-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=This book was copy TYPED byR. W. Jones from an original print of the 1st edition held byThe British Library, London. (Shelfmark: 432d12/432. D. 12). 

The resultant text was then compared, using atext to speech player, against that of an originalprint of the 2nd edition held by theLibrary (Archives & Rare Books), London School of Economics and Political Science. This e-text incorporates the (very few)modifications included in the later edition. 

Images of the four Charts are not included norwere they or the Indexes of the respectiveeditions compared. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

{Here appears before the fly-leaf the first chart, entitled"ChartofUniversal Commercial History, from the year 1500 before the Christian EraTO THE PRESENT YEAR 1805. Being a space of Three Thousand three hundred and four years, by William Playfair. Inventor of Linear Arithmetic"}

ANINQUIRYINTO THEPERMANENT CAUSESOF THEDECLINE AND FALLOFPOWERFUL AND WEALTHY NATIONS, ILLUSTRATED BY FOUR ENGRAVED CHARTS. 

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By

WILLIAM PLAYFAIR, AUTHOR OF NOTES AND CONTINUATION OF AN INQUIRYINTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OFNATIONS, BY ADAM SMITH, LL. D. AND INVENTOR OFLINEAR ARITHMETIC, &C. 

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DESIGNED TO SHEW HOW THEPROSPERITY OF THE BRITISH EMPIREMAY BE PROLONGED. 

===========================

___________________THE SECOND EDITION___________________

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR GREENLAND AND NORRIS, BOOKSELLERS, FINSBURY-SQUARE. 

1807. 

W. Marchant, Printer, 3 Greville-Street, Holborn. 

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P R E F A C E. 

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If it is of importance to study by what means a nation may acquirewealth and power, it is not less so to discover by what means wealthand power, when once acquired, may be preserved. 

The latter inquiry is, perhaps, the more important of the two; for manynations have remained, during a long period, virtuous and happy, without rising to wealth or greatness; but there is no example ofhappiness or virtue residing amongst a fallen people. 

In looking over the globe, if we fix our eyes on those places wherewealth formerly was accumulated, and where commerce flourished, we see them, at the present day, peculiarly desolated and degraded. 

From the borders of the Persian Gulf, to the shores of the Baltic Sea;from Babylon and Palmyra, Egypt, Greece, and Italy; to Spain andPortugal, and the whole circle of the Hanseatic League, we trace thesame ruinous [end of page #iii] remains of ancient greatness, presenting a melancholy contrast with the poverty, indolence, andignorance, of the present race of inhabitants, and an irresistible proofof the mutability of human affairs. 

As in the hall, in which there has been a sumptuous banquet, weperceive the fragments of a feast now become a prey to beggars andbanditti; if, in some instances, the spectacle is less wretched anddisgusting; it is, because the banquet is not entirely over, and theguests have not all yet risen from the table. 

From this almost universal picture, we learn that the greatness ofnations is but of short duration. We learn, also, that the state of afallen people is infinitely more wretched and miserable than that ofthose who have never risen from their original state of poverty. It isthen well worth while to inquire into the causes of so terrible areverse, that we may discover whether they are necessary, or onlynatural; and endeavour, if possible, to find the means by whichprosperity may be lengthened out, and the period of humiliationprocrastinated to a distant day. 

Though the career of prosperity must necessarily have a terminationamongst every people, yet there is some reason to think that thedegradation, which naturally follows, and which has always followedhitherto, may be [end of page #iv] averted; whether it may be, or maynot be so, is the subject of the following Inquiry; which, if it is ofimportance to any nation on earth, must be peculiarly so to England; anation that has risen, both in commerce and power, so high above thenatural level assigned to it by its population and extent. A nation thatrises still, but whose most earnest wish ought to be rather directed topreservation than extension; to defending itself against adversityrather than seeking still farther to augment its power. 

With regard to the importance of the Inquiry, there cannot be twoopinions; but, concerning its utility and success, opinions may bedivided. 

One of the most profound and ingenious writers of a late period, hasmade the following interesting observation on the prosperity ofnations. {1}

"In all speculations upon men and human affairs, it is of no smallmoment to distinguish things of accident from permanent causes, andfrom effects that cannot be altered. I am not quite of the mind of thosespeculators, who seem assured, that necessarily, and, by theconstitution of things, all states have the same period of infancy, manhood, and decrepitude, that are found in the individuals whocompose them. The objects which are

---{1} Mr Burke. -=-

[end of page #v]

attempted to be forced into an analogy are not founded in the sameclasses of existence. Individuals are physical beings, subject to lawsuniversal and invariable; but commonwealths are not physical, butmoral essences. They are artificial combinations, and, in theirproximate efficient cause, the arbitrary productions of the humanmind. 

We are not yet acquainted with the laws which necessarily influencethat kind of work, made by that kind of agent. There is not, in thephysical order, a distinct cause by which any of those fabrics mustnecessarily grow, flourish, and decay; nor, indeed, in my opinion, does the moral world produce any thing more determinate on thatsubject than what may serve as an amusement (liberal indeed, andingenious, but still only an amusement) for speculative men. I doubtwhether the history of mankind is yet complete enough, if ever it canbe so, to furnish grounds for a sure theory on the internal causes, which necessarily affect the fortune of a state. I am far from denyingthe operation of such causes, but they are infinitely uncertain, andmuch more obscure, and much more difficult to trace than the foreigncauses that tend to depress, and, sometimes, overwhelm society. "

The writer who has thus expressed his scepticism on this sort ofinquiry, speaks, at the same time, of the im-[end of page #vi] portanceof distinguishing between accidental and permanent causes. He doubtswhether the history of mankind is complete enough, or, if ever it canbe so, to furnish grounds for a sure theory, on the internal causeswhich necessarily affect the fortune of a state. Thus, he not onlyadmits the existence of permanent causes, but says, clearly, that it isfrom history they are discoverable, if ever their discovery can beaccomplished. This is going as far as we could wish, and, as for thesure theory, we join issue with him in despairing of ever obtaining onethat will deserve the name of sure. 

The meaning of the word, sure, in this place, appears to be intended ina sense peculiarly strict. It seems to imply a theory, that would becertain in its application to those vicissitudes and fluctuations to whichnations are liable, and not merely to explaining their rise and decline. As to such fluctuations, it would be absurd to enter into any theoryabout them; they depend on particular combinations of circumstances, too infinite, in variety, to be imagined, or subjected to any generallaw, and of too momentary an operation to be foreseen. 

That Mr. Burke alludes to such fluctuation is, however, evident, fromwhat that fanciful but deeply-read man says, immediately after: "Wehave seen some states which have spent their vigour at theircommencement. Some have [end of page #vii] blazed out in theirglory a little before their extinction. The meridian of some has beenthe most splendid. Others, and they the greatest number, havefluctuated, and experienced, at different periods of their existence, agreat variety of fortune. The death of a man at a critical juncture, hisdisgust, his retreat, his disgrace, have brought innumerable calamitieson a whole nation; a common soldier, a child, a girl, at the door of aninn, have changed the face of fortune, and almost of nature. "

From this it is abundantly evident, that the theory he wished for, butdespaired of ever establishing, was one that would explain sucheffects; but the object of this Inquiry is totally different. 

When the Romans were in their vigour, their city was besieged by theGauls, and saved by an animal of proverbial stupidity; but this couldnot have happened when Attila was under the walls, and the energy ofthe citizens was gone. The taking or saving the city, in the firstinstance, would have been equally accidental, and the consequences ofshort duration; but, in the latter days, the fall of Rome was owing to_PERMANENT_ causes, and the effect has been without a remedy. 

It is, then, only concerning the permanent causes, (that is to say, causes that are constantly acting, and produce [end of page #viii]permanent effects) that we mean to inquire; and, even with regard tothose, it is not expected to establish a theory that will be applicable, with certainty, to the preservation of a state, but, merely to establishone, which may serve as a safe guide on a subject, the importance ofwhich is great, beyond calculation. 

There remains but one other consideration in reply to this, and that is, whether states have, necessarily, by the constitution and nature ofthings, the same periods of infancy, manhood, and decrepitude, thatare found in the individuals that compose them? Mr. Burke thinks theyhave not; and, indeed, if they had, the following Inquiry would be ofno sort of utility. It is of no importance to seek for means ofpreventing what must of necessity come to pass: but, if the wordnecessity is changed for tendency or propensity, then it becomes anInquiry deserving attention, and, as all states have risen, flourished, and fallen, there can be no dispute with the regard to their tendency todo so. 

However much, at first sight, Mr. Burke's opinion may appear tomilitate against such an Inquiry, when duly considered, it will befound, not only to approve of the end, but to point out the manner inwhich the inquiry ought to be conducted; namely, by consultinghistory. [end of page #ix]

If it is allowed that any practical advantage is to be derived from thehistory of the past, it can only be, in so far as it is applicable to thepresent and the future; and, if there is none, it is melancholy to reflecton the volumes that have been written without farther utility than togratify idle curiosity. Are the true lessons of history, because they arenever completely applicable to present affairs, to be ranked with theentertaining, but almost useless, pages of romance? No, certainly. Ofthe inheritance possessed by the present generation, the history ofthose that are gone before, is not the least valuable portion. Eachreader now makes his application in his own way. It is an irregularapplication, but not an useless one; and it is, therefore, hoped, that anInquiry, founded on a regular plan of comparison and analogy, cannotbut be of some utility. 

But why do we treat that as hypothetical, of which there can be nodoubt? Wherefore should there be two opinions concerning the utilityof an inquiry into those mighty events, that have removed wealth andcommerce from the Euphrates and the Nile, to the Thames and theTexel? Does not the sun rise, and do not the seasons return to theplains of Egypt, and the deserts of Syria, the same as they did threethousand years ago? Is not [end of page #x] inanimate nature the samenow that it was then? Are the principles of vegetation altered? Or havethe subordinate animals refused to obey the will of man, to assist himin his labour, or to serve him for his food? No; nature is not lessbountiful, and man has more knowledge and more power than at anyformer period; but it is not the man of Syria, or of Egypt, that hasmore knowledge, or more power. There he has suffered his race todecay, and, along with himself, his works have degenerated. 

When those countries were peopled with men, who were wise, prudent, industrious, and brave, their fields were fertile, and theircities magnificent; and wherever mankind have carried the samevigour, the same virtues, and the same character, nature has beenfound bountiful and obedient. 

Throughout the whole of the earth, we see the same causes producingnearly the same effects; why then do we remain in doubt respectingtheir connection? Or, if under no doubt, wherefore do we notendeavour to trace their operation, that we may know how to preservethose advantages we are so eager to obtain?

If an Inquiry into the causes of the revolutions of nations is moreimperfect and less satisfactory than when [end of page #xi] directed tothose of individuals, and of single families, if, ever it should berendered complete, its application will, at least, be more certain. Nations are exempt from those accidental vicissitudes which derangethe wisest of human plans upon a smaller scale. Number andmagnitude reduce chances to certainty. The single and unforeseencause that overwhelms a man in the midst of prosperity, never ruins anation: unless it be ripe for ruin, a nation never falls; and when it doesfall, accident has only the appearance of doing what, in reality, wasalready nearly accomplished. 

There is no physical cause for the decline of nations, nature remainsthe same; and if the physical man has degenerated, it was before theauthentic records of history. The men who built the most stupendouspyramid in Egypt, did not exceed in stature those who now live inmean hovels at its immense base. If there is any country in the worldthat proves the uniformity of nature, it is this very Egypt. Unlike toother countries, that owe their fertility to the ordinary succession ofseasons, of which regular registers do not exist, and are neveraccurate, it depends on the overflowing of the waters of a single river. The marks that indicated the rising of the Nile, in the days of thePharaos, and of the Ptolemies, do the same [end of page #xii] at thepresent day, and are a guarantee for the future regularity of nature, bythe undeniable certainty of it for the past. 

By a singular propensity for preserving the bodies of the dead, theEgyptians have left records equally authentic, with regard to thestructure of the human frame. {2} Here nothing is fabulous; and eventhe unintentional errors of language are impossible. We have neitherto depend on the veracity nor the correctness of man. The proofsexhibited are visible and tangible; they are the object of the senses, and admit of no mistake. 

But while that country exhibits the most authentic proofs of theuniform course of nature, it affords also the most evident examples ofthe degradation of the human mind. It is there we find the cause ofthose ruins that astonish, and the desolation that afflicts. Had mencontinued their exertions, the labour of their hands would not havefallen to decay. 

It is in the exertion and conduct of man, and in the information of hismind, that we find the causes of the mutability of human affairs. Weare about to trace

---{2} Most part of the mummies found in Egypt, instead of being of alarger size, are considerably under the middle stature of the people ofEngland. Those dead monuments of the human frame give the directlie to Homer and all the traditions about men's degenerating in sizeand strength. -=-

[end of page #xiii]

them through an intricate labyrinth; but, in this, we are not without aguide. 

The history of three thousand years, and of nations that have risen towealth and power, in a great variety of situations, all terminating witha considerable degree of similarity, discovers the great outline of thecauses that invigorate or degrade the human mind, and thereby raise orruin states and empires. {3}

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{3} The utility of this Inquiry is considerably strengthened by theopinion of a writer of great information and first-rate abilities. {*}

An historical review of different forms under which human affairshave appeared in different ages and nations naturally suggests thequestion, whether the experience of former times may not now furnishsome general principles to enlighten and direct the policy of futurelegislators? The discussion, however, to which the question leads is ofsingular difficulty; as it requires an accurate analysis of by far themost complicated class of phenomena that can possibly engage ourattention; those which result from the intricate and often from theimperceptible mechanism of political society--a subject ofobservation which seems at first view so little commensurate to ourfaculties, that it has been generally regarded with the same passiveemotions of wonder and submission with which, in the material world, we survey the effects produced by the mysterious and uncontroulableoperation of phisical =sic= causes. It is fortunate that upon this, as onmany other occasions, the difficulties which had long baffled theeffort of solitary genius begin to appear less formidable to the unitedexertions of the race; and that, in proportion as the experience and thereasonings of different individuals are brought to bear on the objects, and are combined in such a manner as to illustrate and to limit eachother, the science of politics assumes more and more that systematicalform which encourages and aids the labours of future inquirers. 

_____________________________________________________________________

---{*} Mr Dongald Stuart, whose name is well known and muchhonoured amongst men whose studies have led them to investigatethese subjects: the intimate friend and biographer of Dr. Adam Smith. -=-

[end of page #xiv]

_ADVERTISEMENT_. 

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 _In the following Inquiry I have inserted four engraved Charts, in order to illustrate the subjects treated of in the Book, by a method approved of both in this and in other countries. {4}

 The Chart, No. 1, representing the rise and fall of all nations or countries, that have been particularly distinguished for wealth or power, is the first of the sort that ever was engraved, and has, therefore, not yet met with public approbation. 

 It is constructed to give a distinct view of the migrations of commerce and of wealth in general. For a very accurate view, there are no materials in existence; neither would it lead to any very different conclusion, if the proportional values were ascertained with the greatest accuracy. 

 I first drew the Chart in order to clear up my own ideas on the subject, finding it very troublesome to retain a distinct notion of the changes that had taken place. I found it answer the purpose beyond my expectation, by bringing into one view the result of details that are dispersed over a very wide and intricate field of universal history; facts sometimes connected with each other, sometimes not, and always requiring reflection each time they were referred to. I found the first rough draft give =sic= me a better

 --- {4} The Charts, Nos. 3 and 4, were copied in Paris, before the revolution, and highly approved of by the Academy of Sciences. No. 2, though of late invention, has been copied in France and Germany. Of No. 1, the public has yet to judge, and, perhaps, it will treat me with indulgence and good nature, as on former occasions. -=-

[end of page #xv]

 comprehension of the subject, than all that I had learnt from occasional reading, for half of my lifetime; and, on the supposition that what was of so much use to me, might be of some to others, I have given it with a tolerable degree of accuracy. 

 No. 2, relates entirely to the present state of nations in Europe, and the extent, revenue, and population, as represented, are taken from the most accurate documents. Where statistical writers differed, I followed him who appeared to me the most likely to be right. 

 Nos. 3 and 4, relate entirely to England, and are drawn from the most accurate documents. 

 Opposite to each Chart are descriptions and explanations. 

 The reader will find, five minutes attention to the principle on which they are constructed, a saving of much labour and time; but, without that trifling attention, he may as well look at a blank sheet of paper as at one of the Charts. 

 I know of nothing else, in the Book, that requires previous explanation. 

 _________________________________________________________________

 I think it well to embrace this opportunity, the best I have had, and, perhaps, the last I ever shall have, of making some return, (as far as acknowledgement is a return, ) for an obligation, of a nature never to be repaid, by acknowledging publicly, that, to the best and most affectionate of brothers, I owe the invention of those Charts. 

 At a very early period of my life, my brother, who, in a most examplary manner, maintained and educated the family his father left, made me keep a register of a thermometer, expressing the variations by lines on a divided scale. He taught me to know, that, whatever can be expressed in numbers, may be represented by lines. The Chart of the thermometer was on the same principle with those given here; the application only is different. The brother to whom I owe this, now fills the Natural Philosophy Chair in the University of Edinburgh_. 

[end of page #xvi]

CONTENTS. 

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 Page. 

=BOOK I. =

CHAP. I. 

INTRODUCTION and plan of the work. --Explanation of what theauthor understands by wealthy and powerful nations, and of thegeneral cause of wealth and power. .. .. . 1

CHAP. II. 

Of the general causes that operate, both externally and internally, inbringing down nations that have risen above their level to thatassigned to them by their extent, fertility, and population; and of themanner in which wealth destroyed power in ancientnations. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 14

CHAP. III. 

Of the nations that rose to wealth and power previous to the conquestsin Asia and Africa, and the causes which ruined them. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 20

CHAP. IV. 

Of the Romans. --The causes of their rise under the republic, and oftheir decline under the emperors. --The great error generally falleninto with respect to the comparison between Rome and Carthage;proofs that it is wrong, and not at all applicable to France andEngland. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 27

CHAP. V. 

Of the cities and nations that rose to wealth and power in the middleages, after the fall of the Western Empire, and previous to thediscovery of the passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, and of America. --Different effects of wealth on nations in cold and inwarm climates, and of the fall of the Eastern Empire. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 44

[end of page #xvii]

CHAP. VI. 

Digression concerning the commerce with India. --This the only onethat raised ancient nations to wealth. --Its continual variations. --Theenvy it excited, and revolutions it produced. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 51

CHAP. VII. 

Of the causes that brought on the decline of the nations that hadflourished in the middle ages, and of Portugal, Spain, Holland, and theHans Towns. .. .. .. .. . 62

CHAP. VIII. 

General view and analysis of the causes that operated in producing thedecline of all nations, with a chart, representing the rise, fall, andmigrations of wealth, in all different countries, from the year 1500, before the birth of Christ, to the end of the eighteenth century, --aperiod of 3300 years. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 70

=BOOK II. =

CHAP. I. 

Of the interior causes of decline, arising from the possession ofwealth. --Its general operation on the habits of life, manners, education, and ways of thinking and acting of the inhabitants of acountry. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 81

CHAP. II. 

Of the education of youth in nations increasing in wealth. --The errorsgenerally committed by writers on that subject. --Importance offemale education on the manners of a people. --Not noticed by writerson political economy. --Education of the great body of the people thechief object. --In what that consists. .. .. .. .. .. . 94

CHAP. III. 

Of increased taxation, as an interior cause of decline. --Its differenteffects on industry, according to the degree to which it is carried. --Itseffects on the people and on government. .. .. .. .. .. .. 102

CHAP. IV. 

Of the interior causes of decline, arising from the encroachments ofpublic and privileged bodies; and of those who have a commoninterest on those who have no common interest. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 116

[end of page #xviii]

CHAP. V. 

Of the internal causes of decline, arising from the unequal division ofproperty, and its accumulation in the hands of particular persons. --Itseffects on the employment of capital. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 125

CHAP. VI. 

Of the interior causes of decline, which arise from the produce of thesoil becoming unequal to the sustenance of a luxurious people. --Ofmonopoly. .. .. .. .. .. . 137

CHAP. VII. 

Of the increase of the poor, as general affluence becomes greater. --Of children left unprovided for. --Of their division into two classes. --Those that can labour more or less, and those that can do nolabour. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 156

CHAP. VIII. 

Of the tendency of capital and industry to leave a wealthy country, and of the depreciation of money in agricultural and commercialcountries. .. .. .. .. .. .. 161

CHAP. IX. 

Conclusion of the interior causes. --Their co-operation. --Theirgeneral effect on the government and on the people. --The dangerarising from them does not appear till the progress in decline is faradvanced. .. .. .. .. 166

CHAP. X. 

Of the external causes of decline. --The envy and enmity of othernations. --Their efforts, both in peace and war, to bring wealthynations down to their level. .. .. .. . 175

CHAP. XI. 

Why the intercourse between nations is ultimately in favour of thepoorer one, though not so at first. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 179

CHAP. XII. 

Conclusion of exterior causes. --Are seldom of much importance, unless favoured by interior ones. --Rich nations, with care, capable, inmost cases, of prolonging their prosperity. --Digression on theimportance of public revenue, illustrated by a statisticalchart. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 184

[end of page #xix]

=BOOK III. =

CHAP. I. 

Result of the foregoing Inquiry applied to Britain. --Its present state, in what its wealth consists; illustrated by a chart, shewing the increaseof revenue and commerce. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 191

CHAP. II. 

Of education, as conducted in England. --Amelioration proposed. --Necessity of government interfering, without touching the liberty ofthe subject. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 216

CHAP. III. 

Of the effects of taxation in England. .. .. .. . 229

CHAP. IV. 

Of the national debt and sinking fund. --Advantages anddisadvantages of both. --Errors committed in calculating their effects. --Causes of error. --Mode proposed for preventing futureincrease. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 234

CHAP. V. 

Of taxes for the maintenance of the poor. --Their enormous increase. --The cause. --Comparison between those of England and Scotland. --Simple, easy, and humane mode of reducing them. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 247

CHAP. VI. 

Causes of decline, peculiar to England. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 257

CHAP. VII. 

Circumstances peculiar to England, and favourable to it. .. .. .. .. .. .. 261

CHAP. VIII. 

Conclusion. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 276

Application of the present Inquiry to nations in general. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 289

_AN

I N Q U I R Y, &c. &c. _

======BOOK I. ======

CHAP. I. 

_Introduction and Plan of the Work. --Explanation of what the Authorunderstands by Wealthy and Powerful Nations, and of the GeneralCauses of Wealth and Power_. 

One of the most solid foundations on which an enquirer can proceedin matters of political economy, as connected with the fate of nations, seems to be by an appeal to history, a view of the effects that havebeen produced, and an investigation of the causes that have operatedin producing them. 

Unfortunately, in this case, the materials are but very scanty, andsometimes rather of doubtful authority; nevertheless, such as they are, I do not think it well to reject the use of them, and have, therefore, begun, by taking a view of the causes that have ruined nations thathave been great and wealthy, beginning with the earliest records andcoming down to the present time. {5}

---{5} Dr. Robertson very truly says, "It is a cruel mortification, insearching for what is instructive in the history of past times, to findthat the exploits of conquerors who have desolated the earth, and thefreaks of tyrants who have rendered nations unhappy, are recordedwith minute, and often disgusting accuracy, while the discovery ofuseful arts, and the progress of the most beneficial branches ofcommerce are passed over in silence, and suffered to sink in oblivion. "Disquisition on the Ancient Commerce to India. -=-

[end of page #1]

I divide this space into three periods, because in each is to be seen avery distinct feature. 

During the first period, previous to the fall of the Roman empire, theorder of things was such as had arisen from the new state of mankind, who had gradually increased in numbers, and improved in sciencesand arts. The different degrees of wealth were owing, at first, to localsituation, natural advantages, and priority in point of settlement, tillthe causes of decline begun to operate on some; when the adventitiouscauses of wealth and power, producing conquest, began to establish anew order of things. 

The second period, from the fall of the Roman government till thediscovery of America, and the passage to the East Indies, by theocean, has likewise a distinct feature, and is treated of by itself. 

The rulers of mankind were not then men, who from the ease andleisure of pastoral life, under a mild heaven, had studied science, andcultivated the arts; they were men who had descended from a coldnorthern climate, where nature did little to supply their wants, wherehunger and cold could not be avoided but by industry and exertion;where, in one word, the sterility of nature was counteracted by theenergy of man. 

The possessors of milder climates, and of softer manners, fallingunder the dominion of such men, inferior greatly in numbers, as wellas in arts, intermixed with them, and formed a new race, of which thecharacter was different; and it is a circumstance not a little curious, that while mankind were in a state at which they had arrived byincreasing population, and by the arts of peace, slavery was universal:but that when governed by men who were conquerors, and owed theirsuperiority to force alone, where slavery might have been expected tooriginate, it was abolished. {6}

---{6} This fact, which is indisputable, has, at first sight, a mostextraordinary appearance, that is to say, seems difficult to account for;but a little examination into circumstances will render it easilyunderstood. 

In warm and fertile countries, the love of ease is predominant, and theservices wanted are such as a slave can perform. The indolent habitsof people make them consider freedom as an object of less importancethan exemption from care. While the rulers of mankind were indolentand luxurious, they were interested in continuing slavery, which musthave [end of page #2] originated in barbarism and ignorance. But thenorthern nations were different; with them, neither the moralcharacter, the physical powers, or the situation of things, favouredslavery. The services one man wanted of another were not such as aslave could be forced to perform: neither are men who are fitted forperforming such offices disposed to submit to slavery. Shepherds maybe reduced to the situation of slaves, but hunters will not be likely tosubmit to such a situation, even if their occupation admitted of it. Slaves can only be employed to perform labour that is under the eyeof an overseer or master, or the produce of which is nearly certain: butthe labour of a hunter is neither the one nor the other, it is, therefore, not of the sort to be performed by slaves. The athletic active lifenecessary for a hunter is, besides, unfriendly to slavery, if not totallyat variance with it. What does a slave receive in return for his service?Lodging, nourishment, and a life free from care. A hunter is obliged toprovide the two former for himself, and the latter it is impossible forhim to enjoy. The same thing goes even to hired servants. In the rudeststate of shepherds, there are hired servants, but men in a rude statenever hunt for wages: they are their own masters: they may hunt insociety or partnership, but never as slaves or hired servants. -=-

The progress towards wealth in this new state of things was very slow, but the equality that prevailed amongst feudal barons, their love ofwar and glory, and the leisure they enjoyed, by degrees extended thelimits of commerce very widely, as the northern world never couldproduce many articles which its inhabitants had by their connectionwith the south learnt to relish and enjoy. 

The intermediate countries, that naturally formed a link of connectionbetween the ancient nations of the east and the rough inhabitants ofthe north, profited the most by this circumstance; and we still find theborders of the Mediterranean Sea, though no longer the seat of power, the places where wealth was chiefly concentrated. 

The impossibility of the inhabitants of the northern countriestransporting their rude and heavy produce, in order to exchange it forthe luxuries of the south, gave rise to manufactures as well as fishingon the southern confines of the Baltic Sea; from whence arose thewealth of Flanders, Holland, and the Hans Towns. This forms anepoch entirely new in its nature and description, and its terminationwas only brought on by the great discovery of the passage to Asia, bythe Cape of Good Hope, and to America, by sailing straight out intothe Atlantic Ocean. 

The nations that had till those discoveries been the best situated for[end of page #3] commerce no longer enjoyed that advantage; by thatmeans it changed its abode; but not only did it change its abode, itchanged its nature, and the trifling commerce that had hitherto beencarried on by the intervention of caravans by land, or of little barkscoasting on the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, (never venturing, without imminent danger, to lose sight of the shore, ) {7} was dropt forthat bold and adventurous navigation, connecting the most distantparts of the world; between which since then large vessels pass withgreater expedition and safety than they formerly did between theGrecian Islands, or from Italy to Africa. 

Three inventions, two in commerce and the other in war, nearly ofequal antiquity, formed this into one of these epochs that gives a newfeature to things. 

The discovery of the magnetic power of the needle improved andtotally altered navigation. The art of printing gave the means ofextending with facility, to mankind at large, the mode ofcommunicating thoughts and ideas, which had till then been attendedwith great difficulty, and confined to a few. This placed men nearerupon an equality with respect to mind, and greatly facilitatedcommerce and the arts. The invention of gun-powder nearly at thesame time changed the art of war, not only in its manner, but in itseffect, a point of far greater importance. While human force was thepower by which men were annoyed, in cases of hostility, bodilystrength laid the foundation for the greatness of individual men, aswell as of whole nations. So long as this was the case, it wasimpossible for any nation to cultivate the arts of peace, (as at thepresent time), without becoming much inferior in physical force tonations that preferred hunting or made war their study; or to such aspreferred exercising the body, as rude nations do, to gratifying theappetites, as practised in wealthy ones. To be wealthy and powerfullong together was then impossible. 

Since this last invention, the physical powers of men have ceased tooccupy any material part in their history; superiority in skill is now thegreat object of the attainment of those who wish to excel, {8} and

---{7} It was forbidden by law, formerly, in Spain, to put to sea from the11th of November to the 10th of March. 

{8} In the divine poem of the Iliad, Nestor, for experience andwisdom, and Ulysses, for [end of page #4] cunning, are the only twoheroes whose minds gave them a superiority; but they make no figurecompared to Achilles and Hector, or even the strong, rough, andignorant Ajax. To bear fatigue, and understand discipline, is the greatobject at present; for though, of late years, the increased use of thebayonet seems to be a slight approximation to the ancient mode ofcontending by bodily strength, it is to be considered, on the otherhand, that artillery is more than ever employed, which is increasingthe dissimilarity. Again, though the bayonet is used, it is undercircumstances quite new. Great strength enabled a single man, bywearing very thick armour, and wielding a longer sword or spear, tobe invulnerable to men of lesser force, while he could perform whatfeats he pleased in defeating them. As gun-powder has destroyed theuse of heavy armour, though with the sabre and bayonet men are notequal, they are all much more nearly so. No one is invulnerable, evenin single combat, with the _arme blanche_, and with fire arms they arenearly on an equality. The changes that this makes, through everydepartment of life, are too numerous to be enlarged upon, or not to bevisible to all. -=-

men may devote themselves to a life of ease and enjoyment withoutfalling under a real inferiority, provided they do not allow the mind tobe degraded or sunk in sloth, ignorance, or vice. 

Those discoveries, then, by altering the physical powers of men, bychanging their relations and connections, as well as by opening newfields for commerce, and new channels for carrying it on, form a verydistinct epoch in the history of wealth and power, and alter greatlytheir nature in the detail; though, in the main outline and abstractdefinition, they are still the same; having always the same relation toeach other, or to the state of things at the time. 

This last period is then very different in its nature, and much moreimportant than either of the others that preceded it; yet, in one thing, there is a similarity that runs through the whole, and it is a veryimportant one. 

The passions and propensities of mankind, though they have changedtheir objects, and the means of their gratification, have not changedtheir nature. The desire of enjoyment; and of enjoyment with the leasttrouble possible, appears to be the basis of all the passions. Hence, envy, jealousy, friendship, and the endless train of second-rate effects, appear all to be produced by that primary passion; {9} and as from

---{9} The very learned and ingenious author of the Inquiry into theOrigin and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, traces all this to an innatepropensity to barter. But barter is only a means, and not even themeans to which mankind shew the greatest pro-[end of page #5]pensity; for, wherever they have power to take by force or pillage, they never barter. This is seen both in an infantine and adult state;children cry for toys, and stretch at them before they offer toexchange; and, conquerors or soldiers never buy or barter, when theycan take, unless they are guided by some other motive than merenatural propensity. A highwayman will pay for his dinner at an inn, aswillingly as a traveller, because he acts from other motives thanpropensity, but he will strip the inn-keeper when he meets him on theroad. -=-

this originate the wealth as well as the decline of nations, the historyof the revolutions in wealth and power, during the two first periods, are by no means unimportant; besides, as their duration was muchlonger than that of the latter, they lead to a more certain conclusion. 

The review of what has taken place will occupy the first book; andserve as a data for an inquiry into the nature and causes of the fall ofnations. 

The first part of the second book will be dedicated to investigating theinternal causes of decline; that is to say, all those causes which arisefrom the possession of wealth and power, operating on the habits, manners, and minds of the inhabitants; as also on the politicalarrangements, laws, government, and institutions, so far as they areconnected with the prosperity or decline of nations. 

The latter part of the same book will treat of the exterior causes ofdecline, arising from the envy of other nations; their advancement inthe same arts to which the nations that are rich owe their wealth, ortheir excelling them in other arts, by which they can be rivalled, reduced, or subdued. 

After having inquired into external and internal causes; and theoperation of each and of both, (though they never act quiteseparately, ) accidental causes, will make an object for consideration, which will bring the general inquiry to a conclusion. 

The third book will begin with an application of the informationobtained to the present state of England: by comparing its situationwith that of nations that were great; and, by endeavouring to point outa means by which its decline may be prevented. 

Though we know that, in this world, nothing is eternal, particularly inthe institutions of man; yet, by a sort of fiction in language, when thefinal term is not fixed, and the end desirable, what is known to be [endof page #6] temporary is considered as perpetual. Thus, the contractbetween the king and the people, the constituent laws of a country, &c. Are considered as permanent and of eternal duration. 

In this case, though the final decline of a nation cannot be prevented;though the nature of things will either, by that regular chain of causeswhich admits of being traced, or by their regular operation ofcoincident causes which is termed accidental, sooner or later put anend to the prosperity of every nation, yet we shall not speak ofprolonging prosperity, but of preventing decline, just as if it werenever to happen at any period. 

Before entering upon this Inquiry, it may be well, for the sake of beingexplicitly understood, to define what I mean by wealthy and powerfulnations. 

In speaking of nations, wealth and power are sometimes related toeach other, as cause and effect. Sometimes there is between a mutualaction and re-action. In the natural or ordinary course of things, theyare, at first, intimately connected and dependent on each other, till, atlast, this connection lessening by degrees, and they even act inopposite directions; when wealth undermines and destroys power, butpower never destroys wealth. {10}

Though wealth and power are often found united, they are sometimesfound separated. Wealth is altogether a real possession; power iscomparative. Thus, a nation may be wealthy in itself, thoughunconnected with any other nation; but its power can only beestimated by a comparison with that of other nations. 

Wealth consists in having abundance of whatever mankind want ordesire; and if there were but one nation on earth, it might be wealthy;but it would, in that case, be impossible to measure its power. 

Wealth is, however, not altogether real; it is in a certain degreecomparative, whereas power is altogether comparative. 

The Romans, for example, may very justly be called the most

---{10} Till a nation has risen above its neighbours, and those to whom itcompares itself, wealth and power act in the same direction; but, afterit has got beyond that point, they begin to counteract each other. -=-

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powerful nation that ever existed, yet a single battalion of our presenttroops, well supported with artillery, would have probably destroyedthe finest army they ever sent into the field. A single ship of the linewould certainly have sunk, taken, or put to flight, all the fleets thatRome and Carthage ever sent to sea. The feeblest and least powerfulof civilized nations, with the present means of fighting, and theknowledge of the present day, would defeat an ancient army of themost powerful description. Power then is entirely relative; and what isfeebleness now, would, at a certain time, have been force or power. 

It is not altogether so with wealth, which consists in the abundance ofwhat men desire. The Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, had wealth;and this, though, perhaps, not consisting in the same objects, was, perhaps, not inferior to ours at the present time; but as wealth, purelyand simply, no comparison between different nations was necessary, farther than that men's desires are augmented, by seeing theabundance possessed by others; and therefore they becomecomparative, as to wealth. Without, however, entering into a longexamination respecting the various possible combinations of wealthand power, which are something similarly connected in states, ashealth and strength are in the animal body, {11} let both be consideredonly in a comparative way; the comparison either being made withother nations at the same time, or with the same nation at differenttimes. Thus, for example, in comparing the wealth and power ofBritain now, with what they were at the latter end of QueenElizabeth's reign, we find that the merchants of Liverpool, during thefirst three years of last =sic= war, fitted out a force of privateers equalto the Spanish armada; and consequently superior to the whole navalforce of England at that time; there can be no doubt, then, that both thewealth and power of the nation are increased. Again, if we find thatour ships block up the

---{11} A man may be very feeble, yet in very good health for his wholelife-time. He may also have great strength, though he may not enjoy avery good state of health; yet nevertheless, health and strength arevery intimately connected, and never can be completely separated. -=-

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ports of Holland, and prevent their navy from venturing to sea, wemust conclude, that the relative power of the two nations is altered, since the time that the Dutch fleet rode triumphant in the riverThames. But, if we want to make a comparison between the navalpower of England and that of France and Spain, we must not compareit with the strength of their navies in the year 1780, when they bid usdefiance at Plymouth, but take things actually as they are at thispresent time. 

When a nation is upon an equality with others, for wealth, it may beconsidered as neither deserving the name of a rich or a poor nation, whatever its real wealth or poverty may be. The same thing holds withpower. When a nation is merely able to protect itself, but fully equalto that, though unable to make conquests, or aggrandize itself, againstthe will of other nations, it may be said to be neither weak nor strong. Thus, for example, Denmark as a nation is upon a par with others; andneither to be called wealthy and powerful, nor weak and poor, thoughit certainly has both more actual wealth and power than it had in theeighth century, when the Danes burnt London, Paris, and Cologne. 

Thus, then, with respect to my reasoning, the whole is to beconsidered as applying to other nations at the same time; and thedegree they are above or below par, is the measure of wealth andpower, poverty and weakness. {12}

But, with respect to a nation itself, wealth is comparative in theprogression of time. In speaking of power, we compare nations at thesame period, and, in speaking of wealth, we may either compare anation with itself at different periods, or with others at the same time. 

We shall not find any example of a nation's becoming less wealthywhilst it increased in power; but we shall find many instances ofnations becoming wealthy whilst they were losing their power, though, ---{12} According to this definition, if all the nations on earth were toincrease in wealth and power equally, they would be considered asstationary; their relative situations would remain the same; like thoseof the fixed stars, or those of soldiers who march in a regiment withperfect regularity, and retain their relative portion in the same manneras if they stood still. But this case, among nations, is only animaginary one; therefore, the definition given answers the truepurpose of investigation. -=-

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together with the power, the wealth always, a little sooner or a littlelater, vanishes away. 

Sometimes nations owe their wealth and greatness to accidentalcauses, that, from their nature, must vanish away; and sometimes tocauses which, depending upon the nations themselves, may beprolonged. In general, both the two sorts of causes have united torender every nation great that has been distinguished amongst othersfor riches or power. 

The causes, then, divide themselves into two of distinct kinds;--thosewhich are independent of the nation itself, and those over which it hassome degree of influence and controul. 

In early ages, when knowledge was but little advanced, and when thesmall stock that had been accumulated was confined nearly to a singlespot, the first description of causes were the principal ones. --Localsituation, priority in discovery, or in establishment, gave to one nationa superiority over others, and occasioned the accumulation of wealth, and the acquisition of power and territory. {13} As in the early stagesof human life, a few years more or less occasion a greater difference, both in physical powers and mental faculties, than any difference ofinnate genius, or adventitious circumstances; so, in the early days ofthe world, when it was young in knowledge, and scanty in population, priority of settlement gave a great advantage to one nation over others, and, of consequence, enabled them to rule over others; thus theAssyrian and Egyptian empires were great, powerful, and extensive, while the nations that were beyond their reach were divided into smallstates or kingdoms, on the most contemptible scale. 

Time, however, did away the advantages resulting from priority ofestablishment. 

Local situation was another cause of superiority, of a more permanentnature; but this, also, new discovery has transferred from one na-

---{13} It is not meant, by any means, to enter into an inquiry, much lesscontroversy, respecting the antiquity of mankind; but it is very clearthat the knowledge of arts and sciences can be traced to an infant stateabout two thousand years before the Christian aera. -=-

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tion to another. Qualities of the soil and climate are counteracted bythe nature and habits of the inhabitants, which frequently, in the end, give the superiority where there was at first an inferiority. 

If ever the nations of the world come to a state of permanence, (whichin all probability will never be the case, ) it must be when population isnearly proportioned to the means of subsistence in different parts;when knowledge is nearly equally distributed and when no greatdiscoveries remain to be made either in arts, science, or geography. 

While the causes from which wealth and power rise in a superiordegree, are liable to change from one nation to another, wealth andpower must be liable to the same alterations and changes of place; solong any equal balance among nations must be artificial. But whencircumstances become similar, and when the pressure becomes equalon all sides, then nations, like the particles of a fluid, though free tomove, having lost their impulse, will remain at rest. 

If such a state of things should ever arrive, then the wealth and powerwould be only real, not comparative. The whole might be very rich, very affluent, and possess great abundance of every thing, either forenjoyment or for defence, without one nation having an advantageover another: they would be on an equality. 

But this state of things is far from being likely soon to take place. Population is far from come to its equilibrium, and knowledge {14} isfarther distant still. Russia and America, in particular, are both behindin population, and the inhabitants of the latter country are far frombeing on a par in knowledge with the rest of Europe; when theybecome so, the balance will be overturned, and must be re-establishedanew. 

The great discoveries that have taken place in knowledge andgeography have been connected. 

While navigation was little understood, the borders of theMediterranean Sea, and the islands in it, were naturally the first placesfor wealth and commerce. 

The discovery of the compass, and others that followed, rendered

---{14} By knowledge is only meant the knowledge of the arts that makemen useful, =sic= such as agriculture, manufactures, legislation, &c. -=-

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the navigation of the open ocean, more easy and safe than that of thecircumscribed seas. This laid a great foundation for change anddiscovery; it brought Britain into importance, ruined Italy, Genoa, Venice, &c. And has laid the foundation for further changes still. 

As for discoveries in arts, it would be bold and presumptuous indeedto attempt to set any bounds to them. Discoveries, however, that alterthe relations of mankind very materially, are probably near at an end. In arts they give only a temporary preference. {15} If a method shouldbe discovered to cultivate a field with half the trouble, and to doublethe produce, which seems very possible, it would be a great discovery, and alter the general state of mankind considerably; but it would soonbe extended to all nations, as the use of gunpowder has been. Newproduce, or means of procuring the old more easily, are the thingschiefly sought after. Potatoes, coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, silk, distilledspirits, are new productions, unknown to the Romans. Glass, gunpowder, printing, windmills, watermills, steam-engines, and themost part of spinning and weaving machines, are new inventions, butthey can be extended to all countries. The mariners compass changedthe relative position of places, and no new invention of the sameimportance, as to its effects on nations, probably can take place. Navigation does not admit of a similar improvement to that which ithas received. If goods could be conveyed for a quarter of the presentprice it would not produce the same sort of effect. To rendernavigating the ocean practicable was a greater thing than any possibleimprovement on that practicability. 

As for new discoveries in geography, they are nearly at an end. Theform and the extent of the earth are known, and the habitable regionsare nearly all explored. 

We have, then, arrived at a state of things where many of the causesthat formerly operated on reducing wealthy nations can never againproduce a similar effect. But still there are other causes which ope-

---{15} The end of all discovery is to supply men with what they want;and, accordingly, all nations that are considered as civilised find themeans of participating in the advantage of a new discovery, byimitating that which possesses the invention first, and that is donealmost immediately. It was very different formerly. -=-

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rate as they did formerly; accordingly, wealth and power are veryunequally distributed amongst nations at this moment; and, in Europe, there is not one nation that is not either rising or on its decline. (seeAppendix A. ) =sic--there is none. =

The purpose of the present Inquiry is, by tracing those causes that stillcontinue to operate, to discover how nations that now stand high maybe prevented from sinking below their level: a thing to which historyshews they have a natural tendency, and which history shews also isattended with very distressing consequences. 

We do not labour in Utopia on schemes, but in Britain on realbusiness; and the inquiry is, how a nation, situated as this is, andhaving more than its share of power, importance, and wealth, mayprolong their possession?

In this Inquiry we shall begin with taking a lesson from history, whichwill serve as some guide. 

As to the rise of other nations, we neither can nor should attempt toimpede that; let them rise to our level, but let us not sink down totheirs. [end of page #13]

CHAP. II. 

_Of the General Causes that operate, both externally and internally, in bringing down Nations that have risen above their Level to thatassigned to them by their Extent, Fertility, and Population; and of theManner in which Wealth destroyed Power in ancient Nations_. 

Without considering the particular causes that have raised somenations greatly above others, there are some general causes of declinewhich operate in all cases; but even the general causes are not alwayssimilar, they vary their way of producing the effect, according tocircumstances. 

If a nation excels in arts and manufactures, others acquire a taste forwhat they make, and imitate them. If they excel in the art of war, theyteach their enemies to fight as well as themselves. If their territoriesare large, the unprotected and far distant parts provoke attack andplunder. They become more difficult and expensive to govern. If theyowe their superiority to climate and soil, they generally preserve it buta short time. Necessity acts so much more powerfully on those who donot enjoy the same advantages, that they soon come to an equality. --In whatever the superiority exists, emulation and envy prompt torivalship in peace, and to frequent trials of strength in war. Thecontempt and pride which accompany wealth and power, and the envyand jealousy they excite amongst other nations, are continual causesof change, and form the great basis of the revolutions amongst thehuman race. 

The wants of men increase with their knowledge of what it is good toenjoy; and it is the desire to gratify those wants that increasesnecessity, and this necessity is the spur to action. 

There are a few natural wants that require no knowledge in order to befelt; such as hunger and thirst, and the other appetites which men havein common with all animals, and which are linked, as it [end of page#14] were, to their existence. {16} But while nations satisfythemselves with supplying such wants, there is neither wealth norpower amongst them. Of consequence, it is not into the conduct ofsuch that we are to inquire. 

Excepting, however, those wants which are inseparable from ourexistence, all the others are, more or less, fictitious, and increase withour knowledge and habits; it is, therefore, evident that the nation thatis the highest above others feels the fewest wants; or, in other words, feels no wants. She knows nothing that she does not possess, andtherefore may be said to want nothing; or which is the same thing, notknowing what she does want, she makes no effort to obtain it. 

Thus necessity of rising higher, does not operate, on a nation that seesnone higher than itself; at least, it does only operate in a very slenderdegree. {17} Whereas, in the nation that is behind hand with othernations around, every one is led by emulation and envy, and by afeeling of their own wants, to imitate and equal those that are fartheradvanced. 

---{16} A child cries for food without knowing what it is; and all theother natural appetites, though they may be increased by habit, byknowledge, and fancy, are independent of the mind in its first state. 

{17} The necessity, no doubt, continues to preserve what they have;and, therefore, tends to keep them in a permanent state. Someindividuals again, in less affluence than others, endeavour to equalthem; by which means some progress is still making in the nation thatpossesses the greatest share of wealth and power; but it is only partialand feeble. Those who live in the nation that is the most advanced arecontented and have all they wish; they possess every thing of whichthey know, they can have no particular desire for any thing they havenot got, that will produce great energy and exertion. A man may wishfor wings, or for perpetual youth; but, as he can scarcely expect toobtain either, he will make little exertion. With things reallyattainable, but not known, the case is less productive of energy still. The people of Asia found silk a natural produce of their country; tillthe Europeans saw it, they never attempted to produce so rich amaterial; but no pains has since been spared to try to produce it, inalmost every country, where there was the least chance of success. Weimitated the silk mills of Italy, and the Italians (as well as many othernations) are now imitating our cotton mills. In the case of a nation thatfollows others, it always knows what it wants, and may judge whetherit can obtain it; but the nation the most advanced, gropes in the dark. -=-

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Thus it is, that necessity acts but in a very inferior degree on thenation that is the farthest advanced; while it operates in a verypowerful way on those that are in arrear; and this single reason, without the intervention of wars or any sort of contest or robbery, would, in the process of time, bring nations to a sort of equality inwealth and refinement; that is, it would bring them all into possessionof the means of gratifying their wants. 

War, excited by the violent and vile passions, --by the overbearingpride and insolence of one, and the envy and villainy of another, derange this natural and smooth operation, which, nevertheless, continues to act in silence at all times, and in every circumstance, andwhich, indeed, is in general the chief cause of those very disorders bywhich its operations are sometimes facilitated; sometimes apparentlyinterrupted; sometimes, their effect for a moment reversed; but theiraction never, for one instant, totally suspended. 

The desire of enjoyment makes all mankind act as if they wererunning a race. They always keep the goal in view, though theyattempt to be the foremost to arrive at it by various means. But thegreatest exertions are never made by those who have got the advanceof their competitors. Amongst the wants of mankind, ease is one ofvery permanent operation; and whenever the necessity of supplyingother wants ceases, the desire of supplying that, leads to a state ofinaction and rest. {18} To seek ease, however, does not implynecessarily to seek total inaction or rest; a diminished exertion iscomparative ease; and this is always observable in a state ofprosperity, either of an individual or of a nation, after the prosperityhas been long enough

---{18} The truth of this may be disputed by those who look at mankindin an artificial state; because a variety of their actions seem withoutany particular motive. But not the smallest exertion is ever madewithout it. The man who walks out and takes exercise, wants health oramusement as much as the working man does bread. Even those whotoil in the rounds of pleasure, are always in pursuit of something. Their not finding the object is another part of the consideration; butthey always have one in view. As to savages, and the poorer classes ofpeople, they shew their propensity by a more simple process; that is, merely by resting inactive, when they are not compelled to labour. -=-

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enjoyed to create a certain degree of lassitude and indifference, whichit does on every nation. {19}

Whatever may be the accidental circumstance which first raises onenation above others, or the train of adventitious ones that increase fora while and continue that superiority, nothing can be more clear andcertain, than, that they have a natural tendency to come back to alevel, merely by the exertions of men in the direction of acquiringwealth by industry, and without any of those causes which arise out ofwar, or interrupting the career of each other. 

When, from the conduct of one nation towards another, or fromwhatever other cause war, =sic= becomes the means by which thesuperiority of two nations is to be decided, there are many things infavour of the least wealthy nation. 

It has less to protect and to lose, and more to attack and to gain; thetask is much easier and more alluring. There is a sort of energy inattempting to obtain, that is not to be found in those who are onlyexerting themselves to keep, of which it is difficult to explain thecause, but of which the existence is very certain. 

Where natural strength, and the struggle with want is great, as is thecase with nations who have made but little progress in acquiringwealth, the contest with a people more enervated by ease, and lessinured to toil is very unequal, and does more than compensate thoseartificial aids which are derived from the possession of property. {20}From this cause, the triumph of poorer over more wealthy nations hasgenerally arisen, and, in most cases, has occasioned the contest to endin favour of the more hardy and poorer people. 

Of the revolutions that took place in the ancient world; whetheroperated by degrees or by violence and suddenly, those may be ge-

---{19} Doctor Garth, in his admirable poem of the Dispensary, says;--

"_Even health for want of change becomes disease_. "

This is the case with nations sunk in prosperity. 

{20} Why men should have been less tenacious to keep that which isfairly theirs, than rapaciously to obtain that which is not, is a strangething; but nothing is more certain; and the effects of that propensityare very great, and its existence very general. In the ruin of nations, itis a most active and powerful cause. -=-

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nerally traced as the causes. In those ancient nations any considerabledegree of luxury and military success were incompatible with eachother; but, in the present age, the case is greatly altered. Militarydiscipline is not near so severe as formerly, and bodily strength hasbut little effect, while the engines of war can only be procured bythose resources which wealth affords; by this means, the decline ofnations is, at least, now become a less natural and slower progressthan formerly; the operations of war have now a quite differenttendency from what they formerly had, and this effect is produced bythe introduction of cannon, and a different mode of attack anddefence; to carry on which, a very considerable degree of wealth isnecessary. {21}

In former times, the character and situation of the people, the objectthey had in view, their bravery and the skill of their leaders, did everything; but now the skill of leaders and the command of money are thechief objects; for there is not sufficient difference between any twonations in Europe as to counterbalance those: and, indeed, (except sofar as military skill is accidental, ) it is to be found principally innations who have a sufficient degree of wealth to exercise it and call itinto action. 

We shall see that the first revolutions in the world were effected bythe natural strength, energy, and bravery of poor nations triumphingover those that were less hardy, in consequence of the enjoyment ofwealth, until the time of the Romans; who, like other nations, firsttriumphed by means of superior energy and bravery; and, afterwardsby making war a trade, continued, by having regular standing armies, to conquer the nations who had only temporary levies, or militias, tofight in their defence. 

The triumph of poor nations, over others in many respects theirsuperiors, continued during the middle ages, but the wealth acquiredby certain nations then was not wrested from them by war, but by anaccidental and unforeseen change in the channel through which it

---{21} An idea has gone abroad, since the successes of the Frencharmies, that money is not necessary to war, even in the present times. It will be shewn, in its proper place, that the French armies weremaintained at very great expense, and that a poor country could nothave done what France did. -=-

flowed. At the same time that this change took place, without theintervention of force, the art of war changed in favour of wealthynations, but the changes took place by slow degrees, and the power ofnations now may almost be estimated by their disposable incomes. 

This change, however, has by no means secured the prosperity ofwealthy nations; it has only prevented poor ones, unable by means offair competition to do by conquest what they could not effect byperseverance in arts and industry; for, in other respects, though itmakes the prosperity of a nation more dependant =sic= on wealth, andmore independent of violence; it prevents any nation from preservingits political importance after it loses its riches. It does not by anymeans interrupt that progress by which poor nations gradually rise upand rival richer ones in arts. It has not done away the advantages thatarise from superior industry and attention to business, or from thegradual introduction of knowledge amongst the more ignorant, thereby lessening their inferiority, and tending to bring nations to alevel; on the contrary, by increasing the advantages, and securing thegradual triumphs gained by arts and industry, from the violence ofwar, it makes wealth a more desirable object, and the loss of it agreater misfortune. It tends to augment the natural propensity thatthere is in poor nations to equal richer ones {22}, although it, at thesame time, augments the difficulty of accomplishing their intentions. 

The superior energy of poverty and necessity which leads men, underthis pressure, to act incessantly in whatever way they have it in theirpower to act, and that seems likely to bring them on a level with thosethat are richer, is then the ground-work of the rise and fall of nations, as well as of individuals. This tendency is sometimes favoured byparticular circumstances, and sometimes it is counteracted by them;but its operation is incessant, and it has never yet failed in producingits effect, for the triumph of poverty over wealth on the great scale ason the small, though very irregular in its pace, has continued withoutinterruption from the earliest records to the present moment. 

---{22} The present inferiority of Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, andPortugal, compared with the rank they held in former times, is easilyaccounted for by looking at the scale of their revenues. -=-

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CHAP. III. 

_Of the Nations that rose to Wealth and Power previously to theConquests in Asia and Africa, and the Causes which ruined them_. 

Previous to the conquests made by Alexander the Great, thehistory of ancient nations is confused, incomplete, and inaccurate. 

During the contests of his successors, the intricacy and confusion arestill continued, but materials are more plentiful, more accurate, andmore authentic. 

During the first period, excepting what is contained in sacred history, a few detached facts, collected by writers long after, are our onlyguides in judging of the situation of ancient states, some of whichconsisted of great empires, and others of single cities possessed of avery small territory. 

Add to this, that great and striking events occupied almost exclusivelythe attention of historians. The means by which those events wereproduced were considered as of lesser importance. 

So far, however, as the present inquiry can be elucidated, althoughmaterials are few, yet, by adhering to a distinct plan, and keeping theobject always before us, we may arrive at a conclusion. 

The countries that appear to have been first inhabited were Syria andEgypt, {23} both of them situated on the borders of the MediterraneanSea; and as early as any authentic records extend, those were great andpowerful countries in which agriculture and population had madegreat progress, and into which commerce had already brought many ofthe luxuries of the East. 

The Phoenicians, a people differing in name from those who weresubjected to the Assyrian monarchs, occupied that part of Syria, nowcalled the Levant, directly on the borders of the Mediterranean Sea;they were the first who rose to wealth and power by arts and com-

---{23} Reasons have been given in the preface for not taking any viewof the situation of India, though, by its produce, it appears, at least ofequal antiquity. -=-

[end of page #20]

merce. Tyre and Sidon were the abodes of commerce long before thearrival of the Jews in the land of Canaan, situated in the adjacentcountry, with whom, in the days of David and Solomon, thePhoenicians were on terms of friendship and alliance, {24} assistingthe latter to carry on commerce, and enrich his people. (See AppendixB. ) =sic--there is none. =

The whole coast of the Mediterranean lay open to them for navigation, as did also the Grecian islands, and as their own soil was barren, theypurchased the necessaries of life, giving in exchange the rich stuffsthey had manufactured, and the produce of the East of which theyalmost exclusively possessed the commerce. 

The Egyptians were possessed of the most fertile soil in the world, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the north, and on the east andwest by barren deserts. Their country was of a triangular form, andwatered by the Nile, which, passing through it in its greatest extent, runs nearly down the middle. 

Thus situated, in the country depending on the Nile for its fertility, andon all sides protected from enemies, it was exceedingly natural tocultivate the arts of peace, and it was not possible that it should bedivided into many different nations, as in other countries in earlytimes was the case, when sovereignty rose from parental authority, and when there was no natural bond between the heads of differentfamilies. 

The great abundance with which the inhabitants were supplied, inyears when the Nile overflowed in a favourable manner, and theuncertainty of future plenty were inducements for accumulation andforesight, which are not equally necessary in countries where theimportant circumstances of plenty or want do not depend on onesingle event over the whole face of a country, separated, besides, fromothers by a sea, which they could not navigate, and by deserts not veryeasy to pass over. 

The difficulties of transporting corn, which were sufficient to deter theEgyptians from depending on a supply from other parts, did not, however, prevent other nations from applying to them in times ofscarcity, and accordingly it was the granary of the ancient world. 

---{24} For farther particulars of this commerce see the Digression onthe Trade to India. -=-

[end of page #21]

To those natural advantages, the Egyptians added some others, different in their nature, but not less precious. 

They enjoyed a mild government, and an admirable and simple codeof laws. Their docility and obedience have never been equalled, and asone maxim, was, to admit of no person being idle, it is evident that thepopulation must have increased rapidly, and that there must have beenan impossibility to employ the whole labour of so many hands on themeans of providing subsistence in a country, where the manners weresimple, the soil fertile, and the wants few. 

The surplus of the industry of Egypt appears to have been at thedisposal of the sovereigns to whom all the lands belonged, and forwhich they exacted a rent in kind, as is the custom among the nativepowers on both peninsulas of India to this day. By that means, theywere enabled to produce those stupendous works which have been theadmiration and wonder of all succeeding generations, and of everynation. The city of Thebes, with the labyrinth; Memphis, the canals, and the pyramids would all be incredible, had not their singularstructure preserved those latter efforts of industry from the ravages oftime, and left them nearly entire to the present day. 

The Phoenicians were a colony from that great country; for theEgyptians in general had a dislike to the sea. It is well known, however, that people who live immediately on the coast have apropensity to navigation, and it is probable that those Egyptians wholeft their own fruitful land to settle on the barren borders of Syria, were from the delta of Lower Egypt, which lies on the sea coast, andis intersected by a number of branches of the river Nile. {25}

It is not surprising that such a colony, following the natural propensityto naval affairs, and carrying with it the arts of dying and weaving, together with whatever else the Egyptians knew, should become underthe influence of necessity, and in a favourable situation for arts andcommerce, as much celebrated for commercial riches, as their mothercountry had long been for agriculture and the cultivation of thesciences. 

---{25} That the Phoenicians were from Egypt is not doubted, and theirbecoming a totally different people from being on a different soil andin a different situation, is a strong proof of the influence of physicalcircumstances on the characters of nations. -=-

[end of page #22]

Tyre accordingly is the first example of a city becoming rich andpowerful by arts and commerce, and though few details are known, yet those are of a very decided character. 

The pride of the Tyrians appears to have been the cause of their fall, and that pride was occasioned by the possession of wealth, far beyondthat of any other people then in the world. While they were great theyaimed at monopoly, and were partly the cause of the rapid decay ofJerusalem. After the death of Solomon, they founded a colony, wellsituated for the extention of their own trade, which consisted chiefly inbringing the rich produce of Arabia, and India, into the western world. Carthage was placed on the south coast of the Mediterranean to thewest of Egypt, so as never to have any direct intercourse with Indiaitself, while it lay extremely well for distributing the merchandize, brought by the Tyrians, from thence in the interior of Africa, Spain, Sicily, Italy, and the parts that lay distant from the mother city. {26}

From the extent of its territory and situation, Tyre could only bewealthy; it never could be powerful, as the great Assyrian monarchy, which lay immediately to the eastward, prevented the possibility of itsextention; and, as to power at sea, there was =sic= at that time nocontests on that element; the most then that could be expected was, that it should have sufficient strength to protect itself, which, being ona small island, very near the shore, was not difficult. If Alexander theGreat had not joined it to the land by an earthen mound, or mole, Tyrecould never have been taken till some other power got the superiorityby sea; which could not have been till after the Romans had conqueredCarthage. 

Babylon, which was the centre of the Assyrian empire, and commu-

---{26} The best account of the commodities in which the commerce ofthe Tyrians consisted, as well as the best description of their wealth, and the cause of the downfall is to be found in Ezekiel, chap. Xxvi. And the two following. It is perfectly distinct and conclusive withrespect to the principal points of wealth, pride, and luxury founded onwealth. 

The Tyre here spoken of is not the same taken by the king of Babylon, or Assyrian monarch long before Alexander's time, which onlyappears to have been a settlement on the main land belonging to thesame people, and subject to the same prince. -=-

[end of page #23]

nicated with the eastern part of Asia, by the river Euphrates, and bythe Persian Gulf with India, was, as Memphis, of Egypt, a capital; butthe Assyrians were not protected on all sides, like the Egyptians, fromforeign inroads; they consequently did not cultivate the arts of peaceand the sciences so much. On the east, were the Medes and Persians;on the north, the Scythians and Partheans; but, as the territory wasfertile and extensive, under one of the finest climates of the world, themonarchs became rich and luxurious, which was the cause of theirsubjection, and they were always subdued by people less advanced inluxury than themselves. 

The whole of these countries, Egypt, Syria, Phoenicia, and Greece, fell under the arms of Alexander. This was the first great and generalrevolution in that part of the world, from which Carthage alone, of allthe ancient seats of wealth and greatness, escaped. 

The triumph of Alexander was, no doubt, that of a great captain; but, except the destruction of Tyre, and the foundation of Alexandria, which changed the principal seat of commerce, there was nothingdurable in his conquests. The reigning families were destroyed, andthe dynasties altered; but, under his immediate successors, theEgyptians, the inhabitants of Syria, and the Greeks, had differentmasters. 

It was after the foundation of Alexandria, and under the successors ofAlexander, that Egypt became really a commercial country. Its wealthhad hitherto arisen rather from the great population and fertility of thecountry, than from any participation in the trade to the East; but afterAlexandria was founded, the seat of empire, which had always been inUpper Egypt, was established in Lower Egypt, canals were dug, andevery means taken to make the passage from the Red Sea to theMediterranean as commodious as possible. 

Carthage began then to decline. Tyre was no more: and Alexandriawas situated on the same side of the Mediterranean Sea, in a muchmore advantageous position for receiving the productions of the East, and equally advantageous for distributing them. 

The Phoenicians never recovered their importance; and indeed it wasnot the interest of the Persian monarch to encourage trade by [end ofpage #24] the old channel of the Red Sea and Rhinocolura, but ratherto come directly through the Persian Gulf, ascend the Euphrates, andcross the country to the borders of the Mediterranean, which was away not much more expensive than by the old rout =sic=. As thegreater part of the produce imported was to be consumed at theluxurious court of Persia, and in the numerous rich cities with whichthat empire was filled, there is no doubt that the way by the PersianGulf was by much the least expensive; for even Solomon, King ofJerusalem, long before, though he lived at one extremity of thejourney, and had ships for trading by the other channel, had carried ontrade by this way; and, in order to facilitate it, had laid the foundationof the magnificent city of Palmyra, nearly in the middle between theMediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Persia. 

Whilst those revolutions were effecting amongst the ancient nationson the continents of Asia and Africa, the Greeks, who had been themost barbarous of all, became, by degrees, the most refined; theirlearning and arts were all founded, originally, on the Egyptianlearning; and though at last they carried them to a higher pitch thantheir masters; yet Egypt, for many centuries, was looked up to, evenby the Greeks, as they were afterwards for a number of centuries bythe Romans, and the other nations of the world. 

The education of the Greeks; very different in some of the states fromwhat it was in others, had, however, the same tendency in all; thattendency was to invigorate the body, and instruct and strengthen themind. While this continued, we see them at first resist the Persians, though in very unequal numbers; and, at last, the Grecian vigour, discipline, and skill, subdue the whole of the then civilized world. 

After the conquests of Alexander, the wealth and luxury of Asia wereintroduced into Greece, and indeed the Greeks refined on that luxury. At Athens and the other cities which might be said to give manners tothe rest, shews, and theatrical representations were after that moreattended to than the military art; and cabal, intrigue, and corruption, were introduced in the place of that manly, pure, and admirable loveof their country, for which, in less wealthy, but in better [end of page#25] times, they had been so highly distinguished above every otherpeople. 

This was the situation of things when a nation, less advanced in arts, and uncorrupted with the possession of wealth, but which was stillconsidered by the Greeks as barbarous, prepared at once to subdue thewhole of them, and give a still more striking proof of the triumphwhich vigour and energy obtain over those who have only wealth; thepossession of which, undoubtedly, gives a certain means of defence, though one very unequal to resisting a nation when excited by thedesire of sharing its possessions, and yet vigorous and strong, notbeing unnerved by the enjoyment of ease and luxury. [end of page#26]

CHAP. IV. 

_Of the Romans. --the Causes of their Rise under the Republic, and oftheir Decline under the Emperors. --the great Error generally falleninto with respect to the Comparison between Rome and Carthage;Proofs that it is wrong, and not at all applicable to France andEngland_. 

In the rise and greatness of Rome, there was nothing accidental, allwas the effect of the most unremitting perseverance in a plan, at first, of petty robbery; which, as it extended, was honoured with the title ofconquest; and, as it succeeded, has been considered as deserving theappellation of great. 

It is true, that there were talents exercised, and methods practised, which deserve the highest praise, and are worthy of imitation. It isimpossible to withhold admiration at the recital, but the end in view, from the beginning, cannot be justified. 

Although neither the end in view, nor, generally speaking, the meansemployed, are deserving of imitation, yet we shall find moreadvantage from examining them than from the history of any othernation. 

In the first place, so far as prosperity depends on good conduct, andgood conduct depends on the state of the mind, the Romans are a moststriking example. While they preserved the manners that firstoccasioned their rise, they continued to become more powerful; asthey forsook these manners, their power abandoned them; and they, after having conquered all with whom they ever contended, becausethey had more skill or less corruption, were themselves overcome, bymen infinitely inferior to what they had been, before they becameenervated and corrupt. 

The smallness of the territory, which the Romans at first possessed, laid them under the necessity of extending it, and drawing resourcesfrom their neighbours; who, being brave and hardy, could not beeasily either robbed or subdued. [end of page #27]

The Romans began with robbing, and finished with subduing them all, but the modes they practised deserve attention. 

It is in vain to think that superior bravery or skill would alone havedone the business; those are often triumphant, but occasionallydefeated. The Romans owed their gradual aggrandizement to a line ofconduct that, whether in good or ill fortune, tended to make them thesovereigns of the world. A line of conduct in which, if it had been inhuman nature to persevere, they would have preserved the situation towhich they had elevated themselves. 

Along with this decided conduct, which seems to have arisen fromsomething innate in themselves, or to have been occasioned by somecircumstance that is not known, the Romans possessed a number ofmethods, in addition to personal bravery, by which they advanced theend they had in view. 

When the kings were abolished, Rome was only a small, rude, irregular place, and a receptacle for plunder; inhabited, however, bymen who had great strength of mind, and who possessed a greatcommand over themselves. 

Their moral code was suitable to their situation. To rob, plunder, anddestroy an enemy was a merit; to betray a trust, or to defraud a fellowcitizen, was a crime of the greatest magnitude. With the Romans, oaths were inviolable; and attachment to the public was the greatestvirtue. 

