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Full text of "Lectures on the nature and use of money"

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THE HONOUR OF 



Accqitanci' and Examination of this Volume, on the 
Nature and Use of Money, is most respectfully solicited by 

THE AUTHOR. 

Kbi.xbrui.il, 11, 1> VKKI.KI ru-Kow, ALUUST 1, 1848. 



MONEY. 



KlUMtURGII: T COXSTA1U.K. 1MCIXTKK To HER MAJHSTY. 



LECTURES 



NATURE AND USE OF MONEY. 



I'KUVKKKD BEFORE TIIK MKMISKKS OF THE "EDINBURGH 

l'HIL(>Sil>HICAL INSTITUTION" DURING THE MONTHS 

<tF FEBRUARY AND MARCH, 1848. 



BY JOHN GRAY. 

' <n <>r riiK *..( IM. <\.H:M, A TRKATisr r>\ TIIK PRIN-C-III \>or" 



MOTTO. rilXllrLR. OBJECT, XO UOLt TIOX : 
" riit.| (TloX RATI'kALLT Til* ( Al >It t PKMAilP *HALL Bit (U) flACTICAltt." 



BDINBURGB 

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 

BOOK8KLLERA TO THE QCEBM. 

LONDON: LnXOMAN, BROWN, QRKEN, AND LONGMAVB 



w 



TO TIII: i' mi. ic PRESS. 

THK simultaneous nppearam-e of this work in even' part 
of Groat Britain and In-hind, and in the French metropolis, 
t-H'e.-ted I'V the unusual, if not altogether unprecedented, 
means of gratuitous distribution, to the extent of twelve 
hundred copies, may very possibly be so far calculated to 
enlist tin- favour of the public press as to create a dispo- 
sition to tn-at the work itself with more than common 
leniency. Or, as a Premium of one hundred guineas is 
offered to whomsoever may be able to refute its contents, 
the Editors of Reviews, Newspapers, and other Periodicals, 
who have no intention of competing for the prize thetn- 
s may possibly consider it unfair, by means of severe 
criticism, to put arguments against the work into the hands 
of other people, by whom they may be employed, to the 
disadvantage of its author. 

Now, the answer to both these suppositions is the 
same: Truth, not Party nor the advocacy of any par- 
ticular set of opinions, whether they be right or wrong 
is the object of the present writer; and believing 
(as who does not ?) his own opinions to be correct and if 
correct, their importance will certainly not be disputed 
he has adopted the most effectual means in his power 
<>f testing their accuracy, by placing them at once in 
the hands of the entire public press of the three king- 
doms. His object, therefore, it is obvious, would be alto- 
gether frustrated by the extension of undue leniency to 
his writings. The subject of his pen is one which he 
has long and deeply studied, and if he be right, the 
Government of this country ought immediately to make 
themselves acquainted with his principles, and to act upon 
them; whiUt if he be wrong, it will be nothing short of 
a mere act of charity to himself, on the part of any public 
writer ! exliil.it the f:ll ;1 .-v of hi- 



viii ADVERTISEMENT. 

Let not, therefore, any disposition to annihilate his 
arguments be for one instant affected either by the fore- 
going considerations, or by any other. 

But there is a different view of this subject : If, as is 
herein most positively affirmed, the people of this country 
are at present actually taxed to the amount of One Hun- 
dred Millions a-year for the support of nobody, and for no 
earthly purpose whatsoever, unless it be to afford them the 
mere pleasure of paying Can that Reviewer, Journalist, 
or other public writer be truly said to perform his duty 
to his readers, who shall fail to bring this subject before 
them, and that not once or twice merely, but again and 
again, until its importance shall be universally recognised 
and acted on ? Surely not ! 

And again, if the Reviewer should see that the author 
is right should see that a long undiscovered truth has at 
length been dragged from its hiding-place, deposited in the 
noon-day sun, and exhibited to the eyes of all who may be 
willing to look upon it, Let him, in that case remember, 
that in the hands of every Member of the House of Com- 
mons, this Work will have been already placed, ere he 
himself can have perused it. Under which circumstances, 
the author would suggest, that, the Editor of every paper, 
who may either subscribe to his opinions, or merely go the 
length of admitting the importance of inquiring into their 
validity, should endeavour to impress the same on the 
Representative or Representatives of his own locality; a^ 
well as on the minds of his readers generally. 

Ireland unfortunately, is the one absorbing theme just 
now. Remedial measures, however, or what will be con- 
sidered such, will ere long be applied to the ills of Ire- 
land ; but unless a right Banking System be amongst their 
number, Prosperity to that unhappy country will most 
assuredly form no part of their result. 



It is very earnestly requested, that a copy of every Public 
Notice of this Work may be transmitted to the Author. 
EDINBURGH, 11, INVERLBITH-ROW, AC-OUST 1,1848. 









PREFACE. 



i why any Preface at all? Custom! ^ 
truly, that is the reply: a book without a Pn-faee 
would not be according to rule, and, therefore, no 
proper book. Oh Custom ! tyrant thou art, and thy 
slaves! how many"? Tell me the number of full- 
grown men and women on this little earth, and I 
will tell thee the number of thy slaves. All, all ! 
exception there is not a solitary one. 

Hut the title-sheet of sixteen pages must be occu- 
pied in some way ! Well, then, in the first place, 
there is the blank leaf at the beginning, counting 
pages two ; then the half-title, consisting of the 
one word " Money," with the imprint at the bark of 
it./"//-; in -\t t lie full title-page, with nothing behind 
it a very common occurrence in this book-making 
world, six; to be followed by a two page advert i-r- 
ment, apology, or petition of some kind. '/<//// ; then 
the " Contents," immediately preceding Lectmv the 
tii-t. will take two pages more. ////; so that the Pre- 
face must positively extend to no less than six pages ! 
Hut how will it In- possible to fill them ! Write thou 
the Preface for the author, oh Custom ! for he hath 
already said all that he desiivth to say within the 
I itself, and rareth not just now to ,-idd another 

nee. 



X PREFACE. 

But the title-sheet must be filled ; the law of book- 
making must be obeyed. Well, then, what have we 
here t Thomas Carlyle, " Past and Present." What, 
no Preface ! A precedent, verily a precedent ! But 
we must not copy Thomas Carlyle, who writes like 
no man else. Peculiar in thought and style, in the 
construction of sentences, and in the manufacture 
and use of words and even points ! An original 
truly, but not for imitation. 

Besides, he understandeth not his own thoughts, 
and herein we differ I do. He says : " Oh if the 
accursed invisible nightmare that is crushing out the 
life of us and ours would take a shape ; approach us 
like the Hyrcanian tiger, the Behemoth of Chaos, 
the Archfiend himself, in any shape that we could 
see and fasten on ! A man can have himself shot 
with cheerfulness ; but it needs first that he see 
clearly for what."'"" Thoughts akin to these al- 
though in very different phraseology were wont to 
invade my mind ere I was fifteen years of age ; a 
few more months, if I shall see them, will call me 
fifty, and as compared with many a luxurious slug- 
gard of equal years, I have lived a hundred, and 
now affirm that mystery or " invisible nightmare," 
there is none. The fact that " England 
full of wealth, of multifarious produce, supply for 
human want in every kind ; yet dying of 

inanition : with unabated bounty the land of Eng- 
land, * * waving with yellow harvests ; thick- 
studded with workshops, industrial implements, with 



* Past and Present, second edition, p. 20. 



I'KI. I \> I.. M 

ii millions of \\..rker>. un.li-r-t I to be the 

strongest, tin- cunnin<xest, ami the willin^est our 
Karth r\vr had." with hunger, nakedness, and misery 
I'm- their reward is just as great a mystery, ami a 

TV no greater than the fact that one and one 
make t nig that we have provided for this 

state of things ; framed laws, enacted, and most 
religiously obeyed them if not with the express 

inn of insuring these results, still in such mode 
as to defy all chance of failing to insure them, have 
\\e framed our la\\-. 

Again, " Behold us here, so many thousands, mil- 
lions, and increasing at the rate of fifty every hour. 
We are right willing and able to work ; and on the 
planet Karth, is plenty of work and wages for a mil- 
lion times as many. We ask, If you mean to lead us 
t >wanls work, to try to lead us by ways new, never yet 
heard of till this new unheard of time ? Or if you 
Krlare that you cannot lead us, and expect that \\r 
are to remain quietly unled, and in a composed man- 
ner perish of starvation ? What is it you expect of 
ns1 What is it you mean to do with us^f This 

tion, I say, has been put in the hearing of all 
I Britain, and will be again put, and ever again, till 
some answer be given it. 



* Past and Present, second edition, \>. 1. 

t The sentiments I have expressed in one of my Lectures, (see 
: o I., pages 26 and 27,) so nearly resemble these, that I might 
very fairly be suspected of plagiarism. I think it right, therefore, to 
state, that I never road one line of " Past and Present," until after 
these Lectures were written, and in part delivered, when my attention 
was called to Mr. Carlyle's work, now quoted, by one of the audience. 



Xll PREFACE. 

" Unhappy workers, unhappy idlers, unhappy men 
and women of this actual England! We are yet 
very far from an answer, and there will be no 
existence for us without finding one."' 

A mistake ! This is the answer, this the explana- 
tion, than which not all the men and women on this 
" Planet Earth," can find another true, or prove this 
answer false : 

The dependence of Production on Demand an 
artificially created evil, and one, therefore, which is 
remediable, removeable in short altogether, whenever 
to remove it this nation shall think proper. 

Again, says Mr. Carlyle " Over-production : runs 
it not so ? Ye miscellaneous, ignoble, manufacturing 
individuals, ye have produced too much ! We ac- 
cuse you of making above two hundred thousand 
shirts for the bare-backs of mankind. Your trousers 
too, which you have made, of fustian, of cassimere, 
of Scotch plaid, of jane, nankeen, and woollen broad 
cloth, are they not manifold ? Of hats for the 
human head, of shoes for the human foot, of stools to 
sit on, spoons to eat with nay, what say we, hats 
or shoes ? You produce gold watches, jewelleries, 
silver-forks and epergnes, commodes, chiffoniers, 
stuffed sofas Heavens, the Commercial Bazaar ainl 
multitudinous Ho wel-and- Jameses cannot contain 
you. You have produced, produced ; he that seeks 
your indictment, let him look around. Millions of 
shirts, and empty pairs of breeches hang there in 
judgment against you. We accuse you of over- 
producing : you are criminally guilty of producing 



* Pant and Present, second edition, p. 23. 



I'll! Mil 



>lurt>, IM hat>. -li, M ->. aid cnmiuoditir.s. in a 

frightful over-abcmd&noe. Ami now then- is a glut, 

and your iij>.-r:iti\-> cannot I..- fed!" 1 

Admitted all this, hut still Whore is the mystery, 
where the " invisiltle nightmare ?" There is no 
my>tery, no invi-iblr nightmare! There is nothing, 
in >lmrt. l>m mere consequence, as natural as any 
other ascertained ami universally admitted conse- 
quence in this world. Over-production is it of which 
\<u speak '. Hut why call you it not by the other 
name which, equally with that you give it, is its own 
Over-ih'nniiuL Wherein consists the difference, Mr. 
Carlyle. hetween supply and demand'? There is no 
difference ! All supply is at once and equally de- 
mand, whilst all demand is at once and equally sup- 
ply. The terms are exchangeable, and difference be- 

11 their meaning there is none at all : qualify, 
however, this assertion with the one word naturullu, 
and then no truth was ever questionable less than 
this truth which I have told you. 

" But is it l\\\\s pi-act i<-< ill* i .'" possibly retorts Mr. 
Carlyle. Of course it is not ! How should it be so, 
wl u-ii the law of the land we live in hath enacted and 
declared, that it shall not be so ! hath enacted 
that supply and demand shall be two totally dissi- 
milar things, instead of remaining one and the same 
for ever ! " But, explain yourself more fully," con- 
tiniu s Mr. Carlyle. To which my answer is 
/ hnn: done so. In the pages following, this subject 

;idTi'd plain a> A It c, so plain indeed, that he 



* Paat and Present, second c-liti-'ii. p. 230. 



XI \ PREFACE. 

who runs may not only read, but understand ; for 
difficulty connected with this matter there is none 
whatever, nor even the shadow or resemblance of 
any mystery at all. 

Well, thanks to " Past and Present," my Preface 
is written the sixteen pages are satisfied, and my 
book is finished. I trust that Mr. Carlyle will read 
it, and that, as a sequel to his " Past and Present," 
he will one day favour us, in somewhat brighter 
colours, with " The Future" 



CONTENTS. 



LECTURE I. 

PAM 

IirrRODfCToHY Difficulties of the subject detailed Popular Lectures 
in general teach that which is admitted, whilst in the present in- 
stance the task of the Lecturer is that of contending for opinion- 
which, for the moat part, are new to the public General character 
of these opinions, 1 

LECTURE II. 

lit a perfectly free commercial society, uninfluenced by the existence of 
any monetary system whatsoever, Production would be the uniform 
and never-failing cause of Demand. In the aggregate, it would bo 
as easy to sell goods as it is to buy them, and that <</ infinitHw ; 
and the words Supply and Demand would be just two names for 
the self-same thing, 30 

LECTURE III. 

PRODUCTION, naturally the cause of Demand, is now the effect of it 
ili'- operations of our existing monetary system having reversed 
i heir position. The co-equality, therefore, of Production and De- 
mand, which has thus been insanely suspended, must be restored, 
ere it can be pvuibi* for mankind to prosper, . . . .67 

LECTURE IV. 

DESCRIPTIVE of a Hanking System, by the Establishment of which Pro- 
duction, now the Cow*. . /*<*.. of Demand, may be converted at any 
linir into tin- OINK ')/j/ 



XVI CONTENTS. 



LECTURE V. 

PAH 

THE SUBJECT of the preceding Lecture continued that is to say, Con- 
tinued description of a Banking System, by the establishment of 
which Production, now the Consequence of Demand, would be con- 
verted into the C<iuse of it, 134 

LECTURE VI. 

THE SUBJECT of the fourth and fifth Lectures continued and concluded 
Fallacy of the Existing Principle of Coinage shown, and the True 
Principles of Coinage explained and demonstrated, . . . 164 

LECTURE VII. 

PROFESSIONAL MEN, the nature of their avocations considered with refer- 
ence to Money Pecuniary provision for the conducting of such 
Retail and other Business as may be wholly unconnected with the 
proposed Standard Manufacturing and Commercial System Fal- 
lacies of Messrs. J. R. M'Culloch and Richard Cobden, . . .199 

LECTURE VIII. 
RECAPITULATION and brief Review of the entire subject, . . .245 



APPENDIX. 

THE Social System Early offer of a Copy of these Lectures to the 
Provisional Government of France Unaccepted Challenge to Th>- 
to discuss the Monetary Question for the sum of Five Hun- 
dred Guineas Terms and conditions of a Prize Argument on the 
subject of Money, for the sum of One Hundred Guineas A List of 
the Parties to each of whom a Copy of this Work will be Presented 
by the Author, immediately on its Publication, . . .* 281 



LECTURES 



NATURE AND USE OF MONEY. 



LECTURE I. 

I.NTRODCCTORT. Difficulties of the subject detailed. Popular 
Lectures in general teach that which is admitted, whilst in 
the present instance the task of the Lecturer is that of con- 
tending for opinions which, for the most part, are new to the 
public. General character of these opinions. 

IT is under the influence of feelings of much 
anxiety that I venture to come before you upon this 
occasion ; and very earnestly do I solicit your kind 
indulgence under the rather peculiar circumstances 
in which I am at present placed. 

In the first place, then, as most of you indeed are 
ahva-ly aware, tin- task before me that of address- 
ing a numerous assembly is one to which I am 
wholly unaccustomed. I am not in the habit of 
speaking in public, nor do I indeed very frequently 
atini.l public meetings of any kind; and hem in 
tin 1 attempt I am now about to make, I feel the 

A 



2 LECTURES ON THE 

utmost diffidence ; although confessedly none what- 
ever so far as regards the opinions which I propose 
to lay before you, should I only be able to express 
them clearly and audibly. 

Again, the subject to which I am about to call your 
attention money, its nature and proper qualities, 
what money is, what it should be, what it must be, 
before this or any nation upon the earth can prosper 
is one which seems, by very general consent, to be 
regarded as all but incomprehensible. And hence, 
perhaps, it is the last that could be selected with very 
much chance either of amusing or interesting a 
popular audience.* 

And again, in pursuance of the inquiry before us, 
where is our text-book \ In the arts and sciences, 
generally, on which lecturers are in the habit of 
addressing assemblies of this description, we have a 
large collection of standard works, containing at least 
their elementary principles, ascertained, demonstrat- 
ed, proved : to dispute any one of which elements 
would be merely to exhibit our own ignorance. Hence 
every lecturer on a popular subject finds himself, to 
some extent at least, in a situation similar to that of 
an ordinary teacher of arithmetic. He imparts know- 
ledge, previously ascertained and demonstrated, to 
those who desire to acquire it ; and who, therefore, 
come to him to learn that which he is understood and 
supposed to be capable of teaching. And it is only 
u|M.u occasions wherein he may extend his inquiries 
beyond the rudiments beyond the first principles of 

* A considerable number of Ladies as well as Gentlemen usually 
attend the Lectures of the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution. 



UK AM) USE OF MONEY. 3 

his art. tli.u he treads upon questionable ground, or 

incur- the i i-k >( -t;itin^ that to be true, which others, 
\\li<> an- fairly supposed to be equally competent with 
him.selt, will be at all likely to question or deny. 
it tit-- main tacts, about the first principles, 
there will be no difference of doctrine amongst the 

|>nfeSSOr8 Hone \\hate\er. 

1 leai, however, that, upon the subject of Political 
loiiiy. there exists even at this day no text-book 
to \\hich any student of the science can be referred 
for even the undisputed cl< 'nH'iita ; to say nothing of 
tli'.M- minute differences on minor points which must 
be for ever common amongst fallible human reasoners, 
on subjects of an abstruse and difficult character. 
True it is, that the Encyclopaedia Britannica, for ex- 
ample, is a great work ; and the last edition thereof 
is one of recent date. But even in this compendium 
of both ancient and modern wisdom we shall seek in 
vain for any definition of theirs/ principles of Poli- 
tical Economy in an undisputed form. 

The article "Political Economy," in the Encyclo- 
pa-<lia liritannica, was written by Mr. J. R. M'Culloch, 
Professor of Political Economy in the University of 
London. The \ cry first principles of Political Econ- 
omy, however, as expounded by Mr. M'Culloch, are 
disputed by other writers of equal status and celebrity 
with hiniM-lf by the late Rev. Mr. Malthus, for ex- 
am pie, Professor of Political Economy in the East 
India College, Hertfordshire, author of the well-known 
theory of Population that very theory being itself 
"in of the numerous popular fallacies of the Last 
twenty veaix. Mr. M'Culloch, it is true, goes along 
with the late Mr. Malthus upon his pet subject of 



4 LECTURES ON THE 

population ; but upon some other points of first-class 
importance their opinions are wide as the poles 
asunder. 

Another writer who agrees with Professor Malthus 
in contradicting Mr. M'Culloch upon one of the first 
principles of Political Economy is Mr. Samuel Laing, 
jun. And although this gentleman is much less 
known as a writer on Political Economy than either 
of the authors before mentioned, we are yet fairly en- 
titled to call him "celebrated" when we consider that, 
against one hundred and fifty-seven competitors, to 
him was some time since awarded the Atlas Prize of 
100, for the best Essay " On the Causes of, and 
Remedies for, the [then] Existing Distress of the 
Country ;" the Adjudicators being personages of no 
less importance than Sir David Brewster, Vice-Presi- 
dent of the Royal Society of Edinburgh ; Mr. Herman 
Merivale, Professor of Political Economy in the Uni- 
versity of Oxford ; Mr. George Pryme, Professor of 
Political Economy in the University of Cambridge ; 
Mr. Thomas Tooke, Vice-President of the Statistical 
Society of London ; and Mr. John Wilson, the learn- 
ed President of this Institution, and Professor of 
Political Economy in the University of Edinburgh. 

For example, " Effectual Demand depends upon 
Production," says Mr. M'Culloch. No ! said Mr. 
Malthus, and no, also, says Mr. Laing. So that here 
we have the Sir Astley Coopers, Listons, and Symes 
of the science of Political Economy, at issue on the 
simple and elementary question whether Production 
depends upon Demand, or Demand upon Production ! 
A question, which I shall in due time show you, is 
one of such vast and overwhelming import, that the 



NATURE AND USE OP MOM V 5 

would be as rationally employed who should 
sit down to writr ;m rlniicntary tiv.it i>.- upon Astro- 
nomy, without knowing whetln-r the sun goes round 
nth or the earth around the sun, as he who, in 
the present day after what has already been done 
to hi-, hand hy Dr. Adam Smith should betake him- 
self to the task of writing a system of Political Econ- 
oiiiv, \vithout a thorough knowledge of the subject 
i/>ly and demand ; in which predicament do I 
nevertheless affirm, stand the whole fraternity of 
Political Economists, Mr. Samuel Laing, junior, him- 
M-lf included, in common with Lord John Russell, 
Sir Robert Peel, the Editors of the Edinburgh and 
Westminster* Reviews, of the Leading Journal of 
Europe, and of nearly the whole newspaper and 
periodical press of the country, so far at least as I 
have ever been able to discover or obsen . 

But, it may be asked setting aside for a moment 
all other authorities upon this subject, omitting al- 
together the disputations of the Political Economists 
of the present day, and those of the thousand and 
one occasional writers upon the same subject has 
not Dr. Adam Smith himself left us, in a clear and 
distinct form, and in the most beautiful and pleasant 
language, the elements of Political Economy, in his 
immortal " Wealth of Nations I " 

The answer is obvious Not all of them ! For if 
Dr. Adam Smith had bequeathed to us a clear and 
unimpeachable demonstration of all the elements of 
I'olitical Economy, it is certain that in his numer- 



* I believe that this work is now out of the hands of the parties 
to whom I more particularly refer. 



6 LECTURES ON THE 

ous commentators and expositors we should not, to 
this day, have had an almost equally numerous fra- 
ternity of objectors and disputants. If, for example, 
Dr. Adam Smith had demonstrated seventy-two years 
ago, the precise nature of supply and demand, as 
clearly as he demonstrated that labour is the one 
and only original source of wealth, we should not so 
lately as comparatively but yesterday, have had Pro- 
fessors Malthus and M'Culloch at war upon the same 
subject ; and neither, in my humble opinion, would 
it ever have been necessary for the proprietor of the 
Atlas newspaper, to have sought, by means of public 
advertisement and reward, for any exposition of the 
causes of and remedies for the distresses of this 
country. 

The real state of the case appears, therefore, to be, 
that whilst in the Wealth of Nations, we have most of 
the rudiments of social science, but not the whole of 
them, the learned writer's successors and commenta- 
tors, in the course of their endeavours to follow out his 
principles and discoveries, have sorely puzzled man- 
kind in general and themselves in particular sorely 
bungled the matter in hand and that there yet re- 
mains to be demonstrated one principle in social 
science, one element of Political Economy, of such 
enormous magnitude and importance, that, whenever 
we shall come rightly to understand it, a mist will be 
dispelled from the social atmosphere, by which the 
entire subject of our collective interests has hitherto 
been so greatly obscured, that " An Enigma, which 
no one understands," seems to this day to be the 
character awarded by the public at large to the 
science of Political Economy. 



i USE OP MONEY. 7 

T.. supply tin- delieieney. tli. -11. to \\liicli 1 have 
referred to demonstrate tin- \ , .f a principle 

in .social seieinv hitherto miol.-.-rved by some writers. 
misunderstood by other-, and rightly appreciated by 

Hour -ifl (lie object of the present Series of LeCt 

An. I. >hi>uld I In- MI fortunate a> to reii-ler this sub- 
ject as clear to tin- minds of a fair proportion of my 
hearers as it ha> l. t-n for some years past to my own, 
I >hall thenoeforward encourage the hope that, in 
In * \\rviT .xliii'lit a degree, I may have been instru- 
mental in laying the foundation of the greatest and 
most beneficial commercial revolution that shall 
li.iv, taki-n place either in this country or in any 
other. And it is the 1 inward consciousness of having 
acquired, by upwards of five-and-twenty years' study 
of this subject, some knowledge of it, which now en- 
courages me to sink all private and personal consi- 
derations; and, however ill qualified, in some respects, 
for the performance of the task, to attempt to com- 
mumVate to you the result of my investigations. 

And hence my list of preliminary difficulties is not 
(\rii yet ended. For, as you will now perceive, the 
task 1 have undertaken is not that of expounding or 
detailing ascertained truths, admitted to be such by 
all parties ; hut rather, in certain particulars at least, 
that of demonstrating the fallacy of some of the fa- 
vourite doctrines of your most celebrated writers. 
Therefore are you, in an especial manner, entitled to 
receive whatever peculiar opinions I may endeavour 
to convey to you with suspicion and distrust ; to take 
nothing for granted that I may advance in opposi- 
tion to the doctrines of others ; but rather, it is for 
you to pre-suppose that I am wrong, and thei et >iv, 



S LECTURES ON THE 

in an especial manner, bound to prove that I am right. 
And I cheerfully accept the terms. 

The last, but not the least ground, on which I 
shall solicit your indulgence is this : I am no prac- 
tised orator. I cannot trust myself to speak extem- 
poraneously on this subject. And this I feel to be 
so great a drawback, that it is literally with fear and 
trembling that I attempt the performance of the task 
that is before me. But the subject of these Lectures 
is one of vast and overwhelming importance ; and I 
have looked east, west, north, and south, in the hope 
of discovering some competent advocate of the cause 
I have espoused. The result has not been satisfac- 
tory. I know not any party or even any one person 
with whom I hold opinions in common upon the sub- 
ject of money ; and as those which I am about to 
communicate to you are the result, as I have already 
stated, of many years' consideration ; as they may be 
valuable ; and as they cannot, so far as I know, be 
elsewhere found I am willing to risk your disap- 
probation, or even ridicule, rather than to forego the 
opportunity with which I am now favoured, for en- 
deavouring, to the best of my ability, to perform a 
duty which every man owes to the society in which 
he lives namely, that of communicating to others 
such knowledge as he may either in reality possess, or 
believe that he possesses. 

But, to approach more nearly to our subject 
money pounds, shillings, and pence. Well ! it would 
be superfluous to tell you that monetary philoso- 
phers are now becoming very rife. It would be 
superfluous to inform you that there is at present a 
great deal of discussion going on between the golden 



NATURE AND USE OP MONEY. 

philosophers and those of paper, between the al- 
chy mists, who would turn everything into gold, who 
tell you that a loaf is not bread, a coat no article of 
dress, a house no place to lodge in, nor a < limn- - 
table a piece of household furniture, until each and 
all of these respectively shall have been weighed or 
measured in gold and between the men of paper, 
who tell you that gold is merely a commodity, which, 
like bread, and cheese, and butter, must find its own 
value in the market ; but who, unfortunately, when- 
t \. i you press them for a clear and explicit defini- 
tion of the word value, do not, I regret to say, ap- 
pear to be particularly well able to give one. 

You are aware, too, that a sort of contest is gene- 
ral ly going on between the advocates respectively of 
the Scottish and English systems of banking ; and 
that during the ferment of the late election of the 
now-existing Commons House of Parliament, not a 
fe\\ of our would-be members expressed their readi- 
ness to entertain the subject of Monetary Reform, 
should the same chance to be brought before them 
in their parliamentary capacity. Our honourable 
and worthy member for the city of Edinburgh, Air. 
Charles Cowan, for example, was amongst their 
number. A tacit admission, this, to say the least of 
it. that there may be something not quite right in the 
existing monetary or banking systems of the day the 
banking system of Scotland not even excepted. 

Of the majority of these gentlemen I have, how- 
ever, the advantage, so far at least as regards priority 
of date. For, whilst it was, as it were, but yesterday, 
that Messrs. Cowan and others told you, for thejlrst 
time in their lives, that they are willing now to re- 



10 LECTURES ON THE 

vise our monetary laws, / am able to quote as follows 
from writing* of my own, printed and published up- 
wards of sixteen years ago : 

" As it is by labour that all things valuable to man- 
kind are produced, so is it by exchange that indi- 
viduals are enabled to partake of a great variety of 
commodities which their own labour could never, 
by any possibility, have commanded without it. In 
an advanced state of society, the food, clothing, and 
habitation, in ordinary use, amongst all classes of 
men, are composed of an immense number of ingre- 
dients, the result of the industry of individuals scat- 
tered over the face of half the globe ; whilst it is evi- 
dent, that if each person could obtain nothing but 
what should be immediately and directly produced 
by the labour of his own hands, mankind never could 
have emerged from a state of the rudest ignorance 
and barbarism. 

" Exchange, therefore, may be denominated the 
bond and principle of society. But it is nevertheless 
a matter of legitimate inquiry, whether our existing 
plan of exchange be a good one ? whether it be 
founded in right principles "? and whether it be cal- 
culated to confer upon us all the benefits which the 
present advanced state of human knowledge and re- 
source entitles us to look for and expect ? 

" And these questions I answer with an unequivocal 
and emphatic No. It is our system of exchange 
which forms the hiding-place of that giant of mischief 
which bestrides the civilized world, rewarding in- 
dustry with starvation, exertion with disappointment, 
and the best efforts of our rulers to do good, with 
perplexity, dismay, and failure ; and it is our system 



NATURE AND USE OF MOM V 11 

vchange which has produced the wor>e than 
l.inian r..ntuM.>n in the ideas of men upon the 
subject ft' their collective intm 

" Give us and we have it now within our grasp 
parliamentary reform give us universal suffrage, 
annual parliaments, vote by ballot, free trade, an ac- 
quittal >f the public debt, freedom from all tax< 
repeal of the Union, and every other thing upon 
which the public has ever yet rested its disappointed 
hopes and still shall this demon of commercial 
error hold our prosperity in his iron grasp, and smile 
upon our ignorance and folly, as he shall see our 
burdens, as we call them, one by one removed, whilst 
we continue to sink deeper and deeper still into the 
Slough of Despond, under the invisible but enormous 
weight that is oppressing us." * 

Again, in 1842, I repeated the same language,! 
and now, I tell you for the third time, on thetwenty- 
nd day of February, 1848, that any infant child 
in.ir within these realms, is just exactly as cap- 
able of improving the general condition of mankind, 
as the man be he a minister of state or the most 
humble individual in the land to whose mind the 
fact is not obvious as the sun at noon-day, that to 
our System of Exchange sown, rooted, grown, and 
expanded in error is attributable at least nine-tenths 
of all the misery, properly called commercial, bywh'u-h 
we are now summm/a/, and to the recurrence of 
which, so long as we shall persist in adhering to our 
present monetary system, we shall be for ever liable. 

* The Social System, page 56. 

t In my little work entitled " An Efficient Remedy for the Distress 
of Nations." 



1 -2 LECTURES ON THE 

Prosperity to this nation may be legislated for by 
our governors, sighed for by our philanthropists, 
written for by our public press, prognosticated by 
our political economists, and hoped for by every sub- 
ject in the Queen's dominions ; but never never, at 
least, until the terms cause and effect shall cease to 
have any meaning shall we be able to attain those 
advantages which are naturally within our reach, 
until we shall begin the task of reformation, not by 
merely puerile and partial reformations in our modes 
of banking, but by a change as great in the funda- 
mental principle of our monetary system as that 
which all of us here present have lived to see in the 
principle of locomotion. And I tell you farther, that 
the rail itself the confessed miracle of the age is a 
far less wonderful thing than one other which is co- 
existent with it, by which I mean the darkness 
which to this day continues to pervade the national 
mind upon the all-important subject of Exchange. 

Say that this is strong language ! Be it so. My 
present purpose the purpose of this evening will 
be accomplished if, by exciting your curiosity, I may 
in future be enabled to command your attention; 
that obtained, we shall go seriously enough to work 
by-and-by. 

And suppose that we now devote a few minutes 
to the inquiry Is there in reality anything anomal- 
ous in the present state of society at all "? Anything 
very bad, and yet of a nature not to be accounted 
for either by the existence of irreligion, immorality, 
idleness, improvidence, or any other of the causes to 
which mankind in general are so very apt to attri- 
bute misfortune, want of employment, poverty, dis- 



X ATI' UK AND USB OP MOXHY. 13 

tress, starvation, crime, and prematuiv di-eas.- .-ml 
111 1 tliink there is. Nay, I can hardly con- 
it pnssiMi- tor any man to take a general Mirvey 
<f the rxistiiiL' >tato of society without arriving at 
die oondufdoo tliat tin-re is something so anomalous 
in our collective condition, that the most searching 
inquiry into the nature and causes of that anomaly 
is imperatively called for. But let us take an ex- 
ample : 

Suppose, then, the case of an individual isolated 

for a period of years from the rest of the world a 

nd Robinson Crusoe. Suppose this man to be 

possessed, in the first instance, of but a few tools and 

implements, and those of the most simple kind. He 

is thrown upon an island, but not a barren one. 1 1 e 

possesses good mental energy and bodily vigour, and, 

having justly estimated the nature of his situation, 

nanimously resolves to make the best of it to 

die hard at least, and not to die at all from any want 

of industry or of a persevering attempt to live, and, 

so far as circumstances will permit, to enjoy himself. 

It is certain, then, that a person thus situated 

would best accomplish his purpose that purpose 

Id-ing to supply his rational wants by subdividing 

his time in a proper manner, and by devoting his 

energies to the effectual working out of the plans on 

which he should resolve. Say, for example, that he 

devote ten hours out of the twenty-four to work, 

eight hours to rest, and the remaining six to meals, 

and recreation, and to mental, moral, and religious 

culture. 

What may be called the wealth of this man, then, 
would obviously consist of such a house or cabin as 



1 -i LECTURES ON THE 

he might be able to erect, and of such a supply of 
food, clothing, furniture, and implements, as he 
might have originally secured at landing, and have 
subsequently created by the labour of his hands. 

Now, if, in the first instance, say for the first twelve 
months, it should take the whole of this man's work- 
ing-time that is to say, the whole of the ten hours 
he is supposed to have set apart for working to 
supply himself with mere food, it is clear that he 
could not devote any portion of the said ten hours 
to the obtaining of additional clothing, furniture, or 
anything else : he must work so long at least for 
food, and for it only. But if, from some cause and 
it matters not to our argument what that cause may 
be he should, during the second year of his exile, 
be able to obtain his food by the exercise of eight 
hours' labour a-day, in place of ten, then it is certain 
that he would be in a position to add to his little 
stock of clothes or furniture ; and that to the precise 
extent or quantity that he might be able to make, 
during the two spare hours a-day which he is now 
supposed to have acquired. Again, if during the 
third year of his exile, he should so greatly have im- 
proved in skill or advantages as to find it necessary 
to labour but six hours a-day in order to supply 
himself with food, clothes, and furniture, then it fol- 
lows that/owr working hours would now remain to 
him, during which, without at all encroaching on the 
time originally set apart for rest and recreation, he 
might engage in the pursuit of such luxuries as should 
be within his reach ; or he might employ these newly 
acquired hours in erecting a better house, and in im- 
proving the quality of his ordinary food, clothing, or 



ill. \M> USB OP MONEY. I .') 

furniture; or, it' In- incline not thus, he might add 
them in his hours >f leisure. An<l. still farther. v\e 
may suppose the time to arrive when so great would 
he tlu> facility with which he could create an abund- 
ance of whatxieser should lc requisite for the ample 
supply of all \aBpkyrieal wants, that even one h<mr 
i~tlii>i ini^ht suffice for their production ; in which 
case, it is evident that twenty-three hours out of every 
twenty-four would now be his own for rest, meals, 
recreation, and the exercise of his faculties, bodily 
and mental, in whatsoever way he should think proper. 

In a word and this is the principle I wish you to 
understand according to the difficulty or facility of 
jH'nt/ncfion would this man be ill or well supplied 
with the necessaries, comforts, and luxuries of life, 
or more shortly, would he be poor or rich. 

There is, I presume, no question as to this fact ! 
For if it take but one hour's labour to-day to accom- 
pli>h an object which could only be accomplished by 
the expenditure of ten hours' labour a few years 
since, it is certain that a man who should be situated 
in the manner we have supposed, must have the al- 
(. mative of being either ten times as rich now as he 
was formerly, or he may forthwith devote his nine 
remaining hours of leisure to amusement and recre- 
ation. 

Have, then, the masses of mankind realized this 
principle \ I speak not of particular classes of men, 
but of ths population of these realms. As facility of 
production has progressively increased in Manchester, 
Leeds, Nottingham, Coventry, Birmingham, Sheffield, 
l'ai>lev. and other manufacturing towns, have the in- 
of Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Coven- 



16 LECTURES ON THE 

try, Birmingham, Sheffield, Paisley, and other manu- 
facturing towns, risen in the scale of comfortable ex- 
i#ti-nce, in the like proportion? Are the working 
men of the present day be they weavers or smiths, 
mechanics in any department of trade, or even field- 
labourers better off, better supplied with the neces- 
saries, conveniences, and comforts of life, than were 
the like description of operatives, ten, twenty, thirty, 
forty, or fifty years ago, by just exactly so much, and 
no more, as aggregate facility of production has ad- 
vanced during the same period f And has the con- 
dition of all the other classes of society, risen also in 
the like proportion f 

If so, then is there an end to the argument. If 
the condition of men, and of mankind in general, 
have improved in this precise ratio if, as a nation, 
we really create, possess, and enjoy all the wealth 
that, as a nation, we have either the power of creating, 
or the inclination to create then have we now all 
those things that are good for us, which, with our 
present extent of knowledge and resource, we can 
possibly obtain. But if, on the other hand, wo have 
not all this if there be any limit to our physical 
means of enjoyment other than the exhaustion either 
of our ability, or of our willingness to create them, 
then do I affirm that there is something wrong in the 
nature of our public institutions something which 
stands between mankind and that amount of wealth 
which is naturally within his reach which something 
is not traceable to any of the " causes" to which the 
misfortunes of want of employment, poverty, distress, 
and consequent crime, and premature disease and 
death, are commonly attributed ; and that, therefore, 



X.VTURB AND USB OF MONET. 17 

there is yet a mystery connects! with this matter 
ivmaining to be solved. 

And ditli-riiiLj. as no doubt many of you will do 
with each other, upon minor points connected with 
religion, politics, commercial principles, free trade, 
nr trade in fetters, criminal jurisprudence, and fifty 
thinirs h->ide-. n-rtain 1 am tliat you will all agree 
with me in this one particular, namely : 

That, so far as regards our social condition, inde- 
pendently that is to say of all political and religious 
con.Mderations, the great desideratum of society is 
in a single word, employment employment for all 
who are able and willing to accept of it to which 
add, " a fair days wages for a fair day's iuork" 

It will be my duty, then, in the course of these lec- 

B, to prove that both these desiderata are within 

our reach, and that all we require is, to turn the 

natural advantages of which we are in full possession 

to their right account. 

You are well aware, that the opinion here so con- 
fidently expressed, that there exists some tremendous 
error in the commercial constitution of society, is by no 
means ne\\. Many and various have been the schemes 
and contrivances which of late years have been laid 
before you for bettering the condition of the m<: 
of our fellow-countrymen. We have had Mr. Owen, 
and his system of co-operation Mr. J. M. Morgan, 
and his system of bee-hives, and many others. The 
co-operative communities do not seem to have pros- 
i ; and as I never was inside a bee-hive, my ac- 
quaintance with the bee system of Political Economy 
is altogether external. So far, however, if we except a 
more u. n ill disposition to the encouragement of free 

B 



18 LECTURES ON THE 

trade, a tendency to a less complicaed system of tax- 
ation, and a few minor reforms in the details of 
our commercial proceedings, little or no change has 
been effected. The general principles of our social 
system continue the same ; and the great error, if 
there really be one, yet remains, if not to be dis- 
covered, at least to be recognised and acknowledged, 
as well by society in general, as by the government 
under which we live. 

To one circumstance only in connexion with this 
subject shall I call your attention farther. 

It will be very generally remembered, that, so 
lately as 1842 or 1843, the then proprietor of the 
Atlas newspaper offered a premium of a hundred 
pounds for the best Essay " On the causes of, and 
remedies for, the existing Distress of the Country," 
and that two additional premiums of respectively 
fifty and twenty-five pounds were subsequently of- 
fered, by the same party, for the second and third 
best essays upon the same subject. 

Now, whoever will take the trouble to turn to the 
pages of the Atlas about the time to which I refer, 
will find that the editor of that paper appeared by 
his writings to be very decidedly of opinion that 
there must be some particular cause for the great 
evils that afflicted us. He did not seem to regard 
those evils as arising naturally out of the extensive, 
intricate, and incomprehensible commercial system, 
or rather no system, under which we live. He did 
not seem to consider that the lowest depths of 
wretchedness, to which myriads of our fellow-crea- 
tures and fellow-subjects are at all times consigned, 
were to be regarded as unfathomable or irremedi- 



I'RE AND USE OK 19 

On the n.ntrarv. What is the cause of all 
tln> distress, and /nw can \\o remove it?" were alike 
tli- tone of his own writings and the spirit of his 
proposition to tin- competing essayists. 

Wi-H ! the reMilt. as already mentioned, was, that 
one hundivd ami fifty-eight competitors came for- 
ward on the occasion, and that the Judges awarded 
to Mr. Samuel Laing, junior, the principal prize of 
one hundred pounds. 

Before recapitulating, however, the chief causes of 
national distress and the remedy to be applied, as 
propounded by Mr. Laing, I cannot help remarking 
upon, and indeed I may add, very sincerely regret- 
tinir, that the proprietor of the Atlas did not avail 
himself of the opportunity, which he in so peculiar 
a manner possessed, of compiling and publishing one 
of the most curious books that can be conceived. 

What I mean is this : He might have required 
each of the competing essayists to have given at the 
end of his essay, a brief summary, compendium, or 
abstract of his opinions the chances being, that at 
least nine-tenths-of the whole number of them did this 
at all events and that he, the proprietor of the Atlas 
.aforesaid, should have had the right of retaining 
and publishing tit it fxirt/fular part of every essay. 

Oidy fancy, then, a collection of no less than one 
hundred and fifty-eight answers, by as many different 
writers, to the question " What are the causes of, 
and what the remedies for the distresses of this 
Nation ?" Verily, if out of a multitude of counsellors 
wisdom be obtainable, the late proprietor of the Atlas, 
and the adjudicators of the Atlas prizes, ought at this 
hour to be the wisest people in existence, so far as re- 



20 LECTURES ON THE 

i:an Is this particular subject. Something very like the 
perfection of human wisdom they surely must have 
culled from this prodigious mass of argumentation. 
But be this as it may, the compilation I have sug- 
gested, and which, under the circumstances to which 
I have referred, might so very easily have been 
made, would certainly have been one of surpassing 
interest. 

I may here mention, that, at the time when the 
Atlas Prize Essay was one of the popular subjects of 
the day, I was myself writing on the very point at 
issue. But I had no ambition to become one of the 
rejected ; and therefore, when I learned that certain 
Political Economists were to form the majority of the 
adjudicators, I at once discarded all thought of com- 
peting for the prize. Gentlemen of status equal with 
those who were appointed, but wholly uncommitted by 
any public declaration or writing to any system of Poli- 
tical Economy, would have been the proper judges in 
the Atlas case ; in place of gentlemen, however high 
their respectability or exalted their station, who in all 
probability had been educated, trained, and rooted 
in the errors of what are called the best writers on 
the subject. 

But what, says Mr. Laing, is the cause of national 
distress, and what the remedy ? It should be super- 
fluous to answer this question here. An essay upon 
a most important subject, the chosen of one hundred 
and fifty-eight, certainly should have been read by 
all such members of this Institution as may, for any 
considerable time past, have been students of the 
great problem of society. But there are doubtless 
many persons here present who have not seen Mr. 



in: AND USE OF MOV 21 

La ing's Essay, to whom I would say, that there is 
much thnvin worthy of their attentive con>i'ler;ition. 

Many important facts, collected and well arranged, 
from a variety of authentic sources, and evincing much 
industry on the part of the author, as a coll- 
of materials for thought, are alone sufficient to give 
value to the Essay. But the great questions of tin? 
Atlas What are the causes of, what the remedies for, 
the o! (stresses of this country? remain unanswered. 
Nay, not even tin' fulntc^t /////// mering of new 1'njht Im* 
been thnum ///>on the subject by Mr. Lalng* So far 
from it indeed, he says, almost in so many words 
That an enormous mass of misery exists and hen-, 
a la-! his proof was easy ; but that there is no special 
or par/imlar Cause for it, and consequently that 
there can be no />f'-/<il or i>artirul<ir Remedy. But 
him for himself. 

I lr tells us, then, "That it is in the condition of the 
Inlnmrinii classes that the danger lies. Amidst the 
intoxication of wealth and progress, and the dreams 
of a millennium of material prosperity to be realized 
by tin- inventions of science, the discoveries of 
Political Economy, and the unrestricted application 
of man's energy and intelligence to outward objects, 
society has been startled by a discovery of the fear- 
ful fact, that as wealth increases, poverty increases 
faster ratio, and that in almost exact proportion 
to the advance of one portion of society in opulence, 



* Proving to demonstration the deplorable ignorance of the ma- 
jority of the judges themselves upon the same subject ; seeing that I 
chance to know that tht realcenue of our commercial miseries, namely, 
our Mod Monetary System, wxw distinctly pointed out to them by 
one at least of the Competing Essayists. 



22 LECTURES ON THE 

intelligence, and civilisation, has been the retrogres- 
sion of another and more numerous class towards 
misery, degradation, and barbarism. 

" To speak more specifically, the leading facts to 
which the evils that, in one shape or other, are 
continually forcing themselves upon the attention of 
society, may be reduced, appear to be 

" 1st, The existence of an intolerable mass of misery, 
including in the term both recognised and official 
pauperism, and the unrecognised destitution that 
preys, like a consuming ulcer, in the heart of our 
large cities and densely-peopled manufacturing dis- 
tricts. 

"2dly, The condition of a large proportion of the 
independent labouring class, who are unable to se- 
cure a tolerably comfortable and stable existence in 
return for their labour, and are approximating, there 
is too much reason to fear, towards the gulf of pauper- 
ism, in which they will be, sooner or later, swallowed 
up, unless something effectual can be done to arrest 
their downward progress."* 

And again " Such, then, is the condition of the 
English agricultural labourer ; one degree better off 
than the hand-loom weaver and unemployed popu- 
lation of large towns, he can, while in health and 
strength, and under ordinary circumstances, support 
a family in the bare necessaries of life, under a roof 
of their own, and in comparative decency and respec- 
tability ; but he can only just do this by unremitting 
labour and unceasing economy ; he has absolutely 
nothing to look forward to, nothing to fall back upon. 

* Atlas Essay, page 8. 



1KB AND USE OP MOM.V 23 

" To use the words of an assistant poor-law com- 
iiii->ioner 4 The Eugllsh agricultural labourer, even 
it'he II.-IN traiiM- ( -iidem abilities, has scarcely any pros- 
: in the world, and of becoming a small 
tanner. II.- commences his career as a weekly la- 
bourer, and tin- probability is, that whatever may be 
his talents and industry, as a weekly labourer he will 
end his days.' This is the best side of the picture 
what is the reverse ? If he has no chance of rising 
in the world, how many chances has he of falling? 
It he is thrown out of employment if he loses his 
health it' he has a large family of girls or young 
children if he yields to temptation, and becomes 
irregular in his habits what is to become of him I 
The answer is obvious : for a time he will be assist- 
ed by casual charity, and struggle on against extreme 
privations ; but if the causes of distress continue, one 
or other of two things will be his final lot he \\ill 
milled among the 1,072,978 paupers receiving 
I -a rM i relief under the harsh conditions of the new 
poor-law, or, he will be starved out of the country 
into some large town, and absorbed in the floating 
population who tenant the cellars and lodging-houses, 
and li\e by the worst-paid description of manufactur- 
ing industry, or by thieving, prostitution, and casual 
employment. Let it always be remembered, that 
when we read in Poor-law Reports, and Treat i-ex 
nn Political Economy, of labour being absorbed and 
di>tre disappearing by refusing relief, this is, in nine 
cases out of ten. \\hatthe thing practically means."* 
And again he says "We feel satisfied that if we 

* Atlas Enaj, page 31. 



'J4 LECTURES ON THE 

were to estimate the class who are below the lowest 
independent labourer, including paupers receiving 
relief, criminals, vagrants, and poor living mainly on 
private charity, at 2,000,000, we should be far under 
the mark, and that 2,500,000, or between one- 
seventh and one-eighth of the total population, is 
much more likely to be a correct estimate. If we 
include all those who would habitually feel the pangs 
of hunger and cold, if they had no other resource 
than the earnings of lawful industry, and who sub- 
sist, wholly or in part, by the earnings of crime, or 
by public or private charity in the latter case prin- 
cipally by the charity of those of their own rank of 
life, we feel convinced that 3,000,000, or one-sixth 
of the population, would not be over the mark. In 
Ireland the proportion would be nearer one-third, 
which would give for the whole empire an average 
of more than one-fifth of the population unable to 
live by lawful industry. Of these, a very small pro- 
portion are professional criminals, probably not above 
100,000 regular thieves, and as many unfortunate 
women, but many more eke out the insufficient wages 
of labour by occasional pilfering, and a still larger 
proportion are only able to exist by occasional charity 
from those one step above them in the social scale. 
t>, it must be remembered, are exclusive of the 
1,300,000 paupers who receive legal relief. We 
are satisfied also that the number has been, and is 
frightfully on the increase. 

" This is the first great evil in our present social 
condition. 

" The next is, That a large proportion of the inde- 
pendent labouring class, including the bulk of the 



NATURE AND USB OF MOM K 

and agricultural population, an- in 
Midi a position as to be unaMe to .support tin 
in tolerable d ,vnc\ and comfort by their labour, and 
(4. make any |T.\i->i..n against illness, old age, 8U8- 
penvjon ,,f employment, or any of the other numerous 
accidents \vliicli may at any time merge them in the 
<>f paupers or destitute. 

"The third evil is, That even among the class of 
i'l>erati\e> \\ho-e pecuniary earnings are sufficient for 
their support, various demoralizing causes exist such 
a- female and infant labour, want of education and 
religious instruction, intemperance, and the like, 
which tend to depress their condition, and in many 
cases to degrade them to a level with those who con- 
stantly suffer the pressure of physical want. 

" The fourth and last great evil is, That all the pre- 
ceding evils are apparently on the increase under 
the operation of deep-seated causes which almost 
assume the appearance of necessary laws, and that, 
in addition to this, certain temporary causes have 
produced a very great and decided aggravation of 
the tir>t and second evils within the last few years, 
and especially during the last twelvemonth."* 

For this enormous amount of misery, then, what 
is the remedy, for the discovery of which the five 
learned adjudicators awarded Mr. Laing the Atlas 
l>i i/e of one hundred pounds ? Hear it from Mr. 
La ing's own book ; and whilst you hear it, blush for 
the deplorable ignorance that yet pervades this land 
upon the subject of the collective interests of our 
race or else hear it and tremble ; and whenever 

* Atlu KMJ, [wges 63 and 54. 



2G LECTURES ON THE 

you may learn that plague and pestilence are abroad, 
say Let them go forth to the east and to the west, 
to the north and to the south, that in kindness they 
may sweep away the myriads of beings whose heri- 
tage is misery, whose life is worse than death, and 
for whom all hope of relief in this world is vain and 
of foundation destitute. 

" When [then, says Mr. Laing,] we turn from a con- 
templation of the disease to a consideration of the re- 
medies, it appears evident, that as no specific cause can 
be assigned, so no specific remedy can be pointed out. 
The only effectual reform is that in which each person 
begins by reforming himself in other words, where 
a revival of those feelings of duty and moral obli- 
gation, whose decay has been the primary source of 
the evil, leads to innumerable individual efforts, and 
to an improved state of public opinion. Without this, 
it must be frankly admitted that legislation can do 
little. In the first place, legislative measures of im- 
provement are, in the present political constitution ot 
the country, impracticable, unless supported by the 
public opinion of the upper classes. In the next place, 
even if practicable, they would be inoperative against 
a continuance of the causes which tend to swell the 
-\i>tiii^ evils, and to make distress, if driven back 
for a moment, continually recur on a wider scale."* 

Such, then, are the consolations which Mr. Laing 
has, according to his own estimate, to offer to three 
in til ions of his fellow-countrymen, whose daily ques- 
tions to the well-conditioned are in thought at 
least "Are not we men like yourselves ? Have we 

* Atlas Essay, page 166. 



\ vn i:r. \M> USB OP MUM:>. 27 

the same organs iad senses'? Require we not 
the same food, tin- >ame protection from the blast 
an.l tin- storm, nii'l tin- same culture, mental, moral, 
an-1 : as do ye? Whence, then, this enor- 

mous amount of difference between us? Whence 
tin- invisible. l>ut, as we find it, impassable gulf 
which M our condition f Von i your condition ? 

And if, as Mr. La ing tells us, this gulf be passable 
only l>v each one of us commencing the task by .W/- 
refonmifiini. will he be so kind as to tell us farther 
in what precise manner we are to begin the work ? 
Cold are we and hungry, naked and houseless, able 
to labour and willing to labour too, but employment 
none can we obtain, and our name is L<'>ji<>n." 

It is not, however, to the mere feelings or sympa- 
thies of this audience that I wish to appeal farther, 
at lea>t, than may be necessary to awaken you to a 
due > us.- of the vast importance of the subject before 
us. It is to your reasoning faculties, and to them 
only, that I would more especially address myself. 

Well, then, here we arrive at something specific. 
Tin- dux of a class consisting of one hundred and 
fifty-eight essayists "On the causes of, and remedies 
tor. the diM roves of the country," comes to the con- 
clusion that the prodigious evils, which he himself 
enumerates, are referable to no particular cause, and 
that, therefore, it is to the correction of a multitude 
of minor errors, remediable only by the self-reforma- 
tinn i,f iln- unit* of society, that we must look for the 
improvement so ardently desired by all. 

Nw. to this opinion I am totally unable to sub- 
scribe. I have confidence in the advocates of a 
national system of education. I have confidence 



28 LECTURES ON THE 

in the advocates of diminished hours of toil to the 
end, that education begun in childhood may termin- 
ate only on the threshold of the grave. I have con- 
fidence in the promoters of institutions such as this, 
the department no matter what ; for those who may 
be engaged during a reasonable portion of their time 
in study of any approved kind, are not only expand- 
ing, improving, and delighting their minds, but they 
are also avoiding those evils, into which the mentally 
or physically indolent are ever the most liable to 
fall. For to be engaged in the pursuit of that which 
is innocent, is of necessity, for the time at least, to 
avoid that which is injurious. I have confidence, also, 
and the very highest confidence, in those great prin- 
ciples of free trade, which, inculcated by Dr. Adam 
Smith, and at length making some way amongst us, 
under the unremitting fire of an ignorant but per- 
M-M-ring enemy, have now become synonymous, for 
the present hour at least, with the name of Mr. Cob- 
den. I have confidence, too, in the spirit of the age, 
in the growing disposition for inquiry, and for reliance 
upon evidence rather than upon mere opinions, how- 
ever illustrious the names attached to them may be, 
in matters concerning our social condition and pros- 
pects. But I tell you, that all these considerations 
notwithstanding, there is another, and to beyin irith, 
a far more important subject than any one of these, 
which imperatively demands our attention : that sub- 
ject is Our false monetary system, the cost of which 
to this nation is certainly not less than one hundred 
millions per annum, in money of its present value. 
My reasons for entertaining this opinion, I hope to 
ible to make clear and obvious to all, who will 



i:i: AM) USE OP MONTY. '20 

nt t<> ht-ar me with patience and attention, 
throughout tlir eonr>e i.|' leetuivs whieh is to follow. 
And, indeed, ;dl 1 shall contend for is Tliat mail col- 
KvtixeK thnultl kiu.u no limit to his physical means 
of i-iijoviiu-iit. save those of tin- exhaustion cither of 
his i n< I Htt rii or of his productive powers: whilst \\\ 
by the adoption of a monetary system, false in prin- 
ciple and destructive in practice, have consented to 
re.Mriet tin- amount of our physical means of enjoy- 
ment to that jtrecise quantity, which can be projitulilii 
('.i-rltantjedfor a commodity, one of the leust capalih' 
of multiplication by the exercise of human induct rii, 
of a ni> a/ton the face of the earth. 



30 LECTURES ON THE 



LECTURE IT. 

Is a perfectly free commercial society, uninfluenced l>y the exist- 
ence of any monetary system whatsoever, Production would be 
the uniform and never-failing cause of Demand. In the aggre- 
gate, it would he as easy to sell goods as it is to huy them, and 
that ad infinitum ; and the words Supply and Demand would be 
just two names for the self-same thing. 

IN my Introductory lecture, I endeavoured to 
awaken your minds to a sense of the vast importance 
of the subject before us. We must now, if you 
please, enter upon the consideration of the subject 
itself my views of which I intend to lay before you 
in the form of certain distinct propositions, and to 
treat of such other elements of Political Economy as 
it may be necessary to notice, incidentally as we go 
along. And, when the various parts of our subject 
shall have been thus examined, we shall endeavour 
to collect the whole of them into one focus. 

My purpose, then, this evening, is to endeavour to 
show you that, in any perfectly free state of society, 
wherein money there should be none, the exist- 
ence of aggregate over-production, or of an over-stock 
of marketable produce, would be, in one word, im- 
possible. 

Ami really I feel the utmost diffidence in entering 



: Hi: AM) USE OK -1 

tliis argument, imt certainly from the nature 
of the ta>k itself. \\liich is by no means a difficult one, 
hut because it has alivaily been so admirably treated 
ly tli late Mr. .lames Mill, author of the History of 
British Imlia, in the second edition of lii- Klements of 
Political Kconouiy, that it will be quite impossible 
f<>r me. in any language that I am master of, to do 
equal justice to the subject; with this important 
(inference, however, between us, that whilst Mr. Mill 
throughout the whole of his reasoning, takes the 
existing monetary system along with him, and there- 
by, as I shall show you in another lecture, falsifies 
every syllable of his own argument ; we, by confining 
ou riches simply to the consideration of interchange 
of goods for goods no one of them being the accep- 
iel measure of the value of any other shall very 
certainly arrive at the conclusion that production is 
the Xntnrul cause of demand, ad iiifinitum. 

Mr. J. It. M'Culloch, also, I may here remark, in his 
Klnnents of Political Economy, second edition, has 
fallen into precisely the same error as Mr. James Mill. 
Both these authors maintain that production is now 
the cause of demand, ad infinitum : the truth being, 
that it should be so. 

Abjuring, then, all monetary considerations what- 
er, let us suppose that every gentleman in this 
room, acting solely and singly for his own benefit, 
to become a producer of some marketable com- 
modity, and that each and all of us should meet to- 
gether in a public place, bringing the varied fruits 
of our respective labours along with us it is quite 
dear that we >hould go there equally to buy and to 
sell. One person would have bread, another meat, 



32 LECTURES ON THE 

another beer ; one would have cloth, another shoes, 
another hats, and so on. It is certain, however, 
that no one of us would ever think of taking any of 
these things to market without a predetermination to 
take quite as large a quantity of things from market. 
The business of each person there, would be to ex- 
cliniifje the surplus produce of his own labour for the 
surplus produce of the labour of other men ; but it 
would certainly not be any part of his intention to 
give more than to receive. The baker would re- 
quire meat and drink and clothes; the butcher 
would require bread, and food of various kinds, be- 
sides that in which it is his business exclusively to 
deal ; the clothier, again, would require a portion of 
the commodities of the butcher and baker ; and hence 
innumerable interchanges must of necessity take place 
betwixt man and man, before each and all could be 
satisfied with the result of their respective transac- 
tions. 

In these circumstances, however, no man would 
propose to give a greater portion of his own goods 
than should be required from him in exchange for 
those which he himself should desire to obtain. On 
the contrary, his demand would ever be equal to his 
*/>/>!>/. He would give, or rather sell, not for the mere 
pleasure of giving or selling, but in order that he 
himself might obtain a portion of the merchandise of 
other men, and the greater that portion, the' better, 
no doubt, would he be satisfied. 

Then, as the person or party with whom he should 
d'-al would be sure to act upon precisely the same 
principle, their demand and supply would be respec- 
tively just two names for the same thing. The terms 



l:i: AN! I SB OP 1IONT.Y. MM 

\\mild be exchangeable. Tin- demand <!' the one 
would l>e the supply of the other, and the demand of 
that other \\ould l>e tin- supply of the one. And as 
in tins argument \\. n. Midi tiling as money 

amount us. it is plain that tin- iv.p<vtive ^//<///////Vx 
of the dttl'ereiit eOMmodities that would l>e_:i\en and 
red in exchange for each other, must be of equal 
valm ; IM < -a use, in each and every case, these quanti- 
\vould be the result of express bantam ; which 
bargain, necessarily implying the consent of two op- 
posing interests, could never have taken place, un- 
less the contracting parties should have proved the 
equality of value to be given and received, by the very 
act of mutually consenting to give and to receive. For 
in all free and uncontrolled circumstances of inter- 
change, a thing is truly said to be worth whatever it 
will fetch. 

Again, the general principle which regulates the 
quantity of one thing which is commonly given in 
exchange for another thing, is the relative quantity of 
capital, skill, and labour employed in its production. 

If two men of equal general ability be employed 
in dissimilar productive occupations, the one for 
one day and the other for two days, half the quan- 
titv of the products of the latter should, in fair- 
ness, command the whole products of the former. 
But this general principle is subject to considerable 
ptions. Dr. Adam Smith, for example, tells us, 
that " The five following are the principal circum- 
-s which, as far as 1 have been able to observe, 
make up a small pecuniary gain in some employments, 
and counterbalance a great one in others. Fir>t. the 
agreeableness or disagreeable ness of the employments 



34 LECTURES ON THE 

themselves ; second, the easiness and cheapness, or 
the difficulty and expense of learning them; third, 
the constancy or inconstancy of employment in them ; 
fourth, the small or great trust which may be reposed 
in those who exercise them ; and, fifth, the proba- 
bility or improbability of success in them." 

But, apart from all these considerations, the quan- 
tity of one thing which may be given in exchange for 
another, will at all times depend upon the greater or 
less demand that there may be for it in the market. 

If, for example, there be at any time a surplus of 
corn, as compared with the supply of cloth, and the 
?/>>//// state of the market being, that one yard of 
cloth exchanges for two bushels of corn, it is clear 
that, so long as the supply of corn shall be dispro- 
portionately great, two and a half or three bushels of 
corn may have to be given in exchange for the yard 
of cloth, in place of two bushels only. Thus the cloth 
commands an increased quantity of corn in exchange 
for it, and that without the slightest reference to the 
original cost, or labour of producing, either the one 
or the other. A pound of bread might possibly, in 
certain circumstances, exchange for an ounce of sil- 
ver ; whilst there is hardly a sportsman but will tell 
you that many a time in his life he would most 
willingly have given a silver coin, worth a dozen 
ounces of copper, in exchange for a single glass of 
cold water, which, in ordinary circumstances, would 
not exchange for one forty-eighth part of the same 
weight of the same metal. Thus, in all cases, 
wherein a dearth of any article in demand exists, an 
increased quantity of other things are sure to be re- 
quired in exchange for it ; whilst, whenever the same 



\ \TU:F. AND USE OP MOM :\ . 35 

happens to be itself in .*////////.?, a greater quan- 
tity of /'/ must forthwith be given in exchange for 
"tlirr roiiiino.litiea. 

It will of course be kept in min-l tliat. in this stage 
of our argument, we make no inquiry whatever as to 
the <t/>i/ity of our supposed merchants to bring any- 
thing to market at all. The existence of such ability 
mu>t for the present be aunn <!, seeing that all we 
an- now seeking to establish is, that, no matter by 
what means obtained, goods brought to market in due 
proportion to each other and no such thing as money 
being as yet supposed to exist at all are at once and 
equally sn/)/>/</ <m<] demand, demand and supply; and 
further, that no conceivable quantity of them, be it 
so great, could by any possibility disturb this 
state of things, even for a moment, so lon<j as the 
single condition, in due proportion to each other, shall 
be strictly observed. 

The term due proportion may, however, require 
a \\"i<l or two of explanation. It means, then, simply, 
that as men require food and clothes, habitation, fur- 
niture, and so on, equal proportions of these must be 
\>r< -light to market, or else there will be a glut of some 
things, whieh. however, will in every instance be pre- 
v balanced by a corresponding deficiency of other 
things. Just as a man who, being compelled to per- 
form every office of labour for himself, should so mis- 
manage his working time, as to spend the whole of it, 
for example, in making bread, whereby, in conse- 
<|iimce of such mismanagement, he would be over- 
supplieil with bread, but destitute alike of clothing, 
habitation, and everything else, commonly considered 
essential to comfortable existence. 



36 LECTURES ON THE 

In like manner, a market-place full of such people 
all intending dealers in but one, and that one the 
self-same commodity would be in the like happy 
predicament. No person would be able to sell any- 
thing, no person would be able to buy anything, 
because each and all would already be in possession 
of a superabundant stock of the only merchandise 
which any one else could offer. These merchants 
would be all and equally intending sellers ; but as 
there would not be any one willing to buy, so neither 
could there be any one able to sell. Now, it is the 
precisely opposite extreme of this supposed case which 
would constitute perfectly due proportion : the exist- 
ence of which perfect proportion would be practically 
illustrated in a market wherein every article brought 
thither should be disposed of in exchange for other 
things, whilst every dealer should go home at night 
with something in his possession preferable, in his 
own estimation, to that which he took to market in 
the morning. 

And here it may be as well to introduce to your 
notice the undisputed we may in this case, I believe, 
say undisputed doctrine of Political Economy, ori- 
ginally seen and demonstrated by Dr. Adam Smith, 
that labour is the one arid only source of wealth. 

It is labour which tends our flocks and our herds ; 
it is labour which directs the plough, and otherwise 
prepares the ground for the reception of the seed 
which labour scatters upon its surface ; it is labour 
that converts our corn into bread ; labour that sup- 
plies us with clothing ; labour that builds houses, 
and labour that furnishes them. It is labour that pro- 
tects us during the hours of rest, and labour that 



.\ \TI 1:1: \M> U8B OP MONi:v. 37 

prepares the morning meal \vhicli awaits our enjoy- 
ment : it is to labour tliat \\- arc in-leU' 1 .! l'.r the 
flowers of spring, the summer's ripening fruit-, ami 
the autumnal crops- it k in short, to lalx-ur that 
\\e an indebted fur everything we possess or enjoy, 
ruiuiiiLi. that is to say, within the definition of the 
term u-fii/f/i. Ami although we wen- to be fed and 
clothed h\- miracle by the spontaneous fall of all 
tilings \\e require upon the earth still the soundness 
of tlu- learned Doctor's position would not be invali- 
dated, for even the wild fruits of the earth, fowls of 
tin- air, and fishes of the sea, are not wealth, until 
human labour shall have made them so, by the 
of collection, or attainment, and appropriation. 
Land truly is wealth, and so is water, and even the 
-a me upon the one, and the fish within the other 
in con>il ration solely, however, of labour having been 
iously employed in obtaining possession of them. 
When land, for example, has been appropri<ifL 
it becomes at once, in all well-governed countries, 
capable of being cultivated either by the hands of its 
proprietor or by those of his servants ; or of being con- 
veyed to others, either on loan, for a consideration, or 
in perpetuity for an agreed price. But still it i 
every case, by the exercise of human labour that such 
property is originally called into existence as property. 

This doctrine being now well understood by all 
parties, is, so far as I am aware, mere part and 
parcel of the common-places of Political Economy, 
like tin- a, b, c, of literature. 

And again, to the like class of admitted principles 
in Political Economy belongs the following : Pro- 
p- 1 1 y and wealth of every kind must be secured to 



38 LECTURES ON THE 

their rightful proprietors or possessors ; for \vlio 
else would take the trouble to acquire them, except- 
ing only for immediate use or consumption '( This 
principle is so obvious, that it would be needless to 
enlarge upon it. If, by the exercise of his labour and 
skill, a man should be able to obtain more wealth 
within a given time than he may either require or de- 
sire immediately to make use of or expend, what con- 
ceivable motive for the exercise of such industry could 
he have, if the surplus produce which he would 
naturally propose to lay aside for the day of illness, 
misfortune, or old age, be not his own? Render his 
accumulation the property of others equally with 
himself, and it is quite clear that there would be an 
end at once to all his industry and enterprise, beyond, 
that is to say, such portion thereof as it would be 
necessary for him to exert for the supply of his daily 
exigencies. No man would ever dream of accumulat- 
ing anything, if the accumulation itself should not 
continue to be his own, until he should think proper 
either to use it, consume it, or convey it to another. 
Apply this principle to the present state of Ireland. 
What an utter farce are our periodical subscriptions 
for the relief of that unhappy country ! We might as 
rationally exhaust our wealth and resources in the pur- 
chase of water to fill a sieve, or bottomless reservoir 
erected on the top of Arthur's Seat. Relieve Ireland, 
forsooth! Afford the same degree of protection to 
human life and property \\\ Ireland that you afford to 
property and life in England and in Scotland, and 
Ireland will very speedily relieve herself. Her lands 
will forthwith be tenanted by men both able and wil- 
ling to cultivate them. Her towns and villages will 



NATIIiK AND USE OF MONT.Y. M9 

abound with factories, ainl ln-r cities will teem with 
wealth at least to an equal extent with those of 
Scotland au.l Kntrland : for a large portion of the 
capital aii-1 >kill of the entire kingdom wouM run a 

with itself, like streams of water to a lower level. 
t renovate Ireland, were but this first condition to 
all accumulative exertion amply and permanently 

n'<l throughout the land. And if the Govern- 
ment really cannot do this for Ireland, why then, it 
can do nothing. And hence the views which I si in 11 
IMU' occasion to exhibit to you in the course of these 
lecture*, with reference to the monetary affairs of 
Midland and Scotland, can never be entertained, with 
the same hope of success, so far as regards Ireland, 
until Ireland shall have condescended to learn that 
first and most indispensable lesson in the art of civili- 
sation to which I have referred. 

On all hands it seems to be agreed that the 
immigration of a few hundred Scottish fanners into 
Ireland, aided by the amount of English and Scottish 
capital which they could most easily command, would 

shortly double, and much more than double, the 
entire agricultural produce of that unhappy country, 
and make the rapid fortunes of the immigrants into 
the bargain. Why don't the farmers go, and benefit 
the Irish people in general, and themselves in par- 
ticular? Simply because self-preservation seems, 
somehow or other, in the estimation of most men, to 
occupy the first line in the catalogue of human de- 
siderata, and the security of their property line the 
second. 

May God help the Irish nation ! But if ever man 
is to be the agent of Providence in so doing, he must 



40 LECTURES ON THE 

begin the work by devising effectual measures, cost 
whatever they may, for the preservation of the lives 
and property of Ireland's inhabitants be those in- 
habitants Irishmen, Englishmen, or Scotchmen, or 
men from the four quarters of the globe. And, 
moreover, the nature of the measures to be adopted 
for the protection of life and property in Ireland, 
must be such as to inspire the most perfect confidence 
that such protection shall be of a permanent, and not 
of a merely temporary description. Do this for Ire- 
land and done it must and will be sooner or later 
the compulsory education of every one of her future 
children must follow ; time will do the rest ; and, in 
a generation or two, Ireland may yet assume her pro- 
per place in the scale of civilisation. But this is a 
digression. 

The Division of Labour, another established prin- 
ciple in Political Economy, may also be here incident- 
ally mentioned the more especially as it will lead 
us, by a direct step, to the consideration of another 
principle of great importance to the well-being of 
society, and in an especial manner worthy of our 
attention with reference to the monetary system, to 
which all that we are now considering is merely in- 
troductory. I mean the principle of Individual Com- 
petition, a principle discarded by nearly all the advo- 
cates for co-operation, communities of property, and 
other bee-hive systems of Political Economy. 

The principle of the division of labour and that of 
individual competition, are so nearly allied to each 
other, that they may be called the Siamese Twins of 
Political Economy they are, in fact, almost insepar- 
able. By the division of labour men are led to apply 



NATURE AND USE OF MOM V 41 

th' mselves to one pursuit, and not unfrequently to a 
single operation, l>y which to ^ain their livelihood, 
in jlaco of to many pursuits or to many operations ; 
tin- result being that a hundred men- each one 
being thus employed will do ten, twenty, anl in 
instances, a hundred times the quantity of the 
\vnrk that they could do, were they to act upon 
thr opposite plan of commencing, proceeding with, 
and concluding a multitudinous series of operations 
\\ ith one pair of hands. But the nature of this prin- 
ciple also is so well understood that it would be 
needless to dwell upon it. 

Whilst, however, by the division of labour, mankind 
an- led to concentrate their attention in the manner 
already mentioned, and thus to acquire a wonderful 
degree of skill by the twin principle of individual 
competition, they are stimulated to exert that skill to 
tin- utmost of their ability, which the division of 
labour first enabled them to acquire. Take away 
the division of labour, and the words dexterity and 
skill would cease to have any meaning, because there 
could be no such thing as either the one or the other. 
And a^ain, take away the principle of individual com- 
/"//////. and all motive either for the acquirement or 
exercise of the foresaid dexterity and skill would 
speedily cease to exist. 

Indeed, to these two principles it is that we owe 
the astonishing fact that although each man is born 
so far like every other, that even the equality of or- 
ganization itself has been gravely though erroneously 
contended for there are few persons but are able to 
pint to some others who are to them a kind of miracle. 
Take, for example, a profession of a very ordinary 



42 LECTURES ON THE 

kind, that of a rope-dancer, or, what is less wonder- 
ful, that of an opera-dancer. Then pass on to the 
mimic stage itself, and see the first-class tragedian or 
comedian ; or hear a Pasta or a Jenny Lind : or even 
walk into the street, and see the half-naked Indian 
sustaining, with astonishing precision and uniformity 
of figure, a perfect fountain of balls flying about him 
in all directions, and yet ever intercepted, and re- 
turned in due rotation to the air, by the exercise of a 
dexterity scarcely less wonderful in kind, however 
inferior in end and object, than that of the most 
accomplished artist, musician, or mechanic. 

Or enter the saloons of art, and see the wonderful 
power of imitation, wherever it may have been exer- 
cised, on marble or canvass ; or go into one of our pub- 
lic hospitals, and observe with what consummate dex- 
terity and skill the experienced hand of the operator 
relieves his fellow-creatures from the burden of en- 
cumbrances, which a little longer tolerated would 
have borne them to the grave : thus at once restor- 
ing health and strength, and hope of life continued 
to the unhappy sufferers, at the cost of a little tem- 
porary pain ; and even that little, in many instances 
of recent occurrence, reduced to none whatever, by 
the application of the discoveries of yesterday. 

