---

{208} This is sufficiently important to deserve to be illustrated by

some examples. The improvement of the steam-engine, by Mr. Watt,

was a matter of accident; an accident, indeed, that could not have

happened, had he been an ignorant man; but the improvement of it

was not accidental. It was, in consequence of great encouragement

given, and to the prolongation of the patent, by an express act of

parliament. This patent has been the occasion of almost totally

changing the machine, and of extending its use to a vast variety of

objects, to which it probably might never have been extended, had it

not been the sole business of a very able man, aided by a number of

other ingenious persons, whom he was enabled to employ. It was the

cause of improving the mechanism of mills for grinding corn, and

others of different descriptions, far beyond what they had been,

although the most able engineer in that line (Mr. Smeaton) died before

the last and greatest improvements were made.

The same thing may be observed of the cotton-spinning-machines, and

with a little difference of all the inventions that have been brought to

perfection, under the influence of exclusive privileges.

-=-

[end of page #271]

perfection, and turned to more advantage in this country than in any

other.

This advantage, which England enjoys over other countries, is a more

solid one than it appears to be, for it is intimately connected with the

government and laws of the country, and with that spirit which sees

the law well administered, which, in the case of patents, is a matter of

no small difficulty, and prevents others from becoming our rivals, or

attaining the same degree of perfection; {209} for, unless the law is

well administered, there can never be the great exertion that is

necessary to create excellence.

The fine arts and the mechanic arts are quite different in regard to the

manner in which they are brought to perfection. Individual capacity

and genius will make a man, even without much teaching, excel in one

of the fine arts; whereas, in the mechanic arts, to know how an

operation is performed is every thing, and all men can do it nearly

equally well. The consequence of this is, that, as experience improves

the manner of working, the mechanic arts improve, from age to age, as

long as they are encouraged and practised. It is not so with the fine

arts, or only so in a very small degree, and from this it arises, that, in

sculpture, poetry, painting, and music, the ancients, perhaps, excelled

the moderns. In the mechanic arts they were quite inferior. The best

examples of this, (and better need not be,) are an antique medal,

boldly and finely executed, but ragged on the edges, not on a flat

ground, or of equal thickness, compared with a new guinea, or a

Birmingham button tamely engraved but trimly executed. In the

former, there is every mark of the artist, none of the machine. In the

latter, there are some faint and flat traces of an artist, but great proof

of mechanical excellence. The skill of the artist, necessary to produce

the first, cannot be commanded, though it may, by encouragement, be

called forth; but the reunion of talents, such as are necessary for the

latter, is so certainly obtainable, that it, at all times, may be procured

at will, after it has once been possessed.

---

{209} In 1790 the French laid down the law of patents, on the English

plan, and rather, in some respects, improved; but the people never

understood it. The lawyers never understood it; and, even before the

anarchy came on, it was evident it would never produce any very great

effect, for want of proper administration.

-=-

[end of page #272]

Security, to reap the fruits of improvements, is all that is wanted, and

this the law of patents, as applied and enforced in England, affords in

a very superior degree. Although, by the communication everywhere,

the ground-work of every art whatever is now no longer confinable to

any one nation, though the contrary is the case, and that the

knowledge necessary circulates freely, and is extended by a regular

sort of system, in periodical publications of various descriptions, yet

the manner of turning that knowledge to advantage does not, by any

means, seem equally easy to communicate.

The legislature of the United States of America has, indeed, in this

case, done full justice to the encouragement of arts and to inventions;

but circumstances, as has been already said, make other objects more

advantageous for the employment of labour and skill in that country.

For these reasons, therefore, we may look forward with some

confidence, to the flourishing of arts and manufactures, for a long

term of years, if the same attention that has been paid to their

encouragement still continues; but neither this advantage alone, nor all

the advantages united, that have been enumerated, will be sufficient to

preserve our superiority, if those, who regulate the affairs of the

country, do not favour them.

It is in consequence of great pains and care, that manufactures have

flourished in this country, and they cannot be preserved without a

continuation of the same care, although it is individual effort that

appears to be the principal cause. Thus, the travellers, on a well-made

highway, proceed with rapidity and ease, at their individual expense,

and by their individual energy; but, if the road is not kept in repair,

their progress must be impeded, and their efforts will cease to produce

the same effect, for they cannot individually repair the road.

Such appear to be the peculiar circumstances that favour Great

Britain; and that under disadvantages that are also peculiarly great,

give hopes of prolonging the prosperity of the country.

There is still, however, something wanting to increase our advantage.

Any person acquainted with the manufactures of England will

naturally have observed, that they are all such as meet with a market

in this country. We have no mannfactories =sic= for goods, for the

sole [end of page #273] purpose of our foreign markets; so that,

though we consider ourselves as so much interested in foreign trade,

yet we have adapted all our manufacturies, expressly, as if it were to

supply the home market.

This observation will be found to apply very generally, though there

are a few exceptions, and though the quality of the goods

manufactured, and intended for exportation, is adapted to the market

for which they are destined. This last, indeed, is very natural, nor

could it well be otherwise, but that is not going half the length

necessary.

Instead of carrying our goods into a strange country, and trying

whether the inhabitants will purchase, we should bring home patterns

of such articles as they use themselves, and try if we can supply them

with advantage. Nations vary, exceedingly, in taste, and so they

always will. The colour of the stuffs, the figures on printed cottons,

and even the forms of cutlery, and articles of utility, are, in some sort,

matters of taste. If we are to manufacture for other nations, let us try to

suit their taste as we do to suit that of our own people at home. The

reasons why we do not do this are pretty evident. In the first place, it

would not answer the purpose of an individual to procure the

information necessary, and make a collection where the advantage, in

case of success, would be divided with all that chose to imitate them;

besides this, in many cases, the means are wanting to procure what is

necessary.

The study of botany has been greatly advanced, and kitchen gardens

greatly enriched, by the importation of exotic plants; and, probably,

our manufactures might be greatly extended, if the same care were

taken to collect foreign articles, the produce of industry. {210} We do

not find every foreign plant succeed in this country, but if it seems

pro-

---

{210} A collection of all sorts of stuffs, with the prices in the country,

where worn, and the same of all sorts of hardware, toys, trinkets, &c.,

should be made, at the public expense, and be open, on application, to

the inspection of every person who might apply in a proper manner;

and even specimens, or patterns, should be delivered out, on the value

being deposited. In Persia, and many places, if we would copy their

colours and patterns, we might sell great quantities of cotton stuffs.

Our hatchets, and some other of our tools, are not made of a form

liked by the Americans.

-=-

[end of page #274]

bable, and worth trying, we never fail to do that; we trust it would be

so with foreign manufactures, if we had proper patterns. A fair trial

would be made, where success seemed probable, and the event would

determine the future exertion.

Accidental circumstances, a few centuries ago, brought new plants

into this country, they now come into it in consequence of regular

exertions for that purpose. What was then true, with regard to plants

imported, is still true with respect to manufactures exported. We

manufacture for ourselves, and if any thing of the same sort suits other

nations, we send it, if not, there is no trade to that part; now, this must

be allowed to be an accidental cause, for the promotion of foreign

trade.

Wherever it is possible to prevent the debasing the quality of an

article, so as to hinder it answering the purpose, or gratifying the

expectations of the purchaser, that ought to be done, for it has long

been such a practice for English manufacturers to undersell each other,

that they stick at no means of being able to do so.

A variety of qualities, according to price, is necessary. All persons

cannot afford to buy the best sort of goods; but, when a reduction of

price is carried so far as to be obtained by making an article that is

useless, this is a means of losing the trade; and it would be very easy

to prove that such examples are very numerous, and that various

branches of trade have been lost by that means.

With regard to the extent of sea coast, the advantage that may be

derived from the fisheries, and the benefit arising from that

circumstance to commerce, they are natural advantages, and already

perfectly understood. [end of page #275]

CHAP. VIII.

_Conclusion_.

After having gone through the subject of the Inquiry, according to

the mode that appeared to be the best, in which there has been one

invariable rule, never to oppose theory and reasoning to facts, but to

take experience as the surest guide, a recapitulation can scarcely be

very necessary; but a conclusion, applicable to the situation of this

country, certainly may.

This, however, ought to be short, as the reader has all the materials for

it in his own power, but it may save him trouble.

The great end of all human effort is, to improve upon the means which

nature has furnished men with, for obtaining the objects of their wants

and wishes, and to obviate, to counteract, or do away those

inconveniencies =sic= and disadvantages which nature has thrown in

the way of their enjoyment. {211}

With the mind, the same course should be used as with material

bodies. It is impossible, in either case, to create; but we may turn the

good to as profitable an advantage as we are able, and counteract the

bad.

