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 THE 
 
 RATIONALE OF REWARD. 
 
 BY 
 
 JEREMY BENTHAM. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY JOHN AND H. L. HUNT, 
 
 TAVISTOCK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 M.DCCC.XXV
 
 - • i. . «. 
 . 1 ' « 
 
 « • 
 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED nV C. H. REYNELL, BROAU STREET, GOLDEN SQUARE.
 
 .^^ 
 
 3 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 The history of the present work is some- 
 what curious : it is extracted from two sets of 
 manuscripts, diifering considerably as to their 
 arrangement; the one in French, and the 
 other in English, written by Mr. Bentham 
 between forty and fifty years ago; and which 
 do not appear to have been ever confronted 
 together. 
 
 Both these manuscripts, with Mr. Ben- 
 tham's papers on Punishment, were, at the 
 desire of M. Dumont, placed in his hands, 
 and, together with some few additions from 
 his own elegant pen, form the matter of the 
 work published by him (at Paris in 1811) 
 under the title of ThSorie des Peines et des 
 Recompenses. Of this work three editions 
 have been printed in France, and one in 
 England : the " Rationale of Reward" occu- 
 pies the second volume. 
 
 In preparing it for its appearance before 
 the English public, the Editor has taken the 
 
 
 i5
 
 IV ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 above volume as the ground-work of his 
 labours; but having availed itself, wherever 
 it could, of tlie original manuscripts, his will, 
 in many instances, not be found a literal 
 translation of M. Dumont's work. 
 
 The additions made by M. Duraont are 
 marked out, where distinguishable, by appro- 
 priate indications. One of these additions 
 being at variance with Mr. Bentham's prese?it 
 opinions, has given rise to the remarks which 
 immediately follow. 
 
 Editor. 
 
 REMARKS BY MR. BENTHAM. 
 
 "Catherine's Scale of Ranks:" — " Bentham 
 
 or Dumont, on Pensions of Retreat?" which 
 
 you please. — You ask my present thoughts : — 
 
 I am all obedience. Allow me only to name 
 
 the place. Not in your work, but let it be 
 
 in a sequel I am preparing for it. From that 
 
 which you have so kindly made yours, those 
 
 wicked thoughts would scare away readers, 
 
 whom, if content with what you give them 
 
 from my first friend, that sequel may have a 
 
 chance for. In that production may be seen, 
 
 not in description only, but in terniinis, the 
 
 arrangements, which, after from forty to fifty 
 
 years for reflection, exhibit the practical — I 
 
 do not say the now practicable — result of the
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. V. 
 
 principles of yours: and that, c\em'ed (forgive 
 my saying so) of what now shows itself to me 
 as dross. Nor yet will it draw readers from 
 yours ; — for in yours alone will be found dis- 
 cussions, explanations, and reasonings at 
 length ; in the new one (except where the 
 opposite othcially avowed principles are 
 examined) little else than results. 
 
 Official Aptitude maximized ; Expense mini- 
 mized. In these words you have the title of 
 a plan of official economy and education 
 that gives denomination to the whole, and an 
 indication of the matter of the first and 
 principal part. Send your readers, if you 
 have any, to that work. There, with official 
 economy, and official education, they may 
 see national growing out of it — added, and 
 that without need of additional description or 
 expense. There, confronted with Radical, 
 they may see Whig and Tory Economy, and 
 take their choice. I say Whig and Tory; for 
 these two are one. 
 
 As to Catherine and her ranks, they rank 
 not quite so high with me now as then. Pen- 
 sions of retreat would be invited to make 
 their retreat from your pages, were it not for 
 my respect for editors and readers. In my 
 own work may be seen a picture of them, 
 painted in those colours which now appear 
 to me their proper ones. 
 
 " Revise ? " Impossible : not to speak of 
 my doing you more harm than good. In
 
 VI ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 the French alone, the " Pensions of Retreat" 
 have already cost me — I had almost said lost 
 me — more days than I can endure to think 
 of: I who have so few left, and work enough 
 left for a hundred times the number. What 
 I have found possible, I have done, — looking 
 over the titles of the chapters and sections 
 (still in the French alone) and, in relation to 
 them, submitting what appears to me an ap- 
 propriate wording, together with some little 
 alterations and additions which presented 
 themselves to me as amendments. 
 
 The other Work, mentioned in pages iv. and \., is in the Press.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 PRELIMINAKY OBSERVATIONS . . . . i 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OF REWARDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 Chap. 1. Definitions ..... 
 
 2. Matter of Reward — Sources 
 
 3. Reward and punishment combined 
 
 4. Union of Interest with Duty — Self-executing 
 
 Laws .... 
 
 5. Matter of Reward — Reasons for Husbanding 
 
 6. Remuneration ex-post-facto 
 
 7. Punition and Remuneration — their Relations 
 
 8. Remuneration — where hurtful 
 
 9. Remuneration — where needless 
 
 10. Proportion as to Rewards 
 
 11. Choice as to Rewards 
 
 12. Procedure as to Rewards 
 
 13. Rewards to Informers 
 
 14. Rewards to Accomplices 
 
 15. Competition as to Rewards 
 
 16. Rewards for Virtue 
 
 17. Accompaniments to Remuneration 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 REWARD APPLIED TO OFFICES. 
 
 Chap. 1. Salary — how a Reward 
 2. Rules as to Emoluments 
 3. — 1. Fees and Perquisites — None 
 4. — 2. Minimize Emolument 
 5, — 3. No more Nominal than Real 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 19 
 
 24 
 
 28 
 
 37 
 
 42 
 
 54 
 
 67 
 
 70 
 
 81 
 
 93 
 
 99 
 
 104 
 
 110 
 
 125 
 
 137 
 
 143 
 
 150 
 161 
 163 
 167
 
 V"i CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. 6. — 4. Couple Burthen with Benefit 
 
 7. — 5. By Emoluments exclude Corruption 
 8. — 6. Give Pensions of Retreat 
 9. Ofthe Sale of Offices 
 
 10. Of Qualifications 
 
 11. Of Trust and Contract Management 
 
 12. Of Reforms . . . . . 
 
 Page 
 169 
 174 
 178 
 181 
 189 
 193 
 198 
 
 Chap. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 
 EWARD APPLIED TO ART AND SCIENCE. 
 
 
 1. Art-and-Science — Divisions 
 
 203 
 
 2. Art-and-Science — Advancement 
 
 214 
 
 3. Art-and-Science — Diffusion 
 
 217 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 REWARD APPLIED TO PRODUCTION AND TRADE. 
 
 Chap. 1. Bentham and Adam Smith . • . 229 
 
 2. Wealth and Happiness — Relation — Increase. 237 
 
 3. Production is limited by Capital . . 241 
 
 4. Capitalist the best Judge of his ovpn Interest . 243 
 
 5. False Encouragements — 1. Loans . . 246 
 6. — 2. Gifts, or Gratuitous Loans . . ■ . 249 
 7. — 3. Bounties upon Production . . . 251 
 8. — 4, Exemptions from Taxes on Production . 259 
 9. — 5. Bounties on Exportation . . .261 
 
 10. — 6. Prohibition of Rival Productions . . 266 
 
 11. Fixation of Prices . . . 270 
 
 12. Taxes — Effects on Production . . 273 
 
 13. Population — forced increase Desirable ? . 279 
 
 14. Colonies Desirable ? . . . . 287 
 
 15. Wealth — Means of Increase . . . 302 
 
 16. Rate of Interest — Evils of Fixation . . 321 
 
 Appendix 
 
 (A) On Subscriptions to Matters of Opinion . . 337 
 
 (B) Mischievousness of Reward latent — Exemplifications 341
 
 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 The greatest happiness of the greatest number 
 ought to be the object of every legislator: for 
 accomplishing his purposes respecting this object, 
 he possesses two instruments — Punishment and 
 Reward. The theories of these two forces divide 
 between them, although in unequal shares, the 
 whole field of legislation. 
 
 The subject of the present work is Reward ; and 
 not reward alone, but every other use which can 
 be made of that matter of which rewards may be 
 formed.* 
 
 In the following work, the different sources 
 from which rewards may be derived are examined ; 
 the choice which ought to be made between the 
 different modifications of which it is susceptible, 
 is pointed out ; and rules are laid down for the 
 production of the greatest effect with the least 
 portion of this precious matter. 
 
 * Every thing which can be given in the shape of reward 
 may be called matter of reward. This abstract term is neces- 
 sary, since in many cases, without being reward, this matter 
 may be employed for the same purposes as reward ; whilst 
 there are other cases in which it ought to be employed for 
 other purposes. 
 
 1
 
 11 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 On the one hand, indication is given of the 
 venom, more or lessconcealed, which is included in 
 the employments which have too commonly been 
 made of it; and an attempt has been made to take 
 away from others certain imputations which the 
 enthusiasm of virtue has cast upon them. 
 
 The limits have been traced between the fields 
 of Reward and Punishment; the springs of that 
 mechanism developed from whence those laws 
 arise to which the power is attributed of executing 
 themselves, and directions given for that combi- 
 nation of remedies, the svi^eet with the bitter, 
 whereby so happy a union is produced between 
 interest and duty. 
 
 The advantages of a system of remuneratory 
 procedure are pointed out ; an idea given of the 
 course it ought to take ; and an enumeration made 
 of the uses of the matter of reward which are not 
 remuneratory. 
 
 The nature and effects of salaries and other 
 official emoluments are enquired into ; the na- 
 ture and degree of the encouragement proper to 
 be afforded to the arts and sciences is discussed ; 
 and, finally, the question, — How far it is possible 
 beneficially to apply artificial reward to the en- 
 couragement of production and trade, is consi- 
 dered.
 
 RATIONALE OF REWARD. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OF REWARDS IN GENERAL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DEFINITIONS. 
 
 Reward, in the most general and extensive 
 sense ever given to the word, may be defined to 
 be — a portion of" the matter of good,* which in 
 consideration of some service supposed or expected 
 to be done, is bestowed on some one, in the intent 
 that he may be benefited thereby. f 
 
 * A portion of the matter of good, and not a portion of good 
 itself. The cause must be distinguished from the effect j — 
 the means of obtaining pleasures or exemptions from pains, 
 from the pleasures or exemptions from the pains themselves. It 
 is the former alone which the legislator has to bestow. 
 
 t Or, since Reward, in a certain sense, is among the number 
 of those names of fictitious entities which cannot be expounded 
 but by paraphrasis, it may be said, that — Reward is given to 
 a man, when in consideration of some service supposed or ex- 
 pected to be rendered by him, a service^ which it is intended 
 should be a service, is done to him. 
 
 1.
 
 4 B. I. Cii. I.— DEFINITIONS, 
 
 When employed under the direction of the prin- 
 ciple of utility, it operates as a motive for the per- 
 formance of actions useful to society, in the same 
 manner as, under the same guidance, punishment 
 operates in the prevention of actions to which we 
 ascribe an injurious tendency. 
 
 The services, in the production of whichthis 
 precious matter may be emplo3^ed, may be distin- 
 guished into ordinary and extraordiyiary. 
 
 Ordinary services may be subdivided into regu- 
 larly recurring, or routine and occasional. By rou- 
 tine services^ I mean those which, in all the various 
 departments of government, the public function- 
 aries are bound to perform in virtue of their re- 
 spective offices. 
 
 By occasional services^ I mean those required by 
 the government at the hands of persons not in its 
 employ. They belong almost entirely to the ad- 
 ministration of justice, and that branch of the 
 police which is connected with it, — as denouncing 
 offences, prosecuting criminals, giving judicial 
 evidence, and seizing persons accused, &c. To 
 the same head may be referred services rendered 
 to individuals in case of fires, inundations, and 
 shipwrecks: inasmuch as the government is inte- 
 rested in the preservation of every individual in 
 the community, these services may be considered 
 as rendered to it. 
 
 To the head of extraordinary services^ may be 
 referred, — 1. Services rendered to the whole com- 
 munity by new inventions giving to the operations 
 of government, in any of its different branches, an 
 increased degree of perfection : such as important 
 improvements in military or naval tactics, fortifi- 
 cation or shipbuilding, &c.; in the mode of admi- 
 nistering justice, regulating the police, or the
 
 B. I.Cii. I.— DEFINlTIOxNS. O 
 
 finances, or in any other part of the field of legis- 
 lation. 
 
 2. Services rendered in time of war, by the 
 seizure or destruction of objects contributing to 
 the power of the enemy, or by the preservation 
 of such as belong to one's own country. 
 
 3. Services rendered by persons exercising the 
 office of foreign Ministers, consisting in the pre- 
 vention or termination of the calamities of war, or 
 in the bringing about useful alliances. 
 
 4. Discoveries of great importance to the aug- 
 mentation of the national wealth; new methods of 
 abridging labour; the introduction of new branches 
 of industry, &c. 
 
 5. Discoveries in science, which are not suscep- 
 tible of immediate application to the arts. 
 
 6. Noble actions and distinguished instances of 
 virtue: in considering which not only the imme- 
 diate benefit should be regarded, but their influ- 
 ence, as examples, upon the cultivation of similar 
 excellencies. 
 
 Such is the field of services: such, therefore, is 
 the field of reward. 
 
 With regard to rewards, the most important 
 division is into occasional and permanent. The 
 first are applied, according to times and circum- 
 stances, to a single individual, or to a number of 
 individuals, in virtue of some insulated and spe- 
 cific service. The others are charged upon some 
 general fund provided for an indefinite number of 
 persons, and for a succession of services. 
 
 In consequence of the extent and permanence 
 of their effects, it is principally with regard to the. 
 latter class of rewards that it will be found of 
 importance to establish the true principles which 
 ought to regulate their distribution. Occasional 
 rewards being confined within narrower limits and
 
 6 Bl. Cii. 1.— DEFINITIONS. 
 
 their effects more transitory, erroneous views re- 
 specting them are comparatively of trifling conse- 
 quence. 
 
 The most extensive use of the matter of reward 
 takes place in transactions between individuals. 
 In the case of personal services which are performed 
 in virtue of a contract, the pay given to him by 
 "whom they are rendered, is his reward. In buy- 
 ing and selling, the reciprocal delivery is the re- 
 ward for the mutual transfer. But the public, 
 that is to say the government on account of the 
 public, has a demand for a variety of services and 
 goods exactly similar to those of which an indi- 
 vidual stands in need: and it is thus that the 
 most advantageous mode of employing the matter 
 of reward, even in the ordinary course of business, 
 enters into the sphere of politics, and claims the 
 attention of the legislator.
 
 [ 7 ] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MATTER OF REWARD SOURCES. 
 
 Between the four objects — delinquency, pu- 
 nishment, expenditure, and reward, there is an 
 intimate connection. He who knows thoroughly 
 the nature and possible modifications of any one, 
 knows thoroughly the nature and possible modifi- 
 cations of all the rest. Why so ? because they 
 are all of them but so many modifications of good 
 and evil, — of the instruments or causes of pain 
 and pleasure considered in a particular point of 
 view. Whatever mischief being produced contrary 
 to the will of the legislator, takes the name of an 
 offence, the same when produced in pursuance of 
 that will (so it be with a direct intention on his 
 part that the party shall be a sufferer by it) takes 
 the name of punishment. Reward is to good, 
 what punishment is to evil. Reward on one part 
 supposes expenditure on the other. Whatever is 
 received by one party on the footing of reward, is 
 expended by some other. When a view then is 
 given of the several possible modifications of 
 offence, a view is at the same time given in reality, 
 if not in name, of the several possible modifications 
 of reward. 
 
 This may at first sight appear a paradox ; but as 
 the absence of good is comparatively an evil, so 
 the absence of evil is comparatively a good: the 
 notion therefore of evil, and of all sorts of evil, is 
 included in the notion of reward. 
 
 The several modifications of the matter of re- 
 ward, may be comprised under four heads: — •
 
 8 B. J. ch, 11.— matter of reward— sources. 
 
 1 . The matter of wealth ; 2. Honour; 3. Power; 
 4. Exemptions. In respect of the employment of 
 the direct mode for affording pleasure, itbelongs not 
 properly to political,* but to domestic government 
 or education. 
 
 1 . The matter of wealth. Money or money^s- 
 worth is by much the most common stuff of 
 which rewards are made ; and in general the most 
 suitable of which they can be made : why it is so 
 will appear hereafter. 
 
 2. Honour. Honour may be made out of any 
 stuff. In some cases, it is produced by the bear- 
 ing a particular title not hereditary — as the name 
 of the office a man holds. In other cases, it is 
 hereditary, and places the individuals bearing it 
 in a distinct rank, superior to that of the other 
 classes — as in the case of the nobility. In other 
 cases, it is unaccompanied with any distinguishing 
 denomination, orany particular title — as in the case 
 of medals, or public thanks conferred after any great 
 victory, in the name of the king and parliament. 
 
 A graduated scale of ranks^ especially when its 
 gradations are determined by merit, and depend 
 upon actual service, is an excellent institution. 
 It creates a new source of happiness, by means of 
 a tax upon honour, almost imperceptible to those 
 by whom it is paid — it augments the sum of 
 human enjoyment — it increases the power of 
 Government, by clothing its authority with benig- 
 nity — it opens new sources for the exercise of 
 hope, the most precious of all possessions ; and it 
 
 * Whether wisely or not, it is, however, in some countries 
 employed by the Government itself. Under the Consulate 
 Government of France, fetes were given at the expense of the 
 Government in each year, on what were called the jours compli- 
 mentaires. The principal part of the expense of the Opera at 
 Paris, is said now to be defrayed by the government.
 
 B. I. Ch. II.— matter or REWARD— SOURCES. 9 
 
 nourishes emulation, the most powerful of all 
 incentives to virtuous actions. 
 
 Such a graduated scale of ranks has, at all times, 
 been in use in the military branch of the public 
 service. But in this case, the principal object is 
 not honour, but power — superiority in rank is in- 
 variably accompanied by superiority in command. 
 The honour which accompanies the power is but 
 an accidental appendage. 
 
 Catherine 11. extended the application of this 
 arrangement to the civil service. She distributed all 
 the public officers in the civil department into dis- 
 tinct, and even numerical classes, corresponding 
 with the distribution of rank in the army ; — secre- 
 taries, judges, physicians, academicians, all the 
 civil functionaries, being advanced by steps, a per- 
 petual state of emulation and of hope stimulated 
 their labours throughout the whole course of their 
 career. It was an invention in politics, which 
 matches the most ingenious discovery in art that the 
 present century has witnessed. Atone stroke, with 
 out violence or injustice, hereditary nobility was de- 
 prived of the greater part of its injurious preroga- 
 tives. The foremost in rank and wealth began 
 his career at the lowest step : his ascent through 
 each gradation depending upon the appointment 
 of the sovereign, if without merit, he was left 
 behind, while men of the most obscure birth took 
 precedence of him. This engine was the more 
 powerful from the gentleness with which if ope- 
 rated. The simple non-collation of reward, per- 
 forming the office of punishment. 
 
 Another advantage gained by the transference 
 of the denominations of the military ranks into the 
 civilservice is, that the respect borne by the military 
 to the civil functionaries, is thus in no small 
 degree increased. It is an ingenious artifice ibr
 
 10 B. I. ch. 11.— matter of reward— sources. 
 
 conquering the barbarous and absurd contempt 
 for civil functions which prevails in all military 
 governments. The assimilation of ranks naturally 
 leads to the assimilation of respect. From the 
 time that this arrangement was made, the nobi- 
 lity were seen eagerly to engage in offices, which 
 before they had regarded with disdain. 
 
 Orders of knighthood appear like floating frag- 
 ments detached from some such regular system of 
 honorary rewards. 
 
 In some states, an order of knighthood has been 
 established underthe title of '* The Order of Merit.'' 
 It might be supposed, that this order had been es- 
 tablished as a jest, by way of satire upon all other 
 orders : not so, however : whatever ridicule there 
 may be falls exclusively upOn those who are 
 members of this order : of all orders it is the 
 least distinguished : the nobility are not candidates 
 for admission ; they consider it derogatory to their 
 hirth. It is the reward of, it may be purchased by, 
 service. 
 
 The higher ranks of knighthood, are they to be 
 considered as rewards ? Are they public rewards ? 
 To this question it appears difficult to give a de- 
 cisive answer. They are bestowed for so great a 
 variety of reasons, that to give any description of 
 them, which shall be applicable to all cases, is 
 impossible. They are sometimes given for the 
 performance of distinguished services,; but much 
 more generally to courtiers and men of rank, who 
 are the companions of the sovereign, to increase 
 the splendour of his court. In these cases, the 
 merit proved is, that the individual has made him- 
 self agreeable to the sovereign. But if persons 
 thus decorated claim distinctions not belonging to 
 other members of the community ; if every one 
 must yield them precedence, ought not some pub-
 
 B. I. cji. II.— matter of reward— sources. 1 1 
 
 Jic reason to be given for creating this superiority, 
 for this comparative degradation of the largest por- 
 tion of the community ? Ought such drafts upon 
 the respect of the pubHc to be drawn in favour of 
 an individual, till it has been shown that he has 
 rendered services to entitle him to this special 
 homage ? When thus conferred, is not a resource 
 that might yield important fruits employed with 
 bad economy ? We shall return to this sub- 
 ject. 
 
 3. Power. The principles which ought to re- 
 gulate the distribution of this great object of hu- 
 man desire, belong to the head of constitutional 
 law, rather than to our present subject. Power is 
 created for a purpose altogether different from that 
 of serving as matter of reward. Merit is not the 
 only consideration by which its distribution must 
 be governed. 
 
 Under a monarchical government, for example, 
 the inconveniences attending the election of a 
 king may be so serious, that the supreme power 
 ought to be attached to some qualification more 
 manifest and indispensable than the personal merit 
 of an individual. In a mixed government, also, 
 in which there is a chief magistrate, and a body of 
 hereditary nobles invested with certain powers, it 
 may be thought proper that this body should be 
 composed of many members ; but the more nume- 
 rous, the less susceptible is it of that sort of selec- 
 tion which supposes in each individual distin- 
 guished merit. 
 
 Thus far, however, we may determine in general, 
 viz. that power wherever it can be employed with- 
 out inconvenience, as matter of reward, ought to 
 be so employed. 
 
 In thus using it, the difficulty is to select any 
 act or event that shall serve as evidence of the ca-
 
 12 c. I. ch. II.— matter of reward— sources. 
 
 pacity of individuals, for exercising the power with 
 which they may come to be invested. In public 
 employments, for example, how various are the 
 talents required, for the possession of which no 
 single act can be considered as satisfactory evi- 
 dence. Were this not the case, the greater num- 
 ber of public employments might be conferred as 
 rewards for the performance of some determinate 
 service, respectively relating to them. 
 
 In the Gazette, notices might be given, couched 
 in the following terms, — " Whoever produces the 
 most perfect die, shall be placed at the head of the 
 Mint.^' — " Whoever produces a model of the most 
 serviceable piece of artillery, shall be placed at the 
 head of the Ordnance." — " He who constructs the 
 svi'iftest sailing vessel, united with the most per- 
 fect means of attack and defence, shall be placed 
 at the head of the naval architecture." — " The 
 author who writes the best treatise upon com- 
 merce, finances, or the art of war, shall be placed 
 at the head of the Board of Trade; shall be first 
 lord of the Treasury, or Commander-in-Chief, 
 respectively. He who writes the best treatise on 
 the laws, shall be made Chancellor." 
 
 At first view, nothing can be more captivating 
 than such a plan ; but upon the slightest examina- 
 tion it will be found more specious than solid. 
 Why ? because it is by no means uncommon for a 
 man who is in an emiment degree endowed with 
 one of the qualities requisite, to be altogether desti- 
 tude of others equally indispensible. 
 
 There are, besides, cases in which even this im- 
 perfect mode of proof is altogether wanting. Dur- 
 inga long period of tranquillity, by what describable 
 service can a military man display his talents for 
 command ? Among the qualities most essential 
 for such a duty, })resence of mind, enlarged views,
 
 B. I. ch. n.— matter of reward— sou rcf.s. 13 
 
 foresight, activity, courage, perseverance, personal 
 influence, &c. &c. ; by v^hat specific act can an 
 officer who has seen no service, show himself to 
 be possessed of any of these qualifications ? We 
 are reduced then to mere conjecture. The best 
 founded opinions are drawn from his habits of 
 life, his attachment to his profession, and above 
 all the confidence reposed in him by those who are 
 engaged in the same profession, whose opinion is 
 founded upon a multiplicity of acts, which in the 
 aggregate constitute his character. 
 
 Discernment, or the art of judging of individual 
 capacity, is a rare quality, whose use it is impos- 
 sible to supersede by general rules. 
 
 A slight advance might perhaps be made in this 
 difficult art, did we possess a catalogue of the in- 
 dications of talents or capacity^ as connected with 
 the various departments of state.* 
 
 * For the illustration of the ideas of the author upon this 
 subject, I had prepared a note, in which I had collected toge- 
 ther various instances of the prompt display of that subtle and 
 penetrating talent which detects the possession of qualities, un- 
 discernible to ordinary eyes. To avoid, however, engaging in 
 too long a discussion, I shall confine myself to a single instance. 
 A person well acquainted with anecdotes relating to the Rus- 
 sian court, gave me, while I was at Petersburgh, the follow- 
 ing account of the origin of the success of the High Chancellor 
 Besborodko. — Being still in a subordinate office belonging to 
 the Chancery, one day, when he had presented various Ukases 
 to the empress, (Catherine II.) he perceived that he had for- 
 gotten to compose one that he had been particularly com- 
 manded to prepare; His first alarm being over, he determined 
 how to act, and pretended to read the Ukase in question, 
 though he held in his hand only a sheet of blank paper. The 
 empress was so well satisfied with the performance, that she 
 desired to sign it immediately. The disconcerted clerk was 
 compelled to acknowledge his neglect. The enjpress, less 
 offended with the imposition than struck by the presence of 
 mind which it displayed, forthwith placed him at the head of 
 the department, in which before he had held only a subordinate 
 situation. — Dumont.
 
 H B. I. ch. II.— matter of reward— sources, 
 
 4. Exemptions. — The legislator creates two sorts 
 of evils; he appoints punishment for offences ; he 
 imposes burthensome duties upon the various 
 members of the community. Hence, exemptions 
 may be of two kinds: — exemptions from punish- 
 ment already incurred, — exemptions from civil 
 buthens. 
 
 An exemption from punishment already incur- 
 red, is a pardon ; — pardons have often been given 
 in the way of reward, that is, in consideration of for- 
 mer services. Such acts cannot be foreseen and 
 provided for b}' anticipation : they are the result of 
 the discretion entrusted in this behalf to the so- 
 vereign. 
 
 Under the English law, however, there are in- 
 stances in which, by anticipation, exemption from 
 punishment is granted, that is to say, before the 
 punishment is inflicted. Thus, from the policy or 
 weakness of the temporal sovereign, the English 
 clergy obtained in times of barbarism an exemption 
 in all cases from capital and several other kinds of 
 punishment ; an exemption which being by statute 
 lavvconfined, in regard to causes on the one hand, 
 while by common law it was extended, with regard 
 to persons on the other, has left this part of the pe- 
 nal branch of the law in the confusion under which 
 it still labours.* 
 
 The nobility followed the example of the 
 clergy. In almost every country of Europe they 
 have found themselves invested with exemptions 
 
 * In Poland, the poor gentlemen serve as domestics to the 
 wealthy nobility : they perform without scruple all the menial 
 offices that are reckoned by us as most degrading. There was 
 only one thing about which they were solicitous, and which 
 distinguished them from the class of slaves : it was that they 
 should not be beaten except when stretched upon a mat- 
 trass.
 
 B.r.Cii. II.— MATTER OF REWARD— SOURCES. 15 
 
 of this nature. Ancient Rome set the example. 
 No citizen could be put to death. Verres, con- 
 victed of the most atrocious crimes, atoned for 
 them by enjoying at a distance from Rome the 
 fruits of his plunder. 
 
 When Catherine II., empress of Russia, con- 
 vened together deputies from all the provinces of 
 that immense empire, under the pretence of their 
 assisting in the formation of a code of laws (a sort 
 of parody of the legislative assemblies of free 
 states, which was not however without its use, in 
 so far as it contributed to the spread of enlightened 
 ideas) she conferred upon them, amongst other 
 privileges, an exemption from all corporal punish- 
 ment, cases of high treason excepted. This spe- 
 cies of distinction, which as a reward for legis- 
 lators, could scarcely be imagined in any other 
 state than one just emerging from a state of bar- 
 barism, had doubtless for its object the increasing 
 their self importance, and the conferring upon them 
 a sort of rank which should last beyond the dura- 
 tion of their duty. 
 
 As a man may be punished in his person, his 
 reputation, his property, in like manner, through 
 necessity and not with the view of punishing him, 
 he may l3e burthened. An exemption from a bur- 
 then is an exemption from the obligation of ren- 
 dering service : services are either services of sub- 
 mission, in the rendering of which the will of the 
 party has no share, or services of behaviour. 
 
 Of exemption from services of submission, not 
 exacted in the way of punishment, we shall not 
 find a great variety of examples. In Great Britain, 
 members of the upper house of parliament and 
 other peers constantly, and members of the lower 
 house, at certain periods, are exempted from ar- 
 rests : this privilege they may he considered as
 
 10 B. I. ch. II.— matter of reward— sources. 
 
 enjoying partly on the ground of satisfaction, 
 partly that they may not be diverted from the 
 exercise of their functions, and partly because, 
 being members of the sovereign body, they would 
 have it so. 
 
 Among services performed by action, are some 
 which may be styled services of respect. It is a 
 service of respect exacted by usage in every king- 
 dom in Europe not to wear a hat, or what is equi- 
 valent, in the presence of the king. In Spain, some 
 families among the nobility enjoy the privilege of 
 remaining covered in the presence of the king. In 
 Ireland the head of one family (the family of the 
 De Courcys, earls of Kinsale) enjoys the like 
 exemption, as a reward for some service rendered 
 by an ancestor. 
 
 By a British statute, he who apprehends and 
 prosecutes to conviction, a criminal of a certain 
 description, received amongst other rewards an 
 exemption from parish offices, together with the 
 privilege of transferring that exemption to ano- 
 ther. 
 
 By other British statutes, persons who have 
 borne arms for a certain length of time in the ser- 
 vice of the state, were exempted from theobligation 
 of those laws which, lest industry should be too 
 common, forbade a man from working for his own 
 benefit at a trade at which he had not worked 
 seven years for the benefit of another. 
 
 There are various other exemptions of the same 
 nature : but as the object here is not to give an 
 exhaustive view of these several exemptions, but 
 merely a few instances to serve by way of example, 
 the above specimens may suffice. 
 
 One general observation applies to all cases of 
 exemptions from general obligations imposed by 
 law : it is, that the more severe the laws the
 
 B.J. Cn. II.— MATTER OF REWARD— SOURCES. 17 
 
 more abundant, as drawn from this source, is the 
 fund of reward. It may be created by a mere act 
 of restitution, by the rendering of justice : to some 
 may be given what ought to be left for all : condi- 
 tions may be annexed to what ought to be given 
 gratuitously. The greater the mass of injustice 
 inflicted, the greater the opportunity for gene- 
 rosity in detail. Xhe oppressive government of 
 one sovereign is a mine of gold to his successor. 
 In the church, It is the good works of their prede- 
 cessors — in the state, it is their bad works, that 
 increase the treasure of their successors. In 
 Russia and in Poland emancipation is a very 
 distinguished reward. A tyrant may reward by 
 doing less mischief. 
 
 One word on the last article of revyard — Plea- 
 sures. Punishment may be applied in all shapes 
 to all persons. Pleasure, however, in the hands of 
 the legislator, is not equally manageable: pleasure 
 can be given only by giving the means by which 
 it is purchased: that is to say, the matter of wealth 
 which every one may employ in his own way. 
 
 Among certain barbarous or half civilized na- 
 tions, the services of their warriors have been 
 rewarded by the favours of women. Helvetius 
 appears to smile with approbation at this mode of 
 exciting bravery. It was perhaps Montesquieu 
 that led him into this error. In speaking of the 
 Samnites, among whom the young man declared 
 the most worthy selected whomsoever he pleased 
 for his wife, he adds that this custom was calcu- 
 lated to produce most beneficial effects. Philoso- 
 phers distinguished for their humanity; both of 
 them good husbands and good fathers, both of 
 them eloquent against slavery, how could they 
 speak in praise of a law which supposes the 
 slavery of the best half of the human species? 
 
 2
 
 18 B. I. Ch. II.— MATTER OF REWARD— SOURCES. 
 
 How could they have forgotten that favours not 
 preceded by an uncontrolled choice, and which 
 the heart perhaps repelled with disgust, afforded 
 the spectacle rather of the degradation of wo- 
 man than the rewarding a hero ? The warrior 
 surrounded by palms of honour, could he descend 
 to act the part of a ravisher? And if he disdained 
 this barbarous right, was nqt his generosity a 
 satire on the law ?* 
 
 Voltaire relates with great simplicity that at the 
 first representation of one of his tragedies, the 
 audience, who saw the author in a box with an 
 extremely beautiful young duchess, required that 
 she should give him a kiss, by way of acknow- 
 ledging the public gratitude. The victim, a par- 
 taker in the general enthusiasm, felt apparently no 
 repugnance 'to make the sacrifice: and, without 
 the intervention of the magistrate, we may trust to 
 the enthusiasm of the sex, and their passion for 
 distinction, for preferences that may animate cou- 
 rage and genius in their career. 
 
 * In the Koran, Mahomet permits to his followers to add to 
 the number of their concubines, which otherwise is limited, 
 the captives whom they can take in battle. It was not thus 
 the Scipios and Bayards made use of their victories. Such is 
 the difference between barbarism and civilization.
 
 [ 19 J 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF REWARD AND PUNISHMENT COMBINED. 
 
 There are some cases in which it would be 
 improper to employ either reward or punishment 
 alone. They are those in which the two forces 
 may with advantage be united : in which the legis- 
 lator says to the citizen — obey, and you shall 
 receive a certain reward : disobey, and you shall 
 suffer a certain punishment. 
 
 The two modes may be properly united when 
 the service required by the law depends for its 
 performance upon a small number of persons in 
 virtue of the peculiar circumstances in which they 
 happened to be placed. If, for example, the object 
 be the securing a delinquent at the moment that 
 he is about to commit an offence, to inform against 
 him or to prosecute him — it will be found expe- 
 dient in order to ensure the rendering of such 
 services, to combine with a reward for their perfor- 
 mance, a punishment for their omission. 
 
 In such cases, punishment is useful in two ways : 
 beside the effect produced by its own force, it also 
 sustains the value of the reward. There is a very 
 strong prejudice in the public mind against persons 
 who accept pecuniary reward for the performance 
 of such services ; but when a penal motive is added, 
 the public resentment is abated, if not altogether 
 removed. The prosecution of a criminal for the 
 sake of the pecuniary benefit derivable from it is 
 generally regarded as discreditable ; but he who 
 undertakes the prosecution to avoid being himself 
 punished, will be considered at least as excusable. 
 
 2.
 
 20 B.I. Ch. III.— REWARD AND PUNISHMENT COMBINED. 
 
 The desire of self-preservation is called a natural 
 propensity, that is to say is regarded with appro- 
 bation. The desire of gain is a propensity not less 
 natural, but in this case, although more useful, it 
 is not regarded with the same approbation. This is 
 a mischievous prejudice, but it exists, and it is 
 therefore necessary to combat its influence. We 
 must treat opinions as we find them, and not act as 
 though they were what they ought to be. This is 
 not the only instance in which it is necessary to put 
 a constraint upon men's inclinations, that they may 
 be at liberty to follow them. 
 
