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THE    SOCIOLOGICAL    THEORY    OF    CAPITAL 


THE    SOCIOLOGICAL 

THEORY   OF   CAPITAL 

BEING   A   COMPLETE    REPRINT   OF   THE 

NEW  PRINCIPLES  OF  POLITICAL 

ECONOMY,   1834 


BY 


JOHN    RAE,    M.A. 


SOMETIME   MASTER  OF  THE   GORE   DISTRICT   GRAMMAR    SCHOOL,   HAMILTON,   ONTARIO 
AND   DISTRICT  JUSTICE   AT   HANA,    EAST   MAUI,    HAWAIIAN   ISLANDS 


EDITED,    WITH    BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH   AND    NOTES,    BY 

CHARLES  WHITNEY  MIXTER,  PH.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF   POLITICAL  ECONOMY   IN  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF   VERMONT 


|leto 
THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON  :   MACMILLAN   AND  Qp_.A  LIMITED 
1905 


<:••'•  fh- 


1075491 


50! 


I  40 

Cop,  2- 


GLASGOW  :    PRINTED  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY   PRESS 
'    BT   ROBERT   MACLEHOSE   AND   CO.    LTD. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 
AND    SUMMARY    OF    PRINCIPLES 


[NTRODUCTION, 


CHAPTER   I. 

I  [Or  ECONOMIC  AMBITION  AND  THE  MEANS  ESSENTIAL  TO 

ITS  KKALI/ATION], 

It  is  characteristic  of  man  to  provide  for  the  wants  of  the 
tuture,  by  the  formation  of  instruments  ;  and  his  power  to 
make  this  provision  is  measured  by  the  extent  and  accuracy 
of  his  knowledge  of  the  course  of  natural  events. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ClBOUMSTANi  HI  COMMON  TO  ALL  INSTRUMENTS 
AM>  OF  THOSE  PROPER  TO  SOME,        .        .        .        .        19 

in-  tln.-e  circumstances  common  to  all  instruments. 

(1)  They  <>r  receive  a  capacity  to  produce  certain 

•••  supply  future  wants,  by  labour  [applied  to 

•nils,]  either  directly  or  indirectly.      (2)   Before  tlu-ir 

capacity    is   exi  ,n<\    th«-y    pass    from    thr    tank    of 

t<>   th.it    of  materials,   tin  \    yid.l 

a  return,  or  produn.-  <••  itain  t-vmts  fitted  to  supply  futuiv 
wants,  which    may   be   estimated    in    labour.     •:>,    li,  i 
•  •riod  of  their  formation  and  that  of  their  exham 
a  space  of  tinn  •  •*.     Some  iiiMtrmncMts  can  be  < 

moveil  from  plare  to  plice,  others  cannot.     The  former  are 
d  goods  or  .•'Miiiiio'litiea. 


\i  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  III. 

PAGE 

OF  CERTAIN   CIRCUMSTANCES   ARISING    FROM  THE    INSTI- 
TUTION OF  SOCIETY, 25 

.Statement  of  some  generally  admitted  principles  concerning 
the  nature  of  man  and  of  society,  which  it  is  necessary  to 
assume  in  the  progress  of  the  subsequent  investigations. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

[A  METHOD  FOR  THE  COMPARISON  OF  INSTRUMENTS],        .        31 

Every  instrument  may  be  arranged  in  some  part  of  a  series, 
of  which  the  orders  are  determined,  by  the  proportions 
existing  between  the  labour  expended  in  the  formation  of 
instruments,  the  capacity  given  to  them,  and  the  time 
elapsing  from  the  period  of  formation  to  that  of  exhaustion. 


CHAPTER  V. 

[Or  CERTAIN  TECHNICAL]  CIRCUMSTANCES  GOVERNING  THE 

AMOUNT  OF  INSTRUMENTS  FORMED,     .        .        .        .        42 

In  every  society  considerably  advanced  in  art,  that  is,  in 
every  society  the  members  of  which  have  acquired  an  exten- 
sive knowledge  of  the  trains  of  events  supplying  the  wants  of 
man,  which  the  materials  they  possess  [when  formed  into 
instruments]  are  capable  of  generating,  there  is  no  assignable 
limit  to  the  capacity  that  may  be  given  to  these  materials, 
or  to  the  amount  of  [contrived]  events  which  the  instruments 
that  may  be  formed  out  of  them  may  bring  to  pass  ;  but 
that  capacity  cannot  be  indefinitely  increased  without  carry- 
ing the  stock  of  instruments  owned  by  the  society  to  an 
order  of  slower  return — that  is  to  say,  without  [either] 
extending  the  period  between  their  formation  and  exhaus- 
tion, or  diminishing  their  return  [in  proportion  to  the  outlay 
on  their  construction].  It  so  happens,  that,  other  circum- 
stances being  equal,  [that  is,  principally,  in  the  absence  of 
increase  of  knowledge],  the  wider  the  circle  of  events 
embraced  [or,  of  materials  with  which  "natural  events"  are 
associated],  the  returns  made  by  the  instruments  constructed 
take  place  in  a  more  distant  futurity.  [In  other  words,  with 
mere  non-inventive  expansion  of  instrumental  production, 
the  rate  of  return  declines  ;  because  the  results  are  achieved 
either  with  greater  outlay  or  more  tardily.] 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS  vii 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PACK 

OF  THE  ClRCUMSTANCKS  WHICH   DETERMINE  THE  STRENGTH 

OF  THE   KlTF.rriVK    1>!>1KE  OF  ACCUMULATION,  .  52 

The  order  to  which  the  instruments  formed  by  any  society 
will  be  carried,  is  fixed  by  the  relative  estimation  of 
its  members  of  events  taking  place  at  present,  and  at  a 
future  period,  which  is  denominated  the,  effective  desire  of 
accumulation.  This  is  chiefly  determined  (1)  by  the  dis- 
tinctness of  the  mind's  conception  of  future  events,  which 
again  depends  on  the  strength  of  the  intellectual  powers  ; 
(2)  on  the  desire  felt  for  the  production  of  practicable  future 
events.  The  latter  circumstance  is  regulated  by  the  strength 
of  the  moral  powers,  or  what  in  these  investigations  are 
U-rmed  the  social  and  benevolent  affections.  As  the  exist- 
ence of  the  individual  is  precarious,  and  his  power  of  enjoy- 
ment continually  diminishing,  the  more  the  state  of  feeling 
and  action  pervading  any  community  separates  individuals 
from  one  another,  the  more  limited  will  be  the  range  of  events 
[or  materials]  which  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  of 
the  members  of  that  community  will  embrace.  On  the  con- 
trary, as,  though  individuals  perish  the  race  remains,  the 
more  the  interests  of  the  individual  are  identified  with  those 
of  others,  the  wider  will  be  the  circle  of  events  which  the 
accumulative  principle  will  comprehend.  Isolation  of  feeling 
and  action  weakens  the  accumulative  principle  by  separating 
the  interests  of  individuals,  and  so  contracting  its  sphere  of 
operation  ;  community  of  feeling  and  action  strengthens  it, 
by  connecting*  the  interests  of  individuals,  and  exciting  them 
to  comprelu-inl  within  the  circle  of  their  operations  a  more 
extended  series  of  events. 


CHAPTKK    VII. 

<  M  SOME  OF  TIII:  I'HKNOMENA  ARISING  FROM  THI:  I  MITKKKNT 
I>I:<;REES  OF  STRKN«.TII   Of  THI  EfTO  nvi:   DCBIRI  01 

Acer  MI  i  .\ii"N   IN    IMI  i  KIIKNT  Socii  :m>,    ...         65 


Hate  of  feeling  ;unl  action,  tin  h  of 

the  effective  desire  of  accumulation,  the  orders  of  m-ti  mueiiU 

••in.-  <>f  the  circumstances  thus  produced,  among  hunting 
and  pastoral  nations,  in  the  Chim-Hr  Kinjiii.-.  m  nmdcm 
•i  n  long  the  ancient  Romans. 


viii  TABLK    OF    CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

i'\i;i: 

OFTHK  DIVISION  OF  EMPLOYMENTS,  AND  OF  OTHER  PHENO- 

MKNA     I'Kol.rrKD     BY     EFFORTS     TO    ACCELERATE    THE 

KXHATSTION    OK    iNSTKl  MKNTS,       .  .  .        *     .  .          l<)l_> 

When  in  consequence  of  the  progress  of  art  [invention]  and 
the  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle,  there,  are  many 
extended  trains  of  [contrived]  events,  or  arts,  going  on  in  any 
society,  and  when,  consequently,  there  exist  many  sets  of 
tools  or  instruments  producing  them,  each  individual  betakes 
himself  to  the  production  [conduct]  of  some  particular  train, 
and  to  the  formation  of  the  instruments  necessary  for  carry- 
ing it  on.  By  this  means,  no  instruments  lie  idle,  which 
must  be  the  case  were  every  man  to  practise  several  arts  ; 
and,  consequently,  they  are  more  speedily  exhausted,  and 
pass  to  orders  of  quicker  return.  This  division  of  employ- 
ments introduces  the  necessity  of  the  exchange  of  com- 
modities. The  exchange  of  commodities  is  regulated  by  the 
labour  respectively  expended  on  them,  in  conjunction  with 
the  time  at  which  it  was  expended,  reckoning  the  effects  of 
the  latter  by  the  orders  at  which  instruments  actually  stand, 
[which  last  determines  the  prevailing  rate  of  profit  at  any 
time].  The  existence  of  exchange  occasions  a  choice  being 
made  of  some  commodity,  which  is  kept  [uniquely  made  use 
of]  for  the  purpose  of  being  exchanged  with  all  others,  and  so 
comes  to  name  the  rates  at  which  they  exchange,  or  to  fix 
[express]  their  values.  The  commodity  chosen  for  this  pur- 
pose is  termed  money,  and,  among  communities  possessing 
the  precious  metals,  consists  of  them.  Exchanges  are  also 
effected  by  means  of  credit.  .  .  .  The  general  prevalence  of 
credit,  and  of  the  use  of  money,  has  produced  the  [customary] 
mercantile  mode  of  calculating  the  returns  of  instruments,  by 
profits  and  interest.  [This  system  of  calculation,  while  exceed- 
ingly advantageous  in  the  conduct  of  affairs,  is  a  serious 
impediment  to  the  philosophical  understanding  of  capital.] 

CHAPTER  IX. 

[Or  INVENTION  CONSIDERED  AS  A  GENERAL  SOCIOLOGICAL 

PRINCIPLE], 132 

[It  is  necessary  to  investigate  the  causes  of  progress  in  any 
department  of  human  affairs,  and  not  to  take  them  for 
granted,  man  being  essentially  imitative.  Motives  exciting 
to  innovation  and  the  opposing  forces  external  to  and  within 
the  inventor.  Though  in  respect  to  the  individual,  mani- 
festations of  the  inventive  faculty  imply  a  superiority  in 


TABLE   OF   COM  FATS  ix 

PAOB 

some  of  the  intellectual  powers,  in  respect  to  a  society  they 
imply  a  preponderance  of  the  social  and  benevolent  affections. 
One  of  the  final  and  contingent  results,  however,  of  intestine 
commotions,  persecutions,  wars,  and  the  like,  seems  to  be  to 
advance  the  inventive  faculty.] 

CHAPTER   X 

m.  CAUSES  OF  THE  PROGRESS  OF  INVENTION  AND  OF 
THK   KKFECTS    ARISING    FROM    IT,   [AS    IT  CON  >  T.I;  v- 

\\ITH  THK  MATERIAL  WORLD],        .       .       .      151 


Invention,  the  discovery  of  new  possible  existence*,  becomes 
an  active  principle  by  exerting  a  formative  power  on  old 
•t.1  exintences.  By  reason  of  the  nature  of  the  world  in 
which  man  lives,  change  exposes  to  his  view  new  successions 
of  events,  which  excite  him  to  observe  them,  and  weaken  the 
retarding  influence  of  the  principle  of  servile  imitation.  The 
effects  on  instruments  of  the  progress  of  invention,  are  to 
produce  improvements  in  them,  and  to  carry  them  on  [back] 
to  orders  of  quicker  return,  [and  so  for  the  time  being  to 
advance  the  rate  of  profit]. 


CHAPTER   XL 

K\i  IIAN<;ES   BETWEEN    DIFFERENT    COMMUNITIES   [OF 

CoMMoMTlES    nTHER   THAN    LUXURIES],  .  .  .         204 

i  mges  between  societies,  [that  is,  between  the  members 
of  different  societies,]  are  not  directly  regulated  by  the  quan- 
tity of  labor,  [plus  the  time  of  its  outlay],  expended  on  the 
commodities  exchanged.  Increased  facility  in  the  exchange 
of  utilities  [articles  which  are  not  luxuries]  operates  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  progress  of  invention  and  improvement, 
and  carries  instruments  to  tin-  m«>n-  ipiickly  ivturning  orders. 

interruption  of  the  exchange  of  such  articles  may  have, 
however,  indirect  effects  precisely  opposite  to  the  direct 
effects.] 

CHAITKl;    XII. 
\\'ASTE,  [OR  PURE  ECONOMIC  Loss],     .        .        .        .213 

The  loss  which,  in  any  society,  the  capa  tiuments 

sustains  by  the  operation  <>f  tr.md 

lar  causes],  seems  to  be  m-mly  in\<  r><  l\  ngth 

of  the  accumulative  principle ;  . 


x  TABLE    OF   CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

PAGE 

OF  THE  EFFECTS  RESULTING  FROM  DIVERSITIES  OF  STRENGTH 

IN  THE  ACCl' MT  LA  II VE  PRINCIPLE,  IN  MEMBERS  OF  THE 

SAME  SOCIETY, 218 

In  the  same  society,  instruments  (excepting  those  that  cannot 
be  exchanged,  forming  a  stock  reserved  for  immediate  con- 
sumption) are  kept  at  nearly  the  same  orders,  because 
prodigals,  or  individuals  in  whom  the  accumulative  principle 
is  weaker  than  the  average,  can  exchange  the  instruments 
they  possess  for  more,  according  to  their  estimation  of  the 
future  and  the  present,  than  they  are  worth,  and  therefore 
[do]  transfer  them  ;  while  frugal  persons,  or  individuals  in 
whom  the  accumulative  principle  is  stronger  than  the  average, 
find  exercise  for  it  in  acquiring  instruments  transferred  by 
prodigals.  [It  thus  chiefly  comes  about  that  there  is  an 
economic  stratification  of  the  members  of  each  society.  This 
last  leads  to  the  consideration  of  some  of  the  interrelations  of 
the  principles  of  accumulation  and  of  population.] 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
OF  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  THE  DIVISION  OF  LABOUR,      .        .       237 

The  division  of  labour  ought  to  be  considered  rather  as  a 
result  than  a  cause.  [That  is,  it  comes  into  existence  through 
the  antecedent  progress  of  invention.  It  is  not,  as  Adam 
Smith  supposed,  a  prime  mover  in  the  course  of  human 
affairs.] 


APPENDIX. 


ARTICLE  I. 
[OF  THE  NATURE  AND  EFFECTS]  OF  LUXURY,    .        .        .      :M5 

There  is  a  propensity  among  men  to  attain  [a  factitious] 
superiority  over  one  another.  This  may  be  termed  vanity, 
and  is  gratified  by  the  evident  possession  of  things  which 
others  have  not  the  means  of  acquiring.  It  calls  for  the 
possession  of  commodities  of  which  the  consumption  is 
conspicuous,  and  which  cost  much  labor,  though  not  better 
qualified,  or  but  little  better  qualified,  to  supply  real  wants, 


TABLK    OF    CONTENTS  xi 

PAGE 

than  other  commodities  costing  little  labor.  The  comparison 
of  the  physical  qualities  of  such  commodities  does  not  afford, 
therefore,  the  means  of  measuring  them  by  one  another. 
«•  the  assumption,  on  which  the  preceding  investiga- 
tions have  proceeded,  that  all  commodities  compare  with  one 
another  by  their  physical  qualities  [by  the  physical  "events" 
they  produce],  is  incorrect.  In  so  far  as  any  commodity, 
when  compared  with  another,  excels  it  only  in  the  gratifica- 
tion it  affords  to  vanity,  it  is  to  be  considered  a  luxury  ;  in 
so  far  as  it  compares  with  others  in  the  capacity  which  its 
physical  qualities  give  it  to  gratify  real  wants,  it  is  to  be 
considered  as  a  utility.  The  progress  of  invention  and  improve- 
ment have  no  effect  in  carrying  instruments,  directly  or 
indirectly  producing  luxuries,  to  more  quickly  returning 
orders  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  carry  them  to  the  most  slowly 
returning  orders  of  which  the  strength  of  the  accumulative 
principle  admits  the  existence.  The  labor  expended  in 
the  formation  of  luxuries,  is  so  much  direct  loss  to  the 
ci'ininunity,  one  man's  superiority  being  here  equivalent  to 
another's  inferiority.  The  amount  thus  dissipated  depends 
on  the  force  of  the  social  and  benevolent  affections,  and 
intellectual  powers,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  selfish 
feelings,  and  is  therefore,  inversely  as  the  strength  of  the 
accumulative  principle. 


ARTICLE  II. 

[Or    EXCHANGE    I'.KTWF.KN    IMFFEKENT   COMMUNITIES   OF 

COMMODITIES  WHICH  MINISTER  TO  LUXURY],      .        .      277 

Increased  facility  in  the  exchange  of  luxuries  has  an  im- 
im-.liate  tendency  (in  contrast  to  what  happens  in  the  case  of 
utilities),  to  carry  instruments  to  the  more  slowly  returning 
orders.  [The  first  effects  of  restrictions  upon  trade  in  this 
class  of  commodities,  on  the  contrary,  are  beneficial,  whereas 
their  ulterior  effects  may  be  injurious.  The  relative  effects 
of  restriction  and  free  com  pi -tit ion,  when  oppmt unities  for 
observation  present  themselves,  afford  a  means  of  ascertain 
ing  how  far  commodities  are  or  are  not  luxuries.] 


ARTICLI;  in 

<  >r  i  in:  OPERATIONS  or  im:  LTMSLATOR  ON  Lun  mrs   .      286 


The  art  of  the  legislator  may  apply  to  the  purposes  of  the 
state,  funds  naturally  dissipated  in  luxuries. 


xii  TABLE    OF   CONTENTS 

ARTICLE   IV. 

PAGE 

[Or  THE  ART  OF  THE  BANKER], 297 

[PART  L— OF  BANKING  IN  GENERAL.] 

The  modern  art  of  banking  consists  in  the  generalization  of 
all  credit  transactions  [throughout  a  community],  and  an 
emission  of  paper  money,  or  money  of  credit.  Its  introduc- 
tion into  any  community  by  facilitating  the  exchange  of 
instruments,  quickens  their  exhaustion  [and  formation],  and 
carries  them  to  the  more  speedily  returning  orders. 

[PART  II.— OF  PARTICULAR  SYSTEMS  OF  BANKING.] 

[The  Scotch  banking  system  described  and  contrasted  with 
that  of  England.  Further  consideration  of  the  utility  of 
banks  in  increasing  the  efficiency  of  the  money  of  a  com- 
munity, whether  specie  or  banker's  money.  Strictures  upon 
Adam  Smith's  views  on  monetary  subjects.] 


ARTICLE  V. 

OF  THE  WEALTH  OF  NATIONS  AS  A  BRANCH  OF  THE  PHILO- 
SOPHY OF  INDUCTION.  [OF  THE  SPIRIT  AND  METHOD 
OF  SCIENCE] 329 

Adam  Smith's  great  work  is  to  be  considered  as  a  philo- 
sophical system,  the  object  of  which  is  to  explain  known 
phenomena,  on  popular  principles,  not  as  an  inductive 
iii(|iiiry,  leading  to  the  discovery  of  the  real  laws  deter- 
mining the  succession  of  those  phenomena.  [This  last  form 
of  procedure  alone  can  claim  the  rank  of  true  science.] 


ARTICLE   VI. 
[Or  THE  THEORY  OF  POPULATION], 354 

[It  is  an  error  to  assimilate  man  to  the  lower  animals  as 
regards  the  laws  of  his  propagation.  We  have  to  take  cog- 
nizance of  things  psychological  and  social  as  well  as  of  things 
physiological  and  individual,  and  the  former  set  of  causes  are 
of  predominating  influence  both  in  advancing  and  declining 
states.  The  principle  which  increases  and  maintains  the 
numbers  of  mankind  may  be  termed  thr.  effective  desire  of 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS  xiii 

ARTICLE  VII. 

PAGE 

[Or  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  LAISSBZ  FAIRE  WITH  SPECIAL 
REFERENCE  TO]  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR 
IN  IliLi.\«;ix(i  THE  ARTS  OF  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES  TO 
His  ONVN 359 

Instead  of  there  being  any  grounds  for  a  presumption  against 
legislative  interference,  from  the  assumption  that  nature 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  pursue  her  own  plans  ;  the  presump- 
tion is,  on  the  contrary,  that  nature  gave  man  his  peculiar 
faculties  for  the  purpose  that  universally,  and  as  well  here 
as  elsewhere,  he  might  acquire  the  direction  of  events,  by 
discovering  the  laws  regulating  their  successions. 


ARTICLE  VIII. 

[Or  THE  SUPPOSED  IDENTITY  OF  THE  CAUSES  GIVING  RISE 

TO  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  WEALTH],  .        .        .      377 

[PART  I.— WHEN  ASSUMED  AS  A  SELT- EVIDENT  TRUTH.] 

The  causes  giving  rise  to  individual  and  national  wealth  are 
not  precisely  the  same.  Individuals  grow  rich  [generally  and 
characteristically]  by  the  acquisition  of  wealth  previously 
existing;  nations,  by  the  creation  of  wealth  that  did  not 
before  exist,  [which  last  comes  about  through  invention.] 

[PART  II.— WHEN  DEDUCED  FROM  AN  INGENIOUS  THEORY.] 

The  legislator  may  stimulate  invention  by  the  introduction  of 
new  arts  ;  [that  is,  by  the  encouragement  of  the  transfer  of 
old  arts  to  a  place  where  they  are  new,  and  where  they  make 
adaptations  to  the  changed  physical  and  social  environment.] 

AUTHOR'S  "NOTES," 448 

RESIDUA, 466 

READER'S  GUIDE,  .      484 


EDITOR'S   PREFACE. 

THE  original  work  of  which  this  volume  is  a  reprint,  was 
published  in  Boston  in  1834  under  the  unfortunate  title, 
St<it o)i cut  of  Some  New  Principles  on  the  Subject  of 
Political  Economy,  Exposing  the  Fallacies  of  the  System 
of  Free  Trade,  and  of  Some  other  Doctrines  Maintained 
in  the  "  Wealth  of  Nations."1  This  title  was  a  misnomer, 
for  the  chief  part  of  the  undertaking  consisted  not  in 
strictures  on  the  doctrines  of  Adam  Smith,  but  in  an 
independent,  elaborate,  and  profound  treatment  of  the 
general  subject  of  capital.  It  is  this  last  which  has  recently 
brought  Rae  into  notice  with  the  present  generation  of 

lomists  in  connection  with  the  wrorld-wide  discussion  of 
c.ipital,  upon  new  and  fruitful  lines,  inaugurated  by  Bohm- 
Bawerk. 

I  may  add  here  that  the  first  article  by  me  upon  Rae 
("A  Forerunner  of  Bohm-Bawerk,"   Quarterly  Journal  of 

tunnies,  January,  1897),  had  a  title  which  was  also  in 
great  measure  a  misnomer.  Rae  is  not  a  mere  "  anticipator 

1  It  was  divide.!  into  three  "Books"  named  respectively— "  Individual  and 
National  Interests  are  not  Identical"  (two  chapters,  77  pages);  "Of  the 
Nature  of  Stock  and  of  the  Laws  governing  ita  Increase  and  Diminution" 
ii  chapters  and  an  "appendix,"  280  pages) ;  and  "Of  the  Operations  of 
th-  legislator  on  National  Stock"  (three  chapters,  29  pages).  To  this  were 
added  twenty-seven  pages  of  "Notes"  at  the  oml  »f  tho  volume. 

Of  the  several   defects   in   book-making  which  seriously  handicapped  the 

\\  •••  U,  the  most  considerable  was  the  putting  first  of  all  of  two  long-drawn  out 

chapters,  highly  controversial  in  their  nature,  and  l>y  far  tin-  mo.st  ditlicult  in 

nust  be  that  many  a  reader  never  got  beyond  or  even  through 

them. 


xvi  EDITOR'S   PREFACE 

of  the  discoverer"  (to  use  one  of  Cannan's  phrases),  hut 
the  discoverer  himself.  By  reason  of  the  lack  of  a  theory 
of  invention,  Bohm-Bawerk's  doctrine  of  capital,  although 
coming  much  later,  is  in  essentials  the  less  complete  of  thr 
two.  This  contention  I  have  attempted  to  substantial <• 
in  my  second  article  ("  Bohm-Bawerk  on  Bae,"  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Economics,  May,  1902)  reviewing  Chapter  XI. 
of  the  second  edition  of  the  Geschichte  und  Critik  d<r 
Capitalzins-Theorien. 

In  view  of  the  chief  interest  which  now  attaches  to  Rae's 
work,  it  has  been  deemed  advisable,  in  response  to  numerous 
demands,  to  bring  out  this  republication  in  an  entirely  new 
dress.  That  part  of  the  second  "  Book  "  (the  greater  part) 
which  possesses  a  unity  of  its  own,  and  which  deals  pre- 
dominantly with  the  subject  of  capital,  is  given  precedence, 
under  a  more  significant  title,  which  attaches  to  the  volume 
as  a  whole;  and  the  remainder,  considerably  rearranged,  is 
reproduced  in  an  appendix.  The  original  work  in  its 
entirety  is  thus  made  available  and,  it  is  thought,  more 
readable. 

It  has  not  been  considered  advisable  in  all  instances  to 
distract  the  attention  of  the  reader  by  indicating  the  minor 
editorial  changes  in  the  text ;  but  care  has  been  taken  in 
every  instance  (with  the  exception  of  one  passage  on  pages 
8  and  9),  to  point  out  all  alterations  of  consequence. 
Additions  to  the  titles  of  chapters,  and  some  wholly  new 
titles  supplied  by  the  editor,  are  indicated  by  brackets  in  the 
Table  of  Contents  which  are  not  repeated  in  the  body  of  the 
work.  These  new  titles  are  occasioned  by  the  appearance 
of  new  chapters  in  the  editing,  and  by  the  fact  that  in  some 
instances  there  were  formerly  no  titles  proper.  As  several 
publications  have  made  extensive  page  references  to  the 
original  volume,  a  Header's  Guide  has  been  placed  at  the 


EDITOR'S   PREFACE  xvii 

end  of  the  present  volume,  by  means  of  which  the  location 
in  the  reprint  of  any  passage  of  the  original  can  readily  be 

ed. 

A  few  words  having  a  special  bearing  upon  the  biography 
are  not  out  of  place  here. 

When  I  first  became  interested  in  Rae's  theory  of  capital, 
under     Professor     Taussig's     direction     in     the     economic 

inary  at  Harvard  University,  there  existed  no  printed 
information  (except  in  his  Preface)  in  respect  to  Rae 
hiin>elt ' :  and  for  a  long  time  nothing  could  be  learned 
through  inquiry  in  quarters  which  promised  well  in  Canada 
and  Great  Britain.  The  late  Professor  Dunbar  of  Harvard, 
who  always  displayed  a  keen  interest  in  the  undertaking, 
urged  me  to  persist,  and  at  length  a  letter  printed  in  the 
Montreal  Star  drew  forth  two  replies,  one  from  the  Canadian 
antiquary  Mr.  H.  J.  Morgan,  the  other  from  the  late  Robert 
S.  Knight  of  Lancaster,  Ontario,  a  grand-nephew  of  Rae. 
This  set  me  upon  the  right  road  to  get  into  communication 
with  several  people  who  knew  Rae  personally.  Of  these 
the  one  who  could  tell  me  most  was  the  late  Sir  Roderick 
\V.  Cameron  of  New  York,  a  former  pupil  and  life-long 

:id,  at  whose  summer  residence  on  Staten  Island  Rae 
died.  Better  still,  I  was  able  through  the  interest  and 
kindness  of  this  gentleman  to  come  into  possession  of  what 
f<  w  papers  Rae  left  at  his  death.  That  is,  I  obtained  all 
Rae's  effects  of  a  literary  nature  which  seem  now  to  bi  in 
existence.  Apparently,  from  statements  made  by  Sir 
Roderick,  there  was  another  set  of  papers  which  I  Jar  had 
uith  him  at  the  time,  but  which  were  destroyed  or  in  some 
way  lost.  The  papers  I  obtained  were  little  more  than  odds 
and  ends,  mostly  unfinished  fragments  on  a  great  variety 

uhj.Tts,  unfortunately  but  little  on  economics.  Their 
<-hirf  use  has  been  to  help  me  to  a  f;m  understanding  of 

b 


xviii  EDITOR'S   PREFACE 

Rae's  life,  which  I  have  been  able,  however,  only  very 
imperfectly  to  set  forth. 

I  have  received  much  information  and  kind  assistance  in 
this  part  of  my  work  from  not  a  few  people  in  Canada,  the 
United  States,  Honolulu,  and  Great  Britain.  I  trust  they 
will  accept  this  general  acknowledgment  of  my  sense  of 
indebtedness  to  them. 

To  Mr.  L.  W.  Zartman  of  Yale  University  my  especial 
thanks  are  due  for  assistance  in  preparing  the  copy  for  the 
printer,  and  in  reading  the  proofs. 

I  am  also  much  indebted  to  Mr.  Wilmot  H.  Thompson 
of  the  Graduate  School  of  Yale,  for  revision  of  the  classical 
quotations. 

Finally,  I  wish  here  to  express  my  obligations  to  Professor 
Irving  Fisher  of  Yale  University.  His  interest  and 
encouragement  have  been  of  unfailing  support.  The  proof 
sheets  of  the  whole  book  have  passed  his  able  scrutiny,  and 
his  direct  help  in  many  other  ways  has  been  invaluable. 

C.  W.  M. 

BURLINGTON, 
VERMONT,  My,  1905. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

THREE  men  of  note  have  borne  the  name  John  Rae ;  and 
because  of  frequent  misunderstanding  it  is  worth  while 
here  once  for  all  clearly  to  distinguish  them.  There  is  first, 
reversing  the  chronological  order,  the  John  Rae  now  living 
in  England,  born  at  Wick,  Caithness,  in  1845,  educated 
at  the  T Diversity  of  Edinburgh  (Hon.  LL.D.,  1897) 
journalist  by  profession,  and  author  of  several  well-known 
works  on  economic  subjects.  Then  there  is  John  Rae, 
M.D.,  for  some  years  surgeon  in  the  employ  of  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company,  author  of  a  work  on  Arctic  exploration, 
rewarded  by  the  British  government  as  the  first  discoverer 
of  relics  of  the  Sir  John  Franklin  expedition.  His  education 
in  medicine  (completed  in  1833)  was  obtained  at  the 
Iniversity  of  Edinburgh,  but  his  degree,  an  honorary  one, 
came  from  McGill  University,  Montreal,  in  1853.  He  was 
born  near  Stromness,  in  the  Orkneys,  in  1813,  and  died 
in  London  in  1893.  Finally,  there  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  who  was  born  at  Footdee,  "then  a  small  and 
detached  suburb  of  Aberdeen,"  June  1st,  1796,  and  died  at 
Clifton,  Staten  Island,  New  York,  July  14th,  1872.  So 
far  as  is  known  these  three  North  of  Scotland  men  were 
not  kinsmen.  The  two  last  are  often  confounded,  even  by 
the  best  informed  antiquaries,  more  especially  because  each 
was  known  as  Dr.  Rae,  and  each  resided  for  a  part  of  his 
life  in  Hamilton,  Ontario. 

Of  Rae's  antecedents  and  early  life  we  know  hut  little. 
His  father's  name  was  John,  a  merchant,  "  an  entirely 
s.  h  made  man,  the  son  of  a  peasant  or  small  farmer."  The 
mother  was  Margaret  Cuthbert,  whose  family  seems  to  have 


xx  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH 

been  rather  well-to-do  "  large  farmers,  as  farming  went 
then."  The  son  speaks  of  his  father  as  fifteen  years  older 
than  his  mother,  and  of  the  twro  as  markedly  different  "  in 
character,  disposition,  habits,  tastes,  and  education." 
There  was  one  sister,  Ann  Cuthbert,  and  two  brothers, 
James  and  Alexander.  The  elder  brother,  James,  had 
remarkable  inventive  aptitudes,  but  was  lost  at  sea  in  early 
life.  The  sister  married  James  Innes  Knight,  and  preceded 
Rae  to  Canada,  at  least  as  early  as  1816,  where  Mr.  Knight 
died  not  long  after  arrival.  A  son  by  this  marriage,  Eobert 
Knight,  has  descendants  now  living  in  Canada  ;  and  descend- 
ants of  a  daughter,  Jessie,  who  married  a  Mr.  Thurburn,  are 
living  in  Scotland.  Later  Mrs.  Knight  married  Jan  us 
Fleming,  a  merchant  of  Montreal.  There  was  a  son  by  this 
marriage,  Ramsay  Fleming,  Q.C.,  lately  deceased.  Rae 
himself  had  no  children.1 

While  still  a  mere  lad  John  Eae  studied  at  the  University 
of  Aberdeen,  being  entered  in  Marischal  College  for  the 
sessions  of  1810-1811,  1811-1812,  and  1814-1815.  In  1815 
he  took  the  degree  of  M.A.2  Later  he  studied  medicine 
at  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  but  seems  never  to  have 
taken  a  degree  in  medicine  there  or,  indeed,  anywhere  else.3 
Beyond  doubt  a  most  precocious  youth,  and  it  must  be 
admitted  from  what  follows  somewhat  self-opinionated,  he 
had  apparently  a  quarrel  with  his  instructors  at  the  time 

1  Since  writing  the  above,  Miss  Dorothy  W.  Knight,  Rae's  great-grand-niece, 
has  forwarded  to  me  the  following  information  obtained  from  her  cousins  in 
Scotland : — 

"The  business  of  Rae's  father  was  in  connection  with  shipping,  either  as  a 
ship  builder  or  ship  broker.  He  was  in  very  comfortable  circumstances — 
not  great  wealth,  but  more  than  the  average  amount  of  money.  He  was 
considered  a  very  upright  man,  kind,  and  a  lover  of  peace.  Mrs.  Rae  was  an 
exceedingly  kind  woman,  and  kept  a  comfortable  home.  She  was  a  beauty  ; 
dignified  in  her  manners,  and  paid  great  attention  to  the  manners  of  her 
family.  Mrs.  Rae  died  a  good  many  years  previous  to  her  husband — sometime 
between  1815  and  1820.  Subsequent  to  her  death  Mr.  Rae  lost  his  money. 
Later,  in  his  old  age,  he  went  a  voyage  with  one  of  his  sons  [Alexander],  and 
the  ship  was  wrecked,  and  both  father  and  son  drowned. " 

2  See  Fasti  Academiae  Mariscallanae,  ii.  pp.  407  and  412. 

3  Considerable  inquiry  and   incidental   evidence  in   his   papers  maku  this 
statement  practically  certain. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  xxi 

of  his  presentation.  During  the  course  of  his  studies  he 
had  "  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  physiological  medical 
theories  of  the  day  were  opposed  to  all  true  philosophy,  and 
therefore  fundamentally  false  "  ;  he  had  also  reached  "  a 
conclusion  concerning  the  origin  of  man  very  different  from 
the  orthodox  one."  Writing  to  a  friend  late  in  life  he 
said  : 

"  I  was  preparing  an  inaugural  dissertation,  as  was  then 
th«-  custom  in  Edinburgh,  previous  to  taking  my  degree ;  its 
title  was  "  De  Vita,"  and  I  intended  to  propound  in  it  my 

nil  views.     I  was  prevented  by  leading  men  in  Edin- 

h  who  had  taken  an  interest  in  me,  among  others  Dr. 

A  In  Tcrombie,  a  physician  in  extensive  practice,  known  to 

y..ii    perhaps   as   the   author  of   some   metaphysical   works. 

They  represented  to  me  that  the  course  I  was  preparing  to 

was   highly   presumptious   and   imprudent.     I   should 

have  yielded  to  them  with  thanks,  had  they  shown 

ili; it  it  was  erroneous.  But  they  would  not  listen  to 
n i\  reasons,  they  looked  only  at  my  conclusions.  In  this 
state  of  affairs  I  thought  I  would  advise  with  my  father.  He 
knew  nothing  of  philosophy  and  physiology,  but  he  knew  the 
world.  His  opinion  was  that  if  I  was  to  fight  I  had  better 

r  for  a  year  or  two  till  I  gathered  more  strength,  and 
then  if,  as  I  had  proposed,  I  wished  to  go  to  Paris,  where 
physiology  was  then  more  advanced  than  in  England,  he 
would  consent.  It  was  perhaps  good  advice,  as  I  was  then 
only  twenty  years  of  age.  I  had  thus  to  pass  a  few  years 

lining  knowledge  and  experience.  I  turned  myself  to 
a  subject  kindred  to  my  previous  studies,  and  thus  said  to 

It  :   It   I  a  in  right,  deep  is  the  pit  from  which  we  men 

opened  to  ourselves  a  passage.  The  deeper  the  pit  the 
higher  comparatively  the  height  to  which  we  have  ascended, 

therefore  still  greater  the  height  we  may  hope  to  gain. 
Win-nee  then  ;nv  the  forces  which  have  so  elevated  us.  and 
whenc,-  is  it  that  humanity  has  been  continually  [lapsing] 
from  the  jjivatest  heights  to  the  most  profound  depths,  and 
substantial  progress  is  to  the  philosophical  eye 
SO  uncertain  V" 

In  1818  Rae  made  a  tour  through  Norway,  but  in  \\hat 

itv  is  not  known.     Apparently  the  event  which   vraa 

th.    -re;it    turning   point    in    his   life  and    which   was  to  send 

him    on    the    beginning    of    his    wanderings    had    not    yet 


xxii  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

occurred.  Speaking  of  this  time  in  later  years,  or  of  the 
year  preceding,  he  says,  "  a  small  estate  to  which  I  \vas 
then  reckoned  heir  would,  I  thought,  furnish  me  with 
sufficient  means  to  enable  me  to  give  all  my  energies  for  all 
the  years  I  might  have  to  live  to  these  pursuits,"  that  is, 
' '  to  make  at  least  a  beginning  ' '  toward  writing  ' '  a  truly 
philosophical  history  of  humanity."  "  But  I  was  mis- 
taken." 

Soon  after  came  the  ' '  change  ' '  in  his  ' '  circumstances  ' ' 
to  which  he  alludes  in  the  Preface  to  his  Political  Economy, 
the  exact  nature  of  which  we  can  only  guess.  Several 
things  indicate,  however,  that  it  consisted  both  in  financial 
disaster  and  an  unfortunate  marriage.  A  life-long  intimate 
written  the  present  writer  that  Rae  left  Aberdeen 
"under  a  sort  of  bad  luck,  having  married  in  haste." 
Still  another  acquaintance  has  said,  speaking  of  the  years 
1844-1845,  "  He  was  then  married,  his  wife  in  education 
far  beneath  him,  she  being  the  daughter  of  a  Scotch 
shepherd." 

As  Rae  was  in  his  twenty-fifth  year  when  he  emigrated, 
the  following  shows  that  even  years  before  the  hand  of 
adversity,  which  was  never  to  leave  him,  had  been  already 
in  some  form  or  other  heavy  upon  him.  ;'  Natural  disposi- 
tion, strange  and  very  early  misfortunes,  had  marked  me  for 
a  student — not  a  barren  book-worm — but  a  man  eager  for 
knowledge — knowledge  as  power — the  power  in  my  concep- 
tion of  being  a  lasting  benefactor  to  man.  Thoughts 
inspiring  as  these  could  alone  have  carried  me  over  years 
of  terrible  suffering  which  I  had  endured  before  reaching 
my  majority." 

With  this  fragment  casting  a  dark  shadow  on  his  early 
life  we  pass  from  the  period  of  adolescence  to  that  of  middle 
manhood . 

Rae  landed  in  Quebec  in  the  spring  of  1821,  where  there 
is  some  evidence  tending  to  show  that  he  found  employment 
for  a  time  "  in  the  lumber  trade."  At  all  events,  he  soon 
after  set  up  a  private  school  at  Williamstown,  Ontario, 
about  fifty  miles  westward  from  Montreal,  having  been 
invited  there  to  teach  the  children  of  some  of  the  rich  fur 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  xxiii 

traders  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  Not  a  few  of  his 
pupils  came  from  a  distance,  and  among  them  were  his 
nephew  Robert  Knight  and  Roderick  W.  Cameron. 

Two  years  before  the  publication  of  his  Political  Economy 
Rae  gave  up  the  school  at  Williamstown  ,  and,  residing  in 
the  vicinity  of  Quebec  and  at  Montreal,  devoted  himself  to 
preparing  his  work  for  the  press.  A  considerable  part  of 
1834  he  spent  in  Boston,  where  he  received  (as  reported  by 
his  sister)  '  *  great  attention  from  some  literary  and 
distinguished  characters."  Not  long  after  this  he  obtained 
tin  head-mastership  of  the  Gore  District  Grammar  School, 
an  advanced  public  academy,  at  Hamilton.1  Some  excerpts 
from  letters  written  by  pupils  of  those  days  may  not  be  out 
of  place  here. 

"  He  was  an  accomplished  scholar  and  taught  the  classics, 
having  a  Mr.  Tassie  as  an  English  assistant.  He  was 
_fther  a  remarkable  man.  .  .  .  He  was  quite  different 
from  ordinary  men,  or  I  think  my  youthful  imagination 
would  not  have  been  so  impressed  as  it  was.  He  was 
undoubtedly  a  man  of  deep  learning  and  research,  and  made 
a  powerful  impression  on  all  who  knew  him.  He  was 
amiable  and  thoughtful  of  others."  (George  H.  Mills,  Esq., 

ilton,  Ontario.) 

'  I  have  a  very  pleasant  and  grateful  remembrance  of 

Dr.  Rae.     He  was  very  much  respected  and  loved  by 

all  his  pupils.     I  was  with  him  at  the  then  Grammar  School 

from  the  spring  of  1836  until  December,  1837,  when  the 

Rebellion  broke  out,  and  our  school  broke  up,  the  Doctor 

shouldering  his  musket  and  going  to  Toronto  to  fight  the 

'•Is. 

"He  was  considered  a  fine  scholar,  well  up  in  Latin,  Greek 
and    Mathematics,  and  specially  qualified   in  Geology,  and 
also  understanding  French.     His  mind  was,  in  fact,  a  vast 
storehouse  of  knowledge,  though  he  had  not  a  happy  faculty 
\<!  it.     But  he  had  a  very  loving  disposition  that 
r.d    him  to  us  all."          ulge   S.   J.   Jon<>.   (inmsby 
I'  irk. 


V  recommendation  for  this  position,  signed   by  H.   Urqahart,  is  dated 
mber6,  1- 


xxiv  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH 

'  Dr.  John  Rao  was  a  man  of  great  learning,  and  too 
little  appreciated  in  his  lifetime,  like  many  others.  .  .  . 
He  was  a  great  writer,  .soniotiinos  writing  night  after  night, 
and  had  a  lot  of  manuscript.  .  .  .  His  conversations  with 
the  boys  that  made  his  house  their  home  was  even  more 
to  them  than  their  school  studios.  Ho  entered  into  all 
their  sports  and  amusements,  often  bringing  his  chemical 
knowledge  into  play."  (J.  R.  Martin,  Esq.,  Windsor.) 

With  this  last  especially  may  be  joined  the  statement  made 
by  Sir  Roderick  W.  Cameron  that  "  Rae  was  a  charming 
companion  for  young  and  old.  He  taught  me  rabbit,  mink, 
and  muskrat  trapping,  and  other  sports  attractive  to 
youth.  .  .  .  He  was  young  in  thoughts  and  acts  to  the 
end." 

As  already  shown,  Rae's  quiet  life  as  a  teacher  at 
Hamilton  was  broken  at-  one  period  by  military  service. 
A  letter  among  his  effects,  written  by  Allan  N.  MacXah. 
the  commander  of  the  Hamilton  Volunteers,  states,  "  He 
was  among  the  first  who  accompanied  me  to  Toronto  on 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion  of  1837,  and  continued 
on  duty  at  the  Niagara  frontier  and  elsewhere  as  long  aa 
his  services  were  required."  A  letter  of  Rae  to  his  sister 
shows  that  he  was  in  action — quite  a  considerable  skirmish. 

As  throwing  a  little  further  light  on  Rae's  interests  and 
activities  during  his  residence  in  Canada,  the  following  may 
be  quoted  from  a  scrap  of  manuscript  : 

:'  No  paper  formalities  ever  effectually  resist  the  onward 
march  of  events.  We  had  proof  of  that  in  Canada.  One- 
eighth  of  the  lands  there  were  deeded  with  all  the  most 
binding  formalities  that  the  best  lawyers  could  devise  to 
the  English  Church.  Yet  all  these  lands  have  been  taken 
from  it.  Thirty  years  since  I  ventured  to  predict  to  that 
Church  that  this  and  its  other  exorbitant  pretensions  would 
not  stand.  They  were  against  the  natural  order  of  things r 
and  they  implied  an  injustice,  viz.,  the  putting  Scotchmen 
in  an  inferior  position  to  Englishmen.  I  was  laughed  at. 
Not  a  lawyer  of  any  eminence  but  gave  it  hollow  against  us, 
insomuch  that  when  wre  determined  to  make  it  a  national 
question,  and  to  lay  a  solemn  protest  against  the  whole 
thing  before  the  British  Parliament  on  constitutional 
grounds,  I  who  am  no  lawyer  was  intrusted  with  the  drawing 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  xxv 

up  of  that  paper.  It  produced  warm  debates  in  both  Houses, 
was  on  motion  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  referred  to  the 
twelve  English  judges,  who  to  their  honor  gave  it  in  our 
favor." 

At  the  end  of  1847  and  the  beginning  of  1848,  there 
came  to  Rae,  as  far  as  we  know  without  warning,  what  was 
almost  a  completely  crushing  blow — the  loss  of  his  school. 
A  iv port  was  sent  by  the  Trustees  to  the  Governor-General, 
praying  for  the  removal  of  the  Head  Master,  on  the  ground 
of  the  "  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the  school,"  and  Rae's 
"  inefficiency  as  a  teacher."  The  school  then  numbered 
In -tween  sixty  and  seventy  pupils. 

The  Governor-General  declined  to  act  by  reason  of  lack  of 
jurisdiction ;  and  as  the  Trustees  themselves  could  formally 
remove  the  incumbent  only  "  for  misdemeanours  and 
impropriety  of  conduct,"  they  apparently  got  rid  of  him  by 
closing  the  school.  The  arguments  put  forward  in  the 
petition  of  the  Trustees1  lack  the  ring  of  sincerity,  and 
always  felt  that  a  cruel  wrong  was  done  him.  Cherished 
among  his  effects  is  a  considerable  mass  of  letters  of  testi- 
monial, written  at  the  time  by  pupils  and  parents  of  pupils, 
all  of  a  most  flattering  nature.  A  former  acquaintance, 
writing  recently,  is  of  the  opinion  that  undoubtedly  the  real 
>n  for  the  action  of  the  Trustees  was  Rae's  religious 
views.  He  had  become  £  good  deal  of  a  free  thinker,  and 
most  of  the  Board  were  clergymen. 

However  this  may  be,  Rae  was  turned  adrift.  He  went 
first  to  Boston,  and  later  to  New  York,  where  he  obtained 
a  position  in  some  school.  While  thus  employed  he  received 
the  news  of  the  death  of  his  wife,  who  had  remained  at 
ilton.  Her  death  took  place  August  17,  1849,  under 
particularly  distressing  circumstances,  into  the  details  of 
which  it  is  not  necessary  to  enter.  Letters  written  by 
friends  and  kindred  at  the  time  show  that  this  must  have 

•i   a  sad   bereavement  to  the  already  sorely  op 
man.     Rae  himself  once  alludes  to  it  as  "  a  great  and  sonl- 
peiiet  rating  sorrow." 

A I  read'.  nary,  1^49,  Rae  had  been  thinking 

1  This  petition,  now  in  my  possession,  is  dated  Dec.  30,  1847. 


xxvi  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH 

of  going  to  California.  Now  that  all  ties  binding  him  to  old 
places  and  associations  were  severed,  he  prepared  to  carry 
his  plan  into  execution.  He  took  ship  for  the  Isthmus  late 
in  the  autumn.  At  Chagres  he  practised  medicine  for  some 
time,  and  finally  contracted  as  surgeon  on  the  "  Brutus," 
sailing  from  Panama.  Of  this  part  of  his  trip  we  have  the 
following  account  :  "  Unfortunately  she  [the  "  Brutus  "] 
did  not  sail  as  advertised,  so  that  I  waited  at  Panama  five 
weeks,  and  not  having  given  myself  out  for  practice,  spent 
every  cent  I  had  and  more  too.  Worse  than  that,  someone 
made  the  Captain,  who  was  also  mostly  owner  of  the  vessel, 
believe  that  I  was  no  doctor,  but  only  an  old  schoolmaster ; 
and  I  believe  if  he  could  he  would  have  shaken  me  off. 
Being  moreover  a  mean,  greedy  fellow,  he  made  my 
situation  very  uncomfortable.  We  had  a  great  deal  of 
sickness  on  board,  and  a  passage  of  nine  or  ten  weeks."  l 

In  California  Eae  at  first  taught  school  at  Colona,  near 
Sutters  Creek.  Later  he  made  cradles  for  washing  and 
balances  for  weighing  gold.  There  is  no  evidence  that  he 
turned  gold  miner  himself.  A  large  part  of  his  stay  in 
El  Dorado  was  taken  up  by  a  severe  illness  which  nearly 
•ended  his  life. 

Led  on  by  scientific  curiosity,  as  he  explains,  Eae  went 
from  California  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  arriving  early  in 
1851.  The  twenty  years  of  a  restless  and  disappointed  old 
age  which  he  spent  here  were  not  without  compensations. 
He  was  held  in  esteem  by  several  men  of  importance,  and 
had  abundant  material  for  the  most  absorbing  physiographical 
and  sociological  studies.  The  fire  of  the  ambitions  of  his 

1  This  is  taken  from  a  letter,  or  series  of  letters  written  to  Cameron,  and 
published  with  the  title  "Dr.  Rae  in  California"  in  the  Hamilton  Gazette  for 
Dec.  19,  1850.  It  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  there  are  other  letters  by  Rae  to 
be  found  in  the  files  of  that  paper  during  the  early  fifties.  Under  date  of 
Hamilton,  Jan.  15,  1852,  Cameron  wrote  Rae: — "I  intend  allowing  Bull  to 
publish  extracts  from  your  letter.  I  have  written  them  out  and  will  forward 
you  a  copy  of  the  paper,  as  well  as  several  copies  to  your  acquaintances 
throughout  the  country."  During  that  and  the  following  year  Rae  wrote 
several  long  epistles  to  Cameron,  which  he  plainly  expected  would  be  published 
in  some  journal.  The  present  writer  was  not  able  to  confer  with  Cameron  in 
respect  to  this  matter  before  his  death. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  xxvii 

youth  still  burning  strong  within  him,  he  went  resolutely 
to  work  (after  an  interval  of  school  keeping)  on  an  agricul- 
tural enterprise,  hoping  that  the  money  gained  would  some 
day  take  him  to  the  literary  centres  of  the  old  world.  He 
worked  with  his  own  hands,  and  with  such  headlong  zeal 
that  his  friends  remonstrated.  But  all  to  no  avail.  Failure 
came  here  as  in  almost  everything  else  to  which  he  put 
his  hand.  He  explains  the  exasperating  details  in  a  letter 
to  \Villson,  but  I  pass  them  over.1 

At  least  as  early  as  July,  1853,  while  residing  at  Wailuku, 
Island  of  Maui,  Eae  was  Medical  Agent  of  the  Board  of 
Health,  a  position  which  he  also  held  in  1869,  and  presum- 
ably during  the  interval.  One  of  the  most  interesting  of 
his  papers  is  entitled,  "Journal  of  a  Tour  around  East 
Maui."  This  was  a  walking  expedition,  lasting  a  month 
or  two,  and  made  for  the  purpose  of  vaccinating  the  natives. 
It  was  evidently  entered  upon  with  the  keenest  zest.  He 
everything ;  literally  nothing  of  interest  seems  to  have 
escaped  him. 

cording  to  Commissions  in  my  possession,  Eae  was 
appointed  District  Justice  at  Hana,  East  Maui,  in  1859,  and 
again  in  1863.  From  all  accounts  he  must  have  been  given 
this  office  at  other  times  as  well ,  but  there  is  no  documentary 
proof  at  hand.  The  position  was  one  of  some  importance. 
A  Correspondent  in  Honolulu  mentions  one  particularly 
interesting  case  of  sorcery  that  came  before  him.  He  lived, 
we  learn  from  the  same  source,  in  a  solitary  place  far  back 
from  the  sea ;  and  when  he  walked  abroad  his  tall ,  spare 
form  was  seen  always  accompanied  by  two  large  dogs. 

In  April,  1871,  Cameron  wrote  his  old  friend  and  teacher, 

1  The  reference  is  to  Hugh  Bowlby  Willson,  son  of  the  Hon.  John  Willson, 
"at  one  time  Speaker  of  the  Canadian  Legislature."  He  was  a  barrister, 
engineer,  promoter,  general  railway  agent  and  commission  merchant,  author, 
and  editor,  during  1849,  of  the  short-lived  Canadian  Independent,  established 
in  the  interests  of  annexation.  Rae  was  willing  to  be  associated  in  this  last 
enterprise,  but  was  too  much  broken  up  at  the  time  to  take  an  active  part. 
Willson's  published  works  are  on  engineering  and  monetary  subjects.  Ap- 
parently he  was  a  man  of  exceptional  range  of  ability,  but  always  unfortunate 
And  poor.  There  is  iibun  ',«  nee  in  Rae's  papers  that  Willson  was  his 

best  frimd.      Lik--  ••!•  -avi-H  to  like. 


xxviii  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH 

to  whom  several  times  he  had  been  of  material  assistance  r 
"  If  you  will  conu-  and  spend  your  remaining  years  with  me, 
I  will  defray  all  your  expenses  from  Maui  to  my  home." 
accepted  this  invitation,  and  sailed  on  the  steamer 
"  Ajax  "  in  July.  The  change  of  climate  affected  him 
seriously,  so  that  he  kept  his  room  the  following  winter  and 
spring,  and  finally  passed  away,  as  already  stated,  in  mid- 
summer. He  was  buried  in  Woodland  Cemetery,  State  n 
Island,  in  a  lot,  purchased  by  Sir  Roderick,  "  in  which  two 
others,  one  a  faithful  servant  and  the  other  a  distant  relative r 
are  buried." 

Thus  far  I  have  given  in  bare  outline  only  the  chief  mile- 
stones, as  it  were,  along  the  career  of  the  man  wrhose  life  is 
before  us.  It  is  necessary  to  fill  in  the  gaps  with  some 
further  account  of  what  he  did,  and  what  he  thought  and 
felt.  A  scholar,  not  a  man  of  action,  what  he  did  is  of 
course  to  be  found  chiefly  in  his  studies. 

Some  account  of  a  speculation  which  interested  him  in 
early  youth  has  already  been  given.  Another  one,  of  a 
different  sort,  at  that  period  of  his  life,  was  a  scheme  "  for 
determining  the  rate  and  setting  of  a  current  at  sea."  The 
device  for  this  purpose  (applicable  to  both  surface  and  under- 
currents) is  described  in  some  detail  in  one  of  his  papers , 
but  it  is  scarcely  fitting  to  reproduce  it  here.1 

Of  the  fate  of  this  project  Rae  says  writing  to  Willson  : 

'  I  was  then  under  a  very  eminent  professor  of  mathe- 
matics in  the  Marischal  College,  Aberdeen,  the  late  Dr. 
Hamilton,  and  showed  it  him.  He  allowed  it  sound  in 
theory  and  ingenious,  but  smiled  it  down  as  impracticable. 
Though  not  convinced  I  was  obliged  to  yield  and  let  it  go, 
as  I  did  not  wish  to  irritate  my  father.  ...  Dr.  Hamilton's 
objection  to  my  scheme  was  that  it  was  very  good  on  paper, 
but  that  in  so  boisterous  an  element  as  the  ocean  it  was  almost 
absurd  to  think  it  could  be  of  any  practical  utility.  He 
judged  of  the  ocean  from  fanciful  notions  he  had  got  sitting 
in  his  easy  chair.  I  knew  something  of  it  then,  and  have 

1  The  chief  principle  employed  was  that  of  the  pressure  of  the  water  upon 
air  in  a  cylinder  to  disengage  at  varying  depths  weights  attached  to  bodies  of 
different  specific  gravity. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  xxix 

lived  on  it  many  a  long  day  since,  and  can  see  nothing 
absurd  in  the  project.  In  fact,  in  weather  in  which  a  whale 
could  live,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  giving  the 
globes  their  proper  position  in  the  water.  In  other  weather, 
DO  attempt  at  deep  sounding  by  the  lead  itself  could  be  made 
with  a  prospect  of  success.  Once  a  few  feet  beneath  the 
surface  all  violent  motion  ceases. 

I  <  annot  but  think,  however,  that  the  temper  of  mind 
which  led  him  to  object  was  one  with  which  all  inventions 
are  commonly,  one  might  almost  say  reasonably,  met.  Nine 
n  of  all  mechanical  schemes  are  abortive.  In  fact, 
th«.-y  generally  take  their  rise  in  this  way.  Some  idea  new, 
or  conceived  to  be  new,  flits  by  chance  across  the  brain  of  a 
man  unaccustomed  to  new  ideas.  The  novelty  of  the  thing, 
and  still  more  so  the  novelty  of  its  occurring  to  himself,  sets 
it  on  a  point  of  view  that  puts  all  other  conceptions  out  of 

:  and  magnifies  itself  prodigiously.  It  becomes  therefore 
Ins  hobby,  and  he  rides  it,  or  more  frequently  it  rides 
him.  But  the  man  who  is  consulted  in  such  a  case, 

•  •ially  if  he  has  been  in  the  habit  of  being  so  consulted, 
sees  the  thing  in  a  very  different  light.  He  knows  that  these 
projects  are  almost  all  vanity,  that  some  flaw  in  their  con- 
ception makes  them  impracticable,  or  that  a  search  would 
prove  thrm  not  original.  In  short,  that  it  is  ten  to  one  if 
this  particular  one  succeed.  Besides,  if  he  be  a  man  of 

.  i  at  ion  in  science,  he  is  annoyed  at  being  obliged  to  give 
ip  time  that  is  valuable  to  the  task  of  finding  out  flaws,  and 

rdimrlv  takes  hold  of  the  first  that  presents  itself.  This 
shortens  his  labour,  keeps  his  reputation  safe,  and  is  probably 
a  charity  to  the  inventor.  In  this  way  it  perhaps  is  that 
thr  greater  number  of  new  inventions  have  not  had  the 
sanction  of  the  learned,  and  that,  if  given  at  all,  it  has  been 
in  a  mighty  cautious  manner.  I  know  therefore  that  I 
-lion Id  myself  have  great  difficulty  at  present  to  get  anyone 
to  take  hold  of  a  single  one  of  my  schemes,  and  am  a\ 
that  I  am  putting  your  friendship  to  a  somewhat  severe  test 
king  you  to  attempt  it." 

One  of  the  "  schemes  "  here  alluded  to  was  a  device  for  a 

i ddle wheel  for  steamboats.    There  are  diagrams 

descriptions  among  his  papers.     The  feathering  was  to 

take  place  in  a  vertical  plane  parallel  with  the  keel,  instead 

<>t   at    ri«jht  angles  with  it,  as  is  the  case  \\ith  leathering 

inv.  ni ions  now  in   us«  .     The  plan   was  probably  therefore 


xxx  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH 

of  little  practical  value,  but  it  is  of  interest  +?  note  that 
Eae  had  the  idea  of  the  importance  and  possibility  of 
feathering  paddle  wheels,  probably  before  any  one  else. 
Among  his  papers,  also,  is  considerable  in  the  way  of 
inventive  speculation  on  the  art  of  shipbuilding  in  general, 
and  several  essays  on  aeronautics.1 

But  what  interests  us  most  are  Rae's  sociological  (in  the 
broad  sense  of  the  term)  rather  than  his  mechanical  studies. 

In  the  Preface  to  the  Political  Economy  he  speaks  of  "a 
work  on  the  present  state  of  Canada,  and  on  its  relations 
with  the  rest  of  the  British  Empire,"  on  which  he  had 
become  engaged  after  taking  up  his  residence  in  Canada. 
In  1832,  while  still  at  Williamstown,  he  addressed  a  petition 
to  Sir  John  Colborne,  the  Lieutenant-Go vernor,  praying  for 
aid  to  publish  a  book  "  On  the  Present  State  and  Resource 
of  the  Province  "  (title  as  given  by  H.  J.  Morgan).  This 
petition  was  submitted  to  the  House  of  Assembly  and  duly 
printed  in  its  Journals,  but  there  the  matter  seems  to  have 
been  dropped.  There  is  no  record,  so  I  am  informed,  to 
indicate  that  the  composition  was  ever  printed. 

In  all  probability,  this  was  the  work  mentioned  in  the 
Preface  :  one  which  Eae  seems  to  have  spent  much  labour 
upon,  and  to  have  valued  in  some  respects  above  his  Political 
Economy.  In  one  of  his  letters  to  Willson  he  says  : 

'  I  had  thoroughly  studied  Canada  in  both  its  natural  *and 
moral  aspects,  and  could  have  told  England  what  it  really 
was  and  what  it  wanted.  Had  I  had  the  least  aid  (£100 
would  have  done  it) ,  I  should  have  accomplished  this  ;  and 
looking  soberly  on  the  matter  as  a  thing  past,  it  is  now  my 
firm  conviction  that  I  should  thus  have  averted  all  the 
disasters  of  the  Rebellion  and  brought  on  a  dozen  years 
earlier  that  period  of  prosperity  which  the  province  now 
enjoys.  I  will  not  inflict  you  with  my  reasons  for  this 

1  In  a  letter  (undated)  written  to  Willson  we  read :— "  After  a  little  re- 
flection I  have  decided  on  sending  you  a  summary  of  that  whole  part  of  my 
century  which  relates  to  progression  through  water.  I  am  partly  led  to  this 
from  having  the  chance  of  sending  a  heavy  packet  with  safety  by  my  friend 
J.  W.  Austin,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  who  has  resided  for  some  years  in  these 
islands  in  a  position  somewhat  analogous  to  our  Attorney-General,  and  who 
now  is  returning  to  his  native  soil.  He  will  write  you  and  receive  your 
instructions  as  to  transmitting  this  and  the  other  papers  he  takes  charge  of." 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  xxxi 

conviction.  Had  this  been  so  I  could  have  brought  out  my 
ideas  concerning  some  points  on  Political  Economy  with 
the  prospect  of  a  fair  hearing." 

And   again   in   a   letter  to   John   Stuart   Mill   he   writes- 
apparently  of  this  same  literary  undertaking  as  follows  : 

'  I  cannot  go  on  with  my  account  of  the  Sandwich  Islands 
till   I   see   ai  mine   them   all.   ...  I   have   therefore 

th< 'light  of  inditing  a  small  work  on  Canada — Recollections 
of  Canada.  Many  years  ago  I  had  formed  the  project  of 
writing  an  extended  work  on  the  Province,  had  visited  all 
pnrts  of  it,  collected  information  of  all  sorts  concerning  it, 
and  had  written  a  large  part.  I  had  intended  to  publish 
this  before  my  Political  Economy.  Unfortunately  I  was 
induced  to  put  forth  the  latter  in  Boston,  under  the  assurance 
from  Mr.  A.  Everett1  that  it  would  be  appreciated  there. 
Hi-  was,  however,  I  believe  scared  at  it.  Could  not  make 
up  his  mind,  nor  could  any  one  there,  if  I  was  right  or 
wrong,  and  so  passed  it  by  with  praise  of  its  style,  etc. 
This  damned  it.  My  bad  success  here  was  a  bar  to  my 
work  on  Canada,  for  as  this  was  long  and  went  to  the  bottom 
of  things,  my  friends  and  the  booksellers  prognosticated  that 
it  would,  like  the  former,  be  too  heavy  a  wrork  to  be  read. 
I  k'-pt  the  manuscript  by  me,  adding  to  my  stock  of  inform  a  - 
as  occasion  offered,  still  thinking  of  one  day  bringing  it 
forth.  Among  other  mischances  that  have  befallen,  these 
mscripts,  sent  to  New  York,  seem  to  have  been  strangely 
lost.  So  there  is  an  end  of  that . 

"  However,  I  think  I  could  write  a  small  book  that  would 
have  a  certain  currency.  I  am  more  inclined  to  think  this 
from  the  following  circumstance.  Some  time  before  leaving 
Canada,  a  young  friend  came  to  reside  with  me,  and  having 
something  of  a  turn  for  politics  was  very  free  in  his  inquiries 
as  to  my  opinions  and  views  of  matters,  which  I  gave  him 
in  full.  On  this  foundation,  for  he  knew  nothing  of  these 
matters  himself,  he  goes  and  writes  an  article  for  Black  wood. 
I  just  saw  it  before  leaving  America,  and  found  it  a  reflection 
of  my  own  thoughts,  though  sometimes  dim  or  distorted. 
Sm<t  landing  on  these  shores  I  have  had  letters  from 
Canada  asking  if  I  were  the  author  and  stating  that  the 
article  had  had  considerable  success." 

1  This  was  Alexander  H  brother  of  Edward   I  iiplotnat, 

editor  of  the  North  American  Revi-  to  some  extent   on   economic 

it-view  of  Rae'i  Political  Economy  is  in  Vol.  XL.  of  tli.    : 


xxxii  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH 

Further  than  this,  nothing  is  known  of  the  nature  or 
fate  of  this  presumably  profound  treatise.1 

The  reception  accorded  his  Political  Economy  was  always 
a  keen  disappointment  to  Rae.  He  received  practically 
nothing  for  it  pecuniarily,  as  he  informed  Cameron  ;  and  it 
was  not  until  nearly  thirty  years  after  it  was  published 
that  he  learned  Mill  had  noticed  it.  Apparently  he  never 
knew  that  it  was  translated  in  1856,  in  Volume  XI.,  first 
series,  of  Ferrara's  Biblioteca  deWEconomista. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  give  any  extended  criticism  of 
this  work,  pronounced  by  Professor  Irving  Fisher  (Yale 
Review,  Vol.  V.,  p.  457)  to  be  "truly  a  masterpiece,  a 
book  of  a  generation  or  a  century."2  I  wish  here  merely 
to  point  out  that  its  influence,  even  from  the  first,  has  been 
greater  than  is  commonly  supposed.  A  careful  study  of 
John  Stuart  Mill's  Principles  reveals  many  undoubted 
instances  of  indebtedness.  Indeed,  on  the  side  of  pure 
economics  it  may  be  said  that  it  was  Rae,  more  than  any 
other,  who  modified  the  Ricardian  basis  of  Mill's  thought. 
To  an  equal  extent,  perhaps,  is  Hearn  in  his  Plutology 
indebted  to  Rae.  This  is  seen  not  so  much  in  particular 
passages  as  in  the  method  and  spirit  of  this  admirable 
treatise.  The  high  commendation  which  Jevons,  Marshall, 
and  EdgewTorth  have  bestowed  upon  Hearn 's  work ,  therefore , 
belongs  in  part  to  another.  It  may  be  also  mentioned  in 
passing  that  Professor  Thomas  Fowler  in  his  Principles  of 
Morals  (Part  II.,  Oxford,  1887,  pp.  50-59)  makes  considor- 

1  According  to  one  of  Rae's  old  pupils,  "  J.  S.  Hogan  made  use  of  portions 
of  Rae's  history  of  Canada  to  get  up  an  article  for  Blackwood  for  which  he 
received  £40  sterling."     This  same  pupil  "  well  recollects  "  Rae  "  often  reading 
extracts  from  his  History  of  Canada."     Rae  himself  once  makes  bare  mention 
of  a  "nearly  completed  physical  history  of  Canada."     There  were  two  articles 
on  Canada  in  BlackiooocVs  Magazine  during   1849,   both  unsigned,  but  dated 
Hamilton,  Canada  West,  one  or  both  of  which  must  be  that  to  which  Rae  and 
my  correspondent   refer.     John   Sheridan   Hogan  published  in  Montreal,  in 
1855,  an  essay  on  Canada  which  was  awarded  the  first  prize  by  "the  Paris 
Exhibition  Committee  of  Canada." 

2  Compare  the  opinion  of  Professor  Edgeworth  in  Palgrave's  Dictionary  of 
Political  Economy,  and  of  Professor  Sydney  Sherwood  in  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity Studies  in  Historical  and  Political  Science,  fifteenth  series,  pp.  582-584, 
and  590-591. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  xxxiii 

able  use  of  Rae,  drawing  on  him  at  second  hand  through 
the  quotations  given  in  Mill's  Principles.  An  intellectual 
candle  of  real  power,  if  it  be  not  wholly  placed  under  a 
bushel,  shines  far. 

While  at  Hamilton,  Rae  had  privately  printed  in  1843  an 
Essay  on  the  Question  of  Education,  in  as  far  as  it  concerns 
Canada.  The  title  page  and  a  few  detached  leaves  only  of 
this  monograph  were  found  among  his  effects.  Some  effort 
has  been  made  to  obtain  knowledge  of  the  whereabouts  of  a 
complete  copy,  but  without  success.  It  is  also  known  that 
in  the  last  years  of  his  life  Rae  had  at  least  "  nearly 
completed  "  another  work  "  On  Education,"  but  what 
became  of  it  has  not  been  ascertained. 

After  his  establishment  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  Rae's 
studies  were  most  multitudinous,  in  fact  too  much  so  :  little 
was  brought  to  completion.  Some  essays  on  geology  and 
on  medical  subjects  were  indeed  written  out  and  sent  home 
either  to  Cameron  or  Willson,  with  the  request  that  they 
be  published  in  Stillman's  Journal,1  or  in  some  other 
scientific  periodical ;  but  evidently  nothing  came  of  them.2 

Among  the  manuscripts  falling  into  my  possession,  by  far 
the  most  extensive  and  orderly  were  those  upon  geology  and 
kindred  subjects,  pertaining  both  to  Canada  and  the 
Hawaiian  Islands.  These  have  been  placed  in  proper 
hands,  and  may  in  part  be  printed. 

But  though  much  attention  while  in  Maui  was  devoted  to 
geology,  to  questions  of  the  welfare  of  the  native  race,  and 
to  his  mechanical  inventions,  Rae's  chief  study  was  upon 
the  language.  He  had  a  theory  that  the  Hawaiian  race 
represented  in  great  purity,  by  reason  of  its  isolation,  an 
exceedingly  primitive  culture ;  just  as  the  old  Norse  culture 
is  at  present  most  purely  represented  in  Iceland.  He 
believed  he  was  studying  in  the  Hawaiian  language  a 
survival  of  a  pre-Sanskrit  language— the  original  tongue 
of  a  universal  stone  age.  Apparently  bold  generalizations 
as  to  language-building,  the  relations  between  sounds  and 

1  Later  called  The  American  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts. 

2  This  was  done,  it  appears,  on  two  occasions,  in  1852  and  ten  or  twelve 
years  later. 


xxxiv  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH 

actions,  were  carrying  him  far  into  a  most  profound 
philological  and  anthropological  speculation.  I  say 
apparently  here,  because  of  my  ignorance  of  such  matters, 
and  because  this  part  of  his  manuscript  is  the  most  frag- 
mentary and  chaotic  of  all. 

Some  of  the  results  of  his  studies  along  these  lines,  and 
also  on  some  other  matters  pertaining  to  the  existing 
condition  of  the  Hawaiians,  we  know  to  have  been  printed 
in  a  Honolulu  newspaper,  The  Polynesian,  during  the  early 
sixties.1  A  few  excerpts  from  these  articles  being  sent  by 
an  acquaintance,  R.  C.  Wyllie,2  to  John  Stuart  Mill,  led 
Mill  to  write  Rae  at  least  once ;  a  communication  which , 
however,  was  never  received.  A  copy  of  a  letter  by  Mill  to 
Wyllie  respecting  Rae,  found  among  the  latter 's  effects, 
runs  as  follows  : 

BLACKHEATH  PARK, 
KENT,  Feb.  3,  1863. 

SIR, — I  have  had  the  honour  of  receiving  your  letter  and 
the  printed  slips  which  you  have  been  kind  enough  to  send. 
These  I  have  read  with  the  attention  due  to  any  work  of  Dr. 
Rae,  and  they  appear  to  me  quite  worthy  of  his  intellect 
and  acquirements.  The  picture  which  he  draws  of  the 
dangers  that  menace  the  interesting  community  of  which 
you  are  one  of  the  rulers,  is  most  formidable.  Of  the 
remedies  which  he  proposes,  I  cannot  be  a  competent  judge, 
but,  as  far  as  my  means  of  judgment  extend,  he  seems  to 
be  right  in  much,  perhaps  even  in  all,  that  he  proposes. 

The  other  paper  will,  I  think,  place  Dr.  Rae  very  high 
among  ethnologists  and  philologists.  After  having  reached 
by  independent  investigation  the  highest  generalization 
previously  made,  namely,  that  all  languages  have  grown  by 
development  from  a  few  hundred  words,  Dr.  Rae  seems  to 

1  So  far  as  the  editor  has  been  able  to  ascertain,  the  only  copies  of  The 
Polynesian   which  are   available   for   the   period  when   Rae   contributed   to 
its  columns,  are  in  the  British  Museum — Vols.    15-19,   covering  from    May, 
1858,  to  April,  1863. 

2  Mr.  Wyllie,  as  he  states  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Rae,  was  formerly  "an 
East  India  merchant,  railway  director,  and  director  (in  fact,  the  starter)  of 
the  Pacific  Steam  Navigation  Company."     He  was  soon  after  deceased  (about 
1865  or   1866),   holding  at   the  time  a  high   position   under  the  Hawaiian 
Government. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  xxxv 

have  supplied  the  first  probable  explanation  of  the  manner 
in  which  these  primitive  words  may  themselves  have 
originated.  If  his  hypothesis  is  made  out,  it  is  the  keystone 
of  the  science  of  philology,  it  is  a  priori  extremely  probable, 
and  the  facts  he  brings  forward  establish  a  strong  case  of 
verification  a  posteriori.  I  hope  that  Dr.  Max  Miiller  has 

put  in  possession  of  this  important  speculation. 
It  must  be  of  great  value  to  your  country  to  have  such  a 

as  Dr.  Rae  settled  among  you. 

It  is  very  gratifying  to  me  that  you  are  disposed  to  carry 
the  principle  of  minorities  into  practical  operation.  That 
such  should  be  questions  agitated  in  a  country  which  three- 
quarters  of  a  century  ago  was  in  the  savage  state  is  surely 
of  the  most  remarkable  signs  of  the  very  hopeful  times 
in  which  we  live. — I  am,  Sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

J.  S.  MILL. 
His  Excellency,  R.  C.  Wyllie,  Esquire. 

After  an  interval  Rae  wrote  Mill  the  following  : 

"  SIR, — Permit  me  to  render  you  my  thanks  for  having 
taken  the  trouble  some  two  or  three  years  since  to  write  my 
late  friend  Mr.  Wyllie  concerning  some  papers  of  mine  that 
had  appeared  in  the  Polynesian  newspaper  of  Honolulu, 
of  which  he  had  sent  you  copies.  You  may  well 
suppose  I  was  much  gratified  by  the  favourable  opinion  of 

whose  judgment  deservedly  carries  so  much  weight  with 
it  as  yours  in  all  philosophical  questions.  I  address  you  at 
present  to  request  a  favour.  I  desire  to  dedicate  to  you  a 
work  on  the  Polynesian  language  and  its  connections  with 
the  history  of  speech,  and  consequently  of  humanity.  You 
amid  have  formed  but  a  very  imperfect  idea  of  my  views 
from  my  letter  to  Mr.  Wyllie,  which  was  not  intended  for 
publication,  and  in  which,  from  its  growing  too  voluminous 
<>n  in  y  hands,  I  often  dropped  the  thread  of  my  argument 
without  pursuing  statements  I  had  made  to  their  legitimate 
coiiMMjiicnrrs.  I  cannot  of  course  attempt  to  rm-nd  the 

ter  here,  or  to  give  even  a  summary  of  my  argument, 
but  I  may  state  the  conclusions  at  which  I  have  arrived,  as 
wdl  as  those  at  which  I  might  hope  to  arrive,  and  thus 
explain  to  you  the  reasons  which  urge  me  to  make  the 

esl  1  have  preferred. 

'1  IM  IK  \e  it  may  be  shown  that  the  race  from  which  the 
Polynesians  spring  was  at  the  head  of  civilization  of  the  age 
of  stone,  and  were  settled  in  Hindustan  and  along  the 


xxx vi  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH 

southern  and  more  fertile  shores  of  Asia.  It  seems,  too,  that 
the  facts  on  which  my  reasons  rest  are  indisputable,  the 
deduction  perfectly  logical,  and  the  conclusion  therefore 
irrefragable.  This  forms  the  first  part  of  my  book.  The 
:nl  pertains  to  the  language.  As  to  it,  there  have  come 
into  it  two  sounds,  significant  of  themselves,  which  have  a 
close  analogy  to  the  cries  of  the  higher  order  of  animals, 
and  have  somehow  been  modified  by  and  incorporated  into 
the  articulate  speech.  The  one  is  a  (the  broad  Scotch  or 
Italian  a)  and  it  may  be  translated  action.  The  other  is  o 
which  denotes  distance  and  connection.  This  may  seem  a 
contradiction,  but  in  reality  if  a  thing  be  distant  it  must  be 
distant  from  something  else,  and  that  something  must  there- 
fore to  the  mind  have  some  relation  to  it  or  connection  with 
it.  The  articulate  sounds  or  syllables  of  the  Polynesian 
language  are  either  simple  vowels,  or  end  in  vowels.  There 
are  about  forty  of  them,  and  the  remarkable  fact  as  to  all 
of  them  is  this  :  When  the  organs  of  speech  with  the  aid  of 
the  breath  shape  an  articulate  syllable,  they  also  themselves- 
take  a  shape,  form  and  movement,  and  in  this  language, 
this  shape  and  movement  have  always  an  analogy  to  the 
thing  or  action  which  the  sound  of  the  syllable  or  conjoined 
syllable  denotes." 

Here  the  letter  breaks  off. 

Rae's  manuscript  in  epistolary  form  addressed  to  Mill  is- 
rather  voluminous.1  Those  parts  which  relate  to  political 
economy  have  been  printed  in  the  Economic  Journal  for 
March,  1902  (Vol.  XII.,  No.  45)  and  in  the  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Economics  for  November,  1901  (Vol.  XVI., 
No.  1).  A  small  additional  fragment  appears  as  Article  VI. 
in  the  Appendix  to  this  volume.2 

Among  the  friends  of  Rae's  later  life  was  Abraham 
Fornander,  editor  of  The  Polynesian  at  the  time  when 
Rae's  articles  appeared  in  that  journal.  In  the  years  1878- 
1885,  Fornander  published  a  three  volume  work,  which 
attained  some  celebrity,  entitled  An  Account  of  the 

1  It  is  not  known  whether  a  fair  copy  of  any  of  this  was  ever  sent  to  Mill, 
but  it  is  not  unlikely.     Rae  seems  also  to  have  corresponded  with  Dr.  William 
Beattie  in  England. 

2  Some  excerpts  from  Rae's  miscellaneous  manuscript  are  also  introduced  at 
different  points  indicated  in  the  text. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  xxxvii 


Polynesian  Race,  its  Origin  and  Migrations.  In  the 
Preface  to  the  first  volume,  among  other  general  acknow- 
ledgments of  literary  obligation,  we  read,— "  The  late  Dr. 
John  Rae  of  Hana,  Maui,  who,  in  a  series  of  articles 
published  in  The  Polynesian  (Honolulu,  1862),  first  called 
attention  to  the  extreme  antiquity  of  the  Polynesian 
language."  This  is  the  only  reference  Fornander  makes 
to  Rae.  The  present  writer  is  of  the  opinion  that  Rae 
originated  most  of  the  ideas  which  were  followed  out  in  this 
work  by  his  contemporary. 

I  may  add  in  this  connection  that  a  transcription  of  one 
of  the  ancient  legends  of  the  Hawaiians  with  Rae's 
explanatory  notes,  found  among  his  effects,  has  been  printed 
in  Volume  XIII.,  No.  51.  (1900),  of  the  Journal  of  American 
Folk- Lore.  It  shows  a  vitality  not  found  in  Fornander 's 
Polynesian  Race. 

Of  Rae's  inner  life,  especially  on  the  intellectual  side,  we 
get  occasional  glimpses  in  his  correspondence.  Writing  to 
Willson  from  Chagres,  December  27th,  1849,  he  said  : 

"  I  have  now  for  many  years  been  an  exile  from  the  land 
which  I  had  chosen  as  my  home,  and  in  which  I  had  made 
up  my  mind  to  pass  my  remaining  days,  and  within  the 
present  month,  and  in  beginning  old  age,  have  become  a 
wanderer  and  adventurer  over  the  wide  earth.  You  know 
th«  cruel  injustice  which  has  thus  driven  me  forth.  You 
partly  know  also  the  cruel  sufferings  thus  entailed  on  me, 
and  which  have  almost  rent  my  heart.  But  this  of  good  has 

Ited  from  all.  Nature  under  a  new  face,  humanity 
under  an  altered  aspect ;  a  sense  of  danger,  and  a  necessity 

;< -tion,  have,  as  it  were,  renewed  my  soul,  and  enabled 
me  to  look  calmly  on  what  I  have  been  and  what  I  am. 
Tli us  I  see  myself  as  in  times  past  destiny  seemed  to  have 

[>«1  me,  I  can  analyze,  as  it  were,  the  elements  of  my 
MM  n  existence,  and  taking  my  stand  on  what  new  has 
broken  iii  on  it,  can  measure  and  look  on  it  as  a  thing  apart 
•ii  th<-  prr.s.-nt. 

'  Fortune  has  not  permitted  me  to  be  the  student  I  would 

sired.     The  study  of  such  a  one  is  in  the  spacious 

library    win-re   undisturbed   and  uncontrolled  he  can  roam 

the  thoughts  and  read  the  souls  of  men  of  all  times  ami 

r.  Hi n tries  ;  or  else  the  wide  world  itself,  with  all  conveniences 


viii  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

re  it  and  examine  the  various  aspects  of  nature  and 

man  whieh  it  exhibits— or  better  still,  each  alternately. 

Only  partially,  only  scantily  have  I  enjoyed  these  advantages. 

hut'  every   man   has  a    world  of  study  within   his  own   soul, 

and   in  the  workings  of  the  passions  of  those  around  him. 

1  have  not  neglected.   .    .    . 

"  Alas  for  the  student,  ardent  and  feeling,  and  with  hopes 

like   mine,   pursuing  truth  without  dread  as  concerns  self, 

shrinking  from  it  when  at  length  grasped  as  a  thing, 

fchougb  having  within  itself  the  energetic  powers  of  a  new 

and  better  order  of  things  yet  coming  on  the  present  world, 

if    receiving   it,    like    one   of   the   phials   of   wrath    of   the 

alypse.      1    had    d<  termined   that   no  important   writing 

line  should  appear  till  after  rny  death.     Thus  I  could 

acquit  myself  to  the  Omnipotent  for  not  hiding  what  He 

had  allowed  me  to  see  of  what  at  least  appeared  to  me  ligJii , 

and    avoid    the    suspicion    of    being    actuated    by    personal 

motives.   .   .   . 

"  What  now  I  may  do  is  uncertain.  I  know  not  even  if 
my  manuscripts  are  safe.  Certainly  a  new  spirit  is 
awakened  within  me,  and  may  lead  to  a  new  course  of 
action,  if  I  be  not  cut  down  by  some  of  the  chances  which 
I  see  fall  to  so  many  around  me.  .  .  . 

"  Now  as  concerns  Canadian  independence,  or  annexa- 
tion ;  that  also  as  a  thing  interesting  in  itself,  and  more 
cially  as  one  to  be  taken  as  a  sign  of  other  things  of 
greater  interest  with  which  the  present  era  seems  pregnant, 
had  occupied  at  least  some  little  of  my  attention ;  but  I  had 

ome  accustomed  to  view  it  from  a  point  and  in  a  light 
different  from  that  in  which  politicians  of  the  hour  necessarily 
d  it. 

'  Let  me  explain  myself.  When  one  commences  the 
study  of  history,  it  is  generally  under  the  apprehension  that 
this  study  will  serve  as  a  master  key  to  the  problems  of  the 
day,  and  will  enable  him  not  only  to  form  just  conclusions 
concerning  them,  but,  if  so  prompted,  to  address  his  eon- 
temporaries  with  authority  and  power.  But  as  he  advances 
farther  and  farther  in  the  pursuit,  and  if  he  has  seized  the 
philosophical  spirit  of  investigating  it  which  has  begun  to 
give  its  proper  life  to  the  inquiries  of  the  age,  he  finds  the 
eye  of  his  mind  conducted  by  it  to  a  far  higher  elevation 
whence  it  takes  in  a  great  reach  of  the  whole  tide  of 
humanity  lying  beneath,  flowing  on  with  unceasing  current 
from  the  dim  and  cloudy  mountains  of  the  past  in  lengthened 
course  to  the  immense  and  measureless  future.  Not  only  is 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  xxxix 

his  soul  absorbed  by  the  contemplation  of  the  vast  prospect, 
but  he  feels  both  the  comparative  insignificance  of  the 
immediate  present  and  his  own  want  of  power  to  control 
it.  XVhat  is  a  slight  turning  in  the  course  or  a  little  ripple 
on  the  surface  of  the  huge  stream  which,  under  the  guidance 
so  mighty  is  hurrying  on  so  fast  and  so  tar.' 
Not  only  do  the  questions  of  the  day  diminish  before  him  to 
mere  waves  chafing  the  shore  and  serving  little  else  but  to 
mark  the  strength  of  the  great  feelings,  sufferings,  passions, 
or  if  you  will,  principles  which,  as  it  were  blindly  and 
confusedly,  though  doubtless  under  the  real  government  of 
an  Omnipotent  hand  whose  workings  pass  his  ken,  impel 
the  mighty  mass  along;  but  also  he  becomes  sensible  how 
insignificant  individual  efforts  must  be  to  control  forces 
which  he  sees  and  feels  bearing  others  and  himself  away 
with  overwhelming  energy. 

4  To  one  having  learned  to  view  things  in  this  light,  it 
must  be  difficult,  and  I  found  it  impossible  in  New  York, 
to  write  a  popular  article  such  as  the  interests  of  your 
Journal  require  on  a  question  which  if  not  in  the  temper  in 
which  it  is  agitated  at  least  in  the  thing  itself  is  profoundly 
Hgnificant." 

In  another  letter  addressed  to  Willson,  undated,  but 
apparently  written  from  the  Isthmus  or  California,  we 
read, 

"  A  change  has  come  o'er  the  thread  of  my  life.     You 

have  perhaps  seen  a  horse  of  a  sort  of  sluggish  temper,  not 

deficient  in  any  of  the  externals  that  denote  some  degree 

of  power,  but  yet  who  seemed  incapable  of  anything  but  a 

:>orn,   shambling  gait   which  whip  or  spur  made  only 

more  uncomfortable.     Well,  gather  your  reins,  feel  that  you 

•.veil  in  your  saddle,  and  spare  not  but  dig  the  iron  well 

into  his  sides.     You  will  rouse  him  :    and  if  you  keep  your 

seat  through  his  first  plungings  and  boundmgs  it  may  be 

you  will  be  astonished  how  well  and  fast  and  far  he 

will  bear  you.     Such  is  the  change  that  has  come  over  the 

temper  of  my  mind.     The  iron  has  pierced  deep  into  me,  it 

n  my  very  vitals,  and  for  aught  I  sec  will  do  so  till 

>ver  me.     I  must  be  doing  something,  I  have 

f  m  action.    .    .    .    London.  Paris,  with  a  little  capital  in 

money  and  literary  reputation  have  been  my  aim  for  years. 

Then-,    with   the  assistance  of  libraries,   museums,   friends 

u  ho  could  and  might  be  induced  to  assist  me,  I  have  < 

ceived  I  should  have  the  fairest  field   for  my   literary  and 


xl  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH 

philosophical  speculations,  and  for  iny  mechanical  schemes. 
The  one  would  assist  the  other.  Had  it  not  been  for  those 
confounded  Trustees,  my  plans  were  so  laid  that  I  feel  pretty 
<•.» undent  I  should  before  this  have  been  there,  and  it  was 
this  overthrow  of  my  plans  more  than  the  mere  ejection 
from  the  school  that  so  nearly  overset  me,  and  but  for  you, 
I  believe,  would  have  given  me  my  final  quietus." 

Writing  still  again  to  this  faithful  friend,  from  Hana 
under  date  of  December,  1856,  Rae  says  : 

"  If  you  would  really  help  a  man  you  must  know  how  to 
help  him.  You  must  know  in  what  his  well-being  and 
happiness  consist,  what  therefore  are  his  objects  and  aims. 
My  earlier  friends  in  Canada  could  not  conceive  or  at  least 
understand  what  were  mine.  They  thought  me  foolish  in 
burying  the  attainments  and  ability  they  were  pleased  to 
give  me  credit  for  in  the  subordinate  position  of  a  village 
surgeon,  or  still  worse  in  that  of  a  country  schoolmaster. 
They  could  not  conceive  that  my  main  need  was  quiet,  to 
think  out  my  thoughts.  When  after  ten  years  of  this  sort  of 
life  I  had  sufficiently  mastered  my  subjects  and  digested  my 
problems  and  wished  to  put  some  of  them  before  the  world, 
they  had  changed  their  notion  of  me ,  and  viewing  me  now  as 
a  mere  schoolmaster  stood  aloof  from  me  and  my  projects, 
and  would  give  me  neither  effective  countenance  nor  support. 
Some  hinted  that  had  I  taken  their  advice  I  might  have 
been  in  a  very  different  position,  while  the  prudent  said, 
'  What  are  your  chances  of  gaining  by  this?  How  much 
will  it  put  in  your  pocket?  Sit  quiet.'  Others  again, 
looking  on  me  as  a  mere  adventurer,  and  measuring  me  from 
my  humble  place  and  comparing  it  with  the  magnitude  of 
my  enterprises,  seemed  to  say,  '  What,  you  a  village  teacher, 
think  you  can  master  such  high  themes?  The  man  is  mad  : 
we  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  him.'  ...  I  have  found  all 
men,  even  my  most  intimate  friends,  measuring  the  probable 
success  of  my  schemes  not  from  what  they  inherently  were, 
but  from  the  position  of  myself,  the  one  bringing  thorn 
forward.  Thus  I  recollect  well  when  I  projected  publishing 
my  work  on  political  economy,  my  friends  were  quite 
incredulous  of  my  ability  to  controvert  the  doctrines  of  Ad  MTU 
Smith  in  any  particular,  and  smiled  part  in  pity,  part  in 
wonderment,  at  the  presumption  of  one  who  had  not 
been  able  to  raise  himself  from  the  position  of  a  country 
schoolmaster  embarking  on  so  hopeless  an  enterprise. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  xli 

"Now  had  they  known  my  motives  for  contenting  myself 
-with  what  seemed  to  them  so  inferior  a  station,  they 
might  or  at  least  they  ought  to  have  come  to  another  con- 
clusion. It  was  in  truth  because  I  was  engaged  in  important 
speculations  for  which  school  life  though  a  drudgery  yet 
.gave  me  many  hours  of  quiet  leisure,  that  I  contented  myself 
with  it.  I  feared  that  if  I  then  pushed  really  into  the 
battle  of  life  these  speculations  would  be  likely  to  dim 
before  me,  and  probably  at  last  fade  in  the  distance.  I  now 
think  I  was  wrong  in  this — events  at  least  would  seem  to 
prove  my  having  been  so.  At  any  rate,  had  I  to  run  the 
same  course  over  again,  I  would  act  differently.  I  think  I 
ought  to  have  studied  law,  for  which  through  Judge  Maclean 

\vay  would  have  been  open  to  me,  and  secured  to  myself 
a  certain  social  position  that  would  have  enabled  me  in  no 
long  time  to  have  given  myself  to  pursuits  more  congenial 

iy  feelings.  I  do  not  believe  that  either  great  success 
or  comparative  failure  in  a  legal  career  would  have  been  able 
to  turn  me  from  the  occasional  contemplation  and  ultimate 
pursuit  of  the  magnificent  visions  of  my  youth.  Yet  who 
knows?"  . 


There  is  evidence  that  at  some  time  in  his  career  Rae's 
fri.-nds,  instead  of  being  incredulous  of  his  powers,  had 
tfrged  him  to  ' '  push  forward  on  some  undertaking  "  ;  for 
in  one  fragment  of  epistolary  manuscript  we  find  the 
following  : 

"  Now  this  was  the  way  to  make  me  sit  still.  Even  the 
f, -HI eying  to  myself  that  personal  advantage  was  in  reality 
th«-  end  of  my  efforts  was  sure  to  confound  me,  and  the 
holding  this  up  to  me  as  their  true  aim  and  object  completely 

lysed  me.  ...  It  may  seem  incredible  to  you,  but 
it  is  the  real  fact  that  these  clinnings  in  my  ears  always 
brought  a  similar  chaos  over  my  thoughts,  and  if  fool 

i#h  to  try,  I  only  floundered  on  from  one  instability 
to  another.  This  may  seem  to  you  a  strange,  unnatural, 
almost  mad  humor  of  mine.  So  perhaps  it  was;  it  was 
at  least  what  doctors  call  abnormal,  the  result  probably 
in  part  of  my  peculiar  organization,  in  part  of  cruel 
iii'-rital  suffering  in  «  nrly  youth,  the  fruits,  the  avengers 

i;ips,  of  a  momentary  yielding  to  violent  passions.  This 
gave  to  the  world  and  all  it  holds  a  real  air  of  mere  vanity 
i  vexation  of  spirit." 


xlii  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH 

One  more  passage  from  a  letter,  or  rather  parts  of  different 
letters,  may  he  quoted,  written  from  Maui,  but  to  whom  tt 
is  impossible  with  certainty  to  B 

t'roin  a  very  early  period  ot  my  life  I  had  turned  my 
attention  and,  as  occasion  presented  itself,  bent  all  the 
powers  of  my  mind  to  trace  out  the  causes  which  have  given 
shape  and  form  to  humanity,  and  from  whence  have  eome 
the  laws  which  have  hitherto  governed  and  must  in  future 

ni  its  progress.  ...  A  train  of  singularly  untoward 
and  to  me  disastrous  circumstances,  and  of  such  a  chara< 
that  for  the  honor  of  human  nature  I  trust  the  history  of 
few  individuals  can  present  a  parallel  [have  impeded  my 
endeavors].  .  .  .  Nevertheless  wherever  I  have  been,  and 
however  situated,  the  idea  of  my  youth  has  held  possession 
of  me,  and  has  been  the  central  point  of  all  my  resean 
and  speculations.  Now  in  my  old  age  I  am  desirous  of 
recording  [as  much  as  is  possible  of  the  results  of  my 
labours].  ...  I  can  scarcely  hope  to  tell  my  fellow-men 
all  that  during  my  life  I  have  gathered  together  from  the 
recorded  past  and  the  actual  present,  of  the  paths  we  have 
travelled  from  our  first  appearance  on  earth  to  the  present 
hour,  and  the  ways  we  have  to  travel  to  the  end.  To  me 
the  sun  is  surely  soon  to  set.  Yet  while  daylight  lasts  I  am 
desirous  of  adding  what  I  can  to  those  stores  of  knowledge, 
and  truth  which  are  the  only  substantial  inheritance  which 
age  can  bequeath  to  age.  I  had  thought  of  commencing  by 
giving  a  sketchy  outline  of  what  I  may  call  my  system  f 
and  had  in  fact  composed  a  great  part  of  such  outline. 
Certain  circumstances,  however,  warn  me  that  this  plan  is- 
imprudent,  and  that  it  is  better  to  pat  forth  what  I  know 
and  desire  to  tell  in  parts,  mere  fragments  of  the  great- 
whole  which  is  spread  out  before  my  view.  Each  to  other 
men  will  seem  fragmentary  ;  if  I  live  long  enough  I  may 
form  them  into  a  system,  or  rather  the  skeleton  of  a  system r 
which  perhaps  others  may  till  up.  One  of  these  fragments 
is  the  relation  which  the  Polynesian  race  and  language  bear 
to  other  races  and  languages,  and  to  the  origin  of  language 
itself.  My  investigations  as  to  this  last  point  have,  I  think, 
led  me  to  some  important  discoveries.  I  am  now  preparing 
a  work  on  these  subjects  which  I  hope  to  have  published 
in  London.  I  think  it  more  likely  than  any  other  of  my 
speculations  to  draw  some  share  of  public  attention.  I  have 
not,  however,  confined  myself  to  this  alone,  but  have  drawn 
out  the  plan  and  partly  written  some  essays  on  subjects  having 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  xliit 

a  bearing  on  what  is  shadowed  out  in  my  mind  as  a  real 
philosophic  history  of  our  race.  It  was  thus  that  some 
months  since  I  wrote  the  essay  which  I  send.  I  had  not, 
however,  thought  of  publishing  it  for  perhaps  a  year  or  two, 
nor  even  then  until  it  had  been  submitted  to  the  judgment  of 
some  scientific  friend  who  might  be  competent  to  detect  any 
mistake  in  the  mechanical  part,  if  any  there  were."  l 

And  now  to  conclude  this  series  of  excerpts,  we  may  set 
down  the  following  :  standing  on  a  bit  of  paper  by  itself  r 
and  in  so  wavering  a  hand  that  it  may  well  have  been 
written  during  Rae's  last  illness. 

'  If  we  regard  the  generous  impulses,  the  ennobling  hopes y 
the  lofty  aspirations,  that  swell  the  breast  of  youth,  we 
should  say  that  the  human  heart  was  a  soil  in  which  the 
heaven-wafted  seeds  of  every  virtue  might  germinate  and 
£jn>w  and  flourish,  and  spread  a  paradise  over  the  earth. 
lint  alas,  when  the  time  comes  when  each  has  to  cast  himself 
into  the  stream  of  actual  life,  the  movements  of  whose 
impetuous  current  have  come  down  from  places  and  times 
far  remote,  the  first  plunge  awakens  him  to  the  absorbing 
necessity  of  putting  forth  all  his  energies  to  maintain  himself 
in  the  whirling  tide.  He  loses  sight  of  those  landmarks- 
which  were  to  have  guided  his  course.  Progress,  Progress, 
is  his  cry;  and  on  he  dashes,  pushing  aside  and  thrusting 
down." 

But  in  all  this  one  gets  rather  a  distorted  picture  of  the 

sort  of  man  Rae  really  was.     The  reader  must  consider  that 

th.-se  things  were  written  late  in  life,  and  make  allowances. 

Hf   should,   especially,   group   with   them   the   impressions. 

derived   from   the   work  put   forth   by   Rae   in   his   prime. 

Those  who  knew  him  in  the  flesh,  not  primarily  as  a  man 

cience  but  as  a  teacher  and  friend,  represent  him  as 

athl.-tic    in    mind   and   in   body;    as   cheerful,   courageous, 

ularly  devoid  of  all  petty  ambitions  and  meanness.     He 

was  built  on  a  large  plan. 

One   fault   he   had   of   an    int< -11< •( -tiial    sort   which   st< 
seriously  in  his  way  as  a  successful  writer,  and  that  was  a 
marked  tendency  to  take  in  all  the  length  and  breadth  of 

1  This  may  have  been  written  to  Dr.  W.  Beattie,  for  in  a  scrap  of  a  letter 
ail«lres»ed  to  him  is  discussed  the  same  literary  project. 


xliv  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH 

any  subject,  and  to  sound  its  depths.  Consequently  'he 
always  went  off  into  digressions,  frequently  of  excessive 
length— a  habit  which  grew  upon  him.  But  to  take  in  the 
length  and  breadth  of  a  subject  and  to  sound  its  depths  is 
the  mark  of  genius.  If  Rae  could  have  had  suitable 
conditions  for  scientific  work  (such  as  seemed  open  to  him 
in  his  early  youth)  he  would  undoubtedly  have  been  steadied 
as  well  as  stimulated —he  would  have  shown  proper  concen- 
tration—and then  with  his  powers  of  imagination  and  range 
of  information,  what  results  might  the  world  not  have  had 
from  him?  Or  if  when  he  came  to  America  he  had  settled 
in  one  of  the  larger  cities,  with  access  to  libraries  and 
contact  with  other  well-trained  minds,  how  different  would 
his  life  have  been?  But  nevertheless  he  did  not  altogether 
miss  his  mark.  His  work,  not  without  influence  when  first 
published,  though  later  neglected,  did  not  die.  The  reviv.il 
of  interest  came  when  others  began  to  exploit  the  same  field , 
and  when  the  science  as  a  whole  had  made  a  great  advance. 
There  now  seems  every  prospect  that  this  interest  will  widen, 
and  intensify,  and  endure. 


AUTHOR'S    PREFACE. 

(The  work  here  presented  to  the  American  reader,  was  composed  with 
the  intention  of  being  published  in  Great  Britain  ;  under  this  idea  the 
following  Preface  was  written.  As  it  explains  the  design  of  the  original 
undertaking,  it  has  been  thought  proper  that  it  should  retain  the  place  it- 
was  at  first  intended  to  occupy.) 

T<>  promote  prosperity  within,  to  guard  against  danger  from 
without,  have  ever  been  esteemed  the  two  great  branches  of 
the  duty  of  the  Statesman.  But  of  all  the  sources  of  internal 
prosperity,  or  means  of  repelling  external  aggressions,  no 
one,  in  modern  times,  is  of  greater  efficacy  than  wealth. 
\\\-  have,  therefore,  no  reason  to  be  surprised,  that  states- 
men should  have  endeavored  to  procure  for  their  respective 
countries  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  it.  If  the  laws 
they  have  enacted,  and  the  regulations  they  have  for  this 
purpose  established,  have  really  answered  the  ends  they  were 
intended  to  promote,  they  are  certainly  praiseworthy. 

Of  the  efficacy  of  such  laws,  for  those  purposes,  politicians 
for  a  long  time  did  not  doubt;  but  a  great  revolution  in 
public  opinion  has  taken  place,  and  almost  all  men  who 
now  pretend  to  understand  the  principles  that  should  govern 
rhi  policy  of  nations,  agree  in  condemning  them. 

This  revolution  in  the  opinions  of  men,  had  its  rise  in 
It  might  have  died  there,  however,  with  the  sect 
from  which  it  had  birth,  had  not  a  man  of  surprising  genius, 
placing  himself  at  the  head  of  the  feeble  jmrty  then 
MI  I  >f>nrt  ing  it,  enabled  them  to  give  their  principles  currency 
throughout  the  nations  of  Europe.  Adam  Smith  will  be 
•  led  among  remote  generations,  as  one  having  power- 
fully influenced  the  options  and  policy  of  the  civilized  world, 


xlvi  AUTHOR'S   PREFACE 

during  the  en:ht. -<-nth  and  nineteenth  centuries.  His  great 
\\ork  no  south -r  appeared  in  Britain  than  it  was  read,  and  the 
opinions  it  maintained  adopted,  by  every  one  who  pretended 
ny  knowledge  of  the  important  subjects  of  which  it 
treated.  It  quickly,  and  with  like  success,  spread  through 
other  lands.  Never  was  the  force  which  mere  intellect 
s  more  strikingly  manifested.  To  illustrate  his 
speculations,  to  cast  them  into  new  forms  suited  to  the 
varied  tastes  of  various  nations,  became  an  employment  by 
which  men  of  undoubted  genius  thought  themselves  honored. 
His  reasonings  are  the  basis  of  numerous  systems  and 
innumerable  essays.  A  voluminous  library  might  be  formed 
of  the  works  of  men  who  call  him  master.  Nor  were  the 
dicta  of  a  retired  student  acquiesced  in,  and  embraced,  only 
by  theorists  like  himself.  They  have  guided  the  councils, 
they  have  formed  the  text  book  of  statesmen,  and  have  had 
an  important  influence  on  the  policy  of  nations. 

Against  doctrines  supported  by  so  great  a  weight  of 
authority,  what,  it  may  be  demanded,  can  possibly  be  urged  ? 
and  how  comes  it,  that  so  obscure  an  individual  as  the  author 
of  the  following  pages,  places  himself  in  opposition  to  them  ? 
Custom  authorises  me — in  a  measure  calls  on  me — in 
answer  to  these  questions,  to  state  to  the  reader  how  I  was 
led  to  form  opinions  opposed  to  this  system,  and  why  I 
bring  those  opinions  before  him. 

Many  years  ago,  I  became  engaged  in  a  series  of  inquiries 
into  the  circumstances  which  have  governed  the  history  of 
man,  or,  to  vary  the  expression,  into  the  causes  which  have 
made  him  what  he  is  in  various  countries,  or  has  been  in 
various  times.  It  seemed  to  me,  that,  by  gathering  together 
all  that  consciousness  makes  known  to  us  of  what  is  within, 
and  all  that  observation  informs  us  of  what  lies  without, 
the  real  agents  in  the  production  of  the  great  events  by 
which  the  fortunes  of  our  race  have  been  diversified,  might 
be  at  least  partially  discovered,  the  laws  regulating  their 
procedure  traced,  and  that  thus  the  materials  for  a  true 
Natural  History  of  man  might  be  reached.  The  pursuits  in 
which  I  was  then  engaged  led  me  to  the  subject  on  the  side  of 
physiology,  and  what  is  termed  metaphysics,  and  imagining 


AUTHOR'S   PREFACE  xlvii 

that  I  saw  a  ray  of  light  struggling  through  the  obscurity  of 

the  objects,  amidst  which  these  investigations  placed  me, 

I   began  to  conceive  hopes  of  being  able  to  dispel  some  of 

the    darkness,    in    which    are    involved    causes    that    have 

produced,  and  are  producing,  results  of  the  highest  import- 

to  us.     To  this  pursuit  I  determined  to  devote  myself. 

i  a  resolution  would  scarcely  have  been  taken  by  any  one 

unless  prompted  by  the  enthusiasm  natural  to  youth,  and 

would   not  have  been  adopted  by  me,  had  I  not  had  the 

prospect  of  enjoying  every  facility  in  following  out  the  objeets 

I  had  in  view ;    but  a  sudden  and  unexpected  change  took 

plaee  in  my  circumstances,  and  I  exchanged  the  literary 

ire  of  Europe  for  the  solitude  and  labors  of  the  Canadian 

:  woods.     I  found,   notwithstanding,   that  this  accident 

could  not  altogether  put  a  stop  to  my  inquiries,  though  it 

irded  them  and  altered  their  form. 

I  had  early  turned  for  assistance  to  the  Inquiry  into  the 
Xnturr  and  Causes  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  and  to  the 
illations  of  the  political  economists.  But,  I  found 
their  scope  and  design  too  confined,  to  advance  the  attain- 
ment of  my  purpose  in  the  degree  I  had  anticipated ;  and  I 
had  besides  the  mortification  of  perceiving,  that  the  con- 
clusions to  which  they  led,  were,  in  many  points,  opposed 
to  those  at  which  I  had  arrived.  Encountering  opposition 
wli.-re  I  had  looked  for  support,  I  applied  myself  to  ascertain, 
it  possible,  the  cause,  and,  after  having  spent  considerable 
in  the  inquiry,  conceived  I  had  detected  enough  of 
fallacy  in  the  speculations,  even  of  Adam  Smith  himself, 
l»ii t  more  especially  of  his  successors,  to  warrant  the  belief 
that  my  conclusions  might  be  right,  though  the  practical 
rules  that  might  be  deduced  from  them,  would  not  coincide 
\\ith  those  laid  down  in  what  is  termed  the  science  of 
political  economy.  But,  though  I  became  satisfied  on  this 
.  it  was  not  my  intention  to  have  directly  ntta< -k» >d  any 
<>f  the  tenets  of  the  school.  Setting  out  from  a  new  point. 
it  seemed  to  me,  that,  however  far  1  mi^ht  advance,  it  would 
not  he  necessary  for  me  directly  to  oppose,  or  to  attempt  to 
krovert,  any  received  opinions. 

my   residence   in   this  country,   the   field   of  my 


xlviii  AUTHOR'S   PREFACE 

inquiries  being  much  contracted,  I  again  recurred  to  the 
disquisitions  of  Adam  Smith,  and  of  other  European  writers, 
of  the  same  school,  in  order  to  trace  out  more  fully  than  1 
had  hitherto  done,  the  connexion  between  the  phenomena 
attending  the  increase  and  diminution  of  wealth,  and  those 
general  principles  of  the  nature  of  man,  and  of  the  world, 
determining,  as  I  conceive,  the  whole  progress  of  human 
affairs.  Though  I  was  led  to  this  study,  simply  from  my 
desire  to  advance,  as  far  as  my  situation  permitted  me,  in  a 
path  of  investigation  which  had,  to  me,  a  very  lively  interest , 
my  prosecution  of  it  had  the  effect  of  impressing  me  more 
deeply  with  a  conviction  of  the  unsoundness  of  the  system 
maintained  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations. 

In  this  stage  of  my  progress  I  became  engaged  in  a  work 
on  the  present  state  of  Canada,  and  on  its  relations 
with  the  rest  of  the  British  Empire.  These  relations  seem 
to  me  to  spring  from  the  mutual  benefit  arising  to  the  colony 
and  the  empire  from  their  connexion.  The  sect  of  poli- 
ticians, to  whom  I  allude,  deny  that  any  such  benefit  arises 
to  either  party.  Were  their  reasonings  correct,  it  would 
follow  as  a  necessary  consequence,  that  Canada  is,  in  this 
respect,  of  no  advantage  to  Great  Britain,  and  would  go  far 
to  prove,  what,  indeed,  seems  by  many  to  be  believed,  that 
the  sooner  the  connexion  between  them  is  dissolved  the 
better. 

Dissenting  as  I  do,  from  the  opinions  of  these  theorists, 
it  appeared  to  me,  that  the  work  I  had  undertaken  required 
me  to  state  some  of  the  reasons  on  which  I  grounded  this 
dissent,  and  that,  without  entering  at  length  into  any  of 
the  important  questions  involved  in  the  discussion,  I  should 
be  able  at  least  to  cast  a  shade  of  doubt  over  doctrines 
asserted  with  great  dogmatism,  and  acted  on  with  unhesitating 
confidence.  In  endeavoring,  however,  for  this  purpose,  to- 
arrange  a  series  of  arguments  drawn  from  a  modification 
of  principles  that  originally  suggested  themselves  to  me 
when  engaged  in  more  enlarged  inquiries,  my  work  gradually 
assumed  a  far  more  extended  and  systematic  form,  than  I  had 
at  first  meditated  ;  and  I  became  engaged  in  the  present 
attempt,  to  show  that  there  exist  great  and  radical  errors  in 


AUTHOR'S   PREFACE  xlix 

the  whole  system,  sufficient  to  vitiate  very  many  of  the 
conclusions  drawn  from  it,  and  from  the  fallacies  intro- 
duced by  which ,  the  doctrines  of  free  trade  alone  derive  their 
plausibility. 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  argument,  I  have  almost  entirely 
confined  myself  to  the  consideration  of  the  doctrines  to 
which  I  am  opposed,  as  they  are  developed  in  the  Wealth 
of  Nations.  I  could  not  have  done  otherwise,  without 
becoming  involved  in  the  discussion  of  contradictory  and 
conflicting  opinions.  Neither,  as  I  conceive,  is  this  limita- 
tion of  essential  importance  to  the  determination  of  the 
points  in  debate.  If  Adam  Smith  be  essentially  wrong,  none 
of  his  followers  can  be  right.  The  system  established  by 
him  stands,  or  falls,  with  him. 

I  am  not  ignorant  of  the  dangers  to  which  this  attempt 
subjects  me.  Whoever  ventures  to  attack  a  system  received 
so  generally,  and  supported  by  so  great  a  weight  of  authority, 
is  exposed  to  various  evils.  They  who  have  embraced  its 
principles  are  apt  to  slight  and  neglect,  or,  if  that  may  not 
be,  to  conceive  it  their  business  to  overthrow  the  heterodox 
doctrines.  What  of  error  they  may  contain  is  eagerly  seized 
on,  what  of  truth,  is  overlooked.  "  Who,"  asks  Mr.  Locke, 
"  is  there,  hardy  enough  to  contend  with  the  reproach  which 
is  ever  prepared  for  him,  who  dares  venture  to  dissent  from 
the  received  opinions  of  his  country  and  party?  And  where 
is  the  man  to  be  found,  that  can  patiently  prepare  himself 
t«.  bear  the  names,  that  he  is  sure  to  meet  with,  who  doth  in 
the  least  scruple  any  of  the  common  opinions?"  Though 
many  things  are  altered  since  the  days  of  Locke,  mankind 
are  but  little  changed.  In  his  days,  indeed,  the  prejudices 
of  the  times  ran  towards  opinions,  which,  acquiesed  in  by 
many  -n-  ceding  generations,  were,  therefore,  conceived  to 
;i  real  plurality  of  judgments  in  their  favor.  Now,  on 
the  contrary,  to  have  been  believed  from  of  old,  is  deemed 
t<>  indicate  defect,  and  that  alone  is  admitted  as  of  approved 
igth,  which  has  not  been  subjected  to  the  test  of  time. 
Tn  tins,  newrthrlrss.  there  is  a  perfect  agreement,  that  men 
appeal  not  so  much  to  truth  itself,  as  to  prevalent  opinion, 
an  i  are  disposed  to  treat  whatever  stands  opposed  to  it,  as 


1  AUTHOR'S   PREFACE 

necessarily  erroneous.  It  were,  then,  in  vain  for  me,  I  ;mi 
.aware,  in  reply  to  the  charge  of  presumption  in  challenging 
th.  opinions  to  which  the  celebrated  author  of  the  Wealth 
of  Nations  has  given  currency,  to  answer,  that  it  is  not  so, 
ami  that,  on  the  contrary,  "he  is  the  general  challenger  :" 
that  his  disciples  form,  in  reality,  but  a  sect,  one  setting 
itself  in  opposition  to  the  belief  of  all  preceding  ages,  and 
in  its  rise  and  progress  presenting  nothing  dissimilar  to  the 
other  numerous  sects,  which  time,  in  its  course,  has  seen 
-appearing  and  disappearing  :  that,  therefore,  if  we  really 
appeal  to  authority,  its  decision  is  against,  not  for,  the 
present  political  creed.  Such  arguments  would  certainly 
fall  on  deaf  ears.  The  authority,  in  which  men  acquiesce, 
is  that  which  is  present,  and  to  which  they  have  been 
accustomed  to  yield  assent.  Whatever  is  opposed  to  this, 
and  separated  from  it  by  distance  of  time  or  space,  has  no 
influence  on  their  judgments. 

But,  although,  instead  of  assistance,  I  have  to  look  for 
opposition,  from  this  quarter,  I  nevertheless  believe,  that  I 
have  an  auxiliary  of  great  power  on  my  side.  In  political 
questions,  before  they  see  that  they  are  wrong,  it  is  common 
for  men  to  feel  that  they  are  so.  The  progress  of  recent 
events  seems  to  have  excited  a  general  sensation  of  this  sort 
over  Great  Britain. 

It  is  natural  that  these  circumstances  should  beget  a  sort 
of  feeling  of  doubt.  That,  without  pretending  to  question 
the  general  truth  of  the  system  established  by  Adam  Smith, 
many  should  yet  ask  themselves,  is  the  path  which  he  has 
pointed  out,  truly  that  which  always  leads  directly  to  the 
wealth  of  nations?  In  this  temper  of  the  public  mind,  I  am 
inclined  to  hope  that  the  application  of  new  principles  to  a 
reconsideration  of  the  whole  subject,  may  be  conceived  to  be 
an  undertaking  deserving,  at  least,  of  being  examined,  and 
that  the  defects  of  the  following  pages  may  not  be  thought 
sufficient  to  prevent  what  measure  of  truth  they  may  contain, 
from  being  perceived  and  appreciated. 

MONTREAL,  1833. 


AUTHOR'S   PREFACE  li 


POSTSCRIPT. 

In  the  preceding  pages,  the  reader  has  an  explanation  of 

original  design  of  the  work  which  I  venture  to  place 
before  him ;  but,  in  preparing  it  for  publication  in  this 
country,  I  have  made  some  alterations  in  it,  the  nature  of 
which  it  is  proper  I  should  here  state. 

The   doctrines  which   Adam   Smith   maintained   with   so 
much  ability,  never  took  so  deep  hold  in  this  country  as  in 

land,  and  they  have  been  more  strongly  opposed.  There 
i-  hence,  a  very  considerable  difference  between  the  state  of 
public  sentiment  in  Great  Britain  and  America,  concerning 
th<  most  interesting  practical  questions  of  political  economy. 
This  is  especially  the  case  with  regard  to  the  policy  of  the 
protective  system.  The  practical  bearings  of  that  system 
on  the  condition  of  things  in  this  republic,  have  been  dis- 
cussed so  often,  and  with  so  much  ability,  that  probably  few 
new  arguments  or  facts  concerning  it  can  be  brought  forward 

ny  one,  least  of  all  can  they  be  expected  from  a  foreigner. 
Although,  therefore,  I  look  on  the  effects  of  the  policy 
pursued  by  the  legislature  of  the  United  States,  as  affording 
the  best  practical  illustration  hitherto  existing  of  the  correct- 
ness of  some  of  the  principles  I  maintain,  I  have  scarcely 

11  referred  to  them  for  that  purpose,  but  have  contented 
my>rlf  with  showing  how  the  benefits  resulting  from  the 
operations  of  the  legislature,  in  this  and  in  other  similar 

s,  are  to  be  accounted  for.  I  have  thus  omitted  much 
matter  that  would  have  appeared,  had  the  work  been 
piihli-h« -.1  in  England, but  which  it  seemed  to  me,  would  be  at 
I-  i>t  superfluous  here.  These  omissions  occur  in  the  third 
book,  which  is  consequently  much  abridged. 

To  the  second  book  I  have  made  some  additions,  having 

n  fuller  development  to  the  principles  thnv  .-xplain.-.!, 
and  traced  their  connexion  with  events  at  greater  length, 
ih an  is  necessary  for  the  mere  purpose  of  exposing  the 
fal  heirs  of  the  theoretical  views,  the  refutation  of  which 


Hi  AUTHOR'S   PREFACE 

was  originally  my  sole  design.  As  the  additions  were  made 
in  the  progress  of  the  work  through  the  press,  in  one  or  two 
instances  I  have  been  led  to  refer  to  subjects  to  be  afterwards 
treated  of,  which  I  found  it  impossible  to  comprise  within 
such  limits  as  would  admit  of  their  insertion.  These 
omissions,  however,  do  not  occasion  any  break  in  the  chain 
of  reasoning.  There  are,  also,  some  topics,  which  though 
I  have  introduced,  I  have  but  partially  discussed,  and  merely 
so  far  as  may  serve  to  show  some  of  their  connexions  with 
principles  expounded.  The  most  important  of  these  is  the 
subject  of  banking. 

BOSTON,  1834. 


INTRODUCTION. 

OF  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  "Inquiry  into  the 
Wealth  of  Nations,"  there  is  no  one  more  remarkable  than  the 
fact,  that  its  celebrated  author  leaves  us  in  doubt  what  he  him- 
self understands  by  that  "  wealth,"  the  nature  and  causes  of 
which  it  is  the  object  of  his  inquiry  to  investigate.  His 
followers  have  scarce  been  more  fortunate.  They  have  sought, 
by  definitions,  to  remedy  the  acknowledged  defect,  but  have 
been  unable  to  agree  in  the  terms  of  them.  The  school  is 
thus  split  into  many  little  sects  at  variance  with  each  other 
regarding  the  very  elements  of  the  science.1 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  circumstance  arises  from,  and  very 
clearly  marks  the  existence  of,  a  great  and  fundamental  defect 
in  the  principles  of  investigation  on  which  Adam  Smith  and 
the  school  he  founded  proceeded ; — an  uniform  tendency  to 
In  il«l  that  up  as  an  explanation  of  other  things,  which,  in 
reality,  is  the  very  thing  itself  to  be  explained. 

It  is  the  nature  of  wealth  in  the  general,  and  the  laws 
regulating  its  increase  and  diminution,  that  can  alone,  as  I 
conceive,  form  the  proper  subject  of  philosophical  investigation. 
Tln-.se  being  determined,  from  them  may  be  deduced  the 
manner  in  which  particular  societies,  or  particular  individuals, 
come  to  possess  this  or  that  amount  of  wealth.  But,  though 
is  the  proper  philosophical  view  of  the  subject,  it  is  not 
that  under  which  it  appears  to  common  observers. 

Before  men  begin  to  speculate,  they  are  obliged  to  act. 
are  therefore  first  !»•«!,  in  regard  to  any  system  witli 

'[Rae   here   refers  to  a  quotation  from   Lauderdale  which  ia  reproduced 
as  "  Note  A  "  in  the  Appendix.] 


2  INTRODUCTION 

which  they  have  to  do,  to  fix  their  attention  altogether  on  the 
phenomena  exhibited  by  it,  without  attempting  to  reach  the 
causes  of  those  phenomena.  It  is  usually  long  after  the  events 
themselves  have  thus  been  observed  and  noted,  that  to  trace 
their  causes  becomes  the  employment  of  philosophers.  The 
mere  sailor,  for  example,  regards  the  winds  simply  as  con- 
nected with  the  different  seasons,  the  various  regions  of  the 
globe,  and  the  particular  aspect  of  the  heavens  at  the  time. 
This  makes  up  the  sum  of  his  knowledge  concerning  them, 
which,  notwithstanding,  may  be  very  extensive  and  of  great 
practical  utility.  It  is  not  his  object  to  inquire  into  the 
general  causes  producing  all  these  phenomena,  nor  into  the 
laws  regulating  the  general  system  of  things,  of  which  they 
make  a  part,  and  so  of  ascertaining  the  true  nature  of  the 
different  winds,  the  real  manner  of  their  existence,  and  the 
measure  of  their  force  and  duration.  He  believes  that  while 
that  system  endures  as  it  is,  his  knowledge  will  serve  to 
direct  his  practice,  and  this  is  all  about  which  he  concerns 
himself.  An  extensive  practical  knowledge  of  this  sort  here 
long  preceded  a  philosophical  knowledge  of  the  subject.  It 
has  been  the  business  of  the  latter,  as  it  has  at  last  had  place, 
to  ascertain  the  nature  of  wind  itself,  and  the  causes  producing 
all  the  different  winds,  and  acting  on  them  For  this  purpose 
the  philosopher  has  turned  himself  to  the  investigation  of 
whatever,  in  the  general  system  of  things,  is  connected  with 
that  concerning  which  he  inquires; — to  the  constitution  and 
properties  of  the  atmosphere ; — the  effects  of  changes  of  tem- 
perature on  aeriform  fluids; — the  motions  induced  by  these, 
by  the  rotatory  movement  of  the  globe,  and  by  other  circum- 
stances. From  them  he  deduces  the  true  theory  of  wind,  and 
shows  that  it  is  in  accordance  with  the  observations  and  rules  of 
him,  who  has  been  accustomed  to  view  the  subject  in  its  practi- 
cal bearings  alone,  and  tends  to  elucidate  and  simplify  them. 

In  a  somewhat  similar  manner  wealth  was  felt  and  noted  in 
its  effects  long  before,  as  a  circumstance  largely  affecting 
societies,  it  was  proposed  philosophically  to  investigate  its 
nature  and  causes.  To  mark  those  effects,  "  riches "  and  a 
series  of  other  terms  of  the  sort,  were  invented.  Like  all 
every-day  words  and  phrases  they  apply  to  the  obvious  aspects 


INTRODUCTION  3 

of  particular  facts  and  occurrences,  and  have  no  necessary 
reference  to  the  causes  of  those  facts  and  occurrences.  All 
such  speculations  are  foreign  to  mere  practice,  and  never  even 
enter  into  the  explanations  and  reasonings  of  the  merely 
practical  man.  However  complicated  the  social  system  of 
which  any  person  engaged  in  the  acquisition  of  wealth  makes 
a  part,  he  has  no  difficulty  in  tracing  the  manner  in  which 
that  portion  of  it  which  he  possesses  has  been  acquired,  nor  in 
explaining  how  it  forms  to  him  a  certain  amount  of  what  he 
calls  capital.  But  in  giving  this  explanation,  it  will  be  ob- 
served that  for  the  elements  of  his  statements,  he  has  always 
recourse  to  the  existence  and  continuance  of  certain  circum- 
stances and  regular  trains  of  events  in  the  general  system  of 
human  society.  What  the  things  may  be  which  give  origin 
and  regular  succession  to  these  events  is  a  speculation  lying 
out  of  his  road,  and  on  which  he  probably  never  enters. 
Though,  therefore,  he  can  easily  tell  how  he  got  that  which 
constitutes  his  wealth,  and  how  to  him  it  comes  to  be  wealth, 
he  will  yet  probably  confess  that  he  is  unable  to  say  what 
constitutes  wealth  in  general,  from  whence  it  is  derived,  or 
what  are  the  exact  laws  regulating  its  increase  or  diminution. 
These  are  questions  of  which  the  solution  is  very  clearly  shown 
to  be  of  great  difficulty  from  the  mass  of  discordant  opinions 
concerning  them.1 

Adam  Smith,  in  this  and  in  other  instances,  by  transferring 
without  hesitation,  terms  made  use  of  to  mark  and  explain  the 
affairs  of  common  life,  to  denote  the  great  phenomena  which 
the  affairs  of  societies  present,  falls,  as  it  seems  to  me,  into 
t\vn  errors.  In  the  first  place,  he  in  a  great  measure  misses 
that  which  is  the  real  object  at  which  his  inquiry  aims,  the 
-tigation  of  the  true  nature  and  causes  of  national  wealth, 
and  shows,  by  holding  out  sometimes  one  notion  of  it  and 
sometimes  another,  according  to  the  different  lights  in  which 
at  different  times  the  subject  presents  itself  to  him,  that  he 
has  no  very  definite  ideas  concerning  it.  In  the  second  place, 
laturally,  and  in  very  many  instances,  falls  into  the  error 
of  taking,  what  in  truth  are  the  results  of  general  laws 
governing  the  course  of  this  class  of  events  for  the  laws  them- 

1  [See  ••  Note  B  "  of  the  Appendix.] 


4  INTRODUCTION 

selves,  and  so  of  elevating  effects  into  causes.  His  procedure 
is  not  very  dissimilar  to  what  that  of  a  philosopher  would  have 
been,  who,  desiring  to  investigate  the  nature  of  wind,  should 
have  assumed  it  as  already  known,  not  as  an  event,  but  as  a 
thing,  and  should  have  conceived  it  his  business  merely  to  con- 
nect and  arrange  the  various  phenomena  in  relation  to  it, 
with  which  practice  had  previously  made  mankind  familiar. 
Such  a  system  could  not  have  failed  to  have  embodied  great 
radical  defects,  for  it  would  have  been  built  on  principles 
fundamentally  erroneous. 

His  followers,  by  the  use  they  make  of  definitions,  appear 
to  me  rather  to  have  introduced  new  evils,  than  to  have 
applied  a  remedy  to  those  already  existing.  Definitions  give 
us  the  mastery  of  words,  not  of  things,1  and  therefore  by  taking 
them  as  they  have  done,  for  principles  of  investigation,  not 
auxiliaries  to  it,  their  labors  have  generally  issued  in  adducing 
arguments  instead  of  collecting  and  arranging  facts,  the  former 
being  the  proper  fruit  of  an  attention  to  words,  the  latter  of 
an  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  things. 

I  conceive  that  the  fallacies  of  the  particular  doctrines  I 
oppose,  may  be  most  effectually  exposed  by  tracing  out  the 
true  nature  of  that  wealth,  the  manner  of  the  augmentation 
and  diminution  of  which  forms  the  subject  of  controversy ; 
that  we  can  neither  assume  this  as  a  thing  already  known, 
nor  hope,  by  any  mere  intellectual  effort,  to  comprehend  it  in 
an  ingenious  definition ;  that  when  it  is  really  discovered,  it 
must  be,  as  has  happened  in  other  things,  that  disputes 
concerning  its  manner  of  existence,  its  increase  and  decrease, 
will  terminate,  or,  instead  of  hinging  on  plausible  arguments, 
may  be  settled  by  a  reference  to  ascertainable  facts.  It  is, 
therefore,  such  an  investigation,  that  I  propose  partially  to 
attempt ;  and  it  is  chiefly  on  the  results  of  it,  that  I  mean 

1  A  sailor  would  never  think  it  necessary  to  explain  what  wind  is.  Were  he 
asked  to  do  so,  it  is  very  probable  he  would  answer  "  that  which  blows,"  and 
this  would  be  a  correct  enough  marking  out  of  the  meaning  attached  to  the 
word.  Mr.  Say,  in  like  manner,  defines  value  as  what  a  thing  is  worth. 
*'  Valeur  des  choses.  C'est  ce  qu'une  chose  vaut."  Riches,  again,  he  defines 
an  amount  of  values.  "  Richesse,  c'est  la  somme  des  valeurs."  Capital, 
an  accumulation  of  values.  Vide  Epitome  des  principes  fondamentaux  de 
2'economie  politique. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

to  rest  my  demonstration  of  the  reality  of  those  errors,  the 
conviction  of  the  existence  of  which  has  been  my  motive  for 
engaging  in  the  present  undertaking. 

Dugald  Stewart  prefaces  the  observations  he  makes  on 
Adam  Smith's  great  work,  with  the  following  remarks:  "An 
historical  review  of  the  different  forms  under  which  human 
affairs  have  appeared  in  different  ages  and  nations,  naturally 
suggests  the  question,  whether  the  experience  of  former  times 
may  not  now  furnish  some  general  principles  to  enlighten  and 
direct  the  policy  of  future  legislators  ?  The  discussion,  how- 
ever, to  which  this  question  leads,  is  of  singular  difficulty ; 
as  it  requires  an  accurate  analysis  of  by  far  the  most  com- 
plicated class  of  phenomena  that  can  possibly  engage  our 
attention,  those  which  result  from  the  intricate  and  often 
the  imperceptible  mechanism  of  political  society ; — a  subject  of 
observation  which  seems,  at  first  view,  so  little  commensurate 
to  our  faculties,  that  it  has  been  generally  regarded  with 
the  same  passive  emotions  of  wonder  and  submission  with 
which,  in  the  material  world,  we  survey  the  effects  produced 
by  the  mysterious  and  uncontrollable  operation  of  physical 
causes." l  The  science  of  Political  Economy  he  considers  as  a 
part  of  this  great  subject. 

If  the  accuracy  of  these  observations  be  admitted,  as  I 
think  it  must,  the  inquiries  in  which  Political  Economy 
engages,  lead  to  the  investigation  of  the  general  principles 
of  human  action,  and  it  is  to  be  considered  but  as  a  branch  of 
a  larger  science,  having  for  its  object,  to  trace  the  laws  to 

h  man  is  subject  as  a  moral  and  intellectual  animal,  acted 
on  by  the  system  of  things  existing  in  the  world,  and  acting 
in  turn  on  them;  to  explain  from  those  laws  the  events  which 

past   history,  as  far   as   known,  exhibits;  and   to  collect 

the   means   of  ascertaining   what   will   be   the   future  course 

While  to  be  able  clearly  to  unfold  the  laws  regulating 

events  with  which  it  deals  would  imply  the  capacity 
of  tracing  those  regulating  the  whole  system  of  phenomena 
of  which  man  is  the  centre,  just  as  to  explain  with  accuracy 
the  laws  regulating  the  motions  of  one  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 

*Lifc  of  Smith. 


6  INTRODUCTION 

implies  the  knowledge  of  principles  capable  of  disclosing  the 
prescribed  movements  of  them  all. 

I  have  already  observed,  that  the  subject  first  met  me  when 
engaged  in  the  investigation  of  some  principles  which  I  con- 
ceived might  in  time  assume  a  form  capable  of  a  general 
application  of  the  sort.  To  attempt  here  an  extensive 
generalization  of  this  kind  would  be  out  of  place,  and  is 
impracticable,  because  of  necessity  only  a  small  portion  of 
the  phenomena  are  before  us.  Political  Economy  itself  makes 
but  a  part  of  the  subject  to  which  such  generalizations  belong, 
and  it  is  only  one  division  of  political  economy  of  which 
we  are  to  treat.  It  has  usually  been  discussed  under  the 
heads  of  stock,  wages  of  labor,  and  rent,  and  it  is  to  the  first 
of  these  that  our  investigations  are  to  be  altogether  confined. 
It  is  only  therefore  in  such  parts  of  the  subject  as  present 
a  sufficient  mass  of  phenomena,  to  warrant  the  procedure,  that 
I  shall  attempt  to  introduce  any  very  general  principles.  In 
other  cases  I  will  confine  myself  to  the  simple  statement  of 
facts  admitted  by  all  parties. 


CHAPTER    I. 

OF  ECONOMIC  AMBITION  AND  THE  MEANS  ESSENTIAL 
TO  ITS  REALIZATION. 

CICERO  gives  the  following  summary  of  the  principles  exciting 
m;in   to  action,  and  of  the  mode  in  which  they  lead  him  to 

act: 'inter    hominem    et    beluam    hoc    maxime    interest, 

quod    haec    tan  turn,   quantum    sensu    movetur,  ad   id   solum, 

i  adest,  quodque  praesens  est,  se  accommodat,  paullulum 
admodum  sentiens  praeteritum,  aut  futurum.  Homo  autem, 
quod  rationis  est  particeps,  per  quam  consequentia  cernit, 
causas  rerum  videt,  earumque  progressus,  et  quasi  anteces- 
siones  non  ignorat,  similitudines  comparat,  et  rebus  praesentibus 
ad jungit  atque  annectit  futuras :  facile  totius  vitae  cursum 
videt,  ad  eamque  degendam  praeparet  res  necessarias.  Eademque 
natura  vi  rationis  hominem  conciliat  homini  et  ad  orationis, 
et  ad  vita;  societatem :  ingeneratque  in  primis  praecipuum 
quendam  amorem  in  eos,  qui  procreati  sunt :  impellitque  ut 
hominum  coetus,  et  celebrationes,  esse,  et  a  se  obiri  velit :  ob 
easque  causas  studeat  parare  ea,  quae  suppeditent  et  ad  cultum, 
et  ad  vie  turn :  nee  sibi  soli,  sed  conjugi,  liberis,  ceterisque,  quos 

habeat,  tuerique  debeat." 
"  The  chief  distinction  between  man  and  the  inferior  animals 

ists  in  this.  They  are  moved  only  by  the  immediate  im- 
pressions of  sense,  and,  as  its  impulses  prompt,  seek  to  gratify 

i  from  the  objects  before  them,  scarce  regarding  the  fin 
or  endeavoring  from   the  experience  of  the  past  to  pr<> 
against  what  is  to  come.     Man  again,  as  he  is  endowed  with 
reason,  by  which  he  is  able  to  connect  effects  with  their  causes, 


8  OF   ECONOMIC   AMBITION 

to  perceive  the  principles  which  guide  the  progress  of  affairs, 
and  to  join  together  the  present  and  the  future,  easily  discerns 
the  course  of  his  whole  life  and  prepares  whatever  may  be 
necessary  for  passing  it  in  comfort.  The  same  intellectual 
powers  also,  which  nature  has  bestowed  on  him,  give  scope  to 
his  affections,  and  join  him  to  his  fellows  by  the  ties  that 
spring  from  language  and  the  connexions  of  social  life.  It 
is  from  this  source  that  we  must  trace  his  peculiar  provident 
love  for  his  offspring,  his  concern  for  the  interests  of  society, 
and  his  desire  to  mingle  in  its  business  and  pleasures. 

"  From  these  principles  it  is  that  man  is  incited  and  enabled 
to  provide  beforehand  whatever  may  be  requisite  both  for 
utility  and  ornament,  not  only  to  himself  but  to  his  wife,  his 
children,  and  all  others  who  may  be  dear  to  him,  or  whom  it 
may  be  his  duty  to  protect." 

It  is  unquestionably  the  capacity  for  perceiving,  and  retain- 
ing in  his  mind,  the  course  of  events  and  the  connexion  of  one 
with  another,  that  leads  man  to  perceive  what  advancing 
futurity  is  to  bring  forth,  and  enables  him  to  provide  for  its 
wants.  This  provident  forethought  distinguishes  him  from  the 
inferior  animals,  and  the  degree  in  which  he  possesses  it  marks 
his  rank  in  the  scale  of  civilization.1 

When  he  has  gained  any  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  things 
[the  operations  of  nature]  around  him,  he  finds  many  that 
satisfy  more  or  less  perfectly  his  present  wants.  He  knows, 
also,  that  if  he  live  to  see  the  future  he  will  then  have  similar 
wants  and  desires.  Some  of  the  occurrences  satisfying  his 
desires  and  wants  exist  abundantly ;  others,  sparingly  or  im- 
perfectly. If  he  regard  the  future,  he  must  wish  that  those 
occurrences  of  which  he  now  can  only  obtain  enough  to 
satisfy  his  wants  sparingly  and  imperfectly,  should  exist  then, 
so  as  that  he  might  be  able  to  obtain  them  to  satisfy  those 
wants  abundantly  and  perfectly. 

His  faculties  of  observation  and  reason  generally  give  him 

![In  contrast  to  the  animals  "  man  has  thoughts  far-reaching,  he  has  con- 
certed and  long-extended  plans."  (Fragment  of  Rae's  MS.)  The  animals, 
indeed  (notably  ants,  bees,  and  the  like),  exhibit  a  certain  degree  of  "provi- 
dent forethought ; "  but  it  is  non -progressive.  Man  is  characterized  specifically 
by  ever-expanding  wants,  and  hence  by  ever-expanding  undertakings  to 
satisfy  them.] 


OF   ECONOMIC   AMBITION  9 

the  power  of  effecting  this.  For  the  objects  affording  satis- 
faction of  his  desire  are  mere  arrangements  of  matter. 
His  faculties  of  observation  show  him  their  nature,  and  the 
manner  in  which  the  train  of  events  going  on  amongst 
them  succeed  each  other.  He  perceives  that  the  occurrences 
which  are  the  means  of  satisfaction  of  his  present  wants, 
or  which  were  of  those  he  felt  a  little  time  since,  and 
which  will  probably  be  of  those  he  will  feel  in  future,  are 
either  the  immediate  result  of  the  nature  and  form  of  some 
things  around  him,  or  of  the  trains  of  events  which,  in 
consequence  of  that  form  and  nature,  are  taking  place  among 
them.  He  cannot  alter  the  nature  of  things,  but  in  many 
cases,  he  is  able  to  change  their  form,  that  is,  the  particular 
.iigement  of  the  matter  of  which  they  are  formed ;  and 
his  reason  instructs  him,  that  if  by  doing  this,  he  can  so 
alter  the  trains  of  events  proceeding  from  them  or  depending 
on  them,  that  they  may  either  form,  or  cause  to  be  formed,  or 
put  in  his  possession,  objects  fitted  to  supply  more  perfectly  or 
abundantly  what  probably  will  be  his  future  wants,  than 
any  objects  that  would  otherwise  exist,  he  then  is  able  to 
provide  for  the  future.  This  in  many  cases  he  can  do,  and 
thus  he  acts. 

A  North  American  Indian  in  his  canoe  comes  to  an  island 
in  some  lake  or  river,  and  finds  near  it  a  good  station  for 
fishing.  He  therefore  determines  to  remain  there  for  the 
fishing  season.  Towards  evening  he  paddles  his  canoe  to 
shore,  lands,  kindles  a  fire  near  a  large  tree,  wraps  his 
blanket  about  him,  places  his  feet  to  the  fire,  his  head  to 
the  trunk  of  the  tree,  and  thus  prepares  for  repose.  In  so 
doing,  with  the  exception  of  kindling  the  fire,  he  takes 
advantage  simply  of  his  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the 
things  around  him,  and  seeks  from  them  the  best  supply 
they  can  give  him  of  what  he  wants,  that  is,  of  shelter 
from  wind  and  weather. 

It  rains  and  blows  during  the  night,  the  tree  shelters 
him  somewhat,  but  still  he  gets  cold  and  wet.  In  the  morn- 
ing he  spends  some  hours  providing  a  better  shelter  against 
inclemency  of  any  such  night  in  future.  Of  branches  and 
he  makes  something  like  one  half  of  the  roof  of  a  house, 


10  OF   ECONOMIC   AMBITION 

only  much  smaller,  the  open  side  being  towards  the  south  and 
the  fire,  the  sloping  side  towards  the  north  from  whence  comes 
cold  and  rain.  Thus,  though  he  cannot  prevent  the  wind  from 
blowing,  or  the  rain  from  falling,  his  knowledge  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  trains  of  events  forming  these  phenomena  succeed 
each  other,  or  if  you  will,  his  knowledge  of  the  laws  which 
regulate  their  motions,  instruct  him  so  to  direct  them,  that 
the  one  shall  not  blow,  or  the  other  fall,  on  a  particular  spot, 
which  he  knows  he  may  at  some  future  time  wish  to  remain 
calm  and  dry.  This  time  may  be  distant,  for  it  may  not  rain 
or  blow  so  as  to  inconvenience  him  for  a  week  or  two,  never- 
theless to  provide  against  it  he  gives  a  good  many  hours 
present  labor. 

Next  evening,  before  going  to  repose,  he  finds  the  turf  damp 
from  the  rain  of  the  former  night.  He  looks  for  an  elm  tree, 
cuts  off  a  piece  of  its  strong  thick  bark  large  enough  for  him 
to  sleep  on,  covers  it  with  the  soft  branches  and  leaves  of  the 
white  pine,  and  forms  a  dry  and  soft  bed  for  himself.  Thus 
his  knowledge  of  the  materials  around  him  enables  him  to 
form  what  he  wants,  a  dry  and  soft  place  of  repose. 

In  this  island  he  discovers  a  small  wild  plumb  tree,  he 
relishes  the  fruit,  but  there  is  little  of  it.  Eesolving  to  return 
in  succeeding  seasons  he  lops  the  branches  of  the  surrounding 
trees  to  give  this  room  to  spread,  and  expects  thus  to  find  next 
year  a  more  abundant  crop.1  Here  his  knowledge  of  the 
manner  in  which  trees  and  fruit  grow  and  thrive,  or  his 
knowledge  of  the  order  of  the  trains  of  events  which  termi- 
nate in  the  full  development  of  the  tree  and  abundance  of  its 
fruit,  enables  him  so  to  work  on  the  matters  around  him,  as  to 
occasion  them  to  produce  more  abundantly  next  season,  than 
they  have  this,  what  then  he  will  desire. 

He  thinks  not  of  providing  for  any  future  want  the  means 
to  supply  which,  will,  without  this,  exist  in  sufficient  abun- 
dance. Thus  water,  in  such  a  situation,  he  knows  he  will 
always  be  surrounded  with.  Were  the  same  Indian  encamped 
in  the  woods,  by  a  very  scanty  spring,  he  would  dam  it  up, 

1  This  is  a  possible  supposition,  but  it  is  more  probable  he  would  neglect  it, 
perhaps  cut  it  down  for  the  sake  of  reaching  more  easily  the  fruit  it  carried. 


OF   ECONOMIC   AMBITION  11 

and   cover   it   with  branches  so  as  to  keep  cool  a  quantity 
of  water  for  his  future  occasions. 

The  proceedings  of  man  are  everywhere  similar.  He  has 
always  an  end  in  view,  he  employs  means  to  effect  this  end, 
and  there  is  a  manner  through  which  he  effects  it.  The  end  is 
a  supply  for  future  wants;  the  means,  the  bringing  about 
of  such  events  as  may  serve  to  supply  them;  the  manner, 
a  knowledge  of  the  qualities  with  which  nature  has  endowed 
the  materials  within  his  reach,  of  the  series  of  events  in  conse- 
quence arising  among  them,  and  an  application  of  this  know- 
ledge to  produce,  through  his  corporeal  powers,  such  an 
arrangement  of  these  materials,  as  may  so  change  the  issues  of 
events  that  would  otherwise  have  place,  as  to  bring  about 
those  which  he  desires.  It  is  true,  that,  in  most  instances, 
men  simply  copy  the  proceedings  of  others,  and  think  not 
of  the  principles  on  which  they  conduct  their  operations, 
nor  of  the  observations  from  which  these  must  originally 
have  been  deduced.  But,  though  the  knowledge  thus  acquired 
from  this  storing  of  observations,  and  deduction  of  principles 
from  them,  is  not  the  mode  in  which  individual  men  operate, 
it  is  the  mode  in  which  the  operations  they  carry  on  must 
have  been  first  brought  into  practice,  and  on  which  they 
are  all  founded. 

We  may  easily  satisfy  ourselves  of  this,  by  turning  our 
attention  to  the  manner  in  which  any  of  the  articles  we 
use  for  the  supply  of  our  wants  has  been  formed.  Bread 
may  be  an  example.  A  farmer,  some  two  years  ago,  made 

<e    of   a   particular    field    for    the    cultivation   of    wheat. 

he   been   asked   why   he  did   so,  he  could   have  stated 

the    different    circumstances    in    the    soil,    and    the    previous 

>  that  it  had  carried,  which  had   thus  determined  him. 
I-}  ploughing  and  harrowing  it  a  sufficient  number  of  times, 

horoughly  broke,  and  pulverized  the  land.     This  he  did, 

because  he  knew,  from  observations  he  or  others  had  made, 

in  this  state  the  seed  he  intended  to  deposit  there  would 

\vhcn  it  came  to  germinate,  more  easily  spread  its  roots  around 

•  haw   nourishment   from   among   the   particles    of    earth 

t  which  it  would  grow.     He  allowed  a  considerable  time 

ipse  between  the  several  operations,  that  the  weeds  might 


12  OF  ECONOMIC   AMBITION 

have  time  to  spring  up  and  be  destroyed.  Thus  he  knew  they 
would  be  prevented  from  afterwards  injuring  the  growth  of 
the  crop.  He  also  spread  over  the  field,  and  covered  in,  a 
quantity  of  manure,  because  experience  had  taught  that 
this  substance  gives  vigor  to  vegetation.  He  then  sowed  the 
seed,  in  the  mode,  and  quantity,  and  at  the  time,  which  obser- 
vation had  instructed  him  was  the  best,  covered  it  with  a 
harrow,  and  waited  the  harvest.  When  he  perceived  the 
grain  sufficiently  ripe,  he  cut  it  down  with  an  iron  hook 
having  a  form  and  edge  which  experience  had  ascertained 
to  be  best  adapted  for  this  purpose,  made  it  into  bundles, 
exposed  them  to  the  sun  and  air  so  that  they  might  be  dried, 
when  this  was  effected,  conveyed  them  to  his  barn  and  stored 
them  there.  Having  lain  there  some  time,  the  grain  was 
separated  from  the  straw  by  the  process  of  threshing,  it 
was  then  carried  to  the  granary,  where,  having  been  kept 
for  a  longer  or  shorter  period,  it  was  thence  taken  to  the 
mill,  and,  by  a  very  ingenious  process,  reduced  to  small 
particles,  and  then  separated  by  another  process  into  three 
parts,  of  which  the  finest  part,  the  interior  of  the  grain  called 
flour,  being  packed  in  sacks  or  barrels,  was  preserved  for  use. 
A  certain  portion  of  this,  mixed  with  a  particular  ferment, 
wrought  with  the  hand  and  exposed  to  the  action  of  fire, 
became  bread. 

It  is  very  evident,  that  all  the  steps  of  these  various  pro- 
cesses depend  on  a  knowledge  of  the  course  of  natural  events, 
and  are  regulated  by  that  knowledge.  A  long  series  of 
observations  of  this  sort,  and  of  reasonings  deduced  from 
them,  could  alone  have  enabled  the  farmer  to  prepare  the 
ground  properly  for  the  seed,  or,  after  the  grain  had  come 
to  maturity,  to  preserve  it,  to  separate  it  from  the  straw, 
and  fit  it  for  being  converted  into  flour.  The  observations 
on  the  trains  of  events  connected  with  the  production  of  this 
grain  that  have  been  committed  to  writing,  fill  many  large 
volumes,  and  besides  these,  every  farmer  is  obliged  to  have 
a  great  store  of  his  own,  to  guide  him  in  his  proceedings. 
Thus,  in  the  single  process  of  cutting  down  and  storing  up 
this  crop,  his  success  in  securing  it  uninjured  depends  on 
observing  and  noting  well  a  great  variety  of  particulars. 


OF  ECONOMIC   AMBITION  13 

He  observes  the  plant  carefully,  and  discovers,  from  the 
appearance  of  every  part,  from  the  dryness  of  the  stem,  the 
drooping  of  the  ears,  the  fulness  of  the  grain,  if  it  be  in  a 
proper  state  to  cut  down.  If  he  make  any  error  in  this,  he 
will  either  have  unripe,  and  therefore  shrivelled  and  light 
grain,  or  he  will  lose  great  part  of  it  by  its  being  shaken  off 
the  stem  in  harvesting  it.  Next,  before  he  determine  on 
commencing  the  operation,  he  regards  the  aspect  of  the  sky, 
watches  the  rising  and  setting  sun,  notes  the  color  of  the 
air,  the  appearance  of  the  clouds,  the  direction  of  the  wind, 
the  dew  on  the  grass,  and  perhaps  has  recourse  to  that  delicate 
instrument,  the  fruit  of  so  many  ingenious  observations,  the 
barometer.  By  means  of  all  these,  he  is  enabled  to  draw 
tolerably  correct  conclusions,  in  regard  to  the  probable  state 
of  the  weather  for  some  succeeding  days.  This  knowledge 
influences  greatly  his  farther  operations ;  for  experience  has 
taught  him  that  the  injury  which  severe  rains,  coming  on  the 
grain  when  newly  reaped,  would  occasion,  is  very  great.  If, 
therefore,  the  weather  promise  to  be  fine,  he  will  commence 
cutting  it  down  a  few  days  sooner  than  he  otherwise  would ; 
if  rain  threaten  he  will  wait  a  few  days  longer.  When  he 
has  it  reaped  he  gets  it  tied  into  bundles,  which  are  put  up 
in  small  parcels,  and  so  disposed,  that  the  wind  may  penetrate 
through  them,  and  the  rain  be  as  much  thrown  off  from 
them  as  possible,  and  thus  the  plant  may  have  the  best 
chance  of  being  securely  and  quickly  dried. 

This  drying  is  watched  with  care,  and,  when  it  is  judged  to 
be  sufficiently  advanced,  the  crop  is  transported  to  the  barn, 
there  to  wait  till  the  proper  period  of  threshing  it  out  arrives. 
All  these  processes  are,  it  is  evident,  governed  by  rules  drawn 
tr«m  assiduous  and  long  continued  observation,  and  their 
success  depends  on  its  extent  and  accuracy. 

Were  we  to  examine  the  manner  in  which  all  the  articles 

we  provide  for  the  supply  of  future  wants  are  produced, 

we  slmuM  find  that  they  depend,  in  this  way,  on  observations 

on  the  course  of  events,  and  on  reasonings  founded  on  these 

observations.     Were  proof  wanting  of  this,  we  might  turn  at 

hazard  to  any  complete  treatise  on  any  art.     On  examining 

(3  would  invariably  find  it  to  contain  a  set  of  observations, 


14  OF   ECONOMIC   AMBITION 

the  result  of  experience,  and  of  reasonings,  and  rules,  drawn 
t'lum  these  observations. 

Since  then  man  provides  a  supply  for  his  future  wants  by 
his  reason  directing  his  industry,  through  means  of  his  know- 
ledge of  the  course  of  events,  to  effect  such  changes  in  the 
form  or  arrangement  of  the  parts  of  material  objects,  that 
these  may  produce  articles  fitted  to  afford  this  supply,  it 
were  desirable  to  have  some  common  name  to  denote  all  the 
changes,  which,  for  this  purpose,  he  so  makes.  On  this 
account  I  propose  to  give  the  denomination  of  instruments 
to  all  those  changes  that,  for  this  purpose  are  made  in  the 
form  or  arrangement  of  the  parts  of  material  objects.1 

The  term  instrument  is,  in  general,  properly  enough  em- 
ployed, to  denote  any  means  for  the  attainment  of  some  end. 
In  common  use,  however,  and  as  applied  to  material  things, 
it  seems  to  be  restricted  to  such  arrangements  of  matter  as 
owe  their  chief  efficacy  to  what  are  called  the  mechanic 
powers.  Thus  a  lever  or  a  wedge  is  an  instrument,  the 
manner  in  which  each  of  them  operate  being  chiefly  explained 
on  mathematical  principles.  A  spade,  which  is  a  combination 
of  the  two,  is  also  an  instrument.  The  tools  which  carpenters 
use  are  instruments.  We  speak  in  the  same  way  of  in- 
struments of  husbandry,  meaning  by  the  phrase  the  articles 
used  in  that  art,  whose  properties  may  be  explained  on 
mechanical  principles. 

In  all  these  cases,  however,  other  principles  than  those  which 
are  merely  mathematical  must  enter  into  our  calculations.  In 
the  simplest  lever  we  have  not  only  the  properties  of  a  mathe- 
matical line  to  consider,  but  also,  the  weight  and  strength  of 
the  substance  used,  and  these  make  the  difficulty  in  the  proper 
application  of  such  an  instrument,  A  wedge  operates  in  many 
ways,  besides  those  that  may  be  considered  to  be  derived 
simply  from  mathematical  principles  ;  as  for  instance  in  the 
percussion,  which  it  receives  and  communicates,  and  through 

1[0ur  author  does  not  express  himself  well  here.  Rae's  idea  is  that  he 
proposes  to  give  the  denomination  of  instrumental  production  to  all  those 
changes  in  materials  which  man  makes  in  the  pursuit  of  his  economic  ends. 
The  instruments  themselves  are  not  the  "changes,"  but  the  immediate  result 
of  them.] 


OF   ECONOMIC   AMBITION  15 

means  of  which,  if  skilfully  applied,  the  most  solid  rocks  may 
be  rent.  The  farther  we  recede  from  such  simple  instruments, 
the  more  extensive  do  we  find  the  action  of  properties,  which 
could  only  be  ascertained  by  a  long  series  of  observations.  It 
would  be  impossible,  for  instance,  to  give  any  a  priori  rules 
for  the  construction  of  that  most  useful  instrument  the  plough. 
It  is,  no  doubt,  a  wedge,  but  the  particular  form  giving  the 
test  efficacy  to  it,  is  a  point  of  very  difficult  determination, 
not  yet,  perhaps,  fully  ascertained.  It  is  accurate  observation 
that  has  guided  the  construction  of  it,  to  its  present  efficiency, 
and  which  may  be  expected  to  render  it  still  more  perfect. 

Were  we  to  enter  into  an  examination  of  more  complicated 
machines  or  instruments,  such  as  the  steam  engine,  or  the 
cotton  mill,  the  observation  would  apply  with  double  force, 
these  generally  deriving  their  efficiency  from  principles,  that 
have  been  the  result  of  very  extensive  and  accurate  investiga- 
tions of  many  series  of  events.  In  thus  using  the  term,  there- 
fore, we  shall  rather  deviate  somewhat  from  common  usage, 
than  be  opposed  to  it  ;  and  in  doing  so,  our  reasonings  will  only 
be  subject  to  an  inconvenience,  to  which  all  general  reasonings 
must  be  subject,  and  which  may  be  the  more  readily  excused, 
as  this  use  of  the  term  may  be  defended  from  its  derivation, 
its  occasional  acceptation,  and  the  authority  of  authors  of 
respectability.1 

In  general  then,  all  those  changes  which  man  makes,  in  the 
iViriii  or  arrangements  of  the  parts  of  material  objects,  for  the 

1  Outilft  ou  instrument  de  metier.     Jamais  mot  n'a  re^u  une  acception  plus 

ae  que  celle  que  je  voudrais  donner  ici  au  terme  d'outils,  car  je  desirerais 

y  comprendre  depuis  la  fronde  dont  ae   sert  le  chasseur  sauvage  jusqu'a  la 

machine  la  plus  vaste,  jusqu'au  mecanisme  le  plus  complique,  jusqu'aux  fitrea 

M  memea  qui  facilitent  le  travail  de  1'homme.     L'enclume  du  forgeron  et 

tier  pour  faire  des  has,  lea  aiguilles  de  la  lingere  et  lea  pompes  a  feu,  les 

navirea  et  les  betes  de  somme  et  de  trait  ;  en  un  mot,  tout  produit  materiel  de 

la  nature  et  du  travail,  tout  objet  vivant  ou  inanitm-  que  1'homme  emploie 

pour  s  'aider  duns  son  travail  industrial,  voilaceque  j'appelleoutila,  instrumens 

1  ier.     Ce  mot,  dans  son  sens  le  plus  etendu,  n'exclut  que  lea  conatruc- 

*     Store  h,  Vol.  I.  p.  231. 

*  "  Pourquoi  lea  exclure?     Les  constructions  sont  des  p  rod  u  its  de  I'industrie 
me  consacr&i  a  la  reproduction  ;  partant  ce  sont  des  outils.     In 


me  eat  un  out  il  <|ui  ne  differe  des  autrea  qu'en  ce  qu'il  n'est  point 
pnxluit  <lt  1  Industrie,  maia  un  don  de  la  nature."  J.-B.  Say. 


16  OF   ECONOMIC   AMBITION 

purpose  of  supplying  his  future  wants,  and  which  derive  their 
power  of  doing  this  from  his  knowledge  of  the  course  of  events, 
and  the  changes  which  his  labor,  guided  by  his  reason,  is  hence 
enabled  to  make  in  the  issue  of  these  events,  may  be  termed 
instruments.1 

In  this  sense  a  field  [fitted  for  use]  is  an  instrument.  The 
changes  effected  in  the  matters  of  which  it,  [considered  as  mere 
land,]  is  composed,  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  it  an  instru- 
ment, are  the  levelling  and  if  necessary  making  the  surface 
dry  by  means  of  ditches  and  drains,  the  removing  stones 
from  it,  the  mixing  and  pulverizing  the  soil  by  the  plough,  the 
harrow,  and  the  roller,  and  the  incorporating  with  it  various 
matters  termed  manures,  which  render  it  more  fit  for  the 
support  of  vegetable  life.  The  future  wants,  towards  the 
supply  of  which  it  is  an  instrument,  are  food  and  clothing. 
The  power  which  has  made  it  an  instrument,  is  the  agri- 
culturist's labor,  directed  by  his  knowledge  of  the  nature  of 
plants  and  soils.  The  change  made  in  the  consequent  issue  of 
events,  is  the  abundant  growth  of  species  of  plants  different 
from  those  originally  produced  by  it,  and  conducing  to  the 
supply  of  food  and  clothing ;  or,  more  generally,  the  conversion 
of  various  vegetable  matters  of  the  soil,  and  gaseous  matters  in 
the  air,  into  the  substance  of  particular  plants.  The  wheat 
grown  on  this  field  is  an  instrument.  The  changes  effected  in 
it,  are  its  having  been  separated  from  the  straw  by  the  process 
of  threshing,  and  its  having  been  made  sufficiently  dry  by 
keeping  and  exposure  to  air,  to  be  fit  to  manufacture  into 
Hour.  The  want  it  tends  to  supply  is  nourishment,  by  afford- 
ing bran  for  the  support  of  some  of  the  inferior  animals,  as 
hogs  or  cattle,  afterwards  to  be  slaughtered,  and  flour  for  the 
use  of  man.  The  power  is  also  the  art  and  industry  of  the 
agriculturist.  The  change  in  the  issue  of  events  consists  in 
the  grain  being  ready  for  the  manufacture  of  flour,  instead  of 
having  been  left  to  rot  on  the  ground,  to  be  consumed  by 
vermin,  or  destroyed  by  the  access  of  damp  or  by  the  want  of 
air.  Flour  also  is  an  instrument.  The  changes  that  have 
been  effected  in  it  are  its  having  been  separated  from  the 
wheat,  and  reduced  to  a  fine  powdery  matter.  The  want  it 

1  [More  properly,  may  be  termed  the  formation  and  use  of  instruments.] 


OF  ECONOMIC   AMBITION  17 

tends  to  supply  is  food  by  the  bread  produced  from  it.  The 
power,  which  has  operated  on  it,  is  the  art  and  industry  of  the 
miller.  The  change  in  the  issue  of  events  thereby  produced  is 
the  existence  of  flour  and  bran,  instead  of  wheat.  Bread,  until 
such  time  as  it  is  in  process  of  consumption,  is  an  instrument. 
The  change  which  it  has  undergone  is  that  induced  by  the  pro- 
cesses of  kneading,  fermenting,  and  baking.  The  want  it 
supplies  is  food.  The  power  which  has  operated  on  it  is  the 
art  and  industry  of  the  baker.  The  change  on  the  issue  of 
events  thereby  produced  is  the  existence  of  bread  instead  of 
door. 

Though  it  may  seem  strange  to  rank  all  these  in  one  class, 
that  of  instruments,  nevertheless,  the  doing  so  is  rather  un- 
usual than  improper.  They  are  all  means  towards  the  attain- 
ment of  an  end,  and,  for  the  attainment  of  this  end,  that  is, 
the  production  of  bread,  do  they  alone  exist.  The  blade  as  it 
springs  from  the  soil,  and  the  [prepared]  soil  on  which  it  grows, 
i  together  an  instrument  for  this  end ;  the  plant  when  it 
has  extracted  all  the  nourishment  from  the  soil  which  that  can 
give,  and  is  ripe  on  the  ground,  is  an  instrument ;  when  it  is 
i  ml  put  up  sheltered  from  the  weather,  it  is  still  an  in- 
strument; so  is  the  grain  when  separated  from  it;  so  it  is 
when  ground  in  the  mill ;  so  it  is  when  in  loaves,  put  apart 
for  consumption,  until  the  moment  arrives  when  it  is  consumed. 
It  is  impossible,  if  we  call  it  at  first  an  instrument,  to  point 
nut  when  it  ceases  to  be  so,  until  the  moment  when  it  is 
actually  consuming. 

All  tools  and  machines  are  instruments.  Thus  a  carpenter's 
saw  is  an  instrument.  The  changes  effected  in  the  matters  of 
which  it  is  composed,  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  it  an 
ument,  are,  there  having  been  given  a  fit  form  and  temper 
t«»  the  steel  plate  of  which  it  is  made,  and  a  handle  having 
Wn  adjusted  to  it.  The  wants  which  it  tends  to  supply  are 
multifarious,  according  to  the  uses  to  which  it  is  put.  The 
power  that  renders  it  an  instrument  is  the  art  and  industry  of 
him  who  makes,  and  of  him  who  uses  it.  The  changes  effected 
in  the  issue  of  ••vents  l>y  its  fabrication  and  use,  are  the  divid- 
nt<>  regular  parts  suited  to  different  purposes,  a  great 
number  of  pieces  of  timber. 


18  OF   ECONOMIC   AMBITION 

In  a  similar  manner  it  might  be  shown,  that  houses,  ships, 
cattle,  gardens,  household  furniture,  manufactories,  manufactured 
goods,  and  stores  of  all  sorts  are  in  this  sense,  instruments. 
But  it  is,  I  apprehend,  unnecessary  further  to  multiply  in- 
stances ;  every  thing  that  man,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  an 
end,  brings  to  exist,  or  alters  in  its  form,  its  position,  or  in  the 
arrangement  of  its  parts,  is  an  instrument. 

As  man  is  thus  enabled  to  provide  for  the  wants  of  futurity, 
by  his  knowledge  of  the  course  of  events,  it  naturally  follows, 
that  in  any  particular  situation,  his  power  to  provide  for  them, 
is  measured  by  the  extent  and  accuracy  of  his  knowledge.  If 
that  knowledge  be  diminished,  his  power  will  be  diminished. 
Thus  a  deficiency  of  skill  in  the  art  of  agriculture,  or  of 
baking,  will  alike  occasion  a  diminution  of  the  quantity  of 
food  to  be  got  from  a  field  applied  to  the  cultivation  of  wheat. 
Neither  can  his  power  be  increased,  but  by  an  increase  of  his 
knowledge.  It  is  impossible  to  point  out  any  improvement  in 
any  art,  which  does  not  depend  on  some  new  observations,  or 
reasonings,  on  the  course  of  events  connected  with  that  art. 

The  generally  admitted  axiom,  that  knowledge  is  power, 
may  not  be  strictly  true.  Many  facts  have  been  observed 
which  have  not  yet  been  applied  to  any  useful  purpose,  though 
it  is  probable  they  will,  in  time,  be  so  applied.  But,  though  it 
may  not  be  strictly  true,  that  all  knowledge  immediately  gives 
power,  it  is  so,  that  all  power  springs  from  knowledge,  and  is 
measured  by  its  extent  and  accuracy.  Neither  can  it  be  dis- 
puted, that  it  operates  by  enabling  man's  -  reasoning  faculties, 
so  to  direct  his  industry,  as  to  induce  certain  changes  in  the 
form  and  arrangement  of  the  parts  of  material  objects  con- 
verting them  into  instruments.  "  Ad  opera  nil  aliud  potest 
homo,  quarn  ut  corpora  naturalia  admoveat  et  amoveat; 
reliqua  natura  intus  transigit." 

[Rae's  language  in  the  last  few  pages  is  not  wholly  consistent  with  his 
general  teaching.  The  "  want  "  which  bread  supplies  is  not  properly  speaking 
"  food  "  (that  is  really  only  another  name  for  bread),  but  the  pleasure  of  eating 
and  the  sense  of  being  nourished.  These  last  are  the  artifically  produced 
"  events"  which  are  the  final  goal  of  the  long  series  of  adaptations  of  means 
to  ends.  Not  until  bread  has  been  eaten  does  it  cease  to  be  a  part  of  that 
great  and  complicated  mass  of  apparatus  which  Rae  calls  instruments,  and 
which  are  usually  known  as  economic  goods.] 


CHAPTER   II. 

OF  THE  CIRCUMSTANCES  COMMON  TO  ALL  INSTRUMENTS, 
AND  OF  THOSE  PROPER  TO  SOME. 

ALL  instruments  agree  in  the  following  three  particulars; 

1.  They  are  all  either  directly  formed  by  human  labor,  or 
indirectly  through  the  aid  of  other  instruments  themselves 
formed  by  human  labor. 

Sometimes,  though  rarely,  instruments  are  constructed  by 
labor  alone.  Thus  occasionally  rough  stone  fences  are  put  up, 
by  the  hand  alone,  without  the  intervention  of  even  a  single 
tool.  But,  in  most  instances,  the  aid  of  other  instruments  is 
employed.  It  is  seldom,  that  even  the  most  common  laborer 
is  not  assisted  in  his  operations  by  some  implement  or  another. 
But,  whatever  instrument  or  instruments  may  have  cooperated 
with  labor  in  the  formation  of  any  other  instrument,  they 
themselves  have  been  either  altogether,  or  in  part,  formed  by 
labor ;  and,  by  retracing  the  course  of  things  farther  and 
farther  back,  we  inevitably  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  labor 
was,  in  this  sense,  "  the  first  price,  the  original  purchase  money 
thai  was  paid  for  all  things,"  and  thus  that,  directly  or  in- 
•  lin-ctly,  it  is  to  be  looked  on  as  the  agent  that  gives  form  to 
every  instrument.1 

1  [Rae  is  here  dealing  with  a  restricted  aspect  of  the  larger  problem.     He  is 

t  ly  aware,  as  the  context  indicates  and  as  he  shows  more  fully  elsewhere 

[>•  universal  cost  of  getting  wants  supplied  is  labor  (mental  and  physical) 

together  with  waiting  and  the  running  of   risk, — three  elements  which  are 

present  in  every  stage  of  the  total  process  of  production,  in  the  formation  of 

ments  as  well  as  in  the  utilization  of  them.     But  here,  where  he  deals 


20     GENERAL  PROPERTIES   OF   INSTRUMENTS 

For  the  sake  of  simplifying  the  succeeding  speculations,  as 
much  as  may  be,  labor  will  be  considered  as  the  agent  em- 
ployed in  the  formation  of  all  instruments.  When  the  co- 
operation of  other  instruments  is  implied  in  the  means  by 
which  any  particular  instrument  is  constructed,  the  degree  in 
which  they  cooperate  is  understood  to  be  measured  by  the 
quantity  of  labor  for  which  their  cooperation  is,  or  might  be, 
procured ;  and,  in  this  sense,  that  cooperation  is  spoken  of  as 
an  equivalent  to  labor.  The  rules,  according  to  which  the  one 
thus  measures  the  other,  will  be  discussed  subsequently. 

2.  All  instruments  bring  to  pass,  or  tend,  or  help,  to  bring 
to  pass  events  supplying  some  of  the  wants  of  man,  and  are 
then  exhausted. 

Some  instruments  once  formed,  without  the  further  inter- 
vention either  of  labor  or  of  other  instruments,  produce  events 
which  directly  supply  our  wants.  Thus  a  peach  tree  yields  its 
fruit  to  our  hand.  The  operation  of  others  only  tends  to  the 
production  of  events  supplying  our  wants.  The  growth  of  a 
crop  of  wheat  is  only  a  step  towards  fche  production  of  bread. 
Others  require  the  help  of  either  labor,  or  some  other  instru- 
ment. A  row  boat  is  useless  without  the  labor  of  the  man 
who  plies  the  oar ;  a  carriage,  without  the  cooperation  of  the 
horses  who  draw  it.  All  instruments,  however,  either  produce, 
or  contribute  to  the  production,  of  events  supplying  some  of 
our  wants.  Their  power  to  produce  such  events,  or  the 
amount  of  them  that  they  do  produce,  may  be  termed  their 
capacity}- 

It   is    necessary  to  have   some   common    measure   for   the 

only  with  the  formation  of  instruments,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  he  leaves 
waiting  and  risk-taking  out  of  account.  He  assumes  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
the  basis  for  a  certain  method  of  comparison  of  instruments  in  general,  that 
instruments  are  all  formed  at  one  moment  of  time  and  that  the  technical  and 
mercantile  outcome  of  their  formation  is  certain.] 

1  [The  technical  expression  ' '  capacity  "  of  instruments  is  used  by  Rae  here 
and  elsewhere  ambiguously.  There  is  a  decided  difference  between  the 
"power  to  produce"  or  to  further  the  production,  of  certain  desirable  events, 
that  is,  the  initial  capacity  or  yielding-power  or  productivity  of  a  thing  ;  and 
the  whole  "amount"  of  such  events  actually  yielded  during  the  life  of  an 
instrument,  that  is,  its  total  output,  its  total  capacity.  Sometimes  Rae  means 
one,  sometimes  the  other  ;  but  as  a  rule  the  latter.  See  Chapter  V.] 


GENERAL  PROPERTIES   OF   INSTRUMENTS     21 

purpose  of  comparing  the  capacity  of  instruments  or  the 
returns  that  are  made  by  them,  with  the  labor  or  its  equiva- 
lents that  went  to  form  them.  For  this  purpose,  also,  labor 
will  be  adopted,  and  the  events  brought  to  pass  by  any  instru- 
ment will  lie  estimated  by  the  amount  of  labor  to  which  they 
are  esteemed  equivalent  by  the  owner  of  the  instrument.  As 
we  proceed,  it  will  appear,  that  this  use  of  the  term  has  no 
other  effect  than  that  of  giving  distinctness  to  our  nomen- 
clature. Besides,  it  often  really  happens,  that  the  returns 
made  by  instruments  directly  compare  with  labor,  because  they 
directly  save  labor.  For  instance,  wooden  or  metal  pipes  are 
occasionally  used  to  conduct  water  from  a  spring  to  some 
(I welling- house.  Were  they  not  there,  the  water  would  have 
to  be  carried  within  the  dwelling  by  some  of  the  domestics, 
and  therefore  the  instrument  formed  by  the  pipes  may  be  said 
indifferently,  either  to  supply  a  certain  amount  of  water,  or 
save  a  certain  portion  of  labor. 

With  one  considerable  exception,  afterwards  to  be  noted,  all 
instruments  at  length  bring  to  pass,  or  aid  in  bringing  to  pass, 
all  the  events  which  they  can  bring,  or  can  help  to  bring  to 
pass.  I  shall  use  the  term  exhaustion,  to  denote  this  passage 
of  things  from  the  class  of  instruments,  into  things  which  are 
n<>t  instruments.  When  an  instrument  is  said  to  be  exhausted, 
it  is  meant  that  the  matters  of  which  it  was  composed  have 
passed  out  of  the  class  of  instruments  into  that  of  materials. 

Sometimes  they  pass  from  the  one  class  to  the  other 
suddenly.  Thus,  articles  used  for  food  and  fuel,  bring  to 
pass  all  the  events  for  which  they  were  formed,  very  shortly. 
The  appetite  of  hunger  is  gratified,  and  heat  is  communicated 
to  the  frame,  in  a  few  minutes,  and  the  faggot  and  the  bread, 
having  yielded  all  the  nourishment  and  heat  stored  up  in 
thci  11,  then  cease  to  be  instruments.  Gunpowder  brinur> 
certain  events  to  an  issue  instantaneously.  The  bullet  is 
uirged,  and  the  rock  split,  in  an  instant.  This  sudden 
complete  exhaustion  of  the  capacity  of  instruments  is 
what  is  usually  termed  consumption.  Sometimes  the  matters 
;  uments  are  formed  pass  from  the  class  of  instru- 
ments to  that  of  materials  by  degrees.  Thus  tools  and  arti< •!<- 
<>t  wearing  apparel  are  in  use  for  a  long  time  before  they  cease 


22      GENERAL  PROPERTIES   OF   INSTRUMENTS 

to  be  instruments.  A  saw  may  be  in  employment  for  years  ; 
a  hat  defends  the  head  for  months.  When  the  capacity  of 
instruments  is  thus  gradually  exhausted,  it  is  usually  said  that 
they  are  worn  out,  and  this  sort  of  exhaustion  is  termed  wear. 