As they had neither arts nor commerce, and but very little territory, plunder was their means of subsistence; it was to them a regularsource of wealth, and it was distributed with perfect impartiality; theywere in fact an association; the wealth of the public, and of theindividual, were, to a certain degree, the same; they were as anincorporated company, in which private interest conspired with thelove of their country to forward the general interest. 

Plundering and pillage, as well as the modes of dividing the spoil, were reduced to system and method; and the religious observation ofoaths was conducive to the success of both. Every soldier was sworn tobe faithful to his country, both in fighting its battles, and in givinga rigid account of whatever might be the fruits of the contest. [end ofpage #28]

The moveables and lands taken from an enemy were sold for thebenefit of the public; the former went wholly for that purpose, and thelatter were divided into two equal portions; one of which, like themoveables, went into the general stock, the other was distributed tothe poorer citizens, at the price of a small acknowledgement. 

The consequence of this system was, a perpetual state of warfare; inwhich it was clear that the armies must obtain a superiority overneighbours, who but occasionally employed themselves in acts ofhostility. 

From such a plan of operations it naturally followed that they musteither have been subdued altogether, or come off in general with someadvantage, otherwise it would have been impossible to proceed. Ofthis they seem to have been fully sensible; for, with them, it was amaxim never to conclude peace unless they were victorious, and neverto treat with an enemy on their own territory. 

Acting in this manner, and engaging in wars with different nations, unconnected with each other by treaties of alliance; without anycommon interest, or even any knowledge of each others =sic= affairs;ignorant, in general, even of what was going on, the Romans had, inmost cases, a great advantage over those with whom they had tocontend. 

There were in Italy some very warlike people, and those were nearestto Rome itself. The contest with those was long obstinate, andrepeatedly renewed; but still the system of conquest was followed; andat last prevailed. 

The consular government was favourable, also, for perpetual warfare. Those temporary chief magistrates did not enjoy their dignity longenough to become torpid or careless, but were interested indistinguishing themselves by the activity of their conduct while inoffice; whereas, in hereditary power, or elective monarchy, thepersonal feelings of the chief, which must have an influence upon theconduct of a nation, must sometimes, happily for mankind, lead him toseek peace and quietness. {27}

---{27} During the interruption of consular government, by thedecemvirs, though they did not reign long, the energy of the peoplewas suspended, and their enemies found them much less difficult toresist. -=-

[end of page #29]

Even when the Gauls burned the city, the Romans yielded noadvantages in treaty; they abandoned it to its fate, retired to Veii, andrenewed the war. 

In the art of war, the Romans had those advantages which mengenerally possess in whatever is the natural bent of their genius, andtheir constant occupation. Every thing that continual attention, experience, or example, could do to increase their success wasattended to; and their hardy manner of education and living, withconstant exercise, enabled them to practice =sic= what other men wereunable to perform. 

They accustomed themselves to heavier armour than any other nation. Their rate of marching was between four and five miles an hour, forfour or five hours together, loaded with a weight of above 60lb. Theirweapons for exercising were double the usual weight, and they wereinured to running and leaping when completely armed. 

The success of the Romans in Europe was not sufficiently rapid, norwere the nations they conquered sufficiently rich to bring on thatluxury and relaxation of discipline, which were the consequences inthose victories obtained in Egypt, Syria, and Greece; nor were thesoldiers the only persons inured to such exercises, for the Romancitizens practised the same at home, in the Campus Martius. 

No people educated with less hardiness of body, or a less firmattachment to their country, could have undergone, or would havesubmitted, to the terrible fatigues of a Roman soldier, which weresuch, that, even at a very late period of the republic, they were knownto ask as a favour to be conducted to battle, as a relief from thefatigues they were made to undergo in the camp. {28}

In addition to this unremitting and very severe discipline, and to theinventions of many weapons, machines, and stratagems, unknown toother nations, they had the great wisdom to examine very carefully, ifthey found an enemy enjoy any advantage, in what that advantageconsisted. If it arose from any fault of their own, it was rectified

---{28} This happened under Sylla, in the war against Mithridates, whichimmediately preceded the fall of the republic. -=-

[end of page #30]

without delay; and if it arose from any new mode of fighting, orsuperior weapons, they adopted methods with such promptitude thatthe advantage was only once in favour of the enemy. {29}

The Asiatic methods of fighting with elephants, though new, neverdisconcerted them twice. If they knew of any superior art that theycould imitate, it was done; and when the advantage arose from naturalcircumstances, and they could not themselves become masters of theart, they took other methods. Expert slingers from the BalearianIslands, and bowmen from Crete, were added to their legions; as, inmodern times, field-ordnance and riflemen are added to ours. 

It is impossible not to view with astonishment and admiration suchwise conduct in such haughty men, whose simple citizens treated thesovereigns of other nations as equals; but that greatness of mind had awell-founded cause. They knew that the physical powers of men arelimited, and that to obtain a victory with the greatest ease possible itwas necessary to join together all the advantages that could beobtained; they knew, also, that war is altogether a trial of force, and atrial of skill, and that neither of the contending parties can act by rule, but must be guided by circumstances and the conduct of the enemy. {30}

This conduct of the Romans in war was supported by the laws athome. The equal distribution of lands, their contempt for commerceand luxury, preserved the population of the country in that state wheregood soldiers are to be obtained. The wealthy, in any state, cannot benumerous; neither are they hardy to bear the fatigue. Their servants, and the idle, the indolent, and unprincipled persons they have aboutthem are totally unfit, and a wretched populace, degraded by want, orinured to ease and plenty are equally unfit. 

---{29} This conduct appears the more admirable to those who live in thepresent times that in the revolutionary war with the French, whoinvented a number of new methods of fighting, and had recourse tonew stratagems, the regular generals opposed to them never alteredtheir modes of warfare, but let themselves be beat in the most regularway possible. One single general (the Archduke Charles) did not thinkhimself above the circumstances of the case, and his success wasproportioned to his merit. 

{30} The copying the form and structure of a Carthaginian galley thatwas stranded. -=-

[end of page #31]

It has been a favourite opinion among many writers on politicaleconomy that artists and workmen are cowardly and unfit for soldiers;but experience does not warrant that conclusion; though it is certainthat, according to the manner the Romans carried on war, the bodilyfatigue was greater than men bred up promiscuously to trades ofdifferent sorts could in general undergo. 

So long as the Romans had enemies to contend with, from whom theyobtained little, the manners and laws, the mode of education, and thegovernment of their country, remained pure as at first. Their business, indeed, became more easy; for the terror of their name, theirinflexibility, and the superior means they had of bringing their powersinto action, all served to facilitate their conquests. But when theyconquered Carthage, and begun =sic= to taste the fruits of wealth, their ground-work altered by degrees, and the superstructure becameless solid. {31}

Wealth, as we have already seen, was confined to Asia and Africa, andof it the Carthaginians possessed a great share. It has long been theopinion adopted by writers on those subjects that the Carthaginians, asbeing a commercial and a trading nation, were quite an unequal matchfor the Romans; that in Rome all was virtue, public spirit, and everything that was great and noble, while at Carthage all was venal, vile, and selfish. A spirit of war and conquest reigned, say they, in oneplace together with a spirit of glory, in the other a spirit of gainpresided over private actions and public counsels. 

This is all very true, and very well said, with respect to the fact, butwith respect to the cause there is one of the greatest errors into whicha number of men of discernment and ability have ever fallen. {32}

The true state of the case is easily to be understood, if we only

---{31} It will be seen, in the subsequent part of this inquiry, that, in thepresent mode of warfare, the Romans would not have had equaladvantage. --Skill, and not personal strength, is now the great object, and money to purchase arms and ammunition is the next. 

{32} M. Montesquieu, notwithstanding his very superior knowledge, accuracy, and acuteness, enlarges upon this subject; and never takesany notice of the corrupt, mercenary, and degraded state into whichRome fell when it became as rich as Carthage. -=-

[end of page #32]

throw aside, for a moment, the favour for the brave warrior, and thedislike to the selfish trader. The fact was, that Rome, in the days of itsvigour, when it was poor, attacked Carthage in the days of its wealthand of its decline; but let us compare Carthage before its fall to Romein the time of the Gordians, of Maximus, or Gallus, and see which wasmost vile, most venal, or most cowardly. This would at least be a faircomparison; and nothing relative to the two cities is more certain, thanthat Rome became far more degraded, in the character both of citizensand soldiers, than ever Carthage was. 

Wealth procured by commerce, far from degrading a nation more thanwealth procured by conquest, does not degrade it near so much; andthe reason is easily understood. Whenever a commercial nationbecomes too corrupted and luxurious, its wealth vanishes, and the evilcorrects itself. Whereas, a country that lives by tribute received fromothers, may continue for a considerable while to enjoy its revenues. This is so evident, that it would be absurd to enlarge on the subject. 

The reduction of Carthage, and the wealth it produced at Rome, soonbrought on a change in the education, the nature, and the manner ofacting, both in private life and public concerns. The conquest ofGreece, Syria, and Egypt, completed the business; and the samepeople who had conquered every enemy, while they retained theirpoverty and simplicity, were themselves conquered, when theybecame rich and luxurious. . =sic=

After the fall of Carthage {33}, Rome was fundamentally changed;but the armies still continued to act. Their ambition was nowstrengthened by avarice, and became ten times more active anddangerous to other nations. They then carried on war in everydirection, and neither the riches of the East, nor the poverty of theNorth, could secure other nations from the joint effects of ambitionand avarice. 

But the Romans did not only get gold and wealth by their con-

---{33} Considering circumstances, it is wonderful that theCarthaginians made so excellent a stand against the Romans: for along time they were victorious; they fought excellently, even at thebattle of Zama. The Romans could not say so much for themselves, when afterwards they were attacked by the barbarians. -=-

[end of page #33]

quests; they became corrupted by adopting the manners of theinhabitants of countries that had long been drowned in everyvoluptuous pleasure. Then it was that they ceased to trust so much totheir bravery for their conquests; they began to employ politics andintrigue to divide their enemies. With the poorer states, they foundgold a very useful weapon, and, with the richer, they employedweapons of iron. 

The terror of the Roman name, the actual force that they could exertagainst a powerful enemy, and the facility with which a weak onecould be silenced, till a proper opportunity arrived for his destruction, were all calculated, and force and fraud were both called into action. 

Whatever truth or honour the Romans had amongst themselves, theyat least had none towards other nations. They, in the most wantonmanner, interfered in every quarrel between strangers; and, wheneverit suited their conveniency to make war, they begun without almostbeing at the pains to search for a pretext. They set themselves upabove all opinion, while, at the same time, they required all nations tosubmit to theirs. 

In a city where all great offices were elective, the evil effects of theintroduction of riches were soon displayed. The first great changeswere, that the people became corrupted, dependent, and degraded;fortunes became unequally divided; the provinces groaned under theheavy contributions of generals and proconsuls; and, at last, thecountry splitting into factions, the government was overturned. 

The splendour of Rome augmented, as a fiery meteor shines mostbright before it falls; but the means by which it obtained theascendency over other nations had long been at an end. 

The same laws that had been found excellent, when the state wassmall and poor, did not answer now that it had become great andsplendid. The freedom of the city, and the title and privileges of aRoman citizen had been very widely extended; they were thereforebecome an illusion, and a very dangerous one for the public weal; theyserved as a foundation for cabal and intrigue of every description. 

Towards the latter days, after all those internal causes of decline, which are common to other nations had rendered Rome feeble, several[end of page #34] external ones began to act. 

The provinces became exhausted, and those who ruled them graduallyretained more and more of the money. {34} Thus, while theoppression of the provinces was augmenting, the resources of the statewere daily on the decline. 

The first effect of conquests had been to free the people at home fromtaxes; and when, in a state of poverty and simplicity, the effect wasadvantageous and tended to preserve that spirit by which the Romanempire aggrandized itself. After wealth flowed in from the destructionof Carthage, donations and shews were in use. The Roman populace, idle and degraded, clamoured for corn and public games. It is almostas difficult to conceive the degree to which the character of the peoplewas degraded, as it is to give credit to the wealth and luxury of thegreat, in the latter days of the empire. 

Agriculture was neglected; and the masters of the world, who hadobtained every thing for which they contended, while they preservedtheir purity of manners, now became unable either to govern others, toprotect themselves, or even to provide food. Sicily and Africa suppliedthe Roman people with bread, long before the empire had becomefeeble, and even at the very time when it is reckoned to have been inits greatest splendour in the Augustan age. {35} The cause of itsdecline was fixed beyond the power of human nature to counteract: itbegan by unnerving the human character, and therefore its progresswas accelerated and became irresistible. 

Of all the nations, into which luxury is introduced, none feels itseffects

---{34} The detached facts related of the wealth of the governors ofprovinces, compared with the poverty of the state, are, if notincredible, at least, difficult to conceive. They are, however, too wellattested to admit of a doubt, though the details are not sufficientlycircumstantial to enable us to know exactly how they happened. 

{35} In the time of Augustus, the people depended on the suppliesfrom Sicily and Egypt, in so complete a manner, that, if those failed, there was no remedy; and, at one time, when there was only asufficient quantity of grain for twenty-four hours, that emperor wasdetermined to have put an end to his existence: but the supply arrivedin time. Such is the terrible situation into which a people is thrown, when agriculture and industry are abandoned, and when thepopulation becomes too great for the production of the country!! This, however, was a very recent change. Till some time after the conquestof Egypt, Greece, and Sicily, it could not have happened. -=-

[end of page #35]

so severely as one where it comes by conquest. A people ofconquerors, who are wealthy, must, at all events, be under militaryauthority, and that is never a desirable circumstance; depending alsoon revenues which come without the aid of industry, they mustbecome doubly degraded. 

With such a people, it would be fair to compare the Carthaginiansbefore their fall; for, to say nothing more than that the principle oftraffic and commerce is founded on morality and virtue, incomparison to that trade of pillage which robbed and ruined allnations; the physical situation of the Carthaginians was preferable tothat of the Romans in the days of their decline. This is evident, fromthe noble struggle that the former made, and the contemptible mannerin which the mistress of the world terminated her career. 

Montesquieu bewails the fate of a monarch, who is oppressed by aparty that prevails after his fall. His enemies are his historians; andthis reflection is employed in mitigation of the crimes imputed toTarquin; but, surely, if true, on that occasion, it is no less so withrespect to Carthage. All the historians that give us the character of thetwo nations were Romans and of the victorious party; yet most ofthem are more equitable than the historians of modern times, for theyhad not seen their own country in its last state of degradation andmisery. Those who now make the comparison have proper materials;and it is the business of the writers of history to free it from the errorsinto which cotemporary =sic= authors fall, whether from prejudice, orfrom want of knowing those events which happened after their days. 

In the case of the Roman historians, the error arose from acombination of three different causes. In the first place, they comparedRome in its healthy days and its vigour, to Carthage in its decline. --They were, next to that, led into an error, by not knowing that allcountries that have been long rich are liable to the same evils asCarthage. And, last of all, they wrote with a spirit of party, and aprediliction =sic= in favour of Rome. These three causes are certain;and, perhaps, there was another. It is possible they did not dare tospeak the truth, if they did know it. 

It is true, that the human mind is not proof against the effect pro-[endof page #36] duced by what is splendid and brilliant; and that successin all cases diminishes, and, in some, does away the reproach naturallyattached to criminality. It is also to be admitted, that in the Romancharacter there was a degree of courage and magnanimity thatcommands admiration, though the end to which it was applied was initself detestable. Even in individual life (moral principle apart) there issomething that diminishes the horror attendant on injustice andrapacity, when accompanied with courage and prodigality. 

It is no less true, that the manners of commercial men, though theirviews are legitimate and their means fair, are prejudicial to them in theopinion of others. Individuals, gaining money by commerce, maysometimes have the splendour and magnanimity of princes; butnations that depend only on commerce for wealth never can. Nonation, while it continues great or wealthy, can rid itself of thecharacteristic manners that attend the way in which it obtains itswealth and greatness. Merchants owe their wealth to a strict adherenceto their interest, and they cannot help shewing it. 

The cruelties of the Spaniards have not excited the detestation theydeserved, because they were accompanied with courage, and crownedwith success; and that nation found means, in the midst of the mosthorrible of human crimes, to preserve an appearance of greatness anddignity of character. But the Dutch, who have gained wealth, like theCarthaginians, and though they were conquerors, never quitted thecharacter of merchants, and they never possessed dignity of character, though they triumphed by virtue, perseverance, and bravery, over thatvery Spain which did preserve her dignity. 

It is much more difficult to reconcile the character of trading nationswith the qualities that are improperly called great, than that of anyother. A commercial nation naturally will be just; it may be generous;but it never can become extravagant and wasteful; neither can it beincumbered with the lazy and the idle; for the moment that either ofthese takes place, commerce flies to another habitation. {36}

---{36} It follows, from this, that a commercial people never become sodegraded as those who obtain wealth by other means; but, then, it alsofollows, that they exist a much shorter time after they become so, andthat wealth and power leave them much more speedily. -=-

[end of page #37]

The purpose of this inquiry being, to examine the effects of wealth, and its operation in the decline of nations; it appears to be ofconsiderable importance to remove the error, in which historians andother writers have so long persevered, relative to the two greatestrepublics of antiquity; particularly as their example applies the mostreadily, and is the most frequently applied to two rival nations ofmodern times; although the parallel is extremely imperfect in almostevery particular, and in some directly inadmissible. {37}

It cannot but be attended with some advantage to set this matter right. It may, perhaps, tend in some degree to prevent the French fromattempting to imitate the Romans, when we shew them that a state, whether a whole people, or a single city, exempted from taxes, andliving by the tribute of other countries, must, at all events, bedependent on its armies. In short, military government and tributaryrevenue are inseparable. We see how closely they were connected inancient Rome. It is fit that its imitators should know at what rate theypay (and in what coin) for those exemptions from taxes, occasioned bythe burthens imposed upon other nations. 

In general we find, that all nations are inclined to push to the extremethose means by which they have attained wealth or power; and it willalso be found that their ruin is thereby brought on with greaterrapidity. 

---{37} The reader must see the allusion is to England and France; but, inpoint of time, their situation is absolutely different. France isfarther advanced in luxury than England. Rome was far behind Carthage. The Romans exceeded their rivals in perseverance; in following up theirplans, and in attention to their liberty. The contrary is the case withFrance and England. 

The French, indeed, resemble the Romans in restlessness andambition; but not in their mode of exerting the former, or of gratifyingthe latter: the resemblance, therefore, is a very faint one, even where itdoes hold at all. The English, in whatever they may resemble theCarthaginians, such as they have been represented, neither do it intheir want of faith and honour, nor in their progress towards decline. The different wars with Rome, in which Carthage came off a loser andbecame tributary, though only for a limited time, were not the onlycauses of its decline. The trade of Alexandria, which was bettersituated for commerce, had diminished the resources of Carthage; sothat it was, in every sense of the word, a falling nation. It will be seen, in the subsequent part of this inquiry, how, from the different modesof making war and also the different effects of wealth in the presenttimes, the comparison is still less founded. -=-

[end of page #38]

Had the Romans stopped the career of conquest at an earlier period, they probably would not have so soon sunk into a state of corruption. It is very probable, that if Caesar had never attempted the uselessconquest of Britain, he never would have succeeded in conquering theliberties of his own country. The reputation of having conquered anisland, and the passage of the British Channel, made way for thepassage of the Rubicon, and the battle of Pharsalia. 

Conquerors must be paid as well as common soldiers: and thoughevery man may have his price, and money and dignities may be asufficient reward for the most part, there are some who despise anyreward under that of royal power. --Caesar was one of those men; andboth ancient and modern history shew, that though, perhaps, in hisabilities, he has had no equal, there have been others who have ratedtheirs at as high a price. 

The Romans at last became sensible, when too late, that they hadpushed the spirit of conquest too far; and, as they had something greatin all they did, they had the magnanimity to retract their error. 

The greatest extent of the Roman empire being from the north ofEngland to the Gulf of Persia, they consequently abandoned Britain, and those conquests in Asia, which were the most difficult to keep. The river Euphrates became the boundary, the Emperor Adrianhaving, in a voluntary manner, given up all the country to the north ofthat river, situated on its left bank. 

The decline of the empire might have been as regular as the rise of therepublic, had it not been for the different characters of the emperors;some of whom did honour to human nature, from their possessingalmost every virtue, while others were such monsters, that their crimesexcite the highest degree of horror and indignation, and are almostbeyond credibility. 

It is but justice to the Romans to observe, that though they robbed andconquered, yet their policy was to instruct, improve, and civilize thosewhom they had robbed and conquered, wherever they stood in want ofit. They aimed, in every case, at making the most of the circumstancesin which they were placed, and they very truly conceived, that it wasmore profitable and advantageous, to rule over a civilized than a rudepeople. [end of page #39]

After the great influx of wealth had corrupted Rome, its publicexpenses increased at an enormous rate, till at last that portion of thetribute exacted from the provinces, which it pleased the armies and thegenerals to remit to Rome, became unequal to the expenditure. Taxation of every kind then became necessary, in Italy itself, and theevils that attend the multiplication of imposts were greatly augmentedby the ignorant manner in which they were laid on, by men whounderstood little but military affairs, added to the severe manner inwhich were they =sic= levied by a rude, imperious, and debauchedsoldiery. 

The characters of soldier and citizen, which had been so long united, ceased to have any connection. Soon after this, the corruption ofmanners became general; and, at last, the Romans unable to findsoldiers amongst themselves, were obliged to retain barbarians to fightin their defence, {38} and to bribe the Persians, and other nations, toleave them in a state of tranquility. 

No nation that ever yet submitted to pay tribute, has long preserved itsindependence. The Romans knew this well; and if any one, having hadrecourse to that expedient, has escaped ruin, it has been from someother circumstance than its own exertion; or it has sometimes been theeffort of despair when pushed to extremity. 

Though, in many respects, Montesquieu's opinion of the affairs ofRome is by no means to be taken, yet his short account of the whole isunexceptionally just. 

"Take, " says that able and profound writer, "this compendium of theRoman history. The Romans subdued all nations by their maxims; but, when they had succeeded in doing so, they could no longer preservetheir republican form of government. It was necessary to change theplan, and maxims contrary to their first, being introduced, they weredivested of all their grandeur. "

This was literally the case; but then it is clear that this compendium, only includes the secondary causes, and their effects; for theperseverance in maxims till they had obtained their end, and thenchanging

---{38} This is exactly one of the charges brought against theCarthaginians in the last Punic war. -=-

[end of page #40]

them, which was not an act of the will, must have been occasioned bysome cause inherent in their situation, which had gradually changed. 

In searching for this cause we shall be very much assisted, and theconclusion will be rendered more certain, by observing in whatparticular circumstances, they resembled other nations who hadundergone a similar changes. =sic=

In doing this, we find the inquiry wonderfully abridged indeed, andthe conclusion reduced nearly to a mathematical certainty, byobserving that the change of maxims, that is to say, the change inways of thinking, whenever it has taken place, has followed soon afterthe introduction of wealth and refinement, which change manners, andconsequently maxims. 

Wealth, acquired by conquest, was incompatible with that austerevirtue and independent principle which form the basis of republicanprosperity. 

As all public employments were obtained by the favour of the people;and as all wealth and power were obtained by the channels of publicemployment; bribery and corruption, which cannot take place in apoor republic, became very common in this wealthy one; so that thisrepublican government, so constituted, lost all those advantages itpossessed while it was poor. 

Had the murderers of Julius Caesar, either understood the realcorruption of the commonwealth, or foreseen that a new master wouldrise up, they would never have destroyed that admirable man. HadRome not been ready to receive a master, Julius Caesar, with all hisambition, would never have grasped at the crown. 

In nations that obtain wealth by commerce, manufactures, or any othermeans than by conquests, the corruption of the state is not naturally sogreat. The wealth originates in the people, and not in the state; and, besides that they are more difficult to purchase, there is less means ofdoing so, and less inducement; neither can they, being the sources ofwealth themselves, become so idle and corrupted. {39}

---{39} The wild and ungovernable direction that the French revolutiontook originated chiefly in the creation of assignats, which not onlyexempted the people from taxes at first, but had the effect ofproducing an artificial and temporary degree of wealth, that [end ofpage #41] enabled vast numbers, either in the pay of others, or at theirown expense, to make cabals and politics their whole study. Romenever was in such a licentious state, because, before the citizens gotinto that situation, the military power was established. -=-

In the ancient nations that fell one after another, we have seen theyoung and vigorous subdue the more wealthy and luxurious; or wehave seen superior art and skill get the better of valour and ignorance;but, in the fall of the Roman empire, the art and skill were all on theside of those who fell, and the vigour of those who conquered was notso powerful an agent as the very low and degraded state into whichthe masters of the world had themselves fallen. 

It is by no means consistent with the plan of this work, nor is it anyway necessary for the inquiry, to enter into the particular details of thedegraded and miserable state to which the Romans were reduced;insomuch, that those who emigrated previously to its fall, and settledamongst barbarous nations, found themselves more happy than theyhad been, being freed from taxation and a variety of oppressions. 

Though the Roman people are, of all others, those whose rise and fallare the most distinctly known; yet, in some circumstances, their casedoes not apply to nations in general. Had they cultivated commerceand the arts, with the same success that they pursued conquest, theymust have become wealthy at a much earlier period, and they wouldnot have found themselves in possession of an almost boundlessempire, composed of different nations, subdued by force, andrequiring force to be preserved. 

The decline of nations, who become rich by means of industry, maybe natural; but, the fall of a nation, owing its greatness to thesubjugation of others, must be necessary. Human affairs are toocomplicated and varied to admit of perfect equality, and the relativesituations of mankind are always changing; yet, in some instances, perhaps, changes might be obviated, or protracted, by timelypreventives. But there is no possibility of keeping them long in sounnatural a situation, as that of a nation of wealthy and idle people, ruling over and keeping in subjection others who are more hardy, poorer, and more virtuous, than themselves. 

Before the western empire fell, the following causes of its weaknesswere arrived at a great height. [end of page #42]

Manners were corrupted to the highest degree; there was neitherpublic nor private virtue; intrigue, cabal, and money, did every thing. 

Property was all in the hands of a few; the great mass of the peoplewere wretchedly poor, mutinous, and idle. 

Italy was unable to supply its inhabitants with food. The lands were inthe possession of men, who, by rapacity in the provinces, had acquiredlarge incomes, and to whom cultivation was no object; the countrywas either laid out in pleasure grounds, or neglected. 

The revenues of the state were wasted on the soldiers; in shews tokeep the people occupied, and on the purchase of corn, brought toRome from a distance. 

The load of taxes was so great, that the Roman citizens envied thebarbarians, and thought they could not be worse than they were, should they fall under a foreign yoke. All attachment to their countrywas gone; and every motive to public spirit had entirely ceased tooperate. 

The old noble families, who alone preserved a sense of their ancientdignity, were neglected in times of quiet, and persecuted in times oftrouble. They still preserved an attachment to their country, but theyhad neither wealth, power, nor authority. 

The vile populace, having lost every species of military valour, wereunable to recruit the armies; the defence, against the provinces whichrebelled, was in the hands of foreign mercenaries; and Rome paidtribute to obtain peace from some of those she had insulted in the hourof her prosperity and insolence. 

Gold corrupted all the courts of justice; there were no laws for therich, who committed crimes with impunity; while the poor did thesame through want, wretchedness, and despair. 

In this miserable state of things, the poor, for the sake of protection, became a sort of partizans or retainers of the rich, whom they wereready to serve on all occasions: so that, except in a few forms, therewas no trace left of the institutions that had raised the Romans aboveall other nations. [end of page #43]

CHAP. V. 

_Of the Cities and Nations that rose to Wealth and Power in themiddle Ages, after the Fall of the Western Empire, and previously tothe Discovery of the Passage to the East Indies by the Cape of GoodHope, and of America. --Different Effects of Wealth on Nations in coldand in warm Climates, and of the Fall of the Eastern Empire_. 

After the fall of the western empire, the Italian states were the firstthat revived commerce in the west of Europe, which they may indeedbe said alone to have kept alive, with the single exception of the cityof Marseilles. 

Venice had begun to flourish when the barbarians took Rome; andFlorence afforded a refuge for those of the nobility who escaped fromtheir terrible grasp: but, for four centuries after, till the time ofCharlemagne, there was, indeed, nothing that had either the semblanceof power, wealth, or greatness, in Europe. The Saracens, as early asthe seventh century, had got possession of Egypt, and had extendedtheir ravages in Asia, to the borders of the Black Sea, having in vainendeavoured to take the city of Constantinople, and make themselvesmasters of the eastern empire, as their rivals, the Goths, had conqueredthat in the west. 

The momentary greatness which shone forth in the reign ofCharlemagne was, in many respects, like that during the reign ofAlexander the Great. The power of each depended on the individualcharacter of the man, and their empires, extended by their courage andskill, fell to pieces immediately after they were no more. 

As the only permanent change that Alexander had effected was that ofremoving the chief seat of commerce from Phoenicia to the southernborder of the Mediterranean Sea; so, the only permanent effect of thereign of Charles the Great was, his extending Christianity, and somedegree of civilization, to the north of the Danube; {40} thus bring-

---{40} The people to the north of the Danube had never been subduedby the Romans. In the time of Charlemagne they were Pagans, and ina most rude state of barbarism. -=-

[end of page #44]

ing the borders of the Baltic Sea within the limits of the civilizedworld. 

Charlemagne paved the way for the greatness of the Flemings, theSaxons, and the Hans Towns, which began to flourish a few centuriesafter his time; but his own country was never in a more abjectsituation than soon after his decease. 

The Danes took and burned the city of Paris, and they conquered, settled, and gave its name to the present country of Normandy. {41}

It would throw no light on the subject of the present inquiry to noticethe quarrels, the feuds, and revolutions, that took place during the darkages, and the reign of the feudal system, previously to the time of thecrusades; when a wild romantic spirit extended civilization a littlemore widely than before, and laid the foundation for a new order ofthings, and a new species of wealth and power, different from those ofthe ancient world, the extent of which was bounded by the fertileregions of the south. 

The first holy war took place in the eleventh century, and commerceand industry were introduced into the north of Europe very soon after. The Danes, who alone had power by sea in those times, exercised it bypiracies and seizing all merchant vessels; particularly such as passedthe Sound, from the Baltic to the North Sea. This rendered it necessaryfor the cities that had commerce to carry on to associate for the sake ofprotection, as the Arabian merchants had formerly done by land, anddo to this day, to prevent being robbed by those who live by huntingand depredation. 

This gave rise to the famous Hanseatic League, which began tobecome formidable towards the end of the twelfth century. {42}

As men living in northern countries have many wants unknown tothose of the south, so the industry that began on the borders of the

---{41} They were equally successful in England, but that country wasnot then to be considered as making any part of that world, with therevolutions of which this inquiry is connected. 

{42} There is a dispute relative to this: but, as no writers give it alater date, and some give it an earlier one, it is certain that it musthave existed at that time. Many disputes never ascertain the pointintended, yet clear up something else that is equally useful. -=-

[end of page #45]

Baltic was very different from that which had flourished in ancienttimes on those of the Mediterranean Sea. 

In this new order of things, Flanders, for its fertility, might becompared to Egypt, and Holland to Phoenicia, from its want ofterritory: but clothing of a more substantial sort, and conveniences andpleasures of a different nature being necessary, industry took adifferent turn. Besides this, the nature of the governments, where menwere more nearly upon an equality, made it necessary to provide fortheir wants in a very different way. 

Instead of building pyramids for the tombs of kings, industry wasemployed in procuring comfort for those who inhabited the country;and instead of the greatest art being employed on the fabrication offine linen, and dying of purple, making vessels of gold and silver, andevery thing for the use of courts, the art of making warm clothing ofwool, and of fishing and salting fish, occupied the attention of thisnew race of men. 

The Flemish had three sources of wealth at one time: they possessedthe depots of Indian produce, and dispersed it over the north ofEurope; they were the first who excelled in the art of weaving, and inthat of curing fish. 

The towns of Flanders and Brabant were associated in the HanseaticLeague, and continued rising from the twelfth to the middle of thesixteenth century, when several circumstances operated in bringing ontheir decline. 

The Hanseatic association was one arising from the circumstances ofthe times and from necessity. It was an artificial connection oralliance, where towns, subject to different governments, acted asindependent states, entering into a society which treated on a footingof equality with kings, and made war and peace like any singlesovereign. It was not to be expected that such a sort of alliance couldgreatly outlive the cause of its formation. But neither did thedestruction of the league or federation, of necessity, draw along with itthat of the towns of which it was composed. We shall see, however, that the general prosperity, and that of the individual members of theleague, disappeared for the most part nearly together. [end of page#46]

The Dutch were far inferior to the Flemings for natural advantages;but they acted under the influence of necessity, which spurred on theirindustry; and no nation ever shewed so well how powerful itsoperation is: so that, though they were at first behind the Flemings incommerce and manufactures, they got the better, and became morerich and powerful. While the persecution of Philip, who was King ofSpain, while his brother Ferdinand, Emperor of Germany, was at thehead of the Austrian dominions there, and was a dependant of theSpanish monarchs. 

--While the persecution of Philip, uniting the authority of thehereditary dominions of Austria with that of Spain, compelled manyof the most industrious artisans, of that portion of the Low Countriesthat has since been distinguished by the title of the AustrianNetherlands, to leave their country, the Dutch provinces were makingpreparations to throw off the yoke of Spain. 

[Transcriber's note: possible partly duplicated section, here reproducedas-is from the original. ]

Not only did the Dutch become more wealthy than their neighbours, but they became also more tenacious of their liberty, more patrioticand free; for the situation of their country required economy, union, and patriotic exertion, even for the preservation of its existence. 

After Holland had already made considerable advances towardswealth, it obtained great superiority by a fortunate improvement onthe art of curing herrings. Though herrings had been barrelled forexportation, for more than two hundred years, it was only towards theend of the fourteenth, or beginning of the fifteenth century, that thepresent method of curing them was invented by the Dutch, which gavethem a decided superiority in that article. {43} This prepared the wayfor the downfal =sic= of Flanders; to which its pride, and the mutinousspirit of the manufacturers in the towns did not a little contribute. 

The decline of the Austrian Low Countries was brought on entirely bythree causes; the oppression of the government, the Dutch excellingand supplanting them in arts and industry, and their own pride andinsolence. At one time, Bruges, at another time, Antwerp, took onthem to act as sovereigns, and as if independent, while, at the sametime, the people were almost constantly disobedient to theirmagistrates. They had first become industrious under the influence of

---{43} It was discovered in 1397, or soon after. -=-

[end of page #47]

necessity; but that was gone, and they could not continue in the samecourse, when in full enjoyment of wealth, and of every thing theywanted. 

The Hanseatic Towns, from at first merely defending their tradeagainst the Danes, became their conquerors at sea, and, in the years1361 and 1369, they took and burnt Copenhagen, the capital, twice. Crowned heads became desirous of their alliance, and no power, atsea, was equal to oppose them; but their insolence to the Dutch, theiroppressions of the English, of Spain, and other powers, laid thefoundation for their decline in less than half a century afterwards. {44}

As the first three centuries of this extraordinary and unexampledassociation, were employed in protecting commerce and protectingtrade, all those concerned in its success were ambitious of beingadmitted members, or received as friends: but when they began toassume the pride and dignity of sovereigns, and to meddle in politicalquarrels, to become irascible and unjust, their numbers diminished;and of those members that remained, the wealth and prosperitygradually began to fall. 

The Dutch, by great industry, by a strict attention to their interest, andby keeping down pride, continued to increase in wealth, while theHans Towns and Flanders were considerably advanced in theirdecline. 

While this was happening on the northern shores of the continent ofEurope; to which and to Italy trade had been nearly confined, Spainand Portugal, France and England, began to see the advantages ofmanufactures and commerce, and to encourage them. If money waswanted to be borrowed, it was either in Italy or Flanders, or in some ofthe Hans Towns, that it could alone be found; so, that though themonarchs of those days rather despised commerce, yet, as a meansmerely of procuring what they found so indispensably necessary, theybegan to think of encouraging it. 

Spain had taken possession of the Canary Islands, and Portugal hadmade conquests on the coast of Africa, and seized the island of

---{44} In 1411 they were compelled, by Henry IV. Of England, to givehim satisfaction for some of the injuries done. -=-

[end of page #48]

Madeira in the early part of the fifteenth century, and by an attentionto naval affairs, and setting a value on possessions beyond seas, laid afoundation for those new discoveries which have totally changed theface of the world. 

In Europe then, at the end of the fifteenth century, the nations werenearly in the following state. The Italians, possessed of the wholetrade to India, were wealthy but feeble. They had more art, policy, andmoney, than other nations; but they had of themselves scarcely anyeffective power, except a little exercised by the Venetians andGenoese at sea. 

The Hanse Towns, extending over the northern part of Europe andFlanders, which had become wealthy and powerful by their ownindustry, and a participation of the trade to India with the Italians, (though at second hand, ) were on the decline, through pride andluxury. 

Holland alone was advancing fast towards wealth, by industry, and anattention to commerce and economy. Spain and Portugal had turnedtheir attention to new discoveries; and France and England wereendeavouring to follow, though at a great distance, those who, in thiscareer, had gone before them. 

Of the places that enjoyed wealth, all were declining in power fromthe abuse of it; and Spain, which alone had possessed much powerwithout wealth, was abusing it, by banishing industry from Flanders, and the Moors from their own country. In one case, there was wealthwithout power; in the other, there was power without wealth; and, inboth, mistaken views and unwise conduct had laid the foundation fordecline. 

The other nations that had not yet either wealth or power were allseeking with great energy to acquire them; and they were successful intheir attempts. Even Spain, which had unwisely banished the Moors, and thereby laid a foundation for its own decline and fall, found thatevent retarded for a century, by a most unexpected discovery: inconsequence of which discovery it fell from a greater height at a laterperiod. {45}

---{45} It would not be to the purpose to speak at present either ofPoland, Sweden, or Russia, or of the German empire, in which manyof the Hanse Towns were situated. [end of page #49] The history ofthe Hanse Towns is very curious, and well worth attention: perhaps, nextto that of Rome, it is the best calculated to illustrate the subject ofthis inquiry; but it is too long to be entered on. -=-

As for the eastern empire; held up by a participation of the commerceof India, and retaining still some of the civilization of the ancientworld, it had sustained the irregular, though fierce attacks of thebarbarians till the middle of this century; when, having veryimprudently made a display of the riches of the city, and the beauty ofthe women, the envy of the Mahomedan barbarians was raised to apitch of frenzy, that it would, in any situation, have been difficult toresist, but for which the enervated emperors of the east were totallyunequal. 

This added one instance more of a poor triumphing over an enervatedand rich people. Nothing could exceed the poverty of the Turks, unless it was the ugliness of their women. But the case was not thesame here as when the Goths and Vandals, from violence and revenge, attacked Rome merely to plunder and destroy. The Turks were, comparatively, from a southern climate themselves; though poor, theyhad been living amongst the wreck of ancient greatness, and theyconquered with an intention to occupy and enjoy. 

Thus was extinguished the last remains of ancient grandeur, in themiddle of the fifteenth century. About fifty years before, many newsources of wealth were discovered, and the old ones were entirelyconverted into a channel that was new also. Thus, those who had, from the earliest ages, been in possession of wealth were preparing theway for enriching poor nations, that, from their geographical situationand other circumstances, never could otherwise have participated in it. [end of page #50]

CHAP. VI. 

_Digression concerning the Commerce with India. --This the only onethat raised ancient Nations to Wealth. --Its continual Variations. --The Envy it excited, and Revolutions it produced_. 

Before there are any authentic records, Syria and Egypt werepopulous; and the monarchs that ruled in those extensive countries hadestablished their governments upon the plan that has more or less beenadopted by all countries. There were different ranks of people. Thesame offices did not fall indifferently upon all. Wealth was unequallydivided; and, of course, a foundation was laid for that commercewhich consists in supplying the affluent with articles of taste andluxury, which are only produced in some countries; whereas, articlesof necessity are produced in every country that is inhabited. 

Commerce appears at first to have been entirely confined to theproductions of the eastern and middle parts of Asia, which have, fromthe earliest periods, been sought after with great avidity by the peopleof other countries. 

All that is most grateful to the taste, the eye, or the smell, is found inpeculiar excellence in India. It is not to be wondered at then, if suchobjects of the desires of men were an abundant source of riches tothose nations who had the means of obtaining them. 

Egypt and Syria lay immediately in the road for this commerce. Theywere rivals, and many contests and vicissitudes were the consequence:for no commerce has ever created so much envy and jealousy. Nonehas ever raised those who carried it on so high, or, on forsaking them, left them so low, as that which has been carried on with India. 

Though at a very early period Egypt had a share of this lucrativecommerce, yet the greatest part was carried on through Syria andArabia, between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea; that partnow called the Levant, where Tyre and Sidon once stood. [end of page#51]

We shall examine briefly the changes of this commerce; the only onealmost existing, in early times, or at least which gave rise to nearly allthat did exist. {46}

As the common necessaries of life are found in greater or lessabundance in every country, and as the population is in some degreeregulated by their quantity, they made no objects of trade, except inthe cases of famine. The precious metals, spices, jewels, andaromatics, rare in their production, universally desirable and easilytransported, were long the chief objects of commerce; and the changeswhich this commerce has undergone and produced, amongst thosewho possessed it, greatly elucidate the subject of this inquiry. 

The distance from Babylon to the Persian gulf, down the Euphrates, towhere Bussora now stands, was not great, and across the country toTyre there was little interruption; the Assyrian empire extending to thesea-coast, and its monarchs being too powerful to have any thing tofear. 

There was, however, at a very early period, another channel, by whichthe Tyrians obtained the productions of the East, namely, by sailing upthe Red Sea, or Arabian Gulf, and across Arabia Petrea toRhinocolura. {47}

The Egyptians, at that time, obtained the same sorts of merchandize, by sailing likewise up the Red Sea, and landing at the westernextremity; from whence they were distributed through Lower Egypt. 

Commerce was carried on in this manner, and was nearly allengrossed by Tyre, when Alexander the Great, bred up under hisfather, who had been educated at Athens, and travelled throughGreece, ---{46} To carry on trade, capital is necessary; that is to say, there mustbe some means of getting an article before it can be carried away andsold. Spices, precious stones, and the other produce of the East, costlittle or almost nothing amongst those who had more than they coulduse; and, as they produced an immense profit to merchants, they laid afoundation for those capitals that afterwards were employed in othersorts of business. 

{47} Rhinocolura was merely a sort of sea port for embarking themerchandizes that had been brought across the desert from the RedSea, It was situated at the south-east extremity or corner of theMediterranean Sea, and till Alexandria was built was the nearest portto the Red Sea. -=-

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turned his arms against those countries in which there was the most tobe got by conquest, and from whom there was the least danger ofdefeat. 

Before this took place, the pride and insolence of the inhabitants ofTyre and Sidon had displayed itself on more than one occasion. Afterhaving been on friendly terms with the Jews, under David andSolomon, they became their enemies, and excited the King of Babylonto take Jerusalem; by that means destroying a neighbouring anddangerous rival. The wealth of these two cities had afterwards inducedthe Babylonians to attack them also. Sidon was taken and destroyed;and that part of the city of Tyre fell, which was upon the main land;but the Tyre that was the place of real trade, escaped the rage of theAssyrian monarchs. 

Alexander seems to have determined on destroying Tyre, in order tofound Alexandria, which he placed indeed in a better situation for theeastern trade. His romantic expedition to India had in view the gettingpossession of the countries which had produced those gems andaromatics that were so much sought after in the other parts of theworld. 

Had Alexander lived, perhaps he would not have found it in hisinterest to depress Syria; but the division of his conquests amongst hisgenerals gave to Egypt and Syria two different masters. They wererivals, and then every advantage that nature gave to Alexandria wasimproved to the highest pitch under the Ptolemys. 

The river Nile, much more navigable than the Euphrates, was alsobetter adapted for this trade, because, in coming from India, it wasnecessary to ascend the latter, while the other was descended. Besidesthis, the flat country of the Delta was cut into canals, which greatlyfacilitated this channel of commerce. {48}

This was the first great revolution in eastern commerce. It was broughton first by the envy of Alexander and the pride of the in-

---{48} It does not appear what returns were made to the Indians fortheir produce, therefore it must have been money. The trade thenconsisted in bringing from thence goods, comparatively weighty, andreturning, as it were, empty. The current of the rivers being indifferent directions was then an object of importance. -=-

[end of page #53]

habitants of Tyre, and gave a very great superiority to Egypt, whichwas increased by the canals dug in that country, and the discovery ofthe regular monsoon, (a periodical wind, ) which, at a certain time ofthe year, carried navigators straight from the mouth of the Red Sea tothe Malabar coast. {49}

Under these disadvantages, flowing from superior prerogatives ofEgypt, the commerce of Syria fell off almost to nothing, till, byanother of those changes to which this commerce seems peculiarlyliable, the Roman empire, which had swallowed up the whole of thecivilized world, was itself divided into two, and one of the capitalsfixed at Constantinople. 

The channel through Syria obtained then a preference for all theeastern part of the empire; and owing to some change, either in thepolitics or religion of the Persians, when conquered by the Parthians, they became willing to permit them the navigation of the Euphrates, which had long been shut up. 

This continued to be the state of matters, particularly after the fall ofthe western empire, when barbarians got possession of all that part ofEurope that used to be supplied with East India produce by the way ofAlexandria. It continued till the middle of the seventh century of theChristian aera, when the Mahometan religion was established from thewesternmost part of Africa to the confines of the Chinese empire; andas the followers of that religion were unfriendly to commerce, andnone could be carried on with India that did not pass through theircountry, it was nearly annihilated, and was almost wholly confined tothe caravans of pilgrims, who, going to visit Jerusalem and Mecca, under the cloak of religious zeal, exchanged the various articles oftraffic which they had collected in their different countries and ontheir journey. 

---{49} This passage, from the straits of Babelmandel to the point of thepeninsula of India, saved a very long and dangerous navigation by thecoast. It is almost due east, and with the advantage of being muchshorter, and having a fair wind, was next to the discovery of thepassage of the Cape of Good Hope, the greatest discovery forshortening the route to India. This was discovered during the time thatEgypt was a Roman province. -=-

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Such were the vicissitudes, changes, and variations of this commercein early periods, and during the middle ages; and, when we come totreat of the same within the last two centuries, we shall find it equallyliable to alteration. 

Of all the spots on the face of the earth that have undergone revolutionand ruin, they that are now the most completely sunk below theirnatural level, are those which were formerly the highest above it. 

We have left uninterrupted the detail of the commercial greatness ofthose places, in order not to break the narrative; but as cities cannot begreat without connection, it is necessary to notice, that Marseilles inFrance, and Carthagena, and some other places on the coast of Spain, were those, by which eastern luxuries came into Europe fromAlexandria and Tyre. The Carthaginians, a Tyrian colony, had theproduce from Tyre, and from Rhinocolura, and supplied Spain and thewestern portion of Africa; but when Alexandria arose, Carthage beganto fall. Alexandria, situated near to it on the same coast, was a rival, not a friend, as Tyre had been, and the first Punic war, in which thepride of that republic had involved it with Rome, following soon after, hastened its decline. {50}

The nations of Greece, which had risen to power and wealth, owedthese more to their superiority in mind, in learning, and the fine arts, than to any attention they ever paid to commerce; they had begun bybeing the most barbarous of all the people in that part of the globe, and got their first knowledge from the Egyptians, whom they longconsidered as their superiors in science, as the Romans afterwards didthe Greeks; but when the barbarians broke down the western empire, learning as well as commerce was very soon extinguished. 

It was the share of Indian commerce, settled at Constantinople, thattended more than any other circumstance to preserve that empire solong. To that, and to the barbarians having other occupation, rather

---{50} Marseilles was founded soon after the city of Rome, but it was agovernment of itself, and made no part of ancient Gaul. The Gaulswere warlike barbarians. The inhabitants of Marseilles were polished, like the inhabitants of other towns that enjoyed commercial wealth. They were always allies, and steady friends to the Romans, whomthey never abandoned. -=-

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than to any intrinsic strength of its own, did the eastern empire owe itslong preservation. 

A new channel for this varying commerce of the East, was opened, ascivilization extended to the north of Europe, and this chiefly onaccount of the very small supply that was obtained through theMahomedan countries. 

Goods were transported by land from Hindostan and China, toEsterhabad, situated on the south-east corner of the Caspian Sea; fromwhence they were carried in vessels to the north-east corner of thesame sea, and from thence by the Wolga and the Don; two riverswhich rise in Russia, and, after nearly meeting together, fall into theCaspian Sea, and the Black Sea. By ascending the Wolga a shortdistance, and descending the Don, with only a few miles of land-carriage, the produce of India arrived at the Black Sea, andConstantinople became the emporium of the Indian trade. This was agreat stroke to Venice and Genoa, {51} which rivalled each other inbringing the Asiatic commodities, for the supply of Europe, throughthe old channels. This jealousy of each other, and of Constantinople, was at its height when the crusades carried most of the princes andnobles of Europe to Venice and Constantinople. The Venetians, merely a mercantile people, with little territory or power, neither gavenor received umbrage from those warlike chiefs; but it was not so withConstantinople, the seat of a great empire; so that the crusaders andVenetians united against that power, and the eastern emperors werecompelled to divide their city into four parts: the sovereignty of onepart fell to the lot of the Venetians, who, for more than half a century, had by this means a decided superiority over both its rivals, andengrossed nearly the whole commerce of the East. The Genoese andGreek emperors now found

--{51} In the chart which I have given, Venice and Genoa are puttogether, as if one, though they were rivals, and the prosperity of theone injured the other; but as nearly situated the same, and neitherbeing considered as a nation, but merely as an abode of commerce, Idid not think it necessary to distinguish them in the general historymore than the variations that take place between the different cities ofthe same country. If, however, I should do the chart on a large scale, Ishould certainly separate them, and shew their rises and falls minutely. -=-

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it their interest to unite against Venice, and the Genoese, bysupporting their ally with money, expelled the Venetians fromConstantinople. The imperial family was reinstated, and the Genoesehad the suburbs of Pera as a reward for their assistance. This quarterof the city the Genoese fortified, and the Venetians were compelled toreturn to their old channels by Egypt and Syria. {52}

During those contests, Florence arose, and became a rival both toVenice and Genoa; and some degree of civilization, or, at least, a tastefor the luxuries and produce of the East was brought into the north ofEurope by those who returned from the crusades. The consumption ofAsiatic produce in the North, occasioned depots to be established, andBruges and Antwerp became to the north, what Venice and Genoawere to the south of Europe. The Hans Towns rose to wealth andopulence just about that period; but the effects of wealth acquired bycommerce in the north were found to be different from what they hadbeen in southern climates. Italy was going to decay, while three of itscities were increasing in splendour; but, in the north, the richesacquired by the cities set industry at work: manufactures wereimproved, and affluence and the comforts of life became moregenerally diffused than they had ever before been, or than they are inthe southern countries even at the present day. 

While Constantinople was thus rivalling the cities of Italy, a newrevolution took place there, which overturned the Greek empire, andestablished that of the Ottomans. 

When Mahomet II. Mounted the throne, the Genoese were expelledfrom Pera, {53} and Venice regained the preponderance in eastern

---{52} The depot of India commerce being in the Crimea, which is nearthe mouth of the Wolga, is a strong reason for believing the trade wascarried on through the Caspian Sea; but it has been asserted, that thechief route was directly by land from the Tigris to the Black Sea. Thisseems a very good way; but, in that case, why cross the Black Sea togo to the Crimea? Any one who looks at the map will be able to judgethat as being very unlikely. Doctor Robertson, however, has taken nonotice of this difficulty. Two things are certain: that the depot was inthe Crimea, and that merchants never go out of their road withouthaving some cause for doing it. The reader must then determine forhimself. 

{53} Before the Genoese were expelled, their insolence and avaricehad time to display themselves in their full extent; about the yearthirteen hundred and forty, says an eye-witness, [end of page #57](Nicepho[r/i]as [illeg. ] Gregoras, ) they dreamed that they had acquiredthe dominion of the sea, and claimed an exclusive right to the trade ofthe Euxine, prohibiting the Greeks to sail to the Chersonesus, or anypart beyond the mouth of the Danube, without a licence from them. The Venetians were not excepted, and the arrogance of the Genoesewent so far as to form a scheme for imposing a toll on every vesselpassing through the Bosphorous. -=-

commerce, which she maintained, till the discovery of the passage bythe Cape of Good Hope, which opened a new channel, more certain, much less expensive, and not so liable to interruption from therevolutions that nations are liable to. It is deserving of observation, that whatever alterations took place in the channel through which theIndia trade was carried on, whatever were the vicissitudes or thedifficulties, the trade itself never was suspended; so great was thepropensity of those who were affluent in the West, to enjoy theproductions of the East. {54}

The vicissitudes of this eastern commerce were thus very great informer times. The wealth and arrogance which the possession of itproduced, and the envy it excited, may, in general, be ascribed as thecause; indeed it is not certain whether the envy of the Genoese, at thesuccess of the Venetians, did not make them, in an underhand manner, favour those attempts to find out a new channel which might destroythe prosperity of a haughty and successful rival. {55}

Whether it was so or not, it is certain that the discovery of the passageby the Cape of Good Hope was not accidental; but that the Portuguesewere induced to listen to the proposal of trading to India by that route, under the certainty of rivalling the greatest commercial city of theworld, if she should succeed. 

Though no new channel can now be expected, and the present one isevery day becoming more easy and frequented, yet the capriciousshiftings of the India trade were not ended by this new discovery. 

Instead of the contest being, as formerly, between cities situated on

---{54} The prices of Asiatic produce were exorbitant. Silk was sold forits weight in gold; and a Roman emperor refused his empress theluxury, or rather the splendour, of a silk gown. 

{55} Amongst the passions that get hold of rivals in commerce, that ofenvy is so great, when avarice is defeated, that, to humble a successfulrival, they will meet ruin themselves, without fear, and even withsatisfaction. -=-

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the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, those maritime powers whonavigated the main ocean became the contending parties. 

There are only two ways by which wealth is accumulated and broughtinto few hands; the one by compulsion and levying taxes, the other byproducing or procuring objects of desire; for a small quantity ofwhich, people give up a great portion of their labour. 

Sovereigns have amassed wealth and possessed revenue by the firstmeans, and the use they have put it to has been magnificence inbuilding, or in great or useful works, for war, or for pleasure. 

The wealth obtained by the other means, of which the trade to the Eastseems to have been the chief, produced a different effect. In Italy itoccasioned the invention of bills of exchange, and gaveencouragement to the fine arts, and to some manufactures. In the northof Europe it infused a general spirit for trade and manufactures; for theluxuries of the East only served to teach the people of the north thenecessity of acquiring comfort by manufacturing the produce of theirown country. 

To improve the arts of weaving, to make woollen and linen cloths of afiner texture, was very natural, after having seen the silks and muslinsthat came from India; particularly to people living in a cold climate, where a more substantial covering was wanted, and where thematerials were in abundance. 

It was, accordingly, in Flanders, and the adjacent country, that themodern spirit of manufactures rose up, nourished by the wealth whichthe ancient commerce of India had produced. 

In the early ages, when the Tyrians had this trade, they amassed greatwealth, though they had not any large countries to supply; for, probably, neither Egypt nor the eastern part of Syria would receive theproduce by so circuitous a road. But, during the first ages, sacrifices tothe gods and the funeral ceremonies consumed vast quantities ofaromatics of every sort, as well as the enjoyments of the living. Thetwo former causes of request for aromatics have long been at an end, owing to the changes in religion. They are now neither burned on thealtar nor at the grave; and custom and taste, which are to a certain [endof page #59] degree variable and arbitrary, have lessened theconsumption of some, and others have been supplied by the progressthat we have ourselves made in manufactures. {56}

While this diminution of consumption took place, the western worldwas advancing in civilization, and the progress of wealth becamevastly more extended; so that if the consumers of eastern luxurieswere less profuse in the use of them, they were, at the same time, greatly increased in number. 

The taste for tea, alone, which was introduced not much above acentury ago, has alone, overbalanced all the others, and it is stillaugmenting in Europe; besides the discovery of a new quarter of theworld rapidly increasing in population, into which the custom ofdrinking tea, as in Britain, has been introduced also. 

The reasonable price at which an article can be afforded, alwaysaugments the consumption: and though we have no criterion to go byin judging of the prices in former times, yet it is certain they musthave been very great. At the time when silk was sold for its weight ingold, that metal was compared with common labour of six times thevalue that it is now; silk was, then, at least three hundred times as dearas it is now; indeed, even that extravagant price scarcely accounts forthe parsimony of the Roman emperor, who refused his wife a robe ofthat rich material. {57}

Though new discoveries have robbed Egypt and Syria for ever of thecommerce of the East; and though the loss of trade was the proximatecause of the degradation, yet both countries had long been desolateand

---{56} Wrought silks, muslins, and porcelains. Cotton stuffs are now nolonger bought as formerly, so that, except in porcelain, the rawmaterial is the only object of commerce. The silk worm wasintroduced into Italy during the time that the intercourse with the Eastwas very difficult, and therefore had not the increase of wealth, and ataste for new articles extended the demand and brought a new one, thetrade would at last have been nearly done away. 

{57} The carriage is 24 L. A ton backwards and forwards, or out andhome, which is only equal to what is paid in England by land for 500miles. Indeed, none but articles of a very great value and high pricecould pay for the carriage by any of the channels hitherto discoveredbut that of the Cape. -=-

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degraded before this change happened; for though the commerce camethrough their countries, the riches it produced centred in Italy. Syriahad long become a desert, and the ruined palaces were become thehabitations of scorpions, reptiles, and beasts of prey, long before thosediscoveries which seemed to have sealed their doom. That discoveryonly completed what had long been begun, and rendered permanentand irrevocable what might otherwise have been altered. {58}

At the rate at which this trade now goes on to increase, all the goldand silver mines in the West, will soon be insufficient to affordenough of the precious metals to pay for produce from that country:for few European manufactures are taken in return. This is laying afoundation for a great revolution, either in manners or in nations atsome future day. 

It is extraordinary that, from the earliest ages, the inhabitants of Indiahave been receiving gold and silver from all other countries, and yet, that those metals are not so abundant there as with European nations. As our demand for the produce of the mines increases in order to sendremittances in specie to that country, the mines themselves diminish intheir produce, so that whatever change this may bring on, can be at novery great distance. {59}

---{58} What Dr. Robertson says of Palmyra may be applied nearly to allthe cities in Asia and Africa that shared in this commerce. "Palmyra, after the conquest by Aurelian never revived. " At present, a fewmiserable huts of beggarly Arabs are scattered in the courts of itsstately temples, or deform its elegant porticoes, and exhibit ahumiliating contrast to its ancient magnificence. 

{59} If the taste of the Anglo Americans for tea continues, allowingone pound to each person in the year, which is very little, one hundredmillions of pounds weight will be annually wanted in less than half acentury. -=-

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CHAP. VII. 

_Of the Causes that brought on the Decline of the Nations that hadflourished in the middle Ages, and of Portugal, Spain, Holland, andthe Hans Towns_. 

The trade with India, which had been almost the only one, andalways an occasion for envy and contest, was sought for by theSpaniards and the Portuguese; who, as we have seen, were the firstamongst modern nations that seemed to aspire at naval discovery. 

The manner in which Spain discovered America; and Portugal, thepassage by the Cape of Good Hope, both nearly at the same period, and at the beginning of the sixteenth century, is too well known torequire the smallest detail. 

Europeans, with the superior degree of knowledge they possessed, andparticularly that of the use of fire-arms: incited also by the love ofgold; and careless of keeping their word with the unsuspectingnatives, soon triumphed wherever they went, and the consequencewas, that both nations brought home immense riches. The trade ofVenice, Alexandria, and Aleppo, was all transferred to Lisbon, {60}and never was so small a country so suddenly enriched; and it may beadded, more quickly deprived afterwards of the chief source of itswealth. 

The Dutch had triumphed over the power of Spain, on their own soil, and they soon rivalled that of Portugal in the East. It was a verydifferent thing to combat the natives, and to fight with the Dutch, whovery soon deprived Portugal of the rich means of wealth she haddiscovered in India. 

The prosperity of Portugal, arising from its possession =sic= in theEast, continued at its height exactly a century. Its decline is accountedfor by the following causes. 

---{60} Lisbon had its depot for the north of Europe, at Antwerp, and thevalue of the consignments have been estimated at a million of crowns, annually; but this is, probably, an exaggeration. -=-

[end of page #62]

Its domineering principles, too great an extent of conquests, whichwere widely scattered, and the haughtiness of the Portuguese, bothtowards the natives and Europeans; the envy and rivalship whichbrought the Dutch into the same countries; a great want of attentionand energy; and, lastly, giving a preference to the trade to the Brazils. The Brazils had been first discovered by the Portuguese, afterwardsseized upon by the Dutch, whom they, however, expelled about themiddle of the sixteenth century; that is, about fifty years after its firstdiscovery, and an equal period of time previous to the decline of theirtrade in India. 

The possession of the whole of this lucrative trade, that had enrichedso many great nations, and that by so easy a channel, and withoutalmost any contest, for nearly a whole century, had so enriched thesmall kingdom of Portugal, that after being too eager, and grasping attoo much, it was almost ready to resign the whole without a struggle, had it not been for some reasons of another sort. {61} So immensewas the influx of wealth, from the united sources of India and theBrazils, that the former, which has been at every other period theobject of ambition of all nations, and is so still, was considered asscarcely worth retaining. 

It is almost unnecessary to add, that from that moment Portugal hasbeen on the decline. If ever the cup of prosperity ran over, in largestreams, it was then; and when the possession of the trade to India wasscarcely thought worth preserving, it is clear that no great effortscould be made to encourage internal industry. 

Spain, extensive and powerful before it discovered the Indies, did notso immediately feel the effects of the wealth imported, as thePortuguese had done; but its prosperity was of less duration, thoughthe decline was not quite so rapid. 

The Dutch must have known the effects of wealth on a nation, else

---{61} It was debated in council, at Lisbon, whether it would be worthwhile to keep India, the wealth from the Brazils was so much moreeasily obtained. A scruple of conscience, least =sic= the missionariesshould be destroyed, turned the scale in favour of retaining the tradeof India!!-=-

[end of page #63]

they would scarcely have tried to throw off the yoke of Spain, at thevery moment when it appeared in its greatest splendour and power. {62}

Insolence and pride, we have too often had occasion to remark, accompany wealth; and Philip was no more proof against its effects, than those potentates who had gone before him. --There was a greatresemblance between the project of invading England, with theinvincible armada, as it was called, and the attack on Greece by theKing of Persia. That monarch must have thought very meanly ofEngland, to suppose that the island could be conquered by 30, 000men, even if they could have made good their landing. Indeed, to trysuch an experiment on a nation that had supported its claim to valourso well at Agincourt and Cressy, and which was not, in any respect, degenerated, manifests his being blinded by the effects of wealth andgreatness. 

The consequence was, a gradual decline of the affairs of his kingdom;so that, in little less than a century, England placed a king on thethrone of Spain. 

Though the effect produced on Spain was not so rapid as on Portugal, it was, in some respects, more irretrievable. The vast numbers ofpersons who quitted that country, in quest of gold, injured itspopulation, already reduced by the expulsion of the Moors, who werethe most industrious of its inhabitants. 

The wealth that came to Spain, came in a very unequal distribution, which is a considerable disadvantage, and hastens on that state ofthings which is the natural forerunner of the decay of a nation. Wealth, arising by commerce, however great its quantity, must be distributedwith some degree of equality; but the great adventurers in the goldmines only shared with their sovereign, and the whole of their wealthcame in prodigious quantities, pouring in upon the country. {63}

---{62} Though the Dutch were subject to Spain, yet that had notprevented them from acting in an independent manner in their modesof following trade and commerce. 

{63} We see an example of this in our own trade to India. Captains ofships, merchants, and all those who get money by that trade, comehome with moderate fortunes; but the governors, and civil andmilitary officers, who have been settled in the country, come homewith princely fortunes, and eclipse the old nobility of the country. -=-

[end of page #64]

Both Spain and Portugal, finding that wealth came with such easefrom India and America, neglected industry. This, indeed, was a verynatural consequence; and, when the sources of their riches began todry up, they found, though too late, that instead of having increased inwealth, they had only been enriching more industrious nations, andruining themselves. The gold that arrives from the West passesthrough the hands of its masters with almost the same rapidity as ifthey were only agents for the English and the Dutch; so chimerical anidea is that of wealth existing without industry. 

The Dutch were the only rivals of the Portuguese in the East Indies;for though other nations came afterwards in for a share, yet thetransition from wealth to weakness was already made by thePortuguese, before any of them had begun to set seriously to work, inacquiring possessions, or in carrying on trade with that country. 

Portugal thus fell, merely from the rivalship of a more industrious andless advanced nation, after having embraced more territory than shehad power to keep. Spain fell, because she had embraced a wrongobject as a source of riches. {64}

The Hans Towns, which owed their prosperity, partly to their ownwisdom and perseverance, in the beginning, and partly to the contemptwith which sovereigns, in the days of chivalry, viewed commerce, might, with very little penetration, and much less exertion of wisdomthan they had displayed, have seen that the spirit of commerce wasbecoming general, and that moderation and prudence were necessaryto preserve them in their proud situation; but the prudence which theypossessed at first had given way to pride, and abandoned them; andthe first great stroke they received was from Queen Elizabeth. Theruin of so widely-extended a confederacy could not be astonishing, and, indeed, was a natural consequence of the changes in the mannersof the times: but it was not so with Flanders. There was nothing tohave prevented the Flemish from continuing to enjoy wealth, andfollow up industry, except in the rivalship of other nations, ---{64} So short a time did the wealth remain in the country, that, whenthe famous armada was fitted out against England, a loan of moneywas solicited, from Genoa, for the purpose. -=-

[end of page #65]

particularly of Holland and England; for, though France was fartheradvanced, as a manufacturing and wealthy nation, than England, yet itwas not in the same line of industry with the people of theNetherlands, whose prosperity was not therefore injured by it in thesame degree. 

As for the Dutch, they continued to increase in wealth till the end ofthe seventeenth century, and their decline requires a more particularattention. 

In addition to their great industry, the fisheries, and art of curing fish, the Dutch excelled in making machines of various sorts, and becamethe nation that supplied others with materials, in a state ready preparedfor manufacturing: this was a new branch of business, and verylucrative, for, as the machines were kept a secret, the abbreviation oflabour was great, and the materials had still the advantage in their salethat a raw material has over manufactured goods; so that theadvantages were almost beyond example. 

Add to all this, that the Dutch were the first who established thebanking system, (copying in part from the Italians, ) on a solid plan. The advantages that Holland enjoyed were, indeed, all of its ownprocuring, but they were numerous and inappretiable, withoutcounting the trade to India, of which it enjoyed a greater share thanany other nation, for a considerable period. 

No nation has shewn, so completely as the Dutch, how exteriorenemies may be repelled, and difficulties overcome, while there is atrue attention to the real welfare of the country. The exertions of theRomans, to conquer others, scarcely surpassed those of the Dutch topreserve themselves, when they were in a state of necessity; but, whenthey became affluent, energy and unanimity left them. Themanufacturers became merchants, and the merchants became agentsand carriers; so that the solid sources of riches gradually disappeared. 

All this time, taxation increased, and though no nation ever allowed itsmanners to be less corrupted by the possession of wealth, yet therewas a sensible change; but the change in the way of thinking was themost pernicious. Discontent with the government, and disagreementsamongst themselves, completed their misfortunes, while England was[end of page #66] all the time endeavouring to supplant them in themost beneficial sources of their wealth. 

The Dutch, fairly sunk by that rivalship, and natural change of things, which transfers the seat of wealth and commerce from one nation toanother. There was no violent revolution, no invasion by an enemy; itwas the silent operation of that cause of decline, which has beenalready mentioned in the Second Chapter, and will be farther andmore particularly illustrated and explained. 