 An instance of the judicious mixture of reward 
 and punishment is furnished by the practice pursued 
 in many schools, called challenging. All the scholars 
 in the same class having ranged themselves around 
 the master, he who stands at the head of the class 
 begins the exercise : does he make a mistake, the 
 next to him in succession corrects him and takes 
 his place ; does the second not perceive the mis- 
 take, or is he unable to correct it, the privilege 
 devolves upon the third, and so of the rest. The 
 possession of the first place entitling the holder to 
 certain flattering marks of distinction. 
 
 The two incitements are in this case most care- 
 fully combined. Punishment for the mistake : loss 
 of rank. Reward for the informer : acquisition of 
 that same rank. Punishment for not informing: 
 loss of rank the same as for the offence itself 
 
 If, under the ordinary discipline of schools, in 
 the case where the scholar has no natural interest 
 which should induce him to point out the mistakes 
 of his associate, it w^ere attempted to produce these 
 challenges by the force of reward alone, the opi- 
 nion which the general interest would create 
 would oppose an obstacle to the reception of the 
 reward most difticult to overcome : but when the
 
 B.I. Ch.UI.— Rli:WARD AND PUNISHMENT COMBINED. 21 
 
 young competitors have to say in their defence, 
 that they have depressed their neighbour merely 
 to avoid being depressed themselves, they are re- 
 lieved from all pretence for reproach : every one 
 without hesitation abandons himself to the sugges- 
 tions of his ambition, and, under the sanction of the 
 law, honour combats with unrestrained impetuo- 
 sity. 
 
 This ingenious expedient for exciting emulation 
 is one among the other advantages of numerous 
 classes. In the private plan of education there are 
 seldom actors in sufficient number for the perfor- 
 mance of this comedy. 
 
 The most favourable opportunities for legislation 
 are those in which the two methods are so com- 
 bined, that the punishment immediately follows 
 the omission of the duty, and the reward its per- 
 formance. 
 
 This arrangement presents the idea of absolute 
 perfection — why ? Because to all the force of the 
 punishment is united all the attractiveness and 
 certainty of the reward. 
 
 1 have said certainty: but this requires to be 
 explained. Denounce a punishment for such or 
 such acts: the only individual who cannot fail to 
 know whether or not he has incurred the punish- 
 ment is interested in concealing his having in- 
 curred it. On the other hand, offer a reward, and 
 the same individual finds himself interested in 
 producing the necessary proofs for establishing his 
 title to it. Thus a variety of causes contribute to 
 the failure of punishment — the artifices of the per- 
 son interested, the prejudices against informers, the 
 loss or failure of evidence, the fallibility or mis- 
 taken humanity of judges — while to the attain- 
 ment of reward no such obstacles occur: it ope- 
 rates then upon all occasions with the whole of its 
 force and ccrtaintv.
 
 22 B. I. Ch. III.— reward and punishment COiMBINED. 
 
 Before a celebrated law, which we owe to Mr. 
 Burke, the lords of the treasury were charged, as 
 they still are, with the payment of the salaries of 
 certain of the public servants. Justice required 
 that all should be paid in the same proportion as 
 funds for that purpose were received. But no law 
 was as yet in force to support this principle. As 
 might naturally be expected, all sorts of preferences 
 had place. They paid their friends first, and it can- 
 not be supposed they forgot themselves. When 
 the funds set apart to this service were insufficient, 
 the less favoured class suffered. The delays of 
 payment occasioned continual complaints. How 
 would an ordinary legislator have acted ? He 
 would have enacted that every one should be paid 
 in proportion to the receipts, and that his regula- 
 tions might not be wanting in form, he would have 
 added a direct punishment for its breach ; without 
 enquiring if it were easy to be eluded or not. Mr. 
 Burke acted differently : he arranged the different 
 officers in classes ; he prepared a table of preference, 
 in which the order is the inverse of the credit which 
 they might be supposed to possess. The noble 
 lords, with the prime minister at their head, bring 
 up the rear, and are prohibited from touching a 
 single shilling of their pay till the lowest scullion 
 has received every penny of his. 
 
 Had he permitted these great officers to pay 
 themselves, and prescribed his table of preference 
 for the rest, under the penalty of losing a part of 
 their salaries, what embarrassment, what difficul- 
 ties, whatdelays 1 Who would undertake the odious 
 task of informer? How many pretences of justifi- 
 cation would they not have had? Who would have 
 dared to attack the ministers ? In this arrange- 
 ment of Mr. Burke, till they have fulfilled their 
 duty, they lose the enjoyment of all their salary; 
 they lose it without enquiry and without embar-
 
 B.'i. ch. III.— reward and punishment combined. 23 
 
 rassment. Thus rendered conditional, their salary 
 becomes in reality the recompence of their regula- 
 rity in paying the others. 
 
 The advantages of this invention may be thus 
 summed up. Their salary, depending upon the 
 performance of the service, is no longer a barren 
 gratification, but a really productive reward. The 
 motive has all the force belonging to punishment : 
 by the suspension of payment it operates as a fine. 
 It possesses all the certainty of a reward : the 
 right to receive follows the completion of the ser- 
 vice, without any judicial procedure.
 
 [ 24 1 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF THE UNION OF INTEREST WITH DUTY, ANI> 
 OF SELF-EXECUTING LAWS. 
 
 What has been said in the preceding chapter 
 will seem to elucidate the meaninsj of the above two 
 expressions, which, though in familiar use with 
 political writers, have never yet been completely 
 explained. 
 
 The legislator should, say they, endeavour to 
 unite interest with duty: this accomplished, they 
 consider perfection as attained. But how is this 
 union to be brought about ? What constitutes it ? 
 To create a duty and affix a punishment to the 
 violation of it, is to unite a man^s interest with his 
 duty, and even to unite it more strongly than by 
 any prospect of reward. But this is not, univer- 
 sally at least, what they mean ; for if punishment 
 alone were sufficient for the establishment of the 
 desired connection between interest and duty, 
 what legislator is there who would fail in its ac- 
 complishment ? What would there be to boast of 
 in a contrivance which surpasses not the ingenuity 
 of the most clumsy politician ? 
 
 In this phrase, by the word interest, pleasure or 
 'profit is understood; the idea designed to be ex- 
 pressed is, the existence of such a provision in the 
 law as that conformity to it shall be productive of 
 certain benefits which will cease of themselves so 
 soon as the law ceases to be observed. 
 
 In a word, the union in question is produced 
 whenever such a species of interest can be formed 
 as shall combine \\\q force which is peculiar to pu-
 
 B. I. ch. IV.— union of interest with duty, &c. 25 
 
 iiishment with the cerlainly wliich is peculiar to 
 reward. 
 
 This connection between duty and interest, is to 
 a high degee attained in the case of pensions and 
 places held during pleasure. Let us suppose, for 
 example, that the continuance of the pension is 
 made to depend upon the holder's paying at all times 
 absolute obedience to the will of his superior. The 
 pensioner ceases to give satisfaction — the pension 
 ceases; there are none of the embarrassments and 
 uncertainties attendant on ordinaay procedure. 
 There are no complaints of disobedience made 
 against persons thus circumstanced. It is against 
 the extreme efficacy of this plan, rather than against 
 its weakness, that complaints are heard. 
 
 In some countries, by the revenue laws, and par- 
 ticularly in the case of the custom-house duties, 
 it is not uncommon to allow the officers, as a re- 
 ward, a portion of the goods seized by them in the 
 act of being smuggled. This is the only mode that 
 has appeared efifectually to combat the temptations 
 to which they are perpetually exposed. The price 
 which it would be worth while for individuals to 
 offer to the officers for connivance, can scarcely 
 equal, upon an average, the advantage they derive 
 from the performance of their duty. So far from 
 there being any apprehension of their being remiss 
 in its discharge when every instance of neglect is 
 followed by immediate punishment, the danger is 
 lest they should be led to exceed their duty, and the 
 innocent should be exposed to suspicion and vexa- 
 tion. 
 
 The legislator should enact laws ichich will exe- 
 cute themselves. What is to be understood by this ? 
 Speaking with precision, no law can execute itself. 
 In a state of insulation a law is inoperative : to pro- 
 duce its desired effects, it must be supi)ortcd and
 
 26 B. 1. Ca. IV.— UNION OF INTEREST WITH DUTY, &c. 
 
 enforced by some other law which in its turn 
 requires for its support the assistance of other 
 laws. It is thus that a body of laws forms a group, 
 or rather a circle, in which each is reciprocally sup- 
 ported and supports. When it is said, therefore, 
 that the law executes itself, it is not meant that it 
 can subsist without the assistance of other laws, 
 but that its provisions are so arranged, that punish- 
 ment immediately follows its violation, unaided 
 by any form of procedure : that to one offence 
 another more easily susceptible of proof, or more 
 severely punished, is substituted. 
 
 Mr. Burke's law, which has already been men- 
 tioned, is justly entitled to be ranked under this 
 head. The clause which forbids the ministers and 
 treasurers to pay themselves till all other persons 
 have been paid, possesses in effect the properties 
 of a punishment annexed to any retardation of 
 payments : a punishment which commences with 
 the offence, which lasts as long as the offence, 
 which is inflicted without need of procedure ; in a 
 word, a punishment, the imposition of which does 
 not require the intervention of any third person. 
 
 Before the passing of this law, large arrears on 
 the civil list w^ere allowed to accumulate ; their 
 accumulation bore the character merely of a simple 
 act of omission, which could not be classed under 
 any particular head of offence, and the evil of which 
 might moreover be palliated by a thousand pretexts. 
 After the passing of this law, the ministers, it is 
 true, might still, in spite of the law, continue to give 
 to themselves a preference over the other credi- 
 tors on the civil list : there is no physical force 
 other than existed before to prevent them : but in 
 virtue of this law, any such preference would be a 
 palpable offence ; a species of peculation, which 
 would be strongly reprobated by public opinion.
 
 B. I. ch. IV.— union of interest with duty, &c. 27 
 
 Another example is furnished by the laws respect- 
 ing the payment of stamp duties. These laws 
 are represented as among the number of those 
 which execute themselves, and are panegyrized ac- 
 cordingly. This is true with regard to so much of 
 these taxes as is levied upon contracts and law 
 proceedings. Let us explain their mechanism. 
 The sanction given to private contracts, and the 
 protection afforded by the law to person and pro- 
 perty, are services which the public receives at the 
 hands of the ministers of justice. The method in 
 which these duties then are levied is this : these 
 services are at first refused to all persons without 
 exception ; they are then offered to all persons who, 
 at the price set upon them, have the means and in- 
 clination to become purchasers. Thus a protec- 
 tion which might be considered as a debt due from 
 the state to all its subjects, is converted into a 
 reward, by means of the precedent condition an- 
 nexed to it. This is not the time for examining 
 whether this duty, which palpably amounts to the 
 selling of justice, is a judicious tax: all that is 
 here necessary to be observed is, that the payment 
 is ensured by the security it affords, and the dan- 
 ger with which the omission is accompanied. 
 
 To range over the whole field of legislation, in 
 order to ascertain the different cases in which this 
 species of political mechanism has been employed, 
 or in which it might be introduced with advantage, 
 does not belong to our present subject : — general 
 directions might easily be framed for the construc- 
 tion of self-executing laws, and their application 
 might occupy a place in " The recreations of legisla- 
 tion"
 
 [ 28 ] 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MATTER OF REWARD — REASONS FOR 
 HUSBANDING. 
 
 If it be proper to be frugal in the distribution of 
 punishment, it is no less proper to be so in the 
 distribution of reward. Evil is inflicted in both 
 cases. The difference is that punishment is an 
 evil to him to whom it is applied : — reward, to him 
 at whose expense it is applied. The matter of re- 
 ward and the matter of punishment spring from 
 the same root. Is money bestowed as a reward ? 
 Such money can only arise from taxes or original 
 revenue ; can only be bestowed at the public ex- 
 pense : — truths so obvious, that proof is unneces- 
 sary ; but which ought on all occasions to be re- 
 collected, since, all other circumstances being 
 equal, to pay a tax to a given amount is a greater 
 evil than to receive it is a good. 
 
 Rewards consisting in honour, it is commonly 
 said cost nothing. This is, however, a mistake. 
 Honours not only enhance the price of services, 
 (as we shall presently see) they also occasion ex- 
 penses and burthens which cannot be estimated in 
 money. There is no honour without pre-eminence ; 
 if then, of two persons, for example, who are equal, 
 one profits by being made the higher, the other 
 suffers in at least equal proportion by being made 
 the lower of the two. With regard to honours 
 which confer rank and privileges, there are com- 
 monly two sets of persons at whose expense 
 honour is conferred : the persons from amongst 
 whom the new dignitary is taken, and the persons,
 
 B. I. Cii. v.— MATTER OF REWARD, &c, 29 
 
 if any, to whom he is aggregated by his elevation. 
 Thus the greater the addition made to the number 
 of peers, the more their importance is diminished ; 
 the greater is the defalcation made from the value 
 of their rank. 
 
 The case is similar with regard to power. It is 
 by taking away liberty or security^ that power is 
 conferred ; and the share of each man is the less, 
 the greater the number of co-partners in it. The 
 power conferred in any case must be either new or 
 old : if new, it is conferred at the expense of those 
 who are subject to it ; if old, at the expense of 
 those by whom it was formerly exercised. 
 . Exemptions given in the way of reward, may 
 appear at first sight but little expensive. This 
 may be one reason why they have been so liberally 
 granted by short-sighted sovereigns. It ought 
 however to be recollected, that in the case of pub- 
 lic burthens, the exemption of one increases the 
 burthen on the remainder: if it be honourable to 
 be exempted from them, it becomes a disgrace to 
 bear them, and such partial exemptions at length 
 give birth to general discontent. 
 
 The exemptions from arrest for debt, enjoyed by 
 members of parliament, are a reward conferred at 
 the expense of their creditors. Exemptions from 
 parish offices and military services are rewards 
 conferred at the expense of those who are exposed 
 to the chance of bearing them. The burthen of 
 exemptions from taxes falls upon those who contri- 
 bute to the exigencies of the state. 
 
 A privilege to carry on, in concurrence with a 
 limited number of other persons, a particular branch 
 of trade, is an exemption from the exclusion which 
 persons in general are laid under with reference to 
 that trade ; the favour is shewn at the expense of 
 the persons who are sharers in the privilege.
 
 30 B. 1. Ch. v.— MATTER OF REWARD, &c. 
 
 If there be an instance in which any modifica- 
 tion of the matter of reward can be conferred with- 
 out expense, it will be found among those which 
 consist in exemption from punishment. When an 
 exemption of this sort is conferred, the expense of 
 it, if there be any, is borne by those who are in- 
 terested in the infliction of the punishment: that 
 is, by those in whose favour the law was made, 
 which the punishment was intended to enforce. 
 But if by the impunity given, the sanction of the 
 laws is weakened and crimes consequently multi- 
 plied, the pardon granted to criminals is dearly 
 paid for by their victims. 
 
 The evil of prodigality is not confined to the 
 diminishing the fund of reward : it operates as a 
 law against real merit. If rewards are bestowed 
 upon pretended services, such pretended services 
 enter into competition with real services. He suc- 
 ceeds best, who aims not to entitle himself to the 
 gratitude of the people, but to captivate the good will 
 of him at whose disposal the fund of reward is placed. 
 Obsequiousness and courtly vices triumph over 
 virtue and genius. The art of pleasing is elevated 
 at the expense of the art of serving. 
 
 What is the consequence ? real services are not 
 performed, or they are purchased at extravagant 
 prices. It is not sufficient, that the price paid for 
 them be equal to that of the false services ; be- 
 yond this, there must be a surplus to compensate 
 the labour which real services require. " If so 
 much is given to one who has done nothing, how 
 much more is due to me who have borne the heat 
 and the burthen of the day ? — If parasites are thus 
 rewarded, how much more is due to my talents and 
 industry ?" — Such is the language which will na- 
 turally be employed, and not without reason, by 
 the man of conscious merit.
 
 B. I. Ch. v.— MATTER OF REWARD, &c. 31 
 
 It is thus that the amount of the evil is perpetu- 
 ally accumulating". The greater the amount al- 
 ready lavished, the greater the demand for still 
 further prodigality; as in the case of punishment, 
 the more profusely it has been dealt out, the greater 
 oftentimes is the need of employing still more. 
 
 When by the display of extraordinary zeal and 
 distinguished talents, a public functionary has ren- 
 dered great services to his country, to associate 
 him vi^ith the crowd of ordinary subordinates is to 
 degrade him. He will feel in respect of the fund 
 of reward, in the same manner as the disposer of 
 it ought to have felt. He will consider himself 
 injured, not only when anything is refused to him, 
 but when anything is bestowed upon those who 
 have not deserved it. 
 
 A profuse distribution of honours is attended with 
 a double inconvenience: in the first place it dete- 
 riorates the stock ; and in the next, it is productive 
 of great pecuniary expense. When a peerage, for 
 example, is conferred, it is generally necessary to 
 add to it a pension, under the notion of enabling 
 the bearer to sustain its dignity. 
 
 It is thus that the existence of an hereditary 
 nobility tends to increase the price necessary to be 
 paid in the shape of reward : has a plebeian ren- 
 dered such services to his country as cannot be 
 passed by with neglect, the first operation is to 
 distinguish him from men of his own rank, by 
 placing him among the nobility. But without 
 fortune, a peerage is a burthen : to make it worth 
 having, it must be accompanied with pecuniary re- 
 ward : the immediate payment of a large sum 
 would be too burthensome : posterity is therefore 
 made to bear a portion of the burthen. 
 
 It is true, posterity ought to pay its share in the
 
 32 B. I, Cti. V.-MATTRR OF REWARD, &c. 
 
 price of services of which it reaps a share of the 
 advantage ; but the same benefit might be procured 
 at a less expense, if there were no hereditary nobi- 
 lity, personal nobility would answer every purpose. 
 Among the Greeks, a branch from a pine tree, a 
 handful of parsley, — among the Romans, a few 
 laurel leaves, or ears of corn, were the rewards of 
 heroes. 
 
 Fortunate Americans ! fortunate on so many ac- 
 counts, if to possess happiness it were sufficient to 
 possess every thing by which it is constituted, this 
 advantage is still yours : preserve it for ever, bestow 
 rewards, erect statutes, confer even titles, so that 
 they be personal alone ; but never bind the crown 
 of merit upon the brow of sloth. 
 
 Such is the language of those passionate admirers 
 of merit who would gladly see a generous emula- 
 tion burning in all ranks of the community ; who 
 consider every thing wasted which is not employed 
 in its promotion. Can anything be replied to 
 them ? If there can, it can only be by those who, 
 jealous of the public tranquillity, as necessary to 
 the enjoyments of luxury, and more alarmed at the 
 folly which knows no restraint than at the selfish- 
 ness which may be constrained to regulate itself, 
 would have, at any price, a class of persons who 
 may impose tranquillity upon those who can never 
 be taught. 
 
 In some states, the strictest frugality is observed 
 in the distribution of rewards ; such in general has 
 been the case under republican governments ; 
 though it is true, that even in democracies, history 
 furnishes instances of the most extravagant prodi- 
 gality and corruption. The species of reward be- 
 stowed by the people upon their favourites with the 
 least examination is power; a gift more precious
 
 B. I. ch. v.— matter of reward, &c. 33 
 
 and dangerous than titles of honour or pecuniary 
 rewards. The maxim, Woe to the grateful nation, \s 
 altogether devoid of meaning, unless it be designed 
 as a warning against this disposition of the people 
 to confer unlimited authority upon those who for a 
 moment obtain their confidence. 
 
 After havinsf said thus much in favour of eco- 
 nomy, it must not be denied that specious pre- 
 tences may be urged in justification of a liberal 
 use of rewards. 
 
 That portion of the matter of reward which is 
 superfluously employed, it is said may be consi- 
 dered as the fund of a species of lottery. At a 
 comparatively small expense a large mass of ex- 
 pectation is created and prizes are offered which 
 every man may flatter himself with the hope of 
 obtaining. And what are all the other sources of 
 enjoyment when put in competition with hope? 
 But can such reasons justify the imposition or con- 
 tinuance of taxes with no other view than that of 
 increasing the amount of the disposable fund of 
 reward ? — Certainly not. It vi^ould be absurd thus 
 to create a real evil, thus to pillage the multitude 
 of what they have earned by the sweat of their 
 brow, to multiply the enjoyments of the wealthy. 
 In a word, whatever may be thought of this lottery 
 we must not forget that its prizes must be drawn 
 before we can obtain any useful services. To the 
 individual himself, active is more conducive to his 
 happiness than idle hope, — the one develops his 
 talents, the other renders them obtuse ; the first 
 is naturally allied to virtue, the second to vice. 
 
 In England, reasons, or at least pretexts, have 
 been found for the arbitrary disposal of rewards, 
 which would not exist under an absolute monarchy. 
 The constitution of parliament gives occasion to the 
 performance of services of such a nature as cannot 
 
 3
 
 34 B. I. ch. v.— matter of reward, &c. 
 
 be acknowledged, but which in the eyes of many 
 politicians are not the less necessary. A certain 
 quantity of talent is requisite, it is said, to save the 
 political vessel from being upset by any momen- 
 tary turbulence or whim of the people. We must 
 possess a set of Mediators interested in maintain- 
 ing harmony between the heterogeneous particles of 
 our mixed constitution ; a species of Drill Serjeants 
 is required for the maintenance of discipline among 
 the undulatins: and tumultuous multitude. There 
 must be a set of noisy Orators provided for those 
 who are more easily captivated by strength of lungs 
 than by strength of argument ; Declaimers for 
 those who are controuled by sentimentalism ; and 
 imaginative, facetious, or satirical Orators, for those 
 whose object it is to be amused ; Reasoners for the 
 small number, \vho yeild only to reason ; artful 
 and enterprising men to scour the country to obtain 
 and^ calculate the number of votes : there must 
 also be a class of men in good repute at court, who 
 may maintain a good understanding between the 
 head and the members. And all this they say 
 must be paid for — whether correctly or not, does 
 not belong to our present discussion. 
 
 It may be further said, that the matterof reward, 
 besides being used for reward, may be used as a 
 means of power, — and that in a mixed constitu- 
 tion like ours, it is necessary to maintain a balance 
 among its powers. Certain creations of peers 
 therefore, for example, which could not be justified, 
 if considered as rewards, may be justified as distri- 
 butions of power. There is at least something in 
 this which deserves examination ; but its exami- 
 nation here would be out of place. 
 
 Want of economy in the distribution of rewards 
 may also be attempted to be justified, by com- 
 paring the sum so expended with the expense in-
 
 B. I. ch. v.— matter of reward, &c. 35 
 
 curred in the carrying on of a war, I advise every 
 one who has projects upon the public money, 
 to employ this argument in preference to every 
 other: when one calculates the immense sum ex- 
 pended during a single campaign, either by land 
 or sea ; when we reflect on the millions that vanish 
 in sound and smoke, all other profusion sinks into 
 insignificance. When we behold the treasures of 
 a nation flowing away in such rapid torrents, can 
 any great indignation be felt against those who, 
 by art, or obsequiousness, or court favour, detach 
 fromthe mass a single drop or a small stream for their 
 own benefit ? If the people so readily lend them- 
 selves to the gratification of political passions; if 
 they part so freely with their gold and their blood, 
 for the momentary gratification of their vengeance 
 or their passion for glory, can it be expected they 
 will murmur at the pomp they covet, and the few 
 insignificant favours which their prince bestows ? 
 \J^ilI they be supposed so mean as to be niggard 
 with pence and lavish with millions ? 
 
 This mode of comparison is not new to courts: 
 it ought to have been familiar to Louis XIV. if it 
 be true, as there is reason for believing, that the 
 building of Versailles cost two thousand millions of 
 livres. In respect of expense, this \Mas more than 
 equal to a war ; but at least it was expended with- 
 out bloodshed, there was no interruption of trade, 
 on«the contrary it gave vigour to industry and shed 
 lustre over the arts. What a fortunate source of 
 comparison to the advocates of absolute monarchy ! 
 
 There isyet another mode of estimating the just- 
 ness of any public expenditure, another source of 
 comparison somewhat less agreeable to the eyes of 
 courtiers. Compare the amount of the proposed 
 expenditure with an equal portion of the produce 
 of the most vexatious and burthensome tax. In this 
 
 3.
 
 36 
 
 B. I. Ch. v.— matter of reward, &c. 
 
 country, for example, let the comparison be made 
 with the produce of the tax on law proceedings, 
 whose effect is the placing of the great majority of 
 the people in a state of outlawry. The option lies 
 between the abolition of this tax and the proposed 
 employment of its produce. They thus become 
 two rival services. It is a severe test for frivolous 
 expenses, but it is strictly just. How disgraceful 
 does wasteful luxury appear in the budget when 
 thus put in competition with the good whose place 
 it occupies, or the evil of which it prevents the 
 cure ! 
 
 From these observations the practical conclusion 
 is, that the matter of reward being all of it costly, 
 none of it ought to be thrown away. This precious 
 matter is like the dew : not a drop of it falls upon 
 the earth which has not previously been drawn 
 up from it. An upright sovereign therefore gives 
 nothing. He buys or he sells. His benevolence 
 consists in economy. Would you praise him fgr 
 generosity ? Praise also the guardian who lavishes 
 among his servants the property of his pupils. 
 
 The most liberal among the Roman emperors 
 were the most worthless ; for example, Caligula, 
 Claudius, Nero, Otho^ Vitellius, Conmiodus, Helio- 
 gabalus, and Caracalla : the best, as Augustus, Ves- 
 pasian, Antoninus, Marcus A urelinus, and Per tiriax, 
 were frugal. (Esprit des Loix, liv. v. ch. xviii.) 
 
 A most important lesson to sovereigns: it wajns 
 them not to value themselves upon the virtue of 
 generosity: in short, not to think that in their sta- 
 tion generosity is a virtue. If not a strictly logical 
 argument, it is, however, a popular and persuasive 
 induction. " Esteem not yourselves to be good 
 princes for a quality in which you have been out- 
 stripped by the worst."
 
 o/ 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 REMUNERATION EX POST FACTO. 
 
 In the preceding chapter it was stated, that in 
 accordance with the principle of utility, the costly 
 matter of reward ought only to be employed in the 
 production of service; and that, in accordance 
 with that principle, a reward can only consist of 
 a portion of the matter of reward, employed as a 
 fnotive for the production of service. This would 
 seem to exclude everything which can be called 
 liberality, every act by which a reward may be 
 bestowed upon any service to which it has not 
 been promised beforehand. 
 
 Such may appear the consequence at first sight. 
 A reward, it may be said, ought only to be be- 
 stowed upon the performance of the service to 
 which it has been promised; since it is only where 
 it has been foreseen that it can have operated as a 
 motive. Why then bestow it upon a service, how 
 useful and important soever, to which it has not 
 been promised ? The service you would have 
 been willing to purchase, at the expense of a 
 certain reward, has been happily rendered without 
 any engagement on your part to bear the expense. 
 Why therefore should any reward be bestowed ? 
 Why pretend to employ reward in the production 
 of an effect which has been produced w^ithout 
 it ? Is not this a useless employment of reward ? 
 Is not this an expenditure in pure waste ? 
 
 Certainly such an expense cannot be justified 
 as a means of producing an effect, which has by 
 the supposition already been produced ; but it may 
 
 213157
 
 38 B.I. C». VI.— REMUNERATION EX POST FACTO. 
 
 be justified as serving to give birth to other effects 
 of a like nature, as likely to cause future services 
 to be rendered, which will agree with those that 
 are past ; at least in this, that they are services. 
 A reward which thus follows the service may be 
 stiled an ex post facto^ or unpromised reward. — 
 The Society of Arts has recognised and employed 
 this distinction. A reward bestowed in fulfilment 
 of a promise, upon the performance of a specified 
 service, is called o. premium. A reward bestowed 
 without previous promise, is called a bounty. 
 
 To make it a rule never to grant a reward which 
 has not been promised, is to tie up the hands of 
 true liberality, and to renounce all chance of re- 
 ceiving any new kind of service. There is only 
 one supposition which can justify this parsimony: 
 it is, that every service has been foreseen and en- 
 dowed beforehand. Whether legislation will ever 
 attain this perfection, 1 pretend not to know. It 
 lias not attained it as yet; and till it be attained, 
 Sovereigns may reckon liberality amongst the 
 number of their virtues. 
 
 Rewards, which in this manner are the fruits of 
 liberality, possess a great advantage over those 
 which are awarded in virtue of a promise. These, 
 confined to one object, operate only upon the 
 individual service specified. The genial influence 
 of the others extends over the whole theatre of 
 meritorious actions. These are useful in deter- 
 mining researches to a particular point; the others 
 present an invitation to extend them to everything 
 which the human mind can grasp. These are like 
 the water which the hand of a gardener directs to 
 a particular flower ; the others are like the dew 
 which is distilled over the whole surface of the 
 earth. 
 
 A promised reward, bestowed upon one who has
 
 B.I. Cii. VI.— REMUNERATION EX POST FACTO. 39 
 
 not deserved it, is entirely lost. An unpromised 
 reward, thus improperly bestowed, is not necessa- 
 rily lost. The hand of liberality has been de- 
 ceived, but the utility of the reward is not altoge- 
 ther thrown away, whilst opj)ortunity is left for a 
 better application of it in future. Had Alexander 
 lavished upon the man who, to obtain his bounty, 
 exhibited his skill in darting grains of millet through 
 the eye of a needle, the rewards he bestowed upon 
 Aristotle, it would have been a proof of prodigality 
 and folly, whose effect would have been to mul- 
 tiply the race of mountebanks and jugglers. In 
 rewarding Aristotle he, without doubt, rewarded 
 much jargon, of no greater value than this man's 
 sleight of hand in darting millet ; but since, in 
 the midst of this jargon, a certain quantity of 
 useful, and at that time, new truth was found, the 
 rewards which this celebrated philosopher received 
 may justly be placed to the account of useful 
 liberality — their tendency was to multiply the 
 precious race of instructors of mankind — the race 
 of philosophers. 
 
 In fact, certain acts of liberality, which could 
 not be justified, considered as promised rewards, 
 may deserve more or less indulgence, may possess 
 a sort of utility of the same kind as that which 
 belongs to rewards not promised. Even the act 
 regarded as service may not strictly deserve to be 
 connected with reward, but the disposition dis- 
 played by the distributing hand in awarding a 
 recompense, may give birth to the expectation of 
 similar rewards for really meritorious service. 
 
 Rewardsbestowedin pursuance of a promise, may 
 be considered as conferred, according to a law be- 
 longing to the class of written laws; whilst unpro- 
 mised rewards, though not productive of similar 
 evils, may be considered as establishinga kind of law,
 
 40 
 
 C.I. Ch. VI.— REMUNERATION EX POST FACTO. 
 
 or rather tacit rule, analogous to that established 
 by means of punishment, in what \s CAWed unwrilteii 
 law. It would be fortunate, indeed, if the penal 
 law might remain unwritten with as little inconve- 
 nience as remuneratory law. In the penal, and 
 even the commonly called civil branches, these 
 unwritten laws develop themselves by a train of 
 hardships, not to say of injuries, whilst the worst 
 which can happen in the remuneratory branch of 
 unwritten law is this, that, by reason of its being 
 unknown, it may become a tissue of useless 
 bounty. 
 
 Catherine II. did not allow the remuneratory 
 branch of her laws to be exposed even to this 
 danger, from which there is so little to be feared. 
 Had the hand of liberality been expanded — was 
 the dew of reward poured out upon the head of 
 merit — immediately inserted in the Gazette the 
 notification of the reward connected with the name 
 of the individual, and the service which had de- 
 served it was resounded throughout the most 
 distant and unfrequented parts of her vast empire. 
 It would have been altogether glorious, had she 
 hastened to give the same character of publicity 
 and certainty to those other branches of unwritten 
 law, in which it is required with so much greater 
 urgency ; and had she never conferred favours 
 which she would have blushed to see gazetted. 
 
 In England, a noble example of reward, e^: post 
 facto, was exhibited in connection with the first 
 establishment of mail coaches. The manager of a 
 provincial theatre having proposed to the minister 
 this plan for the better conveyance of letters, the 
 plan was received, and having been tried in one 
 part of the kingdom, it was afterwards extended 
 to the whole: and this service being in conse- 
 quence performed with a celer'ty and economy
 
 B.l, C!i. VI.— REMUNERATION EX POST FACTO. 41 
 
 of which formerly there was no idea.* As a 
 reward, the inventor was appointed Comptroller- 
 General of the Post-office, with a salary of 1,600/. 
 per annum, besides a proportion of the savings. 
 A reward thus judicious and equitable, transports 
 us to the year 2440. •]* It is equivalent to a pro- 
 clamation to this effect: — " Men of genius and in- 
 dustry, employ your talents for the service of your 
 country ; exert yourselves to the utmost ; produce 
 your plans ; their reception shall depend alone 
 upon the opinion formed of their utility; your 
 country will not grudge the labour necessary for 
 their examination. Good intentions shall not be 
 treated with contempt ; you shall not be nick- 
 named projectors by the idle and the incapable. 
 Your plans shall not be disregarded because of 
 their authors ; they shall not be thrown aside 
 because they are extraordinary, provided they be 
 useful. Impartiality shall preside at their exami- 
 nation, and their utility shall be the measure of 
 your reward." 
 
 There may appear at first sight a discrepancy 
 between this and the immediately preceding chap- 
 ter, but it is only in appearance. I say here, no 
 less than heretofore, that the upright dispenser of 
 public treasures gives nothing. life buys or he 
 sells. With promised rewards he purchases be- 
 spoken, clearly defined, and limited services; with 
 unpromised rewards he purchases services unbe- 
 spoken, indeterminate, and infinite. The difficulty 
 in both cases consists in making a proper choice 
 of the action to be rewarded. This choice will 
 form the subject of subsequent consideration. 
 
 * SeeTraites de Legislation, torn. 2. ch. xi. (Ed. 1820.) 
 t L'art2440, by M. Mercierj a species of Utopian romance, 
 of which the idea was ingenious, but the execution weak.
 
 [ 42 ] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MUNITION AND REMUNERATION THEIR 
 
 RELATIONS. 
 
 Wherefore, throughout the whole field of le- 
 gislation, cannot reward be substituted for punish- 
 ment ? Is hope a less powerful incentive to action 
 than fear ? When a political pharmacopoeia has 
 the command of both ingredients, wherefore em- 
 ploy the bitter instead of the sweet ? 
 
 To these natural but unreflecting enquiries, I 
 reply by a maxim that at first view may appear 
 paradoxical. " Reward ought never to be em- 
 ployed when the same effect can be produced by 
 punishment." And, in support of this paradox, I 
 employ another — " Let the means be penal and the 
 desired effect may be attained without giving birth 
 to suffering : let the means be remuneratory, and 
 suffering is inevitable." 
 
 .The oracular style, however, being no longer in 
 fashion, I shall in plain language give the solution 
 of this enigma. 
 
 When a punishment is denounced against the 
 breach of a law, if the law be not broken, no one 
 need be punished. When a reward is promised to 
 obedience, if every body obey the law, every body 
 ought to be rewarded. A demand for rewards is 
 thus created : and these rewards can only be de- 
 rived from the labour of the people, and contribu- 
 tions levied upon their property. 
 