Sometimes  the  capacity  of  instruments  is  accidentally  done 
away  with,  and  they  consequently  pass  out  of  the  class  of 
instruments,  without  being  exhausted.  Thus  a  house  may  be 
burned,  cloth  may  be  eaten  by  vermin.  They  are  then  said 
to  be  destroyed.  A  partial  degree  of  this  is  damage.  In 
calculating  the  capacity  of  instruments,  it  is  necessary  to 
reckon  the  risk  they  run  of  destruction  or  damage.  In  any 
estimation  of  the  capacity,  for  instance,  of  a  crop  of  wheat, 
we  have  to  make  as  accurate  an  allowance  as  may  be,  for  the 
risk  of  its  destruction  or  damage,  by  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather  or  other  accidents,  before  the  harvesting  of  it  be 
accomplished.1 

3.  Between  the  formation  and  exhaustion  of  instruments  a 
space  of  time  intervenes.  This  necessarily  happens  because 
all  events  take  place  in  time.  Sometimes  that  space  extends 
to  years,  sometimes  to  months,  occasionally  to  shorter  periods, 
but  it  always  exists. 

The  circumstances  we  have  hitherto  assumed  as  common  to 
all  instruments,  and  the  events  they  generate,  will,  I  believe, 
on  examination,  be  found  actually  to  be  so.  There  is  one 
circumstance,  however,  which  it  is  necessary  to  assume  as 
common  to  them  all,  and  which  in  reality  is  not  altogether  so. 
In  comparing  the  capacity  of  two  or  more  instruments,  which 
supply,  or  tend  to  supply,  wants  of  the  same  sort,  we  may 
very  often  measure  them  by  the  relative  physical  effects, 
resulting  from  the  action  of  the  events  brought  to  pass  by 


1  [It  is  also  necessary,  especially  in  the  case  of  machinery,  to  take  into 
account  the  risk  of  an  instrument  being  superseded  through  new  inventions. 
In  every  progressive  industry  great  masses  of  instruments  are  constantly 
being  thrown  on  the  junk  heap  long  before  they  are  worn  out. 

But  this  is  taking  the  point  of  view  of  the  individual  rather  than  that  of 
society.  The  community  gains,  as  regards  the  capacity  of  its  instruments, 
through  a  rapid  advance  of  the  arts  ;  although  individuals  (particularly  those 
with  the  least  powers  of  adaptation)  suffer  pecuniary  loss.  Rae  has  in  mind, 
obviously,  losses  which  nobody  gains.] 


GENERAL  PROPERTIES   OF   INSTRUMENTS      23 

them.  Thus,  if  the  consumption  of  one  cord  of  fire  wood,  of 
a  particular  sort,  is  capable  of  producing  exactly  double  the 
heat  which  the  consumption  of  another  cord  of  another  sort 
produces,  a  cord  of  the  former,  will  have  double  the  capacity 
of  a  cord  of  the  latter,  and,  if  the  one  be  equivalent  to  four, 
the  other  will  be  equivalent  to  exactly  two  days  labor.  In 
the  same  way,  a  log  of  timber  from  Norway,  about  to  be 
employed  in  the  construction  of  a  house,  if  of  equal  size, 
strength,  and  durability,  with  another  from  Prussia,  may,  with 
justice  be  considered  as  of  equal  capacity  to  it;  and  so  of 
many  other  instruments.  We  shall  see  afterwards,  however, 
that  this  mode  of  determining  the  capacity  of  similar  instru- 
ments, is  in  many  cases  incorrect,  and  that  the  instances  are 
very  numerous,  where  the  relative  capacities  of  instruments  of 
the  same  sort,  depend  on  other  causes  than  their  mere  physical 
properties.  The  assumption,  therefore,  that  they  may  be  so 
determined,  is  to  be  considered  as  hypothetical,  and  to  be 
tolerated  from  the  difficulty  of  otherwise  treating  the  subject ; 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  hypothetic  existence  of  strictly 
mathematical  lines,  and  the  absence  of  friction  and  of  the 
tance  of  the  air,  is  excused,  in  reasonings  concerning  the 
mechanical  properties  of  matter.  As  in  these  reasonings,  an 
attempt  will  be  made  to  ascertain  the  extent,  and  mode  of 
operation  of  those  other  causes ;  and,  having  traced  what  seem 
to  be  the  great  moving  powers,  and  the  laws  governing  them, 
we  shall  endeavor  to  discover  the  circumstances  which  retard 
>r  derange  their  motions. 

1 1  may  be  proper  here  to  notice  the  acceptation,  in  which 
ro  other  terms  of  frequent  subsequent  occurrence,  are  to  be 
ived.     Some  instruments  are  easily  moved  from  place  to 
and,   on   this  account,  there  are  peculiar  facilities,  in 
«•  hanging  them  with  others.     This  seems  to  be  the  character 
istinguishing  what    are   called  goods,  or   commodities,  from 
ler  instruments,  and  it  is  in  this  sense,  that  these  terms 
I,  in  the  subsequent  pages,  be  employed. 


[It  is  not  through  inadvertence  that  several  times  daring  this  chapter  Rae 
of  events  which  instruments  "produce."     His  notion  of  production, 


24     GENERAL  PROPERTIES   OF   INSTRUMENTS 

made  abundantly  clear  elsewhere,  excludes  the  part  man  plays,  and  has  refer- 
ence only  to  the  part  played  by  the  instrument — its  functioning,  its  bringing 
things  to  pass  as  the  last  link  in  the  chain  of  causation.  His  formula  for  the 
total  process  which  we  call  production  would  be  :  man  forms  and  directs 
instruments,  which  last  produce  events  which  constitute  satisfactions  of  want, 
or,  events  leading  toward  satisfactions  of  want.  It  is  desirable  to  make  such 
a  distinction,  but  without  running  counter  to  accepted  terminology.  For  the 
part  played  by  instruments,  Rae  himself,  in  this  chapter  and  elsewhere, 
incidentally  supplies  us  with  an  appropriate  name, — generation.  "The 
circumstances  we  have  hitherto  assumed  as  common  to  all  instruments,  and 
the  events  they  generate.  .  .  ."] 


CHAPTER  III. 

OF  CERTAIN  CIRCUMSTANCES  ARISING   FROM   THE 
INSTITUTION  OF   SOCIETY. 

MAN  hardly  exists  but  in  the  social  state.  If  separated 
>m  infancy  from  his  fellows,  his  peculiar  faculties  scarcely  at 
all  develop  themselves.  His  mental  and  bodily  capacities  and 
energies  seem,  also,  to  be  moulded  by  the  condition  of  the 
society  of  which  he  is  a  member.  We  may  venture  to  predict, 
that  three  children  born  tomorrow,  one  in  Caffraria,  another 
in  China,  and  a  third  in  London,  and  remaining  in  their 
respective  countries  till  the  age  of  twenty,  will  be  very 
di  fit -rent  beings,  and  that  each  will  possess  the  mental  and 
bodily  peculiarities,  that  characterize  the  particular  community 
to  which  he  belongs.  The  same  things,  though  in  a  lesser 
degree,  hold  true  concerning  the  men  composing  every  nation. 
Whether  these  characteristics  of  different  races,  tribes,  and 
peoples,  proceed  altogether  from  some  peculiar  hereditary  con- 

uition  of  the  bodily  organs,  or  from  the  effects  of  education, 
example,  and  habit,  or  from  the  combination  of  these,  or  frmu 
other  causes,  it  is  very  certain  that  they  exist,  and  that  the 
and  intellectual  condition,  as  well  as  the  bodily  organ i /a - 
of  men,  vary,  as  they  belong  to  this,  or  that  society. 
Besides  this,  institutions,  forms  of  government,  and  laws, 
influence  somewhat  the  genius,  and  considerably  affect  the 

luct,  of  every  people,  and  these  also  are  very  various.  It 
thus  happens  that  every  society  has,  what  may  be  torn  MM!,  a 

tistinctive  character  of  its  own. 
It    is   therefore  assumed,    in   the  succeeding  investigations, 


26  OF   SOCIAL   SOLIDARITY 

that  the  moral  and  intellectual  powers,  the  knowledge,  the 
habits  and  dispositions  of  the  men  composing  every  separate 
community,  society,  nation,  state,  or  people  (terms  which,  as 
t'.u-  as  our  subject  is  concerned,  may  be  considered  synonymous), 
are  such  as  to  give  it  a  peculiar  character  distinguishing  it 
from  other  communities.  It  is  also  assumed,  that  the  average 
character  of  the  members  of  different  portions  of  the  same. 
community  is  similar,  so  that,  were  a  considerable  number  of 
the  inhabitants  of  any  particular  state,  taken  from  one  part  of 
its  territories,  they  would  closely  resemble  an  equal  number, 
taken  from  any  other  part.  This  latter  assumption  is  not 
exactly  accurate.  There  are  great  differences,  especially  in 
extensive  states,  between  the  characters  of  the  inhabitants  of 
different  portions  of  the  same  territory.  These  diversities 
render  it  sometimes  necessary  to  modify  the  conclusions  that 
follow  from  considering  the  average  character  of  the  members 
of  the  same  community  as  perfectly  similar.  Thus,  the 
differerent  characters  of  the  inhabitants  of  England,  Ireland, 
and  Scotland,  affect  somewhat  deductions  in  this  subject, 
drawn  from  treating  the  characters  of  the  population  of 
different  parts  of  Britain  as  uniform.  In  truth,  every  large 
society  might  be  divided  into  several  smaller  societies,  differing 
somewhat  from  each  other.  If  they  differ  in  some  particulars, 
however,  they  agree  in  many  more,  and  certain  results  follow 
from  this  agreement,  which  make  it  convenient  to  treat  of 
them  as  one.  If  necessary  too,  the  amount  of  the  inaccuracy, 
arising  from  the  assumption  of  a  more  perfect  uniformity  than 
exists,  may  be  ascertained. 

2.  Man,  as  an  organic  being,  is  governed  by  laws  similar 
to  those  which  other  organic  beings  obey.  Our  subject 
obliges  us  to  advert  to  a  consequence  arising  from  one  of 
them. 

In  the  midst  of  the  numerous  revolutions  and  accidents 
to  which  the  surface  of  the  globe  is  subject,  it  is  always 
abundantly  replenished  with  animal  and  vegetable  life,  and 
the  numbers  of  every  race  upon  it  are  kept  up  to  the  quantity 
of  materials  fit  for  their  subsistence  which  it  affords  them. 
The  increase  and  decrease  of  the  human  species,  follows  the 
general  law.  This  seems  to  be  the  foundation  of  what  has 


OF   SOCIAL   SOLIDARITY  -27 

been  termed  the  doctrine  of  population.  In  the  subsequent 
pages  it  is  received,  simply  as  a  statement  of  the  fact,  that 
the  numbers  of  every  society  increase,  as  what  its  members 
are  inclined  to  esteem  a* sufficient  subsistence,  is  provided  for 
them.1 

The  great  majority  of  the  members  of  every  community, 
procure  their  subsistence  by  labor,  and,  according  to  this 
principle,  the  number  of  laborers  in  every  community  must 
finally  depend  on  the  amount  of  those  things  esteemed  by 
them  sufficient  for  their  subsistence,  which  is  annually  dis- 
tributed among  them.  It  has  been  supposed,  however,  that 
there  is  a  constant  oscillation  above  and  below  this  limit,  and 
that  sometimes  therefore  the  supply  having  to  be  divided 
among  a  greater  number,  the  amount  that  each  receives  is 
less,  sometimes,  having  to  be  divided  among  a  smaller  number, 
is  greater,  and  thus  that  the  wages  of  labor,  though  they 
always  tend  towards  a  fixed  standard,  never  remain  at  it. 
Admitting  that  this  continual  vibration  may  take  place,  I 
conceive  I  may  be  permitted  nevertheless  to  disregard  it, 
and  to  assume  that  the  remuneration  awarded  the  laborer, 
Is,  in  the  same  society,  always  a  fixed  quantity.  As  it  is  not 
intended  to  enter  into  any  investigation  of  the  principles 
determining  the  amount  of  the  wages  of  labor  in  all  societies, 
and  at  all  times,  nor  to  discuss  the  somewhat  contradictory 
doctrines  that  have  been  maintained  on  this  subject,  the  most 
simple  assumption,  and  that,  the  errors  arising  from  which 
may  be  supposed  to  balance  each  other,  seems  the  best. 

Even    considering    the    subject    however    under    the    most 
iple    conditions    possible,   there    are    still   some  difficulties 
ittending  it.     The  articles  which  the  laborer  uses,  for  food, 
lothing,  etc.,  and  which  constitute  his  real  wages,  are  con- 
tinually varying.     Thus,  among  the  working  classes  in  Great 
Britain,   fabrics  of  cotton   have,  in   a  great  measure,   taken 
place  of  those  of  linen,  and  wool  for  clothing ;  as  coal  has 
taken  the  place  of  wood  for  fuel.     Seeing  there  is  this  change 
in   what   constitute   the   wages  of  labor,  how   then,   it   may 

1  [This  is  an  uncritical  following  of  the  teaching  of  Malthas  upon  which  Rae 
made  a  great  advance  in  his  later  years.  (Compare  the  last  part  of  Chapters 
VI  ,-ui.i  XIII.,  and  the  Article  on  Population  in  the  Appendix.)] 


2s  OF  SOCIAL   SOLIDARITY 

be  demanded,  can  wages  at  any  two  times  be  considered 
equal? 

In  answer  to  such  a  question,  it  may  be  observed  in  general, 
that  all  articles  supplying  the  wants  of  the  laborer,  and  form- 
ing his  real  wages,  are  fitted  for  this  purpose  by  some  physical 
qualities  they  possess,  producing  certain  effects  on  his  bodily 
organs,  and  through  them,  occasionally,  on  the  perceptions  and 
thoughts  of  his  mind.  One  article,  therefore,  may  be  esteem  oil 
equal  to  another  and  different  article,  if  the  effects  produced 
by  both  are  equal.  Thus  a  certain  quantity  of  coal,  may  be 
considered  equal  to  another  of  wood,  if  each  gives  out  the  same 
degree  of  heat.  In  many  cases  it  is  indeed  very  difficult 
to  make  this  comparison  with  accuracy.  This  however  is  not 
absolutely  necessary  for  our  purpose,  it  being  sufficient  to  con- 
ceive, that,  what  are  termed  the  wages  of  labor,  in  the  same 
society  at  different  periods,  are  really  equal  quantities, 
whether  we  have,  or  have  not,  the  means  of  measuring 
them,  and  ascertaining  that  they  actually  are  so.  This 
may  evidently  be  assumed,  if  we  suppose  that  the  laborer 
is  equally  well  nourished,  clothed,  lodged,  and  instructed, 
and  has  equal  leisure,  at  the  one  period  and  at  the  other ; 
whether  he  be  fed,  clothed,  and  lodged,  in  the  same  way 
or  not. 

As  the  vigor  of  mind  and  body,  as  well  as  the  skill,  of 
different  individuals  in  the  same  society,  are  unequal,  the  rate 
of  the  wages  of  labor,  even  in  the  same  society,  is  far  from 
uniform.  It  is  however  difficult  and  in  general  reasonings  un- 
necessary, continually  to  refer  to  this  variety ;  and  as  it  has, 
in  consequence,  been  usually  neglected,  we  shall  not  farther 
advert  to  it. 

According  to  the  preceding  assumptions,  labor,  in  the  same 
society,  is  to  be  considered  as  an  invariable  quantity,  and 
a  day's  labor  as  the  unit,  serving  as  the  base  for  calculations, 
concerning  the  formation  and  exhaustion  of  the  capacity  of 
instruments.  It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  when  so 
employed,  it  finally  refers,  not  to  the  mental  and  corporeal 
effort  exerted  throughout  the  day  by  the  laborer,  but  to  the 
wages  received  by  him.  The  laborer  is,  usually,  merely  the 
agent  of  some  other  person,  and  that  other  person  is,  in 


OF   SOCIAL   SOLIDARITY  29 

reality,  the  one  forming  the  instrument  constructed,  as  the 
wa^es  of  the  laborers  employed  by  him  are  the  causes  of 
its  being  constructed.1  In  cases,  too,  where  the  laborer  works 
for  himself,  he  rates  his  daily  labor  equal  to  a  certain  amount 
of  some  of  the  things  he  is  in  the  habit  of  consuming,  and  this 
amount  may  be  considered,  as  what  he  really  gives  to  the 
construction  of  the  instrument,  in  the  formation  of  which  he 
employs  himself. 

The  rates  of  wages  vary,  very  much,  in  different  societies. 
A  (  hinese  laborer,  for  example,  subsists  on  very  much  less 
than  an  English  laborer.  On  the  principles  of  calculation 
which  we  have  adopted,  there  is,  therefore,  a  difference,  in 
tin*  quantity  embraced  by  a  day's  labor  in  one  country  and 
in  another,  and  we  cannot  immediately  compare,  by  this 
means,  instruments  formed  in  one  society,  with  those  formed 
in  another.  Our  system  has,  in  this  respect,  an  analogy 
t<>  the  different  systems  of  numeration,  with  regard  to  weights, 
measures,  and  coins,  adopted  in  different  countries.  It  will,  as 
we  proceed,  appear,  that  this  diversity  in  the  rate  of  wages, 
in  different  communities,  has  also  other  and  more  important 
effects. 

3.  Every  society  possesses  a  certain  amount  of  materials 
capable  of  being  converted  into  instruments.  The  surface 
ot  its  territory,  the  various  minerals  lying  l>elow  the  surface, 
its  natural  forests,  its  waters,  the  command  it  may  have  of 
the  ocean,  and  its  consequent  property  in  the  minerals  ami 
animals  contained  in  it,  the  rain  that  waters  its  soil,  the 
flrmentary  principles  that  may  be  extracted  from  the  atmo- 
sphere, even,  perhaps,  the  light  and  heat  of  the  sun,  are 
all  to  be  regarded  as  materials,  which,  through  the  agency 
he  labor  of  its  members,  may  l>e  converted  into  instru- 
ments. The  extent  of  the  power,  which  the  inhabitants 
any  state  may  possess,  to  convert  into  instruments  the 

iterials    of    which    they    have    the    commaml     is    ho\\v\rr 

1  [This  is  one  of  the  comparatively  few  places  where  Rae  speaks  specifically  of 

"  laborers "   and  touches  upon  the  function  of   the  eiUrepeneur.     It  is  not 

in  general  but  the  entrepeneur,  in  our  state  of  civilization,  who  forms 

•-<  from  materials  with  the  aid  of  hired  "labor,"  which  last  thus 

becomes  economically  an  analogue  of  "  materials."] 


30  OF   SOCIAL   SOLIDARITY 

variable ;  and  increases,  as  we  have  seen,  as  their  knowledge 
of  the  properties  of  these  materials  and  of  the  events,  which 
in  consequence  of  them,  they  are  capable  of  bringing  to  pass, 
increases.  Thus  the  large  extent  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
civilized  man,  compared  with  that  of  the  savage  or  barbarian, 
gives  him  the  power  of  constructing  a  much  greater  number  of 
instruments  out  of  the  same  materials,  and  enables  the  Euro- 
pean emigrant  to  convert  the  soil  and  forests  of  America 
or  New  Holland,  into  means  of  producing  a  great  mass  of 
desirable  events,  which  it  was  beyond  the  technical  capacity 
of  the  ignorant  native  to  effect. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

A    METHOD   FOR  THE  COMPARISON   OF  INSTRUMENTS. 

As  by  the  capacity  of  instruments  is  to  be  understood  their 
power  to  produce,  or  bring  to  an  issue,  events  equivalent  to  a 
certain  amount  of  labor,  and  as  they  are  also  formed  by  labor, 
it  is  evident  that  the  capacity  given  to  any  of  them,  and  the 
labor  expended  in  its  formation,  have  determinable  numerical 
relations  to  each  other.  The  length  of  time  likewise,  elapsing 
between  their  formation  and  exhaustion,  may  be  expressed  in 
numbers.  If  a  series  then  were  devised,  of  such  a  nature,  that 
any  relation  that  can  exist  among  these  three  quantities,  in 
consequence  of  their  varying  proportions  to  each  other,  might 
be  embraced  in  it,  every  possible  instrument  would  find  a  place 
there. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that,  in  consequence  of  a  principle  soon 
to  be  explained,  no  instruments  will  be  designedly  formed,  luit 
such  as  have  a  greater  capacity,  or  issue  in  events  equivalent 
to  more,  than  the  labor  expended  in  their  construction.  This 
circumstance  renders  the  formation  of  such  a  series  more  easy, 
as  it  renders  it  unnecessary  to  take  account  of  any  other  in- 
struments than  such  as  issue  in  events  equivalent  to  more  than 
the  labor  expended  in  their  formation,  or,  what  may  l>e  termed, 
the  cost  of  their  formation.  To  simplify  the  consideration  ••!' 
the  matter,  we  may,  for  a  little,  proceed  on  the  supposition, 
that  every  instrument  is  constructed  at  one  precise  point  of 
time,  and  exhausted  at  another.  In  that  case,  every  instru- 
ment would  find  a  place,  in  some  part  of  a  series,  of  \vhi< -h 
the  orders  were  determined  by  the  period  of  time  at  which 


32          THE   COMPARISON   OF   INSTRUMENTS 

instruments  placed  in  them,  issue,  or  would  issue,  if  not  before 
exhausted,  in  events  equivalent  to  double  the  labor  expended  in 
forming  them.  These  orders  may  be  represented  by  the  letters 
A,  B,  C,  *  *  Z  a,  b,  c,  etc.  The  relation  to  each  other  of  the  cost 
of  formation,  the  capacity,  and  the  time  elapsing  between  the 
period  of  formation  and  that  of  exhaustion,  of  instruments  in 
the  order  A,  is  such  as  may  be  expressed  by  saying,  they  in 
one  year  issue  in  events  equivalent  to  double  the  labor  ex- 
pended on  their  formation,  or  would  so  issue,  if  not  before 
exhausted.  The  relation  between  these,  in  instruments  of  the 
order  B,  is  such,  that  in  two  years  they  issue  in  events  equi- 
valent to  double  the  labor  expended  on  them,  and  are  then 
exhausted.  Instruments  in  the  order  C,  in  three  years  issue 
in  events  equivalent  to  double  the  cost  of  formation ;  of  the 
order  D,  in  four  years ;  of  the  order  Z,  in  twenty-six  years ;  of 
the  order  a,  in  twenty-seven  years,  etc.  For  the  sake  of 
facility  of  expression,  instruments  in  the  order  A,  or  in  the 
orders  near  it,  will  be  said  to  belong  to  the  more  quickly 
returning  orders ;  instruments  in  the  order  Z,  or  in  the  orders 
near  it,  or  beyond  it,  will  be  said  to  belong  to  the  more  slowly 
returning  orders.1 

To  imagine,  in  the  first  place,  as  simple  a  case  as  possible. 
An  individual,  say  an  Indian  trader,  is  obliged  to  reside  on  a 
particular  spot  in  the  interior  of  North  America,  for  somewhat 
more  than  a  year.  He  arrives  in  autumn,  and  immediately 
sets  about  enclosing  and  digging  up  a  piece  of  ground,  for  the 
purpose  of  having  it  planted  with  maize.  He  expends  on  this 
twenty  days'  labor.  That  labor  he  reckons  equivalent  to  ten 
bushels  of  maize.  He  gets  the  maize  planted,  hoed  and 
harvested  next  season,  by  Indian  women,  agreeing  to  give 
them  part  of  the  crop.  After  deducting  their  portion  he  has 
twenty  bushels  for  himself,  with  which  he  leaves  the  place. 
The  field  he  formed  was  then  an  instrument  of  the  order  A. 
The  same  individual  has  to  reside  a  little  more  than  two  years 

1  [A  more  correct  expression  would  be  the  "more  quickly"  or  "more 
slowly  "  doubling  "  orders."  The  degree  of  speed  with  which  an  instrument 
yields  returns,  or  the  physical  results  of  its  functioning,  is  only  one  of  the  factors 
which  determines  the  time  in  which  it  affords  double  the  outlay  on  its  forma- 
tion, and  which  places  it  in  a  certain  order.] 


THE   COMPARISON   OF   INSTRUMENTS          33 

in  another  quarter  of  the  interior.  He  clears,  or  has  cleared 
on  his  arrival,  another  piece  of  ground,  and  also  expends  on 
this  operation  twenty  days'  labour.  Owing  however  to  the 
soil  being  overrun  with  small  roots,  and  it  being  necessary  to 
wait  till  they  partially  rot  before  a  crop  can  be  put  on  it,  he 
is  aware  that  it  cannot  be  planted  until  the  second  year.  It  is 
then  planted  as  before,  and,  as  it  happens,  with  the  same  event 
as  in  the  former  field,  yielding  him  net  twenty  bushels  of  maize. 
This  field  then  was  an  instrument  of  the  order  B.  In  the  same 
way  it  is  possible  to  conceive  the  formation  and  exhaustion  of 
other  instruments  of  this  sort,  answering  to  the  orders  C,  D,  E, 
etc.,  the  capacity  of  them  all  being  double  the  cost  of  formation, 
and  the  times  intervening  between  the  periods  of  formation  and 
•  'xhuustion,  being  respectively  three,  four,  five,  etc.  years.  Al- 
though, however,  instruments  exactly  corresponding  to  the 
conditions  assumed,  may  occasionally  exist,  and  although  it  is 
possible  at  least  to  conceive  their  existence  throughout  a 
lengthened  series,  yet,  in  fact,  they  seldom  do  exist  so  as 
exactly  to  answer  the  suppositions.  In  by  far  the  greater 
nuiiiter  of  instances,  neither  are  the  times  elapsing  between 
the  periods  of  formation  and  exhaustion,  any  exact  number 
of  years,  nor  are  the  capacities  exactly  double  the  cost  of 
formation.  But,  in  all  variations  of  these  three  quantities 
iVnin  an  exact  correspondence  with  any  of  the  orders,  the 
proportions  existing  between  them,  will,  nevertheless,  always 
be  such,  as  to  make  it  possible  to  reduce  the  instruments 
in  \vhi(;h  they  occur,  to  some  order  or  another  in  our  series, 
or  to  an  order  that  may  be  interposed  between  two  proxi- 
mate orders. 

Such  variations  may  be  reduced  to  three  sorts.     The  first 
ists  of  instances   where  the  capacity  is  double  the  cost  of 
•K -t inn,  but  the  time,  no  exact  number  of  years.      In  this 
case,  the  instrument  does  not  exactly   belong  to   any  of  the 
t 'numerated  orders,  but  falls  between  two  proximate  orders:  it 
therefore  be  said  to  belong  to  an  order,  that  may  be  sup- 
posed to  be  interposed  between  these  two.     Thus,  an  instru- 
ment 1><- ing  exhausted  in  between   seven  and  eight  years,  and 
having  a  capacity   equal   to  double   the  cost   of    production, 
lit  be  said  to  belong  to  an  order  lying  between  G  and  H. 

c 


34          THE   COMPARISON   OF   INSTRUMENTS 

This  designation  would  mark  its  character  with  sufficient 
accuracy  for  our  purpose. 

There  are  only  two  other  cases.  The  capacity  of  the  instru- 
ment may  be  exhausted  before  it  arrive  at  an  amount  equal 
to  double  the  cost  of  formation,  or,  it  may  not  be  exhausted 
until  it  has  come  to  an  amount  greater  than  double  the  cost  of 
formation.  In  the  former  case  it  is  necessary  to  suppose  the 
period  of  exhaustion  prolonged,  the  excess  of  the  capacity  of 
the  instrument  over  the  cost  of  formation  increasing  at  the 
same  ratio,  until  the  capacity  double  the  cost.  It  will  then  be 
shown  to  belong  to  some  particular  order,  or  to  lie  between 
two  proximate  orders.  Thus,  let  an  individual  have  it  in  his 
power  to  make  use  of  a  small  plot  of  ground  for  six  months, 
and  let  him  expend  an  equivalent  to  two  days'  labor  in  prepar- 
ing it  for  receiving  the  seeds  of  some  plant,  sowing  them,  and 
cultivating  the  crop,  and  let  it  return  him,  at  the  end  of  six 
months,  an  amount,  which,  reduced  to  the  value  of  days  labor, 
would  be  2 '8 2  8.  If  then  we  suppose  the  period  of  exhaustion 
prolonged,  the  excess  of  the  capacity  over  the  cost  increasing 
at  the  same  ratio,  in  twelve  months  time  the  capacity  will 
be  4  ;  for,  2'828  is  a  mean  proportional  between  2  and  4. 
The  instrument  formed  by  the  plants  so  cultivated,  would 
therefore  belong  to  the  order  A,  that  order  doubling  in  one 
year. 

In  the  case  where  the  capacity  comes  to  more  than  double 
the  cost  of  formation,  the  order  in  which  the  instrument  should 
be  placed,  is  to  be  found,  by  retracing  the  progress  of  its 
capacity,  under  the  supposition  that  it  advanced  at  the  same 
rate,  until  we  arrive  at  a  period  when  it  was  only  double  the 
cost.  The  interval  between  that  and  the  period  of  formation, 
will  then  indicate  the  order  to  which  it  really  belongs. 

The  bread  fruit  tree  is  perhaps  twenty  years  old  before  it 
will  bear ;  but  ten  of  these  trees,  when  in  bearing,  will,  it  is 
said,  nearly  supply  a  family  of  South  Sea  islanders  with  a 
sufficiency  of  this  sort  of  food  for  eight  months  in  the  year. 
This  sort  of  fruit  tree  requires,  too,  no  other  labor  or 
attention  than  that  bestowed  in  planting  it.  Suppose,  then, 
that  an  inhabitant  of  one  of  those  islands  were  to  spend  an 
hour  in  planting  a  few  of  these  trees,  and  that,  according  to 


THE   COMPARISON   OF   INSTRUMENTS          35 

the  hypothesis  of  sudden  exhaustion,  on  which  we  are  proceed- 
ing, at  the  termination  of  the  twenty-two  years  they  are 
exhausted,  yielding  at  that  period  an  equivalent  to  two 
thousand  and  forty-eight  hours'  labor.  If  then  we  retrace 
the  progress,  at  which  the  capacity  of  this  instrument  has  ad- 
vanced, we  will  find  that  it  belongs  to  the  order  B.  For 
instruments  in  that  order  doubling  in  two  years,  one  hour's 
labor,  if  employed  in  forming  an  instrument  of  that  order, 
ought  to  yield  an  equivalent  to  two  hours,  at  the  end  of  the 
second  year ;  and  being  then  employed  in  constructing  other 
like  instruments,  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  year  should  yield  an 
equivalent  to  four  hours,  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  to  eight,  and 
so  the  geometrical  series,  2,  4,  8,  16,  etc.  would  arise,  which, 
carried  out  to  the  eleventh  term,  at  the  end  of  the  twenty- 
second  year,  is  2048.  It  may  perhaps  serve  somewhat  to 
illustrate  the  matter,  to  suppose,  that  the  individual  who 
applied  an  hour's  labor  to  planting  the  bread  fruit  tree,  gave  the 
same  portion  of  time  to  the  cultivation  of  another  sort  of 
plant,  yielding  its  produce  and  perishing,  at  the  termination  of 
the  second  year  from  the  time  of  its  being  placed  in  the  soil, 
and  the  returns  made  from  which  are  equal  to  double  the 
labor  expended  on  its  culture.  Instead  of  consuming  the  crop 
at  the  termination  of  the  second  year,  he  gives  it  to  some 
other  person  or  persons,  on  condition  of  their  applying  for  his 
benefit  two  hours'  labor,  its  equivalent,  to  the  culture  of  a 
second  crop ;  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  year,  he  proceeds  in  the 
same  manner,  and,  continuing  the  process,  at  the  termination 
of  the  twenty -second  year,  the  produce  of  the  labor  of  both 
s,  the  one  applied  to  the  cultivation  of  the  former  plant, 
and  the  other  to  that  of  the  latter,  would  be  equal.  The  only 
diflerence  in  the  cases  would  be,  that  the  person  in  question 
would,  in  the  latter  case,  have  the  trouble  of  making  a 
bargain  with  one  or  more  individuals  every  second  year,  and 
would  then  also  have  the  power  to  apply,  if  he  so  chose,  to  the 
supply  <>f  his  wants,  the  events,  in  this  instance  brought  about 
.is  previous  expenditure;  and  that,  in  the  latter  case,  he 
would  have  neither  the  power  nor  the  trouble. 

\Vc  have  assumed,  that  all  instruments  are  formed  at  one 
point  of  time,  and  exhausted  at  another.     This  is  the  case  with 


36          THE   COMPARISON   OF   INSTRUMENTS 

but  very  few.  The  period  of  formation  almost  always  spreads 
over  a  large  space  of  time,  and  that  of  exhaustion,  over 
another.  It  is  evidently,  however,  possible  to  fix  on  a  point, 
to  be  determined  by  a  consideration  of  all  the  periods  at  which 
the  labor  going  to  the  formation  was  expended,  which  shall 
represent  the  true  period  of  formation ;  and  on  another  point, 
determined  from  a  consideration  of  similar  circumstances 
regarding  the  times  when  the  capacity  was  exhausted,  which 
shall  represent  the  true  period  of  exhaustion. 

Thus,  suppose  a  small  field  in  some  new  settlement  in  North 
America  were  formed  by  twelve  days'  labor,  it  would,  were  it 
of  the  order  A,  return  in  one  year  an  equivalent  to  twenty-four 
days'  labor,  and  then  be  completely  exhausted  and  worthless. 
It  might  be,  however,  that  it  belonged  to  this  order,  although 
it  neither  yielded  so  much  as  twenty-four  days'  labor,  nor  was 
exhausted  at  the  end  of  the  year.  Say,  that  the  crop  sown  is 
wheat,  and,  that  one  bushel  of  wheat  is  equivalent  to  one  day's 
labor.  Were  it  at  once  exhausted,  it  ought  to  yield  twenty- 
four  bushels  of  wheat ;  it  however  only  yields  eighteen,  and  is 
not  then  exhausted.  There  is  consequently  a  deficiency  of  six 
bushels.  Now,  six  bushels  at  the  end  of  the  second  year,  at 
the  same  rate  of  doubling  in  a  year,  ought  to  produce  twelve. 
Let  us  suppose  that  the  next  crop  is  hay,  and  that  the  net  hay 
yielded  the  second  year  is  one  ton,  equal  to  eight  bushels 
wheat,  then  (12  —  8=4),  there  is  still  a  deficiency  of  four 
bushels,  equivalent,  at  the  end  of  the  third  year,  to  eight.  If, 
therefore,  the  next  crop  of  hay  the  third  year,  be  equal  to  what 
it  was  the  second,  that  is  to  eight  bushels  wheat,  the  deficiency 
will  then  be  made  up.  Let  us  suppose  that  it  is  so,  and  that 
the  field  is  at  that  time  totally  exhausted  and  useless.  It  is 
evident,  that  such  a  field,  though  not  producing  or  being 
exhausted  as  by  the  supposition,  yet  producing  and  being 
exhausted,  in  a  manner  equivalent  to  the  supposition,  might, 
with  propriety,  be  said  to  belong  to  the  order  A. 

But,  it  is  farther  probable,  that  such  a  field  might  not  pro- 
duce quite  so  much  grain,  or  hay,  as  we  have  even  by  the  last 
hypothesis  supposed,  and  would  not  even  at  the  end  of  the 
third  year,  or  for  a  much  longer  period,  be  exhausted ;  still,  if 
the  deficiency  in  the  one  were  equivalent  to  the  farther  supply 


THE   COMPARISON   OF   INSTRUMENTS          37 

in  the  other,  it  would  evidently  properly  belong  also  to  the 
same  order. 

Again,  by  the  suppositions  we  have  made,  the  labor,  or  its 
equivalent,  was  expended  exactly  at  the  commencement  of  the 
period  of  one  year.  It  might  however  have  been,  that  some 
part  of  the  expenditure,  going  to  the  formation  of  this  instru- 
ment, was  made  several  months  before  the  commencement  of 
the  year,  and  some  several  months  after.  But,  had  what  was 
expended  before,  been  proportionably  less,  and  what  was 
expended  after,  proportionably  greater,  the  change  would  not 
make  any  alteration  to  the  relation  existing  between  the  time 
inn!  the  expenditure,  or,  consequently,  to  the  place  of  the 
instrument. 

The  spaces  over  which  the  several  points  of  time,  at  which 
the  formation  of  any  instrument  is  effected,  extend,  and  those 
over  which  the  several  points  of  time  at  which  its  capacity  is 
exhausted  also  extend,  frequently  run  into  each  other.  Thus 
according  to  our  system  a  riding-horse  is  an  instrument.  The 
space  of  time  over  which  the  whole  period  of  his  formation 
nds,  commences  when  his  dam  is  put  apart  for  breeding, 
continues  as  long  as  any  thing  is  laid  out  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  efficiency  and  durability  to  him  as  an  instrument, 
and  probably  therefore  only  terminates  a  few  days  before  the 
ill -nth  of  the  animal.  ,  There  would  be  a  number  of  points  all 
along  that  space,  at  each  of  which  something  had  been  ex- 
pended on  his  account,  and  from  the  date  of  which,  and  the 
amount  expended  at  each,  data  would  be  furnished,  to  ascertain 
the  whole  expense  of  his  formation,  and  the  precise  point  from 
whence  it  might  be  dated.  The  whole  period  of  his  exhaustion 
would  also  extend  over  a  large  space.  It  would  commence 
wh» -a  he  was  first  ridden  for  pleasure,  or  business,  and  would 
terminate  shortly  after  his  death,  when  his  hide  went  to  the 
tanner,  and  his  flesh  to  the  dogs.  An  account  of  the  several 
pended,  and  the  times  when  they  were  expended,  and 
ot  the  several  items  yielded,  and  the  times  at  which  they  were 
yirMi'd,  would  furnish  data  for  determining  the  total  cost  of 
ition  and  capacity  and  the  points  to  be  fixed  on  as  tin 
periods  of  formation  and  exhaustion,  and  thus  the  place  of  the 
u  merit  could  be  determined. 


38          THE   COMPARISON   OF  INSTRUMENTS 

Calculations  of  this  sort  would  be  intricate,  and  could  not  be 
well  effected  without  having  recourse  to  methods,  not  usually 
employed  in  investigations  like  the  present.  In  point  of  fact, 
there  is  in  practice,  as  we  will  afterwards  see,  a  system  of 
notation  of  instruments,  which  enables  us  pretty  accurately, 
and  very  easily,  to  determine  their  place  in  such  a  series  as  we 
have  supposed.  It  is  sufficient  for  the  end  here  aimed  at,  to 
perceive  that  when  all  particulars  are  known,  concerning  the 
formation  and  exhaustion  of  any  instrument,  and  the  periods 
intervening  between  these,  data  are  then  furnished  for  placing 
it  in  some  part  of  such  a  series  as  we  have  described ;  and  that 
it  may  consequently  be  assumed  that  every  instrument  does,  in 
reality,  belong  to  some  one  order  in  the  series  A,  B,  C,  D,  etc., 
or  to  an  order  that  may  be  interposed  between  some  two 
proximate  orders  of  that  series. 

It  may  perhaps  appear,  that  though,  could  instruments  be 
considered  apart,  the  foregoing  explications  might  serve  to 
show,  that  they  might  all  be  reduced  to  a  place  in  our  series, 
yet,  as  they  very  commonly  act  in  combination,  and  as,  in  such 
instances,  the  events  in  which  two  or  more  of  them  issue  are 
the  same,  it  must  be  impossible  to  fix  with  accuracy  the  order 
to  which  each  belongs.  Thus,  a  horse  and  a  cart  form  together 
an  instrument  for  the  transport  of  goods.  The  events,  there- 
fore, in  which  both  issue,  being  the  same,  we  cannot  measure 
the  part  that  may  belong  to  each,  in  any  other  manner,  than 
by  appropriating  to  each  the  proportion  indicated  by  their 
respective  costs  of  formation,  and  hence  they  will  both  appear 
to  belong  to  the  same  order,  though  perhaps  they  do  in  fact 
belong  to  different  orders.  But  our  subsequent  inquiries  will 
show,  that  the  great  mass  of  the  instruments  existing  in  the 
same  society  are,  in  reality,  at  about  the  same  orders ;  and, 
that  instruments  acting  in  combination  with  other  instruments, 
are  almost  always  at  the  same  orders.  This  objection  is  there- 
fore removed,  as  all  instruments  acting  in  combination  may 
thus  be  considered  as  one. 

Instruments  are  frequently  repaired.  The  labor  or  its 
equivalent,  so  expended,  may  be  considered,  either  as  a  partial 
reformation  of  the  old  instrument,  or  as  the  addition  of  a  new 
instrument  to  be  combined  in  action  with  the  old  one.  The 


THE   COMPARISON   OF   INSTRUMENTS          39 

same  rules  therefore,  apply  to  repairs  effected  on  instruments, 
as  to  their  original  formation. 

We  have  assumed,  hitherto,  that  both  formation  and  ex- 
haustion are  properties  common  to  all  instruments.  There  is 
however  a  class  of  instruments,  that  forms  an  exception  to  this 
general  rule.  An  extensive  and  important  class  exists,  of  a 
nature  so  peculiar,  that  the  instruments  belonging  to  it  are 

•r  exhausted,  unless  in  consequence  of  some  revolution  in 
the  circumstances  of  the  society.  That  part  of  the  surface  of 
the  earth  devoted  to  agricultural  purposes  composes  this  class. 
The  peculiarity  arises  from  every  portion  of  land  so  employed, 
forming  two  distinct  instruments.  A  piece  of  land,  that  it 
may  do  its  part  in  providing  a  supply  for  future  wants,  must 
first  be  rendered  capable  of  culture,  and  then  be  cultivated. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  he  who  renders  it  fit  for  culture, 
should  also  cultivate  it,  though  it  commonly  happens  that  both 
operations  are  performed  by  the  same  individual.  But  by 
whomsoever  the  operation  of  converting  waste  land,  into  land 
bearing  crops,  be  performed,  two  ends  are  always  gained  by  it, 
the  power  of  cultivation,  and  the  actual  culture.  There  is  this 
great  difference  between  them,  that  while  the  changes  pro- 
duced in  a  piece  of  land  to  fit  it  for  cultivation  are  lasting 
(remaining  unless  some  means  be  taken  to  do  away  with 
them),  those  that  are  effected  on  it  by  the  actual  process  of 
(  ultivation  are  of  short,  or  at  all  events,  of  limited  duration. 
When  an  individual  has  converted  a  portion  of  morass  or 
forest,  into  a  field  fit  for  the  operations  of  tillage,  it  does 
not  return  again  to  the  state  of  morass  or  forest.  He  has 
fitted  it  for  being  made  an  instrument  of  agriculture,  or 
rather  a  succession  of  instruments  of  agriculture.  The 
fanner,  by  manuring  it,  sowing  certain  seeds  in  it,  and 
tilling  it,  forms  it  into  such  an  instrument.  The  changes 
}i<i  thus  effects,  however,  pass  away.  The  seeds  he  sows, 
growing  into  plants  of  different  kinds,  are  carried  off;  the 
manure  yields  part  of  its  substance  to  them,  and  is  in  part 

ipated;  the  soil  that  had  been  loosened  and  pulverized 
by  the  plough  and  harrow,  is  gradually  again  compacted 
and  hardened,  by  the  effects  of  the  action  of  the  sun 
and  rain.  As  far,  then,  as  it  was  actually  an  instrument  of 


40          THE   COMPARISON   OF   INSTRUMENTS 

agriculture  it  is  exhausted.  But  its  power  of  being  again 
formed  into  such  an  instrument  remains,  and  the  same  opera- 
tions, the  same  rotation  of  crops,  may  indefinitely  succeed  one 
another. 

The  individual  who  first  forms  a  portion  of  land  into  these 
combined  instruments,  has  probably  in  view,  only  the  ends  to 
be  gained  by  one  of  them.  His  motive  to  expend  labor  on  the 
formation  of  the  field,  is  to  fit  it  for  immediate  culture.  But, 
he  cannot  effect  this,  without  also  rendering  it  capable  of  being 
cultivated  to  all  succeeding  times.  The  returns,  which  for 
this  reason  it  makes  in  those  succeeding  times,  form  what  is 
called  rent;  and  this  peculiarity  in  the  nature  of  this  sort  of 
double  instrument,  is  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  existence 
of  that  particular  species  of  revenue.  Any  portion  of  land, 
therefore,  which  bears  a  crop,  considered  as  regards  its  fitness 
for  being  cultivated,  is  an  instrument  of  indefinite  exhaustion, 
and  will  not  consequently  coincide  with  the  conditions  by 
which  the  orders  in  our  series  are  determined.  We  shall 
afterwards  see,  that  in  every  instance  it  may,  notwithstanding, 
be  reduced  to  a  determined  place  in  that  series.  A  portion  of 
cultivated  land,  considered  as  an  instrument  actually  subject 
to  the  operations  of  the  husbandman,  does  not  differ  from  any 
other  instrument.1 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  observed  that  the  position  in  our 
series  which  any  instrument  will  occupy,  is  determined  by  the 
following  circumstances. 

1.  The  shorter  the  space  of  time  between  the  period  of  its 
formation,  and  that  of  its  exhaustion,  the  nearer  will  any 
instrument  be  placed  to  the  order  A,  that  is,  towards  the  more 
quickly  returning  orders. 


1  [Possibly  the  novel  ideas  set  forth  above  will  advantageously  bear  restate- 
ment. 

Land  made  fit  for  cultivation,  but  not  in  process  of  cultivation,  is  an  instru- 
ment toward  the  attainment  of  crops.  It  is  formed  from  materials,  that  is, 
from  mere  land  surface.  The  farmer,  when  he  manures,  plants  and  tills,  makes 
an  ephemeral  superimposed  instrument.  Rent  is  paid,  in  Ricardian  phrase, 
for  the  "indestructible  powers  of  the  soil";  but  these  powers  are  not 
"  original,"  but  were  produced  or  rendered  available  by  him  who  first  brought 
a  certain  area  of  land  surface  into  a  state  fit  for  cultivation.] 


THE   COMPARISON   OF   INSTRUMENTS          41 

2.  The  greater  the  capacity,  and  the  less  the  cost  of  its 
formation,  the  nearer  will  any  instrument  be  to  the  order  A ; 
the  less  the  capacity,  and  the  greater  the  cost  of  formation, 
the  farther  will  it  be  from  A. 

Generally,  the  proximity  of  instruments  to  A  is  inversely  as 
the  cost  and  the  time,  and  directly  as  the  capacity. 


CHAPTER  V. 

OF    CERTAIN    TECHNICAL    CIRCUMSTANCES    GOVERNING 
THE  AMOUNT  OF  INSTRUMENTS  FORMED. 

HAVING  traced  the  general  nature  of  instruments,  and  shown, 
that  the  relations  existing  among  the  circumstances  by  which 
they  are  affected,  make  it  practicable  to  arrange  them  in  a 
regular  series,  the  object  next  claiming  our  attention,  is,  to 
ascertain  the  causes  determining  the  amount  of  them  which 
each  society  possesses,  and  to  note  the  more  remarkable 
phenomena  which  the  operation  of  those  causes  produces. 

The  causes  determining  the  amount  of  instruments  formed 
by  any  society,  will,  I  believe,  be  found  to  be  four. 

1.  The  quantity  and  quality  of  the  materials  owned  by  it. 

2.  The  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation. 

3.  The  rate  of  wages. 

4.  The  progress  of  the  inventive  faculty. 

The  nature  of  the  second  of  these,  and  the  circumstances  on 
which  its  strength  depends,  will  form  the  subject  of  the  next 
chapter,  but  previously  to  entering  on  it,  it  is  necessary  to 
establish  the  following  proposition. 

The  capacity  which  any  people  can  communicate  to  the  mate- 
rials they  possess,  by  forming  them  into  instruments,  cannot  be 
indefinitely  increased,  while  their  knowledge  of  their  powers  and 
qualities  remain  stationary,  without  moving  the  instruments 
formed  continually  onward  in  the  series  A^  B,  C,  etc.:  but,  there 
is  no  assignable  limit  to  the  extent  of  the  capacity,  which  a  people 
having  attained  considerable  knowledge  of  the  qualities  and  powers 
of  the  materials  they  possess,  can  communicate  to  them,  without 


OF   TECHNICAL  LIMITATIONS  43 

carrying  them  [wholly]  out  of  the  series  A,  By  C,  etc.,  even  if  that 
knowledge  remain  stationary.1 

The  capacity  of  instruments  may  be  increased,  by  adding  to 
their  durability,  or  to  their  efficiency;  that  is,  by  prolonging 
the  time  during  which  they  bring  to  pass  the  events,  for  the 
purpose  of  effecting  which  they  are  formed,  or,  by  increasing 
the  amount  of  them  which  they  bring  to  pass  within  the  same 
time. 

A  dwelling-house  is  an  instrument,  aiding  to  bring  to  an 
issue  events  of  various  classes.  It  more  or  less  completely 
prevents  rain,  damp,  and  the  extremes  of  cold  and  heat,  from 
penetrating  to  the  space  included  within  its  area.  It  preserves 
all  other  instruments  contained  within  it,  in  comparative 
safety.  It  gives  those  who  inhabit  it  the  power  of  carrying 
<ni  unmolested,  various  domestic  occupations,  and  of  enjoying, 
undisturbed  by  the  gaze  of  strangers,  any  of  the  gratifications 
or  amusements  of  life,  of  which  they  may  be  able  and  desirous 
to  partake.  Events  of  these  sorts,  it  may  bring  to  pass,  for  a 
longer  or  shorter  time,  or  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  within 
-ame  time.  In  the  former  case,  the  durability  is  increased, 
in  the  latter,  the  efficiency  ;  in  both,  the  capacity  is  augmented. 
Dwelling-houses  are  built  of  different  materials,  and  those 
materials  are  wrought  up  with  more  or  less  care.  A  dwelling 
nii.L'ht  be  slightly  run  up  of  wood,  lath,  mud,  plaster,  and  paper, 
which  would  be  habitable  only  for  a  few  months  or  years,  like 
the  unsubstantial  villages  that  Catherine  of  Russia  saw  in  her 
progress  through  some  parts  of  her  dominions.  Another  of 
the  same  size,  accommodation,  and  appearance,  that  might  last 
for  two  or  three  centuries,  might  be  constructed,  by  employing 
stone,  iron,  and  the  most  durable  woods,  and  joining  and 
compacting  them  together,  with  great  nicety  and  accuracy. 
Between  these  two  extremes  there  are  all  imaginable  varieties. 
According  to  that  adopted,  both  the  durability  and  the  effi- 
ciency will  be  greater  or  less.  These  two  may  be  separated 
from  each  other,  at  least  in  imagination,  and  therefore  we  may 
Mei  them  apart. 

'[In  other  words,  in  the  absence  of  the  advance  of  the  arts,  extension  of 
industrial  operations  meets  with  a  resistance,  but  that  resistance  is  never 
absolute.] 


44  OF  TECHNICAL   LIMITATIONS 

If  the  increased  durability  that  may  be  given  an  instrument 
be  considered  apart  from  the  increased  efficiency  that  will  also 
probably  be  communicated  to  it,  it  must  be  regarded  simply  as 
an  extension  of  its  existence,  and  consequently  as  a  like  exten- 
sion of  its  capacity.  A  dwelling-house  lasts,  we  shall  say, 
sixty  years,  but  in  other  respects  is  perfectly  similar  to  one 
lasting  only  thirty  years.  Considered  as  an  instrument,  the 
former  is,  therefore,  exactly  equal  to  two  of  the  latter,  the  one 
formed  thirty  years  after  the  other.  A  house  lasting  one 
hundred  and  twenty  years  would  in  like  manner  have  the 
capacity  of  four  houses,  one  formed  now,  a  second  thirty,  a 
third  sixty,  and  a  fourth  ninety  years  hence.  The  capacity 
thus  increasing  at  the  same  rate  as  the  duration,  if  the  limits 
to  the  power  of  giving  durability  be  indefinite,  the  limits  to 
the  power  of  communicating  capacity  are  also  indefinite. 

But  to  give  additional  durability  to  the  instrument  there 
must  be  additional  labor  bestowed  on  its  formation.  An 
increase  of  the  durability  of  an  instrument  may  therefore  be 
considered  as  a  power  communicated  to  it  of  giving  existence 
to  a  new  instrument  at  the  end  of  a  certain  period,  and  pur- 
chased by  a  present  expenditure.  The  effects  [that  is,  the  net 
economic  result]  produced  by  the  change  will  be  determined  by 
the  relations  subsisting  between  the  returns  made  by  the 
addition,  its  cost,  and  the  time  elapsing  between  the  expendi- 
ture and  return.  If  we  suppose  the  present  expenditure 
necessary  to  produce  the  durability,  to  be  always  equal  to  the 
durability  produced,  then  the  compound  instrument  will  be 
moved  towards  the  more  slowly  returning  orders,  because  the 
new  instrument  is  in  that  case  one  of  slower  return.  One 
dwelling-house  lasts  thirty  years ;  another,  the  same  as  it  in 
other  respects,  but  costing  double  the  expense  of  formation, 
lasts  sixty  years ;  the  former  house  is  an  instrument  of  the 
order  0,  doubling  in  fifteen  years.  The  part  of  the  duration 
of  the  latter  extending  from  the  thirtieth  to  the  sixtieth  year, 
is  to  be  considered,  by  our  hypothesis,  as  a  separate  instrument. 
If  we  suppose,  that  during  the  time  it  is  in  use  it  returns  as 
the  other,  at  the  end  of  the  sixtieth  year  it  will  have  returned 
only  four,  and,  therefore,  is  an  instrument  of  the  order  c 
doubling  only  in  thirty  years.  The  compound  instrument  will, 


OF  TECHNICAL   LIMITATIONS  45 

in  consequence,  be  of  an  order  between  X  and  Y,  doubling  in 
between  twenty-four  and  twenty-five  years.  The  procedure  of 
jtil<ling  to  the  durability,  by  adding  equally  to  the  expense  of 
formation,  will  have  greater  effect  in  placing  an  instrument 
further  from  A,  the  more  it  is  subjected  to  its  operation.  Thus, 
were  an  instrument  of  this  sort  to  have  its  duration  prolonged 
to  one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  and  at  the  same  expense,  the 
last  thirty  would  return  only  four  in  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years,  whereas,  had  it  formed  an  instrument  of  the  order  0,  it 
ought  to  have  yielded  two  hundred  and  fifty-six.  Were  the 
durability  increased  still  farther,  at  the  same  cost,  the  diver- 
gence would  be  much  greater,  going  on  in  a  geometrical  ratio. 
If,  therefore,  continual  additions  be  made  to  the  durability  of 
an  instrument,  it  cannot  be  preserved  at  an  order  of  equally 
quick  return,  unless  the  several  augmentations  be  communi- 
cated to  it,  by  an  expenditure  diminishing  in  a  geometrical 
ratio ;  that  is,  in  a  ratio  becoming  indefinitely  less,  as  it  is 
continued.  This,  however,  cannot  happen,  for  it  would  imply 
an  absurdity.  While  instruments  are  in  existence,  they  are 
either  producing  events,  or  giving  a  new  direction  to  their 
course.  But  mere  matter,  unless  in  some  very  rare  instances, 
is  never  acting,  or  acted  upon,  without  undergoing  a  change. 
This  we  term  wear,  and  the  effects  it  indicates  form  conse- 
quently a  definite  power,  to  counteract  which,  a  definite  force 
must  be  found.  It  cannot  then,  be  counteracted,  by  a  force 
nitely  small. 

The  same  thing  may  be  illustrated  in  another  manner. 
When  events  are  produced  and  governed  by  design,  they  in 
tui- 1 1  generate  other  events  of  greater  powers  than  themselves, 
an«l  these  others,  in  a  series  rapidly  increasing.  Mere  dura- 
bility in  instruments,  may  be  considered  as  a  capacity  to 
generate  future  events,  lying  dormant  in  them,  till  the  lapse  of 
years  exposes  its  existence,  and  gives  it  opportunity  to  act. 
'greater  the  time  therefore,  for  the  expiration  of  which  it 
waii.  the  less  the  chance  of  its  being  on  an  equality  with 
is,  whose  powers  are  continually  and  rapidly  multiplying 
r  events,  or  enjoyments,  whenever  they  have  a  field  on 
which  to  exert  their  energies. 

While  the  knowledge  of  the  course  of  events  which   the 


46  OF   TECHNICAL   LIMITATIONS 

members  of  any  society  possess  remaius  unaltered,  and  the 
materials  they  own  are  the  same,  the  duration  of  the  instru- 
ments they  form  cannot,  consequently,  be  indefinitely  increased, 
without  their  being  moved,  farther  and  farther,  from  the  more 
quickly  returning  orders. 

The  durability  of  instruments  refers  only  to  those  of  gradual 
exhaustion ;  their  efficiency,  or  the  extent  of  their  power  to 
bring  about  events  within  a  certain  time,  refers  both  to  those 
of  gradual,  and  of  sudden  exhaustion.  If  the  knowledge  of 
the  course  of  events,  and  the  amount  of  the  materials  remain 
the  same,  the  efficiency  of  these  materials  when  formed  into 
instruments  cannot  be  indefinitely  increased,  without  that 
increase  being  at  length  made  with  additional  difficulty,  and 
through  means  of  an  amount  of  labor  greater  than  was  re- 
quired in  the  earlier  stages.  The  action  of  matter  upon 
matter  always  depends  on  some  cause.  Those  causes, — the 
inherent  qualities  and  powers  of  the  different  matters  around 
him, — are  the  means  man  employs  to  make  one  material  to  act 
so  on  another  as  to  produce  the  events  he  desires,  and  he  does 
so  by  applying  his  labor  to  give  them  such  a  form  and  posi- 
tion as  may  bring  their  powers  into  play.  If  we  suppose  any 
number  of  men  to  be  fixed  to  one  situation,  and  their  know- 
ledge of  the  qualities  of  the  materials  around  them  to  remain 
stationary,  they  will  naturally  first  make  choice  of  those 
materials,  whose  powers  are  most  easily  brought  into  action, 
and  which  produce  the  desired  events  most  abundantly  and 
speedily.  But  as  the  stock  of  materials  which  any  society 
possesses,  is  limited,  its  members,  if  we  suppose  them  to 
acquire  no  additional  knowledge  of  the  powers  of  those 
materials,  and  yet  to  add  continually  to  the  amount  of  instru- 
ments they  form  out  of  them,  must  at  length  have  recourse  to 
such  as  are  either  operated  on  with  greater  difficulty,  or  bring 
about  desired  events  more  sparingly  or  tardily.  The  efficiency 
of  the  instruments  produced  must  therefore  be  generated  by 
greater  cost ;  that  is,  they  must  pass  to  orders  of  slower 
return.1 


1  [There  is,  in  our  present-day  phraseology,  a  descent  of  industry  in  the 
society  to  a  lower  margin  of  productivity.] 


OF  TECHNICAL   LIMITATIONS  47 

This  passage  will  be  rapid,  or  slow,  as  the  amount  of  know- 
ledge possessed  is  small,  or  great.  When  art  is  in  its  infancy, 
and  men  know  but  a  few  of  the  properties  fitting  them  for 
becoming  instruments  that  are  inherent  in  the  materials  in 
their  possession,  they  cannot  much  vary  their  mode  of  proceed- 
ing on  them,  by  combining,  and  giving  new  turns  to  their 
actions  on  each  other.  In  more  advanced  stages  of  society,  on 
the  contrary,  where  the  powers  of  a  great  number  of  materials 
are  known,  and  where  consequently  their  operations  on  each 
other  may  be  combined,  and  multiplied  to  a  great  extent,  the 
means  by  which  the  same  end  may  be  attained  are  very 
numerous.  Some  of  them  are  more  easy  or  expeditious  than 
others  but  they  differ  by  very  slight  degrees,  and  the  instru- 
ments formed  by  successively  adopting  them,  would  occupy 
positions  in  our  series  not  widely  distant  from  one  another. 

If  we  then  consider  the  capacity  that  may  be  given  any 
amount  of  materials,  by  a  society  among  whom  the  progress  of 
art  is  stationary,  as  separated  into  the  durability,  and 
efficiency,  of  the  instruments  its  members  form,  it  would 
appear,  that  they  are  both  subject  to  similar  laws,  and  that 
neither  can  be  indefinitely  increased,  without  carrying  the 
i  i  i.-t  rumen ts  constructed  continually  on,  to  orders  of  slower 
return.  The  same  general  conclusions  must  obviously  hold 
good,  conceming  the  capacity  considered  as  combined  of  both. 
There  is,  however,  a  circumstance  flowing  from  the  considera- 
t  i»n  of  this  union,  which  is  deserving  of  notice,  as  it  has 
iderable  effect  in  the  relations  between  the  cost  and 
<;ity  of  instruments,  and,  consequently,  on  the  position  to 
be  assigned  them.  It  often  happens,  that  additional  labor 
bestowed  on  an  instrument,  to  give  it  greater  efficiency,  gives 
it  also  greater  durability.  Thus  the  same  choice  of  materials, 
and  the  same  careful  and  laborious  formation  of  them,  that 
render  the  walls  of  a  dwelling-house  effective  in  excluding  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather,  give  it  also  solidity  and  strength, 
and  consequently  prolong  its  duration.  A  tool,  in  the  fabrica- 
tion «.f  which  good  steel  has  been  employed,  not  only  cuts 
better,  but  lasts  longer,  than  one  formed  of  inferior  stuff.  In 
such  cases,  and  they  are  very  numerous,  the  capacity  being 
increased  both  as  concerns  durability  and  efficiency,  by  tho 


48  OF  TECHNICAL  LIMITATIONS 

same  outlay,  its  proportion  to  the  cost  is  greater,  and  a  larger 
expenditure  may  be  made  on  the  formation  of  the  instrument 
without  moving  it  at  all,  or  moving  it  but  a  short  distance, 
towards  the  orders  of  slower  return.  Sometimes  the  same 
expenditure  that  gives  efficiency  to  instruments,  partly  also 
increases  their  durability,  and  partly  quickens  their  exhaustion. 
Thus,  the  majority  of  roads  in  North  America,  and  in  many 
other  countries,  are  constructed  altogether  of  the  soil  of  which 
the  surface  happens  to  consist,  arranged  in  a  form  adapted  to 
the  purpose.  Such  roads,  unless  in  the  best  of  weather,  are 
very  inefficient  instruments  in  facilitating  transport,  and  their 
durability  is  so  small,  that  they  are  probably  reconstructed ,  by 
repair,  every  four  or  five  years.  A  road  formed  of  small 
fragments  of  stone,  in  the  manner  that  is  termed  macadamiza- 
tion,  costs  perhaps  twenty  times  as  much,  but  is  both  a  far 
more  efficient,  and  a  far  more  durable  instrument.  Besides, 
however,  being  more  durable,  and  efficient,  the  facility  it  gives 
to  transport  occasions  an  increase  of  transport,  and  its  exhaus- 
tion is  thus  quickened.  For  example,  the  capacity  of  a  road 
of  this  sort,  may  be  adequate  to  the  transport  of  two  hundred 
thousand  carriages ;  if  this  be  spread  over  twenty  years,  it  will 
be  an  instrument  of  much  slower  return,  than  if,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  annual  transport  being  doubled,  that  number 
pass  over  it  in  ten  years. 

As  efficiency  and  durability  are  frequently  produced  by 
the  same  means,  so,  it  sometimes  happens,  that  the  means 
which  would  add  to  the  one,  cannot  be  employed,  without 
diminishing  the  other.  Thus  there  are  many  tools  and  uten- 
sils, that  cannot  be  made  very  strong,  and  therefore  durable, 
without  being  at  the  same  time  clumsy,  and  inefficient ;  and 
they  cannot  be  made  very  light,  and  easy  to  work  with,  with- 
out being  also  of  little  durability.  The  difficulty  in  the 
combination  of  the  qualities  of  durability  and  efficiency  in  the 
same  materials,  can  only,  however,  be  considered  as  absolutely 
limiting  the  capacity  of  those  instruments,  to  support  the 
weight  of  which,  a  corporeal  exertion  is  required ;  and  is  con- 
sequently confined  to  wearing  apparel,  and  to  those  tools,  and 
utensils,  which  are  altogether  moved  by  the  hand.  When  the 
weight  rests  on  some  firm  basis,  it  can  be  poised ;  and,  by  the 


OF  TECHNICAL  LIMITATIONS  49 

application  of  sufficient  expenditure,  friction  can  be  removed. 
The  circumstance  of  the  qualities  of  durability  and  efficiency, 
depending  on  the  same  materials,  has  therefore,  probably,  on 
the  whole,  the  effect  of  retarding  somewhat,  though  not  very 
greatly,  the  progress  of  instruments  as  greater  capacity  is  given 
to  them,  towards  the  more  slowly  returning  orders. 

The  various  powers  of  the  material  world,  seem  to  be  con- 
nected at  some  common  centre,  and  its  several  parts  to  exercise 
reciprocal  influences  on  each  other.  Hence,  a  discovery  of 
properties  in  any  one  material,  or  more  easy  modes  of 
1  'ringing  the  old  into  play,  generally  extends  the  power  of  man 
over  a  great  range  of  the  other  materials,  which  he  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  before  applying  to  his  purpose.  When  art, 
therefore,  has  made  considerable  progress,  and  comprehends 
within  its  dominion  a  multiplicity  of  materials,  the  variety  of 
effects  that  may  be  generated,  from  the  action,  and  reaction,  on 
each  other,  of  the  numerous  powers  at  its  disposal,  becomes 
illimitable.  As  in  numbers,  every  addition  multiplies  amaz- 
ingly the  possible  antecedent  combinations,  until  at  length  the 
amount  becomes  too  great  to  be  ascertained.  Hence  it  is, 
(hat,  though  among  barbarous  nations  the  ability  of  man  to 
••ase  the  amount  of  instruments  he  possesses  may  be 
[narrowly]  bounded,  among  nations  having  made  considerable 
advance  in  art,  there  seems  no  assigning  any  limit  to  it,  other 
than  that  indicated  in  the  second  part  of  the  proposition, 
th»-  necessary  gradual  passage  of  the  instruments  constructed 
to  orders  of  slower  and  slower  return. 

It  is  hence,  that,  if  we  turn  to  any  community  where  art 
has  advanced,  we  invariably  see,  that  however  much  industry 
may  have  already  exerted  itself  on  the  materials  within  its 
reach,  the  field  for  its  possible  future  action  seems  rather 
increased  than  diminished,  and  that  the  farther  we  stretch  our 
view  over  it,  to  the  greater  distance  its  extreme  circumference 
recedes  from  us.  The  industry  of  the  people  of  Great  Britain, 
has  probably  been  as  largely  applied  to  the  materials  which  its 
limited  territory  possesses,  as  that  of  any  other  community 
presently  existing;  yet  certainly  there  is  no  lack  of  matters 
on  which  it  might  be  farther  exercised.  A  large  portion  of 
its  surface,  and  which  wants  not  all  the  requisites  for  the 

D 


50  OF  TECHNICAL  LIMITATIONS 

sustenance  of  vegetable  life,  lies,  nevertheless,  yet  uncultivated. 
With  the  exception  of  the  mountainous  and  rocky  regions, 
heat,  light,  air  and  water,  in  sufficient  abundance  rest  on  every 
part  of  it,  nor  is  the  presence  of  many  of  the  earths,  the 
mixture  of  which  forms  a  proper  shelter  for  the  tender  radicle 
fibres,  and  a  commodious  storehouse  for  an  important  part  of 
their  nourishment,  any  where  wanting.  There  is  also  in 
general  a  considerable  supply  diffused  over  the  surface  of  the 
decomposing  remains  of  former  vegetables  and  animals,  the 
material  which  constitutes  nearly  the  whole  solid  food  that 
the  organic  life  of  plants  requires;  and,  even  when  this  is 
deficient  at  one  point,  there  are  larger  collections  of  it  at  some 
other.  The  outlay  requisite,  in  many  instances,  to  give  such 
form  to  these  materials,  as  to  fit  them  for  the  purposes  of  the 
agriculturist,  would,  no  doubt,  be  very  great ;  still,  whatever  it 
might  be,  as  the  instrument  formed  would  be  of  unlimited 
duration,  the  annual  returns  from  it  would,  in  time,  exceed 
the  cost  of  formation,  and  bring  it  within  the  limits  of  our 
series. 

Were  we  to  go  over  the  various  other  instruments,  the 
returns  from  which  supply  the  wants  of  this  community,  we 
should  perceive,  that  every  where  their  capacities  are  capable 
of  being  greatly  increased.  One  would  not  find  it  very  easy 
to  say,  how  much  might  be  added  to  the  durability  and  effi- 
ciency of  dwelling-houses  alone.  The  amount  of  the  capacity 
for  the  facilitation  of  future  transport,  which  might  be 
embodied  in  railroads,  returning  ultimately  much  more  than 
the  cost  of  their  formation,  is  incalculable ;  as  is  also,  the 
degree  to  which  mining  operations  might  be  extended.  Even 
supposing  all  these,  and  many  other  instruments,  to  have 
acquired  a  vastly  increased  extent,  both  as  concerns  durability 
and  efficiency ;  instead  of  limiting  their  farther  increase,  it 
would  seem  likely,  rather  to  open  up  a  still  wider  space,  for  the 
exertion  of  future  industry  in  the  formation  of  others.  Were 
the  soil  universally  cultivated,  were  railroads  extended  and 
ramified  throughout  the  country,  and  were  the  riches  of  the 
mineral  kingdom  more  fully  brought  out,  the  additional  facility 
given  to  the  formation  of  instruments,  by  the  command 
afforded  of  the  materials  necessary  for  their  construction,  and 


OF  TECHNICAL  LIMITATIONS  51 

tin-  cast*  with  which  they  might  be  transported  from  point  to 
point,  would,  it  may  well  be  supposed,  be  sufficient  to  give  the 
means  of  a  still  greater  increased  construction  of  them,  and  a 
still  farther  advance  of  the  amount  of  the  capacities  for  the 
supply  of  futurity,  embodied  in  the  various  instruments  spread 
over  the  surface  of  the  territory,  or  lying  above,  or  beneath  it. 
In  short,  the  more  we  consider  the  subject,  the  more  clearly 
shall  we  perceive  the  impossibility  of  fixing  any  [absolute] 
limit  to  the  amount  of  the  labor  which  may  be  expended  in 
the  formation  of  instruments,  in  this,  or  any  other  community, 
where  art  has  made  considerable  advance. 

This  progress  [that  is,  mere  extension  of  industrial  opera- 
tions], while  art  itself  remained  stationary,  would,  however, 
undoubtedly,  gradually  carry  instruments  to  more  and  more 
slowly  returning  orders,  and  would  not  therefore  take  place, 
unless  the  society  were  inclined  to  construct  instruments  of 
those  orders.  What  the  circumstances  are,  which  determine 
individuals  and  societies  to  stop  at  this  or  that  order  of  instru- 
ments [in  any  given  state  of  the  arts],  will  form  the  subject  of 
the  next  chapter. 


[Rae  does  not  develop  fully  in  this  chapter,  or  indeed  anywhere  else,  the 
bases  for  a  generalized  concept  of  diminishing  returns.  One  additional  aspect 
of  the  subject  is  brought  out  in  the  second  paragraph  of  Chapter  VII.] 


CHAPTEK  VI. 

OF  THE  CIRCUMSTANCES  WHICH  DETERMINE  THE 
STRENGTH  OF  THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION. 

IT  has   been  shown,  in  the  preceding  chapter,  that,  in  com- 
munities where  an  extensive  knowledge  of  the  materials  within 
reach  of  the  industry  of  their  members  has  generated  numerous 
arts,   we  can  assign  no  limit,  in  the  nature  of  the  materials 
themselves,  to  the  capacity  for  the  supply  of  future  wants  that 
might  be  given  to  them :  but,  that  the  instruments  so  formed, 
pass,   by   a  gradual  and  uninterrupted  progress,  to  orders  of 
slower  and  slower  return.      It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  observe, 
that  the  increase  to  the  capacity  which  may  be  given  to  in- 
struments, cannot  be  restricted  by  inability  to  devote  additional 
labor   to  their    construction ;  for,   as   all   instruments   at   the 
period  of  their  exhaustion  return  more  than  the  cost  of  their 
formation,  they  give  the  means  of  reconstructing  others,  return- 
ing also  somewhat  more  largely  than  themselves.     There  are, 
nevertheless,  in  every  society  causes  [not  physical  or  technical] 
effectually    bounding   the    advance   of    instruments  to   orders 
capable  of  embracing  a  larger  and  larger  circle  of  materials, 
and   the  determination   of    those  causes   is   the   subject   now 
claiming  our  attention. 

Instruments  are  all  formed  by  one  amount  of  labor,  or  some 
equivalent  to  it,  that  is,  by  something  either  capable  of  yield- 
ing, or  itself  constituting  some  of  the  necessaries,  conveniences, 
or  amusements  of  life,  and  they  return  another  greater  amount 
of  labor  or  its  equivalents.  The  formation  of  every  instrument 
therefore,  implies  the  sacrifice  of  some  smaller  present  good, 


THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION  53 

for  the  production  of  some  greater  future  good.  If,  then,  the 
production  of  that  future  greater  good,  be  conceived  to  deserve 
the  sacrifice  of  this  present  smaller  good,  the  instrument  will 
be  formed,  if  not,  it  will  not  be  formed.  According  to  the 
series  in  which  we  have  arranged  instruments,  they  double  the 
cost  of  their  formation  in  one,  two,  three,  etc.,  years.  Conse- 
quently, the  order  to  which  in  any  society  the  formation  of 
instruments  will  advance,  will  be  determined  by  the  length  of 
the  period,  to  which  the  inclination  of  its  members  to  yield  up 
a  present  good,  for  the  purpose  of  producing  the  double  of  it 
at  the  expiration  of  that  period,  will  extend :  according  as  it 
stretches  to  one,  two,  three,  twenty,  forty,  etc.,  years  will  the 
formation  of  instruments  be  carried,  to  the  orders,  A,  B,  C,  T, 
n,  etc.,  and,  at  the  point  where  the  willingness  to  make  the 
sacrifice  ceases,  there  the  formation  of  instruments  must  stop. 
The  circumstances,  therefore,  on  such  occasions  governing  the 
-ion  of  the  members  of  all  societies,  must  be  the  causes, 
fixing  the  point  to  which  the  formation  of  instruments  may  in 
any  society  be  carried,  and  beyond  which  it  cannot  advance. 
The  determination  to  sacrifice  a  certain  amount  of  present 
good,  to  obtain  another  greater  amount  of  good,  at  some  future 
period,  may  be  termed  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation.  All 
nifii  may  be  said  to  have  a  desire  of  this  sort,  for  all  men 
prefer  a  greater  to  a  less ;  but  to  be  effective  it  must  prompt 
to  action. 

"Were  life  to  endure  for  ever,  were  the  capacity  to  enjoy  in 
perfection  all  its  goods,  both  mental  and  corporeal,  to  be  pro- 
longed with  it,  and  were  we  guided  solely  by  the  dictates  of 
reason,  there  could  be  no  limit  to  the  formation  of  means  for 
future  gratification,  till  our  utmost  wishes  were  supplied.  A 
pleasure  to  be  enjoyed,  or  a  pain  to  be  endured,  fifty  or  a 
hundred  years  hence,  would  be  considered  deserving  the  same 
attention  as  if  it  were  to  befall  us  fifty  or  a  hundred  minutes 
lirnce,  and  the  sacrifice  of  a  smaller  present  good,  for  a  greater 
future  good,  would  be  readily  made,  to  whatever  period  that 
futurity  might  extend.  But  life,  and  the  power  to  enjoy  it, 
are  the  most  uncertain  of  all  things,  and  we  are  not  guided 
altogether  by  reason.  We  know  not  the  period  when  death 
may  come  upon  us,  but  we  know  that  it  may  come  in  a  few 


54  THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION 

days,  and  must  come  in  a  few  years.  Why  then  be  providing 
goods  that  cannot  be  enjoyed  until  times,  which,  though  not 
very  remote,  may  never  come  to  us,  or  until  times  still  more 
remote,  and  which  we  are  convinced  we  shall  never  see  ?  If 
life,  too,  is  of  uncertain  duration  and  the  time  that  death 
comes  between  us  and  all  our  possessions  unknown,  the  ap- 
proaches of  old  age  are  at  least  certain,  and  are  dulling,  day 
by  day,  the  relish  of  every  pleasure. 

A  mere  reasonable  regard  to  their  own  interest,  would, 
therefore,  place  the  present  very  far  above  the  future,  in  the 
estimation  of  most  men.  But,  it  is  besides  to  be  remarked, 
that  such  pleasures  as  may  now  be  enjoyed,  generally  awaken 
a  passion  strongly  prompting  to  the  partaking  of  them.  The 
actual  presence  of  the  immediate  object  of  desire  in  the  mind, 
by  exciting  the  attention,  seems  to  rouse  all  the  faculties,  as  it 
were,  to  fix  their  view  on  it,  and  leads  them  to  a  very  lively 
conception  of  the  enjoyments  which  it  offers  to  their  instant 
possession.  The  prospects  of  future  good,  which  future  years 
may  hold  out  to  us;  seem  at  such  a  moment  dull  and  dubious, 
and  are  apt  to  be  slighted,  for  objects  on  which  the  daylight  is 
falling  strongly,  and  showing  us  in  all  their  freshness  just 
within  our  grasp.  There  is  no  man  perhaps,  to  whom  a 
good  to  be  enjoyed  to  day,  would  not  seem  of  very  different 
importance,  from  one  exactly  similar  to  be  enjoyed  twelve 
years  hence,  even  though  the  arrival  of  both  were  equally 
certain. 

Nor,  while  we  retain  any  taste  for  pleasures,  is  it  easy  to 
prescribe  limits  to  the  extent  to  which  we  may  indulge  in 
them,  or  to  the  amount  of  the  funds  they  may  absorb.  Every 
where  we  see  that  to  spend  is  easy,  to  spare,  hard.  Every  one 
indeed  looks  upon  those  in  the  rank  immediately  above  him, 
as  rolling  in  superfluous  extravagance.  But,  in  every  rank, 
from  the  prince  to  the  peasant,  there  are  very  many  indi- 
viduals, who  have  difficulty  in  procuring  funds  to  defray  the 
cost  of  articles,  the  expenditure  of  which  they  look  upon  as 
necessary  to  their  condition,  and,  for  the  remainder,  in  the 
different  classes,  who  have  more  than  their  utmost  real  desires 
would  call  for,  pleasure  is  so  entwined  with  extravagance,  in 
the  forms  in  which  she  presents  herself  to  each,  that  it  is 


THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION  55 

difficult  fully  to  embrace  the  one,  without  coming  within  the 
circle  of  the  other. 

It  would  then  appear,  that  merely  personal  considerations, 
can  never  give  great  strength  to  the  effective  desire  of  accumu- 
lation. A  future  good,  as  concerns  the  individual,  when 
I'ulanced  against  a  present  good,  is  both  exceedingly  uncertain 
in  its  arrival,  and  in  the  amount  of  enjoyment  it  may  yield,  is 
probably  far  inferior.  Such  considerations  would  undoubtedly 
represent  it,  as  a  great  folly  to  deny  youth  or  manhood  plea- 
sure, that  old  age  might  have  riches  not  to  be  enjoyed  by  it, 
but  which,  like  the  fabled  monster  in  the  garden  of  the 
;  Brides,  it  must  employ  itself  with  restless  care  to  guard 
for  others, 

"  Conservana  aliis,  quse  periere  sibi 
Sicut  in  auricomis  pendentia  plurimus  hortis 
Pervigil  observat  non  sua  poma  draco."1 

A  prudent  calculation  of  mere  personal  enjoyment,  could 
prompt  to  nothing  more  than  a  provision  for  self,  and  would 
only  lead  to  the  making,  as  it  is  said,  the  day  and  the  journey 
alike,  and  taking  care  that  youth  should  not  want  pleasure, 
nor  old  age  comfort.  But,  as  passion  is  ever  getting  the 
better  of  mere  prudence,  this  limit  would  every  now  and  then 
be  exceeded,  and  in  numerous  instances,  the  satiety  of  riot 
would  be  succeeded  by  the  miseries  of  want.  Wherever  a 
large  amount  of  means  for  the  gratification  of  the  present 
existed,  they  would  be  squandered,  and  no  one,  on  the  other 
hand,  would  be  inclined  to  make  any  great  sacrifice  of  the 
present,  for  the  purpose  of  providing  for  the  future.  The 
strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  would  be 
and  only  instruments  would  be  formed  as  were  of  the 
<}uiokly  returning  orders. 

But  man's  pleasures  are  not  altogether  selfish.     He  receives 

pleasure  from  giving  pleasure,  and  is  far  from  the  perfection  of 

•  •xistence  when  he  does  not  draw  his  enjoyments,  rather 

ii  "in   the  good  he  communicates,  than   from   that  which  he 

<:.  Oalli,  £?<•</.  I.  The  whole  elegy  is  illustrative  of  that  isolation  of 
f*»  ling  and  action,  and  consequent  individual  misery  and  general  weakness, 
that  pervaded  th<  Kmpirc  at  the  time. 


56  THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION 

reserves.  Without  the  ties  which  bind  him  to  others  through 
the  conjugal  and  parental  relations,  the  claims  of  his  kindred, 
his  friends,  his  country,  or  his  race,  life  would  be  to  most  men 
a  burden.  These  are  its  great  stimulants,  and  sweeteners, 
giving  an  aim  to  every  possible  exertion,  and  an  interest 
to  every  moment.  If,  sometimes,  they  shadow  our  being  with 
cares  and  fears,  those  passing  shadows  but  prove  there  is  a 
sunshine.  The  light  of  life  only  disappears,  and  its  dreary 
night  then  commences,  when  we  have  none  for  whom  to  live. 
Then  the  whole  creation  is  a  void.  Really  to  live  is  to 
live  with,  and  through  others,  more  than  in  ourselves.  To  do 
so  we  must  do  so  truly. 

"  Love,  and  love  only,  is  the  loan  for  love." 

If  the  mere  pretence  deceive  others,  it  mocks  and  tantalizes 
ourselves,  encircling  us  with  a  joy  as  unreal,  as  that  which  the 
looks  and  tones  of  affection  shed  round  him,  who  receives  them 
disguised  in  a  borrowed  garment.  We  cannot  enjoy  'them,  be- 
cause we  feel  that  they  are  not  ours,  but  some  other's  whose 
dress  we  wear. 

In  so  far  as  to  procure  good  for  others,  gives  a  real  pleasure 
to  the  individual,  he  is  released  from  that  narrow  and  imper- 
fect sphere  of  action,  to  which  his  mere  personal  interests 
would  confine  him,  and  the  future  goods  which  the  sacrifice  of 
present  ease  or  enjoyment  may  produce,  lose  the  greater  part 
of  their  uncertainty  and  worthlessness.  Though  life  may  pass 
from  him,  he  reckons  not  that  his  toils,  his  cares,  his  priva- 
tions, will  be  lost,  if  they  serve  as  the  means  of  enjoyment  to 
some  whom  he  may  leave  behind.  These  feelings,  therefore, 
investing  the  concerns  of  futurity  with  a  lively  interest  to  the 
individual,  and  giving  a  continuity  to  the  existence  and  pro- 
jects of  the  race,  must  tend  to  strengthen  very  greatly  the 
effective  desire  of  accumulation.  There  would  seem  to  be 
no  limit  to  the  possible  extent  of  their  operation.  The  more 
powerful  and  predominating  they  become,  the  greater  must  be 
their  influence.  It  is  true  they  are  often  feeble,  and  oppressed 
by  other  principles,  and  it  is  just  as  true  that  the  world  is  full 
of  deceit,  hollowness,  and  unhappiness.  As  far  as  they  exist, 
however,  they  form  a  real  element  of  great  power  in  the 


THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION  57 

determination  of  the  course  of  human  action,  and  one  the  nature 
of  which  would  seem  to  indicate,  and  experience  to  prove, 
to  be  of  great  influence  on  the  particular  part  of  it  that  forms 
our  present  subject.  In  the  succeeding  pages,  the  terms,  the 
social  and  benevolent  affections,  will  be  employed  to  denote  them. 

The  strength  of  the  intellectual  powers,  giving  rise  to 
reasoning  and  reflective  habits,  forms  another  important 
ent  in  the  determination  of  the  course  of  human  action. 
These  habits  in  opposition  to  the  passions  of  the  present  hour, 
bring  before  us  the  future,  both  as  concerns  ourselves,  and 
others,  in  its  legitimate  force,  and  urge  the  propriety  of 
providing  for  it.  Although  therefore,  were  our  cares  limited 
altogether  to  ourselves,  the  greatest  strength  of  the  reasoning 
faculty  could  prompt  to  but  a  very  limited  operation  on 
the  events  of  futurity,  yet,  the  farther  they  extend  to  others, 
the  wider  is  the  circle  of  operations  that  we  are  led  to 
embrace.  These  two  principles  of  our  nature,  the  social  and 
benevolent  affections,  and  the  intellectual  powers,  serve  indeed 
mutually  to  move  each  other  to  action,  the  affections  exciting 
the  intellect  to  discover  the  means  of  producing  good,  the 
intellect  opening  up  a  channel  to  the  affections  by  giving  the 
power  to  do  good. 

All  circumstances  increasing  the  probability  of  the  provision 
we  make  for  futurity  being  enjoyed  by  ourselves  or  others,  also 
tend  to  give  strength  to  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation. 
Thus  a  healthy  climate,  or  occupation,  by  increasing  the  pro- 
bability of  life,  has  a  tendency  to  add  to  this  desire.  When 
engaged  in  safe  occupations,  and  living  in  healthy  countries, 
n i* MI  are  much  more  apt  to  be  frugal,  than  in  unhealthy, 
or  hazardous  occupations,  and  in  climates  pernicious  to  human 
life.  Sailors  and  soldiers  are  prodigals.  In  the  West  Indies, 
Xi  \v  Orleans,  the  East  Indies,  the  expenditure  of  the  inhabi- 
tants is  profuse.  The  same  people,  coming  to  reside  in  the 
healthy  parts  of  Europe,  and  not  getting  into  the  vortex 
of  extravagant  fashion,  live  economically.  War,  and  pestilence, 
have  always  waste,  and  luxury,  among  the  other  evils  that 
follow  in  their  train. 

For  similar  reasons,  whatever  gives  security  to  the  affaire  of 
the  community,  is  favorable  to  the  strength  of  this  principle. 


58  THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION 

In  this  respect  the  general  prevalence  of  law  and  order,  and 
the  prospect  of  the  continuance  of  peace  and  tranquility,  have 
considerable  influence. 

These  seem  to  be  the  chief  circumstances,  determining  the 
relations  between  present  and  future  good,  in  the  minds  of 
those  in  any  society,  who  have  a  mind  and  a  will,  at  the  time 
they  are  forming  habits.  When  habits  are  once  formed,  they 
regulate  the  tenor  of  the  future  life,  and  make  slaves  of  their 
former  masters.  There  are,  however,  in  every  society,  very 
many  who  form  habits,  and  pursue  a  certain  line  of  conduct 
through  life,  not  from  any  reasoning  or  choice  of  their  own,  but 
hurried  on  by  the  example  of  those  around  them,  and  the 
general  direction  in  which  the  current  of  feeling  and  action 
sets  throughout  the  whole  body.  It  is  evident,  however,  that 
the  power  that  moves  and  directs  the  mass,  lies  not  in  them, 
but  in  those  who  govern  their  conduct  in  whole,  or  in  part,  by 
their  own  feelings  and  passions,  and  the  reflections  which 
the  situation  of  circumstances  around  them  suggests  to  them. 
These  form  the  great  moving  principle,  the  others,  like  the 
balance-wheel  in  an  engine,  merely  keep  up,  and  give  uni- 
formity, to  the  motion  they  generate. 

The  desire  to  accumulate  would  then  seem  to  derive  strength, 
chiefly  from  three  circumstances. 

1.  The  prevalence  throughout  the  society  of  the  social  and 
benevolent  affections,  or,  of  that  principle,  which,  under  what- 
ever name  it  may  be  known,  leads  us  to  derive  happiness  from 
the  [future]  good  we  communicate  to  others. 

2.  The  extent  of  the  intellectual  powers,  and   the  conse- 
quent prevalence  of  habits  of  reflection,  and  prudence,  in  the 
minds  of  the  members  of  the  society. 

3.  The  stability  of  the  condition  of  the  affairs  of  the  society, 
and  the  reign  of  law  and  order  throughout  it. 

It  is  weakened,  and  strength  given  to  the  desire  of  immedi- 
ate enjoyment,  by  three  opposing  circumstances. 

1.  The  deficiency  of  strength  in  the  social  and  benevolent 
affections,  and  the  prevalence  of  the  opposite  principle,  a  desire 
of  mere  selfish  gratification. 

2.  A  deficiency  in  the  intellectual  powers,  and  the  conse- 
quent want  of  habits  of  reflection  and  forethought. 


THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION  59 

3.  The  instability  of  the  affairs  of  the  society,  and  the  im- 
perfect diffusion  of  law  and  order  throughout  it. 

The  reader  may  perhaps  conceive,  that,  in  enumerating  these 
different  circumstances,  and  deducing  the  strength  of  the 
live  desire  of  accumulation  from  the  preponderance  of  the 
one  class  over  the  other,  I  am  attempting  an  unnecessary 
iL'tinement,  and  that  the  principle  of  a  regard  to  self  interest 
alone,  though  it  may  not,  of  itself,  give  great  strength  to  this 
desire,  yet,  from  its  combination  with  other  springs  of  action, 
must  generally  do  so  indirectly  and  ultimately  and  may, 
•  •fore,  be  assumed  as  a  cause  sufficient  to  account  for  the 
phenomena.  If  we  confine  our  attention  to  the  present  times, 
and  to  particular  parts  of  the  globe,  this  may  be  readily 
admitted.  Now,  and  in  those  places,  a  prudent  regard  to  self 
interest  would  doubtless  prompt  many  individuals  to  cooperate 
effectively  in  the  increase  of  the  general  means  of  enjoyment. 
But  there  is  nothing  more  apt  to  mislead  us,  when  investi- 
gating the  causes  determining  the  motions  of  any  great  system, 
than  to  take  our  station  at  some  particular  point  in  it,  and, 
examining  the  appearances  there  presented  to  us,  to  suppose 
that  they  must  be  precisely  similar  through  the  whole  sphere 
of  action.  Because,  in  Great  Britain,  a  regard  to  mere  self 
interest,  may  now  prompt  to  a  course  of  action  leading  to 
making  a  large  provision  for  the  wants  of  others,  we  are,  in 
reality,  no  more  warranted  to  conclude  that  it  will  do  so 
always,  and  in  every  place,  than  were  the  ancients  warranted 
to  conclude,  because  in  their  particular  communities,  the  pur- 
suit of  wealth  commonly  generated  evil,  that  it  must  therefore 
do  so  always  and  in  every  place. 

There  seem  to  be,  in  modern  times,  and  in  particular  com- 
munities, two  circumstances,  that  may  lead  an  individual,  from 
a  mere  regard  to  his  personal  interest,  to  pursue  the  paths  of 
sober  industry  and  frugality,  and,  consequently,  to  make  an 
extended  provision  for  the  wants  of  others.  These  seem  to  be 
the  desire  of  personal,  and  family  aggrandizement,  and  a  wish, 
conjoined  with  the  pursuit  of  both,  to  rank  high  in  the 
estimation  of  the  world.  The  acquisition  of  fortune,  is  a  road 
open  to  the  ambition  of  all  men,  and,  in  the  present  days,  is 
>nly  road  open  to  that  of  most  men.  The  mere  desire  to 


60  THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION 

rise  in  the  world,  and  envy  of  the  superiority  of  other  men, 
may  excite  many  to  enter  on  this  path,  and  preserve  them 
steadily  in  it.  This  sort  of  spirit,  however,  must  be  kept  in 
strict  check,  by  a  large  surrounding  mass  of  genuine  probity, 
and  tenderness  of  the  happiness  of  others,  or  it  certainly  breaks 
out  into  disorders.1  There  is  none  more  easily  tempted  to  evil, 
or  more  dangerous.  It  is  the  first  to  diminish  the  security  of 
all  compacts,  and  transactions  of  business,  by  fraud  and  ex- 
actions ;  it  is  the  first  to  disturb  the  public  tranquillity,  by 
seditions  and  conspiracies.  It  is  such  a  spirit,  predominating 
over  a  character  otherwise  good,  that  Shakspeare  paints  in 
Cassius.  Caesar  thinks  him  to  be  feared,  because, 

"  Such  men  as  he  be  never  at  heart's  ease, 
While  they  behold  a  greater  than  themselves  ; 
And  therefore  are  they  very  dangerous." 

It  is  this  temper  that  spurs  him  on,  "  in  envy  of  great 
Caesar,"  to  "  humour,  and  win,  the  noble  Brutus,"  to  the 
assassination.  It  is  the  same  spirit,  that  renders  him  un- 
scrupulous, 

"To  sell  and  mart  his  offices  for  gold, 
To  undeservers  ;" 

and,  to  wring 

"  From  the  hard  hand  of  peasants,  their  vile  trash, 
By  any  indirection." 

Whenever,  therefore,  the  mere  desire  of  distinction  is  the 
object  for  which  wealth  is  generally  pursued,  there,  the  pursuit 
infallibly,  at  length,  withdraws  from  the  path  of  virtue,  and 
excites  those  engaged  in  it,  to  a  disregard  of  their  own  honor, 
and  the  suffering  of  others. 

"Magnum  pauperies  opprobrium  jubet 
Quidvis  et  facere  et  pati, 
Virtutisque  viam  deserit  arduse." 

When  such  is  the  character  of  only  a  small  minority  of 
those  who  pursue  wealth,  it  is  not  injuriously  felt.  The 

J[Are  we  not  experiencing  just  such  an  outbreak  of  "disorders"  in  the 
phenomena  of  Trusts  and  get-rich-quick  schemes,  and  "  graft "  of  all  sorts,  at 
the  present  day  ?] 


THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION  61 

energy  of  their  motion,  rather  quickens  the  progress  of  the 
whole,  than  retards  it.  It  is  very  different,  when  such 
characters  compose  the  majority  of  those  engaged  in  such 
]  >ui  -suits.  A  chaos  of  deceit,  treachery,  knavery,  is  then 
generated,  in  which  truth,  generosity,  good  faith,  compassion, 
perish.  Hence  it  was,  that  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  in  ancient 
times,  was  held  as  absolutely  incompatible  with  the  lowest 
decree  of  liberal  sentiment,  virtuous  spirit,  or  common  honesty. 
Plato  expressly  says,  that  in  commerce  and  traffic  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  an  honest  man,  and  numerous  passages  from  the 
Greek  and  Koman  writers  might  be  cited  in  proof,  that,  in 
those  days,  it  was  admitted  on  all  hands,  that  the  character  of 
the  money-making  man  was  uniformly  vicious.  The  following 
is  one  of  the  most  striking  I  can  presently  find. 

"It  is  impossible  for  the  same  man  to  be  given  to  sensual 
pleasures,  and  to  the  love  of  money,  and  to  be  religious.  For 
he  who  is  a  lover  of  pleasure  will  be  a  lover  of  money,  and  he 
who  loves  money,  must  of  necessity  be  unjust,  and  a  violator 
<  if  the  laws  of  God  and  man."  l  It  is  here  not  thought 
necessary  to  give  any  proof  of  the  assertion  ;  on  the  contrary,  it 
is  taken  as  an  admitted  fact,  from  which  a  consequence  may 
be  deduced. 

In  those  times,  therefore,  the  pursuit  of  wealth  was  disre- 
putable, and  the  self-love  of  no  one  could  be  gratified  by  the 
character  it  procured  him.  We  are  apt  to  conceive  the  obser- 
vation of  St.  Paul,  that  "  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all 
evil,  and  infallibly  leads  to  wickedness,"  as  springing  from  the 
ascetic  spirit  in  which  he  contemplated  matters,  whereas  it  is 
common  to  him  with  all  the  moralists  of  his  time,  even  with 
the  most  liberal  of  them,  and  must  be  held  as  a  mere  statement 
of  what  was  then  an  obvious  fact.  Thus  Horace  calls  it  the 
same  thing,  "summi  materiam  mali,"  and  the  voice  of  the 
whole  age  agrees  with  him.  An  assiduous  care  to  the  increase 
of  fortune  was  then  esteemed  evil,  and  the  source  of  evil,  and 
was  reprobated  accordingly.  It  was  evil,  because  generally 


v  Ko.1  <t*\o<j(i)tMTov  teal  ^iXcx/"^™*  /col  QMOtov  rbv  aiT&r  d£t/rarar 
elvai  6  -yAp  ^tX^dorot  xai  0<X<xrw/iarof  A  to  0tX<xru>/xarof  Taxru*  <cal 
*0  W  <t>i\oxpfoaLTot  l£  drd-yojt  AdiKoi.     '0  to  Adixot  tit  ptv  Qiov  drfoiot  tit  to 
Tout  TapdvoMot.     Demopkili  Similitudines. 


62  THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION 

proceeding  from  a  grasping,  sordid,  selfish  spirit.  It  was  the 
source  of  evil,  because  the  great  exciter  of  fraud,  knavery,  and 
violence.  It  is  in  more  moral  communities  alone,  where  the 
real  springs  of  action  are  not  selfish,  and  where  a  desire  for 
the  good  of  others  is  one  of  the  chief  movers,  animating  the 
exertions,  and  giving  a  tone  to  the  feelings  and  actions  of  the 
whole  body,  that  the  virtuous  and  liberal  mind,  sympathizes 
with  and  approves  the  conduct  of  the  man,  who  gives  his  days 
to  labor,  and  his  nights  to  engrossing  care,  for  the  purpose  of 
increasing  his  gains.  There,  such  a  life  is  not  deemed  selfish, 
sordid,  or  unhappy,  because  there,  it  is  known  generally  to 
proceed  from  a  totally  opposite  spirit,  and  to  have  for  its  sus- 
taining principle,  the  welfare  of  others,  rather  than  of  the 
individual ;  and  there,  it  is  esteemed  praiseworthy,  because 
there,  its  general  tendency  is  good,  not  evil.  There,  too, 
ambition  alone  may,  no  doubt,  lead  those  who  want  other 
motives  into  the  paths  of  sober  industry  and  frugality,  because 
the  desire  of  excelling  in  whatever  is  attempted,  must  impel 
individuals  actuated  by  it,  to  every  pursuit  that  other  men 
gain  credit  by.  It  is  not  perhaps  the  object  gained,  so  much 
as  the  gaining  of  it,  which  gives  it  value  in  their  eyes.  But, 
it  is  only  where  such  conduct  procures  consideration,  arid 
respect,  that  we  can  expect  it  will  be  steadily  pursued  by  such 
persons.  Where  patient  and  assiduous  industry,  and  un- 
deviating  integrity,  procure  the  highest  name,  and  fame,  they 
will  be  followed  by  many  who  value  them  not  in  themselves. 
But  this  observation  only  proves,  that  we  have  to  seek  for  the 
general  course  of  action  of  the  individual,  in  the  circumstances 
determining  that  of  the  society. 

In  modern  times,  again,  and  in  particular  communities,  mar- 
riage and  offspring,  and  the  consequent  desire  of  family 
aggrandizement,  may  often  succeed  in  imposing  on  those,  to 
whom  the  welfare  of  others  is  naturally  of  little  moment,  the 
necessity  of  providing  for  that  welfare,  and  therefore  may  often 
generate  and  keep  up  a  much  stronger  attention  to  the  cares 
of  futurity,  than  could  be  excited  by  a  mere  regard  to  self 
interest.  But,  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  mode  in  which 
the  passions  prompting  to  marriage  will  operate,  must  depend 
on  the  feelings,  and  consequently,  manners,  pervading  the 


THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION  63 

society.  When  the  general  feelings  and  morals  become  cor- 
rupt, marriage  will  never  be  sought  after,  by  men  in  easy 
circumstances,  for  the  mere  pleasures  of  sense.  Socrates  re- 
marks this  to  his  son,  when  pointing  out  the  obligations  he 
»>\\vil  him  for  giving  him  being1  and  every  pure  voluptuary  is 
ivuily  to  curse,  with  Eloisa,  "all  human  ties." 

The  indulgences  to  which  these  passions  prompt,  when  the 
ngs  become  purely  selfish,  will,  indeed,  I  suspect,  be  found 
to  be  the  great  weakeners  of  this  very  principle.  Out  of  the 
heart  are  the  issues  of  life,  and  the  evils  to  which  they  give 
rise  are  the  worst  of  any,  because  they  contaminate  the  sources 
of  all  healthy  energy  and  activity,  at  the  very  fountain  head. 
It  is  to  them,  that  Horace,  in  my  opinion,  truly  traces,  the 
load  of  mischief  which  in  his  time  pressed  on  Rome,  and  which 
finally  overwhelmed  her ; 

"  Fsecunda  culpse  secula  nuptias 
Primum  inquinavere  et  genus  et  domos : 
Hoc  fonte  derivata  clades 
Inque  patres  populumque  fluxit." 

Even  on  the  supposition  of  legitimate  offspring,  it  is  only  in 
countries  where  the  general  sentiment  applauds  that  course  of 
action,  that  the  man  actuated  by  mere  self  interest,  can  be  sup- 
posed to  pride  himself  on  rearing  up  and  providing  for  a 
family,  in  preference  to  enjoying,  without  restraint,  all  the 
pleasures  he  may  be  able  to  procure.  Cool,  calculating,  self 
interest,  would  thus  speak.  "  Who  knoweth  whether  his  son 
shall  be  a  wise  man  or  a  fool  ?  Yet  shall  he  have  rule  over 
all  his  labor,  wherein  he  hath  labored,  and  wherein  he  hath 
shewed  himself  wise  under  the  sun.  This  is  also  vanity. 
Whereof  I  perceive  that  there  is  nothing,  better  than  that  a 
man  should  rejoice  in  his  own  works :  for  that  is  his  portion : 
for  who  shall  bring  him  to  see  what  shall  be  after  him :  it  is 
good  and  comely  for  one  to  eat  and  to  drink,  and  to  enjoy  the 
good  of  all  his  labor  that  he  taketh  under  the  sun,  all  the  days 
of  his  life,  which  God  giveth  him,  for  it  is  his  portion."  We 


1  Kol  p£v  ov  TUV  ye  dQpo&ia  lwv  (veica  waiSotroieiffOat  rofo  d.»0pwirovi  uroXa/i/Sdrm. 
/Tel  TOVTOV  ye  TUV  droXix^rwv  fieffral  niv  al  6Sol  /M0rd  W  rd  ofc^fiara.      X<  i 
Memorabilia. 


64  THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION 

find  accordingly  that  in  states  where  mere  selfish  enjoyment  is 
the  chief  principle  of  action,  that  the  interests  of  posterity  are 
neglected.  Thus,  among  the  Koman  writers,  the  heir  is  always 
represented  in  an  invidious  light,  and  to  save  for  him  is  re- 
presented as  a  folly.  The  writings  of  Horace,  and  the  con- 
temporary poets,  throughout,  exemplify  the  prevalence  of  this 
feeling. 

"  Parcus  ob  hseridis  curam — 

Assidet  insano. — " 

For  a  frightful  picture  of  causes  and  effects,  in  this  particular, 
the  epigram  of  Martial  to  Titullus  beginning, 

"  .Rape,  congere,  aufer,  etc." 

might  be  quoted.  But,  it  is  time  to  conclude  a  digression,  on 
which  perhaps  I  have  somewhat  prematurely  entered. 

We  shall  then  assume  that  there  are  motives,  as  above  enu- 
merated, derived  from  the  principles  of  human  nature,  acting 
on  all  men,  and  exciting  them  to  expend  what  they  presently 
possess  in  providing  for  future  wants,  as  there  are  others, 
derived  from  the  same  source,  tempting  them  to  lay  it  out  in 
the  gratification  of  their  immediate  wants.  The  strength  of 
the  effective  desire  of  accumulation,  in  any  man  or  society  of 
men,  or  this  desire  manifested  in  action,  is  determined  by  the 
preponderance  of  the  one  class  of  motives,  over  the  other.  It 
is  manifested,  and  may  be  measured,  by  the  willingness  of  the 
individual,  or  individuals,  to  lay  out  a  certain  amount  to-day, 
in  order  to  produce  the  double  of  that  amount  at  a  period 
more  or  less  remote,  that  is,  at  the  expiration  of  one,  two,  three, 
etc.  years. 

[In  this  chapter  Rae  does  not  make  sufficiently  clear  that  it  is  a  certain 
particular  sort  of  regard  for  others — the  desire  "  to  endow  the  future  " 
for  them— which  chiefly  supports  the  accumulative  principle.  It  is  to  be 
noted  also  that  the  phrase  "  social  and  benevolent  affections  "  has  no  specific 
applicability  as  a  technical  term  in  this  connection.  This  very  form  of  words 
has  been  employed  by  one  writer  on  economics  to  denote  those  traits  of 
character  which  lead  one  to  spend  all  in  the  present,  entertaining  one's 
friends,  and  the  like.  The  poorest  people  in  any  community  are  as  a  rule 
good  hearted  and  give  freely  to  any  one  in  need.  This  is  one  of  the  chief 
things  which  keep  them  poor.  Individual  selfishness  enlightened  by  the 
reason  plays  a  larger  rOle  in  economic  life  than  Rae  gives  it  credit  for.  But 
his  interest  here  being  sociological  rather  than  individualistic,  he  could 
hardly  distribute  his  emphasis  otherwise.] 


CHAPTER  VII. 

OF  SOME  OF  THE  PHENOMENA  ARISING  FROM  THE  DIF- 
FERENT DEGREES  OF  STRENGTH  OF  THE  EFFECTIVE 
DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION  IN  DIFFERENT  SOCIETIES. 

THE  effective  desire  of  accumulation  is  of  different  degrees  of 
:igth,  not  only  in  different  societies,  as  compared  with  each 
other,  but  also  in  the  several  individuals  composing  the  same 
society  as  compared  together.     Disregarding,  however,  for  the 
present,  the  effects  produced  on  the  formation  of  instruments, 
11  (Jin  diversities  in  the  strength  of  this  principle  among  individ- 
uals in  the  same  society,  we  are,  in  this  chapter,  to  endeavor 
to  trace  solely  some  of  those  resulting  from  the  operation  of 
causes  varying  its  strength  in  different  societies.     As  has  been 
already  stated,  there   are  three  other  causes  operating  in  the 
formation  of  instruments ;    the  quantity  and  quality  of  the 
materials  owned  by  any  particular  society ;  the  progress  which 
inventive   faculty  has   made  in   it;   and  the  rate  of  the 
wages  paid  the  laborer.     The  first  of  these  depending  on  the 
original  constitution    of   the    whole  globe,  and    its    different 
regions,  and  the  correspondence  between  these  and  the  cor- 
poreal system  of  man,  is  determined  by  circumstances,  the  con- 
ration  of  which  would  be  foreign  to  the  present  inquiry. 
i  regard  to  our  subject  it  is  to  be  taken  as  an  important 
1'ut  ultimate  fact.     The  causes  on  which  the  progress  of  tin- 
itivo  faculty  seems  chiefly  to  depend,  will  form  the  subject 
of  a  subsequent   chapter.     At    present,    the  extent  of   that 
progress  is  to  be  received  simply  as  a  circumstance  of  ad- 
mitted importance. 

I 


66  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

The  rate  of  the  wages  of  labor,  the  last  of  the  causes  affect- 
ing the  formation  of  instruments,  though  a  subject  of  investiga- 
tion in  itself  highly  interesting,  and  closely  connected  with 
this  whole  inquiry,  is  not,  as  has  been  already  stated,  to  be 
otherwise  considered  in  these  investigations,  than  as  an  existing 
circumstance,  the  operation  of  which  is  also  of  importance  in 
the  determination  of  the  extent  to  which  the  stock  of  materials, 
in  possession  of  any  society,  will  be  wrought  up  by  it,  but  the 
laws  regulating  which  lie  beyond  our  prescribed  limits.  So 
considered,  a  low  rate  of  wages  may  be  esteemed,  in  its  direct 
effects,  as  producing  the  same  results  as  an  improvement  in 
the  quality  of  the  materials  operated  on,  or  an  extension  of 
the  power  to  operate  on  them,  through  an  advance  in  the  pro- 
gress of  invention.  All  these  cause  the  same  returns  to  be 
produced  from  a  less  expenditure,  or  greater  returns  from  the 
same  expenditure.  They  all,  therefore,  place  a  greater  range 
of  materials  within  compass  of  the  accumulative  principle,  and 
occasion  the  construction  of  a  larger  amount  of  instruments. 
The  advance  of  invention,  however,  differs  from  a  lowering  in 
the  rate  of  wages,  in  being  a  quantity  to  the  increase  of  which 
we  can  set  no  bounds,  whereas,  we  soon  arrive  at  a  limit  to 
the  possible  diminution  of  the  rate  of  wages.  In  the  principles 
on  which  they  depend,  and  in  their  ulterior  consequences  they 
differ,  I  believe  it  will  be  found,  still  more  widely. 

The  first  example  I  shall  take,  of  the  effect  of  circum- 
stances in  moulding  the  characters  of  communities,  and  of 
these  again,  in  determining  the  extent  to  which  they  carry 
the  formation  of  instruments,  will  be  that  of  the  American 
Indian. 

The  life  of  the  hunter  seems  unfavorable  to  the  perfect 
developement  of  the  accumulative  principle.  In  this  state 
man  may  be  said  to  be  necessarily  improvident,  and  regardless 
of  futurity,  because  in  it,  the  future  presents  nothing,  which 
can  be  with  certainty  either  foreseen,  or  governed.  The 
hunting  grounds  are  the  sources  from  which,  among  hunters, 
the  means  of  subsistence  are  drawn.  But  these  belong  to  the 
nation  or  the  tribe,  which  alone  therefore,  can  make  more 
abundant  provision  for  futurity  by  securing  to  itself  a  domain 
more  extensive,  or  better  supplied  with  wild  animals ;  or  meet 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  67 

poverty,  by  being  restricted  to  one  more  narrow,  or  barren. 
As  regards  his  future  means  of  living,  every  member  of  such 
a  community  thinks  of  nothing  but  whether  the  supply  of 
game  will  be  plentiful  or  scanty ;  in  the  one  case,  he  knows 
that  he  will  enjoy  abundance,  in  the  other  that  he  must  endure 
want.  In  such  societies  therefore,  the  view  can  never  be 
directed  to  any  distant  future  good,  which  present  exertion 
may  secure  to  the  individual,  but  is  confined  to  what,  by  that 
exertion  may  be  added  to  the  power,  or  the  territory  of  the 
tribe.  What  applies  to  the  individual  hunter,  applies  to  his 
family.  Their  comfort  depends  less  on  his  particular  exer- 
tions, than  on  circumstances  affecting  the  whole  band,  or  little 
nation,  to  which  he  belongs.  It  is  only  in  infancy  that  the 
wants  of  the  young  savage  are,  to  any  great  extent,  provided 
fur  by  his  parents.  Afterwards  he  feasts,  or  fasts,  like  every 
other  member  of  the  community,  as  abundance,  or  scarcity 
reigns  in  the  camp.  That  camp,  indeed,  may  be  said  to  form 
the  family  of  the  Indian.  His  whole  thoughts,  and  affections 
centre  there,  nor  has  he  any  cares  for  a  distant  futurity,  either 
for  himself,  or  his  offspring,  separated  from  the  common  suffer- 
ings or  enjoyments  of  his  tribe. 

Were  the  causes  determining  the  future  good  or  evil  flow- 
ing to  each  of  these  great  families,  to  be  within  reach  of  the 
energies  of  the  individuals  composing  them,  they  would  have  a 
steady  aim  for  their  exertions,  and  having  the  means,  might 
acquire  the  habit  of  purchasing  future  plenty  and  security,  by 
present  toil  and  privation,  and  of  tracing  out  with  certainty, 
remote  consequences  to  immediate  acts.  But  this  is  a  mode 
«f  thought  and  action,  to  which  the  circumstances  of  their  con- 
dition are  opposed.  As  the  utmost  prudence,  foresight  and 
fortitude,  can  but  little  affect  the  future  welfare  of  the 
individual,  so,  their  power  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  tin* 
society,  is  limited  and  precarious.1 

a  tribe  of  hunters  occupy  a  healthy  territory,  and  one 
jilt-ntifully  supplied  with  game,  they  are  pressed  on  by  others, 


ic  foregoing  should  be  compared  with  Rao's  position  on  in«li\ -Dualism, 
ily  aggrandizement,"  and  "  social  and  benevolent  affections,"  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter.] 


68  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

eager  to  seize  on  these  advantages,  and  so  are  continually 
engaged  in  destructive  wars.  While  the  individuals  compos- 
ing such  a  tribe  can  slaughter  their  foes,  that  is,  the  surround- 
ing tribes,  or  can  drive  them  to  a  distance,  they  want  for 
nothing.  The  defeat  of  their  own  tribe,  is  the  only  calamity 
they  have  to  dread.  This  calamity  is  every  now  and  then 
overtaking  them. 

War  is  always  a  game  of  hazard.  In  such  a  state  of  society 
it  is  peculiarly  hazardous.  There  the  art  of  war  is  surprise. 
The  scanty  population  which  the  chase  can  alone  maintain,  is 
divided  into  small  bands,  living  widely  apart — mere  points  in 
a  vast  continuity  of  wilderness.  In  such  situations  warfare 
can  never  be  open.  The  attacking  party  must  advance  with 
secrecy ;  were  they  to  make  their  approach  known,  their 
enemies  would  only  wait  for  them,  if  convinced  of  their  own 
superiority ;  otherwise,  they  would  retire,  and,  if  acting 
prudently  and  skilfully,  never  suffer  themselves  to  be  seen, 
unless  to  strike  their  foes,  themselves  being  safe,  in  some  well- 
'Conducted  ambush.  But  where  success  depends  upon  conceal- 
ment, and  surprise,  it  also  depends  on  chance.  No  precautions 
•can  succeed  in  always  guarding  a  small  band,  encamped  in  the 
midst  of  a  great  forest,  from  being  unexpectedly  assailed.  No 
precautions  can  prevent  the  track  of  a  party  advancing 
through  an  enemy's  country,  from  being  occasionally  dis- 

•  covered.     Victory,  or  defeat,  and  all  that  follow  them,  depend 
on   the   slightest   accident.     Fortune   is  a  goddess,  on  whose 
influence  the  schemes  of  the  most  skilful  and  greatest  captains 

.are  always  in  some  measure  dependent,  but  here  she  reigns 
supreme. 

The  effects  of  these  circumstances  are  increased  by  the 
character  of  the  laws  of  war  of  the  savage.  His  wars  are  wars 

•  of  extermination.     They  cannot  well  be  otherwise.     Were  he 
pressed  to  defend  what  he  thinks  requires  no  defence,  but  is 
prepared  alike  to  execute  on  others  or  suffer  himself,  he  might 

,so  do  from  the  necessity  of  the  case, — the  plea  which  man 
always  urges  for  every  evil  he  inflicts  on  his  fellows.  He  can 
neither  safely  let  his  enemies  go,  nor  possibly  retain  them 
captive.  In  the  former  case  they  would  be  as  much  to  be 
dreaded  as  ever,  for  in  the  woods  half  a  dozen  men  may  make 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STREN7GTH  69 

war  upon  a  nation,  as  wars  are  there  conducted.  That  is, 
they  may  waylay,  surprise,  and  slaughter  detached  parts. 
Nor  can  he  retain  captives,  for  they  would  both  be  use- 
less, and  also  must  escape.  A  plunge  into  the  surrounding 
forest  sets  them  free.  Hence  it  is  not  conquest,  as  with  other 
warriors,  but  destruction,  that  is  his  aim,  and  what  he  executes 
on  others,  when  he  has  the  power,  he  sees  continually  im- 
pending over  him,  from  them,  when  fortune  gives  them  the 
power. 

Thus  the  whole  existence  of  the  hunter  is  chequered  by 
quick  changing  extremes.  Abundance,  famine,  the  fierce  joys 
of  victory,  the  horrors  of  surprise  and  defeat,  rapidly  succeed 
each  other,  in  an  order  which  he  can  neither  pretend  to  fore- 
see, nor  direct.  Like  all  men  in  similar  circumstances,  he 
refers  the  events,  of  which  his  being  is  the  sport,  to  the  con- 
tinual and  capricious  agency  of  supernatural  powers.  All  the 
i:<  >»  M  1  that  happens  to  him,  is  from  their  having  been  propitious 

is  designs,  and  from  his  having  rightly  interpreted  their 
omens;  all  the  evil  that  befalls  him,  arises,  in  his  conception, 
from  their  hostility,  or  from  his  having  mistaken,  or  neglected, 
some  vision  or  token  they  sent  him.  The  warrior  turns  back, 
in  the  middle  of  an  expedition,  if  his  sleep  be  disturbed  by  a 
dream  betokening  evil ;  the  unsuccessful  hunter  accuses  neither 
his  unsteady  hand,  nor  imperfect  sight,  but  some  magical 
influence  hanging  on  his  weapon,  which  only  the  priest  or  sor- 

r  can  therefore  remove.  The  direction  of  all  events  whose 
arrival  is  distant,  seems  thus  to  the  hunter  of  the  woods 
to  lie  entirely  beyond  his  control ;  and,  instead  of  endeavoring 
to  make  the  ease,  or  abundance  of  the  present,  provide  for 
the  evils  of  the  future,  he  prides  himself  in  enjoying  the 
good  of  to-day  undisturbed  by  a  single  care,  and  in  feeling 
ami  knowing,  that  he  can  bear  the  ill  of  tomorrow  without  a 
murmur, 

Hence    the    Indian    has   a    character   altogether    his    own. 

•n^  himself  hurried  mi  l»y  the  course  of  events,  not  direct- 
in-  it,  he  thinks  as  little  of  refraining  from  the  pleasures  that 

se  may  offer  him,  as  of  shrinking  from  the  pains  to  whieh 
it  may  expose  him,  and  indulges,  therefore,  without  restraint, 
in  the  enjoyments  of  the  hour.  His  intellectual  faculties,, 


70  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

unaccustomed  to  deduce  remote  consequences  from  immediate 
causes,  and  still  less  accustomed  to  adopt  as  a  ground  for 
action,  and  to  watch  carefully,  and  anxiously,  any  concatena- 
tion of  the  sort,  are  feeble ;  either  in  themselves,  or  from 
inaction.  His  passions,  on  the  contrary,  are  strong.  Un- 
accustomed to  reflection,  the  warm  and  generous  feelings  of 
affection  and  gratitude,  as  well  as  the  darker  ones  of  hatred 
and  revenge,  are  often  formed  hastily,  and  on  inadequate 
grounds,  but  while  they  last  they  are  exceedingly  vehement. 
His  tribe  forms  the  point  in  which  all  these  feelings  centre ;  it 
is  in  fact  his  family,  with  which  all  his  joys  and  sorrows  are 
in  common. 

An  attention  to  the  effects  naturally  flowing  from  this 
character,  will  explain  many  circumstances  in  the  present  con- 
dition, and  past  history  of  these  tribes,  which  are  in  them- 
selves interesting,  and  which  are  closely  connected  with  our 
subject.  Of  all  those  circumstances,  none  is  more  remarkable, 
than  their  neglecting,  or  refusing,  to  adopt  the  arts  of  the  new 
neighbors,  which  the  discovery  by  Europeans  of  the  country 
they  inhabit  brought,  and  has  kept  in  contact  with  them. 
Surrounded  as  are  the  scattered  wrecks  of  those  once  numerous 
tribes,  by  a  great  people,  rapidly  converting  the  soil,  and 
almost  whatever  grows  on  it,  or  is  hid  beneath  it,  into  instru- 
ments capable  of  plentifully  supplying  every  variety  of  future 
want,  they  are  yet  unable  to  imitate  them.  This  deficiency 
among  them  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation,  the  prin- 
ciple leading  to  the  formation  of  instruments,  seems  to  arise 
both  from  a  want  of  motives  to  exertion,  and  from  a  want  of 
the  principles  and  habits  of  action  which  would  lead  to  effec- 
tive exertion. 

The  settlement  of  their  country  by  the  European  race,  has 
in  itself,  gradually  diminished,  or  entirely  destroyed,  the 
political  importance  of  their  tribes,  and  consequently,  the  ties 
binding  together  the  members  of  each  of  these  communities, 
and  leading  them  to  feel,  and  to  act,  in  common.  Nor  have 
these  been  replaced  by  others.  Those  growing  out  of  the 
family  relations,  in  other  states  of  society, — the  anxious  pro- 
spective care  of  the  parent,  and  the  exertions,  the  pleasures, 
and  the  duties  thence  arising, — have  not  had  time  to  spring 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  71 

up.  Hence  the  Indian  continues  to  seek  shelter  in  apathy, 
and  to  regard  life  and  its  enjoyments,  both  for  himself  and  his 
children,  as  did  his  forefathers,  gifts  to  be  made  the  most 
<>t  while  they  last,  but  which  no  care  can  secure,  and  which, 
therefore,  it  is  his  business  not  to  provide  for  the  continuance 
of,  but  to  learn  calmly  to  resign  when  called  on.  He  thus 
sits,  listless,  in  the  midst  of  the  incessant  activity  and  in- 
dustry that  surround  him,  incapable  of  discovering  an  adequate 
cause  for  the  never-ceasing  care  and  toil.  The  motives  that 

:e  the  white  man,  though  possessed  of  means  that  would 
enable  him  with  his  more  needy  brethren  abundantly  to  enjoy 

present,  to  devote  himself,  instead,  to  labors  to  which  no 
season  brings  a  respite,  in  order  to  bring  about  events  that 
may  provide  for  the  wants  of  some  remote  and  uncertain 
futurity,  are  to  him  incomprehensible.  Instead  of  applauding 
the  conduct,  in  his  secret  soul  he  censures  the  mean,  timorous, 
and,  as  it  seems  to  him,  selfish  spirit,  which  prompts  it. 

But,  besides  a  want  of  the  motives  exciting  to  provide  for 
tin*  needs  of  futurity,  through  means  of  the  abilities  of  the 
present,  there  is  a  want  of  the  habits  of  perception 
and  action,  leading  to  a  constant  connexion  in  the  mind  of 

6  distant  points,  and  of  the  series  of  events  serving  to 
unite  them.  Even  therefore,  if  motives  be  awakened  capable 
of  producing  the  exertion  necessary  to  effect  this  connexion, 

e  remains  the  task  of  training  the  mind  to  think,  and  act, 
so  as  to  establish  it. 

These  deficiencies  in  the  motives  to  exertion,  and  in  the 
li.iliits  of  action  of  the  Indian,  serve  to  account  for  the 
("ndition  of  the  remnants  of  the  tribes  scattered  over  the 
North  American  continent,  in  situations  where  they  are  in 
contact  with  the  white  man.  There  is  a  general  similarity 
throughout,  that  will,  I  believe,  render  an  example  taken 

i  one  part  of  the  continent,  sufficiently  illustrative  of  the 
state  of  the  whole. 

Upon  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  there  are  several  little 
Indian  villages.  They  are  surrounded,  in  general,  by  a  good 
deal  of  land  from  which  the  wood  seems  to  have  been  long 

:  pa  ted,  and  have,  besides,  attached  to  them,  extensive 
tracts  of  forest.  The  cleared  land  is  rarely,  I  may  almost 


72  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

say  never,  cultivated,  nor  are  any  inroads  made  in  the  forest 
for  such  a  purpose.  The  soil  is,  nevertheless,  fertile,  and  were 
it  not,  manure  lies  in  heaps  by  their  houses.  Were  every 
family  to  enclose  half  an  acre  of  ground,  till  it,  and  plant  in  it 
potatoes  and  maize,  it  would  yield  a  sufficiency  to  support 
them  one  half  the  year.  They  suffer  too,  every  now  and  then, 
extreme  want,  insomuch  that,  joined  to  occasional  intemper- 
ance, it  is  rapidly  reducing  their  numbers.  This,  to  us,  so 
strange  apathy  proceeds  not,  in  any  great  degree,  from  repug- 
nance to  labor;  on  the  contrary,  they  apply  very  diligently  to 
it,  when  its  reward  is  immediate.  Thus,  besides  their  peculiar 
occupations  of  hunting  and  fishing,  in  which  they  are  ever 
ready  to  engage,  they  are  much  employed  in  the  navigation  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  may  be  seen  laboring  at  the  oar,  or 
setting  with  the  pole,  in  the  large  boats  used  for  the  purpose, 
;ind  always  furnish  the  greater  part  of  the  additional  hands, 
necessary  to  conduct  rafts  through  some  of  the  rapids.  Nor 
is  the  obstacle  aversion  to  agricultural  labor.  This  is  no 
doubt  a  prejudice  of  theirs ;  but  mere  prejudices  always  yield, 
principles  of  action  cannot  be  created.  Where  the  returns 
from  agricultural  labor  are  speedy,  and  great,  they  are  also 
agriculturists.  Thus,  some  of  the  little  islands  on  lake  St. 
Francis,  near  the  Indian  village  of  St.  Eegis,  are  favorable 
to  the  growth  of  maize,  a  plant  yielding  a  return  of  a  hundred 
fold,  and  forming,  even  when  half  ripe,  a  pleasant  and  sub- 
stantial repast.  Patches  of  the  best  land  on  these  islands  are, 
therefore,  every  year,  cultivated  by  them,  for  this  purpose. 
As  their  situation  renders  them  inaccessible  to  cattle,  no  fence 
is  required ;  were  this  additional  outlay  necessary,  I  suspect 
they  would  be  neglected,  like  the  commons  adjoining  their 
village.  These  had  apparently,  at  one  time,  been  under  crop. 
The  cattle  of  the  neighboring  settlers  would  now,  however, 
destroy  any  crop,  not  securely  fenced,  and  this  additional 
necessary  outlay,  consequently  bars  their  culture.  It  removes 
them  to  an  order  of  instruments  of  slower  return,  than  that 
which  corresponds  to  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of 
accumulation,  in  this  little  society. 

It  is  here  deserving  of  notice,  that  what  instruments  of  this 
sort  they  do  form,  are  completely  formed.     The  small  spots  of 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  73 

corn  they  cultivate  are  thoroughly  weeded  and  hoed.  A  little 
neglect  in  this  part  would,  indeed,  reduce  the  crop  very  much : 
of  this  experience  has  made  them  perfectly  aware,  and  they 
act  accordingly.  It  is  evidently  not  the  necessary  labor,  that 
is  the  obstacle  to  much  more  extended  culture,  but  the  distant 
return  from  that  labor.  I  am  assured,  indeed,  that,  among 
some  of  the  more  remote  tribes,  the  labor  thus  expended,  much 
exceeds  that  given  by  the  whites.  The  same  portions  of 
ground  being  cropped  without  remission,  and  manure  not  being 
used,  they  would  scarce  yield  any  return,  were  not  the  soil 
most  carefully  broken  and  pulverized,  both  with  the  hoe  and 
the  hand.  In  such  a  situation,  a  white  man  would  clear  a 

b  piece  of  ground.  It  would  perhaps  scarce  repay  his  labor 
the  first  year,  and  he  would  have  to  look  for  his  reward  in 
succeeding  years.  On  the  Indian  again,  succeeding  years  are 
too  distant  to  make  sufficient  impression,  though,  to  obtain 
what  labor  may  bring  about  in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  he 
toils  even  more  assiduously  than  the  white  man.  The  wages 
of  labor  with  him,  are  lower  than  with  the  white  man,  for  his 
wants  are  fewer.  But  for  this,  the  range  of  materials,  coming 
within  reach  of  his  effective  desire  of  accumulation,  would  be 

i  more  limited  than  it  is,  and  the  amount  of  instruments 
formed  by  him,  less. 

Similar  observations  will  apply  to  all  the  remnants  of  the 

race,   scattered   through   the    parts    of   the    North   American 

unit,  to  which  the  industry  and  enterprise  of  the  white 

man,  have  brought  modern  arts  and  civilization.     They  can  no 

win -re  be  said  to  form  an  agricultural  people.     All  the  great 

tracts  of  land,  reserved  for  their  use,  throughout  the  continent, 

retain  their  native  forest  character ;  and  it  is  only  at  great 

intervals,  where  spots  of  soil  appear  offering  peculiar  facilities 

M!I  i vat  ion,  that  the  riches  of  the  earth  are  even  partially 

_rht  into  action.  When  such  materials  are  neglected,  it  is 
to  be  supposed  that  others,  requiring  greater  strength 
of  t he  accumulative  principle  to  form  them  into  instruments, 
will  l)e  put  to  use.  None,  therefore, even  of  tin-  most  < •< minimi 
handicrafts,  which  they  see  the  white  man  continually  exercis- 
ing, are  to  he  found  am<>i1Lr  them.  The  axe  and  the  knife,  aiv 
almost  their  only  tools.  Their  houses,  their  furniture,  their 


74  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

clothing  and  utensils  are  all  similar,  and  of  a  sort  to  serve  only 
the  needs  of  the  moment.  Nothing  is  either  reserved  or  pro- 
vided for  a  futurity  in  any  ways  distant.  Their  stock  of 
instruments  being  thus  confined  to  such  as  are  of  the  most 
quickly  returning  orders,  a  vast  mass  of  materials  is  neglected, 
which  by  another  race,  governed  by  other  principles  of  action, 
are  converted,  or  converting,  into  the  means  of  abundantly 
supplying  the  necessities  and  enjoyments  of  a  numerous  popu- 
lation. They  thus  afford  a  striking  instance,  of  the  effects 
resulting  from  a  great  deficiency  of  strength  in  the  accumula- 
tive principle.  They  have  skill,  adequate  to  the  formation 
of  instruments  capable  of  ministering  to  the  necessities  and 
comforts  of  a  numerous  population,  for  with  the  powers  of  fire, 
the  axe,  and  the  hoe,  the  great  agents  in  converting  the  forest 
to  the  field,  they  are  well  acquainted ;  they  have  industry, 
content  with  a  very  moderate,  if  immediate  reward ;  yet,  from 
inadequate  strength  in  this  principle,  these  all  lie  inert,  and 
useless,  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest  abundance  of  materials ; 
and,  the  means  for  existence  in  the  time  to  come  not  being 
provided,  as  what  was  future  becomes  present,  want  and  misery 
arrive  with  it,  and  these  tribes  are  disappearing  before  them. 
The  white  man  robs  their  woods  and  waters  of  the  stores  with 
which  nature  had  replenished  them,  and  the  arts,  by  the  com- 
munication of  which  he  would  compensate  for  the  spoliation, 
are  despised. 

Though  the  civilized  man  may  be  truly  said  to  have  been 
the  greatest  enemy  of  the  Indian,  yet  he  has  not  always  been 
so  wilfully,  and,  in  many  instances,  he  has  endeavored  to 
be  his  benefactor.  But,  though  his  endeavors  may  occasion- 
ally, for  a  time,  have  arrested  the  progress  of  the  evil,  they 
have  never  altogether  removed  it,  or  been  of  permanent  ad- 
vantage. Of  all  attempts  of  the  kind,  that  of  the  Jesuits,  in 
Paraguay,  seems  to  have  been  productive  of  most  good,  and  to 
have  given  the  fairest  promise  of  ultimate  success.  This 
partial  success  is  evidently  to  be  traced,  to  the  usual  talent  of 
those  fathers,  in  clearly  perceiving  the  actual  circumstances  of 
the  condition,  and  disposition  of  the  men  with  whom  they  had 
to  deal,  and  to  their  usual  ability  in  converting  these  circum- 
stances into  means  of  accomplishing  the  ends  they  had  in  view. 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  75 

Their  plan  presents  two  great  features.  They  wrought  upon 
the  Indians  through  that  which  was  alone  in  them  capable  of 
exciting  to  extended  action,  their  love  of  their  several  nations, 
and  devotion  to  their  interests.  They  took  every  means  to 
show  them  that  they  could,  and  would,  promote  these  interests ; 
and  thus  identifying  themselves  with  the  national  existence 
and  prosperity,  transferred  to  their  order  a  large  portion  of 
the  strong  feelings  arising  from  benefits  received  from,  and 
obligations  and  duties  owing  to  his  tribe,  which  are  the  great 
movers,  and  rulers,  of  the  being  of  the  Indian. 

The  efforts  of   the   missionaries   seem    first   to    have   been 
directed   to   convince  the  chiefs,  and   leaders,  of  the  several 
tribes  to  which  they  penetrated,  of  the  sincerity  of  their  desire 
to  be  of  service  to  them.     As  the  messengers  of  a  religion, 
promising  peace  on  earth,  and  immortal  happiness  after  death, 
they  had  claims  on  their  attention  which  are  foreign  to  our 
subject.     Besides  these  however,  as  the  possessors  of  the  arts 
and  powers  of  civilization,  they  had  others,  which  were  more 
palpable  to  the  comprehension  of  the  savage.     Europeans  were 
known  by   this   unfortunate  race,  as  possessors  of  powers  so 
great,  as  to  appear  supernatural ;  but  they  had  hitherto  been 
known  only  as  enemies  and  oppressors,  the  bearers  of  unspeak- 
able calamities  or  utter  ruin.     Once  then  they  were  convinced, 
that   the  white  men  who    now    came    to    them,  were  really 
His,  and  were  desirous  of  exerting  those  powers  for  their 
'•rvation  and  happiness,  which  had  hitherto  been  employed 
their  destruction,  they  were  ready  to  welcome  them  as 
r  best  benefactors,  and  most  powerful    protectors.      The 
1   intelligence,  prudence,  and  fortitude  of  the  fathers  did 
not  desert  them  on  this  occasion,  and,  though  not  without  the 
expense  of  the  martyrdom  of  several  of  the  order,  they  suc- 
ceeded in  impressing  the  Indians  with  the  belief,  that   they 
were  really  their  friends.     The  rest  of  the  task  was  compara- 
ly  easy.     Convinced  on   this  head,  the  savages  willingly, 
and  immediately,  became  docile  disciples.     Fully  satisfied  of 
advantages  which  European  arts  give  to  a  people,  they  set 
i selves  with   zeal  to   acquire  and  practise  them,  for  the 
benefit  of  their  several  tribes.     Though  not  for  his  individual 
advantage,  or  that  of  his  family,  would  the  Indian  sacrifice 


76  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

present  pleasure  or  embrace  present  toil ;  for  the  good  of  his 
nation  he  had  been  taught,  and  was  ready,  to  bear  or  forbear 
any  thing.  The  Jesuits  had,  therefore,  only  to  teach  what  it 
was  necessary  to  do,  or  endure.  The  details  they  have  left  us 
of  their  progress,  are  generally  interesting,  sometimes  amusing, 
not  unfrequently,  to  those  unacquainted  with  the  peculiarities 
of  the  Indian  character,  almost  incredible. 

They  themselves,  in  the  first  instance,  taught  their  proselytes 
how  agricultural  operations  were  to  be  performed,  by  taking 
the  spade,  and  other  instruments,  in  their  own  hands.  Hut, 
when  thus,  by  precept  and  example,  they  had  brought  them  to 
be  able  to  execute  the  several  operations  of  ploughing,  sowing, 
reaping,  etc.,  the  difficulty  was  but  half  over.  Without  the 
constant  superin tendency  and  vigilance  of  their  instructors, 
they  never  would  have  practised  them.  Thus,  at  first,  if  these 
gave  up  to  them  the  care  of  the  oxen  with  which  they 
ploughed,  their  indolent  thoughtlessness  would  probably  leave 
them  at  evening  still  yoked  to  the  implement.  Worse  than 
this,  instances  occurred  where  they  cut  them  up  for  supper, 
thinking,  when  reprehended,  that  they  sufficiently  excused 
themselves  by  saying,  they  were  hungry. 

By  the  indefatigable  perseverance,  and  dexterous  manage- 
ment of  the  missionaries,  they  were,  however,  at  last,  brought 
so  to  labor  the  earth,  as,  in  that  fertile  soil  and  warm  climate, 
to  produce  abundant  returns.  They  were  also  at  peace  with 
one  another,  and  feared  by  their  enemies.  The  tranquillity, 
the  security,  and  the  plenty,  they  thus  enjoyed,  gave  the 
Jesuits  additional  claims  on  their  confidence  and  gratitude, 
which  the  good  fathers  seem  to  have  taken  care  should  be 
made  sufficiently  apparent  to  them.  Hence  it  was,  as  Charle- 
voix  tells  us,  that  they  thought  they  could  never  sufficiently 
testify  their  affection  and  gratitude  for  those,  who  had  rescued 
them  from  barbarism  and  idolatry,  and  who,  in  spite  of  the 
most  severe  persecution,  and  the  greatest  toil,  had  procured 
them  all  the  advantages  they  enjoyed.  They  continually 
recalled  to  mind  the  miserable  state  from  which  they  had  been 
brought :  the  parents  instructed  their  children,  and  they  saw 
with  their  own  eyes,  the  condition  of  the  neighboring  nations, 
who  had  not  participated  in  their  happiness.  It  was  by  no 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  77 

means  wonderful,  as  he  continues,  that  these  things  produced 
an  attachment  for  the  missionaries,  that  was  without  bounds. 

The  additional  authority  and  influence  thus  acquired,  they 
employed  in  enforcing  stricter  obedience,  and  increased  in- 
dustry, and  gradually  leading  on  their  disciples  to  the  practice 
of  the  finer  and  more  difficult  arts.  In  this  they  perfectly 
succeeded,  so  that  there  were  every  where  to  be  seen,  says  the 
same  author,  workshops  of  gilders,  painters,  sculptors,  gold- 
smiths, watchmakers,  carpenters,  joiners,  dyers,  etc.  In  the 
exercise  of  these  useful  and  ornamental  arts,  we  must  not 

<>se  the  artists  were  animated  by  the  motives  that  excite 
similar  labors  elsewhere.  They  seem  scarcely  to  have  had  an 
idea  of  personal  property,  or  individual  gain,  but  to  have  been 
as  mere  children,  looking  up  to  the  Jesuits  for  every  thing, 
and  ready  to  do  every  thing  for  them,  or  submit  to  any  thing 
I'rmii  them. 

"  These  fathers,"  says  Ulloa,  "  have  to  visit  the  houses,  to 
examine  what  is  really  wanted ;  for,  without  this  care,  the 
Indians  would  never  look  after  any  thing.  They  must  be 
present  too,  when  animals  are  slaughtered,  not  only  that  the 
meat  may  be  equally  divided,  but  that  nothing  may  be  lost." 
"It  has  been  necessary,"  says  Charlevoix,  "to  appoint  superin- 
ii'nts,  who  inspect  every  thing  accurately,  and  see  if  they 

>usy,  if  their  cattle  are  in  good  condition,  etc.  The  labors 
of  the  women  are  regulated,  as  well  as  those  of  the  men.  At 
tlif  l»t^innin<r  of  the  week,  there  is  distributed  among  them,  a 
certain  quantity  of  wool,  and  cotton,  which  they  are  obliged  to 
return,  on  Saturday  evening,  ready  for  the  loom.  But,  not- 
withstanding  all  this  care  and  superintendence,  and  all  the 
precautions  which  are  taken  to  prevent  any  want  of  the 
necessaries  of  life,  the  missionaries  are  sometimes  much  em- 
barrassed. This  proceeds  from  three  defects,  of  which  the 
Indians  have  not  yet  been  corrected,  their  improvidence, 
indolence,1  and  want  of  economy;  so  that,  it  often  happens, 

lolence  and  improvidence  are,  in  our  system,  reduced  to  one  defect. 

•nee  is,  the  not  laying  out  present  labor  to  secure  future  abundance. 

•  i'l.-nce,  the  squandering  present  abundance,    in  disregard  of  future 

They  both  proceed  from  the  predominance  of  the  present  over 

th<  tut  in. •,  the  low  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation. 


78  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

that  they  do  not  reserve  themselves  a  sufficiency  of  grain,  even 
for  seed.  As  for  their  other  provisions,  were  they  not  well 
looked  after,  they  would  soon  be  without  wherewithal  to 
support  life." 

The  mode  of  operation,  which  the  Jesuits  adopted,  had  un- 
doubtedly the  advantage  of  bringing  out  all  the  energies  of 
the  Indian.  He  was  thus  induced  willingly,  and  therefore 
zealously  and  successfully,  to  apply  his  powers  to  the  acquisi- 
tion and  practice  of  European  arts,  and,  while  the  missionaries 
maintained  their  power,  and  formed  a  part  of  the  polity  which 
their  sagacity  and  perseverance  had  established,  it  gave  every 
token  of  prosperity  and  vigor.  Their  prudence  and  providence 
led  into  efficient  action  the  desire,  which  every  individual  felt 
for  the  future  prosperity  of  his  tribe.  The  powers  of  the 
social  and  benevolent  affections  of  the  mass  had  free  course, 
and  what  was  wanting  in  intellectual  energy  being  supplied  by 
the  fathers,  the  desire  of  accumulation  of  the  whole  body 
became  sufficiently  effective  and  strong,  to  form  a  larger  stock 
of  instruments.  What,  therefore,  might,  at  first  sight,  strike 
us  as  the  most  difficult  part  of  the  project,  the  establishing  a 
community  of  goods  and  interests,  was,  in  reality,  that  which 
rendered  it  of  easy  execution.  With  all  the  advantages 
attending  such  a  form  of  society, — the  freedom  from  strife, 
jealousy,  contention,  and  care,  enjoyed  by  the  great  majority, — 
it  had  also  the  disadvantage  of  requiring,  and  therefore  exciting, 
in  the  multitude,  little  or  no  exertion  of  the  intellectual  facul- 
ties. The  converts  had  become,  or  were  becoming,  mere 
machines  in  the  hands  of  the  missionaries.  The  whole  stock 
of  instruments  formed  by  the  common  labor,  was  in  the 
possession  of  the  fathers,  and  the  share  which  the  Indians 
received  of  the  returns,  depended  on  their  pleasure.  They 
were  in  fact  regarded  as  beings  of  a  superior  order,  whose 
actions  were  of  necessity  right,  and  whose  slightest  wishes 
were  laws. 

If  we  judge  from  what  is  known  of  the  state  of  the 
American  continent  at  its  discovery,  it  would  seem  that 
this  form  of  society,  is  that  which  the  hunter,  changing 
directly  to  the  agriculturist,  naturally  assumes.  His  devotion 
to  the  interests  of  the  tribe,  passes  there  into  affection  for  the 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  79 

person,  and  blind  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  chief.  The 
accounts  we  have  of  the  condition  of  the  kingdoms  that  the 
Spaniards  found  established  in  the  most  fertile  regions  of 
the  continent,  describe  the  power  which  the  rulers  pos- 
sessed, and  the  reverence  paid  them,  as  excessive.  The 
people  seem  to  have,  in  general,  approached  the  condition 
of  slaves,  and  to  have  had  a  large  share  of  the  defects  of 
that  condition,  a  want  of  intelligence  and  energy. 

Our  own  barbarian  ancestors,  such  as  they  are  described  by 
Tacitus,  have  been  often  likened  to  the  savage  aborigines  of 
North  America.  But,  though  there  may  be  some  points  of 
resemblance,  the  parallel  will  be  found  to  fail,  in  several 
important  particulars,  which,  as  they  seem  to  have  operated 
through  the  influence  they  have  exerted  on  that  principle,  the 
effects  of  which  we  are  at  present  considering,  may  be  allowed 
to  claim  our  attention  for  a  little. 

The  race,  whose  occupation  of  the  forests  and  wildernesses 
to  the  northward  of  the  Roman  Empire,  made  these,  in 
the  days  of  Rome's  strength,  to  be  regarded  as  the  regions  of 
mystery  and  wonder,  in  those  of  its  weakness,  of  well-founded 
and  increasing  anxiety  and  dread,  were  properly  shepherd 
warriors.  Though  the  excitement  of  the  chase  frequently 
gave  fit  employment  to  their  ardent  spirits,  and  its  toils  to 
thrir  hardy  frames,  and  though  its  products  ministered  to 
many  of  their  wants,  their  cattle  were  yet  their  main  support, 
and  to  provide  for  the  sustenance  of  these,  their  great  busi- 
ness. But  the  possession  of  flocks  and  herds,  implies  a 
considerable  degree  of  care  and  foresight,  both  in  protecting 
and  making  provision  for  them,  and  in  avoiding  to  consume 
too  great  a  number  of  them.  It  also  implies  the  existence  of 
private  property  to  a  large  amount,  and,  consequently,  of 
Uth  in  the  ties  binding  families  together.  The  parent,  if 
he  desires  to  see  his  offspring  enjoy  plenty,  must  exert  himself 
to  procure  it  for  them.  The  performance  of  this  duty  gives 
claims  on  their  gratitude,  and  draws  closer  the  connexion 
between  them.  The  sort  of  life  they  lead  too,  demands  less  of 
severe  exertion,  and  affords  longer  intervals  of  ease.  It  brings 
11  together  in  larger  bands  and  societies,  of  which  each 
member  has  rights  to  defend  and  interests  to  provide  for,  and 


80  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

thus  produces  the  rudiments  of  law,  justice,  and  the  policy  of 
civilized  society. 

War  may  be  said  to  be  natural  to  them,  as  well  as  to 
hunters,  but  it  is  always  open ;  concealment  is  out  of  the 
question  ;  their  greater  numbers,  and  the  necessity  of  having 
always  with  them  a  large  train  of  domestic  animals,  render  it 
impracticable.  They  have  not  therefore  to  fear  being  sur- 
prised and  overcome,  before  they  can  have  time  to  defend 
themselves.  Hence,  the  members  of  a  numerous  and  warlike 
pastoral  nation,  live  in  comparative  security.  They  see  that 
chance  has  less  influence,  prudence  and  resolution  more.  They 
perceive  that  they  are  not  altogether  the  sport  of  destiny,  but 
that  their  fate  depends,  in  a  great  measure,  on  themselves. 
Their  minds  are  less  shaken,  and  their  judgments  less  clouded, 
by  superstitious  fears  and  imaginings.  The  greater  security 
they  enjoy  renders  them  also  less  relentlessly  cruel.  Utterly 
to  exterminate  their  enemies  is  not  necessary ;  to  break,  and 
drive  them  off,  is  sufficient.  When,  therefore,  the  fury  of  the 
fight  is  over,  mercy  has,  with  them,  a  place. 

All  these  circumstances  pertaining  to  the  condition  of 
pastoral  nations  tend  strongly  to  excite  the  social  and  benevo- 
lent affections,  and  the  powers  of  reason  and  reflection,  and  to 
give  scope  to  their  action  among  them.  The  pastoral  ancestors 
of  the  present  European  race  were  fierce,  cruel,  and  vindictive 
barbarians ;  yet,  spite  of  these  forbidding  features  of  their 
character,  we  can  as  distinctly  trace  to  them  the  sources  of  all 
the  more  generous  and  softer  virtues,  that  give  happiness  to 
their  descendants,  as  we  can  the  free  and  independent  spirit 
that  bestows  on  them  liberty  and  security.  Such  nations 
have,  therefore,  naturally  a  much  higher  effective  desire  of 
accumulation  than  nations  of  mere  hunters.  The  strength  of 
this  principle,  in  fact,  seems  with  them  in  general,  so  great,  as 
to  incline  them  to  form  instruments  requiring  a  much  superior 
degree  of  providence  and  self-denial,  to  that  indicated  by  the 
breeding  of  cattle.  They  are  prevented  from  doing  so,  by 
their  wandering  life,  and  by  the  wars  in  which  they  are  neces- 
sarily constantly  engaged.  When,  for  instance,  they  are  settled 
in  a  country  suited  to  agriculture,  and  to  which  the  knowledge 
of  the  art  has  penetrated,  they  have  a  tendency  to  become 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  81 

agriculturists;  that  is,  to  change  the  land,  from  which  they 
draw  their  subsistence,  from  an  instrument  yielding  a  large 
return,  in  proportion  to  the  labor  bestowed  on  it,  to  one  yield- 

i  still  larger  return,  though  requiring  proportionally  more 
labor  and  time,  and  being,  therefore,  of  a  more  slowly  return- 

rder. 

But  such  a  change,  though  increasing  the  whole  population 
of  the  state,  leaves  fewer  in  it  who  can  be  spared  from  labor, 
anil,  consequently,  fewer  soldiers.  In  pastoral  nations,  almost 
all  the  men  are  warriors;  in  agricultural,  only  a  few  can 
be  withdrawn  from  the  labors  of  the  field.  The  latter  are 
therefore,  naturally  inferior  to  the  former  in  military  prowess, 
and  are  consequently  subject  to  be  conquered  and  destroyed  by 
thriii.  Such  seems  to  have  been  the  fate  impending  over 
Gaul,  from  the  side  of  Germany,  when  the  appearance  of 

ir  gave  another  turn  to  affairs.  The  Gauls,  we  learn  from 
him,  though  then  inferior,  had  once  been  superior,  in  military 

AH.  to  the  Germans.  It  appears  likely,  that  the  revolu- 
ti"ii  had  been  occasioned,  by  their  becoming  an  agricultural 
people,  which  they,  in  a  great  measure,  were,  in  his  time.  The 

mans,  again,  preserved  themselves  from  the  fatal  effects  of 

i  a  change,  by  the  singular  national  custom,  or  constitution, 
that  obliged  them  all,  every  year,  to  exchange  the  lands  they 
respectively  occupied.  By  this  constant  transfer  of  instru- 
j  i  I'M  its,  and  of  the  materials  of  which  they  might  be  formed, 
they  took  away  every  inducement  to  work  them  up  into 
orders  of  slow  return,  and  confined  the  members  of  the 

nmnity   to  the   pastoral  condition,  which  experience  had 

•tless   instructed   them,   was   most  favorable    to    military 

In  the  times  of  the  Caesars,  Europe  was  thus  divided,  by  an 

irregular  line  running  east  and  west,  into  two  great  parts,  the 

one  occupied  by  the  barbarians,  the  other  by  the  Empire.     To 

northward  of  this  line,  were  many  rude  nations,  strong  in 

Mrnial  and  corporeal  energies  of  the  individuals  composing 

thrni,  and  in  the  willingness  of  each  to  devote  his  abilities  to 

'•ts  conducive  to  the  good  of  all,  but  whose  strength  was 

••ly  expended   in   furious  intestine  wars.     These  contests, 

ive    as    they    were,    did    not,  however,  occasion    any 

F 


82  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

progressive  diminution  of  the  vigor  of  the  whole  body ;  it  was. 
only  the  surplus  powers  of  the  parts  that  thus  ran  to  waste. 
The  strength  of  the  people  of  the  empire  was,  on  the  contrary, 
derived  from  their  union  in  one  great  body,  and  the  power 
thence  resulting  of  the  energies  of  the  whole  being  directed  to 
any  particular  point.  But  this  union,  as  it  had  been  produced 
by  compulsion,  augured  weakness  in  the  several  parts,  and  was 
the  cause  of  weakness.  What  each  contributed  to  the  common 
good  was  not  of  will,  but  from  necessity,  and,  in  the  strife  thus 
arising,  every  man  learned  to  consider  his  own  good  as  separate 
from  that  of  all  others.  Hence  a  continually  increasing  separa- 
tion of  interests,  and  consequent  continual  decrease  of  power 
and  general  decline.  The  gradually  increasing  weakness  of  the 
empire,  while  the  strength  of  the  nations  to  the  northward,  if 
not  augmenting,  remained  at  least  unimpaired,  rendered  the 
arrival  of  a  period  when  the  former  should  be  overpowered  by 
the  latter  inevitable.  These  barbarians  believed,  that  the 
riches  of  the  earth  belonged,  of  right,  to  the  best;  according 
to  their  creed,  the  bravest.  Their  most  powerful  and  warlike 
tribes,  therefore,  possessing  themselves  of  the  more  fertile 
regions,  those  bordering  on  the  line  dividing  them  from  the 
empire,  pressed  violently  against  it,  and,  opposed  by  a  force 
continually  diminishing,  at  length  burst  through  it. 

Three  great  events,  each  leading  on  the  other,  would  seem 
to  have  been  the  necessary  consequence  of  this  revolution.  Of 
these,  the  first  was  the  occupation  of  the  whole  continent  by 
the  barbarians,  and  the  driving  back  the  still  onward-urging 
host  of  their  brethren ;  the  adoption  by  them  of  the  arts  which 
had  previously  nourished  in  the  empire,  and  their  becoming  an 
agricultural  people,  was  the  second ;  and  their  running  the 
chance  of  being  in  turn  overpowered  by  the  northern  warriors, 
the  third.  Until  the  arrival  of  the  first  period,  when,  the 
continent  having  been  completely  overrun  and  ravaged  by  the 
barbarian  multitude,  had  assumed  a  form  closely  approximating 
to  that  of  the  territories  they  had  formerly  occupied,  there 
could  be  no  approach  to  rest,  but  the  tide  must  still  advance. 
When  the  receptacle  vacant  for  its  reception  was  once  com- 
pletely filled,  the  mighty  mass  had  to  recoil  on  itself.  The 
battle  of  Chalons  fixes  this  period.  Europe,  with  the  exception 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  83 

of  the  corner  occupied  by  the  Eastern  Empire,  and  which 
belonged  rather  to  Asia  than  to  it,  seems  then  to  have  been 
reduced  nearly  to  the  state  of  one  immense  cattle-pasture. 
But  the  impetus  that  had  been  given  still  continued,  and  new 
hosts  crowded  on  to  share  that,  of  which  the  last  fragments 
had  been  divided.  The  reflux  then  of  necessity  took  place. 
The  hosts  of  the  west  and  the  south,  under  Theodoric  and 
Klius,  met  those  of  the  east  and  the  north,  under  Attilla,  on 
the  plains  of  Champaigne.  The  vastness  of  the  masses  and  the 
violence  of  the  shock  are  shown  by  the  destruction  produced ; 
the  accounts  of  the  period  rating  the  slaughter  variously  at 
from  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  thousand  to  three  hundred 
thousand. 

From  this  period  the  great  body  neither  much  advancing 
nor  receding,  was  agitated  chiefly  by  fierce  internal  commotions. 
The  time  when  their  violence  terminated  marks  the  second 
period,  when  the  general  prevalence  of  agriculture,  lessening 
the  number  of  warriors,  diminished  the  extent  and  frequency 
of  wars.  The  knowledge  of  the  elements  of  it,  and  of  the 
other  arts,  diffused  throughout  the  various  multitude  that  now 
peopled  the  continent,  could  not  forever  lie  dormant.  It  has 
been  already  observed,  that  the  strength  of  their  effective 
«!••.- ire  of  accumulation,  had  been  such  as  to  produce  a  tendency 
among  them  to  give  greater  capacity  even  to  the  materials  of 
which  they  had  the  command  in  the  northern  regions,  though 
at  the  expense  of  changing  them  into  instruments  of  somewhat 
slower  return,  by  converting  their  lands  from  pasture  to  tillage, 
tendency  became  inevitably  stronger,  as  they  advanced 
into  more  fertile  soils  and  milder  climates.  The  revolution 
i  took  place  gradually.  The  exact  date  of  the  pre- 
ponderance of  the  one  condition  over  the  other,  cannot, 
perhaps,  be  determined  but  by  the  effects  produced  by  its 
arrival.  It  is  only  in  the  state  of  hunters,  or  shepherds,  that 
nation  can  literally  go  to  war  with  nation.  In  the  agricultural 
state,  it  is  not  the  men  of  the  nation,  but  a  small  part  of  them, 
the  soldiery,  that  fight.  Taking  this  as  the  criterion,  we  might 
t  he  reign  of  Charlemagne  as  that,  in  which  war,  as  the 
ness  of  European  nations,  properly  ceased.  The  conclusion 
of  that  monarch's  reign,  has  sometimes  been  reckoned  the 


84  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

commencement  of  a  period  of  weakness  in  the  several  states, 
and  of  want  of  ability  in  their  monarchs.  The  historian,  it  is 
true,  for  centuries  afterwards,  finds  no  events  that  he  esteems 
great  to  record.  His  art  can  call  up  no  pictures  of  heroes 
leading  armies  to  the  field,  conquering,  or  being  conquered, 
overthrowing,  or  establishing  kingdoms.  Nevertheless,  if  the 
view  we  are  taking  is  correct,  it  is  from  this  era  that  we  must 
date  the  commencement  of  strength,  not  of  weakness.  The 
people  of  Europe  then  began  to  rise  in  the  scale  of  industry. 
They  commenced  a  new  era,  to  which  no  one  can  assign  a 
positive  termination,  because  it  became  their  occupation  to 
conquer  nature,  and  not  man,  and,  to  the  fruits  of  the  one 
conquest,  we  can  set  no  limit,  whereas  the  utmost  advantages 
of  the  other  are  very  speedily  exhausted. 

It  may  here  be  observed,  that  the  difference  of  the  strength 
of  the  principle  of  accumulation  in  nations  of  hunters,  and  in 
pastoral  nations,  seems  to  mark  out  a  very  opposite  destiny  to 
a  great  country  overrun  by  the  one,  to  that  which  would  await 
it  from  being  subdued  by  the  other.  The  naturally  low  degree 
of  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  among  nations  of 
hunters,  prevents  them,  as  we  have  seen,  from  forming  instru- 
ments of  sufficiently  slow  return  to  embrace  the  materials  to 
which  the  arts  of  civilized  life  might  give  capacity.  While  in 
their  possession,  therefore,  they  lie  unemployed,  and  useless. 
The  progress  of  civilization  and  art  over  the  continent  of 
North  America,  is  now  every  day,  bringing  to  light  traces  of 
their  former  presence,  and  evidence,  consequently,  of  the  exist- 
ence there  at  some  remote  period,  of  a  people  far  superior  in 
these  respects  to  the  tribes  that  occupied  all  but  the  southern 
parts,  when  discovered  by  Europeans.  The  question  has  been 
asked,  how  did  it  happen  that  they,  and  the  knowledge  and 
power  they  possessed,  utterly  perished.  In  other  instances, 
civilization  has  either  protected  its  possessors,  or,  if  they  were 
overcome,  has  reacted  on  their  conquerors,  and  spreading  among 
them,  has,  so  to  say,  subjugated  and  governed  them  in  turn. 
The  history  of  our  barbarian  ancestors  has  been  quoted,  as  a 
circumstantial  account  of  this  seemingly  natural  progress. 
But,  if  the  principles,  the  operation  of  which  forms  our  present 
subject,  be  correct,  they  furnish  a  sufficient  cause  for  the 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  85 

diversity  of  effects  flowing  from  the  two  events,  and  show, 
that,  instead  of  there  being  any  reason  for  surprise  at  the 
hunter  of  the  woods  disdaining  the  labors  and  rewards  of 
civilization,  it  is  rather  our  business  to  inquire  how  he  could 
have  been  led  to  adopt  them.  Had  the  nations  whom 
the  north  poured  forth  on  the  south  of  Europe,  been  hunters, 
and,  had  no  extraneous  cause  intervened,  it  is  not  improbable, 
that  that  continent  would,  even  at  the  present  day,  have  been 
OIK*  wide  forest  from  side  to  side. 

The  third  of  the  great  events  referred  to,  the  evils  and 
dangers  arising  to  the  ancestors  of  the  present  inhabitants  of 
Europe,  from  their  former  brethren  of  the  north  and  east, 
when  the  strength  of  their  accumulative  principle  led  them  to 
put  off  the  barbarian,  and  employ  themselves  in  giving  to  the 
materials  within  their  reach  the  capabilities  for  the  supply  of 
the  wants  of  futurity  which  art  showed  that  they  possessed, 
were  felt  for  many  centuries.  The  change  they  were  then 
undergoing,  though  it  added  very  greatly  to  the  total  numbers 
of  the  several  nations,  lessened  the  numbers  of  the  warriors. 
The  instruments  they  formed  being  of  the  more  slowly  return- 
ing orders,  though  the  whole  income  from  them  was  much 
greater,  the  labor  necessary  to  produce  it  was  more  than 
proportionally  greater,  and  the  portion  of  the  population  left 
free  for  the  purposes  of  warfare  was  consequently  less.  It 
were  foreign  to  our  purpose  farther  to  allude  to  this  cause  of 
cm  n  motion  and  revolution,  than  to  observe,  that  the  mischiefs 
and  dangers  arising  from  it,  seem  to  have  been  moderated  by 
very  gradual  manner  in  which  the  change  took  place,  and 
to  have  been  counteracted,  and  finally  overcome  by  the 
additional  power  acquired  through  the  progress  of  invention  in 
the  arts  of  civilized  life. 

The  next  example  I  shall  adduce,  of  the  influence  of  the 
accumulation  principle,  will  be  that  of  the  Chinese  Empire. 
All  accounts  agree  in  ascribing  to  the  people  of  this  Empire,  a 
peculiarity  running  through  the  whole  structure  of  their  social 
and  domestic  life,  by  which  alone  perhaps  its  mechanism  can 
be  well  explained,  and  which  seems  to  form  its  great  governing 
and  sustaining  principle.  Their  moralists  and  legislators 
appear  to  have  successfully  endeavored  to  give  to  the  feelings, 


86  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

naturally  springing  from  the  parental  and  family  relations,  an 
influence  and  authority,  far  superior  to  what  these  possess 
among  other  nations, — the  power  and  unity  of  a  regular 
system  of  duties  and  obligations.  A  father,  as  the  immediate 
though  secondary  cause  of  existence,  is  regarded  with  much  of 
the  feelings  that  are  elsewhere  reserved  for  the  infinite  and 
eternal  fountain  of  all  existence,  power,  and  perfection,  and, 
consequently,  claims,  as  a  sacred  right,  a  measure  of  love, 
reverence,  and  obedience,  that  to  us  seems  perfectly  unnatural. 
Both  while  alive,  and  after  his  death,  he  is  reverenced,  we 
might  say  adored.  His  descendants  form  a  little  distinct 
society  bound  together  by  the  strongest  ties,  a  system  apart 
from  all  others,  having  a  common  centre  of  action  of  its  own. 
What  is  conceived  to  be  a  reality  in  families,  is  metaphorically 
applied  to  the  whole  empire,  and  its  several  parts.  The 
emperor  is  the  father  of  his  people,  his  affection  for  them  as 
his  children  is  held  to  be  the  animating  principle  of  his  actions, 
implicit  obedience  to  him  as  their  parent,  who  can  only  com- 
mand what  is  good,  is  the  first  duty  of  his  subjects.  Each 
inferior  magistrate  is  also  regarded  as  the  father  of  those  over 
whom  he  rules. 

The  result  has  been  so  far  happy,  that  the  harshness  of 
despotism  is  somewhat  tempered  by  the  mildness  of  the  pater- 
nal character.  We  are  so  constituted,  that  no  part  can  be 
assumed,  and  habitually  acted,  without  in  some  degree  mould- 
ing our  nature  to  its  form,  and  making  that  a  reality,  which 
may  at  first  have  been  only  a  fiction.  It  has  also  been  happy 
in  the  strength  it  has  given  to  the  connexions  and  affections  of 
those  belonging  to  the  same  family,  or  springing  from  the  same 
stock.  A  man  must  be  strongly  excited  to  good,  and  deterred 
from  evil,  by  being  aware  that  his  actions  and  fortunes  are  the 
objects  of  solicitude  to  every  member  of  the  little  community  to 
whom  he  is  bound  by  the  ties  of  blood  and  kindredship ;  that 
they  rejoice  at  whatever  he  accomplishes  that  is  honorable  and 
happy ;  and  are  afflicted  and  disgraced  by  his  imprudencies 
and  errors. 

But,  viewing  the  system  on  another  side  we  may  perceive 
that  evil  has  sprung  out  of  it.  The  blending  of  the  characters 
of  parent  and  lord,  and  thus  making  of  each  head  of  a  family 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  87 

an  absolute  master,  the  judge  of  right  and  wrong,  places  man 
in  a  situation  dangerous  to  his  weakness.  It  may  encourage, 
at  all  events  it  enables  him  to  gratify  without  fear,  whatever 
vice  or  immorality  is  not  necessarily  open  or  declared,  but  may 
have  a  veil,  however  thin,  of  outward  decorum  thrown  over  it. 

•  les  this,  the  absolute  submission  and  unreflecting  obedience 
which  it  inculcates,  are  much  opposed  to  the  expansion  of  the 
intellectual  and  moral  powers.  When  all  impulses  are  from 
without,  it  is  impossible  that  the  mental  eye  should  turn 
steadily  on  the  divinity  within,  or  promptly  and  resolutely 
execute  what  it  dictates. 

We  perceive  a  great  attempt  to  organize  a  society,  animated 
by  the  principles  of  love  and  affection,  regulated  by  those  of 
virtue.  The  form  indeed  exists,  but  under  it  there  is  little 
substance.  Hence  is  generated  a  mass  of  apparent  contradic- 
tions :  viewed  in  one  light,  we  see  a  great  family,  wisely  and 
beneficently  governed  ;  in  the  other,  a  servile  herd,  crouching 
beneath  the  sharp  lash  of  selfish  despotism.  On  the  one  hand 
is  presented  to  us  a  people,  among  whom  doctrines  of  a  very 
pure  morality,  of  universal  benevolence,  of  devotion  to  the 
public  good,  are  inculcated  both  by  reward  and  precept ; 
among  whom  learning  is  held  in  such  esteem  as  to  be  the  sure, 
and,  in  theory  at  least,  almost  the  only  road  to  honour  and 
authority ;  among  whom  the  freedom  of  the  press  may  be  said 
to  have  been  established  a  thousand  years  j1  among  whom  out- 
ward decency  and  decorum  prevail,  and  security  and  order  are 

tly  maintained,  not  by  military  authority,  but  by  their 
own  good  sense  quietly  submitting  to  the  rule  of  the  civil 
magistrate.  On  the  other  hand  we  see  this  same  people,  in 
private,  abandoned  to  gross  sensuality,  to  drunkenness  and  de- 
grading licentiousness ;  in  public,  in  affairs  of  trade  and  traffic, 
in  the  business  and  diplomacy  of  the  state,  making  their 
individual  advantage  their  sole  practical  rule  of  right  and 
wrong. 

i  ere  the  press  is  merely  a  brush,  and  the  types  are  blocks  of  wood, 
which  a  common  workman  carves  out  for  a  few  pence,  it  must  of  necessity  be 
essentially  free.     The  best  proof  of  this  is,  that  books  for  which  there  is  a  de- 
mand, licentious  publications  for  instance,  are  extensively  circulated,  not 
standing  all  the  efforts  of  the  magistrate. 


88  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

Such  being  the  character  of  this  singular  people,  our  prin- 
ciples would  give  to  them  a  less  strength  of  the  effective  desire 
of  accumulation  than  the  generality  of  European  nations,  but  a 
greater  than  that  of  other  Asiatics.  This  desire  is  lessened  by 
a  propensity  to  sensual  gratifications  and  selfish  feelings,  and 
by  a  state  of  society  where  there  is  any  thing  to  endanger  the 
security  of  future  possession.  All  these  produce  a  tendency 
to  seek  the  enjoyments  of  to-day,  at  the  risk  of  leaving  the 
wants  of  to-morrow  unprovided  for.  As  compared  with  other 
than  European  nations,  however,  we  might  expect  them  to 
possess  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  virtues  of  prudence 
and  of  self-control.  The  general  diffusion  of  a  tincture  of 
learning,  and  perception  of  something  of  the  beauty  and 
obligations  of  moral  rectitude,  the  consequent  subjection  at  all 
events  of  the  more  violent  passions,  and  the  great  desire  to 
provide  for  the  wants  of  their  families,  which  the  strength  of 
the  connexion  thus  subsisting  between  parent  and  child  en- 
genders, raise  them,  in  these  respects,  much  above  Asiatics  in 
general.  We  should,  therefore,  a  priori,  suppose,  that  the 
instruments  formed  by  them  must  be  of  orders  of  quicker 
return,  and  embracing  a  less  compass  of  materials,  than  those 
constructed  by  European  nations ;  but  of  slower  return,  and 
embracing  a  greater  compass  of  materials,  than  those  to  which 
the  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  carries  the  other 
nations  of  Asia.  All  who  have  written  concerning  this  great 
empire  agree  in  the  statement,  that  the  necessary  cost  of  sub- 
sistence is  there  small,  and  the  wages  of  labor  low.  To  these 
two  circumstances,  determining  their  state,  is  to  be  added  a 
third.  The  inventive  faculty  would  appear  to  have  been  once 
very  active  among  them ;  their  knowledge  of  the  arts  suited  to 
their  country  is  very  extended. 

Durability  is  one  of  the  chief  qualities,  marking  a  high 
degree  of  the  effective  strength  of  accumulation.  The  testi- 
mony of  travellers  ascribes  to  the  instruments  formed  by  the 
Chinese,  a  durability  very  inferior  to  similar  instruments,  con- 
structed by  Europeans.  The  walls  of  houses,  we  are  told,  unless, 
of  the  higher  ranks,  are  in  general  of  unburnt  bricks  of  clay, 
or  of  hurdles  plastered  with  earth ;  the  roofs,  of  reeds  fastened 
to  laths.  We  can  scarcely  conceive  more  unsubstantial,  or 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  89 

temporary  fabrics.1     Their  partitions  are  of   paper,  requiring 
to  be  renewed  every  year. 

A  similar  observation  may  be  made,  concerning  their  imple- 
ments of  husbandry,  and  other  utensils.  They  are  almost 
entirely  of  wood,  the  metals  entering  but  very  sparingly  into 
their  construction ;  consequently  they  soon  wear  out,  and 
require  frequent  renewals.  A  greater  degree  of  strength  in 
the  effective  desire  of  accumulation,  would  cause  them  to  be 
constructed  of  materials  requiring  a  greater  present  expendi- 
but  being  far  more  durable.  From  the  same  cause,  much 
hind,  that  in  other  countries  would  be  cultivated,  lies  waste. 
All  travellers  take  notice  of  large  tracts  of  land,  chiefly 
swamps,  which  continue  in  a  state  of  nature.  To  bring  a 
swamp  into  tillage  is  generally  a  process,  to  complete  which, 
requires  several  years.  It  must  be  previously  drained,  the 
surface  long  exposed  to  the  sun,  and  many  operations  per- 

:ed,  before  it  can  be  made  capable  of  bearing  a  crop. 
Tin  nigh  yielding,  probably  a  very  considerable  return  for  the 
labor  bestowed  on  it,  that  return  is  not  made  until  a  long  time 
has  elapsed.  The  cultivation  of  such  land  implies  a  greater 
strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  than  exists  in 

empire.2 

The  produce  of  the  harvest  is,  as  we  have  remarked,  always 
an  instrument  of  some  order  or  another,  it  is  a  provision  for 
future  want,  and  regulated  by  the  same  laws  as  those  to  which 
other  means  of  attaining  a  similar  end  conform.  It  is  there 

fly  rice,  of  which  there  are  two  harvests,  the  one  in  June, 
the  other  in  October.  The  period  then  of  eight  months, 
between  October  and  June,  is  that,  for  which  provision  is  made 
each  year,  and  the  different  estimate  they  make  of  to-day  and 
this  day  eight  months,  will  appear  in  the  self-denial  they 
practise  now,  in  order  to  guard  against  want  then.  The 
amount  of  this  self-denial,  would  seem  to  be  small.  The  father 
Parennin,  indeed,  asserts,  that  it  is  their  great  deficiency  in 
forethought  and  frugality  in  this  respect,  which  is  the  cause  of 

1  La  Harp,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  289.     Lettre*  edtfanUi,  Vol.  X.  p.  107. 

imt..ii,  China,  Vol.  II.  p.  -_MJ.  Kllia,  Embassy  to  China,  pp.  268  and 
316.  The  best  proof  perhaps  is  in  the  premiums  offered  for  their  cultivation. 
$**  Lettrt*  tdifianttx,  Vol.  XI  p.  026. 


90  INTERNATIONAL  DIFFERENCES 

>  and  famines  that  frequently  occur.  "  I  believe," 
he  says, "  that,  notwithstanding  its  great  number  of  inhabitants, 
china  would  furnish  enough  of  grain  for  all,  but  that  there  is 
not  sufficient  economy  observed  in  its  consumption,  and  that 
tht-y  employ  an  astonishing  quantity  of  it  in  the  manufacture  of 
the  wine  of  the  country,  and  of  raque."  As  confirmative  of 
his  observations,  he  remarks  the  number  of  fires  occasioned  by 
the  habit  of  drinking  to  excess  before  going  to  bed,  and  the 
prevalence,  among  the  lower  orders,  of  a  malady  called  ye-che, 
produced  by  the  same  vice.1 

A  document  given  in  the  Jesuit's  Letters,  a  translation  from 
the  Gazette  of  the  empire  in  1725,  probably  shows  nearly 
what  order  instruments  of  this  sort,  and  therefore  of  all  sorts, 
really  belong  to :  that  is,  the  difference  between  a  quantity  of 
rice,  or  of  any  thing  else,  in  possession  at  the  end  of  harvest, 
and  a  quantity  to  be  had  in  spring.  It  proceeds  on  the  sup- 
position that  three  bushels  at  the  former  period  are  equivalent, 
and,  in  ordinary  years,  when  there  is  neither  famine  nor 
scarcity,  will  produce  four  at  the  latter.  By  purchasing  at  the 
former  period,  and  selling  at  the  latter,  the  writer  therefore 
estimates,  that  thirty  bushels  will,  at  the  end  of  five  years, 
produce  more  than  one  hundred.  The  estimate  is  perhaps  a 
little  high,  but  from  the  nature  of  it,  of  the  individual  from 
whom  it  comes,  and  those  to  whom  it  is  addressed,  it  is 
unreasonable  to  suppose  that  it  is  much  too  high.  Taken  in 
conjunction  with  a  description  of  a  scheme  for  raising  funds,  of 
which  an  account  is  subjoined,2  it  indicates  that  instruments  in 
China  are  about  the  order  D. 