The Dutch had a superabundance of capital; the interest of money waslow; and wealth had begun to leave Holland long before the symptomsof decay became visible; by which means, the trade of other countrieswas encouraged, and, as always will be the case, capital emigrated, themoment it could find secure employment, and greater profits thanwere to be obtained at home. The leading causes of the decline ofHolland may be distinguished thus:

The taxes were gradually increasing. 

Its superiority in manufactures over other countries was continuallydiminishing; consequently, industry was not so well rewarded, andless active. 

The merchants preferred safe agencies for foreigners to trading ontheir own bottom, thereby lending their credit. 

Dutch capital was employed to purchase goods in one country and sellthem in another: so that the Dutch became carriers for others, insteadof manufacturing and carrying for themselves. 

The trade to India, and the banking business, were both taken up byother nations; so that Holland then lost her superiority in thesebranches. 

Thus circumstanced, Holland was gradually sinking, when politicaltroubles, the end of which it is not easy to foresee, put her at the feetof France: an event that would not have happened in the manner it did, when the true spirit of patriotism reigned, that distinguished her in hermore prosperous days. From this, at least, there is one distinct lessonto be learnt, that however it may be natural for nations to lose asuperiority, owing to arts, inventions, or foreign trade, yet, if theminds of the people and their manners remain pure, they will not bedegraded, by falling a prey to an enemy. When Holland was not rich[end of page #67] it resisted Spain in all her glory, during a very hard, arduous, and continued struggle; but then the people were united asone man: there were no traitors to raise a voice for Spain against theircountry. When Holland was wealthy, it did not even attempt to resistFrance when invaded; but then Holland was divided, and there were inevery city men, who wished more for the plunder than the prosperityof their country. 

In viewing the fall of those nations that sunk before the discovery ofAmerica, the eastern empire was the last that attracted attention. It hadbeen reduced by the Turks, with a vigour and energy that promised arenovation, which, however, it did not effect. The Turks brought withthem the Mahometan religion, which has debased the manners anddegraded the minds of every people. Constantinople, by this change, lost the remains of ancient learning and of commerce, which even theweakness of the emperors, and the repeated wars, had not been ableentirely to destroy. The Greeks were reduced to a state ofsubordination and slavery, but the Turks were not civilized. Theyadopted what was luxurious and effeminate of Grecian manners, yetstill retained their former ignorance and ferocity. Amongst modernnations, the Turkish government is, in form, a monster, and itsexistence an enigma; yet it extended its sway over all that was mostvaluable or most splendid in the ancient world. Greece, Egypt, Phoenicia, Syria, the three Arabias, and countries then but littleknown, are subject to a brutish people, who do not even condescend tomix with the inhabitants of the country, but who rule over them in amanner the most humiliating and disgraceful. {65}

The Turkish government has never been powerful. The city of Venicewas always its equal at sea; and, as it disdains to adopt the systems ofother nations, it is every day becoming weaker, in comparison withthem. It has formerly maintained successful struggles against

---{65} In all other conquests, the conquered and the conquerors havebecome, at last, one people, when they have settled in the samecountry, whether Christians or Pagans; but the Turks and Greeks keepas distinct to this day as at the first, and this is probably owing to thenature of the Turkish religion. ---

[end of page #68]

Germany, Poland, and Russia; but that time is now over, and it owesits present existence to the jealousy of other powers. It is possessed ofa greater quantity of good territory than all the leading nations ofEurope, Russia excepted; and it is not the interest of men living in lessfavoured climates, to endeavour to renovate the country of Alexander, and of the other great nations of antiquity. 

The Turkish nation is represented as greatly on the decline, but, soonafter its establishment, it had every vice that could well exist in agovernment, and its greatest weakness now arises more from thealteration produced in other nations for the better, than in itself for theworse. The difficulty of keeping people in ignorance is becomingevery day greater; and when the Ottoman throne falls the usual orderof things will be reversed. For, as other governments may attributetheir destruction to corruption of manners, and to ignorance, theTurkish government looks there for its security; and the day that anyreasonable degree of light breaks in amongst its subjects will be itslast. 

To endeavour tracing the causes of decline in a state that owes itsexistence to its defects, and is in every respect different from othernations, would be useless in the present Inquiry, it has only beennoticed to shew, that, in the infinite variety of things, some may owetheir existence to what is in general the cause of destruction. [end ofpage #69]

CHAP. VII. [=sic=--error in printer's copy, should read VIII. ]

_General View and Analysis of the Causes that operated in producingthe Decline of all Nations, with a Chart, representing the Rise, Fall, and Migrations of Wealth, in all different Countries, from the Year1500, before the Birth of Christ, to the End of the Eighteenth Century, --a Period of 3300 Years_. 

From the revolutions that have taken place amongst wealthy andpowerful nations to the present time, though the origin has been owingto very different causes, and the decline and removal from one placeto another has been attended with circumstances not similar; yet thesame leading cause for that decline may not only be traced easily anddistinctly, but is so evident that it is impossible for it to be overlookedor mistaken. 

Local situation, or temporary circumstances, have always afforded thefirst means of rising to wealth and greatness. The minds of men, in apoor state, seem never to have neglected an opportunity, presentedeither by the one or the other, and they have generally provedsuccessful, till energy of mind and industry were banished, by thehabits of luxury, negligence, and pride, which accompany, or at leastsoon follow, the acquisition of either. 

Where wealth has been acquired first, power has generally beensought for afterwards; and, where power came first, it has alwayssought the readiest road to wealth, by attacking those who were inpossession of it. 

The nations and cities on the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, wherearts and commerce first began, where agriculture flourished, andpopulation had risen to a high pitch, carried on perpetual struggles tosupplant each other; and, in those struggles, the most wealthygenerally sunk under; till Alexander, the first great conqueror, withwhose history we are tolerably well acquainted, reduced them all to[end of page #70] his yoke; one small and brave people triumphingover the Egyptian and Assyrian empires, where wealth and luxury hadalready produced their effects. 

Though this triumph of poverty over riches was very complete, exceptin one single instance, it did not occasion any real change, either in theabodes of wealth, or the channels of commerce. Tyre, the richestcommercial city till then, was ruined, to make way for the prosperityof Alexandria, which became the most wealthy; drawing great part ofthe commerce from Carthage on the west, and taking the whole fromRhinocolura on the east: but, in Egypt and Syria, Babylon andMemphis still remained great cities. 

The whole of this ancient world was for a moment under one chief, but was soon again divided amongst the generals who succeeded tothat great conqueror; and the Egyptian and Persian empires becamerivals, as Egypt and Syria had been before. The Grecian nations stillremained the chief seats of civilization and the fine arts; and thiscontinued till the Romans, originally a poorer people than theMacedonians, conquered the whole. This was the second greattriumph of poverty and energy over wealth and grandeur, and, in thisstruggle, Greece itself fell. 

The effects of wealth were not less formidable to the Romansthemselves, than they had been to those nations they had enabled thatbrave and warlike people to conquer; so that the mistress of the world, in her turn, fell before nations that were rude and barbarous, butuncorrupted by wealth and luxury. 

The conquerors of Rome were too rude, and too many in number, tobecome themselves enervated by wealth, which disappeared undertheir rapacious grasp, and which they neither had the art norinclination to preserve. 

This invasion of the fertile and rich provinces by men rude andignorant, but who came from northern climates, established a neworder of things; and only a small remnant of former wealth andgreatness was preserved in Egypt and at Constantinople. 

For several centuries of war and confusion commerce and the artsappear to have been undervalued and neglected; but still the taste [endof page #71] for oriental luxuries was not entirely banished, and, at thefirst interval of peace and safety, sprung up again. It was then thatAlexandria, Venice, Genoa, and Constantinople, became the channelsthrough which the people of Europe procured the luxuries of Asia. Babylon, Memphis, Palmyra, and all the other great cities of antiquity, were no more; even Greece had lost its arts and splendour; Alexandriaand Constantinople were repeatedly assailed, taken, and conquered, bythe barbarians, who envied their wealth, but who still found an interestin continuing them as channels for procuring to European nations therefinements of the East. Though Venice and Genoa were wealthy, theywere but small, and of little importance; and all the nations who mighthave crushed them at a blow, only considering them as sea-ports ofconvenience and utility, allowed them to remain independent. 

As an intercourse had been established between the northern andsouthern parts, a taste for the luxuries of Asia had extended to theshores of the Baltic, soon after the victorious arms of Charlemagnehad carried there some degree of civilization, and the Christianreligion. 

Then it was that a new and more widely-extended system ofcommerce, but something like what had formerly existed in Tyre andCarthage, began in all the maritime towns of Europe, when Italy andFlanders became the most wealthy parts of Europe. A spirit ofchivalry, and a desire of conquest, not founded on the same principleswith the conquests of ancient nations, or of Rome, to obtain wealth, pervaded all Europe, and the greatest confusion prevailed. In thehistory of wealth and power, as connected together, this is a chasm. Those who had power despised wealth, and were seeking after whatthey esteemed more--military glory; and wealth was confined to anumber of insulated spots, and possessed by men who weremerchants, without any share of power or authority. 

This extraordinary and unprecedented state of things gave rise to theHanseatic League, which rose at last to such importance that thosewho had been so long seeking after glory, without finding it, began tosee the importance which was derived from wealth. They began to seethat, even in the pursuit of their favourite object, wealth was an ex-[end of page #72] cellent assistant, and the friendship of merchantsbegun =sic= to be solicited by princes, as in the days of Tyre andSidon. 

This progress was greatly facilitated and accelerated by the crusades, which, at the same time that they beggared half the nobility of Europe, gave them a taste for the refinements of the East, and taught them toset some value on the means by which such refinements could beprocured. 

In this manner were things proceeding, when three great discoverieschanged the situation of mankind. {66}

The mariners compass, gunpowder, and the art of printing, were alldiscovered nearly about the same time; and, independent of their greatand permanent effects, they were wonderfully calculated to alter thesituation of nations at that period. 

The navigation of the ocean, which led to the discovery of a passageto the East Indies, and of America, gave a mortal blow to the nationssituated on the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, who thus foundthemselves deprived of the commerce of the East. 

The discovery of gunpowder, a means so powerful of annoying anenemy, without the aid of human force, which places a giant and adwarf in some sort upon an equality, was wonderfully adapted fordoing away the illusions of knight errantry, that had such a powerfuleffect in making war be preferred to commerce: while printingfacilitated the communication of every species of knowledge. 

It was then that northern nations began to cultivate arts and sciences, as those of the south under a mild heaven, and on a fertile soil, haddone three thousand years before. But ingenuity and invention took adifferent direction in the north from what they had done in thesouthern climates; instead of sovereigns and slaves, men were more inmutual want of each other, and therefore a more equal division of thefruits of industry was required. 

The manufactures of former times had been confined chiefly toluxuries for the great, and simple necessaries for slaves; andcommerce, though productive of great wealth to a few, was in itslimits equally confined. 

---{66} For the dates see the chart, and for their effects, chap. I. Book ii. [Transcriber's note: See in the Chart "Mariners Compass/Gunpowder/Printing Invented 1300-1400"]. -=-

[end of page #73]

It was natural that the two nations which had first discovered thepassage to the East, and the continent of the West, which aboundedwith the precious metals, should become rich and powerful, as thosecities had formerly done that possessed exclusively the channels ofcommerce. Those two countries were Spain and Portugal; but hereagain we find the same fatality attend the acquisition of wealth thathad formerly been remarked. It was, indeed, not to be expected, thatthe steadiness and virtue of the Spaniards and Portuguese could resistthe operation of a cause, that neither the wisdom of the Egyptians; thearts and industry of Greece, nor the stubborn and martial patriotism ofthe Romans could withstand. 

Those two nations soon sunk, and the Dutch, the French, and theEnglish, became participators of the commerce. 

Manufactures were a new source of wealth, almost unknown to theancient world. Those begun first to be set in activity in Flanders, thenin Holland and France, and, last of all, in England; but, likecommerce, and every other means by which wealth is acquired, theyhave a tendency to leave a country. The cause and the effect are atvariance, after a certain time; and though we cannot illustrate thisfrom history, as we may the migrations of wealth arising from othersources, the tendency appears of the same nature, though with thisdifference; that men may always labour for themselves, and enjoy thefruits of their labours, though they cannot always find the means ofbeing the carriers to other nations, or becoming merchants. 

This alteration in the nature of wealth; the inventions of mankind; thealterations brought on by the facility of communicating knowledge;the systematical manner in which men pursue their interests, and otherchanges: give reason to hope that, in the present situation of things, those possessions may be rendered permanent, that have hitherto beenfound to be so evanescent and fugitive. 

Where wealth has not been wrested from a country by absolute force, (in doing which the poorer nations were always successful, ) it hasemigrated from other causes, and taken up its abode amongst a newpeople, where circumstances were more favourable for itsencouragement. [end of page #74]

Before we leave this recapitulation, it is necessary, however, to takenotice of one revolution that did not take place on similar principleswith the others, so far as wealth and luxury are in question; but whichhas in some respects a similarity, and, in others, is precisely thereverse. 

About two centuries and a half ago, the Polish nation was one of themost powerful in Europe; Russia could not then, nor for long after, contend with it. The Prussians were its vassals; and the capital of theGerman empire, when besieged by the Turks, in 1650, owed its safetyto the Poles, its brave and faithful allies. 

Such was the case; but, at this day, the Polish nation is no longer inexistence: it is subdued, parcelled out, and divided, amongst thosevery powers, to any of which it was at least equal, and to the otherssuperior, at so late a period. 

It may be asked, whether Poland was one of those states that has beenborne down by its own wealth and opulence? If its ambition, injustice, or any of the other causes so prominent in the decline of nations, operated in the total extinction of it from the rank of independentstates? Not one of those causes operated, but still it is not altogether anexception to the general rule. 

When the feudal system was established all over Europe, nationsunder its influence were so far on an equality; and as they all emergedfrom that situation nearly about the same time, Poland excepted, theystill preserved their relative situations. The Poles, during this changein other states, comparatively lost power. Amongst the alterationsproduced, was that of placing in the hands of the sovereign all thedisposable revenue and force of a country, with which standing armieswere maintained. Those irregular militias, till then composed of thebarons and their retainers; a species of force, at best, far inferior toregular armies, became useless; but particularly so, after the modes offighting had been changed by the invention of gunpowder, and theadoption of large trains of artillery, which could never have beenemployed in the feudal armies. 

The disposable force of Poland and its revenues did not, by anymeans, keep pace with those of neighbouring nations; and what wasstill worse, the strength of that unfortunate country was divided; the[end of page #75] monarchy was elective, and foreign influence had ameans of exertion, which, under a hereditary line of kings, is notpracticable. Poland was not only weaker than its neighbours, butbecame a prey to intestine divisions, cabal, and intrigue. 

Though Poland was not wealthy, according to the meaning applied tothat word, it was a populous and fertile country, and therefore adesirable possession to the neighbouring states. To Prussia, a mostambitious and aggrandising power, with a military government, and ofa very limited extent, it was peculiarly desirable. To Russia, extensiveas it is, the fruitful territory was also an object of ambition, from itsproximity to the seat of an empire, the most fertile and fine provincesof which lie at a distance. The same desire of possessing what theywanted, operating at the same time on two neighbouring nations, occasioned them to unite their power in a first dismemberment ofPoland, for their mutual benefit. The interior convulsions of thecountry served as a pretext, and its weakness furnished the means ofexecuting the design. In 1772, that independent country first lost someof its finest provinces; but this was only a prelude to its final fall. 

The nature of ambition is to augment with success, and as the samedivisions continued in the state, a pretence for a farther interference inits affairs was easily found; and, in 1794, Poland ceased to be one ofthe number of European states. In this last seizure, the house ofAustria had no immediate hand. It was, however, necessary to have itsconsent: and, as the aggrandisement of Prussia was not an object ofindifference to Austria, participation in the spoils was proposed, as theprice of acquiescence, and it was readily accepted. 

In this case, the weakness of Poland, and the ambition of its rivals andneighbours, were the immediate causes of its destruction; but thatweakness arose from a want of true patriotism and proper attention inthe people themselves. Jealous of liberties, and disobedient to theirking, the Poles were slaves to the feudal proprietors of the soil. Though the first cause was different, yet their divisions and quarrelswere the same in effect, as if they had proceeded from real causes ofdiscontent, and a deranged state of society, such as we have seen, when the love of the country is lost. In Poland, that love of the country[end of page #76] was not lost, but it was badly directed, which isnearly the same thing; at least, it is equally dangerous. 

Why, it may be asked, did not the other powers of Europe interfere?To this, indeed, it would be difficult to give a satisfactory answer. Those who did not interfere, probably, may have cause to repent theirindifference. It was an infraction of that sort of federation of nations, which had been found necessary to prevent a repetition of conquestslike those of Alexander, or of the Romans; yet, still there is a way ofaccounting for their conduct, though it cannot be vindicated. 

In the first place, Poland lays =sic= remote from those powerfulnations that have had the greatest sway in modern times. It was notvery easy to interfere with great efficacy; besides, as Poland waspreviously under foreign influence, the essential evil was done. Theexample of partitions, indeed, was not given, but it is not impossiblethat some powers on the continent, though they got no share, mightnot be sorry to see such an example. Britain and Spain certainly couldnot wish for the example, but others might, and others probably didwish for it. 

The first division was, besides, only a beginning; some degree ofmoderation was preserved, and Poland was only mutilated; it was notdestroyed. The case was not entirely new, nor without example. 

The second and last division took place at a time when the nationswhose interest it was, and whose wish it might have been to interfere, had not the means of doing so. It was when the republican frenzy inFrance was at its most desperate height, and whom =sic= the whole ofcivilized Europe appeared to be in danger. 

There is one more excuse to be found. The aspect of affairs in Polandresembled, with regard to its revolutions, those of France so much, that those, who at another time would have probably interfered, wererather inclined to co-operate in stifling a rising flame in the north, similar to that which had endangered the whole of the south ofEurope. 

In all this, the thing the most difficult to be accounted for, is theconduct of the Polish nation; but an inquiry into the causes of thatwould be quite foreign to the present subject: this is, however, aninstance of the danger arising from not keeping pace with othernations [end of page #77] in those arts of government, and internalpolicy, which constitute the power of nations in the general order ofthings, whatever that may be. 

Although we have seldom found intestine divisions carried to soblameable a length in any other nation that was not corrupt in itself, yet, it is clear, that the influence obtained by the wealth of itsneighbours was at the bottom of those highly blameable, anddreadfully fatal divisions. 

When aggrandisement is the aim of modern states, there will not nowbe any difficulty of pleading example; and there is one of those verypowers that on this occasion participated in the division which has allthe seeds of discord in itself that brought on the ruin of the Polishempire. That power has already felt the effect of example; and, thoughit may repine, it cannot complain, as it might otherwise have done; orif it does, it cannot expect equal commiseration. 

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE INTENDED TO ILLUSTRATETHE RISE AND FALL OF NATIONS. 

In the chart, at the beginning of the work, the lines, from top tobottom, represent the division of time into centuries, each indicatingthe year, marked under and above it, in the same way that has beenadopted in Dr. Priestley's Chart of Universal History, in works ofchronology, and in statements of commerce and finance. 

The countries that have flourished, whether by commerce, or anyother means are supposed to be represented by the parallel spacesfrom right to left, according to the names written on the right hand. 

The rise of the black part, something like a distant range of lowmountains, shews at what periods the country was great; when itsgreatness began and when it ended. This plan would beunexceptionally correct, if the materials for it could be procured; but ifthey were, it would not lead to any very different conclusion fromwhat it does in its present state. The times, when the elevation began, and its duration are exact. The rises and falls are, as nearly as I amable, estimated from existing documents. 

The part shaded of a darkish colour, and growing gradually lighter atboth edges, represent those centuries of ignorance which succeededthe fall of the Roman empire. [end of page #78]

At the bottom, on the part not stained, is a chronological list of events, inventions, and discoveries, connected with the subject. Those whichare not, however, important or curious, have no place. 

The commerce of France, Britain, Russia, and America, are upon atrue scale with respect to their proportional amount, as well as to theirrise and progress. The others are not, owing to want of documents;but, as before observed, the amount has very little to do with thesubject; the business is to see how wealth and power were divided atany particular time, if they were rising or falling, or if they were attheir height, comparing them with the manners of the people at thetime. 

This is the use of the chart, as to the representation of individualplaces and nations. 

The general conclusion is, from taking the whole together, that wealthand power have never been long permanent in any place. That theynever have been renewed when once destroyed, though they have hadrises and falls, and that they travel over the face of the earth, something like a caravan of merchants. On their arrival, every thing isfound green and fresh; while they remain all is bustle and abundance, and, when gone, all is left trampled down, barren, and bare. 

This chart is a sort of a picture, intended to make those migrations andchange of place distinct and easily conceived, on which the whole ofthis book has been occupied. Being once acquainted with the changesthat have taken place, we may more accurately compare them with thestate of this country at the present time. Those who will take thetrouble to read Ferguson's History of the Roman Republic, andGibbon's Decline and Fall of the Empire, may form a judgement of theaccuracy or inaccuracy of the chart. 

EXAMPLE OF THE MANNER OF INSPECTING THE CHART. 

To know when Rome was at the highest pitch of greatness, find, onthe right hand, the space marked Roman empire: then look betweenthe lines for the highest part of the dark ground, and look immediatelyunder for the year, it will be seen to be at the birth of Christ, that is, during the reign of Augustus; and by the same means it will be founddeclining gradually till the year 490. [end of page #79]

In like manner, Carthage will be found at the zenith of its power about300 years before Christ. The founding of Alexandria and the warswith Rome began then to diminish both its wealth and power. 

It is intended by the author of this to execute a chart of the same sorton a very large scale, and assign to the different powers spacesproportioned to their importance, as nearly as he can ascertain. 

With respect to the chronology of this chart, to prevent criticismswhich might perhaps be made; but do not apply to it, according to thepurpose for which it was constructed, the reader is requested toobserve, that I am desirous of illustrating a very importantinvestigation, by representing a very confused and long series ofevents. The result to be derived from this, is not to be affected by anysmall inaccuracy. In counting before the birth of Christ, having foundmany different opinions, and much uncertainty relative to dates, (which I neither have abilities nor inclination to investigate, ) Imeasured backwards, without pretending to settle the year of theworld, respecting which there are so many different opinions. 

The materials for ancient history are few, and sometimes not much tobe relied upon; but, in great leading facts, such as alone are of use inthis picture, the authenticity is not to be doubted. 

The Assyrian and Egyptian empires had attained wealth and powerprevious to the time at which this commences. They stood then, andfor long after, as if it =sic= were alone in the world; their revolutions, and the rise, prosperity, and decline of other nations, are allrepresented. 

I have not wished to continue the view of France, since the revolution, its present real situation is so imperfectly known; and, from what isknown of it, it cannot be compared with any other nation, or withitself previous to that period. [end of page #80]

========BOOK II. ========

CHAP. I. 

_Of the Interior Causes of Decline, arising from the Possession ofWealth. --Its general Operation on the Habits of Life, Manners, Education, and Ways of thinking and acting of the Inhabitants of aCountry_. 

As necessity was the first cause of industry and invention, from whichwealth and power arise, it is natural that, when the action of thatnecessity becomes less urgent, those exertions to which it gave risewill gradually fall away. Though habit may sometimes counteract thistendency, in the individual, yet, taken upon a general scale, and fromgeneration to generation, it must inevitably take place. 

In this case, an individual who has obtained wealth enjoys anadvantage, which no nation ever can expect. With only commonprudence, he may cease from exertion or industry, and remain inaffluence. If he has property in land, he may let it, and live on the rent;if in money, he may lend it, and live on the interest; but one nationcannot let its lands, or lend its capital to another. It must, by its ownindustry, render them productive. The great bulk of every nation, then, must be industrious, however wealthy it may be; otherwise, the wealthwill soon be dissipated and disappear. The people of Flanders cannot, for example, cultivate the fields of the French, and live in Flanders;and, if the agriculture of a country is neglected, that country must soonbecome poor and miserable. {67}

---{67} We have seen what became of the Romans, when the tribute paidby other nations enabled them to live in idleness. The influx of wealthfrom America produced nearly the same effect on Spain: though itlasted for a very short time, yet it ruined the country. -=-

[end of page #81]

It is not absolutely necessary, then, for an individual to conciliateaffluence with industry, or, which is the same thing, to preserve one ofthe effects of necessity, after the necessity has ceased to exist. But ifit were possible for a sum of money, or property of any sort, to be givento each individual in a nation, which would be sufficient, in the midstof an industrious people, to enable him to live in perfect idleness, thewhole nation could not become idle. Such a case never can exist, asthat of all the individuals in a country becoming sufficiently rich tolive without labour. But something approaching towards that state ofthings actually does take place, when, by the general increase ofwealth, the necessity for labour is diminished. The number of idlepeople is constantly augmenting; and even those who continue tolabour do it less intensely than when the operation of necessity wasmore severe. When a cause is diminished, the effect must in time falloff in proportion. 

With individuals, nature has given very powerful auxiliaries tonecessity, which strengthen and prolong its operation, but which donot operate equally on nations. 

Habit or custom is the one auxiliary, and ambition or avarice is theother. 

Habit, in all cases, diminishes the reluctance to labour, which isinherent in the most part of mankind, and sometimes entirelyovercomes it. {68} Ambition, which appears under many differentforms, renders labour absolutely an enjoyment. Sometimes ambition ismerely a desire of amassing property, an avaricious disposition:sometimes it is a desire to create a family; and even, sometimes, thevain and delusive idea of retiring from business, and becoming happyin a state of total idleness, spurs a man on to labour. It is a verycurious, but well-known fact, that, after necessity has entirely ceasedto promote industry, the love of complete idleness, and the hope ofenjoying it at some distant date, leads the wealthy man on, to his lasthour, in a train of augmented industry. Thus has nature most wiselycounteracted

---{68} There are many instances where habit has rendered a particularsort of labour absolutely a want. It has become a necessary, --a meansof enjoyment without which life has become a burthen. -=-

[end of page #82]

the disposition of man to idleness; by making the very propensity to it, after a certain time, active in promoting industry. 

But this can never be the case with a race of men: {69} and, as anation consists of a greater number of individuals, so, also, itsexistence consists of successive generations. 

There is a difference between idleness and inaction. It is the naturalpropensity of man to be idle, but not to be inactive. Enjoyment is hisaim, after he has secured the means of existence. Enjoyment andidleness are supposed, in many cases, to go hand in hand; at any rate, they can be reconciled, whereas inaction and enjoyment areirreconcilable. {70}

But we may still go farther. As taste for any particular enjoyment isacquired when a man is young, and the same taste continues in a moreadvanced age; a man who has been long in business has had no time toacquire a taste for those enjoyments that are incompatible with, orperhaps that admit of being substituted for it. 

Reading the study of the fine arts, and such other means of employingtime as men enjoy, who, at an early period of life, are exempted fromlabour, afford no amusement to the man who has been alwaysaccustomed to a life of business, {71} with whom there is an absolutene-

---{69} It is perhaps amongst chances that seem likely enough; the onlyone that has never happened, that of a race of misers, in the samelineal descent, for several generations. The reason why I say it neverhas happened is, that, if it had, the effects would have become soconspicuous, by the riches accumulated, that they could not havepassed unobserved. 

{70} By inaction is not meant the opposite of loco-motion, such aslaying =sic= in bed, or basking in the sun; it is supposed that a man, toenjoy himself, must be reading, talking, in company, or _doingsomething_. 

{71} They sometimes affect this, but it is little else than throughvanity. It would be easy to give a hundred striking proofs, but theirfrequency renders that unnecessary. 

Hunting and fishing, the two most anxious and painful occupations inthe world, are, in all countries, followed by the affluent and idle asamusements; they want to interest the mind, and occupy themselves. Gaming, which is attended with very painful sensations, is followedmuch more frequently from propensity than from the love of gain;and, indeed, it would appear, that a life without occupations thatinterest the mind, is of all others the most insipid: it appears to beworse, it appears to be miserable. -=-

[end of page #83]

cessity of filling up the time in one way or another. A certain portionof time may be spent in company; but even that, to be enjoyed, mustbe spent in the society of men of the same class. The inducement, then, to a man who has dedicated the first part of his lifeadvantageously to industry, to become idle, is not great, even when heis at free liberty to follow his inclination. 

It is totally different with a young man; his propensity is to idleness, without any of those favourable circumstances that counteract thatpropensity. Necessity alone can be expected to operate on him; it is invain to seek for any other substitute. Not that we mean, by idleness, tosignify inaction; but that sort of idleness, which resists regular labour. There is a natural propensity to action, but then it is a propensity thatoperates irregularly, unless under the influence of necessity. It is acontinued and regular exertion, directed to a proper object, that iswanted to obtain wealth; to procure this, it is well to imitate nature, and create necessity. 

But, in proportion as a nation grows wealthy, that necessity is doneaway. It is of the art of prolonging necessity, or rather of reconcilingnecessity with affluence and ease, for which we are going to search, that we may, by that means, reconcile affluence with industry. 

We must, in the first place, find what the natural operation is by whichindustry leaves a country. 

When a country is in a state of poverty, it maintains the same degreeof industry, from generation to generation, without any effort. Thenew race is brought up in the same way that the former was before it, and the same pressure of necessity, acting on the same desire (but nogreater desire) to shun labour, produces the same effect at one timethat it did at another. The son of a man, who has arrived at a greaterdegree of affluence than that to which he was born, is generallybrought up differently. He is not brought up so hardily in his infancyas his father was, nor so soon called to labour; and probably when heis called to it, he is neither called with so imperious a voice, nor is heso willing to obey the call. 

Though we do not live long enough to see an example of thisoperation on a whole nation, the progression being too slow for thelife [end of page #84] of a man, yet we see it in different parts of thesame country, that are in different degrees of advancement. Howfrequent are the instances of men, bred in distant counties, (particularly in the North, ) bringing all that industry and those habitsof labour to London, that the poverty of their parents, and the state oftheir part of the country naturally occasioned. Some of those havearrived at affluence, and many of them have to competency; and eventhose who do not arrive at a comparatively higher rank in London, than their father held in his own county, bring up their children in avery different manner. 

Suppose, for example, a blacksmith, from Northumberland, or a baker, from Scotland, settles in London, as his father did at Newcastle orEdinburgh, his son or sons will be bred very differently from what hewas; and, after their father's death, the business will most probably goto some new comer, from a distant county. 

The father was brought up with the necessity of labouring, or thealternative of wanting food to eat. From his earliest days, heconsidered himself as fortunate if he could obtain a competent livingby honest industry; and this impression, with the habits acquired whileit was strong, lead a man, so brought up, to fill his place in life withhonour and advantage. 

The son, who sees that his father is in affluence, and who partakes ofthe fruits of a whole life of industry, seldom considers that he mustcontinue that industry, otherwise, that the affluence will cease with thelife of his father. It is impossible to make a young man, brought up inthis manner, feel as his father did; and, not having the same impulsegiven to him at first, he never can set off in his course of life with thesame energy. 

But the cause of this evil does not stop here. Frequently the mother isan enemy to the industry of her son; and between the workings of realaffection, badly exercised, which leads her to humour the lad; and asort of silly vanity, equally misplaced, she encourages him, if not inidleness, at least, in the hope that he will never need to stoop toincessant industry. It is not necessary to ascertain the absolute portionof idleness and pride that is infused into the young man; that depends[end of page #85] on particular circumstances: {72} but, in mostcases, it is sufficient to prevent his following the footsteps of hisfather with equal energy. 

Perhaps the capital, or the connections a father leaves in trade, may, insome degree, and for some time, compensate for this; but the instanceswhere they do so are not numerous. 

This is an example of the manner in which every succeedinggeneration is brought up differently from that preceding it; but it is anextreme example, and one that, though very real in the individuals, can never suddenly take place on a national scale. 

The difference between the general affluence of a nation, and thechange of its manners during the life of a man, is by no means equal tothe difference between a remote province and the capital of an empire;but, though the example is extreme, the same effect is produced, in thecourse of several generations upon a nation, that was occasioned bychange of place in one individual family from father to son. {73}

When a change like this takes place in one family, (and there arenumerous instances of it every day, ) poverty comes on again, and thechildren fall back into the laborious class of society, probably in adegraded state; but as the evil is supplied by new people rising up, it islittle felt on the nation; if, however, it occurs very generally, it musthave a bad effect; and, indeed, the best thing that can happen for the

---{72} If the mother has been herself born in affluence, she generallyhas a sort of smothered contempt for the mean origin of her husband. She seldom is fully sensible of the merit by which he has raisedhimself, and consequently cannot be capable of appreciating theadvantage of bringing up her boy in the same way; on the contrary, thehabits of industry, which the father acquired at an early age, under thepressure of necessity, are generally secret objects of ridicule to the restof the family. If, again, the woman has been of low origin in herself, and is become affluent, then matters are ten times worse. Then there isall the pride and vanity that ignorance, and a desire to hide that meanextraction create. Incapable of shewing delicacy and fine breeding inherself, she spoils her harmless children by converting them intospecimens of the gentility of the family. For more of this, see thechapter on Education. 

{73} In Rome, after the taking of Carthage; and in Portugal, immediately after it got possession of the trade to India; the changemust have been as great over the whole of the people in onegeneration, as it is generally between a remote province and near thecapital. -=-

[end of page #86]

general welfare is, that such men may return to a state ofinsignificance and labour as fast as possible; for, while they remainabove that, and in a declining state, they are filling their place insociety badly. 

It is different where the change goes on through a whole country, thenno one can supply the place, they are all going the same way, and atnearly the same rate; {74} the consequence will be, that this will notbe the fall of a family, but the fall of a whole people; the motion will, indeed, be much more slow, but the moving body will be vastlygreater, and the effect will be in proportion. 

In every nation in Europe there is, between the capital and the distantprovinces, a difference of affluence, of wealth, &c. Equal to whatprobably takes place in a nation in one or two centuries. Theinhabitants of the capital have some great advantages over those thatcome from a distance; they have connections, they have money andstock; and, generally speaking, in their early years, they possess amore ready and marketable knowledge. But all these avail nothingagainst habits of industry, and being taught to expect nothing fromothers, but to depend all on one's own powers. With this single, butsignal, advantage, the sons of the wealthy citizens are always yieldingto the son of the peasant; they are one by one giving way, and theirplaces are filled by a new race; while their descendants are sinkinginto poverty, and filling prisons, poor-houses, and hospitals. 

This vicissitude is so observable, that it would be unnecessary to dwellupon it were it, =sic= not of such infinite importance. {75}

The alarming and lamentable increase of the poor, in proportion as

---{74} It is always to be observed, that this reasoning is only applicablein general, and not in every particular case. It has been remarked bythe writer of the notes on the Wealth of Nations, that where a fortuneis not realized in a family, sufficient to enable it to withdraw entirelyfrom trade, it seldom remains wealthy above two generations. Thesons most frequently want intelligence or industry to augment whattheir father got, and the grandsons have generally dissipation enoughto squander entirely away what remains. This is so frequent a case inLondon, that it may be called the regular routine of the business; and, what arises by regular routine, must be derived from some general andnatural cause. 

{75} In the chapter on Education, this subject is entered into morefully, and the education of women makes a principal part. A subjectnot noticed by the author of the Wealth of Nations, though veryimportant. -=-

[end of page #87]

a nation becomes rich, is a proof that it is not in capital cities alonethat the effect takes place, but over the whole of a country. {76}

In England, the number of inhabitants is about six times the number ofthose in Scotland; and, perhaps, it costs twice as much to maintain apoor person in the former as in the latter. The sum necessary for themaintenance of the poor in England may then be reckoned at abouttwelve times as much as in Scotland, in order to preserve a justproportion between the two countries. But the poor cost more thansixty times as much in England as in Scotland; that is, at least fivetimes more than the true proportion that ought to be !!!

This, it may be said, is owing to the different manner of managing thebusiness, and, in some degree, it no doubt is; {77} but, as the poor areonly maintained in England, and as they are also maintained inScotland, it would be wrong to allow so great a difference for thatalone. 

In order, however, to put the matter out of all doubt, let us compareEngland with itself, and we shall find that the poor's rates, or theexpense of maintaining the indigent, has increased more rapidly thanthe price of provisions, or the price of labour. This ought not to be thecase, as they would only have augmented in the same proportion, unless the number of poor was increased as well as the price of theprovisions they eat, at the same time that the nation is growing morewealthy. 

Of whom do the poor in every nation consist, but of the lame, the sick, the infirm, the aged, or children unprovided for? Of those, the number, in proportion to the total number of inhabitants, will be pretty nearlythe same at all times; for it is nature that produces this species ofhelpless poverty. It would then appear that there is another species ofpoverty, not of nature's creation, that comes in and destroys theproportion. It would likewise appear, that that new species of poverty

---{76} The Poor's Rate, and regulations respecting that augmentingclass of persons, are treated in a chapter by itself. 

{77} For this see the chapter on the Poor, in which the subject isinvestigated at considerable length. At present, it is only mentioned byway of illustrating the effect of wealth on the manners of the people;and to prove, that it is not confined to the capital alone, but is generalall over the country of England. -=-

[end of page #88]

is occasioned by the general wealth, since it increases in proportion toit. 

If we find, then, that the increase of wealth renders the descendants ofa particular family helpless, and unable to maintain their place insociety; if we find, also, that it gives those portions of a country, which are the least advanced, an advantage over those which are themost advanced; and, if we find that the number of indigent increasemost where the wealth is greatest, we surely must allow, that there is astrong tendency to decay that accompanies the acquisition of wealth. The same revolutions that arise amongst the rich and poor inhabitantsof a country, who change places gradually, and without noise, mustnaturally take place between the inhabitants of rich and poorcountries, upon a larger scale and in a more permanent manner. {78}Such changes are generally attended with, or, at least, productive of, violent commotions. Nations are not subservient to laws likeindividuals, but make forcible use of the means of which they arepossessed, to obtain the ends which they have in view. 

As this tendency is uniformly felt by a number of individuals over thewhole of a country, when it advances in wealth, and over wholedistricts that are more advanced than the others, it must operate, inlength of time, in producing the decline of a whole nation, as well as itdoes of a certain portion of its people at all times. 

Changes, in the interior of a nation, take place by piece-meal or bydegrees; the whole mass sees nothing of it, and, indeed, it is not felt. {79} But it is vain to think, that the same cause that gives the poorerinhabitants of a nation an advantage over the richer, will not likewise

---{78} As we find that wealth seldom goes amongst people of businesspast the second, and almost never past the third generation, familiesthat rise so high as to be partners in profit, and not in labour orattention, are an exception. Nations resemble the families that acquireenough to be affluent, but not enough to retire from business. A nationcan never retire; it must always be industrious. The inference is clearand cannot be mistaken; neither can the fact stated be denied. 

{79} The number of bankruptcies have been considered as signs ofwealth; and their increase is a sign most undoubtedly of more trade;but this is a barometer, of which it requires some skill to understandthe real index. -=-

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give poor nations an advantage over rich ones; or, at least, tend toraise the one and draw down the other. Though we find, from thehistory of the various revolutions that have taken place in differentcountries, that they arose from a variety of causes, some peculiar toone nation, and some to another; yet we have found a change ofmanners and ways of thinking and acting, more or less operating in allof them. 

Amongst the interior causes of the decline of wealthy nations, arisingfrom the wealth itself, we must set this down as one of a very generaland natural operation. We must be particularly careful to remove this, as far as possible, if we mean to avert those evils which hitherto havearisen from a superior degree of wealth and power in every nation. 

We are now going to examine other internal causes; but though theyare separate from this, yet this is at the root of all, this is perpetuallyoperating, we meet with it in every corner and at every turning. It iswhat Mr. Pope says, speaking of the master-passion in individuals:

"The great disease that must destroy at length, Grows with our growth, and strengthens with our strength. "

This radical case of decline is augmented by an ill conceived vanity inthe parents, as well as by necessity ceasing to act on the children. Each is following a very natural inclination; the one to indulge, theother to be indulged. It is the duty and the interest of the state tocounteract this tendency, and the manner how that it is to be done willbe inquired into in the first chapter of the third book of this work. =sic--there is none. =

But it is not merely a neglect of industry and the means of rising insociety, or keeping one's place in it that is hurtful; the general way ofthinking and acting becomes different, and, by degrees, the characterof a nation is entirely altered. This change was the most rapid, and themost observable in the Roman republic, and was the cause thatbrought it to an end, and prepared the people for submitting to beruled by the emperors. The human character was as much degradedunder them, when the citizens were rich, as it ever had been exaltedunder their consular government, when the people were indigent. [endof page #90]

The various effects of this change in manners will be considered underdifferent heads, but it is too deeply rooted in human nature ever to beentirely counteracted, much less entirely done away. It is firmlyconnected with the first principles of action in man, and can no morebe removed than his entire nature can be altered. What is in theextreme, if dangerous, may be diminished; and that is all that it wouldbe any way useful to attempt: it may be rendered less formidable in itsoperation, and that is all that can be expected. 

The degradation of moral character; the loss of attention to the firstprinciples to which a society owes its prosperity and safety, both ofwhich accompany wealth, are most powerful agents in the decline ofnations. We have seen that the Romans, the greatest of all nations, were ruined, chiefly, by degradation of character, by effeminacy, byignorance; for we generally find that idleness degenerates, at last, intosloth and inaction. To a love of justice, and a power of overcomingdanger, or of preventing it, listlessness and a total want of energysucceed: at length, the mind becomes estranged from hope, and thebody incapable of exertion. This is the case with those who have for atime enjoyed luxury when they begin to decline; their fall is theninevitable. The Eastern empire, as well as the Western, fell by thismeans; and it may be said to have been the ordinary course in thedecline of nations that have fallen gradually. 

The Turks, {80} the Spaniards, and the Portuguese, all owe part oftheir present feebleness to this cause; and the government of Francecertainly, in a great measure, owed its downfal =sic= to the same. There the courtiers had sunk in character, and it was becomeimpossible even for the energy, the activity, and intelligence of thenation at large, to counteract the baneful effect of the change that hadtaken place amongst those who regulated its affairs. 

In history we have seen scarcely any thing similar to this, for it wasthe effect operating on the rulers of the nation only; the strength of thegreat body of the nation, on which it did not operate, supported that

---{80} Those nations resemble each other in feebleness, and in thecause of it, though, with respect to the Turks, it has existed for alonger period. -=-

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pride and ignorance; whereas in Spain, Portugal, and Turkey, this evilbeing general throughout the state, those who have the conducting ofaffairs are held in some check by the general feebleness of the nation. {81} This not only limits the power of action, but is so visible, that itis impossible for those who govern not to be led to reflection, and tobe taught moderation by it. 

The power of laying on taxes and the means of defending itself againstother nations are regulated by the situation of the people; but thewisdom with which the affairs are conducted is dependent on therulers, and those who govern. It is therefore fortunate, when the rulersare so far sensible of the feeble state of the country as to be moderateand reasonable. {82}

None of the nations that know their own weakness would ever haverisked the experiment that was made on St. Domingo by the French;neither would any nation, in the vigour of acquiring riches, have doneso. It required a nation, ruled by men who were ignorant of the trueprinciples, who were corrupted with wealth, and, at the same time, hada vigorous nation to govern, to admit of such a situation of things. {83} Had the nation been less wealthy or weaker, so as to have madethe poverty or weakness obvious, this could not have happened; or, had the rulers been less corrupted and ignorant, it could not have takenplace. {84}

---{81} The French nation, in reality, was never so powerful and wealthyas at the time of the revolution breaking out. The effects of luxury hadonly perverted the city of Paris and the court. The power which theenergies of the people at large put at the disposition of the governmentwas ill applied. 

{82} Perhaps some of the greatest advantages that arise from a formof government like that of England are, that those who have ruled, owe their places to their abilities, and not to favour; that they maintaintheir situations by exertion, and not by flattery; and that the situationof the nation never can be long disguised. Without the turbulence of ademocracy, we have most of the advantages that arise from one, whilewe have, at the same time, the benefits that proceed from the stabilityand order of established monarchy. 

{83} When the Portuguese were for abandoning the India trade, it wasa case pretty similar. 

{84} Though the men who overturned the commerce of France werenot the same with the members of the ancient government, yet theyalso were men ignorant of the true interests of the nation. A fewamongst them were bent upon an experiment, regardless of the ruinwith which it might be attended. -=-

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In all the interior causes, for the decline of nations, which we areendeavouring to investigate, we shall find a change of manners, andways of thinking, constantly producing some effect in the directiontowards decline. This takes place, from the time that a nation becomesmore wealthy than its neighbours; until then, when it is onlystruggling to equal them, a nation cannot be said to be rich, but to beemerging from poverty. 

The great aim then should be, to counteract this change of mind andmanners, that naturally attends an increased state of prosperity. 

[end of page #93]

CHAP. II. 

_Of the Education of Youth in Nations increasing in Wealth. --theErrors generally committed by Writers on that Subject. --Importanceof Female Education on the Manners of a People. --Not noticed byWriters on Political Economy. --Education of the great Body of thePeople the chief Object. --In what that consists_

The changes of which we have spoken, that take place, gradually, ina nation, from the increasing luxury and ease in which everysucceeding generation is raised, cannot be prevented. They are thenatural consequences of the situation of the parents being altered. Butwhen that period of life comes, when children enter upon what iscalled education, then a great deal may be done; for, though thefathers and mothers have still power over their offspring, it is adiminished power; besides which, they are seldom so much disposedto exert even what power remains, as at an earlier period. 

It is necessary and fair, after the severe censure that has been passedon parents, for bringing up children wrong, at an early period, toadmit, that for the most part, they would not run into that error, andspoil their children, if they were sensible of doing so; and that, as theygrow up, they would have them properly instructed, if it were in theirpower: that is to say, if they had the means. 

There are certain things for which individuals can pay, but which it isimpossible for them to provide individually; and if they attempt to doit collectively, it is liable to great abuse, and to be badly done. 

Individuals never could afford to send their letters, from one end ofthe kingdom to the other, without combining together, unlessgovernment furnished them the means: but, by the aid of thegovernment, they are enabled to do it at a very cheap rate, withexpedition and safety, whilst a profit arises to government greater thanany regular business in the world produces. 

There is a possibility of an individual sending a letter by a particu-[end of page #94] lar messenger, at his own expense, to the greatestdistance, provided he can afford it; but, as it happens, there are manymore letters require sending than there are messengers to send, ormoney to defray the expenses. 

It is the same with the education of youth. A man may have a tutor tohis son, and educate him privately, if he can afford it; but it happens, as with the letters, that there are many more sons to educate than thereare tutors to be found, or money to pay them. 

As the individual, in the case of the letters, would be obliged todepend on some self-created carrier, if government did not interfere, so they are with regard to the education of their children; and, as in theone case they would be very badly served, so they generally are in theother. 

In the first place, the plans of education are every where bad, and themanner of executing still worse. --Those to whom the education ofyouth, one of the most important offices in society, is intrustedundergo no sort of examination, to ascertain whether they are fit forthe business. They, in general, depend upon their submissive conducttowards the parents and improper indulgence of the children for theirsuccess. It was found that the judges of criminal and civil law couldnot be intrusted with the administration of justice, while theydepended on the pleasure of the crown. Can it then be expected that amuch more numerous set of men, who are, in every respect, inferior inrank and education, to judges, will maintain that upright and correctconduct that is necessary, when they are infinitely more dependentthan the judges ever were at any period?

This is one of the questions that is to be argued on the same principles, that the independence, under a monarchical or democraticgovernment, is decided. Under the dominion of one chief, onparticular occasions, which occur but seldom, it may be necessary toyield to his will, if the ruler is shameless enough and infamous enoughto insist upon it; but, with a community for one's master, there is acomplete system of submission, a perpetual deviation from that whichis right. 

In the first place, the fathers and mothers are no judges themselves ofthe merits of the master, or the proficiency of the boy, whom the [endof page #95] master is obliged to treat with indulgence, that he maynot complain. Where there is a complete ignorance of the right andwrong of the case, any thing will turn the balance; and it is clear, thatwhere there is no proof of superior merit, there must be good will, flattery, or some other method taken, to obtain a preference. 

There are, occasionally, men of real merit, who distinguish themselvesas teachers; and who, having a solid claim to a preference, use no meanarts to obtain it. It is but justice to parents in general, to say thatsuch men are always encouraged, while they keep their good qualitiesuncontaminated by some fault that counterbalances them. {85}

As this is a case where individuals cannot serve themselves, norprovide the means of being properly served, it is one of those in whichthe government of every country ought to interfere. Not in givingsalaries, at the public expense, to men, who, perhaps, would do noduty; but in seeing that the men who undertake the task of educationare qualified, and that when they have undertaken it they do their duty, and follow a proper system. 

There should be proper examinations, from time to time, and registersshould be kept of the number of scholars, and the satisfaction theyhave given to those who examined them. 

Parents would then have a measure, by which they could estimate themerit of a school; the master would have another motive for action, and there would be an emulation amongst the scholars. The businessprofessed to be done, and undertaken, would then be performed. Atpresent, at about three times the expense necessary, children learnabout half what they are intended to be taught. 

Interfering in this manner would be no infringement on private liberty;nothing would be done that could hurt, in any way, the individuals, but what must greatly benefit them. The evil habits that are contractedin early childhood, at home, would be counteracted, and the

---{85} As even those find it is necessary to make a strong impression onthe minds of parents, (and as some wish their children to be treatedwith rigour, ) there are teachers, who obtain a credit by overstrainingthe discipline, after having obtained a fair reputation, by carrying itonly to a proper length. -=-

[end of page #96]

youth would be taught to know what it is that renders a man happy inhimself, and respected and valued by society. 

But the consideration of the system to be followed is not the leastimportant part of the business. The useful should be preferred to theuseless, and in this the example of the ancients might be followed withadvantage. They had no dead languages to study, and the mindappears to have been in many cases expanded, far beyond its presentcompass. 

Nothing, indeed, can equal the ignorance of the most part of boys, when they leave school; those who are considered as bad scholars, have lost the good opinion of themselves, that ought to be maintainedthroughout life; they think every thing difficult or impossible. Those, again, who have excelled, are something less ignorant, but becomevain and conceited, owing perhaps to their having learnt some uselessand superfluous pieces of knowledge. 

Education, on the general principle, consists in learning what makes aman useful, respectable, and happy, in the line for which he isdestined, whether for manual labour, or for study; for a high or a lowoccupation. 

What is useful becomes a question, in some sort depending uponplace, and still more on circumstances, it will therefore be better todiscuss it at length in the Third Book, where England is the place, andparticular circumstances are taken into consideration. 

There are, however, some general rules that apply to all places and toall situations. 

Good principles, honour, honesty, and integrity, are equally necessaryin every rank of society; with those qualities, even a beggar isrespectable, and will be respected; without them, no man ever was orever will be so. In every mode of education, the importance of thoseshould be inculcated; and that they may be adhered to, every man, either by inheritance, or by talents, or by habits of industry, shouldhave it put in his power to command the means of living in the waythat he has been brought up. 

Were this attended to, many scenes of misery and vice would beprevented. Admitting that there are propensities in some minds, [endof page #97] that lead to evil, independent of every possible check orcontrol, it must be allowed that the far greater proportion of those whodo well or ill in the world owe it to the manner in which they havebeen brought up in their early days. 

It follows, from this general rule, that parents should carefully avoidbringing up children in a manner in which they have not the means ofbeing afterwards maintained; and that, in the second place, when theycannot leave them in an independent fortune, they should, by makingthem learn a trade or profession, give them the means of obtainingwhat they have been accustomed to consider as necessary for them toenjoy. 

There are, indeed, great numbers, and the greatest numbers of all;unable even to have their children taught what is called a trade. Butthere are none whom poverty prevents from bringing their children upto industry; and, if they have been taught to live according to theirsituation, they will find themselves above their wants, and thereforethe same general rule will still apply. 

Most writers have considered the subject of education as relative tothat portion of it only which applies to learning; but the first objectof all, in every nation, is to make a man a good member of society; andthis can never be done, unless he is fitted to fill the situation oflife for which he is intended. 

Governments and writers on education fall, generally speaking, intothe same errors. They would provide for the education of personsdestined for the learned professions and sometimes for the fine arts;but agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, are totally left out: {86}the most essential, the most generally useful, are not noticed at all. 

As so much value is set upon the language of the Greeks and Romans, surely we might pay a little attention to the example of thosedistinguished nations. 

The Greeks studied the Egyptian learning, and improved upon it; butthis was only confined to those who followed learning as a profes-

---{86} Lord Somerville has some excellent observations, relative tothis, in his publication on Agriculture, published in 1800. -=-

[end of page #98]

sion, or whose means allowed them to prosecute it as a study. Thecommon education of citizens was different; it consisted in teachingthem to perform what was useful, and to esteem what was excellent. Itwas a principle with them that all men ought to know how happinessis attained, and in what virtue consists; but they neither trusted toprecept nor example. They enforced by habit and practice, and in thisthe Romans followed the plan the Greeks had laid down, and, by thatmeans, they surpassed all other nations. 

When those great nations of antiquity abandoned their attention to theuseful parts of education, they soon sunk in national character. It sohappens, in this case, that the mode of education and the manners of apeople are so closely connected that it is difficult, from observation, toknow which is the cause, and which the effect. Youth, badly educated, make bad men, and bad men neglect the education of their children;they set them a wrong example: such is the case, when a governmentdoes not interfere. How this is to be done with advantage is thequestion. 

Writers on political economy have, in general, considered femaleeducation as making no part of the system; but surely, if the wealthand happiness of mankind is the end in view, there can scarcely be agreater object, for none is more nearly connected with it. 

Let it be granted that, in the first instance, women are not educatedwith any view to carry on those labours and manufactures, on whichwealth is considered as depending. Let all this be admitted, and that, in an early state of life, they are of no importance in this respect; yet, surely, when they become wives and mothers, when the economy ofthe family, and the education of the younger children depend chieflyon them, they are then of very great importance to society. Theirconduct, in that important situation, must be greatly influenced bytheir education. 

Female education ought then to be considered as one of the things, onthe conducting of which well the prosperity of a state does in a greatmeasure depend; it ought, therefore, to be attended to in the samemanner as the education of youth of the other sex. 

In this case, also, so much depends on place and circumstances, [endof page #99] that we shall follow the same rule as with maleeducation. It shall be treated of as for England, and with the differentranks of society as they are; but there are some general rules not to beforgotten, and which are applicable to all places and all countries. 

The great error, in female education, does not consist in neglecting toinstil good principles; for that is, in most countries, for obviousreasons, pretty well attended to; but good principles, without themeans of adhering to them, are of little avail. If a desire for dress, orother enjoyments, that cannot be gratified fairly, and by the means ofwhich they are possessed, are encouraged, principles will beabandoned in order to gratify passions. --Females are taught frivolousaccomplishments in place of what would be useful, and expensivevanity is substituted for that modest dignity that should be taught; theconsequence is, that, in every rank of life, according to her station, thewoman aims at being above it, and affects the manners and dress ofher superiors. 

There is too much pains taken with adorning the person, and too littlewith instructing the mind, in every civilized country; and whenwomen are wise, and good, and virtuous, it is more owing to naturethan to education. 

As, indeed, the duties of a woman, in ordinary life, are of a naturemore difficult to describe than those of a man, who, when he haslearnt a trade, has little more to do, the care employed in seeing thatproper persons only are intrusted with the important office of teachingthem to perform those duties ought to be proportionally great. 

The farther remarks on the subject of education are deferred to theFourth Book =sic--there is none. =, where place and circumstancescome into consideration. It is, however, to be observed, that, in allcases, as a nation becomes more wealthy, the business of educationbecomes more important, and has a natural tendency to be worsemanaged; it therefore demands a double share of attention. 

If the women of a nation are badly educated, it must have a greateffect on the education of their sons, and the conduct of theirhusbands. The Spartan and Roman mothers had the glory of making[end of page #100] their sons esteem bravery, and those qualities in aman that were most wanted in their state of society. It should be onepart of female education to know and admire the qualities that areestimable in the other sex. To obtain the approbation of the other sex, is, at a certain time of life, the greatest object of ambition, and it isnever a matter of indifference. 

The great general error consists in considering the woman merely inher identical self, without thinking of her influence on others. Itappears to be for this reason, that writers on political economy havepaid no attention to female education; but we find no state in whichthe virtue of men has been preserved where the women had none;though there are examples of women preserving their virtues, notwithstanding the torrent of corruption by which that of the men hasbeen swept away. [end of page #101]

CHAP. III. 

_Of increased Taxation, as an Interior Cause of Decline. --Itsdifferent Effects on Industry, according to the Degree to which it iscarried. --Its Effects on the People and on Government_. 

There has been no instance of a government becoming moreeconomical, or less expensive, as it became older, even when thenation itself was not increasing in wealth; but, in every nation that hasincreased in wealth, the expenditure, on the part of government, hasaugmented in a very rapid manner. 

Amongst the interior causes of the decline of nations, and theoverthrow of governments, the increase of taxes has always been veryprominent. It is in the levying of taxes that the sovereign and thesubject act as if they were of opposite interests, or rather as if theywere enemies to each other. 

In every case almost, where the subjects have rebelled against theirsovereign, or where they have abandoned their country to its enemies, the discontents have been occasioned by taxes that were either tooheavy, imprudently laid on, or rigorously levied. 

Sometimes the manner of laying on the tax has given the offence;sometimes its nature, and sometimes its amount. The revolution inEngland, in Charles the first's time, began about the manner of levyinga tax. The revolution of the American colonies began in the same way;and it is generally at the manner that nations enjoying a certain degreeof freedom make objection. The excise had very nearly proved fatal tothe government of this country, as the stamp duties did to that ofFrance, and as the general amount and enormity of taxes did to theWestern Empire. {87}

---{87} The system of taxation was ill understood amongst the Romans, and its execution, under a military government, is always severe. TheRomans were so tormented, at last, that they lost all regard for theircountry. Taxes seem to be the price we pay for the con-[end of page#102] stitution we live under, and as they increase, the value of thepurchase lessens. The difference between value paid, and valuereceived, constitutes the advantage or loss of every bargain. -=-

Perhaps the chief motive for submitting to the difficulties, theoppressions, and the burthens, which people submit to underrepublican forms of government arises in deception. They seem to bepaying taxes to themselves, and for themselves, when, in reality, theyare not doing so any more than under a monarchy, where the taxes, inproportion to the service done, are generally less than in arepublic. {88}

---{88} America is an exception, but then there is no similarity betweenthe United States and any other country in the world. Their existence, as an independent country, is only of twenty-five years standing; theyhave had no wars during that time, and the revolutionary war costlittle in actual money. The comparison between the states and othernations will not hold, but, if we compare the expense of theirgovernment now, and when under the British, it will be found theypay near thirty times as much; and, even allowing their population tohave risen one-half, they still pay proportionately twenty times asmuch. Their revenue now amounts to 16, 000, 000 of dollars. Thepublic expense, in 1795, when they revolted, was about 350, 000dollars. -=-

This was the case in Holland and Venice. In England, the first greatincrease of taxes took place under the long Parliament andCommonwealth. 

The only administration carried on by delegated authority, that is fromnecessity obliged to be executed with unabaiting rigour, is thedepartment of finance. Money is a thing of such a nature, that strictrules are absolutely necessary in its administration. There is here agreat distinction between money and other property, or money'sworth. A menial servant, of whose honesty there is no proof, and evenwhen it may be dubious, is habitually trusted with the care of propertyto a considerable amount, and the account rendered is seldom veryrigorous; but, in the case of trusting with money, every precaution isfirst taken, as to being trust-worthy. Security is generally demanded, and neither friendship, confidence, nor the highest respectability, willsupply the place of a strict account, which, when not rendered, leavesan indelible stain. There are many causes for this, but they are sogenerally understood, or, at least, so generally felt, that it is notnecessary to examine them; the consequences are in some cases, however, not so evident. One of the most important is, that theaccuracy with [end of page #103] which those appointed to collecttaxes are obliged to render their accounts, compels them to a strictnessin doing their duty that appears frequently rigorous to an extremedegree, and scarcely consistent with justice or humanity. 

A king is considered as an unrelenting creditor, and he certainlyappears in that character; but it should be considered why he isobliged to be so; for, as a master, he is generally the most indulgent inhis dominions. 

No duty or service is exacted with less rigour than that belonging to acivil department under government, when it is not connected withaccountability in money; none so rigorous where money is concerned. How is this to be accounted for, unless it is by shewing that the natureof the situation admits of giving way to the feelings of humanity inone case, and not in the other? A few examples will illustrate thispoint, which is very important, very well known, but not wellunderstood. 

A clerk in a public office wants, either for health or private business, or, perhaps, only for amusement, to absent himself from duty; if hisconduct merits any indulgence, and if his request is any wayreasonable, it is immediately granted, though his salary during hisabsence may amount to a considerable sum; but he receives the giftunder the form of time, not of money. If the same clerk is in arrear fortaxes to one-twentieth part of the amount, if he does not pay, hisfurniture will be seized, and that perhaps by order of the same superiorfrom whom he obtained the leave of absence from his duty. {89}

The consequences would be fatal if the case were reversed. Supposingthat leave of absence had been refused, and that a remission of taxeshad been granted, the man who remitted the tax would be liable tosuspicion, which he could never do away; the receipt of the revenuewould never be secure, and the clerk, who had demanded a fairindulgence, would be disgusted and provoked at the refusal. 

We cannot, however, alter the nature of things. Taxes cannot beremitted, in any case, without discretional authority, and that it would

---{89} Accountability in money may be compared to military discipline, when on duty. No allowances are to be made for negligence ordeviation from rule. Of this we have lately had a most striking andmemorable example. -=-

[end of page #104]

be ruinous to the revenue to give, we must, therefore, never expectthat the augmentation of taxes will take place without an increase ofdiscontent, or, at least, an augmented indifference towardsgovernment. 

Perhaps nothing evinces more the general feeling, (even of therespectable part of society, ) with regard to the revenues of the state, than the disposition to profit by evading the payment of dutiesimposed upon articles of consumption. 

The most respectable of the nobility or gentry will conceal acontraband article, or one on which there is a heavy duty, on theirreturn from abroad: and what is more, if detected, they are moreashamed, on account of their want of address, than on account of thecrime; for such it is, whatever custom may have taught us to think. 

A man who is rigorously treated, by what is commonly called a lawfulcreditor, whom he would never attempt to defraud must naturally feeldoubly incensed, when still more rigorously treated by one whom hewould think it very little harm, and no disgrace, to defraud. It is thenvery clear, that, the common habits of thinking on the subject of debtsdue to the king, is such as does not favour taxation, or incline peopleto submit willingly to rigorous modes of recovery. 

All taxes raise the prices of the articles taxed, but those are most feltand most obnoxious which fall on personal property, or on personsthemselves. 

All taxes, then, when they pass a certain point, have a tendency tosend away persons, and property, and trade, from a country, which, ifthey do, its decline is inevitable. The extent, however, of that effectmust depend on a great variety of circumstances, such as thecomparative situation of other nations, their distance, the difficulty ofremoving, &c. 

If America were as near to England as France is, the industrious classwould emigrate in multitudes; and, if in France, property and personswere as safe and free as in England, part of both would go there; but, as matters are, to the former it is impossible to remove, and, to thelatter, the risk surpasses the advantage. 

An increase of taxation tends to raise the wages of labour, and, whereit does so in due proportion, the labourer pays almost nothing; he stillfor all that seems to pay, and he has the same disagreeable feeling[end of page #105] as if he did pay. No feeling is more disagreeablethan that of being obliged, after earning money that can ill be spared, to pay it away to a surly tax-gatherer, who treats a man and his familywith insolence, while he receives the money that should purchasethem bread. Besides this, though the prices of many articles keep pacewith the wages of labour, yet many others do not. Thus, in a countrywhere wages are rapidly altering, though some are bettered by it, penury is entailed on others, who have not the means of raising theirprices. 

If heavy taxes are levied on a few articles of consumption, then theybecome inefficient, and if they are divided amongst a great many, theybecome troublesome, so that either way they are attended withinconvenience and difficulty. 

In every country, where taxation has been carried to a great height, ithas, at last, become necessary to bear heavily upon personal property. Such taxes are always attended with disagreeable feelings, andpeculiar inconveniency. The tax always comes in the form of a debt, and whether convenient to be paid or not, it admits at best but of littledelay. {90}

In England the nature of the government, the disposition of the people, and the same sort of genius that made them succeed in commercialintercourse and regulation, led them to adopt the least objectionablemodes of taxation. 

The customs were the first great branch of revenue at the time of therevolution. The excise, land-tax, and stamps, rose next, none of whichcan be objected to; for the person who pays the tax to governmentonly advances the money, and is reimbursed by the consumer, who, again on his part, when he really pays the tax (for good and all) does itunder the form of an advance in price. Thus, then, the tax is disguisedto him that really pays it, and it is optional, inasmuch as he

---{90} It will be seen, in a future part of this work, that the farmers havelost nothing, but rather got by the high prices of grain in this country, and it is so probably in all others. Those who sell necessaries raise theprice; those who make or sell superfluities have no such resource, andtherefore pay in the severest manner. -=-

[end of page #106]

may avoid the tax, by not consuming the article. He never can be suedfor the tax, and he pays it by degrees, as he can spare the money. {91}

Some time before the taxation which the American war renderednecessary, it was thought that the customs and excise could not becarried much farther. Ministers did not chuse =sic= to venture on anadditional tax on land, and, consequently, stamps were augmented andextended, as were also duties on windows. A variety of new taxes onparticular articles of consumption were resorted to. Those sort of taxesharassed and tormented individuals more than they filled the treasury, yet still, when, after an interval of a few years of peace, new burthensbecame necessary, in 1793, the same plan was pursued, till it wasfound ineffectual, being too troublesome and tedious, besides beingunequal to the increase of expenditure. 

It was necessity that suggested a plan, which is the simplest andeasiest of any, so long as it succeeds and is productive. =sic= Toincrease the excise and customs by an additional five or ten per cent. On the articles that were supposed able to bear it. This has been doneagain and again with those two branches of revenue, and with thestamps likewise. 

But the necessities of the state still outrun the means, and the assessedtaxes, the worst and most obnoxious of all, were augmented in thesame way; but even those were not productive. The inducement toprivation was too great, and the restraints laid on expenditure, suggested the adoption of a tax on income; that is, on the means a manhas to pay, which carries in its very name a description of its nature. 

We have mentioned the influence that necessity has on industry. Oneof the effects of taxes, as well as of rent, is to prolong the operation ofnecessity, or to increase it. A man who has neither rent nor taxes topay, as is the case in some savage nations, only labours to supply hiswants. Whatever proportion rent and taxes bear to the wants of

---{91} The land-tax is not precisely the same, but very nearly. Itoperates as a tax on the produce of land, that is on commodities for theuse of man, the same as those articles subject to duties of customs orexcise. The landholder just feels as the brewer, distiller, or importer offoreign goods, he gets the tax reimbursed by the farmer, and thefarmer is reimbursed by the consumer. -=-

[end of page #107]

a people their industry will be increased in the same proportion, unlesstheir forces are exceeded, and then the operation is indeed verydifferent. 

It follows, from this, that both rent and taxes, to a certain degree, increase the wealth of a people, by augmenting their industry. As rentis not compulsive, it never can in general be carried beyond the pointthat augmented industry will bear; but taxes are not either regulated bythe industry of the individual, or of the community; they maytherefore be carried too far, and when they are, the people becomedegraded, disheartened, their independent spirit is lost and broken, and industry, in place of increasing, as it did in the first stages oftaxation, flies away. 

The government, in this case, generally becomes more severe, andcertainly more obnoxious. The broken spirit of the people makessubmission a matter of course, so that there is no effectual resistancemade to its power. Incapacity to pay comes at last, and defeats theend; but, between incapacity and resistance, the difference is verywide. 

