and the innocent pleasures of social 
 conversation, can never be too much admired 
 and respected. When viewed merely as a hu- 
 man institution, it deserves a preference to any 
 which the heathen world can lay claim to ; and 
 we ought carefully to guard against any practice 
 that may infringe on the reverence with which 
 it is regarded, and thereby open the way for its 
 gradual neglect. 
 
 As the labouring classes must always be the 
 most numerous, to promote their Avelfare is to 
 promote human happiness at large. An appre- 
 hension is entertained by those who are not in- 
 clined to favour the labouring classes, that too 
 liberal a reward of labour would lead to idleness 
 and intemperance. The most effectual remedy 
 against these evils is to give them such an 
 education, and induce such moral habits, as
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 187 
 
 may promote a relish for the moderate com- 
 forts of life. The education of the inferior 
 ranks is an object of so much importance as to 
 require a separate discussion, and will be con- 
 sidered in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 As an ordinary share of industry should not 
 miss a suitable reward, so extraordinary dili- 
 gence or abilities should procure a larger share 
 of enjoyment, or prove the means of raising a 
 man to ii higher station in life. 
 
 The different ranks of society should not be 
 separated, as they are in some countries, by 
 strongly marked and insurmountal^le barriers. 
 They should be blended by shades, almost im- 
 perceptible, and a transition to a higher station 
 should be easily accessible to merit. 
 
 Some other circumstances connected with 
 the welfare of the lower ranks deserve consi- 
 deration. 
 
 The numerous class engaged in manufactures, 
 or manual occupation, are either journeymen 
 employed by masters who furnish materials, and 
 sometimes tools, and pay them wages for their 
 work, or free labourers who find employment 
 for themselves. In a simple state of society 
 almost all are free labourers. In a more ad-
 
 188 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 
 
 vanced state, journeymen are the most numerous. 
 Those manufactures which require an expensive 
 apparatus, and much division of labour, cannot 
 be carried on otherwise ; but as we consider the 
 situation of the free labourer to be more eligi- 
 ble than that of the journeyman, we wish the 
 number of the former enlarged in such employ- 
 ments as admit of it. 
 
 A person chiefly employed in manufacture or 
 manual trade may allot some portion of his 
 time to agriculture. This generally extends no 
 farther than the cultivation of a garden, or per- 
 haps some work in harvest. It can be most 
 conveniently undertaken by free labourers, 
 though journeymen are not altogether excluded 
 from it. We think it desirable in situations 
 that admit of it. It is conducive to health, and 
 the variety of employment contributes in some 
 measure to mental improvement. In some 
 places a small piece of ground may be rented, 
 and a coav or t^vo kept, which the wife may 
 manage, besides discharging her other duties. 
 We have generally observed that families, 
 where this system was followed, lived more 
 comfortably than their neighbours. 
 
 The proper size of farms has been a subject
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 189 
 
 of much discussion, and the prevailing opinion 
 at present seems to be in favour of large farms. 
 The arguments in suj)port of this opinion are, 
 that agriculture is conducted in a superior man- 
 ner by persons possessed of considerable pro- 
 perty, and the land brought to a higher state of 
 fertility ; and that the requisite operations can 
 be carried on at less expense by means of the 
 superior instruments which the opulent farmer 
 employs, and the economical arrangements 
 which an extensive and improved farm admits 
 of. Another circumstance tends, we believe, to 
 corroborate this opinion. A traveller is grati- 
 fied with the ornate appearance of the fields, 
 the neatness of the farm buildings, and the rich 
 farmer's comfortable house, almost rivalling the 
 mansion of the country gentleman, and is induced 
 to think favourably of the system which presents 
 to him such agreeable objects. 
 
 A distribution of all the country into farms of 
 this kind would be attended with serious evils. 
 The number of such farmers must be compara- 
 tively small. The more numerous class of the 
 possessors of moderate farms, occupying a 
 middle station in life, would disappear. 
 
 We incline to the opinion that a gradation in
 
 190 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 
 
 the size of farms is most conducive to the general 
 good. Some branches of manufacture cannot be 
 carried on, in the improved state to which they 
 are now brought, without complicated machinery 
 and extensive premises : but this is not the case 
 in farming operations, where the division of 
 labour is more limited, and the requisite imple- 
 ments comprehended in a narroAver compass. 
 Ploughs, harrows, and other agricultural tools of 
 the best construction can be employed on farms 
 of a moderate extent, and even the threshing- 
 mill, the most complicated machine which the 
 farmer has occasion for, is now constructed on a 
 variety of scales, suited to farms of all sizes. 
 
 Perhaps some such arrangement as the fol- 
 lowing would be most eligible. 
 
 Every gentleman should himself occupy a 
 farm of moderate extent. From his superior 
 means of information he is likely to adopt 
 the most approved modes of agriculture, and 
 bring them into general use in places where 
 they were not known before. The allotment of 
 part of his time to this employment is rational 
 and laudable, and Avill tend, in some measure, to 
 form a bond of connection between him and the 
 farmer.
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 191 
 
 Very large farms, which cannot be superin- 
 tended by one person, and are therefore left to 
 the management of hired overseers, are not so 
 desirable. 
 
 A farm of four or five hundred acres of 
 arable land is as large as any ought to be. 
 To conduct such a farm requires considerable 
 capital, and the management will give suffi- 
 cient employment to a man of ordinary activity. 
 The profits should })lace him in comfortable 
 circumstances, and even put the acquisition of 
 wealth within his reach. 
 
 We should propose that one-fourth of the 
 arable land be laid out in farms of this size, 
 including that which is in the actual possession 
 of the proprietors. 
 
 We would allot one-half of the arable land in 
 farms of various sizes, less than the former, but 
 not under one hundred acres. Such farms 
 require the employment of several servants. 
 
 The remaining fourth of the arable land we 
 would reserve for small farms, of such a size 
 that the work may be chiefly done by the tenant 
 and his family, perhaps with the assistance of a 
 single servant, or of labour hired occasionally. 
 Part of this division might be laid out in por-
 
 192 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 
 
 tions of a still smaller size, that did not give full 
 employment to the possessor, who might carry on, 
 besides, the occupation of a miller, carter, inde- 
 pendent tradesman, or occasional day-labourer. 
 
 Several advantages arise from having part of 
 the land divided into small possessions. To the 
 occupiers of these, it is an object to raise poultry, 
 and some other articles for sale which are below 
 the attention of the wealthy farmer; and where 
 the cottager occupies little land, he can pay more 
 minute attention to every part of it. > 
 
 The improvement of small pieces of barren 
 land, chiefly by manual labour, is sometimes 
 effected by cottagers in circumstances where it 
 would never be undertaken by the large farmer. 
 The folloAving incident, which we have heard 
 upon good authority, is illustrative of this. A 
 number of gentlemen who had an interest in a 
 barren common, having met for the purpose 
 of dividing it, found that an individual had, 
 without notice or permission, settled himself 
 in a corner of it, built a cottage, and brought 
 a few acres into cultivation. On this they 
 were disposed to punish him severely for his 
 intrusion, when one of them remarked that, in 
 his opinion, so far from being an object of
 
 DISTUIBUTION OF WEALTH. 193 
 
 punisliiiient, he had conferred an obligation on 
 them, by she^ving them what the land could be 
 brought to, and ought to be rewarded. To this 
 opinion they all acceded, and granted him the 
 absolute right, or long lease of the ground he had 
 improved, on moderate terms. 
 
 Such a distribution of land as is here pro- 
 posed corresponds with that gradation in the 
 various ranks of society which we consider as 
 beneficial to mankind. The farmer of the higher 
 rate approximates to the country gentleman, and 
 in descending from him to the cottager, we do 
 not meet M^ith any marked line of separation. 
 Every man may raise himself to a higher class, 
 if he have talents for it, without being repelled 
 as inadmissible. 
 
 We have heard an argument advanced against 
 the continuance of cottagers in a part of tlie 
 country from which they had been banished by 
 the great farmer. It was said that the same 
 men, being hired by the farmer, lived more com- 
 fortably as his servants, than they did before 
 upon their small possessions. We are not satis- 
 fied with this account of the matter. They were, 
 perhaps, as well fed and clothed as l)efore. 15ut 
 
 O
 
 194 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 
 
 the independence of the cottager raises liis cha- 
 racter to a state superior to that of the servant. 
 
 By the gentle gradation proposed in the size 
 of farms, the improved modes of agriculture, at 
 first introduced by the gentlemen and wealtliy 
 farmer, would be gradually diffused through all 
 inferior ones. 
 
 The system of absentees and middlemen de- 
 serves the severest reprobation. The latter liave 
 no other interest than to rack the actual cultiva- 
 tors to the utmost of their power. The wretched 
 state to which a great part of Ireland is reduced 
 by the prevalence of this system, affords a lament- 
 able but instructive lesson in regard to it. 
 
 So long as the quantity of wealth belonging to 
 the community remains the same, we cannot add 
 to the portion assigned to one class without de- 
 ducting from that of another. If we increase 
 the comforts of the inferior orders, at whose 
 expense would we do so ? We would not lessen 
 the number, or restrict the comforts of those 
 who hold the middle station of life. We know 
 not a more respectable character than that of a 
 country gentleman who generally resides on his 
 estate, takes an interest in the welfare of his
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 195 
 
 tenants, encourages agriculture by his counte- 
 nance and example, and discharges, as occasion 
 requires, the functions of a magistrate. Over- 
 grown fortunes admit of reduction, and if this 
 can be effected without violence or injustice, it 
 would hardly detract from the enjoyment of any 
 rank, and might lead to arrangements that would 
 increase the general happiness of society. Such 
 overgrown fortunes are often employed in main- 
 taining idlers, or squandered at N^ewmarket or 
 other places of still more infamous description. 
 
 Every political institution, the tendency of 
 Avhich is the further accumulation of fortunes 
 already overgrown, should be rejected. 
 
 0'2
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 
 
 Admitting that a distribution of wealth, ap- 
 proaching nearer to equality than the present 
 one, is desirable, it is still a matter of difficulty 
 to point out the means of obtaining it without 
 injustice. 
 
 The stability of property fairly acquired is no 
 less necessary for the poor man's pittance than 
 for the rich man's treasure. If it be unhinged, 
 a door is opened for every crime and every 
 calamity. Regard is also due to those feelings 
 which the present constitution of society have 
 nourished. 
 
 While the mass of general wealtli remains the 
 same, the circumstances of the lower ranks can 
 only be improved by raising the wages of labour, 
 or by conferring on them some share of property 
 as generally as possible. It is the latter of these 
 we are at present to consider. 
 
 It Avill throw light on this subject, to inquire
 
 EQUALIZATfON OF WEALTH. 197 
 
 into the causes of the inequality in the circum- 
 stances of mankind. Some of these are entitled 
 to our highest approhation ; others are of a more 
 dubious kind ; and others clearly reprehensible. 
 Yet though these last should have been resisted 
 at the beginning, it may not be consistent with 
 the peace of society to disturb property, how- 
 ever wrongfully acquired, at a distant period. 
 
 As a large share of the wealth which a man 
 enjoys is obtained by the exertion of his active 
 power, an inequality of circumstances must arise 
 from the inequality of these powers. We do 
 not all possess the same bodily strength, and the 
 inequality of our mental endowments is still 
 greater. In some cases the want of power, cor- 
 poreal or mental, is so great as to incapacitate a 
 man altogether from acquiring a livelihood. 
 When poverty arises from this cause, the suf- 
 ferer is not to blame, yet, except in extreme 
 cases, he cannot receive relief from any political 
 institution. 
 
 Another source of inequality is to be traced 
 to the different conduct of men. Some accumu- 
 late wealth 1)y industry and frugality, while 
 others dissipate it by neglect or extravagance. 
 Here the successful are well entitled to their
 
 198 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 
 
 gains, while the sufferers deserve the hardships 
 they have brought upon themselves. So far as 
 inequality of circumstances arises from this 
 cause, we are fully sensible of its propriety. 
 
 A third source of inequality arises from for- 
 tune or accident. These terms are somewhat 
 vague. In illustration many instances may be 
 adduced, though it is impossible to enumerate 
 them all. The fruits of one man's field may be 
 blasted by an unavoidable disaster, while that of 
 another man is unusually productive. The result 
 of mercantile undertakings is still more pre- 
 carious. A man's success in life depends, in a 
 great measure, on his being placed in a station 
 where his peculiar talents have scope for exer- 
 tion, or are brought into view. This is some- 
 times the result of his prudence ; but it fre- 
 quently depends upon circumstances, as to which 
 he is in a great measure, or altogether, passive. 
 The number and weight of his competitors often 
 decide his fortune. The business of life cannot 
 be carried on without incurring risk, by repos- 
 ing confidence in other men, and in a variety of 
 other ways. One man escapes the danger, 
 another suffers by it to the full extent. 
 
 Another source of inequality is injustice, when
 
 KQL'ALIZATION OK \\liAi;ill. 190 
 
 the powerful invade the property of the weak, or 
 the crafty obtain that of the simple. Although 
 these crimes be the objects of the highest repro- 
 bation ; yet it is impossible, even in the best 
 constituted societies, entirely to prevent them, 
 and in disorderly times they prevail to a great 
 extent. 
 
 A man of a benevolent but enthusiastic turn 
 of mind may be desirous of calling in the inter- 
 position of power to correct these inequalities, 
 and relieve the unfortunate industrious at the 
 expense of the undeservedly successful. A little 
 reflection, however, may convince him that this 
 cannot be done without subverting the rights of 
 property, on which the existence of society 
 depends, and introducing worse evils than those 
 which it was intended to remedy. 
 
 Institutions which tend, in some measure, to 
 lessen the causes which lead to an inecpiality of 
 fortune deserve every encouragement. The 
 modern exi)edients of insuring against the 
 dangers of the sea, and destruction by fire, and 
 of equalizing the diversity in the circumstances 
 of families occasioned by the diversity of the 
 length of life, have proved highly beneficial. 
 
 A principal source of the inequality of cir-
 
 .200 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 
 
 ciimstances arises from the wealth accumulated 
 by former generations, and transmitted to a part 
 of the present by inheritance or otherwise, in 
 all variety of proportions. This is subject to 
 regulation by the laws of the community, which 
 are different in different countries. Some of 
 them favour accumulation of property, and others 
 tend to its dispersion. 
 
 The right of every one to enjoy the fruits of 
 his own labour affords the clearest foundation of 
 property, and thi^ extends in a great measure to 
 the property of land, as much of the value of 
 land arises from culture and improvement. The 
 right of property in land is now fully established 
 in every civilized country, subject to the laws 
 which must be inviolably observed till they be 
 altered by the legislature of the community. 
 
 The industrious man may be better fed, better ' 
 clothed, and better lodged than his neighbours. 
 He may reserve a part of his gains for increasing 
 his enjoyments at an after period, or supj)orting 
 him under the infirmities of age. But has he a 
 right to transmit what remains unconsumed to 
 his children and friends ; or does his property 
 revert at his death to the general fund, open to 
 every occupier, or connnon to all ?
 
 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 201 
 
 Some lawyers have affirmed, that the trans- 
 mission of property from the dead to the living 
 is merely an ordinance of positive law, and 
 ascribe the title which children generally exer- 
 cise over the property of their deceased father 
 to the circmnstance of their being generally the 
 first occupiers. 
 
 " Naturally speaking," says a lawyer of the 
 highest character, " the moment a man ceases to 
 be, he ceases to have any dominion ; else, if he 
 have a right to dispose of his acquisitions beyond 
 his life, he would have a right to direct their 
 disposal for a million of ages after him, which 
 would be highly absurd and inconvenient. All 
 property, therefore, must cease upon death, con- 
 sidering men as absolute individuals, and uncon- 
 nected with civil society. But as, under civilized 
 governments, which are calculated for the peace 
 of mankind, such a constitution would be pro- 
 ductive of endless disturbance, the universal law 
 of almost every nation (Avhich is a kind of neces- 
 sary law of nature) has either given the dying 
 person a power of continuing his possession by 
 will ; or, in case he neglects to dispose of it, or 
 is not permitted to make any disposition at all, 
 the municipal law of the country then steps in,
 
 202 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 
 
 and declares who shall be the successor, repre- 
 sentative, or heir of the deceased, that is, who 
 shall have a right to enter upon this vacant 
 possession, to prevent that confusion which its 
 becoming again common would occasion. The 
 right of inheritance, or descent to the children 
 or relations of the deceased — is certainly a wise 
 and effectual, but clearly a political establish- 
 ment. A man's children, or nearest relations, 
 are usually about him on his death-bed, and are 
 the earliest witnesses of his decease. They 
 become, therefore, generally, the next immediate 
 occupants, till at length, in process of time, this 
 frequent usage ripens into general law*." 
 
 We cannot agree to this doctrine. There is 
 a sense of property congenial to the human mind, 
 which extends beyond the life of the individual, 
 and entitles him to transmit what he has acquired 
 by his labour, and not consumed, to his children, 
 or those whom he loves and esteems. The man 
 who builds a house, or plants a vineyard, feels a 
 right to lodge in that house, and use the fruits of 
 that vineyard, lie also feels a right to exercise 
 the only act of property that can take place after 
 his death, — to appoint the person who shall then 
 
 * Blackstone's (.Commentaries, book ii. chap. i.
 
 EQUALIZAIION OK WEAL'lJl. 203 
 
 possess and use tlieiii. Tlie laws of society may 
 subject the exercise of this right, as well as of 
 any other, to such regulations as are conducive 
 to tlie general good. They cannot be deemed 
 to create it, although they may modify and 
 limit it. 
 
 The right of disposing property, especially 
 landed property, by will, has, in many countries, 
 been posterior to the laws of descent, and in 
 some countries has never been fully recognized. 
 Yet it is naturally prior to it. Wliat a man 
 has gained by his industry is so completely his 
 own, that he may use it, or convey, during his 
 life, the right of using it to any person he 
 pleases, and there is no reason why he should 
 be more restricted in the appointment of its dis- 
 posal after his death. From natural affection, 
 he will generally prefer his own children, or, 
 when these are wanting, his nearest relations. 
 If he neglect to make a positive destination, the 
 law supplies the omission, from a presump- 
 tion of his will, founded on those natural senti- 
 ments. 
 
 In no civilized country does the property of 
 the deceased revert into a common fund. But 
 the regulations of different countries in regard to
 
 204 EQUALIZATION OK WEALTH. 
 
 the permission or prevention of the disposal of 
 property by will, and of the disposal of property 
 where wills are not permitted, or not made, are 
 extremely various. In the laws of antiquity, 
 we meet with no distinction between succession 
 in heritable and moveable property. In all mo- 
 dern codes, that distinction forms an important 
 part. It derives its origin from feudal principles. 
 So long as the feudal system continued in vigour, 
 the securing of a vassal fit for military service 
 being considered as essential, the law of primo- 
 geniture was inforced, and alienation of land by 
 testament not permitted. At that time personal 
 property was comparatively of less value, and 
 the law paid little attention to it. The value of 
 this kind of property has now become, in mer- 
 cantile countries, greater than that of the land ; 
 but the laws which direct its succession are 
 different. 
 
 The diversity in the rules of succession, in 
 cases of intestacy, or where wills are not per- 
 mitted, consist chiefly in admitting or rejecting 
 the right of j)rimogeniture, and the preference 
 of males to females. There is also some dif- 
 ference in the rules by Avhich the succession, 
 when it devolves on collaterals, is regulated.
 
 KQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 205 
 
 A man may be permitted to dispose of the 
 whole of his property by will, or he may be 
 limited to the disposal of a certain part, the 
 residue necessarily descending to his children. 
 His right of disposing of it may be limited to the 
 appointment of the next possessor ; or he may 
 be permitted to appoint a succession of heirs 
 who are in existence ; or he may have the more 
 extensive power of appointing a series of heirs, 
 yet unborn, to the end of time. 
 
 We find all these varieties in the laws of dif- 
 ferent nations, and none of them, except the 
 last, can be said to be contrary to the law of 
 nature. The preference of one system to ano- 
 ther is a matter of political wisdom, and should 
 be given to that Avhich tends most to promote 
 the general welfare. 
 
 At Athens the sons succeeded equally to the 
 inheritance of the father. At Rome, the sons 
 and daughters succeeded equally. Disposal of 
 property by will was not permitted in the 
 earliest times, but was introduced afterwards, 
 and even something similar to modern entails, 
 by which the line of succession could be directed 
 for several generations.
 
 206 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 
 
 Ill the time of the Roman republic the ple- 
 beian party frequently attempted to introduce an 
 agrarian law, for limiting the extent of land 
 which any person could hold, and they some- 
 times obtained a partial and temporary suc- 
 cess. 
 
 By the laws of England at present, a man, 
 unless specially restricted by family settlements, 
 may dispose of all his property, real or per- 
 sonal, if he observe the proper forms. In case 
 of intestacy, the law of primogeniture takes 
 place among males in heritable property ; but 
 when the succession falls to females, they all 
 share equally. In personal property, the chil- 
 dren, male or female, succeed equally. In some 
 districts there are local rules of succession, dif- 
 ferent from the general law of the country. 
 
 In Scotland, the landholder, if not specially 
 restricted, may not only settle the inheritance on 
 whomever he pleases, but may determine the 
 line of succession by a deed of entail, in all suc- 
 ceeding time. The rules of succession in 
 heritage, when there is no will, are nearly the 
 same as in England. In moveables his power 
 is more limited. Tlie cliildren have an inde-
 
 KQUAIJZATION OF WEALTH. 207 
 
 feasible right to one-tliird wlien there is a 
 widow, and to one-half ^\'hen there is none. 
 This is called their legitim, and is equally 
 divided among them, without distinction of sex : 
 but, if the deceased also leave heritage, the heir 
 has no share of the moveable property, unless 
 he choose to throw the heritage and moveables 
 into a common fund, and take an equal share of 
 the whole with the other children. If there be 
 no will, the whole moveable property is divided 
 equally among the children, and, failing them, 
 among the nearest relatives. 
 
 By the law of France, established during the 
 revolution, a person who has one child is only 
 permitted to dispose of one-half of his property 
 by will, and the child inherits the other half as 
 a matter of right. If he has two children he 
 can only dispose of one-third by will, and if 
 more than two of one-fourth, the remainder 
 being equally divided among the children. In 
 cases of intestacy, the property is equally 
 divided among all the children, without regard 
 to sex or seniority. 
 
 Different opinions will be entertained con- 
 cerning the preference due to one or other of
 
 208 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 
 
 these systems, or others that may be supposed 
 better than any of them ; and these will depend, 
 in a considerable measure, upon the preference 
 given to the aristocratical or democratical con- 
 stitution of society. 
 
 Few, however, it is believed, will approve of 
 the system of Scotch entails. They are, in 
 every point of view, indefensible. Their ten- 
 dency is to accumulate property to a very large 
 extent: for an entailed estate can sustain no 
 diminution ; but may be augmented by fre- 
 quent accessions, as every new purchase may 
 be, and often is, added to the former entail. 
 This evil is already of considerable magni- 
 tude, and is daily increasing. It is believed 
 about one-third of the land in Scotland is 
 already entailed, and that chiefly in large por- 
 tions. It proves a severe restraint on the cir- 
 culation of property, and threatens to stop it 
 altogether. Many other arguments may be 
 adduced against it ; — the losses it occasions to 
 creditors ; the infringement on parental autho- 
 rity ; the temptations to which it exposes inex- 
 perienced youth, from the consciousness of 
 premature independence ; the destitute state in
 
 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 209 
 
 which it often leaves the younger children of a 
 family, and the discouragement it throws in the 
 way of agricultural improvements. The motive 
 which leads to it, a desire of perpetuating fami- 
 lies, is not founded on any rational or commend- 
 able principle. It is the offspring of aristocratic 
 pride, and is inconsistent with the transitory 
 nature of human possessions and enjoyments. 
 Upon the whole, there are ample reasons for 
 censuring this part of our law, and wishing it 
 may be speedily and completely abolished. 
 
 By an act passed a good many years ago, the 
 holders of entailed estates in Scotland were 
 authorized to grant leases of a certain duration ; 
 and by a late act they are entitled to burthen 
 the estate with annuities to widows, and provi- 
 sions to younger children to a certain extent. 
 These alterations in the law lessen the evil of 
 entails ; but there still remains enough to make 
 their entire abolition desirable. 
 
 A practice of the same nature, but still more 
 pernicious, has been admitted, the assignment of 
 the rents of an estate to trustees for a term of 
 years, in order to accumulate, and be applied 
 for the purchase of more land, or some other 
 capricious purpose. 
 
 P
 
 210 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 
 
 One argument in favour of entails is drawn 
 from the aristocratic part of our constitution, 
 and must be admitted to have some weight. 
 The members of one branch of our legislature 
 are hereditary, and it is fit that every person 
 who exercises the functions of a legislator 
 should possess a fortune that may render him 
 independent. For this pm'pose, either the cha- 
 racter of the legislator should fall with the 
 dissipation of the estate (of which our records 
 present one example), or an estate should be 
 secured to accompany the right of legislation. 
 This might be permitted, to every requisite 
 extent, without any considerable encroachment 
 on the state of general property, by limiting the 
 quantity allowed to be entailed to what was 
 sufficient to answer the purpose for which it is 
 at all permitted. 
 
 We incline to the opinion, that every man 
 should have the complete disposal of his pro- 
 perty, heritable or moveable, but without any 
 power of substitution ; the person or persons 
 who succeed him having an equal right to its 
 free dis})osal. We do not mean to exclude him 
 from the right of burthening his heir or heirs 
 with what provisions or annuities he pleases.
 
 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 211 
 
 It is not likely that society would receive any 
 detriment from the power Avhich this system 
 would give to parents. They might, indeed, 
 disinherit their children, and leave them desti- 
 tute ! But the natural affection of parents, even 
 those of harsh character, is so strong that the 
 instances of the exercise of that power would be 
 very rare, except when the misconduct of the 
 children was extreme. The welfare of families, 
 as well as the public welfare, requires that 
 parental authority be supported, and a salutary 
 check given to that profligacy and extravagance 
 which is the frequent consequence of early 
 independence. 
 
 A right to the disposal of property at pleasure 
 has been considered as beneficial to society, 
 from the encouragement it gives to industry. If 
 a man knows that the wealth which he acquires 
 is to fall at his death in a different direction from 
 what he wishes, his exertions, it is said, are 
 likely to be more languid. We do not, however, 
 see much weight in this argument, or suppose it 
 necessary that a man should have the power of 
 directing the succession of his acquisitions in 
 an endless, or even in a long train, in order to 
 excite his industry. We have seldom observed 
 
 P2
 
 212 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 
 
 that those were less bent upon accumulating 
 wealth, who neither knew nor cared who was to 
 succeed to it ; and are of opinion that the power 
 of disposing of it in the first instance is fully 
 sufficient to furnish every necessary stimulus to 
 industry, and that no man ever relaxed in his 
 exertions because it was not in his power to 
 settle his wealth on a series of unborn heirs for 
 all succeeding generations. 
 
 Holding that the disposal of property at the 
 death of the owner should be always free, but 
 always limited to the first instance, with the 
 exception above-mentioned of the case of here- 
 ditary legislators, the next object of inquiry 
 regards the most eligible mode of legal destina- 
 tion in cases of intestacy. 
 
 The law of primogeniture, especially if joined 
 with a power of entailing, has a tendency to 
 accumulate property ; the law of equal distribu- 
 tion has a tendency to disperse it. If these laws 
 be insurmountable, their effects in either way 
 will be very extensive, and, at last, very perni- 
 cious. If they may be set aside by the will of 
 the proprietor, and only regulate succession in 
 cases of intestacy, their effect is still consider- 
 able, for many die without making a will ; and
 
 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 213 
 
 besides, the general rule has an effect on the 
 prevailing sentiments ; so that even when a 
 special settlement is made, it will most fre- 
 quently be in some conformity to what the law 
 would have directed if it had been wanting. 
 
 That such is the case appears from the ex- 
 perience of what happens in England. The 
 disposal of property, heritable and moveable, is 
 there, in general, unrestrained ; yet landed gen- 
 tlemen, almost uniformly, leave their estate to 
 their eldest son, and often leave the younger 
 children slenderly provided for. Merchants, on 
 the other hand, commonly make a more equal 
 distribution of their wealth among their children, 
 unless they have invested it in land, in which 
 case they may imbibe the spirit of the hereditary 
 land-holder. 
 
 The enactment of an equal division of heritage 
 among the children, in cases of intestacy, would 
 be too violent a clumge in our present law, and 
 too offensive to our prevailing sentiments. But 
 a limited legal provision to the younger children 
 would be a beneficial alteration in our law. By 
 the late act relating to entails in Scotland, the 
 holder is entitled to charge the estate with one 
 year's rent, if he has one child besides the heir,
 
 214 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 
 
 witli two year's rent if he has two children, and 
 with three year's rent if he has three or more. 
 It might be weU if some such allowance were 
 granted in all cases of intestacy, where there 
 was not a sufficiency of moveable property to 
 aiford a like provision to the younger children. 
 It would not occasion any sudden dispersion of 
 property, or be attended with any other hurtful 
 consequence. 
 
 The case of a younger brother, when left un- 
 provided for, is worse than that of a man in 
 inferior station who has no property. Being 
 bred in his father's family, he has acquired 
 habits of luxury, and is unfit for manual labour. 
 The army and navy can only receive a limited 
 number, and there are few other professions, 
 consistent with the station he holds in society, 
 that can be prosecuted with advantage by a 
 person destitute of patrimony. It is desirable 
 he should have some share of the paternal in- 
 heritance, not to supersede the necessity of 
 exertion, but to enable him to exert his faculties 
 with a reasonable prospect of success. 
 
 The revolutionary law of succession in France 
 is said to have been extremely effective, and to 
 have broken down much of the property into
 
 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 215 
 
 minute portions, to the ruin of many distinguished 
 families, and general injury of society. 
 
 This division of the land into small portions 
 is not entirely in consequence of the operation 
 of the law of succession. At the revolution, 
 many of the great proprietors were forced to 
 leave the country, and the properties of the 
 emigrants being seized by the revolutionary 
 government, were disposed of, generally, in small 
 allotments. 
 
 According to the statements of the Due de 
 Gaete*, the number of taxable proprietors in 
 France, in the year 1816, was 4,833,000, and 
 the number of persons in their families was 
 14,479,800, or about three to a family at an 
 average (which we think too low), paying in 
 property-taxes 282,935,928 franks, which being 
 taken at 20 per cent, gives the annual value of 
 their property 1,414,979,640 franks. Of these 
 proprietors 3,665,300 pay only 12^^ franks at 
 an average, and altogether 47,178,649 franks, 
 answering to an annual value of 235,893,245 
 
 * The numbers in this statement are taken from the Edin- 
 burgh Review, No. Ixxx. ; as we have not Gaete"s publication 
 at hand, our opinions are, in some points, ditferent from those 
 of the able writers of that journal, and we have assigned our 
 reasons.
 
 216 
 
 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 
 
 franks, and the average annual value of each 
 property is only 64^ franks, or about 5\s. of 
 our money. These proprietors are day-labourers, 
 with a cottage and garden belonging to them- 
 selves. The number of persons in their families 
 is about eleven millions. The proportion of 
 property allotted to this class is about one-sixth 
 of the whole. 
 
 The number of proprietors in the superior 
 classes is 1,167,700; the number of persons in 
 their families, estimated as above, is 3,503,100; 
 the amount of their taxation is 235,757,279 
 franks, or '^01 -^-o^-^-o franks each at an average; 
 therefore the annual value of their property is 
 1,178,786,395 franks, or 1009^ franks, equal to 
 about 40/. sterling to each at an average. 
 
 The whole statement is as follows: — 
 
 No. of 
 Proprietors. 
 
 Amount of 
 Taxation. 
 
 Average 
 Taxation. 
 
 Total Annual 
 Value. 
 
 Average Income. 
 
 
 Franks. 
 
 Franks. 
 
 Franks. 
 
 Franks. 
 
 £. s. d. 
 