And to what principle in social science is it that we 
owe these advances in human acquirement and in 
human art ? It is jointly to the division of labour 
and to that mainspring of everything which is excel- 
lent individual competition between man and man. 

And I the more especially desire to call your atten- 
tion to these important principles, because I must ad- 
mit that although, for many years, I both fully under- 



NATURE AND USB OF MOM.V. 43 

stood and estimated thorn at their true value, it is 
only within a comparatively remit period that I 
have been able to see clearly, in what manner a per- 
fectly free and unrestricted system of production and 
exchange or, in other words, a commercial system 
in \\hich production would be the uniform and never- 
failing cause of demand may be brought into prac- 
tical exigence, and easily maintained, without inter- 
fering, to some extent at least, with the exercise of 
tin- invaluable principle of individual competition 
which we have already noticed. 

All truth, however, is invariably consistent with 
itself ; and although for a time I had some difficulty 
in < -fleeting a perfect reconciliation between the most 
abounded individual competition on the one hand, 
and the most unbounded freedom of exchange upon 
tht- other, I not only see no such difficulty whatever 
now, but I am, moreover, fully prepared to demon- 
strate thnt there is none. 

But you will be inclined to remind me, that the 
especial object of this evening's lecture is to enforce 
the doctrine that, naturally speaking, and without re- 
ference to any monetary system whatever, production 
is the uniform and never-failing cause of demand. 
And although I have already endeavoured briefly to 
explain this principle, I should be guilty of doing 
l>oth it and you the greatest injustice, if I were to 
trust exclusively to my own feeble language and rea- 
soning, whilst we have only to turn to an argument 
upon the same subject elsewhere, at once clear, dis- 
tinct, and incontrovertible. I make no apology, there- 
fore, for substituting the language of a highly esteem- 
ed \\riter for my own. 



44 LECTURES ON THE 

The late Mr. James Mill, then, in the article to 
which I refer, now addresses you on this subject. 
But you will specially bear in mind that I here sup- 
press a few words of this learned author in which he 
makes mention of the term money. And I do this 
because, taken with reference to the existing mone- 
tary system of society, there is not one word of truth 
in the argument I am now about to read ; whilst, 
taken without reference to any monetary system what- 
ever, I believe the wit of man powerless to discover 
any fallacy in Mr. Mill's reasoning, or any loophole 
by means of which even the merest quibbler may 
be able to escape the conclusion at which Mr. Mill 
arrives. 

In the Preface, then, to the second edition of his 
Elements of Political Economy, he says " I have 
endeavoured, by new illustrations, to render more 
palpable what appears to me to be demonstration of 
that most important doctrine, that the aggregate de- 
mand and supply of a nation are always equal, that 
production can never be too rapid for the market 
in other words, that there never can be a general 
glut of commodities." 

And then, turning to the argument itself, we find 
it stated as follows one short passage, consisting of 
five lines, in which he makes mention of the word 
money, being alone omitted. 

" A man [then, says Mr. Mill,] produces, only be- 
cause he wishes to possess. If the commodity which 
he produces is the commodity which he desires to 
possess, he stops when he has produced as much as 
he desires ; and his supply is exactly proportioned to 
his demand. The savage who makes his own bow 



NATURE AND USE OP MONEY. 45 

a i hi arrows, does not make bows and arrows beyond 
what IK- wi.xhes to possess. 

When a man produres a greater quantity of any 
commodity ilian he desires for himself, it can only be 
on one account namely, that he desires some other 
commodity, which lie can obtain in exchange for the 
surplus of what he himself has produced. It seems 
hardly iieerv>;iry t oiler anything in support of so 
>sary a proposition ; it would be inconsistent 
with the known laws of human nature to suppose, 
that a man would take the trouble to produce any- 
thing, without desiring to have anything. If he 
de-ires one thing, and produces another, it is only 
because the thing which he desires can be obtained 
I'V means of the thing which he produces, and better 
obtained than if he had endeavoured to produce it 
himself 

" After labour has been divided and distributed to 
any considerable extent, and each producer confines 
him>elf to some one commodity or part of a commod- 
ity, a small portion only of what he produces is used 
for his own consumption. The remainder he destines 
for the purpose of supplying him with all the other 
commoditie> which he desires; and when each man 
routines himself to one commodity, and exchanges 
what he produces for what is produced by other peo- 
ple, it is found that each obtains more of the several 
tilings whieh he desires than he would have obtained 
had he endeavoured to produce them all for himself. 

" So far as a man consumes that which he produces, 
there is, properly speaking, neither supply nor de- 
mand. iJeinand and supply, it is evident, are terras 
which have reference to exchange to a buyer anda 



46 LECTURES ON THE 

seller. But in the case of the man who produces for 
himself, there is no exchange. He neither offers to 
buy anything, nor to sell anything. He has the 
property he has produced it and does not mean 
to part with it. If we apply, by a sort of metaphor, 
the terms demand and supply to this case, it is 
implied, in the very terms of the supposition, that the 
demand and supply are exactly proportioned to one 
another. As far, then, as regards the demand and 
supply of the market, we may leave that portion of 
the annual produce, which each of the owners con- 
sumes in the shape in which he produces or receives 
it, altogether out of the question. 

" In speaking here of demand and supply, it is evi- 
dent that we speak of aggregates. When we say of 
any particular nation, at any particular time, that its 
supply is equal to its demand, we do not mean in any 
one commodity, or any two commodities. We mean, 
that the amount of its demand in all commodities 
taken together, is equal to the amount of its supply 
in all commodities taken together. It may very well 
happen, notwithstanding this equality in the general 
sum of demands and supplies, that some one commo- 
dity or commodities may have been produced in a 
quantity either above or below the demand for those 
particular commodities. 

" Two things are necessary to constitute a demand. 
These are 1st, a wish for the commodity ; 2c?/z/, an 
equivalent to give for it. A demand means, the will 
to purchase, and the means of purchasing. If either 
is wanting, the purchase does not take place. An 
equivalent is the necessary foundation of all demand. 
It is in vain that a man wishes for commodities, if he 



NATURE AND USE OF MOM V 47 

has nothing to give for them. The equivalent which 

a mail limits i> tin- instrument of demand. The 

.t of hi< demand is measured hy the extent of 

juivalent. Tin- demand and the equivalent are 

convertible terms, and the one may be substituted 

for th- other. The equivalent may be called the 

demand, and the demand the equivalent 

" \Ve have already seen that every man who pro- 
duces has a wish for other commodities than those 
which lie has produced, to the extent of all that he 
brings to market. And it is evident, that whatever 
a man has produced and does not wish to keep for his 
own consumption, is a stock which he may give in 
exchange for other commodities. His will, there- 
fore, to purchase and his means of purchasing in 
other words, his demand, is exactly equal to the 
amount of what he has produced and does not mean 
to consume. 

" But it is evident that each man contributes to the 
general supply the whole of what he has produced, 
and does not mean to consume. In whatever shape 
any part of the annual produce has come into his 
hands, if he proposes to consume no part of it him- 
self, he wishes to dispose of the whole ; and the 
whole, therefore, becomes matter of supply : if lie 
consumes a part, he wishes to dispose of all the rest, 
and all the rest becomes matter of supply. 

" As every man's demand, therefore, is equal to that 
part of the annual produce, or of the property gene- 
rally, which he has to dispose of, and each man's 
supply is exactly the same thing, the supply and 
d.-mand of every individual are of necessity equal. 

Demand and supply are terms related in a peculiar 



48 LECTURES OX THE 

manner. A commodity which is supplied, is always, 
at the same time, a commodity which is the instru- 
ment of demand. A commodity which is the instru- 
ment of demand, is always, at the same time, a 
commodity added to the stock of supply. Every 
commodity is always at one and the same time matter 
of demand and matter of supply. Of two men who 
perform an exchange, the one does not come with 
only a supply, the other with only a demand ; each 
of them comes with both a demand and a supply. 
The supply which he brings is the instrument of his 
demand ; and his demand and supply are of course 
exactly equal to one another. 

" But if the demand and supply of every individual 
are always equal to one another, the demand and 
supply of all the individuals in the nation taken 
aggregately, must be equal. Whatever, therefore, be 
the amount of the annual produce, it never can exceed 
the amount of the annual demand. The whole of 
the annual produce is divided into a number of shares 
equal to that of the people to whom it is distributed. 
The whole of the demand is equal to as much of the 
whole of the shares as the owners do not keep for 
their own consumption. But the whole of the shares 
is equal to the whole of the produce. The demon- 
stration, therefore, is complete. 

" How complete soever the demonstration may ap- 
pear to be, that the demand of a nation must always 
be equal to its supply, and that it never can be with- 
out a market, sufficiently enlarged for the whole of 
its produce, this proposition is seldom well under- 
stood, and is sometimes expressly contradicted. 

" The objection is raised upon this foundation, that 



N \Ti lil. AM) USE OK MONT.Y 49 

commodities are often found to be too abundant for 



Tin matter of fact is not disputed. It will 
easily, however, be seen that it affects not the cer- 
tainty of the proposition which it is brought to im- 
pugn. 

Th nigh it be undeniable that the demand which 
every man brings is equal to the supply which he 
brings, he may not find in the market the sort of pur- 
diaM i \\ hicli he wants. No man may have come de- 
siring that sort of commodity of which he has to dis- 
pose. It is not the less necessarily true, that he came 
\\itli a demand equal to his supply ; for he wanted 
something in return for the goods which he brought. 41 ' 

" Every man having a demand and a supply both 
equal, if any commodity be in greater quantity than 
the demand, some other commodity must be in less. 

" If every man has a demand and supply both equal, 
the demand and supply in the aggregate are always 
equal. Suppose, that of these two equal quantities, 
demand and supply, the one is divided into a certain 
i lumber of parts, and the other into as many parts, 
all equal ; and that these parts correspond exactly 
uitli one another; that as many parts of the demand 
as are for com, just so many parts of the supply are 
of corn ; as many of the one as are for cloth, so many 
of the other are of cloth, and so on : it is evident, 



* The omitted passage, already mentioned, occurs here, and is as 
follows : " It makes no difference to say, that perhaps he only wanted 
money ; for money is itself goods ; and, besides, no man wants money 
but in order to lay it out, either in articles of productive, or articles 
of unproductive consumption." This, as will be duly shown, u the 
Jfotuter error of the political economist*. 

D 



LECTURES ON TH K 

in this case, that there will be no glut of anything, 
whether the amount of the annual produce is great 
or small. Let us next suppose that this exact adap- 
tation to one another of the parts of demand and 
supply is disturbed ; let us suppose, the demand for 
all things remaining the same, that the supply of 
cloth is considerably increased : there will of course 
be a glut of cloth, because there has been no increase 
of demand. But to the very same amount there 
must of necessity be a deficiency of other things ; 
for the additional quantity of cloth, which has been 
made, could be made by one means only, by with- 
drawing capital from the production of other commo- 
dities, and thereby lessening the quantity produced. 
But if the quantity of any commodity is diminished 
a demand equal to the greater quantity remaining 
the quantity of that commodity is defective. It is 
therefore impossible, that there should ever be in any 
country a commodity or commodities in quantity 
greater than the demand, without there being, to an 
equal amount, some other commodity or commodi- 
ties in quantity less than the demand. 

" The effects which are produced in practice, by 
the want of adaptation in the parts of demand and 
supply, are familiar. The commodity which happens 
to be in superabundance declines in price ; the com- 
modity which is defective in quantity rises. This is 
the fluctuation of the market, which everybody suffi- 
ciently understands. The lowness of the price in the 
article which is superabundant soon removes, by the 
diminution of profits, a portion of capital from that 
line of production ; the highness of price in the 
article which is scarce, invites a quantity of capital 






i;i; \\n i SR OP MONT.Y. 51 

to that 1> ranch of production : till profits are equal i/< I 
that is, till the demand and supply are adapted to 
one anotli'T 

" The strongest case which could be put in favour 
of the supposition that produce may increase faster 
than consumption, would undoubtedly be that in 
\vhk'h every man consuming nothing but necessaries, 
all the rest of the annual produce should be saved. 
This is, indeed, an impossible case, because it is in- 
consistent with the laws of human nature. The con- 
sequences of it, however, are capable of being traced ; 
and they serve to throw light upon the argument by 
which the constant equality has been demonstrated, 
of produpe and demand. 

" In such a case, what came to every man's share 
of the annual produce, bating his own consumption 
of necessaries, would be devoted to production. All 
l>i<"luction would of course be directed to raw pro- 
duce and a few of the coarser manufactures ; because 
these are the articles for which alone there would be 
any demand. As every man's share of the annual 
produce, bating his own consumption, would be laid 
out for the sake of production, it would be laid out 
in the articles subservient to the production of raw 
produce and the coarser manufactures. But these 
articles are precisely raw produce, and a few of the 
coarser manufactures themselves. Every man's de- 
mand, therefore, would consist wholly in these ar- 
ticles ; but the whole of the supply would consist 
also in the same articles. And it has been proved, 
that the aggregate demand and aggregate supply 
are equal of necessity ; because the whole of the 
annual produce, bating the portion consumed by 



52 LECTURES ON THE 

the shareholders, is brought as the instrument of 
demand ; and the whole of the annual produce, with 
the same abatement, is brought as supply.. 

" It appears, therefore, by accumulated proof, that 
production can never be too rapid for demand. Pro- 
duction is the cause, and the sole cause, of demand. 
It never furnishes supply without furnishing demand, 
both at the same time, and both to an equal extent." 

Such is the argument of the late Mr. Mill ; which, 
leaving the thing called money out of the question, 
it is, I submit, quite impossible to refute ; and yet, 
perhaps, every person in this room will at once be 
prepared to say 

" But if this be true, there must surely be some coun- 
teracting principle at work among us ; for, practically 
speaking, I deny that production is at present the 
cause of demand. I deny that supply and demand 
are convertible terms. I deny that it is now impos- 
sible to increase the one without increasing the other, 
both at the same time, and both to an equal extent.'' 

And with ample reason would this objection be 
raised, for there is a counteracting principle at work 
among us ; and hence production is at this time no 
more the uniform cause of demand as the meaning of 
the term demand is universally and properly under- 
stood than it is the cause of the annual prevalence 
of the east wind in this city during the spring months 
of every year of our lives. The nature of this coun- 
teracting principle I shall duly and fully explain to 
you. 

I pray you, however, not to include me amongst 
the non-disciples of the political economists. In the 
course of these lectures I shall have no occasion to 



NATURE AND USB OP MONEY. 53 



oppose any doctrine of the laja PF T Ad* !n 

although j >h.-ill certainly as>umr one of his prin- 
riples l.v and 1'v. and contend for its importance to a 
much greater exit- in than hi- him.srlf has done. 

I'Yoin Mr. M'Cullocli, thru, a living author, we 
shall now take a few sentences, which should be 
correct, but which unhappily are, on the contrary, 
a mere tissue of error. 

l-'i >r example, speaking of this same subject of gluts, 
he says : " Every man's object, in exerting his pro- 
ductive powers, must be, either to consume the entire 
pro- luce of his labour himself, or to exchange it, or 
portions of it, for such commodities as he wishes to 
obtain from others. Suppose, now, that he directly 
consumes everything he produces : it is obvious 
that in such a case there can be no glut or excess ; 
for, to suppose that commodities, produced in order 
to be directly consumed by the individuals producing 
them, may be in excess, is equivalent to supposing 
that production may be carried on without any 
motive, or that there may be an effect without a 
cause ! When individuals, instead of directly con- 
suming the produce of their industry, offer it in ex- 
change to others, their miscalculation may occasion 
a glut. Should A, for example, produce commodi- 
and offer them in exchange to B or C, who is 
unable to furnish him with those he is desirous to 
obtain, he will have miscalculated, and there will be 
a glut : he should, it is obvious, have either offered 
his commodities to others, or have applied himself to 
the production of those which he wanted. This, 
however, is an error that will speedily be rectified ; 
for, if he find that he cannot attain his object by 



54 LECTURES ON THE 

prosecuting his present employment, he will forth- 
with set about changing it, producing, in time to 
come, such commodities only as he can find a mer- 
chant for, or as he means to consume. It is clear, 
therefore, that a universally increased facility of pro- 
duction can never be the cause of a permanent over- 
loading of the market."* 

Now, really there is something very tantalizing in 
all this. Mr. Mill, a first-class authority, tells us for 
certain that production is the uniform and never- 
failing cause of demand ; that the aggregate market 
cannot be overstocked ; that supply and demand are 
exchangeable terms, and that it is impossible to in- 
crease the one without increasing the other, both at 
the same time, and both to an equal extent. 

Astonished at this statement, so contrary to our 
general experience, we turn to our politico-economical 
Encyclopaedist, M'Culloch, and he tells us the self- 
same thing. 

Unfortunately, however, when these wise men have 
puzzled us every-day folks pretty nearly as much as 
they have puzzled each other, we go to some common- 
place, matter-of-fact man of business, and say to him 
Now, Mr. A. B., I have recently become a very 
learned personage. I have been reading certain cele- 
brated works on an interesting subject called Poli- 
tical Economy, and the writers tell me that " Pro- 
duction is the cause, and the sole cause of demand 
that you cannot increase supply without increasing 



* A most unmistakeable reiteration this, of the late Mr. Mill's 
argument, already quoted in full, but wanting in the item honesty, 
being unacknowledged. 



NATURE AND USB OF MONEY. 55 

demand, both at the same time, and both to an equal 
IK. I 'ray, Sir, in your experience do you find 
H sot 

Imagine the reply for I will not weary you with 
any lenirthenr.l attempt to put it into words. "A 
theory, Sir a mere theory, and one, depend upon it, 
in \\hirh there is no truth" would be the substance 
of his remarks. And such would undoubtedly be the 
correct answer. 

Then comes the great question now before us 
" If our existing monetary system were to be dis- 
carded, and if what I call a sound one were to be 
established in its stead Would production really and 
practically become the cause of demand ? or, in 
other words, would it, speaking always of aggregates, 
be precisely as easy to sell goods at a reasonable 
profit as it now is to buy them at a reasonable price, 
and that ad infinitum?" 

Most assuredly it would] and I challenge the criti- 
cal acumen of the three kingdoms to gainsay the as- 
sert ion, or to adduce any, save the most puerile and 
absurd arguments, in refutation of this most import- 
ant doctrine. In a word, the opinions of Messrs. 
Mill and M'Culloch upon this subject are not true, but 
they should be true, and true they may become when- 
ever the public shall think proper to make them so, 
and that to the very letter. Both these gentlemen, 
however, have failed to take cognizance of another 
principle at work amongst us, by the operation of 
which their reasonings have been falsified, their ex- 
pectations frustrated, and their conclusions very 
properly set aside by every practical man, as the 
tin 'oretical dogmas of a school oferror: 1 1 1 



56 LECTUKES ON THE 

of the case being, that production is the natural 
cause of demand, ad infinitum, without reference to 
any monetary system or systems whatsoever ; but 
that, unhappily, the monetary systems adopted by 
this and other nations have converted this inestim- 
able principle into a dead letter. 



NATUBE AND USE Qt MONEY. 



LECTURE III. 



PBODUCTIOS, uaturally the cause of Demand, is now the effect of 
it the operations of our existing monetary system having re- 
rersed their position. The co-equality, therefore, of Production 
and Demand which has thus been insanely suspended, must be 
restored, ere it can be potriUe for mankind to prosper. 

IN my last lecture I endeavoured to show that, 
apart from all monetary considerations whatsoever, 
production is the cause, and the sole cause of de- 
mum! ; that supply and demand are exchangeable 
terms; and that, in the aggregate, the one should ever 
be precisely equal to the other. The existence of 
over-production, therefore, in these circumstances, 
would evidently be impossible. Disproportion may 
exist, no doubt, but this is an evil which, in the scape- 
goat phrase of the political economists, will very 
speedily cure itself. 

It is however obvious, that if a great number of 
persons should meet together in a public market, for 
the purpose described in my last lecture, namely, that 
of exchanging amongst each other the varied pro- 
ducts of their respective industry each one having 
at once something to dispose of, and at the same time 
a miiltitmlr of requirements they would speedily 
ti:nl tlu'iux-lves in a most unmanageable position. 



58 LECTURES ON THE 

A has food, B clothes, and C a house, to sell. D has 
furniture, and E fuel, to dispose of. But, unhappily, 
it is all but certain that no two persons out of any 
number that might be thus collected, would chance 
to be in the fortunate situation of mutually requiring 
the precise kind and quantity of commodities which 
they should wish to buy and sell. A, for example, 
has bread to dispose of, and D a mahogany table. 
But even suppose A to be in want of the table, this 
article must surely be worth a great deal more bread 
than D can require at any one time ; and, besides, the 
proprietor of the table is in quest of many things in 
addition to bread. He wants, perhaps, a coat, a hat, 
or possibly a gallon of whisky, all of which articles are 
the respective merchandise of other dealers ; and the 
table, it is clear, cannot, without injury, be cut up 
into as many parts as its owner may require articles 
of food or dress in exchange for it. 

The man C, again, is, if possible, in a still worse pre- 
dicament. He is in search of twenty different things, 
at least, but the only property he has to offer in ex- 
change for them is a house, which one of the mer- 
chants with whom he desires to deal may chance to 
want, but who, unfortunately, is not in a position 
to give in exchange for it the very numerous com- 
modities which the would-be vender of the house 
requires. 

In what manner, then, are these bewildered mer- 
chants to exchange their commodities amongst each 
other 1 It being premised that the principle of equity 
is recognised by all as the basis of their dealings : 
each one expecting to obtain his due, but nothing 
more than his due : being, in short, equally pivp;ircl 



NATURE AND USB OF MIT 59 

to give justice and to receive it : but in what manner 
is he to act ? 

Well, then How would the principle of giving 
equal weight for we'ujlit ;UI-\MT the purpose of these 
nit n liants ? Assuredly not at all ; for a pound of 
watches, for example, would cost many times as 
much labour to produce them as a pound of potatoes. 
An elegantly-wrought silk dress or shawl, again, would 
hardly be given in exchange for an equal weight of 
common canvass or cotton cloth. Equal weight for 
weight, therefore, could not ansv. 

Try next the effect of measure for measure longi- 
tudinal, to wit. But here we are no better off; a 
yard of broadcloth for a yard of tape, for instance ! 
Tin iiK-.juality of labour required in their production 
respectively, at once settles the question ; and hence, 
then f IT. \\ith longitudinal measure for measure, we 
are in no better plight than we were with weight for 
weight. 

What, then, remains for us but to resort to solid 
contents f A cubic foot of coal, for example, in ex- 
change for a cubic foot of iron, lead, copper, silver, 
ir"M, or of precious stones ! And why not? Be- 
cause, and solely because, it would cost a hundred, 
a thousand, or a million times as much labour to 
obtain a cubic foot of these latter commodities as 
it would to obtain a cubic foot of the one first men- 
tioned. It might, for example, require the labour of 
one man for a century even could he live, enjoy 
i, and follow the pursuit so long to collect a 
cubic foot of diamonds, whilst the attainment of a 
cubic foot of coal, under ordinary circumstances, would 

the work of but merely a few minutes. 



60 LECTURES ON THE 

In equality of number, again, we should seek in 
vain for any measure of value. An equal number of 
sheep, as an article of food, could seldom equitably 
exchange for an equal number of oxen ; because the 
labour and material itself the result of labour re- 
quisite to feed and tend the former must necessarily 
be much less than that which would be required to 
feed and tend the latter. And although the carcass 
of an ox will go much farther as an article of food 
than that of a sheep, this consideration, taken by it- 
self, has nothing whatever to do with the cause of its 
commanding a higher price in the market. It is not 
equal quantities of equally nourishing or life-sup- 
porting food that exchange for each other, either 
equitably or practically ; it is the cost of production 
or relative quantity of labour expended upon them, 
that makes one thing dear and another cheap ; or, 
more properly speaking, which makes one thing com- 
mand in exchange a totally different quantity of 
another thing, and that whether the respective quan- 
tities be estimated by weight, by measure, or by 
number. 

Equal utility, again, may possibly at some time or 
other have occupied the minds of speculators whilst 
looking for a measure of value. But to lay no stress 
whatever on the fact that, in particular cases, com- 
modities are useful or otherwise in proportion to the 
estimation in which they are held to be so by men 
individually, it is obvious that water, for example, as 
a general rule, is of infinitely more utility than wine ; 
and yet no one would ever think of comparing the 
exchangeable qualities of wine with those of water. 

From what has been stated it will be seen that, as 






N ATUKB AND USE OF MONEY. 61 

nrit IK r mi ri|iial weight for weight, measure for 
measure. nnml>er tor nunil'cr. nor on equal estimated 
utility, can any equitable jtrinci^/t- of exchange be 

led, we must continue our search for one else- 
uhere. lii a \Minl. what we require is a measure of 
value, without which, of sonic kind or other, good, 
bad, or indifferent, commerce would cease to be com- 
n ii ice, society would cease to be society, and the en- 
tire race of civilized man would degenerate into a state 
of barbarism. For if all our exchanges of labour for 

ir, of produce for produce, and of mutual service 
t'< >r mutual service, were to be restricted in number and 
extent to those which could take place in the ab- 
sence of any recognised measure of value, every 
man. it is clear, must necessarily consume the best 
half of his time in exchanging, by the clumsy pro- 
cess of barter, the surplus produce of his own indus- 
try for portions of the surplus produce of the indus- 
t iv of fifty other people. In short, as already stated, 
in addition to scales and weights, to measures of 
length and measures of solidity, we must have a 
measure of value, by means of which all transactions 
between man and man, other than those of gratui- 
tous service or mere barter, may be carried on ; and 
we must have also instruments of exchange. 

And thus we are now conducted by gradual and 
easy steps to the consideration of the great problem 
which we have proposed for our solution money ; 
and not, I trust, for our solution only, for throughout 
tin- length and breadth of this land there are at 
the present time a great number of persons who 
strongly doubting the soundness of the existing mone- 

system seem magnanimously to have resolved 



62 LECTURES ON THE 

no longer to inherit the pecuniary wisdom of their 
forefathers, without testing its quality, and judging of 
it for themselves. And great and glorious will be the 
day for the sons and daughters of mankind, when 
this resolve shall have been fully, fairly, and generally 
carried into effect. 

Premising, then, that the use of money is to enable 
us to effect exchanges, which can neither be equitably 
made upon the principle of equal weight, equal 
measure, equal number, or of equal utility, the desir- 
able qualities of money may be thus enumerated : 

I. Durability. This quality is essential only so far 
as regards the intrinsic value of money itself. If a 
pound in money should, as in the case of gold coin, 
carry within itself the value which it represents, the 
quality of durability is of much importance, because 
in the absence of it, the mere annual cost of the ma- 
terial whereof to make money would constitute a 
serious annual tax upon the country. But if, on the 
other hand, the money chiefly in use be merely re- 
presentative, as in the case of bank-notes, then as a 
pennyworth of paper and printing may represent 
from two hundred and forty times to two hundred 
and forty thousand times its own value, the quality 
of durability sinks into insignificance, and may indeed 
be altogether set aside as one of no importance what- 
soever. So far, then, we have every reason to be 
content with money as it is. 

II. Portability. Portability, or the facility of 
transmitting money from place to place, at very little 
expense, in sums the smallest or the largest, and that 
with perfect security against loss, is already so admir- 
ably afforded in this country, that there would seem to 



NAT i in: AND USE OF MOV ;3 

be ban 11 v any room lor improvement upon our existing 
monetary system in this particular. Whilst, again, the 
portability of money which any person may wish to 
nl with his >r her own hand is such, that a 
duchess might easily carry about with her enough 
money to purchase the commodities of half a street, 
without hein.ir at all inconvenienced by the act of be- 
coming her own purse-bearer. So that here again 
all is well with money as it is. 

III. iJii'tsib titty and consequent Convenience. 
None of the inconveniences which we have enume- 

l as unavoidable under any system of mere barter 
a iv at all chargeable against our present usage. A 
farthing is a very small sum of money, a million of 
pounds sterling a very large one ; and yet whosoever 
may be indebted either in the one amount or the 
other, or in any amount whatever between the two, 
can have no difficulty in settling with his creditor, 
if he have but enough of money wherewith to pay 
him the existing divisibility of money being suffi- 
ciently perfect for all practical purposes. 

IV. Uniformity of Quality and Weight.* The 
former is insured to us by the Mint Stamp impressed 
upon our coins ; whilst the impress of the genuine 
plates <>{' the iv>pective banks of issue, guarantees 

goodness of paper money to the extent, that 

is to say, of the banker's ability to redeem it. The 

is, indeed, thrown upon us to detect the fictitious 

or note, as the case may be, whenever either the 

or the other may be offered to us. But experi- 
has proved that there is not any great practical 

* Of wfiyAt in certain dues only, M will be fully demonstrated 
in a future lecture. 



64 LECTURES ON THE 

difficulty in detecting either. So that here again we 
must hold our monetary system sufficient as it is. 
We have no mode, certainly, of ascertaining the 
weight of any coin, except that of taking the trouble 
to weigh it. But to do this seems to be necessary 
only in the case of gold, for persons, now-a-days, 
are but seldom seen to weigh silver money, and copper 
money never. The word still therefore is content. 

V. So many good and useful qualities being thus 
conceded to our monetary system as it is, wherein, 
it may be asked, consists its great defect f What 
is the bad quality which has so far overbalanced all 
the good ones in my estimation, as to have induced 
me to volunteer a course of lectures against it, and 
to offer to discuss the subject with the Editor of the 
Leading Journal of Europe, for the sum of five hund- 
red guineas ? * 

My objection to the existing monetary system is, 
in a single word, its dearness. I admit the sufficiency 
of its durability, portability, divisibility, convenience 
when we have it and uniformity of quality and 
weight ; but I altogether deny it to possess the merit 
of cheapness. 

Premising, then, that the whole amount of the 
taxes is, in round numbers, about the sum of fifty 
millions of pounds sterling per annum ; premising 
that the whole income of the country has been vari- 
ously estimated at from four hundred millions to five 
or six hundred millions per annum ; and premising 
that the national debt stands in our books at some- 
where about eight hundred millions What is the 
annual cost of maintaining our monetary system f 



* See explanation in the Appendix. 



NA'ITRB AND USB OP MON ll/i 

lit as much as one million of pounds sterling, or 
millions? -five millions, or ten millions ? twenty 
millions, or fifty millions? In a word, are all our 
otluT taxes put together as serious a burden upon 
the country as tin- single tax on our money ? or does 
tin- cost of our money maintenance amount to any 
less sum than one hundred millions of pounds per 
annum v in other words, to any less sum than one- 
eighth part of that greatest of all bugbears the 
national debt itself ? 

I reply to these inquiries by affirming that, upon 
tin- most moderate computation, the cost of our 
monetary system is certainly not less than one 
hundred millions per annum. A larger sum than 
this I believe it to be, and probably a much larger 
one ; but one hundred millions per annum is the very 
lowest fraction that we pay for it. And if I should be 
able to make out this statement to your satisfaction, 
as well as to my own, I expect you will agree with 
me in thinking, that our said monetary system is 
wmttiny in the essential quality of cheapness that 
u have paid too much for our whistle and that 
if it really costs us the sum of one hundred millions 
per aim inn to keep it in tune, the sooner we get rid 
of the gilded toy the better. 

On the altar of this golden calf, then, which in 
ignorance we have set up and worshipped, have we 
sacrificed that great principle in Political Economy 
which I explained to you in my last lecture, Produc- 
tion the Cause of Demand. In vain did the late Mr. 
Mill labour to prove that production is the cause of 
ilriiiHii'l -that supply and demand are exchangeable 
terms that we never can increase the one without 



66 LECTURES ON THE 

increasing the other, both at the same time, and both 
to an equal extent ; for to the Idol gold have we 
sacrificed every vestige of the principle on which the 
late Mr. Mill reasoned to this conclusion. And 
equally in vain is it that the existing Mr. J. R. 
M'Culloch has insisted, in the argument to which I 
called your attention the other evening, on the self- 
same doctrine. He and Mr. Mill have alike failed to 
perceive, that whilst every word of their arguments 
upon this subject should be true, every syllable of 
them is in reality false. Production is not the uni- 
form and never-failing cause of demand now ; would 
to God that it were so ! in which case we should hear 
very little more either of English Chartism or of 
Irish Repeal. The principle, in short, for which 
both these gentlemen one of them so ably have 
contended has no practical existence. It has been 
expelled in the meantime from the face of the so- 
called civilized world ; which world would, however, 
best exhibit the reality of its civilization by recalling 
this important principle, and bringing it into full 
operation with the least possible delay. 

But where, it will be demanded, do I get my 
hundred millions per annum cost of monetary mainte- 
nance in the present day 1 Is it in the wear and tear of 
the gold itself 1 Is it in the cost of the precious metal, 
with so large a quantity of which it is necessary for 
us to be provided to carry on our trade "? Or is it 
by reference to the indirect, tedious, and unsatisfac- 
tory manner in which money is supplied to us, by 
parties over whom we have no control, that I seek to 
justify the bold assertion which I have made \ As- 
suredly in none of these ; for I am quite able to give 



N MURE AND USE OP MONKY. 67 

you the entire sum of cm- hundred millions, \vliich I 
li ;i\ i- set down as being the minimum cost per annum 
of our present monetary system, in a tingle item. 

Taki . \\n>\\, first, the present annual income of the 
country at///v hundred millions, at \vhidi nun I tliink 
it h;i> IMVH MTV nm'lrnitely estimated ; seeing that 
without going into any other evidence the taxes we 
pay annually are about fifty millions, and the total 
income of the country certainly cannot be less than 
ten times their amount. 

Then take, secondly, the annual income of the coun- 
try, as it mnild be under the influence of a monetary 
system, connected with which /iroportionate production 
ii'<il<l rt'ullii become the uniform and never-faHiiKj 
cause of demand when to sell goods at a fair price for 
money would be just as easy as it now is to buy them 
at a fair price with money, and that ad in fin it inn. 
Say, in a word, that we are placed in circumstances, by 
means of which the whole productive powers of the 
nation would be brought into full and vigorous opera- 
tion ; and then say whrthi>r the entire <n1 united pro- 
ducts of the labour of this country would or would not 
be increased in the ratio of five to six? 

And if you admit that, under the circumstances I 
described, the products of labour certainly would 
be increased to this extent, then you do also confess 
that the actual cost to this nation of its existing mone- 
tary system amounts to the sum of at least one hun- 
livd millions per annum, taking goods, money, labour, 
and everything else at their present money value. For 
' nature of our monetary system it is wholly and 
uttrihtitiililf, I It at proportionate production is not 
nt this present hour the cause of demand, ad infinitmn. 



68 LECTURES ON THE 

not only in this country but in every other civilized 
portion of the globe which we inhabit. 

But to explain the precise manner in which the 
existing monetary system operates so fearfully to 
our disadvantage : 

It is, then, not merely a well-understood principle 
in Political Economy, but it is also a fact I make 
this distinction because many of the so-called well- 
understood principles in Political Economy are not 
facts that whenever the demand for any commodity 
increases, the money price of that commodity rises, 
as compared with other things ; unless and ob- 
serve particularly the nature of the exception the 
commodity itself be of such a kind that it can be 
brought to market without any increased rate of cost, 
in sufficient quantities to supply the extra demand, 
in which case it will not necessarily advance in price. 
Now, take any commodity you please, not actually 
multipliabk ad libitum by the exercise of human labour, 
and let it be your measure of value. In ounces or 
pounds, in yards or acres of this commodity, let all 
your money-contracts be made, all your goods be 
priced, all your taxes levied let, in a word, your 
pound, shilling, and penny consist respectively of a 
pound-weight, a twentieth of a pound- weight, and a 
two hundred and fortieth of a pound- weight or measure 
of this commodity. Then be it gold or silver, brass 
or copper, pearls or diamonds, or be it some especial 
thing, brought from another world for the express pur- 
pose of being to us money, and I defy the wit of man 
to show that the two things this measure of value, as 
it is supposed to have become and the great principle 
of production the cause of demand, can by any possi- 



NATURE AMD USB OP MOM.V. 69 



bi/ift/ co-exist for onesnlilnri/ //>'/-, in ///// nn(inn upon 
the face of the earth ! And why '. Simply because to 
ili- existence of <///// mercantile system in which pro- 
duction shall he tlit- uniform eau-e i.f demand, money 

tin- modes of using it remaining the same must 
increase just exact hi and precisely as fast as all other 
market, -i I le commodities put together ; for if it do 
do this, every commodity multipliable by the 
exercise of human industry faster than money itself 
although costing no diminished labour to produce it, 
will fall in money-price ; and from that instant, the 
greatest and most important principle in Political 
i'>my that ever occupied the mind of man Pro- 
duction the cause of Demand is expelled from our 
commercial system, and, practically speaking, an- 
nihilated. 

I repeat, that, the mode of using it remaining the 
same, it is absolutely necessary to the natural deve- 
lopment of the wealth of nations, and to the wellbeing 
of society, that money should increase just exactly 
and precisely as fast as all other marketable commodi- 
ties put together, but no faster. 

Suppose the existence at the present time of a mil- 
lion pounds' worth of marketable property of various 
kinds in the city of Edinburgh seeking for customers, 
and that what would now be called a fair proportion 
of customers, with money in their hands, are both able 
and disposed to buy the whole of it. When, however, 
the customers are just about to make their intended 
purchases the property for sale comes, somehow or 
other, to be doubled ; whilst there is no increase, on the 
other hand, of money wherewith to buy it. It is ob- 
vious that all the property for sale must inevitably fall 
in f trice. Practically speaking, however, the supposed 



70 LECTURES ON THE 

addition to the stock never would take place, seeing 
that, however able parties might be to bring all these 
goods to market, they certainly never would bring 
them to such a market, knowing, as they could easily 
do by a little timely inquiry, the state, present and 
prospective, of the market. 

Thus production, naturally the cause of demand, 
is practically the effect of it, the operations of our 
monetary system having reversed their position. 

Whilst, therefore, it is admitted that money, as it 
is now constituted, has afforded us the advantages of 
durability, portability, divisibility, and some others ; 
whilst it has superseded the cumbrous and imprac- 
ticable system of barter, or the direct exchange of 
goods for goods of all kinds and denominations ; 
it has, at the same time, suspended the operation of 
a principle of which we were in possession before 
money existed at all, of such inestimable value, and 
at the same time so peculiarly applicable to the pre- 
sent exigencies of society, that we can no longer af- 
ford to do without it. 

In short, we have sold our birthright ! Esau sold his 
for a mess of pottage, and we have bartered ours for 
gold ! Nay I say it with reverence we have gone 
the length of countermanding the very decrees of God 
himself, and that whether we take those decrees from 
the book of Genesis or from the book of Nature ; for 
it is equally and unmistakeably affirmed by both these 
authorities, that man shall live by the sweat of his 
brow that he shall live by labour. 

But no, says our golden standard of value ; man 
shall not live by the sweat of his brow, for he shall 
not labour to any greater extent, at least, than it 
may be my will and pleasure to permit him. He 



NATURE AND USB OP MOM V 71 

shall live henceforth by the sweat of his brain. I1-- 
shall not obtain and enjoy that quantity of wealth 
\\hii-h his in.lustry would enable him to create, but 
he shall forthwith be restricted to such a measure of 
wealth as his ingenuity may enable him to exck<i/i</<' 
t"i certain (jiiantitit's of one of the scarcest commo- 
ilities upon the face of the earth. 

1'Yom the hour, then, in which men, by human 
laws, declared that gold should become the measure 
of the value of all other commodities, of all debts, of 
all pecuniary obligations, and of all pecuniary credits ; 
from that hour, I say, a Law of God was, by an Act 
of the British Parliament, broken, set aside, repealed, 
suspended, and obedience thereunto declared punish- 
able : punishable, too, not by capricious man, not by 
the judges presiding in our courts of law, in whom 
is oftentimes vested the power of mitigation, when 
the cases before them may seem to warrant the ex- 
ercise of the prerogative of mercy ; but punishable 
by the never yet broken law of natural consequence. 
For certain it is, that the self-same Act of Parliament, 
which t./v//Wgiihl into our standard of value, debased 
production, formerly her progenitor, friend, and equal, 
into the handmaid of demand. 

And herein consists the great secret of all our com- 
mercial troubles. A secret undiscovered by Smith. 
blundered alike by Mill and M'Culloch, the key-stone 
of the whole Malthusian delusion, and the stumbling- 
block of those inveterate players at blind-man's-buff* 
Nii- Robert Peel and his numerous disciples: amongst 
whom there is not one man who can put pen to paper 
upon the subject of supply and demand without forth- 
with committing some egregious absurdity or other. 



72 LECTURES ON THE 

Dr. Adam Smith, unfortunately, did not record 
his opinions upon this particular subject at any 
length ; and that for the best of all reasons, perhaps, 
namely, that he never formed any. 

Mr. Mill asserts boldly enough, and labours, indeed, 
to prove, that production is the cause of demand, and 
that ad infinitum forgetting, obviously, that if this 
were true, the task of selling goods at a fair price for 
money would be exactly and precisely as easy as that 
of buying them with money. Then into the head of 
Professor Malthus, again, it certainly never entered, 
whilst composing his two volumes of anti-population 
denunciations, that demand is now the cause of pro- 
duction; and that these two words must change places 
that is to say, production must become the cause of 
demand, before any one sentence of his theory can 
be examined with all the facts of the case before us. 

And is it a matter of no consequence to the pro- 
duction of food, for example, that the actual quantity 
of food produced depends now upon the prospective 
quantity of gold coin that may be ready in the market 
to buy it \ in place of depending, as depend it should, 
solely and singly, upon our ability to produce a suffi- 
cient quantity of food itself for the use of the existing 
population ? It would, for instance, be a mere truism 
to say, that the quantity of fish at present brought to 
market might easily be increased a hundred-fold a 
thousand-fold would be much nearer the truth. And 
if this commodity as dried and salted it should he- 
were itself the cause of demand equal to the extent of 
the quantity produced, I wonder when we should hear 
of such another Scottish Destitution Fund as that 
which marked but yesterday, in characters never to 



N \Ti i:r. AND USB OF MON 7* 

be i-lVared, at once the benevolence and the ignorance 
<>f thi> <z aeration ! 

J f. in the aggregate, it were as easy to sell the pro- 
tlinv .. I mm's labour at a fair profit as it is to set 
men to work, what would become of poverty \ 
what of our periodical subscriptions for the support 
f UK ii !>oth able and willing to labour for their own 
support ? 

Then if we pass from the writings of our political 
economists to those of the periodical critics and re- 
\ie\\ers of the day, appeareth it ever to enter the 
heads of any of these gentlemen I speak of t lit in 
as a class that production, naturally the cause of 
demand, is now the effect of it \ and that, therefore, 
as a necessary consequence of this state of things, it 
is utterly impossible for any living man to measure 
the extent of our productive resources, during the 
existence of any such condition ? The answer unfor- 
tunately is, that these gentlemen, collectively speaking, 
understand the subject precisely as well as so many 
children of five years old. 

The fact is, that we have bound our trade and com- 
merce hand and foot ; and, having done this to our 
hearts' content, we gape and stare at each other like 
so many persons stupified ! observe, on meeting in 
t, "Shocking times these! business very dull !" 
To which novel and original remarks, echo replies 
"Very!" 

What, then, it will be asked, are the proper quali- 
>f money ? To which question I reply that they 
arc just exactly those which we have- already enumer- 
ated, to which add the first, the greatest, and tin- 
most i n Us pcnsable quality of all, namely 



74 LECTURES ON THE 

That money must be of such a nature and quality 
that production due proportion being preserved in 
the commodities produced shall henceforth resume 
its natural right, the right, that is to say, of creating 
demand equal to itself; and that, as I have elsewhere 
stated, whether production be increased a hundred, 
a thousand, a million, or a hundred-thousand-million- 
fold. Demand, in short, must ever be able to say to 
Production " Still am I your equal in the race." 

It is no part, however, of the business of this even- 
ing's lecture to show in what manner this great de- 
sideratum may be effected : the proposition at pre- 
sent before us being merely that production is not 
now the necessary cause of demand. And having al- 
ready elucidated this doctrine by a general appeal to 
facts well known to you all, it yet remains for me to 
exemplify still more fully than heretofore, the causes 
why, co-existently with the present monetary system 
of society, it is a mere impossibility for production to 
be the cause of demand at present. 

In farther explanation, then, of the principle for 
which we are contending, I shall now read over to 
you one of my former arguments upon the same sub- 
ject, published in 1842. 

" The existing limit to production may be easily 
defined. Nature is at all times willing that we should 
enjoy whatever quantity of wealth our industry and 
ability may be competent to fashion out of the mate- 
rial that she has so profusely spread before us. Man 
can have nothing without exertion ; but never ought 
he to attain anything short of those means of enjoy- 
ment which his labour can procure for him, as limited 
either by its positive exhaustion, or by his own in- 



\\T! 1:1; AND USB OF MONn. 75 

o!i>|.oMtion t< acti\itv. Hi- has not yet, however, ex- 
hausted his productive ]>owera, neither has he satis- 
liis wants. The former are so great, that it 
would be a difficult task to estimate or mea>ure them ; 
whiUt the latter, real and imaginary, are so numi-r- 
ous, that the art of supplying tliem is but as the 
sowing of see<l <le>tine.l to produce a crop. 

The British nation, then, has fixed upon a certain 
commodity, and rendered it by law a standard of 
value. It has declared that a certain fixed weight of 
gold shall be denominated a pound sterling ; and 
that the value of all other things shall be determined 
lv the number of pounds sterling, or portions there- 
of, which they will buy or sell for. The consequence 
of this regulation is, that gold being the legal stand- 
ard of value, whatever may be the existing quantity 
thereof, and of its representative, bank-notes, in the 
hands of persons requiring marketable produce, that 
mmntttu, be it much or be it little, is the utmost that 
can be obtained in exchange for the simultaneously 
exist ing quantity of goods seeking to be exchanged 
for money in other words, for sale in the public 
market. If the quantity of money in the hands of 
persons willing to part with it for goods be one hun- 
dred and no more, the goods in the market can fetch 
on- hundred and no more; and, consequently, if the re 
he more goods in the market than are considered by 
their proprietors to be worth that sum of money 
for example, by one-half, then it is obvious 
that the surplus half must either remain on hand un- 
sold, or the entire quantity must be reduced in price 
to the sum of one hundred pounds, hundreds of 
]'mi<U. thousands, or millions, it is all the same. 



76 LECTUKES ON THE 

" Start, then, with an example, in which both money 
and goods may be said to be at par, that is to say, 
when all the goods for sale in the market find ready 
purchasers at a remunerating price ; and when, also, 
the demand for goods is equalled by the supply of 
them. Such, then,, being the state of the case, we 
have only to keep adding to the stock of goods, 
without adding to the stock of money, in order to 
obtain a very clear view of the present commercial 
state of this country, thus : 

Goods, . . 100, money . 100, a fair price. 
Increase the goods to 110, money still 100, loss 10 per cent. 
Increase the goods to 120, money still 100, loss 20 per cent. 
Increase the goods to 150, money still 100, loss 50 per cent. 
Increase the goods to 200, money still 100, loss 100 per cent. 
Or ?io sales until the tables shall be turned. 

" The modes of employing it, then, remaining the 
same, the necessity for a circulating medium, which 
may constantly and habitually increase as fast as 
the aggregate of all marketable produce, is sufficiently 
obvious ; for, if money do not do this, one of two 
things must inevitably happen either prices must 
fall, and that in exact proportion to the difference 
between the increase of goods and that of money, 
or else production must stop. There is no alternative, 
or evasion to which we can resort ; no scapegoat of 
any kind whatever, by means of which these conse- 
quences can be avoided. 

" As, then, the aggregate of goods cannot be in- 
creased faster than the aggregate of money, without 
the inevitable result of loss to their producers, an or- 
dinary consequence is, that loss is the result of pro- 
duction. Tempted by a craving disposition to em- 






i:r. AND USE OF M"- 77 

}>l>y their capital, and " t<> make money," as they call 
it. I iy tli. of their trad. -s. mamifarturers, one 

!MT <(' them, are for ever over-stepping this line 
of denial-ration. I'mt. unfortunately, they do not in 
thi> rase makr money, but goods, or rather bads for 
a good that can hardly be which sends its manufac- 
tmvr into the gazette, and his wife into the poor- 

llOll 

44 And this it is which constitutes what is miscalled 
production. Goods being increased faster than 
money, their price falls, and the fool exclaims 'Oh, 
the evils of over-production !' whilst it may be de- 
monstrated in twenty different ways, thai there 
never was, never will, and never by any possibility 
can be, any writ thing as an aggregate over-produc- 
tion of commodities. It is the under-production of 
money, added to a total want of any definite prin- 
ci/i/f, either in the increase or diminution thereof, 
which constitutes the real evil. Start again at par, 
as already defined, a fair profit being the result of 
production ; regulate the increase of money by the 
increase of goods, instead of regulating, as at present, 
the increase of goods by the pro tempore supply of 
money, and you may multiply your productions a 
hundred, a thousand, a million or a hundred-thousand- 
million-fold, and be still as far from over-production 
as ever. There will be no such thing ; there can be 
no such thing, nor the least imaginable prospect or 
possibility of it : Proportionate increase being the 
one and only qualification required to the assertion. 

" But the increase of goods does not generally go on 
\vh -n that of money stops ; for, although imprudence 
frequently oversteps the boundary, prudence murh 



78 LECTURES ON THE 

more frequently restrains us within it : the latter, in- 
deed, is the rule, the former the exception. Produc- 
tion comes then to a stand-still, and when ? When the 
wants of the producers are supplied ! when they are 
all physically happy and comfortable! when each and 
all of them have a house and home, and the means 
of supporting a wife and family, if they chance to 
have them ! furniture, musical instruments, books, 
and, in a word, whatever is necessary to make life 
comfortable, in the ordinary acceptation of the term ! 
No ! with the ability in their hands to supply every 
individual inhabitant of these realms with the neces- 
saries, comforts, and many of the minor luxuries of 
life, their productive efforts stop and stop they 
must, so long as the present monetary system shall 
exist and that long ere they have supplied the num- 
bers of society with even a sufficiency of the first 
necessaries of human life that is to say, with food, 
raiment, and decent habitation." * 

But there is another view of the subject of money 
to which we must now give our attention. 

We have, then, a commodity circulating in the world 
of business, called money, namely gold. And it would 
scarcely affect our argument to introduce the consi- 
deration of bank-notes, because bank-notes, although 
not made of gold themselves, are, or should be, the 
mere representatives, or evidences of the existence, 
of gold in store, ready at any moment to be given, 
if required, in exchange for the notes in circulation ; 
just as the undoubted ownership of the title-deeds 

* " Efficient Remedy for the Distress of Nations," by the same 
Author, pages 100 to 104. 



NATI IM. AM) USE OP MONEY. 79 

of heritable property are, to all marketable intents 
aii'l purposes whatsor\<-r. . .|iii\alcnt to the produc- 
tion ut'thr property itself. 

No fixed weight, then, of any valuable thing in this 
world ever was, is now, or ever by any conceir(t/>/<- 
possllnlitii can become a measure of value. 

Gold is the legal measure of value now, no doubt. 
But it is so only as in arithmetic two and two might 
be legally declared no longer four, but six. Let such 
a law be made and then it will be admitted at once 
that, legally speaking, two and two are six, and six 
tliry will be quite as certainly at least as gold is now 
anv ival measure of value. But still two and two are 
not six ; neither is gold a measure of value ; neither 
gold at any period of time a measure of value ; 
neither in this world can gold ever by any possibility 
become a measure of value, any more easily than St 
Paul's ('athnlral can be sent upon an experimental 
trip to new Zealand or the moon. 

!' r if gold, instead of being merely nick-named a 
measure of value, were in reality one, an ounce of 
gold would, under all ordinary circumstances, be ob- 
tainable by the exercise of equal quantities of capital, 
skill, and labour, usefully employed. A more im- 
possibility this, however, for the very sufficient reason, 
that whilst capital, skill, and labour may be exercised 
in a thousand different ways, and ten thousand more 
besides, gold is in an especial manner one of the few 
commodities which are not capable of being increased 
in due proportion with everything else. 

A-ater, for example, were wanted for any pur- 
pose, in some particular place the modes of raising 
conveying it remaining the same during the whole 



80 LECTURES ON THE 

period of the requirement the last gallon thereof that 
should be required would be obtainable with just as 
little labour as the first gallon. But if water of an 
especial kind obtainable from some particular well, 
and from it only, would answer the intended purpose, 
and if the said well should be found to yield but a 
constantly diminishing quantity in proportion to the 
demands that should be made upon it, then might the 
last gallon of water required be obtainable only by a 
greatly increased quantity of labour, waiting, and 
watchfulness, and hence it might be worth -from two 
or three times to two or three hundred times as much 
money as the first barrel. 

Apply this illustration to gold. Can the metal 
gold, here in this country, be obtained at all times, 
and under all circumstances, in constantly increased 
quantities in exchange for precisely corresponding in- 
creased quantities of the products of capital, skill, and 
labour, usefully employed ? 

Taking the existing quantity and market-price of 
goods and gold as the starting-point If we double the 
quantity of goods will they infallibly exchange for 
double the weight of gold \ If we multiply their 
quantity by a hundred or by a thousand, will they 
still continue, and that for certain, to exchange for 
a hundred or a thousand times the weight of gold ? 

Assuredly they will not! and if not, then do I 
affirm that gold is no more truly a measure of value, 
than ice in hot weather ; which, in exact proportion 
as it may become scarce whilst the demand for it 
will increase from the self-same cause which melts it, 
namely heat will rise in money-price. 

Money, be it gold or be it ice, can be no measure 



NATURE AND USE OF MONEY. 81 

-f Y,ih. , ,i any increase whatever of such aggre- 
gate marketable produce, as may continue to cost 
>'int of labour to create it, can bo the 
c.-iu>e of any fall whatever in the money price of 
tli at pm-liice. I say emphatically markehtble produce, 
by which I mean to designate all such goods as people 
in general are in the constant practice of buying, who 
possess the means wherewith to make such purchases 
as they desire to make. 

If one day's labour of any given kind, duration, 
and quality, bring a certain weight of gold, will ten 
days' labour of the like description, twelve months 
hence, bring ten times, and a hundred days' labour 
one hundred times, that weight of gold ? 

No person here present needs to be told that it is a 
mere matter of chance whether these respective quan- 
tities of labour will or will not command equal quan- 
tities of money per hour's work, in exchange for 
them in the present state of society. 

What an utter absurdity, then, is our Parlia- 
<try measure of value! Ten times ten bushels 
of corn will measure one hundred bushels. Ten 
time* ten pounds' weight of tea will weigh one hun- 
dred pounds. Ten times ten yards of cloth will 
measure one hundred yards. But let the money 
tamed by the exercise of any given number of days' 
laliour of a certain kind, quality, and duration, be just 
now ten shillings, and the money earned by the ex- 
ercise of ten times the self-same kind, quality, and 
duration of labour a short time hence, may be eighty 
shillings, a hundred shillings, or a hundred and 
t \\enty si i ill ings, according to the mere scarcity or 

plciuifulness of th<- single commodity called ////. 

I 



82 LECTURES ON THli 

Hence is our so-called measure of value a farce, a 
fiction, a Will-o'-the-wisp. It is just a pint measure 
of to-day, which held a quart yesterday, a gallon 
the day before, and may hold a gill to-morrow. 
And would to God that it were nothing worse than 
this ! but it is something worse It is an instrument 
of destruction, compared with which gunpowder is 
harmless, and the sword a toy. 

For if our productive powers and resources were 
in reality so extensive that we could feed, clothe, 
lodge, furnish, educate, and otherwise amply provide 
for the inhabitants of another planet in addition to 
those of our own ; and if we should be inclined to 
exercise our said productive powers accordingly, 
why then instantly would step forth the law of 
gold, and imperatively exclaim, Stop, I command 
you! whilst every created man would forthwith 
obey the injunction, for the very sufficient reason 
that if he should fail to do so, the price in money 
of his goods would fall, and hence loss instead of 
profit would be his for evermore that is to say, 
until he should retrace his steps, and bow in humble 
submission to the dictates of a law, originally framed 
in the grossest ignorance of its real nature ; tolerated 
until this day by the same deplorable folly ; and impati- 
ently endured still by men blinder than the mole, and 
ten times more stupid than the owl, whose sagacity, 
superior to their own, they are for ever accustomed 
to libel. Upon the nature of this law, however, the 
public seems at length to have fixed its inquiring 
eye, as a preliminary to its eternal abolition from the 
face of human society. Members of the British Legis- 
lature Peel, Russell, Cobden, et hoc genus omne, 



P.r. AND USE OF MONET. 83 

have yet to become acquainted with the mo.st im- 
portant truth, that 

No increase of well-proportioned produce, however 
t however inconceivably enormous which pro- 
duce should continue to cost the same amount of 
labour per yard, per pound, or per foot, to create it, 
could give occasion to the fall of one farthing in its 
money price, had we in practical existence any such 
thiiiLT a* an accurate measure of value any more 
than weight, measure, or number, can become les*, 
jH'i- equal quantity, in o.iiMMjurnce it' its immensity ; 
and neither, by any possibility, could well propor- 
tioned production in these circumstances ever over- 
take demand. 

And yet, inconceivable as it will appear to the 
future historian of the age in which we live, the fact 
that prices fall whenever goods increase at a more 
/ rate than money, is perfectly well known t> 
the very men who uphold the existing monetary sys- 
tem, as proved by their respective writings I These 
gentlemen, however, in reasoning upon the sub- 
ject, come not to the conclusion that the said mone- 
tary system is the greatest absurdity upon the face of 
the earth, but at a time when the whole quantity of 
our productions do certainly not exceed five-sixths 
of their unhirul amount, they forthwith begin to 
rave about over-production and over-speculation ; and 
strenuously insist that, so far as money is concerned, 
all is right or in other words, that it is not food, 
clothes, houses, furniture, instruction, and recreation, 
for the attainment of which mankind in general should 
tight to exert themselves, but for gold, gold, 
and nothing but gold. And not even for gold, either 



84 LECTURES ON THE 

as an instrument of domestic exchange, or as a medium 
through which nations may be enabled to come into 
more constant and beneficial reciprocity ; but gold 
itself the metal gold, is the summum bonum of their 
existence, for the attainment of which, by a few 
hundreds or thousands of society, starvation to the 
working classes, and perplexity, distress, and failure, 
as the rule rather than the exception to the classes 
mercantile, is not considered to be too high a price. 

Think ye that this is an exaggerated or over- 
drawn picture of our condition ? It is no such thing ! 
Truth would carry the same line of argument to a 
much greater length than I am disposed to carry it, 
at least on the present occasion. What, indeed, I 
chiefly aim at is, to put you on the right scent to 
the end that whenever the miseries of society may 
chance to be the subject of conversation, you may 
be able to point with unfailing certainty to those 
laws which have condemned our race to an artificial 
state of privation and distress. For certain it is, that 
our commercial troubles are not natural to our situa- 
tion in the world, neither are they irremediable. On 
the contrary, they have been created, and to this 
day perpetuated, by Act of Parliament, and by Act of 
Parliament may they at any time be terminated. 

To proceed, however, with our argument. Well 
then, in truth, measure of value have we none, 
and neither has the public, strictly speaking, an in- 
strument of exchange of any kind,* good, bad, or 
indifferent. 

To weigh, to measure, or to number any sort of 
goods, costs us little or nothing ; whilst, strange to say, 
it requires the possession of a no less sum of money 



l; I. A X I) USE OP 110N E Y. s . > 

t/mn they are ivorth, to act as the mere instrument of 
exchaii'/ni'i one kind of them for another. In short, 
goods must be sold for money to some JTIM.M \\h<> 
requires tin -in. before their owner can be placed in 
a condition to buy any other goods with the money 
hi* own are wortli. 

/// place of which I shall prove to you, that all men 
may, without a shadow of difficulty y be placed in cir- 
cumstances to buy the property of others, the very in- 
stant that they are in a position to sell their OH'H : 
in which case, production, now the invariable conse- 
quence of demand, actual or anticipated, would be- 
i -i >ine the unfailing cause of it. 

And this proposition, as I shall duly explain, is not 
in the least degree affected by the fact, that the 
ultimate value of all marketable produce can only 
be ascertained by the answer to the question For 
how much money will it really sett? which, ind< ><!. 
is the self-evident test of all marketable value. 

But, what I am here contending for is, not merely 
that our present instrument of exchange is imperfect, 
but that, in fact, we have no public instrument of 
exchange at all. 

A number of merchants, for example, meet in a 
public market, each of them having goods in plenty 
for sale, but nothing else, in consequence of all their 
property having been converted into stock. In what 
ner, then, are they to exchange amongst each 
oilier the various commodities that individually and 
collectively belong to them ? 

Their condition is obviously that of a fix ; for 
although all of them are anxious to sell, that they may 
wards be able to buy, none of them can 



86 LECTURES UN THE 

because none are in a condition to be the first to buy : 
their trade, therefore, is at a stand-still. 

But where is the banker ? where the man of gold ? 
will not he place them in a situation to do all that 
they require ? 

Verily, he will not ! In his private character, in- 
deed, he will buy from them just so many commodi- 
ties as he himself may require for his own use or 
consumption ; but in his capacity of banker, nothing. 
In exchange for his gold, he will take neither tea 
nor sugar, cloth nor canvass, tables nor chairs. And 
if you have any doubt upon the subject, just go 
to-morrow to the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank, 
or to the British Linen Company, with a drove of 
oxen, a score of sheep, or fifty dozen of wine, and 
ask the teller to place the same to the credit of 
your account. 

To which request he will assuredly reply " Sirs, 
for oxen we have no byre, for sheep we have no pas- 
ture, and for the reception of wine we have no cel- 
lars. Upon the security of these things, or some of 
them, under certain arrangements, we may possibly 
lend you money at the current rate of interest, but we 
buy them not. You deal respectively in the goods 
you have enumerated ; we deal in money, which it 
is our business to sell, to lend, and to exchange only 
for money ; and you have no more business to come 
here with your oxen, sheep, or wine, and to ask for 
money in exchange for them, than you have to take 
a leg of mutton to the box-office of the Theatre- 
Royal to pay for two or three seats." 

Such, however, being the state of the case, it is 
clear that there is no public instrument of exchange in 



NATURE E OF UU\ 87 

existence; no mere instrument ever ready to perform 
for all and sundry that duty which neither scales nor 
weights, measures nor numbers, can perform for 
t hrni.* And hence demonstration in another shape- 
That production is not now the cause, and the sole 
cause of demand : 

That to sell goods at a reasonable profit for money 
)>. in the aggregate, a far more difficult thing at pre- 
sent than to buy goods at a reasonable price, with 
money in our hand : 

That supply and demand are not just now ex- 
changeable terms: and finally 

That it is possible to increase supply without in- 
creasing demand, and that to a fearful extent. 

And, under this head, these conclusions are all that 
I contend for. But in yielding your ready assent 
thereto which I have very little doubt you will 
remember, and carry home that remembrance to 
the circle of your own firesides, that in assenting to 
these statements, you are flying in the face of 
learned professors of Political Economy, and prac- 
tically telling them, that one of their most important 
and best established doctrines is a mere delusion. 

On this subject I have only farther to state, that 
in the course of these lectures I shall endeavour to 
describe to you a species of money, in which may be 
concentrated all the essential qualities which money 
should possess ; and, consequently, by the adoption 



* The desideratum in money is, that it may enable any man, at any 
time, to exchange any article, of any value, for an equal value of 
whatever marketable commodity he may please to have in its stead, 
and that with the least possible expense of time, of labour, and of 
anxiety. Social SytHm, pngt 62. 



88 LECTURES ON THE 

of which, not only would well-regulated production 
become the unfailing cause of demand ad mfinitum, 
but by the use of which also, the entire system 
of commercial affairs would be erected on a per- 
manently prosperous foundation. Pecuniary diffi- 
culty, in short, amongst the manufacturing and mer- 
cantile classes of society, and the want of employ- 
ment amongst the classes that are productive, may at 
any time be rendered the fault of mankind rather 
than their misfortune. 

So far, then, I have endeavoured to show you, in 
the first place, that, without reference to any mone- 
tary system whatever, effectual demand or, to speak 
more fully, the desire to possess any commodity for 
sale, combined with the ability to give an equivalent 
for it depends upon production ; and in the second 
place, that this most important principle, owing en- 
tirely to our monetary blunderings, has become in- 
operative, a dead letter, a thing of no existence, 
excepting only in the delusive dreams of certain 
political economists. 

The obvious course, then, which we have to pur- 
sue, is for every manufacturer, merchant, tradesman, 
and productive labourer, to unite, as it were, in one 
mind and in one body, for the purpose of adopting 
such measures as, without any uncalled for or un- 
reasonable delay, may be calculated to restore the 
invaluable birthright of which we have been de- 
prived the right to labour in our respective cal- 
lings that we may live ; and the right to live, as men 
should live, who, having labour to perform, are both 
able and willing to perform it. 

Be not, however, startled by the word unite, for 



NATURE AND USE OP MON 89 

I have no bee-hive or other combinative system 
of any kind in store for your approbation or oon* 
tit lunation. I want no greater degree of mutual co- 
operation, confidence, or good faith bet PMB man and 
man. than that \\hich is ut present common through- 
out the whole of Knuland, Scotland, and the better 
part> ft Ireland. What 1 de>iro to see is a firm and 
unalterable determination on the part of the PuMi<\ 
to require at the hands of Government a thorough 
ami <;,iiti>lfte revision and reformation of the laws, 
of this country relating to money : an imperative 
and long neglected duty this, which must be per- 
formed sooner or later, and therefore the more 
lily it may be taken in hand the better ; for, 
commercially speaking, our false monetary position 
is the one and only cause of our misfortunes. 

And depend upon it, that mere excuses for the de- 
lay of monetary reform, will not much longer be ac- 
cepted in lieu of monetary reform itself. The pub- 
lit will not for ever submit to be silenced by the 
ivi it -ration of such quibbling and evasive nonsense 
a^ that with which we have recently been satiated 
by the Times newspaper. To some extent, at least, 
we are at length aroused to the importance of the 
thing called money ; the discussion of which seems, 
indeed, likely to become general throughout the 
country. And, if once awakened to a thorough cou- 
v in ion that there really is some deeply-rooted evil 
in our monetary system, let past experience ans\\ei 
the |iii-stion Whether it is likely that the subject 
will ever again be allowed to rest until the necessary 
alteration in the laws relating thereto shall ha\e 
i attained ' 



90 LECTURES ON THE 

The newspaper press is unhappily a hundred years 
behind itself in this matter : it comprehends neither 
the nature, cause, nor extent of the evil by which 
we are afflicted. Still, there are unmistakeable signs 
of growing attention to the subject of money ; and 
therefore, as truth is at all times best elicited by 
controversy, I shall endeavour, in the course of a 
short time, to stimulate the inquiry by the offer of 
a premium to whomsoever may be able to produce 
.the best answer to the opinions I am now submitting 
to you, provided a competent and impartial tribunal 
shall declare such answer to be a refutation of my 
opinions. 

I repeat, however, that I have no combinative 
scheme to propose for your adoption. "We require no 
reconstruction of society, in order to increase our 
annual income a hundred millions or so. A few 
salutary money-laws are all that are wanted, along 
with the repeal of some that are absurd. Permission 
to exchange the various products of our labour 
with each other, which permission is now withheld 
from us by Act of Parliament, must be conceded 
to us. In short, a channel of communication must 
be opened between man and man, by means of 
which mutual service may henceforth be given and 
received, and that upon a principle really deserving 
of the appellation -free. 

Observe, then, that over-production a thing of 
which we so frequently hear in the course of our 
ordinary intercourse with society is merely another 
name for superfluity. 

Now, in the absence of the power of exchanging^ 
what is the value of a superfluity ? or of fifty super- 



N ATI HK AXl I'SE OF MO V !' I 

fluities ? or of an aggregate superfluity of everything 
upon the face of the earth ' The obvious answer is, of 
no value at all! A man. f<>r example, may be pos- 
sessed of a coal-mine ; but beyond the quantity of 
coals which hr himself may require to consume, all 
that remain upon his estate, are to him utterly desti- 
tute of value, if he be not able to exchange them for 
other things. And so it is with commodities of every 
kind. To use, consume, or to exchange, is the object 
of all production ; and, consequently, if we be placed 
in circumstances wherein we can use only or con- 
Mime, it is quite possible for us to be a nation of artifi- 
tialpaupen, \\hilstwemight at any time be converted 
info a nation of comparatively wealthy men, merely 
by the opening a home market amongst ourselves. 

It is obvious, however, that the aggregate market 
must ever be over-supplied, so long as our ability to 
produce shall continue to be greater than our ability 
to exchange ; or, in other words, so long as it shall 
continue to be a more difficult thing to sell goods at 
a fair profit than it is to buy them at a fair price : 
whilst it is equally clear, that if, on the contrary, 
goods of all kinds could be sold as readily as they can 
be made, then all the capital and labour that are now 
ing for profitable employment, would at once 
obtain it ; because in this case, production would 
be truly the cause of demand. 

So long, again, as the aggregate labour-market 
shall continue to be over-supplied, it is certain that 
undue competition more or less, according to cir- 
cumstances will arise between the employed and 
unemployed, the latter being ever liable to dis- 
thr former by consenting to execute any given 



92 LECTURES ON THE 

quantity and quality of work for a less amount of 
remuneration, than that -which, for the time being, 
the employed may be in receipt. 

So universally recognised, indeed, is the tendency 
of unemployed labour to take, on lower terms, the 
place of that which is employed, that there is scarcely 
a manufacturing business in the kingdom in which 
the operatives have not their combinative system 
of trade rules, restrictions, and scales of prices, 
in obedience to which alone will they permit any 
member of their associated body to accept of em- 
ployment. 

Hence the occasion of strikes amongst the working 
classes, either for the purpose of obtaining higher 
wages than those which, for a time, they may have 
been receiving, or else for the purpose of resisting 
attempts on the part of the masters to reduce 
their wages : and hence, also, the never-ending 
bickerings which take place between the employers 
and the employed in our great manufacturing towns. 

Now, what would become of all the misunder- 
standings and ill-feeling which so frequently arise 
between master and man upon the subject of wages, 
if it should happen that, speaking always of aggre- 
gates, the act of labouring at useful occupations 
must of necessity create a demand for the whole of its 
own products? It is obvious that the motive, by 
which alone the operative classes are stimulated to 
combine that motive being to protect the more for- 
tunate of their own numbers against the competition 
of the less fortunate would cease to exist ; and, in 
consequence, that the combinations themselves, along 
with their endless train of evils, would cease to exist 



NATURE AND USE OP ICON ! Y 93 

also, or at least they would become practically a dead 

And linv I cannot help remarking upon the apathy 
an.l inditliMvnrr with whirh we are in the habit of 
tolerating, with little or no inquiry, the existence of 
enormous evil, to which we are accustomed, as com- 
pared with the attention which we pay to the merest 
trifles of a kind not altogether pleasant, to which we 
are unaccustomed. Let but a little finger smart, and 
- What's the matter 1 ?" along with instant inspection, 
follow with the rapidity of thought. Let the features 
of a beloved parent, child, or friend, exhibit a shade 
less colour than florid health claims to be its own, and 
"What's the matter ?" echoes "What's the mat- 
ter?" through all the household. Or let a flower 
droop a day too soon, and " Why so quickly has 
our favourite fled ?" in thought at least, accompanies 
the lamentation ; and frost, or snow, or heat, or 
drought, or rain, is libelled as the cause of the un- 
looked for loss. But let a nation smart the colour 
fade, or vanish, from the cheek of half her sons 
and let her daughters, not singly but in thousands, 
and pine, and die, houseless and fireless, food- 
less and in rags ; and so entirely, as a thing of 
course, is all this held, by general consent, to be, that 
if any man stepping from amongst the throng of in- 
di He rent spectators shall venture to inquire " Wliat 
M the cause of all this evil?" the answer assuredly 
will be" Why nothing /" 

This is no fiction no ideal case, for it was but 
yesterday, that the Atlas newspaper proposed MM 
very question to the British nation, and for thi* very 
///, paid one hundred pounds. 



94 LECTURES ON THE 

Gentlemen for it is upon you in a more especial 
manner than upon the other sex* that the duty of 
investigation rests there is nothing in this world 
that comes of nothing. There is not an atom in the 
universe but fills the place it occupies in obedience 
to some immutable law of God. No artery is there, 
or vein, muscle or nerve, within the human structure, 
which has not its specific use, tending each and all 
of them to our comfort and wellbeing, when, unop- 
posed in their functions and operations by our negli- 
gence, ignorance, or folly ; and, depend upon it, 
none are there wanting in addition to those which 
we possess. To enjoy our physical life, however, it 
is incumbent on us to obey the physical laws of 
our existence ; and in like manner, if we would 
make the most of our social condition, we must 
make ourselves acquainted with the natural laws of 
that condition obedience to which will as certainly 
lead us to a state of social health, as properly to eat 
and drink, to sleep and to take exercise, are best 
calculated to promote our bodily health. 

If, as hath been inculcated, the proper study of 
mankind be man, our schools will tell how fully we 
have accepted, and how industriously we have fol- 
lowed out the maxim, so far as our efforts have been 
directed to the examination of the body as well as of 
the mind of man. But, as a common, as an every- 
day branch of study and investigation, the science of 
society has yet to be commenced. There are few 
persons comparatively, even amongst the best cdu- 



* These lectures, it has been already mentioned, were attended by 
several Ladies as well as Gentlemen. 



i:i: \M> t SE OF MONKV IM 

1 classes, N\h" e\er lake the trouble t<> examine 
the books we have upon the subject of Political 
Economy ; \\hiUt. unfortunately, r\m it' all classes 
were ever so oppositely inclined, books of instruction 
then- are none \\hatc\vr, such only cxcoptcd as, like 
Smith's Wealth of Nations, are incomplete, or, like 
M'Culloch's Principles of Political Economy, are a 
tnlerubly equal mixture of right reasoning and wrong, 
of truth and error. 

On which account I would particularly solicit the 
attention of such young men as are now in the course 
of completing their education at the numerous schools 
and colle-vs of Edinburgh, to the hiatus which exists 
in this important branch of literature. If, as is un- 
deniably the case, the science of Political Economy be 
at present in the background, as compared with almost 
every other, then must there be therein a comparative 
.im. which whomsoever shall fill up, fully and com- 
j'let-'ly, will certainly do so with both profit and hon- 
our to himself, whilst conferring, at the same time, a 
permanent and incalculable boon upon his fellow- 
creatures. And as the study of this science nece 
ily demands the constant exercise of the observing and 
reasoning powers of the mind upon human affairs in 
general, these powers thus exercised cannot fail to be 
improved and strengthened, for whatsoever purpose or 
purposes they may eventually be applied. He, how- 
ever. who would make himself master of the science 
<>f Political Economy must study the world before 
him rather than the books which it contains ; taking 
u|> the latter, as he would mushrooms, with suspicion 
ami distrust, lest, whilst seeking for the genuine 
>hould but collect, swallow, and vainly 



96 LECTURES ON THE 

endeavour to digest, a poisonous similitude. In short, 
we are very greatly in want of a Johnson's Dictionary 
of Political Economy, and possibly it may be in reserve 
for some young man, now of twenty years of age, to 
supply the deficiency by the time he shall be five- 
and- thirty. At present, at all events, there is not, in 
the English language, a System of Political Economy 
worthy to bear the name. 