As calculators have been predicting the moment of a total stoppage tothe increase of revenue for nearly half a century; as ministers, themselves, have never ventured to lay on a new burthen, except whenforced to it by necessity. {92} As taxes have been laid on at random, in a manner similar to that in which the streets and houses of old citieswere built, without regularity or design, and as the effects predictedhave not taken place, it is fair to conclude, that the subject is not wellunderstood. If it were, the evil would be in the way to be obviated; butstill the conclusion would be the same, that increased taxation tends tobring on discontent, and to drive men and capital from a country. Thedegree of tendency, and the rapidity of its operations, are a question;but respecting the tendency itself there can be no question. 

Two things more are to be observed, relative to the effects of taxation, as tending towards decline. The first is, that the taxes are levied byand expended on men, who, having income only for their lives, ---{92} Mr. Pitt seems an exception to this; but the establishment of asinking fund, at the end of the war, was as necessary for hisadministration as any of the loans, during the war, were for LordNorth; and both measures required new taxes. -=-

[end of page #108]

generally leave families in distress. Those who lose their parents whenyoung are often left destitute, and those who are farther advanced arefrequently ruined by being educated and accustomed to a rank in lifethat they are not able to support. This is a very great evil, and isrenewed as it were every generation. As the revenues of a countryincrease, this evil increases also: for, except what goes to theproprietors of money in the stocks, all the public revenue, very nearly, goes to people whose income perishes with themselves. To begin withthose who collect the taxes, custom-house officers, excise men, collectors, and clerks of every rank and demonination =sic=, there isnot one in ten who does not die in indigence; and if he leaves a family, he leaves it in distress. 

It is no doubt the lot of the great bulk of mankind, that is to say, thelabouring part of the community in every country, to leave childrenunprovided for; but then they are left in a rank of society that does notprevent their going to work or to service, which is not the case withthe vast number left by those who enjoy, during life, a genteel andeasy existence under government. 

The education of such persons is either neglected entirely, or ill fittedfor the line of life into which they are to go. If the sum-total of humanvice and misery was to be divided into shares, and if it were calculatedhow much fell to each person, there is not a doubt but at least a doubleportion would fall to the lot of those unfortunate persons who are leftby parents enjoying offices for life; who are generally obliged toexpend their income as they earn it. As, according to the naturalchance of things, a number of such persons must leave young families, the seeds of misery are continually sowing a-fresh, to the greatdetriment of society. This evil depends in a great degree upon thehabits and nature of the people, which augment or diminish it; and, incommercial nations, the evil is far the greatest. Where commerce doesnot flourish, persons belonging to the revenue-department are seldomhighly paid, and they by no means consider themselves as a class ofpersons distinguished above the general run, or obliged to live moreexpensively; but, in a manufacturing country, to live without working, implies a degree of gentility that is extremely ruinous to those whoenjoy that fatal and flimsy pre-eminence. [end of page #109]

A manufacturer, who is getting a thousand pounds a year, will, perhaps, not assume so much importance as a man in office who doesnot get one hundred pounds; and the former, as well as his family, knowing that they are beholden to industry for what they have, do notthink themselves above following it. {93}

Unfortunately, it also happens, that, in all sorts of occupation wheretrust is reposed and punctuality required, more than in ordinarybusiness, it is rather late in life before those employed rise tosituations of considerable emolument. When they are old, theirfamilies are generally young; thus it is, that the persons who are themost unfit to marry late in life are generally those who do so. Thisorder of things cannot easily be changed. In the rate of paymentsgovernments are regulated by the service done, and by the dependencethat can be placed on the person employed, who, on the other hand, follows the natural propensities of human nature. When young, and ona small allowance, a revenue-officer remains single; but when it isnecessary to become serious, attentive, and confidential, and when hefinds he has the means, he betakes himself to a domestic life, which isthe most natural to men arrived at a certain time of life, and the bestfitted for those who are to be depended upon for the correctness oftheir conduct. It is impossible to prevent this natural state of things;and if let go uncorrected, if not counteracted, the consequences arevery pernicious. It is to this, in a great measure, the augmentation ofvice and mendicity =sic= is to be attributed in nations, as they becomewealthy and great. 

Perhaps more depends upon the manner of taxation than the amount;at least it certainly is so in all countries where the amount is not veryhigh. In America, for example, the amount is of no importance; themanner might be of very pernicious consequence. In France, beforethe revolution, the taxes were more oppressive, from the manner oflevying them than from their amount. The same thing might be said

---{93} This is a very important part of the consideration; but, aseducation and it are connected, and that comes into the Fourth Book=sic--there is none. =, the whole consideration is left till then; not onlythe national prosperity is injured, but the feelings of humanity arehurt, and the sum of human misery increased by this consequence. -=-

[end of page #110]

of almost every country in Europe, England and Holland excepted. Atpresent, the case is greatly altered, in many countries, by the increase:yet, still, one of the principal evils arises from the manner of levyingthe taxes; the restraints imposed by them, the inconveniency, thevexation, and, finally, the misery and ruin they, in many cases, occasion. 

Of all the examples, where taxation contributed most to the fall of acountry, Rome is the greatest. The luxury of the imperial court, andthe expenses of a licentious and disorderly army, added to theignorance of the subject, rendered the taxes every way burthensome. From the fall of Rome, to the time of Louis XIV. The splendour ofcourts, and their expenses, were objects of no great importance. Weare but lately arrived at a new aera in taxation; for, though taxation hasbeen the occasion of much discontent at all times, it was carried to noconsiderable length, in any country in Europe, except in Spain andHolland, till within this last century. 

Indeed, when we consider the great noise that has often been madeabout raising an inconsiderable sum, it is impossible not to beastonished at the reluctance with which people pay taxes, when theyfeel that they are paying them, and are not accustomed to the feeling. 

Taxation is, then, to the feelings of men, disagreeable; to theirmanners hurtful; they are also, in their operation, to a certain degree, inimical to liberty. The ultimate consequence of this is, that personsand property have both of them a tendency to quit a country wheretaxes are high, and to go to one, where, with the same means, theremay be more enjoyment. 

Taxes may be called a rent paid for living in a country, and operateexactly like the rent of houses or land, or rent for any thing else; thatis, they make the tenant remove to a cheaper place, unless he findsadvantages where he is to counterbalance the expense. 

Unfortunately, the persons who have the greatest disposition to quit acountry that is heavily taxed are those, who, having a certain income, which they cannot increase, wish to enjoy it with some degree ofeconomy. They are, likewise, the persons who can remove with thegreatest [end of page #111] facility. Thus, people whose income is inmoney are always the first to quit a country that is become too dear tolive in with comfort. 

Many circumstances may favour or counteract this tendency, such asthe difficulty of finding an agreeable place to retire to, where themoney will be secure, or the interest regularly paid; but, an inquiryinto that will come more properly when we examine the externalcauses of decline. 

Though the increase of taxes, by augmenting the expense of living, and ofthe necessaries of life, is little felt by the labouring class, theirwages rising in proportion; yet a most disastrous effect is produced onthe fine arts, and on all productions of which the price does not bear aproportional rise. 

Where taxes are high, and luxury great, there must be some personswho have a great deal of ostentation, even if they have little taste. Apicture or a jewel of great value will, very certainly, find a purchaser, but that will only serve as a motive for bringing the fine painting fromanother country, where the necessaries of life are cheaper, and wheremen enjoy that careless ease which is incompatible with a high state oftaxation. 

When Rome became luxurious, to the highest pitch, there were neitherpoets, painters, nor historians, bred within its walls; buffoons andfiddlers could get more money than philosophers, and they had moresaleable talents. Had Virgil not found an Augustus, had he lived threecenturies later, he must either have written ballads and lampoons, orhave starved; otherwise he must have quitted Italy. 

When Rome was full of luxury, and commanded the world and itswealth, there was not an artist in it capable of executing the statues ofits victorious generals. {94}

Some Greek island, barren and bare, would breed artists capable ofmaking ornaments for imperial Rome. 

---{94} They were obliged to cut the heads off from ancient statues, astheir artists were only sufficiently expert to carve the drapery of thebody. -=-

[end of page #112]

It is an easy matter, in a rich country, to pay for a fine piece of art, But a difficult matter to find a price for the bringing up a fineartist. {95}

The fine arts have not, indeed, any intimate or immediate connectionwith the wealth or strength of a nation. The balance of trade has neverbeen greatly increased by the exportation of great masterpieces of art, nor have nations been subdued by the powers of oratory; but theknowledge and the arts, by which wealth and greatness are obtained, follow in the train of the finer performances of human genius. 

Where money becomes the universal agent, where it is impossible toenjoy ease or comfort for a single day without it, it becomes an objectof adoration, as it were. To despise gold, which purchases all things, isreckoned a greater crime than to despise him to whose bounty we areindebted for all things; consequently, ambition, without which therenever is excellence, is, at an early period of life, bent towards thegaining a fortune. A man, indeed, must either be of a singularly oddand obstinate disposition, or very indifferent about the opinion ofothers, and even about the good things of this world, (as they aretermed, ) to persevere in obtaining perfection in science or art, whilewithout bread, when he might, with a tenth part of the care and study, live in affluence, and get money from day to day. There are few suchobstinate fools; and without them, in a wealthy country, there can befound few men profound in science, or excelling in any of the arts. 

The augmentation of taxes, by rendering the produce of industrydearer than in other countries, tends to cut off a nation of that de-

---{95} This is liable to some exceptions. Natural genius may make aman excel; but, even then, it is ten to one if he is not compelled tolabour in order to get bread, in place of trying to obtain fame. It wasthus the great Dr. Johnson, with a genius that might have procuredhim immortal fame, drudged, during life, on weekly or daily labours, which will soon be forgotten. Even his dictionary, wonderful as it isfor a single man, is not worthy of the English nation, and Johnson'sname is little known beyond the limits of his own country. His geniuswas great, but his labours were little. His mind was in fetters; it wasSampson grinding at the mill to amuse the Philistines; not Sampsonslaying lions, and putting to flight armies. -=-

[end of page #113]

scription, from the markets in poorer countries. If all other countriesare poorer; and the taxes lower; it has a tendency to shut it out from allthe markets in the world. 

An operation, that, at the same time that it renders people less happy, less contented, and more indifferent to the fate of their country, and atthe same time tends to shut them out from foreign markets, is certainlyvery hurtful to any country, but particularly so to one, the greatness ofwhich is founded on manufactures and commerce. 

It would be useless to enlarge on so self-evident a consequence; yet, even in this case, we shall find something of that mixture of good, along with the bad, which is to be found in all human things. 

As exertion originates in necessity or want, which it removes, taxationhas the effect of prolonging the operation of necessity, after it wouldotherwise have ceased, and of rendering its pressure greater than itotherwise would be; the consequence of this is a greater and largercontinued exertion on the part of those who have to pay the taxes. Human exertion, either in the way of invention or of industry, is like aspring that is pressed upon, and gains strength according to thepressure, until a certain point, when it gives way entirely. 

Those investigators, who have calculated the effect of such and such adegree of taxation, of national debt, &c. Have all erred, in not makingany, or a sufficient, allowance for the action of this elastic power. Mr. Hume and Mr. Smith, certainly, both of them, men of profoundresearch, have erred completely in this. The former, in calculating theultimatum of exertion, at a point which we have long since passed;and, the latter, in reasoning on the taxation at the time he wrote, as ifnearly the utmost degree, though it has since trebled, and the difficultyin paying seems to be diminished; at least it appears not to haveaugmented. 

To fix the point at which this can stop is not, indeed, very easy;particularly, as the value of gold and silver, which are the measures ofother values, do themselves vary. Thus, for example, a working mancan, with his day's wages, purchase as much bread and beer as hecould have done with it forty years ago. Though the national debt [endof page #114] is five times as great as it was then, at the present priceof bread, it would not take twice the number of loaves to pay it that itwould have required at that time. 

The depreciation of money, then, as well as the continuation andaugmented pressure of necessity, counteract, to a certain degree, andfor a certain time, the natural tendency of taxes; but that counteraction, though operating in all cases, in its degree and duration, must dependupon particular circumstances; and though, perhaps, it cannot be, withmuch accuracy, ascertained in any case, it is impossible to attemptresolving the question in a general way; we shall, therefore, return tothe subject, when we apply the general principles to the particularsituation of England. 

One conclusion, however, is, that as taxes, carried to a great extent, are very dangerous, though not so if only carried to a certain point; asthat point cannot be ascertained, it ought to be a general rule to lay onas few taxes as possible; and the giving as little trouble andderangement to the contributor as may be, is also another point, withrespect to which there cannot be two different opinions. [end of page#115]

CHAP. IV. 

_Of the interior Causes of Decline, arising from the Encroachments ofpublic and privileged Bodies, and of those who have a commonInterest; on those who have no common Interest_. {96}

From the moment that any particular form of government or order isestablished in a nation, there must be separate and adverse interests;or, which is the same thing, bodies acting in opposition to each other, and seeking their own power and advantage at the expense of the rest. 

In a country where the executive government is under no sufficientcontrol, its strides to arbitrary power are well known; but, in agovernment poised like that of England, where there are deliberativebodies, with different interests, acting separately, and interested inkeeping each other and the executive in check, it is not from thegovernment that much danger is to be apprehended. 

It is not meant to dwell on this particular part of the subject. As thosegoverned hold a check on the executive power, which alone can besupposed to profit by oppression, there is a means of defence, in thefirst instance, and of redress, in the second, which diminishes greatly, if it does not entirely do away all danger from encroachment. 

Another thing to be said about this government is, that governmentand the subject never come into opposition with each other, exceptwhere there is law or precedent to determine between them. 

The danger, then, of encroachment on that side, is not very great, andit is the less so in this country, that, when there have been contests, they have always ended in favour of the people; whereas, in most

---{96} The public certainly has a common interest, but it feels it not, and even those who have separate interests make part of that verypublic. --This will be exemplified, in a variety of instances, in thecourse of the present chapter. -=-

[end of page #116]

other countries, they have terminated in favour of the executivepower. 

It is not so, however, with many other of the component parts ofsociety. Those deliberating bodies, who have separate interests, and allthose who live, as it were, on the public, and have what they call, inFrance, _l'esprit du corps_, for which we have no proper expression, though it may be defined to be those who have a common interest, afellow feeling, and the means of acting in concert, are much moredangerous. 

In nations where the executive power has no control, the progress ofpublic bodies is less dangerous than where the power of the king islimited. It is always the interest of the sovereign, who monopolises allpower, and those around him, to prevent any man, or body of men, from infringing on the liberty of the subject, or becoming rivals, bylaying industry under contribution, so we find that, in every suchnation, the clergy excepted, all public bodies are kept under propersubjection. {97}

---{97} In all countries, those who have the care of religious mattersmust necessarily have some control over the minds of the people, which they can to a certain degree turn either to a good or a badpurpose. It is, therefore, impossible that the government and clergycan, for any length of time, act in opposition to each other: one orother of the two must soon fall, and there have been instances of thetriumph of each. We have sometimes seen kings triumph over theclergy, but not very often; and we have frequently seen governmentsoverturned by their means: except, therefore, in a state of revolution, they must mutually support each other. This is the natural state ofthings; but, in Roman Catholic countries, priests have a superior swayto what they have in any other, for several reasons that are veryobvious. In the first place, the sovereign of the nation is not the headof the church; and, in the second, by means of a very superior degreeof art and attention, during the dark ages, when the laity were sunk inignorance, the catholic clergy contrived to entail the church property, from generation to generation, upon the whole body: at the same time, enjoining celibacy, by which all chance of alienation, even of personalproperty, was done away. As to the means of acquiring property, andof augmenting it; they were many, and, in every contest with thesecular authority, they had a great advantage, by speaking, as it were, through ten thousand mouths at once, and giving the alarm to theconsciences of the weak. In countries where the protestant religion hasbeen established, the case is widely different. Gothic darkness wasnearly fled before the reformation: besides this, the clergy are likeother men, with regard to the manner of living; they are fathers andhusbands, and, as such, liable to have all the property that is their ownalienated, as much as any other set of men [end of page #117]whatever. The reformers, who were neither destitute of penetration norzeal, and who knew all the abuses of the church of Rome, in mattersof regulation as well as of opinion, were very careful to settle the neworder of things on such a plan, as to be free from the evils which theyhad experienced, and against which they had risen with such energyand zeal. -=-

The simple state of the case is, that the interest of the people is that ofthe sovereign; and, except in cases where there is a profoundignorance of what is good for the nation, every wise sovereign takesthe part of the people. But, under a limited monarchy, or in ademocracy, the case is different. There, those bodies, which anarbitrary monarch would reduce to obedience at once, stand uponprerogative themselves; they form a band in the legislature, and acttrue to their own interests; so that the sovereign himself is compelledto admit of abuses, which he is willing but not able to remedy. 

It is a great mistake, and one of the greatest into which people have oflate been apt to run, that the government and people of a country areof opposite interests; and that governments wish to oppress the people, and rob them of the means of being affluent and happy: the verycontrary is the case; all enlightened monarchs have acted quitedifferently. 

Alfred the Great, Edward III. Queen Elizabeth, and nearly all hersuccessors have endeavoured to increase the wealth and happiness ofthe people in England. Henry IV. Of France, even Louis XIV. Peter theGreat of Russia, Catherine, and indeed all his successors, as also theKings of Prussia, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and other sovereigns, who know how to shew their disposition, have tried to enrich theirpeople, and render them happy. The great study of the Englishgovernment has always been directed to that end, and the Romansextended their care even to the nations they subdued. Though there aremany sovereigns who have not known how to do this, and thereforehave either not attempted it, or erred in the mode they have taken; yet, with very few exceptions indeed, sovereigns have been found to wishfor the prosperity of the nations over which they ruled. 

In all human institutions there is much that is bad, and something [endof page #118] that is good; and the best, as well as the worst, are onlycombinations of good and evil, differing in the proportions. In mixtgovernments, or in limited governments, the people can defend theirrights better against the sovereign than against those bodies that springup amongst themselves: whereas, in pure monarchies, they have onlyto guard against the encroachments of the sovereign; and he will takecare to prevent them from being oppressed by any other power. 

This tendency to destruction, from encroachments of public bodies inestablished governments, is more to be dreaded in limited monarchies, and in democracies, than in pure monarchies; but we have had littleoccasion to observe the progress in governments of the former sort, excepting the clergy, though the military and the nobles generally playtheir part. 

In Rome, the military never were dangerous, while the armies wereonly raised, like militias, for the purpose of a particular war; but, whenthey became a standing body, they were the proximate efficient causeof destroying liberty, though this was only the prelude to that declinewhich afterwards took place. 

In limited monarchies, the lawyers are the greatest body, from whichthis sort of danger arises, and the reasons are numerous and evident. 

United in interest, and constantly occupied in studying the law of thecountry, while the public at large are occupied on a variety of differentobjects, and without any bond of union, there can be nothing morenatural than that they should contrive to render the business whichthey alone can understand, of as much importance and profit aspossible. 

In the criminal law of the country, where the king is the prosecutor, and where the lawyers are not interested in multiplying expense orembarrassment, our laws are administered with admirable attention;though, perhaps, in some cases, they are blamed for severity, they arejustly admired over the world for their mode of administration. 

It is very different in cases of property, or civil actions, where it isman against man, and where both solicitor and council =sic= areinterested in the intricacy of the case. Here, indeed, the public is soglaringly imposed upon, that it would be almost useless to dwell onthe sub-[end of page #119] ject, and, as a part of the plan of this workis to offer, or point out, a remedy, it may be sufficient, in this case, togo over the business once, and leave the examples till the relief isproposed. 

At present, it is, however, necessary to shew why, as things areconstituted in mixed governments like this, no remedy is to be had. The public only acts by representatives; and, in the House of Lords, the law-lords, who have _l'esprit du corps_, may easily contrive tomanage every thing. One or two noblemen excepted, no one eitherhas, or pretends to have sufficient knowledge to argue or adjust apoint of law. Indeed, it is no easy matter to do so with effect, for, besides that, the law-lords have ministers on their side, or, which isthe same thing, are on the side of ministers, the speaker is himself atthe head of the law. The other members who look up to the law-lords, and who are generally very few in number on a law-question, generally give their assent. In the House of Commons, in which thereare a number of lawyers, they are still less opposed. The countrygentlemen profess ignorance. They think that to watch money-bills, the privileges of the house, the general interests of the nation, roads, canals, and inclosures, is their province. The mercantile, and otherinterests, composed of men getting money with great rapidity, consider the abuses of law as not to them of much importance; they donot feel the inconvenience, and have neither time nor inclination tostudy the subject. {98}

The prerogative of the king to refuse his assent, might, perhaps, beexpected to come in as a protection, but here there is least of all anything to be expected. In the first place, it is thought to be wise never touse that prerogative, and, in the second place, the lord-high-chancelloris the king's guide in every thing of the sort, insomuch, that he isstyled the keeper of the king's conscience. 

With power, influence, and interest on one side, and nothing to opposeit on the other, (for the common proverb is true, as all common

---{98} The law is the widest, and the shortest, and the nearest road to apeerage. A Howe, Nelson, and St. Vincent, play a game, partly ofskill, and partly of chance, for title; they must have luck andopportunity. The others are sure with fewer competitors to have moreprizes. -=-

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proverbs are, that what is every body's business is nobody's, ) thelawyers must encroach on the public, and they have done so to a mostalarming degree. 

In this case, it is not, as in others, where the great cut out work for andemploy the small. No. The great generally (indeed almost always)begin with the advice and by the means of an attorney, who is onlysupposed to understand law-practice. The proceeding does notoriginate with the council, who could form some judgment of thejustice of the case, so that a mean petty-fogging attorney may, for atrifle, which he puts into his own pocket, ruin two ignorant and honestmen; he may set the ablest council to work, and occupy, for a time, thecourts of justice, to the general interruption of law, and injury of thepublic. 

This is, perhaps, one of the greatest and most crying evils in the land, and calls out the most loudly for redress, as the effects are veryuniversal. In a commercial country, so many interests clash, and thereare such a variety of circumstances, that the vast swarms of attorneys, who crowd the kingdom, find no difficulty in misleading one of theparties, and that is the cause of most law-suits. 

As commercial wealth increases the evil augments, not in simpleproportion, but in a far more rapid progression; first, in proportion tothe wealth and gain to be obtained, and, secondly, according to theopportunities which augment with the business done. 

In addition to the real dead expense, the loss of time, the attention, andthe misfortune and misery occasioned by the law, are terrible evils;and, if ever the moment comes, that a general dissatisfaction prevails, it will be the law that will precipitate the evil. 

The mildness of the civil laws in France, and the restraints underwhich lawyers are held, served greatly to soften the rigours of therevolution for the first two years. Had they possessed the power andthe means they do in England, the revolution must have become muchmore terrible than it was at the first outset. 

The lawyers owe all their power to the nature of the government. Anarbitrary monarch will have no oppressor but himself, but here the[end of page #121] different interests are supposed to be poised; andwhen they are, all goes right, but, when they happen not to be so, themost active interest carries the day. 

Though the law is the greatest of those bodies that is of a differentinterest from the public at large, yet there are some others deservingnotice, and requiring reformation. It is the interest of all those who areconnected with government to do away abuses that tend to endangerits security, or diminish its resources. 

As the public revenue is all derived from those who labour, and as itcan come from no other persons, if the prosperity and happiness of thesubject were a mere matter of indifference, which it cannot besupposed to be; still it would be an object for government to preservehis resources undiminished. It was our lot, in another chapter, tomention the enormous increase of the poor's rate, which was in partattributed to the general increase of wealth; mal-administration is, however, another cause, and, the public is the more to be pitied, thatthe parish-officers defend their conduct against their constituents atthe expense of their constituents. 

In an inquiry after truth, it should be spoken without fear of offending;and, in this case, though the feelings of Englishmen may, perhaps, behurt, and their pride wounded, it must be allowed, that if it were notfor the mock-democratical form of administrating =sic= the funds forthe maintenance of the poor, they would never suffer the extortion, and the bare-faced iniquities that are committed. {99} The ship-money, the poll-tax, the taxes on the Americans, and others, that havecaused so much bloodshed and strife, never amounted to one-tenth, ifall added together, of what the English public pays to be applied tomaintain the poor, and administered by rude illiterate men, who renderscarcely any account, and certainly, in general, evade all regularcontrol. Those administrators, though chosen by the people, always, while in office, imbibe _l'esprit du corps_, and make a commoncause. 

---{99} In Brabant and Flanders the people were very jealous of theirliberties. They were, however, most terribly oppressed by thechurchmen and lawyers. -=-

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The repairs of highways, bridges, streets, and expenses of police ingeneral; whatever falls on parishes, towns, or counties, in the form ofa tax or rate, is generally ill-administered, and the wastefulnessincreases with wealth. The difficulty of controling or redressing thoseevils proceeds from the same spirit pervading all the separateadministrations. Government alone can remedy this; and it is both theinterest and duty of the government to keep a strict watch over everybody of men that has an interest separate from that of the public atlarge. Similar to the human body, which becomes stiff and rigid withage, so, as states get older, regulation upon regulation, andencroachment on encroachment, add friction and difficulty to themachine, till its force is overcome, and the motion stops. In the humanbody, if no violent disease intervenes, age occasions death. In thebody politic, if no accidental event comes to accelerate the effect, itbrings on a revolution; hence, as a nation never dies, it throws off theold grievances, and begins a new career. 

The tendency that all laws and regulations have to become morecomplicated, and that all bodies, united by one common interest, haveto encroach on the general weal, are known from the earliest periods;but we have no occasion to go back to early periods for a proof of thatin this country. As wealth increases, the temptation augments, and theresistance decreases. The wealthy part of society are scarcely pressedupon by the evils, and they love ease too well to trouble themselveswith fighting the battles of the public. Those who are engaged in tradeare too much occupied to spare time; and, if they were not, theyneither in general know how to proceed, nor have they any fund attheir disposal, from which to draw the necessary money forexpenditure. 

It sometimes happens, that an individual, from a real public spirit, orfrom a particular humour or disposition, or, perhaps, because he hasbeen severely oppressed, musters sufficient courage to undertake theredress of some particular grievance; but, unless he is very fortunate, and possesses both money and abilities, it is generally the ruin of hispeace, if not of his fortune. He finds himself at once beset with a hostof enemies, who throw every embarrassment in his way: his friends[end of page #123] may admire and pity, but they very seldom lendhim any assistance. If some progress is made in redressing thegrievance, it is generally attended with such consequences to theindividual, as to deter others from undertaking a similar cause. Thusthe incorporated body becomes safe, and goes on with itsencroachments with impunity. 

Much more may be said upon this subject; but, as it is rather one ofwhich the operation is regulated by particular circumstances, than bygeneral rules, the object being to apply the result of the inquiry toEngland, we shall leave it till we come to the application of it to thatcountry, only observing, that the church, the army, and the law, are thethree bodies universally and principally to be looked to as dangerous;and each of them according to the situation and the form ofgovernment of the respective countries, though, in England, thechurch has less means than in any country in Europe of extending itsrevenues or power, the law and corporate bodies the most; and, underarbitrary governments, the church and the military have the most, andthe law and corporate bodies little or none. [end of page #124]

CHAP. V. 

_Of the internal Causes of Decline, arising from the unequal Divisionof Property, and its Accumulation in the Hands of particular Persons. --Its Effects on the Employment of Capital_. 

In every country, the wealth that is in it has a natural tendency toaccumulate in the hands of certain individuals, whether the laws of thesociety do or do not favour that accumulation. Although it has beenobserved in a former chapter that wealth follows industry, and fliesfrom the son of the affluent citizen to the poor country boy, yet that isonly the case with wealth, the possessor of which requires industry tokeep it; for, where wealth has been obtained, so as to be in the form ofland or money at interest, this is no longer the case. {100}

In America, and in countries that are new, or in those of which theinhabitants have been sufficiently hardy, and rash to overturn everyancient institution, precautions have been taken against theaccumulation of too much wealth in the hands of one person, or atleast to discourage and counteract it; but, in old nations, where we donot chuse =sic= to run such risks, the case is different. The naturalvanity of raising a family, the means that a rich man has toaccumulate, the natural chance of wealth accumulating by marriages, and many other circumstances, operate in favour of all those rich men, who are freed from risk, and independent of industry. In some cases, extravagance dissipates wealth, but the laws favour accumulation oflanded property, and counteract extravagance; the advantages are infavour of all the wealthy in general, and the consequence is, that fromthe first origin of any particular order of things, till some convulsiontakes place, the division of property becomes more and more unequal. 

Far from counteracting this by the laws of the land, in all those

---{100} Amongst the Romans, in early times, property in land was bylaw to be equally divided; but that absurd law was never strictlyattended to, and when the country became wealthy was totally setaside. -=-

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countries, the governments of which took strength during this feudalsystem, there are regulations leading greatly to accelerate the progress. The law of primogeniture has this effect; and the law of entails, bothimmoral and impolitic in its operation, has a still greater tendency. 

These laws only extend to agricultural property; but commerce, whichat first tends to disseminate wealth, in the end, has the same effect ofaccumulating it in private hands. 

Industry, art, and intelligence, are, in the early ages, the spring ofcommerce; but, as machinery and capital become necessary, a set ofpersons rise up who engross all the great profits, and amass immensefortunes. {101}

The consequence of great fortunes, and the unequal division ofproperty, are, that the lower ranks, though expensively maintained, become degraded, disorderly, and uncomfortable, while the middlingclasses disappear by degrees. Discontent pervades the great mass ofthe people, and the supporters of the government, though powerful, are too few in number, and too inefficient in character to preserve itfrom ruin. 

The proprietors of land or money should never be so far raised abovethe ordinary class of the people as to be totally ignorant of theirmanner of feeling and existing, or to lose sight of the connectionbetween industry and prosperity; for, whenever they do, theindustrious are oppressed, and wealth vanishes. {102}

It requires not much knowledge, and little love of justice, to see thatthere must be gradations in society, which, instead of diminishing, increase the general happiness of mankind; but when we

---{101} Invention has nearly the same effect in commerce that theintroduction of gunpowder and artillery have on the art of war. Wealthis rendered more necessary to carry them on. Every new improvementthat is made, in either the personal strength and energy of manbecomes of less importance. 

{102} Some of the greatest proprietors in this kingdom, much to theirhonour, are the most exemplary men in it, with respect to theirconduct to their tenantry; but though the instances are honourable andsplendid, they are not general; nor is it in the nature of things that theycan be general. In France, matters were in general different; and theinattention of the nobility to their duty was one cause of therevolution; they had forgot, that, if they neglected or oppressed theindustrious, they must ruin themselves. -=-

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find that the chance of being born half an hour sooner or later makesone man the proprietor of 50, 000 acres and another little better than abeggar; when we consider that, by means of industry, he never may beable to purchase a garden to grow cabbages for his family, it loosensour attachment to the order of things we see before us, it hurts ourideas of moral equity. A man of reflection wishes the evil to besilently counteracted, and if he is violent, and has any disposition totry a change, it furnishes him with arguments and abettors. 

When the Romans (with whose history we are tolerably wellacquainted) {103} grew rich, the division of property became veryunequal, and the attachment of the people for their governmentdeclined, the middle classes lost their importance, and the lowerorders of free citizens became a mere rabble. When Rome was poor, the people did not cry for bread, but when the brick buildings wereturned into marble palaces, when a lamprey was sold for fifty-sixpounds, {104} the people became a degraded populace, not muchbetter, or less disorderly than the Lazzeroni of Naples. A donation ofcorn was a bribe to a Roman citizen; {105} though there is not, perhaps, an order of peasantry in the most remote corner of Europe, who would consider such a donation in ordinary times as an objecteither worthy of clamour or deserving of thanks. {106}

The Romans, at the time when Cincinatus held the plough, and theconquerors of nations roasted their own turnips, would have thoughtthemselves degraded by eating bread obtained by such means; but itwas different with the Romans after they had conquered the world. 

In a more recent example, we may trace a similar effect, arising from acause not very different. 

---{103} We know better about the laws and manners of the Romans2000 years ago, in the time of the first Punic War, than about those ofEngland, in the time of Henry the Fourth. They had fixed laws, theirstate was young, and the division of property tolerably equal. 

{104} See Arbuthnot on Coins. 

{105} Do not the soup-shops of late invention, and certainly wellintended, bear some resemblance to these days of Romanwretchedness and magnificence. 

{106} It is to be observed, these donations were not on account ofscarcity, but to save the people from the trouble of working to earn thecorn; they were become idle in body and degraded in mind. -=-

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The unequal division of property in France was one of the chief causesof the revolution; the intention of which was, to overturn the thenexisting order of things. The ignorance of the great proprietorsconcerning of their true interests, and the smallness of their numbers, disabled them from protecting themselves. The middle orders werediscontented, and wished for a change; and the lower orders were sodegraded, that, at the first signal, they became as mutinous and asmean as the Plebians at Rome, in the days of its splendor. {107}

That this was not alone owing to the unequal division of property iscertain, there were other causes, but that was a principal one. As aproof that this was so in England, where property is more equallydivided than it was in France, the common people are more attachedto government, and of a different spirit, though they are changingsince the late great influx of wealth into this country, and sincedifficulties which have accumulated on the heads of the middle orders, while those who have large fortunes feel a greater facility ofaugmenting them than at any former period. 

In those parts of this country, where wealth has made the leastprogress, the character of the people supports itself the best amongstthe lower classes; and the inverse progress of that character, and of theacquisition of wealth, is sufficiently striking to be noticed by one whois neither a very near, nor a very nice observer. 

Discontent and envy rise arise from comparison; and, where theybecome prevalent, society can never stand long. They are enemies tofair industry. 

Whatever may have been the delusive theories into which ill-intentioned, designing, and subtile men have sometimes deluded thegreat mass of the people, they have never been successful, exceptwhen they could fight under the appearance of justice, and therebycreate discontent. The unequal division of property has frequentlyserved them in this case. 

---{107} The Parisian populace were the instruments in the hand of thosewho destroyed the former government, as the regular army is in thehands of him who has erected that which now exists. -=-

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while it increased the ignorance, and diminished the number of theenemies they had to encounter. 

As this evil has arisen to a greater height in countries which have hadless wealth in the aggregate than England, it is not the most dangerousthing we have to encounter; but, as the tendency to it increases veryrapidly of late years, we must, by no means, overlook it. A futureChapter will be dedicated to the purpose of inquiring how this may becounteracted in some cases, in others modified and disguised, so as toprevent, in some degree, the evil effects that naturally arise from it. 

Of all the ways in which property accumulates, in particular hands, themost dangerous is landed property; not only on account of entails, andthe law of primogeniture, (which attach to land alone, ) but because itis the property the most easily retained, the least liable to be alienated, and the only one that augments in value in a state that is growing rich. 

An estate in land augments in value, without augmenting in extent, when a country becomes richer. A fortune, lent at interest, diminishes, as the value of money sinks. A fortune engaged in trade is liable torisks, and requires industry to preserve it: but industry, it has beenobserved, never is to be found for any great length of time in anysingle line of men; consequently, there are few great monied men, except such as have acquired their own fortunes, and those can neverbe very numerous nor overgrown. 

Besides our having facts to furnish proofs that there are no very greatfortunes, except landed fortunes; it can scarcely have escaped thenotice of any one, that no other gives such umbrage, or shews theinferiority men =sic= who have none so much. {108}

That there is a perpetual tendency to the accumulation of property, inthe hands of individuals, is certain; for, amongst the nations

---{108} If a man has wealth, in any other form, it is only known by theexpenditure he makes, and it is quickly diminished bymismanagement; but the great landed estate, which is seldom wellattended to, is mismanaged to the public detriment without ruin to theproprietor. -=-

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of Europe, those who are the most ancient, exhibit the most strikingcontrasts of poverty and riches. 

Nations obtaining wealth by commerce are less liable to this dangerthan any others; at least we are led to believe so, from the presentsituation of things: we are, perhaps, however, not altogether right inthe conclusion. 

In France there were, and in Germany, Russia, and Poland, there aresome immense fortunes, though general wealth is not nearly equal tothat of England: so much for a comparison between nations of thepresent day. Again, it is certain, there were some fortunes in England, in the times of the Plantagenets and Tudors, much greater than any ofthe present times. {109} England was not then near so wealthy as it isnow, and had very little commerce: it would then appear, that whetherwe compare England with what it was before it became a wealthy andcommercial nation, or with other nations, at the present time, whichare not wealthy, commerce and riches appear to have operated individing riches, and making that division more equal, rather than inrendering their accumulation great in particular hands, and theirdistribution unequal. 

Before we are too positive about the cause, though we admit thiseffect, let us inquire whether there are not some other circumstancesthat are peculiar to the present situation of England, that may, if notwholly, at least in part, account for it. 

The form of government in England is different from that of any ofthose countries. It is also different in its nature, though not in itsform, from what it was under the Plantagenets and Tudors. Court favourcannot enrich a family in this country, and the operation of the law istolerably equal. As neither protection, nor rank, in this country, raisea man above the rest of society, so the richest subject is obliged toobtain, by his expenditure, that consideration which he would ob-

---{109} Two centuries ago, land was sold for twelve years purchase, and the rents are five times as great as they were then; 10, 000 L. Employed in buying land then would now produce 5000 L. A year. Hadthe same money been lent, at interest, it would but produce 500 L. Theland, too, would sell for 140, 000 L. The monied capital would remainwhat it was. -=-

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tain by other means, under another form of government, {110} and heis as much compelled to pay his debts as any other man. 

It is not, however, the great wealth of one individual, or even of a fewindividuals, that is an object of consideration. It will be found that thegreat number of persons, who live upon revenues, sufficientlyabundant to exempt them from care and attention, and to enable themto injure the manners of the people, (being above the necessity ofeconomy, feeling none of its wants, and contributing nothing by theirown exertion to its wealth or strength, ) is a very great evil, and onethat tends constantly to increase. 

But if this progress goes on, while a nation is acquiring wealth, howmuch faster does it not proceed when it approaches towards itsdecline? It is, then, indeed, that the extremes of poverty and riches areto be seen in the most striking degree. 

The higher classes can never be made to contribute their share towardsthe prosperity of a state; where there are no middling classes toconnect the higher and lower orders, and to protect the lower ordersfrom the power of the higher, a state must gradually decline. 

It is in the middling classes that the freedom, the intelligence, and theindustry of a country reside. The higher class may be very intelligent, but can never be very numerous; and being above the feeling of want, except in a few instances, (where nature has endowed the wealthywith innate good qualities, ) there is nothing to be expected or obtainedof them, {111} towards the general good. 

From the working and laborious classes, again, little is to be expected. They fill the part assigned to them when they perform their duty tothemselves and families; and they have neither leisure, nor othermeans of contributing to general prosperity as public men;

---{110} In France, the richest subject under the crown was a prince ofthe blood, &c. 

{111} In this case, the English form of government is good, because, it not only hinders any man from forgetting that he is a man, butwhenever there is any ambition, no one in this country can rise abovethe necessity of acting with, and feeling for, their inferiors, of whomthey sometimes have to ask favours, which they never do under a puremonarchy. -=-

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they, indeed, pay more than their share of taxes in almost everycountry; {112} but they cannot directly, even by election, participatein the government of the country. 

If any number of persons engross the whole of the lands of a nation, then the labourers that live on those lands must be in a degradedsituation; they then become less sound and less important members ofthe state than they would otherwise be. 

Necessity does not act with that favourable impulse on people, whereproperty is very unequally divided, that it does where the gradationfrom the state of poverty to that of riches is more regular. 

As the action of the body is brought on by the effect produced on themind; and as there is no hope of obtaining wealth where it appearsvery unequally divided, so also there is no exertion where there is nohope. {113}

Where there is no regular gradation of rank and division of property, emulation, which is the spur to action, when absolute necessity ceasesto operate, is entirely destroyed; thus the lower classes becomedegraded and discouraged, as is universally found to be the case innations that have passed their meridian; the contrary being as regularlyand constantly the case with rising nations. 

Besides the degradation and listlessness occasioned in the lower ranks, by an unequal distribution of property, the most agreeable, and thestrongest bond of society is thereby broken. The bond that

---{112} This is less the case in England than in any other country. 

{113} It is strange how possibility, which is the mother of hope, actsupon, and controuls, the passions. Envy is generally directed to thosewho are but a little raised above us. They are reckoned to be madmenwho envy kings, or fall in love with princesses, and, in fact, they aresuch, unless when they belong to the same rank themselves. 

Love, for example, which is not a voluntary passion, or under thecontroul of reason, ought, according to the chances of things, sometimes to make a sensible and wise man become enamoured of aprincess, but that never happens. It would appear, that, in order tobecome the object of desire, there must be a hope founded on areasonable expectation of obtaining the object. This can be but verysmall in the lower classes, when they look at the overgrown rich, andhave no intermediate rank to envy or emulate. -=-

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consists, in the attachment of the inferior classes, to those immediatelyabove them. Where the distance is great, there is but little connection, and that connection is merely founded upon conveniency, not on asimilarity of feeling, or an occasional interchange of good actions, ormutual services. By this means, the whole society becomes, as it were, disjointed, and if the chain is not entirely broken, it has at least lostthat strength and pliability that is necessary, either for the raising anation to greatness, or supporting it after it has risen to a superiordegree of rank or power. 

Amongst the causes of the decline of wealthy nations, this then is one. The great lose sight of the origin of their wealth, and cease toconsider, that all wealth originates in labour, and that, therefore, theindustrious and productive classes are the sinews of riches and power. The French nation, to which we have had occasion to allude already, was in this situation before the revolution. Rome was so likewisebefore its fall. We are not, however, to expect to find this as aprincipal cause in the fall of all nations; many of them fell fromexterior and not interior causes. Venice, Genoa, and all the places thatflourished in the middle ages, fell from other causes. Whatever theirinternal energy might have been, their fate could not have beenaltered, nor their fall prevented. The case is different with nations ofwhich the extent is sufficiently great to protect them against theattacks of their enemies; and where the local situation is such as tosecure them from a change taking place in the channels of commerce, a cause of decline which is not to be resisted by any power inherent ina nation itself. 

In Spain and Portugal the internal causes are the preponderating ones, and, in some measure, though not altogether so, in Holland. IfEngland should ever fall, internal causes must have a great share inthe catastrophe. In this inquiry, then, we must consider the interiorstate of the country as of great importance. 

When property is very unequally divided, the monied capital of anation, upon the employment of which, next to its industry, its wealth, or revenue, depend, begins to be applied less advantageously. Apreference is given to employments, by which money is got with mostease and [end of page #133] certainty, though in less quantity. Apreference also is given to lines of business that are reckoned the mostnoble and independent. 

Manufacturers aspire to become merchants, and merchants to becomemere lenders of money, or agents. The detail is done by brokers, bymen who take the trouble, and understand the nature of the particularbranches they undertake, but who furnish no capital. 

The Dutch were the greatest example of this. Independent of thosegreat political events, which have, as it were, completed the ruin oftheir country, they had long ceased to give that great encouragementto manufactures, which had, at first, raised them to wealth and powerin so surprising a manner. They had, in the latter times, become agentsfor others, rather than merchants on their own account; so that thecapital, which, at one time, brought in, probably, twenty or twenty-five per cent. Annually, and which had, even at a late period, producedten or fifteen, was employed in a way that scarcely produced three. 

If it were possible to employ large capitals with as much advantage, and to make them set in motion and maintain as much industry assmall ones are made to do, there would scarcely be any limit to theaccumulation of money in a country; but a vast variety of causesoperate on preventing this. 

Whatever, therefore, tends to accumulate the capital of a nation in afew hands (thereby depriving the many) not only increases luxury, andcorrupts manners and morals, but diminishes the activity of the capitaland the industry of the country. {114}

In all the great places that are now in a state of decay, we find familiesliving on the interest of money, that formerly were engaged inmanufactures or commerce. Antwerp, Genoa, and Venice, were full

---{114} It is a strange fact, that when this country was not nearly so faradvanced as it is now, almost all the merchants traded on their owncapitals; they purchased goods, paid for them, sold them, and waitedfor the returns; but now it is quite different. They purchase on credit, and draw bills on those to whom they sell, and are continually obligedto obtain discounts; or, in other words, to borrow money, till theregular time of payment comes round; they may, therefore, be said tobe trading with the capital of money-lenders, who afford themdiscount. -=-

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of such, but those persons would not have ventured a single shilling ina new enterprise. The connection between industry and revenue waslost in their ideas. They knew nothing of it, and the remnants of theindustrious, who still cultivated the ancient modes of procuringwealth, were considered as an inferior class of persons, dependingupon less certain means of existence, and generally greatly straitenedfor capital, which, as soon as they possessed in sufficient quantity, enabled them to follow the same example, and to retire to the lessaffluent, but more esteemed and idle practice of living upon interest. 

In countries where there are nobility, the capital of the commercialworld is constantly going to them, either by marriage of daughters, orby the other means, which rich people take to become noble. Evenwhere there are no nobility, the class of citizens living without anyimmediate connection with trade consider themselves as forming thehighest order of society, and they become the envy of the others. There appears to be no means of preventing capital, when unequallydivided, from being invested in the least profitable way that producesrevenue. When more equally divided, it is employed in the way thatproduces the greatest possible income, by setting to work andmaintaining the greatest possible quantity of labour. 

If there is not sufficient means of employing capital within a nation orcountry that has a very unequal division of wealth, there are plenty ofopportunities furnished by poorer nations. Accordingly, every one ofthe nations, states, or towns, that has ever been wealthy, has furnishedthose who wanted it with capital, at a low interest. Amsterdam has lentgreat sums to England, to Russia, and France. The French owed a verylarge sum to Genoa at the beginning of the revolution. Antwerp, Cologne, and every one of the ancient, rich, and decayed towns hadvested money in the hands of foreign nations, or lent to Germanprinces, or to the great proprietors of land, on the security of theirestates. The American funds found purchasers amongst the wealthy allover Europe, when they could not find any in their own states; and, itis probable, that the far greater portion of their debt is at this time inthe hands of foreigners. 

Thus it is that wealthy nations let the means by which the wealth [endof page #135] was acquired go out of their hands; each individual in anew state, or in an old, follows his own interest and disposition in thedisposal of his property. In the new state, the individual interest andthat of the country are generally the same; in the old one, they are inopposition to each other, and that opposition is greatly increased bythe unequal division of property. The middling class of proprietorsnever seek the most profitable employment for their money; the verywealthy are always inclined to seek for good security and certainpayment, without any consideration of the interest of their country. 

To counteract the tendency of property to accumulate, withoutinfringing on the rights of individuals, will be found desirable. In theFourth Book =sic--there is none. =, a mode of doing this shall beattentively taken into consideration. 

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CHAP. VI. 

_Of the Interior Causes of Decline, which arise from the Produce ofthe Soil becoming unequal to the Sustenance of a luxurious People. --Of Monopoly_. 

It has already been mentioned, and we have seen, in the case of Romeand Italy, that the country which was sufficient to maintain a certainpopulation, when the manners of the people were simple, becomesincapable of doing so, when wealth has introduced luxury. 

The case of the Romans, though the most clearly ascertained of any, and the circumstances the best known, is only in part applicable to aninquiry into the effects of luxury at the present day. The nature ofluxury, the nature of the wants of man, and the diffusion of thatluxury, its distribution amongst the different classes, are so unlike towhat they were, that the comparison scarcely holds in any singleinstance. 

A most enormous increase of population (a forced population as itwere) in a small country, together with large tracts of land convertedfrom agriculture to the purposes of pleasure were the principal causeswhy Italy, in latter times, was incapable of supplying itself with corn. Wherever wealth comes in more easily and in abundance, by othermeans than by agriculture, that is to a certain degree neglected. Tocultivate ceases to be an object where it is more easy to purchase. Thiscertainly is, at all times, and in all places, one of the consequences ofan influx of wealth, from wheresoever it comes, or by whatever meansit is acquired; though, in Italy, it was felt more than perhaps in anyother part of the world. The manner in which wealth comes into anation has a great effect on the consumption of produce, owing to thedescription of persons into whose hands it first comes. In Rome, thewealth came into the hands of the great. The slaves and servants, though more numerous, were, perhaps, fed in the same manner withthe slaves in earlier periods, though probably not with so mucheconomy. In a manufacturing country, [end of page #137] the greatestpart of the wealth comes first into the hands of the labouring people, who then live better and consume more of the produce of the earth;not by eating a greater quantity, but by eating of a different quality. 

In every manufacturing or commercial country, wealth displays itselfin general opulence amongst the lower orders, and the means ofsupplying that greater consumption is the same as it was in Rome. Themoney that arrives from other countries enables the community topurchase from other countries the deficiency of provisions, andprevents the evil effects from being felt at the moment. 

When, in course of time, there comes to be a difficulty of obtainingthe supply, from the want of produce in the country itself, then thedecline begins; and as no wealth, arising either from conquest, colonies, or commerce, bears any great proportion to the daily food ofa people, its effect is soon felt in a very ruinous and terrible manner. 

England is the greatest country for extensive commerce that everexisted, yet the amount of the whole of its foreign trade would not domuch more than furnish the people with bread, and certainly not withall the simple necessaries of life. If, therefore, a country, such as thisis, were unable to furnish itself with the necessaries of life, the wholebalance of trade, now in its favour, would not be sufficient to supplyany considerable deficiency. 

The desire of eating animal food, in place of vegetables, is verygeneral and, amongst a people living by manufactures, will always beindulged. If the country was fully peopled, before animal food was somuch used; that is, if the population was as great as the vegetableproduce of the country was able to supply; as the same quantity ofground cannot feed the same number of people with animal food, there will be a necessity of importing the deficiency. 

The change that this produces, when once it begins to operate, is amost powerful and effectual cause of decline; and, without theintervention of conquest, or any violent revolution, would of itself besufficient to impoverish, in the first instance, and, in the second, todepopulate a country. 

We find every country that was once wealthy, but that has fallen [endof page #138] into decline, is thinly peopled; and if it were not for thewant of information, from which the cause may be traced, a deficiencyof food might most probably be found to be one of the most efficient. 

Flanders, which is one of the most fertile countries in Europe, and hasexperienced a partial decline, is probably not near so fully peopled asit once was. Its present population would not support those armies, orgive it that rank amongst nations which it at one time maintained. It istrue there have been persecutions and emigrations, which must havereduced the population of the country for a time, but not to an extentthat would account for such a diminution in its numbers, as there isreason to think has taken place. 

Ghent, a town of an amazing size, could, at one time, send out fiftythousand fighting men. It certainly could not now (that is to say, at thetime the French subdued the country) have furnished one-fourth partof the number. Ghent is not the only town in this situation, the othershave all fallen off in the same manner. When manufactures declined, the people did not go to live in the country, for that also is thinlyinhabited, the richness of the soil being taken into consideration. 

The peasants of that country lived much better than their Frenchneighbours; they apparently brought up their children with more ease, and fed them more fully; but the country was not so populous, inproportion to its fertility. 

In southern climates, where the heat of the sun is great, and vegetationdifficult, unless the crop is of a nature to protect the ground from itseffects, natural grass is never luxuriant; and the cattle are neither solarge nor so fat as in more northerly latitudes. Corn, on the other hand, which rises to a sufficient height, before the hot season, to protect theground from the rays of the sun, is a more profitable crop; and, indeed, the only one that could (potatoes excepted) support a great population. 

In such countries, scarcely any degree of general affluence wouldenable the labouring classes to eat animal food. No degree of wealth, that can well be supposed, would enable the inhabitants of thesouthern parts of France, or of Spain, to live on butcher-meat, which, [end of page #139] if it became to be in general demand, would bedearer than poultry, or even than game. The absolute necessity ofliving on vegetables, or rather the absolute impossibility of contractinga habit of living on animal food, must, then, in those countries, counteract the taste, and prevent depopulation being produced by thatcause. --But it is very different with more northerly countries, where itis almost a matter of indifference, in point of expense, to an individualwho enjoys any degree of affluence, whether he lives on vegetable oranimal food, and where he gives a decided preference to the former. {115}

It is probable that nature (so admirable in adapting the manners of theinhabitants to the nature of the country) has made heavy animal foodless congenial to the taste of southern nations than to those of thenorth. There is, indeed, reason to believe it is so, but, whether it is ornot, as natural philosophy is not here the study, but political economy, the fact is, that if southern nations had the same propensity, it wouldbe impossible to indulge it to an equal extent. 

As wealth and power are intimately connected with population, anddepend in a great measure upon it, wherever they are the cause ofintroducing a taste that will, in the end, depopulate a country, theymust, in so far, undermine their own support, and bring on decay. Thisis a case that applies to all northern nations, and particularly toBritain; in order, therefore, to treat the subject at full length, itwill be better to enter into the minute examination when we come toapply the case directly to this country, and seek for a remedy. 

---{115} The proportion between the prices of bread and butcher meatwill help to a conclusion on this subject. The warmer and dryer theclimate, the cheaper bread is in proportion. At Paris, which is a dry, but not a very warm climate, the proportion, in ordinary times, was asfour to one. A loaf of bread of four pounds, and a pound of meat, weresupposed to be nearly the same price, but the meat was generally thehigher of the two. In England, the proportion (before the laterevolution in prices) was about two to one, and, in Ireland, where thesoil and climate are more moist, and better for cattle, flesh meat wasstill cheaper, in proportion. The poverty of the people, indeed, prevented them from living on animal food, but buttermilk, (an animalproduction) and potatoes, a cheaper vegetable, are their chiefsustenance. -=-

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Though this cause of depopulation, arising from wealth, increasing theconsumption of food, is peculiar to northern nations, yet there areothers that have a similar effect, that fall more heavily on theinhabitants of the south. 

Rest from labour is, in warm climates, a great propensity, and easilyindulged. In no northern nation could there be found so idle a set ofbeings as the Lazzeroni of Naples. If the nations of the north have adesire to indulge themselves in consuming more, those of the south havea propensity to be idle, and produce less, the effect of which is innearly the same; for, whether they produce any thing or not, they mustconsume something. The same listlessness and desire of rest, thatproduces idleness and beggary amongst the poor, makes the richinclined to have a great retinue of servants, and, as those servants areidly inclined, they serve for low wages, on condition of having butlight work to perform. Thus it is that the fertility of the soil, and theother natural advantages are destroyed by the disposition of theinhabitants. 

It does not appear, however, that this disposition was indulged orencouraged to any hurtful extent, until wealth had vitiated the originalmanners of the inhabitants. The Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, all ofthem performed works requiring great exertion. They encouragedindustry and arts, and became great, wealthy, and populous; but, whenonce they fell to decline, the same fate attended the descendants ofthem all. {116}

Of all the countries that were once great, and have fallen to decay, Italy has retained its population the best; but, for this, there is anevident cause to be found in the natural fertility of the country, and theresource still drawn from foreigners, who have never ceased to visitthat once famous seat of arts and military glory. 

The number of horses and of domestic animals maintained by the

---{116} After the Augustan age, the populace of Rome seem to havedegenerated with great rapidity, as the donations of corn clearly prove. Had the tributary countries not furnished the means of providing food, the Goths would have been saved the trouble of sacking the city, asthe people must have perished for want. -=-

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fruits of the earth, but producing nothing, as they increase, in everycountry where wealth prevails, may be considered as a cause ofdepopulation, confined to no part of the world. Thus we find either thesame cause acting throughout, or different causes producing the sameeffect in different countries; thereby reducing them all much morenearly to an equality than we could at first imagine. 

It has been observed, that when wealth comes to the working orders, and makes them indulge in animal food, it produces a greater effect, with respect to the consumption of produce, than if the same wealthcame into the hands of the rich; this is, however, in some degree, compensated by their not keeping pleasure horses, the greatest of allconsumers of the produce of the earth. One horse will consume asmuch as a family of four persons living on corn, and the ordinaryvegetables used in England; and as much as two families, living asthey do in Ireland or Scotland, on oat-meal, milk, and potatoes. 

As we find depopulation one of the effects that is universallyoccasioned by decline, it must originate in some cause equallygeneral, and that cause must be one attending the state of wealth andgreatness, for it does not appear to be a necessary effect of decline. We can very easily conceive a people, degraded and numerous, reduced to live poorly, as they do in Naples, Cairo, and some otherparticular spots: but taking the whole of those countries together, wefind evident marks of a falling off in population; and we find it notprogressive, but of long standing. Those countries seem to have founda new maximum of population, far inferior to the former standard, immediately after they ceased to be wealthy and flourishing. 

Perhaps it was from this cause that the idea of sumptuary lawsoriginated; for though, in some cases, the pride of being distinguishedmight occasion the sovereign to enact, or the higher orders of societyto solicit them, yet they were always considered as tending to preventruinous extravagance. When states become very wealthy, they mayconsider such regulations as ridiculous, and perhaps they may neitherbe necessary nor effectual; yet, nevertheless, there must be some causefor the general opinion of their utility. Though it is not the fashion ofthe present times to hold an opinion as good be-[end of page #142]cause it is general, and its prevalence in ignorant times is consideredas a mark of its being erroneous; yet, observation and common sensehave never been wanting at any period, and it is from those sourcesthat such maxims and opinions arise. Any man who had travelled, firstthrough Italy and Spain, and then through England and America, would be very likely to invent sumptuary laws, if he had never heardof such a thing before. In the application of sumptuary laws, as adevice, for preventing decline, the traveller might, perhaps, be verywhimsical; sometimes forbidding what would never be attempted; butthere would be nothing at all ridiculous in his general intention. {117}

It will certainly be found that, in all the causes of the decay of nations, the increase of consumption, and decrease of production, takes thegreatest variety of forms, and disguises itself the most; it is, therefore, one that is much to be guarded against, particularly as itseffects seem to be difficult to remedy. 

As the manner in which a country acquires riches has a considerableinfluence on the habits of the people, a country acquiring riches byconquest, or colonies, must naturally expend it in splendour andmagnificence. 

Merchants are less splendid than conquerors and planters. Theirostentation is of a different sort; and, as the fortunes made in that wayare rather more equally divided, they cannot launch out quite so far. Besides, merchants are seldom entirely independent of credit andindustry; at least, when acquiring their fortunes they were not so; and, therefore, whether the necessity continues or not, the habit, oncecontracted, is never quite effaced. 

Manufacturers, again, are still less splendid than merchants. Withthem, the gifts of fortune are more equally divided than with either ofthe other three, and they seldom arrive at more than an ordinarydegree of affluence; which affords the means of gratifying personalwants, of living with hospitality, ease, and comfort. 

---{117} If, for example, it were a law at Manchester or Birmingham, that no man should keep above fifty servants in livery, or burn morethan three-dozen wax-lights at a time, it would be like mockery, andwould be perfectly useless; at Rome it would be very useful. -=-

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The greatest part of manufacturing wealth, and that, indeed, is dividedwith a pretty equal hand, is that which goes to the working people, who spend nearly the whole on personal enjoyment. 

The quantity of food that an individual may consume is nearly limitedby nature; but the extent of ground on which that food grows dependschiefly on the quality. Thus, for example, it will require nearly tentimes the number of acres to maintain one hundred people, who liveon animal food, that =sic= it would require to supply the same personsliving on vegetables; and, as wealth increases, animal food alwaysobtains the preference. This is evident, from so many proofs, that itscarcely needs illustration. In London, which is the most wealthy partof England, there is more animal food consumed than in any otherpart, in proportion to the numbers; and, in the country there is alwaysless than in the towns. In the country, and in the towns of England, there is more than in any proportional part of Scotland, or in France, or, indeed, any part of Europe. Expensive as animal food is here, stillit bears less proportion to the wages of labour, or the general wealth, than in any other country. In every country, as riches have increased, the consumption of the produce of the earth has augmented. 

The Dutch seem to have been well aware of the danger of wealthmaking the people consume too much. A man in moderatecircumstances loses his credit there, who roasts his meat instead ofboiling it. It is reckoned wastefulness, and, as such, is the occasion ofconfidence being withdrawn from him: it has nearly as bad an effecton a man's credit, as if he were seen coming from a gaming-house. 

It will, perhaps, be said, that the parsimony of the Dutch is ridiculous, but we ought not to attribute this merely to parsimony, but to a feelingsimilar to what we have very properly in England when we see breadwasted. It arises from a feeling of the general want, not of theparticular loss, which is totally a different thing. If a man give awayimprudently, that loss is to himself, not to the community. As therecannot be givers without receivers it is a change of hands, but thereends the matter. A habit of wasting is another [end of page #144]thing, it is a general loss, and, therefore, hurts the community at largeas well as the individual. 

When this augmented consumption takes place, to any great extent, itis the infallible cause of depopulation. How nearly depopulation anddecline are connected with each other is very easily and wellunderstood; indeed, it is impossible not to see their intimateconnection. {118}

While the exports of a country amount to a great sum, a few millionscan be spared for the importation of provisions, without any greatdifficulty; but the evil may increase imperceptibly, till it becomesimpossible to remedy it. The distress that must be occasioned, in sucha case, is beyond the power of calculation; for though, in times ofplenty, animal food is preferred, whenever there comes any thing likewant, that can only be supplied by corn, and there is no wealthsufficient, in any country, to procure that for a number of years, to anygreat extent. {119}

It is calculated, by the author of the notes on Dr. Smith's Inquiry intothe Wealth of Nations, that, if the supply of corn were to fall short, one-fourth part, in England, for a number of years running, therewould be no means of finding either corn to buy, ships to transport it, or money to pay for it, without totally deranging the commerce of thecountry. 

In every country there are a number of persons who can afford to

---{118} Till within these twelve or fourteen years, England always wasable to export some grain; but now the demand for importation is greatand regular. It has had a vast influence on the balance of trade, which, though it has been great some years, has not, upon the whole, beenequal to what it was previous to the American war, when the wholeamount of foreign commerce was not one-half of what it has been forthese last ten years. 

{119} If it could be done, it would bring on poverty; but, as the excessof crops over the consumption is not, in any nation, equal to one-tenthof its whole revenue; and, as the expense of eatables amount to nearlyone-half, the wealth of a nation would soon be destroyed, if it werepossible to produce from other nations a supply. The calculationwould be nearly as under for England, putting the population at ninemillions. 

In ordinary times, nine millions of people living on bread, potatoes, &c. Would require about four millions of acres; but nine millions, living on animal food, will require thirty-six millions of acres. -=-

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live in a more expensive way than the rest; perhaps, this may bereckoned at one-fourth, but, in countries that are poor, even that fourthcannot afford to eat animal food. If, however, a country becomessufficiently rich for one-sixth to live chiefly on animal food, and theother five-sixths to live one day in the week on that food, the effectwill be as if one-third lived on it constantly, which would require two-thirds more territory than when the whole lived on bread. 

Those who think that such matters find their own level, and regulatethemselves, may be right in the long run, for so they indeed do. Buthow? When poverty and want came, no doubt the consumption offlesh-meat would be diminished; when the country had no means ofsupplying itself as it did when it was rich, famine would play its partin becoming one of the regulators; but, before this regulation could beeffected, the evil we wish to prevent would have taken place. Thecountry would be depopulated and ruined. We must, therefore, intrying to avert the decline of a nation, not set any thing down for thecounteracting and adjusting power, which is known sometimes tointerfere so very advantageously in the affairs of men. Though it is truethat it does interfere, it is in all cases of this sort too late, it isan effect of the cause which we wish to avoid; we can only look to it herefor stopping the career in process of time, but, never for preventing it. We know that the extravagance of an individual impairs his fortune, and, that the diminution of means will, at length, counteract theextravagance; but, then it will do so when it is too late, and after he isruined. Wastefulness may be stopped, but it cannot possibly stopitself, as the diminution of means is the cause of the extravaganceceasing, and itself is an effect of the prior existence of theextravagance. 

Regarding men merely then as producing and consuming, (theproportion between which regulates the wealth of a nation, ) we findthat, in their own persons, there is a rooted tendency to bring on thedecline. But we shall farther find that not only do people in wealthyand luxurious nations produce less and consume more than in nationsless advanced, but they increase the number of unproductivelabourers, all of whom consume without producing. They also main-[end of page #146] tain animals who consume, but do nothing towardsproduction. {120} No country, in which the people live much uponanimal food, can be well peopled. Two hundred persons to a squaremile of country is nearly the highest population of any nation inEurope, that is, as near as may be, three acres and a quarter to eachperson; but, on an average, even in France, there are more than fouracres to each. 

Supposing that one-half of the land is cultivated, then that gives abouttwo acres to each person. 

Supposing, again, that one-third of this is consumed by horses or otheranimals who labour; or, supposing that they do not serve for the foodof man, then there will be nearly about one acre and a quarter for themaintenance of each person. 

It will, however, only require half an acre to one person, if they alllived on field vegetables; {121} and, if they all lived on fresh meat, itwould require four acres; the natural conclusion is, that one-fourth liveon animal food, and the other three-fourths on vegetables, or what isthe same thing, that the proportions of the two sorts of food are as oneto three. 

According to the proportion of the prices in France, of four to one, itwould certainly cost double the price to live on animal food that =sic=it does on vegetables; that is to say, if the only vegetable was bread, supposing which is the case, that one pound of meat supplies the placeof two pounds of bread, as it certainly does. In England, where beef isonly twice the price of bread, {122} it is almost a matter ofindifference as to price, whether a working man lives on vegetables oranimal food. To the taste and the stomach, however, it is no matter ofindifference, the animal food, therefore, is preferred; but if it were amatter of some importance, in point of economy, that would notprevent the people of a country, flourishing by manufactures, from

---{120} One good horse well kept, whether for pleasure or labour (it hasalready been said) will consume nearly as much as a moderate family. 

{121} Vegetables raised in the kitchen-garden would go vastlyfurther, but this is a rough average, the subject neither admitting of, nor requiring accurate investigation. 

{122} That is about the usual proportion, though about a year ago itwas four times as much in France. -=-

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eating it, and thereby at length sinking to a lower degree of populationthan a poor country living on vegetable food. 

In all nations getting wealthy this is a consideration, but most so whenthe wealth is acquired by manufactures, when the lower and numerousclass have an opportunity of gratifying themselves by indulging in thespecies of food which they find the most agreeable. 

This, like the other changes of manners, of which it is only a part, is anatural consequence of a propensity inherent in human nature; itcannot, therefore, be prevented or done away, though it may, to acertain degree, be counteracted. The manner of counteracting it notbeing a general manner, but depending on circumstances, shall betreated of when investigating the increasing danger, arising from thiscause, in the English nation. 

It remains at present for us to examine another evil attendant on theinadequacy of the soil to supply the consumption of a country. 

One of the most alarming circumstances attendant on this situation ofthings is, that provisions become an object of monopoly, and the mostdangerous and destructive of all objects. The law has interfered inregulating the interest of money, but not in the rent of houses or ofother use of property. Circumstances may occur, in which thenecessity of procuring a loan of money is so great, as to induce theborrower to engage to pay an interest that would be ruinous tohimself, and that would grant the lender the means of extortion, or ofobtaining exorbitant profit. The same interference would be just asreasonable, wherever the same sort of necessity, by existing, puts oneman in the power of another. This is the case with every necessaryarticle of provision, which, indeed, may be considered as all onearticle, for the price of one is connected with the prices of all theothers. 

Provisions, indeed, are, in general, articles that cannot be preservedfor any very great length of time; but then, again, they are articles of anature that the consumers must have within a limited time also, andfor which they are inclined to give an exorbitant price rather than notto have. The interference of the law between a man and the use of hisproperty, ought to be as seldom as possible; but it has never beenmaintained as a general principle, that it ought never to interfere. [endof page #148] If it is at any time, or in any case, right to interferelegally, the question of when it is to be done becomes merely one ofexpediency, one of circumstance, but not one that admits of a generaldecision. 

A writer of great (and deservedly great) reputation has said so muchon this subject, and treated it in a way that both reason and experienceprove to be wrong, that it is become indispensably necessary to arguethe point. {123} Monopoly, regrating, and forestalling, which two lastare only particular modes of monopolizing, have been considered aschimeras, as imaginary practices that have never existed, and thatcannot possibly exist. They have been likewise assimilated towitchcraft, an ideal belief, arising in the times of ignorance. It is nowbecome the creed of legislators and ministers, that trade should be leftto regulate itself, that monopoly cannot exist. 