 In comparing the respective properties of punish- 
 ment and reward, we shall find that the first is in- 
 ^nite in quantity, powerful in its operation, and 
 cerlain\n its effect, so that it cannot be resisted.
 
 B. I. Cii. VII.— PUNITION AND REMUNERATION, &c. 43 
 
 That the second is extremely limited in quantity, 
 oftentimes leeak in its operation, and at all times 
 uncertain in its effect: tiie desire atier it varying 
 exceedingly, according to the character and cir- 
 cumstances of individuals. We mav remark a^ain 
 that the prospect of punishment saddens, whilst 
 that of reward animates the mind ; that punishment 
 blunts, while reward sharpens the activity ; that 
 punishment diminishes energy, while reward aug- 
 men^;s it. 
 
 It is reward alone, and not punishment, which a 
 man ought to employ, when his object is to procure 
 services, the performance of which may or may 
 not be in the power of those with whom he has 
 to do. This considered, were it necessary to 
 draw a rough line between the provinces of re- 
 ward and punishment in a few words, we might 
 say, that punishment was peculiarly suited to 
 the production of acts of the negative stamp, 
 reward to the production of acts of the positive 
 stamp. To sit still and do nothing is in the power 
 of every man at all times : to perform a given ser- 
 vice is in many instances in the power of one indi- 
 vidual alone, and that only upon one individual oc- 
 casion. This arrangement of nature suits very well 
 with the unlimited plenitude of the fund of pu- 
 nishment on the one hand, and the limited ampli- 
 tude of the fund of reward on the other. The 
 negative acts, of which the peace and welfare of 
 mankind require the performance, are incessant and 
 innumerable, and must be exacted at the hands of 
 every man : the positive acts of which the perform- 
 ance is required, are comparatively few, perform- 
 able only by certain persons, and by them on certain 
 occasions only. Not to steal, not to murder, not 
 to rob, must be required at all times at the hands of 
 every man : to take the field for the purpose of 
 national defence, to occupy a place in the superior
 
 44 B. I. Cu. VII.— MUNITION AND REMUNERATION, &c. 
 
 departments of executiveor legislative government, 
 are acts which it is neither necessary nor proper to 
 exact at the hands of more than a few, or of them 
 except on particular occasions. To discover a 
 specific remedy for a disease, to analize a mineral, 
 to invent a method of ascertaining a ship's longitude 
 within a given distance, to determine the quadra- 
 ture of such or such a curve, are works which, if 
 done by one man, need never be done again. 
 
 It is thus, also, with regard to such extraordi- 
 nary services as depend upon accident : such as 
 the giving of information when required, either in 
 the judicial or any other branch of administration. 
 Are you ignorant whether an individual is in pos- 
 session of the information in question, or if in pos- 
 session w^hether he is disposed to communicate it ? 
 Punishment would most probably be both ineffi- 
 cacious and unjust as a means of acquiring this 
 knowledge : resort then to reward. 
 
 In regard to extraordinary services depending 
 upon personal qualification, the impropriety of 
 punishment and propriety of reward is the greater, 
 when the utility of the service is susceptible of 
 an indeterminate degree of excellence ; as is the 
 case with works of literature, of science, and the fine 
 arts. In these cases reward not only calls forth into 
 exercise talents already existing, but even creates 
 them where they did not exist. It is the property 
 of hope, one of the modifications of joy, to put a 
 man, as the phrase is, into spirits, that is, to increase 
 the rapidity with which the ideas he is conversant 
 about succeed each other, and thus to strengthen 
 his powers of combination and invention by pre- 
 senting to him a greater variety of objects. The 
 stronger the hope, so that it have not the effect of 
 drawing the thoughts out of the proper channel, 
 the more rapid the succession of ideas ; the more 
 extensive and varied the trains formed by the prin-
 
 B. 1. Ch. VII.— PUNITION and REMUNERiTION, &c. 45 
 
 ciple of association, the better fed, as it were, and 
 more vigorous will be the powers of invention. 
 In this state the attention is more steady, the ima- 
 gination more alert, and the individual elevated by 
 his success beholds the career of invention dis- 
 played before him, and discovers within himself 
 resources of which he had hitherto been ignorant. 
 
 On the one hand, let fear be the only motive that 
 prompts a man to exert himself, he will exert him- 
 self just so much as he thinks necessary to exempt 
 him from that fear and no more : but let hope be 
 the motive he will exert himself to the utmost, 
 especially if he have reason to think that the mag- 
 nitude of the reward, (or what comes to the same 
 thing) the probability of attaining it, will rise in 
 proportion to the success of his exertions. 
 
 Such is the nature of extraordinary services, that 
 it is neither practicable nor desirable for them to be 
 performed by a large multitude of persons. If pu- 
 nishment then were the means employed to induce 
 men to perform them, it would be necessary to pitch 
 upon some select persons as those on whom to im* 
 pose the obligation. But of the personal qualifica- 
 tions of individuals, the legislator, as such, can have 
 no knowledge. The case will also be nearly the 
 same, even with the executive magistrate, if the 
 number of the persons under his department is 
 considerable: for antecedently to specific experi- 
 ence in the very line in question, a man's personal 
 qualifications for any such extraordinary task are 
 not to be conjectured, a priori^ but from an intimate 
 acquaintance; such an acquaintance as it is im- 
 possible a man should have with a large number. 
 The consequence is, that among any multitude of 
 persons thus taken at random, the greater number 
 would not perform the task, because they would 
 not be able to perform it. But in this case, by the 
 supposition, they must all be punished : here there
 
 46 B. I. ch. VII.— punition and remuneration, &c, 
 
 would be avast mass of punishment laid on in waste, 
 and perhaps the end not compassed after all : a 
 mass of punishment imparting beyond comparison 
 more pain than it would cost to provide a suificient 
 quantity of rewards. 
 
 On the other hand, let reward be employed, and 
 not an atom need be spent in waste; for it may be 
 easily so applied, and it is common so to apply it, 
 that it shall be bestowed in those instances only in 
 which the end is compassed : in those instances, in 
 which not only a benefit is attained, but a benefit 
 more than equivalent to the expense. By punish- 
 ment, a great expense would be incurred, and that 
 for the sake of a faint chance of success ; by reward, 
 a small expense is incurred, and that not without 
 a certainty of success. 
 
 Again, punishment in these cases would not 
 only be less likely to produce the requisite ef- 
 fect, but would have a tendency to prevent it. 
 How little soever the magistrate might be qua- 
 lified to collect and to judge of appearances of 
 capacity, for such appearances he would, how- 
 ever, naturally keep some sort of look out. To 
 exhibit those appearances would therefore be to 
 run a chance of incurring the obligation and the 
 punishment annexed to it. The consequence is 
 obvious: to make sure of not appearing qualified, 
 men would take care not to be so. We are told that, 
 in Siam,whenamanhasatreeof extraordinary good 
 fruit, it is seized for the king's use. If this be true, 
 we may vvell imagine gardening does not make any 
 very extraordinary progress in the neighbourhood of 
 the court of Siam. Nature must do much, for art we 
 may be certain will do nothing. We are told upon 
 better authority of a time when it was the custom 
 to give commissions to officers to look out for the 
 best singers, and press them into the king's service : 
 unless they were well paid at the same time, which
 
 B, I. Ch. VII.— PUNITION and REMUNERATION, &c. 47 
 
 • 
 
 would have rendered the alarm occasioned by press- 
 ing needless, one would not give much to hear the 
 music of that day. 
 
 That selection which in cases like these is so im- 
 practicable in public, is not equally so in domestic 
 life. To parents and other preceptors, it is by no 
 means impracticable to make use of punishment as 
 a motive. They are enabled to use it, because the 
 intimacy of their acquaintance with their pupils in 
 general enables them to give a pretty good guess 
 at what they are able to perform. It may, perhaps, 
 even be necessary to have recourse 'to this incen- 
 tive : before the natural love of ease has been got 
 under by habit, and especially before the auxiliary 
 motive of the love of reputation has taken root, and 
 while the tender intellect has not as yet acquired 
 sufficient expansion and firmness to receive and 
 retain the impressions of distant pleasure. 
 
 I say perhaps, for it certainly might be practi- 
 cable to do with much less of this bitter recipe, 
 than in the present state of education is commonly- 
 applied. All apparatus contrived on purpose might 
 at least be spared. Towards providing a suffi- 
 cient stock of incentives for all purposes, a great 
 deal more might be done than is commonly done, in 
 the way of reward alone ; by a little ingenuity in the 
 invention, and a little frugality in the application ; 
 by establishing a constant connection between en- 
 joyment and desert ; granting little or nothing but 
 what is purchased; and thus transforming into re- 
 wards the whole stock of gratification, or at least 
 so much of it as is requisite. If punishment should 
 still be necessary, mere privations seem to afford in 
 all cases a sufficient store. A complete stock of in- 
 centives might thus be formed out of enjoyments 
 ^lone: punishment, by the suspension of such as
 
 48 
 
 B. I. ch. VII.— punition and remuneration, &c. 
 
 are habitual : reward, by the application of such as 
 occasionally arise.* 
 
 But even when applied by parents and preceptors, 
 punishment, how well soever it may succeed in 
 raising skill to its ordinary level, will never raise 
 it higher; one of the imperfections of punish- 
 ment remains still insuperable. Accordingly, in the 
 training of young minds to qualify them for the 
 achievement of extraordinary works of genius, the 
 business is best managed, and indeed, in a certain 
 degree is commonly managed, by punishments and 
 rewards together; in such sort, that in the earlier 
 part of man's career, and in the earlier stages of the 
 progress of talent, a mixture of punishments and 
 rewards both shall be employed : and that by de- 
 grees punishment shall be dropt altogether, and the 
 force employed consist of reward alone. 
 
 * See the chapter on Punishments and Rewards in Practical 
 Education, by Maria and Lovell Edgworth, a 'vvork which 
 ought to be in the hands of every parent. 
 
 No one who takes any interest in the public welfare, can be 
 unacquainted with the plans of education introduced by Mr. 
 Lancaster. Among other contrivances to which his success may 
 be attibruted, his system of rewards occupies a conspicuous 
 place. His school-room resembled a toy shop — little carriages, 
 wooden horses, kites, balls and drums, were suspended by ropes 
 or hung upon the posts, and the walls were ornamented with 
 halfpenny and penny prints. Every candidate for reward, thus, 
 had always before his eyes the object of his desire, and he knew 
 the piice he must pay for the possession of it. Among so large 
 a number of boys it has, however, been found necessary to 
 employ severer punishments than such as consist in a mere pri- 
 vation of pleasure ; those selected by Mr. Lancaster depend 
 exclusively upon the dread of shame, and have been made uni- 
 formly emblematical or cliaracteristic. Their efficacy far ex- 
 ceeds that of corporal punishment, which children are apt to 
 make it a point of honour to brave, which they habituate 
 themselves to suffer, or which inspires them with a decided 
 aversion for study.
 
 B. I. Ch. VJI.— PUNITION AND REMUNERATION, &c. 
 
 49 
 
 There remain the case in which reward is pro- 
 per, because punishment, at least punishment alone, 
 would be unprofitable. By unprofitable, I mean 
 not efficacious, but uneconomical, unfrugal : the 
 interest of the whole community together being 
 taken into the account, not forgetting that of the 
 particular member on whom the burthen would be 
 to be imposed, and consequently the punishment, 
 in case of non-performance, be inflicted. 
 
 This seems to be the case with all those offices 
 which, standing alone, are offices of 7n ere burthen : 
 whether the party favoured be the public at large, or 
 any individual, or class of individuals: in all cases the 
 labourer is worthy of his hire, and unless it be when 
 every man must labour, no man ought to be made to 
 labour without his hire. The common soldier no 
 more than the general, the common seaman no more 
 than the admiral, the constable no more than the 
 judge. 
 
 True it is, that take any man for example, it 
 may with propriety be said, that the public has 
 a right to his services, has a right to command 
 his service's, for that the interest of any one man 
 ought to give way to the interest of all. But if 
 they be true as to any one man who happens to be 
 first taken, equally true is it of any other, and so 
 in succession of every man. On the one hand then, 
 each man is under an obligation to submit to any 
 burthen that shall be proposed ; on the other hand, 
 each man has an equal right to see the burthen im- 
 posed not upon himself, but upon some other. If 
 either of these propositions are taken in their 
 full extent, as much may be said in favour of the 
 one of them as of the other. In this case, if there 
 were no middle course to take, things must rest in 
 statu quo, the scale of utility must remain in equi- 
 librio, one man's interest weighing neither more nor 
 less than another's ; the burthen would be borne by 
 
 4
 
 50 B. I. ch. VII.— punition and remuneration, &c. 
 
 nobody, and the immunity of each would be the 
 destruction of all. But there is a middle course 
 to take, which is, to divide the burthen and lay it 
 inequal proportion upon every man. 
 
 The principle is indisputable : the application of 
 it is not free from difficulties. There are many 
 cases in which the individual burthen cannot be 
 divided ; an office, the duties of which it requires 
 but one man to perform, cannot be divided amongst 
 a thousand. But a mass of profit may be formed 
 sufficient to counterbalance the inconvenience 
 which a man would sustain by bearing the office. 
 Let the requisite mass of profit be taken from the 
 general fund, and the burthen is distributed propor- 
 tionably amongst the different members of the 
 community.* 
 
 An expedient sometimes practised in these cases, 
 is, instead of distributing the burthen of the office, 
 to lay it on entire upon some one person, according 
 to lot. This prevents the injustice there would be 
 in laying it upon any one by design : but it does 
 not correct the inequality. The mischiefs of 
 partiality and injustice are obviated ; 'but not so 
 the sufferings of him upon whom the unfortunate 
 lot falls. The principle of utility is in this case 
 only partially followed. 
 
 It is one of those instances in which the principle 
 of utility would seem to have given occasion to a 
 wrong conclusion. According to this principle, it 
 is said that the interest of the minority ought to be 
 
 * This supposes the reward to consist in money : if a suffi- 
 cient reward can be provided out of honour and power, or 
 either of them without money, the burthen of it in the first 
 case is distributed of course among all the members of the 
 community over whom the honour gives him a precedence ; in 
 the last case it may be distributed, according to the nature of 
 the power, among all of them without distinction.
 
 B. I. Ch. VII.— PUNITION AND REMUNERATION, &c. 51 
 
 sacrificed to that of the majority. The conclusion 
 is just, if it were impossible to act otherwise ; pal- 
 pably false, if it is. But to charge this as a defect 
 upon the principle itself, is as reasonable as it would 
 be to maintain that the art of book-keeping is a mis- 
 chievous art, because entries may be omitted. 
 
 We are now prepared for establishing a compa- 
 rison between punishment and reward. 
 
 1. Punishment is best adapted for restraint or 
 prevention : reward for excitement and produc- 
 tion : the one is a bridle, the other a spur. 
 
 2. In every case where very extensive mischief 
 may be produced by a single act, and particularly 
 in the case of such acts as may be performed at any 
 time, punishment is the only restraint to be de- 
 pended on ; such is the case of crimes in general. 
 When the act endeavoured to be produced is in an 
 eminent degree beneficial, it is proper to employ 
 reward alone, or to combine punishment with re- 
 ward, that the power of the governing motive may 
 be doubled. 
 
 3. Considering the abundance of the one, and 
 scarcity of the other, punishment is the only eli- 
 gible means of regulating the conduct of people in 
 general : reward ought to be reserved for directing 
 the actions of particular individuals. By punish- 
 ment, mischievous propensities are subdued; by 
 reward, valuable qualifications are improved. Pu- 
 nishment is an instrument for the extirpation of 
 noxious weeds : reward is a hot bed for raising 
 fruit, which would not otherwise be produced. 
 
 4. Necessity compels the employment of pu- 
 nishment : reward is a luxury. Discard the first, 
 and society is dissolved : discard the other, and it 
 still continues to subsist, though deprived of a por- 
 tion of its amenity and elegance. 
 
 5. In every case where the service is of such a 
 
 4.
 
 62 B. I. ch. VII.— punition and remuneration, &c. 
 
 nature as, that no individual possessed of the qua- 
 lifications requisite for its performance can with 
 certainty be selected, the denunciation of punish- 
 ment would only produce apprehension and misery, 
 and its application be but so much injury inflicted 
 in wanton waste. 
 
 In every such case offer a reward, and it travels 
 forth in quest of hidden or unknown talents : even 
 if it fail in its search, it produces no evil, not an 
 atom of it is lost : it is given only when the service 
 is performed, when the advantage obtained either 
 equals or surpasses the expense. 
 
 By the help of these observations, we shall be 
 enabled to appreciate the opinion of those politi- 
 cians, who, after a superficial examination of this 
 subject, condemn legislators in general for the spar- 
 ing use made of the matter of reward. 
 
 The author of The Wealth of Nations^ who has 
 displayed such extraordinary saofacity in all his 
 researches, has upon this point been led away by 
 mistaken notions of humanity. Fear (says he) is 
 in almost all cases a miserable instrument of govern- 
 ment * It is an instrument which has oftentimes 
 been much perverted from its proper use ; but it is 
 a necessary instrument, and the only one applica- 
 ble to the ordinary purposes of society. 
 
 A young king, in the first ardour for improve- 
 ment, having resolved to purge his kingdom from 
 all crimes, was not satisfied with this alone. His 
 natural gentleness was shocked at the idea of em- 
 ploying punishment. He determined to abolish it 
 altogether, and to effect every thing by reward. 
 He began with the crime of theft : but, in a short 
 time, all his subjects were entitled to reward, all of 
 them were honest. Everv day they were entitled 
 
 * Wealth of Nations, 13. v. Ch. i.
 
 B, I. Ch. VII.— PUNITION and REMUNERATION, &c. 53 
 
 to new rewards, their honesty remained inviolate. 
 A scheme for preventing smuggling was proposed 
 to him. "Wise king/' it was said, " for every penny 
 that ought to be paid into your treasury, give two, 
 and the hydra is vanquished.^' The victory was 
 certain, but he perceived that like that of Pyrrhus 
 it would be somewhat costly. 
 
 A distinction which exists between domestic 
 and political government may be here worth no- 
 ticing. No sovereign is so rich as to be able to 
 effect every thing by reward. There is no parent 
 who may not. At Sparta, a bit of black bread was 
 the reward of skill. The stock of pleasures and of 
 wants is an inexhaustible fund of reward in the 
 hands of those parents who know how to employ 
 it.
 
 [ 54 ] 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 REMUNERATION WHERE HURTFUL. 
 
 A REWARD is mischievous when its tendency 
 is to produce offences, or to give birth to noxious 
 dispositions. 
 
 To offer a reward to an individual as an induce- 
 ment to him to commit an act prohibited by law, 
 is to attempt to suborn him ; the offence may be 
 called suhornation. Upon the present occasion, 
 this illegal subornation is not the subject of con- 
 sideration. The rewards, of which we are about 
 to speak, have a corruptive tendency, but do not 
 possess the character of crimes ; they are autho- 
 rized by custom, sanctioned by the laws, and 
 given and received without disguise, without 
 criminal intention: the evil is done with a pure 
 conscience, and often with the public approbation. 
 They are the result of erroneous conceptions, the 
 effects of universal prejudice, or long-established 
 habits which, as Montaigne says, blunts the acute- 
 ness of the judgment. 
 
 The present is one of those extremely delicate 
 topics, in respect of which it may be more pru- 
 dent to put the reader in the path of truth, and 
 leave him to travel by himself in quest of disco- 
 veries, than going through the subject in detail to 
 wound established opinions, or interfere with 
 individual interests. Without restricting myself 
 to any precise order, I shall therefore exhibit some 
 few examples in which the mischievous tendency 
 is too palpable to admit of denial, and 1 shall
 
 B. I. ch. VIII.— remuneration— where hurtful. 55 
 
 begin with an incontrovertible maxim, which will 
 furnish the criterion of which we are upon the 
 present occasion in search for distinguishing good 
 from evil. 
 
 Upon all occasions avoid bestowing anything in 
 the shape of reward which ?nai/ tend to interfere 
 with the performance of duty. 
 
 According to this rule, a judge ought not to 
 find himself interested in the prolongation of law 
 proceedings — the minister of state in the promo- 
 tion of wars — the superintendant in promoting 
 expense — the moral preceptor in setting an exam- 
 ple of insincerity — the man of letters in maintain- 
 ing mischievous prejudices at the expense of truth. 
 The more narrowly we scrutinize into the sources 
 of public evils, the more thoroughly shall we be 
 convinced that they ought to be attributed to the 
 neglect of this fundamental rule. 
 
 In support of this maxim, it is not necessary to 
 ascribe to men in general an extraordinary procli- 
 vity towards corruption. Ordinary prudence and 
 probity are sufficient to enable a man to resist 
 temptations to crimes, or to lead him to abstain 
 from whatever is reputed dishonourable ; but it 
 requires somewhat more than ordinary honesty 
 and prudence to be proof against the seductions 
 of an interest that acts with continual energy, and 
 whose temptations are not opposed either by the 
 fear of legal punishment, or the condemnation of 
 public opinion : to yield to such temptations, it is 
 only necessary for him to follow in the beaten 
 track, in which he will be cheered by the presence 
 of a multitude of fellow travellers, and encouraged 
 by the example of his superiors. To resist these 
 seductions, he must expose himself to the impu- 
 tation of singularity, he must proclaim that he is 
 better than others, he must condemn his col-
 
 56 B. I. ch. viiL— remuneration— where hurtful. 
 
 leagues and predecessors, and be bold enough to 
 make an exhibition of his probity. Such magna- 
 nimity is not altogether unexampled, but we must 
 not reckon upon prodigies. There are even some 
 cases in which by its secresy this seductive inter- 
 est is so much the more mischievous ; it operates 
 like a concealed magnet, and produces errors in 
 the moral conduct against which there has been 
 no previous warning. We have said that the 
 iesfislator oudit to endeavour to combine interest 
 with duty ; for a still stronger reason ought he to 
 avoid as much as possible everything that yields 
 to the public functionary a certain or a casual, a 
 known or an unknown profit, resulting from the 
 omission or violation of his duties ; we now pro- 
 ceed to give a few examples. 
 
 In England, the superior judges, beside their 
 ample salaries, which it would be improper to 
 grudge them, receive certain fees which it is im- 
 possible not to grudge them ; since it is from this 
 source alone that they can generally be considered 
 liable to corruption, and that so much the more 
 easily, since they may be subject to its influence 
 without themselves perceiving it. These fees are 
 multiplied in proportion to the incidents of proce- 
 dure, the multiplication of which incidents pro- 
 portionably increases the expense and delay of 
 obtaining justice. In one case, a judge receives 
 nearly 4/. for tying for six months, or a year, the 
 hands of justice, and this in one of those cases in 
 which indolence adds her seductions to those of 
 avarice, and the whole is eflected in the presence 
 of no other witnesses than such as are urged on- 
 ward by a still stronger interest to aggravate the 
 abuse. 
 
 Another example from among a thousand : un- 
 der the Lord Chancellor, there are twelve subor-
 
 B.I. Ch.VIII.— REMUNERATION— WHERE HURTFUL. 57 
 
 dinate judges called Masters in Chancery. When 
 an account is to be taken before them, the follow- 
 ing is the mode of procedure : — The attornies on 
 the one side and the other ought to appear before 
 the master, either alone or in company, with 
 counsel, as may be convenient. First summons; 
 nobody appears. Second summons ; nobody ap- 
 pears. At length, third summons, the parties 
 appear, and the matter is put into train. Care, 
 however, has been taken to allow only half an 
 hour, or an hour, to each set of suitors. The 
 parties are not always punctual; the matter is 
 begun, the clock strikes, and then the matter is dis- 
 missed. At the following hearing it is necessary 
 to begin again. All this is matter of etiquette. 
 At each summons, the fees to the judges and the 
 counsel are renewed. All the world must live. 
 Extortion, it is said, is to be banished from the 
 dwellings of finance. At some future day, per- 
 haps, it will not be found a fitting guest for the 
 Temple of Justice — it will be deemed advisable to 
 chase it thence. 
 
 In England as elsewhere, it is asked, why 
 law-suits are eternal? The lawyers say it is 
 owing to the nature of things. Other people say 
 it is the fault of the lawyers. The above two 
 little traits, which are as two grains of sand picked 
 up in the deserts of Arabia, may assist the judg- 
 ment as to the causes of delay in such pro- 
 cedures. 
 
 3. Previously to the year 1782, the emoluments 
 of the paymaster of the army, whose duty as such 
 consisted in signing, or knowing how to sign, his 
 name, were considerably higher in time of war 
 than in time of peace, being principally constituted 
 of a per centage on the money expended in his
 
 58 B.I. Ch.VIII.— REMUNERATION— WHERE HURTFUL. 
 
 department. This great officer, however, always 
 found himself a Member of Parliament, and it is 
 believed he was thus paid, not for signing, or 
 knowing how to sign, his name, but for talking and 
 knowing how to talk. Upon a question of peace 
 or war, the probity of this orator must have found 
 itself in somewhat an awkward predicament, con- 
 tinually besieged as it must have been by Bellona 
 with the offer of an enormous revenue, which was 
 to cease immediately he suffered himself to be cor- 
 rupted by Peace. When the question of econo- 
 mical reform was upon the carpet, this place was 
 not forgotten. It was generally felt at that time, 
 that so decided an opposition between interest and 
 duty was calculated to produce the most perni- 
 cious consequences. The emoluments of peace 
 and war were, therefore, equalized by attaching a 
 fixed salary to the office, and the same plan was 
 adopted with respect to various other offices. 
 
 In running over the list of functionaries, from 
 the highest to the lowest, one cannot but be 
 alarmed at the vast proportion of them who watch 
 for war as for a prey. It is impossible to say to 
 what a degree, by this personal interest, the most 
 important measures of Government are determined. 
 It cannot be supposed that ministers of state, 
 generals, admirals, or members of parliament, are 
 influenced, in the slightest degree, by a vile pe- 
 cuniary interest. All these honourable persons 
 possess probity as well as wisdom, so that a trifle 
 of money never can produce the slightest influence 
 upon their conduct, not even the effect of an atom 
 upon the immoveable mass of their probity. The 
 mischief is, that evil-minded persons are not con- 
 vinced by their assertion, but continue to repeat, 
 that — " The honesty which resists temptation is
 
 B.I. Ch.VIII.— REMUNERATION— WHERE HURTFUL. o9 
 
 most noble, but that which flies from it is most 
 secure." * 
 
 4. In public and private works of all descrip- 
 tions, it is customary to pay the architect a per 
 centage upon the aggregate amount expended. 
 This arrangement is a good one, when the sum to 
 be expended is fixed : there is danger in the con- 
 
 * " Judge A. has a noble soul," was one day said to me by 
 one of his friends 5 " this is what he told me was the difference 
 between himself and Judge B. Consider him well ; he will 
 never listen to a single word which has the slightest connec- 
 tion with any suit which may be brought before him, unless in 
 open court ; he fears lest he should be misled, so weak is he : 
 he has told me so himself. Whilst, as to me, a suitor might 
 whisper in my ear, from morning till night, and might as well 
 have been talking to a deaf man." 
 
 I would not insinuate the least suspicion against the valorous 
 judge ; had I been constrained to form one, it would have been 
 dissipated by the elogium he bestowed upon his friend. 
 
 The heroism of Lord Hale, the model of the English judges, 
 took a contrary direction. It had been customary, when upon 
 the circuit, for the judge to receive from the sheriff a certain 
 number of loaves of sugar. On one occasion a sheriff, who 
 happened to have a suit which was to be tried before him, 
 waited upon his lordship, and, as was customary, presented his 
 sugar : Hale would not receive it. The other judge, if he 
 had been consistent, would have taken sugar from everybody. 
 
 General Rule. — When an honest man is desirous of estab- 
 lishing his honesty, he ought to employ proofs which will 
 serTe only for this purpose, and not such as dishonesty alone 
 can be interested in causing to be received. 
 
 Before an assembly of the Roman people, it was required 
 of Scipio that he should render his accounts. His answer 
 was — " Romans, on such a day I gained a victory : let U3 
 ascend to the Capitol, and return thanks to the Gods." His 
 quietus was granted immediately, and since that day, besides 
 allowing that Scipio was a great warrior, all the historians 
 have been assured of the correctness of his accounts. As to 
 me, had I lived at that time, most probably I should have gone 
 up with the rest to the Capitol, but I should always have 
 attained a little curiosity with respect to the accounts.
 
 60 B. [. Ch.VIII.— REMUNERATION— WHERE HURTFUL. 
 
 trary case, since the greater the expense the 
 greater is the architect's pecuniary profit. 
 
 5. Veracity is one of the most important bases 
 of human society. The due administration of 
 justice absolutely depends upon it; whatever 
 tends to weaken it, saps the foundations of mora- 
 lity, security, and happiness. The more we reflect 
 on its importance, the more we shall be astonished 
 that legislators have so indiscreetly multiplied the 
 operations which tend to weaken its influence.* 
 
 When the possession of the revenues, or other 
 privileges attached to a certain condition of life, 
 depends upon the previous performance of certain 
 acts which are required at entering upon that 
 condition, these privileges cannot fail to operate 
 upon individuals as incentives to the performance 
 of those acts : the effect produced is the same as if 
 they were attached to such performance under the 
 title of reward. 
 
 If among the number of these acts, promises 
 which are never performed are required under 
 the sanction of an oath, these privileges or other 
 advantages can only be regarded as rewards 
 offered for the commission of perjury. If among 
 the number of these acts it is required, that 
 certain opinions which are not believed should 
 be pretended to be believed, these advantages are 
 neither more nor less than rewards offered for in- 
 sincerity. But the sanction of an oath once con- 
 temned, is contemned at all times. Oaths may 
 afterwards be observed, but they will not be ob- 
 served because they are oaths. 
 
 In the university of Oxford, among whose 
 members the greater number of ecclesiastical be- 
 
 * See Traites de Legislation, torn. 2, ch. xviii. (Ed. 1820.) 
 Emploi du mobile de la Religion.
 
 B.I. Ch.VIII.— REMUNERATION— WHERE HURTFUL. 61 
 
 nefices are bestowed, and which even for laymen 
 is the most fashionable place of education, when a 
 young man presents himself for admission, his 
 tutor who is generally a clergyman, and the vice- 
 chancellor who is also a clergyman, put into his 
 hands a book of statutes, of which they cause him 
 to swear to observe every one. At the same time, 
 it is perfectly well known to this vice-chancellor 
 and to this tutor, that there never has been any 
 person who was able to observe all these statutes. 
 It is thus, that the first lesson this young man 
 learns, and the only lesson he is sure to learn, is a 
 lesson of perjury.* 
 
 Nor is this all ; his next step is to subscribe, in 
 testimony of his belief, to a dogmatical formulary 
 composed about two centuries ago, asserted by 
 the Church of England to be infallibly true, and 
 by most other churches believed to be as infallibly 
 false. By this expedient, one class of men is ex- 
 cluded, while three classes are admitted. The class 
 excluded is composed of men who, either from a 
 sense of honour, or from conscientious motives, 
 cannot prevail upon themselves publicly and deli- 
 berately to utter a lie. The classes admitted con- 
 sist — 1. Of those who literally believe these dog- 
 mas — 2. Of those who disbelieve them — 3. Of 
 those who sign them as they would sign the 
 Alcoran, without knowing what they sign, or 
 what they think about it. A nearly similar prac- 
 tice is pursued at Cambridge, and from these 
 two sources the clergy of the Church of England 
 is supplied. 
 
 Socrates was accused as a corrupter of youth. 
 What was meant by this accusation 1 know not. 
 
 * See further upon this subject in Mr. Bentham's work, 
 entitled. Swear not at all.
 
 62 B.I. Ch.VIII.— REMUNERATION— WHERE HURTFUL. 
 
 But this I know, that to instruct the young in 
 falsehood and perjury, is to corrupt them; and 
 that the benefit of all the other lessons they can 
 learn can never equal the mischief of this instruc- 
 tion.* 
 
 6. It may be enquired, whether rewards or other 
 advantages ought to be offered for the defence of 
 any opinion in matters of theory or science, or any 
 other subject upon which opinions are divided?! 
 If the question be one of pure curiosity, the worst 
 that can happen will be that the reward will be ex- 
 pended in waste. But if the opinion thus favoured 
 happen to be a false one and at the same time 
 mischievous, the reward will be productive of uri- 
 mixed evil. But whether it be a question of curi- 
 osity or use, if truth be the object desired, the 
 chance of obtaining it is not so great as when the 
 candidates for reward are allowed to seek it where- 
 soever it may be to be found. If error is to be de- 
 fended, to offer a reward for its defence, would be 
 one if not the only method to be adopted. Who 
 is there that does not perceive that to obtain true 
 testimony, it is inexpedient to offer a reward to the 
 witness who shall depose upon a given side ? Who 
 does not know that the constant effect of such an 
 offer is to discredit the cause of him who makes it? 
 If then anything is to be gained by such partiality, 
 it can only be by error ; truth can only be a loser 
 by such partial reward. 
 
 This practice is attended with another and more 
 manifest inconvenience; it is that of causing opi- 
 nions to be professed which are not believed ; of 
 inducing a truculent exchange not only of truth, 
 but of sincerity, for money. 
 
 I do not know if governments ought even to 
 
 * See Appendix (A) t See Appendix (B)
 
 B.I. Ch.VIIL— REMUNERATION— WHERE HURTFUL. 63 
 
 permit individuals to offer rewards upon these con- 
 ditions. To establish error, to repudiate truth, to 
 suborn falsehood : these, in a few words, are the 
 effects of all rewards established in favour of one 
 system to the exclusion of all others. 
 
 7. Charity is ever an amiable virtue ; but if in- 
 judiciously employed, is liable to produce more 
 evil than good. Hospitals inconsiderately multi- 
 plied ; regular distributions of provisions, such as 
 were formerly made at the doors of many convents 
 in Spain and Italy, tend to habituate a large pro- 
 portion of the people to idleness and beggary. A 
 reward thus offered to indolence, impoverishes the 
 state and corrupts the people. Luxury (and I annex 
 to this word whatever meaning, except that of pro- 
 digality, people choose to give to it) luxury, that 
 pretended vice so much reprobated by the envious 
 and melancholic, is the steady and natural bene- 
 factor of the human species : it is a master who is 
 always doing good, even when he aims not at it ; 
 he rewards only the industrious. Charity is also a 
 benefactor, but great circumspection is required 
 that it may prove so. 
 
 8. There is another manner in which reward 
 may be mischievous : by acting in opposition to the 
 service required, when, for example, the emolu- 
 ments attached to an office are such as to afford the 
 means and temptation not to fulfil the duties of it. 
 In such a case, what may appear a paradox is not 
 the less a great truth : the whole does less ihan a 
 part; by paying too much, the sovereign is less 
 effectually served. But this subject belongs natu- 
 rally to the head of salaries, 
 
 9. Whatever weakens the connexion between 
 punishments and offences, operates in proportion as 
 an encouragement to the commission of offences.
 
 64 B.I. Ch.VIII.-REMUNERATION— WHERE HURTFUL. 
 
 It has the effect of a reward offered for their perpe- 
 tration, for whether the inducement to commit 
 offences is augmented, or the restraining motives 
 are debilitated, the result in both cases is the 
 same. 
 