But to resume our subject r which is to impress 
upon you the necessity of annihilating the present 
unnatural limit to production. Well, then, if aggre- 
gate production be now dependent, as we have al- 
ready ascertained it to be, upon demand, it is evi- 
dent that not merely the idle and worthless, but the 
industriously disposed operative of good character 
may at times be unable to obtain employment ; and 
then how fearfully society is punished for its folly in 
permitting such a state of things to exist, need hardly 
be narrated. For a man, idle from necessity in the 
first instance, is easily converted into an idle man 
from choice. We see, for example, a would-be in- 
dustrious person out of employment, and his ob- 
vious respectability combined with his manifest want, 
excite our sympathies, and naturally dispose us to 
assist him. Nay, even our selfish feelings are rewarded 
by the pleasure we experience in having been called 
upon to relieve a worthy object in distress. Others, 
impressed by the like conviction, assist him too ; wlicn 
lo ! the discovery is unavoidably made by this hither- 
to deserving object of our charity, that so long as he 
may be able to maintain the appearance of what, alas! 
was, in the first instance, too fearful a reality to \v ( >rk 
were folly, since idleness may have proved, perh;ii>s, 



AND r>i: ! MI.M.Y. 



fi\r murs ov.-r. t> In- tin- liett.-r trad.-. Ami hencr 
we have an active. indu>tnous, and worthy m-ml>r. 

irtv. DMv.-rted. tir>t into ;i timid and ln-sitatin^ 
solicitor of a little aid. m-xt into a sturdy beggar, 
and finally. into tin- raoo6MlT6 characters of drunk- 
ard, thief, and convict. 

Now, had this supposed victim in whose ima- 
ginary case we have doubtless the real one of many 
thousands never at any time known the pangs of un- 
satisfied hunger, the result of blameless inability to 
obtain employment, he might probably have excel- 
led in virtue to as great an extent as we have here 
supposed him to exceed in vice. And how is it 
possible that cases like these should cease to be number- 
less, n'/iikf ?'v> continue to restrict production, ami to 
limit the demand for labour by Act of Parliament? 

It is not possible ; and hence, by no conceivable 
mi ans can we set our national condition right, save by 
the act of restoring to society the great principle 
Protluction the Cause of Demand of the incalculable 
benefits of which the existing monetary laws have, in 
the meantime, entirely deprived us. 

The existence of the necessity for any continuous 
charitable provision for the able-bodied is a disgrace 
to the nation in which any such necessity exists. 
Temporary embarrassment may be occasioned by ex- 
traordinary circumstances. A fancy trade sometimes 
arises amongst us, maintains a brief existence, and 
thru languishes and dies out altogether ; whilst other 
occupation- may cease to exist from the best of all 
. namely, that of improvement in other dcpart- 

- of the same general business as we have seen 
but now, in the case of the guards and drivers of 

o 



98 LECTURES ON THE 

mail and stage-coaches. But the advance of the 
new power, or the adoption of the new commodity, 
is, generally speaking, so far gradual, that it operates 
rather by deterring the young from entering upon 
the expiring trade or occupation, than by depriving 
the old of their accustomed work. 

For the mentally or physically incapacitated ample 
provision should be made by the law of the land. I 
say ample provision, because, if as we most cer- 
tainly do at present we can afford to pay one hund- 
red millions a year for the support of a mad mone- 
tary system, we must surely be in a condition to main- 
tain ungrudgingly, such of our numbers as may be 
dependent upon us for that provision which they 
themselves are unable by the exercise of their own 
labour or talents to obtain. For the founders, how- 
ever, of the splendid structures, professedly for chari- 
table purposes, so numerously erected, and still in 
the course of erection amongst us^my respect is 
very small ; and as to the structures themselves, they 
will at no very distant period be regarded as so many 
tombstones, erected to the memory of an age of com- 
mercial darkness. 

We require not these things. This nation is more 
than able to feed, clothe, lodge, educate, and otherwise 
to provide for every one of her sous, and daughters 
too, without the aid of private charity. And when- 
ever our productive resources shall have been liber- 
ated from the fetters by which they are at present 
bound, it will be universally admitted, that a man 
might as rationally tender the aid of his individual 
strength to do the work of a locomotive engine, as 
to devote the amount of his private accumulations to 



-F. OP M<> v 91 

the erection ainl endowment of what have IM-. 
jumilv proved to In- mere nurseries of vice and 
\\ickedness. Allow production to take up its own 
position amongst us, and \\e >\\n\\ hear no more of 
; t a Is, schools, or asylums, the offspring of fortunes 
diverti -d, at the cost of many a bitter sigh, from the 
ordinary and proper channel of natural succession. 
A little water would be a poor gift to the sea, yet 
such is the precise character of the aid which private 
charity on however munificent a scale it may be 
otlered is able to give to this great country, in pro- 
viding either for the education or the maintenance of 
its inhabitants. Give us back the right of wliich we 
have been ignorantly deprived : allow merchants re- 
si. ling on one side of a street to trade freely with 
those residing on the other side a permission which 
is not at this moment extended to the inhabitants of 
any one street in Europe and the future nobility of 
the land and that without any necessary diminution 
of their own wealth shall be pretty nearly as likely 
to feel the pangs of unsatisfied hunger, as the poorest 
honest and industrious man in the Kingdom. 

And here allow me to anticipate the reproduction 
of the stereotyped volume of drivel, which is brought 
out upon all occasions, by that many-headed blunderer 
the public, whenever the said public may chance to 
be presented with anything a little different in char- 
acter and object from whatever else may have been 
alnady before the world for half a century or so in 
a well understood and acknowledged form. 

The most important discoveries, not absolutely 

nstrnble to the external senses, and the great- 

iv t imairinablr alurdu in one particular. 



100 LECTURES Otf TH K 

upon a perfect equality, which is this : On first 
presentation they are alike condemned, alike ridiculed, 
and alike declared to be impracticable, or the mere 
visions of an enthusiast. And when, by slow de- 
grees, such discoveries as really deserve it come to be 
received with a little less amount of prejudice, even 
yet a tithe at most of the promised benefit is ad- 
mitted to be within the bounds of possibility, whilst 
all the rest is still set down to the account of en- 
thusiasm. 

Now, what is really the fact ? Why, this : When- 
ever any newly-discovered principle is cast into the 
great ocean of thought if thus I may be permitted 
to characterize the aggregate workings of the human 
mind the said principle eventually turns out either 
to be true or false, or, in other words, to be a prin- 
ciple or no principle at all. And if the latter, it 
speedily dies the natural death of error ; but if the 
former, the ultimate consequence almost invariably 
is, that the most enthusiastic expectations of the 
original discoverer are altogether left in the distance 
by the eventual reality. 

Is it likely, for example, that James Watt, even 
during the hours of his most sanguine expectation of 
results, ever for one moment contemplated the pos- 
sible existence of the steam-engine of eighteen hun- 
dred and forty-eight, clothed in all its stationary, 
marine, and locomotive wonders ? Is it credible 
that the original inventor of the gas-light ever con- 
templated the revolution that his discovery was des- 
tined to cause in another department of utility ? 
When Franklin, again, brought down the lightning 
by means of a school-boy's toy, and thus demonstrated 



UK AND USB Of MOM v 101 



the possibility of subjugating even the electric fire of 
heaven to the control <>f man. is it supposal>l<- that 
r fur on-- instant crossed liis mind, that that 
very thud \\uiild eventually heroine the great channel 
of instant communicatiun between man and man, 
IVM, ling hundreds of miles asunder ? that it would 
become part and parcel of the machinery of his own 
especial trade that of a printer and disseminator of 
intelligence ? or that it would be the time-keeper of 
an age to come, performing its work in this capacity, 
too, with an exactness leaving nothing to be desired 1 * 

Assuredly, in these instances at least, immeasur- 
able must have been the difference between the ex- 
pectations of the original discoverers and the realittf* 
which at this day are admitted and recognised by all 
the world ! 

From these examples, then, and examples such as 
the -e, let us henceforth learn to treat with the con- 
tempt that it deserves, the ever-ready drivel of those 
poor and petty things, whose arguments upon every 
subject which may be new to their feeble or indolent 
minds, are the mere commonplace reiterations of the 
terms " Sanguine" " A mere enthusiast" " May 
be some little truth in his opinions, perhaps, but 
grossly exaggerated, of course" and the like. Let us 

* When Mr. Alexander Bain, the patentee, first introduced this 
wonderful invention into the City of Edinburgh, I at once gave him 
an order for an Electric Clock, with especial instructions to make me, 
if possible, a particularly good one. The accuracy of its time-keeping 
qualities may be judged of by the fact, that it goes correctly within 
about fire minutes a-year ; that from the ninth of January to six- 
teenth of February, during the present year, it had neither gained nor 
lost a single second ; whilst its greatest variation during that time 
was precisely twenty seconds. 



102 LECTURES ON THE 

learn to test principles, or what are said to be such, as 
we test suspected gold. Let us prove them, as we 
prove it, by strict and impartial examination ; and 
if we find them to be true and not fictitious, let the 
experience of the past teach us a little becoming 
modesty in pronouncing too hastily as to the extent 
to which the operation of any true principle may 
eventually be carried. 

To apply this reasoning : I have told you, then, 
that in the very nature of things commercial Pro- 
duction is the cause of Demand. I have told you, 
that we have set aside this principle, just as we might 
accidentally or ignorantly have set aside a package 
of diamonds of the value of the National Debt. And 
I tell you now that we must restore this principle to 
society, by founding our future monetary system 
upon it : and farther, that by doing this we shall 
increase the annual income of the country to the ex- 
tent of at least one hundred millions. And now, 
instead of laughing at, and conferring upon me the 
usual string of honorary titles, to which the early 
promulgators of great truths are ever accustomed 
to succeed, would it not be the wiser and the better 
course to bestow an occasional hour or two of thought 
upon the subject I have laid before you 1 ? Do so, 
then, and depend upon it, that you will very speedily 
be disposed to treat this series of lectures in a very 
different spirit. At all events, the principle I have 
stated is either true or false, and it is surely worth the 
while of every one here present to answer the ques- 
tionWhich ? 



N \n 1:1: \.\i) rsi: .F M..N 103 



LECTURE IV. 



Descriptive of a Banking System, by the Establishment of which 
Production, now the t'ontequtnct of Demand, may be converted 
at any time into the Caitse of it. 

IN the course of the preceding lectures I have en- 
deavoured to show that without reference to any 
monetary system whatever production is the natural 
cau-e of demand, that supply and demand are ex- 
changeable terms, ami that the one ever would have 
been equal to the other, had not some fearful engine 
of mischief been allowed a place in our commercial 
policy. I have also endeavoured to show that, 
somehow or other, the operation of this great prin- 
ciple has been suspended, and that therefore our im- 
perative duty is to restore its ascendency, and to sub- 
mit all our commercial affairs to its rule and govern- 
ini nt. 

But how is this to be effected ? in what manner 
are we to commence the task? and by what means 
may we be enabled to complete it? are questions 
\\liidi you \\ill no doubt expect me to be prepared 
to answer and to answer them I am prepaid. 

Notwithstanding this preparation, however, it is no 
part of my intention to insist upon the adoption of 
any plans of my own. So far indeed from harbouring 



104 LECTURES ON THE 

any such design, it is at once admitted that / have 
no plan which I am at all disposed to regard as the 
only one that can be adopted with advantage, or for 
which I entertain any exclusive favour or prejudice. 
In short, it is not for any one person to answer these 
questions authoritatively or dictatorially, but it is 
rather for England, for Europe, for the World, to 
answer them. 

I have endeavoured to lay open to your view 
certain principles with which mankind in general 
at present appear to be all but wholly unacquainted, 
in accordance with which principles it is absolutely 
necessary for us to remodel our plans of commercial 
interchange, before we can possibly attain that de- 
gree of prosperity, either as individuals or as a 
nation, which is naturally within our reach. But 
the principles to which I allude are not of my mak- 
ing, neither are they of your making : they are not 
so many goods and chattels to be used or disre- 
garded as we may think proper, but they are of the 
number of the laws of God himself, written in the 
Universe. Hence are they immutable; and from 
time immemorial and never more fearfully than of 
late have we been punished, and that, in many 
thousands of instances, even unto death, for disre- 
garding them. We are punished, too, in precisely 
the same manner as a mason would be punished, 
who, after having contracted to build the spire of a 
church, should persist in erecting it upside down. 
The spire would be constantly falling about his curs 
just as our monetary fabric, which is built upon exactly 
the same principle, is perpetually tumbling about our 
cars. By nature production is the basis of our com- 



AND USE OP MON 105 

il fal>ric. l.nt it occupies at present the ordinary 
portion of the \\t-atlicr-cock. 

1 1 a \ i n LI i n > \v , 1 1 . . liscovcrcd the true principle 

of exchange, we shouM treat that principle in com- 
niiT.v ]!. -i-rlv in the same manner as we are ac- 
i-nst..m'd to treat the principle of expansion in 
in. -chanics. Fire acting upon water produces steam. 
Water win -n converted into steam instantly demands 
a much larger space for its accommodation than that 
which it previously required. And if this space be 
not granted that is to say, if the vessel containing 
the steam be not more or less an open one the 
steam will try to force its way out: and if, like the 
engineer of the Cricket,* we resolve to keep it in, 
why, then, a trial of strength will forthwith take 
place between the vapour and the vessel in which it 
is confined the odds upon the respective combatants 
being a hundred to one at least against the vessel. 

Here, then, we have an instance of an ascertained 
power of a well understood kind. The application, 
however, of this power is a totally different thing 
from the power itself : the power is one, the modes 
>t using it are many ; whilst the purposes to which 
it i- applicable, it would, at this day, be an endless 
task to enumerate. 

Hence we have now high-pressure engines, and 
engines low-pressure, stationary, locomotive, and 
marine; and all these different kinds constructed in 
so many forms and sizes, and, as already observed, 
for the accomplishment of such numberless purposes, 

* A Thames steam-vessel, recently destroyed in London, by the 
act of forcibly preventing the operation of the safety-valves. 



106 LECTURES ON THE 

that a full and complete history and description of 
the steam-engine of 1848, would certainly require 
the space of several ordinary volumes. 

In like manner, I now lay before you the true prin- 
ciple of exchange ; but having done this, it remains 
for me rather to solicit the opinions of others, than 
to insist upon the adoption of my own, so far as re- 
gards the precise machinery by means of which this 
principle may be practically worked by us to the best 
advantage. For, as in the case of the steam-engine, 
although the principle is one, the possible modes of 
using it are many ; and therefore it is for every person, 
rather than for some om per son to turn his attention to 
the subject, and to use his best endeavours to devise 
such details as may at once be simple, practicable, 
effectual, and just. And especially, in the pursuance 
of this object, let no man trespass upon any true 
principle of Political Economy ; for, as all nature is 
consistent with itself, so, in like manner, must all 
human institutions be consistent with each other, or 
else the reward of our exertions, however zealously, 
honestly, and industriously they may be applied, 
will be disappointment. 

In Political Economy, for example, labour is the 
only source of wealth. The subdivision of labour in- 
creases the amount of its products. The extent to 
which the subdivision of labour can be carried is 
limited by the extent of the market. The existence 
of free and unrestricted competition between man 
and man, and that whether the work be of the head 
or of the hands, is both natural and beneficial to 
society. The results of labour are the natural pro- 
perty of the labourer. Security of property is an 



NAT1 i:i: AM) USE OF MON 1"7 

OMODtial condition to tin- arcnnmlation of property. 
Accumulation, otherwise called capital, is indis- 
pensable to all commercial undertakings. Men ex- 
change one thing for another, because that which a 
man \vant^ is of more value to him than that which 
IK is willing to give for it. Hence the result of 
e\n v equitable exchange is a gain to both parties ; 
anl, therefore, boundless freedom of exchange is good 
for all men and for all nations. The existing mone- 
tary system of society is false in principle, utterly, 
.utely, and radically, because it forbids, and 
renders impossible, the free interchange of property 
between man and man. 

1 mention these things merely to exemplify what 
I have already urged namely, that in endeavouring 
to erect our monetary system upon a sound basis, we 
must avoid placing ourselves in opposition to any 
true principle of Political Economy : an error the 
more carefully to be avoided, because it is invariably 
the one which those persons first fall into, who plac- 
ing their confidence in the false principle of expe- 
'/, instead of in the true principles of nature 
herself hesitate not to attain, or rather to endeavour 
to attain, their ends and objects at whatever cost of 
reason or consistency. 

Whilst, however, I am anxious to stimulate the 
minds of others to the study of this subject, and thus 
to obtain for the nation at large the benefit of multi- 
tudinous counsel ; and relinquishing, as I do most 
Min-erely and without reserve, all claim to prefa 
for any particular plans of my own, farther, at least, 
than upon investigation they may be found t- de- 
serve it; still, it \vouldha\e l>e-n a \<TY !:!<<>], >;~tent 



108 LECTUKES ON THE 

proceeding on my part to have called the atten- 
tion of the members of the Edinburgh Philoso- 
phical Institution to the merits of a mere abstract 
principle, unaccompanied by any plan whatever : but 
this is not my purpose. I shall now, therefore, 
endeavour to lay before you the plan of a National 
Bank, the result of many years' careful study of the 
subject, by the establishment of which well propor- 
tioned production itself the natural consequence of 
free and unrestricted competition would inevitably 
be rendered the uniform and never-failing cause of 
demand ad infinitum : and that, too, with justice to 
all men, and without the slightest infringement of 
any recognised principle in Political Economy, not 
in itself a fallacy. 

To the annihilation, then, of almost every evil with 
which this country is now afflicted, arising either from 
the want of employment or from ill-remunerated 
labour, we require but two things, and these are 

First A system of banking, by the operations of 
which the natural relationship of supply and demand 
the nature of which relationship I have already 
so fully explained to you would be restored ; and 

Secondly A true measure of value, in place of the 
existing fiction so miscalled. 

And here I must request the kind indulgence of 
my audience, and more especially that of the ladies, 
on account of the nature of the subject under con- 
sideration, which is one not merely difficult of oral 
explanation, but in itself that is to say, without re- 
ference to the enormous consequences which it in- 
volves it is a subject generally held to be at once 
tedious, uninteresting, and. in a word, the last to 



I'RE AND USE OP MOM V I I'D 



\\liidi anv c.nMtliTaMt' portion of the public 
condescend to ^i\c it> attention. 

Ill-It . .1. .-ill that I can reasonably hope to accom- 
plMi in tlii> r..Min. is to convey to you a general idea 
of tlu- nature of the banking system which I have to 
propose ; but as these lectures \vill be published 
within a short time after they shall have been con- 
cluded, the errors, if there be any in my statements, 
will in all likelihood be very speedily corrected. 

Keeping always strictly in view, then, that our 
specific object is, to allow production to become truly 
uil practically the cause of demand ad infinitum 
the great characteristic distinction between the bank- 
ing system as it is, and the banking system as it 
uttould be, is this : 

The money which a manufacturer or merchant 
now receives, in the course of a day's transaction-, i- 
usually paid into the hands of the banker with whom 
he deals, by whom it is placed to the credit of his 
account, whereas the value, at their selling price, of 
all the goods, whl<-h may be brought into any manu- 
facturer or merchant's warehouse, should be forthwith 
placed to the credit of his account by his banker ; in 
addition to the amount of all the money that the said 
manufacturer or merchant may pay into his banker's 
hands, arming from his sales, to be in like manner 
placed to the credit of his account. Whilst, on the 
other hand, the said customer of the bank should be 
debited, first, with the value of all the goods that may 
be taken out of his own wan-house, and, secondly, 
with all the money which, in the usual way, he may 
withdraw from the bank : a stock account, in addition 
to a cash account, being thus kept by the banker with 



110 LECTURES ON THE 

eacli of his customers ; but, so far as regards the 
stock, in aggregate sums only, not in detail. 

For the accommodation, then, with the exceptions 
after named, of every manufacturer and merchant, 
commission and otherwise, in the United Kingdom, 
doing business only by wholesale, what would properly 
be denominated A Standard bank, should be esta- 
blished in London, another in Edinburgh, and a third 
in Dublin; with branches, one or more, in every 
town of the least importance throughout the king- 
dom : that is to say, branches of the London bank 
should be established throughout all England ; bran- 
ches of the Edinburgh bank throughout the whole of 
Scotland ; and branches of the Dublin bank through- 
out the whole of Ireland. 

The exceptions, consisting of those manufacturers 
and merchants who should probably be excluded from 
doing business with the Standard banks are these : 

First All dealers in goods of a very perishable 
description ; as, for instance, fresh fish, unpreserved 
fruits, and the like. 

Secondly All dealers in merchandize of a very 
fanciful character, such as ladies' made up dresses or 
millinery. 

Thirdly All dealers in goods made or imported 
for special or peculiar purposes, and, consequently, 
unfit for sale amongst chance customers in a general 
market. Machinery used in manufactories may be 
named as an example, which, in most cases, is made 
to order, and, therefore, in accordance with the taste, 
judgment, and requirements of some person, firm, or 
public company. Goods of this kind, it is obvious, if 
sent to any other market whatever than that for 



I'RE AND USE OP MOM.1 111 

\\hirh tliey arc expressly constructed, would not be 
likely t> reali/e a third of their original cost. 

Tho/owrM and last except inn that occurs to me is, 

that inanuta. turers, or importers, of goods of a dan- 

8 kind, such as gunpowder, fireworks, and the 

like, should also be excluded from doing business 

with the Standard banks. 

Even these exceptions, however, would be nominal 
rather than real, inasmuch as the beneficial influence 
of a system of interchange pretty nearly as free and 
inexpensive- as the act of transferring money from 
the right hand to the left, would speedily pervade 
every nook and corner of society from the highest 
departments to the lowest ; and hence, although the 
peculiar manufacturers and traders I have enumer- 
ated should, in common with all artists and profes- 
sional men whatever, be excluded from doing busi- 
ness din-Hlii with the Standard banks, still the bene- 
fits conferred upon society by the Standard banking 
system, would reach them as certainly and pretty 
nearly as quickly indirectly, as directly. 

The duty of the three Standard banks, then, would 
be to keep accounts, through the medium of their 
various branches, on the following terms and condi- 
tions, with all persons, doing business only by whole- 
sale, (their trades not being expressly excepted by 
tin Act of Parliament constituting the Standard 
banks,) who should declare and enter themselves in 
the bank books in some proper form to be legally 
imposed by Act of Parliament as Standard mer- 
chants or manufacturers. 

The said terms and conditions should be mainly as 
follows : some others, however, of a more .letaile.l 



112 LECTURES ON THE 

and subordinate description, would probably be re- 
quired. 

First, then, a standard merchant or manufacturer 
must be a standard merchant or manufacturer only, 
at least in any one place of business ; seeing that, in 
this capacity, he would become a member of a great 
national banking association and, therefore, in trans- 
acting his banking business, he must conform to the 
principle on which the national bank itself would be 
founded : without, however, strictly speaking, associ- 
ating at all, or having the slightest partnership or 
community of interest with any person whatever. 

Secondly On opening an account with the stan- 
dard bank, every merchant or manufacturer must 
name the maximum amount of money that he is ever 
to be indebted to the bank at any one time ; and he 
must give security to the bank for the repayment of 
any final balance that may arise against him. And 
the standard banker should have also a declared mini- 
mum amount of annual transactions, below which it 
should not be any part of his business to descend. 

Thirdly If any manufacturer or merchant should 
intentionally make, or cause to be made, any false 
entry in his stock-book, or if any such entry should 
be made by another person, with his knowledge, 
sanction, or connivance, the party so offending should 
be forthwith required to close his account with the 
standard bank, and be for ever disqualified from re- 
opening one, either as an individual, or as a member 
of any firm or public company ; and he should also, 
for life, be legally disqualified for entering the employ- 
ment of any standard banker, merchant, or manufac- 
turer, in any capacity whatever. 



.NATURE AND USE OF MONKY. 1 1 M 

And these are all the < nnditiuns to bo exacted by 
tlu- hank, on oj u-iiing an account with any merchant,* 
that iio\\ occur tome; which, brin^ recapitulated, arc, 
thai in any one place of business, the party shall be 
a standard merchant only, and a wholesale dealer ; an 
per a legal definition of the term wholesale, to be 
carefully worded for the purpose that he shall name 
the maximum amount of money he is ever to be in- 
debted to the bank at any one time, and give secu- 
rity to the bank against any loss it may sustain by, 
or in consequence of, its transactions with him that 
he shall annually transact business with the bank to a 
certain min'unum extent and that, in his dealings with 
the bant at least, he shall be honest. And, it is sub- 
mitted, there would not be anything very unreasonable 
in these exactions, on the part of the standard banker. 

The merchant, then, having bound himself to com- 
ply with the above conditions, preliminary to his 
admission to all the rights and privileges of a member 
of the standard society, is now in this position : 

He has, we shall suppose, a warehouse, a yard, or 
a range of cellars, as the nature of the goods he deals 
in may require, into which he brings stock, ready 
for sale to his customers, the value of which, of the 
seliinij price, is estimated by himself to be worth 
10,000. His stock-book is then made up accord- 
ingly, which stock-book must be kept in duplicate, 
one copy being requisite for his own use, and another 
copy for the use of the bank. 

The hank, then, on sight of the merchant's stock- 

* I here discontinue the constant repetition of the word " manu- 
facturer," as being unnecessary " manufacturer or merchant" being 
always understood whenever the word merchant onlj is used. 

II 



1 1 4 LECTUKES ON THE 

book, containing the authenticated entry of goods, 
value 10,000, into his own warehouse, forthwith 
places the sum of 10,000 to the credit of his ac- 
count in the bank-books, which sum of money he is 
instantly at liberty to draw, to the last shilling if he 
pleases, from the bank. 

And, this being done, the goods in the merchant's 
possession are now, in justice and common sense, the 
property of the bank, seeing that the bank is sup- 
posed to have paid the merchant their full estimated 
value, at the selling price which he himself has put 
upon them. But this natural right of the bank, as 
it may be termed, is not to be used or assumed in 
any way. On the contrary, the merchant is to be 
left in the full and uncontrolled possession of his 
goods, which he not only may sell to the best ad- 
vantage, just as he does at present, but which he 
must sell, at some time or other, at some price or 
other ; because, as the bank holds him and his sure- 
ties responsible for all the money that has been ad- 
vanced to him, that money must eventually be repaid. 

The next business of the merchant, therefore, is to 
sell his goods for standard money, and that at what- 
ever profit he may be able to obtain ; which profit 
will continue to be regulated, just as it is now, by 
the degree of competition that may exist in his par- 
ticular trade. He sells, then, we shall suppose, at 
different dates, for ready money, and at the price he 
anticipated it would fetch, the whole of his stock of 
goods, value ten thousand pounds, which money 
having been paid into the bank day by day, as the 
goods were sold, repaid the bank advance in full, 
the whole transaction standing thus : 



NATURE AND USE OP MoNT.Y. 



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116 LECTURES ON THE 

It is plain, however, that if, on the one hand, the 
bank is to allow its customers to draw money ad libi- 
tum to the whole amount of the selling-price value of 
all the goods they may bring into their own ware- 
houses and that to the extent of whatever number 
of millions or hundreds of millions of pounds the 
goods may in the aggregrate be worth the bank 
must also, on the other hand, have some very clear, 
explicit, and unevadeable mode of obtaining the re- 
payment of its advances, as the goods in the standard 
warehouses may be sold. And there are various 
methods by the adoption of which this indispensable 
condition to the right working of the proposed system 
of banking might be insured ; but, to avoid incumber- 
ing our subject with intricacies, I shall here describe 
but one of them. 

It will be seen, then, that as every standard mer- 
chant is to be paid in full by the standard bank for 
all the goods that he may be able to bring into his 
own premises, he, consequently, can have no claim 
to any part of the money for which the goods may 
be sold. By law, therefore, this money must be receiv- 
able only by the standard bank-agent with whom the 
standard merchant may keep his account ; which 
agent, on the receipt of any given sum of money, 
from whomsoever, to the credit of said merchant, 
must give in exchange for the money a delivery-order 
on the merchant for goods to the amount. 

The bank would, no doubt, in these circumstances 
receive, in the first instance, the whole amount of 
profit upon the goods sold, whatever that might be. 
But as the surplus, if any, above the amount of profit 
originally contemplated, would be placed to the credit 



NATURE AND USB OP MONEY. 117 

of the merchant by the bank, not a shadow of prac- 
tical ditlioulty could arise on this account ; whilst the 
ieney. .-i rising from the sale of any goods for less 
than their e>timatel value, must in like manner be 
made up by the merchant to the bank. 

An<l here it may be incidentally observed, that the 
existing system of mercantile home credit would 
be entirely superseded by the co-equal existence of 
standard money and standard goods throughout the 
entire kingdom ; whereby one of the many evils which 
at present afflict the wholesale department of the 
commercial interest would be annihilated. Bad debts 
there could be none, for the very sufficient reason that 
e\ rry shadow of pretext for obtaining goods on credit- 
terms at (ill would have ceased to exist. 

Upon the banking system, then, which has been 
thus briefly described, it will be seen that money 
standard bank-notes would be merely so many trans- 
ferable certificates of the existence in the standard 
market of equivalent produce, actually for sale in ex- 
change for standard notes, and for no other money 
or thing whatever. And as not merely the estimated, 
but the actual,* value of all the property in the stand- 
ard market would ever be precisely equal to the 
amount of standard money in the hands of the public, 
it follows, of necessity, that production must ever be 
equalled by demand. The aggregate standard stock 

* " Actual," because, whatever portion of the standard stock might 
prove to be unsaleable or saleable only at a reduced price 
must be retaken at it* full price from the standard market by iU own 
proprietor, who, it will be remembered, is to give security to retake 
the same whenever required to do so, prerioutly to the admission of 
his name into the standard bank books. 



118 LECTURES ON THE 

would be the aggregate property of the holders of the 
standard money by which that stock would be repre- 
sented ; and, therefore, all the goods would either be 
demanded or accumulated that is to say, they would 
either be taken out of the market or left in it. If 
taken out, the money by which they would be repre- 
sented must \>Q first paid into the standard bank or 
in other words it must cease to e'xist. But if any of the 
goods should be left in the standard market that is 
to say, if the holders of the money representing them 
should wish to accumulate their money in place of 
spending it then and in that case, the standard stock 
itself would accumulate, on the one hand, and tie 
right to demand it, on the other. 

But this accumulation, to an unsalutary extent, 
could never take place ; because, as money in the 
hands of its owner yields him no interest, he is at all 
times pretty certain either to lend it on interest to 
parties who have a use for it, or else to expend it 
outright in the purchase of property yielding a return. 

It is obvious, therefore, that aggregate production 
will become the unfailing cause of co-equal demand, 
whenever we may think proper to establish the 
monetary system of the country upon the basis of 
transferable voucher ; and from that day forth dis- 
proportionate production will be the one and only 
cause of a superfluity of anything; whereas, now, 
owing wholly and solely to our false monetary sys- 
tem, we have, generally speaking, a market glutted 
with almost everything. 

A man, for example, having acquired property in 
the standard stock of the country, as proved by his 
possession of standard bank-notes, is sure to require 



NATURE AND USE OF MOM V II!' 

'/////// in exchange for them tin- note- them 
Mlvea l.rin- of no value whatever which something 
li- \\uuld indicate, as at present, by the act of 6//////"/ 
whatever lie mijjht require. It', then, he should buy 
standard stock in the standard market, his money 
would cease to cxi>t ; whilst, if he go not to the 
standard market at all, but spend his money < 
when-, thm the act of spending his money el>e\\h< -re. 
would be that of transferring to the party with whom 
lu >hould deal, so much of his share of the standard 
property as the money paid away should repre- 
sent. 

But if a man require not merchandize of any kind 
in exchange for his money, but merely to invest the 
money itself at interest, or in the purchase of what 
may be termed accumulation that is to say, in 
houses, lands, feu-duties, or the like, then and in that 
case, he will either pay his money and thus transfer 
his interest in the standard stock to the /trirafc 
l>art>i from whom he may purchase houses, lauds, or 
leu-duties, or else he will purchase these properties 
from titamlard house or land-agents ; in which case, 
the price thereof must be paid into the standard 
hank itself, and forthwith cease to be money. 

For the principle of exchange I have described i- 
applicable not merely to ordinary merchandize the 
produce of this country or imported but it is also 
applicable to every description of heritable property 
IHHKI fide for sale in the public market : the only 
condition being, that if standard heritable property 
be not sold to any one else, it must be retaken by 
the original depositor ; who, in every instance, when 
placing property for sale at a stated price in the 



120 LECTUKES ON THE 

hands of a dealer in heritable standard stock, must 
give him ample security that failing any purchaser 
being found to give the price demanded for the pro- 
perty he himself will either retake it at the vested 
price, or else make up the deficiency, should the 
property, with his consent, be sold for any lower sum. 
In short, the precise sum of money paid out of the 
bank on the occasion of any heritable property be- 
coming standard stock must be paid into the bank, 
whenever the said property may be withdrawn from 
the standard market ; and, consequently, if it be sold 
to the buyer for less money than the bank advanced 
upon it, the seller must make up the difference at 
the time of repurchase, by whomsoever, from the 
standard market. 

And here it may be desirable to notice the fallacy 
of the monetary principle contended for by the Anti- 
Gold-Law League. 

Certain gentlemen, who have formed themselves 
into a society in London under this denomination, 
have seen clearly enough the deplorable inefficiency 
of the existing monetary system : they truly affirm 
that gold is no true measure of value. But in lieu 
of one absurdity they only invite us to accept 
another. Government, say these gentlemen, should 
issue such notes as Government will take in payment 
of the taxes, to the amount, if I understand their 
plan correctly, of the taxes. So that our future 
scramble is not to be for gold, but for sundry bits 
of paper, possessing no one solitary or possible ad- 
vantage over gold itself. Measure of value they have 
none, and neither is there any more rational connex- 
ion between the public taxes and the public instru- 



AND USE UK MONKV. 121 

of exchange than there is between the said 
taxes and the law of gravitation.* 

Suppose, for example, the public taxes this year 
to be fif'tv millions, and the total income of the 
o'limrv this v ar to be five hundred millions What 
com vi\ able connexion is there between these two 
. excepting only that by some means or other 
th smaller sum must be paid out of the larger? 
Obviously there is no other connexion. But even 
though there were, and if by some magical process, 
tlu- tifty millions of taxes, represented by fifty 
millions of Government bank-notes, were for a twelve- 
month to do the work of money, and to do it well 
that is to say, suppose that these notes would en- 
able us, with tolerable convenience, to exchange 
amongst each other our five hundred million pounds' 
worth of the products of labour for one year, What 
then ? Why, during the year following, perhaps, the 
ta\e> \\<uiM -till IK- lif'tv inilliuii>. \vhil>t >// jmn;-rx 
of production might have increased in the interim 
twenty-five per cent. that is to say, to six hundred 
and twenty -five millions. In which case, the modes of 
using money remaining the same, our condition would 
be just this either the extra power of production 
would not be called into operation at all, or, if called 
into operation, the result would be a tremendous loss, 
ad of profit, to the country ; for the modes of 
using money remaining the same the products of 
labour can never by any possibility, be increased 

* If one kind friend of his country would pay off the national debt, 
anil if another would leave us an annuity large enough to pay all our 
other pul'lic expenses, why, then, upon the Anti-Gold-Law League 
plan, we >ho*ld have no money at all. 



122 LECTURES ON THE 

faster than money itself, without occasioning a loss of 
property, reckoned in money price, to the exact amount 
of the difference between the increase of goods and 
that of money. In short, the six hundred and twenty- 
five millions' worth of goods could sell for five hund- 
red millions of pounds only : and hence the first 
and most indispensable condition to any true mone- 
tary system is, that money, let it consist of whatso- 
ever it may, must increase in due proportion with 
all other marketable produce, but not in undue pro- 
portion or, in other words, not more rapidly. The 
increase of money in short should be consequent upon 
the increase of marketable produce, and that in ex- 
act proportion to the amount of that increase. 

Hence all the notions about issuing money on 
land on the security of land not actually for sale, 
I mean are the merest delusion, being subject to 
the objections I have already named. There is no 
rational connexion between the two things, and 
even if there were any, it would be quite impossible 
for money, issued upon any such principle, to be in- 
creased ad libitum, precisely as fast as our aggre- 
gate powers of production in every department of 
industry may be increased ; and hence the old story 
over again, whenever goods are increased faster than 
money, either prices must fall, without any natural 
cause for their falling, or else, very shortly after such 
temporary increase, production mu-st stop, and that a 
hundred millions per annum at least short of the ex- 
haustion of its own power. 

Money the representative of laud, or money the re- 
presentative of gold, must ever continue to be limited 
respectively by the quantity of land or the 



NATURE AND USE OF MOM V 123 

of gold that there may be to represent. But our 
want is money, the representative not merely of 
land or gold, but of land and gold, houses and silver. 
and, in .short. >( c\ery marketable thing, possessing 
in a reasonable drrivc the- two qualities of transfer- 
alfi /if i/ and preservabiiitij. 

Let the advocates of monetary reform however 
much they may agree with or differ from each 
other try their respective plans by the one and only 
test of monetary truth. Will the London-league plan, 
or the Birmingham plan, the Glasgow plan, or the 
Scottish joint-stock plan, or will all these plans put 
together, or any select portions of the whole of them, 
allow proportionate production to be multiplied a 
hundred thousand million -fold, without occasioning 
the rise or fall of one farthing in the average money 
price of goods, so long as equal quantities of labour 
shall continue to be essential to their production ? If 
so, then are these monetary systems perfectly sound 
in principle, and the only remaining question about 
tin -i n is, as to their respective simplicity and general 
merits in detail. But if, on the contrary, they will 
not allow proportionate production to go on ad in- 
finitum, without any consequent rise or fall in the 
money price of goods, then are these systems false 
in principle utterly and absolutely ; and whenever 
they may be tried in figures, they will prove to 
be delusions, founded not merely in error, but in 
the very error which alone constitutes the unsound- 
ness of the monetary systems of this and of r\ > i \ 
other nation in the world. Production, naturally the 
cause of demand, would continue, under every on , ,f 
these monetary systems, to be subservient to demand. 



124 LECTUltES ON THE 

There is one principle, and one principle only, on 
which it is possible for any monetary system to rest, 
without interfering with the very first condition of 
human existence, namely that man shall labour 
that he may live : The production of money must be 
consequent upon the production of every marketable 
thing ; whilst money itself must consist of portable, 
divisible, and transferable certificates of the existence 
of property, ready at all times to be given in ex- 
change for it, in whatsoever shape or form the owner 
of the money may desire. 

Wealth as I stated in nearly the same words 
sixteen years ago like a thousand streams of water, 
arising in different places, and partaking of different 
qualities, should flow into one grand reservoir ; and 
being there mixed up and its various qualities amal- 
gamated, it should be restored to its owners in 
quantities equal to their respective contributions, 
but partaking of the qualities of the whole ; whilst 
money should be merely a measure, to be used for 
the purpose of giving to every man just so much 
value as may have been received from him. 

England, Scotland, and Ireland, then, accommo- 
dated with the banking system, for the establishment 
of which I am now contending, would be just three 
market-places, containing every description of heri- 
table and moveable property for sale upon this prin- 
ciple : 

The master of the market, that is to say, the 
standard banker, addressing the public, says : 
" Bring into my market-place whatsoever you may 
have to sell, and I will give you cash for all your 
property, heritable and moveable, at your own price ; 



NATURE AND USE OF MONEY. 125 

my only conditions being, that whenever the said 
projHJrty may be taken out of in 11 jurisdiction, the full 
amount of my advances upon it must be repaid ; for 
\\ hi. li 1 ivijuiro you to give me security before it can 
be admitted ; as also that, eventually, it shall on 
these terms be removed. But the onus of selling 
or i n other words of exchanging your respective pro- 
ducts and property, must rest entirely with yourselves" 

I do not believe it to be within the power of man, 
fit her to point out the slightest practical difficulty in 
carrying the system of banking here described into full 
operation throughout the length and breadth of this 
land ; or, if established, to point out the possibility 
of proportionate production ever failing to create de- 
mand : whilst you will observe that, by the pecu- 
liar nature of its provisions, the great principle of 
individual competition would be left free and unfet- 
tered as the air we breathe. And I am also per- 
fectly confident, that, by the adoption of this system 
of banking, the inhabitants of Great Britain would 
be gainers of at least one hundred millions per annum 
in money of its present value. 

Issued, then, upon the plan proposed, money would 
not be a commodity, neither would it be of the pre- 
cise nature of a receipt. Bank-notes, in short, would 
be so many certificates of the existence of property 
admitted into the standard market, and therein re- 
maining for sale by its respective owners, at what- 
price they could get for it. 

Bankers now receive money from merchants after 
tlicir goods are sold, which money is repaid when- 
rvi-r the merchants require it. Bankers also advance 
money to merchants and others on certain securities. 



126 LECTURES ON THE 

But the true principle of banking will be found 
to consist in the banker paying down to their re- 
spective owners the representative value of all goods 
that may be brought into the market the said 
value being repayable to the banker whenever the 
said property may be taken out of the market. And 
trivial as the difference between these two modes of 
procedure may at first sight appear to be, the real ques- 
tion at issue is Whether production shall continue 
to be the effect of demand, or become the cause of it f 

It will be distinctly understood that, in the pre- 
sent stage of our argument, we have no ascertained 
measure of value. A true measure of value being, 
however, in the meantime, supposed to exist, it will, 
I conceive, be obvious, that whatever kind or quan- 
tity of property may be brought into the market 
must be at once and equally supply and demand, 
demand and supply ; the stock remaining on hand 
at any given time being merely the undemanded 
difference between the quantity of goods brought into 
the market and the quantity taken out of it ; for 
every fraction of which existing stock on hand there 
must of necessity exist somewhere money of no in- 
trinsic value to the precise amount. 

From w r hat has been stated, some persons may be 
inclined to indulge in the jest of supposing that I 
wish to convert Napoleon's nation of shopkeepers 
into a nation of pawnbrokers, and all our pounds, 
shillings, and pennies, into so many pawn tickets. I 
have no objection to this or to any other supposition ; 
but, in truth, what I am at present striving to accom- 
plish is at whatever cost of repetition to render our 
subject. Money, intelligible and plain even to the very 



I'RE AND USE OF MOM ^ 127 

members of this Institution. I desire, in 
a \\ . >nl, to enable school-boys, and school-girls, too, to 
refute Sir Robert Peel, Mr. Cobdcn, and every other 
supporter of that fictitious monetary system by which 
tin- inhabitants of this and other nations are at pre- 
sent restricted to a fractional part of their natural 
amount of income. 

Our proposed standard bank would not, however, 
be a mere pawnbroker's shop ; for, in the first place, 
there would be this difference between them : The 
pawnbroker issues a ticket in exchange for an article, 
which ticket will buy but one thing in this world, 
namely, the article in exchange for which it was ori- 
ginally given : whereas our standard money would 
purchase not merely any and every description of 
property, heritable and moveable, within the stand- 
ard market, but it would buy also any and every 
description of property out of the standard market. 
Standard money, in short, would not merely pay for 
our bread and our meat, our clothes and our furniture, 
but it would also pay our rent whether of houses or 
of lands and taxes ; and that the learned and very 
sagacious Times notwithstanding -justly. It would 
also pay our clergy and our medical men, lawyers, 
artists, teachers of youth, players, musicians, domestic 
servants, and, in a word, the whole body of unpro- 
ductive as well as productive members of society. 

Inasmuch, however, as our standard money would 
not, like a pawnbroker's ticket, be the mere represen- 
tative of some one commodity and no other, but of 
every commodity for sale in the public market, it is 
evident that, as all men judge for themselves in what 
manner they will expend their income the existence 



128 LECTURES ON THE 

of the most perfect monetary system notwithstand- 
ing there may be a market disproportionately sup- 
plied, although by no possibility could there ever be 
a market over-supplied in the aggregate, provided our 
instrument of exchange were to be a rational one. 

Manchester, for example, for aught I know to the 
contrary, may be able to over-supply the home 
market with cotton goods, and Sheffield with cutlery. 
But the existence of any such ability has never yet 
been proved, and never can be proved, until, by the 
establishment of a free system of exchange, the 
terms glut and deficiency shall become merely two 
names for the self-same thing, namely disproportion, 
which, upon the principle of exchange I am now 
describing, they inevitably would become. 

For, as in the self-same hour that goods should be 
ready for the market they would be convertible into 
money, the representative at once of materials, 
labour, transit, the expense of sale, and the profit of 
the manufacturer which money whenever expended 
would take out of the standard market precisely as 
much value in one shape or other as should have 
been previously /m into it in exchange for the self- 
same money, it is obvious that, if one class of ware- 
houses, yards, or cellars, should be over-fidl, another 
class or classes must of necessity, and that to precisely 
the same extent, be over-empty. 

And hence the natural index to employment, at 
all times, in all places, and under all circumstances ; 
if it be not here, it is there, there, or there, for some- 
where it must be. Parents and guardians, therefore, 
would have merely to observe the general current 
of supply and demand, in order to discover at once 



NATl'RE AND USE OF MONKY. 129 

in what direction employment should be increasing 
and wlicr.- ill-creasing; and, consequently, in what 
manner to educate and train their children. For, 
unlike the present state of society, in which there 
may be, and very often i>. a glut of every market- 
alle thing, employment could no farther decrease in 
one iliivctioii than it must of necessity increase in an- 
other direction, or in other directions, and that to at 
least the mil amount of the diminution. 

This is not the case at present, because, and solely 
because thanks to our monetary system production 
is now the effect of demand, instead of the cause of 
it : the modus operand* being that, the ways of using 
it remaining the same, if you produce goods faster 
than money, down they go in price; all stock on 
hand must then be sold at a reduced figure most 
likely at a losing one or else it must be kept on 
hand until consumption shall have restored the equi- 
librium of goods and money. In the meantime, half- 
time is the rule at our great manufactories ; whilst a 
hundred smaller works, depending upon the greater 
for employment, suffer in like proportion. In a word, 
production stops, and then a million or two of people 
find themselves in the unhappy and rather curious 
predicament of being naturally able to create, by the 
collective exercise of their capital, skill, and industry, 
an abundance of the good things of this life for the 
uae of themselves and their families, but artificially 
prevented from creating them by the mere absence of 
the ability to exchange the respective products of 
their industry amongst each other. 

And now, let us see how we should get on with a 
n currency along with the banking system that 



130 LECTURES ON THE 

I have proposed ; as also how the members of the 
Anti-Gold-Law League would get on with their Go- 
vernment paper. 

Well, then, we have our market as already de- 
scribed, as also our standard-banker, who, on certifi- 
cation of goods having been brought into the market, 
is forthwith to pay the full price of them to their 
respective owners, and this to all comers and to all 
amounts. But now in place of giving mere paper 
acknowledgments of the fact that goods of a certain 
value have been brought into the market, and are 
therein exposed for sale by their respective owners 
he is to pay down gold coin equivalent to all the 
property, heritable and moveable, that may seek to 
obtain admission ! 

Where, in the name of Sir Robert Peel, is lie to get 
the money f It is not, you will observe, sufficient 
that his stock of this one commodity for money > strict- 
ly speaking, gold is not it is not, I say, sufficient that 
his stock of this one commodity, gold, be equal in 
value to the national stock of any other commodity, 
but it must be equal to the entire and united value 
of every other commodity, for sale in the market, or 
else each and every merchant will be scrambling to 
obtain it for his own advantage and to the disadvan- 
tage of his neighbour. 

An ounce of gold, again, being equal in value to a 
great many ounces, pounds, hundredweights, or even 
tons of some other commodities, what precise weight 
of gold is the standard-banker to give in exchange 
for the various goods that may seek admission into 
the market, of which he may be called the master ? 
The only rational answer to the question is Just as 



NATURE AND USE OP MONEY. 131 

little as he can just that weight, in fact, which the 
offerers will consent to accept in exchange for the 
various products of their labour, in preference to not 
selling them at all. 

Then do 1 ivj.lv that it is in vain to discuss the 
merits of the existing monetary system, seeing that, 
strictly speaking, there is no monetary system to dis- 
cuss; for in undeniable truth, that which we now call 
our monetary system, is but a mere modification 
of the semi-barbarous system of bartering goods for 
goods ; and that of so clumsy and imperfect a kind, 
that we could not carry on even our home trade for 
a single week, without the aid of such miserable 
auxiliaries as bills of exchange, credit, and the like. 

Measure of value we have none whatever, for every 
true measure, as I told you in a previous lecture, is at 
all times of the same length, superficies, or capacity. 
But what does a gold coin contain ? Why, it contains 
ten yards to-day and twelve to-morrow of the self- 
same thing, the real value of which consisting of the 
actual amount of labour essential to its production 
may not have varied during the interval to the amount 
of the smallest appreciable fraction. 

With no description of metallic currency, then, can 
we go on for a single year without subjecting our- 
selves to the most inextricable confusion. Prices 
one thing this week are another next, from the mere 
increase of the good things of this life, as compared 
with gold. Exert your productive powers, be in- 
dustrious, be useful, and what then ? Why, prices 
fall, stocks on hand depreciate, debtors are defrauded, 
and creditors are obliged to become cheats, or else to 
receive dividends in place of payments ; whilst every 



132 LECTURES ON THE 

ten or a dozen years the whole commerce of the 
country is deranged, stultified, and all but suspended. 
Such is our monetary system ! 

Then, again reverting to the League fiction, it has 
neither basis nor superstructure ; and neither is there 
a pin to choose between the no -measure of value Gold 
and the no -measure of value State paper. 

This nation requires money which will allow pro- 
portionate production to become the unfailing cause of 
demand ad infinitum, to the existence of which state 
of things a measure of value is indispensable. 

Suppose a thousand men to be able and anxious, 
by the exercise of their united capital, skill, and labour, 
to supply their own wants, and that all they require 
is to exchange their respective products amongst each 
other upon some equitable principle How is the 
fiction of a government currency to help them ? Her 
Majesty's treasurers will not take their goods in ex- 
change for the money issued ; and even if they would 
do so, what then ? Why, so much the worse, for the 
producers require the goods for their own use and 
consumption ; and, therefore, their desideratum is a 
banking system of their own, by means of which be 
the machinery of it whatever it may they may be 
enabled to exchange their respective products and 
properties amongst each other, at the least possible 
expense of time, trouble, and anxiety. No govern- 
ment currency, however, founded upon a mere fiction 
such as has been promulgated by the League, can help 
us for a moment to a free and unrestricted system of 
exchange keeping always in view that no monetary 
system whatever can be founded in right principles un- 
less it will allow production to ensure demand. 



NATURE AND USB OF MONET. I.'W 

The Anti-Gold-Law Leaguers could surely IK 
dream of the taxes amounting to five or six hundred 
millions a year! and if not, wherein may consist 
their mode of preserving the necessary co-equality of 
production and circulation ! The truth is, that they 
have never contemplated the existence of any such 
necessity : if. exists, however, aware of it be they or not. 

And it is well for us that the Anti-Gold-Law League 
plan has not been tried ; for if adopted to-morrow, 
the power of producing would still exceed the power 
of exchanging : down, therefore, every now and then 
would still go prices, production would flag, wages 
would fall, want of employment would ensue, and all 
the miseries of our present condition would come back 
upon us, aggravated by the reflection that the Money 
Doctors, as they are called, had been allowed to try 
their specific. And with what success it would be 
triumphantly remarked by their opponents let the 
present state of the country answer ! 

Such would be the certain consequences of any 
ill-digested attempt to introduce a new monetary 
system into society, and therefore far better is it to 
do nothing than to attempt something of which no- 
thing, or worse than nothing, would be the inevit- 
able result. In short, no good can come of half 
measures in the circumstances in which we are placed : 
we might as well make half a locomotive-engine and 
expect it to convey a train, or half a watch, and ex- 
pect it to keep time. We must take the true prin- 
ciple of exchange, as dictated by nature herself, for 
the basis whereon to erect our commercial fabric, 
or else assuredly shall we continue to labour, as we 
labour now, for the wages of disappointment. 



134 LECTURES ON THE 



LECTURE Y. 



The Subject of the preceding Lecture continued that is to say, 
Continued description of a Banking System, by the establish- 
ment of which Production, now the Consequence of Demand, 
would be converted into the Cause of it. 

IN the preceding lectures I have endeavoured to 
show you that production is the natural cause of de- 
mand, but that practically, owing to the existence of 
a false monetary system, it is not so ; that, therefore, 
it is incumbent on us to set on foot another mone- 
tary system, by means of which whilst retaining 
all the minor conveniences which are afforded by the 
money we have at present the great principle I 
have just mentioned may be restored to us. And 
having also told you, in general terms, that this may 
be effected by the establishment of a standard-bank, 
the business of which is to consist, first, in giving out 
paper-money to represent the value of all the pro- 
perty, heritable and moveable, that may be brought 
into the standard-market ; and secondly, in requiring 
repayment of the said money, in the most invariable 
manner, on the removal, by whomsoever, of the said 
property from the standard-market the next ques- 
tion which seems to offer itself for our consideration 
is this: 

Having already seen, that the A nti-Gold-Law League 






NATURE AND USE OP MONKV. 135 

party have not taken cognizance of the absolute 
necessity of preserving a precise balance between 
production and demand Exists there, it may be 
asked, elsewhere any monetary plan in which this 
principle has not merely been recognised but fully 
carried out ? I fear not I Sundry propositions have, 
indeed, been made to erect our monetary system upon 
the basis of land. 

All monetary schemes, however, are false in prin- 
ciple, and will prove utterly delusive in practice, which 
may be founded either upon the security of land, or 
upon the mere security of anything. Money, pro- 
vided it shall have been originally issued upon a 
true principle, may be transferred from one person 
to another. It may be given by A to B for some- 
thing or for nothing, or it may be lent out at interest 
on security or on no security, and all may continue 
to work well. But money can never be issued by 
any properly constituted bank, except in exchange 
for value to be bona fide offered for sale so soon as 
the money issued upon it shall have crossed the 
banker's counter to the public side. 

And the reason of this is obvious. Suppose, for 
example, that paper-money to the amount of ten 
thousand pounds be advanced to any party by a 
banker upon the security of value to that precise 
amount, to be instantly offered for sale. Spend one 
pound of this money in the repurchase of any part 
of the said value, and the one pound spent ceases to 
be money, whilst the value held in security by the 
banker is now reduced to one pound less than ten 
thousand. Spend five thousand pounds in a similar 
repurchase, and only five thousand pounds of money 



13G LECTURES ON THE 

now exist ; or spend the whole sura of ten thousand 
pounds, and then the market will be empty on the one 
hand, whilst on the other, money there will be none. 

But let ten thousand pounds be advanced to the 
same party on the security of the same property, and 
let the receiver of the money now stipulate with the 
banker that the property assigned to him shall be 
merely held in security, and not offered for sale in 
the public market at all. The inevitable consequence 
of this arrangement, then, will be that the whole of 
the money thus thrown into circulation, will merely 
have the effect of raising the money-price of the 
marketable stock that previously existed. In a word, 
if the money be all expended by the borrower, it will 
increase demand to the amount of ten thousand 
pounds ; but it will not increase supply to the value 
of half a farthing. The quantity of property for sale 
in the market, after the advance, will be just exactly 
as much as, and no more than, it was before the 
advance; and, therefore, the competition amongst 
the buyers to obtain it will have the inevitable effect 
of raising its price to the extent of just ten thousand 
pounds supposing always that effectual demand 
existed at all events for all the property for sale. 

Again, as no amount of paper money can ever be 
justly issued by any rightly constituted bank, except 
on the security of an equal value of property to be 
bona fide forthwith offered for sale in the public 
market, so, in like manner, neither can money be 
properly issued to any less amount than the full value 
of the said property ; because in this case another 
mischief would arise precisely opposite in character 
to that which has already been described. Ten 



1'RE AND USE OP MOM.V. 137 

thousand pounds' worth of goods, for example, having 
been received in this case, whilst money to the amount 
of but five thousand pounds has been given out on 
the security of them, and all the borrowed money, 
as before supposed, being forthwith passed into 
general circulation that is to say, expended in t he- 
public market the result now is that ten thousand 
pounds' worth of additional goods are placed in the 
hands of parties seeking to sell them, whilst money 
to the amount of five thousand pounds only is thrown 
into the other scale : and thus supply is increased to 
the extent of ten thousand pounds, whilst demand 
is increased to but half that amount only. The com- 
petition of the sellers, therefore, is now increased in 
like proportion, and consequently the money-price 
of all their goods must fall, and that to the precise 
amount of the difference between the value of the 
additional stock of goods and the additional sum of 
money simultaneously thrown into the market. 

And it is mere nonsense to attempt to meet this 
statement by vague and general suppositions, such 
as May there not be this influence upon the market 
here, or that influence on the market there ? It is 
quite true that you may complicate the argument by 
raising supposititious cases, but you cannot refute it. 
You may, indeed, so envelop this subject in a tangled 
net of words and quibbles as to render it all but in- 
comprehensible to the major part of a mixed audi- 
t !! like the present one. It may be very difficult, 
too, to untie your endless knots, and to spread open 
to view all the meshes of your net divested of every 
ravel : but as a stone thrown up into the air will as- 
suredly come down ,-i<r.iin. in obedience to the law of 



138 _ LECTURES ON THE 

gravitation, in spite of any artificial contrivance to 
which you may resort in order to cause it to fall as 
distantly and unascertainably as possible, so will the 
monetary principles I am now laying before you, con- 
tinue to operate, in obedience to laws as invariable 
as that of gravitation itself, to our destruction or to 
our advantage, just as we shall continue to disobey 
them, as we are now doing, or as we shall learn cor- 
dially to accept them as our director and our guide. 

And here allow me to remark, that it is generally 
by the most simple, and not by the most intricate 
illustrations, that we are led to the discovery of im- 
portant truths. An apple falls to the ground, a 
powerful mind seizes upon the fact, and the principle 
of the universe is discovered. Adam Smith, whose 
writings upon Political Economy have never yet been 
equalled by those of any other man alive or dead, in 
speaking of the principle of exchange, illustrates his 
subject thus : 

" This division of labour [says he] from which so 
many advantages are derived, is not originally the 
effect of human wisdom. * * * It is the neces- 
sary, though very slow and gradual consequence of a 
certain propensity in human nature * * * to 
truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another. 
* * * Nobody ever saw a dog make a fair and 
deliberate exchange of one bone for another with 
another dog. Nobody ever saw one animal, by its 
gestures and natural cries, signify to another, this is 
mine, that is yours, I am willing to give you this 
for that." 

And thus it is -with all men who really understand 
the subjects upon which they write ; clear and distinct 



NATURB AND U8E OF IIOM.Y 139 

ideas give birth to plain and intelligible language, 
whilst a labyrinth of words U a sure index to a mind 
of niml. 

But to return. Having told you, then, that the 
Anti-Gold-Law League project is a fiction, and why 
that all schemes founded upon the issue of money 
upon the security of land are fictions, and why there 
yet remains another fiction to be noticed, namely, 
that of the Birmingham Monetary Reformers, the 
nature of which I can best explain by giving you the 
words of Mr. Muntz, used on the occasion of a public 
meeting held in Birmingham in October last, as re- 
ported by The Times : 

" And now, Sir [addressing himself to the chair- 
man] I may as well give you my remedy, as pro- 
posed in 1 840 to the Committee upon Banks of Issue. 
The first and indispensable step is, a suspension of 
cash payments, whilst the subject is debated and ar- 
ranged. The second, an entire separation between 
the Bank of England and the Government. The 
third, taking out of the hands of the bank the 
management of the circulation of the country, and 
giving it to a National bank, managed by commis- 
sioners appointed by, and responsible to Parliament, 
which bank should issue notes which should be a 
legal tender, and in which all other banks should pay 
thrir notes on demand. The fourth, empowering such 
commissioners to issue their notes very gradually, 
to such extent as should eventually raise all prices 
which have fallen, and with them gold and silver, 
until silver was 7s. 6d. per ounce, which would keep 
wheat at an average price of 7s. Cd. per bushel, and 
all other prices in due ratio. And when such price 



140 



LECTURES ON THE 



of 7s. 6d. should have been obtained, the National 
bank should at all times receive silver at 7s. 6d. 
against their notes, and pay the notes on demand in 
silver at 7s. 6d. per ounce." 

Now, the plan of Mr. Muntz, like the plans of the 
Anti-Gold-Law League and of the land-security men, 
is founded in error. It is a mere plan unbased upon 
any principle: it is a watch without a spring, a steam- 
engine without a boiler, a world without a sun. 

The specific fault of the existing monetary system 
is, that our power of increasing marketable produce 
is greater than our power of increasing money. 
Hence, whenever we exert our industry to an in- 
creased extent, but still to an extent infinitely short 
of its exhaustion, prices fall, goods already existing 
can be disposed of only at a loss, and this discovered, 
then production stops. 

And the specific remedy, come in whatsoever shape 
it may, must consist in this : Exert our productive 
powers to whatever extent we may be able, prices 
must not fall, and then all our goods may be sold at 
a profit instead of at a loss, and that provided we 
shall continue to produce them in due proportion to 
each other until the end of time. 

Hence it is evident that the remedy proposed by 
Mr. Muntz would be altogether inefficient. His plan 
reminds me, indeed, of a little bird confined within 
a cage, forever crying, like Sterne's starling, 1 can't 
get out ! That little bird is Production. Now, Mr. 
Muntz is an honest man : the Times says that Mr. 
Muntz is an honest man ; and, therefore, Mr. Muntz 
must be an honest man the reasoning is conclusive. 

Well, then, honest Mr. Muntz does not admire cap- 



.N VTI'KI- AND I'SB OP MONEY. 141 

ti\ ity, and / can't get out strikes painfully upon his 
ear. But you shall get out, says Mr. Muntz, who 
forthwith opens the cage-door, and out flies our little 
bin I into the room. But, / can't get out! still re- 
iterates the bird ; when, oh, says Mr. Muntz, this is 
more than I bargained for ! I found you in a cage, 
I have given you the freedom of a room, and still 
your lamentation is, I cant get out. Well, then, you 
must just stay in ! 

Now, this is exactly our position : the productive 
resources of this nation are caged, not by this man 
nor by that man ; not by Sir Robert Peel, nor by the 
editor of the Times, but by the utter ignorance that 
pervades the whole community, and the mind of al- 
most every individual member of it, upon the subject 
of exchange. And these productive resources Mr. 
Muntz would liberate to a certain but very limited 
extent. Liberated, however, to his extent even 
though they should be to-morrow, their cry, like 
that of our little bird, would still be Freedom, which, 
being interpreted, means // is our right and pro- 
vince to create demand, instead of being created by it. 

This, and this only, is true commercial freedom : 
this, ami this only, is the criterion by which every 
monetary system must be tested, and by which it 
must stand or fall. 

Tested by this criterion, then, would Mr. Muntz's 
monetary system answer the purposes of this great 
country \ Assuredly it would not, and I sincerely 
believe that if Mr. Muntz himself will do me the 
favour to re-examine the subject of money in the light 
in which I have now placed it, he will eventually be 
inclined to admit that I am right. 



142 LECTURES ON THE 

Apologies, I fear, are due for these very numerous 
repetitions ; but on a subject like this, new in part 
as it probably is to many persons present and wholly 
new to some, I have thought it best to completely 
clear the way as we go along, to finish one thing 
before we begin another, and thus, by subdividing 
our inquiry into sections, to prosecute it the more 
thoroughly. 

Having, then, ascertained beyond all reasonable 
doubt or question, that proportionate production, un- 
impeded by monetary vagaries of any kind, is the 
natural cause of demand, that, as Mr. Mill says, 
" Production is the cause and the sole cause of de- 
mand ; that it never furnishes supply without fur- 
nishing demand, both at the same time, and both to 
an equal extent," it necessarily follows that the natural 
limit of production itself is the inability to maintain 
that proportion. 

Now, this proposition, which I believe to be one of 
the most important within the whole range of the 
science of Political Economy, seems by some unhappy 
mischance to have altogether escaped the observa- 
tion of the political economists. So far, at least, as 
I am acquainted with their writings, it has escaped 
them, and yet, strange to say, it is as nearly as pos- 
sible self-evident. And it is out of this natural limit 
to production, and out of it only, that two necessi- 
ties, of the utmost importance to the commercial in- 
terests of nations, arise, and owe their existence : 
the first of these necessities is a foreign trade ; the 
second is emigration. 

The necessity for a foreign trade must not, how- 
ever, be confounded with the advantages of one ; see- 



NATURE AND USB OP MONEY. 143 

ing that the latter date their commencement from the 
time when, by any less expenditure of labour, we can 
obtain any article of which we stand in need by pro- 
ducin.u; xniiii' other article, and giving it in exchange 
for that which we require, instead of making the 
thing which we require ourselves. 

Thus, for example, in this country we are fond of 
grapes; and as we all know, very delicious grapes 
can be produced within our own hothouses. But, to 
ascertain the cost of a pound of hothouse grapes, we 
must take the rental of the hothouse, the annual cost 
of keeping it in repair, the cost of the vines them- 
selves, the wages of the gardener and of his assistants, 
the cost of the fuel and attendance on the stoves, and, 
finally, the cost of gathering the ripe fruit, and of 
conveying it to market. Add all these expenses 
together incurred within the space of one year, divide 
the sum total by the number of pounds' weight of 
grapes obtained, and the product will be their cost 
per pound. 

Now, in the south of France, grapes of very good 
quality are produced in the open air, and conse- 
quently at a far less cost of capital, skill, and labour 
than are essential to their production in this country. 
Whenever, therefore, we shall have a perfectly free 
trade with France and which event will come to pass 
so soon as the two nations shall have emerged 
from an age of utter darkness upon the important 
subject of exchange our grapes will probably be 
grown, for the most part, in Sheffield ; and there, 
not in hothouses covered with sashes of glass, but in 
the workshop of the cutler, whose goods, costing 
equal quantities of labour, just as far surpass in 



144 LECTURES ON THE 

quality those of his French competitor, as the out- 
door grapes of the south of France surpass in quality 
the out-door grapes of England. 

Here, then, you will perceive how immensely im- 
portant to the interests of nations is foreign trade, 
and that long before the period arrives when such 
trade assumes the character of a necessity. The vine 
can be cultivated, and that with great success, so far 
as the quality of the fruit is concerned, in this country ; 
and cutlery, in like manner, can be made in France. 
But the inhabitants of both nations now pay an 
exorbitant price for these desiderata ; and that, as 
it would appear, for the mere pleasure of continuing 
to sacrifice their best interests at the shrine of 
commercial ignorance. 

Commerce is to a nation what exchange is to an 
individual. A first-class portrait painter, for example, 
is desirous to obtain his own similitude in the shape 
of a marble statue, whilst an eminent sculptor is 
equally anxious to have his duplicate on canvass. 
Would you, in these circumstances, advise the portrait 
painter to chisel his own statue, and the sculptor to 
paint his own portrait 1 If you would not, then is 
it clearly impossible for you, without committing the 
grossest inconsistency, to sanction restrictions upon 
trade in any shape or way whatever, either between 
individual and individual, or between any one nation 
and any other. 

But this is the least important view of the sub- 
ject ; for whilst a good artist might contrive to 
chisel a bad statue, and a clever sculptor to daub 
some sort of likeness of himself in paint, the whole 
surplus power of production in any given departments 



NATURE AND USE OP MOM.V. 



of tin' imlntifn/ of firu nntiunn, is wholly lost to 
loth \\hen.-\rr they are prevented from cxchan 
their resprcti\e production.- with . ach other. Bj 
empliti'd this may ! l>\ reference to the argum* nt 
we ha\e already used. For if France, for inst 
cutiM produce fruits to the value of one million of 
(MM i nds sterling more than she can at present sell, 
an- 1 if England could manufacture more cutlery than 
she does now by the same amount, it is obvious 
that by prohibiting the exchange supposing the re- 
spective parties to be willing to make it we tux 
lln' den countries to the extent of one million each, 
and that just as certainly and unquestionably as we 
should l>y taking that precise sum of money out of 
their f tilers in gold com. 

Hence you will perceive, that whenever impedi- 
ments are thrown in the way of free and unrestricted 
commercial intercourse, the effect is two-fold / 
the cost of production is increased, whilst the article 
ob t< dried is of comparatively inferior quality; as in 
the case supposed, where the artist turns sculptor 
ami the sculptor artist ; and, secondly, the very exist- 
ence is prohibited of millions upon millions of wealth, 
which, in the absence of all restrictions upon inter- 
change, would be created, used, and enjoyed. 

much for the advantage of foreign trade, which, 
as I have already told you, must not be confounded 
with its /fce^ifi/, which arises from a totally different 
cause namely, from the inability which may arise 
within a nation to go on maintaining the existence of 
that proportionate production on which alone, as has 
been stated many times already, depends our ability 
to produce ad in/initum, without overtaking demand. 

K 



146 LECTURES ON THE 

By the establishment, then, of a National standard- 
bank, upon the principle I have laid down namely, 
that of issuing money to standard-manufacturers and 
merchants to the full amount of all the property, 
heritable and moveable, that they may be able to 
bring into the market, a perfectly free system of ex- 
change would be created. 

But if, under the provisions of such banking system, 
all men should be enabled to throw the respective 
products of their labour into a public market, and 
to take out of that market equivalents, in whatever 
shape they might think proper and that with all 
the facility with which they now pay their money 
into a public bank, to be withdrawn at such times 
and in such portions as may be most convenient to 
themselves it is obvious that the operations of such 
a market would inevitably come to a stand-still, 
should the time ever arrive when, in exchange for 
that which may be put into the market, there could 
no longer be obtained from it a full supply of some 
one absolute necessary of life. If, for example, the 
population of this country should increase to so great 
an extent, that we could no longer, by any direct 
exertion of our own labour, supply ourselves with a 
sufficiency of food, proportionate production must 
either forthwith cease, or else some portion of our 
labour must take a new direction : that is to say, goods 
of some kind must be created, in exchange for which 
the inhabitants of some other country or countries 
will give us food. And thus our argument is com- 
pleted ; the necessity for a foreign trade has arrived, 
seeing that without it we can no longer go on main- 
taining that proportionate supply within the home- 



NATURE AND USB OP MOM V 147 

market, on tlio continued existence of which must ever 
depend the co-equality of production ami demand. 

Tlit-n \\ith respect to fmii/rntioii, tin- ai^niiiei. 

>clv similar t the foregoing : for, as in the case 
of foreign trade, the tufrtmhtges of emigration nm-t 
ever preeedr by a very long period the ahsolut- 
cessity for it ; the advantage obviously appearing 
whenever any given amount of capital, skill, and la- 
bour, will yield a more abundant return abroad than 
at In Hue ; whilst the absolute necessity for emigration 
can arise only when, neither by the exercise of our 
labour, nor by the employment of our capital in for- 
eign trade, can we any longer maintain the propor- 
tionate supply of the market ; the existence of which 
proportion must ever be tested by the answer to the 
j nest ion Whether he who has money to spend can 
obtain in exchange for it, at a reasonable price, what- 
ever he may desire to purchase ? 

Far distant, however, appears to me to be the 
day on which we shall no longer be able proportion- 
ately to supply the markets of this country. Hith- 
erto our outcry has ever been not for merchandise, 
but for customers to buy it ; and so easily could we 
at the present time create and distribute an ample 
supply of all the material products that are really 
essential to the wellbeing of society, that I firmly 
believe the day will come, when the discovery of a 
nation of men walking on their heads instead of on 
their feet, would excite but little more astonishment, 
than will the history of the commercial policy of Eu- 
rope and America in the year 1848. For, to create 
and enjoy the entire quantity of wealth that he has 
tl.e combined ability and inclination to create, is so 



148 LECTURES OX THE 

obviously the natural duty and privilege of man in 
this world, that future ages will require good evi- 
dence that the time ever was when, with all his 
boasted powers of reason and philosophical acute- 
ness, he had actually set aside this natural limit to 
his physical means of enjoyment, and adopted in its 
stead a fictitious limit, under the operation of which 
millions of human beings actually died, at various 
periods, of artificially created famine ! 

Having, then, endeavoured to place before you the 
elementary principle of exchange in circumstances of 
the least intricacy, I trust it has been rendered suffi- 
ciently obvious That whilst mere production will 
not necessarily create a demand equal to itself in any 
market, however free the mode of interchange may 
be therein, Proportionate Production inevitably must 
and will do so. 

Proportionate production, however, or, what is 
the same thing, the proportionate supply of the 
home-market, does not, as has been already shown, 
depend upon our home-povfer of producing that 
which we require to consume, use, or accumulate, 
seeing that the home-market may continue to be 
supplied proportionately just so long as, but no 
longer than, we can go on producing such commo- 
dities as other nations may be willing to take from 
us hi exchange for those which we ourselves require 
exportation and importation being thus of neces- 
sity ever precisely equal to each other. 

But the continued maintenance of our foreign 
trade is not dependent on any one form. Goods 
may be exchanged directly as for example, English 
coals for French wines : in which case the native 



\ \TU!K VM' i >K OK MONK'.. 149 



I TO. luce of England is given in exchange for tin- 
native product- ,,t' r'rancr. Or Kmrlish cottons may 
be given in exchange for French silks ; in whirh 
case the labour of England is given in exchange 
for tin- I"'" ' <>t I Vance ; the material in both cases 
on which the labour is expended, being, for the most 
jart, neither the produce of the one country nor of 
the other. It will be understood, however, that the 
principal material only is here spoken of; for if we 
were to take the endless variety of minor essentials 
to the production of silk and cotton goods such as 
the various dyes and chemicals used in their manu- 
facture and to attempt to trace them to their vari- 
ous original sources, we should soon be altogether 
lost in a labyrinth of details, and those of no practi- 
cal value to our argument. 

Airain. the products of one country and that 
whether consisting of native material and labour, as 
in our first instance, or of labour only, as in our 
second instance may be given to another country 
in >\ change for goods, for which the buyers have no 
use whatever, except that of purchasing from a third 
country certain commodities for which they are not 
in a condition to offer any more direct equivalent. 