With all the respect justly due to the learned writer who advanced sobold an opinion, it may be asked, since many instances occur, both insacred and profane history, in ancient times, and in our own days, ofprovisions, on particular occasions, selling at one hundred times theirnatural price, (and, every price above the natural one, is called amonopoly price, ) how can it be asserted that they may not become anobject of monopoly in a more general way, though not at so exorbitanta price?

How, it may be asked, can this thing, that has so often occurred in anextreme degree, a thing that is allowed to be possible, be comparedwith the miraculous effect of witchcraft, of the existence of whichthere does not appear to be one authentic record? The one, at allevents, a natural, and the other, a supernatural effect. How are those tobe admitted in fair comparison?

If we know that, at the siege of Mantua, the provisions rose to onehundred times their usual price, we may believe the same thingpossible, at the siege of Jerusalem, two thousand years ago, and at thesiege of Leyden, or at that of Paris. If we know that a guinea is givenfor a

---{123} Dr. Smith, in his Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of theWealth of Nations. The author of the notes, and continuation, has, indeed, answered his arguments; but that does not render it lessnecessary to do so here. -=-

[end of page #149]

bad dinner at an inn, which is not worth a shilling, merely becausesome particular circumstance has drawn more people together thancan be provided for; and, because hunger admits not patiently ofdelay, can we dispute the inclination to extortion on the one hand, andthe disposition to submit to it on the other?

If that is admitted, the interference of the law is allowable on the sameprinciple on which it regulates the interest of money, though not to thesame extent; that is, it is allowable, in particular instances, where theeffects are similar, but not in all instances, because, in all instances, they are not similar. {124}

The rate of provisions is then liable, on particular occasions, to rise toa monopoly price, such as that of those rare productions of nature, thequantity of which cannot be increased, whatever the demand may be. {125} It follows, as an evident consequence, that the price increasesas the scarcity augments; but, if it only did so, the evil would not beso great as it really is. In the first place, the anxiety attendant onthe risk of wanting so necessary an article creates a greater competitionamongst buyers than the degree of scarcity would occasion in an articleof less necessity and importance. In a wealthy nation, the evil isstill farther increased, by two other causes. 

The high price which one part of the society is able to afford, and thewealth of those who sell, enables them to keep back the provisionsfrom the market; the first cause operates in all countries nearly alike, for, the anxiety to have food is nearly equal all the world over. But thelast two operate more or less, according to the wealth of the buyersand of the sellers, as the eagerness and ability of the former topurchase, and the interest and ability of the latter to keep back fromselling, are regulated by the degree of wealth in a country. {126}

---{124} The law concerning money is a general law, because, at alltimes, there are some individuals in want of it, and would be liable togrant exorbitant interest. It is not so with provisions, for, it is onlyoccasionally that they cannot be had at reasonable prices. 

{125} Dr. Smith divides produce into three different sorts; the twofirst are such as can be only produced in a certain quantity, whateverthe demand may be; and such as can be produced always in sufficientquantity. 

{126} This was proved by what happened in Paris in 1789, and inEngland in 1790. The [end of page #150] want in Paris was so realthat there often was not, in that great city, bread, and materials tomake it, more than sufficient for twenty-four hours: yet it never roseto above double the usual price, or twopence English the pound, (thatis, sixteen sols for the four-pound loaf, ) although the people wereobliged to wait from six in the morning till two or three in theafternoon, before they could get a loaf a piece, and more they were notpermitted to purchase or carry away. In London, where bread couldalways be had in plenty, for money, it rose to more than three timesthe usual price, (one and tenpence the quartern loaf, ) yet bread is amuch more necessary article to the poor in Paris than in London. Butthe case was, in London, the people are richer, and, in each place, itrose as high as the people were found able to pay. -=-

When the necessaries of life become dear, and arrive at a monopoly-price, then all taxes and other burthens laid on the people become amatter comparatively of little importance. In England, where the taxesare higher than in any nation in the world, they do not come on thepoor to above three pounds a head; {127} and, of those, at least one-half can be avoided by a little self-denial. But, when the provisionsincrease one-half in price, it amounts to at least four pounds a head toeach person; so that the effect falls on the population of the country, with a most extraordinary degree of severity. 

But, great as this evil is, it has, by the circumstances and nature ofthings, a tendency to increase the very cause in which it originates. Though the highness of price diminishes the consumption of victualsin general, it diminishes the consumption of vegetable food, or bread, more than it does that of animal food. Though all sorts of eatables risein price, in times of scarcity, yet bread, being the article that excitesthe greatest anxiety, rises higher in proportion than the others. Thisaffords an encouragement to gratify the propensity for eating animalfood; and this propensity is encouraged by an absurd and mistakenpolicy, by which (or perhaps rather an affectation of policy) economyin bread is prescribed, and not in other food; so that when peopledevour animal food, and increase the evil, they think they are mostpatriotically and humanely diminishing it. {128}

---{127} The whole taxes in this country do not amount to above fourpounds a head, of which one-third is paid entirely by those wealthy, orat least affluent; it is, then, putting the share paid by the labouringbody very high to put it at three pounds each person. 

{128} Both in France and England, during the last scarcity, the use ofevery other sort of [end of page #151] food was recommended, to savethe consumption of bread-corn. Potatoes are the only substitute thattended really to relieve the distress; all others, and, in particular, animal food, had an effect in augmenting it. -=-

The danger of wanting food, though very formidable, does not act soinstantaneously as to serve as an excuse for want of reflection, like analarm of fire, where the anxiety to escape sometimes prevents thepossibility of doing so; yet the fact is, that all the measures that havegenerally been taken, in times of scarcity, have tended rather toincrease than to diminish the evil. 

In monopoly, a sort of combination is supposed to exist between thesellers of an article, when the article does not happen to be all in thehands of one person, or one body of persons. But combinations are ofvarious sorts; there are express combinations entered into by peoplehaving the same interest for a particular purpose. Those are done by asort of an agreement, when the interest of the individual and of thebody are the same. Such combinations are generally effectual, {129}but unlawful. There are combinations not less effectual, that arisemerely from circulating intelligence of prices, and certaincircumstances on which prices are known to depend, amongst allthose concerned, who immediately know how to act in unison. --Thisis not unlawful. 

An elegant historian has said that there was a time when the sovereignpontiff, like the leader of a band of musicians, could regulate all theclergy in Europe, so that the same tones should proceed from all thepulpits on the same day. The list of prices, at a great corn-market, hasthe same effect on the minds of all the sellers within a certain distance. Intelligence now flies so swift that there is no interval of uncertainty;the whole of the dealers know how to act, according to circumstances, and they are all led to act nearly as if they were in one single body. Like gamesters, who have won a great deal, rather than hasten to sell, even when they fear that prices may fall, they keep back their stock, and risk to lose something of what they have gained, by continuing tospeculate on the agreeable and winning chance by which they havealready profited. 

---{129} There are sometimes combinations which it is the interest of awhole body to preserve, but of each individual to break, if he can withimpunity; such generally soon fall to the ground. -=-

[end of page #152]

The dealers in an article of ready sale, or for which there is a certaindemand, have never any difficulty, in a wealthy country, of procuringmoney to make purchases, or to enable them to keep their stock; andthe gains are so immense that there is no speculation equallyattractive. 

As the rent of land, in England, is reckoned at twenty-five millions ayear; and it is reckoned that, in a common year, the rent is worth one-third of the produce; it follows that, of all sorts of produce of land, thevalue is seventy-five millions. But, in the year 1799, when the priceswere more than doubled, the value was one hundred and fifty millions, of which the landlord received (as usual) twenty-five to his share, leaving for the farmer, &c. One hundred and twenty-five, instead offifty, the usual sum. As the wages of servants remained the same, and, in an ordinary year, would amount to one-third of the rent, eightmillions went for that, leaving one-hundred and seventeen millions, inplace of forty-two, the usual residue. Two-thirds of the value of rent, or sixteen millions, is, in an ordinary year, supposed to go for seed, the maintenance of cattle, and labourers; so that, in that year, theportion so consumed must be estimated at double value, or thirty-fourmillions, which, deducted from one hundred and seventeen, leaveseighty-three for the farmers, in place of twenty-five, in an ordinaryyear: so that, when the price doubles, the farmers =sic= profit doesmore than triple. In the year 1799, the farmers were known to have theprofit of four ordinary years, supposing that they had been the actualsellers in the market. The fact was otherwise no doubt, with regard tothose who pocketed the profit, which went in part only to farmers, andthe rest went to the monopolists, dealers, regraters, forestallers, &c. Who advanced money to keep up the price. To the public who paid, the matter is the same, and, to the business itself, there is littledifference as to who profited, or who found capital; for, as they sharedthe profit amongst them, and as they received three times as much asin an ordinary year, they could, out of the sales of the first four or fivemonths, make all the payments [end of page #153] for the whole yearto the landlord; and, therefore, could have the means of keeping theremainder, just as long as they thought proper. 

Thus, then, while there is any degree of scarcity, the provisions of acountry are at a monopoly-price; and the dealers act, thoughindividually, as if they enjoyed one general monopoly. {130}

Before leaving his important subject, it is necessary to observe, that, though dealers in provisions, in times of any degree of scarcity, that is, when there is not quite enough fully to supply the consumption of thecountry, act, in keeping up prices, as if they had an exclusive privilegefor monopoly, yet that is the only cases =sic= in which they do so. Asingle monopolizer can diminish the quantity, and perhaps destroy apart of it with advantage to himself. Thus the Dutch East Indiacompany were said to have done with the spices. {131} But theindividual dealer, though he is interested in a general high price andmonopoly, is still more interested in selling as much as he can; and thehigher the price, the more careful he is not to waste or consume morethan he can help. In this respect, the monopoly of the many is not halfso hurtful as the individual monopoly. This proves that all the vulgarerrors, which occasion reports of farmers and dealers destroying theircorn, are not only without foundation, but would produce an effectquite contrary to the avaricious principle, by which such men areconsidered as being governed. {132}

---{130} There is one moment only when they do not, that is, when theyfind out, for certain, that prices are going to fall. There, for a moment, individual interest, and general interest are opposite, and they hastento sell, and to reduce the price too much. But even this does notrelieve the public; for, though it makes the reduction very rapid for atime, and may sometimes bring it below the level, it quickly risesagain and finishes when the panic amongst the dealers is over, byremaining higher than it ought to be. 

{131} If diminishing the quantity one-quarter rises =sic= the priceone-half, then the monopolist gains, if he possesses the whole market;but the individual dealer, if he were to burn his whole stock, wouldnot diminish the quantity in the country one-thousandth part, andtherefore make no sensible difference. 

{132} Both in London and Paris, the reports of this sort, and, (makinga little allowance for the language and nature of the people, )exceedingly similar in nature and tendency, prevailed during thescarcity of 1789 and 1799. -=-

[end of page #154]

Monopoly of this sort, by raising the prices of the necessaries of life, in the end, augments the prices of labour, the rent of land, and thetaxes of a country. We have already examined the tendency of all this;it is only necessary to observe that the rise in prices, or depreciation ofmoney, which other causes bring on by degrees, this brings onviolently and suddenly. {133} This cause will always exist in acountry that cannot provide enough for its own subsistence. 

How far this may go it is not easy to say; for if it is clear that thefarmer, by double prices, gets eighty-three pounds in place of twenty-five, he can certainly afford to give his landlord something more. If hegave him double the usual rent, it would still leave more than doublefor himself. {134}

Of all the causes, then, that hasten the crisis of a country, none isequal to that of the produce becoming unequal to the maintenance ofthe inhabitants; for it is only in that case that the effects of monopolyare to be dreaded. 

In the case of animal food becoming too much in request, there is aremedy which may be easily applied; of which it will be our purposeto speak, in treating of the application of the present inquiry to theadvantage of the British dominions. 

---{133} The few years of dearth altered wages and rent more than hadbeen known for half a century before. Wages rose more, from 1790 to1802, than they had done from 1740 to 1790. 

{134} As the usual rent was twenty-five, and the usual profit twenty-five, the landlord and tenant had fifty to divide, at ordinary prices; but, at double prices, they had eighty-three added to twenty-five, or onehundred and seven to divide: so that, if the farmer gave fifty, that is, double, he would still have fifty-seven to himself, which is more thandouble, by nearly one-third over and above. 

No allowance has been made in this calculation for the diminution inquantity. The reason is, that was comparatively very small; increasedconsumption, rather than deficiency of produce, being the cause. Besides, we only stated the rise as being double the usual price, whereas, it was three times greater. [end of page #155]-=-

CHAP. VII. 

_Of the Increase of the Poor, as general Affluence becomes greater. --Of Children left unprovided for. --Of their Division into two Classes--Those that can labour more or less, and those that can do no Labour_. 

In the career of wealth, in its early state, when individual industry isalmost without any aid from capital, men are as nearly on an equalityas the nature of things can admit. But, in proportion as capital comesin to the aid of industry, that equality dies away, and men, who havenothing but industry, lose their means of exerting it with advantage, some become then incapable of maintaining their rank in societyaltogether. 

At the same time that this is taking place, articles of every sort, thatare necessary for the existence of men, are becoming dearer. As someranks of society have been described as bringing up their children notto know the existence of necessity, others, who are depressed belowthe natural situation of men, are bringing them up to feel the extremepressure of want. 

There is no situation of things in which a man, with natural strength, and a very slender capacity, may not gain sufficient to maintainhimself, if he will be industrious; but, in a wealthy country, numbersare so pressed upon by penury, in their younger years, that neither thepowers of their body, nor of their mind, arrive at maturity. 

Accustomed, from an early age, to depend rather upon chance, orcharity, for existence, than upon industry, or energy of their own, theyneither know the value of labour, nor are they accustomed to look to itfor a supply to their wants. 

Whilst the foundation of idleness and poverty is laid in, for one part ofa nation, from the affluence of their parents, another portion seems asif it were chained down to misery, from the indigence in which theywere born and brought up. [end of page #156]

The depressed and degraded populace of great and wealthy cities arenot the accidental victims of misfortune; they are born to its hardinheritance, and their numbers contaminate more, who, were it not fortheir own misconduct and imprudence, might have shared a better lot. 

When nations increase in wealth, the fate of individuals ceases tobecome an object of attention; and, of all the animals that exist, andare capable of labour, the least value is set upon the human species. {135} Like individuals who rise to wealth, and forget their origin, societies forget the first foundation of all wealth, happiness, andpower. That individuals should do so is not to be wondered at. Theynever saw society in an infant state; nor is it the business of individualcitizens to occupy themselves with public affairs; but those who areintrusted with their management, and whose business is to know theoriginal sources of prosperity, ought to attend to and counteract thisgrowing evil. 

When the Romans were poor, the people depended on exertion, andthey enjoyed plenty; but when Lucullus and other citizens weresquandering millions, at a single banquet, the people were clamouringfor bread. While the person of a Roman lady was ornamented with thewealth of a province, the multitude were covered with rags, anddepressed with misery. It would have been no hard matter, then, tohave foretold the fate of Rome. The natural order of things wasderanged to too violent an extreme to be of long duration. The statewas become like a wall that had declined from the perpendicular, while age was every day weakening the cement, by which it was heldtogether, and though of the time and hour of destruction no man knew, the event was certain. 

It would, at first sight, appear that great cities are the only places inwhich misery of this description arises; but that is not the case. 

---{135} It was never heard of, that a young horse, or any useful animalof the brute creation, was left to die with hunger in a land of plenty;but it happens to many of the human race, because there is noprovision made, by which those who furnish them food may be repaidby their labour, which would be a very easy matter to adjust, if a littleattention were paid to the subject. -=-

[end of page #157]

Great cities are the refuge of the miserable, who, perhaps, find it insome shapes augmented, by a residence in so friendless an asylum; butthere they avoid shame, they see not the faces that have smiled uponthem in better days; they are more at ease amongst strangers, and theyare kept in countenance by companions in penury and want. {136}

In every wealthy nation, the rich shun the view of wretchedness, which is attended with a silent reproach. Those who have property, mistrust the honesty, and blame the conduct of those who have none. In this state of things, the country affords no retreat nor residence, andwant and wretchedness find the evils of a crowded society, where theypass unnoticed, much more tolerable. 

In most countries, the law has taken precautions to punish, or to stopthe evil in the individual; but in no great and wealthy country has itbeen thought of sufficient importance to take effectual means toprevent it. 

In small states, when society is new, and under some absolutesovereigns, (remarkable for their penetration, genius, and love of theirpeople, ) a momentary stop has been put to this career of misery; but, in the first place, there has been no such monarch in any wealthycountry; and, in the second, as soon as power fell into other hands, theprogress has begun again where it left off. 

One great cause of the increase of mendicity is the increase ofunproductive labourers, as a state becomes more wealthy, who, dyingbefore their children are able to provide for themselves, increase thenumber of the indigent. Men living by active industry naturally marryat an early age; menial servants, revenue officers, and all those whoadminister to the gratifications of a wealthy and luxurious people, marry later in life; and besides their not having an industrious exampleto set before their children, are torn from them sooner, by the courseof things. 

---{136} If one of the brute creation is in want, it will supply that whereit is most easily to be had, physical difficulty is the only one it knows;bodily pain the only one it feels. But men are different, they oftenundergo great want amongst strangers, to avoid more insufferablefeelings amongst friends. -=-

[end of page #158]

It has been noticed, that, in every society, as wealth increaseshospitality dies away. And those good offices interchanged betweenman and man, to which life owes many of its comforts in a lessadvanced state of society, and which protect individuals from thefrowns of fortune, gradually disappear. The social feelings becomeless active, and men turn selfish and interested, thinking forthemselves, and careless for the community; while, on the other hand, the causes for poverty increase; on the other, the means of relief aremisapplied, neglected, or squandered away. The funds that ought to beadministered with disinteredness and integrity are committed to thehands of men who live on the general misfortune, and thus thewretched, who are relieved, are not fairly treated, while the public, that is burthened with their misfortunes, is loaded far beyond itsproper degree. 

The population of a country is diminished in a double ratio as the poorincreases: they create nothing, but they consume; and if a country seesone-tenth of its population living on charity, it is equivalent at least toseeing one-seventh diminished in numbers altogether. 

Most sorts of labour require those employed in it to have some capital, such as decent clothes, or tools, or money to live upon till wages aredue. Little as that capital is, yet thousands are reduced to absolutebeggary for want of it; their industry finding no means of exertion. Aman becomes dependant =sic= on charity for existence; and, thoughable to work, eats the bread of idleness, and that without being infault. 

The number of persons absolutely unable to labour is nearly the samein every country, and is not much augmented by its wealth; so that ifthere were, as there easily might be, always employment for thosewho would otherwise be entitled to relief, and if they were allowed afair price for their labour, they would then cease either to be a burthento themselves or to the public. 

Little coercion would, in this case, be necessary. A few properregulations, to prevent theft and losses, would be all that could bewanted with those who could labour; and those who could not, beingfew in number, would be provided for in a better manner than when[end of page #159] they can be, where their portion is shared withthose who are able to procure for themselves an existence. 

We must by no means look for relief, in cases of this sort, fromdifficult or intricate management and regulation. If we look at thenature of things, it points out the way. 

Those that cannot labour are the only persons who ought to be aburthen on the public; and they are the only ones that would be so, ifthe matters were properly regulated and attended to. As it is in mostcountries, there are many who cannot get work to do, and those areprovided for in different ways, but always at the expense of the public. Sometimes it is by a regular assessment, sometimes by theft anddepredation, sometimes by individual charity, or those other means towhich a man has recourse before he will absolutely starve for want. 

Those who, from philanthropy, are for relieving all, soon findthemselves deceived, and unable to proceed. Those who, disgustedwith the vices of a few, consider them all as equally culpable are muchto blame. Surely, the individual case of a fellow-creature in misfortuneis worth attending to; and he must be ignorant indeed who cannot, inmost instances, avoid deception. [end of page #160]

CHAP. VIII. 

_Of the Tendency of Capital and Industry to leave a wealthy Country, and of the Depreciation of Money in agricultural and commercialCountries_. 

As the increase of capital in every country is the consequence offormer productive industry, so also is it the support of future exertion. 

When the capital of a country has become sufficient for all theemployment that can be procured for it, the first effect is the loweringof interest, which sinks down under the rate appointed by law, andunder the rate at which it is lent out at in other countries. 

When capital is not in sufficient quantity, those who want to borroware more numerous than those who have money to lend; then thecompetition is amongst the borrowers to obtain the preference, andthey all give as high an interest as the law allows, and would givemore if they could avoid the penalty, which, in all countries, has beenattached to accepting more than the regulated sum; a sum regulatedmerely to prevent the effect of competition, which might inducepeople to give more than in the end they would find they could affordto pay. 

When capital becomes over abundant, the very reverse takes place; thelenders become rivals, and offer to lend at an under rate of interest. 

The first effect of this is, that people who were but scantily suppliedwith capital before borrow, and carry on business more at ease, so thatmore capital is employed in business, and new employments are foundout for capital. 

The usual employments for a superabundant capital are improvinglands, building houses, erecting machines, digging canals, &c. For theuse of trade; and finally, giving longer credit to merchants in othercountries, {137} as well as to those who are running in debt in theirown. The stock on hand in manufactured goods increases somethingalso. But when all these have taken place, to as great an extent aswanted, then the money begins to flow into other countries. Bydegrees, more money is sent away than should go, and the personswho are the proprietors of it frequently follow. 

If the capital that leaves a country were only that which cannot findemployment in it, the harm would not be great, though it would tendto enrich other countries, and bring them nearer a level. But that is notthe case, the advantage of lending money abroad, if regularly paid at ahigher interest than can be obtained at home, induces people to drawtheir money from trade, and vest it in the hands of foreigners. TheVenetians, the Genoese, the Dutch, the Hanseatic Towns, and thecities of Flanders, did this; and the capital, which, when employed athome, formerly maintained perhaps one hundred people in affluenceand industry, only supported one single family living in indolence andsplendid penury. {138}

After being in possession of money for a considerable time, menprefer a certain employment at a low interest to one attended with risk, even where the interest is higher; and when great sums have been gotby trade, those who have got them retire and live on the interest, which men, who have only gained a small capital cannot do. 

There are many other circumstances, besides the abundance of capital, that tend to carry it away from a wealthy country. The depreciation ofmoney that takes place, in every country that grows

---{137} As the subject is here treated in the general way, applicable toall nations, the employment found by national debt, and the fundsrising is not taken into account, as it will be noticed in the case ofEngland. When money is plenty, all individuals in trade give longercredit; but this employs little more capital, when they give it to eachother it employs no more, but when to consumers it does. 

{138} The manner in which those families live is peculiar tothemselves; great shew with great economy, and without the smallestspark of love, either for their fellow-citizens or their country. -=-

[end of page #162]

rich, falls nearly all on the lender at interest, {139} who, as he cannotbring back things to their former value, seeks enjoyment in anothercountry, and obtains, by change of place, what he lost by lapse oftime. 

The weight of taxes is another cause that drives capital from wealthyto poorer countries; and last of all, in case of anxiety, or of mistrust, the capitalists are generally the first to emigrate. [{140}] Anxiety andmistrust are periodical amongst a wealthy people. 

As the burthens sustained by a people in prosperity are generallygreat, in proportion to their capital and industry, it is clear, that whencapital and industry diminish, the burthens, (which do not admit ofbeing diminished in the same proportion, ) fall more heavily on thosewho remain; this increased cause produces, naturally, an increasedeffect. Thus, like a falling column, the weight increases, and themomentum becomes irresistible. 

It is then that necessity, the spur to industry in new and rising nations, (that spur which taxes and rent continue to excite, for the good ofmankind, for a certain period, ) begins to crush what it had raised, andto stab where it formerly stimulated. Then it is that the money-lenders, who, at first, sent off their capital, having ceased to be engaged intrade, withdraw, by degrees, and rather content themselves with adiminished income in another country, than struggle with thedifficulties they find they have to encounter in their own. 

---{139} Money lent out at interest loses, money laid out in purchasesgains, in a country that is advancing in riches. 

If a man, who had 2000 L. Thirty years ago, had laid out 1000 L. Atinterest, and, with the other bought land, he would, indeed, have gotless rent for his land at first, but now it would be doubled, he wouldget 60 L. A year, and if he wished to sell he would get 2000 L. Whereas, the other 1000 L. Would only produce 50 L. And, if called in, the single thousand would be all he would receive. 

{140} [Transcriber's note: footnote not assigned a place in the originaltext, intended location assumed to be as shown] This was seen at thebeginning of the French revolution, though the assignats, by loweringthe rate of exchange, frightened many from transferring their money, atan apparent loss of twelve or fifteen per cent. But those that overlookedthis loss have rejoiced in it ever since, as the others have repentedbitterly the avarice that made them risk all to save a little, and tobecome beggars. -=-

[end of page #163]

It is difficult to say at what point this would stop, if the effectproduced did not affix the boundary. 

The prices of land, of rent, of houses, and of provisions, sink low, andinduce some people to remain; for, as those articles cannot betransported, or carried off, and are always worth possessing andenjoying, it is clear there must be a term set to the decay andemigration, by the nature of things. Unfortunately for countries thathave been great, that term does not seem to arrive till it is reduced farbelow the level of other nations. {141}

There are, however, some peculiar causes that operate in some modernnations, in counteracting this effect, so far as it is occasioned by asuperabundance of capital; but, as this is not general to all nations, theproper place for speaking of it will be when we come to treat of thetendency of capital to quit this country. 

The effects, arising from that depreciation of money, which takesplace in every wealthy country, are great and numerous, and havebeen always found where wealth abounded. The people in suchcountries can easily command the labour of others that are not so rich, but the others cannot afford to pay for theirs; this tends to removeindustry. On the other hand, if a supply of the necessaries of life arewanted in a rich country, they may be obtained from countries wherethe value of money is less, without throwing prices out of their level;whereas, in the country where money is of great value, that is not thecase. 

The price of bread, for instance, is, at Paris, one penny the pound, andin London at eight-pence the quartern loaf, which weighs just fourFrench pounds, the price is exactly double. If every thing wasconducted in a fair way, corn, from all countries, where it is equally ascheap as in France, might be brought and sold in London, at the

---{141} At Bruges, (in Flanders) at Antwerp, Cologne, Ghent, or any ofthose decayed towns, house-rent was fallen, before the Frenchrevolution, to little more than an acknowledgement for occupation, where the houses were large and retired. This induced people to live atthose places, who would not otherwise have done so. Small houses, lately built, were more expensive than the large old ones, built in thetime that commerce flourished. -=-

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usual market price; but, before Paris could get a supply from London, the bread would cost three times its usual price. This circumstance, ifproperly managed, might be turned to advantage; why it is not, isdifficult to say, and is a proof that there are either regulations, orpractices without regulation, that counteract the true nature of things;for it would not cost a farthing a pound to bring the corn from Paris tothe London market. 

Paris is only mentioned here for the sake of comparison, and becausethe average prices have nearly the proportion of one to two. Thereasons why corn is not brought from thence are no secret, but thesame reasoning will apply to American corn, corn from Barbary, orthe Baltic, and from other places, where the value of money is greaterthan in England. {142}

The principal of the other effects of the depreciation of money are tobe found in the chapter on the exterior Causes of the Decline ofNations, as it is in its foreign transactions that the depreciation ofmoney is the most felt. 

In the interior, that depreciation only acts when there is a considerablelapse of time, during which the value has altered; it has, in general, noeffect on transactions that are begun and finished within a shortperiod, and in the interior of the country itself. 

The depreciation of money, wherever it takes place, would cause anincrease of taxes, even if there were no other reason for it; but, in sofar it counteracts itself, by making them to be more easily born. =sic=Whatever its particular effects may be, and however complicated theyare, the general tendency of the depreciation of money is to depressindustry in that country, and to encourage it in others, where the valueis greater than in it. 

---{142} In America the value of money is less than in England, compared with wages; but the usual proportion, between the wages oflabour and the price of corn, is different in that country from everyother with which we have any connection. -=-

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CHAP. IX. 

_Conclusion of the interior Causes. --Their Co-operation. --Theirgeneral Effect on the Government and on the People. --The Dangerarising from them does not appear till the Progress in Decline is faradvanced_. 

Though these causes enumerated have all one general tendency, yettheir distinguishing characteristics deserve attention. 

Some begin their operation from the moment the wealth of a countrycommences, others are only felt late in the progress of its decline. Theeffects of some may be diminished greatly, others may be preventedentirely; but, in all cases, the attention of government is necessary, andthat before the operation of decline is actually commenced; for, prevention, and not remedy, is what ought to be aimed at, besideswhich, when decline has once begun, governments are too feeble to becapable of any effectual regulations. 

To assist nature, in every case where her operations are favourable tothe enjoyment and happiness of men, and to counteract those that areunfavourable, is the business of individuals and of states. What theindividual is unable to do, should be done by those to whom the careof public affairs is given; by those who act for the benefit of all, and inthe name of all. 

From the first approaches of a state to wealth and greatness, we findthat there are a combination of causes that begin to operate inpromoting its decline. The first moving principle, necessity, isgradually done away, and with it flies industry; so that, from onegeneration to another, both the moral and physical man becomeschanged, till he is unable to sustain the weight that he has raised; and, at last, he is crushed by the decent =sic= of the ponderous mass. 

While a gradual progress destroys that industry, from which all wealthsprings, other causes act to remove or misapply the labour [end ofpage #166] that is left, while others again are putting capital to flight, or leading to a misapplication of it. 

Last of all come discord and war, the most universal cause of all thosethat tend to depopulate a country, and to diminish as well as degradethe inhabitants, thus giving durability to misfortune, and renderinghopeless the fate of a fallen nation. 

Amongst all the causes of decline, one alone is found that has a doubleeffect, and counteracts in one direction what it promotes in another. 

This is taxation, a very certain cause of ruin if carried too far, andalways dangerous; but, for a length of time, having a very powerfuleffect in repressing the progress of luxury, in continuing the action ofnecessity, the mother of industry, and in preventing that species ofconsumption that lays the foundation for the depopulation of acountry. 

From this it would seem to be almost as dangerous to take off theburthens that have been laid upon a people, as to lay them on with tooheavy a hand. There is not any example worth noticing of such a case, therefore, it must stand on its own ground: history informs us nothingon the subject. 

The supposed case would be thus. That a nation should rise to a highpitch of wealth by industry, and support a heavy load of taxes, stillincreasing in wealth, and superior to most other nations. We are tosuppose the load of taxes greatly diminished, and then to investigatethe consequences. 

Perhaps this is an useless hyyothesis =sic=, the case never has been, andperhaps never will be; but, still it is, at least, a possible case; it isa matter of curiosity, at least, if it is not one of utility, and I have agreat example to plead as my apology. Dr. Adam Smith amused himself inhis inquiry into the causes of the wealth of nations =sic= in a similarmanner, by a hypothesis concerning the taxation of the Britishcolonies. 

Supposing the pressure of necessity were to be suddenly taken away, those whose income is regulated by their efforts would relax inexertion; that is to say, the productive labourers of the country wouldrelax, while those whose incomes are fixed, that is principally [end ofpage #167] the unproductive labourers, would become comparativelymore opulent, and their luxury would increase. 

This is an effect very different from what the public expects. The mostuseful class would gain little or nothing, while the drones of societywould find their wealth greatly augmented, which would be one of themost unfortunate effects that could well be conceived, and might verysoon bring about a very serious and disagreeable event. 

In the course of investigating the national debt of England, in theFourth Book =sic--there is none. =, it will be necessary to examine thisat length, but, there it will be attended with another circumstance, notone of general consideration; (as national debt is not any general ornecessary appendage to a government) namely, the letting loose agreat monied capital, which must either be employed here, or it willseek employment in another country, which may rise on the ruin ofthis. 

In considering the reduction of taxes that have been long standing, andhave risen to a great amount, there is certainly reason to fear evilconsequences, though this is no argument in favour of taxation; on thecontrary, it is a reason for avoiding it, for, it is in all cases dangerousto do what it will be attended with danger to undo. 

Though the precise case of taxes being done away may never comebefore us, there is, at this time, an operation going on that is nearlysimilar, and the result of which will soon be known. 

The French people were loaded with nearly twenty-five millionssterling annually to the church, and they do not now pay three. This, indeed, was partly in taxes, and part in church-lands; they have alsogot rid of a great deal of rent, by the sale of emigrant estates, the landshave got into the hands of men, who mostly cultivate themthemselves, and have no rent to pay. 

On the supposition that the new government is not more expensivethan the old, (and it ought not to be so, the debts having been nearlyall wiped off, ) the burthens on industry will be much less thanformerly, it will then be curious to observe if agriculture flourishesmore, if prices are reduced, and if the taxes that still remain are betterpaid. There are, indeed, many concomitant circumstances that willtend to derange the experiment, or render the conclusion uncertain;but, still it is an in-[end of page #168] teresting and a great event, andwill be worth attentive observation. {143}

We must, so far as this investigation goes, conclude, that, unless thenatural tendency of things to decline is powerfully counteracted, everycountry that rises to wealth must have a fall; and that, therefore, itmerits investigation, whether it is or is not possible to counteract thetendency to decline, without interrupting the progress towards greaterprosperity, and, to manage matters so, that whether it is not possible, after having attained the summit of wealth, we may remain thereinstead of immediately descending, as most nations have hithertodone. 

From individuals, the exertion necessary is not to be expected; but, itmay be looked for from the government of a country, which, thoughcomposed of individuals, the succession of persons is differentlycarried on; it is not from age to age, and from an old father to a youngson, but from men in the vigour of life, to men in the vigour of life, who, while they are occupied in public affairs, may be considered, with respect to whatever is to be done for the good of the nation, (forits prosperity, defence, or protection, ) as animated with the samespirit, without any interruption. 

With respect to the interior causes of decline, they may becounteracted always with more or less effect, by a proper system ofgovern-

---{143} The burthens on the industry of old France, were, Livres. Rent of land 700, 000, 000Revenues of clergy 600, 000, 000Taxes, including the expense of levying 800, 000, 000 ____________ 2, 100, 000, 000

In sterling money L. 87, 500, 000Half land now occupied by the cultivators, }and the remainder let at lower rents } 350, 000, 000Revenues of clergy, and the expenses 50, 000, 000Taxes as before 800, 000, 000 _____________ 1, 200, 000, 000Or in sterling money L. 50, 400, 000

This makes a diminution of L. 37, 100, 000; or something more than athird of the whole expense, and more than all the taxes to the stateestimated at the highest rate. -=-

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ment. In the latter portion of this work we shall endeavour to shewhow that may be attempted with safety, if not accomplished with fullsuccess. 

Before, however, we conclude this subject, and rely on government, itis necessary to mention that, in treating with other nations, a kind ofoverbearing haughty pride is natural to those who govern a powerfuland wealthy people. In that case, they act as individuals, and are not tobe trusted; and the less so, that a nation of proud pampered citizens isbut too apt to applaud insolence in those who govern them. 

This pride has been a very constant forerunner of the fall of wealthyand great nations, and, in Rome excepted, it has never failed. Theemperors of Rome were much less haughty than the ambassadors ofthe republic; a love of false splendour had supplanted a ferociousaffectation of dignity, yet, the former was the less humiliating of thetwo to other nations. {144}

While the rulers of wealthy nations are apt to act haughtily to others, they are liable to fall into another error, in mistaking the strength oftheir own people, and loading them too heavily, trusting too muchboth to their internal energy, and external force. 

As the near observers of the inability of the people are generally afraidto carry unwelcome tidings to their superior; and, if they did, as he isseldom inclined to give credit to unwelcome news, the ruin of a nationhas probably made a very considerable progress before he, whosebusiness it is to put a stop to it, is aware of the danger. 

The continual clamour that is made about every new burthen that islaid on, and the cry of ruin, which perpetually is sounded in the ears ofa minister, and of those who execute his orders, are some ex-

---{144} The appearance of virtue and self-command, which therepublican Romans preserved, added to the bravery with which theymaintained whatever claims they put in, overawed a great part of theirenemies; and those, who were not absolutely overawed thought thatdefeat and submission were, at least, robbed of their shame, whensuch was the character of the conqueror; and the claim once allowedwas no longer questioned. Very different was the case, when theemperor was a fidler, or a buffoon, the senators puppets, and the pro-consuls themselves robbers. -=-

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cuses for their not attending to them; but the consequence is not theless fatal to the nation on that account. 

A nation that is feeble has, at least, the advantage of knowing it, and isnot insensible if she receives a wound; but the government of apowerful nation is like the pilot of a ship, who navigates in a sea, thedepth of which he cannot sound, and who spreads all his sails: if hestrikes upon a rock, his ship is dashed to pieces in a moment. Theother, sailing amongst shallows and sands, proceeds with caution, avoids them if possible, and, if she touches, it is so gently, that evenher feeble frame is scarcely injured. 

The rulers of nations appear, in general, not to be aware of the evilthat arises from the government they have to manage becoming toounwieldly =sic=, or too complicated; in either case, a check, thoughbut of short duration, is irretrievable. This is a great oversight, and, atleast, greatly augments the chances against the durability of agovernment. In proportion as the machine is unmanageable andcomplex, the embarrassment of those who have the conduct of it willbe great, and the enemies will be proportionately bold and audacious. In all such conflicts, much depends on the spirit of the combatants, and more still on that of those who, at first, are lookers on, who act inconsequence of the opinion they have of the force or feebleness ofeither party. {145}

The tendency that a nation has to decline is not, then, in general, counteracted, by the government; but, on the contrary, is pushed on byit, and precipitated into the gulf. No wonder, then, that the career israpid, and the fall irretrievable. 

It is, nevertheless, to the government, and to it alone, that we mustlook for that counteracting force that is to stay the general current. Individuals can only look to their own conduct, and they neither can

---{145} Not only when the French revolution began, but a hundredtimes afterwards, did the party triumph that appeared the strongest, merely because it appeared so. All those who stand neutral at first, take a side the moment they have fixed their opinion as to the strengthof the contending parties, and this decision is always in favour of theparty they think the strongest. -=-

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be expected to have time nor inclination to study the public welfare, and, even if they had, they would want the means. 

Government can never be better employed than in counteracting thistendency to decay. It has the means, and is but performing its duty indoing so. The previous step to all this, however, is a knowledge ofwhat is to be done, a full sense of the necessity of doing it, and adisposition to submit to the regimen necessary. 

For this purpose, both the government and the people must give upsomething. The people must allow government to interfere in theeducation of children, and, in that, give up a little of their liberty;{146} and those who govern must attend to many things which aregenerally neglected. To do the routine business of the day is theoccupation of most of the governments of Europe, whether in war orat peace; they therefore habitually become agents of necessity, andwhat can be procrastinated is never done; that is to say, what is goodis very seldom done, and what is necessary to prevent immediate evil, is always the chief, and sometimes the only, occupation. 

There are some men in the world who prosper merely because theylook beforehand, and conduct their affairs. There are others who, withequal industry, and much more trouble and care, are always a littlebehind, and allow their affairs to conduct them; such men neversucceed, and, if they can keep off the extreme of misfortune, it is allthat is to be expected. 

Most governments, in wealthy nations, are like those latter species ofindividuals, --they do not conduct their affairs, but are conducted bythem, and think they succeed, when the necessary business of the dayis done. This listlessness must be done away, and, though the

---{146} From the impossibility of a nation, once immersed in sloth andluxury, returning to the tone and energy of a new people, we mayjudge of the impossibility of a nation going on progressively towardswealth, not suffering from the manner of educating children. Theleading distinction between a rising and a fallen people is thedisposition to industry and exertion, in the one, and to sloth andnegligence, in the other. It is while a nation is increasing in wealth thatthis alteration gradually takes place; and, as this is the main point onwhich all depends, the nation is safe when it is well attended to, evenif other things are, in some degree, neglected. -=-

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governments of countries that are wealthy have no occasion, like Peterthe Great, or the founders of new states, to create new institutions, andeternally try to ameliorate, they ought to be very carefully andconstantly employed in preventing those good things that they enjoyfrom escaping their grasp, so far as it depends upon interiorarrangement. Exterior causes are not within their power to regulate, therefore they should be the more attentive to those that are; and, though exterior causes are out of their dominion, yet, sometimes, bywise interior regulations, the evil effects of exterior ones may beprevented. Nothing of all this can be done, however, until thegovernment rises above the routine business of the day, and until allthe necessary and pressing business is got over. The first thing, then, for a government is to extricate itself from the situation of one whostruggles with necessity, after which, but not before, it may study whatis beneficial, and of permanent utility. 

So far it would appear all nations are situated alike, with regard to thegeneral tendency to decay; {147} and so far all of them may be guidedby general rules, but as to the particular manner of applying thoserules, it must depend on the peculiar circumstances of the nation towhich they are meant to be applied. 

In general, revenue has become the great object with modern nations:and, as their rulers have not ventured to tax the necessaries of thepeople to any high degree, but have laid their vices, rather than theirwants, under contribution, the revenue-system, (as it may be called, )tends to make a government encourage expensive vice, by which itprofits, and check innocent enjoyment, by which it has nothing togain. This is a terrible, but it is a very prevalent system; it is immoral, inhuman, and impolitic. 

So far as this goes, a government, instead of checking, accelerates thedecline of a people; but, as this is not a natural cause of decline, asit is not universal or necessary, it is to be considered with due

---{147} The Chinese, and, in general, the nations of Asia have not beenconsidered as included in this inquiry. The Chinese, in particular, are apeople in a permanent situation: they do not increase in riches, andthey seem to have no tendency to decline. Their laws and mode ofeducation and living remain the same. -=-

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regard to particular circumstances. In general, we may say, that, inplace of inviting the lower classes to pass their time in drinking, by theinnumerable receptacles that there are for those who are addicted tothat vice, every impediment should be put in the way. Drinking is avice, the disposition to which grows with its gratification; most otheravocations (for drinking in moderation is only such) have no tendencyof the sort. Those enjoyments which have a tendency to degenerateinto vice should be kept under some check; those which have no suchtendency ought to be encouraged; for, where the main and generalmass of the population of a country is corrupted, it is impossible toprevent its decline. If it remains uncorrupted, the matter is very easy, or, more properly, it may be said that prosperity is the naturalconsequence. 

Manners will always be found of more consequence than laws, andthey depend, in a great measure, on the wise regulations ofgovernment in every country. 

Not only do most governments profit by laying the vices of the peopleunder contribution; but, as revenue is, by a very false rule, taken as acriterion from which the prosperity of a nation may be estimated, thevery evil that brings on decay serves to disguise its approach. A nationmay be irretrievably undone, before it is perceived that it has anytendency to decline; it is, therefore, unwise for governments to waittill they see the effects of decay, and then to hope to counteract them;they must look before-hand, and prevent, otherwise all their exertionswill prove ineffectual. [end of page #174]

CHAP. X. 

_Of the external Causes of Decline. --the Envy and Enmity of otherNations. --their Efforts, both in Peace and War, to bring WealthyNations down to their level_. 

The external causes of the decline of nations are much more simplein themselves than the internal ones, besides which, their action ismore visible; the way of operation is such as to excite attention, andhas made them thought more worthy of being recorded. 

The origin of envy and enmity are the same. The possession of what isdesirable, in a superior degree, is the cause of envy. That occasionsinjurious and unjust proceedings, and enmity is the consequence, though both originated in the same feeling at first, they assumedistinct characteristics in the course of time. 

The desire of possession, in order to enjoy, is the cause of enmity andenvy; and all the crimes of nations, and of individuals, have the samecommon origin. 

It follows, as a natural consequence, arising from this state of things, that those nations which enjoyed a superior degree of wealth, becamethe objects of the envy of others. If that wealth was accompanied bysufficient power for its protection, then the only way to endeavour toshare it was by imitation; but if the wealth was found unprotected, then conquest or violence was always considered as the most readyway of obtaining possession. 

The wandering Arabs, who are the only nations that profess robbery atthe present day, (by land, ) follow still the same maxim with regard tothose whose wealth they mean to enjoy. If too powerful to becompelled by force to give up what they have got, they traffic andbarter with the merchants of a caravan; but if they find themselvesable to take, they never give themselves the trouble to adopt thelegitimate but less expeditious method of plunder and robbery =sic=. [end of page #175]

As it has been found that wealth operates, by degrees, in destroyingthe bravery of a people, after a certain time, so it happens that, in thecommon course of things, a moment arrives when it is consideredsafe, by some one power or other, to attack the wealthy nation, andpartake of its riches; thus it was that the cities of Tyre and of Babylonwere attacked by Alexander; and thus it was that his successors, intheir turn, were attacked and conquered by the Romans; and, again, the Romans themselves, by the barbarous nations of the north. 

Besides those great revolutions, of which the consequences werepermanent, there have been endless and innumerable struggles for thepossession of wealth, amongst different nations; but the real andleading causes are so uniform, and so evident, that there is not ashadow of a doubt left on that subject. 

Mr. Burke had good reason to say that the external causes were mucheasier traced, and more simple, than the internal ones; for, the Romansexcepted, the instances of rich nations attacking and conquering poorones are very rare indeed. 

The Romans had erected their republic on a different plan from that ofany other; they had neither arts, industry, nor territory of their own, and they conquered nations upon speculation, and for the sake ofcivilizing the people, and making them contribute revenue; how theywere successful has been explained. But even the Romans would nothave attacked poor nations, if they had been, at an earlier period, possessed of the means of attacking those that were wealthy. 

Necessity obliged them to begin with Italy: their safety made themdefend themselves against the Gauls, and, till they had a navy, it wasimpracticable to carry their conquests into Asia or Africa; but, afterthey had conquered Carthage, they lost very little time in attackingEgypt, and those countries occupied by the successors of Alexander. 

The taking of Constantinople was the last decided victory of this sort, and in nothing but time and circumstance did it differ from the others;in all the great outlines it was exactly the same. [end of page #176]

The effeminacy and luxury of the rich, those interior causes, of whichwe have already spoken, always give facility to those efforts whichenvy and avarice excite. 

The rivalship, in time of peace, is a contest confined to modernnations; or, at least, but little known to the ancients. Indeed, it isonly amongst commercial nations that it can exist. There can be nocompetition in agriculture; and, indeed, it is only in war, or incommerce, that nations can interfere with each other. 

The Phoenicians were the only commercial people of antiquity. Carthage was the colony, and received the Indian produce at secondhand. It was in no way a rival. 

When Solomon mounted on the throne of his father David, he appliedhimself to commerce; but the wisdom and power he possessed weresuch as bore down all opposition during his reign. Having married thedaughter of the King of Egypt, who assisted him in several conquests, he founded the city of Palmyra, or Tadmore in the Wilderness, for thegreater conveniency of the Eastern trade. The King of Tyre was hisally, but he was so, most probably, from necessity, for the alliance wasvery unnatural; and, soon after the death of Solomon, the Tyriansexcited the King of Babylon to destroy Jerusalem: so, that if there hadbeen, in ancient times, more people concerned in commerce, there isno doubt there would likewise have been more envy and rivality. =sic=

The cities of Italy, the Dutch, the Flemish, the English, and theFrench, have been incessantly struggling to supplant each other inmanufactures and commerce; and the war of custom-house duties anddrawbacks has become very active and formidable. 

This modern species of warfare is not only less bloody, but the objectis more legitimate, and the consequences neither so sudden nor sofatal as open force; to which is to be added, that if a nation will butdetermine to be industrious, it never can be greatly injured. If itenjoyed any peculiarly great advantages, those may, indeed, bewrested from it, but that is only taking away what it has no right topossess, and what it may always do without. [end of page #177]

The intention of this inquiry is not to discover a method by which anation may engross the trade that ought to belong to others, it is onlyto enable it, by industry and other means, to guard against theapproaches of adversity, which tend to sink it far below its level, thereby making way for the elevation of some other nation, on theruins of its greatness. 

As, in the interior causes of decline, we have traced the most part tothe manners and habits of the people, so, in the exterior causes, it willbe found that much depends upon the conduct of the government. [endof page #178]

CHAP. XI. 

_Why the Intercourse between Nations is ultimately in Favour of thepoorer one, though not so at first_. 

In all commercial intercourse with each other, (or competition inselling to a third nation, ) the poorer nation has the advantage in itsgain; but this advantage is generally prevented by the length of creditwhich the wealthy nation is enabled to give, by which manufacturersare sometimes ruined in their own country by strangers, who canneither rival them in lowness of price nor goodness in quality. 

In countries that are poor, those who have the selling, but not themanufacturing of goods, are so much greater gainers by selling goodspurchased on credit, of which they can keep a good stock andassortment, than in selling from a shop or store scantily supplied withready money, that there is not almost any question about either priceor quality; there is not scarcely an alternative. In one line, a man canbegin who has scarcely any capital, and do a great deal of business; hecan even afford to sell the articles he purchases on credit with verylittle profit, because they procure him ready money; whereas, if hesells an article upon which he has no credit, he must replace it withanother, by paying money immediately. The consequence is, thatwhile those who sell to the public are poor, the nation or manufacturerthat gives the longest credit will have the preference; but this is dailydiminishing, for even with the capital of the rich nation itself, themanufactures of the poor one are encouraged; the manner is asfollows:

A, at New York, purchases goods for one thousand pounds from B, atLondon, which he sells without any profit, and, perhaps, at aconsiderable loss; because B gives him twelve months credit. But A, who has, by this means, got hold of money, as if by a loan, will not laythat out with B, nor let him touch it till the year's end; and, havingmade no profit by the sale of B's goods, he must turn to advantage themoney he obtained for them. According to the situation of mat-[endof page #179] ters in the country, and the nature of A's concerns, hewill make more or less, but what he makes it is not the business toinvestigate; it is sufficient to know, that he will lay his ready moneyout with those who will sell cheap, in order to get by it; that is to say, he will lay it out with some person in his own country. {148} Thus, though the rich nation sells goods on credit at a price which cannot beobtained for them by the purchaser, yet its capital serves to giveactivity to the manufacturers in the poor country. It is true, that thisoperation is slow, but it produces an effect in time, and finishes byrobbing the wealthy nation of its superiority, obtained by giving credit. It is thus that in all their intercourse, the first advantage is to therich nation, but terminates in favour of the poor; for whenever equalityof prices are the question, and both can give sufficient credit, thepoorer nation has the advantage in point of price. 

With regard to rivalling each other, in a third place, the poor nationhas the advantage, if the merchants there have the means of payingwith ready money, because the price is lower than that of the richercountry. {149} If they have not that means, they cannot deal withthem, but must wait till they have, by perseverance; and, in course oftime, come to have the means when the poor nation is certain to enterinto competition with advantage. 

But this is not the only way in which the capital of a rich nation isemployed in fostering a rivalship in a poorer nation. Were themanufacturers the only persons who sold goods, it would be confinedto this; but that is not the case, for merchants, who are the sellers, study only where they can purchase the cheapest; thus Englishmerchants purchase cloths in Silesia, watches in Switzerland, fire-arms at Liege, ---{148} The Dutch used to give long credit, and buy with ready money, by which means they had great advantage for a long time; but, at last, the ready money they paid to some, and the credit they gave to others, set their industry at work, and they became rivals. Dutch capital was, at one period, of great service to the English, as that of England now isto the Americans. 

{149} This is not meant to apply to any particular sort of manufacture. In some, a nation may have a permanent advantage over another; inothers, only a temporary one, and in the greater portion no otheradvantage than what arises from superior capital. -=-

[end of page #180]

in preference to laying out the money in England or Ireland; and theywill give credit, as before explained, to the nation that wants it. 

In this manner it is, that the capital of a rich country supplies the wantof it in poorer ones, and that, by degrees, a nation saps the foundationof its own wealth and greatness, and gives encouragement to them inothers. 

It is then that the weight of taxes, the high price of commodities, andthe various causes which encumber those who live in wealthy nations, begin to produce a pernicious effect. The tendency of industry is toremove its abode, and the capital of the merchants, who know nocountry, but understand arithmetic, and the profits of trade, gives theindustry the means of doing it with more ease and promptitude. 

The Dutch, for the last century, employed their capital in this manner, and, at one time, were the chief carriers, for they secured custom bypaying readily and giving credit largely. They ruined many of theirown manufactures in this manner, but it is impossible to separate thecalculation of gain from the mercantile system and mercantile practicein individuals; therefore it is no reproach to their patriotism, forpatriotism cannot be the rule in purchasing goods from an individual. A merchant can have no other rule, but his own advantage, or, if hehas, he will soon be ruined. 

There are many manufactures in England that originally rose bymeans of Dutch capital, not lent capital, but by ready money paid forgoods, which were carried to other nations, and sold here upon credit. 

The English have, for a long time, been able to do this piece ofbusiness for themselves; and, of course, the Dutch did not find thesame means of supporting their carrying trade; and as they had ruinedmany of their own manufactures, they sunk both as a commercial andmanufacturing people. 

If the time should ever come that capital should be so abundant in allnations, as that obtaining credit will not be an object, then it will beseen that no nation will have so very great a share of manufacturesand commerce more than others, as has hitherto been the case. 

In countries where the common practice is to sell, chiefly, for [end ofpage #181] ready money, great fortunes are seldom gained. Even inwealthy countries, in branches of business where no credit is given, great fortunes are very seldom got, and for a very simple reason. Thebusiness is pretty equally divided. But in a country that gives longcredits, or in a branch of trade on which long credits are given, wealways see some individuals gaining immense fortunes, by means ofdoing a great deal more business than others, who, having less capital, are enabled to do less. 

There is not any one thing in which a nation resembles an individualso much, as in mercantile transactions; the rule of one is the rule of all, and the rich individual acts like a rich nation, and the poor one like apoor nation. The consequences are the same in both cases. The richcarry on an extensive trade, by means of great capital; the poor, alimited one, dependant =sic= chiefly on industry; but wherever thepoor persevere in good conduct, they finish by getting the commandof the capital of the rich, and then becoming their rivals. 

There is one thing peculiar to the intercourse of rich and poor nations, in which it differs from the intercourse between rich and poorindividuals in the same country. Money, which is the commonmeasure of value, has a different price in different countries, and, indeed, in different parts of the same country. If a man, from a poorcountry, carries a bushel of corn with him into a rich, he can live aslong upon it as if he had remained where he was; but if he carry themoney, that would have bought a bushel of corn at home, he perhapsmay not be able to live upon it half so long. {150}

The effect that this produces, in the intercourse between two countries, is, that in proportion as the difference becomes greater, the richcountry feels it can command more of the industry of the poor, and thepoor feels it can command less of the industry of the rich; so that

---{150} In common life, this difference, between carrying money andnecessaries, is perfectly well understood, but it is experience that isthe teacher; and the rough countryman, or woman, when they have theopportunity of judging from fact, understand the motives as well asthe most profound and ingenius =sic= writer on political economy. -=-

[end of page #182]

when their industry can be both applied, with any degree of equality, to the same object, the poor supplies the rich, and therefore increasesits own wealth. 

It is thus that great numbers of the people in London are fed withbutcher-meat from Scotland, and wear shoes from Yorkshire; but therewould be a very limited sale in either of those places for meat fromSmithfield, or shoes manufactured in London. {151}

This diminution of the value of money, that takes place in all richcountries, serves farther to increase the advantage of poorer ones inmanufacturing, and accelerates the natural effect of competition, which is facilitated, as has been said, by the capital of the rich countrygiving activity to the industry of the poorer one. 

This last neither can be called an exterior nor an interior cause, as it isderived entirely from the relative situations of the two countries, andbelongs to both, or originates in both; but, as it raises the poor nationnearer the level of the rich one, its effect gradually becomes lesspowerful. Though there is no means of preventing the operation oftwo nations coming nearly to a level by this means, yet it does notappear to be a necessary consequence that the nation that was thericher should become the poorer. As this, however, has been a generalcase, we must conclude it to be a natural one, but there we stop, andmake a distinction between what is natural only, and what is anecessary effect. Their coming to a level was a necessary effect; but, though the other may be natural, it cannot be necessary, and thereforemay be counteracted; to find the means of doing this, is all that isproposed by the present inquiry. 

---{151} If it was not for taxes and rent, that are chiefly spent in largetowns, as well as law-expenses, and the prices of luxuries, of dress, and furniture, the cities, like London, would soon be reduced. -=-

[end of page #183]

CHAP. XII. 

_Conclusion of exteror Causes. --Are seldom of much Importance, unless favoured by interior ones. --Rich Nations, with care, capable, in most Cases, of prolonging their Prosperity. --Digression on theImportance of Public Revenue, illustrated by a statistical Chart_. 

The exterior causes of the decline of any nation, that has risen aboveits level, though formidable, are nothing, in comparison to the interiorcauses, and are of no great effect without their co-operation. 

As the government of a country has an influence over the interiorcauses, so its alliances, and the laws of nations, though not very wellattended to, (yet seldom altogether forgot, ) have a tendency to stop theprogress of the exterior causes, before they advance too far; that is tosay, before they absolutely depress a nation. 

For several centuries, the stronger nations of Europe protected theweaker, and the matter was carried so far, that the weak powersgenerally gained the most. Prussia and Sardinia are two examples ofnations rising by political connections; and though the system is latelychanged, and Poland has been despoiled and divided amongst nations, to each of which it was superior in power only two centuries ago, andthough Holland and Switzerland groan under the yoke of France, yet, it is to be hoped, the old system is not abandoned, otherwise there willbe no end to the encroachments of the great powers on the smaller. 

The means of communicating, between nations, are now easy; theyhave felt the advantage of preserving a sort of balance, {152} and thead-

---{152} The expression, balance of power, gives a false idea. It seemsto imply, that alliances in Europe were so nicely arranged, as to makethe force of nations, in opposite interests, equal; but this never was thecase for half an hour, nor was it ever intended. The whole [end of page#184] that is meant, is to prevent the present order from beingoverturned, by one nation annihilating or subduing another; and then, by their united strength, swallowing up a third, as was the case withthe Romans. -=-

vantages are so great, that they probably never will be entirelyabandoned, though we have strong proofs, of late years, that they arenot always held very sacred. 

The chart subjoined to this, giving a statistical representation of thepowers of Europe, shews nearly in what manner power is distributedat this time; the population and extent are there represented withaccuracy: these are the foundation of power; and the amount of therevenue may be said to shew the means, which a nation has ofexerting that power. (For the description and explanation see the pageopposite the chart). [Transcriber's note: seemingly a reference to ChartNo. 2; the explanation in fact appears on page 190. ]

The balance of power, however well attended to, could not prevent thedecline of a nation from interior causes. It may prevent the operationof exterior causes from pushing a nation to the extreme of humiliation, by taking advantage of its internal situation. But the decline of almostevery nation has commenced within its own bosom, and has beencompleted by causes acting from without. 

The common termination of the interior causes of decline is revolt, ora division into parties, when the party that has the disadvantagegenerally calls in some neighbour to its aid. This is the most miserablefate that can befal =sic= a country, and no punishment is sufficientlysevere for the men, who have so far lost every sentiment of patriotismas to have recourse to such a step. 

The exterior causes of decline, namely, rivalship in peace and thecombined efforts of enemies in war may be considered as irresistible, if the government, which has the direction of a nation, does not actwisely; but, if it does, they may be put at defiance. If a nationpreserves its interior sources of prosperity, and acts with moderationand firmness towards others, their envy and efforts will be withouteffect, and need never be a cause of much uneasiness. 

In its relation to other nations, the government of a country acts likean individual. The first thing is to regulate its interior affairs, and, the next is, in treating with others, to consider circumstances, and takejustice and moderation for a rule of conduct. [end of page #185]

The circuitous politics attributed to ambassadors, who represent states, is a common theme of invective: as custom has established it as a sortof rule, in all such transactions as they conduct, to conceal a part ofwhat is meant, to demand more than is expected to be obtained, andoffer less than is intended to be given, there is no immediate remedy;but this is only in the mode and manner of treating, and does notnecessarily imply unfair intention. If it has become a custom to askthree by way of obtaining two, and of offering only two to prevent thenecessity of giving four, (which would be expected if three, thenumber intended to be given, were offered at first) it is an abuse oflanguage, in so far that what is expressed is neither meant by one, norunderstood by the other to be meant; but, it is nothing more: neither isit a custom void of meaning; it is founded on the nature of man. 

If men were perfect, and capable of seeing at one view what was fair, each might come prepared to ask exactly what he wanted, anddetermined not to yield any thing; and it would result from their beingperfect, that each would just demand what was right, and the otherwas disposed to give; but, as men are not perfect, and as it is theinclination and even the duty of each to obtain the most favourableterms he can, (and as he does not see exactly what is right, ) henaturally demands more than he has a right to expect, or than the otheris disposed to give. If ambassadors met together with a determinationto speak explicitly at first, and with a determination not to recede, theconsequence would probably be, that they would not treat at all, sothat the mode of receding a little does not absolutely imply that moreis asked than is wished for, but that each party over-rates its ownpretensions, in order to obtain what is right. 

One thing is certain, that the treaties that have been the best observedhave been those founded on equity, where the contracting parties wereneither of them under the influence of fear or necessity. 

The exterior dangers of a country are not only more simple in theirnature than the interior ones, but, being less silent and gradual in theirprogress have been more noticed by historians. 

Even the ambitious rapacity of the Romans was first directed [end ofpage #186] against Carthage, on account of its pride and injustice inattacking other states; and, in the history of the nations of the world, there is scarcely a single example of national prosperity beingunattended with some degree of pride, arrogance, and injustice; norcan it easily be otherwise, for, notwithstanding all the boasted law ofnations, power seems amongst them to be one of the principal claimson which right is founded, though, in the moral nature of things, power and right have not the most distant connection. 

It is then an object for those who govern nations, in the first place, tocounteract as much as possible the internal tendency to decline, arising from the causes that have been enumerated; and, after havingdone that, to regulate their conduct with regard to other nations, so asto protect themselves from those external causes of decline, on theexistence of which they have no direct influence, but which are notcapable of producing any great effect, unless favoured by the internalstate of the country, and by the unwise conduct of those by whom it isgoverned. 

========

_Digression concerning the Importance of Public Revenue_. 

No state, what ever its wealth may be, can possess power, unless acertain portion of that wealth is applicable to public purposes. As thewant of revenue has not been a very common cause of weakness, weshall give, as an example, the almost solitary, but very strong, case ofPoland. Its feebleness, in repelling the attacks of its enemies, wasoccasioned, in a great measure, by want of revenue. It was with farsuperior population, with more fertile soil, and a people no wayinferior in bravery, greatly inferior in actual exertion to Prussia. When, at last, the Poles, seeing their danger, united together, and werewilling to make every personal exertion and sacrifice, to preserve theircountry, they had no means of executing their good intentions. Theyhad not kept up an army when it was not wanted, and they could not, on the emergency, create one when it was become necessary. [end ofpage #187]

The definition given of power makes it a relative thing, and, therefore, the revenue necessary to maintain that power or force must be relativealso; it, therefore, depends on circumstances, what is to be consideredas a sufficient or insufficient revenue. 

If the United States of America were accessible with ease to Europeannations, or if they had powerful neighbours on their own soil, theywould find their present revenues quite unequal to preserving theirindependence; but, as it is, perhaps they are the most wealthycivilized nation in the world, if an excess of revenue constituteswealth. 

In Europe, whatever nations are unable to keep up forces sufficient tomake those exertions which, according to their alliances and dangers, may be necessary, they are weak from want of revenue, and ought toaugment it. 

In the course of making greater exertions than the revenues wouldbear, some nations have contracted debts. It is not the purpose here toenter into the complication such debts occasion, and the alterationsthey make on the revenue, and the disposal of the revenue of acountry; but, so far as that subject is yet understood, it appears that theclear revenue, after paying the interest of the debt, ought to be as greatas it would be altogether, if there were no debt; that is to say, afterpaying interest, there ought to remain a sufficient surplus to pay all theexpenses necessary for government and defence. 

The money that goes for the payment of interest has some tendency toincrease the influence of government at home, but is of no manner ofuse with regard to enemies. 

From the statistical chart here annexed, which shews the relativeproportion of the revenues of all the nations in Europe, as well as theiractual amount, it is perfectly clear, that, great and extensive as theRussian empire is, it will not be very powerful until its revenues areconsiderably increased. 

The great value of money, and the prices of provisions, and manysorts of warlike stores, enable great armies to be maintained in thatcountry, even with small revenues; but the Russians can make no greateffort, at a distance from home, till their revenues are augmented. 

The revenues of Spain are considerable; but the free revenue is not, [end of page #188] and it has no credit to supply the place. The samething may be said of Portugal; and if England had no credit, it wouldbe in the same situation; but as it has better credit than any nation everhad, so, likewise, it is the only one whose efforts have never been inany way, or at any time, either restricted or suspended, for want ofmoney to carry them into effect. 

The Dutch were, at one time, situated nearly as England is now; theyhad not sufficient free revenue, but they had good credit; of which, however, they were not willing to make the necessary use, and theFrench marched into Amsterdam with greater ease than the Russiansdid into Warsaw. 

The greatest victories of the French, during the revolution, weregained at a time when her regular revenues were inconsiderable, andwhen she was in a state of absolute bankruptcy. This is considered bysome as a proof that force is independent of revenue, and thatFrederick the Great was mistaken in saying, that money was thesinews of war; but this case has been misunderstood as well asmisrepresented. 

Though, in general, regular resources for money are necessary tosupport war, and regular resources imply revenue, it never wasasserted, that, if irregular resources could be obtained, they would notanswer the same purpose, so long as they lasted. During the first fiveyears of the French revolution, a sum equal to at least four hundredmillions sterling was consumed, besides what was pillaged from theenemy. So that at the time that France was without regular revenue, she was actually expending seventy-five millions sterling per annum:a sum greater than any other nation ever had at its disposal. 

The impossibility of such a resource continuing is of no importance inthe present argument, although it is luckily of very great importance tothe peace of mankind. France supported war, for a certain time, byconsuming capital, and without revenue, but not without money; sothat what his Prussian Majesty said, stands uncontroverted, and thenecessity of revenue, regular and durable, for the maintenance ofregular and durable force, is established beyond the power ofcontradiction. [end of page #189]

EXPLANATION OF STATISTICAL CHART, NO. 2. 

In this chart, the different nations of Europe are represented by circles, bearing the proportion of their relative extent. This is done in order togive a better idea of the proportions than a geographical map, wherethe dissimilar and irregular forms prevent the eye from making acomparison. 

The graduated scale of lines represents millions of pounds sterling;and the red lines, that rise on the left of each circle, express thenumber of inhabitants in millions, which may be known by observingat what cross-line the red one stops. 

The yellow lines, on the right of the circles, shew the amount ofrevenue in pounds sterling. 

The nations stained green, are maritime powers; those stained palered, are only powerful by land. 

The dotted lines, to connect the extremities of the lines of populationand revenue, serve, by their descent from right to left, or from left toright, to shew how revenue and population are proportioned to eachother. 

The impression made by this chart is such, that it is impossible not tosee by what means Sweden and Denmark are of little importance, asto wealth or power; for, though population and territory are theoriginal foundation of power, finances are the means of exerting it. 

What must the consequences be if the Russian empire should one daybecome like other nations? If ever that should happen, it either will bedivided, or it will crush all Europe. 

The prodigious territory of Russia, and the immense revenues ofEngland, are the most astonishing things represented in that chart;they are out of all proportion to the rest. [end of page #190]

=========BOOK III. =========

CHAP. I. 

_Result of the foregoing Inquiry applied to Britain. --Its present State, in what its Wealth consists, illustrated by a Chart, shewing theIncrease of Revenue and Commerce_. 

Having now taken a view, and inquired into the causes that haveruined nations that have been great and wealthy, from the earliest tothe present time; having also inquired into the causes that naturallywill operate where those did not, and that would, at a later period, have produced the same effect; it is now the business to examine howfar and in what way the result of the inquiry applies to the Britishempire. 

The power and wealth of Britain, according to the definition given atthe beginning of this work, are founded not on conquests, extent ofterritory, superior population, or a more favourable soil or climate, oreven in bravery; for in those it is but on a par with other nations. 

The only natural advantages of Britain are, its insular situation and thedisposition of the people, and the excellent form of its government. 

From the two first have arisen that good government, commerce, andindustry; and on those have arisen again a great naval power, and anuncommon degree of wealth. 