 Thus, a tax on justice is an indirect reward 
 offered for injustice. The same is the case with 
 respect to all technical rules, by which, indepen- 
 dently of the merits, nullities are introduced into 
 contracts and into procedure ; of every rule that 
 excludes the evidence of a witness, the only de- 
 pository of the fact upon which depends the due 
 administration of justice. In a word, it is the same 
 with everything that tends to loosen the connexion 
 between injury and compensation, between the 
 violation of the law and punishment. 
 
 If we open our eyes we shall behold the same 
 legislators establishing rewards for informers, and 
 taxes and fees upon law proceedings : they desire 
 that the first should induce men to render them 
 services of which they stand in need, whilst the 
 latter tend to weaken the natural disposition which 
 is felt to render these same services. At the 
 threshold of the tribunal of justice are placed a bait 
 and a bugbear — the bait operates upon the few, the 
 bugbear upon the multitude. 
 
 10. There are cases in which to avoid a greater 
 inconvenience, it has been found necessary to dis- 
 pose of the matter of reward in such manner as 
 that it shall operate as a reward for the most atro- 
 cious crime ; yet, in spite of the force of the 
 temptation, this crime is almost unexampled. I 
 allude to the rule established with respect to suc- 
 cessions. Happily, whatever may be the force of 
 the seductive motives in this case, the tutelary 
 motives act in full concert with all their energy.
 
 B.I. Ch.VIII.— REMUNERATION— WHERE HURTFUL. G5 
 
 There are many men who for a trifling personal 
 benefit, for an advance in rank, or even to gratify 
 their spleen, would, without scruple, use their 
 utmost exertions to produce a war that would cost 
 the lives of two or three hundred thousand of their 
 fellow creatures ; while among these men there 
 would not be found perhaps one, who, though he 
 were set free from the dread of legal punishment, 
 could be induced for a much greater advantage, to 
 attempt the life of a single individual, and still less 
 the life of a parent whose death would put him 
 in possession of a fortune or a title. 
 
 But though laws cannot be framed for its com- 
 plete removal, nothing which can be done without 
 inconvenience ought to be left undone towards the 
 diminution of this danger. The persons most ex- 
 posed to become its victims, are those who are ne- 
 cessarily placed under the control of others, such 
 as infants and women. It is under the guidance of 
 this principle, that our laws in some cases have 
 selected as guardians those persons upon whom no 
 interest can devolve in the way of succession. 
 Under the laws of Sweden, precautions of the same 
 description are observed; and it has been else- 
 where shown that this consideration furnishes one 
 of the arguments in favour of the liberty of 
 divorce.* 
 
 Contracts relating to insurance furnish another 
 instance of the same danger. These contracts, in 
 other respects so beneficial, have given birth to a 
 new species of crime. A man insures a ship or 
 a house at a price greatly beyond its value, with the 
 intention of setting fire to the house or causing the 
 ship to be lost, and then under pretence of com- 
 pensation for the loss of which he is the author, 
 
 * Traites de Legislation, torn. i. p. 346 (Ed. 1S20). 
 
 5
 
 66 B.I. Ch.VIIL— REMUNERATION-WHERE HURTFUL. 
 
 claims the money for which the insurance is made. 
 Thus one of the most beneficial inventions of civi- 
 lized society is converted into a premium for dis- 
 honesty, and a punishment to virtuous industry. 
 Had the commission of this crime been attended 
 with less risk, or been less difficult to conceal, this 
 most admirable contrivance for softening inevitable 
 calamities must have been abandoned.
 
 [ 07 ] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 REMUNERATION — WHERE NEEDLESS. 
 
 Factitious reward is superfluous, whenever 
 natural reward is adequate to produce the desired 
 effect. 
 
 Under this head may be classed all inventions 
 in the arts which are useful to individuals, and 
 whose products may become articles of commerce. 
 Tn the ordinary course of commerce the inventor 
 vyill meet with a natural reward exactly propor- 
 tionate to the utility of his discovery, and which 
 will unite within itself all the qualities which can 
 be desired in a factitious reward. After the most 
 mature consideration, no sovereign can find ano- 
 ther measure so exact as is thus afforded by the 
 free operations of trade. All that the govern- 
 ment has to do is to secure for a time, to the in- 
 ventor, whatever benefit his discovery may yield. 
 This is generally done by the grant of an exclusive 
 privilege, or patent. Of this we shall elsewhere 
 speak more in detail. 
 
 Not many years ago a grant of 3000/. was made 
 by Parliament to a physician for the discovery 
 of a yellow dye. That money might, without 
 doubt, have been worse employed: but the re- 
 ward was unnecessary: — for this discovery, as for 
 all others in the arts, the proper test of its utility 
 would have been its use in manufactures and 
 commerce. The grant of a determinate sum w^as 
 a loss either to the inventor or to the public: to 
 the inventor, if it were less than he would have 
 gained under a patent : to the public, if it were 
 more. In a word, wherever patents for inventions 
 
 5.
 
 68 B.I. Ch.IX.— REMUNERATION— WHERE NEEDLESS, 
 
 are in use, factitious reward is either groundless or 
 superfluous.* 
 
 1 shall elsewhere treat of the encouragements to 
 be given to the arts and sciences. Upon the pre- 
 sent occasion all that 1 shall observe is, that the 
 greater the progress they have made, the less ne- 
 cessary is it to tax the public for their support. In 
 this country, for example, if the exclusive pro- 
 perty in his work be secured to an author, a 
 reward is at the same time secured to him pro- 
 portionate to the service he has performed ; at 
 least in every branch of amusement or instruction 
 that yields a sufficient class of readers. There is 
 no patron to be compared with the public; and 
 by the honour with its other rewards which it be- 
 stows, this patronage has a decided advantage over 
 any that can be received from any other source. 
 
 With respect to the rewards, that in some Euro- 
 pean states have been bestowed upon poets, the 
 amount of them is so insignificant as to save them 
 from the severe scrutiny to which they might, 
 under other circumstances, have found themselves 
 
 * Parliament has granted, in two several sums, W.OOOl. 
 to Dr. .Tenner, so celebrated by his invention or introduction 
 of the system of vaccination. This may be considered, per- 
 haps, rather as an indemnification than a reward, at least than 
 a reward proportionate to the service : I say indemnification, 
 because the labour, the researches, the correspondence, the 
 time employed in committing to writing, in teaching and in 
 establishing, his new system, were so many sacrifices of the 
 profits of his profession. As to the natural reward that he 
 gained by his discovery it was nothing : it impoverished instead 
 of enriching him. The liberality with which the physicians 
 throughout Europe, have encouraged a discovery that has 
 lopped off one of the most lucrative branches of their profes- 
 sion, is a most honourable feature in the annals of medicine. 
 When shall we see the lawyers entering into rivalship with 
 them, by the discovery and propagation of the most simple 
 and expeditious mode of legal procedure ?
 
 B.I. Ch. IX.— REMUNERATION— WHERE NEEDLESS. gQ 
 
 exposed. There are some countries in which the 
 relish for literature is confined to such small num- 
 bers, that it may, upon the whole, be beneficial to 
 encoura2:e it bv factitious rewards. But if we 
 consider how intense are the enjoyments of the 
 man born with poetic talents, the sudden reputa- 
 tion that it produces, and the ample profit that 
 it often yields, especially in the dramatic line, it 
 will be found, that the natural rewards attached to 
 it are far from being inconsiderable ; and that, at 
 least, our attention ought, in the first place, to be 
 directed to the department of the sciences, the 
 approaches to which are repulsive and the utility 
 of which are indisputable. Happiness depends 
 upon the correctness of the facts with which 
 our mind is furnished, and the rectitude of our 
 judgment; but poetry has no very direct ten- 
 dency to produce either correctness of know- 
 ledge, or rectitude of judgment. For one instance 
 in which it has been employed to combat mis- 
 chievous prejudices, a thousand might be cited in 
 which they have been fostered and propagated by 
 it. Homer is the greatest of poets : where shall 
 we place him among moralists ? Can any great 
 advantage be derived from the imitation of his 
 gods and heroes ? 1 do not condemn prizes for 
 poetry where the object is to excite youthful emu- 
 lation : I only desire that serious and truly useful 
 pursuits may receive a proportionate encourage^ 
 ment.
 
 [ 70 ] 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PROPORTION AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 In conferring reward, the observance of exact 
 rules of proportion is not nearly of the same import- 
 ance, as in the infliction of punishment. These 
 rules cannot, however, be neglected with impunity. 
 If too great a reward be held out for a given service, 
 competitors will be attracted from more useful pur- 
 suits. If too little, the desired service will either 
 not be rendered or will not be rendered in perfec- 
 tion. 
 
 Rule I. The aggregate value of the natural and 
 factitious reward, ought not to be less than suffi- 
 cient to outweigh the burthen of the service. 
 
 Rule II. Factitious rewards may be diminished 
 in proportion, as natural rev\'ards are increased. 
 
 These two rules present three subjects to our 
 observation — 1. The natural burthens attached to 
 the service. 2. The natural rewards which either 
 do or do not require factitious reward to supply 
 their deficiency. 3. The drawback, more or less 
 hidden, which in a variety of cases alters the ap- 
 parent value of the reward. 
 
 The natural burthens of any particular service, 
 may be comprised under the following heads : the 
 intensity of labour required in its performance, 
 — the ulterior uneasiness which may arise from 
 its particular character, — the physical danger at- 
 tending it, — the expenses or other sacrifices neces- 
 sarily made previously to its exercise, — the discredit 
 attached to it, — the peculiar enmities it produces. 
 The wages of labour in different branches of trade, 
 are regulated in exact proportion to the combina- 
 tion of these several circumstances. To the legis-
 
 B. I. Ch. X,— PROPOllTION AS TO REWARDS. 71 
 
 lator, however, except in cases where it may be 
 necessary to add factitious to natural reward, con- 
 siderations of this sort are in general subjects only 
 of speculation.* 
 
 That any particular service is more or less highly 
 priced, is of little importance : it affects the indivi- 
 duals only who stand in need of it. The competi- 
 tion between those w^ho want and those who can 
 supply, fixes the price of all services in the most 
 fitting manner. It is sufficient that the demand 
 be public and free. To assist, if necessary, in giving 
 publicity to the demand and in maintaining reci- 
 procal liberty in such transactions, is all that the 
 legislator ought to do. 
 
 2. Natural rewards are liable to be insufficient 
 in relation to services, whose utility extends to the 
 whole community, without producing particular 
 advantage to any one individual more than another. 
 Of this nature are public employments. It is true, 
 many public employments are attended by natural 
 rewards in the shape of honour, power, the means 
 of serving ones connections, and deserving the 
 public gratitude, and when these rewards are suffi- 
 cient, factitious rewards are superfluous. To their 
 ambassadors and many others of their great officers 
 of state, the Venetians never gave any pecuniary 
 reward. In England, the public functions of she- 
 riffs and justices of the peace, are generally dis- 
 charged by opulent and independent individuals, 
 whose only reward consists in the respect and 
 power attached to those offices. 
 
 3. There are many circumstances which may 
 diminish the value ofareward without being gene- 
 rally known beforehand, but against all of which 
 
 * In The Wealth of Nations, b. i. ch. 10. The circumstances 
 which cause the rate of wages to vary in different employ- 
 ments, arc analysed with the sagacity which characterizes the 
 father of political economy.
 
 72 B. 1. ch. X.— proportion as to rewards. 
 
 it is proper to guard. Does tiie reward consist of 
 money, its value may be diminislied by a burthen 
 of the same nature, or by a burthen in the shape of 
 honour. Honour and money may even be seen at 
 strife with one another, as well as with themselves. 
 By these means the value of a reward may some- 
 times be reduced to nothing and even become 
 negative. 
 
 In this country where, properly speaking, there 
 is no public prosecutor, many offences, which no 
 individual has any peculiar interest in prosecuting, 
 are liable to remain unpunished. In the way of 
 remedy, the law offers from 10/. to 20/. to be levied 
 upon the goods of the offender, to whoever will 
 successfully undertake this function: sometimes it , 
 is added, that the expenses will be repaid in case 
 of conviction : sometimes this is not promised. 
 These expenses may amount to thirty, fifty and 
 even one hundred pounds ; it is seldom they are 
 so iittle as twenty pounds. After this, can we be 
 surprised that the laws are imperfectly obeyed ? 
 
 It maybe added, that it is considered dishonour- 
 able to attend to this summons of the laws. An in- 
 dividual who, in this manner, endeavours to serve 
 his country is called an informer, and lest public 
 opinion should not be sufficient to brand him with 
 infamy, the servants of the law and even the laws 
 themselves have, on some occasions, endeavoured 
 to fix the stain. The number of private prosecu- 
 tors would be much more numerous if, instead of 
 the insidious offer of a reward, an indemnification 
 were substituted. The dishonourable offer being 
 suppressed, the dishonour itself would cease. And 
 who can say, when, by such an arrangement, the 
 circumstance which offends it is removed, whether 
 honour itself may not be pressed into the service 
 of the laws ? 
 
 There is another case in which, by the negli-
 
 B.I. Ch.X.— PROPORTION AS TO REWARDS. 73 
 
 gence of legal and official arrangements, a consider- 
 able and certain expense is attached to and made 
 to precede a variable and uncertain reward. A 
 new idea presents itself to some workman or artist. 
 Knowing that the laws grant to every inventor a 
 privilege to enable him exclusively to reap the 
 profits of his invention, he enjoys by anticipation 
 his success, and labours to perfect his invention. 
 Having in the prosecution of his discovery con- 
 sumed, perhaps, the greater part of his property 
 and his life, his invention is complete. He goes, 
 with a joyful heart, to the public office to ask for 
 his patent. But what does he encounter ? Clerks, 
 lawyers, and officers of state, who reap beforehand 
 the fruits of his industry. This privilege is not 
 given, but is, in fact, sold for from 100/. to 200/.: 
 sums greater perhaps than he ever possessed in his 
 life. He finds himself caught in a snare, which 
 the law, or rather extortion, which has obtained 
 the force of law, has spread for the industrious 
 inventor. It is a tax levied upon ingenuity, and no 
 man can set bounds to the value of the services ; 
 it may have lost to the nation. 
 
 Rule HI. Reward should be adjusted in such a 
 manner to each particular service, that for every 
 part of the benefit there maybe a motive to induce 
 a man to give birth to it. 
 
 In other words, the value of the reward ought 
 to advance, step by step, with the .value of the 
 service. This rule is more accurately followed 
 in respect of rewards than of punishments. If a 
 man steals a quantity of corn, the punishment is 
 the same whether he steal one bushel or ten ; but 
 when a premium is given for the exportation of 
 corn, the amount of the premium bears an exact 
 proportion to the amount exported. To be con-
 
 74 B. I. Crt. X.— PROPORTION AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 sistent in matters of legislation, the scale ought 
 to be as regular in the one case as in the other. 
 
 The utility of this rule is put beyond doubt, by 
 the difference that may be observed between the 
 quantity of work performed by men employed by 
 the day and men employed by the piece. When a 
 ditch is to be dug, and the work is divided between 
 one set of men working by the day, and another 
 set working by the piece, there is no difficulty in 
 predicting which set will have finished first. 
 
 Hope and, perhaps, emulation are the motives 
 which actuate the labourer by the piece: the motive 
 which actuates the labourer by the day is fear: fear 
 of being discharged in case of manifest and extra- 
 ordinary idleness. 
 
 It must not however be forgotten, that there are 
 many sorts of work, in respect of which it is im- 
 proper to adopt this mode of payment ; which 
 tends indeed to produce the greatest quantity of 
 labour, but at the same time is calculated to give 
 birth to negligence and precipitation. This method 
 ought only to be employed in cases where the 
 quality of the work can easily be discerned, and 
 its imperfections (if any) detected. 
 
 The value of a reward may be increased or 
 diminished, in respect of certainty as well as 
 amount : when, therefore, any services require 
 frequently renewed efTorts, it is desirable that 
 each effort should render the probability of its 
 attainment more certain. 
 
 Arrangements should be made for connecting 
 services with reward, in such manner that the at- 
 tainment of the reward shall remain uncertain, with- 
 out however ceasing to be more probable than the 
 contrary event. The faculties of the individual 
 emj)loyed will thus naturally be kept upon the
 
 B.I. Ch.X.— PROPORTION AS TO REWARDS. 75 
 
 full Stretch. This is accomplished when a com- 
 petition is established between two or more per- 
 sons, and a reward is promised to that one who 
 shall render service in the most eminent degree, 
 whether it respect the quantity or the quality of 
 the service proposed. 
 
 Rule IV. When two services come in competi- 
 tion, of which a man cannot be induced to perform 
 both, the reward for the greater service ought to 
 be sufficient to induce him to prefer it to the less. 
 
 In a certain country matters are so arranged, 
 that more is to be gained by building ships on the 
 old plan than by inventing better ; by taking one 
 ship than by blockading a hundred; by plundering 
 at sea than by fighting ; by distorting the established 
 laws than by executing them ; by clamouring for 
 or against ministers, than by showing in what 
 manner the laws may be improved. It must how- 
 ever be admitted, that in respect of some of these 
 abuses, it would be difficult to prescribe the proper 
 remedy. 
 
 By what method can competition between two 
 services be established? The individual from whom 
 they are required must, either from personal quali- 
 fications or external circumstances, have it in his 
 power to render either the one or the other. It is 
 proper to distinguish the cases in which this posi- 
 tion is transient from those in which it is permanent. 
 It is in thefirst that the fault committed, by suffer- 
 ing disproportion to subsist, is most irreparable. 
 
 During the American war, upwards of an hun- 
 dred ships were, at one time, in one of the har- 
 bours of the revolted colonies. It was of great 
 importance that they should be kept in a state of 
 blockade, since many of them were loaded with 
 military stores. An English captain received
 
 76 B. I. ch. X.— proportion as to rewards. 
 
 orders to blockade them. Sufficiently skilled in 
 arithmetic, and in proverbs, to know that two or 
 three birds in his cage were worth a hundred in the 
 bush, he acted as the greater number of men would 
 have acted in his place. He stood off to a suffi- 
 cient distance to give the enemy hopes of escaping : 
 as soon as they had quitted the harbour, he re- 
 turned, captured half-a-dozen, and the rest pro- 
 ceeded to their destination. I do not answer for 
 the truth of this anecdote; but true or not true, it 
 is equally good as an apologue. It exhibits one 
 of the fruits of that inconsiderate prodigality, 
 which grants, without discrimination, the produce 
 of their captures to the captors. 
 
 Another example. A man who has influence 
 obtains the command of a frigate, with orders to 
 go upon a cruise. The command of a first-rate is 
 accepted by those only who cannot obtain a frigate. 
 It is thus that interest is put in competition with 
 duty: cupidity with glory. There are doubtless 
 not wanting noble minds by whom the seductions 
 of sinister interest are resisted : but wherefore 
 should they be so much exposed to what it is so 
 difficult to resist ? 
 
 It is true, that their ears may not be altogether 
 insensible to the call of honour; the law has be- 
 stowed pecuniary rewards upon the captors of 
 armed vessels, — another example, where one in- 
 stance of profusion has created the necessity of a 
 second, — but these rewards are still unequal : the 
 chase of doves is more advantageous than the pur- 
 suit of eagles. 
 
 The remedy would be to tax, and tax heavily, 
 the profits of lucrative cruises, to form a fund of 
 reward in favour of dangerous, or merely useful 
 expeditions. By this arrangement, the country
 
 u. I. ch. X.— proportion as to rewards. '^'7 
 
 would be doubly benefited, the service would be 
 rendered more attractive, and conducted with more 
 economy. It may be true, that if this tax were 
 deducted from the share of the seamen, their 
 ardour might be cooled. Neither in value or in 
 number are their prizes in this lottery susceptible 
 of diminution ; but though this be true with 
 respect to the lower ranks of the profession, ought 
 we to judge in the same manner of the superior 
 officers, whose minds are elevated as their rank, 
 and on whose conduct the performance of the duty 
 has the most immediate dependence ? 
 
 In the judicial department, the service which 
 belongs to the profession of an advocate, and the 
 service which belongs to the office of a judge, are 
 in a state of rivalry. They constitute the elements 
 of two permanent conditions, of which the first 
 among most nations is the preliminary route to the 
 second. In England, the judges are uniformly 
 selected from among the class of advocates. Now 
 the interest of the country requires that the choice 
 should fall upon the men of highest attainments 
 in their profession, since upon the reputation of 
 the judges depends the opinion which every man 
 forms of his security. It is not of the same im- 
 portance to the public that advocates should be 
 supereminently skilful ; their occupation is not to 
 seek out what is agreeable to justice, but what 
 agrees with the interest of the party to which 
 chance has engaged them. On the contrary, the 
 more decidedly any advocate is exalted in point 
 of talents above his colleagues, the more desirable 
 is it that he should no longer continue an advo- 
 cate. In proportion to his pre-eminence, is the 
 probability that he will be opposed to the distri- 
 bution of justice. The worse the cause of the
 
 78 B. I. Ch. X.— PROPORTION AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 suitor, the more pressing is his need of an able 
 advocate to remedy his weakness. 
 
 Per Annum. 
 In England, the emoluments of the Lord Chan- 
 cellor are reckoned at - - - £ 20,000 
 Those of the Vice-chancellor - - - 5,00O 
 Those of the Master of the Rolls - - 4,000 
 Those of the Chief Justice of the King's Bench - 6,500 
 Those of the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas - 5,000 
 Those of the Chief Baron of the Exchequer - 5,000 
 Those of the Nine Puisne Judges - - 4,000 
 
 Now amongst the class of advocates, there are 
 always to be found about half a dozen whose an- 
 nual emoluments average from eight to twelve 
 thousand pounds. Of this number there is not one 
 who would not disdain the office of puisne judge, 
 since his profits are actually two or three times 
 as great as theirs. To these advocates of the first 
 class may be added as many more, who would 
 equally disdain these subordinate situations, in the 
 hope every day of succeeding to the advocates 
 who shall succeed to the principal situations. 
 There are two methods of obviating this inconve- 
 nience : the one by increasing the emoluments of 
 the judges. (This course has been adopted upon 
 many occasions, and they have been raised to their 
 present amount, without success.) The other con- 
 sists in lowering the profits of the advocates : a 
 desirable object in more respects than one, but 
 which can result only from rendering the whole 
 system of the laws more simple and intelligible. 
 
 In the department of education, there is a nearly 
 similar rivalry between the profession of the 
 clergy and the office of professor, as between the 
 profession of advocate and the office of judge, in 
 the department of the laws. In proportion as he 
 is what he ought to be, in order to be useful, a
 
 B. I. Ch. X.— proportion AS TO REWARDS. 79 
 
 clergyman is a professor of morality, having for 
 his pupils a larger or smaller number of persons of 
 every class, during the whole course of their lives. 
 On the other hand, a professor (as he is called) 
 has for his pupils a number of select individuals, 
 whose character is calculated to exercise the 
 greatest influence upon the general mass of the 
 people, and among their number the clergy are 
 generally to be found. The period during which 
 these individuals attend the lectures of the pro- 
 fessor, is the most critical period of life ; the only 
 period during which they are under obligation to 
 pay attention to what they hear, or to receive the 
 instruction presented to them. Such being the 
 relation between the services of the two classes, 
 let us see what is the proportion between the 
 amount of reward respectively allotted to each. 
 
 In England, the emoluments of the clergy vary 
 from 20/. to 10,000/. a-year, while those of the 
 professors in the chief seats of education — the 
 universities, are between the twentieth and the 
 hundredth part of the latter sum. In Scotland, the 
 emoluments of the professors differ but little from 
 what they are in England, but the richest ecclesi- 
 astical benefice is scarcely equal to the least pro- 
 ductive professorship. It is thus, says Adam 
 Smith, that " in England the church is continually 
 draining the universities of all their best and 
 ablest members ; and an old college tutor, who is 
 known and distinguished as an eminent man of 
 letters, is rarely to be found," whilst in Scotland 
 the case is exactly the reverse. It is by the in- 
 influence of this circumstance that he explains 
 how academical education is so excellent in the 
 Scottish universities, and, according to him, so 
 defective in those of England.
 
 80 B. 1. ch. X.— proportion as to rewards. 
 
 Between tw^o professions which do not enter 
 into competition with each other (for example, 
 those of opera-dancers and clergymen) a dispro- 
 portion between their emoluments is not attended 
 with such palpable inconveniences ; but when by 
 any circumstance two professions are brought into 
 comparison with each other, the least advantage- 
 ous loses its value by the comparison, and the 
 disproportion presents to the eye of the observer 
 the idea of injustice.
 
 t 81 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 CHOICE AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 In making a proper selection of punishments, 
 much skill is required : comparatively, much less 
 is requisite in the proper selection of rewards. 
 Not only are the species of rewards more limited 
 in number than those of punishments, but the 
 grounds of preference are more easily discover- 
 able, and there are not, as in the case of punish- 
 ments, any passions which tend to mislead the 
 judgment. 
 
 The qualities desirable in rewards are the same 
 as in the case of punishments : we shall enumerate 
 them, and then proceed to point out in what 
 degree they are united in certain modes of remu- 
 neration. 
 
 A reward is best adapted to fulfil the purpose 
 for which it may be designed, when it is — 
 
 1. Variable^ susceptible of increase or diminu- 
 tion in respect of amount, that it may be propor- 
 tioned to the different degrees of service. 
 
 2. Equable, that equal portions may at all times 
 operate with equal force upon all individuals. 
 
 3. Commensurable, with respect to other spe- 
 cies of rewards attached to other services. 
 
 4. Exemplary: its apparent ought not to dif- 
 fer from its real value. This quality is wanting 
 when a large expense is incurred for the pur- 
 pose of reward, without its becoming matter of 
 notoriety. The object aimed at ought to be to 
 
 6
 
 82 B.l. Ch. XI.— CHOICE AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 Strike the attention, and produce a durable im- 
 pression. 
 
 5. Economical. More ought not to be paid for a 
 service than it is worth. This is the rule in every 
 market. 
 
 6. Characteristic : as far as possible analogous to 
 the service. It becomes by this means the more 
 exemplary. 
 
 7. Popular. It ought not to oppose established 
 prejudices. In vain did the Roman emperors 
 bestow honours upon the most odious informers ; 
 they degraded the honours, but the informers were 
 not the less infamous. But it is not enough that 
 it does not oppose the prejudices, it is desirable 
 that every reward should obtain the approbation 
 of the public. 
 
 8. Fructifying: calculated to excite the per- 
 severance of the individual in the career of service, 
 and to supply him with new resources. 
 
 In the selection from among the variety of 
 rewards, of that particular one which most cer- 
 tainly will produce any desired effect, attention 
 must not only be paid to the nature of the service, 
 but also to the particular disposition and character 
 of the individual upon whom it is to operate.* 
 In this respect, public regulations can never attain 
 the perfection of which domestic discipline is sus- 
 ceptible. No sovereign can ever in the same 
 degree be acquainted with the dispositions of his 
 subjects as a father may be with those of his chil- 
 dren ; this disadvantage is however compensated 
 by the larger number of competitors. In a king- 
 dom, every diversity of temperament, and every 
 
 * See Traites de Legislation, torn. 1. ch. ix. Des cir- 
 constances qui influent sur la sensibilite. Or^ Theory of Morals 
 and Legislation, vol. 1, ch. vi.
 
 B.I. Ch. XL— CHOICE AS TO REWARDS. 83 
 
 degree of aptitude may be found united together, 
 and provided the reward be proportionate to the 
 service, it will be of little importance what may be 
 its nature: like the magnet, which out of a hete- 
 rogenous mass attracts and separates the most 
 hidden particles of iron, it will detect the indi- 
 vidual susceptible of its attraction. Besides, the 
 nature of pecuniary reward, which is adapted to 
 the greater proportion of services, is such that 
 every individual may convert it into the species 
 of pleasure which he most prefers. 
 
 To form a judgment of the merits and demerits 
 of pecuniary reward, a glance at the list of desira- 
 ble qualities will suffice. It will at once be seen 
 which of them it possesses and of which it is 
 deficient : it is variable^ equable, and commensura- 
 ble ; it ought to be added, that it is frequently 
 indispensably necessary ; there are many cases in 
 which every other reward separated from this 
 would not only be a burthen, but even a mockery, 
 especially if the performance of the service has 
 been attended with an expense or loss greater than 
 the individual can easily support. 
 
 On the other hand, pecuniary reward is not 
 exempt from disadvantages : speaking generally 
 (for there are many exceptions) it is neither exem- 
 plary, nor characteristic, nor even popular,* When 
 
 * " Alt defaut de n'etre pas dignes de la vertu, les recom- 
 penses pecuniaires joignent celui de n'etre pas assez publiques, 
 de ne pas parler sans cesse aux yeux et aux ccEurs, de dispa- 
 roitre aussitot qu'elles sont accordees, et de ne laisser aucune 
 trace visible qui excite Temulation en perpetuant I'honneur 
 qui doit les accompagner." — Rousseau : Gouvernment de Po- 
 logne, ch. xi. The phrase in italics is one of the too common 
 exaggerations in the writings of Rousseau. It is more striking 
 than just. 
 
 In his letter to the Duke of Wirtemberg upon education, in 
 
 6.
 
 84 B. I. ch. XI.— choice as to rewards. 
 
 allowed to exceed a certain amount, it tends to 
 diminish the activity of the receiver: instead of 
 adding to his inclination to persevere in his ser- 
 vices, it may furnish him with a temptation to 
 discontinue them. The enriched man will be apt 
 to think like the soldier of Lucullus, who became 
 timid so soon as he possessed property to preserve. 
 
 Ibit eo, quo vis^ qui zonam perdidit, inquit. 
 
 HoR. Epist. II. Lib. 2. 
 
 There are also cases in which money, instead 
 of an attractive, may have a repulsive effect; in- 
 stead of operating as a reward, may be considered 
 as an insult, at least by persons who possess any 
 delicacy in their sentiments of honour. A certain 
 degree of skill is therefore required in the applica- 
 tion of money as a reward : it is oftentimes desira- 
 ble that the pecuniary should appear only as an 
 accessary to the honorary, which should be made 
 to constitute the principal part of the rew^ard.* 
 
 Every pecuniary reward maybe, as it were, anni- 
 hilated by its relative smallness. A man of inde- 
 pendent fortune, and of a certain rank in society, 
 would be considered as degraded by accepting a 
 sum that would not degrade a mechanic. There 
 is no rule for deterniining what is permitted or 
 prohibited in this respect : custom has established 
 the prejudice. But the difficulty it presents is 
 
 which he shows that he had reflected much upon the unioa 
 of interest with duty, he says, '' L'argent est un ressort dans 
 la mechanique morale, mais il repousse toujours la main qui le 
 fait agir." Toujours is an exaggeration. 
 
 * Tel donne a pleines mains qui n'oblige personne. 
 La fa9on de donner vaut mieux que ce qu'on donne. 
 
 Le Menteur, Sc^ne 1.
 
 B. I, ch. xr.— choice as to rewards. 85 
 
 not insurmountable. By combining together 
 money and honour, a compound is formed which 
 is universally pleasing: medals, for example, 
 possess this double advantage. By a little art and 
 precaution, a solid peace is established between 
 pride and cupidity ; and thus united, they have both 
 been ranged under the banners of merit. Pride 
 proclaims aloud, — " It is not the intrinsic value of 
 the metal which possesses attractions for me ; it is 
 the circle of glory alone with which it is sur- 
 rounded." Cupidity makes its calculation in si- 
 lence, and accurately estimates the value of the 
 material of the prize. 
 
 By the Society of Arts a still higher degree of 
 perfection has been attained. A choice is com- 
 monly allowed between a sum of money and a 
 medal. Thus all conditions and tastes are satis- 
 fied. The mechanic or peasant pockets the money. 
 The peer or gentleman ornaments his cabinet with 
 a medal. 
 
 The apparent value of medals is in some cases 
 augmented, by rendering the design upon them 
 characteristic of the service on account of which 
 they are bestowed. By the addition of the name 
 of the individual rewarded, an exclusive certificate 
 is made in his favour. The ingenuity displayed 
 in the choice of the design has sometimes been 
 extremely happy. 
 
 A British statute gives to the person who ap- 
 prehends and convicts a highwayman, amongst 
 other rewards, the horse on which the offender 
 Wd.9 mounted when he committed the offence. 
 Possibly the framer of this law may have taken 
 the hint from the passage in Virgil, in which the 
 son of vEneas promises to Nisus, in case of the 
 success of the expedition he was meditating, the 
 very horse and accoutrements which Turn us had
 
 86 B. I. ch. XI.— choice as to rewards. 
 
 been seen to use.* It is equally possible, that 
 the same knowledge of human nature, which sug- 
 gested to the Latin poet the efficacy of such a 
 reward, suggested it at once to the English law- 
 giver. Be this as it may, this provision is com- 
 mendable on three several accounts. In the as- 
 signment of the prize, it pitches upon an object, 
 which, from the nature of the transaction, is likely 
 to make a j)articular impression on the mind of the 
 person whose assistance is required; acting in this 
 respect in conformity to the rule above laid down, 
 which recommends an attention to the circum- 
 stances influencing the sensibility of the person on 
 whom impression is to be made. It also has the 
 advantage of being characteristic as well as exem- 
 plary. The animal, when thus transferred, be- 
 comes a voucher for the activity and prowess of 
 its owner, as well as a trophy of his victory. 
 
 An arrangement like this, simple as it is, or 
 rather because it is so simple, was an extraordinary 
 stretch in British policy; in which, though there 
 is generally a great mixture of good sense, there 
 reigns throughout a kind of littleness and mauvaise 
 honte^ which avoids, with timid caution, everything 
 that is bold, striking, and eccentric, scarce ever 
 hazarding any of those strong and masterly touches, 
 which strike the imagination, and fill the mind with 
 the idea of the sublime. 
 
 Examples of rewards of this nature abound in 
 
 * Vidisti quo Turnus equo, quibus ibat in armis 
 Aureus ; ipsum ilium clypeum, cristasque rubentes 
 Excipiam sorti, jam nunc tua praemia, Nise. 
 
 JEn. ix. 269. 
 
 Thou saw'st the courser by proud Turnus prest .^ 
 
 That Nisus, and his arms and nodding crest 
 
 And shield^ from chance exempt, shall be thy share. 
 
 Dryden's Translation.
 
 B. [. Ch. XI.— choice as to REWARDS. 87 
 
 the Roman system of remuneration. For every 
 species of merit appropriate symbolic crowns were 
 provided. This branch of their administration 
 preserved the ancient simplicity of Rome in its 
 cradle; and the wreath of parsley long eclipsed the 
 splendour of the crowns of gold. 1 was about 
 to speak of their triumphs, but here I am com- 
 pelled to stop: humanity shudders at that pride 
 of conquest, which treads under its feet the van- 
 quished nations. The system of legislation ought 
 no doubt to be adapted to the encouragement of 
 military ardour, but it ought not to fan it into 
 such a flame as to make it the predominant pas- 
 sion of the people, and to prostrate everything 
 before it. 
 
 Honorary rewards are eminently exemplary : 
 they are standing monuments of the service for 
 which they have been bestowed : they also pos- 
 sess the desirable property of operating as a per- 
 petual encouragement to fresh exertions. To dis- 
 grace an honorary reward is to be a traitor to one's 
 self; he that has once been pronounced brave 
 should perpetually merit that commendation. 
 