The  deficiency  of  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of 
accumulation,  is  balanced  by  the  smallness  of  the  necessary 
cost  of  subsistence,  and  wages  of  labor,  and  by  the  great  pro- 

1  Leltres  edifiantes,  Tom.  XII.  p.  199.  The  father  Parennin  seems  to  have 
been  one  of  the  most  intelligent  of  the  Jesuits,  and  had  the  very  best  oppor- 
tunities for  observation,  having  spent  a  long  life  among  the  Chinese  of  all 
classes.  His  testimony  is  much  more  to  be  depended  on,  concerning  such  a 
fact,  than  that  of  passing  travellers,  whose  cursory  observations  extend  only 
to  what  may  be  seen  on  the  exterior  of  the  habitations. 

2 [Here  Rae  refers  to  a  long  "note"  appended  to  the  original  work,  which 
is  reproduced  as  "  Note  F  "  in  the  Appendix  to  this  volume.] 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE  STRENGTH  91 

gress  which  has  been  made  in  the  knowledge  of  the  arts  suited 
to  the  nature  of  the  country  and  the  wants  of  its  inhabitants. 
Where  the  returns  are  quick,  where  the  instruments  formed 
n-quire  but  little  time  to  bring  the  events  for  which  they  are 
formed  to  an  issue,  even  the  defective  principle  of  accumulation 
of  the  Chinese  is  able  to  grasp  a  very  large  compass  of 
materials. 

The  warmth  of  the  climate,  the  natural  fertility  of  the 
country,  the  knowledge  which  the  inhabitants  have  acquired 
of  the  arts  of  agriculture,  and  the  discovery  and  gradual  adap- 
tation to  every  soil  of  a  variety  of  the  most  useful  vegetable 
productions,  enable  them  very  speedily  to  draw  from  almost 
any  part  of  the  surface,  what  is  there  esteemed  an  equivalent 
t<>  much  more  than  the  labor  bestowed  in  tilling  and  cropping 
it.  They  have  commonly  double,  sometimes,  treble  harvests. 
These,  when  they  consist  of  a  grain  so  productive  as  rice,  the 
usual  crop,  can  scarce  fail  to  yield  to  their  skill,  from  almost 
any  portion  of  soil  that  can  be  at  once  brought  into 
culture,  very  ample  returns.  Accordingly  there  is  no  spot 
that  labor  can  immediately  bring  under  cultivation,  that  is 
not  made  to  yield  to  it.  Hills,  even  mountains,  are  ascended 
and  formed  into  terraces;  and  water,  in  that  country  the  great 
1  ^inductive  agent,  is  led  to  every  part  by  drains,  or  carried  up 
to  it  by  the  ingenious  and  simple  hydraulic  machines,  which 
have  been  in  use  from  time  immemorial  among  this  singular 
people.  They  effect  this  the  more  easily  from  the  soil,  even 
in  these  situations,  being  very  deep  and  covered  with  much 

table  mould.  But  what  yet  more  than  this  marks  the 
readiness  with  which  labor  is  found  to  form  the  most  difficult 
materials  into  instruments,  where  these  instruments  soon  bring 
to  an  issue  the  events  for  which  they  are  formed,  is  the 

lent  occurrence  on   many  of  their  lakes  and  waters  of 

structures  resembling  the  floating  gardens  of  the  Peruvians, 

rafts  covered  with  vegetable  soil   and  cultivated.     Labor  in 

way   draws  from   the  materials  on  which  it  acts  very 

speedy  returns.     Nothing  can  exceed  the  luxuriance  of  vegeta- 

when  the  quickening  powers  of  a  genial  sun  are  minis- 

1  to  by  a  rich  soil,  and  abundant  moisture.  It  is  otherwise, 
as  we  have  seen,  in  cases  where  the  return,  though  copious,  is 


92  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

distant.  European  travellers  are  surprised  at  meeting  these 
little  floating  farms,  by  the  side  of  swamps  which  only  require 
draining  to  render  them  tillable.  It  seems  to  them  strange 
that  labor  should  not  rather  be  bestowed  on  the  solid  earth, 
where  its  fruits  might  endure,  than  on  structures  that  must 
decay  and  perish  in  a  few  years.  The  people  they  are  aiium^ 
think  not  so  much  of  future  years  as  of  the  present  time.  The 
effective  desire  of  accumulation  is  of  very  different  strength  in 
the  one,  from  what  it  is  in  the  other.  The  views  of  the  Euro- 
pean extend  to  a  distant  futurity,  and  he  is  surprised  at  the 
Chinese,  condemned,  through  improvidence  and  want  of  suffi- 
cient prospective  care,  to  incessant  toil,  and,  as  he  thinks, 
insufferable  wretchedness.  The  views  of  the  Chinese  are  con- 
fined to  narrower  bounds,  he  is  content,  as  we  say,  to  live 
from  day  to  day,  and  has  learnt  to  conceive  even  a  life  of  toil 
a  blessing.  The  power  which  the  singular  skill  and  dexterity 
of  this  people,  notwithstanding  their  deficiency  in  the  strength 
of  that  principle  that  forms  the  subject  of  this  chapter,  givtv- 
them,  to  work  up  into  instruments  supplying  a  larger  circle  of 
wants,  many  materials  that  would  otherwise  lie  dormant, 
is  seen  in  various  instances  besides  those  referred  to.  It  may 
be  sufficient  to  mention  the  manufacture  of  silk,  and  the  culti- 
vation and  manufacture  of  tea.  They  are  both  instances  of 
the  power  of  the  inventive  faculty  to  form  instruments,  soon 
bringing  to  an  issue  events,  that  repay,  according  to  the  rate 
at  which  labor  is  there  repaid,  considerably  more  than  the 
cost  of  their  formation. 

However  we  explain  it,  it  will  I  think  be  admitted  as  a 
fact,  that  Europeans  in  general  far  exceed  Asiatics,  both  in 
vigor  of  intellect  and  in  strength  of  moral  feeling.  The 
average  duration  of  human  life  is  also  with  them  more 
extended,  and  property  more  secure.  These  circumstances 
give  much  superior  power  to  the  accumulative  principle  in  the 
one  continent,  to  what  it  has  in  the  other,  and  occasion  the 
instruments  constructed  in  each  to  be  of  very  different  orders, 
and  to  form  a  strong  contrast  when  compared  together.  The 
attention  of  an  European,  when  he  visits  Asia,  is  arrested 
by  the  slightness  and  want  of  strength,  solidity,  finish,  and 
consequently  durability,  of  every  instrument  he  sees.  Were  an 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  93 

tic  city  deserted,  the  place  where  it  stands  would,  in  half  a 
century  be  scarcely  discernible.  The  instruments  constructed 
being  of  the  more  quickly  returning  orders,  all  materials  which 
iv<juire  much  labor,  and  bring  in  only  distant  returns,  are 
>cted.  Mud  takes  the  place  of  stone,  wood  of  iron.  In 
Europe,  on  the  other  hand,  in  proportion  as  the  minds  of  the 
people  are  reflective  and  intelligent,  and  their  habits  moral,  we 
find  that  the  interests  of  futurity  operate  on  them  so  largely 
as  to  occasion  a  great  capacity  to  be  given  to  materials,  on 
which,  in  Asia,  a  very  small  capacity  would  be  bestowed, 
vhich  would  there  be  altogether  neglected.  The  most 
stubborn  morasses  are  drained,  and  converted  into  arable 
s ;  roads,  canals,  bridges,  fences,  dwelling-houses,  f urni- 
ture,  tools,  utensils,  in  short  all  instruments  whatever,  indicate 
that  the  formers  of  them  have  regard  to  a  distant  futurity,  and 
are  willing  to  give  up  for  its  interests  a  large  portion  of  the 
means  of  present  enjoyment. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  in  Europe  invention  has 
in  general  made  much  greater  progress  than  in  Asia.     Perhaps 
in  their  knowledge  of  agriculture  and  horticulture  the  Chinese 
tl   most  European   nations,   but    in    other   arts   they   are 
inferior,   and,  with   the   exception   of   them,  no  Asiatics, 
in   the  knowledge  of    these    or    of   other  arts,  can   compete 
with   Europeans.       On   the   other   hand,   the   wages  of  labor 
in  Europe,  are  far  higher  than  in  Asia.     This  circumstance, 
;<•!  \ailing    the    other,    would    probably,    in    many    cases, 
l-rin-j;   the  durability  and   efficiency   of  the  instruments  con- 
ted  in  both  continents  nearly  to  an  equality,  were  it  not 
for  the  existing  difference  in  the  strength  of  the  accumulative 
principle. 

The  examples  we  have  hitherto  considered  have  been  of 
societies,  where  the  principle  of  accumulation  has  been  either 
advancing,  or,  at  least,  not  sensibly  retrograding.  It  may 
be  well  to  turn  our  attention  to  the  effects  produced  by 
a  sensible  decrease  in  its  strength.  The  history  of  the 
»l»-r  lining  ages  of  the  Roman  empire  furnishes  us  with  such 
an  one. 

Rome  may   be  said  to  have  carried  with  her,  from  her 
est  germs,  the  elements  of  decay.    Her  power  was  entirely 


94  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

that  of  force,  a  principle  suppressing  and  subduing  every 
thiii;.:,  generating  nothing;  like  flame  spreading  far  and  wide, 
investing  whatever  it  catches  with  momentary  splendor,  but, 
like  it,  destroying  that  which  feeds  it,  and  going  out  at  length 
leaving  desolation  behind  it.  The  proper  trade  of  the  Romans 
was  war.  But  when  in  agricultural  countries  war  becomes  the 
occupation  of  a  community,  and  conquest  the  means  by  which 
it  seeks  to  acquire  wealth  and  greatness,  evils  arise  which  time. 
instead  of  mitigating,  increases.  When  hunters  go  to  war  with 
hunters,  or  herdsmen  with  herdsmen,  the  object  in  view, 
besides  overcoming  their  enemies,  is  to  obtain  possession  of 
a  portion  of  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  the  animals  wild,  or 
tame,  nourished  by  it.  Over  such  communities  therefore, 
though  war,  passing  like  a  destroying  tempest,  leaves  ruin 
behind,  yet  time  obliterates  all  traces  of  the  devastation  pro- 
duced by  it,  and  the  same  territory  sees  a  new  generation  arise 
from  the  victors  or  vanquished,  as  free,  happy,  and  prosperous, 
as  their  forefathers.  But  in  states  of  society  where  the  riches 
of  the  earth  are  not  brought  out  by  the  wild  or  tame  animals 
which  its  surface  nourishes,  but  by  the  husbandman  who  tills 
it,  there  conquest  can  never  be  a  permanent  gain,  unless 
through  some  permanent  right  acquired  by  it  over  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  territory  subdued.  Hence  the  fact  of  war  being 
successfully  pursued  as  a  gainful  trade  by  any  community, 
seems  to  imply,  that  the  conquered  submit  to  slavery,  either 
personal  or  political,  probably  partly  to  both.  Gain  was  ah 
the  ultimate  object  aimed  at  by  the  Romans.  It  was  not  to 
chastise  an  insult,  or  to  protect  their  citizens  in  the  undis- 
turbed prosecution  of  industry,  that  they  fought  or  conquered. 
These  might  occasionally  serve  for  pretexts,  and  were  some- 
times perhaps  the  exciting  causes  of  war,  but  for  the  real 
fruits  of  victory  they  always  looked  to  the  spoliation  of 
the  vanquished,  and  tribute,  in  one  shape  or  other,  imposed 
on  them.  Every  people  with  whom  they  came  in  contact 
was  regarded  by  them  first  as  an  enemy  to  be  subdued,  after- 
wards as  a  province  from  which  they  were  to  be  enriched. 
They  were  in  truth  a  band  of  well  disciplined  robbers,  whose 
virtue,  law,  religion,  centered  in  their  swords ;  courageous 
indeed,  and  keeping  to  their  positive  engagements  with  a 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  95 

fidelity  common  to  brave  men  (and  which,  as  it  is  for  their 
interest,  even  scattered  banditti  observe),  but  whose  course 
of  rapine  was  still  onward,  relentless,  merciless,  unchecked 
l.y  thoughts  of  the  corporeal  pains,  or  mental  debasement 
it  produced. 

Such  an  empire  could  only  have  been  formed  by  overpower- 
ing the  finer  and  more  generous  and  elevating  feelings,  and 
could  not  be  maintained  without  having  the  effect  of  giving  the 
preponderance  to  the  debasing,  selfish,  and  therefore  destructive 
principles  of  our  nature.  It  left  but  one  great  virtue,  that  of 
patriotism,  with  the  Romans  a  sort  of  enlarged  esprit  de  corps, 

one  great  moral  quality,  that  of  courage,  or  the  meeting 
danger  undauntedly  when  the  interest  of  the  individual  or  the 
state  required  it, — a  principle  of  action,  it  may  be  remarked, 
di  tiering  considerably  from  the  more  generous  and  self -devoting 
gallantry  of  the  modern.  These  were  strong  in  Italy  while 
Italy  was  the  governing  power;  but  even  they  gradually  dis- 
appeared as  the  provinces  were  amalgamated  with  it,  and 
Italians  ceased  to  be  the  conquering  soldiery. 

It  were  needless  to  enlarge  on  a  subject  so  well  known 
as  that  of  the  general  corruption  of  Roman  manners,  from  the 

of  the  first  Caesar.  Venality  and  licentiousness  may  be 
said  to  have  been  universal.  I  shall  confine  myself  to  one 
particular,  as  marking  sufficiently  the  declension  of  those  prin- 

s  on  which  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumu- 
lation mainly  depends.  I  allude  to  the  decay  of  the  family 

tions,  of  which  evidence  everywhere  meets  us.  The  men 
di« I  not  wish  to  be  fathers,  scarcely  did  the  women  wish  to  be 
mothers.  The  joys  of  the  relation  were  to  them  too  small,  to 
be  a  compensation  for  the  sacrifices  it  demanded.  The  bring- 

ip  of  children  cost  the  one  parent  too  much  money,  and 
took  from  the  other  too  much  pleasure.  If  families  were 

1  up,  it  was  not  from  the  natural  influence  of  the  parental 
affections,  but  in  obedience  to  the  laws,  that  the  man  might 
have  the  approbation  of  the  magistrate,  and  that  there  might 
be  citizens  to  the  state.  They  lived,  not  in  others,  or  for 
ul  for  themselves,  and  sought  their  good  in  enj".v- 
ments  altogether  selfish.  It  was  their  aim  to  expend  on  their 

HTSMiuil  pleasures  whatever  they  possibly  could.    It  would 


96  INTERNATIONAL    DIFFERENCES 

seem  as  if  the  majority,  could  they  have  foreknown  the  exact 
limits  of  their  lives,  would  have  made  their  fortunes  and  them 
terminate  together.  As  they  could  not  do  so,  the  fortunes  of 
many  ended  before  their  lives,  as  the  fortunes  of  others  held 
out  beyond  their  lives.  To  reap,  however,  themselves,  while 
alive,  all  possible  benefit  from  what  they  might  chance  to 
leave  others  to  enjoy  after  their  death,  they  encouraged  some 
of  the  members  of  a  despicable  class  who  seem  to  have  consti- 
tuted no  inconsiderable  part  of  Koman  society.  Parasites 
ready  to  minister  to  every  pleasure,  and  to  perform  every 
possible  service,  waited  on  the  man  of  wealth,  in  the  hope  and 
expectation  of  enjoying  a  portion  of  it  after  his  death.  They 
were  more  desirable  than  children,  both  because  they  were 
able  to  give  something  more  than  mere  unsubstantial  affection 
and  esteem,  and  because  they  were  willing  to  give  it,  while  a 
son  or  daughter  might  imagine  they  had  claims  to  receive 
what  they  could  not  be  said  to  have  labored  for.  The  poets 
and  satirists  of  the  Augustine  age,  and  of  subsequent  times, 
give  sufficient  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  state,  evil  in 
itself,  and  the  forerunner  of  many  evils.1  It  gave  occasion  to 
the  law  compelling  parents  to  leave  their  children  a  certain 
part,  a  fourth,  of  their  property.  Its  prevalence  may  be 
judged  of  by  the  wording  of  the  enactments  increasing  the 
children's  share.  It  is  stated,  as  a  fact  well  known,  that 
parents  generally  either  disinherit,  or  omit  their  children  in 
their  wills,  leaving  the  bulk  of  their  property  to  distant  rela- 
tions, to  strangers,  or  to  slaves,  to  whom  they  give  freedom ; 

1  Horace,  V.  Satire,  II.  Book.  It  is  worth  while  observing,  that,  according 
to  this  satire,  to  cheat  these  parasites  into  the  service,  by  holding  out  a 
reward  they  were  never  to  get,  was  reckoned  a  thing  to  be  laughed  at. — 
Probably  the  practice  existed  from  a  very  early  age,  though  I  cannot  give 
authority  for  it.  Parasites  are  in  Plautus'  Plays,  but  these  are  in  a  great 
measure  translations.  The  following  quotation  from  that  author,  however, 
expresses  a  feeling,  which  I  should  suppose  prevailed  in  Roman  society  at  the 
time : 

"  Quando  habeo  multos  cognates,  quid  opus  mihi  sit  liberis. 
Nunc  bene  vivo  et  fortunate,  atque  animo  ut  lubet, 
Mea  bona  mea  morte  cognatis  dicam  interpartiant, 
Illi  apud  me  edunt,  me  curant,  visunt  quid  agam,  ecquid  velim, 
Qui  mihi  mittunt  munera,  ad  prandium,  ad  csenam  vocant." 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE    STRENGTH  97 

that  thus,  if  their  family  is   numerous,  they,  who  during 
lifetime   of   their  father  enjoyed  affluence,  find  that  his 
death  leaves  them  in  poverty.1 

Nothing,  surely,  can  more  clearly  show  the  extreme  and 
fling  selfishness  of  the  time,  than  its   becoming   neces- 
for  the  magistrate  to  compel  the  citizens  to  marry,  and 
to    compel    them    to    leave    portions  to  their   children, 
existence  of  such  a  state  of  things  implied  a  degree  of 
isnlatinn    of    feeling   and    action,  so    great,  as  necessarily  to 
produce  general   weakness   and    decay.     The  general  selfish- 
ness   of  the  principles    guiding    the   conduct  of   individuals, 
be  gathered  from  a  prevailing  proverb,  "  when  I  die  let 
the    world    burn."2     When    such  were    the   maxims    ruling 
society,  there  could  not  fail  to  be  a   heedless  sacrifice  of  the 
interests  of  futurity,  an  exhaustion  of  the  means  or  instru- 
ct s   which    the   forethought    of    previous    generations   had 
employed   industry    to   accumulate,   without   any    correspond- 
reformation  of  them.      Sallust,  in  a  fragment  quoted  by 
Montesquieu,  well   describes  the  men   of  his  day  as  a  race 
who    could    neither    themselves    hold    property,    nor    allow 
rs    to    retain    it.3     Only    such    instruments    could    con- 
cntly    be    formed    as    were    of    very    quickly    returning 
orders,    and,    as    the    vigor    of    the    accumulative   principle 
decayed,  the  members  of  each   succeeding  generation  saw  a 
mass  of  materials  fall  from  their  grasp,  which  had  afforded 

1  Quia  plerumque  parentes  sine  causa  liberos  suas  exheredunt  vel  omittunt. 
Lib.  II.  Tit.  28.     Capiunt  quidem  cognati  omnia,  et  extranei,  vel  cum 
Ue  servi  ;    filii    vero   licet  multi  consistent ;    etiamsi    nihil   offenderint 
parentes,  confunduntur,  etc.     Novel.  XVIII.  Pref. 

''EjtoG  davbvTot  yata  ntxOjrw  vvpl.     Suet.     A  similar  proverb  "apres  nous 

luge,"  is  said   to  have  been  often  in  the  mouth   of  Madame   Pompa- 

one   of   the  purest    self -worshippers    ever    existing.      It    is    perhaps 

worthy  of   remark,    as  showing   the  propensity  of   selfishness  to  grasp  the 

present,   that  both   the   Romans   and   the    lady   were   very   prodigals  even 

iiat   was  entirely   their   own.     The   former   it   is   well    known    rapidly 

exhausted   their  constitutions  by  every    sort    of    debauchery    and    excess, 

•itter  was  as  little  economical   of    her  personal  charms.     At   twenty 

her  lips  are  said   to   have  been   livid    from   the  too    constant    application 

r   teeth   to   make   them  pout,   at  thirty  she  was  haggard. 

lorito  dicatur  genitos  esse,  qui  nee  ipsi  babere  possent  res  familiaree, 

me  all..'-  p;iti." 

Q 


98  INTERNATIONAL    DIFFERENCES 

a    plentiful   supply    to   the    wants    of    their    more  provident 
forefathers.1 

The  means  of  supporting  human  life  diminished,  and  the 
milliters  of  mankind  diminished  with  them.  When  vice 
itself  did  not  sufficiently  check  the  growth  of  the  elements 
of  life,  it  brought  want  and  famine  to  its  assistance.  The 
history  of  the  Eoman  world  under  the  Caesars,  is  a  melan- 
choly detail  of  the  gradually  decaying  funds  of  the  Empire, 
and  the  gradually  decreasing  numbers  of  its  inhabitants. 
Italy,  according  to  Pliny,  and  other  writers,  was  in  the  old 
times  crowded  with  people,  thickly  set  with  cities,  and  rich 
in  all  things  ministering  to  the  needs  of  its  inhabitants.  In 
his  day,  its  diminished  population  depended  for  their  sus- 
tenance on  the  productions  of  other  territories.  The  change 
certainly  was  not  owing  to  any  alteration  in  the  materials. 
"  Noii  fatigata  aut  effbeta  humus,"  says  Columella.  The 
earth  would  have  yielded  the  same  returns,  had  they  who 
possessed  it  been  willing  to  expend  what  was  necessary  to 
give  it  the  capacity  of  yielding  them.  As  the  materials 
were  only  wrought  up  to  very  quickly  returning  orders, 
they  had  necessarily  a  much  smaller  capacity,  and  the 
annual  returns  made  by  them  were  of  consequence  much 
less.  Pasture  took  place  of  tillage;  corn  was  brought  from 
the  provinces ;  and  when  the  supply  failed  famine  ensued. 
Even  the  construction  of  ships  for  the  transport  of  this, 
and  other  merchandise,  would  seem  to  have  been  an  effort 
to  which  the  accumulative  principle  was  scarcely  equal. 
It  was  found  necessary  to  encourage  it  by  rewarding  those 


1  [Several  writers  have  ascribed  the  fall  of  Rome  on  its  economic  side,  to 
the  draining  away  of  money  to  the  East  in  payment  for  imported  luxuries. 
This  was  not  a  separate  and  distinct  cause  of  decline,  but  rather  one  of  its  con- 
comitants. It  is  but  one  of  the  phases  of  the  general  and  fundamental  cause 
which  Rae  sets  forth.  The  stock  of  metallic  money  of  a  community  is  a 
social  instrument,  the  "  instrument  of  association,"  as  Henry  C.  Carey 
aptly  called  it,  and  it  is  secured  in  the  first  place  and  kept  up  after- 
wards in  the  same  manner  essentially  as  other  instruments— by  industry 
and  the  exercise  of  the  accumulative  principle.  The  present-day  arguments 
as  to  the  comparative  unimportance  of  more  or  less  money,  do  not  apply  to  an 
age  when  extensive  areas  were  lapsing  from  a  money  economy  to  a  state  of 
barter.] 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE    STRENGTH  99 

who  prosecuted  that  branch  of  industry.1  Sometimes  land 
formerly  cultivated  was  allowed  to  lie  entirely  waste,  and 
passed  altogether  out  of  the  class  of  instruments.  The  forest 
and  wilderness  gained  on  the  Romans,  as  they  would  now,  for 
similar  reasons,  on  an  Indian  population,  were  some  of  these 
t lilies  put  in  possession  of  the  domains,  anciently  the  property 
of  their  race,  at  present  yielding  abundantly  to  the  provident 
industry  of  the  whites.  Had  there  been  no  irruption  of  the 
ltarl»arians,  the  Empire  must  have  perished,  more  slowly  per- 
haps, but  as  certainly,  from  the  operation  alone  of  these 
internal  causes  of  decay.  They  were  occasioning  a  progressive 
diminution  of  the  capacity  which  materials  formerly  possessed. 
Tli  us,  it  is  to  the  Romans  themselves  as  much  as  to  the  bar- 
ms, that  the  destruction  of  the  public  edifices  is  to  be 
ascribed.  The  stones  were  applied  to  private  purposes.  With 
i  hf  capacity  for  yielding  a  return,  there  necessarily  perished 
the  return  yielded,  and  the  power,  consequently,  of  maintain- 
the  same  number  of  men,  and  contributing  an  equal 
amount  to  the  wants  of  the  state.  Hence  the  population  of 
Kmpire,  and  the  imperial  revenue,  diminished  from  age 
to  age. 

The  diminution  would  have  l>een  much  more  rapid  but  for 
some  counteracting  causes.     Rome,  while  she  conquered  and 
enslaved,  gave  peace,  and  peace  enabled  the  arts  to  pass  from 
:try   to  country,  and  often,  under  her  protection,  carried 
i   to  regions  before  barbarous.     Again,  she  herself,  as  she 
gradually  proceeded    to    enslave   the   rest  of  the  world,  and 
role   it   in    her    empire,   received    into    her    li<>s<>m    those 
who   had   been   free,  or   were   the   immediate  descendants  of 
:uen,  and  retained  something  of  their  virtues.     The  un- 
governable licentiousness,  extravagance,  and  proneness  to  evil 
he  Italians,  were   tempered  by   the  greater  and 

frugality  of  the  new  men  of  many  of  the  distant  provinces, 

'Nam   et  negotiatoribus  certa  lucra  proposuit,  suscepto  in   se  damno  si 

ii'l   per  teropestatefl  accidisset ;  et  naves  mercaturae  causa  fabricanti- 

bus  magna  commoda  const! tuit  pro  conditione  cuj usque  :   civibus  vacationetn 

legis  Pappere  :    Latinia  jus  Quiritum  :    fa-minis  jus  quatuor  liberorum  ;  qua 

conatituta  hodie  servantur. 

Suet,  in  vita  Claudii.   MX 


100  INTERNATIONAL   DIFFERENCES 

who  flocked  in  to  recruit  the  diminishing  numbers  of  her 
citizens.1 

These  two  circumstances,  however,  only  retarded,  they  could 
not  resist,  the  advancing  degeneracy,  poverty,  and  weakness, 
that  were  gradually  sapping  the  foundations  of  the  Empire, 
and  exposing  it  to  be  overturned  by  external  violence,  or 
to  fall  to  ruin  by  its  own  weight.  While  some  of  her 
provinces  gave  strength  to  Rome,  she  corrupted  them ;  i  I 
she  gave  them  her  arts,  she  gave  them  also  her  manners. 
Like  liquor,  already  begun  to  turn,  mixed  with  what  is 
yet  fresh,  the  defects  of  the  compound  were  not  at  first  per- 
ceptible; by  and  by,  the  adulteration  diffused  through  it 
wrought  on  the  whole,  and  rendered  it  all  alike  worthless. 

The  propagation  of  Christianity  over  the  Empire  is  to  be 
reckoned  as  another  of  the  causes  retarding  its  decay.  It 
is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  this  took  place  too  late 
for  reaping  the  advantages,  which  the  morality  of  the  Gospel 
might  have  otherwise  conferred ;  and  that  the  corruptions 
of  the  times  were  so  great  as  to  lead  its  teachers  rather 
to  preach  the  duty  of  withdrawing  from  the  world,  than 
to  inspire  them  with  the  hopes  of  remoulding  the  world  to 
an  accordance  with  a  system  of  perfect  purity  of  morals  and 
benevolence  of  purpose.  The  effects  of  this  cause  were  there- 
fore comparatively  small. 

The  reader  will  perceive  that  the  subject  we  are  upon 
might  be  stretched  to  an  indefinite  length.  Circumstances 
have  given  to  every  community  a  peculiar  character;  the 
moral  and  intellectual  powers  of  every  people  have  received 
different  degrees  of  developement,  and  the  continuance  of  life 
is  more  or  less  probable,  and  the  possession  of  property  more 
or  less  assured,  in  one  country  than  in  another.  All  these 
particulars  vary  the  relations  between  the  present  and  the 
future,  in  the  estimation  of  the  members  of  different  societies, 
and  would  therefore  determine  each  community  to  stop  short 
at  some  particular  point  in  our  series,  towards  which,  the 
strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  may  be  said  to  cause 
the  instruments  it  forms  continually  to  gravitate.  Unlike  the 
1  Tacit.  Ann.  C.  55,  L.  III. 


IN   ACCUMULATIVE   STRENGTH  101 

operation  of  gravity,  however,  the  force  with  which  they  tend 
to  this  point  diminishes,  as  their  distance  from  it  decreases, 
and  the  farther  they  are  removed  from  it,  the  greater  the 
rapidity  of  their  progress  towards  it. 

The  subject  would  not  therefore  be  fairly  exhausted  until  all 
the  circumstances  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  state,  and  other 
particulars  of  the  condition  of  every  people,  had  been  examined, 
and  compared  with  the  extent  to  which  the  formation  of  instru- 
ments among  them  is  advanced.  Enough,  however,  has  perhaps 
been  done  to  show,  that  this  principle  is  of  very  extensive 
operation,  and  that  in  our  subsequent  inquiries,  we  are  war- 
ran  UM I  in  assuming  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of 
accumulation  to  be  a  circumstance  of  primary  importance, 
in  the  determination  of  the  extent  to  which  the  formation  of 
instruments  will  be  carried  in  any  society.  We  should  now 
proceed  to  examine  the  more  important  effects  resulting  from 
variations  in  the  strength  of  this  principle  in  different  members 
of  the  same  community.  It  is  however  necessary  first  to  con- 
sonie  phenomena  produced  by  the  progress  of  it,  and 
nf  the  inventive  faculty,  and  certain  classifications  of  instru- 
ments and  names  applied  to  them,  which  have  thence  arisen. 
This  will  form  the  subject  of  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

OF  THE  DIVISION  OF  EMPLOYMENTS  AND  OTHER  PHENO- 
MENA PRODUCED  BY  EFFORTS  TO  ACCELERATE  THE 
EXHAUSTION  OF  INSTRUMENTS, 

EVERY  individual  endeavors  to  exhaust,  as  speedily  as  lie 
can,  the  capacity  of  the  instruments  which  he  possesses.  By 
rapidly  exhausting  the  capacity  of  any  instrument,  the  returns 
yielded  by  it  are  not  lessened,  but  quickened.  The  powers  it 
possesses  to  bestow  enjoyment,  or  to  aid  in  the  formation  of 
other  instruments,  are  not  diminished  in  quantity,  but  sooner 
brought  into  action,  and  it  passes  to  an  order  of  quicker 
return.  When  therefore  the  efforts  of  individuals,  so  directed, 
are  successful,  by  placing  the  instruments  operated  on  in  more 
quickly  returning  orders,  they  stimulate  the  accumulative 
principle  to  give  greater  capacity  to  instruments  of  the  sort, 
and  proportionally  increase  the  capacity  of  the  whole  stock  of 
instruments  owned  by  the  society.  It  is  to  certain  phenomena,  in 
the  production  of  which  these  two  circumstances  are  the  main 
agents,  that  we  have  in  this  chapter  to  direct  our  attention. 

As  the  knowledge  which  mankind  possess  of  the  course  of 
nature  advances,  and  they  discover  a  greater  number  of  means 
to  provide  for  their  future  wants,  the  instruments  they  employ 
for  this  purpose  become  very  various.  The  exercise  of  the  arts 
of  the  weaver,  the  blacksmith,  the  carpenter,  the  farmer, 
implies  the  existence  of  a  great  variety  of  tools  with  which 
they  may  be  carried  on.  But,  as  a  man  can  only  do  one  thing 
at  once,  if  any  man  had  all  the  tools  which  these  several 
occupations  require,  at  least  three-fourths  of  them  would 


OF   SEPARATION  OF  EMPLOYMENTS          103 

constantly  lie  idle  and  useless.     It  were  clearly  then  better, 
were  any  society  to  exist  where  each  man  had  all  these  tools, 
and  alternately  carried  on  each  of  these  occupations,  that  the 
members  of  it  should  if  possible  divide  them  amongst  them, 
each     restricting    himself    to    some    particular    employment. 
There  would  then  be  no  superfluous  implements,  each  set  of 
tools  would  form  an  instrument  much  more  speedily  exhausted, 
and  therefore  of  an  order  of  quicker  return  than  before.     In 
where  this  could  be  done,  common  sense  would  point  out 
ic  advantage  of  it.     When,  for  instance,  a  man's  loom  came 
be  worn  out,  he  would  go  to  his  neighbor  and  say,  "  I  shall 
>t   make  another  loom  if   you  will   undertake  to  do  what 
feaving  I  may  require ;   in  return  I  will  give  you  some  of  the 
luce  of  my  farm,  or  will  do  some  blacksmith  work  for  you." 
offer  would  be  accepted,  and  similar  motives  operating 
uoughout  the  society,  each  individual  in  it  would  confine  his 
lustry,  as  far  as  possible,  to  the  employment  of  some  par- 
icular  set  of  tools  or  instruments.     It  is  not  perhaps  likely 
[obvious],  that  this  was  the  manner  in  which  that  division  of 
jupations  with  which    we  are  now  familiar  was  originally 
luced,  but  it  must  evidently  have  been  produced  in  this 
ray,  had  it  not  been  otherwise  brought   to  pass,  as  we  see, 
fact,  that  even  now  it  is  thus  brought  to  pass  in  the  progress 
settlements  in  North  America.     In  such  situations,  every 
is  at  first   probably  obliged   to  be    his  own  carpenter, 
r,  tanner,  cobbler,  and  perhaps  to  a  great  extent  his  own 
smith.     As  the  settlement  fills  up,  and  the  population 
>mes    sufficiently    dense,    he    gives    up    this    multifarious 
idustry,  and  takes  to  some  particular  branch.     The  advan- 
of  the  change  to  the  whole  community,  and  therefore  to 
individual  in  it,  are  great.     In  the  first  place,  the  various 
iplements    being    in    constant    employment    yield    a    better 
u  ii   for  what  has  been  laid  out  in  procuring  them ;  being 
ler  exhausted  they  pass  to  a  more  quickly  returning  order, 
consequence,  their  owners  can  afford  to  have  them  of  better 
and  more  complete  construction;  the  effective  desire  of 
i in ulation  carries  them  on  to  a  class  correspondent  to  its 
rn  strength.     The  result  of   both  events  is,   that  a  larger 
>roviaiou  is  made  for  the  future  wants  of  the  whole  society. 


104         OF   SEPARATION   OF   EMPLOYMENTS 

Such  a  revolution  can  only  have  place,  where  the  individuals 
exercising  the  different  employments,  have  a  ready  communica- 
tion with  each  other.  In  situations  where  they  cannot  easily 
communicate,  either  from  distance,  or  difficulty  of  transit,  such 
exchanges  cannot  take  place.1  If  a  man  had  to  go  twenty 
miles  for  every  little  piece  of  carpenter  work  that  he  wished 
executed,  it  were  better  for  him  to  keep  a  few  carpenter  tools 
of  his  own.  Neither  is  it  likely  to  take  place  extensively 
unless  where  the  accumulative  principle  has  considerable 
strength,  and  where,  consequently,  a  large  amount  of  labor  is 
wrought  up  in  the  several  implements  in  use.  Where,  as  it. 
Hindostan,  the  loom  is  merely  a  few  sticks,  it  would  save  ond 
individual  very  little  to  employ  another  to  weave  for  him.  It 
is  accordingly,  in  countries  where  the  population  is  most 
dense,  the  facility  of  communication  greatest,  and  instruments 
wrought  up  to  the  more  slowly  returning  orders,  that  employ- 
ments are  most  divided. 

As  a  division  of  employments  implies  the  existence  of 
exchange  or  barter,  so,  as  it  extends,  these  exchanges  become 
necessarily  more  frequent.  Every  man,  to  procure  the  supply 
of  his  various  wants,  has  to  employ  the  services  of  more 
individuals  than  he  had  before.  The  farmer,  who  used  to 
manufacture  his  own  cloth  from  his  own  fleeces,  transfers  these 
to  some  one  else,  and  perhaps,  after  they  have  passed  through 
the  hands  of  the  carder,  the  spinner,  the  weaver,  the  fuller,  etc. 
part  of  them  returns  to  him  again  in  the  shape  of  cloth  for 
some  garment  that  he  is  in  need  of.  In  an  advanced  state  of 
society,  very  few  wants  are  supplied  but  by  articles  or  instru- 
ments which  have  passed  through  many  hands.  We  can 
scarce  then  fitly  pursue  our  subject,  without  some  examination 
of  the  manner  in  which  these  exchanges  take  place,  and  of  tin1 
rules  by  which  they  are  regulated. 

As  all  instruments  exist  solely  to  supply  wants,  so  any  man 

1  [In  Carey's  terminology,  separation  of  employments  depends  upon  the 
"power  of  association."  He  believed  that  through  an  excessive  scattering  out 
of  the  people  into  the  backwoods  settlements  in  his  day  this  power,  and 
therefore  its  advantages,  were  in  great  measure  lost.  Compare  Edward  Gibbon 
Wakefield  on  the  "  barbarising  tendency  to  dispersion  "  in  all  frontier  com- 
munities.] 


AND  THE   SYSTEM  OF   EXCHANGE  105 

will  consent  to  receive  an  instrument  in  exchange,  or  expect  to 
give  it  in  exchange,  only  as  it  is  a  means  of  supplying  wants. 
It  is  the  business  of  every  man  to  adopt  the  readiest  and  easiest 
means  he  can  devise  to  supply  all  coming  needs,  and  it  is 
solely  because  the  medium  of  barter  [exchange]  presents  the 
readiest  means  of  effecting  this  end,  that  he  adopts  it. 

But  labor  is  the  fund  which  all  men  have,  out  of  which  to 
supply  their  wants.  Some  have  other  funds  besides,  but  every 
man  has  this,  and  strip  a  man  of  every  thing  adventitious,  this 
alone  remains  to  him.  It  is  this,  then,  which  a  person  may 
most  fitly  be  said  to  expend,  in  provision  for  any  future  want. 
When  one  man  exchanges  this  for  that,  he  may  be  said  to  give 
the  labor  which  he  has  expended  on  this,  for  the  labor  which 
has  been  expended  on  that,  and  labor  for  labor  would  seem  to 
be  the  most  simple  of  exchanges.  It  never,  as  we  shall  see, 
exactly  takes  place,  but  sometimes  it  is  nearly  approximated 
to,  and,  that  we  may  set  out  from  the  most  simple  elements,  we 
may  suppose  that  it  is  actually  arrived  at. 

Any  man  will  be  inclined  to  exchange  one  instrument  for 
another,  if,  by  so  doing,  he  can  save  himself  any  part  of  the 
:  which  he  must  otherwise  expend  in  producing  that  other. 
A  lives  in  some  place  where  willows  are  to  be  had  for  cutting 
them  ;  he  employs  himself  in  making  willow  baskets,  one  of 
which  he  finishes  in  two  days ;  B  offers  him  a  straw  hat  for  it. 
If  lie  wants  a  straw  hat,  and  thinks  that,  were  he  to  set  a 
making  one,  it  would  occupy  him  more  than  two  days,  and 
moreover,  that  neither  D,  E  or  F,  who  make  straw  hats,  will 
give  it  for  less :  he  will  be  inclined  to  make  the  exchange.  In 
doing  so,  it  is  a  matter  of  indifference  to  him  what  time  B  may 
have  expended  in  making  the  hat,  his  only  reason  for  entering 
-action,  is  the  saving  of  labor  to  himself  he  thereby 
In  reality,  however,  it  is  altogether  likely  that  B 
has  not  expended  more  than  two  days  in  making  it.  For, 
'•sing,  as  in  this  case  we  may,  that  both  A  and  B  have  the 
same  natural  faculties,  B,  were  he  to  set  about  making  willow 
baskets,  could  make  them  as  well  and  as  easily  as  A,  that  is  at 
the  rate  of  one  in  two  days.  If  then  the  straw  hat  cost  him 
more  than  two  days'  labor,  he  would  rather  make  a  willow 
basket  for  himself  than  exchange  his  straw  hat  for  it.  Even  if 


106         OF  SEPARATION   OF  EMPLOYMENTS 

he  had  not  the  manual  skill  necessary,  he  would  apply  himself 
to  acquire  it,  and  take  to  the  occupation  of  basket-making  in 
preference  to  that  of  making  hats ;  as  we  see,  in  employments 
where  mere  labor  is  concerned,  that  one  is  deserted  for  another 
according  as  it  gives  less  or  more  wages. 

It  so  comes  to  pass  that  in  the  same  society,  in  all  exchanges, 
as  far  as  we  can  conceive  mere  labor  to  be  concerned,  one  man, 
A,  barters  that  which  has  cost  him  two,  or  twenty  days'  labor, 
with  that  which  has  cost  another,  B,  two,  or  twenty  days' 
labor.  We  must  however  bear  in  mind,  that  neither  does  A 
offer  the  article,  nor  does  B  receive  it,  simply  because  it  has 
cost  two,  or  twenty  days'  labor.  A  offers  it,  and  B  receives  it, 
because  it  is  an  instrument  to  supply  future  wants,  and  under 
the  supposition  that  it  cannot  be  got  for  less  than  two  or 
twenty  days'  labor.  In  such  cases,  the  person  desirous  of 
making  the  exchange  may  indeed  say  to  the  individual  with 
whom  he  wishes  to  exchange, — Sir,  I  assure  you  the  article 
cost  me  two,  or  twenty  days'  labor,  as  the  case  may  be ;  and 
being  assured  of  this,  the  person  so  addressed  may  think  it 
sufficient  grounds  to  make  the  exchange,  and  may  so  conclude 
the  bargain.  But  he  does  so,  not  because  the  other  has 
expended  two  or  twenty  days'  labor  on  it,  but  because,  he 
having  expended  this,  he  concludes  that  it  cannot  be  got  for 
less  ;  that  if  it  has  cost  him  two  or  twenty  days'  work,  it  would 
have  cost  any  other,  and  would  cost  himself,  the  same 
labor.  If  he  knows  that  the  person  desirous  of  exchanging  is 
an  unskilful  or  bungling  workman,  or  if  he  sees  that  the  labor 
has  been  injudiciously  applied,  he  will  not  give  what  is 
demanded.  He  knows,  in  that  case,  that  he  can  make  it,  or 
get  it  made,  for  less.  Were  one  to  employ  himself  in  rolling  a 
stone  up  hill  and  down  hill  for  a  month  together,  he  would 
leave  it  as  useless  to  him  in  the  way  of  exchange  as  before  he 
put  his  hand  to  it. 

It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  rule,  then,  that  in  as  far  as  labor 
simply  is  concerned  in  all  exchanges,  one  thing  will  be  bartered 
for  another,  not  in  proportion  to  the  labor  that  has  been 
respectively  bestowed  on  each,  but  in  proportion  to  that 
which  it  is  necessary  to  bestow  on  materials,  similar  to  those 
of  which  each  has  been  constructed,  to  make  other  articles 


AND   THE   SYSTEM   OF  EXCHANGE  107 

equal  to'  them  in  capacity  to  supply  wants ;  that,  if  this 
basket  exchanges  for  that  hat,  though  each  may  have  cost 
two  days'  labor,  it  is  not  exactly  because  each  has  cost  it,  but 
because  neither  a  basket  equally  good  as  the  one,  nor  a  hat 
equally  good  as  the  other,  can  be  made  for  less  than  two  days' 
labor. 

As  a  corollary  from  this,  it  follows  that,  whenever  an  article 
comes  to  be  made  with  less  labor  than  formerly,  articles  of  the 
same  sort  which  may  have  been  previously  manufactured,  pro- 
cure for  their  owners  less  of  other  articles  in  exchange  than 
they  did  before.  They  exchange,  not  for  what  labor  has  been 
actually  wrought  up  in  them,  but  for  what  is  now  required  to 
make  others  similar  to  them.  Thus,  supposing  that  a  basket- 
maker,  say  in  some  settlement  in  North  America,  having  to  go 
on  foot  a  considerable  distance  through  woods  and  swamps  for 
his  willow  twigs,  requires  one  day  to  procure  enough  to  make  a 
basket,  and  that  he  takes  another  to  work  them  up,  he  would 
then  probably  receive  for  each  basket  two  days'  labor,  or 
articles  having  cost  two  days'  labor.  If  now,  however,  a  place 
whfre  equally  good  willows  grow  is  discovered  near  at  hand,  so 
that  only  half  a  day  is  required  to  get  enough  for  a  basket,  and 
if  this  is  generally  known,  he  will  no  longer  be  able  to  exchange 
them  at  the  same  rate,  because,  as  we  have  seen,  other  people 
would  make  baskets  for  less,  that  is,  for  one  and  a  half  days' 
labor,  or  for  articles  in  the  fabrication  of  which  the  labor  of  one 
and  a  half  days  had  been  expended.  Any  stock  then  he  might 
have  on  hand  of  baskets  made  previously  to  this  discovery, 
would  only  exchange  for  articles  requiring  for  their  fabrication 
Ui«-  labor  of  a  day  and  a  half.  The  same  rule  that  applies  to 
thi-  trivial  instance,  holds  good  in  affairs  of  greater  importance, 
and  regulates  a  large  amount  of  exchanges. 

I    can  however  never  exactly  happen,  that  labor  will  be  ex- 

'_.'(•<!,  in  this  simple  way,  for  labor.    The  formation  of  t 
instrument,  besides  labor,  requires  also  the  assistance  of  some 
other  instrument.     Even  the  basket-maker  and  the  hat-maker, 
allowing  them  to  get  the  twigs  and  straw  they  require,  for  th< 
Me  of  collecting  them,  would  need,  the  one  at  least  a  knife, 
the  other  a  needle  and  thread.     Auxiliaries  so  inconsider- 
able as  these  need  scarce  be  noticed  in  the  reckoning;  Imt 


108         OF   SEPARATION  OF  EMPLOYMENTS 

there  are  cases  where  these  assisting  instruments  may  be  said 
to  do  a  great  part,  others,  in  which  they  may  be  said  to  do 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  work.  In  a  steam-boat  the  engine 
may  be  considered  as  the  great  laboring  power,  though 
the  services  of  the  men  who  supply  fuel,  and  regulate  the 
motion  of  it  and  of  the  boat,  enter  also  largely  into  the 
account.  In  a  set  of  well-contrived,  and  well-finished  pipes, 
for  conducting  water  through  a  city  to  the  different  houses 
in  it,  the  amount  of  human  labor  entering  [directly]  into  the 
process  is  very  trifling. 

A  weaver  we  shall  suppose  receives  thread  to  weave  into  a 
piece  of  linen,  and  finishes  the  job  in  thirty  days.  Were  he 
now,  in  return,  to  receive  from  his  employer  simply  thirty  days' 
labor,  he  would  get  too  little ;  for,  his  loom  being  an  instru- 
ment partially  exhausted  in  fabricating  the  linen,  this  exhaus- 
tion ought  to  form  an  item  in  the  account.  Suppose  that  the 
effective  desire  of  accumulation  of  the  individual,  is  of  strength 
sufficient  to  carry  him  to  the  order  G,  doubling  in  seven  years, 
that  the  loom  cost  one  hundred  clays'  labor,  and  that  it  will  be 
exhausted  in  seven  years  ;  it  would  then  require  to  return  two 
hundred  days'  labor,  or  an  equivalent,  at  the  end  of  that  period. 
The  return  however  is  not  delayed  so  long,  but  begins  to  come 
in  daily,  immediately  after  its  construction.  Calculating  then 
what  yearly  return  is  equal  to  two  hundred  days  at  the  end  of 
seven  years,  in  the  estimation  of  a  man  who  reckons  one  day 
now  equal  to  two  then,  it  will  turn  out  to  be  nearly  twenty 
days.  We  may  allow  that  the  loom  is  in  employment  three 
hundred  days  a  year,  it  would  therefore,  on  these  principles, 
have  to  return  two  days'  labor,  for  every  thirty  days  during 
which  it  was  in  operation,  and  the  weaver  would  consequently 
have  to  receive  an  equivalent  to  thirty-two  days'  labor ;  at  least 
had  he  not  a  moral  certainty  of  receiving  this,  he  would  not 
have  formed  the  instrument,  and  were  such  return  to  cease  he 
would  not  reconstruct  it. 

The  transport  of  goods  by  sea  is  an  event  brought  about  as 
much  by  the  agency  of  instruments,  as  by  direct  human  labor. 
A  vessel  costs,  we  shall  say,  five  thousand  days'  labor,  is 
exhausted  in  seven  years,  and  is  navigated  by  three  men.  If 
she  belongs  to  a  person  whose  effective  desire  of  accumulation 


AND  THE   SYSTEM   OF  EXCHANGE  109 

carries  him  only  to  the  class  G,  and  supposing  those  who 
navigate  her  to  be  paid  for  three  hundred  days'  labor,  she  must, 
on  these  principles,  return  about  nineteen  hundred  days'  labor 
annually.  Say  she  is  freighted  to  carry  a  cargo  of  timber,  and 
that  the  voyage  occupies  three  months.  This  transport  being 
a  part  of  the  process  of  the  formation  of  certain  instruments, 
houses,  furniture,  etc.,  as  necessary  as  any  other  part  of  it,  the 
owner  will  therefore  receive  directly,  or  indirectly,  from  those 
engaged  in  their  formation,  an  equivalent  to  not  less  than  four 
hundred  and  seventy-five  days'  labor. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  too,  that,  even  in  cases  where  labor 
alone  seems  to  be  paid  for,  time  generally  also  forms  one  of  the 
ifl  to  be  taken  into  account.  Thus,  an  individual  contracts, 
within  three  months,  to  fell  the  trees  on  a  certain  piece  of 
forest  land  in  a  North  American  settlement.  If  then  he  be 
paid  at  the  commencement  of  the  three  months,  he  will  expect 
to  receive  less  than  if  payment  be  deferred  until  the  expiration 
<>f  that  time,  and  the  difference  between  the  two  amounts  will 
be  regulated,  as  in  other  cases,  by  the  particular  orders  to 
which  instruments,  in  that  particular  situation,  are  generally 
wrought  up.  The  same  things  hold  good  in  all  instances  where 
labor  is  paid  for  by  the  work  executed,  or,  as  it  is  termed,  by 
the  piece. 

The  division  of  employments  and  consequent  prevalence  of 
-ystem  of  exchange,  occasions  a  particular  classification  of 
amenta. 

Before  the  division  of  employments  takes  place,  the  instru- 
ments which  every  man  forms,  or  causes  to  be  formed,  are  for 
immediate  use,  and  after  it  has  taken  place,  the  portion  in- 
dividuals reserve  for  this  purpose  makes  still  a  considerable  part 
ie  whole  of  the  instruments  belonging  to  any  community. 
n  the  poorest  beggar  has  some  clothes  to  cover  him  ;  the 
opulent  have  houses,  furniture,  clothing,  gardens,  pleasure- 
grounds,  &c.  This  part  of  the  whole  mass  of  instruments 
possessed  by  individuals  or  communities,  is  termed  a  stock 
reserved  for  immediate  consumption. 

Tin-  n-mainder  of  the  general  stock  of  instruments  of  indi- 
viduals and  of  societies,  with  the  exception  of  land,  considered 
not  as  actually  cultivated,  but  as  having  [been  given]  a 


110          OF   SEPARATION    OF  EMPLOYMENTS 

capacity  for  being  cultivated,  is  termed  capital.  The  instru- 
ments to  which  this  term  applies  supply  the  future  wants 
of  the  individuals  owning  them,  indirectly,  either  from  being 
themselves  commodities  that  may  be  exchanged  for  articles 
directly  suited  to  their  needs,  or  by  their  capacity  of  pro- 
ducing commodities  which  may  be  so  exchanged.1 

Capital  itself  is  again  subdivided  into  fixed,  and  circulating 
capital.  Fixed  capital  consists  of  instruments  which  have 
a  capacity  for  producing  commodities  to  be  exchanged,  but 
are  not  themselves  formed  for  the  purpose  of  being  exchanged. 
Circulating  capital  consists  of  commodities  fitted  for  being 
exchanged,  or  of  instruments  in  process  of  formation  into  such 
commodities. 

It  often  happens  that  the  division  between  fixed  and  circu- 
lating capital  is  drawn  with  difficulty,  some  instruments 
belonging  partly  to  the  one,  and  partly  to  the  other.  Thus  a 
horse  employed  for  agricultural  purposes  is  a  part  of  fixed 
capital,  while  an  ox  may  belong  partly  to  fixed,  and  partly 
to  circulating  capital,  as  he  is  reared  and  fed,  in  part  for 
the  services  expected  from  him  as  an  animal  of  draft,  and 
in  part  for  the  price  his  carcase  brings. 

The  total  instruments  owned  by  an  individual,  or  a  society, 
and  comprehended  under  the  terms  a  stock  reserved  for  im- 
mediate consumption,  fixed  and  circulating  capital,  have 
received  the  general  appellation  of  stock. 

All  instruments,  whether  comprehended  under  the  divisions 
capital  fixed  and  circulating,  or  a  stock  reserved  for  immediate 
consumption,  possess  a  capacity  for  supplying  the  wants,  or 
saving  the  labor  of  man.  But  the  wants  which  they  supply 

a[  Apparently  Rae  excludes  land,  considered  as  the  basal  instrument  of 
agriculture,  from  the  category  of  capital,  because  it  is  an  instrument  of 
"indefinite  period  of  exhaustion"  and  yields  income  in  the  form  of  rent 
instead  of  interest  or  profit.  It  is  important  to  observe  that  Rae  makes  no 
use  of  the  specific  definition  of  capital  here  given,  which  follows  closely  the 
lead  of  Adam  Smith.  His  working  concept  of  capital  coincides  with  all 
stock.  The  title  of  this  second  "Book,"  it  will  be  remembered,  was:  "Of 
the  Nature  of  Stock  and  of  the  Laws  Governing  its  Increase  and  Diminution.'* 
This  reprint  would  have  been  called  the  Sociological  Theory  of  Stock,  had 
that  been  a  terminology  which  would  speak  to  the  present  generation  of 
readers.] 


AND  THE   SYSTEM   OF   EXCHANGE  111 

and  the  labor  which  they  save,  are  in  general  not  immediate, 
but  future.  Now  we  cannot  estimate  the  same  amount  of 
labor  saved,  or  wants  supplied  tomorrow,  and  five,  or  fifty 
years  hence,  as  equivalent  the  one  to  the  other.  Thus  if  we 
compare  together  a  hundred  full  grown  trees,  and  as  many 
saplings,  it  may  be,  that,  estimated  in  the  supply  they  yield 
the  wants  of  futurity,  they  are  alike.  If  the  former  be 
cut  down  tomorrow  they  may  yield  a  hundred  cords  of  fire 
wood,  and  if  the  latter  be  cut  down  fifty  years  hence  they 
may  yield  the  same.  We  should  not  nevertheless  conceive, 
thai  they  were  equal  the  one  to  the  other.  What  measure  then 
are  we  to  adopt  for  comparing  them  and  other  such  instru- 
ments together,  and  thus  finding  an  expression  in  a  quantity 
of  immediate  labor  for  the  whole  capacity  of  instruments 
possessed  by  any  community  or  for  the  whole  stock  of  that 
i-niiimunity  ?  The  natural  measure  would  seem  to  be  the 
relative  estimate,  which  the  individuals  concerned  themselves 
form  of  the  present  and  the  future,  that  is,  the  strength  of  the 
effective  desire  of  accumulation  of  the  particular  community. 
Thus  in  a  community  whose  effective  desire  of  accumulation 
is  of  strength  sufficient  to  carry  it  to  the  formation  of  instru- 
ments of  the  order  E,  doubling  in  five  years,  an  instrument, 
which  at  the  expiration  of  five  years  yielded  a  return  equiva- 
lent to  two  days'  labor,  might  fairly  be  estimated  as  equivalent 
to  one  day's  present  labor ;  if  at  the  expiration  of  ten  years  it 
yielded  an  equivalent  to  four  days'  labor,  it  might  also  now 
be  rated  at  one  day's  labor,  and  so  for  other  periods.  This 
fore  is  a  mode  of  expressing  in  present  days'  labor  the 
whole  capacity  of  the  instruments  owned  by  any  society  which 
will  be  made  use  of  in  the  following  pages;  and  the  terms, 
the  absolute  stock,  and  absolute  capital  of  that  society,  will  be 
employed  to  denote  it. 

The  mode,  however,  in  which  the  fixed  and  circulating 
capital  and  stock  belonging  to  societies  is  usually  estimated, 
Iferent.  It  is  usual  to  estimate  the  instruments  belonging 
to  any  society,  by  comparing  them  with  one  another  as  they 
actually  exchange,  some  particular  commodity  being  made 
choice  of  as  the  standard  to  which  all  other  instruments 
are  referred.  To  capital  and  stock  estimated  in  this  mode. 


112         OF  SEPARATION   OF  EMPLOYMENTS 

the  terms,  relative  capital  and  stock  of  societies,  will  be 
applied. 

In  cases  where  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  of  a 
community  has  had  opportunity  to  work  up  the  materials 
possessed  by  it  into  instruments  of  an  order  correspondent 
to  its  own  strength,  the  absolute  and  relative  stock  must, 
it  is  obvious,  agree ;  but,  in  cases  where  the  accumulative 
principle  has  not  yet  had  time  fully  to  operate,  the  former 
will  exceed  the  latter.  Thus,  were  we  to  suppose  the  returns 
made  by  the  whole  of  the  instruments  belonging  to  a  society, 
or  their  total  capacity,  to  be  suddenly  doubled,  without  any 
addition  to  the  labor  employed  in  forming  them,  the  total 
absolute  stock  of  the  society  would  also  be  doubled,  while  its 
relative  stock  would  remain  unaltered.  The  relations  of  the 
several  instruments  possessed  by  it  remaining  the  same,  what- 
ever commodity  had  been  adopted  as  the  standard,  when 
applied  to  measure  the  others  it  would  give  the  same  results 
as  before.  It  never,  indeed,  can  happen  that  any  increase 
to  the  capacity  of  the  instruments  forming  the  stock  of  a 
society,  so  great  and  sudden  as  we  have  supposed,  can  take 
place ;  but  however  small  such  increase,  it  would  have  a 
real  effect,  and  would  occasion  a  difference  in  the  amount 
of  the  whole  stock  as  estimated  in  the  one  or  the  other 
manner.  Every  such  increase  is  effected  through  the  opera- 
tion of  the  inventive  faculty,  and  we  shall  therefore  defer  the 
consideration  of  the  effects  flowing  from  it,  until  we  come 
to  treat  of  the  phenomena  resulting  from  the  progress  of  that 
faculty. 

Though  the  division  of  employments  consequent  to  the 
progress  of  science  and  art,  and  the  operation  of  the  accumu- 
lative principle,  on  the  whole  greatly  accelerates  the  exhaus- 
tion of  instruments,  there  are  yet  some  particulars  in  which 
it  tends  somewhat  to  retard  that  exhaustion.  In  the  most 
simple  state  of  society,  when  art  is  so  rude,  and  accumulation 
so  little  advanced,  that  each  individual  forms  almost  all  the 
instruments  he  himself  or  his  family  exhaust,  and  when,  con- 
sequently, the  general  stock  of  the  community  is  nearly 
altogether  a  stock  formed  and  reserved  for  immediate  con- 
sumption, it  can  seldom  happen  that  there  will  be  either  an 


AND   THE   SYSTEM   OF  EXCHANGE  113 

over  abundance,  or  a  deficiency  of  instruments  of  any  sort. 
As  each  individual  can  make  an  accurate  estimate  of  his  own 
wants  and  those  of  his  family,  prudent  men,  in  such  a  state 
of  things,  provide  only  the  instruments  that  may  be  of  use  to 
thrm,  and  do  not  form  any  but  such  as  they  foresee  will  come 
into  employment  as  they  are  formed.  But  when  individuals 
ceasing  to  form  only  instruments  directly  supplying  their 
own  wants,  give  the  greater  part  of  the  industry  they  can 
nand  to  manufacturing  commodities  for  the  purpose  of 
inge,  as  they  have  not  the  means  of  calculating  with 
equal  accuracy  the  wants  of  other  men,  it  occasionally  happens 
that  some  commodities  are  produced  in  excess,  and  that  there 

deficiency  of  others. 

When,   again,  the  state  of  society  is  such,   that  each  in- 
dividual   forms    almost   the    whole  instruments    he    requires, 
there    is    very   little    transport    of    commodities    from    place 
to  place.     The  amount  of  transport  necessarily  increases  with 
-eparation  of  employments.      This  forms  another  drawback 
.  the  advantages  arising  from  the  extension  of  the  division 
of  occupations,  and  system  of  exchange.     On  account  there- 
fore both  of  many  commodities  being  produced  in  excess,  and 
-  being  necessary  to  transport  most  from  place  to  place, 
there  are  always,  in  such  states  of  society,  very  many  com- 
ities lying  idle,  being  neither  under  process  of  formation 
or    exhaustion,    but    collected    in  masses   at  different   points, 
waiting   till  some  vacancy   be  found  for   them.     The  longer 
continue  in  this  state  the  farther  they  must  pass  towards 
the  orders  of  slower   return,  and  the  more  the  operation  of 
the  accumulative  principle  must  be  retarded. 

It  seems  to  be  chiefly  from  the  desire  of  obviating  some- 
what these  two  disadvantages  attending  the  general  advance 
T  and  industry,  that,  when  the  nature  of  the  occupation 
permits  it,  individuals  engaged  in  all  the  different  divisions 
:idustry  place  themselves  as  near  each  other  as  possible, 
form  villages    and  towns.     Each   can  thus   more  easily 
st  the  amount  of  commodities  he  produces  to  the  wants 
i urn,  and   thus  also  there   arises  a  great  saving  of 
osport. 

It  is  also  in   a  great  measure  owing  to   the  necessity  of 

ii 


114         OF  SEPARATION   OF  EMPLOYMENTS 

transporting  commodities  from  place  to  place,  and  to  the 
difficulty  of  regulating  the  precise  amount  produced  consequent 
on  the  division  of  occupations,  that  there  arises  an  order 
of  men,  that  of  merchants,  devoting  themselves  solely  to  the 
business  of  transport  and  exchange.  Merchants  are  the  great 
exchangers  of  society,  regulating  the  production  of  commodities 
and  collecting  and  distributing  them  to  situations  where  the 
never-ceasing  processes  of  formation  and  exhaustion  are  pro- 
ducing vacancies  for  them.  It  is  their  business  to  make 
these  exchanges  with  the  greatest  possible  rapidity,  and  least 
possible  expense. 

There  is  a  general  average  time  elapsing  from  the  period 
of  the  formation  of  every  commodity,  until  it  pass  from  the 
individual  having  formed  it,  to  the  individuals  who  exhaust 
it  in  the  supply  of  their  wants,  or  employ  it  in  the  formation 
of  other  instruments.  The  merchant  who  effects  the  transfer 
of  commodities  between  the  other  members  of  society  is 
entitled  to  receive  an  amount  exceeding  that  which  he  gave, 
by  the  return  which  the  labor  embodied  in  the  commodity 
exchanged  should  yield  for  this  average  time,  according  to 
the  general  rate  of  return  of  capital  in  the  community.  If 
therefore  the  superior  intelligence,  penetration,  and  activity 
of  any  merchant — giving  him  the  power  of  foreseeing  with 
greater  accuracy  than  his  brethren  where  vacancies  are  about 
to  exist,  and  what  will  be  their  extent,  and  of  discovering 
where  the  commodities  proper  to  fill  them  up  may  most 
readily  be  found,  and  most  easily  transported  to  the  requisite 
places — enables  him  to  effect  these  transfers  with  greater 
facility  than  usual,  and  within  less  than  the  average  time, 
he  will  receive  a  proportionally  greater  return  than  other 
merchants.  On  the  contrary,  if,  from  a  deficiency  in  these 
qualities,  any  merchant  attempt  the  transfer  of  commodities 
for  which  there  is  no  vacancy,  or  effect  the  transfer  of  com- 
modities for  which  there  is  a  vacancy,  at  more  than  the 
average  expense,  or  in  more  than  the  average  time,  the  returns 
his  capital  yields  him  will  be  less  than  those  usually  received 
by  the  other  members  of  the  community.  Mercantile  energy 
is  thus  stimulated  to  effect  all  practicable  exchanges  with 
the  greatest  possible  celerity,  and  at  the  least  possible  expense 


AND   THE   SYSTEM   OF  EXCHANGE  115 

The  activity  which  is  in  consequence  given  to  the  process 
of  exchange,  is  a  circumstance  exceedingly  beneficial  to  the 
interests  of  the  community.  By  lessening  the  distance  between 
the  periods  of  formation  and  exhaustion,  and  diminishing  the 
use  of  formation  (for  transport  makes  a  part  of  that 
use),  the  successful  exertions  of  the  mercantile  portion 
of  society  have  a  powerful  tendency  to  preserve  instruments 
in  the  more  quickly  returning  orders,  and  to  excite  the  action 
of  the  accumulative  principle.  Our  subject  consequently 
requires  us  to  examine  somewhat  more  particularly  the 
mechanism  by  which  the  business  of  merchants  is  conducted, 
and  the  mode  of  calculation  by  which  it  is  practically 
luted.  Our  attention  too  is  more  especially  called  to 
these,  because  it  is  from  the  former  that  the  principles  of 
the  present  science  of  political  economy  are  derived,  and  on 
the  latter  that  its  nomenclature  is  founded. 

The  foundation   of  the  mechanism   of  mercantile  transac- 
tions is 

Money. 

Gold  and  silver,  or,  as  they  are  called,  the  precious  metals, 
are  more  properly  entitled  to  the  appellation  of  money  than 
any  other  thing  is,  because  they  more  generally  pass  for  money 
than  does  any  thing  else.     Their  beauty,  their  incorruptibility, 
and  some  other  of  their  qualities  afterwards  to  be  considered, 
have,    in    almost   every    country,    rendered    them  the   means 
of   affording    much    enjoyment,    that    is,  of  supplying,    to    a 
large  extent,  certain  of  the   wants  of  man.     It  seems  likely 
these  qualities,  joined   to  the  facility  with  which   they 
may  be  transported  from    place    to   place,  first    made    them 
esteemed  the  most  desirable  of  all  commodities  that  one  could 
possess.     In  the  very  frequent  revolutions  and    commotions 
occur  in  the  earlier   ages    of  society,    articles    that   do 
•  lecay,  can  be  hid,  or  carried  off  without  difficulty,  and 
always  estimable,  would  naturally  of  all  others  be  most 
led.     They  thus  probably  were  first  chiefly  sought  at 
for  the  purpose  of  being  retained,  not  for  that  of  being  ex- 
changed ;  even  yet  in  many  countries,  partly  from  old  habits, 
and  partly  from  still  prevailing  insecurity,  they  are    chieny 
cl  as  of  all  things,  those   best  fit  to  be  hoarded.     But, 


116         OF  SEPARATION   OF  EMPLOYMENTS 

in  whatever  manner  their  use  may  have  been  introduced, 
or  how  much  soever  in  some  countries  it  may  be  dependent 
on  a  feeling  of  insecurity,  at  present  or  formerly  prevailing, 
and  prompting  their  possessors  to  keep  not  to  part  with  them, 
they  are  now  more  generally  sought  for,  for  the  purpose 
of  being  immediately  passed  away,  forming,  in  the  shape  of 
money,  the  great  medium  of  exchange;  and  it  is  solely  in  the 
part  they  thus  act,  that  we  have  here  very  briefly  to  consider 
them. 

When,  in  the  progress  of  society,  men  divide  into  different 
occupations,  and  each  ceasing  to  fabricate  himself  all  the 
instruments  his  wants  require,  barters  the  instruments  or 
commodities  he  forms  for  those  formed  by  others,  the  system 
of  exchange,  as  we  have  seen,  commences.  The  introduction, 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  of  some  sort  of  money,  seems 
naturally  to  follow.  For  when  a  man  forms  only  one  sort 
of  instruments  or  commodities,  it  cannot  at  all  times  happen 
that  he  can  exchange  them  with  articles  fabricated  by  other 
men,  and  necessary  to  supply  his  wants,  because  these  other 
men,  the  formers  and  possessors  of  what  he  desires,  may  not 
at  the  moment  have  occasion  for  what  he  has  formed.  "The 
butcher  has  more  meat  in  his  shop  than  he  himself  can  con- 
sume, and  the  brewer  and  the  baker  would  each  of  them 
be  willing  to  purchase  a  part  of  it.  But  they  have  nothing 
to  offer  in  exchange,  except  the  particular  productions  of  their 
respective  trades,  and  the  butcher  is  already  provided  with 
all  the  bread  and  beer  which  he  has  immediate  occasion 
for."1  There  are  two  modes  by  which  the  desired  exchange 
may  be  effected.  If  the  brewer  and  the  baker  have  a  com- 
modity received  by  every  one  for  all  others,  such  as  money 
is,  they  may  each  give  the  butcher  a  certain  quantity  of  it 
for  a  quantity  of  meat,  and  when  he  requires  their  ale  and 
bread,  he  may,  in  turn,  send  back  to  them  also  a  quantity 
of  money.  Or,  the  butcher  may  be  satisfied  with  the  promise 
of  the  brewer  and  the  baker,  that,  at  some  future  time,  when 
he  has  occasion  for  it,  they  will  give  him  a  quantity  of  ale 
and  bread,  or  of  something  else.  These  two  modes  of  effecting 
the  object  form  the  two  systems  of  cash,  or  credit,  by  which 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  I.  c.  IV. 


AND   THE   SYSTEM   OF  EXCHANGE  117 

all  the  business  of  every  country  that  consists  not  in  barter, 
is  carried  on. 

Pieces  of  gold  and  silver  coined,  that  is  stamped  with  a 
mark  regulating  and  assuring  by  the  authority  of  the  magistrate 
the  weight  and  fineness  of  each,  enter  largely  into  transactions 
of  the  former  order ;  they  make  the  bulk  of  the  current  coin 
of  most  countries.  Supposing  the  whole  of  the  exchanges 
of  any  country  that  are  not  simple  barter,  effected  by  money, 
and  that  gold  and  silver  form  the  sole  money,  then  the 
amount  of  them  so  employed  [at  any  given  level  of  prices] 
would  seem  to  be  regulated  by  two  circumstances. 

The  first  of  these  is  the  quantity  of  commodities  that  may 
exist  to  be  exchanged.  This  again  must  depend  on  the 
quantity  of  materials  wrought  up  into  instruments,  and  on 
progress  of  the  division  of  labor  [employments].  As  the 
number  of  instruments  increase,  and  as  from  their  first 
commencing  formation,  until  they  are  exhausted,  they  pass 
through  more  hands,  the  amount  of  exchanges  must  increase. 
As  the  number  of  instruments  formed  decrease,  and  as  every 
man  himself  constructs  a  greater  proportion  of  those  necessary 
to  supply  his  own  wants,  the  amount  of  exchanges  must 
diminish,  and  as  the  amount  of  exchanges  increases,  or 
diminishes,  so  must  there  be  required  [at  any  given  level 
of  prices]  a  greater  or  less  quantity  of  the  medium  through 
which  they  are  transacted. 

In  such  a  state  of  things  as  we  suppose,  could  every 
man  see  exactly  beforehand  the  whole  series  of  the  exchanges 
that  would  present  themselves  to  him,  every  prudent  man 
would  so  manage  his  exchanges,  that  is  his  purchases  and 
sales,  as  to  provide  himself  with  the  exact  amount  of 
money  necessary  to  effect  every  exchange  that  he  might  deem 
it  advisable  to  execute.  But  no  man  can  with  accuracy  fore- 
see what  transactions  may  present  themselves  to  him,  or 
when  they  may  do  so.  The  amount  of  possible  future  ex- 
i'_jes  that  may  offer  to  any  man,  and  the  time  they  may 
occur,  are  exceedingly  uncertain,  depending  on  many  things 
not  to  be  foreknown — the  operations  of  other  individuals 
engaged  in  the  formation  of  instruments  immediately  or 
remotely  connected  with  those  on  which  his  means  or  industry 


118         OF   SEPARATION   OF  EMPLOYMENTS 

is  engaged,  the  course  of  the  winds  and  seasons,  the  fortune 
of  war,  the  progress  of  treaties,  and  numberless  other  events 
equally  doubtful  in  their  issues.  Every  man,  therefore,  would 
in  such  a  state  of  things,  suffer  two  inconveniences,  he  would 
occasionally  have  too  much  money,  and  occasionally  too  little. 
He  would  sometimes  have  a  sum  lying  for  a  long  time  useless 
by  him,  and  an  advantageous  purchase  would  sometimes 
present  itself  to  him  which  he  had  not  cash  sufficient  to  effect. 
Between  these  two  opposite  evils,  it  would  be  his  business 
to  steer  as  safe  a  course  as  possible ;  he  could  not  hope 
altogether  to  avoid  them,  but  must  be  content  to  suffer 
occasionally  from  both.  Which  of  the  two  it  would  be 
most  prudent  for  him  to  run  the  risk  of  suffering  from,  would, 
I  conceive,  depend  on  another  circumstance,  forming  the 
second  of  those  that,  under  the  suppositions  we  have  made, 
regulate  the  amount  of  precious  metals  in  circulation. 

Every  man  must  be  more  unwilling  to  run  the  risk  of 
having  a  sum  of  money  lying  useless  by  him,  by  how  much 
greater  the  amount  of  the  returns  he  could  have  by  turning  it 
to  the  formation  of  instruments.  If  then,  in  the  society  of 
which  any  man  is  a  member,  instruments  are  not  far  removed 
from  the  first  orders  of  our  series,  when  they  soonest  double 
the  expenditure  of  their  formation,  he  will  rather  risk  the  in- 
convenience of  having  too  little  money  by  him,  than  the  loss 
of  having  a  sum  in  his  coffers  long  unemployed,  which  might 
have  been  converted  into  instruments  yielding  large  returns. 
But  if,  in  the  society  of  which  he  is  a  member,  instruments 
are  far  removed  from  the  first  orders  of  our  series,  he  will  be 
disposed  to  reserve  a  greater  amount  in  the  hopes  of  making 
more  by  some  advantageous  bargain,  than  he  could  by  expend- 
ing it  on  the  formation  of  any  instrument.  We  should  expect 
then  to  find,  that,  in  countries  where  either  the  principle  of 
accumulation  is  too  weak  to  carry  instruments  on  to  the  more 
slowly  returning  orders,  or  where  it  has  not  yet  had  time  to  do 
so,  money  would  be  scarce,  and  that,  where  this  principle 
having  had  time  to  act,  its  strength  has  carried  them  to  the 
farther  orders,  there  money  would  be  plenty.  Such  will  be 
found  to  be  the  fact.  In  China,  gold  and  silver  are  rarely 
seen,  in  the  interior  traffic  of  the  country ;  in  Holland,  they 


AND   THE   SYSTEM   OF  EXCHANGE  119 

have  always  abounded.  In  new  settlements  in  America,  where 
from  the  superabundance  of  materials,  instruments  are  of  very 
quickly  returning  orders,  the  amount  of  coin  to  be  found  is 
exceedingly  small.  When  a  man  there  has  cash  in  his  pocket, 
la-  finds  so  many  things  that  he  could  with  profit  expend  it  on, 
that  he  can  scarcely  refrain  from  doing  so. 

:i  European  visiting  some  parts  of  Upper  Canada,  is  sur- 
prised when  he  comes  to  discover,  that  a  few  dollars  is  all  the 
that  even  men  comparatively  rich  may  have  lying  by 

i.  He  is  apt  to  conceive  that  they  are  poor  men,  and  to 
describe  the  country  as  a  poor  country.  In  doing  so,  how- 

.  he  does  not  make  a  correct  use  of  words.  He  sees,  for 
instance,  a  man  who,  ten  years  before,  may  have  brought  a 
sum  of  two  hundred  pounds  to  the  place  where  he  is  now 

>d,  without  at  present  twenty  dollars  in  his  pocket,  and 
who  perhaps,  were  that  sum  suddenly  demanded  of  him,  might 
have  difficulty  to  procure  it.  In  one  sense,  then,  the  man  is 
poor.  But,  were  this  man  asked  to  sell  his  farm  and  his 
other  property,  he  probably  would  not  give  it  for  less  than  a 
thousand  pounds,  and  he  might  get  this  sum  for  it.  If  so,  it 
is  ten  to  one  that  he  would  lay  out  the  greater  part  of  it 
in  the  purchase  of  a  larger  quantity  of  land  than  he  before 
possessed,  and  the  remainder  in  improving  that  land,  so  that  a 
year  or  two  would  see  him  just  as  bare  of  cash  as  before;  and 
twelve  years  afterwards,  if  he  went  on  prosperously,  he  would 
still  have  but  a  trifle  of  ready  cash,  though  perhaps  he  might 
truly  consider  his  property  worth  two  or  three  thousand 
pounds,  and  might  not  be  disposed  to  take  less  for  it.  He 
could  hardly,  therefore,  be  called  a  poor  man.  In  this  part  of 
America,  as  formerly  over  the  whole  of  it,  "  the  scarcity  of  gold 
and  silver  money  is  not  the  effect  of  the  poverty  of  that 

itry,  or  of  the  inability  of  the  people  there  to  purchase 

e  metals.  The  scarcity  of  these  metals  is  the  effect  of 
choice  and  not  of  necessity.  It  is  convenient  for  the  Ameri- 
cans, who  can  always  employ  with  profit,  in  the  improvement 

•  ir  lands,  a  greater  stock  than  they  can  easily  get,  to  save 
as  much  as  possible  the  expense  of  so  costly  an  instrument  as 
gold  and  silver;  and  rather  to  employ  that  part  of  their 
surplus  produce  which  would  be  necessary  for  purchasing  those 


1JO         OF   SEPARATION   OF  EMPLOYMENTS 

metals,  in  purchasing  the  instruments  of  trade,  the  materials  of 
clothing,  several  parts  of  household  furniture,  and  the  iron 
work  necessary  for  building  and  extending  their  settlements,  in 
purchasing,  not  dead  stock,  but  active  and  productive  stock."  l 

But,  though  the  loss  of  having  more  idle  cash  lying  by 
one  than  can  possibly  be  dispensed  with,  must  be  felt  most 
sensibly  where  such  cash  can  be  most  profitably  expended,  where 
instruments,  that  is,  are  not  far  from  the  first  orders  of  our 
series,  still  it  must  always  be  felt.  A  man  will  never  keep 
two  hundred  pounds  in  his  chest,  if  he  thinks  it  probable  that 
one  hundred  will  be  sufficient,  because  he  can  always  make 
something  of  the  other  hundred.  Although  however,  men,  in 
such  cases,  must  be  governed  by  what  they  think  probably 
will  happen,  yet,  as  no  man  can  foresee  with  certainty  what 
may  happen,  every  man  will  now  and  then  be  wrong  in  his 
calculations,  and  therefore,  under  the  suppositions  we  have 
made,  every  man  would  occasionally  suffer  from  having  too 
little  cash,  as  well  as  at  other  times  from  having  too  much. 

The  effect  of  both  these  sorts  of  losses  must  be,  to  place 
the  instruments  on  which  they  operate  in  orders  of  slower 
return,  than  they  would  otherwise  occupy.  One  wishes  to 
purchase  a  pair  of  young  horses  of  a  particular  sort ;  for  this 
purpose  he  reserves  a  quantity  of  coin  equivalent  to  four 
hundred  days'  labor ;  he  happens,  however,  not  to  meet  with  a 
pair  that  suits  him  for  the  space  of  six  months,  when  he 
purchases  two,  giving  for  them  the  amount  he  had  anticipated. 
It  is  evident,  in  this  case,  that  they  have  really  cost  him,  not 
only  the  four  hundred  days'  labor,  but  all  that  in  the  country 
in  which  he  lives,  that  labor  would  have  produced,  besides 
paying  for  itself,  during  the  six  months  he  was  looking  out  for 
the  bargain.  Now,  as  this  additional  outlay  cannot  add  to  the 
capacity  of  these  instruments,  to  the  strength,  swiftness,  beauty, 
and  health,  that  is,  of  the  animals,  nor  diminish  their  age, 
it  must  be  esteemed  as  lessening  the  proportion  between  the 
return  to  be  got  from  them,  and  the  outlay  expended  on  them, 
and  must  move  them  proportionally  towards  the  orders  of 
slower  return.  Again,  it  may  have  been  that  the  person  who 
at  last  sold  the  horses,  may  have  been  desirous  of  selling 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  V.  c.  III. 


AND   THE   SYSTEM   OF  EXCHANGE 


121 


lem  for  six  months  before  he  effected  the  sale,  and  that  at  the 
commencement  of  that  period  he  may  have  met  with  an  indi- 
vidual who  would  have  purchased  them,  but  not  having  antici- 
pated the  occurrence  of  so  favorable  an  offer,  happened  not 
then  to  have  the  necessary  cash.  If  we  suppose  them  to  have 
been  merely  useless  to  their  owner  during  the  period  from 
tin-nee  elapsed,  the  service  they  rendered  him  being  just 
>ufticient  to  pay  for  their  food  and  keep,  still,  this  retardation 
in  the  return  from  the  outlay  in  the  formation  of  them  as  an 
instrument,  also  moves  them  for  him  so  much  towards  the 
more  slowly  returning  orders,  and  diminishes  the  activity  of 
accumulative  principle.  If  the  individual  who  raised 
tin-in  does  not  receive  an  additional  price,  proportionate  to 
the  delay,  the  occurrence  will  have  a  tendency  to  make  him 
give  up  this  branch  of  business. 

Similar  events  taking  place  in  the  exchange  of  other  instru- 
ments, would  produce  similar  results,  and  therefore  two  evils 
would  necessarily  accompany  the  state  of  affairs  we  have  sup- 
posed. There  would  be  two  drawbacks  on  the  progress  of  the 
industry  of  the  society,  the  one  consisting  in  the  expense  of 
the  circulating  medium,  the  other  in  the  loss  arising  from  a 
deficiency  in  it.  The  two  together  would  be  in  proportion  to 
the  amount  of  exchanges,  which  the  progress  of  knowledge,  the 
strength  of  the  principle  of  accumulation,  and  the  quality  of 
the  materials  within  reach  of  the  society,  caused  to  be  trans- 
acted. The  evil  directly  arising  from  them  would  be  the 
consequent  retardation  of  the  returns  from  the  industry  of 
the  society,  an  evil  equivalent  to  a  proportional  diminution  of 
these,  and  placing  [the  instruments  producing]  them  in  more 
slowly  returning  orders.  The  evil  indirectly  arising  from 
them  would  be,  the  keeping  a  greater  or  less  extent  of 
materials  without  the  reach  of  the  strength  of  the  accumulative 
principle  of  the  society,  and  the  consequent  nonfonnation,  to  a 
iter  or  less  extent,  of  instruments  that  would  otherwise 
have  been  formed. 

The  proportion  between  the  two  would  be  determined  by 
the  order  to  which  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of 
accumulation,  and  the  time  which  it  had  had  to  operate,  had 
carried  the  formation  «.i  instruments. 


122          OF   SEPARATION   OF  EMPLOYMENTS 

But  the  state  of  things  we  have  supposed  never  exists.     It 

:  cely  happens,  even  to  return  to  the  sort  of  transactions  we 
set  out  from,  that  a  butcher,  a  brewer,  a  baker,  dealing 
together,  effect  all  their  business  either  by  direct  barter,  or 
by  cash.  The  butcher  would,  in  very  many  cases,  be  satisfied 
with  the  implied  promise  of  the  brewer  and  the  baker,  that,  at 
some  future  time,  they  will  give  him  a  quantity  of  the  com- 
modities they  respectively  deal  in,  or  of  money,  or  some 
equivalent  to  it,  equal  to  the  price  of  the  beef  each  received. 

This  mode  of  effecting  the  object,  constitutes  the  system  of 
credit,  the  second  of  the  two  systems  by  which  exchanges  are 
carried  on.  It  has  an  existence  in  every  country,  and  in  most 
civilized  countries,  as  is  well  known,  the  great  bulk  of  transac- 
tions are  carried  on  by  the  aid  of  it.  Were  the  actual  or  im- 
plied promise,  which  the  party  receiving  the  commodity  makes 
to  him  giving  it,  always  fulfilled,  it  would  in  itself  be 
unattended  with  any  loss,  and  might  possibly  be  so  managed  as 
almost  entirely  to  supersede  the  use  of  coined  money  as  a 
medium  of  exchange. 

The  whole  amount  of  the  purchases  made  by  any  individual 
within  a  limited  time,  is,  in  general,  about  equal  to  the  sales 
he  effects  within  the  same  time.  If,  therefore,  in  any  commu- 
nity, all  the  exchanges,  which  are  not  direct  barter,  were  to  be 
transacted  by  credit,  and  were  the  obligations  to  pay  granted 
by  all  persons  engaged  in  business  in  it  to  expire  at  the  same 
time,  when  that  time  came  round,  every  individual  would  hold 
obligations  to  receive,  to  about  as  large  an  amount  as  he 
had  granted  to  pay.  If  then  each  individual  had  granted 
obligations  to  pay,  to  the  same  persons  as  he  had  received 
others  from,  the  business  would  be  at  once  concluded  by  a 
reciprocal  delivery  of  obligations.  But  this  can  scarcely  ever 
happen ;  almost  all  the  obligations  to  receive  payment,  which 
any  individual  holds,  will  be  from  other  persons  than  those  to 
whom  he  himself  has  granted  obligations.  The  affair  might 
however  be  managed,  and  the  same  end  arrived  at,  by  a 
transfer  of  obligations  from  hand  to  hand.  A  has  bound  him- 
self to  pay  B  fifty  pounds,  B  to  pay  C  fifty  pounds,  and  C  to 
pay  A  fifty  pounds.  If,  then,  A  pay  B,  by  giving  him  C's 
obligation,  B  can  discharge  his  debt  to  C  with  it,  and  thus  the 


AN7D   THE   SYSTEM   OF  EXCHANGE  123 

debts  and  credits  of  the  whole  three  be  settled.  By  opera- 
tions more  complicated,  but  conducted  on  similar  principles, 
nearly  the  whole  system  of  exchanges  of  any  community  might 
be  managed. 

There  are  two  obstacles  to  this  mode  of  effecting  exchanges 
by  credit.  The  first  arising  from  its  inherent  complexedness 
and  difficulty,  the  second  from  the  liability  of  the  contracting 
parties  to  fail  in  fultilling  their  engagements,  from  dishonesty, 
miscalculation,  and  accidents  impossible  to  be  foreseen.  These 
restrict  its  application  in  general  to  transactions  for  large 
amounts,  little  doubtful  in  themselves,  and  which  from  their 
nature  can  be  easily  systematized  and  arranged.  Such  appears 
to  have  been  the  viremens,  or  transfers,  at  Lyons.1  Such  also 
are  the  transfers  effected  by  the  London  bankers.  In  Kussia, 
however,  it  would  seem  to  be  applied  to  transactions  much  more 
various,  and  complicated.  Mr.  Storch  informs  us  that  the 
creditors  and  debtors  of  the  province  of  Kief,  and  several 
others  adjoining — the  proprietors,  capitalists,  merchants,  those 
who  want  funds,  and  those  who  want  to  dispose  of  them, — meet 
in  the  month  of  January,  in  the  town  of  Kief,  to  make  such 
transfers,  and  that  in  1804,  the  amount  of  their  exchanges 
was  upwards  of  twenty  millions  of  rubles,  or  about  three 
millions  seven  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling.  Transfers 
similar  to  these  are  made,  he  adds,  at  Keval,  and  many  other 
towns  in  the  empire.2 

There  is  another  method  by  which  the  system  of  credits 
might  be  conducted,  and  which  may  be  illustrated  by  an 
example  taken  from  a  country  already  referred  to,  where 
the  causes  exciting  to  its  introduction,  and  giving  preva- 
lence to  it,  operate  very  powerfully.  In  many  parts  of  North 
America,  but  more  especially  in  new  settlements  in  Upper 
Canada,  the  scarcity  of  cash,  and  perhaps  other  circumstances, 
often  lead  traders  to  adopt  a  peculiar  plan  of  business.  Every 
dealer  provides  himself  with  a  general  assortment  of  all  sorts 
of  commodities  in  demand  in  the  settlement  he  inhabits,  and 
reckons  on  being  paid  for  them  in  the  shape  of  grain,  potash, 
pork,  beef,  and  other  commodities,  in  the  formation  of  which 

'Ganilh,  De*  ityrttme*  (ftconomie  politique,  Tome  II.  p.  155. 
'Storch,  Coura  dYconomu,  Tome  II.  p.  353. 


124         OF   SEPARATION   OF  EMPLOYMENTS 

his  customers  are  engaged.  But  in  this  sort  of  barter,  one 
article  will  generally  fall  short  or  exceed  the  value  of  the 
other,  a  pound  of  tea  will  not  exchange  for  a  hog,  nor  a 
quarter  of  wheat  for  a  dozen  pounds  of  sugar.  To  obviate  the 
difficulty,  the  merchant  opens  an  account  with  each  of  his 
customers,  charging  him  with  the  goods  furnished,  and  giving 
him  credit  for  [crediting  him  with]  the  produce  received,  and 
in  this  way  perhaps  all  the  transactions  between  the  two  are 
managed,  either  by  barter  or  credit,  without  the  assistance  of  a 
dollar  of  cash.  Nor  is  this  all ;  a  great  variety  of  other  trans- 
actions are  also  effected  through  his  intervention.  Any  person 
who  may  have  furnished  him  with  an  overplus  of  produce,  or 
who  has  credit  with  him,  can  through  his  means  settle  most 
accounts  or  balances  due  on  accounts.  He  may  thus  pay  the 
laborers,  and  the  artificers,  and  tradesmen,  he  may  employ,  by 
an  order  on  the  shop,  or  as  it  is  called,  store,  of  the  country 
dealer.  Besides  these,  the  transactions  of  the  storekeeper 
extend  to  the  giving  out  of  the  raw  produce  of  the  country  to 
individuals  in  the  settlement,  tradesmen,  etc.,  who  may  not 
themselves  have  enough,  and  to  the  receipt  in  return  of 
various  articles,  such  as  axes,  shoes,  boots,  made-up  clothes ; 
and  in  this  way  through  his  books,  a  very  large  portion  of  the 
business  of  the  settlement  is  transacted.  It  is  not  difficult  to- 
conceive,  that  the  whole  might  be  so  transacted. 

Were  the  country  dealer  always  to  have  a  supply  of  every 
article  in  demand  in  the  settlement,  at  a  reasonable  rate,  and 
were  all  contracts  for  the  delivery  of  produce  to  him  to  be 
regularly  executed,  almost  all  the  requisite  exchanges  might  be 
conveniently  effected  through  his  books.  But  in  this  sort  of 
traffic,  as  the  merchant  always  has  commodities  to  sell,  and  his 
customers  have  not  always  produce  to  return,  it  inevitably 
happens  that  they  get  into  his  debt.  As  his  object  is  to  sell 
as  many  goods  as  possible,  he  is  very  apt  to  allow  many 
to  run  in  his  debt,  who  do  not  fulfil  their  engagements.  He 
suffers  from  the  dishonesty,  or  the  imprudence  and  miscalcula- 
tions of  those  who  deal  with  him.  Very  many  of  his 
customers  are  much  longer  of  paying  him  than  they  have 
promised,  or  they  do  not  pay  at  all.  Aware  of  the  risk 
he  runs,  he  is  obliged  to  balance  it  by  charging  an  additional 


AND   THE   SYSTEM  OF   EXCHANGE  125 

sum,  over  and  above  what  he  would  otherwise  demand,  on 
all  commodities  that  pass  through  his  hands.  In  some  cases, 
this  advance  amounts  to  at  least  30  per  cent.  In  this  way  he 
makes,  or  endeavors  to  make,  the  prudent  and  honest  persons 
who  deal  with  him,  pay  for  the  imprudent  and  dishonest,  who 
deal  with  him.  The  former  class,  in  consequence,  keep 
out  of  the  circle  of  all  such  transactions,  as  much  as  possible, 
and  store-pay,  as  it  is  called,  is  depreciated.1 

Gold  and  silver  would  thus  seem  to  have  been  considered, 
first,  simply  as  themselves  the  most  precious,  and  easily  pre- 
served of  all  articles ;  next,  their  capacity  for  being  divided 
and  re-united  without  injury,  would  seem  to  have  led  to  their 
general  employment  in  exchange  for  other  things  the  acquisition 
of  which  their  possessors  found  useful  or  necessary ; 2  con- 
venience then  to  have  rendered  it  expedient  to  have  them 
formed  into  pieces  of  a  certain  weight  and  fineness,  when  they 
began  to  constitute  what  is  now  called  money ;  lastly,  their 
general  adoption  as  money  would  seem  naturally  to  have 
rendered  them  proper  measures  to  give  fixedness  to  those 
obligations  to  future  delivery  of  things  in  exchange,  which  the 
increased  security  and  tranquillity  of  modern  times,  and  the 
i  amount  of  exchanges  transacted,  have  in  recent  days 
introduced.  In  the  two  latter  employments,  as  serving  for 
real,  or  determining  the  rights  which  the  possession  of  fictitious 
money  conveys,  they  occasionally  serve  as  media  for  exchanging 
all  instruments,  and,  therefore,  for  determining  and  expressing 
their  relation  to  each  other,  as  things  capable  of  being 
exchanged.  In  this  way  measuring  all  things  exchanged,  or 
capable  of  being  exchanged,  that  is,  all  instruments,  they  come 
to  denote  the  amount  of  instruments,  or  capital,  or  stock,  which 
any  man  possesses.  A  person  is  said  to  be  worth  five 
hundred,  or  five  thousand  pounds,  as  he  has  instruments 
which,  in  exchange,  would  be  measured  by  these  sums  re- 
spectively ;  and,  as  in  common  life  all  things  are  considered, 

1  [The  omission  at  this  point  constitutes  Part  I.  of  the  Article  on  Banking  in 
ppendix.] 

the  Knight  parted  with  a  link  or  two  of  his  gold  chain,  when  in  need, 
more  ancient  times  the  traveller  carried  his  bag  of  gold  dust. 


126          OF   SEPARATION   OF  EMPLOYMENTS 

not  as  they  are,  but  merely  in  their  actions  and  relations, 
instruments  come  there,  also,  to  be  spoken  about,  and  con- 
ceived of,  altogether  in  the  relation  they  have  to  certain  pieces 
of  gold  and  silver.1 

These  are  not  the  only  effects  which  the  exchange  of  instru- 
ments for  one  another,  and  the  consequent  use  of  money  as  the 
medium  of  exchange,  have  produced  in  our  conceptions  of 
them.  The  system  of  exchanges,  being  attended  by  that  of 
credit,  implies  the  existence  of  some  mode  of  ascertaining  the 
amount  to  be  rendered  back,  for  instruments  received  in  trust. 
It  is  sufficiently  obvious  that  this  must  be  determined  by  the 
order  to  which  the  principle  of  accumulation,  and  the  time  it 
has  had  to  operate,  has  carried  the  formation  of  instruments  in 
the  society.  If,  in  any  society,  instruments  are  at  the  order  D, 
doubling  in  four  years,  then  one  receiving  an  instrument  on 
trust,  for  four  years,  will,  at  the  end  of  that  period,  have  ta 
return  two  of  the  same  sort  and  quality.  If  they  are  at  the 
order  E,  he  will  have  to  return  two  at  the  end  of  five  years, 
etc.  Thus  it  is  a  common  practice  in  many  parts  of  North 
America,  especially  in  new  settlements,  to  sell  cattle  and  sheep 
on  trust,  the  terms  being  that  double  the  number  thus  trans- 
ferred is  to  be  returned  in  four  or  five  years,  as  the  agreement 
may  be  made.  More  generally,  however,  much  shorter  periods 
are  adopted,  for  the  settlement  of  accounts.  The  natural 
periods  of  a  year,  and  a  month,  have  in  different  times  and 
places,  been  made  choice  of  for  this  purpose.  It  is  then 
necessary  to  calculate  what  is  due  by  the  one  party  to  the 
other  at  these  periods,  and  these  calculations  are  naturally 
made  in  money. 

Instead,  for  instance,  of  returning  two  cows  at  the  end  of 
five  years,  the  bargain  may  be,  that  a  proportional  sum  is  to  be 
paid  at  the  end  of  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth 
years.  Were  money  paid  for  the  cow  immediately,  the  amount 
we  shall  say  would  be  twenty  dollars,  the  double  of  that, 
which  would  be  the  sum  to  be  given  were  the  time  of  payment 
deferred  till  the  expiration  of  five  years,  is  forty  dollars.  The 
annual  payment  can  neither  be  a  fifth  part  of  the  one  sum, 

1  [That  is  to  say,  in  Rae's  peculiar  terminology,  we  consider  in  common  life 
only  "  relative  stock  "  and  disregard  "  absolute  stock. "] 


AND   THE   SYSTEM   OF  EXCHANGE  127 

four  dollars,  nor  of  the  other,  eight  dollars,  but  one  between  the 
two,  in  this  case  about  six  dollars.  Again,  the  bargain  may 
be,  that  a  cow  be  returned  at  the  expiration  of  the  fifth  year, 
and  that,  for  her  use  during  that  time,  an  annual  remuneration 
be  made ;  this  would  be  a  half  of  the  former  annual  payment, 
nearly  three  dollars,  and  that  sum  accordingly,  when  such  an 
arrangement  takes  place,  is  the  usual  yearly  payment  for  what 
is  called  the  rent  of  the  cow.  Whatever  order  instruments 
may  be  at,  some  similar  calculation  might  determine,  what 
should  be  the  proportion  annually  paid  for  the  use  of  any  of 
them.  The  employment  of  money  in  these  calculations  has 
simplified  them,  by  the  introduction  of  general  rules.  The 
return  which  instruments  make,  is  estimated  at  so  much  in  the 
hundred,  or  per  cent,  that  is,  in  the  hundred  pounds,  dollars,  or 
whatever  may  be  the  current  coin.  Reducing  our  orders  to 
this  phraseology,  they  would  be  respectively:— 

A  100  per  cent,  per  ann.          H  9  per  cent,  per  ann. 

B  41  „  18 

C  26  „  J    7 

D19  n              *  K  6-5        „ 

£15  „              „  L   5-9 

F  12  ,,  M  5-5        „ 

G10  „  N  5          „              „   etc. 

It  is  on  these  principles,  that  all  reckonings  are  made,  not 
only  of  instruments  given  on  credit,  but  of  those  retained.  In 
the  latter  case,  the  annual  return  is  termed  profits  of  stock,  in 

former  interest.  There  is,  however,  this  difference  between 
the  two,  that,  in  the  profits  of  stock,  is  generally  included  the 
return  that  has  to  be  made,  for  the  mental  exertion  and 

•  •ty,  and  bodily  fatigue,  of  the  owner  of  the  stock.     There 

iso,  a  difference  between  them,  in  common  language,  ari 
fn>m   its   being  the  practice  to  speak  of  the  more  favoral>lt> 
issues  of  instruments,  as  determining  the  rate,  without  reckon- 
ing those  that  have  turned  out  less  favorably,  or  unfortunately. 
A.lam  Smith  :   "  In  a  country  where  the  ordinary  rate  of 

i  profit  is  eight  or  ten  per  cent,  it  may  be  reasonable  tli.ti 
one  half  of  it  should  go  to  interest,  wherever  business  is  carried 
on  with  borrowed  money.  The  stock  is  at  the  risk  of  the 


128         OF   SEPARATION   OF  EMPLOYMENTS 

borrower,  who,  as  it  were,  insures  it  to  the  lender ;  and  four  or 
five  per  cent,  may,  in  the  greater  part  of  trades,  be  both  a 
sufficient  profit  upon  the  risk  of  this  insurance,  and  a  sufficient 
recompense  for  the  trouble  of  employing  the  stock." l  Here, 
ordinary  profit  evidently  means,  not  the  average  profit,  but  the 
profit  of  favorable  years.  The  average  profit  of  a  merchant, 
for  example,  is  not  properly  the  profit  he  makes  upon  his 
more  favorable  adventures,  but  what  he  makes  on  all  those 
adventures  that  yield  a  profit,  whether  great  or  small,  after 
deducting  the  actual  loss  he  may  sustain  on  others.  The 
average  profits  of  all  the  merchants  of  any  country,  also, 
include  their  very  favorable,  their  less  favorable,  and  their 
losing  adventures.  In  this  way,  using  the  term  profit  for  the 
return  made  from  the  outlay  expended  on  the  formation  of  the 
whole  instruments  spoken  of,  actual  losses  are  also  included  in 
it,  and,  in  speaking  prospectively  of  future  profit,  the  risk  of 
future  loss  is  included,  and  what  Adam  Smith  calls  the  risk  of 
insurance  disappears.  If  in  a  country  where  the  average  profit 
is,  in  reality,  only  eight  per  cent.,  a  particular  merchant  con- 
tinue for  some  years  to  make  ten  per  cent.,  he  may  indeed 
expect,  and  is  perhaps  apt  to  expect,  the  same  return  in  future 
years;  but,  unless  in  so  far  as  he  can  truly  calculate  on 
his  mercantile  sagacity  and  activity  being  above  par,  in 
so  doing,  he  acts  imprudently,  and  the  chances  are  that  he 
is  undeceived  by  having  to  sustain  actual  losses  in  succeeding 
years. 

We  may  then  assume  the  rate  of  interest  as  a  fair  measure 
of  the  real  average  rate  of  profits  in  any  country,  and  conse- 
quently of  the  order  in  our  series,  at  which  instruments  are 
there  arrived.  So  receiving  it,  we  shall  find  that  it  agrees  very 
closely  with  the  preceding  observations. 

In  China,  we  are  told  by  Barrow,  that  the  legal  rate  of 
interest  is  twelve  per  cent.,  but  that,  in  reality,  it  varies  from 
eighteen  to  thirty-six.  The  remarks  of  other  authors  agree 
pretty  accurately  with  this  statement,  fixing  the  orders  at  C  or 
D.  The  Dutch  seem,  of  all  European  nations,  hitherto  to  have 
been  inclined  to  carry  instruments  to  the  most  slowly  returning 
orders.  The  durability  given  to  all  the  instruments  constructed 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  I.  c.  III. 


AND   THE   SYSTEM   OF   EXCHANGE  129 

by  them,  the  care  with  which  they  are  finished,  and  the  atten- 
tion paid  to  preserving  and  repairing  them,  have  been  often 
noticed  by  travellers.  In  the  days  when  their  industry  and 
frugality  were  most  remarkable,  interest  was  very  low,  govern- 
ment borrowing  at  two  per  cent,  and  private  people  at  three. 
The  former  indicated  an  order  doubling  in  about  thirty-three 
years,  the  latter,  one  doubling  in  twenty-three  years.  In 
ancient  Rome,  interest  was  in  reality  exceedingly  high,  from 
twelve  to  fifty  per  cent.1  Were  we  farther  to  compare  the 
orders  in  which  instruments  appear  to  stand  in  other  countries, 
with  the  rate  of  interest  in  those  countries,  we  should  find  the 
two  everywhere  correspondent.  I  apprehend,  however,  that 
is  needless,  for,  as  the  reader  must  on  consideration  per- 
e,  it  is  impossible  it  can  be  otherwise.  Loans,  indeed,  pass 
under  the  name  of  money,  but  money  is  only  the  means  of 
effecting  the  loan,  it  is  in  reality  instruments  that  are  lent,  and 
must  in  return  yield  not  much  less  [somewhat  more]  than 
what  is  paid  for  their  use,  otherwise  they  would  not  be  bor- 
rowed, and  [but]  not  much  more,  otherwise  they  would  not  be 
lent. 

The  system  of  calculation,  the  foundation  of  which  we  have 
been  considering  as  connected  with  exchanges,  is  convenient 
for  all  engaged  in  the  business  of  transfers,  and  answers  their 
purposes  very  perfectly.     When  applied,  however,  to  specula- 
purposes,  it  labors  under  the   disadvantage  to  which  all 
practical  general  rules  are  liable,  when  assumed  as  speculative 
al  principles.     According  to    it,   stock  is   regarded  alto- 
gether as   measured   by  money,  and   an  amount  of  stock   is 
considered,  simply,  as  an  amount  of  money,  or  something  that 
will  bring  money.     The  stocks,  therefore,  of  different  countries, 
viewed  as  differing  merely  in  amount,  and  every  increase 
and  diminution  of  the  stock  of  the  same  country,  as  a  simple 
addition,  or  subtraction,  of  an  homogeneous  quantity.     These 
its  being  so  viewed,  have  been  assumed  so  to  exist,  and  the 
general  increase  and  diminution  of  stock  have  been  treated  of, 
as  things  as  simple  in   their   nature,  as  the  rows  of  digits 
loyed  to  mark  the  amount  of  money  by  which   they  are 


(It  furore,  par  Boucher,  Paris,  1819,  p.  '2.1.     The  laws  against 
,  there,  as  elsewhere,  increased,  instead  of  diminishing  the  evil. 

I 


130          OF  SEPARATION   OF   EMPLOYMENTS 

estimated.  Some  of  the  fallacies  hence  arising,  will  be  pre- 
sently noted  ;  they  will,  I  believe,  be  found  to  be  the  foundation 
of  much  of  the  contradictions,  in  which  the  reasonings  on  these 
subjects  are  involved. 

[With  respect  to  the  particular  subject  touched  upon  in  this  last  paragraph, 
see  the  Article  on  Method  in  the  Appendix,  the  passage  beginning  :  "Thus, 
if  in  any  particular  society,  we  were  to  be  asked,  what  the  capital  of  some 
other  person  were,"  etc.  At  the  risk  of  anticipating  somewhat,  a  passage 
from  Chapter  I.  Book  I.  of  the  original  is  introduced  here.] 

The  observation  of  Bacon  is  now  trite,  that  men  believe 
that  the  words  they  employ  in  the  process  of  reasoning,  serve 
the  intellect  as  mere  passive  instruments,  but  that,  in  reality, 
they  have  often  an  active  reflex  power,  through  which,  while 
the  mind  deems  it  governs  them,  they  are  enabled  to  usurp 
the  command  of  it,  and  so  misdirect  its  course. 

Our  author  [Adam  Smith]  notices  the  errors,  which,  in  this 
way,  have  arisen  from  the  use  of  the  term  money. 

"  Money,  in  common  language,  as  I  have  already  observed, 
frequently  signifies  wealth  ;  and  this  ambiguity  of  expression 
has  rendered  this  popular  notion  so  familiar  to  us,  that  even 
they  who  are  convinced  of  its  absurdity,  are  very  apt  to  forget 
their  own  principles,  and,  in  the  course  of  their  reasonings,  to 
take  it  for  granted  as  a  certain  and  undeniable  truth.  Some 
of  the  best  English  writers  upon  commerce  set  out  with 
observing,  that  the  wealth  of  a  country  consists,  not  in  its 
gold  and  silver  only,  but  in  its  lands,  houses,  and  consumable 
goods  of  all  different  kinds.  In  the  course  of  their  reason- 
ings, however,  the  lands,  houses,  and  consumable  goods,  seem 
to  slip  out  of  their  memory ;  and  the  strain  of  their  argument 
frequently  supposes  that  all  wealth  consists  in  gold  and  silver, 
and  that  to  multiply  those  metals,  is  the  great  object  of 
national  industry  and  commerce."1 

It  is  remarkable  that,  in  the  use  of  the  term  capital,  he 
himself  leads  his  readers  into  a  somewhat  similar  error. 
Capital  means  in  common  language  a  sum  of  money,  or 
something  for  which  a  sum  of  money  can  be  got ;  and,  as 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  IV.  c.  I.     [See  "  Note  D  "  in  the  Appendix.] 


AND    THE   SYSTEM   OF   EXCHANGE  131 

the  increase  both  of  national  and  individual  capital  produces 
a  sum  of  money,  or  something  for  which  a  sum  of  money 
can  be  got,  the  similar  estimation  of  both  by  a  row  of  figures 
is  the  thing  that  in  this  way  naturally  comes  uppermost  to 
tin-  mind,  and  hence,  the  things  themselves  in  both  cases 
forming  the  increase  not  being  immediately  present  to  its 
thoughts,  it  heedlessly  falls  into  the  conclusion  that  they 
also  are  perfectly  similar.  In  comparing,  indeed,  the  national 
capital  as  it  has  existed  at  distant  periods,  the  small  national 
al  of  remote  periods  with  the  large  national  capital  of 
thr  present,  we  immediately  perceive,  that  not  only  the  sum 
at  which  the  national  wealth  was  formerly  rated  is  increased, 
but  that  the  things  which  constituted  it  are  changed.  The 
wealth  of  England  is  certainly  ten  times  now  what  it  was  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  the  VIII. ;  we  do  not  conceive,  however, 
that  it  is  formed  by  multiplying  tenfold  such  articles  as  con- 
stituted the  sole  riches  of  its  inhabitants  in  that  somewhat 
nu It-  and  barbarous  age.  We  perceive  here,  that  there  is 
and  must  be,  not  only  an  increase  but  a  change.  When, 
however,  we  come  to  consider  the  smaller  parts  of  which  this 
iiu  rease  is  gradually  made  up,  as  the  change  here  is  not 
perhaps  perceptible  (and  as  all  we  see  is  the  sum  produced 
l»y  it,  the  fact  of  the  increase  being  more  easily  ascertained 
than  the  manner  of  it),  the  similarity  of  the  terms  naturally 
inclines  us  to  conceive  that  it  resembles  the  increase  of 
individual  capital,  and  consists  of  a  mere  increase  of  things, 
not  of  a  change  also  in  them. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

OF   INVENTION   CONSIDERED   AS  A  GENERAL 
SOCIOLOGICAL   PRINCIPLE. 

INVENTION  is  the  most  important  of  the  secondary  agents,  to 
the  influence  of  which  man  is  subject.  To  us,  it  is  the  great 
immediate  maker  of  almost  all  that  is  the  subject  of  our 
thoughts,  or  ministers  to  our  enjoyments,  or  necessities;  nor  is 
there  any  portion  of  our  existence,  which  is  not  indebted  to 
its  antecedent  forming  power.  Wherever  it  really  is,  it  is 
recognised  as  one  and  the  same,  by  this  its  formative  capacity. 
It  is  always  a  maker,  and,  in  a  double  sense,  a  maker.  From 
the  depths  of  the  infinity  lying  within  and  without  us,  it 
brings  visibly  before  us  forms  previously  hidden.  These  are 
its  first  works.  But  neither  does  it  intend  to  stop,  nor  does 
it,  in  fact,  stop  here.  The  forms  which  its  eye  thus  catches, 
and  its  skill  "  bodies  forth  "  into  material  shape,  pass  not 
away ;  they  remain.  Things  of  power,  true  workers,  drawing 
to  themselves,  and  fashioning  to  their  semblance,  the  change- 
able and  fleeting  crowd  that  time  hurries  down  its  stream, 
they  are,  in  truth,  the  only  permanent  dwellers  in  the  world, 
and  rulers  of  it.  In  this  the  double  power  of  his  works,  the 
mathematician  is  as  much  a  maker  as  the  poet,  and  the  poet 
as  the  mathematician ;  and  genius  in  all  its  manifestations, 
may,  in  so  far,  be  considered  as  the  same  power,  and  as  excited 
to  action  by  similar  causes. 

Our  subject  leads  us  to  attend  to  invention,  merely  as  it 
concerns  itself  with  the  material  world.  But,  as  the  motives 
exciting  the  men  in  whom  it  is  exhibited  to  give  themselves 


INVENTION    SOCIOLOGICAL  133 

up  to  its  requirements,  must  be  held  among  the  chief  of  the 
causes  of  its  manifestation,  and  as  they  who  in  this  depart- 
ment have  been  most  extensively  inventors,  have  in  general 
communicated  little  of  the  principles  that  animated  and  sus- 
tained them  in  their  career,  science  and  art  being  silent  of 
themselves,  we  may  be  allowed  to  give  wider  compass  to  our 
view,  and  to  cite,  when  our  purpose  requires  it,  those  who 
have  been  real  discoverers  in  any  of  the  various  regions  over 
which  the  power  of  this  principle  extends. 

The  motives,  exciting  to  this  sphere  of  action,  are  not  very 
apparent. 

Man  is  essentially  imitative ;  his  instincts  impel  him  to 
amalgamate  with  the  mass.  From  the  first  moment  of  his 
existence,  his  faculties  are  on  the  stretch,  drinking  greedily  in 
surrounding  gestures,  feelings,  principles  and  modes  of  action, 
which  he  again  communicates ;  he  seems  by  turns  a  recipient 
of  existing  impressions,  and  a  transmitter  of  them  to  others. 
Nor,  unless  he  look  far  beyond  himself,  is  there  any  evident 
motive  for  his  endeavoring  to  extricate  himself  from  the  ever- 
whirling  circle  of  which  he  forms  a  part.  Hundreds  of 
millions  have  preceded  him ;  to  learn  and  practise  what  they 
have  left,  is  the  direct  road  to  his  goods,  pleasure,  and  honor. 
Why  then  should  the  individual  waste  the  sweets  of  momentary 
existence,  in  rashly  and  needlessly  tasking  his  feeble  powers 
to  form  a  new  path,  when  one  already  exists,  along  which  so 
many  have  trodden,  and  which  their  footsteps  have  beaten 
smooth  ?  One  of  the  Jesuits  having  been  asked,  why  the 

•  •se  ha«l  made  no  progress  in  astronomy  beyond  the  rude 
elements  of  the  science  that  they  had  possessed  from  a  very 

>te  antiquity,  answers,  from  the  indolence,  and  want  of 
application  to  these  pursuits,  of  the  men  of  succeeding  ages, 
an'l  fmia  their  preferring,  like  those  of  the  present  day,  what 
they  have  esteemed  their  immediate  and  substantial  interests, 
to  the  vain  and  barren  reputation  of  having  discovered  sorae- 

•„'  new.     The  reason,  which  the  father  Parennin  assigns  for 

stationary  state  of  their  astronomy,  may  be  transferred  to 
all  their  other  sciences,  arts,  and  pursuits,  which  fifty  genera- 

a  have  contented  themselves  with  learning,  practising,  and 
teaching,  as  they  received  them  from  men  of  times  more 


134  INVENTION    SOCIOLOGICAL 

distant.  A  well  weighed  attention  to  what  is  for  their  present, 
and,  as  they  say,  substantial  interests,  has  led  them  to  do  this, 
and  forbid  them  to  do  more. 

In  that  Empire,  the  door  to  wealth  and  honor  is  not  abso- 
lutely barred  to  any  one,  and  in  this  it  would  seem  superior  to 
other  lands,  that  there,  whoever  possesses  learning  has  a  key 
that  will  infallibly  open  it.  Let  him  who  would  raise  himself 
superior  to  his  fellows,  give  his  youth  to  study,  let  him  care- 
fully make  his  own  a  due  portion  of  the  knowledge,  the  wit, 
the  eloquence,  or  what  passes  for  them,  stored  in  the  volumes 
his  masters  put  in  his  hands.  These  acquirements  will  be  the 
passports  to  the  places  round  which  riches  and  distinctions 
cluster.  Making  use  of  them  industriously,  prudently,  perse- 
veringly,  he  may  certainly  attain  the  rank  of  a  skilful 
physician,  a  learned  jurist,  a  practised  and  ready  speaker,  or, 
perhaps,  a  man  versed  in  the  constitution  and  policy  of  the 
empire,  fit  to  take  on  him  the  office  of  a  statesman,  and  share 
its  rewards  and  honors.  He  may  be  attended  by  obsequious 
crowds  ready  to  flatter  his  vanity,  minister  to  his  pleasures, 
conceal  his  weaknesses ;  alive  he  may  be  honored,  dead 
lamented, — why  then  abandon  these  sure  and  substantial 
advantages,  to  pursue  what  there  is  but  a  chance  of  gaining, 
and  which,  even  if  at  length  attained,  is  but  empty  fame, — a 
breath, — the  filling  at  the  best, 

"  A  certain  portion  of  uncertain  paper." 

The  practical  wisdom  of  the  Chinese  answers  at  once,  it 
were  folly. 

Is  that  which  is  sound,  practical  wisdom  among  those 
Asiatics,  the  reverse  of  it  among  us  Europeans  ?  The  reader 
may  determine,  by  casting  his  eyes  about  him,  to  discover  who 
are  the  men,  who  have  been  most  successful  in  attaining 
wealth,  comfort,  respectability ;  in  avoiding  dependence,  mis- 
fortune, calumny.  Whoever,  or  wherever,  he  may  be,  certainly 
he  will  not  find  it  is  they  who  have  sought  to  be,  or  have 
really  been,  men  of  genius. 

We  in  vain  search  for  any  sufficient  motive  exciting 
to  this  course  of  action,  unless  the  good  arising  from  com- 
municating good,  and  the  consequent  desire  to  be  a  benefactor 


INVENTION    SOCIOLOGICAL  135 

in  the  most  extended  possible  manner.1     This   desire   is    the 
proper  aliment  of  genius.     "  Leave  me  not,"  the  lay  [has]  it, 


In  its  loneliness, 


Its  own  still  world,  amid  th'  o'er  peopled  world, 
Hath  ever  breathed  to  love." 

When  very  strongly  felt,  it  irresistibly  impels  those  who  are 
conscious  of  capacities  equal  to  the  attempt,  spite  of  every 
obstacle  to  be  overcome,  or  pain  to  be  endured,  to  task  them- 
selves to  the  performance  of  works  of  permanent  and  diffusive 
utility.  To  reflective  minds,  and  large  and  generous  natures, 
the  creations  of  genius  must  present  themselves  as  of  all  works, 
those  most  extensively  conferring  enjoyment  and  power,2  and 
their  successful  execution  as  of  every  enterprise  the  noblest ; 
nor  need  we  wonder  that  to  such  it  should  have  a  voice  of 
magical,  and  almost  resistless  attraction. 

When  the  peasant  poet  of  Scotland  seeks  to  recall  an 
linage  of  his  earliest  self,  he  finds  there  uppermost  this  master 
passion,  this  "boundless  love"  of  his  fellows  and  his  native 
land,  urging  him  to  make  it  appear  by  something  worthy  of  it, 
and  marking  its  strength.  This  was  the  wish, 

"  Ev'n  then  a  wish  (I  mind  its  power,) 
A  wish  that,  to  my  latest  hour, 
Shall  strongly  heave  my  breast," 

that  led  him  to  the  realms  of  song.  This  was  in  truth  the 
genius, 

"Sua  cuique  deus  fit  dira  cupido," 

who  "  threw  her  inspiring  mantle  over  him,"  and  awakening 
powers  else  torpid,  enabled  him  to  draw  from  out  the  vulgarity 
before  hiding  them,  images  not  idly  falling,  and  to  fall,  on 
many  a  heart:  patriotism  ardent  and  self-devoting;  passion 

is  is  to  be  received  aa  concerns  our  existence,  limited  to  the  earth  and 

..«•,  the  only  light  in  which  it  can  with  propriety  be  considered  in  these 

speculations.   Were  we  to  view  it  as  belonging  to  the  universe  and  to  eternity, 

action  directed  to  the  purposes  referred  to,  would  not  be  impeded  from  the 

lerations  thus  presented,  but  would,  on  the  contrary,  derive  from  them 

freedom  and  energy. 

inventorum  noKiiium    introductio   inter  actiones  humanas  longe 
primas  paries  tenere.  LORD  BACON. 


136  INVENTION    SOCIOLOGICAL 

manly  yet  tender ;  love  without  the  coarseness  of  the  one  class 
of  society,  or  the  affectation  or  epicurism  of  the  other. 

Who  can  estimate  all  the  effects  of  these  hasty  fragments  of 
the  poet's  art  ?  If  we  consider  the  subject  well,  and  weigh  it 
fairly,  we  shall  confess,  that  their  author  has  exercised  an 
influence  already  greater,  and  far  more  abiding  than  any  of  the 
men  of  his  country  and  age.  It  is  thus  that  genius  manifests 
the  potency  of  the  principle  that  inspires  it,  and  that  the 
simplest  lays  of  the  simplest  bard,  may  have  a  power  passing 
far,  that  of  the  triumphs  of  the  statesman,  or  the  warrior. 
The  one  wakens  energy,  otherwise  dead,  into  action,  the  other 
merely  directs  that  action. 

"  But,"  it  may  be  said,  and  not  without  a  show  of  reason, 
"  why,  if  genius  is  roused  and  moved  by  principles  so  pure, 
does  it  happen,  that  the  undoubted  possessors  of  it,  are  them- 
selves so  often  defaced  by  faults,  and  that  we  speak  of  them, 
and  their  aberrations,  as  if  naturally  conjoined?  Ambition, 
the  desire  of  excelling,  a  much  more  questionable  motive, 
would  rather  seem  its  proper  stimulant." 

As  we  are  not  attempting  to  investigate  the  governing 
principles  of  classes  [or  individuals],  but  of  societies,  it  were, 
perhaps,  enough  in  answer  to  observe,  that  the  existence  of 
genius  among  a  people,  implies  at  least  the  diffusion  of  a 
tincture  of  generous  feelings,  somewhere  throughout  the  mass. 
If  we  were  to  see  an  individual  periling  his  own  life  to  rescue 
another  from  impending  danger,  it  might  be  doubtful  to  us 
whether  the  action  proceeded  from  a  desire  of  saving  the 
person  in  danger,  or  of  the  applause  and  praises  following  the 
doing  of  it ;  but  that  applause,  and  those  praises,  would  them- 
selves evince  a  general  perception  of  the  moral  worth  of  such 
an  action,  supposing  it  to  proceed  from  the  purest  motives, 
and  correspondent  sympathy  in  the  pleasure  likely  to  be 
experienced  from  it.  Vanity  could  receive  no  gratification 
from  a  deed  of  this  sort,  where  the  spectators  only  regarded  it 
as  an  incomprehensible  piece  of  rashness.  In  like  manner, 
though  it  seem  to  us,  that  many  who  have  eminently  succeeded 
in  the  pursuits  of  which  we  speak,  have  been  actuated  merely 
by  the  desire  of  gratifying  a  selfish  vanity,  still,  that  the 
attainment  of  these  objects  should  be  followed  by  the  warm 


INVENTION   SOCIOLOGICAL  137 

and  sincere  applause,  that  alone  constitutes  genuine  fame,  is  a 
proof  at  least,  of  the  existence  somewhere,  of  a  due  apprecia- 
tion of  the  motives  from  which  these  pursuits  are  supposed  to- 
proceed,  and  of  sympathy  with  the  pure  gratifications  their 
success  is  presumed  to  yield.  But  it  enters  into  my  design  to 
show,  that,  without  supposing  the  two  classes  actuated  by 
different  principles,  there  are  sufficient  causes  for  those  wander- 
ings as  they  are  called,  of  genius  from  the  common  path,  for 
that  contrariety  of  course,  [and  for]  that  seldom  intermitting 
opposition  and  strife,  which  have  almost  everywhere  been 
maintained,  between  the  society  in  which  they  existed,  and  the 
individuals,  who  have  been  ultimately  the  great  instruments  of 
ameliorating  and  elevating  its  condition.  Such  an  exposition, 
removing  part  of  the  obstructions  to  our  view,  will  make  it 
appear,  that  it  is  not  so  much  from  the  diversity  of  the 
nmvinu  powers,  as  from  the  imperfections  of  the  bodies  im- 
pelled, that  this  jarring  and  contrariety  of  action  arises. 

It  is  necessary  to  premise,  that  for  the  present  purpose,  two 

es  occasionally  confounded  together,  must  be  kept  apart. 

inventors,  the    men  whom  we   have  alone  to   consider, 

differ  from  mere  transmitters  of  things  already  known.     The 

•r  are  an  acknowledged,  and  very  useful  class,  in  all 
societies,  but  they  neither  encounter  similar  difficulties,  nor 
produce  similar  effects  to  the  former.  They  neither  oppose, 
nor  direct  the  current. 

In  the  gradual  progress  of  things,  the  media  for  communi- 
cating ideas  have  been  changed ;  types  have  come  to  do,  in  a 
great  measure,  the  office  of  the  voice.  What  in  ages  past 
would  have  formed  a  discourse,  or  harangue,  is  now  a  book,  or 
part  of  a  book.  Among  the  many  vast  consequences  of  the 

lution,  we  overlook  the  small  one  of  its  occasioning  the 
classing  under  one  name,  of  those  who  are  enlargers  of  the 
stock  of  knowledge,  and  those  who  are  merely  efficient  coin- 
in  unicators  of  portions  of  it.  They  are  all  successful  authors, 

•rs,  that  is,  of  books  which  are  read.     Just  so,  the  bard  or 
bards  of  the  elder  ages  of  ancient  Greece,  who  first  embodied 

>ng  the  deeds  of  the  besiegers  of  Troy,  and  they  who,  in 
DCS,  repeated   the   verses  they  had   learned,  were  all 

iters  of  heroic  lays.    Many,  too,  of  the  latter  may  have  been 


138  INVKNTION    SOCIOLOGICAL 

more  successful  chanters  than  the  former,  for  they  sang  to  ears 
prepared ;  but  there  was  between  them,  notwithstanding,  an 
essential  difference.  There  is  also  a  line  distinguishing  the 
mere  frainers  of  books,  from  the  original  makers  of  their 
materials ;  it  may  not  be  very  easily  drawn  indeed ;  but  this 
is  unnecessary  for  our  purpose,  it  is  sufficient  to  have  pointed 
out  its  existence.  It  may  be  observed,  too,  that  as  of  bards, 
so  of  authors,  they  who  are  mere  compilers  and  repeaters,  may 
be  more  successful  than  they  who  are  real  inventors,  they  may 
better  suit  their  productions  to  particular  times,  tastes,  and 
exigencies,  and,  besides,  they  can  always  find  an  audience 
prepared,  by  previous  training,  to  applaud. 

The  tendency  of  these  pursuits  is  to  withdraw  those  occu- 
pied in  them  from  the  daily  business  of  society.  They  fill 
not  the  places  open  for  them,  and  which  they  are  expected  to 
fill ;  even  when  necessity  pushes  them  for  a  time  into  them, 
and  compels  them  to  mingle  with  the  crowd,  they  are  marked 
as  not  belonging  to  it.  Abstract  and  scientific  truth  can  only 
be  discovered  by  deep  and  absorbing  meditation ;  imperfectly 
at  first  discerned,  through  the  medium  of  its  dull  capacities, 
the  intellect  slowly,  and  cautiously,  not  without  much  of 
doubt,  and  many  unsuccessful  essays,  succeeds  in  lifting  the 
veil  that  hides  it.  The  procedure  is  altogether  unlike  the 
prompt  determination,  and  ready  confidence,  of  the  man  of 
action,  and  generally  unfits,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  for 
performing  well  the  part.  He,  again,  who  dwells  in  the  world 
of  possible  moral  beauty  and  perfection,  moves  awkwardly, 
rashly,  and  painfully,  through  this  of  everyday  life,  he  is  ever 
mistaking  his  own  way,  and  jostling  others  in  theirs.  To  the 
possessors  of  fortune,  these  habits  only  give  eccentricity ;  they 
affect  those  of  scanty  fortune,  or  without  fortune,  with  more 
serious  ills.  Unable  to  fight  their  way  ably,  cautiously,  and 
perseveringly  through  the  bustle  of  life,  poverty,  dependence, 
and  all  their  attendant  evils,  are  most  commonly  their  lot. 

"  Toil,  envy,  want,  the  patron,  and  the  jail," 

are  calamities,  from  the  actual  endurance  of  some  of  which,  or 
the  dread  of  it,  they  are  seldom  free.  These,  however,  they 
share  with  other  men ;  there  are  some  peculiarly  their  own. 


INVENTION   SOCIOLOGICAL  139 

Pursuing  objects  not  to  be  perceived  by  others,  or  if 
perceived,  whose  importance  is  beyond  the  reach  of  their 
conceptions,  the  motives  of  their  conduct  are  necessarily  mis- 
apprehended. They  are  esteemed  either  idlers,  culpably  negli- 
gent in  turning  to  account  the  talents  they  have  got,  dullards 
deficient  in  the  common  parts  necessary  to  discharge  the 
common  offices  of  life,  or  madmen  unfit  to  be  trusted  with 
their  performance ;  shut  out  from  the  esteem  or  fellowship  of 
those  whose  regard  they  might  prize,  they  are  brought  into 
contact  with  those  with  whom  they  can  have  nothing  in 
common,  knaves  who  laugh  at  them  as  their  prey,  fools  who 
pity  them  as  their  fellows.  Their  characters  misunderstood, 
debarred  from  all  sympathy,  uncheered  by  any  approbation, 
tin  "eternal  war"  they  have  to  wage  with  fortune,  is  doubly 
trying,  because  they  are  aware,  that,  if  they  succumb,  they 
will  be  borne  off  the  field,  not  only  unknown,  but  miscon- 
ceived. To  have  merely  to  pass  without  his  fame,  the  poet 
paints  as  a  fate  capable  of  adding  double  gloom  to  the  shades 
below, 

"  Sed  frons  leeta  parum,  et  dejecto  luniina  vultu, 

— Nox  atra  caput  tristi  circumvolat  umbra." 

Whut  must  it  be  to  those,  then,  who  feel  that,  ere  final 
oblivion  hides  them,  calumny  must  for  a  time  prolong  the 
memory  of  their  existence  ? 

Imperfect  man  is  ever  prompt,  without  any  consideration  of 

motives  of  the  agents,  to  conceive  of  the  evils  he  endures 

as  of  wrongs  received,  and   to  be  avenged,  on  the  doers  of 

them.     We  need  not  wonder,  then,  that  the  manifold  sufferings 

nius  should  sometimes  place  it  in  opposition  to  humanity 

i,    and    that,    in    the    inconsistency    and    recklessness    of 

passion,  it  should  turn  in  anger  and  in  scorn,  as  its  bitterest 

enemy,  on  that  of  which  it  is,  in  heart,  the  truest  lover. 

These  are  circumstances,  largely  affecting  the  possessors  of 

faculty,  even   before  they   have  succeeded  in   mukin 

i  test,  before  they  have  been  able  to  give  outward  shape  to 

inward  conceptions.     There  are  others,  operating  simi- 

,  after  they  have  succeeded  in  producing  them.     What  is 

nrw,  has  to  encounter  obstacles  of  two  sorts.     It  is  the 


140  INVKNTION    SOCIOLOGICAL 

nature  of  men  to  be  copiers,  and,  with  exceedingly  few  excep- 
tions, they  are  nothing  more.  Mere  followers  they  are  of 
rules,  walkers  in  well-beaten  paths.  Whatever,  therefore,  is 
in  any  degree  really  new,  being  probably  beyond  these  rules,  is 
also  beyond  their  judgment.  Nor  is  this  the  worst;  it  is  also 
very  frequently  in  opposition  to  it ;  it  disagreeably  disturbs 
and  jars  the  existing  systems,  by  which  men  guide  their  feel- 
Boilings.  Hence  the  works  of  almost  all  men  of 
really  inventive  powers,  have,  at  first,  been  either  slighted 
or  decried.  Cervantes,  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  original 
geniuses  of  modern  times,  and  who  ultimately  operated  as 
largely  on  affairs  as  any  man  whom  they  have  witnessed,  was 
placed  by  his  contemporaries  far  below  the  subservient  taste  of 
Lope  de  Vego,  and,  in  his  last  days,  had  to  turn  from  Don 
(Juixote  to  a  theme  correspondent  to  the  bombast  of  his  age.1 
It  is  needless  to  multiply  examples, — in  a  similar  walk  Tasso, 
and  Shakspeare ;  in  another,  Hume  and  Montesquieu ;  in 
another,  Bacon  and  Galileo,  experienced  at  first  either  com- 
parative neglect,  or  partial,  or  general  opposition.  Few  names 
that  now  pass  current,  but  rose  with  difficulty,  and  were  nearly 
again  submerged  in  their  earlier  progress,  by  the  shock  of 
opposing  prejudices. 

The  practice  of  printing,  has  gradually,  as  it  has  extended 
the  circle  of  readers,  produced  effects  on  the  productions  of 
genius,  not  here  to  be  passed  unnoticed.  The  author  looks  to 
what  he  calls  the  public,  to  those,  that  is,  who  read — or  rather 
to  his  own  talents  for  producing  works  that  will  find  readers — 
for  the  pecuniary  rewards  of  his  productions.  This  circum- 
stance has  had  much  effect,  both  in  turning  the  powers  of  men 
of  talents  to  subjects  that  may  generally  interest,  and  in  oblig- 
ing them  to  treat  them  in  a  manner,  suited  to  the  tastes  and 
notions  of  the  crowd. 

Odi  profanum  vulgus  et  arceo, 
is  a  sentiment   that  they  neither  avouch,  nor  act  upon.     That 

1  We  cannot  read  the  romance  of  Peresiles  and  Sigesmundi,  published  after 
his  death;  it  had  more  success  than  any  of  his  works.     "  Jamais  cet  hominc 
cY-l< -hre,"  says  one  of  his  biographers,  "ne  fut  a  sa  veritable  place :  on  ded 
ses  talens,  on  meconnut  ses  vertus,  on  fut  insensible  a  sa  misere." 


INVENTION   SOCIOLOGICAL  141 

their  work  may  be  popular,  men  of  the  highest  original  genius 
bring  it  out  cautiously,  and  in  a  diffused  form.  Their  experi- 
ments are  timid.  Being,  in  their  way,  manufacturers,  they 
cannot  afford  to  make  such  as  might  deteriorate  the  value 
of  their  goods.  They  must  not  venture  on  a  dish  altogether 
new,  they  confine  their  powers  to  the  discovery  of  something 
that  may  give  piquancy  to  the  old.  If  the  practice  be  not 
prejudicial  to  the  progress  of  invention  itself,  it  is  fatal  to  the 
lasting  fame  of  the  inventors.  The  mass  keeps  swelling,  from 
generation  to  generation,  but  how,  cannot  well  be  noted.  This 
result  has,  however,  little  to  do  with  our  subject ;  there  is 
another  which  has  much. 

It   being   conceived   to   be   within   the   compass   of  talent, 

to  procure,  in  this  way,  its  own  reward,  genius  of  the  highest 

order,  if  its  productions  are  not  of  a  sort  to  bring  a  price  from 

a  bookseller,  receives  now  less  recompense  than  even  in  ages 

not  so  able  [generally]  to  appreciate  the   benefits  conferred  by 

it;  and,  from  the  same  causes,  the  propensity  to   neglect  it 

reatest  where   the  reading  public  is  the  most  numerous. 

promoters  of  the  abstract  sciences,  and  the  arts,  are  no 

\\ht-re  less  efficiently  aided,  than  in  Great  Britain.     There,  the 

observations  of  Lord  Bacon  apply  nearly  as  forcibly  as  ever. 

"  It  is  enough  to  restrain   the  increase  of  science,  that  energy 

and  industry  so  bestowed,  want  recompense.     The  ability  to 

cultivate  science,  and  to  reward  it,  lies  not  in  the  same  hands. 

Science  is  advanced  by  men  of  great  genius  alone,  while  it  can 

only  be  rewarded  by  the  crowd,  or  by  men  high  in  fortune  or 

authority,  who  have  very  rarely  themselves  any  pretensions  to 

it.     Besides,  success  in  these  pursuits  is  not  only  unattended 

by  reward  or  favor,  but  is  destitute  of  popular  praise.     They 

for  the  most  part,  above  the  conceptions  of  the  conmion- 

and  are  easily  overthrown,  and  swept  away,  by  the  wind 

"pular  opinion.1 

itis  eat  ad  cohebendum  augmentuni  acientiaruin,  <|u<>d  hujusmodi  co- 
natuH  et  Industrie  pnumiis  careant.     Non  cnim  penes  eosdem  est  cultura  scien- 
ii.  et  pnuinium.      S< •initianiin   enim  augmenta  a  tnagnis  utique  ingeniis 
limit;  et  pretia  et  prsemia  scientiarum  sunt  penes  vulgus  aut  principes 
iui   (nisi  raro  admodum)  vix  mediocriter  docti  stint.     (Juiucti.im  hu- 
jusmodi  progressus,    non   solum    pnurniis   et   beneticentia    hominuiu,    verum 


Hi>  INVENTION   SOCIOLOGICAL 

Without  speaking  of  the  sciences,  and,  in  the  arts,  confining 
our  attention  to  those  exertions  of  the  inventive  faculty  the 
benefits  of  which,  obstructed  by  no  unforeseen  obstacle,  have 
been  very  largely  felt,  how  many,  even  of  the  most  successful 
of  these,  have  been  adequately  rewarded  ?  How  many  of  them 
have  left  their  authors  in  poverty,  or  brought  them  to  it !  The 
personal  history  of  most  men,  who,  in  modern  times,  have 
brought  into  being  those  arts  by  which  human  power  has  been 
so  largely  advanced,  is  little  else  than  a  narration  of  misfor- 
tunes, and  ingratitude. 

Nor  are  the  sweets  of  success  itself,  in  any  department 
of  invention,  even  if  tasted,  imcontaminated  by  much  of  bitter- 
ness. It  is  chiefly  felt  at  the  time,  as  superiority,  on  which 
wait  envy  and  flattery.  Malice,  and  insincerity,  the  great 
separators  of  man  from  man,  and  poisoners  of  the  pleasures  of 
existence,  follow  close  after.  He  who  gains  it,  attains  an  eleva- 
tion commanding,  but  joyless,  and  unsafe. 

"Though  high  above  the  sun  of  glory  glow, 
And  far  beneath  the  earth  and  ocean  spread, 
'Round  him  are  icy  rocks,  and  loudly  blow, 
Contending  tempests  on  his  naked  head, 
And  thus  reward  the  toils,  which  to  those  summits  led." l 

It  is  death  alone  that  can  give  him  the  full  sympathies 
of  his  fellows.  When  the  earth  wraps  her  noblest,  none  any 
longer  envy  him ;  all  lament  the  benefactor,  no  one  sees 
the  rival  or  the  master. 

These  are  circumstances  disturbing  the  course  of  genius, 
coming  mainly  from  misapprehensions  from  without ;  there  are 
others  flowing  from  weaknesses,  and  imperfections,  within. 

There  are,  in  every  society,  rules  of  conduct,  and  practices  of 
life,  which  the  progress  of  events  has  gradually  marked  out, 
and  general  observance  hallowed.  Of  these,  some  are  founded 
on  the  principles  of  morality  and  religion,  some  on  caprice, 
some  on  prejudice.  The  breaking  of  any  of  them  is  always 

etiam  ipsa  popular!  laude  destituti  sunt.  Sunt  enim  illi  supra  captum  maximae 
partis  hominum,  et  ab  opinionum  vulgarium  ventis  facile  obruuntur  et  extin- 
guuntur." 

1  Childe  Harold. 


INVENTION   SOCIOLOGICAL  U3 

esteemed  a  crime  against  society,  and  in  reality  is  so ;  the  ob- 
servance of  them  constitutes  a  character,  in  public  estimation, 
perfect.  The  mere  man  of  society,  that  is,  the  man  of  merely 
imitative  action,  learns  them  uninquiringly,  and  diligently : 
they  make  up  indeed,  almost  all  he  knows,  and  all  the  interests 
of  himself  and  family  requires  he  should  know,  of  right  and 
wrong.  If  he  transgress  them,  it  is  secretly  and  cautiously. 
II.  makes  amends  by  unscrupulously  and  unsparingly  gratify- 

\\hatever  is  not  forbid  by  the  letter  of  his  code,  or  by  his 
n\\n  convenience.  The  inquirer  into  principles,  again,  takes  a 
wider  range,  it  is  not  the  morality  or  religion  of  Italy,  of  France, 
of  Britain,  of  North  America,  after  which  he  seeks,  but  religion 
and  morality  in  general.  He  attempts  to  learn,  not  what  is 
delivered,  but  what  is.  The  consequence  is,  that,  while  the 
mere  man  of  the  world  is  never  at  a  loss,  but  proceeds  securely 
in  the  direct  path  to  general  approbation,  the  man  of  specula- 
tion very  frequently  wanders  from  it.  To  say  nevertheless, 
either  that  he  knows  not  what  is  good  or  fit,  or  that  he  is  not 
desirous  of  observing  it  were  untrue.  The  eye  of  the  rider 
glances  over  hill  and  dale,  marks  the  streams,  the  woods,  the 
hamlets  that  diversify  the  prospect,  and  the  whole  configura- 

of  the  country  he  traverses,  and  so  he  knows  the  road. 

animal  he  rides  knows  it  too;  he  knows  it  as  giving  exer- 

to  his  limbs,  and  bringing  him  by  every  step  he  makes, 

.  ard,  or  right,  or  left,  nearer  to  some  stable-door.     Ten  to 

one  that,  practically,  the  latter  has  a  more  accurate  knowledge 

of  it  than  the  former,  and  that,  while  the  irrational  shall  saga- 

ly    and   unhesitatingly   follow  it   out,    without  missing  a 

turning,  or  making  one  blunder,  the  rational,  especially  if 

ih'    fancy  take  him  to  preserve  something  of  a  straight  line, 

shall  have  to  pass  from  track  to  track,  to  leap  many  a  hedge 

and  many  a  ditch,  and  having  been  obliged  after  all  to  make 

ire  in  abundance,  come  out  at  last  weary,  jaded,  and 
bernired. 

The  ills  which   men  of  genius  thus  occasion  and  endure, 
seeking    for    their    rules    of   action,   altogether    in    the 

:«ns  which  they  perceive  they  have  to  the  general  system 
of  human  society,  without  sufficiently  regarding  those  which 
necessarily  connect  them  to  the  little  system  of  some  particular 


144  INVENTION   SOCIOLOGICAL 

society,  are  merely  errors  in  the  actual  course  pursued,  not  in 
the  motives  from  which  that  course  was  adopted.  There  are 
others  more  fatal,  coming,  not  from  mistakes  in  action,  but 
from  errors  in  the  motives  to  action,  and  from  the  imagination 
that  it  may  be  allowable  willingly  to  do  a  small  evil,  if  a  large 
amount  of  good  follow  it.  This  is  unquestionably  a  moral 
error,  to  which  men  of  high  powers  must,  from  the  conscious- 
ness of  these  powers,  be  peculiarly  liable.  It  were  painful  to 
bring  forward  instances  of  their  succumbing  to  the  temptation.1 
It  is  thus  that  a  power,  which  seems  to  be  at  first  wakened 
to  life,  and  to  draw  its  earliest  aliment,  from  the  promptings 
of  strong  desires  in  man,  to  unite  himself  extensively  with  his 
fellow  men,  to  exist  with  them,  and  for  them,  rather  than  in 
himself,  as  it  gathers  strength,  and  predominates  in  any  indi- 
vidual, generally  renders  him  so  dissimilar  to  other  men,  in 
his  feelings,  habits,  motives,  and  modes  of  action,  that  it  in  a 

1  It  is  strange  that  Cicero,  as  in  the  following  passage,  should  seem  to  coun- 
tenance this  most  common  and  dangerous  of  moral  sophisms.  "  Quid  ?  si 
Phalarim,  crudelem  tyf annum  et  immanem,  vir  bonus,  ne  ipse  frigore  confi- 
ciatur,  vestitu  spoliare  possit ;  nonne  faciat?  Haec  ad  judicandum  sunt  facil- 
lima.  Nam,  si  quid  ab  homine  ad  nullam  par  tern  utili,  tuae  utilitatis  causa  de- 
traxeris  :  inhumane  feceris,  contraque  naturae  legem  :  sin  autem  is  tu  sis,  qui 
multam  utilitatem  reipublicae  atque  hominum  societati,  si  in  vita  remaneas, 
afferre  possis,  si  quid  ob  earn  causam  alteri  detraxeris,  non  sit  reprehenden- 
dum. — Communis  utilitatis  derelictio  contra  naturam  est,  est  enim  injusta. 
itaque  lex  ipsa  naturae,  quse  utilitatem  hominum  conservat  et  continet,  de- 
cernit  profecto,  ut  ab  homine  inerti  atque  inutili,  ad  sapientem,  bonum,  for- 
temque  virum  transferantur  res  ad  vivendum  necessariae  :  qui  si  occiderit, 
multum  de  communi  utilitate  detraxerit." — De  Ojfitiis,  L.  III. 

Such  reasoning,  followed  fairly  out,  would  not  stop  until  it  assumed  the 
form  which  Sir  Walter  Scott  has  given  it,  in  the  speech  of  Anselmo. 

"  You  are  to  distinguish,  my  son,"  replied  the  alchymist,  "betwixt  that 
which  is  necessarily  evil  in  its  progress  and  in  its  end  also,  and  that  which 
being  evil,  is,  nevertheless,  capable  of  working  forth  good.  If,  by  the  death  of 
one  person,  the  happy  period  shall  be  brought  nearer  us,  in  which  all  that  is 
good  shall  be  attained,  by  wishing  its  presence, — all  that  is  evil  escaped,  by 
desiring  its  absence,  etc.  If  this  blessed  consummation  of  all  things  can  be 
hastened  by  the  slight  circumstance,  that  a  frail  earthly  body,  which  must 
needs  partake  of  corruption,  shall  be  consigned  to  the  grave  a  short  space 
earlier  than  in  the  course  of  nature,  what  is  such  a  sacrifice  to  the  advance- 
ment of  the  holy  millenium."—  Kenilworth,  c.  XXII. 

A  living  author,  in  the  character  of  Eugene  Aram,  gives  also  a  striking 
picture  of  the  dangerous  tendency  of  the  same  sophistry. 


INVENTION   SOCIOLOGICAL  145 

great  measure  separates  him  from  them.  Whatever  he  may 
be,  or  may  hope  to  be  as  an  inventor,  or  author,  as  a  man  he 
is  misconceived  and  misapprehended.  Among  the  men  with 
whom  he  lives,  he  lives  as  not  of  them,  a  magic  circle  is  drawn 
round  him  which  neither  he  can  pass  without,  nor  they, 
within.  Like  the  attractive  and  repulsive  powers,  which  one 

uetic  influence  communicates  to  matter  of  the  same  sort, 
the  different  direction  in  which  the  great  moving  and  cement- 

I'rinciple  of  society  has  been  made  to  flow  in  him,  and  in 
them,  incessantly  repels,  and  keeps  him  at  a  distance  from 

tlu.Mll. 

This  disjunction  and  isolation  affect  various  natures  vari- 
ously. Some  cannot  endure  it ;  they  cannot  live  but  in  the 
constant  and  intimate  sympathy  and  communion  of  their 
fellows.  They  feel  all  the  loneliness,  and  little  of  the  grandeur 
of  the  desert.  They  pant  for  the  land  of  life,  and  either  turn- 
in. L,  to  it,  are  lost  in  it,  their  former  existence  being  remem- 
bered but  as  the  wanderings  of  a  dream ;  or  they  perish,  from 
their  incapacity  to  mingle  with  it.  Their  finer  and  gentler 
natures  fed,  but  not  strengthened  by  contemplation,  recoil 
from  the  coarse  and  boisterous  spirits,  with  whom  they  are 
brought  into  contact.  They  sink  in  the  conflict  and  pass 

:i  life  itself, 

"  A  precious  odour  cast 
On  a  wild  stream,  that  recklessly  sweeps  by  ; 

•ice  of  music  uttered  to  the  blast, 
And  winning  no  reply." 

To  others  of  firmer  mould,  the  action  of  these  alternately 

icting  and  repelling  powers,  the  passing  from  one  state  of 

being   to  another   completely  opposite,  from    the    turmoil  of 

:t   excited  by  braving  and  bearing  back  a  world  opposed, 

:ie  concentration  of  contemplative  solitude,  though  wasting. 

is  invigorating.     Like   steel  which   is  first  made  to  glow  in 

;ind  then  plunged  in  water,  the  fineness  of  their  temper 

is  brought  out    by   the    play  of   opposing    elements.      It  is 

observed  by  Mr.  Moore,  in  his  life  of  Lord  Byron,  that  but  for 

the  opposition  he  encountered,  the  noble  poet  had  never  stood 

in    ini.uht;    that   persecution    found   him,   as   Rousseau, 

weak,  left   him   strong. 


146  INVENTION   SOCIOLOGICAL 

Some,  again,  the  world  without  affording  no  resting  place, 
entrench  themselves  in  the  world  within.  Their  excursions 
outwards,  are  carried  on  as  into  a  country  permanently  hostile. 
To  insult,  to  attack,  to  overthrow,  not  to  subdue,  or  establish, 
is  their  aim.  These  are  the  skeptics,  meu  seemingly  abandon- 
ing every  other  hope  but  that  of  making  manifest  their  power, 
a  power  that  has  often  been  greater  than  they  themselves  have 
conceived,  and  which,  doubtless,  would  many  times  have  been 
more  happily  exerted,  had  they  found  themselves  in  happier 
circumstances.  When  we  read,  for  instance,  the  speculations 
of  Hume,  we  do  not  always  recollect  that  he  had  been  a  needy 
dependent  brother  of  a  Scotch  land-holder,  had  failed  in  the 
only  attempt  he  had  ever  made  to  establish  himself  in  the 
world,  by  entering  on  business,  and  had  come  to  middle  life, 
known  only  as  a  bookish  recluse,  unable  to  do  good,  and  only 
to  be  tolerated,  because  he  was  too  inoffensive  to  do  harm  to 
any  one.  Such  an  existence  may  well  account  for  much  of 
that  shrinking  within  himself,  that  absence  of  all  heart,  that 
habitual  distrust,  rather  rejoicing  to  overthrow,  than  hoping  to 
establish,  which  characterize  his  philosophy.  Who  can  tell 
how  great  has  been  the  influence  of  that  philosophy,  in  pro- 
ducing what  has  been,  what  is,  and  what  is  to  be,  in  Britain 
and  in  Europe  ?  Of  this  we  may  be  assured,  that  they  are 
least  aware  of  it,  who  are  most  affected  by  it. 

There  are  yet  others  of  higher  minds,  who,  through  hopes 
disappointed,  and  errors  committed,  over  the  waste  of  the 
world,  and  the  ruins  of  their  own  hearts,  can  look  confidently 
and  courageously  forward,  to  a  brighter,  though  far  distant 
prospect.  It  is  in  this  spirit  that  Lord  Bacon  bequeaths  his 
fame  to  posterity,  and  it  is  through  it,  that  he,  who  has  been 
to  us  so  notable  a  benefactor,  yet  holds  converse  with  us.  The 
manly  and  generous  confidence  with  which  he  relies  on  the 
better  parts  of  human  nature,  and,  in  the  midst  of  so  many 
discouraging  circumstances  looks  forward  to  the  ultimate  reign 
of  truth  and  happiness,  constitutes  indeed,  I  may  be  allowed 
to  remark,  no  small  part  of  the  charm,  and  perhaps  of  the 
utility  of  his  speculations. 

But,  however  the  opposition  between  men  of  practice,  and 
men  of  speculation  and  invention  may  operate,  it  certainly 


INVENTION    SOCIOLOGICAL  147 

exists,  and  there  are  perhaps  few  of  the  latter,  who  have  been 
gifted  with  dispositions  so  happy,  or  fallen  in  times  so  for- 
tunate, as  not  to  have  experienced  some  of  its  evils.  Never- 
theless, if  the  view  which  has  been  presented  be  correct,  this 
opposition  between  the  two  classes,  the  one  engaged  in  the 
application  of  what  is  already  known  to  the  production  of 
the  means  of  supplying  future  necessities  or  pleasures,  the 
other,  in  the  discovery  of  something  yet  unknown  and 
which  may  serve  the  same  purposes,  arises,  not  so  much 
from  a  difference  in  the  motives  to  action,  as  from  a  diversity 
in  the  modes  of  action:  and  the  principles  of  our  nature 
ing  to  the  advance  of  invention,  would  seem  to  be  nearly 
identical  with  those  giving  activity  to  the  effective  desire 
of  accumulation. 

The  difference  between  the  two  is  rather  in  degree  than 
in  kind.  He  who  labors  to  provide  the  means  of  enjoyment 
to  wife,  children,  relations,  friends,  pursues  an  end  in  some 
degree  selfish.  It  is  his  own  wife,  his  own  children,  his  own 
relations,  whom  he  desires  to  benefit.  The  fruits  of  the  labors 
of  genius,  on  the  contrary,  are  the  property  of  the  whole 
human  race.  On  this  account,  though,  in  the  individual, 
manifestations  of  the  inventive  faculty  imply  a  superiority 
•me  of  the  intellectual  powers,  they  rather  imply,  in  the 
society,  a  preponderance  of  the  social  and  benevolent  affections. 
It  is  this  general  acuteness  of  moral  sensation,  and  lively 
sympathy  consequently  with  the  pleasures  arising  to  the 
individual,  from  the  success  of  exertions  for  purposes  of  general 
good,  that  can  alone  excite,  and  nourish,  the  enthusiasm  of 
genius.1 

'[In  these  last  two  paragraphs  Rae  seems  to  run  sociological  and  economic 
considerations  together,  with  a  result  which  is  not  altogether  correct. 
The  difference  between  the  two  sets  of  motives  under  consideration  is, 
apparently,  one  not  of  degree  but  of  kind.  We  must  certainly  admit 
that  those  who  in  our  society,  especially  during  the  last  two  centuries, 
have  made  the  most  wonderful  and  useful  "application  of  what  is 
Already  known  to  the  production  of  the  means  of  supplying  future  neces- 
sities or  pleasures" — those  who  have  in  our  own  day  given  us  not  the 
knowledge  of  the  properties  of  electricity,  but  the  incandescent  light  and 
the  trolley — are  as  a  rule  men  of  a  certain  "  practical "  type  of  character, 
who  have  done  this  work  undoubtedly  for  money  and  the  things  money 


148  INVENTION   SOCIOLOGICAL 

But,  though  there  are  two  of  the  circumstances  giving 
strength  to  the  principle  of  accumulation,  on  which  the  pro- 
gress of  the  inventive  faculty  is  equally  dependent,  there 
are  yet  a  set  of  causes,  the  effects  of  which,  while  they 
paralyze  the  exertions  of  the  one,  rouse  the  other  to  activity. 
Whatever  disturbs,  or  threatens  to  disturb,  the  established 
order  of  things,  by  exposing  the  property  of  the  members 
of  the  society  to  danger,  and  diminishing  the  certainty 
of  its  future  possession,  diminishes  also  the  desire  to  accumu- 
late it.  Intestine  commotions,  persecutions,  wars,  internal 
oppression,  or  outward  violence,  either,  therefore,  altogether 
destroy,  or  at  least  very  much  impair,  the  strength  of  the 
effective  desire  of  accumulation.  On  the  contrary,  they  excite 
the  inventive  faculty  to  activity.  The  excessive  propensity 
to  imitation,  which  is  natural  to  man,  seems  the  only  means 
by  which  we  can  account  for  this  diversity  of  effects.  Men 
are  so  much  given  to  learning,  that  they  do  not  readily  become 
discoverers.  They  have  received  so  much,  that  they  do  not 
easily  perceive  the  need  of  making  additions  to  it,  or  readily 
turn  the  vigor  of  their  thoughts  in  that  direction.  "They 
seem  neither  to  know  well  their  possesions,  nor  their  powers ; 
but  to  believe  the  former  to  be  greater,  the  latter  less,  than 
they  really  are."1  Whatever,  therefore,  breaks  the  wonted 
order  of  events,  and  exposes  the  necessity,  or  the  possibility, 
of  connecting  them  by  some  other  means,  strongly  stimulates 
invention.  The  slumbering  faculties  rouse  themselves  to  meet 
the  unexpected  exigence,  and  the  possibility  of  giving  a  new 
and  more  perfect  order  to  elements  not  yet  fixed,  animates  to 
a  boldness  of  enterprise,  which  were  rashness,  had  they  as- 
sumed their  determined  places.  Hence,  as  has  often  been 
remarked,  periods  of  great  changes  in  kingdoms  or  govern- 
ments, are  the  seasons  when  genius  breaks  forth  in  brighest 

will  bring.  To  make  money,  it  must  be  remembered,  is  with  us  the 
conventional  standard  of  success  in  the  realm  of  affairs. 

But  when  all  is  said,  Eae's  teaching  holds  without  a  flaw  in  one  re- 
spect, and  that  is,  that  every  institution  and  individual  activity,  economic 
and  otherwise,  is  carried  on,  and  has  its  being,  in  the  environment  of 
the  general  moral  order.] 

1  Novum  Organum. 


INVENTION   SOCIOLOGICAL  149 

lustre.  The  beneficial  effects  of  what  are  termed  revolutions, 
are,  perhaps,  chiefly  to  be  traced,  to  their  thus  wakening  the 
torpid  powers ;  the  troubling  of  the  waters  they  bring  about, 
undoes  the  palsy  of  the  mind.1 

On  this  account  courage  distinguishing  well  between  things 
difficult  and  things  impossible,  and  calmly  estimating  them 
not  as  they  appear  to  vulgar  prejudices,  but  as  they  are, 
us  to  be  a  necessary  element  in  the  composition  of  genius 
of  a  high  order.  Without  the  possession  of  such  a  faculty,  it 
is  impossible  clearly  to  discern  the  things  which  changes  have 
brought  to  light  or  produced,  or  to  make  free  use  of  them. 
The  comparison  which  Lord  Bacon  makes  between  Alexander 
the  Great  and  himself,  is  far  from  being  forced.  Neither 
could  have  accomplished  what  he  did,  had  he  not  been  able  to 
despise  what  had  only  a  vain  show,  and  to  discover  and  trust 
to  real  though  underrated  powers.2 

[It  may  be  worth  while  to  add  to  this  chapter  a  fragment 
of  liae's  unpublished  manuscript  which  runs  as  follows : — ] 

"  It  is  through  his  intellectual  and  reasoning  powers  that 
man  has  the  capacity  to  call  into  existence  what  are  called 
the  advances  of  the  arts.  But  these,  his  intellectual  and 
reasoning  energies,  do  not  rouse  themselves  to  such  enterprises, 
but  seem  to  be  dormant  within  him  unless  excited  by  his 
feelings,  emotions,  passions.  In  the  absolute  solitude  of  the 
wilderness,  where  his  soul  is  stirred  by  none  of  these,  he 
degenerates  nearly  to  the  level  of  the  brute,  seeking  only  food 

'[See  "Note  L"  in  the  Appendix.] 

*"Atque  hac  in  parte  nobis  apondemua  fortunam  Alexandri  Magni : 
neque  quia  noa  vanitatia  arguat,  antequam  exitum  rei  audiat,  qua  ad 
exuendam  omnem  vanitatem  apectat. 

"Etenim   de   Alexandra  et  ejus   rebua  geatia  Machines  ita  loquutua  eat: 
No*  certe  vitam  mortalem  non  vivimua ;  aed  in  hoc  nati  aumua,  ut  poateritas 
de  nobis   portenta  narret  et  predicet :   perinde  ac  si   Alexandri  res  gestaa 
'uiraculo  habuiaaet. 

vt  aril  sequentibua  Titua  Liviua  meliua  rem  advertit  et  introapexit, 
atqae  de  Alexandra  hujuamodi  quippiam  dixit :  Eum  non  aliud  <|ii.m. 
bene  auaum  vana  contemnere.  Atque  simile  etiam  de  nob  is  judirium 
futuria  temporibua  factum  iri  exiatimamua :  Noa  nil  magni  feciaae,  aed 
tan  turn  ea  qua  pro  magnia  habentui.  minoris  feciaae." 


150  INVENTION   SOCIOLOGICAL 

and  protection  from  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather.  It  is 
in  society  alone  that  he  finds  those  influences  that  move  and 
feed  his  moral  and  intellectual  nature,  and  give  him  his  proper 
life.  He  is  in  fact  the  creature  of  society,  and  all  his  passions, 
emotions,  feelings,  may  in  one  sense  be  considered  as  so  many 
social  instincts  binding  him  to  it.  Now  in  herding  animals, 
and  in  this  regard  man  is  a  herding  animal,  it  is  not  the 
individual  but  the  herd  that  moves.  If  the  individual  attempt 
a  separate  and  independent  movement  [beyond  a  certain  point], 
he  is  sure  to  find  that  it  is  ineffectual  as  to  the  herd,  and 
dangerous  to  himself.  If  one  blessed  or  cursed  with  keener 
eyes  and  a  more  sagacious  nose  than  his  fellows  discover  in 
the  distance  fresher  and  greener  pastures,  and  direct  his 
course  to  them,  he  becomes  a  wanderer  from  the  flock,  a  stray 
one,  a  lost  one.  It  is  the  same  among  men.  One  whose 
powers  transcends  those  of  his  fellows  and  who,  trusting  to  them, 
advances  far  beyond  them,  is  so  bedimmed  to  their  eyes  by  the 
mists  of  distance  that  they  think  he  has  gotten  out  of  this 
real,  living,  and  tangible  world,  and  is  walking  in  the  clouds,  is 
wandering  in  the  unreal  splendors  of  fairy  land.  It  is  only 
when  by  chance  the  course  of  subsequent  events  brings  them 
to  the  spot  where  they  discern  the  marks  of  his  footsteps,  that 
they  say  one  to  another, — why,  such  a  one  was  not  in  the 
clouds  at  all :  he  was  walking  on  solid  ground.  How  blind 
was  man  in  those  days !  Such  a  one  is  said  to  have  come 
before  his  time,  or,  which  is  much  the  same  thing,  to  have 
been  out  of  place." 


CHAPTER  X. 

OF  THE   CAUSES  OF   THE   PROGRESS   OF   INVENTION  AND 
OF  THE   EFFECTS  ARISING  FROM  IT,  AS  IT  CONCERNS 
KLF  WITH  THE  MATERIAL  WORLD. 

INVENTION   is  the  only  power  on  earth  that  can  be  said  to 

:e.J     It  enters  as  an  essential  element  into  the  process  of 

increase   of   national   wealth,  because   that    process   is   a 

creation,  not  an  acquisition.     It    does   not   necessarily  enter 

into  the  process  of  the  increase  of  individual  wealth,  because 

thiit  may  be  simply  an  acquisition,  not  a  creation. 

Would  we  take  time  to  consider  of  it,  we  must  perceive 

such  an  increase  of  national  capital  as  individuals  [usually] 
make  of  individual  capital,2  is  at  least,  unlikely,  seeing  there 
is  no  apparent  cause  for  it.  Considering  capital  in  general, 

only  use  we  can  discover  for  it  is  its  enabling  the  com- 
munity to  draw  from  the  resources  the  country  affords,  the 
necessaries,  conveniences,  and  amusements  of  life,  its  supply 

hich,  according  to  our  author,  constitutes  its  real  wealth. 

only  so  far  as  it  is  instrumental  to  this  end  that  we  can 
see  a  use,  and  therefore  find  a  reason,  for  its  existence.  Now, 

ike  use  of  the  term  creation,  because  that  of  production,  which  other- 
wise I  should  have  preferred,  has  been  employed  in  another  sense.    I  trust  my 
•  •s  will  not  be  misconceived.     M  Kt  i.im  invents  quasi  novae  creationcs  sunt, 
urn  operum  imitamenta,  ut  bene  cecinit  ille  : 

"  Primum  frugiferos  fcetus  mortalibus  agris 
Dididerant  quondam  pra-stanti  nomine  Athenae : 
Et  recreaverunt  vitam,  legesqne  rogarunt." 

Koimm  Orpanum,  CXXIX. 
That  is,  a  mere  "accumulation,"  or  "multiplication  of  items."] 


152  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

as  one  individual  is  more  provident  and  prudent  than  another, 
we  can  easily  conceive  how  one  may  come  to  procure  for 
himself  a  greater  share  than  another  of  the  national  funds,  the 
means,  or  instruments,  serving  to  unlock  the  stores  which 
the  nation  [already]  possesses ;  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to  con- 
ceive how,  or  for  what  purpose,  a  general  increase  of  these 
means  or  instruments  should  take  place,  without  some  accom- 
panying discovery  of  an  improvement  in  their  construction  by 
which  they  may  put  additional  stores  within  reach  of  the  nation. 
We  may  easily  perceive  this,  by  attending  to  any  of  the 
numerous  small  items  of  which  the  national  capital  is  com- 
posed. I  shall  take  an  example  of  a  very  small  one.  The 
only  instrument  used  for  threshing  out  grain  in  Great  Britain, 
until  of  recent  years,  was  the  flail.  Hence  one  or  more  flails 
formed  a  part,  though  a  small  part,  of  every  farmer's  capital, 
and  therefore  all  the  flails  that  all  the  farmers  had,  a  part, 
though  an  exceedingly  inconsiderable  part,  of  the  national 
capital.  So  simple  an  instrument  and  one  so  easily  formed, 
was  made,  I  believe,  generally,  by  the  farmer  or  his  servants, 
though  sometimes  by  professed  mechanics.  In  whatever  way 
fabricated,  it  is  evident,  however,  that  the  number  of  flails 
made,  though  from  the  convenience  of  having  a  supply  pro- 
vided beforehand  they  would  exceed,  could  never  much  ex- 
ceed, the  number  of  persons  employed  in  the  operation  of 
threshing.  A  professed  flail-maker,  indeed,  if  diligent  and 
intelligent,  might,  by  the  aid  of  these  qualities,  have  been  able 
to  make  them  cheaper  than  his  neighbors,  and,  if  economical, 
to  extend  his  business  and  come  to  have  some  amount  of 
capital  in  this  shape.  But,  though  thus,  by  his  industry  and 
frugality,  an  individual  might  have  accumulated  capital  under 
this  form  to  an  extent  to  which  we  can  set  no  precise  limits, 
the  national  capital  never  could  have  been  so  increased, 
because,  if  one  person  by  greater  diligence  and  activity  made 
more  flails,  another,  from  a  deficiency  of  these  qualities,  would 
make  fewer ;  or,  if  we  suppose  all  the  makers  of  the  instru- 
ment to  be  alike  industrious,  and  thus  the  stock  of  it  to 
accumulate  so  as  to  do  more  than  supply  the  wants  of  the 
threshers,  the  article  would  remain  on  their  hands,  and  they 
would  naturally  cease  to  produce  the  superabundant  supply. 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  153 

While,  therefore,  the  instrument  retained  this  less  perfect  form, 
it  is,  I  think,  pretty  evident,  that,  though  individuals  might 
accumulate  capital  by  making  flails,  neither  the  national 
capital,  nor  the  national  revenue,  would  be  much  increased 
by  their  efforts  so  directed. 

About  forty  years  ago,  the  easier  and  more  perfect  method 
of  executing   this   process,  by  what   is  called   the    threshing 
machine,    was  invented.     This    new    instrument,   though    far 
more  expensive  than  the  former,  yet,  performing  the  operation 
more  effectually,  and  with  much  less  labor,  became  naturally 
things  which  farmers  were  desirous  of  having.     A  farmer  could 
have  had  no  motive  to  accumulate  but  a  very  trifling  capital 
in  the  shape  of  flails,  because  half  a  dozen  were  as  useful  to 
him  as  half  a  thousand ;  but  he  had  a  great  motive  to  accumu- 
late a  considerable  capital  in  the  shape  of  a  threshing  machine, 
because  it  would  save  him  much  annual  expenditure  of  labor, 
ami   the  operation   so   performed,   separating   the  grain   more 
effectually,  would  give  him  a  small  addition  to  the  corn  yielded 
l»y  his  subsequent  crops.     Accordingly  its  invention  was  fol- 
<l  by  the  accumulation  in  this  form  of  a  large  amount  of 
al,  and  so  by  an  increase  of  the  whole  agricultural  capital 
of  the  nation.     But,  besides  this  direct  effect,  the  saving  it 
produced  in  one  of  the  main  processes  of  agriculture  augmented 
profits  of  the  farmers,  and  tended,  therefore,  to  make  all 
ers   cultivate   their    farms   more  perfectly,  and    some   to- 
_je   in   improving  land  not  before  cultivated.     Both  the 
direct   and    the   indirect  effects  of   this   invention,   therefore, 
must  have  helped,  in  no  inconsiderable  degree,  to  augment  the 
agricultural  capital,  and  so  the  whole  capital  of  the  nation.1 

It  readily  occurs  to  every  individual  that  the  quantity  of 
hardware,  the  number  of  pots  and  pans,  is  in  every  country 
limited  by  the  use  which  there  is  for  them ;  that  it  would  be 
absurd  to  have  more  of  such  utensils  than  are  necessary  for 
cooking  the  victuals  usually  consumed  there ;  and  that,  if  the 
tity  of  victuals  were  to  increase,  the  number  of  pots  and 
pans  would  readily  increase  alon^  with   it,  a  part  of  the  in- 
creased quantity  of   victuals    being  employed   in   purchasing 
i,  or  in  maintaining  an  additional  number  of  workmen 
'[In  this  paragraph  Rae  closely  follows  Lauderdale. ] 


154  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

whose  business  it  was  to  make  them." l  But,  though  the 
national  capital  cannot  thus  be  supposed  to  accumulate  in  the 
shape  of  an  additional  number  of  pots  and  pans  [of  any 
fixed  type],  individuals  who  deal  in  hardware  frequently 
accumulate  capitals  in  this  shape,  to  a  large  amount.  We 
can  easily  conceive,  that  the  national  capital  also  might 
accumulate  in  this  shape,  were  some  discovery,  producing  MM 
improvement  in  the  manufacture,  to  occur.  Were  a  method 
discovered  of  procuring  and  manufacturing  platina,  or  some 
metal  similar  to  it,  at  only  four  or  five  times  the  cost  of 
brass,  it  would,  without  doubt,  be  employed  in  the  fabrica- 
tion of  kitchen  utensils  of  all  sorts.  Not  being  acted  on  by 
fire,  and  other  destroying  agents,  it  would  save  a  great  deal 
of  the  drudgery  of  the  kitchen,  and,  though  more  costly  at 
first,  would  probably,  on  the  whole,  be  preferred  by  good 
economists.  Thus,  pots  and  pans  becoming  more  expensive 
articles,  the  amount  of  national  capital,  or  stock,  accumulated 
in  them,  would  be  much  greater,  and,  through  this  improve- 
ment, the  whole  national  capital  would,  with  advantage  to 
the  society,  be  somewhat  augmented.2 

If  any  one  will,  in  a  similar  manner,  consider  any  of  the 
other  articles  which  help  to  make  up  the  national  capital,  I 
think  he  will  have  difficulty  in  assigning  a  sufficient  reason, 
from  any  of  the  views  presented  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations, 
for  its  increase,  unless  he  connect  this  increase,  somehow  or 
another,  with  some  improvement  in  the  particular  department 
of  industry  of  which  its  production  makes  a  part,  or  in  some 
other  department  dependent  on  it.  He  will  perceive,  that, 
though  there  is  no  difficulty  in  conceiving  that  an  individual 
may  accumulate  a  very  large  capital  in  the  form  of  any  of 
those  articles  or  commodities,  the  total  of  which  make  up 
the  national  capital ;  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  money 
itself,  there  is  difficulty  in  discovering  a  reason  for  the  accumu- 
lation of  any  of  them,  throughout  the  whole  community,  so  as 
to  form  any  sensible  addition  to  the  national  capital. 

It  may  perhaps  appear,  that,  in  whatever  shape  the  indi- 
vidual members  of  the  community  may  accumulate  capital, 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  IV.  c.  I. 

2 [For  use  of  terms,  see  the  end  of  the  chapter.] 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  155 

yet,  that  the  efforts  of  the  greater  number  being  thus  directed, 
they  might  accumulate  it  under  some  shape  or  another.  We 
are  not,  however,  it  will  be  recollected,  here  discussing  a 
possibility,  but  a  self-evident  principle;  not  what  might  be, 
but  what  must  be.  Now,  there  is  no  necessity  for  imagining 
that  this  must  be  the  case,  for,  without  entering  at  all  into  the 
minima.'  of  the  subject,  it  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  that  the 
action  of  the  principle  which  prompts  to  save,  itself  brings 
about  a  state  of  things,  which  diminishes  the  desire  to  save. 
A  person  must  be  most  desirous  of  getting  money  when  he 
perceives,  that  by  the  acquisition  of  it,  he  could  make  a  great 
deal  out  of  it ;  when  it  is  manifest  to  him,  that,  if  he  had  a 
sufficient  capital,  he  could  enter  on  some  branch  of  business 
that  would  be  very  profitable.  When  an  opening  of  this  sort 
presents  itself  to  a  prudent  and  enterprising,  though  poor  man, 
the  exertions  he  makes  to  gather  together  a  small  sum  are 
sometimes  almost  incredible.  But,  if  the  principle  were  to 
prevail  so  generally  as  to  fill  up  every  branch  of  business 
within  the  society,  the  desire  to  acquire  capital  so  as  to  enter 
on  some  of  the  particular  businesses  carried  on  in  the  society 
would  naturally  be  diminished  throughout  the  whole  country  ; 
and  this  general  diminution  of  the  motives  to  accumulate, 

it  be  sufficient  to  preserve  the  national  capital  within  the 
bounds  it  had  acquired,  and  prevent  it,  for  a  time,  from  gaining 
farther  increase. 

r  is  there  any  thing  in  the  appearance  of  human  affairs, 
which  should    induce    us    to   conclude   that    the   increase    of 

>nal  capital  ever  does,  in  fact,  proceed,  unless  in  con- 
junction with  some  successful  effort  of  the  inventive  faculty, 
improvement  of  some  of  the  employments  formerly 
practised  in  the  community,  or  some  discovery  of  new  arts. 
Ii  we  cast  our  eyes  over  the  results  which  either  reading  or 
observation  presents  to  us,  concerning  the  condition  of  different 

>ns,  we  gather  from  our  review,  that  many  of  them,  in 
regard  to  the  acquisition  of  wealth,  have  apparently  remained 

<>nary  for  ages,  although  undisturbed  by  external  violence, 
and  unmolested  by  internal  tumults.  During  all  the  time, 
however,  the  process  <>1  individual  accumulation  was  going  on; 
men  were  continually  rising  from  poverty  to  affluence,  founding 


156  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

families,  and  leaving  wealth  to  their  descendants :  but  this 
wealth  passed  away  from  them ;  what  the  father  gathered  was 
not  able  to  maintain  his  race,  and  they  gradually  sank  to  the 
rank  from  which  he  had  emerged.  The  proportion,  meantime, 
between  rich  and  poor,  and  the  total  wealth  of  the  community, 
remained  but  little  changed. 