In arms, it does not appear that England is so powerful by land, inproportion as in former times: her power must then be considered as anaval power, and that founded principally on commerce. {153}

---{153} Our last brilliant achievements by land were under the Duke ofMarlborough; but even then, with allies to assist, we were but abalance to France. Before the conquest, England seems to have beenfar below the level of most other nations, as a power by land. Soonafter [end of page #191] she appears to have risen above France, andother nations, or they probably rather sunk; but, ever since Englandbecame formidable at sea, she has lost her superiority in the army;although she has never sunk under the level, and never, in anyinstance, were her armies beat when the numbers were equal to thoseof the enemy. -=-

{Here appears at page 192 the second chart, entitled

"ChartRepresenting theExtent, Population & Revenue-of the-PRINCIPAL NATIONS in EUROPE--in 1804--byW. Playfair"}

As such then we have only to examine the foundation on which shestands, and find in what she is vulnerable. 

We must first begin with the interior situation, to follow the sameorder that has been attended to in the rest of the work. 

Changes of manners, habits of education, and the natural effects ofluxury, are as likely to operate on the British empire, as on someothers which they have destroyed. 

From the unequal division of property, there is perhaps less danger, but from the employment of capital there is more than almost in anyother nation. 

From the abuses of law and public institutions and _l'esprit du corps_, we run a very great risk; more indeed than under an arbitrarygovernment or even a republic. These last are the dangers that mostseriously threaten a nation living under a mixed government. 

As to the produce of the soil becoming unequal to the maintenance ofa people addicted to luxurious habits, we have much also to fear fromthat: the operation is begun, and its effects will soon be most serious:they are already felt, and very visible. 

From taxation, unproductive and idle people, we have more to fearthan most nations; and from an alteration in the manner of thinking, and persons and property leaving the nation, we have as much as anyother nation, according to the degree of wealth that we possess; sothat, upon the whole, the interior causes of decline are such as it isextremely necessary to guard against in the most attentive manner. 

In respect to the exterior causes, we are exempt entirely from some, from others we are not; and, in one case, we have exterior causes forhope that no nation ever yet had. 

The advancement of other nations, their enmity and envy, are full aslikely to operate against this nation as against any other that everexisted; but as we owe none of our superiority to geographical situa-[end of page #192] tion like the Greek islands, the Delta of Egypt, andborders of the Mediterranean Sea, we run no risk of any discovery ingeography, or in navigation, operating much to our disadvantage. 

We are not so far advanced before other nations in arts as to have anygreat reason to dread that their advancement will be our ruin; but stillwe must allow, that a number of external causes may combine to bringus to their level, when the effects of our present wealth may soonoperate in reducing us under it. 

Since, then, commerce is the foundation of our wealth, and since ourpower, which is naval, is built upon commerce, let us begin withtaking a view of its present situation. 

The increase of the trade of Britain to foreign parts, within these lastfifteen years, though a very natural effect of the causes that haveoperated during that period, is not itself a natural increase, because thecauses that produced it are uncommon, temporary, and unnatural. 

The East and West India trades have been both lost to France andHolland. The French, before the revolution, had a greater share of theWest India trade than ever we had, and they could undersell us inforeign markets. 

The Dutch and French together had a very great share of thecommerce of the East; this partly accounts for the rapid increase ofEnglish commerce since they lost theirs. Besides, the French nationitself, which formerly consumed scarcely any English manufactures, and supplied Germany, and many parts of Europe, with its own, hasbeen employed for several years in consuming its manufactured stock, eating up its capital, and ruining its own manufactories; so that Franceitself, Germany, and a great portion of the continent, have beenobliged to apply to Britain, both for manufactures and colonialproduce, as well as for the goods that come from India. 

Add to this, that capital on the continent of Europe has suffered anunexampled diminution, from a variety of causes. A great part hasbeen consumed in France, and in all the countries into which herarmies have penetrated, particularly in Holland; and that confidence, [end of page #193] which serves in place of capital, has been impairedin all countries, and ruined in many. 

It has already been shewn that the want of capital prevents a poornation from supplying itself, and furnishes a rich one with the meansof supplying it, and, as it were, extorting usury from it by givingcredit. The misfortunes of the continent had, by this means, all ofthem a direct tendency to advance the commercial prosperity ofEngland; but still the matter does not rest even here, for the realcapital that fled from the continent of Europe has, in part, taken refugein England. We have risen, (for the moment, ) by their depression; andthough the advantage will be of some duration, yet we ought not toconsider it as permanent. {154}

Those causes have operated, as indeed might be expected, in a mostpowerful manner, but that operation has already begun to cease. Insuch uncommon and unexampled circumstances as the present, it isimpossible to forsee =sic= what may happen, yet it is scarcely possibleto suppose things will remain as they are. Terror and alarm are toopainful to continue their action long on the human mind; and even ifthe cause were not diminished, the effect would become less violentwith time and custom. Again, we are not to suppose, that such times asthose of 1793 and 1794 are ever to return, therefore the alarm will bediminished, new capital will rise up, and, as security of privateproperty is now understood to be the basis of all wealth andprosperity, confidence will be restored by degrees. 

The increase of trade is not then to be expected from the same causesthat have of late operated with so rapid and powerful an effect: on thecontrary, they may be expected so far to cease, as to occasion adiminution of our exports. 

This will, however, be counteracted by some circumstances, whileothers will tend to augment the violence of its effects. 

The trade with the American States and with Russia increase, from

---{154} As one proof of capital taking refuge in England, the suddenrise of stock, during the first three years of the French revolution, maybe adduced, without fear of being contradicted as to the fact, or theassigned cause controverted. [end of page #194]-=-

no temporary or fallacious cause. In the former country, populationvery rapidly increases, and, in the latter, wealth and civilization, whichhave a similar effect {155} upon the wants of a nation. These are infavour of a manufacturing country, like England. 

These two are not only, then, permanent, but augmenting causes forour commerce; {156} they are causes that augment rapidly, and may, with proper care, be carried to a great extent. 

The superiority in the West India trade is so far of a permanent nature, that France will never again be a formidable rival there. St. Domingois not only lost, but probably lost for ever, while it is expected thatBritain may retain her islands. This trade, then, may be set down aspermanent; that is to say, that there does not seem to be any immediatecause for its decline; {157} and the government of this country issufficiently aware of consequences not to neglect taking everyprecaution possible. 

The East India trade does not, indeed, appear equally secure. There weare powerfully rivalled by the Americans, and the merchants of othercountries; but, on the other hand, the demand for the produce of Asiais augmenting rapidly all over the continent of Europe; so that perhapswe may be able to maintain our ground, even though other nationsregain part of the trade they have lost. 

To remain, then, in the situation in which we are, with respect to

---{155} The great augmentation of fine fertile territory, in America, willretard the progress of manufactures and commerce in that country, byemploying the capital and attention of the inhabitants on agriculture. This may be the case for half a century, and, if England improves, thecircumstances may continue to operate in favour of Britishmanufactures for many centuries to come. 

{156} The ports in the Black Sea add a new district to the commercialworld, which, in course of time, must greatly increase the demand forsuch articles, as a civilized people consume. The fineness of theclimate and of the country will enable the inhabitants to gratify thetaste which civilization will bring along with it. 

{157} It would be quite foreign to the end of this inquiry to examineinto the interior state of the West India islands, or as to theircontinuing subject to Great Britain. This is entirely a political affair, unconnected with commerce, though its effects on it would beprodigious. [end of page #195]-=-

foreign trade, we must exert ourselves; those external causes that haveforced trade upon us, for these last fifteen years, being but of atemporary nature. 

In order to be more sensible of this necessity, let us consider a fewother circumstances. 

The wealth of England, which was the envy of Europe, even previousto the American war, in which we stood single-handed and alone(having the three most powerful maritime nations against us, and noneto take our part) has now become more conspicuous, and much morelikely to excite envy. 

Not only the situation of Britain is much more exalted, but the othernations feel a comparison that is infinitely more humiliating; add tothis, that old attachments, and a regard to the laws of nations, and to abalance of power in Europe, are much enfeebled, or rather nearly doneaway. 

Britain has alone, for some time, stood forward to resist theinnovations and power of France; and, after having at first subsidizedevery nation that would fight in the common cause, it has alonemaintained the common right itself, thereby adding a doublehumiliation to those who wanted means of assisting, or whose couragehad failed. 

France, with all its acquisition of territory and alliance, with all thatinfluence over neutral nations, which terror of its arms inspires, willnever cease to combat the prosperity of England. Some other nations, through envy or shame, stimulated by a hope of partaking in thewealth that England loses, will either sit passive or assist. {158}

The East India trade is that which excites the greatest portion of envy, and it will be difficult to resist its effects. This superior degree ofenvy is occasioned by three principal causes:

The splendid establishments of the East India company, its fleets, ---{158} Gratitude, some will say, may prevent this; but nations have nogratitude, they only know their interest, and nothing retrospective isany motive for action. We need not search into remote periods forproofs of this, see Holland, Spain, Russia, &c. During the latter part ofthe last war. [end of page #196]-=-

and the fact that it is the greatest commercial company that does now, or ever did, exist, constitute the first cause, not only for envy, butfor a wish to participate in the trade. 

The second cause arises from the extent of our possessions, theimmensity of the territorial revenues, and the evident injustice of acompany of merchants becoming sovereigns, and holding the ancientprinces of the East, and the successors of the Great Mogul, as tributaryvassals. {159}

It is in vain that we say the people are happier than they were beforewe did them the honour to become their masters. Whether this is trueor not, there is no means of proving it, besides there can be no rightestablished by London merchants to force the inhabitants of Hindostanto become happy, whether they will or not. 

The same pretence has been used by the French, in subduing Flandersand Brabant, in governing Holland and Switzerland; but they have notbeen able to obtain credit. The regular governments, who partitionedPoland, have pretended the same thing; and our slave-merchants andplanters give very positive assurances that the negroes toiling on theWest India plantations are much happier than they were in their owncountry; yet, in defiance of all this cloud of witnesses, there issomething in the human breast that resists and rejects such evidence;evidence doubtful, on account of the quarter from whence it comes, and the interests of the witnesses, as well as con-

---{159} However we may look upon this, other nations certainly see thematter as iniquitous and unjust; and it is well known with whatfeelings such a belief is entertained. 

Though the revolutions in Farther Asia have not made any part of thebasis of our inquiry, yet it is impossible, having mentioned the Mogulempire, not to notice its rapid and terrible fall. In 1707, only ninety-eight years ago, the Great Mogul ruled over a country equal in extent, and little inferior in population, to France, Spain, Germany, andEngland. His revenues amounted to thirty-two millions sterling, which, at that time, was nearly equal to the whole revenues of all themonarchs of Europe. He is now circumscribed to a territory less thanthe smallest county in England, and is the vassal at will of a companyof English merchants, who, with all their greatness, do not divideprofits equal to one week of his former revenues! [end of page #197]-=-

trary to the natural feelings of beings endowed with the power ofreason; at variance, also, with an opinion of a very ancient origin, "that coercion and force are enemies to enjoyment. "

In defiance, then, of our assertions, the other nations of Europe willand do view this acquired territory with anger, as well as envy; and, though it is true, that, out of the immense revenues that arise to thecompany, they divide little profit, though their debts are annuallyaugmenting, yet individual Englishmen, it must be admitted, bringhome great fortunes. 

This fact is not to be denied, and is so much the worse, that though agovernment even of merchants may be supposed to obtain revenuesfairly, individuals, who rapidly acquire great wealth are alwayssupposed to do it by extortion or unfair means. {160}

The third cause for envy is of great antiquity. The commerce of theEast, from the earliest ages, has been that which has enriched all thenations that ever possessed it; and, consequently, has been a perpetualcause of envy and contention, as we have already seen, in its properplace. For all those reasons, not one of which we can remove entirely, the East India trade is a particular object of envy; and, unless greatcare is taken, will entail the same danger on this country, as it has onall those that ever possessed it. Tyre and Sidon, in Syria, Alexandria, in Egypt, Venice, Genoa, the Hans Towns, and Portugal, have all beenraised and ruined by this trade, which seems to

---{160} So far back as 1793, Mr. Dundas estimated the sums remittedby individuals at an annual million; add to this, plunder arising fromwar, (which is become as natural a state in India as peace, ) and weshall see that now the revenues and establishments are nearly doubled. The following will not be an unfair estimate:

Private fortunes remitted in 1793 L. 1, 000, 000Average ditto arising from yearsof war, the plunder ofSeringapatam, &c 300, 000Increase remitted home since, in proportion to revenue 700, 000 ____________

Remitted now by the same descriptionof men L. 2, 000, 000

Besides what is remitted home, those servants of the company expendimmense sums in the country, living there in the greatest luxury. [endof page #198]-=-

have been the cradle and the grave of most of those nations that havebecome rich and powerful by the means of commerce. 

Our West India wealth, though derived from a source still more, or atleast equally, impure, and though not inferior in amount, is, for severalreasons, not the cause of so much envy. It is not confined to acompany, and therefore the splendour and ostentation that, in the caseof the Asiatic trade, occasion envy, do not exist in that to theAmerican islands. 

Our monopoly is by no means so complete, which has a double effectin our favour; for, besides preventing others from envying us so much, it prevents them from condemning us so severely. 

The same nations that see, in its full force, the injustice of subjectingthe inhabitants of the East, in their own country, in a way that, at theworst, is not very rigorous, join cordially in robbing Africa of itsinhabitants, to make them slaves in America, in a way, that, at thebest, is very rigorous. 

Such are the baneful effects of sordid interest acting on the mind ofman! But our business is not here to investigate opinions, but theirresult; and, in the present instance, we find that to admit participationin criminality is the only way to avoid envy and offence. 

The third cause for envy is likewise wanting. The commerce with theWest Indies is but of a recent date, and no nation has ever owed itsgreatness or decline to that single source. {161} It is not like theAsiatic trade, a sort of hereditary cause of quarrel; a species ofheirloom, entailing upon the possessor the envy and enmity of allother nations. 

The envy occasioned by the West India trade is farther diminished bythe circumstance that the plantations have been raised with the moneyof the persons by whom they are possessed; and that if they had nooriginal right to the soil in its barren state, the cultivation at least isowing to their capital and industry. 

The most solid and secure portion of our trade is that which con-

---{161} France was the nation that, before the revolution, gained themost by this trade; indeed, no nation has, to this date, gained so muchas it did. -=-

[end of page #199]

sists of our manufactures at home. In those, though we excite envy, we excite no other of the hateful passions. Emulation is natural, andadmiration is unavoidable, on seeing the vast progress that arts andindustry have made in this country; so that England is absolutelyconsidered as the first country in the world for manufactures. 

This cause of greatness and wealth operates in a more uniform anddurable manner; though, like others, it has its bounds, yet the nature ofthem is not easily ascertained. 

In this there are two things essential, --the procuring a market, and themeans of supplying it. We have always yet found the means ofsupplying every market we have got; but we have not always beenable to extend our market so much as it might have been wished. 

America and Russia offer new markets, as has already been observed, but, to extend our old markets, we must either reduce the price, improve the quality, or extend the credit, and invention is the onlymeans by which these things can be done; and there is no possibilityof knowing where to set bounds to invention, aided by capital and thedivision of labour. We are, however, not to forget that priority in pointof time being one of the causes of a nation's rise, and being of a natureto be destroyed in the course of years, the superiority we enjoy mayleave us, as it did other nations in former times. 

When a country produces the raw material, and labour is cheap, andthe art established, we might suppose the superiority secure; but it isnot. The cotton trade was first established in the East Indies, where thematerial grows, where the labour is not a tenth of the price that it is inEngland, and the quality of the manufactured article is good; yetmachinery and capital have transplanted it to England. But the samemachinery may give a superiority, or at least an equality, to someother country; it is, therefore, our business to persevere in encouraginginvention, by the means that have hitherto been found so successful. {162}

---{162} The law of patents, and the premiums offered by the Society ofArts, suggest improvements, and reward them when made. To those, to the security of property, and nature of the government, we chieflyowe the great improvements made in England. -=-

[end of page #200]

The most necessary thing for our commerce is the support ofmercantile credit, without which it is in vain to expect that trade willbe carried on to any great amount. In 1772, when a great failureoccasioned want of confidence, the exports of the country fell offabove three millions, but its imports fell off very little. {163} In 1793, when the internal credit of the mercantile people was staggered, precisely the same effect was produced. These are the only twoinstances of individual credit being staggered to such a degree, as toprevent mercantile men from putting confidence in each other; andthey are the only two instances of any very great falling off in theexports in one year, except during the American war, when the chiefbranches of trade in the country were cut off or diminished. 

The falling off, in exports, in 1803, which was very great indeed, (being no less than one-third of the whole, ) was not occasioned by thesame cause, but appears to have been owing to three others of adifferent nature. 

First, the French had actually shut us out from a great extent of coast, and this occasioned a diminution of exports, which will, in part, bedone away, when new channels of conveyance are found out. It willnevertheless operate in causing some diminution, as circuitouschannels render goods more difficult to be introduced, andconsequently dearer to the consumers. 

The second cause appears to have been, the uncertainty of ourmerchants where to send the goods, and who to trust, as the fear of theextension of French power took away confidence, and produced a sortof irresolution, which is always hurtful to business. 

The third cause of the diminution of trade, no doubt, arose from thecessation of that alarm about property, that has been described ashaving occasioned so much to be sent from the continent to England. In other words, it is the return of the pendulum which had vibrated, ---{163} This is a sort of paradox: when money became scarce, thenation bought nearly as much as ever, but sold less. This is not thecase with individuals, and, at first sight, does not appear natural. -=-

[end of page #201]

through a temporary impulse, beyond the natural perpendicular. Hadthere been no revolution in France, and had it not been conducted onthe principles it was, our trade could not have augmented so fast as itdid; but a falling off of fifteen millions in one year is too much to beascribed to that cause alone. An examination of the branches that didfall off will elucidate this. 

The commerce with the United States of America is one of those thathas fallen off, and is the only one that does not appear to be directlyconnected with these causes. There are some reasons, however, forthinking that it had an indirect connection with them. 

Whatever interrupts our connection with the continent of Europe, orrenders it unsafe, has, in some degree, the same effect with astagnation of credit at home. This has taken place; and as it of courseaffected every branch of trade, that with America felt the blowamongst the rest, and, indeed, more than in proportion; for, as there isno course of exchange with any town in America, and as the creditsthere are long, the exportation to that country suffers in a particularmanner when there is any heaviness in the money market here. Thus itwas that, in 1772, the American exports suffered a diminution of twomillions from the stagnation; and, in 1793, of rather more than half amillion. In the former case, the American trade seems alone almost tohave suffered, and, even in the latter case, it fell off more than in itsjust proportion. 

It has been observed, that the improving our manufactures at home isthe most secure support of our foreign trade, which chiefly depends onsuperior skill, industry, and invention, the wages of labour beinggreatly against us. We shall consider by what stability of tenure wehold that advantage. 

The nation or individual that proceeds first in improvement is alwaysuncertain how much farther it can be carried; those who follow, on thecontrary, know what can be done, and therefore act with certainty andconfidence. As to individuals, those who are the foremost inimprovement have great difficulties to encounter; they seldom canprocure the pecuniary aid necessary, and always do so with greatdifficulty; whereas, those who copy, without half their merit, or, [endof page #202] perhaps, without any merit at all, meet with supportfrom every quarter. {164}

From this it is very evident, that the nation the farthest advanced ininvention has only to remain stationary a few years, and it will soon beovertaken, and perhaps surpassed. Holland, Flanders, and France, were all originally superior, in the arts of manufacturing most goods, to England; and, indeed, it is no great length of time since we obtainedthe superiority over Holland in several articles of importance, and inparticular where machinery was wanting. If it were necessary, itwould not be difficult to give examples, to shew with what eagernessthose who imported inventions were taken by the hand, on the bareprobability of success, while the inventors of machines, and ofmethods of manufacturing entirely new, and of still more importance, were left to grope their way, and, until crowned with success, ratherconsidered as objects of pity than of praise or admiration. {165}

It is not then altogether by a sure or lasting tenure that we hold thissuperiority of manufactures. We have examined several other sourcesof wealth, and the general conclusion is, that, without care and atten-

---{164} Mr. Arkwright, who produced the cotton-spinning machine, underwent great difficulties for many years; as also did Mr. Watt, theingenious and scientific improver of the steam-engine; and, had notgood fortune thrown him in the way of Mr. Boulton, a man of fortuneand resource, and himself a man of genius, he probably must havelanguished in obscurity, and the nation remained without hisadmirable invention. The profits derived from the spinning-machinemay, at first sight, appear the greater national advantage of the two;but it is not so in reality, for the spinning-machine only manufacturesa raw material, brought from another country, cheaper than before;whereas, the steam-engine enables us to obtain raw materials from ourown soil cheaper; a thing more important, more permanent, and ofwhich we were more in want: besides this, the steam-engine isextending the scope of its utility every day; whereas, the spinningmachines can go little farther. But to leave this digression, which isnot altogether foreign to the purpose, and return to the facility withwhich inventors are followed, it is a fact, that in almost every countryin Europe, money can be got by any adventurer who will propose toestablish either a cotton spinning machine, or a manufactory of steam-engines; and it is a fact, that immense sums have been, and are stillgiven, for those purposes. 

{165} Slitting-mills, saw-mills, the art of imitating porcelain, and ofmaking good earthen-ware, and paper, together with a vast number ofother inventions, were imported from Holland; in every one of whichwe have gone beyond the Dutch, just as they got the better of theFlemings in the art of curing herrings. Priority of invention is not thena permanent tenure. -=-

[end of page #203]

tion, this nation cannot be expected long to maintain its superiorityover others, in the degree it at present enjoys. 

The American market, {166} and the Russian (in a smaller degree, )however, hold out a prospect of increased commerce to us, fromexternal causes, that we cannot flatter ourselves with in the internalones. It is to those we must look, and to those only, for the extensionof the sale of our manufactures; but, even in this case, we must useefforts, for it is very seldom that a good end is effected by accident, orwithout a view towards its accomplishment. 

Having now taken a view of the situation of this country, and seenthat, though it is not likely to be deprived of its commerce byconquest, like Babylon, Tyre, or Alexandria, or by a new discovery ingeography and the art of navigation, like Venice and Genoa; though, indeed, it has no great appearance of sharing the fate of Spain, Portugal, or Holland, yet there are other causes that may stop itscareer. If it is exempt from the dangers they laboured under, it issubject to others from which they were free. 

We have already examined the effect of taxes and national debt on theindustry of a country, even whilst augmenting in wealth; but we havenot examined what that effect will be when a country comes to be on alevel with other nations that do not labour under the same burthens. 

There is no possibility of standing long still with a burthen on theshoulders, it must either be thrown off or it will become a cause ofdecline. Let us endeavour to point out methods by which that may beaverted, or at least procrastinated. In doing this, we are either exposingour ignorance and presumption, or doing a signal service to ourcountry. 

---{166} The American exports from this country consist almost entirelyin manufactures; we neither supply that country with East or WestIndia produce. The Russians are aspiring at possessions in the WestIndies, and, no doubt, will succeed; they are advancing still morerapidly in power than the Americans are in population. It was only in1769, (not forty years ago, ) that the first Russian flag was seen in theMediterranean Sea, and now Russia stands fair to be sovereign of anumber of the Greek islands; and, at any rate, by the Dardanelles, tocarry on a great commerce. What may thirty years more not effectwith such a country, and such a race of sovereigns?-=-

[end of page #204]

The load must be taken off, or it will crush the bearer; but how this isto be done is the difficulty. If our debt is paid off, the capital will goto other nations, for it will not find employment amongst ourselves; andthis will reduce the nation, and raise others. If it continues, we sinkunder it; and, if we break faith with the creditors, it destroysconfidence for ever; we can no longer give law, by means of ourcapital, to the markets in other nations, and we probably overturn thegovernment of our own. 

Amongst the _exterior_ causes of decline that are general, noneapplies so completely to Great Britain as that of the envy and enmity, occasioned by the possession of colonies we have settled, or countrieswe have conquered. 

The wealth of Britain and its power arise from agriculture, manufactures, commerce, colonies, and conquests. The envy theyexcite is not, however, in proportion to the wealth that arises fromthem, but rather to the right we have to possess them, and theconsequent right that others have to contest the possession. 

Improved agriculture has never been a source of enmity amongstcivilized nations, though it has been an object of conquest when anopportunity presented itself. 

Manufactures, the great source of our wealth, are, in a certain degree, beyond the reach of our enemies. Our greatest consumption for themis amongst ourselves, and if we did not export to any part of the world, except enough to procure materials, we should enjoy nearly all that wenow do. Our wealth would not be very materially diminished, thoughour naval strength would. The means of destroying our manufacturesis not then very easily to be found. 

The commerce with other nations, our enemies, or rivals, have a moreeffectual means of diminishing, by the laying on duties on ourmanufactures, and augmenting those duties when the goods happen tobe carried in English vessels; but still the advantage we enjoy in thiscompetition is great. 

Not so with our colonies and conquests. The whole imports from theEast Indies, from 1700 to the present day, have only amounted [end ofpage #205] to 165, 000, 000 L. And our exports, during the same period, to 83, 000, 000 L. While our total exports have amounted to 1, 486, 000L. During the same period. {167}

There would be much affectation, and little accuracy, in attempting tomake any thing like a strict comparison between the relativeproportions of the wealth procured by general trade, and that procuredby trade with India. The exports amount to about one-nineteenth partof the whole; and, perhaps, as they are manufactured goods, to aboutone-tenth part of the whole manufactures of the country exported: butthe manufactures exported are not equal to one-third part of thoseconsumed at home, so that not above one-thirtieth part of ourmanufacturers are maintained by the trade to India. 

In 1793, when the charter of the company was renewed, the India-budget stated the private fortunes acquired and brought home, at onemillion annually: that has probably increased since then; but it was atthat time greater than it had been before: if, then, we take the annualarrival, since the year 1765, at one million, it will make forty millions, which, compared with the balance of trade during that period, amountsto about one-sixth part of the balance supposed to come into thecountry. 

How much of our national debt might be set down to the account ofIndia, is another question. By debt contracted, and interest of debtpaid, during the same period, we have disbursed the sum of1, 100, 000, 000 L. Which is equal to more than twelve times the wholeof the property acquired by our India affairs, supposing the45, 000, 000 L. 

---{167} Comparison between the total foreign trade of the country, tothat with the East Indies only, for 104 years. 

Total Exports. Total Balance Exports to India. In our favour. From

1700to 1760, L540, 000, 000 L249, 000, 000 L18, 000, 000

1760 to1785, L370, 000, 000 L101, 000, 000 L25, 000, 000

1785 to1805, L576, 000, 000 L142, 000, 000 L40, 000, 000____________ ____________ ____________L1, 486, 000, 000 L492, 000, 000 L80, 000, 000____________ ____________ ____________

[Transcriber's note: L=GBP/Pounds Sterling. ]

This is about a nineteenth part of our foreign trade, and the balanceis greatly against us. -=-

[end of page #206]

remitted, to be all gain, together with one-half of the 83, 000, 000 L. Which surely is allowing the gain at the highest rate for both. {168}

Supposing, then, that the wars that India has occasioned have cost (orthe proportion of the debt they have occasioned) one-sixth part of thewhole of our debt, and that the profits on goods to India, and privatefortunes, came into the public treasury, there would still have been agreat loss to the state; but this has not been the case, the interest ofthe debt has been levied on the people, and will continue to be so, tillall is paid off; which, according to the plan of the sinking fund, will bein thirty-five years, so that we shall have about 750, 000, 000 L. More topay, {169} supposing we have peace all that time, and continue topossess India. 

There is something very gloomy in this view of national affairs, andyet there is no apparent method of making it more pleasing. 

It is, on the contrary, very possible, that as Malta, on account of itsbeing supposed the key to India, has cost us 20, 000, 000 L. Within afew years, that, in less than thirty-five years, it may cost us_something_ more; and, it is not by any means impossible, that, beforethat period, we may either lose India, or give it away; on either ofwhich suppositions, the arithmetical balance of profit and loss will begreatly altered, to our farther disadvantage. 

On the possessions in India, and the complicated manner in which ourimports (again exported) affect the nation, a volume might be written, but it would be to very little purpose, in a general inquiry of this sort. It is sufficient to shew here that the wealth obtained by that channel isnot of great magnitude, in comparison either of the

---{168} The nearness of the balance of trade, to the amount of debtcontracted, will naturally excite attention, but it appears merelyaccidental, and to have not any real connection. 

Debt borrowed L500, 000, 000Interest paid L590, 000, 000 ______________ L1, 090, 000, 000

[Transcriber's note: L=GBP/Pounds Sterling. ]

{169} Let the future profits and expenses be set against each other, like the last. -=-

[end of page #207]

wealth acquired by foreign trade, or by our industry at home; and that, at the same time, we see that it excites more envy and jealousy than allthe rest of the advantages we enjoy put together. 

Badly as men act in matters of interest, and much as envy blinds themin cases of rivalship, yet still there is a certain degree of justicepredominant in the mind, that admits the claim of merit and truedesert. Every person, who has heard the conversation, or read theopinions of people in other nations, on the wealth and greatness ofEngland, will allow, that, as commercial men, and as manufacturers, we are the wonder of the world, and excite admiration; but, concerning our dominion over India, and our plantations in theAmerican islands, foreigners speak very differently. 

In order to bring down a nation, that has risen above its level, there isfollowed a system of enmity in war, and rivalship in peace. 

The Portuguese seized on a lucky opportunity to undermine andsupplant the Venecians and the Genoese, who had long been the envyof all nations, for the wealth they obtained, by the monopoly of thetrade to India. The Dutch soon rivalled the Portuguese in trade, andthe Flemings in manufactures; and, indeed, there is no saying in howgreat a variety of ways the superiority of a nation may not be pulleddown. 

England, commencing later than any, has now obtained her full shareof the commerce of the East, and of manufactures; but the nations thatenvy the wealth of others have always several great advantages. Thenation that is highest treads in discovery, invention, &c. A new path, and is never certain how far she can go, nor how to proceed. Thosewho follow have, in general, but to copy, and, in doing that, it isgenerally pretty easy to improve. At all events, a day must arrive whenthe nation that is highest, ceasing to proceed, the others must overtakeit. 

As the nation that is farthest advanced is ignorant of the improvementsthat may be made, it does not feel what it wants; and, like a man infull health, will give no encouragement to the physician. The countriesthat follow behind act differently; and they generally, in order [end ofpage #208] to protect their rising manufactures, impose duties onsimilar ones imported; thus preventing a competition between oldestablished manufactures, and those recently begun. 

So far as priority of settlement, or of invention, give a superiority to anation over others, the equalizing principle acts with a very naturaland evident force; but, when the manners and modes of thinking of apeople have once taken a settled turn, in addition to their proficiencyin manufactures, it does not appear easily to be altered. 

The Germans excelled at working in metals, and possessed most of thearts, in a superior degree to any other people in Europe, a fewcenturies ago. In some arts they have been surpassed by the French, inmore by the Dutch, and in nearly all by the English. {170}

Conquests and colonies are wrested from nations suddenly and byforce; arts and manufactures leave them in time of peace, silently andby degrees, without noise or convulsion; but the consequences are notthe less fatal on that account; nor, indeed, is the effect slower, thoughmore silent. Though colonies or conquests pass away at once, suchchanges only take place after a long chain of causes have prepared theway for them; whereas, manufactures are perpetually emigrating fromone country to another: the operation, though slow and silent, isincessant, and the ultimate effect great beyond calculation. 

A good government, and wise laws, that protect industry and property, and preserve, in purity, the manners of the people, are the mostdifficult obstacles for a rival nation to overcome. Prosperity, which isfounded upon that basis, is of all others the most secure. There aresometimes customs and habits that favour industry, the operation ofwhich is not perceptible to those who wish to imitate and rivalsuccessful and wealthy nations. 

In general, it is not to be expected that the southern nations can comein competition with those living in more northerly climates in

---{170} The individual German workmen have not been excelled by theworkmen of any other nation, but the German nation itself has beenoutdone. -=-

[end of page #209]

those manufactures, where continued or hard labour is necessary. Nature has compensated the inhabitants of such countries for thisincapacity, by giving them a fine climate, and, in general, a fertile soil;and, when they do justice to it, they may live affluent and happy. But, since industry and civilization have got into northern countries, it isimpossible for the southern ones to rival them in manufactures. 

It would be impossible for any people living on the banks of the Nile, where the finest linen was once manufactured, to rival the cloths ofSilesia, or of Ireland: as well might we think to bring back thecommerce with India to Alexandria by the Red Sea. 

The fine manufactures of India, notwithstanding the materials are allfound in the country, the lowness of labour, and the antiquity of theirestablishment, are, in many cases, unable to keep their ground againstthe invention and industry of Europeans. The art of making porcelain-ware, from a want of some of the materials, has not, in every respect, equalled that manufactured in China; but in everything else, exceptmaterial, it excels so much, that the trade to that country in that articleis entirely over. 

Many of the finest stuffs are nearly sharing the same fate, and they allprobably will do so in time. Those whom we hope to surpass aredetermined to remain as they are, while Europeans aim at going as farin improvement as the nature of things will allow. 

But the nations that follow others in arts are not always confined toimitation, though we have seen that even there they have a greatadvantage. It frequently happens that they get hold of some inventionwhich renders them superior, in a particular line, to those whom theyonly intended to imitate. 

When the superiority of a nation arises from the natural produce of theearth, such as valuable minerals, then it is very difficult for others torival it with advantage; and it is very unwise of any nation to employits efforts in rivalling another in an article where nature has given tothe other a decided advantage; and it is equally ill-judged of a nationto neglect cultivating the advantages which she enjoys from nature, asthey are the most permanent and their possession the most certain ofany she can enjoy. 

[end of page #210]

If nations were to consider in what branches of manufacture they arebest fitted to excel, it would save much rivalship, misunderstanding, and jealousy; at the same time that it would tend greatly to increasethe general aggregate wealth of mankind. It is not to industry andeffort alone that mankind owe wealth, but to industry and effort welldirected. 

This is well explained in the excellent Inquiry into the Causes of theWealth of Nations, and it is to be regretted that this truth is not moregenerally understood; for it would contribute still more to the peaceand happiness of mankind, than to their commercial wealth. 

There is not, however, any subject on which nations are so apt to err, and, indeed, the error is natural enough, if the ambition of a rival isnot checked by judgement and attention to circumstances. 

When a nation is particularly successful in one branch of manufacturemore than in any other, it is generally because some peculiarcircumstances give it an advantage. This ought to operate as a reasonfor doubting whether it might be prudent to attempt to rival a nation inan object in which it had particular advantages; but quite the contraryis the case; a rival nation aims directly at the thing in which anotherexcels the most, and frequently fails when, in any other object, shemight have proved successful. {171}

The changes of the taste and manners of mankind, as well asdiscoveries in arts and science, lay a foundation for political changes;but it is an irregular foundation for change; its operation is sometimesin favour of, and sometimes against the same nation, and it never canbe calculated beforehand. 

As the nations that have improved in manufactures the latest havealways carried them to the greatest perfection, it is natural to inquirehow this happens. 

The exertion of the mind and body are both of them greatly aug-

---{171} How many ridiculous attempts have been made, in the north, torival the Italians in raising silk, and by enlightened men too; but it isnot sufficient to be enlightened, it is necessary to follow a proper trainof reasoning. --Good natural sense sometimes supplies the place ofregular reasoning, and, as if it were intuitively, arrives at a trueconclusion. -=-

[end of page #211]

mented by success, and diminished by any thing of a contrarydescription. The rising nation has always an increased energy, and thatwhich is about being rivalled a sort of discouragement and dismay. This is one cause, but there are others. 

So far as methods of working and machinery are connected, theimitating nation has the advantage; it copies the best sort of machine, and the best manner of working at once. The workmen have neither anattachment to the old inferior methods, nor do they use old inferiormachines, to avoid the expense of new ones. {172} In short, theyadopt all improvements without much additional expense; and, asmen's minds are always more occupied in thinking about a new objectthan an old one, they are even more likely to make improvements. 

As to difficulties in rivalling a nation in skill, in any mechanical art, there are none. The only difficulties in manufactures are in theinventions and improvements, and those have been overcome by theleading nation, and are no difficulties to that which follows. There are, indeed, some arts which require particular talents, and a real exertionof genius; but those are so few in number, and have so littleconnection with the common affairs of mankind, or the wealth ofnations, that they do not deserve to be noticed. 

There is nothing in the art of weaving, or working in metals, or in anyother material for common use, that is of such difficulty but that anyman, with a common capacity, may do it nearly as well as any otherman. The habits and manners of mankind, their disposition to labour, and the nature of the government under which they live, mayencourage or discourage manufacturing; but both the strength andcapacity of any of the natives of Europe, taking them on an average, are fully sufficient to enable them to excel in any work. 

---{172} Where machines are very expensive, new improvements, thatrequire other machinery, are sometimes crushed and rejected on thataccount. To adopt them, a man must sometimes begin by sacrificinghalf his fortune, by destroying his old machinery. 

There have been several instances of this seen, particularly in themaking of iron, when it was proposed to convert the rough gueze intogood malleable iron bar, by rolling it at a welding heat, instead ofhammering it by a forge-mill. -=-

[end of page #212]

{Here appears at page 212 the third chart, entitled"ChartShewing the Amount of theExports and Imports-of-ENGLANDto and from all partsfrom 1800 to 1805"}

The British nation has begun to seek for wealth from agriculture. Ithad long been the mode to pay attention and give the preference tomanufactures; but the current is, for the present, set in, in anotherdirection. Calculation has, till of late, been confined to mercantilemen; but, after all, they have not carried it to a very great length: and, as to their speculative wisdom, it consists chiefly in taking a readyadvantage of some immediate object. 

EXPLANATION OF PLATE NO. III. 

The space from right to left is divided into years, each linerepresenting the year marked under and above. From the beginning ofthe last century, till the year 1770, every tenth year only is expressed, and the average amount of exports and imports only is shewn; but, from 1770 to the present time, every year is separately represented bya line going from the top to the bottom. 

The divisions from top to bottom are millions of pounds sterling, eachrepresenting a million, measuring from the bottom, the number ofmillions indicated is marked on the right margin. 

As the exports, which are expressed by a red line, increased ordiminished, the red line rises or falls, crossing the divisionrepresenting the year at the line which indicates the number ofmillions to which the exports amounted that year. 

The yellow line is drawn on the same principle, and represents theimports for the same years; the difference between the two, which isstained green, being the balance for or against England. 

Thus, for example, we see that, till the year 1775, the exports rosevery fast, and were far above the imports, but that then theirproportion begun =sic= to vary; insomuch that, in 1781, the yellowline rose above the red, when the balance in favour of England turnedagainst it, to the amount of a million for one year. In 1782, the balanceagain became favourable; but, though the trade was increasing, thebalance was once more, in 1785, against England; ever since which ithas been more or less in our favour. 

The difference between the two lines is stained pale green, when thebalance was favourable, but of a pale red when against England. 

[end of page #213]

The advantages proposed by this mode of representing matters are thesame that maps and plans have over descriptions, and dimensionswritten in figures; and the same accuracy is in one case as the other;for, whatever quantities can be expressed in numbers may berepresented by lines; and, where proportional progression is thebusiness, what the eye does in an instant, would otherwise requiremuch time. 

The impression is not only simple, but it is as lasting in retaining as itis easy in receiving. Such are the advantages claimed for the inventiontwenty years ago, when it first appeared; the claim has been allowedby many, and not objected to, so far as the inventor knows, either inthis or in any other country. 

EXPLANATION OF PLATE NO. IV. 

Chart of revenue, from the time of Queen Elizabeth to the present day. 

Till the accession of William III. In 1688, the materials for this are notaltogether accurate; but they are not far wrong, and indeed, the lowstate of the revenue, previous to that period, is such that it is a matterof little importance whether or not they are very exact. It isrepresented here rather as a contrast to the present high revenue, and amatter of curiosity, than as being of much importance. 

The pale red part expresses the free revenue, or what is over, afterpaying the interest of our debt. 

This free revenue has not increased so fast as the value of money hasdecreased, previous to the year 1793; and certainly, at that time, theannual sum of 7, 000, 000 L. Was no equal to 4, 000, 000 L. In the reignof Queen Anne. 

The green part shews the annual interest of the national debt, andproves, beyond contradiction, that, under such a system, expenses ofwar (for the whole debt has been contracted for wars) augment inmuch more than a simple proportion. 

The yellow part, bounded by a curved line, shews the manner in whichthe sinking fund will increase in its operation of paying off the debt, on the supposition that the nation continues to borrow as it has [end ofpage #214] done for the last twelve years; setting apart one per cent. On every new loan, for its liquidation. 

As comparative views are the great object of these charts, a yellowdotted line is made, representing the amount of the revenue of Franceduring the same period, till 1789, when the revolution stopped itsprogress; since which its amount has not been regularly known. {173}

---{173} The author published an Atlas, containing twenty-seven chartsof the different branches of commerce, revenue, and finance, ofEngland, which was translated into French. The fifth edition, muchimproved, and brought to the present time, is now printing, and will bepublished in November. -=-

[end of page #215]

CHAP. III. [=sic=--error in printer's copy, should read II. ]

_Of Education, as conducted in England. --Amelioration proposed. --Necessity of Government interfering, without touching the Liberty ofthe Subject_. 

The importance of education has been already mentioned, as it ingeneral regards all nations, and certainly when we have examples toshew what are the lasting and terrible consequences of degradation ofnational character and manners, it is impossible to pay too strict anattention to that subject. 

The natural tendency in a nation, while growing richer, to alter itscharacter, owing to the different manner in which the children areeducated and brought up, applies particularly to England, and to everynation getting rich by trade or manufactures. In another part, it hasbeen observed, that where the wealth of a country circulates amongstthe labouring classes first, it alters the manner of living more thanwhen it originates with the higher; it produces, also, a greater changeon the education of children. 

No part of the general inquiry is so particularly applicable to England, in an excessive degree, as that relative to education. In proportion asignorant people arrive at that sort of affluence, which manufacturesand trade produce, in that same proportion do they ruin their children. The manners, the nature of the government, and the way of thinking ofthe people, all lead to this in England; and so far as it is possible toobserve the effect, it may be said to appear as if it operated withrapidity at the present period. 

Many volumes have been written on education, by the ablest men; butit has already been observed, that they have all treated the subject in amanner much too intricate and complex. Fully aware of theimportance, they seem to have thought that it could not be treated toomuch at length, or investigated too minutely; and, by this means, whatthey have said is little applicable to general purposes; for, if to educatea man for common life were a difficult complicated operation, itwould very seldom be performed. [end of page #216]

{Here appears at page 216 the fourth and final chart, entitled"ChartRepresenting theIncrease of the Annual Revenues-of-ENGLAND AND FRANCE, from the beginning of the 17th Century tothe present time"}

The word education itself appears to be misapplied or misunderstood, owing, probably, to its original construction and use, and no otherword having been substituted in its place. 

By education was meant, in former times, the teaching to read andwrite; and these accomplishments, which, at that time, distinguished agentleman from the lower classes, and, by that means, education isstill considered as only applying to the learning of what is taught atschools or universities. It is principally in this light that those whohave written on it have viewed it, though in fact _well brought up(bien eleve)_ comes nearer to the meaning than being _well learnt_, which is equivalent to well educated. 

In this, as in every other thing, the end in view should never beforgotten; but, as it happens with respect to the middling and lowerorders, it is forgotten so soon as affluence has made a little progress ina country. 

The education of the higher classes is generally pretty well conducted;and, indeed, human beings, when beyond the reach of want, who donot inherit the necessity derived from Adam, of gaining their bread bythe sweat of their brows, require much more teaching than others, whose conduct is regulated by necessity, and who have not the meansof giving way to the passions that beset human nature. 

With respect, however, to the higher classes, it is scarcely possible fora government to interfere to much purpose. Those who are possessedof fortune will act according to inclination; and, in respect to this classof society, in England, it is already in less need of reform orinterference than any others, while the lower and middling classesrequire it more. 

There is no possibility for an ignorant man to become of anyimportance in this country, even with the aid of wealth and fortune. An immoral character, or a mean selfish one, has not a much betterchance, while, by talents and good conduct, every thing desirable maybe obtained: perhaps, nothing further can be done to excite men ofrank and fortune to emulation and virtue. 

With respect to the learned professions, the modes by which studentsare brought up to them are by no means unexceptionable; but that isnot a point of very great national importance; at any rate, [end of page#217] it is not the part in which England stands the most in need ofattention {174} and interference from the government of the country. 

The two classes to whom bringing up, as it is generally understood, would apply better than the word education, are the middle rank ofsociety, and the lower order of people in trade. 

The middle rank of society is, in all countries, the most important inpoint of principles and manners. To keep it pure is always of thehighest importance, and it is the most difficult, for there a banefulchange is the most apt to take place. 

Gentlemen of rank, in all countries, resemble each other very nearly;not, perhaps, in exterior, because that depends on fashion, which isarbitrary, but in mind and manners there is less difference thanbetween men in a second rank of society. 

The lower orders, so far as they are forced, by necessity, to labour, resemble each other also; they are pressed by necessities and passionson one side, and the desire of rest on the other; and a fair allowancebeing made for variety of climate, of circumstances, and of naturaldispositions, there is nothing very different amongst them. {175}

What applies with respect to the higher and lower orders does not

---{174} Our lawyers (barristers) are probably superior to those of anyother nation, and the clergy are, at least, equal. This is not, indeed, saying a great deal; but it is so difficult, in matters of religion, totemper zeal, and draw a line between emulation and fanaticism, that, perhaps, it is better that they should be a little remiss than righteousovermuch. It is not in the education of churchmen, but in the mannerof paying and providing for them, that the error lies; and that subject istreated elsewhere. 

{175} Cervantes, in his admirable romance of Don Quixote, paints themind of a gentleman, which all countries will acknowledge to be likethe truth. The madness apart, the manner of thinking and acting wasthat of the gentleman of Spain, France, Germany, or England. Neitherwas he the gentleman of the fifteenth or eighteenth century, but of anyother century. His dress was Spanish; his madness and mannersbelonged to the ages of chivalry and romance, but the mind andprinciples of the gentleman suited all ages and all countries. 

Sancho, again, barring likewise his oddities, is the peasant of allcountries; studying to live as well as he can, and labour as little as hemay. In short, a mind continually occupied about personal wants, andalive to personal interest. In the middle ranks of society there is nosuch similarity. -=-

[end of page #218]

apply at all to the middling classes, nor even to the most wealthy classof labourers in a manufacturing country: in those we can find no fixedcharacter; it is as variable as the circumstances in which theindividuals are placed, and it is there that a government shouldinterfere. It should interfere in guiding the richer classes of workingpeople, and the middling ranks, in the education of their children, andin assisting those of the lower orders, who are too much pressed uponby indigence. 

The end in view in all education is to make the persons, whether menor women, fill their place well and properly in life; and this is only tobe done by setting a good example, instilling good principles, accustoming them, when young, to good habits; and, above all, byteaching them how to gain more than they are habituated to spend. 

It follows from this, that industry, and a trade, are the chief parts ofeducation, that reading and writing are not, being but of a verydoubtful utility to the labouring class of society. 

On this subject, it is absolutely necessary to advert to what Dr. Smithsays relative to apprenticeships; the opinion of so great a writer is oftoo much importance not to be examined, and refuted, if found wrong. 

Apprenticeships, or teaching a trade, is the basis of the futurehappiness and prosperity of the individual in the lower and middleclasses. On this subject, however, Mr. Smith says quite the contrary. That the idleness of apprentices is well known, that their inducementto industry is small, and that, as to what they have to learn, a fewweeks, or sometimes a few days, would, in most cases, be sufficient. In short, he maintains, that they would learn better, be moreindustrious and useful, if employed on wages, than if bound for a termof years; and, finally, that there were no apprentices amongst theancients. As to there being no apprentices in the ancient world, if thatwas the case, is no argument with respect to the present state of things;for, while most part of working men were slaves, there could notpossibly be much occasion for apprentices; but are we quite certain, that the freed men, so often mentioned, were not people who hadserved apprenticeships? Freed men are so often mentioned, that theremust have been probably something else to which they owed theirfreedom, besides the goodwill or [end of page #219] caprice of theirmasters, particularly as that goodwill must have been exercised todeserving objects, and consequently the sacrifice made in givingliberty was the greater. {176}

As men cultivated difficult arts; that is, as luxury increased, it musthave become difficult to get labour done by slaves, merely bycompulsive means; there must have been bargain and mutual interestsettled between the master and the slave, so as to accomplish the endintended. {177} Amongst rewards to a slave, liberty, at a certainperiod, is not only the greatest, but is the only one that effectuallyserves the slave; for, while he remains the property of a master, hisrewards can consist of little else than good treatment, as all propertygiven is liable to be taken back again. 

Supposing, however, the point yielded, and that there were noapprentices in the early ages; but that the practice originated in thedays of ignorance; in the dark ages, under the feudal system, togetherwith the invention of corporations and privileged bodies, againstwhose existence the whole set of economists have leagued together, asthe Greeks did against Troy; still the obscurity of the origin is noobjection. A constitution like that of Britain, for example, is not aninvention of antiquity; it took its rise in the dark ages and in times ofignorance, but it is not for that the less an object of admiration. Manyother examples may be furnished of the admirable things that took risein the dark ages; and amongst them, not the least, is the abolition ofslavery itself. {178}

Let us, however, examine the effect of apprenticeships in those placeswhere they can be compared with persons brought up entirely free. 

---{176} We may form some idea of the difficulty of getting work doneby people in no way interested in the success, by the workhouses inthis country. The smallest quantity, and of the most simple nature, isall we get done, because the overseers are ignorant, and the nationinattentive, and the labour compulsive. 

{177} In Egypt, and most other ancient countries, the son followed, bylaw, the trade of his father: this was equivalent to an apprenticeship. 

{178} Whether it arose from the mixture of a northern with thesouthern people, or from what other cause, it is certain, that, duringthe ages of ignorance, the foundation was laid for almost all that isgreat, at the present time. -=-

[end of page #220]

If there are trades, where it is true, (as Mr. Smith affirms, ) that the artof working may be learnt in a few weeks, what are the consequences?At the age of sixteen or seventeen, a boy can get as much money as hewill be able to earn at any future time in his life; he will be able to getas much as a man, who has a wife and five or six children to maintain. There will be required a very great share of moderation and wisdom, indeed, under such circumstances, to prevent such a boy from wastinghis money in ways that will incapacitate him from living easy when heshall become a father of a family himself, or from idling away thespare time that his gains afford him. He will, naturally, do part ofboth: but the way that is generally done is this. Without controul froma master, and totally independent of parents, who are quite left behindin poverty, (not having more to maintain their whole family than theyouth himself earns, ) he despises them, saves a little money at first, and purchases finery. The novelty of dress soon wears off, and themore immediate pleasures of eating, drinking, and keeping company, as it is termed, take the lead. The consequence of the same is idlenessand rags. Ashamed to shew himself amongst persons of betterconduct, the youth changes his place of residence and work; habit hasgot hold of him, and labour becomes hateful; a soldier's life appearsthe best for a youth of such a description; and, it is an undoubted fact, that, at those places where trades are carried on, that can be learnt in ashort time, {179} there are more recruits obtained for the army than inany other districts of equal population. It is also an undoubted fact, that, in these same districts, the most respectable people bind theirsons apprentices; and, in doing so, they are guided by experience, andaffection for their children, not by interested motives. 

---{179} This is not the case with many trades, and Mr. Smith is under amistake as to the fact; but, granting it to be true, the places inquestion, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, and other towns where thedivision of labour reduces every operation to great simplicity, are thebest for recruiting the army. In those places, all respectable people, who can afford it, bind their sons apprentices, to prevent the danger. -=-

[end of page #221]

In the other case, again, where a trade is not easily learnt, how is skillto be obtained but by an apprenticeship. The bringing the son up to hisfather's trade, a practice that prevails in the eastern parts of Asia, isone way; parental authority needs not the aid of a written indenture;but, where this is not the case, who is to teach a youth, if he is not tobe bound for a certain number of years, but to go away as soon as hehas learnt a trade? The father, in some cases, may be able to pay forhis son learning the trade, and this experiment has sometimes beentried, but generally with very imperfect success. The youth, for themost part, in those cases, considers himself as independent of themaster, and gives himself very little trouble to learn his business. 

Where the reward of the master, or rather the remuneration for hispains and trouble, is to arise from the labour of the boy, the master isinterested in his learning; and the other feels an obligation, as well asan interest in learning. Though the apprentice is not absolutely paidfor what he does, he finds his ease, his importance, and comfort, alldepend on his proficiency; and, with young minds, such motives aremuch more powerful, and act through a better channel than avarice. 

The power that the legislature gives to a master over his apprenticeappears not only to be wise but necessary; and, if rewards for earninga trade could be given, in addition to that without infringing on liberty, or burthening the state, it would be a great advantage. 

But learning a trade is not the only advantage of an apprenticeship; agood moral conduct, fidelity, and attention to his duties, are allacquired at the same time, or ought to be so; whereas, the youth who, at an early age, is left without control, is apt to learn just thecontrary. 

Where people have fortune, circumstances give them a control overtheir children by expectancies; but, where there is no fortune, andchildren must provide for themselves, an apprenticeship is a substitutefor expectancies, which appears highly necessary; and it is wonderfulhow so discriminating and profound a man as Dr. Smith couldoverlook so material a circumstance. It shews how far prejudice, andan [end of page #222] opinion once adopted, will lead men of the firstjudgement and genius astray; {180} for it is not to be supposed thatany person will stand forward of himself to maintain an opinionagainst which experience speaks so decidedly. 

To learn a trade, and be taught a good moral conduct, and attention toone's duty, is certainly the essential part of education, both in thelower and middling classes; and that portion of education, whichappears to have got an exclusive title to the name, reading and writing, are, with the working classes, a very inferior object. 

One of the duties of government, then, is to watch over the educationof the children of the middling and lower orders, which has a tendencyto grow worse, as the nation advances in wealth. 

In England, the pride of the middling classes is to have their childreneducated at boarding-schools, where the business of eating, sleeping, dressing, and exercise, is pretty well understood; where the branchesof education, pretended to be taught, are little attended to, (writing, and some exterior accomplishments, of which the father and mothercan judge, excepted, ) where moral conduct, the duties in life, and theconduct necessary to be followed, are scarcely once thought of. 

It is true, that, till a certain age, it is generally not known for whatparticular line of life a young man is intended; but, there are certainthings necessary to every line of life, and those should never beneglected. The habits contracted at schools are very often of a sortnever to be got the better of; and how can good habits be contractedwhen no attention is bestowed on the subject?

The consequence of this is, that, when the good sense of the father ormother, or of the boy himself, does not correct the evil, he is bred upto consider himself as born to be waited on, and provided for, withoutany effort of his own; he is led to suppose that he is to indulge

---{180} In the notes upon the Wealth of Nations, this case is argued, butthe matter is too important not to be examined on every occasion andopportunity. The opinion here alluded to is that general way ofthinking, respecting corporations, privileges, and regulations, orrestraints of every sort imposed on trade, which the writers on politicaleconomy, in general, think ought all to be entirely done away. -=-

[end of page #223]

in a life similar to that his father leads at home, where a fewindulgencies =sic= are the natural consequences of age, and the fairreturns for a life employed in care and industry. 

In England, it would be absolutely necessary to make school-mastersundergo an examination; not only at first, and before the school shouldbe licensed, but the boys should be examined twice a year, and theresult enregistered, so that the business would really be to learnsomething, and not merely to spend the time. 

The small proficiency made in the schools, in England, and aroundLondon in particular, is incredible. It is even difficult to conceive howthe boys avoid learning a little more than they generally do, duringeight or ten years. {181} The masters pretend, for the most part, toteach boys Latin, by way of teaching them English, but without almostever accomplishing it. In arithmetic, the common rules are taught, butscarcely ever decimal fractions, and almost never book-keeping, souseful and so easy an art. 

Writing and spelling are better taught, perhaps, than in any othercountry, and, certainly, those are great advantages; but, according tothe time and money spent, it is the least that can be expected. Here wemay remark, that those are the only acquirements with the proficiencyin which the father and mother are necessarily acquainted; it thereforegives reason for thinking, that, if the same check were held in otherbranches of their education, they would be excited to make equalprogress. 

When the time comes that it is fixed on what line of life a young manis to adopt, then there should be schools for different branches, where

---{181} Without contesting the point, whether dead languages are ofany use, it will be allowed that the study costs pretty dear. Three-quarters of the time, for seven years employed on that is equal to fiveyears employed constantly, and twenty pounds a year, at least, is theexpense. Not above one in one hundred learns to read even Latindecently well, that is one good reader for every 10, 000 L. Expended. As to speaking Latin, perhaps, one out of one thousand may learn that, so that there is a speaker for each sum of 100, 000 L. Spent on thelanguage. It will, perhaps, be said, that Latin is necessary to theunderstanding English, but the Greeks, (particularly at Athens, ) wholearnt no language but their own, understood and spoke it better thanthe people of any other country. -=-

[end of page #224]

there should be knowledge taught, analogous to the profession. For themercantile line, for agriculture, for every line of life, boys should beprepared; and, above all, it should never be neglected to instil intothem the advantages of attention to industry, to doing their duty, andin every case making themselves worthy of trust. 

Public examinations, such honours and rewards as would begratifying, but not expensive, for those that excelled, would produceemulation. Though, perhaps, it is not of very great importance to excelin some of the studies to which a young man applies at school, yet it isof great importance to be taught that habit of application that producesexcellence. 

With regard to the education of the lower classes, it would be no greatadditional burthen to the nation if there were proper schoolsestablished in every parish in the kingdom, at the expense of thepublic, in order that there might be a proper control over those whoteach, and over what is taught. {182} Without going so far as tocompel people of the lower classes to send their children to school, they might be induced to do it for a short time, and, at all events, careshould be taken that the teachers were fit for the office they undertake. 

In no country do the lower classes neglect the care of their childrenmore, or set them a worse example, than in England; they are mostlybrought up as if the business of eating and drinking were the chiefpurpose of human existence; they are taught to be difficult to please, and to consider as necessary what, in every other nation in Europe, isconsidered, by the same rank of people, as superfluous. 

Although the lower orders have as good a right as the most affluent toindulge in every enjoyment they can afford, yet to teach this tochildren, without knowing what may be their lot, is doing both themand society an injury. A great number of crimes arise from earlyindul-

---{182} As there are between nine and ten thousand parishes, twentypounds given in each, to which the schoolmaster would be allowed toadd what those who were able could pay, might perhaps answer thepurpose, and would not amount to a great sum. -=-

[end of page #225]

gence of children, and from neglecting to instil into them thoseprinciples which are necessary to make them go through life withcredit and contentment. {183}

The Spartans used to shew their youth slaves or Helots in a state ofintoxication, in order to make them detest the vice of drunkenness; butthis was the exhibition of a contemptible and mean person in adisgraceful situation. The effect is very different when children seethose they love and respect in this state; it must have the effect ofeither rendering the parent contemptible, or the vice less odious, itperhaps has some effect both ways; but, at all events, it must operateas a bad example, and, amongst the lower classes, it is a very commonone. 

When a nation becomes the slave of its revenue, and sacrifices very=sic= thing to that object, abuses that favour revenue are difficult toreform; but surely it would be well to take some mode to prevent thefacility with which people get drunk, and the temptation that is laid todo so. The immense number of public houses, and the way in whichthey give credit, are undoubtedly, in part, causes of this evil. It wouldbe easy to lessen the number, without hurting liberty, and it would beno injustice if publicans were prevented from legal recovery for beeror spirits consumed in their houses, in the same manner that paymentcannot be enforced of any person under twenty-one years of age, unless for necessaries. There could be no hardship in this, and it wouldproduce a great reform in the manners of the lower orders. 

There are only three modes of teaching youth the way to well-doing, --by precept, by example, and by habit at an early age. Precept, without example and habit, has but little weight, yet how can a childhave either of these, if the parents are encouraged and assisted inliving a vicious life? Nations and individuals should guard

---{183} The French, before the revolution, were not be =sic=considered as a more virtuous people than the English, yet there werefewer crimes, and less dissipation amongst the lower orders than inEngland, and more amongst the higher. The French, particularly themothers, have less affection for their children, yet they brought themup better, both in habits and in principles. -=-

[end of page #226]

against those vices to which they find they have a natural disposition;and drinking and gluttony are the vices to which the common peoplein this country are the most addicted. 

Whatever other things may be taught, let this truth be instilled into allchildren brought up to earn their bread, that in proportion to theirdiligence will be their ease and enjoyment, and that this world is aworld of sorrow and grief to the idle and the ignorant; that knowledgedoes not consist in being able to read books, but in understandingone's business and duty in life, and that industry consists in doing it. 

Female education, in England, requires as much reform as that of theother sex; but, though the subject is not much less important, it isperhaps still more difficult. It has been remarked, by those who havetravelled abroad, that, in other countries, women are in general notbetter, but rather worse dressed than men of the same rank: in Englandit is different; for, at an early age, the women are dressed, both as tostyle and quality of clothes, far above their rank. This might, perhaps, not be difficult to account for, but it undoubtedly is a misfortune, andone that is greatly increased by the mode of education and manner ofthinking; for the main and indispensable virtue of that amiable sexexcepted, (for which Englishwomen are highly distinguished, ) perhapsno women in the world are brought up in a more frivolous unmeaningmanner. The French women, with all their vivacity and giddy airs, have more accomplishment; {184} and, as they speak their mindpretty plainly, they have, on many occasions, testified surprise to findEnglish ladies, who had studied music for years, who could scarcelyplay a tune, and who, after devoting years to the needle, wereincapable of embroidering a pin-cushion. 

Novels, a species of light, insipid, and dangerous reading, are the baneof English female education. They teach a sort of false romanticsentiment, and withdraw the mind from attention to the duties of

---{184} The emigrants have taught to ladies of rank, fashions; and tothose of an inferior class, arts and industry. The English women didnot know half what they could do, till the French came amongst them, about twelve years ago. -=-

[end of page #227]

life, at a time when it should be taught to learn their high importance. In female education the government should interfere; for the educationof the mother will always have an influence on the education of theson, as her conduct in life must have on that of her husband. 

As one general observation, relative to the education given at mostpublic schools, it may be observed, that, whilst much time is taken upin teaching things that can never probably be of great utility, thatspecies of knowledge that does not belong to any particular class, butwhich is of the utmost importance, is left to chance and to accident. While a boy is tormented with learning a dead language he is left toglean, as in a barren field, for all those rules of conduct on which theprosperity and happiness of his future life depends. {185}

A public education is, in many respects, better than a private one forboys, but, in some things, it is inferior: consequently those who canafford it, and wish to give their sons the most complete education, tryto unite the advantages of both, by sending them to a public school, under the care of a private tutor. It is not in the power of the middlingclasses to do this; but modes should be adopted to give the boys, eitherby books or public lectures, those instructions, relative to moralconduct, to prudence, behaviour, &c. Which a private tutor gives tothose under his particular charge. 

As to female education, it is a difficult subject: one great improvementwould, nevertheless, be not to allow above a certain number in anyone seminary; to have people of irreproachable conduct over them, and, wherever the parents can, to bring them home at the age ofthirteen or fourteen. The public education ought certainly to finish atan early age, and, in all cases, with respect to females, a private ismuch preferable to a public education. {186}

---{185} The most virtuous of the Roman emperors attributed to hispreceptors every one of those excellent qualities he possessed. Theancient education of Greece and Rome was very different from that ofthe moderns. 

{186} Since this was written, we understand a book for this verypurpose is about to be printed, with the professed design of uniting theadvantages of a public and private education. -=-

[end of page #228]

CHAP. III. 

_Of the Effects of Taxation in England_. 

What has been said of the increase of taxes, their tendency to ruin anation, and bring on its decline, together with the counteractionoccasioned by the continuance of necessity, as being applicable to allnations in general, applies, in every sense, to England, and even moreto England than to any other nation. Taxes are carried to greaterexcess than in any other country; and, as England flourishes by tradeand manufactures, (the price of which taxes enhance, ) they graduallytend to shut foreign markets against us. This has already beenexplained; we, however, still have to inquire into the particularmanner in which it operates upon this country. 

That the system of taxation, though irregular in England, is less sothan in any other country, in proportion to the extent to which it hasbeen carried, is true; but still, however, if a number of the mosttroublesome and ill-contrived taxes were done away, and othersestablished in their place, it would be a great advantage. 

Greater danger arises from the augmentation of taxes in a wealthycountry than in a poor one, when they stretch beyond the proper line, because the general prosperity hinders the effect from being visible, till it has advanced beyond the power of remedy; whereas, in a poorcountry, the injury is soon felt. 

The invention and industry of this country have been mostwonderfully increased by the necessity of exertion, under theprotection of good laws, which rendered property secure. But we trusttoo much to our resources, and, like men in health and vigour, are themost likely to injure our constitution. 

The most part of the arts, in point of manufacturing, seem to havecome to nearly the last degree of perfection, so far as abbreviation oflabour can carry them. [end of page #229]

The division of labour, and the modes of working in the iron andmetal branches, have not of late been in any material degree improvedin our towns, the most famous for them; and as to any particular giftof bringing things to perfection, or reducing prices, it does not appearto be confined to England. Watches and fire-arms are two of the mostingenious and nice branches of metal manufactures; yet, at Liege, thelatter is carried to greater perfection than at Birmingham, and Londonand Lancashire are outdone by Switzerland, in the former. Those, indeed, are not manufactures of which the taste or form is constantlyaltering; but they are a proof of the ability to work with equaladvantage, both as to quality and price, with the manufacturers of thiscountry. 

The next great branches are the weaving. For silks, France has alwayshad the advantage of us; and our fine woollen cloths have neverequalled those of Louvier and Sedan for quality, although, in point ofprice, they have the advantage. 

In linens, we enjoy no particular pre-eminence; and, in the Americanmarket, we are beginning to be undersold by those of Silesia. For asecond quality of woollen cloth, and for the manufacture of cotton, inall its branches, we still have the superiority; but our great advantage, the cause of the general preference to our manufactures is the longcredit we give, which, if it should ever cease to be practicable, wouldruin not one, but all our manufactures, nearly at a stroke. 

It is very natural and very well for Englishmen, who have never beenout of their own country, to ascribe to superiority of quality, (andinferiority of price is the same thing, ) the great success they have inselling their goods in foreign countries; but such as have had anopportunity to see how it really is, know the contrary; and those whohave not, may know it by observing who are the individuals in anybranch of business at home that do the most, and they will find italways to be those who have the power of giving the longest credit. Itis true that, in the course of time, and by struggling hard, those whohave little means of extending their business at first, do it by degrees;but, until they do, they never can, in point of quantity, rival those whogive long credit. 

[end of page #230]

In the inability of other nations to give equal length of credit, consistsour principal advantage; but we have seen, by the vicissitudes ofancient nations, that the wants of others, or their being behindhand, are but a very insecure tenure for the prosperity of any nation. 

The exportation of Britain was but inconsiderable at the beginning oflast =sic= century, or about one-ninth of what it was two yearsago. {187} Previous to the American war, it gradually increased toabout three times what it was in the year 1700; that is, in seventy-fiveyears. The progression was pretty regular till the year 1750, when ithad risen to nearly double; but, in twenty-five years after, it increasedas much as it had in fifty years before. The American war threw itback forty years, but it soon got up again to where it probably wouldhave been, had the American war not intervened; it, however, rosebeyond any thing that had ever been seen. It doubled in less than tenyears; and, from this, we are led to conclude, that the taxes had notthen begun to hurt national industry. But we shall see the reason, forthe great increase was not owing so much to any cause inherent in thisnation, as to the absolute impossibility of other nations continuingtheir commerce. We had got all the East and West India trade of theFrench and Dutch, and America had again become our greatestcustomer for British manufactures. 

Capital that could be removed was, in a manner, banished from thecontinent of Europe, and had taken refuge in England, and a greatextent of the continent had been desolated with war. We are not, however, to expect this amazing export trade to continue; indeed, ithas already fallen, in one year, as much as it ever rose in any threeyears; it fell fifteen millions in one year. The taxes may have operatedmuch against our prosperity, without our knowing it, in a crisis of thissort, though they did not absolutely counteract the favourable effectproduced by other causes. 