China, for example, produces tea, of which England 

great consumer. But China will not take the 

native products of England in exchange for her tea : 

she will, however, take gold, which is not the produce 

of this country. In this case, therefore, in order that 

we may obtain tea from China, we must first buy 

sj-nM wheresoever gold is to be had in exchange for 

Mich goods as we may be able to give for it. And 

it matters not whether the gold, which we 



150 LECTURES ON THE 

require for this purpose, be obtainable in exchange 
for the native products of our own industry, or in 
exchange for foreign products, directly or indirectly 
purchased with our own. 

Hence, therefore and this is the point to which 
I desire to direct 'your attention however intricate 
the process, so long as the home-market can be pro- 
portionately supplied, that is to say, sufficiently sup- 
plied with such commodities as people ask for in 
exchange for their money, there can be no limitation 
whatever to the operation of the important principle on 
which I insist, namely That, with a right monetary 
system, demand would become, and ever continue to 
be, co-equal with production. The true end and 
object of all commerce is to obtain whatever we may 
desire to possess in lieu of that which we may be 
able to give ; and it matters not a straw, commercially 
speaking, whether this object be accomplished by 
direct or indirect means ; for, provided it be accom- 
plished without difficulty or inconvenience, we may, 
if we please, export everything that we create by 
our own labour, and consume, use, and accumulate 
nothing, not even our daily bread, but what shall 
have been imported from some other country. 

But the time may come when proportionate supply 
can no longer be maintained at home, either by 
means of bringing the varied products of our own 
industry into our market, or by exchanging those 
products, either directly or indirectly, for those of 
other countries ; and then, but not till then, will pro- 
ductive labour of some kind be superabundant in this 
land. Has that period arrived ? Is it now, or has 
it ever been, necessary for the productive labourer to 



NATTIIK \M> CSK oF 



151 



leave liis native country in search of employment ' 
or rather Would emit/ration have as yet been neces- 
ory had freedom of exchange e\n- truly existed in 
this laiul \ had proportionate supply been, as it ever 
should have been, the one and on hi condition to the 
constant co-equality of production and demand .' 

I confess my inability to answer this question with 
;my certainty ; and indeed it would involve a tedious 
and lengthened course of investigation to arrive at 
even a probable answer to it. It would, however, l>c 
a mere waste of time and thought to adventure upon 
tin- inquiry. It is for us it is for the nation at 
large, and for every person in it who has not an in- 
dependent income to call his own to insist upon an 
immediate and thoroughly searching //</////// into this 
subject. For if the statements I have already made, 
and urn yet about to make to you be true, irrefutable 
a> the existence of light or heat, and demonstrable 
by any tolerable accountant to the capacity of any 
well-educated youth of twenty years of age, then I 
submit that if the inhabitants of these realms shall not 
very speedily apply to the government for an ex- 
tensive measure of relief, they will well deserve to 
sutler, as they suffer now, from a perpetual pecuniary 
insnfliciency, relieved only from its tediousiu >> ami 
monotony by an occasional pecuniary famine. 

1 would, however, earnestly caution you against the 
adoption of any half measures with reference to this 
subject, by the operation of which we may be lulled 
into a state of fancied security. Proportionate supply 
is or is not the natural cause of demand : if it be not 
so, then is every sentence which I have addressed 
to you a mere tissue of nonsense, deserving only of 



152 LECTURES ON THE 

your contempt and ridicule : but if proportionate 
supply be in reality the natural cause of demand, 
our task is plainly before us Let it be so practically. 

I shall now proceed to present you with a descrip- 
tion of an accurate measure of value, consisting not of 
gold, neither of silver, nor of any valuable thing 
whatever, but merely of a principle. 

It being understood, then, that every standard- 
manufacturer, merchant, and dealer in houses, lands, 
or other heritable property, is to put his own value 
upon whatever goods or property he may bring into 
the market ; and that, on giving security for its ul- 
timate repayment to the bank, the bank is to pay 
him at once the full value in money of the said 
goods or property as estimated by himself In what 
shape, it will be demanded, are we to obtain that ac- 
curate measure of value by means of which all inter- 
changes between man and man are to be effected 
with a degree of fairness and accuracy, rivalling that 
which in the case of any two things of like nature 
as well as value, would be obtainable by merely 
giving equal weight for weight, measure for mea- 
sure, or number for number ? 

Now, to this subject I would particularly solicit 
your attention, because it is one which appears to 
have been hitherto misunderstood by all parties, but 
more especially by the original''' editors of the West- 
minster Review, the present editor of the Times, the 
Birmingham monetary reformers, as represented by 
Mr. Muntz, and the monetary reformers of London, 
as represented by the Anti-Gold-Law League. In 

* The Work, it has already been mentioned, is now in other hands. 



NATURE AND USE OP MONKV 



short, anything like n true mea-uiv <>l value is a 
yet to be recognised by men of every shade of 
politics, whoso opinions upon the subject of money 
; all kii"\\n to thepuMie : very few of whom seem 
t" have the least conception, that we have merely 
to reform, or rather to reconstruct our monetary 
ni. in order to cuter at once upon a state of 
society, commercially speaking, as superior to thai 
\\hich at present exists, as the railway mode of travel- 
ling from one place to another is superior to that of 
ur forefathers. 

Well, then, I think you must have already seen, 
that if whatever the world calls wealth, both real 
and personal, in all its varieties, and in the most 
minute portions, could be conveniently exchanged, upon 
the principle of equal weight, equal measure, or equal 
number, there would be no necessity for money at 
all ; and that it is because, and solely because, this 
cannot be done, that a measure of value is essen- 
tial. not merely to the convenience, but to the very 
existence of commercial transactions .of any consi- 
derable extent or magnitude. 

You have seen, farther, that the east wind might 
as truly be called a measure of value as gold coin, 
were it for no other reason than this one, namely, 
that whilst any given number of ounces divided by 
sixteen will give the number of pounds avoirdupois ; 
whilst any given number of feet longitudinal divided 
by three will give the number of yards, and this at 
all times and under all circumstances, no given number 
either of ounces' weight, or of feet longitudinal, of any 
DM thing upon the face of the earth, gold itself only 
excepted, will continue to exchange for the same 



154 LECTURES ON THE 

weight of gold, at all times, even though both the 
desire for, and the labour of producing the things to 
be exchanged, shall have remained the same to the 
smallest imaginable fraction. Gold, therefore, in 
place of being any measure of value at all, is itself a 
mere commodity, the price of which, as measured by 
other commodities, in reality rises and falls just as 
frequently as the price of other things ; although such 
rises and falls are to a certain extent concealed from 
public view, by the operation of the legal fiction that 
the value of gold is 3, 17s. 10d. per ounce. Gold 
is indeed assumed to be a measure of value, and it 
is also declared by the law of the land so to be ; but 
still it is no more true in point of fact that gold is a 
measure of value than it would be true to affirm that 
2 and 2 are 5, 15, 50, or 500. 

The law can do a great many things, but there 
are still a great many things which it cannot do. The 
law, for example, is able to change the name of a 
man or even that of an animal. It may enact that 
henceforth all dogs shall be called cats, and that all 
cats shall be called dogs. And if such a law were to 
be enacted, why, then, in future, all the cats would 
bark, whilst all the dogs would mew. But the law 
cannot suspend the operation of the principle of 
gravitation, or convert the darkness of midnight into 
the noonday sun, or the chilling blasts of December 
into the sultry brec/es of July. And yet did the law 
attempt to do a thing quite as impossible as any one 
of these, when it sent forth the idiotic mandate 
" Gold shall be at once the standard and the measure 
of value." For, as the earth we dwell upon is one 
land not many, so also is there one standard, one 



N \TURB AND USB OF MUM V. 1 .">.j 

nu-a'i!v of value given to us by tin- hand of Nature 
h.-r-M-lf; ami lir-i-l,-.-. d\\^ th-iv is mi other: neither 
is it within the power of man to mate another, any 
more than it is within his |>ower to make another sun 
or another moon ; an. I neither is it possible for man 
"/ thi-s natural standard of value, ami to setup 
any (/olden image in its stead, without suffering for 
his presumptuous folly that punishment wliich con- 
stantly awaits the violator of every natural law. 
Come, therefore, the punishment of our disobedience 
must and will, and that equally whether we hap- 
pen to know that we violate any natural law or not. 

In announcing to you, then, that human labour is 
at once the source, the standard, and the only possible 
measure of value, I tell you nothing new. You have 
been told so twenty times before, and never perhaps 
more earnestly or emphatically than by your great 
countryman Dr. Adam Smith : these are his words : 

" The value of any commodity, therefore, to the 
person who possesses it, and who means not to use or 
consume it himself, but to exchange it for other com- 
modities, is equal to the quantity of labour which it 
rnal.irs him to purchase or command. Labour, there- 
fore. Is the real measure of the exchangeable value of 
all commodities. 

" Labour was the first price, the original purchase- 
money that was paid for all things. It was not by 
^rold or by silver, but by labour, that all the wealth 
of the world was originally purchased ; and its value, 
to those who possess it, and who want to exchange it 
for some new productions, is precisely equal to the 
<jiittiitit// of labour which it can enable them to pur- 
chase or command. 



LECTURES <>X THE 

" Labour alone, therefore, never varying in its own 
value, is alone the ultimate and real standard by 
which the value of all commodities can at all times 
and places be estimated and compared. 

" Labour, therefore, it appears evidently, is the 
only universal, as well as the only accurate measure 
of value, or the only standard by which we can com- 
pare the values of different commodities at all times 
and at all places. We cannot estimate, it is allowed, 
the real value of different commodities from century 
to century by the quantities of silver which were 
given for them : we cannot estimate it from year 
to year by the quantities of corn : by the quantities 
of labour we can, with the greatest accuracy, estimate 
it both from century to century, and from year to year. 

" Labour, it must always be remembered, and not 
any particular commodity, or set of commodities, is 
the real measure of the value both of silver and of all 
other commodities.""" 

Now, I think it will be admitted by every candid 
reader, that throughout the entire volumes of the 
Wealth of Nations there is not to be found one solitary 
doctrine more unequivocally or emphatically incul- 
cated than that which I have just quoted ; and yet, 
strange to say, there the Doct r left his axiom, just 
as if it had fallen from him by mere accident, un- 
worked out, unexplained, untraced in its results, and 
to all practical purposes a dead letter which, un- 
happily, to this day it hath remained. 

Whilst, however, I thus merely reiterate a great 
truth, which was laid before you many years ago by 

* Wealth of Nations, Edition, Edinburgh, William Creech, 1806, 
Vol. I., Pages 39, 40, 43, 44, 48, 49, and 258. 



\ \n i:r. AND r<r. UK M. l."*7 



one, the hist iv of NNho.se name has contrihiuvd to the 
eelehrity of this city of learning, I would remind you 
that it is no new tiling amount us in neglect for 
half a century or so, to take any practical ;ul vantage 
of e\en tin- uut important discoveries. Compara- 
tively few Arsons, indeed, who have been of very 
much use in the world, have ever lived to see the 
result of their studies estimated at their true value 
by the immhers of society. Why, therefore, should 
we be discouraged by the fact that a principle in 
social science endorsed though it be by one of our 

lost modern philosophers has lain dormant for 
seventy-two years I And again, backed by such an 
authority, why should we despair of seeing lalitmr 
one day assume its true position in the world as the 
universally acknowledged measure of value as well 
as source of it "? or why should we hesitate for a 
moment in assigning to labour practical/// that im- 
portant office of which naturally it never by any 
possibility can be deprived ? The case lies in a nut- 
shell Labour is the only real standard, the only real 

-ure of value ; and, therefore, if we shall continue 

oltinately and stupidly to decline accepting it as 

Mirh, why then we must be content to go without any 

real measure or standard of value at all ; seeing that 

in no other possible shape or form can we obtain one. 

Then if we be inclined to carry this investigation 

a little farther, the next thing which we shall have to 

encounter will be the old set of stereotyped queries, 

to be now repeated for the ten thousandth time : 

"How will you do this V "How overcome that ?" 

How explain the other thing?" &c. And in the 

lit instance, these and the like inquiries may 



1/58 LECTURES ON THE 

neither be few nor unimportant ; and yet, after 
more than twenty-five years' consideration of the 
subject, I am fully prepared to say, not merely 
That I see no practical difficulty whatever in accur- 
ately measuring value of any kind by labour ; but far- 
ther, I do not believe it to be within the power of man 
to raise any objection to our forthwith doing so, which 
I am not in a position at once and for ever to refute. 

Labour, then, as declared by Dr. Adam Smith, 
being the only true standard and measure of value, 
our next inquiry is By what process is it possible to 
measure labour itself? Equal quantities of labour 
of hour's work in a coal-mine and at a cotton-loom, 
for example, would surely not be equitably remuner- 
ated by equal payment ! neither could the result of 
twelve hours' labour expended in a business requiring 
an apprenticeship to obtain an adequate knowledge 
of it in that of an engraver, for instance be fairly 
exchanged for the result of twelve hours' employment 
in a work requiring no such previous instruction, or 
preparation of any kind ! 

And again, it is scarcely possible with fairness to 
pay any fifty men alike, even when employed in the 
like manner. In skill as well as industry, in general 
good conduct as well as in skill, and in trustworthi- 
ness as well as in all these, there is and ever will be 
not merely shades of difference but a great differ- 
ence, between the value of one man's labour and 
that of another man, even in those cases wherein the 
parties are nominally alike in station, occupation, 
and in general circumstances. 

Then in the case of professional men, as for ex- 
ample, advocates, physicians, &c., the value of one 



'KB AND rsi: ir MONT.Y. 159 

man's hour \x frequently greater than that of another 
man > day, or even week. 

Admitted all thia, lu.w then, it will be reiterated, is 
thr one and only measure of value labour to beit- 
srll iiiraMiivd in such manner as to give no just cause 
of umbrage to any man, much less to inflict upon him 
tin- I;TOSS injustice of placing him in circumstann s 
wluTi-in he may no longer be able to ascertain the vain*'. 
of his own tinu'. as compared with that of others, by 
tin- inn a 1 1' I only true test of all comparative value, 
which is The precise sum of money for whicli, lj 
free mutual contract, any labour, service, or commo- 
dity , can be sold? 

Now, the answer to this inquiry is, that nature 
contradicts not herself, and, therefore, if we only 
obey her dictates ^ith scrupulous exactness we shall 
never get into a maze. And thus in the present 
instance it will be found That the principle of free 
diul unrestricted competition between man and man 
throughout every occupation in life, be it profes- 
sional, mercantile, mechanical, or laborious, is in per- 
fect accordance with the natural measure of value 
labour ; and, consequently, that no practical difficulty 
or inconvenience could be entailed on any class of 
competitors by the act of constituting labour the 
legal, as it has ever been, and must ever continue 
to be, the natural measure and standard of value. 
In some cases immense, in others very minute, dif- 
uces exist between the value of the labour of one 
person and that of another ; but the principle of free 
and unrestricted competition will ever continue to 
adjust these differences with sufficient accuracy for 
all practical purposes, so long as every man shall 



1GO LECTURES OX THE 

be at perfect liberty to Name the value of his own 
labour, and to Obtain it if he can. 

And now, we find ourselves immediately in front 
of the grand citadel of the bullionists, the fortifications 
of which, however, being composed of straw, will be 
very easily converted into thin air. 

The everlasting blunder of the bullionists, then, 
consists in the supposition That a paper-currency, 
unconvertible on demand into any fixed weight of gold 
or silver, must necessarily be a depreciated currency ! 

This supposition, however, is mere delusion ; for the 
value of a, one pound note unconvertible into any fixed 
quantity of gold, silver, or anything else, may quite 
easily be fixed by law with mathematical precision and 
certainty ; and that not merely in such a manner as to 
defy \\\Q possibility of depreciation, but to such legal 
note may, moreover, be assigned whatever value the 
nation may think right and proper to give it ; which 
value it would thenceforth retain, even though the notes 
should be multiplied a hundred-thousand million-fold. 

It having, then, been mentioned, that as part of a 
monetary system under the influence of which pro- 
duction, now the effect of demand, may be converted 
into the cause of it, all goods deposited in standard- 
warehouses are to be instantly paid for by the stan- 
dard-banks, whilst the onus of selling them is still to 
devolve upon their own manufacturers or importers 
as the case may be, attached to this great privilege 
of prepayment before sale, there must be one con- 
dition, namely That in every manufactory through- 
out the kingdom wherein standard-goods may be 
produced, there must be a minimum price of labour 
payable in standard -money. 



NATURE AND USE OF UUNKY. 161 

Now here let no (VIM in tin- >tudy of Political 

Momy bo at all amused at tlir mention of any 

fixed price whatsoever of wages ; for, if he adventure 

int< an argument with me upon the sul.ject, I shall 

beat him, I know, and therefore it is but fair to tell 

him so beforehand. 

A minimum wage of labour, then, payable in paper 
nHnn'11. means nothing whatever more or less than a 
mere starting point in the race of competition, with 
the principle of which it would interfere no more 
than interferes the self-same condition at Ascot or at 
Epsom. Its language, in short, is merely this : 
" Come in first who may, in fairness each and all of 
vnu shall start together." 

Again, so far as regards the general view of this 
subject the particular view will follow presently 
it matters nothing where this starting point may be. 
The minimum of wages may be fixed at 5s. a-\\n k, 
or 10s., at 20s. or 50s., and the real difference bet\\ < n 
these amounts that is to say, between the sum of 5s. 
and 50s. will be no difference at all : for the produce 
of his own labour would be the real wages of the 
labourer in every case, whilst his weekly wages in 
money would be merely the name by which that pro- 
duce would be called. 

For the sake of easy illustration, then, suppose we 
call the starting point that is to say, the lowest 
rate of wages per week, of sixty or seventy-two 
that may by law be given, in any standard 
tory throughout the kingdom, to nitii H'orkimi man ir/mf- 
ever, who shall have attained the age of twenty-one 
years by the name of twenty shillings, or one pound 
''iftf. Thru it follows as a matter of course for 



162 LECTURES ON THE 

nature herself has written down the law, " It shall be 
so" that each and every person possessing superior 
dexterity or skill, or holding an important trust, or 
being employed in any superior capacity within a 
standard manufactory, would require a rate of wages 
exceeding 20s. a-week : the amount of the excess 
being in exact proportion to the degree of superiority 
asserted by the workman and admitted by his mas- 
ter, over the lowest grade of employment already 
mentioned as being by law remunerated with the mi- 
nimum payment of twenty shillings a-week. 

If then, the minimum rate of weekly wages in an 
extensive manufactory be 20s., it is obvious that 
better men would earn from 21s. to 25s., whilst better 
still would earn from 26s. to 30s., and the foremen, 
perhaps, from 35s. to 60s., or even more ; whilst 
clerks, cashiers, and others holding situations of trust 
and responsibility, would require salaries varying from 
a hundred to a thousand a-year and upwards. Such 
at least, is the case now, and with the principle by 
which the variations in the rate of remuneration are 
at present regulated we interfere not to the value of 
one farthing, by the proposal of a totally different basis 
whereon to erect our entire monetary system. 

For if we consent to double the minimum rate of 
common wages, we are just exactly where we were ; 
seeing that if we double the wages of the stoker we 
must double also those of the engineer. Double the 
wages of the weaver, and we must double those of the 
foreman, the warehouseman, the clerk, the cashier, 
and, in short, those of every member of the establish- 
ment. So that, the starting point or minimum rate of 
wages being once fixed, by doubling it we should do 



i:i: \M> i SB OP MONEY. 



!' .1 



ju>t imtliiii- at all. \\e-lmuld merely be consenting to 
dengnnii' tin- - It-amc thing by a larger and more 
imposing name : for as " that which we call a rose 
11 \ <>thrr name would smell as sweet,'' so would 
tin weekly prmluce of the labour of a working man 
IK- just exactly what it is, whether we call that pro- 
duce ly the name of L'OS., 50s., or 500s., always in 

''/ money : nor, in adopting a sound monetary 
system, would it signify a straw whether the i/tini- 
mnm rate of wages, in the various standard- works, 
should In- t\\ciity .-hillings or ten shillings, forty shil- 

- or five shillings, per week, provided alwut/s that 
there wen- no such persons in existence as debtors, 

iitors, obligants, contractors, and the like : but I 
must reserve the elucidation of this subject for my 
next lecture. 



164 LECTURES ON THE 



LECTURE VI. 



The subject of the fourth and fifth lectures continued and con- 
cluded Fallacy of the Existing Principle of Coinage shown, and 
the True Principles of Coinage explained and demonstrated. 

IN my last lecture I endeavoured to show you 
that by labour only is it possible to measure value ; 
and farther that, but for the existence of debts, credits, 
and pecuniary obligations, the money price of com- 
modities being merely a name, the said commodities 
may very safely be called by any name we may think 
proper to give them ; seeing that whether a man's 
wages should be twenty shillings a-week, or ten shil- 
lings, forty shillings a-week, or five shillings, it would 
be all the same to him. 

But debts, credits, obligations, and contracts exist 
and that to a considerable amount, one item of 
eight hundred millions or so being no secret. Now 
all these debts and obligations must be justly dealt 
with, or else we sacrifice England's fame and En- 
gland's honour at the shrine of England's neces- 
sity. I am confident, however, that this nation would 
much more readily consent to pay her national debt 
twice over than to pay it less than once ; or in other 
words, to pay it in a depreciated currency. And to 
pay our national debt t\vice over in reality would be 



N \TIUK AND USE OP MONKY. 1 <:."> 

;i far less dithYult task, under the influence of a sou in I 
monetary sy>ieni, than is that of continuing to pay 
tin- annual interest of it, with our resources crippled 
88 they are at present. 

It v.ill be necessary, however, to explain this sub- 
ject fully, the more especially because The Times has 
disseminated its puerilities thereon so very exten- 
>-i\ely, that many persons of sound judgment in 
other matters have been deluded into the supposition 
that a paper currency, unconvertible into any fi.\el 
weight of gold or silver, must of necessity be a de- 
preciated currency : that is to say, if I owe you a 
hundred pounds now, in payment of which debt you 
can demand one hundred sovereigns in gold coin of 
mint-weight and fineness under the present law, only 
let us have, instead of the present sovereign, an 
unconvertible -in to-any-fixed -quantity-of -gold paper 
pound instead, and then my debt to you of one hun- 
dred pounds must of necessity be under-paid i?i re- 
alitii if paid in notes of such a character instead of 
in gold coin. 

Now, to demonstrate the utter absurdity of this 
doctrine, I shall take first one extreme case, and then 
another, and afterwards I shall endeavour to make 
you acquainted with the precise nature of the bank- 
note, which ought by the law of the land, to be forth- 
with constituted our only national standard tint/ 
measure of value ; and, consequently, in notes of 
which value all our pecuniary engagements existing 
and to exist should henceforth be fulfilled. 

Already, then, it has been mentioned, that sonie- 
\vhere on our future race-course of competition. \\e 
must ha\e ti start iny point, consisting of a minimum 



166 LECTURES ON THE 

rate of weekly wages payable in paper money, below 
which minimum no person of twenty-one years of 
age and upwards, employed in any standard manu- 
factory, or work of any kind, is by the law of the 
land to be remunerated : from which minimum price 
of labour all other things would as certainly take 
their proportionate money price, through the opera- 
tion of the principle of individual competition, as 
they do at the present time through the operation 
of the self-same principle, in the absence of any stan- 
dard of value whatever. 

We shall suppose, then, the minimum rate of wages 
in a given employment to be now twenty shillings 
a-week. I take the sum of twenty shillings merely 
for the sake of simplifying the argument. I do not 
mean to say that twenty shillings a-week is in re- 
ality the minimum rate of wages in any employ- 
ment at present ; but I take this sum for my argu- 
ment in preference to any other sum, because it is the 
unit of our monetary denominative, namely, a pound 
sterling. If, then, a man be at present able to obtain 
a pound sterling in exchange for his week's labour, it 
is clear that the produce of his labour be that pro- 
duce whatever it may must now be worth one golden 
coin ycleped a sovereign, because he is actually in 
the habitual receipt either of that coin itself in ex- 
change for his labour, or else of a pound note 
which will instantly exchange for one. Suppose, 
farther, that the minimum price of labour upon the 
standard principle, for the establishment of which 
I am contending, were to be fixed at ten .*// ////////> 
a-week, and that the self-same person, whom we have 
just supposed to be earning twenty shillings a-week 



I RE AND USE OP 1IONKV. 1 U7 

in our present money, be henceforth paid but ten shil- 
lings a-week standard, in place of twenty shillings 
stfrhiiy tin- conclusion is inevitable, That am the 
weekly i>r<,,luce of this man's labour would be jmtt 
what it was before, our ten shillings standard would 
be precisely njual in value to twenty shillings ster- 
ling ; or, in other words, our one pound note standard 
would be worth just two one pound Bank of Eng- 
land notes, or two golden sovereigns. 

But if and it would not affect the interest of the 
operative to the value of a farthing the minimum 
rate of wages on our standard principle be fixed at 
five shillings a-week in place of ten shillings, then 
would our one pound note be worth four sovereigns ; 
or if we fix the said minimum at two shillings and 
>i\ pence a-week in place often shillings, then would 
our one pound standard note be worth eight sover- 
eigns ; or if the minimum rate of standard wages 
should be fixed at a single shilling a-week still at no 
possible inconvenience or loss to the operative then 
would our one pound standard be worth just twenty 
one pound Bank of England notes, or twenty golden 
sovereigns and it would in fact exchange for either 
the one or the other; whilst our standard shilling 
would weigh just twenty shillings of the present coin- 
age, and would be worth a sovereign I 

So much for the " depreciation" which must neces- 
sarily be consequent upon the substitution of a paper 
for a metallic currency, according to those very wise 
gentlemen the late editor of The Westminster Re- 
view, and the present editor of The Times ! 

But, say these very learned personages for if they 
do not say this they must assume a line of arguim nt 



LECTURES OX THE 

differing wholly from any which they have ever yet 
been able to advance " Admitted, which we sup- 
pose it must be, that the existing products of labour 
would exchange for equivalents, and that equally 
whether the equivalents themselves be called by the 
name of twenty shillings, ten shillings, five shillings, 
two and sixpence, or a shilling Do you really mean 
to say, that, if the whole productive powers of Great 
Britain were to be let loose upon us, like the pent- 
up waters of a lake suddenly bursting from their con- 
finement, your pound standard, at whatever present 
value you choose to fix it, would continue to exchange for 
the same weight of gold as that for which it exchanged 
in the first instance 1 Surely it could not do so \ " 

Most undoubtedly it would not, and this is just 
exactly your weakness and my strength ! the very 
point upon which the whole argument turns, the 
very sum and substance of everything I insist upon : 
namely, that if we increase goods faster than 
money, prices will fall, and production must stop ; 
whilst if we increase money as fast as we increase 
goods, prices will not fall, and, therefore, proportionate 
production may go on increasing until the end of time. 
And although the multiplied productions would cer- 
tainly not go on commanding in exchange for them as 
much gold or silver as they did in the first instance, 
when they were comparatively scarce, yet would the 
productions themselves which is all we have to care 
for be no less valuable, in the popular meaning of 
that term, than those which preceded them. The 
newly-built houses, for example, would be as com- 
fortable as the old ones, and possibly a little better 
drained and ventilated : the additional food would 



N \ Ti UK AND USB OP MOM V. 1C9 

be as nutritive, the clothing as warm, and the furni- 
tniv a> convi-nirnt. even though each and all of these 
should be multiplied a thousand t'll. 

llnv tlieii is the plain question before us Shall 
we retain our fictitious standard of value, gold, and 
tliu.s krep the productive resources of the country in 
bondage? or, shall we resort to the natural stan- 
dard of value, labour, and thereby set our productive 
resources free f 

This 1 say is the essence of the whole monetary 
'ion, the sum and substance of the difference be- 
tween the advocates of a golden and of a paper cur- 
; and 1 defy Sir Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, 
Mr. Jones Lloyd, and Mr. Cobden, with the Editor 
of The Times, with every Golden member of both Houses 
of Parliament to help them, either to falsify these state- 
ments, or to produce anything better than the most 
puerile and transparent sophistry in reply to them. 

Hut, to resume our argument. It having, then, 
been seen, that by fixing the minimum price of 
labour in standard money at a very low sum, that is 
to say, by calling it by the name of five shillings, 
two shillings and sixpence, or even a shilling a- week, 
the value of the pound standard would be very much 
greater than the existing pound sterling, it follows, 
mi the other hand, that by fixing the minimum price 
of labour at a very high sum, the precisely opposite 
iv>ult would follow. Suppose, for example, that we 
were to fix the minimum rate of wages at five pounds 
standard, whilst the wages of the same operative who 
furnished our former example should, as before sup- 
posed, be one pound sterling. The product.-* }' tin* 
labour of this man being still the same i\& before, it is 



170 LECTURES ON THE 

obvious that his weekly five-pound standard note 
would command but one sovereign, or one sovereign's 
worth, and that practically he would, therefore, be in 
precisely the same situation with his five pou-nds 
a-week, as in the case formerly supposed, with but 
twenty shillings, ten shillings, five shillings, two shil- 
lings and sixpence, or even but one shilling a-week. 
His real wages would consist of that quantity of the 
necessaries, conveniences, and comforts of life for 
which the produce of his labour would exchange ; and 
as the reality of that produce would be unaffected by 
any mere name which might be given to it, so would 
the interest of the operative himself be the same to 
the value of a straw, whether his wages in standard 
money should be five shillings a-week or five pounds, 
seeing that his relative position in society would be 
precisely the same in the one case as in the other. 

Widely different, however, is the view of this sub- 
ject which presents itself for our examination, when 
it comes to be considered with reference to existing 
debts, credits, and pecuniary obligations. For, ad- 
justed by the all-pervading principle of individual 
competition, every marketable thing in the country, 
upon the principle I have laid down, would inevitably 
take its money-price from the minimum price of la- 
bour paid in the standard manufactories. Fix this 
minimum price of labour then at too high a rate, 
and you defraud every creditor ; fix it at too low a 
rate, and you defraud every debtor. 

Say, for example, that the minimum rate of wages 
paid to men of twenty-one years of age and upwards 
in all sorts of manufacturing employments throughout 
the kingdom be now ten shillings, and suppose this 



NATURE AND USE OF MONEY. 



171 



i- -lit to be just, so far as reganls, not merely the 
)|).T.iti\. - (liriiisolves, but also with reference to all 
and creditors ; the present j>r/re of all cora- 
i> in consequence pro/><>rti<>nate to this state 
of things. Ten shillings in standard money, then, 
should in this case be the minimum wage of labour 
still, because the relative position of debtors, creditors, 
and pecuniary obligants of every kind would remain 
the same. But fix this minimum at twenty shillings, 
in place of ten shillings, and you forthwith defraud 
every creditor of one-half his dues in favour of his 
debtor ; or fix the minimum at five shillings, and then, 
in like manner, you defraud every debtor to precisely 
tin- same extent ; that is to say, you just exactly 
double his debt. In the former case, you enable the 
debtor to pay his creditor with just half the products 
of labour which he really owes ; whilst, in the latter, 
you compel him to pay his real debt twice over. 

Fn>m what has been stated, then, I trust it will 
be evident that the value of paper-money may be 
fixed by law at whatever may be thought to be its 
proper value ; and that with the same mathematical 
precision and accuracy, with which we could at any 
time create by law a new measure or a new weight. 
Our next inquiry consequently is What then, prac- 
tically speaking, should be the precise value of the 
pound tftn win rd f 

Now, this is a question which can only be an- 
swered by asking another one, the true reply to 
which could not, I will venture to affirm. \^e given 
by a committee consisting of the best twenty accoun- 
tant- iii Kurope, in less than a seven years' sederunt, 
which question is : 



172 LECTURES ON THE 

Estimated in adult labour, what was the value of 
money at the different periods when every monetary 
contract existing at this day was entered into ? No 
human being, by the expenditure of any amount of 
research, could ever qualify himself to reply with ac- 
curacy to this inquiry. Some faint semblance of 
justice may possibly be awarded to the millions of 
existing creditors, but nothing more. The value of 
money, in short, has fluctuated to so great an extent 
since the commencement of many monetary obliga- 
tions still existing and for ever to exist, that, to ask 
the question At what value should the pound 
standard be fixed so as to do justice to all existing 
debtors and creditors ? is just equivalent to asking 
Ten thousand men having at various periods of time 
lent ten thousand totally different sums of money, 
what precise sum of money must we repay to each 
man so as justly to discharge his claim, it being 
expressly stipulated that the sum total of repayment 
to any one man shall be given also to every other? 

To ascertain the true answer to the question I have 
quoted being, then, a manifest impossibility, and as 
much difference of opinion would arise were the 
precise value of the pound-note that note being our 
future legal tender to be generally discussed, I shall 
here confine myself merely to an explanation of the 
principle on which that value ought to be determined; 
the more especially because this investigation will 
enable us to answer the question nearly enough for 
all practical purposes. 

It has already been explained, that if there were 
no such personages as debtors or creditors, and no 
such things as pecuniary contracts or obligations, our 



I'RE AND USE OP MOM V I 7-5 



pound standard, In-m^ merely a conventional tliin-_r, 
miirlit take its value from tin- minimum weekly wages 
of standard labour being fixed /// //////////'//// ; seeing 
that ii\e shillings, ten shillings, twenty shillings, or a 
hundred shillings would in fact be of just one and the 
same value to everybody. But, as debtors and credi- 
tors do exist, and money contracts too, the act of fixing 
by law the minimum rate of wages in the standard 
work* roiiies to be one of the very first importance. 

To give an example, the nature of which will be 
quite familiar to every person in this room We have 
in Scotland what are called feu-duties ; which mean-. 
speaking of them in the singular number, an annual 
payment for ever of so much money to the proprietor 
of a given piece of ground, in exchange for the ex- 
clusive possession and use of that ground, also for 
ever : the right of receiving the feu-duty on the one 
hand, and the right of possessing and using the 
ground on the other, being two distinct heritable 
properties, transferable at will, if unentailed, from one 
party to another, until the end of time. 

Assuming, then for this will be our shortest and 
best mode of treating the subject the present mine 
of money to be the right value, and assuming also 
the present minimum wages of labour in the various 
productive employments now existing throughout 
th<- kingdom to be ten shillings a-week, then, and in 
that case, the actual minimum price of labour to be 
paid in our standard manufactories should still l>- 
dt tilings a-week, and for this reason : 

Namely, that on the foregoing data, the man who 
pays or receives ten shillings of feu-duty now, pays or 
receives the minimum produce of one mans adult labour 



174 LECTURES ON THE 

for a week. Fix therefore by law, the said minimum 
price of labour at ten shillings a-week, and the re- 
lative position of every superior and his vassal will 
remain just as it is ; but fix that minimum at twenty 
shillings, and you will forthwith defraud the superior 
of just one-half his dues, or fix it aiflve shillings., and 
then you will in reality double the amount of the feu- 
duty to the prejudice of the vassal. For, whilst the 
actual sum of money payable by the vassal to his su- 
perior is in all these cases the same, the value of the 
money itself is reduced to just one-half in the former 
instance, whilst in the latter it is precisely doubled. 

To avoid these two extremes, then, and to hit the 
happy medium between them in fixing, or, more pro- 
perly speaking, in giving a pecuniary name to the mi- 
nimum rate of wages, is the duty of the legislature ; 
but the amount of this minimum wage being once 
fixed in the most equitable manner that can be de- 
vised, it should remain the same for ever, having become 
at once the Law, the Standard, and the Measure of 
value for the British nation. 

I am well aware that the idea of fixing the rate of 
wages in any shape, or upon any principle whatever, 
will sound very strangely to certain reasoners ; but 
the fact is, I do not propose to fix the ivages of <mii 
human being, but merely to establish by law a prin- 
ciple, on which the wages of every kind of employment 
professional, mercantile, mechanical, laborious, and 
menial may be enabled equitably to inl/n^t them- 
selves. Not one sentence is there in the doctrine 
for which I contend, that proposes to interfere 
for an instant with the most unbounded freedom of 
individual competition between man and man, or 






NATl'KE AND USE OF MONKY. 

nation and nation ; m-ithrr is there one sentence in 
the slightest degree at variance with the doctrines, 
ily understood, of Dr. Adam Smith. I have, in 
fact, Imt t<>M vou how to do, what that great master 
told you should be done. 

" Labour [says he] alone, therefore, never varying 
in its own value, is alone the ultimate and real 
lard by which the value of all commodities can 
at all times and places be estimated and compared." 
"Labour, it must always be remembered, and not 
any particular commodity, or set of commodities, is 
the real measure of the value of both silver and of all 
other commodities." "It is the only universal as 
well as the only accurate measure of value, or the 
only standard by which we can compare the ?v////>.s 
of different commodities at all times and in all 
;//// w." It will not, then, disconcert me very much 
should any one reply "But Sir Robert Peel has 
not duly honoured the bill thus drawn upon his 
wisdom by Dr. Adam Smith." Truly he has not 
done so : the bill, on the contrary, is shamefully 
overdue, and has long since been protested. But 
better late than never : By some body, if not even 
by Sir Robert Peel himself, the bill will yet be paid, 
in/- . inul (hut to the last farthiiHi. 

Upon the plan of exchange, then, which I have 
demonstrated, the money of the country would con- 
HM of standard-bank notes, varying in value from 
the minimum of one pound to a maximum, perhaps, 
of a hundred thousand pounds. 

These notes should be issued by three parent 
estaMishnMnAi to be denominated respectively the 
Standard- Hank of England, the Standard- Bank of 



1 76 LECTURES OX THE 

Scotland, and the Standard-Bank of Ireland to 
their respective agents, of whom, in large towns, there 
should be a plurality, in London at least twenty ; and 
in every smaller town, of any considerable size at all, 
there should be one. * 

In their paper department, the business of these 
three national banks would consist in issuing money 
to, receiving money from, and keeping proper 
accounts with, and inspection over, their respective 
branches ; whilst in the metallic department, their 
business would be precisely the same ; gold, silver, 
and copper coins, they must issue, on demand, to all 
their agents as the said coins may be required ; 
whilst the agents, on the other hand, must return 
periodically to their principals, whatever paper, gold, 
silver, or copper money they may have in super- 
fluity : thus placing within the reach of the entire 
community, a sufficiency of gold, silver, copper, and 
paper money, to answer every commercial purpose. 

Upon the three parent banks, therefore, would 
devolve the task of providing a sufficiency of gold, 
silver, and copper money, to meet whatever demand 
for it might arise throughout the entire kingdom : 
a very formidable task this, present experience will, 
no doubt, lead you to suppose ; but the anticipated 
difficulty will rapidly diminish as we come to ap- 
proach it, and very soon prove to be no difficulty at 
all. Before entering, however, upon the subject of 
coinage, I wish it to be understood, that I would not 
have the three standard-banks transact business with 
any person or party whatever, but their own agents 
and the Government. 

The three standard-banks, I may here remark, 



NATIIM: AND USE OP MOM.Y. 177 

would, in tin- coin-so of ft ^ln>rt time alter their esiah- 
li.xhment, he instructed hy (lovernnieut to Collect 
tin* whole of the taxes, seeing that they would cer- 
tainly he al.le to perform this duty without employing 
a single individual in the literal act of collecting 
them at all. For let the banking system, for the 
establishment of which I am now contending, be once 
thoroughly understood, and then, in all human pro- 
bability, the whole tomfoolery of customs, excise, 
stani]>-dmie>. window-duties, and every other duty 
will l>e at once abolished : an equal per cent age on 

crri'il th^rrijifinil >,f .--hnitlil nl i>rn,hirf/,>n iftiiiltl l,i' /lit' 

one and only tax. And this tax the standard-banks 
would be able to collect at no cost whatever, or next 
to none : whilst even the local taxes for every district 
ini^lit not improbably be in like manner collected by 
the standard-bank branches, also without expense. 
But I shall not at present enlarge upon this subject. 

The standard-hanks themselves should be supported 
by charging a small per centage on their issues, and 
for this purpose a very small per centage would suffice; 
Mg that the whole monetary operations of the 
three kingdoms would be far less complicated in their 
nature than are those of any one banking establish- 
ment, of great extent, now existing in the country. 

But you will not have failed to observe that, up to 
the present period of our discourse, one of the quali- 
of money described in an early lecture as essen- 
tial, has been kept altogether out of view I mean 
that of Divisibility. So far we have described the 
principles of a sound monetary system, and the plan 
of it too, down to the value of one pound. Our next 
must, therefore, be to ascertain the iliriyilii/ifi/ 

M 



178 LECTURES ON THE 

of the said pound into shillings, pence, halfpennies, 
and, if they be of any use, into farthings also. 

And here allow ine to make the inquiry Did any 
member of the present company ever see an impos- 
sibility ? You have all heard of things impossible, 
no doubt, but that is not my question Did you ever 
see an impossibility ? Yes, that you have, and 
plenty of them. This is an impossibility,""" it is called 
a sovereign ; and this is another impossibility, it is 
called a shilling ; and this is a third impossibility, it 
is called a penny. And yet, perhaps, I am not strictly 
correct, for in truth these coins respectively do but 
assume to be impossibilities, which in reality they are 
not. They are in fact so many impostors travelling 
under a false character ; and unhappily for us, they 
are something worse, for there is not at this day a 
coin of gold, of silver, or of copper, within the British 
nation, which is not in itself an irrefutable witness of 
the utter insanity of our existing monetary system. 

This shilling, for example, assumes to be of invari- 
able denomination, weight, and value and yet, never 
since Adam's birth-day, did project enter the mind of 
an enthusiast, more completely and absurdly impossible, 
than is the persevering attempt of the Government 
of this country to combine invariable denomination, 
weight, and value, within a piece of metal of any given 
degree of fineness. Ice could be preserved quite as 
easily in the midst of a furnace, or burning coals in 
the centre of a block of ice. 

We may use a coin of any denomination we please 
to confer upon it, and it may consist of gold, silver, cop- 

* Exhibiting one to the Audience. 



NATURE AND USE OP MONTY. 179 

per, brass, or of any other metal whereof we may think 
proper to make it ; and it may be continuously either 
of the same denomination and wfiyht, or of the same 
denomination and value ; but to devise a coin which 
shall continuously be of the same denomination, 
weight, and value, is a task which no generation of 
tin* race of man will ever live to perform. 

The one and only true measure of value is labour : 
and tin -reft -re, if our pound note should become the 
ivpivM-ntative of a certain fixed quantity and qua- 
lity of labour, it follows that our shilling and penny 
mn>t henceforth consist respectively of the twentieth 
and two hundred and fortieth parts of the weight 
of silver and of copper for which our pound note \vill 
exchange. But in exchange for no true standard of 
value can the same weight either of gold, silver, cop- 
per, or of any thing, be continuously obtained. To 
merely designate gold a standard of value is not to 
make it one, any more than to call water fire would 
be to make it fire, with which we could warm our- 
selves and cook our food. Call it what you please, 
gold is not a measure of value any more than fire and 
water are measures of value and no one ever knew 
this better, or expressed himself more clearly and em- 
phatically on the subject, than Dr. Adam Smith. 

But we must now proceed to treat the subject of 
coinage practically. 

Well, then, in the first place, as I have already told 
you, coins may be either of continuous denomination 
and weight, in which case their value must of neces- 
sity fluctuate ; or they may be of continuous deno- 
mination and value, but in this case their weight 
must be liable to variation : and to the pleasant 



180 LECTURES ON THE 

working of any true monetary system both these 
descriptions of coin are indispensable, whilst up to the 
present period of time we have had but one of them. 

A shilling, for example, may be permanently a 
shilling ; that is to say, it may be the twentieth part 
of a pound. But if the pound itself be a true measure 
of value, then it is clearly impossible that it should 
continue from year to year, and from century to cen- 
tury, to purchase the same weight of silver. Our 
shilling, therefore, should consist, and it must in fact 
consist, of the twentieth part of the weight of silver 
which a standard pound will purchase, whilst the 
penny must consist of the two hundred and fortieth 
part of the weight of copper which a standard pound 
will purchase ; the halfpenny and the farthing, in 
like manner, consisting respectively of the four hun- 
dred and eightieth, and nine hundred and sixtieth 
parts of the same weight of the same metal. 

It is farther obvious, that no pound note, being in 
itself a measure of value, can possibly go on command- 
ing, for an indefinite period, the same weight of silver 
or of copper in exchange for it, because, as labour is 
the only true standard of value, and as equal quanti- 
ties of labour would certainly not at all times obtain 
equal quantities of silver or of copper, either directly, 
if employed in the mines themselves, or indirectly, 
in exchange for their products, if otherwise employed, 
it follows, that no fixed weight of silver or of copper 
can ever permanently be worth the twentieth or two 
hundred and fortieth part of anything in its own 
nature unchangeable in valnr. 

The Mint, therefore, should cease to exist as a 
Government office, and should become a mere ;ij>- 



UK AND U8B OF MoNKY. 181 

peodage to the standard banks; its future business 
to manufa-'turo gold, silver, ainl copper coins 
for the hanks, to wh extent they may be re- 

quired : the crown COnsfetingSd all times of the fourth, 
tin- halt-ciown of the eighth, and the shilling and six- 
pence respectively of the twentieth and fortieth 
parts of the weight of silver obtainable in exchange 
for a standard pound, whatever that weight of silver 
may chance to be. 

An imaginary difficulty or two may here present 
themselves at first sight ; but, as they will prove to 
be purely imaginary, a very little examination will 
to dispel the mist. 

It has been stated, then, in this present lecture, 
that on demand, the standard banks are to issue to 
their agents whilst, in like manner, their agents are 
to issue to the public whatever ijunnttty of gold, 
silver, or copper coins may be required! By what 
means, it will be asked, are the standard hanks to 
oht n in a sufficiency of gold, si/n-r, and copper, where- 
iritli tn )iiiiiiiifii<-tiir<> the prodigious number of 
tli tit mm i be dem(imJ<-<l .' 

The answer is obvious : the standard bankers will 
merely have to purchase with their own noteyWhaJ 
quantity of these metals may be required. " What! 
[says the astonished bulliouist] buy gold and>ilver 
buy the precious metals, and these, too, ' in what 
quantity may be required/ with mere pieces /'/"// /. 
in themselves of no value at all ! Do I hear aright ?" 

Perfectly so ! The money standard bank-notes 
to be thus offered by the banks in payment for such 
gold and silver as they may require, will consist of 
order* //"/;/ //// llritidi uutrki'f tor whatsoever that 



182 LECTURES ON THE 

market may contain. Land, houses, corn, cattle, and 
merchandise of every sort and description it will con- 
tain. And will not these be worth at least some 
quantity of the said precious metals ? those very 
metals being themselves among the number of the 
things which these standard notes will at all times 
purchase 1 Assuredly they will. Then is it a mat- 
ter of indifference how much or how little of these 
metals may be obtained in exchange for that which 
may be given for them. The standard shilling may 
be of the size and weight of the present crown, 
or it may be of the size and weight of the present 
sixpence, for aught any man need care ; seeing that, 
upon the general average, it would very certainly 
come to pass, that whatever value in other thiiHj* 
may of necessity be given in exchange for an ounce 
of silver, that same value would the ounce of silver 
within a short period recover ; the same observation 
being also true of gold and of copper. Whilst, if a 
long period should be allowed to elapse before these 
metals, so purchased by the bank, be again disposed 
of, the chances are, that in the interim they will have 
risen rather than fallen in value, as compared with 
the products of labour in general. Whatever quantify, 
therefore, of other things we may at any time be ob- 
liged to give for these metals, for at least an equal 
quantity will they be likely to exchange, whenever the 
insane attempt to render gold a measure of the value 
of other commodities shall have been relinquished. 

In fact, only let gold and silver take their proper 
place in the market beside butter and eggs, and 
cloth and calico, and then the value of the precious 
metals will concern us just as little, commercially 



BATUMI \M> i n "F MONEY. 183 



the value of tho diamond, on the one 
hand, or of th- cheapest tiling whirh commerce hon- 
ours with the name of a commodity, on the other, 
(MM, ,i us uanow. Were these metals to become plen- 
tiful. even to absolute profusion, or were they to 
become scarce, oven to tho extent of extreme rarity, 
it would matter not. For, as Dr. Adam Smith has 
told us, " The cheapness and abundance of gold and 
silver plate, would be the solo advantage which the 
world could derive from the one event; and the dear- 
ness and scarcity of those trifling superfluities, the 
only inconveniency it could suffer from the other." * 

Thus, whatever (jt/nntity of gold, silver, or copper, 
may be required by the standard banks wherewith 
to supply their agents, and through them the public, 
that <jti>ifiti/ most undoubtedly would be obtainable 
without n */mdow of difficulty, in exchange for standard 
nates. And as all the gold, silver, and copper, that 
may be bought by the banks with standard money 
would take the exact price of the money given for 
it. the balance of supply and demand, as in the 
case of every other description of goods, would be 
precisely maintained. The gold, silver, and copper 
would be just so much standard stock that is to 
say, snftjihi in the hands of the standard bank it- 
self, whilst the money paid for these metals would 
constitute a precisely corresponding demand in the 
hands of the public. 

Another first-sight difficulty, with reference to the 
monetary system I am explaining, may j -crimps be 



* Wealth of Nation, edition already quoted, Vol I. |go 232. 



184 LECTURES ON THE 

the variable weight of the proposed silver and copper 
coins. But this objection, if it be offered, has no 
foundation in fact. Silver coin should be a legal 
tender to the amount of twenty shillings only, and 
copper to the amount of but a shilling. People cer- 
tainly might hoard up silver coin on the chance of 
the next issue being a lighter one, but the trade 
would prove to be very poor ; and, under any cir- 
cumstances, the only public result would be, that in 
the silver department of the mint, business would be 
brisk. Then, if the same remark be made with re- 
spect to copper, it is really not worth noticing. Prac- 
tically speaking these coins are never weighed ; and 
it must be perfectly well known to every gentle- 
man present, of my own age and upwards, that for 
a long period, shillings and sixpences, not worth re- 
spectively ninepence and fourpence, were current 
coin of the realm for many years during his life- 
time, with little or no inconvenience to any one. 

So far, then, our provision is ample for a supply 
of money, consisting of bank-notes and of silver 
and copper coins ; these latter being at all times of 
the same denomination and value. But I have 
already told you that, to the pleasant working of a 
true commercial system, coins, of invariable denomi- 
nation and weight are also necessary ; and thus we 
arrive at the subject of gold coin, which, as it should 
never vary either in denomination or in weight, must 
of necessity be liable to fluctuation in value. 

The only golden coins, then, which I would have 
should consist of one ounce of gold each, of the pre- 
sent mint quality ; and for their name it matters 
little. Suppose we call them Queens during a female 



NATURE AND USE OP MOM.V. I ^.~ 

in 1 A' /yx during a ni;ilo reign.* Or get rid of 
that matrlile alunlity the coin now called a sove- 
reign, and let the name be forthwith transferred to 
th ( ..MI. ,1 ounce of gold, which would certainly be 
a more worthy representative of sovereignty than 
th- existing miserable nondescript. 

A similar class of coins of permanent denomina- 
tion and weight as contradistinguished from perma- 
n ut denomination and value might also consist of 
ounces of silver, that is to say, of one ounce of silver 
in each coin : name them what you please. 

Now these goods for money they would not be, 
any more than beef or bacon are money must also 
1>. k. -jit in sufficient stock by the three standard 
banks to supply their agents, and through them the 
public. The gold and silver, of which they would 
respectively consist, being bought in the market with 
standard money which, I have already shewn, in- 
evitably would fun/ them in sufficient quantities to 
meet all demands the price per ounce of gold and 
silver must of course be that which it should be 
found necessary to give for them respectively in 
standard money. This price would no doubt fluc- 
tuate, like that of everything else ; but reason there 
is none why the price of gold and silver coin should 
not fluctuate as much as the price of stone, lime, tim- 
ber, corn, or coals. The real folly lies in our absurd 
attempt to make one thing the measure of the value 
of every other thing ; and were this attempt a nine 



* .Vor June 1848 I would prefer these denominations to any 
other, if it were merely to exhibit to the eyes of Kurope and the 
world, our unalterable respect for the British Constitution. 



186 LECTURES ON THE 

absurdity and nothing else, we could afford to laugh 
at it ; but unhappily this is not the case, for certain 
is it that our fictitious monetary system has cost us, 
not merely the loss of thousands of millions of wealth, 
which should have been created and enjoyed, but it 
has converted us into a nation, nay into a race, of 
worshippers of mere physical wealth ; which, taken 
at its utmost value, is but an item, and that not the 
principal item, amongst the various desiderata of hu- 
man life. 

From what has been stated, then, I trust it will 
be seen That whilst the adoption of the banking 
system I have proposed would liberate at once and 
for ever the productive resources of this country, and 
thereby confer upon us that precise measure of wealth 
which we may have the combined ability and incli- 
nation to create, the effectual demand being ever 
equal to the proportionate supply, and the propor- 
tionate supply being ever equal to the effectual de- 
mand I have, at the same time, abstained from 
proposing the slightest degree of unnecessary inter- 
ference either with the existing customs or preju- 
dices of society, as far as regards the denominations 
and subdivisions of money itself. 

The decimal system of accounting is no doubt a 
much more simple one than our own irregular divi- 
sion of the pound sterling into twentieths, two hun- 
dred and fortieths, and nine hundred and sixtieths. 
But I should not be inclined to change the denomi- 
nations of our standard money, at all events simul- 
taneously with the adoption of the one and only true 
standard of value,- in lieu of the false standard with 
which society is at present cursed. For with any 



NATURE AND USB OP MON 187 

such change most people would be puzzled fora time 
at least : some inconvenience, and many errors would 
pH'iitlv ensue, the whole of which would be 
placed to the debit of the newly adopted monetary 
//////<//;// . in-tr.nl of to that of the decimal coinage, 
with the adoption of which the monetary principle 
I have proposed has no necessary connexion. At 
some period, the decimal system of coinage will, 
most likely, supersede all others ; but as our exist- 
ing subdivision of the pound note into shillings, pence, 
and farthings, is sufficiently simple for all practical 
purposes, I should not at present desire to see it 
changed. 

There is also another matter about which a great 
leal of misconception may be liable to arise from a 
hasty and imperfect examination of the subject of 
th<^e lectures. Is not, it may be asked, the monetary 
system you have described applicable merely to our 
In <i'' trade? Certainly not! and, even if it were so, 
Would that be any valid objection to it for the con- 
ducting of our home trade ? Surely not. So far, 
however, from there being the smallest ground for 
any such objection, the fact is just the reverse ; see- 
that, as for our home trade not one solitary 
ounce of gold would be of the smallest possible use, 
the entire (quantity of gold coin in the country, now 
requisite for the conducting of our home trade, would 
at once be liberated, and thereby made available for 
the purposes of foreign commerce : so far, therefore, 
the argument is immensely in my favour. 

But apart from this consideration altogether, it is 
distinctly laid down as a portion of the monetary 
system for the establishment of which I am contending, 



188 LECTURES ON THE 

that the standard-bank is at all times to be pro- 
vided with a sufficient supply of the precious metals, 
consisting of ounces of gold and silver, to meet what- 
ever demand may be made for them ; and it has 
been proved also that the standard banker can make 
this provision : What, then, is to prevent our foreign 
trade from being conducted in bills of exchange, 
payable in so many ounces of gold or silver ? that 
is to say, in all those cases wherein contracts in that 
shape may be preferred to contracts in the pound 
standard ? There is no conceivable objection to gold 
and silver being used as instruments of exchange, 
either between a man and his next door neighbour, 
or between one nation and another. The madness 
of our present system consists in the attempt to con- 
stitute the precious metals measures of value, not in 
using them as instruments of exchange. 

Within a very brief space of time, it would be seen 
how many ounces of gold or silver would be obtainable 
in London, Edinburgh, or Dublin, in exchange for a 
hundred or a thousand pound standard-note. The price 
of these metals would be perpetually before the public 
in the newspapers, and therefore a merchant, residing 
in any part of the globe, wanting gold or silver in 
exchange for merchandise to be shipped by him to 
London, Liverpool, or to any other British port, could 
stipulate, whenever he should please to do so, for 
payment in gold or silver, just as easily as he can 
at present. 

But I need hardly observe that an immense pro- 
portion of all our foreign payments and receipts in 
gold or silver are merely payments and receipts of 
balances, a very small proportion indeed of gold or 



NATURE AND i si: .-r M..NT.Y. 



made use of, as compared with the wh"l<- 
amount of actual business done. In any case, how- 
ever, we have nothing to do \\ith this matter. It is 
sutficirnt for us to say that the banking system I 
have proposed would give additional fin-Hit 11 to the 
use of u'c.M and >il\cr as media <!' foreign exchange, 
in place of inijieding it. 

There is no uniform monetary system at the pre- 
sent time even throughout Europe. Our" shilling is 
not in circulation in France, neither is the franc in 
1-j inland. Nay, even our own Scottish notes are re- 
fused south of the Tweed, whilst in the more remote 
parts of Scotland, a note of the Bank of England it- 
self is a sort of ram avis, comparatively speaking. 

I have yet one more subject to bring before you 
this evening, with an explanation of which the pre- 
t lecture will conclude : 

K\erv shilling paid by the mercantile community 
of these realms to the Bank of England, the Bank of 
Scotland, the Bank of Ireland, or to any other bank 
of issue in existence, in the name of interest of money, 
is not merely so much money needlessly thrown away, 
but the act of paying it is a downright absurdity ; 
and from the hour in which this nation shall have a 
bank to call its own, founded on rational principles, 
\\liatever sum of money may be requisite for the 
conducting of our business, will be obtainable from it, 
untaxed with one sixpence of interest. 

What would you think of a man who, after having 

built a house and paid for it to the last farthing with 

his own money, should go to a banker, and say to 

him : " I have built a house, Sir, and as it is now 

iy for my reception and use, I come to treat 



190 LECTURES ON THE 

with you about the rent I am to pay you for permis- 
sion to live in it !" " I can have no objection, Sir, to 
take your money replies the banker and therefore 
suppose we say fifty pounds a-year ; but may I be 
permitted to inquire, in what precise manner I may 
have become entitled to receive it ?" 

Now, absurd as such a proposition as this would 
appear to be, yet do I affirm that precisely as good 
reason would exist, in the case I have supposed, for 
paying fifty pounds a-year for nothing, as there 
should be now for the payment of fifty pounds 
a-year, by any merchant in existence, to any banker 
in existence for the interest of his paper money: 
and for the very sufficient reason, namely That this 
nation can at any time establish a banking house for 
itself, by means of which every sixpence of interest, 
properly so called, would in future be saved. You 
will, however, distinctly understand, that in arguing 
this point, as, indeed, in contending for every other 
that I have brought before you, my motto throughout, 
to use the words of Mr. M'Culloch, is " That the 
Economist is not to frame systems and devise schemes 
for increasing the wealth and enjoyments of particular 
classes, but to apply himself to discover the sources 
of national wealth and universal prosperity." 

Subscribe you all to this text, and then I shall 
have no difficulty in making out my case ; and here, 
at least, I have every reason to believe that this doc- 
trine of Mr. M'Culloch has been accepted ; upon which 
understanding, therefore, I shall proceed to argue 
the point. 

Well, then, in the first place, you will please to bear 
in mind, that interest of money, interest of capital, 



NATURE AND USB OP MOM V 191 



and the proper expenses of conducting a banking 
business. ar<\ T ralhT should IK', three totally differ- 
ent tilings, uiiil t> understand the subject before us 
properly, as such they must be treated. 

First, then, we shall suppose that a merchant 
thmws into the >tandard market goods of the value 
i'ti-ii thousand pounds, on which lie receives from 

MIL lard banker the sum of ten thousand pounds. 
In this case what does the banker lend to the mer- 
chant ? Why, just nothing at all. He merely, on 

ipt of the proper securities, grants him a portable, 
transferable, and divisible certificate, that he has de- 
posited property of the value of ten thousand pounds 
in the standard market ; by means of which certifi- 
cate, he, the merchant, in common with every other 
standard merchant in the kingdom, is placed in a si- 
tuation wherein he is able equally to buy and to sell. 
With the single exception, however, of a shillings' 
worth or so of paper and printing, the banker has 
advanced the merchant value in no shape ; and con- 
sequently his claim for interest, if he have any, must 
be for the interest of as nearly as possible notlumj. 
It is the borrower of the money who is the real capi- 
talist, not the lender of it, and, therefore, if there be 
any interest payable in the case at all, it must be 
payable to himself, seeing that no other person can 
have any possible claim to it. The British nation 
has never to this hour had any bank. The Bank of 

and, for example, is not a bank for England, but 
merely one for its own proprietors, whose interest 
and that of the public are wide as the poles asunder : 
whilst, to all practical intents and purposes whatso- 

It is nothing better or worse than a Legalised 



192 LECTURES ON THE 

Company of Irresponsible Intermeddles uith and 
Controllers of the Value of Property. It has been 
charging of late as much as seven, and even eight per 
cent for its accommodations, falsely so called ; whilst? 
as I shall presently show you, an eighth per cent, on 
its transactions is the probable sum, a little more or 
less, which will hereafter be charged by a future Bank 
of England, to be established for the advancement 
of the public interest, instead of for the interest of a 
company of private speculators. To this subject I 
shall return in my next lecture ; but what I now 
wish to be thoroughly understood is : That as all 
money, strictly so called, must be representative, the 
mere issuer of money is not necessarily a lender of 
any value, and that consequently he is not entitled to 
interest for the use of nothing. 

The interest of capital, however, as I shall now 
endeavour to explain, is a very different thing from 
the interest of money. A man, for example, has a 
thousand pounds' worth of goods, which he desires 
to convert into standard stock. The standard 
banker, accordingly, on receipt of the proper security, 
pays him a thousand pounds. Now, as this sum of 
a thousand pounds in his hands is the representa- 
tive of his own property, the act of lending this money 
is that of transferring to the borrower bona fide 
capital to that precise amount ; which capital, as it 
would be the certain source of revenue, if retained by 
its proprietor, is clearly entitled to bear a reasonable 
rate of interest in exchange for the use of it, when 
transferred to another person. Whilst, therefore, 
the standard banker can have no conceivable claim 
for any interest upon his issues, it is clear that every 



NATURE AXD USE OF MON 

other man is justly entitle.l to lend out his money at 
tin- current nitc of interest that rate being re.irulate. I. 
like the price of everything else, by the competition 
<>f the lenders. Ami thus it is obvious, that the in- 
terest of money and the interest of capital may be 
two very different things ; the former being in most 
eases a mere imposition, which the force of circum- 
stances enables one set of men to practise on another 
set ; whilst the latter may at all times be the result 
of perfectly fair and reasonable contracts entered 
into between man and man. 

Having, then, endeavoured to exhibit the essential 
difference between the interest of money, and the in- 
terest of capital, the third division of this subject yet 
remains for our examination : The />/<///,/ expenses 
of conducting the business ofbank'nm. what are they? 

Now, strange as it may appear at first sight, it is 
nevertheless a truth, that the only exten>i\ r business 
in human life which should require no nrcnlatnxi 
capital whatever is that of a banker. The manufac- 
turer, merchant, retailer, farmer, gardener, fisherman, 
nay, even the day-labourer, must have at least some 
circulating capital ; whilst the banker, and he only, 
of circulating capital requires no more than the mere 
value of the printed paper which he may have in 
circulation. And although, acting upon the prin- 
ciple of the monetary system 1 have defined, it would 
be his especial duty to provide an abundance of 
coined money, for the use of the entire kingdom, 
still not one sixpence of that money would ever be 
his own, even for an hour ; neither would the small- 
est portion thereof ever lie provided at his own cost 

The standard-bank would require a fixed capital, 

N 



194 LECTURES ON THE 

however, and that a large one, consisting of the build- 
ings in which the three parent establishments would 
be conducted ; whilst all the branches the offices 
themselves I mean should also belong to their re- 
spective principals. Add to the cost of all these 
buildings that of their fixtures, furniture, and fittings, 
safes, and books of account, and, in connexion with 
each of the three principals, a moderately extensive 
printing-office, and the tale of the whole capital re- 
quired by the standard-bank is told. A nationally 
distributed counting-house and its furniture, with, in 
three instances, a printing-office attached, is in short 
a description of all the banking property requisite 
for this great nation ; not one sixpence of circulat- 
ing capital farther than the mere paper and print 
cost of the bank-notes themselves being either re- 
quisite, or of any conceivable utility whatever. 

The only charge, therefore, which the standard- 
banks would be entitled to make against their custo- 
mers, would consist of a sufficient per centage to pay, 
First, the interest of their fixed capital ; the purchase- 
money of which should eventually be paid by the 
Government ; but it might pro tempore, be raised 
by means of an ordinary joint-stock company; 
Secondly, the salaries of their directors, managers, 
tellers, agents, clerks, and porters ; Thirdly, their 
incidental expenses; Fourthly, their printing-office 
charges; and Lastly, those of the mint, which, as 
already mentioned, should be a mere appendage of 
the three standard-banks. 

Now, these business expenses should be defrayed, 
not by any rate of interest per annum upon the 
money advanced to standard merchants by the banks, 



NATURE AND USE OF M'M.Y. 195 

l>m by a per centage upon their transactions with the 
banks. The standard-hanker, as already explained, 
<-"uM have no claim upon his customer on account of 
the length of time the money might be lent him, be- 
oause the money itself would not be of any value. 
Suppose, for instance, that the banker advances a 
merchant a thousand pounds, on standard goods 
which the latter, for a long period of time, is totally 
unable to sell it is clearly the merchant who is the 
loser by the delay, and not the banker. It is ob- 
vious, therefore, that the charge of the bank to sup- 
port its own expenses, should consist of a per centage 
upon the amount of business done ; because this 
mode of exaction would combine the advantage of 
perfect fairness with that of extreme facility in the 
mode of operation. 

Taking fifty thousand pounds as an example of 
a year's transactions, the banker's charge thereon at 
an eighth per cent., would be 62, 10s.; and as 
there would be no interest of money, a rate of an 
eighth per cent on its transactions would not im- 
probably be sufficient to pay all the expenses of the 
bank, whilst at present an advance of but 1,250, in 
place of 50,000, would cost 62, 10s. 

I am far, however, from asserting, that a rate of an 
eighth per cent, upon the amount of transactions, 
would actually be sufficient to pay the entire expen- 
ses of the banking and mint establishments. I think 
that eventually it would be sufficient : but whatever 
this rate might prove to be, no tax upon the fund so 
to be created would consist of that most fraudulent 
of all impositions, the interest of paper money. 

The three standard-banks, as a matter of course, 



196 LECTURES ON THE 

should be constituted by Act of Parliament, the num- 
ber of their Directors being fixed by the Act. The 
Directors themselves should be appointed by, and re- 
sponsible to the House of Commons, and to it only ; 
whilst the managers, agents, clerks, and servants of 
every description should be appointed by the Di- 
rectors, in such manner as their Act of Parliament 
might determine. 

Having then endeavoured to explain to you that 
money and capital are, or should be, totally different 
things, that whilst, on the one hand, for the use of 
mere money, not a sixpence of interest should ever 
be charged, interest of capital, on the other, is, to all 
intents and purposes, a perfectly fair exaction, I 
shall here embrace the opportunity of explaining 
another subject about which many persons, including 
some public writers, are exceedingly fond of puzzling 
each other. 

Nothing, for example, is more common at certain 
times and seasons that is to say, than to hear people 
talking of the abundance of money the glut of 
money the difficulty of obtaining anything like 
good interest for money, and so on. And yet, at 
the very self-same time, you will find an equally 
numerous class of persons proclaiming their want 
of money the difficulty they experience in collect- 
ing their accounts the extreme smallness of profits, 
and the like. 

Now the truth is, that these two classes of com- 
plainers who are seldom distinguished the one from 
the other in the public mind are talking of two 
things, as unlike each other as chalk and cheese : 
the one party, in short, is proclaiming the difficulty 



NATURE AND USE OF MONEY. 197 

of obtaining profitable employment for his capital, 
whilst the other is lamenting the want of effectual 
demand for his produce or merchan* ! 

I remember the late editor of the Atlas finding 
himself in a strange quandary, whilst writing upon 
this subject. How, inquired he, could Sir Robert 
Peel create a temporary prosperity by the issue of 
one-pound notes, at a period of full currency ? when 
money would not produce a sufficient interest ? whm 
it was literally hawked about in search of customers ? 
money itself, and that equally with goods of every 
kind, being thus a drug in the market ? 

Simply because the money spoken of as super- 
abundant was capital seeking to obtain employment, 
by means of which it might be enabled still farther 
to glut the already over-glutted market, which the 
irnnt of the money demandh&d thus left in a state of 
plethora. The superfluous money of the Atlas, in 
short, was supply, whilst the money in deficiency was 
demand. But let our monetary system be erected 
upon a proper basis, and thenceforth money, in the 
widest meaning of the term, will ever be demand, and 
marketable produce coins themselves of every kind 
included will be supply : the one being at all times 
precisely equal to the other, for the sufficient reason 
that the existence of money would ever be consequent 
upon the creation of equivalent wealth. 

As, however, it scarcely forms any part of my pre- 
sent purpose to elucidate the manifold absurdities of 
the existing monetary system of society, perhaps even 
this little digression, in explanation of the difference 
between mere money and bonajide capital, may have 
been superfluous. Our object, let it never be lost 



198 LECTURES ON THE 

sight of, is to ascertain by means of what monetary 
system the proportionate production of marketables, 
heritable and moveable, with the least degree of in- 
tricacy and liability to error, may necessarily create 
a demand equal to itself. And that this great desi- 
deratum may be brought about, and that by the adop- 
tion of means at once simple and practicable, I have 
fully demonstrated. 

The great error of society, as it is at present con- 
stituted, consists in the want of a tendency in demand 
to keep pace with production. This evil must be 
rectified : production, the natural cause of demand, 
ad infinitum, must become the practical cause of 
demand, ad infinitum. And to effect this change, 
enormous as its results would undoubtedly be, it is 
merely necessary for us to make the public well ac- 
quainted with the nature, use, and proper qualities 
of money with what money now is, and what it 
should become. For, only let this subject be once 
thoroughly understood by the numbers of society, and to 
change the current of the tides would be a task pos- 
sible as that of prolonging the existence, for another 
year, of the monetary, or rather no-monetary system, 
of this country. 

Let us, then, endeavour and so long as health 
and strength shall be my own, I will never cease 
to endeavour to diffuse the knowledge of this subject 
throughout the length and breadth of the British 
territory : and if we but do this earnestly, indus- 
triously, and perseveringly, our object will assuredly 
be attained; and that with facility, certainty, and 
reasonable expedition. 



NATURE AND USB Or MONEY. 199 



LECTURE VII. 

Professional men, the nature of their avocations considered with re- 
ference to Money Pecuniary provision for the conducting of such 
Retail and other Business as may be wholly unconnected with 
the proposed Standard Manufacturing and Commercial system 
Fallacies of Messrs. J. R. M'Culloch and Richard Cobden. 

I SHALL commence the present lecture by making 
a few observations on one of the propositions already 
submitted to you, a little farther elucidation of which 
will lead, to the consideration of another subject, 
on which we have hitherto been silent : I mean that 
of the pecuniary situation of professional men and 
others, who are not supposed to be in any way con- 
nected with the proposed Standard system, so far as 
it has been hitherto explained. 

It has been stated, then, that standard-manufac- 
tories should be established by whomsoever may be 
disposed to embark their capital therein, in which 
manufactories a minimum price of adult labour is to 
be payable in paper money, whilst the actual rate of 
wages is, in every case, to be left to the usual regu- 
lator, namely, to that of individual competition : the 
masters striving at all times to get their work done 
as cheaply as possible, and the workmen, per contra, 
to obtain the highest wages they can from their 
masters ; but with this invariable proviso, namely 



200 LECTURES ON THE 

So low shall you be allowed to go, but no lower ; the 
nature and importance of which provision were illus- 
trated in my last lecture, with reference to existing 
debts, credits, and pecuniary obligations. 

Contrary, then, so far as I know, to all precedent, 
contrary perhaps to all preconceived notions on the 
subject, I maintain that so soon as any quantity of 
standard goods shall have been produced and placed 
by their proprietor in & finished that is to say, in a 
marketable state in his own warehouse, the standard- 
banker should pay him for them at his own price. 

But listen ! for I hear one of those Sages by whom 
it is alleged that Ministers of State are governed 
a bullionist I mean observe in derisive strain " I 
should have thought it better for the manufacturer, 
in the first place, to sell his goods ; in the second, to 
pay the money he may get for them into my hands ; 
and in the third, to take it from me again so soon as 
he may have occasion to expend it." 

To whom shall he sell his goods \ Growers of 
corn, breeders of sheep and cattle, importers of mer- 
chandise, builders of houses, and manufacturers of 
furniture, musical instruments, and articles of utility 
and ornament of every denomination, are each and 
all of them in the self-same plight They have goods 
in plenty, and that of every marketable kind ; but 
by what means are they to exchange tJiem, not merely 
amongst each other, but with every member of the 
whole community with whom they may desire to 
deal ? which, provided always the various products 
be but brought to market in due proportion, is all that 
they require. 

Well, then, speaking for himself and brethren, the 



NATURE AND USE OP MONEY. 201 

bull ion 1st will say " Why, let them come to us and 
borrow gold y to be sure I we will lend it to them, in 
plenty as we think, on good security and for an 
usance. And in exact proportion to the much or 
little gold which we may have to lend, shall be 
the price of all the goods which your said mer- 
chants may have to buy or sell. With the price of 
their own goods the parties you have enumerated 
have nothing whatever to do ; that is our affair, and 
ours only. Their prices, therefore, shall be high or 
low, and their profits something, nothing, or, the 
Iri>h one, a loss, in exact proportion to the degree 
of competition which may chance to exist for the 
time being amongst ourselves. Much gold shall we 
spare them, or little, as may best suit our own con- 
venience ; but not, you will clearly understand, in 
exchange for their goods, but merely on loan, pro 
tempore, upon such good security as they may be 
able to give us." 

To which very kind and consolatory doctrine, I 
reply " No, gentlemen ! the evening of your day 
has arrived, and a brighter morrow is about to shine 
on us. The discovery has at length been made that 
your so-called accommodation is but an incubus upon 
our commerce, instead of being, what you profess to 
call it, its stay and its support ; we want you not, and 
henceforth we renounce your miscalled aid !" 

Yes ! I repeat the assertion 1 Paper money manu- 
factured by a bank of our own, and issued by that 
bank in strict conformity with the standard of value 
which I have already described, to the full amount 
of all the produce which a man may be able to bring 
to market, would instantly place him in a condition 



202 LECTURES ON THE 

to become the customer of every other man, whilst 
every other member of the standard-society, in like 
manner accommodated, would at once be able to be- 
come his customer. And yet the principle of free 
and unrestricted competition would remain untouched, 
merely by continuing the onus upon every man to 
find a customer for his own productions, although 
already in receipt of their full value from the standard- 
bank. The money issued by the bank would enable 
every man to buy, so soon as he himself should have 
anything to sell ; whilst the only stipulated condition 
of the bank would be, that if he could find no one 
else to buy his goods, he must eventually repay the 
bank for them himself. And thus it is evident that 
the continuance of the most unbounded competition 
and rivalry between dealers in the same description 
of goods would be guaranteed, seeing that whoso- 
ever should bring the best article to market at any 
given price would inevitably be the first person to 
supply the market. 