 3,665,300 
 
 47,178,649 
 
 12.85 
 
 235,893.245 
 
 64 
 
 2 11 
 
 928,000 
 
 86,043,089 
 
 92.78 
 
 430,215.445 
 
 464 
 
 17 11 
 
 212,636 
 
 90,411,706 
 
 425.45 
 
 452,058.530 
 
 2,127 
 
 85 
 
 18,848 
 
 27,653,016 
 
 1,468. 
 
 138,265.080 
 
 7,340 
 
 293 11 
 
 8,216 
 
 31,649,469 
 
 3,864.50 
 
 158,247.340 
 
 19,272 
 
 771 
 
 4,833,000 
 
 282,935,928 
 
 
 1,414,679.640 
 

 
 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 217 
 
 Much as we reprobate the violence which has 
 led to the present distribution of property in 
 France, that distribution, as exhibited in this 
 statement, considered in itself, does not appear 
 to us so pernicious as it has been represented. 
 
 The eleven millions of the lowest class of 
 proprietors, families included, constitute the mass 
 of the labouring part of the comnumity. Their 
 small possessions do not supersede the necessity 
 of their labour, nor indispose tliem for it, while 
 the benefit they derive from them gives a consi- 
 derable addition to their comfort. The applica- 
 tion of one-sixth part of the rent, to ameliorate 
 the situation of so large and useful a part of the 
 community, we think, well bestowed ; and the 
 remaining five-sixths afford a sufficient fund for 
 the higher classes, and for giving room to that 
 gradation of circumstances which is essential to 
 the welfare of society. If the class of cottage 
 proj)rietors were abolished, and their possessions 
 distributed proportionally among the other 
 classes, this would only add one-fifth part to the 
 income of each proprietor. 
 
 We see no reason for preventing, by any 
 restrictive enactment, the division of property 
 into parts, however minute. The peasant who
 
 218 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 
 
 has one acre and a cottage, may dispose of half 
 his acre to another peasant, who is able to build 
 another cottage, without doing any harm to the 
 public. 
 
 The two next classes constitute what would 
 be called yeomanry in England. The number 
 of persons in these classes, reckoning three to a 
 family, is about three millions and a half, and 
 the value of their property is rather more than 
 three-fifths of the whole. These are chiefly 
 employed in cultivating their own possessions, 
 though some of them will also engage in other 
 labour. 
 
 The two highest classes constitute the gentry ; 
 and we, who are accustomed to overgrown for- 
 tunes, would consider them as gentry of an in- 
 ferior order. There are two reasons, however, 
 which should give us a more favourable view of 
 their circumstances than that which the numbers 
 in the statement at first suggest. The rentals 
 being taken for the purpose of taxation, are pro- 
 bably considerably below the real value, and 
 the power of money in the purchase of every 
 commodity, and consequently the real value of 
 a like nominal sum, is greater in France than 
 in this country. The number of proprietors in
 
 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 219 
 
 these classes is about 27,000, and of persons 
 in their families, exclusive of servants, esti- 
 mated at five to a family, is 135,000, and the 
 amount of their property is only about one-fifth 
 of the whole. 
 
 Tlie number of proprietors and families en- 
 gaged in agriculture is said to be nearly one- 
 half of the population ; and, if to this be added 
 the labourers who have no property, the whole 
 number of agricultural labourers is said to 
 amount to two-thirds of the popuhition. 
 
 This is a great deal too nmch, and, if accurate, 
 exhibits a deplorable state of the country. But 
 we apprehend there must be some mistake in 
 the statement. It is incredible that, in so fertile 
 a country as France, the labour of two persons 
 should be required to raise food for three. The 
 numerous class of cottage proprietors are chiefly 
 maintained by their labour. But they are not 
 all engaged in agricultural labour. IMany of 
 them, it may be presumed, follow other occu- 
 pations. 
 
 We consider the allotment of a large por- 
 tion of the land to overgrown estates as an evil 
 of great magnitude. It absorbs a large part of 
 the wealth of the community for the gratification
 
 220 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 
 
 of the luxury of a {ew. It may be reasonably 
 doubted whether it promotes their enjoyment, 
 and there is still more reason to apprehend 
 that its moral effects are unfavourable. The 
 gentleman of modern fortune has a personal 
 intercourse with his tenants. The great pro- 
 prietor keeps aloof from them, and transacts his 
 business with them by the intervention of agents 
 or middlemen. He is apt to consider them as 
 an inferior order of beings, in whose welfare he 
 takes no farther interest than the increase of his 
 rental is concerned. Such a separation of ranks 
 is not favourable to the moral condition of either. 
 
 We are not disposed to favour legislative 
 restrictions on the disposal of property : but if 
 they be at all admissible, we think they should 
 be directed, not to prohibit the division of pro- 
 perty, but to prevent its too great accumulation. 
 
 Perhaps a law, framed to the following effect, 
 would be liable to little objection. 
 
 Let a determined portion, and a pretty high 
 one, either of landed or moveable property, be 
 fixed on as the greatest that ought to receive any 
 favour from the legislature ; whicli portion we 
 shall call the permanent maximum. At the same 
 time let no man be restrained from acquiring as
 
 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 221 
 
 much as he can, by industry, or even by fortu- 
 nate accident, and from transmitting his fortune 
 to his family : but if he has more sons than one, 
 he nmst not leave a larger share to the eldest, or 
 any other, than the permanent maochnum, pro- 
 viding his estate can be reduced within that 
 limit by division among them. If otherwise, 
 after leaving each son the permanent maoci- 
 mum, he may bestow the surplus on the eldest, 
 or any other son at pleasure. In defect of 
 sons, no nephew or other collateral relation 
 should succeed to more than the permanent 
 maximum, providing there be others in the 
 same degree of consanguinity, and no larger 
 share shall in any case be settled on a stranger. 
 To render these regulations effectual, the per- 
 son to whom the inheritance would fall next, 
 might ])e entitled to take possession, on settling 
 the permanent maximum on the person before 
 him in succession. We omit, for the sake of 
 brevity, some regulations that might be neces- 
 sary to complete this system. We apprehend 
 that this, or some similar system for the gradual 
 reduction of overgrown estates or enormous 
 wealth of any kind, would be beneficial to 
 society. But Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, de-
 
 222 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. 
 
 dares that he did not propose to his fellow- 
 citizens the best laws which could be framed, 
 but the best which they were capable of receiv- 
 ing ; and every wise legislator will do the same. 
 Whatever is offensive to prevailing sentiments 
 and manners, if had recourse to at all, should 
 be introduced gradually and cautiously. 
 
 The summary of our sentiments on this sub- 
 ject is as follows : 
 
 That entails on a perpetual succession of 
 heirs should be completely abolished. 
 
 That, generally, every person should have 
 the entire disposal of his property, of whatever 
 kind at his death. 
 
 That this should be limited to the first ap- 
 pointment, and not extend to that of a succession 
 of heirs, except in peculiar circumstances. 
 
 That he be permitted to charge his heir or 
 heirs with annuities to persons in existence, or 
 perhaps one step further. 
 
 That the laws of succession to heritable pro- 
 perty, in cases of intestacy, be more favourable 
 to the younger branches of a family than they 
 are at present. 
 
 That there should be no impediment to the 
 division of property into parts, hoAvever small.
 
 EQUALIZATION OF WEALTH. ^23 
 
 That, as far as may be done without violence 
 to prevailing feelings, measures may be adopted 
 for discouraging the growth of very great 
 estates, or great wealth of any kind, and ope- 
 ratino' the g-radual reduction of such as are 
 already overgrown.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 OF PROPERTY. 
 
 We have already found occasion to make 
 some remarks on the foundation of property. 
 We now propose to enter into a more full dis- 
 cussion of that important subject. 
 
 When we take a view of the various subjects 
 to which individuals or communities claim a 
 right, in the modern state of society, we shall 
 find that, in some cases, the right is established 
 on the firmest principles, and is most beneficial 
 to society. In others the right is of a weaker 
 kind, yet on the whole beneficial, and ought to 
 be supported. In others, it is of a reprehensible 
 kind, and should never have been admitted, but 
 being established, must not now be rudely in- 
 vaded, as the consequences of doing so Avould 
 be more detrimental to society than any evils 
 resulting from its continuance. In others, the 
 claim is so clearly unjustifiable, that no con-
 
 OF PROPERTY. 225 
 
 tinuaiice of property founded on it ought to be 
 tolerated. 
 
 Most of the articles which contribute to human 
 support and enjoyment, and which constitute 
 wealth, derive their chief value from human 
 industry, but the material is always obtained 
 from land, and, in countries Avliere all the land 
 is appropriated, the industrious man, if he has 
 no land of his own, must procure his materials 
 by a fair agreement with the landed proprietor. 
 When thus possessed of the material, he may 
 convert it into any form, and apply it to his own 
 accommodation, or transfer it at his pleasure. 
 It is in every respect his absolute property. 
 
 It is the right to property in land which 
 presents any difficulties. In regard to this, two 
 subjects of inquiry, somewhat analogous, present 
 themselves to our consideration. The right 
 which certain tribes assume to the possession of 
 extensive tracts of country, to the exclusion of 
 the rest of mankind, and the right which indivi- 
 duals have to the undisturbed possession of the 
 land which they occupy. 
 
 The first of these was prior in point of time. 
 In the earliest ages, when the number of man- 
 kind bore no proportion to the extent of land 
 
 Q
 
 226 OF FROPiiurv. 
 
 which lay before them, there was no room for 
 appropriation of any kind. When mankind be- 
 came more numerous, and embraced the pastoral 
 state, an imperfect appropriation took place. 
 Tribe separated from tribe, but the members of 
 the same tribe fed their flocks at large upon their 
 common property. " Abraham said unto Lot, 
 Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me 
 and thee, between my herdsmen and thy herds- 
 men, for we are brethren. Is not the whole land 
 before thee ? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from 
 me : if thou wilt, take the left hand, I A^ill go to 
 the right ; or if thou depart to the right hand, 
 then I ^vill go to the left." 
 
 When the number of the human race became 
 so great, that the natural produce of the soil Avas 
 insufficient for their maintenance, and recourse 
 was had to agriculture, appropriation of land, in 
 the strictest sense, became necessary. 
 
 No man would undertake the laborious em- 
 ployment of agriculture, unless his right to reap 
 the crop Avhich he had sown was acknowledged 
 and secured, nor does his right to the land which 
 he has tilled terminate when the crop is removed. 
 Land, by being cultivated, is, in general, rendered 
 fitter for future culture. Woods are cleared ;
 
 OV PROPERTY. 227 
 
 stones removed ; iiieqiuilities levelled, fences 
 raised ; superfluous water drained oft'; and some- 
 times a beneficial supply of water introduced. 
 The expense of these operations is not repaid 
 by a single crop, nor is it reasonable that the 
 man by whose labour they have been accom- 
 plished, should be deprived of a title to enjoy 
 what he has rendered valua])le, and to transmit 
 it to his posterity. 
 
 After a country is fully settled, from the casual 
 variety in the progress of population, the pos- 
 terity of some of the original cultivators may 
 not have land sufficient for their subsistence ; 
 while others have more than they require, or 
 are able to cultivate. The fonner apply to the 
 latter for a new and more equal division. The 
 latter may well reply, " The present division, 
 however unequal now, is the result of the natural 
 course of things. Our fathers, by nmch labour, 
 brought the land which we now possess to its 
 present state of fertility and value. It was their's 
 by the clearest of all titles, and is no^v our's, as 
 succeeding to their rights. In order, therefore, 
 to supply your necessities, you must either labour 
 for us, and we will give you a suitable reward, 
 or we will give you land to cultivate for your- 
 
 Q2
 
 '2"28 OF PROPERTY. 
 
 selves, on your agreeing to pay us a reasonable 
 consideration for its produce." 
 
 If the argument be carried further, the only 
 reply of the claimants would be founded upon 
 the original value of the land, previous to any 
 labour or improvement. " We acknowledge 
 that the superinduced value of the lands is the 
 effect of the industry of your progenitors, and 
 now belongs to you, as standing in their right ; 
 but, previous to these improvements, the lands 
 were of some value, and your father's had no 
 right to them in their natural state, superior to 
 our's. You ought, therefore, to resign such a 
 share as we have occasion for, upon our paying 
 to you a consideration equivalent to the addi- 
 tional value which culture has bestowed on 
 them." 
 
 An admission of such a claim would be pro- 
 ductive of endless disorders in society. The 
 natural and superinduced value of the soil are so 
 intimately blended, that the precise proportions 
 of each never can be satisfactorily fixed, and 
 therefore whoever occupies and improves a 
 piece of land, which none had a prior claim 
 to, must be supported in holding it as his 
 own.
 
 OF PROPERTY. 229 
 
 The business of agriculture, as well as every 
 other, is attended with hazard. The returns 
 may not, and sometimes do not, repay the ex- 
 pense bestowed on them. It is, therefore, rea- 
 sonable that those who run the risk should 
 enjoy the profit, when the undertaking proves 
 successful. 
 
 The right to property in land, where occu- 
 pation is followed by improvement, rests upon 
 strong principles of natural equity. It is corro- 
 borated by no less urgent reasons of expediency. 
 Without its clear recognition there could be little 
 improvement. The produce, and consequently 
 the population, even of the most fertile regions, 
 would be confined within narrow limits. With- 
 out it the possession of land would be an object 
 of universal contention, and mankind, instead of 
 applying to the beneficial occupations of peaceful 
 industry, would be engaged in constant scenes 
 of rapine and violence. This was the case in 
 some parts of our oWn country, and other coun- 
 tries in Europe, some centuries ago. 
 
 Property in land thus acquired may be trans- 
 mitted to the posterity of the original occu- 
 pier, or devised in any manner agreeable to his 
 wishes, or transferred by gift, or for a valuable
 
 230 OF PROPERTY. 
 
 consideration. In these caSes the heir, devisee, 
 donee, or purchaser, succeeds to the title of him 
 from whom his title is derived. 
 
 Land is continually changing its ownership, 
 by death, or more rapid means, and the titles 
 of the various proprietors may be considered 
 as so many links in a chain, by which they 
 are connected with the original occupier and 
 improver. 
 
 In process of time the original occupier is 
 forgotten ; and, if the present proprietor can 
 shew an uninterrupted possession for a certain 
 length of time, the former part of the chain is 
 preserved, and his title cannot be questioned 
 upon the grounds of the uncertainty of the 
 original acquisition, now buried in oblivion. 
 This right, by prescription, is acknowledged in 
 every civilized country, though under different 
 modifications. 
 
 The tenures of modern Euroj^e are derived 
 from feudal principles, and must be referred to 
 the right, such as it is, of conquest. The leaders 
 of the tribes who subverted the Roman Empire 
 assumed, nominally, the possession of the whole 
 of the conquered country, but were under the 
 necessity of allotting large tracts of land to their
 
 OK PKOl'liKPV. 231 
 
 subordinate officers, Avho again parcelled them 
 out to those of inferior rank, and so on to the 
 lowest gradation. Lands were at first held of 
 the sovereign, or intermediate superior, chiefly 
 for military services, which were afterwards 
 commuted for pecuniary rents. The substance 
 of the feudal system has gradually worn away 
 in most countries, though much of its form still 
 remains. 
 
 We know, in general, that the progenitors of 
 the present proprietors expelled the former inha- 
 bitants from their possessions by violence ; but 
 we cannot now trace the posterity, either of the 
 dispossessed proprietor, or of the invader. The 
 rights of the present proprietors can only be 
 resolved into occupancy and prescription. 
 
 We have said, perhaps, more than was neces- 
 sary on the right of property in land Avliere 
 occupation Avas coupled with im})rovement. 
 We next proceed to the consideration of the 
 case where occupation is followed by no 
 improvement. 
 
 If we review the grounds upon which pro- 
 perty has here been made to rest, we shall find 
 that they lose considerably of their strength 
 when no improvement has taken i)lace. Yet
 
 232 OF PROPERTY. 
 
 even here the right of property may be classed 
 among those which are upon the whole bene- 
 ficial to society. 
 
 There are so many gradations in improve- 
 ment, and also in occupation, that it would be 
 difficult to fix that precise amount of either by 
 which property could be said to be adequately 
 acquired. 
 
 The occupier who improves at all, however 
 languidly, cannot be ejected to make room for a 
 more active improver ; neither is immediate 
 improvement necessary. The man who has 
 assumed a tract of land by a slight act of occu- 
 pancy, and begun to improve, must be allowed 
 a length of time to complete his improvement. 
 
 The circumstances attending the emigration 
 of colonies from civilized countries, carrying 
 along with them the arts of the parent country, 
 and some portion of its wealth, chiefly claim 
 our attention. 
 
 We shudder at the recollection of the atroci- 
 ties which have been committed by such emi- 
 grants upon the natives of the countries in which 
 they settled, whom they accounted savages. 
 We shall turn our eyes to more agreeable 
 scenes, where the country resorted to was for-
 
 OF PROPERTY. 233 
 
 merly uninhabited, or where possession of a cer- 
 tain tract has been obtained by a fair compact 
 with the natives. 
 
 The settlements of the colonies of North 
 America, while under the dominion of Britain, 
 and the still more extensive settlements which 
 have been established since their separation, 
 furnish examples of this on an extensive scale. 
 Our late settlements in Southern Africa are of 
 a somewhat similar kind. 
 
 In all these, whether they have remained 
 under subjection to the parent country, or whe- 
 ther they have established an independent 
 government of their own, permission has not 
 been given to every individual to occupy what 
 land he chose ; but the whole region being con- 
 sidered as public property, tracts of land have 
 been granted to the settlers, generally upon pay- 
 ment of a moderate price to the community, and 
 sometimes subject to a quit-rent ; such grants 
 being limited in extent, and the occupants often 
 bound to a course of gradual improvement. It 
 would be an effectual bar to colonization if no 
 more land could be secured in property to a 
 settler than he could improve the first year. 
 
 Such is the most eligible way of extending
 
 234 
 
 OF PROPER'n'. 
 
 population and the arts of civilized life to those 
 parts of the earth which they have not hitherto 
 reached. Every such colony has a right to 
 prevent the intrusion of other colonists into the 
 countries where they have settled. To consti- 
 tute this right, however, there must be some 
 degree of actual possession. The titles claimed 
 upon virtual acts of occupancy, such as the erec- 
 tion of a flag, or the like, are too slender to 
 bear examination. It may, however, be a 
 proper rule for preventing disputes among na- 
 tions addicted to naval enterprize, that the 
 property of uninhabited countries should be 
 ascribed to those by whom they are first dis- 
 covered and taken possession of, and the slightest 
 ceremony may be agreed upon as an act of 
 occupation. This, however, stands on the same 
 footing as the established customs relating to 
 ambassadors, and other particulars that occur 
 in the transactions of nations Avith each other, 
 which derive their validity from compact, 
 express or implied, and not from the law of 
 nature. 
 
 Having considered the right of property in 
 land founded on occupation followed by im- 
 provement, or by occupation with the view to
 
 OF PROPERTY. 
 
 235 
 
 improvement, we next proceed to the consi- 
 deration of certain things to which a title is 
 in many countries acquired by occupancy alone, 
 though they be unsusceptible of improvement, 
 and their appropriation be upon the whole 
 rather prejudicial than useful to the public. 
 It Avould be better that no such property had 
 ever been admitted, though it would be un- 
 warrantable now to abolish it. When a man 
 has honestly acquired any species of wealth, he 
 seeks to secure it for himself and his posterity 
 by purchasing something from which he and they 
 will derive permanent benefit. He may purchase 
 land ; but if, instead of doing so, he purchase 
 any thing else that is commonly bought and 
 sold, and the right to which is supported by the 
 laws of the country, it would be unjust to de- 
 prive him of it by challenging, upon abstract 
 principles, the validity of his right to that which 
 he possesses. After all, such property is rather 
 to be tolerated than encouraged. Its further 
 progress ought to be checked, and if the amount 
 of it already established can be diminished by 
 fair and peaceable means, it is desirable to 
 do so. 
 
 A right to fish, either on the open sea or in
 
 236 OF PROPERTY. 
 
 rivers, approaches to this class, though the former 
 is sometimes, and the latter almost universally 
 appropriated. So is a right to sail in navigable 
 rivers, and to the use of harbours. These last 
 generally require the aid of art to render them 
 commodious ; but as the expense may be de- 
 frayed by the public, and reimbursed by a 
 suitable toll levied on those who partake of the 
 benefit, there seems to be no reason for allowing 
 them to afford a revenue to private proprietors. 
 We do not deal in this manner with high- 
 ways. The general good requires that roads be 
 carried through appropriated ground ; but we 
 do not allow the proprietor to derive an emolu- 
 ment from this at the expense of the public. 
 We give him a reasonable price for the ground 
 which the road occupies, and impose a toll upon 
 travellers, adequate to the gradual extinction of 
 this price and the expense of forming the road 
 and keeping it in repair, and no more. Though 
 the authority of local acts of parliament be 
 required for this purpose, these are now granted 
 so much of course, that this may be considered 
 as the established law of the land. Why we 
 should not act in the same manner in regard to 
 ferries is not immediately apparent.
 
 OF PROPERTY. 237 
 
 The right of catching' and killing animals 
 fer<B naturcc is of a like kind, though there may 
 be good reasons for restraining certain classes 
 of men from exercising it, or for bestowing it 
 exclusively on the proprietor of the lands where 
 the animals are found. In some parts of the 
 country this right has been assigned for a 
 pecuniary consideration, and has become an 
 object of considerable value. 
 
 Some other established rights encroach still 
 more upon natural freedom, and are entitled to 
 less favourable regard. Of this kind are mo- 
 nopolies unsupported by any claim to inven- 
 tion. These are infringements on the right, 
 which belongs to every man, of exercising 
 his industry in whatever manner he pleases. 
 This was an evil of considerable magnitude in 
 England so late as the reign of Elizabeth, but 
 is now almost entirely done away. The ex- 
 clusive right of printing the Scriptures is an 
 instance in which it still subsists. 
 
 Sinecure offices, and all offices which are 
 bought and sold, and affi)rd a sinecure profit to 
 the holder, stand in this unfavourable predica- 
 ment. The emoluments of these offices, in 
 whatever manner they are paid, are ultimately
 
 238 OF PROPERTY. 
 
 a charge on the coiiiniuiiity. If the offices be 
 useful, the public has a right to be served, on 
 payment of a suitable compensation for the dis- 
 charge of the duty, due allowance being made 
 for the abilities it requires, and every other cir- 
 cumstance that may enhance its value ; but if the 
 person who exercises the office procures it for 
 payment of a sum of money, or of an annual rent, 
 this amounts to demonstration that the emolu- 
 ments are more than adequate for the services 
 performed. Besides the burthen thus imposed 
 on the public, other important evils arise from 
 this mode of conferring offices. It exposes them 
 to the risk of being filled by improper persons. 
 If the seller be allowed to choose, he will gene- 
 rally prefer the person who offers the highest 
 price. Even when the consent of a superior 
 is necessary to ratify the transaction, the seller^ 
 having the time in his power, will always have 
 considerable influence in getting it settled in 
 the way that suits his private interest. 
 
 In a neighl)ouring country, previous to the 
 late revolution, the seats of justice were in 
 general saleable. In this country the inferior 
 commissions in the army are usually obtained 
 by purchase. This system was introduced in
 
 OF PROPERTY. 239 
 
 tlie last century, and upon the whole has gained 
 ground, notwithstanding regulations on the 
 part of government to restrict it, A\'hich are 
 much evaded. In the navy it has never obtained 
 a footing, and every friend to our naval power 
 would deprecate its introduction. 
 
 It Avould be hard to deprive an officer who had 
 pm-chased, of the privilege of selling ; but the 
 system may be gradually done away by limiting 
 the permission to that case alone. IMeasures to 
 that effect have been embraced by our present 
 Commander-in-chief, and deserve much praise; 
 but it will require strict vigilance and long per- 
 severance to give them full effect. 
 
 The Scottish aristocracy, previous to the rebel- 
 lion in 1745, enjoyed hereditary jurisdictions in 
 their respective demesnes very inconsistent with 
 the genuine principles of liberty. These were 
 abolished by the legislature, after the suppression 
 of that rebellion, upon payment of a pecuniary 
 consideration, less than they demanded, but 
 more, perhaps, than they ought in strictness to 
 have received. 
 
 A revenue arising from a tax levied on the 
 public for the benefit of a particular family is a
 
 240 OF PROPERTY. 
 
 property of a very exceptionable nature. Of 
 this kind is a tax on coals imported into the city 
 of London. 
 
 The holders of monopolies, sinecures, and 
 saleable offices, are not in optima fide, in regard 
 to these kinds of property ; yet their case is 
 favourable Avhen compared with those who claim 
 a property in the persons of their fellow-crea- 
 tures. The recognition of slavery is so gross a 
 violation of humanity, of justice, of the clearest 
 and most valuable natural rights, that no law or 
 custom can sanction it, nor can any reasons of 
 expedience be deemed sufficient to defend it. 
 In ancient times, when slavery was in full 
 force in Europe, the labours of agriculture and 
 mechanic trades were chiefly performed by 
 slaves, and a proposal of general manumission 
 would have been considered as inexpedient, in 
 consequence of the stop it would have occasioned 
 to these necessary employments. Since slavery 
 has, in many countries, disappeared, rather by the 
 influence of religion and manners than the force 
 of positive laws, the useful arts have been ad- 
 vanced to a nuich higher degree of perfection, 
 through the exertion of freemen, animated by
 
 OF PROPERTY, 241 
 
 the prospect of reaping the reward of their 
 own incUistry. 
 
 In Scotland, till lately, labourers employed 
 in coal-mines and salt-works were bonds- 
 men. This remnant of slavery is now abolished 
 without any detriment to the proprietors. In 
 some countries of Europe a certain degree of 
 slavery still takes place among the peasants, 
 who are adscripti glehcB, as was the general case 
 some centuries ago. This species of servitude 
 is relaxing, and has been discouraged by several 
 intelligent princes, and voluntarily resigned by 
 many liberal-minded proprietors. It will pro- 
 bably, in no long time, be completely done 
 away. 
 
 But while Europe has thus happily got nearly 
 free of slavery at home, she still countenances 
 that \vretclied institution in her American co- 
 lonies. Slavery prevails there to a very great 
 extent, and is in some resj)ects more severe 
 than any that prevailed in former ages. To the 
 execrable African slave-trade we may in a great 
 measure ascribe the state of barbarism of one en- 
 tire quarter of the globe. It does honour to Bri- 
 tain, that she has taken the lead in the abolition of 
 that infamous traffic, and not only renounced it 
 
 R
 
 242 OF PROPERTY. 
 
 on her own behalf, and prohibited the exercise of 
 it by all her subjects, under the heaviest penalties, 
 but used her endeavours to procure the concur- 
 rence of other powers to the same effect, though 
 hitherto w ith very little success. 
 
 While we decidedly condemn the institution 
 of slavery as unjust and inexpedient, we would 
 not provoke the precipitate overthrow of a fabric 
 which has acquired so great magnitude. This 
 might be attended with evils of a serious kind, 
 even to the slaves themselves, which ought to 
 be guarded against by such preliminary measures 
 as prudence may suggest ; while we pursue a 
 cautious but decided course that may, at first, 
 ameliorate the condition of that unhappy class of 
 men, and afterwards lead to a full abolition of 
 slavery, with all its concomitant evils. When 
 this can be accomplished, although a pecuniary 
 compensation to those who lose, or suppose 
 themselves to lose, by the change, may be rather 
 a measure of prudence than of strict justice, yet 
 no good man would hesitate to contribute there- 
 to, providing that by doing so he could accele- 
 rate an object in which the interest of humanity 
 is so deeply concerned. 
 
 On the whole, the foundation of property.
 
 OF PROPERTY. 243 
 
 may be comprehended under the following 
 aphorisms : — 
 
 1st. The share of wealth which arises from 
 the labour of the present generation belongs, by 
 the clearest of all titles, to the respective la- 
 bourers. 
 
 2d. The share of wealth arising from the 
 labour of former generations belongs to the pos- 
 terity of those who produced it, or to tliose 
 whom they have appointed their successors. 
 
 3d. The wealth acquired from land, being 
 obtained in a great measure by culture and 
 improvement, and its original and acquired value 
 being intimately and inseparably blended, belongs 
 to the original occupiers and improvers, and 
 their representatives. 
 
 4th. As it is requisite, for the peace of society, 
 that all land be appropriated, occupation, even 
 wdien not followed l^y improvement, must be 
 sustained as conferring a title. 
 
 5th. As the original proprietors are forgotten 
 in the lapse of ages, possession for a certain 
 length of time must be admitted as affording a 
 presumptive right. 
 
 6th. The appropriation of things which may 
 be enjoyed by all, as the right of fishing, and the 
 
 R2
 
 244 OF PROPERTY. 
 
 like, is not necessary, yet may be supported by 
 reasons of expediency, and when it has been 
 admitted it ought to remain secure. 
 
 7th. Right of monopolies, offices, and the like, 
 are a species of property in mala fide, and ought 
 to be resisted, and abolished by peaceable means, 
 but not without granting some indemnification 
 to those who held them under the sanction of the 
 laws of the society. 
 
 8th. The property which consists of slaves is 
 in pesshnafide, and ought to be abolished as soon 
 as can be done without incurring greater evils. 
 If any indemnification be given to the pro- 
 prietors, it is rather a sacrifice to prudence and 
 expedience, than a claim strictly due to justice. 
 
 9th. Property of every kind may be hiwfully 
 conveyed among the living by sale or donation, 
 and the purchaser or donee succeeds to the full 
 right of the former proprietor.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 EDUCATION OF THE LOWER RANKS. 
 
 Religion is, beyond comparison, the most im- 
 portant part of education. When properly taught, 
 it includes every moral and social duty ; and, 
 among others, industry, temperance, and econo- 
 my. Tlie communication of religious instruction 
 is more peculiarly the duty of its ministers, and 
 heavy is the responsiljility of those who neglect 
 it altogether, or perform it remissly. Notwith- 
 standing the exertions of the most active minister 
 of religion, the religious education of a family 
 depends chiefly upon the parents. A pious parent 
 in a Christian country can hardly be without 
 sufficient knowledge to enable him to discharge 
 this duty. His instructions and example will, in 
 most instances, make a deep imj)ression on his 
 children, and the requisite time Vvill hardly in- 
 terfere with his other occupations, esj^ecially if 
 Sunday be spent as it ought to be. 
 
 It is, however, what may be called the 
 secular part of education that the political eco- 
 nomist has chiefly occasion to consider.
 
 246 
 
 EDUCATION OF THE LOWKR RANKS. 
 
 An opinion has been entertained, and by 
 many publicly avowed, that all attempts to 
 raise the character of the lower ranks by edu- 
 cation are improper, as tending to indispose 
 them for that labour which their station in life 
 subjects them to. They have been considered as 
 machines, and the quantity of work that could 
 be extracted from them as the only object to be 
 attended to ; and the improvement of their ra- 
 tional nature and moral qualities, unless so far as 
 subservient to their mechanical use, ought, it has 
 been thought, to be disregarded. Few, we hope, 
 noAv entertain these illiberal opinions, and such 
 as do are generally ashamed to avow them. 
 
 It is now generally admitted, that the inferior 
 parts of education may be bestowed upon all 
 without unfitting them for the occupations of 
 a humble station ; that a man is not unquali- 
 fied for the plough or the loom, though he 
 can read and wu'ite ; and that these acquire- 
 ments, to a certain degree, are useful and gra- 
 tifying to himself, as well as advantageous to his 
 neighbours. 
 
 But where ought the education of the lower 
 ranks to stop ? The objections to carrying it 
 too far are, that it would occupy too much
 
 EDUCATION OF THR LOWER RANKS. 247 
 
 time, and would induce a turn of mind that 
 indisposes the hiborious ranks for the employ- 
 ments by which they must gain their bread ; 
 and of consequence impair, instead of promote, 
 their happiness. 
 
 The narrowest opinion is, that they ought to 
 be taught no more than is requisite for enabling 
 them to perform properly what belongs to their 
 own sphere. The more liberal opinion, which 
 we embrace, is, that whatever contributes to 
 improve their intellectual powers, or afford them 
 sources of enjoyment, should be put within their 
 reach, providing it do not lead to the bad con- 
 sequences above-mentioned. 
 