The commerce of the American states, which were, (like England, )out of the vortex of danger, and secure, increased in fully as rapid

---{187} In 1802, the exports amounted to 45, 500, 000 L. In 1702 to5, 500, 000 L. -=-

[end of page #231]

a manner as ours, and fell off in the same way. We must not then, consider as durable, or owing to ourselves, circumstances that aroseout of the general and temporary situation of other nations. 

It has been said in the general chapter on taxation, and again repeatedin that on national debt, that both the one and the other operate, for acertain time, in augmenting the industry and wealth of a country, butthat there is some point at which they begin to have a contrary effect;that point, however, being dependent on a variety of circumstances, isnot a fixed one, it cannot be discovered by investigation before thetime, but it may by symptoms and signs that become visible soonafter. 

It is a sign that a nation has passed the point at which taxes cease to bea spur to industry, when the duties on consumption, or optional duties, which one may avoid paying, by not using the article taxed, becomeless productive than formerly, and when it is found necessary to laytaxes on land, houses, and such sort of property as can be made to pay, independent of the will of the proprietor. 

When taxes are laid upon property, not on consumption, it is to besupposed the latter can bear no more. Taxes on property are forcedtaxes; on consnmption =sic=, they are generally, to a certain degree, voluntary, though not always so. 

The augmentation of wealth has, in this country, been great, but it hasnever been regular or uninterrupted; that of taxation has, on thecontrary, been uninterrupted, and this is better seen from the chartthan from any thing that can be said. There can be no doubt that, though hitherto our increasing prosperity has been so great as tocounteract the effect of heavy taxation, yet that the same thing cannotbe expected to continue long. How long it may continue, or whether ithas not already ceased, or is on the point of ceasing, is uncertain; butthere is nothing more positive, than that, if taxes increase, they must, in process of time, crush industry, and, therefore, at all events, theyshould be kept as low as possible. 

The whole income of the country is estimated only at 150, 000, 000 L. The taxes to the state amount to 40, 000, 000 L. And those for themaintenance of the poor to 5, 500, 000 L. But this is the mere moneyac-[end of page #232] count, without estimating loss of time, trouble, and inconvenience; so that it may fairly and reasonably be put down atone-third of the whole revenue or income of the individuals, yet thecomplaints are not so loud, and the clamour is not so great, as whenthey did not amount to one-twentieth of that revenue. This may, however, be accounted for. 

One-third part of revenue is derived from the state itself, so that thereare but two-thirds remain independent of it. The habit of bearingburthens, and experience of the inutility of complaint, are likewisereasons for acquiescence; besides these, we cannot but all be sensible, that complaints were very violent when there was little occasion forthem. We cannot deny, that the nation has been prospering for ahundred years, while the cry of ruin has been resounding perpetuallyin every corner; it is therefore natural to mistrust our fears, and sit insilence, waiting the event. 

The portion of our expense that consists in interest of money, onwhich no economy can operate, is so great, that it prevents any hopeof much diminution from economy; and, indeed, in the time of peace, no economy that could be practised, more than what has commonlybeen done, would diminish our burthens one-fiftieth part. Even thatwould be very difficult, perhaps impracticable; for our free revenue, intime of peace, has not augmented in proportion to the diminution ofthe value of money; so that, in 1792, the expenses of the state werecomparatively less than in the reign of Queen Anne. 

Economy, then, is not the mode in which we must seek relief in timeof peace. To carry on war in a less expensive manner in future, andtake a solid and effectual method of reducing our debts, are the means, both of which are treated of in their proper place. 

The modes of relief then, are three:

1. Economy in war. 

2. A solid and fair method of reducing the present interest. 

3. Attention, to render the system of taxation as little troublesome, andas fair and equal as possible. 

[end of page #233]

CHAP. IV. 

_Of the National Debt and Sinking Fund. --Advantages andDisadvantages of both. --Errors committed in calculating theirEffects. --Causes of Error. --Mode proposed for preventing futureIncrease_. 

In no circumstance does the British empire differ so widely from allnations recorded in history, or from any now in existence, as withregard to the national debt. 

Not only the invention of contracting debt to carry on war is but ofrecent origin, but no nation has ever carried it to near the extent that ithas arrived at in England. The Italian states, in which this mode wasfirst practised, never had the means of carrying it very far. In Spain, France, and Holland, national debt met with obstacles that arrested itsprogress long before it arrived at the pitch to which it has now come inthis country. 

The interest of the debt is above thrice the free revenue of the country, in time of peace, as that revenue was, previous to hostilities in 1793. 

Whenever any operation is begun, the result of which is not known, owing to its being new, but which is in itself of great importance; theanxiety it occasions must be great, and, generally, the alarm is morethan proportioned to the danger. If ever this truth was exemplified inany thing, it has been with regard to the national debt of England, which has been a continual object of terror since its first creation; nota public terror, merely amongst the ignorant, but the most profoundand enlightened statesmen. Calculators, and writers on politicaleconomy, have served to augment the uneasiness by their predictionsof a fatal termination. 

While the debt has been augmenting with great rapidity, the wealthand resources of the nation have, at least, augmented equally fast, andthe matter of fact has given the lie to all the forebodings of those who[end of page #234] occasioned the alarm. This very extraordinarycircumstance merits an investigation. 

It unfortunately happens, that, where people are deeply interested in asubject, they form their opinion before they begin to examine andinvestigate, and consequently the mind commences with a bias, andacts under its influence, the consequence of which is, that theconclusion is not so accurate as it otherwise would be. Not that, incalculating with figures, the disposition of the mind can make an unitof difference, the question being once fairly stated; but the previousimpression on the mind tends to prevent the fair statement of thequestion. 

That an uninterrupted practice of borrowing must end in an inability topay is a self-evident axiom. It is not a matter that admits of dispute;but to fix the point where the inability will commence is a problem toresolve of a very difficult nature; it is indeed a problem, the re-solution =sic= of which depends upon some circumstances that cannotbe ascertained. There are, it is true, certain fixed principles; but thereare some points also that depend on events entirely unconnected withthe debt, and, in themselves, uncertain. Two great considerations, thatoperate powerfully, have been omitted by most writers on this subject. The first, is the increased energy of human exertion, under anincreased operation of necessity; the second, is the effect that thedepreciation of money has, on lessening the apparent burthenoccasioned by the interest of the debt. That these two causes, whichhave not been taken into account, have rendered the calculationserroneous, there is not a doubt; and how far they may still continue tooperate is, at this time, as uncertain as ever; but they ought not to beconsidered as of operation beyond a certain unknown point, else thepractice of contracting debt would be capable of infinite extension, which is impossible. 

But the augmentation of the debt itself is not the only circumstancethat excites attention, as intimately connected with the fate of thisnation. 

The increasing wealth and prosperity of the nation, under the heavyload of taxes, of which the debt is the principal occasion, is as much amatter of surprize as the ultimate result is an object of anxiety. 

So long, however, as the nation is not actually born =sic= down by the[end of page #235] weight of taxes, its wealth must increase; and, what is considered as a very strange phenomenon, is only the naturaland necessary consequence of increased taxation. 

When men inhabit and cultivate land of their own, they are under nonecessity of creating any greater value than they consume; but, whenthey pay RENT and TAXES, they are laid under a necessity ofproducing enough to supply their own wants, and to pay the rent andtaxes to which they are subject. The same is the case with regard tomanufacturers in every line of business, for though they do not, perhaps, consume any part of what they produce, (what comes to thesame thing is that, ) they are obliged to produce as much as willexchange, or sell, for all they want to consume, over and above payingtheir rent and taxes. 

Without rent and taxes there are only three things that excite theexertion of man:--Necessity, arising from natural wants; a love ofpleasure; or, a love of accumulation. 

When a man labours no more than for his mere natural necessities, heis a poor man, in the usual acceptation =sic= of the word, that is, hehas no wealth; {188} and a nation, peopled with such men, wouldjustly be called a poor nation. When a man labours for nothing morethan what he expends on pleasure, or to gratify his taste and passions, it is still the same, he consumes what he creates, and there is an end ofthe matter; and, whether he creates much or little, as his consumptionis regulated by it, no difference is made to society; but, when rent andtaxes constitute a part of the price of every commodity, theconsumption of every man, whether he pays any taxes directly or not, himself, is attended with an increase to the revenues of those whoreceive the rent and taxes, and obliges him to create more than heconsumes. 

---{188} Some philosophers call a man rich, who wants little, and hasthat little; they are quite right, in their way, but that does not applyhere. Perhaps, according to their definition, the Lazzaroni of Naplesare richer than the merchants of London; and, a man who is contentedin a parish work-house, is, beyond dispute, rich; to say that such a manis wealthy would be absurd, because wealth, with writers on politicaleconomy, implies being possessed of real tangible property. -=-

[end of page #236]

It arises from this, that the aggregate wealth of a people increases withrent and taxes; for, where there are neither, the desire of accumulationis the only thing that increases wealth. {189}

It is for this reason, that, by obliging a man to create more than hehimself consumes, taxation increases the wealth of a nation; so thatthe flourishing state of England is a very natural effect of heavytaxation. The misery and poverty of those people who have little ornothing to pay, is equally natural, though it does not astonish one quiteso much. 

As there is nothing in the world without a bound, and a limit, it isclear, that, in laying it down as a principle, that rent and taxesoccasion wealth instead of poverty, it is only to be understood, to acertain extent; that is to say, to the length to which the nature of thingswill admit of the exertion of man augmenting his industry, but not astep farther. 

To ascertain this point would be to solve a most curious problem;observing, that the solution would, in every case, depend on a greatvariety of particular circumstances. 

Something like a general investigation, however, is possible. It willnot be accurate, nor is that wanted, but it may lay the foundation forunderstanding the matter better at a future period. 

In London, rent and taxes are heavier than in any other part of thekingdom, and in Scotland they are less than in any other; yet, theworking people, from all parts of the kingdom, come to London, andfrom the poorest places, in the greatest numbers. Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, are the poor countries, _lightly taxed_, and from them

---{189} Accumulation is sometimes not a passion, but arises fromnecessity; by accumulation, is meant the increasing the value of thestock you possess, whether it consists of land, cattle, money, ormerchandize. 

Thus, for example, the Americans are increasing in wealth, fromnecessity, because their country is becoming better, by beingcultivated, in order to produce what is necessary. They cannot havewhat they want, in the way they wish, without increasing or betteringthe property of which they have taken possession. 

If they had no more rent and taxes than they have, and if this were notthe case, they would remain a poor people. Thus, the inhabitants ofSyria, of Egypt, of Arabia Felix, formerly the finest countries in theworld, having a property that does not better in their possession, andhaving scarcely either rent or taxes to pay, remain, from generation togeneration, creating little, and consuming what they create. -=-

[end of page #237]

people come, perpetually, to pay _heavy taxes_ in London. Yes, but itwill be said, in answer, these are poor countries. They are, however, richer than England was in the days of Queen Elizabeth; and, if thenature of things could have admitted of people _changing centuries_, as they _change countries_, the people of the seventeenth century, with light taxes, would have emigrated to the nineteenth century, withall its heavy taxes, just as those Irish and Scotch come to London. 

This proves that, even in London, the excess of taxes is not yet such asto create a retrograde effect, and it proves it in a very striking manner. Though there may, at first sight, appear something ludicrous in theidea of emigrating from the seventeenth to the nineteenth, from thereign of Queen Elizabeth to that of his present majesty, it is a perfectlyfair comparison, and will hold good, examine it as much as one will. The common expression, (and a very significant one it is, ) that onepart of the country is a century behind another, or twenty years, orfifty years, is exactly the same idea, expressed in other words, for it isa comparison between the changes which a lapse of time makes in onecase, and a removal of place in the other. The present times are thenbetter to live in than those of Elizabeth, as London is better than anydistant part of the country. 

That the ability of the nation to sustain a given burthen, for a certainnumber of years, is no proof of a permanent ability to support it, mustbe admitted, even if the same annual resources were to continue; but, that permanent ability becomes much less certain, when we considerthat the annual resources are perpetually varying, that, therefore, theyhave so many uncertain quantities, that it is impossible to resolve theproblem. 

As to the effect, with respect to the increasing the burthens of thepeople, that has been treated under the general head of taxation. Whether the money goes to pay for a ship of war, a regiment ofsoldiers, or the interest of loans, makes no difference to him who paysthe tax; and, indeed, makes little to the general system of nationaleconomy, as, in every case, what is paid to the state is employed onunproductive labourers or idle people. That is to say, it is consumed, and never appears again. 

[end of page #238]

National debt, then, so far as it increases the taxes of a country, is likeany other national expenditure; and, in maintaining unproductive andidle people, it is also the same; but it has, in another point of view, adifferent effect, and that effect is an advantageous one. 

In every nation, the greatest part of the capital is employed, or, as it iscalled, sunk. Land, houses, machines, merchandize, &c. Are theprincipal employments of capital. As those are transferred from one toanother, or as the use or produce of them is paid for, by one toanother, money is wanted occasionally; and, if there were no otheremployments, money must either be lying idle in some persons =sic=hands, till an employment could be found for it, or the possessor of itmust begin some enterprise, and sink it himself. 

But, when money is thus employed, it is no longer in the power of theproprietor; and, though money may be borrowed on such sort ofsecurity, it is slowly, and with difficulty. The expense, theinconveniency =sic=, and time necessary, prevent the lenders ofmoney from lending any for occasional purposes on such sort ofsecurity; but when a nation borrows, and the stock is divisible andtransferable at will, money can always be realized when it is wantedfor any purpose that affords a greater advantage than the stock affords. {190}

Without this had been one of the effects of national debt, how couldthe facility of borrowing have increased, {191} as it has done? or howcould merchants and individuals raise the sums they now do? {192}

---{190} In 1793, 5, 000, 000 L. Was lent to merchants on exchequer-bills. The property, on which the money was secured, was reallymerchandize, but the lenders would have nothing to do with thegoods; government stepped in, and took the goods as a security, creating a stock transferrable, that represented the same goods, and, asif by magic, the money was found in a moment. I know of nooperation so fit for elucidating the advantage of national debt as this. 

{191} Borrowing on life rents is bad, for this reason; where there is noemployment of this sort, all money is constantly employed in somesort of trade or enterprise that will produce profit, but cannot berealised. Example, Paris, &c. 

{192} When money was wanted, in Queen Anne's time, theChancellor of the Exchequer, (Mr. Montague, ) attended by the LordMayor and Sheriffs, went about, from shop to shop, to borrow it, much in the way that is occasionally practised by the beadles for apublic charity!! Yet England's credit was good, it owed little, the warwas popular, and the country rich. -=-

[end of page #239]

It must be allowed that one hundred millions, or at least a muchsmaller sum than our debts amount to now, would have produced thiseffect, and might answer every purpose of this sort, but there is still aconsideration arising from the fluctuations in a stock, when it is small, and also from the number of persons possessed of it. People buy inand sell out with total indifference when the quantity is great, and thefluctuations small; but, the moment the funds are agitated, whether inrising or falling, money becomes scarce for those who want it forother purposes. 

That the number of persons ready to buy and sell must beproportioned, in some degree, to the quantity of stock, is of itself soevident, that it would be useless to enlarge upon it; but it must begranted that the national debt has long ago passed the sum that wasnecessary to produce this advantage. 

We find, then, that the evils attending the increase of debt are greatlycounteracted by the debt itself, and that, to a certain amount, it isproductive of a very considerable advantage to a trading nation. Asthose who calculated its ill effects, and foretold the ruin it would bringupon the state, did not take into account those circumstances, theresult of their enquiries was necessarily wrong, in point of time, though the effect of which they spoke is perfectly certain to take place, if the debt continues to increase. Their reasoning may be compared tothat of an astronomer, who observed the position of a planet, but, inhis calculations, made no allowance for the refraction of theatmosphere, who would therefore err as to the place of the star, but notas to its existence. 

Let us now consider the natural consequence, supposing that futureincrease is prevented by means of the sinking fund established for thatpurpose. As to the probability of this, it depends on so manycircumstances that are concealed in the womb of time, that it would bemadness to give any other than a hypothetical solution of the question. 

If the war continues, and expenses increase nearly as they havehitherto done, great as is the operation of a sinking fund, it will nothave time to counteract the evil. If the war stops soon, it will dim-[end of page #240] inish the debt with a most prodigious rapidity, {193} if it continues; the question, whether taxes can be found to paythe interest or not? can only be answered as a matter of opinion, whichis, in a case of this sort, equivalent to no answer at all. 

With respect to the supposed case of the debt augmenting, theobservations that apply to that have been made already; they now onlyremain to be made with respect to the debt being paid off. 

It has been observed already, in the chapter on Taxation, that the caseof taxes being taken off to a great amount would be a new one ofsudden and hurtful operation. Wages of labour would be diminished, as well as the burthens on those who live on settled income; it wouldtherefore render people of fixed income more affluent, without givingease to those who want it; in short, as the augmentation of taxes fallsmost on people with fixed incomes, so the advantages of this wouldprincipally be felt by them; and, as the baneful operation carries a sortof counteracting antidote with it, so, likewise, this beneficial operationwould be attended with some drawback and inconveniency =sic=. 

The diminution of taxes, though the ultimate is not, however, theimmediate consequence of the operation of the sinking fund, theefficacy of which depends on the taxes being kept up to their fullextent for a considerable time. =sic= The first effect of the fund is, that a large sum, annually expended, as revenue drawn from thesubject, is reimbursed to the stockholders, and becomes capital. 

This would immediately raise the funds, and thereby would counteractthe sinking fund itself in a very material degree. Money wouldbecome abundant for all the purposes of trade, and it would bedifficult

---{193} A sort of ridicule has been thrown on the operation ofcompound interest, because its effects are so amazing as not to becapable of being realized; but, on this subject, two things are to besaid, --first of all, it has never been to the operation during the firsthundred years that either incredulity or ridicule have applied, and thesinking fund was never meant to continue to operate so long. Secondly, though there are many drawbacks on the employment oflarge sums laid out at interest, that diminish, and would at last destroy, the result of the calculation in accumulating; it is not so in paying offdebt, where the effect calculated is produced with the greatestcertainty. -=-

[end of page #241]

to find employment for it; and, if the progress continued, part of itwould most undoubtedly be sent to other countries, and so be themeans of impoverishing this. 

If, then, we could suppose fifty years of peace, and that the nationaldebt could be paid off, (as it might be in that time, ) the situation ofproductive labourers would be worse; of unproductive, better; and, finally, capital would leave the country, which would be deprived ofthat transferable stock, the beneficial effects of which have beenmentioned. 

The necessity that creates industry would be diminished, so thatnothing could tend more effectually to bring on the decline of thenation than if all the debt were to be paid off; an operation which, though possible in calculation, never certainly would take place; theevils attending it would be so manifest, so clear, and so palpably feltbefore that was accomplished. 

To let the national debt continue to increase is, then, certain ruin, atsome period unknown, but perhaps not very distant; to pay it offwould be equally dangerous: what then are we to do?

We must try to raise the resources necessary for war within the year, by which means we may avoid augmenting the debt. That is not, however, to be done while the present heavy interest remains, and thatcannot be got rid of, according to any method yet publicly known, without bankruptcy, breaking faith with creditors, or paying off thedebt; a resource in itself dangerous, and one that, after all, would bringrelief at a very distant day. 

Since the debt has been contracted, let it be kept up; but let a mode betaken of reducing the interest, without breaking faith with the creditorsof the state, so that we may never be obliged to borrow any more. 

At present, the sum that goes annually for interest, and for the sinkingfund, (that is for paying off capital, ) amounts to twenty-four millions, and the expenses of a year of war do not exceed that sum. Twelvemillions of this may be found by war-taxes, and twelve millionsdiminution of the interest would just leave a residue sufficient to payfor a constant state of war; and, if peace came, the war-taxes would betaken off. The enemies of England would then not be able to makenotches [end of page #242] in a stick, and say, "When we come tosuch a notch England will be ruined. "

If this could be done it would be a solid and permanent system ofrevenue, arising out of an unsolid and transitory one. 

Any thing like want of faith with the creditors would, however, notonly be disgraceful and dishonourable, but would reduce suchnumbers to beggary, and ruin credit so completely, that the nationwould be lost for ever; and, certainly, if we are to be ruined, there isno balancing between ruin with honour and ruin with disgrace. 

There is a mode that would be fair and practicable, and the present isthe most favourable moment for executing it; indeed, it is perhaps theonly one when it has been practicable or would be just. Bypracticability and justice, two words very well understood, we mean, in this instance, that it is a moment when those who would have to paythe difference would be willing to do it, would see their interest indoing it, and would feel that they ought to do it. 

We mean not to propose any of those imaginary means, by whichdebts will be paid off without burthens laid on. We have no talent forschemes, where all is produced from nothing, and no faith in theirpracticability. 

The late and present wars, which have occasioned one-half of the debt, and for which our exertions are to be continued, were undertaken forthe preservation of property; for, though the French system is socompletely bad that even the beggars in England would be losers byadopting it, yet, it will be allowed, that the evil to people of propertywould be much greater than to those who have no property. Let uslook to Flanders, Holland, and other countries, and say no if we can. 

It was on this idea that an income-tax, afterwards termed a property-tax, was laid on, by which the rich are made to pay, and the poor areexempted. The justice and expediency of this was universallyadmitted: there might be some difference of opinion as to modes andrates, but there was none as to the general principle. 

We would, then, propose to RAISE LOANS, at a low rate of interestto reimburse the present creditors, ON THE SAME PRINCIPLE ONWHICH THE PROPERTY-TAX EXISTS, in the following manner:

There are, by Mr. Pitt's calculation, (and his may be taken [end ofpage #243] in order to prevent caviling) 2, 400, 000, 000 L. Of capital inthe kingdom. Let us then create a two and a half per cent. Stock, intowhich every person possessed of property should be _compelled_ topurchase at par, in proportion to their capital, so as to redeem fiftymillions every year, thereby creating fifty millions of new debt at twoand a half per cent. And reimbursing an equal sum bearing an interestof five per cent. 

A loan of two per cent. Per annum, on each man's capital would dothis, and would never be an object for the safety of the whole, particularly as it would only last for ten years. As he would haveinterest at two and a half per cent. He would, in reality, only lose half, that is, one per cent. A year during twelve years; so that a man, with10, 000 L. Would only have given 100 L. A year for twelve years. 

At the end of ten years, the interest of the national debt would bereduced to one-half its present amount, which, together with the war-taxes, would be sufficient to prevent the necessity of creating moredebt. This, however, is not all, a more prompt effect and advantagemay be expected. It is more than probable, that the moment our enemyfound that the nation, could, without any great exertion, put itsfinances on a permanent footing, the present contest would finish. It isnow only continued, in hopes of ruining our finances, and it is on theaccumulation of the debt that the expectation of that is alone founded. 

We observed, in the beginning of this Chapter, that most people arebiased by hope or fear, in examining a question of great importance;and that, therefore, they do not state it quite fairly, without beingsensible of their error. In the case of the gloomy calculators of thiscountry, fear and anxiety operated in causing a misstatement; but, withregard to our enemies, hope is the cause of their magnifying the effectof our national debt, and, it must be allowed, that hope had seldomever a more easy business to perform. The general conclusion iscertain, and all the question that remains, is with respect to time. 

The only mode of putting an end to this hope of our enemy, and to thewar, at once, will be by shewing that enemy _that it is quite out of hispower to augment our debt_, but untill =sic= a method shall beadopted by [end of page #244] us, that is PRACTICABLE ANDEASILY UNDERSTOOD, that will not be believed by our enemy. 

The rapidity of the operation of a sinking fund is easily calculated, butnot so easily credited, particularly by people not inclined to do so, andwho would not themselves have the constancy and self-denial to leaveit time to operate. Besides, by this operation, we shall not get free ofdebt till the taxes are raised far above their present amount. Ourenemies may be pardoned for believing it impracticable, particularlyas many of our friends are of the same opinion. 

France, which has always been the rival of this country, and hates itnow more than ever, (envy being now an ingredient of its hatred, )knows well that it is fallen and degraded, that it has less wealth andhappiness than England; but then it considers, that, however bad itsfinances may be, they are getting no worse; that to continue the warfor twenty years will bring no more ruin on the nation, while half theterm would probably ruin us. Till we show the fallacy of thiscalculation, we cannot expect a durable peace. Our ruin is become anobject, not only of ambition, but of necessity, as it were, to France;and nothing but despair of being able to accomplish their object willmake them abandon the attempt. 

We must be permitted here to ask a few questions:

Is not the time favourable for the plan here proposed?

Would it not be fair in its operation?

Would it not bring relief effectually and speedily?

Would it not reduce our burthens, without breaking faith with thecreditors of the state?

Would it not reduce the interest, without setting too much capitalafloat, that might leave the country?

Could our enemies then calculate on the national debt destroyingEngland?

The affairs of nations, it has been observed, become so complicated, and the details so multiplied, that those who have the management ofthem are scarcely equal to the business of the day; and they have noleisure to inquire into the best modes of keeping off evil when it is yetdistant; of this we have had ample experience. 

[end of page #245]

Allowing all the credit possible to the sinking fund, (and a great dealis due, ) still during war its operation is a sort of paradox; it does notobtain relief: it is liable to be questioned; but we are come to a point, where the stability of our finances ought to be put out of doubt, andbeyond all question. The mode of settling our affairs ought not only tobe such as in the end may succeed, but its efficacy and practicabilityought to be such as our enemies can understand and give credit to. Without this, we shall have no end to the contest. 

With respect to what our enemies will give credit to, a good dealdepends on their own natural disposition. A fickle and arbitrarypeople, who are continually breaking their faith, can have little beliefin the constancy of a sinking fund, but they will be perfectly wellinclined to believe, that men of property may be compelled, and willeven be glad to pay one per cent. A year, for ten years, to ensure thesafety of that property. Supposing then that the sinking fund were thebetter plan of the two in reality, it would not be so in the presentcircumstances, because it would not obtain credit, and the other will. 

As to the rest, deprive the French of their hopes of ruining ourfinances, and they will make peace on reasonable terms, whenever weplease; their object for continuing the war will then be at an end; and, if they do continue it, we can go on as long as they can, without anyaddition to our burthens. 

Whatever the cause of a war may be, the hope of success is the onlypossible motive for persisting in it. The French have been led into twoerrors; first, by the comparison of this country to Carthage, and oftheir own to Rome, (an absurd comparison that does not hold, ) and, inthe second place, by looking on our ruin, from the increase of ourdebt, as certain. We ought to undeceive them, and then they will haveless inclination to persist in war. No pains has hitherto been taken toset them right; nor, indeed, with respect to the national debt, can itever be done by the present method, till they see the effect; for thoughthe progress of a sinking fund in peace is easily understood, in time ofwar there is much appearance of deception; it looks like slight =sic=of hand more than a real and solid transaction. 

[end of page #246]

CHAP. V. 

_Of Taxes for the Maintenance of the Poor. --Their enormousIncrease. --The Cause. --Comparison between those of England andScotland. --Simple, easy, and humane Mode of reducing them_. 

Amongst the interior causes that threaten England with decline, none is more alarming than the increasing expenses of the poor;expenses evidently rising in a proportion beyond our prosperity, andtotally without example, either in the history of past times, or in thatof any modern nation. 

The poor of England cost more to maintain than the free revenue ofthe country amounted to thirty years ago, and to nearly three times theamount of the whole revenues of the nation, at the time of therevolution. 

The proportion between the healthy and the sick cannot have changedso much as to account for this augmentation; we must, therefore, seekfor the cause elsewhere. 

It probably arises from several causes; the increasing luxury, whichleaves more persons in indigence when they come to an advanced age, owing to their being unwilling or unable to undergo the hardships towhich nature subjects those who have been born to labour, and outlivetheir vigour; being thereby deprived of those indulgences which, inbetter days, they have experienced. In England, menial servants areaccustomed to consume more than people of moderate fortune do inother countries, and they are the race of people most likely to be left topenury in their old age. In countries where there are, indeed, greatertrains of menial attendants than in England, they, in general, belong tothe great, who make some provision for them, or who, keeping themfrom ostentation, can retain them to a more advanced age; and, at allevents, as they live a less luxurious life, they can make a better standagainst that penury which it is their hard destiny to encounter. [end ofpage #247]

In a commercial country there is less attachment between master andservant, than in any other; and the instances of provision for them arevery rare. 

In proportion as a nation gets wealthy, the human race shares the samefate with other animals employed in labour; they are worked hard, andwell fed while they are able to work, but their services are notregarded when they can do but little. {194}

Want of economy in the management of the funds destined for thepurpose of their maintenance is another cause of increase in theexpense of the poor. In a nation where every individual is fullyoccupied with his affairs, and has little time to attend to any thing else, those who manage the affairs of the poor find that few are inclined tolook close into matters, and fewer still have the means of doing it ifthey would; so that abuses increase, as is always the case when thereis no counteracting check to keep them within bounds. 

Another cause, no doubt, is that, as the number of unproductivelabourers increase, greater numbers of children are left in want. 

To all those causes we must add the increase of towns, and thedecrease of hamlets and villages. Towns are the places whereindigence has the greatest consolation, and where the relief which isheld out is attended with the least degree of humiliation and reproach. 

When we compare the cases of England and Scotland, the causescannot be doubted; for, there, servants live harder, the working classdo not labour so hard, and are not so soon worn out, neither have thetowns increased so much, at the expense of the hamlets and villages. 

The greatest of all the causes of the increase of poor, however, arisesfrom taxation and rent. It has been observed, in the chapter onTaxation, that, for a certain length, taxes and rent are productive ofindustry, and that, at last, they finish by crushing it entirely. 

---{194} If it were the custom to keep horses that were worn out till theydied a natural death, the maintenance of them would cost more inEngland than in any other country; for their vigour is exhausted beforethe term of old age arrives. The calculation is in this country, to paywell, and be well served. -=-

[end of page #248]

The manner that this happens, is, that long before a country is ashighly taxed as the majority of its inhabitants will bear, those who arethe least able to pay are crushed, and reduced to absolute poverty. 

There are two causes which may render a person unable to support theburthen of taxation: the one is, having a great family; the other is, being able to gain but little from weakness, or some other cause; and, where there are two causes that tend to produce the same effect, though they operate separately, they must, of course, sometimes act inconjunction. 

The weakest part of society gives way first, in every country; and, onaccount of the arbitrary and ignorant, though lavish method ofrelieving that portion of society, in England, the evil is increased tomore than double. 

There is no relief at home in their own houses, no help, no aid, for theindigent, which might produce so admirable an effect, bycounteracting the ruin brought on by heavy taxes and high prices; no, the family must support itself, or go wholesale to the workhouse. Thisis one of those clumsy rude modes of proceeding that a wealthypeople, not overburthened with knowledge, naturally takes toovercome a difficulty, but without care or tenderness for the feelingsof those relieved, or that regard for public interest, which ought to gohand in hand. For this it would be well to search a remedy. 

A father and mother, and six children, will cost, at least, fifty pounds ayear in a workhouse; but, perhaps, the aid of twelve or fifteen poundswould keep them from going there, and by that means save thegreatest part of the money, while the country, which loses theirindustry, would be doubly a gainer. 

There is a sort of rough, vulgar, and unfeeling character, prevalentamongst the parish-officers, that is a disgrace to the country and to thecharacter of Englishmen. It is highly prejudicial to the nation; and, ifthere were no moral evil attending it, if the feelings of the poor wereno object, =sic= the rich ought to attend to it for self-interest. If theywill not, the government of the country is interested, both in honourand in interest, to do so. 

Exemption from taxes will do little or nothing, the lower orders [endof page #249] are nearly all exempt, but that general dearness, that isthe consequence of a general weight of taxes, is severely felt by them, and from that they cannot be exempted. They must get relief byassistance, and that assistance ought to be given in a manner that willnot throw them altogether a burthen on the public. {195}

It is impossible to tax the people of a nation so highly, as they can allbear, because, before some will feel, others will be crushed; before thebachelor feels the tax, the father of a large family is obliged to starvehis innocent offspring. Before he who has only two children feels thehard pressure, the family of twelve will be reduced to want; and so inproportion. The mode, then, to raise the most money possible, wouldbe to tax the whole nearly as high as the bachelor can bear, and then togive a drawback in favour of the man with the children, they wouldthen be on a perfect equality as to taxation, and the highest sumpossible might be raised without hurting any one portion of the peoplemore than another. 

If the links of a chain are not all equally strong, before any strain isfelt by the strong links the weak ones give way, and the chain isbroken. The case is the same with the members of a community. Now, when you lay on taxes, the general tendency is to raise the price offood and labour; most labourers receive the advantage of the price oflabour, but many pay unequally for the rise of food. 

A tax on the wealthy, it will be said, is the thing proposed, but no, thatwould do nothing, it must be a premium or drawback to men withfamilies who are poor, not merely to counteract the effect of any onetax, but the total effect of taxation with respect to maintaining theirchildren. Wide, indeed, is the difference between a tax on those whoare well able to pay, and a premium or drawback in favour of thosewho are not. 

The manner of providing for the poor in England leads to a degree

---{195} Probably, the reason that so small a sum serves the purpose inScotland is, that relief is administered to the families, at their ownhouses, by the minister and elders of the parish. It is a rare instance ofan administration, without emoluments and without controul. Thefunds are distributed with clean hands, in all cases, and impartially inmost. -=-

[end of page #250]

of wastefulness and improvidence unknown in any other country. Improvidence ought as much as possible to be discouraged; for, withthose who labour hard and are indigent, the desire to gratify somepressing want, or present appetite, is continually uppermost. This maybe termed the war between the belly and the back, in which the formeris generally the conqueror. It would be a small evil if this victory weredecided seldom, as in other countries, but in the great towns ofEngland there is as it were a continual state of hostility. In London, the battle is fought, on an average, at least, once a week; and idleness, and the profits of those sort of petty usurers, called pawnbrokers, aregreatly promoted by it. 

Some part of this evil cannot, perhaps, be remedied, but there arecertain articles that ought not to be taken in pledge, such as the clothesof young children and working tools. {196}

There is no doubt but, that, in a populous inhospitable trading town, where there is no means of obtaining aid, from friendship, where thewant is sometimes extreme, the resource of pledging is a necessaryone. This is to be admitted in the degree, but by no means withoutlimitation; for the facility creates the want, (even when it is a realwant) for it brings on improvidence and carelessness. The lowerclasses come to consider their apparel as money, only that it requireschanging before it is quite current. {197}

If this matter were well looked into, together with the other causesfrom which mendicity proceeds, which increases so rapidly, weshould

---{196} In Scripture it is forbidden to pledge the upper or the nethermill-stone. This is a proof, of very great antiquity, and indisputableauthority, of the care taken to prevent that sort of improvidence thathurts the general interest of a people. It should be imitated in thiscountry with regard, to all portable implements of labour, such asmill-stones were in those early times. 

{197} In Scotland, twenty years ago, there were not so manypawnbrokers as there are in Brentford, or any little village roundLondon. In Paris, as debauched a town as London, and where charitywas as little to be expected, there was only one lending company, theprofits of which, after dividing six per cent. , went to the FoundlingHospital. It was, as in London, a resource in cases of necessity, butthere was too much trouble to run it on every trifling occasion, as isdone in London, and, indeed, in most towns in England. -=-

[end of page #251]

soon perceive a diminution of the poors' rates, and the wealthiestcountry of Europe would not exhibit the greatest and most multipliedscenes of misery and distress. 

The numbers of children left in indigence, by their parents, would becomparatively lower, and there would not be that waste in theadministration of the funds on which they are supported. 

There is, probably, no means of greatly diminishing the number ofhelpless poor, but by an encouragement to lay up in the hour of healthan abundance to supply the wants of feebleness and age, but thismight go a great way to diminishing the evil. All persons who haveplaces under government, of whatever nature, ought to be compelledto subscribe to such institutions; this would be doing the individuals, as well as the community, a real service, and would go a great way tothe counteracting of the evil. {198} Preventatives are first to beapplied, and after those have operated as far as may be, remedies. 

The poor, &c. To whose maintenance 5, 500, 000 L. A year goes, (a sumgreater than the revenues of any second rate monarchy in Europe, )may be divided into three classes:

First, Those who by proper means might be prevented from wantingaid. 

Second, Those who, for various reasons, cannot get a living in theregular way, but might, with a little aid, either maintain themselves, ornearly so; and, Third, Those who, from inability, extreme age, tender youth, or bodilydisease, are unable to do any thing, and must be supported at thepublic expense. Nobody will dispute that there are of all thosedescriptions maintained at pressnt =sic=; and, therefore, all that cancreate a difference of opinion is about the proportions between thethree. 

It is probable that one-half, at least, could maintain, or nearly

---{198} The widows scheme, as it is called in Scotland, for the aid ofthe widows and children of clergymen, is a most excellent institution;it has been attended with the best effects, both on individual happinessand national prosperity so far as it goes. The plan is such as might, with very little variation, be applied to all the officers of the revenue, clerks in office, &c. &c. -=-

[end of page #252]

maintain, themselves; one-quarter might be prevented from everrequiring any aid at all; and the other quarter would be assisted as atpresent. 

This would reduce the expenses to less than one-third, and, probably, to one-quarter of what they are now; that is, of 5, 500, 000 L. Therewould be a saving of 3, 500, 000 L. But that is not all, for the nationalindustry would be augmented by 2, 000, 000 L. And more; that is to say, by the industry of the half that maintained themselves, so that thenation would gain partly in money saved, and partly in money got, 5, 500, 000 L. 

According to the true spirit of the English nation, in which there is agreat fund of generosity and goodness at the bottom, it may perhapsbe said, that the poor are not able to labour at all, and, that the planwould not answer. This is but a rough manner of answering aproposal, which neither is in reality, nor is meant to be, void ofhumanity. There were, by last years =sic= accounts, nearly 900, 000persons of one sort and another maintained or relieved, which does notmake above six pounds a year for each person, now, where is there aperson that can work at all, that cannot earn above four-pence a day inEngland? {199}

The plan for remedying this abuse ought to be very simple, for it willbe administered by such ignorant and rough directors, that, if it is notsimple, it must fail entirely. 

---{199} It would be foreign to the plan of this Inquiry to enter into thedetails of the poor persons, and shew the absurdity of themanagement; but, it is very evident, from those that are printed, thatthey get no work to do, the quantity of materials delivered to them towork upon will not admit of earning money to maintain themselves. 

The following is a specimen of the attention given to this subject, andthe means taken to enable the poor to pay for their maintenance, bytheir labour. In Middlesex, where the expense amounted, in 1803, to123, 700 L. Or about 340 L. A day, the sum expended to buy materialsamounted to no more than 4L. 1s. 11d. !!! It is impossible tocomprehend how this capital stock could be distributed amongstabove ten thousand labourers. It is not very easy to conceive theimpertinence of those who presented this item, as a statement to theHouse of Commons, which would have done well to have committedto the custody of the sergeant-at-mace, the persons who so grosslyinsulted it. One thing, however, is very easily understood andcollected from all this. The business altogether is conducted withignorance, and executed carelessly and negligently, and that to anextreme and shameful degree. -=-

[end of page #253]

To have a good surgeon or physician is essential; and those whowould not work, and who were able, should have the same allowancethat a prisoner has in a jail; but those who would work should be paida fair price, and allowed to lay out the money, to hoard it, or do asthey please, except drinking to excess. [{200}]

Though many for want of vigour are refused employment in aworkshop, some for want of character, and others for various reasons, become burthensome, yet there are not a few, who, from merelaziness, throw themselves upon the parish, where they live a carelesslife, free from hunger, cold, and labour. When the mind is oncereconciled to this situation, the temptation is considerable, and thereare many of those poor people, who will boast that the havethemselves been overseers, and paid their share to the expenses. 

Whatever evil is found to have a tendency to increase with the wealthof a nation ought, most carefully, to be kept under; and this is one notof the least formidable, and, of all others, most evidently arising frombad management and want of attention. 

It would be necessary to have all sorts of employment, that thepersons in such places can, with advantage, be occupied in doing, anda small allowance should be made to defray general expenses;amongst which, ought to be that of surveyors of districts, who should, like those employed by the excise-office, inspect into the state of thedifferent poor-houses, and the whole should be reported, in a properand regular manner, to the government of the country, from time totime. 

Those little paltry parish democracies that tax one part of the people, and maltreat the other, ought to be under some proper con-

---{200} [Transcriber's note: assumed location--footnote not assigned aplace in the text. ]The system, in England, of only employing people in the vigour of lifeis a source of much mischief, and is an increasing evil, whichgovernment, the East India company, and all the public bodies, areencouraging. Men are treated in this instance exactly like horses. Theyare worked hard and well rewarded in their vigour; but, in so wealthya county =sic= as this, those occupied in commerce, and men inpower, will not be troubled with any but such as can do their businesswith little trouble to the master. They do not consider what mischiefthey are preparing for their country. Shenstone, the poet, seems tohave thought of this when he says, in a case of woe:

"But power and wealth's unvarying cheek was dry. "-=-

[end of page #254]

troul; and the happiness and prosperity of England should not be leftat their mercy. 

In a country where every thing is done with such admirable accuracyin the revenue-department, as England, it would be useless to attemptpointing out the manner of executing the plan; it is sufficient to shewits practicability and the necessity of attending to it. 

If, in the first instance, the advantage would be such as is herementioned, it would, in a few years, be much greater, particularly in sofar as fewer families would be left in a state of indigence; for, it isclear, that such families are a continual encumbrance on the risinggeneration, and tend to the diminution of the general mass of usefulcitizens. 

If it should so happen, that taxes augment, or that trade falls off, (bothof which may very likely happen, ) then the interference ofgovernment may become a matter of absolute necessity; but then, perhaps, it may be too late. It would be much better if governmentwould interfere, before the evil is actually come to the highest pitch. The parishes might, perhaps, look with jealousy on an interference ofthis sort, as being an infringement on their rights; for Englishmen aresometimes very tenacious of privileges that are highly pernicious tothemselves. This difficulty, (for it probably would be one, ) might begot over, by previously establishing inspectors in the different bishop'ssees, who should be obliged to render an account to the bishop, to becommunicated to government, by which means, the evil would eitherbe removed, or its existence ascertained, so as to answer thecomplaints that might be made, and thereby prevent all discontent onthe subject. 

Without being able to say what might absolutely be the best remedy, itis, at least, fair to ask the question, whether it is fit that theadministration of 5, 500, 000 L. A year should be intrusted to the handsof ignorant men? It may likewise be asked, if the feelings of thenecessitous ranks of society (as keen in many instances as those oftheir betters, ) should be wounded by men, who have not sufficientknowledge of any sort to act with the humanity necessary. Thecandidates for popular favour, amongst the lower housekeepers, aregenerally flattering, fauning =sic=, cringing men, and such are almostwithout exception, cunning, ignorant, and overbearing, wherever theyhave the least [end of page #255] authority over others. Such, ingeneral, are the parish-officers, to whose care this important affair iscommitted. 

Though this is an institution almost on the purely democratic principleof equal representation, it is a very bad specimen of that mode ofgovernment. The shameful lawsuits between parishes, about paupers, the disgraceful and barbarous treatment of women, who have beenbetrayed and abandoned, admit of no excuse. They are not productiveeven of gain or economy. Amongst some tribes of savage Indians, theaged and helpless are put to death, that they may not remain a burthenon those who are able and in health; and it is equally true, that, inEngland, the young innocents, who have not parents to protect them, are considered as a burthen; and, if they are not absolutely sent out ofthe world, the means necessary to preserve them in it are veryinadequate to the purpose. If criminality could be engraved on agraduated scale, their deaths ought in general to be written down atsome intermediate point between accidental homicide and wilfulmurder. The persecution of this unfortunate race may be said tocommence before they are born; and, though the strength of a nationdepends much on its population, less care is taken to encourage it, than to produce mushrooms, or to preserve hares and partridges. 

[end of page #256]

CHAP. VI. 

_Causes of Decline, peculiar to England_. 

In addition to the causes of decline which Britain, as a wealthycountry, has, in common with most other nations, it has some peculiarto itself, (or of which the degree at least is peculiar to it). 

The national debt, the high rate of taxation, the prodigious expense ofthe poor, and the nature of the government, are peculiar to thiscountry. There are other circumstances in its favour, of which we shallspeak in the next chapter; but, in this, we shall review those that areagainst it, and of an unfavourable nature and operation. 

The high rate of taxation, for the very reason that it is the highest everknown, inspires our enemies with hopes of our downfall, and makesthem persevere in continuing to put us to expense. 

The unprecedented commerce we enjoy, of which every other nationwould wish to have a share, (and of which each, most mistakenly, thinks it would have a share, if Britain was undone, ) is a cause ofattracting envy and enmity, and repelling friendship. Our colonies inthe West, and our possessions in the East, act like the conductors thatdraw the electric fluid to a building, but they do not, like thoseconductors, serve to protect it from violence. We have seen, that theadvantage arising from them is more than doubtful, that they enrichindividuals and impoverish the state; but all this would be nothingnew, were it not for the vast scale on which those evils exist. 

The poor's rate, which is in itself completely unexampled, though acommon thing to all nations, is so exorbitant in England, that it mayvery properly be ranked amongst the dangers peculiar to this country. Who would believe, that Frederick the Great of Prussia carried on hisbrilliant and successful wars against the most formidable enemies, expended more than one-eighth of his revenues annually on theencouragement of industry, and left his treasury well stored, yet allthis with an income, less by one-fourth than the sums that go tosupport [end of page #257] the poor in England, notwithstanding allthe miserable manoeuvres that are practiced =sic= to avoid givingthem assistance?

The form of government in England, though best for the liberty of thesubject, and for the security of persons and property, is deficient in themeans of repressing those infringements which particular bodies ofpeople make upon the community at large. The representative system, when well understood, divides itself into parties, having differentinterests. There are the commercial, the landed, the East India, theWest India, and the law, all of which have great parliamentaryinfluence, and can be formidable to any minister; they therefore have ameans of defending their interests, and they are concerned so deeplyas to take a very active part whenever any questions are agitatedrelative to them. 

The landed interest and the law are, indeed, the only ones that haveany great party in the House of Peers; but then the House of Peersseldom interferes in matters that concern the interests of the others. The Lords seem not to think it their province; and, in general, morethrough diffidence than negligence, they avoid meddling, though, todo that honourable house justice, to it we owe much. Many bills, of adangerous tendency, have been thrown out by it, after they had passedthe other house; and it has been generally done with a wisdom, magnanimity, and moderation, which is only to be accounted for by atrue love of the country and an upright intention. {201}

---{201} It is wonderful to what a length good intention, (zeal apart, )will go in leading men right, even when they have not paid veryparticular attention to a subject. There is a feeling of what is wise, aswell as of what is right, that partakes a little of instinct, perhaps, butis more unerring than far fetched theory on many occasions. This wasseen in a most exemplary manner, at the time that the principles of theFrench revolution were most approved of here. Those principles wereplausible, though flimsy, and founded on sophisms, and a species ofreasoning, that plain unlettered men could not answer, and men whodid give themselves the pains to reason might have answered; yet, three times in four, it was the man who could not answer it, who, guided by upright intentions, rejected it as bad, without being able totell why. The most acute were, in this case, the most deceived; for itmust now be allowed, that all approbation of the theories, relative tothe rights of man, and the manner of asserting them were wrong. Many of those who fell into the error had, no doubt, unblameableintentions, but they did not consult common sense. -=-

[end of page #258]

In every assembly, a small number, who completely understand theirown interest, can do a great deal, if they will act together; but, this isnot all, they can use arguments with a minister that pave the way forobtaining the ends they have in view, while the general interests of thecountry alarm no one but upon great occasions. 

Under arbitrary monarchs, all bodies with separate interests, are keptin due order, they have no means of defending themselves but byremonstrance, which, against power, is but a very inadequateprotection. 

There is nothing forced or chimerical in this statement of the case, andthe consequence is, that no country ever saw any bodies rise to such aheight, except the clergy in Roman Catholic countries, and the baronsduring the feudal system, when they had arms in their hands; who, ifthey could not absolutely resist their sovereign, were at least able torefuse him aid, and could annoy him greatly. But those examples willbear no comparison with the separate interests in England at this time. The barons have long lost their power, and the Roman Catholic clergyhave lost the greatest part of their power and revenue also. If they hadnot, wealthy and powerful kingdoms would not have existed. 

Under a free government, where people think that an opposition to aminister in parliament is a most excellent thing, the energies of thenation, as to war, are greatly lessened. This must, in its connectionswith other nations, produce very hurtful effects; but, where the evil iswithout a remedy, there is no advantage in dwelling upon it; and itdoes not appear that there is any possibility of separating from a freegovernment, some sort of an opposing power, that must hamper theexecutive, and lessen the energies of the nation. 

Under pure monarchies, kings can reward merit; they can encouragetalents, and act according to circumstances. In England, the king, orhis ministers, have no fund from which they can do this. Anapplication to parliament is expensive and troublesome; and, in manycases, where the object would be fair, it would be unattainable. Butthis is not all, for when, by act of parliament, any thing of the sort is[end of page #259] once done, it is left without proper controul, andthe expense is generally double what it ought to be. 

On the whole, there is too little of discretional =sic= power in arepresentative government; good cannot be done but by rules, which, in many cases, it is impossible to comply with. This is a disadvantagewhich we labour under, and is a sort of drawback on our excellentform of government; but this is not like the opposition in the senate, itmay be got over, and merits attention. 

Such appear to be the disadvantages to which Britain is peculiarlyliable, either in toto, or in the degree; but, on the other hand, she hasmany circumstances in her favour, if they are properly taken hold of;and, indeed, some, of which the effect will be favourable, whether anyparticular attention is paid to them or not. To those we shall advertwith peculiar pleasure, and hope that they will not be neglected, butthat they may afford a means of continuing our career of prosperity onthe increasing scale, or that, at least, they may prevent us from sharingthe fate of those nations that have gone before. 

[end of page #260]

CHAP. VII. 

_Circumstances peculiar to England, and favourable to it_. 

It has been observed, that, in northern nations, where luxury is notattended with such a degree of sloth and effeminacy as in warmclimates, the habits of industry can never so completely leave acountry. The feelings of cold and a keen appetite are enemies to slothand laziness; indeed they are totally incompatible with those habitsand that degradation of character, that are to be found in southernclimates. This advantage Britain shares with other nations of thenorth; but she has some peculiar to herself. 

Situated in an island, the people have a character peculiar tothemselves, that prevents foreigners and foreign influence fromproducing those baneful effects that are so evident in many nations, where they come and depart with more facility, and where a greatersimilarity in manners and in character enable them to act aconspicuous and a very dangerous part, in the cases ofmisunderstanding and party dispute. 

In all the wars, bloody and long-contested as they were, between thehouses of York and Lancaster, foreign influence never produced anyeffect such as that of Spain did in France, previous to the accession ofHenry IV. Or as the influence of France and Spain have produced inItaly, or that of France on Spain itself, or those of Russia and Prussiain Poland, with numerous other examples on the continent. 

We know of no ideal boundaries in this country. In this country we areall one people, and can distinguish ourselves from any other; indeed, the national character is rather too averse to mixing with people fromthe continent; but this, that seems now a fault, may some day beconsidered as a very useful virtue. 

Even in the times when an unfortunate jealousy and mistaken interestkept England and Scotland at variance, and when the latter kingdomwas in the habit of adopting the politics of France, and [end of page#261] embracing its interests, there seems to have been some repellingprinciple that kept the little nation out of the gripe of the great one. 

The French never had any preponderating power there, and, indeed, inlatter times so little, as not to be able to defend Queen Mary or theRomish religion against the reformers; to do both of which there wasno want of inclination. It appears, then, very clearly, that though, onthe best terms of friendship, the Scotch had at the bottom that Britishmistrust of foreigners, that, ever since it was civilized, has freed theisland from foreign influence. 

The form of government, the security of property, and the free scopethat is given to exertion in every line of business, will continue toenable this country to hold itself high, even if some of its presentsources of wealth should be dried up; and, whatever may be thefeelings of the representatives of the people upon ordinary occasions, the moment that any real danger occurs, they will, we are certain, actlike men, determined to stand by their country. 

How feeble was the former French government when assailed withdifficulty? It was at once as if struck motionless, or, the littleanimation that was left was just sufficient to enable it to go from oneblunder to another. How different has England been on everyemergency? In place of the arm of government seeming to slacken inthe day of danger, it has risen superior to it. We have never seen thesame scenes happen here, that have taken place in Poland, Sweden, and so many other places. In the three attempts to invasion, {202}(Monmouth's and the two other rebellions, ) where foreign influencewas used, the event was the most fatal possible to those who madethem; they were contemptible in the extreme; and, if it is considered inwhose favour they were, it is probable the support from a foreignpower rather did injury to the cause. 

---{202} Here we must not confound the case of the Stuarts with that ofthe King of France. In England, it was the government that wasdivided, the legislative being against the executive; _one_ part of thegovernment was feeble, but the other was not, and therefore we cannotsay that the government was feeble. In France, the king and ministersgoverned alone, they were the whole government, and therefore asthey were feeble, the government may be taxed with weakness. -=-

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The form of government has this great advantage in it, that, as abilitiesare the way to preferment, the higher classes (at least) have a bettereducation than the same rank of persons in any other nation, so far asregards the interest of the public, and the nature of the connectionbetween the different orders of society; ignorance of which, is thesurest way to be destroyed. 

In all new and rising states the higher orders, even under despoticgovernments, and where all the distinctions of ranks are completelyestablished, have a proper regard for the importance and welfare of thelower orders of people. As they increase in wealth and have lost sightof its origin, which is industry, they change their mode of thinking;and, by degrees, the lower classes are considered as only made for theconvenience of the rich. The degradation into which the lower ordersthemselves fall, by vice and indolence, widens the difference andincreases the contempt in which they are held. This is one of theinvariable marks of the decline of nations; but the nature of theEnglish government prevents that, by keeping up a connection andmutual dependence amongst the poor and the rich, which is not foundeither under absolute monarchies or in republics. In republics, thepeople become factious and idle, when they become any way wealthy. In this country, besides the insular situation, circumstances in generalare such as to prevent the lower classes from falling into that sort ofidleness, apathy, and contempt, that they do in other countries, evensupposing these burthens were done away, that at present necessitateexertion. 

To those causes let another still be added, the religious worship of thecountry, which, without any dispute or question, is greatly in itsfavour. 

To speak nothing of the religious opinions or modes of worship inancient times, there are three at present that merit attention and admitof comparison. 

The Christian religion is distinguished for raising men in character, and the Mahomedan for sinking them low. Whenever the Mahomedanfaith has extended, the people are degraded in their manners, and thegovernments despotic. The disposition of a Mahomedan king [end ofpage #263] or emperor is more different in its nature, from that of aChristian sovereign, than the form of a hat is from that of a turban. 

Under the most despotic Christian sovereigns, matters are governed bylaw, there are no regular murders committed by the hand of power, without the intervention of justice; and if plenitude of power admits ofthe greatest excesses in the sovereign, in some Christian countries, theopinion of his fellow men, the fear of his God, or some sentiment orprinciple in his own breast, restrains him in the exercise of it. 

It is not so with Mahomedan princes: with them, nothing is sacred thatthey hate, nothing shameful that they do. Whatever their consciencemay be, whatever may be the nature of their moral rules, rapine andmurder are certainly not forbidden by them, or the law is not obeyed. In proportion to the despotism and ferocity of the sovereign, is theslavishness of the people, their brutality, and vice, in all Mahomedancountries; their character and its great inferiority is so well known, that it is impossible for any person to be ignorant of it. 

When the Mahomedan governments possess power, they are proudand overbearing; the people luxurious, and given to every refinementin vice. When they sink, that pride becomes ferocity, and the luxurydegenerates into brutality and sloth; but neither in the one nor in theother case have they the proper value for science, for literature, forliberty, or for any of the acquirements that either make a manestimable or useful. They neither excel in arts, nor in science;phisically =sic=, they are inferior in utility, and their minds are lessinstructed. They are not equal to Christians either in war or in peace, nor to be compared to them for any one good quality. 

The greatest and the best portion of the old world is, however, in theirhands; but, in point of wealth or power, they are of little importance, and every day they are sinking lower still. 

Amongst those who profess Christianity it has been remarked, by allwho have travelled, and who have had an opportunity of observing it, that agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, flourish most inProtestant countries. Even where there are different sects of theChristian religion in the same country, arts, manufactures, andcommerce, appear to have flourished most amongst the Protestants. The [end of page #264] cruelties of the Duke of Alva, and the absurdbigotry of Louis XIV. Drove the most industrious inhabitants from theNetherlands, and from France, merely because they happened to beProtestants, which is a proof that there is a connection between thatbranch of the Christian religion and industry. The Protestants were themost industrious. 

The Protestants appear also to be the most attentive to preserving agood form of government, and to set a greater value upon liberty thanpeople of any other religion. In this, England has an advantage that isinappretiable. {203}

The reformation in religion, and the establishment of manufactures inEngland, date from nearly the same period; it was about the same time, also, that the spirit of liberty began to break out first in Scotland, and then in England, which terminated in the revolution. There are, therefore, many reasons, from experience, for believing that theProtestant religion is particularly favourable to industry and freedom. There are other reasons, likewise, that arise from a consideration ofthe subject, that would lead one to the same conclusion, even if therewere no experience of the fact. 

Whatever frees the human mind from useless prejudice, and leads it topure morality, gives dignity to man, and increases his power ofbecoming a good and useful member of society. 

The Christian religion not only contains the most pure moral code, butthe best, most useful, and simple rules for conduct in life are

---{203} The great influence, founded on attachment to her person, andthe feeling of the long happiness they had enjoyed, under QueenElizabeth: her great authority, supported by esteem, and confirmed bylong habit, restrained the spirit of freedom which so soon aftertormented her successors. James had had full experience of that spiritbefore he left Scotland; and, when he mounted the English throne, wasknown, frequently, to exclaim against presbytry, as the enemy ofmonarchy. He, as was very natural, thought that the difference ofreligion caused the superior love of freedom in Scotland, for he wasnot sensible of the different effects produced by the calm, steady, anddignified deportment of Elizabeth, and the unsteady conduct of hisunhappy mother, Mary. He also confounded hatred for arbitraryprerogative in kings, with hatred for kings themselves; and consideredmonarchy, and his own sort of monarchy, as essentially the same. Hadhe lived in our days, he would have experienced the difference, andnot have considered the church of Scotland as being a greater enemyto kingly power than that of England, or as being more favourable toliberty. -=-

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there promulgated. The Roman Catholic faith was clogged, in theearly days of the church, with a great number, both of dogmatical andpractical errors, that tend not only to fetter the mind, but actuallyembarrass the business of human life. 

In a former chapter, we had occasion to speak of the encroachmentsmade by public bodies on the general mass of the people, but noneever was so pernicious in its effects, so grasping, and so wellcalculated to retain, as the Roman Catholic church. 

Their celibacy took away from the clergy every disposition to alienateeven personal property, while the practice of auricular confession, andthe doctrine of the remission of sins, gave them an opportunity ofbesieging the human mind in its weakest moment, and the weakestplace, in order to rob posterity, and enrich the church. In the momentof weakness, when a man's mind is occupied in reflecting on theerrors, and perhaps the crimes, of a long and variegated life; when histies to this world are loosened, and his interest in eternity becomesmore lively, and near; a religion that enables a zealous or interestedpriest (aided by the casuistry and argument of centuries) to barter apromise of everlasting bliss, for lands and tenements bequeathed tothe church, provides amply for the acquisition of earthly treasure, forits ministers, and those devoted to a life of religious pursuits. It is, indeed, wonderful, that, with such means, the church, in RomanCatholic countries, did not become more wealthy than it was. {204}With a continual means of acquiring, and none of alienating, itappears well qualified for absorbing the whole landed property of anation. Such an encroachment on the public wealth, and industry of apeople, is a sufficient reason for the Protestant countries (where theclergy have not the same means) becoming more wealthy andindustrious. 

It would not be difficult to prove that there is an effect produced onthe minds of individuals in Protestant countries, that is favourable toindustry; but a discussion of this nature might seem displaced in abook of this sort. It is sufficient that we see, from experience and

---{204} In France, before the revolution, the revenues of the clergy, inlands, tythes, &c. Were reckoned to amount to 25, 000, 000 L. Sterlingper annum. The number of feasts and fasts was also a great drawbackon industry. -=-

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reason, that, of all religions, the Christian is the most favourable to theprosperity of a people, and that of its different branches, theProtestant, or what is termed the Reformed Religion, is again the best. It is the religion established in Britain. 

Another source of hope arises from a circumstance of very greatimportance, and very peculiarly favourable to Great Britain. 

It has been observed, that the colonies in the West, and conquests inthe East, cost a great deal and produce little; that, in short, theirpossession is of very doubtful advantage. 

The possession of the North American provinces, now the UnitedStates, were a great burthen to England, from their first settlement tillabout the year 1755, when their trade began to be of advantage to thisnation; but, in twenty years after, the revolt took place, and costEngland a prodigious sum. 

To enter into a long detail on this subject it is not necessary; but nosooner were the hostilities at an end, than the American states boughtmore of our manufactures than ever. Their laws and manners aresimilar to our own, the same language, and a government evidentlyapproaching as near to ours as a republican well can to a monarchicalform. There is not, at this time, any branch of trade, either so great inits amount, or beneficial in its nature, as that with the United States;with this farther advantage, that it is every day augmenting, {205} andas no country ever increased so fast in population and wealth, so noneever promised to afford so extensive a market for our mannfactures=sic= as the United States. This market is the more secure, that it willnot be the interest of the people who have got possession of thatimmense tract of country to neglect agriculture and becomemanufacturers, for a long period of time. 

The greatest project, by which any nation ever endeavoured to enrichitself, was certainly that of peopling America with a civilized race ofinhabitants. It was a fair and legitimate mode of extending her meansof acquiring riches; but Britain failed in the manner of obtaining herobject, though not in the object itself, and

---{205} By this is not literally meant, that the trade every year is greaterthan the preceding, but that it continues to increase. -=-

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the United States promise to support the industry of England, now thatit has humbled its ambition, far more than both the Indies, whichgratify it so much. 

It is highly probable, that America will increase more rapidly inwealth and population than in manufactures, such as she at presenttakes from great Britain; but if the ratio merely continues the samethat it is now, the purpose will be completely answered, and a marketfor British manufactures insured for ages to come. In 1802, by the lastcensus, the inhabitants of the United States amounted to about eightmillions; and, for several years together, the exports of British goodshave amounted to seven millions, so that it is fair to reckon aconsumption equal to sixteen shillings a year to each person. It wasabout the same in 1774, previous to the revolt; and, as the populationdoubles in about fifteen years, in the course of thirty years more, theexports to that country alone would amount to 24, 000, 000 L. Providedwe continue to be able to sell at such rates as not to be undersold byothers =sic= nations in the American market. 

There is nothing great, nothing brilliant, in this commerce, all is solidand good; it is a connection founded on mutual wants and mutualconveniencey, not on monopoly, restriction, or coercion; for thatreason it will be the more durable, and ought to be the more valued;but it is not. Governments, like individuals, are most attached to whatis dear to purchase and difficult to keep. It is to be hoped, however, that this matter will be seen in its true light. 

One circumstance, that makes the matter still more favourable forBritain is, that the western country of America, by far the most fertile, as well as the most extensive, is now peopling very rapidly. Thelabour and capital of the inhabitants are entirely turned to agricultureand not to manufactures, and will be so for a great number of years;for, when there are fifty millions of inhabitants in the United States, their population will not amount to one-half of what may naturally beexpected, or sufficient to occupy the lands. The fertility of the soil willenable the Americans, with great ease to themselves, to make returnsin produce wanted in Europe, so that we may expect a durable, a great, and an advantageous trade with them. In British [end of page #268]manufactures our trade was not near so great before the revolt, for wethen supplied America with every article. 

This, however, will depend partly on our circumstances; for, if wagesand the prices of our manufactures rise, as they lately have done, ourmerchants will buy upon the continent of Europe, what they otherwisewould purchase in England, to supply the American market. 

America is the only country in the world where, with respect to thewages of labour, and the produce of industry, money is of less valuethan in England. The Americans will then be able to afford topurchase English goods, when other nations will not; but then, theywill only purchase such articles as cannot be had elsewhere; forthough they may and will continue able to purchase, they will not do itif they can get goods that suit them elsewhere. {206}

No country, that we read of in history, ever enjoyed equal advantageswith the American states; they have good laws, a free government, and are possessed of all the inventions and knowledge of the oldworld. Arts are now conveyed across the Atlantic with more ease thanthey formerly were from one village to another. It is possible, that anew market of so great an extent being opened may do away thosejealousies of commerce, which have, for these two or three lastcenturies, occasioned many quarrels, and which are peculiarlydangerous to a nation that has risen high above its level. 

All those things, with care and attention, will prove advantageous toBritain in a superior degree. They afford us much reason for hope andcomfort, and do away one of the causes for fearing a decline that hasbeen stated, namely, the being supplanted by poorer nations, or by nothaving a market for our increasing manufactures. 

There remains yet another consideration in favour of Britain, as amanufacturing and a commercial country; for, as such, we must viewit, reckoning more on industry than on the ideal wealth of our coloniesin the West, and our conquests in the East. It is this, we are the

---{206} England begins already to lose the market for linen-cloth, window-glass, fire-arms, and a number of other articles. It would haveentirely lost that of books, if any nation on the continent of Europecould print English correctly. As, it is, they are printing in America, inplace of our keeping the trade, which we might have done with greatprofit and advantage. -=-

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latest of European nations that has risen to wealth by commerce andmanufactures. In looking over the map, there does not seem to be anyone to supplant us; all those, who have great advantages, have alreadygone before, and, till we see the example of a country renewing itself, we have a right to disbelieve that it is possible. 

Russia is the only country in Europe that is newer than England, andmany circumstances will prevent it from becoming a rival incommerce. It does not, nor it ever can increase in population, andcarry civilization and manufactures to the same point. Though, verynew, as a powerful European nation, the people are as ancient as mostothers in Europe; the territory is so extensive, the climate so cold, andthe Baltic Sea so much to the north, and frozen so many months in theyear, that it never will either be a carrying or a manufacturing country. To cultivate its soil, and export the produce of its mines, the skins, tallow, hides, timber, &c. &c. Will be more profitable, and suit betterthe inhabitants than any competition in manufactures. 

It is not in great extensive empires that manufactures thrive the most, they are great objects for small countries, like England or Holland;but, for such as Russia, Turkey, or France, they are a less object thanattention to soil and natural productions; and, thus we see, that China, the greatest of all countries in extent, encourages interior trade andmanufactures, but despises foreign commerce. {207}

One peculiar advantage England enjoys favourable to manufactures, deserves notice. The law of patents, if it does not make people inventor seek after new inventions, it at least encourages and enables themto improve their inventions. Invention is the least part of the businessin respect to public wealth and utility. There has long been acollection of models, at Paris, made by one of the most in-

---{207} The smaller a district, or an island is, the exports and importswill be the greater, when compared with the number of inhabitants. Take the exports and imports of all Europe, with the other quarters ofthe world;--considering Europe as one country, and it will not befound to amount to one shilling a person per annum. Take the amountin Britain, it will be found about forty shillings a person. Considerwhat is bought and sold by a single village, and it will be still greaterthan that; and, last of all, a single labouring family buys all that ituses, and sells all that it produces. And the meanest family, taken inthis way, does proportionably =sic= more buying and selling than therichest state, taken in a body. Consider the whole earth as one state, and it neither exports nor imports. -=-

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genious mechanics of the last century, (Mr. Vaucusson, ) at theexpense of that government, in which were nearly all the curiousinventions brought forth in England, together with many not known init. Some Englishmen, in going through it, brought over new inventionshere, for which they obtained patents, and, by which, they, as well asthe public, were gainers, while the inventions lay useless and dormantin France. 