 To create a reward of this nature is not very 
 difficult. The symbolical language of esteem is, 
 like written language, matter of convention. 
 Every mode of dress, every ceremony, so soon as 
 it is made a mark of pre-eminence, becomes ho- 
 nourable. A branch of laurel, a ribband, a garter, 
 everything possesses the value which is assigned 
 to it. It is however desirable, that these ensigns 
 should possess some emblematic character expres- 
 sive of the nature of the service for which they 
 are bestowed. With reference to this principle, the 
 blazonry of heraldry appears rude and unmeaning. 
 The decorations of the various orders of knight- 
 hood, though not deficient in splendour, are highly
 
 88 B.I. Ch. XL— CHOICE AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 deficient in respect of character : they strike the 
 eye, but they convey no instruction to the mind. 
 A ribband appears more like the finery of a woman 
 than the distinctive decoration of a hero. 
 
 Honorary titles have frequently derived a part 
 of their glory from being characteristic. The 
 place which has been the theatre of his exploits 
 has often furnished a title for a victorious general, 
 well calculated to perpetuate the memory of his 
 services and his glory. At a very early period of 
 their liistory, the Romans employed this expe- 
 dient in addition to the other rewards which they 
 conferred upon the general who completed a con- 
 quest. Hence the surnames of Africanus^ Nu- 
 onidicus, Asiaticus, Germanicus, 2Lnd so many others. 
 This custom has frequently been imitated. Cathe- 
 rine H. revived it in favour of the Romanoffs and 
 Orloffs. Mahon, twice in the eighteenth century, 
 furnished titles to its conquerors. The mansion 
 of Blenheim unites to the eclat of the name a 
 more substantial proof of national gratitude.* 
 
 The Romans occasionally applied the same 
 mode of reward to services of a different descrip- 
 tion. The Appian way perpetually recalled, to 
 the memory of those who journied on it, the libe- 
 rality of Appius.f 
 
 * When after a great naval victory, as an acknowledgment 
 of his services, the freedom of the City of London was pre- 
 sented to Admiral Keppel, in a box of heart of oak of curious 
 workmanship, and enriched with gold, the present was characteris- 
 tic 3inA popular ; allusion being evidently made to the song, which, 
 whoever may have been the Tyrtoeus, has doubtless had, at 
 times, no inconsiderable share in rousing British courage. 
 
 t One of the noblest charitable institutions in London, Guy's 
 Hospital, bears the name of its founder. It is true, it is not 
 done with the intention of conferring a reward j but there are 
 few who, of late years, have travelled in Great Britain, who 
 have not spoken in praise of Mac Adam's systetn of constructing 
 roads.
 
 B. I. Ch. XI.— CHOICE AS TO REWARDS. 89 
 
 The career of legislation may also furnish some 
 instances of honours which possess this character 
 of analogy. In the Digest of the Sardinian Laws, 
 very praiseworthy care was taken to inform the 
 people to which of their sovereigns they were in- 
 debted for each particular law. It is an example 
 worthy of imitation. It may have been intended 
 as a mark of respect, as well for convenience of 
 reference, that it has been customary to designate, 
 by the title of The Grenville Act,, the admirable 
 law which this representative of the people pro- 
 cured to be enacted for the impartial decision of 
 questions relative to contested elections. 
 
 Had the statue of this legislator been placed in 
 the House of Commons, from which he banished 
 a scandalous disorder, it would both have been a 
 monument of gratitude, and a noble lesson. It 
 might have for its companion a statue of his noble 
 rival, the Author of Economical Reform ; it is thus 
 that the impartial judgment of posterity, forgetting 
 the differences which separated them, delights to 
 recollect the excellences which assimilated them 
 to each other. It is thus that it has placed, side 
 by side each other, Eschines and Demosthenes. 
 The more men become enlightened, the more 
 clearly will they perceive the necessity, at least, 
 of dividing honour between those who cause 
 nations to flourish by means of good laws, and 
 those who defend them by their valour. 
 
 Among the most obvious and efficacious means 
 of conferring honorary rewards, are pictures, busts, 
 statues, and other imitative representations of the 
 person meant to be rewarded. These spread his 
 fame to posterity, and, in conjunction with the 
 history of the service, hand down the idea of the 
 person by whom it was rendered. They are 
 naturally accompanied with inscriptions expla-
 
 90 B.I. Ch. XI.— CHOICE AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 natory of the cause for which the honour was 
 decreed. When the art of writing has become 
 common, these inscriptions will frequently give 
 disgust, by the length or extravagance of the elo- 
 gium : and it will then become an object of good 
 taste to say as much in as few words as possible. 
 Perhaps the happiest specimens of the kind that 
 were, or ever will be produced, are the two inscrip- 
 tions placed under the statues of Louis XIV. and 
 Voltaire : the one erected by the town of Mont- 
 pellier, the latter by a society of men of letters, 
 of whom Frederic 111. king of Prussia was one. 
 A Louis XIV. apres sa niort. A Voltaire pendant 
 sa vie: to the king, though no longer the object of 
 hope and fear: to the poet and philosopher, though 
 still the butt of envy. The business on occasions 
 like these is not to inform but to remind: history 
 and the art of printing does the rest. 
 
 The greater number of the rewards of which 
 w^e have spoken above, are occasional^ that is, ap- 
 plied to a particular action. There are others 
 which are more permanent in their character, such 
 as the Hospitals of Chelsea and Greenwich, in 
 England, and Uhotel des Invalides at Paris. 
 
 Doubts have often been entertained of the utility 
 of these establishments. Rewards, it has been 
 said, might be extended to a much greater number 
 of individuals, if the annual amount of the expenses 
 of these places were distributed in the shape of 
 pensions, and that the individuals would thus be 
 rendered much happier; since men who have 
 passed their days of activity, united in a place 
 where they are no longer subject to the cares and 
 labours of life, are exposed to the most ceaseless 
 listlessness. I shall not dispute the truth of these 
 observations, but on the other hand shall examine 
 the effect of these establishments upon the minds
 
 B. I. Ch. XL— CHOICE AS TO REWARDS. 91 
 
 of soldiers and sailors. Their imaginations are 
 flattered by the magnificence of these retreats ; it 
 is a brilliant prospect opened to them all ; an asy- 
 lum is provided for those who, having quitted their 
 country and their families in their youth, have fre- 
 quently in their days of decrepitude and age no 
 other home in the world. Those who are muti- 
 lated or disfigured with wounds, are consoled by 
 the renown which awaits them in the hospital, 
 where every thing reminds them of their exploits. 
 It may also be for the benefit of the service more 
 prudent thus to unite than to disperse them. It is 
 a luxury, but it is rational, exemplary, and pos- 
 sesses a character of justice and magnificence. 
 
 These establishments being necessarily limited 
 in respect to the number which can be admitted 
 into them, may be considered upon the footing of 
 extraordinary rewards, applicable to distinguished 
 services. They would thus constitute a species of 
 nobility for the soldiers and sailors. They would 
 acquire an additional degree of splendour were 
 their walls adorned by the trophies taken in war, 
 which would there appear much more appropriately 
 placed than when deposited in the temples of peace. 
 The decorations of the chapel of U hotel des Inva- 
 Udes are admirable. The flags suspended in the 
 cathedral of St. Paul only awaken thoughts at 
 variance with those of religious worship ; removed 
 to Chelsea or Greenwich, they would be connected 
 with natural associations, and would furnish a text 
 to the commentaries of those who acquired them 
 by their valour. 
 
 It is not often that every desirable quality is seen 
 to be united in one and the same reward ; this 
 union however frequently takes place in an almost 
 imperceptible manner.
 
 ^92 B.I. Ch. XI.— CHOICE AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 ft 
 
 An instance of a reward particularly well adapted 
 to the nature of the service, is that of the monopoly 
 which it is almost universally the custom to create 
 in favour of inventors. From the very nature of 
 the thing, it adapts itself with the utmost nicety to 
 those rules of proportion to which it is most diffi- 
 cult for reward artificially instituted by the legis- 
 lator to conform. It adapts itself with the utmost 
 nicety to the value of the service. If confined, as 
 it ought to be, to the precise point in which the 
 originality of the invention consists, it is conferred 
 with the least possible waste of expense. It causes 
 a service to be rendered, which without it a man 
 would not have a motive for rendering ; and that 
 only by forbidding others from doing that which 
 were it not for that service it would not have been 
 possible for them to have done. Even with regard 
 to such inventions, for such there will be, where 
 others, besides him who possesses himself of the 
 reward, have scent of the invention, it is still of 
 use, by stimulating all parties, and setting them to 
 strive which shall first bring his discovery to bear. 
 With all this it unites every property which can be 
 wished for in a reward. It is variable, equable, 
 commensurable, characteristic, exemplary, frugal, 
 promotive of perseverance, subservient to com- 
 pensation, popular, and revocable. 
 
 C .A. :.> ' • i". .•-^'W^*— *1ikf
 
 [ 93 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PROCEDURE AS TO REWARDS- 
 
 The province of reward is the last aslyum of ar- 
 bitrary power. In the early stages of society, pu- 
 nishments, pardons, and rewards were equally 
 lavished without measure and without necessity. 
 The infliction of punishment has already in mea- 
 sure been subject to regulation ; at some future time 
 rules will be laid down for the granting of pardons, 
 and last of all for the bestowment of rewards. If 
 punishment ought not to be inflicted without for- 
 mal proof of the commission of crime, neither 
 ought reward to be conferred without equally for- 
 mal proof of desert. 
 
 It may be allowed that in point of importance, 
 the difference between the two cases is great : 
 that punishment inflicted without trial excites 
 universal alarm, whilst reward conferred without 
 desert excites no such feelings; but these conside- 
 rations only prove that the advantage of formal 
 procedure in the distribution of reward is limited 
 to the prevention of prodigality, and of the other 
 abuses by which the value of reward is diminished. 
 At Rome, if certain travellers may be believed, 
 it is the custom when a saint is about to be ca- 
 nonized, to allow an advocate, who in familiar 
 language is called the advocate of the devil, to plead 
 against his admission. If this advocate had always 
 been faithful to his client, the calendar might not 
 have been so full as at present.* Be this as it may, 
 
 * '' Pope Urban VIII. having sufTered some ill treatment
 
 94 B. I. ch. XII.— procedure as to rewards. 
 
 the idea itselfis excellent, and might advantageously 
 be borrowed by politics from religion. Ultalico 
 valor non e ancor morlo : there are yet some lessons 
 to be learned in the capital of the world. 
 
 It is reported of Peter the Great, that when he 
 condescended to pass through every gradation of 
 military, rank from the lowest to the highest in his 
 empire, he took no step without producing regu- 
 lar, certificates of his qualifications. We may be 
 allowed to suppose, that even with inferior recom- 
 mendations to those produced by this great prince 
 be would have succeeded. There was no advocate 
 for the devil to contest the point, and even had 
 there been one, his fidelity would have been doubt- 
 ful : but had the qualifications of the Czar been as 
 imperfect as, according to the history, they were 
 complete, his submitting to produce them would 
 have offered a noble lesson. 
 
 In England, when a dormant peerage is claimed 
 by any individual, the Attorney-general is consti- 
 tuted the advocate for the devil, and charged to 
 examine into and produce every thing which can 
 invalidate his title. Wherefore is he not thus em- 
 ployed when it is proposed to create new peers ? 
 Why should he not be allowed to urge every thing 
 which can be said against the measure ? Is it feared 
 that he would be too often successful ?* 
 
 from a certain noble Roman family, said to his friends, Questa 
 gente e molto ingrata, lo ho bealificato uno de loro parenti, che non 
 lo meritava." — Jortin's Miscellanies. 
 
 * If the peers are interested in not suffering the value of 
 their office to be lessened by sharing it with unintitled persons, 
 the public have a more important interest in preventing pro- 
 fusion, with respect to this modification of the matter of re- 
 ward — in preventing the bestowment of a portion of the 
 sovereign power upon persons who have not purchased such a 
 trust by any service. But if merit is not to be regarded, and 
 there are political reasons for preserving this prerogative tin-
 
 B.I. Ch. XII.— PROCEDURE AS TO REWARDS. 95 
 
 In the distribution of rewards, were it always 
 necessary publicly to assign the reason for their 
 bestowment, a restraint would be imposed upon 
 princes and their ministers, to which they are 
 unwilling to submit. There formerly existed in 
 Sweden a custom or positive law, obliging the king 
 to insert in the patent conferring a pension or title, 
 the reason for the grant. In 1774 this custom 
 was abolished by an express law inserted in the 
 Gazette of that court, declaring that the individuals 
 honoured by the bounty of theking, should be con- 
 sidered as indebted to his favour alone. Did this 
 monarch think that he stood in need of services 
 which he would not dare publicly to acknow- 
 ledge ?* 
 
 In England, the remuneratory branch of arbi- 
 
 controuled, the subject assumes another aspect, and its exa- 
 mination here would be out of place. 
 
 * Extract from the Courier of the Lower Rhine, 5th March 
 1774. — " Stockholm, 11th February. — It was formerly the 
 custom when the king elevated any one to the rank of nobility, 
 or conferred on hira the title of baron, to insert in the diploma 
 the circumstances by which he had merited this distinction. 
 But upon a late occasion, when his majesty ennobled M. de 
 Geer, chamberlain of the court, he requested that the kind- 
 ness and good pleasure of the king might be inserted in his di- 
 ploma as the only reason for his elevation. His majesty not 
 only complied, but directed that the Chancery should thence- 
 forward follow this rule, as was anciently the practice under 
 the sovereigns of the family of Vasa, till the reign of Christina." 
 
 J have not seen any of these ancient diplomas of Swedish 
 nobility, and I know not whether the facts they exhibited as 
 the reasons operating upon the Sovereign were specific and 
 detailed ; but whatever was the nature of this certificate, it 
 served as a token of respect to public opinion, and a means of 
 preserving undiminished the value of titles of nobility. This 
 usurpation was scarcely noticed amidst the great revolution 
 which the king had just accomplished. In the career of arbi- 
 trary power, there are open conquests and clandestine acquisi- 
 tions.
 
 96 B.I. ch. XII.— procedure as to rewards. 
 
 trary power has begun^to be pruned. Except in 
 particular cases, the king is not allowed to grant a 
 pension exceeding 300/. per annum, without the 
 consent of parliament. Since the passing of the 
 act containing this restriction, the candidates for 
 pensions have been but few. 
 
 When M. Necker undertook the administration 
 of the finances in France, the total of the acknow- 
 ledged pensions, without reckoning the secret gra- 
 tuities, which were very considerable, amounted 
 to 27 millions of livres. In England, where the 
 national wealth was not less than in France, the 
 pensions did not amount to the tenth part of this 
 sum. It is thus that the difference between a li- 
 mited and an absolute monarchy may be exhibited, 
 even in fissures. 
 
 In Ireland, the king upon his sole authority, in 
 1783, created an order of knighthood ; thus pro- 
 fiting by what remained of the fragments of arbitrary 
 power. No blame was imputed to him for esta- 
 blishing this tax upon honour : had he levied a tax 
 upon property the nation might not have been so 
 tractable. Those who hoped to share in the new 
 treasure were careful nottoraisean outcry againstits 
 establishment ; those at whose expense this treasure 
 was established, did not understand this piece of 
 finesse ; they opened their eyes widely, but com- 
 prehended nothing. The measure could not have 
 been better justified by circumstances. Every day 
 the crown found itself stripped of some prerogative, 
 justly or unjustly the subject of envy. It was 
 therefore high time to avail itself of the small num- 
 ber of those, in the exercise of which it was still 
 tolerated. Become independent of Great Britain, 
 the honour of the Irish nation seemed to require 
 a decoration of this kind. For what is a kingdom 
 without an order of knighthood ?
 
 B. I. Ch. XII.-PROCEDURE AS TO REWARDS. 97 
 
 To enter into the consideration of the details re- 
 quisite for the establishment of a system of remu- 
 neratory procedure, comes not within the present 
 part of our design : a very slight sketch ofthelead- 
 ing principles on which it might be grounded, is 
 the utmost that can here be given. The general 
 idea would of course be taken from the system es- 
 tablished in penal and civil cases. Between these 
 systems, the most striking difference would, how- 
 ever, arise from the interest and wishes of the agent 
 whose act might be the subject of investigation, 
 with respect to the publicity of the act. In the 
 one case the consequences of such his act, in case 
 it were proved, being pernicious to him, all his 
 endeavour would be to keep it concealed : in the 
 other, these consequences being beneficial, his en- 
 deavour would be to place it in the most conspi- 
 cuous light imaginable. In the first case, his en- 
 deavours would be to delay the process and, if pos- 
 sible, make it void : in the latter, to expedite it and 
 keep it valid. 
 
 The most striking point of co-incidence is the 
 occasion there is in both cases for two parties. In 
 the civil branch, there can hardly be a deficiency 
 in this respect ; there being commonly two indivi- 
 duals whose interests are opposite, and known and 
 felt to be so. But in the penal branch, in one very 
 large division of it, there is naturally no such 
 opposition ; I mean in that which concerns of- 
 fences against the public only : here, therefore, the 
 law has been obliged to create such an opposition, 
 and has accordingly created it by the establishment 
 of a public prosecutor. In the remuneratory branch 
 of procedure, there is a similar absence of natural 
 opposition, and accordingly the grand desideratum 
 is the appointment of an officer whose business it 
 should be to contest on the part of the public, the 
 title to whatever reward is proposed to be granted in 
 
 7
 
 98 B.I. Ch. XII.— PROCEDURE AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 this way. He might be entitled, for shortness, by 
 some such name as that of Contestor-general. 
 Without a Prosecutor-general, in the large and 
 important division of cases above mentioned, there 
 would not, unless by accident — I mean, when an 
 individual is engaged in the task of prosecution 
 by public spirit, or what is much more natural, 
 by private pique — be any suit instituted, any 
 punishment inflicted. For want of a Contestor- 
 general there is not, unless by a similar accident,* 
 any check given to the injustice of unmerited 
 remuneration. 
 
 Upon the whole then, the penal and civil 
 branches of procedure, but particularly the penal, 
 may in all cases serve either as the models, or if 
 the term may be admitted, as the anti-models of 
 the remuneratory branch of procedure. 
 
 * I say by accident : for as in the case of offences against the 
 public merely, accident will sometimes raise up a private pro- 
 secutor in the person of a chance individual, so in matters of 
 remunerative procedure, will accident sometimes raise up a 
 contestor in tlie person of some member of the body by whose 
 appointment the reward is bestowed. This supposes that the 
 reward is to be in the appointment of a body ; so that if it be 
 at the appointment of a single person, the chance of contesta- 
 tion is altogether wanting. This chance will of course be the 
 greater, the more numerous that body : but if the body be very 
 small, especially if it be composed without any mixture of dif- 
 ferent interests and partialities, and its deliberations held in 
 secret, it will amount to nothing. If the business be confined 
 to three, or four, or half a dozen who are intimately connected, 
 the bargain is soon made: ''you serve my friend, I serve 
 yours.'' Even be the assembly ever so numerous, the chance 
 of contestation is but a precarious one. The task is at any 
 rate an invidious task : he must be a man of more than com- 
 mon public spirit, added to more than common courage, who 
 unprompted by party jealousy and uncompclled by office, will 
 undertake it : nor have instances been wanting when the most 
 numerous and discordant assemblies have concurred unani- 
 mously in the vote of rewards, which the majority have been 
 known individually to disappro^ e.
 
 [ 99 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 REWARDS TO INFORMERS. 
 
 The execution of a law cannot be enforced, 
 unless the violation of it be denounced ; the 
 assistance of the informer is, therefore, altogether 
 as necessary and as meritorious as that of the 
 judge. 
 
 We have alreadv had occasion to remark, that 
 with respect to public offences, where no one 
 individual more than another is interested in their 
 prosecution, it has been found necessary to create 
 a sort of magistrate, an accuser-general, to carry 
 on such prosecutions in virtue of his office ; but 
 it is indispensably necessary that offences should 
 be denounced to him before he can begin to act. 
 
 In a well-ordered community, it would be the 
 duty of every individual possessing evidence of 
 the commission of a crime, to denounce the cri- 
 minal to the tribunals, and such individual would 
 be disposed so to do. In most countries, however, 
 men in general are desirous of withdrawing from 
 the performance of this duty. Some refuse to 
 perform it from mistaken notions of pity towards 
 the delinquent ; others because they disapprove of 
 some part of the law ; others from the fear of 
 making enemies ; many from indolence ; almost all 
 from a disinclination to submit to that loss which 
 would arise from the interruption of their ordinary 
 occupations. 
 
 In these countries, therefore, it has been found 
 necessary to offer pecuniary rewards to informers. 
 
 So far as my knowledge extends, governments 
 
 7.
 
 100 B.I. Ch. XIII.— rewards to informers. 
 
 have never been advised to discontinue this 
 tice. It is supported by authority, but it is 
 condemned by public opinion : mercenary infor- 
 mations are considered disgraceful ; salaried in- 
 formers, odious. From hence it results, that the 
 reward offered by the law does not possess all its 
 nominal value ; the disgrace attached to the ser- 
 vice is a drawback upon its amount. The indi- 
 vidual is rewarded by the state, and punished by 
 the moral sanction. 
 
 Let us examine the usual objections made 
 against mercenary informations. 
 
 1. It is odious, it is said, toprojit hy the evil we 
 have caused to others. 
 
 This objection is founded upon a feeling of im- 
 proper commiseration for the offender; since pity 
 towards the guilty is cruelty towards the innocent. 
 The reward paid to the informer has for its object, 
 the service he has performed ; in this respect he is 
 upon a level with the judge who is paid for passing 
 sentence. The informer is a servant of the govern- 
 ment, employed in opposing the internal enemies 
 of the state, as the soldier is a servant employed in 
 opposing its external foes. 
 
 2. It introduces into society a system of espionage. 
 To the word espionage a stigma is attached : let 
 
 us substitute the word inspection, which is uncon- 
 nected with the same prejudices. If this inspec- 
 tion consist in the maintenance of an oppressive 
 system of police, which subjects innocent actions 
 to punishment, which condemns secretly and arbi- 
 trarily, it is natural that such a system and its 
 agents should become odious. But if this inspec- 
 tion consist in the maintenance of a system of 
 police, for the preservation of the public tranquil- 
 lity, and the execution of good laws, all its inspec- 
 tors, and all its guardians, act a useful and salu-
 
 B.I. Ch. XIII.— REWARDS TO INFORMERS. 101 
 
 tary part; it is the vicious only who will have 
 reason to complain ; it will be formidable to them 
 alone. 
 
 3. Pecuniary rewards may induce false witnesses 
 to conspire against the innocejit. 
 
 It' we suppose a public and well-organised sys- 
 tem of procedure, in which the innocent are not 
 deprived of any means of defence, the danger 
 resulting from conspiracy will appear but small. 
 Besides the prodigious difficulty of inventing a 
 coherent tale capable of enduring a rigorous exa- 
 mination, there is no comparison between the 
 reward offered by the law, and the risk to 
 which false witnesses are exposed. Mercenary 
 witnesses also are exactly those who excite the 
 greatest distrust in the mind of a judge, and if 
 they are the only witnesses, a suspicion of con- 
 spiracy instantly presents itself, and becomes a 
 protection to the accused. 
 
 These objections are urged in justification of the 
 prejudice which exists; but the prejudice itself 
 has been produced by other causes, and those 
 causes are specious. The first, with respect to 
 the educated classes of society, is a prejudice 
 drawn from history, especially from that of the 
 Roman emperors. The word informer at once 
 recals to the mind those detestable miscreants, the 
 horror of all ages, whom even the pencil of Tacitus 
 has failed to cover with all the ignominy they 
 deserve : but these informers were not the execu- 
 tors of the law: they were the executors of the 
 personal and lawless vengeance of the sovereign. 
 
 The second and most general cause of this pre- 
 judice is founded upon the employment given to 
 informers by religious intolerance. In the ages of 
 ignorance and bigotry, barbarous laws having been 
 enacted against those who did not profess the do-
 
 102 B.l. CH.XllI.— REWARDS TO INFORMERS. 
 
 minant religion, informers were then considered as 
 zealous and orthodox believers ; but in proportion 
 to the increase of knowledge, the manners of men 
 have been softened, and these laws having become 
 odious, the informers, without whose services they 
 would have fallen into disuse, partook of the hatred 
 which the laws themselves inspired. It was an 
 injustice in respect to them, but a salutary effect 
 resulted from it, to the classes exposed to op- 
 pression. 
 
 These cases of tyranny excepted, the prejudice 
 which condemns mercenary informers is an evil. 
 It is a consequence of the inattention of the public 
 to their true interests, and of the general ignorance 
 in matters of legislation. Instead of acting in con- 
 sonance with the dictates of the principle of utility, 
 people in general have blindly abandoned them- 
 selves to the guidance of sympathy and antipathy : 
 of sympathy in favour of those who injure ; of an- 
 tipathy to those who render them essential service. 
 If an informer deserves to be hated, a judge de- 
 serves to be abhorred. 
 
 This prejudice also partly springs from a confu- 
 sion of ideas : no distinction is made between the 
 judicial and the private informer, between the man 
 who denounces a crime in a court of justice, and he 
 who secretly insinuates accusations against his 
 enemies ; between the man who affords to the ac- 
 cused an opportunity of defending himself, and he 
 who imposes the condition of silence with respect 
 to his perfidious reports. Clandestine accusations 
 are justly considered as the bane of society ; they 
 destroy confidence, and produce irremediable evils; 
 but they have nothing in common with judicial 
 accusations. 
 
 It is extremely difficult to eradicate prejudices 
 so deeply rooted and natural. From necessity, the
 
 B.I. Cii. XIII.— REWARDS TO INFORMERS. 103 
 
 practice of paying public informers continues to be 
 in use ; but the character of an informer is still re- 
 garded as disgraceful, and by some strange fatality 
 the judges make no efforts to enlighten the public 
 mind on this subject, and to protect this useful and 
 even necessary class of men from the rigour of 
 public opinion ; they ought not to suffer the elo- 
 quence of the bar to insult before their faces these 
 necessary assistants in the administration of justice. 
 The conduct of the English law towards informers 
 furnishes a curious but deplorable instance of hu- 
 man frailty. It employs them, oftentimes deceives 
 them, and always holds them up to contempt. 
 
 It is time for lawgivers at least, to wean them- 
 selves from these school -boy prejudices, which 
 can consist only with a gross inattention to the in- 
 terests of the public, joined to a gross ignorance of 
 the principles of human nature. They should 
 settle with themselves once for all what it is they 
 would have : they should strike, somehow or other, 
 a balance between the benefit expected from the 
 effects of a lavv, and the inconveniences, or sup- 
 posed inconveniences, inseparable from its execu- 
 tion. If the inconveniences preponderate, let there 
 be an end of the law ; if the benefits, let there be 
 an end of all obstacles which an aversion to the 
 necessary instruments on which its efficacy de- 
 pends would oppose to its execution.
 
 [ 104 ] 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 REWARDS TO ACCOMPLICES. 
 
 Among informers, criminals who denounce their 
 accomplices have been distinguished from others, 
 and the offer of pardon or rewards to induce them 
 thus to act, has been condemned as altogether im- 
 proper. It must be acknowledged that, so long as 
 there is any other means of obtaining the con- 
 viction of a criminal, without thus rewarding an 
 accomplice, this method is bad ; the impunity 
 necessarily accompanying it is an evil. But if 
 there be no other means, this method is good ; since 
 the impunity of a single criminal is a less evil than 
 the impunity of many. 
 
 In relation, however, to weighty and serious 
 crimes, no such rewards can with propriety be ap- 
 pointed by a general law. A general law offering 
 pardon and reward to the criminal who informed 
 against his accomplices, would be an invitation to 
 the commission of all sorts of crimes. It would be 
 as though the legislator had said, " Among a mul- 
 titude of criminals, the most wicked shall not only 
 be unpunished but rewarded." A man shall lay 
 plans for the commission of a crime, shall engage 
 accomplices with the intention of betraying them ; 
 to the natural profits of the crime, such a law 
 would add the reward bestowed upon him as an 
 informer. It is what has often happened under 
 English law. It is one of the fruits of the maxim 
 which prohibits the examination of suspected per- 
 sons, respecting facts which may tend to criminate 
 themselves. It is, however, criminals who can
 
 B. I. Cii. XIV.— REWARDS TO ACCOMPLICES. 105 
 
 always furnish, and who often can alone furnish, the 
 light necessary for the guidance of Justice. J3ut 
 the examination of suspected persons being forbid- 
 den as a means of obtaining intelligence, there re- 
 mains only the method of reward. 
 
 But when the reward, instead of being bestowed 
 in virtue of a general law, is left to the discretion 
 of the judge, and offered only when necessary, this 
 inconvenience does not exist. Advantageouscrimes 
 can no longer be committed with security. Re- 
 course being had to this costly method only when 
 all other methods fail, there will always be a longer 
 or shorter interval, during which every criminal 
 will feel himself exposed to the punishment de- 
 nounced against his crimes. The employment of 
 reward in this manner having become usual, will 
 exercise upon the security of criminals the effect 
 of a general law : it might even be prescribed by 
 such a law. This method would then possess all 
 the advantages of an unconditional law without its 
 inconveniences. 
 
 Beccaria has condemned, without exception, 
 every reward offered to accomplices. As the foun- 
 dation of his opinion, he produces only a confused 
 sentiment of disapprobation attached to the words 
 " treason and faithlessness. '^ 
 
 Voluntary conventions among men are generally 
 useful to society. It would be in most cases pro- 
 ductive of evil were they not considered bind- 
 ing. Infamy has therefore become constantly at- 
 tached to the terms treason and faithlessness. The 
 acts, however, to which these terms are applied are 
 only pernicious in as far as the contracts of which 
 they are violations are at least innocent. To render 
 the security of society (which crimes, were they to 
 remain unpunished, would destroy) subordinate to 
 the accomplishment of all manner of engagements,
 
 106 B. I. ch. XIV.— rewards to accomplices. 
 
 would be to render the end subordinate to the 
 means. What would become of society, were it 
 once established as a principle, that the commis- 
 sion of a crime became a duty if once it had been 
 promised ? That promises ought to be performed, 
 is a maxim which without a limitation, excepting 
 those the performance of which would be pernici- 
 ous to society, ought to have place neither in laws 
 nor in morals : it is doubtful which would be most 
 injurious ; the non-performance of every promise, 
 or the performance of all. Far from beinga greater 
 evil than that to which it is opposed, it v/ould be 
 difficult to shew that the non-performance of cri- 
 minal engagements isproductiveof any evil. From 
 the performance of such an engagement, an un- 
 favourable judgment only can be formed of the 
 character of the party : how can a similar judgment 
 be formed from its violation ? — Because he has 
 repented of having committed, or been willing to 
 commit, an action injurious to society, and which he 
 knew to be so, does it follow that he will fail to 
 perform actions which he knows to be innocent and 
 useful ? 
 
 From the violation of engagements among crimi- 
 nals, what evil can be apprehended ? — that unani- 
 mity shall be wanting among them ? — that their 
 enterprizes shall be unsuccessful ? — that their asso- 
 ciations shall be dissolved ? It is proverbially said 
 " there is honour among theives." The honour 
 which cements their conspiracies is the pest of 
 society. Why should we not seek to inspire them 
 with the highest degree of distrust towards each 
 other ? Why should we not arm them against each 
 other, and make them fear lest they should find an 
 informer in every accomplice ? Wherefore should 
 we not seek to fill them with a desire to inform 
 against and mutually to destroy each other ? So that
 
 B. I. Ch. XIV.— REWARDS TO ACCOMPLICES. 107 
 
 each one uneasy and trembling in the midst of his 
 fellows, should fear his companions as much as his 
 judges, nor be able to hope for security but in the 
 renunciation of his crimes. This is exactly what 
 the consideration of the public welfare would lead 
 us to wish ; and if we are to be turned aside from 
 the care of this object by regard to the fidelity of 
 thieves and murderers to their engagements, for a 
 still stronger reason, from humanity, ought we to 
 abstain from punishing their crimes. 
 
 Beccaria, upon just ground, condemns the sove- 
 reigns and judges, who after having enticed an 
 offender to become an informer, afterwards violate 
 their promise and render it illusory. In this case 
 we need not fear to give vent to the feelings of hor- 
 ror and indignation which so mischievous a pro- 
 ceeding inspires. It is mischievous in the highest 
 possible degree. It destroys all future confidence 
 in similar offers, and renders powerless this most 
 necessary instrument. It cements, instead of weak- 
 ening, the union of criminals among themselves; 
 and causes government itself to appear as the guar- 
 dian of their society, by adding mockery to the 
 rigour of the law, by punishing the individual who 
 has confided in its promises. 
 
 But, says Beccaria, " Societi/ authorizes treason., 
 detested even hy critninals among themselves,^' We 
 have already seen what is to be understood by this 
 treason. It is natural to criminals to detest it — it 
 is their ruin : it ought to be approved by honest 
 men — it is their safearuard. It loitl introduce crimes 
 of cowardice and baseness. No, it will introduce 
 acts of prudence, of penitence, and of public util- 
 ity ; it will operate as an antidote to all crimes. 
 These pretended crimes of cowardice are more in- 
 jurious to a nation than the crimes of courage. The
 
 108 B. I. ch. XIV.— rewards to accomplices. 
 
 truth is exactly the reverse: which produce most 
 alarm in society, privately stealing and swindling 
 on the one side, or highway robJDery and murder 
 on the other ? The tribunal ichich employs this ex- 
 pedient^ discovers its uncertainty. It discovers that 
 it can know nothing without having learnt it. By 
 what means can a judge attain to certainty without 
 witnesses? In what country is it customary for 
 criminals to make the judges the confidants of their 
 misdeeds and their plans ? The law exhibits its 
 feebleness in imploring the assistance even of him who 
 has broke?! it. The law seeks the offender who flies 
 from it: if the means employed for his discovery 
 are effectual, it only exhibits its wisdom. 
 
 But if rewards are to be bestowed upon criminals 
 who denounce their accomplices, Beccaria desires 
 that it may be in virtue of " a general law, which 
 should promise impunity to every accomplice who 
 discovers a crime, rather than by a particular de- 
 claration in each particular case." The reason he 
 assigns is, that " such a law would prevent the 
 combination of malefactors, by inspiring each of 
 them with the fear of exposing himself alone to 
 danger, and that it would not serve to give that 
 boldness to the wicked who see that there are some 
 cases in which their services are required." But 
 we have already observed that the particular decla- 
 ration equally serves to prevent this combination, 
 and that it is the general law which tends to give 
 boldness to the wicked, and even creates the belief 
 that justice cannot be executed without them. 
 
 " A law of this nature," adds Beccaria, " ought 
 to join to impunity the banishment of the infor- 
 mer." A condition of this nature could only serve 
 to render the law inefficacious in a variety of cases, 
 and also contains a contradiction in terms. A law
 
 B. I. Ch. XIV.— rewards to ACCOMPLICES. 109 
 
 joining banishment to impunity ! Is not banish- 
 ment a punishment ?* 
 
 * To the edition of Beccaria published at Paris in 1797, are 
 added some notes by Diderot, unfortunately they are short and 
 few. I translate those which relate to the present chapter. 
 
 "The errors of courts of justice and the feebleness of the 
 law, even when crimes are known to have been committed, are 
 matters of public notoriety. It is in vain to endeavour to con- 
 ceal them, there is nothing therefore to counterbalance the 
 advantage of disseminating distrust among malefactors, and 
 rendering them suspected and formidable to one another, and 
 the causing them without ceasing to dread in their accomplices 
 so many accusers. This can only tend to make the wicked 
 cowards, and every thing which renders them less daring is 
 useful." 
 