At  length,  in  some  quarter  or  another,  an  improvement 
began  to  be  perceived.  What  do  we  find  to  have  been  the 
most  prominent  accompaniment  of  this  change  ?  Is  it  a 
diminished  expenditure — an  increased  parsimony — a  frugality 
before  unknown  ?  I  believe  not.  Any  great  diminution  of 
the  expenditure  of  a  whole  community,  it  will  be  found 
difficult  to  trace,  but  we  shall  always  discover  that  invention 
has  somehow  or  another  been  busy,  either  in  improving  agri- 
culture and  the  other  old  arts,  or  in  discovering  new  ones. 

It  is  only  when  some  great  and  striking  improvement  issues 
from  the  exertions  of  the  inventive  power,  that  we  in  general 
attend  to  its  effects.  Every  one  readily  grants,  that,  but  for 
the  invention  of  the  steam  engine,  the  capital  of  Great  Britain 
would  want  much  of  its  present  vast  amount.  We  perceive 
not  so  readily  the  numerous  small  improvements,  which  have 
been  gradually,  from  year  to  year,  spreading  themselves  through 
every  department  of  the  national  industry.  But,  though  not  so 
palpably  forced  on  our  observation,  we  pass  them  by,  they  never- 
theless exist,  and  sufficiently  account  for  the  manner  in  which 
the  national  capital  has  been  augmenting,  by  being  gradually 
accumulating  in  them,  without  the  necessity  of  supposing  that 
it  ever  has  augmented  precisely  as  that  of  individuals  generally 
does,  by  a  simple  multiplication,  under  the  same  form,  of  any 
or  all  the  items  of  which  its  amount  was  before  made  up.1 

Adam  Smith  himself  admits,  that  a  country  may  come  to  be 
fully  stocked  in  proportion  to  all  the  business  it  has  to 

x[Rae  goes  too  far  here  and  gives  improperly  a  collectivist  bias  to  the  whole 
discussion.  Because  individuals  may  increase  their  capital  merely  by  a  process 
of  simple  multiplication  (or,  as  he  calls  it  elsewhere,  by  a  process  of  "acquisi- 
tion" in  contrast  to  one  of  "  creation"),  it  does  not  follow  that  "generally  " 
they  do  so  accumulate.  The  antithesis  should  not  be  between  the  individual 
and  society,  but  between  the  principles  of  invention  and  mere  acquisitive 
accumulation  (which  Rae  himself  brings  out  later),  working  in  different 
individuals.  After  all,  it  is  the  individual  who  invents,  not  society.] 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  157 

transact,  and  have  as  great  a  quantity  of  stock  employed,  in 
every  particular  branch,  as  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
territory  will  admit.  He  speaks  of  Holland  also,  as  a  country 
which  had  then  nearly  acquired  its  full  complement  of  riches ; 
where,  in  every  particular  branch  of  business,  there  was  the 
greatest  quantity  of  stock  that  could  be  employed  in  it.1  It 

Id  then  appear  that,  even  according  to  him,  the  principle  of 
individual  accumulation,  as  a  means  of  advancing  the  national 
capital,  has  limits  beyond  which  it  cannot  pass.  The  same 

not  be  said  of  that  increase  which  is  derived  from  the 
attainment  of  those  objects  at  which  the  inventive  faculty  aims. 
Had  Holland,  sixty  years  ago,  been  put  in  possession  of  the 
astonishing  improvements  in  mechanical  and  manufacturing 
industry,  which,  since  that  period,  have  sprung  up  in  Great 
Britain,  who  can  suppose  that  she  would  have  wanted  ability 
to  continue  in  the  successful  pursuit  of  wealth ;  or,  that  she 
would  not  have  started  forward  with  fresh  vigor  in  the  career, 
and  advanced  in  it  with  greater  rapidity  than  in  any  former 
period  of  her  history  ? 

There  is  no  avoiding  the  admission,  that,  to  every  great 
advance  which  nations  make  in  the  acquisition  of  wealth,  it  is 
necessary  that  invention  leading  to  improvement  should  lend 
its  aid ;  and,  granting  this,  it  necessarily  follows  (as  when  one 
^ause  is  discovered  sufficient  to  account  for  the  phenomena,  we 
-h'.iild  confine  ourselves  to  it),  that  we  are  not  warranted  to 
assume  that  they  make  even  the  smallest  sensible  progress 
without  the  aid  of  the  same  faculty. 

To  this  general  observation  there  are  only  two  apparent  ex- 
ceptions. The  progress  of  commerce  by  the  increase  of  some 

icular  branch  of  it,  or  by  the  opening  of  fresh  branches ; 
and  the  settlement  of  new  countries. 

If  these,  however,  should  be  esteemed  exceptions  to  the  obser- 
vation with  regard  to  any  particular  nation  or  nations,  they  are 
extensions  of  it  with  regard  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  ;  im- 

:ig  that  the  increase  of  general  wealth  is  connected  with 
the  general  spread  of  invention,  or  inventions,  over  the  world.2 

>  alth  of  Nation*,  B.  I.,  c.  IX 

'[The  two  foregoing  interpolations  are  from   Bk.   I.,   Chap.    I.,   of   the 
original ;  the  first  from  p.  15,  the  second  from  pp.  1  !•--'».  j 


158  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

Besides  the  circumstances  determining  the  progress  of  in- 
vention arising  from  the  nature  of  man,  the  inventor,  there 
are  others  depending  on  the  modes  in  which  the  principles  of 
that  nature  are  excited  to  exert  themselves  in  this  sphere  of 
action,  and  gradually  to  discern  and  develope  the  qualities  and 
powers  of  the  various  divisions  of  the  material  world. 

The  surface  of  the  earth  presents  a  vast  variety  of  materials. 
Soils,  climates,  minerals,  vegetables,  the  fish  of  the  waters,  the 
birds  of  the  air,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field,  are  endlessly  diver- 
sified, and,  could  we  bring  back  the  surface  of  the  globe  to  the 
state  in  which  it  existed  when  man  first  made  his  appearance 
on  it,  we  should  probably  scarcely  find  any  two  points  in  all 
respects  alike. 

This  diversity  of  materials  seems  to  have  been  [originally] 
the  great  exciting  cause  to  the  progress  of  art  and  science,  men 
having  been  every  now  and  then  compelled  or  induced  to 
adopt  new  materials,  and,  as  they  changed  from  the  one  to  the 
other,  to  have  been  gradually  led  from  the  knowledge  of  the 
most  simple  and  obvious  qualities  and  powers,  to  a  perception 
of  those  which  are  more  complex,  and  difficult  to  discern. 

Tracing  any  invention  upwards  to  its  first  beginnings, 
shall  discover  that  these  have  been  exceedingly  rude  and 
imperfect,  proceeding  from  the  simplest,  and  what  would  seem 
to  us,  the  most  obvious  observations ;  and  that  it  has  advanced 
towards  perfection,  by  having  been  led  to  change  the  materials 
with  which  it  originally  operated,  and  passing  from  one  to 
another,  has  at  each  step  of  its  progress  discovered  new  quali- 
ties and  acquired  new  powers. 

I  believe  a  lengthened  inquiry  into  the  history  of  inventions 
would  lead  to  the  following  conclusions : — 

1st.  Arts  change  materials.  It  having  become  difficult  or 
impossible  for  men  to  obtain  the  materials  with  which  they 
had  been  accustomed  to  operate  [in  any  branch  of  industry], 
they  have  been  led  to  adopt  others,  and,  retaining  the  know- 
ledge of  the  qualities  and  powers  of  the  old,  have  added  to- 
them  those  of  the  new. 

2d.  Different  arts  adopt  the  same  materials.  Men  have 
been  encouraged  to  operate  with  new  materials,  from  materials 
being  presented  to  them  evidently  better  suited  to  their 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

purposes  than  the  old,  could  they  be  made  submissive  to 
their  art. 

3d.  The  operation  of  these  circumstances  has  slowly  dimin- 
ished the  propensity  of  mankind  to  servile  imitation,  and  given  a 
beginning  to  science,  by  bringing  to  light  the  qualities  and  powers 
common  to  many  materials — the  general  principles  of  things. 

The  limited  objects  of  the  present  inquiry,  however,  forbid 
our  entering  into  the  lengthened  train  of  speculation,  that 
would  be  necessary  fully  to  establish  these  conclusions  by  an 
adequate  investigation  of  the  progress  of  inventions.  I  shall 
content  myself  with  adducing  a  sufficient  number  of  instances 
to  show,  that  this  continual  change  has  been  a  circumstance 
operating  very  beneficially  and  efficiently,  in  enlarging  the 
bounds  of  human  knowledge  and  power. 

When  men  are  deprived  of  the  materials  with  which  they 

i  to  operate  in  the  production  of  necessaries,  and  between 

them  and  want   have  only  such  as  are  similar,  but  not  the 

same,   one  of   two  things   must    happen.     They  must  either 

uer  the  difficulties  of  the  new  matter,  or  must  perish.     In 

the  earlier  ages  of  the  world,  it  is  scarce  to  be  doubted,  that 

the  latter   event   was   of  not    infrequent  occurrence.     Tribes 

forced  from  their  homes  by  more  powerful  tribes,  must  have 

been  often  led  by  hope,  or  driven  by  despair,  into  regions  that 

had  not   before  yielded   to  the   dominion  of  man.     But  the 

materials  which  different  regions  present  to  human  industry, 

are  very  seldom  precisely  alike.     The  new  would  differ  from 

the   old,   in   being  in   some   respects  worse,   in   others   better 

adapted  to  its  purposes,  than  they.     The  difficulties  are  much 

more  apparent  than  the  benefits,  the  former  having  generally  to 

be  overcome,  before  the  latter  be  apprehended,  or  distinctly 

perceived.     The  attempt,  then,  would  probably  never  be  made, 

Inn    for  the  promptings  of   necessity.     Its  success    has  two 

advantages.     The  subjection  of  the  obstacles  carries  the  invcn- 

faculty  a  step  farther  forward ;  the  larger  returns  made, 

.•-,'  to  the  circumstances  in    which   the   new   material    is 

rior,  in-  rcase  the  rewards  of  industry.     As  the  success  of 

the  attempt  would  advance  the  skill  and  the  power  of  those 

who  made  it,  so  its  failure  would  abandon  them  to  famine.     In 

the  former  case,  the  individuals  whose  intelligence  and  courage 


160  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

overcame  the  obstacles,  would  be  exalted  by  posterity  into 
gods  and  demi-gods ;  in  the  latter,  the  field  would  remain  open 
to  more  successful  essays,  in  other  times,  and  by  other  races. 
An  inquiry,  however,  into  the  progress  of  the  arts  essential  to 
the  existence  of  man  in  any  form  of  society,  would  carry  us 
back  to  ages  too  remote,  and  involved  in  an  obscurity  too  deep 
to  penetrate. 

None  of  the  arts  which  are  not  necessary  to  the  preservation 
of  human  existence  itself,  has  probably  had  greater  influence 
on  the  modes  which  that  existence  has  assumed,  than  metal- 
lurgy. Without  the  metals,  it  would  be  impossible  for  the 
series  of  instruments  to  be  continued  from  which  the  wants  of 
civilized  society  are  supplied,  and  without  them,  consequently, 
mankind  could  never  have  emerged  from  barbarism.  There 
are  few  arts,  either,  in  which  the  processes  have  probably  at 
first  been  more  rude,  in  which  they  have  ultimately  attained 
greater  perfection  of  skill,  or  in  which  the  progress  has  been 
more  gradual,  and  more  dependent  for  its  advance  on  the 
variety  of  the  materials  operated  upon.  Some  metals  are 
found  in  quantity  pure ;  the  ores  of  some  are  easily  reduced,  of 
others,  with  great  difficulty.  Of  all  the  substances  he  attempts 
to  classify,  none,  from  their  number  and  variety,  give  greater 
trouble  to  the  mineralogist.  The  discovery  of  the  qualities  of 
such  portions  of  these  metals  as  were  found  pure,  would  soon 
make  them  be  considered  as  the  most  useful  of  substances,  and 
occasion  their  being  sought  after  with  avidity.  The  supply 
of  them  in  this  state  being  exhausted,  or  they  who  had 
employed  them  moving  into  regions  where  they  could  no 
longer  be  found,  recourse  would  gradually  be  had  to  the 
less  pure  and  less  easily  reduced  ores,  and  from  thence  to 
metals  and  ores  wrought  with  still  greater  difficulty.  Thus 
we  find  that  gold,  silver,  and  copper,  the  metals  that  most 
frequently  occur  native,  were  those  first  in  use ;  iron  came 
last,  and  was  probably  then  esteemed  the  most  precious. 
Weapons  of  gold  and  silver  were  edged  with  it,  in  the  same 
manner  as  were  wooden  implements,  such  as  the  old  English 
spade,  in  more  recent  days.  But  for  the  gentleness  of  the 
ascent,  it  is  altogether  likely,  that  the  art  would  never  have 
attained  the  eminence  it  has  gained.  Had  the  earth,  for  in- 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  161 

stance,  possessed  no  metallic  stores  but  the  more  abundant  ores 
of  iron,  by  far  the  most  useful  in  the  present  days,  it  seems  not 
unlikely,  that  no  metal  would  ever  have  been  wrought.  The 
steps  by  which  it  rose,  were,  however,  too  numerous,  and  the 
vestiges  left  of  them  are  too  indistinct,  for  me  to  attempt  here 
to  trace  them,  were  I  even  prepared  so  to  do.  I  prefer  rather,  in 
illustration  of  the  subject,  to  refer  to  an  art  which  has  been  in  prae- 
tor thousands  of  years,  and  to  an  implement  in  daily  use. 
The  plough,  in  its  most  simple  form,  is  an  instrument  the 
invention  of  which  would  naturally  follow  the  domestication  of 
the  ox  species.  Men  accustomed  to  loosen  and  stir  the  earth, 
with  the  inefficient  implements  of  that  ancient  period,  could 
6  in  time  fail  to  remark,  that  the  sluggish  strength  of 
this  animal  might  aid  them  in  the  operation.  They  seem  to 
have  turned  it  to  this  purpose,  by  a  very  simple  contrivance. 
A  long  crooked  sapling,  similar  to  the  clubs  used  by  boys  in 
some  of  their  games,  but  larger,  had  its  thick,  curved  end 
sharpened  to  a  point,  and  its  other  extremity  attached  to 
something  like  what  is  now  called  a  yoke,  coupling  two  oxen 
by  the  neck.  The  long  straight  part  of  the  implement  passed 
between  the  animals,  the  part  turned  downwards  rested  on  the 
earth  behind  them,  and  when  they  moved  forward,  along  soil 
very  easily  impressed,  would  mark  it  with  a  furrow,  which 
miu'ht  be  deepened  by  a  man  walking  close  after,  and  pressing 
it  downwards.  He  was  assisted  in  this  operation  by  the 
addition  of  a  handle  projecting  upwards,  the  point  was  hardened 
by  the  action  of  the  fire,  and  another  person  guided  the  oxen. 
Such  was  probably  the  earliest  plough,  and  those  that  are  used 
in  many  parts  of  the  east,  to  this  day,  differ  not  much  from  it, 
with  the  exception  of  the  point  being  defended  by  a  sort  of  iron 
tooth,  and  the  wood  not  having  a  natural,  but  an  artificial 
curvature.  In  Java,  a  man  when  he  has  done  his  day's  work, 
ies  home  his  plough  on  his  shoulder,  as  a  woodman  does 
his  axe.  The  defects  of  such  an  implement  are  to  us  very 
;  It  only  scratches  the  soil,  it  cannot  make  what  we  call 
a  furrow,  and  it  is  only  very  light,  sandy  soil,  or  the  sort  of 
mini  in  which  rice  is  cultivated,  on  which  it  is  at  all  capable 
of  acting.  As  the  quantity  of  this  sort  of  soil  is  in  all  parts 
of  the  world  limited,  men  were  gradually  forced  to  attempt  the 

L 


162  INVENTION    ECONOMIC 

tillage  of  land  more  difficult  to  subdue.  Over  the  greater 
part  of  Asia,  they  have  done  so,  by  a  simple  enlargement  and 
strengthening  of  the  first  rude  implement.  The  model  im- 
mediately before  their  eyes  seems  to  have  so  confined  their 
powers  of  invention,  that  they  attempted  no  change  but  this. 
In  that  part  of  the  world,  if  we  except  China,  and  the  countries 
bordering  on  Europe,  the  earth  is  consequently  scratched,  or  at 
best  stirred,  it  is  not  in  our  sense  of  the  word  ploughed.  The 
improvements  which  we  have  made  in  the  operation  are  two- 
fold ;  the  first  concerns  the  effect  produced  on  the  soil,  and  the 
second,  the  ease  with  which  it  is  produced.  The  furrow  we 
form  makes  each  portion  of  soil  operated  upon,  describe  about 
one  third  of  a  circle,  thus  blending  all  the  parts  of  the  surface 
together,  leaving  it  very  open,  and  placing  the  vegetable  fibres 
in  the  position  best  suited  to  induce  decay.  The  turn,  too, 
thus  given  to  each  portion,  puts  it  out  of  the  way  of  the  next, 
which  is  therefore,  with  comparative  ease,  moved  into  its  proper 
position. 

It  seems  not  to  have  beeii  until  the  instrument  got  to 
Europe,  that  it  assumed  a  form  capable  of  executing  such  an 
operation.  Such  was  probably  the  Roman  plough,  the  wood- 
work of  which  is  thus  described  by  Virgil : 

"  Continue  in  sylvis  magna  vi  flexa  domatur 
In  burim,  et  curvi  formam  accipit  ulraus  aratri, 
Huic  a  stirpe  pedes  temo  protentus  in  octo, 
Binae  aures,  duplici  aptantur  dentalia  dorso. 
Ca?ditur  et  tilia  ante  jugo  levis,  altaque  fagns, 
Stivaque,  quse  currus  a  tergo  torqueat  imos  ; 
Et  suspensa  focis  explorat  robora  fumus. 

An  elm  bent  with  great  strength  in  the  woods,  is  forced 
into  a  buris  and  receives  the  form  of  the  crooked  plough.  To 
it  are  fitted  the  temo  stretched  out  eight  feet  from  the  lower 
end,  the  two  aures,  the  dentalia  with  the  double  back,  and  the 
stiva  which  bends  the  lower  part  of  the  plough  behind.  The 
light  lime  tree  is  felled  beforehand,  for  the  yoke,  and  the  lofty 
beech  for  the  other  parts,  and  the  smoke  seasons  the  wood 
hung  up  above  the  fire."  1 

I   see   not   that   this   buris,    which  has  given   some  of  the 

1Georgic  I.  170.     Translated  by  Adam  Dickson,  Husbandry  of  the.  Ancient '^ 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  163 

commentators  a  little  trouble,  can  be  any  thing  else  than  the 
original  crooked  sapling,  here  swollen  to  a  large  elm  knee,  form- 
ing the  body  of  the  plough,  inflexi  grave  robur  aratri,  and  to 
which  all  the  other  parts  are  appended.  From  it,  instead  of 
the  longer  straight  part  of  the  sapling,  stretched  forward  a 
separate  piece,  termed  the  temo  or  pole,  and  the  stiva,  or  handle, 
was  retained.  So  far  there  was  very  little  difference  from  the 
original  instrument,  but  in  the  aures,  the  ears,  we  have  the 
beginnings  of  the  mould  board,  and  there  is  a  place  for  the 
reception  of  the  vomer,  the  large  cutting  iron  share.  These 
appendages,  the  more  difficult  soil  of  some  parts  of  Italy  prob- 
ably introduced ;  and  when  adopted  in  one  part,  they  could 
scarce  fail  to  spread  over  it  all. 

The  plough  thus  changed  into  an  instrument  for  turning 
over,  not  merely  stirring  the  soil,  was  carried  by  the  Romans 
into  other,  and  more  northern  regions,  and  transmitted  to 
other  races.  These  and  subsequent  revolutions,  obliterated  the 
imitation  of  the  original  curved  sapling.  The  curve  became  an 
angle  formed  by  a  short  downright  beam  or  pillar,  the  sheath 
or  forehead,  fitted  into  the  shortened  pole  or  temo,  and  bearing, 
as  before,  the  chief  stress  of  the  draft.  Greater  symmetry  and 
lightness  were  thus  given  to  it.  The  mould  board  gradually 
attained  its  present  form,  the  coulter  and  another  handle  were 
added.  In  recent  days,  it  has  been  made  nearly  altogether  of 
iron.  In  Britain,  where  this  revolution  in  the  material  was 
introduced,  it  is  deserving  of  notice  that  the  metal  implement, 
that  its  parts  are  slenderer,  is  an  exact  copy  of  the 
wooden  one.  There  is  yet  too  the  sheath.  In  some,  at  least, 
of  the  American  iron  ploughs,  the  sole  connexion  between  the 
upper  and  lower  parts,  unless  that  given  by  the  mould  boards 
•  Ives,  is  a  strong  bolt  screwing  tight.  For  a  plough  of 
such  materials,  this  last  metamorphosis  of  the  original  saplinu 
>ris,  would  seem  the  better  construction. 

Thus,  the  moving  of  this  implement  from  one  region  and 
people  to  another,  the  consequent  adaptation  of  it  to  different 
and  more  difficult  soils,  and  the  change  of  the  materials  of 
which  it  is  formed,  seem  to  have  been  the  occasions  of  its 
successive  improvement.  They  have  stimulated  the  faculty  of 
ition,  and  weakened  the  propensity  to  servile  imitation. 


164  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

The  instrument,  so  changed,  it  may  be  remarked,  is  on  its 
return  to  countries  in  which,  perhaps,  it  first  assumed  form. 
English  ploughs  are  to  be  seen  in  India,  and  some  modification 
of  them  must,  in  time,  become  the  general  plough  of  the 
country. 

Our  next  example  of  the  effects  of  these  circumstances  on 
the  development  of  the  inventive  faculty,  will  be  taken  from 
the  progress  of  sacred  architecture.  It  conspicuously  exhibits 
the  strength  of  the  principle  itself,  and  the  trammels  by  which 
its  energies  are  sometimes  confined. 

When  men  worship  the  deity,  they  find  their  devotional 
dispositions  assisted  by  the  presence  of  external  objects,  par- 
taking of  his  attributes.  Thus,  whatever  brings  sensibly 
before  us  the  ideas  of  very  great  power,  and  unlimited  dura- 
tion, fills  the  mind  with  thoughts  that  are  very  near  akin  to 
devotion.  Hence,  men  in  almost  all  ages  and  countries,  have 
either  made  choice  of  particular  natural  objects,  inspiring  such 
ideas,  as  concomitants  of  their  devotions, — they  have  wor- 
shipped turning  to  the  sun,  or  in  groves,  or  on  the  tops  of 
mountains ;  or  they  have  formed  things,  having  in  their  con- 
ceptions a  sort  of  unison,  in  this  way,  with  the  object  of  their 
worship. 

Of  all  the  people  who  have  employed  themselves  in  forma- 
tions of  this  sort,  and  devoted  a  portion  of  their  industry  to  the 
construction  of  instruments  serving,  in  some  degree,  to  satisfy 
those  natural  longings  of  the  human  mind  after  something 
bringing  before  it  the  perfections  of  the  deity,  none  have  been 
more  eminently  successful  than  the  Egyptians.  The  sudden- 
ness with  which  the  art  there  attained  an  excellence,  that  even 
now  commands  our  fullest  admiration,  is  a  phenomenon  well 
deserving  the  attention  of  speculators  on  the  extent  of  the 
human  powers  when  roused  to  free  and  active  exertion. 

Several  circumstances  seem  to  have  contributed  to  deter- 
mine the  form  which  architecture  there  assumed,  and  to  carry 
it  at  once  from  infancy  to  maturity. 

One  of  the  manifestations  of  power  most  apt  to  attract  the 
notice  of  men  in  the  early  stages  of  society,  as  very  great,  is 
the  moving  of  large  blocks  of  stone.  To  men  altogether  igno- 
rant of  the  mechanic  powers,  however  strong  and  numerous,  to 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  165 

move  a  cubic  stone  of  the  weight  of  only  two  tons  would  be 
impossible ;  for,  enough  of  them  could  not  get  hold  of  it.  To 
men  again,  having  made  a  certain  degree  of  progress  in  art, 
and  aware  of  the  advantage,  for  instance,  of  the  lever,  though 
it  might  then  be  practicable  to  move  into  an  upright  posi- 
tion pillars  of  even  a  few  tons  weight,  such  objects  would 
still  seem  very  striking  displays  of  power.  They  would  also 
impress  them  with  the  ideas  of  extended  duration,  which  the 
indestructible  nature  of  the  material,  is  calculated  to  produce. 
Accordingly  we  find  that  the  erection  of  such  columnar  masses, 
has  been  a  very  common  act  of  men,  in  rude  states  of  society, 
in  their  efforts  to  draw  themselves  near  to  some  conception  they 
have  had  of  the  great  first  cause. 

But  it  is  not  mere  blind  power,  and  eternal  duration,  that  is 
attributed  to  the  deity  ;  besides  this,  all  men  ascribe  to  him  un- 
erring wisdom,  and  most  men,  boundless  benevolence.  Regu- 
larity of  design,  then,  especially  if  combined  with  visible  utility, 
renders  any  object  of  great  and  changeless  power,  more  fitting 
to  inspire  religious  sentiments.  On  this  account  the  sun,  of 
all  objects  continually  before  our  eyes,  is  that  most  generally 
turned  to  with  religious  feelings. 

Symmetry  of  design  may  be  given  to  collections  of  columns, 
by  preserving  them  at  regular  distances,  and  forming  them 
into  circular,  or  straight  lines.  The  circles  of  the  Druids  in 
Scotland,  and  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  are  examples  of  this 
sort  of  form.  Greater  unity  would  be  given  to  an  erection  of 
thi-  sort,  by  the  addition  of  horizontal  pieces,  stretching  from 
the  top  of  the  one  pillar  to  that  of  the  other,  and  partially 
roofing  in  the  fabric.  Such  an  addition  would  also  heighten 
notion  of  power  embodied  in  the  work.  The  poising  large 
masses  of  stone  on  the  summits  of  elevated  columns,  must 
have  appeared  a  stupendous  exertion  of  power,  to  those  who 
first  contemplated  it.  Such  seems  to  have  been  the  character 
of  the  famous  druidical  temple  of  Stonehenge.  A  form  similar 
to  this,  would  therefore  seem  likely  to  be  that,  which  the 
ancient  Egyptians  must  have  been  inclined  to  give  the  religious 
edifices  they  constructed,  when  leaving  the  higher  grounds, 
1  >e<jan  to  descend  and  occupy  the  plains ;  and  such  is,  in 
fact,  the  general  outline  which  the  ruins  of  their  edifices  yet 


166  INVENTION  ECONOMIC 

present.  But  they  possessed  arts  which  enabled  them  to  give 
their  edifices  a  degree  of  grandeur,  far  superior  to  the  rude 
structures  of  the  ancient  Britons. 

They  were  probably  either  themselves  workers  of  stone,  or 
had  the  means  of  knowing  how  stone  may  be  wrought.  The 
more  ancient  Troglodytes  were  perfect  in  the  art  of  cutting 
stone.  Their  labors  were  confined,  however,  to  forming  ex- 
cavations in  rock,  they  do  not  seem  to  have  ever  thought  of 
dividing  these  rocks  into  fragments,  and  again  reuniting  them 
into  some  required  form.  Indeed,  this  is  an  idea,  that  could 
not  very  readily  occur  as  a  means  of  facilitating  the  formation 
of  structures  of  the  sort.  Here,  as  in  other  instances,  the 
beginnings  of  art  are  simple,  but  laborious.  It  is  invention 
that  abridges  the  amount  of  labor  necessary  for  attaining  the 
end,  and  substitutes  skill  and  contrivance,  for  toil  and  per- 
severance. A  sort  of  necessity,  brought  about  by  the  occupa- 
tion of  a  new  region,  and  the  desire  to  have  rocky  edifices  on 
the  alluvial  plane,  probably  led  the  Egyptians  to  effect  this 
revolution. 

The  possession  of  another  art,  made  it  of  less  difficult  execu- 
tion. Egypt,  a  long  level  valley  periodically  overflowed, 
afforded  peculiar  facilities  for  the  transport  by  water,  of  even 
the  heaviest  articles.  The  largest  masses  separated  from  the 
rocks  that  bordered  the  great  canal,  into  which  it  was  trans- 
formed during  the  time  of  the  inundation,  had  only  to  be 
moved  to  rafts  stationed  close  by,  when  they  could  be  trans- 
ported to  any  required  situation.  The  riches  also  of  that 
celebrated  valley,  then  probably  recently  exposed  to  human 
industry  by  the  retiring  waters,  and  which  the  efforts  of  fifty 
centuries  have  not  yet  exhausted,  gave  the  inventive  faculty 
as  its  instrument,  an  almost  unlimited  command  of  labor. 
Genius  was  not  wanting  to  reach  lofty  conceptions,  or  to 
apply  the  means  put  in  its  hands  so  as  to  give  them  an 
adequate  form.  The  works  it  produced  were  the  admiration 
of  antiquity,  and  are  the  astonishment  of  modern  times. 

Architecture,  with  the  other  arts  of  Egypt,  was  carried  to 
Greece.  It  retained,  nevertheless,  the  same  essential  character, 
the  effects  it  produced  arising  from  the  magnitude  and  propor- 
tions of  massive  blocks,  arranged  in  columns  and  transverse 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  167 

pieces.  A  comparison  of  the  two  does  not  give  the  one  much 
superiority  over  the  other.  Both  possess  sublimity  and  unity 
of  design,  and  beauty  of  execution,  and  if  the  Grecian  has 

ter  elegance,  the  Egyptian  has  greater  grandeur.  But  if 
the  colony  did  not  much  excel  the  parent  country  in  archi- 
tecture, there  is  no  comparison  between  them  in  the  sister  art 
of  sculpture.  Architecture  and  statuary  were  combined  by 
the  ancient  Egyptians.  The  earliest  human  figures  cut  in 
stone,  that  have  come  down  to  us,  are  those  executed  by  them, 
on  their  columnar  fabrics.  They  represent  the  human  body 
in  one  position.  The  arms  close  to  the  trunk,  the  legs  close 

ach  other,  the  back  applied  to  the  block,  of  which  the 
statue  is  a  part.  This  position  of  the  body  forms  evidently 
the  most  easy  design  which  a  novice  in  the  art,  when  first 
attempting  to  shape  in  stone  some  representation  of  the 
human  figure,  could  conceive.  That  the  Egyptian  artists 
should  have  commenced  with  such  figures,  seems  natural 
enough,  but  that,  after  having  learned  to  execute  the  pro- 

>us  and  highly  finished  works  in  statuary,  which  they  have 
left,  they  should  still  have  adhered  to  this  position,  can  only, 
I  apprehend,  be  explained  from  the  influence  of  the  spirit  of 
imitation.  The  achievements  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  in  the 
whole  art  of  shaping  stone  into  forms  giving  the  ideas  of 
sublimity  and  beauty,  may  well  be  supposed  to  have  filled  the 
minds  of  their  descendants  with  awe  and  admiration,  since 
their  iv  mains  so  powerfully  affect  even  men  of  the  present  day 
with  these  sentiments.  It  is  scarcely  in  human  nature  greatly 

I  in  ire  any  productions  of  genius,  and  to  form  others  much 
surpassing  them.  Under  the  influence  of  such  a  sentiment, 
men  are  rather  inclined  to  confine  their  efforts  to  making 
additions,  than  to  exert  them  in  attempting  alterations,  prud- 
ence whispering,  that  the  former  will  be  received  as  sufficient 
proof  of  their  capacity,  while  the  latter  might  be  censured  as 
proceeding  from  their  arrogance.  When  a  certain  point  has 
once  been  gained,  future  artists  seek  the  principles  of  their 
operations,  not  in  the  powers  of  nature  and  of  man,  but  in 
what  they  term  the  rules  of  art.  These  rules  seem  to  have 
effectually  confined  the  art  of  statuary,  as  far  as  the  human 
figure  was  concerned,  to  the  limits  marked  out  by  the  first 


168  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

essays.  Even  figures  in  porcelain  had  the  same  character,  an 
appendix  being  put  to  the  back,  indicative  of  the  original 
stone  block.  The  restraining  influence  of  the  spirit  of  imita- 
tion is  rendered  more  remarkable,  from  the  figures  of  the 
inferior  animals  being  executed  with  considerable  spirit. 

When  the  art  was  transferred  to  Greece,  the  change  of 
country  undid  its  trammels,  and  its  productions  assumed  all 
the  life,  grace,  and  beauty,  which  varying  and  natural  attitudes 
bestow. 

The  mechanical  part  of  architecture  underwent  a  revolution 
among  the  nations  that  were  finally  consolidated  into  the 
Eoman  Empire,  by  the  adoption  of  the  arch,  and  the  employ- 
ment of  cement.  The  Egyptians  and  Grecians  were  stone- 
cutters ;  the  Komans,  masons.  The  spirit  of  imitation 
prevented  this  change  in  the  material  part,  from  producing, 
immediately,  a  corresponding  change  in  the  ideal.  Under  the 
Komans,  the  arch  and  the  column  were  combined.  It  was 
not  until  after  the  ruin  of  the  Empire,  when  architecture 
recommenced  among  other  races,  that  it  assumed  a  new  form, 
correspondent  to  the  change  in  the  mechanical  part,  and  suited 
to  the  purposes  and  times. 

When  arts,  other  than  those  of  their  native  wilds,  first 
began  to  be  any  thing  to  our  rude  ancestors,  the  art  of  the 
mason,  received  by  them  from  the  Eomans,  was  properly  the 
capacity  of  shaping  a  stony  mass  into  a  form,  realizing  some 
of  their  imaginations,  from  materials,  which  could  be  easily 
transported  to  the  point  required.  While  the  Egyptians  and 
Grecians  had  had  to  apply  their  powers  to  changing  the  figures 
and  positions  of  masses  of  rocks,  they  possessed  the  art  of 
constructing  a  rocky  mass.  The  instrument  of  the  former 
was  the  chisel,  to  carve  into  shape,  of  the  latter,  lime,  to  work 
out  to  shape.  The  beginnings  of  the  former  art  in  Africa > 
and  of  the  latter  in  Europe,  are  marked  by  the  same  lavish 
expenditure  of  human  labor,  though  in  different  modes.  In 
the  former,  the  human  hand,  slowly,  by  dint  of  strokes  inter- 
mitted not  for  generations,  dug  out  caves,  or  carved  pillars. 
In  the  latter,  also,  the  human  hand  cemented  small  fragments 
of  rock  to  small  fragments,  till  in  the  lapse  of  years,  the  mass 
gradually  swelled  out  into  some  desired  form.  The  extent  of 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  169 

the  operations  of  the  one  was  limited,  by  the  powers  of  in- 
dustry, to  put  large  blocks  and  columns  of  stone  into  the 
requisite  positions,  and  by  the  strength  and  durability  of  these 
materials.  The  operations  of  the  other  again,  were  limited, 
solely,  by  the  cohesive  qualities  of  the  mass  it  formed.  The 
effect  at  which  both  aimed,  grandeur,  the  union  of  power, 
durability,  and  useful  design,  was  mainly  produced  in  the 
former,  by  the  vastness  and  symmetry  of  the  several  parts,  in 
the  latter,  by  the  same  qualities  combined  in  a  whole. 

The  art  was  probably  at  first  applied  in  modern  Europe,  to 
the  construction  of  places  of  strength.  Solidity  to  resist  the 
battering  engines,  height  to  prevent  the  fortress  being  scaled, 
and  the  advantage  of  having  scope  to  annoy  the  besiegers, 
produced  the  massive  battlemented  towers  and  castles  of  the 
ancient  barons.  As  its  materials  were  the  most  durable, 
principles  to  which  we  have  already  adverted,  soon  led  to  its 
application  to  structures  devoted  to  the  purposes  of  religion. 

A  plain  wall  of  small  stones  and  lime  may  convey  the  idea 
of  durability,  but  only  in  a  slight  degree,  that  of  power  or 
design.  A  circular  or  angular  column  of  the  same  materials, 
if  very  elevated,  is  better  fitted  for  these  ends,  but  still,  is  far 
inferior  to  one  composed  of  a  solid  block.  A  lofty  stone  arch, 
again,  is  one  of  the  most  striking  displays  of  power  that  human 
art  exhibits.  The  aspect  of  a  mass  so  ponderous,  hanging 
thus  securely  in  high  air,  fixes  the  attention,  and  fills  the 
mind  with  awe.  It  is,  accordingly,  by  a  skilful  management 
of  the  arch,  that  the  grandeur  of  effect  of  what  we  term  the 
iic  architecture,  is  chiefly  produced.  All  the  other  parts 
are  subordinate  to  it,  and  confined  within  the  smallest  limits 
sufficient  to  bring  out  its  powers.  In  the  more  perfect 
specimens,  there  is  no  dead  wall ;  a  congeries  of  lofty  arches, 
supported  on  short,  or  slender  pillars,  is  wrought  into  a 
magnificent  and  beautiful  whole.  The  feeling  of  admiration 
here  springs  from  the  consideration  of  the  power  manifested, 
in  maintaining  in  its  place  the  whole  high  and  hanging  fabric; 
whereas,  in  the  Grecian  architecture,  it  rather  arises  from  a 
perception  of  that  displayed  in  the  formation  and  elevation  of 
each  separate  member. 

The  progress  towards  perfection,  of  this  order  of  architecture, 


170  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

was  much  more  slow,  considering  that  it  scarcely  ever  re- 
mained wholly  stationary,  than  was  that  of  the  Grecian,  for  it 
is,  in  reality,  far  more  difficult.  Several  causes  contributed  to 
its  advance.  The  great  extent  of  country  over  which  its 
elements  were  diffused,  occasioned  the  use  of  various  sorts 
of  stone,  and  produced  the  advantageous  effects  arising  from  a 
continual  change  of  materials.  The  art  of  the  mason  im- 
proved, strength  was  obtained  by  joining  stones  into  one 
another,  rather  than  by  cementing  them  together.  The  use  of 
freestone,  a  rock  easily  wrought  into  shape,  probably  had  con- 
siderable effect  in  producing  this  improvement.  The  architect 
was  thus  enabled  to  bring  out,  in  greater  fineness,  all  the  parts 
of  his  fabric.  The  feelings  of  men,  also,  set  towards  the 
pursuit.  Kings,  nobles,  a  proud  and  powerful  priesthood, 
stood  ready  to  reward  and  applaud  its  successful  creations,  and 
assembled  multitudes  gazed  on  them  in  silent  and  delighted 
admiration.  It  has  been  truly  said,  that  it  formed  much  of 
the  poetry  of  the  age.  In  the  want  of  other  species  of  intel- 
lectual excitement,  men  were  needs  very  strongly  moved  by 
an  art,  that  thus  wrought  on  stone  and  lime,  they  knew  not 
how,  to  pourtray  some  of  the  deepest  feelings  of  their  hearts. 
It  seems  to  have  been  only  slightly  retarded,  by  a  propensity 
to  servile  imitation.  The  various  kingdoms  into  which  Europe 
was  split,  and  the  difficulty  of  intercourse  amongst  them,  gave 
courage  to  the  artists,  who  were  themselves  the  greatest 
travellers,  to  attempt  works  from  which  they  would  have 
shrunk,  had  those  who  were  to  judge  of  them  had  easy  access 
to  established  models.  Nevertheless,  there  is  a  fact,  which 
shows  that  the  oppressive  influence  of  this  principle  was  far 
from  inert.  The  epochs  of  the  most  rapid  advances  of  the 
Gothic  architecture,  were  the  periods  succeeding  the  conquest 
of  kingdoms  by  new  races.  This  circumstance  has  given 
occasion  to  several,  to  conjecture  that  it  stands  indebted  to 
the  knowledge  of  its  principles  which  some  of  these  conquerors 
brought  with  them.  The  supposition  is  improbable ;  we  have 
no  reason  to  believe  that  they  brought  any  thing  else,  than 
what  necessarily  belonged  to  such  men,  a  bold  and  untram- 
meled  spirit.  This,  indeed,  is  an  essential  element,  and  one, 
as  we  have  seen,  of  great  power  in  the  composition  of  genius. 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  171 

It  was  thus  that  the  prominent  defects  of  the  art  under  the 
An  L:!O- Saxons,  an  exuberance  of  dead  wall,  and  want  of  eleva- 
tion, were  remedied  by  the  Normans.  The  Saracens  in  Spain, 
wrought  also  a  similar  change. 

At  no  preceding  period,  did  there  exist  men,  so  much  given 
to  the  erection  of  permanent  structures  as  modern  Europeans, 
and  their  American  descendants.  Their  command  of  materials, 
their  resources  of  power,  are  by  much  superior  to  those 
possessed  by  any  antecedent  people.  It  is  certainly,  then, 
surprising,  that  they  should  be  servile  copyists  of  the  arts  of 
those  whom  they  fitly  look  on,  compared  with  themselves,  as 
barbarians.  I  apprehend  we  can  only  explain  the  phenomenon, 
from  the  influence  of  the  instinct  of  imitation.  The  extended 
intercourse  between  all  parts  of  the  world,  the  diffusion  of  the 
products  of  book-making,  and  of  picture-making,  render  us 
familiar  with  existing  models  of  all  sorts.  An  artist,  there- 
fore, who  has  to  construct  any  great  edifice,  finds  it  safest  to 
copy  from  some  one  whose  merits  have  been  acknowledged, 
and  takes  the  measure  of  a  Grecian  temple,  or  Gothic  church. 
Thus,  at  least,  he  covers  himself  from  censure.  Hence  it  is, 
that  we  so  often  see,  in  the  cold  foggy  climate  of  Britain,  or  in 
the  boisterous  one  of  North  America,  an  imitation  of  some 
structure  that  had  been  admired  in  Greece.  The  claims  to 
admiration  which  the  copy  possesses,  fall,  however,  far  short  of 
the  original.  In  the  first  place,  it  wants  that  evidence  of 
perfect  design,  which  arises  from  the  complete  and  easy 
accomplishment  of  a  purpose.  What  answered  the  mild 
climate,  and  serene  skies  of  Greece,  is  felt  to  be  inconvenient, 
and  therefore  defective,  elsewhere.  Next,  it  is  most  probably 

ry  deficient  copy.  The  effect  of  the  Grecian  structures, 
depends,  as  we  have  seen,  in  their  consisting  of  large  masses  of 
stone.  Our  imitations  are  probably  the  work  of  the  mason,  or 
possibly  the  plasterer,  and  convey,  therefore,  no  idea  of  power, 

very  essence  which  it  is  desired  to  embody.  There  is 
hence,  also,  generally,  a  failure  in  the  execution.  When  the 

1   is  full  of  any  great  idea,  it  knows  when  it  has  got  an 
adequate  expression  for  it,  and  rests  not  satisfied  until  it  has 
fitly  and   accurately  embodied  it.      But,  if  this  great  presi< 
idea  be  wanting,  there  is  nothing  within,  distinguishing  the 


172  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

right  from  the  wrong,  or  preventing  the  commission  of  the 
greatest  errors.  Our  mason-work  and  plastered  fabrics,  are 
consequently,  often  masses  of  incongruities. 

Our  choice  of  Gothic  models,  for  similar  reasons,  generally 
fails  as  completely.  A  large  cathedral,  indeed,  must  be  ad- 
mired anywhere,  but  this  is  too  great  a  work  to  be  attempted. 
A  copy  is  probably  taken,  from  some  chapel.  We  forget,  that 
what  was  admirable  for  its  purpose  in  some  small  ancient 
rustic  hamlet,  is  out  of  place  in  our  cities ;  that  the  arches, 
which,  to  simple  peasants  living  in  huts,  seemed  magnificent, 
to  the  chieftain,  issuing  for  a  time  from  his  naked  fortalice, 
elegant,  must  appear  mean  and  insignificant,  to  those  whose 
halls  are  nearly  as  lofty;  and,  that  the  whole  pinnacled  and 
buttressed  structure,  crowded  on  and  perhaps  overtopped  by 
square  unseemly  buildings,  devoted  to  meaner  uses,  shows 
among  them,  trifling,  and  fantastic,  like  a  toy  erected  to  please 
children. 

The  examples  we  have  hitherto  considered,  are  of  the  same 
arts  changing  materials.  Those  which  we  have  now  to  attend 
to,  are  of  different  arts  adopting  the  same,  or  similar  materials. 
When  arts  are  brought  together,  they  borrow  from  each  other. 
Men  perceive  that  some  materials,  or  instruments,  or  processes, 
employed  in  the  one,  could  they  be  transferred  to  the  other, 
would  be  the  cause  of  its  yielding  larger  returns.  They  are 
encouraged,  therefore,  to  attempt  the  change,  and  experience 
shows  that  such  attempts  perseveringly  pursued,  are  generally 
successful. 

Efforts  of  the  inventive  faculty,  succeeding  in  effecting  such 
transfers,  are  more  important  than  those  in  which  it  accom- 
plishes simply  a  change  of  materials,  for  they  tend  more  than 
they  to  weaken  the  powers  of  the  propensity  to  imitation,  and 
establish  general  principles,  applicable  to  all  arts.  Hence  we 
observe,  that,  in  countries  where  many  arts  flourish,  there  are 
most  general  principles,  least  servile  imitations,  and  very  often, 
a  continual  onward  progress.  Barren  apart,  they  show  genera- 
tive virtues  when  brought  together.  I  take  it,  that  it  is 
chiefly  from  this  circumstance,  that  the  seats  of  commerce 
have  been  so  generally  the  points  from  whence  improvements 
in  the  arts  have  emanated.  Thus,  also,  countries  where  various 


i 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  173 

different  races,  or  nations,  have  mingled  together,  are  to  be 
noted  as  coming  eminently  forward  in  tne  career  of  industry. 
Great  Britain  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  this ;  so  are  the 

(United  States  of  America.  When  individuals  meet  from 
different  countries,  they  reciprocally  communicate  and  receive 
the  arts  of  each,  adopt  such  as  are  suited  to  their  new  circum- 
stances, and  probably  improve  several.  Servile  imitation  can 
(there  have  no  place,  for  there  is  no  common  standard  to 
imitate.  Countries  again,  where  only  one  art  is  practised,  and 
where  the  population  is  composed  of  one  unmingled  race,  are 
generally  servilely  imitative.  Such  are  some  purely  agricul- 
tural countries.  Experience  shows,  that,  from  the  influence  of 
this  propensity,  improvements,  in  these,  always  introduce 
themselves  very  slowly.  Leaving,  however,  these  general 
reflections,  we  should  now  turn  to  particular  instances  of 
passages  in  this  way,  of  processes  and  inventions  from  art 
to  art,  and  consequent  improvement  of  old,  and  generation  of 
new  arts.  But,  as  these  will  be  chiefly  recent,  and  European, 
there  are  one  or  two  circumstances,  affecting  generally  their 
progress  in  this  part  of  the  globe,  to  which  it  may  be  as  well 
previously  to  advert. 

The  rough  and  variable  climate  of  Europe,  compared  with 
the  regions  that  have  given  origin  to  most  of  the  arts  now  pre- 
vailing in  it,  renders  the  necessary  cost  of  subsistence  much 
greater.  To  live  at  all,  in  most  parts  of  Europe,  men  must 
consume  a  greater  quantity  and  better  quality  of  food,  or  they 
must  be  more  warmly  clothed  and  comfortably  lodged,  than  in 
regions  nearer  the  equator.  The  influence  of  this  circum- 
stance has  probably  been  somewhat  increased  by  another. 
Along  the  Mediterranean,  civilization  seems  to  have  gained 
great  part  of  its  advance  by  colonization,  and  it  is  to  be  ob- 
served that  this  movement  of  men  from  one  region  to  another, 
proceeds  from  different  motives  than  others  impelling  them  to 
a  change  of  seat.  Men  are  often  compelled  by  necessity  to 
migrate  in  tribes  and  nations,  but  emigration  in  small  parties, 
proceeds  from  choice. 

They  cannot  well  be  induced  to  leave,  not  only  their  homes, 

but  their  kindred  and  nation,  unless  from  the  hope  of  bettering 

01  .million,  and,  if  their  project  miscarries  not,  they  do  in 


174  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

fact  better  their  condition,  and  are  indemnified  for  the  pains  of 
emigration,  by  a  greater  command  of  the  necessaries  and  com- 
forts of  life.  Thus  habits  of  larger  consumption  are  introduced, 
than  absolute  necessity  might  demand.  Both  circumstances 
would  have  the  effect  of  augmenting  the  expense,  or  the  wages 
of  labor,  and  of  creating  an  additional  difficulty,  to  the  passage 
of  the  arts  of  warmer  climates  into  these  more  northern 
regions.  It  is  very  evident,  for  example,  that  an  European 
workman  could  never  have  sat  down  to  a  Hindoo  loom,  for  the 
purpose  of  fabricating  a  garment  to  himself;  it  would  have 
been  much  better  for  him  to  keep  to  his  sheepskin  jacket. 
Before  the  transfer  of  any  art  could  be  effected,  invention  had 
to  supply  it  with  additional  facilities.  Stimulated  by  its 
wants,  by  the  new  scenes  in  which  it  found  itself,  and  by  the 
new  materials  submitted  to  it,  it  accordingly  seems  always  to 
have  succeeded  in  doing  so.  There  is,  perhaps,  scarcely  an 
implement  in  general  use  in  Africa,  or  in  Asia,  excepting  from 
it  China,  that  has  not  passed  with  improvement  into  Europe. 

In  modern  Europe,  too,  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of 
accumulation,  seems  to  have  been  always  greater  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  old  world.  This  circumstance  has  much 
facilitated  the  passage  into  it,  of  the  several  arts,  and  balancing 
the  higher  rates  of  wages,  and  more  stubborn  materials,  has 
rendered  the  formation  of  very  many  instruments  there  practi- 
cable, which  the  weaker  accumulative  principle  of  the  Asiatics, 
or  Africans,  would  have  left  unattempted. 

It  is  worth  while  to  remark,  that  there  is  a  considerable 
analogy  in  this  particular,  between  the  different  conditions  of 
society  in  that  continent  and  Asia  then,  and  what  exists 
between  them  now,  in  Europe  and  North  America.  The 
general  wages  of  labor  seem  always  to  have  been  higher  in 
Europe,  than  in  Asia,  in  the  same  way  as  the  wages  of  labor  in 
North  America,  are  now  higher  than  in  Europe.  The  same 
process,  too,  that  carried  the  arts  to  Europe,  seems  now  aiding 
their  passage  across  the  Atlantic.  As  flame  often  sets  against 
the  wind,  for  that  it  is  fed  by  it,  so  invention  seems  to  hold  its 
course  against  opposing  obstacles,  for  these  obstacles  excite  its 
powers  and  minister  materials  to  their  action. 

The  progress  of  the  knowledge  of  the  natures  and  qualities 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  175 

of  particular  substances,  gradually  introduced  a  knowledge  of 
the  properties  and  natures  of  substances  in  general.  Men  first 
see  in  the  concrete,  afterwards  in  the  abstract.  Thus,  the  dis- 
covery of  the  several  mechanical  powers,  and  the  knowledge 
acquired  of  the  nature  of  each,  led  in  time  to  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  mechanics.  A  knowledge  of  the  mathematical  pro- 
perties of  substances,  as  in  land-measuring,  and  in  the  regular 
figures  of  architecture,  led  to  a  perception  of  the  general 
properties  of  figure,  or  of  space  as  an  affection  of  matter,  and, 
at  last,  to  the  doctrine  of  pure  space  and  motion. 

In  the  ancient  world,  science,  as  founded  on  a  generalization 
of  the  experiences  of  art,  was  little  prosecuted.  It  is  only 
in  modern  times,  that  the  science  of  experience  has  come  to 
form  an  element  of  importance,  in  the  general  advance  of 
invention. 

It  is  clearly  on  the  antecedent  progress  of  art,  that  the  foun- 
dation of  the  hopes  of  Bacon,  for  the  future  progress  of  science, 
rested.  His  philosophy  may  be  fitly  described,  as  a  plan  to 
reduce  to  method  the  chance  processes  that  had  been  going  on 
before,  by  which  men,  as  we  have  seen,  happening  on  one  dis- 
covery after  another,  grope  their  way,  as  he  expresses  it,  slowly, 
and  in  the  dark,  to  fresh  knowledge  and  power.  The  progress 
<>{'  the  philosophy  to  which  he  has  given  his  name,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  science  of  mathematics,  have  unquestionably  dis- 
covered to  us  many  general  truths  and  theorems  of  art,  and 
t'<>rm  therefore  a  new  element  influencing  its  progress.  The 
t  moving  powers  will,  however,  still,  I  apprehend,  be  found 
to  proceed  from  the  principles,  the  action  of  which  we  are 
now  to  attempt  farther  to  trace  through  particular  instances. 

Men  must  have  been  very  early  led  to  the  use  of  some  of 

the    farinaceous   plants,   and   other   vegetable  matters,  which, 

before  they  are  fit  for   food,  require  to  be  reduced  to  small 

fragments.     To  effect  this,  they  must  either  have  rubbed  them, 

<>r  )>eat  them,  between  some  two  substances.     If  stone  were 

the  material,  they  would  rather  prefer  rubbing  them.  fn»m  tlu« 

iity  of  that  substance  to  break,  and  from  its  weight.     It  is 

rude  tribes  of  southern  Africa,  to  this  day,  lay 

their   corn  on  one  flat   stone,  and  grind   it    by  the    help   of 


176  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

another.1  An  improvement  on  this  instrument,  is  to  have  the 
lower  stone  a  little  hollowed,  and  perhaps  marked  with  trans- 
verse notches.  In  one  form  or  other,  this  is  a  very  general 
and  ancient  instrument,  and,  it  may  be  observed,  is  probably 
the  first  machine  in  which  a  circular  motion  was  introduced. 

If  wood  be  the  material,  then,  to  produce  any  effect,  the 
substance  to  be  comminuted  must  be  laid  on  one  piece,  and 
another  be  struck  against  it.  But  thus,  a  large  portion  of  the 
matter  operated  on  would  fly  off,  and  be  lost.  The  most 
natural  mode  of  preventing  this,  is  to  hollow  out  the  lower 
piece.  The  Indians  of  North  America  make  an  instrument  of 
this  sort  very  easily,  by  taking  a  portion  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree 
of  hard  wood,  setting  it  upright,  and  burning  and  scraping  out 
a  hole  in  the  upper  end.  They  have  then  a  large  mortar,  to 
which  adjusting  a  wooden  pestle,  they  produce  the  implement 
with  which  they  pound  all  their  corn.  Such  an  instrument 
seems,  like  its  fellow  of  stone,  to  have  been  in  very  general  use, 
at  one  time  or  other,  in  most  parts  of  the  world.2 

Tribes  having  learnt  the  use  of  such  an  instrument,  on  sub- 
stances most  easily  comminuted,  would  be  urged  on  to  essay 
its  powers  on  more  cohesive  matters.  They  might  succeed  in 
the  attempt,  at  first,  by  simply  increasing  the  size  of  the  im- 
plement, and  searching  out  the  hardest  and  heaviest  woods  to 
construct  it  of;  but,  even  these  improvements  would  at  length 
be  insufficient  for  the  enterprises  to  which  their  confidence  in 

1[So  also  peoples  by  no  means  altogether  "rude,"  in  Central  and  South 
America.] 

2  In  a  Scotch  ballad,  I  believe  in  Allan  Ramsay's  collection,  containing  a 
catalogue  of  a  peasant's  furniture,  perhaps  two  centuries  since,  "A  timmer 
mell  the  bear  to  knock,"  is  among  the  utensils  enumerated.  We  yet  speak  of 
striking  barley. 

[The  early  frontiersmen  of  America,  in  the  days  of  their  extreme  poverty 
before  they  set  up  water  mills,  adopted  the  Indian  mortar  and  pestle  described 
above,  with  the  addition  that  the  labor  of  raising  the  heavy  pestle  was  greatly 
lightened  by  the  attachment  of  a  spring-pole.  These  were  called  "  samping 
mills,"  and  the  loud  noise  made  by  their  operation  could  be  heard  a  long  way 
through  the  forest,  and  announced  to  the  traveller  his  approach  to  a  clearing. 

The  introduction  of  water  mills  into  many  parts  of  the  tropics  is  permanently 
opposed  by  great  obstacles,  owing  to  the  extreme  seasonal  variations  in  rain- 
fall. The  device  just  described  would  seem  to  be  the  first  and  most  natural 
advance  upon  the  tortilla  stone  in  these  regions.] 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  177 

their  powers,  or  their  necessities,  might  excite  them.  To  over- 
come these  increasing  difficulties,  it  would  require  no  great 
stretch  of  the  inventive  faculty,  to  hit  on  the  expedient  of 
placing  a  firm  transverse  bar,  with  a  hole  in  it,  for  the  passage 
of  the  handle  of  the  pestle,  across  the  top  of  the  mortar,  from 
side  to  side.  Such  a  change  in  its  construction,  seems  accord- 
ingly, to  have  been  very  generally  effected.  Simple  as  it  is, 
it  contained  the  germ  of  very  many  subsequent  improvements. 
The  force  employed,  acting  thus  not  directly,  but  through  the 
intervention  of  a  fulcrum,  may  be  so  applied  as  to  give  either 
increased  velocity,  or  increased  power,  and  the  regulated  move- 
ment introduced  renders  mere  power  almost  all  that  is  neces- 
sary. The  size  of  the  mortar,  and  weight  of  the  pestle,  might, 
therefore,  be  increased  indefinitely,  and  the  instrument  might 
be  put  in  motion  by  men,  or  by  cattle.  The  expression  of  the 

table  oils,  was  found  to  be  the  most  difficult  operation  to 
be  performed  by  instruments  of  this  sort,  and  it  is  probable, 
that  it  was  to  effect  it,  that  machinery,  by  which  increased 
force  might  be  employed,  was  first  made  use  of.  Oil  mills,  of 
this  sort,  are  yet  common  in  the  east. 

This  construction  rendered  the  union  of  the  wooden  mortar 
and  pestle,  with  the  parallel  instrument  of  stone,  almost 
inevitable.  Hardness  and  heaviness,  being  the  requisites  in 
thr  pestle,  and  an  equal  resistance  being  necessary  in  the 
mortar,  to  bring  about  the  junction,  it  would  seem  to  have 
been  only  requisite,  that  the  two  machines  should  have  met 

re  there  was  a  scarcity  of  wood  of  proper  quality.  The 
handle  of  the  pestle,  through  which  a  cross  bar  was  then 
thrust,  became  the  axle  of  the  upper  mill  stone,  and  the  lower 
mill  stone  formed  the  bottom  of  the  mortar.  The  movement 
then  became  altogether  circular,  and  required  small  absolute 
force,  but  as  much  swiftness  as  could  be  given  to  it.  The 
machine  thus  generated,  by  the  passage  of  the  one  instrument 
into  the  other,  was  then  a  regular  mill,  to  work  which  was  the 

Inyment  of  cattle  or  slaves.  As  it  united  the  advantages 
of  the  two  original  instruments,  the  capacity  of  the  wood  to 

ive  and  modify  motion,  and  of  the   stone  to  bruise  and 

Minute  hard  vegetable  matters,  its  invention  seems  to  have 
considerable  effect  in  advancing  art  still   farther.     The 

M 


178  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

moving  power,  in  one  of  the  most  laborious  and  common  opera- 
tions, was  thus  reduced  to  a  simplicity  of  action,  that  paved 
the  way  for  its  being  performed  by  an  inanimate  agent ;  such 
an  agent  was  introduced  into  the  process,  through  the  inter- 
vention of  another  art. 

In  hot  regions,  water  is  very  abundantly  consumed,  both  as 
a  necessity  and  luxury,  for  immediate  use,  and  as  the  great 
fertiliser  of  the  soil.  In  such  regions,  the  raising  it  from  wells 
and  rivers  has  always  been  a  very  common  and  laborious  pro- 
cess, and  to  facilitate  it  has  given  occasion  to  some  of  the 
earliest  efforts  of  ingenuity.  One  of  these  consisted  of  a  lar^e 
wheel,  placed  upright,  and  to  the  circumference  of  which  small 
buckets  were  affixed.  It  was  put  in  motion  by  treading  on  it, 
and  the  buckets  and  it  were  so  arranged,  that  they  should 
just  dip  beneath  the  stream,  in  the  lower  part  of  their  circum- 
volution, and,  at  the  height  of  it,  should  empty  themselves 
into  a  reservoir  placed  above.  A  considerable  saving  of  labor 
was  thus  produced.  Another  improvement  did  entirely  away 
with  the  necessity  of  employing  it,  in  many  situations.  To 
the  outside  of  the  wheel,  where  there  was  a  sufficient  current, 
were  affixed  broad  plates  of  wood,  or  other  material,  on  which 
the  strength  of  the  stream  acting,  forced  it  round,  and  per- 
formed the  office  of  the  laborer.  Such  engines  are  of  common 
use  at  present  in  China.  They  were  known  in  Italy,  in  the 
time  of  Julius  Caesar,  to  which  they  probably  found  their  way 
from  Asia.  They  presented  to  the  Romans  a  means  of  em- 
ploying the  power  of  water  in  the  laborious  operation  of  grind- 
ing,1 which  they  had  sufficient  discernment  to  adopt.  The 
motion  of  the  water-wheel,  was  communicated  to  the  mill,  by 
the  intervention  of  a  toothed  wheel. 

1  Fiunt  etiam  in  fluminibus  rotse  eisdem  rationibus,  quibus  supra  scriptum 
est.  Circa  earum  froutes  affiguntur  pinnae,  quse  cum  percutiuntur  ab  impetu 
fluminis,  cogunt  progredientes  versari  rotam  ;  et  ita  modiolis  aquam  haurientes 
et  in  summum  referentes,  sine  operarum  calcatura,  ipsius  fluminis  impulsa 
versatae,  praestant  quod  opus  est,  ad  usum.  Eadem  ratione  etiam  versantur 
hydraulae,  in  quibus  eadem  sunt  omnia,  przeterquam  quod  in  uno  capite  axis 
habet  tympanum  dentatum  et  inclusum  ;  id  autem  ad  perpendiculum  colloca- 
tum  in  cultrum,  versatur  cum  rota  pariter.  Secundum  id  tympanum,  majus 
item  dentatum  planum  est  collocatum,  quo  continetur  axis,  habens  in  summo 
capite  subscudem  ferreum  qua  mola  continetur.  Ita  dentes  ejus  tympani, 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  179 

Thus,  from  the  union  of  the  productions  of  the  inventive 
faculty  exercised  on  at  least  three  arts,  came  the  rude  model 
of  the  present  water-mill.  Its  progress  was  at  first  slow. 
Such  mills  seem  only  to  have  been  constructed,  when  there 
was  a  current  of  water  suited  to  the  purpose.  The  expense  of 
forming  artificial  falls,  seems  to  have  been  too  great  for  the 
improvidence  of  the  age.  Though  abundant  materials  existed, 
accumulative  principle  of  the  people  was  too  weak  to  work 
1 1  >uii  them.  Cattle-mills,  and  mills  driven  by  slaves,  con- 
lued  therefore  to  be  generally  preferred.1  It  was  owing  to 
invention,  like  so  many  others,  the  result  of  necessity  and 
genius  united,  that  the  use  of  water-mills  became  more  general. 
When  Rome  was  besieged  by  the  Goths,  in  the  time  of 
Belisarius,  they  cut  off  the  supply  of  water  by  the  aqueducts. 
Among  the  other  inconveniences  arising  from  the  measure,  it 
stopped  the  mills  driven  by  the  water  from  these  aqueducts. 
To  remedy  the  evil,  that  general  devised  the  scheme  of 
anchoring  barges  in  the  river,  in  which  he  placed  mills  driven 
by  the  current.  The  plan  met  the  immediate  exigence,  and, 
as  such  a  construction  suited  the  low  strength  of  the  accumu- 
lative principle  of  the  age,  it  was  generally  adopted  elsewhere. 
In  the  present  times,  such  a  plan  would  be  rejected,  because, 
though  the  first  expense  is  comparatively  small,  the  durability 
of  the  instrument  is  too  short.  We  prefer  the  greater  expense 
of  making  dams  and  sluices,  on  account  of  their  greater  dura- 
bility. The  cause  leading  to  the  construction  of  the  one  or 
the  other,  is  the  same  as  that  determining  the  Chinese  to  the 
formation  of  floating  gardens,  where  the  Dutch  would  build 

-«'S. 

The  invention  maintained  itself  through  the  dark  ages,  and 
followed  the  improvement  and  extension   of  agriculture,  and 

quod  eat  in  axi  inclusum,  impellendo  denies  tympani  plani,  cogunt  fieri  m6- 
larum  circinationem,  in  qua  machina  impendens  infun<lil>ulum   submimstrat 
tnolis  frumentum,  et  eadem  versatione  subijitur  farina. — Vitruvius,  Lib.  N 
M  quoted  by  Beckman,  Vol.  I. 

'jute  copia  eat,  fuaurua  balnearum  debent   pistrina  auscipere ;    ut  ubi 
formatis  aquariis  tnolis,  sine  animaliiun   vcl  liominmn  labore,   frumenta  frnn- 

—Pallad  de  re  wt.,  lib.  I.  42,  edit.  Gean.  II.,  p.  892.—  Ibid. 
1  Ihtrt  hundred  years  after  Augustus,  the  number  of  cattle-mills  in  Rome 
amounted  to  three  hundred.— BKEMAN. 


180  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

facility  of  communication,  which  returning  civilization  and 
tranquillity  gradually  diffused.  It  seems  to  have  spread  very 
generally  over  Europe,  about  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  force  of  water  being,  by  it,  turned  to  the  ser- 
vice of  man,  wind  also  was  made  to  employ  its  powers  to  a 
similar  purpose. 

Important  as  these  engines  were  in  themselves,  from  their 
immediate  utility,  they  were  more  so  in  their  effects.  Men's 
minds  were  directed  to  the  advantage  of  what  is  termed 
machinery,  instruments,  that  is,  giving  new  velocity  and  direc- 
tion to  motion,  and  to  the  power  of  inanimate  agents  generative 
of  motion,  of  both  of  which  the  mill  afforded  the  first  eminent 
instance.  Examples  of  the  possibility  of  executing  by  other 
powers  than  the  human  hand,  or  the  strength  of  the  inferior 
animals,  one  of  the  most  difficult  of  the  operations  that  the 
necessities  of  mankind  called  for,  being  brought  freshly  before 
the  eyes  of  almost  all  Europe,  naturally  prompted  the  genius 
of  reflective  men  to  conceive  the  idea  of  applying  them 
to  other,  and  even  more  difficult  processes.  This  general 
stimulus  to  the  inventive  faculty,  conjoined  with  others,  acting 
vigorously,  but  occasionally  and  partially,  and  already  referred 
to,  carried  the  improvement  through  a  great  variety  of  opera- 
tions. Mills  of  all  sorts,  came  to  be  constructed,  driven 
commonly  by  water,  as  the  more  forcible,  and  manageable 
power.  To  trace  the  course  of  invention  through  these,  were 
not  to  mark  the  principles  regulating  the  progress  of  that 
faculty,  but  to  enter  on  a  description  of  European  art.  It  may 
be  sufficient  to  observe,  that,  in  conformity  to  these  principles, 
not  only  was  each  difficulty  overcome  by  it,  a  benefit  to  the 
particular  art  it  was  meant  to  serve,  but  to  art  in  general,  each 
conquest  extending  its  authority,  not  alone  over  the  province 
where  it  was  achieved,  but  over  the  whole  region  which  it  was 
its  object  to  gain.  If,  for  instance,  comparing  the  ingenious 
and  complete  machinery  of  a  well-constructed  flour-mill  of  the 
present  day,  with  a  model  of  the  rude  and  imperfect  engines  of 
the  sort  that  existed  two  hundred  years  ago,  we  ask  the  cause 
of  the  difference,  we  shall  probably  be  told,  the  improvement 
of  mechanics  ;  but,  if  we  trace  the  progress  of  this  improve- 
ment carefully,  we  will  find  that  it  was  the  fitting  of  the 


INVENTION  ECONOMIC  181 

machinery  of  this  very  engine  to  other  arts,  that  was  one  of  the 
main  producers  of  it.  The  productions  of  the  union  of  arts 
also  propagating  others,  like  all  generators,  their  increase  goes 
on.  when  there  are  no  retarding  checks,  to  borrow  a  phrase 
of  common  use  in  inquiries  connected  with  these,  not  in  a 
simple  arithmetical,  but  in  a  geometrical  progression. 

The  effects  produced,  by  the  passage  through  different 
arts,  of  this  improvement  on  a  very  ancient  engine,  important 
as  they  were,  have  been  far  exceeded  in  extent  of  consequences, 
by  one  of  altogether  modern  invention.  I  allude  to  the  steam 
engine,  the  progress  of  which,  we  will  find  to  have  regulated 
itsi-lf  almost  altogether  according  to  the  above  principles. 

As  the  progress  of  order,  civilization,  and  art,  covered  the 
island  of  Great  Britain  with  a  numerous  population,  the  stores 
of  fuel  which  its  cold  and  moist  climate  required,  and  its 
forests  had  at  first  afforded,  were  by  degrees  exhausted.  Its 
situation  prevented  its  receiving  the  supplies,  which,  had  it 
made  a  part  of  the  continent,  might  have  been  brought  down 
rivers  issuing  from  interior  regions.  Necessity  thus  taught  its 
[habitants  the  general  use  of  coal,  in  which,  happily,  its 
territory  abounds.  But  what  of  this  material  lay  close  to  the 
surface,  and  the  fields  immediately  beneath,  having  been 
wrought  out,  the  miner  was  urged  on  by  the  increasing  wants 
of  his  countrymen,  and  the  abundant  materials  before  him,  to 
penetrate  still  deeper ;  and  the  labors  of  generations  formed 
large  excavations,  in  regions  far  beneath  the  surface.  Here, 
however,  he  was  met  by  an  enemy  continually  gathering 
strength  as  he  advanced  on  him,  and  threatening  completely 
to  bar  his  future  progress.  The  farther  he  penetrated,  water 
poured  in  upon  him  in  greater  quantity,  while  to  free  himself 
of  it  he  had  to  elevate  it  to  a  greater  height.  A  period  seemed 
approaching,  when  very  many  of  the  mines  must  be  abandoned. 
In  this  extremity,  it  was  natural  to  the  men  engaged  in  this 
occupation,  to  cast  about,  and  endeavor  to  discover  some 
•j,  through  help  of  which  they  might  successfully  continue 
its  pursuit.  The  resources  of  all  powers  hitherto  known  having 
been  tried,  as  far  as  in  such  situations  they  could  be  effectually 
employed,  and  seeming  to  be  on  the  point  of  yielding,  it  could 
not  but  occur  to  attentive  thinkers,  that,  if  they  were  to 


182  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

succeed,  the  probability  was  it  would  be  through  some  one 
hitherto  unemployed.  Of  those,  steam  was  perhaps  the  most 
apparent,  and  manageable.  Its  force  must  have  been,  at  least 
in  some  measure,  known  to  many,  and  had  been  previously 
pointed  out  by  one  distinguished  individual,  as  capable  of  pro- 
ducing the  greatest  effects.  The  operation  to  be  performed  by 
it,  too,  seemed  peculiarly  fitted  for  its  action.  Water  is  moved 
in  pipes,  and,  it  is  only  in  confinement  that  the  power  arising 
from  the  rarefication  and  condensation  of  steam  becomes  sen- 
sible. It  appeared  then  by  no  means  impracticable,  to  manage 
the  condensation  and  rarification  within  metal  pipes,  so  con- 
nected with  those  in  which  the  water  had  to  be  raised,  as  to 
supply  the  force  necessary  to  produce  its  elevation.  On  this 
principle  the  attempt  was  made,  and  succeeded  in  first  practi- 
cally establishing  the  power  of  an  agent,  destined,  we  cannot 
doubt,  to  produce  effects  far  greater  than  any  which  has 
hitherto  been  placed  within  the  hands  of  man. 

The  various  circumstances  conjoining  to  bring  about  this 
important  event,  are  deserving  our  attention.  1st.  The  urgent 
demand  for  some  powerful  agent,  however  rude  and  unwieldly 
in  action.  Had  the  operation  to  be  performed  been  in  any 
degree  complicated  and  nice  in  its  nature,  it  would  never  pro- 
bably have  occurred  to  any  one,  that  the  expanse  and  collapse 
of  a  vapor,  shut  up  in  iron  vessels,  could  be  brought  to  execute 
it.  2d.  The  materials,  metal,  coal,  and  water,  being  in  these 
situations  abundant.  3d.  The  previous  improvement  of 
machinery  in  general.  4th.  The  want  occurring  to  men  of 
property,  and  of  a  class  in  general  bold  in  enterprise,  and 
accustomed  to  stake  their  funds  freely.1  Had  any  of  these 
been  wanting,  this  extraordinary  invention  might  yet  have 
slumbered,  veiled  in  the  darkness  which  had  covered  it  for  so 
many  thousands  of  years.  Perhaps  it  might  have  been  stifled 

1  [To  this  catalogue  should  be  added  a  fifth  "  circumstance,"  touched  upon  in 
part  by  Rae  two  pages  back,  and  that  is,  the  existence  of  a  government  strong 
enough  to  secure  at  least  ordinary  law  and  order,  but  not  so  strong  as  to  crush 
out  the  spirit  of  individual  initiative.  Had  the  experience  of  Dud  Dudley  in  iron 
smelting,  for  example,  been  universal  and  continuous  in  respect  to  all  British 
industrial  innovators  in  each  generation,  the  whole  course  of  modern  economic 
history  in  Great  Britain  would  have  been  vastly  different.] 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  183 

at  its  birth,  for  its  first  appearance  gave  but  slight  token  of  its 
inherent  capabilities.  The  expenditure  of  fuel  and  of  labor, 
necessary  to  the  discharge  of  its  functions,  was  excessive.  It 
having,  however,  been  thus  established,  that  it  was  an  agent 
within  the  compass  of  man's  ability,  to  make  a  partner  in  the 
series  of  his  operations,  there  was  a  strong  stimulus  to  endea- 
vour to  render  it  a  more  economical  agent.  This  was  effected 
by  a  change  in  the  construction  of  the  apparatus,  the  leading 
feature  of  which  is,  the  causing  the  steam  to  perform  its 
operations,  through  the  intervention  of  a  piston.  The  instru- 
ment thus  produced,  was  an  effective  and  economical  operator 
for  the  purpose  designed.  The  improvement  was  important  in 
itself,  and  far  more  so  in  its  consequences.  Had  the  machinery 
of  simple  pipes  and  valves  been  continued,  under  some  improved 
form,1  it  might  have  appeared  only  fitted  for  propelling  fluids, 
and  been  confined  to  that  purpose ;  as  through  the  aid  of  sails 
of  some  sort,  wind  has  been  made  to  propel  vessels,  from  very 
early  ages,  though  it  is  only  of  comparatively  recent  times,  that 
it  has  been  applied  to  give  motion  to  mills.  But,  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  piston,  and  its  adjuncts,  showed  the  power  in  a 
familiar  form ;  the  handle  of  a  pump  was  a  thing  well  known 
as  put  in  motion  by  machinery,  and  it  was  obvious  that  the 
movement  had  only  to  be  reversed,  to  communicate  motion  to 
any  machinery.  Under  this  form,  therefore,  its  progress  as  a 
power  through  all  other  machinery,  may  be  said  to  have  been 
inevitable.  It  possessed  the  important  advantages  of  being 
always  at  command,  uniform  in  action,  and  unbounded  in  force. 
In  this  progress  it  was  assisted  in  one  important  step  by  science. 

discovery  of  the  doctrine  of  latent  heat  enabled  it  at 
once  to  surmount  a  great  obstacle,  which  might  otherwise 

Inn'j  limited  the  extent  of  its  operations.  It  is  perhaps 
not  to  be  supposed,  but  that  the  general  truth  would  have 
been  itself  at  last  made  known  by  the  continual  groping 
after  improvement,  which  the  existence  of  such  an  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  men  would  of  itself  have  occasioned ;  if  how- 
ever science  advanced  it  by  only  a  few  years,  the  beneficial 

rmation  and  condensation  of  the  steam,  might  have  been  managed 
imbers,  separate  from  the  system  of  pipes  and  reservoirs  elevating  tha 

w,iti-r. 


184  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

effects  of  such  an  anticipation,  will  be  allowed  to  have  been 
very  great.1 

In  its  course,  two  things  seem  specially  worthy  of  notice,  the 
additional  freedom  which  it  gave  the  inventive  faculty,  and  the 
circumstances  which  existed  to  facilitate  the  progress  of  that 
faculty,  and  which  it  seized  on  for  the  purpose.  The  con- 
sciousness of  the  possession  of  an  agent  of  unlimited  and 
perfectly  manageable  power,  which  had  escaped  the  attention 
of  all  preceding  ages,  seemed  to  have  immediately  more 
effectually  broken  the  constraining  and  retarding  influence  of 
the  propensity  to  imitation,  than  any  preceding  event.  What- 
ever mere  motion  could  do,  if  the  sphere  of  its  action  could  be 
contracted  into  small  space,  was  conceived  within  the  power  of 
steam ;  and  invention  set  to  work  with  a  determination,  pro- 
gressively to  supply  the  means  of  its  application.  In  these 
essays,  it  has  been  always  ultimately  successful.  It  is  not 
necessary  here  to  enlarge  on  the  great  changes  it  has  hence 
effected,  or  on  the  important  improvements  it  has  introduced. 
It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that,  whatever  it  has  performed, 
has  proceeded  in  the  order  we  have  indicated,  and  which,  I 
believe,  almost  all  inventions  have  followed.  The  diversity  of 
climates,  territories,  productions,  and  other  circumstances  of 
different  regions  and  nations,  has  helped  it,  as  them,  forward> 
and  been  to  it  as  it  were  steps,  by  which  it  has  gained  the 
rank  it  holds  in  the  modes  of  human  industry. 

Thus  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  North  American  con- 
tinent, may,  with  propriety,  be  said  to  have  been  the  exciting 
cause  producing  steam  navigation,  one  of  the  most  important  of 
these  steps.  That  country  is  full  of  great  lakes  and  rivers, 
affording  the  easiest,  and  often  the  only  means  for  the  trans- 
port of  the  large  quantities  of  agricultural  produce,  that  its 
interior  sections  yield.  Such  inland  navigation  is  always 
exceedingly  tedious ;  there  were  therefore  peculiar  reasons 
for  the  device  of  some  new  agent  to  facilitate  it.  An  agent 
like  steam,  too,  might  evidently  be  employed  with  more  safety 
and  chance  of  success,  in  calm  inland  waters,  than  in  the  great 

1  Since  the  above  was  written,  I  have  seen  it  stated,  that  Watt  did  not 
take  the  idea  of  his  great  improvement  from  Dr.  Black's  discovery,  but  that  it 
was  entirely  the  result  of  his  own  inventive  powers. 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC 


185 


ocean.  If  we  consider,  in  addition  to  this,  the  greater  play 
which,  from  circumstances  already  enumerated,  the  inventive 
faculty  enjoys  in  that  continent,  we  shall  see  that  it  was  there, 
so  to  say,  that  this  improvement  ought  to  have  taken  place. 
The  point,  too,  in  North  America,  where  it  did  first  actually 
take  place,  is  also,  as  it  were,  particularly  marked  out  for  it. 
The  transport  between  New  York  and  Albany,  by  sailing 
vessels  on  the  Hudson  river,  was  both  very  expensive,  and 
peculiarly  tedious.  Steam  has  there  changed  a  voyage  of  days, 
or  weeks,  into  one  of  less  than  sixteen  hours.1 

The  circumstances  leading  on  to  the  invention  of  steam  land 
carriage,  may  also  be  noted  as  exemplative  of  this  view  of  the 
ibject.  There  were  first  simply  railroads,  to  facilitate  heavy 
drafts  for  short  distances,  from  coal  mines ;  then  there  was  a 
more  general  use  of  them  in  all  heavy  drafts ;  finally,  there 
was  the  general  application  of  steam,  as  the  power  to  effect 
transport  of  all  sorts,  and  with  all  velocities,  along  the  smooth 
surface  they  afforded.  All  that  was  wanted  for  the  last  step 
was,  that  the  mechanism  should  be  rendered  less  heavy  and 
cumbersome,  and  it  may  be  remarked,  so  great  confidence  had 
been  generated  of  the  power  of  the  inventive  faculty,  that  the 
undertaking  was  commenced  with  full  assurance  that  it  would 
accomplish  the  desired  improvement,  although  the  manner  how 
was  not  known.  The  result  showed  that  the  confidence  was 

•t  misplaced. 

Thus,  such  are  the  steps  by  which  invention  advances,  that 
it  would  seem,  had  there  been  no  country  like  Great  Britain, 
the  steam  engine  might  not  yet  have  been  produced ;  had 
there  been  none  like  North  America,  steam  navigation  might 
not  yet  have  been  practised :  and  again,  had  not  Great  Britain 
existed,  metal  railways  and  steam  carriage  might  have  been 
still  only  in  the  category  of  possibilities. 


ice  the  passage  in  the  text  was  written,  the  art  of  the  application  of 
•team,  as  an  agent  in  transport  by  water,  has  made  a  farther  step.  It  con- 
sists in  a  passage  of  the  engine  used  in  land  carriage,  to  that  used  in  water 
carriage.  Besides  this,  however,  the  germ  of  some  other  principles  has 
appeared,  which,  it  seems  probable,  will  ultimately  produce  a  great  and 

tant  revolution  in  the  art.  It  is  remarkable,  that  the  site  of  this  event 
is  also  the  Hudson. 


186  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

The  invention  of  printing  has  often  been  cited  as  one  of  the 
most  important  of  modern  times.  The  steps  by  which  it 
advanced  were  also  of  that  gradual  and  easy  nature,  one  leading 
on  to  another,  and  surrounding  circumstances  prompting  to 
essay  the  ascent,  as  to  take  away  all  admiration  of  its 
progress,  were  it  not  that  the  constitution  of  man's  nature 
renders  the  passing  of  any  individual,  coolly  and  deliberately, 
the  least  out  of  the  circle  of  imitation,  very  often  a  proof  of 
the  strongest  powers  of  mind.  There  was  first  the  stamping 
with  signets ;  then  the  transfer  of  this  initial  art,  to  stamping, 
instead  of  painting,  playing  cards ;  then  the  existence  of  a 
great  and  unceasing  demand  for  one  book,  the  Bible,  the 
excessive  cost  of  transcription,  and  the  transfer  of  the  art  of 
stamping  cards  to  stamping  pages,  first  of  the  sacred  volume, 
and  afterwards  of  others ;  lastly,  there  was  the  passage  of 
another  art,  that  of  casting  dies  for  coining,  to  facilitating  the 
formation  of  metallic  types.1  The  art,  thus  perfected,  was  dis- 
seminated by  the  tyranny  of  a  petty  prince.2 

The  art  which  [while  not  itself  a  technical  process]  has  most 
immediate  connexion  with  the  increase  of  wealth  [in  general], 
the  business  of  banking,  is  itself  in  some  measure  illustrative 
of  the  influence  of  change  in  producing  improvements  in  all 
arts.  It  commenced  in  countries  where  exchanges  for  large 
amounts  were  numerous.  Venice,  Florence,  Genoa,  Amsterdam, 
the  great  marts  of  commerce,  were  the  first  banking  communi- 
ties. In  them,  however,  its  operations  were  confined  to 

1  In  ascribing  the  invention  of  printing  not  to  chance,  but  to  the  gradual 
progress  of  events,  I  am  supported  by  the  authority  of  Condorcet,  and  appa- 
rently also  by  that  of  Dugald  Stewart.     "  L'invention  de  1'imprimerie  a  sans 
dout  avance  le  progres  de  1'espece  humaine ;  mais  cette  invention  e'toit  elle- 
rneme  une  suite  de  1'usage  de  la  lecture  re"pandu  dans  un  grand  nombre  de 
pays."     Vie  du  Turgot,  Pref.  to  first  dissertation  to  Enc.  Brit. 

2  On  sait  comment  1'imprimerie  s'est  re*pandue  depuis  1462  par  la  revolution 
que  Mayence  e"prouva  cette  meme  anne'e.     Adolphe,  comte  de  Nassau,  soutenu 
par  la  Pape  Pie  II.  ayant  surpris  cette  ville  imperiale,  lui  ota  ses  liberty's  et 
privileges.     Alors,  tous  les  ouvriers,  qu'elle  avoit  dans  son  sein  &  1'exception 
de  Guttenburgh  s'enfuirent,  se  disperserent  et  porterent  leur  art  dans  les  lieux 
et   les   pays   ou  il  n'e"toit  pas  connu.     C'est  a  cet  e"ve"nement  que   tous  les 
historiers  r^unis  £  Jean  Schreffer  fils  de  Pierre  et  petit-fils  de  Faust,  placent 
1'epoque  de  la  dispersion  dont  1'Europe  profita.     (Encyclopedic,,  Art.,  "Im- 
primerie.") 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  187 

transfers  of  specie,  and  the  benefits  derived  from  them  con- 
sisted chiefly  in  security  given,  and  trouble  avoided.  It 
passed,  at  last,  into  countries  where  there  were  comparatively 
few  actual  exchanges,  and  where,  in  order  to  effect  the  passage, 
invention  was  obliged  to  develope  its  capacities  for  facilitating, 
and  thus  exciting  and  increasing  exchanges.  The  following 
extract  from  the  Wealth  of  Nations  will  render  this  apparent. 

"  The  commerce  of  Scotland,  which  at  present  is  not  very 
great,  was  still  more  inconsiderable  when  the  two  first  banking 
companies  were  established ;  and  those  companies  would  have 
had  but  little  trade,  had  they  confined  their  business  to  the 
discounting  of  bills  of  exchange.  They  invented,  therefore, 
another  method  of  issuing  their  promissory  notes ;  by  granting 
what  they  called  cash  accounts,  that  is,  by  giving  credit  to  the 
extent  of  a  certain  sum,  (two  or  three  thousand  pounds  for 
example),  to  any  individual  who  could  procure  two  persons  of 
undoubted  credit  and  good  landed  estate  to  become  surety  for 
him,  that  whatever  money  should  be  advanced  to  him,  within 
the  sum  for  which  the  credit  had  been  given,  should  be  repaid 
upon  demand,  together  with  the  legal  interest.  Credits  of  this 
kind  are,  I  believe,  commonly  granted  by  banks  and  bankers 
in  all  different  parts  of  the  world.  But  the  easy  terms  upon 
which  the  Scotch  banking  companies  accept  of  repayment  are, 
so  far  as  I  know,  peculiar  to  them,  and  have  perhaps  been  the 
principal  cause,  both  of  the  great  trade  of  those  companies,  and 
of  the  benefit  which  the  country  has  received  from  it." 

If  we  may  judge  of  the  progress  of  an  art  from  its  general 
success,  the  transfer  of  the  business  of  banking  to  Scotland 
would  furnish  another  proof  of  the  benefits  accruing  to  arts 
themselves,  from  their  passages  from  country  to  country.  No- 
where has  banking  been  productive  of  more  acknowledged 
advantages,  [as  is  shown  in  another  place],  and  nowhere  have 
the  evils  occasionally  attendant  on  it  been  fewer. 

As  also  illustrative  of  the  subject,  I  may  call  the  attention 
'ie  reader  to  a  fact  often  noted, — the  small  progress  of  the 
aborigines  of  the  new  world  in  art,  when  compared  with  that 
;ied  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  old. 

I1  we  are  to  sean-h  f«»r  natural  causes  of  the  phenomenon,  in 
my  opinion  we  may  find  them,  in  the  greater  extent  of 


188  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

continent  in  the  eastern  than  in  the  western  hemisphere,  and, 
especially,  of  continent  lying  under  the  equatorial  regions,  the 
birth  place  in  both  of  the  arts  they  possessed.  This  extent  of 
country,  and  diversity  of  materials,  must  have  increased  very 
much  the  chance  of  discovery  in  the  arts,  and  tended  greatly, 
on  the  principles  we  have  just  been  considering,  to  push 
forward  their  improvement.  To  take  as  an  example  an  art 
which  has  been  particularly  referred  to,1  that  of  domesticating 
the  ox,  and  teaching  him  labor.  To  suppose  that  men,  while 
the  whole  of  that  species  of  animals  were  yet  wild,  conceived 
the  project  of  domesticating  them,  in  order  that  they  might 
apply  them  to  the  various  purposes  they  now  serve,  were  a 
conjecture  altogether  unwarranted  by  any  event  in  the  history 
of  mankind  and  of  art.  We  have  rather  reason  to  believe  that 
in  this,  as  in  other  instances,  they  must  have  been  led  on  to 
the  object  gradually,  by  the  intervention  of  circumstances,  each 
carrying  them  a  certain  way  towards  this  great  end.  But 
there  must  evidently  have  been  a  greater  chance  for  the  exist- 
ence of  such  circumstances,  in  the  great  range  of  continent 
lying  within,  or  not  far  from,  the  borders  of  the  torrid  zone  in 
Asia,  Africa,  or  Europe,  than  in  the  small  part  similarly  situated 
in  America.  Without  pretending  to  say  what  those  circum- 
stances were,  it  is  at  least  probable  that  one  may  have  been 
the  keeping  these  animals  in  enclosures,  merely  to  satisfy  the 
curiosity,  or  to  afford  the  amusement  of  hunting  to  the  chiefs, 
or  kings,  of  the  agricultural  nations.  This  we  know,  in  more 
recent  times,  to  have  been  a  custom  in  some  eastern  countries.2 
There  they  would  in  time  lose  great  part  of  their  natural 
ferocity,  and  become,  like  deer  in  our  parks,  half  tame.  Now, 
it  is  evident  enough,  that  the  chances  for  this  important  step 
towards  the  accomplishment  of  the  object  being  undertaken, 
would  be  directly  in  proportion  to  the  number  and  extent  of 
the  agricultural  countries  of  those  ages,  that  is,  to  the  extent 
of  continent  lying  near  the  equator. 

The  period  when  the  event  took  place  marks  a  great  change 
in  the  condition  of  man,  for,  independently  of  its  immediate 
effects,  it  necessarily  brought  about  the  existence  of  a  race  of 
herdsmen,  occupying  regions,  in  the  state  of  art  at  the  time,  not 

1  Dr.  Robertson's  History  of  America,  Vol.  II.  2Xenophon,  Cyrop. 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  189 

coming  within  the  range  of  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire 
of  accumulation  of  the  neighboring  people,  as  tillable  land. 
Herdsmen  once  existing,  it  could  scarce  be  but  that  they 
would  spread  themselves  wherever  they  could  find  support 
for  their  cattle,  and  gradually  exterminate  the  hunting 
tribes.  There  is,  I  think,  reason  to  suppose  that  such  a 
revolution  occurred  in  Europe  many  ages  previous  to  the 
time  of  recorded  history.  Its  importance  may  be  estimated 
from  the  observations  that  are  made  in  a  preceding  part  of 
this  volume.1 

We  may,  on  similar  principles,  in  part,  account  for  the  low 
rank  in  the  scale  of  humanity  occupied  by  the  aborigines  of 
Australia,  that  fifth  and  yet  but  partially  explored  continent. 
Thf  uniformity  of  soil,  climate,  and  natural  productions,  of  that 
whole  region  is  very  great.  This  limited  variety  of  materials 
would  seem  to  have  diminished  the  number  of  arts  generated, 
and  that  of  improvements  arising  from  effects  of  changes, 
among  those  having  obtained  existence. 

In  conclusion  I  may  observe,  that  I  believe  it  will  be  found, 
that  there  is  no  art  in  existence  which  we  may  not  find  means 
to  trace,  with  greater  or  less  certainty,  to  the  rudest  and  most 
simple  principles ;  and  which  may  not  be  shown  to  have 
attained  perfection  by  continual  changes  from  place  to  place, 
and  material  to  material,  and  by  encountering  consequently 
alternate  difficulties  and  facilities,  the  former  developing  its 
powers,  the  latter  extending  their  field  of  action,  and  both, 
by  helping  to  introduce  general  principles,  weakening  the 
restraining  power  of  the  tendency  to  servile  imitation,  and 
advancing  the  progress  of  science.  This  successive  passage  of 
the  same  arts  from  country  to  country,  and  from  one  into 
another,  seems  to  be  the  great  exciting  cause  of  the  progress  of 
them  all.  The  greatest  improvement  of  British  manufacture 
in  recent  times  is,  I  may  remark,  [the  result  of]  a  passage  of 

1  Page  84.  Were  this  the  place  to  enlarge  on  the  subject,  many  circuin 
stances  confirmatory  of  such  an  event  might  be  enumerated  :  as  the  traces  of 
the  existence  of  a  race  of  mere  hunters  over  all  Europe  ;  the  roots  of  European 
languages  being  the  same  aa  those  of  central  Asia ;  the  form  and  constitution 
•rneBtic  ox  species,  and  of  sheep,  marking  their  gradual  migra- 
tion from  a  warm  climate,  into  colder  region*  and  more  abundant  pasture. 


190  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

this  latter  sort.  The  cotton  manufacture  is  a  passage  of  the 
art  of  fabricating  woollens,  into  that  of  fabricating  cottons.  It 
was  the  perfection  of  the  former  more  easy  art  that  showed  the 
possibility  of  the  existence,  and  eventually  brought  about  the 
existence  of  the  latter, — invention  in  this  case,  being  excited 
by  the  higher  wages  of  labor  in  Europe  than  in  Asia. 
Improvement  was  the  consequence.  The  peculiar  difficulties 
the  material  presented  being  overcome,  the  facilities  it  possessed 
were  experienced. 

This  view  of  the  subject  seems  somewhat  to  illustrate  the 
following  reflections  of  Lord  Bacon,  concerning  the  early 
progress  of  art,  and  may  satisfy  us  that,  even  yet,  they  are 
not  altogether  inapplicable.  He  observes,  that,  "  although, 
when  we  first  begin  to  consider  the  variety  of  necessaries, 
conveniences,  and  elegances,  which  the  mechanical  arts 
minister  to  life,  we  are  rather  struck  with  a  feeling  of 
admiration  at  the  abundant  wealth  which  mankind  inherit,, 
than  with  a  sense  of  their  poverty ;  yet,  when  we  examine 
every  thing,  and  consider  through  how  many  chances  and 
revolutions  these  arts  have  been  brought  to  their  perfection, 
and  through  what  simple  and  easy  reflections  they  have  been 
discovered,  such  sentiments  will  soon  leave  us,  and  we  shall  be 
inclined  to  commiserate  the  penury  and  barrenness  of  inven- 
tion of  the  human  race,  which  have  taken  so  many  ages  to- 
accomplish  things  deducible  without  difficulty,  from  facts 
neither  very  numerous,  nor  very  hard  to  be  ascertained." ] 
It  is  indeed  true  that  the  philosophy,  in  the  introduction 
of  which  he  bore  so  eminent  a  part,  has,  in  these  latter  ages, 
been  a  very  effective  promoter  of  the  dominion  of  man,  and, 
mixing  with  art,  has  much  purified  and  dignified  its  spirit,  and 
greatly  increased  its  powers,  turning  invention  in  this  depart- 
ment from  particulars  to  generals,  and  converting  art  into 
science.  This  has  more  especially  happened  in  the  chemical 
sciences,  and  those  connected  with  them,  a  sphere  to  which,  I 
may  be  allowed  to  observe,  his  system  seems  particularly 
applicable.  There,  science  begins  to  lead  and  direct  art ;  in 
other  departments  she  rather  follows  and  assists  it.  But,  with 
regard  to  the  general  progress  of  art,  even  its  recent  history 
*Nov.  Org.,  L.  1,  LXXXV. 


INVENTION  ECONOMIC  191 

evinces  the  justice  of  these  observations,  and  shows  that 
"  men  estimate  falsely  both  their  possessions  and  their  powers, 
deeming  of  the  first  more  highly,  and  of  the  last  more  lightly, 
than  they  ought."  ]  We  shall  admit  this,  if  we  consider  the 
vast  number  of  qualities  and  powers,  and  of  new  practical 
combinations  of  them,  that,  in  our  days,  have  been  discovered 
and  applied  to  use,  and  reflect  on  the  long  series  of  ages 
during  which  they  were  hid  in  darkness,  on  the  proximity 
of  men  to  them,  and  the  ease  with  which  they  might  have 
lighted  on  them,  would  they  have  turned  their  eyes,  ever  so- 
little,  out  of  the  busy  circle  of  actual  life  and  occupations.  If, 
too,  the  history  of  the  past  tell  us  truly  what  the  future  will 
be,  we  may  feel  assured  that,  as  it  is  not  the  powers  of  nature 
or  of  man,  but  the  application  of  them,  that  is  limited,  if  indi- 
viduals be  inclined  by  their  own  dispositions  to  apply  them- 
selves to  purposes  conducive  to  the  general  good,  and  if  they 
be  incited  to  do  so  by  causes  similar  to  such  as  have  before 
operated,  art  and  science  will  still  stretch  their  capacities,  until 
they  may  at  length  reach  an  extent  of  which  it  is  impossible 
for  us  now  to  form  any  conception. 

An  attentive  consideration  of  the  history  of  art  might  also- 
give  rise  to  a  series  of  reflections  of  another  sort.     It  would 
show  a  purpose,  which  does  not  strike  us  on  a  first  view  of  the 
creation.     Nature,   it  would   seem,   if  I   may   be  allowed   so 
to  express   myself,  sensible  of  the   combined  pride  and  im- 
becility of  man,  has  so  arranged  the  world  she  has  provided 
for   him,  as  to   make   it   the   means  of  urging  him  on,  in  a 
continual    progress,   towards    higher  and   higher   attainments. 
Mcr  the  defects  of  his  limited  and  cloudy  faculties,  nor  the 
intoxication  of  the  vainglory,  that,  fed  by  his  imitative  propen- 
sities, is  ever  representing  him  to  himself  as   having  reached 
•iiinmit  of  terrestrial  perfection,  can  preserve  him  station- 
ary.    He  is  now  impelled  by  necessity,  now  excited  by  hope, 
to  attempt  the  amelioration  of  his  condition,  and  thus  gradu- 
to  develope  the  latent  capacities  of  his  own  being,  and  of 
-phere  of  existence  in  which  he  moves.      By  a  diversity  of 
ites,  soils,  and  nations,  steps  are,  as  it  were,  arranged   for 
him,  up  which  he  is  gradually  enticed,  or  compelled  to  mount, 

lNov.  Org.,  L    1,  I. XXXV. 


192  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

to  fresh  acquisitions  of  knowledge  and  power.  He  is  never 
allowed  to  remain  stationary.  A  portion,  indeed,  of  the  race 
may,  and  for  a  limited  time,  but  ultimately  they  either  im- 
prove, or  yield  their  place  to  surrounding  peoples  who  have 
improved. 

Some  philosophers  urge  it  as  an  objection  against  the 
world's  having  been  formed  by  a  designing  cause,  that  so 
large  a  portion  of  its  surface  is  useless  to  man.  According  to 
them,  had  it  been  formed  by  perfect  and  beneficent  reason,  it 
should  have  been  such  a  level  garden,  as  a  certain  theorist 
supposed  it  originally  to  have  been.  Had  it  been  so,  we  may 
safely  assert,  that  man,  as  man,  could  never  have  inhabited  it. 
He  must  either  have  been  formed  above,  or  sunk  below,  his 
present  condition.  Because  we  do  not  turn  to  any  account  the 
sandy  desert,  or  rugged  mountain,  we  are  not  entitled  to  look 
on  them  as  blots  on  the  general  utility  of  the  creation,  or  sup- 
pose, even,  that  they  may  not  be  put  to  use  by  succeeding 
generations.  The  savage  of  New  Holland  conceives  every  tree 
useless  that  does  not  soon  rot,  and  so  breed  maggots  for  him. 
The  ancient  Eomans  scarcely  conceived  that  the  woods  and 
morasses  of  Caledonia  would,  at  any  time,  be  abundantly 
useful.  We  judge  rashly,  then,  in  condemning  as  useless  any 
portion  of  the  earth.  Even  the  barren  deserts  of  Africa  may, 
in  after  ages,  be  fertilized.  Art  and  industry  may,  in  time, 
draw  water  plentifully  from  the  depths  of  the  earth,  and 
cover  them  with  treple  harvests.  To  do  so,  human  art 
must  make  great  advances,  and  these  and  the  other  obstacles 
it  has  met  with,  and  will  meet  with,  are  stimulants  to  its 
advance. 

War  itself,  so  great  an  evil  to  the  individuals  within  the 
scope  of  its  ravages,  is  evidently  the  only  manner  by  which,  in 
certain  states  of  society,  an  amelioration  can  be  induced.  The 
destruction  of  the  Eoman  Empire,  and  almost  of  the  Koman 
race,  by  the  barbarians,  was,  perhaps,  ultimately,  the  most 
beneficial  revolution  ever  brought  about.  Even  in  its  minor 
consequences,  this  apparent  evil  produces  also  much  of  real 
good.  Without  it,  many  of  the  most  useful  inventions  might 
never  have  been  either  propagated,  or  improved. 

We  are  ever  ready  to  forget  the  part  which  nature  thus 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  193 

bears  in  our  operations,  and  to  lay  the  whole  credit  of  our  skill 
and  industry  to  our  own  discernment.  The  slow  and 
gradual  manner  in  which  she  has  led  us  on  to  the  acquisition 
of  every  art,  acting  all  along  the  part  of  the  sagacious  teacher, 
who  puts  before  his  scholar,  at  first,  the  most  simple  and  easy 
lessons,  and  on  his  mastering  these,  by  degrees,  through  the 
influence  of  suitable  rewards  and  penalties,  conducts  him  to 
more  difficult  efforts,  meets  not  our  notice,  and  rises  not 
to  our  thoughts. 

Were  these  or  similar  reflections  fitly  placed  here,  the 
subject  might  give  occasion  to  many  more  of  the  sort.  But, 
it  seems  to  me,  that  we  act  always  rashly  and  imprudently 
in  bringing  such  disquisitions  into  inductive  inquiries.  They 
belong  to  another  subject. 

The  aim  of  science  may  be  said  to  be,  to  ascertain  the 
manner  in  which  things  actually  exist.  The  doing  so,  indeed, 
has  been  generally  found  to  bring  to  light  some  useful  purpose 
in  their  arrangement,  and  the  proofs  of  benevolent  design 
thus  exhibited,  are  exceedingly  interesting  in  relation  to  the 
evidence  they  afford  us  of  the  attributes  of  the  great  first 
cause.  But,  as  science  is  only  progressive,  we  are  never 
certain  of  having  ascertained  the  exact  manner  of  the  exist- 
ence of  any  thing,  and,  therefore,  we  must  often  be  mistaken 
in  the  ends  for  which  we  may  conceive  that  the  things  we 
see  are  formed.  The  confident  assumption,  then,  that  we 
have  exactly  ascertained,  in  any  case,  the  precise  end,  and  the 
application  of  this  assumed  purpose,  as  a  guide  to  scientific 
inquiry,  has  a  decided  tendency  to  retard  the  progress  of 
science.  For,  the  supposition  that  the  actual  arrangement 
is  different  from  what  it  was  conceived  to  be,  is  held  to  be 
inadmissible,  as  it  would  imply  some  deviation  from  the 
design  for  which  we  assumed  it  was  devised.  It  is,  as  Lord 
Bacon  expresses  it,  an  improper  blending  of  things  human  and 
•  livine,  and  a  mode  of  reasoning  which  he,  in  my  opinion, 
with  much  propriety  repeatedly  cautions  his  followers  to 

The    reflections,  therefore,  as  to  the   probable    designs  of 

ire,  in   the  constitution  of  the  world  as  the  abode  of  man, 

i  I  have  here  introduced,  would  have  been  excluded,  had 

N 


194  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

it  not  been  that  Adam  Smith,  and  many  other  popular  writers 
on  these  subjects,  sometimes  indirectly,  in  their  application 
of  terms,  sometimes  directly,  in  their  reasonings,  assume,  that 
the  designs  of  nature  are  quite  opposite  to  what  I  have  repre- 
sented, and  make  their  conceptions  of  her  purposes  an  argu- 
ment in  favor  of  their  particular  theoretical  views. 
The  embryo  doctrine  is  to  be  found  in  Virgil. 

"Nonne  vides,  croceos  ut  Tmolus  odores, 
India  mittit  ebur,  molles  sua  thura  Sabaei? 
At  Chalybes  nudi  ferrum,  virosaque  Pontus 
Castorea,  Eliadum  palmas  Epirus  equarura  ? 
Continue  has  leges  seternaque  foedera  certis 
Iniposuit  natura  locis,  quo  tempore  primum 
Deucalion  vacuum  lapides  jactavit  in  orbem." 

"  Thus  Tmolus  is  with  yellow  saffron  crowned  ; 
India  black  ebon  and  white  ivory  bears ; 
And  soft  Idume  weeps  her  odorous  tears. 
Then  Pontus  sends  his  beaver  stones  from  far, 
And  naked  Spaniards  temper  steel  for  war  : 
Epirus  for  the  Eleaii  chariots,  breeds 
(In  hopes  of  palms)  a  race  of  running  steeds. 
This  is  the  original  contract ;  these  the  laws 
Imposed  by  Nature  and  by  Nature's  cause 
On  sundry  places,  when  Deucalion  hurled 
His  mother's  entrails  on  the  desert  world." 1 

In  the  same  manner  as  by  the  poet,  the  products  of  different 
regions  are  spoken  of  by  political  economists  as  bestowed  on 
them  by  nature,  are  termed  natural  productions,  and  the 
attempt  to  transfer  them  to  other  sites,  is  held  to  be  a  pro- 
cedure in  opposition  to  the  designs  of  providence,  whose  inten- 
tions, it  is  asserted,  in  giving  them  these  productions,  were, 
that  the  inhabitants  of  different  countries  should  exchange  the 
products  of  their  several  territories  with  one  another. 

There  are,  I  conceive,  two  objections  to  this  view  of  the 
subject,  the  first  referring  to  the  term,  natural  productions ; 
the  second  to  the  purposes  assumed  to  be  the  ends  designed  by 
nature. 

If  by  the  term,  natural  productions,  we  mean  things  pro- 
duced without  the  aid  of  art,  then  no  civilized  country  can  be 

1  Georgia  I.   Dryden's  Translation. 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  195 

said  to  have  any  natural  productions,  for  to  all  that  it  pro- 
duces art  lends  its  aid.  It  were,  therefore,  I  think,  better 
to  substitute  for  the  term,  natural  productions,  that  of  actual 
productions. 

But,  because  one  country  alone  now  produces  particular 
commodities,  we  are  by  no  means  warranted  to  conclude  that 
nature  intended  they  should  be  produced  only  there.  On 
the  contrary,  if  we  may  judge  of  a  scheme  by  the  mode  in 
which  its  parts  are  arranged,  and  in  which  they  act,  her  inten- 
tions were,  that  the  variety  of  materials  placed  before  man 
should  generate  the  rudiments  of  arts  at  different  points,  but 
that  these  arts  should  be  advanced  from  their  first  rough  sim- 
plicity, and  carried  to  greater  and  greater  excellence,  by  passing 
from  one  region  and  people  to  another.  If,  therefore,  we  find 
any  art  confined  to  a  particular  region — the  actual  production 
of  only  particular  communities, — the  presumption  is,  that  it  is 
yet  in  its  infancy,  and  that  it  will  only  be  as  it  is  carried  to 
new  countries  and  other  men,  and  generally  diffused  over  the 
whole  globe,  that  it  will  advance  towards  maturity.  Time 
has  shown  that  the  supposed  laws  and  decrees  of  nature,  which 
the  poet  declared  to  be  of  eternal  power,  are  already  abrogated 
by  the  progress  of  art,  in  most  of  the  instances  he  adduces. 
The  natural  productions  of  Great  Britain,  serviceable  to  man, 
are  certainly  very  few.  The  catalogue  of  her  actual  produc- 
tions, even  of  those  alone  in  which  she  preeminently  excels, 
is  greater  than  that  of  any  region  of  equal  extent.  Were 
il  now  alive,  he  certainly  would  not  cite  Albania  for 
horses,  or  Spain  for  iron.  These  results  are  entirely  the  work 
of  art,  to  the  operations  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  put  any 
bounds.  Who  can  positively  say  what  fifty  years  hence  will 
be  the  productions  of  any  country  ? 

It  is  the  intention  of  the  inventive  faculty,  when  it  applies 

If  to  the  arts  of  ministering  to  the  necessaries,  conveniences, 

u  pert!  u  i  ties    of   life — the    wants    of  our  nature  that  the 

subject  we  treat  of  considers, — to  increase  the  supplio  which 

th'    aim  of  each  to  procure.     If  when  it  gains  tlu>  ends 

it    purposes,  it  really  produces  this  increase,  in  doing  so,  it 

must  render  the  labor  of  the  members  of  the  society  in  which 


196  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

it  operates  more  effective,  and  enable  them  from  the  same 
outlay  to  produce  greater  returns,  or  from  less  outlay  to  pro- 
duce the  same  returns,  [or  from  the  same  outlay  to  produce 
the  same  returns  in  less  time.]  An  improvement  in  the  con- 
struction of  a  plough,  enables  the  individual  employing  that 
instrument  to  plough  a  greater  quantity  of  land  with  the  same 
cattle  and  labor,  or  an  equal  quantity  of  land  with  fewer  cattle 
and  less  labor.  The  use  of  water  as  a  power  diminishes  very 
greatly  the  labor  necessary  to  perform  the  operations  in  which 
it  is  employed,  and,  therefore,  from  a  less  outlay,  produces 
equal  returns.  Were  the  assumption  correct,  on  which  we 
have  been  all  along  proceeding,  that  instruments  compare  with 
each  other  by  the  physical  effects  they  produce,  and,  that,  in 
proportion  as  the  same  effects  result  from  less  outlay,  or 
greater  effects  from  the  same  outlay,  the  ratio  of  the  capacity 
of  the  instrument  to  its  cost  will  be  increased,  and  it  moved 
to  an  order  of  quicker  return  ;  then  the  successful  exertions  of 
the  inventive  faculty  would  always  be  effective,  and  every 
discovery,  directly  or  indirectly,  lead  to  real  improvement. 
This,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  is  not  always  the  case,  because 
many  commodities  are  not  estimated  by  their  physical  effects  ;  1 
but  continuing  for  the  present  the  assumption,  which,  for  the 
sake  of  simplicity  of  exposition  we  have  made,  improvement, 
in  this  case,  must  carry  the  instruments  improved  by  it  to 
more  speedily  returning  orders. 

It  is  here  also  to  be  observed  that,  although  any  particular 
improvement,  immediately,  and  at  first,  affects  only  the  instru- 
ments improved,  it  very  shortly  diffuses  itself  over  the  whole 
range  of  instruments  owned  by  the  society.  The  successful 
efforts  of  the  inventive  faculty  are  not  a  gift  to  any  particular 
artists,  but  to  the  whole  community,  and  their  benefits  [are] 
divided  amongst  its  members.  If  an  improvement,  for  in- 
stance, in  the  art  of  baking  bread  were  effected,  by  which, 
with  half  the  labor  and  fuel,  equally  good  bread  could  be 
produced,  it  would  not  benefit  the  bakers  exclusively,  but 
would  be  felt  equally  over  the  whole  society.  The  bakers 
would  have  a  small  additional  profit,  the  whole  society  would 


Rae    refers    to    his    theory    of    luxury.     See    Article    I.    in    the 
Appendix.] 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  197 

have  bread  for  the  product  of  somewhat  less  labor,  and  all 
who  consumed  bread,  that  is,  every  member  of  the  society, 
would  from  the  same  outlay  have  somewhat  larger  returns. 

e  whole  series  of  instruments  owned  by  the  society  would 

somewhat  more  productive,  would  be  carried  to  an  order  of 

licker  return.1 

In  this  manner,  all  improvements,  by  moving  the  whole 
stock  of  instruments  belonging  to  any  society,  to  more  pro- 
ductive orders,  increase  proportionably  its  absolute  capital 
and  stock.  Should  a  naturalist,  in  examining  the  nature  of 
the  surface  on  the  farm  of  an  individual  in  a  small  agricul- 
tural society,  make  the  discovery,  that  beneath  it  there  was  a 
quantity  of  plaster  of  Paris ;  and  should  the  farmer,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  recommendation,  sprinkling  a  little  of  this 
reduced  to  powder  on  some  of  his  fields,  find  that  it  caused 
them  to  yield  double  returns,  his  farm  or  the  lease  he  held  of 
it,  might  in  his  eyes  be  doubly  valuable,  and  he  might  demand 
in  exchange,  and  perhaps  receive,  two  other  farms  of  equal 
size  in  its  place.  Were  it,  however,  found,  that  a  stratum  of 
this  substance  extended  over  the  whole  range  of  country 
possessed  by  the  society,  and  was  equally  efficacious  when 
applied  to  any  portion  of  the  surface,  his  farm  would  not  be 
more  valuable  than  other  farms.  The  supply  [provision], 
however,  for  future  wants,  possessed  by  the  whole  society, 
would  be  largely  increased,  and,  the  strength  of  their  effective 
desire  of  accumulation  remaining  undiminished,  their  absolute 
capital  would  be  proportionably  augmented.  But,  as  the 
whole  stock  of  instruments  [still]  remained  the  same,  with  the 
exception  of  the  difference  made  by  the  surface  of  the  fields 
having  been  sprinkled  with  a  quantity  of  this  mineral  powder, 
i  amount,  as  measured  by  one  another,  [or  by  some  par- 
ti'  uhir  instrument  taken  as  a  standard  and  to  which  all  other 
instruments  are  referred  (see  Chapter  VIII.)],  would  be  the 

1  This  follows  from  the  nature  of  exchange,  see  pages  104-106. 
[What   Rae  means  by   this   reference  to   his   theory   of  exchange  in    the 
)i  chapter,  is  somewhat  obscure.     It  is,  apparently,  that  the  system  of 
separation    of    employments   ami    i. -Milting    system    of    exchange,    with    its 
phenomena   of  competition,  forms  altogether  a  benefit- of -progress  diffusing 
•J 


198  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

same  as  before.  Some  instruments  might  possibly  exchange 
for  a  greater  amount  of  instruments  of  another  sort,  than 
formerly,  but  this  change  could  no  more  be  considered  an 
increase  in  the  total  value,  than  the  fact  of  the  latter  instru- 
ment exchanging  for  a  less  amount,  could  be  considered  an 
indication  of  a  diminution  of  the  total  exchangable  value  of 
the  stock  of  the  society.  The  relative  capital  and  stock  would 
thus  remain  unchanged  [for  the  time  being].  But,  though 
this  relative  or  exchangable  value  of  the  society's  stock  might 
remain  unchanged,  its  absolute  capital  and  stock  would  be 
[straightway]  increased.  The  reality  of  such  increase  is 
marked,  in  all  similar  cases,  by  at  least  three  [attendant] 
circumstances. 

1.  The  members  of  the  society  possess,  in  general,  a  more 
abundant  provision  for  future  wants,  the  revenue  of  the  whole 
society,  and  of  each  individual  composing  it,  is  increased. 

2.  The  whole  society,   as  a   separate  community,  becomes 
more  powerful,  in  relation  to  other  communities.     It  can  sup- 
port the  burdens  of  war,  and  the  expense  of  all  negotiations 
and  national  contracts  with  foreign  powers,  with  greater  ease. 
It  can  also,  without  inconvenience,  execute  a  greater  number 
of  useful  works  and  undertakings.     The   imposts  which   the 
state  levies  for  such  purposes,  in  a  society  where  the  stock  of 
instruments  is  wrought  up  to  an  order  correspondent  to  the 
average  effective  desire  of  accumulation  of  its  members,  must 
almost  always  occasion  some  diminution  of  that  stock.     The 
returns  coming  in  from  their  industry,  being  only  sufficient  to 
reconstruct   the  instruments   as   they  are  severally  exhausted, 
an   additional   drain   made   upon   their  funds    must,  in   most 
cases,  prevent  the  reconstruction  of  many  of  them,  and  conse- 
quently occasion  a  disappearance,  to  that  amount,  of  a  portion 
of  the  general  stock.     But,   when   instruments  are  of  more 
productive  orders   than  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  of 
the  society  demands,  the  abstraction  of  a  part  of  their  returns 
by  the  state,  to  supply  its  exigencies,  only  carries  them  nearer, 
or  brings   them  altogether,  to  an  order  corresponding  to  the 
strength  of  that  desire,  and,  therefore,  interferes  not  with  their 
reconstruction.     Taxation  [in  that  case]  is  paid  out  of  revenue, 
not  out  of  capital. 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  199 

3.  As  it  is  the  effect  of  improvement,  to  carry  instruments 
into  orders  of  quicker  return  than  the  accumulative  principle 
of  the  society  demands,  a  greater  range  of  materials  is  brought 
within  reach  of  that  principle,  and  it  consequently  forms 
[eventually]  an  additional  amount  of  instruments.  The  various 
agricultural  improvements  with  which  invention  enriched  that 
art  in  Britain,  towards  the  conclusion  of  the  last  and  com- 
mencement of  the  present  century,  occasioned  a  great  amount 
of  materials  to  be  wrought  up,  which  before  lay  dormant. 
The  construction  of  the  plough  in  Scotland,  and  generally 
over  the  island,  was  so  improved  that  two  horses  did  the 
work  of  six  oxen.  The  diminution  of  outlay  thus  produced, 
giving  the  farmer,  from  a  smaller  capital,  an  equal  return ;  he 
was  encouraged  and  enabled  to  apply  himself  to  materials, 
which  he  would  otherwise  have  left,  as  his  forefathers  had 
done,  untouched.  He  carried  off  stones  from  his  fields,  built 
fences,  dug  ditches,  formed  drains,  and  constructed  roads. — 
Lime  was  discovered  to  be  a  profitable  manure.  The  addi- 
tional returns,  which  the  hard  clay  thus  converted  into  a 
black  loam  yielded,  were  spent  in  the  cultivation  of  land 
before  waste,  in  levelling  and  reducing  to  regularity,  the  rude 
ridges  of  antecedent  periods. — The  culture  of  turnips  was 
introduced  ;  and  instead  of  useless  fallows  the  farmer  had  a 
lur_:e  supply  of  a  nutritive  food  for  his  cattle.  He  erected 
better  buildings  for  the  reception  of  his  stock,  he  improved 
their  breed,  he  transported  manure  from  great  distances,  he 
had  his  fields  trenched  deeply  with  the  spade,  fresh  soil 
brought  up,  and  all  useless  or  prejudicial  matters  buried 
beneath.  Each  succeeding  improvement  gave  a  fresh  stimulus 
to  industry,  and  brought  new  materials  within  the  compass 
of  the  providence  of  the  agriculturist.  Nor  was  this  all;  the 
ilus  reacted  also  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns,  ami 
thrir  industry  was  augmented  by  the  increased  returns  yielded 
by  the  country,  and  by  the  new  demands  made  by  it.  Im- 
provements, too,  in  the  branches  of  industry  in  which  they 

themselves  engaged,  of  at  least  equal  extent,  carried 
thrm  forward  in  a  like  career.  Rocks  were  quarried ;  forests 

thinned;  lime  was  burned;  the   metal   left   the   mini-  ; 

manufacturing    establishments    arose ;    wharfs,    docks, 


200  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

canals,  and  bridges  were  constructed ;  villages  were  changed 
into  towns,  and  towns  into  cities. 

It  is  thus  that  every  improvement  animates  industry,  and, 
though  it  cannot  increase  immediately  the  amount  of  instru- 
ments possessed  by  the  society,  or  the  sum  of  the  values 
produced  by  measuring  the  one  with  the  other,  [or  all 
relatively  to  the  customary  standard],  shows  that  the  members 
of  the  society  really  estimate  them  higher  than  they  would 
thus  be  rated,  by  their  instantly  commencing  to  work  up,  into 
analogous  instruments,  inferior  or  more  stubborn  materials,  or 
by  their  working  up  similar  materials  more  laboriously.  The 
amount  thus  wrought  up,  until  the  process  stops,  by  the  total 
instruments  constructed  arriving  at  an  order  correspondent  to 
the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  of  the  society,  must  depend 
entirely  on  the  nature  of  those  materials,  and  is,  therefore, 
always  a  variable  quantity,  and  one  never  to  be  ascertained 
previous  to  the  event.  Sometimes  a  very  small  improvement 
may  put  a  large  range  of  materials  within  reach  of  the  ac- 
cumulative principle,  sometimes  a  very  considerable  improve- 
ment may  not  enable  it  to  make  much  addition  to  the  stock 
of  instruments  before  constructed. 

When  misfortunes  befall  the  general  industry  of  a  community, 
improvements,  though  they  may  not  add  to  the  national  capital, 
prevent  or  lessen  the  threatened  diminution  of  it.  In  agricul- 
ture, the  introduction  of  the  drill  husbandry  for  grain  crops, 
and  the  discovery  of  new  manures ;  in  manufactures  and  trade, 
the  improved  construction  of  steam  engines,  the  discovery  of 
railroads,  and  many  other  recent  improvements,  have  taken  off' 
part  of  the  weight  of  the  heavy  burden,  that  has  of  late  years 
been  imposed  on  the  resources  of  Great  Britain. 

The  high  rate  of  profit,  which,  unless  when  counteracting 
causes  intervene,  follows  [for  a  time]  the  introduction  of 
improvement,  is  indicative  of  an  immediate  proportional  aug- 
mentation of  the  absolute  capital  of  the  society,  and  produces 
a  subsequent  addition  to  its  relative  capital,  the  amount  of 
which  is  determined  by  the  additional  capacity  which  the 
materials  in  possession  of  the  community  can  receive,  and  by 
the  quantity  of  materials  of  the  next  lower  grades  owned 
by  it.  That  high  rate  of  profits,  again,  which  arises  from 


INVENTION    ECONOMIC  201 

a  deficiency  in  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumula- 
tion, is  essentially  different.  It  indicates  no  increase  of  the 
absolute  capital  of  the  society,  no  recent  increase  of  the  re- 
venue of  its  members,  no  greater  ability  to  support  public 
burdens,  and  no  approaching  increase  of  relative  capital1  The 
want  of  a  clear  perception  of  this  distinction,  seems  to  have 
led  Adam  Smith,  and  some  other  writers,  to  speak  of  high 
profits  as  generally  prejudicial 

In  countries  where  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  is 
low,  profits  are  of  necessity  [permanently]  high.  Such 
countries,  too,  from  their  inability  to  work  up  into  instru- 
ments the  same  materials,  must  always  be  poorer  than  their 
neighbors.  Hence  high  profits  have  been  regarded  as  indicat- 
ing, and  producing  poverty.  This  prejudice  is  one  source  of 
tin-  errors  of  Sir  Josiah  Child  on  this  subject,  and  it  seems  to 
have  given  rise  to  one  or  two  rather  declamatory  passages  in  the 
Wealth  of  Nations.  "  Our  merchants  and  master  manufacturers 

miplain  much  of  the  bad  effects  of  high  wages  in  raising  the 
:nd  thereby  lessening  the  sale  of  their  goods,  both  at 
ic  and  abroad.  They  say  nothing  concerning  the  bad 
effects  of  high  profits ;  they  are  silent  with  regard  to  the 
pernicious  effects  of  their  own  gains ;  they  complain  only  of 
those  of  other  people."2  Now  I  apprehend  that  high  profits 

ringing  from  improvement,  can   never    lessen    the    sale   of 

1  [It  seems  to  the  editor  that  the  application  of  Rae's  expressions 
absolute"  and  "relative"  capital  or  stock  might,  indeed,  with  greater 
•  ty  be  turned  right  about.  What  he  calls  the  absolute  might  be 
;is  the  relative,  that  is,  in  accordance  with  his  own  explaua- 
i,  relative  to  the  prevailing  effective  desire  of  accumulation  in  any 
iety  at  any  time,  taken  as  a  standard.  And  contrariwise,  what  he 
the  r<  l.itive  might  well  be  considered  as  the  absolute,  since  its 
means  the  increase  of  the' actual  accumulations  embotli.  1  in 
iim-nts  in  any  society.  When,  for  example,  after  a  rapid  advance 
the  arts  in  any  country  for  ten  or  twenty  years,  its  total  stock  of 
its  comes  to  be  priced,  let  us  say,  at  $900,000,000  instead  of 
i. "»*>.' MR),  is  not  that  an  indication  of  an  absolute  increase  of  capital? 
M  of  permanency  seems  to  go  naturally  with  the  notion  of 
lateness,  and,  according  to  Roc's  own  showing,  any  increase,  at  least 
what  he  calls  absolute  capital,  is  essentially  ephemeral.] 
*  Wealth  of  Xationg,  Book  I.  c.  ix.  The  paradox  contained  in  the 
preceding  this  quotation  is  exposed  by  Mr.  Ricardo. 


202  INVENTION   ECONOMIC 

goods  either  at  home  or  abroad,  for  they  do  not  occasion 
a  rise  in  their  price,  but  rather  a  fall  in  it. — "  In  countries 
which  are  just  advancing  to  riches,  the  low  rate  of  profit  may, 
in  the  price  of  many  commodities,  compensate  the  high  wages 
of  labor,  and  enable  those  countries  to  sell  as  cheap  as  their 
less  thriving  neighbors,  among  whom  the  wages  of  labor  may 
be  lower."  l  In  countries  rising  to  riches,  I  conceive,  on  the 
contrary  that  profits  will  commonly  be  high.  They  will  be 
higher  than  where,  the  principle  of  accumulation  having  had 
time  to  work  up  all  the  materials  within  reach  of  its  strength, 
a  stop  is  put  to  its  farther  advancing  the  stock  of  existing 
instruments,  and  the  state  of  the  society  becomes  stationary.  If 
they  be  lower  than  in  other  countries,  during  the  progress, 
it  is  from  the  greater  strength  of  this  principle. 

In  North  America,  profits  and  labor  [wages]  have  been  as  a 
matter  of  fact  permanently  high,  from  the  unintermitting 
transfer  to  that  continent  of  European  arts,  and  from  the 
generation  of  new  arts  in  the  country  itself.  In  Russia  the 
passage,  in  like  manner,  of  new  arts  has  kept  the  rate  of 
profits  high.  But,  of  all  civilized  countries  of  the  present  day, 
these,  probably,  are  the  most  rapidly  advancing  to  riches. 

If,  in  any  society,  instruments  be  at  orders  of  speedy  return 
[and  consequently  the  rate  of  profits  high],  and  we  have  not 
the  [ready]  means  of  ascertaining  whether  or  not  this  proceeds 
from  the  actual  recent  progress  of  invention,  we  may  fairly 
conclude  it  does  so,  if,  in  that  society,  there  be  much  economy, 
little  luxury,  good  faith  in  exchanges,  fidelity  in  the  discharge 
of  promises,  credit  consequently  extensively  prevailing,  and 
few  breaches  in  the  peace,  or  transgressions  of  the  laws  of  the 
community.  If,  on  the  contrary,  there  be  little  economy,  much 
luxury,  a  want  of  good  faith  and  fidelity,  credit  narrowed, 
frequent  public  and  private  crimes,  we  may  certainly  conclude 
that  this  position  of  instruments  arises  from  a  deficiency  in 
the  accumulative,  not  from  recent  progress  of  the  inventive 
principle.2 

It   thus   appears,   that  it   is  through  the  operation  of  two 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  I.  c.  ix. 

3  [This  paragraph  is  an  interpellation  taken   from  p.  322  of  the  original.] 


INVENTION   ECONOMIC  203 

principles — the  accumulative,  and  inventive, — that  additions 
are  made  to  the  stocks  of  communities.  It  would  contribute 
something  to  accuracy  of  phraseology,  and  therefore  to  distinct- 
ness of  conception,  to  distinguish  their  modes  of  action  by  the 
following  terms: 

1.  Accumulation  of  stock  or  capital,  is  the  addition  made  to 
these,  through  the  operation  of  the  accumulative  principle. 

2.  Augmentation  of  stock  or  capital,  is  the  addition  made  to 
them,  through  the  operation  of  the  principle  of  invention. 

3.  Increase  of  stock  or  capital,  is  the  addition  made  to  them, 
by  the  conjoined  operation  of  both  principles. 

Accumulation  of  stock  diminishes  profits ;  augmentation  of 
stock  increases  profits ;  increase  of  stock  neither  increases  nor 
diminishes  profits. 

["Accumulation"  is  the  embodying  of  labor  (and  its  equivalents)  in 
instruments;  "augmentation,"  the  embodying  of  ideas.  With  "ac- 
cumulation "  resistance  in  some  form  is  encountered,  and  the  rate  of  net 
returns  declines ;  with  "  augmentation "  resistance  recedes  and  the  net 
yirld  rises.  With  "  increase "  of  capital  there  is  no  interval  formed 
between  the  progress  of  the  effects  of  the  accumulative  and  the  inventive 
principles  (both  advancing  with  equal  pace),  and  hence  a  negative  result 
as  regards  the  basis  of  the  general  rate  of  profit  in  the  community. 
The  formation  temporarily  of  an  increased  interval  between  the  advance 
of  the  accumulative  and  the  inventive  principles,  is  what  is  called  an 
increase  of  "absolute"  capital  or  stock. 

Rae  uses  the  term  "  improvement "  in  this  chapter  loosely.  Sometimes 
it  is  synonymous  with  invention,  or  the  direct  effects  of  invention ;  at 
other  times  it  is  the  ulterior,  collateral  effects  of  invention, — as  a 
particular  iiuinifc.stution  of  it  passes  from  one  art  to  other  arts,  both  to 
those  which  are  easier  and  to  those  which  are  more  difficult.] 


CHAPTER   XL 

OF  EXCHANGES   BETWEEN    DIFFERENT  COMMUNITIES 
OF  COMMODITIES  OTHER  THAN   LUXURIES. 


WE  are  now  able  to  enter  upon  the  investigation  of  some 
phenomena,  relating  to  the  exchange  of  commodities,  which  we 
have  not  hitherto  particularly  noticed.  As  yet  we  have  only 
attended  to  the  laws  finally  regulating  the  exchange  of  com- 
modities between  individuals  of  the  same  society,  but  it  is 
necessary  that  we  should  also  ascertain  the  general  conditions 
existing  in  those  exchanges  which  take  place  between  different 
societies. 

In  our  view  of  the  subject,  every  society  considered  apart,  is 
a  system  within  which  all  circumstances  are  common  and 
similar  ;  and  all  societies  compared  together,  are  systems  in 
which  all  or  many  circumstances  are  proper  to  each  and 
dissimilar  to  others.  The  wages  of  labor,  orders  of  instru- 
ments, and  profits  of  stock,  in  one  society,  for  instance,  are 
[approximately]  the  same ;  but  in  different  societies,  they  are, 
or  may  be,  diverse.  When  two  persons  in  the  same  society 
exchange  commodities,  we  have  seen  that  the  exchanges  they 
make  are  for  equal  quantities  of  labor,  reckoned  according  to 
the  time  when  applied,  and  the  actual  orders  of  instruments. 
This  happens  because  one  man's  personal  labor,  or  the  com- 
mand of  other  men's  labor  which  he  may  possess,  is  equal  to 
another  man's  personal  labor,  or  the  command  of  other  men's 
labor  which  he  may  possess.  In  separate  societies,  however, 
this  law  obviously  no  longer  holds.  An  individual  in  one 
society,  exchanging  with  another,  in  another  society,  cannot 


OF   INTERNATIONAL   TRADE  205 

pretend  to  regulate  the  amount  he  is  to  receive  in  return  by 
the  power  which  he  possesses,  if  he  conceives  too  much  de- 
manded, of  turning  his  own  funds  to  the  formation  of  that 
which  he  desires,  for  he  has  no  such  power.  To  form  the 
commodities  he  in  this  case  desires,  it  is  necessary  he 
should  become  a  member  of  the  society  in  which  they  are 
formed,  and  give  up  the  place  he  holds  in  the  community  of 
which  he  now  makes  one.  If  the  manufacturers  of  cloth  in 
England  find  that  the  farmers  do  not  give  them,  in  the  form  of 
wheat,  the  same  quantity  of  labor  that  they  in  exchange  give 
them  in  cloth,  they  will  turn  their  capital  to  agriculture,  and 
so  reduce  the  price  demanded ;  but  should  they  find  that 
the  American  farmer  puts  less  labor  to  the  formation  of  the 
wheat  he  exchanges  for  their  cloth,  than  that  cloth  costs  them, 
they  have  not  the  same  means  of  lowering  his  price. 

As  the  exchanges,  therefore,  that  take  place  between  the 
members  of  different  societies,  cannot  be  regulated  by  the 
amount  of  labor  embodied  in  the  commodities  fabricated  by 
each,  there  would  seem  to  remain,  as  the  foundation  of  the 
principles  of  such  exchanges,  only  the  qualities  of  the  articles 
exchanged.  If  the  manufacturers  in  England  find  that,  includ- 
ing the  expense  of  transport,  they  can  have  wheat  as  cheap 
from  the  American  farmers  as  from  the  British,  they  will  be 
inclined  to  exchange,  and  if  the  American  farmers  find  that, 
including  also  the  expense  of  transport,  they  can  have  English 
cloth  as  cheap  as  American,  they  will  be  inclined  to  exchange. 
It  is  evident,  too,  that  the  British  manufacturer  will  be  more 
inclined  to  exchange,  if  the  American  wheat  come  cheaper 
than  the  British,  and  the  American  farmer,  if  the  British 
cloth  come  cheaper  than  the  American. 

The  commodities  to  be  exchanged  between  any  two  societies, 
either  minister  to  use,  or  to  luxury,  or  partly  to  both. 
Th<-  subject  will  present  itself  in  the  most  simple  form,  by 
discussing  separately  the  divisions  of  it  thus  indicated. 

I  irst,  then,  we  have  to  consider  the  principles  and  effects 
be  exchanges  of  commodities  which  are  in  no  degree 
luxuries. 

If  thr  members  of  one  society,  having  before  had  no  inter- 
course with  some  other  society,  become  aware  that  in  it  there 


206  OF   INTERNATIONAL   TRADE 

is  a  commodity  of  this  sort,  of  which  they  would  desire  to  have 
a  supply,  the  question  to  be  determined  is,  will  they  procure 
that  supply,  and  if  so,  what  will  be  the  effect  thence  resulting. 
As  they  have  hitherto  done  without  the  commodity,  they  must 
already  possess  some  substitute  for  it.  They  will  then  only 
seek  to  procure  it,  if  they  can  procure  it  for  less  labor  than  the 
substitute  they  already  possess ;  and  if  they  can  procure  it  for 
less  labor  they  will  naturally  be  excited  to  do  so.  Were  coal, 
for  instance,  the  commodity  which  the  members  of  one  society 
A  possess,  and  of  which  the  members  of  another  society  B 
wish  to  procure  a  supply,  there  must  be  some  means  in 
existence  in  B,  of  more  or  less  fully  and  easily  satisfying  the 
wants  which  that  mineral  can  supply.  It  may  be,  for  instance, 
that  wood  is  the  fuel  there  consumed.  Let  us  suppose  that 
three  cords  of  the  wood  commonly  burnt,  are  equivalent,  in  the 
heat  given  out  by  them,  to  one  chaldron  of  coals ;  if,  then,  in 
the  society  B  there  be  any  commodity  there  equivalent  to  less 
than  three  cords  wood,  and  which,  transported  to  A,  will  in  A 
be  equivalent,  considered  as  an  utility,  to  one  chaldron  coals, 
the  exchange  will  be  possible,  for  this  difference  may  pay,  or 
may  do  more  than  pay,  for  the  expense  of  transport.  If,  for 
example,  in  the  society  A  timber  for  architectural  purposes  be 
more  scarce  than  in  B,  it  might  happen  that  the  wood  used 
for  fuel  in  B,  when  transported  to  A  in  logs,  would  be  in 
estimation  there.  It  might  be  that  in  A,  owing  to  the  general 
application  of  the  soil  to  agricultural  purposes,  and  the  scarcity 
of  forest,  a  quantity  of  timber,  fit  for  the  use  of  the  builder, 
such  as  might  be  got  out  of  a  cord  of  the  fire  wood  used  in  B, 
might  exchange  for  one  chaldron  coals.  Were,  then,  an  in- 
dividual of  the  society  B,  to  transport  to  A  a  quantity  of 
square  timber  equivalent  in  B  to  three  hundred  cords  of  wood, 
he  might  exchange  it  there  for  three  hundred  chaldrons  coals, 
and  might  so  return  to  B  with  a  commodity  there  equivalent 
to  nine  hundred  cords  of  fire  wood,  thrice  the  amount  which 
he  had  transported  from  thence.  Suppose  that  the  expense  of 
the  transport  of  both  commodities  is  equal  to  three  hundred 
cords,  then  he  will  just  have  doubled  the  stock  embarked  in 
the  enterprise.  Were  this  the  state  of  things,  timber,  instead 
of  being  consumed  as  fuel  in  B,  would  be  transferred  to  A,  and 


OF   INTERNATIONAL   TRADE  207 

would  return,  in  the  form  of  coals,  an  equivalent,  after  paying 
the  charges  of  transport,  to  double  the  labor  expended  in  its 
formation.  But  in  this  state  of  things  the  whole  advantage 
would  fall  to  the  society  B;  fuel  would  be  more  easily 
obtained  there,  but  timber  would  not  be  more  easily  obtained 
in  A.  As,  however,  it  would  be  equally  in  the  power  of  the 
iin -tubers  of  the  latter  society  to  send  their  coals  to  B,  and 
there  exchange  them  for  wood,  were  other  circumstances 
wanting,  this  alone  would  have  the  effect  of  equalizing  the 
advantages,  and  in  most  cases,  therefore,  they  would  come  to 
be  nearly  equally  divided  between  two  societies  so  situated. 
The  first  effects,  therefore,  would  be  that  the  same  quantity  of 
fuel  which  before  cost  in  B  three  days'  labor  might  now  be 
obtained  for  two;  and  that  the  quantity  of  building  timber 
that  in  A  cost  three  days'  labor,  might  also  be  obtained  for 
two.  The  revolution  effected  might  nearly  compare  to  an 
improvement  in  both  societies,  by  which,  in  the  one,  two  cords 
fire  wood  might  give  equal  heat  to  what  three  had  done,  and, 
in  the  other,  two  logs  of  timber  might  serve  the  same  purposes 
as  three.  Like  other  improvements,  they  would  not  be  con- 
fined in  their  operation  to  the  particular  branches  of  industry 
in  which  they  had  place,  but  would  be  diffused  equally  over 
both  societies,  carrying  the  whole  instruments  in  each  towards 
the  more  quickly  returning  orders.  Profits  would  rise  equally 
in  all  employments.  The  absolute  capital  of  both  communities 
would  be  increased  in  proportion  to  the  augmented  provision 
made  for  their  future  wants.  This  provision,  indeed,  would  be 
so  far  uncertain,  that  it  might  be  rendered  inaccessible  by  war. 
or  other  causes  interrupting  the  commerce  between  the  two 
countries;  and  the  whole  industry  and  instruments  engaged  in 
it  inL'hl,  therefore,  be  compared  to  a  stock  engaged  in  some 
hazardous  branch  of  industry,  and  running  a  chance  of  being 
lly  or  partially  lost,  by  the  action  of  uncontrollably 
destructive  causes.  Abstracting,  however,  the  chances  to 
which  they  might  thus  be  exposed,  they  would  embody  as 
real  a  provision  for  futurity  as  any  other  part  of  the  stock 
of  either  society. 

In    all  exchanges   taking  place  between  different  societies, 
in    oummodities    which    are    not    luxuries,    similar    principles 


208  OF   INTERNATIONAL   TRADE 

regulating  them,  and  similar  effects  flowing  from  them,  may  be 
traced.  For,  if  they  derive  their  value  not  from  the  gratifica- 
tion they  afford  to  vanity,  but  from  their  capacity  to  supply 
real  wants,  they  may  be  compared  with  other  instruments 
belonging  to  the  society,  satisfying  more  or  less  perfectly  the 
same  class  of  wants.  And  when,  through  the  exchange  of  other 
commodities  for  them,  they  can  be  obtained  for  less  labor  than 
such  instruments,  they  will  naturally  come  to  be  so  obtained, 
and  will  completely  or  partially  fill  the  place  of  them.  As  coals 
will  compare  with  cord  wood,  so  indian  rubber  will  compare 
with  leather,  New  Zealand  weed  with  hempen  cordage,  slates 
with  thatch,  copper  with  iron.  In  these  cases,  and  in  others 
where  probably  mere  utility  is  sought  for,  there  are  means  of 
comparing  one  thing  with  another;  and  the  substitution  of  the 
one  for  the  other,  when  in  proportion  to  the  labor  necessary 
to  obtain  it,  will  more  effectually  supply  future  wants  and  is 
always  a  real  improvement. 

It  will  often  happen  that  the  process  will  engage  in  it  more 
than  two  societies.  Thus,  the  society  B  might  exchange  wood 
with  C,  C  might  exchange  iron  with  A,  and  A  coal  with  B. 
Similar  principles  would  still,  however,  guide  its  progress,  and 
similar  effects  result  from  it.  While  the  exchanges  were  con- 
fined to  commodities  in  no  degree  luxuries,  an  increased  pro- 
vision for  future  wants  would  result  from  them,  and  a  general 
augmentation  of  the  absolute  capital  of  the  societies  receiving 
these  new  supplies,  and  quickening  in  them  of  the  accumu- 
lative principle,  would  be  experienced.  They  would  in  them 
all  have  the  general  effect  of  improvements,  and  would  operate, 
in  the  case  supposed  last,  in  the  same  manner  as  would  in  B 
some  discovery  facilitating  the  transport  of  wood,  in  C  some 
discovery  facilitating  the  smelting  of  iron,  in  A  some  discovery 
facilitating  the  mining  of  coal.  The  fewer  obstructions,  there- 
fore, that  stood  in  the  way  of  such  transfers,  the  farther,  in 
these  cases,  would  the  stock  of  instruments  in  those  societies 
be  carried  towards  the  order  A ;  as  any  obstruction  that  might 
occur  would,  on  the  contrary,  have  the  effect  of  checking  the 
progress  towards  the  more  quickly  returning  orders,  and  keep- 
ing them  nearer  the  order  Z. 

The  benefits  to  all  parties,  arising  from  such  an  interchange 


OF   INTERNATIONAL   TRADE  209 

of  commodities  as  we  have  described,  would  be  liable  to  be 
interrupted  by  war  or  by  legislative  enactments.  These  dis- 
turbing causes  we  have  afterwards  shortly  to  advert  to,  but 
there  is  one  arising  from  the  progress  of  invention  that  may  be 
properly  noticed  here. 

As  there  are  no  limits  to  the  inventive  faculty,  so  no  com- 
munity can  assure  itself  that  any  commodity  which  it  now 
produces  and  exports  to  some  other  community,  may  not  come 
to  be  produced  in  that  community,  and  so  be  no  longer 
exported  there.  It  may  be,  for  instance,  that,  to  return  to  the 
supposed  case  we  were  just  considering,  in  the  society  B,  strata 
of  coal  are  discovered  so  near  the  surface  as  to  be  as  easily 
wrought  as  in  A,  and  that  the  spirit  of  enterprise  may  there  be 
sufficiently  active,  successfully  to  engage  in  the  occupation  of 
mining  for  them.  In  that  case  coals  would  there  be  procured 
for  about  five-sixths  of  the  labor  they  had  cost  when  brought 
from  A.  They  would  fall  in  relative  value,  the  absolute  capital 
of  the  society  would  be  augmented,  and  profits  proportionally 
increased.  But  while  in  the  society  B,  the  effects  of  the  pro- 
gress of  invention  would  be  thus  beneficial,  in  A  they  might 
:;ite  prejudicially.  No  exportation  of  coals  could  now  take 
place  from  A  to  B,  for  being  necessarily  very  nearly  at  the 
same  price  in  the  one  as  in  the  other  society,  there  would  be 
nothing  to  pay  the  expense  of  transport.  Iron  then  could  no 
lunger  be  paid  for  in  coals,  unless  that  commodity  sold  at  a 
lower  rate.  To  pay  for  it,  coals  must  be  sold  at  B  for  less,  or 
some  other  commodity  must  be  resorted  to.  In  the  former 
case  the  society  A  would  sustain  a  sensible  loss,  comparable  to 
an  increased  difficulty  in  working  its  mines,  and  proportional 
diminution  of  the  amount  of  its  absolute  capital.  In  the 
latter,  though  the  loss  might  be  less,  it  would  nevertheless  be 
real ;  for,  by  the  supposition,  coal  was  the  only  commodity  ex- 
ported, and  it  could  only  be  so  because  it  was  the  one  bringing 
best  return.  The  necessity  therefore  of  turning  to  some 
r  article,  implies  the  obtaining  of  a  less  return,  and  a  con- 
sequent diminution  of  the  absolute  capital  of  the  society,  and. 
counterbalanced  by  thu  impress  of  improvement,  or  an 
in  th«>  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation, 
a  withdrawal  from  the  reach  of  the  accumulative  principle  of 

o 


210  OF    INTERNATIONAL  TRADE 

its  members,  of  some   portion  of  materials  before  within  its 
grasp. 

An  interruption  of  the  exchange  of  articles  of  real  use 
between  communities  checks  accumulation,  by  taking  from  it 
the  materials  on  which  it  exerts  itself;  but  it  excites  the  in- 
ventive faculty,  by  prompting  it  to  discover  fresh  materials, 
and  new  means  of  forming  them  into  instruments.  According, 
therefore,  to  the  circumstances  of  the  community,  and  the 
nature  of  the  materials  within  reach  of  its  members,  it  may 
come  [in  the  end]  either  to  be  a  good  or  an  evil. 

Were  the  intercourse  between  two  communities,  of  which 
the  one  A  exchanges  coal  for  the  wool  of  the  other  B,  sud- 
denly to  cease,  the  event  might  be  felt  as  a  very  great  evil, 
and,  at  first,  the  substitutes  for  these  materials  requiring  more 
labor  to  work  them  up  into  instruments  of  the  sort  required, 
the  whole  stock  of  instruments  possessed  by  both  societies 
might  be  carried  on  in  the  series  some  distance  towards  the 
more  slowly  returning  orders.  It  might  happen,  however,  that 
in  the  Society  B  importing  coal,  there  were  beds  of  coal  [cap- 
able of  being  made]  as  easy  to  work  as  in  A,  and  that  in  the 
other  A  importing  wool,  there  were  tracts  of  land  as  capable  of 
feeding  sheep  as  those  employed  for  that  purpose  in  B.  In 
this  case,  it  is  probable  that  invention  would  apply  to  such 
materials,  and  that,  in  time,  coal  would  be  obtained  in  P.,  at  as 
cheap  a  rate  as  in  A,  and  wool  in  A  at  as  cheap  a  rate  as  in 
B.  Were  it  so,  by  the  saving  of  labor  and  of  time  in  the 
transport  of  the  commodities  from  country  to  country,  the 
stocks  of  instruments  in  both  societies  would  be  placed  in 
orders  of  more  quick  return  than  they  were  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  interruption.  Whether  the  loss  on  the  one  hand, 
or  the  saving  on  the  other,  might,  in  the  circumstances  of 
either  society,  be  fitly  esteemed  greater,  would  depend  on 
whether  or  not  there  were  materials  in  existence  that  by  the 
power  of  invention  might  with  sufficient  ease,  and  within  the 
requisite  time,  supply  the  particular  wants  in  question.  There 
might  not  be  fit  materials,  or  the  time  requisite  to  work  them 
up  might  be  too  long. 

Before  the  cession  of  Norway  to  Sweden,  it  was  reckoned  to 


OF   INTERNATIONAL   TRADE  211 

produce  grain  or  vegetables  for  its  inhabitants  sufficient  only 
for  four  or  five  months.  Its  supplies  for  the  rest  of  the  year 
were  obtained  from  Denmark,  to  which  country,  in  return  for 
corn  received  from  it,  it  exported  timber.  When  the  great 
powers  had  resolved  on  its  annexation  to  Sweden,  a  British 
fleet  blockaded  its  coast,  the  peasantry  came  in  starving  crowds 
to  the  towns,  and  a  country  from  which  the  bravest  race  in 
Europe  once  issued,  was  compelled  to  yield  without  a  stroke. 
The  insult  then  received,  and  the  hardships  endured,  had  the 
effect  of  giving  a  great  stimulus  to  agriculture.  The  more 
opulent  formed  themselves  into  societies  for  the  purpose  of 
improving  the  art,  individuals  skilled  in  its  operations  were 

ijed  in  Britain,  and  in  a  few  years  a  great  addition  was 
made  to  the  agricultural  produce  of  the  country.1  The  time  in 
this  case  required  [allowed]  for  the  formation  of  instruments  was 
too  great  [short],  even  supposing  there  had  been  a  sufficiency  of 
materials  of  which  to  construct  them  ;  and  had  not,  therefore, 
the  society  submitted,  it  must  have  endured  successive  evils. 

Many  instances,  however,  might  be  cited,  where  the  inter- 
diction by  war  of  the  intercourse  between  different  countries, 
has  very  speedily  produced  a  supply  of  the  commodities 
interdicted,  and  apparently  without  great  injury  to  the 
nation  possessing  the  materials  necessary  for  their  forma- 
ti"n.  "Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  with  France," 
observes  Mr.  Gee,2  "and  prohibiting  French  commodities, 
encouragement  was  given  for  erecting  several  of  those  manu- 
factures here,  as  the  lustring,  alamode,  and  other  silk  manufac- 

-  for  hoods  and  scarves  which  the  king's  royal  consort,  the 
excellent  Queen  Mary,  took  no  small  pains  to  establish  ;  for 
which  article  alone  it  is  allowed  France  drew  from  us  above 
£400,000  yearly.  At  the  same  time  the  manufacture  of  glass 
was  established,  which  before  we  used  to  have  from  France,  and 
also  that  of  hats  and  paper.  In  his  time  also  the  manufac- 

s  of  copper  and  brass  were  set  on  foot,  which  are  brought 
to  great  perfection,  and  now  in  a  great  measure  supply  the 
nation  with  coppers,  kettles,  and  all  other  sorts  of  copper  and 

•Tin-Mr  f.i.-t     I  1- aim-.]  in  u  tour  through  that  country  in   1H18.     I  have  no 
means  of  ascertaining  what  is  now  the  state  of  affairs  th< 
idt  and  Navigation  o/Grtat  Britain.     Lond.  > 


212  OF    INTERNATIONAL   TRADE 

brass  ware.  The  making  of  sail-cloth  was  begun  and  carried 
on  to  great  perfection,  and  also  sword  blades,  scissors,  and  a 
great  many  toys  made  of  steel,  which  formerly  we  used  to  have 
from  France ;  in  the  manufacture  of  which,  it  is  said,  we  now 
excel  all  other  nations.  The  setting  up  of  salt  works  and  im- 
proving of  salt  springs  and  rock  salt,  hath  proved  very  beneficial 
here,  and  saves  a  very  great  treasure  yearly,  which  we  hereto- 
fore paid  to  France  for  salt  and  a  great  many  other  things 
which  I  forbear  to  enumerate." 


CHAPTER  XII. 


OF  WASTE,  OR  PURE  ECONOMIC  LOSS. 

THE  causes  arising  from  deficiencies  in  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual powers  retarding  the  progress  of  improvement  and 
accumulation,  and  diminishing  the  stocks  of  societies,  which  we 
have  hitherto  noticed,  refer  to  the  matter  of  which  commodi- 
ties consist.1  There  are  others  proceeding  apparently  from  the 
same  deficiencies,  which  create  difficulties  in  the  exchange 
and  preservation  of  instruments,  and  may  be  said  to  relate  to 
the  manner  in  which  exchanges  are  made  and  instruments 
preserved. 

Every  thing  retarding,  or  interposing  difficulties  in  the 
exchange  of  instruments,  must  have  the  effect  of  placing  them 
in  orders  of  slower  return.2  It  must  lengthen  the  period  of 
exhaustion,  or  add  to  the  labor  of  formation.  Instruments 
may  be  exchanged,  as  we  have  seen,  either  by  barter  or  cash, 
h  rough  the  intervention  of  credit, — a  promise  to  deliver  an 
equivalent  at  some  future  time. 

I  n  the  case  of  transfers  by  barter  or  cash,  were  the  holders 
of  instruments  so  exchanged  to  represent  them  exactly   for 
rlmt  they  are,  all  difficulties  would  be  done  away  with,  not 
isin_r  from  the  nature  of  the  things  themselves.     But  it  is 
e  business  of  every  exchanger  to  buy  as  cheaply,  and  sell  as 

in,  they  work  through  the  physical  make-up  of  commodities,  formed 
used  for  .litl.-ront  purposes. 
In   the   original,   the   treatment  of    the  subject  of  luxury   preceded   this 

ter.] 

*  [This  broad  stntnm-nt  is  of  course  subject  to  the  limitations  1  ii<l  <l«»\s  n  « •!>«• 
•  as  to  the  contingent  effects  of  restrictions  upon  foreign  commerce,  and 
as  to  the  difference  between  trade  in  luxuries  and  other  trade.] 


214  OF    WASTE 

dearly,  as  possible,  and  he  very  frequently,  I  might  say  gene- 
rally, endeavors  to  do  so  by  representing  things  to  be  other 
than  what  they  are.  Were  any  one,  for  example,  desirous  of 
purchasing  a  horse,  morally  certain  to  whatsoever  vendor  of 
those  animals  he  applied,  he  would  tell  him,  as  nearly  as  he 
himself  knew,  the  qualities  of  the  horses  he  had  on  hand,  and 
their  just  value,  any  purchase  of  this  sort  he  might  have  to 
make  would  be  made  with  facility  and  at  once.  The  pur- 
chaser, however,  can  seldom  depend  on  the  accuracy  of  the 
statements  he  so  receives.  He  is  often  obliged  to  take  much 
trouble,  and  to  spend  no  little  time,  before  he  makes  his  bar- 
gain, and,  notwithstanding,  is  not  unfrequently  deceived.  The 
time  and  money  thus  expended,  both  by  the  sellers  and  pur- 
chasers of  horses,  and  other  commodities,  is  so  much  dead 
loss  to  the  community,  and  places  the  instruments  on  which 
they  are  expended  in  orders  of  more  slow  return.  Indirectly, 
too,  they  may  occasion  still  more  serious  losses.  If  a  farmer 
be  deceived  in  the  purchase  of  a  horse,  it  may  very  injuriously 
retard  his  operations  at  the  moment  when  it  is  most  necessary 
for  him  to  advance  them.  If  a  builder  be  deceived  in  the 
timber  he  purchases,  it  may  occasion  the  speedy  decay  of  the 
whole  fabric  he  erects. 

The  amount  of  loss  arising,  both  directly  and  indirectly,  from 
successful  or  unsuccessful  attempts  to  pass  off  commodities  for 
what  they  are  not,  is,  I  apprehend,  determined  by  the  weak- 
ness of  the  social  and  benevolent  affections  and  intellectual 
powers.  Where  there  is  the  most  lively  sympathy  with  the 
distresses  and  losses  of  others,  one  will  be  most  restrained 
from  being  the  cause  of  loss  to  another,  both  from  the  prompt- 
ings of  his  own  feelings,  and  from  a  consideration  of  the  senti- 
ments with  which  others  will  regard  him.  Where  the  tendency 
and  consequences  of  actions  are  most  clearly  seen,  one  will  be 
most  cautious  of  doing  any  thing,  which,  by  weakening  general 
confidence  and  security,  may  prejudicially  affect  the  interests 
of  society.  Such  losses  will  therefore  be  least  frequent  where 
the  accumulative  principle  is  strongest,  and  most  frequent 
where  it  is  weakest. 

In  China  every  man  who  sells  tells  as  many  lies  as  he 
thinks  have  any  chance  of  passing.  He  is  never  ashamed  at 


OF   WASTE  215 

being  detected.  When  that  happens,  he  merely  compliments 
the  person  discovering  the  intended  deception  on  his  sagacity. 
Among  the  ancients,  both  Greeks  and  Romans,  all  sorts  of 
trickery  and  artifice  in  purchasers  and  sellers  seem  to  have 
been  common.  Plato  makes  Socrates  say  that,  in  traffic  and 
commerce,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  honest  man,  and  Cicero 
has  a  remark  very  similar.  These,  and  the  like  assertions  of 
classical  authors,  have  indeed,  now-a-days,  been  put  down  as 
mere  prejudice;  but,  though  we  are  doubtless  a  very  acute  and 
sagacious  generation,  I  can  scarce  think  but  that  Socrates  and 
Cicero  knew  their  own  countrymen  better  than  we  can  do. 
Mercantile  honor  and  fair  dealing  are  modern  terms.  With- 
out much  of  the  reality  of  what  they  import,  the  extensive 
transactions  now  carried  on  between  individuals  and  com- 
munities could  not  exist.  Nevertheless,  the  things  to  which 
they  are  applied  want  often  not  a  little  of  being  fitly  so 
described,  and  the  deficiency  in  all  communities  occasions 
a  large  portion  of  the  outlay  necessary  to  the  formation  of 
instruments. 

Deceit,  however,  it  is  to  be  observed,  when  exercised  in  the 
exchange  of  mere  luxuries,  occasions  an  immediate  gain,  instead 
of  loss,  to  communities.     When   there  was  a  prohibition  on 
;nch   silks   imported   into   Britain,   they   were    particularly 
lionable,  their  great  expense  rendering  them  a  tit  material 
•  vanity.     The  British  manufacturer  could  make  fabrics  not 
l>e  distinguished  from  them,  but  which  of  course  as  British 
would  not  sell.     They  were,  however,  readily  vended  as 
mggled   French  goods,  by  individuals  hired  to  hawk  them 
it  under  that  guise.     The  deceit  was  certainly  an  imme- 
e  loss  to  no  one,  and  a  considerable  gain  to  the  manu- 
facturer.1      The    ulterior    effects    of   all    deceit,    however,    in 
weakening   the   moral   principle,   must   ever    be    injurious   to 
communities. 

In  exchanges  effected  by  the  intervention  of  credit  the 
necessity  of  perfectly  fair  dealing  is  more  apparent,  and  tin* 
losses  occasioned  by  fraud  and  deceit  still  greater.  The  per- 
sons giving  the  credit  must  generally  depend  for  H-payim-nt  mi 
UH  good  faith  of  the  persons  receiving  it.  The  extent  c< 

1  Haimard's  DtbaUa,  March  8th,  1824. 


:Mi>  OF    WASTE 

quently  to  which  these  transactions  can  in  any  community  be 
carried,  must  be  measured  by  the  ^-m>ral  probity  of  its  mem- 
bers. Where  people  are  inclined  to  make  promises  which 
they  have  reason  to  fear  they  may  not  be  able  to  fulfil,  or 
which  they  know  they  cannot  fulfil,  the  system  of  credit  is 
confined  or  destroyed. 

[Hut  "  the  formation  of  instruments  is  rendered  difficult  and 
costly  to  individuals,"  not  only  from  the  lack  of  a  "  spirit 
of  integrity  in  credit  transactions,"  and  generally  in  that 
department  of  economic  activities  which  is  called  exchange, 
but  also  from  all  forms  of  "  frauds  and  violence  punish- 
able by  law,"  in  contrast  to  mere  deceits,  in  every  branch 
of  business.] 

To  guard  against  them  always  requires  some  vigilance,  and 
occasions  some  expense,  and  often  demands  a  good  deal  of  both. 
The  loss  hence  arising  may  be  very  considerable.  It  is  said 
that  the  cloth  trade  of  Verviers,  in  France,  was  ruined  from 
the  number  of  thefts  committed  in  various  stages  of  the  manu- 
facture, occasioning  a  loss  of  about  eight  per  cent,  on  the 
quantity  produced. 

The  iufrequency  of  crime  will  also,  I  apprehend,  be  found 
chiefly  to  depend  on  the  same  principles  that  give  force  to  the 
effective  desire  of  accumulation, — the  general  strength  of  the 
social  and  benevolent  affections,  and  intellectual  powers. 
Where  a  desire  of  promoting  the  common  good  prevails,  and 
there  is  a  clear  perception  of  the  means  of  doing  so,  infringe- 
ments on  the  rights  of  individuals,  or  violence  to  their  persons, 
will  be  rare.  It  is  the  strength  of  the  moral  feelings  that  is 
the  safeguard  of  the  laws.  Where  these  are  destroyed,  or 
greatly  weakened,  as  where  a  person  has  been  cast  out  of  the 
brotherhood  of  society  by  being  marked  as  a  criminal,  the 
dread  of  corporeal  pains  is  scarcely  ever  sufficient  to  deter 
from  future  trespasses. 

The  establishment  of  good  laws  and  the  security  of  the 
system  of  government,  by  diminishing  the  temptation  to 
crime,  and  the  chance  of  escape  from  its  consequences,  have 
also,  no  doubt,  great  effect.  But  good  laws  or  government 
can  neither  be  established  nor  maintained  without  good 


OF    WASTE  217 

morals.      When   purely  selfish   feelings  prevail  laws  have  no 
power. 

"  Quid  faciant  leges  ubi  sola  pecuuia  regnat  ? " 

The  [iiijdirect  destruction  and  waste  occasioned  by  wars 
make,  also,  no  small  item  in  the  account  of  losses,  to  which 
the  stocks  of  all  communities  are  subject 

Tlu-  loss  occasioned  by  the  deceits  and  frauds  of  individuals, 
and  by  thu  prohibitions  and  violence  of  states,  may  not  unfitly 
be  termed  waste. 

[The  expression  "  Of  Waste,"  which  alone  was  the  original  title  of  this 
chapter,  does  not  seem  adequate.  It  does  not  give  an  impression  sufficiently 
distinct  from  that  conveyed  by  the  term  luxury.  According  to  Rae's  treat- 
ment of  this  last  subject,  and  according  also  to  the  ordinary  usage  of  language, 
ii  or  industrial  energy  may  be  said  to  be  misappropriated  or  wasted  in 
luxury.  The  same  takes  place  through  the  direct  expenditure  occasioned  by 
war  and  preparations  for  war. 

But  what  Rae  deals  with  in  the  present  chapter  is  indirect  not  direct  causes 
of  loss ;  not  with  wealth  which  is  created  and  misapplied,  but  with  wealth 
which  is  not  created  at  all.  This  last  is  a  thing  which  necessarily  escapes  the 
census-taker  in  every  country,  and  is  indeed  the  leading  subject  of  our  science. 
Economics  is  nothing  if  it  does  not  develop  an  eye  of  the  imagination  to 
see  that. 

In  modern  civilized  countries,  after  everything  possible  is  done  to  minimize 
individual  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  it  is  "the  prohibitions  and  violence  of 
states"  which  constitute  the  chief  preventable  cause  of  pure  economic  loss.] 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

OF  THE  EFFECTS  RESULTING  FROM  DIVERSITIES  OF 
STRENGTH  IN  THE  ACCUMULATIVE  PRINCIPLE,  IN 
MEMBERS  OF  THE  SAME  SOCIETY. 

THE  mass  of  the  individuals  composing  any  society,  being 
operated  on  by  the  same  causes,  and  having  similar  manners, 
habits,  and  to  a  great  extent  feelings  also,  must  approximate 
to  each  other,  in  the  strength  of  their  effective  desires  of 
accumulation.  In  the  view  we  have  hitherto  taken  of  the 
subject,  we  have  considered  them,  as  not  only  approximating, 
but  coinciding  in  this  respect.  In  reality,  however,  they 
do  not  do  so.  Though  the  desire  may  be  generally  of  nearly 
equal  strength,  throughout  the  bulk  of  the  society,  it  cannot 
altogether  be  so,  but  must  vary,  in  some,  in  degrees  scarcely 
perceptible,  in  others,  as  in  every  community  there  will  be 
men  of  characters  opposite  to  their  fellows,  very  largely.  But 
there  are  nevertheless  circumstances,  which,  notwithstanding 
these  variations,  restrain  and  confine  the  construction  of  instru- 
ments, either  altogether  to  the  same  order,  or  to  orders  much 
more  nearly  approximating  to  each  other,  than  would  be  indi- 
cated by  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation,  in 
the  individuals  forming  them. 

The  accumulative  principle  of  the  different  individuals  com- 
posing the  same  society,  may  vary  from  the  average  strength, 
either  by  being  above,  or  below  it.  There  will,  in  every 
society,  be  some  individuals  not  disposed  to  construct  any 
instruments,  but  such  as  are  of  orders  of  more  quick  return 


OF   ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION  219 

than  those  generally  formed ;  as  there  will  be  others,  disposed, 
if  they  have  no  opportunity  otherwise  to  make  additional  pro- 
vision for  futurity,  to  expend  part  of  their  revenue  in  working 
up  materials  even  to  orders  of  slower  return,  than  the  average 
of  the  instruments  already  formed.1 

Persons  of  the  former  class,  possessing  any  amount  of  funds 
presently  available,  would  be  inclined  to  apply  them  to  the 
formation  of  instruments,  could  they  obtain  materials,  returning 
so  largely  as  to  correspond  to  the  estimate  they  make  of  the 
future  and  the  present.  But  they  will  not  be  able  to  find  any 
such  materials,  for  they  will  have  been  previously  appropriated, 
jii id  wrought  up  more  laboriously  than  they  would  be  inclined 
to  do,  by  other  members  of  the  society.  If,  again,  the  funds 
[accumulated  means]  of  an  individual  of  this  class,  consists  of 
instruments  whose  returns  are  future,  he  will  gradually  transfer 
UK-HI  to  other  members  of  the  society,  whose  accumulative 
principle  is  stronger  than  his  own ;  for,  according  to  his 
estimate  of  the  future  and  the  present,  he  will  receive  more  for 
them  than  they  are  worth.2  It  thus  happens,  that  all  the 
members  of  any  society,  whose  accumulative  principle  is 
lower  than  the  average,  are  gradually  reduced  to  poverty. 
sime  persons,  moving  to  a  community  where  instruments 
were  of  orders  of  quicker  return  than  those  correspondent  to 
thf  strength  of  their  own  accumulative  principle,  would  acquire 
property.  Thus  the  artisan,  or  laborer,  who,  in  England,  never 
thought  of  saving,  is  excited  to  accumulate  property,  in  North 
America.  The  Chinese,  who,  in  Europe,  would  be  very 

1  [This  last  class  of  accumulators  receive  an  income  which  includes  a  clear 

bonus,  comparing   their   psychological  condition   with  that  of  the  marginal 

•avers.    The  sub-marginal  constructors  of  instruments,  and  the  savers  of  funds 

to  invest  in  titles  of  property  in  instruments,  are,  of  course,  shut  out  alto- 

in  the  manner  Rae  goes  on  to  describe.] 

stating  the  above  in  the  everyday  language  of   the  market-place,  it 
might  read, — Persons  of  the  former  class  possessing  savable  funds  would  be 
<  d  to  invest  them,  could  they  find  safe  investments  returning  so  1..- 
•   purchase  price  as  to  constitute  a  sufficient  inducement.     But  all  safe 
securities  are  selling  at  too  high  a  price.     If  such  persons  happen  to  own  pay- 
property  already,  the  "present   value"  in  the  market  of  the  series  of 
annui  i  l,y  it,  is  so  much  greater  than  tin -ir  own  valuation,  according 

to  thru  .  Htiinate  of  present  and  future  (their  own  "discounting"  of  tin- 
future),  that  they  part  with  their  ownership.] 


i2o  OF   ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION 

prodigals,  are  accounted  frugal  in  the  tropical  regions  of  Asia, 
and  there  attain  to  considerable  wealth. 

Individuals  whose  accumulative  principle,  is,  on  the  other 
hand,  stronger  than  the  other  members  of  the  community, 
would  be  inclined  to  construct  instruments  of  orders  returning 
more  slowly  than  usual,  rather  than  not  devote  a  part  of  their 
present  funds  to  additional  provision  for  futurity.  But  this  is 
not  necessary.1  They  are  the  natural  recipients  of  the  funds 
passing  from  the  hands  of  the  prodigal,  and  their  excess  of 
providence,  balances  his  defect,  and  maintains  the  whole  mass 
of  instruments  in  the  society,  at  nearly  the  same  orders. 

It  thus  happens,  that  all  instruments  capable  of  transfer,  are 
in  the  same  society,  at  nearly  the  same  orders.2  Some  instru- 
ments, however,  cannot  be  transferred,  for  many  of  them  that 
are  of  gradual  exhaustion,  and  directly  supply  wants,  must 
belong  to  the  persons  exhausting  them.  Wearing  apparel, 
household  furniture,  and  sometimes  dwelling-houses,  cannot  be 
the  property  of  any  other  individuals  than  those  in  whose 
service  they  are  exhausted.  Such  instruments  must  often, 
therefore,  correspond  to  the  strength  of  the  accumulative  prin- 
ciple of  their  possessors.  If  they  belong  to  persons  in  whom 
the  strength  of  this  principle  is  greater  than  the  average  of  the 
society,  they  will  not  indeed  vary  much  from  the  prevailing 
orders,  the  surplus  funds  of  such  individuals,  going,  as  we  have 
seen,  to  the  acquisition  of  the  stock  of  the  prodigal.  The 
difference  is  probably  just  sufficient  to  indicate  the  character 
of  their  owners.  Thus,  if  we  inspect  the  dwelling-houses  and 
furniture  of  rigid  economists,  we  generally  perceive  that  they 
have  an  air  both  of  durability  and  efficiency,  distinguishing 
them  from  those  of  the  rest  of  the  community. 

When,  again,  individuals,  in  whom  the  strength  of  the 
effective  desire  of  accumulation  is  below  the  average  of  the 
society,  have  no  other  stock  but  what  is  embodied  in  instru- 

1  [That  is,  it  is  not  necessary  so  far  as  the  general  situation  existing  at  any 
one  time  is  concerned.     With  the  lapse  of  time  strong  savers  may,  and  often 
do,  descend  to  a  lower  margin  of  investment  or  accumulation.] 

2  [With  those  not  capable  of  transfer  there  exists  at  any  time  all  degrees  of 
situation  in  respect  to  the  series  of  "orders,"  and  hence  of  differential  gains 
and  losses.] 


OF   ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION  221 

ments  of  this  sort,  these  instruments,  in  their  exhaustion  of 
them,  will  correspond  to  the  weaker  power  of  this  principle. 
Such,  unfortunately,  is  sometimes  the  case,  with  what  are 
tt  Tined  the  lower  classes  of  society  ;  causes  to  which  we  shall 
afterwards  advert,  sometimes  generate  a  spirit  of  improvidence 
among  these  classes,  and  diminishing  the  estimation  in  which 
they  hold  the  interests  of  futurity,  incapacitate  them  from 
expending  any  present  funds,  as  a  provision  for  these  interests, 
if  they  do  not  return  either  very  speedily,  or  very  largely. 
The  consequence  is,  that  the  instruments  of  this  sort  which 
they  possess,  have  but  a  very  small  capacity  for  the  supply  of 
their  coming  needs,  and  that  they  are  unable  to  extricate  them- 
selves from  pressing  poverty. 

Thus,  suppose  that  a  man  in  this  class,  has  two  different 
hats  offered  him,  the  present  appearance,  and  immediate  com- 
fort in  the  wear  of  which  are  nearly  equal,  but  of  which  the 
one,  from  its  being  formed  of  better  materials,  and  these 
wrought  up  with  more  care,  is  much  more  durable  than  the 
other,  and  cannot  be  afforded  but  at  a  higher  price  than  it. 
Let  it  be  that  four  days'  labor  is  demanded  for  the  one,  and  six 
and  a  half  for  the  other,  but  that  the  former  will  last  only  one 
year,  the  latter  two.  It  is  evident,  that,  if  the  effective  desire 
of  accumulation  of  the  individual  is  very  weak,  not  carrying 
him  beyond  the  order  A,  he  will  prefer  the  former,  and  at  the 
expiration  of  the  year  will  consequently  have  to  expend  again 
an  equivalent  to  four  days'  labor,  instead  of  having  this  want 
supplied  by  a  previous  expenditure  of  two  and  a  half  days' 
labor.1 

We  may,  in  most  cases,  judge  very  accurately  of  the  strength 
of  this  principle  among  individuals  of  this  order  of  society, 
peasants,  mechanics,  day-laborers,  and  domestic  servants,  by 
•jualities  of  the  instruments  of  these  sorts  with  which  they 
provide  themselves.  By  observing,  for  example,  the  kind  of 
shoes,  gowns,  blankets,  which  a  woman  in  this  rank  of  life 


1  It  ia  a  matter  of  indifference,  it  may  be  observed,  to  the  hat  maker, 

two  he  disposes  of.     Hoth  hats  are  to  him  instruments  for  procuring 
lalwr,  or  some  equivalent  to  it.     Of  all  his  stock,  it  is  only  the  qualities  of  the 
••  makes  choice  of  for  his  own  wear,  that  can,  in  any  degree,  indicate  the 
strength  of  his  own  effective  desire  of  accumulation. 