 The great merit of the system of education 
 for the poor in Scotland is generally acknow- 
 ledged. In every parish a school is established, 
 and in large parishes more than one, where 
 reading, writing, and arithmetic are taught, and 
 the scholars instructed in the principles of reli- 
 gion. Part of the schoolmaster's income is paid 
 by the public, and the fees paid by the scholars 
 are very moderate, and in some places the fees 
 of poor scholars are paid from a charitable 
 fund. These schools are regularly visited by 
 a committee of parochial clergy appointed by
 
 248 EDUCATION OF THE LOWER RANKS. 
 
 their respective presbyteries, to whom a report 
 of their condition is made, and these reports are 
 afterwards arranged, and transmitted to the 
 general Assembly, or supreme Ecclesiastical 
 court in Scotland. The books read at these 
 schools are chiefly the Scriptures and catechisms, 
 sometimes a collection of extracts from good 
 authors, in prose or verse. The masters are in 
 general diligent, unexceptionable in their moral 
 conduct, and sufficiently qualified for the dis- 
 charge of their office ; and not a few of them 
 possess attainments superior to what is required 
 in their situation. Few parents neglect to 
 send their children to these schools, and few 
 of the lower ranks in Scotland are unable to 
 read and write, as those who cannot are every 
 where held in little respect. 
 
 This system is good, and generally well con- 
 ducted. It might, however, admit of improve- 
 ment. The course of reading might be further 
 extended in behalf of those scholars Avho can 
 remain longer than others at school, and to all of 
 them some kno^vledge of geography, natural and 
 civil history, and the most useful parts of some 
 other sciences, might be connnunicated. We do 
 not think it proper to keep those w ho are to gain
 
 EDUCATION OF THE LOWER RANKS. 249 
 
 their bread by labour long at school. Habits of 
 industry must be acquired in early life. But 
 arrangements might be made by which a youth, 
 who, after having been some time at school, was 
 engaged in labour, might spend some portion of 
 his time for a year or two afterwards in acquir- 
 ing farther knowledge. We disapprove of teach- 
 ing the learned languages at conmion parish 
 schools, as being unsuital>le to the classes for 
 Avhom they are intended, and taking up the 
 master's time, who has enough to do besides. 
 Without derogating in the slightest degree from 
 the value of classical literature, we apprehend 
 that the establishment of grammar-schools in 
 towns and large villages would be sufficient for 
 all that ought to prosecute it. 
 
 The system of Sunday schools has of late 
 been encouraged with truly Christian zeal. 
 We deem them highly useful to those who can 
 afford no more ; but they ought not to su- 
 persede the more complete education which 
 day schools confer, in cases where it can be 
 afforded. 
 
 The income of the parish and other school- 
 masters is generally too low, and they well 
 deserve to have it increased. 
 
 A man who has acquired a little knowledge
 
 250 EDUCATION OF THE LOWER RANKS, 
 
 at school, may have a desire to acquire more, 
 and allot part of the time exempt from labour 
 to that purpose. This takes place frequently, 
 though not universally. 
 
 In a few parishes a common library is estab- 
 lished by a part of the inhabitants, the expense 
 being defrayed by a payment from each mem- 
 ber at entry, together Avith a small annual con- 
 tribution. It is to be wished that those were 
 more general. They may be under the superin- 
 tendence of the minister of the parish, who 
 should select the books, consisting of religious 
 and moral works ; history, natural and civil ; 
 books relating to agriculture and other arts ; 
 poetry and miscellanies ; but avoiding treatises 
 of a controversial tendency, whether theological 
 or political. 
 
 In several towns of this country institutions 
 have of late been established in which courses 
 of lectures on natural philosophy and chemistry, 
 illustrated by experiments, are delivered in a 
 manner adapted to the apprehension of those 
 who have not much previous science. These 
 lectures are chiefly attended by mechanics, who 
 are admitted upon payment of a very moderate 
 fee. They have been well attended, and are 
 likely to prove very useful.
 
 EDUCATION 0.F THE LOWER RANKS. 251 
 
 111 reply to those who reprobate all attempts 
 to raise the character of the poor by education, 
 as tending to indispose them to labour, or as 
 being altogether impracticable, we would appeal 
 to those instances in which the effects of edu- 
 cation have been most successful. We could 
 point out some among them, who, though they 
 have not become more wealthy than their neigh- 
 bours, have yet attained a superiority of intelli- 
 gence, which qualifies them to become agree- 
 able companions to any order of society. This, 
 indeed, is not very common, but as education is 
 improved, it might be expected to become more 
 general. We have never observed that persons 
 of this character were less diligent than others 
 in their ordinary occupations, and they are sel- 
 dom or never addicted to intemperance.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 
 
 Before proceeding to the consideration of the 
 consequences resulting from foreign commerce, 
 it may be useful to take a view of the different 
 measures of comfort and enjoyment which arise 
 from the union of mankind in small or numerous 
 communities. We have had occasion to touch on 
 this topic incidentally already, and now propose 
 to enter on a fuller detail of the effects of 
 numbers on the condition of society, apart, as 
 far as may be, from collateral considerations, 
 though we may not be able to do this without 
 some repetition. 
 
 In order to treat this subject with perspicuity, 
 we shall consider societies of men, as they in- 
 crease in number, to be constituted in several 
 progressive states, which we shall distinguish 
 by the letters A. B. C, &c. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to premise, that we do 
 not consider these states as limited to the precise 
 number and condition mentioned. They are not
 
 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 253 
 
 separated from each other by any broad or 
 visible line of distinction. Each of them con- 
 tains an indefinite number of gradations, blending 
 into each other, and approaching on one hand to 
 the highest grade of the class immediately lower, 
 and on the other to the lowest grade of the class 
 immediately higher. 
 
 A. We begin with considering the case of a 
 very small community, and, as it is unneces- 
 sary for our present purpose to delineate one 
 which has rarely existed, and which affords no 
 instruction, we shall first take a view of the 
 state of a few settlers, in a country of consider- 
 able fertility, who have some knowledge of 
 agriculture, and the more common mechanic 
 arts, and who possess the most common tools and 
 some materials for present use. We shall also 
 suppose that there is, adjoining to their settle- 
 ment, an extensive tract of unoccupied country, 
 by which they are enabled to extend their boun- 
 daries, as their numbers increase, without oppo- 
 sition. We suppose them (Avith an exception or 
 two after-mentioned) to have no commercial 
 dealings with any other nation : but we do not 
 exclude them from such intercourse as may 
 allow of emigration, and the introduction of
 
 254 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 
 
 useful arts. At first, the settlement may con- 
 sist of about twenty families ; such as is repre- 
 sented in the second part of the tale of Robin- 
 son Crusoe. For their immediate supply of 
 food, they would collect any spontaneous fruits 
 or esculent herbs which the country afforded ; 
 but, as these are likely to be insufficient for 
 their maintenance through the year, they would 
 as soon as possible have recourse to agricul- 
 ture. As they have no labouring cattle, the 
 cultivation of the land would be perfoniied by 
 the spade, and every man would cultivate a 
 portion sufficient for his maintenance, and that 
 of his family ; but, as there is no way of dispos- 
 ing of a surplus produce, no more corn ^vould be 
 raised than they required. They might vary 
 their food occasionally, by catching wild animals 
 and by fishing, and would construct weapons and 
 other implements required for these purposes. 
 
 One of their first employments would be to 
 erect dwellings suited to the climate, of wood, 
 or other materials which the country supplied, 
 and provide them with the most useful articles 
 of household furniture. As their families in- 
 creased, they would enlarge the extent of their 
 cultivated ground. All their time would not be
 
 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 255 
 
 required for the labours of agriculture, and a 
 part of it would be occupied in rendering their 
 houses and furniture more convenient, and in 
 fabricating clothing from such materials as 
 they could command. 
 
 It is likely that three or four families would 
 have their habitations contiguous, for the sake of 
 society and mutual assistance ; but the commu- 
 nity (supposed to amount to twenty families) 
 would be distributed in several hamlets, so that 
 each person might be near to the land which he 
 cultivated. Whatever portion of land a man 
 cultivated would become his property, and also 
 what he inclosed for keeping domestic animals, 
 Avhen these were obtained. 
 
 As it would be desirable each should have a 
 sufficient extent of contiguous land to be brought 
 into culture when the increase of his family re- 
 quired it, the hamlets would be at such a distance 
 as to give scope for this extension. To accom- 
 plish this, some conventional arrangement would 
 be required among all the members of the so- 
 ciety ; and, if they had abundance of land, this 
 would be accomplished without difficulty. 
 
 The hamlets would not be so far distant as to 
 prevent all the settlers from meeting frequently.
 
 256 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 
 
 If the Christian religion were known, they 
 would convene at some central place on Sunday 
 for divine worship, when one of the most respect- 
 able of the society would preside. A house 
 sufficient to contain the whole community at 
 these meetings, and on other occasions, would be 
 built. 
 
 In this small community there is little occa- 
 sion for division of lal^our, yet it might not be 
 entirely wanting. Some of its members ^vould 
 have superior natural ingenuity, or mechanic 
 skill. One of them would, most probably, have 
 been bred a carpenter, another a blacksmith, 
 another a mason or a shoemaker. Each of 
 these would furnish what is required from his 
 particular craft to the whole community, receiv- 
 ing in return such recompense in labour or 
 otherwise as the other mem))ers could give. 
 There Avould be no use for money of any kind. 
 There would be few grounds for dissension, and 
 any difference which might arise would be 
 decided by the community. We have supposed 
 no enemies ; but if a risk of invasion was appre- 
 hended, it would lead to the training of every 
 adult male to military exercise, and the use of 
 weapons.
 
 KFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 257 
 
 Sucli a community might enjoy a full allow- 
 ance of the necessaries, and a considerable share 
 of the comforts of life, though few of its luxuries. 
 There would be little distinction of station. 
 The children of each family would receive such 
 education as the parents could give them at 
 home, and would ])e put to labour when they 
 became fit for it. 
 
 The occupation of mining is scarcely com- 
 patible with so narrow a society, yet without 
 iron they could do little. We must, therefore, 
 allow them, after their original stock is ex- 
 hausted, to import that article from some other 
 place, till their numbers be so much increased 
 as to put the operations of the forge within their 
 reach. The other metals they may dispense 
 with till they arrive at that stage. 
 
 B. — As in a small society, possessing an exten- 
 sive tract of land, there would be little impedi- 
 ment to early marriage, from the fear of want 
 of food, or from the demands of luxury, their 
 numbers would increase rapidly, and the increase 
 might be accelerated by emigration. Let us 
 suppose them increased to a thousand families, 
 or five thousand persons, a number answering 
 to one of our larger parishes. 
 
 S
 
 258 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE, 
 
 The most important change in their condition 
 would be a further progress in the division of 
 labour. Not only the occupations of the car- 
 penter, the blacksmith, the mason, and the shoe- 
 maker, but those of the butcher, the tanner, 
 and the tailor, would be exercised by different 
 persons, and these tradesmen would allot their 
 whole time, or nearly so, to their respective 
 occupations, and receive their food from the 
 agricultural part of the community, in recom- 
 pense for their services : whereas, in the smaller 
 society, they only exercised their trades in the 
 intervals of agricultural labour. 
 
 Several trades would now be introduced 
 which were not practised before. In enumerat- 
 ing the few employments which might in some 
 measure be separated in a very small commu- 
 nity, we did not mention that of the weaver. 
 We considered his loom as too complex a ma- 
 chine for that period. So long as it was not used, 
 the materials for clothing would consist chiefly 
 of the skins of animals, or the bark of trees. If 
 any thing resembling cloth was made from the 
 wool of their sheep, it would be fabricated by 
 their females, in the most inartificial manner. 
 They would scarcely use a machine more com-
 
 liFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 259 
 
 plex than the distaff or the knitting-needle. 
 Now the introduction of the spinning-wheel and 
 the loom give an important accession to their 
 clothing. The machines used by them would be 
 inferior to what we now employ, and the Avork 
 performed by them would be plain and without 
 variety; yet with these defects they would furnish 
 a much more comfortable raiment than they 
 had before. Wool would be the first material 
 for their webs. Flax and cotton, if suited to 
 the climate, would be cultivated and manufac- 
 tured afterwards. 
 
 The corn-mill is another valuable machine 
 that may be now introduced. Formerly their 
 corn was prepared for food by pounding it in a 
 mortar, or some such inartificial manner. The 
 hand-mill would be the first step of improve- 
 ment, and would be succeeded by the mill driven 
 
 by water. 
 
 The ground requisite for the maintenance of 
 a thousand families, and their flocks and herds, 
 would be of considerable extent ; Ijut in a fertile 
 country would not reach to a distance that i)re- 
 vented them from meeting once a week, in some 
 central place, and their former habits would 
 induce them to do so. A church sufficient to 
 
 S 2
 
 260 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 
 
 contain the number Avliicli usually assembled 
 would be built. Respect for the character of 
 the person who presided at divine worship and 
 dispensed the ordinances of religion, and a sense 
 of the importance of his functions, might induce 
 the community to exempt him from other 
 labour, and assign him a suitable maintenance. 
 The business of a schoolmaster would also be- 
 come a separate employment. At first the duties 
 of the clergyman and the schoolmaster might 
 be discharged by the same person. When, from 
 the increase of numbers, these duties became 
 too much for one man, the employments would 
 be separated. 
 
 The increase of numbers would occasion the 
 erection of new hamlets, reaching gradually to 
 a greater distance from the original one, in every 
 accessible direction : but the elder branches of 
 each family would generally remain in the first 
 hamlet ; and the younger branches, when foris- 
 familiated, would establish new ones in the re- 
 mote parts of the settlement. The church and 
 school AA ould have their place in the first ham- 
 let, and most of those who exercised mechanical 
 employments would remain in the same vicinity. 
 Hence a village would arise, Avhich, besides
 
 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 261 
 
 those employed in cultivating the adjoining 
 ground, woidd be inhabited by the clergyman, 
 the schoolmaster, the miller, the carpenter, tlie 
 mason, the blacksmith, the weaver, the tanner, 
 the shoemaker, the butcher, and the baker, and 
 by as many of each of these professions as the 
 demands of the community required. 
 
 The separation of employments, however, 
 would not be complete. In parts remote from the 
 village, the inhabitants, though chiefly employed 
 in agriculture, would occasionally do the work 
 of the carpenter, the mason, and the blacksmith ; 
 and the operations of baking, brcA^^ing and dress- 
 making would be performed in the family, chiefly 
 by the females. This junction of employments 
 takes place, partially, in communities pretty far 
 advanced, at a distance from toAvns. It has not 
 yet entirely ceased in some remote districts of 
 Scotland, though it is fast Avearing away. 
 
 For the smaller society Ave supposed the 
 operations of agriculture performed by manual 
 labour, as that appeared sufiicient in their cir- 
 cumstances, and all that Avas attainable. We 
 may now expect them to procure some labour- 
 ing cattle by importation or otherwise. Though 
 a fcAV of these only Avere obtained at first, they
 
 262 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 
 
 would, by proper care, increase rapidly, and 
 supersede manual labour in such agricultural 
 operations as they could be employed in. The 
 plough, from its superior efficacy, would confine 
 the spade to the operations of the garden. 
 These animals, being also employed for car- 
 riages and riding, would facilitate communica- 
 tion between different parts of the settlement. 
 
 Some other accessions may take place at this 
 stage of society, or Avhen it becomes a little 
 more numerous. There are now some com- 
 modities to exchange, and the retail shopkeeper 
 may become a useful member for their dis- 
 tribution. His shop, therefore, finds a place in 
 the village. There is not yet much occasion for 
 a circulating medium, yet money might find its 
 way. Previous to the introduction of the pre- 
 cious metals, the value of commodities would 
 be estimated by reference to a bushel of corn, 
 or some other commodity selected for that pur- 
 pose. 
 
 In a very small community there is not much 
 inequality of circumstances. But this insinu- 
 ates itself, and expands with the increase of 
 numbers. Some men consume, almost imme- 
 diately, all that they earn, while others lay up for
 
 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE, 263 
 
 futurity. There is not the same variety of ways 
 for investing savings, in the stage of society we 
 are now considering, as in a more advanced one, 
 yet they are not entirely wanting. The increase 
 of flocks and herds is one of the readiest. The 
 mechanic may acquire more complete machi- 
 nery, and all may acquire better houses and fur- 
 niture, or lay up a share of materials for private 
 use. 
 
 At the beginning of the settlement, land had 
 no exchangeable value, as every man had access 
 to as much as he could cultivate. Now, though he 
 may still have a sufficiency of land by removing 
 to a distance, there are many circumstances 
 which render a residence near the centre of the 
 settlement desirable, and a person who has ac- 
 quired property of any kind may be willing to 
 give a part, in order to a temporary or perma- 
 nent possession of land in the most eligible part 
 of the settlement. Hence land thus situated 
 acquires an exchangeable value. It becomes a 
 subject for sale, or may be let for an annual 
 rent. 
 
 A medical man would now be required, and 
 would find em})loyment. As this small com- 
 munity could not contain an establishment fit to
 
 264 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 
 
 give him the requisite education, he must be 
 brought from some country in a state of further 
 advancement. He will exercise jointly the 
 several branches of the profession, — medicine, 
 surgery, pharmacy. If he have some knowledge 
 of natural history, especially geology and mine- 
 ralogy, he will prove a most useful member of 
 the community. 
 
 It would be well, if, at this period, we could 
 keep clear of the alehouse ; but it is not unlikely 
 it may intrude itself into some corner of the 
 village. 
 
 Every enlargement that renders society more 
 complex is apt to occasion differences in regard 
 to property, and though it might be hoped there 
 Avould be few or no heinous crimes, yet offences 
 deserving punishment might sometimes be com- 
 mitted. When the community becomes too 
 numerous to assemble collectively, it would 
 delegate one or more of its most respectable 
 members to exercise the functions of a magis- 
 trate, probably for a year, or other limited time, 
 to be succeeded by others elected in the same 
 manner. The duties of these magistrates would 
 be within the reach of men of sound understand- 
 ing and probity. As there is no complex system
 
 EFFliCT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 265 
 
 of laws, no special education would be required, 
 and there would be no occasion for the separate 
 profession of a lawyer. The excellent mode of 
 trial by jury is likely to be had recourse to. 
 
 C. — The community, continuing to increase, 
 will, in progress of time, amount to one hundred 
 thousand persons, and occupy an extent of terri- 
 tory answering to one of our counties. The 
 division of labour will now be carried farther. 
 The occupations of the blacksmith, the liu-rier, 
 the nailer, the cutler, the coppersmith, the tin- 
 man, and the plumber, will be exercised by 
 different persons. So will those of the house- 
 carpenter, the joiner, the cartwright, the sawyer, 
 and the turner. Other employments will be 
 subdivided in the same manner. 
 
 Another distinction will now take place, that 
 of master and journeyman. In a small com- 
 munity, every mechanic is an independent work- 
 man : but now, the machinery being more com- 
 plex, and many employments being carried on 
 with more advantage on a large scale, they can 
 only be carried on by persons who possess the 
 requisite capital, and other tradesmen are ob- 
 liged to engage as journeymen Avith such 
 masters. 
 
 The want of capital is not the only circum
 
 266 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 
 
 stance that induces tradesmen to engage as 
 journeymen. They have generally more cer- 
 tainty of obtaining constant employment by doing 
 so. An independent blacksmith or carpenter 
 might be frequently out of work. By engaging 
 with a master in extensive business, he is 
 generally sure of constant employment for a 
 considerable time, and he prefers this certainty 
 though he gives his labour for something less. 
 Still, however, there will be a considerable 
 number of independent workmen in occupations 
 of a simpler kind. 
 
 One of the most valuable improvements which 
 may take place in this stage of society, is the 
 forging of metals. The operations of mining, 
 smelting, and forming the various articles for 
 which metals furnish the materials, and con- 
 structing the requisite apparatus, could not be 
 undertaken till the society became considerably 
 numerous. The operations of the glass-house, 
 and the potter's kiln, may also now be in- 
 troduced. 
 
 Men have now learned to penetrate into the 
 depths of the earth in search of hidden treasure. 
 They will meet with fossil coal, if there be any 
 in the country. 
 
 Agriculture, in a small society, is Ihnited to
 
 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 267 
 
 the cultivation of plants required for food. It 
 will now become more varied, and applied to 
 whatever plants contribute in any way to human 
 comfort. Fruits of various kinds will be raised 
 in the gardens, vineyards will be planted, flax, 
 cotton, tobacco, sugar, and coffee will be cul- 
 tivated as the climate suits, and afford the inha- 
 bitants a variety of materials for clothing and 
 luxury. 
 
 The water-mill, formerly only used for grind- 
 ing corn, will now be applied to a variety of 
 purposes. We can hardly yet reach the steam- 
 engine. 
 
 The extent of land which the community now 
 occupies will occasion the erection of new 
 villages in different places; and the original 
 village, increasing gradually, will assume the 
 character of a town. The more ordinary me- 
 chanical employments will be carried on in every 
 village, but those of a nicer or more intricate 
 kind will be confined to the town, or some 
 appropriate situation. An easy communication 
 between the town and country, that the wares 
 of the former may be exchanged for the produce 
 of the latter, will be an object of general import- 
 ance. Highways will be formed, bridges built.
 
 268 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 
 
 and in due time a post-office will be established. 
 A printing-press will be set to Avork, and a 
 newspaper circulated. 
 
 The extension of wealth will lead to the in- 
 troduction of several new professions. The 
 jeweller, the watchmaker, the bookseller, the 
 milliner will iind employment. Perhaps some 
 of the wealthiest may set up a wheel carriage. 
 The coachmaker will be ready to lend his 
 services. 
 
 As the church in the town becomes insuffi- 
 cient for the enlarged community, and too dis- 
 tant from the remote parts of the settlement, 
 other churches Avill be built in the principal 
 villages. Hence the division of the territory 
 into parishes. Whether they assume the epis- 
 copalian or presbyterian form of church govern- 
 ment, the ministers of the different parishes will 
 be connected by some common bond of disci- 
 pline and government. Schools will be opened 
 in the villages, and a school of a superior kind 
 in the toAvn. 
 
 D. — In process of time the inhabitants increase 
 to a million, forming a little kingdom or com- 
 monwealth. The division of labour, inequality of 
 circumstances, and the introduction of a variety
 
 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 269 
 
 of employments subservient to luxury, which 
 had made considerable progress in the former 
 stage, Avill now be advanced to a higher pitch. 
 Steam-engines and machinery of the most com- 
 plicated kind will be had recourse to ; navigable 
 canals and railways constructed ; and the civil 
 engineer added to the list of professional men. 
 The former villages will be enlarged into towns, 
 and the former town will become a capital. 
 
 The government, whether monarchical, repub- 
 lican, or mixed, will become more complicated. 
 Local magistrates with limited powers will be 
 established in different parts of the country, 
 subject to the control of a superior court in the 
 capital. The profession of a lawyer becomes a 
 separate one. 
 
 The important but equivocal measure of a 
 separation between the civil and military states, 
 may now be considered as inevitable. 
 
 In the former stages the profession of the 
 elegant arts, and those subservient to luxury, if 
 exercised at all, Avould remain in a feeble condi- 
 tion. Now they will meet with liberal en- 
 couragement, and this will lead to improvement 
 and display of talent. The painter, the sculptor, 
 the engraver, and the architect, will acquire 
 distinction ; so will the musician and the actor*
 
 270 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 
 
 A theatre, and other places of public amusement, 
 will be opened in the capital, and the performers 
 will occasionally visit the smaller towns, till 
 they be supplied by others of their own. 
 
 An university will be established, where in- 
 structions will be given in the several faculties 
 of theology, iaw, medicine, philosophy, and 
 classical literature, minutely subdivided into 
 their respective branches. 
 
 E. — The state, if the territory be sufficiently 
 extensive, will at last become a great nation, 
 perhaps containing ten millions of inhabitants. 
 It is foreign from our present design to enter 
 into the consideration of the rank which such a 
 nation is likely to assume among others ; of its 
 treaties, its naval and military exertions, or even 
 its commercial intercourse with them. We 
 inquire into the internal effects of so great an 
 increase of numbers, — what alterations this 
 would produce on the character and enjoyments 
 of the different classes of the society. 
 
 All the results mentioned under the last head 
 would extend in this to a higher degree. Me- 
 chanical improvements in every branch would 
 have so ample a range as scarcely to leave any 
 thing more to desire. 
 
 Inequality of wealth and distinction of station,
 
 EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 271 
 
 which had heeii gradually expanding Avith the 
 enlargement of society, will now become exces- 
 sive. It is to be feared that the vices which 
 accompany luxury would prevail among the 
 higher ranks, and that crimes would multiply 
 among the lower ones. 
 
 The metropolis now becomes a large city. It 
 is the seat of government, and the place where 
 the superior courts of judicature are held. This 
 fixes the residence of many to it. It is resorted 
 to by the wealthy of every description, most of 
 whom spend a part, and some of them the whole 
 of their time in it, for the sake of the grati- 
 fications it affords. It is an expensive place, and 
 the wages of labour are high ; therefore it is not 
 the seat of much manufacture, but it is filled by 
 numbers, whose employments are subservient to 
 luxury. It requires a large supply of provisions 
 and other articles from the country, some of 
 which are drawn from remote parts, and as it 
 has not an equivalent to give in return, unless 
 it be a place of foreign conmierce, these are 
 paid from the revenue of the wealthy inhabitants, 
 from whatever source derived. 
 
 It is the chief seat of lil^eral arts, the works 
 of which are exhibited in its gaUeries and
 
 272 , EFFECT OF NUMBERS IN A STATE. 
 
 museums. The manners of polished society are 
 carried to the highest pitch of refinement, and 
 the opportunities of improving conversation, 
 and easy access to books, lead to a diffusion of 
 general knowledge, which, though perhaps not 
 of the profoundest kind, is both useful and 
 agreeable. 
 
 The provincial towns assume the character of 
 cities. Some of them become extensive places 
 of manufacture, different branches of which are 
 established in them, as convenience or accident 
 directs. Hence an extensive intercourse be- 
 tween different parts of the country, and im- 
 provements in the highways, the railways, the 
 canals, the carriages, the posts. Some of the 
 cities become the seats of learning — others, 
 the occasional residence of the idle and the 
 valetudinary.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 The wealth of a country may be greatly in- 
 creased or diminished by its intercourse with 
 other countries. The intercourse of nation with 
 nation is either amicable or hostile. We are at 
 present to inquire into the effects of commerce 
 upon the public welfare, both in regard to the 
 wealth, and the moral state of society. 
 
 Commerce, according to some, is a transfer 
 of property in Avhich the gain of one party 
 arises from the loss of another, and in A\'hich the 
 more artful is enriched at the expense of his 
 improvident neighbour. Did wealth consist in 
 gold or silver, this opinion woukl be just. For 
 the quantity of these metals which flows into 
 one country must be withdra^A-n from another. 
 
 A system founded upon this principle long 
 prevailed, and regulated the connnercial laws 
 and treaties of nations. The sentiments wliich 
 were held as incontrovertible about a century 
 ago, will appear from the following extract, 
 
 T
 
 274 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 which we have selected on account of its 
 brevity. 
 
 " Give me leave to say that neither you, nor 
 all your clan of wits can put together so useful 
 and commodious a treatise for the welfare of 
 your fellow-subjects, as that which an eminent 
 merchant of this city has lately written. It is 
 called general maxims of trade, particularly 
 applied to the commerce between Great Britain 
 and France. 
 
 " I. That trade which exports manufactures 
 made of the produce of the country is undoubt- 
 edly good, such as sending abroad our Yorkshire 
 cloths, Colchester baize, Exeter serge, Norwich 
 stuffs, &c., which being made up of British 
 wool, as much as these exports amount to, so 
 much is the clear gain of the nation. 
 
 " II. That trade which helps off the con- 
 sumption of our superfluities is also advantage- 
 ous, as the export was of allum, copper, leather, 
 tin, lead, coals, &c. So much as the exported 
 superfluities amount to, so much also is the clear 
 national profit. 
 
 " III. The importation of foreign materials 
 to be manufactured at home, especially if the 
 goods, after being manufactured, are mostly sent 
 abroad, is also without doubt very beneficial, as,
 
 OF COMMERCE. 213 
 
 for instance, Spanish wool, Avhicli for that reason 
 is exempted from paying any duties. 
 
 " IV. The importation of foreign materials 
 to be manufactured by us, although the manu- 
 factured goods may be chiefly consumed by us, 
 may be also beneficial, especially when the said 
 materials are procured in exchange for our 
 commodities, as raAv silk, gogram, yarn, and 
 other goods from Turkey. 
 
 " V. Foreign materials wrought up here into 
 such goods as would otherwise be imported 
 ready manufactured, is a means of saving money 
 to the nation : such is the importation of hemp, 
 flax, and raw silk. It is, therefore, to be w^on- 
 dered at that these commodities are not exempt 
 from all duties, as well as Spanish wool. 
 
 " VI. A trade may be called good, which 
 exchanges manufactures for manufactures, and 
 commodities for commodities. Germany takes 
 as much of our woollen and other goods as we 
 do of their linen. By means of Avliich numbers 
 of people are employed on both sides to their 
 mutual advantage. 
 
 " VII. An importation of goods, bought 
 partly for money, and partly for goods, may be 
 of national advantage, if the greater part of 
 the commodities, thus imported, are again ex- 
 
 T2
 
 276 
 
 OF COMMERCE, 
 
 ported, as in the case of East India goods ; and 
 in general all imports of goods which are re- 
 exported are beneficial to a nation. 
 
 " VIII. The carrying of goods from one 
 foreign country to another is a profitable article 
 in trade. Our ships are often thus employed in 
 Portugal, Italy, and the Levant, and sometimes 
 in the East Indies. 
 
 " IX. When there is a necessity to import 
 goods which the nation cannot do without, al- 
 though such goods are chiefly purchased with 
 money, it cannot be accounted a bad trade, as 
 our trade to Norway and other parts, from which 
 are imported our naval stores and materials for 
 building." 
 
 " But a trade is disadvantageous^ to a nation, 
 
 " I. When it brings in things of mere luxury 
 and pleasure, which are entirely, or for the most 
 part, consumed among us ; and such I reckon the 
 wine trade to be, especially when the wine is 
 purchased for money, and not in exchange for 
 commodities. 
 
 " II. Much worse is that trade which brings 
 in a commodity that is not only consumed among 
 us, but hinders the consumption of a like 
 quantity of our own. As is the importation of 
 brandy, which hinders the spending of our ex-
 
 OF COMMERCE. 277 
 
 tracts of malt and molasses ; therefore very 
 properly charged with excessive duties. 
 
 " III. That trade is eminently bad which 
 supplies the same goods we manufacture our- 
 selves, especially if we can make enough of them 
 for our own consumption ; and I take this to be 
 the case of our silk manufacture, which, with 
 great labour and industry, is brought to perfec- 
 tion in London, Canterbury, and other places. 
 
 " IV. The importation, on easy terms, of such 
 manufactures as are already introduced into a 
 country must be of bad consecpience, and check 
 their progress, as would undoubtedly be the 
 case of the linen and paper manufactures of 
 Britain (which are of late much improved), if 
 these commodities were allowed to be brought 
 in without paying very high duties*." 
 
 These maxims exhibit the spirit of the mer- 
 cantile system which prevailed at that period, 
 and was so firmly rooted in the public mind, that 
 any reasoning in opposition to it would have 
 been rejected with disdain. They contain some 
 incontrovertible truths, with a large mixture of 
 error, and a portion of spleen against a nation 
 considered as our natural enemy. 
 
 The principle on which these maxims are 
 * Guardian, No. 170.
 
 278 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 founded is, that we should export as much, and 
 import as little as we can, in order that there 
 may be a large favourable balance, applied to 
 the increase of our public wealth. 
 
 Our celebrated nagivation act, and other com- 
 mercial laws, were founded on these principles ; 
 and, being opposed by similar laws from other 
 nations, gave rise to a commercial war, which 
 sometimes broke forth into open war, and 
 always tended to the obstruction of beneficial 
 commerce. 
 