 " The delicacy of the author exhibits a noble and generous 
 heart : but human morality, of which laws form the basis, is 
 directed to the maintenance of public order, and cannot admit 
 among the number of its virtues the fidelity of malefactors 
 among themselves, that they may disturb that order, and violate 
 the laws with greater security. In open war, deserters are re- 
 ceived, with greater reason ought they to be received in a war 
 carried on amidst silence and darkness, and whose operations 
 consist of snares and treachery."
 
 [ 110 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 COMPETITION AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 When a portion of the matter of reward is 
 allotted for the purchase of services, ought the 
 liberty of competition to be admitted ? In any and 
 what cases ? What is the general rule, and what 
 are the exceptions ? In the case of what species 
 of service ? For what species of reward ? 
 
 If popular opinion is to determine, the question 
 concerning the general rule is already answered. 
 In all cases in which no particular reason can be 
 given to the contrary, the liberty of competition 
 ought to be admitted upon the largest scale. Yet 
 to this decision of the public, the practice of na- 
 tions, that is of those who bear the sway in nations, 
 is by no means uniformly conformable; there are 
 privileges and there are exclusions: pursuits open 
 to one set, closed to another set of men : all go- 
 vernments have been more or less infected with 
 that intermeddling disposition, which believes it 
 can give perfection to particular species of service, 
 by appropriating its exercise exclusively to particu- 
 lar individuals. 
 
 That there may be cases fit to be excepted out of 
 the above general rule, is allowed ; but before we 
 come to the consideration of the exceptions, let us 
 see how the matter stands upon principle — whether 
 the people are most right or their rulers. 
 
 And in the first place, by way of illustration, let 
 us stop a moment to examine the connexion there 
 is upon this occasion between reward and punish- 
 ment. Let us suppose, apprehensions are enter- 
 tained of the prevalence of murder and incen-
 
 B.I. Ch.XV.— COiVIPETITION AS TO REWARDS. HI 
 
 diarism. Against a particular person the suspicions 
 are stronger than against any one else. There is 
 as yet no law against either of those offences. The 
 sovereign, intending to do his utmost to guard 
 the state against those calamities, sends for the sus- 
 pected person, and prohibits him from committing 
 any such crimes, under such penalties as he thinks 
 proper : for the suspected person, observe, and for 
 him only ; there being as yet no general law pro- 
 hibiting such enormities, and everybody else being 
 left at perfect liberty. If it were possible that any 
 such incident could have happened within time of 
 history,shouid notwe pronounce atonce,thateither 
 the nation could not yet have emerged from a state 
 of the profoundest barbarism, or else that the 
 sovereign so acting could not have been in his right 
 mind ? Such however is the exact counterpart of 
 the policy of him, who wanting a service to be 
 performed of such a nature as that, for aught he can 
 be certain, there are several competent to perform 
 it, some better than others, and each man according 
 to the motives thatare given him better than himself, 
 commits the business to one in exclusion of the rest. 
 
 If penal laws must be applicable to all, that there 
 may be a chance of preventing all offences, the 
 offer of reward ought to be general, that there may 
 be a chance of obtaining all services, and of obtain- 
 ing the best. 
 
 If we enquire in detail for the reasons why com- 
 petition for reward, and for everything else which 
 can be bestowed in the way of producing service, 
 should be as open and as free as possible, the 
 question may be considered in two points of view : 
 first, as it concerns the interests of those for whose 
 sake the service wanted is to be performed ; 
 secondly, as it concerns the interests of those by 
 whom the service might come to be performed.
 
 112 B. I. ch. XV.— competition as to rewards. 
 
 With regard to the former set of interests; it 
 has already been observed,* as a reason for the em- 
 ployment of reward, as a fitter instrument than pu- 
 nishment, for attaining a given degree of excellence, 
 the idea of which has already been conceived by 
 the person who wishes it to be attained, — that the 
 chance is greater when reward is employed as the 
 incitement, than when use is made of punishment ; 
 because, punishment can only operate upon a few 
 selected individuals, and should they be unequal 
 to the task, would be altogether employed in vain. 
 Whatever number you select, you forego all the 
 chance which you might have of the service being 
 performed by any one else. The case is equally 
 the same when rewards are offerred to a selected 
 few. Allowing the liberty of competition, you 
 may propose rewards to any number without ex- 
 pense : you pay it but to one : you do not pay it 
 till the service is performed : and the chance of its 
 being performed is in proportion to the number of 
 persons to whom it is proposed. 
 
 Another advantage which reward has over pu- 
 nishment, as we have seen, is, that by means of the 
 former the value of the service may be brought to 
 an indefinitely high degree of perfection. But this 
 can only be effected by means of a free competition. 
 In this way, and this only, can individuals be led to 
 exert their faculties. Were the reward proposed to 
 one only, having rendered the degree of service suf- 
 ficient to entitle him to the reward, he would stop 
 there : to make the exertions necessary to carry it to 
 any higher degree of perfection would be to trouble 
 himself to no purpose. But let a reward be offered 
 to that one of two competitors, for example, who 
 best performs the service : unless either of them 
 
 * Book 1, ch. vii. p. 51.
 
 B.I. Ch. XV.— competition AS TO REWARDS. 113 
 
 knows exactly the degree of skill possessed by the 
 other, and knows it to be clearly interior to his own ; 
 each will exert himself to his utmost, since the 
 more perfect he makes his work, the better chance 
 has he of gaining the reward.. The matter is so 
 ordered, that for every part of the greatest degree of 
 service he can possibly find means to render, there 
 will be a motive to induce him to render it. The 
 same reasoning may be applied to any other num- 
 ber of competitors; and the chance of perfection 
 will be increased, if the faculties of the competitors 
 are equal in proportion to their number. 
 
 Should he who has the disposal of the reward 
 assert, " I am acquainted with an individual more 
 competent than any other to perform the service in 
 question, and with whom no one can be placed in 
 competition," his assertion is exposed to this 
 dilemma : upon a fair trial of skill, either this 
 person will stand first, or he will not; if he stand 
 first, the competition is not to his prejudice, but 
 redounds to his honour; if another excel him, the 
 advantage of a free competition is proved. Par- 
 tiality is either mischievous or unnecessary. 
 
 We next consider the question as it affects the 
 interest of those who might be admitted as com- 
 petitors. 
 
 Reward in its own nature is a good ; all com- 
 petitors think so, and that a balance of good remains 
 even after deducting the evil of that labour, what- 
 ever it be, which is expended in the performance 
 of the service, or they would not be competitors. 
 He who has the disposal of the reward thinks so, 
 or he would neither offer it, or be so anxious as he 
 sometimes istosecureitfor those to whom he wishes 
 to give a preference. But when there is no special 
 reason to the contrary, why should not all the 
 members of a state have a chance of obtaining the 
 
 8
 
 114 B.I. Ch. XV.— COMPETITION AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 goods to be distributed in that state ? To exclude 
 any man from any chance he might have of better- 
 ing himself, is at best a hardship; if no special rea- 
 son can be given for it, it is injustice, and one of 
 those species of injustice, which, if administered on 
 pretence of delinquency, would openly bear the 
 name of punishment. 
 
 It may be objected, that if a free competition 
 were allowed, that " the number of competitors 
 would be very great, while the reward being con- 
 fined to one or to a very small number, one only 
 will be paid for his labour ; the lot of the rest 
 would be lost labour and disappointment ; that the 
 public would be losers, by their labours being di- 
 verted from services of greater utility, and that the 
 service would, without this competition, be per- 
 formed in a sufficient degree of perfection, or if 
 performed in any higher degree would be of no 
 further use." 
 
 The following considerations may serve as a 
 reply to these objections. Where there is nothing 
 more than the mere loss of labour to those who can 
 afford to lose it, or of anything else to those who 
 can afford to part with it, the possible amount of 
 mischief, be it what it may, can afford no sufficient 
 reason for narrowing competition. If there be the 
 pain of disappointment after trial, there has been 
 the pleasure of expectation before trial ; and the 
 latter, there is reason to believe, is upon an average 
 much greater than the former. The pleasure is of 
 longer continuance ; it fills a larger space in the 
 mind ; and the larger, the longer it continues. The 
 pain of disappointment comes on in a moment, and 
 gives place to the first dawning of a new hope, or 
 is driven out by other cares. If it be true, that the 
 principal part of happiness consists in hope, and 
 that but few of our hopes are completely realized,
 
 B. I. Ch. XV.— COMPETITION AS TO REWARDS. 115 
 
 it would be necessary, that men might be saved 
 from disappointment, to shut them out from joy. 
 
 It may further be observed, that the liberty of 
 competition seldom includes so many, as if con- 
 sidered with regard to the particular nature of the 
 service it would seem to include. Where it is not 
 restrained by institution, it is often restrained by 
 nature, and that sometimes within very narrow 
 bounds. Services depending on opportunity, are 
 confined to those to whom fortune shall have given 
 the opportunity ; services depending on science or 
 on art, are confined to those whom education and 
 practice have familiarised with the science or the 
 art; services depending on station, are confined to 
 one, or to the few, if there be more than one, who 
 at the time in question are invested with that sta- 
 tion. Thus the objection derived from the too 
 great number of competitors is almost always with- 
 out foundation. 
 
 It also often happens that, independently of the 
 reward given to the successful candidate, the ser- 
 vice even of the unsuccessful pays itself. This is 
 more particularly apt to be the case with regard to 
 services of indefinite excellence which depend on 
 skill. Some develop their talents; others obtain 
 notoriety; one discourse obtains the reward; 
 twenty candidates have improved their minds in 
 endeavouring to obtain it. The athletic exercises 
 which on such a vast variety of occasions were ce- 
 lebrated throughout ancient Greece seem to have 
 been open to all comers : it was but one at each 
 game that could obtain the prize ; but even the un- 
 successful combatants found a sort of subordinate 
 advantage in the reputation of having contended, 
 and the advances made by them in those energies, 
 which at that time of day gave distinguished lustre 
 to every one who excelled in them. 
 
 8.
 
 116 B. I. Cii. XV.— COMPETITION AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 It may even happen, that the service of the suc- 
 cessful shall be no object, and that the services 
 looked to on the part of him who institutes the re- 
 ward shall be those which are performed by the 
 unsuccessful. The Grecian games just mentioned 
 may be taken as an example. The strength of the 
 successful combatant was no sensible advantage to 
 the country : the object aimed at was the encou- 
 ragement of personal prowess and skill. In this 
 country, the prizes given at horse races have a si- 
 milar sort of object. From the few horses who win, 
 the public may reap no particular advantage ; but 
 the horses which are beaten or never contend for 
 the prize, are improved by the emulation to which 
 it has given birth. 
 
 By the English Government, very ample rewards 
 are offered to him who shall discover the most per- 
 fect and practicable mode of ascertaining a ship^s 
 longitude at sea. One effect of this reward is to 
 divert from their employments a multitude of artists 
 and students in various branches of physical sci- 
 ence, of whom a few only can have any recom- 
 pence for their expense and labour. 1 o pay all 
 that would try might probably be impracticable ; 
 but the benefit of the service appears to counter- 
 balance this inconvenience; and in point of fact, 
 the persons who can suppose themselves qualified 
 to contend in such a race are so few, that this in- 
 convenience can scarcely be very considerable. 
 Were the same reward to be given for running, 
 boxing, or wrestling, the common businesses of 
 life would be deserted, and all the world would 
 become runners, boxers, and wrestlers. 
 
 Amongst the Athenians, rewards not vastly in- 
 ferior, considering the difference in the value of 
 money and the common rate of living, were actu- 
 allv fi'wen to such athletic exercises. But the
 
 B.I, Ch. XV.— COMPETITION AS TO REWARDS. 117 
 
 Athenians were as much in the right so to do as we 
 should be in the wrong to imitate them. In those 
 days when success in war depended almost entirely 
 upon bodily address and vigour, encouraging the 
 performance of these exercises, was disciplining 
 an army ; and the national wealth could suffer 
 little, since the labours of agriculture were chiefly 
 carried on by slaves. 
 
 The advantages resulting from the most un- 
 limited freedom of competition therefore are — 
 1. Chance of success increased accordinsr to the 
 number of competitors. 2. Chance of the highest 
 success increased by invigorating the increased 
 efforts of each competitor. 3. Equality established. 
 4. Number of works multiplied. 5. Latent talents 
 developed 
 
 APPLICATION OF THE ABOVE PRINCIPLE. 
 
 The cases to which this principle may be applied 
 are much more extensive than might at first view 
 be imagined : it covers a great part of the field of 
 legislation ; it may be applied to ecclesiastical, to 
 fiscal, to administrative, and to constitutional laws. 
 
 This rule is in direct opposition to the funda- 
 mental principle of Hindoo legislation. In that 
 country, every man belongs to a caste from which 
 he cannot separate himself. To each caste belongs 
 the exercise of certain professions : there is a caste 
 of learned men, a caste of warriors, and a caste of 
 labourers. Emulation is thus reduced within the 
 narrowest bounds, and the energies of the people 
 are stifled. 
 
 This principle is opposed to those ecclesiastical 
 regulations, by which all who refuse to sign certain 
 articles of belief, or refuse to pronounce a certain 
 number of words concerning theological subjects.
 
 IIH B.I. Ch. XV.— COMPETITION AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 are excluded from certain professions. The greater 
 the number of individuals thus excluded, the 
 greater the loss sustained by the diminution of 
 competition in the performance of those services. 
 
 This principle is in direct contradiction to a mul- 
 titude of fiscal and administrative laws, establishing 
 exclusive privileges in favour of certain branches 
 of commerce and trade ; fixing the price of com- 
 modities, and the places at which they are to be 
 bought and sold ; prohibiting the entry or the exit 
 of various productions of agriculture or of manu- 
 factures. These are so many expedients limiting 
 competition, and are injurious to the national 
 wealth. 
 
 The father of political economy has from this 
 principle in a manner created a new science: the 
 application he has made of it to the laws relating 
 to trade has nearly exhausted the subject.* 
 
 By two opposite competitions, prices are fixed. 
 Competition among the purchasers secures to the 
 producers a sufficient compensation for the outlay 
 of their capital and labour. Competition among the 
 sellers, serving as a counterpoise to the other, pro- 
 duces a cheap market, and reduces the prices of 
 commodities to the lowest sum for which it is worth 
 while to produce them. The difference between 
 a low price and a high price is, a reward offered to 
 the purchaser by one seller for the service he will 
 render to him, by granting what remains to be 
 gained, to him instead of to his competitor who 
 requires more. 
 
 In all trades, and in all arts, competition secures 
 to the public not only the lowest price but the best 
 work. Whatever degree of superiority is possessed 
 by one commodity over another of the same de- 
 
 * Wealth of Nations. 
 
 ■'}
 
 B. I. Ch. XV.— competition AS TO REWARDS. 1 19 
 
 scription meets with its reward either in the quan- 
 tity sold, or in the price at which it is sold. 
 
 As to stores of every description of which the 
 public stands in need, why is not the competition 
 left open to all who may choose to undertake the 
 supply ? It is not difficult to find the determining 
 reason : it is more convenient to serve a friend, a 
 dependant, or a partizan, than a person unknown, 
 or perhaps an enemy. But this is not an avowable 
 reason : for the public, some other must be sought. 
 Open competition would, it is said, produce a 
 multitude of rash contractors. The terms in ap- 
 pearance most advantageous to government would 
 commonly be offered by some rash adventurer, 
 who, in the end, would be found unable to fulfil 
 his engagements. When the time came for the 
 performance of his part of the contract, the stores 
 in question would not be provided, and the service 
 would suffer irreparable injury. It is important 
 that the men with whom we deal should be well 
 known. In some cases, these reasons may not be 
 without foundation, but they are most frequently 
 illusory.* 
 
 * The following is the general outline of an arrangement 
 by which all the above difficulties would be effectually removed : 
 — Unlimited competition j with power to the minister, or to 
 any competent authority, to reject the offer, which ought 
 according to the general rule to be accepted : power also to 
 the offerer to call upon the minister, or competent authority, 
 to assign their reasons for such rejection. When all this is 
 done publicly, no attempt would be luade to reject the offer of 
 a man, who, together with his sureties, was known to be per- 
 fectly responsible. 
 
 A praise to which one of the most celebrated ministers in 
 England is justly entitled, and about which there is no differ- 
 ence of opinion, is the having, with more consistency than any 
 of his predecessors, followed this principle. Mr. Pitt divested 
 himself of this source of influence, so dear to ministers, and 
 opened a free competition for all contracts and all loans. It is
 
 120 B.I. Ch. XV.— COMPETITION AS TO REWARDS. 
 
 The very nature of the reward may sometimes 
 render it necessary to depart from the system of 
 competition. It is not every office that can be 
 offered to every one disposed to undertake it. 
 Ought the education of a prince to be offered to him 
 who writes the best treatise upon that education ? 
 No: such an office requires qualities and virtues, 
 and particularly a knowledge of the world, which 
 might not be possessed by the philosopher who had 
 resolved the problem. 
 
 Ought the office of master of the mint to be 
 offered to any one who produces the best die? 
 No: this important duty requires a probity, an 
 exactness, a habit of regularity, which has no con- 
 nexion with manual skill. This is a reason, and 
 the only reason, for not offering such offices to all 
 the world ; but it is no reason for not attaching to 
 this service another reward to which all the world 
 might aspire. 
 
 Some services, which are not directly suscepti- 
 ble of open competition, are so indirectly ; that is, 
 by making the competition consist in the perform- 
 ance of some preliminary service, the execution of 
 which may serve as a test of a man's ability to per- 
 form the principal service. This is what is done 
 in the case of extensive architectural works, when 
 artists are invited to give in their plans and their 
 models: this is all that the nature of the service 
 allows of.* 
 
 unnecessary to point out the advantages resulting from this 
 just and litjeral policy ; tliey are known to all the world ; and 
 the example set by him has been a law to his successors. 
 
 * Some years ago, it was thought desirable to have a gene- 
 ral Index made to the Journals of the House of Commons j for 
 if it be not yet desirable to have the laws themselves me- 
 thodized, it has however been thought desirable to methodise 
 the history of the proceedings of this branch of the legislature. 
 It was an undcrtaiiing of very considerable difficulty, both in 
 
 i
 
 B. I. Ch, XV.— competition AS TO REWARDS. 121 
 
 When, some years ago, it was designed to erect, 
 in the neighbourhood of London, at the public 
 expense, a Penitentiary House, the mode ot" unli- 
 mited competition was adopted, in order to obtain 
 plans tor it. The superintendants received sixty- 
 five plans, from among which they had an oppor- 
 tunity of making a selection, instead of the one 
 which they would have received, had the system 
 of favouritism been pursued. If, without reward, 
 a plan superior to, the best of those thus obtained, 
 has since been devised, it may be attributed to the 
 share which chance has in every new invention : 
 the offer of a reward may accelerate the develop- 
 ment of new ideas, without enabling an individual 
 to complete the arrangement of his plans at a 
 given moment. 
 
 When the British Parliament offered a reward of 
 20,000/. for the discovery of a mode of finding the 
 
 consideration of its magnitude, and the variety of matter it 
 embraced. How were fit persons to be selected for it ? Com- 
 petition, in the usual mode, could not have been employed. 
 The legislature could not say to men of letters, — Work, and 
 the best workman shall be rewarded. Who, uncertain of being 
 paid for it, would have devoted his life to so repulsive an em- 
 ployment ? The course taken was this : The work was put into 
 the hands of four men of letters, selected one knows not how, 
 nor by whom, noi- why. The work was divided amongst them 
 in such sort, that each of them received to his share such and 
 so many volumes, according as he was most in favour. The 
 result has been four indexes instead of one, all of them mate- 
 rially varying in method and completeness, and rendering una- 
 voidable the great inconvenience of consulting four volumes 
 instead of one. If a plan analogous to that employed in the 
 case of architectural works had been adopted, the course taken 
 would have been to advertise a premium for the best essay on 
 the art of index-making, and particularly as applied to the 
 work in question. As a still further security, an index to one 
 volume might have been required by way of specimen ; and 
 to him who gave the greatest satisfaction upon both these 
 points, the conduct of the work should have been committed.
 
 ] 22 B. I. ch. XV.— competition as to rewards. 
 
 longitude, they were not guilty of the absurdity of 
 confining the competition to the professors of natu- 
 ral philosophy and astronomy at Oxford and Cam- 
 bridge. To resolve the problem of the best system 
 of legislation is more important and more difficult. 
 Why, in mixed governments, has it been hitherto 
 confined to the members of the legislative body, 
 and in monarchies, to the chancellor ? The deter- 
 mining reason is abundantly clear : those who are 
 in possession of the power, those to whom it be- 
 longs to propose this problem, are ashamed to 
 make a public avowal of their own incapacity to 
 solve it ; they carefully avoid all acknowledgments 
 of their own incapacity or indolence ; they are 
 willing that their labours should be rendered as 
 little burdensome as possible, by following the 
 ordinary routine, and not that they should be 
 increased by the exhibition of the necessity of 
 reform. In a word, they desire not to be advised, 
 but to be obeyed. While subject to the influence 
 of such circumstances, it can be considered no 
 matter of surprise, that they should, as far as pos- 
 sible, have made the science of legislation an ex- 
 clusive monopoly. The interests of human nature 
 cry aloud against this contemptible jealousy. The 
 problem of the best system of laws ought to be 
 proposed to the whole world : it belongs to the 
 whole world to solve it. 
 
 Frederic the Great twice attempted to make a 
 general reform in the laws of his kingdom : both 
 times he applied to a single chancellor. The 
 first of them, too contented with himself to suspect 
 he could stand in need of assistance from others, 
 produced a work the most insignificant of any 
 which has appeared.* The second, M. Von Carmer, 
 
 * Some extracts from it may be seen. — B. iv. ch. 11.
 
 B.I. Cn. XV.— COMPETITION AS TO REWARDS. 123 
 
 after having completed his labours, acted very 
 differently and much better : before it received 
 the authority of a law, he presented it to the 
 public, with an invitation to learned men to com- 
 municate to him their observations upon it; se- 
 conding his invitations by the offer of rewards. It 
 is with regret that I am constiained to ask, why 
 did not he, who had, in this respect, thus far sur- 
 passed all his predecessors, act still more nobly ? 
 Why only ask for criticism upon a given work? Why 
 not ask for the work itself ? Why limit the invi- 
 tation to Germans alone, as though there were no 
 genius out of Germany ? Why limit the reward 
 to a sum below the price of those snuff-boxes 
 which are presented to a foreign minister, for the 
 service he performs in departing when he is re- 
 called ? The richest diamond in his master's 
 crown would not have been too great a reward for 
 him who should thus have given to all the others a 
 new and before-unknown splendour. 
 
 On different occasions, public-spirited indivi- 
 duals and societies have endeavoured to supply, 
 from their slender resources, the neglect of govern- 
 ments, and have offered larger rewards than the 
 Chancellor of the Great Frederic. That which 
 they could not offer, and which it did not depend 
 upon them to offer, was the reward which the 
 minds best adapted for the accomplishment of such 
 an undertaking would esteem above every other. 
 I mean the assurance that their labours would be 
 judged by those who could give them authority, 
 who could make them useful. 
 
 In conclusion, I do not say, that with regard to 
 certain services, sufficient reasons may not be 
 found for altogether excluding competition, but 
 that in every such case these reasons ought to be
 
 124 B. I. ch. XV.— competition as to rewards. 
 
 ready to be rendered, otherwise it ought to be 
 Jawtul to conclude that they do not exist.* 
 
 * With reference to Constitutional Law, hereditary succes- 
 sion to the throne is established to prevent the competition of 
 many pretenders. It is the principal exception to the principle, 
 and the most easily justified. 
 
 Another species of inheritance, of which the Egyptians had 
 given an example, and the Indians have adopted, has found 
 admirers even in our days. I refer to hereditary professions in 
 particular families, where they can neither have two nor change 
 their first. " Par ce moyen," dit Bossuet, " tous les arts 
 venoient ^ leur perfection : on faissoit mieux ce qu'on avoit 
 toujours vu faire, et a quoi Ton s'etoit uniquement exerce dbs 
 son enfance." — Discours sur VHistoire Universelle. 
 
 Robertson, in his Historical Researches respecting India, 
 has warmly approved the institution of castes, and hereditary 
 professions. He allows, however, that this system may hinder 
 the exertions of genius, *'J3ut society is formed," says he, 
 " for ordinary men, and not for men of genius," &c. — Jp- 
 pendlv. 
 
 If we look at a single art of Europe, that of painting for 
 instance, its history will show, that very few artists have been 
 born in a painting room. Among a hundred of the most cele- 
 brated painters, the father of Raphael alone handled the pencil 
 — Invito patre sidera verso was the device of the illustrious 
 Bernouilli, who could only study astronomy in secret, and in 
 opposition to the authority of his father. 

 
 [ 125 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 REWARDS FOR VIRTUE. 
 
 Beccaria accuses modern legislators of indif- 
 ference to this subject. Punishments, says he, 
 and, in many instances, unduly severe punishments, 
 are provided for crimes ; for virtue there are no 
 rewards. These complaints, repeated by a multi- 
 tude of writers, are matter of common-place decla- 
 mation. 
 
 So long as they are confined to general terms, 
 the subject presents no difficulty; but when an 
 attempt is made to remove the ground of com- 
 plaint, and to frame a code of remuneratory laws 
 for virtue, how great is the difference between 
 what has been asserted to be desirable, and what is 
 possible ! 
 
 Virtue is sometimes considered as an act, some- 
 times as a disposition: when it is exhibited by a 
 positive act, it confers a service ; when it is con- 
 sidered as a disposition, it is a chance of services. 
 Apart from this notion of service, it is impossible 
 to tell wherein virtue consists. To form clear 
 ideas concerning it, it must altogether be referred to 
 the principle of utility: utility is its object^ as well 
 as its motive. 
 
 After having thus far considered services to be 
 rewarded, that is to say acts of public notoriety, 
 which fall not within the boundary of ordinary 
 actions, it remains to be shown in relation to 
 virtue — 1. What cannot be accomplished by gene- 
 ral rewards. — 2. What it is possible to accomplish,
 
 126 B. I. Ch. XVI.— REWARDS FOR VIRTUE. 
 
 either by particular institution, or occasional re- 
 ward.* 
 
 I. We may observe, in the first place, that those 
 civil virtues, which are most important to the wel- 
 fare of society, and to the preservation of the hu- 
 man race, do not consist in striking exploits, which 
 carry their own proof with them ; but in a train of 
 daily actions, in an uniform and steady course of 
 conduct, resulting from the habitual disposition of 
 the mind. Hence it is precisely because these 
 virtues are connected with the whole course of our 
 existence, that they are incapable of being made 
 the objects of the rewards of institution. It is im- 
 possible to know what particular fact to select, at 
 what period to require the proof, to what particular 
 circumstance to attach the distinction of reward. 
 
 2. Add to these difficulties that of finding a 
 suitable reward, which shall be agreeable to those 
 for whom it is designed. The modesty and deli- 
 cacy of virtue would be wounded by the formalities 
 necessary to the public proof of its existence. It 
 is fostered by, and perhaps depends upon, esteem ; 
 but this is a secret which it seeks to hide from 
 itself, and those prizes for virtue which seem to 
 suppose that conscience is bankrupt, would not be 
 accepted by the rich, nor even sought after by the 
 most worthy among the poor. 
 
 3. Every virtue produces advantages which are 
 peculiar to itself Probity inspires confidence in 
 all the relations of life. Industry leads on to inde- 
 pendence and wealth. Benevolence is the source 
 
 * This will partly form an application of the principles laid 
 down in Chap. 7- Punition and Remuneration — their relations. 
 Mr. Bentham, apparently not having believed it necessary to 
 enter into this detail^ I have attempted, by this chapter^ to 
 supply this omission, if it were one. — Note by Dumont.
 
 B.I. Cn. XVI.— REWARDS FOR VIRTUE. 127 
 
 of kindly affections ; — and though these advan- 
 tages are not always reaped, they generally follow 
 in the natural course of events. Their effect 
 is much more steady and certain than that of fac- 
 titious reward, which is necessarily subject to 
 many imperfections. 
 
 In the reign of Louis XIV. a treatise was pub- 
 lished " On the Falsity of Human Virtues." What 
 is singular, and what the author probably never sus- 
 pected is, that by some slight alterations it would 
 be easy to convert this work into a treatise on their 
 realiti/. The author appears to have considered 
 them as false, because they were founded upon re- 
 ciprocal interest ; because their object is happiness, 
 esteem, security, and the peaceable enjoyment of 
 life ; because men in their mutual intercourse settle 
 with each other for their reciprocal services. But 
 without these felicitous effects, what would virtue 
 be? In what consists its reality} What w^ould it 
 have to recommend it ? How would it be distin- 
 guished from vice? This basis of interest, which to 
 this author appears to have rendered it false, is 
 precisely that which gives it a true and solid, and 
 we may add, an immutable existence, for no other 
 source of happiness can be imagined.* 
 
 But if the most important class of virtues are 
 already provided with sufficient motives to lead to 
 their performance, either in the sufferings they 
 prevent, or in the advantages to which they 
 give birth, is it not superfluous to add factitious 
 motives ? The interference of legislators is useful 
 only in supplying the deficiency of natural motives. 
 
 * The writer above alluded to, like all ascetics, unskilful in 
 reasoning, injures the religion it was his object to serve. 
 How strong an argument may we not derive from this coin- 
 cidence between practical morality and happiness, in proof of 
 design on the part of the supreme legislator !
 
 128 B.I. Ch. XVI.— REWARDS FOR VIRTUE. 
 
 4. What would be our condition were things in 
 a different state, were it necessary to invite men 
 to labour, honesty, benevolence, and all the duties 
 of their several conditions, by means of factitious 
 reward ? Pecuniary rewards, it is evident, it would 
 be impossible to bestow. Honour, it is true, 
 remains ; but how would it be practicable to create, 
 in the shape of honour, a sufficient fund of reward 
 for the generality of human actions ? The value of 
 these rewards consists in their rarity. So soon as 
 they are common, their value is gone. 
 
 In this case, as in so many other cases, there is 
 an analogy between rewards and punishments. It 
 is an imperfection common to both these sanc- 
 tions, that they are applicable to actions alone, and 
 exercise only a distant and indirect influence upon 
 the habits and dispositions which give a colour to 
 the whole course of life. Thus, rewards cannot 
 be instituted for parental kindness, conjugal fide- 
 lity, adherence to promises, veracity, gratitude and 
 pity: legal punishments cannot be assigned to in- 
 gratitude, hardness of heart, violations of friendly 
 confidence, malice or envy, in a word, to all those 
 vicious dispositions which produce so much evil 
 before they have broken out into those crimes 
 which are cognizable before legal tribunals. The 
 two systems are like imperfect scales, useful only 
 for weighing bulky commodities ; and as an indi- 
 vidual, whose life has been less guilty than that of 
 a man of a hard and false heart, is punished for a 
 single theft, there is also often a necessity of re- 
 warding a certain distinguished service, performed 
 by a man who is otherwise little entitled to esteem. 
 
 Thus, in regard to the moral virtues, which con- 
 stitute the basis of daily conduct, there is no reward 
 which can be applied to them by general institu- 
 tion. All that it is possible to do, is limited to 
 
 .1
 
 B. I. Cn. XVI.— REWARDS FOR VIRTUES, 129 
 
 seizing upon those striking actions, readily suscep- 
 tible of proof, which arise out of extraordinary cir- 
 cumstances, as opportunities of conferring occa- 
 sional rewards. 
 
 Rewards of this nature cannot be bestowed peri- 
 odically : the occasions for performing eminent 
 services do not regularly recur. It is the action, 
 and not the date in the almanack, which ought to 
 bring down the reward. The French Academy 
 annually bestowed a prize upon theindividual who, 
 among the indigent classes, had performed the 
 most virtuous action. The judges had always one 
 prize to bestow, and they had but one. They 
 must occasionally have experienced regret at leav- 
 ing unrewarded actions of equal merit, and some- 
 times at being obliged to reward an action of an 
 ordinary description. Besides, by the periodical 
 return of the distribution, this prize would soon 
 be rendered an object of routine, and cease to 
 attract attention. 
 
 The institution of La Rosicre de Salency may be 
 produced in answer to the above observations: 
 but it should be remembered, that a village insti- 
 tution is of a different nature. The more limited 
 a society, the more closely may its regulations be 
 made to resemble those of domestic government ; in 
 which, as we have already seen, reward may be 
 applied to almost every purpose. It is thus that 
 annual prizes may be established for agility, skill, 
 strength ; for every other quality which it may be 
 desirable to encourage, and of which the rudiments 
 always exist. There is not a village in Switzer- 
 land which does not distribute prizes of this nature 
 for military exercises : it is an expedient for con- 
 verting the duties and services of the citizens into 
 fetes. Geneva, whilst it was a republic, had its 
 naval king; its king of the arquebuss ; its com- 
 
 9
 
 130 
 
 B.I. Ch. XVI.— REWARDS FOR VIRTUES. 
 
 mander of the bow ; its king of tiie cannon. The 
 conqueror, during the year of his reign, enjoyed cer- 
 tain privileges, little costly to the state ; the public 
 joy marked the return of these national exercises, 
 which placed all the citizens under the eyes of their 
 grateful country. La Rosiere de Salency^ designed 
 to honour virtues, which ought to be perpetuated 
 and renewed from generation to generation, might 
 have a periodical return, like the roses of summer. 
 
 The Humane Society^ es\.dih\'\s\\e(\ in England for 
 the purpose of affording assistance to persons in 
 danger of drowning, and providing the means of 
 restoration in cases of suspended animation, distri- 
 butes prizes to those who have saved any individual 
 from death. In this case, the reward is not, as in 
 the French Academy, confined to the indigent 
 class alone: men of the first rank would consider 
 it an honour to receive a medal commemorative of 
 so noble an action. Besides, the mode of confer- 
 ring these rewards has not been dramatised ; the 
 retired habits of virtue have been consulted; there 
 is no public exhibition to which it is dragged, to 
 be confounded or humiliated. Greater eclat might, 
 however, without adding to the theatrical efiect, 
 be given to these rewards, were an efficient report 
 made of them to the king and both houses of par- 
 liament. 
 
 An institution of a similar nature, for the reward 
 of services rendered in cases of fire, shipwreck, and 
 all other possible accidents, would still further 
 contribute to the cultivation of benevolence ; and 
 these noble actions, brought in the same manner 
 under the eyes of the legislators, and inscribed in 
 their journals, would acquire a publicity of much 
 less importance to the honoured individual than to 
 society in general. 
 
 Indeed, though the reward applies only to one
 
 B.I. Ch. XVI.— REWARDS FOR VIRTUES. 131 
 
 particular action, the principal object designed is 
 the cultivation of those dispositions which such 
 actions indicate : and this can only be accom- 
 plished by the publicity which is given to the 
 example, and the public esteem and honour in 
 which it is held. 
 