And here I take my stand upon the vantage-ground 
of truth, from which not all the bullionists and Print- 
ing-house-square mystifiers put together, can dis- 
lodge me. Produce ad infinitum, and I will find you 
a market ad infinitum, my only conditions being, that 
paper money shall be created as fast as goods may 
be produced, but no faster ; and that regulated 
precisely as at the present time, by the principle of 
individual competition the productions themselves 
shall be brought to market in due proportion to each 
other. 

And what is this assertion after all, more or less 
than a mere truism ! namely, that we might, could, 



NATURE AND USE OF MONET. 203 

would, and should obtain and enjoy that precise quan- 
titv of wealth which, collectively speaking, there 
exist among us the united ability and inclination to 
create. 

Well, then, up to the present stage of our argu- 
ment, we have exhibited the subject of money with 
reference to the great mercantile and productive re- 
quirements of society. It has been shown that money, 
in place of being a commodity, as it is at present, 
should be a mere consequence of the production of 
useablc, consumable, and enjoyable wealth : our only 
difficulty, if we really have any, being to create the 
wealth itself, and not the mere representative by means 
of which it has to be distributed amongst the various 
classes of society. It has been shown, farther, that 
the diffusion of money so far, that is to say, as the 
dashes already spoken of are concerned should pro- 
ceed with a degree of order, system, regularity, and 
accuracy, vicing in these qualities with the motions 
of the most perfect machinery ; and that the supply 
thereof should not merely approach to within a mil- 
lion or two, more or less, of the actual sum required, 
but that it should consist of the actual sum required, 
and not of one solitary sixpence more nor less : to 
attain which degree of accuracy would be unattended 
with a shadow of difficulty. 

There still remain for our consideration, however, 
the subjects of retail business and professions, as also 
the trades enumerated in our fourth lecture, which 
would appear to be inadmissible into the proposed 
manufacturing and commercial system, throughout 
the whole of which supply marketable property 
and demand money would ever be co-equal. 



204 LECTURES ON THE 

But briefly to review the mode in which we have 
proposed to furnish an ample supply of money for 
the use of the manufacturing and commercial classes 
of society : 

It has been stated, then, that money should be 
issued to manufacturers, of nearly all classes, on the 
receipt into their own warehouses of goods in a 
marketable state, and that to the full value of the 
said goods at their wholesale selling prices. 

Now, the money so issued would, it is obvious, be 
expended, in the first place, in replacing so much of 
the capital of the manufacturer as should have been 
expended by himself in the production of his goods. 
That is to say to be able to go on with his business, 
he must replenish his stock of raw material, pay the 
continued wages of his operatives, the rent of his 
business premises, the interest of his capital, the Go- 
vernment taxes, if any, upon his business, and all in- 
cidental expenses ; the whole of which, taken for 
one year, would constitute the cost price of his year's 
productions. Call the amount 18,000, to which 
add 2,000 for the supposed amount of his own pro- 
fits. Then, as the bank is to pay him throughout the 
year, the whole representative value of this produce 
say 20,000, that sum of money demand is forth- 
with diffused amongst the producers or importers of 
the raw material of which his goods are made ; 
amongst his clerks, warehousemen, foremen, opera- 
tives, and business-servants of every kind ; amongst 
the proprietors, if rented, of his manufactory, ware- 
house, and other business premises ; amongst the 
owners, if any part of it be borrowed, of his capital ; 
and, lastly, that portion of it which forms his own 



NATURE AND USB OP MONET. 205 

profit, is di>|T>'.l. in like manner, in the payment 
of the rent of his dwelling-house ; of his taxes, Go- 
vernment and local ; and of his private expenses, in 
all their endless varieties, including those of house- 
kff|iing t servants' wages, the education of his chil- 
dren, church rates, medical and legal advice, thea- 
trical, or other amusements, voluntary contributions 
to public objects of every kind, and miscellaneous 
expenditure in general. 

Now, the whole of this money, thus expended, in 
purposes innumerable, and diffused throughout every 
class of society, from the Queen upon her throne 
down to the humblest of her subjects, will inevitably 
come back one day or other upon the standard-banks. 
And this it will do, in the first place, through the 
hands of the retail butcher, baker, and grocer, shoe- 
maker, tailor, mercer, draper, cabinet-maker, uphols- 
terer, book and music seller, and, in short, through 
the hands of every class of dealers, professional or 
mercantile, with whom those persons who have money 
in their pockets may be disposed to expend it. And 
as the total sum of money thus put into circulation 
would be precisely equal in value, first, to all the 
standard heritable property, bonafide for sale, in the 
three kingdoms, and secondly, to all the standard 
moveable property goods for sale in the wholesale 
warehouses of the country, it is not quite certain that 
any additional money would be required at all, seeing 
that, precisely as at present, money, once in the 
hands of the public, would pass from hand to hand, 
and thus very frequently serve to effect exchanges 
to many times its own amount, previously to finding 
its way back again into the standard-banks. 



206 LECTURES ON THE 

On this view of the subject, therefore, it is ques- 
tionable whether it would ever be necessary to issue 
any money at all, in addition to that which would be 
issued by the three standard-banks ; for, as the actual 
amount of money in circulation would, as already 
shown, be ever of the precise value of all the herit- 
able and moveable stock in the standard market, the 
sum would be enormous : it would certainly be many 
times the amount at present in circulation ; and yet 
the monetary wiseacre of The Times notwithstand- 
ing every standard pound must continue to repre- 
sent the precise amount of bonafide value, which the 
Government should, in the first instance, have as- 
signed to it by act of Parliament ; which value no 
increase whatever in its quantity could for one instant 
affect to the amount of a single farthing; seeing 
that, before one additional pound note could exist, a 
pounds ivorth must precede its existence. 

If, however, I should be incorrect in the supposi- 
tion that, issued upon the principle I have laid down, 
money enough for all the purposes of the country 
would be thrown into circulation by the three stand- 
ard-banks, then and in that case there could be no 
shadow of objection to allowing the requisite addition 
to be made by the joint-stock banks now existing, or 
hereafter to be established throughout the country. 

And here I may remark that any restriction upon 
the amount of such auxiliary issues would be wholly 
unnecessary, provided always that ample security 
be given to the public by the joint-stock banks that, 
for every pound note issued by them, a pound stand- 
ard should ever be given on demand in exchange for 
it. Standard money only would be taken by the 



NATURE AND USE OP MONEY. l2"7 

standard-banks. No dealer in standard property, 
heritable or moveable, could be allowed by law to 
part with a fraction thereof in exchange for anything 
but standard money. No increase, therefore, of joint- 
stock or other notes not being standard could 
affect the price of standard property to the amount 
of a farthing. The joint-stock bank-note would, in 
with respect to the standard note, be very much 
the same thing as it is at present with respect to 
the sovereign ; and therefore, as already mentioned, 
a ////>//' security being given to the public that standard 
money should, at all times, be forthcoming on demand 
in exchange for their own, every other banker might 
be allowed to issue notes to whatsoever amount he 
should find it profitable to issue them, and that with- 
out the possibility of doing mischief to any interest 
or to any man. 

Joint-stock bank-notes would in fact be just so 
many bills of exchange, payable on demand, in stand- 
ard money ; and, as such, they would be merely pro- 
mises to pay. In exchange for them, however, no 
property could be demanded or debt discharged, except 
by the consent of the receiver ; whereas the standard 
notes would not be mere promises to pay, but bona 
fide representatives of real wealth, obtainable at any 
hour, and in any shape, in exchange for them ; as 
they would be also legal tenders in payment of all 
taxes, debts, and pecuniary obligations whatsoever. 

I shall now proceed to notice more particularly 
the peculiar situation of professional men with refer- 
ence to the monetary system I have laid before you. 

Professional men, then, however nearly allied, and 
apparently belonging to the commercial society, are 



208 LECTURES ON THE 

for the most part supported in a manner differing 
very materially from that in which ordinary mer- 
chants and tradesmen are supported. 

The income of every member of the standard com- 
mercial system, which I have proposed for your 
adoption, would form a part of the price of exchange- 
able commodities ; whilst the income of professional 
men, unconnected therewith, would be derived from 
a totally different source. The annual issues of the 
standard-bank would precisely represent the material 
productions and importations of all the standard 
agriculturists, manufacturers, and merchants ; whilst 
professional men would, for the most part, continue 
to obtain their incomes as they obtain them now 
that is to say, by making direct exchanges of their 
professional assistance for money paid them by their 
customers or clients. 

For example, a physician, a surgeon, or an artist, 
obtains from his customer, in the shape of money, a 
right and title to such a portion of the standard 
stock of wealth as his customer agrees to give in ex- 
change for the professional benefit received ; the act 
of giving the money by the one party, and that 
of receiving it by the other, constituting the legal 
transfer of a certain amount of standard property, in 
remuneration for some equivalent service or benefit, 
real or supposed, conferred by the one party upon 
the other. 

But no additional money would be created in con- 
sequence of any such transaction, neither would there 
be the slightest use for any, seeing that all transac- 
tions of this kind are merely barter, and, as such, 
they differ altogether in character from those wherein 



.\ ATI i:r. AN : 209 



Miisly to thn'r beiirj -..1.1. liavo to be 
manufa.-;ur-d, warehoused for a time, ami buyers 
found for tliciu. 

And here it is proper that we >hoiild keep in view, 
with reference to the >ulijeet of money, the di-tinc- 
tion between j)roduetive and unproductive members 
of society a subject of which Mr. M'Culloch, in his 
Klemcntft of Political Economy, has made a terrible 
jumble : indeed in this, as in almost every other in- 
stance wherein he attempts to correct Dr. Adam 
Smith, he only gets himself into a maze. 

In express contradiction, then, to Dr. Adam Smith, 
Mr. M'Culloch tells us that players, singers, opera- 
i /< Hirers, and buffoons, are productive labourers. He 
does not tell //.* tltat <iambkrs, fortune-tellers, and 

/"/ bears, are productive labourers ; and yet, if 

the former are productive labourers, so also are the 

r. They are. in fact, one and all of them, ob- 

/> of wealth. Imt they are not producers of it. 
Madlle. Jenny Lind, for example, sang a few songs 
at four concerts, which were given in Scotland in the 
month of September last, for which she received the 
sum of I'l'loO. Now, the actual value of all the 
wealth in existence va- ] nrisely the same before she 
commenced singing, and after she had concluded, 
so far, at least, as her songs had any influence on 
that value : the only real difference resulting from 
her performances being, that before they took place, 
1600 worth of marketable property existed in 
the hands of other peopl.-. whilst immediately after 
they were over, this wonderfully -gifted lady had 

n'<l that value from its previous owners, upon 
ten us and conditions mutually agreed upon, and 

o 



210 LECTURES ON THE 

therefore equitably. But let an equal sum of money 
be expended in the employment of a number of ship- 
builders, for instance, and the result will be, that the 
sum total of wealth existing in the country will have 
been increased, and that to the precise amount of 
the difference between the value of the wealth created, 
and that of the wealth consumed by the ship-builders 
during the period of their engagement. 

Mr. M'Culloch's argument upon this subject is 
throughout erroneous : he says, 

" Most writers on political economy have entered 
into lengthened discussions with respect to the dif- 
ference between what they have termed productive 
and unproductive labour. I cannot, however, I con- 
fess, discover any real ground for most of those 
discussions, or for the distinctions that have fre- 
quently been set up between one sort of labour and 
another. The subject is not one in which there is 
apparently any difficulty. It is not at the species of 
labour carried on, but at its results, that we should 
look. So long as an individual employs himself in 
any way not detrimental to others, and accomplishes 
the object he has in view, his labour is obviously 
productive ; while, if he do not accomplish it, or ob- 
tain some sort of equivalent advantage from the ex- 
ertion of the labour, it is as obviously unproductive. 
This definition seems clear, and leads to no per- 
plexities ; and it will be shewn, in another chapter, 
that it is not possible to adopt any other without 
being involved in endless difficulties and contradic- 
tions." 

I cannot, however, subscribe to this doctrine ; on 
the contrary, I consider it to be of much importance 






NATURE AND USB OF MONKY. 

t> distinguish between productive and unproductive 
labour, because we can never have in operation too 
much of the one, nor too little, provided we have 
sufficient, of the other. The former is the team, the 
latter i> th- .Iriver ; and, therefore, so far as regards 
tin- attainment of mere physical wealth, the true in- 
terest of every nation must evidently consist in keep- 
ing the greatest possible proportion of its population 
in the condition of producers, whilst it is as obviously 
the bounden duty of every nation to advance that 
condition to the highest practicable state of affluence 
and enjoyment. 

Moreover, it is at the " species of labour carried 
<md not at the " results" that we must look, to 
ascertain what is and what is not productive labour ; 
and unless we do this, we shall never fail to find 
Ives " involved in endless difficulties and contra- 
dictions." The result of successful gambling, for ex- 
ample, is not to create any portion of the necessaries, 
conveniences, or comforts of life, but to obtain them. 
A lawyer may obtain many thousands a-year by the 
\ rcise of his profession ; but he produces not even 
the paper whereon he writes. Why, again, is the 
Government obliged to tax the country for its support, 
but for the one and only reason, that the servants of 
the Government as stated bv Dr. Adam Smith are 

/ 

for the most part non-producers f If the people and 
the Government were equally and alike producers, 
why should not the people tax the Government, in- 
stead of the Government taxing the people "? or why 
should either the one party or the other be taxed at 
all ? Mr. M'Culloch, it is evident, has here con- 
founded two things, which are frequently as different 



212 LECTURES ON THE 

from each other as any two things in the world can 
be that is to say, producing and obtaining. 

He quotes Dr. Adam Smith upon this subject, and 
tells us very complacently that he has refuted the 
Doctor : let us see. The author of the Wealth of 
Nations, then, says, " The labour of some of the most 
respectable orders in the society is like that of menial 
servants, unproductive of any value, and does not fix 
or realize itself in any permanent subject or vendible 
commodity, which endures after that labour is past, 
and for which an equal quantity of labour could 
afterwards be procured. The sovereign, for example, 
with all the officers both of justice and war who serve 
under him the whole army and navy are unpro- 
ductive labourers. They are the servants of the 
public, and are maintained by a part of the annual 
produce of the industry of other people." So far 
the Doctor. 

" But [says Mr. M'Culloch] though these state- 
ments are plausible, it will not, I apprehend, be dif- 
ficult to show the fallacy of the distinction Dr. Smith 
has endeavoured to establish. To begin with his 
strongest case, that of the menial servant, he says, 
that his labour is unproductive, because it is not 
realized in a vendible commodity, while the labour 
of the manufacturer is productive, because it is so 
realized. But of what is the labour of the manufac- 
turer productive ? Does it not consist of comforts 
and conveniences required for the use and accom- 
modation of society ? The manufacturer is not a 
producer of matter, but of utility only. And is it 
not obvious that the menial servant is also a pro- 
ducer of utility ? It is universally allowed, that the 



NATURE AND USE OF MONEY. 213 

labour of the hushandmau, who raises corn, beef, and 
other articles of provision, is productive. But i 
why is the labour of the menial sen ant, who pn-- 
pares and ilresses these articles, and fits them for 
use, to In- M-t down as unproductive ? It is clear to 
demonstration, that there is no difference what 

860 the two species of industry that tln-v are 
cither hoth productive, or both unproductive. To 
produce a fire, it is quite as indispensable that coals 
should be carried from the cellar to the grate, as 
that they should be carried from the bottom of the 
mine to the surface of the earth : and if it be said 
that the miner is a productive labourer, must we not 
say as much of the servant who is employed to make 
and mend the fire 1 The whole of Dr. Smith's rea- 
soning proceeds on a false hypothesis. He has made 
a distinction where there is none, and where it is not 
in the nature of things there can be any. The end 
of all human exertion is the same ; that is, to in- 
eiv.-i.se the sum of necessaries, comforts, and enjoy- 
ments ; and it must be left to the judgment of every 
one to determine, what proportion of these comforts 
he will have in the shape of menial services, and 
what in the shape of material products. It is true, 
a> ha> l-.-rii sometimes stated, that the results of the 
labour of the menial servant are seldom capable of 
being estimated in the same way as the results of 
the labour of the agriculturist, manufacturer, or mer- 
rhant : but are they, on that account, the ! real 
or valuable ? Could the same quantity of work be 
performed by those who are called productive la- 
bourers, were it not for the assistance they dm\. 
from those who are falsely called unproductive?" 



214 LECTURES ON THE 

In another place Mr. M'Culloch has denned con- 
sumption to be synonymous with use, and then he 
adds, " We produce commodities only that we may 
use or consume them. Consumption is, in fact, the 
end and object of human exertion." And again he 
defines value to mean exchangeable worth. Service 
certainly comes under the denomination of exchange- 
able worth, and, therefore, the opinions here quoted 
are, to a certain extent, in accordance with Mr. 
M'Culloch's own definition of the meaning of terms. 
But still there are instances without number in which 
the term exchangeable worth is no more synonymous 
with productive occupation and this is the point at 
issue than are the terms production and destruction, 
of which Mr. M'Culloch himself has given us a capital 
illustration in the specimen of reasoning I have just 
now read to you. 

" To produce a fire [says he,] it is quite as in- 
dispensable that coals should be carried from the 
cellar to the grate, as that they should be carried 
from the bottom of the mine to the surface of the 
earth ; and if it be said that the miner is a produc- 
tive labourer, must we not say as much of the ser- 
vant who is employed to make and mend the fire 1" 

So that here we have two parties, the one engaged 
in a clear, distinct, and unquestionable act of produc- 
tion that is to say, in increasing the existing stock 
of marketable produce ; and the other engaged in as 
clear, distinct, and unquestionable an act of destruc- 
tion that is to say, in diminishing the existing stock 
of marketable produce. As both of them, however, are 
declared by Mr. M'Culloch to be alike, and equally 
productive labourers, it necessarily follows that if he 



:> USE OP MONT.Y. 'Jl."> 

be right, the result of their labours seeing tli;it they 
.-u-.' Imtli working upon the same material, namely, 
coal will be \er\ much the same. The one party, 
then, we shall suppose, performs just as much work 
as the other; and l><>th. in their way, put through 
their hands preci>ely the same weight of coals, say, 
for example, a ton per working day. Well, then, at 
the year's end the one party will have accumulated 
three hundred and thirteen tons of eoaU \vhil>t 
the other will have reduced that precise quantity of 
previously accumulated coals to the sum of nothing! 
So much for the author of the article Political Eco- 
nomy in the last edition of the Encyclopaedia Britan- 
nica upon the subject of productive labour ! 

Under other circumstances, however, the person 
who makes or mends a fire, may be a productive 
labourer. The wages of a man who makes or mends 
a fire in a manufactory, for example, form a part of 
the direct cost of goods produced, and add to the 
money-price of them. The coals themselves, the at- 
tendance on the fire, the material wrought, whatever 
it may be, and the labour expended thereon, are all 
component parts of the cost of some commodity, add 
to its exchangeable worth, and, upon the standard 
principle, which I wish you to adopt, they would all 
be represented by money brought into existence in 
nee of the commodity having been so pro- 
duced. But the maidservant who makes or mends 
a fire in a du'dljinj-house adds nothing whatever to 
the existing stock of exchangeable wealth ; on the 
contrary. >ln take- from it, and the price of her utility 
as distinguished from product ' is paid by 

a claim upon the standard stock of marketable wealth 



216 LECTURES ON THE 

being transferred to her from the pocket of her mas- 
ter ; whilst no additional money is created in con- 
sequence of the making or mending of the said fire, 
as in the other case. By the fire in the factory, in 
short, the aggregate stock of wealth is increased, whilst 
by that in the dwelling-house it is diminished* 

Now and this is my object in bringing the sub- 
ject before you if Mr. M'Culloch had ever rightly 
understood the nature, use, and proper qualities of 
money, had his mind ever taken cognizance of the 
great and important truth that money, to be an accu- 
rate measure of value, must of necessity be represen- 
tative had he known but half as well as Dr. Adam 
Smith knew, that gold and silver coins, put them 
into whatever shape you will, are, and must ever 
continue to be, mere commodities, and, as such, liable 
to fluctuate in value that to use them as exclusive 
instruments of exchange would be to abolish money, 
truly so called, from the face of the earth, and to 
retain an exclusive system of barter in its stead he 
would never have thus committed the double error of 
denying the existence of a truth set forth by Dr. Adam 
Smith, and of seeking to establish in its stead a fallacy, 
at once palpable, unquestionable, and ridiculous. 

All money, truly so called, that is to say, all 
money being in itself a measure of value, must be 
representative ; and, therefore, in the coal case sup- 
posed by Mr. M'Culloch, for every pound's worth of 

* According to Mr. M'Culloch, an otherwise idle man, who should 
eat up an ox for his dinner, horns and hide included, and wash down 
the beast with a butt of beer, would be one of the most Pro<l 
Labourers in existence. Mr. M'Culloch, in short, evidently holdt, the 
terms Production and Consumption to be synonymous. 



t'RE AND USB OF MONEY. 217 

coals brought into the coal depot there should e.\i-t 
a poui ii 1 in money. Supposing the coals therefore to 
be worth a pound a ton, and to be produced, as 
In-fore nientionrd, at tlie rate of a ton per every 
working .lay, it follows that goods and money would 
be co-equally Irony ht Into existence, in the course of 
a tuvKriiK.nth, to the extent of 313; whilst, in 
the case of the servant employed in burning coals at 
the same rate per day. and for the same length of 
tiini', the co-equal dcxfrttrtion of goods and money 
would amount to precisely the same sum, namely 
to 313 ; and yet again I tell you, these two parties, 
the miner and the maid-servant, are alike and equally, 
in the estimation of one of your most reputed living 
political economists, productive labourers ! 

From one authority, then, upon the subject of 
political economy, tuni we now to another. And 
here you will do me the justice to observe, that 
I am not selecting the tyros of their class; that I 
l>ring not under your notice the writings of men com- 
paratively unknown as authorities on this great sub- 
ject but that I select those persons, and those only, 
who are generally held to be at the very top of their 
pri'frssion ; and who, on their own part assinnnm to 
the utmost extent the importance \\hieh the public 
has conceded to them are in the habit of laying 
down the law to the shade of Dr. Adam Smith 
himself. 

In Mr. Cobden, then, I shall now give you a spe- 
cimen of another modern economist, who, although 
but half-acquainted with the true principle of \- 
dianuv. lias, nevertheless, upon the wings of that very 
principle, recently risen to European fame, and to the 



218 LECTURES ON THE 

receipt of a nation's gratitude : to both of which I 
trust you will join me in admitting he is most fully 
entitled. For Mr. Cobden, as you are all aware, has 
not merely recognised, but, to a considerable extent 
at least, he has actually carried into active and effec- 
tive operation one of the great principles of Dr. Adam 
Smith. He has taught, not merely multitudes of 
men, such as ourselves in this room assembled, the 
utter insanity of refusing to accept the good things 
of this life, with which other nations are ready and 
willing to enrich us, but he has accomplished the 
harder and the greater task of effectually teaching 
the self-same lesson to ministers of state : in which 
great cause he still continues to labour, and long may 
he live to do so ! 

There are, however, other disciples of Dr. Adam 
Smith besides Mr. Cobden, and other doctrines of 
that great and learned man, yet to be enforced alike 
upon the notice of the public and of the minister. 
In short, there is other work to do, and when I de- 
tect Mr. Cobden as recently I have detected him 
endeavouring to retard the progress of labourers in 
the same vineyard with himself of labourers en- 
gaged in a work which, would he but give himself 
the trouble to understand it, he would be the first 
person to take by the hand and to assist thus do I 
proceed gently to remove him out of their way. 

The essence, then, of Mr. Cobden's great commer- 
cial text may, I rather think, be given in a ten word 
quotation from Mr. M'Culloch : " The facility of ex- 
changing [says the latter gentleman] is the vivifying 
principle of industry." 

The facility of exchanging, however, in the present 



I:RE AND USE OF MONEY. 219 

da\. is tin- five. 1. nn of bondage, the wisdom of folly, 
tli- virtue of vice: no such thing exists. The free* l"in 
Changing now is all on the one side : there is 
freedom enough in exchanging money for goods, Imt 
there is no freedom in exchanging goods for money. 
Tin- fount r is all ease, the latter is all difficulty ; but 
whenever freedom of exchange shall really be esta- 
bli>hed, in aggregates it will be pnvi.-rly as easy to 
convert goods into money as money into goods. 

Well, then, for some little time past there has ex- 
isted in London a society, assuming the title of the 
Anti-Gold-Law League, the members of which be- 
ing all, as it would appear, true disciples of Mr. Cob- 
den. >r rather co-disciples of his master and their 
own. Dr. Adam Smith, are anxious to carry into 
practical operation this highly-extolled vivifying //////- 
ci/>/<' of ii't/i/stri/ ; and in the course of their proceed- 
ings, they have very naturally horn anxious to en- 
li>t .Mr. Cobden, if not into their service, at least into 
that kind of fellowship, which it is at all times plea- 
sant to witness between parties engaged in the 
furtherance of a common cause. In consequence of 
which de> ire a correspondence, it appears, took place 
in December last between Mr. Bennoch, chairman of 
the Anti-Gold-Law League, and Mr. Cobden, on the 
subject of the currency. 

" The correspondence, [says the Daily News,] arose 
out of Mr. Bennoch having called Mr. Cobden's at- 
tention to the Anti-Gold-Law League, which, Mr. 
Bennoch says, Proposes the destruction of a bad 
system, and the construction of abettor. The Anti- 
(Juld-I.au League concehe that so long as the Bank 
of England is, by Act of Parliament, compelled to 






220 LECTUKES ON THE 

buy all the gold presented to it at a fixed price, and 
at a fixed price to sell all gold demanded of it, the 
trade in gold is not free. Suppose some gigantic 
corporation, on whom Parliament had conferred cer- 
tain exclusive privileges, were compelled to buy all 
corn presented to it at 3, 17s. 9d. per quarter, and 
also to sell it at <3, 17s. 10|d. per quarter what- 
ever the amount of labour consumed in its produc- 
tion Would you consider the trade in corn free ? 
Substitute gold for corn, and the illustration is com- 
plete. The principles of the Anti-Gold-Law League, 
in less than twelve lines, reasoning are as follows : 

" Anti-Gold. First, our home trade should not be 
dependent on a foreign product as a medium of ex- 
change. Secondly, its so depending is the chief 
cause of fluctuation in prices, disastrous panics, 
and consequent national suffering. Thirdly, there- 
fore, we demand the abrogation of all Acts of Par- 
liament which fix the price of gold, or make it the 
basis of, or an indispensable element in, our circulat- 
ing medium of exchange. 

" Pro-Paper. First, a paper currency, under cer- 
tain regulations, is more economical and safer than 
gold. Secondly, there is no important function that 
gold money now performs in our home trade which 
paper money cannot perform better. Thirdly, there- 
fore we advocate a paper currency as our internal 
circulating medium of exchange. These propositions 
we are prepared to establish, by fact and argument, 
to such as will listen. If Legislators will not volun- 
tarily and impartially listen, how can they believe ? 
Public opinion works wonders." So far Mr. Bennoch. 

Mr. Cobden's reply, which is dated Manchester, 



NATURE AND USE OP MONTY. 221 

mltrr -1. 1 ^47, is reported in the newspapers in 
the t'Tins which follow : 

" If yon direct your good intelligence to the ques- 
tion with iiiiv >tudy. / ///// ,t a re iion will see a fallacy 
in the idea f/t>tf tin- jtrice of gold is fixed at all in t/ii* 
country. It is merely u'eiahed, assayed, and stamped, 
as of a certain <jna/i/n and fineness, in the saun- n-ay 
r/.v has been the custom in all count rif,^ ami in all ayes. 
Tin- Kink does not buy and sell gold in the common 
in. anin^ of the words; it merely saves the merchant, 
or the other owners of the metal, the trouble of going 
to the Mint to have it weighed, assayed, and stamped, 
and takes Ijd. per oz. for the operation. Anybody 
can take gold to the Mint and have it coined into 
sovereigns ; but that does not alter the value of the 
gold. As the Bank of England can also have its 
gold coined at the Mint, it can neither lose nor aain 
by the operation of ' buying gold' as it is called. You 
are, I presume, aware, that in America, France, 
Russia, and every other country, the metals are coined 
in the same way, an ounce being divided into certain 
coins of invariable quantities and fineness. You 
say, ' Suppose some gigantic corporation, on which 
Parliament had conferred certain exclusive privileges, 
U.TC compelled to buy all corn offered to it at 
3, 1 7s. 9d. per quarter, and were obliged to sell it 
at 3, 17s. lOjd., whatever the amount of labour 
consumed in its production, Would you consider the 
traffic in corn free ? ' This is not the question at 
issue : the question is, whether the corn should be 
subjected to an invariable measure of quantity ? For 
thi> purpose the law has fixed on the imperial bushel, 
which contains a fixed and invariable quantity. And 



222 LECTURES ON THE 

in the case of gold it has done no more than fix in 
coins the weight and fineness of gold. I will not 
follow the subject further, for I am sure, if you bring 
your mind to a reconsideration of the point, you will 
understand it perfectly/' 

Now, having told you in a former lecture that I 
cannot subscribe to the reformatory plans of the 
Anti-Gold-Law League, and given you my reasons 
at length for dissenting from them ; having stated 
that I agree with the members of the League to 
this extent only The existing monetary system is 
radically bad, and must therefore be amended it 
forms no part of my duty to defend opinions with 
which I hold so very little in common. But still, 
what shall we say to Mr. Cobden's reply f in what 
manner refute the principle which it is evidently his 
object to maintain "? 

Well, this not very formidable task may probably 
be accomplished in two different ways by recourse, 
I mean, to ridicule or to argument either of which 
would be sufficiently effective ; but in case any per- 
son should incline to a different opinion, we had 
better perhaps take both. 

In the first place, then, I must tell you, that whilst 
in the act of cogitating this matter in my own mind, 
I chanced to see lying before me a small volume, en- 
titled " The Little Girl's Book," carelessly turning 
over the leaves of which, I met with the following 
passage ; and having, only a few minutes before, 
been reading Mr. Cobden's letter to Mr. Beimoch, it 
occurred to me on the instant what a capital reply 
the passage to which I refer would be to Mr. Cobden, 
and as such, therefore, I now beg to offer it : 



AND USE OP 1IONKY. 223 



" For tin- nurpoM'." prorrfdrtli tlicn this little book 
to say, " of testing the memory of a man, who boasted 
tliat ho could repeat anything by rote on once hear- 
in- it sjh'ken, Mr. Foote first wrote down, and 
thru ivad i.\cr ti> liiin. the following nonsense: 
' So she went into the garden to cut a cabbage 
K-.it to make an apple pie ; and at the same time a 
great she-bear coming up the street pops its head 
into tin.- >liMji. What ! no soap! So he died, and 
she very imprudently married the barber ; and there 
were present the Picninnies, and the Job-lillies, and 
the Garyulies, and the grand Panjandrum himself, 
with the little round bulton at top ; and they all fell 
to playing the uaine of catch as catch can, till the 
gunpowder ran out at the heels of their boots.' " 

Now, absurd as this language may at first sight 
appear to be, I affirm that there is infinitely more 
sense in it than in Mr. Cobden's reply to Mr. Ben- 
noch, and, consequently, that it is more worthy of 
your very serious attention : and this position I shall 
prove in a minute, thus : 

Foote took up his pen for the express purpose of 
writing nonsense, and he wrote it ; whilst Mr. Cobden, 
on the other hand, assumed his pen with the inten- 
tion of writing sense, and he wrote nonsense. Ergo, 
I h<ll Mr. F'oote's nonsense to be very good sense, 
and Mr. Cobden's sense to be genuine, exemplary, 
and unmitigated uousen 

If Mr. Cobden, however, be not thus sufficiently 
an > \vered, as some of you may perhaps be inclined to 
think, he shall be answered, and that to your heart's 
content, and to his own too. 

\\V11, then, taking up his language seriously and 



224 LECTURES ON THE 

which I should positively be ashamed to do, had it 
proceeded from the pen of any less eminent person- 
age than himself Mr. Cobden here distinctly and 
emphatically asserts : 

That there is " a fallacy in the idea that the price 
of gold is fixed at all in this country!" and yet he 
tells us in the same breath, that " the Mint can 
neither lose nor gain by the operation of buying gold!' 

Which two sentences being put together, and into 
different words, but without the shadow of a shade of 
difference in meaning, assert, as distinctly as it is 
possible for words to assert anything First, that 
the price of gold is not fixed in this country ; and, 
secondly, that the price of gold is fixed in this 
country. 

As, however, it is scarcely possible that Mr. Cob- 
den intended to write such nonsense as this although, 
if truly reported by the newspapers, he most as- 
suredly did write it we are bound to suppose that 
the language above quoted was designed to convey a 
rational signification of some kind : and if so, then 
must Mr. Cobden have intended to affirm either for 
his language admits of no third interpretation what- 
ever that the price of gold is not fixed at all in this 
country, as measured by itself; or else that the price 
of gold is not fixed at all in this country, as measured 
by other commodities. 

In reply to the former alternative, then What is 
the meaning of the term price? Why, according to 
my understanding of the English language, the term 
price means either the precise number of pounds, 
shillings, pence, and farthings, or of pounds, shillings, 
pence, or farthings, which are either demanded or 



\ \TURB AND USE OF Mo.NKV. --.' 



paid. OF aLiivr.l to he paid, by "lie party to aiiothrr. 
in \. -han^e t"i corrosiK)nding value, real or supposed. 
Tims a man may ask What is thoprice of this tall- ' 
And the answer may be, ten pounds. But t\\is price 
tin- iii|uiivr may consider to be too high, and conse- 
quently lie may deeliur to purchase. Again What 
is the price of a loaf of bread ? Say sixpence : and, 
buying it, we may agree to pay sixpence for it, and 
that either with or without ever paying for it at all : 
in the latter case a bad debt being the result. Price, 
in a word, signifies the sum of money, or quantity of the 
nt coin of the realm, which is either paid for any 
article by the mutual consent of the buyer and seller . 
or it may be the sum of money entered in an account- 
book as the pecuniary denomination of any thing which 
may be sold on credit-terms. Thus, whenever we 
say that bread is sixpence a-loaf, calico sixpence 
a-yard, sugar sixpence a-pound, and so on, the word 
price is always understood ; and, so far as I am aware, 
the word has just this one meaning, and no other. 

As measured by itself, then, does Mr. Cobden mean 
seriously to affirm that the price of gold is not fixed in 
this country? Is not the price of an ounce of gold, 
of a given degree of purity, three pounds seven- 
teen shillings and tenpence halfpenny ? Are not 
three pounds seventeen shillings and tenpence half- 
penny the price of an ounce of gold? If I owe you 
a thousand pounds, do I not owe you precisely as 
many ounces of gold, and fractional parts thereof, as 
there are three pounds seventeen shillings and ten- 
pence halfpennies in the thousand pounds ? If I 
have in my pocket a thousand pound Bank of Eng- 
laml note, can I not go to the Bank of England and 



22G LECTURES ON THE 

demand in exchange for it as many ounces of gold as 
there are three pounds seventeen shillings and ten- 
pence halfpennies in the note "? Are not, then, an 
ounce of gold and three pounds seventeen shillings 
and tenpence halfpenny, and three pounds seven- 
teen shillings and tenpence halfpenny and an ounce 
of gold exchangeable tertns f Does not the one mean 
the other, and the other mean the one 1 

Well, then, what else have we that admits of the 
same kind of exemplification ? Are a loaf of wheaten 
bread, of any given weight and fineness, and the sum 
of sixpence, exchangeable terms \ Are a yard of 
broad cloth, of a certain kind and quality, and a 
sovereign, exchangeable terms \ Are a dining-table 
of any given wood, make, size, and shape, and the 
sum of ten pounds, exchangeable terms ? And in all 
these cases, from day to day, from year to year, and 
even from one century to another ? 

Why, there is not a lady or gentleman present, 
nay, there is not even a child in the City of Edin- 
burgh, who is not aware that the price of these things 
fluctuates ; that bread sixpence to-day may be seven- 
pence or fivepence to-morrow ; that a yard of cloth 
of a given quality may to-day be worth twenty shil- 
lings, and to-morrow but nineteen shillings, or that 
it may rise to the value of a guinea ; whilst a ma- 
hogany or other table worth a ten-pound note just 
now, may, the self-same table, be worth a twelve- 
month hence, but eight pounds, seven pounds, or even 
a smaller sum, although wholly unused, uninjured, and 
the fashion thereof unchanged during the interval. 

What sort of doctrine is this, then, which Mr. 
Cobden thus attempts to foist upon the Anti-Gold- 



NATURE AND USB OF MONEY. 

Law League, and through the instrumentality of the 
Times, upon the world at large, upon the subject of 
the currency ? Let Mr. Cobden tell us by all means : 
let him, for example, say that at the time when he 
wrote the passage now under review, he was under 
the influence of a dream, mesmerism, chloroform, or 
that iu some other way the use of his intellects was 
suspended. 

The short and true answer to Mr. Cobden, is 
That measured by itself, the price of gold is fixed 
in this country, that price being just three pounds 
seventeen shillings and tenpence halfpenny per ounce, 
from the first day of January to the last day of De- 
cember, in every year of our Lord. 

But and there is no other alternative Mr. Cob- 
den's meaning may be that the price of gold is not 
fixed at all in this country, as measured by other goods! 

Why, this is the very thing contended for, the very 
point at issue, the sum and substance of the opinion 
which I have thought it necessary to spread over 
the surface of eight long lectures, and for the esta- 
blishment of which I have contended, inch by inch, 
throughout a progressive series of reasonings, all tend- 
ing to this one point, namely, that gold is no men 
of value at all; that its price, measured by other com- 
modities, is as variable as the price of fifty, or per- 
haps five hundred other things ; and that, therefore, 
to call it a measure of value is mere self-evident ab- 
surdity; whilst the consequence of that absurdity 
being the law of the land, is an annual loss to this 
nation of one hundred millions a-year, at the lowest 
possible computation, and much more likely twice or 
thrice the sum. 



228 LECTURES ON THE 

The aggregate of marketable produce to-day, for 
example, is represented, on the one hand, and the 
aggregate of money, on the other, both by the num- 
ber of one hundred. In these circumstances, the 
balance of supply and demand will be equal. But 
what if this day three months the said marketable 
produce should be increased to the extent of two hun- 
dred precisely double the quantity of material and 
labour having been expended in its creation, as com- 
pared with the quantity expended on the preced- 
ing hundred whilst money, in the meantime, shall 
not have increased at all ? Why, then, the market 
in this case, will either be a nominal one, the goods 
being neither bought nor sold, or else, if the goods 
be sold although doubled in quantity, and created 
at precisely double their natural cost, namely, that 
of labour they will still exchange in money for but 
one hundred.* 

* No person can possibly put this case either more strongly or 
clearly than the late Mr. Mill, whose Elements of Political Economy 
I quoted at considerable length in my second Lecture. " When- 
ever, [says he] any addition takes place in the quantity of goods, 
without any addition to the quantity of money, the price falls, and, 
of necessity, in the exact proportion of the addition which has been 
made. If this is not clear to every apprehension already, it may be 
rendered palpable by adducing a simple case. Suppose the market 
to be a very narrow one ; of bread solely on the one side, and money 
on the other. Suppose that the ordinary state of the market is a 
hundred loaves on the one side, and a hundred shillings on the other ; 
the price of bread accordingly a shilling a loaf. Suppose, in these 
circumstances, that the quantity of loaves is increased to two hun- 
dred, while the money remains the same ; it is obvious that the price 
of the bread must fall one half, or to sixpence per loaf." ElemetUs 
aforesaid, p. 162. And yet this self-same volume, by the self-same Mr. 
Mill, contains, in its Preface, these words : 



\ \TI 1:1: \M) USB OP MONEY. 

Why, thi'ii, I lcinaii'l (< know, an- the market- 
uvrisely doubled in their cost of production. 
>t-lv doubled in quantity, and precisely doubled 
in the I'xti'iit of 'their utility that is to say, will feed, 
rlothe. and lodge twice as many people now as tin v 
would More to fall douni in price to the sum of ne 
hundred, to the utter destruction of tltt'ir producers, 
merely because one other marketable com mod if if like 
themselves hath not increased in qiHintifif at all! Why 
is the thing in which there has been no change to be 
thus doublet! in value, whilst other products which, 
by the application of double the material, labour, toil, 
an- 1 anxiety, have been doubled in quantity, and in 
utility are to remain of precisely the same aggregate 
value as before ; that is to say, when there existed 

" I have endeavoured, by new illustrations, to render more palpable 
what appears to me to be demonstration of that most important doc- 
trine, that the aggregate demand and tuppfy of a nation are alvayt 
equal, that production can never be too rapid for the market ; in 
other words, that there never can be a general glut of commodities.' 1 

No human being, however, can reconcile these two paragraphs 
except by tupponng the existence of some species of money which may 
be increased as fast as the aggregate of every thing else. No such 
money exists at present ; and therefore, if the injunction implied in 
the second paragraph were to be obeyed ; if producers of every class 
were to take the late Mr. Mill's doctrine for their guide, and, in ac- 
cordance therewith, to increase for a time their goods as fast as pos- 
sible, the result would be, that every atom thereof would fall in price; 
ruin to themselves would ensue, demand would speedily come to a 
stand-still, production itself would be compelled to stop, and the in- 
dustrious classes would be consigned, as usual, to starvation and 
wretchedness.^ But reconstruct our monetary system upon the prin- 
ciples herein demonstrated, and the assertion contained in Mr. Mill's 
second paragraph nl*>vc quoted will be perfectly true; whilst the 
argument in the former '(notation will become elucidation and con- 
firmation of thnt truth. 



230 LECTURES ON THE 

thereof enough only to feed, clothe, and lodge but half 
the number of persons now amply provided for ! 

As measured by other commodities, the price of 
gold, therefore, in this country, is not fixed, but the 
consequence of fixing by law that which cannot be 
fixed in fact, is a loss of at least one hundred millions 
a-year to the British nation. 

People will not manufacture goods to sell them at 
a loss, whilst, so long as the law of gold exists, they 
can have no certainty of being able to sell them at a 
profit. Hence the fetter on our industry ; hence the 
tether by which our productive efforts are confined 
within a very limited circle; and hence the solution 
of the problem Why are the inhabitants of a nation 
able and willing to supply their urgent wants twice 
over, starving in the midst of plenty ? 

And what is the remedy for this enormous evil ? 
Why it stares you in the face ! It is as self-evident 
as the existence of light or heat. If you double your 
goods, you must double your money. If you quad- 
ruple your goods, you must quadruple also your 
money. If you increase your goods tenfold, you 
must increase your money tenfold, and so on. This 
is the remedy, and besides this there is no other. 
Adopt it, then, and you may go on producing and 
producing the productions, regulated by the prin- 
ciple of individual competition, being at all times in 
due proportion to each other until the world itself 
shall be satiated with wealth, and all the people in 
it ; and yet the rate of profit obtainable by the sale 
of the last pound's worth of goods brought into the 
market may be equal to that upon the first. 

But I have not half-done with Mr. Cobden yet. 



N MURK AND USE OK IfONKY. 

" I am sure you will BOO a fallacy [says ho] in the 
i<lia that tlic price of gold is fixed at all inthiscoun- 
1 r \ : it is merely iveighed, assayed, and stamped, as 
of a certain quality and fineness, in the same way as 
has lu'i-n tin- custom in all countries and in all ages." 

So here we have Mr. Cobden, tin- <li>riple of Adam 
Smith, tlu- antic.. rn-law leaguer, the earnest, perse- 
v. ring, talented, and to some extent successful 
champion of free trade all over the world, descend- 
ing to make use of such a weapon as this " In tho 
same way as has been the custom in all ages and in 
all countries :" but let that pass. 

Mr. Cobden tells us, then, that gold is " merely 
u't't'/h''!/, assayed, and stamped as of a certain qwiiit;i 
and fineness" And a little farther on he tells us 
that corn is subjected to an invariable measure of 
([Kant'iffi, for which purpose the law has fixed on the 
imperial bushel, which contains a fixed and invariable 
</>/<in/if>/ ; and in the case of gold it has done no more 
than fix in coins the weight and fineness of gold. 
To which I reply You are in error, Mr. Cobden ; 
the law has done one thing more than this: it has 
commanded gold to be weighed, assayed, stamped, 
and priced ! Is the imperial bushel of corn priced f 
No, it is not. 

Hut as Mr. Cobden " will not follow the subject 
farther," I will finish the argument for him ; so now, 
if you please, we will fix the price of corn instead of 
iroM. and take it for our supposititious measure of 
value throughout. 

As, however, we have not at present any precise 
measure of quantity, which, being filled with corn, 
would, in ordinary rircum>taiMv-. IT worth the exact 



232 LECTURES ON THE 



sum of 3, 17s. lO^d., suppose we create one for 
the purpose, and call it merely a measure. The 
measure of corn then is, first, like gold in the mint, 
to be measured instead of weighed ; that is to say, 
it is to consist of a vessel full, the said vessel being 
of a certain fixed capacity in cubic inches. Secondly, 
it is to be assayed; that is to say, it must be of a 
certain quality as well as bulk. Thirdly, it is to be 
stamped ; that is, certified by Government to consist 
of the proper quantity and quality. And lastly, it is 
to be priced, that price being just 3, 17s. lOjd. 

Here, then, we have in supposition a precise pa- 
rallel for the present law of gold* The sum of 3, 
17s. lO^d., and a measure of corn, are exchangeable 
terms ; that is to say, a measure of corn means 
3, 17s. 10|d., just as an ounce of gold now means 
3, 1 7s. lOid. ; and the sum of 3, 17s. lO^d., means 
a measure of corn, just as the sum of 3, 17s. lO^d. 
means at the present time an ounce of gold. 

Now, to give Mr. Cobden the full benefit of his 
own argument, and gold being, as he says, in pre- 
cisely the same legal position as corn, I have merely 
taken the latter in place of the former ; and now let 
us see what would have been the result of this species 
of corn-law during the last year or two : Well, then, 
it would have been precisely this : 

The price of corn, not being fixed by law, rose, 
between the months of August 1846 and June 1847, 
a trifle more than one hundred per cent. ; whereas, had 
the price of corn been fixed by law at 3, 17s. 10d. 
per measure, the price of corn then, like the price of 
pold now, would have remained unchanged, whilst 
the general average of other commodities would //</ 



N Ml,' HE AND USB OP MOM > 233 

fallen in money price rather nion- iliaii one hundred 
lit. lu consequence of which every man in 
tin- kingdom, whose assets, taken at their lair value 
in September 1S4<. sliould not at that time have 
amounted to precisely double the sum of his pecuni- 
ary obligations, would inevitably, in the month of 
May 1847, have been reduced to the condition of an 
'!>>' nt ! 

And don't you fancy to get out of this dilemma 
by saying that, in the case supposed, all things, corn 
alone excepted, having alike fallen in price to the 
ext nt of a hundred per cent., the comparative state 
of things would have remained as before. This argu- 
ment would be perfectly sound, as applicable to all 
persons being neither debtors, creditors, nor pecuni- 
ary obligants. They, if any such there be, would 
not have suffered : but with this exception, and with 
it only, every person would have been ruined, who, 
as I said before, could not have afforded to lose pre- 
cisely one-half of his entire property. 

And this is no mere case of the imagination, for, 

precisely what wiild have happened within the last 

eighteen mouths had corn been the legal measure of 

\aluc. tJ'til li<tf>j.i-n, in consequence of gold having been 

the le-ral measure of value. Gold, of course, rose not 

at all in price as measured by itaelf. The ounce of 

gold last year, as in the year before and in the year 

ni. \\.is just 3, 17s. lOid., and the sum of 

i 7>. inid. was just an ounce of gold. But, as 

measured by ntlu-r cnim<nlitic*. the price of gold rose 

i enormously. It rose, in tact, to such an 

nt that, at the lo\veM |>o>>il.]e computation, the 

money vain.- of all other proprriv in tlir country had 



234 LECTURES UN THE 

fallen at one time, in the month of October last, for 
example, to the extent of more than five hundred 
millions as compared with the money value of the 
self-same property in the preceding month of No- 
vember. That is to say, a fall took place in the value 
of British property last year to an extent most un- 
doubtedly exceeding by the sum of a hundred mil- 
lions sterling, one-half the amount of the national 
debt of this country. And to set at rest all question 
as to the truth of this assertion requires no length- 
ened nor laborious investigation, for the proof lies 
within the compass of a nut-shell. 

In the general average state of the money market, 
then, the estimated value of the property of this 
country exceeds five thousand millions. Now, if the 
whole of this property be by any cause depreciated 
to the extent of but ten per cent., the amount of that 
depreciation will be just five hundred millions, or 
within three hundred millions of the whole amount 
of the national debt. 

Well, then, one of two things is true either we 
did actually incur this amount of loss last year, that 
is to say, the property of this country had depre- 
ciated at one time, in October for example, to the 
extent of five hundred millions sterling ; or else, upon 
the general average, that is to say, taking one thing 
with another, houses, lands, and merchandise of every 
description, the money value of property, heritable 
and moveable, did not fall ten per cent. I assert that 
it did fall ten per cent., and more than ten per cent., 
whilst he who shall refuse his assent to the sound- 
ness of this argument must hold that it did not. 

The evil of this enormous depreciation in the money 



KK AM) U8K OF MOM.V. 235 

value i.i' |>roj>erty, however," is not a general one, fal- 
qually on all |HT-.>M- in proportion to the value 
of tln-ir property. On the contrary, it falls as un- 
equally as grape-shot in the field of battle. Some it 
do>tri\ - upon the spot ; on others it inflicts wounds 
mortal, l.jit not immediately so ; others it maims or 
cripples for the rest of their existence ; whilst a very 
large number escape injury altogether. And the 
nature and causes of this inequality of suffering it will 
not be difficult to explain. 

Aggregate rises and falls, then, in the money value 
of property, do not affect those persons who are 
neither debtors, creditors, nor pecuniary obligants. 
If all things rise in money price, and that in due pro- 
portion to each other, the operative who pays six- 
pence for his loaf of bread to-day may pay seven- 
pence to-morrow. But if his wages have in the 
interim been advanced in the like proportion, his 
means of purchasing bread remain unaltered. Re- 
verse the case : let the bread fall in price, and his 
wages too, and again he is neither better nor worse 
off than he was before. 

But in place of an independent working man, who 
owes nothing, and has nothing owing to himself, let us 
take the case of a merchant, whoso moans, like his of 
Venice, are in supposition ; who " hath an argosy 
bound to Tripolis, another to the Indies, a third at 
Mexico," and so on, with, perhaps, a fifty or a hun- 
dred thousand pounds stock of goods at home into 
the bargain ; and what is his situation ? what are 
the consequences to him of a ten per cent, fall in the 
money-price of goods ? Why, ruin ! utter, absolute, 
and in thousands of instances. irretriovaMo. 



236 LECTURES ON THE 

Take, for an example, one of every day occurrence. 
A merchant has, we shall say, a bona fide capital of 
his own, amounting to 20,000, wherewith to com- 
mence business, with which capital he embarks 
largely in trade. His situation, then, will very soon 
be this : his obligations, on the one hand, may, 
without the least imprudence on his part, soon 
amount to a hundred thousand pounds. He resides 
in London or in Leith, and does business on commis- 
sion for a numerous foreign connexion, buying, on 
the usual terms of credit, goods for his constituents 
to a large amount thus making, as I have already 
said, his liabilities 100,000. 

Then, per contra, to meet his obligations, he has 
the amount of his own bona fide capital, which we 
have put down at 20,000 ; next the amount of his 
book-debts, and then that of his stock on hand ; and 
as he has only recently commenced business, and 
consequently had no time to add to the amount of 
his original capital, the balance-sheet of his affairs 
that is to say, the amount of his assets above that 
of his obligations will present at foot precisely the 
amount of his own capital, namely, 20,000. 

Well ! in this state of things, money rises in value, 
or, as the law will have it, goods fall in price just 
ten per cent. ; and what follows "? Why, in the first 
place, the value of his stock on hand is decimated; 
stagnation of trade follows ; his customers are unable 
to sell their goods at a profit, and unwilling to sell 
them at a loss. They, therefore, either dishonour, 
or require the renewal of, his bills of exchange, and 
he, consequently, must either dishonour his bills too, 
<>r else, having renewed those dniwn by himself upon 



N \TIIBE AND U8K K M"Nn 2'.\7 

lu> I-USI..MHTN. /// must yet them discounted as be*f In 1 
ca^ perhaps at an enormous per centage ; which. 
being added to the loss upon the value of his stock, 
and to the amount of his bad debts, will not impro- 
bably relievo him of the last sixpence of his own 
bonafide capital. 

Is this an imaginary case ? Far from it. Sub- 
stantially it is but too true a picture of the fate of 
many scores of merchants in this country, whose on- 
tiiv property has recently been confiscated by the 
law of gold. 

Do you ask me for any authority upon this sub- 
ject ? I can hardly think so, for the facts I have 
stated must be well known to every person present. 
If, however, you want still farther evidence, you shall 
have it in plenty : 

Only the other day, then, in making his financial 
statement before the House of Commons, Lord John 
Russell, the Prime Minister of these realms, instructed 
us as follows, and thus enabled me to prove the 
truth of these assertions to the very letter, out of his 
own mouth : 

" The year [said he] which has passed over our 
heads, or I should perhaps say, the period of the last 
eighteen months, has been one which, excepting 
cases of foreign war or domestic insurrection, is with- 
out a parallel, I think I may say, in the history of 
this country. The changes and vicissitudes of prices, 
the difficulties of commerce, the panic which more 
than once prevailed, the extreme distress of a part 
of the United Kingdom, the extraordinary efforts 
whirh were made to relieve that distress, altogether 
affected the state of this country to such a degree that 



238 LECTURES ON THE 

I believe it would not be easy to find an example of 
such distress in our history. To give some notion of 
the very great vicissitudes we have gone through, I 
will refer to the changes in the price of wheat, the 
changes in the rate of commercial discounts by the 
Bank of England, and to the changes in the amount 
of bullion held by that establishment. In the first 
week of September 1846, the average price of wheat 
was 49s.; the price in January 1847 was 70s.; and 
in the week ending May 29, 1847, the price of wheat 
was 102s. 5d. On the 18th of September following 
it had again fallen to 49s. 6d., being only 6d. diffe- 
rence from the price of the preceding September, 
and more than 100 per cent, difference from the price 
which ruled in the previous May. The rate of dis- 
count by the Bank of England I mean the mini- 
mum rate of discount by the Bank of England in 
November 1846, was 3 per cent. In April 1847, 
it ranged at 5 per cent. ; in October, the lowest rate 
of interest charged by the Bank of England was 8 
per cent. ; and in January 1848, it was again 4 per 
cent. The amount of bullion on the 10th of October 
1846, held by the Bank of England, was 15,078,135 ; 
on the 23d of October 1847 it was 7,865,445; 
and again, on the 5th of February 1848, it was 
13,821,754." 

Here, then, having the Prime Minister of England 
of the present hour for my authority, I am furnished 
with data from which to prove : 

That had any measure of wheat, fixed by law at the 
price of forty-nine shillings, been our standard of value 
during the last eighteen months, the average price of 
all other commodities would have been as follows : 



NATfRK AND USE OK MONKY 



289 




240 LECTURES ON THE 

pelled, from the difficulty of obtaining discounts, to 
have realized the value of such speculation in the 
month of May following, would have been under the 
necessity of sacrificing his property, and that to the 
last shilling. Such is the principle on which the 
existing monetary system of this country is esta- 
blished ; and now for the fact : 

Well, then, upon the same indubitable authority, 
namely, that of Lord John Russell's last great speech 
in the House of Commons, our minimum Bank of 
England rate of discount 

In November 1846, was 3 per cent, 
In April 1847, it was 5 per cent.. 
In October 1847, it was 8 per cent., and 
In January 1848, it was again reduced to 4 per 
cent. So that, whilst the fluctuation in the price of 
wheat was only a fraction more than one hundred per 
cent, between the months of September 1846 and 
May 1847, a period of seven clear months, the fluctua- 
tion in the interest of money between the months of 
November 1846 and October 1847, a period of ten 
clear months, was very nearly three hundred per cent., 
and that, too, upon money lent by the Bank of 
England itself upon the best possible bills only! Such 
is our measure of value ! A parallel for which could 
only be found in an Act of Parliament constituting 
the yard measure of to-day thirty-six inches, and that 
of this day ten months twelve inches ; and the pound 
weight of to-day sixteen ounces, and that of next 
September a fraction less than five ounces and a-half. 
Then as to the modus operandi of all this, why it 
is as plain as A, B, c. A little absurd speculation 
on the part of a few adventurers, a panic and the 



N LTUB1 UTO HOH1Y, '2 I 1 

-" 1 thank thee, Jew, [Sir K.>!,rrt IVel I mean.] 
for teaching me that word" and the tiling is done. 

It happen^ thus : 

A jM-ri'. 1 of nvii.-ral prosperity having fora \\hile 
continued, a period, that is to say, wherein the 
ige number of people in a state of abject IUMTV 
is a million or t\\ > l--s than usual speculators 1" -in 
-tir theiiiM-lves : one party go to work at a few 
railroads: anoth-T would like an extra bridge or 
t\\-i across the Thames at London ; whilst a third 
get up a building company, and so on ; by far the 
greater part of these projects originating with parties 
who, having everything to gain and nothing to lose, 
care not at all for the success of them, farther than 
as mere instruments of their own pecuniary advance- 
ment. The scheme, whatever you please the more 
absurd, perhaps the better a well-written prospectus, 
headed by some first-rate names, with or without 
the consent of their masters, no matter which : the 
shares, bought up immediately, are at a premium 
one week, at a discount the next, and at nothing 
shortly afterwards. 

But the bait has been takcn^ the shares have been 
sold; some capital has been withdrawn from its more 
legitimate objects ; men of well-known wealth and 

ctahility are on the partnership list : f/n-ti' 01 
is shaken in consequence, and a panic ensues ; then 
cometh the screw and the work is done. The best 
promissory notes discounted by the Bank of Kngland 
in November at three per cent., are refused in the 
April following at less than five, and in October at 
less than eight. All the other banks follow the 
example of the Bank of England, ami <m 

q 



242 LECTURES ON THE 

diminution i)i the aggregate quantity of money in cir- 
culation, of which bills of exchange form a most im- 
portant item,, consequently takes place. But money, 
as measured by itself, rises not in price, and therefore 
tlie price of other goods must fall Sellers unwilling 
to lose by their merchandise hold on for a time ; but 
as buyers will not give the old prices, trade stagnates, 
and production stops, or its power is but half-exerted ; 
and hence manufacturers, merchants, and operatives 
are involved in the common ruin. 

It must be distinctly kept in mind, however, 
throughout this argument, that in thus speaking of 
the great variation which took place in the interest of 
money during the period mentioned, we are not to 
confound the interest of money with the actual va- 
lue of money itself as measured by other goods. 
For, had the actual value of money risen in October 
last to nearly three times its ordinary value, the 
whole country would have been involved in the 
general calamity, and a national bankruptcy must 
inevitably have ensued. 

This distinction between the value of money and 
the mere interest or hire of it, is precisely similar to 
that which exists between the value of house pro- 
perty and the rent of it. 

A house, for example, in certain circumstances, 
may let for a time at more than double its ordinary 
amount of rent. But the period during which such 
exorbitant rent may be obtainable, being necessarily 
a limited one, it would be clearly impossible to sell 
the house outright, at double its ordinary value, or 
even at an advance of twenty or thirty per cent., in 
consequence of any such temporary advance of rent 



NATURE AND USK OP MOXKY. 243 

obtainable for it. So, in like manner, was it with 
respect to money last October ; the rent or interest 
of money was indeed as high as eight per cent, on 
the very best personal security, consisting of first- 
class bills of exchange ; but the money itself a 
hundred pounds for example would not pay any 
more rent, taxes, or other previously existing obli- 
gation, in October, when its rate of interest was 
n'irht per cent, than it would have done in the pre- 
vious month of November, when the rate of interest 
was but three per cent. 

And here, in estimating the amount of destruction 
committed by the Bank of England last year, by re- 
ducing to an enormous extent the aggregate amount 
of money in the country, I take the damage at only ten 
per cent., or five hundred millions in all ; whereas, had 
the like advance taken place in the value of money 
itself, in place of in the mere pro tempore interest of it, 
the depreciation in the value of property in the mouth 
of October would have amounted to pretty nearly 
two-thirds of the whole, that is to say, to the sum of 
about three thousand millions, or to not far short of 
four times the amount of the national debt. 

Such is our monetary system. Certain adven- 
turers get up a few schemes, which promise for a 
time success : others, and others still, stimulated by 
their example, follow it, and then the commercial 
typhus runs its accustomed course : the ultimate 
consequence of which may be, that a few penniless 
speculators may so adroitly manage their affairs, as 
eventually to cause the Bank of Mischief in Thread- 
needle-street to issue forth its decennial, or thereby, 



244 



LECTURES ON THE 



mandate " Let the property of the country be deci- 
mated " and decimated it is accordingly. 

So much for Mr. Cobden, who, in asserting That, 
measured by other commodities, the price of gold in 
this country is not fixed is perfectly correct. Let 
him, however, in the next place, show the cost of the 
golden image, for the perpetuated worship of which 
he contends, to be any less sum than one hundred 
millions a-year, in money of its present value ! / defy 
to do so. 



N UTIM-: AND USE OF MONEY. 245 



LKCTUKE VIII. 

Recapitulation and brief Review of the cutirc subject. 

ME one has said that all men think all men 
mortal but themselves ; ami he might perhaps have 
aiMe-d, that nations are apt to regard their public in- 
stitutions in very much the same light. Thus, if I 
>a v to you " Let us annihilate the Monetary System 
of this country, root and branch," some one will be 
inclined to reply " And dry up the Firth of Forth." 

Well, oftentimes have I of latj declared that, if 
life and health should be spared to me for a few 
more years, I would totally change the monetary 
in of this kingdom ; and now I faithfully promise 
you, thai this task will I perform, <in<l tlmt within seven 
years from ami <tft< / ////x >/.//"''///// (hui of March \ 
unless and thus only do I qualify the engagement 
><>inr mi' else should change it sooner. 

Manv and important have been the subjects with 
which tin- miml of the British nation has been succes- 
sively monopolised for the last half century. Napo- 
Ift'ii I'.onaj'arte. in t lie days of my early remembrance, 
\\ i- the liTrat proprietor of all men's thoughts poli- 
tical : next came peace, with its endless train of 
H'-Mngs anticipated, and disappointments ivali/ed : 
thru lu-funu in Parliament, my first recollections of 
which arc intimately associated with Warren's Black- 



246 LECTURES ON THE 

ing ! For, go wheresoever you might, either within 
or in the vicinity of London, for many years, on every 
churchyard, barrack or garden wall, tumble-down- 
house, or temporary shed, there would you be sure 
to find, not as we do things now, in letters of blue, 
green, yellow, and even gold, but in simple chalk, 
these two very laconic remembrancers 
"PARLIAMENTARY REFORM!" 
"TRY WARREN'S BLACKING!" 

The well-merited libel on the Honourable House 
having the precedence, in some cases, of the man of 
jet, whilst in others he would take the shine out of 
all the honourable members put together, merely by 
expunging the reference to their existence, the more 
conveniently to proclaim his own. 

Then, after sundry interludes, consisting of a little 
occasional sedition, the trials of Queen Caroline and 
William Hone, the Cato Street Gang, and a few 
et ceteras, our next staple commodities were " No 
Corn-Laws," and " Catholic Emancipation." When, 
lo ! all being fulfilled, we should now be in want of 
a Cry altogether, were it not for n ever-ending Ire- 
land and the Income-tax. 

Thus has the poor Monetary Reformer, whenever 
he has endeavoured to bring his modest proposition 
before the tribunal of the public, been pooh poohed, 
and thrust aside by war, peace, sedition, treason, 
and reforms of all sorts, as if he were nobody : and 
now, out of mere spite, against myself individually, 
the French have been getting up a new play,* deno- 



* This language, be it especially observed, has no reference to the 
fearful events of June. Sec also the note on the next page but one. 



AND USB OP MONKY. 247 

" The Revolution," which was performed in 
Paris for the first time on the evening on which I had 
j.i. \ inusly engaged to deliver my first Lecture in the 
cit v of Edinburgh on the Nature and U.s <>l Money. 

To treat the subject more seriously : I believe, 
thru, that our time is at length at hand ; nay, that 
<-\tn the present hour may prove to be our own. 
Iivlanil, in<lre<l, may continue to divert attention 
from us to some extent ; but in truth we shall take 
precedence of Ireland, for the very sufficient reason, 
that it is in reserve for us, and for us alone, to regene- 
rate Ireland. The Excise Reform party again, must 
await their turn, and ours stands before it on the list 
of fate : for they, in fact, are a mere portion of our 
tail ; and, as such, they can make their way in the 
world only by allowing us to go before them. 

But what of the new Republic \ What of our 
neighbour France f Will not she swamp us for the 
next twenty years at least, merely by absorbing the 
entire interest of Europe in watching her forward or 
backward, upward or downward progress ? I think 
not. Indeed, I have reason to suspect that she has 
actually stolen a copy of my plans, and is about to 
act upon them ; for how else can she hope to keep her 
word? how else can she "find employment for nil her 
productive classes?"* 

I defy her to find them employment otherwise than 
in the manner which 1 have pointed out. I assert it 
to be morally and physically impossible for any set 

* By reference to the Appendix it will be seen that a copy of 
these Lectures was promptly offered to the Provisional Government 
of France, and with what result ? The receipt of the offer waa not 
even acknowledged. 



248 LECTURES ON THE 

of men in existence to devise means for the employ- 
ment cither of the French people, or of any other 
equitably at least unless this be at once their Motto, 
Principle, Object, and Resolution : 

PRODUCTION NATURALLY THE CAUSE OF 
DEMAND, SHALL BE SO PRACTICALLY. 

Let this, then, be the motto of the French reformers, 
or else be it a broken reed ; for unless they be able 
to change the very nature of the universe, and of the 
creature man besides, upon no other principle, neither 
by any other mode of procedure, can they keep the 
word which they have pledged* By adopting the 
principle of exchange herein developed, the members 
of the Provisional Government may be enabled to 
keep their promises ; and were I but as well ac- 
quainted with the circumstances of France, and with 
the language and character of the French people, as 
I am with the circumstances, language, and character 
of the people of this country, I would willingly sign 
a bond to forfeit my head, if I could not, with proper 
assistants, in less than twelve months, frame, organize, 
and establish a monetary system in France, which 
should eventually be imitated, not to say slavishly 
copied, by the entire civilized world. 

But I fear you will begin to think that I have al- 
together forgotten the subject of this evening's lec- 
ture, which, as it stands in the programme, was to 
consist of a recapitulation and brief review of the 

* Impaiti;il Iluader ! Do thou unto the Author of these Lectures 
the justice to remember, that this language was addressed by him 
to a large and intellectual audience in the City of Edinburgh, on 
Thursday, March 16, 1848. The Parisian comment thereon of the 
end of June following, needs unhappily, no recapitulation here. 



I'RK AND USE OF MONEY. 

already dismsM-d on the seven preceding 
occasions. I .shall now. therefore, proceed to state 
toryou. as clearly an<l concisely as I can, the opinions 
which I have formed upon this great subject ; unac- 
roinpanied. or nearly so, by any farther reasons, 
serin- that of them you have already l.een presented 
with an abundance. Here, then, is a brief abstract 
or summary of my monetary creed : 

I. 
Production is the Natural Cause of Demand. 

II. 

Apart from all monetary considerations whatso- 
ever, Supply and Demand are exchangeable terms. 
Supply is Demand and Demand is Supply. 

III. 

Therefore, speaking always of Aggregates, it is 
quite impossible either to over-produce, or to over- 
stock any market in this world. 

IV. 

Disproportionate production, however, may exist: 
aggregate over-production never. 

V. 

The existence of Disproportionate production is 
proved, whenever it happens, either that parties 
are unable to obtain in the market that which they 
I- -ire to buy, or whenever they bring to market a 
jrn-atcr quantity of any commodity than they may be 
aide, at a reasonably remunerating price, to sell. 



250 LECTURES OX THE 

VI. 

In any Perfectly well-proportioned market every 
article would be both bought and sold. 

VII. 

The Natural, and only Natural limit, to Produc- 
tion, consequently, is the Exhaustion of the Ability 
to go on supplying the market Proportionately. 

VIII. 

Thus far we speak merely of Exchange or Barter, 
and take no cognizance whatever of the existence 
of Money, excepting only to avoid it. 

IX. 

If any valuable commodity whatever be constituted, 
either by law or custom, the measure of value, in any 
market, from that instant, in that market, Production 
will cease to be the necessary Cause of Demand. 

X. 

Because, as no one valuable thing can by any pos- 
sibility be increased ad libitum, as fast as all other 
valuable things put together, whenever the commodi- 
ties to be measured are increased faster than the 
modes of using it remaining the same the measure 
itself, prices must fall, and production will stop. 

XL 

This falling price, as contra-distinguished from the 
Natural one, is the Existing limit to production, in 
Great Britain, France, America, and in every other 
country in the world, miscalled civilized. 



N ATirRE AND USE OP MON J .> I 

XII. 

Tl 10 loss >UN( lincil hv this country, const'|Ui'iit upon 
the adoption of, or ratlin- >ul)mission to, thin ninnifii- 
nil inn ih it Inn of our productive powers, exceeds one 
hundred million pounds a-year in money of its pre- 
si-Mt value : and that in every year of our lives. 

XIII. 

The nature, use, and proper qualities of money, 
an- wholly misunderstood by Lord John Russell, Sir 
Robert Peel, Mr. Cobden, the Editor of the Times 
newspaper, by the public press in general, and 
speaking of them collectively by the Members of 
both Houses of Parliament ; whilst the subject ap- 
pears also from their published decrees, to be equally 
blundered by the Provisional Government of France. 

XIV. 
By Labour only is it possible to measure value. 

XV. 

A well-considered Act of Parliament constituting 
labour the legal, as it is, and must ever continue to 
be, the one and only possible standard of value, would 
not interfere, in the slightest degree, with the 
principle of individual competition between man and 
man : professional, mechanical, or laborious. 

XVI. 

The subdivision of money into pounds, shillings. 
pence, and farthings, although not quite so simple as 
tin- decimal division, is a very good one, being liable 
to no serious objection in practi 



252 LECTUHES ON THE 

XVII. 

The unit of our monetary system should consist 
of a pound note, to be denomiimted the Pound 
Standard, divisible, as after-mentioned, into silver 
and copper coins. 

XVIII. 

The desire to do so being presupposed to exist in 
the minds of our legislators, there would be no more 
practical difficulty in fixing the value of the pound 
standard by Act of Parliament, than in fixing by 
law the number of yards in a mile, ounces in a pound, 
or inches in a foot. 

XIX. 

The value of the pound standard being fixed by 
law, the shilling should at all times consist of the 
twentieth part of the weight of silver obtainable in 
exchange for a pound standard. 

XX. 

And the penny should consist of the two hundred 
and fortieth part of the weight of copper obtainable 
in exchange for a pound standard. 

XXL 

The penny thus defined should be a legal tender 
to the amount of one shilling ; and the shilling thus 
defined, to the amount of twenty shillings ; whilst 
the pound standard should be a legal tender to the 
amount of from one pound to a thousand millions 
of pounds, the latter sum being a trifle more than 
the largest known debt at present existing. 



KK AND USE OF MOM.Y. 

XXII. 

Metallic coins may In- continuously of the same 
denomination and weight, in which case f/iftr rnlm- 
must of neceii y l>e liable to fluctuation ; or, 

XXIII. 

They may be continuously of the same denomina- 
tion and \ahu-. in which case their uv'ujht iiiu^t ol' 
ssity be liable to variation. 

XXIV. 

The attempt to unite in any one piece of gold, 
silver, or other metal, of a given degree of purity, 
unchangeable denomination, weight and value, is an 

tn-t <>{ (ih.<uliiit'. fiiiljHille, andunadiillrrdfi'il lt'<ij.lnfir<> 
t<> (/ *<> be'uj </>iite impossible. 



X XV. 

To the right and pK-a>ant working of any sound 
and efficient monetary system, both these kinds or 
classes of coins are indispensably requisite. 

XXVI. 

Money and Capital are, or should be, two things 
entirely different from each other. 

XXVII. 

No Circulating Capital whatever would be of the 
smallest possible utility to any properly constituted 
National or Standard-bank.* 

* The recent projects of the French people, or rather of certain 
would-lic Parisian monetary reformers, nmiinl me of a young uport*- 
man, who, whenever the game rise* before him, is ipi'itc aMc to bring 



254 LECTURES ON THE 

XXVIII. 

No interest whatever can be honestly chargeable 
for the use of Money by any properly constituted 
National or Standard bank. 



up his gun to his shoulder, and to discharge it at his object, but in- 
variably without success. Whereupon, on protesting to his more 
experienced companion that he expected to hit the mark, he is very 
coolly told in reply " That a miss is as bad as a mile." 

Thus is it with a party in the French metropolis. They are fight- 
ing with a subject which they do not understand, and yet with one 
of which they are not altogether ignorant. They profess to seek 
The Organization of Labour, whereas the thing of which they are 
truly in quest is An Organized System of Exchange. 

National workshops, and a fixed rate of wages in gold or silver 
coin, has been their phantom, whilst the reality, which has b'ien 
gleaming before the half-opened eyes of their understanding, is A 
Market for the produce which they may be able to create. To engage 
permanently to give to men a weekly rate of wages in gold or silver 
coin of any greater weight than the produce of their labour will ex- 
change for in a free market, is simply to engage to do that which is 
impossible. But to devise means, consisting of a mere Banking sys- 
tem, whereby operatives of every class may be enabled to obtain 
Equivalents in exchange for the well proportioned produce of their 
labour, in whatsoever shape they may require them, or, in other 
words, to find them a market ad infinitum for those products, is not 
merely a possible, but so very easy a task, that the rulers of this 
country are quite able to create such a market whenever they may 
think proper. 

ft But a Bank without a capital, oh, monstrous absurdity ! Where 
will folly end ? " So, in other words, inquires The Economist news- 
paper, of date May 27, 1848, the Editor whereof, assuming to be in 
possession of a store of knowledge upon this important subject, 
deigns to enlighten us as follows : 

" Of all the wild and visionary schemes which have been pro- 
pounded in France since the 23d of February, that which has ap- 
peared at great length in the Paris papers of this week has taken us 
most by surprise not so much from the startling propositions on 
which it is based, as from the emiuent names by which the scheme 



NATURE AND USE OF MOM. Y 255 

XXIX. 