 As this system has been ably refuted by Dr. 
 Smith and others, and is now not only generally 
 discarded by the philosopher, but even the legis- 
 latures of commercial nations have embraced 
 more liberal views, and relaxed much of their 
 cumbersome restrictions, it seems unnecessary 
 at present to enter into a detailed discussion of 
 its merits. 
 
 In general we may observe, that exportation 
 is only made for the sake of importation. Were 
 we to export without importing, we should throw 
 our commodities away. If we export a greater 
 value than we import, we throw them partially 
 away. If the value in use of our exports and 
 imports be equal, the advantage of commerce 
 would be problematic ; and it is only beneficial
 
 OF COMMERCIi. 279 
 
 when the commodities we import afford us a 
 greater share of the necessaries and enjoyments 
 of life than those which we give in exchange 
 for them. When this is the case, the value of 
 our imports, as exhibited in our custom-house 
 books, would exceed that of our exports, if both 
 were fairly appreciated. 
 
 A recollection of the now acknowledged weak- 
 ness of a system, long held to be incontrovert- 
 ible, should lead us to listen with candour to a 
 discussion on other topics, in regard to which 
 the public mind can hardly yet bear opposition 
 to the prevailing opinions, though founded, 
 perhaps, on no better basis than those now 
 abandoned. 
 
 Were the opinion of the reciprocity of gain 
 and loss in connnerce well-founded, a philan- 
 thropist would not be disposed to hold com- 
 merce in high esteem, though so conducted as 
 to prove beneficial to his own nation. If it only 
 enriches one nation by impoverishing another, 
 without adding to the mass of human enjoyment, 
 it deserves no encouragement from him, whose 
 aim it is to promote the general good of his 
 fellow-creatures. Yet, even in this view, it would 
 be too rigid to blame the merchants who en- 
 gaged in it, or the statesmen who promoted it.
 
 280 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 Every man and every state is actuated by a 
 desire of advancing their own welfare ; and, if 
 they pursue this intention without deceit or 
 violence, they cannot be blamed. Speculations 
 in regard to the general good are involved in 
 much obscurity, and there is reason to believe 
 that it cannot be more effectually promoted than 
 by the concurring efforts of individuals and 
 communities, each acting to promote its own. 
 
 It is a pleasant theme to vindicate commerce 
 upon liberal principles, and hold it forth as pro- 
 moting the general welfare of mankind. Such 
 is its natural tendency, and such in general will 
 be its consequences, when its direction is not 
 prevented by artificial restraints or excitement. 
 It can never be considerably or permanently 
 beneficial to one nation, unless it be also bene- 
 ficial to those with whom it trades ; and the 
 affluence of nations around us is so far from 
 interfering with our own, that it lays the foun- 
 dation of a more extensive commerce, and 
 furnishes the means of carrying general wealth 
 to the utmost pitch which the circumstances of 
 human nature admit of. 
 
 The only solid foundation of connnerce between 
 nations is the diversity of their commodities ; 
 each bestowing what the other wants, and
 
 OF COMMERCE. 281 
 
 thereby increasing their mutual comforts. This 
 diversity arises from two sources ; the natural 
 difference of their climates, and the difference of 
 the progress of the inhabitants in useful arts. 
 
 The diversity of produce is the most extensive 
 and permanent source of commerce. Some 
 necessary and many desirable articles can only 
 be produced in certain climates, or at least are 
 produced in these with so much greater facility, 
 that it is expedient other nations should be 
 supplied from them. By collecting from every 
 country the commodities which it furnishes, 
 something is added to the real enjoyment of life, 
 and much to the gratifications on which habit and 
 fashion have stamped a value. A modern Eng- 
 lishman cannot breakfast comfortably without 
 the infusion of a Chinese herb, served up in a 
 vessel from the same country, seasoned with the 
 juice of a West Indian reed refined in the me- 
 tropolis, and stirred with an implement obtained 
 from the mines of Potosi. 
 
 Although some climates are more liberally 
 supplied than others by the hand of nature, there 
 are few that have not some articles to give in 
 exchange for those they want. The coldest 
 inhabited countries are often Avell supplied with 
 wood and useful metals, and their seas abound
 
 282 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 with fish, particularly those kinds from which 
 animal oil is obtained. When we enter the 
 temperate zones, we meet with a country adapted 
 for raising corn and pasturing oxen, sheep, and 
 other cattle. At a certain latitude, the vine and 
 the olive, and many kinds of delicious fruits, 
 arrive at perfection. A little more warmth is 
 required for raising cotton, and rearing the 
 insect from whose labour silk is obtained. The 
 warmest climates supply us with sugar, coffee, 
 and spices. The cultivation of the tea-plant, 
 though it does not require a very warm climate, 
 has been hitherto confined to the eastern parts 
 of Asia. The exchange of these, and a few 
 other commodities, constitutes the greater part 
 of modern commerce. 
 
 The other source of commerce is the diversity 
 of skill which different nations have acquired in 
 particular arts. Each nation gives in exchange 
 those articles of which it has brought the manu- 
 facture to the greatest perfection. In process of 
 time, other nations may acquire that skill in 
 which they are at present deficient, and then 
 commerce, so far as it arises from this source, 
 will be discontinued. 
 
 The interchange of the works of mechanic 
 art gives the utmost range to the division of
 
 OF COMMERCE. 283 
 
 labour. We have already remarked the pro- 
 gress and utility of that practice. In a large 
 nation, it has sufficient scope by internal trade, 
 in many articles ; but there are some in which 
 it is capable of being carried so far that the do- 
 mestic market is insufficient, and a free com- 
 merce with the civilized world is requisite for 
 its expansion. The English manufacture of 
 hardware affords a remarkable instance of the 
 perfection to which art can be carried, and the 
 cheapness with which it can be executed on a 
 large scale, when the extent of the market is 
 very great. 
 
 In these ways the mutual advantages of com- 
 mercial nations are promoted. The produce of 
 the one, exchanged for the produce of the other, 
 and the manufactures of the one for the manu- 
 factures of the other, afford to both a greater 
 share of all that nature and art can supply. 
 Perha})s one nation is so far superior in industry 
 and skill, that their commerce is limited to an 
 exchange of manufactures for produce. This 
 may be beneficial to both nations ; but in dif- 
 ferent ways. The industrious nation receives, 
 as a reward for its labour, a larger share of the 
 bounties of nature. The more indolent or un- 
 skilful partake of the benefit of those arts
 
 284 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 which they are unable, when in that state, to 
 exercise. 
 
 An admission of these principles Avill tend to 
 remove some prejudices which prevail very 
 generally on this subject. 
 
 The activity of a trading town presents a scene 
 that makes a forcible and pleasing impression 
 on the imagination ; a large body of shipping in 
 constant motion, arriving from and departing 
 for every quarter of the world ; quays and ware- 
 houses filled with the productions of every cli- 
 mate, and every thing valuable that art can pre- 
 pare ; multitudes of men in different ranks of 
 life, all active, many thriving ; those who conduct 
 the operations enjoying affluence and accumulat- 
 ing wealth ; the diffusion of merchandise through 
 the country by an hundred channels, and the 
 spirit of industry excited wherever its influence 
 reaches. The impression produced by these 
 scenes is corroborated by the information which 
 history affords, that mercantile nations have 
 generally attained a high degree of wealth and 
 population, of strength and energy. On the 
 whole, we are led to entertain a high regard for 
 commerce, and to believe that too much cannot 
 be done for its encouragement. 
 : The benefits, however, which commerce be-
 
 OF COMMERCE. 285 
 
 stows, extensive as they are, flow from its free 
 exertion. It does not bear restraint or direction. 
 It does not even agree Avith encouragement. Its 
 operations must be the result of the united efforts 
 of men vokmtarily striving to promote their 
 respective interests. If extraneous inducements 
 be held forth, they divert it from its proper pur- 
 pose, and mar its beneficial tendency ; and it is 
 not those points which strike the imagination 
 most that constitute its excellence. These are 
 effects flowing from, and indicating a system 
 highly beneficial; but if separated from their 
 proper source, they lose all their value. 
 
 It will throw light on this subject to recur to 
 the consideration of the state of commerce in 
 the infancy of society, and the advantages which 
 resulted from it. As communities increase in 
 numbers and advance in arts, or open an inter- 
 course with other communities, their transactions 
 become more complicated; but still they are 
 animated by the same motives, and their utility 
 is to be estimated by the same principles. 
 
 A. cultivates a fertile corn farm. B. possesses 
 a tract of land fit for pasture, and his herds 
 afford him cheese and butter in abundance. C. 
 plants an orchard in a favourable exposure. At 
 the end of the season they meet and exchange
 
 286 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 their commodities, and each has an ample store 
 of corn, cheese, and fruit. They might have 
 raised corn and pastured cattle, each on his own 
 land, but had they done so, their soil being less 
 proper for the one or the other, their supply 
 would have been less abundant ; and if A. and B. 
 had no ground fit for an orchard, they must have 
 fared without fruit, if their intercourse with C. 
 had not supplied them. 
 
 D. pastures a flock of sheep, and their wool 
 is wrought by his household and villagers into 
 cloth fit for winter garments. E. cultivates a 
 field of flax, and his villagers occupy themselves 
 in the manufacture of linen. The several vil- 
 lagers soon discover that they will be more com- 
 fortably clothed the whole year round, Avhen 
 they possess garments of both kinds, and they 
 exchange their manufactures for their mutual 
 convenience. 
 
 It is not, however, impracticable to raise the 
 different materials in the same farm, and manu- 
 facture both kinds in the same village. This, 
 however, is done to disadvantage, partly because 
 the soil is less adapted to the one purpose or 
 the other, and partly because the inhabitants are 
 less skilful in preparing and manufacturing the 
 material to which they have not been accustomed.
 
 OF COMMERCE. 287 
 
 One of these inconveniences is insurmountable, 
 and the other not easily surmounted. They will 
 therefore confine themselves each to the manu- 
 facture of that material which suits their soil, and 
 which they understand best, providing they have 
 access to exchange their commodities. 
 
 But if a superior should impose a tax upon 
 the goods thus exchanged, this must discourage 
 the commerce, and may put a stop to it. The 
 villagers, accustomed to the joint use of linen 
 and woollen garments, will raise materials for 
 both, and manufacture them the best way they 
 can. Their labour is employed to disadvantage ; 
 but the loss which this occasions may be less 
 than the burthen imposed on their intercourse. 
 This is a misapplication of labour, produced by 
 a measure designed for the profit of the superior, 
 who oppresses the villagers, and loses his aim. 
 
 In order to convey the goods between the 
 villages a highway may be wanted. Perhaps 
 they are separated by rugged mountains, and 
 the making of the highway is a w^ork of much 
 difficulty. The expense it requires Avill be 
 balanced against the advantages expected from 
 it. The villagers may, perhaps, act a wiser 
 part, in making the most, each of their own 
 industry, rather than opening a comnmnication
 
 288 OF COMMERCE, 
 
 that costs so dear. The labour of the under- 
 taking may be more than the additional labour, 
 which would procure among themselves every 
 advantage, expected from its accomplishment. 
 
 A benevolent superior, from a desire of en- 
 couraging trade, makes the highway for them. 
 Still, if the expense exceed the utility, there is a 
 misapplication of labour. The same quantity 
 of labour put in motion by the same means, but 
 applied to a different purpose, would have been 
 more productive in adding to the stock of wealth. 
 This is an instance of an ill-judged, though well- 
 meant, encouragement, producing a similar effect 
 as the imposition of an oppressive burthen. 
 
 The road being completed, waggons are em- 
 ployed to convey the goods between the villages, 
 warehouses are built for their reception, and 
 factors are required to conduct the business. A 
 traveller, who passed through the country some 
 years before, visits it again, and is gratified Avith 
 the appearance of opulence and activity which 
 these objects present. But the road, the wag- 
 gons, and the warehouses, do not, in themselves, 
 add to the enjoyment of the villagers, nor does 
 the gain of the waggoner or warehouseman con- 
 stitute any acquisition to their wealth. These 
 are all burthens on the villagers, tending to lessen
 
 OF COMMERCE. 289 
 
 the fund from wliicli their subsistence and 
 acconmiodation is derived. These burthens, 
 indeed, are, or ouglit to be, liberally re-paid by 
 the accommodations afforded. 
 
 If this intercourse be neither compelled nor 
 incited by extraneous motives, it cannot be 
 doubted that it is profital^le. The villagers will 
 not make the higlnvay, employ the Avaggons, or 
 build the warehouses, unless they derive an 
 adequate benefit from them. A superior, who 
 designs to establish a market, may threaten his 
 dependents with his displeasure, unless they fre- 
 quent it ; he may offer premiums, he may pro- 
 mote horse-races, and thus draw the villagers 
 together from motives of profit or amusement. 
 But when their resort to the market is owing: 
 to these motives, its advantages are at least 
 equivocal. 
 
 This illustration, however familiar, is instruc- 
 tive. It sets the advantages of commerce in their 
 true light, and removes the glare produced by 
 some of the objects that attend it. ^Vhat is 
 true of the highways and waggons, is no less 
 true of the quays, the shipping, and all the 
 splendid objects and bustle of a mercantile town. 
 The expense of all these is a burthen upon indus- 
 try. If they be executed by compulsion, they 
 
 U
 
 290 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 may well be accounted pernicious. If rewards be 
 held forth to encourage them, there is reason to 
 doubt their utility ; but, if they be the natural 
 consequences of a free commercial intercourse, 
 we may be assured that they contribute to the 
 wealth of the community. 
 
 If all commodities could be raised, and all 
 kinds of manufacture carried on in every country 
 with equal advantage, all commerce Avould cease. 
 We should lose our trading toAvns, with their 
 quays and warehouses ; our shipping would dis- 
 appear ; our merchants, and all their numerous 
 dependents, would be dispersed for want of 
 employment ; the appearance of activity which 
 arises from trade would be no longer displayed, 
 yet the community would be richer. All the 
 labour expended upon the shipping, warehouses, 
 and other appendages of trade, Avould be applied 
 directly to the production of articles Avhich con- 
 tribute to human welfare. 
 
 To encourage commerce by any kind of 
 bounty is a measure of extreme delicacy, and 
 very doubtful tendency. The sums which have 
 been expended in this way by trading nations is 
 very great : for, besides direct bounties, which 
 have been granted liberally, we may refer to this 
 head the establishment of foreign settlements.
 
 OK CUM MERGE. 291 
 
 the support of garrisons for their defence, and 
 of a navy for the protection of their trade. The 
 expense of all these should be defrayed from the 
 profits of commerce, and there is no other way 
 of putting the advantage of commerce to tlie 
 test, than by loading it with all the expenses 
 which it gives occasion to. If it will not bear 
 them all, and afford a profit besides to the mer- 
 chant, it cannot be beneficial to the public. It 
 will greatly swell this charge if we include 
 that of all the wars waged for controversies 
 which the pretence of infractions on commerce 
 gives rise to. 
 
 It would be going too far, however, to repro- 
 bate bounties as, in every instance, prejudicial. 
 If ^ve coidd stop at the proper bounds, there are 
 some cases in Avhich they might be properly 
 granted. Prudence may restrain individuals 
 from engaging in projects, where the event is 
 doubtful, and Adhere bad success \A'ould ruin 
 them. Public encouragement may, therefore, 
 be needed to set new enterprizes a-going, and 
 let them have a fair trial. If they succeed, the 
 encouragement should be withdrawn ; and the 
 wealth AA'hich they introduce may not only re- 
 place to the public what it has contril)uted to 
 their establishment in their infancy, but also 
 
 *U2
 
 292 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 what has been expended by it on other projects 
 which have never succeeded. 
 
 When encouragement of this kind is given, 
 there is great occasion for discretion in the 
 choice of objects. If government give way to 
 such applications at all, they are harassed with 
 applications from every quarter. Much art is 
 used in misrepresenting, and a minister, who 
 cannot be a competent judge on every subject, 
 is exposed to deception, and induced to grant 
 encouragement to projects which do not require 
 it, or do not deserve it. A bounty should always 
 be limited in point of time. The utmost that 
 should be done is to afford the undertaking a 
 fair trial, after which, if it Avill not go on with- 
 out the aid of a bounty, it ought to be relin- 
 quished. 
 
 Trade supported by a bounty may increase 
 by degrees, and acquire a considerable magni- 
 tude : the bounty, of consequence, becomes a 
 considerable burthen on the comnnmity. Spe- 
 cious arguments, however, for its continuance 
 are drawn from the success Avhich has attended 
 it. The shipping, the seamen employed in the 
 trade, the capital engaged in it, the industry it 
 has put into motion by giving vent to manufac- 
 tures or otherwise, the wealth it has introduced.
 
 OP COMMERCE. 293 
 
 are all displayed in strong colours ; and the con- 
 tinuance of the bounty urged l)y those who are 
 interested in the trade. The just inference 
 from these premises is, that the trade has al- 
 ready had an ample trial under the encourage- 
 ment of a bounty, and, if its profits be not delu 
 sive, it is well able to subsist without one If 
 they be, the country has already paid too dearly. 
 Yet, the less the bounty is needed, the more dif- 
 ficult it is to withdraw it. The Avealthier the 
 merchants concerned in it have become, their 
 voice is the louder, their influence the more 
 powerful, and the magnitude of the object at 
 stake lays hold on the public imagination. Great 
 caution is, therefore, requisite in the admission 
 of a measure which is very difficult to discon- 
 tinue when it becomes improper. 
 
 We have thus endeavoured to state the direct 
 advantages of trade in increasing wealth. It 
 enlarges the comforts of life by introducing the 
 productions of other climes. It supplies us 
 with those articles in the preparation of which 
 other nations excel us on cheaper terms, and it 
 encourages those in which Ave excel them by 
 opening a more extensive market, and giving 
 room for a more complete division of labour. 
 The shipping, and all the other a})paratus em-
 
 294 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 ployed in carrying it on, and the risks necessarily 
 incurred, are a burthen on the community. The 
 gain or loss arising from trade is the excess of 
 the one of these above the other. When trade 
 is left to itself, if it go on, it must be profitable 
 to the public ; for unless it were profitable to 
 the merchants, they would leave it off; and the 
 gain of individuals is an increase to the public 
 Avealth. If it be upheld by bounties, in what- 
 ever form, the general effects are questionable. 
 
 We have next to direct our attention to a very 
 important consequence of trade, distinct from its 
 tendency to the accumulation of wealth, namely, 
 the moral effects produced on the human cha- 
 racter by extending the intercourse of mankind 
 with one another. 
 
 To resume our former mode of illustration. 
 Let us suppose the lord of a manor establishes a 
 market, and draws the neighbouring inhabitants 
 to frequent it by means of premiums, horse- 
 races, and the like. Those who resort to it 
 carry their commodities along with them for the 
 purpose of traffick, and derive some advantage 
 from tlieir sale, though not sufficient to defray 
 the expense, and recompense the loss of time 
 which attendance on the market requires. They 
 would not have gone there, had it not been for
 
 OF COMMERCE. 295 
 
 the premiums and the horse-races. Villages 
 convene from every quarter, and some come 
 from a considerable distance. New objects are 
 presented to their vicAV ; the circle of their ac- 
 quaintance is enlarged, and their spirits enli- 
 vened by the scenes which the market presents ; 
 and, in the course of their conversation, each 
 connnunicates what he knows, and they return 
 home better informed than they came. By fre- 
 quenting such meetings they become more acute. 
 The objects which they meet inspire new de- 
 sires, and stimulate exertion. In order to gra- 
 tify these desires, they are induced to prosecute 
 their former employments more assiduously, or 
 to strike out new branches of industry. 
 
 The attentive reader will already perceive 
 that we have as yet only drawn the favourable 
 side of the picture. The habits of idleness and 
 intemperance which such meetings lead to are 
 too common to escape observation, and render 
 the general estimation in which they should be 
 held extremely doubtful. 
 
 Effects of a like kind take place in a higher 
 degree from the intercourse of nations with 
 each other. The arrangements of foreign trade 
 require more varied knowledge, and call forth 
 more exertion of mind than domestic transac-
 
 296 OF COMMERCE, 
 
 tions. A merchant must know what commodi- 
 ties will suit the demands of every country, and 
 what they can give in return ; what the one 
 will sell for, and what the other may be bought 
 for. The sciences of geography and natural 
 history are chiefly founded upon the discoveries 
 which commerce has led to. The arts of ship- 
 building and navigation have chiefly arisen from 
 it. Every useful discovery, in whatever nation 
 made, has been rapidly communicated through 
 the civilized world. An acquaintance with the 
 various manners and characters of different 
 nations has enlarged our knowledge of human 
 nature, and induced a general liberality of senti- 
 ment and manners. 
 
 Moralists assign a peculiar character as con- 
 nected with the different professions which man- 
 kind embrace in civilized society ; and, though 
 there be many exceptions, that character gene- 
 rally pervades the profession in some degree. 
 The character of a merchant contains many 
 estimable points ; diligence, activity, accuracy, 
 sobriety. The important virtue of honesty may 
 also be ascribed to him. Experience has esta- 
 blished the maxim, that a fair character obtained 
 by uniform rectitude is the surest way to wealth. 
 Hence the merchant's education and habits lead
 
 OF COMMERCE. 297 
 
 him to be an honest man. The minute and 
 constant attention Avhich a merchant must give 
 to erain and loss seems calculated to induce some 
 degree of avarice ; yet many merchants are dis- 
 tinguished for liberality. An extensive mer- 
 chant is generally a well-informed man, and su- 
 perior to vulgar prejudices. 
 
 In a commercial country the number of mer- 
 chants is so great, and the rank which many of 
 them hold in society so high, that their character 
 and manners have considerable influence on those 
 of the whole community. 
 
 A modern merchant, for the most part, has a 
 fixed residence in some sea-port town, from 
 which he despatches ships laden with his cargoes, 
 and carries on his correspondence with mer- 
 chants established in a similar manner, in vari- 
 ous other countries. In ancient times the mer- 
 chant went along with his cargo ; his character 
 and that of the voyager were considered as inse- 
 parably connected. 
 
 Mercator contra, navem jactantibus austris. 
 
 HORAT. 
 
 The peculiar character of the mercantile voy- 
 ager is, in some respects, different from that of 
 the resident merchant. His situation requires 
 a more enterprising spirit, and more personal
 
 298 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 courage : perhaps it presents inducements to 
 artful practices not consistent with that strict 
 integrity which generally characterises the esta- 
 blished merchant. 
 
 The tendency of commerce, as it is conducted 
 between civilized nations, is, in many respects, 
 favourable to the improvement of the human 
 character ; and nothing that can be adduced on 
 the opposite side is sufficient to counterbalance 
 its beneficial influence. We are not so confi- 
 dent that this can be affii-med in regard to the 
 commerce which takes place between a country 
 advanced in arts, and one which is in a simple, 
 or, as we term it, a savage state. 
 
 We may draw a pleasant picture of the mutual 
 advantages which such a conmierce might afford ; 
 — the communication of useful arts and induction 
 of civilized manners, on the one side, and the 
 acquisition of useful commodities and disposal 
 of spare ones, on the other, accompanied, vvith an 
 addition to the knowledge of nature, and of man- 
 kind. When we consult history, we find that 
 this picture has been seldom realized, and that 
 one of very different features generally presents 
 itself. 
 
 The power which art and intelligence confer 
 is so great, that a handful of colonists from a
 
 OF COMMERCE. 299 
 
 civilized nation is sufficient to subdue a tribe of 
 rude natives, and a consciousness of this superi- 
 ority has generally kindled the passions of ava- 
 rice and ambition, and supplanted every princi- 
 ple of justice and humanity. Accordingly we 
 find that wherever the nations of Europe have 
 established settlements in countries in a compa- 
 rative state of rudeness, the natives have been 
 subjected or exterminated, sometimes with cir- 
 cumstances of shocking treachery and barbarity. 
 
 It gives some relief to the painful feelings 
 which these facts excite, to find that the voyages 
 of discovery undertaken during the last and pre- 
 sent reign have been conducted in a very dif- 
 ferent spirit, and measures embraced for com- 
 municating the benefits of civilization to the 
 countries visited by our navigators ; and that 
 these attempts have been, in a considerable de- 
 gree, successful. 
 
 Among the advantages of commerce, the sup- 
 ply of manufactures to foreign nations is gene- 
 rally estimated to hold a principal place. This 
 gives a means of investing capital, and furnishes 
 employment to a numerous poi)ulation, and dif- 
 fuses a spirit of industry through the connnunity. 
 These advantages, in no case to be slightly 
 valued, may, in particular states of society, be
 
 300 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 very important : they are remarkably so at present 
 in Britain ; yet even with us internal commerce is 
 a superior object. Home consumption affords a 
 more ample source of employment than foreign 
 trade, and a more certain one. It may be car- 
 ried so far in a large and industrious nation as 
 to render it, in a great measure, independent of 
 foreign commerce. 
 
 The commerce of Britain at present is, per- 
 haps, the most extensive that any age or nation 
 has ever attained, and cannot fail to have the 
 most powerful influence on the public welfare. 
 The following statements, taken from the official 
 returns for the years ending 5th January, 1826, 
 1827, and 1828, will give a view of the present 
 state of our trade, and assist us in forming a 
 judgment of the advantages derived from it.
 
 OF COMMERCE. 
 
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 304 
 
 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 FOREIGN and COLONIAL MERCHANDIZE exported 
 from Britain to Foreign Parts, in the \ears ending 5th 
 January 18:26, 1827, and 1828, at the Official Valuation*. 
 
 Articles obtained chiefly 
 FROM American Colonies. 
 
 Coffee 
 
 Cotton Wool 
 
 Sugar 
 
 Rum 
 
 Cochineal 
 
 Logwood 
 
 Cocoa 
 
 Tobacco 
 
 Cod Fish of Newfoundland. . 
 Pimento 
 
 Articles chiefly obtained 
 FROM the East Indies. 
 
 Cotton Manufactures. . . . 
 
 Indigo 
 
 Pepper 
 
 Silk Manufactures 
 
 Saltpetre 
 
 Cinnamon 
 
 Tea 
 
 Spices, viz. — Cassia, Cloves, 
 Mace, and Nutmegs. . . 
 
 Rice 
 
 5th January, 
 1826. 
 
 £. 
 1,708,621 
 
 1,160,201 
 
 605,751 
 
 437,975 
 
 106,844 
 
 95,798 
 
 55,293 
 
 54,848 
 
 48,847 
 
 39,616 
 
 4,313,794 
 
 818,634 
 741,953 
 180,787 
 144,538 
 113,254 
 100,106 
 67,531 
 
 57,852 
 
 52,895 
 
 2,277,550 
 
 5th January, 
 
 1827 
 
 £. 
 1,987,589 
 
 1,663,393 
 
 751,837 
 
 416,775 
 
 86,669 
 
 82,008 
 
 62,255 
 
 191,466 
 
 36,636 
 
 43,602 
 
 5,322,230 
 
 591,562 
 836,675 
 288,647 
 105,205 
 111,802 
 86,101 
 42,123 
 
 137,382 
 
 40,391 
 
 2,239,388 
 
 5th January, 
 
 1828. 
 
 £. 
 1,841,048 
 
 1,517,946 
 
 645,255 
 
 486,479 
 
 164,098 
 
 99,761 
 
 113,194 
 
 240,736 
 
 31,902 
 
 60,921 
 
 5,204,340 
 
 673,371 
 591,405 
 221,533 
 221,614 
 111,542 
 89,923 
 38,249 
 
 91,876 
 
 52,310 
 
 2,094,825 
 
 * The values are taken from the Finance Accounts, 5th January 1828, in 
 which those of the two former years arc repeated. The value given in the 
 Accounts for 5th January 1826 and 1827, are not all exactly the same, 
 but (he differences are not considerable.
 
 OF COMMKRCK. 
 
 305 
 
 Miscellaneous Articles. 
 
 Spelter 
 
 Wine 
 
 Brandy 
 
 Silk, raw and thrown. . . . 
 
 Hides 
 
 Iron in Bars 
 
 Geneva 
 
 Corn and Flour 
 
 Lead, Pig 
 
 Wool 
 
 Woollen Manufactures . . . 
 
 Skins and Furs 
 
 Raisins 
 
 Ashes 
 
 Copper, wrought & unwrought 
 Cotton Manufactures of Europe 
 Cortex Peruvianas .... 
 
 Flax 
 
 Olive Oil 
 
 Fustic 
 
 Silk Manufactures of Europe. 
 
 Barilla 
 
 Hemp 
 
 Currants 
 
 Annotto 
 
 Linen 
 
 Train Oil 
 
 Amt. of Miscellaneous Articles 
 Articles chiefly obtained from ) 
 
 American Colonies . . . ^ 
 Articles chiefly obtained from 
 
 East Indies 
 
 Articles not specified. . . . 
 Shillings and Pence .... 
 
 Total Foreign and Colonial ) 
 Merchandize exported. . J 
 
 Produce and Manufactures of I 
 United Kingdoms exported J 
 from Britain J 
 
 Total Exports from Britain, ^ 
 except to Ireland. ... J 
 Exports from Ireland. . . . 
 
 Produce and Manufactures 
 of United Kinguoms ex- 
 ported from Ireland. . , 
 
 Foreign & Colonial Merchan- 
 dize exported from Ireland 
 
 5th Jan. 1826. 
 
 £. 
 
 305,614 
 
 190,340 
 
 175.3-26 
 
 139,400 
 
 136,202 
 
 87.724 
 
 85,739 
 
 77,257 
 
 54,823 
 
 46,CG2 
 
 46.562 
 
 4.3,412 
 
 39 494 
 
 36,129 
 
 29,935 
 
 29,915 
 
 22,878 
 
 16,087 
 
 15,855 
 
 9,541 
 
 9,219 
 
 5.360 
 
 3.871 
 
 3,542 
 
 3,309 
 
 2,459 
 
 1,080 
 
 1,617,735 
 
 4,313.794 
 
 2,277,550 
 
 946.201 
 25 
 
 5tli Jan. 1827. 
 
 9,155,305 
 
 46.453.021 
 
 55,608,326 
 711. 8.56 
 
 56,320,182 
 
 697,667 
 14,189 
 
 711,856 
 
 £. 
 
 409,156 
 
 186,817 
 
 115,050 
 
 228,296 
 
 103,554 
 
 29,527 
 
 55,923 
 
 41,408 
 
 27,700 
 
 61,111 
 
 11.607 
 
 45,303 
 
 40,961 
 
 26.578 
 
 131,640 
 
 31,673 
 
 19,881 
 
 18,991 
 
 48,825 
 
 14,253 
 
 21,661 
 
 2,855 
 
 2,564 
 
 17,606 
 
 3,896 
 
 24,778 
 
 2,473 
 
 1,724,087 
 
 5,322,230 
 
 2,239,888 
 
 780,274 
 23 
 
 5lh Jan. 18l'8. 
 
 10,066,502 
 
 40,332,854 
 
 50,399,356 
 642.666 
 
 5 1 ,042,022 
 
 632,882 
 9,783 
 
 642,666 
 
 X 
 
 £. 
 
 346,428 
 
 268,041 
 
 176,052 
 
 38,430 
 
 33,820 
 
 44,988 
 
 69,871 
 
 119,350 
 
 34,233 
 
 53,359 
 
 9,628 
 
 50,472 
 
 23,283 
 
 35,252 
 
 79.713 
 
 14722 
 
 26,017 
 
 13,390 
 
 27,488 
 
 6,826 
 
 19,993 
 
 374 
 
 26,160 
 
 6.753 
 
 6.935 
 
 19,095 
 
 2,730 
 
 1,553,398 
 
 5,204,340 
 
 2,094,825 
 
 953,661 
 23 
 
 9,806,247 
 51,276,448 
 
 61.082,695 
 967.312 
 
 61.050.007 
 
 942,832 
 24,480 
 
 967,312
 
 300 
 
 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 IMPORTS into Britain from all Places, except Ireland, in the Years 
 (ending 5th Jan.) 1826, 1827, and 1828, at the Official Value. 
 