 When, upon the site of the prison which had 
 been the scene of an exalted instance of filial 
 piety, the Romans erected a temple, they incul- 
 cated a noble lesson : they proclaimed their respect 
 for one of the fundamental virtues of their re- 
 public* 
 
 Independently of these eminently meritorious 
 and always rare actions, governments might render 
 publicity subservient to the perfection of a great 
 variety of services, in the performance of which 
 the regular discharge of duty is more important 
 than the display of extraordinary virtues. This 
 project might be realized by the formation of a 
 comparative table of the subordinate administra- 
 tions of cities, parishes, or counties. This table 
 would require to be renewed at fixed periods, and 
 might be made to show which districts were most 
 exact in the payment of taxes, in which the fewest 
 crimes had been committed, in which useful esta- 
 blishments had been formed, in which the most 
 liberal exertions had been made for the relief of 
 calamity, what hospitals had been conducted with 
 the greatest economy, and had been most success- 
 
 * Humilis in plebe et ideo ignobilis puerpera, supplicii 
 causS. carcere inclusa matre, cum impetrasset aditum, a jani- 
 tore semper excussa, ne quid inferret cibi, deprehensa est ube- 
 ribus suis alens earn. Quo miraculo matria salus donata 
 pietati est, ambaeque perpetuis aliraentis, et locus ille eidem 
 consecratus deae. C. Quintio M. Acilio Coss. templo Pietatis 
 extructo in illius carceris sede. — Plin. lib. vii. c. 3G. 
 
 '9.
 
 132 B.I. Ch. XVI.— REWARDS FOR VIRTUES. 
 
 fill in the cure of diseases ; * what tribunals had 
 decided the greatest number of causes, and from 
 which the smallest number of appeals had been 
 made; in what instances efficacious precautions 
 had been adopted for relieving any particular dis- 
 trict from causes tending to render it unhealthy, — 
 from mendicity, from smuggling, from vice, and 
 from misery. 
 
 Such official reports, independently of their poli- 
 tical utility to the government, would, without 
 parade, produce all the good effects of reward ; of 
 that reward in honour which costs nothing to the 
 country, and yet maintains all the moral energies 
 in full activity. Every distinguished service might 
 find a place in these annals; and the people, 
 always prone to exaggerate the vigilance and 
 means of information possessed by their governors, 
 would soon be persuaded that a perpetual inspec- 
 tion was kept up, not only with respect to their 
 faults, but also their meritorious actions. 
 
 This project is borrowed, neither from the Re- 
 public of Plato, nor the Utopia of More. It is even 
 inferior to what has in our time been carried into 
 effect, in an empire composed of more than a hun- 
 dred departments ; ■\ in which tables exhibiting, in 
 columns, all the results of civil, economical, rural, 
 and commercial administration, were formed with 
 
 * In the report respecting 1' Hotel Dieu, by Bailli, a table of 
 the mortality in different hospitals is given, and the process of 
 his calculations. 
 
 t I refer here to L' Analyse des Proces-verbaux des Conseils de 
 Department ; a work in 4to, published in France in 1802. This 
 work consisted of the answers to a series of questions, addressed 
 to each department, by the minister of the interior. 
 
 These tables have been discontinued. Such is the fact. I 
 d(i not endeavour to ascertain the cause. 
 
 f
 
 B.I. Cn. XVI.— REWARDS FOR VIRTUES, 133 
 
 greater facility and promptitude than would have 
 been experienced by any Russian noble, had he 
 been desirous of obtaining from his superintendaiits 
 an account of the state of his property. 
 
 If rewards were established for virtue, when 
 exhibited by the indigent classes, it would be im- 
 proper to seek for striking instances of its display, 
 or to suppose that they are actuated by sentiments of 
 vanity, which operate feebly upon men accustomed 
 to dependence, and almost constantly employed in 
 making provision for their daily wants. Institu- 
 tions of this nature, suited to small communities, 
 ought to be adapted to local circumstances and 
 popular habits. In a village or a tov\ni, for in- 
 stance, it might be proper to assign a distinguished 
 place in the church for the old men : this distinc- 
 tion, united to a sentiment of religion, and granted 
 with discretion, need bear no appearance of flat- 
 tery, but might be a mark of respect towards old 
 age, rendered honourable by the blameless life 
 which had preceded it. There exist in England 
 many charitable institutions for decayed trades- 
 men, in which their situation is much preferable 
 to that of the inhabitants of poor-houses: they 
 have their separate dwellings, their gardens, and a 
 small pension. Those only whose conduct has 
 been generally honourable being admitted to these 
 asylums, the metal badge which is worn in some 
 instances, so far from being considered as a dis- 
 grace, is regarded as a mark of honour. 
 
 Different agricultural societies bestow rewards 
 upon servants who have lived during a certain 
 number of years in the same place ; this circum- 
 stance being with reason considered as a proof of 
 fidelity and good conduct. 
 
 Some of these societies also give rewards to day 
 labourers, who have brought up a certain number
 
 134 B. I. ch. XVI.— rewards for virtues. 
 
 of children without having received assistance 
 from their parishes. This is an encouragement to 
 economy, and all the virtuous habits which it im- 
 plies : but as a means of remedying the inconve- 
 niences arising from the poor laws, its effect is ex- 
 tremely feeble. 
 
 In both these cases the reward generally con- 
 sists of money ; but the money is connected with 
 honour ; the notoriety given to the reward operates 
 as a certificate in favour of the individual in his 
 particular district. 
 
 By examining every thing which has been done 
 in this respect in Holland, Switzerland, England, 
 and elsewhere, we should become possessed of an 
 assortment of remuneratory expedients, applicable 
 to almost every class in society. Every thing 
 depends, however, upon the mode of application. 
 For this duty governments are entirely unfit. It 
 is local inspection alone which can gain a know- 
 ledge of circumstances and superintend the details. 
 
 After all, just and discriminating public esteem, 
 that is to say public esteem founded upon the 
 principle of utility, is the most potent, the most 
 universally applicable, of all the species of reward. 
 If virtue be held in public estimation, virtue will 
 flourish: let it cease to be held in such estimation, 
 it will decline in the same proportion. The cha- 
 racter of a people is the moral climate which kills 
 or vivifies the seeds of excellence. 
 
 An inquiry into the causes of the high respect in 
 which, under certain governments, particular vir- 
 tues were held ; why the virtues of a Curtius^ of a 
 Fabricius,o^a Scipio, were nourished and developed 
 at Rome ; why other countries and other times 
 have produced only courtiers, parasites, fine gen- 
 tlemen and wits, men without energy and without 
 patriotism, would require a moral and historical
 
 B.I. Ch. XVI.— REWARDS FOR VIRTUES. 135 
 
 analysis, only to be completed by means of a pro- 
 found study of the political constitutions, and 
 particular circumstances of each people. The re- 
 sult would, however, prove, that the qualities most 
 successfully cultivated were those held in most 
 general esteem. 
 
 But public esteem, it may be said, is free, essen- 
 tially free, independent of the authority of govern- 
 ments. This copious fund of rewards is therefore 
 withdrawn from the handsof the supreme authority 1 
 This, however, is not the case : governments may 
 easily obtain the disposal of this treasure. Public 
 esteem cannot be compelled, but it may be con- 
 ducted. It requires but little skill on the part of 
 a virtuous sovereign to enable him to apply the 
 high reward of public esteem to any service which 
 his occasions may require. 
 
 There already exists a degree of respect for riches, 
 honour, and power: if the dispenser of these gifts 
 bestow them only upon useful qualities, if he unite 
 what is already esteemed to what ought to be esti- 
 mable, his success is certain. Reward would serve 
 as a proclamation of his opinion, and would mark 
 out a particular line of conduct as meritorious in his 
 eyes. Its first effect would be that of a lesson in 
 morality. 
 
 Unrewarded, the same service would not ac- 
 quire the same degree of notoriety. It would be 
 lost among the multitude of objects soliciting 
 public attention, and remain undistinguished from 
 the pretensions, well or ill founded, respecting 
 which public opinion is undecided. Furnished 
 with this patent from the sovereign, it becomes au- 
 thentic and manifest : those who were ignorant 
 are instructed, those who were doubtful become 
 decided: the inimical and the envious are rendered 
 less bold, reputation is acquired, and becomes per-
 
 136 [B. I. Ch. XVI.— rewards for virtues. 
 
 manent. The second effect of the reward consists 
 in the increase of intensity and duration given to 
 public esteenQ. 
 
 Imniediately, all those who are governed by 
 views of interest, who aspire to honour or fortune ; 
 those who seek the public good, but who seek it 
 like ordinary men, not as heroes or martyrs, eagerly 
 press into that career in which the sovereign has 
 united private and public interest. In this manner 
 a proper dispensation of favours directs the passions 
 of individuals to the promotion of the public wel- 
 fare, and induces even those who were indifferent 
 to virtue or vice, to rank themselves upon that 
 side which promises them the greatest advantage. 
 
 Such being the power of sovereigns, he must 
 be extremely inexpert in the distribution of ho- 
 nours, who separates them from that public esteem 
 which has so decided a tendency to unite with 
 them. Nothing, however, is more common. In- 
 stances may be found, in most courts, of splendid 
 decorations of stars and garters in double and 
 triple range, which do not even give a favourable 
 turn to public opinion. They are considered as 
 proofs of favour , but not as signs of merit. 
 
 " Honours in the hands of princes resemble 
 those talismans with which the fairies, according 
 to the fables, were wont to present their favourites ; 
 they lose their virtue whenever they are improperly 
 employed."* 
 
 * Helvetius.
 
 [ 137 3 
 
 CHAPTER XVil. 
 
 ACCOMPANIMENTS TO REMUNERATION. 
 
 After having exhibited in what manner the 
 matter of wealth is ajDplicable to the purposes ot" 
 reward, we proceed to show other uses derivable 
 from it for the public service, which are not re- 
 muneratory. 
 
 The idea of reward will be much clearer when 
 it shall have been distinguished and separated from 
 these accessory uses, which have certain relations 
 with it. 
 
 1. Wages necessary for the support of life. Ser- 
 vants must be fed whilst they are employed, and 
 there are cases in which it is necessary to feed them 
 even before they begin to work. If the wages paid 
 do not exceed what is necessary for this purpose, 
 as is sometimes the case among the soldiery, and 
 especially if the enrolments are involuntary, such 
 wages, being absolutely necessary, are not reward. 
 
 2. The Instruction of Servants. Certain kinds 
 of service require advances from Government for 
 this object. If this instruction require much time, 
 it is naturally begun at an early age, and is then 
 called education. This employment of the matter 
 of reward is sufficiently distinct from that which 
 regards subsistence, with which however it is very 
 frequently combined and confounded. If there 
 are a sufficient number of individuals willing to 
 bear this expense, so much the better; otherwise 
 it is necessary that Government should bear it for 
 them. This has almost everywhere been thought 
 to be the case with respect to the church. It has
 
 138 B.I.CH.XV1I.— ACCOMPANIMENTS TO REMUNERATION. 
 
 also generally been considered necessary in new 
 countries, or countries but little advanced in the 
 career of prosperity with respect to the teachers 
 and professors in most branches of science. In 
 the war department, the corps of cadets is a nur- 
 sery for young officers. The foundations of public 
 schools are nurseries for the church. The greater 
 number however of these foundations are owing 
 rather to the good intentions of individuals than 
 to the cares of governments. 
 
 3. Equipment. That an individual may be in 
 a condition to render service, he must be furnished 
 with the necessary equipments. The warrior wants 
 his accoutrements ; the astronomer his observa- 
 tory ; the chemist his laboratory ; the mechanic 
 his machines; the naturalist his collections of 
 natural history ; the botanist his garden ; the 
 experimental farmer a plot of ground, and funds to 
 enable him to improve it. 
 
 4. Indemnity. When an individual is only in- 
 demnified, he is not rewarded : reward, properly- 
 speaking, only begins when indemnity is complete 
 — Do we wish for services ? we ought to recollect 
 that b\' the person from whom we seek to obtain 
 them, the inconveniences of every sort which 
 compose the burthen of the service will be put 
 into one scale, the advantages he finds attached to 
 it into the other. To the head of indemnity be- 
 longs everything necessary to produce an equili- 
 brium between the two ; it is only the excess 
 which is thrown into the scale of advantages which 
 strictly belongs to the head of reward. 
 
 5. The assuring responsibility. In so far as the 
 matter of reward is employed for this purpose, it 
 is employed in laying a foundation for the inflic- 
 tion of punishment. The stock of punishment is 
 in itself inexhaustible; but when the body is
 
 B. I. ch. XVII.— accompaniments to remuneration . 139 
 
 withdrawn from the hands of the ministers of 
 justice, corporal punishment cannot be inflicted, 
 and all other punishments can be compensated. 
 If a servant possess property of his own, so much 
 the better; if he possess none, and a salary be 
 given to him, he will always have so much to 
 lose ; the loss of this salary will be a punishment 
 he will always be liable to undergo, whatever may 
 become of him. 
 
 The principal use of this employment of the 
 matter of reward, is in the case of offices which 
 place property in the hands of those who fill 
 them. If there are no other means of securing 
 their probity, it would not be bad economy to 
 make their appointments amount in value to but 
 little less than the highest interest they could reap 
 from the largest sum they ever have in their hands. 
 This would be to make them assure against their 
 own dishonesty. The diflPerence between the 
 actual salary and the least salary they could be 
 induced to accept, would constitute the premium. 
 It is rarely that a distinct sum is appropriated to 
 this purpose ; on the one hand, this end is partly 
 effected by suretyship, and on the other, the sum 
 considered requisite for the purposes of indem- 
 nity and reward equals or surpasses what could 
 be proposed to be allowed for it ; but this function 
 is not the less distinct from all the rest. 
 
 6. A guarantee against temptations. Money, 
 like the most valuable articles of the medical 
 pharmacopeia, may serve either as a poison or an 
 antidote, according as it is applied. This emplo}^- 
 ment of the matter of revi^ard resembles that last 
 mentioned, without being confounded with it. 
 Money employed for assuring responsibility will 
 produce its effect, though the individual be 
 already corrupted. The use of money employed
 
 140 B.I. Ch. XVII.— ACCOMPANIMENTS TO REMUNERATION. 
 
 as a guarantee against temptation, is to prevent 
 corruption. A less sum may suffice in this case 
 than in the former ; in that, it was necessary that 
 the revenue granted should preserve some propor- 
 tion to the sum confided ; in this, such proportion 
 is not required : the measure to be observed is 
 only that of the wants of the individual placed in 
 the rank that the office he occupies confers. In a 
 word, salary, considered as a pledge, is only useful 
 in the prevention of theft ; money, employed as 
 an antiseptic, is equally useful in the prevention 
 of peculation in all its forms, in the prevention of 
 all improper conduct which can have for its 
 motive the desire of money, and for its means the 
 situation in which the individual is placed by 
 his office. 
 
 7. The support of dignity. Public opinion ex- 
 acts, it matters not by what reason, from every 
 individual possessed of a certain rank, a certain 
 expenditure ; his wants are thus increased in pro- 
 portion to his dignity. Dignity, deprived of the 
 wealth necessary for its support, furnishes in pro- 
 portion to its extent an incentive to malversation, 
 and at the same time generally furnishes the 
 opportunity ; as an antidote to such temptations, 
 money may therefore sometimes be bestowed for 
 the support of dignity. The good of the service 
 may also require the same thing. It is incontesti- 
 bly true that between wealth and power there 
 subsists an intimate and natural union. Wealth 
 itself is power, it may be proper therefore that the 
 support of the respect which it commands be not 
 refused in favour of certain employments, in 
 which much depends upon the place they hold in 
 public opinion. 
 
 8. Another use of the matter of reward consists 
 m the excitement of alacrity ; 1 mean the produc-
 
 B.I, Cu. XVII.— ACCOMPANIMENTS TO REMUNERATION. 141 
 
 tion of an habitual disposition to do what is 
 required with pleasure. The greater the degree 
 of mental enjoyment, the quicker and more lively 
 are one's ideas, and the larger the quantity of 
 work which can be performed in a given time. 
 The mind, in a happy mood, acts with incompara- 
 bly more ease than when agitated by grief; or 
 even in its ordinary condition, when it is moved 
 only by habit. It is the same with the bodily 
 powers ; who knows not how much the powers 
 of the muscles depend upon the energy of the 
 mind ? What comparison is there between the 
 labour of slaves and of free men ? It is upon this 
 that the superiority of hired soldiers over unpaid 
 and arbitrary levies depends. In the one case, as 
 in the other, the motive which leads to exertion 
 consists in the expectation of being treated ac- 
 cording to their behaviour ; the motive is nothing 
 else but the fear of pain. But in the first case 
 there is the gratification of reward to sustain the 
 alacrity; in the other, the labour has no other 
 accompaniment but grief. 
 
 The simple expectation of a reward, how large 
 soever it may be, will not always produce the 
 same effect as a reward previously bestowed. 
 The condition of expectancy in which the indi- 
 vidual finds himself in such a case, is a mixed and 
 uncertain state, in which despair and hope may 
 alternately predominate. 
 
 The danger to be guarded against is, lest rewards 
 previously bestowed should produce diversions 
 little favourable to labour, either by suggesting 
 the idea of some more favourite occupation, or by 
 supplying the means of its pursuit. The progress 
 of the thoughts may be accelerated, but the 
 thoughts excited may be of a different nature;
 
 142 B.I. Ch.XVII.-ACCOMPANIMENTS to REMUNERATION- 
 
 the dull ideas of labour ma}'^ be supplanted by the 
 enliveningconsiderations of shows and of pleasure. 
 
 Whether or not it is proper to bestow such 
 rewards, depends upon the character of the indi- 
 vidual ; that character must be known, before it is 
 possible to determine what will be their effect; 
 but in every case there can be no greater folly 
 than to waste in previous gratifications every 
 thing which is destined for reward. 
 
 In conclusion, these distinctions ought not to 
 be abused. The expense of rewards need not be 
 increased on account of each of these items; it is 
 not necessary to appropriate a distinct sum to 
 each. The same sum may serve for many, and 
 even for all. That which suffices for assuring 
 responsibility will, in general, suffice as a guaran- 
 tee against temptations, and vice versa^ so far as 
 ends so uncertain may be effected by such means, 
 and will in every case suffice for indemnification. 
 That which suffices for equipment, may serve in 
 part for the support of dignity and the excitement 
 of alacrity. That which suffices for the mainte- 
 nance of dignity will be sufficient for almost all 
 the other ends ; and the whole of whatever is 
 employed for any other of these purposes, except 
 equipment, cannot but serve for subsistence.
 
 RATIONALE OF REWARD. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 REWARDS APPLIED TO OFFICES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SALARY HOW A REWARD'. 
 
 There are many species of service, and even 
 services of a positive nature, ofwliich governments 
 stand in constant and uninterrupted need : such for 
 the most part are the duties of those who are em- 
 ployed in the different departments of every go- 
 vernment. The political state or condition, on 
 account of which individuals possessing it are 
 considered liable to render these services, is called 
 a place, an office, or an employment. To these 
 places it is both natural and customary to attach, 
 under the title of emolument, certain portions of 
 the matter of wealth. If such emolument be deter- 
 minate in amount, and paid at regularly recurring 
 periods, it is called a salary. 
 
 It is the nature of a reward to operate as a mo- 
 tive, and in that capacity to give birth to acts 
 which, by the person by whom the reward is held 
 up to view, are esteemed services ; the greater the 
 reward, the greater is the motive it constitutes: 
 the greater the motive, the more strenuous the
 
 144 B. II. Ch. I.— SALARV-HOVV A REWARD. 
 
 exertion it has a tendency to produce ; and if the 
 value of the service be susceptible of an indefinite 
 degree of perfection, the more strenuous the exer- 
 tion to perform it, the greater, as far as depends 
 upon the will of the party, will be the value of the 
 service. Hence it follows that, if salary be re- 
 ward, as far as funds can be found, salaries cannot 
 be too large. How different the state of things 
 presented to us when we consult experience ! We 
 see small salaries, and the service admirably well 
 performed: largesalaries, and nothing donefor them. 
 In certain lines, we see the service regularly worse 
 and worse performed, in proportion to the large- 
 ness of the salary. Where then lies the error? 
 In experience there can be none. In the argument 
 there is none. The error lies in its not being pro- 
 perly understood : and that in general it has not 
 been properly understood, the bad management 
 and weak measures so frequent in this line are 
 but too pregnant proofs. To understand the argu- 
 ment aright, two points must be observed : the 
 one is, to consider, for illustration sake, that just in 
 the same manner as punishment, and in no other 
 manner, though with less certainty of effect, is 
 reward capable of acting as a motive : the other 
 point is, to consider what is really the service for 
 which a salary is a reward. 
 
 What then is the service with respect to which 
 a salary operates as a motive ? The answer which 
 would be generally given to this question is, the 
 continued service belonging to the office to which 
 the salary is annexed. Obvious as this answer 
 may seem, it is not the true one. The service, and 
 the only service, with respect to which a salary can 
 operate as a motive, is either the simple instanta- 
 neous service of taking upon one the office, or the 
 permanent service of continuing to stand invested
 
 B. ir. Ch. I.— salary— how a reward. 145 
 
 with it. If the duties of the office — the services in 
 the expectation of which the salary annexed to the 
 office is bestowed, happen to be performed, it 
 can not be owing merely and immediately to the 
 salary: it must be owing to some other motive. 
 If there were no other motive, the service would 
 not be rendered. Nothing is done without a mo- 
 tive : — what then is this other motive ? It must be 
 either of the nature of reward or punishment. It 
 may by possibility be of the nature of reward ; but 
 if it be so, one or other of these rewards would 
 seem superfluous : in common it is principally of 
 the nature of punishment. In as far as this is the 
 case, the service for which the salary considered as 
 a reward is given, is the service of taking upon one 
 the obligation constituted by the punishment; the 
 obligation of performing the services expected from 
 him who possesses the office. 
 
 That the zeal displayed in discharging the duties 
 of an office should not be in proportion to the 
 salary, will now no longer appear strange. Expe- 
 rience is reconciled to theory. This subject will 
 receive elucidation, if we substitute punishment for 
 reward, and consider what tendency such a motive 
 would have to give birth to any service, if con- 
 nected with it in the same manner as a salary is 
 annexed to an office. 
 
 Suppose a schoolmaster, intending to conduct 
 the business of his school with regularity, were to 
 make it a rule on a certain day, at the beginning 
 of every quarter, to call all his scholars before 
 him and to give each ten lashes, committing their 
 behaviour during the rest of the quarter altogether 
 to their discretion ; — the policy of this master 
 would be the exact counterpart of the founder of 
 the school towards the master, if he has sought to 
 attach him to the duties of his office by bestowing 
 
 10
 
 146 B.ll. Ch.I.— SALARY— HOW A REWARD. 
 
 upon him a salary. Suppose the master, finding 
 that under this discipline the progress of his 
 scholars did not equal his expectations, should re- 
 solve to increase his exertions, and accordingly 
 should double the dose of stripes; — his policy in 
 this case would be the exact counterpart of the 
 founder, who by the single operation of increasing 
 the master's salary, should think to increase his 
 diligence. 
 
 A salary is not a reward for any individual ser- 
 vice, of the number of those which are rendered, in 
 consequence of a man's acceptance of the office to 
 which the salary is annexed. For the rendering of 
 any one of these services, the salary presents him 
 not with any motive which can come under the 
 head of reward : the motives which it gives him 
 belong entirely to the head of punishment. It is 
 by fenr only, and not by hope, that he is impelled 
 to the discharge of his duty ; by the fear of receiv- 
 ing less than he would otherwise receive; not by 
 the hope of receiving more. Though he work ever 
 so much more or better than a man who liolds his 
 office is expected to work, he will receive nothing 
 more than his salary, if the salary is all that he has 
 to hope for. By working to a certain degree less 
 or worse, he may indeed stand a chance of having 
 the salary, or a part of it, taken from him, or he 
 may be made punishable in some other way ; but 
 if he continue to keep clear of that extreme degree, 
 in such case let him work ever so little or ever so 
 badly, he will not, as far as artificial punishment is 
 concerned, be ever the worse. He has therefore 
 no motive, so far as the salary is concerned, for en- 
 deavouring to pass the line of mediocrity ; and he 
 has a motive, the motive of indolence or love of 
 ease, for stopping as far short of it as he can with 
 safety.
 
 B. II. Ch.I.— SALARY— HOW A REWARD. 147 
 
 Suppose, for instance, a salary of 4000/. a year 
 annexed to the office of a judge: of all the ser- 
 vices he may come to perform in the discharge of 
 his function, of which one is this salary the re- 
 ward ? Of no one whatever. Take any one of the 
 causes which would regularly come before him for 
 hearing ; though he were to attend, and to display 
 ever so much diligence and ever so much ability in 
 the hearing of it, he would receive no more that 
 year than his 4000/. — though he were to absent 
 himself altog^ether, and leave the business to his 
 colleagues, he would receive no less ; in short, 
 provided he does not so far swerve from his duty 
 as to subject himself to fine or deprivation, whe- 
 ther he perform his duty ever so well, or ever so 
 ill ; whether he decide many causes or few ; whe- 
 ther his attendance is constant or remiss ; whether 
 he display ever so much or ever so little ability, 
 his salary is the same. Not that a man in this 
 exalted station is in any want of motives to prompt 
 him to exert himself in the discharge of its duties: 
 he has the pleasures of power to balance the pains 
 of study ; the fear of shame to keep him from sink- 
 ing below mediocrity ; the hope of celebrity to 
 elevate him above it ; to spur him on to the high- 
 est pitch of excellence. These motives are pre- 
 sented to him by his station, but they are not pre- 
 sented to him by his salary. 
 
 The services, and the only services, with which 
 the salary presents him a motive for performing, 
 ^re, in the first place, the instantaneous act of 
 taking upon him the station, that is, of subjecting 
 himself to the obligations annexed to it, and in 
 the event of his violating any of those obligations, 
 to the punishments annexed to such violations : in 
 the next place, the discharging of the smallest 
 portion of those obligations which it is necessary 
 
 10.
 
 148 B.ll. Ch. I.— SALARY— HOW A REWARD. 
 
 he should discharge, in order to his receiving such 
 or such part of the salary. Let it, for instance, be 
 paid him quarterly : if the first quarter be paid 
 him in advance, it will afford ^him no motive of the 
 nature of reward for doing any of the business of 
 that quarter. He has that quarter's salary; nor 
 can he fail of enjoying it, unless, in the way of 
 punishment, it be afterwards taken from him. If 
 it be not paid him till the end of the quarter, the 
 case will be still the same, unless proof of his 
 having rendered certain services, the having at- 
 tended, for example, at certain times, be necessary 
 to his receiving it. With this exception, it may 
 equally be said that, in both cases, for any other 
 than the instantaneous act of taking upon him the 
 burthen of the station for that quarter, he has no 
 reward, nor any motive but what operates in the 
 way of punishment. 
 
 This distinction is of importance, for if the salary 
 given were the inducement for performing the ser- 
 vices, the chance of having them performed, and 
 well performed, would be exactly as the magni- 
 tude of the salary. If, for example, fifty pounds 
 sterling a year sufficed to insure fifty grains of 
 piety, assiduity, eloquence, and other sacerdotal 
 virtues in a curate, five thousand of these same 
 pounds ought to insure five thousand grains of 
 these same virtues in a bishop or archbishop. But 
 what everybody knows, is that this proportion does 
 not hold ; on the contrary, it most frequently hap- 
 pens that the proportion is inverse : the curate la- 
 bours much, the bishop little, and the archbishop 
 less. 
 
 The chance of service is as the magnitude of 
 the punishment ; and if the salary can be with- 
 drawn, it is so far indeed as the magnitude of the 
 salary ; but it may be equally great without any
 
 B.II. Ch.1.— SALARY— HOW A REWARD. 149 
 
 salary : by the substitution of any other punish- 
 ment instead of loss of salary. 
 
 We see, then, how it is that a salary, be it great 
 or small, independently of the obligation which it 
 pays a man for contracting, has not in itself the 
 smallest direct tendency to produce services ; 
 whilst experience shows, that in many cases, in 
 proportion to its magnitude, it has a tendency to 
 prevent them.
 
 [ 150 ] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 RULES AS TO EMOLUMENTS. 
 
 Before we enter upon this subject in detail, it 
 may be necessary to remark that, the proper appli- 
 cation of the following rules will depend upon the 
 nature of the service required, and its various local 
 circumstances. It is only by observing the pecu- 
 liar character assumed by abuse in each office, that 
 appropriate remedies for each particular evil can be 
 provided. Since it is impossible to make a com- 
 plete catalogue of all errors, and to anticipate every 
 species of abuse, the rules laid down may not con- 
 stitute a perfect system. They may, however, 
 serve as a warning against errors and abuses which 
 have by experience been found to exist, and also 
 against some which may be imagined likely to 
 exist. It is useful to erect beacons upon rocks 
 whose existence has been made known by the 
 shipwrecks they have caused. Among the rules 
 about to be given, some may appear so self-evi- 
 dent as almost to seem superfluous : but if it can 
 be shewn that errors have arisen from the neglect 
 of them in practice, such rules, though not enti- 
 tled to be considered as discoveries, must at least 
 be regarded as necessary warnings ; they may teach 
 nothing new, but they may serve to recall princi- 
 ples which it is desirable should be constantly and 
 clearly remembered. 
 
 Rule I. Emoluments ought in such manner to 
 be attached to offices, as to produce the most inti- 
 mate connection between the duty and the interest 
 of the person employed.
 
 B. fl. Cn.II.— RULES AS TO EMOLUMENTS, 151 
 
 This rule may be applied in insuring assiduous 
 attendence on the part of the persons employed, in 
 different offices, different services are required ; but 
 the greater number of offices have this one circum- 
 stance in common : that their duties may be per- 
 formed, it is necessary that the individual holding 
 the office should be at a certain time in a certain 
 place. Hence, of all duties, assiduous attendence 
 is the first, the most simple, and the most universal. 
 In many cases, to insure the performance of this 
 duty, is to insure the performance of every other 
 duty. When the clerk is at his desk, the judge 
 upon the bench, the professor in his school, if there 
 be nothing particularly irksome in their duty, and 
 they can do nothing else, rather than remain idle, 
 it is probable they will perform their duty. In 
 these cases, the service required being of the con- 
 tinual kind, and in point of quality not susceptible 
 of an indefinite degree of perfection ; the pay being 
 required not for certain services, but for such ser- 
 vices as may come to be performed within a certain 
 space of time, it may without impropriety be given 
 in the form of a salary. But even here, the policy 
 of making reward keep pace with service* should 
 be pursued as closely as possible ; and for this pur- 
 pose the long continued mass of service should be 
 broken down into as many separate services as 
 possible : the service of a year into the service of 
 days. In the highest offices, an individual, if paid 
 by his time, should like the day labourer, and for 
 the same reason, be paid rather by the day than by 
 the year. In this way he is kept to his duty with 
 more than the effect, and at the same time with- 
 out any of the odium of punishment. 
 
 In the station of a judge, it is not common to 
 
 * Sec b. i. ch. x. rule 3.
 
 152 B.II. Ch. II.— RULES AS TO EMOLUMENTS. 
 
 exact attendance by the force of punishment: at 
 least not by the force of punishment to be applied 
 in each instance of failure. But if it were, the in- 
 fliction of that punishment for trivial transgres- 
 sions, that is for one or a few instances of non-per- 
 formance, would be thought harsh and rigorous, 
 nor w^ould any body care for the odium of standing 
 forth to enforce it. Excuses would be lightly made, 
 and readily accepted. Punishment in such cases 
 being to the last degree uncertain, would be in a 
 great measure ineffectual. It might prevent con- 
 tinual, but it would never prevent occasional, or 
 even frequent, delinquency. But what cannot be 
 etfected by punishment alone, may be effected by 
 punishment and reward together. When the officer 
 is paid separately for each day's attendance, each 
 particle of service has its reward : there is for each 
 particle of service an inducement to perform it. 
 There will be no wanton excuses, when inconveni- 
 ence adheres inseparably to delinquency without 
 the parade of punishment. 
 
 The members of the French Academy and the 
 Academy of Science, notwithstanding all their dig- 
 nity, are paid their salaries by the day and not by 
 the year. And who are the individuals, how low or 
 how high soever, who cannot, and who ought not 
 to be paid ih this manner ? If pride has a legiti- 
 mate scruple, it is that which refuses to receive 
 the reward for labour which it has not performed. 
 Whilst as to the objection which might arise from 
 the minute apportionment of the salary, it is easily 
 removed by counters given from day to day, and 
 converted into money at fixed periods. 
 
 In the act of parli'^ament for establishing Peni- 
 tentiary houses, among other good regulations, 
 this method of insuring assiduity of attendance has 
 been adopted. The three superintendants receive,
 
 B.II. Ch.1I.— RULES AS TO EMOLUMENTS. 153 
 
 asthe whole of their emoluments, each a share of the 
 sum of five guineas, which is directed to be distri- 
 buted each day of their attendance equally among 
 those who are present. 
 
 A more antient example of this policy may be 
 found in the incorporated society in London, for 
 the assurances of lives. The directors of this esta- 
 blishment receive their trifling emoluments in this 
 manner ; and thus applied, these emoluments suf- 
 fice. This plan has also been adopted as it respects 
 commissioners of bankrupts, and by different asso- 
 ciations. 
 
 These examples ought not to be lost, and yet, 
 from not having been referred to general princi- 
 ples, they have not possessed the influence they 
 ought to have. How often have regulations been 
 heaped upon regulations without success ! How 
 many useless decrees were made in France to in- 
 sure the residence of the bishops and beneficed 
 clergy. 
 
 In England we have not, in this respect, been 
 more successful, that is to say, more skilful. 
 Laws have been enacted against the non-residence 
 of the clergy. Laws badly contrived, and conse- 
 quently useless. Punishment has been denounced 
 and a fine imposed, which, being invariable in 
 amount, has sometimes been greater and sometimes 
 less than the advantage to be derived from the 
 offence. For want of a public prosecutor in this, 
 as in so many other cases, it has been necessary to 
 rely upon such casual informer as may be allured 
 by a portion of the fine : the love of gain has sel- 
 dom proved a motive sufficiently strong to induce 
 an endeavour to obtain this reward ; whose value, 
 not to mention the expenses of pursuit, is de- 
 stroyed by infamy. Till this motive is reinforced
 
 J 54 B. II. Ch. II.— RULES AS TO EMOLUMENTS. 
 
 by personal animosity, which bursts the bonds of 
 infamy, these laws are powerless. 
 
 Such cases, which may occur once or twice in 
 the course of ten years, throughout the whole 
 kingdom, are neither sufficiently frequent, nor 
 well known, to operate as examples. The offence 
 remains undiminished; the useless punishment 
 constitutes only an additional evil : whilst such 
 laws and such methods, powerless among friends, 
 serve only to bring enemies into contact 1 When- 
 ever it is desirable that a clergyman should live in 
 the midst of his parishioners, that is to say, when 
 they are amicable, the law is a dead letter ; its 
 power is exerted only when they are irreconcilable 
 enemies ; that is, in the only cases wherein its 
 utility is problematical, and it were to be wished 
 that its execution would admit of an exception. 
 His return into his parish is a triumph for his ene- 
 mies, and a humiliation for himself. 
 
 Had the salaries, paid to the professors in the 
 universities, been interwoven with their services, 
 it might have been the custom for some of these 
 pretended labourers to have laboured for their hire; 
 and to be a professor, might have meant something 
 more than having a title, a salary, and nothing to 
 teach. 
 
 A salary, paid day by day, has an advantage 
 beyond that of insuring assiduity of attendance; 
 it even renders a service agreeable, which, with 
 an annual salary, will be regarded as purely bur- 
 thensome. When reward, instead of being be- 
 stowed in a lump, follows each successive portion 
 of labour, the idea of labour becomes associated 
 with pleasure instead of pain. In England, hus- 
 bandmen, like other labourers, are paid in hard 
 money by the week, and their labour is cheerfully
 
 B. II. Ch. II.— rules as to emoluments. 155 
 
 and well performed. In some parts of the conti- 
 nent, husbandmen are still paid as they were for- 
 merly in England, by houses and pieces of land 
 given once for all ; and the labour is said to be 
 performed with all the slovenliness and reluctance 
 of slavery. 
 