I '.i it interest of Capital is at all times a fair, rea- 
sonable, and proper exaction. 

professes to be supported. We say professes, for we are unwilling to 
beliovo that the eminent and distinguished men whose names appear 
to the prospectus before us, hare really and knowingly sanctioned 
MK-II dangerous and fatal delusions. Among the list, it U true, we 
sue names, such as those of Louis Blanc, . Sue, and E. Arago, which 
we are prepared to find attached to any scheme, however erroneous 
ami visionary ; and had the one before us been confined to such, we 
should have passed it by as unlikely ever to be realised, and there- 
fore comparatively harmless. But when we find attached to it the 
names of such eminent men as Michel Chevalier, Emile de Qirardin, 
and F. Bastiat, we are bound to look to it as a grave reality. 

" The proposal is no less than to create an entirely new medium 
of exchange a new mode of distributing commodities and labour, 
by the unlimited emission of Social paper, or Exchange notes of 
twenty frnucs, one hundred francs, five hundred francs, and a thou- 
sand francs each ; and through this scheme ultimately to bring 
about a new organization of labour. The National Society and Bank 
hange, as this association is termed, is to consist of all who 
choose to enrol themselves as members, including every class of so- 
ciety landlords, farmers, manufacturers, professional and literary 
men, traders of all kinds, workmen of every class in short, all who 
have either commodities or services to exchange. It comprises, in 
fact, the whole of France, if they choose to enrol themselves. 

" The immediate object is to furnish all with a medium of exchange 
who have either commodities of any kind or labour to offer for it ; 
and the ultimate object, in addition to that, is to bring about an en- 
tire re-organization of labour. 

" The first principle stated is, That this Bant it to have no Capital, 
and is to make no profits a charge of one per cent, only being made 
on transactions, to pay the expenses. 

" The objects of the bank may be thus generally stated, from the 
prospectus before us : The bank is to deal only with its enrolled 
'members, among whom it is to promote the exchange of all commo- 
dities, ' without the help of money,' and * their indefinite multiplica- 
ti.i..' by means of the notes which we have already mentioned. 



256 LECTURES ON THE 

XXX. 

By the establishment of three Standard banks, 
these principles, as more fully set forth in the seven 
preceding Lectures, one in England, another in Scot- 
land, and a third in Ireland, Proportionate Produc- 
tion would in these lands become, and for ever continue 
to be, the Unfailing Cause of Demand, and that ad 
infinitum. 



These notes are to be exchangeable at sight at the bank for merchan- 
dise, and goods of all kinds which it contains, and for services. And 
such merchandise, goods, and services are also to be at all times ex- 
changeable for such notes at the bank. And thus, the prospectus 
gravely states, the depreciation of the note will be impossible, be- 
cause it will only be issued against real value." 

To the introductory remarks upon which project I thus adventure to 
reply : Gentle Economist ! Thou art as yet a child of rather less than 
five years old, thy weekly effusion, from which I quote above, num- 
bering but two hundred and forty-eight. Wisdom, however, it is to be 
desiderated, will come upon thee in maturer years ; and, in the mean- 
time, learn, that new as may the proposition be to you, to establish 
" A Bank without a Capital," and wondrous as the French project 
aforesaid may be in your eyes, wanting it is at least in the item novelty, 
seeing that of a verity these Lectures on the Nature and Use of jMoiu-y 
now merely verbally corrected and amended for publication were 
delivered by me, in the city of Edinburgh, before numerous, highly 
respectable, and most attentive audiences, on the dates which follow, 
namely, February 22, 24, 29, and March 2, 7, 9, 14, and 16, anno 
Domini eighteen hundred and forty- eight. 

Seeing, then, which is most certainly the fact, that I never heard 
of any " French Bank without a Capital," until enlightened by your- 
self upon the subject on the 27th day of May following, it is quite 
clear that I copied not the Frenchmen ; whilst unpublished at this 
hour July 3, same year excepting only in the shape of delivered 
lectures, I can hardly suppose the Frenchmen to have copied me. 

But to the point at issue, which is this Of Circulating Capital a 
properly constituted National Bank would require not the sum of six- 
peiice! A hundred guinea premium is offered to the man who may 



NATI UK AND USE OF 

Such, thru, being the general principles on which it 
is affirmed that a mere System ofBank'nuj may be intro- 
diicr.l intosociety, the operations of which would bene- 
fit mankind to an extent altogether unexampled, the 
first inquiry which will naturally suggest itself is: 

What are the difficulties, if any, in the way of 
its establishment ? What the peculiarities in human 
nature itself, in human institutions, or even in the 
habits or customs of society, that would appear to 
>t;md in the way of the immediate establishment of 
a banking system, promising to yield us such ines- 
timable al vantages? 

To which questions I reply, that there is little or 
nothing new in the propositions I have made ; seeing 
that everything I <lesire to establish is already in 
operation throughout this kingdom, and that to a 
great extent. The chief peculiarity, in short, con- 
nected with the system of exchange I have laid be- 
fore you, being given in the two words Monetnr>i 
Organization. 

The plan of the proposed standard banks involves, 
it may be said, a most extensive system of credit. 
It does so ; but being in truth a system, and not a 
mere chaos of credit, like that which at present ob- 
tains. my plan comprehends not one-hundreth part 
of the amount of risk inseparable from the credit 

be able most effectually to refute my arguments ! Win then the 
money, Gentle Economist, not for the filthy lucre's sake, of course, 
but merely to exhibit thy superior style of argumentation ; and as to 
the hundred guineas, why, give them whtn thou hatt von them to 
thy printer's devil ! 

See also Lecture VI., pages 193 and following, where the said sub- 
ject of A Bank without a Capital is discussed at considerable length. 

R 



258 LECTURES ON THE 

system of the present day, whilst the advantages it 
would confer upon society would be incalculably 
greater. 

Bankers, as well as merchants, manufacturers, and 
others doing business by wholesale, trust now whom- 
soever they please ; their only guide being the know- 
ledge they may be able to acquire of the responsi- 
bility of the parties seeking to become their customers 
on credit terms. And so lax are the proceedings, 
and imperfect the inquiries, in cases innumerable, 
that there is hardly a wholesale house of business in 
the city of London, or elsewhere, in which the bad 
debts are not an annual tax upon the profits to a 
pretty large amount. 

Now, upon the banking system which I have pro- 
posed for your adoption, no loss by bad debt could, 
with ordmary precaution, ever be incurred at all. 
The standard banker would not be permitted to give 
or refuse credit, like the existing banker, upon his 
own mere opinion, judgment, or caprice ; but being 
guided by fixed and invariable rules, he must give 
credit to whomsoever should apply for it, and that to 
whatsoever amount might be demanded, provided al- 
ways, that the applicants should be able and willing 
to comply with the legal exactions of the bank, and 
to give the required securities. 

The legal terms and conditions, then, of the stan- 
dard banker, as applicable to securities, being suffi- 
ciently strict, bad debts there could be none none, 
that is to say, affecting the standard banks. 

And here I may remark, that this part of the 
banking system which I have proposed, so very 
closely resembles that of the cash credit system of 



NATURE AND USB OF MONEY. 25.9 

Scotland, that tin- difference between the two plans 
may be told in a few words. 

The Scottisli banker, then, obtains from a merchant 
security, to his own satisfaction say, for instance, to 
the \ti-nt of 1000, on which sum the latter is at 
liberty to operate to its full amount, five percent, per 
a min m interest being charged upon the amount of the 
accommodation thus afforded by the bank. 

The proposed standard banker also requires secu- 
rity but, in his case, the nature of it is fixed by law, 
in place of being left to his own discretion say, as 
before, to the amount of 1000. But now, the mer- 
chant is allowed to draw money from the bank to 
the full value of his stock on hand, but no farther, 
\\li.it. \cr the amount of security he may have given 
to the bank may be. He must, therefore, have a 
stock-book which every wholesale dealer has at pre- 
sent, who keeps properly his books at all ; and of 
the state of his stock-book the standard banker must 
at all times be aware ; and here no interest of money 
n'/ifitever is chargeable. 

And now put the question to any merchant or 
manufacturer in the kingdom, whether, giving suffi- 
cient security to the banker in both cases, he would 
prefer 

To be able to draw money at pleasure from his 
banker, paying, as he does now, intei-est at the rate of 
five per cent, per annum, for the advances made to 
linn ' or 

To be able, at all times, to draw money from his 
banker to the full amount of his stock on hand, but 
no farther, intlnnit paying any interest at all ' 

I conceive, then, that in niiu tv niiu- cases out of 



260 LECTURES ON THE 

every hundred, as merely selfish mortals, parties 
would very greatly prefer the Standard system to the 
Scottish one. But even if this were not so, I can 
hardly think so ill of human nature, as not to believe, 
that when merchants and manufacturers should see, 
that, by conforming to a certain system of banking, 
they would themselves become part and parcel of a 
Commercial System, the operations of which were 
obviously calculated to diffuse the physical means of 
enjoyment throughout their country and the world 
their hesitation would be very small indeed to allow 
their bankers access to an account-book, open at the 
present time to the clerks and warehousemen in 
nearly every wholesale house of any importance in 
the three kingdoms. 

Well, then, this is the one arid only new feature 
which I propose to introduce into the system of 
banking, involving concession in any shape on the 
part of the customer of the bank. And what else have 
I proposed that is in reality new new, that is to 
say, with reference to the existing feelings, customs, 
habits, or prejudices of society 1 

Why, absolutely nothing ! my second and only 
remaining condition being, that a minimum, rate of 
images shall be payable in all the standard works. 

Now, this minimum rate of wages, as I fully ex- 
plained in a former lecture, signifies merely a start- 
ing-point in the race of competition, affecting the in- 
terest of no persons, those only excepted who, before 
the standard banks should be established, were either 
debtors or creditors ; and consequently, with refer- 
ence to whose position, its amount, as has been 
shown, must be determined ; that is to say, with 



AND USB OF MONKV. 

reference, in an special manner, to the existence of 
tin- national debt, feu-duties, and all other money 
contracts. 

Then, if the amount of this minimum rate of wages 
be onccju.tf/1/ fixed and this is not to be the work 
either of the operatives or of their masters, but of the 
rnment it-elf who is to complain ? 

Men, for example, in cases innumerable, receive 
as a part of their remuneration for labour or 
service performed, board and lodging ; but in addi- 
tion to these, they receive also wages. Of the former 
they ;/?//.< it is clear, have a #/////<///////, whilst the 
amount of the latter is altogether matter of contract 
between themselves and their employers. 

In the case of the proposed standard manufac- 
tories, in like manner, ever}- man who should enter 
tin- door of one of them in the capacity of an \ 
tive H'oiilil /i are at once, as his legal right, so nun-It 
money per week for a certain number of hours u'<>rl\ 
But in the great majority of cases, this sum would 
be a smaller one than that which he would consent 
to receive in full payment for his labour. The actual 
amount of his wages, therefore, would be determined. 
M at present, by mutual contract between himself 
and his employer. 

Then, if it should be contended that the value of 
the standard money would be depreciated in conse- 
quence of the exorbitant demands for high > 
\vliirli \\uuld be made by the workmen, over and 
above the minimum rate, to which every man would 
be I'V law entitled, I reply 

That the whole experience of human life has 
incontestable proved the ability of masters to contend 



262 LECTURES ON THE 

successfully against the exorbitant demands of their 
workmen. The motive for keeping down the wages 
of the workmen as nearly as possible to the minimum 
rate would be of the strongest possible kind. No 
combination would exist in any shape. The masters, 
in every description of trade, would have to compete 
with each other, as at present. No master, therefore, 
would be inclined to give hie/her wages than he could 
help, because, should he consent to do so, his compe- 
titors would be sure to undersell him in the standard 
market, and thus they would either do more business 
than himself, or possibly prevent him from doing any 
business at all. 

On the other hand, again, for the operatives in any 
trade to strike for higher wages as they frequently 
do now, would be a self-evident futility ; for give 
them higher wages, and other classes of workmen 
would require the same rate of advance. Others and 
others still would make the like demand, and then 
where are they, and what have they gained \ Why, 
they are just exactly where they were, and they have 
gained nothing. In short, I challenge the most rigid 
investigation into the principle I have laid down with 
respect to a well-considered minimum rate of wages, 
by means of which provision the value of the pound 
standard may be fixed with mathematical precision 
and accuracy ; and I am confident, even to certainty, 
that the principle will prove to be invulnerable. 

It would be an easy matter to go over the various 
propositions that I have laid before you, and to anti- 
cipate and reply to such objections as may be most 
likely to occur to your minds. It would be an use- 
less labour, however, to do so. For, in the first place, 



i:r. AM) USB OP MONEY. 26:) 

in in- tenths of all the objections themselves would 
bo frivolous, and attributable solely to a too hasty 
\i' \\ of th.> subject under discussion; whilst it is 
also evident that no person can ever be expectc-1 to 
state any objection to his own plans which he is not 
fully prepared to refute. 

To form a deliberate opinion, indeed, upon a sub- 
ject involving such enormous interests as the mo- 
netary system of society, without devoting much 
au< iitimi thereto, is clearly impossible; and there- 
fore, witli the view of promoting this deliberate in- 
quiry, I have resorted to the plan of proposing a prize 
argument concerning it. And were it my object 
merely to promulgate some pet theory of my own upon 
i lit- subject of money, it is plain that I should never 
have dreamed of offering a premium to whomsoever 
should be able to refute my arguments. On the con- 
trary, my offer, if any at all, would assuredly have 
i for the best argument that should be forthcom- 
ing in favour of my principle. In which case I should 
have constituted myself the sole judge of the respec- 
t i\ < mi -i-its of the essays that might be written. But, 
in place of entertaining any such desire, I have one 
object in view, and but one object, which is to arrive 
at truth. And the cause of truth, as it appears to 
me, may more probably be advanced, in this case as 
in ethers, by securing the talent of opposing counsel, 
rather than by feeing counsel to defend any particnKir 
cause, whatever the merits or demerits of that cause 
ma v eventually prove to be. 

A slight difficulty connected with this matter has, 
in< I* '!. to be overcome. I have publicly offered the 
sum of oiH- hundred guineas to whomsoever shall be 



264 LECTUKES ON THE 

able to produce the best Reply to, and before a com- 
petent and impartial tribunal to Refute, the theory 
contended for in the course of these lectures. And 
there will be no difficulty in finding a " Competent 
and Impartial tribunal." Arbiters mutually chosen, 
and an Umpire chosen by the arbiters, in case of any 
difference of opinion between themselves, will secure 
the proposed tribunal, provided always that the status 
of the judges shall be such as to ensure their com- 
petency, for which it will be an easy matter to 
provide. 

But, as already observed, a slight difficulty cer- 
tainly exists as to the mode of selecting the best essay 
in refutation or attempted refutation of the theory 
which I have advanced. An out and out defen- 
der of our existing monetary system the party select- 
ing should be ; and he should also be of sufficient 
status and public repute to give weight to his opinion 
to satisfy the competitors, in short, that they shall 
not only have been fairly dealt with, but that the 
requisite ability, as well as inclination, shall have been 
exerted in the business of selection. 

Xow, the Editor of the Times being an out and 
out supporter of the present monetary system, I 
at once offered, either to consign the task of select- 
ing the best essay to whomsoever he might be pleased 
to appoint, or else to fight the battle of words with 
himself, for the sum of five hundred guineas two 
hundred and fifty guineas a-side : but he answered 
not the call. 

Then, in Mr. Cobden again, we have another able 
supporter (so says the Times) of the golden mone- 
tary system, and, therefore, to him I next tendered 



NATURB AND D8E OP MOM V 

the office of Selector of the best essay in reply to my 
arguments. Hut Mr. Cohdrn al-> has declined to 
undertake the task, on the ground of his time being 
already fully occupied. 

A first-class advocate of the present monetary 
in, therefore, who may be willing to undei take 
the aforesaid task of selection, has still to be disco- 
l. To obtain one, however, will not, I trust, 
!>< impossible ; for surely, when the bullionists find 
themselves thus publicly challenged, they will not '/// 
follow the example of their champion Times, who, 
after bullvin<r and satirizing the advocates of paper 
money for several months in succession, has only been 
able to meet a public clmlh-mie, inserted in upwards of 
a Imndred newspapers, to discuss the subject fairly, by 
what he may perhaps consider to be the very dignified, 
but what others will probably be inclined to denomi- 
nate, the very cowardly reply of no reply at all. 

I have already observed this evening, that no man 
ran be expected to start any objection to a theory of 
his own, which he is not fully prepared to answer ; 
as a question has, however, been twice put to me, 
since these lectures were commenced, and in one of 
the instances by a banker, I shall here briefly men- 
tion, and reply to it : 

I low, it has been demanded, do I propose to get 
over this difficulty ? A standard manufacturer or 
merchant, it has been said, is to be allowed to />?/////> 
nu-n mini' on his goods, and to draw money from the 
standard bank to the full amount of such value as 
estimated l.y himself. By what means, then, are we 
to provide against tin- evil of a fraudulent over-esti- 
mate of tin said value, or even against that of unin- 



266 LECTURES ON THE 

tentional miscalculation as to the reality of the value 
itself, arising from depreciation in the value of the 
goods, or from any other cause 1 Suppose, for ex- 
ample, says the querist, that I enter in my stock- 
book goods received into my own premises of the 
declared value of a thousand pounds, and that I re- 
ceive a thousand pounds from the standard bank in 
consequence of such entry. Suppose, farther, this 
estimate to be altogether fraudulent that the goods, 
in fact, are worth but five hundred pounds, or, in 
other words, that five hundred pounds is all the 
money they would sell for. How, in such a case as 
this, is the standard bank to be secured from pecu- 
niary loss ? 

Now, in answer to the writer of this question, 
which I have put into very nearly his own words, 
and in answer to every candid inquirer into this im- 
portant subject, I would say Learn, in the first 
place, to separate entirely the two distinct proposi- 
tions I have laid before you, consisting respectively 
of a principle and of a plan. 

With respect to the principle of exchange for 
which I contend / affirm it, then, to be the fact 
firstly, that proportionate production is the natural 
cause of equivalent demand ; secondly, that, by the 
establishment of a monetary system, altogether false 
in principle and destructive in practice, we have sus- 
pended the operation of this natural consequence, and 
thereby entailed upon society an evil, the extent of 
which it is all but impossible to estimate ; and, 
thirdly, that the great problem now before the com- 
mercial world is, In what manner can we most ea*//i>. 
conveniently, effectually, and justly restore the natural 



> USB OF MONEY. 267 



<>j ' KUfiphi and demand, which, in the meantime, 
we haw so i. dMngiwi/ 

Tims, I hol< I tlu- nri>/in(U principle itself produc- 

tion the cause of drm:ind the loss or rejection of this 

/n-inri/i/n by society, and the absolute necessity for its 

uitioii an' I restoration before this country can 

prosper to be not merely facts, but the particular 

facts, on which all our arguments for the establish- 

ment of a new monetary system should be founded, 

and on which also our improved monetary system 

itself must rest. 

But this is all that I insist upon. I do not insist 
upon the adoption of any particular plans of my own. 
I told you indeed in a former lecture, that I had no 
plnn to which I was predetermined to give the pre- 
ference over all others ; but that, so far from this, I 
solicited especially the attention of other persons to 
the subject, that we might thus be enabled to see the 
true principle of exchange worked out in as great a 
variety of ways as possible. 

To apply these observations, then, my earnest ad- 
vice to every impartial inquirer after monetary truth 
is Look first to the principle that I have laid before 
you. Examine, study, and criticise it in every pos- 
sible way. The question is altogether one of figures, 
and therefore capable either of demonstration or of 
refutation ; but again I say endeavour, in the first 
place, to confine yourself entirely to this investigation. 

And tliis examination being ended, if you should 
come to the conclusion that the principle for whirh 
I contend is false ; that is to say, no principle at all, 
why then there is an end at once to the inquiry ; 
you will forthwith dismiss the subject from your 



268 LECTURES ON THE 

mind, and pay no more attention to the plan of 
exchange, to which I have also endeavoured to call 
jour attention, than you would to the solicitation of 
a man, who should earnestly advise you and your 
family to emigrate, for example, to some fine count ry, 
rich in all the means of physical enjoyment ; the 
soil, climate, productions, and everything, in short, 
being in representation of the most desirable kind, 
but having, unhappily the said country existence 
only in the imaginative brain of your adviser. 

Now, such is or is not precisely the nature of the 
case which I have endeavoured to lay before you. 
I have described to you a land flowing with milk and 
honey. I have told you that it is full of corn and 
wine ; that it abounds with the finest fruits of the 
earth ; that its houses are well built, ventilated, and 
comfortable ; that its furniture is abundant ; and that 
all, without a single exception, of its children are 
respectably educated, (that they can read, write, and 
cipher, know their language well, and can write it 
tolerably,) that the laws of this country are just, its 
national debt nothing, and the labours of its govern- 
ment almost a sinecure ; that, in a word, its people 
are prosperous, contented, and happy whilst in ex- 
tent it is precisely equal to the entire surface of the 
globe which we inhabit. And I have told you, farther, 
that the name of this great and happy country is 
PRODUCTION THE CAUSE OF DEMAND. 

Learn, then, in the first place, whether this land, of 
which I speak, be a fable or a fact whether it be, 
or rather may become, a reality attainable by the 
entire race of man, or the mere creation of an ex- 
cited mind. Answer this question first, and if you 



NATI i:r. AND i'sE OF MOM.Y. 269 

should ascertain my assertion of this country's pro- 
sptrthri existence to be correct, and will yourself do 
a/1 iiou can to make known th<it exigence to others, 
depend on it you will very soon find a hundred diffe- 
rent mariners c<.iiijiotin<r with each other for the 
honour of being the first to realize its shores. 

Subject, then, I pray you, the j>rinriji//> announced 
f"i your examination to the severest test. Prove it, 
in short, to be either true or false ; and, if you should 
find it to be true, be not foolishly discouraged by the 
appearance of a few difficulties, real or imaginary, in 
the mere plan which I have laid before you, with re- 
ference to the practical application of this great prin- 
ciple to society. If my plan be not altogether to your 
mind, why then set eaeli of yourselves to work either 
ti> iiuMid it, or to construct a new one altogether ; and 
we shall then be enabled to see which of the many 
that may come forth may promise to be the best. But 
whilst it would clearly be a mere waste of time to 
trouble yourselves about any plan of exchange at all, 
if the principle upon which it is proposed to found it 
be a delusion, commit not the palpable error of reject- 
ing a sound principle, merely because you may not 
chance to agree with the promulgator thereof upon 
a few mere matters of detail, of no real importance 
whatsoever. 

I have not, however, thus diverged into the gene- 
ral question of principle, for the mere purpose of 
evading the particular question with which we start- 
ed, having reference to a part of the plan of exchange 
which I have also submitted to you. 

So far, indeed, from desiring to blink any such 
question, I have great confidence in the efficiency of 



270 LECTURES ON THE 

the plans I have promulgated, as well as in their 
principle. They are the result of many years' con- 
sideration and study : and of this, at least, I am 
quite sure, that if any valid argument can be opposed 
to them by any party, I have yet to hear it for the 
first time. 

The specific answer, then, to the inquiry about 
the security of the standard-banker against the sort 
of imposition to which I referred some minutes since, 
was given explicitly in my Fourth Lecture, in which 
I stated that " England, Scotland, and Ireland, ac- 
commodated with the banking system for the esta- 
blishment of which I contend, would be just three 
market-places containing every description of herit- 
able and moveable property for sale upon this prin- 
ciple : 

" The master of the market-place, that is to say, 
the standard-banker, says to the public, ' Bring 
here into my market-place whatsoever you may have 
to sell, and I will pay you down the money-value of all 
your property, heritable and moveable, at your own 
price ; my only conditions being, that whenever the' 
said property may be taken out of my jurisdiction, 
the full amount of my advances upon it must be re- 
paid, for which I require you to give me security be- 
fore the said property can be admitted, as also that 
eventually it shall, on these terms, be removed. But 
the onus of selling, that is to say, of exchanging your 
respective products and property, must rest entirely 
with yourselves' ''' 

What conceivable motive, then, could a man, 
in these circumstances, have for putting a double 
price upon his goods, seeing, that to do so would 






XATTUE AND USE OP MOXKV. 271 

liave the effect of terminating the existence 
of his u\vii business, \vitlmut atVccting the standard- 
bank at all I If the prirr of his goods, hats, for ex- 
ainplr, In- t\\vntv shillings each, whilst the equally 
good hats of other dealers be offered for ten shillings, 
how is he to sell them ? or what motive could he 
have, in short, for putting one fraction of higher 
value on his goods, in his transactions with the stan- 
danl-bnnk, than in his transactions with his own cus- 
tomers ? It is quite clear that he could have none 
whatever. The bank held, from the very outset, se- 
rurity for the safety of all its transactions with him 
to a certain maximum amount mutually agreed on, 
which security he was obliged to give previously to 
the admission of his name into the bank books. Sup- 
posing, therefore, this maximum to be 1000, and 
that he should think proper to value one solitary hat 
at the sum of 1000, this act of folly would not in- 
dict any injury on the bank. As, however, in this 
case the hat-maker would certainly not be able to sell 
his hat, the bank would at once discover that he was 
doing no business, and consequently, his motive for 
opening a cash account being obviously a fictitious 
one, the said account would be forthwith terminated, 
by the hat-maker, or his securities, being instantly 
called upon to refund the bank advances to the last 
farthing. 

In the case of heritable property, indeed, it would 
be necessary so to frame the bye-laws of the bank, as 
to prevent the practice of an evasion, namely, that 
of borrowing money from the standard-bank upon 
the pretence of desiring to sell property ; too high a 
1'iii-e being in thi> case intentionally put upon the 



"27- LECTURES ON THE 

property, for the very purpose of preventing the sale of 
it at all. But to guard against evasions of this kind 
would not be difficult, anticipated as they would be 
before the law relating to the standard-banks should 
be framed at all. And, if it be merely reiterated 
that, put this law into whatsoever shape you will, 
some persons will yet try to evade it, I reply, that 
if this objection were good for anything, it would 
be valid against a third or fourth part of all the laws 
relating to property on the existing statute-book : in 
which case, we must just come to the conclusion, 
that mankind are such an inveterate set of rogues, 
that it is utterly impossible to make laws by which 
to bind them. So far as society in general is con- 
cerned, this, however, is not the fact. 

Having disposed, then, of the only two marked 
peculiarities in the monetary system I have endea- 
voured to explain to you, there seems to be little or 
nothing on which at present to offer any farther 
comment. 

I should be wanting, however, in gratitude, if I 
did not embrace this opportunity of thanking you for 
the kind and patient attention with which you have 
been pleased to favour me, throughout the rather 
unusually long series of eight lectures, upon a very 
unpopular subject. It was, I know, prognosticated 
that these lectures would fail to attract audiences. 
The result has been so far otherwise, that the au- 
diences have certainly been larger than I either an- 
ticipated they would have been, or than I had any 
reason to expect ; the more especially when the dis- 
advantageous situation in which I found myself was 
considered, in consequence of having immediately to 



AND USB OP MUN 273 

follow in thi> room a lecturer of both European 
and Transatlantic celel.rity.* 

Hut ///// purpose, at least, has been answered. I 
have, in short, through your kindness, been enabled 
to continue the performance of a task, which I com- 
menced many years ago, and which I shall most 
assuredly relinquish only when I may no longer be 
able to labour either at this work, or at any other. 

These lectures, such as they are, have not yet ful- 
filled their destiny : the principle of exchange for the 
_nition of which I have contended, is either true 
or false, and, as such, depend upon it, I will devise 
means which shall ensure one of two consequences : 
either that principle shall be refuted, or it shall be 
obeyed, and that by the British nation. 

In furtherance of which resolve, I purpose, with 
as little delay as may be convenient, to print and 
publish the statements I have made to you ; to send 
a copy of them to a select number of the members of 
the Upper House of Parliament, and to every mem- 
ber of the House of Commons. I shall send a copy 
also to each of, at least, five hundred conductors of 
the public press throughout the kingdom. And, by 
means of a competition, already explained, I shall 
still farther endeavour to compel, as it were, a dis- 
cussion of this important subject. 

Which he ing done, one of two things will happen, 
and that pretty nearly as certainly as that here we 
are assembled, and these are 

1. Hither, the principle of exchange for which 

* Mr. Ralph Waldo Kmcnon. 
8 



274 LECTURES ON THE 

I contend will be shown, by some party or other, 
to be a fallacy, in which case I here faithfully 
pledge myself to admit as publicly that I have been 
in error, as I now assert the reverse ; 

II. Or else, the principle of exchange I advocate 
will be established in practice ; and that, even 
though rejected for a time by the Minister of State, 
ever too wise to take a lesson from the humble ; 
though rejected for a time by the members of the 
Lower House, ever too indifferent to attend to sub- 
jects originating out of doors ; and even though re- 
tarded by the lethargy, blindness, and indifference 
of the public mind itself. 

One party, at least, there is, who will not be in- 
different to the truths I have laid before you, if 
truths they shall prove to be. That party is the 
working man : and with that man's present condi- 
tion before his eyes, throughout the whole of Europe, 
let the Minister of State himself think twice before 
he shall determine to reject a proposition of vast 
importance to the interest of every working man in 
existence. I, as many, perhaps all of you, here pre- 
sent are well aware, have never sought, and am 
never likely to seek, ' the bubble reputation/ by 
proffering my services to bands of clamorous de- 
claimers against our public institutions, whose motto 
ever seems to be Whatever is is wrong. But the 
importance of the principle of exchange which I have 
explained to you, is such as imperatively to demand 
the attention of the legislature ; and if legislators 
shall continue, as hitherto, obstinately to turn a 



NATURE AND USE OF MONKV. 

deaf ear to all remonstrances upon the subject of 
monetary reform, why thru l<-t them forthwith as- 
sume thrir proprr place in the ranks, along with the 
Chartists of England, and the Revolutionists of Ire- 
land, between whose conduct and their own the fu- 
ture historian will relate, and truly, there existed no 
practical difference. If Mitchell, the transported, 
was a revolutionist, so is Sir Robert Peel ; if Ernest 
Jones is a revolutionist, so is Mr. Jones Lloyd ; if the 
Editor of the 7mA Felon is a revolutionist, so also is 
the Editor of the London Times. Alike are all these 
gentlemen as peas in a pod, and between them there 
is not a pin to choose. The tendency of their con- 
duct is the same in every instance that tendency 
being to goad on the working classes to the commis- 
sion of acts of desperation and violence : the only 
difference between the two parties being, that the 
one add guilt n intention to their other sins, whilst 
the other, harmless in thought as doves, perform their 
part with the eyes of their understanding hermetically 
sealed. The one party, in short, are wide awake, 
the other fast asleep and dreaming. 

There is no intermediate view of this subject. 
Production is or is not the natural Cause of De- 
mand. Production is or is not now the Cause of 
Demand. Production, if naturally the Cause of De- 
mand, but not so at the present time, may or may not 
be so rendered henceforth and for ever. 

And these questions, in the answers to which the 
comfort and happiness of the entire human race are 
involved, seem never for one moment to occupy the 
thoughts either of our legislators, of our public press, 
or even of any considerable portion of the mercantile 



276 LECTURES ON THE 

community itself. It is not, however, the less true, 
that herein is involved also the answer to the ques- 
tion whether or not we really possess the ability to 
carry into effect the many other desirable objects so 
strenuously contended for by the various sections of 
the political society ; such as the advancement of 
education, promotion of the public health, of im- 
proved lodgings for the poor, restricted hours of toil, 
and many others. 

Look to it, then, and that quickly ! See whether 
I be right or wrong in the assertions I have made ; 
and if I be right, Is it not the fact that ninety-nine 
hundredths of our legislators and public men of all 
denominations stand at this moment convicted of the 
most deplorable ignorance of one of the first prin- 
ciples of human society ? of the principle, in short, on 
which, and on which alone, the permanent prosperity 
of nations can, by any possibility, be founded \ 

I say they do stand thus convicted, and that from 
the Prime Minister of these realms, who fritters 
away his time and energies in scraping together, by 
all sorts of frivolous shifts and contrivances, fifty 
millions or so per annum for the service of the State, 
whilst he very coolly allows the country to be taxed, 
to the amount of one hundred millions a-year more, 
for the service of nobody down to the raving radical 
who, by destroying individual property, would sap the 
foundation of every thing in this world worthy of 
the name respectable, or deserving of the attainment 
of rational men. 

Examine then, I pray you, this great subject : the 
task of doing so will prove to be a far less difficult 
one than you imagine. Read, with the care and at- 



NATURE AND USE OP MONEY. 277 

tention it deserves, the little work entitled " Mill's 
Klrments of Political Economy." and, after it, every 

Miv tint Mr. M'Culloch has also written upon 
the sulijirt of Supply and Demand. Then go care- 
fully over the Wealth of Nations, or even over the 
lii M volume of it only : and if you will but study 

works as they deserve to be studied, with re- 
ference to the subject of these lectures, you will not 
find it the easiest task in the world to reject the 
particular doctrine, for the establishment of which, 
in the public mind, I will never cease to labour, 
until I shall either have enforced its reception, proved 
it to be a fallacy, or taken leave at once of the sub- 
ject and of my earthly existence. 



END OF THE LECTURES. 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX. 



The Social System Early offer of a Copy of these Lectures to the 
IV- 'visional Government of France Unaccepted Challenge to the 
Times to discuss the Monetary Question for the sum of Five 
Hundred Guineas Terms and Conditions of a Prize Argument 
on the subject of Money, for the sum of One Hundred Guineas 
A List of the Parties to each of whom a Copy of this Work will 
be Presented by the Author, immediately on its publication. 

" THE SOCIAL SYSTEM." 

THE reader musingly " ' Lectures on the Nature and 
Use of Money, by John Gray, Author of the Social Sys- 
tem ; a Treatise on the Principle of Exchange ! ' Why, 
what does this language mean ? There is nothing here 
about the Social System Socialism, or any thing of the 
kind ! The book seems, in short, from the beginning to 
tin- ml, to be pretty closely confined to an attack upon 
the monetary system of society, and to an exposition of 
another monetary system, for the establishment of which, 
th- Author very earnestly contends? But what then 
in. ;m> this, ' Author of the Social System ?' " 

Qentle reader, I will tell you : Inundated as was this 
n.untry many years ago with projects for the establish- 
ment of co-operative communities, hives for wingless bees, 
and the like, 1 #ivo IIl . v very earnest attention to the 



282 APPENDIX. 

consideration of these projects, and that for a consider- 
able time ; the result being to perfectly satisfy myself of 
the injustice, impracticability, and, in a word, futility, of 
all such, combinations. But being in the possession of an 
advantage, not altogether common to theorists in general 
I mean that of a thorough knowledge of the practical 
business of human life I had little difficulty either in 
pursuing my inquiries into the causes of commercial dis- 
tress, or in tracing the troubled stream of commercial diffi- 
culty to its original source, which is, The dependence of 
Production on Demand. And hence it became at. once 
obvious to my mind, that the great monetary error of so- 
ciety consisted not so much in this or that defective form of 
mere banking, but in the very principle of exchange itself ; 
pervading which there is an error of the most fatal char- 
acter. I saw, indeed, twenty years ago, as clearly as I 
see now, that whilst production ever should have been the 
cause of demand, it is the effect of it. 

The strength of this conviction in my own mind so far 
back as the year 1831, will be sufficiently exemplified by 
the following quotation from the sixteenth page of my 
Social System : 

" The specific object of this work is, to state, to prove, 
to exemplify, and to endeavour to call the attention of 
the public to the important fact, that it would be by no 
means difficult to place the commercial affairs of society 
upon such a footing, that production would become the 
uniform and never-failing cause of demand : or, in other 
words, that to sett goods for money, without any limit or 
restriction as respects quantity or value, but not without 
regulation as to kind, may be rendered, at all times, pre- 
cisely as easy as it now is to buy them with money." 

In addition to which, the reader is requested, before he 



AIM'KNIUX. 283 

goes any farther. t< n peruse another quotation from the 
work, \\hirh he will tiiul in the tenth and eleventh 
pages of the present volume. 

Presuming which pages to have been looked over, the 
reader will he quite prepared to admit, that a mind not 
naturally indolent, impressed with convictions such aa 
these, could hardly fail to endeavour to follow them out ; 
:ind hence the origin of my Social System a work which, 
I venture to foretell, will be referred to by writers on 
Political Economy yet unborn, as one of the earliest in 
which the true principle of exchange was clearly and dis- 
tinctly defined. 

" But why," reiterates the reader, " did you call your 
book the Social System ?" To which I answer, Why not ? 
A more appropriate name for such a book it would not 
have been easy to find, seeing that it treated of a com- 
mercial system for society, founded upon the basis of a 
national capital. But what followed ? Why, not pre- 
viously, but a few years subsequently to the publication 
of my Social System, the words, " Social, Socialist, and 
Socialism," found their way into the stock-terms of every 
Journalist and Periodical writer in the English language, 
along with very pretty meanings attached to them, such 
as, " Advocate for a community of things in general, and 
of wives and children in particular," together with "Equal 
distribution to the lazy and the laborious ;" whilst the 
public duty of private accumulation was " Henceforth to 
be esteemed a sin against society!" 

No such meanings as these, however, so far as I am aware, 
or ever heard of, were attached to the word " Social," pre- 
viously to the date of my first work above mentioned, 
which was published by Longman & Co., London, and 
William Tait, Edinburgh, in 1831. 



284 APPENDIX. 

In farther proof of which, it may here be stated, that 
in the year 1844, a book was published by Longmans, en- 
titled, " An outline of the various Social Systems and 
Communities which have been founded on the principle of 
Co-operation ; with an Introductory Essay, by the Author 
of the Philosophy of Necessity." Now, in this work, my 
Social System certainly has the questionable honour of 
being named, but that is all ; criticism on it there is 
none whatever. And very properly was it thus passed 
over, because although bearing this now objectionable 
name, the work was, in fact, " A Treatise on the Principle 
of Exchange," which sub-title it bore upon its title-page. 
I submit, however, that, divested of the new meaning 
which was given to it subsequently to the period I 
have mentioned, the word Social * is perhaps one of the 
best words that could be selected, as the adjective title of 
a work upon the Causes of and Remedies for the evils of 
society ; and that, divested also of the absurdities which 
are now connected with the word social, there could hardly 
be a more appropriate title for a work upon society than 
" The Social System." 

Since the period, however, to which I refer, my leisure 
hours have been much occupied in the endeavour to ascer- 
tain by what less intricate process than that which I first 
pointed out, the great principle of Production the Cause 
of Demand might be brought into practical existence, in- 
stead of remaining a dead letter and a fallacy in the books 
of the Political Economists. Hence the publication of my 
"Efficient Remedy for the Distress of Nations" in 1842, 
in which the true principle of exchange was again demon- 



* Mr. Robert Owen's favourite terms, it will be well remembered, were 
not Sociitl or Socialist, but " Ctt-ujn-rntirr, Cv-ujmnitiun, fttfflMMWAtty," & c - 



APPENDIX. 285 

1 , lair still rwards saw, in a far too com* 

plicated form : hence therefore my continued study of the 
.sul>je,-t, resulting in this present work, in which I have en- 
deavoured to place the entire monetary system of society 
in a totally different, and I trust much clearer point of 
\ie\v than any other in which tin- public have ever been 
previously requested to examine it 

This work, which I have no more doubt than I have of 
my own existence, is destined very considerably to aid 
in revolutionizing the monetary systems of Europe, I shall 
at once place in the hands of the public, by the gratuitous 
distribution of about twelve hundred copies; the entire 
edition printed consisting of two thousand copies; risking 
also, in addition to the cost thereof, a farther sum of a 
hundred guineas, by the plan which I have adopted to 
enforce, if possible, a public discussion of the subject : 
and those things I do perhaps at a cost which my own 
pecuniary means will scarcely justify. 

But what have -we to do with considerations of cost in 
a case like this ? What is human wealth ? Weigh it, ye 
who value it the most, in the decline of life, in the hour 
of sickness, or on the couch of death, in the opposite scale 
with the reflection that Whilst health, and strength, 
and mental vigour were mine own, I strove to perform my 
duty to the society in which I lived. 

OFFER OF THESE LECTURES 
To THB PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE. 

(Referred to on page 247.) 

I? there existed not the most indubitable evidence that 
nearly all these Lectures were written previously to the 
commencement of the French Revolution of February, 



286 APPENDIX. 

and that the first of them was actually delivered before 
a pretty numerous audience in the Queen-Street Hall, 
Edinburgh, on the momentous twenty-second of that 
month, I might be very fairly suspected of having pre- 
pared them on speculation for the French market. As 
the infallible Times, however, saw not the slightest pros- 
pect of any serious outbreak in France, in that eventful 
month until after it took place, and not being myself in 
possession of the faculty of clairvoyance, I must neces- 
sarily stand acquitted of any such design upon the French 
purse. 

Subsequently, however, when the Provisional Govern- 
ment might have been fairly supposed to be open to the 
favourable reception of such a communication, I addressed 
a letter in the following terms to Monsieur Arinand Mar- 
rast, but to which communication I received not any 
reply. And although I subsequently received from more 
than one party an offer of introduction to Mons. Marrast, 
as also to some other Members of the Provisional Govern- 
ment, I declined to accept them, and indeed returned 
one letter of introduction which was sent me by a well- 
known author and medical gentleman, long resident in 
Belfast. I considered, in short, the letter which follows, 
to Mons. Marrast, to be a sufficient overture on my part, 
and I had no notion of pressing on him my services to 
the point of intrusion : 

" Monsieur ARMAND MARRAST, Member of the Provi- 
sional Government of France. EDINBURGH, MARCH 6, 
1848. SIR, When motives are pretty nearly balanced, 
the merest trifles are apt to determine our conduct : to 
apply the observation : 

" For several days past / had half-determined to address 
the Provisional Government of France upon a subject of 



APPENDIX. 287 

vital inijmrtaiH'p t<> tin- intm-M nf tin- n-wly formed, or 
rat her funning Government. when tlio post brought me 
th enclosed lrtt -r f\m an English engineer, now resident 
in Ireland, l)Ut who for many years resided in Birming- 
ham ; and, whilst tln-ro, was in frequent communication 
with tin- advocates of Monetary Reform so numerous and 
influential in that large manufacturing town and district. 

" Before proceeding, then, to read this letter farther, do 
me the favour here to read Mr. Fare's letter, already men- 
tioned.* 

" Now, overwhelmed as you will doubtless be at this time 
with projects and proposals from parties innumerable, 
both French and foreign, it is not improbable that you 



* " SEVILLK WORKS, DUBLIN. MARCH 2, 1848. Mr DEAR SIR, I am 
strongly impressed with the idea that the events of the past week have 
created an opportunity for you to be of immense service to France, and 
through her to the entire world. 

If one fact is more evident than another, it is that there is an universal 
expectation apparent alike to the minds of the people, the journalists, both 
French and English, and the new Government, that there must be an 
entire reorganization of industry. The Government has already decreed 
that there shall be national workshops, and that all the work-people shall 
be fully employed at adequate remuneration. Now, if they are to succeed 
in this they must have an entire remodelling of the Commercial and Monetary 
systems. Well, then, my dear Sir, do you believe that it is ever likely in 
our lifetime that such a splendid opportunity will present itself for set- 
ting in motion A ltntlnnl Syttem nf Monty 1 It you think so let me im- 
plore you to seize it without a moment's delay. At any rate, instantly 
place yourself in communication with the Provisional Government, person- 
ally, if possible, for my belief is, that if you can once secure their confidence 
aii'l their ear, you will be enabled to chalk out a plan which may be imme- 
diately adopted in practice, and which would relieve them of three-fourths 
of all their difficulties. 

" I have thought over this matter for the last forty-eight hours, and can- 
not dismiss from my mind its great importance. Had I studied and mas- 
tered the subject as you have done, no earthly consideration should prevent 
me at once answering, what would appear to me, to be an imperative and 
tern call of doty. If possible oblige me with a line to appease my anxiety 
on this subject, and believe me, my dear Sir yours most truly- 
John Gray, Esq. Edinburgh. WILLIAM PA**." 



288 APPENDIX. 

cannot either personally, or by means of the assistance of 
any competent substitute, give attention to the proposal 
I have to make to you ; and if so, oblige me by say- 
ing so. But if, on the contrary, you can place this com- 
munication in the hands of any party able and inclined to 
give attention to it, you have only to instruct me to that 
effect, to command any little service which it may be 
within my power to render you. 

" The Provisional Government, then, has " engaged to 
find employment for the working classes." But how will 
you effect this great object ? Are your plans already fixed 
upon, or are you open to receive advice upon the subject ? 
If the former be the case, put this letter upon the fire- 
back ; but if the latter, let me crave your attention for a 
few minutes to what I have now to say : 

" The London Times, affirms that you cannot find em- 
ployment for the working classes ; that employment de- 
pends upon the operation of laws over which you have no 
control, and so on : in which opinion the Editor is joined 
by large numbers of the public Press. 

" Falsely, however, do they make this assertion. You 
can devise means to furnish employment for every man in 
France, and that profitable employment too, if you only 
know how to set about the performance of the task. 

" With this rather tedious preface, then, I beg to intro- 
duce the immediate object of this communication, which 
is to state : 

" I. That I am at present engaged in delivering a series 
of Lectures in this city, ' On the Nature, Use, and Proper 
Qualities of Money,' the last of which is to be given on 
the 1 6th instant. See copy of the syllabus inclosed. 

" II. That within about three months after these Lec- 
tures shall have been concluded, I purpose to publish 



APPENDIX. 289 

tin-in, and to send a copy thereof to every Member of 
our House of Commons, aa also to the Editors of at least 
five hundred of the principal Newspapers and Reviews in 
tlu- United Kingdom. 

111. Hut, if from a perusal of the enclosed syllabus, 
you should deem an immediate copy of the Lectures to be 
of any probable use to the Provisional Government of 
France, I shall have much pleasure in preparing one for 
the purpose, with the least possible delay, say within 
tli ice weeks at the most, after the receipt of your reply. 

" Then, in the event of this offer being accepted by 
you, I stipulate: 

" I. That the copy of Lectures to be immediately pre- 
pared for you, shall be considered so far private, that you 
will not allow any copy thereof to be taken or published 
in France without my consent. / wish, in fact, carefully 
to revise the whole before publishing them at all, either in 
England or in France. 

" And, II. The remuneration I ask of you is To be- 
lieve me when I state, that so far from the hostile feeling, 
which is too frequently exhibited in France against this 
country, being at all reciprocated by us, there are, I am 
persuaded, no persons in this country, or next to none, 
who would not in the like circumstances in which I am 
at present placed, freely tender, as I do now, the offer 
of their services to you without the most remote inten- 
tion or desire to profit by them individually to the amount 
of a farthing. 

" Should you then deem my proposition worthy of your 
attention, please to let me hear from you without delay. 
I will then use my utmost diligence in preparing and for- 
warding a copy of my Lectures ; and a sufficient time having 
been allowed to elapse, for their careful examination by 

T 



290 APPENDIX. 

such person or persons as you may appoint to examine 
them, I shall then, if you should think it worth while, 
have much pleasure in waiting on you personally, for 
the purpose of answering any inquiry, or of giving any 
farther explanation of the subject which may seem to be 
required. I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obe- 
dient humble servant. JOHN GRAY, Managing Partner of 
the firm of J. & J. GRAY, Proprietors of the North British 
Advertiser." 

As already mentioned, to this communication no answer 
was ever received. It would be childish, however, to sup- 
pose that the acceptance of my plans, added to their 
promised adoption, would have had the effect of prevent- 
ing the storm of June. Instant provision for the hungry 
mouths of a hundred thousand people, and these for the 
most part of violent and desperate character, could alone 
have prevented the fearful transactions of that dreadful 
month. But perfectly certain I am, that if the present 
government of France shall not avail themselves of the 
opportunity now so entirely their own, for the speedy 
introduction of a thoroughly reformed banking system, 
having for its basis Production the cause of Demand, 
they may do whatever else they please, but evil will still 
come of it. 

It is utterly impossible for me to offer my personal 
services to France in this matter, without a total sacrifice 
of other duties, obligations, and engagements, which I 
would not on any terms be inclined to make ; but I trust 
that there are plenty of mercantile men in Paris, who 
will at once both see and appreciate the soundness of 
my views, and be able also to put them into work- 
ing form. Let them, however, beware of attempting to 
set on foot any such Banking system as is here con- 



APPENDIX. 291 

template*!, until they shall have most thoroughly arranged 
their plan and details the slightest defect in which, like 
one false wheel in a piece of machinery, would be liable 
to derange the whole work. 

CHALLENGE TO " THE TIMEd" 
(Referred to in page 64.) 

During the year 1847 there was a great deal of discus- 
sion in the newspapers on the subject of the Currency, 
The Times, of course, taking, in its own estimation, ' the 
lead' in the affray. I am not in the habit either of writ- 
ing for or in any newspaper, excepting occasionally in 
connexion with my own business, but in consequence of 
the many absurd as well as ungenerous comments which 
I noticed in The Times, on the proceedings of the Anti- 
gold law league in London, I addressed the Editor on 
the subject on the 5th October 1847, in the terms which 
follow : 

" THE CURRENCY QUESTION. Prize Argument for one 
hundred guineas and more. To the Editor of The Times. 
SIR, So many and various are the forms in which your 
numerous correspondents are accustomed to acknowledge 
the brilliancy of your talents, the straightforward honesty 
of your motives, and the uncompromising fearlessness of 
your writings upon whatsoever subject may engage your 
pen, that it would perhaps be difficult to find a new shape 
in which to reiterate the same sentiments. And yet, when 
I t-ll you that, although in the course of my ordinary 
avocations, I receive at least a score of London and pro- 
viin-ial Newspapers a-week, of which number I peruse 
with any thing like regularity but one, that one being The 
Times, I pay you at least the highest compliment that it 
is within my power to offer. 



292 APPENDIX. 

" It is with some feeling of regret, therefore, that I 
observe the sarcastic character of your observations on the 
Anti-gold law league party: I refer to your leading article 
on the subject in your paper of the first of this month. 

" I am not a member of the Anti-gold law league ; but 
I entertain certain opinions upon the subject of Money, 
with which your article of the first instant is, in some re- 
spects, as completely at variance as it is with those against 
which it was more especially directed. 

" Now, judging from the fairness which you usually ex- 
hibit in such matters, if I were to write even a long article 
in reply to such of your opinions as I think I could refute, 
you would probably give it a place in your columns. 
And, if so, what then ? Why just this : The Times says 
one thing, and some obscure and unheard-of Correspondent 
of The Times, who is favoured with space in The Times for 
the purpose, says another thing. Would, in this case, 
equal strength of argument have equal influence on the 
public mind ? Assuredly it would not ! The mere ipse 
dixit of a great man although great men are nearly as 
often wrong upon certain points as small ones or of a 
great authority like that of The Times, has ever been ac- 
customed to prove, for a time at least, an over-match for 
the most conclusive arguments, and even for demonstration 
itself, when merely placed side by side in the columns of 
a newspaper. And most especially is this true with re- 
ference to such matters as the Currency ; a subject which 
nobody seems fully to comprehend, and about which nine- 
tenths of the public will freely tell you in so many words, 
that they really know little or nothing about it. What, 
therefore, would be the use of any No-authority Man 
writing in your paper against yourself upon such a sub- 
ject as this ? 



APPENDIX. 293 

" Again, how is it possible for any ono to convey his 
opinions, with any considerable degree of fulness or fair- 
ness, upon the subject of Currency, within the space of 
one, or even two or three, newspaper articles, however 
liberally the same might be admitted into your columns ? 
It is not possible. 

" I decline, therefore, to meet you, even though you 
should be inclined to allow me, on this most unequal 
ground. But if in this question as in most others I am 
well convinced it is it be your real object to arrive at 
truth, evi-n though the attainment thereof should oblige 
you, in certain particulars, to retract your own opinions, 
I shall now endeavour to afford you an opportunity, by 
means of which I think it not improbable that we may 
be able to arrive at truth ; or, failing that, at least to ob- 
tain a little further knowledge of a subject in which, if 
we may judge from the recent disquisitions of the public 
press, a large proportion of the mercantile classes seems 
just now inclined to take an especial interest. 

" Thus, then, does a humble, and politically speaking, 
wholly unknown individual, venture to throw down the 
gauntlet to the Editor of The Times, and through him to 
every advocate for a golden standard of value in the th ree 
kingdoms. 

" It is just sixteen years ago at which time, if I remem- 
ber correctly, not Monetary, but Parliamentary Reform, 
was to be the great panacea for nearly all the evils that 
flesh is heir to when monetary reform was apparently 
little thought of, and when the voice of any Anti-gold 
law league had as yet been unheard at Anderton's that 
I printed and published the following assertion, which 
assertion, I still maintain, contains a truth, to the recog- 
nitiuu of which mankind in general in this country at 



294 APPENDIX. 

least are just now beginning to open their eyes for the 
first time since England was a nation : 

" ' Exchange, therefore, may be denominated the bond 
and principle of society ; but it is a matter of legitimate 
inquiry, whether the existing plan of exchange be a good 
one ; whether it be founded in right principles ; and whether 
it be calculated to confer upon us all the benefits which 
the present advanced state of human knowledge and 
resource entitles us to look for and expect ? 

" ' And these questions I answer with an unequivocal 
and emphatic No. It is our system of exchange which 
forms the hiding-place of that giant of mischief which 
bestrides the civilized world, rewarding industry with 
starvation, exertion with disappointment, and the best 
efforts of our rulers to do good, with perplexity, dismay, 
and failure ; and it is our system of exchange which has 
produced the worse than Babylonian confusion in the 
ideas of men upon the subject of their collective interests. 

" ' Give us and we have it now within our grasp 
parliamentary reform give us universal suffrage, annual 
parliaments, vote by ballot, free trade, an acquittal of the 
public debt, freedom from all taxes, a repeal of the 
Union, and every other thing upon which the public has 
ever yet rested its disappointed hopes and still shall this 
demon of commercial error hold our prosperity in his iron 
grasp, and smile upon our ignorance and folly, as he shall 
see our burdens, as we call them, one by one removed, 
whilst we continue to sink deeper and deeper still into 
the Slough of Despond, under the invisible but enormous 
weight that is oppressing us/ 

" In 1842 I repeated the same language, and sent a 
copy of the work that contained it to upwards of five hun- 
dred of the principal reviews, magazines, and newspapers, 



APPENDIX. 295 

throughout the kingdom, a 6 c fashion, just as I found 
their names in a then recently published list of such 
works, and without the slightest selection or regard to 
tin ir party or politics. But, if I except a few rather re- 
markuhh> in>tanrcs t the contrary, this work, as well as 
the former on. which it is not the object of this letter 
to advertise full amongst the public like lead into the 
sea ; and by the publication of the two I had the happi- 
ness of losing some .250. Nothing daunted, however, 
here I am again, in 1847, singing the same song to the 
self-same words, now for the first time admitted into the 
columns of [read, refused insertion by] The Times news- 
paper ; whilst an ill-trained, uninstructed, and blundering 
chorus to the same tune is now faintly but distinctly heard 
to resound from one end of the kingdom to the other. 

" It may be asked, however, What can I expect to do 
now more than I have already done, seeing that my opi- 
nions as to the especial cause of commercial misfortune 
and general distress and difficulty remain precisely what 
they were before ? 

" The answer is obvious : The times themselves have 
changed the people of to-day are not the people we had 
to deal with on this subject sixteen years ago, or even jive 
years ago ; and, moreover, I am now prepared to demon- 
strate a mode of operation a thousand times less compli- 
cated than any which I could see before, in carrying a 
Free System of Exchange into operation. 

" But, to the end and purpose of this letter, which is 
to say, that, having been engaged by the Directors of the 
Edinburgh Philosophical Institution to deliver ' Eight 
Lectures on the Nature, Use, and Proper Qualities of 
Money : what money is, and what it should be : a subject 
which necessarily includes a brief review of the General 



296 APPENDIX. 

Principles of Political Economy, in February and March 
next/ I hereby offer the sum of One hundred guineas to 
any man who shall be able to produce the best refutation 
of and to refute, the main argument which I shall then 
and there repeat ; namely, that it is to the Reconstruction 
of our Monetary System, and to this only, that we must 
look for any great and general improvement in the con- 
dition of the productive and mercantile classes of society. 
I affirm that our Monetary system is false in principle ; 
that it is root and branch a system of error ; that it is 
utterly destructive of the interests of society ; and that it 
will ever be quite impossible materially to improve our 
social condition and prospects generally, until our monetary 
system shall be erected upon a foundation totally different 
in character from that on which it at present rests. 

" The terms and conditions of the competition to be 
as follows :" 

Here followed the terms and conditions, which were 
substantially the same as those which are stated in the 
three hundred and second, and following pages hereof; and 
then my letter in The Times concluded as follows : 

" Thus, upon this plan of competition, the Arbiters 
would have but three papers to examine ; whilst in the 
case of the Atlas Prize-Essay, on the Causes of, and Re- 
medies for, the Distresses of the Country, the Adjudica- 
tors had the effusions of no less than one hundred and 
fifty-eight competitors to go over. 

" And now, Sir, if you have really all the confidence you 
profess in your golden standard of value, show it by pub- 
lishing this challenge in an early number of your valuable 
and on the present subject too influential paper ; as 
also by accepting the very small share of trouble which 
would devolve upon yourself as banker, pro tempore, for 



APPENDIX. 297 

the competitors, and nominator of the golden judge of 
the argument. 

" And in case you have not any competent judge of the 
subject at this moment in your mind's eye What think 
you of the sapient author of the celebrated ' Fire-light 1 
article ' On the Instrument of Exchange,' which appeared 
in the first number of the Westminster Review ? unless, 
indeed, he should prefer to try his hand at a wee bit refu- 
tation himself. 

" In conclusion, I have only to add, that as I am an 
entire stranger to you, the Bank of Scotland will satisfy 
you as to my ability to perform the pecuniary part of the 
above engagement. I am, Sir, your constant reader, and 
most obedient humble Servant." Signed, &c. 

Of this communication the Editor of The Times took not 
the smallest notice, for which, no doubt, he had sufficient 
reason. But as there was an apparent want of candour in 
his satirizing upon every possible occasion the Anti-gold 
law league, without allowing the other side of the question 
any hearing at all, I subsequently published the foregoing 
letter to The Times, together with a few remarks thereon, 
in the shape of a small pamphlet, which I sent by post to 
every newspaper in the kingdom, and then caused the 
insertion of the following advertisement in upwards of a 
hundred newspapers : 

" THE CURRENCY QUESTION. The confidence of The Times 
in its own monetary doctrines exemplified by its refusal 
to give publicity to a free offer of the sum of one hundred 
guineas to any man who may be able to maintain their 
validity before a competent and impartial tribunal. This 
day is published by Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh ; 
Longman and Co., London ; and all booksellers ; a Re- 
d Letter to the Editor of The Times on the subject 



298 APPENDIX. 

of the Currency ; to which is added a Challenge to The 
Times to discuss the subject for the sum of five hundred 
guineas." 

This Challenge, addressed to The Times itself, to discuss 
the subject of money as distinguished from my offer of 
a Premium for the best reply to and refutation of my 
own arguments against the existing monetary system 
was given in the said pamphlet in these terms : 

After alluding to a not very celebrated writer on our 
monetary system, who had recently been lucubrating on the 
subject in Edinburgh, and of whom I asserted that it would 
be but child's play to make mincemeat, I continued : 
" No one, however, would say thank you for my pains, 
neither would any advantage be gained by the immola- 
tion. But bring the proud, haughty, and dictatorial 
Times before a tribunal of competent, honourable, and im- 
partial men ; obtain a verdict against him, and publish it, 
along with every word of the pleadings on both sides of the 
question, so that every man may be enabled to judge for 
himself of the justice of the decision, and then a battle 
worth the fighting will have been fought and won the 
instantaneous effect of which would be to concentrate the 
intellectual power of England upon the consideration of 
The nature, use, and proper qualities of money. 

" My offer of a premium to any man who may be able 
to refute my arguments against a golden standard of value 
may, however, be too liberal. The Times would probably 
disdain to allow his name to be mixed up with so unfair, 
so unequal a contest. 

" If so, put it into another shape. The Editor of The 
Times has a hundred-fold my learning, a hundred-times 
my talent. I could as readily undertake, with any chance 
of success, to compete, in their own department, with a 



APPENDIX. 299 

Sir Isaac Newton or a Sir Walter Scott, as to edit The 
Times newspaper. But, so far as regards the knowledge 
of this one subject money, I acknowledge no superior, 
either in the establishment of ' The Times' or out of it. I 
deny that the Editor of that paper, so far as shown by his 
writings, has ever made himself acquainted with even the 
first principles of a sound monetary system. This he will 
deny. Let us then try the question in the manner already 
proposed ; but instead of a premium on the one side, and 
nothing on the other, let the contest be for five hundred 
guineas, that is to say, for two hundred and fifty guineas 
a side. 

" I now publicly challenge The Times to discuss the 
question for this sum of money ; the terms and conditions 
of the competition being as per my rejected letter to him- 
self, only that his own refutation, or any one that he can 
produce and it may be written by a committee of bul- 
lionists if he likes shall come in room and place of one 
selected from the effusions of a number of competitors; the 
other offer being withdrawn until I shall receive his reply. 

"As already mentioned, I am not a member of any 
Anti-gold law league, or of any other league. I take no 
active part in politics, attend no political meetings, or 
almost none ; and, indeed, for many years past have not 
i vm tiikrn the trouble to record my vote at any election 
of a member of Parliament. Nor have I the slightest in- 
di nation to deviate from this general rule of conduct, so 
long at least as I may continue to fill a situation in life 
the duties of which would seem to say ' You should be a 
looker on in political matters rather than an active parti- 
cipator therein. 1 

" But money is of no party, or rather it is of all parties : 
it is the life-blood of trade, commerce, and manufactures, 



300 APPENDIX. 

and whosoever shall attempt to place it upon a sound 
basis will be exerting himself not for class, sect, party, or 
even country, but equally for queens and kings upon their 
thrones, and for the humblest inhabitant of their respec- 
tive dominions ; as also for every gradation of society be- 
tween these two extremes. For, so far as the present 
writer at least is concerned, he contemplates not the in- 
fliction of any act of injustice upon man, woman, or child, 
living or yet to live, either in this country or in any other, 
by the Monetary changes he would bring about ; and 
neither could their adoption be the cause of any. 

" I await The Times' reply. If he accept my challenge 
to discuss the subject in manner proposed, then the pre- 
vious offer of a free gift to any man who may be able to 
produce the best refutation of my arguments, and to re- 
fute them, is withdrawn. But if The Times shall decline 
the controversy, and thus write himself down libeller 
boaster coward, before the face of Europe, then and in 
that case I shall renew my previous offer of premium : for 
this important question shall be publicly discussed now 
to its termination, and that whether The Times will or will 
not that it should be so." 

A copy of the pamphlet from which these extracts are 
taken having been duly forwarded to the Editor of The 
Times, and, as already said, the pamphlet itself having been 
advertised in upwards of a hundred newspapers, but still 
without the effect of eliciting any answer from The Times, 
it became necessary to fix a period after which my chal- 
lenge to discuss the subject must be withdrawn. Accord- 
ingly, on the 13th November 1847, I published the fol- 
lowing advertisement in the North British Advertiser, 
and in some other papers, and sent a copy of the adver- 
tisement itself by post to the editor of The Times : 



APPENDIX. 301 

" The Bullionists and their Champion ! The Times 
and its Monetary Blunderings ! Be it recorded that, in 
consequence of the various Nicknames bestowed by The 
Times newspaper on the advocates of Monetary Reform, 
in consequence of the Boastings of that paper of its own 
superior knowledge of the subject of money and in con- 
sequence of the Deplorable ignorance which it invariably 
displays whenever money is the subject of its pen, I 
publicly challenged the said Times to discuss the said 
subject of Money ' before a competent and impartial 
tribunal,' for the sum of Five Hundred Guineas, through 
the medium of an advertisement several times repeated 
in this paper, and in fourteen London papers ; which 
challenge has also been gratuitously copied by the editors 
of no less than seventy London, Dublin, Edinburgh, and 
Provincial Papers. But it suiteth not the tactics of The 
Times to accept of or even to notice, this public challenge ; 
and why ? Because ' party,' not ' truth,' is the motto of 
The Times upon the subject of the currency ; and because 
The Times, conscious of its own weakness, is worldly-wise 
enough to avoid a trial of that weakness before a ' com- 
petent and impartial tribunal,' against the strength of 
truth. I now, therefore, finally repeat my challenge to 
The Times, as already advertised, and hold the same to be 
binding on me until the thirtieth day of this present 
month ; after which day, provided it shall still be unac- 
cepted, it will be withdrawn, in order to make room for 
another proposal" 

And the thirtieth day of the month came and passed 
away, but any notice of the foregoing advertisement by 
The Times newspaper came not at all. 

I merely relate these circumstances now in the order 
of their occurrence: let every reader comment thereon 



302 APPENDIX. 

after his own fashion, and according to his own political 
creed, and notions of consistency. 

PRIZE ARGUMENT FOR ONE HUNDRED 
GUINEAS. THE PROPOSAL RENEWED. 

With the view of endeavouring to stimulate, in how- 
ever slight a degree, the existing spirit of inquiry into 
the validity of the Monetary System of this country, the 
Author of this Work hereby binds and obliges himself to 
pay the sum of One Hundred Guineas to whomsoever 
shall be able to produce the best reply to, and before a 
competent and impartial tribunal, to refute his arguments 
against the existing Monetary System, as contained in 
the foregoing pages ; the terms and conditions of the 
competition to be as follows : 

First, The specific opinion contended for in this work 
being that, speaking always of aggregates, proportionate 
production is the natural cause of effectual demand ; that 
owing to the existence of an erroneous Monetary system, 
proportionate production is not the practical cause of effec- 
tual demand at the present time ; and that proportionate 
production may at any time be rendered the practical 
cause of effectual demand, ad infinitum, and that merely by 
the adoption of a Monetary system founded on right prin- 
ciples to entitle himself to the said hundred guineas, the 
competing essayist must refute this doctrine to the satis- 
faction of the arbiters after mentioned. 

Secondly, It being anticipated that this work will be 
published on or about the first week of August 1848, any 
person, without distinction of age, sex, country, or resi- 
dence, who may feel inclined to compete for the prize, 
is at liberty to do so in the English language, by forward- 
ing* postage free, his or her production, bearing some 



APPF.NDIX. 303 

real or fictitious signature on the last page thereof, and 
also on the outside cover, to Henry C. Baildon, Esq., No. 
'iiu-es Sin-ct. Kilinburgh, along with the sum of one 
guinea, on or before Drvml.'r 31, present year; in ad- 
dition to which, the address of the writer must also be 
given on the outside cover, to which address a receipt in 
each case for the guinea and argument will be duly for- 
warded by Mr. Baildon. 

Thirdly, On the outside cover of his essay, every compe- 
titor must also write the name and address of the Member 
of the House of Commons, naming one only, whom he him- 
self would prefer to select what the said Honourable 
Memlicr may consider to be the best reply to the doc- 
trine aforesaid, from amongst the number of replies that 
may be received. 

Fourthly, Early in January 1849, a list of the signa- 
tures, together with the names of the proposed adjudica- 
tors, will be printed and sent to each of the essayists, 
when the Honourable Member having the most votes will 
be declared the adjudicator, if he will consent to accept of 
the office ; but in the event of his not being prevailed on to 
do so, the parties nominating him shall select whomsoever 
else they please the only condition being, that the per- 
son selected shall be at least equal in political status and 
repute to an average Member of the House of Commons. 

Fifthly, To the party thus elected, all the competing 
essays shall be forwarded by Mr. Baildon, unopened of 
course, whereof the adjudicator shall select the one which 
he may consider to contain the best refutation of, or best 
attempt to refute the Monetary Principle, for the establish- 
ment of which I have contended. 

Sixthly, All the other Essays shall be returned to Mr. 
Baildon, by whom they will be sent to their respective 



304 APPENDIX. 

authors, by post or otherwise ; whilst ifie writer of the 
one elect shall receive, in the first place, per order of the 
adjudicator, the amount of the guinea sweepstakes ; that 
is to say, as many guineas as there shall have been can- 
didates for the small honour of refuting a poor advocate 
for the immediate establishment of a paper currency. 

Seventhly, On the best reply to my theory being select- 
ed in manner above mentioned, two copies thereof shall 
be handed to me by its author either in print, the type 
not being smaller than that in which this page is printed, 
or else in a rather large, clear, and perfectly distinct 
hand-writing, the contents of each page being exactly the 
same in both copies, and within six months* from the 
receipt of the said ' best reply/ 1 shall be bound either to 
answer it, or by voluntarily paying the prize-money to 
its author to admit my inability to do so. 

Eighthly, So soon as my answer shall be prepared, 
two Members of the Scottish bar men accustomed to 
sift and judge of evidence who shall, at the time of ad- 
judication, be unpledged, by any public declaration or 
writing, to any Monetary system, or system of Political 
Economy whatsoever shall be selected as Arbiters by 
the contending parties : that is to say, one by the author 
of the best reply to my lectures, and one by myself ; and 
these gentlemen, should they differ in opinion, shall ap- 
point an umpire. 

Ninthly, In the hands of the Arbiters so elected 
who are not to consider themselves as Advocates for the 
respective parties, but Judges of the case before them 
shall be placed, 



* The Author's avocations render it quite impossible for him to etijmlate 
for any shorter period, although most likely he will not take the half of it. 



A i N:\I- 

I A COpy of tll i 

II A ...|,\ ..f tin.- selected reply lo them ; and, 
III. A c..|.y of my answer thereunto. 
Ami. without pledging themselves to any opinion what- 
ever at to the point at issue, if they, by a majority of their 
number, shall declare That upon view of the whole case I 
shall have had the worst of the argument, then, to my oppo- 
nent aforesaid. 1 will pay the sum of ono hundred guineas, 
in addition to whatsoever mimher of guineas he may have 
!. in terms of the sixth article of this 
proposal ; whilst, on the other hand, should the Arbiters 
award the case in my favour, the defeated combatant shall 
pay me not I" 

Tenthly, I shall, of course, retain the copyright of my 
own Lectures, and I stipulate also for the right, but not for 
the exclusive right, of publishing, (id libitum, either in 
whole or in part, the Prize Reply, and that whether I be 
beaten by the writer thereof or not. 

Upon this plan of competition, the Arbiters will have 
but three papers to examine, and these consisting of but 
one continuous argument ; whilst, as already mentioned, in 
tin- case of the Atlas Prize-Essay, on the Causes of, and 
Remedies for, the Distress of the Country, the Arbiters 
had no less than one hundred and fifty-eight unconnected 
Essays to examine and to compare with each other. 

And now ye men of gold if there be any metal in you, 
which I greatly doubt let us see what you are able to say 
tor yourselves! The pecuniar}' inducement I have offer- 
ed you to discuss this subject, may for its own sake, as 
your name implies, be little worthy of your attention ; but 
surely there is a nobler object than mere self-interest, 
which invites to the trial of your mental strength upon this 
great subject. Look at the present state of Europe ! Is 

D 



306 APPENDIX. 

it so peaceful, so happy, so perfectly at rest, that the 
Statesman's task is but a sinecure ? Hath our neighbour 
France no claim upon us for our sympathy and for our 
best advice in this her fearful time of trial and of difficulty ? 
And to say nothing of the state of Ireland found 
we not ourselves but yesterday in circumstances wherein 
preparation, as if for the reception of a Napoleon was 
deemed necessary, and actually carried into eifect, even 
in the metropolis of this great country? the antici- 
pated foe no foreign invader, but of domestic parent- 
age and nurture ! These considerations, and conside- 
rations such as these, surely ought to have the effect 
of awakening our dormant energies, and of teaching us 
to look a little deeper into the causes of the dangers by 
which we are surrounded, than is our custom. 

But enough ! at least for the present. The world will 
grow wiser as it becomes older, and the day will come 
when generations yet unborn shall think and speak of us 
as the young children of the nineteenth century, who 
albeit very learned in sundry arts and sciences were not 
sufficiently advanced in commercial knowledge either to 
be able to distinguish their own pecuniary interest in cases 
involving hundreds of millions of difference, or even to be 
aware that the natural limitation of human wealth is 
The exhaustion either of the ability or of the inclination 
to create it. 

A period of five years and upwards has now passed 
away since, at any length, I last put pen to paper on the 
subject of money ; upon which occasion I commenced my 
book with an extract from the then last work of the now 
late Dr. Chalmers, " On Political Economy in Connexion 
with the Moral State and Moral Prospects of Society." 
I shall conclude this volume with the same quotation : 



APPENDIX. 307 

" May God of his infinite merry ijrant, that what 
tin' d.ining changes in tho state ami history of ? 
nation- may 1..-. they >liali m>t I..- the n-xult of a -weeping 
and headlong anaivhy ; but rather, in tin- pacific mar. li 
of improvement, may they anticipate tlii.s tremendous 
evil, ami avert it from our borders. There i, a general 
impression upon all -pints, that something must bedone: 
hut to be done well, it must not be by the hand of 
violence, but by the authority of legitimate power, under 
the guidance of principle, by a Government having both 
the wisdom and righteousness to direct, and the strength 
to execute." To which prayer, in all sincerity and ear- 
nestness, do I respond AMEN. 



\ I. hT n|- T1IK PARTIES 



TO hAOl OK \VIIM\I A COl'V OK THIS WoHK \\ll.l. UK PRKIKNTEP 
BY THE AlTlloK IM MKIM ATKI.V <>N I is !-i HI.ICATION. 

M.\\ IHKV i'KOKIT BY Til K CON TKNT8 ! 



Those marked thus \\.-n- MemU-rs of the Secret Committee, on the catue* 
of the distress amongst the commercial classes, appointed December 3, 1847. 

His Royal Highness Prince Albert, t Buckingham Palace. 

His Grace the Duke of Argyll, The Castle, Inverary. 

His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, Palace, Dalkeith. 

His Grace the Duke of Montrose, 45 Belgrave Square.* 

His Grace the Duke of Richmond, 51 Portland Place.* 

His Grace- the Duke of Sutherland, Stafford House-. 

His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin. Dublin. 

The Most Xoble the Marquis of Brendalbane, 21 Park Lane. 

The Most Noble the Marquis of Clanricarde, 2 CarltouH. Terrace.* 

The Most Noble the Marquis of Lansdowne, 54 Berkeley Square.* 

The Most Noble the Marquis of Salisbury, 20, Arlington Street.* 

The Most Noble the Marquis of Tweeddale, Haddington. 

The Kijilit Hon. the Earl of Aberdeen, 7 Argyll Street. 