 Useful Provisions. 
 
 Corn, Grain, Meal, and Flour 
 
 Butter 
 
 Cheese 
 
 Fish of Newfoundland . . . 
 
 Smalls 
 
 Rice 
 
 Luxuries. 
 
 Sugar 
 
 Coffee 
 
 Tea 
 
 Wine 
 
 Spirits — Rum 
 
 Brandy 
 
 Geneva 
 
 Amount of Spirits. . . 
 
 Spices — Pepper 
 
 Cinnamon 
 
 Mace • 
 
 Pimento 
 
 Cassia 
 
 Nutmegs 
 
 Cloves 
 
 Amount of Spices. . . 
 
 Fruits — Currants 
 
 Raisins 
 
 Lemons and Oranges 
 
 Almonds 
 
 Figs 
 
 Juniper Berries. . . 
 
 Amount of Fruits . . . 
 
 Molasses 
 
 Cocoa 
 
 Total Luxuries . . . 
 
 5lh Jan. 1826. 
 
 £. 
 
 1,128,341 
 
 398,080 
 
 331,660 
 
 62,184 
 
 10,770 
 
 61,283 
 
 1,992,318 
 
 5,055,655 
 3,237,980 
 2,934,571 
 1,178,930 
 
 342,893 
 
 246,709 
 
 30,869 
 
 620,471 
 
 5th Jan. 1827 
 
 £. 
 
 2,117,390 
 
 273,326 
 
 258,977 
 
 48.615 
 
 4,115 
 
 87,702 
 
 2,790,125 
 
 5,602,844 
 
 2,569,245 
 
 2,984,040 
 
 786,440 
 
 416,447 
 
 199,534 
 
 18,243 
 
 634,224 
 
 92,013 
 85,128 
 45,227 
 40,223 
 39,674 
 36,694 
 23,038 
 
 361,997 
 
 131,803 
 
 121,831 
 
 56,036 
 
 15,566 
 
 14,741 
 
 7,256 
 
 347,233 
 
 236,116 
 
 72,369 
 
 14,045,322 
 
 234,976 
 31,297 
 74,359 
 40,302 
 40,067 
 67,740 
 70,087 
 
 558,828 
 
 89,166 
 139,591 
 69,158 
 14,487 
 13,985 
 12,300 
 
 338,687 
 
 192,598 
 
 49,961 
 
 13,716,867 
 
 5th Jan. 1828. 
 
 £. 
 
 1,994,214 
 
 291,579 
 
 272,625 
 
 26,942 
 
 10,074 
 
 143,691 
 
 2,739,125 
 
 5,328,114 
 2,945,023 
 3,974,523 
 
 867,545 
 
 497,207 
 
 236,788 
 
 19,100 
 
 753,095 
 
 151,641 
 253,488 
 14,246 
 57,891 
 31,194 
 14,971 
 63,346 
 
 586,777 
 
 151,766 
 88,109 
 66,259 
 28,126 
 13,910 
 21,865 
 
 370,035 
 261,447 
 103,264 
 
 15,189,923
 
 OF COMMKRCK. 
 
 307 
 
 ARTICLES re-exported. 
 
 Corn 
 
 Butter 
 
 Cheese 
 
 Fish of Newfoundland . . . 
 
 Smalls 
 
 Rice 
 
 Sugar 
 
 Coffee 
 
 Tea 
 
 Wine 
 
 Spirits — Rum 
 
 Brandy 
 
 Geneva 
 
 Spices — Pepper 
 
 Cinnamon 
 
 Mace 
 
 Pimento 
 
 Cassia 
 
 Nutmegs 
 
 Cloves 
 
 Fruits — Currants 
 
 Raisins 
 
 Lemons and Oranges 
 
 Almonds 
 
 Figs 
 
 Juniper Berries . . 
 
 Molasses 
 
 Cocoa 
 
 5th Jan. 1826. 
 
 £. 
 77,257 
 
 48,847 
 52,895 
 
 178,999 
 
 605,751 
 
 1,708,621 
 
 67,531 
 
 190,340 
 
 437,975 
 
 175,326 
 
 85,739 
 
 180,787 
 100,106 
 15,261 
 39,616 
 27,806 
 11,566 
 3,219 
 
 3,542 
 39,494 
 
 55,293 
 
 3,747,973 
 
 5th Jan. 1827. 
 
 £. 
 
 41,408 
 
 36,636 
 40,391 
 
 118,435 
 
 751,837 
 
 1,987,589 
 
 42,123 
 
 186,817 
 
 416,775 
 
 115,050 
 
 55,923 
 
 288,647 
 86,101 
 48,524 
 43,602 
 34,778 
 25,863 
 28,217 
 
 17,606 
 40,961 
 
 62,255 
 
 4,232,668 
 
 5th Jan. 1828. 
 
 £. 
 119,350 
 
 34,902 
 52,310 
 
 206,562 
 
 645,255 
 
 1,841,048 
 
 38,249 
 
 268,041 
 
 486,479 
 
 176,052 
 
 69,871 
 
 221,533 
 89,923 
 30,179 
 60,921 
 42,769 
 11,501 
 10,429 
 
 6,753 
 23,283 
 
 113,194 
 
 4,135,480 
 
 X2
 
 308 
 
 OF COMMliRCE. 
 
 IMPORTS into Britain, &c 
 
 — continued. 
 
 1 
 
 Materials fob manufactlre. 
 
 Cotton Wool 
 
 Flax 
 
 5th Jan. 1826. 
 
 5th Jan. 1827. 
 
 5th Jan. 1828. 
 
 £. 
 7,405,618 
 2,078,844 
 1,436,606 
 1,437,336 
 491,024 
 41,355 
 
 £. 
 
 5,726,997 
 1,346,802 
 
 478,419 
 1,060.344 
 
 39f3,054 
 22,965 
 
 £. 
 
 8.963,688 
 
 1,786,304 
 
 883,785 
 
 1,524,568 
 
 463,240 
 
 31,407 
 
 Sheep's Wool 
 
 Raw Silk 
 
 Hemp .... 
 
 Rags for Paper 
 
 Articles accessory to manu- 
 facture. 
 Dye Stuffs, viz. — Indigo. , . 
 
 Madder . . 
 
 Logwood 
 
 Cochineal . 
 
 Fustic. . . 
 
 Shuniach . 
 
 Annotto . . 
 
 Amount Dye Stuffs . . 
 Ashes, Pearl and Pot. . . . 
 Barilla 
 
 12,890,783 
 
 9,031,581 
 
 13,652,992 
 
 895,959 
 
 572,316 
 
 245,112 
 
 242,738 
 
 51,835 
 
 30,534 
 
 25,578 
 
 1,084,749 
 
 330,391 
 
 114,768 
 
 156,625 
 
 32.844 
 
 14,585 
 
 10.824 
 
 801,393 
 
 451,086 
 
 124,501 
 
 255,871 
 
 35,896 
 
 23,878 
 
 40,211 
 
 2,064,072 
 
 313,958 
 
 65,910 
 
 1,744.786 
 
 275,582 
 
 83,353 
 
 1,732,836 
 168,747 
 159,296 
 
 Articles partially manufac- 
 
 Thrown Silk 
 
 Linen Yarn 
 
 Articles fully manufac- 
 tured. 
 Cotton Manufactures of India 
 Cotton Maiuifuclures of liurope 
 Silk Manufactures of India . 
 Silk Manufactures of Europe 
 Woollen Manufactures . . . 
 Linen 
 
 2,443,940 
 
 2,103,721 
 
 2,060,879 
 
 928,245 
 326,130 
 
 212,146 
 142,565 
 
 555,490 
 181,343 
 
 1,254,375 
 
 354,711 
 
 737,033 
 
 371.994 
 40,663 
 
 147.883 
 42.703 
 61,175 
 34.827 
 
 449,796 
 
 40,090 
 
 275.525 
 
 170.399 
 
 27.839 
 
 88,783 
 
 273,097 
 
 39,100 
 
 176,209 
 
 379,665 
 
 42,659 
 
 67,695 
 
 Metals. 
 Spelter 
 
 699,305 
 
 1,052,432 
 
 978,425 
 
 577,792 
 
 380,096 
 
 226,526 
 
 92,459 
 
 46,743 
 
 241,984 
 38,284 
 
 126,620 
 13,700 
 66,152 
 
 299,986 
 
 1 76,652 
 
 180,439 
 
 32,456 
 
 40,904 
 
 Quicksilver 
 
 Iron, in Bars 
 
 Lead, Pig 
 
 Copper, unwrought .... 
 
 1,323,616 
 
 486,740 
 
 730,437
 
 OF COMMERCK. 
 
 309 
 
 ARTICLES 
 
 re-exported- 
 
 —continued. 
 
 
 
 Materials for manufactuke. 
 
 Cotton Wool 
 
 Flax 
 
 5th Jan. 1826. 
 
 5th Jan. 1827. 
 
 5th Jan. 1828. 
 
 
 £. 
 
 1,160,201 
 16,087 
 46,662 
 
 3,871 
 
 £. 
 1,663,393 
 18,991 
 61,111 
 
 2,564 
 
 £. 
 1,517,946 
 13,390 
 53,359 
 
 26,160 
 
 
 Sheep's Wool 
 
 Raw Silk 
 
 Hemp 
 
 
 Rags for Paper 
 
 Articles accessory to manu- 
 facture. 
 
 Dye Stuffs, viz. — Indigo. . . 
 Madder . . 
 Logwood. . 
 Cucliineal . 
 Fustic. . , 
 Shuniach 
 Annotto . . 
 
 Amount Dye Stuffs . . 
 Ashes, Pearl and' Pot. . . . 
 Barilla 
 
 
 1,226,821 
 
 1,746,059 
 
 1,610,855 
 
 
 741,953 
 
 95,798 
 
 106,844 
 
 9,541 
 
 3,309 
 
 836,675 
 
 82,008 
 86,669 
 14,253 
 
 3,896 
 
 591,405 
 
 99,761 
 
 164,098 
 
 6,825 
 
 6,935 
 
 
 957,445 
 
 36,129 
 
 5,360 
 
 1,023,501 
 
 26,578 
 
 2,855 
 
 869,024 
 
 35,252 
 
 374 
 
 
 tured. 
 
 Thrown Silk 
 
 Linen Yarn 
 
 tured. 
 Cotton Manufactures of India 
 Cotton Manufactures of Europe 
 Silk Manufactures of India . 
 Silk Manufactures of Europe. 
 Woollen Manufactures . . . 
 Linen 
 
 
 998,934 
 
 1,052,934 
 
 904,650 
 
 
 139,41)0 
 
 228,296 
 
 38,430 
 
 
 818,634 
 
 29,915 
 
 144,538 
 
 9,219 
 
 46,562 
 
 2,459 
 
 591,-562 
 31,673 
 
 105,205 
 21,661 
 11,607 
 24,778 
 
 673,371 
 14,722 
 
 22j;614 
 
 19,993 
 
 9.628 
 
 19,095 
 
 
 Metals. 
 
 Spelter 
 
 Quicksilver 
 
 Iron, in Bars 
 
 Lead, Pig 
 
 Copper, unwrought .... 
 
 
 1,051,327 
 
 786,486 
 
 958,423 
 
 
 305,614 
 
 87,724 
 54,823 
 29,935 
 
 409,156 
 
 29 5 7 
 
 ' 27,700 
 
 131,640 
 
 316,428 
 
 44,988 
 
 34,233 
 
 . 79,713 
 
 
 478,00;; 
 
 598,023 
 
 505.362 

 
 310 
 
 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 IMPORTS into Britain, ^o..— continued. 
 
 Miscellaneous Articles. 
 Tallow 
 
 5th Jan. 1826. 
 
 5th Jan. 1827. 
 
 5th Jan. 1828. 
 
 £. 
 1,180,205 
 
 978,708 
 
 145,079 
 
 876,362 
 
 639,110 
 
 444,673 
 
 371,575 
 
 336,109 
 
 198,649 
 
 156,048 
 
 139,210 
 
 £. 
 866,973 
 
 738,413 
 
 184,265 
 
 558,507 
 
 640,634 
 
 347,207 
 
 242,468 
 
 242,709 
 
 105,725 
 
 117,964 
 
 81,315 
 
 £. 
 1,249,800 
 
 658,376 
 
 175,903 
 
 423,789 
 
 742,718 
 
 407,558 
 
 308,645 
 
 314,093 
 
 158,335 
 
 98,965 
 
 144,781 
 
 Wood, various kinds . . . . 
 
 Mahogany 
 
 Hides 
 
 Oils 
 
 Seeds 
 
 Tobacco 
 
 Skins and Furs 
 
 Bark, oak and cork tree . . 
 Gums 
 
 Turpentine 
 
 Drugs, viz. 
 
 Cortex Peruvianas 
 
 Rhubarb 
 
 5,465,728 
 
 4,126,180 
 
 4,682,963 
 
 35,794 
 33,046 
 19,522 
 9,645 
 7,454 
 7,330 
 6,758 
 4,046 
 
 15,566 
 
 70,007 
 
 21,797 
 
 32,600 
 
 3,061 
 
 6,458 
 
 62,774 
 
 1,310 
 
 48,211 
 57,609 
 22,467 
 41,121 
 
 2.847 
 7,782 
 7,203 
 4,616 
 
 Isinglass 
 
 Liquorice 
 
 Bark, Quercitron 
 
 Jalap 
 
 Borax 
 
 Camphire 
 
 Brimstone 
 
 Pitch and Tar 
 
 Whale Fins 
 
 Saltpetre 
 
 Cork 
 
 123,595 
 
 213,573 
 
 191,856 
 
 100,193 
 91,322 
 66,617 
 58,582 
 41,837 
 37,745 
 36,202 
 27,937 
 
 119,431 
 116,177 
 64,754 
 78,701 
 33,247 
 21,793 
 26,906 
 19,528 
 
 102,705 
 
 139,107 
 
 119,162 
 
 121,117 
 
 45,282 
 
 43,271 
 
 20,204 
 
 38,068 
 
 Bristles 
 
 Elephants' Teeth 
 
 Bees'-wax 
 
 0,049,758 
 
 4,820,290 
 
 5,603,735
 
 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 311 
 
 ARTICLES re-exported — continued. 
 
 Miscellaneous Articles. 
 
 Tallow 
 
 Wood, various kinds . . . 
 Mahogany .... 
 
 Hides 
 
 Oils 
 
 Seeds 
 
 Tobacco 
 
 Skins and Furs 
 
 Bark, oak and cork tree 
 
 Gums 
 
 Turpentine 
 
 Drugs, viz. 
 
 Cortex Peruvianus .... 
 
 Rhubarb 
 
 Isinglass 
 
 Liquorice 
 
 Bark, Quercitron .... 
 
 Jalap 
 
 Borax . . . ; 
 
 Camphire . « 
 
 Brimstone 
 
 Pitch and Tar , 
 
 Whale Fins 
 
 Saltpetre 
 
 Cork , 
 
 Bristles 
 
 Elephants' Teeth . . . . , 
 Bees' -wax , 
 
 5th Jan. 1826. 
 
 £. 
 
 136,202 
 16,936 
 
 54,848 
 43,412 
 
 22,878 
 
 113,254 
 
 387,530 
 
 5th Jan. 1827. 
 
 £. 
 
 103,554 
 51,299 
 
 191,466 
 45,303 
 
 19,881 
 
 111,802 
 
 523,305 
 
 5th Jan. 1828. 
 
 £. 
 
 33,820 
 30,213 
 
 240,736 
 50,472 
 
 26,017 
 
 111,542 
 
 492,800
 
 312 
 
 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 ABSTRACT OF IMPORTS. 
 
 Abstract of Imports. 
 
 Useful Provisions 
 
 Luxuries 
 
 Materials for Manufacture. . 
 
 Ariicles accessory to Mauu- ) 
 factures J 
 
 Articles partially manufactured 
 
 Articles fully manufactured 
 
 Metals 
 
 Miscellaneous Articles . . 
 
 Articles not specified. . . 
 
 Shillings and Pence . . . 
 
 Total Imports into Britain, ) 
 except from Ireland ... 5 
 
 Imports into Ireland .... 
 
 Total Imports into United ) 
 Kingdoms J 
 
 Of which re exported. . . , 
 
 Used in the United Kingdoms 
 
 Imports from Ireland to Britain 
 
 5th Jan. 1826. 
 
 £. 
 1,992,318 
 
 14,045,322 
 
 12,890,783 
 
 2,443,940 
 
 1,254,375 
 699,305 
 1,323,616 
 6,049,758 
 1,961,497 
 40 
 
 42,660,954 
 1,547,853 
 
 44,208,807 
 9,169,494 
 
 35,039,313 
 
 6,544,575 
 
 5th Jan. 1827. 
 
 £. 
 2,790,125 
 
 13,716,867 
 
 9,031,581 
 
 2,103,721 
 
 354,711 
 1,052,432 
 
 486,740 
 
 4,820,290 
 
 1,682,448 
 
 36 
 
 36,038,951 
 1,647,162 
 
 37,686,113 
 10,076,286 
 
 27,609,827 
 
 5th Jan. 1828. 
 
 £. 
 2,739,125 
 
 15,189,923 
 
 13,652,992 
 
 2,060,879 
 
 737,033 
 
 978,425 
 
 730,437 
 
 5,503,735 
 
 1,875,156 
 
 42 
 
 43,467,747 
 1,420,027 
 
 44,887,774 
 
 9,830,728 
 
 35,057,046
 
 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 313 
 
 ABSTRACT OF ARTICLES RE-EXPORTED. 
 
 5tli Jan. 1826. 
 
 Articles Re-exported. 
 
 Useful Provisions .... 
 
 Luxuries 
 
 Materials for Manufacture . . 
 
 Articles accessory to Manu- ) 
 factures 5 
 
 Articles partially manufactured 
 
 Articles fully manufactured 
 
 Metals 
 
 Miscellaneous Articles . . 
 
 Articles not specified. . . 
 
 Shillingrs and Pence . . . 
 
 Amount of Articles re-ex- ) 
 ported from Britain . . . ^ 
 
 Articles re-exported from | 
 Ireland 5 
 
 Articles re-exported from 
 United Kingdoms 
 
 from ^ 
 
 5th Jan. 1827. 
 
 £. 
 178,999 
 
 3,747,973 
 
 1,226,821 
 
 998,934 
 
 139,400 
 1,05L327 
 478,096 
 387,530 
 946,201 
 24 
 
 9,155,305 
 
 14,189 
 
 9,169,494 
 
 £. 
 118,435 
 
 4,232,068 
 
 1,746,059 
 
 1,052,934 
 
 228,296 
 786,486 
 598,023 
 523,305 
 780,274 
 22 
 
 5th Jan. 1828. 
 
 10,066,502 
 9,784 
 
 10,076,286 
 
 £. 
 206,562 
 
 4,135,480 
 
 1,610,855 
 
 904,650 
 
 38,430 
 958,423 
 505,362 
 492,800 
 953,661 
 24 
 
 9,806,247 
 24,481 
 
 9,830,728
 
 314 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 It appears from these statements, tliat the 
 quantity of raw produce exported is inconsider- 
 able. The great mass of our exports consists of 
 manufactured goods, the production of our in- 
 dustry, a considerable part of them fi-om foreign 
 materials. Of these, articles for clothing form 
 the far greater part ; cotton, woollen, linen, and 
 silk manufactures, the first and last entirely, 
 the others partially, from imported materials. 
 Woollen manufactures Avere formerly the most 
 considerable branch. Now those from cotton 
 have risen to an immense magnitude ; the 
 amount of these exported exceeding all our other 
 exports together. That of linen is less consi- 
 derable than any of the former, and the quantity 
 imported from Ireland into Britain (not included 
 in the foregoing statements) is nearly equal to 
 that exjx)rted to foreign countries. The next to 
 these in amount are articles formed of iron, and 
 other metals, the material of which was formerly 
 for the greater part imported, but is now almost 
 entirely supplied by our own forges. IVe also 
 re-export a large quantity of colonial produce 
 imported. 
 
 In return for these and some miscellaneous 
 articles, we receive, besides materials for manu- 
 factures, a i'aw necessary articles, which our own
 
 OF COMMERCE. 315 
 
 country does not supply, and a large amount of 
 luxuries, of which sugar, coffee, tea, spirits, and 
 wine, form the greater part. The consumption 
 of the last is confined to the rich ; that of the 
 other pervades, in some degree, every rank of 
 society. The quantity of foreign manufactures 
 imported is very small. 
 
 The most striking circumstance that presents 
 itself to our attention, upon reviewing the fore- 
 going statements, is the great excess in the 
 official value of the exports above the imports. 
 We exported, in the first of these years, to the 
 value of fifty-five millions, in the next fifty mil- 
 lions, and the last sixty-one millions. Our 
 imports were valued at forty-two millions, thirty- 
 six millions, and forty-three millions; and there 
 was a similar excess in the estimated value of 
 our exports above that of our imports, for a long 
 course of years preceding. This leads us to 
 inquire, in what manner, and for what purpose, 
 we give away this surplus of exports. In time 
 of war it is easily accounted for, by our foreign 
 belligerent expenses, and the subsidies we pay to 
 our allies. In time of peace the cause is not so 
 obvious. 
 
 According to the doctrine of the old school, 
 this excess of exportation is a desirable matter.
 
 316 OF COMMERCE, 
 
 It gives us what was termed a favourable ba- 
 lance, and being supposed paid in the precious 
 metals, by increasing the quantity of these, 
 formed an addition to our national Avealth. This 
 doctrine now does not require refutation. 
 
 Without undertaking to develop the whole 
 of this mystery, the following circumstances 
 appear to have considerable Aveight, and to 
 account, at least in part, for the great and per- 
 manent superiority of our exports. 
 
 Although our warlike operations have been 
 discontinued, at least in Europe, for a good 
 many years, we still keep a large military esta- 
 blishment in our colonies, and occasionally in 
 other services. The other expenses of our nume- 
 rous colonies are very great, and only a small part 
 of them is defrayed by any revenue raised in 
 the colonies. The expense of our establishment 
 for convicted criminals in New South Wales 
 forms a pretty large article. The expense of 
 our embassies at foreign courts is considerable. 
 Some of these may be paid in the first instance 
 by money, or bills of exchange ; but all of them 
 must be idthnately paid by the export of com- 
 modities. 
 
 We may next reckon the sums remitted to 
 British subjects resident abroad. Since the
 
 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 317 
 
 peace, the number of such absentees, now resid- 
 ing in France and other foreign countries, some 
 of them transiently, many of them permanently, 
 owing to the greater cheapness of living abroad, 
 has been very considerable, and their expenditure 
 is also supplied in the same manner, and a small 
 part only of this is recompensed by the expen- 
 diture of foreigners in this country. 
 
 The amount of goods clandestinely imported 
 is another countercharge against our exports. 
 This was formerly very great, and though now, 
 by the amendment and better execution of our 
 laws against smuggling, it is much diminished, 
 enough still remains to have a sensible influence. 
 
 Since the peace large sums have been furnished 
 in Britain towards foreign loans, and for car- 
 rying on speculative undertakings in foreign 
 countries. 
 
 The amount of British funded debt held by 
 foreigners is not now very great, but whatever 
 it be, the dividends remitted to foreign fund- 
 holders must be taken into account. 
 
 Lastly, we may notice, that, as Britain pos- 
 sesses no mines of the precious metals, an annual 
 supply will be required to replace the waste of 
 our coin, by wear and other accidents, though 
 no addition be made to the quantity of our
 
 318 
 
 OF COMMERCE. 
 
 metallic circulating medium, and also to answer 
 the other purposes to whicli these metals are 
 applied. Gold and silver do not form any part 
 of the imports exhil^ited in our official returns. 
 
 Such are the circumstances that occur to us 
 at present, as accounting for the excess of our 
 exports above our imports. We may have 
 omitted some, and we suspect, after all, that 
 there is something in the manner in which the 
 values are estimated in the official accounts, that 
 renders them not altogether a just standard for 
 exhibiting the real state of our trade. We 
 cannot overlook, that, in some articles of foreig-n 
 and colonial merchandize, the quantity exported 
 for a course of successive years is greater than 
 that imported. It belongs to those who have 
 the management of this branch of the revenue 
 to explain that paradox. The articles to which 
 this observation applies are — cotton and silk 
 manufactures of India, saltpetre, pepper, cin- 
 namon, rum, geneva. 
 
 The declared value of the produce and manu- 
 factures of the United Kingdom, exported from 
 Britain in these years, is less than the official 
 value, owing to the great excess of the latter 
 in the article of cotton manufacture exported. 
 If that article be set aside, the declared value of
 
 OF COMMliKCE. 319 
 
 the other exports exceeds the official value, and 
 on the years preceding 1821 the declared value 
 of the whole exports exceeded the official value. 
 Tiie declared value of foreign and colonial mer- 
 chandize re-exported is not given in the official 
 statements. 
 
 JVote. — By the returns made to Parliament 
 up to the present time (1830), it is established, 
 beyond all doubt, that the official value of most 
 articles exported has, during every year, greatly 
 exceeded the real or declared value for each of 
 the last eight or ten years ; and this diiference 
 Avill, to a great degree, account for the apparent 
 excess which, in the preceding chapter, is sup- 
 posed to have existed between the annual value 
 of our exports over that of our imports.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 No branch of political economy has engaged 
 more attention than that of population, and none 
 is more deserving of it. The points which claim 
 our attention are. How far a dense population is 
 desirable ? What are its limits, necessary or 
 contingent? How far the constitution of human 
 nature, when not under restraint, leads to an 
 increase of number? What restraints naturally 
 occur in ditferent stages of society ? Whether 
 it be wise to stimulate population by artificial 
 encouragement ? Or whether, on the other hand, 
 it be requisite to check its too rapid progress by 
 artificial restraints ? What are the results of an 
 increasing, stationary, or diminishing population 
 in regard to human happiness ? 
 
 It appears clearly desirable, that every country 
 should be peopled to an extent consistent with 
 the comfortable subsistence of its inhabitants. 
 The bountiful Author of Nature created this 
 world, in order that it might be inhabited by 
 mankind ; and although the human race be
 
 POPULATION. 321 
 
 sprung from a single pair, it was appointed that 
 they should increase and multiply, and replenish 
 the earth. Even apart from sacred history, there 
 are sufficient proofs of the gradual increase of 
 the human race, and its gradual dispersion over 
 different regions of the earth. 
 
 As the natural fruits of the earth are only suf- 
 ficient for a very narrow population, the requisite 
 supply of food, as mankind multiply, must be 
 obtained by human industry, and the quantity of 
 food raised will be regulated by the number of 
 consumers. More ^vill not be raised than they 
 require, for it would be useless ; and if the 
 quantity were much less, part of the human race 
 must perish by hunger. There is, however, a 
 considerable range between a full and a scanty 
 subsistence, in which the quantity of food, com- 
 pared with the number of mankind, may vibrate. 
 
 The labour of a certain portion of mankind 
 (or what comes to the same thing, a certain pro- 
 portion of the labour of the whole) is, in most 
 cases, sufficient for providing food for the whole ; 
 and the remainder may be applied for procuring 
 clothing, habitation, and other comforts. The 
 proportion of mankind required to be employed 
 in the productionof food varies much, according 
 to the fertility of the soil, the nature of the food, 
 
 Y
 
 322 POPULATION. 
 
 and the agricultural skill and industry of those 
 who furnish it. Perhaps, in a fertile country, 
 the labour of three men among twelve may be 
 sufficient to supply food for themselves and nine 
 other labourers, together with the requisite pro- 
 portion of Avomen and children, and the other 
 nine may be employed in providing houses, fur- 
 niture, clothes, and other accommodations. In 
 a sterile country, the labour of nine may be re- 
 quired for obtaining food, and that of three only 
 be applicable to other purposes. These are, 
 perhaps, nearly, the limits within civilized 
 society. Supposing their skill and industry 
 equal, the former will be amply, and the latter 
 scantily, supplied with the conveniences of life. 
 In Britain, the number engaged in miscellane- 
 ous employments predominates. According to 
 the census of 1821, the number of families em- 
 ployed in agriculture was 978,656. That of those 
 employed in trade and manufacture 1,350,239. 
 An additional quantity of food, when necessary, 
 may be obtained by employing additional labour 
 on the land already cultivated, or by bringing 
 waste land into cultivation; but when this is had 
 recourse to, though food may be raised for a 
 greater number of men, the rmmber of free hands 
 whose labour is applicable to other purposes
 
 POPULATION. 323 
 
 may be smaller. The land may produce a greater 
 absolute quantity of food, but a less disposable 
 quantity. Is this desirable ? 
 
 The greater number of modern political 
 economists answer this question in the negative. 
 None more decidedly than Mr. Ricardo. " Pro- 
 vided the net income be the same, it is of no 
 consequence whether the number of inhabitants 
 be ten or twelve millions." — " Would it be any 
 advantage to the country, that, to produce the same 
 net revenue, seven millions of men rather than five 
 should be employed ? It would not enable us to add 
 a man to our army, or a guinea to our taxes." 
 
 If a large army, or a large revenue, were the 
 ultimate object, this would be sound doctrine. 
 But if the Avelfare of mankind be the object, if 
 the only legitimate use of the army be to defend 
 the community, and the only proper application 
 of the revenue to supply the necessary expenses 
 of a government established for the protection and 
 benefit of the people, Avhose hap})iness it is their 
 duty to promote, we must answer the question in 
 a different manner. The world was created that 
 man might inhabit and enjoy it. Is it of no 
 consequence whether the gift of nature be li- 
 mited to a small, or extended to a great number 
 of inhabitants ? 
 
 Y2
 
 324 POPULATION. 
 
 We apprehend that this desirable extent of 
 population cannot be marked by any precise line, 
 though the general principle be clear. It is eli- 
 gible that every country be peopled to an extent 
 consistent with the comfortable subsistence of 
 the inhabitants. When there is a great number 
 of surplus hands, after serving the purposes of 
 agriculture, some of them are likely to be em- 
 ployed in a way that may be accounted capri- 
 cious, or in forming articles that add little, if 
 anything, to human comfort. It would be better 
 that these hands were employed in raising addi- 
 tional food, and thereby enabling the country to 
 support an additional population. To employ 
 the whole population in agriculture is impracti- 
 cable ; to approach near to this is not desirable, 
 neither is it so to enlarge the proportion of spare 
 hands by confining cultivation to the most fertile 
 soils on which food for a considerable number 
 can be raised by the labour of a few. But it is 
 impossible to ascertain the boundaries between 
 comfort and caprice, or the measure of comfort 
 that may be sacrificed for the sake of extending 
 the benefit of what remains to a more numerous 
 population. 
 
 The limits to population are partly assigned 
 by the hand of nature, and partly depend on the
 
 POPULATION. 325 
 
 political structure of societ)^ The number of 
 inhabitants on the earth cannot exceed what the 
 food it may produce can maintain. It is also re- 
 stricted by the means of the labouring classes 
 finding employment. The former limit is abso- 
 lutely and obviously insurmountable. It is not 
 so clear that the other may not be surmounted 
 by a different structure of society, although it 
 generally comes in operation before the other. 
 Those two great sources of restriction to popu- 
 lation are not, however, necessarily or universally 
 connected. In Ireland, where a redundant po- 
 pulation at present prevails, it is not alleged 
 that the soil is incapable of producing a suffici- 
 ency of that food which they chiefly subsist on, 
 and the abundance of that cheap food is even 
 assigned as the cause of the excess of population, 
 and of misery consequent thereon. A famine 
 may depopulate a country, and a succession of 
 bad seasons may retard the progress of popula- 
 tion, or even render it retrograde, although the 
 accumulated capital of the country affording 
 means of employment remain undiminished 
 Something of this kind took place in Britain at 
 the commencement of the eighteenth century. 
 These restrictive causes being, in a great mea- 
 sure, independent of each other, ought to be
 
 326 POFULATjlON, 
 
 considered separately, tliougli they are generally 
 blended by writers on political economy. At 
 present we shall confine our attention to the na- 
 tural limit. The political limit shall be the ob- 
 ject of a subsequent discussion. 
 