222  OF   ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION 

purchases,  one  may  form  a  near  guess  of  her  character.  Were 
she  to  make  a  point  of  selecting  such  as  would  wear  well, 
though  somewhat  dearer,  or  less  showy,  we  might  safely  con- 
clude that  the  influence  of  the  present,  did  not  prevent  the 
interests  of  the  future  from  being  carefully  regarded.  On  the 
contrary,  did  she  choose  the  unsubstantial,  but  more  showy,  or 
cheaper  article,  we  might  with  equal  certainty  infer,  that  the 
present,  in  her  estimation,  far  outweighed  the  future.  All  \\li<» 
have  had  opportunities  of  making  such  observations,  must  hnvi> 
remarked  the  influence,  which  the  one  line  of  conduct,  or  the 
other,  exercises  on  such  individuals.  The  difference  between 
them  constitutes  the  main  distinction  between  thrift,  and  un- 
thrift,  the  former  of  which  is  the  only  safe  means  that  persons 
in  the  lower  walks  of  life  possess,  through  which  they  may  give 
a  beginning  to  their  fortunes.  The  store  accumulated  by  the 
exercise  of  the  virtue  of  providence,  which,  as  it  shows  itself 
in  them,  we  thus  denominate,  enables  them  to  turn  the  funds  of 
their  daily  labor  to  the  construction  of  other  instruments  than 
those,  and,  at  length,  to  add  largely  to  that  stock  which  is 
destined  to  supply  the  future  wants  of  the  whole  society. 
What  is  true  concerning  one  individual,  is  true  concerning 
many,  and  on  this  account,  the  degree  of  strength  of  this 
principle  possessed  by  what  are  called  the  lower  orders, 
exercises  a  great  influence  on  the  amount  of  the  general  stock, 
accumulated  by  the  society.  The  influence,  in  this  respect,  of 
those  who  form  that  class,  is,  indeed,  much  more  important 
than  we  might  at  first  suspect.  Their  greater  numbers  would 
alone  make  up  for  the  smaller  power  of  each,  but  besides  the 
weight  which  this  consideration  is  entitled  to,  the  amount  of 
labor  that  may,  with  advantage,  be  accumulated  by  the  mere 
working  man,  in  instruments  of  this  sort,  is,  in  reality,  very 
considerable.  His  dwelling  and  its  contents  may  fitly  be  con- 
sidered as  a  store  that  he  possesses,  for  the  supply  of  the 
future  wants  of  himself  and  family,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing, 
for  the  abridgment  of  their  future  labor;  and  according  as 
there  is  much  or  little  of  this  provision  wrought  up  in  them, 
will  the  one  be  supplied  or  the  other  saved.  First,  the  house 
itself,  as  the  place  in  which  he  and  they  live,  and  pursue  many 
of  their  various  occupations,  will  not  yield  the  advantages  it 


OF  ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION  223 

ought,  if  the  apartments  be  not  so  roomy  and  well  lighted,  as 
neither  from  the  closeness  of  the  atmosphere  to  induce  debility 
or  disease,  nor,  from  their  confinedness  and  obscurity,  to  cramp 
and  retard  the  inmates  in  their  several  labors.  Then,  accord- 
ing to  the  compactness  and  finish  that  is  given  to  the  walls 
;u ul  other  parts  will  the  inclemency  of  the  weather  be  more  or 
lea  excluded,  and  a  greater  or  less  quantity  of  fuel,  be  in 
future  requisite.  The  cupboards,  where  things  may  be  readily 
put  past,  and  as  readily  found,  and  where  they  are  preserved 
from  destroying  causes  and  accidents,  the  cooking  utensils,  the 
bedding,  and  the  numerous  other  articles  of  the  sort,  that 
enter  into  the  domestic  economy  of  a  frugal  and  industrious 
family,  are  to  be  considered,  in  like  manner,  as  so  many  means 
by  which  future  labor,  or  future  expense,  may  be  prevented  or 
diminished.  The  extent  of  the  saving  which  the  provident 
working  man  in  this  way  effects,  is  sometimes  very  great.  In 
a  rude,  or  imperfectly  finished  fabric,  fuel  must  be  wasted ;  in 
one  where  there  are  not  proper  conveniences  for  preserving  and 
c« ".king  food,  food  must  be  wasted;  and  where  there  are  not 
fit  places  for  depositing  articles  of  wearing  apparel,  they  must 
soon  get  dirty,  and  receive  much  unnecessary  damage.  In  a 
well  finished,  and  convenient  habitation,  too,  the  inmates  lose 
no  time,  either  from  torpor  in  winter's  cold,  or  languor  in 
su miner's  heat;  they  have  space  and  comfort  to  pursue  their 
various  labors,  and  unless  it  be  the  periods  given  to  repose, 
iiinl  to  their  meals,  may  employ  the  whole  time  they  spend  at 
home,  in  some  useful  or  agreeable  occupation.  The  animal 
frame,  also,  it  is  to  be  observed,  when  exposed  to  the  extremes 
of  heat  and  cold,  and  to  damp,  seems  to  require  a  greater 
ly  of  nourishment,  than  when  properly  sheltered  and  pro- 
<1.  This  is  seen  in  the  inferior  animals,  and  agreeing  with 
tln-in  in  other  parts  of  his  corporeal  constitution,  man  does  not 
differ  trom  them,  and  when  comfortably  lodged,  is  pre- 
served in  health  and  vigor,  on  a  diet  which  he  would  else  find 
too  scanty.  The  amount  of  provision  for  future  needs,  that 
in  a  similar  manner,  be  embodied  by  a  laborer  or 
inic  having  a  family,  in  [superior]  bedding,  and  other 
furniture,  and  in  kitchen  utensils,  is  very  considerable.1 
'If  tin-  reader  be  skeptical  concerning  tho  effects  of  a  sufficient  supply  of 


224-  OF   ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION 

It  is  to  be  here  observed,  that  the  prevalence  of  a  really 
economical  spirit  among  the  working  class,  implies  no  diminu- 
tion of  the  [aggregate]  purchases  made  by  them.  On  the 
contrary,  it  being  the  desire  of  the  laborer,  under  such  a 
su imposition,  to  turn  every  sixpence  he  can  earn  to  some  useful 
employment,  either  to  the  acquisition  of  necessaries,  or  other 
commodities,  he  must  have  as  many  demands  on  the  capitalist 
[on  the  general  market]  as  before.  The  change  produced, 
would  be,  in  the  articles  purchased.  The  proportion  of  those 
providing  for  the  wants  of  futurity  would  increase,  that  of  those 
ministering  to  the  gratifications  of  the  present,  diminish. 

Thus,  such  a  spirit  pervading  the  working  classes  in  Great 
Britain,  at  the  present  period,  would  probably  lead  them  to 
abandon  all  delicacies  of  fare,  and  would  occasion  a  diminished 
consumption  of  alcoholic  liquors,  tea,  coffee,  silks,  expensive 
calicoes,  and  the  more  showy  articles  of  apparel.  It  would, 
on  the  other  hand,  increase  the  demand  for  the  higher  priced, 
and  more  substantial  cloths,  cottons,  blankets,  kitchen  utensils, 
and  articles  of  that  sort,  and  for  all  matters  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  dwelling-houses. 

Neither,  it  is  to  be  observed,  would  the  prevalence  of  a 
contrary  spirit  among  those  orders,  and  a  proneness  to  seize 
on  the  enjoyments  of  the  present,  occasion  any  immediate 
diminution  of  their  demands  on  the  capitalist.  It  would 
merely  lead  to  his  providing  for  them  a  greater  amount  of 
instruments  of  sudden  exhaustion,  contributing  to  the  gratifi- 
cation of  the  instant,  and  a  smaller  amount  of  those  of  gradual 
exhaustion,  providing  for  the  wants  of  futurity ;  and  to  his 
giving  a  construction  to  the  latter,  that  might  make  them 
correspond  during  the  period  of  their  exhaustion,  to  the  lower 
degree  of  the  accumulative  principle  of  the  individuals  in 
whose  service  they  were  to  be  exhausted.  Such  a  circumstance 
would,  therefore,  occasion  the  production  of  a  larger  portion  of 

materials  and  utensils,  in  diminishing  the  expense  of  diet,  I  would  request  him 
to  read  Count  Rumford's  Essay*. 

[It  is  apparent  that  the  foregoing  argument  inculcating  the  virtue  of  thrift, 
is  very  different  from  the  usual  one.  For  poor  people  to  save  money,  as  they 
are  commonly  urged  to  do,  often  causes  them  to  pursue  a  most  uneconomical 
course  of  action.  ] 


OF  ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION  2:.v> 

delicacies,  of  articles  of  nourishment  more  grateful  to  the 
senses,  but  not  more  nutritious  or  more  wholesome  than 
cheaper  fare,  of  fewer  substantial  articles  of  dress  and  furni- 
ture, and  more  of  those  that  are  flimsy  and  showy. 

The  whole  stock  of  instruments  owned  by  the  laboring 
population,  would  thus  contain  a  smaller  amount  of  the  means 
of  lessening  future  labor,  or  expense,  as  their  effective  desire 
of  accumulation  diminished  in  strength.  Even  instruments 
that  they  do  not  own,  but  of  which  they  pay  for  the  use,  as 
dwelling-houses  rented  by  them,  are  in  a  great  measure, 
reduced  to  the  same  order  as  those  which  they  would  them- 
selves form.  In  the  rank  of  society  above  them,  improvidence 
is  long  before  it  show  on  the  dwelling,  it  attacks  first  other 
funds  ;  but,  as  they  have  not  these  other  funds,  it  necessarily 
shows  itself  in  the  funds  they  have.  Thus,  if  a  family  of 
improvident  habits  get  the  use  of  the  best  finished  dwelling, 
they  soon  so  damage  it,  as  to  deprive  it  of  its  efficiency. 
Some  manifestation  of  what  we  call  careless  habits,  want, 
that  is,  of  taking  thought  of  the  consequences  of  what  one  is 
doing,  breaks,  we  shall  say,  a  pane  or  two  of  glass,  in  some  of 
the  windows.  To  get  these  replaced  is  present  expense,  and 
trouble ;  demands,  perhaps,  the  doing  without  a  pot  or  two  of 
liquor,  or  some  other  immediate  enjoyment,  and  requires  the 
trouble  of  going  for  the  glazier,  or  acting  for  him.  An  old 
hat  or  two,  or  some  bundles  of  rags,  stuffed  into  the  holes, 
shifts  off  this  denial  of  present  pleasure,  or  ease,  to  some  other 
time,  a  time  which,  similar  habits,  while  they  render  the 
arrival  of  it  more  needful,  indefinitely  postpone ;  and  the 
window  that  had  been  formed  to  exclude  wind  and  wet,  and 
admit  light,  serves,  at  last,  to  let  in  the  wet  and  wind,  and 
shut  out  the  light.  Pursue  the  effects  of  these  habits,  this 
absorption  in  the  present,  and  heedlessness  of  the  future,  as 
they  show  themselves  upon  the  plaster,  the  floor,  the  ceiling, 
and  we  shall  find  them  soon  doing  away  with  the  efficiency  of 
the  whole  dwelling,  for  procuring  enjoyment,  or  saving  toil, 
and  reducing  it,  as  far  as  it  is  a  provision  for  the  future  wants 
n  mates,  to  a  condition  little  superior  to  that  of  the 
rable  mud  hut. 

The  presence  of  this  evil,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  is 

p 


or    ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION 

marked,  by  the  high  rates  of  interest  given,  for  the  petty  sums 
borrowed  by  individuals  of  this  class.  The  increase  that  is 
said  to  have  taken  place  in  the  number  of  pawn-brokers'  shops 
in  England,  and  the  high  rate  of  interest  there  demanded,  and 
given,  by  mechanics,  for  small  loans  afforded  to  one  another, 
would  seem  to  indicate  its  presence,  to  a  degree  sufficient  to 
alarm  a  lover  of  his  country.1 

When  we  come  to  treat  of  the  causes  that  seem  the  great 
agents  in  diminishing  the  stock  owned  by  a  community,  the 
mode  in  which  the  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  is 
weakened,  and  extravagance  introduced  among  the  lower 
classes,  and  the  effects  arising  from  these  circumstances,  will 
present  themselves  to  our  notice.  It  will  then  appear,  that 
this  diversity  of  the  orders  of  instruments  owned  throughout 
a  community,  can  never  exceed  certain  limits.  On  this 
account,  and  because  the  stock  belonging  to  the  lower  classes, 
when  the  accumulative  principle  is  much  lower  with  them  than 
with  the  higher  ranks,  is  always  inconsiderable,  the  orders  to 
which  instruments  belong  in  the  same  society,  and  the  [pecuni- 
ary] returns  they  make,  or  the  ordinary  profits  of  stock,  may 
be  said  to  be  nearly  equal  throughout  every  community. 

This  uniformity  in  the  orders  of  instruments,  and  in  the 
returns  made  by  them,  in  conjunction  with  the  system  of 
calculation,  by  which,  as  we  have  seen,  transactions  relating 
to  the  transfer  and  accumulation  of  capital  are  regulated,  pro- 
duces effects  on  the  conceptions  of  the  individuals  concerned, 
worthy  of  being  noticed. 

The  rules  by  which  all  persons  regulate  their  proceedings 
in  the  construction  of  instruments,  are  drawn  from  the 
[pecuniary]  returns  made  by  them,  that  is,  the  profits  yielded 
by  them.  If  an  instrument,  or  a  series  of  instruments,  which 
it  is  proposed  to  construct,  promise  to  yield  the  usual  profits, 
the  enterprise  is  undertaken,  and,  if  it  make  the  anticipated 
returns,  it  is  considered  a  profitable,  or  gaining  business  ;  if  it 
do  not  promise  to  yield,  and  do  not  yield  the  usual  profits,  it 

1  Pawn-brokers  charge,  I  believe,  about  20  per  cent.  The  combinations  of 
the  working  classes  in  societies,  or  unions,  have  lent  their  members  small 
sums,  if  I  well  remember,  at  a  rate  nearly  equal.  I  cannot,  however,  recollect 
my  authority  for  these  statements. 


OF  ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION  227 

is  considered  an  unprofitable,  or  losing  business.  Probably, 
too,  it  is  not  considered,  that  this  mode  of  expression  is 
correct,  only  as  relative  to  a  particular  society,  and  not  abso- 
lutely, to  all  societies,  and  that  what  in  one  country  or  time, 
may  be  an  unprofitable  undertaking,  will,  without  any  change 
of  returns,  be  profitable  in  another  country  or  time,  and  vice 

Thus,  suppose  an  English  land-holder,  whose  income  far 
exceeded  his  outgoings,  to  be  asked  why  he  does  not  apply 
his  means  to  enclosing  and  draining  some  sea  marsh,  his 
answer  probably  would  be,  "  it  would  not  pay :  it  would  only 
yield  me  two  per  cent,  when  finished,  and  landed  property 
ought  to  yield  four;  I  can  always  find  estates  to  purchase, 
which  will  produce  that."  Ask  him,  why,  instead  of  stone 
fences  round  his  fields,  which  decay,  or  hedges,  which  require 
constant  trimming  and  dressing,  he  does  not  put  iron  railings, 
he  will  give  the  same  answer,  "  it  would  not  pay."  Ask  the 
house-builder,  why  this  is  not  cut  stone,  instead  of  brick,  that 
u;ik  instead  of  pine,  this  again  iron  instead  of  oak,  or  that 
copper  instead  of  iron,  and  consequently  the  whole  fabric 
doubly  durable,  he  also  will  reply  "  it  will  not  pay."  In  all 
these  cases,  and  a  thousand  others  that  might  be  put,  the 
ver  is  abundantly  sufficient  as  regards  the  individual,  but 
>  answer  at  all  as  regards  the  society.  The  only  answer 
that  can  be  given,  in  old  countries  at  least,  for  such  or  similar 
neglect  of  materials,  is,  that  there,  the  effective  desire  of 
accumulation  is  not  sufficiently  strong,  to  reach  them,  in  the 
present  state  of  science  and  art.  Were  there  fewer  prodigal 
land-holders  in  England,  estates  could  not  be  so  easily  got, 
and  part  of  the  funds  of  those  who  buy  estates,  would  be  laid 
out  in  improving  land  at  present  unproductive,  and  the  salt 
marsh  mi_'ht  be  drained.  In  the  same  way,  houses  and  other 
instruments  would  become  more  substantial,  and  better  finished, 
were  the  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  throughout 
th.  whole  society  to  advance. 

In  China,  precisely  similar  replies  would  be  made  by 
capitalists,  concerning  the  draining  of  marshes,  the  erection  of 
more  substantial  buildings,  and  other  enterprises  requiring  a 
large  present  exp< -nditure,  for  a  remote  future  return.  There, 


228  OF   ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION 

such  undertakings  would  be  really  unprofitable,  not  paying 
the  usual  profits  of  stock;  and  they  can  only  in  like  manner 
become  profitable,  by  the  accumulative  principle  acquiring 
increased  strength,  and  instruments  being  wrought  up  gene- 
rally to  orders  of  slower  return. 

This,  however,  is  not  the  view  which  most  readily  presents 
itself  to  practical  men.  To  a  person  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
an  art,  the  particular  mode  which  the  circumstances  of  the 
country  to  which  he  belongs  has  rendered  the  most  profitable, 
and  best,  is  considered  as  absolutely  the  best,  and  most  profit- 
able; and  if  he  remove  to  another  country,  he  is  apt  to  conceive 
not  only  that  his  knowledge  of  the  art  is  superior,  which  may 
perhaps  be  true,  but  that  the  precise  mode  in  which  he  applies 
that  knowledge  to  practice,  is  also  the  best,  that  can  any- 
where be  adopted,  which  is  very  possibly  erroneous. 

An  English  farmer,  for  example,  who  comes  to  North 
America  to  pursue  his  art,  almost  always  commences  on  the 
same  system  which  he  followed  in  Britain.  His  agricultural 
implements,  his  harness,  his  carts,  waggons,  etc.,  are  all  of  the 
most  durable  and  complete,  and,  therefore,  of  the  most  expen- 
sive construction,  and  his  fields  are  tilled  as  laboriously,  and 
carefully,  as  were  those  he  cultivated  in  his  native  land. 
Some  time  usually  elapses,  before  he  discovers  that  he  may  do 
better  by  being  content  with  more  simple,  and  less  highly 
finished  implements,  and  that  it  will  be  for  his  advantage  to 
cultivate  his  land  less  laboriously,  though  not  less  systemati- 
cally. His  neighbours  tell  him,  indeed,  from  the  first,  that  if 
he  expects  the  same  profits  as  they  have,  he  must  have  less 
dead  stock  on  his  hands,  and  must  give  more  activity  to  his 
capital ;  but  he  is  slow  of  believing  them. 

Similar  observations  might  be  made,  concerning  almost 
every  other  class  of  artists,  who  emigrate  to  the  new  world. 
They  all,  at  first,  give  a  degree  of  finish  to  the  materials  on 
which  they  employ  their  industry,  that  is  unsuited  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  country. 

[But  while  individual  or  class  divergencies  from  what  may 
be  called  the  standard  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation 
in  any  society,  produce  but  relatively  unimportant  effects  upon 
the  character  of  the  mass  of  instruments  possessed  by  members 


OF   ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION  229 

of  the  society,  they  produce  effects  of  the  utmost  importance 
(as  has  already  been  suggested),  upon  the  character  of  the 
population  itself.  Instruments  at  any  time  stand  at  approxi- 
mately the  same  "  orders,"  but  the  members  of  all  advanced 
societies  are  stratified.  To  treat  economic  stratification  ade- 
quately would  necessitate  a  study  of  great  complexity,  since 
it  comes  about  through  the  operation  of  several  principles,  in 
addition  to  the  pure  accumulative  principle,  "  always  acting 
in  combination."  Some  further  consideration  of  the  subject  is 
as  follows.] 

To  add  continually  to  the  stock  of  any  community,  even 
rimes  to  maintain  it  without  diminution  at  its  actual 
amount,  is  a  process  in  the  prosecution  of  which  difficulties 
always  oppose.  While  the  funds  of  any  society  increase,  the 
numbers  among  whom  those  funds  are  to  be  shared  also 
[normally]  increase.  The  greater  annual  revenue  which  in- 
vention and  accumulation  provide,  though  it  must  support  a 
more  numerous  population,  may  not  support  a  population 
having,  individually,  a  greater  share  [amount]  of  the  means  of 
comfort  or  pleasure,  than  that  possessed  by  the  members  of 
th-  society  when  improvement  was  yet  in  its  infancy.  To 
carry  the  community  still  farther  onward,  even  perhaps  to 
maintain  it  in  its  place,  requires,  therefore,  generally,  that  the 
interests  of  futurity  should  hold  the  same  relation  to  those  of 
present  time  in  the  minds  of  the  members  of  the  society  as 
If,  therefore,  among  any  of  the  divisions  of  the  body 
politic,  futurity  weighs  more  lightly  when  compared  with  the 
present  than  it  did  before,  there  there  will  be  weakness, — 
an  incapacity  to  advance  or  even  to  maintain  the  same 
position  may  be  experienced,  and,  that  which  is  defective 
<1  rawing  to  it  what  is  sound,  from  this  point  the  progress  from 
to  wnrs.  may  commence.  The  course  of  society  may  thus 
be  said  to  be  always  an  opposing  current,  which,  if  it 

can  not  be  stemmed,  sweeps  downward  with  headlong  force. 

"  Sic  omnia  fatia 

In  pejus  ruere,  ac  retro  aublapsu  irfrn  i. 
Non  aliter,  quam  qui  adverse  vix  lluinin.-  1. -minim 
Reniigiis  subegit :  si  brachia  forte  rein 
Atque  ilium  in  pnecepa  prono  rapit  alveus  anmi. 


230  OF  ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION 

As  a  foundation  for  the  few  observations  which  our  limits 
permit  me  to  make  on  this  part  of  the  subject,  it  is  necessary 
to  refer  to  a  circumstance,  the  truth  of  which  was  assumed  in 
an  early  part  of  the  discussion.  "  The  numbers  of  every 
society,"  it  was  said,  "  increase,  as  what  its  members  are 
inclined  to  esteem  a  sufficient  subsistence,  is  provided  for 
them." ! 

The  only  classes  in  society  which  our  inquiry  has  con- 
sidered, are  the  two  of  capitalists  and  laborers.  With  regard 
to  them  we  might  a  priori,  and  abstracting  our  attention  from 
what  we  know  to  be  the  fact,  be  in  doubt  which  of  the  follow- 
ing suppositions  would  be  correct. 

We  might  suppose  that  both  classes  would  reckon  that  a 
sufficient  subsistence  which  had  supported  themselves  [in  the 
past],  and  that  the  numbers  of  both  being  equally  multiplied, 
the  average  revenues  of  the  individuals  composing  both  might 
remain  the  same  ;  or  we  might  suppose  that  neither  class 
would  reckon  that  a  sufficient  subsistence  on  which  they  had 
been  supported,  and  that  they  would  not  add  to  their  numbers 
but  in  a  proportion  less  than  the  additional  funds  provided, 
so  that  the  average  individual  incomes  of  both  capitalists  and 
laborers,  would  be  equally  and  continually  increased ;  or, 
finally,  we  might  suppose  that  the  capitalists  would  add  more 
to  their  numbers  than  to  their  revenues,  or  that  the  laborers 
might  do  the  same  thing. 

But  though  it  might  be  difficult,  a  priori,  to  determine 
which  of  these  would  take  place,  yet,  in  fact,  we  generally  find 
that,  in  the  progress  of  society,  the  increase  of  the  numbers  of 
capitalists  does  not  keep  pace  with  the  increase  of  their  stocks 
and  incomes,  while  that  of  laborers  does  keep  pace,  or  does 
more  than  keep  pace,  with  their  incomes. 

The  cause  of  this  circumstance  may,  I  think,  be  shortly 
stated  as  follows. 

Marriage  may  be  desired  both  for  the  pleasures  of  sense, 
and  for  those  of  sentiment  and  affection.  But,  among  men  of 
even  moderate  fortune,  it  does  not  in  general  add  to  the  sum 
of  their  purely  sensual  gratifications.  It  were  obviously  absurd, 
considering  the  lives  which  most  young  men  in  this  class  in 
1  See  Chapter  III. 


OF  ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION  231 

Europe  lead,  to  speak  of  celibacy  as  implying  abstinence. 
Purely  selfish  motives  will  never,  therefore,  lead  such  men  to 
form  this  connexion.  They  will  rather  keep  them  from  it, 
vanity  aiding,  or  prompting  them  to  the  resolution  of  refrain- 
in  <_:  from  any  such  union,  until  they  have  a  prospect  of  raising 
their  families  above  their  own  rank. 

Among  men  in  the  laboring  class,  again,  marriage  generally 
adds  to  the  amount  of  immediate  sensual  gratifications.  Purely 
selfish  motives,  therefore,  side  with  those  of  sentiment  and 
affection  in  prompting  them  to  it,  and  they  are  not  so  apt  to 
entertain  the  ambition  of  raising  their  families  above  their  own 
condition.  Hence,  while  capitalists  are  inclined  to  think  that 
only  a  sufficient  subsistence  for  their  offspring,  which  exceeds 
what  they  themselves  were  supported  on,  laborers  are  content 
if  they  leave  their  children  in  the  same  condition  as  them- 
selves. It  thus  happens,  that  the  one  class  has  a  tendency 
continually  to  rise  above  the  other. 

This  separation  has  farther  effects. 

Vanity  itself  is  sometimes  a  coadjutor  to  the  accumulative 
principle.  A  man's  pride  is  sensibly  gratified  by  rising,  as  it 
is  called,  in  the  world,  and  placing  himself  on  an  equality  with 
those  to  whom  he  was  once  inferior.  But  the  further  they  are 
above  him,  the  greater  his  difficulty  in  raising  himself  to  their 
level,  and  the  less  his  hopes  of  any  gratification  to  mere  vanity 
from  this  source.  It  is,  I  apprehend,  in  a  great  measure  on 
this  account,  that  as  capital  increases,  there  are  fewer  instances 
of  laborers  making  vigorous  efforts  to  accumulate  property. 
Vanity,  losing  hopes  of  acquiring  distinction  by  accumulation, 
is  entirely  occupied  in  exciting  to  [economic]  dissipation.  The 
laborer  seeks  preeminence  in  displaying  his  abilities  to  spend, 
and  employs  any  spare  funds  he  may  possess  in  the  purchase 
of  fineries,  in  treating  his  companions  at  the  ale-house,  and  in 
similar  extravagancies. 

The  prevalence  of  such  habits  and  sentiments  among  the 
laboring  classes,  produces  various  evils.  Neglect  to  employ 
any  part  of  the  earnings  of  to-day,  in  making  provision  for  the 
wants  of  to-morrow,  every  now  and  then,  \vln-n  that  morrow 
hriiiL's  nothing  for  itself,  gives  rise  to  severe  suffering.  The 
condition  of  the  laborer  fluctuates  between  abundance  and 


232  OF   ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION 

dissipation,  and  want  and  misery.  The  society  loses,  first,  the 
benefits  of  that  stock,  which  the  laboring  classes  accumulate  in 
a  better  state  of  things.  It  loses,  also,  the  amount  requisite 
to  keep  the  laborer  from  starvation  when  in  necessity,  or  to 
raise  up  other  laborers,  to  supply  the  place  of  those  who 
perish  from  want,  or  the  diseases  consequent  on  it.  These 
may  be  called  direct  evils ;  those  which  are  indirect  are  much 


greater. 


Waste  [as  previously  defined  and  explained]  accompanies 
dissipation.  When  laborers  are  in  general  improvident  and 
extravagant,  very  many  of  them  must  be  dishonest.  Men  are 
naturally  suspicious  of  persons  whose  expenditure  exceeds  the 
bounds  of  prudence,  and  they  have  too  often  reason  to  be  so. 
Honesty  is  at  last  the  best  policy,  but  it  is  only  at  last. 
Deceit  and  knavery  very  often  succeed  better  at  first,  and, 
therefore,  people  who  look  not  beyond  what  is  present  and 
immediate,  are  very  apt  to  resort  to  artifice  and  fraud,  to  get 
rid  of  the  necessities  which  their  extravagance  brings  on  them. 
Hence,  such  a  state  of  things  would  imply  much  watchfulness, 
many  checks  and  contrivances  to  guard  against  fraud  and 
violence,  and  much  loss,  both  from  them  and  from  the  expen- 
sive machinery  necessary  to  restrain  them.  The  most  pre- 
judicial, however,  of  all  the  mischiefs  that  belong  to  our 
subject,  brought  on  by  vicious  principles  of  action  pervading 
the  lower  classes,  is  the  gradual  spread  of  similar  manners  and 
feelings  through  all  the  orders  of  the  state.  The  middle  and 
higher  classes  of  society  may  be  said  to  rest  upon  the  lower ; 
when  decay,  therefore,  infects  the  foundation,  the  structure 
must  fall.  By  looking  back  for  a  generation  or  two,  we  shall 
find  that  nearly  all  the  capitalists  in  the  nation  have  sprung 
directly  from  the  people,  and  that  to  them  we  must  finally 
trace  the  greater  part  of  that  honorable  enterprise,  frugality, 
and  perseverance,  which  have  given  prosperity  and  power  to 
the  state.  When  the  principles  that  actuate  the  great  lower 
and  sustaining  mass  have  a  large  mixture  of  benevolence,  self- 
denial,  and  probity,  and  when  there  is  nothing  in  the  institu- 
tions of  the  society  keeping  them  down  as  a  degraded  caste, 
there  is  a  constant  mounting  upwards  of  the  elements  of 
health  and  strength,  giving  firmness  and  vigor  to  the  whole 


OF   ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION  233 

body  politic.  When,  on  the  contrary,  the  proper  vices  of  the 
higher  ranks,  luxury,  extravagance,  and  their  attendant  evils, 
instead  of  being  counteracted  by  a  continual  infusion  of  the 
severer  manners,  and  more  self-denying  morals,  that  should 
belong  to  the  lower,  find  those  orders  partaking  as  far  as 
possible  their  follies  and  levities,  admiring  them,  and  if 
required  ready  to  minister  to  them,  we  may  assure  ourselves 
that  much  unsoundness  lurks  beneath  whatever  show  of  pros- 
perity the  outward  condition  of  national  affairs  may  exhibit. 
It  will,  I  believe,  be  found  that,  in  civilized  societies,  decay 
has  generally  thus  proceeded  from  below  upwards,  and  that  a 
deficiency  in  the  lower  classes,  of  the  principles  exciting  to 
economy,  has  gradually  checked  accumulation  and  invention 
throughout  the  whole  body,  and  at  length  produced  universal 
degeneracy  and  decay,  and  introduced  the  reign  of  waste  and 
violence.  "  Semper  in  civitate,  quibus  opes  nulla?  suiit,  bonis 
invident;  vetera  odere,  nova  exoptant ;  odia  suarum  rerum 
mutare  omnia  petunt." 

The  experience  of  all  ages  proves  the  justice  of  the  observa- 
tion of  the  Roman  historian.  That  state  can  never  enjoy 
tranquillity,  which  is  oppressed  by  a  crowd  of 

"Hungry  beggars, 

Thirsting  for  a  time  of  pell-mell  havock 
And  confusion." 

But  to  trace  at  length  the  connexion  between  these  [various 
social  tendencies]  is  impossible,  without  reference  to  the 
subjects  of  rent,  and  of  population,  which  are  not  embraced 
in  our  plan.  I  may,  however,  in  conclusion,  observe  that 
though,  for  the  sake  of  simplicity  of  exposition,  I  have 
assumed,  all  along,  that  the  wages  of  labor  constitute  an  in- 
variable quantity,  I  yet  conceive  that,  in  a  society  making 
a  steady  and  healthy  progress,  they  should  rather  be  con- 
tinually increasing,  the  laborer  as  well  as  the  capitalist, 
gaining  something  by  the  improvements  which  the  progress 
of  invention  produces. 

[A  portion  of  Rae's  Essay  on  JSdiication  (184.".),  mentioned 
in  the  biographical  sketch,  may  be  reproduced  to  advantage  in 
connection.] 


234  OF   ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION 

"  The  unsatisfactory  results  on  human  happiness  which  the 
progress  of  civilization  has  hitherto  exhibited,  as  measured  by 
the  visible  condition  of  any  ten  thousand  taken  at  random 
from  the  ancient  and  modern  population  of  Great  Britain,  has 
given  rise  there  to  a  feeling  of  despondency  and  alarm  among 
a  numerous  and  not  uninttuential  class,  as  to  the  results  that 
are  to  spring  from  its  farther  advance.  They  dread  any 
further  progress.  They  would  wish  to  stop  where  we  are — 
even,  if  possible,  to  bring  things  back  to  the  condition  of  the 
good  old  days  of  our  fathers.  It  is  a  vain  attempt,  we  are 
hurried  forward  by  an  irresistible  impulse.  All  in  our  power 
to  do  is  to  use  every  effort  to  direct  our  onward  course  aright. 
Art  and  science,  and  with  them  wealth,  must  increase  and 
advance.  The  sphere  of  real  philanthropic  exertion  is  confined 
to  elaborating  the  possible  good  they  may  produce,  restraining 
and  extirpating  their  possible  evils. 

"  Now,  though  the  subject  has  given  rise  to  many  intricate 
and  perhaps  not  very  satisfactory  discussions,  there  is  one  view 
that  may  be  taken  of  this  progress  of  science,  art,  and  wealth, 
as  affecting  the  condition  of  humanity,  by  no  means  difficult  to 
seize,  and  which  will  sufficiently  indicate  one  main  cause  of 
the  evils  that  have  overtaken,  and  those  which  yet  threaten  to 
overtake,  our  modern  civilization. 

"  It  is  in  the  nature  of  this  progress  to  convert  the  original 
simple  and  rude  tools,  first,  into  instruments  of  greater  cost 
and  efficiency,  and  these  again  into  complex  and  difficultly 
constructed  machines,  still  more  costly  and  still  more  efficient. 
The  distaff  becomes  a  spinning  wheel ;  and  that,  changing  its 
form,  and  wrought  by  other  powers,  is  made  part  of  a  woollen 
factory.  The  rough  edged  blade  of  the  original  knife  is  first 
cut  into  a  regular  saw,  wrought  by  one  hand ;  it  is  then  put 
into  a  frame,  which  two  men  operate;  and  this,  in  turn, 
by  means  of  crank  and  pinions,  is  made  to  go  by  water, 
and  becomes  a  saw-mill.  Even  a  farm,  in  this  manner, 
with  all  its  appendages,  may  be  said  to  become  a  great 
machine  or  factory — a  factory  for  the  production  of  crops. 
What  was  before  the  work  of  the  hands  from  year  to  year, 
is  now,  in  such  countries  as  England,  brought  about  in 
a  great  degree  by  machinery  and  scientific  processes,  re- 


OF  ECONOMIC    STRATIFICATION  235 

quiring   a   large   surface   to  operate  on,   and  many  years  for 
their  completion. 

"  And  so  it  is  with  all  our  implements,  they  are  passing  on 
to  great  machines.  This  progress  can  be  averted  by  no  con- 
ceivable process  that  would  not  have  the  effect  of  fettering  all 
the  active  powers  of  humanity.  It  is  the  inevitable  con- 
sequence of  man's  asserting  and  employing  the  dominion  over 
the  realms  of  nature  which  his  Creator  has  bestowed  on  him. 
Placing  ourselves  in  the  position  of  the  philosophers  of  the  age 
of  Bacon,  it  will  be  difficult  for  us  to  assign  a  reason  why  we 
would  not  have  hailed  the  discoveries  of  which  they  are  the 
results  as  great  inventions,  conferring  benefits  on  the  whole 
human  race,  without  being  a  means  of  occasioning  wrong  or 
sorrow  to  anyone.1  And  yet  there  was  a  question  which  might 
by  possibility  have  occurred  to  the  philosophic  philanthropists 
of  that  day.  'Who  are  to  be  the  owners  of  these  great 
machines  ?  Will  the  mechanics  and  artisans  who  now  wield 
the  tools  own  the  machines,  or  will  they  be  the  property  of  a 
distinct  class  ? '  We  cannot  ascertain  how  they  might  have 
a  priori  determined  the  question.  It  is  most  likely,  perhaps, 
that  they  would  have  conceived  that  the  owners  of  the  tools, 
clubbing  together  to  purchase  machines,  would  have  owned  the 
machines.  To  us,  experience  has  determined  it.  So  constantly 
has  it  occurred  that  it  may  be  said  it  has  invariably  happened, 
that  the  former  artisans,  in  giving  up  their  tools,  have  never 
become  the  owners  of  the  machines  that  have  succeeded  them. 
These  machines,  manufactories,  or  whatever  name  may  be 
given  them,  come  to  be  owned  by  a  distinct  class.  The  opera- 
tive has  no  property  share  in  the  industrial  operation,  he  owns 
nothing  but  his  hands  and  the  art  of  using  them  fitly.  For 
opportunity  to  use  them,  and  for  pay  for  their  use,  he  depi'inis 
on  the  owner  of  the  machine.  He  suffers  in  consequence 
a  degradation  in  the  social  scale.  Formerly  he  was  a  small 
capitalist,  now  it  is  the  characteristic  of  his  condition  to  be  a 
re  operative,  destitute  of  capital.  The  difference  may  U 
seen  by  recalling  the  pictures  left  by  Hogarth  and  Scott,  when 

<Dim    inventorum   beneficia  ad   univerautn   genus   humanum   pertinere 
ponunt — invent*  beant  et  beneficium   deferent  absque  alicujus   injuria  ant 

tnstitia. 


•236  OF   ECONOMIC   STRATIFICATION 

the  change  was  just  coining  over  them.  Compare  the  in- 
dustrious apprentice  and  the  father  of  Bailie  Nicol  Jarvie, 
with  the  present  factory  boy,  or  look  at  the  fate  which,  in  our 
conception,  awaits  any  of  our  handicrafts  when  the  revolution 
[through  which  modern  industry  seems  destined  to  pass  in  all 
its  branches  is  complete]." 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

OF  THE   PRINCIPLE  OF  THE  DIVISION  OF  LABOR 

N"T  having  been  able  without  interrupting  the  course  of 
investigation,  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  principle  of 
the  division  of  labor,  as  viewed  by  Adam  Smith,  I  have 
thought  it  better  to  place  apart  the  observations  I  have  to 
make  on  it.1 

In  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  the  division  of  labor  is  con- 
sidered the  great  generator  of  invention  and  improvement, 
and  so  [indirectly]  of  the  accumulation  of  capital.  In  the 
view  I  have  given,  it  is  represented  as  proceeding  from  the 
antecedent  progress  of  invention,  and  increase  of  stock,  and 
as  operating  chiefly  by  quickening  the  exhaustion  of  instru- 
ments, and  so  placing  them  in  orders  of  more  speedy  return. 
N"\v  in  reality,  as  far  as  its  origin  is  concerned,  the  account 
of  the  matter  which  we  find  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  is 
more  favorable  to  the  latter  supposition,  than  to  the  former. 

"  In  a  tribe  of  hunters,  or  shepherds,  a  particular  person 
makes  bows  and  arrows,  for  example,  with  more  readiness 
and  dexterity  than  any  other.  He  frequently  exchanges  them 

attle  or  for  venison,  with  his  companions;  and  he  finds 
at  last  that  he  can  in  this  manner  get  more  cattle  and 

on,  than  if  he  himself  went  to  the  field  to  catch  them. 
From  a  regard  to  his  own  interest,  therefore,  the  making  of 
bows  and  arrows  grows  to  be  his  chief  business,  and  he 
becomes  a  sort  of  armorer.  Another  excels  in  making  the 

s  and    covers  of  their    little  huts  or  moveable    houses. 

I  the  original  this  chapter  was  an  "  appendix  "  to  the  second  "  Book."] 


238  OF   DIVISION   OF   LABOR 

He  is  accustomed  to  be  of  use  in  this  way  to  his  neighbors, 
who  reward  him  in  the  same  manner  with  cattle  and  with 
venison,  till  at  last  he  finds  it  his  interest  to  dedicate  him- 
self entirely  to  this  employment,  and  to  become  a  sort  of  house 
carpenter.  In  the  same  manner  a  third  becomes  a  smith  or 
a  brazier ;  a  fourth  a  tanner  or  dresser  of  hides  or  skins,  the 
principal  part  of  the  clothing  of  savages." 

If  this  be  a  true  account  of  matters,  it  is  evident,  that 
it  is  the  antecedent  progress  of  invention,  and  the  existence 
of  the  several  arts  of  the  bow- maker,  the  hunter,  the  car- 
penter, the  brazier  that  is  the  real  cause  of  the  separation 
of  the  members  of  the  society  into  artists  of  different  sorts. 
I  rather  think,  however,  that  it  will  be  found,  that  separate 
artists  have  come  to  exist  from  the  passage  of  individuals 
from  one  community  to  another,  and  there  carrying  with 
them  the  arts  proper  to  each.1  If,  for  example,  in  any  par- 
ticular tribe,  the  art  of  reducing  from  the  ore  and  working 
up  some  of  the  metals,  were  well  known,  and  were  chance 
to  throw  a  member  of  it  among  another  tribe  ignorant  of 
this  art,  he  might  come  to  employ  himself  altogether  in  the 
smelting  and  giving  form  to  metal,  and  there  might  come  to 
be  a  class,  whose  chief  employment  were  that  of  working  in 
metal.  But  it  is  of  little  consequence  how  the  separation  of 
employments  was  brought  about.  The  real  question  is,  do 
the  acknowledged  advantages  of  it  proceed  directly  from  the 
*  increased  efficiency  of  the  labor  of  the  workman ;  or  from 
the  stock  of  instruments  of  the  society  being  thus  in  much 
more  constant  employment,  and  its  being,  therefore,  in  the 
power  of  the  accumulative  principle  to  give  them  a  much 
more  effective  construction. 

The  efficiency  of  the  labor  of  the  workman  may  be  ad- 
vanced, either  by  his  dexterity  being  increased,  or  by  an 
improvement  in  the  construction  of  the  implements  with 
which  he  works. 


1  [Rae  is  supported  in  this  surmise  by  Biicher  (Industrial  Evolution),  who 
maintains  that  the  primitive  division  of  employments  was  inter-tribal, 
rather  than  by  classes  and  individuals  within  each  tribe.  From  the  earliest 
times  there  has  been,  however,  a  separation  of  employments  as  between 
the  sexes,  affording  a  point  of  origin  of  arts.] 


OF  DIVISION   OF   LABOR  239 

1.  As  concerns  his  dexterity,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  it  is 
chiefly  in  the  beginning  of  art  that  great  manual  dexterity 
is  requisite.  Then  the  hand  is  the  great  instrument.  The 
manual  dexterity  of  the  savage  in  hurling  his  dart,  or  shoot- 
ing with  his  bow  and  arrow,  in  guiding  his  canoe  by  the 
pole  or  paddle,  in  framing  his  fishing  and  hunting  apparatus 
with  the  rude  tools  he  possesses,  far  exceeds  that  necessary 
to  the  civilized  man,  not  only  in  the  common,  but  even  in 
more  delicate  arts  of  civilized  life ;  and,  were  we  to  take 
into  the  account  things  generally  confounded  with  manual 
dexterity,  quickness  and  accuracy  of  sight,  and  delicacy  and 
flexibility  of  the  other  organs,  the  disparity  between  the  two 
would  be  much  greater.  As  art  advances  from  its  first  rude 
elements,  the  hand  does  less,  the  instrument  more.  To 
acquire  the  manual  dexterity  necessary  to  guide  a  bark  canoe 
with  security  and  speed,  requires  the  practice  of  years.  To 
row  a  boat  equally  well  might  be  learned  in  a  few  months. 
The  mere  manual  dexterity  necessary  to  move  the  different 
pieces  of  mechanism  that  govern  the  motion  of  a  steam- 
boat, might  be  acquired  in  a  few  days  or  hours. 

It  may  be  remarked,  that  the  examples  of  this  dexterity 
adduced  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  are  from  arts  where  the 
implements  are  exceedingly  simple,  and  where,  of  conse- 
quence, the  hand  is  the  great  operator.  Were  improvements 
taking  place  in  the  art  of  pin-making,  or  nail-making,  that 
would  be  done  by  the  instrument  which  is  now  done  by  the 
quick  and  complex  motions  of  the  hand.  In  fact,  in  the 
arts  in  which  the  greatest  improvements  have  had  place, 
such  as  in  the  cotton  manufacture,  the  mere  manual  dex- 
terity requisite  is  very  easily  acquired.  In  a  few  weeks,  or 
months,  the  limit  is  attained.  But,  when  the  manual  dex- 
terity requisite  for  the  practice  of  any  art  can  be  attained 
in  so  short  a  time,  it  cannot  matter  much  to  the  society  or 
to  the  individual,  whether  the  workman  have  to  learn  one 
or  several  arts.  Besides,  the  acquisition  of  any  difficult  art 
much  facilitates  the  attainment  of  any  other.  The 
great  matter  is  to  get,  as  a  workman  expresses  it,  the  use 
of  one's  hands.  To  become  familiar,  that  is  to  say,  with 
handling  matters  of  various  sorts,  judging  of  their  forms  and 


240  OF   DIVISION   OF  LABOR 

qualities,  and  acquiring  the  power  of  determining  the  move- 
ment to  be  given,  and  the  habit  of  executing  it  quickly  and 
accurately.  When  this  is  acquired,  there  is  no  great  diffi- 
culty in  the  management  of  any  common  tool,  if  once  the 
principle  on  which  it  operates  be  understood.  Hence  a  good 
workman  in  any  trade,  displays  comparatively  but  trifling 
awkwardness  in  applying  himself  to  any  other.  Almost  all 
he  requires  is  to  know  how  a  thing  is  done,  and  to  under- 
stand how  the  implements  employed  operate.  This  is  very 
observable  in  the  progress  of  new  settlements  in  America, 
where  I  have  seldom  seen  a  good  mechanic  have  much  diffi- 
culty in  turning  his  hand,  as  it  is  said,  to  any  thing. 

Agriculture,  from  its  nature,  is  the  art  in  which  the  divi- 
sion of  labor  has  made  least  progress.  Were  it  possible  to 
conceive  that,  by  the  operation  of  any  circumstance,  it  could 
there  be  carried  to  its  full  extent,  whether  would  its  benefits 
be  felt,  in  the  increased  dexterity  of  the  workman,  or  in 
the  increased  efficiency  of  the  instruments  employed  ?  At 
present  a  man  employed  in  such  work,  generally  ploughs, 
harrows,  reaps,  mows,  threshes,  and  drives  as  well  at  twenty- 
five,  as  at  thirty-five,  or  forty-five.  It  seems  not  very  probable, 
therefore,  that,  were  he  to  confine  himself  altogether  to  one 
of  these  occupations,  he  would  perform  it  better  than  he  now 
does.  On  the  other  hand,  it  seems  very  likely,  that,  did 
the  dependence  of  the  several  agricultural  operations  on  the 
seasons  permit  the  separation  of  occupations  in  this  art,  the 
implements  employed  in  it  would  soon  become  much  more 
efficient.  We  see,  in  fact,  that  it  is  the  impossibility  of  this 
separation  taking  place,  that  does  here  retard  or  prevent  im- 
provement. Threshing-mills,  for  example,  would  be  univer- 
sally adopted  were  it  not  that,  being  nearly  idle  a  great  part 
of  the  time,  the  cost  of  construction  is  too  great  for  the 
return.  The  machine  is  probably  unemployed  for  nineteen 
days  out  of  twenty,  so  that  could  this  division  take  place 
in  twenty  adjoining  farms,  each  of  which  has  now  its  own 
threshing-mill,  nineteen  of  those  at  present  necessary  might 
be  dispensed  with.  The  same  thing  may,  I  believe,  be  said 
concerning  drilling-machines ;  it  is  their  cost  and  the  long 
time  they  lie  idle,  that  prevents  their  general  adoption. 


OF   DIVISION   OF  LABOR 

Similar  causes  altogether  prevent  the  introduction  of  many 
other  ingenious  machines  and  implements.  As  much  in- 
genuity, indeed,  has  been  displayed  in  contrivances  for  the 
purposes  of  this  art,  as  for  any  other;  but  the  instruments 
produced,  though  they  would  have  been  very  effective  aids 
in  particular  operations,  have  never  come  into  use,  because, 
unless  for  a  few  days  every  year,  they  would  have  lain  idle 
on  the  hands  of  their  owners.  Were  it  possible  for  farmers 
to  divide  their  employment,  and,  each  taking  to  a  par- 
ticular department,  were  the  distinct  occupations  of  ploughers, 
reapers,  harrowers,  etc.,  to  arise,  none  of  the  instruments 
employed  lying  idle,  they  would  yield  much  more  speedy 
returns;  their  construction,  in  all  probability,  would  greatly 
improve,  and  the  whole  capital  of  the  country  would  soon 
be  very  much  increased.  It  is  worth  while  observing,  too,  that 
in  this  sort  of  labor,  the  improved  construction  of  instru- 
ments seems  to  lessen  the  quantum  of  manual  dexterity 
necessary.  The  manual  dexterity  necessary  for  managing  a 
threshing  or  a  drilling-machine  is  very  trifling. 

It  is  chiefly  in  some  very  delicate  arts,  such  as  that  of 
watchmaking,  or  in  some  in  which,  from  their  nature,  the  use  of 
tools  cannot  be  extensively  introduced,  as  in  printing,  that  the 
efficiency  derived  from  long  practice  is  very  great,  and  where, 
consequently,  the  division  of  labor  would  seem  in  this  way  a 
direct  improvement.  These,  however,  make  but  a  small  part 
of  the  arts  of  any  community. 

2.  Among  the  direct  advantages  derived  from  the  division 
of  labor,  Adam  Smith  reckons  the  invention  of  many  machines 
Bating  and  abridging  labor.  It  seems  to  me,  that  the  facts 
are,  on  the  whole,  opposed  to  this  idea.  Whatever  confines  a 
man's  faculties  to  one  monotonous  occupation,  must  rather  dull 
and  cramp,  than  quicken  and  expand  them.  "  The  under- 
standings of  the  greater  part  of  men,  are  necessarily  formed  by 
,  ordinary  employments.  The  man,  whose  whole  life  is 
spent  in  performing  a  few  operations,  of  which  the  effects,  too, 
are  perhaps  always  the  same,  or  very  nearly  the  same,  has  no 
occasion  to  exert  his  understanding,  or  to  exercise  his  inven- 
in  finding  out  expedients  for  removing  difficulties  which 
T  occur.  He  naturally  loses,  therefore,  the  habit  of  such 

Q 


242  OF  DIVISION   OF  LABOR 

exertion,  and  generally  becomes  as  stupid  and  ignorant  as  it  is 
possible  for  a  human  creature  to  become.  The  torpor  of  his  mind 
renders  him  not  only  incapable  of  relishing  or  bearing  a  part  in 
any  rational  conversation,  but  of  conceiving  any  generous, 
noble,  or  tender  sentiment,  and  consequently  of  forming  any 
just  judgment  concerning  many  even  of  the  ordinary  duties  of 
private  life.  Of  the  great  and  extensive  interests  of  his 
country  he  is  altogether  incapable  of  judging ;  and  unless  very 
particular  pains  have  been  taken  to  render  him  otherwise,  he 
is  equally  incapable  of  defending  his  country  in  war.  The 
uniformity  of  his  stationary  life  naturally  corrupts  the  courage 
of  his  mind,  and  makes  him  regard  with  abhorrence,  the 
irregular,  uncertain,  and  adventurous  life  of  a  soldier.  It 
corrupts  even  the  activity  of  his  body,  and  renders  him  in- 
capable of  exerting  his  strength  with  vigor  and  perseverance 
in  any  other  employment  than  that  to  which  he  has  been  bred. 
His  dexterity  in  his  particular  trade  seems,  in  this  manner,  to 
be  acquired  at  the  expense  of  his  intellectual,  social,  and 
martial  virtues." 1 

These  being  the  direct  effects  on  the  intellectual  and  moral 
powers  of  the  division  of  labor,  it  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be 
the  direct  cause  of  invention  in  the  artisan.  The  extended 
division  of  labor  [in  modern  industry,  however,]  implies 
the  existence  of  many  arts,  and  of  much  intelligence  [in  some 
of  the  members  of  the  society].  Where  it  exists,  therefore, 
the  inventive  faculties  will  be  generally  active.  But  this 
activity,  thoiigh  a  concomitant  of  the  division  of  labor,  is  to  be 
held  as  an  effect,  not  of  that  division,  but  of  other  causes  them- 
selves producing  the  division  of  labor.  It  will  appear,  in 
short,  to  be,  like  most  popular  principles,  a  result,  not  a  cause ; 
and  ranks  properly,  not  as  a  prime  mover  in  the  course  of 
human  affairs,  but  as  a  consequence  of  the  actions  of  the  prime 
movers. 

[For  a  much  more  vigorous  treatment  of  the  leading  subjects  dealt  with 
in  this  Chapter  the  reader  is  referred  to  Lauderdale,  to  whom  Rae  is  un- 
doubtedly much  indebted.] 

Wealth  of  Nation*,  Book  V.  c.  I. 


APPENDIX. 


ARTICLE   I. 

OF  THE  NATURE  AND  EFFECTS  OF  LUXURY. 

THE  general  tendency  of  all  the  circumstances,  the  nature  and 
causes  of  which  it  has  been  our  aim  hitherto  to  investigate,  is 
to  advance  the  wealth  of  society,  the  capital  and  stock  of  com- 
inunitifs.     Were  the  operation  of  the  principles  of  invention 
and  accumulation  to  go  on  unchecked,  the  amount  of  the  stock 
of  all  nations  would  be  gradually  and  uninterruptedly  increased; 
thr  one  furnishing  the  means  of  providing  additional  supplies 
for  the  wants  of  futurity,  the  other  giving  the  motives  to 
make  the  provision.     But  there  are  opposite  principles,  the 
tendency  of  which  is  either  to  retard  the  progress  of  the 
general  stock,  or  actually  to  diminish  the  amount  already 
^ting.     To  some  of  these  we  have  now  to  attend. 
As  the  prevalence  of  the  benevolent  and  social  affections, 
an«l  th.    xu-ength  of  the   intellectual  powers,  are  the  great 
springs  from  which  the  increase  of  the  wealth  and  prosperity 
'immunities  arise,  so  it  might  be  expected,  as  I  believe 
it    will    be   found,   that   the   diminution   of    that  wealth    i^ 
•  -lii'-fly  occasioned  by  the  spread  of  contrary  principles,  by 
ascendency   of   the   purely   selfish,   and   debasement   of 
intellectual  and  moral  parts  of  our  nature. 
'I' lie  first  of  these  principles,  of  which  we  have  to  consider 
tli«-  operation,  is  vanity;   by  which  term  I  understand  the 
in- re  desire  of  superiority  over  others,  without  .my  reference 
.-  to  the  merit  of  that  superiority.     A  perfect  being  may  be 
rous  of  superiority  in  well-doing,  not  on  account  of  sur- 
passing others,  but  from  pleasure  in  the  good  he  does.    A  very 


246  APPENDIX 

evil  being  may  derive  satisfaction  from  a  superiority  in  evil- 
doing,  simply  from  the  pleasure  which  the  certainty  of  having 
been  the  cause  of  very  great  misery  may  give  him.  But  there 
seems  to  be  a  feeling  that  finds  its  proper  gratification  in 
merely  going  beyond  others,  without  reference  to  the  path 
taken.  It  would  be  gratified  by  excelling  in  vice,  were  it 
not  that  the  moral  feeling  restrained  it ;  it  would  be  gratified 
by  excelling  in  virtue,  were  it  not  that  immoral  propensities 
incapacitate  it  from  attaining  an  eminent  degree  of  it.  It 
is  this  which,  for  want  of  a  better  word,  I  distinguish  by 
the  term  vanity.  It  is  a  purely  selfish  feeling ;  its  pleasures 
centre  in  the  individual;  and  if  it  does  not  endeavor  to 
diminish  the  enjoyment  of  others,  it  is  never  directly  its 
object  to  increase  them.  When,  in  the  course  of  its  action, 
pleasure  is  communicated  to  others,  this  arises  from  its 
being  then  blended  with  other  feelings. 

Its  aim,  in  all  cases  that  concern  our  subject,  is  to  have  what 
others  cannot  have.  One  of  the  most  perfect  instances  of 
it  ever  exhibited  was  when  Cleopatra  caused  a  very  precious 
pearl  to  be  dissolved,  that  she  might  consume  it  at  a  draught. 
There  could  be  here  no  pleasure  in  the  taste  of  the  liquor,  that 
must  have  been  rather  disagreeable ;  the  gratification  con- 
sisted in  having  drank  what  no  one  else  could  afford  to  drink. 
The  son  of  the  famous  Eoman  actor  performed  a  similar  feat.1 

We  learn  from  Pliny 2  that  it  became  a  sort  of  fashion 
at  Rome  as  it  seems  to  have  been  in  the  East.3 

But  it  is  seldom  that  this  feeling  fixes  itself  upon  objects 
that  gratify  it  alone,  or  objects  solely  desirable  from  the  diffi- 
culty of  obtaining  them,  and  from  the  consequent  [factitious] 
superiority  which  their  possession  implies.  It  rather  prefers 
such  as  have  also  qualities  capable  of  gratifying  other  desires, 
or  ministering  to  other  pleasures.  The  amount,  however 
of  these  other  wants  supplied  by  the  objects  it  covets  is  often 

1  Filius  ^Esopi  detractam  ex  aure  Metellse 
Scilicet  ut  decies  solidum  exsorberet,  aceto 
Diluit  insignem  baccam. 
Hor.  Mat.  II.  3.     The  value,  1,00,000  sestertii,  was  equal  to  about  £5,000 

2  Plin.  IX.  59. 

3  Vis  margaritarum  aceto  subactu.     Quintus  Curtius. 


OF  LUXURY  247 

very  small ;  if  this  be  large  enough  to  distinguish  them  from 
matters  altogether  useless,  it  seems  very  frequently  sufficient 
for  its  purpose.  The  extravagances  of  the  table  in  which  the 
Romans  indulged  were  of  this  sort.  The  enjoyment  afforded 
by  the  articles  consumed  must  evidently  have  arisen,  almost 
altogether,  from  the  high  price  they  cost.  A  dish  of  nightin- 
s  brains  could  scarcely  be  a  very  delicious  morsel,  yet 
Adam  Smith  quotes  from  Pliny  the  price  paid  for  a  single 
nightingale  as  about  £66.  For  a  surmullet  £80  were  given. 
According  to  Suetonius,  no  meal  cost  Vitellius  less  than  £2000. 
The  enormous  prices  paid  for  various  articles  of  dress  and 
furniture  could  have  proceeded  alone  from  the  promptings 
of  similar  desires.  Thus  Adam  Smith  reckons  the  cost  of 
s.  .me  cushions  of  a  particular  sort  used  to  lean  on  at  table, 
at  £30,000. 

The  things  to  which  vanity  seems  most  readily  to  apply 
itself  are   those  to   which    the  use  or  consumption  is  most 
apparent,   and   of   which    the    effects    are   most   difficult   to 
discriminate.      Articles   of   which    the    consumption    is    not 
picuous,  are  incapable  of  gratifying  this  passion.     The 
vanity  of   no  person  derives   satisfaction   from   the   sort  of 
timber  used  in  the  construction  of  the   house   he  occupies, 
because  the  wood   work   is   usually   concealed   by   paint  or 
soiiK-tliing  else.      Again:   if  the  effects  produced  by  it  can 
be  ascertained  with   accuracy,  the  object  seldom  affords  the 
means  of  sufficiently  marking  superiority.     Thus  coal  is  con- 
sumed for  the  heat  given  out  by  it,  and  the  different  quan- 
titites  of  heat  yielded  by  different  qualities  of  coal  are  easily 
ascertained.     One  scarcely,  therefore,  prides  himself  on  burn- 
ing one  sort,  in  preference  to  another.     It  is  not  equally  easy 
to  ascertain  how  much  the  marble  of   which   his   chimney 
••imposed   exceeds,   or   comes   short,   in    the    beauty,   the 
variety,  and   arrangement,  of  its   colors,  the   same   sort   of 
il  made  use  of,  for  similar  purposes,  by  his  neighbors, 
fancy  here,  stimulated  by  vanity,  may  raise  the  one  more 
less  over  the  other,  and  according,  therefore,  to  the  stn-n^th 
this  passion  will  the  assumed  superiority  be  greater  or  less. 
:  hings  have  qualities  better  fitted  for  the  gratification  of 
passion  than  liquors.     Their  peculiar  flavors  and  tastes 


24s  APPENDIX 

a  iv  sufficient  to  distinguish  them,  and  yet  afford  no  room 
to  determine  how  much  the  one  exceeds  the  other.  The 
imagination,  also,  seems  to  have  a  peculiar  power  over  tlu> 
organs  of  taste  and  smell,  and  to  be  able,  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  habit,  to  bring  them  to  receive  pleasure  from 
what  at  first  was  indifferent,  perhaps  even  disagreeable. 
Hence  it  is  impossible  to  set  any  bounds  to  the  superiority 
which  one  may  acquire  over  another,  from  the  influence  of 
this  passion;  and  it  may  almost  be  laid  down  as  a  general 
rule  with  regard  to  them,  that  any  one  that  is  at  all  drinkable, 
becomes  fit  for  being  placed  at  the  tables  of  the  luxurious,  by 
being  carried  a  sufficient  distance  from  the  place  of  its  manu- 
facture. Thus,  during  the  peninsular  war,  London  porter  WMS 
largely  consumed  in  Spain  by  the  very  classes  who,  in  England, 
reckon  it  a  mark  of  vulgarity  to  drink  it  at  all. 

It  is  not,  indeed,  to  be  disputed,  that  the  rarity  and  costli- 
ness of  the  liquors,  and  other  similar  commodities  consumed 
by  an  individual,  may  heighten  greatly  the  absolute  pleasure 
he  derives  from  them.  This  arises  from  a  trait  in  the  char- 
acter of  man,  which  we  have  every  day  opportunities  of 
observing.  The  attention  is  always  aroused  in  a  greater 
degree  by  an  object,  when  it  excites  more  than  one  faculty. 
Two  flowers  together,  the  one  having  the  beauty  without 
the  scent  of  the  rose,  and  the  other  its  scent  without  its 
beauty,  would  not  afford  so  much  pleasure  as  that  plant.  We 
prefer  fruit  that  has  a  fine  color ;  it  absolutely  tastes  better. 
The  taste  is  quickened  by  the  additional  stimulus  which 
the  eye  being  caught  by  the  beauty  of  the  color  gives 
to  the  sensation,  in  the  same  way  as  a  blow,  long  expected,  is 
felt  more  than  one  coming  unawares.  In  a  similar  manner, 
the  mere  costliness  of  wines,  or  meats,  rouses  the  sense  to 
a  keener  perception  of  pleasure,  by  awakening  the  vanity ; 
and,  when  the  individual  is  conscious  of  being  a  connoisseur 
in  such  matters,  this  very  potent  mover  of  our  thoughts  and 
sentiments  is,  besides,  excited  by  the  decernment  shown  in  the 
discrimination,  and  by  the  familiarity  thence  implied  with  rare 
wines  and  meats,  and,  consequently,  with  what  is  called  the 
best  society.  The  slight,  and,  to  another  person  perhaps, 
scarcely  perceptible  relish  which  the  contents  of  the  glass, 


OF  LUXURY  249 

or  the  dish,  leaves  on  the  palate,  is  seized  and  dwelt  upon,  and 
being  associated  and  wrought  up  with  more  exciting  and  in- 
tellectual delights,  is  fixed  in  the  mind  of  the  sentimental 
epicurean  as  something  infinitely  surpassing  what  he  would 
otlii'i-wise  have  conceived  of  it.  Had  pearls,  when  dissolved 
in  vinegar,  produced  a  beverage  that  the  imagination  could 
My  have  transformed  into  a  delicacy,  how  would  it 
not  have  been  extolled  by  the  Romans ! 

The  general  consumption  of  any  commodity  by  the  vulgar 
lessens,  on  the  contrary,  in  many  minds,  the  pleasure  it 
would  otherwise  give.  It  brings  down  the  individual,  in 
this  particular,  to  a  level  with  the  lowest.  This  feeling 
gave  rise  to  the  exclamation  by  a  once  celebrated  northern 
Duchess,  "  What  a  pity  that  eggs  were  not  a  sixpence  the 
piece." 

The  Roman  moralists  and  satirists  ground  many  of  their 
invectives  against  the  extravagance  of  the  times,  on  the  want 
of  connexion  between  the  qualities  of  the  articles  and  the 
estimation  in  which  they  were  held.1  Heliogabalus  confessed, 
th.it  it  was  the  relish  which  the  dearness  of  the  dishes  gave 
to  them,  that  led  to  the  extravagance  of  his  table,  and  liked 
to  have  the  price  of  his  food  overrated,  because  this  sharpened 
his  appetite. 

Were  proofs  wanting  of  how  very  slight  grounds  the  taste 
has  for  its  judgment,  in  declaring  this  to  be  delicious,  and  that 
beneath  notice,  we  might  find  them  in  its  variations  in  dif- 
ferent times  and  places.  It  seems  only  constant  in  preferring 
what  is  expensive.  Yet,  however  different,  each  society  in 
perfect  sincerity  believes  its  system  the  best.  Who  could 
ivlish  now-a-days  a  Roman  feast?  Certainly,  however,  they 

1Laudas,  insane,  trilihrem 

Mullum  in  singula  quern  minuas  pulmenta  necesse  eat. 
Ducit  te  species,  video.     Quo  pertinet  ergo 
Proceros  odisse  lupos?  quia  silicet  illis 
Majorem  natura  modum  dedit,  his  breve  poudus. 

Hor.  Sat.  L.  II..  II 

Interea  gustus  elementa  per  omnia  quiurunt. 
Nunquam  animo  pretiis  obstantibus ;  interius  si 
Attendas  magis  ilia  juvant  qu»  pluris  emuntur. 

Juvenal,  XI.  Sat. 


250  APPENDIX 

believed  that  in  cookery,  as  in  other  arts,  they  had  attained 
the  summit  of  real  perfection.  Of  their  good  faith  in  this 
belief  they  gave  a  singular  instance.  A  very  expensive  and 
much  esteemed  sauce  was  made  by  them  out  of  the  probably 
half  rotten  entrails  of  certain  fish.1  So  convinced,  however, 
were  they  of  its  superlative  delicacy,  that  they  had  the  care 
to  make  a  formal  law  specially  prohibiting  its  being  given  or 
sold  to  the  barbarians.2  They  were  seriously  fearful  lest, 
should  these  rude  warriors  only  taste  it,  it  might  so  highly 
gratify  their  appetite,  as  to  bring  them  down  at  once  upon 
the  empire.  They  came,  notwithstanding,  but  neither  they 
nor  their  more  polished  descendants  seem  to  have  found 
particular  charms  in  the  garum. 

We  find  the  estimation  of  every  article,  whether  of  dress,  of 
furniture,  or  of  equipage,  if  to  be  seen  by  many,  regulated 
also,  in  a  very  great  degree,  by  the  gratification  it  affords  this 
passion.  "  With  the  greater  part  of  rich  people,  the  chief 
enjoyment  of  riches  consists  in  the  parade  of  riches ;  which, 
in  their  eyes,  is  never  so  complete  as  when  they  appear  to 
possess  those  decisive  marks  of  opulence  which  nobody  can 
possess  but  themselves.  In  their  eyes,  the  merit  of  an  object, 
which  is  in  any  degree  either  useful  or  beautiful,  is  greatly 
enhanced  by  its  scarcity,  or  by  the  great  labor  which  it 
requires  to  collect  any  considerable  quantity  of  it;  a  labor 
which  nobody  can  afford  to  pay  but  themselves.  Such  objects 
they  are  willing  to  purchase  at  a  higher  price  than  things 
more  beautiful  and  useful,  but  more  common."  3  Though  its 
influence  now,  perhaps,  is  not  so  great  as  it  was  among  the 
ancients,  it  is  yet  more  apparent.  The  progress  of  art  has 
been  such,  that  there  is  scarcely  any  material,  or  fabric,  or 
color,  the  production  of  which  it  does  not  so  much  facilitate 
as  to  bring  it  within  the  reach  of  a  large  mass  of  consumers. 

JAliud  etiamnum  liquoris  exquisiti  genus,  quod  garum  vocavere,  intestinis 
piscium  cseterisque  quse  abjicienda  essent  sale  maceratis,  ut  sit  ilia  putrescen- 
tium  sanies. — Nee  liquor  ullus  psene  prseter  unguenta  majore  in  pretio  esse 
ccEpit.  Plin.  lib.  31.  c.  8.  Nat.  His. 

2  The  edict  was  in  the  time  of  the  Emperors  Valens  and  Gratian.     Gold 
and  wine  were  laid  under  a  similar  prohibition. 

3  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  I.  c.  XL 


OF  LUXURY  251 

It  then  loses  its  value  as  a  distinction,  and  ceases  to  serve 
the  purposes  of  vanity.  Hence  arises  the  necessity  for  the 
variety,  and  seeming  caprice,  of  fashion.  What  Adam  Smith 
applies  to  one  class  of  articles,  will  apply,  in  a  great  measure, 
to  the  whole  expenditure  of  the  opulent.  "  When  by  the 
improvements  in  the  productive  powers  of  manufacturing  art 
and  industry,  the  expense  of  any  one  dress  comes  to  be  very 
moderate,  the  variety  will  naturally  be  very  great.  The  rich, 
not  being  able  to  distinguish  themselves  by  the  expense  of  any 
one  dress,  will  naturally  endeavor  to  do  so  by  the  multitude 
and  variety  of  their  dresses."1 

To  attempt  to  enumerate  the  modes  in  which  fashion  varies 
the  fitness  of  things  for  the  purposes  of  its  votaries,  were 
little  profitable,  and  is,  I  apprehend,  superfluous.  Its  extended 
influence  will  hardly  be  disputed.  "  What  is  the  cause,"  de- 
mands Mr.  S torch,2  "  that  gives  so  high  a  value  to  the  rare 
jewels  with  which  opulence  loves  to  deck  itself  ?  Is  it  the 
pleasure  they  give  the  eye,  by  the  brilliancy  of  their  reflected 
liirlit  ?  No;  that  slight  enjoyment  has  no  relation  to  their 
value ;  it  is  because  they  attest  the  wealth  of  him  who  wears 
them.  Such  are  all  the  objects  of  this  sort  of  luxury :  the 
amount  of  enjoyment  they  give  through  the  direct  medium  of 
the  senses  is  nothing,  in  comparison  of  that  which  they  yield 
by  the  display  that  can  be  made  of  them  to  others — even 
objects  which  seem  by  their  nature  to  have  no  other  end  but 
to  please  the  senses,  are  almost  altogether  estimated  by  the 
gratification  this  display  produces.  Consider  a  sumptuous 
repast  given  by  opulence,  separate  from  it,  in  thought,  every 
thing  that  serves  only  to  show  the  riches  of  him  who  gives 
it,  and  leave  nothing  absolutely  on  the  table  but  what  may 
gratify  the  appetite  of  the  individual :  what  would  remain  ? 
In  .short,  if  we  take  a  general  survey,"  continues  the  same 
author,  "  of  all  that  expenditure  which  is  made  after  the 
natural  desires  are  satisfied,  we  will  perceive  that  it  is  almost 
altogether  occasioned  by  the  desire  to  appear  rich."8  This 
ire  of  appearing  superior  to  others  thus  k, ,  ps  a  vast 

1  Idem.  B.  IV.  c.  IX. 

aC'owr«  cTEconomie  Pditique,  liv.  VII.  c.  V. 
»  TraM  d'Economie  Politique,  liv.  VII.  c.  IV. 


252  APPENDIX 

number  of  things  in  a  state  of  ceaseless  revolution.  All  this 
domain  is  under  the  rule  of  fashion. 

Diruit,  wdificat,  inutat  quadrata  rotundis. 

It  destroys  before  its  time,  as  Mr.  Say  complains,  whatever 
it  lays  its  hands  on.  "Any  thing  which  a  person  has  pro- 
vided himself  with,  to  serve  some  useful  purpose,  is  preserved 
as  long  as  possible,  its  consumption  is  gradual.  An  object  of 
luxury  is  of  no  use  from  the  moment  it  ceases  to  gratify  either 
the  senses,  or  the  vanity,  of  its  possessor.  It  is  destroyed, 
at  least  in  greater  part,  before  having  ceased  to  exist,  and 
without  having  supplied  any  real  want; — luxury  has  in 
abhorrence  every  profitable  expense." 

The  expenditure  occasioned  by  this  desire  falls  on  all  classes 
of  society.  To  supply  it  takes  a  large  portion  of  the  revenue 
of  what  are  called  the  middle  classes  [that  is,  of  those  who  are 
recognized  members  of  the  middle  classes],  of  those  who  have 
difficulty  to  prove  their  claim  to  be  so  ranked,  of  those  who 
are  comfortable  in  the  lower  classes,  and  even  of  those  who 
have  difficulty  in  procuring  absolute  necessaries.  "  In  all 
classes,"  says  Mr.  Storch,  "  the  desire  of  show  (le  luxe  d'osten- 
tation)  has  been  able  to  identify  itself  with  whatever  serves 
the  comfort  or  the  conveniences  of  life.  It  is  this  which 
borders  with  a  narrow  lace  the  head  dress  of  the  country 
girl,  and  gives  to  her  whole  attire  colors  and  a  shape  foreign 
to  its  utility."  l 

I  should  wish  to  apply,  to  the  expenditure  occasioned  by 
the  passion  of  vanity,  the  term  luxury.  Though  that  word 
has  properly  a  wider  signification,  it  is  perhaps  the  one  that 
comes  nearest  to  mark  the  thing  we  speak  of. 

It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  define  precisely  how  far  the  limits 
of  luxury,  so  understood,  extend.  It  is  a  point  which,  pro- 
bably, different  people  would  fix  differently.  Whatever 
amount  of  pleasure  any  thing  gives,  that  is  entirely  distinct 
from  its  rarity,  or  any  association  with  that  circumstance, 

1Liv.  VII.  c.  V.  [The  dress  of  a  girl  has  indirect  as  well  as  direct 
utility.  The  above  was  written  before  the  discovery  of  the  principle  of 
sexual  selection.] 


OF  LUXURY  253 

certainly  is  not  luxury.  There  is  a  pleasure  in  the  sight  of 
certain  shapes  and  colors,  and  arrangements  of  them,  which  is 
quite  independent  of  their  cost ;  there  is  a  fitness,  also,  in  the 
texture  of  certain  fabrics,  to  preserve  from  the  extremes  of 
heat  and  cold,  to  add  to  the  beauties  of  feature  or  form,  and 
to  correct  their  defects,  that,  of  itself,  gives  pleasure ;  there 
are  pleasures,  too,  which  the  mind  creates  to  itself,  out  of  the 
associations  of  these.  We  feel  pleasure,  in  a  cold  day,  in  look- 
ing at  a  person  well  wrapped  up  in  warm  furs,  as  in  a  hot  day, 
in  seeing  that  one  has  no  lack  of  clean  linen.  A  nobleman  of 
a  right  mind  experiences  gratification  from  seeing  the  clean 
sheets  and  warm  blankets  of  the  peasant,  as  well  as  when  he 
enters  and  looks  round  his  own  sedulously  arranged  chamber. 
It  is  this  feeling  we  experience  when  we  say  that  such  a  house, 
or  dress,  has  an  air  of  comfort  about  it.  The  term  has  pro- 
perly reference  to  the  sensual,  and  to  the  benevolent,  not  to 
the  selfish  feelings.  The  sight  of  statues,  paintings,  flowers, 
i-  also  capable  of  affording  a  high  degree  of  gratification  to 
many  minds.  The  degree  of  pleasure  thus  experienced  is  differ- 
ent in  different  individuals,  and  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  ascer- 
tain what  its  exact  amount  is  in  any  one ;  hence  the  difficulty, 
in  most  cases,  of  determining  what  is,  or  is  not,  luxury.  Mr. 
ch,  in  a  chapter  of  his  system  from  which  I  have  already 
« I  noted,  observes:  "All  the  ornaments  which  decorate  the 
apartments  of  the  rich,  that  gilt  work,  those  sculptures  which 
art  and  taste  seem  to  have  formed  solely  to  delight  the  mind, 
a  iv  nothing  but  a  sort  of  magical  characters,  presenting  every 
where  this  inscription:  Admire  the  extent  of  my  riches." 
ranity,  there  can  be  little  doubt,  is  the  predominating  feeling 
to  the  construction  of  such  apartments ;  it  is  not, 
'ever,  the  only  one.  Well-executed  statues,  even  elegant 
have  certainly  something  in  themselves  pleasing  to 
eye,  and  to  the  mind  of  the  beholder,  whether  owner  or 
The  larger  part  of  the  gratification  derived  is  drawn 
in  most  cases  from  vanity,  and  we  occasionally  meet 
with  a  character  whose  pleasures  are  altogether  those  of 
ostentation  ;  like  Pope's  prodigal, 

Not  for  himself  he  sees,  or  hears,  or  eats, 

-t«  must  choose  his  pictures,  music,  meats ; 


2H  APPENDIX 

He  buys  for  Topham  drawings  and  designs, 
For  Pembroke,  statues,  dirty  gods,  and  coins  ; 
Rare  monkish  manuscripts  for  Hearne  alone, 
And  books  for  Mead,  and  butterflies  for  Sloane. 

But,  in  most  cases,  real  enjoyment  [of  an  aesthetic  nature  or 
otherwise]  mixes  largely  with  mere  vanity,  in  expenditure  of 
the  [luxurious]  sort. 

Adam  Smith  remarks,  that  "  It  is  not  by  the  importation  of 
gold  and  silver  that  the  discovery  of  America  has  enriched 
Europe.  By  the  abundance  of  the  American  mines  those 
metals  have  become  cheaper.  A  service  of  plate  can  now  be 
purchased  for  about  a  third  part  of  the  corn,  or  a  third  part 
of  the  labor,  which  it  would  have  cost  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
With  the  same  annual  expense  of  labor  and  commodities, 
Europe  can  annually  purchase  about  three  times  the  quantity 
of  plate  which  it  could  have  purchased  at  that  time.  But 
when  a  commodity  comes  to  be  sold  for  a  third  part  of  what 
had  been  its  usual  price,  not  only  those  who  purchased  it 
before  can  purchase  three  times  their  former  quantity,  but  it 
is  brought  down  to  the  level  of  a  much  greater  number  of 
purchasers,  perhaps  to  more  than  ten,  perhaps  to  more  than 
twenty  times  the  former  number.  So  that  there  may  be  in 
Europe,  at  present,  not  only  more  than  three  times,  but  more 
than  twenty  or  thirty  times  the  quantity  of  plate  which  would 
have  been  in  it,  even  in  its  present  state  of  improvement,  had 
the  discovery  of  the  American  mines  never  been  made.  So  far 
Europe  has,  no  doubt,  gained  a  real  conveniency,  though  surely 
a  very  trifling  one.  The  cheapness  of  gold  and  silver  renders 
those  metals  rather  less  fit  for  the  purposes  of  money  than 
they  were  before.  In  order  to  make  the  same  purchases,  we 
must  load  ourselves  with  a  greater  quantity  of  them,  and 
carry  about  a  shilling  in  our  pocket,  where  a  groat  would  have 
done  before.  It  is  difficult  to  say  which  is  most  trifling,  this 
inconveniency,  or  the  opposite  conveniency."  l  I  suspect  there 
is  also  a  little  exaggeration  here,  as  the  words  of  the  author  in 
another  place  would  prove.  "  If  you  except  iron,  the  precious 
metals  are  more  useful  than  any  other.  As  they  are  less  liable 
to  rust  and  impurity,  they  can  more  easily  be  kept  clean;  and 
1  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  IV.  c.  I. 


OF   LUXURY  255 

the  utensils,  either  of  the  table  or  the  kitchen,  are  often,  upon 
that  account,  more  agreeable  when  made  of  them.  A  silver 
boiler  is  more  cleanly  than  a  lead,  copper,  or  tin  one ;  and  the 
same  quality  would  render  a  gold  boiler  still  better  than  a 
si  her  one"1  But,  even  if  we  should  admit  that  silver,  as  a 
commodity  possessing  many  useful  qualities,  is  valuable  on 
other  accounts  than  its  scarcity,  we  must  also  grant  that  a 
very  large  share  of  other  departments  of  the  expenditure  of 
tin-  wealthy  consists  of  mere  luxuries, — articles,  the  sole  grati- 
bioD  afforded  by  which  is,  that  they  alone  can  afford  to 
possess  them.  It  is  then,  I  apprehend  with  some  truth,  that, 
in  another  part  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  the  author,  in 
tracing  the  causes  which  brought  on  the  diminution  of  the 

r  of  the  great  feudal  lords,  and  ascribing  them  chiefly  to 
th  i-ir  expending  their  revenues  on  the  produce  of  foreign 
CMinmerce  and  manufacture,  instead  of  maintaining  a  large 
ivtinue,  characterizes  the  bulk  of  the  articles  constituting  this 
expenditure  as  useless  for  any  other  purpose  than  the  gratifi- 
cation of  a  selfish  vanity.  "  All  for  ourselves,  and  nothing  for 
<  >tl  i«  T  people,  seems,  in  every  age  of  the  world,  to  have  been 
tli-  vile  maxims  of  the  masters  of  mankind.  As  soon,  there- 

as  they  could  find  a  method  of  consuming  the  whole 

value  of  their  rents  themselves,  they  had  no  disposition  to 

share  them  with  any  other  persons.     For  a  pair  of  diamond 

1 'ii ckles,  perhaps,  or  something  as  frivolous  and  useless,  they 

anged  the  maintenance,  or  what  is  the  same  thing,  the 

of  the  maintenance,  of  a  thousand  men  for  a  year,  and 
with  it  the  whole  weight  and  authority  which  it  could 
tin-in.  The  buckles,  however,  were  to  be  their  own,  and  no 
nth'  i  human  creature  was  to  have  any  share  of  them;  whereas 
in  the  more  ancient  method  of  expense,  they  must  have 
shared  with  at  least  a  thousand  people.  With  the  judges  that 

to  determine  the  preference,  this  difference  was  perfectly 

ive;  and  thus,  for  the  gratification  of  the  most  childish, 
th.  m.  an.  >t,  and  the  most  sordid  of  all  vanitirx  th<  y  gradu- 
ally bartered  their  whole  power  and  authority.  Having  sold 
their  l.iithri^ht,  not  like  Esau,  for  a  mess  of  pottavv  in  time 
of  hunger  and  necessity,  but,  in  the  wantonness  of  plenty,  for 

»  Wealth  of  Xatioii*,  B.  I.  8,  \1 


256  APPENDIX 

trinkets  and  baubles,  litter  to  be  the  playthings  of  children 
than  the  serious  pursuits  of  men,  they  became  as  insignificant 
as  any  substantial  burgher  or  tradesman  in  a  city."  l  Even 
here,  too,  there  is  some  exaggeration ;  the  seat  of  a  wealthy 
modern  nobleman  exceeds  the  rude  castle  of  his  half  bar- 
barous ancestor,  not  only  in  the  gratification  it  gives  to  the 
personal  vanity  of  its  possessor,  but  also  in  the  refined  enjoy- 
ments it  affords  its  inmates.  The  exact  proportion  between 
the  mere  luxuries  and  the  absolute  enjoyments,  in  this  as 
in  other  cases,  is  indeed  impossible  to  ascertain.  The  former, 
however,  undoubtedly  make  a  very  large  portion  of  the  total 
amount. 

As  we  descend  in  the  scale,  from  the  persons  and  mansions 
of  those  who  have  the  fortune  to  possess  hereditary  wealth 
and  hereditary  claims  to  good  society,  to  those  who  have 
themselves  accumulated,  or  are  employed  in  accumulating 
riches,  and  raising  themselves  to  distinction,  from  thence  to 
the  lower  grades  of  life,  and,  at  last,  to  the  mere  drudges  of 
the  community,  we  shall  find  every  step  we  take  marked  by 
a  greater  prominence  in  two  circumstances.  The  amount 
expended  on  what  are  neither  the  necessaries  nor  conveniences 
of  life  becomes  less,  but  that  expenditure  is  more  decidedly 
mere  luxury.  Taste  gives  enjoyment  even  to  the  wildest 
extravagance  of  those  whose  chief  occupation  has  been  to 
devise  means  to  enjoy  life,  and  to  make  it  agreeable  to  others ; 
but  he  whose  business  has  been,  or  is,  to  discover  the  best 
means  of  gaining  wealth,  though  he  may  yield  less  to  the 
desire  of  show,  does  so  more  thoroughly.  He  becomes  a  mere 
imitator,  and,  like  most  imitators,  is  apt  to  retain  all  the 
defects  and  to  drop  much  of  the  graces  of  his  copy. 

Vanity  is  combated  by  the  strength  of  the  social  and 
benevolent  affections  and  intellectual  powers.  The  former 
represent  its  excesses  as  hurtful,  the  latter  as  absurd.  The 
same  principles,  therefore,  which  give  strength  to  the  effective 
desire  of  accumulation,  diminish  the  sway  of  this  passion. 
Hence,  in  all  societies,  where  the  effective  desire  of  accumula- 
tion is  high,  and  instruments  consequently  at  orders  of  slow 
i  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  III.  c.  IV. 


OF   LUXURY  257 

return,  or  only  kept  at  orders  of  quick  return  from  the  pro- 
<  of   improvement,  vanity  and  luxury  will  prevail  but 
little:1    while,    in    societies    where    the    effective    desire    of 
accumulation  is  low,  and  instruments,  not  in  consequence  of 
superabundance    of   materials   or    recent  improvements,   but 
ie  inability  of  the  community  to  work  up  any  but  the  best 
Hals,  are  at  orders  of  very  quick  return,  such  a  state  of 
things,  indicating  a  weakness  in   the  social  and  benevolent 
affections,  and  in  the  intellectual  powers,  is  generally  accom- 
panied by  great  strength,  and  the  general  prevalence  of  vanity 
and  luxury. 

Savages,  in  general,  are  remarkable  for  the  influence  which 
vanity  has  over  them,  and  for  their  propensity  to  give  up  any 
pr<»vNi'>n  they  may  have  made  for  the  future,  or  to  suffer 
severe  privations,  to  have  the  means  of  decking  their  persons 
or  habitations  with  something  rare  and  costly,  distinguishing 
tin-in  from  others.  Beads,  bones,  plumes  of  feathers,  porcu- 
pine quills,  gay  colors,  and  all  the  rarities  of  their  native 
abodes,  are  sought  out,  and  wrought  up  by  them  with  great 
labor.  They  besides  cut  their  flesh,  or  tatoo  their  skin.  The 
<•]•«•  ration  costs  severe  pain  and  requires  some  skill,  and  the 
bearing  the  testimony  of  this  outlay  about  with  him  is  as  real 
a  gratification  to  the  vanity  of  the  savage  as  a  diamond  ring 
to  that  of  an  European.  Their  intercourse  with  civilized 
nations  turns  their  desires  towards  fineries  of  European 
manufacture.  Glass  beads,  trinkets  of  silver,  or,  if  it  be  not 
to  be  had,  of  tin,  fine  cloths,  showy  cottons  and  silks,  then 
ke  up  a  large  part  of  their  expenditure.2 

1  [This  seems  to  be  a  debatable  position.     See  the  note  at  the  end  of  this 
article.] 

ive  seen  many  of  the  Indians  in  Canada,  when  in  high  dress,  clothed 

uglish  cloth,  of  which  they  are,  I  am  told,  excellent  judges; 

inly,   however,   in  the  way  they  wear  it,  the  Indian  blanket,  one  made 

for  tho  purpose,  with  a  broad  blue  border,  makes  a  more  convenient  and 

Incoming  robe. 

almost  irresistible  passion  which  these  people  have,  for  whatever  they 
ive  esteemed  precious  by  others,  must  have  struck  every  one  having  had 
ntercourse  with  them.   Perhaps  the  following  anecdote  may  be  worth  relat- 
ing, as  in  some  degree  illustrative  of  it.    I  was  once  voyaging  with  a  friend  in  a 
small  canoe,  when  we  chanced  to  keep  company  for  two  or  three  days  with 


258  APPENDIX 

All  travellers  speak  of  the  vanity  of  the  Chinese,  and  of 
their  propensity  to  show.  Their  glittering  gilding,  variegated 
silks,  and  crispy  cows'  hair  dyed  red,  with  them  the  most 
splendid  of  ornaments,  catch  the  eye  of  every  stranger,  and 
contrast  strongly  with  the  squalid  poverty  and  misery  that  is 
the  constant  portion  of  a  considerable  part  of  the  population, 
and  occasionally  invades  the  whole  mass.  One  of  the  father 
Jesuits,  in  speaking  of  the  necessity  of  his  brethren  changing 
their  habits  and  style  of  living,  observes,  that,  "besides  other 
reasons,  they  are  obliged  to  conform  to  the  general  custom  of 
the  country ;  that  even  individuals  of  the  common  people, 
when  they  go  to  visit  any  one,  dress  themselves  in  silk,  an«l 
have  themselves  carried  in  a  chair.  This  does  not  pass  with 
them  for  vanity,  or  affectation  of  grandeur,  but  for  an  evidence 
that  they  esteem  the  persons  whom  they  visit,  and  that  they 
themselves  are  above  absolute  want,  and  are  not  in  a  despic- 
able condition.1  This  attention  to  a  showy  exterior  seems  to 
have  led  Mr.  Ellis  to  form  too  high  an  estimate  of  the  general 
opulence  and  comfort  of  the  people,  "I  have  been  much 
struck,"  he  says,  "  in  all  Chinese  towns  and  villages  with  the 
number  of  persons  apparently  of  the  middling  classes;  from 
this  I  am  inclined  to  infer  a  wide  diffusion  of  the  substantial 
comforts  of  life,  and  the  consequent  financial  capacity  of  the 
country."2 

The  Romans  are  still  more  conspicuous  instances  of  the 
extravagance  into  which  this  passion  betrays  nations.  Vanity 
reigned  throughout  their  expenditure.  The  decorations  of 

some  Indians  in  another,  one  of  whom  a  severe  intermittent  had  reduced  to  a 
mere  skeleton.  One  forenoon  when  we  stopped  for  a  little,  they  requested  us 
to  come  close  to  them,  and  open  a  case  we  had,  to  let  the  sick  man  examine  it. 
Having  done  as  they  desired,  the  invalid  seemed  sadly  disappointed,  "I 
thought,"  he  said,  "  when  I  saw  it  at  a  distance  yesterday,  that  the  inside 
was  silver,  and  it  seemed  to  me  it  would  do  me  good  to  look  at  it,  but  it  is  only 
tin."  The  expression  of  his  countenance  and  voice  showed  that  he  fancied  the 
sight  of  so  much  silver,  would  have  acted  like  a  cordial,  and  so  I  dare  say  it 
would.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  it  is  not  the  custom  of  Indians  to  make 
requests  having  an  air  of  impertinence  of  strangers,  or  to  express  dis- 
appointment. 

1  Lettres  Edifiantes,  Vol.  IX.  p.  531. 

2  Embassy  to  China,  Phil,  edition,  1818,  p.  237. 


OF  LUXURY  259 

their  persons  and  mansions  were  a  show  of  the  most  costly 
luxuries. 

"  Gemmas,  marmor,  ebur,  Tyrrhena  sigilla,  tabellas, 
Argentum,  vestes  Gaetulo  murice  tinctaa." 

The  head,  the  neck,  the  arms,  the  fingers,  of  a  Roman  lady 
were  loaded  with  jewels.  Pliny  relates  that  the  jewels  which 
Lollia  Paulina,  the  wife  of  Caligula,  even  after  her  repudia- 
tion, carried  on  her  person  when  attired  simply  for  paying 
visits,  were  worth  forty  millions  of  sesterces,  upwards  of  two 
hundivd  thousand  pounds  sterling.  According  to  the  same 
author,  women  of  the  greatest  simplicity  and  modesty  durst 
no  more  go  without  diamonds  than  a  consul  without  the 
marks  of  his  dignity.  The  men,  also,  he  tells  us,  wore  on 
their  fingers  a  variety  of  the  most  expensive  rings,  rather 
loading  than  adorning  them.  It  was  common  to  have  tables 
and  other  articles  ,of  ivory,  or  of  the  precious  metals.  The 
plate  and  tables  of  Heliogabalus  were  of  pure  gold.  Examples 
<>f  their  excessive  luxury  in  articles  for  the  table  have  been 
already  given,  and  many  more  might  be  added,  were  it  neces- 
sary to  ivjM-at  what  lias  been  often  narrated.1 

The  magnificence  of  the  eastern  Empire  was  perhaps  even 

greater  than  that  of  Rome  itself.     It  reflected  something  of 

tin    excessive  splendor  of  the  Babylonish  and  other  Asiatic 

monarchies.     Chrysostom  thus   describes   the   palaces  of  the 

nobles.     "  The  roofs  made  of  wood  were  gilt.    The  doors,  even 

thf  long  folding  doors,  were  of  ivory.     In  all  the  chambers 

tin-  walls  were  incrusted  with  marble.     If  they  were  only  of 

tton  stone,  it  was  covered  with  plates  of  gold.    The  beams 

aii-i  ceilings  were  gilt,  and  the  apartments  were  inlaid  with 

small  stones,  and  often  with  precious  stones.     Over  the  floors 

were  sometimes  spread  very  rich   carpets.     Their   taste   for 

nificence  could  bear  nothing  of  the  ordinary  kind.     In 

rooms  were  great  pillars  of  marble,  with  their  chapiters 

and  sometimes  the  whole  pillars  were  gilt,  statues  by  the 

excellent  artists,  pictures  and  mosaic  work.     The  beds 

usually  of  ivory  or  of  wood,  gilt   or  covnv.l  with  silver 

nd  sometimes  of  solid  silver  decorat<-<|  \\  ith  ^oNl.     All 


reader  may  consult  Gibbon,  or  the  work  of  M.  d'Arnay  «*r  la  vie 


260  APPENDIX 

the  furniture  was  surprisingly  rich.  The  chairs  and  benches 
were  of  ivory ;  the  pots  and  other  vessels,  even  for  the 
meanest  uses,  were  of  gold  and  silver."1 

Mr.  Say  has  remarked,  that  there  is  a  large  part  of  the 
consumption  of  the  French,  which  is  occasioned  by  their 
ssive  attention  to  mode  and  fashion,  and  that,  in  this 
respect,  they  contrast  disadvantageously  with  the  English, 
who  pay  more  attention  to  comfort  and  convenience,  and  less 
to  the  changing  fancies  by  which  vanity  seeks  to  distinguish 
itself.  Instruments  have  never,  in  France,  been  wrought  up 
to  orders  of  so  slow  return  as  in  England. 

O 

I  believe  it  will  be  found  that  the  strength  of  the  effective 
desire  of  accumulation,  is  higher  among  the  working  classes 
in  North  America  than  in  Europe.  The  influence  of  vanity  in 
many  cases,  is  certainly  less.  The  consumption,  for  instance, 
of  coarse  unbleached  cotton,  for  shirting,  is  very  great ;  this  is 
certainly  a  more  comfortable  wear  for  a  working  man  than 
the  finer  sorts.  It  washes  more  easily,  and  endures  more 
fatigue.2  The  finer  cottons,  also,  of  American  manufacture, 
are  of  a  stouter  and  more  substantial  fabric,  indicating  that 
the  American  purchaser  looks  more  to  the  wear  of  the  article, 
the  European  to  the  delicacy  of  the  fabric.  The  same  thing 
may  be  said  of  woolens.  A  substantial  farmer  in  England  would 
scarcely,  as  one  of  the  same  class  in  North  America,  think  him- 
self decently  clad  in  a  winter's  suit  of  which  the  cloth  cost  only 
a  dollar  per  yard,  though  a  comfortable  and  durable  dress. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that,  as  vanity  is  opposed  by  the  social 
and  benevolent  affections  and  intellectual  powers,  according  as 
the  one  or  the  other  of  these  preponderates,  the  manifesta- 
tions of  that  luxury  which  yet  remains,  are  modified  into 
some  resemblance  to  what  it  approves.  When  the  intellectual 
powers  are  strong,  this  passion  endeavors  to  elude  them  by 
attaching  itself  to  objects  that  it  can  represent  as  of  per- 
manent excellence.  When  the  benevolent  affections  are 

1  Chrysostom,  quoted  by  Jortin,  Ecclesiastical  History,  Vol.  II.  p.  359. 

2  Until  about  two  years  since  almost  all  upper  Canada  and  the  eastern  town- 
ships of  lower  Canada,  were  supplied  with  American  cottons  of  this  sort 
smuggled  over.     Patterns  were  sent  to  Manchester,  and  imitation  American 
cottons  got  out,  which  now  supply  the  Canadian  side  of  the  line ;  they  do  not, 
however,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn,  pass  to  the  other. 


OF   LUXURY  261 

powerful,  it  endeavors  to  gain  its  ends,  by  representing  them 
as  proceeding  from  a  wish  to  gratify  others,  and  to  share  with 
them  things,  which  are  at  least  generally  esteemed  rare  and 
val uable.  In  the  former  case  it  escapes  opposition,  and  finds 
vent  in  expensive  buildings  and  decorations ;  in  the  latter  in 
sumptuous  entertainments,  and  luxuries  of  the  table.  "  In 
Holland,"  says  Mandeville,  "  people  are  only  sparing  in  such 
things  as  are  daily  wanted  and  soon  consumed;  in  what  is 
lasting  they  are  quite  otherwise ;  in  pictures  and  marble  they 
are  profuse ;  in  their  buildings  and  gardens  they  are  extrava- 
gant to  folly.  In  other  countries  you  may  meet  with  stately 
courts  and  palaces  of  great  extent  that  belongs  to  princes 
which  nobody  can  expect  in  a  commonwealth,  where  so  much 
equality  is  observed  as  there  is  in  this;  but  in  all  Europe  you 
shall  find  no  private  buildings  so  sumptuously  magnificent,  as 
a  great  many  of  the  merchants'  and  other  gentlemen's  houses 
an-  in  Amsterdam,  and  some  other  great  cities  of  that 

ince,  and  the  generality  of  them  that  build  there,  lay  out 
a  greater  proportion  of  their  estates  on  the  house  they  dwell 
in  than  any  people  upon  the  earth." 1  Something  of  the  same 
genius  may,  I  think,  be  observed  in  the  expenditure  of  the 
North  Americans.  Their  houses  are  frequently  larger  than 

have  use  for,  so  that  part  of  them  remains  unoccupied. 
Th'-y  are,  also,  often  built  with  a  greater  regard  to  show  than 

i  •  >rt.  There  is  little  substantial  difference  between  a  gold 
and  silver  watch,  but  that  the  former  costs  double  of  the 

i .     Gold  watches  are   perhaps  more  common  in  North 

rica,  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.     It  is  pure 

vanity  that  leads  to  so  general  an  adoption  of  this  luxury,  by 

classes  who  in  England  would  not  think  of  it,  but  it  is  a 

vanity  that  fixes  itself  on  something  permanent.     In  the  end, 

is  no  cheaper  way  in  which  man  can  write,  "  I  am  rich, 

I  am  not  absolutely  poor,"  than  to  carry  a  gold 

watch.     It   is  ready  to  meet  all  occasions,  and  all  persons.2 

1  Remark  Q,  Fable  of  the  Beei. 

3 These  observations  apply  to  the  population  of  British  descent  or  birth 
•Mi  sides  of  the  line.  [Rae  overlooks  here  that  the  possession  of  a  gold 
watch,  or  any  sort  of  valuable  jewelry,  constitutes  a  hoard  of  wealth  which 
may  be  of  great  use  in  certain  emergencies.  It  is  like  the  gold  chain  of  tin- 
knight  of  the  Middle  Ages,  of  which  he  speaks  elsewhere.] 


262  APPENDIX 

In  Britain,  on  the  other  hand,  the  luxuries  that  mix  them- 
selves with  the  virtues  of  hospitality  are  more  apt  to  prevail. 
There  rare  wines,  and  refinements  in  the  dainties  of  the  table 
are  more  common. 

Besides  the  varied  character  with  which  the  various 
strength  of  the  passion  stamps  different  peoples,  there  is  a 
difference,  in  this  respect,  in  the  same  people,  between  the 
agricultural  population  and  the  inhabitants  of  cities,  which 
the  following  sagacious  remarks  of  Montesquieu  seem  to  me 
sufficiently  to  explain.  "  The  extent  of  luxury  farther  de- 
pends on  the  size  of  towns,  and  especially  of  the  capital.  In 
proportion  to  the  populousness  of  towns,  the  inhabitants  are 
tilled  with  notions  of  vanity,  and  actuated  by  an  ambition  of 
distinguishing  themselves  by  trifles.  If  they  are  numerous, 
and  most  of  them  strangers  to  one  another,  their  vanity 
redoubles,  because  there  are  greater  hopes  of  success.  As 
luxury  inspires  these  hopes,  each  man  assumes  the  marks  of  a 
superior  condition.  But,  by  endeavoring  thus  at  distinction, 
every  one  becomes  equal  and  distinction  ceases ;  as  all  are 
desirous  of  respect,  nobody  is  regarded." l 

In  the  country  it  is  different ;  every  one  is  known,  and  no 
one  can  succeed  in  passing  himself  off  for  other  than  he  is. 
In  town  Molly  Seagrim  would  have  been  admired  as  a 
fantastical  fine  lady ;  in  the  country  she  got  herself  mobbed. 
To  account  for  the  difference,  which  we  every  where  see 
between  the  dissipation  of  the  town  and  the  economy  and 
frugality  of  the  country,  we  have  only  to  consider,  in  addition 
to  this,  that  in  the  country  there  are  always  considerable 
facilities  and  encouragements,  for  even  the  poorest  to  form 
instruments,  unless  in  very  anomalous  cases,  such  as  that 
which  the  abomination  of  the  poor  laws  has  introduced  into 
England.  In  the  country  the  poor  man  can  devote  all  his 
spare  time,  which  perhaps  is  his  only  disposable  [savable] 
fund,  to  the  cultivation  of  some  plot  of  ground,  to  repairing 
his  house,  working  in  his  garden,  and  procuring  food  for  his 
cow  or  his  pig.  He  is  induced  and  enabled  to  place  out 2  all 

1  Esprit  des  Lois,  B.  VII.  c.  II. 

2  One  who  has  happened  to  reside  in  any  part  of  Scotland,  where  facilities 
of  this  sort  exist,  must  have  had  opportunities  of  observing  very  remarkable 


OF   LUXURY  263 

his  little  savings,  as  they  come  in,  on  some  profitable  invest- 
ment. Similar  circumstances  operate  similar  effects  on  the 
man  in  middling  circumstances,  and  even  on  the  rich  man. 
It  is  the  town,  especially  the  metropolis,  that  is  the  ruin  of 
landed  proprietors. 

We  may  also,  in  a  similar  manner,  explain  the  tendency  of 
new  countries  to  engender  industry  and  frugality.  The  very 
-cattered  state  of  the  population  effectually  keeps  down 
vanity;  the  absolute  necessity  of  working  up  the  materials 
within  reach,  rouses  the  accumulative  principle  to  action,  and 
the  abundance  of  these  materials  stimulates  it  to  unremitting 
exertion.  There  is  hence  no  better  school  for  the  dissolute 
European  than  the  back  woods.  After  a  dozen  years'  resi- 
dence in  them,  or  in  the  clearings  to  which  he  has  helped  to 
convert  them,  he  comes  out  a  completely  altered  man. 

It  is  perhaps  proper  to  observe  here,  that  no  blame  can 
attach  to  individuals,  for  compliances  [within  reasonable 
bounds]  with  the  follies  to  which  the  passion  of  vanity 
prompts.  It  were  a  great  mistake  to  imagine  that  even  its 
absurdities  are  easily  avoidable.  It  is  in  vain  for  any  one 
man  to  oppose  general  opinions  and  practices,  however 
ridiculous.  If  he  does  so,  he  is  sure  to  encounter  greater 
«-vils  than  a  compliance  with  the  customs  of  the  society  would 
inflict.  It  is  the  business  of  the  poor  man  to  stand  well  with 
the  world,  else  he  would  scarcely  make  his  way  through  it. 
his  business,  too,  to  avoid  a  display  of  poverty.  One  is 
to  have  most  friends  when  they  least  need  them.  "  Pour 
s'e'tablir  dans  le  monde,"  says  Rochefoucauld,  "  on  fait  tout  ce 
qu'on  pent  pour  y  paroitre  e'tabli." 

instances  of  the  indefatigable  industry  they  excite.  Tracts  of  land,  so  very 
barren  and  impracticable  as  to  seem  condemned  to  perpetual  sterility,  may 
be  teen  in  process  of  being  converted  into  fertile  soil,  by  being  let  out  in  small 
patches  at  very  long  or  perpetual  leases.  A  portion  of  the  estate  of  Pilfoddles, 
near  Aberdeen,  almost  a  continuity  of  rock,  was,  I  recollect,  so  reclaiming 
fifteen  years  ago.  Those  small  feus,  as  they  are  termed,  are  taken  by 
laborers,  who  work  on  them  at  spare  hours  when  their  other  occupations  fail 

is  sort  of  procedure  is  the  original  and  elemental  method  of  "aceumula- 
r>r  growth  of  capital.     "  Saving"  proper,  or  the  putting  by  of  funds  in 
money  to  be  either  fx|>«  n.l--.t  in  hiring  labor  or  in  Imying  titles  to 
property  ("investing"  proper),  is  an  historical  category.] 


264  APPENDIX 

"  Notwithstanding  my  poverty,"  writes  a  Jesuit  missionary 
from  China,  "  I  have  yet  been  able  to  relieve  the  extreme 
misery  of  two  poor  Christians.  The  one  had  his  house,  his 
furniture,  and  his  implements  of  trade,  destroyed  by  tire. 
The  other  was  by  profession  a  physician,  and  some  thieves 
had  in  the  night  carried  off  his  silk  dresses ;  they  might  as 
well  have  stolen  his  profession  and  his  reputation ;  for  here  a 
physician,  unless  dressed  in  silk  and  cow's  hair,  passes  for 
ignorant,  and  is  employed  by  no  one."  The  doctor  who  had 
lost  his  silken  robes  was  probably  worse  oft*  than  the  mechanic ; 
the  former  was  still  in  a  condition  to  find  work,  the  latter  wu* 
not.  He  probably,  indeed,  had  nankin  left;  but  had  he 
dressed  in  it,  especially  had  he  pretended  to  say  it  was  the 
more  comfortable  wear,  he  would  have  acted  about  as  wisely 
as  would  a  poor  young  M.D.  in  England  who  should,  in  cold 
winter  days,  attire  himself  in  dreadnought.  Who  would  trust 
a  case  to  so  absurd  a  mortal  ? 

The  man  of  independent  fortune,  again,  though  he  need  fear 
no  very  serious  evils  from  setting  himself  in  direct  opposition 
to  received  modes  of  extravagance,  will  yet  certainly  incur 
the  charge  of  eccentricity,  perhaps  of  niggardly  parsimony. 
These  are  small  inconveniences,  but  he  consults  his  ease  in 
avoiding  them. 

A  person  is  then  only  properly  guilty  of  inflicting  an  injury 
on  the  community,  when  he  runs  into  both  acknowledged 
extravagances  and  real  luxuries.  He  is  censured  by  some,  but 
envied  and  followed  by  others.  An  individual  may,  on  the 
other  hand,  somewhat  advance  the  prosperity  of  the  whole 
society,  or  at  least  of  the  order  in  it  in  which  he  is  himself 
ranked,  by  checking  his  vanity  when  it  urges  him  to  adopt 
luxuries,  permitted  to  his  fortune,  though  not  demanded  by  it. 
The  nobleman  who,  in  equipage  and  lackeys,  keeps  somewhat 
within  the  limits  which  his  revenues  would  afford ;  the  trades- 
man's wife,  who  dresses  in  calico  instead  of  silk,  are  both,  to  a 
small  extent,  public  benefactors.  Luxury,  indeed,  generally 
advances  or  recedes  slowly,  and  can  scarce  be  successfully 
encouraged  or  opposed  but  by  degrees.  There  is  always,  and 
in  every  society,  one  line,  to  go  beyond  which  is  acknowledged 
extravagance,  and  another,  not  to  come  up  to  which  is  ac- 


OF   LUXURY  265 

counted  sordid  parsimony.  (  'ras>u>  was  ashamed  to  use  some 
of  his  plate,  the  cost,  even  to  him,  appeared  too  great.1  It  is 
invidious  to  run  to  expenses  which  others  cannot  follow,  and 
quests  would  have  felt  themselves  too  much  outshone.  He 
would  have  been  more  severely  censured,  had  he  ventured  to 
entertain  them  in  the  simple  style  of  their  ancestors. 

It  were  very  difficult  to  discover  a  society  where  vanity 
does  not  more  or  less  direct  the  necessary  expenditure.  Could 
this  be  done,  we  should  there  find  things  estimated  solely  by 
their  physical  qualities,  and  as  these  differ  greatly,  there  would 
be  great  differences  in  the  estimate  made  of  each.  Whatever 
could  really  set  forth  to  advantage  the  beauty  or  grace  of 
form  or  feature,  would  be  proportionally  prized,  as  would  real 
beauty  in  articles  of  furniture,  and  in  the  form  and  decorations 
of  apartments.  But  under  this  supposition,  other  circum- 
stances being  equal,  that  would  always  be  preferred  which 
was  cheapest.  If  two  articles,  therefore,  were  presented,  of 
which  the  one  was  of  much  greater  real  beauty  than  the  other, 
but  also  much  more  expensive,  though  it  might  be  that  the 
former  would  be  preferred,  its  high  cost  would  be  esteemed  a 
defect,  and  would  proportionally  diminish  the  pleasure  yielded 
by  it.  Very  expensive  articles  would,  if  possible,  be  avoided. 
A  very  costly  dress,  for  instance,  would  affect  the  mind  of 
sue!  i  spectators  disagreeably,  as  auguring  either  a  want  of 
taste,  or  a  want  of  beauty  in  the  wearer,  requiring  much 
adventitious  aid  to  help  out  the  deficiency.  It  would  produce 
a  <lisagreeable  feeling,  somewhat  similar  to  that  caused  by  the 
vi»-w  of  a  profuse  expenditure  of  animal  power,  bringing  about 
only  a  small  effect,  and  impressing,  therefore,  with  an  idea  of 
defective  mechanism.  In  such  a  society  the  notions  of  most 
people,  and  therefore  the  general  rules  of  conduct,  would  in 
tliis  n-spect  be  completely  different  from  what  they  generally 
are. 

metimes,  though  rarely,  this  passion  instead  of  leading  to 
dissipation  [of  industrial  energy],  has  an  effect  similar  to  an 
providence,  and  causes  the  formation  of  instruments 


vero  Crasaus  orator  duos  scyphos  Mentoris  artiticis  maim  Cttlatoa  — 
•estertiia  C.—  (Jon  f  ess  Us  tamen  est,  nunquatn  se  his  uti  propter  vereoumliam 
ausum.  1'lin.  fl  \\.\III.  ,.  II. 


4J66  APPENDIX 

of  slowly  returning  orders.  This  is  chietiy  remarkable  in 
buildings  intended  to  be  permanent.  If  the  materials  and 
workmanship  of  these  are  not  substantial,  and  such  as  insure 
durability  to  the  edifice,  the  defect  is  commonly  perceptible, 
and  is  ridiculed  as  proceeding  from  poverty,  or  from  dread  of 
expense.  The  vanity  of  the  rich  man,  therefore,  here  excites 
him  to  work  for  succeeding  generations,  that  he  may  give  the 
present  a  high  idea  of  the  extent  of  his  resources.  He  besides, 
in  this  way,  hopes  to  make  it  apparent  to  his  contemporaries, 
that  a  monument  of  his  prosperity  and  magnificence  will 
descend  to  future  times.  The  same  observation  will  apply  to 
public  works  undertaken  by  a  proud  and  extravagant  govern- 
ment. Vanity  is  always  an  operator  in  their  formation,  and 
therefore  their  construction  is  never  altogether  regulated  by 
the  [prevailing  or  standard]  strength  of  the  accumulative 
principle,  nor  are  they  instruments  of  the  orders  which  it 
would  indicate.  "  The  proud  minister  of  an  ostentatious  court 
may  frequently  take  pleasure  in  executing  a  work  of  splendor 
and  magnificence,  such  as  a  great  highway,  which  is  frequently 
seen  by  the  principal  nobility,  whose  applause  not  only  flatters 
his  vanity,  but  even  contributes  to  support  his  interest  at 
court.  But  to  execute  a  great  number  of  little  works,  in 
which  nothing  that  can  be  done  can  make  any  great  appear- 
ance, or  excite  the  smallest  degree  of  admiration  in  any 
traveller,  and  which,  in  short,  have  nothing  to  recommend 
them  but  their  extreme  utility,  is  a  business  which  appears  in 
every  respect  too  mean  and  paltry  to  merit  the  attention  of  so 
great  a  magistrate.  Under  such  an  administration,  therefore, 
such  works  are  almost  always  entirely  neglected." l  It  is,  how- 
ever, to  be  observed,  that  in  regulating  public  works,  and  other 
public  affairs,  men  ought  to  pay  more  attention  to  the  concerns 
of  a  distant  futurity  than  in  the  management  of  their  private 
affairs.  A  century  is  a  small  part  of  the  existence  of  a  nation, 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  V.  c.  I.  [The  above  statement  in  respect  to  "little 
works  "  has  little  applicability  under  present  clay  conditions  of  government  in 
Western  Europe  and  America.  One  of  the  leading  drains  everywhere  on 
public  resources  is  the  great  multitude  of  petty  undertakings  extravagantly 
carried  out.  The  appropriations  for  really  great  public  works,  for  buildings 
which  should  indeed  have  "splendor  and  magnificence,"  are  frequently  unduly 
cut  down  because  the  revenue  of  the  state  has  been  thus  frittered  away.] 


OF   LUXURY  267 

though  it  includes  that  of  several  generations  of  individuals. 
In  statesmen,  therefore,  in  the  affairs  of  states,  the  accumula- 
tive principle  should  be  strong.  Great  durability,  consequently, 
in  public  works,  is  always  desirable.  In  like  manner  govern- 
ments should  borrow  on  different  principles  from  individuals. 
N  <  •  one,  for  instance,  now  disputes  that  it  should  have  been  the 
policy  of  Great  Britain  to  have  borrowed  as  much  on  long 
annuities  as  possible.  The  misfortune  is,  that  statesmen 

rally  think  of  themselves  more  than  of  their  country, 
and  instead  of  grappling  with  present  evils,  let  them  grow, 
content  if  they  grow  quietly  and  imperceptibly,  and  do  not 
threaten  to  deprive  them  of  the  gratification  of  maintaining 
the  pride  of  their  power  for  a  few  years'  political  triumph. 
PI'h is  consideration  may  in  part  explain  the  cause  of  the  great 
durability  of  public  works  in  China.  It  shows  that  the 
paternal  character  of  the  government  is  in  some  measure  a 
reality.  I  suspect,  however,  that  the  contrast  between  the 
construction  of  public  and  private  works  there,  is  more 
apparent  from  the  diminishing  strength  of  the  accumulative 
principle  in  that  great  Empire.  I  shall  presently  have  occasion 
to  adduce  some  reasons  for  this  conjecture. 

It  is  perhaps  here  worthy  of  remark,  as  serving  to  show 
that  ostentation  and  extravagance  have  very  little  connexion 
with  any  other  species  of  enjoyment,  but  that  which  places  its 
gratifications  in  some  superiority  over  others,  that  in  propor- 
tion as  nations  are  addicted  to  vanity  and  luxury,  their  range 
of  bodily  enjoyments  seems  to  become  less.  Cleanliness,  for 
instance,  may  be  said  to  be  a  refined  sensuality ;  it  is  a  real 
enjoyment,  on  which  the  self-mortified  ascetic  wastes  not  his 
and  we  find  that  least  attention  is  paid  to  it  by  the  vain, 

most  by  the  provident,  so  that  other  things  being  equal. 
rhere  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  is  high,  there  it 
i  npulously  observed;    where  it  is  lo\\ .  it    is  little 
lad 

The  North  American  Indians  seem  really  not  to  have  any 
notion  of  its  existence.  It  appears  to  tin-in,  in  other  people, 
as  an  affected  an-1  unaccountable  scrupulosity.1  The  Chi 

described  as  disgustingly   filthy.     Tin-  Kmnans  \\ 
JSee  "Note  J  "  in  tin-  AJ.J..  ,, 


APPENDIX 

tainly,  as  may  be  gathered  from  various  passages  in  the 
Latin  writers,  far  from  being  what  we  would  esteem  cleanly. 
An  English  gentleman  would  not  think  of  writing  to  his 
friend  that  if  he  dined  with  him  he  should  find  well-washed 

dishes. 

Ne  non  et  cantharus  et  laux 

Osteiulat  tibi  te  j1 

Horace  introduces  a  fanciful  epicure,  complaining  of  unwashed 
goblets,  want  of  table  napkins  and  sawdust,  as  taking  away 
from  the  pleasures  of  a  sumptuous  feast.2  In  modern  times 
Holland  has  been  esteemed  the  country  of  cleanliness ;  Eng- 
land perhaps  ranks  next. 

Improvement  can  never  facilitate  the  production  of  mere 
luxuries.  It  cannot  do  so  because  it  is  not  the  thing  itself, 
but  merely  the  quantity  of  labor  embodied  in  it  that  vanity 
prizes.  Diminish  the  labor  necessary  for  its  production,  and 
you  take  away  what  this  passion  covets.  It  will,  therefore, 
[thereafter]  either  consume  a  proportionally  larger  quantity 
of  the  commodity,  or  will  turn  itself  for  its  gratification  to 
other  commodities  of  greater  rarity,  which  a  greater  amount 
of  labor,  or  some  equivalent  to  it,  is  necessary  to  purchase. 

Pearls,  as  ornaments,  probably  derive  nearly  their  whole 
value  from  their  scarcity.  Reduce  their  price  to  one  half,  and 
the  quantity  worn  to  produce  the  same  effect  would  require  to 
be  doubled.  Render  them  obtainable  for  a  trifle,  and  they 
could  be  no  longer  worn.  It  has  been  more  than  once 
attempted  to  cultivate  them,  that  is  to  make  the  oyster  that 
produces  them,  bear  them  universally  and  plentifully.  Lin- 
neaus  conceived  it  practicable  by  pricking  the  animal,  and 
other  managements,  but  the  scheme  has  never  succeeded. 
Had  it  done  so  fully,  it  had  certainly  been  useless.  Suppose 
it  had  diminished  the  labor  necessary  to  procure  them  by  one 
half,  then  a  lady  to  be  as  richly  dressed  as  before,  would  just 
have  had  to  carry  double  the  number.  Had  the  facility  been 
farther  increased,  so  that  they  became  as  plentiful  as  glass 

1  Hor.  Epist.  Lib.  I.  V. 

*Sat.  IV.  L.  II.  The  Romans,  it  is  true,  bathed  frequently,  but  then  they 
had  neither  soap  nor  linen,  and  woollens  were  high  priced. 


OF   LUXURY  269 

beads,  they  would  then  have  become  as  useless.  If  every 
peasant  girl  could  afford  to  have  a  string  of  them,  no  lady 
would  wear  them,  and  when  ladies  ceased  to  wear  them, 
peasant  girls  would  lay  them  aside.1  It  is  the  same  with  all 
other  articles  that  are  mere  luxuries.  As  they  only  serve  for 
marks  of  the  riches  of  the  individuals  possessing  them,  every 
<liminution  made  in  the  labor  embodied  in  them  diminishes,  in 
a  proportionate  degree,  their  fitness  for  the  purpose  for  which 
they  are  employed.  Should  topazes  become  as  plentiful  as 
cairngorms  they  would  be  no  more  esteemed. 

There  are  few  commodities,  however,  in  which  utility,  as  well 
unity,  has  not  a  considerable  share.  On  such  the  effects 
of  improvements  are  twofold.  As  far  as  they  possess  inherent 
utility,  it  tends  to  carry  them  first,  and  subsequently  all  other 
•  uments  in  the  society,  towards  the  more  quickly  return- 
ing orders.  In  so  far  again  as  they  are  mere  luxuries,  it 
renders  a  greater  quantity  of  them  necessary,  or  unfits  them 
altogether  for  the  supply  of  the  demands  of  vanity.  There  is 
hence  a  sort  of  strife  between  the  two  principles,  the  one 
seeking  to  disparage  and  discard  such  commodities,  the  other 
to  retain  them.  The  result  seems  mainly  determined  by  the 
proportion  of  the  one,  or  the  other  sort  of  qualities,  existing 
in  the  article  in  question,  and  by  the  degree  in  which  its  con- 
sumption is  apparent.  It  may  have  so  many  useful  and 
agreeable  qualities,  that  however  easily  obtained,  or  however 
openly  consumed,  it  cannot  be  driven  out  of  use.  All  that 
vanity  can  do  with  regard  to  such  articles,  is,  to  consume 
tin-in  when  they  are  most  scarce.  Some  of  the  Romans  never 
ate  fish  but  when  at  a  distance  from  the  sea,  nor  flesh  but 
when  on  the  sea- shore.  Green  peas  become  luxuries  at 
Christmas.  Should  the  best  flannel  cost  only  two  pence  a 
yard,  if  would  still  be  worn  by  all  who  now  wear  it,  and  by 
many  who  <lo  not.  Its  consumption  is  not  conspicuous.  On 
the  contrary,  were  any  particular  fine  fabric  of  cotton 
at  ]>n-s<-nt  uv.-.l  t'nr  i;n\vns.  and  costing  two  ^hillings  ]HT 

1  "  The  price  of  pearls  in  modern  tinu<  h;is  v.ry  much  <livlim-.l  ;  puitly,  no 
<loul>t,  from  change  of  manners  and  fashions ;  but  more  probably,  from  the 
admirable  imitation  of  pearls  that  may  be  obtained  at  a  very  low  price." 
loch's  Dictionary  of  Commerce.     They  are  also  less  worn. 


270  APPENDIX 

yard,  in  consequence  of  improvement  to  be  sold  for  two 
pence  per  yard,  it  could  no  longer  be  worn.  It  would  no 
longer  be  dress  for  any  rank,  and  its  consumption  would 
therefore  diminish  or  cease.  About  ten  years  ago,  what  are 
called  leghorn  bonnets  were  fashionable  and  much  worn  in 
Canada  and  the  United  States.  They  then  cost  three  or  four 
pounds.  They  may  be  had  now  for  a  few  shillings,  and 
no  one  wears  them  ;  straw  which  were  then  disused  but  by 
the  less  wealthy,  are  now  preferred ;  they  are  dearer  and  less 
durable. 

People  who  regard  appearances,  and  are  accustomed  to  see 
and  be  seen,  can  scarce  expect  that  any  improvement  will 
materially  diminish  their  yearly  outlay  for  dress,  for  them- 
selves or  families.  Whatever  proportion  of  their  revenues 
they  may  have  found  it  necessary  so  to  expend,  in  order  to 
maintain  the  appearance  their  rank  required,  they  may  fairly 
reckon  they  will  have  to  expend  in  future.  The  gentleman, 
the  tradesman,  the  lady,  the  servant  girl,  must  alike  obey  the 
laws  which  the  strength  of  this  principle  imposes  on  the 
society.  Whatever  advance  improvement  may  make,  they 
must  still  lay  their  account  with  being  looked  down  on  by 
their  respective  associates,  or  having  to  wear  garments  just  as 
expensive  as  ever,  without  being  better  looking,  or  more  com- 
fortable, in  a  degree  answering  by  any  means  to  the  facilities 
of  fabrication  effected  by  the  successful  efforts  of  invention. 
In  so  far  as  their  dress  is  a  mark  of  their  riches,  a  sort  of  in- 
scription they  bear  about  with  them,  as  Mr.  Storch  expresses 
it,  serving  to  impress  others  with  a  belief  of  their  possessing 
a  certain  amount  of  wealth,  or  holding  such  a  rank  in  society, 
it  is  exactly  analogous  to  coin.  Double  the  faculty  of  pro- 
duction, the  quantity  carried  about,  to  answer  the  same 
purpose,  must  be  doubled,  or  recourse  must  be  had  to  some 
other  material.  Purple  or  scarlet,  served  among  the  Romans 
for  a  mark  of  this  sort ;  only  the  rich  could  afford  to  wear  it. 
Although  still  admired  as  a  color,  it  no  longer  serves  the  pur- 
pose, and  is  comparatively  little  used.  Lace,  among  the 
moderns,  was  once  a  mark  of  the  same  kind.  Invention  has 
so  far  facilitated  the  production  of  some  sorts  of  it,  that  the 
wearing  them  no  longer  confers  distinction.  Increase  that 


OF  LUXURY  271 

facility,  till  a  yard  of  the  finest  sorts  may  be  had  for  a  few 
half  pence,  and  it  is  questionable  if  the  beauty  of  the  fabric 
would  preserve  it  as  an  article  of  dress  wearable  by  any  one.1 

To  articles  of  furniture,  of  diet,  to  the  equipage  of  the  rich, 
and  to  the  whole  apparent  expenditure  of  every  class,  similar 
rvations  will  apply.  A  greater  or  less  part  of  the  effects 
of  improvement,  is  absorbed  by  vanity  in  them  all,  and  conse- 
quently lost. 

In  as  far  again  as  any  article  is  not  a  luxury,  in  as  far  as 
it  is  beyond  the  reach  of  vanity,  and  consumed  to  supply 
some  real  want,  not  to  display  superiority,  in  so  far  improve- 
ment is  really  felt.  Were  invention  to  discover  some  sub- 
stance having  all  the  properties,  and  the  exact  appearance 

1  "  At  Honiton,  in  Devon,  the  manufacture  had  arrived  at  that  perfection, 
was  so  tasteful  in  the  design,  and  so  delicate  and  beautiful  in  the  workman- 
ship, as  not  to  be  excelled  by  the  best  specimens  of  Brussels  lace.  During 
ae  war,  veils  of  this  lace  were  sold  in  London  from  twenty  to  one 
hundred  guineas  ;  they  are  now  sold  from  eight  to  fifteen  guineas.  The  effects 
of  the  competition  of  machinery,  however,  were  about  this  time  felt ;  and  in 
1815,  the  broad  laces  began  to  be  superseded  by  the  new  manufacture.  Steam 
power  was  first  introduced  by  Mr.  John  Lindsey,  in  1815-16;  but  did  not 
come  into  active  operation  till  1820.  It  became  general  in  1822-23 ;  and  a 
great  stimulus  was  at  this  period  given  to  the  trade,  owing  to  the  expiration 
of  Mr.  Heathcoat's  patent,  the  increased  application  of  power,  and  the  perfec- 
tion to  which  the  different  hand  frames  had  by  this  time  been  brought.  A 
temporary  prosperity  shone  on  the  trade  ;  and  numerous  individuals— clergy- 
men, lawyers,  doctors,  and  others — readily  embarked  capital  in  so  tempting 
a  speculation.  Prices  fell  in  proportion  as  production  increased,  but  the 
i<l  was  immense  ;  and  the  Nottingham  lace  frame  became  the  organ  of 
general  supply,  rivaling  and  supplanting,  in  plain  nets,  the  most  finished  pro- 
ductions of  France  and  the  Netherlands.  Lace,  having  become  a  common 
ornament,  easily  accessible  to  all  classes,  has  lost  its  attractions  in  the  fashion- 
able circles,  by  which  it  was  fonnerly  patronized,  so  that  very  rich  lace  is  no 
longer  in  demand.  Ajid  many  articles  of  dress,  which  in  our  drawing  rooms 
and  ball  rooms,  lately  consisted  of  the  most  costly  and  tasteful  patterns  in 
lace,  are  now  either  superseded  or  made  of  different  manufacture. — Many  of 
s  in  Nottingham  are  at  present  unemployed  ;  and  even  for  the 
most  splendid  and  beautiful  specimens  of  embroidery,  some  of  which  have 
occupied  six  weeks,  working  six  days  a  week  and  fourteen  hours  a  day,  the 
young  women  have  not  earned  more  than  one  shilling  a  day.  The  condition  of 
plain  lace  workers  is  still  more  deplorable— they  cannot  obtain  more,  on 
average,  than  two  shillings  and  six  pence  a  week,  and  working  twelve  or 
hours  per  day,  for  their  anxious  and  unremitting  labor."— McCulloch's 
of  Commerce. 


•J72  APPENDIX 

of  good  leather,  and  capable  of  being  formed  for  one  sixth  of 
the  outlay,  it  would  be  an  effort  of  that  power  very  sensibly 
felt.  Boots  would  probably  indeed  cease  to  be  worn  by  the 
higher  classes,  unless  when  on  horseback,  but  good  shoes 
cannot  be  dispensed  with  by  any  class.  They  are  worn  for 
comfort,  not  for  show,  and  the  diminution  in  the  outlay  neces- 
sary to  procure  them,  would  constitute  a  real  improvement. 
Improvements  in  mining  and  modes  of  transporting  coals, 
diminishing  the  labor  necessary  to  bring  them  to  market,  are 
also  sensibly  felt,  they  facilitate  the  supply  of  real  wants 
and  move  instruments  towards  the  more  quickly  returning 
orders.  Improvements  in  the  manufacture  of  iron,  also  escape 
vanity  and  are  real.  Could  ingenuity  discover  a  method  of 
quarrying  stones  and  reducing  them  to  shape,  or  of  making 
bricks  at  one  half  of  the  present  outlay,  it  would  be  a  real 
improvement :  only  a  small  part  of  it  would  be  lost  in  vanity; 
for,  unless  in  the  highest  classes,  a  dwelling-house  is  much 
more  for  comfort  than  for  show.  Could  the  substance  of 
potatoes  be  converted  into  an  article  exactly  similar  to 
wheaten  flour,  and  requiring  only  half  the  outlay,  that  would 
also  be  a  very  great  improvement.  Improvements,  too,  in  the 
fabrication  of  articles  of  glass,  and  earthen  ware,  are  in  a 
great  degree  real.  Could  the  manufacture  of  plate  glass  be 
so  facilitated,  that  it  might  be  had  for  only  double  the  price 
of  common  window  glass,  the  substitution  of  the  one  for  the 
other  could  not  be  called  a  luxury,  but  a  real  improvement, 
an  increased  provision  for  the  supply  of  future  wants.  In 
Great  Britain  ingenuity  has  succeeded,  in  recent  years,  in  very 
greatly  facilitating  the  manufacture  of  cotton  fabrics.  The 
increased  facility  of  production  has  in  part  effected  a  real 
improvement,  but  certainly  has  in  a  great  measure  also  been 
absorbed  by  vanity.  Much  less  labor  is  now  necessary  to 
produce  articles  of  dress  of  this  material  which  are  not  seen, 
or  are  but  little  seen;  but  for  dresses  worn  in  public,  the 
expenditure  is  certainly  not  diminished,  or  the  beaiity  or 
comfort  of  the  article  increased,  in  proportion  to  the  increased 
facility  of  production.  The  finer  sorts  of  these  stuffs  are 
perhaps  produced  with  ten  times  the  facility  they  were 
twenty  years  ago,  yet  probably  the  whole  annual  expenditure 


OF  LUXURY  273 

which  a  young  female  makes  for  such  part  of  her  apparel  as 
is  formed  of  these  stuffs,  is  little  less  than  what  her  mother, 
twenty  years  ago,  was  accustomed  to  make,  and  certainly  she 
is  not  ten  times  more  becomingly  or  more  comfortably  clad. 
The  great  cheapness  indeed  of  even  the  finest  and  most 
delicate  of  these  fabrics,  is  such  that  vanity  seems  to  be 
discarding  them.  The  utmost  efforts  of  ingenuity  can 
'•ely  embody  a  sufficiency  of  labor  in  them,  or  vary 
them  so  as  to  make  them  a  fit  full  dress  for  even  a  trades- 
man's wife. 

All  luxuries  occasion  a  loss  to  the  society,  in  proportion  to 
their  amount.  The  industry  employed  in  their  formation, 
generates  no  provision  for  future  wants,  and  may  be  said  to 
be  expended  in  vain.  Taking  the  whole  society  as  a  body,  it 
supplies  no  wants.  It  gives  no  absolute  enjoyment,  it  is  all 
relative ;  as  much  as  one  is  raised  by  it,  another  is  depressed, 
the  superiority  of  one  man  being  here  equivalent  to  the  inferi- 
ority of  another.  To  increase  the  facilities  of  production  of 
luxuries,  therefore,  brings  no  addition  to  the  absolute  capital. 
It  is  precisely  analogous  to  increasing  the  facilities  for  the 
production  of  the  metals  used  for  coin,  merely  adding  to  the 
bulk  circulated,  and  not  enabling  it  in  any  degree  to  perform 
it-  office  better.  The  expense,  too,  occasioned  by  keeping  up 
the  circulation  of  the  one  and  the  other,  and  consequent  dimi- 
nution of  the  national  revenue,  is  equally  a  loss.  It  is  much 
greater,  however,  in  the  case  of  luxuries  than  of  coinage, 
because  the  whole  amount  of  the  former,  in  all  societies,  is 
probably  much  greater  than  that  of  the  latter ;  and  because 
it  consists,  in  general,  of  materials  far  more  easily  destroyed. 
To  the  loss  thus  occasioned  by  vanity  the  term  [economic] 
dissipation  may  be  applied.  Its  amount  cannot,  for  reasons 
ly  stated,  be  easily  ascertained,  nor  is  it  necessary  for 
our  purpose  that  it  should.  It  is  sufficient  to  observe,  that, 
in  all  societies  which  have  hitherto  existed,  it  has  been  con- 
si-  l.-rable ;  and  that  it  seems  to  be  determined,  in  every  society, 
by  the  strength  of  the  selfish,  and  weakness  of  the  intellec- 
and  benevolent  affections;  and,  consequently, 
that  it  is  inversely  as  the  strength  of  the  accumulative 
principle. 


274  APPENDIX 

Though  vanity,  in  this  way,  operates  directly  to  retard  the 
increase  of  the  stock  of  the  society,  some  of  its  indirect  effects 
have,  notwithstanding,  an  opposite  tendency.  As  an  antago- 
nist to  the  restraining  influence  of  the  spirit  of  imitation,  it 
is  often  a  very  useful  auxiliary  in  the  spread  of  inventions. 
These,  without  its  aid,  might  perhaps  have  been  shut  up  in 
the  countries  where  they  were  discovered;  certainly  they 
would  not  have  passed  from  region  to  region,  so  rapidly  as 
they  have  sometimes  succeeded  in  doing.  Under  the  guise  of 
foreign  rarities,  and  consequently  luxuries,  they  have  made 
their  way  easily ;  and  the  mask  rubbing  off  in  time,  a 
substratum  of  utility  has  been  found  under  it.1 

Soap  seems  to  have  been  first  made  in  the  midst  of  the 
ashes  and  tallow  of  Germany  and  Gaul.  It  came  to  Rome  as 
a  luxury,  in  the  shape  of  a  pigment  for  the  hair.  In  the 
course  of  time,  its  superior  detergent  qualities  becoming 
apparent,  and  the  manufacture  being  introduced,  this  article 
so  essential  to  the  comfort  of  the  modern  European,  pasM-d 
entirely  out  of  the  rank  of  luxuries.  Vanity  also  brought 
silk  to  Europe.  At  first  it  was  almost  entirely  a  luxury. 
As  a  garment  it  often  has  more  beauty  than  [material  of] 
any  other  texture ;  but  when  it  exchanged  for  its  weight  in 
gold,  its  beauty  must  have  constituted  but  a  small  part  of 
the  enjoyment  derived  from  the  wearing  of  it.  In  some 
fabrics  it  is  now  scarcely  a  luxury ;  its  qualities  of  durability 
and  beauty  seem  to  give  it  a  real  superiority,  sufficient  to 
render  the  superior  price  paid  for  it  no  dissipation.  Increase 
that  facility  very  much,  and  some  of  these  fabrics  would  be 
[altogether]  discarded  by  vanity,  [but  retained  by  true 
economy].  Were  velvet  to  become  as  cheap  as  cloth,  it  would 
not  be  worn  by  the  higher  classes;  its  greater  durability 
would  make  it  too  economical  for  them,  and  its  adoption 
by  the  lower  would  render  it  vulgar.  Fabrics  of  cotton  were 
at  first  luxuries.  They  would  not,  perhaps,  have  been  worn 
[at  all  in  Europe]  had  they  not  had  rarity,  and  consequently 
vanity,  to  recommend  them.  Cashmere  shawls  are  so  now ; 
in  time  they  too  may  cease  to  be  so.  The  process,  indeed, 
has  made  some  progress  in  France,  where,  I  have  been  toldr 

1  [Compare  Article  VIII.,  p.  415.] 


OF  LUXURY  275 

the  breed  of  the  animal  yielding  the  wool  has  been  introduced, 
and  the  manufacture  considerably  advanced. 

Vanity,  also,  [besides  aiding  in  the  spread  of  established 
arts]  sometimes  facilitates  [the  creation  of  wholly  new  forms 
of]  real  improvement,  by  the  high  estimate  it  gives  to  articles 
that  are  mere  luxuries,  but  which  contain  the  rudiments  of 
extensive  utility.  It  thus  stimulates  invention  to  facilitate 
their  production,  develop  their  utility,  and  put  them  out  of 
the  class  of  luxuries. 

Glass  was  at  first  a  pure  luxury.  It  was  prized  by  the 
Romans  for  show,  as  glass  beads  are  now  by  savages.  Ingenuity 
at  length  perfected  the  various  processes  of  the  manufacture, 
and  made  it  an  article  extensively  supplying  real  wants. 
The  diamond  is  at  present  chiefly  a  luxury ;  should  art  ever 
succeed  in  giving  at  will  a  crystalline  structure  to  simple 
carbon,  so  as  to  convert  it  into  that  substance,  it  would 
pass  from  the  rank  of  luxuries,  and  would,  too,  contribute 
largely  to  the  supply  of  real  wants.  The  high  estimation  in 
which  it  is  held  serves  at  present  to  turn  the  attention  of 
ingenuity  strongly  to  such  a  project. 

These,  however,  are  indirect,  and,  as  it  were,  accidental 
effects  of  luxury;  its  direct  operation  is  always  to  dissipate 
a  part  of  the  national  funds  proportioned  to  its  strength. 

The  different  effects  arising  from  the  action  of  the  inventive 
faculty,  as  it  operates  on  utilities  or  luxuries,  afford  a  means 
of  distinguishing  the  one  from  the  other.  The  progress  of  in- 
vention extends  the  consumption  of  utilities ;  it  diminishes  the 
consumption  of  pure  luxuries.  Were  steel,  platina,  or  plate 
glass,  produced  by  one  tenth  of  the  labor  they  presently  cost, 
their  consumption  would  be  very  much  increased.  Were 
pearls,  or  lace,  to  be  got  for  one  tenth  of  the  labor  that  must 
now  be  given  for  them,  they  would  go  completely  out  of 
fashion.  The  additional  amount  of  utilities  produced,  occupy- 
ing the  place  of  instruments  that  cost  more  labor,  and  did  not 
r«  turn  more  abundantly,  their  consumption  implies  a  diminu- 
tion in  the  cost  of  the  whole  stock  of  the  society  as  compared 
with  the  returns  made  by  it,  and  consequently  the  progress 
liat  stock  to  an  order  of  quicker  return.  The  facility 
given  to  the  production  of  luxuries  has  rather  a  contrary 


276  APPENDIX 

effect,  exciting  to  the  greatest  outlay  of  labor  of  which  the 
accumulative  principle  is  capable,  previous  to  the  abandoning 
of  the  manufacture. 


[In  the  last  few  pages  of  the  foregoing  Article,  Rae  takes  some  account  of 
the  indirect  and  contingent  effects  of  luxury  (as  elsewhere  of  wars,  persecu- 
tions, and  the  like),  but  he  does  not  carry  this  line  of  speculation  far  enough. 
His  handling  of  the  subject  as  a  whole  is,  consequently,  much  inferior  to  that 
of  Hume  and  some  others.  It  may  be  said,  I  think,  to  lack  generosity  ;  and 
hence  its  error.  Such  a  sweeping  indictment  cannot  issue  against  the  whole 
human  race. 

Rae's  teaching  here,  on  its  purely  economic  side,  needs  to  be  supplemented 
by  the  following  from  Bagehot's  Economic  Studies,  London  edition,  1880, 
p.  172. 

' '  But  we  must  observe  what  is  incessantly  forgotten,  that  it  is  not  a 
Spartan  and  ascetic  state  of  society  which  most  generates  saving.  .  .  .  With- 
out the  multifarious  accumulation  of  wants  which  are  called  luxury,  there 
would  in  such  a  state  of  society  be  far  less  saving  than  there  is.  If  you  look 
at  the  West-end  of  London  with  its  myriad  comforts  and  splendors,  it  looks  at 
first  sight  like  a  mere  apparatus  for  present  enjoyment.  And  so  far  as  the 
present  feelings  of  those  who  live  there  go,  it  often  is.  Very  many  of  the 
inhabitants  are  thinking  only  of  themselves.  But  there  is  no  greater  benefit 
to  the  community  for  all  that  than  this  seemingly  thoughtless  enjoyment.  It 
is  the  bait  by  which  the  fish  is  caught  ;  it  is  the  attraction  by  which  capital 
is  caught.  To  lead  a  bright  life  like  that,  at  least  that  his  children  may  lead 
it  or  something  like  it,  many  times  as  many  as  those  who  now  live  it,  spare 
and  save."] 


ARTICLE   II. 

OF  EXCHANGE  BETWEEN  DIFFERENT  COMMUNITIES 
OF  COMMODITIES  WHICH  MINISTER  TO  LUXURY. 

WHEN  luxuries,  the  produce  of  foreign  art,  present  them- 
selves to  a  society,  where  they  had  before  been  strangers, 
their  [true]  value  cannot  be  [readily]  ascertained  by  compar- 
ing them  with  commodities  of  domestic  formation,  for  it  is 
not  indeed  the  really  useful  qualities  of  commodities  [which 
are  readily  comparable],  that  fit  them  more  or  less  perfectly 
to  gratify  the  passion  of  vanity,  but  solely  the  difficulty  of 
procuring  them.  Were  a  quantity  for  example  of  the  article 
used  for  hemp  in  New  Zealand,  shown  to  a  person  in  England, 
who  had  never  before  seen  it,  and  was  totally  ignorant  of  its 
price,  on  being  made  accurately  acquainted  with  its  strength, 
durability,  weight,  absorbing  qualities,  and  pliancy,  as  com- 
pared with  real  hemp,  he  would  be  able,  knowing  the  value  of 
the  latter,  to  state  pretty  nearly  what  it  actually  sold  for. 
But  were  a  person,  in  the  same  country,  perfectly  ignorant  of 
the  value  of  pearls,  and  never  having  seen  any,  to  be  shown  a 
ring  of  them,  and  made  acquainted  with  their  qualities  in 
•la lion  to  artificial  pearls,  and  glass  beads  of  various  sorts, 
lough  knowing  well  the  price  of  the  latter,  he  would 
unly  be  unable  to  assign  the  sum  to  be  got  for  the  former. 
Were  a  variety  of  alcoholic  liquors  to  be  presented  to  an 
individual  quite  ignorant  of  them,  and  of  their  value,  and 
were  he,  changing  from  one  to  another,  to  partake,  occasion- 
ally, freely  of  them  all  for  months  and  years  together,  all  other 
circumstances  concerning  them  but  their  sensible  qualities 


278  APPENDIX 

and  effects  being  concealed  from  him,  he  would  certainly 
be  unable  to  fix  their  relative  value.  Were,  in  like  manner, 
specimens  of  all  the  different  fabrics  used  for  female  attire  for 
the  last  ten  years,  with  their  relative  durabilities  ticketed  on 
them,  presented  to  a  person  of  good  taste,  but  perfectly 
ignorant  of  these  matters,  he  would  certainly  also  be  quite 
incapable  of  coming  near  their  actual  relative  cost  [to  pur- 
chasers in  the  market.]  The  same  observation  will  apply  to 
all  other  luxuries.  As  they  compare  with  each  other,  not  by 
their  inherent  qualities,  but  by  the  difficulty  in  procuring 
them,  unless  the  comparative  labor  necessary  to  procure  them 
be  known,  there  is  no  means  of  fixing  their  relative  price.  It 
affords  a  rule,  too,  by  which  we  may  test  what  are,  or  are  not, 
luxuries.  Thus,  I  apprehend,  that  were  a  silver  spoon,  or 
sauce-pan,  or  vase,  shown  for  the  first  time,  to  any  person  in 
the  middle  ranks  of  life,  though  ignorant  of  its  value  [selling 
price],  yet  seeing  its  beauty  and  susceptibility  of  receiving  the 
most  delicate  impressions  of  the  workman,  and  being  informed 
of  its  durability,  safety,  and  the  saving  of  labor  attending  its 
use,  on  a  fair  estimate  of  these  qualities,  he  would  place 
it  not  very  far  below  its  present  relative  value  to  copper. 
He  might,  it  seems  to  me,  considering  merely  the  qualities 
inherent  in  it,  be  willing  to  give  for  it  twenty  or  thirty 
times  what  he  would  for  the  same  article  wrought  in 
copper.  He  would,  however,  I  should  apprehend,  be  far  from 
estimating  similar  articles  fabricated  of  gold,  at  sixteen  times 
the  price  of  the  same  in  silver.  Supposing  him  possessed  of 
real  taste  and  accurate  judgment,  the  difference  between  his 
estimate,  and  the  actual  comparative  value  [market  valuation] 
of  these  metals,  would  mark  how  far  they  were,  or  were  not, 
luxuries  to  people  of  his  fortune. 

The  only  rule,  then,  which  people  desirous  of  possessing 
luxuries  can  adopt  for  measuring  what  they  will  give  for 
them,  is  the  degree  of  difficulty  of  procuring  them,  the  amount 
of  labor  which  must  be  given  for  them.  When  they  are 
satisfied  that  any  particular  article  of  the  sort  they  are  in 
quest  of  is  used  by  other  people,  and  that  it  cannot  be  had  for 
less,  they  will  pay  the  price  demanded.  They  do  not  seek  for 
the  grounds  of  their  determination  in  the  utility  of  the  com- 


OF  FOREIGN   TRADE   IN   LUXURIES          279 

modity,  but  in  its  scarcity.  Let  a  farmer  go  to  lay  out  three 
pounds  on  lace  for  his  wife,  if  he  is  assured  that  the  dealer  in 
that  article  to  whom  he  applies  will  not  charge  him  more  than 
others,  and  that  Mr.  A's  wife  and  Mr.  B's  wife  wear  the  same 
sort,  he  will  care  little  whether  he  gets  for  his  money  six  or 
twelve  yards,  or  whether  it  be  two  or  three  inches  broad.  All 
that  he  is  concerned  about  is  that  he  should  get  as  much  as 
other  people.  Let  the  same  farmer  think  of  purchasing  some 
new  manure  for  his  land,  he  will  conceive  it  necessary  to 
ascertain  both  the  effects  of  the  article  upon  the  soil  he  farms, 
in  comparison  with  other  manures,  and  its  cost  also  com- 
pared with  them.  If  he  find  that,  compared  with  them, 
the  cost  is  no  greater,  he  will  be  inclined  to  purchase ;  if  he 
th id  it  less,  he  will  conceive  it  so  much  gain;  while  it 
lasts  it  will  be  equivalent  to  a  marie  pit  discovered  on  his 
"wn  farm. 

If  a  dealer  imports  a  commodity  having  a  shade  of  distinc- 
tion scarcely  perceptible  considered  in  relation  to  the  degree 
of  enjoyment  it  gives,  but  sufficiently  marked  to  distinguish  it 
from  other  commodities  of  the  sort,  and  if  half  a  dozen  people 
of  rank  adopt  the  use  of  the  article  as  a  sign  of  their  superi- 
ority, it  has  all  chances  to  enter  into  the  consumption  of  every 
individual  in  the  community  who  can  afford  it.  In  such 
9,  the  price  of  the  commodity  depends  [at  first]  altogether 
on  the  venders  of  it.  But,  as  each  of  these  wishes  to  sell 
as  much  as  possible,  and  as  he  can  do  so  most  readily  by 
underselling  his  neighbors,  the  price  gradually  falls  under  a 
free  competition,  until  the  dealers  in  it  receive  only  the  profits 
that  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation,  and  the  progress  of 
improvement  in  the  society  measures  out  to  them.  At  the 
end  of  the  process  the  whole  difference  observable,  if  the 
article  be  completely  a  luxury,  is  a  change  of  fashion.  The 
principle  of  accumulation  has  not  been  led  to  grasp  a  greater 
compass  of  materials,  nor  has  any  addition  been  made  to  the 
general  stock  of  the  society :  there  has  been  merely  the  intro- 
•  luction  of  a  new  set  of  marks  of  distinction.  The  property  in 
lation  is  not  augmented,  but  the  coin  has  received  a  new 
impression, or  got  increased  weight.  It  may,  however,  happen 
ami  very  often  does  happen,  that,  during  the  process,  a  sort  of 


280  APPENDIX 

factitious  improvement  is  introduced,  which,  while  it  lasts,  is 
sometimes  nearly  equivalent  to  a  real  improvement. 

Suppose  a  merchant,  seeking  to  strike  out  a  new  branch  of 
trade,  exports  to  some  distant  country,  and  sells  there  to 
advantage,  an  article  of  luxury  the  produce  of  the  community 
to  which  he  belongs,  and  in  return  receives  for  it  a  com- 
modity, a  simple  utility  in  demand  among  his  countrymen. 
Let  the  former  commodity  be  lace,  and  the  country  to  which 
it  is  exported  E,  and  the  latter  commodity  barilla,  and  country 
to  which  it  is  imported  D.  In  process  of  time  the  trade 
increases,  until  a  large  quantity  of  lace  is  exported,  and  a 
large  quantity  of  barilla  imported.  Suppose,  farther,  that  the 
steady  demand  for  the  lace,  joined  to  other  circumstances, 
animates  ingenuity  to  facilitate  the  process  of  manufacture, 
and  that  the  article  is  before  long  produced  at  half  the  outlay 
it  cost  when  first  exported.  In  the  ordinary  course  of  matters, 
the  diminished  cost  of  production  should  be  followed  by  a 
correspondent  reduction  in  the  price  it  is  sold  at  in  E.  Two 
circumstances,  however,  may  prevent  this.  The  intercourse 
between  D  and  E  may  be  very  difficult,  and  clogged  by  many 
obstructions,  and  the  community  E  may  be  very  numerous, 
and  may  easily  absorb  a  large  amount  of  the  article.  Both 
circumstances  would  help  to  diminish  the  effects  of  competi- 
tion ;  the  former  by  lessening  the  number  of  competitors,  the 
latter  by  preventing  the  actual  competition  induced  from 
operating  fully.  It  might  in  consequence  happen,  that  lace, 
though  produced  with  double  facility,  [still]  sold  in  E  at  nearly 
the  same  price  as  at  first.  If  we  suppose  that  commodity 
to  be  a  pure  luxury,  this  would  be  no  disadvantage  to  E,  for  the 
quantity  actually  used  at  that  price  would  serve  exactly  the 
same  purpose  as  double  that  quantity  at  a  price  reduced  one 
half  by  reason  of  the  diminished  outlay  of  labor :  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  would  be  so  far  an  advantage  to  D,  that  it 
would  place  somewhere  there  the  command  of  all  the  labor 
which  in  E  was  actually  paid  for.  Among  the  members  of 
the  society  D,  double  the  quantity  of  barilla  that  the  labor 
[indirectly]  expended  in  procuring  it  was  [equitably]  entitled 
to,  would  somehow  or  another  be  shared.  The  advantage 
would  not  certainly,  of  necessity,  have  that  healthy  and 


OF  FOREIGN   TRADE   IN   LUXURIES          281 

vivifying  effect  which  real  improvement  occasions,  for  it 
might  not  spread  through  the  whole  community,  but  might 
be  dissipated  in  luxuries  by  the  merchants,  manufacturers, 
and  artisans  engaged  in  acquiring  it.  If,  however,  in  other 
branches  of  trade  and  of  manufactures  for  exportation,  similar 
facilities  were  [generally]  introduced,  and  similar  large  returns 
obtained,  and  if  in  all  the  departments  of  domestic  industry 
great  real  improvements  take  place,  the  advance  of  the  whole 
society  would  be  uniform,  and  not  much  unlike  what  would 
flow  from  a  universally  real  improvement. 

Should  two  societies  in  the  same  way  trade  together  in 
mere  luxuries,  a  sort  of  factitious  improvement  [for  them 
both]  might  be  created  by  the  effects  of  [an  artificially]  re- 
stricted competition.  The  merchants  who  engaged  in  the 
trade  would,  in  the  first  place,  acquire  [the  equivalent  of]  all 
the  labor  saved  by  the  overcharge  of  the  commodities  they 
_:'ht  and  sold,  and  these  benefits  might  be  in  both  societies 
more  or  less  generally  diffused. 

When,  on  the  other  hand,  by  the  removal  of  [such]  restric- 
tions, and  the  increased  capacity  of  industry  to  fabricate  the 
goods  in  request  as  luxuries,  a  free  competition  is  induced,  all 
1 1  !'•->«•  factitious  advantages  disappear.  Each  adventurer 
endeavoring  to  beat  down  his  opponent  in  the  foreign  market, 
tli-  productions  of  the  industry  of  remote  countries  come  to 
be  offered  there,  for  the  lowest  amount  at  which  the  strength 
of  the  principle  of  accumulation  can  permanently  continue  to 
produce  them.  They  may  even  pass  much  below  this ;  for 
vanity,  capricious  in  its  tastes,  soon  begins  to  despise  alto- 
gether what  may  be  every  one's  purchase,  and  leaves  what  it 
once  highly  prized  as  now  vulgar  and  unworthy  of  regard. 
In  the  supposed  case  of  the  exportation  of  lace,  that  com- 
modity might  have  triple  the  labor  expended  on  it,  and  its 
quantity  might  be  increased  sixfold,  and  yet  might  bring  in  a 
smaller  return  than  it  did  before.  The  ample  revenues  which 
the  merchant,  the  manufacturer,  the  artisan,  [previously] 
derhv'l  tY<»m  the  fabrication  of  such  articles,  become  reduced 
to  the  lowest  amount  that  may  suffice  to  move  their  respective 
i  active  faculties.  Other  branches  of  manufacture  share 
same  fate;  the  whole  machinery  of  industry  is  clogged 


282  APPENDIX 

and  encumbered  by  the  heavy  additional  burden  thrown  on  it, 
and  distress  and  discouragement  pervade  the  community. 

[To  sum  up  this  particular  phase  of  our  subject.]  Restric- 
tions [of  any  sort,  brought  about  by  wars  or  otherwise,] 
operate  quite  oppositely  on  the  exchange  of  [pure]  luxuries 
between  communities,  from  what  they  do  on  the  exchange  of 
utilities.  Their  first  effects  are  beneficial,  while  their  ulterior 
effects  may  be  injurious.  The  interdiction  of  a  pure  luxury 
occasions  no  loss  whatever  to  the  whole  society.  It  can 
scarcely  fail  to  produce  a  gain.  If  it  diminish  the  whole 
amount  of  luxuries  consumed  in  the  society,  that  is  evidently 
so  much  saved.  If,  as  is  more  likely,  the  force  of  vanity  be 
not  weakened,  it  must  at  least  be  directed  to  other  objects, 
probably  to  some  domestic  imitation  of  the  foreign  article. 
In  such  cases  the  successful  imitators  will  demand  and  obtain 
prices  yielding  much  larger  profits,  than  their  capitals  would 
give  in  any  other  employments.  The  saving  of  labor,  either 
in  checking  vanity,  or  in  supplying  it  with  less  outlay,  is  gain 
to  some  individuals,  loss  to  none.  Competition,  however,  will 
in  time  reduce  the  price  paid  for  luxuries,  to  the  lowest 
amount  for  which  the  laborer  and  capitalist  will  exert  their 
energies.  As  improvement  can  have  no  effect  on  domestic 
luxuries,  and  as  they  must  always  be  rated  by  the  real  labor 
bestowed  on  them,  they  are  ultimately  the  productions  of  all 
others  least  profitable  to  the  society. 

There  are,  however,  very  few,  if  any,  commodities  which 
are  purely  luxuries.  Although  vanity  is  in  part  the  cause  of 
the  estimation  in  which  very  many  are  held,  and  though  it 
gives  to  some  perhaps  nearly  their  whole  value,  nevertheless 
it  seldom  exists  in  any  alone.  It  almost  always  applies  itself, 
as  I  have  already  observed,  to  something  ministering  in  some 
degree  to  real  wants  or  pleasures.  There  is  beneath  almost 
•every  luxury  a  substratum  of  utility  of  greater  or  less  depth. 

The  effects,  consequently  resulting  from  the  exchange  be- 
tween different  communities,  of  very  many  commodities,  are 
compounded  of  the  results  produced  by  the  traffic  in  articles 
of  utility  and  of  luxury.  As  it  is  impossible  in  almost  any 


OF   FOREIGN   TRADE   IN   LUXURIES          283 

case  to  determine  accurately  how  far  any  article  is  or  is  not  a 
luxury,  there  is  proportional  difficulty  in  ascertaining  what 
are  the  precise  effects  resulting  from  the  exchanges  actually 
carried  on  between  any  two  communities.  There  is  one  prin- 
ciple which  may,  in  some  instances,  help  to  guide  us.  Almost 
all  articles  of  which  the  consumption  is  conspicuous,  the 
precise  effects  resulting  from  their  physical  qualities  difficult 
to  ascertain,  and  which,  from  their  novelty,  have  not  yet  been 
subjected  to  the  effects  of  a  free  competition,  may  be  presumed 
to  be  in  a  great  degree  luxuries.  In  them,  we  may  be  sure, 
vanity  has  found  a  material  on  which  she  could  easily  fix, 
and  from  which  there  has  been  no  opportunity  of  dislodging 
her. 

The  relative  effects  of  restriction,  and  free  competition, 
when  opportunities  have  presented  themselves  of  observing 
them,  enable  us,  however,  with  some  certainty  to  determine, 
how  far  the  commodities  subjected  to  their  operation  have 
been  luxuries,  or  real  utilities.  In  regard  to  articles  supply- 
ing real  wants,  the  more  easy  and  unconstrained  the  com- 
munication, the  more  extended  the  production,  the  freer  the 
competition,  the  farther,  as  we  have  seen,  are  the  stocks  of 
instruments  of  the  societies  exchanging  carried  towards  the 
more  quickly  returning  orders.  Every  step  in  advance  in  the 
course  is  equivalent,  subject  only  to  the  risk  of  the  communi- 
cation being  interrupted,  to  a  real  improvement.  With  regard 
to  such  commodities,  any  general  evil  resulting  from  over- 
production is  quite  impossible.  A  partial  glut,  as  it  is  termed, 
may  indeed  occur ;  but  this,  although  a  slight  partial  evil, 
[although  an  evil  to  particular  persons],  must  be  a  general 
good.  The  commodity  produced  satisfying  real  wants,  an 
ased  supply  of  it  must  diffuse  a  general  and  sensible 
plenty.  In  regard  to  such  commodities  the  reasoning  of  Mr. 
I  conceive,  conclusive.  A  general  overproduction  is 
an  absurdity,  for  it  implies  the  means  of  a  general  consump- 
and  would,  in  fact,  be  a  general  improvement.  It  would 
be  as  if  the  materials  which  nature  has  given  to  man  were  to 
receive  powers  in  addition  to  those  which  they  already 
possess,  for  satisfying  his  wants ;  as  if  the  grain  of  the  fields, 
the  grass  of  the  meadow,  the  trees  of  the  forest,  advanced 


284  APPENDIX 

more  rapidly  to  perfection,  as  if  the  ore  yielded  up  its  metallic 
treasures  with  greater  facility,  the  sun  diffused  a  more  genial 
warmth,  and  the  earth  rejoiced  in  universal  and  exuberant 
fertility.  The  increased  provision  for  wants  thus  presented, 
must  either  be  consumed,  or  applied  to  the  formation  of  in- 
struments to  supply  the  demands  of  a  more  distant  futurity. 

But  though  these  are  the  effects  of  increased  facilities  in  the 
exchange  of  commodities  in  as  far  as  they  are  real  utilities,  it 
is  exactly  the  reverse  in  so  far  as  they  are  luxuries.  Restric- 
tion in  the  exchange  of  luxuries  may  be,  and  often  is  felt,  as 
no  diminution  of  enjoyment,  but  a  great  saving  of  labor,  and 
the  removal  of  that  restriction  may  almost  immediately  oblige 
all,  or  many  of  the  communities  exchanging,  to  expend  the 
whole  amount  of  labor  they  had  before  saved.  If  then  we 
find  that  increased  facility  of  exchange,  instead  of  diffusing 
plenty,  spreads  poverty,  instead  of  carrying  the  stocks  of  the 
communities  exhanging  towards  the  more  quickly  returning 
orders,  places  them  in  those  of  slower  return,  we  may  assure 
ourselves  that  vanity  must  have  been  a  very  potent  agent  in 
giving  to  the  commodities  exchanged  the  estimation  in  which 
they  were  held. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  example  that  was  ever  pre- 
sented, of  general  and  long  continued  restrictions  being  at 
once  and  completely  removed,  is  that  which  occurred  in  con- 
sequence of  the  general  peace  succeeding  the  final  defeat  of 
the  Emperor  Napoleon.  A  power  which  modern  times  cannot 
parallel,  had  been  long  exerted  to  bind  up  the  commerce  of 
Europe.  It  had  been  exerted  in  vain,  for  that  commerce  still 
moved,  though  it  moved  in  shackles.  The  termination  of  the 
war  undid  them  at  once.  The  ships  of  the  merchant  again 
securely  passed  from  land  to  land,  and  he  again,  without  fear, 
exposed  his  wares  in  every  market.  Had  the  commodities 
thus  largely  exchanged,  been  altogether  utilities,  it  is  impos- 
sible but  that  a  vast  improvement  must  have  been  universally 
experienced,  an  augmentation  of  the  resources  of  society  every 
where  felt.  The  havock  and  insecurity  of  war,  and  the  waste 
of  stock  and  labor  attending  it  were  done  away  with,  and  the 
whole  energy  and  intelligence  of  the  most  powerful  and  intel- 
lectual race  which  possibly  the  world  has  as  yet  seen,  were 


OF  FOREIGN   TRADE   IN   LUXURIES          285 

turned  to  the  arts  of  peace,  and  the  amelioration  of  the 
condition  of  man.  Instead,  however,  of  having  to  mark  the 
progress  of  abundance,  prosperity,  and  happiness,  we  are  rather 
called  on  to  note  the  prevalence  of  poverty  and  distress.  It 
is  I  apprehend, impossible,  to  explain  the  far  extended  oppres- 
M"n  under  which  capital  and  industry  have  labored,  but  by 
admitting  that  they  have  applied  themselves  largely  to  objects, 
the  direct  effects  of  the  attainment  of  which  are  worse  than 
useless  to  society.  Misery  it  is  true  is  clamorous,  happiness  is 
quiet,  and  therefore  the  amount  of  the  actual  distress  may 
sometimes  have  been  made  to  appear  greater  than  the  reality ; 
but  admitting  a  large  deduction  for  misrepresentation  thence 
arising,  there  remain  too  many  well  authenticated  facts  and 
statements  to  doubt,  that  if  freedom  of  intercourse  and  com- 
petition has  produced  good,  it  has  also  produced  evil,  and 
hence  that  luxuries  have  made  a  large  part  of  the  commodities 
in  the  production  of  which  that  competition  has  exerted  its 
powers.  We  may  observe,  too,  that  countries  producers  of 
articles  which  cannot  be  accounted  luxuries,  have  in  fact 
derived  great  advantages  from  the  facility  of  intercourse  and 
increase  of  exchanges.  Russia  seems  never  to  have  made  so 
rapid  advances,  as  within  the  last  twenty  years,  while  in  Great 
Britain  protracted  misery  and  distress  were  never  so  rife  as 
they  have  been  for  the  greater  part  of  that  period.  Were 
European  nations  ranged  according  to  [the  character  of]  their 
productions,  those  two  countries  would  probably  be  at  opposite 
extremities  of  the  scale  of  industry. 


ARTICLE   III. 

OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR  ON  LUXURIES. 

THE  legislator  is  always  called  on  to  provide  a  considerable 
annual  revenue.  He  has  to  provide  for  the  expenses  incident 
to  the  conduct  of  present  wars,  to  the  burdens  imposed  by 
those  of  preceding  times,  to  the  construction  and  maintenance 
of  public  works,  to  the  encouragement  of  science  and  art  by 
premiums  and  otherwise,  and  to  various  other  outlays.  If 
any  part,  therefore,  of  this  necessary  annual  expenditure,  can 
be  drawn  from  funds  naturally  dissipated  in  luxury,  the  art 
of  the  legislator  will  here  effect  a  saving  to  the  community  to 
that  amount. 

Commodities  which  are  mere  luxuries,  derive  their  value,  as 
we  have  seen,  from  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  them.  The 
amount  of  labor  [and  other  costs  of  production]  necessary  to 
procure  them,  and  which  thus  may  be  said  to  be  embodied  in 
them,  is  what  makes  them  esteemed.  It  is  through  it  that 
they  become  fit  objects  of  vanity,  marks  of  riches,  things  dis- 
tinguishing their  possessors  from  other  men.  It  is  of  no 
consequence  how  this  labor  has  been  expended.  It  may  have 
been  given  to  ransack  the  depths  of  the  earth  as  for  diamonds, 
or  of  the  sea  as  for  pearls.  All  that  the  possessor  of  the 
luxury  desires,  is,  to  have  a  means  of  showing  that  he  has 
acquired  the  command  of  a  certain  amount  of  the  exertions  of 
other  men.  It  is  a  matter  of  indifference  to  him,  what  the 
difficulty  is,  to  surmount  which  these  exertions  are  necessary. 
Thus,  were  we  to  suppose  that  diamonds  could  only  be  obtained 
from  one  particular  and  distant  country,  and  pearls  from 


OF  LUXURIES  AS  OBJECTS  OF  TAXATION    287 

another,  and  were  the  produce  of  the  mines  in  the  former,  and 
of  the  fishery  in  the  latter,  from  the  operation  of  natural  causes 
to  become  doubly  difficult  to  procure,  the  effect  would  merely 
be  that  in  time  half  the  quantity  of  diamonds  and  pearls  that 
it  had  before  been  necessary  to  employ  for  that  purpose,  would 
be  sufficient  to  mark  a  certain  opulence  and  rank.  The  same 
quantity  of  gold,  or  some  other  commodity  reducible  at  last  to 
labor,  would  be  required  to  procure  the  now  reduced  amount, 
as  the  former  larger  amount.  Were  the  difficulty  interposed 
by  the  regulations  of  the  legislators  of  the  distant  countries, 
it  could  make  no  difference  to  the  fitness  of  these  articles  to 
serve  the  purposes  of  vanity.  As  in  the  case  of  a  natural 
difficulty,  an  additional  quantity  of  labor  would  be  requisite 
to  procure  [on  the  market]  the  commodities  in  question,  and 
they  would,  therefore,  equally  serve  the  purposes  of  vanity. 
Nor  would  it  seem  to  alter  the  case,  were  the  difficulty 
interposed  by  the  legislator  of  the  society  consuming  [but  not 
producing]  the  articles. 

For  the  sake  of  illustration,  we  may  suppose  that  some  par- 
ticular society  is  possessed  of  a  pearl  fishery,  from  which  its 
members  are  supplied  with  the  pearls  they  use,  and  farther, 
that  the  case  may  assume  the  simplest  form,  that  this  society 
has  no  communication  with  any  other.  The  fishery  is  situ- 
.•itfil  in  a  particular  bay,  where  alone,  it  is  found,  the  animals 
yielding  these  concretions  can  live.  The  labor  annually  ex- 
pended in  procuring  this  luxury,  amounts  to  a  million  days,  or 
<  >ning  each  day  at  two  shillings,  to  one  hundred  thousand 
pounds.  Each  day's  labor  procures  one  hundred  oysters ;  from 
which,  on  an  average,  one  pearl  is  procured.  In  this  state  of 
things  a  discovery  is  made,  similar  to  that  which  Linnaeus 
conceived  probable.  It  is  found,  that,  by  a  particular  process, 
the  diseased  action  in  this  creature,  which,  like  ossification  in 
the  human  body,  produces  a  deposition  of  calcareous  matter 
in  its  fleshy  substance,  instead  of  on  the  sustaining  earthy 
portion  of  its  frame,  may  be  induced  ad  libitum.  The  effect 
of  this  discovery  is  to  diminish  very  greatly  the  labor  neces- 
sary to  procure  these  substances.  In  process  of  time,  every 
hundred  oysters,  instead  of  one,  yield,  on  an  average,  five 
pearls,  consequently  the  amount  of  labor  expended 


288  APPENDIX 

in  procuring  each  might  be  little  more  than  the  five  hundredth 
part  of  what  it  was. 

The  ultimate  effect  of  such  a  change  would  depend  on 
win -t her  the  fishery  were  free  or  not.  Were  it  free  to  all,  as 
pearls  could  be  got  simply  for  the  labor  of  fishing  for  them,  a 
string  of  them  might  be  had  for  a  few  pence.  The  very  poorest 
class  of  women  in  the  society  could,  therefore,  afford  to  de- 
corate their  persons  with  them.  They  would  thus  soon  become 
extremely  vulgar,  and  unfashionable,  and  so  at  last  valueless. 

If,  however,  we  suppose  that  instead  of  the  fishery  being 
free,  the  legislator  owns  and  has  complete  command  of  the 
place,  wrhere  alone  pearls  are  to  be  procured,  as  the  progress 
of  discovery  advanced,  he  might  impose  a  duty  on  them  equal 
to  the  diminution  of  labor  necessary  to  procure  them.  They 
would  then  be  as  much  esteemed  as  they  were  before.  What 
simple  beauty  they  have  would  remain  unchanged.  The  diffi- 
culty to  be  surmounted  in  order  to  obtain  them,  would  be 
different,  but  equally  great  [would  be  less  for  the  producer, 
but  equally  great  for  the  consumer],  and  they  would,  there- 
fore, equally  serve  to  mark  the  opulence  of  those  who  pos- 
sessed them.  If  we  suppose  the  yearly  expense  of  obtaining 
the  pearls,  and  of  collecting  the  duty  on  them,  to  amount  to 
twenty  thousand  pounds,  there  would  then  remain  to  the 
legislator,  a  clear  annual  revenue  from  this  source  of  eighty 
thousand  pounds.  This  revenue  would  not  cost  the  society 
any  thing.  If  not  abused  in  its  application,  it  would  be  a  clear 
addition  of  so  much  to  the  resources  of  the  community. 

Were  the  precious  metals  in  reality,  as  Adam  Smith  seems 
to  have  conceived,  mere  luxuries,  a  tax  imposed  on  them  at 
the  mines  would  have  a  similar  effect  to  the  hypothetical  tax 
on  pearls,  which  we  have  been  considering.  It  would  make 
a  real  addition  of  so  much  to  the  revenue  of  the  community 
possessing  the  mines.  In  this  case  the  tax  imposed  by  the 
king  of  Spain  on  the  gold  and  silver  obtained  from  America 
amounting  at  first  to  half  of  the  whole  quantity  annually  pro- 
cured, would  not,  unless  among  the  first  adventurers,  have 
caused  any  diminution  of  the  revenue  of  individuals,  and  its 
produce  would  have  formed  a  large  real  addition  to  the  general 
revenue  of  the  society. 


OF   LUXURIES   AS   OBJECTS   OF  TAXATION  289 

Neither  in  this  case,  however,  nor  perhaps  in  any  other, 
have  commodities  altogether  luxuries  presented  themselves  to 
the  operations  of  the  legislator.  They  all,  probably,  derive 
part  of  their  value  from  their  utility,  although  in  many 
instances  the  part  it  makes  up  may  be  very  small.  Hence 
a  general  tax  upon  almost  any  class  of  commodities,  is  a  tax 
in  whole,  or  in  part,  upon  some  utility,  and  abstracts  some- 
thing from  the  revenue  of  its  consumers.  All  silk  goods  are 
perhaps  in  part  luxuries  to  the  majority  of  those  who  con- 
suiiir  tin  in.  They  are  also,  however,  in  a  very  great  degree, 
ami  to  all  classes,  utilities.  There  is  a  real  beauty  and  dura- 
bility in  such  fabrics,  probably  in  many  cases  sufficient  to 
warrant  the  higher  price  paid  for  them.  A  general  tax,  there- 
fore, upon  silks,  though  it  would  in  part  be  a  tax  on  luxuries, 
and,  in  so  far,  occasion  no  diminution  of  the  [real]  revenues 
of  any  one,  would  also  in  part  be  a  tax  upon  utilities, 
abstracting  a  real  amount  from  the  funds  [pleasures]  of 
individuals.  The  same  things  will  hold  true  concerning  a 
great  number  of  commodities.  Pure  vanity,  and  real  enjoy- 
ment, have  each  a  place,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  general 
txjM  nditure  of  almost  every  person. 

But  though  this  is  true  of  taxes  levied  generally  on  any 

class  of  commodities,  it  yet  not  unfrequently  happens,  that 

taxes  on  commodities  of  the  same  class  may  be  so  ordered  as 

to  fall  nearly,  or  altogether,  on  luxuries.     It  may  be,  though 

a    whole  class  of   commodities   have,  under   the   appearance 

of   luxury  they  exhibit,   a  considerable   substratum   of  real 

utility,  that  yet  individuals  of  the  class,  not  differing  from 

re  in  the  quantum  of  utility  they  possess,  may  have  some 

serving  to  afford  a  hold  to  vanity,  and  to  enable 

that  passion  to  raise  their  value  very  high,  by  making  them 

pass  as  marks  of  the  superiority  of  one  man  over  another. 