To attempt to hinder men from following their propensities, when in

power, is always arduous, generally ineffectual, and frequently

impracticable; besides, when it can be done coercively, it infringes too

much on the liberty and the enjoyment of mankind. A controuling

power should be employed as seldom as possible.

---

{211} Thus, in building a house, you form the stones, the clay, and

other materials, which nature has furnished, in order to counteract the

effect of heat or cold, moist or dry, as is most agreeable. Thus, men

have learned to melt and vitrify the sand on the sea-shore, to make

glass, grind it into a form, and make a microscope to view the most

minute objects of nature, or to bring the most distant nearer, by the

telescope: thus, rectifying the imperfection of human sight. Perhaps

the burning of _coals_ to convert _water_ into _steam_, and, with that

_steam_, raising _coals_ and _water_ from the mine is the most

complete triumph of human skill over physical difficulties. How

invention and discovery have improved the state of man since the time

that the uses of corn and fire were unknown in Greece!!!

-=-

[end of page #276]

To attempt to smother the passions is vain, to controul them difficult;

besides, it is from energy, arising from passions or propensities, that

all good, as well as all evil, arise. The business, then, will neither be

to curb nor to crush, but to give a proper direction. This is to be done

by good habits, when young, and a proper education, which cannot be

obtained by individual exertion, without the assistance of government;

an assistance that it is therefore bound to give.

The general tendency of wealth and power are to enervate people, to

make them proud and indolent, and, after a certain time, they leave a

country. Individuals have no means to counteract this tendency, unless

the governing power of the country gives a general impulse to them,

in cases where they can act, and acts itself, with care and attention,

where individuals can do nothing.

In the case of education and manners, in the case of providing for

children, individuals may do much, but government must not only

give the means, but the impulse. In the case of the soil becoming

insufficient for the inhabitants, and of taxes and national debt

increasing, government may stop the progress; and in the cases of

individual bodies trenching on the general weal, as well as in the

tendency of inventions, capital, &c. to emigrate to other countries, the

government may counteract, and, perhaps, totally prevent them all.

In all cases, individuals will and must follow their lawful propensities,

both in the means of employing capital and expending revenue; that is,

they must be left free, in a general way, and only interrupted and

regulated in particular cases; but, sometimes, the means must be

furnished them of going right, and in other cases the inducements to

do so augmented. We shall take the subjects in the same order that

they followed in the Second Book.

Though the manners of people, arrived at maturity, can only be

regulated by their education, when young, if that is properly attended

to, it will be sufficient; for though it will not prevent the generation

that has attained wealth, from enjoying it according to the prevailing

taste, it will prevent contamination being communicated with

increased force, as it now is, to the children. The evils then will go on

in a simple proportion; they now go on with a compound one, and the

evils arising from the [end of page #277] luxury of each generation are

doubled on that which follows after. If that is prevented, it will be all

that probably is necessary; at all events it is probably all that is

possible.

In taxation, the government should study to do away what is

obnoxious in its mode of collection, for that does more injury to the

subject, in many cases, than an equal sum would do levied in another

manner; and when payments are to be made, the mode should be

rendered as easy as possible. Every unnecessary trouble should be

avoided in collecting a tax. In the tax on receipts and bills, why should

the sums to which they extend not be printed on them, so as to prevent

error, which is sometimes attended with great loss, and always with

inconvenience? If this had been done, how many law-suits, how many

nefarious tricks, would have been prevented? But not to speak of those

inconveniences only, how much useless trouble, uneasiness, and

uncertainty, would have been saved in the common way of transacting

business? In most cases, the subject is treated as if neither his time,

nor his conveniency, nor his feelings, were worth attending to. This is

equally impolitic and unjust: there is, perhaps, no country where

people are more careful to keep within the pale of the law, than in

England; but when they are within it, and have power, no people use it

with a more insulting rigour; and for this there is no redress.

In many cases, this would be entirely prevented by proper attention in

first laying on the tax. There should be a board of taxation, to receive,

digest, and examine, the suggestions of others. In short, pains should

be taken to bring to perfection the system. At present, it is left to

chance; that is to say, it is left for those to do who have not time to do

it, and, of consequence, the blunders committed are seen by all the

world. {212}

---

{212} An act of parliament for a new tax is seldom ever right till it

has been evaded a number of times, and even then in perfectioning

=sic= it, an increase of revenue is the only object attended to; the

conveniency of the subject is scarcely ever thought of. Taxes are laid

on, that experience proves to be unproductive and oppressive, and

sometimes are, and oftener ought, to be repealed; thousands of persons

are sometimes ruined for a mere experiment. As the public pays for it,

they, at least, might be indulged with a little attention; nothing costs

less than civility. If half the attention were paid to preventing

unnecessary trouble to the subject, [end of page #278] in cases of

taxation, that is paid to the preservation of partridges, we should have

the thing very differently managed. There should also be a public

office, to hear just complaints against those who give unnecessary

trouble, as there is for hackney coachmen. Men in all situations

require to be under some controul, where they have power. Most of

those who _drive_ others, go wrong sometimes, unless held in check

by some authority.

-=-

The encroachments of separate bodies on the public, it is entirely in

the power of the state to prevent. It is owing to weakness or

carelessness, or ignorance, that governments admit of such

encroachments, and they are easily to be prevented, partly, as has been

shewn, by positive regulation, and partly by counteracting them,

whenever they appear to be proceeding in a direction any way

doubtful. When they do so, the conclusion may be, that they are

working for themselves; and, in that case, they ought to be very

minutely examined into; and, as all public bodies, and men belonging

to a class that has a particular interest generally derive their means of

trenching on the public from government, it may very easily controul

their action, or counteract the effect.

As lawyers have the administration of justice amongst themselves; as

the executive part is in their hand, the law-makers should be

particularly careful to make them amenable by law for bad conduct; it

ought not to be left in the bosom of a court, to strike off, or keep on,

an improper man. It is not right, on the one hand, that attorneys, or any

set of men, should be subject to an arbitrary exertion of power; and it

is equally unfair for them to be protected, by having those who are to

judge between them and the public, always belonging to their own

body. In defence of this, it is said, that attornies are servants of the

court, and that the business of the court being to do justice, their

correction cannot be in better hands. This is a tolerably ingenious

assertion, if it were strictly true; but the court consists both of judge

and jury; whereas, in this case, the judge assumes all the power; that is

to say, when a case is to be determined relative to the conduct of a

lawyer, a lawyer is to be the sole judge, and the jury, who represent

the public, are to have their power set aside; thus, when their opinion

is most wanted, it is not allowed to be given. Under such regulation,

what real redress can be expected? As for the taxing costs by a master,

it is [end of page #279] rarely that a client, from prudential motives,

dares appeal; and, when he does, the remedy is frequently worse than

the disease; and, even in this case a lawyer judges a lawyer. Without

saying any thing against the judgments, it will be allowed, that in

neither case is the principle of Magna Carta adhered to, of a man

being judged by his peers; besides, in every other fraud there is

punishment proportioned to the crime. In this case there is no

punishment, unless the extortion is exorbitant, and then the

punishment is too great. It ought to be proportioned to the offence, as

in cases of usury, and then it would be effectual; but to let small

misdemeanors go free and to punish great ones beyond measure is the

way to elude punishment in all cases. A man ought to pay his bill; let

the attorney take the money at his peril, and let there be a court to

judge fairly, at little expense, and with promptitude, and punish the

extortion by a treble fine. This would answer; but all regulations,

relative to law, are left to the lawyers themselves; and the fable of the

Man, the Lion, and the Picture, was never so well exemplified, Never,

in any case, was redress more wanted; perhaps, never was it less likely

to be had.

The unequal division of property, as has been shewn, arises partly

from bad laws, and partly from neglect of regulation; it is, indeed, one

of the most delicate points to interfere in; nevertheless, as it has been

proved, that laws do already interfere between a man and the use of

his property, (and that it is, in some cases, necessary that they should

do so) the question is reduced to one of circumstances and

expediency, it is not one to be determined, in the abstract, on

principle. It is also of too nice a nature to be touched roughly by

general regulation; but, if large estates in land, and large farms, were

taxed higher in proportion than small ones, it would counteract, to a

certain degree, the tendency of landed property to accumulate in any

one person's hand; and, except in land, property seldom remains long

enough in one family to accumulate to a dangerous degree. {213}

---

{213} Besides the above truth, of other property being liable to be

dissipated from its nature the law of primogeniture does not attach on

it, and the evil, if it did, would not be any way considerable.