The Right Hun. the Karl of Auckland, Kensington Gore.* 

The Right Hon. the Karl of Clarendon, 1 Grosvenor Crescent. 

The Right Hon. the Karl of Eglinton, Eglinton Castle, Irvine.* 

The Right Hon. the Earl of Ellenborough, Cheltenham.* 

The Right Hon. the Kail Grnnville, 16 Bruton Street.* 

The Right Hon. the Karl (irey, Howick, Alnwick.* 

Tin Right Hon. the EarlofHaddington,Tyninghaine, Prestonkirk. 

The Right Hon. the Earl of Hardxvicke, Wimpole, Arlington. 

The Right Hon. the Earl of Laudenlale.Thirlestane Castle, Lander. 



t Th honour of hi* Koval Hixhncw' acceptance of a copy of these Lecture* 
will he most rwpcctfutly 



310 PRESENTATION COPIES, 

The Right Hon. the Earl of Leven and Melville, Cupar Fife. 

The Right Hon. the Earl of Radnor, 52 Grosvenor Street. 

The Right Hon. the Earl of Ripon, 1 Carlton Gardens. 

The Right Hon. the Earl of Rosebery, 139 Piccadilly. 

The Right Hon. the Earl of Rosslyn, 6 Grosvenor Place. 

The Right Hon. the Earl of St. Germains, 36 Dover Street.* 

The Right Hon. the Earl of Selkirk, St. Mary's Isle. 

The Right Hon. the Earl Spencer, 27 St. James' Place. 

The Right Hon. Lord Viscount Melville, Melville Castle, Lass wade. 

The Right Hon. Lord Beaumont, Mivart's, Brook Street.* 

The Right Hon. Lord Brougham, 4 Grafton Street, Bond Street.* 

The Right Hon. Lord Campbell, Stratheden House.* 

The Right Hon. Lord Douglas, 6 St. George's Place, Hyde Park. 

The Right Hon. Lord Glenelg, 4 Albany.* 

The Right Hon. Lord Kinnaird, Rossie Priory, Inchture.* 

The Right Hon. Lord Monteagle, 37 Lower Brook Street.* 

The Right Hon. Lord Stanley, 40 Dover Street, Piccadilly.* 

The Right Hon. Lord WharnclifTe, 15 Curzon Street.* 

The Right Hon. Lord Willoughby D'Eresby, 142 Piccadilly. 



HOUSE OF COMMONS. 

A copy will be sent to every Member, addressed as per the pages following. 

Abingdon, 
Sir Frederic Thesiger, 1 1 Bryanstone Square. 

A 1 bans, St. 

Alexander Raphael, Esq., 10 Great Stanhope Street. 
George W. J. Repton, Esq., Bolton Street, Piccadilly. 

Andover, 

H. B. Coles, Esq., 25 Portman Square. 
William Cubitt, Esq., 3 Park Lane. 

Anglesea, County, 
Sir Richard B. W. Bulkeley, Bart., 69 Eaton Square. 

Arundel, 
Earl of Arundel and Surrey, 1 1 Carlton House Terrace. 



u'lluM SKNT. 311 



Ashburton, 
I-i<Mit.-(',>l. Thomas Matheson, United Service Club, 116 Pall Mall. 

Ashton-iuiiltT- L yne, 
C. Hindli-y, Ksq., 1 Dartmouth Street, Westminster. 

Aylcslmry, 

Lord Nugent, Reform Club, 101 Pull Mull. 
Quintin Dick, Esq., 20 Curzou Street. 

Ban bury, 
H. W. Tanm-d, Ksq., 11 Old Square, Lincoln'!! Inn. 

Barnstapir, 

Rirburd Bremritlge, Esq., Parthenon Club, 2 Regent Street. 
Hon. John W. Fortescne, 17 Grosvenor Square. 

Baasetlaw or Retford, East, 

Hon. Capt. A. Duncombe, R.N., 22 Grosvenor Square. 
Viscount Galway, Boodle's Club, 28 St. James' Street. 

Bath, 

Lord Ashley, 49 Upper Brook Street. 
Viscount Duncan, Campcrdown, Dundee. 

Beaumaris, 
Lient.-Col. Lord George A. F. Paget, 1 Old Burlington Street. 

Bedford, County, 

Viscount Alford, 23 Belgrave Square. 
Francis C. H. Russell, Esq., 8 Eaton Place, West. 

Bedford, 

Sir Harry Verncy, Bart., Travellers' Club, 106 Pall Mall. 
Henry Stuart, Esq., 18 Hill Street, Berkeley Square. 

Berks, County, 

Viscount Barrington, 20 Cavendish Square. 
Philip Pusey, Esq., 35 Grosvenor Square. 
Robert Palmer, Esq., 16 Suffolk Street, Pall Mall. 

Berwick-on-Tweed, 

Matthew Forstcr, Esq., 4 New City Chambers. 
John C. Renton, Esq., Mordington House, Berwick. 

Beverley, 

J. Townelcy, Esq., 76 Eaton Place. 
Sackville W. L. Fox, Esq., 3 St. James' Square. 

Bewdley, 
Viscount Mandcville, 129 Mount Street. 

Birmingham, 

G. F. Muntz, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 
William Scholefield, Esq., 49 Queen Anne Street, Cavendish Square. 



PRESENTATION COPIES, 

Blackburn, 

John Hornby, Esq., 22 Park Crescent, Portland Place. 
James Pilkington, Esq., Park Place. 

Bodmin, 

James Wyld, Esq., Charing Cross, East. 
Henry C. Lacy, Esq., 52 Bedford Square. 

Bolton-le-Moors, 

William Boiling, Esq., Darcy Lever Hall, Bohou-le-Moors. 
J. Bowring, Esq., LL.D., 1 Queen Square, Westminster. 

Boston, 

Sir J. Duke, 1 Devonshire Terrace. 
Benjamin B. Cabbell, Esq., 52 Portland Place. 

Bradford, 

W. Busfeild, Esq., 15 Bury Street, St. James'. 
Lieut.-Col. T. P. Thompson, Free Trade Club, St. James' Square. 

Brecon, County, 
Joseph Bailey, senior, Esq., 26 Belgrave Square. 

Brecon, 
J. L. V. Watkins, Esq., Athenaeum Club, 10? Pall Mall. 

Bridgewater, 

Lieut.-Colonel C. J. K. Tynte, 3 Arlington Street. 
Henry Broadwood, Esq., 5 Whitehall Yard. 

Bridgenorth, 

Thomas C. Whitniore, Esq., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 
Sir R. Pigot, Bart., 30 Albemarle Street. 

Bridport, 

T. A. Mitchell, Esq., 6 Albany. 
A. B. Cochrane, Esq., 32 Grosvenor Place. 

Brighton, 

Captain George R. Pechcll, R.N., 4 Spring Gardens. 
Lord A. Hervey, G St. James' Square. 

Bristol, 

Hon. F. Berkeley, 6 Spring Gardens. 
Philip, W. S. Miles, Esq., 44- Belgrave Square-. 

Buckingham, County, 
Caledon Du Pre, Esq., 40 Portland Place. 
Hon. C. C. Cavendish, Burlington House, Piccadilly. 
Benjamin D'Israeli, Esq., 1 Grosvenor Gate, Park Lane. 

Buckingham, 

Marquis of Chandos, 91 Pall Mall. 
Lieut.-Col. John Hall. 21 Curzon Street, Mayfair. 



BUT, 



R. Walker, K-q.. IMi.rm Chili, loi I'nll Mull. 

Bury St. EdnmmU, 
Karl Jermyii, 4-7 Eaton Place. 
K<i\v;ird H. Bunbury, Esq., l. Lincoln's-lnn-Ficlds. 

Be, 
Karl of Sliclbtirnc, Lansdownc House. 

Cambridge I'niversity, 

Hon. C. I- 1 .. I.:iu, M.A., 10 Fiu-rar^ Buildings, Temple. 
Right Hon. Henry Goulburn, 1 Montagu Squure. 

Cambridge, Coin, 

Hon. E. T. Yc.rke, !.'. Wilt-.n Place. 

Richard G. Townley, Esq., Boodle's Club, 28 St. James' Street. 
Lord George J. Manners, Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 

Cambridge, 

Robert A. Shafto Aduir, Esq., 7 Audley Square. 
Hon. William F. Campbell, Esq., South Place, Knightebridge. 

Canterbury. 

Lord Albert Conyn^lium, 5 Hamilton Place. 
Hon. G. Smythe, <5H Harley Street. 

Cardiff, 
Right Hon. John Nicholl, 33 Belgravc Square. 

Cardigan, County, 
Col. W. E. Powell, 7 Hyde Park Terrace. 

Cardigan, 
P. Pryse, Esq., Lini iner's Hotel, Hanover Square. 

Carlisle, 

William N. Hodgson, Esq., Carlisle. 
P. II. Howard, E>q^ Carlisle. 

Carmarthen, County, 

Hon. Lieut -Col. G. R. Trevor, II Hyde Park Gardens. 
D. A. S. Davies, Ksq., United University Club, Pall Mall I 

Carmarthen. 
David Morris, Esq., 8 St. James' Place. 

Carnarvon, County. 
Hun. Kduard Pennant, :)ii Kdgrave Square. 

Carnarvon, 
William 1). Hughes, Esq., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 

Chatham, 
;nt Knlielil, 77 Eaton S'| 



314 PRESENTATION COPIES, 

Cheltenham, 
Hon. Craven F. Berkeley, Berkeley House, Spring Gardens. 

Chester, S.D. 

Sir P. G. Egerton, Bart., Oulton Park, Tarporley. 
John Tollemache, Esq., Tilstone Lodge, Tarporley. 

Chester, N.D. 

William T. Egerton, Esq., 43 Wilton Crescent. 
The other seat at present vacant. 

Chester, 

Earl Grosvenor, Grosvenor House. 
Sir John Jervis, 47 Eaton Square. 

Chichester, 

John A. Smith, Esq., 47 Belgrave Square. 
Lord Henry C. G. Gordon-Lennox, 51 Portland Place. 

Chippenham, 

Joseph Neeld, Esq., 6 Grosvenor Square. 
Captain H. G. Boldero, Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 

Christchurch, 
Hon. Captain Edward Harris, 8 Whitehall Gardens. 

Cirencester, 

Viscount Villiers, 38 Berkeley Street. 
Joseph R. Mailings, Esq., Watermoor House, Cirencester. 

Clitheroe, 
Matthew Wilson, jun. Esq., Athenaeum Club, 107 Pall Mall. 

Cockermouth, 

Henry A. Aglionby, Esq., 5 Brick Court, Temple. 
Edward Horsman, Esq., 6 Upper Brook Street. 

Colchester, 

Sir George H. Smyth, Bart., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 
Joseph A. Hardcastle, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Cornwall, W.D. 

Edward W. Pendarves, Esq., 36 Eaton Place. 
Sir Charles Lemon, Bart., 46 Charles Street, Berkeley Square. 

Cornwall, K.D. 

William H. P. Carew, Esq., 13 King Street, St. James'. 
Thomas A. Robartes, Esq., Athenaeum Club, 107 Pall Mall. 

Coventry, 

Right Hon. Edward Ellice, 13 Great Cumberland Street. 
George J. Turner, Esq., 6 Harley Street. 

Cricklade, 

John Neeld, Esq., 101 Gloucester Phice. 
Ambrose L. Goddard, Esq., 58 Chester Square. 



TO WHOM SENT. 315 

Cumberland, B. 

Hon. Charles Howard, 56 Park Street, Grosvenor Square. 
William .Marshall, r-Nq., 55 Lowndes Square. 

Cumberland, w. 

Edward Stanley, E*q., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 
HtMiry Lcmtlier. K-<j., 31 Brulon St 

Dartmouth, 
George Motfutt, Esq., 85 Eaton Square. 

Denbigh County, 

Sir Watkin W . Wyun, Bart., St. James' Square. 
Hon. William Bagot, 23 St. James' Square. 

Denbigh, 
Frederick R. West, Esq., Boodle's Club, 28 St. James' Street. 

Derby, N. D. 

Hon. George H. Cavendish, 4 Belgrave Square. 
William Evans, Esq., Park House, Kensington Gore. 

Derby, s. D. 

Edward Mmidy, Esq., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 
C. R. Col vile, Esq., 4 Albany. 

Derby, 

Right Hon. E. Strutt, 42 South Street, Grosvenor Square. 
Hon. E. F. Leveson Gowcr, 4 Harcourt Buildings, Temple. 

Devizes, 

George H. W. Heneage, Esq., Bait's Hotel, 41 Dover Streel. 
Lieut.-Col. J. B. B. Esteourt, London. 

Devon, N. n. 

Sir Thomas D. Ac-land, Barl., 85 Jermyn Street. 
Lewis William Buck, Esq., 12 Norfolk Streel, Park Lane. 

Devon, s. D. 

Sir John Y. Bullcr, Bart., 39 Belgrave Square. 
Viscount Courtenay, 4 Bryanstone Square. 

Devon port, 

Henry Tuffnell, Esq., 37 Curzon Street. 
Sir John Romilly, 32 Gordon Square. 

Dorchcsler, 

Right Hon. Col. G. L. 1). Darner, <; Tilney Street, Park Lane. 
Henr\ (i. Sturt, Esq., 16 Portman Square. 

Dorset, County, 

G. Bankes, Esq., 5 Old Palace Yard. 
Hriiry K. S.'ynier, FNq., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 
John Floyer, Esq., 5 Old Palace Yard. 



316 PRESENTATION COPIES. 

Dover, 

Edward R. Rice, Esq., United University Club, Pall Mall East. 
Right Hon. Sir George Clerk, Bart., 8 Park Street, Westminster. 

Droitwitch, 
Sir J. S. Pakingtou, Bart., 41 Eaton Square. 

Dudley, 
John Benbow, Esq., 26 Mecklenburgh Square. 

Durham, N. D. 

Robert D. Shafto, Esq., Whitworth Park, Bishop-Auckland. 
Viscount Seaham, Holdernesse House, Park Lane. 

Durham, s. D. 

Lord Harry Vane, I Grosvenor Place Houses. 
James Farrer, Esq., 7 John Street, Berkeley Square. 

Durham, 

Thomas C. Granger, Esq., 1 2 King's Bench Walk, Temple. 
Henry J. Spearman, Esq., Newton Hall, Durham. 

Essex, N. D. 

Sir John T. Tyrrell, Bart., 4- Cleveland Square. 
Major William Beresford, 77 Pall Mall. 

Essex, s. D. 

Thomas W. Bramston, Esq., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 
Sir Edward N. Buxton, Bart., Leytonstone House, Essex. 

Evesham, 

Lord Marcus Hill, 2 Chesham Street, Belgrave Square. 
Sir Henry Willoughby, Bart., Baldon House, Oxfordshire. 

Exeter, 

Sir John T. B. Duckworth, Bart., Wear House, Exeter. 
E. Divett, Esq., 79 Eaton Square. 

Eye, 
Lieut.-Gen. Sir E. Kerrison, Bart., 1 3 Great Stanhope Street. 

Finsbury, 

T. Wakley, Esq., 35 Bedford Square. 
Thomas S. Duncombe, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Flint, County, 
Hon. E. M. Lloyd Mostyn, 9 Lower Seymour Street. 

Flint, 
Sir John Hanmcr, Bart., 59 Eaton Place. 

Frome, 
Hon. Lieut. Robert E. Boyle, 3 Hamilton Place, Piccadilly. 

Guteshend, 
William Hutt, Esq., 39 Maddox Street. 



TO WHOM si :ur 

Glon. iiity. 

Viscount Adar . . Square. 

Christopher R. M. Tnlhot. Esq.. 40 Belgrave Square. 

Gloucester, K. i>. 

Christopher W. Codrinyton, Esq., 3 Pork Plan-, St. James'. 
Marquis ..: : Berkeley Square. 

(Iloucrstt I. U. I. 

Robert M HaU-, Ks ( |.. I :, Bolton Street, Piccadilly. 
Hon. (i. F. Berkclev, Spring (ianl 

Gloucester, 

Honrv T. Hope. Esq.. 1 Mnn tu Id Street. 
Captain M. F. Berkeley. H.N.. I :. Halkin St. West, Belgrave Sq. 

Grniithnin. 

Glynne K. \\'ell)V, KMJ., 8 Upper Belgrave Street. 
Hon. F. Toileinni-lie. Athonceuni Club, 107 Pall Mall. 

Greenwich, 

Aliuirnl J. \V. 1). nnudas. 1 Lower Herkeley Sti> 
Edward G. Banian 1 . K-q., Deptfnnl (ircen. 

Grim shy. Great. 
Eihvanl HCIH-UUC. K<q., Haiiiton Hall, U'rnghy. 

(iiiildford. 
Henry Carrie, Ksq.. ?? (ireen Street, Grosvcnor Square. 

D. Man-le-. KM|.. U'oodbridjrp, Guildford, Surrey. 

Halifax. 

Henry Edward*. EMJ.. Conservative Clul), ? 1 St. James' Street. 
Right Hon. Sir Charles Wood, Bnrt.. S4 Enton Square. 

Hant-, \. D. 

Rijjht Hon. C. S. Lefevrc, ?1 Eaton Stjimre. 
Sir William Heatheote. Bart.. 43 Eaton Place. 

Hants, s. i>. 

Lord Charles Wellesley, Apsley House, Piccadilly. 
H. C. Compton. Es<|.. 34 Upper Eaton Street. 

Harwich, 

John Bagfthaw, Fsq.. 17 Gloucester Place, Portinan Square. 
Rijrht Hon. Sir John C. Hol.honse. Bnrt.. 42 Berkeley Square. 

Hast 

Rohert Hollond, Esq., 3 Portland Pin 
Mn-jrtue Bri.Hi-o. Esq.. 3s Devonshire Place. 

Haverford\\> 
Eviin*, E^-q., I I South Crown-Office Row, Tempi*. 



318 PRESENTATION COPIES, 

Helstone, 
Sir Richard R. Vyvyan, Bart., St. Dunstan's Villa, Regent's Park. 

Hereford, County, 

Joseph Bailey, jun., Esq., 26 Belgrave Square. 
Francis R. Haggitt, Esq., Conservative Club, 74 St. James' Street. 
George C. Lewis, Esq., Kent House, Knightsbridge. 

Hereford, 

Sir Robert Price, Bart., Foxley, Hereford. 
Henry M. Clifford, Esq., Oxford & Cambridge Club, 71 Pall Mall. 

Hertford, County, 

Sir Henry Meux, Bart., 41 Upper Brook Street. 
Thomas P. Halsey, Esq., The Hall, Great Birkhampstead, Herts. 
Thomas Brand, Esq., Burlington House, Piccadilly. 

Hertford, 

Lord Mahon, 41 Grosvenor Place. 
Hon. William F. Cowper, 39 South Street, Grosvenor Square. 

Honiton, 

Joseph Locke, Esq., 6 Chester Terrace, Regent's Park. 
Sir James W. Hogg, Bart., 16 Grosvenor Square. 

Horsham, 
William R. S. Fitzgerald, Esq., 17 Whitehall Place. 

Huddersfield, 
William R. C. Stansfield, Esq., 22 Charles Street, Berkeley Square 

Hull, 

Matthew T. Baines, Esq., 2 Paper Buildings, Temple. 
James Clay, Esq., 25 Montagu Square. 

Huntingdon, County, 

Edward Fellowes, Esq., Junior United Service Club, 1 1 Charles St. 
George Thornhiil, Esq., 17 Grosvenor Street. 

Huntingdon, 

Colonel Jonathan Peel, 8 Park Place, St. James. 
Thomas Baring, Esq., 40 Charles Street, Berkeley Square. 

Hythe, 
Edward D. Brockman, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Ipswich, 

John C. Cobbold, Esq., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 
Hugh E. Adair, Esq., 20 St. James' Square. 

Ives, St. 
Lord William Powlett, 19 Curzon Street, Mayfair. 

Kendal, 
George C. Glyn, Esq., 1 Eccleston Street, Belgrave Square. 



\VHOM si. 

Kent, H. D. 

J. 1'. PI umpire, Esq.. Fn-d\ill-, William. 

William Decdes, E*q M Travellers' Club, 106 Pall Mall. 

Kent, w. D. 

Sir K. Filraer, Bart, 72 Eaton Square. 
Thomas L. Hodges, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Kidderminster, 
Kit-hard Godson, Esq., 30 Grosvenor Place. 

Knares bo rough, 

Right Hon. W.S. Lascelles, Bute Ho. Campden Hill, Kensington. 
Joshua 1*. \\Vsthead, Esq., 1 Chester Terrace, Regent's Park. 

Lam bet 1 1. 

Charles Pearson, Esq., 7 Old Jewry. 
Right Hon. C. T. D'Eyncourt, 35 Pall Mall. 

Lancaster, N. 

John VV. Patten, Esq., 24 Hill Street, Berkeley Square. 
James Hey wood, Esq., Athenaeum Club, 107 Pall Mall. 

Lancaster, s. 

William Brown, Esq., Fenton's Hotel, St. James* Street. 
Hon. Charles P. Villiers, Athenaeum Club, 107 Pall Mall. 

Lancaster, 

T. Greene, Esq., 19 Duke Street, Westminster. 
R. B. Armstrong, Esq., Chester Place, Westminster. 

Launceston, 
Rear-Admiral William Bowles, C.B., 8 Hill Street, Berkeley Sq. 

Leeds, 

William Beckett, Esq., 18 Upper Brook Street. 
James G. Marshall, Esq., Reform Club, 1 04 Pall Mall. 

Leicester, N. D. 

Lord Charles S. Manners, 3 Albany. 
Edward B. Famham, Esq., Quorndon House, Loughborough. 

Leicester, s. D. 

Sir Henry Halford, Bart., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 
Charles W. Packe, Esq., 7 Richmond Terrace. 

Leicester, 

Sir Joshua Walmsley, Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 
Richard Gardner, Esq., 130 Piccadilly. 

Leominster, 

George Arkwright, Esq., 2 Albany. 
Henry Barkly, Esq., 50 Eaton Place, Westminster. 



320 PRESEXTATIUX COPIES, 

Lewes, 

Hon. Henry Fitzroy. 42 Upper Grosvenor Street. 
Robert Perfect, Esq., 35 Bryanstone Square. 

Lichfield, 

Lord Alfred H. Paget, Uxbridge House, 1 Old Burlington Street. 
Viscount Anson, .5 Albanv. 

Lincoln (Kesteven,) 
Lord Burgh) ey, 36 Grosvenor Square. 
Sir John Trollope, Bart., 17 Great Cumberland Place. 

Lincoln (Lindsey,) 

Sir M. J. Cholmeley, Bart., 10 Upper Belgrave Street. 
Robert A. Christopher, Esq., 97 Eaton Square. 

Lincoln, 

Colonel C. D. W. Sibthorpe, 27 Chester Street, Grosvenor Place. 
The other seat at present vacant. 

Liskeard, 
Charles Buller, jun., Esq., 2 Chester Ptace, Chester Square. 

Liverpool, 

Edward Cardwell, Esq., 3 Whitehall Gardens. 
Sir Thomas Birch, Bart., Brookes' Club, 60 St. Jnmes' Street. 

London, 

Lord John Russell, 32 Chesham Place, Belgrave Square. 
James Pattison, Esq., 37 Upper Harley Street. 
Baron Lionel de Rothschild, 148 Piccadilly. 
John Masterman, Esq., 35 Nicholas Lane, Lombard Street. 

Ludlow, 

Henry B. Clive, Esq., Styche, Market Drayton. 
Colonel Henry Salwey, Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Lyme-Regis, 
Thomas N. Abdy, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Lymington, 

Hon. Lieut.-Colonel George Keppel, 10 Downing Street. 
William A. Mackinnon, Esq., 4 Hyde Park Place. 

Lynn-Regis, 

Lord William G. Bentinck, Harcourt House, 1 9 Cavendish Square. 
Viscount Jocelyn, 35 Cnrzon Street. 

Macclesfield, 

J. Brocklehurst, jun., Esq., 33 Milk Street. 
John Williams, Esq., Regent's Circus, Oxford Street. 

Maidstone, 

Alexander J. B. Hope, Esq., Arcklow House, 1 Connaught Place. 
George Dodd, Esq., 9 Grosvenor Place. 



WHOM s 

Maldon, 

David Waddington, Esq.. Adelaide House, Enfield. 
Thomas B. Leonard, Esq., 9 Hyde Park Terrace. 

Mulnirshtiry, 
Hon. James K. Howard, Reform Club, 1 04 Pall Mall. 

Malton, 

J. W. Childers, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 
John K. DiMiiMjn, Kvj., 4.') Piccadilly. 

Manchester, 

Right Hon. Thomas M. Gibson, 50 Wilton Crescent. 
John Bright, Esq., 33 Lowndes Street. 

Marl borough, 

Lord Ernest Bruce, 7 St. George's Place, Hyde Park Corner. 
H. U. Baring, Esq., 8 Eccleston Street South, Eaton Square. 

Mar low, Great, 

Thomas P. Williams, Esq., 41 Berkeley Square. 
Lieut.-Colonel B. W. Knox, 28 Wilton Crescent. 

Marylebone, 

Lord Dudley C. Stuart, 34 St James' Place. 
Sir B. Hall, Bart., Reform Club, 1 04 Pall Mall. 

Merioneth, County, 
Richard Richards, Esq., 21 Park Crescent, Portland Place. 

Merthyr-Tydvil, 
Sir J. J. Guest, Bart., 8 Spring Gardens. 

Middlesex, County, 

Lord Robert Grosvenor, 1 07 Park Street. 
Ralph B. Osborne, Esq., Newtown Aimer Tipperary. 

.Midhurst, 
Spencer H. Walpole, Esq., Baling, Middlesex. 

Monmouth County, 

Charles 0. S. Morgan, Esq., 70 Pall Mall. 
E. A. Somerset, Esq., London. 

Monmouth. 
Reginald J.Blcwitt, Esq., Llantarnam Abbey, Newport-Monroouth. 

Montgomery, County, 
Right Hon. C. W. W. Wynn, 20 Grafton Street, Bond Street. 

Montgomery, 
David Pujrh, Esq., Llancrchydol, Welshpool. 

Morpeth, 

Hon. Captain E. Howard, 86 Katon Place. 

X 



322 PRESENTATION COPIES, 

Newark-on-Trent, 

John H. Manners Sutton, Esq., Kelham Hall, Notts. 
John Stuart, Esq., 19 Hertford Street, Mayfair. 

Newcastle-under-Lyne, 

Samuel Christy, Esq., Poynton Hall, Stockport. 
William Jackson, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Newcastle- upon- Tyne, 
W. Ord, Esq., 1 7 Berkeley Square. 
T. Emerson Headlam, Esq., 13 Chancery Lane. 

Newport, 

William H. C. Plowden, Esq., 8 Devonshire PI ace, Portland Place. 
Charles W. Martin, Esq., Leeds Castle, Maidstone. 

Norfolk, E. D. 

H. N. Burroughes, Esq., Limmer's Hotel, 1 George Street. 
Edmond Wodehouse, Esq., Limmer's Hotel, 1 George treet. 

Norfolk, w. D. 

William Bagge, Esq., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 
Hon. Edward K. Coke, Holkham Hall, Norfolk. 

Northallerton, 
William B. Wrightson, Esq., 22 Upper Brook St. Grosvenor Sq. 

Northampton, N. 

Col. T. P. Maunsell, Thorpe Malson, Kettering. 
Augustus Stafford, Esq., 175 Piccadilly. 

Northampton, s. 

R. H. H. Vyse, Esq., Carlton Club, 94. Pall Mall. 
Sir Charles Knightley, Bart., 10 Upper Brook Street. 

Northampton, 

R. Currie, Esq., 4 Hyde Park Terrace. 
Right Hon. Robert V. Smith, 20 Saville Row. 

Northumberland, N. D. 

Right Hon. Sir George Grey, Bart., 14 Eaton Place, Belgrave Sq. 
Lord Ossulston, 17 South Street, Grosvenor Square. 

Northumberland, s. r>. 
Matthew Bell, Esq., 35 Wimpole Street. 
Saville C. H. Ogle, Esq., 84 Eaton Square. 

Norwich, 

Samuel M. Peto, Esq., 47 Russell Square. 
Marquis of Douro, 3 Upper Belgrave Street. 

Notts, N. r>. 

T. Houldsworth, Esq., 16 Suffolk Street, Pall Mall East 
Lord Henry Bentinck, 19 Cavendish Square. 



To UK" 



. 

:,i-l Kolleston, 8 Hi-rtford Sir. 
Tliiuiiu* H. T. Hildynrd. E-q.. C St. JameV Place. 

Nottingham, 

John Walter, Esq., iH Russell Sqn 
Feargus O'Connor, Esq., Loin bands, Rod Marlcy. 

Oldlium. 

William J. K<>\. KMI., 5 Charlotte Street, Bedford Square. 
John Dime-lift, Esq.. W-stu..oilhoiiM-, Oldhani. 

Oxford, County, 

Lord Norreys, 18 Grosvenor Street. 
George G. Hnrcourt, Esq., 24 St. James' Place. 
Joseph W. Henh-y, Esq., 22 Great George Street, Westminster. 

Oxford, University, 

Sir R. H. Inglis, Hart., 7 Bedford S|uure. 
Right Hon. William E. Gladstone, 13 Carlton House Terrace. 

Oxford, 

James H. Langston, Esq., I 4-'} riccudilly. 
William P. Wood, Esq., 12 Great George Street, Westminster. 

IVmbroke, County. 
"iint Emlyn, 6 Eaton Plan . 

Pembroke, 
Sir J. Owen, Bart., Arthur's Club, 6i) St. James' Street. 

IVnryn and Falmonth, 

Howel Gwyn, Esq., Carlton Club, 04 Pall Mall. 
Francis Mowatt, Esq.. 11 iK-uuii'hire Place-, Portland Place. 

iborough, 

Hon. G. Fitzwilliam, Mortimer House, Halkin St. Grosvenor Place. 
William G. Cavendish, Esq., Burlington House, Piccadilly. 

IVtrrslidd, 
. G. H. Jollille, Bart., Club-Room, Red Lion Inn, Petcrefield. 

Plymouth, 

tint Ebrington, 1? Grosvcnor Square. 
Roundel! Palmer, Esq., 1 1 New Square, Lincoln's Inn. 

Pontefract, 

Samuel Martin, Esq., 18 Wimjiole Street. 
Richard M. Milms, EMI., 20 Pall Mall. 

Poole, 

George R. J'ohiiiMMi, K-|.. -'7 Chester Terrace. 
George R. Philips, Esq., Westou House, Shipton-on Stour. 






324 PRESENTATION COPIES, 

Portsmouth, 

Right Hon. F. T. Baring, 86 Eaton Square. 
Sir George T. Staunton, Bart., 17 Devonshire St. Portland Place. 

Preston, 

Sir G. Strickland, Bart., 1 Spring Gardens. 
Charles P. Grenfell, Esq., 38 Belgrave Square. 

Radnor, County, 
Sir John Walsh, Bart., 28 Berkeley Square. 

Radnor, 
Right Hon. Sir T. F. Lewis, Bart., 21 Grafton Street. 

Reading, 

Francis Pigott, Esq., Reform Cluh, 104 Pall Mall. 
Thomas N. Talfourd, Esq., 67 Russell Square. 

Reigate, 
Thomas Somers-Cocks, jun., Esq., 15 Hereford Street. 

Richmond, 

Henry Rich, Esq., 47 Mount Street, Grosvenor Square. 
Marmaduke Wyvill, jun., Esq., 71 Pall Mall. 

Ripon, 

Right Hon. Sir James Graham, Bart., 31 Hill Street. 
Hon. Edwin Lascelles, 4 Belgrave Square. 

Rochdale, 
W. S. Crawford, Esq., Crawfordsburn, Belfast. 

Rochester, 

Ralph Bernal, Esq., 75 Eaton Square. 
Thomas T. Hodges, Esq., 169 New Bond Street. 

Rutland, County, 

Gilbert J. Heathcote, Esq., Stocken Hall, Grantham. 
Hon. Gerard J. Noel, Exton Park, Rutlandshire. 

Rye, 
Herbert M. Cnrteis, Esq., Windmill Hill, Sussex. 

Sal ford, 
J. Brotherton, Esq., 7 Manchester Buildings, Parliament Street. 

Salisbury, 

William J. Chaplin, Esq., Ewhurst Park, Basingstoke. 
Charles B. Wall, Esq., 44 Berkeley Square. 

Salop, N. D. 

William 0. Gore, Esq., 66 Portland Place. 
John W. Dod, Esq., Cleverly Hall, Whitchurch, Shropshire 

Salop, s. D. 

lion. Robert H. Clive, 53 Lower Grosvcnor Street. 
Viscount Newport, 30 Wilton Crescent. 



.\ HUM si 

Sandwich, 

Lord Clarence E. Paget, 1 Old Burlington Street. 
Charles \V. Orenfcll, Esq , 38 Belgrade Square. 

Scarborough, 

Sir J. Johnstone, Hurt., 2? Grosvenor Square. 
Earl of Mulgrave, Reform Cluh, 101 I'all Mall. 

Shaftcsburv, 
Richard B. Sheridan, Esq., Frampton, Dorchester, Dorset. 

Sheffield, 

John Parker, Esq., Athenaeum Club, 107 Pall Mall. 
Henry G. Wnrd, Esq., Admiralty. 

Shields, South, 
John T. \Vuwn, Esq., Coal Exchange, London. 

Slioreham, 

Sir C. M. Hiirrell, Hurt., 5 Richmond Terrace, Whitehall. 
Charles Goring, Esq., 3 Eaton Place. 

Shrewsbury. 

Edward H. Baldock, Esq., 5 Hyde Park Ph. 
Robert A. Slaney, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pull Mall. 

Somerset, B. D. 

William Miles, Esq., 7 Hamilton Place. 
William Pinney, Esq., 30 Berkeley Square. 

Somerset, w. D. 

Charles A. Moody, Esq., Kingsdon, Somerset. 
Sir Alexander Hood, Bart., Wooton, Glastonbury. 

Southampton, 

Alexander J. E. Cockbum, Esq., 3 Harcourt Buildings, Temple. 
Brodie Mac Ghie Willcox, Esq., 24 Dorset Square. 

Southwnrk, 

John Humphery, Esq., Hay's Wharf, Tooley Street 
Sir William Molesworth, Bart., 1 Lowndes Square. 

Stafford, N. D. 

Charles B. Adderlcy, Esq., 30 Portman Square. 
Viscount Brackley, 2 Hamilton Place, Hyde Park. 

Stafford, s. D. 

Hon. Lieut. -Col. G. Anson, 25 Hill Street, Berkeley Square. 
Viscount Ingestre, 19 Grouvenor Street. 

Stafford, 

David Urquhart, Esq., Bittern Manor, Southampton. 
Thomas Sidney, Esq., 8 Ludgate Hill. 



326 PRESENTATION COPIES, 

Stamford, 

Marquis of Granby, 5 St. James' Place. 
Right Hon. John C. Herries, 4 Albemarle Street. 

Stockport, 

James Heald, Esq., Parr's Wood, Didsbury. 
The other seat at present vacant. 

Stoke-on-Trent, 

John L. Ricardo, Esq., 31 Lowndes Square, Knightsbridiro. 
William T. Copeland, Esq., 37 Lincoln's- Inn-Fields. 

Stroud, 

William H. Stanton, Esq., 4 Albemarle Street. 
George P. Scrope, Esq., 13 Belgrave Square. 

Suffolk, E. D. 

Lord Rendlesham, Rendlesham, Woodbridge. 
Edward S. Gooch, Esq., 32 St. James' Street. 

Suffolk, w. D. 

Harry S. Waddington, Esq., 45 St. James' Place. 
Philip Bennet, jun., Esq., 1 Chesham Place. 

Sunderland, 

George Hudson, Esq., Albert Gate, Knightsbridge. 
Sir Hed worth Williamson, Bart., Whitburn Hall, Durham. 

Surrey, E D. 

Hon. Peter J. L. King, 38 Dover Street. 
Thomas Alcock, Esq., Arthur's Club, 69 St. James' Street. 

Surrey, w. D. 

William J. Denison, Esq., .90 Pall Mali. 
Henry Drummond, Esq., Albury Park, Guilford. 

Sussex, E. D. 
Augustus E. Fuller, Esq., 16 Clifford Street. 
Charles H. Frewen, Esq., 3 Old Palace Yard. 

Sussex, w. D. 

Earl of March, Goodwood, Sussex. 
Richard Prime, Esq., Walburton House, Arundel. 

Swansea, 
John H. Vivian, Esq., 23 Dover Street. 

Tarn worth, 

Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Bart., 4 Whitehall Gardens. 
Right Hon. William Y. Peel, White's Club, 37 St. James' Strnct. 

Taunton, 

Right Hon. Henry Labouchere, 27 Belgrave Square. 
Sir Thomas Colebrooko, Bart., 18 Park Lane. 



AII..M i 327 

Taristoi-k, 

H..II. Kdwurd Russell, Reform Club, 104 I'all Mall. 
J. S. Trelttwny, Esq., 5 Lower Grosvenor Place. 

Trwkeslmrv, 

John Martin, KMJ., 14 Berkeley Sqimr.-. 
Humphrey Broun, Esq., "2 Little Smith Street, Westminster. 

Th.-tford, 

Earl of Huston, 47 Clarges Street. 
Tltf other teat at pretext vacant. 

Thirsk, 
John Bell, KM,., :n NVw Bond Street. 

Tiverton, 

J. Heutheojit, KSJ., .> Warwick Street, Charing Cross. 
Viscount Pnlmcrston, 5 Carlton Garden^. 

Totncss, 

Lord Seymour, 18 Spring Gardens. 
Charles B. Baldwin, Esq., Parliament Street. 

Tower Hamlets, 

George Thompson, Esq., 1 28 Sloane Street. 
Sir W. Clay, Bart., 17 Hertford Street, Mayfair. 

Truro, 

Kdinund Turner, Esq., 7 Victoria Square, Pimlico. 
John E. Vivian, Esq., 35 Jermyn Street. 

Tynemouth, 
Ralph W. Grey, Esq., 47 Belgrave Square. 

\\'akefield, 
George Sandars, Esq., Alvcrthorpe Hall, Wakefield. 

Wallingford, 
William S. Blackstone, Esq., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 

Walsall, 
Hon. Edward R. Littleton, Traveller's Club, 106 Pall Mall. 

Wareham, 
John S. W. S. E. Drax, Esq., Charborough Park, Blandford, Dorset. 

Warrington, 
Gilbert Greenall, Esq., National Club, 113 Cockspur Street 

Warwick, N. D. 

Charles N. Ncwdegate, Esq., 3 Arlington Street. 
Richurd Spoonor, Ksq., 39 St. James' Place. 

Warwick, s. D. 

Ks.-lyn J. Shirley, Esq., Eatington Hall, Shipston-on-Stour. 
Lord Brooke, 7 Carlton Gardens. 



328 PRESENTATION COPIES, 

Warwick, 

William Collins, Esq., 18 Pall Mall. 
Sir Charles E. Douglas, 27 Wilton Crescent. 

Wells, 

William G. Hayter, Esq., 11 Hyde Park Terrace. 
Richard Blakemore, Esq., 15 Regent Street. 

Wenlock, 

Hon. G. Forester, 2 J Charles Street, Berkeley Square. 
James M. Gaskell, Esq., 72 Lower Grosvenor Street. 

Westbury, 
James Wilson, Esq., 15, Hertford Street, May fair. 

Westminster, 

Lieut-General Sir De Lacy Evans, K.C.B., 26 Bryanstone Square. 
Charles Lushington, Esq., 1 Palace Gardens, Bayswater. 

Westmoreland, 

Hon. Henry C. Lowther, 31 Bruton Street. 
W. Thompson, Esq., 12 Whitehall Place. 

Weymouth, 

Colonel W. L. Freestun, 1 1 Charles Street, St. James'. 
Hon. Frederick W. C. Villiers, London. 

Whitby, 
Robert Stephenson, Esq., 34 Gloucester Square, Hyde Park. 

Whitehaven, 
Robert C. Hildyard, Esq., 7 Fig Tree Court, Temple. 

Wigan, 

Hon. Colonel James Lindsay, Haighall, Windsor. 
Ralph A. Thicknesse, Esq., Beech Hill, Wigan. 

Wight, Isle of, 
John Simeon, Esq., Alfred Club, 23 Albemarle Street. 

Wilton, 
Viscount Somerton, 3 Seymour Place, Curzon Street 

Wilts, N. D. 

Walter Long, Esq., 29 Hill Street, Berkeley Square. 
T. H. S. Sotheron, Esq., 51 Eaton Place. 

Wilts, s. D. 

Right Hon. Sydney Herbert, 5 Carlton Gardens. 
John Benett, Esq., 1 George Street, Hanover Square. 

Winchester, 

John B. Carter, Esq., G Whitehall Place. 
Sir J. B. East, Bart., 99 Eaton Square. 



329 

Windsor, 

C>1. MI. -I (it-urge A. Reid, BuUtrodo J*ark, Buckingham. 
Lord John II,iy, Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Wolvrrhumpton, 

Thomas Thoriii-U-y, Esq., 24 Regent Street. 
Thf otktr teat at prctent vacant. 

Woodstock, 
Marquis of Blandford, 3 Wilton Terrace. 

W> . D. 

Captain George Rushout, Carlton Club, 94 Pull Mall. 
John H. Fok-v, Esq., Travellers' Club, 106 Poll Mall. 

Worcester, w. D. 

Hon. LieuU-Gen. H. B. Lygon, 16 Grosvenor Place. 
Fn-di -rii-k W. Knight, Esq., 38 Dover Street. 

Worrester, 

Osnian Ricardo, Esq., 71 Eaton Place. 
Francis Rufford, Esq., 67 St. James' Street. 

Wycombe, 

George H. Dash wood, Esq., 248 Oxford Street. 
Martin T. Smith, Esq., 13 Upper Belgrave Street. 

Yarmouth, 

Joseph Sandars, Esq., Taplow House, Maidenhead. 
Charles E. Rumhold, Esq., 13 Bury Street, St. James'. 

York, E. R. 

Henry Broadlcy, Esq., 3 Charles Street, St. James*. 
Lord Hothani, 7 Hill Street, Berkeley Square. 

York, w. K. 

Viscount Morpcth, 12 Grosvenor Place. 
Richard Cobden, Esq., Manchester. 

York, N. R. 

Edward S. Cayley, Esq., 15 Bryanstone Street. 
Hon. Octavius Duncombe, 24 Arlington Street. 

York, 

John G. Smyth, Esq., 17 Lowudes Square. 
William M. E. Milncr, Esq., 75 Eaton Place, Belgrave Square. 

SCOTLAND. 

Aberdeen, County, 
Hon. Admiral William Gordon, Carlton Club, 94 Pall Moll. 

Aberdeen, 
Captain Arthur D. Fordyce, Bruckley House, Bruckley. 



330 PRESENTATION COPIES, 

Argyll, County, 
Right Hon. Duncan M'Neill, ?3 Great King Street, Edinburgh. 

Ayr, County, 
Alexander Oswald, Esq., 11 Chesham Place, Belgrave Square. 

Ayr, Burghs, 
Lord P. J. C. Stuart, 6 Whitehall Place. 

Banff, County, 
James Duff, Esq., 30 Pall Mall. 

Berwick, County, 
Hon. Francis Scott, Mertoun House, St. Bosvvells. 

Bute, County, 
Right Hon. J. A. S. Wortley, 1 Elm Court, Temple. 

Caithness, County, 
George Traill, Esq., Steven's Hotel, 18 New Bond Street. 

Clackmannan and Kinross, Counties, 
Major-General William Morison, 1 6 Saville Row. 

Dumbarton, County, 
Alexander Smollett, Esq., Cameron House, Dumbarton. 

Dumfries, County, 
Viscount Drumlanrig, Kinmount, Annan. 

Dumfries, Burghs, 
William Ewart, Esq., 6 Cambridge Square. 

Dundee, 
George Duncan, Esq., G Belgrave Street South. 

Edinburgh, County, 
Sir John Hope, Bart., of Craighall, 14 St. James' Place. 

Edinburgh, 

W. Gibson-Craig, Esq., Riccarton, Hermiston. 
Charles Cowan, Esq., Valleyfield, Penicuik. 

Elgin and Nairn, Counties, 
C. L. C. Bruce, Esq., 17 Charles Street, St James'. 

Elgin, Burghs, 
George Skene Duff, Esq., Brookes' Club, 60 St. James' Street. 

Falkirk, Burghs, 
Earl of Lincoln, 19 Whitehall Place. 

Fife, County, 
John Fergus, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Forfar, County, 
Captain Lord J. F. Gordon Hallyburton, Kensington Palace. 

Glasgow, 

John M'Gregor, Esq., 3 Lowndes Square. 
Alexander Hastie, Esq., Adelaide Place, Glasgow. 



TO WHOM 8K 331 



nit Mi-ljrtiml, Reform Club, 104 Pall Mull. 

Ha Couniy, 

H"n ! J7 Chesham Street, Belgrade - 

lladdiiutmi, Burghs, 
Sir H. Ferguson Davic, Bart., 48 Wilton Crescent. 

Inverness, County, 
Henry J. Baillic, Esq., 34 Mortimer Street. 

Inverness, Burghs, 
Alexander Matheaon, Esq., Ardross, Alln- -*. 

Kilmarnock, Burghs, 
Hon. Edward P. Bouverie, 19 Chester Street, Grosvenor Place. 

KiiicunliiK-, County, 
Hon. Lieut. -Gen. H. Arbuthnott, 5 Albany. 

Kirkcaldy, Burghs, 
Lieut.-Col. Robert Ferguson, Raith House, Kirkcaldy. 

Kirkcudbright, County, 
Thomas Maitland, Ksq., 122 George Street, Edinburgh. 

Lanark, County, 
William Lock hart, Esq., 23 Grosvenor Street West. 

Leith, Burghs, 
Right Hon. A Rutherfurd, 9 St. Colme Street, Edinburgh. 

Linlithgow, County, 
George Dundas, Esq., Dundas Castle, South Queensferry. 

Montrosc, Burghs, 
Joseph Hume, Esq., Bryanstone Square. 

Orkney and Shetland, 
Arthur Anderson, EM]., London. 

Paisley, 
A. Hastie, Esq., 5 Rutland Gate, Knightsbridge. 

Mes, County, 
\V. F. Mackenzie, Esq., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 

Perth, County, 
Henry Home Dnimmond, Esq., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 

Perth, 
Right Hon. Fox Maulc, 38 Grosvenor Street 

Renfrew, County, 
Colonel W. Mure, Caldwell, Beitli. 

Ross and Cromarty, 
James Mnthesnn. Esq., Stornoway. 

Roxburgh, County, 
Hon. John E. Elliot, Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 



332 PRESENTATION COPIES, 

Selkirk, County, 
Allan E. Lockhart, Esq., Sudbury Grove, Harrow. 

Stirling, County, 
William Forbes, Esq., Callander House, Falkirk. 

Stirling, Burghs, 
John B. Smith, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Ma... 

St. Andrews, Burghs, 
E. Ellice, jun., Esq., Glenquoich, Invergarry. 

Sutherland, County, 
Sir David Dundas, Bart., 13 King's Bench Walk, Temple. 

Wick, Burghs, 
James Loch, Esq., 12 Albemarle Street. 

Wigton, County, 
Captain John Dalrymple, 3 Chapel Street, Mayfair. 

Wigton, Burghs, 
Sir John M'Taggart, Bart., Ardwell, Stranraer. 



IRELAND. 

Antrim, County, 

Nathaniel Alexander, Esq., 16 New Bond Street. 
Sir Edmund C. W. Macnaghten, Bart., 42 Upper Brook Street. 

Armagh, County, 

Col. Sir William Verner, Bart., 68 Eaton Square. 
Hon. Henry Caulfield, Hockley, Armagh. 

Armagh, 
Lieut.-Col. John D. Rawdon, 3 Great Stanhope Street, Mayfair. 

Athlone, 
William Keogh, Esq., 5 Mountjoy Square West, Dublin. 

Bandon, 
Viscount Bernard, 6 Hyde Park Terrace. 

Belfast, 

Robert J. Tennent, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 
Lord John L. Chichester, 8 St. George's PI., Hyde Park Corner. 

Carlow, County, 

Colonel Henry Bruen, 3 Suffolk Street. 
Captain William B. M'Clintock, R.N., Black Hall, County Louth. 

Carlow, 
John Sadlier, Esq., 5 Great Denmark Street, Dublin. 



To WIloM SENT. 

Carrick Fergus, 
Hon. Captain Wellington H. Cotton, Carlton Club, 04 Pall Mall. 

Cashrl, 
Timothy O'Brien, Esq., Mcrrion Square, Dublin. 

Cavan, County, 

John Young, Esq., 19 Chesham Place. 
Hon. James P. Maxwell, 46 Duke Street, St. James*. 

Clare, County, 

Sir Lucius O'Hrien, Bart., Dromoland, Newmarket-on-Fergus. 
William N. Macnamara, Esq., 1 1 Charles Street, St. James'. 

Clonmell, 
Hon. Cecil J. Lawless, Lyons Castle, Kildare. 

Coleraine, 
John Boyd, Esq., 1 Pull Mall. 

Cork, County, 

Edmund B. Roche, Esq., Trabolgan, Cloyni 1 . 
Maurice Power, Esq., Ringacoltig, Cove. 

Cork, 

William T. Fngan, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 
Daniel Callaghan, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Donegal, County, 

Sir Edmund S. Hayes, Bart., 15 Chesham Street, Belgrave Square. 
Colonel Edward M. Conolly, Payne's Hotel, 52 Jeriuyn Street. 

Down, County, 

Viscount Castlereagh, 127 Park Street, Grosvenor Square. 
Lord Arthur Hill, 21 Hanover Square. 

Downpatrick, 
Richard Kerr, Esq., Portavo, Donaghndee. 

Drogheda, 
Right Hon. Sir William Somervillc, Bart., 8 Lowndcs Street 

Dublin, County, 

James H. Hamilton, Esq., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 
Thomas E. Taylor, Esq., Carlton Club, 94 Pall Mall. 

Dublin, 

Edward Grogan, Esq., 10 Harcourt Street, Dublin. 
John Reynolds, Esq., Dublin-Esker House, Ratlimines, Dublin. 

Dublin University, 

George A. Hamilton, Esq., Hampton Hall, Balbriggan. 
Joseph Napier, Ettq., National Club, 113 Cockspur Street 

Dundalk, 
Charles C. M'Tavish, Esq., London. 



334 PRESENTATION COPIES, 

Dungannon, 
Viscount Northland, 48 Berkeley Square. 

Duugarvan, 
Right Hon. Richard L. Shiel, 73 Eccleston Square. 

Ennis, 
The O'Gorman Mahon, Mahonburgh, County Clare. 

Enniskillen, 
Hon. Captain Henry A. Cole, 1 09, Jermyn Street, St. Jumes'. 

Fermanagh, County, 

Sir Arthur B. Brooke, Bart., 63 St. James' Street. 
Captain Mervyn Archdall, 12 Albany. 

Gal way, County, 

Sir Thomas J. Burke, Bart., 112 Jermyn Street. 
Christopher St. George, Esq., Union Club, Trafalgar Square. 

Gal way, 

Martin J. Blake, Esq., Ballyglunin Park, Dungan. 
Anthony 0'Flahcrty, Esq., Knockbane, Moyeullen. 

Kerry, County, 

Henry A. Herbert, Esq., 3 Grosvenor Crescent. 
Morgan J. O'Connell, Esq., Manchester Street, Portmau Square. 

Kildare, County, 

Marquis of Kildare, 6 Carlton House Terrace. 
Richard S. Bourke, Esq., 29 Norfolk Street, Park Lane. 

Kilkenny, County, 

John Greene, Esq., 4 Charles Street, St. James'. 
Pierce S. Butler, Esq., 3, Queen Square, Westminster. 

Kilkenny, 
Michael Sullivan, Esq., London. 

King's County, 

Hon. Lieut.-Col. J. C. Westenra, Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 
Sir Andrew Armstrong, Bart., 5 Suffolk Street. 

Kinsale, 
Richard S. Guinness, Esq., 4 Park Place, St. Janic-'. 

Leitrim, County, 

Edward K. Tenison, Esq., Brookes' Club, GO St. James' Street. 
Hon. Charles Clements, 2 Grosvenor Square. 

Limerick, County, 

William Monsell, Esq., 76 Eaton Square. 
William S. O'Brien, Esq., United University Club, Pall Mall East. 

Limerick, 

John O'Brien, Esq., 22 Chailcs Street, St. James'. 
The other seat at present cacant. 



Li*burn, 
Sir Horace B. Seymour, 28 St. JamoV Place. 

Londonderry, County, 

iin Theobald Jonen, It. N.. !< Charles .* Jamc'. 

Tlmina* Batoson, Esq., 3 Albany. 

Londonderry, 
Sir Robert Ferguson, Bart., 1<J Suffolk Street. 

Longford, County, 

Muj>r S;iiiiiu'l Blackall, 11 Charles Street, St. Janu--'. 
Hiclmnl M. Fox, Esq., Fox Hall, Rathowen, Longford. 

Louth, County, 

Richard M. Bcllew, Esq., Barmeath, Dunleer. 
Chichestcr Fortcscue, Esq., Alfred Club, 23 Albcmarle Street. 

Mallow, 
Sir C. 0. D. J. Norreys, Bart., Union Club, Trafalgar Square. 

Miiyo, County, 

George H. Moore, Esq., Brookes' Club, 60 St. James' Street. 
R. D. Browne, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Monti i, County, 

Matthew E. Corbally, Esq., 55 Jennyn Street. 
H-nry Grattan, Esq.-, Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Monaghan, County, 

Charles P. Lolie, Esq., 48 Berkeley Square. 
Hon. Thomas V. Dawson, 3 Great Stanhope Street, Mayfair. 

Newry, 
Viscount Newry and Morne, 63 Eaton Place. 

Portarlin^ton, 
Lieut. -Col. Francis P. Dunne, 1 1 Charles Street, St. Junies*. 

Queen's County, 

Hon. Thomas Vescy, Abbey Leix, Queen's Count v. 
John W. Fitzpatrick, Esq., Brookes' Club, 60 St. James' Street. 

Roscommon, County, 

Fitzstephcn French, Esq., 54 Parliament Stn-rt. 
Oliver, D. J. Grace, Esq., Mantua House, Elphin. 

Ross, New, 
John H. Talbot, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Sligo, County, 

William Gore, Esq., 66 Portland Place. 
J. Ffolliott, Esq., 22 Pall Mall. 

Sligo, 
John P. Somcrs, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 



336 PRESENTATION COPIES, 

Tipperary, County, 

Nicholas Maher, Esq., 13 Fitzroy Street. 
Frnncis Scully, Esq., 44 Lincoln's-Inn-Fields. 

Tralee, 
Maurice O'Connell, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 

Tyrone, County, 

Right Hon. Henry L. Corry, 24 Grosvenor Square. 
Lord Claude Hamilton, 16 Eaton Square. 

Waterford, County, 

Nicholas M. Power, Esq., Faithlegg House, Waterford. 
Robert Keating, Esq., Garranlee, Cashel. 

Waterford, 

Thomas Mengher, Esq., Waterford. 
Sir H. W. Barron, Bart., London. 

Westmeath, County, 

Captain W. H. Magan, Army and Navy Club, 20 St. James' Square. 
Sir Percy F. Nugent, Bart., Donore, Multifarnham. 

Wexford, County, 

James Fagan, Esq., Reform Club, 104 Pall Mall. 
H. K. Grogan Morgan, Esq., Johnsto\vn Castle, County Wexford. 

Wexford, 
John T. Devereux, Esq., Wexford. 

Wicklow, County, 

Viscount Milton, 4 Grosvenor Square. 
Sir Ralph Howard, Bart., 17 Belgrave Square. 

Youghal, 
Thomas Chisholm Anstey, Esq., 11 New Square, Lincoln's-Inn. 



LONDON DAILY PAPERS. 



Daily News. 

Globe. 

Morning Advertiser. 

Morning Chronicle. 

Morning Herald. 



Morning Post. 
Public Ledger. 
Standard. 
Sun. 
Times. 



To \V1I\' 






LONDON WKKKLY RAPE 



Atheiiieuni. 

Atla*. 

Bell : London. 

kly Messenger. 
Bell's N 
Britannia. 
Builder. 

Church and ette. 

Circular to Ban!. 
Court Journal. 
Critic. 
Economist. 
Era. 

Examiner, 
(inurdian. 

Illustrated London N 
Inquirer. 

Jcrrold's Newspaper. 
John Bull. 

Journal of Commerce. 
Literary (i:i/..-tle. 
London Commercial Record. 
London Mercury. 
Lloyd'- ' q>er. 

-t 



Murk i res*. 

Mercantile Journal. 

Merchant. 

New Zealand Journal. 

News of the World. 

Nonconformi-4. 

Northern Star. 

: v.-r. 
Punch. 

Railway Gazer 
Railway Journal. 
Railway Record. 
Railway Chronicle. 
Railway Times. 
Satirist. 
Spectator. 

Standard of Freedom. 
Sunday Time*. 
Tablet. 
Universe. 
Watchman. 
Weekly Chronicle. 
Weekly Dispatch. 
Weekly Times. 
UVsleyan. 



ENGLISH COUNTRY PAPERS. 



Banbury Guardian. 

Hath Chronicle. 

Bath and Cheltenham Gazette. 

Bath Herald. 

Bath Journal. 

Bedford Mercury. 

Bedford Times. 

Berkshire Chronicle. 

Berwick Advei 

Berwick and Kelso Warder. 



Piriningham Advertiser. 
Birmingham Gazette. 
Birmingham Journal. 
Blackburn Standard. 
Bohon Chronicle. 
Bolton Free 1'rott. 
Boston Herald. 
Bradford Gazette. 
Bradford Obscn- r. 
Bridge water Tii 



1 






PRESENTATION COPIES, 



Brighton Gazette. 
Brighton Guardian. 
Brighton Herald. 
Bristol Gazette. 
Bristol Journal. 
Bristol Mercury. 
Bristol Mirror. 
Bristol Times. 
Buck's Advertiser. 
Buck's Chronicle. 
Buck's Gazette. 
Buck's Herald. 
Bury Post. 
Bury Herald. 
Buxton Herald. 
Camhridge Advertiser. 
Cambridge Chronicle. 
Cambridge Independent. 
Canterbury Journal. 
Carlisle Journal. 
Carlisle Patriot. 
Chehnstbrd Chronicle. 
Cheltenham Chronicle. 
Cheltenham Examiner. 
Cheltenham Free Preps. 
Cheltenham Journal. 
Cheltenham Looker-on. 
Chester Chronicle. 
Chester Couraut. 
Cornwall Royal Gazette. 
Cornwall Weekly Times. 
County Chronicle. 
County Herald. 
Coventry Herald. 
Coventry Standard. 
Cumberland Pacquet. 
Darlington Times. 
Derby Mercury. 
Derby Reporter. 
Derbyshire Advertiser. 



Derbyshire Courier. 
Devizes Gazette. 
Devonport Independent. 
Devonport Telegraph. 
Devonshire Chronicle. 
Doncaster Chronicle. 
Doncaster Gazette. 
Dorset Chronicle. 
Dover Chronicle. 
Dover Telegraph. 
Durham Advertiser. 
Durham Chronicle. 
Essex Herald. 
Essex Standard. 
Exeter Flying Post. 
Exeter Gazette. 
Exeter Western Luminary, 
Exeter Western Times. 
Falmouth Packet. 
Fleetwood Chronicle. 
Gateshead Observer. 
Gloucester Chronicle. 
Gloucester Journal. 
Halifax Guardian. 
Hampshire Advertiser. 
Hampshire Chronicle. 
Hampshire Guardian. 
Hampshire Independent. 
Hampshire Telegraph. 
Harrowgate Advertiser. 
Hereford Journal. 
Hereford Times. 
Hertford County IV 
Hertford Mercury. 
Hull Advertiser. 
Hull Counties Herald. 
Hull Packet. 
Ipswich Express. 
Ipswich Journal. 
Kendnl Mercurv. 



To WHOM SI 






Kent Herald. 
Kentish Gazer 
Kentish Independent. 
KIT' ry. 

Kentish Obsen 
Lancaster Gar.< 

inn. 
rier. 

Intellect 
Leeds Mercury. 
Leeds Times. 
Leicester Adver 
-ter Chronicle. 
< ster Journul. 

-ter .Mercury. 
Lincoln Ailvi-rtiser. 
Lincoln Mercury. 
Lincoln Standard. 
Lincoln Times. 
Lincolnshire t'lironiclc. 
Liverpool Advertiser, G< 
Liverpool Albion. 
Liverpool Chronicle. 
Liverpool Courier. 
Liverpool Journal. 
Liverpool Mail. 

;<ool Mercury. 
Liverpool Standard 
Liverpool Weekly N 
Liverpool Times. 
Lynn Advert!- 
M:irele>t'u'ld Chronicle. 
Macclcsficld Courier. 

Mllill-tOlM ' 

.M.ii-Utonc Journul. 
Manclii -ti-r A '. 
Manchester ConriiT. 

..unincr. 
Main! 
Mai.> lardioii. 



Manchester Tiine. 
Midland Counties Herald. 
Mmimonthsliire Mea<-n. 
Monmouthshire Mrrlin. 
Newcastle Advert is 

i -tie Chronicle. 
-N.- \vcotle Courant. 

tstlc Guardian, 
stlc Journal. 
Norfolk Chronicle. 
Norfolk News. 
North Devon Advertiser. 
North Devon Journal. 
Northampton Herald. 
Northampton Mercury. 
Norwich Mercury. 
Nottinghamshire Guardian. 
Nottingham Journal. 
Nottingham Mercmy. 
Nottingham Review. 
Oxford Chronicle. 
Oxford Journal. 
Oxford Herald. 
l'en/.ancc Gazette. 
Plymouth Herald. 
Plymouth Journal. 
Plymouth Time*. 
Poole and Dorset Herald. 
Preston Chronicle. 
Preston Guardian. 
Preston Pilot. 
Heading Mercury. 
Rochester Gazette. 
Salisbury Herald. 
Salisbury Journal. 
Scarborough Ga/ 
Scarborough Herald. 
Sheffield I ndependent. 
Sheffield Iris. 
Sheffield Mercury. 



340 



PRESENTATION COPIES. 



Sheffield Times. 
Sherborne Journal. 
Shcrborne Mercury. 
Shrewsbury Chronicle. 
Shrewsbury Journal. 
Shropshire Conservative. 
Somerset County Gazette. 
Somerset County Herald. 
Staffordshire Advertiser. 
Staffordshire Mercurv. 
Stockport Advertiser. 
Stockport Mercury. 
Suffolk Chronicle. 
Sunderland Herald. 
Sunderland Times. 
Surrey Gazette. 
Surrey Mercury. 
Surrey Standard. 
Sussex Advertiser. 
Sussex Express. 
Taunton Courier. 
Ten Towns Messenger. 



Tonjuay Directory. 
Wakefield Journal. 
Warwick Advertiser. 
Wensleydale Advertiser. 
West Briton. 

West of England Conservative. 
West Kent Guardian. 
Weston-super-Mare Gazette. 
Westmoreland Gazette. 
Westonian Mercurv. 
Whitehaven Herald. 
Wiltshire Standard. 
Wiltshire Independent. 
Windsor and Eaton Express. 
Wolverhampton Chronicle. 
Worcestershire Chronicle. 
Worcester Herald. 
Worcester Journal. 
York Courant. 
York Herald. 
Yorkshire Gazette. 
Yorkshireman. 



SCOTTISH PAPERS. 



Aberdeen Banner. 
Aberdeen Herald. 
Aberdeen Journal. 
Arbroath Guide. 
Ayr Advertiser. 
Ayr Observer. 
Ayr Agriculturist. 
Banff Advertiser. 
Banffshire Journal. 
Dumfries Courier. 
Dumfries Herald. 
Dumfries Standard. 
Dundee Advertiser. 
Dundee Courier. 
Dundee Warder. 
Edinburgh Advertiser. 



Edinburgh Courant. 
Edinburgh Evening Post. 
Edinburgh Mercury. 
Edinburgh Scotsman. 
Edinburgh Weekly Register. 
Edinburgh Witness. 
Elgin Courant. 
Elgin Courier. 
Fife Herald. 
Fifeshire Advertiser. 
Fifesbire Journal. 
Galloway Advertiser. 
Glasgow Guardian. 
Glasgow Examiner. 
Glasgow Times. 
Glasgow Chronicle. 



To WHOM SI 



311 



Glasgow Constitutional. 
Glasgow Coin 



Glasgow Herald. 
Glasgow Reformer's (Ja/.eiie. 
1 ck Adve: 

< tlts.-rver. 
Inverness Courier. 
Inverness Journal. 
John O'Groat's Journal. 

Chronicle. 
8 Mail. 



Kilmarnock Journal. 
Kilniurnock Herald. 
Montrosc Revieu. 
Montrosc Standard. 
North British Mail. 
North ot Scotland <J;i/.ctU-. 
Perthshire Advert;- 
IVrtli Constitutional. 
1'iTth Courier. 
HiMit'ro\v>.liii.' Aihi-itix i. 
Ross-shire Advertiser. 
Stirliiig Journal. 
Stirling Observer. 



1K1S1I I'Al'KHS. 



Anglo-Celt. 
Armagti Guardian. 
Athlone Sentinel. 
Halinu Advert 
Bally shannon Herald. 
Banner of UN: 
Hi-Hast Chronicle. 
Belfast Itr-i-u-r. 
Belfast News Letter. 

-t Nortliern Whig. 
Belfast 1'rotrstant Journal. 
Carlow Sentinel. 
1 Journal. 
1 .line Chronicle. 
Cork Constitution. 
Cork Kxaniincr. 
Ueportor. 

.ipatriek Recorder^ 
Droghcda Argus. 
Droglieda Conservative. 
Dublin I 1 '. veiling Fiennan. 
Dublin Mvenin- Herabl. 
Dublin Kveiiing Mail. 
Dublin Kvi ninp Packet. 
Dublin Evening Post. 



Dublin Freeman's Journal. 
Dublin General Advc 
Dublin Pilot. 
Dublin Warder. 
Dublin Weekly Freeman. 
Dublin Weekly Register. 
Dublin World.' 
Knuiskillen Chronicle. 
Fermanagh Reporter. 
Gal way Mercury. 
Gal way Vindicator. 
Kerry Kvei.ing Tost. 
Kerry Examiner. 
Kilkenny Journal. 
Kilkenny Moderator. 
King's County Chronicle. 
Leinster Express. 
Limerick Chronicle. 
Limerick Examiner. 
Limerick Reporter. 
Londonderry Journal. 
Londonderry Sentinel. 
Londonderry Standard. 
Longford Journal. 
Mayo Constitution. 



PRESENTATION COPIES, 



Mavo Telegraph. 
Meath Herald. 
Monaghan Standard. 
Xenagh Guardian. 
Xcwry Examiner. 
Xcwry Telegraph. 
Northern Standard. 
Roscommon Gazette. 
Roscomraon Journal. 
Sligo Champion. 
Sligo Journal. 
Tipperary Constitution. 
Tipperary Free Press. 
Tipperary Vindicator. 



Tralce Chronicle. 
Tuam Herald. 
Tyrawly Herald. 
Tyrone Constitution. 
Ulster Gazette. 
Waterford Chronicle. 
Waterford Freeman. 
Waterford Mail. 
Waterford News Letter. 
Western Star. 
Westmcath Guardian. 
Westmeath Independent. 
Wexforcl Guardian. 
Wexford Independent. 



WELSH PAPERS. 



Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian. 
Cambrian. 

Carmarthen Journal. 
Carnarvon Herald. 
North Wales Chronicle. 



Pembrokeshire Herald. 
Tenby Chronicle. 
Silurian. 

Swansea Herald. 
Welshman. 



CHANNEL ISLAND PAPERS. 



Guernsey Comet. 
Guernsey Star. 
Guernsey Sun. 
Jersey Chronicle. 
Jersey British Press. 
Jersey Herald. 
Jersey News. 



Jersey Patriot. 

Jersey Times. 

Manx Liberal. 

Manx Sun. 

Manx Guardian. 

Moua Herald Douglas. 

Times Douglas. 



FRENCH PAl'KKS. 



Le Bien Public. 

Le Constitutioniirl. 

La Democratic Pacifi<jue. 

Le Droit. 

Galignani's Messenger. 

Lc Journal dcs Debats. 



Le Moniteur. 
Le National. 
La Presse. 
La Reformc. 
Le Siecle. 
L'Univers. 



MONTHLY PERIODIC,* 



orth's Mn- 
an. 
r's Magazine. 

my. 

Hlai-kv ja/ine. 

British Magazine. 



Gentleman's Magazine. 

Hood's Magazinr. 
Jen-old'* 

Lo\\e'. Edinburgh Mai::i 
Metropolitan Ma-.M/.ine. 

Ne\\ Monthly Maja/inr. 



Dnblin I'niviTsity A' Oxford uml Cambridge R-vii-w. 

Farn Sharped London Mai::i7.ine. 

Frasor's M Tail's EdinlmiL'h Ma^a/ino. 

AI;TKI;I.V PERIODICALS. 

Briti>li Fain IT'S Ma^sr// I North American Iir.ic\\. 
British Quarti-rly Hcvicu. North British Revit-\v. 

Dublin Hrvii-w. I'rosju-rtivt- Hrvicvv. 

Bdinborgb lU-vicu . Quarterly Review. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

Baildon, H. (.'.. KM|., TrraMin-r to the Prize Argument Competition. 
Brnnoch, K., K-(|., Chairman of the Anti-gold-law-leau'iK 1 , F, union. 
Black, The Ri^ht Hon. Adam, Lord I'rovo^t of Edinburgh. 
Carlyle, Thomas, Esq., Author of" Past and Present," London. 
Chamhci>, William. KMJ., publisher, Edinburgh. 
Chambers, Robert, Esq., publisher, Edinburgh. 
Dickens, Charles, Esq., Author of " Nicholas NickU-by." Lnnilmi. 
KIIHTJ-OII, Ralph \Valdo, Esq., Author ami Lecturrr, America. 
Hull, Spencer T.. Eq., Author of "The Forester's Offering" Lend. 
Hallam, Samurl Jaim'-, K-j.. .Mi-rchant, Canton. 
.I, jun., ENJ., Merchant, London. 
Jom-- Ksi|., Chartist, London. 

Library, Tin-, of the Edinburgh IMiilosophical Institution. 
Library, Thr, of th !t:Club, St. James' Square, London. 

Library, Messrs. Gnlijzimni's, French ami Foreign, Paris. 
M'Cormac. HiMirv. lv-|., .M.l>.,and Author of various vvork^ !' 
Mitchell, John. K-I., Revolutionist, Bermuda. 

v ^'ork. four copii-s, for the principal Reviews. 
. William, Esq., Engineer, Dublin. 
Sharp, William. K.-.J., Bookseller, London. 

Shorlrrdc, Am' Editor of ' The Cliina >. :kong. 

Tnylor, John. Esq^ Author of various works on Money, London. 



344 PRESENTATION COPIES. 

RECAPITULATION. 

His Royal Highness Prince Albert, 

Select Members of the House of Peers, 

Members of the House of Commons, 656 less f> vacant. 

London Daily Papers, ...... 

London Weekly Papers, ...... 

English Country Papers, ...... 

Scottish Papers, ...... 

Irish Papers, ........ 

Welsh Papers, ........ 

Channel Island Papers, ...... 

French Papers, ....... 

Monthly Periodicals, ....... 

Quarterly Periodicals, ....... 

Miscellaneous, ........ 

Total, . 



N.B. It is stated on pages 273 and 289 that a copy of this 
work will be presented to at least five hundred conductors of the 
public press, and on page 285, that in all about twelve hundred 
copies will be immediately placed in the hands of the public, by 
means of gratuitous presentation. On procuring, however, as ac- 
curate a list as can be obtained of all the existing Newspapers and 
Periodicals, it appears that, after striking out those which are 
exclusively devoted to particular subjects, such as religion, art, 
science, the army and navy, horticulture, sporting, fashions, music, 
and the like, there are not quite so many as five hundred remain- 
ing, that is to say, of any importance. A list of twelve hundred 
recipients of the promised copies has, however, been fully made 
up, as per the foregoing partictilamation and abstract, and the 
books themselves will be duly forwarded to their respective des- 
tinations, with as little delay as possible, principally through the 
instrumentality of Messrs. Adam and Charles Black of Edinburgh, 
and Messrs. Longman and Company of London, the publishers, 
who have kindly undertaken to facilitate their distribution. 

THE END. 



KDlXhUKOH: T. (OVSTAHI.K, PRINTER TO V.KK M.AJK.sTV. 



CATALOGUE OF WORKS 

rUBUSHED BY 

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK, EDINBUIK.il 



. I.A-Il I! I) 1ND1 X. 



ATLASES AND GEOGRAPHY. 

UjBl 

l AOaofU>. Work! . 

I AtW of MedOT O.oTaphy 4 
Alia* of HanalaBd . 4 

*aB- CWDr.h*n AUa. 7 

Bra M.BMt 1'nlr.iml Oorai>hy 13 
l-ayiaml CMcrapfiy II 
Tnllft Fhyrioml Owiaphy . n 



ENCYCLOP>tDIAS AND 

DICTIONARIES. 
1* Italian add B*pk TtlnMiMij 




MMMhfi Madtaal DMtauwy 
Mate. Bran nd HalbJI l-nlnrii 
If twtt-| rMeh IMMtonary 
Onraldl Bjrwitectel Mett 



ml Geography U 
I* 

. 14 

STXT Knro 



UTERARY AND SCIENTIFIC 
TREATISES, 



KirUILIlUID ntOM TUB BNCTC. MUT. 



Hontmttur*. by NUI 
Bow Md Ik* Bond 

(kMtal). by Train 




OTHER SCIENTIFIC WORKS. 
labanh Kw FillnnilLl Jownal 



WaMaw-. Mem . 19 

WHfcaaofSlTniMliii . it 

GUIDE BOOKS, IM. FOR TOURISTS. 

BlMkl Fletamqu* ToorM of fcnciaDd and 

W Oirifctetb. * 

Ptctarvftj IM ToorM of riooAbod A 

.. Kooftomtcal TourM of HralUnd J 

OnM* throocB Bdtabnsh . 
,. Gutd. throajh Olamnw 

',', CMtte IlliutraUoD. 

.. PMttiMmwGitldtlaSaaik Walai t 

BUrfcl PWAarTof rrttotaufc 17 

TRAVELLING MAPS. 
Black-. Trawllln, Map. of fecteadaod Wata. 



Map. of Nuftii and Nxitb W 
.. MapofUMConUnaU 
,. Map of India . 