As  these,  therefore,  differ  from  other  commodities  of  the  sort, 

iy  in  the  amount  of  luxury  embodied  in  them,  a  tax  on 

tin  in    may   be  considered   as  altogether  a  tax  on    luxuries, 

giving  a  revenue  to  the  legislator,  and  taking  nothing  from 

-ociety.1 

e  managers  of  the  passenger  traffic  on  European   railways,  and  the 
managers  of  city  theatres  everywhere,  make  use  of  the  principle  here  set 

T 


290  APPENDIX 

Alcoholic  liquors,  considered  as  a  class,  are  probably,  in  a 
great  degree,  luxuries.  They  may  in  part  be  really  useful, 
but  certainly,  speaking  in  the  general,  their  consumption  is 
not  measured  by  the  utility  resulting  from  it.  Some  of  them, 
however,  agreeing  with  each  other  in  the  amount  of  utility 
they  may  possess,  differ  yet  largely  in  the  quantum  of  luxury 
embodied  in  tlu'in.  Thus  it  is,  I  apprehend,  very  difficult  to 
say  whether  rum,  brandy,  whisky,  or  gin,  considering  each 
with  regard  to  its  intrinsic  qualities,  is  the  preferable  liquor. 
It  seems  probable  that  they  are  nearly  alike  in  most  respects, 
save  their  being  more  or  less  luxuries.  In  Great  Britain  rum 
is,  I  believe,  at  least  double  the  price  of  whisky,  and  brandy 
still  higher,  the  consumption,  therefore,  of  the  dearer  article 
instead  of  the  cheaper,  must  arise  nearly  altogether  from 
vanity.  In  Canada,  again,  the  price  at  which  Scotch  whisky 
is  sold,  is  double  the  price  of  rum,  and  considerably  above  the 
price  of  brandy.  The  excess  of  its  price  above  these  other 
liquors  must,  therefore,  be  considered  a  luxury.1  The  chief 
part  of  the  high  price  in  England  of  rum  and  brandy,  is  made 
up  of  the  duty  paid  to  the  government.  In  this  case,  there- 
fore, the  legislator  would  seem  to  derive  a  revenue  from  mere 
luxuries.  Were  such  duties  withdrawn,  and  were  not  the 
measure  to  lead  to  an  increased  and  extravagant  consumption 
of  alcoholic  liquors  in  general,  it  would  have  the  effect  of 
changing  the  sort  of  liquors  consumed.  Rum  and  brandy 
being  as  cheap  as  whisky,  would  come,  with  many  people,  to 
occupy  the  place  of  it,  they  would  no  longer  afford  a  peculiar 
gratification  to  vanity,  and  that  passion  would  fly  off  to  some 
other  article,  fitted  for  its  purpose,  in  all  probability,  not  by 
the  operations  of  the  legislator,  but  by  the  real  expenditure 
of  labor  or  some  equivalent  to  it.  The  society,  considered  as 

forth.  The  "substratum  of  real  utility,"  in  the  one  case,  is  to  see  the 
play,  and  in  the  other,  to  be  transported  from  one  place  to  another.  The 
managers  artfully  combine  with  these  "utilities,"  through  a  system  of  classi- 
fication, a  means  of  attainment  of  social  distinction.] 

1  The  quantity  consumed  is  small.  It  would  in  all  likelihood  be  much 
greater,  v/ere  it  not  for  the  difficulty  of  distinguishing  it  from  whisky  of 
the  country,  which  sells  at  less  than  one  fourth  of  the  price.  Scotch  whisky 
brings  10s.  per  gallon ;  Canadian,  from  2s.  to  3s. 


OF  LUXURIES   AS   OBJECTS   OF  TAXATION  291 

a  body,  would  lose  the  advantages  of  the  revenue  before  at 
the  command  of  the  legislator,  and,  considered  as  individuals, 
they  would  gain  nothing.  Certain  classes  among  them  would 
merely  change  the  form  of  some  of  the  characters,  by  which 
they  marked  to  others  their  relative  means  and  stations. 

It  would  appear,  then,  that  the  powers  of  the  legislator, 
when  prudently  directed  in  the  taxation  of  luxuries,  may 
be  so  exercised  as  to  raise  a  considerable  revenue,  without 
trenching  at  all  on  the  incomes  of  individuals.  It  is  to  be 
observed,  that  his  proceedings  in  this  way  have  a  greater 
chance  of  success,  when  he  levies  duties  on  foreign,  than  on 
domestic  commodities.  Almost  all  commodities  of  home 
manufacture  form  large  classes,  running  gradually  into  one 
another,  and  so  not  easily  discriminated,  or  affording  any 
very  striking  characteristics  to  serve  the  purposes  of  vanity. 
It  \ve  examine,  for  instance,  the  manufactures  in  Britain  of 
cloths,  or  of  malt  liquors,  we  shall  find  in  them  all  a  great 
number  of  commodities  differing  very  little  from  each  other. 
If  a  heavy  duty  be  then  imposed  on  any  of  them,  there  is  a 
considerable  chance  of  its  consumption  greatly  diminishing  or 
ceasing  altogether.  Were  porter  taxed  more  highly  than  other 
malt  liquors,  there  are  so  many  sorts  of  ales  which  very  nearly 
resemble  it,  or  might  be  made  to  do  so,  that  instead  of  being 
converted  by  the  tax  into  an  especial  luxury,  it  is  probable 
the  consumption  of  porter  would  nearly  cease.  The  imposition 
of  a  high  duty  on  any  particular  sort  of  foreign  wine,  has  not 
BO  great  a  tendency  to  diminish  its  consumption ;  people  would 
still  ill-ink  claret,  however  highly  it  were  taxed,  because  it  has 
qualities  sufficiently  marked  to  distinguish  it  from  other  wines, 
an<l  to  make,  therefore,  its  consumption  capable  of  denoting 
a  degree  of  present  opulence,  proportioned  to  the  price  it  costs. 

Some  commodities  of  domestic  manufacture  are,  neverthe- 
less, much  better  fitted  for  the  operations  of  the  legislator 
than  others.  A  duty,  for  instance,  on  the  finer  textures  of 
cottons  and  linen-  mi-lit  perhaps  be  so  levied  as  to  mak«-  it 
nearly  altogether  a  tax  on  luxuries.  The  fineness  of  the 
thn-ad  in  these  fabrics,  affords  a  pretty  conspicuous  mark. 
and  liy  raiding  the  impost  gradually  in  proportion  to  it,  the 
more  delicate  sorts  might,  perhaps,  come  to  be  esttM m.  1  as 


292  APPENDIX 

adequate  marks  of  a  capacity  to  expend  largely  and  so  be 
converted  into  especial  luxuries.  In  this  case  part  of  the 
expenditure  of  individuals,  which  is  now  dissipated  in  chang- 
ing fashions,  would  be  made  over  to  the  legislator,  and  might 
suffice  to  sustain  some  part  of  the  public  burdens. 

All  such  duties,  however,  require  to  be  laid  on  very  gradu- 
ally, else  the  consumption  of  the  commodities  on  which  they 
are  imposed  may  very  probably  be  stopped.  Men  have 
generally  a  very  high  opinion  of  the  reasonableness  of  their 
conduct,  and  the  correctness  of  their  taste.  They  are  apt  to 
fancy  that  there  is  a  real  and  very  great  enjoyment  in  ex- 
penses, which,  in  truth,  have  scarce  anything  to  recommend 
them  but  the  gratification  they  afford  to  vanity.  In  like 
manner,  when  any  article  rises  suddenly  and  greatly  in  price, 
when  in  their  power,  they  are  prone  to  adopt  some  substitute 
and  relinquish  the  use  of  it.  In  such  cases  the  observation  is 
forced  on  them,  that  the  commodity  is  no  better  than  it  was 
before,  and  that,  if  then  they  sometimes  used  another  for  it, 
the  best  thing  for  them  now  to  do  is  to  confine  themselves 
altogether  to  that  other.  Hence,  were  a  high  duty  at  once 
imposed  on  any  particular  wine,  or  any  particular  sort  of 
cotton  fabric,  it  might  have  the  effect  of  diminishing  the 
consumption  very  greatly,  or  stopping  it  entirely.  Whereas, 
were  the  tax  at  first  very  slight,  and  then  slowly  augmented, 
the  reasoning  powers  not  being  startled,  vanity,  instead  of 
flying  off  to  some  other  objects,  would  be  apt  to  apply  itself 
to  them  as  affording  a  convenient  means  of  gratification. 

The  chief  practical  objection  to  such  imposts,  as  a  source  of 
revenue,  is  the  expense  of  collection  and  the  attempts  gener- 
ally made  to  evade  them.  The  former  diminishes  the  amount 
yielded  by  them,  the  latter  is  injurious  to  the  morals  of  the 
people.  Both  are  greater  in  commodities  of  domestic,  than  of 
foreign  manufacture.  In  articles  produced  within  the  country, 
it  is  necessary  to  watch  the  whole  progress  of  manufacture, 
and  to  guard  against  imposition  at  every  stage.  Commodities, 
on  the  other  hand,  imported  from  abroad,  have  only  to  be 
watched  at  the  time  and  place  of  importation. 

There  is  a  case  in  which  duties  imposed  on  foreign  com- 
modities, have  particular  advantages.  It  not  unfrequently 


OF  LUXURIES   AS   OBJECTS   OF  TAXATION  293 

happens  that  in  manufactures  which  it  is  the  object  of  the 
legislator  to  introduce,  and  carry  to  perfection  within  the 
society,  the  chief,  perhaps  the  only  difference,  between  the 
enjoyment  afforded  by  the  foreign  and  by  the  domestic  article 
lies  in  the  gratification  the  former  affords  to  vanity.  Thi^  is 
very  generally  the  case  in  all  commodities  affording  materials 
for  such  articles  of  dress  as  are  seen  by  many,  these  being 
always  in  a  great  degree  luxuries.  I  very  much  question,  for 
instance,  whether  the  passage  of  the  manufacture  of  calicoes 
from  Britain  to  America,  has  occasioned  the  wearers  of  calicoes 
in  the  United  States  any  sensible  diminution  in  the  comfort, 
or  in  the  pleasure  arising  from  the  perception  of  beauty, 
afforded  by  such  articles.  The  standard  is  in  such  cases 
altogether  relative,  the  pleasure  given  by  any  particular  dress 
of  this  sort  arising  from  its  being  as  fashionable,  and  as  be- 
coming as  the  dresses  of  other  persons,  or  more  fashionable 
and  more  becoming  than  theirs,  and  the  chief  requisite  for 
rendering  any  fabric  fashionable,  seeming  to  be  that  it  be 
costly,  and  have  novelty.  The  unrestrained  introduction  of 
British  or  other  foreign  calicoes  would,  therefore,  in  all  pro- 
bability, have  been  felt,  merely  as  a  change  in  fashion,  not  as 
an  increase  of  pleasure  or  diminution  of  cost. 

There  are  very  many  similar  cases.  As  the  great  mass  of 
commodities  are  in  part  utilities,  in  part  luxuries,  so,  in  trans- 
fVring  the  manufacture  of  any  of  them  from  one  country  to 
another,  it  very  frequently  happens  that,  in  as  far  as  the 
article  in  question  has  real  utility,  the  domestic  soon  equals 
the  foreign  variety.  It  is  chiefly  in  a  laborious  finish,  for  the 
'  part  the  result  of  the  demands  of  vanity,  that  the  former 
falls  behind  the  latter.  In  such  instances  the  operation  of 
t.  i  riiiL:  the  art  from  one  country  to  another,  by  means 
of  a  protective  duty,  takes  either  very  little,  or  nothing,  from 
the  revenue  of  individuals,  and  makes,  it  may  be,  a  consider- 
able addition  to  that  of  the  legislator.  Its  general  effects  on 
funds  of  the  community,  are  [accordingly]  directly  and 
indirectly,  to  advance  the  absolute  capital  of  the  society  by 
t!i.  intrM«luction  of  a  new  art,  and,  during  the  process,  to  give 
a  considerable  revenue  to  the  legislator  for  the  attainment  of 
public  objects,  without  encroaching  at  all,  or  but  in  a  very 


294  APPENDIX 

slight  degree,  on  the  returns  made  by  the  industry  or  stocks 
of  individuals. 

[The  leading  objection  to  the  foregoing,  founded  on  the 
principles  of  Adam  Smith,]  proceeds  on  the  assumption,  that 
what  is  true  concerning  the  wealth  of  individuals,  and  suffi- 
ciently explains  its  increase  and  diminution,  is  also  true 
concerning  the  wealth  of  societies,  and  fully  explains  the 
causes  of  its  increase  and  diminution. 

If,  other  circumstances  remaining  unaltered,  a  single  in- 
dividual in  a  society  acquires  the  power  of  purchasing  some 
article  entering  into  his  system  of  consumption,  at  less  cost 
than  before,  he  is  by  so  much  a  gainer,  and  the  change  is 
equivalent  to  a  proportional  increase  in  [his]  revenue.1  Trans- 
ferring this  fact  to  societies,  it  is  held  that  the  revenue  of 
every  society  is  increased  in  exact  proportion  to  the  diminu- 
tion in  the  cost  of  any  article  entering  into  its  system  of 
consumption,  and  diminished  in  proportion  to  the  increase  in 
the  cost  of  any  such  article.  By  how  much,  therefore,  any 
operations  of  the  legislator  add  to  the  price  of  any  commodity, 
by  so  much,  it  is  said,  they  always,  and  in  every  case,  take 
from  the  revenue  of  the  society.  When,  therefore,  by  taxing 
foreign  luxuries,  the  legislator  raises  their  price,  it  is  asserted 
that  he  proportionally  diminishes  the  general  revenue ;  [and 
thereby  the  general  stock  or  capital,  since  capital  can  only 
augment  by  accumulation  from  revenue]. 

The  answer  to  this  objection  is,  that  though  as  every 
commodity  consumed  by  an  individual,  derives  the  estimation 
in  which  it  is  held  from  something  in  some  most  complicated 
system  of  persons  and  things  constituting  the  society  of  which 
he  is  a  member,  while  that  system  remains  in  all  its  parts  un- 
changed, whatever  gives  him  the  command  of  a  greater  portion 
of  the  particular  commodity  than  before,  necessarily  increases 
the  amount  of  commodities,  which,  compared  with  others,  he 
possesses,  and  thus  makes  him,  as  compared  with  them,  so 
much  richer;  yet,  if  any  commodity  become  universally 
cheaper  throughout  a  whole  society,  as  this  implies  a  change 
to  a  certain  extent  in  the  system  of  things,  comprehended 

1  [See  the  first  paragraph  of  Number  9  of  the  Residua.] 


OF  LUXURIES   AS   OBJECTS   OF  TAXATION  295 

with  persons  in  the  term  society,  it  may  be  that  the  revolution 
may  affect  the  causes  giving  estimation  to  the  commodity  in 
question,  and  that,  until  we  know  whether  or  not  this  be  the 
case,  and  how  it  operates,  we  act  with  unwarrantable  rashness 
in  transferring  rules  true  concerning  individuals,  to  societies, 
and  in  asserting  that  a  general  diminution  in  cost,  is,  in  all 
cases,  equivalent  to  a  general  increase  of  revenue,  or  a  general 
augmentation  of  cost,  to  a  general  diminution  of  revenue. 
That  if  there  be  any  class  of  commodities,  the  estimation  of 
which  depends  wholly,  or  in  part,  on  their  power  to  mark  the 
possession  of  a  certain  relative  superiority,  or  a  command 
greater  or  less  of  the  labor  of  other  men,  then  the  generally 
diminished  cost  of  such  commodities,  lessening  their  power  to 
mark  the  desired  distinction,  and  taking  thus  in  a  like  degree 
from  that  for  which  they  were  altogether,  or  in  part,  esteemed, 
either  makes  no  change  in  the  general  revenue,  or  a  smaller 
change  than  that  indicated  by  the  amount  of  the  diminution. 
That  as  regards  commodities  serving  merely,  as  Mr.  Storch  ex- 
presses it,  for  marks  of  opulence,  their  fitness  for  the  purpose 
is  diminished  as  their  cost  becomes  less,  and,  therefore,  a 
diminution  of  their  cost  produces  no  increase,  or  no  pro- 
portionate increase,  of  general  revenue,  and  an  increase  of  it, 
no  diminution,  or  no  proportionate  diminution  of  general 
revenue.1  That  thus,  though,  were  the  power  of  procuring  a 
string  of  pearls  for  a  few  hours  labor  given  to  any  individual 
European,  it  might  very  greatly  increase  his  wealth,  yet,  the 
same  power  given  to  all  Europeans,  would  produce  no  increase, 

1  It  is  remarkable  that  neither  Adam  Smith,  nor  Mr.  Say,  nor  Mr.  Storch, 
although  they  have  stated  distinctly  enough  in  various  places,  that  many 
imodities  derive  their  whole,  or  the  greater  part  of  their  value,  from  the 
gratification  they  afford  to  vanity, — their  power  to  mark  the  superiority  of 
one  man  over  another, — seem  to  have  perceived  that  the  admission  was  fatal 
to  the  majority  of  their  theoretical  conclusions.  They  consequently  have  not 
thought  it  necessary  to  adduce  any  reasons  to  show  that  the  operations  of  the 
gislator,  on  such  commodities,  may  not  have  the  beneficial  effects  indicated 
in  the  text.  Mr.  Say,  indeed,  has  the  following  passage. 

De  ce  que  le  prix  est  la  mesure  de  la  valeur  des  choses,  et  de  ce  que  leur 
valeur  est  la  mesure  de  leur  utilite,  il  ne  faudrait  pas  tirer  la  consequence 
aUurde  qu'en  faisant  monter  leur  prix  par  la  violence,  on  aceroit  leur  utilit-  . 
La  valeur  ^changeable  ou  appreciative  n'est  une  indication  de  1'uti.. 

la  production  reelle,  qu'autant  que  cette  valeur  est  abaudounce  a  elle  mdme 


296  APPENDIX 

or  no  proportional  increase  to  European  wealth,  and,  on  the 
contrary,  as  the  facility  of  purchase  by  putting  the  wearing  of 
pearls  out  of  fashion,  would  probably  render  the  stock  of 
these  articles  in  the  possession  of  individuals,  valueless,  it 
would,  in  all  probability,  proportionably  diminish  the  amount 
of  wealth  actually  existing.1 


et  que  1'action  des  homnies  qui  font  un  marche  est  entierement  libre  ;  de 
meme  qu'une  barometre  n'indique  la  pesanteur  de  1'atmosphere,  qu'autant  que 
le  mercure  peut  s'y  mouvoir  avec  faciliteV'  p.  5.  vol.  I. 

So  far  as  the  above  is  applicable  to  luxuries,  it  is  evidently  nothing  but  an 
ipse  dixit  dressed  in  a  metaphor, — a  sort  of  argument  too  economical  to  admit 
of  an  answer.  If  luxury,  "Luxe  de  1'ostentation, "  be,  as  Mr.  Say  himself 
says,  "une  consommation  qui  n'a  pour  objet  que  cette  defense  m6me  ;  une 
destruction  de  valeur  qui  ne  se  propose  d'autre  but  que  cette  destruction  " 
(vol.  II.  p.  225),  it  surely  matters  not  to  the  consumer  how  this  value  be  given 
to  the  commodity. 

1  [See  "  Note  M  "  in  the  Appendix.] 


[We  get  in  the  above  statement  of  principles  an  important  suggestion  as  to 
the  erroneous  tactics  hitherto  pursued  by  most  advocates  of  unimpeded  foreign 
trade.  The  mistake  has  been  made  of  taking  up  the  defence  of  the  consumer — 
of  commiserating  him  for  the  burdens  he  has  to  bear  because  of  tariffs.  We 
now  see  that  such  is  the  nature  of  expenditure  for  consumption  (a  large  part 
of  it)  that  he  is  going  to  be  burdened  in  any  event.  If  the  government  does 
not  tax  him  he  will  tax  himself. 

The  line  of  battle  should  be  drawn  not  in  the  realm  of  exchange  but  in  that 
of  production.  The  question  should  be  asked,  how  does  the  protective  policy 
as  actually  carried  into  practice  affect  the  forces  of  production — the  prime 
movers  of  industry.  Does  it  promote  or  hinder  them  ?] 


ARTICLE  IV. 

OF  THE  ART  OF  THE  BANKER. 

PART     I.-OF  BANKING  IN  GENERAL. 

PART  II. -OF  PARTICULAR  SYSTEMS  OF  BANKING. 

PART  7.1 

THK  business  of  banking,  seems  to  owe  its  foundation  and 
extension,  to  its  capacity  for  giving  room  for  the  developement 
of  the  benefits,  and  for  restraining  and  remedying  the  evils  of 
the  system  of  credit.  The  operations  which  the  banker 
executes  in  a  great  society,  have  more  than  the  advantages  of 
those  performed  by  the  system  of  virements  in  France,  or 
Russia,  and  by  the  petty  store-keeper  in  a  remote  American 
settlement,  and  avoid  many  of  the  inconveniences  of  both. 
He  is  the  instrument,  through  which  the  mass  of  the  ex- 
changes, taking  place  in  the  community,  is  performed.  It 
is  his  Uisiness  to  furnish  the  means  of  transacting  all  ex- 
changes that  the  condition  of  the  society  requires,  and  it  is 
the  business  of  all  individuals  having  many  such  exchanges 
to  effect,  to  make  application  to  him  for  the  means  of  transact- 
ing them. 

In  a  great  society,  a  person  extensively  engaged  in  business, 
may,  in  a  short  time,  have  transactions  with  twenty,  thirty,  or 
a  hundred  individuals;  his  circumstances  can  be  known  but 
to  a  few  of  them,  nor  is  it  possible  for  him  to  produce  to  each 
satisfactory  evidence  of  his  own  capacity  to  discharge  his 

1  [This  is  the  omission  from  Chapter  VIII.,  where  Rae  began  his  discussion 
of  the  subject  of  credit.] 


298  APPENDIX 

engagements,  or  to  give  him  the  security  of  others  for  their 
performance,  and  even  could  he  do  this,  it  would  be  insuffi- 
cient for  the  purposes  of  the  greater  part  of  them.  If  such  a 
person,  however,  really  possessed  funds  in  trade  and  manufac- 
ture, if  he  really  owned  a  stock  of  instruments  requiring  a 
constant  change  and  transfer  with  those  in  the  hands  of 
others,  he  might  find  means  to  satisfy  one  individual,  the 
banker,  of  his  capacity  to  execute  these  exchanges  in  reason- 
able time,  or  procure  others  to  be  responsible  for  his  doing  it. 
It  is  then  the  business  of  the  banker  to  give  him  the  means  of 
iloing  so,  and  he  accordingly  lends  him  money  when  he 
requires  to  add  to  his  stock  of  instruments,  that  is  to  buy,  and 
receives  money  from  him  again,  when  he  transfers  instruments 
to  others,  that  is,  when  he  effects  sales.  Every  person  engaged 
in  business  doing  the  same,  the  banker  is  the  general  lender, 
and  receiver  of  the  society. 

The  mechanism  of  banking  is  managed  in  two  ways.  The 
one  is  by  discounting  bills,  that  is,  by  giving  money  immedi- 
ately, for  the  obligations  by  which  one  man  contracts  to  pay 
money  to  another,  at  some  future  time,  deducting  a  part,  the 
proportion  of  which  is  determined  by  the  order  in  which 
instruments  stand  in  the  society,  and  by  the  length  of  the 
period.  This  method  is  analogous  to  that  of  virements,  but 
far  preferable.  Thus,  an  individual  who  holds  an  obligation 
by  which  another  binds  himself  to  pay  him  the  sum  of  two 
thousand  pounds  in  six  months,  were  he  in  some  parts  of 
Russia,  would  be  justifiable,  were  he  confident  of  the  solvency 
of  his  debtor,  to  contract  obligations  to  that  amount,  and  pay- 
able at  the  same  time.  Were  he  then  desirous  of  having 
something  transferred  to  him,  of  the  value  of  two  thousand 
pounds,  his  granting  an  obligation  to  that  amount,  and  payable 
at  six  months,  might  help  to  make  the  two  transactions  of 
easy  arrangement.  But,  supposing  that  he  were  desirous  of 
having  a  number  of  small  transfers  made  to  him,  that  he  were 
to  grant  a  proportional  number  of  obligations,  that  the  per- 
sons to  whom  he  granted  them  were  again  to  grant  others, 
still  smaller  and  more  numerous,  and  that  these  were  again  to 
be  subdivided  and  reunited,  it  is  evident  that  the  mass  of 
affairs,  would  become  so  complicated,  and  the  number  of  in- 


OF   BANKING  299 

dividuals  concerned  in  them  so  large,  that  the  trouble  of 
arranging  them  would  be  excessive.  This  system  is  of  con- 
sequence, as  has  been  already  observed,  of  limited  application. 
But  when  an  individual  gets  a  bill  discounted,  the  transfers  he 
effects  with  the  bank  bills  he  receives,  occasion  no  future 
trouble  to  himself  or  others. 

The  system  of  bank  credits  is  the  second  mode,  in  which  the 
business  of  banking  is  managed.  It  is  somewhat  analogous  to 
that  carried  on,  through  the  aid  of  the  books  of  the  North 
rican  store-keeper.  The  banker  gives  the  means  of  effect- 
ing any  purchases  which  those  dealing  with  him  are  desirous 
<>t'  making,  and,  when  they  sell,  gives  them  immediate  credit 
for  the  amount  they  receive.  He  is  not,  however,  like  the 
store-keeper,  urged  on,  by  the  dread  of  a  stock  of  goods  lying 
on  his  hands  too  long,  to  allow  people  to  run  accounts  with 
him,  whose  credit  is  in  any  means  doubtful.  He  is  a  dealer 
simply  in  credit,  and  it  is  his  business,  before  giving  credit,  to 
demand  such  security  as  may  satisfy  him  that  he  can  sustain 
no  loss,  and  this  being  granted,  to  afford  the  requisite  accom- 
modation on  reasonable  terms. 

The  advantages  which  the  banker  derives  from  being  the 
general  lender  of  the  community,  arises  chiefly,  from  the 
peculiar  sort  of  money  he  lends.  It  is  not  specie,  but  merely 
an  obligation  to  pay  in  specie.  But  as  all  who  engage  in 
business  have  to  return  cash  to  him,  it  is  equally  good  to  them 
as  specie,  and  through  them  is  equally  well  received  among 
the  other  members  of  the  community.  Thus  the  money  of  the 
hanker  comes  to  make  a  great  part,  or  nearly  the  whole,  of 
the  circulating  medium. 

The  benefits  which  the  society  receives  from  the  system, 
when  there  are  no  defects  in  the  conduct  of  it,  seems  to  be 
fold. 

1st.  As  far  as  it  extends,  the  expense  of  the  circulating 
medium,  the  expense  which  men  in  business  must  otherwise 
be  put  to  by  being  obliged  to  have  a  quantity  of  cash  always 
lying  by  them  to  meet  sudden  emergencies,  is  done  away 
\\ith.  When  a  man  wants  cash,  he  goes  to  the  bank  for  it; 
\vln.-n  he  has  cash,  he  carries  it  to  the  bank.  Money  never  lies 


300  APPENDIX 

2d.  It  does  away  with  all  deficiency  in  the  circulating 
medium  [in  respect  to  the  individual].1  When  the  system  of 
instruments  which  belong  to  an  individual,  is  defective  in  any 
part,  he  can  at  once  supply  the  defect,  and  when  it  is  redun- 
dant, he  has  no  difficulty  in  disposing  of  the  superfluity  where 
it  may  be  usefully  employed. 

3d.  It  does  both,  without  the  evils  otherwise  attendant  on 
the  substitution  of  credit  for  coin.  The  dealings  of  men  of 
prudence  and  character,  are  not  so  mixed  up  with  those  of 
improvident  and  suspicious  persons,  as  to  make  the  one  bear 
the  burden  of  the  losses  sustained  through  the  folly  or  dis- 
honesty of  the  other.  Every  instrument,  as  its  formation  is 
pushed  on  by  the  industry  of  the  members  of  the  society,  is 
moved  directly  to  its  proper  station.  It  neither  runs  the  risk 
of  being  subjected  to  remain  useless,  owing  to  the  expense  of 
moving  it,  nor  of  being  misplaced  or  destroyed  in  the  process 
of  moving  it.2 

The  tendency  of  these  three  effects,  flowing  from  the  bank- 
ing system  properly  conducted,  is  to  carry  the  instruments 
subject  to  the  operation  of  exchange,  to  orders  of  more  quick 
return,  than  they  would  otherwise  have  occupied.  The  outlay 
expended  on  them  is  not  so  great,  and  they  sooner  make  the 
expected  returns.  The  accumulative  principle  receives  in  con- 
sequence, a  stimulus,  that  enables  it  to  embrace  a  larger 
compass  of  instruments,  and  the  general  stock  of  the  society 
is  soon  proportionally  increased.  Greater  facility  is  also  given 
to  the  division  of  employments,  from  there  being  no  ex- 
traneous obstruction  to  the  additional  exchanges  required, 
and  hence  new  branches  of  business  arise.  From  both  these 
circumstances,  the  number  and  amount  of  exchanges  increase. 

The  money  of  the  banker,  compared  with  gold  and  silver,  as 
a  medium  of  exchange,  would  thus  seem  to  be  not  only  less 
expensive,  but  more  efficient.  When  the  circulating  medium  in 

1  [That  is,  the  solvent  individual  never  finds  himself  without  the  means  of 
making  a  purchase  which   comes  within    his   general  financial  ability.     See 
paszim.] 

2  [The  statements  in  this  last  paragraph  are  obviously  an  exaggeration.    But 
the  burden  of  business  risk  is  certainly  greatly  mitigated  under  a  regime  of 
banking.] 


OF   BANKING  301 

any  country  is  specie,  probably  far  the  larger  portion  of  it  lies 
idle.  Every  merchant,  in  such  a  country,  has  a  quantity  of 
gold  or  silver,  proportioned  in  amount  to  the  business  he 
carries  on,  doing  actually  nothing,  but  only  waiting  to  do 
whatever  may  offer.  The  strong  boxes  of  all  the  merchants 
in  the  country,  always  hold,  therefore,  a  large  portion  of  its 
capital  in  inactivity.  In  a  country,  on  the  other  hand,  where 
the  bills  of  the  banker  form  the  circulating  medium,  the  quan- 
tity of  money  lying  for  any  time  idle  [outside  the  reserve  of 
the  bankers  themselves]  is  insignificant.  No  money  is  re- 
tained, but  for  a  specific  purpose.  In  Scotland,  for  example, 
every  merchant  places  in  the  hands  of  the  banker,  all  the  cash 
for  which  he  has  not  immediate  use. 

Were  we,  therefore,  to  confine  the  advantages  derived  from 
the  institution  of  banks,  in  any  community,  to  the  substitu- 
tion of  a  cheap  medium,  for  a  dear  one,  we  should  make  an 
imperfect  estimate  of  them.1  If,  for  instance,  the  circulating 
medium  in  any  country  be  one  million  in  coin,  and  if  that  be 
superseded  by  paper,  should  the  quantity  of  paper  in  circula- 
tion be  found  to  amount  also  to  one  million,  it  would  indicate 
a  great  increase  in  the  transfers  effected,  and  would  show, 
either  that  a  larger  compass  of  materials  had  been  brought 
within  reach  of  the  accumulative  principle,  or  that  employ- 
ments had  been  more  subdivided,  or  that  both  these  circum- 
stances had  occurred. 

From  the   same   causes,   the   effects   of   a  recurrence  to  a 

jtallic  currency,  and  the  compulsory  substitution  of  one 
lillion  of  specie,  for  one  of  paper,  would  be  far  from  being 
limited  to  the  expense  of  the  bullion  employed  in  the  opera- 
tion. It  would,  besides  this,  render  impracticable  a  multitude 
ransfers,  that  might  otherwise  have  taken  place,  dis- 
organize the  whole  system  of  exchange,  place  the  stock  of 
the  society  in  orders  of  slower  return,  and  put  a  mass  of 
materials,  which  the  accumulative  principle  had  before  been 
to  grasp,  beyond  its  reach. 

The  extent  to  which  the  banking  system  may,  in  any 
country  be  carried,  seems  to  depend  on  four  circumstances. 

1st.  The  amount  of  the  science,  skill,  and  population  exist- 

1  [This  is  a  covert  criticism  of  Adam  Smith.     See  Part  II.  of  this  article.] 


302  APPENDIX 

ing  in  the  country,  to  work  up  the  materials  it  affords,  and 
the  abundance  of  these  materials. 

2d.  The  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle,  the  oppor- 
tunity it  has  had  to  operate,  and  consequent  division  of 
employments,  approach  of  instruments  to  the  more  slowly 
returning  orders,  and  accumulation  of  stock.  These  two 
circumstances  determine  the  amount  of  the  possible  exchanges, 
and,  consequently,  [at  any  given  level  of  prices]  of  the  [amount 
of]  money  [of  all  kinds]  that  may  be  employed  in  effecting 
them. 

3d.  The  general  intelligence,  sagacity,  and  integrity  of  the 
members  of  the  community.  A  person  greatly  deficient  in 
any  of  these  respects,  is  one  with  whom  a  banker  would  not 
wish  to  deal.  But,  these  qualities  are  of  those  giving  strength 
to  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation ;  this  circumstance,, 
therefore,  may  be  considered  as  merging  in  the  last,  the 
general  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle. 

4th.  The  efficiency  and  security  of  the  system  of  banking 
adopted. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  banking,, 
in  proportion  to  its  extent,  would  seem  to  be  greater,  the 
nearer  instruments  are  to  the  more  quickly  returning  orders, 
and  the  greater  consequently  the  scarcity  of  specie.  Where, 
therefore,  the  accumulative  principle  being  strong,  and  from 
the  implied  intelligence,  and  honesty  of  the  community,  the 
system  of  banking  extensively  practicable,  but  from  want  of 
time  to  work  up  materials  to  more  slowly  returning  orders, 
instruments  are  at  those  of  quicker  return,  there  the  opera- 
tions of  the  banker  are  peculiarly  beneficial. 

We  have,  perhaps,  sufficiently  enlarged  already,  on  the  three 
first  of  the  circumstances  referred  to.  It  only  remains,  to- 
show  the  chief  points  of  connexion  of  the  last  of  them,  with 
the  principles  it  has  been  attempted  to  explain.  To  do  so,  it 
is  necessary  to  refer  to  the  occasional  evils  resulting  from  the 
system  of  banking,  diminishing  its  general  utility.  They  may 
be  reduced  to  two. 

1st.  The  money  which  bankers  circulate,  must  be  the  repre- 
sentative of  real  property.  It  must  be  exchangeable  for  some 
commodity,  or  commodities,  equal  to  the  amount  at  which  it 


OF   BANKING  303 

is  rated.  If  it  may  be  always  exchanged  for  specie,  or  for 
some  proportion  of  the  general  revenue  abstracted  for  the 
purposes  of  government,  it  will  be  a  representative  of  some- 
thing real.  But  it  sometimes  happens  that  bankers  squander, 
or  waste,  the  funds  provided  for  payment  of  the  demands  to 
which  they  are  liable,  and  this  being  discovered,  their  money 
becomes  valueless,  and  those  holding  it  as  an  equivalent  to 
capital,  sustain  loss  to  the  amount  they  hold.1  The  loss  thus 
sustained,  both  in  itself,  and  in  the  general  diminution  of 
confidence  in  banking  transactions  and  retardation  of  ex- 
changes consequent  on  it,  makes  it  a  matter  of  great  import- 
ance to  every  mercantile  community,  to  have  banks  of 
indubitable  solvency  established  throughout  it.  (It  were 
beyond  the  present  purpose,  to  inquire  into  the  particular 
system  and  regulations  that  may  best  produce  such  a  result. 
Tlu-re  are,  however,  two  general  observations,  arising  from 
the  nature  of  things,  which  naturally  present  themselves. 

When  capital  is  largely  accumulated,  and  at  orders  of  slow 
return,  there  will  be  very  many,  who  will  be  disposed  to  allow 
their  funds  to  remain  in  that  employment,  and  be  content 
with  the  moderate  revenue  thus  produced  to  them.  When, 
on  the  other  hand,  they  are  at  orders  of  quicker  return,  there 
is  a  great  temptation  to  divert  the  fund,  set  apart  for  these 
purposes,  to  speculations  promising  great  gain,  but  sometimes 
]ir<  )•  lucing  great  loss.  Banking  will  consequently  be  in  general 
t .  \\here  capital  is  most  largely  accumulated. 

Again,  as  no  possible  precaution  can  prevent  a  company  of 
bankers  from  acting  dishonestly,  who  are  willing  to  combine 
uch  a  purpose,  for  they  can  only  be  required  to  produce 
statements  drawn  up  by  themselves,  where  there  exists  a 
great  deficiency  of  real  principle,  and  a  proneness  to  defraud, 
banking  IM Tonics  dangerous  or  impracticable.) 

2d.  The  second  evil  arising  from  the  practice  of  bank  in- 
has  its  origin,  in  the  system  of  credit  itself;  and  the  shock 

1  [That  is,   those  holding  a  claim  on  the  bankers  as  an  equivalent  to  real 

"Capital"  of  course  with   Rae  means  instruments  other   than    tin 

peculiar  instrument  of  exchange,  money.    The  proper  term  for  an  accumulated 

stock  of  money  is  funds.     .Sometimes  in  this  Article  Rae  uses  this  term,  l>ut 

more  often  falls  carelessly  into  employing  the  term  capital.] 


304  APPENDIX 

which,  as  it  is  founded  on  prevailing  opinion,  it  is  liable  to 
receive  from  whatever  shakes  public  confidence. 

Every  person  engaged  in  the  formation  and  transfer  of 
commodities,  and  adopting  the  system  of  credit  as  the  medium 
of  transfer,  is  indebted  to  some  individuals,  as,  in  turn,  other 
individuals  are  indebted  to  him.  The  stock  also  of  instru- 
ments he  has  on  hand,  allows  him  to  offer  a  certain  amount  of 
commodities  for  sale,  and  requires  him,  if  he  continue  his 
business  on  the  same  footing,  to  purchase  certain  other  com- 
modities, and  pay  for  certain  amounts  of  labor.  What  is 
owing  him,  and  payable  within  a  given  time,  may  exceed 
what  he  owes  others,  payable  within  the  same  time,  or  may 
equal  it,  or  come  short  of  it.  What  he  is  able  to  sell  others 
within  a  given  time,  may  also  exceed  what  he  requires  to  buy 
within  the  same  time,  or  may  be  equal  to,  or  less  than  it.  It 
will  always  be  the  case,  too,  that  individuals  will  look  forward 
for  the  means  of  discharging  the  debts  they  have  contracted, 
not  only  to  the  debts  owing  them  by  others,  but  to  the  sales 
they  expect  to  effect.  Were  this  to  happen  only  to  persons  of 
really  abundant  capital,  there  would  be  no  reason  to  fear  the 
non-performance  of  engagements  contracted.  But  it  also 
happens  to  those,  whose  capitals  have  been  reduced  by  mis- 
fortune or  imprudence,  and  therefore,  there  are  always  many 
in  every  mercantile  community,  whose  ability  to  discharge 
their  obligations  is  more  or  less  doubtful.  When,  therefore, 
any  cause  operating  extensively,  and  prejudicially,  on  mercan- 
tile transactions  occurs,  it  generally  happens,  that  there  arise 
cases  of  incapacity  to  meet  engagements,  and,  as  one  man 
depends  for  the  means  of  discharging  his  debts,  on  the  debts 
others  owe  him,  that  embarrassment  and  distress  spread 
throughout  the  whole  mercantile  body.  The  experience  of 
the  misfortunes  attending  this  state  of  things,  leads  every  one 
engaged  in  business,  when  he  thinks  there  is  reason  to  fear 
its  approach,  to  endeavor  to  withdraw  himself  from  the 
danger,  by  avoiding  to  contract  obligations  to  pay.  There  is 
consequently  a  general  diminution  of  purchases,  and  a  general 
temporary  fall  in  prices.1 

1  Market  price,  which  is  fluctuating,  is  here  spoken  of.  What  is  termed 
the  natural  price  of  things,  or  their  general  average  price,  is  that  alone  treated 


OF   BANKING  305 

But  while  prudent  people  are  thus  able  to  secure  themselves 
from  evil,  they  increase  the  difficulties  of  those,  who  have 
contracted  obligations  to  pay,  in  dependence  on  the  proceeds 
of  sales  to  be  effected ;  and  some  of  these  becoming  incapable 
of  obtaining  the  means  of  meeting  their  engagements,  their 
failure  increases  the  general  distress,  and  farther  lessens  the 
number  inclined  to  purchase. 

At  this  conjuncture,  the  affairs  of  the  banker  undergo  a  revo- 
lution. For,  as  the  number  of  buyers  diminishes,  there  is  less 
money  requisite  for  transacting  the  business  of  the  com- 
munity, and  this  overplus  naturally  returns  on  him.  But 
while  less  money  is  really  wanted  to  execute  the  business  of 
the  society,  he  is  called  on  to  furnish  as  much,  or  probably 
The  debts  those  dealing  with  him  formerly  contracted 
have  to  be  paid,  while  the  sales  of  commodities,  the  means  by 
which  it  was  anticipated  that  part  of  the  funds  for  that  pay- 
ment would  be  procured,  have  much  diminished. 

The  situation  of  the  banker  becomes  therefore  at  this  crisis, 
very  critical.  He  cannot,  in  justice  to  himself,  grant  all  the 
requisite  accommodation,  and  yet,  his  refraining  from  doing 
so  must  aggravate  existing  evils.  As  specie  is,  in  such  a  state 
<>i  things,  the  most  desirable  of  commodities,  he  has  reason  to 
fear  that  a  large  portion  of  his  money  will  be  returned  on 
him,  which  he  will  be  required  to  replace  with  gold  or  silver, 
and  he  knows  that  if  a  suspicion  of  his  solvency  arise,  he  may 
be  required  thus  to  replace  the  whole  of  it.  If  he  be  unable 
Meet  these  difficulties,  his  failure  adds  very  much  to  the 
general  mass  of  misfortune,  and  farther  diminishes  public 
confidence.1 

The  natural  termination  to  such  a  state  of  things,  would 

<>f  in  other  parts  of  this  inquiry,  it  being  only  the  permanent  causes  affecting 

Mcrease  and  diminution  of  stock,  that  it  was  proposed  to  investigate. 

On  this  account,  the   view   here  given  of  phenomena   resulting   in  a  great 

measure  from  the  operation  of  temporary  causes,  is  somewhat  confined  and 

feet, 
llfnce,  for  example,  the  subject  of  pure  profit  is  almost  wholly  neglected 

ie  ;  that  being  essentially  a  matter  dependent  on  "  temporary  causes."] 
1  [It  is  noteworthy  that  Hae  had  so  grasped  the  situation  even  at  the  early 
it  which  he  wrote,  that  he  represent*  that  it  is  a  different  sort  of  pressure 
than  a  "  run,"  which  a  solvent  banker  first  experiences  in  times  of  crisis.] 

U 


306  APPENDIX 

i  to  be  the  diminution  of  contracts,  and  consequently  of 
debts,  progressively  diminishing  the  amount  of  payments,  for 
which  it  is  necessary  to  provide.  This  termination  is  retarded 
by  the  struggles  of  those  whose  real  funds,  in  proportion  to 
the  extent  of  their  business,  are  smallest,  and  whose  motives 
to  engage  in  fresh  transactions,  are  chiefly  the  hopes  of  extri- 
cating themselves  from  the  embarrassments  in  which  present 
transactions  have  involved  them.  It  is  also  more  injuriously 
retarded,  as  has  been  observed,  by  the  failure  of  those  engaged 
in  the  business  of  banking. 

The  liability  of  the  mercantile  community  to  be  largely 
affected  by  such  sudden  pressures,  must  depend,  in  a  great 
degree,  on  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  country,  and 
nature  of  the  employments  and  trades  carried  on  in  it. 

It  must  also  be  dependent  on  the  system  of  banking,  that 
is  there  pursued,  and  its  capacity  to  furnish  funds  where  there 
is  real  capital ;  to  check  unsafe  and  gambling  transactions  by 
withholding  funds  from  those  desirous  of  extending  hazardous 
speculations,  though  deficient  in  capital ;  and  to  pursue  its 
operations  steadily  and  confidently  notwithstanding  any 
general  embarrassment.  To  attempt,  however,  an  enumera- 
tion and  comparison  of  the  different  systems  of  transacting 
the  business  of  banking,  which  have  been  adopted  in  different 
times  and  places,  would  involve  us  in  inquiries  of  so  compli- 
cated a  nature,  that  while  to  discuss  them  partially  would  be 
unsatisfactory,  to  do  so  fully  would  lead  too  far  from  our  pre- 
sent object.  I  reserve  therefore  the  few  observations  I  have 
to  make  on  the  subject,  to  another  place. 

PART  II. 

According  to  the  view  of  banking  given  in  the  foregoing 
outline,  it  is  an  art  which  time,  and  what  we  call  chance, 
have  wrought  out  of  the  circumstances  of  European  society, 
and  the  use  of  which  is  to  quicken  the  exhaustion  of  instru- 
ments, by  facilitating  exchanges.  But,  according  to  this  view 
of  the  subject,  the  consideration  of  two  circumstances  gene- 
rally combined  with  banking  transactions,  is  omitted.  The 
business  of  banking  has  been  very  often  combined  with  the 


OF  BANKING  307 

payment  and  receipt  of  the  revenue  of  the  state.  Whatever 
the  government  receives,  in  lieu  of  the  precious  metals,  or 
other  commodities,  in  payment  of  the  imposts  it  levies,  will 
have  the  value  of  that  for  which  it  is  taken  in  exchange. 
Government  may  so  give  the  value  of  the  precious  metals  to 
paper,  or  any  other  material,  and,  for  its  own  convenience, 
may  circulate  the  money  which  it  in  this  manner  issues 
through  the  medium  of  a  bank.  Thus  the  Bank  of  England 
may  be  said  to  be  founded  on  the  transactions  of  this  sort,  of 
th.  British  government.  This  is,  however,  a  circumstance  by 
n<>  means  necessarily  connected  with  banking.  Indeed,  I 
think  there  is  reason  to  believe,  that,  from  the  great  fluctua- 
tions thus  introduced  into  what  is  called  the  money  market, 
by  the  magnitude  of  the  transactions  of  the  state,  the  union 
of  the  two,  when  it  takes  place,  operates  injuriously  on  the 

•  •ral  system  of  exchange  of  the  country. 

The  other  circumstance  to  which  I  allude,  is  the  exchange 
of  the  precious  metals  between  different  countries.  Banks,  as 
the  great  dealers  in  these  metals,  are  necessarily  exposed  to 
the  inconvenience  of  having  to  provide  a  supply  for  the 
demands  occasioned  by  fluctuations  in  the  business  of  differ- 
ent countries.  Although,  however,  this  circumstance  is  always 
more  or  less  intimately  connected  with  the  business  of  bank- 
in -.  it  is  not  necessary  for  our  purpose  to  examine  the  effects 
resulting  from  it. 

We  may  confine  our  attention,  therefore,  altogether  to  the 
consideration  of  the  art,  as  a  means  of  facilitating  exchanges 
within  any  society.  A  brief  statement  of  its  condition  in 
bind,  a  country  in  which,  to  judge  from  the  circumstances 
attending  its  introduction,  and  the  practical  benefits  arising 
fn»m  its  operation,  it  has  probably  arrived  as  near  perfection 
as  any  where,  may  sufficiently  serve  the  purpose  of  showing 
tin  manner  in  which  the  mode  of  its  operation  may  be 
nurd  by  the  principles  I  have  endeavored  to  develop,  and 
how  it  seems  to  attain  the  power  of  communicating  the 
advantages  it  is  capable  of  bestowing,  and  of  avoiding  the 

-  to  which  it  is  sometimes  liable.     The  Scotch  banking 
system  is  also  better  fitted  for  an  example,  both  as  it  was  the 
one  directly  presented  to  the  observation  of  Adam  Smith,  and 


308  APPENDIX 

from  which,  accordingly,  his  ideas  on  the  subject  seem  to  be 
chiefly  taken,  and  because  it  is  not  directly  connected  with 
the  issue  of  government  paper,  or  with  the  passage  of  coin  or 
bullion  from  country  to  country. 

Banks  in  Scotland  are  both  what  are  termed  banks  of 
deposit,  and  of  circulation.  They  are  the  receivers  and  trans- 
ferrers  of  the  money,  or  what  is  equivalent  of  the  capital 
of  others,  and  they  are  issuers  of  paper  money  of  their  own. 
Their  business  is  confined  to  what  is  the  proper  occupation  of 
bankers,  transactions  springing  from  the  exchanges  effected 
through  the  medium  of  credit.  They  avoid,  therefore,  to 
grant  loans,  unless  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  exchanges. 
Previously,  however,  to  examining  the  operation  of  the  system, 
it  may  be  well  to  direct  our  attention  to  the  circumstances 
of  the  parties  with  whom  bankers  everywhere  have  to  deal. 

When,  in  consequence  of  the  business  of  banking  being 
established  on  a  sure  basis,  in  any  community,  the  system  of 
credit  comes  extensively  to  prevail,  the  owners  of  the  whole 
stock  of  the  society  are  divided  into  two  classes,  the  one 
consisting  of  those  having  in  their  possession  a  greater  stock 
of  instruments  than  what  actually  belongs  to  them,  the  other 
having  a  less  stock  than  what  belongs  to  them.  The  larger 
proportion  of  the  owners  of  stock,  belong  sometimes  to  the 
one,  sometimes  to  the  other  class,  but  the  circumstances  of 
many  place  them  permanently  in  the  one  or  the  other. 

Individuals  engaged  in  the  forming,  transporting,  and  ex- 
changing of  instruments — the  farmers,  manufacturers,  and 
merchants  of  the  community — have  occasion  to  employ  in 
their  different  businesses,  sometimes  a  larger,  sometimes  a 
smaller  stock  of  instruments  or  capital.  At  one  time,  for 
example,  the  state  of  the  land  the  farmer  cultivates,  requires 
a  great  outlay  for  seed-corn,  for  tilling,  and  manuring  it  and 
for  wages  paid  to  laborers.  At  another  time  the  returns  from 
it  in  the  shape  of  grain,  fat  cattle,  and  other  instruments  and 
commodities  are  proportionally  great.  At  the  former  period 
the  farmer  may  not  have  a  sufficient  stock  of  his  own,  and 
may  wish  to  borrow  certain  instruments  [or  rather,  the  means 
to  purchase  them],  at  the  latter  he  is  in  a  condition  to  lend. 


OF   BANKING  309 

In  a  similar  manner,  the  fluctuations  of  business  render  a 
merchant  sometimes  a  borrower,  sometimes  a  lender.  For 
example,  two  merchants  in  Great  Britain  are  engaged  in  the 
timber  trade,  the  one  in  that  carried  on  with  Prussia,  the  other 
in  that  with  Canada.  A  change  takes  place  in  the  business, 
from  the  duty  on  Prussian  timber  being  lessened.  The 
Canadian  timber  trade  being  thus  no  longer  profitable,  the 
merchant  whose  capital  [funds]  was  embarked  in  it,  with- 
draws it  from  that  trade.  He  employs  a  portion  in  an 
experimental  adventure  to  Prussia,  but  the  larger  part  he  has 
no  immediate  use  for,  and  is,  therefore,  in  a  condition  to  lend 
to  others.  On  the  other  hand,  the  merchant  who  had  been 
accustomed  to  trade  to  Prussia,  knowing  the  details  of  that 
business,  and  having  a  correspondence  established  there,  is 
able  to  employ  with  advantage  a  much  larger  capital  than  he 
possesses.  He  wishes  to  borrow  instruments,  that  is,  com- 
modities to  export  to  Prussia,  and  to  have  the  use  of  ships  for 
the  double  transport.  Fluctuations,  such  as  these,  and  in- 
numerable others,  occasion  continual  variations  in  the  stock 
which  every  merchant,  or  other  individual  engaged  in  any 
sort  of  business,  is  capable  of  employing  with  advantage. 
Sometimes,  therefore,  the  business  of  every  one  is  expanded 
much  farther  than  his  own  stock  would  permit,  at  other  times 
it  is  contracted  into  so  narrow  limits,  as  not  to  give  employ- 
ment to  the  whole  of  it. 

Again,  in  every  society  there  are  many  individuals  who 
cannot  themselves  employ  the  instruments  they  own.  A 
merchant,  for  example,  dies,  leaving  a  large  stock  of  instru- 
ments of  one  sort  or  other  to  his  widow,  and  young  children. 
Tln-se  they  cannot  employ.  They  must  either  convert  them 
into  cash,  which,  placing  in  security,  they  may  gradually  ex- 
priul  as  their  occasions  require,  or  they  must  lend  them  to 
others  who  will  pay  for  their  use.  On  the  one  hand,  young 
men  of  ability,  who  have  been  bred  to  any  business,  although, 
perhaps,  they  may  have  very  little  or  no  capital,  may  yet  be  able 
to  put  iiistruiiu-nts  with  which  they  may  be  entrusted,  to  so 
active  use,  that  they  may  yield  more  than  tin-  <>nlmur\  returns, 
and  so,  after  paying  for  the  usual  profits,  may  leave  a  consider- 
surplus  as  tin-  reward  of  their  exertions. 


310  APPENDIX 

The  Scotch  system  of  banking  seems  well  calculated  for 
admitting  the  easy  passage  of  individuals  from  the  one  to 
the  other  class.  Its  distinguishing  characteristic  is  that 
the  banker  allows  interest  on  all  sums  deposited,  from  the 
moment  of  deposit,  and  that,  on  sufficient  security,  he  is 
always  ready  to  grant  the  loan  of  as  small,  or  as  large  an 
amount,  as  may  be  required.  When  he  lends  to  individuals, 
by  discounting  bills,  or  by  what  are  termed  bank  credits,  he 
becomes  the  real  owner  of  a  proportional  amount  of  the  stock 
of  instruments  they  hold,  and  in  this  way  may  be  said  to  be 
the  owner  of  a  part  of  the  general  stock  of  instruments  of 
those  dealing  with  him,  equal  to  the  amount  of  what  he  has 
lent.  In  reality,  however,  it  is  not  altogether  he  who  owns 
them,  but  rather  they  who  have  given  him  the  larger  part  of 
his  funds  in  the  shape  of  deposits.  These  have  all  come  to  him 
with  money  in  the  form  of  coin,  of  paper  money  of  other 
banks,  or  of  his  own  money,  or  of  an  order  for  his  own  money, 
and  in  place  of  it  have  been  content  with  a  pledge  that  it  shall 
be  returned  on  demand,  and  that  in  the  interim  interest  will 
be  allowed  on  it.  By  this  arrangement  the  banker,  in  effect, 
transfers  to  them  a  portion  of  his  claims  on  the  instruments 
held  by  those  who  are  debtors  to  him,  and  part  of  his  right  to 
a  portion  of  the  returns  made  by  them.  Thus,  while  the 
merchant  formerly  trading  to  Canada,  instead  of  employing 
the  money  he  receives  for  sales  of  his  existing  stock  of  timber 
in  purchasing  other  goods,  and  in  freighting  other  ships  for 
that  market,  pays  it  into  the  bank,  the  merchant  trading  to 
Prussia  is  drawing  money  out  of  the  bank,  for  the  purpose  of 
extending  his  trade  with  Prussia.  The  effect  produced  is,  in 
so  far,  similar  to  that  which  would  have  resulted  from  the 
Canadian  trader  lending  part  of  his  capital  [directly]  to  the 
trader  to  the  Baltic.  It  differs  from  such  a  transaction,  how- 
ever, in  three  respects :  1st.  These  two  individuals  might  be 
unknown  to  each  other,  and  might  have  no  means  of  ascertain- 
ing their  respective  plans  ;  2d.  The  merchant  trading  to  Canada 
would  probably  have  either  less  or  more  spare  funds,  than  the 
merchant  trading  to  Prussia  required ;  3rd.  He  might,  also, 
probably  have  occasion  to  call  for  them,  for  his  own  purposes, 
at  a  time  when  it  might  be  inconvenient,  or  impossible,  for  the 


OF   BANKING  311 

other  to  replace  them.     The  banker,  on  the  contrary,  is  always 
ready  to  receive  or  to  lend. 

Throughout  all  the  occupations  carried  on  by  the  different 
members  of  the  community,  similar  circumstances  occur.  One 
tradesman,  or  mechanic,  is  laying  by  funds  for  building  a 
dwelling  house,  another  is  expending  all  the  funds  he  has  laid 
by,  and,  perhaps,  borrowing  a  little  more,  for  the  purpose 
of  finishing  a  dwelling  house.  While  the  farmer  is  depositing 
in  the  bank  some  part  of  the  proceeds  of  his  sales  of  grain  and 
cattle,  the  corn  merchant  and  the  butcher  are  drawing  funds 
from  the  bank,  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  them  to  purchase 
these  commodities. 

It  will  thus  be  found,  that  the  person  making  the  deposit,  is 
one  who  has  just  transferred  to  others,  who  can  employ  them 
at  the  moment  to  more  advantage  than  he,  some  instruments 
which  he  held,  and  that  in  return  he  receives  a  claim  to  that 
amount,  on  the  funds  [assets]  of  the  bank,  and  of  interest  on  it 
till  paid.  These  funds,  [assets]  however,  consist  chiefly  of 
debts  owing  to  the  bank  by  the  community  at  large,  and  that 
interest  is  drawn  from  the  profits  arising  from  the  stock  of 
in-truments  effectively  owned  by  the  bank,  and  lent  by  it  to 
the  individuals  with  whom  it  deals.  Hence  the  person  making 
th«-  drjioMt  is  one  having  transferred  a  part  of  his  stock  of 
i  uments  to  an  individual,  and  receiving  in  lieu  of  it  a  share 
of  the  claim  of  the  bank,  on  the  general  stock  of  instruments 
owned  by  those  indebted  to  it.  In  this  way  the  bank  may  be 
considered  as  a  broker  negotiating  between  those,  the  condition 
of  whose  business  requires  them  to  borrow,  and  those,  the 
condition  of  whose  business  disposes  them  to  lend,  and  general- 
ixing  the  transactions  of  both.  It  is  not  by  any  means, 
however,  only  a  broker.  Besides  the  fluctuating  deposits,  it 
has  a  large  capital  of  its  own  embarked  in  the  business.  This 

i'-ily  owned  by  individuals  whose  circumstances   place 
them  permanently  in  the  class  of  lenders,  persons  retired,  or 

n^  from  active  business,  or  widows,  etc.,  who,  selling  off 
their  stock,  employ  their  funds  in  this  manner. 

This  system  probably  yields  as  many  advantages  as  any 
hitherto  discovered,  and  avoids,  as  well  as  may  be,  the  chief 

to  which  the  business  of  banking  is  subject. 


312  APPENDIX 

1.  By  means  of  it  all  possible  exchanges  are  made  at  the 
least  expense ;  and  with  the  greatest  facility.     Every  person 
is  prompted  to  sell  because  the  money  he  receives  yields  an 
immediate  return.     Every  person  having  it  in  his  power  to 
turn  any  commodity  to  good  account,  has  the  means  afforded 
him  of  obtaining  possession  of  it. 

2.  The    capital    [funds]    which    bankers   own,   or  hold,  is 
liable  to  be  embarked  and  lost  by  them  in  imprudent  specula- 
tions ;  or,  through  partiality,  to  be  lent  to  a  few  individuals 
who   may  squander  it  in  the  same  manner.     This  seems  to 
be  best  guarded  against  by  there  being  many  stock  holders, 
and  a  large  capital.     In  the  banks  to  which  we  refer,  this  is 
generally,  though  not  always  the  case. 

The  knowledge  which  the  banker  acquires,  by  means  of  the 
system  of  bank  credits,  of  the  state  of  the  affairs  of  those  dealing 
with  him,  is  probably  somewhat  greater  than  can  be  obtained 
by  the  mere  discount  of  bills.  It  gives  him  the  sort  of  infor- 
mation, which  one  would  acquire  of  the  affairs  of  another,  by 
having  the  care  of  his  purse.  I  believe,  also,  that  persons 
dealing  with  the  Scotch  bankers,  are  somewhat  more  strongly 
excited  than  those  dealing  with  other  bankers,  to  vigilance  in 
providing  funds  to  meet  positive  engagements  with  them,  as 
the  slightest  failure  of  any  individual  in  any  such  transaction, 
occasions  his  sureties  being  called  on  to  pay  up  his  cash 
account,  ruins  his  credit,  and  renders  it  impossible  for  him  to 
continue  his  business.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  this 
system  has  considerable  efficiency  in  checking  rash  and  impru- 
dent speculations,  by  withholding  funds  from  those  most  likely 
to  run  into  them. 

3.  The  large  amount  of  stock  subscribed,  and  the  subscribers 
being  severally  responsible  to  the  amount  of  all  the  property 
they  possess,  give  so  great  confidence  in  the  stability  of  the 
banks,  that  nothing  but  some  very  great  revolution  in  the 
affairs  of  the  society,  or  some  great  convulsion  in  the  money 
market,  would  be  sufficient  to  shake  it.     Owing  to  the  system 
pursued,  the  possibility  of  any  great  disturbance  of  the  money 
market  is  prevented.     This  forms  the  fourth  circumstance  to 
be  noted. 

4.  I  have  observed  in  the  preceding  part,  that,  when  any 


OF   BANKING  313 

reverse  happens  to  the  trade  of  a  community,  the  diminution 
of  sales  which  is  the  consequence  of  it,  while  it  renders 
it  necessary  for  those,  whose  business,  as  compared  with  their 
capital  [ready  money],  is  much  expanded,  to  borrow  money 
to  meet  the  engagements  which  they  have  entered  into,  gives 
a  redundancy  of  money  to  those  whose  business,  as  compared 
with  their  capital  [ready  money],  is  small,  and  who  have 
contracted  to  receive  a  great  amount  of  money,  and  to  pay 
only  a  small  amount. 

According  to  the  system  of  banking  which  prevails  in  Eng- 
land, and  in  most  countries,  all  individuals  in  the  latter  class 
will  have  a  greater  or  less  amount  of  cash  lying  by  them 
useless.  They  are  afraid  to  lend  it,  owing  to  the  prevailing 
embarrassments,  and,  where  the  banker  allows  no  interest  on 
money  deposited  with  him,  they  have  no  particular  motive 
t<>  induce  them  to  lodge  it  in  any  bank.  But,  when  a  person 
intends  to  keep  money  lying  by  him,  he  will  be  apt  to  prefer 
coin,  to  paper,  the  former  is  the  securest  of  any  sort  of  pro- 
perty, the  latter  may  possibly  be  insecure.  He  will  more 
especially  be  inclined  to  prefer  the  former,  if  he  have  the 
least  suspicion  of  the  stability  of  the  bank  issuing  the  paper. 
It  is  thus  that,  at  such  seasons,  what  are  called  runs  upon 
particular  banks,  are  very  apt  to  arise,  and  both  to  bring  ruin 
on  the  bank,  and  increase  the  general  embarrassment.  But 
wherever,  as  in  Scotland,  the  banker  allows  interest  on  all 
sums  deposited,  no  one  thinks  of  keeping  money  by  him.  The 
very  classes  too,  it  may  be  remarked,  who  are  most  apt  to 
commence  these  runs,  petty  shop-keepers  and  tradesmen, 
have  in  Scotland,  in  general,  bank  credits,  and  are  continually 
striving  to  put  as  much  money  into  the  bank  with  which  they 
deal,  as  the  necessity  of  their  business  will  permit.  In  Scot- 
land, therefore,  the  banks,  owing  greatly,  no  doubt,  to  the 
guarantee  of  a  very  large  capital  prudently  managed,  but, 
also,  as  I  conceive,  in  no  inconsiderable  degree,  to  the  tendency 
of  the  system  to  bring  into  them  all  the  spare  funds  of  the 
society  in  the  shape  of  deposits,  have  not  for  fifty  years  been 
exposed  to  any  dangers  or  inconveniences  of  the  sort,  and  in 
tip  midst  of  the  severest  commercial  distress,  and  the  ruin  of 
tli»  Kinking  rstaUishments of  the  sister  kingdom,  have  always 


314  APPENDIX 

maintained  their  course  steadily,  and  been  able  to  apply  the 
resources  of  the  community  to  carry  those  through  the  crises, 
whose  embarrassments  had  arisen,  not  from  the  bankrupt 
state  of  their  affairs,  but  from  the  pressure  of  the  times.1 

5.  Banks  have  very  often  issued  an  overabundant  supply 
of  their  particular  money,  and  it  has  been  depreciated.  An 
effectual  remedy  for  this,  one  would  be  inclined  to  conceive, 
would  be  their  being  obliged  to  convert  it,  on  demand,  into 
gold  or  silver.  Many  persons,  however,  do  not  think  that 
this  is  sufficient,  and  believe,  that,  notwithstanding,  an  over 
issue  may  take  place.  If  so,  the  Scotch  system,  by  its  ten- 
dency to  return  on  the  bank  all  money  not  in  immediate 
use  would  seem  to  be  a  pretty  effective  check  on  the  occur- 
rence of  such  an  evil. 

Banking  may  be  fitly  described,  as  a  generalization  of  indi- 
vidual credit  transactions.  Every  system  of  banking  general- 
izes them  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  The  more  complete  the 
generalization,  the  more  completely  does  the  system  perform 
its  functions,  and  the  nearer  it  comes  to  the  perfection  of 
art.  The  Scotch  system,  viewed  as  an  art  of  this  sort,  seems 
to  discharge  its  function  well.  Whatever  spare  capital  [funds] 
the  turns  of  business  may  there  throw  into  any  individuals 
hand,  he  finds  it  for  his  advantage  to  place  in  the  bank ;  what- 
ever additional  capital  [funds]  they  may  require  of  him,  he 
easily  procures  from  the  bank.  The  facility  with  which  it 
operates  may  be  best  seen,  by  contrasting  it  with  the  English 
system. 

In  England,  an  individual  dealing  with  a  banker,  is 
expected  to  leave  in  his  hands  an  amount  of  capital  [funds] 
as  a  deposit,  for  which  he  receives  no  interest.  It  is  from  this 
that  the  profit  of  the  banker  is  derived.  When,  therefore, 
a  person  in  the  course  of  business  has  a  greater  portion  than 
usual  of  unemployed  capital  [funds],  he  finds  there  no  im- 
mediate advantage  in  placing  it  in  the  banker's  hands.  He, 
therefore,  probably,  will  not  place  it  there  so  promptly,  as  he 
would  in  Scotland.  The  effect  of  this  tardiness  is  more 
especially  felt  at  those  critical  periods  to  which  I  have  referred 

1  See  the  correspondence  between  Lord  Liverpool  and  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  and  the  Bank  of  England,  in  1826,  in  Hansard's  Debates. 


OF   BANKING  315 

in  the  preceding  part,  when,  in  consequence  of  a  general 
decrease  of  the  amount  of  sales,  persons  whose  means  [affairs] 
have  been  most  expanded,  are  under  the  necessity  of  borrow- 
ing to  a  larger  extent  than  they  had  anticipated.  If,  on  such 
occasions,  they  whose  business  has  been  contracted  within 
narrower  limits  than  their  capitals  [means]  would  have  ad- 
mitted, and  who,  in  consequence  of  avoiding  to  purchase,  have 
a  larger  surplus  capital  [purchasing  power]  than  usual  in  their 
hands  in  the  shape  of  money,  retain  it  there,  instead  of  placing 
it  in  the  bank,  the  banker  is  restrained  from  making  the 
advances  he  otherwise  would,  and  a  violent  check  is  given  to 
the  operation  of  the  credit  system,  sufficient  to  give  a  begin- 
ning to  convulsions  more  extensively  deranging  it. 

This  system,  also,  as  compared  with  the  English,  adjusts 
itself  with  greater  precision  to  the  actual  circumstances  of  the 
two  great  classes  of  the  community,  the  lenders  and  borrowers, 
to  whose  transactions  it  serves  as  the  instrument.  When,  in 
consequence  either  of  the  progress  of  accumulation,  or  of 
misfortunes  befalling  the  industry  of  the  country,  instruments 
are  placed  in  more  slowly  returning  orders,  and  profits  fall, 
borrowers  should  pay  less,  and  lenders  receive  less,  for  the 
use  of  capital.  And  reversely,  when  profits  rise,  more  should 
be  paid  by  the  one  class,  and  more  received  by  the  other. 
This  is  naturally  brought  about  where  a  certain  rate  is  paid 
for  funds  deposited,  as  well  as  for  those  drawn.  Under  such 
a  system  the  banker  cannot  afford  to  have  any  capital  [any 
money  beyond  the  necessary  reserve]  lying  dormant.  He 
must,  therefore,  preserve  the  proper  proportion  between  the 
funds  deposited  in  his  hands,  and  those  drawn  out  of  his 
h;u i« Is.  When  the  former  become  too  great,  which  will  be  the 
case  when  trade  is  dull,  he  lowers  the  rate  of  interest  which 
he  charges  his  customers,  and,  also,  that  which  he  gives  them, 
and  thus  diminishes  the  amount  deposited,  and  increases  that 
« 1  ra  \vn.  He  does  just  the  reverse  and  produces  directly  opposite 
effects,  when  trade  becomes  more  lively,  and  profits  rise.  In 
England,  on  the  contrary,  the  state  of  trade  has  no  direct  effect 
on  the  interest  which  bankers  charge,  and  the  due  proportion 
between  borrowers  and  lenders  is  not  so  well  maintained.1 

1  Jopliu  on  Currency,  p.  108. 


316  APPENDIX 

The  advantages  derived  from  any  system  become  apparent, 
by  considering  the  consequences  that  would  result  from  its 
being  abolished,  or  from  its  actions  being  impeded.  On  this 
account  I  shall  state  three  hypothetical  cases,  with  regard  to 
the  system  which  we  are  now  considering,  as  an  example  of 
the  effects  of  banking  in  general. 

In  the  year  1826  it  was  proposed  in  the  British  Parliament, 
to  enact  a  law  putting  a  stop  to  the  circulation  of  one  pound 
bank  notes,  the  chief  money  of  Scotland.  The  bankers  main- 
tained that  in  this  case  they  would  no  longer  carry  on 
business.  Let  us  suppose,  that  the  proposal  had  been  adopted, 
and  the  effect  had  really  been  utterly  to  abolish  the  business 
of  banking  in  that  country,  and  unless  in  barter,  to  make 
all  buying  and  selling  to  be  transacted  in  coin,  either  in  ready 
cash,  or  in  cash  paid  when  the  period,  to  which  credit  had 
been  limited,  expired. 

In  considering  the  effects  of  such  a  change,  we  may  divide 
all  transactions  now  taking  place  in  Scotland,  and  concerned 
in  the  question,  into  those  effected  by  bank  bills,  or  as  they  are 
termed,  bank  notes,  and  those  effected  by  checks  on  some  bank. 
1.  Of   those   now   effected    by   bank    bills,   of    which    the 
majority  are  what  are  called  one  pound  notes,  [it  may  be  said 
that  without  these  bills,]  every  purchaser,  that  is,  every  person 
in  business,  would  be  obliged  to  have  continually  lying  by 
him,  to  answer  occasional  demands,  a  certain  sum  [of  actual 
money]  proportional  to  the  extent  of  his  business,  and  when 
preparing  for  some  extraordinary  occasion,  for  a  length  of 
time  previous  he  would  be  collecting  and  hoarding  up  funds 
sufficient  for  the  purchase  or  purchases  he  intended  making. 
A  large  part  of  the  money  of  the  country,  would,  therefore,  be 
constantly  lying  idle,  doing  nothing,  but  waiting  for  something 
to  do.     Let  us  suppose  that  we  are  in  Scotland  at  the  present 
moment,  and  that  bank  notes  being  able  to  hear  and  answer 
questions,  we  take  at  random  a  parcel  of  one  pound  notes,  and 
interrogate  them  as  to  what  their  employment  is,  and  how 
they  discharge  it.     They  would  doubtless  answer:  "  the  service 
we  render  is  to  pass  from  hand  to  hand,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  exchanges."     "  Do  you  ever  lie  idle  for  any  time  ? " 
"  No.     Every  one  that  gets  hold  of  us  immediately  passes  us 


OF   BANKING  317 

to  some  other  person,  either  to  pay  some  debt,  or  to  make 
some  purchase,  or  if  not,  carries  us  to  the  banker,  who  sets  us 
out  again  on  the  same  round.  Sometimes,  indeed,  we  get 
a  few  days,  or  a  few  weeks  rest,  in  the  desk  of  a  small  country 
dealer,  or  some  such  person,  who  has  to  wait  that  time, 
perhaps,  before  he  can  collect  a  dozen  of  us  to  send  to  the 
bank,  but  this  is  seldom,  and  as  it  were  by  chance."  Let  now 
the  banks  be  done  away  with,  and,  instead  of  bank  notes,  let 
us  have  to  ask  the  same  questions  of  sovereigns.  Their 
answer  would  be,  "we  are  employed  in  the  service  of  people 
who  collect  us  for  the  purpose  of  buying  some  thing,  or  things, 
with  us,  when  the  chance  presents  itself.  We  are  lying 
continually  idle,  therefore,  for  longer  or  shorter  intervals, 
waiting  till  this  chance  cast  up.  Sometimes  we  are  collected 
in  money  bags  for  weeks,  sometimes  for  months,  and  unless 
when  we  get  into  the  hands  of  very  necessitous  persons,  we 
<  a*  h  of  us  expect  to  be  put  by  in  some  place  of  security,  along 
with  others  of  our  brethren,  and  with  them  to  wait  the  chance 
of  being  called  out  to  effect  some  exchange,  after  which  we 
again  return  for  a  time  to  inactivity." 

What  in  the  supposed  cases  must  be  true  of  a  particular  set 
of  bank  notes,  or  a  particular  set  of  sovereigns,  would  be  true 
of  all  bank  notes,  and  of  all  sovereigns,  and  hence  the  amount 
of  exchanges  effected  in  any  particular  year,  by  means  of 
three  and  a  half  millions  of  bank  notes  (about  the  present 
circulation  of  Scotland),  must  be  far  greater  than  would  be 
effected  in  the  same  time,  under  the  suppositions  we  have 
made,  by  three  and  a  half  millions  of  sovereigns.  The  latter 
con  Id  not  both  be  effecting  exchanges,  and  lying  idle. 

2.  But,  besides  the  exchanges  made  by  means  of  bank  notes, 
a  great  amount  of  exchanges  are  effected  by  orders  or 
checks  on  the  banker.  Were  there  no  banking  systnii  there 
in  existence,  these,  also,  would  have  to  be  effected  by  the 
UK-ilium  of  money,  either  ready  money,  or  money  paid  after  a 
certain  tiiiM.-,  but  certainly,  in  some  way  or  other,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  money.  There  would  require,  then,  to  be 
a  farther  provision  of  sovereigns,  to  effect  the  large  amount 
of  exchanges  now  managed  by  a  few  strokes  of  the  pen  of 
a  banker's  clerk. 


318  APPENDIX 

What  would  be  the  addition  which  these  two  circumstances 
would  render  it  necessary  to  make  to  the  circulating  medium, 
in  order  to  bring  sovereigns  to  approximate  in  efficiency  to 
the  bank  notes,  the  place  of  which  they  occupied,  might  be 
difficult  to  determine.  The  proportion  of  the  one  to  the  other, 
might  be  as  3  to  2,  as  4  to  2,  as  6  to  2,  or  as  8  to  2,  or  perhaps 
still  higher;  it  is  very  certain,  however,  that  the  one  would 
be  much  greater  than  the  other.  After  all,  it  would  only  be 
an  approximation.  As  what  will  happen  can  only  be  con- 
jectured, not  known,  every  person  engaged  in  business  would 
occasionally  err  in  his  calculations,  and  would  sometimes  have 
commodities  offered  him  which  he  would  wish  to  purchase, 
but  for  want  of  cash  would  be  unable  to  purchase.  The  two 
circumstances  referred  to,  the  additional  expense  of  exchanges, 
consequent  to  the  additional  money  [specie]  necessary  to  effect 
[any  given  amount  of]  them,  and  the  diminution  of  exchanges 
consequent  to  the  want  of  the  money  [conventional  means 
of  payment]  necessary  to  effect  them  [expeditiously],  united, 
would  mark  the  direct  loss  the  community  sustained  by  the 
abolition  of  the  banking  system.  The  indirect  loss  would 
arise  from  the  check  given  to  the  accumulative  principle,  by 
the  diminished  quickness  of  return  of  instruments — by  what 
would  be  termed  the  dullness  of  trade — and  the  diminished 
accumulation  of  stock  consequent  to  it. 

But  such  a  supposition  as  that  we  have  made,  could  not 
possibly  come  to  be  a  reality.  When  the  art  of  banking  has 
once  been  introduced  into  a  country,  the  advantages  resulting 
from  it,  are  too  great  to  admit  of  its  being  altogether  abolished. 
There  will  always  be  some  generalization  of  credit  transac- 
tions, some  recognized  mode  of  transferring  from  hand  to 
hand,  promises  to  pay,  made  by  one  individual  to  another. 
The  enactments  of  the  legislator  may  act  on  the  art  so  as  to 
make  it  more  or  less  effective,  but  they  cannot  prevent  the 
practice  of  it.  I  shall,  therefore,  make  another  supposition, 
and  assume  that  the  measure  proposed  having  been  adopted, 
sovereigns  took  the  place  of  bank  notes,  and  that,  notwith- 
standing, the  banks  continued  their  operations  as  before. 

In  this  case  the  banks,  by  the  supposition,  giving  sovereigns 
out,  and  receiving  them  again,  in  the  same  manner  as  they 


OF   BANKING  319 

had  their  own  notes,  the  community  in  general  would  have 
been  sensible  of  no  other  alteration  but  that  of  handling  gold 
instead  of  paper,  and  they  would  have  had  the  advantage  of 
some  additional  security  against  the  danger  of  the  failure  of 
the  banks,  and  against  disorders  consequent  on  drains  of  gold 
from  abroad.  But  this  supposition,  also,  is  inadmissible.  The 
diminution  of  the  paper  money  issued  by  the  bankers,  would 
have  proportionably  diminished  their  profits.  The  amount  of 
one  pound  bank  notes  there  circulating,  being  something  over 
two  millions,  their  circulation  would  probably  have  been 
curtailed  by  the  measure  by  nearly  two  millions.  This  at  five 
per  cent,  is  not  much  short  of  half  of  what  they  make  by 
the  whole  funds  deposited  in  their  hands,  which  have  been 
estimated  at  about  twenty  millions,  and  on  which  they  gain 
one  per  cent.,  the  difference  between  what  they  charge  those 
who  borrow  from  them,  and  which  they  give  those  who  lend 
to  them.  Their  profits  must,  therefore,  have  been  greatly 
diminished  by  the  measure,  and  unless  we  suppose  that  bankers 
in  Scotland  have  more  than  the  ordinary  profits  of  stock, 
which,  where  there  is  so  active  a  competition,  cannot  well  be, 
capital  would  have  been  withdrawn  from  the  business,1  or  the 
business  would  have  undergone  a  change.  It  is  probable  that 
the  latter  circumstance  would  have  happened.  The  banks 
would  either  have  made  more  than  one  per  cent,  difference 
between  what  they  allowed  and  what  they  charged  for  money, 
or,  as  is  more  likely,  they  would  have  changed  the  system  of 
bank  credits.  The  business  of  the  small  dealers,  tradesmen 
and  farmers,  who  have  credit  with  the  banks,  is  transacted 
mostly  by  one  pound  notes.  Bank  bills  exceeding  five  pounds 
rarely  pass  into  their  hands.  Under  the  supposition,  there- 
>re,  this  class  would  have  circulated  but  very  little  of  the 
inker's  paper;  he,  consequently,  would  have  declined  grant- 
them  credit,  in  this  way,  and  confined  his  credits  of  tins 

1  It  may  be  observed,  that  there  is  a  great  difference  between  Great  Britain 
an<l  the  Unit«-d  States  in  this  respect,  because  in  Great  Britain  the  govern- 
ment funds  [debts]  afford  an  advantageous  investment  for  the  capitals  of  in- 
dividuals, widows,  etc.,  who  in  this  continent  are  under  a  sort  of  necessity  of 
IT  it  in  bunks.  In  this,  and  in  many  other  respects,  as  in  the  distance 
from  other  nations,  and  the  increased  difficulty  in  replenishing  the  stock  of 
bullion  when  exhausted,  the  situation  of  the  two  countries  is  very  different. 


320  APPENDIX 

sort  to  merchants  and  others,  whose  transactions  being  large, 
made  them  the  circulators  of  the  paper  to  the  issue  of  which 
he  was  confined,  and  whose  business,  consequently,  would  have 
been  more  profitable  to  him.  The  facility  of  exchange  among 
the  small  dealers  would  have  been  greatly  abridged,  and 
through  it,  that  among  the  whole  community  would  have 
been  somewhat  lessened.  The  real  amount  of  loss  that  would 
have  been  in  consequence  sustained,  it  is  not  necessary  to  our 
purpose  to  attempt  to  fix.  Almost  all  persons  practically 
acquainted  with  the  business  of  the  country,  believed  that  it 
would  have  been  very  considerable,  and,  in  consequence  of 
their  urgent  representation,  the  measure  in  contemplation  was 
abandoned.1 

If  I  have  succeeded  in  placing  clearly  before  the  reader  my 
ideas  concerning  this  somewhat  intricate  subject,  he  will,  I 
think,  perceive,  that  there  exists  an  essential  difference 
between  the  nature  and  operation  of  the  money  of  the 
banker,  and  that  of  other  money. 

In  communities  where  the  art  of  banking  has  no  exist- 
ence, money  may  be  defined  to  be  a  commodity,  of  which 
every  person  in  the  habit  of  making  [many]  changes,  keeps 
a  [considerable]  supply  by  him,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting 
them. 

In  a  community,  again,  where  the  art  of  banking  has  been 
established,  as  in  the  instance  of  Scotland,  if  we  confine  our 
attention  to  those  who  have  dealings  with  the  banker,  the 
money  he  issues  2  may  be  fitly  described  as  counters  which  he 
gives  them  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  their  transactions 
with  one  another,  and  which  they  return  to  him  immediately 
they  are  arranged,  that  they  may  be  rated  on  his  books 

1  [Rae  neglects  to  mention  one  circumstance  much  emphasized  by  recent 
writers,  that  is,   that  the  one-pound  note  in   Scotland  is  quite  necessary  to 
enable  the  banks  to  maintain  their  extensive  system  of  branches,  which  carry 
reliable  banking  facilities  even  into  the  smallest  hamlets.     The  small  bank- 
note furnishes  a  cheap  "  till-money,"  without  which  branch  banking  on  any 
large  scale  is  too  expensive.] 

2  [That  is,  the  money  which  he  pays  out  and  receives.     "  Bank  money  "  in 
this  paragraph  is  not  "banker's  money,"  that  is,  bank  credit  currency  which 
we  ordinarily  speak  of  as  being  "  issued  "  ;  it  is  actual  money,  specie,  as  used 
in  connection  with  a  system  of  banking.     See  below.] 


OF   BANKING  321 

according  to  the  place  they  occupy  as  borrowers  of  part,  or  as 
owners  of  part,  of  the  general  funds  which  he  holds.  An  in- 
dividual who  has  a  deposit  in  a  bank  draws  from  it,  we  shall 
say,  the  sum  of  £1,000,  and  lessens  by  that  amount  the 
deposits  in  the  bank,  and  for  which  it  has  to  pay  interest. 
But,  of  course,  he  intends  to  put  it  to  some  use,  that  is,  to 
make  some  purchase  or  purchases  with  it,  or  pay  for  some 
before  made.  The  person  or  persons  to  whom,  for  this  pur- 
he  transfers  it,  by  the  supposition  dealers  with  the  bank 
if  they  have  no  immediate  use  for  it,  will  directly  carry  it  to 
tin-  bank,  and  then  the  general  deposits  and  loans  of  the  bank 
will  be  the  same  as  before,  but  the  bank  accounts  of  the  parti- 
cular depositors  and  borrowers  engaged  in  the  transaction  will 
have  suffered  an  alteration.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  any  of 
those  individuals,  among  whom  the  £1,000  is  distributed,  or 
all  of  them,  have  use  for  the  sums  they  receive,  that  can  only 
be  to  make  some  immediate  purchases,  or  to  pay  for  some 
before  made.  In  this  way,  after  passing  through  a  less  or 
greater  number  of  hands,  the  £1,000  the  banker  has  issued 
finds  its  way  back  to  him,  and,  as  far  as  his  business  is  con- 
e-rued, he  is  exactly  in  the  same  situation  as  before  he  issued 
it.  The  situation  of  the  person  who  took  out  the  money,  and 
that  of  them  who  return  it,  is  altered.  One  holds  a  greater 
ruments,  and  the  debtor  side  of  his  bank  account 
i>  proportionally  greater,  the  others  hold  a  less  stock,  and  the 

:  i  t  side  of  their  bank  accounts  are  proportionably  greater. 
The  former  has  transferred  a  part  of  his  claim  on  the  general 
stock  of  instruments,  and  has  in  lieu  of  it  the  possession  of 
some  particular  instrument  or  instruments,  and  the  latter 
have  done  the  reverse.  The  bank  money,  therefore,  has 
merely  served  the  place  of  counters,  by  aid  of  which  the 
>mers  of  the  bank  settle  their  transactions,  and  finally 

nnine  their  relations  to  its  stock.     During  the  time  these 

inactions  were  in  progress,  there  was  a  proportional 
diminution  in  the  amount  of  interest  which  the  bank  had 
to  pay  its  customers,  and,  if  the  counters  it  gave  them  were 
merely  pieces  of  paper  costing  it  little  or  nothing,  thi^ 

i'l  !»<•  so  much  clear  gain  to  it;  if  they  were  gold,  tin 
<>curing  them  would  exactly  Imlawv  th<   -a in. 
I 


322  APPENDIX 

If  there  be  a  plurality  of  banks,  as  the  bankers  in  that  case 
exchange  their  notes  with  one  another,  the  series  of  transac- 
tions produced  are  substantially  the  same,  unless  in  so  far 
as  the  business  of  one  bank  may  be  extending,  that  of  another 
contracting,  a  circumstance  which  is  generally  of  little 
moment  to  the  community. 

It  is  only  when  the  banker's  money  passes  out  of  the  range 
of  those  having  transactions  with  him,  that  it  comes  to  hold 
the  place  of  other  money.  While  it  is  in  their  hands,  it 
performs  the  office  that  other  money  would,  and  in  this 
respect,  if  it  be  paper  money,  he  gains  an  advantage  not 
directly  springing  from  the  exchanges  managed  by  his  funds. 
Individuals,  however,  who  do  not  deal  with  any  bank,  where 
banking  is  properly  managed,  are  persons  whose  affairs  do 
not  require  them  to  keep  [much]  money  by  them,  and  by  the 
agency  of  both  classes,  it  is,  therefore,  preserved  in  continual 
motion  and  employment. 

I  have  entered  into  a  longer  detail  on  this  subject  than 
I  had  intended,  from  my  desire  to  make  apparent  the  distinc- 
tion stated  above,  in  regard  to  the  superior  efficiency  of 
the  money  which  the  banker  puts  into  circulation,1  whether 
paper  or  gold,  as  compared  with  that  which  exists  where  the 
art  of  banking  is  unknown,  and  where  there  is  either  no 
generalization,  or  an  imperfect  generalization  of  transactions 
performed  through  the  medium  of  credit. 

It  will  be  seen,  that  the  view  I  have  attempted  to  give 
of  the  whole  subject  of  exchange,  is  quite  opposed  to  that 
exhibited  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations.  Adam  Smith  sets  out 
from  exchange,  and  makes  it,  and  the  division  of  labor  conse- 
quent on  it,  the  source  of  stock,  whereas  I  have  endeavored  to 
show  that  exchange  is  the  result  of  the  increase  of  stock,  and 
subsequent  division  of  employments,  that  the  necessity  for  its 
existence  is  a  circumstance  retarding  the  increase  of  stock, 
and  that  the  benefits  of  the  art  of  banking  spring  from  the 
facility  which  that  art  gives  to  the  process. 

1  [Apparently  John  Stuart  Mill  followed  Rae  in  that  passage  of  his  Principles 
(Bk.  III.  c.  III.  sec.  3),  where  he  speaks  of  the  "  efficiency  of  money  "  as 
an  expression  in  some  degree  preferable  to  "rapidity  of  circulation."] 


OF   BANKING  323 

As  exchange  may  be  said  to  be  the  commencement  of  Adam 
Smith's  system,  and  as  money  is  the  instrument  of  exchange, 
he  assumes  it  as  a  first  principle,  that  while  the  exchanges 
remain  the  same,  the  same  amount  of  money  is  necessary  to 
transact  them.  Bank  paper,  he,  therefore,  concludes,  will 
exactly  equal  in  nominal  value  the  specie  circulated  before  its 
issue.  If  it  exceed  this  amount,  it  will  return  upon  the  bank, 
if  it  fall  short  of  it,  the  vacancy  will  be  filled  by  specie.  This 
principle,  which  Adam  Smith,  as  is  observed  by  Mr.  Say,  has 
introduced  into  speculations  on  this  subject,  is  thus  epitomized 
by  the  latter  author : 

"  Taking  it  for  granted,  then,  that  the  specie,  remaining  in 
circulation  within  the  community,  is  limited  by  the  national 
demand  for  circulating  medium ;  if  any  expedient  can  be 
d-' vised,  for  substituting  bank  notes  in  place  of  half  the 
specie,  or  the  commodity,  money,  there  will  evidently  be  a 
superabundance  of  metal  money,  and  that  superabundance 
must  be  followed  by  a  diminution  of  its  relative  value.  But 
as  such  diminution  in  one  place  by  no  means  implies  a  con- 
temporaneous diminution  in  other  places,  where  the  expedi- 
ent of  bank  notes  is  not  resorted  to,  and  where,  consequently,  no 
such  superabundance  of  the  commodity,  money,  exists,  money 
naturally  resorts  thither,  and  is  attracted  to  the  spot  where  it 
bears  the  highest  relative  value,  or  is  exchangeable  for  the 
largest  quantity  of  other  goods ;  in  other  words,  it  flows  to 
markets  where  commodities  are  cheapest,  and  is  replaced 
1  »y  goods,  of  value  equal  to  the  money  exported." l 

He  goes. on  to  prove  that  the  national  capital  must  be 
augmented  by  the  specie  exported,  and  fixes  the  utmost  quan- 
t  it y  l>y  which  it  can  so  be  increased,  at  one  tenth  of  the  annual 
product  or  revenue  of  the  nation. 

Now  I  maintain,  that  to  effect  the  same  transactions,  it 
requires  far  less  banker's  money,  whether  that  money  be  paper 
or  specie,  than  was  required  of  the  money  in  existence  before 
the  establishment  of  banks,  the  celerity  of  motion  making 
up  for  the  deficiencies  of  quantity;  that  what  Adam  Smith 
asserts  concerning  the  comparative  efficiency  of  the  two  kinds 
ioney  circulated  by  consumers  and  dealers,  holds  true  of 

»S»y,  B.  I.  c.  XXII.     Am.  edit.  Vol.  I.  p.  246. 


324  APPENDIX 

that  money  [even  though  it  be  specie  alone]  of  which  the  bank 
forms  the  centre  of  circulation,  as  compared  with  that,  which, 
where  there  are  no  banks,  circulates  slowly  and  after  intervals 
of  inactivity  between  dealer  and  dealer;  that  the  one  by 
"a  more  rapid  circulation,  serves  as  the  instrument  of  many 
more  purchases  than  the  other";  and,  consequently,  that  if  the 
same  number  of  transactions  only  takes  place  after  the  estab- 
lishment of  banks,  as  before  their  introduction,  then  much 
less  money  will  be  necessary,  and  if  the  same  money  be  circu- 
lated, the  fact  indicates,  that  a  great  addition  has  been  made 
to  the  business  transacted,  and  still  more  if  the  money 
circulated  exceeds  that  formerly  circulated.  It  is  this  last 
event,  that,  I  conceive,  generally  takes  place.  In  this,  as  in 
other  instances  of  real  improvements,  the  [ultimate]  effect  is 
contrary  to  what  might  have  been  anticipated,  the  greater 
facility  in  performing  the  operation  bringing  so  much  greater 
a  compass  of  materials  within  its  reach,  that  the  occupation 
given  to  the  art,  instead  of  diminishing,  increases,  and  by  the 
subdivision  of  employments,  and  abandonment  of  barter,  money 
comes  to  be  so  much  more  used  as  an  instrument  of  exchange, 
that  on  the  whole,  the  quantity  of  it  employed  is  augmented, 
in  the  same  way,  as  when  a  road  is  much  improved,  though 
one  horse  may  be  sufficient  to  transport  what  three  did  before, 
yet  the  commodities  transported  so  increase,  that  there  are, 
notwithstanding,  thrice  the  number  of  horses  employed.1  This 
is  especially  the  case  in  new  countries,  where,  from  causes 
already  specified,  money  before  the  existence  of  banks  is 
excessively  scarce. 

If  the  reader  have  still  any  doubts  on  the  subject,  he  may,  I 
conceive,  satisfy  himself  of  the  accuracy  of  this  view,  by  refer- 
ence to  the  pages  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations  itself.  Adam 
Smith,  by  no  means,  limits  the  advantages  of  banking  as 
practised  in  Scotland,  to  the  substitution  of  paper  for  specie, 
and  the  direct  fictitious  capital  thus  created.  On  the  contrary, 
he  thinks  that  every  person  dealing  with  the  banker,  that  is, 

1  [This  theory  of  displacement  and  expansion  respecting  employment  for 
actual  money  in  a  community  making  extensive  use  of  banks,  may  be  further 
developed.  See  the  article  on  the  "Distribution  of  Money,"  by  Prof. 
O.  M.  W.  Sprague,  in  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  for  August,  1904.] 


OF  BANKING  325 

every  person  engaged  in  business,  derives  individually  very 
great  advantages  from  the  system.  These  advantages  are  re- 
solvable into  the  circumstance,  that  every  such  person  is  free 
from  the  necessity  of  keeping  any  money  by  him.  Whatever 
demands  are  made  on  him  he  answers  by  means  of  his  cash 
credit,  or  by  discounting  a  bill,  or  bills.  In  this  way  "  partly 
by  the  conveniency  of  discounting  bills,  and  partly  by  that  of 
cash  accounts,  the  creditable  traders  of  the  country  are  dis- 
pensed from  the  necessity  of  keeping  any  part  of  their  stock 
by  them  unemployed,  and  in  ready  money,  for  answering 
occasional  demands."  l  Now  it  is  certainly  very  remarkable, 
that  it  did  not  strike  Adam  Smith,  that  if  all  the  creditable 
dealers  in  the  community,  that  is,  the  great  majority  of  those 
who  before  the  establishment  of  banks  would  have  kept  money 
l>y  them,  will  by  the  facilities  given  by  the  art,  be  dispensed 
with  the  necessity  of  doing  so,  and  can  still  carry  on  equally 
extensive  transactions,  the  money  requisite  to  transact  the 
general  business  of  the  country  must  be  diminished  by  that 
amount.  If,  for  example,  according  to  the  estimate  he  makes, 
the  specie  in  circulation  in  Scotland  before  the  introduction  of 
banking  was  about  one  million  sterling,  after  the  establish- 
ment of  that  art,  had  the  exchanges  effected  remained  the 
same,  a  much  less  sum  than  one  million  would  have  been 
sufficient  to  perform  them ;  for  all  that  money  would  have 
been  useless  which  it  had  before  been  necessary  to  keep  in  the 
coffers  of  the  different  dealers,  and  which  formed  the  great 
mass  of  the  then  circulating  medium,  or  rather  of  the  medium 
[half  circulating  and  half  stagnating]  through  the  interven- 
<>f  which  exchanges  were  transacted.  If,  then,  a  million 
had  been  still  employed, — if  a  million  of  the  banker's  paper 
had  superseded  a  million  of  coin, — it  would  have  indicated, 
as  I  have  stated  above,  a  great  increase  in  the  transfers 
ted,  and  would  have  shown,  either  "  that  a  larger  compass 
atorials  had  been  brought  within  reach  of  the  accumulative 
principle,  or  that  employments  had  been  more  subdivided,  or 
that  both  circumstances  had  occurred." 

According  to  Adam  Smith,  the  Iwmk  saves  each  dealer  from 
keeping  l.y  him  in  ready  money,  all  that  amount   which  it 

1  Book  II.  c.  II. 


326  APPENDIX 

advances  him  by  means  of  the  cash  account  it  opens  with  him, 
or  by  discounting  the  bills  he  presents.  What  in  this  way, 
then,  all  the  banks  advance  to  all  the  dealers,  deducting  from 
it  the  amount  of  paper  circulated,  must  be  so  much  which 
they  save  them  from  being  obliged  to  keep  by  them.  But 
this  is  the  employment  to  which,  where  banking  is  properly 
conducted,  bankers  devote  their  whole  funds,  and  by  this  mode 
of  reckoning,  the  saving  effected  by  them  in  Scotland  might 
be  made  to  appear  equal  to  thirty  millions  of  specie.  Were 
banking,  however,  as  a  distinct  business,  totally  abolished  in 
that  country,  the  event  certainly  would  not  bring  into  it 
thirty  millions  of  specie.  The  effects  produced  by  such  an 
event  would  consist  in  a  diminution  of  the  number  of  ex- 
changes, and,  consequently,  of  the  division  and  subdivision  of 
employments,  and  of  the  capacity  given  to  materials ;  [and 
also  the  bringing  about  of]  the  transaction  of  many  exchanges 
by  barter,  and  the  generalization  of  a  large  amount  of  them 
by  transfers  from  hand  to  hand.  Specie  would  only  come  in, 
in  sufficient  abundance  to  make  up  the  balance.1 

To  conclude ;  in  my  opinion  the  notion  from  which  Adam 
Smith  sets  out,  and  which,  since  his  time,  has  kept  possession 
of  all  speculations  on  this  subject,  and  been  the  foundation  of 
many  important  practical  measures,2  is  essentially  erroneous. 
According  to  him,  there  is  always  a  certain  sum  of  money 
necessary  to  carry  on  the  transactions  of  every  society,  the 
amount  of  which  is  proportioned  to  the  transactions  carried 
on.  This  is  termed  the  circulating  medium,  and,  whether  it 
be  bank  paper,  or  specie  circulated  by  the  banker,  or  coin  used 
for  the  purposes  of  exchange  where  there  is  no  bank,  it  is 
reckoned  always  in  quantity  proportioned  to  the  transactions 
carried  on.  On  the  contrary,  it  seems  to  me,  that  when  once 
a  bank  is  established  in  any  community,  the  money  circulated 

1  [Of  course  these  last  statements  are  exaggerated.     Not  the  same  amount  of 
business,  to  be  sure,  but  something  like  the  same  amount  would  still  be  trans- 
acted on  a  lower  range  of  prices.     But  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  one  effect  of 
the  supposed  occurrence  would  be  to  introduce  barter  to  some  extent,  along  a 
margin  of  the  use  of  money,  where  barter  did  not  before  exist.] 

2  As  for  instance,  the  contraction  of  issues  by  the  bank  of  England  in  1826, 
(the  immediate  cause  of  the  disasters  of  that  year,)  and  the  legislative  enact- 
ments on  British  currency  for  the  last  twenty  years. 


OF   BANKING  327 

among  those  who  are  its  customers,  serves  merely  the  purpose 
of  counters  for  arranging  their  transactions,  performing  the 
same  part  as  a  multiplicity  of  checks,  operating  upon  their 
several  accounts,  might  accomplish.  It  is  not  a  fund  kept  for 
making  exchanges,  but  an  instrument  applied  for  [and 
brought  into  use]  at  the  time  exchanges  are  to  be  made,  and 
operating  upon  the  real  fund  kept  for  that  purpose,  viz.,  the 
claim  which  the  bank  has  on  the  general  stock  of  the  com- 
munity, the  specie  deposited  in  its  vaults,  and  the  other  items 
making  up  its  capital  [assets],  which,  like  the  coin  in  the 
old  deposit  banks  of  Italy  and  Holland,  constitute  that  part  of 
the  general  stock,  really  performing  the  function  of  exchange. 

If  this  be  the  case,  it  follows  that  the  more  perfect  as  an 
art  banking  becomes,  the  less,  oilier  circumstances  being  equal, 
is  the  amount  of  the  circulating  medium  required,  and  the 
greater  the  saving  to  the  community.  It  also  follows,  that 
a  system  of  banking,  considered  merely  as  a  means  of  trans- 
acting exchanges  taking  place  in  the  ordinary  course  of  affairs 
within  the  community,  approaches  nearest  to  the  excellence 
of  art,  when  it  most  effectually  secures  its  funds  from  being 
squandered,  and  when  the  counters  employed  by  it  in  its 
operations,  issue  from  it,  pass  through  the  hands  of  its 
customers,  and  find  their  way  back  to  it  most  easily  and 
quickly.  The  former  circumstance  diminishes  the  risk  of  loss 
from  this  mode  of  effecting  exchange,  the  latter  diminishes  the 
expense  of  it. 

It  may  farther  be  observed  that  the  popular  notion,  that 
the  advantages  of  banking  are  limited  to  the  substitution  of 
paper  for  specie,  and  the  creation  to  that  amount  of  a  fictitious 
capital  is  altogether  erroneous.  The  advantages  derived  from 
this  source  are  rather  contingent,  than  essential.  They  fall 
chi'-fly  to  the  banker,  and,  as  he  may  be  considered  as  a 
broker  having  the  care  of  the  funds  of  certain  of  the  lenders 
of  the  community,  for  the  purpose  of  distributing  them  among 
th«  borrowers,  and  having  to  be  paid  for  the  trouble,  the 
expense,  and  the  risk  of  loss  attending  his  business,  this  mode 
•  >t  paying  him  may  be  the  most  convenient  that  can  be 
devised  The  real  advantage  however  of  the  art,'arises  from 
its  [efficient]  application  of  the  floating  loans  [that  is,  the 


328  APPENDIX 

funds  possibly  available  for  making  loans]  of  the  society  to 
the  purposes  of  exchange ;  and,  instead  of  the  paper  money 
issued  being  the  cause  and  the  measure  of  the  good  derived 
from  it,  the  less  the  quantity  of  such  money,  in  proportion  to 
the  business  transacted  with  it  [that  is,  the  greater  the 
amount  of  transfer  of  credits  on  the  books  of  the  bank  in  place 
of  issue  of  notes],  the  smaller  the  expense  of  the  business  of 
exchange  to  the  trading  community,  and  the  greater  the 
benefits  the  banker  bestows  on  it.  And,  again ;  in  cases  where 
bank  paper  makes  the  general  currency,  instead  of  the  partial 
or  total  abolition  of  banking,  only  requiring  the  substitution 
of  a  quantity  of  specie  equal  to  the  paper  withdrawn  from 
circulation,  it  would,  in  proportion,  as  it  were  partial  or  total, 
compel  the  substitution  of  a  much  larger  quantity  of  specie,  or 
a  proportional  diminution  of  the  exchanges  before  transacted ; 
and,  in  either  case,  would  place  the  instruments  belonging 
to  the  society  in  more  slowly  returning  orders,  lessen  the 
amount  of  materials  within  reach  of  the  accumulative  prin- 
ciple, and  eventually  occasion  a  proportional  diminution  of  the 
national  stock. 


ARTICLE  V. 

OF  THE   WEALTH  OF  NATIONS  AS  A  BRANCH  OF  THE 
PHILOSOPHY  OF  INDUCTION. 

[OF  THE  SPIRIT  AND  METHOD  OF  SCIENCE.] 

IT  will  be  perceived  that  there  is  an  essential  difference  between 
the  modes  of  investigation  which  I  have  followed  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages,  and  those  guiding  the  speculations  of  the  celebrated 
philosopher,  from  whose  opinions  I  venture  to  dissent.  Where 
the  principles  of  investigation  are  different,  the  conclusions 
arrived  at  can  hardly  agree ;  and  I  scarce  think,  therefore,  that 
I  should  assist  the  reader  in  forming  an  opinion  on  the  sub- 
ject, by  entering  into  a  particular  discussion  of  the  points  in 
which  we  are  at  variance.  The  views  I  have  endeavored  to 
unfold  must,  in  so  far,  stand  alone. 

It  so  happens,  however,  that  concerning  the  principles  of 
investigation  themselves,  there  is  a  common  standard  to  which 
the  disciples  of  Adam  Smith  refer,  and  on  the  rules  drawn 
from  which,  I  also  conceive,  the  determination  of  the  questions 
debated  must  ultimately  rest.  Adam  Smith  has  been  said  to 
have  made  political  economy  a  science  of  experiment,  a  branch 
of  the  inductive  philosophy.1  Now,  I  apprehend,  that  the 
spirit  of  the  philosophy  of  the  author  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations 
was  completely  opposed  to  the  inductive  philosophy — the 
philosophy  of  Bacon,  and  that  he  never  intended  that  that 
work  should  be  received  as  if  established  on  it.  If  the  reader 

1  Say's  Introduction  and  note  on  Storch,  ,  i«  I. 


330  APPENDIX 

agree  with  me,  he  will  probably  consider  that  the  whole  dis- 
cussion here,  in  a  measure  terminates.  In  placing  before  him 
the  reasons  for  my  belief,  I  shall  confine  myself,  as  much  as 
possible,  to  transcribing  the  words  of  the  Novum  Organum,  on 
the  one  side,  and  those  of  Adam  Smith,  in  some  of  his  specula- 
tions, on  the  other. 

Lord  Bacon  affirms,  that  there  always  have  been,  and  must 
be,  two  sorts  of  philosophy — the  popular,  and  the  inductive ; 
or,  as  they  might  perhaps  be  denominated,  the  philosophy  of 
system,  and  of  science.  In  the  one,  the  mind  explains  natural 
phenomena  according  to  its  preconceived  notions,  in  the  other, 
it  traces  out,  by  a  careful  interpretation,  the  real  connexions 
between  them.1  The  former  will  always  be  the  more  popular, 

1  "  Nos  siquidem  de  deturbanda  ea,  quae  nuiic  floret,  philosophia,  aut  si  quae 
alia  sit,  aut  erit,  hac  emendatior  aut  auctior,  minime  laboramus.  Neque 
enim  officimus,  quin  philosophia  ista  recepta,  et  alise  id  genus,  disputationes 
alant,  sermones  ornent,  ad  professoria  munera,  et  vitae  civilis  compendia,  ad- 
hibeantur,  et  valeant.  Quin  etiam  aperte  significamus,  et  declaramus,  earn 
quam  nos  adducimus  philosophiam,  ad  istas  res  admodum  utilem  non  futuram. 
Non  praesto  est;  neque  in  transitu  capitur;  neque  ex  praenotionibus  intellectui 
blanditur  ;  neque  ad  vulgi  captum,  nisi  per  utilitatem  et  effecta  descendet. 

Sint  itaque  (quod  felix  faustumque  sit  utrique  parti)  duae  doctrinarum 
emanationes,  ac  duae  despensationes ;  duae  similiter  contemplantium,  sive 
philosophantium  tribus  ac  veluti  cognationes ;  atque  illas  neutiquam  inter  se 
inimicae,  aut  alienee,  sed  foederatae,  et  mutuis  auxiliis  devinctae ;  sit  denique 
alia  scientias  colendi,  alia  inveniendi  ratio.  Atque  quibus  prima  potior  et 
acceptior  est,  ob  festinationem,  vel  vitae  civilis  ratioues,  vel  quod  illam  alter- 
am  ob  mentis  infirmitatem  capere  et  complecti  non  possint  (id  quod  louge 
plurimis  accidere  necesse  est,)  optamus,  ut  iis  feliciter  et  ex  voto  succedat, 
quod  agunt ;  atque  ut  quod  sequuntur,  teneant.  Quod  si  cui  mortalium  cordi 
et  curae  sit,  non  tantum  inventis  hserere  atque  iis  uti,  sed  ad  ulteriora  pene- 
trare ;  atque  non  disputando  adversarium,  sed  opere  naturam  vincere ; 
denique,  non  belle  et  probabiliter  opinari,  sed  certo  et  ostensive  scire ; — Atque 
ut  melius  intelligamur,  utque  illud  ipsum  quod  volumus  ex  nominibus  im- 
positis  magis  familiariter  occurrat ;  altera  ratio,  sive  via,  anticipatio  mentis ; 
altera,  interpretatio  natures,  a  nobis  appellari  consuevit."  Prsef.  II.  Instaur. 

"  Utcunque  enim  varia  sint  genera  politiarum,  unicus  est  status  scien- 
tiarum,  isque  semper  fuit  et  mansurus  est  popularis.  Atque  apud  populum 
plurimum  vigent  doctrinae,  aut  coutentiosse  et  pugnaces,  aut  speciosae  et 
inanes  ;  quales  videlicet  assensum  aut  illaqueant,  aut  demulcent."  Praef. 
Inst. 

"  Quinetiam  significamus  aperte,  ea,  quae  nos  adducimus,  ad  istas  res  non 
multum  idonea  futura  ;  cum  ad  vulgi  captum  deduci  omnino  non  possint,  nisi 
per  effecta  et  opera  tantum."  Lib.  I.  c.  xxviii. 


OF   SCIENCE  VERSUS  SYSTEM-BUILDING      331 

and  on  account  of  its  facility  of  explication,  and  its  fitness  for 
the  purposes  of  argument,  will  maintain  its  place  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  all  subjects  of  general  interest ;  while  the  latter 
must  be  confined  to  a  few,  its  spirit  being  difficult  to  seize, 
above  the  grasp  of  the  commonalty,  and  only  to  be  com- 
prehended by  them  in  its  effects. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  the  foundation  on  which  each 
of  the  two  systems  rests. 

Necessity  obliges  men  to  attend  to  the  phenomena  around 
them,  to  mark  their  actual  successions,  and  to  name  them. 
They  have  thus  a  store  of  general  facts,  and  of  regular  expres- 
sions for  them.  These,  however,  refer  not  to  the  laws  of  the 
general  system  themselves,  but  to  the  phenomena  or  events,  the 
consequences  of  those  laws. 

Their  farther  discussion  regarding  them  may  be  undertaken 
tor  the  purpose  either  of  explaining,  or  of  investigating  them. 
If  for  the  former,  they  will  refer  to  principles  already  ad- 
mitted ;  that  is,  to  known  modes  of  succession.  If  for 
the  latter,  they  will  search  for  the  causes  on  which  those 
common  successions  proceed.  An  example  will  render  this 
plain. 

In  the  earliest  stages  of  society,  and  before  speculation  com- 
menced, men  would  make  some  general  observations  concerning 
the  motions  of  the  different  bodies  about  them.  They  would 
observe,  for  instance,  that,  unless  prevented  by  some  obstacle, 
most  bodies  fall  to  the  earth.  Adopting  this  observation  as  a 
general  rule,  when  they  saw  one  so  falling,  they  would  con- 
ceive of  the  event  as  a  usual  or  natural  occurrence.  A  savage, 
when,  in  traversing  the  forest,  he  sees  a  rotten  branch  break 
off  and  fall  to  the  ground,  thinks  of  it  as  an  event  which 
is  a  necessary  consequence  of  its  nature,  and,  if  his  language 
furnished  the  expression,  might  say  it  was  a  natural  motion  in 
it  as  a  heavy  body.  Were  he  to  see  the  same  broken  branch 
moving  rapidly  through  the  air  upwards,  or  horizontally,  he 
would  conceive  of  it  as  not  proceeding  from  its  own  nature, 
but  from  some  disturbing  cause,  and  might  call  it  a  motion 
produced  by  violence.  He  would  observe,  too,  that  some  sub- 
stances, as  air,  and  what  he  calls  fire,  rise  upwards.  He  would 
so  conclude,  that  all  light  bodies  ascended.  In  the  same 


332  APPENDIX 

manner,  the  heavenly  bodies  seem  to  him  to  have  naturally  a 
circular  motion. 

Let  us  now  suppose  that  the  two  sorts  of  philosophy :  1st. 
the  explanatory  or  systematic,  and  2d.  the  inductive  or  scien- 
tific, in  pursuit  of  their  respective  objects,  apply  themselves  to 
the  consideration  of  the  complicated  series  of  phenomena,  con- 
nected with  sensible  motions  of  all  sorts. 

As  what  is  conceived  to  be  already  known  requires  no 
explanation,  the  philosophy  of  system  takes  things  which, 
because  familiar,  are  admitted  as  obvious,  as  the  media  for 
explaining  all  other  things.  To  do  otherwise,  were  to  under- 
take a  work  foreign  to  its  objects.  In  this  way,  under  its 
hands,  the  practical  rules  of  the  observer,  become  the  specula- 
tive principles  of  the  philosopher.  Motion  is  divided  into 
natural,  and  violent.  Certain  bodies  have  a  natural  tendency 
downwards,  others  upwards,  others  to  move  in  a  circle.  From 
these  principles,  the  whole  phenomena  are  explained  in  a 
plausible  manner,  and  arranged  in  a  systematic  form.  Such 
was  the  plan  of  the  philosophers  of  Greece,  and  such  their 
pseudo  science  of  motion.  It  is  evident,  that  however  it 
might  systematize  and  explain  facts  already  known,  it  could 
not  conduct  to  new  truths.  It  could  not  lead  farther  than  the 
principles  from  which  it  set  out,  and  these  evidently  embraced 
not  the  laws  of  the  general  system  of  things,  but  only  circum- 
stances, the  results  of  those  laws. 

The  philosophy  of  induction  has  for  its  object  the  discovery 
of  truth.  It  seeks  for  the  laws  regulating  the  general  system. 
As  it  is  the  aim  of  the  other  to  explain  plausibly,  its  aim  is  to 
investigate  strictly.  What,  consequently,  are  to  the  one  ulti- 
mate principles,  are  to  the  other  collections  of  facts,  the 
causes  of  which  are  to  be  inquired  into.  When,  therefore, 
this  philosophy  applied  itself  to  the  consideration  of  the 
phenomena  of  motion,  it  pronounced  the  whole  antecedent 
system  factitious  and  foreign  to  its  objects,  and  commencing 
their  investigation  sagaciously  and  diligently  anew,  it  dis- 
covered the  real  and  simple  laws  regulating  the  various  series 
of  these  events.1 

1  Etiam  quum  de  causis  motuum  aliquid  significare  volunt,  atque  divisionem 
ex   illis   instituere,   differentiam   motus   naturalis   et   violent!,    maxima  cum 


OF  SCIENCE   VERSUS  SYSTEM-BUILDING      333 

To  which  of  those  opposite  sects  does  Adam  Smith  belong  ? 
and  on  which  of  these  two  modes  are  the  principles  guiding 
his  speculations  framed  ? 

To  me  it  appears  that  his  philosophy  is  that  of  explanation 
and  system,  and  that  his  speculations  are  not  to  be  considered 
as  inductive  investigations  and  expositions  of  the  real  prin- 
ciples guiding  the  successions  of  phenomena,  but  as  successful 
efforts  to  arrange  with  regularity,  according  to  common  and 
preconceived  notions,  a  multiplicity  of  known  facts. 

My  reasons  for  this  opinion  are  drawn,  1st.  from  the  object 
at  which  his  philosophy  aims :  2d.  from  the  methods  which  he 
adopts  to  attain  it :  3d.  from  the  consequences  which  have 
resulted  from  his  labors.  I  shall  arrange  the  proofs  for  the 
justice  of  this  conclusion,  which  I  purpose  submitting  to 
tht  reader,  according  to  these  three  heads ;  contrasting  in 
each  the  spirit  and  consequences  of  his  speculative  principles 

h  those  of  the  inductive  philosophy. 

I.  According  to  Adam  Smith  "Wonder,  and  not  any  expec- 
>n  of  advantage  from  its  discoveries,  is  the  first  principle 
which  prompts  mankind  to  the  study  of  philosophy,  of  that 
science  which  pretends  to  lay  open  the  concealed  connexions 
that  unite  the  various  appearances  of  nature ; l — philosophical 
systems  are  to  be  considered  as  mere  inventions  of  the  imagina- 
tion to  connect  together  the  otherwise  disjointed  and  discordant 
phenomena  of  nature." — "  A  philosophical  system  is  an  imagi- 
machine  invented  to  connect  together  in  the  fancy,  those 
:ent  movements  and  effects,  which  are  already  in  reality 
performed." 2 

socordia,  introducunt ;  qua?  et  ipsa  omnino  ex  notione  vulgari  est;  cum  omnis 
motus  violentus  etiam  naturalis  revera  sit, — ista  mere  popularia  sunt,  et  nullo 
modo  in  Nat u ram  penetrant.  Xov.  Org.  Lib.  I.  Ixvi. 


1  A«d  rb  davudffw  ol  Avflpwiroi  ical  vvv  Kal  rb  TpCrrov  1}p$arro  ^uXoffwfxiv,  etc. 
Ariat.  Lib.  I.  Cap.  2.  Metaph. 

•  se   passages  are   quoted  from  one  of  his  posthumous  works:    "The 
pies  which  lead  and  direct  Philosophical  Inquiries,  illustrated  by  the 
Astronomy,  of  Ancient  Physics,  Logic,  and  Metaphysics."    It  may 
perhaps  be  thought  that  in  this  work  he  represents  only  what  he  conceive*  to 
be  the  actual  path  of  philosophy,  not  that  which  it  should  pursue.     I  do  not 
so,  because  the  declarations  of  his  particular  itimate  the  con- 

trary ;  thus  his  editors  say,  in  reference  to  the  fragment  on  Astronomy,  that  it 


334-  APPENDIX 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  account  of  the  object  of 
philosophy  is  quite  opposite  to  that  given  in  the  Novum 
Organum.  The  passages  already  quoted  may  show  this  and 
many  others  might  be  adduced.  It  is  throughout  the  endeavor 
of  the  founder  of  the  experimental  philosophy  to  hold  out 
truth  itself,  and  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  it,  as  its 
object ;  to  show  that  this  we  can  never  reach  by  any  effort  of 
the  mere  reasoning  and  imaginative  faculties,  or  in  any  other 
manner  than  through  patient  induction ; l  and  that  that 
training  of  systems  explanatory  of  things  already  known  is 
foreign  to  its  purposes.2 

II.  Philosophy  being  thus,  according  to  Adam  Smith,  an  art 
addressing  itself  to  please  the  imagination,  it  gains  its  end  by 
searching  for  some  common  and  familiar  observation,  and 
making  it  serve  as  the  means  of  connecting  any  series  of 
interesting  events,  to  the  consideration  of  which  curiosity  may 
direct  the  attention.  "  In  the  mean  time  it  will  serve  to  con- 
firm what  has  gone  before  and  to  throw  light  upon  what  is  to 
come  after,  that  we  observe,  in  general,  that  no  system,  how 
well  soever  in  other  respects  supported,  has  even  been  able  to 
gain  any  general  credit  on  the  world,  whose  connecting  prin- 
ciples were  not  such  as  were  familiar  to  all  mankind."  3  It  is 
by  this  circumstance  that  he  judges  of  the  merit  of  all  philo- 
sophical systems,  and  the  superiority  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  over 
Des  Cartes,  consists,  according  to  him,  in  his  discovering  that 

is  to  be  viewed  as  an  additional  illustration  of  those  principles  of  the  human 
mind,  which  Mr.  Smith  has  pointed  out  to  be  the  universal  motives  of  philo- 
sophical researches.  Dugald  Stewart,  also,  in  his  life  and  introductory  disser- 
tation intimates  the  same  thing.  The  best  proof,  however,  is  in  the  course  he 
actually  himself  pursued. 

1  Etenim   verum  examplar   mundi  in  intellectu  humano  fundamus  ;  quale 
invenitur,  non  quale  cuipiam  sua  propria  ratio  dicta verat. — Itaque  ipsissimae 
res  sunt  (in  hoc  genere)  veritas  et  utilitas.     Nov.  Org.  Lib.  I.  cxxiv. 

2  Rursus,  si  alius  quispiam  fortasse  veritatis  inquisitor  sit  severior,  tanien 
et  ille  ipse  talem  sibi  proponet  veritatis  conditionem,  quae  menti,  et  intellectui 
satisfaciat  in  redditione  causarum,  rerum  quoe  jampridem  sunt  cognitae  ;  non 
earn  quae  nova  operum  pignora,  et  novam  axiomatum  lucem  assequatur.    Itaque 
si  6nis  scientiarum  a  nemine  adhuc  bene  positus  sit,  non  mirum  est,  si  in  iis, 
quse  sunt  subordinata  ad  finem,  sequatur  aberratio.     Nov.  Org. 

3  History  of  A  stronomy. 


OF   SCIENCE    VERSUS  SYSTEM-BUILDING     335 

he  could  join  together  the  movements  of  the  planets  by  so 
familiar  a  principle  of  connexion  as  that  of  gravity,  which  com- 
pletely removed  all  the  difficulties  the  imagination  had  hitherto 
felt  in  attending  to  them.1 

No  doctrine,  certainly,  can  be  more  opposed  to  the  spirit  of 
the  philosophy  of  Bacon  than  this.  It  is  this  propensity  to 
generalize  immediately  from  a  few  familiar  notions,  that  he  all 
along  represents  as  the  vice  of  the  antecedent  system-builders, 
and  the  error  which  his  followers  have  to  guard  against. 
"  There  have  been,  and  can  be,"  he  says,  "  but  two  modes  of 
searching  after  truth.  The  one  commencing  the  chain  of 
reasoning  with  some  familiar  conception  of  things,  flies  from 
them  immediately  to  general  axioms,  and  from  these,  and  their 
assumed  incontrovertible  truths,  judges  of  all  particulars.  A 
way  of  philosophizing  brief,  but  rash ;  easy  and  well  fitted  to 
conduct  to  disputes,  but  not  leading  to  a  knowledge  of  nature. 
This  is  the  common  mode.  The  other  rises  gradually  and 
slowly  from  fact  to  fact  and  only  at  last  arrives  at  the  most 
general  conclusions.  These,  however,  are  not  notions,  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  imagination,  but  real  laws  of  nature,  and  such  as 
she  herself  will  acknowledge  and  obey.2  Of  the  two,  the 
former,  the  explanation  of  things  according  to  preconceived 
notions,  much  more  easily  gains  assent  than  the  latter ;  its 
principles  collected  from  a  few  facts,  and  these  of  familiar 
occurrence,  seize  on  the  judgment,  and  fill  the  imagination. 
Whereas,  on  the  other  hand,  a  real  interpretation  of  nature 
must  find  its  materials  in  things  very  various  in  themselves, 
and  gathered  together  from  different  quarters,  cannot  make  a 

1  History  of  Astronomy.  Pessimum  enim  omnium  eat  augurium  quod  er 
consensu  capitur  in  rebus  intellectualibus.  Nihil  enim  multis  placet,  nisi 
imaginationem  feriat,  aut  intellect um  vulgarium  notionum  nodis  astringat,  ut 
supra  dictum  est.  Nov.  Org.  Lib.  I.  Ixxvii. 

— "a  sensu  et  particularibus  primo  loco  ad  maxime  generalia  advoletur, 
tanquam  ad  polos  tixos  circa  quas  desputationes  vertantur ;  ab  illis  caitera  per 
media  deriventur  ;  via  certe  compendiaria,  sed  prsecipiti ;  et  ad  Naturam  itn 
pervia,  ad  disputationes  vero  proclivi  et  accommodata.      At  secuudum  uos, 

>  ita  continenter,  et  gradatim  excitantur,  ut  nonnisi  postremo  loco  ad 
generalissima  veniatur  ;  ea  vero  generalissima  evadunt,  non  notionalia,  sed 
bene  terminata  ;  et  talia  qu»  Natura  ut  revera  sibi  notiora  agnoscat,  quodque 
rebus  htereaut  in  medullis."  Nov.  Onj.  Prajf.  et  lib.  I.  xviii.  xix. 


APPENDIX 

forcible  impression  on  the  niiud,  and  must  necessarily  appear  to 

it  as  something  harsh,  unusual,  and  mysterious.      Hence  in  all 

-.•nin^,  having  for  their  object  not  to  gain  a  know- 

B  of  nature,  but  to  direct  the  opinions  of  men,  the  mode  of 
philosophizing  which  proceeds  by  arguing  from  preconceived 
notions,  will  always  be  the  most  successful."  l 

I  U'lk've  it  will  be  found,  that  the  practice  of  the  author  of 
the  Wealth  of  Nations,  every  where  agrees  with  his  theory,  and 
that  he  has  himself,  in  all  his  speculations,  adopted  the  expla- 

iv  and  systematizing  form  of  philosophizing,  instead  of  the 
scientific  and  inductive,  conforming  himself  to  those  principles 
which  he  has  pointed  out  as  leading  and  directing  philosophical 
inquiry,  and  according  to  the  accuracy  of  their  agreement  with 
which,  all  systems  of  nature  have  constantly,  he  tells  us, 
••  failed  or  succeeded  in  gaining  reputation  and  renown  to  their 
authors " ;  and  that,  his  object  being  every  where  to  build 
common  facts  and  familiar  observations  into  a  system,  not  to 
inquire  into  the  causes  or  real  laws  from  which  they  spring, 
he  takes  those  things  for  fundamental  principles  which  would 
present  themselves  to  the  inductive  inquirer  as  phenomena,  the 
principles  of  which  his  manner  of  philosophizing  would  call  on 
him  to  investigate. 

In  the  catalogue  of  our  author's  works,  the  Theory  of  Moral 
Sentiments  ranks  next  to  the  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  and 
1  '<(  uses  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations.  On  what  is  it  founded  ? 
A  generalization  from  what  is  termed  sympathy — a  principle 
than  which  there  is  perhaps  no  one  more  sensible  to  every 
individual,  more  capable  of  serving  as  a  familiar  bond  of  con- 
nexion between  the  phenomena  of  the  moral  world,  or  better 
fitted  therefore,  for  the  purposes  of  the  systematic  philosopher ; 
but  than  which,  also,  there  is,  probably,  no  single  circumstance 
in  the  combined  actions  of  the  mind  and  body,  that  would 

1  Quin  longe  validiores  sunt  ad  subeundum  assensum  anticipationes,  quam 
interpretationes ;  quia  ex  paucis  collects,  iisque  maxime  quse  familiariter 
occurrunt,  intellectual  statim  perstringunt,  et  phantasiam  implent ;  ubi  contra, 
interpretationes,  ex  rebus  admodum  variis  et  multum  distantibus  sparsim 
collectae,  intellectum  subito  percutere  non  possunt ;  ut  necesse  sit  eas,  quoad 
opiniones,  duras  et  absonas,  fere  instar  mysteriorum  fidei  videri.  In  scientiis, 
<|ii-i  in  opiiiionilms  et  placitis  fund.itae  sunt,  bonus  est  usus  anticipationum  et 
dialectic* ;  quando  opus  est  assensum  subjugare,non  res. 


OF  SCIENCE  VERSUS  SYSTEM-BUILDING      337 

appear  to  the  inductive  philosopher  more  deserving  of  being 
itself  investigated. 

A  person  enters  for  the  first  time  an  hospital,  and  the 
spectacle  is  presented  to  him  of  an  individual  undergoing  a 
severe  operation.  As  at  each  cut  of  the  knife  he  sees  the 
flesh  divided,  the  muscles,  vessels,  and  nerves  exposed,  the 
blood  flowing  from  the  large,  gaping,  quivering  wound,  and  as 
he  hears  the  stifled  groans  of  the  sufferer,  he  is  conscious  of  a 
strange,  tremulous  sensation,  stealing  rapidly  over  his  frame,  a 
cold  dew  stands  on  his  forehead,  his  features  contract,  he 
breathes  with  difficulty,  his  limbs  sink  under  him ; — in  fact,  he 
will  be  found  to  be  in  the  very  same  state  with  the  person 
operated  on,  in  all  respects,  but  that  he  feels  not  the  acuteness 
of  torturing  pain,  and  is  not  subject  to  the  quickening  reaction 
produced  by  it.  The  vital  powers  therefore  very  possibly  yield 
for  a  little,  he  faints,  is  carried  out  to  the  fresh  air,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  walks  off  astonished  at  the  strangeness  of  the 
occurrence.  When  he  reaches  his  home,  he  learns  that  an 
intimate  friend  has  suffered  a  great  calamity,  and  the  intelli- 
gence deeply  afflicts  him.  In  both  cases  he  suffers,  or 
sympathizes,  with  another  person.  But  are  the  two  pre- 
cisely alike  ?  are  we  warranted  to  assume,  with  Adam  Smith, 
that  the  laws  governing  them  are  the  same  ?  and  is  there  not 
a  singular  blending  in  both  of  mental  and  corporeal  phenomena, 
all  the  circumstances  of  the  actions  and  reactions  of  which  are 
deserving  of  the  minutest  investigation  from  one,  who  would  set 
about  an  inductive  inquiry  into  the  principles  of  our  compound 
nature  ? 

The  picture,  which,  adopting  the  common  notion  of  sympathy 
as  the  point  of  view,  he  has  given  of  the  phenomena  of  the 
moral  world,  is  exceedingly  interesting  and  comprehensive,  and 
as  a  system  regularly  arranging  a  vast  mass  of  facts,  is  very 
valuable.  Here,  however,  its  merits  cease.  No  one,  I 
apprehend,  will  now  cite  it,  as  truly  developing  the  nature 
of  our  intellectual  being,  as  an  addition  to  the  science  of 
mind.1 

Similar  observations  will  apply  to   his  fragments   on    the 

1  See  the  account  given  of  it  by  his  admirer  and  disciple,  Sir  James  Mac- 
It  in  his  Ethical  Syxtem*. 

Y 


338  APPENDIX 

imitative  arts.  He  adopts  in  them  the  hypothesis  that  the 
pleasure  they  give  arises  from  some  difficulty  in  the  execu- 
tion being  overcome,  and  it  seems  to  have  been  his  intention  to 
build  up  a  whole  system  of  art  on  this  principle.  Perhaps  no 
circumstance  can  be  found,  running  more  through  all  the  arts, 
and,  therefore,  better  fitted  for  the  connecting  purposes  of  the 
system-builder,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  more  curious  in  itself, 
and  which,  therefore,  the  inductive  philosopher  would  be  more 
inclined  to  inquire  into.  How  is  it,  that  the  images  of  the 
poet  come  upon  us  with  most  force,  when  he  puts  his  words 
into  measured  cadence  ?  How  is  it  that  an  ideal  form,  if 
struck  out  of  marble,  affects  us  so  much  more  than  if  moulded 
in  wax  ?  Is  it  that  the  spirit,  when  fully  roused,  and  striving 
to  embody  some  great  sentiment,  or  strong  emotion,  naturally 
seizes  on  the  materials  which  may  best  betoken  energy,  and 
thus  contrives  to  give  an  additional  air  of  intellectuality  to 
mere  matter  ? — This,  or  a  series  of  such  questions  present  them- 
selves to  the  inductive  inquirer.  What  to  the  systematic 
philosopher  affords  the  means  of  explaining  other  things,  is  to 
him  the  subject  itself  of  inquiry. 

But,  of  all  his  speculations,  there  is  none  in  which  he  seems 
to  be  more  completely  the  philosopher  of  system  and  explana- 
tion than  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations.  It  is  a  system  entirely 
founded  on  the  most  common  and  familiar  notions,  and  pro- 
ceeds altogether  on  the  generalization  of  them.  Value,  riches, 
stock,  capital,  ivealth,  profit,  self-interest,  [competition],  the  desire 
of  bettering  one's  condition,  are  evidently  of  this  sort.  They 
are  manifestly  terms  of  ill-defined  import,  referring  to  notions 
drawn  hastily,  and  confusedly,  from  the  course  of  passing 
events  ;  "  notiones  confusae,  et  temere  a  rebus  abstracts."  And 
the  strain  of  his  "reasoning  upon  them  is  that  proper  to  the 
philosophy  of  system,  which,  taking  from  experience  the  most 
common  and  familiar  observations,  applies  itself  not  to  inquire 
into  them,  but  to  form  a  theory  out  of  them.  "  Rationale  enim 
genus  philosophantium  ex  experientia  arripiunt  varia  et  vulgaria, 
eaque  neque  certo  comperta,  nee  diligenter  examinata  et  pensi- 
tata ;  reliqua  meditatione,  atque  ingenii  agitatione  ponunt." 
If  we,  therefore,  view  his  work  as  an  attempt  to  establish  the 
science  of  wealth,  on  the  principles  of  the  experimental  or 


OF  SCIENCE   VERSUS  SYSTEM-BUILDING     339 

inductive  philosophy,  it  is  exposed  to  the  censure  of  trangress- 
ing  every  rule  of  that  philosophy. 

"  Men  are  inclined  to  think  that  it  is  not  necessary  to- 
inquire  into  the  causes  of  events  that  are  common  and  happen 
every  day,  but,  taking  them  for  things  too  evident  and  mani- 
fest to  require  explanation,  assume  them  as  causes  sufficiently 
accounting  for  phenomena,  that  are  not  of  so  frequent  and 
familiar  occurrence.  Whereas,  in  reality,  no  judgment  can  be 
formed  of  events  which  are  rare  and  remarkable,  nor  can  any 
thing  new  be  brought  to  light,  without  an  accurate  investiga- 
tion of  the  causes,  and  even  the  causes  of  the  causes  of  things, 
that  are  the  most  common  and  familiar."  l 

The  reason  of  this  will  be  evident,  by  referring  to  the 
example  before  adduced.  If  a  man,  as  in  the  case  of  the  savage, 
who  is  totally  unacquainted  with  the  system  of  things  but  as 
they  present  themselves  to  the  eye  of  the  practical  observer,  be 
asked  why  a  stone  falls  to  the  ground,  he  would  answer,  "  it  is 
its  nature,  all  heavy  bodies  fall  to  the  ground."  "  Why  does- 
smoke  ascend  ? "  "  It  is  its  nature,  all  light  bodies  mount 
upwards."  "  Why,  when  a  stone  is  seen  flying  through  the 
air,  do  you  look  about  to  find  out  the  reason  of  it  ? "  "  Be- 
cause it  is  against  its  nature,  and  I  know,  therefore,  it  must 

1  Atque  de  istis  rebus,  quae  videntur  vulgatae,  illud  homines  cogitent ; 
solere  sane  eos  adhuc  nihil  aliud  agere,  quam  ut  eorum,  quae  rara  sunt, 
causas  ad  ea,  quae  frequenter  fiunt,  referant  et  accommodeut :  at  ipsorum, 
quae  frequentur  eveniunt,  causas  nullas  inquirant,  sed  ea  ipsa  recipiant  tan- 
tjuam  concessa  et  admissa. 

Itaque  uon  ponderit,  non  rotationis  ccelestium,  non  calorix  non  frigoris 
non  luminis,  non  dnri  non  WO//M,  non  tenui*,  non  densi,  non  liquidi,  non 
,  non  animati,  non  inanamiti,  non  similaris,  non  dissimilaris, 
nee  demum  oryanici  causas  quaerunt ;  sed  illis  tanquam  pro  evidentibus  et 
manifestis  receptis,  de  caeteris  rebus,  quae  non  tarn  frequenter  et  familiariter 
occurrunt,  disputant  et  judicant. 

Nos  vero,  qui  satis  scimus  nullum  de  rebus  raris  aut  notabilibus  judicium 
fieri  posse,  multo  minus  res  novas  in  lucem  protrahi,  absque  vulgarium 
rerum  causis  et  causarutn  causis  rite  examinatis  et  repertis ;  necessario  ad 
res  vulgarissimas  in  historian)  nostram  recipiendas  compellimur.  Quinetiam 
nil  magis  philosophise  offecisse  deprehendimus,  quam  quod  res,  quae  familiares 
sunt  et  frequenter  occurrunt,  contemplationem  hominum  non  morentur  et 
detineant,  sed  recepiantur  obiter  neque  earum  causie  quaari  soleant ;  ut  non 
saepius  requiratur  informatio  de  rebus  ignotis,  quam  attentio  in  notis.  Nov.. 
I,  cxix. 


340  APPENDIX 

have  been  produced  by  violence — by  some  external  force." 
Thus,  too,  among  mere  practical  observers  of  events,  there 
would  come  to  be  the  terms  gravity,  levity,  natural  and  violent 
motion.  Now  all  these  words  and  phrases,  if  correctly  inter- 
preted, are  perfectly  correct,  according  to  the  measure  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  individuals,  and  assume  nothing  but  what 
their  experience  warrants.  When  it  is  said  that  smoke  ascends 
in  consequence  of  its  levity,  or  because  it  is  the  nature  of  it 
and  other  light  bodies  to  ascend,  nothing  more  is  necessarily 
implied  in  the  words  than  that  there  is  something, — what  is  not 
known, — arising  from  the  general  constitution  of  things,  from 
the  system  of  nature  itself,  causing  that  ascent,  and  that,  while 
this  general  constitution  of  things  remains  unaltered,  all  such 
bodies  will  ascend.  So  it  is  when  it  is  said  that  it  is  against 
the  nature  of  a  stone  to  move  in  any  direction  but  downwards, 
and  that  its  other  motions  must  be  violent.  The  expressions, 
in  strictness,  mean  nothing  more  than  that  unless  acted  on  by 
some  extraneous  cause,  while  the  present  condition  of  things 
lasts,  if  it  move  at  all,  its  motion  will  be  directly  downwards. 
AJ1  these  are  conclusions  drawn  from  experience,  and  form 
general  rules  of  real  practical  utility.  Science  will  never  teach 
the  savage  to  shape,  to  trim,  or  to  preserve  the  poise  of  his 
canoe,  better  than  observations  similar  to  these  have  already 
taught  him. 

When  now  the  systematic  philosopher  applies  himself  to 
account  for,  and  range  in  regular  order,  the  various  phenomena 
referable  to  matter  and  motion,  his  object  being  merely  expla- 
nation and  arrangement,  he  naturally  sets  out  from  common 
and  familiar  notions,  and  principles  which  no  one  doubts  of, 
and  applies  all  his  powers  to  tracing  out  from  their  operation 
some  explanation  of  the  phenomena  in  question.  "  Reasoning 
on  these  familiar  notions,  from  a  few  particulars,  and  perhaps 
some  generally  admitted  maxims,  he  rises  immediately  to  the 
most  general  conclusions,  and  from  their  fixed  and  immutable 
truth  judges  all  other  particulars.  If  some  of  them  seem  con- 
trary to  his  theory,  he  employs  his  ingenuity  to  explain  them 
away,  or  to  make  them  appear  coincident,  or  removes  the  diffi- 
culty by  terming  them  exceptions  ;  while  such  particulars  as 
are  not  opposed  to  his  principles,  are  laboriously  and  artfully 


OF   SCIENCE   VERSUS  SYSTEM-BUILDING      341 

arranged,  according  to  his  system."  l  Omitting,  for  the  pre- 
sent, the  consideration  of  what  he  actually  accomplishes,  let  us 
attend  to  that  wherein  he  fails. 

The  familiar  notions  of  the  common  observer  become  his 
connecting  media,  and  he  pretends  to  account  for  the  whole 
phenomena  of  matter  and  motion,  on  the  principles,  as  he  calls 
them,  of  gravity,  levity,  natural  and  violent  motion.  Now  it  is 
obvious  that,  by  this  application  of  the  terms,  he  completely, 
though  imperceptibly,  changes  their  meaning.  As  employed 
by  the  man  of  practical  observation,  though  perhaps  somewhat 
confusedly  conceived,  they  necessarily  and  really  mean  nothing 
more,  than  certain  known  consequences,  the  results  of  some 
unknown  laws  or  powers  regulating  the  system  of  things.  As 
employed  by  the  systematic  philosopher,  they,  on  the  contrary, 
are  assumed  to  be  the  very  laws,  powers,  or  principles,  them- 
selves governing  and  sustaining  the  mundane  system.  The 
change  in  signification  is  not  perceived,  for  the  generality  of 
mankind  are  incapable  of  any  thing  like  metaphysical  accuracy 
of  conception,  and  are  led  away  very  easily  by  the  fallacies  of 
language.  Its  consequences,  however,  are  important,  for  if  we 
understand  by  science  the  knowledge  of  the  real  laws  of  nature, 
— the  laws  governing  the  general  system, — this  assumption  com- 
pletely diverts  from  their  discovery,  for  it  induces  the  belief 
that  they  are  already  reached.  It  seems  to  be  on  this  account, 
that  Lord  Bacon  so  often  points  out  the  errors  arising  from  the 
hasty  adoption  of  preconceived  notions,  "  anticipations,"  the 
greater  part  of  the  first  book  of  the  Novum  Organum  consisting, 

1  Formam  enim  inquirendi  ct  inveniendi  apud  antiques  et  ipsi  profitentur, 
et  scripta  eorum  prae  se  ferunt.  Ea  autem  non  alia  f uit,  quam  ut  ab  exemplis 
quibusdam  et  particularibus  (additis  notionibus  communibus,  et  fortasse  por- 
tione  nonnulla  ex  opinionibus  receptis,  quae  maxime  placuerunt)  ad  conclu- 
siones  maxime  generates  sive  principia  scientiarum,  advolarent ;  ad  quorum 
veritatem  immotam  et  fix  am  conclusiones  inferiores  per  media  educerent 
ac  probarent,  ex  quibus  artem  constituebant.  Turn  demum  si  nova  particularia 
et  exempla  mota  essent  et  adducta,  quae  plaeitis  suis  refragarentur ;  ilia  aut 
per  diatinctiones,  aut  per  regularum  suarum  explanationes,  in  ordinem  sub- 
tiliter  redigebant ;  aut  demum  per  exceptiones  grosso  modo  summovebant. 
At  rerum  particulariutn  non  refragrantium  causaa,  ad  ilia  principia  sua 
laboriose  et  pertinaciter  accommodabant.  Verum  nee  historia  naturalis  et 
experientia  ilia  erat,  quam  fuisse  oportebat  (longe  certe  abeat ;)  et  iata  advo- 
latio  ad  generalisaima  omnia  perdidit.  Nov.  Org.  L.  I.  cxxv. 


342  APPENDIX 

in  fact,  of  an  exposition  of  them.1  Acuteness  of  reasoning, 
and  reach  of  thought  are  thus,  he  observes,  rendered  useless, 
for  they  come  too  late.  The  place  for  them  is  examining  and 
weighing  experiences,  and  from  these  deducing  first  principles.2 
If  this  be  omitted  no  subtilty  of  definition,  or  logical  accuracy 
of  deduction  can  avail.  The  remedy  is  too  weak  for  the  evil, 
nor  is  itself  void  of  evil.  The  instrument  employed  is  not 
fitted  to  reach  the  depths  of  nature,  and,  by  catching  after 
what  it  can  attain  to,  is  rather  calculated  to  establish  error, 
than  to  open  up  the  road  to  truth.  The  definitions  may  indeed 
sufficiently  mark  the  sense,  and  from  these  definitions  the  con- 
clusions insisted  on  may  be  logically  deduced;  nevertheless  there 
is  this  of  deceit  in  the  procedure,  that  the  notions  themselves 
may  be  taken  up  hastily,  and  carelessly  from  common  observa- 
tion, and  may,  therefore,  be  confused,  and  loose,  and  afford  no 
.solid  foundation  for  the  edifice  which  it  is  attempted  to  rear."  a 
;Such  was  the  system  of  physics  which  the  Greeks  raised  from 
these  principles.  Being  built  on  common  and  familiar  notions — 
:a  conversion  of  general  practical  rules  into  speculative  general 
principles — whatever  its  merits  were  as  a  system,  explaining 
according  to  popular  notions,  the  various  phenomena  of  nature, 
and  ranging  these  in  regular  order,  it  had  no  pretensions  to 
! merit  as  expository  of  the  real  science  of  nature. 

It  was  not  until  attention  was  directed  to  the  examination 
of  things  before  supposed  to  be  known, — motion,  natural  and 
violent,  gravity,  levity,  etc. — and  inquiry  made  into  the  prin- 

1<{Non,  si  omnia  omnium  aetatum  ingenia  coierint,  et  labores  contulerint 
et  transmiserint,  progressus  magnus  fieri  poterit  in  scientiis  per  anticipa- 
tiones :  quia  errores  radicales,  et  in  prima  digestione  mentis  ab  excellentia 
functionum  et  remediorum  sequentium  non  curantur."  Nov.  Org.  Lib.  I.  xxx. 

2  Ibid.  c.  xxi. 

3  "  Verum  infirmior  omnino  est  malo  medicina ;    (Ars  dicdectica  scilicet) 
nee  ipsa  mali  expers — naturae  enim  subtilitatem  longo  intervallo  non  attingit ; 
et  prensando  quod  non  capit,  ad  errores  potius  stabiliendos,  et  quasi  figendos, 
quam  ad  viam  veritati  aperiendam  valuit — hoc  subest  fraudis,  quod  syllogis- 
mus  ex  propositionibus  constet,  propositiones  ex  verbis,  verba  autem  notionum 
tesserae  et  signa  sint.     Itaque  si  notiones  ipsae  mentis  (quae  verborum  quasi 
anima  sunt,  et  totius  hujusmodi  structures  ac  fabricae  basis)  male  ac  temere 
a  rebus  abstract*,  et  vagae,   nee  satis  definitae  et  circumscriptse,    denique 
multismodis  vitiosae  fuerint,  omnia  ruunt."     Nov.  Org.  Prsef. 


OF  SCIENCE   VERSUS  SYSTEM-BUILDING      343 

ciples  by  which  they  themselves  are  regulated,  the  laws,  that  is 
to  say,  according  to  which  the  phenomena,  so  denominated,  are 
produced,  that  a  beginning  was  given  to  real  science.  Then 
the  laws  regulating  the  universal  system  were  gradually 
unfolded,  and  things  seemingly  forever  hidden  in  the  depths  of 
the  immensity  of  space  and  time,  brought  clearly  before  the 
intellectual  ken  of  man. 

As  in  the  system  of  things  making  up  the  world  of  mere 
matter,  certain  terms  are  employed  to  denote  general  facts  and 
rules,  which  [common]  experience  has  taught,  so,  in  the  com- 
pound system  of  men  and  things  making  up  the  world  of 
civilized  life,  certain  other  terms  are  employed  to  denote  the 
general  facts  and  rules,  which  [common]  experience  also  has 
there  taught ;  and  as  in  a  department  of  the  one,  we  have 
heaviness,  lightness,  natural,  and  violent  motion,  etc.  ;  so  in  a 
department  of  the  other  we  have  capital,  valm,  profit,  a  due 
regard  to  self-interest,  etc. ;  in  both,  too,  it  is  to  be  observed, 
such  popular  and  familiar  phrases  and  notions,  correctly  inter- 
preted, express,  not  the  general  laws  of  the  system,  but  the 
usual  and  expected  results  of  those  laws. 

Thus,  if  in  any  particular  society,  one  were  to  be  asked,  what 
the  capital  of  some  other  person  were,  he  might  answer,  "  about 
a  thousand  pounds."  If  farther  requested  to  state  his  reasons 
for  saying  so,  he  might  reply,  "  the  property  he  holds  would 
fetch  that  in  the  market,  he  has  been  offered  that  for  it,"  or, 
"  I  know  it  cost  him  that,  and  that  he  laid  out  his  money 
judiciously."  These  are  all  the  answers  he  would  think  of 
giving ;  for  common  purposes  they  are  all  he  requires  to  give, 
and  they  are  all  that  his  notions  actually  embrace.  If  asked 
again,  "  what  revenue  does  this  person  derive  from  his 
capital  ? "  he  might  answer,  "  I  suppose  about  that  which  such 
a  capital  generally  yields,  the  usual  profits  of  stock — a  fair, 
reasonable,  mercantile  profit,  neither  much  above  or  below  par." 
If  questioned  farther,  as  to  the  nature  of  this  capital,  and  its 
return,  which  he  terms  profit,  he  would  answer,  if  simply  a 
practical  observer,  "  Really  as  to  this  I  have  never  inquired,  I 
know  that  where  I  have  lived,  and  I  believe  in  all  civilized 
societies,  certain  things,  if  sold,  have  certain  values,  bring  cer- 
tain sums  of  money,  and  if  kept  and  judiciously  employed, 


344  APPENDIX 

yield  certain  amounts  of  money,  or  moneys'  worth.  Why  they 
do  so,  though  it  must  arise,  no  doubt,  from  the  circumstances 
and  actions  and  reactions  on  each  other  of  the  various  things 
and  persons  forming  these  societies,  I  have  not  examined  into, 
and  do  not  pretend  to  know."  His  answer,  in  short,  would  be 
that  he  knows  them  only  as  results  of  the  laws  governing  the 
general  system  of  which  he  makes  a  part. 

By  taking,  therefore,  these,  and  such  like  common  and 
familiar  notions,  as  the  foundation  of  his  reasoning,  Adam 
Smith  made  his  work  an  explanatory  system,  not  an  inductive 
inquiry.  The  principles  of  the  inductive  philosophy  would 
have  led  him  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  those  familiar 
notions, — into  the  laws  or  causes  of  those  common  occurrences  ; 
and  he  would  have  set  out  with  the  question,  What  is  it,  in 
the  nature  of  man  and  matter,  that  makes  any  thing  constitute 
a  capital,  or  yield  a  profit  ?  In  the  words  of  the  Novum 
Organum,  already  cited,  he  would  have  considered,  "  that  no 
judgment  can  ever  be  formed  of  things  that  are  rare  and 
remarkable,  much  less  can  any  thing  new  be  brought  to  light, 
unless  the  causes,  and  even  the  causes  of  the  causes,  of  occur- 
rences the  most  common  and  familiar,  be  rigidly  examined  and 
clearly  discovered." 

It  is,  therefore,  an  abuse  of  words  to  say,  that  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Inquiry  into  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  rendered 
political  economy  a  science  of  experience.1  It  made  it  so  in 
no  other  manner  than  as  every  philosophical  system  is,  of 
necessity.  They  are  all,  of  necessity,  founded  on  some 
observations,  the  fruits  of  experience.2  The  difference  be- 

1  "  Une  science  expe"rimentale,"  Say.     See  note  on  Storch,  p.  24,  Vol.  I. 
of   the    Cours  d'Economie   Politique,    where   he  declares   it   to    be   precisely- 
similar   to  modern   mechanical   science,    "la   m^canique   analytique."      The 
comparison  should  have  been,  as  we  have  seen,  with  the  ancient  mechanical 
philosophy. 

2  "  Neque  illud  quenquam  moveat,  quod  in  libris  ejus  (Aristotelis)  de  ani- 
malibus,  et  in  problematibus,  et  in  aliis  suis  tractatibus,  versatio  frequeiis  sit 
in  experimentis.     Ille  enim  prius  decreverat,  neque  experientiam  ad  consti- 
tuenda  decreta  et  axiomata  rite  consuluit ;  sed  postquam  pro  arbitrio  suo  de- 
crevisset,  experientiam  ad  sua  placita  tortam  circumducit,  et  captivam  ;  ut 
hoc  etiam  nomine  magis  accusandus  sit,  quam  sectatores  ejus  moderni  (scho- 
lasticorum    philosophorum    genus)    qui    experientiam  omnino   deserueruut." 
Nov.  Org.  ib.  L.  I.  Ixiii. 


OF  SCIENCE  VERSUS  SYSTEM-BUILDING     345 

tween  them  is,  that  those  observations  which  men  make 
concerning  the  general  results  of  the  laws  of  the  universe, 
and  to  which  convenience  leads  them  to  give  names,  are 
assumed  by  the  systematic  philosopher  for  the  laws  them- 
selves, and  that  the  scientific  inquirer  examines  them  patiently, 
and  perseveringly,  and  ascending  gradually,  from  one  thing  to 
another,  endeavors  thus  at  last  to  reach  the  real  laws  of  nature. 
While  the  one  assumes  phenomena  for  principles,  the  other 
applies  to  the  things  giving  rise  to  those  phenomena,  and 
collecting,  comparing,  and  arranging  these,  traces  out  the  real 
connexions  between  them,  the  real  principles  governing  nature. 

We  may  easily  satisfy  ourselves  of  the  difference  of  the  prin- 
ciples which  true  science  reaches,  and  those  employed  in  the 
Wealth  of  Nations,  by  taking  any  of  the  latter  and  seeing  how 
it  agrees  with  the  rules  by  which  the  former  may  be  tested. 
Thus  the  principle,  that  self-interest  is  the  great  and  all-suffi- 
cient cause  of  the  increase  of  wealth,  both  private  and  public, 
is  evidently  nothing  else  than  an  application  of  the  common 
assumption  that  a  man's  fortune  and  his  interest  are  the  same, 
and  a  generalization  of  the  observation  that  he,  therefore,  who 
understands  his  interest  best  and  takes  best  care  of  it,  will  get 
rich  the  fastest.  But  if  self-interest  be,  in  the  scientific  sense, 
the  cause  of  wealth,  both  public  and  private,1  (the  law  accord- 
ing to  which  it  either  is,  or  is  not  produced,)  whenever  self- 
interest,  (the  desire  of  bettering  one's  condition)  manifests 
itself  in  action,  it  must  tend  to  the  increase  of  public  wealth.2 

Do  the  labors  of  the  cool,  calculating,  gambler,  or  of  the 
sharper,  add  to  public  wealth  ?  Does  the  spirit  of  keen  bar- 
u'ainini:,  and  taking  every  possible  advantage  of  those  with 
whom  transfers  are  effected,  that  sometimes  pervades  classes, 
and  communities,  add  to  public  wealth  ?  Assuredly  not ;  yet 
in  all  these  self-interest  is  the  ruling  motive  of  action.  Let  it 
ii"t  be  said,  that  these  are  exceptions  to  a  general  rule. 

1  Desir  de  1'homine  d'ameliorer  son  sort :  principe  qui  eat  au  monde  moral, 
ce  que  la  gravitation  eat  au  monde  phisique.     Storch. 

1  It  will  be  observed  that  I  here,  and  throughout,  speak  of  self-interest  in 
>mmon  and  familiar  sense.     The  author  of  the  Theory  of  Moral  Senti- 
A.ts  MM t  ,111  utilitarian.     If  the  reader  happen  to  be  so,  he  will  perceive 
th.it  the  argument  is  not  altered,  the  names  only  have  to  be  so. 


346  APPENDIX 

Though  there  may  be  exceptions  to  general  rules,  there  are  no 
exceptions  to  scientific  principles.  "  Wherever  a  scientific 
cause,  or  law,  or  principle  operates,  there  the  thing  itself,  of 
which  it  is  said  to  be  the  cause,  is  necessarily  produced.  And 
it  may  be  universally  affirmed  that,  where  this  the  form  is, 
there  the  thing  sought  is  also,  and  where  it  is  not,  there  the 
thing  cannot  be.1  Nothing  is  to  be  received  for  the  true 
scientific  cause,  unless  the  thing  of  which  it  is  the  cause, 
increases  and  decreases  along  with  it.2 

This  difference,  indeed,  between  common  practical  observa- 
tions and  rules,  and  general  scientific  principles  must  always 
exist,  for  it  springs  from  the  different  nature  of  the  one  and  the 
other.  The  observations  which  the  man  of  practice  makes,  as 
has  been  already  remarked,  are  on  phenomena,  the  results  of 
the  play  of  real  principles,  and  as  these  principles  may  vary  in 
their  proportions  to  each  other,  and  in  the  modes  in  which  their 
powers  are  exerted,  the  results  produced  by  their  action  must 
occasionally  vary.  The  principles  themselves,  however,  never 
vary  ;  and,  therefore,  one  observation  or  experiment  concerning 
a  real  principle,  if  there  be  no  inaccuracy  in  it,  has  always  in 
science  been  esteemed  as  good  as  a  thousand.  The  whole 
inductive  philosophy  may,  indeed,  be  said  to  rest  on  the 
impossibility  of  the  occurrence  of  exceptions  to  real  laws. 
Hence  the  extensive  use  of  negative  instances,  determining,  at 
last,  what  is  a  principle  by  pointing  out  what  it  is  not. 

Again ;  it  is  far  from  being  the  case,  that  a  regard  for  self- 
interest,  a  desire  of  bettering  one's  condition,  prompts  always 
to  a  course  of  action  leading  to  an  increase  of  even  private 
fortune.  This  must  depend  on  what  is  esteemed  the  best 
condition, — on  what  one's  happiness  rests.3  Hence  what  has 

1  Etenim  forma  naturae  alicujus  talis  est,  ut  ea  posita,  natura  data  infallibi- 
liter  sequatur.     Itaque  adest  perpetuo,  quando  natura  ilia  adest,  atque  earn 
universaliter  affirmat,  atque  inest  omni.     Eadem  forma  talis  est,  ut  ea  amota, 
natura  data  infallibiliter  fugiat.     Itaque  abest  perpetuo,  quando  natura  ilia 
abest,  eamque  perpetuo  abnegat,  atque  inest  soli.     Nov.  Org.  Lib.  II.  iv. 

2  Omnino  sequitur  ut  non  recipiatur  aliqua  natura  pro  vera  forma,  nisi  per- 
petuo decrescat  quando  natura  ipsa  descrescit,  et  similiter  perpetuo  augeatur 
quando  natura  ipsa  augetur.     Nov.  Org.  Lib.  II.  xiii. 

3Le  de"sir  d'am&iorer  son  sort — le  de"sir  d'etre  heureux.     Storch,  Vol.   I. 
p.  44,  45. 


OF   SCIENCE   VERSUS  SYSTEM-BUILDING      347 

been  regarded  as  the  most  enlightened  self-interest,1  has  often 
led,  as  we  have  seen,  to  a  course  of  action  the  very  reverse. 
The  Romans,  under  the  emperors,  were  assuredly  as  earnest  in 
their  quest  after  happiness,  as  were  ever  any  race,  yet  their 
manners,  and  their  whole  practical  morality  tended  to  the 
diminution  of  wealth  previously  accumulated,  and  they 
swallowed  up,  in  extravagant  dissipation,  the  riches  of  king- 
doms. Nor  let  it  be  here  answered,  that  facts  applicable  to 
the  Romans,  or  other  people  of  habits  and  modes  of  thinking 
and  acting  unlike  those  characterizing  the  civilized  world  of 
modern  days,  cannot  be  fairly  adduced  in  investigations  con- 
cerning existing  systems  of  society.  This  is  indeed  true,  if  the 
reasonings  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations  be  admitted  to  be  of  the 
systematic  and  explanatory  cast,  but  not  if  that  work  he  main- 
tained to  be  an  inductive  inquiry.  These  remote  and  hetero- 
geneous instances,  are  the  very  ones  which  experimental  science 
most  prizes,2  and  this,  for  the  reason  just  adduced,  that  real 
principles  being  constant  in  their  action,  what  are,  and  what 
are  not  the  principles  inquired  after,  are  thus  tested.3 

1  [That  is,  the  current  self-interest  of  the  educated  classes,  at  any  time  or 
place;  not  the  long-run,  really  "enlightened"  self-interest,  as  tested  by  the 
experience  of  nations  and  of  ages.] 

a  Nemo  enim  rei  alicujus  naturam  in  ipsa  re,  recte  aut  feliciter  perscrutatur. 
Nov.  Org.  Praef. 

Instantias  remotas  et  heterogeneas,  per  quas  axiomata,  tanquam  igne,  pro- 
bantur.  Ibid.  Lib.  I.  xlvii. 

*  Perhaps  it  may  be  said,  that  the  strictness  of  the  inductive  method  can 
only  apply  to  the  sciences  treating  of  mere  matter  and  its  affections.  This 
were  to  declare  the  same  thing  to  be,  and  not  to  be,  a  science  of  experiment, 
and  is  besides  in  opposition  to  the  authority  of  the  founder  of  the  inductive 
philosophy. 

Ktiain  dulutabit  quispiam  potius  quam  objiciet ;  utrum  nos  de  natunili 
tantum  philosophia,  an  etiam  de  scientiis  reliquis,  logicis,  ethicis,  politicis, 
secundum  viam  nostram  perficiendis  loquamur.  At  nos  certe  de  universis  haec, 
quae  dicta  sunt,  intelligimus  :  Atque  quumadmodum  vulgaris,  logica,  quae  regit 
ret  per  syllogismum,  non  tantum  ad  naturales,  sed  ad  omnes  scientias  perti- 
net :  ita  et  nostra,  qua;  procedit  per  inductionem,  omnia  complectitur.  Tarn 
enim  historian!  et  tabulas  inveniendi  <  (>nti<  inuis  de  tra,  metu,  et  verccundia, 
et  ftimilibus :  ac  etiam  de  exemplis  rerum  civilium  ;  nee  minus  de  motibus 
mentalibus  memorirr,  compositions  et  divi*ioiiix,  judicii,  et  reliquorum,  qaam 
iJido  et  friyido,  aut  luce,  aut  vegetatioiie,  aut  similibus."  ATor.  Ory. 
I  c.  r-xxvii. 


348  APPENDIX 

III.  The  actual  history  of  what  is  termed  the  science  of 
political  economy,  is  another  mode  of  ascertaining  the  justice 
of  its  pretensions  to  that  appellation.  By  comparing  it  with 
the  generic  character  of  the  history  of  philosophical  sects  of 
the  explanatory  and  systematic  form,  given  by  the  founder  of 
the  inductive  philosophy,  as  contrasted  with  what  he  pointed 
out  was  to  be  expected  from  that  philosophy,  and  time  has 
shown  it  has  accomplished,  we  might  have  farther  grounds  to 
come  to  a  conclusion  on  the  question.  To  do  this  at  length, 
however,  would  lead  us  too  far  beyond  limits,  which  I  have 
already  exceeded.  I  shall,  therefore,  confine  the  few  farther 
observations  I  have  to  make,  to  one  circumstance,  which  Lord 
Bacon  gives  as  characteristic  of  the  two  sects.  In  his  figura- 
tive language  "  the  path  which  the  inductive  philosophy  takes, 
is  at  first  steep  and  difficult,  but  leads  to  an  open  country, 
while  that  adopted  by  the  explanatory  and  systematic,  though 
at  first  easy  and  inviting,  is  at  last  lost  in  deserts  or  conducts 
to  precipices."1 

The  doubts  and  difficulties  in  which  the  progress  of  those 
has  been  involved,  who  have  advanced  farthest  along  the 
apparently  safe  and  easy  road  that  Adam  Smith  seemed  to 
have  opened  up,  indicate  it  not  to  be  the  path  of  science.  Of 
these  I  shall  adduce  a  few  instances. 

Capital  is  uniformly  treated  of  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  as 
a  thing  homogeneous  in  its  nature,  having  always  the  same 
qualities,  (according  to  the  definition  of  Mr.  Say,  an  amount 
of  values),  and  any  increase  or  diminution  of  it,  as  a  mere 
alteration  in  quantity.  This  being  taken  to  be  the  case,  as 
like  causes  produce  like  effects,  it  seems  very  evidently  to 
follow,  that  the  only  manner  in  which  a  change  can  be  pro- 
duced in  the  returns  yielded  by  it  [to  the  owner],  must  be  by 
the  labor  that  it  employs,  absorbing  a  larger  or  smaller  part 
of  them.  This  result  is  not  uniformly  kept  in  view  in  the 
Wealth  of  Nations,  though  it  is  very  frequently  brought  for- 
ward.2 We  are  often  told,  that,  as  the  wages  of  labor  fall, 

1  — "  Via  altera   ab   initio  ardua  et  difficilis,  desinet  in  apertum  ;  altera 
primo  intuitu  expedita  et  proclivis,  ducet  in  avia  et  prsecipitia. " 

2  ["  What  is  the  nature  of  the  profit  of  stock  ?  and  how  does  it  originate  ?  are 
questions  the  [real]  answers  to  which  do  not  immediately  suggest  themselves. 


OF  SCIENCE  VERSUS  SYSTEM-BUILDING     349 

profits  rise,  and  as  profits  fall  the  wages  of  labor  rise,  but 
other  causes  besides  the  proportion  of  its  returns  paid  to  the 
laborer,  are  conceived  to  operate  on  it.  Thus  a  simple  increase 
in  its  quantity  is  assigned,  in  one  part  of  the  work,  as  sufficient 
of  itself  to  occasion  a  fall  in  profits.  "  When  the  stocks  of 
many  rich  merchants  are  turned  into  the  same  trade,  their 
mutual  competition  naturally  tends  to  lower  its  profit ;  and 
when  there  is  a  like  increase  of  stock  in  all  the  different  trades 
carried  on  in  the  same  society,  the  same  competition  must  pro- 
duce the  same  effect  in  them  all."  Mr.  Eicardo  has,  however, 
pointed  out,  from  Adam  Smith's  own  principles,  that  no  such 
effect  would  ensue,  and  insists  on  it  as  a  general  principle  that 
wages  alone  vary  profit.  Profits,  according  to  him,  are  in- 
creased or  diminished,  exactly  as  the  maintenance  of  labor  is 
easy  or  difficult,  from  fertile  land  being  abundant  or  scarce. 
Admitting  the  popular  notion  of  capital,  that  serves  as  the 
basis  of  Adam  Smith's  reasonings,  to  be  of  a  sort  on  which 
true  science  may  be  built,  the  theory  of  Mr.  Kicardo  seems  to 
me  hard  to  be  controverted,  and  has  certainly  the  merit  of 
giving  uniformity  and  regularity  to  the  system.  It  has  accord- 
ingly been  acquiesced  in  very  generally  in  Britain,  by  men 
who  are  given  to  this  department  of  inquiry,  and  has  been 
adopted  and  defended  by  many  writers  of  unquestioned  ability. 
Nevertheless,  it  may  well  be  doubted,  if  it  has  added  to  the 
general  confidence  in  the  science.  The  conclusions  to  which 
it  leads  have  in  them  something  so  extraordinary,  as  to 
exceed  the  strength  of  any  common  measure  of  faith  in  such 
abstractions. 

Thus,  according  to  the  principles  of  this  school,  no  extension 
of  foreign  trade,  however  advantageous,  and  no  improvement 
in  domestic  industry,  however  great,  can  in  the  least  increase 
profits;  [unless  they  cheapen  food,  and  so  multiply  laborers, 
and  so  bring  down  money  wages].  On  the  other  hand,  no 
diminution  of  foreign  trade  can,  of  itself,  lessen  profits.  It 
follows  also,  from  the  same  principles,  that  colonies  give  no 
commercial  advantages  to  the  mother  country,  and,  therefore, 

The  author  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations  appears  to  consider  the  profit  of 
stock,  as  paid  out  of  and  therefore  «I.-nv«-.l  from,  tin  "  \, due  added  by  the 
workman  to  the  raw  material."  (Lauderdale,  Inquiry,  p.  149.)] 


350  APPENDIX 

that  being  in  general  expensive,  they  ought  to  be  shaken  off 
as  a  burden  on  her  resources.  Sir  Henry  Parnell  observes, 
and  quotes  Mr.  Mill  in  his  support,  that,  "  The  capital  which 
supplies  commodities  for  the  colonies  would  still  prepare  com- 
modities if  the  colonies  ceased  to  purchase  them ;  and  those 
commodities  would  find  consumers,  for  every  country  contains 
within  itself  a  market  for  all  it  can  produce.1  There  is,  there- 
fore, no  advantage  derived  under  freedom  of  competition,  from 
that  part  of  the  trade  with  a  colony  which  consists  in  supply- 
ing it  with  goods,  since  no  more  is  gained  by  it  than  such 
ordinary  profits  of  stock  as  would  be  gained  if  no  such  trade 
existed."2 

These,  and  similar  doctrines,  have  something  in  them  so 
strange,  so  contrary  to  experience,  and  seem  so  paradoxical, 
that  they  have  in  most  people  rather  the  effect  of  exciting 
surprise,  than  producing  belief.  They  are  exceeded,  however, 
by  what  a  writer  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  [McCulloch]  has 
proved,  and  in  my  opinion  satisfactorily  proved,  from  the 
principles  of  his  school,  concerning  the  effect  of  Irish  absen- 
teeism. He  shows  that  it  can  have  no  disadvantageous,  and 
possibly  may  have  an  advantageous  effect,  in  that  it  can  only 
cause  capital  to  pass  from  one  employment  to  another,  possibly 
from  a  less,  to  a  more  advantageous  employment.  That,  as  it 
is  the  capital  of  the  artisan,  the  tradesman,  and  shop-keeper, 
that  yields  them  their  revenue,  were  all  their  customers 
annihilated,  they  would  still  live  equally  well  on  their  capitals. 
That  so,  were  all  the  landlords  in  Ireland  to  leave  it,  and 
were  their  rents  to  be  sent  them,  to  a  distant  kingdom,  in  the 
shape  either  of  cash  or  agricultural  produce,  it  could  not 
possibly  be  of  any  detriment  to  the  country  they  abandoned. 

Though  the  argument  is  skilfully  conducted,  and  though  it 
is  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  leading  principles  of  the 
science — for,  if  capitalists  are  dependent  on  their  customers, 

1  [This  last  clause  pertains  to  the  theory  of  reciprocal  demand,  not  to  the 
theory  of  the  general  profit-yielding  power  of  capital — two  very  different 
concepts.  ] 

2  [If  the  colonies  were  "  in  the  deep  sea  sunk,"  as  Bentham  put  it.     There 
was,  indeed,  in  the  colonial  speculations  of  several  writers  of  this  period,  a  most 
extraordinary  exemplification  of  a  lump-of -capital  theory.] 


OF  SCIENCE  VERSUS  SYSTEM-BUILDING     351 

what  becomes  of  the  all-sufficiency  of  capital  ? — and,  if  the 
British  Government  could  advantage  Ireland  by  taxing 
absentees,  what  becomes  of  the  principle  of  non-interference  ? 
—yet  there  are  perhaps  few  people,  on  whom  it  has  had 
the  effect  the  author  probably  desired.  It  has  the  disadvan- 
tage of  proving  too  much.  When  it  is  shown,  that,  according 
to  received  principles,  two  large  classes  so  intimately  depen- 
dent on  each  other,  as  are  the  landlords  of  a  great  country, 
and  the  mechanics  and  capitalists  that  they  employ,  can  be 
completely  severed,  without  injuriously  affecting  the  whole 
system  of  things  in  the  society,  we  are  rather  inclined  to 
doubt  of  the  principles,  than  to  acquiesce  in  the  conclusion. 
However  skilfully  the  argument  may  be  urged,  or  however 
closely  one  part  of  it  may  seem  joined  to  another,  it  has 
rather  the  effect  of  inducing  skepticism  than  conviction.  We 
still  figure  to  ourselves  that  there  is  a  loss  to  Ireland,  a  gain 
to  some  other  place.  We  cannot  get  rid  of  the  imagination, 
that,  if  the  landlords  were  all  to  go  in  a  body,  for  instance,  to 
Brussels,  and  spend  their  rents  there,  they  would  give  profit- 
able employment,  in  some  way  or  other,  to  a  vast  number 
of  laborers,  tradesmen,  and  artificers,  and  that  the  population 
and  wealth  of  that  town  would  be  largely  augmented,  that 
of  Ireland  proportionally  diminished. 

These,  and  many  such  like  instances,  seem  to  us  contrary 
to  the  usual  progress  of  real  knowledge.  The  experience  of 
what  true  science  is,  has  accustomed  us  to  expect  that  in  this, 
as  in  other  branches  of  inquiry,  the  farther  we  advance  the 
larger  and  larger  a  compass  of  undeniable  facts  should  present 
i  selves,  that  we  should  be  able  more  and  more  evidently 
to  connect  phenomena,  that  seemed  at  first  disjointed  and 
isolated,  and  that,  the  indistinctness  of  distance  being  re- 
moved, truth  should  stand  clearly  before  us.  Deceived  in  our 
anticipations,  we  feel  like  travellers  who  find  the  straight  and 
well-beaten  path  on  which  they  entered,  becoming  more 
devious  and  faint  the  farther  they  journey,  leaving  the  habita- 
of  men,  and  leading  to  barren  and  dangerous  wastes. 
Thuugh  we  can  trace  no  error,  we  begin  to  suspect  that  there 
iie,  and  that  somehow  or  other,  we  have  taken  the  wrong 
Direction. 


352  APPENDIX 

Dugald  Stewart  has  a  remark  on  the  abstract  philosophy  of 
David  Hume,  that  seems  not  inapplicable  to  this,  so  termed, 
abstract  science.  It  is  well  known,  that  that  skeptical 
philosopher  deduced,  pretty  clearly,  from  Mr.  Locke's  prin- 
ciples, that  the  human  mind  was  a  mere  bundle  of  sensations. 
The  professor  observes,  that,  before  any  formal  refutation  of 
the  doctrine  appeared,  it  might  have  been  sufficient  answer  to 
it,  that  it  was  so  contrary  to  the  experience  of  every  one, 
as  to  make  it  more  reasonable  to  suppose  an  error,  either 
in  the  premises  or  deduction,  though  that  error  might  not  be 
discoverable,  than  to  believe  that  the  metaphysicians  were 
right,  all  the  rest  of  mankind  wrong.  Such  an  answer  is, 
I  suspect,  that  which  is  now  present  to  the  minds  of  very 
many,  in  regard  to  the  strange  dogmas  of  the  prevailing  school 
of  political  economy.  They  regard  them  as  a  sort  of  practical 
demonstratio  ad  absurdum  of  some  fundamental  fallacy  in  the 
science. 

Keasoning  from  Adam  Smith's  principles,  his  followers,  in 
more  than  one  instance,  have  arrived  at  conclusions  differing 
considerably  from  his.  He  looked  on  parsimony  as  the  great 
generator  of  wealth ;  they  rather  hold  an  opinion  similar  to 
that  of  Mandeville,  that  to  consume  largely  is  an  essential 
part  of  the  process,  consumption  and  reproduction  being 
represented  by  them  as  the  two  springs,  by  the  rapid  play 
of  which  the  general  prosperity  is  advanced.1 

I  shall  conclude  these  remarks,  by  observing,  that  in  my 
opinion  the  disciples  and  followers  of  Adam  Smith,  in  claiming 
for  the  speculations  contained  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  and 
for  the  doctrines  they  have  founded  on  them,  the  rank  of  an 
experimental  science,  the  conclusions  of  which  are  entitled  to 
the  same  credence  with  other  experimental  sciences,  act  injudi- 
ciously, and  by  insisting  on  pretensions  which  are  unfounded, 

1  [No  English  writer  actually  reproduces  the  teaching  of  Mandeville ;  but 
certainly  Malthus  in  his  Political  Economy  represents  exactly  that  progress  is 
made  by  the  "  rapid  play  "  on  each  other  of  supply  and  demand. 

The  opinion  respecting  English  classic  economics  which  Rae  still  held  thirty 
years  later,  is  to  be  found  in  a  fragment  of  his  manuscript  published  in  the 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics  for  November,  1901.] 


OF  SCIENCE  VERSUS  SYSTEM-BUILDING     353 

injure  the  cause  of  that  philosopher  and  conceal  his  real  merits. 
If  we  view  his  philosophical  system  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations, 
or  indeed  any  of  his  philosophical  systems,  as  he  views  every 
such  system,  "as  an  imaginary  machine  invented  to  connect 
together  in  the  fancy  those  different  movements  and  effects 
which  are  already  in  reality  performed,"  nothing  of  the  sort  can 
be  more  beautiful.  A  clear,  orderly,  and  extensive  view  is 
given  of  a  vast  number  of  interesting  and  important  facts, 
connected  by  a  few  familiar  principles.  A  great  body  of 
knowledge  is  thus  brought  before  the  mind  in  a  shape  which  it 
can  readily  grasp,  and  easily  command.  The  object  being  not 
to  discover,  but  to  arrange  and  methodize,  all  the  subordinate 
principles  of  the  system  are  artfully  bent  so  as  to  embrace  the 
phenomena,  and  care  is  taken  that  the  imagination  be  not 
shocked  by  a  view  of  matters  that  shall  seem  irreconcilable  to 
the  aspect  of  affairs  which  the  [mere]  contemplation  of  the 
world  of  life  itself  presents.  Nor  is  it  to  be  disputed  that  a 
general  system  of  the  sort,  besides  the  pleasure  and  the 
ail  vantage  derived  from  it,  is  likely  to  be  nearer  the  truth  than 
speculations  of  the  same  nature,  confined  to  particular  parts. 