-=-

[end of page #280]

The increased consumption of a nation, which we have found one of

the causes of decline that increases with its wealth, may be more

effectually prevented than any other; not by interfering with the mode

in which individuals expend their wealth, but by managing it so that

vegetable food shall always be in abundance; and if so, the high prices

of animal food, and the low price of vegetables will answer the

purpose of counteracting the taste for the former, which is the cause of

the dearth, and brings on depopulation; and therefore its hurtful effect

will be prevented. {214}

To this, gentlemen of landed property may object, and no doubt will

object, but let them consider how rapidly ruin is coming on. At the

rate matters now go, it would not be a surprising, but a natural effect,

if most of the fields in Britain were converted into pasture, and our

chief supply of corn obtained from abroad. The rent of land would,

indeed, be doubled, the wages of labour would rise more than in an

equal proportion, and a very few years would complete the ruin of this

country. The landed proprietors surely would not, for any momentary

gain, risk the ruin of themselves and of their country, for both may be

the consequence of persisting in this system. {215} Or, if they will

persist in it, will the government, which has other interests to consult

and to protect, allow that single one to swallow up all the rest?

It is true, the freedom of trade will be invoked; but the freedom of

---

{214} Suppose that, of the waste lands, eleven millions of acres were

cultivated, and that as much as possible (suppose five millions) were

always in grain, those five millions would be able to supply the nation

nearly in an ordinary year. A law might also be made, compelling all

landlords and farmers to have only three-fourths in grass; this could be

no hardship. There would then be always corn in plenty; monopoly

would be prevented, because anxiety would be avoided; for a real

deficiency to a small amount gives cause to great anxiety and grievous

monopoly. The waste lands, when disposed of, might have whatever

condition attached to them was thought fit.

{215} We say persisting in this system, for when bread fell to be at a

moderate price, last summer, (1804,) the outcry amongst the farmers

was great and violent, and the legislature altered the law about

exports; the consequence of this was, that the price of wheat rose

regularly every week till it was doubled. All this was the effect of

opinion, for the price of corn rose too quickly to allow any to be sent

out of the kingdom, by the new law.

-=-

[end of page #281]

trade is a principle not to be adopted without limitation, but with due

regard to times and circumstances; let it then never be invoked upon a

general question, without examination. Though this is the true way of

arguing the question, let freedom of trade be taken in another way; let

it be considered as a general principle, it will then be immutable, and

cannot be changed. {216} The present corn-laws must on that

principle be done away, and no bounty allowed for exportation or for

importation, which indeed would be the best way; but, at all events, let

us have one weight and one measure for both parties, and not invoke

freedom of trade to protect the corn-dealers when prices are high, and

enact laws to counteract the effects of plenty, which produces low

prices.

On this subject, government must set itself above every consideration,

but that of the welfare of the country: it is too important to be trifled

with, or to be bartered for any inferior consideration.

The prices of our manufactures will soon become too high for other

nations. Our inventions, to abbreviate labour, cannot be perpetual,

and, in some cases, they can go no farther than they have already

gone; besides, the same inventions, copied by nations where labour is

cheaper, give them still a superiority over us.

If increased consumption was the leading cause of the destruction of

Rome, to which money was sent from tributary nations, and employed

to purchase corn, (so that its supply was independent of its industry,)

how much more forcible and rapid must be its effects in this country,

living by manufactures, and having no other means to procure a

supply from strangers, when that is necessary? {217}

The burthens of our national taxes continuing the same, those for

---

{216} When corn was dear, and the public cry was for regulation, it

was announced, in the highest quarters, that trade was free. Ministers

acted as if they had been the colleagues of of =sic= the economist

Turgot; but, when prices fell, the language was changed, and new

regulations were made. Compare the Duke of Portland's letter, in

1799, with the act for the exportation of grain, in 1804.

{217} The money sent out of the country for corn is a direct

diminution of the balance due to us from other nations, and it now

amounts to near three millions a year on an average. The balance in

our favour is not much more than twice that sum at the most, and was

not equal to that till lately: the imports of grain may soon turn the

balance against us.

-=-

[end of page #282]

the poor increasing, our means diminishing; what could possibly

produce a more rapid decline?

The danger is too great and too evident to require any thing farther to

be said; particularly as the last ten years have taught us so much, by

experience.

It is unnecessary to repeat what was said about the mode of reducing

the interest of the national debt without setting too much capital

afloat; without breaking faith with the creditors of the state, or

burthening the industry of the country.

On the increase of the poor and the means of diminishing their

numbers enough has been said. That must originate with government

in every case and in some cases exclusively belongs to it. They must

act of themselves entirely, with respect to the very poor and to their

children. With those who are not quite reduced to poverty, they should

grant aid, to enable them to struggle against adversity, and prevent

their offspring from becoming burthensome to the public.

The other affairs well attended to, capital and industry will lose their

tendency to leave the country; and, if they should continue to leave it,

the case will be desperate; for, after the lands are improved, and the

best encouragement given to the employment of capital, and to the

greatest extent nothing more can be done. It will find employment

elsewhere.

The efficacy of a remedy, like every thing else in this world, has a

boundary, but the extent and compass of that depends, in a great

degree, on exertion and skill, and particularly so in the present

instance. It remains with the government to make that exertion, either

directly itself, or by putting individuals in the way to make it.

The government of a country must then interfere, in an active manner,

in the prevention of the interior causes of decline. As to the exterior

ones, they do not depend on a country itself; but, so far as they do, it is

exclusively on the government, and in no degree on the individual

inhabitants.

The envy and enmity which superior wealth create, can only be

diminished by the moderation and justice with which a nation

conducts itself towards others; and if they are sufficiently envious and

[end of page #283] unfair to persist, a nation like Britain has nothing

to fear. But we must separate from envy and enmity occasioned by the

possession of wealth, that envy and enmity that are excited by the

unjust manner in which wealth is acquired.

In respect to Britain, it has been shewn, that the envy and enmity

excited, are chiefly by her possessions in the East Indies; we have

seen, also, that the wealth obtained by those possessions is but very

inconsiderable, and that they have, at least, brought on one-third of

our national debt; it would then be well, magnanimously to state the

question, and examine whether we ought not to abandon the

possession of such unprofitable, such expensive, and such a dangerous

acquisition; till we do so, it is to be feared that we shall never have a

true friend, nor be without a bitter enemy.

We have had experience from America, which is become precious to

us now, that we have lost it, and which was a mill-stone about our

neck, while we were in possession of it. Let us take a lesson from

experience, and apply its result to what is at this moment going on,

and we cannot mistake the conclusion to be formed. Let the nation be

above the little vanity of retaining a thing, merely because it has

possessed it. {218} Let the great general outline of happiness, and of

permanent happiness, be considered, and not that ephemerical

splendour and opulence, that gilded pomp that remains but for a day,

and leaves a nation in eternal poverty and want. Britain can only be

firm and just in its conduct towards other nations, give up useless

possessions, defend its true rights to the last point, encourage industry

at home, and take every step to prevent the operation of those causes

of decline that we have been examining; let merit be encouraged, and

---

{218} In this country, public opinion would be against a minister, who

proposed to give up any possession abroad, however useless. This is

owing to the pride occasioned by wealth. The people are not rapacious

for conquests, but once in possession they are very unwilling to let

them go.

It is not necessary to quit the trade to India, or abandon all our

possessions, but to diminish our establishments, circumscribe our

conquests, and not aim at possessing more than we had thirty years

ago. That moderation would conciliate all nations, and envy would

find its occupation gone.

-=-

[end of page #284]

let it never be forgotten or lost sight of, that wealth and greatness can

only be supported, for a length of time, by industry and abilities well

directed, guided by justice and fair intention. This is the truth of which

we are never to lose sight. We may keep sounding for the bottom, and

reconnoitring the shore, the better to direct our steps, but we must

never lose sight of the beacon, with the help of which alone we can

safely enter the wished-for harbour.

There is a great disposition in the human mind to give the law, when

there is the power of doing it. The abuse of power appears to be

natural and dangerous; yet, we have seen, that most nations, both

ancient and modern, have fallen into that error. The hour of British

insolence has also been mentioned, and, certainly, with regard to

America, we did not more materially mistake our power than we did

the rights of those with whom we had to treat.

It is much to be questioned, whether the undaunted and brave spirit of

our naval commanders does not, in some cases, lead them too far in

their rencontres with vessels of other nations on the high seas, and we

ought not to forget that, in this case, the match played is that of

England against all the world. As no other nation is under the same

circumstances with this, no one will be inclined to take our part, or to

wink at, or pardon, any error we may commit.