HISTORY. 
Btalrl BMory of Ih. Wa 
- 




KMo". Hbory of 
loOhi-* >nJil itotory 

ITM. 




CLASSIFIED IXDEX. 



EDUCATION. 



Page 



Baretti's Italian and English Dictionary 

Black's School Atlas 

Boyer and Deletanville's French and English 

Dictionary 

Buchanan's Psalms > 

Canon's Phwdrus 
Dutruc's I/Kcho . 

,, French Grammar 
Gardener's Latin and English Dictionary 
Gibson's Petit Fablier 

,, Eucropius 

Hetherington's History of Borne 
Kellaud's Algebra 

,. Demonstrative Mathematics 
Kitto's History of Palestine 
Lees' Fractional Arithmetic . 

., Arithmetic, Algebra, and Geometry 
Lindsay's High School Vocabulary 
Logan's Collectanea Minora 
Martin's Seaman's Arithmetic 
Moore's Greek Grammar, by Tate 
Nugent'* French Dictionary 
Oswald's Etymological Dictionary 
Etymological Manual 
Grammar . 

Pillans' Eclone Ciceronian* 

Classical Geography . 
on the Principles of Teaching 
on Classical Education > 

Poetic Headings 
Simpson on Education 
Tytler's History of .Scotland 
Veitch's Irregular Greek Verbs 
Wallace's Conic Sections and Geometrical 
Theorems . . 18 

MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 

BallingaH's Military Surgery . 4 

Bell's Institutes of Surgery . 4 

Christisou's Dispensatory . 7 

,, on Poisons . 7 

,, on the Kidneys . 7 

Cooper's Surgical Dictionary . 8 

Craigie's Practice of Physic . 8 

Pathological Anatomy . 8 

,, Elements of Anatomy . 8 

Dick's Manual of Veterinary Science . 7 

Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal 9 

,, Pharmacopoeia . 9 

Fvfe's Anatomy . . 10 

Hooper's Medical Dictionary . II 

Knox's Anatomist's Instructor . 19 

Macaulay's Medical Dictionary . 13 

Manual) on Soldiers . . 14 

Miller's Principles of Surgery . 14 

,, Practice of Surgery . 14 

RoberUon's Colloquia de Morbis 16 

Syme on Diseases of the Rectum . 17 

T null's Medical Jurisprudence . 18 

NATURAL HISTORY. 

Audubon's American Ornithology . 8 

,, Synopsis of the Birds of America 4 
Azara's Natural History of the Quadrupeds 

of Paraguay . . 4 

Fleming on Mollusca and Shell Fish 1O 

ParoeU's Fishes of the Frith of Forth . 15 
Hhaw on the Growth of Salmon . 17 

Wemerian Natural History Society Memoirs 19 
Wilson's Treatise on Quadrupediand W hales, 

Birds, fishes, and Insects . 19 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Page 



Brown on Asylums 

Clerk's Naval' Tactics . 8 

Correspondence between Burns and Clarinda 8 

Garden's Interest Tables . . 10 

Hume's Life, by Burton . 7 

Hume's Letters . . 11 

Literature, on the Progress of . 13 
Marshall on Enlisting and Pensioning of 

Soldiers . . 14 

Matthew's Emigration Fields . 14 

on Naval Timber . 14 

Reid's Plea for Woman . . 16 

Stevenson's Account of Skerryvore 17 

Stratton's Gaelic Derivations . 17 

WarUlaw's Sermons . 18 

Watteau's Designs . . 19 

\V ii'n holt's Somnambulism . 19 

PHILOSOPHY. 

Brown's Lectures on Ethics . 6 

Philosophy of the Mind 6 
Bushnan's Philosophy of Instinct and Reason 7 

Leslie's Natural and Chemical Philosophy 12 

Mackintosh's Ethical Philosophy . 12 

Simpson's Philosophy of Education 17 

POETRY AND FICTION. 

Aytoun's (Sir Robert) Poems . 4 

Edinburgh Tales . . 10 
Elliot ( Ebeuezer), the Corn-Law Rhymer's 

Poems . . .9 
Glassford's Italian Poets . 10 
Lauder's ( Sir Thomas Dick) Highland Ram- 
bles and Legends . . 12 
Miller's scenes and Legends . 14 
Nlcoll's Poems . . 15 
Poetry, Romance, and Rhetoric, by Moir 

and Spalding . . 14 

Susan Hopley . . 17 

Thomson's Seasons, by Gibson . 18 

POLITICAL ECONOMY. 

Bethune's Lectures on Political Economy 4 

Gray's Social System - 1 1 

,, Remedy for the Distress of Nations 11 
M'Culloch's Principles of Political Economy 13 

Muuel's Europe in 1840 . . 14 

Ramsay on the Distribution of Wealth . 16 

Political Discourses . 16 
Smith's Wealth of Nations, by J. B. M'CuI- 

loch . . 17 

RURAL AFFAIRS AND RURAL 
SPORTS. 

Cleghom's Agriculture . 

t -i nan's Library 14 
Neill's Fruit, Flower, and kitchen Gardening 15 
The Horse and the Hound 

The Rod and the Gun . . 10 

The Shooter's Handbook . 17 



TRAVELS. 

Bennett's Account of South Australia . 4 

Forbes' Travels through the Alps . 10 

Wilson's Voyage round the Coast of Scotland 19 



CATALOGUE OF WORKS 

riBI.IMlID BT 

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK. 



ALEXANDER -AN ABRIDCEMENTOFTHEACTS OFTHE PARLIAMENTS 
oTKOTLAMD from tte Bli at Jam** Ma I4M to tte ftttai to 17*7. milling i***tm 
UMobobHeott Act> ROW In fun. >ndwr,wllti Note, and B^traon. By WUtemlloMdv. 
W.8. (It) nninmiiliH-n iif Itii "niir I Rojral ITO, (It, buard*. 

ALBXANDKR.-ADIGESTOFTHENEWBANKRUPT ACT FOR SCOTLAND. 
wtta a Hi.i Atji* Hi. laMaralng tte Act Uatlf. Praottml Forma, <to. Intaoatd tor Ite 
f *>! aWfcaatera.MwWl a* tec ttet of tte LalPi >a n. By WUIUm WiinWr, 
W.rt. fiinl mtiim. lajii ll mi niliijil Boya! fro, Ik. boanfc. 

ALEXANDER -AN ABRIDGEMENT OF THE ACTS OF SEDERUNT OF 
Uw LOBM of tof.NCIL.wJ HIMIIOM. from UM ImMtattoa of U> Court ID IMf to Uw pr- 



. UM wkak Ad* now in fora rtUtliu 

IMU7 Cevitt. 8brrUT Onki- FM. Pnenntan- Ft**, &c. WUh Mote* nd lUm-mxM. By 
WlUm AteunWr. W.B. ( WIU UM VMUI piinlUaD of UM Cooit wd Un of FKmky.^ 
Bo7l If o, !>. boknk. 

AI.BXANDKR. -SUPPLEMENT TO ABRIOGEMENT OF THE ACTS OF 
0EDXRVITT i wvlBMnc b Artt fr.m> l*h Jul 7 1887 to Mlb DMnlr I MI, wtth MatMud 
l*liii By Wintam Atoxwdtr, W.8. JU>,) go, 7. Od. bau*. 

TIM CooH npmi** ilfly of UM pn>|MMd work, not doubting It will to prrptnd wita UM 
MM mn a4 iiMirary M ocmrl)r." Loo Paauarrli Ciaui'i Lrmau 

ALBXAVDFR CHART OF THE PROCEEDINGS IN A SEQUESTRATION 

main UM Ac* M tad < Victoria, tap. 41 i wltk Ml'PPLEMKKT. cantatata* Fortn. of A- 
darMi by OratfHon, Mhwkn of Mrrtmci, th. Act tottf, and eoptoot Ind. By Wllaam 
jHiiAr. TT n l*ao, *. dott. TIM Ckwt any to aad (tpantaly. QMtd .. cr to ob 



AI.EXAKDER.-ANALYSIS OF TH E SEVEN RECENT STATUTES ON CON 

wm..f, r A- T ..i. J ~--H.i- t ih- irn^.~t ppin-irtf FORMS 

of UM WriMaad laamnmm taroy tBtfii)ci< ttecond Edttion, Kau I l. Boyal (TO, loi. 



ALEXANDER -RULES AND FORM? FOR DRAWING. NEGOCIATING. AND 
BEttJVKUIXi rAVMKNTof lUl.LSof F.Xrll A.NGC and PROM1MORY KOTE8. 9* 
Wlttam Al*aadcr, W.8. Po* tw>. m. *L board*. 



ANDERSON -GUIDE TO THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS OFSCOTLAND. 
Inclixfint OrkMyandBctaVkl: daKt<pM* e/lbrir ttcvmrr, MalMtwi, AMtonWa*, aod Katat- 
rat HMorr; wtth numrr- HMorlcal and TradWoml Koltc**; Map, Table* of MUm I, 




a5tta.7i.taa. I. M. 

Tn TIM Irj (to a rnww of " BmilhaH. Ml Faith and Fatar**r) dtrland " AadmoBC 

BlfBtandr* laianinrilTj nptrlor to ite otter aiQIira Ootd* Books. 

AUDUBON.-ORNITHOLOGICAL BIOGRnPHY. 
ant of tte HabMi of tte Bird* of tte TaJM 
i oftte oo>ctt rrpnanatd In Ite work inlttlil " Tte Bid* of 

P Royal aro. 



Ora Aiinaal of tte HabUaof tte Bird* of tte Tnitod Batawof AawrMa; aeeonnaib^by 

rA ta- 



IwaMi dvttaiaattoa* of AaMttaM Bcaacfr and MaBMff*. Bv Jote) JABM* 
I wlakbraTtaciaB Wood, anilaail, 



CATALOGUE OF WORKS 



AUDUBON. A SYNOPSIS OF THE BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 
By John James Audubon, F. R. 8S. L. and ., &c. &e. &c. lioyal Bvo, 12s. cloth. 

AYTOUN. THE POEMS OF SIR ROBERT AYTOUN. 

From a Manuscript in poswssiin of the Editor, entitled, " The Poem of that worthy Gentle- 
man, Sir Robert Aytoun, Knight, Secretary to Anna and Mary, Queens of Great Britain," &c. 
One volume, with a Memoir of the Author, and an Introduction to the Poetry of the Period, by 
Charles Roger, Esq. of Dunino. lllustrati-U with a Genealogical Tree of the Family of Aytoun 
of Kinaldie, a Monument of the Author in Westminster Abbey, and a Glossary of Scotticisms. 
Post 8vo, 6s. cloth. 

AZARA. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE QUADRUPEDS OF PARAGUAY 

AND THK RIVER LA PLATA, translated from the Spanish of Don Felix de Aiara, with a 
Memoir of the Author, a Physical Sketch of the Country, and numeroJs Notes. By W. Perce- 
val Hunter, I'sq., F. G. 3. Z. S., &c., Member of the Geological Society of France. First vol. 
(all that is published) 8vo, with a Map of Paraguay and Buenos Ayres, 10s. 6d. cloth. 
"Azara's Memoirs are invaluable. His descriptions are not only accurate but masterly." 
SWAIXSON. 

" Don Felix de Azaraa ecrit deux excellent ouvrages sur 1'histoire nature-lie du Paraguay." 
Cuvm. 

BALLINGALL. OUTLINES OF MILITARY SURGERY. 

Bv Sir George Ballingall, M. D., F. R. C. S. E., Surgoon to the Queen, Regius Professor of Mi- 
litary Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, &c. &c. Third Edition, 8vo, pp. 568, 148. cloth. 
" A work which ought to be in the hands of every naval and military medical officer." BRITISH 
USD FOEEIGM MEDICAL REVIEW. 

BARETTI. ITALIAN AND ENGLISH DICTIONARY. 

Accompanied by an Italian Grammar by Giuseppe Baretti. Eighth Edition, corrected and 
enlarged, by Charles Thomson, 2 vote. Bvo, 26s. 

BELL. INSTITUTES OF SURGERY. 

Arranged in the order of the Lectures delivered in the University of Edinburgh. By Sir Charles 
Bell, K.G. H.,F. R. S3. 1. and E., M. D., Gott., Professor of Surgery in the University of Edin- 
burgh, Consulting Surgeon to the Hospital, &c. &c. Two vote, post 8o, las. cloth. 

BENNETT. ACCOUNT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, 

HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE, founded on the experience of a Three Years' Residence 
in that Colony. By J. F. Bennett. Small 8vo, 2s. cloth. 

BETHUNE. POLITICAL ECONOMY. 

Explained and Enforced in a Series of Lectures. By Alexander Bethune, Labourer, Author of 
" Tales and Sketches of the Scottish Peasantry," and John Bethune, a Fifeshire Forester. 
12mo, 48. cloth. 

BLACK'S ATLASES. 

BLACK'S GENERAL ATLAS OFTHE WORLD. 

Containing sixty -one Folio Maps, engraved on Steel, in the first style of the Art, by Sidney 
Hall, Hughes, and others, with Geographical Descriptions, Statistical Tables, and an Index of 
all the names occurring in the several Maps, amounting to 57,000, with their Latitude and 
Longitude, and the number of the Map in which they will be found. Hew Edition, with nu- 
merous improvements and additions, L.2, 16s. strongly and elegantly half bound in morocco, 
with gilt leaves. This Atlas, already favourably known by the large 'circulation of the former 
Edition, is unsurpassed, either in accuracy or beauty of execution, by any work of its class, while 
in cheapness it is altogether unrivalled. 

" Large enough to be distinct, without being so large as to be unwieldy ; it has all that any one 
can require fir general use, and all that could be introduced, without making it too bulkv or too 
expensive, and so counterbalance its principal intention." CHUECH or ENGLA.ND QUAETEELY "Rxv. 

BLACK'S SCHOOL ATLAS OF MODERN GEOGRAPHY. 

An entirely new collection of Maps, drawn by \V. Hughes, F. R. G. S., Professor of Geography 
in the College (or Civil Engineers ; and engraved on steel in the first style of art ; with an Index 
of all the names contained in the work, exhibiting the Latitude and* Longitude of each, and a 
reference to the Map In which it may be found. The Maps of Royal Quarto size, in Bvo, 11*. 6d. 
bound. 
" The best Atlas of Modern Geography that has as yet fallen in our way ; it Is at once a duty and 

pleasure to recommend it." ENGLISH JODKKAL or EDI-CATION, May 1847. 

BLACK'S COUNTY ATLAS OF SCOTLAND, 

containing Man of all the Counties in their Parochial and District Divisions, with all the Rail- 
ways, Places of Historical and Legendary Note, Memoranda of Battles and Former Boundaries, 
General Map of .Scotland, and a Series of eight Historical Maps, exhibiting the Geography of 
the Country from the 1st to the 1Mb Century. To which are added, Descriptions of Scotland 
and each of the separate Maps, and a complete Index to all the Parishes, showing respectively 
their Population as In 1M1, the County, Presbytery, and Synod in which each is situated, and 
the Post Town. Quarto, coloured. Sis. bound. 



I I III .l.siIKO BT ADAM I U BLACK. 



BLACKS GUIDE-BOOKS, &e. 

BLArKjSplCTURESQUE TO^IST^W^SgOTLANO^ 

I n KnlMii lldb> Jib** J td*iaia it* Oaati inn mi Vhmrf Ik* 

imrj -a Wadd>tl| adanaliiliiry. rm>tf*m. nminHad liiji I. 
Uatiifc *>!! MlaM.>.W.>lk. 

-Aa*artra **. waal a Oulii na-abj|>b. *, ll**lla 
HM< tow* /p*r r >Mtk to !M> brfbavaaaM* hi aajfc baaatod ha* IBM 
and bh.rtal *. M wkfcjk f^uln. mod U*. Me HllllllM n - AlM 

BLACK'S ECONOMICAL TOURIST OF SCOTLAND. 
COM**** M Mm* Tnntltac Mtp u>d lltamrr. wttfe OM 




BB llM 

BLACK'S TOURIST'S MEMORIAL OF SCOTLAND. 

AlWfte* <f TvMty Tim of PtctamqM loMMrr Md Oili>lm !. to. FkMT 



mftm. Pram. Dvnui*, Ream CBVAML. and Ik* bath* af TATKN. TH. tmuoo, aad I muo- 

Tb*' LJiil'af Arthtt hnl.ln Ik* aaaM*of LEITCR. HORATIO M'CTJLLOCH. D. O. HILL. 
MO.XTAOrF. CTABIJCT, Ik* RT. JOH5 THObblON. and otkm not Uai ilbalagahhn) 

Tk* KnTfin an *iiBid In Ik* blgbial HjU of wbkk Ik* art to oapaM*. W. M 



u *nmM In Ik* bleb** HjW of whkh Ik* art to (mbkh W. Miun. 
mmai, Fucaarr, Q]Ui, and Barur, r unoof Ik* Eafnvtn o **l i 
whil* JACOB*. LAVMU*. Joa TOIJ. (I. WILLIAM, and BMJOTOT. bin iint Ik* 

Vfcnwoo Wood. Th* prkM I* uauMallr modnmtr, erra M Hnw murkabl* for UM TrW<r 
ofelM^pabUimtica.: and th* portablUly oflki fcrrn neoauMod* tlM wtk In BartinW 
Mwn*f to Uw (Mnliao aftke t-ne tnnUw. 

BLACK'S CELTIC ILLUSTRATIONS. 

UUomphte Pitati lipi^iutlin FaU Laftk FWrmn. of a JUjhUnd Cairf-ClM Ma*. 
IU ud u*kd Flprr-Ckui OncMMkTyraB 7^Mt* by ft. R. M'lw. &q. MM 




BLACK-8 GUIDE THROUGH GLASGOW; 

AmacMtaTbn. Walki; wHk a Planof Ik* Cj. aad a Map of Ik* UbborhMd 
aUrny. Ik* fnln tanaji and U. Fw Port Raadi ta*wB Ik* CHkM. tkfid KdM 



' irini Km U niiaji trli tilaulf i In-iir 1~ ". - * --- " y- "m nilii mil 
Ml ktaMrtf at ben* In ntrj put of H. wttk Ike rcononilcal Cold* la bte poe*.--rntiaiia 



wttk oatfbl Mafa.-- 

BLACK'S PICTURESQUE GUIDE TO THE ENGLISH LAKES. 

li iliiiam Ear on Ik* GM|<T of tb> DMrtd, 07 Joba PbllUp*. r. R. B. O.L., 

hi 




la a oaal peek* vobiaa*. *k Mk. 
Ik* Uk ha* bM MaaaJM * tk* MM ahtkMM Bam. (a* UM PMama** 

Ton*i of xcotland.) gnirrl br Ik* VMM rKl*li to apan ao eoa) or troakl* to arhWn a aw- 



MMlMBjI. 1 

^^^ 4^M- - ,- 
^^CTV^H^^ 1 



i of alt." A*ua. 

- PICTURESQUE GUIDE TO SOUTH WALES; 
WHb ! aWSJaa.1. by Ik* ha. MM^U* itol>y lath. 



CATALOGUE OF WORKS 



BLACK'S TRAVELLING MAPS. 

BLACK'S TRAVELLING MAP OF ENGLAND AND WALES. 

Carefully compiled from the Maps of the Ordnance Surveys, and beautifully engraved by Sidney 
Hall; with all the Roads, Railroa Is ami other Tnpnccruphicul Information required by the 
Tourist or Traveller on business. Sin-, thirty-two inchis by twenty-two and one-half. In a 
neat portable case, coloured, 4s. 6d. cloth. 

" A beautifully-executed Map of England and Wales, which, after careful observation and re- 
ference, we can characterise as being among the most correct ever issued." MIM.VG Joi KNAJ.. 

BLACK'S TRAVELLING MAP OF SCOTLAND. 

Carefully constructed from the best authorities. With all the Roads and Railroads accurately 
laid down. Mze. thirty-two inches by twenty -two and one-half. In a neat portable cae, 
coloured, 4s. M. cloth. 

" A handsome-looking Map, of large dimensions, yet so well mounted that it folds up into th* 
lie of a pocket-book, and admits at the same time of n paitial examination." SPECTATOR. 

The Lire" M:ir- <> I n.-Iand ami Scotland may be had on rollers, varnished, at (is. each. 

. Smaller Maps of England and of Scotland, in pocket cases, price 2s. 6d. each. 

BLACK'S COUNTY MAPS OF SCOTLAND. 

Pone up separately in nat cloth cases, printed on patent cloth paper, and coloured, price Is. 
each, except Arcyll, Perth, Inverness, and the Western Islands, which are double maps, and 
sell at Is. 8d. each. 

BLACK'S TRAVELLING MAP OF IRELAND. 

Care'ully constructed from the most recent authorities, wit 
accurately laid down. Site, twenty by fourteen and a-half i: 
coloured, 2s. (id. cloth. 



all the Roads, Railroads, tee. 
teg. In a neat portable case, 



BLACK'S MAP OF THE LAKE DISTRICT 

Of Cumberland, Westmoreland, ami Lancashire. Constructed by WIU.IAM Hconn, Professor 
of Geography in the College for Civil Engineers, from the Maps of the Ordnance Surveys, with 
all the heights of the principal mountains in feet attached to their names, and the Waterfalls, 
and Mountain Paths only to be traversed on foot, properly indicated j with other topographical 
Information required either by the Tourist or Traveller on business. Size, nineteen by fourteen 
Inches. Beautifully engraved and coloured, 2s. CJ. in a neat portable case. 

BLACK'S MAPS OF NORTH AND S^UTH WALES 

Compiled from the Maps of the Ordnance Surveys. Size, North Wales fourteen by eleven and 
a-half inches, and South Wales sixteen by eleven and a-half inches. Beautifully engraved and 
coloured, Is. 6d. each in neat cloth cases. 

BLACK'S TRAVELLING MAP OF THE CONTINENT. 

Embracing Germany, Holland, Belgium, with parts of France anil Switzerland ; constructed by 
WI/.IJAM HI-GHES, Professor of GrOKraphy in the Royal College for Civil Engineers, from the 
most recent authorities. With all the Roads, Railroads, Canals, and every other topographical 
Information required by the Tourist or Traveller on business. Size, seventeen by twenty-four 
Inches. Beautifully engraved and coloured, 4s. 6d. in a neat portable case. 

BLACK'S MAP OF INDIA. 

Constructed from the most recent authorities, and including the Punjaub, Cabool, Scinde, 
Tibet, and the islands of Ceylon and Singapore, &c. size, twenty-three by seventeen and a- 
half inches. Beautifully engraved and coloured, 3s. in portable case. 



BLAIR. HISTORY OF THE WALDENSES. 

With an Introductory Sketch of the History of the Christian Churches in the South of France 
and North of Italy, till these Churches submitted to the Pope, when the Waldenses continued 
as formerly independent of the Papal See. By the Rev. Adam Blair, a vols. 8vo, 21s. cloth. 

BOYER AND DEr.KTANVII.LE'S NEW FRENCH AND ENGLISH, AND 
ENGLISH AND FRENCH DICTIONARY, with various additions, corrections, and improve- 
ments, by D. Boilenn and A. Picquot New Edition, revised and corrected by the last Edition 
of the Dictionary of the French Academy. 8vo, 12s. bound. 

BRRWSTER A TREATISE ON MAGNETISM. 

By Sir David Brewster, LL.D., F. R. S., Corresponding Member of the Royal Institute of 
France, &c. &c. Illustrated by upwards of 100 Engravings on Wood, and a Chart of Magnetic 
Curve*. Post Hvo, 8s. cloth. 
" The splendid article by sir David Brewster on Magnetism." MORNIKO HERALD. 

BBEWSTF.R. A TREATISE ON THE MICROSCOPE. 

By Sir Darid Bifwster, LL. I). F. R. S., Corresponding Member of the Royal Institute of 
France, &c. &c. With Fourteen Plates. Post 8vo, Os. cloth. 

BROWN LECTURES ON ETHICS, OR MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 
By Dr Thomas Brown. With a Preface by Dr Chalmers. Post 8vo, 8s. Gd. cloth. 



PUBLISHED BY ADAM AND CHAR1JE* BLACK. 



qaBnsa&nmw 

OPHY OF THE MIND 

lUMortotaal M.| a a P-traH. 1 *.. 

**B*laUM|.rTtMt4MiM*lB4<v*>.) J 

--Da Pftt. 

ASYLUMS WERE. ARE. AND OUGHT TO BE. 
* n Ueten*4*aTHd brfbr. UM Mana*).!* of UM Montrot* 
A V ibnwM MMtwMw* M a i||^| *HMla***ka.at ^t*M DM*MM 



BROWN -PHILOSOPHY Of THE MIND 

,,..- ............ .. till **kl I' " >' I : < * "> *'* '. 

by Pr W.hki aB *! *UMrTto* Malaat > 4 kv) Me*Mk UNteB. t '<4. . 



' An kniMiill book."- Da P 

N 'V. -WHAT ASYLUMS WERE. A 






BITIUNAM <.K)).-PARAPHRASIS PSALMORUM DAVIDIS POETICA. 
CUB mimri Mttnmua t ItcU*. igiMiiunl M liHi *~tntn)**m mrmlmt 
bv. Bjr A. nd J. Utcklno. Ijrao, *. boond. 

BURTON -LlfE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF DAVID HUME. 

fnm UM Pkpm beqoMUMd br U* Nrphcw to Uw Ro|ml BocMy / Edlaborfb. >* <KbOT 
OrMaU liaanM. Uy John Hid Button, AdyoaK. t rafc. tro, wttb Poitrwu. *c. L.I. .. 



by Ha. Ul wort tont 
hum .XoM.Ho.Ai. and <*Wr OrMMl Pumi Imlnlln MI I ~. r on 
" - 



BwlMI, MoolMqaira, D AWmb.rt, Ihdcrot, *c. 

BURTON THE LAW OF BANKRUPTCY, INSOLVENCY. ANO MERCAN- 
TILE HEOUEKTRAT10X, IS SCOTLAND. Dy John Ulll Uurtoc. Advoat*. Two ote. 
royl tro. L.I. !>. doth. 

"TUworki*aci>en<lttiUM8ectMiBar. In fohm lad loci** of ftMrml prap 
to fifoor and Mraner of crHtel Inqulrr : to ic| of iMMfck and ten* powtr of dm 
n>r1<, U <Mdi la o.rU vmtn* with to* grtt hni of t.U-fcoot.--LAi. lU 



with to* grtt hni of t.U-fcoot.- 

'. X -THE PHILOSOPHY OF INSTINCT *ND REASON. 
By 1. OlinMuo Bwtuwn, M. D.. F. L. 8., *. 8oull 8o, with Elf hi lUiMtntiotM. m. 

V--PH*ORI FABUL*. 
A*l Ub.rU F.buknm, Ao|*nmi. 



DISPENSATORY; 

on UM Pbarmaeopoia. of Gnat Britain. ..umprMm UM Natural HMerr. 
tmlatry. Pharmary. Artlon*. Cm. and Domof UM ArticU.of ib. Mataria 
By Bobrrt (VrtotkMi. M. D.. PrtAanr of Matorta Mrdicm la Ik* I'nlnmfy of LVka- 

LTnlMi. te.Ma.eMk. " 



DrCbrHtlani^ IHipinalnry to all oar riaam, a* an I 



aaaio, aot la UM Study only, bat la UM Mtfiy abn.- flair. *>a Foa. 1U. B*riw. 

CHKI^n-i.N- -A TREATISE ON POISONS. 

In nlatioa to Mfdtaal Jartapndraa*, Phrholo^. and UM Prattle* of rM 
Ckrlatam. M. 1< . Prafcvor of Matoria Mrdlcm In UM rm..ty of Edtnburf 



raam. . < . ravor o aa rlcm n M m..ty 
Fouita mtion. talarnd, romaHd. and lmpn>rd. tTo.Ha.eMk. 

It ub>7andeam|MMDnlfa*B>oitTahiabM Fractal Treat*** on ToateetoQ extaat.- Lonea 



CHHITIM)N._A TREATISE ON GRANULAR DEGENERATION OF THE 
KIDXKYS.and It* maairtlon wtUi Droyay. lnaaMnB. and oUMT IHiiMM. By Bobrrt 
ChrMwoi. M. D.. riofcaict of M.lerta Mlim la UM UnlmaMy "f Utkkvnm. tro. a*. 



~ Tl IDnralln <Mn. ihlrty^M la aumbn. am rwrralrf wlU Dr nirWIaon-* aeaal tlatnuay 
and. Uw UM rat ef UM wort, an hlUy iwtmciJ. W. raa!y rMaauacad Iku book to or 
teaaVr*.- Ixaa MBMCAL QAfarra. 

'HN.-A SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE. 
By JaaM Onshore, bq. WMh Thirtem Kntmrlnc*. 4lo,*B.eMk. 



CATALOGUE OF WORKS 



CLERK. NAVAL TACTI'G. 

A Systematical and Historical Essay, In Four Parts. By John Clerk, E*I. of Eldin, F. R. S. E., 
Ate. Third Edition, with Notes by Lord Bodney, an Introduction by a Kara! Officer, and 
explanatory Plate*. Hvo, 25s. cloth. 

COOPER A DICTIONARY OF PRACTICAL SURGERY: 

Comprehending all the most interesting improvements from the earliest timexlon-n to the pro- 
mt period ; an account of the Instruments and Remedies employed in Surgery ; the etymology 
and signification of the principal Terms ; and numerous References to ancient and modem 
works, forming a catalogue of Surgical Literature, arranged according to subjects. The Seventh 
Edition, revised, corrected, and enlarged. By Samuel Cooper, Senior Surgeon to the Univer- 
sity College Hospital, London, Professor of Surgery in the same College, Surgeon to the (Jwen's 
Bench, &c. &c. &c. New Edition at Press. 

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN BURNS AND CLARINDA; 

With a Memoir of Mrs M'Lehose (Clarinda). Arranged and Edited by her Grandson, W. C. 
M'Lehose. With a Portrait, &c., post 8vo, 8s. Gd. cloth. 

CBAIGIE. ELEMENTS OF GENERAL AND PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMY, 
Presenting a View of the present state of knowledge in these Branches of Science. By Darid 
Craigie, M. D., F. E. S. E., Sic. &c. The Second Edition, enlarged, revised, and Improved, I 
8vo, Ms. cloth. 

i and laborious ' 

CRAIGIE. ELEMENTS O? THE PRACTICE OF PHYSIC, 

Presenting a View of the present state of Special Pathology and Therapeutics. By Darid i 
Craigie, M. D., F. R. S. E., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, Physician 
to the Royal Infirmary, Emeritus President and Extraordinary Member of the Royal Medical 
Society, 6-c. &c. &c. 3 volumes Dvo, 24s. cloth. 

" We are inclined to regard Dr Craigie 's Elements as the best we at present possess." LOSBOK 
MEDICAL GAZETTE. 

CRAIGIE. ELEMENTS OF ANATOMY, 

General, Special, and Comparative. By Havid Craigie, M. IX, forming the article under that 
head in the Seventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. With Fourteen highly -finished 
Engravings. 4to, 12s. cloth. 

" Without branching out Into unnecessary details, the leading points of each division are placed 
before the reader in a clear and concise (though sufficiently comprehensive) manner, the whole 
forming a volume which may be perused with pleasure and advantage, both by the non-professional 
man of science and the practical anatomist." LAXCET. 

CREUZE. SHIPBUILDING. 

Being a Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Naval Architecture. By Augustin F. B. 
Creuie, Member of the late School of Naval Architecture; President of the Portsmouth Phi- 
losophical Society ; and Fditor of the " Papers on Naval Architecture." With 15 Engravings 
on Steel, and numerous Woodcuts. 4to, 12s. cloth. 

" One of the best, because the clearest, and, at the same time, perfectly comprehensive disquisi- 
tions on Shipbuilding, is contained in the Encyclopaedia Britannica." LrVuipooL MAIL. 

DICK. A MANUAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE; 

Forming the Article under that head in the Seventh Edition of the F.nryclopsdia Britannioa. 
By William Dick, Professor of Veterinary Surgery to the Highland Society of Scotland. Poss 
8vo, at. boards. 

" All Farmers, and Cattle-dealers, Shepherds, Stablers, Coach Contractors, every man who Is 
interested in the study of Veterinary Medicine, should have Mr Dick's Manual in his possession." 
EDINBURGH ADVERTU.FR. 

DUTRUC A FRENCH GRAMMAR 

On a New and Original Plan, exhibiting the Pronunciation of the French in pure English 
Sounds; with Conversation* Exercises, preceded by a Method of Questioning and Answering ; ; 
the whole particularly adapted to smooth the way to a perfect acquaintance with the French ; 
Language. To which is subjoined an extensive English and French Mercantile Correspondence, 
chietiy collected from the best writers on the subject. 8vo, as. cloth. 

I 
DUTRUCL'ECHO DE LA BONNE SOCIETE. 

A true Guide to French Polite Conversation; containing, 1st, Introduction to the French 
Language; 3d, A Complete Method of Conversing in French, with familiar Conversations ; 
and ad, Anecdotes in the form of Dialogues, with the English opposite. By P. A. Dutruc. : 
12mo, ts. bound. 

J 



PC BUSHED BT ADAM AMD CHAELJU BLACE. 

EDINBURGH MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL. 
faklMltofl a Ttow of Uw IMHl and Ml tomfor ' 
and fkanoocy. rSiltoktoa to Vfoattorty im, 4, 1 

of MottoBlMrf Butted MM,f..lkto Ml 

> iliii 1 1 ton* of aaowtod^ aX to > wfco do*r to JM Mk toa- 



flk 



EDINBURGH NEW PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. 

Kihlbtttec a Vtow of ih. Pm^r. Utogpmtoi Md IBIJII ! tottto Bll 

Aito. Oi.i.Kii by >! i Janmna P>bltokto to Owtortr VMataM. *. M. 




* *f TBTf-mn hi lai h bin 17 irf nnlonni 



EDINBURGH PHARMACOPOEIA OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSI 
CIAXS. SMoad BacHih EdWaa. ln, to. cloth. 



ELLIOTT.-THE POEMS OF EBENEZER ELLIOTT, THE CORN LAW 
RHYMER. CWp EdIlloB. tore. ITO, . .d. 

ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. 

Ih^ IMHCl >.| ft r . 



My TkoMandi OB Wood. wMk a wml Ii 
ToluBM. Wuarto. I-T. ML cloth. L. katf-l 

"Tkto th.rMliTckiap EaeyekmOa. lor that only to choap which to <*llnrt.-> "Ittooar 
ra eo<iTtatloi t Ihu tlw BittWi pvMle w>w MWT Wfoc In pcMr^too of % work of tjj.li rltwE-ioeafti* 
ton IB all Mi iton.rton.nto, tartod to Ml Mbtoito. o profcand to M tofanootloB. or I 
efiwh (iMl MOMriMM to wwr brancfc of Ik* A 



j_lfliilM, -<. and*OTni of **. kan to tkto book i 



ar* Miily IMW.I " For titrnl of iMrfulnm. and 
Htltd ; in to izHfB wbo*r foftvnn and roonc do BMA 

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IM bMt 



iMto * putUifcja 1 Brttoto."H " >Ow that tk. country to kitog d 
of Rvctond, UMI dull dan rcr afauTnntar* oa ch Bulkir i 



to Martonwhrn 

f cs*MH k>nrtoV1l - An AMtraBaa or Mrw 

jrtMMkMM bM tkat of totef akk) to rod. wrU. 

fchi ! Bd woar iojaj., and bioMru a wU 

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10 CATALOGUE OF WORKS 



EDINBURGH TALES 
Large 8ro, 4s. 6d. cloth gilt. 

Volume I. containing Nineteen Stories bv Mrs Johnttone (the Conductor,) Mrs Fnser, Mn Gore, 
Miss Mitfonl, Mn Crowe, Mis Tytler, Mr Howttt, Mr yuillinan, Colonel Johnson, Sir Thomas Dick 
Lauder, &c. ; and an amount of letter-press equal to that of nine volumes of the ordinary novel 
sixe. 

Volume II. containing Stories, by Mary Howitt, Mrs Gore, Hoffmann, John Mills, Miss Mitford, 
Robert Nicoll, and Mn Johnstone. 

Volume 1 1 1. containing Twelve Stories, by Miss Mitford, Mrs Gore, the author of " Mount Sorel," 
Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart., Maurice O'Connell, Esq., M. P., and Mrs Johnstone. 

FLEMING. MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS, 

Including Shell Fish ; containing an Exposition of their Structure, Systematic Arrangement, 
Physical Distribution, and Dietetical I.'ses, with a reference to the Extinct races. By John 
Fleming, D. D., F. K. S. E., M. \V. S., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University and 
King's College, Aberdeen, &c. &c. &c. With Eighteen Plates. Post 8vo, 6s. cloth. 
" Distinguished by a perfect knowledge of the very curious and interesting subject of which it 

treats, by a severe and searching analysis of the evidence, and a clear and masterly arrangement of 

the multifarious details connected with it." GLASGOW CONSTITUTIONAL 

FORBES. TRAVELS THROUGH THE ALPS OF SAVOY, 

And other Parts of the Pennine Chain, with Observations on the Phenomena of Glaciers. By 
James D. Forlws, F.R.S., Sec. H.S.E., Corresponding Member of the Royal Institute of France, 
Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, &c. &c. A New Edition, Re- 
vised and Enlarged. Illustrated by a large Map of the Mer de Glace of Chamouni, Lithographed 
Views and Plans, and Engravings on Wood. Imperial octavo, 28s., or with the Urge Map co- 
loured, in a case, 31s. 6d. cloth. 

" This elaborate and beautifully -illustrated work." QUASTKRI.Y REVIEW. 

" Pregnant with interest." EDI.NBUHOU REVIEW. 

FYFE. THE ANATOMY OF THE BODY; 

Illustrated by One Hundred and Fifty-Eight Plates taken partly from the most celebrated Au- 
thon, partly from Nature. By Andrew Fyfe, F. E. S. E. 4to, boards, with Descriptive letter- 
press, 8vo, 40s. boards. 

GALLOWAY. A TREATISE ON PROBABILITY. 

By Thomas Galloway, M. A., F. R. S., Secretary to the Royal Astronomical Society. Post 8ro, 
fit. cloth. 

GARDNER. A LATIN-ENGLISH, ENGLISH-LATIN DICTIONARY, 

Founded on the Work of the late Mr Leverett, and particularly adapted to the Classics usually 
studied preparatory to a Collegiate Course. By Francis Gardner, A. M., Instructor in the Pub- 
lic Latin School in Boston. 8vo, 10s. 6d. cloth. 

GIBBON. DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 

By Edwaid Gibbon, Esq. New Edition, in eight volumes, 8vo, 63s. cloth. 

GIBBON. DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 

By Edward Gibbon, Esq. A New Edition, with some account of the Life and Writings of the 
Author, by Alexander Chalmers, Esq. F.S.A., and a. Portrait. In one thick volume, 8vo, 90s. 
cloth. 

GIBSON. EUTROPII HISTORI/E ROMAN/E BREVIARII 

Primas Quinque Libros ; Notis Anglicis, et Tocabulario illustravit Gilbertus M. Gibson, in 
Academia apud Oppidum Bathgate Rector. 18mo, 2s. 6d. cloth. 

GIBSON. LE PETIT FABLIER, 

On Esope en Miniature. Par T. G. Gibson, Maitre de Cauvin's Hospital, &c. &e. 12mo, Is. M. 
cloth. 

GILLY. VALDENSES. VALDO. AND VIGILANTIUS. 

By the Bev. W. S. Gilly, D. D., Author of " Waldensian Researches." Post 8vo, a. d. 
" An eloquent account, from personal observation, of that small community of Pro'estants, who, 
to the secluded valleys of the Cottian Alps, have, for many centuries, maintained the purity of their 
faith and worship, and kept up the fire of their vestal church, in the midst of privations and perse- 
cutions not yet extinguished." QUAHTMLV Kzvuw. 

GLASSFORD ITALIAN POETS. 

Lyrical Compositions selected from the Italian Poets, with Translations. By James GlassfortJ, 
Esq. of Dougalstou. Second Edition, greatly enlarged. Small 8vo, cloth. 

GORDON. INTEREST TABLES AT FIVE PER CENT., 

From 1 Day to 365 Days ; from 1 Month to 12 Months ; from 1 Year to 10 Years. With Ta- 
bles showing Interest at fire per Cent, reduced to four and a-half, four, three and a-half, three, 
two and a-half, and two per (Vnt ; Tables of Commission or Brokerage, ic. By James Gordon. 
Accountant. Igroo, hall-bound. 



PUBLISHED BY ADAM AM- < ll M:I I > II LACE. 11 



GRAHAM -MUSICAL COMPOSITION 



Ma* MBaM to TWaryaad PiwMc*. vMk AMMbi aad to. Wtoj M IHi. i 
.Tit.tMM.-N>**.- RjU r. Omk*, Ka W(Mi . inn immtMi. Md MJII i 

m i in 1*1 LM ii i hii iij ii i rr -ii TV- *, . baa*** 



Md lllll|l I I ! EBajr.--AnUMNnb 

GRAYTHE SOCIAL SYSTEM. 

A Tmlh. . U Pnaripk. o< Kicbaa. By Jab. Orm,. tro. 71 Mk. 

GRAV. -REMEDY FOR THE DISTRESS OF NATIONS. 



HANSARD. PRINTING AND TYPEFOUNOING. 

T~n Trulaai I j T r Ilimarl IllurtnUd Uh Ptelc* wid Woo 

" A Prtnter". MMI wklck tt.nr MM te UM tad* U1 nJ H hto 



. II \7.\ ITTPAINT1NO AND THE FINE ARTS. 
B, H R. lUrlce and WlllUm llmUttt. Pol l.o. (k. elaU. 

-MrHMI-rir**rlMlrTmll*. wfM*ra for Ik. 'gu 
OT. * !NI >Md no 
'* <IC*JITI. Knuw. 

ASTRONOMICAL OB'ERVATIONS 

Kadi ! Ih* Rofkl Otatmtefy, Edtob|ll. BrTbonu. HmlrnaB. F.R f. F.. uid R. A.8.. 
ifcaut of Practical AUranarar In UM CnlTrnMy of Utebmck. Md Her tU)^jt ABraoo- 
for XcMkad. PuMubxl br order of Her MjOatJ'* Uo*n>mttt. Tofc. 1. 1, . 4. . Md 



ft. QnMto, 1- boutto. 

HrTHKlUX(;To\.-THE HISTORY OF ROME. 

Br tb BT \V. M II. n, r, t..,,. M. A. With u> Account of th. T 
W Modna Ban*. I* UM Her. J. Tijlar. M.A. 

... WMkmrt BMradBC Ike* tradHteawy kfMdi which blndM wtth UM 

ton^t hu brm mad. !!> jrnial wort to dMtanWi MWMB Fhct and 
hUtoT fotonr. th* Imporum purpoto o* toSStuf and *f fedi to Ik* 
mJ.Ttou from which Oi fltbaJowi agiaiti hT aitoia. M Hb Map T Aactoa* 



HOOPKR.-IEXICON MEDICUM; 

Or Mcdtoal OMtamry : ruitalnlnc an xplunMaaofib* tonMln A 




tMlaiwd. By Kin 

tMMofofMadlcte.. Thick Iro. Kb ckxk. 

HOKINO.-RCHITECTURE WITH THE PRACTICE OF BUILDING. 
By WUBMB Hcaktnc, F. . A.. Arekwc*. Ta which ar*a*b)otiMdtk* Aittoh* Maaoon. 
ry.aodCarp.atry With Thirty -an Kacratiii,*. lo. lla. boanav 

HCMR.-LETTERS OF DAVID HUME, 

And Kxtrart. (ram LHton rrtrmnt to him. I 
" Tha Lltirary UMory of UaUoway," Ac. 8t o, I 



from LHton rafrrrtactoUm. Edited by Them** Murrm r . LL. D.. A 
*. elotk. 



IRV INC. -LIVES OF SCOTTISH WRITERS. 

By Dattd Irrto*. LL. D. Two ra)BM. poat *o. I*. cMk, 



T irTMV wrMvv w*w i f Hi* v^^^^ yB.^MM.ij.ii^HVMmy, M.TW. ni 

MjtobaiaBalrd.orrkanc4tr,nMtalMd prraW. aadfoanlly JM) Md ( 
May" gnaw>w AJMC*. 

VS SCOTTISH DICTIONARY. 

AbrtdMd by John JoboaUM. iw>. tl. eWk. 
aHtkaWafdil 



KBLLAND.-CLEMENTS OF ALGEBRA. 

By P. K.tUn.1. A. M.. F. R.M. L. aad K.. * . lato FMtow / UM MM^ 
toUjt. Priifcaui of MatkaaattoihUka PaliW^t! of Idtoimfc. iro.M.aMk. 



12 CATALOGUE OF WORKS 



KELLAND. DEMONSTRATIVE MATHEMATICS. 

Being a Course of Lectures, by the Rev. Philip Kelland, A. M., F. R. S3. L. and E., Professor 
at Mathematics in the University of Edinburgh, late Fellow and Tutor of Queen's College, Cam- . 
bridge. ISmo, 4*. 6d. cloth. 

KITTO a CYCLOP/EDIA OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE. 

By John Kitto, D. D., F. S. A., Editor of " The Pictorial Bible," &c. Sec. Assisted by nume- ' 
ro'us able .Scholars and Divines, British, Continental, and American, whose Initials are affixed I 
to their respective contributions. Illustrated by Maps, Engravings on Steel, and 554 Engraving* 
on Wood. In two thick volumes, 8vo, L.3, cloth. 

" It is not too much to say, that this Cyclopedia surpasses every Biblical Dictionary which has I 
preceded it, and that It leaves nothing to be desired in such a work, which can throw light on the 
criticism, interpretation, history geography, archaeology, and physical science of the Bible. It ia I 
beautifully printed, and is illustrated with fourteen engravings of maps and views, besides more than 
fire hundred well-executed woodcuts of subjects calculated to elucidate the Holy scriptures." 
HORXE'S INTRODUCTION TO ran CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SCRIPTURES, NINTH EDITION, Vol. v. p. 437- 
" In the Cyclopedia before us, we recognise the closeness of the connection between the Scriptu- 
ral and profane subjects of the ancient world ; the learning and ability with which the one claw is , 
made to throw light upon the other ; the industry with which obsolete usages are again restored to ! 
the knowledge of mankind ; the acute criticism which is made to bear on the most disputed forms j 
and things of revelation ; and the extraordinary illustration which the most recondite subject* re- 
ceive at the hands of the contributors." ATHZN.'KVM. 

" We have no publication at all to be compared with it ; it is an invaluable addition to our theo- 
logical literature, and the extensive circulation and study of it would augur well for our future ad- 
vancement." .NORTH BRITISH REVIEW. 

KITTO THE HISTORY OF PALESTINE 

From the Patriarchal Age to the Present Time ; with Introductory Chapters on the Geography 
and Natural History of the Country, and on the Customs and Institutions of the Hebrews. By 
John Kitto, D.D., F. 8. A., Editor of "The Pictorial Bible," &c. &c. With Questions for ex- 
amination, by Alexander Reid, A. M., Rector of Circus Place School. 12mo, 3s. 6d., or with 
Map of Palestine, 4s. bound. 

KNOX. THE ANATOMIST'S INSTRUCTOR 

And Museum Companion ; being Practical Directions for the Form 
nagement of Anatomical Museums. By F. J. Knox, Surgeon, Con 
Old Surgeons' Hall. 12mo, 49. 6d. boards. 
" We think this a capital book in its way. We positively insist upon Surgeons and Students buy- 
Ing It directly." MKDICO-CHIBUROICAL REVIEW. 

LAUDER. HIGHLAND RAMBLES, 

And Long Legends to Shorten the Way. By Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart., Author of " An 
Account of the Moravshire Floods," " Lochandhu,"&c. &c. With seven Illustrative Etchings 
by W. Dyoe, Esq. third Edition. Two volumes, post 8vo. One Guinea, cloth. 

" We heartily recommend these volumes to all tourists to the ' Land of the Mountain and the 
Flood,' who are setting forth on their delightful trip." BENTi-ay's MISCJUXAMV. 

" Full of legend, full of adventure, full of interest." ATHBNJKUJI. 

LECOUNT. RAI LWAYS. 

A Practical Treatise ; explaining their Construction and Management, being the Article under 
that head in the Encyclopaedia, with additional details, by Lieutenant Lecount, R. N., 
F. R. A. S., C. E. of the London and Birmingham Railway. Illustrated with Woodcuts and 
Engravings. Post 8vo, 9. cloth. 

" The best and most complete treatise on the subject. "METROPOLITAN CONSERVATIVE JOURNAL. 

" By far the most valuable work on the construction and management of railways extant." 
MANCHESTER COURIER. 

LEES. FRACTIONAL ARITHMETIC. 

Being Introductory to the Study of Mathematics. By George Lees, A.M., Mathematical Mat- 
ter in the Scottish Naval and Military Academy, and Lecturer on Natural Philosophy, Edin- 
burgh. 12xno, 3s. 6d. cloth. 

LEES ARITHMETIC, ALGEBRA, AND GEOMETRY. 

An Elementary Work for the Vse of Student*. By George Lees, A. M. ( ice. 8vo, 5s. cloth. 

LESLIE. NATURAL AND CHEMICAL PHILOSOPHY. 

Being the Contribution* of Sir John Leslie on the following important subject* of Natural and 
"h"""*"*' Philosophy : 

1. ACHROMATIC GLASU*. 3. ACOUSTICS. 3. AnoitAvncs. 4. BAROMETER. 6. BAROMETRICAL 

MEASUREMENTS. 6. CLIMATE. 7. Coi.n AND CONGEUTIOK. 8. DEW. 9. MITXOROI/X.V. 
Illustrated with Plate* and Woodcut*, and prefaced by a Biographical Memoir of the Author 
Pott 8vo, 9s. cloth. 
" Wt scarcely know any scientific book more attractive. " MIDLAND Couxrn* HUALP. 



rUBUBHKD BT ADAM AMD CHAMJM DLACE. 18 

^ V.- HIGH SCHOOL VOCABULARY. 
By *MM! Uta>7, A IMK>. U. fcvMd. 




UT1RATORK-THI : IHjOO*JtM^ JJTE*ATURE. ^ ^ ^ 

li nlfintj Ik* prodMM*f M* 



UWAN.-COLLECTANEA LATINA MI 

mwu BOMAIU ; libro rtn. Aim. Yi 
<! *Mta 



WAN.-COLLECTANEA 
w Kicnyta IVTMVU ll 
rt KM i m QiwnuB X 




lM*farA4iaM*rlMM*dWM; lkl*- 
. loritaDtaMMorWomMMdCklldnB. 

.r.iiow or UN Ro]r*iooitanrai 



Hidlal.il by prrmMoo to Ik* Ut* Or AMraramM*. lo on* Ikltk - 
tawfcMbfbC 



" Jl neb work M mry bMd of Ikmily ooht to ban on kk book Mrtf-anarran H- 



MACKINTOSH -ETHICAL PHILOSOPHY. 
A BtMllMlM Ik* Pn>( of 
tarta*. ByTb. R 




." FkAnt J wrur 



MACI.AREN GEOLOGY OF FIFE. AND THE LOTHIANS; 
iMtadbw DcteUld OMVIpMoo. of Arthur'! dcml and IVnUtnd H1U*. B 



M-CULLOCH. THE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 
By i. B. U'CoHoek, bq. TUnl EdIUoo. oilusMl and eomeUd throu(hoat. 

MAI.TE-BRI'V.-A SYSTEM OF UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHY. 

FModW e> Ik* Work, of Mah*-Bran *od BkAt. Kmbfwteff HMorkml gMck of tk* Pro- 
jif ninfi^ilal PtoTrT. tin Frtntf h* of Mult mull nl Md Pby^nU Owmpky. Md 
rra* IM nmt mMt OMrcM. of !! UM COMMM to tk* WorU. vMk 




MAI.TF-BRUN -PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 

m^ik^. BT M. M|<-TM. *<>< 

km don* food *MTto* to tk> poMkt. bj 
o lk fcjuk iMdr.--f mmmM lurww. 

MALTE-BRirN. UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHY. 

T. DMtr1|B of tilth. Ftrto of UM World. By M. M*.-Bri. Editor of Ik* " 
dHT*]^^-** wia CompnkMdr* iMti of 4^M XMIM. ITfc nl.a 



14 



CATALOGUE OP WORKS 



MARSHALL. ON SOLDIERS. 

The Enlisting, Discharging, and Pensioning of Soldiers, with the Official Document* on these 
Branchesof Military Duty. By Henry Marshall, F.R.S.E., Ueputy-lnspector-General of Army 
Hospitals. Second Edition. Svo, 7s- 6d. cloth. 

" A most valuable book, and ought to be in the library of every medical officer in the public ser- 
Tice, whether of the army or navy." BRITISH AND KUIIEIUN MEDICAL BEVIKW. 

MARTIN. THE SEAMAN'S ARITHMETIC; 

Or the Application of the several Rules of that Science to the purposes of the Maritime Profef 
sion ; being Intended as an Introduction to the Young Mariner preparatory to his learning Na- 
vigation, and for his subsequent guidance. By John Martin, Agent, Kincardine, l&no, 2s. 6d. 
cloth. 

" We doubt not ' The Seaman's Arithmetic' will meet with that general favour to which its intrin- 
sic excellence and useful capabilities so fully entitle it." CALEDONIAN MERCURY. 

MATTHEW. EMIGRATION FIELDS: 

North America, the Cape, Australia, and New Zealand, describing these Countries, and giving 
a comparative view of the advantage they present to British tattlers. By Patrick Matthew, 
Author of " Naval Timber and Arboriculture." V ith two Folio Maps, engraved by Sydney 
Hall. Post Svo, as. Gd. cloth. 
" The information contained in this work is of such a nature, that every one who has an Intention 

of emigrating, should, before fixing upon any country as hU future residence, consult the EIIIORA no* 

FIELDS." DUNDEE CHRONICLE. 

MATTHEW. NAVAL TIMBER AND ARBORICULTURE 

Being a Treatise < n that subject, with Critical Notes on Authors who have recently treated the 
ubject of planting. By Patrick Matthew. 8vo, 12s. cloth. 

MENZEL. EUROPE IN 1840. 

Translated from the German of Wolfgang Menzel. Post 12mo, 5. cloth. 
" A work which every politician will do well to consult." ECLECTIC REVIEW. 

MILF.KR. THE PRINCIPLES OF SURGERY. 

By James Miller, F. E. S. E., Professor of Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, Sic. &e. 

Small Rvo, 9s. cloth. 

" An admirable epitome of the surgical science of the day. Being written by a sound practical 
surgeon, accustomed to the public teaching of his science, it has that clearness of diction and ar- 
rangement which renders it an excellent manual for the student, as well as that amount of scien- 
tific and practical information which makes it a safe and valuable guide to the practitioner." 
LANCET. 

MILLER. THE PRACTICE OF SURGERY. 

By James Miller, F. R. 8. E., Professor of Surgery- in the University of Edinburgh, &c. Uni- 
form with " the Principles." 

" We have no hesitation in stating that the two volumes form, together, a more complete text- 
book of surgery than any one that has been heretofore offered to the student." NORTHERN JOURNAL 
or MEDICINE. 

MILLER. SCENES AND LEGENDS OF THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND. 

By Hugh Miller, author of " Old Red Sandstone." Small Ovo, 7s. 6d. cloth. 

" A well-imagined, a well-written, and a somewhat remarkable book." ATIIEK.WII. 

" A very pleasing and interesting book ; his style has a purity and elegance hich remind one of 
Irving, or of Irvinjt's master, Goldsmith." ^HICTATOR. 

" A highly-amusing and interesting book, written by a remarkable man, who will infallibly be 
well known." LEIOH HUNT'S JOURNAL. 

MILLS. THE SPORTSMAN'S LIBRARY. 

Comprising Instructions on every matter connected with Hunting, Shooting, Coursing, and 
Fishing; including the Condition of Horses, Breeding and Breaking of Dogs, Preservation of 
Game, Destroying of Vermin, &c. By John Mills, Esq. Author of " The Old English Gentle- 
man," cScc. 8vo, IDs. cloth. 

" This is a capital and seasonable book for the Sportsman. It hn all the appearance of being 
thrown off by a zealous and sensible sportsman, from his own knowledge." SPECTATOR. 

MOIR AND SPALDING.-POETRY, ROMANCE, AND RHETORIC. 

By W ilham .spaldmg, Professor of Rhetoric in the University of Edinburgh, and George Moir, 
Eq., AdvoiaUe. Post Svo, 6s. cloth. 

"The article 'Poetry, by Professor Molr,' Is prefaced by an eloquent and perspicuous exposition 
>f the mental and moral qualities requisite to ils production ; and the distinction between the pro- 
discrimination at once accurate and profound." EXETER 

MOORE. ELEMENTA LINGU/E GR/EC/E. 

Studio Jacob! Moore, LL. D. Emendnvit auxitque Jacobus Tate, A. M., Cantab. Editlo Qulnta 
Correctior. 

To this Edition Is added an Appendix, containing a list of Irregular and Defective Greek Verb*, 
and a SynopsU of UM Indeclinable Partiof Speeek. litmo, a. (id. bound. 






I'l III l-llf I. II V ,U.\M AM. I'llAKI I s III A( K 16 

NKILL-THE FRUIT. FLOWER. AND KITCHEN GARDEN. 

k> r*"** *". t-l- ' . r. I. .1 I.M.* Ml*mnl~*+. P..** 

iMll wfck ;!. Wndir ****, ,<** 




EMfNTS OF MINERALOOV. 

By JM~ tekl, .ntoQoflk I, ,lim flnlighal "-J. *r--T-f TtlTTilllti if fill 
t4. (UltePiw.) 

' THE POEMS OF ROBERT NICOLL. 



NIMRon THE HORSE AND THE HOUND; 
TWlr rwtoM f uH Tmumnl. I door, wd r 
To*kwktoMkM.T 



llnUU*. on W ood Mid .-ul. mi.tr l>n. U>c. t, I j-r, Alkra. 




KUORXT -POCKET DICTION* BY OF THE FRENCH ANO ENGLISH LAN- 
.--. luiu lltru-i. Frrnrhand rngUh; M. f4UUi and rrmok | aM 

A.atootb. .r.ml Parti <I 



UM licndcn of UM I'nnch .N<-un. ib. .>! and MUlten Trnn*. LM </ 1'r^.r 
*e. Ac. A MW I a.tnm. oii:ulij mlMd and tolarftd bj J. uuuutu, X M. Bqn*m I 
7.1. bound i or 1-oul, *. d. buund. 

OSWAl.n.-AN ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LAN 
.;:. . I'Un mUrtly n>w. aduttd to Ik* MuO.rn Mjrtnm rfTuttioo. By tb, E.T. 
JteOnnld.tato MMter ta Own* Ur{l1 Uopltal. Kuuith KUiiioa. lftM.ibM.kMrf. 



"ThttT7l.bortou. .mpiUU< d.^T^iob.totnjdowd Into 
litaiif bi." A r 



OSWAI.P. AN ETYMOLOGICAL MANUAL OF THE ENGLISH LAN 
GrA'iE.furllM rttorvbaoliMid rriraUFuniUM. EInmUl Edtttoa. pti U. M. lath. 

: I) -OUTLINES OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 
Fifth tOUam. priw L 

!. ETYMOLOGICAL PRIMER. 
Prt Fin*. Twelfth Edtttoa. Id. 

-ETYMOLOGICAL PRIMER. 
r<mitk EdMkn. M. 

PARNKIJ. -RSHES OF THE FRITH OF FORTH ; 

Tk*ir XKunU wd Jrooomkml UMafy. ty Uchud PuwU. M D.. F. . . C* WNk r 

tto. fc. cloth. 



PHI I.I. IPS.- A TREATISE ON GEOLOGY. 

Jnkn Philip*. F. B. K, r O H.. Prntanr of 0*0)0(7 ta 
of Yorlului*." A aStt to 



lon. of tk 0oty of Yorlul 
Md M oadraM. f<al tto, (U. 



to Ik. | 

PILI.AKS.-ECLOG/C ClCERONIAN>t. 
A toxli from Ik* Omttow. rpMtM. Mid PI 




te>t1i* 



I. waaOnMori t-MkllMiM-lk* WarMMrf Mmkrr of *MH*r ( ud 
By jMM*PnhM.r.B.B.B^rMlHMr*f UMHBHy ta Ik* Oahwrily / Mk 
, . L Mk. 

- -PRINCIPLES OF ELEMENTARY TEACHING. 
T tn nfrfm* to th> rworhkl MMMbof Mkvidi to Two LrtlmtoT.r. 
H.P. JMIM* PlllMM. r. H. 8. E.. Ut. Itottorof Ik* Hlimkool. nd * 

. bMVM. 



Pe*t*o, 

P1LLAN.-ON CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 

Tk. ITonr Okjwta rad MHknto of MHil. to nfrmmlotk* 
Mid MI Ik* nlMIn BUWT T fkwtoal ln<ftln . Wiw Tfcrw U 
mU7 of EdmtKirxh. Br JIM* PUtoM.M.A..rn*%E.. 



16 CATALOGUE OF WORKS 

PILLANS. OUTLINES OF GEOGRAPHY. 

Principally Ancient. With Introductory Explanations of the System of the World, and of the 
most Approved Methods of Studying and Teaching Geography ; for the Use of the more Ad- 
vanced Pupils of the High School of Edinburgh, and of the Students of the Universities. By 
Professor Pillans, of the University of Edinburgh. Illustrated with Nine Maps. 12mo, 4s. 6d. 
bound. 

POETIC READINGS FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS. 

By Daniel Scrymgeour, of the Circus Place School, Edinburgh. (In the Press.} 

RAMSAY. AN ESSAY ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 
By George Ramsay, B. M. of Trinity College, Cambridge. 8vo, 129. cloth. 

RAMSAY. A DISQUISITION ON GOVERNMENT. 

By George Ramsay, B. M. of Trinity College, Cambridge. Foolscap, 4s. cloth. 

RAMSAY POLITICAL DISCOURSES. 

1. On what is Government founded; 2. on Civil Liberty; 3. On Vote by Ballot; 4. On 
Equality and Inequality ; 5. On Central and Local Systems. By George Ramsay, B. M. of 
Trinity College, Cambridge. 8vo, 9s. cloth. 

REID. THE STEAM-ENGINE; 

Being a Popular Description of the Construction and Mode of Action of that Engine. By Hugo 
Reid, Lecturer on Chemistry, &c. Second Edition, royal 18mo, with above Forty Woodcuts, 
4s. 6.1. cloth. 

"A very admirable little book, scientific, learned, and perfectly lucid." SPICTATOB. 

REID A PLEA FOR WOMAN : 

Being a Vindication of the Importance and Extent of her Natural Sphere of Action. By Mrs 
Hugo Reid. Small 8vo, 3s. 6d. cloth. 

ROBERTSON. COLLOQUIA DE MORBIS. 

Practica et Theoretics, Questionibus et Responsis ; ad usum Ingenuae Juventutisaccommodata. 
Auctore Archibaldo Robertson, M. !>., &c. .Sec. Editio Tertia. 18mo, 7s. Sd. boards. 

ROD, THE, AND THE GUN. 

Being Two Treatises on Angling and Shooting. The former by James Wilson, Esq. F. R.S. E., 
(us. &C. The latter by the Author of " The Oakleigh shooting Code." Second Edition, with 
numerous Engravings on Wood and Steel. Post 8vo, 10s. 6d. cloth. 

" The treatise on Shooting, by the Author of the ' Oakleigh Shooting Code,' is written upon a 
very comprehensive plan, and beautifully illustrated. Its companion on Angling is one of the most 
interesting, instructive, and agreeable treatises on * the aentle art* that exists in our language ; and 
will probably be noticed at greater length in a future article." EDINBURGH Rxvuw. 

" Know likewise to thy utter discomfort, nay, to tby utter confusion, that a book has lately 
appeared yclept ' The Rod and the Gun,' so amusingly written and so complete in all its parts, 
that there is not the least occasion for you to burthen Mr Murray's shelves with stale precept* 
that no one will attend to." PRKFACR TO " DAYS AMD NIGHTS or SALMON FUUILNG" BY WILLIAM 
SCKUPE, ESQ. 

ROGET. PHYSIOLOGY AND PHRENOLOGY. 

By P. M. Roget, M. D., Secretary to the Royal Society, &c. &c., Author of the Fifth Bridge- 
water Treatise. Two volumes, post 8vo, 12s. cloth. 

" A luminous and most candid and impartial account of Phrenology. ... In the Treatise 
on Physiology, that science is treated clearly, fully, anil in the systematic manner which a masterly 
instructor might adopt for the benefit of his pupil*." TAIT'S MAGAXIV*. 

ROLLIN. ANCIENT HISTORY 

Of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Macedonians, 
and Grecians. By M. Rollin, late Principal of the University of Paris, Ac. tic. Translated 
from the French. New Edition. Illustrated with Maps and other Engravings. In Six Vo- 
lumes. 8vo, 42s. cloth. 

RUSSELL. THE HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE : 

With an Account of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and a View of the Progress 
of Society from the Rise of the Modem Kingdoms to the Peace of Paris In 1763 ; In a Series of 
Letters from a Nobleman to his Son. New Edition, continued to the Accession of Queen Vic- 
toria of England. Four Volumes, 8vo, 52s. cloth. 

RUSSELL. A TREATISE ON THE STEAM ENGINE. 

Illustrated by 948 Engravings on Wood, and 15 Folding Plates on Steel. Post 8vo, 9s. cloth. 

" Most complete and circumstantial At the same time it is methodically, 

clearly, and luminously written. Considering the number of illustrations, it is a very cheap book ; 
and as it explain! all the modem improvements and applications, It cannut foil in being a boon 
which every mechanist and engineer will receive with much gratitude." THB .SLEVIVOR, EKOIXEX*, 
AJID AKCKITICT. 



IM III ISIIKI> UY AI.\M ANI> rilAKLI .* III VK 17 



BUSSRLI. -STEAM AND STEAM NAVIGATION 



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A~*ojM Md MM B.rtoj.ln. ! wfclok orioM* d |OO 

J0.1, MM.~-llMUM^ MlMIIIB 



HAW.-DtVELpPjMtNT AND GROWTH OF SALMON FRY; 




SIMPSON -THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

Wllk Mi PnottoJ AffUtmUauto Sy*n and PUn of Popular Edncatloc, M . HXUuJ Ob- 
JMI. By < Uhlpin.. Kon. AdTOOtlo. 8*oand EdMbm. Itao. >. baud>. 
"II 



SMITHTHE WEALTH OF NATIONS. 

AB Inquiry Into UM Kuan wd CMM oTU>* WwKh of VittOM. I>7 AdM tetth. LL. D. . 
wttfc th* Ufc afth. Author.w Introductory Otanan*. Xa*M,od S^polMMBtel PtBiiHlliii. 
by i. B. M'f^lMk. E|. AwdMton. tmnvttt tbn*!***, imd fn**j iliijil 
IwePortnlto. 



SMITH.-PRODUCTIVE FARMING; 

Or. riMllir > <rf th. Piaial Dheori of LWbte. Pary, tad ott>^ 
< Tn^lili ClMmutry i ibviilM how lb* irta of Eateb TUh* Bl 
MAi By Jo*^h A. aoittk. TkM EdttUn. null io. . L eloOk. 



lM how lb* irta of Eateb TUh* Bl(M b. jliiHj M- 
TkM EdttUn. null io. . L eloOk. 

STARKPICTURE OF EDINBURGH. 



r J. ttufc.P. B.S. E. 
Qty. a4 fMty-K^M Vtw of UM Prt 



T1TOJS..N AN ACCOUNT OF THE SKERRYVORE LIGHTHOUSE. 

WMk Nota* Ik* !H>nt1i T UcbtkouM. B AUn ItaTCMOB. LL. B . F. R. S. .. 
M.I.C.E.. *^tMM*tk,Kc*UMraUcblkMBeud. WMk OB* Hadnd Md 
W**<*.Md Thirty lkKanln8il. <urto, U*. v walk. 

STEVENSON -MARINE SURVEYING AND HYDROMETRY; 

PiMtt** o 
f UM CMI 



Ih.lr Apfttetto to UM PiMtt** of Urtl Ilinnn. Bjr David 

!,-*>. 



10 Wood. 

i wrtttatoMntkoBow p Ni 
i oadr our MM*." XBLJLUI 




SUSAN HOPLEY; OR. THE ADVENTURES OF A MAIDSERVANT. 
CtMWUNtaB. *.. *L**h. 

8VME.-DISEASES OF THE RECTUM. 



18 CATALOGUE OF WORKS 

THOMSON. SEASONS, WITH LIFE BY JOHNSON. 

With Parallel Passages, Etymological and Critical Notes, &c. By Gilbert Maxwell Gibson, 
Bector of Batbgate Academy. ISmo, cloth, 2s. 6d. ; gilt, 4s. cloth. 

THOMSON. THE LAW OF BILLS OF EXCHANGE. 

Promissory Notes, &c. A Treatise by Robert Thomson, Esq.', Advocate. Second Edition. In- 
cluding a Summary of Decisions, Scotch and English, to the Present Time. 8vo, S4s. cloth. 

TBAILL. MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE ; 

Being Outlines of a Course of Lectures by Thomas Stewart Trail!, M. D., F. R.S. E., Ice. &c., 
Regius Professor of Medical Jurisprudence and Medical Police in the University of Edinburgh. 
Second Edition. Post 8vo, 5s. cloth. 

" These Outlines may indeed be recommended as presenting an excellent compendious view of the 
present state of the doctrines in Medical Jurisprudence ; and thev will serve as a useful guide, not 
only for initiating beginners, but for conducting the student in his subsequent prosecution of the 
subject, either generally or in its divisions." EDINBURGH MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL. 

TKAILL. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

By Thomas Stewart Trail), F. R. S. E., Regius Professor of Medical Jurisprudence in the Uni- 
versity of Edinburgh, &c. &c. Post 8vo, 6s. cloth. 

" A most elaborate digest of facts judiciously arranged, and, as a general exposition, perhaps the 
most complete that has yet appeared." LHKDS MERCURY. 

TYTLER. THE HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, 

From the Contribution of Patrick Fraser Tytler, Esq. to the Encyclopedia Britannica ; En- 
larged and Continued to the Present Time, by the Rev. James Taylor, V. D. ; and adapted to 
the Purposes of Tuition by Alexander Reid, A. M., LL. D., Rector of the Circus Place School, 
Edinburgh. 12mo, 3s. 6d. bound. 

TYTLER. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 

By Patrick Fraser Tytler, Esq. Third Edition , Seven Volumes demy 8vo, L.4, 4s. cloth. 
Also, The CHEAP' .STEREOTYPED EDITION, in 9 vols. post 8vo, price L.2, 14s. 
Single volumes of the Stereotyped Edition, and vols. 6, 7, 8, 9 of the First Edition, to complete 
sets, may still be had. 
" The standard History of Scotland." QUARTERLY REVIEW. 

TYTLER. ELEMENTS OF MODERN HISTORY. 

By Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee, Professor of Universal History in the Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh. Continued to 1846 ; with a Chronological Table. 12mo, 3s. bound. 

This Edition of a Work of great Educational utility has been carefully revised, with the view 
of accommodating it in every respect to the purposes of tuition. It is printed in a new and distinct 
type, and is illustrated with a Map of the World, which affords the means of tracing the fluctuating 
Boundaries of Empires, and the localities rendered memorable by warlike operations, or by other 
important events in Modern History. 

TYTLER ELEMENTS OF ANCIENT HISTORY. 

By Alexander Fras-.-r Tytler, Lord Wuodhouselee, Professor of Universal History in the Uni- 
versity of Edinburgh. With a Chronological Table and Map. 12mo, 3s. bound. 

In this new Edition of Tytler's Elements of Ancient History, advantage has been taken 
of the recent discoveries and critical researches in the histories o'f Greece, Rome, and Egypt ; 
in consequence of which it became necessary to correct or entirely supersede a large portion 
of the original work. The same principle has been adopted in the account of the Hebrew 
Commonwealth, which Tytler entirely omitted, and in the early history of others of the eastern 
nations. 

VEITCH. GREEK VERBS, IRREGULAR AND DEFECTIVE. 

Embracing their Formation, Meaning, and Quantity. By the Rev. William Vcitch. ISmo. 

WALLACE. CONIC SECTIONS. 

A Geometrical Treatise on the Conic Sections; with an Appendix, containing Formulae for 
their Quadrature, Sec. By William Wallace, A.M., F. R. 3. E., late Professor of Mathematics 
In the University of Edinburgh, &c. &c. 8vo, 6s. cloth. 

WALLACE.-GEOMETRICAL THEOREMS AND ANALYTICAL FORMUL/E: 

With their Application to the Solution of Certain Gcodetical Problems ; and an Appendix, 
describing two Copying Instruments. By William Wallace, LL. D., F. R. s. E., F. R. A. 8., 
M. Camb., P. S., Ac., Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh. With 
Copperplate* and Engravings on Wood, flvo, 6s. cloth. 

WARDLAW. SERMONS 

On various subjects, vii. Christ CruciBcd the great theme of Apostolic Preaching. The Offence 
of the Cross. Justification by Faith. Justification by Works. Nature and Use* of Good 



Works. Truth falsely charged with Evil. Happiness of True Religion. The Groans and 
he Creation. The Millennium, fee. By Ralph Wardlaw, D.I)., Glasgow. Bvo, as. 



PUBLISHED BT ADAM AMD OHABIJM BLACK. 19 




WCRNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY MEMOIRS 

J HU..(**k L.I. It 

WIKNHHI T -SOMNAMBULISM 

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\ VOYAGE ROUND THE COASTS OF SCOTLAND AND THE 

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WII.S()V.-NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS! 

llw Artk-l. < Ornltboto7>~ from tk* Bnmth EdlUoo rf ih* 

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r la Bnch CM mm* tiolUat )W m la pnatdbw toluaa." TM VAnmAuir, arm n 
MCTOK Wooe. l*a, 

WIWON. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS AND WHALES 
WMk Dnnb at loo nufn, mttJ oa Htecl. By Juan Witoon, P. R. B. E.. M. W. t>.. 



-A GENERAL AND SYSTEMATIC TREATISE ON INSECTS 
With MO ncwm, 0(nnd on MMl. By June* Wlhoo. r. B. S. K.. M. W.8.. &e. o. 



WILSON -AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF FISHES 
am Steel. Dy Juan Wibrn, P. R. 8. E.. M. W. 8.. M. , M. 



\VITH\M -THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF FOSSIL VEGETABLES 
Ik* Uullfciui M OoM DMrit*r firwl Brltate, dnrriM M UMn 
, *. WHk Ma^iihj.iilii 



r*!5iriO BY TAK A.<TD COMPANY. 
OLD AISIMCtY CLO. 






G DEPT. AUG 2 4 1961 



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