The  case,  however,  is  completely  altered,  when  the  loose  and 
popular  principles  on  which  such  a  system  proceeds,  are 
adopted  as  demonstrative  axioms,  the  discoveries  of  real  science, 
and  are  carried  out  to  their  extreme  consequences.  Their 
inal  purpose  is  then  altogether  changed,  and  instead  of 
serving  to  bring  before  the  mind  a  collection  of  facts,  they  lead 
it  farther  and  farther  away  from  truth  and  reality,  into  the 
barren  and  wearisome  regions  of  mere  verbal  abstractions. 


ARTICLE   VI. 

THE  THEOEY  OF  POPULATION.1 

THE  laws  of  true  inductive  science  are  of  universal  application 
and  admit  not  of  exceptions.  If  even  a  single  manifest  excep- 
tion occurs  it  ought  to  invalidate  the  law.  If,  for  instance,  a 
new  compound  were  found  that  obeyed  not  the  chemical  law 
of  definite  proportions,  it  would  rightly  occasion  an  uneasy 
feeling  in  the  whole  chemical  world,  and  there  would  be 
no  rest  there  till  the  apparent  anomaly  was  explained. 
Considered  in  this  way  the  laws  of  population  as  expounded 
by  Malthus  will  be  found  to  fail.  His  error  arises  from  the 
fact  that  he  assimilates  man  to  the  inferior  animals.  This 
was  also  the  practice  of  the  elder  Mirabeau  [who  maintained 
that  wherever  there  was  subsistence,  the  human  species  would 
multiply  "  like  rats  in  a  barn."] 

Now  the  nature  of  the  two  is  different ;  and  if  you  assume 
that  two  things  of  unlike  nature  obey  the  same  laws,  you  are 
guilty  of  a  rashness  that  almost  infallibly  vitiates  your  conclu- 
sions. The  inferior  animals  are  led  by  mere  instinct,  whereas 
man  is  guided  by  reason,  by  fancy,  and  by  that  changeful 
thing  we  call  moral  feeling.  Moreover,  man  and  the  lower 
animals  are  different  physically.  With  the  latter  the  female 

1  [From  Rae's  manuscript  written  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  last  three  paragraphs  which  are  taken  from  p.  323  of  the  Political 
Economy. 

Two  rather  more  elaborate  versions  of  Rae's  final  position  on  the  subject  of 
population  have  already  been  printed  in  the  Economic  Journal  for  March, 
1902.] 


OF  POPULATION  355 

admits  the  male  only  when  she  is  in  a  condition  to  conceive ; 
with  man  it  is  otherwise.  There  are  still  other  important 
points  of  difference  under  this  head  which  you  will  find  set 
forth  in  the  Memorabilia,  where  Socrates  is  enumerating  the 
particulars  of  man's  superiority.  [But  the  more  significant 
differences  are  not  those  which  are  solely  or  chiefly  physical ; 
but  those  which  are  psychological  and  moral.]  Man  is  the 
child  of  art,  of  phantasy,  and  of  reason  full  of  freaks. 

The  rapid  depopulation  of  these  islands  is,  in  itself,  a 
curious  circumstance,  and  highly  interesting  as  connected 
with  the  probable  fate  of  other  rude  nations,  the  mass  of 
the  earth  in  fact,  if  subjected  to  similar  influences.  [It  is, 
moreover,  a  phenomenon  which  does  not  square  with  the 
Mirabeau-Malthusian  doctrine.]  Subsistence  is  easily  pro- 
rured  here,  there  being  an  abundance  of  vacant,  fertile  land, 
two  hours  daily  labor  on  which  would  give  every  man  ample 
support  for  a  large  family.  Cattle,  goats,  and  horses  (the 
latter  eaten  by  the  natives  and  preferred  to  beef),  have  been 
added  to  the  resources  of  former  times.  One  would  expect, 
tlu  re  fore,  on  Malthusian  principles,  an  increase  of  population 
instead  of  this  fearful  diminution. 

Vice  is  put  down  by  Mai  thus  as  one  of  the  checks  to 
population;  and  here  it  is  true  of  recent  years  vice,  in 
the  form  of  drunkenness  and  licentiousness  especially  among 
young  females,  has  greatly  increased.  [But  with  Malthus 
is  treated  as  specifically  "a  check"  to  the  pressure  of 
a  growing  population  upon  the  means  of  subsistence,  and 
ng  out  of  that  pressure.  Here,  as  has  just  been  observed, 
•••  is  no  pressure  of  population.]  Those  other  forms  of 
and  things  analogous  to  vice,  which  are  the  positive 
ks  of  a  growing  population  in  straitened  material  circum- 
stances— wars,  epidemics,  human  sacrifice,  infanticide,  incon- 
stant marriages,  and  intercourse  between  males  (which  last 
was  formerly  an  established  institution),  have  all  since  the 
of  the  missionaries  been  greatly  lessened  or  done 
away  with  altogether. 

[Tin-  fact  is  that  the  Malthusian  philosophy  of  population 
accounts  for  the  vital  phenomena  of  healthy  societies  only, 
not  at  all  for  that  of  sick  societies,  such  as  the  one  in  these 


356  APPENDIX 

islands  has  become  (notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the  mis- 
sionaries),1 and  such  as  Rome  was  in  the  days  of  her  decline. 

A  scientific  theory  which  does  not  explain  the  totality  of 
the  phenomena  with  which  it  is  concerned,  is  manifestly  in- 
sufficient ;  at  best,  it  may  be  half  right.] 

A  truly  philosophical  Essay  on  Population,  fearlessly  em- 
bracing the  whole  subject,  might  proceed  thus.  Man  is  an 
animal  and  more.  Being  an  animal  he  must  in  each  genera- 
tion exercise  his  powers  of  propagation  to  the  extent  of  some- 
what more  than  reproducing  himself,  else  accidents  would 
diminish  and  ultimately  destroy  the  race.  He  resembles  the 
inferior  animals  also  in  this,  that  the  act  of  propagation 
is  attended  with  vehement  pleasure.  But  he  differs  from 
them  in  this,  that  he  knows  the  probable  results  of  this  act 
(which  they  do  not),  and  in  dread  of  these  results  may  alto- 
gether refrain  or  take  measures  to  negative  them.  He  may 
employ  the  organs  for  mere  pleasure  or  as  a  means  of  gratify- 
ing and  confirming  the  affections.  He  has  in  short  the  capa- 
city of  diminishing  his  numbers  by  abstinence  which  his 
reason,  either  when  on  the  right  road  or  when  a  wandering, 
may  teach  him;  or  by  other  modes  in  which  the  appetite 
is  abundantly  gratified.  For  the  reason  that  man  is  more 
than  an  animal,  therefore,  to  increase,  or  to  merely  preserve, 
the  numbers  of  any  society,  it  is  necessary  that  there  exist  an 
effective  desire  of  offspring? 

This  last  in  some  respects  coincides  with  the  effective  desire 
of  accumulation,  since  if  a  man  desire  offspring  he  will 
generally  effectively  desire  the  means  of  supporting  them 
[and  advancing  their  position  in  the  world].  But  it  is,  never- 

1  [See  the  article  in  the  Economic  Journal  for  the  causes  which  Rae  assigns 
for  this  social  degeneration.] 

2  [The  reader  may  be  surprised  at  first  sight  that  in  this  summary  Rae  makes 
no  mention  of  man's  need  for  food,  seeing  that  in  so  far  as  he  is  an  animal, 
that  is  a  manifest  requirement.     The  reason  for  the  omission  is  that  Rae  is 
dealing  here  primarily  with  the  specific  principles  of  human  propagation,  not 
with  their  combination  with  other  principles  ("diminishing  returns,"  "in- 
vention," and  the  like)  which  have  to  do  with  wealth  production.     In  other 
words,  throughout  this  Article  he  is  concerned  with  setting  forth  not  the  com- 
plete doctrine  of  the  actual  multiplication  of  the  human  species,  but  with  the 
pure  theory  of  population  itself.] 


OF   POPULATION  357 

theless,  regulated  by  different  principles.  These  are  mainly 
certain  sentiments  pervading  the  society,  and  which  we  may 
term  instincts  of  Society.  There  is  great  difficulty  in  assign- 
ing a  cause  for  these  instincts,  much  the  same  as  that  we 
experience  in  accounting  for  the  instincts  proper  of  animals. 
\Vf  may  rest  on  this  without  going  farther,  that  in  any  parti- 
cular species  of  animal  and  in  any  particular  society,  they  con- 
duce to  their  respective  well-being  in  some  particular  phase  of 
their  existence.1 

[But  though  in  consequence  of  having  been  "  hammered 
into  the  race,"  these  social  instincts  respecting  population 
are  relatively  permanent,  they  may,  nevertheless,  change. 
And  thus  it  comes  about  that  we  tread  on  dangerous 
ground  whenever  we  preach  Malthusianism  to  any  people.] 
The  peculiar  nature  of  the  human  mind,  rather  excited  to 
action  by  motives,  than  passively  operated  on  by  them,  and 
moulding,  therefore,  its  energies  to  suit  the  course  it  adopts, 
sions  a  difference  between  phenomena  influenced  by  it 
and  all  others.  Hence,  according  to  the  preponderating 
motive,  and  the  course  of  action  followed,  the  same  powers 
and  principles  take  opposite  directions,  and  the  will  is  able  to 
draw  to  its  purposes  and  make  allies  of  those  which  would 
seem  naturally  opposed  to  it. 

Thus  in  an  intelligent  and  moral  community,  the  vanity  of 
the  mother  is  gratified  in  the  well-being  of  the  child,  and  she 
prides  herself  in  the  proofs  of  her  having  been  an  affectionate 
and  careful  parent.  In  a  vain  and  dissipated  community,  on 
the  other  hand,  she  would  be  ashamed  of  devoting  her  atten- 
tion to  the  homely  and  unostentatious  cares  to  which  solicitude 
for  the  welfare  of  offspring  prompts.  In  the  one  case  vanity 
excites  parental  affection,  in  the  other  it  stifles  it.  The  move- 
ment of  the  mind,  in  these  instances,  is  somewhat  analogous  to 
that  of  those  balances,  in  which  the  poise,  if  in  the  least  inclin- 
;  o  one  side  or  the  other,  hurries  it  down  with  a  rapid  and 
continually  increasing  preponderance. 

1  [Rae  believed  that  the  strenuous  warfare  in  which  for  many  centuries  the 
northern  races  of  Europe  were  engaged,  produced  in  them  strong  "  instincts  of 
society  "  respecting  the  desire  for  offspring  and  the  sanctity  of  marriage, 
which  still  persist  though  threatened  by  modern  conditions.] 


358  APPENDIX 

This  proneness  in  humanity  to  advance  or  recede  with 
a  speed  accelerated  by  the  subjugation  of  opposing  motives, 
helps  to  afford  an  explanation  of  what  I  conceive  to  be  one 
of  the  main  causes  of  the  decay  of  states. 

[In  the  Article  in  the  Economic  Journal  mentioned  above,  Rae  goes  more 
extensively,  than  in  this  brief  outline,  into  the  nature  and  causes  of  what  he 
calls  the  "instincts  of  society"  touching  matters  of  marriage  and  procreation. 
He  develops  there  at  some  length  the  idea  that  the  effective  desire  of  offspring 
depends  not  only  upon  individual  psychology  (as  we  ordinarily  set  bounds  to 
that  order  of  facts),  but  also  upon  a  general  hopeful,  optimistic  outlook  on  life 
pervading  the  whole  social  group.  When  a  society  gets  on  the  downward 
road,  and  its  members  feel  a  sense  of  depression  and  lack  of  self-respect,  men 
cease  to  breed.  Under  such  conditions  there  is  no  agreement  between  material 
circumstances  and  the  propagation  of  the  species.  The  effective  desire  of 
offspring  means,  of  course,  not  merely  the  desire  to  bring  children  into  the 
world,  but  the  taking  satisfaction  in  them,  and  the  desire  to  rear  them  to 
maturity.  On  these  points,  and  generally  on  the  whole  subject  of  the  theory 
of  population,  powerful  support  is  afforded  Rae  by  Bagehot  in  his  Economic 
Studies. 

In  one  particular,  it  seems  to  the  Editor,  Rae  is  not  altogether  correct ;  and 
that  is  in  the  position  he  takes  here  and  elsewhere  with  respect  to  the  relation 
between  the  principle  of  the  effective  desire  of  offspring  and  the  principle  of 
the  effective  desire  of  accumulation.  They  may  be  often  opposed  to  each 
other.  In  a  healthful  society,  indeed,  for  general  sociological  reasons,  both 
will  be  strong ;  and  in  a  sick  society,  on  the  other  hand,  both  will  be  weak. 
But  in  a  society  which  is  neither  wholly  well  or  wholly  sick  (as  is  the  state  of 
most  societies),  a  strong  effective  desire  of  accumulation  with  many  individuals, 
or  with  certain  sections  of  the  society,  may  go  along  with  a  weak  effective 
desire  of  offspring,  and  vice  versa.  Rae  seems  to  have  been  led  into  this 
position,  involving  some  degree  of  error,  through  his  disposition  to  over 
emphasize  social  solidarity  for  the  purpose  of  getting  strong  contrasts,  as 
wholes,  between  the  different  communities. 

But  however  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  we  cannot  dogmatize  for  all 
times  and  places  and  classes  in  respect  to  population,  in  the  Malthusian  fashion. 
And  it  is  also  clear  that  in  the  principle  of  the  effective  desire  of  offspring  we 
have  the  true  centre  of  gravity,  so  to  speak,  of  this  complex  and  difficult 
subject, — the  starting  point  for  fresh  and  more  fruitful  studies.] 


AETICLE  VII. 

OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  LAISSEZ  FAIRS,  WITH  SPECIAL 
REFERENCE  TO  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR 
IN  BRINGING  THE  ARTS  OF  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES  TO 
HIS  OWN. 

WHEN  men  unite  in  large  societies,  they  cannot  each  take 
an  active  part  in  what  concerns  the  common  good.  They 
are  obliged  to  delegate  their  individual  powers  and  rights 
to  act,  in  things  relating  to  it,  to  several,  or  to  one.  This 
body  of  men,  or  this  man,  acting  and  making  laws  for  the 
supposed  advantage  of  the  whole,  may  properly  be  termed 
the  legislator.  It  is,  therefore,  the  capacities  and  powers  of 
the  whole,  as  far  as  they  make  one,  turned  to  this  sphere 
of  action,  and  designated  by  this  term,  that  we  have  now 
to  consider. 

"  Man  is  generally  considered  by  statesmen  and  projectors, 
as  the  materials  of  a  sort  of  political  mechanics.  Projectors 
disturb  nature  in  the  course  of  her  operations  on  human 
affairs ;  and  it  requires  no  more  than  to  let  her  alone  and 
give  her  fair  play  in  the  pursuit  of  her  ends,  that  she  may 
establish  her  own  designs."  "  Little  else  is  requisite  to  carry  a 
state  to  the  highest  degree  of  opulence  from  the  lowest  bar- 
barism but  peace,  easy  taxes,  and  a  tolerable  administration  of 
justice ;  all  the  rest  being  brought  about  by  the  natural  course 
of  things.  All  governments  which  thwart  this  natural  course, 
which  force  things  into  another  channel,  or  which  endeavor  to 
arrest  the  progress  of  society  at  a  particular  point,  are  un- 
natural, and  to  support  themselves  are  obliged  to  be  oppressive 
and  tyrannical." 1 

1  Account  of  the  Ltfe  and  Writings  of  Dr.  Smith,  by  Dugald  Stewart,  j>.  104. 


360  APPENDIX 

The  principle  [of  economic  politics]  here  set  forth  by  Adam 
Smith,  though  not  formally  announced  in  the  Wealth  of 
>ns,  runs,  nevertheless,  through  the  whole  work,  and  in 
its  particular  application  to  this  science,  forms  the  most 
important  of  the  conclusions  to  which  his  [purely  economic] 
reasonings  tend.  It  is  very  frequently,  also,  expressly 
brought  forward  by  the  supporters  of  his  opinions,  as  an 
argument  against  the  interference  of  the  legislator,  and  of 
all  those  they  employ,  none  perhaps,  is  more  popular,  or 
has  had  greater  influence  in  giving  currency  to  the  system. 
A  brief  examination  of  its  merit  may  not,  then,  form  an 
improper  introduction  to  the  particular  subject  of  this  book. 

In  strict  philosophical  accuracy,  the  whole  of  every  political 
system  is  certainly  natural.  Every  political  system  must  be 
allowed  to  have  proceeded  from  the  operation  through  long  ex- 
tended time,  of  the  things  without,  and  the  things  within  man, 
acting  as  the  powers  and  principles  which  nature  has  given 
them,  cause  them  to  act.  Every  such  system  has  many  parts, 
but  they  all  belong  to  a  great  whole,  and  from  their  action 
and  reaction  on  each  other  the  movements  of  that  whole  pro- 
ceed. It  seems  not,  therefore,  to  me,  that  we  can  take  any  of 
those  parts  separate  from  the  others,  and  with  propriety  say, 
that  it  acts  in  opposition  to  the  designs  of  nature,  for  that 
cannot  well  be  said  to  be  in  opposition  to  the  designs  of 
nature,  or  to  thwart  her  operations,  which  proceeds  from  prin- 
ciples that  she  herself  has  established.  Least  of  all  can  states- 
men be  taken  separate  from  the  rest  of  the  frame  of  society, 
and  the  actions  they  generate  considered  as  unnatural,  or 
operating  contrary  to  the  order  of  things  which  nature  has 
established,  for,  to  speak  in  the  general,  they  are  all  moulded 
after  the  form  and  character  of  their  time  and  nation,  and 
instead  of  giving  laws  to  the  age,  must  rather  be  regarded  by 
the  philosopher  as  emanations  of  its  genius,  and  organs  by 
which  its  voice  is  uttered.  Were  the  whole  present  race 
of  politicians  swept  from  the  earth,  so  little  essential  difference 
would  there  be  between  them  and  their  successors,  that  the 
change  hence  resulting  to  human  affairs  could  not,  probably, 
be  traced  a  century  afterwards.  Napoleon,  when  speaking  on 
this  subject  to  one  of  his  generals,  is  somewhere  reported 


OF   LAISSEZ   FAIRE  361 

to  have  expressed  himself  in  nearly  the  following  terms. 
"  We  are  apt  to  think  that  we  have  done  much  more  than 
we  really  have.  It  is  the  march  of  events  that  has  made 
us,  and  makes  us,  what  we  are.  Had  you  and  I  never 
existed,  our  places  would  have  been  held  by  others,  and 
were  we  now  to  cease  to  exist,  the  blank  would  be  so  filled  as 
not  to  be  perceptible : "  It  must  be  allowed  that  this  was 
with  justice  said  of  himself,  even  by  such  a  man.  Already 
we  perceive  that  all  the  apparently  mighty  changes,  refer- 
able to  his  personal  agency,  were  rather  undulations  on  the 
surface  of  the  tide  of  human  affairs,  than  alterations  in  its 
course.1 

When  we  speak  of  the  course  of  the  operations  of  nature  on 
human  affairs,  philosophical  accuracy  would,  I  think,  imply  a 
reference  to  the  whole  course,  and  all  the  springs  and  prin- 
ciples, that  actuate  and  guide  it.  These  springs  and  principles, 
discordant  and  jarring  as  they  may  appear,  may,  nevertheless, 
have  been  so  adjusted  by  the  hand  of  nature,  as  to  have  a 
tendency  gradually  to  bring  the  whole  system  nearer  and 
nearer  perfection  and  happiness, 

"  From  seeming  evil  still  educing  good, 
And  better  thence  again,  and  better  still, 
In  infinite  progression." 

This  is  a  pleasing  and  no  improbable  theory,  but,  in  this  view 
of  the  subject,  it  is  the  tendency  of  the  whole  of  these  springs 
and  principles  that  we  have  to  consider,  not  some  taken  apart 
from  others.  Indeed,  if  we  reason  analogically,  concerning 
the  apparent  action  of  these  different  springs  and  principles,  so 
far  i'rom  its  appearing  probable  that  the  direct  interference  of 
the  legislator  in  endeavoring  to  give  an  advantageous  direc- 
tion to  the  course  of  the  national  industry,  in  its  efforts 
i  the  production  of  wealth,  is  a  principle  unlikely  to 
further  that  production,  the  presumption  rather  is,  that  it 
will  farther  it. 

To  perceive  this,  it  is  necessary  particularly  to  attend  to 
the  distinction  which  Adam  Smith  makes  between  nature  and 
art  as  applied  to  the  progress  of  human  affairs.  When  we  say, 

1  [These  last  statements  seem  to  go  badly  with  Rae's  doctrine  of  invention.] 


362  APPENDIX 

a  thing  is  produced  by  art,  we  mean,  that  it  is  the  result  of 
the  agency  of  man,  designedly  directed  to  its  production. 
When  we  say,  a  thing  is  produced  by  nature ;  we  mean 
that  it  is  produced  either  without  the  agency  of  man,  or,  if  by 
his  agency,  without  its  being  his  intention  to  produce  that, 
which  he,  nevertheless,  produces.  Thus  the  fruit,  which  a  tree 
cultivated  with  care  in  an  orchard  yields,  is  an  artificial  pro- 
duction, that  yielded  by  another  growing  spontaneously  in 
some  wild,  is  a  natural  production.  A  path  between  two 
points  marked  out  by  rule  and  line  is  artificial.  A  footpath 
formed  by  the  mere  unconstrained  passing  of  many  people 
from  one  point  to  another,  is  natural,  because,  though  equally 
with  the  former  the  work  of  man,  it  is  not  designedly  formed 
by  him.  In  this  case  it  was  his  intention  merely  to  pass  from 
place  to  place,  not  to  form  a  path  by  so  passing.  It  is  in  this 
latter  sense,  that  the  production  of  national  wealth  is  said  to 
be  the  work  of  nature.  It  is  said  to  be  the  intention  of  each 
individual  in  a  nation,  to  advance  merely  his  own  wealth,  and 
the  tendency  which  the  actions  of  all  the  individuals  in  a 
nation  have  to  advance  the  sum  of  the  national  opulence,  as  it 
is  said  to  make  no  part  of  their  motives  to  action,  is  esteemed 
a  work  of  nature,  in  the  same  manner  as  we  may  esteem 
a  footpath,  formed  by  the  continual  passing  of  people  over 
some  moor  or  heath,  to  be  the  work  of  nature.  According  to 
this  view  of  the  subject,  it  is  the  legislator  alone,  who  can,  of 
design,  act  with  the  view  to  advance  the  national  opulence.  It 
is  held,  however,  that  as  this  interference  of  the  legislator  dis- 
turbs the  course  which  events  would  otherwise  have  taken,  it 
acts  in  opposition  to  the  course  of  nature,  and,  therefore,  that 
the  presumption  is  that  it  will  be  injurious.  On  the  contrary, 
I  hold,  that  a  just  analogy  would  rather  lead  us  to  infer  that 
it  will  be  beneficial. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  when  man  acts  most  success- 
fully, it  is  thus  that  he  does  act.  He  never,  indeed,  seeks  to 
conquer  nature  otherwise  than  by  obeying  her,  but  his  aim, 
nevertheless,  always  is  to  conquer  her.  By  observing  the 
order  of  events,  he  acquires  the  power  of  changing  that  order. 
He  does  so,  by  that  which  distinguishes  him  from  other 
animals,  the  reasoning  faculty,  which  so  directed  we  term  art 


OF   LAISSEZ   FAIRE  363 

and  without  the  aid  of  which  so  directed,  we  scarce  attain 
any  object. 

But  though  art  and  nature  are  thus  put  in  opposition  to 
each  other,  the  form  of  expression  is  more  popular  than 
correct.  Were  the  changes  which  man  every  where  produces 
on  the  course  of  events,  contrary  to  the  designs  of  nature,  we 
may  rest  satisfied  that  she  would  not  have  given  him  powers 
sufficient  to  effect  them.  What  we  call  a  conquering  or 
governing  of  nature,  is  to  be  held,  in  a  more  enlarged  and 
truer  sense,  an  acting  in  obedience  to  her  designs ;  and  man, 
as  a  reasoning  animal  is  rather  to  be  considered  as  an  instru- 
ment in  her  hands,  through  which  she  effects  much  of  that 
change  in  the  order  of  events,  and  consequent  progress  from 
good  to  better,  that  we  may  fairly  hope  is  going  on,  than 
as  a  separate  agent  acting  in  opposition  to  her.  In  this 
sense,  all  art  may  be  said  to  be  nature,  as  in  another  sense 
all  nature  may  be  said  to  be  art.1 

Is  it  then  a  thing  to  be  assumed,  a  priori,  as  next  to 
demonstrable,  that  art,  the  art  of  the  legislator,  cannot  operate 
so  as  to  advance  the  prosperity  of  nations  ?  That,  of  all 
the  springs  and  principles  actuating  the  movement  of  societies, 
it  is  the  only  one  powerless  to  do  good,  or  whose  power  can 
no  otherwise  be  advantageously  exerted  than  in  checking  its 
own  propensity  to  act  ?  That  though  in  every  other  depart- 
ment of  human  action  it  is  called  on  to  lead,  yet  here  it  must 
impose  chains  on  itself  and  sit  still  ?  That  though  every 
where  else  nature  willingly  submits  herself  to  its  government, 
nay,  seems  to  court  it,  yet  here  she  commands  it  to  rest  a 
mere  spectator,  beholding  her  "  working  out  her  own  ends  in 
her  own  way  ? " 

The  presumption,  it  seems  to  me,  would  rather  be,  that, 
though  neither  here  nor  elsewhere  can  man  in  wisdom  oppose 

1  [In  the  words  of  Edmund  Burke,— "  Art  is  man's  nature  "  ;  or,  as  another 
has  expressed  it,— "man  is  the  executive  organ  of  nature." 

All  this  may  be  fully  admitted  and  yet  bring  us  no  nearer  the  answer  to 
the  practical  question, — how  much  beside  maintaining  simple  law  and  order 
(setting  up  the  "common  Judge,"  in  Locke's  phrase)  had  the  State  in  general 
better  undertake  to  do  ?  This  is  mainly  not  a  question  of  economics  but  of 
politics;  and  it  is  not  answered  in  the  least  by  argument*  drawn  from 
analogy.] 


364  APPENDIX 

nature,  yet  here,  as  elsewhere,  he  is  called  on  to  direct  her 
operations.  That  the  result  of  a  successful  inquiry  into  the 
nature  of  wealth,  would  terminate  in  affording  the  means  of 
exposing  the  errors  that  legislators  had  committed  from  not 
attending  to  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  growth 
of  that  wealth,  whose  progress  it  had  been  their  aim  to 
advance,  and  would  so  teach  them,  not  that  they  ought  to 
remain  inactive,  but  how  they  may  act  safely,  and  advantage- 
ously ;  and  that  thus,  it  would  maintain  the  analogy  running 
through  the  whole  of  man's  connexion  with  the  trains  of  events 
going  on  about  him,  the  course  of  which  he  governs  by  ascer- 
taining exactly  what  it  is.  That  here,  as  elsewhere,  his  advance 
in  knowledge  would  show  him  his  power,  not  his  impotence. 

According  to  the  view  of  the  nature  of  stock,  and  of  the 
causes  generating  and  adding  to  it,  which  has  been  given  in 
the  preceding  book,  it  would  seem  that  its  increase  is 
advanced : 

I.  By    whatever    promotes    the    general    intelligence    and 
morality  of  the  society ;    and    that,  consequently,  the   moral 
and  intellectual  education  of  the  people  makes  an  important 
element  in  its  progress : 

II.  By  whatever  promotes  invention ; 

1.  By  advancing  the  progress  of  science  and  art  within  the 
community ; 

2.  By  the  transfer  from  other  communities  of  the  sciences 
and  arts  there  generated : 

III.  By  whatever  prevents  the  dissipation  in  luxury,  of  any 
portion  of  the  funds  of  the  community. 

A  full  investigation  of  the  modes  in  which  the  legislator 
may  promote  the  increase  of  the  stock  of  the  community, 
would  comprehend  an  examination  of  the  manner  in  which 
he  may  operate  in  these  several  particulars,  of  the  rules  neces- 
sary for  him  to  observe  in  each  case,  and  an  enumeration  of 
instances,  in  which,  according  as  his  efforts  have  been  judici- 
ously or  injudiciously  exerted,  he  has  succeeded  or  failed  in 
his  enterprises. 

When  we  examine  the  arts  practised  by  the  members  of 
any  of  the  numerous  societies,  among  whom  the  surface  of  the 


OF   LAISSEZ   FAIRE  365 

earth  is  divided,  we  find  that  there  are  very  few  which  have 
arisen  among  themselves.1  Unless  in  some  rare  instances,  they 
have  been  all  brought  from  abroad.  Inventions  appearing  at 
various  points  in  their  rude  elementary  state,  have  gradually 
spread  themselves  far  and  wide,  and,  as  they  have  spread, 
have  improved.  These  passages  from  place  to  place,  seem 
to  have  been  generally  brought  about  by  violent  causes — by 
wars,  internal  disturbances,  and  revolutions.  But,  as  society 
assumes  a  more  settled  form,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  reason 
will  rise  superior  to  force,  and  that  changes  produced  by 
violence  will  diminish ;  that  wars  and  tumults  will  become  less 
tiv.  [iient,  or  will  altogether  cease,  and  that  thus  a  great  portion 
of  the  evils  which  have  afflicted  humanity  will  be  removed. 
I>ut  if  the  direct  evils  brought  about  by  the  reign  of  violence, 
be  removed  by  the  ascendency  of  reason  over  passion,  must 
the  indirect  good  also  produced  by  it  be  abandoned  ?  or,  is 
it  not  the  place  of  the  intellectual  part  of  our  nature,  watching 
in  this,  as  in  other  instances,  the  progress  of  events,  so  to 
influence  that  progress,  as  that  the  good  may  be  brought  to 
pass,  the  evil  prevented  ? 

The  answer  to  these  questions  is,  I  conceive,  too  obvious  to 
require  a  formal  enunciation.  If  this  be  the  case,  it  would 
not  seem  necessary  to  recommence  a  discussion  concerning 
the  apparent  propriety  of  assistance  being  in  many  instances 
given  by  the  legislator  to  the  passage  of  the  useful  arts  from 
country  to  country.  This,  as  a  general  practical  conclusion, 
must  be  granted.  The  question  again  resolves  itself  into  par- 
ticulars, and  the  investigations  of  the  political  economist, 
would  seem  to  be  confined  to  the  tracing  out,  from  the 
principles  of  his  science,  rules  determining  when  the  passage  of 
any  art  is  practicable,  and  when  the  benefits  derived  from  it 
will  exceed,  or  fall  short  of  the  necessary  expense  of  effecting 
the  passage.  It  is  not  my  intention  to  attempt  a  full  discus- 
sion of  these  various  particulars.  It  will  be  sufficient  for  the 
object  in  view,  to  enumerate  the  general  advantages  which  such 
-fers  produce,  and  to  state  some  of  the  chief  circumstances 
favorable,  and  some  of  the  others  adverse  to  their  success. 

'[See  "The  Transplantation  of  Arts  and  Institutions,"  Appendix  to  the 
volume  of  Cunningham's  We*terti  Civilization.] 


366  APPENDIX 

When  these  measures  are  completely  successful,  that  is, 
when  the  commodity,  the  product  of  the  art  in  question,  conies 
to  be  made  at  the  same  cost  in  the  country  to  which  its  manu- 
facture is  transferred,  as  in  that  from  which  it  comes,  or  at 
less  cost  than  there,  the  advantages  which  the  community 
derives  from  them  are  various,  but,  as  concerns  commodities, 
not  luxuries,  may  be  reduced  to  three  heads. 

1.  The  saving  of  the  expense  of  transport  of  the  foreign 
commodity.  This,  as  is  shown  elsewhere,  is  often  very 
great.  It  may  be  remarked,  too,  that  some  articles  are  so 
perishable,  or  so  difficult  of  transport,  that  they  cannot  enter 
into  the  system  of  exchange  of  two  societies.  They  are  pro- 
duced, or  may  very  easily  be  produced  in  the  progress  of  the 
construction  and  exhaustion  of  other  instruments,  but  from 
its  being  found  very  difficult  or  impracticable  to  transport 
them  to  places  where  they  might  be  exchanged  for  valuable 
commodities,  they  want  the  whole,  or  a  great  part  of  the 
utility  they  would  there  possess.  A  farmer,  for  instance,  in 
the  interior  of  some  great  agricultural  country,  say  North 
America,  has  almost  always  a  large  mass  of  commodities 
which  are  nearly,  or  altogether,  valueless  to  him.  Great  part 
of  the  timber  he  cuts  down  he  is  obliged  to  burn  up  on  the 
ground,  and  much  of  the  produce  of  his  orchard,  of  his  dairy, 
and  of  his  poultry  yard  and  garden,  is  either  entirely,  or  in  a 
great  measure,  lost.  No  little  part  of  the  direct  produce  of 
the  farm,  is  also  lost.  His  working  cattle  are  idle  for  weeks 
or  months  in  the  course  of  the  year,  and  any  superabundance 
of  the  more  bulky  articles,  such  as  turnips,  potatoes,  oats, 
or  hay,  lies  nearly  useless  on  his  hands.  When  a  manu- 
facturing village  is  established  in  his  neighbourhood,  all  such 
productions  become  valuable,  and  are  transferred  to  the 
artisan,  and  master  manufacturer,  as  returns  for  the  products 
of  their  art.  The  pine  of  the  forest  goes  to  build  their 
houses,  the  maple,  the  birch,  and  the  walnut  to  make  furni- 
ture for  them,  all  potatoes  and  other  vegetables  of  the  sort, 
that  can  be  spared,  are  consumed  by  them  as  articles  of 
food,  the  working  cattle  get  employed  at  all  times,  and  there 
are  none  of  the  returns  of  the  industry  of  the  agriculturist, 
but  find  a  ready  market.  The  advantages  hence  resulting 


OF  LAISSEZ   FAIRE  36T 

to  the  parts  of  the  country  where  the  new  art  fixes  itself, 
may  be  estimated  by  observing  the  great  rise  in  the  value 
and  rent  of  land  which  follows  it.  We  have  also  a  good 
measure  of  them,  in  the  difference  between  these  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  manufacturing  towns  and  villages,  and  in 
places  distant  from  them. 

The  direct  effect,  therefore,  of  these  general  and  partial 
improvements,  is  to  carry  instruments,  generally  or  partially 
throughout  the  community,  to  orders  of  quicker  return,  and  so 
increase  the  absolute  capital  of  the  society.1 

2.  They  have  also  a  large  indirect  effect  in  carrying  instru- 
ments to  orders  of  quicker  return,  by  stimulating  invention, 
and  diminishing  the  propensity  to  servile  imitation.  Every 
useful  art  is  so  connected  with  many,  or  with  all  others,  that 
whatever  renders  its  products  more  easily  attainable,  facilitates 
the  operations  of  a  whole  circle  of  arts,  and  introduces  change 
—the  great  agent  in  producing  improvements — under  the  most 
favorable  form.  Thus  the  recent  improvements  in  the  iron 
manufacture,  have  in  Great  Britain  had  no  inconsiderable  share  in 
effecting  the  general  improvement  in  the  mechanical  arts  which 
h;iN  there  taken  place.  Arts,  too,  as  we  have  seen,  when 
brought  together  pass  into  one  another,  and  thus  also  improve- 
ments in  old  arts  are  produced,  or  new  arts  generated.  Even 
their  very  existence  in  any  society  gives  a  powerful  stimulus  to 
the  ingenuity  of  its  members.  This  has  been  well  noticed  by 
Mr.  Hamilton :  "  To  cherish  and  invigorate  the  activity  of  the 
Inn  nan  mind,  by  multiplying  the  objects  of  enterprise,  is  not 
among  the  least  considerable  of  the  expedients  by  which  the 
wealth  of  a  nation  may  be  promoted.  Even  things  in  them- 
selves not  positively  advantageous,  sometimes  become  so,  by  their 
tendency  to  provoke  exertion.  Every  new  scene  which  is 
opened  to  the  busy  nature  of  man,  to  rouse  and  exert  itself,  is 
the  addition  of  a  new  energy  to  the  general  stock  of  effort. 

1  [The  foregoing  seems  to  be  the  basis  for  an  argument  for  "  internal  improve- 
ments "  rather  than  for  protection.  Undoubtedly  a  community  is  held  back 
economically  by  lack  of  "power  of  association,"  and  this  last  depends  chiefly 
<>n  means  of  transportation.  But  so  far  as  products  of  domestic  agriculture 
cannot  be  exported  by  reason  of  excessive  cost  of  transportation,  this  very  cir- 
cumstance constitutes  indirectly  a  natural  protection  for  manufacture*.] 


368  APPENDIX 

"  The  spirit  of  enterprise,  useful  and  prolific  as  it  is,  must 
necessarily  be  contracted  or  expanded  in  proportion  to  the 
simplicity  or  variety  of  the  occupations  and  productions  which 
are  to  be  found  in  a  society.  It  must  be  less  in  a  nation  of 
mere  cultivators  than  in  a  nation  of  cultivators  and  merchants, 
less  in  a  nation  of  cultivators  and  merchants,  than  in  a  nation 
of  cultivators,  artificers,  and  merchants."  l 

3.  The  supply  of  any  commodities  which  one  society  is  in 
the  habit  of  receiving  from  another  and  independent  society,  is 
liable  to  be  suddenly  interrupted  by  wars,  or  other  causes. 
Hence  arises  [not  infrequently]  great  waste  of  the  resources  of 
the  community.  In  many  cases  the  whole  system  of  instru- 
ments it  possesses  is  at  once  disjointed,  and  it  is  long  before  the 
society  recovers  from  the  shock.  The  deficiency  is  at  last 
supplied,  it  may  be  in  a  more  effective  manner  than  before, 
but  in  the  interim  there  is  great  waste.  Communities  depen- 
dent on  others  for  the  supply  of  commodities  for  which  they 
cannot  readily  find  substitutes,  must  [therefore]  necessarily, 
every  now  and  then,  be  subjected  to  great  diminution  of  their 
funds  from  such  causes.  There  are  few  extensive  wars  that 
do  not  furnish  instances  of  it.  It  is  probable  that  the  absolute 
loss  so  caused  to  the  present  United  States,  from  the  interrup- 
tion of  their  intercourse  with  Great  Britain,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  war  of  the  revolution,  equalled  the  whole  expense  of  that 
war.  The  loss  which  many  of  the  continental  nations  experi- 
enced from  the  sudden  interruption  to  the  supply  of  British 
manufactures,  during  the  progress  of  the  war  against  Napoleon, 
was  also  excessive.  Great  Britain  herself,  on  the  same  occasion, 
suffered  very  severely  from  being  at  once  deprived  of  the  supply 
of  materials  necessary  to  many  branches  of  her  industry.  Thus 
the  cutting  off  the  supply  of  Baltic  and  Norwegian  timber,  was 
for  some  years  very  sensibly  felt  by  her. 

It  is  no  doubt  true,  that,  on  such  occasions,  the  necessity 
which  arises  to  procure  substitutes  for  the  commodities  which 
are  deficient,  largely  stimulating  ingenuity,  often  ultimately 
produces  real  benefit.  Wars  and  similar  interruptions  to  inter- 
course, as  has  been  repeatedly  observed,  are,  in  fact,  one  of  the 
chief  agents  by  which  the  arts  have  been  made  to  pass  from 

1  Works,  Vol.  I.     Report  on  Manufactures. 


OF   LAISSEZ   FAIRE  369 

country  to  country.  But  the  same  benefits  might  have  been 
produced  by  the  gradual  operations  of  the  legislator,  without 
the  sacrifice  in  this  way  required ;  and  it  is  the  business  of 
reason,  watching  events,  to  separate  the  good  from  the  evil,  and 
to  search  for  plans  of  obtaining  the  one,  and  avoiding  the 
other. 

But,  while  the  legislator  is  called  on  to  act,  he  is  also  called 
on  to  act  cautiously,  and  to  regulate  his  proceedings  by  an 
attentive  consideration  of  the  progress  of  events.  He  is  never 
justifiable  in  attempting  to  transfer  arts  yielding  utilities  from 
foreign  countries  to  his  own,  unless  he  have  sufficient  reason  to 
conclude  that  they  will  ultimately  lessen  the  cost  of  the  com- 
modities they  produce,  or  are  of  such  a  nature,  that  the  risk  of 
waste  to  the  stock  of  the  community,  from  a  sudden  interrup- 
tion to  their  importation  from  abroad,  is  sufficiently  great  to 
warrant  the  probable  expense,  both  of  the  transfer  and  of 
maintaining  the  manufacture  at  home.  It  is  his  business  first 
to  ascertain  these  points,  and  to  regulate  his  proceedings 
accordingly. 

When  there  are  circumstances  particularly  unfavorable  to  the 
practice  of  the  art,  and  no  countervailing  circumstances  parti- 
cularly favorable  to  it,  the  first  introduction  of  it  must  always 
cost  the  society  high,  and  the  subsequent  maintaining  of  it  will 
in  all  probability  be  a  burden  on  the  common  industry  and 
stock.  Among  unfavorable  circumstances  may  be  noted  a 
strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation,  less  than  that 
of  a  foreign  country,  and  instruments  consequently  remaining  at 
orders  of  quicker  return.  This  is  a  circumstance  lying  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  legislator,  and  which  he  cannot  hope  to  change. 
It  then  there  are  no  other  counteracting  favorable  circum- 
<  es,  the  art  cannot  be  transferred  and  preserved,  but  at 
great  and  continual  expense.  Examples  of  injudicious  conduct 
oi  i he  legislator  from  inattention  to  this  particular  have  been 
not  unfrequent.  As  an  instance,  may  be  noted  the  attempts  of 
Louis  XIV  to  make  France  a  maritime  and  commercial  nation. 
To  do  so,  it  only  required  that  the  principle  of  accumulation 
should  have  existed  in  sufficient  strength  among  the  people  of 
ice,  to  carry  them  to  the  construction  of  instruments  of  the 
same  orders  as  were  formed  in  England,  and  other  maritime 

2A 


370  APPENDIX 

and  commercial  nations.  The  French  at  that  time  had  ships 
and  commerce,  and  had  their  accumulative  principle  been  so 
strong  as  to  lead  them  to  construct  instruments  returning  as 
slowly  as  those  formed  by  the  English  and  Dutch,  their  com- 
merce and  navy  would  easily  have  rivaled  those  of  these 
nations.  The  attempt  of  the  British,  in  some  instances,  to 
supplant  the  Dutch  in  their  fishery,  was  liable  to  a  similar 
objection. 

Among  circumstances  particularly  favorable  to  the  transfer 
of  a  foreign  art,  may  be  noted  the  raw  materials  of  the  manu- 
facture existing  within  the  territory  of  the  society  in  abundance. 
The  acquisition  of  the  art  in  this  case  saves  the  expense  of  a 
double  transport.  On  this  account,  the  bringing  the  woollen 
manufacture  to  England  was  a  very  happy  measure. 

Great  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle,  is  also  another 
particularly  favorable  circumstance.  This  rendered  the  efforts 
of  the  English  in  the  beginning  of  last  century,  to  acquire  many 
foreign  manufactures,  prudent  and  successful. 

The  legislator  effects  his  purposes  by  premiums  for  success- 
ful individual  imitations  of  the  foreign  article  ;  by  general  boun- 
ties on  the  home  manufacture ;  or  by  duties  on  that  imported 
from  abroad.  Of  these,  premiums  take  so  little  out  of  the 
common  funds,  that  their  amount  forms  an  item  too  small  to 
enter  into  the  calculation,  in  questions  of  national  policy. 
They  are  useful  as  testing  the  practicability  of  the  transfer. 
That  having  been  done,  it  having  been  made  sufficiently  appa- 
rent that  nothing  prevents  the  branch  of  industry  in  question 
being  established,  but  the  difficulties  attending  new  under- 
takings, the  want  of  skilled  labor,  and  a  sufficiently  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  properties  of  the  materials  to  be  employed  in 
the  formation  of  the  new  instruments,  it  is  then  proper  to 
proceed  to  direct  and  general  encouragements  by  bounties  or 
duties.  In  this  way  real  capital,  and  healthy  enterprise  are 
directed  to  the  art,  the  difficulties  attending  its  introduction 
overcome  in  the  shortest  possible  space,  and  the  commodities 
yielded  by  it  are  produced  at  less  outlay,  and  afforded  at  a  less 
price  than  that,  at  which  they  were  before  imported. 

It   appears,   therefore,   that    the    legislator    can    effectively 


OF   LAISSEZ   FAIRE  371 

advance  the  general  stock  of  a  society,  by  effecting  the  passage 
of  the  useful  arts  from  foreign  countries  to  his  own. 

To  this  position  several  objections  may  be  made,  of  which 
some  are  founded  on  the  nature  of  things,  others  arise  almost 
entirely  from  the  ambiguity  of  language. 

It  may,  probably,  occur  to  the  reader,  that  I  have  con- 
sidered the  legislator  as  always  endeavoring  to  act  for  the 
good  of  the  society,  and  capable  of  understanding  what  is 
for  its  good,  whereas,  in  reality,  the  individual  or  individuals 
in  whom  the  legislative  power  is  vested,  very  often  neither 
understand  what  is  for  the  general  welfare,  nor  act  so  as 
to  promote  it.  This  objection  carries  us  to  the  nature  of  laws 
and  government,  and  can,  therefore,  be  only  very  generally 
answered. 

I  would  observe,  then,  that  though  in  other  matters,  as  in 
projects  of  distant  conquest,  or  in  intrigues  for  changing  the 
constitution,  the  legislator  may  act  in  opposition  to  the 
common  interests,  yet,  speaking  generally,  in  all  his  pro- 
ceedings relative  to  the  wealth  of  the  community,  it  is  his 
aim  to  act  in  accordance  with  them.  In  despotic  govern- 
ments this  is  the  case,  because  there  the  legislator  looks 
on  the  wealth  of  the  people  as  his  own ;  in  free  govern- 
ments because  in  them  his  interests  are  identified  with  theirs. 
It  may  be  that  he  does  not  adopt  judicious  measures  for  the 
purpose,  but  if  so,  it  is  his  judgment,  not  his  will  that  is 
in  fault.1 

Again,  it  must  be  granted  that  the  perfection,  or  imperfec- 
tion of  action  of  the  power  invested  with  legislative  authority, 
depends  chiefly  on  the  prevalence  or  defect,  of  intelligence  and 
public  spirit  throughout  the  community.  Every  government 
rests  on  opinion.  Whenever  the  majority  are  thoroughly  con- 
vinced that  they  would  derive  advantages  from  a  change  in  the 
mstitution,  or  in  the  person  or  persons  administering  it,  the 
time  of  a  revolution  approaches.  It  is  only  from  the  members 
of  any  society  not  perceiving  what  would  be  for  their  good,  or 
not  believing  they  can  find  among  them  men  sufficiently 
honest  or  intrlli^.-iit  to  execute  what  would  promote  it,  that 
the  legislative  power  can  be  greatly  or  permanently  vicious  or 

1  [Compare  Article  I.  p.  267.] 


372  APPENDIX 

defective.  There  is  always  a  close  connexion  between  the 
nature  of  the  people  and  of  the  government.  Despotism  and 
anarchy  imply  a  general  debasement  in  the  intellectual  and 
moral  powers ;  freedom  and  order,  an  elevation  of  them.  The 
more  despotic  the  government  the  more  dependent  on  the  will 
or  caprice  of  a  single  person,  the  more  it  is  subject  to  error  in 
all  legislative  measures.  The  more  despotic  the  government, 
however,  the  less  also  the  intelligence,  and  the  greater  the 
selfishness,  and  consequently  the  vanity  of  the  governed.  The 
less,  also,  the  inventive  power,  and  the  advance  in  science  and 
art,  and  the  greater  the  addiction  to  luxury.  But  the  less  the 
comparative  advance  in  science  and  art,  and  the  greater  the 
addiction  to  luxury,  the  greater  facility  is  given  to  such  opera- 
tions of  the  legislator  as  have  for  their  aim  to  increase  the 
wealth  of  the  community.  The  farther  any  society  is  behind 
others  in  a  knowledge  of  the  useful  arts,  the  greater  the 
number  of  new  arts  that  may  be  introduced ;  the  larger  the 
amount  of  luxury  that  prevails  in  it,  the  greater  the  revenue 
that  may  be  raised  by  taxation  without  interfering  with  indi- 
vidual income.  Hence,  speaking  generally,  if  legislators  in 
despotic  governments,  were  other  circumstances  equal,  would 
be  more  prone  to  go  wrong ;  they  have  there  so  great  facility 
in  acting,  that  they  have  greater  chance  to  go  right. 

A  reference  to  examples  will  make  this  apparent.  If,  for 
an  instance  of  one  of  the  most  ignorant  and  slavish  of  existing 
societies,  we  turn  to  some  one  of  the  islands  of  the  South  Sea, 
it  will  be  allowed  that  a  legislator  of  intelligence  and  persever- 
ance might  there  effect  much  good  by  introducing  among  them 
the  arts  of  men  farther  advanced  in  the  career  of  improvement. 
Though  we  cannot  expect  to  find  such  a  legislator  there,  one 
would  be  inclined  to  augur  favorably  of  the  effects  likely  to 
result  from  the  unskilful  efforts  of  even  any  of  their  barbarous 
chiefs,  directed  to  so  praiseworthy  an  object.  We  should  not 
conceive  he  wasted  the  resources  of  his  country,  by  turning 
part  of  the  national  funds  to  such  purposes.  Of  extensive 
countries  where  unmitigated  slavery  and  despotism  prevail, 
Egypt  is  perhaps  most  under  the  eye  of  Europeans.  It  is  not, 
however,  commonly  believed  by  them,  that  the  projects  of  its 
present  ruler  for  the  introduction  into  it  of  modern  science  and 


OF  LAISSEZ   FAIRE  373 

art,  are  inconsistent  with  the  dictates  of  sound  policy.  Facts 
would  demonstrate  the  fallacy  of  any  such  supposition.  Errors, 
no  doubt,  may  have  been,  and  may  be  committed,  but  the  good 
assuredly  overbalances  the  evil.  The  revolution  wrought  in 
Russia  by  Peter  the  Great,  is  another  instance  of  the  same 
sort.  In  such  cases  the  power  of  the  legislator  to  effect  bene- 
ficial changes  is  so  great,  that  even  his  most  blundering  efforts 
are  seldom  altogether  successless.  A  fruitful  soil  yields  large 
returns,  even  to  a  very  unskilful  husbandman.  If  we  pass 
from  them  to  governments,  of  which  freedom,  intelligence,  and 
public  spirit,  are  the  moving  powers,  we  find  there,  that  though 
the  capacity  to  produce  good  is  diminished,  the  liability  to 
error  is  also  diminished.  It  were  folly  in  the  legislature  of  the 
United  States,  to  imagine  itself  capable  of  giving  an  impulse  so 
sudden  and  great,  to  the  resources  of  the  country,  as  that 
brought  about  in  Egypt  by  the  present  Pacha,  or  in  Russia  by 
the  first  Peter.  It  has  the  advantage,  however,  of  being  much 
less  liable  to  error.  Every  important  measure  there  agitated, 
before  it  can  be  adopted,  is  subjected  to  the  scrutiny  of  great 
numbers  of  intelligent  and  well  informed  individuals,  stimu- 
lated alike  by  their  regard  to  their  country  and  to  themselves, 
to  trace  out  with  accuracy  its  future  operations  and  effects. 
By  this  means  the  greatest  security,  of  which  the  nature 
of  human  affairs  admits,  is  given  against  the  adoption  of 
impolitic  or  hurtful  schemes.  With  such  cautions,  the  legis- 
lator may  with  prudence  undertake  a  series  of  measures, 
that,  under  other  circumstances,  were  of  very  doubtful 
expediency. 

In  one  sort  of  government;  therefore,  the  facility  of  action 
gives  warrant  to  act,  and  in  another  the  probable  freedom  from 
error.  In  both  it  is  the  part  of  the  legislator  to  act,  but  to  act 
in  conformity  to  the  laws  arising  from  the  constitution  which 
nature  has  given  to  man  and  to  matter.  In  doing  so  instead 
nn.i:  in  opposition  to  nature,  he  fills  his  natural  place  in  a 
system  established  by  natura  In  both,  also,  it  is  the  part  of 
the  inquirer  into  the  principles  of  politics,  to  endeavor  to 
thiuw  light  along  the  path  of  the  legislator,  not  vainly  to 
attempt  to  persuade  him,  that  an  insuperable  obstacle  blocks 


374  APPENDIX 

Finally,  concerning  this  objection,  it  may  be  observed,  that 
it  refers  to  casual  ills  connected  with  what  is  in  itself  an 
acknowledged  good,  and  is  of  a  character  altogether  different 
from  those  springing  from  the  doctrines  of  the  followers  of 
Adam  Smith.  They  hold  up  legislative  interference  as  neces- 
sarily and  essentially  evil. 

The  second  objection  I  have  to  note,  as  resulting  from  the 
nature  of  things  themselves,  is  the  possible  evil  effects  of  an 
excessive  revenue  accruing  to  the  legislator,  from  protecting 
and  encouraging  the  industry  of  the  society  and  turning  into 
his  own  coffers  as  much  as  possible  of  the  amount  otherwise 
dissipated  in  luxuries.  A  superabundant  revenue  in  the  hands 
of  the  legislator,  though  directly  a  great  good,  is  sometimes, 
indirectly  a  great  evil.  It  may  enable  him,  without  any 
expense  to  the  society,  to  carry  on  projects  that  must  otherwise 
have  pressed  heavily  on  its  resources,  but  it  also  places  an 
instrument  of  great  power  in  his  hands,  and  one  which,  in  cer- 
tain circumstances,  he  may  turn  to  very  pernicious  ends.  It 
may  have  an  effect  similar  to  that  which  the  discovery  of  the 
western  continent  produced  on  Spain.  The  direct  effects  of 
the  riches  that  flowed  in  from  the  new  world,  were  mightily  to 
increase  the  power  of  the  Spanish  monarchy.  Indirectly,  how- 
ever, their  effects  were  to  corrupt  the  court  and  the  nobles,  and 
to  spread  wide,  through  the  higher  classes,  a  dissolute,  and  yet 
a  mercenary  spirit.  The  objection,  however,  only  refers  at  all 
to  countries  where  there  are  no  public  burdens  to  absorb  the 
surplus  public  revenue.  Is  is,  consequently,  totally  inappli- 
cable to  Great  Britain.  It  also  chiefly  refers  to  countries  where 
there  are  no  efficient  checks  to  abuses  of  the  legislative  or 
•executive  powers.  This,  too,  it  may  be  observed,  is  an  objec- 
tion which,  as  far  as  I  know,  has  not  been  urged  by  modern 
political  economists. 

The  objections,  which  have  their  foundation  in  the  views  of 
the  subject  presented  by  Adam  Smith,  and  which  are  urged  by 
his  present  followers,  depend  mainly  on  the  nature  of  words, 
and  the  sophisms  produced  by  a  generalization  from  names 
instead  of  things — from  preconceived  notions  which  verbally, 
but  not  really,  embrace  the  phenomena.  Terms,  and  so,  also, 
reasonings,  fitly  applied  to  the  operations  of  individuals  in  the 


OF   LAISSEZ   FAIRE  375 

preservation,  enjoyment,  and  increase  of  wealth,  are  transferred 
immediately  to  societies,  and  the  [economic]  rules  and  principles 
which  hold  good  in  the  one,  are  assumed  to  be  exactly  appli- 
cable to  the  other.  If  what  is  thus  taken  for  granted  be 
admitted,  farther  discussion  is  unnecessary,  for  the  truth  of  the 
proposition  to  be  proved,  is  implied  in  the  terms  in  which  it  is 
enunciated.  It  has  been  my  aim,  throughout  the  preceding 
pages,  to  expose  the  fallacy  of  these  assumptions,  and,  conse- 
quently, of  the  arguments  resting  on  them. 


[The  position  of  the  upholder  of  laissez  faire  is  precisely  that  "  the 
nature  of  human  affairs,"  respecting  things  political,  does  not  admit  of 
sufficient  "security"  against  grave  abuses  in  complicated  business,  un- 
necessarily undertaken  by  government.  As  an  editorial  writer  has  recently 
expressed  it — "A  great  gulf  is  fixed  between  the  theory  and  practice  of 
civil  government.  Theoretically,  the  legislature  expresses  the  will  of  the 
people.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  laws  enacted  have  all  sorts  of  origin.  Host 
of  them  are  carried  through  in  the  interest  of  a  small  number  of  persons." 
That  this  applies  in  a  special  degree  to  protection,  even  under  the  purest 
and  most  free  governments,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  "every  important  measure" 
of  that  sort  "resolves  itself  into  particulars"  about  which  few  people,  except 
the  interested  beneficiaries,  inform  themselves  and  take  action.  But  we  have 
before  us  a  broader  question  than  that  of  protective  tariffs  alone. 

On  both  sides  of  this  controversy  of  individualism  versus  collectivism  (I 
have  in  mind  now  especially  the  opening  paragraphs  of  this  article),  there  is 
the  fallacy  of  metaphor.  "  Nature  "  is  personified  by  one  side  and  represented 
as  doing  things.  The  idealized  abstraction  of  the  all-wise  "  legislator  "  (in 
recent  literature  called  "the  State")  is  set  up  on  the  other  side.  But 

11  fact  many  men  of  many  minds  who  do  things,— ordinary  men  always 
possessing  some  knowledge  and  some  good  will,  but  also  always  prone  to 
intellectual  and  moral  error.  The  question  is,  by  which  general  plan  can 
society  best  get  the  work  of  the  world  done  :  is  it  by  the  relatively  inflexible, 
preconceived,  centralized  methods  of  the  governing  power  of  organized  civil 
society  ;  or  by  the  comparatively  flexible,  spontaneous,  decentralized  methods 
vidiiiils  and  voluntary  associations  of  individuals?  Is  it,  in  short,  by 

nipatient  plan  of  compulsory   regimentation;   or  by  the  slow-moving 
IIH  tlirxlless  method  of  freedom? 

ie  inquirer  into  the  principles  of  politics"  has  indeed  the  high  office 
to  throw  such  "light"  as  he  may  possess  "along  the  path"  of  the  many- 
beaded  legislator.  It  is  his  duty  to  say  not  pleasant  things,  but  true  things. 
Not  at  all  in  the  spirit  of  a  mere  obstructionist,  he  may  point  out  that  certain 
specific  "ills"  connected  with  "legislative  interference"  along  many  lines, 

<t  "casual"  but  permanent,  and  that  they  clearly  outweigh  the  possible 
44  acknowledged  good  "  to  be  derived.  And  speaking  generally,  he  may  teach 


376  APPENDIX 

that  no  refined  policy  baaed  ou  the  theory  of  economists,  is  ever  likely  to 
be  carried  into  practice  under  the  conditions  which  obtain  in  government. 
Such  a  policy,  merging  with  other  policies,  is  almost  certain  to  be  com- 
promised completely  out  of  shape.  Only  the  private  manager  (with  all  his 
short-comings)  is  eye-single  to  the  economic,  business-like  execution  of  any 
piece  of  work. 

All  this,  and  other  aspects  of  this  great  subject,  belong  to  an  "order  of 
facts  "  with  which  Rae  does  not  seem  to  have  been  at  all  acquainted.  Clearly, 
politics  was  his  blind  side.  In  these  matters  his  great  adversary  was  vastly 
his  superior.] 


ARTICLE  VIII. 

OF    THE    SUPPOSED    IDENTITY    OF    THE    CAUSES   GIVING 
RISE  TO   INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  WEALTH.1 

PART    I.— WHEN  ASSUMED  AS  A  SELF-EVIDENT  TRUTH. 
PART  II.— WHKX  DEDUCED  FROM  AN  INGENIOUS  THEORY. 

PART  I. 

WHEN  wealth,  considered  in  the  general,  is  conceived  to  be  a 
tiling  either  so  clear  as  to  require  no  definition,  or  so  simple  as 
to  be  fully  grasped  by  any  definition,  two  different  and  oppos- 
ing systems  naturally  seem  to  arise  concerning  it. 

The  wealth  of  all  the  individuals  in  a  state  being,  it  may  be 
said,  of  necessity  measured  by  the   amount   of  the   national 

1  [The  title  of  Rae's  first  "  Book  "  in  the  original  edition  was  "  Individual 
and  National  Interests  are  not  Identical."  The  idea  accords  with  his  leading 
concept  on  the  side  of  man's  association  with  his  fellow  men,  which  is  that 
the  sociological  principle  of  the  "social  and  benevolent  affections"  takes 
precedence  over  the  purely  economic  principle  of  individual  profit.  The 
social  virtues  of  the  individual,  embodying  the  "instincts  of  society," 
maximise  prosperity  through  stimulating  all  the  fundamental  productive 
forces,  and  further  the  real,  long-run,  economic  interests  of  the  individual 
as  well  as  those  of  the  society. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  certain  that  the  direct,  short-sighted  attempts 
of  individuals  (actuated  by  "  isolation  of  thought  and  feeling")  to  increase  tin -ir 
advantage,  often  miss  their  aim  as  regards  the  individual,  and  cause  lorn 
to  the  social  body  as  a  whole.  (Compare  Article  V.)  There  is,  therefore, 
always  room  for  efforts  of  society  to  compel  its  delinquent  members  to  observe 
their  real,  long-run  interests.  But  the  argument  elaborated  in  this  and  the 
foregoing  Article,— that  organized  civil  society  is  itself  called  upon  to  play 
the  part  of  entrepreneur  and  be  progress-maker  in  the  realm  of  industry,  is  no 
necessary  part  of  Rae's  general  system  of  speculation.] 


37S  APPENDIX 

wealth,  whatever  adds  to  the  wealth  of  the  nation  must 
increase  the  stocks  of  individuals.  But  it  has  always  been  found 
that  nations  have  become  most  wealthy  when  they  have 
engaged  most  extensively  in  commerce  and  manufactures.  To 
encourage  commerce  and  manufactures  by  every  possible 
means,  should,  therefore,  be  the  great  aim  of  the  legislator ; 
and  every  enactment  and  regulation  of  his  conducing  to  this 
effect,  as  it  cannot  but  tend  to  the  increase  of  the  general 
funds,  must  ultimately  add  to  the  stocks  of  individuals. 
This  view  of  the  matter  leads  directly  to  a  system  of  unceasing 
regulation  and  restraint. 

Again,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  said,  that,  as  the 
wealth  of  the  nation  is  necessarily  made  up  of  the  riches  of 
the  various  individuals  in  it,  so  the  national  wealth  would 
grow  as  each  individual  adds  to  the  portion  of  it  which  he 
possesses.  But  every  restraint  is  a  hindrance  to  a  man's 
acquiring  wealth,  and  he  always  gains  by  evading  it.  As, 
therefore,  all  interference  on  the  part  of  the  legislator,  operates 
as  a  restraint,  he  never  in  any  case  ought  to  interfere. 

As  the  former  view  of  the  subject  produces  a  system  of 
general  regulation  and  restraint,  this  teaches  the  doctrine  of 
complete  inaction  on  the  part  of  the  legislator,  of  the  removal 
of  all  restraint,  and  of  perfect  freedom  of  trade. 

Both  systems  proceed  on  the  assumption  of  the  exact  iden- 
tity of  public  and  private  wealth  ;  of  wealth,  as  it  is  the  same 
word,  being  always  the  same  thing,  whether  applied  to  indi- 
viduals or  communities,  and  being  in  its  increase  and  decrease 
subjected  in  all  cases  to  similar  laws ; — an  assumption  flowing 
easily  from  the  conception  that  its  nature  is  very  simple  and 
may  without  difficulty  be  apprehended. 

The  latter  of  these  systems,  that  adopted  by  Adam  Smith, 
we  might  expect,  would  at  present  be  most  popular  in  Europe. 
Institutions  and  forms  very  often  endure  after  the  circum- 
stances that  had  originally  called  them  forth  have  disappeared, 
and  when,  consequently,  their  operation  injuriously  restrains 
the  movements  of  some  new  order  of  things.  Such  seems  the 
condition  of  most  European  kingdoms  at  present.  The  frame 
of  their  existing  constitutions  and  laws  was  moulded  in  remote 
times,  in  ages  of  comparative  barbarism  and  stern  military  rule, 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  379 

and  is,  therefore,  in  many  parts,  unsuited  to  the  circumstances 
of  the  present  period.  It  is  perceived  that  a  multitude  of 
abuses  exist,  and  the  efforts  of  the  majority  are  directed  to 
detect,  expose,  and  do  away  with  them.  The  prejudices  of 
men  of  liberal  minds  and  enlarged  views,  for  even  such  men 
have  prejudices,  run  consequently,  rather  towards  overthrowing 
and  rooting  out,  than  to  establishing  and  maintaining.  A 
system  of  political  economy,  the  fundamental  principles  of 
which  inculcated  the  doctrine  that  every  attempt  of  the  ruler 
to  direct  the  industry  of  the  community  was  injurious,  and 
that  all  laws  having  this  tendency  should  be  abrogated,  fell  in 
with  the  current  of  public  opinion  and  could  not  but  draw  to 
itself  a  large  body  of  zealous  and  able  advocates.  It  is  in  this 
temper  that  Mr.  Bentham  addresses  its  author.  "  On  this 
subject  you  ride  triumphant,  and  chastise  the  impertinence  of 
kin  1^3  and  ministers  with  a  tone  of  authority,  which  it  required 
a  courage  like  yours  to  venture  upon,  and  a  genius  like  yours 
to  warrant  a  man  to  assume."  * 

It  may  be  remarked,  also,  that  as  the  circumstances  of 
Europe,  in  remote  ages,  produced  the  former  system,  in  the 
present  give  popularity  to  the  latter ;  so  in  North  America, 
where  a  new  form  of  government  suited  to  the  state  which 
society  has  there  assumed,  has  been  established,  we  might 
expect,  as  is  the  case,  that  a  medium  would  be  taken  between 
the  two  extremes.2 

My  main  object,  in  this  book,  is  to  show  that  that  notion  of 
the  exact  identity  of  the  causes  giving  rise  to  individual  and 
national  wealth,  on  which  the  reasonings  and  arguments  of 
Adam  Smith  all  along  depend,  is  erroneous,  that  consequently 
<loctrines  he  has  engrafted  on  it,  cannot  be  thus  maintained, 
and  are  inconsistent  with  facts  admitted  by  himself. 

I  have  already  observed  that  through  every  part  of  his  work, 
in  i he  conduct  of  all  his  reasonings  and  arguments,  Adam 
Smith  blends  together  the  consideration  of  the  processes  by 
which  the  capitals  of  individuals  and  nations  are  increased,  and 
always  treats  of  them  as  precisely  identical.  Sometimes  this 

1  Defence  of  Umry. 

'[See  "Note  C"  in  the  Appendix  ] 


380  APPENDIX 

is  assumed  as  a  self-evident  truth,  sometimes  it  is  a  deduction 
from  an  ingenious  theory ;  but,  in  one  shape  or  other,  it  forms 
the  basis  on  which  his  whole  system  is  built.  If  this  simple 
view  of  the  subject  be  admitted  as  correct,  it  may  very  easily 
be  made  to  lead  to  the  conclusions  at  which  he  is  desirous  of 
arriving. 

The  axiom  which  he  brings  forward,  that  the  capital  of  a 
society  is  the  same  with  that  of  all  the  individuals  who  com- 
pose it,  being  granted,  it  follows  that  to  increase  the  capitals 
of  all  the  individuals  in  a  society  is  to  increase  the  general 
capital  of  the  society.  It  seems,  therefore,  also  to  follow  that 
as  every  man  is  best  judge  of  his  own  business  and  of  the 
modes  in  which  his  own  capital  may  be  augmented,  so  to 
prevent  him  from  adopting  these  modes  is  to  obstruct  him 
in  his  efforts  to  increase  his  own  capital,  and,  in  so  far  as  his 
capital  is  a  part  of  the  general  capital  of  the  society,  to  check 
the  increase  of  that  general  capital;  and  hence,  that,  as  all  laws 
for  the  regulation  of  commerce  are  in  fact  means  by  which  the 
legislator  prevents  individuals  conducting  their  business  as 
they  themselves  would  deem  best,  they  must  operate  pre- 
judicially on  the  increase  of  individual  and  so  of  general  wealth. 

In  pursuance  of  the  same  idea,  of  the  perfect  identity  of  the 
means  by  which  individual  and  national  capitals  are  increased, 
the  argument  is  thus  further  enforced.  Accumulation  is  the 
means  by  which  individual  capital  is  augmented.  We  know 
very  well  that  if  any  person  spend  as  fast  as  he  makes,  he  can 
never  get  richer.  Whatever  his  gains  are  he  must  save  some 
part  of  them,  else  he  can  never  add  to  his  capital.  The 
amount  also  of  his  savings  for  any  period  of  time  must  measure 
the  addition,  which,  during  that  time  he  makes  to  his  wealth. 
As,  therefore,  the  capital  of  a  single  individual  is  increased  by 
his  continually  accumulating  and  adding  to  it  whatever  he 
saves  out  of  his  revenue,  so  the  national  capital,  or  the  capital 
of  all  the  individuals  in  a  nation,  is  increased  by  these  indi- 
viduals continually  accumulating  and  adding  to  it  what  they 
save  out  of  their  respective  revenues.  Hence  whatever  pre- 
vents them  from  making  the  most  of  their  respective  capitals, 
or  drawing  from  them  the  largest  revenue,  in  so  far  as  it 
deprives  them  of  the  power  of  laying  past  so  large  a  portion  of 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  381 

that  revenue  as  they  otherwise  would,  must  in  a  like  propor- 
tion diminish  their  individual  accumulations,  and  conse- 
quently the  sum  of  all  their  accumulations,  or  the  amount 
added  to  the  national  capital.  But  all  laws  for  the  regulation 
of  commerce,  and  all  encouragements  given  to  particular 
branches  of  industry,  do  in  fact  prevent  individuals  from  turn- 
ing their  capitals  into  the  channels  which,  but  for  these  regu- 
lations, they  would  prefer  as  offering  the  largest  returns. 
They  must,  therefore,  it  is  said,  to  a  certain  extent,  diminish 
individual  accumulation,  and  consequently,  in  an  equal  propor- 
tion, the  increase  of  national  capital. 

Viewing,  then,  the  subject  in  this  simple  light,  and  taking 
as  undoubted  truths  the  assumptions  of  our  author,  that 
individual  and  national  wealth  increase  in  the  same  manner, 
and  that  the  manner  in  which  individuals  increase  their 
riches  is  by  saving  from  their  revenues,  we  would  easily 
arrive  at  the  doctrine  he  inculcates,  that  as  every  man  is 
the  best  judge  of  his  own  interests,  so  he  should  be  left 
to  pursue  them  in  his  own  way,  without  the  legislator  at 
all  interfering  with  his  operations,  or  pretending  to  aid  or 
•t  them. 

This  very  simple  view  of  the  subject  would,  however,  be 
defective  in  two  respects. 

1.  Though  it  is,  in  the  general,  true  that  individuals  may 
find  some  employment,  by  the  prosecution  of  which  they  may 
procure  a  revenue,  and  so,  by  saving  from  this  revenue,  acquire 
wealth,  or  add  to  what  they  have  before  acquired,  yet  it  seems 
not  so  clear  that  it  is  by  this  means  alone  that  nations  advance, 
or  can  advance,  in  the  acquisition  of  wealth  ;  because  it  must 
occur  to  us  that  materials  on  which  the  national  industry  may 
be  employed  are  to  be  provided,  and  often  are  or  may  be 
want 

-.  It  is  not  altogether  correct  to  say  that  the  sole  means 
which  an  individual  employs  to  add  to  his  capital,  is  the  pro- 
cess of  saving  from  revenue.  It  is  very  evident  he  must  first 
this  revenue,  and  that  the  amount  he  gains,  and  conse- 
quently the  amount  he  can  save,  must  in  general  depend  on 
the  talents  and  capacities  he  possesses  for  the  prosecution  of 
the  particular  employment  to  which  he  devotes  himself.  As 


382  APPENDIX 

an  inquiry,  therefore,  into  the  manner  in  which  an  individual 
might  most  rapidly  accumulate  wealth,  would  in  part  resolve 
itself  into  an  examination  of  the  modes  by  which  he  might 
acquire  the  greatest  perfection  of  knowledge,  skill,  dexterity, 
and  other  talents  and  capacities,  tending  to  the  successful  pro- 
secution of  his  business  ;  so  an  inquiry  into  national  wealth, 
even  supposing  the  process  by  which  nations  and  individuals 
add  to  their  riches  to  be  the  same,  must  partly  resolve  itself 
into  an  examination  of  the  modes  by  which  the  knowledge, 
skill,  and  dexterity  of  all  the  individuals  in  a  nation,  in 
the  various  businesses  and  professions  that  may  be  carried 
on  in  it,  may  be  raised  to  the  highest  pitch. 

These  two  circumstances  render  the  subject  more  intricate, 
than  the  first  simple  view  we  might  be  inclined  to  take  of  it, 
would  lead  us  to  suspect.  An  attention  to  the  operation  of 
either  of  them  will  be  sufficient  to  show  that  that  identity  of 
the  interests  of  individuals  and  states,  which  is  assumed 
throughout  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  is  not  a  self-evident  prin- 
ciple. In  the  following  observations,  I  shall,  however,  confine 
myself  to  the  former  of  them. 

Individuals,  it  is  very  clear,  in  general,  increase  their 
capitals  by  acquiring  a  larger  portion  of  the  common  funds. 
While  one  man  is  growing  rich,  another  is  becoming  poor,  and 
the  change  produced,  seems  not  so  much  a  creation  of  wealth, 
as  a  passage  of  it  from  one  hand  to  another.  These  transfers 
have  been  going  on  in  all  ages  of  the  world  and  have  existed 
equally,  in  what  has  been  called  the  advancing,  the  stationary, 
and  the  declining  stages  of  society.  Everywhere  this  means 
of  acquiring  wealth  is  open  to  individuals,  and  they  every- 
where avail  themselves  of  it.  Let  any  one  in  any  country,  in 
Great  Britain  for  instance,  trace  backwards  for  fifteen  or 
twenty  years  the  mutations  that  have  occurred  in  the  fortunes 
of  the  persons  with  whom  he  is  acquainted,  and  he  will  find 
that  there  are  few,  whose  circumstances  are  not  very  much 
changed  from  what  they  then  were.  Good  conduct,  good  for- 
tune, and  frugality  have  made  many  rich  who  were  then  poor ; 
imprudence,  misfortune,  prodigality  have  made  many  poor  who 
were  then  rich. 

But  while  that  man   has  thus  been  adding  house  to  house, 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  383 

and  farm  to  farm,  and  this  has  been  giving  up  one  portion  of 
property  after  another,  till  he  finds  all  he  once  possessed  in  the 
hands  of  others,  the  whole  mass  of  houses,  lands  and  wealth, 
has  undergone  but  little  alteration ;  the  national  capital  itself, 
remains,  comparatively,  but  little  changed.  It  is  not  by  thus 
acquiring  wealth  previously  in  the  possession  of  others,  that 
nations  enrich  themselves.  But  a  very  small  part  of  the 
capital  of  any  community,  can,  I  suspect,  be  accounted  for,  by 
tracing  its  passage  from  any  other  community.  Instead  of  one 
nation  growing  rich,  and  another  poor,  we  rather  see  many 
neighbouring  nations  advancing  at  the  same  pace  towards 
prosperity  and  affluence,  or  declining  equally,  to  misery  and 
want.  As  individuals  seem  generally  to  grow  rich  by 
grasping  a  larger  and  larger  portion  of  the  wealth  already  in 
unce,  nations  do  so  by  the  production  of  wealth  that  did 
not  previously  exist.  The  two  processes  differ  in  this,  that  the 
one  is  an  acquisition,  the  other  a  creation. 

Ex  nihilo  nihil  fit.  Nothing  can  spring  out  of  nothing. 
Every  thing  that  exists  must  have  a  cause.  As  we  do  not  see 
that  individuals  increase  their  wealth  by  creating  new  wealth, 
we  do  not  think  of  inquiring  how  the  riches  of  an  individual 
came  to  exist,  but  how  they  came  into  his  possession.  But  as 
we  do  not  see  how  nations  can  increase  their  wealth,  but  by 
creating  new  wealth,  we  naturally  inquire,  what  are  the  causes 
of  the  wealth  of  nations. 

Adam  Smith  asserts,  and  as  I  think  truly  asserts,  that  these 
causes  are  to  be  found  in  the  improvement  of  the  productive 
powers  of  human  labor.  Men,  and  therefore  nations,  are  said 
rich  or  poor  according  to  the  degree  in  which  they  can 
afford  to  enjoy  the  necessaries,  conveniences,  and  amusements 
of  human  life,  lint  as  it  is  the  annual  labour  of  the  nation 
which  supplies  these  necessaries,  conveniences,  and  amuse- 
ments;  so  as  this  labor  is  well  or  ill  directed,  the  supply 
it  affords  must  be  great  or  small.  The  skill,  dexterity,  and 
judgment  with  which  labor  is  applied  :  that  is,  I  presume,  the 
facility  of  the  operations  which  it  employs  for  executing  its 
ends,  and  the  accuracy  with  which  it  conducts  them,  must 
consequently  mainly  regulate  the  amount  which  it  produces. 
Thus  the  increase  of  the  skill,  dexterity,  and  judgment  with 


384  APPENDIX 

which  the  national  labor  is  applied,  furnishes  us  with  a  cause 
for  the  increased  productive  powers  of  that  labor,  and  so  for 
the  increase  of  the  national  wealth. 

This  account  of  matters  will  be  found  sufficiently  to  agree 
with  the  ideas  which  the  contemplation  of  their  progress  forces 
on  every  one.  When  we  are  told  that  an  individual  this  year 
employs  in  agriculture  double  the  capital  which  he  employed 
last  year,  the  conception  which  most  readily  presents  itself  to 
us  is,  that  he  now  farms  double  the  land  which  he  then 
farmed,  owns  double  the  number  of  horses,  cattle,  farming 
utensils,  etc.  and  has  double  the  number  of  barns  and  other 
necessary  buildings.  When  we  are  told  that  a  country  has 
double  the  agricultural  capital  which  it  had  a  century  ago,  we 
cannot,  of  course,  conceive  that  its  farms  are  double  the  extent 
they  then  were ;  neither  do  we  conceive  that  its  farmers  have 
simply  double  the  number  of  barns  and  other  buildings,  of 
cattle,  ploughs,  harrows,  and  other  farming  utensils,  which  they 
then  had.  We  conceive  a  change  in  the  mode  in  which  its 
fields  are  laid  out  and  tilled,  in  the  form  and  qualities  of  the 
stock,  in  the  construction  of  all  the  implements  of  husbandry, 
in  the  size  and  arrangement  of  the  barns  and  other  buildings ; 
and  that  through  these  changes  the  national  agricultural  labor 
produces  at  least  double  the  products  it  formerly  did.  It  is 
this  change  necessarily  involved  in  our  conception  of  the  pro- 
cess by  which  nations  increase  their  capitals,  and  not  necessarily 
involved  in  the  process  by  which  individuals  increase  their 
capitals,  that  constitutes  the  difference  between  them.1 

Though  they  are  thus  essentially  different,  there  are  never- 
theless two  points  in  which  they  agree.  When  estimated  in 
gold,  silver,  or  any  other  instrument  of  exchange,  the  sum  at 
which  the  agricultural  property  presently  possessed  by  the 
individual  would  be  rated,  would  be  double  that  at  which  what 
was  formerly  in  his  possession  was  rated.  The  sum,  also,  at 

1  As  here  I  merely  aim  at  giving  a  very  general  view  of  the  subject,  I  only 
refer  to  what  generally  occurs.  In  this  and  some  other  instances  the  text  does 
not  apply  to  new  countries.  Communities  commonly  occupy  the  same  terri- 
tories unchanged.  The  growth  of  such  communities  as  increase  by  occupying 
a  larger  and  larger  extent  of  territory,  must  be  regulated  in  part  by  laws  which 
are  exceptions  to  those  that  apply  to  the  rest  of  mankind. 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  385 

which  the  present  agricultural  property  of  the  nation  would  be 
rated,  would  be  double  that  at  which  it  was  formerly  rated. 
The  things,  too,  that  so  estimated  formed  the  increase  in  both, 
would  have  been  produced  by  man :  they  would  be  his  works. 
But  though  two  things  may  both  be  estimated  as  worth  a  sum 
of  money,  and  may  both  be  works  of  man,  it  follows  not  that 
tin.1  principles  which  have  produced  them  are  perfectly  similar. 
The  poem  of  Childe  Harold  cost  the  publisher  a  certain  sum ; 
so  did  the  paper  on  which  it  was  printed.  They  both,  too, 
were  works  of  man,  and  required  mental  and  corporeal  energy 
to  produce  them ;  but  we  should  not,  therefore,  say  the  prin- 
ciples that  produced  them  were  precisely  similar. 

Within  a  few  centuries  the  national  capital  of  Great  Britain 
has  increased  tenfold.  Could  we  imagine  that  we  could  tell 
this  fact  to  some  one  of  the  men  of  the  olden  time,  waked  from 
the  slumber  of  the  tomb  and  raised  up  to  us,  we  may  suppose 
he  would  ask  how  it  could  be ;  how  there  could  have  been 
produced  so  mighty  a  change ;  or  from  whence  so  full  a  tide  of 
wealth  could  have  flowed  in  upon  us.  But  were  we  then 
to  take  him  abroad  and  show  him  the  wonders  and  achieve- 
ments of  art  with  which  the  land  is  overspread ;  the  various 
processes  carried  on  in  our  manufactories  and  workshops ;  the 
scientific  labors  of  the  agriculturist ;  the  curious  mechanism 
with  which  the  vast  bulk  of  our  ships  is  put  together  and 
guided  ;  fire  and  water  transformed  into  our  obedient  drudges, 
excavating  harbors  and  draining  mines  for  us,  carrying  us  over 
the  land  with  the  speed  of  the  wind,  bearing  us  through  the 
ocean  against  tide  and  storm ;  he  would  no  longer  wonder 
whence  the  wealth  was  that  he  saw  around,  or  that  the  land 
yielded  tenfold  what  it  had  done  of  old,  though  he  might  well 
demand  how  the  power  had  been  acquired  that  had  wrought  so 
great  a  change. 

Were  such  a  thing  possible  as  we  are  thus  imagining  we  can 
scarce  suppose  that  any  one  would  be  found  to  reply, — "the 
whole  process  is  nothing  extraordinary ;  it  is  just  the  same  as 
you  must  have  seen  in  your  own  days,  when,  by  continual 
parsimonious  saving,  an  individual  accumulated  ten  times  the 
capital  he  once  had ;  he  began,  perhaps,  with  one  house,  and 
died  owning  ten."  Such  an  assertion  would  evidently  be  absurd. 

2  B 


386  APPENDIX 

Invention  is  the  only  power  on  earth,  that  can  be  said  to 
create.  It  enters  as  an  essential  element  into  the  process  of 
the  increase  of  national  wealth,  because  that  process  is  a  crea- 
tion, not  an  acquisition.  It  does  not  necessarily  enter  into  the 
process  of  the  increase  of  individual  wealth,  because  that  may 
be  simply  an  acquisition,  not  a  creation.  The  assumption, 
therefore,  that  the  two  processes  are  perfectly  similar  is  incor- 
rect, and  the  doctrine  which  I  have  designated  as  that  of  the 
identity  of  the  interests  of  individuals  and  communities  cannot 
be  thus  established. 

The  ends  which  individuals  and  nations  pursue,  are  different. 
The  object  of  the  one  is  to  acquire,  of  the  other  to  create.  The 
means  which  they  employ,  are  also  different ;  industry  and 
parsimony  increase  the  capitals  of  individuals  ;  national  wealth, 
understood  in  its  largest  and  truest  sense,  as  the  wealth  of  all 
nations  cannot  be  increased,  but  through  the  aid  also  of  the 
inventive  faculty.  Though  each  member  of  a  community  may 
be  desirous  of  the  good  of  all,  yet  in  gaining  wealth,  as  he  only 
seeks  his  own  good,  and  as  he  may  gain  it  by  acquiring  a  por- 
tion of  the  wealth  already  in  existence,  it  follows  not  that  he 
creates  wealth.  The  community  adds  to  its  wealth  by  creating 
wealth,  and  if  we  understand  by  the  legislator  the  power  acting 
for  the  community,  it  seems  not  absurd  or  unreasonable  that 
he  should  direct  part  of  the  energies  of  the  community  towards 
the  furtherance  of  this  power  of  invention,  this  necessary  ele- 
ment in  the  production  of  the  wealth  of  nations. 

In  the  following  cases  it  would  at  least  seem  not  improbable, 
that  the  power  of  the  legislator  so  directed,  might  be  beneficial. 

I.  In  promoting  the  progress  of  science. 

II.  In  promoting  the  progress  of  art. 

1.  By  encouraging  the  discovery  of  new  arts. 

2.  By  encouraging  the    discovery   of  improvements  in   the 
arts  already  practised  in  the  country. 

3.  By  encouraging  the  discovery  of  methods  of  adapting  arts 
already  practised  in  other  countries,  to  the  particular  circum- 
stances of  the  territory  and  community  for  which  he  legislates. 

In  the  attainment  of  all  these  objects,  the  aid  of  the  inven- 
tive faculty  is  required.  Our  judgment  of  their  propriety  or 
impropriety,  as  far  as  this  is  determined  by  their  direct  ten- 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  38T 

dency  to  promote  the  wealth  of  the  community,  would  seem  to- 
depend  on  two  circumstances.  1.  On  the  probability  of  their 
success,  and  of  this  success  enabling  the  industry  of  its  mem- 
bers to  acquire  with  increased  facility  some  of  the  necessaries, 
conveniences,  or  amusements  of  life,  the  capacity  for  producing 
which,  measures  the  general  revenue  and  riches.  2.  On  the 
probability  of  the  future  wealth  to  be  derived  from  this  new 
source,  being  sufficient  to  repay  the  expenditure  of  present 
wealth  necessary  to  open  it  up. 

As  far  as  any  considerations,  which  I  have  as  yet  presented 
to  the  reader,  warrant  us  in  forming  a  conclusion,  it  certainly 
does  appear  not  impossible,  or  unlikely,  that  there  might  be 
instances  in  which  the  legislator  might,  with  advantage  to  the 
progress  of  the  wealth  of  the  community,  direct  the  energies  of 
some  of  its  members  towards  discoveries  in  all  these  different 
departments  of  knowledge  and  action. 

But  in  doing  so,  he  always  acts  contrary  to  the  doctrine  which 
teaches  that  he  ought  never  to  disturb  the  natural  course  of 
events ;  that  is,  the  course  which  the  efforts  of  individuals, 
uninterfered  with,  by  him,  would  give  to  these  events.  His 
cy  so  directed,  according  to  this  doctrine,  must  be  injurious ; 
because,  in  every  instance,  it  in  part  changes  the  direction,  and 
i  1 1  part  retards  the  progress  or  the  natural  course  of  events.  In 
every  such  instance,  he  directs  the  industry  of  some  of  the 
members  of  the  society  from  gaining  a  revenue  by  the  practice 
of  old  arts  and  so  accumulating  capital,  to  the  discovery  either 
of  materials  for  new  arts,  or  of  means  of  adapting  old  ones  to 
new  countries.  By  doing  so,  he  takes  from  the  national 
revenue,  and  retards,  consequently,  the  accumulation  of  the 
••nal  capital. 

This  doctrine,  as  given  by  Adam  Smith,  is  in  general,  blended 
with  theoretical  principles  afterwards  to  be  considered.  The 
following  is  an  abstract  of  it,  in  his  own  words,  from  different 

ts  of  his  system,  separated  from  these  principles. 

"  The  capital  of  all  the  individuals  in  a  nation  is  increased 

in  the  same  manner  as  that  of  a  single  individual,  by  their 

continually  accumulating  and  adding  to  it  whatever  they  save 

out  of  their  revenue.1    As  the  national  capital  is  thus  increaaed 

1  Wealth  of  Natwnt,  B.  II.  c.   IV. 


388  APPENDIX 

by  parsimony,  so  it  is  diminished  by  prodigality  and  miscon- 
duct. The  conduct  of  those  whose  expense  just  equals  their 
revenue,  without  either  accumulating  or  encroaching,  neither 
increases  nor  diminishes  it.  It  can  seldom  happen  that  the 
circumstances  of  a  great  nation  can  be  much  affected  by  the 
prodigality  of  individuals ;  the  profusion  of  some,  being  always 
more  than  compensated  by  the  frugality  and  good  conduct  of 
others.  Men  are  prompted  to  expense,  by  the  desire  of  present 
enjoyment,  a  passion  only  momentary  and  occasional.  They 
are  prompted  to  save  by  the  desire  of  bettering  their  condition, 
a  passion  which  comes  with  them  from  the  womb,  and  never 
leaves  them  till  they  go  to  the  grave.  In  the  whole  course  of 
life  of  the  greater  part  of  men,  therefore,  though  the  principle 
of  expense  prevails  occasionally,  yet  the  principle  of  frugality 
predominates,  and  predominates  very  greatly."1 

"  The  principle  exciting  to  frugality,  the  uniform,  constant, 
and  uninterrupted  effort  of  every  man  to  better  his  condition, 
produces  both  public  and  national,  as  well  as  private  opulence, 
and  is  frequently  more  than  sufficiently  powerful  to  counteract 
the  extravagance  of  government,  and  the  greatest  errors  of 
administration.  Like  the  unknown  principle  of  animal  life,  it 
frequently  restores  health  and  vigor  to  the  constitution,  in  spite, 
not  only  of  the  disease,  but  of  the  absurd  prescriptions  of  the 
doctor.  Alone  and  without  any  assistance,  it  is  capable,  not 
only  of  carrying  on  the  society  to  wealth  and  prosperity,  but 
of  surmounting  a  hundred  impertinent  obstructions  with  which 
the  folly  of  human  laws  too  often  encumbers  its  operations."2 

The  reader  will  perceive,  that  the  whole  force  of  these  argu- 
ments lies  in  the  assumption,  that  the  process  of  the  increase  of 
national  capital,  is  precisely  the  same  as  that  of  the  increase  of 
individual  capital. 

The  principle,  therefore,  of  the  identity  of  the  interests  of 
nations  and  individuals  is  by  no  means  a  self-evident  principle. 
The  identity  of  their  interests  can  only  follow  from  the  identity 
of  the  ends  which  they  pursue ;  but  these  ends  being,  as  far  as 
we  can  see,  identical  only  in  name,  and  in  reality  not  identical, 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  II.  c.  III. 
zldcm,  B.  II.  c.  III.  and  B.  IV.  c.  V. 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  389 

the  presumption  rather  is,  that  the  means  also  by  which  they 
are  arrived  at  are  not  identical. 

It  seems  to  me,  that  it  requires  very  little  pausing  upon  the 
examination  of  this  principle  to  perceive  its  inconclusiveness  as 
an  argument.  It  is  a  principle,  nevertheless,  which,  like  other 
popular  doctrines  founded  merely  on  the  ambiguity  of  a  word, 
has  been  very  much  insisted  on,  and  meets  one  in  all  variety  of 
shapes.  On  this  account,  the  reader  may  perhaps  excuse  me, 
for  detaining  him  a  little  longer  on  the  consideration  of  it,  by 
bringing  before  him  a  passage  from  our  author,  which  may 
serve  to  expose  its  unsoundness,  by  showing  how  easily  it  may  be 
made  to  lead  to  the  most  obvious  fallacies.  "The  annual  pro- 
duce of  the  land  and  labor  of  England  is  certainly  much  greater 
than  it  was  more  than  a  century  ago  at  the  restoration  of 
Charles  II.  It  was  certainly  much  greater  at  the  restoration 
than  we  can  suppose  it  to  have  been  about  a  hundred  years 
before,  at  the  accession  of  Elizabeth.  At  this  period,  too,  we 
have  reason  to  believe,  the  country  was  much  more  advanced 
in  improvement  than  it  had  been  about  a  century  before, 
towards  the  close  of  the  dissensions  between  the  houses  of 
York  and  Lancaster.  Even  then  it  was  probably  in  a  better 
condition  than  it  had  been  at  the  Norman  Conquest ;  and  at 
the  Norman  Conquest,  than  during  the  confusion  of  the  Saxon 
Heptarchy.  Even  at  this  early  period  it  was  certainly  a  more 
improved  country  than  at  the  invasion  of  Julius  CaBsar,  when 
M habitants  were  nearly  in  the  same  state  with  the  savages 
in  North  America. 

"  In  each  of  these  periods,  however,  there  was  not  only  much 
private  and  public  profusion,  many  expensive  and  unnecessary 
wars,  great  perversion  of  the  annual  produce  from  maintaining 
productive  to  maintain  unproductive  hands  ;  but  sometimes, 
in  the  confusion  of  civil  discord,  such  absolute  waste  and 
destruction  of  stock  as  might  be  supposed  not  only  to  retard, 
as  it  certainly  did,  the  natural  accumulation  of  riches,  but  to 
have  left  the  country,  at  the  end  of  the  period,  poorer  than  at 
the  beginning.  Thus,  in  the  happiest  and  most  fortunate 
period  of  them  all,  that  which  has  passed  since  the  restoration, 
how  many  disorders  and  misfortunes  have  occunv-i.  which. 
could  they  have  been  foreseen,  not  only  the  impoverishment. 


390  APPENDIX 

but  the  total  ruin,  of  the  country  would  have  been  expected 
from  them.  The  fire  and  the  plague  of  London,  the  two  Dutch 
wars,  the  disorders  of  the  Revolution,  the  war  in  Ireland,  the 
four  expensive  French  wars  of  1688,  1702,  1742,  1750, 
together  with  the  two  rebellions  of  1715  and  1745.  In  the 
€ourse  of  the  four  French  wars  the  nation  has  contracted  more 
than  £145,000,000  of  debt,  over  and  above  all  the  other 
extraordinary  annual  expense  which  they  occasioned ;  so  that 
the  whole  cannot  be  computed  at  less  than  £200,000,000;  so 
great  a  share  of  the  annual  produce  of  the  land  and  labor  of 
the  country  has,  since  the  Revolution,  been  employed  upon 
different  occasions  in  maintaining  an  extraordinary  number  of 
unproductive  hands.  But  had  not  those  wars  given  this  par- 
ticular direction  to  so  large  a  capital,  the  greater  part  of  it 
would  naturally  have  been  employed  in  maintaining  productive 
hands,  whose  labor  would  have  replaced  with  a  profit  the  whole 
value  of  their  consumption.  The  value  of  the  annual  produce 
of  the  land  and  labor  of  the  country  would  have  been  consider- 
ably increased  by  it  every  year,  and  every  year's  increase 
would  have  augmented  still  more  that  of  the  following  year. 
More  houses  would  have  been  built,  more  lands  would  have 
been  improved,  and  those  which  had  been  improved  before 
would  have  been  better  cultivated ;  more  manufactures  would 
have  been  established,  and  those  which  had  been  established 
before  would  have  been  more  extended ;  and  to  what  height 
the  real  wealth  and  revenue  of  the  country  might  by  this  time 
have  been  raised  it  is  not  perhaps  very  easy  even  to  imagine."1 

These  conclusions  would  indeed  all  follow  did  individual 
and  national  capital  augment  on  precisely  the  same  principles ; 
but  as  the  progress  of  the  inventive  faculty,  an  essential 
element  in  the  increase  of  national  wealth,  is  here  left  out  of 
the  calculation,  we  have  good  reason  to  doubt  its  accuracy. 

Before  the  time  of  the  Essay  on  Population,  arguments  and 
conclusions  very  similar  to  these  were  brought  forward  con- 
cerning the  waste  of  human  life  in  wars,  and  the  consequent 
amazing  diminution  of  the  greatness  and  prosperity  of  nations. 
Perhaps  the  fallacy  of  the  one  doctrine  may  be  best  exposed 
by  stating  the  other. 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  II.  c.  III. 


ADAM    SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  391 

Xations,  it  was  said,  can  only  advance  in  greatness  and 
prosperity  as  the  numbers  of  their  inhabitants  increase.  What- 
ever the  natural  fertility  of  the  soil,  however  genial  the  climate, 
and  however  well  fitted  the  whole  country  may  be  for  the 
practice  of  every  species  of  industry,  yet,  if  it  be  deficient  in 
population,  these  natural  riches  can  never  be  elaborated,  and 
it  must  hold  a  poor  and  inconsiderable  rank  in  the  scale  of 
nations.  A  confined  and  comparatively  barren  territory,  filled 
with  a  numerous,  industrious  population,  exceeds  the  most 
fertile  and  extensive  country  scantily  peopled.  It  is  the 
people  that  make  the  state,  its  real  riches  lie  in  its  inhabitants. 

"  But  as  population  increases,  and  can  only  increase,  by 
more  coming  into  the  world  than  go  out  of  it,  every  man  who 
marries  and  raises  a  family  is  a  public  benefactor,  and  the 
practice  of  celibacy,  so  far  from  being  a  virtue,  is,  in  reality,  a 
great  public  crime.  The  number,  however,  of  those  who 
marry,  and  have  children,  in  all  tolerably  quiet  and  peaceable 
times,  much  exceeds  that  of  those  who  remain  single ;  and, 
consequently,  the  number  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth 
has  continually  augmented,  and,  had  it  not  been  for  the  wars 
which  the  ambition  of  princes  has  stirred  up,  would  have  been 
still  much  farther  augmented. 

"  The  population  of  England  is  now  much  greater  than  at 
the  Restoration.  It  was  greater  at  the  Restoration  than  at 
the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  and  then  than  during  the  great 
civil  wars.  Even  then  it  was  greater  than  at  the  Conquest, 
and  at  that  time,  than  at  the  invasion  of  Julius  Caesar. 

"  In  each  of  these  periods,  however,  there  were  not  only 
many  private  feuds  and  public  dissensions ;  many  bloody  and 
harassing  wars ;  great  perversion  of  the  powers  of  the  in- 
habitants from  the  production  to  the  destruction  of  life ;  but 
sometimes  such  dreadful  massacres  and  bloodshed,  so  great 
multitudes  perishing  by  the  sword,  and  by  famine  following 
up  its  ravages,  as  might  be  supposed  not  only  to  have  retarded 
the  increase  of  the  numbers  of  the  inhabitants,  but  to  have 
left  them  fewer  at  the  end  than  at  the  beginning.  Had  it 
not  been  for  these  events,  the  greater  part  of  those  whom  they 
ied  off  would  have  married  and  had  children,  whose  whole 
numbers  would  naturally  have  been  greater  than  that  of  the 


392  APPENDIX 

parents  who  procreated  them.  In  this  manner  every  genera- 
tion would  have  exceeded  proportionally  the  one  preceding  it. 
The  number  of  industrious  hands  thus  produced  would  have 
built  more  houses,  would  have  improved  more  lands,  and 
would  have  cultivated  better  those  which  had  been  improved 
before ;  more  manufactures  would  have  been  established,  and 
those  which  had  been  established  before  would  have  been 
more  extended,  and  how  far  the  population  of  the  country, 
and  its  real  wealth  and  strength,  might  have  been  carried  by 
this  time,  it  is  not  perhaps  very  easy  to  imagine." 

The  error  of  both  reasonings  arises,  in  the  same  manner, 
from  taking  what  is  merely  a  necessary  concomitant,  for  a 
cause.  It  is  perfectly  true,  that  the  real  wealth,  strength,  and 
prosperity  of  a  country,  cannot  advance,  but  as  its  population 
advances,  and  that  population  can  only  advance  by  more  being 
brought  into  the  world  than  go  out  of  it.  It  is  also  true  that 
they  cannot  advance  but  as  its  capital  advances,  and  that  its 
capital  can  only  advance  by  more  being  saved  than  is  spent. 
But  when  it  is  said  in  either  case,  that  as  they  can  only 
advance  as  population  advances,  or  as  accumulation  advances, 
we  have  only  to  allow  population  to  go  on  unrestrained,  or 
only  to  allow  accumulation  to  go  on  unchecked,  we  are 
deceived,  and  led  to  unwarrantable  conclusions,  by  a  sort  of 
sleight  in  the  use  of  words. 

The  contemplation  of  a  couple  contending  with  unremitting 
labor  against  the  evils  of  poverty  and  want,  and,  however 
occasionally  pinched  by  them  themselves,  warding  them  off 
with  care  and  success  from  their  offspring,  and  rearing  up  a 
numerous  and  industrious  family,  is  a  very  pleasing  sight.  It 
is  pleasing  as  an  evidence  of  the  existence  of  some  of  the  best 
and  purest  affections  of  our  nature ;  it  is  pleasing,  also,  from 
the  mere  view  of  the  healthy  addition  thus  made  to  that  surest 
stay  of  a  state,  an  industrious  and  frugal  population.  But 
when  it  is  hence  assumed,  that  nothing  is  wanting  to  augment 
the  numbers  of  the  community,  and  carry  it  forward  to  great- 
ness, than  that  similar  principles  and  conduct  should  be 
allowed  to  go  on  in  all  its  members  without  restraint,  a  hasty 
and  inaccurate  conclusion  is  drawn  from  a  partial  view  of  a 
complicated  subject.  The  numbers  of  a  state  can  never 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  393 

exceed,  what  its  resources  can  support.  When  these  resources 
are  augmented,  the  principles  which  tend  to  the  preservation 
and  multiplication  of  the  species  are,  in  all  well  regulated 
communities,  sufficiently  active  speedily  to  fill  up  their 
numbers  to  the  amount  of  the  increased  supply. 

In  like  manner,  the  contemplation  of  honest  industry,  and 
patient  frugality,  not  only  manfully  bearing  up  against  present 
necessity  and  want,  but  repelling  them,  and  accumulating  a 
plentiful  store  to  answer  the  demands  of  futurity,  is  also  no 
unpleasiiig  spectacle.  But  for  such  principles  neither  public 
nor  private  comfort  or  affluence  could  exist,  or  be  preserved. 
But,  when  it  is  hence  also  assumed,  that  nothing  else  is  want- 
ing to  carry  the  community  forward  to  the  highest  degree  of 
affluence  and  power,  than  that  similar  principles  and  conduct, 
through  all  its  members,  should  be  encouraged,  and  allowed  to 
go  on  without  check,  a  conclusion  equally  unwarranted  and 
equally  inaccurate,  is  drawn  from  a  like  hasty  and  imperfect 
view  of  a  great  subject.  The  capital  of  a  state  is  a  mere 
instrument  in  the  hands  of  its  industry,  to  enable  it  to  draw 
forth  the  riches,  with  which  the  conjoined  powers  of  nature 
and  art  have  endowed  it.  A  multiplication  of  instruments  is 
of  no  avail,  unless  something  additional  be  given  on  which 
they  may  operate.  When  invention  succeeds  in  discovering 
these  additional  riches,  the  mere  view  is  sufficient,  in  every 
well  regulated  community,  to  induce  its  members  to  form  the 
new  instruments,  necessary  to  draw  these  riches  forth. 

There  must  be  some  strong  inherent  vice  in  any  community, 
where  the  certain  prospect  of  plentiful  subsistence  does  not 
produce  an  abundant  population.  It  can  only  be,  also,  from 
the  effects  of  some  great  inherent  vice,  that,  in  any  community, 
a  very  profitable  investment  for  capital  can  be  held  out,  and 
yet  capital  not  accumulate  with  rapidity.  Where  there  is  no 
sufficient  prospect  of  subsistence,  people  may  be  restrained 
frniM  marriage  by  the  dread  of  their  families  suffering  want. 
\Vh<-re  there  is  no  sufficient  prospect  of  profit,  people  may  be 
withheld  from  accumulating  capital,  because  they  may  see  no 
iently  profitable  adventure  open  to  them  that  they  would 
not  fear  to  embark  in.  But  the  fact  is,  that  people,  rath.-i 
_,'le,  are  inclined  to  marry  at  all  risks,  and  hence 


394  APPENDIX 

population  is  kept  down  by  misery,  and  premature  death ;  and 
they  are  also,  rather  than  do  nothing,  inclined  to  embark  in 
adventures  where  the  chances  are  against  their  success ;  hence 
the  vast  numbers  of  unsuccessful  projects  that  in  most  com- 
munities are  continually  dissipating  previous  accumulations  of 
capital.  To  form  a  right  judgment  of  the  power  of  any  com- 
munity, under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  of  increasing 
its  population,  we  must  consider  the  additional  marriages 
which  would  take  place,  and  the  greater  numbers  that  would 
be  reared  to  maturity  from  such  as  do  take  place,  if  plentiful 
subsistence  were  provided.  In  like  manner,  to  form  a  right 
judgment  of  the  powers  of  any  community,  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances,  to  increase  its  capital,  we  must  con- 
sider, that,  if  abundance  of  secure  and  profitable  investments 
for  capital  were  presented,  its  members  would  be  more  eager 
to  possess  additional  capital,  and,  therefore,  would  be  more 
prompted  to  accumulate  it ;  and  the  capital  they  possessed 
would  be  more  productive,  and  would  not  be  subject  to  be 
risked  and  lost  in  imprudent  speculations. 

From  the  inconsiderable  rudiments  of  population  and  capital, 
which  Great  Britain  furnished  to  North  America,  is  to  be 
traced  the  great  amount  of  both,  of  which  that  flourishing 
division  of  the  globe  at  present  boasts.  The  former  has  in- 
creased so  greatly,  because  plentiful  subsistence  has  been 
afforded  it :  the  latter,  because  profitable  and  secure  invest- 
ments have  been  presented  to  it.  Had  it  been  possible  to 
have  afforded,  and  had  the  same  abundant  subsistence  been 
afforded,  to  the  population,  and  the  same  profitable  and  secure 
investments  to  the  capital  remaining  within  the  kingdom,  they 
would  have  both  augmented,  we  have  every  reason  to  believe, 
in  a  ratio  equal  to  that  at  which  the  fragments  of  both  that 
went  to  North  America  have  augmented.  It  certainly  was 
not  the  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  but  the  rich  soil  on  which 
they  fell  on  the  other  side  of  it,  that  excited  them  to  so 
luxuriant  a  growth. 

This  great  productive  power  of  both  the  population  and 
capital  of  a  country,  when  room  is  afforded  them  to  shoot, 
seems  so  easily  to  fill  up  any  gap  which  is  made  in  the 
national  numbers  or  stock,  that  a  calculation  founded  on  the 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  395 

assumption,  that  any  loss  in  either  which  a  nation  may  sustain, 
necessarily  occasions  a  proportionably  permanent  diminution  of 
its  funds  must  evidently  be  inconclusive.  It  is  very  doubtful 
it  the  population  of  London  or  England  would  have  been 
greater  than  it  is  at  present,  had  there  been  no  plague.  It  is 
very  doubtful  also  if  the  capital  of  London  or  of  England 
would  have  been  greater  than  it  is  at  present,  had  there  been 
no  great  fire.  The  additional  demand  for  labor  and  capital, 
which  these  disasters  created,  may  very  well  be  supposed 
soon  to  have  brought  both  up  to  the  amount  they  had 
previously  attained. 

In  all  instances  of  such,  or  even  far  greater  calamities, 
destroying  a  part  of  the  population  or  capital  of  a  country, 
while  the  principles  and  elements,  through  and  from  which 
they  sprang,  are  not  consumed  along  with  them,  we  see  them 
quickly  reproduced.  When,  for  example,  the  great  destroyer 
\V;ir  holds  his  course  through  a  country,  and  clearing  wide  his 
path  with  fire  and  sword,  leaves  property  and  life  a  wreck 
behind  him,  we  see  not  that  the  traces  of  his  wrath  are  long 
perpetuated ;  in  the  midst  of  the  ruins  of  what  were,  lie  the 
^erms  of  what  are  to  be,  and  seizing  on  the  elements  of 
€xistence  that  lie  waste  around,  they  expand  with  a  vigor 
proportioned  to  the  magnitude  of  the  void  that  has  been  made 
for  them,  and  speedily  replenish  it.  Like  the  track  of  the 
whirlwind  through  the  forest,  the  present  desolation  is  quickly 
covered  up  and  obliterated  by  the  freshness  of  the  new  growth, 
vhich  that  very  desolation  gives  light,  and  air,  and  the 
means  of  existence.  We  should  think  the  calculation  rather 
fanciful,  which,  estimating  the  trees  overborne  by  the  blast  for 
•centuries,  and  reckoning  the  increase  that  might  have  possibly 
come  from  each  of  them,  should  bring  out  as  a  correct  result, 
that  all  this  would  have  been  a  clear  addition  to  the  vegetable 
lit*-  of  the  forest;  and  that  so  much  greater  it  must  have 
been  to-day,  had  not  these  disasters  had  place.  Calculations 
proceeding  on  the  assumption  of  the  indefinite  increase  of 
population  or  capital,  without  showing  also  that  there  will 
be  room  for  them,  are  but  little  more  logical. 

Before  population  can  advance,  there  must  be  something  on 
-which  it  can  subsist ;  before  capital  can  increase,  there  must 


396  APPENDIX 

be  something  in  which  it  may  be  embodied.  Produce  sub- 
sistence, and,  if  vice  prevent  it  not,  population  will  follow  • 
show  that  if  capital  did  exist,  it  would  produce  great  profits, 
and,  if  vice  prevent  it  not,  capital  will  be  accumulated.  But, 
until  there  be  some  means  of  subsisting  the  population,  and 
employing  the  capital,  they  can  never,  by  simply  urging  on 
their  production,  be  rationally  expected  to  be  much  augmented. 
It  is  invention,  which  showing  how  profitable  returns  may 
be  got  from  the  one,  and  how  subsistence  procured  for  the 
other,  that  may  most  fitly  be  esteemed  the  cause  of  the  exist- 
ence of  both ;  and  hence  this  power  has  most  title  to  be 
ranked  as  the  true  generator  of  states  and  people.  It  is 
certainly,  therefore,  very  far  from  being  a  self-evident  truth,, 
that  the  legislator,  by  employing  the  resources  of  the  country 
in  rousing  this  principle  to  activity,  necessarily  retards,  instead 
of  advancing,  the  increase  of  wealth  and  the  prosperity  of  the 
state. 

PART  11. 

Though  the  doctrine  of  the  identity  of  the  interests  of 
individuals  and  communities  cannot  be  established  as  a  simple 
and  self-evident  principle,  from  the  assumption  that  the  objects 
which  individuals  designedly  pursue,  for  their  private  emolu- 
ment, are  precisely  those  which  most  promote  the  progress  of 
the  general  opulence ;  and  though  in  this  sense,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  identity  of  the  ends  which  they  pursue  is  nominal, 
not  real,  yet  it  follows  not  from  this  that  the  doctrine  is 
necessarily  erroneous.  Many  doctrines  which  are  far  more 
simple  or  self-evident  are  nevertheless  true.  Many,  which  at 
first  sight  seem  even  contradictory  to  experience,  are  found,  by 
closer  examination,  to  be  legitimately  deducible  from  it.  It  is 
manifest  that  the  general  opulence,  however  brought  about, 
results,  in  some  way  or  another,  from  the  action  and  reaction 
on  each  other  of  the  whole  system  of  persons  and  things, 
which  constitute  communities,  or  belong  to  them.  It  is  then 
at  least  possible  to  conceive  that  it  is  entirely  produced  by  the 
efforts  of  individuals  to  advance  their  private  fortunes.  That, 
though  it  is  the  object  of  individuals  to  acquire  wealth,  and  of 
nations  to  create  it,  yet  that  the  series  of  actions  which  the 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  397 

former  generate,  in  endeavoring  to  make  the  acquisition,  are 
precisely  those  which  are  best  calculated  to  forward  the 
creation  ;  and  that  thus,  unconsciously  to  himself,  each  member 
of  the  community,  while  seeking  merely  his  own  benefit, 
necessarily  adopts  the  very  course  which  is  most  for  the 
advantage  of  the  society,  and,  to  use  our  author's  words,  "  is 
led  in  this,  as  in  many  other  instances,  by  an  invisible  hand, 
tn  promote  an  end  that  was  no  part  of  his  intention." 

In  this  view  of  the  subject  the  doctrine  would  put  off  the 
shape  of  a  simple  principle,  and  assume  that  of  a  theory 
deduced  from  an  examination  of  the  whole  series  of  actions 
that  are  concerned  in  the  production  of  the  wealth  of  com- 
munities ;  and  in  this  way  we  may  conceive  that  it  might  be 
satisfactorily  proved  by  an  extended  inquiry  into  the  "  Nature 
of  the  Wealth  of  Nations." 

Such  is  the  theory  of  this  department  of  human  action, 
which  the  author  gives.  If  it  be  found  not  to  be  inconsistent 
with  the  phenomena,  but  fairly  deduced  from  them,  the  truth 
of  the  peculiar  doctrine,  which  it  is  the  aim  of  his  work  to 
maintain,  would  be  established  by  it. 

Before  endeavoring  to  explain  it,  or  attempting  to  show 
wherein  it  fails,  it  is  proper  to  remark  that  it  is  blended, 
throughout  the  whole  work,  with  that  notion  of  the  exact 
identity  of  the  ends  which  nations  and  individuals  pursue, 
the  fallacy  of  which  I  trust  I  have,  in  some  measure,  exposed 
in  the  preceding  chapter.  I  shall  afterwards  have  occasion  to 
show  that  this  arrangement  of  his  materials  sometimes  renders 
his  arguments  illogical.  I  am  led  to  notice  it  at  present, 
because  I  wish  to  account  for  the  appearance  of  this  assump- 
tion, unremarked  by  me,  in  the  analysis  of  the  theory  I  am 
a) unit  to  give. 

must  be  apparent  to  every  one  acquainted  with  the 
system,  that  its  parts  would  not  in  any  way  hang  together,  if 
deprived  of  the  support  which  this  popular  notion  gives  to 
them.  Indeed,  I  conceive  that  the  truest  account  that  could 
ivrn  (.1  it,  would  be  to  say,  that  it  is  altogether  founded  on 
the  assumption  that  national  and  individual  wealth  and  pros- 
perity increase,  and  must  increase,  in  precisely  the  same 
manner ;  and  that  the  theoretical  part  of  it  merely  serves  to 


398  APPENDIX 

show  how  the  increase  of  individual  wealth  does,  in  reality, 
produce  the  events  which  we  see  accompanying  national 
wealth ;  that  the  former  is  the  cause,  and  the  sole  cause,  of 
the  latter,  and  must  therefore  produce  all  the  phenomena 
attendant  on  it,  being  taken  for  an  undeniable  fact,  and  the 
author  seeming  merely  to  have  proposed  to  show  how  it  may 
be  supposed  to  produce  those  phenomena.  Thus,  were  what 
was  once  the  popular  doctrine  concerning  population  still  held 
to  be  the  correct  one,  and  were  we  to  take  it  for  granted  as  an 
undeniable  truth,  that,  as  the  national  strength,  and  revenue, 
and  wealth  can  only  advance  as  the  number  of  industrious 
hands  that  form  them  is  increased,  so  every  augmentation  of 
the  population  of  a  nation  is  an  addition  to  the  national  funds, 
and  that,  therefore,  things  ought  to  be  allowed  to  take  their 
natural  course ,  and  all  restraints  on  marriage  be  done  away 
with,  the  assumption  and  doctrine  might  be  supported  by  a 
theory,  showing,  or  endeavoring  to  show,  how  all  the  phenomena 
attending  the  advance  of  mankind  towards  prosperity  and 
affluence  do,  in  fact,  result  from  their  increasing  numbers. 

It  might,  perhaps,  in  support  of  such  a  view  of  the  subject, 
be  said,  "  that,  as  necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention,  so, 
unless  pressed  by  want,  or  the  dread  of  it,  mankind  might 
never  have  exercised  their  ingenuity  in  discovering  even  the 
rudiments  of  the  arts ;  and  certainly  would  not  have  advanced 
them  beyond  the  most  unformed  and  imperfect  elements.  That, 
while  in  genial  climates  the  spontaneous  fruits  of  the  earth 
afforded  them  abundant  nourishment,  they  could  have  had  no 
motive  to  tax  the  labor  of  either  their  minds  or  bodies  to  pro- 
duce that  for  which  they  had  no  need.  That  it  was  the 
increase  of  their  numbers,  which,  rendering  the  supplies  that 
nature  had  dealt  out  to  them  insufficient,  imposed  the  task  on 
them  of  searching  out  the  means  of  procuring  additions  to 
them :  and  that  thus  necessity, 

*  Guns  acuens  mortalia  corda 

*        *        *        *        * 
Ut  varias  usus  meditando  extunderet  artes 
Paulatim,  etc. — 

*  Whetting  human  industry  by  care 

That  studious  need  might  useful  arts  explore,' 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  399 

is  in  truth  the  divinity  that  taught  mankind  the  most  essential 
arts. 

*  Primo  Ceres  ferro  mortales  vertere  terrain 
Instituit  ;  cum  jam  glatides  atque  arbuta  sacra? 
Defecerunt  sylva*  et  victum  Dodona  negavit. 

*  First  Ceres  taught  the  ground  with  grain  to  sow, 
And  armed  with  iron  shares  the  crooked  plough  ; 
When  now  Dodonian  oaks  no  more  supplied 
Their  mast,  and  trees  their  forest  fruit  denied.' l 

"  That  this  urgent  necessity,  this  imperious  mistress,  which 
nature  caused  to  spring  from  their  increasing  numbers,  made 
them  spread  themselves  over  the  earth,  and  people  even  the 
most  rigorous  climates.  That  the  *  rigid  lore '  of  the  '  stern 
•  •d  nurse'  thus  imposed  on  them,  though  harsh,  was 
healthful ;  as  a  proof  of  which  we  may  observe,  that  men  in 
general  subsist  in  greatest  comfort  and  abundance,  where  the 
climate  is  most  forbidding,  and  the  soil  most  stubborn,  because 
there,  that  they  may  subsist  at  all,  they  have  been  obliged  to 
to  their  succour  the  most  ingenious  arts,  and  the  most 
indefatigable  industry, 

*  Labor  omnia  vincit 

Improbus  et  duns  urgens  in  rebus  egestas.' 
4  What  cannot  endless  labor  urged  by  need  ?' 

it,  as  it  is  the  action  of  this  principle  which  has  given  rise 
to  all  the  arts,  so  it  is  it  which  has  brought  them  to  perfection. 
That,  while  a  territory  is  scantily  peopled,  and  its  inhabitants 

id  over  it  at  a  great  distance  from  each  other,  they  can 
never  subdivide  themselves  into  different  trades  and  employ- 
ments, and  each  devoting  himself  to  a  particular  business  and 

'•xercise  his  whole  ingenuity  to  bring  that  particular  occu- 
pation to  perfection ;  and  that  hence  arts  are  in  general  in  the 
most  flourishing  condition,  where  the  population  is  the  most 
dense. 

"That  to  these  causes,  thus  necessarily  proceeding  from  this 
great  principle,  we  are  to  ascribe  in  particular  both  the  opulence 
an-1  ]>n.s]u -rity  of  our  own  nation,  and  the  necessary  diffusion 
of  the  arts,  manners,  language,  and  race,  with  which  they  are 

.••cted,  and  in  which  they  are  embodied,  over  the  remotest 

1  [Virgil,  Oeergic*,  I.  149  f  (Dryden'a  TV*/.).  J 


4(>0  APPENDIX 

regions  of  the  globe.  That  thus,  although  men  in  marrying 
seek  only  their  own  good,  they  nevertheless  adopt  that  course 
which  is  most  to  the  advantage  of  society ;  and  here  too,  as 
in  many  other  instances,  are  led  by  an  invisible  hand  to  pro- 
mote an  end  which  was  no  part  of  their  intention.  That, 
therefore,  as  the  revenue  and  power  of  a  nation  can  only 
<-ase  as  its  population  increases,  and  as  the  increase  of 
population  tends  to  give  a  beginning  to  every  useful  art,  and 
to  carry  it  to  the  highest  perfection,  legislators  act  a  very 
absurd  and  culpable  part  in  attempting,  in  any  instance  to 
restrain  it,  or  to  check  what  is  undoubtedly  the  natural,  and 
apparently  the  most  beneficial  course  of  events." 

Such  a  theory,  like  almost  every  other  view  of  only  one  side 
of  a  complicated  subject,  would  probably  be  partly  correct,  and 
partly  erroneous  ;  but  it  might  be  possible  to  embrace  in  it 
a  great  mass  of  facts,  and  perhaps  to  give  it  considerable 
plausibility. 

In  examining  the  soundness  of  the  doctrine  founded  on  it, 
it  might  first  be  expedient  to  allow  the  assumptions  necessarily 
involved  in  it  to  pass  unnoticed,  and  to  test  its  accuracy  by  an 
application  to  facts.  Such  is  the  course  which  I  mean  to 
follow  in  this  introductory  examination  of  the  somewhat  similar 
theory,  as  it  seems  to  me,  which  is  the  groundwork  for  the  vast 
and  varied  accumulation  of  facts  and  opinions  embodied  in  the 
Wealth  of  Nations.  I  shall  allow  the  author's  assumptions  to 
pass  unquestioned  in  all  cases  where  they  are  mixed  with  the 
explanation  of  real  events,  though  I  may  esteem  that  explana- 
tion erroneous ;  and  it  is  only  where,  alone  and  unconnected 
with  facts,  they  are  brought  forward  for  the  purpose  of  argu- 
ments— as  incontrovertible  truths  in  order  to  establish  the 
particular  doctrine  which  I  combat, — that  I  will  feel  myself 
called  on  to  expose  the  fallacies  into  which  they  lead. 

The  celebrated  author  remarks,  "  that  it  is  from  his  labor 
alone  that  man  can  draw  the  necessaries,  the  conveniences,  the 
amusements  of  human  life,  from  the  materials  which  nature 
has  placed  around  him.  As  the  amount  of  these  necessaries, 
conveniences,  and  amusements,  which  any  man  can  afford  to 
enjoy,  constitutes  his  riches ;  so  the  amount  of  them  which  all 
the  men  in  the  nation  can  enjoy  constitutes  the  national  riches. 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  401 

Labor,  then,  being  the  first  price,  the  original  purchase  money, 
that  is  paid  for  all  things,  an  inquiry  into  national  wealth  is, 
in  fact,  an  inquiry  into  the  means  by  which  the  labor  of  the 
individuals  composing  a  nation  may  produce,  from  the  materials 
they  possess,  the  greatest  amount  of  necessaries,  conveniences, 
and  amusements. 

"  These  may  either  be  the  immediate  produce  of  that  labor, 
or  what  is  purchased  with  that  produce  from  other  nations. 
Hence  such  an  inquiry  may  be  divided  into  two  parts  ;  the  first 
treating  of  the  means  by  which  the  produce  of  the  national 
labor  becomes  greatest ;  the  second,  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  part  transferred  to  other  nations  procures  for  them,  in 
return,  the  greatest  amount  of  necessaries,  conveniences,  and 
amusements. 

"  First,  then,  may  be  considered  the  sources  of  wealth  that 
lie  altogether  within  the  society,  the  means  of  bringing,  by  the 
labor  of  its  members,  out  of  the  materials  which  it  possesses, 
the  greatest  amount  of  products  ;  that  is,  of  articles  affording, 
necessaries,  conveniences,  or  amusements. 

"  This,  in  any  particular  nation,  must  be  regulated  by  two 
circumstances.  First,  by  the  skill,  dexterity,  and  judgment 
with  which  its  labor  is  generally  applied;  secondly,  by  the 
proportion  between  the  number  of  those  who  are  employed  in 
useful  labor,  and  that  of  those  who  are  not  so  employed."  It 
is  to  the  first  of  these  circumstances,  which  he  observes  is  of 
much  the  greater  influence,  that  our  author's  reasonings  chiefly 
refer,  and  to  the  consideration  of  it,  therefore,  we  may  altogether 
confine  ourselves. 

"  The  chief  cause  operating  on  this,  the  main  source  of  the 
productiveness  of  labor,  is  capital.  Without  capital,  industry 
cuii Id  scarce  at  all  exist.  While  a  man  is  executing  a  piece  of 
labor,  he  must  have,  to  maintain  him,  a  stock  of  goods,  and  he 
must  have  ready  provided  for  him  the  tools  and  materials 
necessary  for  performing  the  work.  These  are  all  procured  by 
capital.  A  weaver,  for  instance,  could  not  apply  himself  to 
manufacture  a  web  of  cloth,  unless  there  were  stored  up  for 
him  a  supply  of  food,  and  other  necessaries,  sufficient  to  main- 
tain him  till  he  complete  and  sell  it,  and  were  ho  not  provided 
beforehand  with  a  loom  and  other  requisite  tools  and  materials. 

2c 


402  ArPKNDIX 

capital  which  provides  all  these,  either  his  own  or  that  of 
some  other  person. 

"As  capital  is  thus  the  most  essential  element  in  setting 
industry  in  motion,  so  it  is  by  the  amount  of  it,  that  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  that  industry  is  chiefly  determined. 

"  Every  man  having  capital  naturally  endeavors  to  make 
the  most  of  it ;  that  is,  to  cause  the  labor  which  it  puts  in 
motion  to  yield  the  greatest  amount  of  productions.  This  he 
effects  by  the  division  of  that  labor ;  that  is,  by  separating  the 
operations  it  has  to  perform  into  as  many  distinct  parts  as 
possible,  and  allotting  each  of  them  to  one  man,  or  one  set  of 
men,  as  a  peculiar  employment. 

"  The  increase  arising  to  the  productive  powers  of  labor, 
from  this  division  of  it,  is  owing  to  three  different  circum- 
stances. First,  to  the  increase  of  dexterity  in  every  particular 
workman ;  secondly,  to  the  saving  of  the  time  which  is 
commonly  lost  in  passing  from  one  species  of  work  to  another ; 
lastly,  to  the  invention  of  a  great  number  of  machines  which 
facilitate  and  abridge  labor. 

"  First,  the  improvement  of  the  dexterity  of  the  workman 
necessarily  increases  the  quantity  of  the  work  he  can  perform ; 
and  the  division  of  labor,  by  reducing  every  man's  business  to 
some  one  simple  operation,  and  by  making  this  operation  the 
sole  employment  of  his  life,  necessarily  increases  by  much  the 
dexterity  of  the  workman.  A  common  smith,  for  instance,  will 
scarce  make  more  than  three  hundred  nails  a  day,  and  those 
very  bad  ones.  A  boy  who  has  devoted  himself  entirely  to  the 
business  of  making  nails,  can  make  upwards  of  two  thousand. 

"  Secondly,  time  is  not  wasted  in  passing  from  one  work  to 
another,  and  the  indolent  sauntering  habits  induced  by  the 
frequent  change  of  employment  are  avoided. 

"  Thirdly,  the  invention  of  all  those  machines  by  which  labor 
is  so  much  facilitated  and  abridged,  seems  to  have  been 
originally  owing  to  the  division  of  labor.  In  consequence  of  it, 
the  whole  of  every  man's  attention  comes  naturally  to  be 
directed  to  some  one  very  simple  object.  It  is  naturally  to  be 
expected,  therefore,  that  some  one  or  other  of  those  who  are 
employed  in  each  particular  branch  of  labor  should  find  out 
easier  and  readier  methods  of  performing  their  own  particular 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  403 

work,  wherever  the  nature  of  it  admits  of  improvement.  In 
this  mode  a  great  number  of  such  improvements  on  the  pro- 
ductive power  of  labor  have  been  made. 

"  The  other  improvements  in  machinery  and  manufactures  l 
have  been  also  owing  to  the  division  of  labor.  Many  of  them 
have  been  made  by  the  ingenuity  of  those,  who,  from  this 
separation  of  employments,  have  taken  up  the  trade  of  making 
such  machines ;  others,  by  that  class  of  citizens  of  whom 
also  philosophy  or  speculation  becomes  the  sole  trade  and 
occupation. 

"  The  perfection  to  which  this  division  of  labor  may  be 
carried  depends  on  the  amount  of  capital  that  sets  it  in 
motion ;  because  the  same  number  of  workmen,  executing  a 
greater  quantity  of  work  in  proportion  as  they  are  better 
classified  and  divided,  require  consequently,  when  so  classified, 
a  larger  stock  of  materials,  and  the  extent  of  the  stock  of 
materials  provided  must  be  regulated  by  the  amount  of  capital 
accumulated.  Again,  when  so  divided,  they  both  require  and 
cause  to  be  invented  many  new  machines.  These  machines, 
also,  can  only  be  procured  by  a  capital  previously  stored  up. 
Not  only,  however,  does  the  accumulation  of  capital,  by  pro- 
viding more  abundant  materials  and  better  machines,  enable 
the  same  number  of  workmen  to  be  better  divided,  and  to 
produce  more  work,  but  it  also  may  be  observed  that  the 
number  of  workmen  in  any  branch  of  business  increases  with 
the  division  of  labor  in  that  branch.  Thus  the  increased 
accumulation  of  capital,  by  effecting  a  more  and  more  extended 
division  of  labor,  not  only  increases  the  productiveness  of  the 
labor  of  the  same  number  of  workmen,  but  adds  to  that 
number.  By  both  means,  therefore,  it  greatly  augments  the 
total  riches  of  the  society,  the  amount  of  necessaries,  conveni- 
ences, and  amusements  produced  by  its  members,  and  conse- 
quently enjoyed  by  them. 

"  These  productions  which  labor  by  the  aid  of  capital 
effects,  have  to  be  transported  to  the  places  where  they  are  to 
be  consumed,  have  there  to  be  stored  up  till  they  may  be 
wanted,  when  they  have  to  be  divided  into  small  portions, 
suited  to  the  convenience  of  the  persons  who  are  to  use  them. 

1 1  add  this  word  because  the  chain  of  reasoning  seems  to  require  it. 


404  APPENDIX 

The  dealers  in  wholesale  and  retail  are  enabled  to  perform 
these  useful  offices  by  the  instrumentality  of  capital,  and  the 
greater  the  amount  of  that  capital  the  more  easily  and 
effectually  they  can  perform  them.  Hence,  every  addition 
their  economy  makes  to  that  amount,  tends  also  to  the  increase 
of  the  general  prosperity. 

"  The  division  of  labor  is  limited  by  the  extent  of  the 
market.  Before  any  man,  or  any  set  of  men,  can  in  common 
prudence  devote  themselves  to  any  particular  employment, 
they  must  be  assured  that  they  can  dispose  of  the  commodity 
which  their  exertions  in  the  prosecution  of  that  employment 
will  produce.  In  situations  where  there  is  not  a  sufficient 
number  of  customers  near  at  hand  to  consume  the  manufactured 
article,  or  where  it  cannot  with  advantage  be  transported  to 
those  at  a  distance,  the  making  of  that  article  can  never 
become  the  exclusive  employment  of  any  man,  or  set  of  men. 
When,  therefore,  there  is  not  a  sufficiently  extensive  market, 
labor  cannot  be  so  much  subdivided  as  it  otherwise  would,  and 
its  productive  powers  are  cramped  for  want  of  room  in  which 
to  exert  themselves.  The  increase  of  capital  extends  the 
market  by  adding  to  the  numbers  and  general  opulence  of  the 
community,  and  by  facilitating  the  modes  of  communication 
between  all  parts  of  the  territories  which  it  possesses  ;  and  this 
extending  market  gives,  in  turn,  additional  celerity  to  the 
increase  of  capital." 

To  this  accumulation  of  capital,  this  continual  parsimonious 
saving  out  of  revenue,  the  principle  that,  according  to  our 
author,  animates  the  whole  progressive  movement  of  the 
society,  he  assigns  the  following  limit. 

"  When  the  stocks  of  many  rich  merchants  are  turned  into 
the  same  trade,  their  mutual  competition  naturally  tends  to 
lower  its  profit ;  and,  where  there  is  a  like  increase  of  stock  in 
all  the  different  trades  carried  on  in  the  same  society,  the  same 
competition  must  produce  the  same  effect  in  them  all.  As, 
then,  the  profits  of  capital  continually  lower  with  its  augmenta- 
tion, there  must  arrive  a  period  when  they  will  be  so  diminished 
as  to  render  it  no  longer  possible  to  save  any  part  of  them." 
When  this  period  arrives,  the  country  would  then,  I  think, 
according  to  our  author,  have  acquired  its  full  complement  of 


ADAM   SMITH   ON  FREE   TRADE  405 

riches ;  every  branch  of  business  therein  having  the  greatest 
quantity  of  capital  that  could  be  employed  in  it. 

"  But  besides  the  immediate  produce  of  its  own  industry,  a 
country  that  has  made  any  progress  in  the  accumulation  of 
capital,  and  consequent  division  of  labor  and  facility  of  pro- 
duction, comes  to  furnish  other  countries  with  many  articles, 
and,  in  exchange,  to  receive  from  them  many  other  articles. 
This  forms  another  source  from  whence  the  necessaries,  con- 
veniences, and  amusements  of  nations  may  be  supplied.  A 
country  is  enabled  to  do  this  from  two  causes.  The  soil, 
climate,  and  natural  productions  of  countries  are  various. 
Hence  one  country  has  generally  peculiar  advantages  over 
others  in  manufacturing  certain  articles.  Again,  one  country 
exceeds  another  in  the  amount  of  capital  it  possesses,  and 
consequently  in  the  skill  with  which  its  industry  is  applied ; 
hence,  also,  there  are  articles  which  it  can  produce  in  greater 
perfection  than  other  countries,  with  greater  facility,  or  both. 

"  This  is  the  origin,  and  these  are  the  advantages,  of  foreign 
trade.  By  means  of  it  two  or  more  nations  are  enabled  to 
exchange  with  one  another  what  would  otherwise  have  been  to 
each  superfluous  for  what,  through  these  exchanges,  procures 
to  each  an  additional  amount  of  the  necessaries,  conveniences, 
and  amusements  of  life. 

"  It  is  capital  which  enables  them  to  effect  these  beneficial 
exchanges,  and  the  amount  of  them  must  be  limited  by  the 
amount  of  capital  that  can  be  embarked  in  the  employment." 
What  quantity  of  capital  this  employment  may  absorb,  what 
quantity  of  productions  may  thus  be  exchanged  between 
different  countries,  is  a  problem  which  our  author  has  not,  as 
far  as  I  perceive,  given  us  certain  data  for  solving.  Some  of 
followers  think  it  illimitable,  but  it  is  clear  that  this  was 
not  his  opinion,  and  that,  though  he  did  not  assign  the  limits, 
h<-  nevertheless  believed  there  were  limits  to  it.  Accordingly 
ht  makes  another  channel,  through  which,  when  these  are 
filled,  it  may  flow,  gathering  still  volume  to  itself,  and  adding 
to  the  national  prosperity  as  it  proceeds. 

"  This  is  what  is  called  the  carrying  trade,  the  carrying  the 
.surplus  produce  of  one  nation  to  another.  Two  countries  may 
have  products  which  it  would  be  advantageous  for  them  to 


406  APPENDIX 

exchange,  but  they  may  not  have  capital  sufficient  to  provide 
the  means  necessary  for  effecting  this  exchange.  In  such 
case,  another  nation  having  a  superabundant  capital  may 
embark  part  of  it  in  performing  this  office  for  them,  and 
into  this  employment  a  country  so  circumstanced  naturally 
directs  such  a  capital.  When  the  capital  stock  of  any 
country  is  increased  in  such  a  degree,  that  it  cannot  be  all 
employed  in  supplying  the  consumption,  and  supporting  the 
productive  labor  of  that  particular  country,  the  surplus  part 
of  it  naturally  disgorges  itself  into  the  carrying  trade,  and  is 
employed  in  performing  the  same  offices  to  other  countries." 1 

It  may  be  observed,  however,  with  regard  to  this  last 
employment,  which  our  author  assigns  to  capital,  that  it 
implies  a  superiority  in  the  progress  of  the  productive  in- 
dustry of  the  country  enjoying  the  trade,  which  cannot  be 
calculated  on  beforehand.  A  nation  can  only  possess  a 
carrying  trade,  from  other  nations  wanting  foreign  trade. 
Though  it  may,  therefore,  form  a  source  of  gain  to  a  par- 
ticular nation,  it  seems  not  so  properly  to  be  reckoned 
among  the  causes  of  the  wealth  of  nations ;  for,  with  the 
general  progress  of  that  wealth,  according  to  the  theory  of 
our  author,  it  would  decay. 

The  ingenious  theory,  of  the  main  elements  of  which,  I 
have  thus  attempted  to  delineate  the  outlines,  its  eminent 
author  has  illustrated  with  a  felicity  of  observation,  and 
laboriousness  of  research,  which  it  were  as  vain  to  attempt 
to  depreciate,  as  superfluous  to  praise.  He  conceives  that  it 
•establishes  the  following  conclusions. 

"  The  natural  effort  of  every  individual  to  better  his  own 
•condition,  when  suffered  to  exert  itself  with  freedom  and 
security,  is  so  powerful  a  principle,  that  it  is  alone,  and 
without  any  assistance,  not  only  capable  of  carrying  on  the 
society  to  wealth  and  prosperity,  but  of  surmounting  a  hun- 
dred impertinent  obstructions  with  which  the  folly  of  human 
laws  too  often  encumbers  its  operations ;  though  the  effect 
of  these  obstructions  is  always,  more  or  less,  either  to 
encroach  upon  its  freedom  or  to  diminish  its  security." 2 
That  "  every  system  which  endeavors,  either,  by  extraordinary 
1  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  II.  c.  V.  2  B.  IV.  c.  V. 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  407 

encouragements  to  draw  towards  a  particular  species  of  in- 
dustry a  greater  share  of  the  capital  of  the  society,  than 
what  would  naturally  go  to  it,  or,  by  extraordinary  restraints, 
to  force  from  a  particular  species  of  industry  some  share 
of  the  capital  which  would  otherwise  be  employed  in  it, 
is,  in  reality,  subversive  of  the  great  purpose  which  it 
means  to  promote.  It  retards  instead  of  accelerating,  the 
progress  of  the  society  towards  wealth  and  greatness ;  and 
diminishes,  instead  of  increasing,  the  real  value  of  the  annual 
produce  of  its  land  and  labor."  And  therefore,  that  "  all 
systems,  either  of  preference  or  restraint,  being  completely 
taken  away,  the  obvious  and  simple  system  of  natural  liberty 
•lishes  itself  of  its  own  accord.  Every  man,  as  long 
a>  he  does  not  violate  the  laws  of  justice,  is  left  perfectly 
free  to  pursue  his  own  interest  his  own  way,  and  to  bring 
both  his  industry  and  capital  into  competition  with  those  of 
any  other  man,  or  order  of  men.  The  sovereign  is  completely 
discharged  from  a  duty,  in  attempting  to  perform  which  he 
must  always  be  exposed  to  innumerable  delusions,  and  for  the 
proper  performance  of  which  no  human  wisdom  or  knowledge 
could  ever  be  sufficient ;  the  duty  of  superintending  the 
industry  of  private  people,  and  of  directing  it  towards  the 
employments  most  suitable  to  the  interest  of  the  society." l 

I  expect  in  the  sequel  to  show  that  the  system  contains 
certain  fundamental  errors  invalidating  very  many  of  the 
conclusions,  which  the  author  desires  to  establish.  In  the 
mean  time,  passing  all  such  discussions,  and  viewing  the 
subject  in  something  of  the  light  in  which  it  seems  to  have 
been  contemplated  by  Adam  Smith  himself,  I  would  observe, 
his  system,  if  correct,  must  be  consistent  with  itself,  and 
with  admitted  facts.  His  theory  pretends  to  show,  that  the 
source  of  the  wealth  of  nations,  the  abundance,  that  is,  of  all 
the  materials  of  comfort  and  enjoyment,  the  necessaries,  the 
conveniences,  the  amusements  of  life  which  men  possess,  is 
to  be  found  in  the  gradual  accumulation  of  capital  by  the 
undisturbed  industry  and  economy  of  individuals,  continually 
through  the  division  of  labor,  introducing  improvements  in 
the  modes  in  which  this  labor  operates  with  that  capital,  and, 
1  Wealth  of  Nation*,  B.  IV.  c.  I  \ 


408  APPENDIX 

consequently,  increasing  with  the  greatest  possible  rapidity  the 
returns  from  them.  His  doctrine  is,  that  the  accumulation 
of  capital  by  individuals,  being  thus  the  only  thing  required 
to  produce  that  abundance  with  the  greatest  possible  rapidity, 
ought  never  to  be  interfered  with  by  the  legislator;  ami 
that,  if  he  does  so,  it  must  necessarily  be  to  the  detriment 
of  the  society  for  which  he  legislates.  If,  therefore,  even 
according  to  him,  there  are  other  sources,  than  the  mere 
accumulation  of  capital,  and  consequent  division  of  labor,  on 
which  nations  are  dependent  for  turning  their  labor  ami 
capital  to  the  best  account,  and  thus  drawing  from  their 
resources  the  most  abundant  returns  of  necessaries,  conveni- 
ences, and  amusements,  that  is  of  wealth ;  in  so  far,  his  theory 
would  seem  imperfect,  and  his  doctrine  inapplicable.  If  we 
now  turn  in  particular  to  the  part  of  the  system  with  which 
we  are  specially  interested,  we  find,  in  reality,  that  as  far  as 
it  is  concerned,  the  theory  is  thus  inconsistent  with  events 
admitted  by  its  author,  that  hence  this  portion  of  it  is  con- 
tradictory to  itself,  and  to  admitted  phenomena,  and  that 
consequently  the  doctrine  drawn  from  it  cannot  here  be 
maintained. 

In  the  account  of  the  progress  of  opulence,  given  in  the 
Wealth  of  Nations,  we  find  assigned,  as  one  of  the  causes 
of  it,  the  introduction  into  a  country  of  new  manufactures. 
"  According  to  the  natural  course  of  things,"  we  are  told, 
"  the  greater  part  of  the  wealth  of  any  growing  society  is 
first  directed  to  agriculture,  afterwards  to  manufactures,  and 
last  of  all  to  foreign  commerce." 1  "  After  agriculture,  the 
capital  employed  in  manufactures  puts  into  motion  the  greatest 
quantity  of  productive  labor." 2  The  utility  of  such  manu- 
factures is  enlarged  on  in  many  parts  of  the  work.  "  They 
give  a  new  value  to  the  surplus  part  of  the  rude  produce  by 
saving  the  expense  of  carrying  it  to  the  water  side,  or  to 
some  distant  market,  and  they  furnish  cultivators  with  some- 
thing in  exchange  for  it,  that  is  either  useful  or  agreeable 
to  them,  upon  easier  terms  than  they  could  have  obtained 
it  before.  The  cultivators  get  a  better  price  for  their  sur- 
plus produce,  and  can  purchase  cheaper  other  conveniences 
1  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  III.  c.  IX.  2B.  II.  c.  V. 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  409 

which  they  have  occasion  for.  They  are  thus  encouraged 
and  enabled  to  increase  this  surplus  produce  by  a  farther 
improvement  and  better  cultivation  of  the  land ;  and  as  the 
fertility  of  the  land  had  given  birth  to  the  manufacture,  so 
the  progress  of  the  manufacture  reacts  upon  the  land,  and 
increases  still  farther  its  fertility.  The  manufacturers  first 
supply  the  neighborhood,  and,  as  their  work  improves  and 
refines,  more  distant  markets.  For  though  neither  the  rude 
produce  nor  even  the  coarse  manufacture  could,  without  the 
greatest  difficulty,  support  the  expense  of  a  considerable  land 
carriage,  the  refined  and  improved  manufacture  easily  may. 
In  a  small  bulk  it  frequently  contains  the  price  of  a  great 
quantity  of  rude  produce."  l  "  The  revenue  of  a  trading  and 
manufacturing  country  must,  other  things  being  equal,  always 
!•••  niin-li  ui eater  than  that  of  one  without  trade  or  manu- 
la< -lures.  By  means  of  trade  and  manufactures  a  greater 
quantity  of  subsistence  can  be  annually  imported  into  a 
country  than  what  its  own  lands,  in  the  actual  state  of 
their  cultivation,  could  afford.  The  inhabitants  of  a  town, 
though  they  frequently  possess  no  lands  of  their  own,  yet 
draw  to  themselves,  by  their  industry,  such  a  quantity  of 
the  rude  produce  of  the  lands  of  other  people  as  supply 
them,  not  only  with  the  materials  of  their  work,  but  with 
the  fund  of  their  subsistence.  What  a  town  always  is  in 
id  to  the  country  in  its  neighbourhood,  one  independent 
state  or  country  may  frequently  be  with  regard  to  other 
independent  states  or  countries.2  Commerce  and  manufac- 
tures gradually  introduced  order  and  good  government "  (into 
Kuruj.r),  "and  with  them  the  liberty  and  security  of  indi- 
viduals among  the  inhabitants  of  the  country,  who  had 
before  lived  almost  in  a  continual  state  of  war  with  their 
neighbors,  and  of  servile  dependency  upon  their  superiors.8 

"  No  foreign  war,  of  great  expense  or  duration,  could  con- 
veniently be  carried  on  by  the  exportation  of  the  rude  produce 
»if  the  soil.  The  expense  of  sending  such  a  quantity  of  it  to  a 
fnivi'_'ii  country  as  might  purchase  the  pay  and  provisions  of  an 
army  would  be  too  great.  Few  countries,  too,  produce  much 
more  produce  than  what  is  sufficient  for  the  subsistence  of 

1  Wealth  of  tfatim*,  l;.    ill    8,    III  «B.  IV.   .-.    IV  »B.  III.  c.  IV. 


410  APPENDIX 

their  own  inhabitants.  To  send  abroad  any  great  quantity  of 
it,  therefore,  would  be  to  send  abroad  a  part  of  the  necessary 
subsistence  of  the  people.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  exporta- 
tion of  manufactures.  The  maintenance  of  the  people  employed 
in  them  is  kept  at  home,  and  only  the  surplus  part  of  their 
work  is  exported.  Among  nations  to  whom  commerce  and 
manufactures  are  little  known,  the  sovereign,  upon  extra- 
ordinary occasions,  can  seldom  draw  any  considerable  aid  from 
his  subjects.1  In  modern  war  the  great  expense  of  fire  arms 
gives  an  evident  advantage  to  the  nation  which  can  best  afford 
that  expense  ;  and,  consequently,  to  an  opulent  and  civilized 
over  a  poor  and  barbarous  nation." 

According  to  our  author,  some  of  these  manufactures  pro- 
ceed from  the  original  rude  arts  of  the  country  cultivated  and 
refined  by  the  gradual  progress  of  capital  and  of  the  division  of 
labor ;  others  are  introduced  from  foreign  states.  This  transfer 
takes  place  in  the  following  manner.  Trade  first,  by  degrees, 
introduces  a  taste  for  the  foreign  manufacture ;  the  demand  for 
it  increases  with  time  and  the  opulence  of  the  society.  But 
when  this  trade  has  become  so  general  as  to  occasion  an  exten- 
sive consumption,  the  merchants  of  the  country,  to  save  the 
expense  attending  the  transport  of  the  article  from  a  foreign 
country,  introduce  the  manufacture  of  it  at  home. 

In  some  cases,  then,  the  increase  of  capital,  arising  from  the 
accumulation  of  individuals,  and  division  of  labour  thence 
arising,  is  not,  it  would  appear,  sufficient  alone  to  account  for 
the  progress  of  improvement,  and  consequent  production  of 
fresh  funds  out  of  which  wealth  may  grow.  For,  in  cases 
where  the  raw  materials  exist,  and  capital  to  divide  labor  and 
put  it  in  motion  also  exists,  these  are  sometimes  confessedly 
dependent  on  the  importation  of  new  arts  from  other  countries, 
for  the  means  of  being  advantageously  directed.  These  ad- 
mitted facts  are  certainly  not  in  accordance  with  our  author's 
theory.  Passing,  however,  the  consideration  of  this  at  present, 
I  should  wish  to  direct  the  reader's  attention  to  the  applica- 
tion of  his  peculiar  doctrines  to  events  of  this  class ;  and, 
that  I  may  do  so,  it  is  necessary  to  examine  them  with  some- 
what more  attention. 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  IV.  c.  I. 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  411 

When  goods  are  transported  from  a  distance,  a  great  part  of 
their  price  is  made  up  of  the  expense,  attending  the  transport. 
This  arises  not  merely  from  the  simple  expense  of  carriage,  but 
from  the  risk  attending  it,  from  the  perils  of  land  and  water, 
and  the  carelessness  or  knavery  of  those  who  are  entrusted 
with  it ;  from  the  profits  which  the  different  capitalists, 
through  whom  they  may  be  transferred,  exact,  and  from  the 
damage  to  which  commodities  are  subject  by  being  long  kept 
on  hand.  The  price  of  very  many  commodities  transported 
from  one  country  to  another  is  doubled  by  the  influence  of 
these  causes ;  not  a  few  of  them  derive  more  than  three  fourths 
of  their  value  from  them. 

Hence  the  transfer  of  the  manufacture  of  such  goods  to  the 
countries  to  which,  when  manufactured,  they  were  before  sent, 
is  very  highly  advantageous  to  those  countries.  It  is  advan- 
tageous from  the  saving  to  the  national  income  which  it  effects 
1 » y  doing  away  with  the  expense  of  transport ;  from  furnishing, 
according  to  our  author,  a  new  and  more  profitable  employ- 
ment for  capital ;  and  from  the  general  effects  it  produces  on 
the  national  prosperity,  as  exemplified  by  him  in  the  passages 
I  have  quoted.  It  must  be  allowed,  moreover,  that  this  intro- 
duction of  such  manufactures,  by  the  violent  operation,  as  he 
terms  it,  of  the  stocks  of  particular  merchants  and  undertakers, 
who  establish  them  in  imitation  of  some  foreign  manufactures 
of  the  same  kind,  is  a  matter  of  great  difficulty. 

For,  in  the  first  place,  the  materials  which  the  home  supply 
affords,  will,  in  all  probability,  be  not  altogether  similar  to 
those  that  are  used  for  the  same  purpose  in  the  foreign  country. 
Some  may  be  better,  some  worse  adapted  to  the  purpose,  but 
they  can  scarcely  be  altogether  alike.  They  must  vary,  too,  in 
their  price,  some  being  cheaper,  some  dearer,  than  in  the 
country  from  whence  the  manufacture  is  brought. 

The  greater  part  of  manufactures  are  also  influenced  by  the 
( liiuatf.  The  dryness  or  moisture  of  the  atmosphere,  the 
<-es  of  heat  and  cold,  the  brightness  of  the  sky  and  conse- 
quent intensity  of  the  light,  are  circumstances  which  all,  more 
or  less,  affect  many  manufactures. 

The  proportion  between  the  rates  of  wages  and  profits  of  stock 
is  also  very  different  in  different  countries,  and  it  considerably 


412  APPENDIX 

influences  the  determination  of  what  may  be  the  most  advan- 
tageous mode  of  conducting  any  process  in  any  country. 

When  the  discovery  of  that  exact  mode  of  procedure,  which 
the  relations  and  connexions  that  these  new  circumstances 
have  to  each  other  renders  most  expedient,  has  once  been  made, 
it  may  be  found  that  they  are  on  the  whole  more  favorable 
and  such  as  will  produce  a  better  article,  at  less  cost,  in  the 
country  to  which  the  manufacture  is  transported,  than  in  that 
in  which  it  was  originally  exercised.  To  make  the  discovery, 
however,  of  this  exact  procedure  is  always  a  matter  of  difficulty, 
and  implies  almost  necessarily  the  previous  commission  of 
many  errors  and  mistakes,  and  the  incurring  of  much  needless 
expense  and  loss.  A  single  individual,  whatever  intelligence 
and  application  he  may  possess,  can  scarce  hope  to  arrive  at  it; 
it  requires  the  efforts  of  many  individuals,  continued  through 
a  considerable  course  of  time. 

But  these  modifications,  in  the  process  of  any  manufacture, 
which  its  removal  from  one  country  to  another  demands,  are 
far  from  being  the  only  difficulty  attending  that  removal.  An 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  the  manufacture,  and 
of  the  manner  in  which  every  part  of  it  is  carried  on  in  the 
foreign  country,  must  be  obtained  ;  the  requisite  machinery  has 
to  be  provided,  and  workmen,  possessing  the  skill  and  dexterity 
which  each  part  of  the  process  requires,  must  be  procured. 
These  are  generally  matters  of  great  difficulty. 

Very  few  individuals  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  every 
different  part  of  any  complicated  manufacture.  In  examining 
any  large  and  successful  manufacturing  establishment,  we  com- 
monly find  that  the  various  parts  of  it  depend,  for  the  perfection 
with  which  they  are  conducted,  on  the  efforts  of  different 
individuals,  who  devote  their  whole  attention  to  their  own 
departments,  and  are  not  at  all  qualified  to  change  places  with 
each  other ;  while  the  director  of  the  whole  has  only  such  a 
general  knowledge  of  each  as  enables  him  to  say  when  it  is 
properly  conducted,  not  himself  to  point  out  the  exact  mode  of 
best  conducting  it.  It  is  his  business  to  preserve  the  economy 
of  the  whole,  and  to  search  out  the  individuals  best  fitted  for 
carrying  on  every  part.  Hence  the  undertaker  of  any  such 
work,  in  a  country  where  it  has  not  been  practised,  has  not 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  413 

only  to  engage  one,  but  generally  many  individuals,  in  order 
that  the  different  processes  of  the  manufacture  may  be  pro- 
perly conducted.  The  difficulty  of  finding  persons  of  sufficient 
intelligence  and  integrity  for  the  purpose,  who  will  remove  to 
a  distant  country,  without  an  extravagant  reward,  is  very 
great,  and  the  risk  of  being  imposed  on  by  engaging  persons  of 
insufficient  skill,  and  consequently  suffering  considerable  loss, 
is  not  small.  The  difficulty  of  transporting,  or  of  constructing 
there,  the  necessary  machinery,  is  often  still  greater;  and  when 
these  are  procured,  workmen  having  the  requisite  skill  and 
•dexterity  for  performing  the  mere  manual  part  are  still  want- 
ing. These,  if  brought  from  a  foreign  country,  as  is  often 
necessary,  can  only  be  induced  to  expatriate  themselves  by  the 
receipt  of  exorbitant  wages ;  and,  even  if  the  natives  of  the 
country  where  the  new  manufacture  is  to  be  established  can  be 
trained  from  the  first  to  execute  the  necessary  manual  opera- 
tions, besides  the  loss  arising  from  their  deficient  dexterity, 
they  will  demand  higher  wages  than  those  engaged  in  estab- 
lished employments.  A  man  naturally  prefers  continuing  in 
any  sort  of  work  which  he  understands,  rather  than  displaying 
his  awkwardness  in  attempting  to  perform  an  operation  that  is 
strange  to  him.  Besides,  he  has,  in  general,  reason  to  appre- 
hend that,  should  the  new  manufacture  fail,  he  will  have 
difficulty  in  again  finding  employment  in  the  trade  he  had  for- 
saken. On  these  accounts  it  happens  that  "  when  a  projector 
attempts  to  establish  a  new  manufacture,  he  must  at  first  entice 
his  workmen  from  other  employments  by  higher  wages  than 
they  can  either  earn  in  their  own  trades,  or  than  the  nature  of 
his  work  would  otherwise  require ;  and  a  considerable  time 
must  pass  away  before  he  can  venture  to  reduce  them  to  the 
common  level."  l 

All  these  circumstances  create  so  many  obstacles  to  the 
•efforts  of  private  individuals,  in  their  endeavors  to  carry  a 
manufacture  from  a  country  in  which  it  already  prospers,  to 
another  in  which  it  is  unknown,  that  it  is,  I  believe,  very  rnivlv 
have  succeeded  in  doing  so,  without  the  occurrence  of  some 
favorable  conjuncture  of  events,  to  aid  tln-m  in  the  project 

In   point   of  fact   it    will    be   fouml.    that   the   transfer   of 

,  B.  I. 


414  APPENDIX 

manufactures  from  one  nation  to  another,  or  rather  the  general 
propagation,  through  all  countries,  of  this  most  important  source 
of  the  opulence  of  every  one,  has  been  chiefly  owing  to  causes, 
which,  at  first  sight,  would  seem  little  calculated  to  produce  so 
beneficial  effects.  Wars  and  conquests,  tyranny  and  persecu- 
tion, the  jealousy  and  hatred  of  rival  states,  have,  strange  to 
say,  been  the  main  agents  in  disseminating  arts  and  industry 
over  the  globe,  and  thus  ameliorating  the  social  condition  of 
the  whole  human  race.  Events,  that,  to  those  to  whom  they 
happened,  brought  nothing  but  calamity  and  suffering,  have 
procured  prosperity  and  opulence  to  the  generations  that  have 
succeeded  them, — convulsions,  that  disturb  and  derange  the 
frame  of  civil  society,  like  those  which  occasionally  shake  and 
desolate  the  globe,  in  the  midst  of  present  destruction  and 
devastation,  carrying  often  the  elements  of  future  fertility  and 
abundance. 

Manufactures  have  commonly  been  carried  to  a  distance  by 
the  men  who  have  exercised  those  manufactures.  But  no  one 
willingly  expatriates  himself.  They  even,  who  would  seem  to 
have  least  to  attach  them  to  their  native  soil,  the  poor  mechanic, 
and  drudging  laborer,  cling  to  it  with  the  greatest  tenacity,  and 
generally  quit  it  not,  unless  forced  from  it  by  inevitable  neces- 
sity or  by  the  continued  pressure  of  some  heavy  evil.  In  this 
way  the  ills  that  the  tyranny  of  despots,  or  civil  and  religious 
factions,  or  war,  or  famine,  bring  upon  communities,  have  often 
compelled  great  numbers  of  their  most  industrious  citizens, 
to  abandon  their  homes,  and  seek  refuge  in  foreign  countries. 
These  emigrations  have  been  powerfully  instrumental  in  im- 
proving the  arts  of  civilized  life  and  diffusing  a  knowledge  of 
them  over  the  earth.  Perhaps  few  arts  would  have  much 
passed  the  narrow  limits  to  which  their  first  discovery  confined 
them,  had  not  communities  been  subject  to  be  torn  in  pieces, 
and  scattered  abroad,  by  the  violence  of  the  events  to  which 
we  allude,  and  which  have  been  taking  place  in  every  age  since 
the  world  began.  Whenever  such  emigrations  occur,  they 
carry  the  knowledge  and  skill  of  the  countries  they  leave,  into 
those  in  which  they  settle,  and  diffuse  them  over  them ;  by 
bringing  together  the  different  arts  of  different  countries,  they 
enable  one  to  borrow  from  the  other,  and  raise  all  nearer  to 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  415 

perfection ;  and,  by  giving  opportunity  to  them  to  unite  with 
one  another,  from  that  union,  they  occasionally  produce  some 
that  did  not  before  exist.  In  all  these  modes,  they  have  pro- 
moted very  greatly  the  progress  of  human  improvement.  The 
influence  of  these  causes,  though  more  powerful  in  remote  ages 
than  in  the  present  times,  has  not  yet  ceased.  It  is  shown  in 
events  of  very  recent  date  or  actual  progress.  To  it  we  chiefly 
owe  the  origin  of  those  flourishing  states,  which  the  European 
race  have  raised  up  in  North  America  ;  and  the  rapid  progress 
over  the  Western  Hemisphere,  of  every  improvement  that  art 
or  science  effects  in  the  Eastern. 

Besides  the  direct  agency  which  these  outbreakings  of  the 
violent  passions  of  mankind,  by  disturbing  and  deranging  the 
smooth  and  uniform  course  of  human  existence,  have  had  in 
casting  it  into  new  and  often  improved  forms,  they  have  pro- 
duced similar  effects  in  a  manner  less  conspicuous  and  evident. 
Commerce  introduces  a  taste  for  the  productions  of  the  arts  of 
one  country  into  others,  which  are  remote  from  it.  These  pro- 
ductions, at  first  regarded  as  mere  superfluities  or  luxuries,  pass, 
in  time  and  from  habit,  into  things  essential  to  the  comfort, 
almost  to  the  existence,  of  those  who  have  become  accustomed 
to  their  use.  War  interrupts  this  commerce  and  thus  cuts  off 
the  supply  that  it  afforded  of  such  articles.  Excited  by  the 

rds  offered  by  the  eagerness  of  a  demand  that  cannot  be 
supplied  from  abroad,  the  domestic  industry  of  the  country  then 

is  itself,  first,  to  produce  rude  imitations  of  the  foreign 
commodity,  and  at  length,  rival  manufactures.  This  is  a  cause 
which  has  extensively  operated  in  modern  times,  in  spreading 
manufactures  from  country  to  country.  It  is  to  the  wars 
springing  out  of  the  French  revolution,  and  the  interruption  to- 

pean  commerce  that  they  occasioned,  that  the  first  rise  of 
many  manufactures  in  different  parts  of  the  old  and  new  world, 
which  are  now  in  a  very  prosperous  condition,  is  to  be  traced. 

But  besides  the  influence  which  the  violent  operation  of 
foreign  ware,  and  intestine  commotions,  has  had  in  promoting 
thr  pr..pa-j:ition  of  arts  over  the  w«»rM.  many  of  them  unques- 
tionably have  been  encouraged  and  enabled  to  extend  themselves 
to,  and  take  rout  in,  countries  remote  from  the  seats  where  they 

ually  flourished,  by  the  direct  efforts  of  the  legislators  of 


4  Hi  APPENDIX 

such  countries,  to  draw  them  there,  to  cherish  their  first  feeble 
advances,  and  to  promote  their  subsequent  growth  and  vigor. 
There  are  very  few  productions  of  modern  art,  that  do  not 
stand  indebted  to  the  legislators  of  the  countries  in  which  they 
are  manufactured,  for  their  advancement  and  perfection. 

These  three  causes  have,  generally,  more  or  less  co-operated 
with  each  other  in  the  extension  and  advancement  of  every 
branch  of  art.  The  cases  where  the  efforts  of  private  indivi- 
duals, unaided  by  one  or  all  of  them,  have  been  successful  in 
transferring  any  manufacture  to  a  distant  country,  are,  as  I 
have  already  observed,  exceedingly  rare. 

In  accordance  with  the  doctrine  which  he  supports  through- 
out, it  is  here  maintained  by  our  author  that  the  last  of  these 
causes  operating  in  the  production  of  new  arts,  or  in  their 
introduction  into  a  country,  viz.,  the  interference  of  the  legis- 
lator, is  improper,  because  necessarily  injurious  ;  and  that  his 
agency,  so  directed,  always,  and  from  its  very  nature,  instead 
of  promoting  the  advancement  of  the  general  opulence  and 
prosperity,  operates  in  a  manner  prejudicial  to  both.  Allowing 
that  this  introduction  of  new  arts  and  manufactures  from 
foreign  states  is,  in  itself,  beneficial,  in  so  much  that  he  assigns 
it,  as  we  have  seen,  as  one  of  the  causes  of  countries  becoming 
wealthy  and  prosperous, — he  maintains,  that  this  particular 
mode  of  introducing  them  is  necessarily  injurious.  We  have 
then  to  inquire,  if  there  are  any  other  means  by  which,  accord- 
ing to  his  principles,  this  acknowledged  most  beneficial  result 
can  be  brought  about. 

The  violent  operation  of  foreign  wars  or  domestic  disturb- 
ances, will  scarce,  I  think,  be  said  to  be  more  advantageous 
methods  of  effecting  this  purpose,  than  the  restrictions  and 
bounties  of  the  legislator.  At  all  events  such  causes  are  con- 
tinually diminishing  in  their  frequency  and  the  vigor  of  their 
operations,  and  becoming  more  and  more  beyond  the  reach  of 
our  calculations.  For  spreading  the  useful  arts  from  people 
to  people,  this  element  confessedly  of  very  great  importance  in 
the  advance  of  the  general  welfare  of  mankind,  there  remains 
then,  according  to  these  principles,  but  the  unaided  efforts  of 
private  individuals  alone. 

It  must  be  kept  in  mind,  that,  by  the  efforts  of  individuals, 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  417 

are  meant,  according  to  our  author,  their  endeavors  to  better 
their  condition  ;  that  is,  as  he  defines  it,  to  increase  their  for- 
tunes. But,  in  order  to  add  to  his  fortune,  one  must  get  more 
than  he  gives.  No  such  efforts  can  ever  lead  any  individual 
to  embark  in  a  project  that  will  probably  take  more  from  him, 
than  it  will  return  to  him.  Now,  to  transfer  a  manufacture 
from  one  country  to  another,  must  always  be  a  very  tedious 
and  expensive  operation,  for  any  individual  to  perform.  The 
consideration  of  his  own  profit,  the  sole  motive  according  to 
our  author,  which  determines  the  owner  of  a  capital  to  employ 
it  in  any  undertaking,  would  never  lead  one,  to  engage  in  the 
enterprise  of  establishing  a  new  manufacture  in  any  country 
unless  of  such  commodities  as  were  of  common  consumption  in 
it,  and  which  he  could  therefore  be  sure  to  sell.  Those  com- 
modities being  of  common  consumption,  and  not  produced 
within  the  country,  must  at  the  time  be  furnished  by  some 
foreign  state,  and,  consequently,  to  procure  their  sale,  he  must 
be  able  to  supply  them,  at  as  cheap  a  rate  as  that  state.  The 
effecting  this,  for  reasons  I  have  stated,  would  generally  take 
more  time  and  money,  than  any  private  individual  can  afford. 
But,  granting  that  the  funds  of  some  private  individuals  could 
afford  this  requisite  outlay,  and  that  they  should  succeed  in 
bringing  the  manufacture  to  such  perfection  as  to  enable  them 
to  sell  the  commodity  on  terms  equal  to  those  of  the  foreign 
merchant,  or  lower  than  his,  the  more  difficult  question  is, 
how  is  this  great  outlay  to  be  reimbursed  ?  A  great  part  of 
an  individual's  capital  has  been  expended.  This  expenditure 
evidently,  be  reimbursed  to  him  only  by  his  drawing  pro- 
portionally larger  profits,  than  he  otherwise  could,  from  what 
remains.  To  balance  the  extraordinary  outlay,  he  must  have 
extraordinary  returns. 

Hut  profits  far  exceeding  the  usual  rate  of  profit  can  scarcely 
ever  be  drawn,  for  any  time,  from  any  employment.  "  If,  in 
the  same  neighborhood,  there  was  any  employment  evidently 
more  advantageous  than  the  rest,  so  many  people  would  crowd 
into  it,  that  its  advantages  would  soon  return  into  the  level  of 
otlirr  t-mployments."1  It  is  no  doubt  true,  that  the  proprietor 
of  such  new  manufacture  might,  sometimes,  not  only  succeed 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  I. 
2D 


418  APPENDIX 

in  establishing  it,  but  in  keeping  secret  the  great  profits  he 
made  from  it,  !<>r  a  considerable  period.  This  is  a  piece  of 
good  fortune,  however,  which,  though  it  might  sometimes  befall 
an  individual,  he  could  never  beforehand  fairly  calculate  <m. 
It  is  much  more  probable  that  his  success  would  be  blazoned 
al'ioad  and  exaggerated,  that  several  projectors  would  establish 
themselves  beside  him,  and,  by  bribing  his  workmen  with 
somewhat  higher  wages,  with  comparative  ease,  succeed  in  de- 
priving him  of  the  profits  he  might  otherwise  have  drawn  i'mni 
his  extraordinary  outlay  of  labor  and  capital.1  It  may,  there- 
fore, I  think,  be  safely  laid  down  as  a  principle,  that,  in  all 
ordinary  cases,  a  due  regard  to  their  own  interests  cannot  be  a 
motive  sufficient  to  prompt  individuals  to  such  undertakings. 
It  may  no  doubt  happen,  as  capitalists  are  every  now  and  then 
engaging  in  injudicious  projects,  and  such  as  either  injure  or 
ruin  them,  that  some  one  may  be  imprudent  enough  to  enter 
on  such  a  project  as  this,  and  may  succeed  in  introducing  a 
particular  manufacture,  though  with  the  loss  of  part,  or  of  the 
whole  of  his  capital.  But,  even  granting  that  such  an  occur- 
rence as  this  may  sometimes  take  place,  it  would  be  far  from 
serving  to  help  out  the  theory  we  are  discussing.  "  Every 
injudicious  and  unsuccessful  project  in  agriculture,  mines, 
fisheries,  trade,  or  manufactures,  tends  to  diminish  the  funds 
destined  for  the  maintenance  of  productive  labor.  In  every 
such  project,  though  the  capital  is  consumed  by  productive 
hands  only,  yet,  as  by  the  injudicious  manner  they  are  em- 
ployed, they  do  not  produce  the  full  value  of  their  consump- 
tion, there  must  always  be  some  diminution  in  what  would 
otherwise  have  been  the  productive  funds  of  the  society."2 
This  project  then,  being  injudicious  and  unsuccessful,  for  it 
would  have  occasioned  the  loss  of  a  portion  of  individual 
capital,  must,  by  these  principles,  be  injurious  to  the  society. 
If  it  be  said  by  any  supporter  of  these  doctrines,  that  this 

1  This  accounts  for    a  remark  of  our  author:  "The  undertaker  of  a  great 
manufactory  is  sometimes  alarmed  if  another  work  of  the  same  kind  is  estab- 
lished within  twenty  miles  of  him.     The  Dutch  undertaker  of  the  woollen 
manufacture  at  Abbeville,  stipulated,  that  no  work  of  the  same  kind  should 
be  established  within  thirty  leagues  of  that  city." 

2  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  II.  c.  III.  p.  131. 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  419 

is  too  strict  and  constrained  an  interpretation  of  them,  and 
that  the  loss  which  the  society  sustains,  by  the  destruction  of 
the  capital  of  the  original  introducer  of  the  manufacture,  must 
be  allowed  to  be  made  up  by  the  gain  which  it  receives  from 
the  profits  made  by  those  who  afterwards  engage  in  it;1  I 
reply,  that  I  perfectly  agree  with  him  in  his  conclusions.  I 
too  think,  that  the  small  present  expenditure  of  the  funds  of 
th«-  society  which  the  project  may  occasion,  may  be  more  than 
repaid,  by  the  large  future  revenue  that  it  will  bring  in.  The 
only  difference  between  us  is,  that  the  doctrines  he  advocates, 
teach  us  to  wait,  till  the  miscalculations  of  some  unfortunate 
projector  confer  on  us  a  public  benefit,  whereas,  I  hold,  that  it 
would  be  more  just  and  judicious  that  the  necessary  first  cost 
of  the  scheme  should  be  borne  by  the  whole  community ; 
more  just,  as  thus  the  burden  necessary  to  be  borne  to  procure 
a  common  benefit  will  be  divided  amongst  all,  instead  of  being 
sustained  by  one ;  more  judicious,  as  the  society  will  not  have 
to  wait,  for  the  attainment  of  a  desirable  object,  on  so  doubtful 
a  chance  as  the  folly  of  projectors. 

It  may  also  happen,  that  an  individual,  by  some  rare  con- 
currence of  accidents,  may  become  initiated  into  all  the  secrets 
of  some  foreign  manufacture,  and,  by  some  equally  rare  and 
happy  union  of  good  fortune  and  ingenuity,  may  succeed  in 
introducing  it  into  his  own  country  with  profit  to  himself.  To 
wait,  however,  for  this,  or  any  such  like  lucky  chance,  or 
singularly  fortunate  concurrence  of  circumstances,  while  better 
could  be  done,  would  be  like  waiting  till  the  natural  actions 
of  the  winds  and  tides  should,  by  some  strangely  propitious 
concurrence  of  events,  cast  upon  our  shores  a  valuable  plant 
or  seed,  that  we  might  directly  procure  for  the  mere  trouble 
and  expense  of  sending  for  it. 

There  are,  also,  motives  of  another  class,  capable,  no  doubt, 
of  leading  even  individuals  into  such  undertakings,  and  of 
carrying  them  successfully  through  them.  The  love  of 
country  or  fame,  or  the  desire  to  gratify  personal  vanity, 

1  "  Th<:  landlord  can  afford  to  try  experiments  and  is  generally  disposed  to 
do  so.  His  unsuccessful  experiments  occasion  only  a  moderate  loss  to  him- 
self. His  successful  ones  o.ntt  il.ute  to  the  improvement  and  better  cultiva- 
tion of  the  whole  country."  B.  V.  c.  II. 


420  APPENDIX 

are  powerful  motives  of  human  action,  and  may  sometimes 
even  be  directed  into  such  channels  as  this.  But  as  the 
tendency  of  such  motives  to  promote  the  growth  of  national 
wealth  is  opposed  to  the  principles  of  our  author,  and  is 
expressly  denied  by  him,  we  need  not  here  enter  into  any 
inquiry  concerning  them. 

There  is,  however,  one  case,  in  which  it  cannot  be  denied, 
that  the  efforts  of  individuals  to  promote  their  own  interests 
may  be  sufficient  to  introduce  a  new  manufacture.  If,  in  the 
progress  of  events,  the  requisites  for  a  foreign  manufacture 
come  to  be  produced  in  so  great  abundance,  and  with  so  much 
facility,  in  any  country,  that  a  projector  there  finds  that  he 
can  from  the  first  afford  to  manufacture  the  commodity,  and 
sell  it  at  as  low  a  rate  as  the  foreign  merchant,  a  due  regard 
to  self-interest  will  certainly  direct  a  portion  of  the  national 
capital  into  that  employment.  But,  a  case  of  the  circum- 
stances of  a  country  being  so  peculiarly  favorable  to  the 
practice  of  a  foreign  art,  that,  in  the  very  first  essays  it 
makes  in  it,  it  can  successfully  compete  with  another, 
where  that  art  has  been  long  established,  is  assuredly  very 
rare ;  and,  if  any  such  case  occur,  we  may  be  satisfied  that  the 
manufacture  might,  with  much  advantage,  have  been  previ- 
ously introduced. 