The Hans Towns, at one time, were paramount at sea; they could bid

defiance to all the world; and, at first, they did great actions, and

employed their power to a good purpose. They destroyed the pirates,

and humbled the Danes, after they had robbed both the English and

French, and burnt both London and Paris; but they also had their hour

of insolence. They began to be unjust, and to be insolent, and the cities

that had begged to be united to them, in the times when their conduct

was honourable and wise, withdrew from the participation of their

injustice, pride, and arrogance. While they attended to protecting

themselves, and to following their own affairs, they did numberless

good offices to the ships of foreign nations; they had universal good

will and commanded admiration. But, when they became supercilious,

and a terror to others, their pride was soon humbled, never again to

rise. [end of page #285]

In considering the whole, there is a considerable degree of consolation

arises to British subjects, to see the very mistaken comparisons that

have, in the first place, been made between Rome and Carthage; and,

in the second place, the still more unfair comparison made between

those two rival powers, and France and England.

As opinion and belief have a great power over the minds of men,

whether they act in conformity to their views and wishes, or in

opposition to them, it is of great importance to remove an error, which

was of very long standing, very general, and had the direct tendency to

make the people of both countries think the parallel well drawn, and

therefore conclude that this mercantile country must, sooner or later,

sink under the power of France. But, when it appears that most authors

have been inadvertently led into the same mistake, with respect to

those two ancient republics, and that, even if there had not been the

mistake, the parallel drawn would not have been true, then France will

probably cease to found her hopes on that comparison, and we may, at

least, cease to feel any apprehension from so ill-grounded a cause.

That a nation once gone on in the career of opulence can never go

back with impunity is as certain as its tendency to going back is. The

possession of riches is of a transitory nature, and their loss attended

with innumerable evils. Though nations in affluence, like men in

health, refuse to follow any regimen, and use great freedom with

themselves, yet they should consider there is a vast difference. A man,

well and in health, is in his natural state; yet even that will not resist

too much liberty taken with his constitution; but a nation that has risen

to more wealth than others is always in an artificial state, insomuch as

it owes its superiority, not to nature, but either to peculiar

circumstances, our =sic--sc.: or = superior exertion and care; it is

therefore not to be supposed capable of being preserved, without some

of that attention and care, which are necessary to all nations under

similar circumstances, and which, in the history of the world, we have

not yet seen one nation able to resist.

There are sufficient circumstances, new and favourable in the [end of

page #286] case of Britain, to inspire us with the courage necessary

for making the effort.

There is one part of the application of this Inquiry, to the British

dominions, left intentionally incomplete. It has been left so with a

design to keep clear of those discussions that awaken a spirit of party,

which prevents candid attention. It is of little use to enquire, unless

those who read can do it without prevention or prejudice. It is

therefore, very necessary not to awaken those feelings, by adding any

thing that may rouse a spirit of party; and it is difficult to touch

matters that concern men, deeply interested in an object, without that

danger. What seems impartial to an unconcerned man, seems partial to

those who are concerned; and sometimes the observer is blamed by

both the parties, between whom he thinks he is keeping in the middle

way.

The advantages of the form of government adopted in Britain have

been fairly stated in account; but constitutions and forms of

government, however good, are only so in the degree; they are never

perfect, and have all a tendency to wear out, to get worse, and to get

encumbered. The French were the first, perhaps, that ever tried the

mad scheme of remedying this by making a constitution that could be

renewed at pleasure. But it was a violent remedy, to implant, in the

constitution itself, the power of its own destruction, under the idea of

renovation. The English constitution has taken, perhaps, the best way

that is possible for this purpose; it has given to king, lords, and

commons, the power of counteracting each other, and so preserving its

first principles. Without going into that inquiry, it is sufficient to say,

that the advantages which may be derived from the British

constitution can only be expected by the three different powers having

that will, and exercising it; for, if they should act together on a system

of confidence, without an attention to preserving the balance, they

must overset, instead of navigating the vessel.

The individuals of whom a nation is composed, we have seen, never

can, by their efforts, prevent its decline, as their natural propensities

tend to bring it on. It is to the rulers of nations we must look for the

[end of page #287] prolongation of prosperity, which they cannot

accomplish, unless they look before them, and, in place of seeking for

remedies, seek for preventatives.

It is very natural and very common for those who wield the power of a

great nation, to trust to the exertion of that power, when the moment

of necessity arrives; but that will seldom, if ever, be found to answer.

The time for the efficacy of remedy will be past before the evil

presents itself in the form of pressing necessity; and that very power,

which can so effectually be applied in other cases, in this will be

diminished, and found unequal to what it has to perform.

[end of page #288]

_Application of the present Inquiry to Nations in general_

IF there is a lesson taught by political economy that is of greater

importance than any other, it is, that industry, well directed, is the way

to obtain wealth; and that the modes by which nations sought after it

in the early and middle ages, by war and conquest, are, in comparison,

very ineffectual.

Notwithstanding that princes themselves are now convinced of the

truth of this, by a strange fatality, the possession of commercial wealth

has itself become the cause of wars, not less ruinous than those that

formerly were the chief occupation of mankind.

It was discovered a few centuries ago, that small principalities, and

even single cities, acquired more wealth by industry, than all the

mighty monarchs of the middle ages did by war; but we are not yet

advanced to the ultimate end of the lessons that experience and reason

give in regard to the interests of nations, with regard to wealth and

power.

To suppose that mankind will ever live entirely at peace is absurd, and

is to suppose them to change their nature. Such a reverie would only

suit one of the revolutionists of France; but let us hope that there is

still a possibility to lessen the causes of quarrels amongst nations. The

true principles of political economy lead to that, and the object is

sufficiently important.

By _agriculture_ and _manufactures_; that is, by producing such

things as are conducive to the happiness of man, the _aggregate

wealth of mankind_ can alone be increased.

By _commerce_, which consists in conveying or selling the produce

of industry, the aggregate wealth of mankind is not increased, but its

_distribution is altered_. {219}

---

{219} Though the produce of soil is not obtained without industry,

yet, to make a distinction that is simple and easily understood and

retained, we suppose manufactured produce to go by the name of the

produce of industry.

-=-

[end of page #289]

As individuals, and sometimes nations, have obtained great wealth,

not by producing, but by altering the distribution of wealth produced;

that is, by commerce, that seems, to those who aim at wealth, to be the

greatest object of ambition.

If every nation in the world were industrious, and contented with

consuming the articles it produced, they would all be wealthy and

happy without commerce; or, if each nation enjoyed a share of

commerce, in proportion to what it produced, there would be no

superiority to create envy.

Variety of soil and climate, difference of taste, of manners, and an

infinity of other causes, have rendered commerce necessary, though it

does not increase the aggregate wealth of mankind: but nations are in

an error when they set a greater value on commerce than on

productive industry.

Some nations are situated by nature so as to be commercial, just as

others are to raise grapes and fine fruits; therefore, though one nation

has more than what appears to be an equal share of commerce, it

ought not to be a reason for envy, much less for enmity.

Some nations also find it their interest to attend chiefly to agriculture,

others may find it necessary to attend more to manufactures; but that

ought to be no cause of enmity or rivalship.

With a view, if possible, to diminish a little the envy and rivalship that

still subsists, let us take a view of this business in its present state.

Britain, the wealthiest of nations, at this time, sells little of the

produce of her soil, and a great deal of the produce of her industry; but

she purchases a great deal of the produce of the soil of other countries,

though not much of their industry: in this there is great mutual

conveniency and no rivalship. In fact, her wealth arises nearly

altogether from internal industry, and, by no means from that

commerce that is the envy of other nations; for it is clear, that whoever

produces a great deal may consume a great deal, without any

exchange of commodities, and without commerce.

The English, number for number, produce more, by one-half, than

[end of page #290] any other people; they can, therefore, consume

more; they are, therefore, richer.

If France would cultivate her soil with the same care that we attend to

manufactures, (at the same time manufacturing for herself as much as

she did before the revolution,) she would be a much richer country

than England, without having a single manufacture for exportation.

Her wines, brandies, fruits, &c. &c. would procure her amply

whatever she might want from other nations. Let France make good

laws to favour industry; and, above all, render property secure, and

she will have no occasion to envy England.

Russia, part of Germany, Spain, Italy, and Portugal, are all in a similar

situation with France in this respect; they will each be as rich as

England the moment they are as industrious, and have as many

inventions for the abbreviation of labour.

Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, and some parts of Germany, are,

more or less, in the same situation with England; they require to pay

attention to manufactures, for they have not the means of raising

produce enough to exchange for all they want.