 The prevailing opinion, till lately, was, that 
 population ought to be encouraged, and political 
 measures, with a view thereto, have been had 
 recourse to, and some contempt bestowed upon 
 a state of celibacy. No danger or inconvenience 
 from excessive population was apprehended. 
 About thirty years ago Mr. Malthus advanced a 
 very different doctrine. The natural progress 
 of population, according thereto, advances ra- 
 pidly and presses upon the means of subsistence, 
 and would soon overcome it, unless checked by 
 moral restraint, vice, or misery. The former of 
 these, by far the most desirable, is, therefore, an 
 essential duty, and is the only means of avoiding 
 the others. 
 
 Mr. IMalthus enters into an elaborate and de- 
 tailed research concerning the state of popula- 
 tion in almost every country, ancient and mo- 
 dern, and points out the checks, preventive or 
 positive, which have, in a greater or less degree, 
 retarded the population in all. Of these, moral 
 restraint operates but feebly, and the increase of
 
 POPULATION. 327 
 
 its influence is a most desirable object. The 
 other branches of the preventive check arise 
 from the desire which men in a state of civiliza- 
 tion have of maintaining and elevating their sta- 
 tion in society, and enjoying the comforts which 
 art and industry afford. The extent of its influ- 
 ence is regulated by the habits and manners of 
 the age, and its effect is generally inferior to 
 that of the positive checks to population. Of 
 these ^var is the most prominent, and next to it 
 are famine and pestilential diseases. In modern 
 Europe the positive check is less prevalent, and 
 the preventive more so than in times past. 
 Abundant food occasions abundant population. 
 Agriculture is the efficient cause of popidation, — 
 not population of agriculture : yet population is 
 oftener restricted by want of employment than 
 by want of food. Population is most promoted 
 when the industry of an old state operates on the 
 fertile and unappropriated land of a new one. 
 
 The ultimate limit to population from want of 
 food is not, as Dr. Wallace and other theorists sup- 
 pose, a very distant event, and therefore, at present, 
 deserving of little regard, but is a calamity likely 
 to overtake us much sooner than these suppose. 
 Population advances by geometrical progression. 
 The increase of food, by more extensive and
 
 328 POPULATION. 
 
 better cultivation, cannot be expected to advance 
 faster than an arithmetical progression ; and 
 therefore the former must soon outstrip the other, 
 supposing the period of doubling to be twenty- 
 five years, which appears to be conformable to 
 the rate of increase in the North American 
 United States, and is Mdthin the bounds it would 
 probably reach if all impediments were removed. 
 The population of Britain being reckoned eleven 
 millions at present, and the produce sufficient 
 for the easy support of that number, at the end 
 of twenty-five years the number of inhabitants 
 would be twenty-two millions ; and if the quan- 
 tity of food be also doubled in that period, the 
 means of subsistence would be equal to this in- 
 crease. In the next twenty-five years the popu- 
 lation would be forty-four millions, and the 
 means of subsistence, receiving an increase equal 
 to what it did in the former period, would be 
 equal only to the support of thirty-three millions 
 at the former rate, and would afford a very scanty 
 fare to the existing number. At the next period 
 the population would be eighty-eight millions, 
 and the means of subsistence increasing at the 
 former rate, would be only equal to the supply 
 of half that number, and at the conclusion of the 
 first century the population would be one hun-
 
 POPULATION. 329 
 
 dred and seventy-six millions, and the means of 
 subsistence only equal to the support of fifty-five 
 millions, leaviui^ a population of a hundred and 
 twenty-one millions totally unprovided for. 
 
 It should be our object to promote the opera- 
 tion of such restraints as may proportion the 
 population to the food, for we cannot proportion 
 the food to the population. If the number of 
 births be great, the number of deaths must be 
 great in proportion. If we act consistently 
 when we give encouragement to the former, we 
 should at the same time use means to promote 
 the latter. In order to keep up an extent of 
 population as great as the country can maintain, 
 it is far more eligible to increase the health and 
 longevity of mankind, than to stimulate by en- 
 couragement a large number of births, accom- 
 panied by a proportional number of deaths as an 
 inevitable consequence. 
 
 The danger of distress from excess of popula- 
 tion being imminent, it is an inq)erious duty to 
 retard, and, if possible, avert it, by those mea- 
 sures which produce the least degree of sufi'er- 
 ing. This can only be done by increasing the 
 operation of the preventive checks. In oj>po- 
 sition to this, the English poor-laAvs, by allow- 
 ing maintenance at the public expense to the
 
 330 POPULATION. 
 
 children of the hibouring classes, when above a 
 small number, give undue encouragement to 
 early marriages. Mr. IMalthus proposes a repeal 
 of these laws in regard to all marriages con- 
 tracted after a certain period, with the exception, 
 perhaps, of families unusually large. He does 
 not go so far as to debar any set of men from 
 marriage, or even to prohibit marriage under a 
 certain age, but he strongly insists on the pro- 
 priety of inducing such habits, and inculcating 
 such sentiments as may have a general influence 
 on retarding the age of marriage till its prolific- 
 ness be diminished to such a degree as to confine 
 the increase of population within the bounds 
 that an increase of food may be obtained for. 
 
 IMr. IMalthus is unfavourable to the cottage 
 system, and has a particular dislike to the po- 
 tatoe. He deprecates the vicAv of milk and po- 
 tatoes, instead of Avheat, becoming the common 
 food of an Englishman. He is of opinion that 
 when potatoes are the common food, as they are 
 in Ireland, and every man who wishes to marry 
 may obtain a piece of ground sufficient, when 
 planted with that root, to support a family, the 
 consequence must be an over-population, and at- 
 tending wretchedness ; and that the indolent 
 and turbulent habits of the lower Irish can never
 
 POPULATION. 331 
 
 be corrected, while the potatoe system enables 
 them to increase beyond the regular demand for 
 labour; that, when the common people of a 
 country live principally on the dearest grain, as 
 they do in England on wheat, they have great 
 resources in a scarcity ; and barley, oats, cheap 
 soups, and especially potatoes, present themselves 
 as less expensive means of nourishment ; but 
 when their habitual food is the lowest in the 
 scale, they are absolutely without resourced 
 
 We have thus attempted to give a concise 
 view of the doctrines advanced in Mr. JMalthus's 
 celebrated work, and, we trust, a just one. We 
 are sure, at least, we have not willingly mis- 
 represented them. In many of them we heartily 
 concur, and we believe they are all dictated by 
 the benevolent desire of averting misery and 
 promoting the Avelfare of the most numerous 
 classes of society. Some of his doctrines we 
 think require modification, and in regard to 
 some we are entirely at issue with him. 
 
 We have now briefly to state our sentiments 
 on this important subject. 
 
 1. We hold that, agreeably to what is related 
 in Scripture, mankind originated from a single 
 pair, and have, in the course of some thousand 
 years, multiplied and extended themselves till
 
 332 POPULATION. 
 
 they occupy, in more or less dense population, 
 almost every region of the habitable earth. Pro- 
 fane history, however obscure and imperfect 
 in regard to the earlier periods, concurs with 
 Scripture in informing us of the gradual ex- 
 pansion of the human race, and in pointing out 
 the middle part of Asia as the country from 
 which it originated. We do not undertake to 
 solve the obscure problem of the population of 
 America. We believe it to have commenced 
 from some migration from the old world, the 
 particulars of which are now lost in unfathom- 
 able oblivion ; not improbably from the eastern 
 parts of Asia, to the countries on North Ame- 
 rica lying along the Pacific Ocean. We see no 
 reason for admitting the supposition of a sepa- 
 rate creation, and we have abundant proofs that 
 the population of that portion of the earth com- 
 menced at a later period than that of the old 
 continent. 
 
 2. The increase would go on in geometrical 
 progression so long as circumstances remained 
 the same, and that at a very rapid rate. If the 
 longevity of mankind in the first ages be ad- 
 mitted, as recorded in Scripture, the increase 
 would be more rapid than any which can now 
 take place under the most favourable circuni-
 
 POPULATION. 333 
 
 stances ; and we find even this is very consider- 
 able. The rate of increase may vary a little 
 from the nature of the climate, hut more from 
 the habits and manner of life of the inhabitants. 
 The United States of North America, since the 
 establishment of their independence, exhibit a 
 favourable example of rapid population, the in- 
 dustry of an old state operating there on the fer- 
 tile and unappropriated land of a new one. It 
 appears, by comparing the censuses taken there, 
 that the population has doubled in about 25 
 years. Perhaps, in stating this as the natural 
 rate of increase, too little is allowed for emi- 
 gration. According to the census of the Ame- 
 rican States, taken in 1800, the number of white 
 inhabitants of all ages was 4,308,971. These 
 would be reduced, by the ascertained rate of 
 mortality in ten years, to 3,200,000, which is 
 the remnant of the former stock that would be 
 alive in 1810, all above ten years of age; but the 
 number of white persons in the United States 
 above the age of ten, in the year 1810, by the 
 census taken that year, was 3,845,389, giving a 
 surplus of 645,389, which can only be accounted 
 for by emigration ; and to this number we must 
 add a number of emigrant children under ten, 
 and the emigrants who died within the ten years.
 
 334 POPULATION. 
 
 to complete the whole number of emigrants. 
 The whole increase of population in these ten 
 years was 1,556,122, of which nearly one half 
 was added by emigration *. Mr. Malthus is of 
 opinion that the rate of doubling in twenty-five 
 years is maintained, even after checks to popu- 
 lation, preventive or positive, have operated in 
 a considerable degree, and that there is reason 
 to believe mankind would double in fifteen 
 years, if every check were removed. Perhaps, 
 if we assume twenty years as the shortest period 
 of doubling, consistent with the present state of 
 the human constitution, we may not be far from 
 the truth. 
 
 3. It is evident this rate of population could 
 not go on long. The earth would be over- 
 peopled in a few centuries beyond the physical 
 possibility of subsistence. The interval between 
 the time of the deluge, and of Jacob's removal 
 into Egypt, according to the scripture chrono- 
 logy, is six hundred and forty years, or thirty- 
 two periods of doubling. At this supposed rate 
 the number of mankind originating from three 
 pairs at the deluge would amount to about 
 
 * This statement is taken from Mr. David Booth's Disserta- 
 tion on the Increase of Population, and the Means of Subsis- 
 tence, pubhshed by Mr. Godwin.
 
 POPULATION. 335 
 
 twenty-five thousand millions when Jacob jour- 
 neyed into Egj^t, — a much greater number than 
 the whole earth ever did or can support. 
 
 4. Accordingly checks have occurred in every 
 age and nation that have much retarded this ex- 
 treme rate of population, but very different in 
 their nature, and in the extent of their operation 
 in different ages and nations. 
 
 5. The ultimate and insurmountable check to 
 the increase of mankind is the impracticability 
 of procuring food, even at the lowest rate, for 
 more than a limited number. The absolute 
 want of food, however, has seldom been the ac- 
 tual check to popidation, and the earth has never 
 been peopled to the extent it is capable of main- 
 taining. A large portion of the earth is still 
 uninhabited, or very thinly inhabited. In the 
 most improved countries there is nmch imper- 
 fectly cultivated, and very little brought to the 
 utmost pitch of fertility of which it is suscep- 
 tible. 
 
 6. There is reason to believe that, with few 
 exceptions, the number of mankind has increased 
 in every age, and extended farther, though at a 
 rate gradually diminishing from the increase of 
 checks, resulting from the increase of numbers. 
 
 7. Mr. :Malthus founds much upon the dif-
 
 336 POPULATION. 
 
 ferent nature of geometrical progression, by 
 which, from the human constitution, there is a 
 tendency for mankind to multiply, and the arith- 
 metical progression by which he supposes an 
 additional quantity of food may be procured. 
 We do not think him altogether correct in this 
 last position. The power of procuring addi- 
 tional food depends on the industry and skill of 
 the cultivators, and the extent and fertility of 
 unoccupied land, and may, in some cases, ad- 
 vance much beyond the arithmetical rate of an 
 equal increase in an equal time. 
 
 We have no reason to believe that mankind 
 ever existed in a state altogether venatory to any 
 great extent, or for any considerable length of 
 time. The only remains of that state now are 
 to be found among the savage tribes of North 
 American Indians, and these are now nearly ex- 
 tinct. The pastoral and nomadic state has been 
 far more extensive and of longer duration, and 
 still prevails in extensive regions of the earth. 
 Cattle, in that state, furnish the chief food of 
 mankind ; and as the increase of cattle, as well 
 as that of mankind, goes on in geometrical pro- 
 gression, and even doubles in a shorter period, 
 there is no reason why the supply of food should 
 not keep pace with the increase of mankind.
 
 POPULATiON. 
 
 337 
 
 liowever rapid, so long as there is a sufficient 
 range of pasture land ; and the ambulatory ha- 
 bits of men in that state would render their 
 change of country, in quest of pasture, a matter 
 of no hardship. 
 
 By degrees the agricultural system, at first 
 from choice, rather than necessity, is blended 
 with the pastoral, and in time obtains a supe- 
 riority over it. The earth yields its produce to 
 the agriculturist in consequence of cultivation, 
 and so long as there is enough of fertile land to 
 cultivate, that quantity of food produced will be 
 in proportion to the number of cultivators, and go 
 on, as they do, in geometrical progression. In- 
 deed, when fertile unappropriated land becomes 
 scarce, and recourse is held to more sterile soils, 
 the case is extremely different. 
 
 8. The number of mankind has thus a ten- 
 dency to increase, somewhat according to a 
 geometrical progression, but at a rate Avhich 
 becomes slower as the population increases. 
 The food which they can procure also advances 
 at first by geometrical progression, but this is 
 kept back by checks, still more operative than 
 those Avhich take place to retard the increase of 
 mankind. Of these the most prominent is, the 
 necessity of having recourse to the cultivation 
 
 z
 
 338 POPULATION. 
 
 of more sterile soils, after all the fertile ones 
 are brought into full culture. As the utmost 
 possible extent of population is limited by the 
 quantity of food which the land, fertile or sterile, 
 and all cultivated as well as possible, could 
 maintain, so the utmost actual extent is limited 
 by the increased labour requisite for the pro- 
 duction of food from barren soils. If a tract of 
 land, though capable of being brought to a state 
 in which it will yield some food for mankind, 
 requires the work of more labourers than can be 
 maintained on what it can be made to produce, 
 it is evident it never will be cultivated. Nor 
 will cultivation even nearly reach that limit. 
 Tlie cultivators must have clothes, habitation, and 
 other accommodations, as well as food. If they 
 cannot obtain these from the produce of the 
 land, they will cease to cultivate it, though no 
 rent be demanded. 
 
 9. The extent of cultivation, in regard to 
 barren soils, is therefore connected with the 
 measure of accommodation and comfort which 
 the labouring classes can ol)tain in the existing 
 state of society. The agriculturist must obtain 
 an equal share of these with the other classes, 
 and as every friend to lunnanity wishes this as 
 ample as circumstances will admit, it is not
 
 POPULATION. 339 
 
 desirtihle that luiid, below a certain degree of 
 fertility, should be cultivated. If the disposable 
 part of the produce Avill afford very few comforts 
 to the agricultural labourer, the mass of the 
 society must be in a state equally indigent. The 
 same observation applies to the bestowing addi- 
 tional labour on more fertile soils, to bring them 
 to a higher state of cultivation. The question 
 recurs, does the tidditional produce repay the 
 additional labour at an equal rate as other labour 
 is remunerated ? Improvements in agriculture, 
 however, which lessen the requisite labour on 
 soils of whatever (|uality, may render the culti- 
 vation of more sterile soils eligible, juid is of 
 advantage to society*. 
 
 * There is much land which cannot be brought into a state of 
 cultivation without a heavy expense, but, when once brought in, 
 may be retained so at a moderate expense, and give a return 
 adequate thereto. Should such land be cultivated ? If we con- 
 sider this as a mere question of loss or gain, we would answ-er 
 in the negative. The proprietor or farmer who improved it 
 would be a loser, for we suppose the first expense greater than 
 the value of the land after improvement. But, if we extend our 
 view to the general good of the country, we must consider the 
 cultivation as desirable. Th^ loss is only in the first instance, 
 the improvement of the country extends to future generations. 
 But how shall such improvements be carried into execution ? 
 Some proprietors have a laudable pride in the cultivation of 
 their estates, and will make exertions which, though not con- 
 formable to narrow prudence, confer an important advantage 
 on the country. We have known considerable tracts of very 
 rough ground, in the vicinity of a trading town, brought into a 
 
 Z 2
 
 340 POPULATION. 
 
 10. Although we have taken a view some- 
 what different from Mr. Malthus, of the relative 
 progress of jjopulation and food, we agree 
 with him in the chief point, that the former 
 must in time outstrip the latter. Whatever 
 advances at a rate of geometrical progression, 
 however low the rate, must in time amount to 
 an indefinite number, and surpass the progress 
 of what is limited by an insurmountable barrier. 
 This point is incontestable. 
 
 11. The time in which the progress of popu- 
 lation is likely to surpass the practicable in- 
 crease of population is an important considera- 
 tion. In this we are inclined to assume a middle 
 rate between Dr. Wallace and ]Mr. INIalthus. 
 The former considers it as a very distant event, 
 the latter as very near, or already at hand. We 
 do not think it so remote as the former supposes, 
 or so near as the latter apprehends. The utmost 
 possible increase by procreation is limited by 
 the human constitution. If we state at five in 
 the hundred yearly, which is equivalent to a rate 
 of doubling in about fifteen years, we surely 
 take it high enough. An additional quantity of 
 
 high state of cultivation, by the more opulent citizens, each 
 improving a small portion, at an expense, perhaps, never repaid, 
 but extending a scene of fertility to some miles distance from 
 the town to which it owed its improvement.
 
 POPULATION. 341 
 
 food, amounting to one-twentieth at most, will 
 be what is wanted for the additional nvnnber of 
 mouths produced in one year. Indeed, less will 
 be sufficient, as young children do not require 
 the average allowance. Tiiere does not seem 
 to be much difficulty at present in Britain, and 
 other countries in similar circumstances, of pro- 
 curing that quantity by more extensive or better 
 culture. Suppose that no more food was raised 
 than before for one year, the consequence would 
 only be that the people must be served Avith a 
 sparer diet, to the extent of one-twentieth, 
 foreign commerce being out of the question. 
 This is no very heavy calamity, yet would be 
 sufficient to raise the price of provisions so much 
 as to give a stimulus to agriculture, and thereby 
 produce a sufficiency to give an allowance in the 
 following year as ample as before ; and the 
 increase of agricultural produce might thus keep 
 pace with that of population for a considerable 
 number of years. 
 
 12. We are led by these observations to mo- 
 dify INIr. IMalthus's doctrine, that agriculture is 
 the efficient cause of population, not population 
 of agriculture. No more land will ever be cul- 
 tivated than so much as there is a demand for the 
 produce of. In a country, therefore^ where the
 
 342 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 agricultural system has commenced, but which 
 is as yet thinly inhabited, much land of consi- 
 derable fertility will remain uncultivated, but 
 ready to yield a plentiful return, so soon as it is 
 subjected to the labour of the agriculturist. In 
 this state food being easily procured, mankind 
 Avill multiply rapidly, and more land will be gra*- 
 dually brought into cultivation to supply their 
 wants. So long as this continues, population is 
 the efficient cause of agriculture, not agriculture 
 of population. When there is no longer an ex- 
 tent of fertile land remaining uncultivated, and 
 when there is a population sufficient to consume 
 what the country in its present state produces, 
 and no means of foreign supply, then population 
 will be checked by the difficulty, and ultimately 
 by the impossibility of procuring food, and can 
 only be increased by more extensive or better 
 agriculture. Then, according to Mr. Malthus, 
 agriculture may be accounted the efficient cause 
 of population. 
 
 13. Although a time must come when the in- 
 crease of population will be checked by ^vant of 
 subsistence, if other checks be not interposed, 
 yet so long as there are means of increasing the 
 quantity of food in a country to meet the addi- 
 tional demand for a considerable number of years,
 
 POPULATION. ;343 
 
 without any essential diminution of comfort, 
 there is no occasion to have recourse to any 
 political regulation for checking the progress of 
 population. We see but little into what lies in 
 the recesses of futurity, and should not adopt 
 measures A\hich impair present happiness, from 
 the apprehension of remote consequences, which 
 may never occur, being intercepted by other 
 causes, at present beyond our view. 
 
 14. Admitting that the agriculture of Britain, 
 or any other old country, were brought to such 
 a pitch as to be unsusceptible of much further 
 improvement, we might, nevertheless, give en- 
 couragement to population, providing the means 
 of emigration were easily within reach. Such 
 is the state of Britain at present in regard to 
 America. That quarter of the world presents 
 immense tracts of land uninhabited, or very 
 thinly inhabited, and, though of considerable 
 fertility, very little cultivated. The means of 
 emigration to these countries is not very diffi- 
 cult, and they are not likely to be fully peopled 
 for ages. They afford, therefore, a resource ^-^ 
 removing a redundant population, likelv -^ ^^^^" 
 tinue as long as human foresight c^* reach, sub- 
 ject, however, to the diffi^'^ty and expense 
 which must always attc-^' emigration. Australia
 
 344 POPULATION. 
 
 also affords an extensive field for emigration, 
 although, on account of the distance, attended 
 with greater difficulties. Government should 
 afford every facility to emigration, and has done 
 so of late ; though at a former period, when diffe- 
 rent opinions were entertained, the general po- 
 licy was rather to discourage it. Direct assis- 
 tance in money to defray the expense of the pas- 
 sage, and the first wants of the emigrants, may 
 also be given to a certain extent, though under 
 requisite limitations. This has also been done. 
 It has been proposed that the money thus ad- 
 vanced should be repaid by instalments, as the 
 land allotted to the settlers was brought into cul- 
 tivation, and a lien retained in the grant for that 
 purpose. The validity of this security for re- 
 payment may be equivocal, but the supply of our 
 manufactures to these settlers, before they had 
 arrived at a state in which they could manufac- 
 facture for themselves with advantage, would 
 probably afford a sufficient compensation to the 
 parent country for what aid they had afforded to 
 
 tiiv. ^mifrrants. 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 io. -Ar^. fully j^gpee ^yjth Mr. Mai thus that no 
 
 stnnulus shou^] j^g given to ])opulation by any 
 
 direct political nit^.^ure, and therefore that the 
 
 encouragement given i^ early marriage among
 
 POPULATION. 345 
 
 the lower ranks by maintaining all the children 
 above a certain number, and that not a large one, 
 from the poors' rates, is improper ; and the poor- 
 laws, so far as they establish such a claim, should, 
 after due intimation, be repealed. This is the 
 chief point which JMr. Malthus desires to esta- 
 blish, and it has our unqualified approbation. 
 We do not approve of the poor-laws in general, 
 especially that part of them which supplies part 
 of the necessary wages of the labouring classes 
 from that fund. This has the effect of confounding 
 the views of charity and legal right, and of doing 
 aAvay the sense of degradation at receiving elee- 
 mosynary support, so natural to an unsophisti- 
 cated mind, and so beneficial to society. If re- 
 course to poors' rates be admitted, we think it 
 should be limited to cases of age and sickness, 
 or other severe distress, and of widows left with 
 young families. 
 
 16. We do not, however, go so far as to im- 
 pute any blame to charitable persons who may 
 give pecuniary aid to some in the lower ranks 
 whom they are inclined to favour, though it may, 
 in some instances, induce them to marry earlier 
 than they would otherwise do. Such acts of 
 beneficence generally proceed from laudable mo- 
 tives, and are not likely to be so frequent as to
 
 346 POPULATION. 
 
 produce any hurtful effect on the mass of 
 society. We would never inculcate any doc- 
 trine, the tendency of which was to harden the 
 human heart as'ainst the demands of want and 
 misery, to increase the separation between the 
 opulent and the indigent, and induce a temper 
 alike inconsistent with the spirit of the christian 
 religion, and the dictates of humanity. 
 
 17. Admitting that no encouragement be 
 given to early marriage by allowing a legal pro- 
 vision to the children, should we go any further? 
 Should we prohibit, or at least discourage, such 
 marriages by any positive enactment ? We think 
 not. If measures undertaken with a view to 
 this could be rendered effectual, which would 
 not be easily done, the increase of licentiousness 
 would be almost the inevitable consequence ; and 
 this is too serious an evil, whether considered in 
 a religious, moral, or political point of view, to 
 be slightly regarded. Should a positive restric- 
 tion, however, be judged necessary, perhaps 
 something of the following kind might be the 
 least exceptionable. Married women and wi- 
 dows are entitled, l)y the laws of this and other 
 well governed states, to certain legal privileges. 
 Might not these be refused, or restricted, when 
 the woman, at the time of her marriage, was under
 
 POPULATION. 347 
 
 a specified age ? This might have the effect, in 
 frequent instances, of inducing young persons 
 who had formed an attachment to each other, to 
 defer their marria2;e till the woman had ol^tained 
 the specified age. A breach of chastity between 
 them before marriage to incur the same or a 
 higher legal disqualification than a marriage 
 before the limited time. If the morals of the 
 parties be not previously depraved, their enter- 
 taining such views, and not a very distant pro- 
 spect of obtaining the completion of their desires, 
 seem to afford as favourable a ground of exi)ec- 
 tation of restraining licentiousness as any mea- 
 sure merely human can afford. We have, how- 
 ever, suggested this measure not as what we ap- 
 prove of, but as the least hurtful, if any of the 
 kind be had recourse to. Our opinion is, that in 
 these matters government should not interfere. 
 
 18. Though we do not approve of very early 
 marriages, we are still more averse to very late 
 ones. We believe the attachments formed in 
 early life for the most part lead to the happiest 
 unions, and our observations concur with those 
 of Dr. Franklin, that the sentiments of the par- 
 ties mould more into conformity with each other 
 when young and flexible. The frequent in- 
 stances of divorce among the higher ranks from
 
 348 POPULATION. 
 
 marriages contracted at a period of life when 
 interest is the prevailing motive, afford a lament- 
 able proof how little such marriages are desir- 
 able. INIr. Malthus observes, " That the ex- 
 pression, late marriages, refers to no particular 
 age, but is entirely comparative. The marriages 
 in England are later than in France, the natural 
 consequence of that prudence and respectability 
 generated by a better government. Two or three 
 years in the average of marriage, by lengthening 
 each generation, and tending, in a small degree, 
 both to diminish the prolificness of marriages, 
 and the number of born living to be married, 
 may make a considerable difference in the rate 
 of increase, and be adequate to allow for a con- 
 siderably diminished mortality. But I would 
 by no means talk of any limits. The only plain 
 and intelligible measure with regard to mar- 
 riage is the having a fair prospect of being able 
 to maintain a family.*" — Vol. iii. pages 361-2. 
 In these observations we fully concur. 
 
 19. There is no point in which we differ more 
 from Mr. Malthus than in his abhorrence of the 
 potatoe. If that, or any other species of food, 
 were unfavourable to the health and vigour of 
 the human frame, and especially if, by the re- 
 action of the body on the mind, it had a prejudi-
 
 POPULATION. 349 
 
 cial influence on the noblest part of our nature, 
 this would form a most imperious reason for dis- 
 couraging the use of such food. But there seem 
 no good grounds for entertaining such an ojjinion 
 in regard to the potatoe. Dr. Smith asserts a 
 contrary one, and we think the reasons he as- 
 signs for doing so are satisfactory ; they concur 
 with our own observations. In many districts 
 of Scotland the potatoe furnishes a considerable 
 portion of the food of the lower ranks, without 
 any apparent injury to their health or welfare ; 
 nor is such a supposed injury, though ]\Ir. Mal- 
 tlms insinuates something of this kind, the point 
 on which he chiefly rests his argument. The 
 purport of his reasoning is, that the facility of 
 procuring food, afforded by the prolific nature of 
 the potatoe, gives undue encouragement to early 
 marriages, and, consequently, to redundant po- 
 pulation, which, not being able to find employ- 
 ment, from a want of proportional capital, is re- 
 duced to a state of wretchedness. Such reason- 
 ing appears to lead to inadmissible consequences, 
 and not to accord well with the principal doc- 
 trines which Mr. JNIalthus aims to establish. 
 These require us, because we cannot increase 
 food heyond a certain measure, to limit popula- 
 tion to that measure. But if we can maintain a
 
 350 POPULATION. 
 
 greater number by introducing a more productive 
 kind of food, why not do so ? If the same ground 
 will support a much greater number of men 
 when applied for raising potatoes than wheat, 
 why not apply it accordingly ? If we can find 
 another plant still more productive than the po- 
 tatoe, why not have recourse to it, and supersede 
 the potatoe in its turn ? Mr. Malthus's reason- 
 ing leads to this, that to suppress redundant po- 
 pulation we should lessen the quantity of food, 
 by raising a less productive kind, when we have 
 a better one in our power. The same reasoning 
 should induce us to lay aside wheat, and substi" 
 tute for it some less productive plant, or lead us 
 to consider it as desirable that the fertility of the 
 earth were diminished, to save the risk of man- 
 kind increasing too fast, from the facility they 
 iind in procuring food for their children. 
 
 The argument adduced by Mr. Malthus, for 
 the common people of a country living chiefly 
 upon the dearest grain, appears to us untenal^le. 
 " When they live principally on wheat, as they 
 do in England, they have great resources in a 
 scarcity, and barley, oats, rice, cheap soups, and 
 potatoes, all present themselves as less expen- 
 sive, yet at the same time Avholesome means of 
 nourislunent ; but when their habitual food is the
 
 POPULATION. 351 
 
 lowest in the scale, they appear to be absolutely 
 without resource, except in the bark of trees, 
 like the poor Swedes, and a great portion of 
 them nuist necessarily be starved." — Book iv. 
 chap. xi. 
 
 The attainment of the substitutes here pro- 
 posed seems impracticable. While wheat is the 
 chief food used in the country, no more potatoes, 
 or other food, will be raised than what is re- 
 quired for the subordinate consumption of these 
 kinds of food, in aid of that which is chiefly 
 depended on. In a bad season, the wheat fails. 
 Suppose one-tenth of the food usually consisted 
 of potatoes, there could not be more than that 
 quantity expected in such a year, nor even so 
 much as the usual quantity of barley and oats, as 
 these crops are likely to suffer from the same 
 inclemency of the Aveather which renders the 
 wheat crop deficient. Supply, in such a dis- 
 tressing case, must, if practicable, be derived 
 from other sources. 
 
 20. We are much more favourable to the 
 cottage system, and the practice of cottagers 
 keeping cows, than Mr. ]\Ialthus, and some other 
 modern writers on political economy, and have 
 assigned our reasons, — Chap. xii. p. 192. We are 
 well pleased that JMr. Malthus partially retracts
 
 352 POPULATION, 
 
 (book iv. cliap. xiii.) what he had advanced in a 
 former chapter against tliat system, and thereby 
 approaclies nearer to our sentiments on the 
 subject. 
 
 21. It is, we believe, an undoubted fact, that 
 the human race advances more rapidly in popu- 
 lation in its earlier stages, and that the rate of 
 increase becomes slower with the progress of 
 art and civilization. This arises from the dif- 
 ference of habits that accompany the change of 
 the state of society, and is likely to operate still 
 more powerfully as art and civilization are 
 carried to a higher pitch, and, without having 
 recourse to harsh measures, may be expected to 
 restrain the progress of population Avithin the 
 necessary limits. INIr. IMalthus admits this doc- 
 trine to a considerable extent, and states it thus : 
 " Consequently, admitting the desirableness of 
 the end (the diminished proportion of births), 
 it is not necessary to risk the promulgation of 
 any new opinions which may alarm the pre- 
 judices of the poor, and the effects of which we 
 cannot with certainty foresee ; but we have only 
 to proceed in improving our civil polity, con- 
 ferring the benefits of education upon all, and 
 removing every obstacle to the general extension 
 of all those privileges and advantages which
 
 POPULATION, 353 
 
 may be enjoyed in common ; and we may be 
 quite sure that the effect, to which I look for- 
 ward, and which can alone render these advan- 
 tages permanent, Avill follow. 
 