In  a  passage  already  quoted,  it  is  observed,  that,  "  when  a 
taste  for  foreign  manufactures  becomes  general,  the  merchants, 
in  order  to  save  the  expense  of  carriage,  naturally  endeavor  to 
establish  some  manufacture  of  the  same  kind  in  their  own 
country."  These  expressions  are  somewhat  too  loose  to  co- 
incide with  our  author's  theory.  It  cannot  be  to  save  the 
expense  of  carriage,  but  to  add  to  his  own  riches,  that  a  mer- 
chant will  endeavor  to  do  any  such  thing.  The  consummation 
of  such  a  measure,  by  saving  a  considerable  expense  to  the 
community,  might  indeed  add  largely  to  the  means  of  increas- 
ing their  wealth  in  possession  of  all  the  merchants,  or  rather  of 
all  the  members  of  the  society ;  but  "  it  is  his  own  advantage, 
and  not  that  of  the  society,  which  every  member  of  it  has  in 
view ; "  and,  in  this  system  of  perfect  liberty  and  freedom  from 
restraint,  which  is  asserted  to  be  the  true  plan  of  carrying  the 
general  prosperity  of  the  community  to  the  highest  pitch,  the 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  421 

difficulty  is,  to  discover  a  method  of  inducing  an  individual  to 
incur  an  unavoidable  outlay,  the  returns  from  which,  although 
very  beneh'cial  to  the  whole  society,  are  no  more  so  to  him  who 
lays  out  a  great  deal,  than  to  others  who  lay  out  nothing. 
Union  is  said  to  give  strength.  But  union  cannot  exist  unless 
there  be  a  bond  to  unite,  and  this  bond  must  confine  and 
restrain.  The  rods  to  make  a  bundle  were  tied  together. 
Men  are  tied  by  law,  a  bond  binding  all  to  pursue  the 
course  supposed  to  conduce  most  to  the  general  happi- 
ness. This  bond,  though  restraining  individual  freedom  of 
action,  and  preventing  individuals  from  pursuing  the  course 
which  they  might  find  most  conducive  to  their  own  private 
happiness,  has  not,  on  the  whole,  been  esteemed  to  have 
slightly  promoted  the  great  end  for  which  it  exists,  the  general 
wellbeing  of  mankind.  We  seek  to  rectify  its  errors,  not 
to  abolish  it.  The  peculiarity  of  this  system,  relating  to  this 
particular  part  of  the  field  of  human  action,  is,  that  it  main- 
tains that  man  cannot  in  it,  as  elsewhere,  unite,  so  as  to  attain 
a  common  good.  That,  on  the  contrary,  when  they  so  unite, 
instead  of  attaining  a  common  good,  they  necessarily  burden 
themselves  with  a  common  evil.  It  aims,  not  to  remedy  any 
errors  committed  in  adjusting  the  bond,  but,  to  cut  it  asunder 
and  cast  it  away.  It  is  called  a  system  of  complete  freedom 
t'mm  restraint  and  perfect  liberty.  These  terms,  when  looked 
at  nearly,  will  be  found  to  mean  a  dissolution  of  all  bonds  and 
total  isolation  of  interests.  Hence,  in  this  particular  case, 
where  an  end  is  to  be  gained,  the  attainment  of  which  it  is 
admitted  would  be  beneficial  to  all,  it  is  yet  maintained  that  it 
npossible  for  all  to  bring  it  to  pass  without  hurting 
instead  of  benefiting  themselves. 

It  is  impossible  to  shut  the  eyes  to  the  fact,  that  the  intro- 
duction of  an  art  into  any  country,  enabling  the  labor  of 
its  inhabitants  at  once  to  transmute  the  products,  which 
nature,  in  conjunction  with  their  own  industry,  procures  for 
them,  into  the  commodities  their  wants  demand,  instead  of 
sending  them  to  a  distance  to  other  people  to  effect  that 
change,  is  a  great  good  to  all,  were  it  only  for  the  mere  saving 
of  transport  thus  effected;  but  it  is  maintained,  that  it  is  im- 
possible for  all  the  members  of  the  community  advantageously 


422  APPENDIX 

to  unite  in  bringing  about  this  common  benefit.  It  is  clearly 
seen,  that  a  new  channel  might  be  opened  from  the  exhaustless 
river  of  human  power,  springing  from  the  mingled  sources  of 
nature  and  art ;  and  that,  if  so,  a  plenteous  stream  would  flow 
in  on  the  community,  drawing  from  which  individuals  might 
add  largely  to  the  general  opulence.  But  some  means  must  be 
employed  to  open  it  up.  There  is  an  obstruction  in  the  way 
that  must  previously  be  overcome ;  a  rock  blocking  it  up  that 
must  be  removed.  No  individual  will  open  up  the  channel, 
because,  were  he  so  to  do,  he  could  derive  no  more  benefit 
from  the  labor  than  others  who  had  not  labored.  The  whole 
society,  or  rather  the  legislator,  the  power  acting  for  the  whole 
society,  might  do  so,  and  in  similar  cases  has  done  so,  and,  to 
judge  of  the  measure  by  the  events  consequent  on  it,  with  the 
happiest  success.  Why,  then,  should  he  not  ? 

The  arguments  advanced  by  the  author  of  the  Wealth  of 
Nations,  to  prove  that  the  legislator  ought  never  to  lend 
his  aid  to  effect  such  a  purpose,  are  chiefly  contained  in 
the  second  chapter  of  the  fourth  book.  They  will  be  found  to 
rest  almost  altogether  on  the  assumption,  that  national  and 
individual  capital  increase  in  precisely  the  same  manner. 
This  notion,  I  flatter  myself  I  have  shown,  cannot,  by  any 
means,  be  taken  as  a  self-evident  principle,  or  one  so  firmly 
established  as  to  serve  as  the  basis  of  an  important  practical 
doctrine.  But,  even  admitting  that  the  two  processes  are 
similar,  the  [theoretical]  arguments  of  Adam  Smith  would  not 
altogether  bear  out  his  conclusions. 

It  is,  he  says,  and  the  sentiment  serves  for  a  motto,  and 
forms,  indeed,  the  substance  of  two  volumes  that  have  contri- 
buted greatly  to  spread  his  doctrines  over  Europe,  "  It  is  the 
maxim  of  every  prudent  master  of  a  family,  never  to  attempt 
to  make  at  home  what  it  will  cost  him  more  to  make  than  to 
buy.  The  tailor  does  not  attempt  to  make  his  own  shoes,  but 
buys  them  of  the  shoemaker.  The  shoemaker  does  not  attempt 
to  make  his  own  clothes,  but  employs  a  tailor.  The  farmer 
attempts  to  make  neither  the  one  nor  the  other,  but  employs 
those  different  artificers.  All  of  them  find  it  for  their  interest 
to  employ  their  whole  industry  in  a  way  in  which  they  have 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  423 

some  advantage  over  their  neighbors,  and  to  purchase  with 
a  part  of  its  produce,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  with  the 
price  of  a  part  of  it,  whatever  else  they  have  occasion  for. 
What  is  prudence  in  the  conduct  of  every  private  family  can 
scarce  be  folly  in  that  of  a  great  kingdom." 

To  make  the  fanciful  parallel  here  assumed  as  complete,  in 
any  sense  just,  it  would  be  necessary  to  place  the  tailor  at  a 
hundred  miles  distance  from  the  shoemaker.  Were  he  at  this 
distance,  and  did  he  find  that  the  expense  of  getting  a  pair  of 
shoes  carried  so  far  was  considerable,  perhaps  exceeding  their 
first  cost,  he  might  find  it  good  economy  even  to  make  them 
himself.  To  be  sure,  the  procuring  the  requisite  tools  and  the 
learning  their  use,  would  render  the  making  of  the  first  few 
pairs  much  more  expensive  than  the  purchasing  of  them  would 
have  been.  But  this  necessary  dearness  of  the  first  articles 
produced  might  be  compensated  by  the  cheapness  of  those  pro- 
duced subsequently.  In  the  same  way,  though  a  farmer,  if  the 
tailor  and  shoemaker  were  near  at  hand,  would  do  wisely 
to  employ  them,  yet,  if  they  were  at  a  great  distance,  he 
might  possibly  with  advantage  dispense  with  their  services, 
and  set  some  of  his  family  to  make  clothes  and  shoes  for 
the  rest  A  farmer,  indeed,  would  have  peculiar  inducements 
to  practise  some  trades,  those,  namely,  for  which  he  supplied 
the  raw  materials,  as  by  doing  so  he  would  be  saved  the 
carriage,  both  of  the  articles  made,  and  of  the  stuff  for  making 

a.      It   is   thus,  that,   in   fact,   in   most    countries    where 

population  is  scattered  and  the  internal  communicui 
are  bad,  many  trades  are  practised  in  the  farmers'  houses  and 
by  their  own  families.     In  this  way  it  is  that,  in  very  many  of 
the  recently   settled  parts  of  North  America,  every  operation 

the  wool  undergoes,  from  the  taking  «»ll'  the  fierce  to  the 
cutting  and  making  up  the  cloth,  is  performed  in  the  farmer's 
house  and  by  his  own  family.  A  similar  state  of  things 
caused  a  similar  practice  to  prevail  in  Ki inland  a  century  ago, 
and,  at  present,  keeps  up  many  of  those  manufactures  which 
are  properly  termed  domestic,  in  many  other  parts  of  Europe. 
In  Canada  it  is  not  uncommon  for  the  farmer  to  have,  not  only 

whole  processes  that  wool  undergoes  till  it  come  to  be 
worn,  carried  on  by  the  members  of  his  own  family,  but  also  to 


424  APPENDIX 

get  a  great  variety  of  other  things  made  by  them,  which  he 
could  not  procure  otherwise  unless  by  sending  to  an  incon- 
venient distance.  The  mending  of  shoes,  very  generally,  the 
making  of  them,  not  unfrequently,  and  sometimes  even  the 
manufacturing  the  leather,  are  in  recent  and  remote  settle- 
ments thus  performed.  The  latter  process,  I  may  add,  from 
various  circumstances,  but  chiefly  from  the  use  of  the  bark  of 
a  sort  of  pine  peculiar  to  the  country  and  in  general  very 
common,  and  which,  unlike  that  of  the  oak,  is  very  thick  and 
easily  collected,  is  much  less  expensive  in  Canada  than  in  Britain. 

I  knew  two  brothers  whose  farms  or  estates  lay  in  one  of  the 
interior  districts  of  that  country,  in  the  midst  of  its  forests,  and 
consequently  at  a  considerable  distance,  perhaps  twenty  or 
thirty  miles,  from  artificers  of  any  description.  Having  each 
of  them  large  families  and  productive  farms,  they  had  occasion 
for  the  services  of  various  artificers,  and  had  the  means  of 
paying  them.  Nevertheless,  they  very  rarely  employed  them ; 
almost  every  article  they  required  was  made  by  some  one  of 
the  two  families.  As  they  were  prudent  and  sagacious  men, 
of  which  they  produced  the  best  evidence  in  the  general  success 
of  their  undertakings,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  settlement  of 
which  they  were  at  the  head,  I  think  it  likely,  that  in  this  also 
they  had  turned  their  means  to  the  best  account.  In  fact,  as 
they  who  are  familiar  with  the  details  of  beginning  settlements 
in  North  America  will  admit,  by  this  plan  they  in  a  great 
measure  obviated  the  two  chief  drawbacks  on  the  prosperity  of 
new  and  remote  settlements,  the  excessive  dearness  of  every 
article  not  produced  there,  from  the  great  expense  attending 
the  transport  of  the  raw  produce  and  retransport  of  the  manu- 
factured goods,  and  the  serious  inconvenience  arising  from  the 
difficulty,  in  such  situations,  of  supplying,  when  necessary, 
unforeseen  but  pressing  wants. 

Among  other  things  which  they  got  made  on  their  own 
farms,  were  boots,  shoes,  and  leather.  That  they  might  get 
this  done,  they  were  at  the  pains  and  expense  of  sending  one  of 
the  young  men  to  some  distance,  to  make  himself  sufficiently 
master  of  those  trades  for  their  purpose.  They  thought,  how- 
ever, that  the  cost  they  were  thus  put  to  was  repaid,  thrice 
over,  by  the  saving  of  time  and  expense  which  it  effected  for 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  425 

them,  in  enabling  them  to  make,  out  of  leather  which  cost 
them  very  little,  numerous  articles  that  they  must  otherwise 
have  been  constantly  sending  for,  to  a  great  distance  by  roads 
that  were  almost  impracticable  a  great  part  of  the  year.  I 
do  not  know  whether  in  this  their  conduct  was  judicious  or 
otherwise,  but,  it  is  very  certain,  that  however  apparently 
prudent  the  measure  may  have  been,  and  however  great  the 
saving  effected  by  it  might  have  been,  it  was  completely  con- 
trary to  our  author's  doctrines,  and  might  easily  be  shown  by 
them  to  have  been  necessarily  and  inevitably  injurious. 

We  may  suppose  that,  just  at  the  time  when  these  two 
legislators  of  this  little  community  had  come  to  the  determina- 
tion of  taking  means  to  dispense  with  the  services  of  the  distant 
tanner  and  shoemaker,  they  were  addressed  on  this  subject  by 
a  philosopher  of  this  school.  His  reasonings  would  doubtless 
have  been  in  the  following  strain.  "  You  are  assuredly  wrong 
in  the  plan  you  are  going  to  adopt,  for  it  proceeds  upon  very 
erroneous  and  illiberal  principles,  as  I  can  easily  show  you. 
You  are  in  want,  you  say,  of  some  pairs  of  shoes,  surely  then 
it  is  best  for  you  to  purchase  them  where  you  can  get  them 
cheapest.  But,  by  the  plan  you  are  taking  of  going  to  a  great 
expense  to  have  them  made  at  home,  they  will  certainly  cost 
you  more  when  made  there,  than  if  bought  at  the  place  where 
you  have  hitherto  purchased  shoes.  And,  if  that  place  can  still 
supply  you  with  this  commodity  cheaper  than  you  yourself  can 
make  it,  better  buy  it  there  with  some  part  of  the  produce  of 
your  own  industry.  The  general  industry  of  your  settlement 
must  always  be  in  proportion  to  the  capital  which  employs  it, 
and  will  not  be  diminished  by  being  left  to  be  employed  in  a 
way  in  which  you  have  some  advantage.  By  forcing  it  to 
produce  an  object  which  it  can  buy  cheaper  than  it  can  make, 
it  certainly  is  not  employed  to  the  greatest  advantage.  Let 
things  therefore  take  their  natural  course,  and  shoes  will  be 
made  at  your  doors  when  it  is  fit  for  them  to  be  made  there." 

To  these  reasonings  our  legislators  might  possibly  reply, 
"  We  confess  that  the  first  pairs  of  shoes  that  we  get,  will  cost 
us  much  more,  thus  made  at  home,  than  they  would  do  were 
we  to  buy  them  abroad.  But  then  it  will  only  be  for  the  first 
articles  manufactured  that  we  shall  pay  so  high,  in  the  end 


42ti  APPENDIX 

they  will  come  cheaper  to  us  at  home  than  from  abroad;  and 
it  is  to  effect  this  desirable  result,  that  we  are  going  to  under- 
take the  project.  We  don't  understand  very  well  what  you 
mean  by  the  natural  course  of  affairs,  but  we  think  the  sooner 
we  can  get  them  to  take  a  course,  that  will  before  long  make 
things  cheaper  to  us,  the  better."  The  answer  to  this  in  the 
words  of  our  author  would  be  :  "I  don't  at  all  dispute,  that, 
by  means  of  this  project,  this  particular  manufacture  may  be 
acquired  sooner  than  it  could  be  otherwise,  and  after  a  certain 
time,  may  be  made  at  home  as  cheap,  or  cheaper,  than  abroad. 
But,  though  the  industry  of  your  society  may  be  thus  carried 
with  advantage  into  a  particular  channel  sooner  than  it  could 
have  been  otherwise,  it  will  by  no  means  follow  that  the  sum 
total,  either  of  its  industry,  or  its  revenue,  can  ever  be 
augmented  by  any  such  project.  The  industry  of  your  society 
can  augment  only  in  proportion  as  its  capital  augments,  and  its 
capital  can  augment  only  in  proportion  to  what  can  be  saved 
out  of  its  revenue.  But  the  immediate  effect  of  this  project  of 
yours  is  to  diminish  its  revenue ;  and  what  diminishes  its 
revenue  is  certainly  not  very  likely  to  augment  its  capital 
faster  than  it  would  augment,  were  you  to  leave  capital  and 
industry  to  find  their  natural  employments." 

Our  legislators  might  still  possibly  answer.  "  As  far  as  we 
can  comprehend  your  arguments  they  reduce  themselves  to  this. 
We  have  to  give  out  what  is  a  considerable  sum  to  us,  before 
we  can  carry  this  project  into  effect,  and,  for  this  outlay,  you 
think  we  shall  get  no  adequate  return.  Now  in  this  our 
opinion  differs  from  yours.  We  know  indeed  that  we  must 
expend  something,  but  we  think  that  in  the  long  run  we  shall 
be  better  repaid  for  this  expenditure,  by  this  undertaking,  than 
by  any  other  in  which  we  could  employ  our  funds.  We  never 
yet  got  any  thing  without  giving  something  for  it,  and,  although 
we  in  this  instance  give  money  or  money's  worth,  and  get 
chiefly  knowledge  and  skill  in  return,  yet  if  you  will  take  the 
trouble  of  examining  the  calculations  we  have  been  making  of 
the  saving  which  we  shall  in  a  few  years  effect,  chiefly  by 
means  of  this  knowledge  and  skill,  on  what  we  annually  pay 
for  shoes  and  boots,  we  think  you  will  agree  with  us  that  we 
shall  gather  in  three  times  what  we  gave  out." 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  427 

"  No,  no,"  our  philosopher  would  exclaim,  "  this  is  quite  un- 
necessary, I  see  now  how  the  case  stands.  I  perceive  you  have 
got  a  theory  as  well  as  I  have.  But  your  theory  is  that  of 
practical  men  who  reason  upon  facts,  whereas  my  theory  is 
built  upon  general  axioms.  Now  there  is  this  great  difference 
between  two  such  theories,  that  when  they  are  opposed  to  each 
other  the  latter,  such  as  mine  must  always  be  right,  the  former 
such  as  yours,  wrong.  My  main  axiom  on  which  is  founded  a 

:  system  is,  that  capital  always  augments  by  accumulation. 
This  you  perceive  is  a  general  axiom,  and  however  it  may  be 
that  there  may  be  apparent  exceptions  to  it,  yet  as  it  is  a 

•rul  axiom,  it  is  a  philosophical  consequence  that  these  ex- 
ceptions can  only  be  apparent.  Your  theory  is  opposed  to  this 
axiom  of  mine,  for  you  pretend  to  say  that  capital  may  be  aug- 
mented by  other  means  than  simple  accumulation,  and  very 

ngely  assert  that,  after  giving  it  out  of  your  hands,  you  will 

it  replaced  to  you,  with  large  profit,  out  of  the  skill  and 
knowledge  which  the  outlay  has  procured  you.  But,  as  in 
proof  of  this  you  bring  me  only  facts  and  figures,  you  will  see 
of  course  that  it  is  quite  unnecessary  for  me  to  notice  such 
arguments;  for,  however  plainly  it  might  from  them  appear 
that  your  scheme  is  practicable  and  must  ultimately  liberally 
repay  your  advances,  yet,  this  conclusion  being  proved  by 
reasoning,  is  a  theory,  and  that  theory  having  the  disadvantage 
of  not  being  drawn  like  mine  from  general  axioms,  and  being 
merely  a  laborious  deduction  from  particular  observations,  it 
must  of  necessity  follow  from  indubitable  philosophical  prin- 
ciples, that  it  is  wrong,  and  mine  right.  The  case  being  so, 
y<>u  are,  I  hope,  men  of  too  good  sense  to  dispute  the  matter 
farther.  Should  you  however  persevere  I  must  take  the 
liberty  of  telling  you  that  you  are  too  11,11  row-minded  theori-t-. 
and  that,  by  interfering,  in  the  manner  you  are  about  to 
do,  with  the  natural  course  of  events,  you  will  infallihly 
waste  the  resources  of  your  infant  community,  and  retard  its 
prosperity." 

I  aiijin-h.-ml  such  {philosophic  arguments  would  not  have 
had  much  success  with  them  or  other  men  of  practice,  and 
that,  even  should  we  take  the  procedure  adopted  by  in- 
dividuals, as  a  fit  model  for  that  of  nations,  we  would  not  find 


4-2S  APPENDIX 

that  it  altogether  agreed  with  the  rules  which  the  doctrines  of 
Adam  Smith  inculcate.  The  reason  is,  that  individuals,  as  well 
as  nations,  acquire  wealth  from  other  sources  than  mere  saving 
from  revenue ;  that  skill  is  as  necessary,  and  consequently  as 
valuable,  a  cooperator  with  the  industry  of  both,  as  either 
capital  or  parsimony ;  and  that  therefore  the  expenditure 
which  either  may  be  called  on  to  make  to  attain  the  requisite 
skill,  is  very  well  bestowed. 

But,  though  skill  is  valuable  both  to  nations  and  to  in- 
dividuals, there  are  many  circumstances  that  render  it  more  so 
to  the  former,  than  to  the  latter.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  more 
durable.  Whatever  may  be  the  perfection  to  which  an  in- 
dividual may  have  brought  his  skill,  dexterity,  and  judgment,  in 
conducting  any  particular  set  of  operations,  that  perfection 
perishes  with  him.  Whatever  expense  it  may  have  cost  him  to 
acquire  this  possession,  and  however  valuable  it  may  be  to  him- 
self, he  cannot  transmit  it  to  his  heirs.  But  any  addition  which 
a  society  makes,  to  the  skill,  dexterity,  and  judgment,  with 
which  its  members  exercise  any  branch  of  industry,  is  not  of  this 
fleeting  nature.  Instead  of  the  benefits  derived  from  it,  being 
bounded  by  the  short  space  of  time  that  the  active  life  of  an 
individual  embraces,  they  are  continuous  with  the  national 
existence.  If  it  be  worth  while  paying  a  considerable 
apprentice-fee,  for  the  acquisition  of  an  art,  which  can  probably 
only  be  exercised  for  twenty  or  thirty  years,  it  must  be 
better  worth  while  to  pay  for  one,  the  advantages  derived 
from  the  possession  of  which,  may  be  retained  for  hundreds  or 
thousands  of  years. 

Again,  whatever  an  individual  may  expend  in  acquiring  any 
degree  of  skill  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  lost  to  him ;  though  he 
may  draw  a  revenue,  he  cannot  draw  a  capital  from  it.  No 
portion  of  the  future  skilled  labor  of  an  individual  can  be  sold, 
because  it  can  only  be  sold  with  himself,  and  such  bargains, 
sanctioned  in  ancient,  are  not  so  in  modern  times.  Nowhere 
can  one  effectually  make  over  his  services  for  a  certain  time  to 
any  other  person,  because,  nowhere  can  he  give  that  person 
the  power  of  enforcing  their  exertion.  On  the  contrary,  any 
portion  of  the  future  revenue,  yielded  by  the  skilled  industry 
of  a  nation,  may  be  sold,  and,  consequently  an  addition  to  the 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  429 

national  skill  gives  a  proportional  addition  to  the  command  of 
national  resources,  to  meet  any  sudden  emergency.  The  pro- 
duce of  the  general  industry  of  Great  Britain,  stands  mortgaged 
for  a  sum,  which  it  would  have  appeared  a  century  ago  utterly 
impossible  to  conceive  that  industry  could  sustain,  because,  a 
century  ago,  it  was  impossible  to  conceive  the  vast  increase 
which  has  since  been  made  to  the  skill,  dexterity,  and  judg- 
ment, with  which  it  was  then  directed. 

Besides  these  and  other  differences  between  the  effects 
resulting  from  the  acquisition  of  skill  in  the  pursuits  of  in- 
dustry by  nations,  and  by  individuals,  there  is  one  on  which  I 
have  already  enlarged.  An  increase  of  skill  seems  to  be  always 
a  necessary  concomitant  of  the  increase  of  national  wealth, 
whereas  it  is  not  always  a  concomitant  of  the  increase  of  in- 
dividual wealth.  It  is  not  therefore  true,  that  nations  and 
individuals  increase  their  wealth  in  the  same  manner,  nor,  were 
it  so,  do  the  rules,  which  modern  political  economists  lay  down 
for  the  increase  of  national  wealth,  agree  with  those  which 
individuals  adopt  in  their  endeavours  to  augment  their  private 
stocks. 

The  main  arguments,  however,  which  the  author  brings  for- 
ward, are  built  on  what  he  assumes  to  be  general  principles. 
The  doctrine  he  maintains  throughout  his  whole  system,  and 
more  particularly  in  the  chapter  to  which  I  have  alluded,  turns 
on  the  following  passage. 

"  If  a  foreign  country  can   supply   us   with   a  commodity 

cheaper  than  we  ourselves  can  make  it,  better  buy  it  of  them 

with  some  part  of  the  produce  of  our  own  industry,  employed 

in  a  way  in  which  we  have  some  advantage.     The  general  in- 

ry  of  the  country  being  always  in  proportion  to  the  capital 

which  employs  it,  will  not  thereby  be  diminished,  no  more  than 

capital   of  an  artificer  is  diminished   who  purchases   an 

le  from  another  practi^m-  a  different  art  instead  of  making 

it  himself.     It  will  only  be  left  to  find  out  the  way  in  which 

it  can  be  employed  with  the  greatest  advantage.    It  is  certainly 

not    employed   to  the  greatest    advantage,   when   it    is    thus 

ted  towards  an  object  which  it  can  buy  cheaper  than  it 

make.     The  value  of  its  annual  produce  is  certainly  more 

s  diminished,  when  it  is  thus  turned  away  from  producing 


430  APPENDIX 

commodities  evidently  of  more  value  than  the  commodity 
which  it  is  directed  to  produce.  According  to  the  supposition, 
that  commodity  could  be  purchased  from  foreign  countries 
cheaper  than  it  can  be  made  at  home ;  it  could  therefore  have 
been  purchased  with  a  part  only  of  the  commodities,  or,  what 
is  the  same  thing,  with  a  part  only  of  the  price  of  the  com- 
modities, which  the  industry  employed  by  an  equal  capital 
would  have  produced  at  home,  had  it  been  left  to  follow  its 
natural  course.  The  industry  of  the  country,  therefore,  is  thus 
turned  away  from  a  more  to  a  less  advantageous  employment ; 
and  the  exchangable  value  of  its  annual  produce,  instead  of 
being  increased,  according  to  the  intention  of  the  law -giver, 
must  necessarily  be  diminished  by  every  such  regulation. 

"  By  means  of  such  regulations,  indeed,  a  particular  manu- 
facture may  sometimes  be  acquired  sooner  than  it  could  have 
been  otherwise,  and  after  a  certain  time  may  be  made  at  home 
as  cheap,  or  cheaper,  than  in  the  foreign  country.  But  though 
the  industry  of  the  society  may  be  thus  carried  with  advantage 
into  a  particular  channel  sooner  than  it  could  have  been  other- 
wise, it  will  by  no  means  follow  that  the  sum  total  either  of  its 
industry  or  of  its  revenue,  can  ever  be  augmented  by  any  such 
regulation.  The  industry  of  the  society  can  augment  only  in 
proportion  as  its  capital  augments,  and  its  capital  can  augment 
only  in  proportion  to  what  can  be  gradually  saved  out  of  its 
revenue.  But  the  immediate  effect  of  every  such  regulation  is 
to  diminish  its  revenue ;  and  what  diminishes  its  revenue  is 
certainly  not  very  likely  to  augment  its  capital  faster  than  it 
would  have  augmented  of  its  own  accord,  had  both  capital  and 
industry  been  left  to  find  out  their  natural  employments. 

"  Though,  for  want  of  such  regulations,  the  society  should 
never  acquire  the  proposed  manufacture,  it  would  not  upon  that 
account  necessarily  be  the  poorer  in  any  one  period  of  its  dura- 
tion. In  every  period  of  its  duration  its  whole  capital  and 
industry  might  still  have  been  employed,  though  upon  different 
objects,  in  the  manner  that  was  most  advantageous  at  the  time. 
In  every  period  its  revenue  might  have  been  the  greatest  which 
its  capital  could  afford,  and  both  capital  and  revenue  might 
have  been  augmented  with  the  greatest  possible  rapidity. 

"  The  natural  advantages  which  one  country  has  over  another, 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  431 

in  producing  particular  commodities,  are  sometimes  so  great 
that  it  is  acknowledged  by  all  the  world  to  be  in  vain  to 
struggle  with  them.  By  means  of  glasses,  hot-beds,  and  hot- 
walls,  very  good  grapes  can  be  raised  in  Scotland  and  very 
good  wine,  too,  can  be  made  of  them,  at  about  thirty  times  the 
expense  for  which  at  least  equally  good  can  be  brought  from 
foreign  countries.  Would  it  be  a  reasonable  law  to  prohibit 
the  importation  of  all  foreign  wines,  merely  to  encourage  the 
making  of  claret  and  burgundy  in  Scotland  ?  But  if  there 
would  he  a  manifest  absurdity  in  turning  towards  any  employ- 
ment thirty  times  more  of  the  capital  and  industry  of  the 
country  than  would  be  necessary  to  purchase  from  foreign 
countries  an  equal  quantity  of  the  commodities  wanted,  there 
must  be  an  absurdity,  though  not  altogether  so  glaring,  yet 
tly  of  the  same  kind,  in  turning  towards  any  such  employ- 
ment a  thirtieth,  or  even  a  three  hundredth  part  of  either. 
Whether  the  advantages  which  one  country  has  over  another 
be  natural  or  acquired,  is  in  this  respect  of  no  consequence. 
As  long  as  the  one  country  has  those  advantages  and  the  other 
wants  them,  it  will  always  be  more  advantageous  for  the  latter 
rather  t<»  huy  of  the  former  than  to  make.  It  is  an  acquired 
advantage  only,  which  one  artificer  has  over  his  neighbor  who 
exercises  another  trade ;  and  yet  they  both  find  it  more  advan- 
tageous to  buy  of  one  another,  than  to  make  what  does  not 
belong  to  their  particular  trades." 

I    must   be  excused    for   running  somewhat  into  repetition 

in  observing,  that  the  strength  of  this  passage  evidently  lies 

in  the  axioms,  "The  industry  of  the  society  can  augment  only 

as  its  capital  augments,  and  its  capital  can  augment  only  in 

proportion  to  what  can  be  gradually  saved  out  of  its  revenue;" 

and  that   the  proper  answer  to  these  axioms  is,  either,   that 

nothing,  or,  that   they  prove  it  by  a  beguing    ..f 

tht-    question,   by   assuming   that   to    be   proved    which    is   in 

process  of  proof.     The  expression,  tin-  industry  of  the  society 

can  augment  only  as  its  capital  augments,  may  signify,  eitlu-r. 

tin-  auuiiM-ntation  of  a  society's  capital,  ami  an  increase  of 

•  '  industry  always  accompany  each  other;   or.  that 

every  augmentation  of  the  productiv.-m--   of  the  general   in- 

•  lu- try,   is  produced  by  an  augmentation  of  capital,  and  can 


432  APPENDIX 

be  produced  by  nothing  else.  In  like  manner,  the  expres- 
sion, the  capital  of  the  society  can  augment  only  in  propor- 
tion to  what  can  be  gradually  saved  out  of  its  revenue,  may 
signify,  either,  merely  that  the  saving  from  revenue  is  a 
necessary  part  of  the  increase  of  the  general  capital,  and 
measures  its  amount,  or,  that  there  are  no  other  means  of 
augmenting  its  capital  but  it.  In  the  former  of  these  two 
senses  the  axioms  prove  nothing ;  in  the  latter  they  prove 
all  things  desired,  because  they  assume  them  as  acknowledged 
truths.  The  double  meaning  of  the  assumptions  contained 
in  these  axioms,  and  the  fallacy  into  which  they  may,  in 
consequence,  be  made  to  lead,  may  be  easily  perceived  by  an 
application  of  them  to  the  transactions  of  an  individual. 

A  person  residing  in  England,  owns  an  estate  in  the  West 
Indies,  which  he  proposes  to  visit.  His  motives  to  do  so 
are,  that  he  thinks,  that,  by  his  personal  superintendence, 
he  can  give  a  better  direction  to  the  industry  employed  on 
it,  and  render  the  returns  greater.  In  order  to  do  so,  it  is 
necessary  for  him  to  procure  and  expend  a  certain  sum  to 
pay  for  the  expense  of  the  voyage,  and  the  cost  of  the  various 
articles  which  his  private  accommodation  will  require  there ; 
and  he  therefore  takes  measures  to  apply  to  this  purpose  a 
considerable  part  of  one  year's  revenue  of  the  estate.  On 
account  of  this  disbursement,  some  one  objects  to  the  project, 
and  endeavors,  in  the  following  manner,  to  prove  to  him  that 
it  must  be  hurtful  to  his  interests : 

"  The  augmented  productiveness  of  your  estate,  and  the 
increased  amount  of  capital  at  which  it  will  be  estimated, 
must  go  on  together.  But,  to  add  to  capital,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  save  from  revenue.  Now  the  scheme  you  are  about 
to  embark  in  requires  first  a  large  expenditure  of  revenue. 
It  must  therefore  tend  to  prevent  your  augmenting  your 
capital,  and  consequently  the  productive  industry  of  your 
estate,  which  two  things  always  go  on  together."  The  answer 
to  this  reasoning  would  be :  "  It  is  chiefly  because  I  am  aware 
that  the  productiveness  of  my  estate,  and  what  it  is  worth, 
are  inseparably  conjoined,  that  I  am  about  to  be  at  this 
expense  and  trouble,  for  I  believe  they  will  enable  me  to 
put  things  in  such  a  train  that  its  productiveness  will  greatly 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  433 

increase,  and,  as  its  value  I  know  depends  on  the  revenue 
it  yields,  my  capital  will  consequently  be  augmented  by  much 
more  than  the  sum  I  am  going  to  expend." 

"  I  perceive  I  have  not  expressed  my  meaning  properly," 
replies  the  adviser,  "  I  should  have  said ;  an  increased  produc- 
tiveness of  your  estate,  can  be  produced  by  no  other  means 
than  by  an  augmentation  of  the  capital  employed  on  it,  and 
the  amount  of  capital  you  can  possess  and  can  employ  on  it, 
can  be  augmented  in  no  other  way  than  by  saving  from  your 
revenue.  But  this  plan  of  yours  causes  an  expenditure  of 
your  revenue,  it  must  therefore  prevent  you  from  adding  to 
your  capital,  and,  consequently,  from  increasing  the  productive- 
ness of  the  industry  which  is  set  in  motion  by  it  on  your  estate." 

The  West  India  proprietor  might  undoubtedly  reply  :  "  My 
dear  Sir  you  are  completely  wrong.  The  productiveness  of 
my  estate  depends,  not  only  on  the  amount  of  the  capital  which 
sets  the  industry  employed  on  it  in  motion,  but  on  the  sort 
of  motion  it  gives  it ;  and  I  hope  so  to  improve  this,  by 
a  more  judicious  regulation  of  it,  that  the  same  power  will 
produce  a  far  greater  effect  than  it  does  at  present,  and  thus 
to  show  you,  that  there  are  other  means  of  augmenting 
capital  than  simple  saving.  For  I  take  it,  that  if  I  add  to 
my  gains,  without  increasing  my  expenditure,  the  procedure 
may  be  just  as  effective  to  this  end,  as  if  I  were  to  diminish 
my  expenditure,  and  not  add  to  my  gains." 

If  we  understand  the  axioms  of  our  author  in  the  former 
sense  of  the  expressions,  it  is  clear,  that  when  applied  to 
national  capital,  they  prove  nothing  more  than  when  applied 
t<»  individual  capital.  For,  if  it  be  merely  meant  that  the 
productiveness  of  national  industry,  and  the  augmentation 
of  national  capital  advance  together,  the  propriety  of  a  pro- 
posed measure  may  as  well  be  inferred  from  its  tendency 
to  render  the  industry  of  the  community  more  productive, 
as  its  impropriety  may  be  inferred  from  its  requiring  a  small 
immediate  expenditure  of  revenue.  The  question  to  be  deter- 
mined in  every  such  case,  would  then  be  similar  to  that 
which  an  individual  determines  when  deliberating  on  any 
scheme  for  the  augmentation  of  his  private  capital,  and  would 
resolve  itself  into  an  inquiry,  whether  or  not  the  probable 

"J  K 


434  APPENDIX 

returns  from  the  proposed  measure,  be  likely  to  be  a  sufficient 
remuneration  for  the  expense  of  carrying  it  into  effect.  But, 
it  is  very  clear,  that  this  would  be  a  constrained  interpretation 
of  the  import  of  the  passage  ;  and  that  the  inference  the  author 
wished  his  expressions  to  convey,  is,  that  an  increased  produc- 
tiveness of  the  industry  of  the  society  can  be  produced  by  no 
other  means  but  by  augmenting  its  capital,  and  that  the  only 
means  entering  into  the  process  of  augmenting  its  capital  are 
saving  from  its  revenue. 

The  proper  answer  to  these  axioms,  so  understood,  is, — this 
is  your  theory  no  doubt,  but  it  is  a  theory  which  is  merely 
in  process  of  proof,  and  not  yet  established.  Surely,  then, 
it  is  scarce  logical  to  answer  a  very  obvious  objection  to  it, 
which  the  observation  of  human  affairs  presents,  by  assuming 
its  truth  ;  or,  to  deduce  the  impropriety  of  a  practical  mea- 
sure, drawn  from  the  phenomena  which  human  affairs  present, 
and  apparently  very  beneficial,  by  showing  that  such  measure 
is  contrary  to  its  principles. 

The  question  hitherto  stands  thus.  You  pretend  to  account 
for  the  phenomena  of  the  augmentation  of  national  wealth 
by  showing,  that  an  increase  of  national  capital  tends  to 
facilitate  the  division  of  labor ;  that  this  division  of  labor  in 
itself  greatly  improves  the  productive  powers  of  labor,  and 
is  the  cause  of  all  other  improvements  in  them.  That  this 
increase  of  the  productive  powers  of  labor,  being  equivalent 
to  an  increase  of  the  revenue  of  the  society,  adds  to  its 
power  of  accumulating  fresh  capital  and  giving  farther  extent 
to  the  division  of  labor,  the  great  generator,  according  to 
your  system,  of  all  wealth.  It  is  in  this  way  that,  according 
to  you,  the  augmentation  of  the  industry  of  the  society  is 
produced  by  an  augmentation  of  its  capital,  and  in  no  other 
manner,  and  its  capital  is  augmented  by  saving  from  revenue 
and  nothing  else,  and  that,  from  the  action  and  reaction  of 
these  principles  on  each  other,  the  whole  phenomena  of  the 
growth  of  national  capital  are  deducible. 

Now,  admitting  for  the  present  that  no  fallacy  can  be 
detected  in  the  principles  themselves,  they  must  still  be 
admitted  to  be  only  possible  or  probable  theoretical  assump- 
tions, to  be  proved  by  the  observation  of  their  coincidence 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE  TRADE  435 

with  facts.  Admitting  then  also  that,  as  far  as  the  facts 
which  relate  to  what  we  may  call  the  history  of  the  internal 
progress  of  national  wealth  are  concerned,  they  sufficiently 
accord  with  them,  there  is  another  class  of  facts  admitted 
by  you,  which  these  principles  do  not  explain,  and  to  which, 
on  the  contrary,  they  seem  to  be  opposed. 

Arts  and  manufactures,  the  great  sources  of  increase  to 
the  productive  powers  of  labor,  do,  it  is  granted,  pass  from 
country  to  country.  It  would  appear  then,  that  the  gradual 
increase  which  the  accumulation  of  capital  produces  on  the 
productive  powers  of  any  society,  is  not  alone  sufficient  to 
call  forth  all  the  resources  which  that  society  possesses ;  but 
that  it  is  often  necessary  to  seek  in  other  countries  for  the 
means,  which  give  these  resources  full  efficiency.  In  such 
cases,  at  least,  therefore,  the  augmented  wealth  of  the  society 
cannot  be  said  altogether  to  flow  from  the  gradual  increase 
of  its  capital  by  accumulation,  the  consequent  division  of  labor, 
and  the  improvements  thence  resulting.  Your  theory  is, 
therefore,  so  far  most  certainly  defective,  as  it  acknowledges 
the  existence  of  a  class  of  phenomena,  the  laws  regulating 
which  its  principles  by  no  means  explain. 

Instead,  however,  of  attempting  to  answer  the  objections 
to  your  system,  which  this  class  of  phenomena  present,  you 
pretend  to  say,  that  the  practical  rules  directly,  and  in  the 
simplest  manner,  deducible  from  them,  are  of  necessity 
erroneous,  because  contrary  to  the  principles  of  your  system. 
It  being  acknowledged  by  every  one,  even  by  yourself,  that 
the  improvements  of  the  productive  powers  of  labor  thus 
ted  by  the  continued  spread  of  the  arts  of  civilized  life 
fn>m  country  to  country,  are  among  the  chief  causes  of  the 
ress  of  national  wealth  and  prosperity,  they  who  have 
had  the  management  of  national  affairs,  have  in  different 
cases  come  to  the  unavoidable  conclusion,  that  they  did  well 
in  even  sacrificing  a  small  portion  of  the  national  revenue, 
provided  this  outlay  served  to  introduce  acknowledged  im- 
provement in  the  national  industry,  and  source  of  national 
wealth.  They  have  acted  in  this  as  an  individual  would  do 
in  the  management  of  his  private  affairs,  they  have  endea- 
vored to  introduce  an  improvement  into  the  management  of 


APPENDIX 

the  funds  with  which  they  were  intrusted,  and  have  con- 
sidered the  price  to  be  paid  for  such  improvement  war- 
ranted by  the  increased  productive  powers  it  would  give  to 
the  same  capital,  and  consequent  increase  to  the  national 
revenue,  and  national  funds,  which  it  would  tend  to  pro- 
duce. Like  individual  schemes  their  projects  seem  sometimes 
to  have  succeeded,  and  sometimes  to  have  failed.  ]>ut 
though,  when  he  acts,  it  is  incident  to  man's  imperfect 
nature  occasionally  to  err,  to  sit  down  therefore  in  resolute 
inactivity  would  be  the  worst  error  he  could  commit. 

The  celebrated  author  admits,  that  a  manufacture  may  be 
introduced  by  the  operations  of  the  legislator,  sooner  than  it 
could  otherwise  be,  and  thus  come  to  be  made  at  home  as 
cheap,  or  cheaper,  than  abroad.  But  then,  he  says,  in  spite 
of  these  apparent  advantages  of  such  a  proceeding  on  his  part, 
it  must  be  wrong,  because  it  is  contrary  to  my  system.  And, 
before  you  can  prove  that  it  is  justifiable,  you  must  prove  that 
the  benefits  resulting  from  it  could  not  possibly  have  happened 
some  other  way.  "  Though,  for  want  of  such  regulations,  the 
society  should  never  acquire  the  proposed  manufacture,  it 
would  not  upon  that  account  necessarily  be  the  poorer  in  any 
one  period  of  its  duration.  In  every  period  of  its  duration, 
its  whole  capital  and  industry  might  still  have  been  employed, 
though  upon  different  objects,  in  the  manner  that  was  most 
advantageous  at  the  time.  In  every  period  its  revenue  might 
have  been  the  greatest  which  its  capital  could  afford,  and  both 
capital  and  revenue  might  have  been  augmented  with  the 
greatest  possible  rapidity." 

Now,  I  conceive,  that  instead  of  calling  on  his  opponents  to 
prove,  that  all  the  advantages  arising  from  any  such  scheme 
might  possibly  come  to  pass  without  it,  he  himself  has  to 
show,  that  they  must  come  to  pass  without  it.  And,  that  he 
has  to  do  so,  not  by  assuming  his  theoretical  principles  as  true, 
— for,  if  they  are  so,  his  axioms  embrace  and  decide  this  and 
every  case  at  once, — but  by  an  examination  of  the  course  of 
human  affairs,  and  a  regular  deduction  from  them,  of  the  cer- 
tainty of  these  apparent  advantages,  or  others  equivalent  to 
them,  flowing  in  from  some  other  channel  than  that  of  which 
he  would  bar  the  opening. 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  437 

A  nation  imports  from  a  distance  a  manufactured  com- 
modity, which  it  is  granted  it  could  make  as  cheap,  or  cheaper, 
at  home,  were  the  manufacture  introduced  there.  To  introduce 
the  manufacture  is,  however,  too  expensive  a  project  to  be 
carried  into  effect  by  any  private  individual.  The  whole 
society  might  do  so,  through  the  expenditure  for  a  few  years 
of  a  portion  of  its  revenue,  much  less  than  what  an  equal 
n in nber  of  years  succeeding  them  will  return  to  it  in  the 
diminished  cost  of  the  article.  He,  or  they,  who  legislate  for 
the  society,  embrace  the  apparent  benefit,  and,  by  means  of  a 
small  expenditure,  effect  an  increase  of  the  productive  powers 
of  the  community  ;  that  is,  they  give  those  powers  the  capa- 
bility of  producing  the  same  quantity  of  an  article  with  less 
expense,  which  certainly  must  be  allowed  to  be  an  increase  of 
them.  In  this  the  legislator  acts  in  a  manner  that  would  be 
accounted  prudence  in  a  private  person,  who  conducted  any 
system  of  industry  for  his  own  emolument :  in  a  planter,  for 
instance,  who  owned  and  managed  a  West  India  estate.  We 
should  undoubtedly  approve  of  such  a  person's  being  at  con- 
siderable expense,  in  instructing  his  overseers  and  negroes,  in 
any  improved  mode  of  conducting  the  business  of  the  planta- 
tion, if  this  improvement  more  than  proportionably  augmented 
his  revenue.  Neither  have  the  proceedings  of  legislators,  in 
many  cases  parallel  in  principle  to  this,  been  ever  objected  to. 
It  sometimes  happens,  for  instance,  that  those  engaged  in  cul- 
tivating the  ground  know  that  they  can  procure  seeds  of  plants, 
or  races  of  animals,  at  a  distance,  better  fitted  for  their  purposes 
than  those  they  have  at  home.  If  the  expense  of  procuring 
them  is  small,  and  such  as  will  be  remunerated  to  an  individual 
1'V  the  Ljain,  individuals  send  for  such  seeds  and  animals.  If 
it  is  greater,  they  sometimes  club  in  societies  for  the  purpose. 
It  it  be  too  great  for  these  societies,  the  legislator  aids  them  in 
tlii-ir  scheme,  or  carries  it  into  effect  himself.  In  this  way  it 
was,  that,  it  being  thought  that  the  culture  of  the  bread  fruit 
tree,  a  plant  indigenous  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  could  it  be  intro- 
duced into  our  West  India  Islands,  would  be  of  advantage  to 
thrin,  government  were  at  the  expense  of  sending  more  than 
one  vessel,  on  that  long  voyage,  in  order  to  transport  the  plant 
th» -re.  No  one  did,  or  could  object,  to  the  outlay  of  a  portion 


438  APPENDIX 

of  the  public  revenue  for  a  purpose  so  laudable.  In  this  in- 
stance, it  will  be  allowed  by  all,  that  it  would  have  been  as 
absurd  to  have  waited  in  expectation  that  some  individual 
should  find,  or  should  imagine  he  would  find  it  for  his  own 
private  advantage  to  undertake  so  expensive  a  scheme,  as  it 
would  be  to  complain  of  the  comparatively  trifling  expenditure 
of  the  common  funds,  which  the  accomplishment  of  this  project 
conducive  to  the  common  good  required.  But  the  expenditure 
of  a  certain  amount  of  national  revenue,  for  the  purpose  of 
transporting  an  useful  art  from  a  distant  country,  bears,  surely, 
a  close  analogy  to  a  similar  expenditure,  for  the  purpose  of 
transporting  an  useful  plant.1  If  the  one  be  praiseworthy,  the 
other  can  scarce  deserve  the  censure  that  has  been  heaped 
on  it. 

Our  author  further  observes :  "  The  natural  advantages 
which  one  country  has  over  another,  in  producing  particular 
commodities  are  sometimes  so  great  that  it  is  acknowledged  by 
all  the  world  to  be  in  vain  to  struggle  with  them."  And,  as 
an  instance,  he  gives  the  project  of  raising  grapes,  for  the 
purpose  of  making  wine,  in  Scotland. 

Extreme  cases  are  useful,  but,  to  be  so,  they  should  be  cor- 
rectly put.  The  main  question  in  dispute  is,  whether  or  not 
it  is  proper  to  introduce  a  manufacture  from  abroad,  by  the 
aid  of  the  legislator,  which,  when  so  introduced,  will  furnish  a 
commodity  for  home  consumption  at  as  low,  or  at  a  lower 
price,  than  it  can  be  bought  for  in  the  foreign  country.  The 
supposed  case  of  a  commodity  which,  if  the  manufacture  of  it 
be  introduced  at  home,  will  cost  thirty  times  more,  or  a 
thirtieth,  or  three  hundredth  part  more  there  than  abroad,  can 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  determination  of  such  a  question. 

"Whether  the  advantages  which  one  country  has  over 
another  be  natural  or  acquired,  is  in  this  respect  of  no  conse- 
quence." On  the  contrary,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  of  the  greatest 
consequence,  and,  for  this  very  reason,  that  it  is  only  "  as  long 
as  the  one  country  has  those  advantages,  and  the  other  wants 

1  [In  the  case  of  the  promotion  of  an  industry  by  means  of  protective  duties 
(in  contrast  to  bounties),  there  is  no  "certain  amount"  of  outlay  of  the 
resources  of  the  people ;  there  is  no  book-keeping  possible ;  no  one  ever 
knows  how  much  has  been  its  cost.] 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE  TRADE  439 

them,  that  it  will  more  advantageous  for  the  latter  rather  to 
buy  of  the  former  than  to  make."  Now  natural  advantages 
cannot  be  procured  by  any  expenditure  of  revenue  or  capital, 
but  acquired  advantages  may  often  be  got  by  means  of  a  very 
small  expenditure.  One  country  cannot,  at  any  purchase, 
acquire  the  soil,  the  climate,  the  commodiousness  of  situation 
for  conducting  trade,  or  any  of  the  other  natural  advantages 
which  another  country  possesses;  were  it  so,  the  price  would 
be  very  large  that  would  not  be  willingly  paid  for  them.  But 
one  country  can  often  with  ease,  and  at  a  trifling  expense, 
acquire  the  practical  skill  and  the  knowledge  of  particular  arts 
and  manufactures  which  another  possesses,  and,  by  doing  so, 
Lrain  the  advantage  of  procuring  for  itself  the  products  of  this 
skill  and  knowledge  at  home,  instead  of  having  to  go  abroad 
for  them.  In  the  passage  quoted,  natural  advantages  and 
acquired  are  reckoned  equivalents,  and  so  undoubtedly  they 
are.  They  are  both  valuable  on  account  of  the  products  they 
yield  to  human  labor.  But  they  differ  in  this,  that  the  latter 
can  be  transferred  from  one  country  to  another,  the  former 
cannot.  Could  Scotland  acquire  the  sunny  skies  and  more 
genial  climate  of  France,  its  hills  might  be  covered  with  vine- 
yards, instead  of  heather,  and  its  inhabitants  might  procure 
many  commodities  at  a  fourth  of  the  price  which  they  now 
cost  them.  No  one  would  object  to  a  considerable  expenditure 
to  acquire  so  great  an  advantage.  If  then,  the  acquisition  of 
natural  advantages  would  be  worth  paying  for,  why  object  to 
a  small  expenditure  to  procure  advantages  which  are  allowed 
to  be  equivalent  to  those  natural  advantages  ? 

As  the  author  has  given  one  supposed  case,  as  he  conceived 
illustrative  of  the  question,  I  may  be  permitted  to  give  another, 
also  illustrative  of  it;  not  like  his,  however,  springing  frmn 
assumptions  liable  to  be  objected  to,  but,  as  will  be  seen, 
trained  upon  his  very  principles  and  admissions. 

A  certain  country  has  the  acquired  advantage  over  another 
of  possessing  the  knowledge  of  a  particular  art,  which  this 
other  wants.  The  latter,  therefore,  imports  from  the  former 
all  the  goods,  the  product  of  that  art,  which  it  has  occasion 
for.  As  it  has  to  pay  for  these  goods,  it  luckily  happens  that 
it,  on  its  side,  has  also  acquired  advantages  in  possessing  the 


440  APPENDIX 

knowledge  of  another  art,  which  the  former  wants,  and  the 
commodities  produced  by  which  it  has  occasion  for.  In  this 
way,  the  one  sort  of  goods  pays  for  the  other.  The  natural 
and  acquired  advantages  of  these  two  countries  are  either 
similar  or  equivalent.  That  is,  their  soil,  climate,  convenience 
of  situation  for  trade,  and  their  knowledge  of  other  arts,  though 
not  exactly  the  same,  are  on  the  whole  equally  balanced,  their 
population  and  capital  are  equal.  In  short,  they  as  much 
resemble  two  neighbouring  artificers,  according  to  the  com- 
parison of  our  author,  exercising  different  trades,  as  extensive 
communities  inhabiting  separate  countries  well  can  resemble 
single  workmen  whose  dwellings  are  contiguous.  The  peculiar 
manufacture  of  the  one  nation  is  hats,  of  the  other  silk  goods. 
The  silk  goods  which  the  one  annually  consumes  cost  it 
£2,000,000  ;  the  hats  which  the  other  consumes,  the  same 
sum.  Of  these  sums  25  per  cent,  is  made  up  of  transport, 
including  in  the  term,  not  the  mere  freight,  but  the  whole 
charges  paid  for  internal  transport,  for  warehousing,  and  for 
the  profits  of  the  different  capitals,  and  wages  of  the  various 
individuals  concerned  in  collecting  the  commodities  in  the  one 
country,  carrying  them  to,  and  distributing  them  over  the 
other.  Thus  the  annual  sum  which  these  commodities  cost 
each  country,  over  and  above  the  [prime]  expense  of  producing 
them,  is  £400,000.  In  this  situation  things  have  long  re- 
mained, and  must  continue  to  remain,  unless  altered  by  some 
change  in  the  policy,  or  great  revolution  in  the  affairs  of  the 
two- countries.  "  It  being  only  for  the  sake  of  profit  that  any 
man  employs  a  capital  in  the  support  of  industry,"  and,  from 
the  acquired  advantages  which  each  country  enjoys  over  the 
other  in  the  production  of  its  peculiar  manufacture,  it  being 
impossible  for  any  projector  to  manufacture  hats,  in  the 
country  where  hats  have  not  hitherto  been  made,  or  silks,  in 
the  country  where  silks  have  not  hitherto  been  made,  but  at 
an  outlay  of  more  than  25  per  cent,  over  what  they  cost  in 
the  country  where  these  respective  manufactures  are  estab- 
lished, no  such  project  will  be  entered  on.  The  legislators  of 
the  two  countries,  have  hitherto  agreed  with  our  author,  that, 
as  it  is  the  maxim  of  every  prudent  master  of  a  family,  never 
to  make  at  home  what  it  will  cost  him  more  to  make  than  to 


ADAM   SMITH   ON  FREE   TRADE  441 

buy ;  what  is  prudence  in  the  conduct  of  every  private  family 
can  scarce  be  folly  in  that  of  a  great  kingdom ;  and  that, 
whether  the  advantages  which  one  country  has  over  another 
be  natural  or  acquired,  is  of  no  consequence,  it  being  an 
acquired  advantage  only,  which  one  artificer  has  over  his 
:ibor,  who  exercises  another  trade,  though  they  both  find 
it  for  their  advantage,  rather  to  buy  of  one  another,  than  to 
make  what  does  not  belong  to  their  peculiar  trade  Acting  on 
these  principles,  they  have  thought  it  improper  to  make  any 
alteration  in  the  system. 

About  this  time,  however,  a  change  takes  place  in  their 
opinions,  and  they  begin  to  think,  that  as,  though  it  would  not 
be  very  prudent  in  the  tailor,  that  he  might  have  his  shoes 
made  in  his  own  workshop  instead  of  his  neighbor's,  to  set 
about  making  them  himself,  or  the  shoemaker,  for  the  same 
reason,  to  set  about  making  his  own  coat,  yet,  if  there  were  a 
town  in  which  there  were  no  shoemakers,  but  more  than  enough 
of  tailors,  and  another,  a  dozen  miles  off,  in  which  there  were 
no  tailors,  but  more  than  enough  of  shoemakers,  it  would  be  a 
beneficial  change  for  some  of  the  tailors  to  remove  to  the  one 
town,  and  some  of  the  shoemakers  to  the  other,  that  the  inhabi- 
tants of  both  might  have  the  articles  fabricated  by  these  differ- 
ent sorts  of  tradesmen,  made  at  home,  that  is,  within  their 
respective  towns, — so,  two  countries,  of  which  the  one  made  no 
hats,  and  the  other  no  silk  goods,  might  mutually  benefit  by  the 
introduction  of  the  manufacture  in  which  each  was  deficient, 
tin-  inhabitants  of  each  in  like  manner  as  the  inhabitants  of 
each  town,  having  that  provided  at  home,  which  they  must 
otherwise  go  abroad  for,  and  thus  being  saved  like  them,  the 
expense  and  inconvenience  of  transportation. 

Though  such  a  change,  in  either  case,  could  not  be  brought 
about  without  expense,  and  though  "  its  immediate  effect  would 
therefore  be  to  diminish  the  revenue  of  the  society,"  yet,  as 
after  a  certain  time,  it  would  be  likely  that  the  new  manufac- 
would  be  made  at  home  in  each  case  "  as  cheap  or  cheaper 
than  abroad,"  its  ultimate  effect  would  be,  more  than  propor- 
tionably,  to  increase  the  revenues  of  both  towns  and  both 
count : 

Acting  on  these  new  views,  the  legislators  of  both  countries, 


442  APPENDIX 

about  the  same  time,  commence  encouraging  the  manufactures 
in  which  their  respective  countries  are  deficient ;  and,  by  means 
of  a  system  of  premiums,  bounties,  and  duties,  on  the  detail  of 
which  it  is  unnecessary  to  enter,  succeed  so  far,  in  the  course 
of  years,  that  silk  goods  corne  actually  to  be  fabricated  in  the 
country  where  no  silk  goods  were  manufactured,  as  cheaply  as 
where  they  were  exclusively  manufactured,  and  hats  to  be 
made,  where  no  hats  were  made,  as  cheaply  as  where  hats  were 
exclusively  made.  Part  of  the  capital  and  industry  which  went 
in  the  one  case  to  the  manufacture  of  hats,  goes  to  manufacture 
silk  goods,  and,  in  the  other  case,  part  of  the  capital  and 
industry  which  went  to  manufacture  silk  goods,  goes  to  manu- 
facture hats.  Both  countries  produce  that  at  home,  which  they 
before  imported  from  abroad,  and  are  therefore  saved  the  ex- 
pense attending  that  importation. 

Completely  to  effect  this  change  requires  an  outlay,  in  both 
cases,  of  £1,000,000.  Being  effected  however,  it  of  course 
saves  each  country  the  expense  of  transport,  which,  at  25  per 
cent,  on  the  imported  goods,  makes  an  annual  saving  of  its  ex- 
penditure, and  increase  therefore  of  its  revenue,  of  £400,000; 
so  that,  in  two  or  three  years  time,  the  sum  expended  is  repaid, 
and  each  community  supplied  with  a  new  fund  to  furnish  addi- 
tional comforts  to  its  members,  or  to  add  to  their  capital. 
According  to  our  author's  tenets,  this  proceeding  of  both  legisla- 
tors, although  admitted  to  be  practicable,  is  yet  held  to  be 
necessarily,  and  in  its  very  nature,  injurious. 

Although  it  can  seldom  happen,  that  two  countries  are  so 
circumstanced  that  both,  according  to  our  supposition,  can 
benefit  equally  by  the  effecting  of  such  a  change,  yet,  if  one 
effect  such  a  change,  as  far  as  that  country  is  concerned  it 
would  seem  to  be  beneficial,  on  a  simple  calculation  of  expense 
and  gain,  provided  the  saving  of  revenue  produced  by  it,  is 
greater  than  the  expenditure  of  revenue  necessary  for  producing 
it.  It  is  this  end  which  the  legislator  generally  aims  at  reach- 
ing by  the  regulations  he  imposes  on  the  trade  and  industry  of 
the  society,  and  which,  by  these  means,  he  often  arrives  at. 
Yet,  even  when  in  such  cases  successful,  our  author  maintains, 
that  his  proceedings  are  necessarily,  and  essentially  prejudi- 
cial to  the  interests  of  the  society.  That,  even  though  they 


ADAM   SMITH    ON   FREE   TRADE  443 

may  cause  a  commodity  to  be  produced  at  home,  cheaper  than 
abroad,  they  must  diminish,  instead  of  augmenting,  the  national 
revenue  and  riches.  A  conclusion  so  extraordinary,  is  arrived 
at  by  a  process  of  reasoning  as  extraordinary.  It  is  come  to  by 
setting  out  from  it.  Two  general  axioms,  somewhat  ambiguous 
and  vague,  are  assumed  as  truths.  As  usually  happens  to  all 
other  axioms  employed  in  general  reasoning,  and  capable  of  con- 
veying two  senses,  they  are  granted  in  the  one  sense,  and  applied 
in  the  other.  We  assent  to  the  propositions,  "  the  industry 
of  the  society  can  augment  only  in  proportion  as  its  capital 
augments,  and  its  capital  can  augment  only  in  proportion  to 
what  can  be  gradually  saved  out  of  its  revenue,"  because  we  see, 
that  the  augmentation  of  industry  and  capital,  the  saving  from 
revenue  and  increase  of  capital,  are  concomitants  of  each  other ; 
we  perceive  not,  that  in  the  application  of  these  propositions, 
the  sense  in  which  we  assented  to  them  is  abandoned,  and  that 
the  augmentation  of  the  capital  of  the  society  is  assumed  as  the 
cause,  and  the  sole  cause  of  the  increase  of  its  industry,  and  the 
saving  from  revenue,  as  the  cause,  and  the  sole  cause,  of  the 
augmentation  of  its  capital.  Whereas,  from  the  observation  of 
the  increase  of  the  productiveness  of  national  industry,  and  of 
the  amount  of  national  capital,  going  on  in  general  together,  we 
may  at  least  as  justly  infer  that  it  is  the  industry  which  aug- 
ments the  capital,  as  the  capital  the  industry,  and  rather  come 
to  the  conclusion,  that  part  of  the  national  resources  should  be 
employed  in  giving  perfection  to  the  industry  of  the  society 
than  that  they  should  be  altogether  devoted  to  attempts  to 
increase  its  capital.  In  fact,  as  capital,  according  to  Adam 
Smith  himself,  is  only  valuable  for  the  addition  it  makes  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  national  industry,  and,  as  that  efficiency  is  also, 
according  to  him,  mainly  dependent  on  the  skill,  dexterity,  and 
judgment,  with  which  it  is  applied,  an  expenditure  of  capital 
or  revenue,  having  the  effect  of  increasing  the  national  skill, 
dexterity,  and  judgment,  would  seem  to  be  the  most  judicious 
possible,  seeing  it  directly  increases  those  sources  of  production, 
fr.iii  the  indirect  addition  that  it  makes  to  which,  capital  is 
said  to  derive  its  sole  value. 

It  has  been  my  endeavor  to  show,  in  the  preceding  exaini- 


444  APPENDIX 

nation  of  the  system  of  Adam  Smith,  that  the  doctrine  there 
maintained,  of  the  expediency  of  the  legislator's  abstaining  from 
any  attempt  to  give  increased  efficiency  to  the  industry  of  the 
society  by  encouraging  the  growth  of  domestic  arts  or  the 
importation  of  foreign,  founded  on  the  supposition  of  the  per- 
fect identity  of  the  means  which  add  to  the  wealth  of  indivi- 
duals and  nations,  is  erroneous. 

1.  That  the  reasonings  which  make  it  assume  the  form  of  a 
self-evident  principle,  have  their  foundation  in  the  ambiguities 
of  language   alone,  and  that,  in    reality,  the  presumption  is 
against,  not  for  it. 

2.  That  viewed  as  a  consequence  of  the  theory  of  the  accu- 
mulation of  capital,  the  division  of  labor,  and  the  improvements 
resulting  from  the  action  and  reaction  of  these  principles  on 
each  other,  the  judgment   we  form   of  it  must  be   altogether 
determined  by  the  probable  accuracy  of  the  principles  on  which 
that  theory  proceeds,  and  by  its  coincidence  with  facts ;  that 
granting,  for  the  present,  the  apparent  probability  of  the  theo- 
retical principles   themselves,  they  nevertheless  do  not  agree 
with  the  phenomena  ;  that  there  is  a  class  of  admitted  facts, 
which  they  not  only  do  not  explain,  but  to  which  they  are  in 
opposition  ;  that  the  increase  of  the  wealth  of  every  community 
is  acknowledged  to  be  dependent,  not  only  on  the  accumulation 
of  capital  and  division  of  labor  among  its  members,  but  also  on 
the  progress  of  arts  in  other  communities,  and  their  subsequent 
transfer  to  it ;  that  to  effect  this  transfer,  a  measure  admitted 
to  be  all-important  to  the  prosperity  of  the  community,   the 
efforts  of  individuals  are  insufficient ;  that,  in  his  endeavors  to 
prove  that  the  legislator  ought  not   here   to   interfere,   Adam 
Smith   runs  into  inconsistencies  and  contradictions,  and  that 
there  hence  arises  a  proof  of  the  inapplicability  of  his  doctrine 
to  events  of  this  order,  and  a  strong  presumption  of  the  exist- 
ence of  some  fundamental  error  in  the  general  principles  of  his 
system. 

[In  the  foregoing  Rae  successfully  exposes  some  serious  errors  in  the 
economic  theory  with  which  Adam  Smith  supported  his  doctrine  of  free 
trade.  Especially  is  this  true  with  respect  to  Smith's  theory  of  saving. 

But  in  the  course  of  his  own  positive  teaching  on  the  subject  of  the  benefits 
of  an  educational  tariff,  Rae  does  not  himself  avoid  falling  into  errors  in 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  445 

economics.  The  chief  of  these  is  his  assumption  that  always,  or  nearly 
always,  a  new  art  introduced  by  measures  of  protection,  will  make  im- 
provements in  its  strange  environment — will  exhibit  the  working  of  the 
principle  of  invention — to  such  a  degree,  that  its  products  will  soon  be 
furnished  cheaper  by  the  domestic  manufacturer  than  before  by  the  foreign 
importer.  It  is  in  the  nature  of  things  that  there  will  be,  with  respect  to 
such  experiments,  many  cases  of  disappointment ;  and  when  this  last  takes 
place,  it  is  inevitable  that  as  a  rule  defeat  will  not  be  acknowledged  and  the 
project  abandoned.  But  this  brings  us  back  again  to  politics. 

It  is  especially  worthy  of  note  that  Rae's  argument  for  the  adoption  of 
measures  of  protection  rests  entirely  upon  indirect  and  collateral  economic 
considerations.  The  direct  and  immediate  effects  of  obstructing  foreign  trade 
in  articles  which  are  not  luxuries  are  injurious — they  retard  the  formation 
and  exhaustion  of  instruments.  The  position  taken  in  Chapter  XL  is  all 
that  any  free  trader  could  desire.  It  is  only  the  ulterior  economic  effects  of 
protection  (explained  in  the  present  Article)  which  may  work  beneficially, 
offsetting  proximate  effects. 

It  seems  doubly  strange,  therefore,  that  Rae  should  have  overlooked  all 
the  contingencies  of  a  political  nature  respecting  this  subject.  In  all  the 

•  f  his  writing  he  takes  the  high,  comprehensive,  sociological  point  of 
.  and  is  sagacious — scenting  danger  from  afar.     The  chief  evil  of  pro- 
tectionism is  that  it  leads  inevitably  to  corruption — not  merely  corruption 
as  ordinarily  understood,  but  a  general  lowering  of  the  tone  of  the  national 
life.     It  is  well  known  that  in  the  United  States  to-day  each  interest  and 
section  prides  itself  on  its  superior  finesse  in  securing  tariff  favors  for  itself 
— in  getting  money  from   fellow-citizens  by  indirection.     The  system  as  it 
actually  works  in  practice  has  become   primarily  not  a  matter  of  national 
"creation,"  but  a  matter  of  individual  and  local  "acquisition"  of  wealth, 
and  it  carries  the  spirit  of  graft  into  every  corner  of  the  land,  and  makes 
it  respectable.     What  it  means  to  a  people  to  preserve  its  spiritual  integrity — 
that  it  pays  for  a  people  to  hold  to  ideals,  even  though  arts  perish — Rae  very 
well   knew.     The  following   passage  from   his   unpublished  manuscript  sets 
forth  this  important  truth  most  eloquently  :] 

Xow  though  it  is  undoubtedly  true  in  the  general  that 
with  regard  to  external  nature  knowledge  is  the  power  which 

-  man  in  the  scale  of  being  and  distinguishes  him  from 
the  inferior  animals,  yet  we  by  no  means  find  that  it  is  the 
degree  in  which  they  practically  apply  this  knowledge  that 
determines  the  relative  position  of  particular  races  or  cmn- 
n i unities.     It  is  not  the  external  and  visible — what  he  eats, 
what  he  drinks,  or  wherewithal  he  is  clothed — but  his  inner 
ami  secret  life  that  makes  the  man,  constitutes  his  joy  and 
sorrow,  shapes  his  course   through   this  world  and  determines 

ate  for  the  next.     So  it  is  with  nations.     It  is  neither  the 
form   of  th.-ir  dwellings,  the  victuals  that    n-uirish  them,  nor 


446  APPENDIX 

the  fashion  of  their  dress ;  it  is  their  interior  life,  the  degree 
in  which  the  perception  of  the  true,  the  good,  the  beautiful 
permeates  their  being,  the  view  which  their  social  feelings  and 
]>;i--i<>ns  lr;itl  them  to  take  of  things  external  and  the  course 
of  action  they  are  thus  prompted  to  pursue,  that  makes  tin 'in 
what  they  are,  which  ultimately  determines  their  relative 
positions  and  controls  their  destinies. 

"It  is  known  that  the  northern  portion  of  the  island  of  Great 
Britain  had  at  an  early  period  made  greater  progress  than  the 
southern  in  the  arts  of  peace.  It  could  scarcely  well  have 
been  otherwise.  For,  while  for  about  two  hundred  years 
England  was  devastated  by  the  cruel  wars  necessary  for  the 
subjugation  of  the  Saxon  to  the  Norman  yoke,  during  all  that 
time,  Celt,  Saxon,  Norman,  and  Dane  lived  peacefully  together 
in  Scotland  under  a  succession  of  native  princes  and  were 
being  blended  into  one  common  people.  There  is  full  evidence 
that  the  rude  abundance  of  an  agriculture  successfully  prose- 
cuted was  widely  diffused  among  them ;  and  facts  are  not 
wanting  to  testify  that  the  more  elaborate  arts  had  there 
begun  to  flourish. 

O 

"  But  now  the  Norman  having  brought  England  completely 
under  his  rule  sought  to  extend  that  rule  over  Scotland.  His 
domination  was  hateful  to  the  people  and  they  determined 
never  to  submit  to  it.  But  how  resist  the  united  force  of 
a  kingdom  so  much  more  powerful  than  their  own  ?  They 
retreated  to  the  fastnesses  of  their  mountains,  woods,  and 
marshes,  and,  leaving  the  open  country  a  prey  to  the  enemy, 
they  watched  their  opportunity,  and  only  issued  forth  and 
gave  battle  when  to  conquer  was  possible.  A  warfare 
continued  thus  for  many  generations  necessarily  put  to  flight 
all  but  the  most  essential  arts,  rendering  the  country  bare  and 
barren,  and  the  mode  of  life  of  the  inhabitants  the  rudest 
possible.  So  their  French  auxiliaries  describe  them.  They 
depict  them  as  a  poverty-stricken  and  barbarous  race,  among 
whom  it  was  impossible  to  live.  Here  was,  in  many  respects, 
a  sensible  retrogression — a  retrogression  to  a  state  of  semi- 
barbarism.  The  question  is,  was  it  altogether  a  retrogression  ? 
Had  the  Scot  made  a  step  backward,  or  was  it  in  truth  a  step 


ADAM   SMITH   ON   FREE   TRADE  447 

forward  ?  In  my  opinion  there  can  be  no  question  that  it 
was  a  step  in  advance.  In  thus  throwing  to  the  winds  all 
the  comforts  of  life,  and  counting  as  nothing  what  he  sacri- 
ficed or  suffered  for  his  national  liberties  and  national  in- 
dependence, the  spirit  of  the  Scot  assumed  a  higher  tone 
and  his  soul  was  trained  greatly  to  dare  and  bravely  to  do, 
wherever  great  and  worthy  objects  were  to  be  achieved. 
Adversity  was  upon  him, 

4  Stern  rigid  nurse,  thy  rugged  lore 
With  patience  many  a  year  he  bore.' 

"  But  he  issued  from  her  school  a  greater  and  nobler  man 
than  he  ever  otherwise  could  have  become  [and  what  he  has 
accomplished  in  happier  times  all  the  world  knows]." 


AUTHOR'S  NOTES. 

NOTE  A.     Referred  to  on  page  1. 

"  We  derive  from  Dr.  Smith  no  assistance  in  forming  our 
opinions  on  this  important  subject ;  for  he  seems  to  have  had 
no  fixed  ideas  in  relation  to  it.  Indeed,  there  is  no  opinion 
that  has  been  any  where  maintained  on  the  subject  of  the 
sources  of  national  wealth,  which  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  adopted  in  different  parts  of  the  Inquiry  into  the  Wealth 
of  Nations. 

1.  "  The  annual  labor  of  every  nation  is"  at  one  time  stated 
to  be  "  the  fund  which  originally  supplies  it  with  all   the 
necessaries  and  conveniencies  of  life  which  it  annually  con- 
sumes, and  which  consists  always  either  in   the  immediate 
produce  of  that  labor,  or  in  what  is  purchased  with  that  pro- 
duce from  other  nations." 1 

2.  Lands,  mines,  and  fisheries,  elsewhere  are   regarded  as 
replacing,  "with  a  profit,  not  only  the  capitals  employed  in 
them,  but  all  the  other  capitals  employed  in  the  community." 2 
That,  however,  which  replaces  all  the  capital  employed  in  the 
community,  and  is  the  source  from  whence  they  derive  their 
profit,  must  be  the  sole  source  of  wealth.     Mankind  are,  there- 
fore, here  considered  as  deriving  the  whole  of  their  wealth 
from  land.3 

3.  Again,  plain  reason  is  stated   to  dictate   that  the  real 
wealth  of  a  country  consists  in  the  annual  produce  of  its  land 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  vol.  I.,  p.  1,  4to.  edit.     This  opinion  is  maintained  by 
Mr.  Hume.     See  his  Discourse  of  Commerce,  p.  12,  edit.  1752. 

2  Wealth  of  Stations,  vol.  I.,  p.  338,  4to.  edit. 
*Ibid.,  vol.  I.,  p.  414. 


ATTHOR'S   NOTES  449 

and  labor :  and  this  opinion,  which  coincides  with  that  of  the 
Bishop  of  Cloyne,1  and  the  learned  author  of  the  Essay  on 
Money  and  Coins,-  is  most  generally  adhered  to  by  Dr.  Smith. 

4.  In  another  part  of  the  work,  however,  we  find  it  asserted, 
that  "land  and  capital  stock  are  the  two  original  sources  of 
all  revenue,  both  private  and  public:  capital  stock  pays  the 
wages  of  productive  labor,  whether  employed  in  agriculture, 
manufactures,  or  commerce."3     Land  and  capital  are,  there- 
fore, here  deemed  the  sole  sources  of  wealth ;  and  labor  is 

idered  as  deriving  from  them  its  wages,  without  adding 
to  the  opulence  of  the  community. 

5.  Lastly,  we  are  taught  to  consider  land,  labor,  and  capital, 
as  being  all  three  sources  of  wealth ;  for  we  are  told  that, 

whoever  derives  his  revenue  from  a  fund  that  is  his  own, 

<lraw  it  either  from  his  labor,  his  stock,  or  his  land.    The 

i me  derived  from  labor  is  called  wages;  that  from  stock, 

profit ;  and  from  land,  rent ; "  4  an  opinion  which  seems  to  have 

been  hinted  at  by  Sir  William  Petty,5  when  he  stated  it  as  an 

impediment  to  the  wealth  of  England,  that  taxes  were  not 

levied  upon  lands,  stock,  and  labor,  but  chiefly  upon  land  alone, 

though   land   and    labor   are  generally   considered    by   that 

ingenious  writer  as  the  sole  source  of  wealth. 

In  treating  of  political  economy,  the  science  which  professes 
to  display  and  to  teach  means  of  increasing  the  wealth  of  a 
state,  it  would  seem  that  the  first  and  most  anxious  object  of 
in«juiry  ought  to  have  been,  what  wealth  is,  and  from  what 
sources  mankind  derive  it ;  for  it  appears  impossible  to  discuss 
with  precision  the  means  of  increasing  any  thing,  without  an 
accurate  notion  of  its  nature  and  of  its  origin,"  Lauderdal<  , 
[Inquiry,  2nd  ed.,  pp.  112-116.] 

To  this  catalogue  of  the  various  notions  held  out  in  tli 

1  Qutritt,  Quer.  4.  "  Whether  the  four  elements,  and  man's  labor  therein, 
be  not  the  true  source  of  wealth." 

3  "  Land  and  labor  together  are  the  sources  of  all  wealth;  without  a  com- 
petency of  land,  there  would  be  no  subsistence,  and  but  a  very  poor  and 
uncomfortable  one  without  labor.  So  that  wealth  or  riches  consists  either  in 
a  property  in  land,  or  in  the  products  of  land  and  labor. " 

8  Wealth  of  Nation*,  \  „]    II    p.  560.         «  Wealth  o/Atowm*,  Vol.  II.  p.  63. 
,  edit.  1768,  p.  268. 


450  APPENDIX 

Wealth  of  Nations,  concerning  the  nature  of  that  wealth,  Lord 
Lauderdale  might  have  added  another,  showing  some  general 
resemblance  to  that  exhibited  in  the  present  work.  "Wealth," 
we  are  told,  B.  V.  c.  i.,  "  always  follows  improvements  of  agri- 
culture and  manufactures,  and  is,  in  reality,  no  more  than  the 
accumulated  produce  of  those  improvements." 

NOTE  B.     Referred  to  on  page  3. 

"  Si  Ton  se  demande  en  effet  en  quoi  consiste  la  richesse,  on 
n'est  pas  peu  surpris  de  ne  trouver  dans  les  auteurs  les  plus 
estime's  que  des  opinions  differentes  ou  contraires. 

"  Les  uns  la  font  consister  dans  1'universalite  des  propri 
prive'es,1  et  d'autres  dans  1'abondance  des  denre'es.2 

"  Ceux-la  distinguent  la  richesse  publique  de  la  richesse 
particuliere,  donnent  a  la  premiere  une  valeur  d' usage  et  non 
d'echange,  et  a  la  seconde  une  valeur  d'echange  et  non  d'usage, 
et  font  consister  cette  derniere  dans  la  valeur  vtfnale  du  pro- 
duit  net.3 

"  Ceux-ci  la  composent  de  toutes  les  choses  mate'rielles  dont 
Thomme  peut  faire  usage  pour  satisfaire  un  besoin  ou  une 
jouissance  de  sensualite,  de  fantaisie  ou  de  vanite.4 

"  Un  autre  e'crivain  regarde  la  richesse  comme  la  possession 
d'une  chose  plus  d&sire'e  par  ceux  qui  ne  l'ont  pas  que  par 
ceux  qui  en  jouissent* 

"  Un  autre  e'crivain  la  definit  le  superflu.^ 

"  Un  autre  ecrivain  la  place  dans  1'accumulation  du  travail 
exigible.7 

1  Treatise  of  taxes,  by  Sir  William  Petty— Gregory  King's  Calculation,  pub- 
lished   by   Davenant — Dr.   Beeke,  Observations  on   the  produce   of  the  in- 
come tax. 

2  Dime  royale  du  marechal  de  Vauban. 

3  Physiocratie,  p.  118 — Philosophic  rurale,  p.  60. 

4Essai  sur  la  nature  du  commerce,  par  Cantillon.— Abreg^  des  principea 
d'e'conomie  politique,  par  M.  le  senateur  Germain  Garnier,  Paris,  1796.  M. 
Malthus,  Principes  d'e"conomie  politique  considers  par  rapport  a  leurs  appli- 
cations practiques  (page  23). 

6  Richezza  e  il  possesso  d'alcuna  cosa  che  sia  piu  desiderata  dagli  altri  che  dal 
possessore.     Galiani,  della  Moneta. 

6 II  superfluo  costituisce  la  ricchezza.  Palmieri,  pubblica  Felicita,  tome  I. 
page  155. 

7  Princ.  d'ticon.  polit.,  par  M.  Canard,  Paris,  1801. 


AUTHOR'S   NOTES  451 

"  Adam-Smith  dit  tan  tot  qu'un  homme  est  riche  ou  pau\  r- 
selon  le  plus  ou  moms  de  choses  n&essaires,  utiles  ou  agre*- 
ables  a  la  vie  dont  il  peut  se  procurer  la  jouissance ;  tantot 
qu'un  homme  est  riche  ou  pauvre  selon  qu'il  peut  disposer  de 
plus  ou  moms  de  travail;  tantot  que  la  richesse  re'elle  d'un 
pays  consiste  dans  le  produit  annuel  de  ses  terres  et  de  son 
travail.1 

"  Un  <*crivain  recent  de'finit  la  richesse,  tout  ce  que  I'homme 
desire  comme  utile  et  agreable.2 

"  Les  richesses,  dit  M.  Say,  se  composent  des  choses  qui  ont 
une  valeur.3 

"  M.  Ricardo  pense  que  la  valeur  differe  essentiellement  de 
la  richesse,  et  que  les  choses,  une  fois  qu'elles  sont  reconnues 
utiles  par  elles-memes,  tirent  leur  valeur  ^changeable  de  deux 
sources,  de  leur  rarete,  et  de  la  quantite  de  travail  n&essaire 
pour  les  acqueYir.4 

"  M.  Sismondi  de'finit  la  richesse,  le  fruit  du  travail  accumule' 
et  non  encore  consomme'.5 

"  Cette  incertitude  sur  la  nature  de  la  richesse  se  reproduit 
dans  Texamen  des  moyens  qui  peuvent  contribuer  a  sa  progres- 
sion, a  son  accroissement  et  a  sa  grandeur. 

"Ceux  qui  ont  e'crit  les  premiers  sur  cette  matiere  im- 
portante,  sdduits  par  1'apparence  des  faits,  ont  attribue  aux 
me'taux  pr^cieux,  obtenus  en  retour  de  1'exportation  des  pro- 
duits  du  sol  et  de  1'industrie  de  chaque  pays,  la  cause  de  la 
richesse  des  peuples.6 

1  Rich,  des  nat.,  in  4 to.  vol.  I.  pag.  209  et  338. 

9  An  inquiry  into  the  nature  and  origin  of  public  wealth,  by  the  Earl  of 
Lauderdale,  chap.  2.  pages  56  and  57. 

'Traite  d'econ.  polit.,  page  1. 

4  Des  principes  de  1'economie  politique  et  de  I'impdt,  tome  II.  chap.  20. 

*  Nouveaux  principes  d'economie  politique,  tome  I.  page  60. 

•En  Angleterre,  Raleigh,  Essai  sur  le  commerce,  en  1595.— Edouard  Mis- 
selden,  Cercle  du  commerce,  en  1823.—  Louis  Roberts,  Tremor  du  trafic,  en 
1641.— Thomas  Munn,  Trt-sor  de  1'Angleterre  pour  le  commerce  Stranger,  en 
1664.—  Fortrey,  Int^rdU  et  ameliorations  de  1* Angleterre,  en  1664. — Davenant, 
dans  son  ouvrage  relatif  au  commerce  et  au  revenu  de  1* Angleterre,  tom*  I 
page  16,  en  1696.— M.  Martin,  inspecteur-ge'ne'ral  des  douanes,  ou  le  Marchand 
anglais.  •  171:: 

En  Hollande,  Jean  de  Witt,  Memotres,  en  1669. 

1 .11  Italic,  Serra,  Breve  tratto  delle  COM  ohe  possono  far  abondare  li  regni 


4->i»  APPENDIX 

"  D'autres  ecrivains  en  ont  place  la  source  dans  la  reduction 
de  I'inte'ret  de  1'argent.1 

u  Les  economistes,  entraines  par  une  theorie  se'duisante  et 
captieuse,  ont  exalte  le  systeme  agricole.2 

"  Adam-Smith  lui  a  prdf 6r£  le  travail  qui  se  perfectionne  par 
sa  division,  et  qui,  apres  qu'il  est  fini,  se  fixe  et  se  realise  dans 
un  objet  permanent.8 

"Lord  Lauderdale,  dans  1'ouvrage  precite,  ouvrage  remar- 
quable  par  la  finesse  de  ses  aper^us,  fait  de'river  la  richesse  de 
Tart  de  simplifier  et  d'abreger  le  travail  et  d'ameliorer  ses  pro- 
duits,  resultat  necessaire  de  Faccumulation  et  de  la  direction 
des  capitaux. 

"  M.  Say  fait  de'river  la  plus  grande  augmentation  de  la 
richesse,  de  1'emploi  des  capitaux  dans  1'agriculture.4 

"  De  1'union  des  systemes  d'agriculture  et  de  commerce,  dit 
M.  Malthus,  depend  la  plus  grande  prosperite  nationale.5 

"  M.  Ricardo  est  d'avis  que  la  richesse  d'un  pays  s'accroit  de 
deux  manieres:  par  1'emploi  d'une  portion  plus  considerable 
du  revenu  a  1'accroissement  du  travail  productif,  ou  en  ren- 
dant  plus  productive  celle  qui  existe.6 

"  M.  Sismondi  ne  voit  1'accroissement  des  richesses  que  dans 
1'accroissement  des  jouissances  nationales." 7  Ganilh,  des 
Systems,  tome  I.  p.  14. 

d'oro,   en   1613. — Genovesi,    Lezioni   di  econom.  civile,  en  1764. — Muratori, 
Felicita  pub.,  cap.  16,  sul  principio. — Corniani,  Reflez.  sulle  monete. 

En  France,  le  cardinal  de  Richelieu  et  Colbert,  Ordonnances  et  re"glemens 
pendant  leur  administration. 

1  Thomas   Culpeper's   Useful   remark   on  the  mischief  of  an  high  national 
interest,  en   1641. — Josias  Child,   Brief  observations  concerning  trade   and 
interest    of  money,    en    1651. — Samuel   Lamb,    Banks    and    lumber   houses, 
en  1657. — William  Patterson,  auteur  du  Projet  de  la  banque  de  Londres,  en 
1694. — Barnard,  dans  ses  Discours  sur  la  reduction  de  1'inter^t  de  1'argent,  en 
1714. 

2  Physiocratie. 

3  Richesse  des  nations,  liv.   11.  chap.  3. — David  Hume  peut  avoir  donne  & 
Adam-Smith  1'idee  de  ce  systeme.     II  dit  litt^ralement  que  les  hommes  ne 
peuvent  acque>ir  que  par  le  travail.     (Essai  sur  le  commerce,  edit.  d'Edim- 
bourg,  1804,  in  8vo,  Vol.  I.  page  277.) 

4  Ibid.,  tome  II.  page  231. 

5  Addition   aux   quatre   premieres   editions   de   I'Essai   sur  la  population, 
chap.  11. 

6  Ibid.  7  Id.y  tome  I.  page  53. 


AUTHOR'S   NOTES  453 

NOTE  C.     Referred  to  on  page  379. 

At  the  time  the  reference  to  this  note  was  made,  it  was  my 
intention  to  have  here  inserted  some  extracts  from  the  North 
American  Review,  and  some  other  publications,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  showing  the  views  entertained  in  this  country 
•'.•rning  the  system  of  Adam  Smith,  and  some  of  his 
followers.  As  far  as  concerns  this  continent,  however,  these 
extracts  would  be  superfluous,  and  I  have,  therefore,  thought 
it  better  to  omit  them,  until  such  time  as  the  work  appear  in 
Great  Britain. 

NOTE  D.     Referred  to  on  page  130. 

Adam  Smith  here  admits,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  correct- 
ness of  the  general  notions  concerning  the  nature  and  office  of 
money,  entertained  by  the  school  of  political  economists  who 
preceded  Hume.  Had  he  done  otherwise  he  would  have  acted 
very  unfairly,  for  his  own  reasonings,  on  this  subject,  are 
sometimes  little  more  than  a  repetition  of  theirs,  as  might  be 
shown  by  an  examination  of  parallel  passages.  Compare,  for 
instance,  the  two  following.  "  Although  they  who  have  their 
estates  in  money  are  said  to  be  a  great  number,  and  to  be 
worth  £5,000  or  £10,000  per  annum,  more  or  less,  which 
amounts  to  many  millions  in  all,  yet  are  they  not  possessed 
thereof  altogether  at  once,  for  it  were  vanity  or  against  their 
profit  to  keep  continually  in  their  hands  above  £40  or  £50  in 
.1  1,1  mil y  to  defray  necessary  charges.  The  rest  must  ever  run 
from  man  t<>  man  in  traffic  for  their  benefit,  whereby  we  may 
conceive  that  a  little  money  (being  made  the  measure  of  all 
our  other  means)  doth  rule  and  distribute  great  matters  daily 
to  all  men  in  their  just  proportions."1  "As  the  same  guim-a 
which  pays  the  weekly  pension  of  one  man  to  day,  may  pay 
that  of  another  tomorrow,  and  that  of  a  third  the  day  there- 
after, the  amount  of  the  metal  pieces  which  annually  circulate 
in  any  country  must  always  be  of  much  less  value  thai 
whole  money  pensions  annually  paid  with  them. 

'I'h.   in. .iv  recent  followers  of  Adam  Smith  have  not  always 

1  Mu.i,  p.  42,  12mo  edit.,  published  in  1664. 
*  Wealth  of  Nation*,  B.  II.  c.  II 


454  APPENDIX 

done  the  earlier  writers  equal  justice.  Thus  Mr.  M'Culloch,  in 
his  Principles  of  Political  Economy,  asserts  that  the  mercan- 
tile system,  of  which  he  esteems  Mun  one  of  the  earliest  and 
ablest  defenders,  reckoned  money  the  only  wealth,  and 
r. -marks,  that  "the  simple  consideration,  that  all  buying  and 
^•lling  is  in  reality  nothing  more  than  the  bartering  of  one 
commodity  for  another, — of  a  certain  quantity  of  corn  or  wool, 
for  example,  for  a  certain  quantity  of  gold  or  silver,  and  vice 
versa,  was  entirely  overlooked."  Now  instead  of  considering 
money  as  the  only  wealth,  Mun,  on  the  contrary,  says,  "  they 
that  have  wares  cannot  want  money ; — neither  is  it  that 
money  is  the  life  of  trade  as  if  it  could  not  subsist  without 
the  same ;  for  we  know  that  there  was  great  trading  by  way 
of  commutation  or  barter,  when  there  was  little  money  stir- 
ring in  the  world." x  That  the  true  use  of  money  is  its  afford- 
ing a  fixed  standard  for  the  price  of  other  things,  is  a  doctrine, 
indeed,  laid  down  by  Bodin  a  century  earlier  than  Mun.  "  Car 
si  la  monoye,  qui  doit  regler  le  prix  de  toutes  choses  est 
muable  et  incertaine,  il  n'y  a  personne  qui  puisse  fair  estat  au 
vray  de  ce  qu'il  a ;  les  contracts  seront  incertains,  les  changes, 
taxes,  gages,  etc.,  incertaines,"  etc.2  The  real  error  of  those 
writers  was  their  transferring  to  national  wealth  the  rules 
which  apply  to  individual  wealth ;  it  was  I  apprehend,  there- 
fore, the  same  in  kind  as  I  have  hinted  in  the  text,  as  that  of 
Adam  Smith  himself,  though  different  from  it  in  degree. 

NOTE  F.     Referred  to  on  page  90. 

"  Memorial  dans  lequel  on  propose  a  1'Empereur  un  moyen 
de  secourir  le  peuple  dans  les  annees  steriles."  (Lettres 
Edifiantes,  Tom.  XI.  p.  427.) 

Lieou-que-y,  (the  Mandarin  who  memorializes,)  after  narrat- 
ing the  miseries  suffered  from  famine  in  the  province  Chansi, 
from  which  he  dates,  and  stating  the  insufficiency  of  the 
ancient  provisions  of  the  empire,  which  suppose  a  quantity  of 
rice  to  be  stored  up  in  the  imperial  magazines,  sufficient  for 
all  emergencies,  but  which  are  neglected  by  the  superior 
Mandarines,  from  the  multiplicity  of  the  affairs  they  have  to 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  p.  24.  2  De  la  RepuUique,  liv.  VI. 


AUTHOR'S   NOTES  455 

manage,  or  abused  by  their  dependents,  and  which  are,  in  fact, 
regarded  as  obsolete;  proceeds  to  state  his  own  scheme  for 
obviating,  in  future,  similar  calamities. 

Xe  seroit-il  done  pas  a  propos  de  protiter  de  ce  temps 
d'abondance  pour  remplir  de  grains  les  greniers  publics,  en  les 
payant  de  1'argent  tire'  du  tre'sor  de  votre  majeste'  ?  Par 
i pie,  supposons  que  pendant  cinq  ans  on  y  prit  chaque 
aniit;.  (jiiatre  cent  mille  francs,  destinies  a  ces  provisions  pour 
soulager  le  peuple  dans  les  besoins  pressans.  On  emploira 
d'abord  cent  mille  francs  pour  reparer  les  anciens  maga/ins 
de  Tay-quen,  capital  de  la  province,  pour  en  batir  de  nouveaux, 
et  pour  amasser  du  riz,  afin  d'assister  dans  le  temps  de  ste'rilite 
le  territoire  de  cette  ville,  de  Fuen-tchou  et  autres  lieux  qui 
n'en  sont  fort  eloignes.  Du  cote  du  midi  est  la  ville  de  Ping- 
yang,  de  King-tcheou,  et  autres  endroits  circonvoisins.  La 
grande  ville  de  Laugan  est  situe'e  vers  1'occident ;  en  y  faisant 
la  meme  depense,  on  sera  en  e'tat  de  distribuer  du  riz  a  Ke- 
tcheau,  a  Leao-tcheau,  et  autres  villes  subalternes  de  sa 
dependance.  Enfin  de  semblables  magasins  qu'on  e'tablira 

-  la  ville  de  Tai-tong,  qui  est  au  nord,  pourront  aider  a  la 
i.stence  des  petites  villes  de  Long-pin  Kingvou,  et  autres 

semblables.  Ce  sont-l&  les  quatres  principales  villes  de  la 
province,  ou  seront  place's  les  magasins  gene'raux,  et  d'ou  les 
grains  se  repandront  dans  les  lieux  qui  en  auront  besoin." 

He  next  mentions  the  precautions  he  conceives  necessary  to 
jn.iard  against  malversation.  "Or  apres  de.s  preeuutions  si 
n-e.— siin-s  vupp.isnns  <ju«..  <!.-  la  lil.rralitr  <le  votre  majeste,  il 

•  lonne'  cette  annee  a  chacun  de  ces  villes  cent  mille  francs 
pour  capital :   si  I'anne'e  est  abondante,  on  peut,  de  ces  cent 
mill*-  francs,  acheter  au  moins  trente  mille  grandes  m 

lesquelles  multiplie'es  par  quatre,  feront,  dans  les  quatre 
vilk-s,  cent  vingt  mille  mesures.     Depuis  la  reViolte  jusqu'a  la 
tin  de  Tanne'e  le  prix  du  riz  est  me'diocre ;  ce  n'est  que  dans  le 
printemps  que  le  prix  commence  a  augmenter,  alors  on  ouvrira 
i^ins,  et  on  vendra  ce  riz.     De  cette  vente  on  aura 
a  vantages:    1  un    est  qu'en    mettant    1'abondance,   on 
a  que  le  prix  du  ri/  ne  croissetrop:  1'autre,  que  le 
vendant  alors  un  peu  plus  cher  qu'il  n'a  e*t^  achet^  dans  le 
;  »s  de  la  recolte,  on  sera  en  e'tat,  au  moyen  de  ce  profit, 


456  APPENDIX 

d'acheter  apres  la  nouvelle  moisson  au  moins  dix  mille  mesures 
de  riz  dans  chaque  endroit,  de  plus  qu'on  n'en  avait  ranmV 
pre'cedente.  Par-la,  1'ancieii  riz  sort  des  greniers,  et  le  nouvcuu 
le  remplace.  II  sort  a  un  prix  plus  cher  et  rentre  a  bon 
marche.  N'est-ce  pas  un  excellent  moyen  de  multiplier  ce  riz, 
en  soulageant  meme  le  peuple  ?  car  on  lie  pretend  pas  s'eiirichir 
aux  depens  du  public.  Ce  riz  tir^  des  magasins  sera  vendu 
au  cours  et  a  un  prix  raisonnable,  quoique  plus  cher  qu'il 
n'e'tait  huit  mois  auparavant.  Rien  de  plus  juste  et  de  plus 
utile  dans  les  anne'es  abondantes.  Par  cette  conduite,  le  riz 
chaque  anne'e  se  multiplie  dans  le  magasin  ;  et  si  pendant  cinq 
amides  il  se  fait  une  abondante  re'colte,  la  provision  d'un 
endroit,  qui  n'e'toit  d'abord  que  de  trente  mille  mesures,  peut  se 
trouver  a  la  cinquifeme  anne*e  de  plus  de  quatre  cent  mille 
mesures  de  riz.  En  cas  de  ne'cessite',  n'est  ce  pas  deja  un  excellent 
moyen  de  soulager  toute  une  province  ?  .  .  .  dans  les  disettes 
ordinaires,  le  rix  sera  vendu  a  une  juste  prix.  Dans  celles  qui 
passeront  un  peu  1'ordinaire,  on  en  pretera  au  peuple,  et  dans 
les  grands  ne'cessite's  on  le  distribuera  par  aumone."  Tirte  de 
la  Gazette  Publique  par  le  R.  Pere  Contancin. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  island  of  Trong-miiig  often  enter  into 
voluntary  associations,  which  have  for  their  object  the  relief 
of  some  individual  whose  affairs  have  become  deranged.  They 
give  him  the  means  of  reestablishing  himself  in  a  way  which 
they  conceive  burdens  them  a  little,  though  not  very  much. 
The  association  consists  of  seven  individuals,  including  the 
person  for  whose  relief  it  is  formed.  The  principle  of  it  will 
be  understood  from  the  following  table. 

First  year.  Second  year. 

The  first,  that  is,  the  person  for     The  first  gives  15 

whose    benefit    the    company    is  second  receives  60 

formed,  receives               60  pistoles  third  gives  13 

The  second  gives          15  fourth  11 

third                     13  fifth  9 

fourth                    11  sixth  7 

fifth                         9  seventh  & 
sixth                        7 
seventh                    5 


AUTHOR'S   NOTES 


457 


Third  year. 

The  first  ^i\  15 

second  1 3 

thinl  receives  60 

fourth  gi  11 

fifth  9 

\th  7 

seventh  5 

Fifth  year. 

The  first  gives  15 

second  13 

thinl  11 

fourth  9 

tilth  receives  60 

sixth  gr  7 

seventh  5 

Seventh  year. 

The  first  gives  15 

second  13 

third  11 

fourth  9 


Although  the  sum  paid  by  each  of  the  associates  is  unequal , 
ami  that  the  first  disburse  more  each  year  than  the  last,  yet 
the  Chinese  think  that  the  conditions  of  the  contract  are 
much  more  favorable  for  the  former  than  for  the  latter,  be- 
they  sooner  receive  the  sum  of  sixty  pistoles,  and  the 
great  profits  they  derive  from  commerce,  well  indemnities 
them  for  the  advances  they  have  to  make.  Letter  of  Father 
Jacquemin.  Mires  Edifiantes,  Tom.  X.  p.  127. 

I  ^ubjoin  a  few  extracts  from  different  authors,  indicative  of 
strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  in  China,  of  tin 
orders  at  which  instruments  remain  there,  and  of  some  other 
< -in -miMam ••  •-  in  the  condition  of  that  empire,  which  I  have 

rred  to  in  the  text. 

"  The  spirit  of  gain  by  working  on  an  extensive  plan,  and 

new  methods,  for  supplying   multitudes  with   particular 

articles,  is  not  prevalent  among  the  Chinese,  unless  in  large  or 


Fourth  year. 
The  first  gives 
second 

15 
13 

third 

11 

fourth  receives 

60 

fifth  gives 

sixth 

9 
11 

seventh 

5 

Sixth  year. 
The  first  gives 
second 

15 
13 

third 

11 

fourth 

9 

fifth 

7 

sixth  receives 

60 

seventh  gives 

5 

Seventh  year. 
fifth  gives 
sixth 

7 
5 

seventh  receives 

60 

458  APPENDIX 

maritime  towns.  Some  there  are,  however,  in  almost  every 
village,  who  seek  to  accumulate  wealth  by  taking  advantage 
of  the  wants  of  the  people  around  them.  Shops  for  lending 
money  on  pledges  are  common  everywhere.  Very  high 
interest  upon  loans  is  allowed  by  law.  The  practice  of  such 
loans  implies,  certainly,  great  improvidence  in  the  multitude, 
or  great  uncertainty  in  the  success  of  their  pursuits.  The 
facility  of  culture,  and  the  abundance  of  crops,  when  no 
calamity  intervenes,  enables  them  in  many  places  to  bear  such 
burdens,  though  often  in  a  very  impoverished  condition." 
Staunton.,  Vol.  II.  p.  44. 

"  Pawn-brokers  shops  are  as  numerous  in  Chinese  cities  as 
in  London."  Ellis'  Embassy,  p.  120. 

"  L'usure  qui  regne  parmi  les  Chinois  est  un  autre  obstacle 
bien  difficile  a  vaincre.  Lorsqu'on  leur  dit  qu'avant  que  de 
recevoir  le  bapteme,  ils  doivent  restituer  des  biens  acquis  par 
ces  voies  illicites,  et  aussi  miner  en  un  jour  toute  leur  famille, 
vous  m'avouerez  qu'il  faut  un  grand  miracle  de  la  grace  pour 
les  y  determiner."  Lettres  Edi/iantes,  Tom.  X.  p.  379. 

"  La  deuxieme  cause  de  la  disette  n'est  pas  seulement,  comme 
on  se  persuade,  la  multitude  du  peuple  Chinois;  j'avoue 
qu'elle  y  contribue  beaucoup ;  cependant  je  crois  que  la  Chine 
fournit  des  grains  suffisamment  pour  la  subsistence  de  tous  ces 
habitans ;  mais  c'est  qu'on  ne  menage  pas  assez  les  grains,  et 
qu'on  en  fait  une  consommation  etonnante  pour  fabriquer  du 
riz  et  de  l'eau-de-vie  ou  de  la  raque.  .  .  .  c'est  surtout  le  soir 
avant  que  de  se  coucher  qu'ils  en  font  usage,  principalement 
les  marchands,  les  artisans  et  les  soldats.  Ils  ont  chacun  dans 
la  charnbre  ou  ils  couchent  un  fourneau  a  charbon  de  pierre 
ou  ils  font  cuire  le  riz,  le  the,  et  chauffer  cette  sort  de  boif&on ; 
ils  la  prennent  en  mangeant  des  herbes  salees,  et  s'enivrent  a 
peu  de  frais.  Si  par  me'garde,  ou  etant  a  moitie'  ivres,  ils  lais- 
sent  tomber  de  cette  raque  dans  le  feu,  la  flamme  s'eleve 
bientot  jusq'au  plancher,  qui  n'est  fait  que  de  nattes  d'osier  ou 
de  chassis  de  papier,  et  dont  la  hauteur  n'est  faite  que  de  trois 
ou  quatre  pieds  au  dessus  de  la  tete  d'un  hornme.  Alors 
dans  un  instant,  toute  la  chambre  est  en  feu ;  et  parce  que  les 
boutiques  ou  couchent  les  marchands  et  la  plupart  des  maisons 
du  peuple,  ne  sont  pas  separe'es  de  leur  voisins  par  des  maitresses 


AUTHOR'S   NOTES  459 

murailles,  et  que  sou  vent  les  charpentes  sont  lies  ensemble,  le 
feu  s'e'tend  avec  rapid! te  et  fait  de  grands  ravages  avant  qu'on 
ait  pu  1'eteindre. 

"  Ajoutez  a  cela  que  1'usage  trop  frequent  de  cette  boisson 
fait  inourir  ijimntite'  de  menu  peuple  d'une  maladie  qu'on 
nomme  yeche  a  la  quelle  on  n'a  pu  trouver  aucun  remede. 

"Si  la  disette  n'eclaircissoit  pas  de  temps  en  temps  ce 
irnmde  nombre  d'habitants  qui  contient  la  Chine,  il  seroit 
difficile  qu'elle  put  subsister  en  paix.  II  n'y  a  point  de  guerre 
coinme  en  Europe,  ni  de  pertes  ni  de  maladies  populaires;  a 
peine  en  voit-on  dans  un  siecle."  Lettres  Edifiantes,  Vol.  XII. 
p.  200. 

Many  circumstances  might  be  adduced,  to  show  that  it  is 

not  so  much  the  want  of  power  to  accumulate,  as  the  want  of 

a  desire  to  accumulate  sufficiently  strong  to  prompt  to  effec- 

tivt-  action,  which  prevents  individuals  in  the  lower  classes  in 

China,  from  rising  to  opulence.     Of  these  I  might  mention 

the  number  of  eating-houses,  and  the  goodness  of  their  fare, 

jui'l  the  occasional  richness  of  the  attire  of  the  common  people, 

as  described  by  recent  travellers.     I  prefer,  however,  citing 

uecdote  from  the  Lettres  Edifiantes,  as  these  are  probably 

,nown  to  the  reader. 

"  Un  vieillard  vient  le  trouver  "  (le  missionnaire)  "  pour  lui 
representer  1'extreme  d&ir  qu'il  avoit  que  Ton  construisit  une 
eglise  dans  son  village.  Votre  zele  est  louable,  lui  dit  le  mi^- 
sionnaire,  mais  je  n'ai  pas  maintenant  de  quoi  fournir  a  une 
pareille  de'pense.  Je  pretends  bien  la  faire  moi-meme,  repartit 
le  villageois.  Le  missionnaire,  accoutume'  a  le  voir  depuis 
plusi.Mirs  annees  mener  une  vie  tres-pauvre,  le  crut  hors  d'etat 
d'accomplir  ce  qu'il  promettoit;  il  loua  de  nouveau  sen  bonnes 
intentions,  en  lui  repr^sentant  que  son  village  e'tant  tres-con- 
siderable.il  y  falloit  batir  une  t^gli^«  a  n«K-  <juc  celle  qui 

dans  la  villr  voNine;  que  dans  la  suite  il  pourrait  y 
contribuer  selon  ses  forces;  mais  que  seul  il  ne  pourrait  suffire 
a  de  si  grand^  fraK  Kxcusez  moi,  reprit  le  paysan,  je  mr 
•  •n  situation  de  faire  ce  que  je  propose.  Mais  savez  vous, 
r^pliqua  le  pere,  que  pour  une  pareille  entreprise,  il  faut  au 
mnins  deux  mill.  . cus  /  Je  les  ai  tout  prets,  repondit  le 
vi.  illard,  et  si  je  ne  les  avait  pas,  je  n'aurois  gni«l.  <1<  vous 


460  APPENDIX 

importuner  par  une  semblable  demaude.  Le  pere  fut  charm£ 
d'apprendre  que  ce  bon  homme,  qu'il  avoit  cru  fort  pauvre,  se 
trouvat  neanmoins  avoir  tant  d'argent  comptant,  et  qu'il 
voulut  1'employer  si  utilement.  Mais  il  fut  bien  plus  surpris,. 
lorsqu'  ayant  eu  la  curiosite'  de  demander  a  ce  villageois  com- 
ment il  avoit  pu  se  procurer  cette  somme,  il  re'poiidit  inge'nu- 
ment  que  depuis  quarante  ans  qu'il  avait  conc.u  ce  dessein,  il 
retranchait  de  sa  nourriture  et  de  son  vetement  tout  ce  qui 
n'e'toit  pas  absolument  necessaire,  afin  d'avoir  la  consolation 
avant  de  mourir  de  laisser  dans  son  village  une  eglise  elevee  & 
1'honneur  du  vrai  Dieu.  Vol.  XII.  p.  363. 

To  these  extracts  I  am  induced  to  add  the  two  following, 
as  strikingly  illustrative  of  the  strange  contrasts  which  the 
morality  of  the  Chinese  exhibits. 

"  This  dominion  is  tempered,"  (that  of  husbands  over  their 
wives)  "indeed,  by  the  maxims  of  mild  conduct  in  the  different 
relations  of  life,  inculcated  from  early  childhood,  amongst  the 
lowest  as  well  as  the  highest  classes  of  society.  The  old  per- 
sons of  a  family  live  generally  with  the  young.  The  former 
serve  to  moderate  any  occasional  impetuosity,  violence,  or 
passion  of  the  latter.  The  influence  of  age  over  youth  is  sup- 
ported by  the  sentiments  of  nature,  by  the  habit  of  obedience, 
by  the  precepts  of  morality  engrafted  in  the  law  of  the  land, 
and  by  the  unremitted  policy  and  honest  arts  of  parents 
to  that  effect.  They  who  are  past  labor,  deal  out  the  rules 
which  they  have  learned,  and  the  wisdom  which  experience 
taught  them,  to  those  who  are  rising  to  manhood,  or  to 
those  lately  arrived  at  it.  Plain  sentences  of  morals  are 
written  up  in  the  common  hall,  where  the  male  branches  of 
the  family  assemble.  Some  one,  at  least,  is  capable  of  reading 
them  to  the  rest.  In  almost  every  house  is  hung  up  a  tablet 
of  the  ancestors  of  the  persons  then  residing  in  it.  References 
are  often  made,  in  conversation,  to  their  actions.  Their 
example,  as  far  as  it  was  good,  serves  as  an  incitement  to 
travel  in  the  same  path.  The  descendants  from  a  common 
stock  visit  the  tombs  of  their  forefathers  together,  at  stated 
times.  This  joint  care,  and  indeed  other  occasions,  collect 
and  unite  the  most  remote  relations.  They  cannot  lose  sight 


AUTHOR'S   NOTES  461 

of  each  other ;  and  seldom  become  indifferent  to  their  respec- 
tive concerns.  The  child  is  bound  to  labor  and  to  provide 
for  his  parents'  maintenance  and  comfort,  and  the  brother 
for  the  brother  and  sister  that  are  in  extreme  want,  the 
failure  of  which  duty  would  be  followed  by  such  detestation 
that  it  is  not  necessary  to  enforce  it  by  positive  law.  V. 
the  most  distant  kinsman,  reduced  to  misery  by  accident  or 
ill  health,  has  a  claim  on  his  kindred  for  relief.  Manners, 
stronger  far  than  laws,  and,  indeed,  inclination,  produced  an«l 
nurtured  by  intercourse  and  intimacy,  secure  assistance  for 
him."  Staunton's  China,  Vol.  II.,  p.  21. 

"The  frail  females  in  the  boats  had  not  embraced  this 
double  occupation,  after  having  quitted  their  parents,  or  on 
being  abandoned  by  them  on  account  of  their  misconduct; 
hut  the  parents  themselves,  taking  no  other  interest  in  the 
chastity  of  their  daughters,  than  as  it  might  contribute  to 
an  advantageous  disposal  of  them  to  wealthy  husbands,  feel 
little  reluctance,  when  no  such  prospect  offers,  to  devote  them 
to  one  employment,"  (that  of  conveying  passengers  in  boats) 
with  a  view  to  the  profits  of  another."  (of  prostitution.) 
H,'"!.  p.  328. 

N  -  >TE  J.     Referred  to  on  page  267. 

A  gentleman  of  my  acquaintance,  who  had  been  long  among 
tin-  Indians,  and  ranked  among  them  as  a  brother  warrior, 
once  travelled  a  great  distance  in  the  far  interior  to  visit 
a  ehiff.  His  friend  received  him  in  the  spirit  of  hospitality 
natural  to  the  red  man.  In  proof  of  it,  he  declared  he  would 
feast  him.  as  In-  had  s,.«-n  white  men  feasting  their  friends, — 
for  he  too  had  been  a  traveller.  Accordingly,  his  "  woman- 
kind" not  being  adequate  to  the  task,  he  set  about  cooking 
and  serving  dinner  himself,  and,  considering  all  things,  suc- 
ied  wonderfully.  As  imitators,  however,  will  often  copy 
rather  defects  than  merits,  so  the  relish  of  the  repast  would 
have  been  somewhat  improved,  l»y  his  memory  having  been  a 
little  less  tenacious  of  a  few,  of  what  doubtless  seemed  to  him 
the  strange  ceremonies  of  the  white  men.  For  example;  he 
had  seen  at  the  houses  <»f  some  of  his  white  friends,  their 
young  men  employed  rubbing  the  dishes,  off  of  which  the 


462  APPENDIX 

guests  ate,  with  a  small  square  piece  of  cloth.  Now,  the  only 
piece  of  cloth,  like  this,  which  he  happened  to  have,  formal 
an  article  of  dress  in  use  among  the  Indians,  but  unknown, 
and  undescribable  by  modern  Europeans.  It  seems,  notwith- 
standing, to  have  been  in  use  among  their  ancestors,  being,  if 
I  mistake  not,  that  very  garment,  of  which  Ulysses  threatened 
to  strip  the  unhappy  Thersytes,  the  day  he  made  him  feel  that 
he  did  not  bear  the  sceptre  in  vain. 

TO.  TaiSw  a/u.<f>iKa\v7rT€i. 

To  divest  himself  of  it,  was  no  doubt  an  inconvenience,  but  this 
was  not  to  be  reckoned  in  the  service  of  a  guest.  Accordingly, 
hanging  it  over  his  arm,  he  rubbed  his  visitor's  platter  with  it 
very  carefully,  at  every  change.  My  friend  had  nothing  for 
it  but  to  honor  the  care  of  his  host  by  eating  gravely  and 
abundantly.  Had  he  done  otherwise,  the  chief,  who  was  him- 
self the  most  polite  of  men,  would  have  regarded  it  as  an  un- 
pardonable grossierete. 


NOTE  L.     Referred  to  on  page  149. 

[As  to  the  ulterior  effects  of  wars,  revolutions,  persecutions,  and  the  like, 
there  is  of  course  more  to  be  said  than  Rae  sets  forth  in  the  text.  Some 
excerpts  from  his  Essay  on  Education  (1843),  mentioned  in  the  biographical 
sketch,  may  be  here  given  to  advantage.  It  will  be  noticed  that  his  main 
idea  is  in  full  accord  with  that  of  Bagehot  in  Physics  and  Politics.] 

"  The  whole  earth  is  strewn  with  the  ruins  of  empires. 
Civilization  seems,  at  distant  intervals,  to  have  assumed 
form,  and  gathered  strength  in  various  points,  and  from 
each  of  these  in  succession,  to  have  spread  itself  and  the 
races  that  were  the  possessors  of  it,  over  large  regions  of 
the  globe.  Now  it  is  very  clear  that  each  of  these  civiliza- 
tions must  have  had  a  period  of  advance,  a  period  when  they 
were  collecting  that  amount  of  knowledge  of  science  and 
arts,  and  of  civil  rights  and  laws,  which  they  possessed  at 
the  acme  of  their  progress,  and  which  gave  them  their 
superiority  over  the  other  races  of  their  times.  Like  us> 
each  of  them  must  have  witnessed  a  period  when  the  social 
condition  was  ameliorating  from  age  to  age ;  like  us,  they 


AUTHOR'S   NOTES  463 

must  have  looked  forward  to  still  succeeding  improvement. 
Yet  each  of  these  civilizations  nursed  within  it  some  disease 
that,  coming  to  activity,  nipped  the  germ  of  prosperity  and 
life,  and  brought  on  decay  and  death. 


With  the  exception  of  Greece,  whose  contracted  territory 
unfits  it  for  a  parallel,  other  antecedent  civilizations  are 
known  to  history  only  in  their  concluding  stages  when  the 
hand  of  death  was  on  them.  We  cannot  tell,  we  can  only 
conjecture,  what  their  condition  was  in  the  previous  and 
more  vigorous  periods  of  their  existence.  But  with  regard 
to  all  of  them,  so  far  as  we  can  glean  anything  of  them 
from  history,  or  trace  them  in  their  monuments,  the  remark- 
able fact  is  brought  before  us  that  the  stage  of  their  being 
immediately  preceding  their  decay,  and  of  course  the  form 
of  existence  with  which  the  ruins  of  them  that  remain  are 
impressed,  was  that  of  fixity  and  immobility.  A  period  of 
torpid  repose  preceded  their  decay  and  dissolution.  There 
is  also  another  remarkable  fact  which  we  gather  by  care- 
fully scrutinizing  the  faint  traces,  that  in  several  of  them 
the  ages  anterior  to  the  concluding  period  of  repose  and 
immobility  have  left  behind  them.  Preceding  this  period,, 
an  era  of  great  strife  and  contention  between  the  principles 
of  which  the  particular  civilization  was  made  up,  comes 
pretty  distinctly  before  us.  The  result  of  the  contest  seems 
to  have  been,  the  preponderance  of  one  of  those  main 
elements,  and  its  crushing,  subduing,  and  altogether  pre- 
venting any  farther  expansion  of  the  others,  and,  by  the 
ped  position  in  which  it  placed  them,  occasioning  th«-ir 
decay  and  death. 

"  It  well  then  becomes  all  men,  having  power  to  exert 
action  in  this  our  era,  to  see  if  we  can  gather  any 
lessons  of  instruction  from  bygone  ages,  if  there  be  any 
circumstances  of  the  times  having  a  tendency  to  produce  a 
similar  conflict  of  the  existing  elements  of  our  civilization, 
possibly  resulting  in  the  domination  of  some  of  them,  with 
like  fatal  influence." 


464  APPENDIX 


NOTE  M.     Referred  to  on  page  296. 

[The  following  from  Rae's  unpublished  manuscript  is  not  without  interest 
in  connection  with  the  subject  of  the  elision  through  taxation  of  the  costs  of 
luxury  to  a  society.  The  special  taxtion  of  the  rent  of  land,  if  feasible,  would 
cut  off  a  large  part  of  luxury  at  the  source.] 

"  The  revenue  of  every  society  of  men,  or  nation,  is  derived 
from  three  sources, — labor,  capital,  and  land.  I  have  en- 
deavored elsewhere  to  show  that  capital  consists  altogether 
of  instruments  by  means  of  which  man  is  enabled  to  draw 
forth  for  his  own  use,  by  the  powers  which  nature  has  given 
to  the  bodies  within  his  reach,  such  articles  of  necessity, 
comfort,  or  convenience  as  his  wants  urge  him  to  procure.  I 
have  also  endeavored  to  trace  the  laws  which  regulate  the 
increase  or  diminution  of  this  general  stock  or  capital.  It  is 
a  somewhat  difficult  task  to  determine  the  laws  regulating  the 
distribution  of  the  annual  revenue  among  the  powers  produc- 
ing it.  I  believe  it  is  a  general  truth  which,  though  to  some 
it  may  appear  paradoxical,  is  nevertheless  capable  of  demon- 
stration from  the  constitution  of  man  and  of  external  nature, 
that  the  larger  the  share  falling  to  labor  the  more  rapid  will 
be  the  increase  of  capital,  and  the  more  prosperous  the 
condition  of  the  society.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  the 
portion  remaining  after  labor  and  capital  have  divided  their 
shares,  naturally  falls  to  land. 

"  To  get  an  accurate  idea  of  what  the  real  return  of  the  land, 
or  what  is  called  rent,  actually  is  we  must  separate  from  what 
are  the  natural  powers  of  the  soil  those  additions  which  art 
may  have  made  to  it.  Thus  much  land  owes  a  great  part  of 
its  fertility  to  some  system  of  drainage  which  has  been 
employed  to  carry  off  its  superfluous  waters.  This  clearly 
belongs  to  capital  and  any  return  it  makes  is  to  be  considered 
interest  or  profit.  What  may  be  the  real  powers  of  different 
soils  in  their  natural  state  is  a  problem  not  perhaps  as  yet  cap- 
able of  being  accurately  resolved,  but  which  modern  chemistry 
promises  ere  long  to  give  us  the  means  of  determining  with 
precision.  These  native  powers  [and  advantages  of  situation] 
would  seem  to  be  the  things  for  which  a  rent  comes  in  the 
course  of  time  to  be  paid.  Now  in  examining  how  this  rent 


AUTHOR'S   NOTES  465 

is  to  be  appropriated  at  some  future  time  in  some  particular 
society,  we  cannot  with  propriety  take  as  our  standard  the 
mode  in  which  it  is  now  appropriated  in  any  existing  society 
of  men.  For  society  is  continually  changing  its  phase  over 
the  earth,  and  what  we  may  assume  now  as  the  best  condition 
of  affairs,  may  at  some  future  day  appear  quite  defective.  It 
may  be  allowable  therefore  to  assume  that  in  the  society  in 
question  it  comes  at  the  future  period,  to  which  we  have 
reference,  to  be  so  appropriated  as  may  most  conduce  to  the 
wellbeing  of  the  whole  community.  Considered  thus  theoreti- 
cally, I  think  we  may  assume  that  it  should  be  given  to  those 
purposes  which  are  for  the  general  good.  I  may  name 
•education  in  its  largest  sense ;  rewards  to  men  whose  genius, 
talents,  or  industry  have  added  to  the  stock  of  human 
happiness  in  general  or  of  the  one  particular  society;  the 
supplying  the  funds  necessary  for  the  prosecution  of  experi- 
tending  to  enlarge  the  boundaries  of  human  knowledge 
power:  and  also  a  provision  for  those  whom  accident  has 
deprived  of  the  means  of  supporting  themselves.  I  may  say 
in  general,  in  relieving  the  community  from  what  is  now 
called  taxation,  but  a  taxation  required  for  other  purposes 
than  those  upon  which  it  is  at  present  expended." 


2o 


RESIDUA. 

PASSAGES   OMITTED    IN   SOME   PART  OF  THE  TEXT  ANI> 
NOT  ELSEWHERE  REPRODUCED. 

Number  1.     From  page  1. 

Twenty  or  thirty  years  ago,  according  to  the  pre- 
vailing political  system,  every  circumstance  in  the 
condition  of  the  empire  was  at  variance  with  what  should 
give  prosperity  to  a  state.  To  meet  the  enormous  annual 
expenditure  occasioned  by  the  most  wasteful  of  all  preceding 
wars,  a  revenue  as  enormous  was  drawn  by  taxation  from 
the  people,  while,  instead  of  their  industry  enjoying  the 
boasted  advantages  of  perfect  freedom,  at  home  it  was 
restrained  by  regulations  of  old  established,  and  abroad  its 
products  were  legally  shut  out  from  every  continental  port, 
and  could  only  any  where  force  an  entrance  with  much 
hazard,  and  at  heavy  expense. 

True ;  making  its  power  felt  through  the  element  that 
had  ever  been  most  propitious  to  it,  it  had  subjugated  almost 
every  spot  on  the  globe,  colonized  by  Europeans,  and  by 
this  means,  in  defiance  of  its  enemies,  maintained  an 
extended  commerce  with  all  parts  of  the  world.  But  this 
vast  extent  of  empire,  preserved  by  force  of  arms,  and  at 
great  expense,  according  to  the  dicta  of  modern  politicians, 
was  an  evil  of  the  greatest  magnitude ,  and  one  which ,  though 
the  burden  attending  it  is  now  reduced  to  comparative 
insignificance,  they  are  continually  assuring  us  we  ought,  as- 
quickly  as  possible,  to  get  rid  of. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  disadvantages,  however,  there 


RESIDUA  467 

is  no  period  in  its  history  in  which  the  condition  of  Great 
Britain  was  apparently  more  flourishing.  The  exertions  of 
the  laborer  were  liberally  rewarded,  the  expenditure  of  th«> 
capitalist  richly  repaid.  Everything  gave  token  of  rapidly 
increasing  wealth  and  abundance. 

The  triumph  of  that  cause,  in  aid  of  which  war  had  been 
embraced,  gave  peace  to  the  empire  and  to  Europe.  The 
annual  expenditure  was  diminished  by  one  half,  and  the 
nation  was  no  longer  restrained,  but  in  comparatively  a  very 
trifling  degree,  from  participating  in  all  those  advantages, 
which,  in  every  instance,  one  country,  according  to  prevail- 
ing notions,  is  supposed  to  gain  by  free  intercourse  with 
another.  But,  though  markets  for  the  manufacture,  and 
channels  for  the  commerce  of  the  kingdom  were  largely 
multiplied,  its  resources,  instead  of  augmenting,  seemed 
diminishing.  The  whole  fabric  of  society  seemed  ready  to 
sink  under  the  pressure  of  some  new  burden, — ruin  began  to 
threaten,  often  to  overwhelm  the  man  of  capital, — want  to 
look  industry  in  the  face.  In  vain  were  taxes  to  a  large 
amount  repealed,  in  vain  were  endeavors  made  to  trace  the 
depression  of  the  times  to  mere  revolutions  in  the  channels 
of  trade,  and  to  other  temporary  causes,  and  hopes  held 
out  that  they  would  speedily  pass  away.  The  evil  proved 
to  be  not  partial  and  temporary,  but  pervading  and  per- 
manent. Far  from  confidence  in  the  modern  science  being 
shaken  by  a  result  contrary  to  all  its  principles,  it  was 
resolved  to  seek  a  remedy  for  the  acknowledged  distress,  by 
adopting  largely  the  policy  which  this  science  inculcates. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  results  of  the  experiment,  as 
s  it  has  hitherto  been  carried,  have  been  in  the  whole, 
unhappy.  The  events  which  have  followed,  not  to  say 
flowed  from  recent  enactments,  regulating  the  internal  and 
external  commerce  of  the  nation,  have  been  at  least 
unfortunate.  The  operations  of  the  banking  system,  and 
the  extension  of  general  confidence  and  security  in  all 
^actions,  which  that  system  is  calculated  to  afford,  seem 
clogged  and  n -strained.  The  returns  which  industry  and 
capital  receive,  have  been  still  farther  diminished.  Wealth 
is  barren.  Labor.  [»li«-<l  with  all  the  skill,  and  more  than  all 


4U8  APPENDIX 

the  assiduity  to  which  human  nature  is  long  adequate,  does 
not  always  keep  famine  at  a  distance. 


Number  2.     From  page  5. 

By  entering  on  such  an  investigation  immediately,  however, 
the  subject  will  be  brought  before  the  reader  under  an  aspect 
so  different  from  that  in  which  it  is  viewed  in  the  Wealth  of 
Nations,  and  subsequent  works  following  in  the  same  train  of 
thought,  that  I  should  not  have  an  opportunity  of  directly 
meeting  some  of  the  arguments  there  advanced.  For  this 
reason  I  shall  first  endeavor  to  show,  that  even  proceeding  on 
similar  principles  to  those  adopted  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations 
itself,  there  exist  great  and  insuperable  objections  to  the 
doctrines  in  question.  This  forms  the  subject  of  the  First 
Book.  In  the  Second,  I  enter  on  the  analysis  of  the  nature  of 
wealth  and  the  laws  governing  its  increase  and  diminution.1 
The  Third  is  devoted  to  a  practical  application  to  the  doctrines 
in  question,  of  the  principles  established. 

Number  3.     From  page  204. 

There  are  then,  it  would  appear  from  the  preceding  chapters, 
two  great  classes  into  which  commodities  may  be  divided ; 
luxuries,  and  articles  of  consumption  which  are  not  luxuries, 
but,  were  the  term  permitted,  might  be  named  utilities.  When 
the  events  in  which  instruments  issue  are  of  the  latter  class, 
then  instruments  may  properly  be  said  to  be  exhausted ;  when 
of  the  former,  they  are  on  the  contrary  dissipated. 

Number  4. 

The  investigations  in  which  we  have  been  engaged  in  the 
preceding  chapters  seem  to  indicate  several  great  causes  as 
determining  the  nature  and  production  of  stock.  They  may 
be  divided  into  three  classes. 

I.  Regarding  things  material. 

1  [Is  it  an  inadvertence  that  Rae  here  speaks  of  his  second  "  Book  "  as  deal- 
ing with  "  wealth,"  when  the  formal  title  made  it  deal  with  "  stock  "  ?] 


RESIDUA  469 

I.  The  nature  of  the  material  world,  producing  a  series  of 
events  succeeding  each  other  in  regular  order. 

-.  The  nature  of  man,  as  a  being  in  part  material,  acted  on, 
therefore,  by  matter,  and  whose  existence  and  pleasures  are, 
consequently,  dependent  on  events  taking  place  among 
material  objects. 

3.  Also  the  nature  of  man,  as  a  being  in  part  material,  and 
whose  corporeal  powers — his  labor,  enable  him  to  change  the 
positions  of  the  matters  around  him. 

II.  Regarding  things  not  material. 

1.  The  intellectual  faculties  of  man,  reaching  not  to  an 
absolute  knowledge  of  the  material  world,  but  to  a  perception 
of  the  order  in  which  events  succeed  each  other  in  it,  and  to 
a  discovery  of  the  means  of  producing  events  necessary,  or 
desirable  to  him,  by  applying  his  corporeal  powers  to  change 
the  positions  of  the  materials  within  his  reach. 

'2.  The  moral  nature  of  man, — the  motives  by  which  he 
acts,  determining  the  degree  in  which  he  will  be  excited  to 
apply  himself  to  the  discovery  of  the  order  in  which  events 
•ed  each  other,  and  to  changing  the  positions  of  materials, 
and  so  constructing  instruments  producing  events  ministering 
to  future  necessities  or  pleasures. 

Concerning  these  two  last  causes,  the  general  conclusions 
at  which  we  arrived  were;  that  the  more  the  intellectual 
Ities  are  expanded,  the  greater  the  power  to  extend  the 
knowledge  of  the  succession  of  events,  and  to  form  materials 
into  instruments ;  and  that  the  greater  the  strength  of  the 
moral  powers — the  social  and  benevolent  affections — the 
greater  the  desire  to  discover  the  order  of  the  succession  of 

•  \.  nts,  and  to  apply  such   discoveries  to  the   formation   of 
material*  into  instruments.     And  conversely  ;  that  the  feebler 
tli«-  intellectual  faculties  and  moral  powers,  the  less  both  the 
ability  to  discover,  and  the  inclination  to  apply  discoveries  to 
the  formation  of  instruments,  and  the  greater  tin-  tendency  to 

•  lissipat.-  the  capacity  of  the  instruments  formed  in   luxury, 
and  to  waste  it  through  deceit  and  violence. 

III.  Causes  derived  part  I  v  from  the  nature  of  the  material 
world,  and  partly  t'n.m  the  nature  of  nwn. 

1.   Change:  arising  from  revolutions  of  all  sorts,  by  which 


470  APPENDIX 

men  and  arts  are  moved  from  region  to  region.  This  places 
man  and  matter  in  new  positions,  and  discloses  to  him  new 
connexions  and  relations,  in  the  natures  of  the  bodies  within 
reach  of  his  operations. 

2.  Servile  imitation  ;  the  antagonist  of  the  former,  by  which 
men  are  led  to  operate  by  rule,  and  not  of  knowledge,  and  the 
progress  of  invention  and  improvement  are  retarded. 

Strength  of  intellect  and  moral  feeling  gives  continuity  of 
existence  to  the  society,  and  leading  the  men  composing  it  to 
take  an  interest  in  distant  events,  extends  the  operations  of 
their  powers  to  the  intelligence,  and  application  to  useful 
purposes,  of  a  wide  circle  of  events.  Their  weakness,  and  the 
prevalence  of  the  opposing  causes,  folly  and  pure  selfishness, 
isolates  each  member  of  society,  contracts  the  operations  of 
the  powers  of  the  whole  to  the  consideration  and  application 
of  a  narrow  circle  of  events,  and  dissipates  and  wastes  them, 
in  efforts  made  by  each  to  raise  himself  superior  to  others,  and 
by  force  or  fraud  to  take  from  them  what  they  possess. 

There  are  thus  two  great  principles,  the  inventive,  and 
accumulative,  generating  stock  and  adding  to  it,  and  they  are 
both  excited  and  moved,  and  enfeebled  and  restrained,  by 
similar  powers. 

I.  The  inventive  principle. 

Its  strength  extending  the  power  of  man,  augments  stock, 
by  carrying  the  instruments  composing  it  to  orders  of  quicker 
return.  It  is  accompanied  by  economy,  by  fidelity  to  engage- 
ments, by  a  diminished  inclination  to  luxury  and  waste. 

Its  weakness,  by  contracting  the  power  of  man,  prevents 
the  augmentation  of  stock.  It  is  accompanied  by  extrava- 
gance, by  infidelity  to  engagements,  by  a  propensity  to  luxury 
and  waste. 

II.  The  accumulative  principle. 

Its  strength  leading  men  to  embrace  in  their  operations  a 
wide  circle  of  events,  accumulates  stock,  by  giving  additional 
capacity  to  instruments  already  formed,  or  by  working  up 
new  materials.  It  carries  instruments  to  orders  of  slower 
return,  and  is  accompanied  also  by  economy,  by  fidelity  to 
engagements,  by  a  diminished  inclination  to  luxury  and  waste. 


RESIDUA  471 

Its  weakness,  contracting  the  compass  of  events  on  which 
there  is  an  inclination  to  operate,  diminishes  stock,  by  allow- 
ing materials  to  escape  from  it,  and  lie  idle,  which,  formed 
into  instruments,  would  yield  abundant,  though  distant 
returns.  Under  it  instruments  can  only  exist  at  the  more 
quickly  returning  orders.  It  is  accompanied,  also,  by  extrava- 
gance, by  infidelity  to  engagements,  by  a  propensity  to  luxury 
and  waste. 

The  consideration  of  the  mode  of  operation  of  these  two 
principles  suggests  the  following  remark. 

Upon  these  two  principles,  the  third  set  of  causes  referred 
to  operate  somewhat  differently.  Change  excites  the  principle 
of  invention,  but  often  directly  restrains  that  of  accumulation. 
Imitation  restrains  invention,  but  does  not  directly  retard 
accumulation. 

The  several  causes  referred  to,  rank  among  the  chief  agents 
in  the  production  of  the  phenomena  which  the  progress  of 
society  exhibits.  We  have  considered  them  separately,  but 
they  never  appear  so,  always  acting  in  combination.  This 
circumstance  would  not  of  itself  affect  any  conclusions  con- 
cerning them,  for  it  applies  to  phenomena  of  all  sorts,  the 
causes  influencing  every  one  being  compound. 


X  a  mber  5.     From  page  276. 

SECTION  1.  Narcotics,  in  so  far  as  their  effects  are  not 
measured  by  the  quantity  consumed,  may  be  classed  with 
luxuries. 

<TION  2.  A  question  concerning  the  effects  resulting  from 
their  cheapness  considered. 

SECTION  I. 

In  the  preceding  part  of  this  chapter  we  have  considered 
the  loss  occasioned  to  the  stock  of  societies,  from  part  of 
the  products  that  would  otherwise  be  yielded  by  the  industry 
of  their  members,  applied  to  the  formation  of  instruments, 
being  dissipated  through  the  operation  of  an  affection  of  tli« 
mind.  We  are  now  to  consider  a  similar  loss,  occasioned  by  a 


472  APPENDIX 

peculiarity  in  the  combined  corporeal  and  mental  constitution 
of  man. 

There  are  various  matters  that  physiologists  have  attempted 
to  comprehend  under  the  general  term  of  narcotics,  of  which 
the  primary  operation  is  directed  to  the  nervous  system. 
What  their  ultimate  effects  may  be  on  man,  considered 
not  in  the  individual,  but  in  the  species,  this  is  not  the  tit 
place  to  discuss.  There  are,  however,  some  general  laws  that 
belong  to  them,  which  it  concerns  the  present  inquiry  to  notice. 

1.  A  gradual  increase  in  the  quantity  consumed  does  not 
produce  a  correspondent  increase  in  the  effects  first  experi- 
enced.     One  commencing  with  twenty  drops  of  laudanum , 
if  he  make  a  habit  of  consuming  that  drug,  and  attempt 
to  continue  the  effects  first  experienced,  must  double,  quad- 
ruple, or  further  increase  the  quantity.     A  few  glasses  of 
wine  will  at  first  cause  a  degree  of  exhilaration  equal  to  what 
it  will  take  a  bottle  or  two  finally  to  produce.     Unlike  things 
consumed  to  satisfy  hunger,  thirst,  or  warmth,  their  effects 
are  by  no  means  determined  by  the  quantity  consumed.     We 
may  reckon  that  a  slice  of  bread,  or  a  glass  of  water,  will  one 
year  hence  supply  the  wants  for  which  any  individual  con- 
sumes them,  as  well  as  now,  however  great  his  consumption  of 
these  articles  may  be  in  the  interim.     But  if  a  person  now 
daily  drinks  a  glass  of  brandy,  there  is  no  saying  how  many 
glasses,  ten  years  hence,  he  may  find  himself  obliged  to  take 
to  produce  the  same  effects.     This  is  a  property  common  to  all 
narcotics,  though  not  in  an  equal  degree.     The  effects  of  tea 
and  coffee  on  the  nervous  system  diminish  through  use,  as  well 
as  those  of  brandy  and  tobacco,  though  not  in  an  equal  degree, 
and  the  quantity  taken  may  be  gradually  very  greatly  aug- 
mented. 

2.  The  temporary  exhilaration  produced  by  the  consump- 
tion of  these  substances  is  followed  by  a  temporary  depres- 
sion.    They  produce  evil  as  well  as  good.     Whether,  when 
taken  in  small  quantities,  the  former  overbalance  the  latter,, 
or  the  latter  the  former,  is  a  point  undetermined;  but  it  is 
well  known  that  as  the  quantity  is  increased,  the  evil  effects 
predominate,  until  at  last  both  the  bodily  and  mental  energies 
sink  under  their  operation.     Hence  what  is  called  the  abuse,. 


RESIDUA  473 

to  which  the  consumption  of  all  this  class  of  commodities 
is  apt  to  lead.  The  labor  bestowed  on  them  is  very  often  not 
only  useless,  but  absolutely  prejudicial  to  the  society. 

3.  Their  consumption  is  regulated,  in  a  great  degree,  by  the 

influence  of  the  imitative  propensity.     We  may  form  a  near 

guess  whether  a  person  is  in  the  custom  of  drinking  wine,  or 

tea,  or  coffee,  or  smoking  tobacco,  from  knowing  the  habits  of 

-sociates. 

4  Their  consumption  is  also  greatly  regulated  by  the  pas- 
sion of  vanity.  This  is  especially  the  case,  as  I  have  already 
remarked,  in  vinous  liquors.  These  liquors  derive  their  nar- 
cotic properties  from  containing  a  portion  of  the  fluid  termed 
alcohol.  In  addition  to  its  power  over  the  nervous  system r 
this  substance  has  that  of  preventing,  or  retarding,  the  changes 
that  naturally  go  on  in  vegetable  juices.  Liquors,  therefore, 
impregnated  with  it,  long  retain  their  peculiar  flavor  and 
other  properties,  and  may  thus  be  consumed  in  times  and  at 
places  remote  from  those  in  which  they  were  produced.  This 
serves  to  render  them  matters  on  which  vanity  can  easily  lay 
hold  and  convert  into  luxuries.  Besides  serving  as  marks  to 
this  passion,  the  vegetable  juices  and  salts  contained  in  these 
liquors  have  probably  other  effects.  They  aftbrd  a  certain 
degree  of  nourishment,  and  present  the  spirit  in  a  diluted 
form.  Hence  a  part  of  their  medicinal  effects,  and  hence,  also, 
tin -ir  greater  safety  as  narcotics.  The  stomach  gets  loaded 
with  th«-m  Mxmrr  than  with  diluted  alcohol,  which  might  be 
absorbed  with  less  immediate  inconvenience  to  the  digestive 
powers,  though  its  permanent  effects  may  be  more  pernicious. 
In  this  respect  there  is  a  real  cause  for  the  preference  given 
tin-in,  although,  in  this  view  also,  beer  is  the  best,  because  the 
safest  of  all  liquors. 

The  fermented  liquors,  produced  from  the  juice  of  the  grape,. 
a iv  most  esteemed  in  Europe.  It  is,  however,  at  least  problem- 
atical whether  they  have,  or  have  not,  any  great,  or  in<l. ,  .1  any 
real  superiority  Tln-ir  ch.-mical  analysis  does  not  show  much 
^rp  »uiids  for  the  preference,  and  we  wmiM  net,  •/  con- 

that  the  substances,  which  l>y  the  art  of  tin-  <  h«  mist  may 
be  made  into  a  compound  not  to  be  distinguished  t'n>in  th.-m, 
would  produce  a  liquid  peculiarly  beneficial  to  the  constitu' 


474  APPENDIX 

or  agreeable  to  the  palate.1  If  we  inquire  into  the  tastes  of 
other  nations,  we  find,  by  the  testimony  of  travellers,  that 
over  the  greater  part  of  the  world,  they  are  rather  disrelished. 
Captain  Basil  Hall,  in  his  voyage  to  Loo  Choo,  says  he  has 
found  cherry  brandy  the  most  generally  esteemed  liquor 
among  all  nations,  and  we  may  see  a  reason  for  the  pre- 
ference given  to  such  a  beverage.  The  sensation,  with  which 
even  diluted  alcohol  at  first  affects  the  organ  of  taste,  is 
unpleasant.  Most  people  take  some  plan  to  subdue  or  correct 
its  harshness.  The  mixture  of  matters  themselves  pleasant  in 
flavor  or  taste,  as  in  that  sort  of  cordial,  one  would  suppose 
the  most  effectual  and  agreeable  means  of  doing  so.  The 
Chinese  have  grapes,  but  make  no  use  of  them  for  the  forma- 
tion of  fermented  liquors.  Our  European  travellers  tax  them 
in  consequence  with  want  of  taste  and  ingenuity.  They,  in 
turn,  are  surprised  at  our  folly  in  manufacturing  what  seems 
to  them  a  more  harsh,  and  unpleasant,  and  generally  far 
more  expensive  beverage  than  theirs.  Which  has  most  reason 
on  his  side,  the  European  or  the  Chinese,  is  difficult  to  deter- 
mine ;  for,  when  the  passion  of  vanity  joins  with  the  imitative 
propensity,  the  two  have  a  singular  power  in  producing  obsti- 
nately opposing  opinions,  especially  when  they  have  an  organ 
to  work  on  so  pliant  in  the  reception  of  impressions  as  the 
palate.  The  fashionable  drink  of  the  Prussians  of  old  was 
fermented  mare's  milk;  while  the  nobles  drank  this,  the 
common  people  were  content  with  mead.  This,  at  least,  can 
be  said  in  favor  of  the  choice,  that  the  latter  liquor  must  have 
been  easily  got  in  the  country  of  wild  honey,  and  would  there- 
fore be  vulgar;  the  former  could  only  be  procured  by  the 
wealthy,  and  would  therefore  indicate  rank. 

1  Many  thousand  pipes  of  spoiled  cider  are  annually  brought  to  London  from 
the  country,  for  the  purpose  of  being  converted  into  port  wine.  One,  probably, 
of  the  least  noxious  of  the  methods  of  producing  the  change,  is  to  add  to  the 
cider  beet  root  juice,  alcohol,  logwood,  and  Rhatany  root.  The  interior  of  the 
cask  is  then  crusted  with  supertartrite  of  potash,  colored  with  Brazil  wood, 
that  the  merchant,  after  bottling  off  the  wine,  may  impose  on  his  customers  by 
taking  to  pieces  the  cask,  and  exhibiting  the  beautiful  dark  coloured  and  fine 
crystalline  crust,  as  an  indubitable  proof  of  the  age  of  the  wine  ;  a  practice  by 
no  means  uncommon,  to  flatter  the  vanity  of  those  who  pride  themselves  in 
their  acute  discrimination  of  wines.  See  Accum  on  Adulterations. 


RESIDUA  475 

On  the  whole,  as  it  must  be  allowed  that  vanity  has  a  very 
great  influence  in  determining  the  preference  which  is  given 
to  one  sort  of  alcoholic  liquor  over  another,  so  it  is  very  diffi- 
cult to  determine  the  point  where  its  operation  ceases.  This, 
perhaps,  can  only  be  done  in  cases  where  the  degree  in  which 
some  agreeable  flavor  or  relish  is  possessed  is  in  question,  or 
re  some  positively  disagreeable  flavor  or  taste,  or  injurious 
quality,  is  communicated  in  the  process  of  preparation. 

I  •  is  also  to  be  observed,  with  regard  to  these  liquors,  that, 
with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  negro,  whose  physical  con- 
stitution is  so  different  from  that  of  the  white  that  no 
conclusion  can  be  drawn  from  the  one  to  the  other,  the 
propensity  to  their  consumption  is  stronger  among  people 
living  at  a  distance  from  the  equator,  than  among  those  who 
inhabit  regions  lying  near  it.  Were  it  necessary  to  assign 
reasons  for  a  fact  generally  observed,  we  might  find  them  in 
the  grosser  feeding  of  the  inhabitants  of  cold  climates,  and 
in  their  diminished  susceptibility  to  the  impressions  of  the 
sexual  desires. 

SECTION  2. 

I  have  discussed  the  subject  of  these  liquors  at  a  length 
which  I  fear  may  appear  tedious.  Some  reasons  for  having 
done  so  will  show  themselves  afterwards.  There  is  one  that 
has  immediately  to  appear. 

A  very  important  question  concerning  their  consumption 
arises,  which,  it  seems  to  me,  has  been  too  hastily  determined, 
and  that  determination  rashly  acted  on,  in  a  manner  that  has 
produced  very  injurious  effects.1  As  far  as  we  have  presently 

1  [Light  is  thrown  upon  at  least  one  of  the  occurrences  to  which  Rae 
here  alludes,  by  the  following  passage  in  a  communication  to  the  Hawaiian 

HIM* nt  ro*  ]*•<.•  ting  excise  legislation  : — ] 

"  My  attention  was  first  called  to  this  subject  about  the  year  1819.     At 

he  propriety  of  greatly  reducing  the  duties  on  ardent  spirits  was  a 

question  much  agitated  in  Scotland,  my  native  land  ;  and  while  my  position 

••  to  listen  to  the  discussion  going  on,  my  prospects  were  then  such  as  to 

make  that  and  all  other  <{uestions  connected  with  the  well-being  of  the  people 

a  matter  of  considerable  interest  to  me.     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  were  then, 

:iM-l  had  long  been,  famous  for  the  manufacture  of  a  sort  of  whiskey  wln<  h, 

partly  perhaps  from  its  being  made  in  small  stills,  was  thought  of  superior 

flavour,  and  was  greatly  esteemed.     The  traffic  was  altogether  illicit,  and 


476  APPENDIX 

to  consider  the  doctrine  and  practice,  they  may,  in  a  great 
measure,  be  traced  to  the  following  passage  in  the  Wealth  of 
Nations. 

"  Though  individuals  may  sometimes  ruin  their  fortunes  by 
an  excessive  consumption  of  fermented  liquors,  there  seems  to 
be  no  risk  that  a  nation  should  do  so.  Though  in  every 
country  there  are  many  people  who  spend  upon  such  liquors 
more  than  they  can  afford,  there  are  always  many  more  who 
spend  less.  It  deserves  to  be  remarked,  too,  that  if  we  consult 
experience,  the  cheapness  of  wine  seems  to  be  a  cause,  not  of 
drunkenness,  but  of  sobriety.  The  inhabitants  of  the  wine 
countries  are,  in  general,  the  soberest  people  of  Europe ; 
witness  the  Spaniards,  the  Italians,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the 
southern  provinces  of  France.  People  are  seldom  guilty  of 
excess  in  what  is  their  daily  fare.  Nobody  affects  the  charac- 
ter of  liberality  and  good  fellowship  by  being  profuse  of  a 
liquor  which  is  as  cheap  as  small  beer.  On  the  contrary,  in 
the  countries  which,  either  from  excessive  heat  or  cold,  pro- 
duce no  grapes,  and  where  wine  consequently  is  dear  and  a 
rarity,  drunkenness  is  a  common  vice,  as  among  the  northern 
nations,  and  all  those  who  live  between  the  tropics,  the 
negroes,  for  example,  on  the  coast  of  Guinea.  When  a  French 
regiment  comes  from  some  of  the  northern  provinces  of  France, 

there  was  a  constant  struggle  between  the  smugglers  and  the  revenue  officers, 
the  one  striving  to  carry  through  their  objects  by  stratagem  or  force,  the  other 
endeavouring  to  baffle  them  ;  so  that  the  magistracy  and  the  courts  of  justice 
had  constantly  cases  coming  before  them  which  were  generally  settled  by  tine 
or  imprisonment,  and  not  infrequently  by  transportation.  It  was  proposed  to 
put  an  end  to  this  state  of  things  by  greatly  reducing  the  duty  on  legally 
manufactured  whiskey,  and  by  authorizing  its  manufacture  in  stills  of  a  small 
size.  Almost  everyone  thought  that  great  good  would  result  from  such  a 
change  of  system,  and  laughed  at  the  fears  which  some  few  entertained  of  its 
bad  effects  on  the  general  morals  of  the  people.  The  authority  of  Adam 
Smith  was  cited  as  decisive  of  the  question,  and  the  measure  was  carried 
through  amid  a  general  acclaim  of  approbation.  I  own  that  I  was  among  the 
doubters,  and  that  knowing  the  habits  of  my  countrymen  I  feared  that  the 
immediate  and  obvious  good  resulting  would  be  counterbalanced  by  more 
remote  but  greater  evils.  It  was  in  vain  for  me,  however,  to  open  my  mouth 
against  the  general  voice,  and  when  I  attempted  it  my  impertinence  in 
opposing  my  elders  and  betters  was  only  excused  as  one  of  the  eccentricities 
of  a  strange  youth.  Time  has  now  shown  that  I  was  not  far  wrong." 


RESIDUA  477 

where  wine  is  somewhat  dear,  to  be  quartered  in  the  southern, 
where  it  is  very  cheap,  the  soldiers,  I  have  frequently  heard  it 
observed,  are  at  first  debauched  by  the  cheapness  and  novelty 
of  good  wine :  but  after  a  few  months'  residence,  the  greater 
part  of  them  become  as  sober  as  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants. 
\V. -re  the  duties  upon  foreign  wines,  and  the  excises  upon 
malt,  beer,  and  ale,  to  be  taken  away  all  at  once,  it  might,  in 
the  same  manner,  occasion  in  Great  Britain  a  pretty  general 
and  temporary  drunkenness  among  the  middling  and  inferior 
ranks  of  people,  which  would  probably  be  soon  followed  by  a 
permanent  and  almost  universal  sobriety.  At  present  drunken- 
MOB  is  by  no  means  the  vice  of  people  of  fashion,  or  of  those 
who  can  easily  afford  the  most  expensive  liquors.  A  gentleman 
drunk  with  ale  has  scarce  ever  been  seen  amongst  us."  1 

The  general  question  that-  may  here  be  said  to  be  proposed 
is.  whether,  or  not,  in  any  particular  country,  the  cheapness 
or  the  dearness  of  intoxicating  liquors  will  most  excite  to  their 
intemperate  use  ? 

The  excessive  cheapness  of  any  of  these  liquors  renders  it 

incapable  of  affording  any  gratification  to  vanity,  and  an  equal 

.pness  in  them  all  would  universally  produce  the  same 

effect.     That  passion  would,  therefore,  in  such  a  case  have  to 

turn  itself  to  other  objects,  and  these  liquors  ceasing  to  be 

luxuries,  one  main  cause  of  their  consumption  would  be  done 

away  with.    To  «.-xcite  to  their  abuse,  there  would  remain  only 

th.-  pleasure  arising  from  their  intoxicating  qualities,  joined  to 

th'-  facility  with  which  it  might  be  indulged.     Whether,  or 

the  ease  with  which  this  propensity  might  be  gratified 

would  lead  to  long  enduring  excess,  or  the  vulgarity  of  the 

yment  t<  and  general  temperance,  would  probably 

depend  on  various   circumstances. — On  the  climate,  whether 

near  the   equator,  or   at  a  distance   from   it — On   the  sort 

of  liquor,  whether  purely  alcoholic  or  mixed  with  much  of 

foreign  matter. — On  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of 

accumulation,  for  that  desire,  when  strong,  leads  to  a  restricted 

•nnj'ti'.n    . •!'   things  of  which   the   immediate  benefit  is 

prohli •matiral.   and    th«    dangers  to  futurity,  from  excess  in 

th«  in,  very  great      1 1  t  lien,  the  principle  is  naturally  weak,  or 

1  Wealth  of  Nation*,  B.  IV.  c.   Ill 


478  APPENDIX 

at  the  moment  its  action  be  clogged  by  the  stock  of  instru- 
ments in  the  society  being  wrought  fully  up  to  the  orders 
correspondent  to  it,  or  having  passed  these,  then  there  will  be 
a  great  probability  of  injurious  and  long  continued  national 
excesses. 

Unless,  then,  we  have  the  means  of  knowing  perfectly  the 
condition  in  which  all  these  circumstances,  and  perhaps  some 
others,  exist  in  any  society,  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain,  with 
any  precision,  what  may  be  the  effect  of  reducing  very  greatly 
the  price  of  alcoholic  liquors.  The  national  drunkenness  that 
Adam  Smith  speaks  of  may  be  short  or  long,  or,  for  ought  that 
we  can  say,  perpetual.  Over  the  greater  part  of  the  United 
States  of  America  whiskey  has  long  sold  at  about  a  shilling 
sterling  per  gallon,  so  that  one  day's  wages  of  a  common 
laborer  will  purchase  a  dozen  bottles  of  that  spirit.  It  is 
therefore  put  out  of  the  class  of  luxuries  as  completely  as  any 
intoxicating  liquor  can  well  be.  The  consumption  of  it  has, 
notwithstanding,  been  very  great,  and  in  few  countries  lm\v 
instances  of  injurious  excess  been  more  frequent.  It  is  true 
that  the  evil,  now  exposed  to  view  stripped  of  every  disguise, 
is  seen  in  all  its  hideousness,  and  is  in  a  fair  way  of  being 
corrected.  After  having  endured  for  more  than  one  genera- 
tion, what  Adam  Smith  terms  the  period  of  general  drunken- 
ness, is  probably  passing  away.  If  the  cure  be  thus  effected, 
it  may  fairly  be  reckoned  radical.  Is  it  in  all  cases  advisable 
to  go  through  a  similar  course,  even  with  the  probability  of  a 
similar  result  ? — to  induce  a  season  of  national  drunkenness, 
even  with  the  prospect  of  the  public  feeling  being  effectually 
roused  to  put  down  the  vice  forever  ?  To  me  it  seems,  that 
the  remedy  is  so  violent,  that  in  many  cases  there  might  be  a, 
risk  of  the  patient's  sinking  under  its  operation.  A  general 
drunkenness  among  the  middle  and  inferior  classes,  however 
temporary,  is  a  thing  surely  not  to  be  lightly  discussed  in  any 
speculations  that  lead  to  practice.  Compared  with  it,  the  tem- 
porary subjugation  of  a  country  by  a  foreign  enemy  would,  in 
its  immediate  effects,  be  a  small  practical  evil.  If  an  experi- 
ment fit  to  be  tried,  it  should  certainly  only  be  so  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances ;  to  peril  it  when  the  vital  powers 
are  in  an  enfeebled  condition,  would  be  the  height  of  rashness. 


RESIDUA  47'.» 

The  analogy  which  Adam  Smith,  in  the  passage  quoted, 
draws  between  the  French  soldier  transported  from  a  part  of 
France  where  wine  is  scarce,  to  another  where  it  abounds,  and 
a  nation  suddenly  overflowed  with  an  abundance  of  t' 
liquors,  will  not  hold ;  for,  the  imitative  propensity,  in  the  one 
case,  tends  as  powerfully  to  check,  as  in  the  other  it  operates 
to  excite  to  the  abuse  in  question.  If  a  man  be  brought 
among  sober  people,  he  has  every  chance  to  remain,  or  to 
become  sober ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  get  among  drunkards,  it 
requires  all  his  resolution  to  avoid  becoming  one.  A  nation 
h;i ving  a  taste  for  these  pleasures,  and  suddenly  obtaining  the 
means  of  indulging  in  them,  may  be  compared  to  a  company 
inclined  to  be  jovial  assembled  round  an  abundant  table, 
wh.Te  each  excites  the  other  to  excess;  a  band  of  soldiers 
living  and  mixing  with  the  inhabitants  of  a  country  where, 
even  though  cheap,  these  liquors  are  temperately  consumed, 
may,  on  the  contrary,  be  compared  to  an  individual  partaking 
of  his  solitary  bottle  in  the  midst  of  those  who  despise  the 
pleasure,  and  view  him  with  contempt  for  indulging  in  it. 

It  is,  however,  particularly  to  be  remarked,  that  the  author 
refers  to  fermented,  not  to  purely  alcoholic  liquors,  and  the 
former  are  certainly  much  less  apt  to  lead  to  excess,  than  the 
latter.  I  apprehend,  however,  that  his  reasonings  in  the  j«iv- 
c»-« ling,  and  one  or  two  other  passages,  have  been  generally 
received  as  applicable  to  both. 

To  return  to  the  subject  of  narcotics  in  general,  all  excess  in 
their  consumption,  whether  it  be  regarded  as  an  application  of 
labor  to  a  useless  purpose,  or  to  one  partially  hurtful ;  whether 
it  proceed  from  vanity  or  pernicious  habits,  may  not  im- 
properly be  termed  dissipation,  as  the  articles  so  consumed 
may  be  termed  luxuries.  It  is  not  necessary  that  \\.  slmuM 
pretend  to  determine  what  this  loss  may  in  any  case  amount 
to;  it  is  sufficient  to  mark  its  existence,  as  a  quantity  to  be 
taken  into  ace.  unt  in  a  consideration  of  the  causes,  influencing 
th--  increase  or  decrease  of  the  national  stock. 

Number  6.    From  page  352. 

Tli.  .l.x-trine,  as  it  has  been  maintained,  has  th.-  a- 1  vantage 
or  -lisadvantage  of  being  somewhat  paradoxical ;  but  nmitt  in^ 


480  APPENDIX 

the  consideration  of  this  circumstance,  it  is  worth  while  to 
•examine  whether  or  not,  when  applied  to  practice,  it  lias 
brought  about  the  anticipated  results.  Of  the  many  instances 
that  might  be  produced  of  events  of  this  class  turning  out 
contrary  to  the  predictions  of  the  votaries  of  the  science, 
I  select  one  from  the  Cours  d'Economie  Politique  (Vol. 
IV.,  p.  266)  of  Mr.  Storch,  a  work  which,  according  to  Mr. 
M'Culloch,  stands  at  the  head  of  all  those  on  Political 
Economy  ever  imported  from  the  continent  into  England. 

That  author  brings  forward  Ireland  as  an  example  of  great 
prosperity,  and  very  rapid  progress  in  wealth,  in  consequence 
of  that  nation  following  the  rules  of  the  system.  "  The  sudden 
-and  prodigious  increase,"  he  observes,  "  which  took  place  in 
the  consumption  of  spirituous  liquors,  sugar  and  tea,  soon 
after  the  union,  is  the  more  remarkable,  from  its  having 
occurred  at  a  time  when  these  commodities  were  charged  with 
additional  duties,  that  in  any  other  country  would  have  been 
-equivalent  to  an  absolute  prohibition. 

"To  date  from  the  union,  the  consumption  of  wine  has 
augmented  by  half  ;  and  yet  the  consumers,  to  buy  half  more 
than  they  formerly  did,  are  obliged  to  pay  three  times  the 
price.  As  for  rum,  and  other  foreign  spirits,  although  the 
duties  have  been  doubled,  the  consumption  has  increased 
•eightfold. 

"The  importation  of  tea  has  risen,  since  the  union,  from 
2,260,600  pounds  to  3,706,771.  The  amount  of  sugar  pur- 
chased has  risen  from  211,209  hundred  weight  to  447,404,  so 
that  Ireland  consumes  more  of  that  nourishing,  agreeable,  and 
healthy  commodity,  than  both  Russia  and  France  conjoined. 
In  short,  an  examination  of  the  table  of  importations  of  Ireland 
shows  that,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  number  of  articles, 
the  additional  consumption  of  those  commodities,  the  pro- 
duction of  other  countries,  of  which  the  increasing  demand 
most  marks  the  growing  riches  of  a  people,  has  equalled, 
or  rather  surpassed  the  whole  consumption  before  the  union. 
The  facts  which  we  have  thus  analyzed,"  he  continues,  "  present 
a  statistical  picture  altogether  singular,  and  such  as  the  most 
•flourishing  colonies  have  never  furnished.  It  is  true  that,  by 
this  prodigious  increase  of  importations,  the  purchases  of  the 


RESIDUA  481 

people  of  Ireland  have  increased  in  a  greater  ratio  than  their 
sales ;  but  this  circumstance,  which  would  spread  alarm  among 
most  other  nations,  is  regarded  in  Great  Britain  as  a  symptom 
of  prosperity.  I  know  nothing  more  calculated  to  show  how 
much  those  continental  governments  are  deceived,  who  see 
only  objects  of  alarm  in  observing  the  increase  of  importations. 
They  send  the  money  out  of  the  country,  they  favor  for 
industry  at  the  prejudice  of  domestic,  and  ruin  the  inhabitants 
by  exciting  them  to  expenses  beyond  their  incomes.'  Such  is 
the  cry  of  these  alarmists.  Perhaps  I  return  too  frequently  to 
a  consideration  of  such  errors ;  but  they  are  so  common,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  so  injurious,  that  I  think  it  my  duty  to 
neglect  no  opportunity  to  prove  their  fallacy,  whether  by 
arguments  or  by  examples ;  and  what  more  striking  example 
could  I  oppose  to  this  doctrine  than  that  of  the  prosperity  of 
the  Irish?" 

Speaking  of  the  probability  of  a  rise  in  the  price  of  colonial 
productions,  he  observes  farther,  "that  it  may  possibly  diminish 
their  consumption,  but  that  it  is  much  more  likely  that  tin- 
Irish,  who  have  acquired  a  taste  for  such  enjoyments,  will  work 
still  harder,  and  produce  still  more  linen,  hemp,  and  oats,  that 
they  may  have  plenty  of  sugar  and  rum.  With  a  people  so 
ingenious,  all  that  is  requisite  is  to  give  them  wants,  and 
•  \cito  them  to  labor." 

Science  is  said  to  be  prophetic;  does  this  then  sound  lik. 
her  voice. 

Number  7.    From  page  364. 

But  an  investigation  of  all  these  particulars  would  extend 
far  beyond  the  bounds  which  I  have  prescribed  myself.  I 
purpose,  therefore,  to  confine  myself  to  two  of  them,  and  to 
limit  the  sul>  his  book  to  show  that  the  legislator  may 

operate  with  advantage  to  the  community,  1st,  in  the  transfer 
of  foreign  arts  to  his  own  country ;  2d,  in  applying  to  useful 
purposes  funds  which  would  otherwise  be  dissipated  in  luxury. 

Number  8.     From  page  375. 

It  is  mily  necessary  I'm-  im-  hnv.  thru,  t  shortly 

tin-  i.l.jrct  inns-,  and  t  :  rs  |<> 

•2  II 


482  APPENDIX 

It  is  said  capital  can  only  augment  by  accumulation,  and, 
as  the  interference  of  the  legislator  takes  something  from 
individual  revenue,  it  must  also  take  from  the  power  to 
accumulate,  and,  consequently,  instead  of  augmenting,  must 
tend  to  diminish  the  sum  of  the  capitals  of  all  the  individuals 
in  the  society,  that  is,  the  national  capital  or  stock.  This 
objection  proceeds  on  two  assumptions,  the  first,  that  the 
nature  of  national  capital,  or  stock,  about  which  the  wlml«' 
discussion  turns,  which  it  is  the  object  of  the  inquiry  to  in- 
vestigate, and  concerning  which  scarce  two  authors  of  note 
agree  in  opinion,  is  known  previously  to  any  investigation, 
and  is  precisely  identical  with  the  notion  suggested  by  the 
same  term  applied  to  individual  wealth.  The  second,  that 
what  is  generally  true  concerning  individual  capital,  is  univer- 
sally true  concerning  national  capital,  and  that,  as  the  former 
commonly  augments  by  accumulation,  the  latter  can  do  so 
in  no  other  manner. 

The  answer  to  this  objection  is,  that  the  proceedings  of  the 
legislator  may  increase  the  absolute  capital  and  stock  of  the 
society,  the  provision,  that  is,  for  future  wants,  embodied  in 
the  stock  of  instruments  possessed  by  it,  though  they  may 
not  increase,  and  may  even  a  little  diminish  its  relative 
capital,  or  the  sum  which  would  be  brought  out  by  measuring 
those  instruments  with  one  another.  That  it  is  the  amount  of 
the  absolute  capital  of  the  society,  which  is  the  proper  measure 
of  the  wealth  of  the  whole,  and  of  each  individual,  and  that 
whatever  augments  it  not  only  directly,  and  of  itself,  advances 
national  wealth,  but  ultimately,  also,  does  so  indirectly,  through 
the  stimulus  given  to  the  accumulative  principle,  and  the 
addition  thence  arising  to  relative  capital. 

This  objection  and  the  answer  to  it  apply  to  utilities.  The 
second  objection,  now  to  be  considered,  refers  to  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  legislator  concerning  commodities  wholly  or  in 
part  luxuries. 

Number  9.     From  page  296. 

If  the  legislator,  by  an  arbitrary  and  secret  act,  could 
impose  a  duty  on  the  share  of  any  commodity  consumed  by 
an  individual,  the  rest  of  the  community  going  free,  that 


RESIDUA  483 

individual  would  undoubtedly  be  exactly  so  much  a  loser.  It 
would  be  to  him  a  matter  of  indifference  what  the  commodity 
in  «|Ui -stion  were.  If  the  circumstances  of  his  condition  obliged 
his  wife  to  wear  jewels,  or  him  to  have  a  supply  of  claret  on 
his  table,  an  arbitrary  impost  of  the  sort  on  the  claret  he  con- 
Mimed,  or  the  jewels  his  wife  wore,  would  probably  be  to  him 
equivalent,  to  a  like  exaction  on  coals  or  bread.  In  the  same 
way,  a  secret  remission  to  a  single  individual  of  the  duty 
levied  on  any  article,  would  be  just  so  much  gain  to  him. 

Tin-  t'u  m  la  mental  error  on  this  subject  of  Adam  Smith,  and 
tin-  present  prevailing  school  of  political  economists  in  Eng- 
land, lies,  in  their  assuming,  that  what  is  true  concerning  an 
individual,  is  true,  also,  concerning  a  community,  and  main- 
taining, consequently,  that  every  impost  is  so  much  absolute 
loss  to  the  society,  and  every  diminution  of  it,  so  much  gain. 
Before  this  assumption  can  be  made  good,  with  regard  to  any 
particular  impost,  it  is  necessary  that  the  three  following 
questions  concerning  it  should  be  determined. 

1st.  Will  the  duty  so  levied,  by  directly  or  indirectly  effect- 
ing an  improvement  in  the  arts,  increase  the  absolute  capital 
of  the  society  ? 

2d.  Will  it  prevent  future  waste,  by  the  transfer  of  an  art 
producing  useful  commodities,  the  supply  of  which  is  liable  to 
sudden  interruptions  ? 

3d.  Does  it  fall  partly  or  altogether  on  luxuries,  and  is  its 
real  effect,  consequently,  not  to  diminish,  by  so  much,  the 
annual  revenue  of  the  society,  but  only  to  apply  a  part  of  it, 
whirl i  would  (.tl in-wise  have  been  dissipated  by  vanity,  to 
supply  funds  for  the  necessary  expenditure  of  tin-  legislator  I 

Unless  these  questions  can  be  all  answered  in  the  negative, 
tin  n^uined  parallel  betw< •<  n  tin-  effects  of  an  impost  on  an 
individual,  and  on  a  community,  does  not  hold,  and  the  whole 
reasoning  founded  on  it  falls  to  the  ground. 


READER'S   GUIDE. 


ORIGINAL  VOLUME. 


PRESENT  REPRINT. 


Pages           Pages 

Preface,  - 

iii.-vii.  =xlv.-l. 

Author's  Preface. 

»         -        -        -        - 

vii.-viii.  =  466-468 

App.,  Residua,  No.  1. 

_ 

viii.-x.    =l.-lii. 

Author's  Preface. 

Table  of  Contents,    - 

xi.-xvi.  =v.-xiii. 

Table  of  Contents. 

Introduction,   - 

1-     5=     1-     5 

Introduction. 

- 

5-     6  =  468 

App.,  Residua,  No.  2. 

BOOK  I. 

Introduction,   - 

7-    8  =  377-379 

App.,  Art.  VIII.,  Part  I. 

Chap.  I.,  - 

9-  17  =  379-388 

1              5 

17-  19  =  130-131 

Chap.  VIII.,  Suffix. 

>J             55      ' 

19-  24  =  151-157 

Chap.  X.,  Prefix. 

55             5J 

24-  31=388-396 

App.,  Art.  VIII.,  Part.  I. 

Chap.  II., 

32-  77  =  396-444 

„         „         „     Part  II. 

BOOK  II. 

Introduction,  - 

78-  79=     5-     6 

Introduction,  Suffix. 

Chaps.  I.-VIL, 

80-163=     7-101 

Chaps.  I.-VII. 

Chap.  VI1L,    - 

164-184  =  102-125 

Chap.  VIII. 

. 

185-193  =  297-306 

App.,  Art.  IV.,  Part  I. 

)>                    55 

193-197  =  125-130 

Chap.  VIII. 

Chap.  IX., 

198-207  =  218-228 

Chap.  XIII.,  1st  Half. 

Chap.  X., 

208-223  =  132-149 

Chap.  IX. 

>J              J>                       -                 -                 - 

223-264  =  158-203 

Chap.  X. 

Chap.  XI.,  Part  I.,  - 

265-292  =  245-276 

App.,  Art.  I. 

„     Part  II., 

292-299  =  471-479 

App.,  Residua,  No.  5. 

Chap.  XII.  1  Paragraph,- 

300        =468 

App.,  Residua,  No.  3. 

J)                  5) 

300-305  =  204-210 

Chap.  XI.,  1st  Part. 

5)                    55                    ~ 

305-312  =  277-285 

App.,  Art.  II. 

Chap.  XIII.,    - 

313-315  =  213-216 

Chap.  XII.,  1st  Part. 

55                     55 

315-317  =  210-212 

Chap.  XI.,  2nd  Part. 

,,          „       1  Paragraph, 

317-318  =  282 

App.,  Art.  II.,  Interpol. 

55                     55 

318-319  =  216-217 

Chap.  XII.,  2nd  Part. 

Chap.  XIV., 

320-323  =  468-471 

App.,  Residua,  No.  4. 

„          „      1  Paragraph, 
„          „     3  Paragraphs, 

322        =202 
323        =357-358 
323-327  =  229-233 

Chap.  X.,  Interpolation. 
App.,  Art.  VI.,  Ending. 
Chap.  XIII.,  2nd  Half. 

Chap.  XV.,      - 

328-349=329-352 

App.,  Art.  V. 

»         „ 

349-350  =  479-481 

App.,  Residua,  No.  6. 

5)                 » 

350-351=352-353 

App.,  Art.  V. 

Appendix, 

352-357  =  237-242 

Chap.  XIV. 

READER'S   GUIDE 

ORIGINAL  VOLUME.  PRESENT  REPRINT. 


4S5 


BOOK  III. 

Pa-o           Pages 

Introduction, 
„          1  Paragraph, 

358-362  =  359-364 
362        =481 

App.,  Art.  VII.,  1st  Part. 
App.,  Residua,  No.  7. 

Chap.  I.,  - 

363-368  =  364-370 

App.,  Art.  VII.,  2nd  I'.ui. 

Chap.  II., 
Chap.  III.,       - 

369-376  =  286-294 
377-381=370-: 

App.,  Art.  III.,  1st  Part. 
App.,  Art  VII.,  3rd  Part. 

))        " 

381-382  =  481-482 

App.,  Residua,  No.  8. 

382-383  =  294-296 

App.,  Art.  III.,  2nd  Part. 

»        >» 

384-385  =  482-483 

App.,  Residua,  No.  9. 

NOTES. 

A  (reference  page      1),    - 

387-388  =  448-450 

A  pp.,  Author's  Notes,  A. 

4),    - 

388-390  =  450-452 

App.,         „              „       li. 

C(        „          „         8),    - 

390        =453 

App.,        „             „       C. 

I)(                     „       18),    - 

391         =453-454 

App.,        „             „      D 

E(                    „       87),    - 

392         =  15 

Chap.  I.,  footnote. 

F(                    „     153),    - 

392-397  =  454-461 

App.,  Author's  Notes,  F. 

G(        „           „     193),    - 

397-412  =  306-328 

App.,  Art.  IV.,  Part  II. 

H(                    „     249),    - 

412        =185 

('hap.  X.,  footnote. 

I  (        „           „      276),    - 

412-413  =  257-258 

App.,  Art.  I.,  footnote. 

J  <         „           „     285),    - 

413        =461-462 

App.,  Author's  Notes,  J. 

K(        „           „     345),    - 

413-414=347 

App.,  Art.  V.,  footnote. 

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