If there is any occasion for rivalship, or ground for envy, it is then but

very small, and it happens that the rivalship which exists is between

those nations that, in reality, ought to be the least envious of each

other, the nations who have the fewest quarrels are those who really

might be rivals.

Rivalship is natural between those who are in similar situations.

France, Spain, and Portugal, might be rivals. England, Holland,

Prussia, and Denmark, might also be rivals; but there can be no reason

for France envying England her manufactures and commerce, any

more than for England envying France for her climate, soil, extent,

=sic= of territory and population.

The way to produce the most, being to give industry its best direction.

Nations, differently situated, ought never to be rivals or enemies, on

account of trade.

If those, who regulate the affairs of nations, were to consider this in its

true light, there would be less jealousy and more industry. [end of

page #291]

There appears to be only one real cause for war, so far as it is

occasioned by a wish to obtain wealth; and that arises from

possessions in the East and West Indies, and in America.

If there were no such possessions, or if they were more equally

divided, there would be very little cause for war amongst nations.

It may, very possibly, at some distant time, be an object for a general

congress of nations, to settle this point; so that it shall be no longer an

object of jealousy. This can be done only by abandoning entirely, or

dividing more equally; but, at present, the animosity and enmity

occasioned is considerable, though not well founded.

The Spaniards are not envied for the possession of Peru, nor the

Portuguese for the Brazils, though they draw more wealth from them

than ever England or Holland did from their foreign possessions; yet,

England is, and Holland was, an object of envy, on account of

possessions abroad. This is the more unreasonable, that the Spaniards

and Portuguese keep the trade strictly to themselves, while England

allows nations, at peace with her, the most liberal conditions for

trading with her Indian possessions: conditions, indeed, that give them

a superiority over ourselves. {220} This conduct ought not to bring

down upon England, envy or enmity, (though it does); for the fact is,

that if all nations were at peace with England, they might, if they had

capital and skill, (and that they have not is no fault of England,) trade

with India to great advantage, while we should have the trouble of

defending our establishments, and of keeping the country.

Before the revolution, France obtained more produce from Saint

Domingo alone, in one year, than Britain did from all her West India

Islands together, in three years, and much more than England did from

all her foreign possessions together; yet, France was never obnoxious

to other nations on that account.

---

{220} This may seem strange, but it is literally true; the quarrels

between the India Company, and the free trade, as it is called, are an

ample proof of the truth of it. The free-trade-merchants chiefly act

under the name of agents for Swedish and Danish houses, so liberally

has England acted with regard to neutral nations.

-=-

[end of page #292]

It appears, then, very evident, that the envy and jealousy do not arise

from the _magnitude or value of foreign possessions_, but from some

other cause, though it is laid to that account. This cause is worth

inquiring into.

It appears that Holland and England have, alone, been causes of

jealousy to other nations, on account of foreign possessions; but, that

Spain, Portugal, and France, never have, though there was more real

reason for envy and jealousy.

The reason of this appears to be, that those nations, who excited no

envy, escaped it, because their indolence, or internal economy,

prevented them from becoming rich; but, that Holland and England,

which, in reality, owed their wealth chiefly to internal industry, and

very little of it to foreign possessions, have excited great envy, and

that England does so to the present hour. {221}

It is, then, wealth arising from industry, that is the object to be aimed

at, and that cannot be obtained by war or conquest. The purpose is not

advanced, but retarded, by such contests; and if those, who rule

nations, would condescend to enter into the merits of the case, they

would find, not only that the happiness of the people, and every

purpose at which they aim, would be better answered than by

contesting about the means of wealth, which, consisting in internal

industry, does not admit of a transfer. One nation may be ruined, and

another may rise, (as, indeed, they are continually doing,) but one

nation does not rise merely by ruining another; the wealth of a nation,

like the happiness of an individual, draws the source from its own

---

{221} From both the East and West Indies, England never has, till

within these last ten years, drawn three millions a year, that could be

termed profit or gain, and, even in the last and most prosperous times,

not eight millions, which is not equal to more than one-twentieth part

of the produce of national industry at home. Even the foreign

commerce of England, except so far as it procures us things we want,

in exchange for things we have to spare, is not productive of much

wealth. Supposing the balance in our favour to be six millions a year,

which it has never uniformly been, it would only amount to one-

twenty-fourth of our internal productive industry. In short, we gain

five times as much by a wise division of labour, the use of machinery,

ready and expeditious methods of working, as by the possession of

both the Indies!!!

-=-

[end of page #293]

bosom. The possession of all the Indies would never make an indolent

people rich; and while a people are industrious, and the industry is

well directed, they never can be poor.

It is to be hoped, that the time is fast approaching, when nations will

cease to fight about an object that is not to be obtained by fighting,

and that they will seek for what they want, by such means as are safe

and practicable. [end of page #294]

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INDEX.

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[=sic=--no section heading in original]

ABSOLUTE monarchy, in some particular instances, has an

advantage over limited monarchy; particularly in preventing the

infringement made by corporate bodies or professions on the public,

117, 118, 119.

AGES, middle, commerce made slow progress during them, 3.--What

places flourished in them, 44 to 50.

AGE, golden, the tradition, if that founded in any thing, must have

been a very ignorant one, though very happy, 214.

ALEXANDER, the Great, history confused before his time, 20.--His

conquests had no permanent consequences, 24.--The only permanent

consequence was Alexandria supplanting Tyre, 52.--His expedition to

India was on purpose to get possession of the fine countries that

produced aromatics and precious stones, 53.

ALEXANDRIA, rendered Egypt first a commercial country, and

brought on the decline of Carthage, 24.--Loses its commerce in the

7th century by the conquests of the Mahomedans, 54, 55.

ALFRED the Great, made many efforts to render the people happy,

118.

AMBASSADOR. See Diplomacy.

AMBITION, sometimes renders labour an enjoyment, 82.

AMERICA, its discovery forms a new epoch in the history of

commerce, 3.--Little similarity between it and other nations, 103.--

United States, of, their revenues, ib.--May take all the goods Britain

can manufacture, 195.--British exports to, consist nearly all of

manufactured goods, 204.--Probability of its great increase and

consumption of English manufactures, 268, 269.--Encourages arts

and inventions, but agriculture a better object to it, 273.

ANCIENT nations. See Nations.

ANIMAL food, much used in northern nations and by manufacturing

people, 138.--Its effects on population, 139 to 146.--Price compared

with bread, 147.--In case of the demand becoming too great, a

remedy proposed, 155.

ANTWERP, at one time acted as a sovereign, 47.--Became, in the

north, what Venice was in the south of Europe, 57.

APPRENTICES. See Education.

ARABIAN Gulf. See Red Sea.

ARKWRIGHT, Sir Richard, as an inventor met with great difficulties,

203.

ARTS. See Manufactures.

ARTS, fine. See Fine Arts.

ARTISTS, not unfit for soldiers, 32.--Banished by luxury from a

country, 113.

ASIA, passage to it by the Cape of Good Hope a new aera in

commerce, 3.--Its mode of fighting with elephants only disconcerted

the Romans once, 31.

ASSIGNATS. See France.

ATHENS. See Greece.

AUGUSTUS, his resolution to kill himself when supplies of corn

were likely to fail, 35.

[=sic=--no section heading in original]

BABYLON. See Syria.

BALANCE of trade, of England, has never much exceeded five

millions.--To be seen on the chart 3, p.213, during 105 years.--Is not

equal to more than one twenty-fourth of the produce of industry, 293.

BALANCE of power could not preserve a nation from interior causes

producing decline, 185.

BALTIC Sea, manufacturers early established on its southern shores,

45 to 48.

BARTER, not an innate principle, as Dr. Smith thinks, 5, 6.

BLACK Sea, a new market opened to commerce,195.

BIRMINGHAM division of labour renders business easy, 217.--

Apprenticeships not necessary to learn the art, but for other reasons.--

Recruiting service succeeds there, ib.

BOARDING Schools. See Education.

BODIES Corporate and Public, their tendency to trench on the public,

117 to 124.

BOULTON, M. Esq. his spirited conduct in bringing forward the

improvements, invented by Mr. Watt, on the steam-engine, 203.

BORROWING. See Money.

BRAZILS. See Portugal.

BREAD, proportion between the price of, and butchers meat, 140.--

Prices in Paris and London,164.

BRITAIN, in what its power and wealth consist, 191.--Its interior

situation and exterior, 192, 193, 194, 195.--Its conquests and

colonies, 196 to 200.--Its great increase, 201.--

[end of page #295] Farthest advanced in manufacture, the

consequence of that investigated, 203, 204, 205.--Comparison

between its general trade and that to India, 206 to 211.--Begins to

encourage agriculture, 213.--Its exports and imports represented in

chart 3 described, 213, 214.