 " I acknowledge the truth and force of this 
 argument, and have only to observe, that it is 
 difficult to perceive that we should not proceed 
 with more celerity and certainty towards the 
 end in view, if the principal causes which tend 
 to promote or retard it were generally known. 
 In particular, I cannot help looking forward to 
 a very decided improvement in the habits and 
 temper of the lower classes, when their real 
 situation has been clearly explained to them ; 
 and if this were done gradually and cautiously, 
 and accompanied with proper moral and religious 
 instructions, I should not expect any danger 
 from it, &c." — Vol. iii. Appendix, p. 375. 
 
 2 A
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 
 
 In the foregoing part of this treatise, and 
 especially in chap, xv., we have delineated a 
 state of society, Avhich the principles of human 
 nature and the means in the power of man 
 naturally lead to, and in which he may enjoy a 
 considerable measure of comfort and prosperity. 
 The efficient cause of his obtaining the neces- 
 saries and conveniences of life is his industry 
 and skill; and the motive for putting these in 
 action, is his desire of obtaining such objects, 
 at the same time that the exertions made to 
 obtain them contribute to the more important 
 end of intellectual improvement. The fruits of 
 his labour are greatly increased by the use of 
 tools and the division of employment, without 
 some measure of which he could do little ; but 
 the most useful of the former are easily pro- 
 cured, and are possessed by the rudest tribes; 
 and the first step in the latter, the division of 
 the farmer from the artizan, and of this last into 
 the separate employments of mason, carpenter, 
 smith, weaver, and a few others, is easily at-
 
 ARTIFICIAF, STATE OF SOCIETY. 355 
 
 tained, and even this step contributes, perhaps, 
 more to the extension of comfort, than others 
 which are more complex, and of Liter attain- 
 ment. In this state, any increase in the quantity 
 or efficacy of industry woukl increase the general 
 quantity of commodities, and consequently the 
 portion that should fall to the share of each 
 member of the society. This state does not 
 require an equality of wealth and station, though 
 it does not accord with extreme inequality; 
 neither does it exclude the advantages which 
 commerce may bestow, by supplying better 
 materials for clothing, and other purposes, than 
 our own country affords, or even articles for 
 direct consumption. But its principal founda- 
 tion is the products of general industry, employed 
 for the most part upon native commodities, pre- 
 pared for the use of the inhabitants, and con- 
 sumed by them. 
 
 When we take a survey of the different 
 civilized countries of the earth, we seldom 
 see this picture realized in any considerable 
 degree, and never to its full extent. Those 
 who advocate it are generally treated as enthu- 
 siastic visionaries. In countries where art has 
 been longest established, and where wealth seems 
 most to abound, we often tind the great mass of 
 
 2 A 2
 
 356 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 
 
 the cominiinity placed in very uncomfortable 
 circumstances, and unable to derive any consi- 
 derable advantage from their industry. Capital, 
 in this state, is held requisite to put industry in 
 motion, and to find a market for the articles 
 produced becomes a principal object. The 
 operative part of the community, from the low- 
 ness of their circumstances, only consume a 
 small part. The consumption of the rich and 
 luxurious takes off so much more ; but there is 
 still a surplus of commodities which must be 
 taken off by foreign commerce, and purchased 
 by less skilful or less active nations, for anything 
 they have to give in return. In countries highly 
 commercial, such as Britain, the quantity of 
 manufactured goods we can dispose of to other 
 nations is considered as the basis of our pros- 
 perity, and even as necessary for our existence. 
 This state of society may be accounted artificial. 
 It proceeds from the natural state above described 
 by gradual steps, but the extremes are marked 
 by the most obvious and important distinctions. 
 
 Here, several points of the highest importance 
 present themselves to our consideration. Is 
 this artificial state of society desirable? Does 
 it, on the whole, promote human happiness? 
 Should we endeavour by artificial stimulus to
 
 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 357 
 
 accelerate its progress? or, should we rather 
 use means to retard it ? Is it practicable to do 
 so? If practicable, is it expedient? Supposing 
 it already extensively established, and followed 
 with hurtful consequences, would it be prac- 
 ticable, or would it be wise to endeavour to 
 retrace the steps by which it has advanced, and 
 return to a state of greater simplicity ? If the 
 progress towards this highly artificial state be 
 inevitable, and on the whole beneficial, by what 
 means can we best prevent, or retard, or alleviate 
 the evils which accompany it ? 
 
 If the mass of accumidated wealth be the 
 ultimate object, there is no doubt that the highly 
 artificial state of society will furnish the largest 
 state, and should be promoted by every effectual 
 means, and such sentiments will always be 
 entertained by the generality, after the system 
 has made considerable progress. But to those 
 who consider wealth as only desirable, so far as 
 it is the means of promoting human Avelfare, the 
 solution of the question will not appear so easy. 
 
 In the earliest stages of society every man 
 may obtain land of tolerable fertility, without 
 purchase or rent, and can raise a sufficiency of 
 food by part of the labour which a man of or- 
 dinary industry exerts. The remainder of his
 
 358 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY'. 
 
 labour is applied to procure him lodging, cloth- 
 ing, and other articles of convenience or com- 
 fort, either by his exercising mechanical employ- 
 ments himself, or by raising more provisions 
 than he has occasion for, provided he have 
 access to a market for disposing of what is 
 superfluous. So long as this state continues, 
 there is a certain portion of comfort Avhich na- 
 turally falls to his share. But, when all the 
 land is appropriated, the price of provisions 
 which he then must purchase may be so high, 
 and the returns he can receive for his labour so 
 low, as to render his situation hard, or even 
 destitute. Having no land to cultivate, he may 
 suffer from want of food, though placed in the 
 midst of a fertile cultivated country. 
 
 In consequence of the division of labour, the 
 mass of labourers, being only trained to one 
 kind of work, are unfit for any other, and when 
 demand for that branch fails, they are reduced 
 to severe distress. The man who has been bred 
 to the loom, and has always wrought at it, per- 
 haps at one branch of the weaving trade, is ill- 
 qualified to build a cottage for himself, to supply 
 it with furniture, or to make the tools requisite 
 for the exercise of his own craft. Even in 
 opulent countries, where trade and manufactures
 
 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 359 
 
 are in general flourishing, demand in particular 
 branches frequently fails, and those who were 
 engaged in them are little qualified, and always 
 unwilling to turn to any other kind of employ- 
 ment. The sudden introduction of machinery, 
 to perform, by other powers, what was formerly 
 done by human labour, is another cause of 
 throwing hibourers out of employment. This 
 has frequently led to the unhappy consequence 
 of urging the discarded workmen to rise in 
 mobs, to demolish machinery, and commit other 
 outrages, for the suj)pression of which recourse 
 to harsh measures becomes necessary. These 
 evils are most likely to happen in manufactures 
 which require extensive premises and com- 
 plicated machinery, and where, consequently, a 
 great number of workmen are collected together ; 
 and tlie distress occasioned by stagnation of 
 demand is most likely to take place when the 
 demand arises from foreign trade, Avhich many 
 causes, altogether beyond the power of the 
 manufacturer to prevent, and which even Govern- 
 ment cannot overcome, may put a stop to, or 
 divert into a different channel. 
 
 Under the artificial system, capital being con- 
 sidered as necessary to put industry in motion, 
 the number of labourers that may exist, and the
 
 360 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 
 
 wages and measure of comfort they may obtain, 
 is held to depend on the amount of capital pos- 
 sessed by some portion of the community. 
 Capital is said to be required for three purposes, 
 — for supplying the labourer with materials, for 
 maintaining him during the time that intervenes 
 between the commencement of his labours and 
 receiving its price, and for furnishing the re- 
 quisite tools for the exercise of his craft. 
 
 The last of these is chiefly that which is fre- 
 quently deficient. Nature, assisted by culture, 
 affords, in most countries, at a certain season of 
 the year, a supply of food sufficient, in ordinary 
 cases, to maintain the inhabitants for the whole 
 year; and thus, when the harvest is concluded, 
 there is a store of food provided, and in possession 
 of a part of the community, for the subsistence 
 of the whole, till the ensuing harvest. The 
 materials on which the labourer has to operate 
 are chiefly those subservient to clothing, build- 
 ing, and furniture ; and most countries afford a 
 sufficiency of these, though great advantage may 
 often be gained Ijy importing more commodious 
 articles in exchange for others that can be spared. 
 In Britain, the chief materials for clothing are 
 wool, flax, cotton, and silk. The two former 
 partially, and the two latter entirely imported.
 
 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 361 
 
 Yet, tliere is no douljt, the two fonner alone 
 might afford us very comfortable clothing, and 
 might be raised in sufficient quantities to supply 
 all our wants of that kind. Wood and stone, 
 the chief materials for building, are generally at 
 hand. 
 
 In regard to tools, the case is widely different, 
 though even as to these there is much diversity, 
 according to the nature of the work, and the 
 state to which art has advanced. The tools of 
 the husbandman are not very complex. The 
 spade is a cheap instrument, the plough and the 
 harrow are not very expensive. In mechanic 
 arts, the requisite tools are generally much more 
 complex and expensive, though more so in some 
 employments than others. The carpenter is 
 rarely at a loss for a hammer or an axe ; but 
 to supply a modern carpenter's shop with all the 
 tools required, for the execution of the nicer 
 parts of his art, is no easy matter. The weaver's 
 loom, even that adapted for plain work, is a 
 complex instrument, and the machinery used in 
 the nicer branches of that art much more so, and 
 the expense of providing them forms a large 
 portion of the necessary price of the manulac- 
 tured connnodity. The premises required for 
 their commodious application cannot be erected
 
 362 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIET\'. 
 
 without great expense, and all this must be 
 incurred, and consequently capital provided, long 
 before a return is expected. An extensive 
 manufactory, even when most successful, never 
 repays the expense of its erection for many years, 
 and the undertaker lays his account with this, 
 and regulates his measures accordingly. 
 
 Metals are an essential ingredient in the for- 
 mation of tools, and are also required for many 
 other important purposes. These, unless ob- 
 tained by foreign commerce, which at present is 
 out of the question, require the operations of 
 mining and forging, both very expensive, and 
 in which a great deal of capital must be invested, 
 and labour exerted, long before any return can 
 be drawn. 
 
 When a commodity is consumed at home, the 
 tradesman who makes it may, and generally does, 
 receive its price so soon as the article is com- 
 pleted and delivered to the consumer, or not long 
 after ; but when it is intended for foreign con- 
 sumption, it is long before any return can be 
 looked for. The immediate workman is not, in 
 general, able to abide this delay. He sells his 
 commodity to the exporting merchant, who must 
 be possessed of the requisite capital, and must 
 draw a suitable return from the price which the
 
 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 363 
 
 commodity bears abroad. If that fall below the 
 requisite rate he ceases to purchase ; the commo- 
 dity stagnates ; the workman is thrown idle ; 
 misery, and often lawless riot, are the fatal con- 
 sequences. 
 
 The progress of art, and increasing efficacy of 
 labour, in providing the commodities which men 
 desire, cannot be prevented. The accumulation 
 of capital is the necessary consequence of the 
 desire which most men have to improve their 
 circumstances; and an increase of skill results 
 from experience and observation, and the supe- 
 rior ingenuity of some individuals. Any attempts 
 to stop its progress would deserve severe repro- 
 bation ; nor are any such likely to be under- 
 taken : yet it is, perhaps, to be desired that the 
 progress should be gradual. 
 
 The mass of commodities is increased by the 
 superior efficacy of better directed human la- 
 bour, and by the substitution of other powers to 
 accomplish the work which was formerly done 
 by that labour. The quantity of human labour 
 requisite for the direction of these powers, and 
 constructing the necessary machinery, is much 
 less than was formerly employed for the direct 
 execution of the work, and, consequently, the 
 supply of commodities more ample, and the com-
 
 364 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 
 
 munity more affluent ; and, unless there be some- 
 thing very faulty in the constitution of the so- 
 ciety, a portion of this wealth will flow through 
 every rank. 
 
 The most eligible way of consuming the addi- 
 tional commodities produced by the improve- 
 ments which have been hitroduced, is their more 
 plentiful use by the mass of the community. One 
 of the most remarkable improvements in art 
 which has taken place in Britain within the last 
 half century is that in the cotton manufactory, 
 by the machinery invented by Arkwright and 
 others. Though the manufactured article is 
 exported to a great extent, the home consump- 
 tion is still a superior object ; and it is obvious 
 that the natives, especially the female sex, are 
 better clothed than they were before. There 
 can be no reasonable doubt that there would be 
 an equal improvement in their lodging, and 
 other accommodations, providing the mechanic 
 professions which supply these were susceptible 
 of improvement in the same degree that has 
 taken j)lace in the cotton manufacture. 
 
 The consumption of a larger portion of com- 
 modities requires a change of habit in the con- 
 sumers, and this change is only effected gra- 
 dually. If the increased mass produced exceed
 
 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 365 
 
 the additional consumption, and the surplus be 
 not taken oif by foreign connnerce, the evils 
 above-mentioned must ensue. This considera- 
 tion may lead to caution in the application of 
 any artificial stimulus for the extension of pro- 
 duction, before a correspondent increase in con- 
 sumption can be rendered available. When 
 production is pushed beyond the measure of con- 
 sumption and demand, the evil cures itself by 
 the glut of the market and loss incurred by the 
 producers ; but as this does not take place till 
 much misery has been endured, it is better if it 
 can be averted by a more gradual increase in 
 production. 
 
 A reason, somewhat different, which may ren- 
 der gradual increase of production desirable, is 
 taken from the natural and necessary limits of 
 wealth and art. These are not susceptible of 
 endless accumulation, though the precise extent 
 to which they may be carried cannot be ascer- 
 tained. Tliere is, however, a limit, and the 
 nearer this limit is approached, the progress 
 will be slower. Now the hai)piness of an indi- 
 vidual in civilized society does not depend so 
 much on the extent of his wealth, as on its being 
 in a state of progression. The man who from a 
 moderate outset gradually improves his circum-
 
 366 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 
 
 stances, and increases his means of comfort, will 
 generally have more enjoyment than another, 
 who, beginning with superior wealth, spends 
 his life in a uniform luxurious train. The same 
 observation applies to communities. That com- 
 munity which is advancing in wealth and art, 
 may be accounted more prosperous than that 
 which is already farther advanced, but has now 
 ceased to make progress. Tiiis argument ap- 
 pears to us to have some weight. We are 
 aware, however, that it wiU generally be thought 
 far-fetched, and the apprehended evil too remote, 
 to deserve consideration. 
 
 We cannot, however, think lightly of the 
 check which is given to intellectual improve- 
 ment, when division of labour is carried to a 
 great extent, by confining the labourer, almost 
 during his whole time, to the repetition of the 
 same operation, with nothing to excite his ener- 
 gies. The far greater part of such workmen 
 merely execute what they are taught and di- 
 rected, and think of nothing more. Not one in 
 a hun(h*ed makes any improvement in the ma- 
 chinery of his art, or the way of employing it. 
 In regard to the few who make improvements, 
 the mental exertion tliereby brought into action 
 is very beneficial to them, yet it is generally con-
 
 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 367 
 
 fined within the narrow bounds of the machinery 
 of a particular craft. If the man who spends 
 twelve or fifteen hours a day in the manufactory, 
 repeating the same uniform operation, should 
 spend an hour or two, after his work is over, in 
 the ale-house, among his fellow workmen, who 
 have passed the day in the same manner, this is 
 a wretched resource for solacement ; and a life 
 spent in this way is far from promising to raise 
 the human mind to that degree of intellectual 
 and moral improvement of which it is suscepti- 
 ble, and to w^iich it ought to be the object of 
 civil institutions to advance it. 
 
 In a former part of this treatise we mentioned 
 with favour the cottage system, under the belief 
 that it was desirable the tradesman should em- 
 ploy some part of his time in the cultivation of a 
 small patch of ground, or garden, where his situa- 
 tion rendered it practicable. This, if not a per- 
 fect remedy, seems one of the best palliatives 
 for the serious evil above-mentioned. 
 
 We are aware of the difiiculties which attend 
 this branch of our inquiry, both in regard to the 
 objects we should aim at, the means of attaining 
 them, and the restrictions with which they 
 should be guarded. On the whole we are in- 
 clined to adopt the following maxims.
 
 368 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 
 
 Whatever increases the efficacy of human la- 
 bour, or performs by other powers Avhat was for- 
 merly done by that labour, tends to increase the 
 mass of human enjoyments, and its ultimate con- 
 sequence must be beneficial. Improvements in 
 the weaving craft have the effect of affording us 
 better clothing with the same labour ; and if all 
 our wants of that kind be supplied by a smaller 
 number of hands, there will be a greater number 
 to provide conveniencies of other kinds: nor 
 does there seem any limit to the enlargement of 
 the mass of commodities, while improvements in 
 art can supply them, till every desire of men be 
 universally and fuUy gratified ; an event not 
 likely to take place. We, therefore, consider 
 every improvement in art which tends to increase 
 production as desirable, and that the reasons ad- 
 duced in opposition thereto from numbers being 
 thereby thrown out of employment are not ad- 
 missible when the ultimate result is regarded. 
 
 But though every improvement is beneficial 
 in the long run, the rapid increase of production 
 may not be attended Avith a simultaneous in- 
 crease of consumption, and the evils resulting 
 from this are too weighty to be disregarded. 
 It is desirable that the mass of the community 
 have the means, and then it will not be long
 
 ARTIFICIAL STATli OF SOCIETY. 369 
 
 before they have the desire of enjoying a larger 
 share of comforts, and consequently increasing 
 the general consumption. If production be en- 
 larged beyond that measure, and the surplus not 
 taken off by foreign commerce, the evils above- 
 mentioned must follow. 
 
 We are far from thinking that, under any 
 circumstances, the efficacy of improvements in 
 art should be checked by any restrictive regu- 
 lation, and, as far as we recollect, nothing of that 
 kind has ever been attempted by any legislature. 
 If attein})ted, we believe it would be ineffectual. 
 The attempts made by the mob to check the use 
 of machinery, by destroying the machines, have 
 never succeeded. 
 
 But though we would never approve of any 
 coercive measures to restrict production, the 
 considerations above suggested may have suffi- 
 cient weight to abate our zeal for its rapid pro- 
 motion, and the application of direct encourage- 
 ment for that purpose, especially when the 
 consumption chiefly depends on a foreign and 
 precarious commerce. 
 
 We are decidedly of opinion that those 
 
 branches of industry are most beneficial, and 
 
 deserve most encouragement, the productions 
 
 of which are chiefly used at home, beins: 
 
 2B
 
 370 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIET\\ 
 
 applied to the comfort of the mass of the 
 community. 
 
 For obtaining this end, the labouring classes 
 must be able to purchase ; they must receive 
 good wages. Mr. Ricardo, we think, first ad- 
 vanced the doctrine, that the value of the article 
 produced must be divided between the capitalist 
 and the labourer. We cannot increase the share 
 of the one without diminishing that of the other. 
 We cannot raise the wages of labour without 
 lowering the profits of capital, and vice versa. 
 
 When a commodity is ready for use, it has a 
 certain value, resulting from its application to 
 the maintenance or comfort of man. A part of 
 this value falls to the proprietor on whose land 
 the material, which formed the basis of the 
 commodity, was raised. This being satisfied, 
 the remainder is divided between the capitalist 
 who furnishes the machinery used in its pre- 
 paration and the necessary advances, and the 
 various labourers employed on it, from the farmer 
 who raises the material, to the mechanic who 
 completes the work. So far ]\Ir. Ricardo's 
 doctrine seems incontrovertible. The value of 
 the commodity is a given quantity resulting from 
 its utility. The portion of this value which you 
 assign to the one you must take from the other.
 
 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIKTV. 371 
 
 It should be observed, however, that the mass 
 of productions, the stock of wealth to be divided 
 between the capitalists and labourers, is increased 
 by the efficacy of capital. The accumulation of 
 capital has a tendency to lower the rate of profit, 
 and consequently to raise the wages of labour. 
 The labourer is thus enabled to enlarge his 
 comforts, and increase his consumption in two 
 ways. His labour produces more, and a larger 
 proportion of it falls to his share, in so much as 
 a smaller share accrues to the capitalist by the 
 fall of the rate of profit. At the same time the 
 capitalist may not be a loser, for the increased 
 consumption of the great body of the community 
 will afford an extensive field for the investment 
 of his capital, which could other\vise have been 
 only sought for in tlie far more precarious re- 
 source of foreign commerce. For these reasons 
 we consider high wages as desirable, and as 
 affording the most solid basis to national pros- 
 perity. 
 
 It is impossible to fix with precision the 
 proportion which Avages and profits should bear 
 to each other, and the actual ])roportion must, 
 from obvious causes, be in a state of continual 
 fluctuation. 
 
 The favour we are inclined to assign to high 
 
 2 B2
 
 372 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 
 
 wages will not be relished by those who consider 
 the quantity of goods exported as the basis of 
 national prosperity, and the paramount object 
 to be pursued. Articles which are in general 
 recpiest through the civilized world will be 
 purchased from that nation which can bring 
 them to market at the lowest money price, and 
 therefore low wages, being a principal ingre- 
 dient in cheap production, are requisite for 
 enabling us to supply the demands of foreigners 
 by underselling others, and the more so if, in 
 consequence of heavier taxes, or other causes, 
 our manufactures be subject to burthens which 
 bear lighter in other nations. We have been 
 accustomed to boast that our superior skill in 
 machinery, and our large capitals, give us a 
 decided advantage, and will secure us a large 
 share of the foreign market, notwithstanding our 
 heavier burthens. The effect of these, however, 
 has its limits, and it is unreasonable to expect 
 Ave should ah^'ays maintain the superiority we 
 may at present possess. 
 
 But though we admit that low wages, by 
 enabling us to bring wares to market at a cheaper 
 price, is favourable to the trade of exportation, 
 we remain of opinion that this advantage may 
 be gained at too high a price, and that Avages
 
 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETTi'. 373 
 
 considerably high, whether considered as pro- 
 moting the comfort of the most numerous part 
 of the community, or enhirging the domestic 
 market, by enabling them to purchase more 
 liberally, are conducive to the general welfare. 
 
 Notwithstanding the vast extent to -which 
 foreign commerce is carried in Britain, and the 
 immense capitals invested in it, we cannot con- 
 sider it as the most solid or desirable source of 
 national prosperity. Neither do we approve of 
 that system which has been long carried on 
 between the different states of Europe, ^\dlich 
 may be termed a commercial warfare. In the 
 prosecution of this system each country en- 
 deavours, by restrictions, prohibitions, and other 
 artificial means, to procure within itself the 
 articles it has occasion to consume, and also to 
 afford a supply to other nations. Such a system 
 is certainly prejudicial to the civilized world at 
 large, and we doubt if it be ultimately advan- 
 tageous to any particular nation. Every nation 
 possesses an advantage in manufacturing the 
 materials which its own soil produces for its 
 own supply, and it is expedient that every nation 
 should supply itself with commodities, unless 
 where substantial reasons induce an opposite 
 conduct. These reasons are diversity of produce
 
 374 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 
 
 ill ditferent climates and soils, and superiority of 
 mechanical skill. The former is a permanent 
 source of commerce ; at least it could only be 
 superseded by such a change in national habits 
 as would induce any state to be satisfied with 
 the articles which its own country produces, — 
 a change not likely to take place so long as 
 a foreign supply is within its power. The 
 other is a much more precarious source of 
 commerce. 
 
 If the validity of the above reasoning be ad- 
 mitted, if the artificial state of society may be 
 carried so far as to impair instead of promote 
 human welfiire, Avhat measures ought to be 
 deemed eligible in a nation where such a state 
 has already taken place, and is firmly established? 
 
 We should certainly never recommend to 
 endeavour to check it by any restrictive or coer- 
 cive means. If such were attempted, we believe 
 they would be ineffectual ; and if they could 
 produce any effect, it would be that of aggravat- 
 ing the evils they were intended to remedy. 
 We are of opinion that the exertion and direc- 
 tion of human skill and industry should be free 
 and uncontrolled, and that every attempt to 
 restrain thcMu, and almost every attempt to pro- 
 mote them, does harm.
 
 ARTIFICIAL STATE OF SOCIETY, 
 
 375 
 
 If this be sound doctrine, an alteration in the 
 state of society can only be induced through the 
 medium of the habits and manners of the com- 
 munity. If we can improve these, besides the 
 individual good, we shall ameliorate the general 
 condition of society. Proper education, religi- 
 ous and moral instruction, good government, 
 personal freedom, and absence of cumbersome 
 restrictions, are conducive thereto. Stronger 
 measures are more likely to do harm than good ; 
 and any violent change in the state of society is 
 always productive of much present distress, and 
 seldom leads to any permanent good. We are 
 conscious that any hints we have offered on this 
 important subject are very imperfect. But it is 
 one step gained if we can point out the end we 
 ought to aim at, and the general principles upon 
 which the attainment of that end is most likely 
 to be promoted.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 PAPER CURRENCY. 
 
 Among the expedients Avhich have been had 
 recourse to in a state of society highly artificial, 
 that of a circulating paper medium of commerce 
 is one of the most remarkable. It has been the 
 subject of much discussion among political eco- 
 nomists. It has been much attended to by the 
 legislature, and many statutes have been enacted 
 for its establishment, regulation, or restraint. 
 Its effects on the state of society, especially in 
 regard to commerce, are considerable, thougli 
 we think more good and more evil have been 
 ascribed to it than it can justly lay claim to. 
 
 In Chapter VI. we advanced the doctrine, that 
 money derived its value from its use and uni- 
 versal reception as a circulating medium, and 
 an equivalent for every commodity ; that the ab- 
 solute quantity of gold and silver in circulating 
 coin was of no consequence, as the money j)rice 
 of commodities would accommodate itself to the 
 relative proportion of the precious metals and 
 goods in circulation ; that the use of tliese metals
 
 PAPER CURKENCY. 377 
 
 for other purposes was of little importance ; and 
 that their value, if their use as a circulatini;- me- 
 dium was discontinued, would greatly fall; and 
 that any substitute for them, the reception of 
 which Avas equally firm, would answer the pur- 
 pose as well. But in order to secure this recep- 
 tion, it is requisite that the basis of the medium 
 should be considered as possessing an intrinsic 
 value, and that its estimation should not be con- 
 fined to one country, but extend over the com- 
 mercial world, so as to command from any coun- 
 try the commodities Avhicli it can furnish, and 
 we require. Gold and silver possess these qua- 
 lities in a superior degree. 
 
 The use of Avritten obligations to supply the 
 place of coin is a modern invention. Its com- 
 mencement, at least in a regular manner, in 
 Britain, may be dated from the establishment of 
 the Bank of England in 1694. A chief object 
 of Government in that establishment was the ob- 
 taining a loan to supply the exigencies of the 
 state, and recourse has often since been had to it 
 for the same purpose ; but its effects in supply- 
 ing a substitute for the precious metals is what 
 at present chiefly claims our attention. 
 
 A Bank note is a written or printed obli- 
 gation, by which that establishment is bound to
 
 378 PAPER CURRENCY. 
 
 pay to the bearer a specified sum, in the current 
 coin, upon demand. So long as there is full 
 confidence on the part of the public that the 
 funds of the Bank are amply sufficient to dis- 
 charge these obligations, and as it continues to 
 do so readily, when demanded, these notes will 
 be received in payment as readily as coin, be- 
 cause the holder can easily obtain coin for them, 
 should he prefer it, which, in ordinary cases, he 
 will have little inducement to do. Although 
 these notes were not rendered a legal tender in 
 payment of a debt by any positive enactment, their 
 use was found so convenient, and the public con- 
 fidence in their security so complete, that they 
 soon were substituted for a considerable part of 
 the coin which formerly constituted the only 
 circulating medium. For a long time, as no 
 notes were issued under five pounds, they did 
 not supersede the use of coin for smaller sums. 
 Many private companies were afterwards insti- 
 tuted, which issued notes in a similar manner. 
 A monopoly was so far granted to the Bank of 
 England, that no private company consisting of 
 more than six partners was permitted to issue 
 obligations of the nature of bank notes. This 
 restriction, by confining the capital of private 
 banks within narrow limits, lessened their se-
 
 PAPER CURRENCY. 379 
 
 curity, and not a feAV of them liave become in- 
 solvent. Yet, as the accommodation they af- 
 forded in the districts where they were esta- 
 blished was deemed beneficial, the circulation of 
 their notes in remote parts of the country has 
 been, and is still considerable. 
 
 In the further discussion of this subject, two 
 separate objects of inquiry present themselves : — 
 
 1st. What advantage or disadvantage attends 
 the use of a circulating paper currency as a sub- 
 stitute, in any proportion, or in whole, for a me- 
 tallic one, without regard to the general amount 
 of the currency. 
 
 2d. The effects of a paper currency in in- 
 creasing the amount of circulating medium, and 
 in occasioning more sudden alterations in the 
 amount than would otherwise take place. 
 
 On the first point it is argued that gold and 
 silver are articles of great value, and the amount 
 of them in circidation forms a considerable part 
 of the national wealth. In countries which con- 
 tain no mines of these metals, the original quan- 
 tity required nuist be procured by giving other 
 articles in exchange, thus parting with so much 
 of our national wealth ; and the annual waste by 
 wear must also be supplied in the same manner. 
 The whole amount of circulation in Britain is
 
 380 PAPER CURRENCY. 
 
 estimated at present to exceed sixty millions. 
 If we could find an unexceptionable substitute 
 for a considerable part of this in a material com- 
 paratively cheap, we might import useful com- 
 modities in return, and thus add to our national 
 wealth. 
 
 It is also argued that payments of large sums 
 are more easily made in paper. The Aveight of 
 the metals renders their transportation from place 
 to place a matter of labour, and even the telling 
 them is a tedious employment, when the sum is 
 very large. For these reasons we find that pay- 
 ments of large sums are generally made in pa- 
 per, wherever the system of paper currency is 
 established. 
 
 These considerations have considerable weight. 
 There are, however, strong arguments in favour 
 of metallic currency to set against them. The 
 reception of a circulating medium depends, as 
 we have noticed, on the opinion of its possessing 
 an intrinsic value, and as a paper currency has 
 no value in itself, its circulation can only be 
 maintained by its convertibility into metallic 
 currency. So long as this conversion is readily 
 obtained when demanded, and no doubt enter- 
 tained of its continuing to be so, the paper cur- 
 rency maintains an e([ual value with the metallic,
 
 PAPER CURRKNCV. 381 
 
 and may be used in considerable proportion as 
 a substitute for it, affording the above-mentioned 
 conveniences, and not attended with any dis- 
 advantages, so far as internal commerce is con- 
 cerned, and so long as the whole amount of 
 circulating medium is not unduly increased. 
 
 But if the conversion of notes into coin be 
 suspended or refused, whether by legal enact- 
 ment or deficiency in the means of the Bank, 
 the case is otherwise. Even the apprehension 
 of such an event excites alarm, and occasions 
 a run on the Bank, which is likely to bring 
 on a stoppage of payment. When this hap- 
 pens, it is held forth on the part of the Bank 
 that the stoppage is only temporary, and pay- 
 ments will soon be resumed. Statements are 
 given out, to show that the Bank is possessed of 
 sufficient funds to answer all demands, and that 
 its creditors incur no risk of sustaining ultimate 
 loss. Notwithstanding this, the value of its 
 notes is depreciated, and the holders part with 
 them for a lesser amount in coin than the sum 
 which they bear, or, as it is sometimes expressed, 
 the current value of coin and bullion rises above 
 the mint value. This depreciation increases the 
 longer the payment in coin or bullion is discon- 
 tinued, and in length of time may fall to little or
 
 382 PAPER CURRENCY. 
 
 nothing. Such was the fate of the French 
 assignats, and of other sorts of paper circulation 
 in many countries, not founded of a solid and con- 
 vertible description. The governments Avhich 
 issue, or countenance such paper circulation, use 
 every means to support its credit ; but all their 
 endeavours to that effect have proved, and must 
 prove ineffectual. It is nothing to tell the holder 
 of paper that the funds of the Bank are sufficient 
 to answer his demands. If these funds be beyond 
 his reach, and likely to continue so, they might 
 as well be in the coffers of the Grand Lama, or 
 in the planet Saturn. 
 