Invention is not a thing in a man's power, and great inventions aregenerally more the effect of accident than of superior abilities; at anyrate, no encouragement is certain to produce invention, but it alwayswill produce improvement on invention. When a man has a patent forfourteen years, he does every thing in his power to make the object ofthat patent become as generally useful as possible, and this is only tobe done by carrying the improvements as far as he is able. {208}Others, again, who have no patent, but are of the same trade, endeavour to preserve their business by improvement, and to thiscontest in excellence may be attributed the great progress, made inEngland, in bringing manufactures to a higher degree of perfectionthan in any other country. 

The great inventions, from which others branch out and spring, are notdue, it has often been asserted, to natives of this country. Probably thismay be owing to the circumstance, that they were known before theadvancement of this country in any of the arts; but let that be as itmay, there are a vast number of inventions carried to greater

---{208} This is sufficiently important to deserve to be illustrated bysome examples. The improvement of the steam-engine, by Mr. Watt, was a matter of accident; an accident, indeed, that could not havehappened, had he been an ignorant man; but the improvement of itwas not accidental. It was, in consequence of great encouragementgiven, and to the prolongation of the patent, by an express act ofparliament. This patent has been the occasion of almost totallychanging the machine, and of extending its use to a vast variety ofobjects, to which it probably might never have been extended, had itnot been the sole business of a very able man, aided by a number ofother ingenious persons, whom he was enabled to employ. It was thecause of improving the mechanism of mills for grinding corn, andothers of different descriptions, far beyond what they had been, although the most able engineer in that line (Mr. Smeaton) died beforethe last and greatest improvements were made. 

The same thing may be observed of the cotton-spinning-machines, andwith a little difference of all the inventions that have been brought toperfection, under the influence of exclusive privileges. -=-

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perfection, and turned to more advantage in this country than in anyother. 

This advantage, which England enjoys over other countries, is a moresolid one than it appears to be, for it is intimately connected with thegovernment and laws of the country, and with that spirit which seesthe law well administered, which, in the case of patents, is a matter ofno small difficulty, and prevents others from becoming our rivals, orattaining the same degree of perfection; {209} for, unless the law iswell administered, there can never be the great exertion that isnecessary to create excellence. 

The fine arts and the mechanic arts are quite different in regard to themanner in which they are brought to perfection. Individual capacityand genius will make a man, even without much teaching, excel in oneof the fine arts; whereas, in the mechanic arts, to know how anoperation is performed is every thing, and all men can do it nearlyequally well. The consequence of this is, that, as experience improvesthe manner of working, the mechanic arts improve, from age to age, aslong as they are encouraged and practised. It is not so with the finearts, or only so in a very small degree, and from this it arises, that, insculpture, poetry, painting, and music, the ancients, perhaps, excelledthe moderns. In the mechanic arts they were quite inferior. The bestexamples of this, (and better need not be, ) are an antique medal, boldly and finely executed, but ragged on the edges, not on a flatground, or of equal thickness, compared with a new guinea, or aBirmingham button tamely engraved but trimly executed. In theformer, there is every mark of the artist, none of the machine. In thelatter, there are some faint and flat traces of an artist, but great proofof mechanical excellence. The skill of the artist, necessary to producethe first, cannot be commanded, though it may, by encouragement, becalled forth; but the reunion of talents, such as are necessary for thelatter, is so certainly obtainable, that it, at all times, may be procuredat will, after it has once been possessed. 

---{209} In 1790 the French laid down the law of patents, on the Englishplan, and rather, in some respects, improved; but the people neverunderstood it. The lawyers never understood it; and, even before theanarchy came on, it was evident it would never produce any very greateffect, for want of proper administration. -=-

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Security, to reap the fruits of improvements, is all that is wanted, andthis the law of patents, as applied and enforced in England, affords ina very superior degree. Although, by the communication everywhere, the ground-work of every art whatever is now no longer confinable toany one nation, though the contrary is the case, and that theknowledge necessary circulates freely, and is extended by a regularsort of system, in periodical publications of various descriptions, yetthe manner of turning that knowledge to advantage does not, by anymeans, seem equally easy to communicate. 

The legislature of the United States of America has, indeed, in thiscase, done full justice to the encouragement of arts and to inventions;but circumstances, as has been already said, make other objects moreadvantageous for the employment of labour and skill in that country. For these reasons, therefore, we may look forward with someconfidence, to the flourishing of arts and manufactures, for a longterm of years, if the same attention that has been paid to theirencouragement still continues; but neither this advantage alone, nor allthe advantages united, that have been enumerated, will be sufficient topreserve our superiority, if those, who regulate the affairs of thecountry, do not favour them. 

It is in consequence of great pains and care, that manufactures haveflourished in this country, and they cannot be preserved without acontinuation of the same care, although it is individual effort thatappears to be the principal cause. Thus, the travellers, on a well-madehighway, proceed with rapidity and ease, at their individual expense, and by their individual energy; but, if the road is not kept in repair, their progress must be impeded, and their efforts will cease to producethe same effect, for they cannot individually repair the road. 

Such appear to be the peculiar circumstances that favour GreatBritain; and that under disadvantages that are also peculiarly great, give hopes of prolonging the prosperity of the country. 

There is still, however, something wanting to increase our advantage. Any person acquainted with the manufactures of England willnaturally have observed, that they are all such as meet with a marketin this country. We have no mannfactories =sic= for goods, for thesole [end of page #273] purpose of our foreign markets; so that, though we consider ourselves as so much interested in foreign trade, yet we have adapted all our manufacturies, expressly, as if it were tosupply the home market. 

This observation will be found to apply very generally, though thereare a few exceptions, and though the quality of the goodsmanufactured, and intended for exportation, is adapted to the marketfor which they are destined. This last, indeed, is very natural, norcould it well be otherwise, but that is not going half the lengthnecessary. 

Instead of carrying our goods into a strange country, and tryingwhether the inhabitants will purchase, we should bring home patternsof such articles as they use themselves, and try if we can supply themwith advantage. Nations vary, exceedingly, in taste, and so theyalways will. The colour of the stuffs, the figures on printed cottons, and even the forms of cutlery, and articles of utility, are, in some sort, matters of taste. If we are to manufacture for other nations, let us try tosuit their taste as we do to suit that of our own people at home. Thereasons why we do not do this are pretty evident. In the first place, itwould not answer the purpose of an individual to procure theinformation necessary, and make a collection where the advantage, incase of success, would be divided with all that chose to imitate them;besides this, in many cases, the means are wanting to procure what isnecessary. 

The study of botany has been greatly advanced, and kitchen gardensgreatly enriched, by the importation of exotic plants; and, probably, our manufactures might be greatly extended, if the same care weretaken to collect foreign articles, the produce of industry. {210} We donot find every foreign plant succeed in this country, but if it seemspro-

---{210} A collection of all sorts of stuffs, with the prices in the country, where worn, and the same of all sorts of hardware, toys, trinkets, &c. , should be made, at the public expense, and be open, on application, tothe inspection of every person who might apply in a proper manner;and even specimens, or patterns, should be delivered out, on the valuebeing deposited. In Persia, and many places, if we would copy theircolours and patterns, we might sell great quantities of cotton stuffs. Our hatchets, and some other of our tools, are not made of a formliked by the Americans. -=-

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bable, and worth trying, we never fail to do that; we trust it would beso with foreign manufactures, if we had proper patterns. A fair trialwould be made, where success seemed probable, and the event woulddetermine the future exertion. 

Accidental circumstances, a few centuries ago, brought new plantsinto this country, they now come into it in consequence of regularexertions for that purpose. What was then true, with regard to plantsimported, is still true with respect to manufactures exported. Wemanufacture for ourselves, and if any thing of the same sort suits othernations, we send it, if not, there is no trade to that part; now, this mustbe allowed to be an accidental cause, for the promotion of foreigntrade. 

Wherever it is possible to prevent the debasing the quality of anarticle, so as to hinder it answering the purpose, or gratifying theexpectations of the purchaser, that ought to be done, for it has longbeen such a practice for English manufacturers to undersell each other, that they stick at no means of being able to do so. 

A variety of qualities, according to price, is necessary. All personscannot afford to buy the best sort of goods; but, when a reduction ofprice is carried so far as to be obtained by making an article that isuseless, this is a means of losing the trade; and it would be very easyto prove that such examples are very numerous, and that variousbranches of trade have been lost by that means. 

With regard to the extent of sea coast, the advantage that may bederived from the fisheries, and the benefit arising from thatcircumstance to commerce, they are natural advantages, and alreadyperfectly understood. [end of page #275]

CHAP. VIII. 

_Conclusion_. 

After having gone through the subject of the Inquiry, according tothe mode that appeared to be the best, in which there has been oneinvariable rule, never to oppose theory and reasoning to facts, but totake experience as the surest guide, a recapitulation can scarcely bevery necessary; but a conclusion, applicable to the situation of thiscountry, certainly may. 

This, however, ought to be short, as the reader has all the materials forit in his own power, but it may save him trouble. 

The great end of all human effort is, to improve upon the means whichnature has furnished men with, for obtaining the objects of their wantsand wishes, and to obviate, to counteract, or do away thoseinconveniencies =sic= and disadvantages which nature has thrown inthe way of their enjoyment. {211}

With the mind, the same course should be used as with materialbodies. It is impossible, in either case, to create; but we may turn thegood to as profitable an advantage as we are able, and counteract thebad. 

To attempt to hinder men from following their propensities, when inpower, is always arduous, generally ineffectual, and frequentlyimpracticable; besides, when it can be done coercively, it infringes toomuch on the liberty and the enjoyment of mankind. A controulingpower should be employed as seldom as possible. 

---{211} Thus, in building a house, you form the stones, the clay, andother materials, which nature has furnished, in order to counteract theeffect of heat or cold, moist or dry, as is most agreeable. Thus, menhave learned to melt and vitrify the sand on the sea-shore, to makeglass, grind it into a form, and make a microscope to view the mostminute objects of nature, or to bring the most distant nearer, by thetelescope: thus, rectifying the imperfection of human sight. Perhapsthe burning of _coals_ to convert _water_ into _steam_, and, with that_steam_, raising _coals_ and _water_ from the mine is the mostcomplete triumph of human skill over physical difficulties. Howinvention and discovery have improved the state of man since the timethat the uses of corn and fire were unknown in Greece!!!-=-

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To attempt to smother the passions is vain, to controul them difficult;besides, it is from energy, arising from passions or propensities, thatall good, as well as all evil, arise. The business, then, will neither beto curb nor to crush, but to give a proper direction. This is to be doneby good habits, when young, and a proper education, which cannot beobtained by individual exertion, without the assistance of government;an assistance that it is therefore bound to give. 

The general tendency of wealth and power are to enervate people, tomake them proud and indolent, and, after a certain time, they leave acountry. Individuals have no means to counteract this tendency, unlessthe governing power of the country gives a general impulse to them, in cases where they can act, and acts itself, with care and attention, where individuals can do nothing. 

In the case of education and manners, in the case of providing forchildren, individuals may do much, but government must not onlygive the means, but the impulse. In the case of the soil becominginsufficient for the inhabitants, and of taxes and national debtincreasing, government may stop the progress; and in the cases ofindividual bodies trenching on the general weal, as well as in thetendency of inventions, capital, &c. To emigrate to other countries, thegovernment may counteract, and, perhaps, totally prevent them all. 

In all cases, individuals will and must follow their lawful propensities, both in the means of employing capital and expending revenue; that is, they must be left free, in a general way, and only interrupted andregulated in particular cases; but, sometimes, the means must befurnished them of going right, and in other cases the inducements todo so augmented. We shall take the subjects in the same order thatthey followed in the Second Book. 

Though the manners of people, arrived at maturity, can only beregulated by their education, when young, if that is properly attendedto, it will be sufficient; for though it will not prevent the generationthat has attained wealth, from enjoying it according to the prevailingtaste, it will prevent contamination being communicated withincreased force, as it now is, to the children. The evils then will go onin a simple proportion; they now go on with a compound one, and theevils arising from the [end of page #277] luxury of each generation aredoubled on that which follows after. If that is prevented, it will be allthat probably is necessary; at all events it is probably all that ispossible. 

In taxation, the government should study to do away what isobnoxious in its mode of collection, for that does more injury to thesubject, in many cases, than an equal sum would do levied in anothermanner; and when payments are to be made, the mode should berendered as easy as possible. Every unnecessary trouble should beavoided in collecting a tax. In the tax on receipts and bills, why shouldthe sums to which they extend not be printed on them, so as to preventerror, which is sometimes attended with great loss, and always withinconvenience? If this had been done, how many law-suits, how manynefarious tricks, would have been prevented? But not to speak of thoseinconveniences only, how much useless trouble, uneasiness, anduncertainty, would have been saved in the common way of transactingbusiness? In most cases, the subject is treated as if neither his time, nor his conveniency, nor his feelings, were worth attending to. This isequally impolitic and unjust: there is, perhaps, no country wherepeople are more careful to keep within the pale of the law, than inEngland; but when they are within it, and have power, no people use itwith a more insulting rigour; and for this there is no redress. 

In many cases, this would be entirely prevented by proper attention infirst laying on the tax. There should be a board of taxation, to receive, digest, and examine, the suggestions of others. In short, pains shouldbe taken to bring to perfection the system. At present, it is left tochance; that is to say, it is left for those to do who have not time to doit, and, of consequence, the blunders committed are seen by all theworld. {212}

---{212} An act of parliament for a new tax is seldom ever right till ithas been evaded a number of times, and even then in perfectioning=sic= it, an increase of revenue is the only object attended to; theconveniency of the subject is scarcely ever thought of. Taxes are laidon, that experience proves to be unproductive and oppressive, andsometimes are, and oftener ought, to be repealed; thousands of personsare sometimes ruined for a mere experiment. As the public pays for it, they, at least, might be indulged with a little attention; nothing costsless than civility. If half the attention were paid to preventingunnecessary trouble to the subject, [end of page #278] in cases oftaxation, that is paid to the preservation of partridges, we should havethe thing very differently managed. There should also be a publicoffice, to hear just complaints against those who give unnecessarytrouble, as there is for hackney coachmen. Men in all situationsrequire to be under some controul, where they have power. Most ofthose who _drive_ others, go wrong sometimes, unless held in checkby some authority. -=-

The encroachments of separate bodies on the public, it is entirely inthe power of the state to prevent. It is owing to weakness orcarelessness, or ignorance, that governments admit of suchencroachments, and they are easily to be prevented, partly, as has beenshewn, by positive regulation, and partly by counteracting them, whenever they appear to be proceeding in a direction any waydoubtful. When they do so, the conclusion may be, that they areworking for themselves; and, in that case, they ought to be veryminutely examined into; and, as all public bodies, and men belongingto a class that has a particular interest generally derive their means oftrenching on the public from government, it may very easily controultheir action, or counteract the effect. 

As lawyers have the administration of justice amongst themselves; asthe executive part is in their hand, the law-makers should beparticularly careful to make them amenable by law for bad conduct; itought not to be left in the bosom of a court, to strike off, or keep on, an improper man. It is not right, on the one hand, that attorneys, or anyset of men, should be subject to an arbitrary exertion of power; and itis equally unfair for them to be protected, by having those who are tojudge between them and the public, always belonging to their ownbody. In defence of this, it is said, that attornies are servants of thecourt, and that the business of the court being to do justice, theircorrection cannot be in better hands. This is a tolerably ingeniousassertion, if it were strictly true; but the court consists both of judgeand jury; whereas, in this case, the judge assumes all the power; that isto say, when a case is to be determined relative to the conduct of alawyer, a lawyer is to be the sole judge, and the jury, who representthe public, are to have their power set aside; thus, when their opinionis most wanted, it is not allowed to be given. Under such regulation, what real redress can be expected? As for the taxing costs by a master, it is [end of page #279] rarely that a client, from prudential motives, dares appeal; and, when he does, the remedy is frequently worse thanthe disease; and, even in this case a lawyer judges a lawyer. Withoutsaying any thing against the judgments, it will be allowed, that inneither case is the principle of Magna Carta adhered to, of a manbeing judged by his peers; besides, in every other fraud there ispunishment proportioned to the crime. In this case there is nopunishment, unless the extortion is exorbitant, and then thepunishment is too great. It ought to be proportioned to the offence, asin cases of usury, and then it would be effectual; but to let smallmisdemeanors go free and to punish great ones beyond measure is theway to elude punishment in all cases. A man ought to pay his bill; letthe attorney take the money at his peril, and let there be a court tojudge fairly, at little expense, and with promptitude, and punish theextortion by a treble fine. This would answer; but all regulations, relative to law, are left to the lawyers themselves; and the fable of theMan, the Lion, and the Picture, was never so well exemplified, Never, in any case, was redress more wanted; perhaps, never was it less likelyto be had. 

The unequal division of property, as has been shewn, arises partlyfrom bad laws, and partly from neglect of regulation; it is, indeed, oneof the most delicate points to interfere in; nevertheless, as it has beenproved, that laws do already interfere between a man and the use ofhis property, (and that it is, in some cases, necessary that they shoulddo so) the question is reduced to one of circumstances andexpediency, it is not one to be determined, in the abstract, onprinciple. It is also of too nice a nature to be touched roughly bygeneral regulation; but, if large estates in land, and large farms, weretaxed higher in proportion than small ones, it would counteract, to acertain degree, the tendency of landed property to accumulate in anyone person's hand; and, except in land, property seldom remains longenough in one family to accumulate to a dangerous degree. {213}

---{213} Besides the above truth, of other property being liable to bedissipated from its nature the law of primogeniture does not attach onit, and the evil, if it did, would not be any way considerable. -=-

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The increased consumption of a nation, which we have found one ofthe causes of decline that increases with its wealth, may be moreeffectually prevented than any other; not by interfering with the modein which individuals expend their wealth, but by managing it so thatvegetable food shall always be in abundance; and if so, the high pricesof animal food, and the low price of vegetables will answer thepurpose of counteracting the taste for the former, which is the cause ofthe dearth, and brings on depopulation; and therefore its hurtful effectwill be prevented. {214}

To this, gentlemen of landed property may object, and no doubt willobject, but let them consider how rapidly ruin is coming on. At therate matters now go, it would not be a surprising, but a natural effect, if most of the fields in Britain were converted into pasture, and ourchief supply of corn obtained from abroad. The rent of land would, indeed, be doubled, the wages of labour would rise more than in anequal proportion, and a very few years would complete the ruin of thiscountry. The landed proprietors surely would not, for any momentarygain, risk the ruin of themselves and of their country, for both may bethe consequence of persisting in this system. {215} Or, if they willpersist in it, will the government, which has other interests to consultand to protect, allow that single one to swallow up all the rest?

It is true, the freedom of trade will be invoked; but the freedom of

---{214} Suppose that, of the waste lands, eleven millions of acres werecultivated, and that as much as possible (suppose five millions) werealways in grain, those five millions would be able to supply the nationnearly in an ordinary year. A law might also be made, compelling alllandlords and farmers to have only three-fourths in grass; this could beno hardship. There would then be always corn in plenty; monopolywould be prevented, because anxiety would be avoided; for a realdeficiency to a small amount gives cause to great anxiety and grievousmonopoly. The waste lands, when disposed of, might have whatevercondition attached to them was thought fit. 

{215} We say persisting in this system, for when bread fell to be at amoderate price, last summer, (1804, ) the outcry amongst the farmerswas great and violent, and the legislature altered the law aboutexports; the consequence of this was, that the price of wheat roseregularly every week till it was doubled. All this was the effect ofopinion, for the price of corn rose too quickly to allow any to be sentout of the kingdom, by the new law. -=-

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trade is a principle not to be adopted without limitation, but with dueregard to times and circumstances; let it then never be invoked upon ageneral question, without examination. Though this is the true way ofarguing the question, let freedom of trade be taken in another way; letit be considered as a general principle, it will then be immutable, andcannot be changed. {216} The present corn-laws must on thatprinciple be done away, and no bounty allowed for exportation or forimportation, which indeed would be the best way; but, at all events, letus have one weight and one measure for both parties, and not invokefreedom of trade to protect the corn-dealers when prices are high, andenact laws to counteract the effects of plenty, which produces lowprices. 

On this subject, government must set itself above every consideration, but that of the welfare of the country: it is too important to be trifledwith, or to be bartered for any inferior consideration. 

The prices of our manufactures will soon become too high for othernations. Our inventions, to abbreviate labour, cannot be perpetual, and, in some cases, they can go no farther than they have alreadygone; besides, the same inventions, copied by nations where labour ischeaper, give them still a superiority over us. 

If increased consumption was the leading cause of the destruction ofRome, to which money was sent from tributary nations, and employedto purchase corn, (so that its supply was independent of its industry, )how much more forcible and rapid must be its effects in this country, living by manufactures, and having no other means to procure asupply from strangers, when that is necessary? {217}

The burthens of our national taxes continuing the same, those for

---{216} When corn was dear, and the public cry was for regulation, itwas announced, in the highest quarters, that trade was free. Ministersacted as if they had been the colleagues of of =sic= the economistTurgot; but, when prices fell, the language was changed, and newregulations were made. Compare the Duke of Portland's letter, in1799, with the act for the exportation of grain, in 1804. 

{217} The money sent out of the country for corn is a directdiminution of the balance due to us from other nations, and it nowamounts to near three millions a year on an average. The balance inour favour is not much more than twice that sum at the most, and wasnot equal to that till lately: the imports of grain may soon turn thebalance against us. -=-

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the poor increasing, our means diminishing; what could possiblyproduce a more rapid decline?

The danger is too great and too evident to require any thing farther tobe said; particularly as the last ten years have taught us so much, byexperience. 

It is unnecessary to repeat what was said about the mode of reducingthe interest of the national debt without setting too much capitalafloat; without breaking faith with the creditors of the state, orburthening the industry of the country. 

On the increase of the poor and the means of diminishing theirnumbers enough has been said. That must originate with governmentin every case and in some cases exclusively belongs to it. They mustact of themselves entirely, with respect to the very poor and to theirchildren. With those who are not quite reduced to poverty, they shouldgrant aid, to enable them to struggle against adversity, and preventtheir offspring from becoming burthensome to the public. 

The other affairs well attended to, capital and industry will lose theirtendency to leave the country; and, if they should continue to leave it, the case will be desperate; for, after the lands are improved, and thebest encouragement given to the employment of capital, and to thegreatest extent nothing more can be done. It will find employmentelsewhere. 

The efficacy of a remedy, like every thing else in this world, has aboundary, but the extent and compass of that depends, in a greatdegree, on exertion and skill, and particularly so in the presentinstance. It remains with the government to make that exertion, eitherdirectly itself, or by putting individuals in the way to make it. 

The government of a country must then interfere, in an active manner, in the prevention of the interior causes of decline. As to the exteriorones, they do not depend on a country itself; but, so far as they do, it isexclusively on the government, and in no degree on the individualinhabitants. 

The envy and enmity which superior wealth create, can only bediminished by the moderation and justice with which a nationconducts itself towards others; and if they are sufficiently envious and[end of page #283] unfair to persist, a nation like Britain has nothingto fear. But we must separate from envy and enmity occasioned by thepossession of wealth, that envy and enmity that are excited by theunjust manner in which wealth is acquired. 

In respect to Britain, it has been shewn, that the envy and enmityexcited, are chiefly by her possessions in the East Indies; we haveseen, also, that the wealth obtained by those possessions is but veryinconsiderable, and that they have, at least, brought on one-third ofour national debt; it would then be well, magnanimously to state thequestion, and examine whether we ought not to abandon thepossession of such unprofitable, such expensive, and such a dangerousacquisition; till we do so, it is to be feared that we shall never have atrue friend, nor be without a bitter enemy. 

We have had experience from America, which is become precious tous now, that we have lost it, and which was a mill-stone about ourneck, while we were in possession of it. Let us take a lesson fromexperience, and apply its result to what is at this moment going on, and we cannot mistake the conclusion to be formed. Let the nation beabove the little vanity of retaining a thing, merely because it haspossessed it. {218} Let the great general outline of happiness, and ofpermanent happiness, be considered, and not that ephemericalsplendour and opulence, that gilded pomp that remains but for a day, and leaves a nation in eternal poverty and want. Britain can only befirm and just in its conduct towards other nations, give up uselesspossessions, defend its true rights to the last point, encourage industryat home, and take every step to prevent the operation of those causesof decline that we have been examining; let merit be encouraged, and

---{218} In this country, public opinion would be against a minister, whoproposed to give up any possession abroad, however useless. This isowing to the pride occasioned by wealth. The people are not rapaciousfor conquests, but once in possession they are very unwilling to letthem go. 

It is not necessary to quit the trade to India, or abandon all ourpossessions, but to diminish our establishments, circumscribe ourconquests, and not aim at possessing more than we had thirty yearsago. That moderation would conciliate all nations, and envy wouldfind its occupation gone. -=-

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let it never be forgotten or lost sight of, that wealth and greatness canonly be supported, for a length of time, by industry and abilities welldirected, guided by justice and fair intention. This is the truth of whichwe are never to lose sight. We may keep sounding for the bottom, andreconnoitring the shore, the better to direct our steps, but we mustnever lose sight of the beacon, with the help of which alone we cansafely enter the wished-for harbour. 

There is a great disposition in the human mind to give the law, whenthere is the power of doing it. The abuse of power appears to benatural and dangerous; yet, we have seen, that most nations, bothancient and modern, have fallen into that error. The hour of Britishinsolence has also been mentioned, and, certainly, with regard toAmerica, we did not more materially mistake our power than we didthe rights of those with whom we had to treat. 

It is much to be questioned, whether the undaunted and brave spirit ofour naval commanders does not, in some cases, lead them too far intheir rencontres with vessels of other nations on the high seas, and weought not to forget that, in this case, the match played is that ofEngland against all the world. As no other nation is under the samecircumstances with this, no one will be inclined to take our part, or towink at, or pardon, any error we may commit. 

The Hans Towns, at one time, were paramount at sea; they could biddefiance to all the world; and, at first, they did great actions, andemployed their power to a good purpose. They destroyed the pirates, and humbled the Danes, after they had robbed both the English andFrench, and burnt both London and Paris; but they also had their hourof insolence. They began to be unjust, and to be insolent, and the citiesthat had begged to be united to them, in the times when their conductwas honourable and wise, withdrew from the participation of theirinjustice, pride, and arrogance. While they attended to protectingthemselves, and to following their own affairs, they did numberlessgood offices to the ships of foreign nations; they had universal goodwill and commanded admiration. But, when they became supercilious, and a terror to others, their pride was soon humbled, never again torise. [end of page #285]

In considering the whole, there is a considerable degree of consolationarises to British subjects, to see the very mistaken comparisons thathave, in the first place, been made between Rome and Carthage; and, in the second place, the still more unfair comparison made betweenthose two rival powers, and France and England. 

As opinion and belief have a great power over the minds of men, whether they act in conformity to their views and wishes, or inopposition to them, it is of great importance to remove an error, whichwas of very long standing, very general, and had the direct tendency tomake the people of both countries think the parallel well drawn, andtherefore conclude that this mercantile country must, sooner or later, sink under the power of France. But, when it appears that most authorshave been inadvertently led into the same mistake, with respect tothose two ancient republics, and that, even if there had not been themistake, the parallel drawn would not have been true, then France willprobably cease to found her hopes on that comparison, and we may, atleast, cease to feel any apprehension from so ill-grounded a cause. 

That a nation once gone on in the career of opulence can never goback with impunity is as certain as its tendency to going back is. Thepossession of riches is of a transitory nature, and their loss attendedwith innumerable evils. Though nations in affluence, like men inhealth, refuse to follow any regimen, and use great freedom withthemselves, yet they should consider there is a vast difference. A man, well and in health, is in his natural state; yet even that will not resisttoo much liberty taken with his constitution; but a nation that has risento more wealth than others is always in an artificial state, insomuch asit owes its superiority, not to nature, but either to peculiarcircumstances, our =sic--sc. : or = superior exertion and care; it istherefore not to be supposed capable of being preserved, without someof that attention and care, which are necessary to all nations undersimilar circumstances, and which, in the history of the world, we havenot yet seen one nation able to resist. 

There are sufficient circumstances, new and favourable in the [end ofpage #286] case of Britain, to inspire us with the courage necessaryfor making the effort. 

There is one part of the application of this Inquiry, to the Britishdominions, left intentionally incomplete. It has been left so with adesign to keep clear of those discussions that awaken a spirit of party, which prevents candid attention. It is of little use to enquire, unlessthose who read can do it without prevention or prejudice. It istherefore, very necessary not to awaken those feelings, by adding anything that may rouse a spirit of party; and it is difficult to touchmatters that concern men, deeply interested in an object, without thatdanger. What seems impartial to an unconcerned man, seems partial tothose who are concerned; and sometimes the observer is blamed byboth the parties, between whom he thinks he is keeping in the middleway. 

The advantages of the form of government adopted in Britain havebeen fairly stated in account; but constitutions and forms ofgovernment, however good, are only so in the degree; they are neverperfect, and have all a tendency to wear out, to get worse, and to getencumbered. The French were the first, perhaps, that ever tried themad scheme of remedying this by making a constitution that could berenewed at pleasure. But it was a violent remedy, to implant, in theconstitution itself, the power of its own destruction, under the idea ofrenovation. The English constitution has taken, perhaps, the best waythat is possible for this purpose; it has given to king, lords, andcommons, the power of counteracting each other, and so preserving itsfirst principles. Without going into that inquiry, it is sufficient to say, that the advantages which may be derived from the Britishconstitution can only be expected by the three different powers havingthat will, and exercising it; for, if they should act together on a systemof confidence, without an attention to preserving the balance, theymust overset, instead of navigating the vessel. 

The individuals of whom a nation is composed, we have seen, nevercan, by their efforts, prevent its decline, as their natural propensitiestend to bring it on. It is to the rulers of nations we must look for the[end of page #287] prolongation of prosperity, which they cannotaccomplish, unless they look before them, and, in place of seeking forremedies, seek for preventatives. 

It is very natural and very common for those who wield the power of agreat nation, to trust to the exertion of that power, when the momentof necessity arrives; but that will seldom, if ever, be found to answer. The time for the efficacy of remedy will be past before the evilpresents itself in the form of pressing necessity; and that very power, which can so effectually be applied in other cases, in this will bediminished, and found unequal to what it has to perform. 

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_Application of the present Inquiry to Nations in general_

IF there is a lesson taught by political economy that is of greaterimportance than any other, it is, that industry, well directed, is the wayto obtain wealth; and that the modes by which nations sought after itin the early and middle ages, by war and conquest, are, in comparison, very ineffectual. 

Notwithstanding that princes themselves are now convinced of thetruth of this, by a strange fatality, the possession of commercial wealthhas itself become the cause of wars, not less ruinous than those thatformerly were the chief occupation of mankind. 

It was discovered a few centuries ago, that small principalities, andeven single cities, acquired more wealth by industry, than all themighty monarchs of the middle ages did by war; but we are not yetadvanced to the ultimate end of the lessons that experience and reasongive in regard to the interests of nations, with regard to wealth andpower. 

To suppose that mankind will ever live entirely at peace is absurd, andis to suppose them to change their nature. Such a reverie would onlysuit one of the revolutionists of France; but let us hope that there isstill a possibility to lessen the causes of quarrels amongst nations. Thetrue principles of political economy lead to that, and the object issufficiently important. 

By _agriculture_ and _manufactures_; that is, by producing suchthings as are conducive to the happiness of man, the _aggregatewealth of mankind_ can alone be increased. 

By _commerce_, which consists in conveying or selling the produceof industry, the aggregate wealth of mankind is not increased, but its_distribution is altered_. {219}

---{219} Though the produce of soil is not obtained without industry, yet, to make a distinction that is simple and easily understood andretained, we suppose manufactured produce to go by the name of theproduce of industry. -=-

[end of page #289]

As individuals, and sometimes nations, have obtained great wealth, not by producing, but by altering the distribution of wealth produced;that is, by commerce, that seems, to those who aim at wealth, to be thegreatest object of ambition. 

If every nation in the world were industrious, and contented withconsuming the articles it produced, they would all be wealthy andhappy without commerce; or, if each nation enjoyed a share ofcommerce, in proportion to what it produced, there would be nosuperiority to create envy. 

Variety of soil and climate, difference of taste, of manners, and aninfinity of other causes, have rendered commerce necessary, though itdoes not increase the aggregate wealth of mankind: but nations are inan error when they set a greater value on commerce than onproductive industry. 

Some nations are situated by nature so as to be commercial, just asothers are to raise grapes and fine fruits; therefore, though one nationhas more than what appears to be an equal share of commerce, itought not to be a reason for envy, much less for enmity. 

Some nations also find it their interest to attend chiefly to agriculture, others may find it necessary to attend more to manufactures; but thatought to be no cause of enmity or rivalship. 

With a view, if possible, to diminish a little the envy and rivalship thatstill subsists, let us take a view of this business in its present state. 

Britain, the wealthiest of nations, at this time, sells little of theproduce of her soil, and a great deal of the produce of her industry; butshe purchases a great deal of the produce of the soil of other countries, though not much of their industry: in this there is great mutualconveniency and no rivalship. In fact, her wealth arises nearlyaltogether from internal industry, and, by no means from thatcommerce that is the envy of other nations; for it is clear, that whoeverproduces a great deal may consume a great deal, without anyexchange of commodities, and without commerce. 

The English, number for number, produce more, by one-half, than[end of page #290] any other people; they can, therefore, consumemore; they are, therefore, richer. 

If France would cultivate her soil with the same care that we attend tomanufactures, (at the same time manufacturing for herself as much asshe did before the revolution, ) she would be a much richer countrythan England, without having a single manufacture for exportation. Her wines, brandies, fruits, &c. &c. Would procure her amplywhatever she might want from other nations. Let France make goodlaws to favour industry; and, above all, render property secure, andshe will have no occasion to envy England. 

Russia, part of Germany, Spain, Italy, and Portugal, are all in a similarsituation with France in this respect; they will each be as rich asEngland the moment they are as industrious, and have as manyinventions for the abbreviation of labour. 

Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, and some parts of Germany, are, more or less, in the same situation with England; they require to payattention to manufactures, for they have not the means of raisingproduce enough to exchange for all they want. 

If there is any occasion for rivalship, or ground for envy, it is then butvery small, and it happens that the rivalship which exists is betweenthose nations that, in reality, ought to be the least envious of eachother, the nations who have the fewest quarrels are those who reallymight be rivals. 

Rivalship is natural between those who are in similar situations. France, Spain, and Portugal, might be rivals. England, Holland, Prussia, and Denmark, might also be rivals; but there can be no reasonfor France envying England her manufactures and commerce, anymore than for England envying France for her climate, soil, extent, =sic= of territory and population. 

The way to produce the most, being to give industry its best direction. Nations, differently situated, ought never to be rivals or enemies, onaccount of trade. 

If those, who regulate the affairs of nations, were to consider this in itstrue light, there would be less jealousy and more industry. [end ofpage #291]

There appears to be only one real cause for war, so far as it isoccasioned by a wish to obtain wealth; and that arises frompossessions in the East and West Indies, and in America. 

If there were no such possessions, or if they were more equallydivided, there would be very little cause for war amongst nations. 

It may, very possibly, at some distant time, be an object for a generalcongress of nations, to settle this point; so that it shall be no longer anobject of jealousy. This can be done only by abandoning entirely, ordividing more equally; but, at present, the animosity and enmityoccasioned is considerable, though not well founded. 

The Spaniards are not envied for the possession of Peru, nor thePortuguese for the Brazils, though they draw more wealth from themthan ever England or Holland did from their foreign possessions; yet, England is, and Holland was, an object of envy, on account ofpossessions abroad. This is the more unreasonable, that the Spaniardsand Portuguese keep the trade strictly to themselves, while Englandallows nations, at peace with her, the most liberal conditions fortrading with her Indian possessions: conditions, indeed, that give thema superiority over ourselves. {220} This conduct ought not to bringdown upon England, envy or enmity, (though it does); for the fact is, that if all nations were at peace with England, they might, if they hadcapital and skill, (and that they have not is no fault of England, ) tradewith India to great advantage, while we should have the trouble ofdefending our establishments, and of keeping the country. 

Before the revolution, France obtained more produce from SaintDomingo alone, in one year, than Britain did from all her West IndiaIslands together, in three years, and much more than England did fromall her foreign possessions together; yet, France was never obnoxiousto other nations on that account. 

---{220} This may seem strange, but it is literally true; the quarrelsbetween the India Company, and the free trade, as it is called, are anample proof of the truth of it. The free-trade-merchants chiefly actunder the name of agents for Swedish and Danish houses, so liberallyhas England acted with regard to neutral nations. -=-

[end of page #292]

It appears, then, very evident, that the envy and jealousy do not arisefrom the _magnitude or value of foreign possessions_, but from someother cause, though it is laid to that account. This cause is worthinquiring into. 

It appears that Holland and England have, alone, been causes ofjealousy to other nations, on account of foreign possessions; but, thatSpain, Portugal, and France, never have, though there was more realreason for envy and jealousy. 

The reason of this appears to be, that those nations, who excited noenvy, escaped it, because their indolence, or internal economy, prevented them from becoming rich; but, that Holland and England, which, in reality, owed their wealth chiefly to internal industry, andvery little of it to foreign possessions, have excited great envy, andthat England does so to the present hour. {221}

It is, then, wealth arising from industry, that is the object to be aimedat, and that cannot be obtained by war or conquest. The purpose is notadvanced, but retarded, by such contests; and if those, who rulenations, would condescend to enter into the merits of the case, theywould find, not only that the happiness of the people, and everypurpose at which they aim, would be better answered than bycontesting about the means of wealth, which, consisting in internalindustry, does not admit of a transfer. One nation may be ruined, andanother may rise, (as, indeed, they are continually doing, ) but onenation does not rise merely by ruining another; the wealth of a nation, like the happiness of an individual, draws the source from its own

---{221} From both the East and West Indies, England never has, tillwithin these last ten years, drawn three millions a year, that could betermed profit or gain, and, even in the last and most prosperous times, not eight millions, which is not equal to more than one-twentieth partof the produce of national industry at home. Even the foreigncommerce of England, except so far as it procures us things we want, in exchange for things we have to spare, is not productive of muchwealth. Supposing the balance in our favour to be six millions a year, which it has never uniformly been, it would only amount to one-twenty-fourth of our internal productive industry. In short, we gainfive times as much by a wise division of labour, the use of machinery, ready and expeditious methods of working, as by the possession ofboth the Indies!!!-=-

[end of page #293]

bosom. The possession of all the Indies would never make an indolentpeople rich; and while a people are industrious, and the industry iswell directed, they never can be poor. 

It is to be hoped, that the time is fast approaching, when nations willcease to fight about an object that is not to be obtained by fighting, and that they will seek for what they want, by such means as are safeand practicable. [end of page #294]

======INDEX. ======

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ABSOLUTE monarchy, in some particular instances, has anadvantage over limited monarchy; particularly in preventing theinfringement made by corporate bodies or professions on the public, 117, 118, 119. 

AGES, middle, commerce made slow progress during them, 3. --Whatplaces flourished in them, 44 to 50. 

AGE, golden, the tradition, if that founded in any thing, must havebeen a very ignorant one, though very happy, 214. 

ALEXANDER, the Great, history confused before his time, 20. --Hisconquests had no permanent consequences, 24. --The only permanentconsequence was Alexandria supplanting Tyre, 52. --His expedition toIndia was on purpose to get possession of the fine countries thatproduced aromatics and precious stones, 53. 

ALEXANDRIA, rendered Egypt first a commercial country, andbrought on the decline of Carthage, 24. --Loses its commerce in the7th century by the conquests of the Mahomedans, 54, 55. 

ALFRED the Great, made many efforts to render the people happy, 118. 

AMBASSADOR. See Diplomacy. 

AMBITION, sometimes renders labour an enjoyment, 82. 

AMERICA, its discovery forms a new epoch in the history ofcommerce, 3. --Little similarity between it and other nations, 103. --United States, of, their revenues, ib. --May take all the goods Britaincan manufacture, 195. --British exports to, consist nearly all ofmanufactured goods, 204. --Probability of its great increase andconsumption of English manufactures, 268, 269. --Encourages artsand inventions, but agriculture a better object to it, 273. 

ANCIENT nations. See Nations. 

ANIMAL food, much used in northern nations and by manufacturingpeople, 138. --Its effects on population, 139 to 146. --Price comparedwith bread, 147. --In case of the demand becoming too great, aremedy proposed, 155. 

ANTWERP, at one time acted as a sovereign, 47. --Became, in thenorth, what Venice was in the south of Europe, 57. 

APPRENTICES. See Education. 

ARABIAN Gulf. See Red Sea. 

ARKWRIGHT, Sir Richard, as an inventor met with great difficulties, 203. 

ARTS. See Manufactures. 

ARTS, fine. See Fine Arts. 

ARTISTS, not unfit for soldiers, 32. --Banished by luxury from acountry, 113. 

ASIA, passage to it by the Cape of Good Hope a new aera incommerce, 3. --Its mode of fighting with elephants only disconcertedthe Romans once, 31. 

ASSIGNATS. See France. 

ATHENS. See Greece. 

AUGUSTUS, his resolution to kill himself when supplies of cornwere likely to fail, 35. 

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BABYLON. See Syria. 

BALANCE of trade, of England, has never much exceeded fivemillions. --To be seen on the chart 3, p. 213, during 105 years. --Is notequal to more than one twenty-fourth of the produce of industry, 293. 

BALANCE of power could not preserve a nation from interior causesproducing decline, 185. 

BALTIC Sea, manufacturers early established on its southern shores, 45 to 48. 

BARTER, not an innate principle, as Dr. Smith thinks, 5, 6. 

BLACK Sea, a new market opened to commerce, 195. 

BIRMINGHAM division of labour renders business easy, 217. --Apprenticeships not necessary to learn the art, but for other reasons. --Recruiting service succeeds there, ib. 

BOARDING Schools. See Education. 

BODIES Corporate and Public, their tendency to trench on the public, 117 to 124. 

BOULTON, M. Esq. His spirited conduct in bringing forward theimprovements, invented by Mr. Watt, on the steam-engine, 203. 

BORROWING. See Money. 

BRAZILS. See Portugal. 

BREAD, proportion between the price of, and butchers meat, 140. --Prices in Paris and London, 164. 

BRITAIN, in what its power and wealth consist, 191. --Its interiorsituation and exterior, 192, 193, 194, 195. --Its conquests andcolonies, 196 to 200. --Its great increase, 201. --

[end of page #295] Farthest advanced in manufacture, theconsequence of that investigated, 203, 204, 205. --Comparisonbetween its general trade and that to India, 206 to 211. --Begins toencourage agriculture, 213. --Its exports and imports represented inchart 3 described, 213, 214. 

BRUGES acted once as a sovereign, 47. --Became a depot for Indiagoods in the north, as Venice was in the south, 157. 

BURKE, Right Honourable Edmund, his opinion relative to exteriorcauses of decline, 176. 

BUTCHERS meat. See Animal Food. 

C. 

CAPE of Good Hope. Its passage a new epoch in commercial history, 3. 

CAPITAL, the result of past industry, 161. --Commands trade, butsupplies poor countries at the expense of richer ones, 181. --Tends toleave a country when it becomes too abundant, 161, 162, 163. --Would leave England if the sinking fund were to operate long in timeof peace, 242. 

CARTHAGE, of wealthy places alone escaped the conquests ofAlexander, 24. --Mistake relative to its state, 32, 33. --Its fall ruinedthe Roman manners, ib. --Comparison between it and Rome unfair, 36, 37, 38. --Was never so degraded as Rome, ib. 

CASPIAN Sea, goods brought by that route from India, 56. 

CHANGES, interior, take place by degrees, 89. --Most rapid andobservable amongst the Romans, 91. 

CHARLEMAGNE, from the fall of the Roman empire till his time, nothing like wealth or power, 44. --Paved the way for civilizing andenriching the north of Europe, 45. 

CHARTS, description and explanation of, illustrating the rise and fallof nations, 78, 79, 80. --Statistical explanation of, 190. --Ofcommerce, exports and imports, 213. --Of revenue and debts, 214. 

CHILDREN. See Education. 

CHRISTIAN religion most favourable to industry, 263, 264, 265, 267. 

COMMERCE, progress slow in feudal times, 3. --Changed its abodewhen the magnet rendered navigating the ocean practicable, 4. --Commercial wealth degrades a nation less than wealth obtained byconquests, 33. --Commercial spirit, its operation on national character, 37. --Commerce with India, the only one in the ancient world, 51. --How carried on, 52. --Its vicissitudes, the envy it created, quarrels andrevolutions it occasioned, 53 to 59. --Of Britain during the last fifteenyears; the increase great, but not arising from any permanent cause, 193. --Its dependence on credit, 201. 

CONSTANTINOPLE shares in the trade of India, 56. --Revolutionoccasioned partly by the contests about that commerce, 57. --Sunkbefore the discovery of America, by the conquest of the easternEmpire by the Turks, 68. 

CONSUMPTION of food regulates the population of a country, 140. --Its nature and tendency in northern nations, 141, 142, 143. --Requiresattention from government, 146. 

CONQUEST first altered the natural state of the world, 2. --Its firsteffect to lessen taxes, 35. --Ultimately degrades a nation, ib. 

CONDUCT in life. See Education. 

CORN, donations of at Rome, 35. --State of crops in England, 145. --Impossibility, if it fell much short, to find ships to bring over thequantity wanted, ib. --calculations concerning, 146 to 154. 

CREDIT necessary to carry on trade extensively, 202, 203. 

CRUSADES tended to extend civilization and commerce, 45. 

CUSTOMS, the first great branch of public revenue, 106. 

CURING herrings, an improvement in the mode of, raised Hollandabove Flanders, 47. 

D. 

DEAD languages. See Education. 

DECAY. See Decline. 

DECLINE of nations. Though it cannot be finally prevented, may beconsidered as if it never were to come on in this Inquiry, 7. --Are oftwo sorts, 10. --Of the Carthaginians attended with less degradationthan that of the Romans, 36. --Mistaken or misrepresented byhistorians in the instances of Rome and Carthage, 37. --Cause of itamongst the Romans, 39, 40, 41, &c. --Cause of in Flanders, 47. --General in all nations that had been wealthy at the time of thediscovery of the passage to India and of America, 49. --Of the Turkishgovernment, 69. --Occasioned by taxation, 167. --How to beprevented or retarded, 169. --Interior causes may be counteracted, ib. --In general hastened by the conduct of governments, 171. --Might beotherwise, ib. --Certain causes of, common to all nations, 173. --External causes of operating on a nation, envy, enmity, &c. 176, 177, 178. --Causes of peculiar to Great Britain, 257, 258, 259, 260. 

DENMARK. Example of comparative power. --Occasions theHanseatic League by its piracies, and is afterwards pillaged and nearlyruined by that confederacy, 48. 

DEPRECIATION of money counteracts the effect of taxation, 114, 115. --Takes place where ever wealth is, 164. --Its effects in dealingwith poor nations, 165. 

DIPLOMACY. The circuitous conduct ascribed to ambassadors, partly necessary and not to be blamed, 186. 

[end of page #296]

DIVISION of land. See Property. 

DIVISION of property. See Property. 

DUTCH. See Holland. 

E. 

EAST INDIES. See India. 

EASTERN Empire. See Constantinople. 

EDUCATION of children in all countries grows worse as a nationgrows more wealthy, 90. --Brings on a change of manners, 91. --Would be better managed if parents were aided by govetnment, =sic=94. --Cannot be properly taken care of without the aid of government, 95. --In what it consists generally, 96, 97, 98. --Has been in generalwrong understood =sic= by writers on it, 98, 99. --Female, itsimportance, ib. --Has been ill understood and conducted, 100, 101. --Its importance, 216. --Of the higher classes of society is well enough, 217. --Not so of the lower, ib. --Apprenticeships, their advantages, 218. --To become a good member of society, the end of all education, whatever the rank or situation, 219. --Dr. Smith's opinion aboutapprenticeships examined, ib. And 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226. --Of females in England badly conducted, 227, 228. 

EGYPT, one of the first countries settled, 20. --Its fertility, &c. 21. --Its surplus industry appears to have belonged to the sovereign, 22. --Shared in the commerce to India at an early period, 51, 52. --Becamethe chief channel for the trade to India after the founding ofAlexandria, 54. 

ELIZABETH, queen, Spanish armada in her reign not equal to theprivateers of our merchants now, 8. --Endeavoured to enrich thecountry, 118. 

EMIGRANT ladies, astonishment shewn by them at the little progressmade in female education at public schools in this country, 228. 

ENERGY of those who attack greater than that of they =sic= whodefend, 17. --Occasioned by poverty, and necessity the cause ofchanges and revolution, 19. 

ENGLAND began to see the advantages of manufactures andcommerce very late, 48, 74. --Its form of government a greatadvantage, 191. --Manners likely to change, 193. --Increase of itstrade since 1791, owing to temporary causes, 195. --The Americanand Russian markets great and increasing, 204. --Envy and enmityexcited by its conquests in India, 206. --Effects of taxation on it, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233. --Its national debt, 234 to 246. --Causes of declinepeculiar to it, 257 to 260. --Circumstances peculiarly favourable to it, 261 to 270. --Ought not to be envied for its possessions in India 291. --Owes its wealth chiefly to internal industry, 293. 

ENVY leads to rivalship in peace and brings on war, 14. --One of theexternal causes of the fall of nations, 175. --Occasioned the fall ofJerusalem after the death of Solomon, 177. --Excited by the wealth ofEngland, and particularly by its possessions in the east, 206. 

ESPRIT DE CORPS. See Bodies public and corporate. 

EUPHRATES. See Syria. 

EUROPE, wealth and power unequally divided in it, 13. --Division ofstates, with the population and revenues, illustrated by a statisticalchart, 190. 

EXCISE, established long after the customs, 107. 

EXPENDITURE of England consists chiefly in interest of debt, 233. --Cannot by any economy be much reduced in time of peace. Ib. 

EXPORTS, chart shewing, 213. 

EXTERNAL causes of decline, cannot be prevented altogether byinternal arrangements, but their effect greatly diminished, 173. --Moresimple than the internal causes, 175. --Envy and enmity, ib. --Opinionof Mr. Burke, 176, 177, 178. --Causes arising from poor nationshaving the advantage over rich in all dealings, 179. --High value ofmoney in poorer nations, 182. --Conclusion of exterior causes, 184 to187. 

F. 

FALL. See Decline. 

FINANCES. See Revenue. 

FINE arts do not flourish in a very wealthy country, 113. --Verydifferent as to their improvement, from the mechanic arts. 

FLANDERS enriched by manufactures, 3, 46. --The discovery of abettar =sic= method of curing herrings by the Dutch is hurtful to it, 47. 

FLORENCE served as a refuge for the nobles of Rome, when the citywas taken by the Goths, 44. 

FOOD. See Animal Food and Corn. 

FORCE, human, the superiority it gave nearly done away by theinvention of gun-powder, 4. 

FORESTALLING. See MONOPOLY. 

FRANCE has, since the revolution, invented new modes of fighting, 31. --Does not resemble Rome, 38. --Its assignats the principal causeof the nature of the revolution, 48. --Its monied capital was sent awaywhen the revolution broke out, 163. --Its burthens before therevolution, 169. --It expended great sums in the last war, 189. --It, before the revolution, gained more by the west-India trade than anyother nation, 193. --Have now nearly lost it, ib. --Its capital greatlydiminished, ib. --Will probably never possess great West-India tradeagain, 195. --Will never cease to be an enemy to England, 196. 

FREED men. 

FREE revenue. See Revenue. 

FUND, public. See National Debt. 

FUND, sinking. See National Debt. 

G. 

GAMING, though attended with painful sensations, is oftenerfollowed from propensity, as a mode of occupying the mind andinteresting it, than from a love of gain, 83. [end of page #297]

GENTLEMEN resemble each other pretty nearly in all countries, 218. 

GEOGRAPHICAL discovery so far as connected with the rise and fallof nations nearly at an end, 12. 

GENOA, why put with Venice in the chart of commercial history, 56. --Its greatness, ib. --Loses its superiority, 57. --Its power in the Black-Sea, ib. 

GOLD. See Money. 

GOLDEN Age. See Age. 

GOVERNMENTS ought to aid in the education of the lower andmiddling classes, 94, 95. --Neglect education in the useful arts, 98. --Should counteract the internal causes of decline, 172, 173, 187. --Government of Great Britain should take care of education, 225. 

GRAIN. See Corn. 

GREEKS, their education peculiar to themselves, 25. --StudiedEgyptian learning, 98, 99. 

GUN-POWDER changed the art of war, 4. 

H. 

HANS Towns rose first to wealth in the north of Europe, 3. --Becameformidable towards the end twelfth century, 45. --Arose from thecircumstances of the times and necessity. --Became conquerors, 48. --Began to decline through pride and luxury, 49. 

HERRINGS, a new mode of curing them, discovered by the Dutch, raised that country, and began to make Flanders decline, 47. 

HISTORY, an appeal to the best mode of inquiry, 1. --Dr. Robertson'scomplaint about the scarcity of materials, ib. --Is confused previous tothe conquests of Alexander the Great, 20. --Commercial chart of, for3005 years, 78. 

HOLLAND compared to the Phoenicians, 46. --New method of curingherrings raised it above Flanders. Great industry and economy, 48. --Triumph over Spain at home, and Portugal in India, 62, 63, 64, 65. --Increase in wealth till the end of the seventeenth century, 66. --Thebest example of overcoming difficulties, ib. --How it began to fall, 67. --How it at last sunk before France, 68. 

HORSES, there =sic= great consumption of food, 147, 157. 

HOUSE rent. See Rent. 

HUME, David, Esq. His errors respecting national debt, though a manof great abilities, 114. 

I. 

JAMES I. Did not understand the true reason, why the Scotch weregreater lovers of liberty in his time than the English, 280. 

IDLENESS, incompatible with riches in a nation, in every case, butnot so with an individual, 82. 

IMPORTS of, England, chart of, 213. 

INDIA. Its productions seem to have been the first objects ofcommerce, 51. --Digression concerning this trade, 51 to 69. --Its tradeand possessions excite envy, 193, 194, 195. --Our possessions toogreat, 197. --Budget, its statement and calculation of sums remittedhome, 198. --Has lost the cotton trade notwithstanding the low rate oflabour, 200. --Its trade compared with that of the country at large, 206, 207. --A peculiar cause of other nations envying England, 257. --Ought not to be so, as they produce very little wealth compared withwhat springs from national industry, 291. --The division of labour, ready methods of working, and inventions produce more wealth thanboth the Indies, 293. 

INDIES, West, the trade of, lost to France, 193. --Trade of England to, of a permanent nature, 195. --A cause of envy, 196, 197, 198, 199. --Ought not to be a cause of envy. 

INDIVIDUALS, some may live without labour, but all those of acountry never can, 82. --Can pay for certain things, for which theycannot provide, 95. 

INDUSTRY caused by poverty and necessity, 19. --A morepermanent source of wealth than any other, 42. --Industry in youth, thegreat advantage of through life, 84. --Diminishes as wealth increases, 90. --Tends to leave a wealthy nation after a certain time, 161. --Industry of England, the great support of its wealth, and if othernations were as industrious, each in the way most advantageous, theywould be as rich as England, 292. 

INTERIOR causes of decline enumerated and examined as habits oflife and manners, 81 to 93. --Arising from education, 94 to 101. Theeffects on the people and the government, from 102 to 115. --Arisingfrom public bodies, from 116 to 124. --Arising from unequal divisionof property and employment of capital, from 125 to 136. --Arisingfrom the produce of the soil, becoming unequal to the consumption, from page 137 to 160. --From the tendency of industry and capital toleave a wealthy country, from 161 to 166. --Conclusion of interiorcauses, from 166 to 174. 

INTEREST, compound, its progress, more certain in paying off debtsthan in accumulating capital, 241. 

INVENTIONS, three great ones almost totally changed the state ofmankind, 4. --Inventions render more capital necessary to commerce, 126. --Is one of the things that renders our superiority in manufacturessecure, 202. --A nation that remains stationary will soon be surpassed, 203. 

JOHNSON, Dr. Would have been a greater man if he had lived in apoorer nation, 113. 

ITALY was unable to supply its inhabitants with food in the splendourof the Roman empire, 43. 

L. 

LABOUR, some individuals may, but a nation never [end of page#28] can exist without it, 82. --Division of, produces great wealth. 

LAND, price of, two centuries ago, and comparison of the profit ofpurchasing, or lending on interest in a nation increasing in wealth, 130. --Its unequal division discourages industry, 132, 133, 134. --Totalamount of rent in England, 153, 154, 155. 

LANGUAGES, dead. See Education. 

LAWS better administered in England in criminal than civil cases, 119. --Tend to become more complicated, 123. 

LAWYERS, their ESPRIT DE CORPS, 120, 121, 122. --Individualshave no means to resist their incroachments, 123. --Government oughtto do it, 124. 

LIVERPOOL fitted out privateers last war, equal in tonnage and mento the Spanish Armada, 8. 

LOANS. See National Debt. 

LOCAL situation, one of the causes of wealth, 2. --The discoveries ingeography and navigation have changed that with regard to particularnations, LONDON burnt by the Danes, 9. --Rent and taxes heavier than in anyother place, 237. --People prefer living in London, where all is dear, tothe cheaper parts of England, 238, 239. 

M. 

MISERS, never a race of them for three or four generations, 83. 

MOGUL, the prodigious and rapid decline of his empire, 197. 

MONEY corrupted every thing at Rome when its decline begun, 46. --Money to borrow, only to be found in Italy and Flanders, 48. --Let=sic= out at interest, loses; laid out to buy land, gains in a countrygrowing rich, 163. --Its value less in England than any country exceptAmerica, 165. --Though the best measure of value is not accurate, being different in different countries, 182. --Its great value in poorcountries serves to enrich them in dealing with wealthy nations, 183. 

MONARCHY. See Absolute Monarchy. 

MONOPOLY not an imaginary evil, 49. --Dr. Smith's opinioncontradicted by experience, 150. --Proof of its existence, 151, 152, 153, 154. --Augments rent, and labour, and prices, 153. 

MONTESQUEU, his mistake relative to Rome and Carthage, 32. --His opinion of the affairs of Rome, 40. 

MONTAGUE, chancellor of the exchequer, attended by the lordmayor and sheriffs, went from shop to shop in London to borrowmoney, 239. 

MORALS. See Education. 

MOTHERS. See Education. 

MACHINERY. See Manufactures. 

MAHOMEDAN RELIGION, its rapid establishment, 54. --Its effectson the commerce with India, ib. 

MANNERS greatly corrupted at Rome, 43. --A change in themconstantly going on, and tending to bring decline, MANUFACTURES settled early on the shores of the Baltic, 3. --Those who possess them first, lose them by imitation of others, 14. --India surpassed in them by England, 63. --In ancient times, only, extended to luxuries for the great and simple necessaries for the poor, 73. --Manufacturers less splendid than merchants, 143. --The workingmen consume more animal food than the same rank of people in anyother nation, 144. --England considered as excelling all other nationsfor manufacturers =sic=, 200. --The effects of the inventions of thesteam engine and spinning machines, 203. --Scarcely any thing sold tothe American states, except our own manufactures, 204. --Southernnations cannot rival northerly ones, 210. --Manufactures, andagriculture, more conducive to wealth than commerce, are not thesame thing, 209. 

MEDITERRANEAN, its shores the first abodes of commerce, 3 and4, 20. --Lost its importance by the discovery of America, the magnet, and the passage to India by the Cape, MERCHANTS less splendid than conquerors and planters, 143. --Canhave no rule of conduct in transactions but their own advantage, 181. 

N. 

NATIONS, none that ever submitted to pay tribute, ever flourishedlong, 40. --Enriched by commerce, not so certain to decline as byconquests, 41. --There =sic= situation with respect to wealth andpower previous to the discovery of America, 49. --Feeble nations havesome advantage in knowing their weakness, 171. --Exterior causes oftheir decline of less importance than interior ones, 184. --Shouldconsider which is the best object on which to employ their industry, 210, 211. --Their comparative extent, revenues, and population, illustrated by an engraved chart, 213, 214. --Nations of Europe, application of the present inquiry to them, 284. 

NECESSITY consisting of a desire to supply wants, the cause ofindustry and wealth, 14. --Necessity ceases its operation on the nationthat is risen highest, 15, 16. --Operated very powerfully on the Dutch, 47. --Habit prolongs the action of it, 81. --With young men that can, alone, produce industry, 84. --Less and less on each generation aswealth increases, 85. The consequences of this, 87. --Its operationprolonged to a certain degree by taxation, 239. --

NORTHERN countries most favourable to industry, 44. 

NILE. See Egypt. 

P. 

PALMYRA founded by Solomon, King of Israol =sic=, for thepurpose of trading with India, PARIS burnt by the Danes soon after the death of Charlemagne. Prices of bread at, compared with those of London, 150. 

PARISH-OFFICERS defend themselves against the public at theexpense of the public, 122. --Bad administrators, 123, 124. --Rough, vulgar, and a disgrace to the country, 249. 

PATENTS, laws of, its utility, 200, 201. 

PETER the Great endeavoured to improve his country, and make hispeople happy, 118. 

PITT, Right Hon. W. His estimate of national property, 243, 244. 

POLAND, causes of its decline, and subjugation, different from thatof most other nations, 75. 

POOR, their wretched state at Rome, 43. --Of England cost six timesas much, in proportion, as in Scotland, and fifty times as much inreality, 88. --Increase, as capital becomes necessary for industry, 156. --Causes of their increase, &c. &c. 157, 158, 159, 160. --Of England, cost more to maintain, than the revenues of many kingdoms, 247. --Causes, inquired into, and remedy, 248 to 256. 

POPULATION, 142. --Connected with wealth, and the manner ofliving, so that a nation may not require to import ordinary food ingreat quantities 159. --May be considered as diminished in a doubleratio as the poor increase, 249. 

PORTUGAL, 65. 

POWER in nations, sometimes united with wealth, sometimes not, 7. --Definition of, 8, 9. --Sought after by the Romans, and most nations, too eagerly, 39. --Quitted Rome when wealth was too great, 36. 

PRICES of animal and vegetable food; highness of price diminishesconsumption, 161. --Those of the late dearth at Paris compared withLondon, ib. --When known to the corn-dealers, they can combinewithout any express stipulation, 152, 153. --Rises to that of monopolyas soon as an article of necessity becomes scarce, 154, 155. --Of rentand wages have advanced more within these last twelve years, than inhalf a century before, 155. 

PRINCIPLES. See Education. 

PRIORITY of possession of settlement, or of invention, one of thecauses of wealth and power, PRODUCE, indulging in eating animal food renders it unequal tomaintaining the population of a country, 138, 139. --Of Italy, inadequate to its population in the time of Augustus, 3. --Easierpurchased than raised when a nation is rich, PROPERTY at Rome very unequally divided before its fall, 43. --Hasa natural tendency to accumulate in particular hands as a nation getsrich, 125, 126, 127. --Its accumulation and unequal division, one ofthe causes of decline, 128. --In land, the accumulation is the mostdangerous, 129 to 136. 

PROSPERITY. See Wealth and Power. 

R. 

REFORMATION favourable to manufactures and industry, RELIGION, Christian, more favourable than any other to industry andgood moral conduct, 264. --Protestant still more favourable than theRoman Catholic, 265, 266, 267. 

RENT. See Prices. 

REVENUE of Rome wasted on soldiers and public shews, 43. --Wantof, tended to ruin Poland, 75. --Digression concerning, 187, 188, 189, 190. --When it becomes the chief object of, to government, encourages vice, 226. 

REVOLUTIONS in ancient nations traced, 17, 18, 53, 54, 55. --OfPoland, the account of, 75, 76, 77. 

ROBINSON, Dr. His complaint about ancient history, 1. 

ROME, her rise not accidental, but from the most unremittingperseverance, 27. --An account of her conduct in war, and internalpolicy, 28 to 33. --Lost her purity of manners, neglected agricultureand the arts, when she became rich by her conquests in Asia, and thefall of Carthage, 34, 35. --Became more degraded than ever Carthagewas, 36, 37. --Her courts of justice became venal, property divided ina very unequal way, taxes became oppressive, her armies enervated, and she fell, 38, 39, 40. 

S. 

SARACENS got possession of Egypt, &c. 44. 

SCHOOLS. See Education. 

SINKING Fund, its progress shewn in a stained chart, 215. --Will notimmediately diminish the taxes, 241. --When the capital wasreimbursed to individuals, part of it would leave the country, 242. --Ifit completely paid off the debt in time of peace, would be productiveof much mischief, ib. --Plan proposed to be substituted for it, 243. --Ifever so effectual, its operation in time of war will never obtain creditamongst ourselves, and much less with the enemy, 244, 245, 246. 

SMITH, Dr. Adam, did not make proper allowance about nationaldebt, 114. --His opinions concerning monopoly, examined, 149, 150. --His opinion about apprentices, 219. 

SOLOMON, king of Israel, on terms of friendship with the king ofTyre, 21. --Founded Palmyra for the purpose of trade to India, 25. --After his death, rivalship in trade, and the envy of the Tyrians, causedthem to excite the king of Babylon to besiege Jerusalem, 53. 

SPAIN, its grand armada not equal to the privateers fitted out atLiverpool during the last war, 8. --Persecutes the Flemings, 47. --Theeffects of wealth on it, 63. --Its insolence and pride, 64. --And suddendecline, ib. --Wealth made it neglect industry, 65. --Gains great sumsby South America, yet is not an object of envy, 292. 

T. 

TAXES at Rome, in its decline, became terrible, 40, --41, 42. --Taxesin France taken off while the assignats were creating, 42. --So great atRome, that the citizens envied the barbarians, 43. --The power oflaying on depends on circumstances, 92. --Always increasing, 102. --Of the American States an exception, 103. --Why collected rigorously, 104. --Those which fall on persons or personal property, the mostobnoxious, 105. --Of England, laid on better than in any other nation, 106. --Prolong the action of necessity, and augment industry to acertain point, which, when they pass, they crush it, 107, 108. --Theirproduce expended on unproductive people, 109, 110, 111. --Are like arent paid for living in a country, 112 to 115. --In England, theireffects, 229 to 233. --Taxes and rent augment industry, 236, 237. --InLondon, heavier than elsewhere, yet people crowd to London, 238, 239. --If taken off suddenly, would be hurtful, 240 to 244. --For themaintenance of poor, 247 to 256. 

TRADE--See Commerce. 

TREATIES, the best observed, have been those founded on equityadd =sic= mutual interest, 186. 

TYRE, early commerce, 21, 23. --Its destruction one of the mostpermanent effects of Alexander's wars, 24. --Excited the king ofBabylon to take Jerusalem, 45. 

V. 

VENICE, its greatness, 56, 57. 

UNITED STATES. See States of America. 

W. 

WAGES. See Prices. 

WAR generally occasioned by envy or rivalship, 14, 175, 219. --Ought not to be followed to procure wealth, as it is much more easilydone by industry, 293. 

WATT, James Esq. His invention of the steam engine, 203. 

WEALTH, its definition in contra-distinction to power, 8, 9, 10. --Diminishes the necessity of industry, 29, 30. --Leaves richer to go intopoorer countries, 93. --In England arises from industry, not fromforeign possessions, 293, 294. 

WEST Indies. See Indies, West. 

Y. 

YOUTH. See Education. 

---> _The reader will observe, on one =sic= of the pages, reference toan Appendix, but the design was altered, from the consideration thatreaders of history do not require solitary facts, by way of illustration, though such are very easy to be produced. _

THE END. 

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W. Marchant, Printer, Greville-street. 

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**************************************************************[Transcriber's note:In the original work:--the footnotes are designated by [*] but are here seriallynumbered for ease of reference;--in some cases the same word is spelt differently in variousparts of the text, e. G. Controul/control; Hans/Hanse Towns, shew/show (one instance only of the latter) etc. These andother vagaries are reproduced largely without special note. Likewise treated are the numerous examples of the numberof the subject not agreeing with that of the verb. ]**************************************************************