BRUGES acted once as a sovereign, 47.--Became a depot for India

goods in the north, as Venice was in the south, 157.

BURKE, Right Honourable Edmund, his opinion relative to exterior

causes of decline, 176.

BUTCHERS meat. See Animal Food.

C.

CAPE of Good Hope. Its passage a new epoch in commercial history,

3.

CAPITAL, the result of past industry, 161.--Commands trade, but

supplies poor countries at the expense of richer ones, 181.--Tends to

leave a country when it becomes too abundant, 161, 162, 163.--

Would leave England if the sinking fund were to operate long in time

of peace, 242.

CARTHAGE, of wealthy places alone escaped the conquests of

Alexander, 24.--Mistake relative to its state, 32, 33.--Its fall ruined

the Roman manners, ib.--Comparison between it and Rome unfair,

36, 37, 38.--Was never so degraded as Rome, ib.

CASPIAN Sea, goods brought by that route from India, 56.

CHANGES, interior, take place by degrees, 89.--Most rapid and

observable amongst the Romans, 91.

CHARLEMAGNE, from the fall of the Roman empire till his time,

nothing like wealth or power, 44.--Paved the way for civilizing and

enriching the north of Europe, 45.

CHARTS, description and explanation of, illustrating the rise and fall

of nations, 78, 79, 80.--Statistical explanation of, 190.--Of

commerce, exports and imports, 213.--Of revenue and debts, 214.

CHILDREN. See Education.

CHRISTIAN religion most favourable to industry, 263, 264, 265, 267.

COMMERCE, progress slow in feudal times, 3.--Changed its abode

when the magnet rendered navigating the ocean practicable, 4.--

Commercial wealth degrades a nation less than wealth obtained by

conquests, 33.--Commercial spirit, its operation on national character,

37.--Commerce with India, the only one in the ancient world, 51.--

How carried on, 52.--Its vicissitudes, the envy it created, quarrels and

revolutions it occasioned, 53 to 59.--Of Britain during the last fifteen

years; the increase great, but not arising from any permanent cause,

193.--Its dependence on credit, 201.

CONSTANTINOPLE shares in the trade of India, 56.--Revolution

occasioned partly by the contests about that commerce, 57.--Sunk

before the discovery of America, by the conquest of the eastern

Empire by the Turks, 68.

CONSUMPTION of food regulates the population of a country, 140.--

Its nature and tendency in northern nations, 141, 142, 143.--Requires

attention from government, 146.

CONQUEST first altered the natural state of the world, 2.--Its first

effect to lessen taxes, 35.--Ultimately degrades a nation, ib.

CONDUCT in life. See Education.

CORN, donations of at Rome, 35.--State of crops in England, 145.--

Impossibility, if it fell much short, to find ships to bring over the

quantity wanted, ib.--calculations concerning, 146 to 154.

CREDIT necessary to carry on trade extensively, 202, 203.

CRUSADES tended to extend civilization and commerce, 45.

CUSTOMS, the first great branch of public revenue, 106.

CURING herrings, an improvement in the mode of, raised Holland

above Flanders, 47.

D.

DEAD languages. See Education.

DECAY. See Decline.

DECLINE of nations. Though it cannot be finally prevented, may be

considered as if it never were to come on in this Inquiry, 7.--Are of

two sorts, 10.--Of the Carthaginians attended with less degradation

than that of the Romans, 36.--Mistaken or misrepresented by

historians in the instances of Rome and Carthage, 37.--Cause of it

amongst the Romans, 39, 40, 41, &c.--Cause of in Flanders, 47.--

General in all nations that had been wealthy at the time of the

discovery of the passage to India and of America, 49.--Of the Turkish

government, 69.--Occasioned by taxation, 167.--How to be

prevented or retarded, 169.--Interior causes may be counteracted, ib.--

In general hastened by the conduct of governments, 171.--Might be

otherwise, ib.--Certain causes of, common to all nations, 173.--

External causes of operating on a nation, envy, enmity, &c. 176, 177,

178.--Causes of peculiar to Great Britain, 257, 258, 259, 260.

DENMARK. Example of comparative power.--Occasions the

Hanseatic League by its piracies, and is afterwards pillaged and nearly

ruined by that confederacy, 48.

DEPRECIATION of money counteracts the effect of taxation, 114,

115.--Takes place where ever wealth is, 164.--Its effects in dealing

with poor nations, 165.

DIPLOMACY. The circuitous conduct ascribed to ambassadors,

partly necessary and not to be blamed, 186.

[end of page #296]

DIVISION of land. See Property.

DIVISION of property. See Property.

DUTCH. See Holland.

E.

EAST INDIES. See India.

EASTERN Empire. See Constantinople.

EDUCATION of children in all countries grows worse as a nation

grows more wealthy, 90.--Brings on a change of manners, 91.--

Would be better managed if parents were aided by govetnment, =sic=

94.--Cannot be properly taken care of without the aid of government,

95.--In what it consists generally, 96, 97, 98.--Has been in general

wrong understood =sic= by writers on it, 98, 99.--Female, its

importance, ib.--Has been ill understood and conducted, 100, 101.--

Its importance, 216.--Of the higher classes of society is well enough,

217.--Not so of the lower, ib.--Apprenticeships, their advantages,

218.--To become a good member of society, the end of all education,

whatever the rank or situation, 219.--Dr. Smith's opinion about

apprenticeships examined, ib. and 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226.--

Of females in England badly conducted, 227, 228.

EGYPT, one of the first countries settled, 20.--Its fertility, &c. 21.--

Its surplus industry appears to have belonged to the sovereign, 22.--

Shared in the commerce to India at an early period, 51, 52.--Became

the chief channel for the trade to India after the founding of

Alexandria, 54.

ELIZABETH, queen, Spanish armada in her reign not equal to the

privateers of our merchants now, 8.--Endeavoured to enrich the

country, 118.

EMIGRANT ladies, astonishment shewn by them at the little progress

made in female education at public schools in this country, 228.

ENERGY of those who attack greater than that of they =sic= who

defend, 17.--Occasioned by poverty, and necessity the cause of

changes and revolution, 19.

ENGLAND began to see the advantages of manufactures and

commerce very late, 48, 74.--Its form of government a great

advantage, 191.--Manners likely to change, 193.--Increase of its

trade since 1791, owing to temporary causes, 195.--The American

and Russian markets great and increasing, 204.--Envy and enmity

excited by its conquests in India, 206.--Effects of taxation on it, 229,

230, 231, 232, 233.--Its national debt, 234 to 246.--Causes of decline

peculiar to it, 257 to 260.--Circumstances peculiarly favourable to it,

261 to 270.--Ought not to be envied for its possessions in India 291.--

Owes its wealth chiefly to internal industry, 293.

ENVY leads to rivalship in peace and brings on war, 14.--One of the

external causes of the fall of nations, 175.--Occasioned the fall of

Jerusalem after the death of Solomon, 177.--Excited by the wealth of

England, and particularly by its possessions in the east, 206.

ESPRIT DE CORPS. See Bodies public and corporate.

EUPHRATES. See Syria.

EUROPE, wealth and power unequally divided in it, 13.--Division of

states, with the population and revenues, illustrated by a statistical

chart,190.

EXCISE, established long after the customs, 107.

EXPENDITURE of England consists chiefly in interest of debt, 233.--

Cannot by any economy be much reduced in time of peace. ib.

EXPORTS, chart shewing, 213.

EXTERNAL causes of decline, cannot be prevented altogether by

internal arrangements, but their effect greatly diminished, 173.--More

simple than the internal causes, 175.--Envy and enmity, ib.--Opinion

of Mr. Burke, 176, 177, 178.--Causes arising from poor nations

having the advantage over rich in all dealings, 179.--High value of

money in poorer nations, 182.--Conclusion of exterior causes, 184 to

187.

F.

FALL. See Decline.

FINANCES. See Revenue.

FINE arts do not flourish in a very wealthy country, 113.--Very

different as to their improvement, from the mechanic arts.

FLANDERS enriched by manufactures, 3, 46.--The discovery of a

bettar =sic= method of curing herrings by the Dutch is hurtful to it, 47.

FLORENCE served as a refuge for the nobles of Rome, when the city

was taken by the Goths, 44.

FOOD. See Animal Food and Corn.

FORCE, human, the superiority it gave nearly done away by the

invention of gun-powder, 4.

FORESTALLING. See MONOPOLY.