 For about a century after the establishment 
 of the Bank of England, the convertibility of 
 their notes was uniformly maintained. Gold 
 or silver was immediately given for every note 
 when demanded. In the year 1797, when the 
 demands of an expensive war had nearly with- 
 drawn the precious metals from circulation, and 
 emptied the coffers of the Bank, an important 
 law was passed, prohibiting the payment of bank 
 notes in metallic currency. At first it was held 
 forth that this suspension Avould be of short 
 duration ; but the war continued much longer 
 than was expected, and the suspension of pay- 
 ment did not terminate on the restoration of
 
 PAPER CURRENCY. 383 
 
 peace. It continued about twenty-four years. 
 The resumption of payments in coin was not 
 legalized till the year 1821, after several pre- 
 paratory steps. Some public distress, which 
 took place about this time, owing to other 
 causes, was attributed by not a few to their 
 resumption. According to this doctrine, the ces- 
 sation of payments in specie ought to have been 
 perpetual. A writer on political economy, about 
 this time, has advanced the paradoxical opinion, 
 " that the renewing the restriction act, and ren- 
 dering it perpetual, could not have the least 
 effect on the value of our paper currency, pro- 
 viding its quantity was not at the same time 
 increased *." 
 
 The holders of this doctrine appear to con- 
 found the depreciation which the currency, of 
 whatever kind, undergoes, in regard to its com- 
 mand of commodities by the increase of the 
 total quantity in circulation, with the relative 
 depreciation of paper compared with metallic 
 currency. It is this last that is the present object 
 of consideration, and it is an undoubted fact, 
 that such a depreciation took place not long alter 
 the suspension of cash payments, and to a con- 
 
 * Supplement to Encyclopaedia Britannica, article Money. — 
 Vol. V. part ii. p. 515.
 
 384 PAPER CURRENCY. 
 
 siderable extent. The liolder of gold was able 
 to obtain for it a sum in paper, considerably 
 above its legal value, perhaps twenty-six shil- 
 lings for a guinea, and this notwithstanding 
 the fear of penalties attaching to such prac- 
 tices. It is with regret we find a resolution 
 passed by Parliament, about this time, that there 
 was no depreciation, when every person engaged 
 in business knew the contrary. 
 
 Before the suspension of payments, so firmly 
 was the credit of the Bank established, that the 
 anticipation of such an event would have been 
 considered as chimerical. It took place, how- 
 ever, attended with its inevitible consequence, 
 notwithstanding endeavours on the part of Go- 
 vernment to prevent them. The Bank seems 
 now to have regained the public confidence, 
 nearly to the same degree as before. But Avhat 
 has happened once may happen again, and there is 
 little doubt that if any national exigence should 
 require recourse to a measure similar to that of 
 1797, a like depreciation would take place. 
 
 It seems unnecessary to enlarge on the evils 
 attending a depreciation of the currency, the 
 injustice to creditors Avho nmst receive payment 
 in a depreciated currency, and a like injustice to 
 debtors who borrow during the depreciation,
 
 PAPER CURRENCY. 385 
 
 and are obliged to pay in a currency of fall value 
 after the depreciation is removed ; — a convul- 
 sion is given to mercantile contracts and trans- 
 actions by so violent a measure. There are 
 abundant reasons for regretting that it was ever 
 had recourse to, and for wishing it may never 
 take place again. 
 
 There are other advantages in a metallic cur- 
 rency, to be placed against the inconveniences 
 that are alleged to attend it. From its universal 
 reception in all nations, it possesses a solid value 
 which may afford essential aid in great national 
 emergencies. Suppose the case of a famine, 
 from a deficient crop in this country, while some 
 other countries have a surplus which they can 
 spare. We will not obtain it from them, unless 
 we have something to give them in return 
 which they value. We will, no doubt, endea- 
 vour to supi)ly them with goods ; but such may 
 be the state of our commerce, that we have not 
 a sufficiency of these to spare, or they do not 
 want them. In such a case, the exportation of 
 gold or silver affords a certain and effectual 
 relief, and if we have none to offer, we must 
 sustain the pressure of a heavy calamity. 
 
 The distresses of 1797 were chiefly occa- 
 sioned by the exportation of a large amount of 
 
 2 C
 
 386 PAPER CURRENCY. 
 
 the precious metals to the continent, for the 
 expenses of our troops abroad, and subsidies to 
 states with which we were in alliance. What- 
 ever opinion may be formed of the wars in which 
 we were then, or at any other time, engaged, the 
 possibility of a just and necessary war will not 
 be questioned ; and the command of a large 
 amount of gold will give vigour to our military 
 operations, and may determine the event of 
 the war. 
 
 We proceed now to consider the effects of a 
 paper currency, in increasing the amount of the 
 circulating medium, and in occasioning more 
 sudden alterations in its amount than would 
 otherwise take place. 
 
 It is unnecessary to repeat what has been al- 
 ready observed of the evils resulting from a sud- 
 den and considerable alteration in the amount of 
 the circulating currency, and such alteration is 
 much more likely to take place when a great 
 proportion of the currency consists of paper. 
 The precious metals are not to be procured by 
 nations which do not possess mines of them, 
 except in exchange for substantial commo- 
 dities, and even then will not be imported at 
 the expense ^^ hich they cost, except in such 
 cpiantities as are required, in the existing
 
 PAPER CURRENCY. 387 
 
 commercial state of the country and present 
 price of commodities. The material of paper 
 currency is scarcely of any value, and it is 
 profitable to the Bank to extend it as far as 
 it can. The Bank receives interest for every 
 note it can keep in circulation. There is, how- 
 ever, an effectual check on a redundant issue of 
 notes, so long as the Bank is obliged to pay 
 them in coin, when demanded. The price of 
 commodities does not immediately rise in pro- 
 portion to the increased circulation, and as 
 nobody keeps money on hand which he has 
 not use for, the superfluous bank notes regorge 
 upon that establishment. The Bank, there- 
 fore, is obliged to contract its issues, and it 
 is its interest to do so, as an attempt to ex- 
 tend them would increase their expense, and 
 prove inefl'ectual. 
 
 When a suspension of payments is authorized 
 by act of Parliament, the case is widely different. 
 There is nothing to deter the Bank from issuing 
 as many notes as it can, and abundant demands 
 from borrowers are not likely to be wanting. 
 
 The results accruing to the community from 
 the facility of obtaining credit afforded by the 
 establishment of banks, public or private, is an 
 
 2C2
 
 388 PAPER CURRENCY. 
 
 important subject of consideration. There is 
 no doubt it gives a stimulus both to agriculture 
 and manufactures. A farmer is often prevented 
 from the exertions he is disposed to make in 
 bringing waste land into cultivation, or improv- 
 ing that already under culture, for want of ca- 
 pital. If there be a bank at hand ready to sup- 
 ply his wants, his exertions are brought into 
 operation. Extensive effects of this kind in 
 different parts of the country, and obviously 
 owing to this cause, must have fallen under the 
 notice of every person who has given atten- 
 tion to the state of the country. A like obser- 
 vation may be made on the state of manufac- 
 tures. Many flourishing manufacturing esta- 
 blishments owe their origin to credit obtained 
 from banks, without Avhich, in the present state 
 of the country, they could not have been brought 
 into action. 
 
 It may, however, be questioned, whether the 
 rapid progress of these improvements, though 
 presenting a beneficial appearance, be always 
 ultimately beneficial. All the undertakings of 
 the agriculturist and manufacturer do not prove 
 successful. Many of them are reduced to bank- 
 ruptcy, and this is sometimes the lot of the most
 
 I'APER CUKRRNCV. 389 
 
 enterprizing and industrious. The bankruptcy 
 of the banks which gave them credit follows of 
 course. 
 
 We think that bad consequences are more 
 likely to take place from an excessive stimulus 
 to exertion in the department of manufacture 
 than in that of agriculture. The farmer may 
 not be repaid for the outlay on his improvements 
 within the time his wants require. He becomes 
 insolvent, and we are sorry for him ; but his im- 
 provements remain, and are a permanent addi- 
 tion to the wealth of the country. It is other- 
 wise w4th a manufacturing establishment. If 
 the proprietors, for Avant of demand for their 
 commodity, or from their not being able to pro- 
 duce it at the price it will fetch in the market, 
 become insolvent, their establishment is then 
 swept away, and leaves not a trace behind. 
 
 We have now endeavoured, as impartially as 
 we can, to state the comparative merits of a me- 
 tallic and a paper currency. Very different opi- 
 nions have been advanced, and we think ex- 
 aggerated ones, according as the interest;, or 
 supposed interest, of different classes seemed to 
 incline. On the whole, our sentiments rather 
 incline toAvards a metallic currency, at least for
 
 390 PAPER CURRENCY. 
 
 a considerable part of our circulation. If not 
 always the most active, or the most convenient, 
 it is the most solid instrument of commerce. 
 Operations conducted by means of it may be 
 slower, but they are surer. 
 
 While we give this opinion in favour of a me- 
 tallic currency, we are far from thinking that 
 where a paper currency has been introduced on 
 an extensive scale, it should be suddenly, or at 
 any time altogether, withdrawn. A sudden al- 
 teration in the amount of the currency always 
 occasions distress. If considerable evils result 
 from its sudden increase, others, still worse, re- 
 sult from its sudden diminution. Too great a 
 facility in obtaining credit gives rise to improvi- 
 dent and unsuccessful schemes. The sudden 
 withdrawing of this credit occasions general 
 bankruptcy. 
 
 This is one, among many other points, in 
 which governments are apt to overlegislate. 
 Though, in a system now become so extensive, 
 some restrictive regulations may be necessary, 
 we think much should be left to the free choice 
 of the comnumity. On the one hand we would 
 not render the receipt of bank notes, even those 
 of the Bank of England, coni])ulsory. On the
 
 PAPER CURRENCY. 391 
 
 other, we would not prohibit the circulation of 
 the notes of a private bank among those who 
 are Avilling to take them. Some security for the 
 validity of sucli lianks may, however, be re- 
 quired as a safeguard to the public from the 
 evils resulting from their failure. We have 
 already given our opinion in regard to a legisla- 
 tive prohibition of payments of bank notes iu 
 specie.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 OF THE CORN TRADE. 
 
 Many who entertain the most liberal views of 
 the advantages of a free commerce, and disap- 
 prove in general of prohibitions, cumbersome 
 restrictions, regulating duties, and even boun- 
 ties, consider the trade in corn as an exception to 
 the system of free trade, and hold that effective 
 restrictions in that branch are expedient, and 
 even necessary. Though exceptions to general 
 rules, established upon solid principles, are sel- 
 dom defensible, yet in this case the arguments 
 adduced are neither groundless, nor of slight 
 importance. 
 
 Some of them are founded upon the present 
 political state of Britain, compared with that of 
 the other commercial states in Europe, parti- 
 cularly of those from whom we may receive a 
 supply of corn. Britain is burthened with a 
 large national debt, and consequent high taxa- 
 tion, a part of Avhich is paid by labourers of all 
 descriptions. This renders higher money wages 
 necessary. Perhaps the habits of the English
 
 OK THli CORN TRADE. 393 
 
 labourers are less frugal thjui those of foreigners, 
 and this occasions a further rise of wages. 
 Hence we cannot raise corn at so low a rate as 
 foreigners can do ; and even the expense of 
 freight, and other charges attending importation 
 does not counterbalance the advantage they pos- 
 sess, and they are able to undersell us in the 
 corn market, unless prevented by prohibitions, 
 or heavy duties. Hence the agricultural j)ai*t 
 of the connnunity is depressed ; and inferior 
 soils, not being able to repay the expense of cul- 
 tivation, though let for little or no rent, are 
 thrown waste, and the landed interest reduced 
 to a state of comparative poverty. 
 
 But the principal arguments in support of 
 legislative interference in the corn trade are 
 drawn from the absolute necessity of a supply of 
 food. If the effect of such measures be to afford 
 us additional security for obtaining the requisite 
 supply, the imperious nature of the demand 
 should supersede all inferior considerations. 
 
 It is argued, that when a nation depends for 
 a considerable part of its food on other nations, 
 if that supply should be stopped, either by a 
 change of the political state of the nations who 
 give it, or by war, this nation, being unprepared 
 for such an event, may be exposed to the cala-
 
 394 OF THE CORN TRADE. 
 
 mity of famine, or at least of a scarcity approach- 
 ing to famine. 
 
 We are far from regarding lightly the weight 
 of these arguments, and think that they ought to 
 influence, to a certain extent, the legislative 
 measures embraced in this important and diflicult 
 branch of political economy. On this the two 
 parties of agriculturists and manufacturers have 
 set themselves in array against each other, and 
 both have advanced claims higher than circum- 
 stances warranted. 
 
 We are of opinion that every nation of consi- 
 derable magnitude should draw the greater 
 part of its food from its own resources. There 
 is a considerable difference between the (juantity 
 of provisions actually consumed by a given 
 number of inhabitants in times of ordinary plenty, 
 and that which is absolutely necessary for their 
 subsistence. We hold that this latter quantity 
 should always be supplied from the national 
 agriculture ; and if restraints upon importation 
 be necessary to keep it up to that pitch, such re- 
 straints should be imposed. Whether we should 
 go beyond this, and give higher encouragement to 
 the agriculturist, it is not so easy to determine, 
 but it is not so im])erHtively necessary. This 
 limits the quantity of foreign corn which may be
 
 OF THli CORN TRADE. 395 
 
 admitted to the difference between the consump- 
 tion of a plentiful and a scarce year ; and it is 
 believed that, except in years of uncommon 
 scarcity, it never went beyond that. 
 
 Sir James Stewart delivers it as his opinion, 
 that no annual produce of grain in Britain was 
 ever so great as to supply its inhabitants fifteen 
 months, in that abundance in which they feed 
 themselves in a year of i^lenty y and that there 
 never was a year of such scarcity, as that the 
 lands of England did not produce above six 
 months' subsistence, such as the people are used 
 to take in years of scarcity. 
 
 The height of the wages in Britain arising 
 from heavy taxes is, we believe, an indisputable 
 fact, and however w^e may disapprove of the 
 system that raised the national debt to its present 
 enormous magnitude, and made these taxes re- 
 quisite, the present state of matters must remain 
 while that debt and these taxes exist, and can 
 only be removed in the course of time by their 
 gradual extinction. For this reason we think 
 the British agriculturist entitled to such support, 
 by legislative enactments, as may put him on 
 an equal footing with the foreigner. This has 
 been the object of the corn law lately enacted, 
 by which the importation of foreign corn is per-
 
 396 OF THE CORN TRADE. 
 
 mitted upon payment of a duty, varying by a 
 scale, depending on the average price of corn in 
 Britain. Whether the method now used for 
 ascertaining the average be accurate, and Avhe- 
 ther the scale of duties be the proper one, 
 experience must determine. It approaches much 
 nearer to the free system, than that Avhich pre- 
 vailed for the twelve years preceding, during 
 which period the price at which importation 
 was permitted was fixed so high, that the actual 
 price scarcely ever reached it ; and consequently 
 there was little or no importation, and the 
 British agriculturist possessed the monopoly of 
 the market. 
 
 Poland contains extensive tracts of fertile 
 land, much more than sufficient to maintain its 
 present population, and the extent kept under 
 culture is regulated by the foreign demand. 
 When Britain has occasion to import, it receives 
 much of its supply from that country. An in- 
 crease of population, or other causes, may curtail 
 that supply, as well as that from other countries 
 from which we now import when our own pro- 
 duce is insufficient ; but as this, if ever it take 
 place, is likely to happen gradually, it will give 
 us warning, and time to look out for other 
 resources.
 
 OF THE CORN TRADE. 397 
 
 We cannot say the same of the failure of 
 supply which war may occasion. The countries 
 from Avhich we now receive corn may fall under 
 hostile influence or power, and notwithstanding 
 our boasted naval invincibility, it is not impossi- 
 ble the enemy may attain a temporary supe- 
 riority at sea, and retain it long enough to expose 
 us to severe distress by intercepting our sup- 
 plies. We know that such apprehensions are 
 generally considered as groundless, and treated 
 with derision; we think improperly. Their 
 accomplishment may not be probable, but they 
 are not impossible, and as the evil they would 
 occasion is of great magnitude, it is better to be 
 provided against it. At the beginning of this 
 century, we boasted that our superior mechanical 
 skill and capital gave us such a decided supe- 
 riority in various branches of manufacture, that 
 no prohibitive enactments of foreign powers 
 could prevent their introduction into their domi- 
 nions. Yet Bonaparte's Berlin and Milan 
 decrees were executed so effectually, as nearly 
 to annihilate that commerce for several years, 
 and it only revived at the fall of that potentate. 
 
 The policy of Britain, in regard to the trade 
 in corn, has been very fluctuating. During 
 more than half of the last century, we were
 
 398 OF THE CORN TRADE. 
 
 upon the whole an exporting country, and this 
 was considered as essential to our welfare, and 
 encouraged by a bounty when the prices of corn 
 fell below a specified rate. The system of bounty 
 commenced at the revolution, and though it 
 underwent frequent suspensions, it was not laid 
 aside till the year 1814. During the latter part 
 of the last century, we were generally an im- 
 porting country. The corn laws, which had 
 undergone frequent alterations and repeals, were 
 attempted to be moulded into a more regular 
 form, and rendered more permanent by the act 
 of 1791, in which various prices were specified, 
 at the lowest of which exportation was en- 
 couraged by a Ijounty ; at the next, it was 
 simply permitted ; and at the next, it Avas pro- 
 hibited. At the next, importation, which had 
 been before prohibited, was permitted, but on 
 payment of a high duty ; at a higher price the 
 duty was lowered, and at one still higher was 
 reduced to a very low one. A method was 
 established for ascertaining the average price, 
 by dividing the maritime part of Britain into 
 sixteen districts, twelve in England and four in 
 Scotland, and the corn trade in each was regu- 
 lated once a quarter, by the average price in the 
 same for the three preceding months. Four
 
 OF THE CORN TRADE. 399 
 
 years did not elapse before this act was sus- 
 pended, on account of the deficiency of the crop, 
 1794, when exportation was entirely prohibited, 
 and importation encouraged by a high bounty. 
 In 1804, the corn laws were re-modelled, and 
 importation regulated by the aggregate average 
 of the maritime counties ; but the scale was so 
 favourable to importation, that it Avas never 
 stopped till 1815. 
 
 In 1814, exportation was permitted in general, 
 but without any bounty, and the bounty system 
 has not been revived since. 
 
 In 1815, in consecpience of the loud com- 
 plaints of the agriculturists, the prices at which 
 importation was permitted were raised much 
 higher. AVheat was prohibited to be imported 
 from our American colonies when the price per 
 quarter was under sixty-seven shillings, and from 
 all other places when under eighty shillings, 
 (except for being warehoused under bond), and 
 other kinds of grain at proportional prices. 
 When the prices rose higher, importation was 
 permitted duty free. This act Avas so operative, 
 that there was scarcely ever any importation till 
 the last act of 1828. 
 
 By that act there is no absolute prohibition. 
 New regulations were appointed for ascertaining
 
 400 OF THE CORN TRADE. 
 
 the average prices of the different kinds of 
 grain. Wlien wheat is from sixty-two to sixty- 
 three shillings per quarter, it is permitted to be 
 imported on payment of a duty of one pound 
 four shillings and eight-pence ; and for every 
 shilling that the price rose above sixty-three 
 shillings till sixty-seven shillings, the duty is 
 lessened by one shilling ; when the price rises 
 above sixty-seven shillings, the duty decreases 
 at a quicker rate — and when the price rises to 
 seventy-three shillings or upwards, the duty is 
 lowered to one shilling. Importation from the 
 British colonies in America, or elsewhere out of 
 Europe, is permitted on payment of a lower 
 duty. Duties on barley and other kinds of 
 grain vary by a decreasing scale as their price 
 rises, on the same principle. 
 
 Famine is among the heaviest calamities to 
 Avhich human nature is liable, and though it 
 cannot be prevented by any legislative enact- 
 ment, it may sometimes be alleviated by em- 
 bracing measures conducive to that effect. We 
 at present refer to a famine inflicted by the hand 
 of nature, through unproductive seasons, not to 
 that which the ravages of war occasion. 
 
 The bounty system, so long adhered to, has 
 been considered as highly useful for preventing
 
 OF THE CORN TRADE. 401 
 
 or alleviating the evils of famine. If Ave raise a 
 quantity of corn considerably more than is re- 
 quired for the maintenance of our population in 
 ordinary seasons, exporting the surplus to foreign 
 countries, when a deficient crop occurs from a 
 bad season, we stop exportation, and, in what- 
 ever proportion the deficiency takes place, being 
 charged on a quantity which was before more 
 than sufficient, the evil of scarcity, if not en- 
 tirely removed, is at least alleviated. 
 
 This system, however, is liable to weighty 
 objections. It restricts the population within 
 narrower bounds than the country, in its exist- 
 ing state of cultivation, can support ; an effect 
 which will be reprobated by all who consider an 
 extensive population as constituting the strength 
 of the society, or on any account desirable. It 
 gives the landholders and agriculturists an ad- 
 vantage to which they have no title, at the ex- 
 pense of the rest of the community. It raises 
 the rate of wages and expense of manufacture, 
 and consequently depresses that important source 
 of national industry and wejilth. 
 
 These evils would result from bounties, though 
 the money that paid them Avere obtained from 
 some unknown source, without being in any way 
 burthensome to the community. But this is not 
 
 2D
 
 402 OF THE CORN TRADE. 
 
 the case. The bounty must be paid by means 
 of a tax, a measure always burthensome to a part 
 or the whole of the community, especially in a 
 country already so heavily taxed as Britain. 
 This argument bears strongly against bounties 
 of every kind, which should never be granted, 
 except for the most urgent reasons, and with the 
 greatest caution. 
 
 Every measure proposed as beneficial to one 
 nation, which cannot at the same time be adopted 
 by other nations in similar circumstances, is of a 
 very suspicious tendency. We desire that Bri- 
 tain should raise a surplus of corn in ordinary 
 years, in order to afford a resource in years of 
 scarcity. "^Vhy should not France, Spain, and 
 Germany, do the same ? The argument ap- 
 plies alike to all. If they all adopt that system, 
 how are their surpluses to be disposed of? 
 
 If, for these reasons, the measure of forcing a 
 surplus grow th of corn by bounties be laid aside, 
 it remains to inquire av hether there be any other 
 means within human power for averting or mi- 
 ticatino' the cahimities of famine. If the failure 
 of the crop be confined to one country, impor- 
 tation is an obvious and practicable remedy ; 
 but, if it extend over all accessible countries, no 
 relief can l)e obtained in that way.
 
 OF Till!: CORN TRADE. 403 
 
 In ordinary seasons, at the conclusion of every 
 harvest there is a part of the crop of the former 
 year remaining on hand, perhaps one-fourtli. A 
 deficient crop takes place. If the deficiency 
 does not exceed that quantity, its consumption 
 would afford a supply to the country at the or- 
 dinary rate till the next harvest ; hut there would 
 be no stock remaining to aid the following year ; 
 and though this stock on hand might be forthcom- 
 ing for one year, it would leave no resource in 
 the case of several successive bad seasons. It is 
 likely, however, that the rise of price occasioned 
 by the deficiency of the crop would lessen the 
 usual quantity of consumption, and leave some 
 part of the usual stock unconsumed at the end 
 of the next harvest, and so afford some resource 
 for another year ; and if several plentiful years 
 succeeded, the usual stock would be replaced. 
 
 We have stated the stock of corn on hand at 
 the end of the succeeding harvest at one-fourth 
 of the whole quantity required for a year's con- 
 sumption, {ind considered that as affording con- 
 siderable relief for one bad season. If the stock 
 remaining be larger, the relief will l)e more 
 considerable, and of longer duration. If it can 
 be increased to one-half, three-fourths, or even 
 a whole year's consumption, it -would afford a 
 
 2 D 2
 
 404 OK THE CORN TRADE. 
 
 resource for as long a duration of scarcity as 
 almost ever occurs. 
 
 There is no physical impossibility in this, for 
 grain may be preserved by proper care for more 
 than a year, with little injury. But there are 
 moral and political obstacles which go far to 
 prevent a system of this kind from being carried 
 into execution to any considerable extent. The 
 farmer cannot afford to keep back his produce 
 from the market. If he could, it is not his in- 
 terest to do so. The corn-dealer will seldom 
 find it a profitable measure to keep large quan- 
 tities on hand. It has sometimes been suggested 
 that granaries might be erected at tlie public 
 expense, and a large quantity of corn purchased, 
 and renewed from time to time ; but the quantity 
 kept up till a time of scarcity made it necessary 
 to have recourse to it. If anything of this kind 
 has ever been done, it has been on a very limited 
 scale * ; and to carry it to extent in a large 
 country is impracticable. Among other insu- 
 perable objections, one is, that the mob would 
 rise and plunder the granaries whenever they 
 felt the pressure of scarcity. However, if the 
 
 * In the city of Bern public granaries are said to have been 
 erected, capable of holding a supply to lliat city for several 
 ^ ears.
 
 OF THE CORN TRADE. 405 
 
 principle be admitted, as Ave think it ought, that 
 a large stock of corn in the country is desirable, 
 nothing sliould be done to discourage any who 
 may be inclined to contribute thereto. Instead 
 of considering the ingrosser as a nuisance, and 
 delivering him to the vengeance of the mob, he 
 is rather to be accounted a useful member of 
 society. The difficulty is how to render his em- 
 ployment so beneficial to himself as to induce 
 him to persevere in it. 
 
 Corn is, in ordinary seasons, applied to other 
 purposes besides food, in considerable quantities, 
 and the prohibition of such applications in time 
 of scarcity affords a considerable supply. Of 
 these the distillery is the most considerable, and 
 the prohibition of distilling from grain has been 
 several times had recourse to in years of scarcity. 
 We are far from desiring that the ordinary con- 
 sumption of grain in spirits should be increased, 
 in order to render the sup])ly from this source 
 more ample. The moral evils arising from the 
 immoderate use of spirits among the lower ranks 
 are too heavy to admit any measure that might 
 tend to encourage their use, which ought to be 
 discountenanced and repressed by every possible 
 means. 
 
 The prohibition of brewing beer is a measure
 
 40G 
 
 OF THE CORN TRADE. 
 
 that has not been as yet had recourse to. It 
 would occasion heavier privations than that of 
 spirits, and is also liable to other objections. 
 Yet the calamity of famine may be so great, 
 though in modern times it has seldom been so, 
 as to render every measure for increasing the 
 supply of food necessary. 
 
 When the ordinary food is composed of a 
 variety of articles, this variety affords some pro- 
 tection ajjainst famine. The several kinds of 
 grain crops are likely to suffer from the same 
 inclement season, but the potatoe crop may 
 escape, and afford relief in proportion to the 
 quantity usually raised. If animal food furnish 
 part of the nourishment of a considerable pro- 
 portion of the community, it is not liable to fail ; 
 and in countries bordering on the sea, part of 
 the ordinary food consists of fish, and this part 
 may be expected, in the scarcest years, in ordi- 
 nary abundance. In scarce years, of late, soup 
 kitchens, at first suggested by Count Rumford, 
 were set up in many towns, botli in Britain 
 and the continent, from motives of humanity. 
 Though their effect is not considerable, yet, as 
 their tendency is to procure a share of animal food 
 for the loAver ranks, prej)ared in the most econo- 
 mical manner, tliey are useful in some de^frec.
 
 OF THE CORN TRADE. 407 
 
 Voluntary associations have sometimes been 
 formed among persons in aflluent circumstances, 
 ill years of scarcity, for being sparing in the 
 use of food from grain, and having recourse 
 chiefly to other articles, which, on account of 
 their expense, were beyond the reach of the 
 lower ranks. Though much effect could not be 
 expected from such associations, yet, as they 
 indicate a humane attention to the wants of the 
 poor, we consider them as commendable. 
 
 But the effects of these or any other expe- 
 dients that can be suggested are insufficient for 
 affording a supply of food during a severe 
 famine, and the only effectual alleviation of that 
 calamity is by diminished consumption. At 
 sea, when provisions become scarce, the crew 
 are put upon short allowance. i So they should on 
 land. At sea this restriction is enforced by the 
 authority of the commander. But how shall we 
 enforce it throughout a country ? The only effec- 
 tual way is, by suffering the price of corn to rise 
 so high, that the lower, and even the middling 
 ranks, may be only able to purchase a scanty 
 subsistence. The sooner this rise of price takes 
 place the better. Any attempts to conceal the 
 true state of the country, or prevent the rise of
 
 408 OF THE CORN TRADE. 
 
 price at the beginning of the season, if they had 
 any effect at all, would do harm. 
 
 Bounties have been sometimes granted by 
 Government on imported corn, in seasons vrhere 
 the crop appeared deficient. This might give 
 a cheaper and more plentiful supply, and prevent 
 in some measure the pressure of want ; yet we 
 doubt the propriety of such a measure. If the 
 famine be general, the offer of a bounty must be 
 ineffectual, for other nations are in want them- 
 selves, and have nothing to spare. If the famine 
 be partial, the rise of prices in the country 
 which suffers from it will afford sufficient in- 
 ducement to other nations to supply what we 
 want. 
 
 A certain extent of privation does not destroy 
 the health of the human constitution, but if it 
 be carried beyond that limit it does so. When 
 the price of corn rises very high, the labouring 
 classes cannot afford to purchase what is re- 
 quisite for supporting health, and may even be 
 exposed to starvation. In such a case relief 
 should be given them, either in money or some 
 kind of cheap food, by means of poor-rates, or 
 voluntary charity. Though poor-rates are not 
 in general desirable, the ui'gency of the case
 
 OF THE CORN TRADE. 409 
 
 now supposed may require them. But tliis 
 relief, whether voluntary, or arising from poor- 
 rates, should be confined within such bounds 
 as to afford the narrowest subsistence consistent 
 with the health of those who receive it.
 
 410 
 
 CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 
 
 The utmost extent of wealth which the state of 
 human nature can attain would result from a 
 imion of the following sources ; — a favourable 
 climate, and fertile soil, cultivated to the ut- 
 most; general industry among the people, 
 directed by skill, and aided by good machinery 
 and division of labour ; a spirit of enterprize 
 which leads to a commercial intercourse with 
 every nation where experience has found it 
 profitable, but not impelled by extraneous en- 
 couragement ; an exemption from foreign wars 
 and domestic dissensions ; a mild and frug.il 
 administration at home. To give these full 
 effect, they must remain steady for a consider- 
 able length of time. 
 
 No nation ever enjoyed a combination of all 
 these advantages, and consequently none ever 
 attained the utmost pitch of wealth. The culti- 
 vation of the earth, the most important source 
 of wealth, is far from being carried to the 
 utmost perfection. In the most improved coun- 
 tries of Europe, there are still many uncultivated 
 tracts susceptible of hnprovement. Draining,
 
 CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 411 
 
 irrigation, and other inij)ortant operations, are 
 only partially practised, and the common modes 
 of husbandry admit of much improvement. 
 
 A more splendid kind of wealth may be dis- 
 played in the metropolis of a conqueror, Avho 
 has ravaged all the regions around, and collected 
 their spoils. In regard to the general mass of 
 wealth, the ravages of war are in the highest 
 degree destructive. The emphatic epithet of 
 the Scourge of God has been aptly bestoAved 
 on the extensive warrior. If we lay aside the 
 consideration of what the conquered countries 
 suffer, and only attend to the state of the con- 
 queror's country ; nay, further, if we set aside 
 the general condition of his country, and confine 
 our attention to the spot where the spoils of the 
 vanquished are accumulated and displayed, our 
 imaginations may be dazzled, but our judgment 
 will find little to admire. Riches, thus collected, 
 no more resemble riches acquired by industry, 
 in advancing the ha})piness of the nation, than 
 the mirth of intoxication is \vorthv of beinac 
 compared to the permanent flow of spirits which 
 health and activity confer. 
 
 THE END.
 
 LONDON': 
 
 PRINTKU BY WILLIAM CLOWES, 
 
 1-1, Charing Cro5s. 
 
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