FRANCE has, since the revolution, invented new modes of fighting,

31.--Does not resemble Rome, 38.--Its assignats the principal cause

of the nature of the revolution, 48.--Its monied capital was sent away

when the revolution broke out,163.--Its burthens before the

revolution, 169.--It expended great sums in the last war, 189.--It,

before the revolution, gained more by the west-India trade than any

other nation, 193.--Have now nearly lost it, ib.--Its capital greatly

diminished, ib.--Will probably never possess great West-India trade

again, 195.--Will never cease to be an enemy to England, 196.

FREED men.

FREE revenue. See Revenue.

FUND, public. See National Debt.

FUND, sinking. See National Debt.

G.

GAMING, though attended with painful sensations, is oftener

followed from propensity, as a mode of occupying the mind and

interesting it, than from a love of gain, 83. [end of page #297]

GENTLEMEN resemble each other pretty nearly in all countries, 218.

GEOGRAPHICAL discovery so far as connected with the rise and fall

of nations nearly at an end, 12.

GENOA, why put with Venice in the chart of commercial history, 56.--

Its greatness, ib.--Loses its superiority, 57.--Its power in the Black-

Sea, ib.

GOLD. See Money.

GOLDEN Age. See Age.

GOVERNMENTS ought to aid in the education of the lower and

middling classes, 94, 95.--Neglect education in the useful arts, 98.--

Should counteract the internal causes of decline, 172, 173, 187.--

Government of Great Britain should take care of education, 225.

GRAIN. See Corn.

GREEKS, their education peculiar to themselves, 25.--Studied

Egyptian learning, 98, 99.

GUN-POWDER changed the art of war, 4.

H.

HANS Towns rose first to wealth in the north of Europe, 3.--Became

formidable towards the end twelfth century, 45.--Arose from the

circumstances of the times and necessity.--Became conquerors, 48.--

Began to decline through pride and luxury, 49.

HERRINGS, a new mode of curing them, discovered by the Dutch,

raised that country, and began to make Flanders decline, 47.

HISTORY, an appeal to the best mode of inquiry, 1.--Dr. Robertson's

complaint about the scarcity of materials, ib.--Is confused previous to

the conquests of Alexander the Great, 20.--Commercial chart of, for

3005 years, 78.

HOLLAND compared to the Phoenicians, 46.--New method of curing

herrings raised it above Flanders. Great industry and economy, 48.--

Triumph over Spain at home, and Portugal in India, 62, 63, 64, 65.--

Increase in wealth till the end of the seventeenth century, 66.--The

best example of overcoming difficulties, ib.--How it began to fall,

67.--How it at last sunk before France, 68.

HORSES, there =sic= great consumption of food, 147, 157.

HOUSE rent. See Rent.

HUME, David, Esq. his errors respecting national debt, though a man

of great abilities, 114.

I.

JAMES I. did not understand the true reason, why the Scotch were

greater lovers of liberty in his time than the English, 280.

IDLENESS, incompatible with riches in a nation, in every case, but

not so with an individual, 82.

IMPORTS of, England, chart of, 213.

INDIA. Its productions seem to have been the first objects of

commerce, 51.--Digression concerning this trade, 51 to 69.--Its trade

and possessions excite envy, 193, 194, 195.--Our possessions too

great, 197.--Budget, its statement and calculation of sums remitted

home, 198.--Has lost the cotton trade notwithstanding the low rate of

labour, 200.--Its trade compared with that of the country at large, 206,

207.--A peculiar cause of other nations envying England, 257.--

Ought not to be so, as they produce very little wealth compared with

what springs from national industry, 291.--The division of labour,

ready methods of working, and inventions produce more wealth than

both the Indies, 293.

INDIES, West, the trade of, lost to France, 193.--Trade of England to,

of a permanent nature, 195.--A cause of envy, 196, 197, 198, 199.--

Ought not to be a cause of envy.

INDIVIDUALS, some may live without labour, but all those of a

country never can, 82.--Can pay for certain things, for which they

cannot provide, 95.

INDUSTRY caused by poverty and necessity, 19.--A more

permanent source of wealth than any other, 42.--Industry in youth, the

great advantage of through life, 84.--Diminishes as wealth increases,

90.--Tends to leave a wealthy nation after a certain time, 161.--

Industry of England, the great support of its wealth, and if other

nations were as industrious, each in the way most advantageous, they

would be as rich as England, 292.

INTERIOR causes of decline enumerated and examined as habits of

life and manners, 81 to 93.--Arising from education, 94 to 101. The

effects on the people and the government, from 102 to 115.--Arising

from public bodies, from 116 to 124.--Arising from unequal division

of property and employment of capital, from 125 to 136.--Arising

from the produce of the soil, becoming unequal to the consumption,

from page 137 to 160.--From the tendency of industry and capital to

leave a wealthy country, from 161 to 166.--Conclusion of interior

causes, from 166 to 174.

INTEREST, compound, its progress, more certain in paying off debts

than in accumulating capital, 241.

INVENTIONS, three great ones almost totally changed the state of

mankind, 4.--Inventions render more capital necessary to commerce,

126.--Is one of the things that renders our superiority in manufactures

secure, 202.--A nation that remains stationary will soon be surpassed,

203.

JOHNSON, Dr. would have been a greater man if he had lived in a

poorer nation, 113.

ITALY was unable to supply its inhabitants with food in the splendour

of the Roman empire, 43.

L.

LABOUR, some individuals may, but a nation never [end of page

#28] can exist without it, 82.--Division of, produces great wealth.

LAND, price of, two centuries ago, and comparison of the profit of

purchasing, or lending on interest in a nation increasing in wealth,

130.--Its unequal division discourages industry, 132, 133, 134.--Total

amount of rent in England, 153, 154, 155.

LANGUAGES, dead. See Education.

LAWS better administered in England in criminal than civil cases,

119.--Tend to become more complicated, 123.

LAWYERS, their ESPRIT DE CORPS, 120, 121, 122.--Individuals

have no means to resist their incroachments, 123.--Government ought

to do it, 124.

LIVERPOOL fitted out privateers last war, equal in tonnage and men

to the Spanish Armada, 8.

LOANS. See National Debt.

LOCAL situation, one of the causes of wealth, 2.--The discoveries in

geography and navigation have changed that with regard to particular

nations,

LONDON burnt by the Danes, 9.--Rent and taxes heavier than in any

other place, 237.--People prefer living in London, where all is dear, to

the cheaper parts of England, 238, 239.

M.

MISERS, never a race of them for three or four generations, 83.

MOGUL, the prodigious and rapid decline of his empire, 197.

MONEY corrupted every thing at Rome when its decline begun, 46.--

Money to borrow, only to be found in Italy and Flanders, 48.--Let

=sic= out at interest, loses; laid out to buy land, gains in a country

growing rich, 163.--Its value less in England than any country except

America, 165.--Though the best measure of value is not accurate,

being different in different countries, 182.--Its great value in poor

countries serves to enrich them in dealing with wealthy nations, 183.

MONARCHY. See Absolute Monarchy.

MONOPOLY not an imaginary evil, 49.--Dr. Smith's opinion

contradicted by experience, 150.--Proof of its existence, 151, 152,

153, 154.--Augments rent, and labour, and prices, 153.

MONTESQUEU, his mistake relative to Rome and Carthage, 32.--

His opinion of the affairs of Rome, 40.

MONTAGUE, chancellor of the exchequer, attended by the lord

mayor and sheriffs, went from shop to shop in London to borrow

money, 239.

MORALS. See Education.

MOTHERS. See Education.

MACHINERY. See Manufactures.

MAHOMEDAN RELIGION, its rapid establishment, 54.--Its effects

on the commerce with India, ib.

MANNERS greatly corrupted at Rome, 43.--A change in them

constantly going on, and tending to bring decline,

MANUFACTURES settled early on the shores of the Baltic, 3.--

Those who possess them first, lose them by imitation of others, 14.--

India surpassed in them by England, 63.--In ancient times, only,

extended to luxuries for the great and simple necessaries for the poor,

73.--Manufacturers less splendid than merchants, 143.--The working

men consume more animal food than the same rank of people in any

other nation, 144.--England considered as excelling all other nations

for manufacturers =sic=, 200.--The effects of the inventions of the

steam engine and spinning machines, 203.--Scarcely any thing sold to

the American states, except our own manufactures, 204.--Southern

nations cannot rival northerly ones, 210.--Manufactures, and

agriculture, more conducive to wealth than commerce, are not the

same thing, 209.

MEDITERRANEAN, its shores the first abodes of commerce, 3 and

4, 20.--Lost its importance by the discovery of America, the magnet,

and the passage to India by the Cape,

MERCHANTS less splendid than conquerors and planters, 143.--Can

have no rule of conduct in transactions but their own advantage, 181.

N.

NATIONS, none that ever submitted to pay tribute, ever flourished

long, 40.--Enriched by commerce, not so certain to decline as by

conquests, 41.--There =sic= situation with respect to wealth and

power previous to the discovery of America, 49.--Feeble nations have

some advantage in knowing their weakness, 171.--Exterior causes of

their decline of less importance than interior ones, 184.--Should

consider which is the best object on which to employ their industry,

210, 211.--Their comparative extent, revenues, and population,

illustrated by an engraved chart, 213, 214.--Nations of Europe,

application of the present inquiry to them, 284.

NECESSITY consisting of a desire to supply wants, the cause of

industry and wealth, 14.--Necessity ceases its operation on the nation

that is risen highest, 15, 16.--Operated very powerfully on the Dutch,

47.--Habit prolongs the action of it, 81.--With young men that can,

alone, produce industry, 84.--Less and less on each generation as

wealth increases, 85. The consequences of this, 87.--Its operation

prolonged to a certain degree by taxation, 239.--

NORTHERN countries most favourable to industry, 44.

NILE. See Egypt.

P.

PALMYRA founded by Solomon, King of Israol =sic=, for the

purpose of trading with India,

PARIS burnt by the Danes soon after the death of Charlemagne.

Prices of bread at, compared with those of London, 150.

PARISH-OFFICERS defend themselves against the public at the

expense of the public, 122.--Bad administrators, 123, 124.--Rough,

vulgar, and a disgrace to the country, 249.

PATENTS, laws of, its utility, 200, 201.

PETER the Great endeavoured to improve his country, and make his

people happy, 118.

PITT, Right Hon. W. his estimate of national property, 243, 244.

POLAND, causes of its decline, and subjugation, different from that

of most other nations, 75.

POOR, their wretched state at Rome, 43.--Of England cost six times

as much, in proportion, as in Scotland, and fifty times as much in

reality, 88.--Increase, as capital becomes necessary for industry, 156.--

Causes of their increase, &c. &c. 157, 158, 159, 160.--Of England,

cost more to maintain, than the revenues of many kingdoms, 247.--

Causes, inquired into, and remedy, 248 to 256.

POPULATION, 142.--Connected with wealth, and the manner of

living, so that a nation may not require to import ordinary food in

great quantities 159.--May be considered as diminished in a double

ratio as the poor increase, 249.

PORTUGAL, 65.

POWER in nations, sometimes united with wealth, sometimes not, 7.--

Definition of, 8, 9.--Sought after by the Romans, and most nations,

too eagerly, 39.--Quitted Rome when wealth was too great, 36.

PRICES of animal and vegetable food; highness of price diminishes

consumption, 161.--Those of the late dearth at Paris compared with

London, ib.--When known to the corn-dealers, they can combine

without any express stipulation, 152, 153.--Rises to that of monopoly

as soon as an article of necessity becomes scarce, 154, 155.--Of rent

and wages have advanced more within these last twelve years, than in

half a century before, 155.

PRINCIPLES. See Education.

PRIORITY of possession of settlement, or of invention, one of the

causes of wealth and power,

PRODUCE, indulging in eating animal food renders it unequal to

maintaining the population of a country, 138, 139.--Of Italy,

inadequate to its population in the time of Augustus, 3.--Easier

purchased than raised when a nation is rich,

PROPERTY at Rome very unequally divided before its fall, 43.--Has

a natural tendency to accumulate in particular hands as a nation gets

rich, 125, 126, 127.--Its accumulation and unequal division, one of

the causes of decline, 128.--In land, the accumulation is the most

dangerous, 129 to 136.

PROSPERITY. See Wealth and Power.

R.

REFORMATION favourable to manufactures and industry,

RELIGION, Christian, more favourable than any other to industry and

good moral conduct, 264.--Protestant still more favourable than the

Roman Catholic, 265, 266, 267.

RENT. See Prices.

REVENUE of Rome wasted on soldiers and public shews, 43.--Want

of, tended to ruin Poland, 75.--Digression concerning, 187, 188, 189,

190.--When it becomes the chief object of, to government,

encourages vice, 226.

REVOLUTIONS in ancient nations traced, 17, 18, 53, 54, 55.--Of

Poland, the account of, 75, 76, 77.

ROBINSON, Dr. his complaint about ancient history, 1.

ROME, her rise not accidental, but from the most unremitting

perseverance, 27.--An account of her conduct in war, and internal

policy, 28 to 33.--Lost her purity of manners, neglected agriculture

and the arts, when she became rich by her conquests in Asia, and the

fall of Carthage, 34, 35.--Became more degraded than ever Carthage

was, 36, 37.--Her courts of justice became venal, property divided in

a very unequal way, taxes became oppressive, her armies enervated,

and she fell, 38, 39, 40.

S.

SARACENS got possession of Egypt, &c. 44.

SCHOOLS. See Education.

SINKING Fund, its progress shewn in a stained chart, 215.--Will not

immediately diminish the taxes, 241.--When the capital was

reimbursed to individuals, part of it would leave the country, 242.--If

it completely paid off the debt in time of peace, would be productive

of much mischief, ib.--Plan proposed to be substituted for it, 243.--If

ever so effectual, its operation in time of war will never obtain credit

amongst ourselves, and much less with the enemy, 244, 245, 246.

SMITH, Dr. Adam, did not make proper allowance about national

debt, 114.--His opinions concerning monopoly, examined, 149, 150.--

His opinion about apprentices, 219.

SOLOMON, king of Israel, on terms of friendship with the king of

Tyre, 21.--Founded Palmyra for the purpose of trade to India, 25.--

After his death, rivalship in trade, and the envy of the Tyrians, caused

them to excite the king of Babylon to besiege Jerusalem, 53.

SPAIN, its grand armada not equal to the privateers fitted out at

Liverpool during the last war, 8.--Persecutes the Flemings, 47.--The

effects of wealth on it, 63.--Its insolence and pride, 64.--And sudden

decline, ib.--Wealth made it neglect industry, 65.--Gains great sums

by South America, yet is not an object of envy, 292.

T.

TAXES at Rome, in its decline, became terrible, 40,--41, 42.--Taxes

in France taken off while the assignats were creating, 42.--So great at

Rome, that the citizens envied the barbarians, 43.--The power of

laying on depends on circumstances, 92.--Always increasing, 102.--

Of the American States an exception, 103.--Why collected rigorously,

104.--Those which fall on persons or personal property, the most

obnoxious, 105.--Of England, laid on better than in any other nation,

106.--Prolong the action of necessity, and augment industry to a

certain point, which, when they pass, they crush it, 107, 108.--Their

produce expended on unproductive people, 109, 110, 111.--Are like a

rent paid for living in a country, 112 to 115.--In England, their

effects, 229 to 233.--Taxes and rent augment industry, 236, 237.--In

London, heavier than elsewhere, yet people crowd to London, 238,

239.--If taken off suddenly, would be hurtful, 240 to 244.--For the

maintenance of poor, 247 to 256.

TRADE--See Commerce.

TREATIES, the best observed, have been those founded on equity

add =sic= mutual interest, 186.

TYRE, early commerce, 21, 23.--Its destruction one of the most

permanent effects of Alexander's wars, 24.--Excited the king of

Babylon to take Jerusalem, 45.

V.

VENICE, its greatness, 56, 57.

UNITED STATES. See States of America.

W.

WAGES. See Prices.

WAR generally occasioned by envy or rivalship, 14, 175, 219.--

Ought not to be followed to procure wealth, as it is much more easily

done by industry, 293.

WATT, James Esq. his invention of the steam engine, 203.

WEALTH, its definition in contra-distinction to power, 8, 9, 10.--

Diminishes the necessity of industry, 29, 30.--Leaves richer to go into

poorer countries, 93.--In England arises from industry, not from

foreign possessions, 293, 294.

WEST Indies. See Indies, West.

Y.

YOUTH. See Education.

---> _The reader will observe, on one =sic= of the pages, reference to

an Appendix, but the design was altered, from the consideration that

readers of history do not require solitary facts, by way of illustration,

though such are very easy to be produced._

THE END.

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W. Marchant, Printer, Greville-street.

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[Transcriber's note:

In the original work:

--the footnotes are designated by [*] but are here serially

numbered for ease of reference;

--in some cases the same word is spelt differently in various

parts of the text, e.g. controul/control; Hans/Hanse Towns,

shew/show (one instance only of the latter) etc. These and

other vagaries are reproduced largely without special note.

Likewise treated are the numerous examples of the number

of the subject not agreeing with that of the verb.]

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