 Rule 11. — Emoluments ought in such manner 
 to be attached to office, as to produce the greatest 
 possible degree of excellence in theservice rendered. 
 
 Thus far the subject has only been considered 
 as applicable to insuring attendance in cases where 
 assiduity of attendance appears to suffice for in- 
 suring the performance of all other duties. There 
 follow some cases, in which it appears possible to 
 apply the same principle, either in the prevention 
 of abuse, or in insuring an extraordinary degree of 
 perfection in the employment of the powers which 
 belong to certain stations. 
 
 Instead of appointing a fixed salary, invariably 
 of the same amount, as the emolument of the 
 superintendant, or superintendants, of a prison, a 
 poor-house, an asylum for orphans, or any kind of 
 hospital, whose inhabitants depend upon the care 
 of one, or a small number of individuals, whatever 
 may be the difference in the degree of attention 
 displayed, or the degree of perfection with which 
 the service is performed, it would be well to make 
 such emolument in some measure depend upon the 
 care with which their duties have been performed, 
 as evidenced by their success. In a penitentiary, 
 or other prison, that the prisoners might be insured 
 from all negligence or ill-treatment, tending di- 
 rectly or indirectly to shorten their lives, make a 
 calculation of the average number of deaths among 
 the prisoners in the particular prison, compared 
 with the number of persons confined there. Allow 
 the superintendant each year a certain sum for
 
 156 B.II. Ch. 11.— RULES AS TO EMOLUMENTS. 
 
 each person of this number, upon condition, that 
 for every prisoner who dies, an equal sum is 
 to be withheld from the amount of his emolu- 
 ments. It is clear, that having a net profit upon 
 the lives of all whom he preserves, there is scarcely 
 any necessity for any other precaution against 
 ill-treatment, or negligence, tending to shorten 
 life.* 
 
 In the naval service, the laws of England allow 
 a certain sum for each vessel taken or destroyed, 
 and so much for every individual captured. Why 
 is not this method of encouragement extended to 
 the military service ? 
 
 Is the commander of an army employed in de- 
 fending a province — allow him a pension which 
 shall be diminished in proportion to the territory 
 he loses. Is the governor of an important place 
 besieged — allow him so much for every day that 
 he continues the defence. Is the conquest of a 
 province desirable — promise to the general em- 
 ployed, besides the honours he shall receive, a 
 sum of money which shall increase in proportion 
 to the territory he acquires, besides giving him a 
 pension, as above, for preserving it when acquired. 
 
 To the principal diity of taking and destroying 
 those who are opposed to him, might be added, 
 the subordinate duty of preserving the living ma- 
 chines whose exertions are necessary for its accom- 
 
 * " The managers of L Hotel Dieu were used to charge fifty 
 livres for each patient who either died or was cured. M. de 
 Chamousset and Co. offered to undertake the management for 
 fifty livres, for those only who were cured. All who died were 
 not to he reckoned in the bargain, and were to be at their 
 expense. The offer was so admirable, it was not accepted. It 
 was feared that they would not be able to fulfil their engagement. 
 Every abuse which it is attempted to reform is the patrimony 
 of those who have more credit than the Reformers." — Quest. 
 Encycl. art. Charite.
 
 B.II. Ch. II.— RULES AS TO EMOLUMENTS. 157 
 
 plishment. The method proposed for the preser- 
 vation of prisoners, why should it not be enmployed 
 for the preservation of soldiers ? It must be ac- 
 knowledged, that no reward exclusively attached 
 to this subordinate duty could, in the mind of 
 a prudent commander, add anything to the weight 
 of those arguments which arise out of the principal 
 object. A soldier when he is ill, is worth less than 
 nothing; a recruit may not arrive at the moment, 
 may not arrive at all, and when he has arrived he 
 is not like a veteran. If therefore it be proper to 
 strengthen motives thus palpable, by a separate 
 and particular reward, it ought at least to be kept 
 in a subordination sufficiently marked with respect 
 to the principal object. 
 
 Thus much as to a time of war. In time of 
 peace the propriety of this method is much less 
 doubtful. It is then that the attention of a general 
 should be more particularly directed to the preser- 
 vation of his soldiers. Make him the insurer of 
 their lives, and he will become the rival of Escu- 
 lapius in medical science, and of Howard in phi- 
 lanthropy. He will no longer be indifferent, whe- 
 ther they encamp upon a hill or in a morass. His 
 vigilance will be exercised upon the quality of his 
 supplies, and the arrangement of his hospitals; and 
 his discipline •will be rendered perfect against those 
 vices of armies, which are sometimes no less de- 
 structive than the sword of the enemy.* 
 
 The same system might be extended to ships of 
 war, in which negligence is so fatal, and in which 
 general rules are so easily enforced. The admiral, 
 or captain, would thus have an immediate in- 
 
 * A slight sketch is all that can be attempted : the details 
 would occupy too much space. A general might be made the 
 insurer, as it respects those who die of disease, but not of those 
 who are killed.
 
 158 B.II. Ch. II.— RULES AS TO EMOLUMENTS. 
 
 terest in the preservation of each sailor. The 
 admirable example of Captain Cook, who cir- 
 cumnavigated the world, and traversed so many 
 different climates and unknown seas, without the 
 loss of a single sailor, would no longer be unfruitful. 
 His instructions respecting diet, change of air, 
 and cleanliness, would not be neglected. The 
 British navy, it is true, is much improved in these 
 respects, but who can tell how much greater per- 
 fection might be attained, if to the already exist- 
 ing motives, were added the influence of a con- 
 stantly acting interest, which, without injuring 
 any virtue, might supply the place of all, if they 
 were wanting ? 
 
 In the application of these suggestions, there 
 may be difficulties : are they insurmountable ? It 
 is for those who have had experience to reply. 
 
 In the treaty made by the Landgrave of Hesse 
 Cassel, relative to the troops which the British 
 s:overnment hired of him to serve in America, one 
 stipulation was, that for every man not returned to 
 his country, he should receive thirty pounds. I 
 know not whether such a stipulation were cus- 
 tomary or not, but whether it were or not, nothing 
 could be more happily imagined, either for the 
 fiscal interest of the sovereign lender, or the in- 
 terest of the individuals lent. The spirit of party 
 found in this stipulation a theme for declama- 
 tion, as if its only effect were to give to the 
 prince an interest in the slaughter of his subjects; 
 whilst, if anything could counterbalance the mis- 
 chievous effects of the treaty, it was this pecuniary 
 condition. It gave to these strangers a security 
 against the negligence or indifference of the bor- 
 rowers, on account of which they might more wil- 
 lingly have been exposed to danger than native 
 subjects. The price attached to their loss would
 
 B.II. Ch. II.— RULES AS TO EMOLUMENTS. 159 
 
 act as an insurance, that care should bo taken to 
 preserve them. 
 
 It has been said, that in some countries the 
 emoluments of the commanders of regiments 
 increase in proportion to the number of non-effec- 
 tives : that is to say, that they receive always the 
 same amount for the pay of his corps, though they 
 have not always the same number of men to pay. 
 Such an arrangement is precisely the opposite of 
 what is recommended above. The number of non- 
 etFectives increasing by death or desertion, the 
 commander gains in money what he loses in men. 
 Every penny which he is thus permitted to acquire 
 is a reward offered, if not for murder, at least for 
 negligence. 
 
 Note. — The principles thus laid down by Mr. Bentham are 
 susceptible of great diversity of application. When Mr. 
 Whiibread brought into parliament his bill for the establish- 
 ment of schools for the education of the poor, I flattered myself 
 that I had discovered one instance to which they might very 
 readily be applied ; and, in a letter addressed to Sir Samuel 
 Romilly, from which the following paragraphs are extracted, 
 I explained my ideas upon the subject. It will be perceived, 
 that the whole plan depends upon the principles laid down in 
 this chapter. 
 
 " Mr. Whitbread has been fully aware of the necessity of 
 superintendance in respect to the masters, — and he has pro- 
 posed to commit it to the clei'gyman and justices of the peace j 
 but it is not difficult to foresee, that this burthensome super- 
 intendance will be inefficacious. No good will be effected un- 
 less the interest of the master is constantly combined with all 
 parts of his duty. The only method of accomplishing this, 
 consists in making his reward depend upon his success ; in 
 giving him no fixed salary ; in allowing him a certain sum for 
 each child, payable only when each child has learned to read ; 
 in a word, in paying him, as workmen are sometimes paid, 
 by the work done. 
 
 " When he receives a fixed salary, the master has only a 
 slight interest in the progress of his pupils. If he act suffi- 
 ciently well to prevent his being discharged, this is all that can 
 reasonably be expected.
 
 160 B.II. Ch. II.— RULES AS TO EMOLUMENTS. 
 
 " If he receive no reward till the service be performed, he 
 has a constant interest in performing it quickly. He can relax 
 his exertions only at his own expense. There is no longer any 
 necessity for superintendance. The master will himself seek 
 to improve the modes of instruction, and to excite the children 
 to emulation. He will be disposed to listen to the advice, and 
 to profit by the experience of others. 
 
 " When he receives a fixed salary, every new scholar in- 
 creases the trouble of the master, diminishes his exertions, 
 and disposes him to complain. Upon the plan which I propose, 
 it is the master who will stir up the negligent parents ; it is 
 he who will become the servant of the law. Instead of com- 
 plaining that he has too many pupils, he will only complain if 
 he have too few. Should he have three or four hundred, or 
 even as many as Mr. Lancaster, like him, he would find the 
 means of attending to them all ; he would employ the most 
 forward in instructing those who were less advanced, &c. &c. 
 
 " Should a negligent or incapable master be appointed, he 
 would be forced to quit his place. Substitute for this plan 
 examinations, depositions^ and decisions, and see what would 
 be the consequence. 
 
 " There would be no difficulty in the execution of this pro- 
 posed plan. It would be sufficient if, twice or thrice in the 
 year, that the clergyman, and certain justices of the peace, or 
 other persons of consequence, who were willing to promote so 
 useful a work, should meet together for two or three hours at 
 the school -house. The examination of each scholar would not 
 occupy more than half a minute. The master himself might 
 be trusted for selecting only such as were capable of un- 
 dergoing the test, and an honorary would thus be added 
 to his pecuniary reward, by the publicity given to his suc- 
 cess." DUMONT.
 
 [ IGl ] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FEES AND PERQUISITES — NONE. 
 
 Another expedient is often emplo^'ed in the 
 payment of public officers. 1 refer to the fees, 
 which they are sometimes authorised to receive 
 on their own account, from those who require their 
 services. 
 
 This arrangement is attended with a specious 
 advantage, and a real danger. The advantage is, 
 that the reward seems to be exactly and directly 
 in proportion to the labour performed. The 
 danger lies in the temptation given to such officers 
 to increase their emoluments, by increasing the 
 difficulties of those who need their services. The 
 abuse is easily introduced. It is very natural, for 
 example, that an individual who has been served 
 withan extraordinary expedition, should add some- 
 thing to the accustomed fee. But this reward, 
 bestowed on account of superior expedition in the 
 first instance, infallibly becomes a cause of delay 
 in all which follow. The regulated hours of busi- 
 ness are employed in doing nothing, or in doing 
 the least possible, that extraordinary pay may be 
 received for what is done out of office-hours. 
 The industry of all the persons employed will be 
 directed to increasing the profit of their places, by 
 lending one another mutual assistance ; and the 
 heads of departments will connive at the disorder, 
 either for their share of the benefit, or out of kind- 
 ness to their inferiors, or for fear of rendering them 
 discontented. 
 
 11
 
 16^ B.Il. Ch.III.— FEES AND PERQUISITES— NONE. 
 
 The inconveniences will be yet greater, if they 
 relate to a service covered with a mysterious veil, 
 which the public cannot raise. Such is the veil 
 of the law. The useless and oppressive delays in 
 legal procedure arise from very complicated causes ; 
 but it cannot be doubted, that one of the most 
 considerable of these causes is the sinister interest 
 which lawyers have in multiplying processes and 
 questions, that they may multiply the occasions for 
 receiving fees. 
 
 Integrity is more easily preserved in public 
 offices in which there are no fees, than those in 
 which they are allowed. A lawful right often 
 serves as a pretext for extortion. The distinction 
 between what is permitted and what is prohibited, 
 in many cases, is exceedingly minute ; and how many 
 temptations may occur of profiting by the igno- 
 rance of strangers, when circumstances will insure 
 impunity! An easy method of detecting offences 
 is a great restraint. Whenever therefore fees are 
 allowed, a list of them should be publicly fixed 
 up in the office itself: this will operate as a pro- 
 tection to the persons employed against suspicion, 
 and to the public against vexation. 
 
 This mode of rewarding services supposes, that 
 the individuals, who stand in need of them, should 
 bear the expenses of the establishment : this is 
 true only in case the benefit is solely for those in- 
 dividuals; in all other cases fees constitute an 
 unequal and very unjustly assessed tax. We 
 shall have occasion to recur to this subject shortlv.
 
 [ 163 ] 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MINIMIZE EMOLUMENT. 
 
 Rule HI. — The amount of the salary, or other 
 emoluments, attached to every office, ought to be 
 the least that the individuals, qualified to execute 
 its duties, are willing to accept for their perform- 
 ance. 
 
 The fair and proper price of any vendible com- 
 modity is the least that anybody will take for it; 
 so that the expectation of like payment shall be a 
 sufficient inducement to the Jabour requisite to 
 produce other like articles in future. The fair and 
 proper price of any service is the least that any- 
 body will do it for: so that if more were given, it 
 would be done either not at all the better, or not 
 so much the better as that the difference of qua- 
 lity should be equivalent to the difference of ex- 
 pense. In this proper and necessary price is in- 
 cluded, of course, everything necessary to enable 
 the individual to perform, and to continue to per- 
 form, the service ; and also whatever is necessary, 
 on account of the disadvantages attending the ser- 
 vice, and on account of the chance which may be 
 given up of the advantages that might be expected 
 from other services. 
 
 At the first establishment of an office, it may be 
 difficult accurately to determine what ought to be 
 the amount of its emoluments: in this, as is the 
 case with every commodity when carried to market 
 for the first time, we can only be guided by chance. 
 
 11.
 
 164 B. ij. ch. IV.— minimize emolument. 
 
 The number and character of the candidates will, 
 however, soon determine whether the amount 
 offered is too large or too small. 
 
 According to this rule, the salaries paid to the 
 judges in England, which appear so considerable, 
 are scarcely enough ; since, as we have already 
 seen, they are not sufficient to induce those, who 
 are best qualified to discharge the duty, to under- 
 take the office. 
 
 In France, before the revolution, scarcely any 
 salaries were paid to the judges; they were not 
 drafted from the class of advocates, and no sacrifice 
 was required of them when they entered upon 
 their duties; it was not necessary that they should 
 be possessed of much experience, and their reward 
 consisted principally in the honour and respect 
 attached to their station. In England, the number 
 of judges is so small, that there is no place for 
 ciphers: it is necessary that each judge should 
 possess, from the first day he enters upon his office, 
 that skill which, in the present state of immen- 
 sity and obscurity in which the law is found, can 
 only be the fruit of long stud}^ In France, 
 among the enormous multitude of her judges, 
 there w^as always a sufficient number endowed 
 with the requisite skill; and the novice might, so 
 long as he chose, preserve a Pythagorean silence. 
 
 A method of ascertaining the proper amount of 
 emoluments for any office, simple as it is effica- 
 cious, is afforded by allowing the persons em- 
 ployed to discharge their duty by deputy; if no 
 one employs a deputy, the emoluments cannot be 
 much too great ; if many individuals employ de- 
 puties, it will be only necessary to observe what 
 is paid to the deputies: the salary of the deputy 
 is the proper salary for the place.
 
 B. II. ch. IV.— minimize emolument. 165 
 
 If this rule be applied to the emoluments of the 
 clergy, and it be asked what is the proper price 
 for their services, the answer is not ditlicult. 
 It is, prima facie, the price given by one class 
 of the clergy, and received by the other ; it is the 
 current price of curacies. I say always prima 
 facie, for, in reality, the current price is somewhat 
 greater; part of the price being made up in hope. 
 l"or insuring the due performance of all the duties 
 of their office, this price is found to be sufficient. 
 The possession of any greater emolument is not 
 only useless but pernicious, inasmuch as it enables 
 them to engage in occupations incompatible with 
 the due performance of their function, and as it 
 tends to give them a distaste for the duties of that 
 function. 
 
 The inequality observable in the emoluments 
 of the established clergy, is also disadvantageous 
 in respect to the greater number of ecclesiastics. 
 The comparison which they make between their 
 condition, and that of the rich incumbents, dimi- 
 nishes still further, in their eyes, the value of 
 what they receive. A reward so unequal for equal 
 services, degrades those who receive only their 
 proper portion. The whole presents the ap- 
 pearance of a lottery, of favour and injustice, 
 ill according with the moral character of their 
 vocation. 
 
 It is a good rule of economy to employ only real 
 labourers, who do not think themselves superior 
 to the work they have to perform. Dutch florists 
 ought not to be employed in the cultivation of 
 potatoes. 
 
 It is well also fully to employ the time of the 
 individuals employed. The duties of many public 
 offices require only three or four hours attendance
 
 166 B.IJ. Ch. IV.— MINIMIZE EMOLUMENT. 
 
 daily. After the office hours are passed, such in- 
 dividuals seldom are able profitably to employ 
 their time. The leisure they possess increases 
 their wants. Ennui, the scourge of life, is no 
 less the enemy of economy. It is among this 
 class, that those who are most discontented with 
 their salaries, are generally found.
 
 [ 1^7 ] 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 NO MORE NOMINAL THAN REAL. 
 
 Rule IV. — The nominal and real amount of sa- 
 laries ought to correspond. 
 
 In other words, no deduction ought to be made 
 from the real value of a salary without reducing its 
 nominal amount. The practice whicli has fre- 
 quently been adopted in England of reducing the 
 real value of salaries and pensions by taxes and 
 other deductions, while the nominal amount of the 
 salaries has remained unaltered, has given rise to 
 this rule. In some instances, the deductions thus 
 made have amounted to one third of the nominal 
 salary. 
 
 No advantage arises from this arrangement, but 
 its inconveniences are numerous. In the first 
 place, it is an evil in so far as it spreads an exagger- 
 ated idea of the sacrifices made by the public, and 
 the expense incurred under the head of salaries. 
 With respect to the public functionaries, it is an 
 evil to possess an income greater in appearance 
 than reality. The erroneous conceptions hence 
 entertained of their wealth, imposes upon them, in 
 deference to public opinion, the necessity of keep- 
 ing up a corresponding establishment. Under the 
 penalty of being considered niggardly, they are 
 compelled to be extravagant. It is true the pubMc 
 are aware, in general, that salaries and pensions are 
 subject to deductions, but they are oftentimes only 
 acquainted with a part of the deductions, and the}-^ 
 seldom in such cases enter into minute calcula- 
 tions.
 
 168 B. II. Ch. v.— NO MORE NOMINAL THAN REAL. 
 
 In this manner the diflference between the no- 
 minal and real value of a salary, tends to produce 
 an increase in the wants of the individual employed. 
 Call the amount of his salary what it really is, and 
 he will be at ease, but every nominal addition will 
 prove a costly ornament. If the opportunity of 
 illicit profit is presented to him, such nominal ad- 
 dition will be an incentive to corruption, and 
 should he not be dishonest it will prove a cause of 
 distress.* 
 
 The remedy is simple as efficacious ; the change 
 need only be in words. 
 
 * A further inconvenience frequently arises from the expense 
 of collecting and managing all such peculiar contributions.
 
 [ 169 ] 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 COUPLE BURTHEN WITH BENEFIT. 
 
 EuleY. — The expenses of an office ought to he 
 defrayed by those who enjoy the benefit of the 
 services rendered by the office. 
 
 The author of the Wealth of Nations, in inves- 
 tigating* the manner in which the expense of ser- 
 vices ought to be divided, has shewn that in some 
 cases it ought to be defrayed by the public, in 
 others, exclusively by those who immediately reap 
 the benefit of the service. He has also shewn 
 that there is a class of mixed cases in which the ex- 
 pense ought to be defrayed partly by the public, and 
 partly by the individuals who derive the immediate 
 benefit. To this class belongs public education. 
 
 The rule just laid down seems scarcely to stand 
 in need of proof. It may, however, be useful to 
 mention the modes in which it may be violated ; 
 as, when for a service rendered to one person or set 
 of persons, the obligation of payment is imposed 
 upon another. This is partly the case of dissenters 
 who support their own clergy, in so far as they are 
 obliged to pay for the support of the clergy of that 
 established sect from which they dissent. 2. When 
 for a service rendered to a certain number of indi- 
 viduals, the obligation ofpayment is imposed upon 
 the public. For example, the expenses of a 
 theatre, wholly or in part paid out of the public 
 purse. 3. When for a service rendered to the 
 
 * Book V.
 
 170 B. II. Ch. VI.— COUPLE BURTHEN WITH BENEFIT. 
 
 public, the obligation of payment is imposed upon 
 an individual. 
 
 With respect to this third case, the examples are 
 but too abundant. 
 
 I. The most remarkable example will be found 
 in the administration ofjustice. At first sight it 
 may be thought that he who obtains a verdict in 
 his favour reaps the principal, or even the only 
 advantage to be obtained ; and therefore that it is 
 reasonable he should bear the expense incurred ; 
 that he should pay the officers ofjustice for the 
 time they have been employed. It is in this man- 
 ner that the subject appeared even to Adam Smith. 
 (B. V. sec. 2.) Upon a closer examination, we shall 
 discover an important error. The individual in 
 whose favour a verdict is given, is precisely the indi- 
 vidual who has received least benefit : setting aside 
 the rewards paid to the officers ofjustice, how many 
 other expenses, which the nature of things render 
 inevitable, remain. It is he who, at the price of his 
 time, his care and his money, has purchased that 
 protection which others receive for nothing. 
 
 Suppose that among a million persons there has 
 been, for example, a thousand law-suits in a year; 
 without these law-suits, without the judgments 
 which terminate them, injustice would have had 
 nothing to hold it in check, but the defensive 
 energy of individuals. A million acts of injustice 
 would have been perpetrated in the same time. 
 But since, by means of these thousand judgments, 
 a million acts of injustice have been prevented, it 
 is the same thing as if each complainant had him- 
 self prevented a thousand. Because he has ren- 
 dered so important a service, because he has ex- 
 posed himself to so many mishaps, to so much 
 trouble and expense, does he deserve to be taxed ?
 
 B. II. Ch. VI.— COUPLE BURTHEN WITH BENEFIT. 171 
 
 It is as though the militia who defend the fron- 
 tiers should be selected to bear the expenses of the 
 campaign. 
 
 " Who goeth a warfare any time at his own 
 charges ?" saith St. Paul. It is the poor litigant 
 who makes war upon injustice, who pursues it 
 before the tribunals at his own risk, and who is 
 made to pay for the service which is rendered to 
 him. 
 
 When such expenses are thrown upon a defen- 
 dant, unjustly dragged into the litigious contention, 
 the case is yet worse ; instead of any thing having 
 been done for his advantage, he has been tormented, 
 and he is made to pay for having been tormented. 
 
 If the expenses are altogether thrown upon the 
 party who is found to have done wrong, (although it 
 often happens, owing to the uncertainty either of 
 the facts or of the law, that there has been no wil- 
 ful wrong on either side,) this cannot be done at 
 first ; this party can only be known at the termina- 
 tion of the suit. But then such a judgment would 
 be a punishment ; and there is a chance that 
 such a punishment may not be deserved ; another 
 chance, that the individual may not be in a condi- 
 tion to support it ; another chance, that it will be 
 either too great or too little.* 
 
 II. As another violation of this rule, may be 
 cited the practice of taking fees, as carried on in 
 most custom-houses, and which constituted a great 
 abuse in those of England, previously to the re- 
 
 * There are many other objections to taxes upon law pro- 
 ceedings, but they do not belong to the present subject. Un- 
 der the head of procedure^ it might be shewn that these taxes 
 oppose the ends of justice : under the head of finance, that 
 they constitute a bad source of revenue. The subject has been 
 more fully discussed in Mr. Bentliam's " Protest against Lata 
 Taxes."
 
 172 B.II. Ch. VI.— COUPLE BURTHEN WITH BENEFIT. 
 
 form introduced by Mr. Pitt. Many of the offi- 
 cers, not receiving salaries sufficient for their main- 
 tenance, were allowed to make up the deficiency 
 by fees received for their own advantage. This 
 custom had an appearance of reason. " We pass 
 your merchandise through the custom-house," they 
 might have said ; " and you ought to pay for this 
 service." But this reason is deceptive. " Without 
 this custom-house," the merchants might have re- 
 plied, " our merchandize would have gone straight 
 forward ; it is not for our advantage that this costly 
 depot is established. It is for the general wants of 
 the state. The state therefore, which you serve, 
 ought to pay you, and not us, whom you torment 
 with your services, which we should be very 
 happy to do without." But, it may be said, this 
 expense must be borne by somebody, why should 
 it not be borne by these merchants as well as any 
 body else ? Because it is a partial and unequal 
 tax. Taxes upon merchandize are generally in 
 proportion to the value of the goods ; this abusive 
 tax seldom is so. A rich merchant does not feel 
 it; he is reimbursed by the sale of his goods. A 
 poor individual is oppressed by this second contri- 
 bution, which he finds it necessary to pay to the 
 clerk after he has paid what is due to the exche- 
 quer ; and it with reason appears to him the more 
 odious, because it is oftentimes arbitrary. 
 
 III. In conclusion, as a last example of the 
 violation of this rule, we mention the emoluments 
 of the clergy, in so far as they consist of tithes. If 
 the services of the clergy contribute to the main- 
 tenance of public morality, and obedience to the 
 laws, even those to whom these services are not 
 personally directed are benefited by them ; they 
 are useful to the whole state. Their expense, what- 
 ever ought to be its amount, ought to be borne by
 
 B.II.Ch. VI.— COUPLE BURTHEN WITH BENEFIT. 173 
 
 the whole community. Distributed as tliis expense 
 isatpresent, under the systemof tithes, in such man- 
 ner that every one knows how much and to whom 
 he pays it, no advantage is derived from this know- 
 ledge; whilst the inconveniences are but too mani- 
 fest in that hatred which so frequently subsists be- 
 tween the parishioners and their minister, the shep- 
 herd and his flock ; by means of which his labours, 
 so long as this enmity subsists, are rendered worse 
 than useless. Were this expense to be defrayed 
 from the general source of the public treasure, 
 these scandalous dissensions would be avoided, and 
 whether the revenues were more or less ample, it 
 would be possible to preserve a more just propor- 
 tion between them and the different degrees of 
 labour; instead of floating as at present between 
 ^20. and .£20,000. per annum, under the direction 
 chance.* 
 
 * Tithes considered as a tax are attended with other incon- 
 veniences : they belong not to our present subject. They have 
 been exposed by Adam Smith, with that force and precision 
 which characterise that great master.
 
 [ 174 ] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BY EMOLUMENTS EXCLUDE CORRUPTION. 
 
 Rule V. — In employments which expose the 
 public functionary to peculiar temptations, the 
 emoluments ought to be sufficient to preserve him 
 from corruption. 
 
 Setting aside all considerations of the happiness 
 of the individual, the interest of the public re- 
 quires that in all employments which afford the 
 means of illicit gain, the individuals employed 
 should be placed above want. If this important 
 consideration be neglected, we ought not to be sur- 
 prised that men urged on by perpetually recurring 
 wants should abuse the powers they possess. Under 
 such circumstances, if they are found guilty of 
 extortion and peculation, they are less deserving of 
 blame than that government which has spread the 
 snare into which it was scarcely possible that 
 their probity should not fall. Placed between the , 
 necessity of providing the means of subsistence, 
 and the impossibility of providing them honestly, 
 they will naturally be led to regard peculation and 
 extortion as a lawful supplement, tacitly autho- 
 rized by the government. The examples of this 
 mischievous economy, and of the inconveniences 
 resulting from it, are more frequent in Russia than 
 under any other European government. 
 
 " M. de Launay (Farmer-General under Fre- 
 derick II.) represented to the king that the sala- 
 ries of the custom-house officers were too small 
 for their subsistence, and that it would be but 
 justice to augment them ; he added that he
 
 B. 11. Ch.VII.— BY EMOLUMENTS EXCLUDE CORRUPTION. 175 
 
 could insure to his majesty that every one would 
 then discharge his duty better, and that the aggregate 
 receipts in all the offices would be larger at the 
 end of the year." — " You do not know my sub- 
 jects," said Frederick, " they are all rogues where 
 my interests are in question. I have thoroughly 
 studied them, and 1 am sure they would rob 
 me at the altar. By paying them better you 
 would diminish my revenues, and they would not 
 rob me less." — " Sire," replied M. de Launay, 
 " how can they do otherwise than steal ? Their 
 salaries are not enough to buy them shoes and 
 stockings 1 a pair of boots costs them a month's 
 pay ! at the same time, many of them are married. 
 And where can they obtain food for their wives 
 and families, if it is not by conniving at the smug- 
 glers ? There is, sire, a most important maxim 
 which, in matters of government, is too frequently 
 neglected. It is that men in general desire to be 
 honest; but it is always necessary to leave them 
 the ability of being so. If your majesty will con- 
 sent to make the trial I propose, I will engage that 
 your revenues will be augmented more than a 
 fourth." The maxim in morals, thus brought for- 
 ward by M. de Launay, appeared to the king, beau- 
 tiful and just, as it really is in itself — so much the 
 more excellent from being in the mouth of a finan- 
 cier ; smce men of this class are not in general 
 reputed to know many such. He authorized the 
 experiment, he increased the salaries of the officers 
 by a half, and his revenues were increased a third 
 without any new taxes.* 
 
 A salary proportionate to the wants of the func- 
 tionary operates as a kind of moral antiseptic^ or 
 preservative. It fortifies a man's probity against 
 
 * Thiebault. Mes Souvenirs de Berlin. Tome iv. p. 12G.
 
 17G B.II. Ch.VII.— BY EMOLUMENTS EXCLUDE CORRUPTION. 
 
 the influence of sinister and seductive motives. 
 The fear of losing it will, in general, be more than 
 equivalent to the ordinary temptations held out 
 by illicit gains. 
 
 But in the estimation of a man's v^^ants, it is not 
 merely to what is absolutely necessary that our 
 calculation ought to be confined. Fabricius and 
 Cincinnatus are not the proper standards to be 
 selected. The actual state of society ought to be 
 considered. The average measure of probity must 
 be our rule. Public opinion assigns to every 
 public functionary a "certain relative rank ; and, 
 whether reasonably or not, expects from him an 
 expenditure nearly equal to that of persons in a 
 similar rank. If he is compelled to act in defiance 
 of public opinion, he degrades and exposes himself 
 to contempt — a punishment so much the more 
 afflictive, in proportion as his rank is elevated. 
 Wants keep pace with dignity. Destitute of the 
 lawful means of supporting his rank, his dignity 
 presents a motive for malversation, and his power 
 furnishes the means. History abounds with crimes, 
 the result of this ill-judged policy. 
 
 If a justification is required for the extraordi- 
 narily high salaries, which it is customary to pay to 
 the supreme magistrates, who are called Kings, it 
 will be found in the principles above laid down. 
 The Americans, by denominating their chief ma- 
 gistrate a President, have thereby made a small 
 salary, compared with what is paid in England to 
 the sovereign, answer every purpose of a large 
 one. Why ? Because the dignity of the presi- 
 dent is compared with that of the other officers of 
 the republic, whilst in Europe the dignity of the 
 sovereign is measured by a sort of comparison 
 with that of other kings. If he were unable to 
 maintain a certain pomp amidst the opulence of
 
 ll. Cii. VII.— BY EMOLUMENTS EXCLUDE CORRUPTION. 177 
 
 his courtiers, he would feel himself tlegraded. 
 Charles II., to relieve himself from the restrictions 
 imposed upon him by the economy of parliament, 
 sold himself to a foreign potentate, who offered to 
 supply his profusion. The hope of escaping from 
 the embarrassments into which he had plunged 
 himself, drove him, like an insolvent individual, 
 to criminal resources. This mistaken economy 
 occasioned the expense of two successive wars, 
 terminating in a peace more disastrous perhaps 
 than either of the wars. Our strength was wasted 
 in oppressing a necessary ally, instead of being 
 employed in checking the ambition of a rival, with 
 whom we had afterwards to contend, with dimi- 
 nished resources. Thus the establishment of the 
 Civil List, though its amount may appear large, 
 may be considered as a measure of general securiti/. 
 It is true that the sum necessary to prevent 
 Charles II. from selling himself, or, in other words, 
 the amount which in this instance would have 
 operated as a moral antiseptic, or preservative, 
 could not have been very accurately calculated. 
 A greater or less portion of this antiseptic must 
 be employed in proportion as there exists a greater 
 or less proclivity towards corruption. Experience 
 is the touchstone of all calculations in this respect. 
 Provided these abuses are guarded against, a low 
 scale of salaries can never be an evil ; it must 
 be a good. If the salary be not a sufficient re- 
 ward for the service to be performed, the office 
 will not be accepted. If it be sufficient, everything 
 which is added to its amount is so much lavished 
 in pure waste. 
 
 12
 
 I 17S ] 
 
 CHAPTER VIIT. 
 
 GIVE PENSIONS OF RETREAT. 
 
 RuieYll. — Pensions of retreat ought to be pro- 
 vided, especially when the emoluments allowed 
 are not more than sufficient to meet the absolute 
 wants of the functionary.* 
 
 Pensions of retreat are recommended by consi- 
 derations of humanity, justice, and good economy; 
 they moreover tend to insure the proper discharge 
 of duty, and constitute a source of responsibility 
 on the part of the individuals employed. 
 
 1. There are many cases in which it is not de- 
 sirable that a public functionary should continue 
 to be employed after his activity and capacity have 
 become impaired. But, since the infirmities of 
 age tend to increase his wants, this is not the time 
 in which he will be able to retrench his expendi- 
 ture; and he will be induced by this consideration, 
 in his old age and impotency, to continue to en- 
 deavour to perform, with pain, and even with dis- 
 grace, the duties of a station which, in his matu- 
 rity, he had filled with pleasure and reputation. 
 To wait till he voluntarily resigns, is to expect a 
 species of suicide ; to dismiss him without a pen- 
 sion of retreat is, in the supposed state of his 
 faculties, a species of homicide. A pension of 
 
 * The reader ought to be apprised that, having found in 
 Mr. Benthani's MSS. upon this subject, only the memorandum 
 " Pensions of Retreat," I have confined myself to the most 
 simple exposition of the subject : its details would have been 
 too widely extended. — Note by Dumont.
 
 B.ir. Ch. Vlll.— GIVE PENSIONS OF RETREAT. 179 
 
 retreat removes all these difficulties: it is a debt 
 of humanity paid by the public to its servants. 
 
 2. By means of these pensions, the scale of all 
 salaries may be lower than otherwise, without 
 producing any ill effect upon the quality of the 
 services rendered. They will constitute an item 
 in the calculation which every individual makes: 
 in the mean time, government will obtain from all, 
 at a low price, services, the ulterior compensation 
 for which, on account of the casualties of human 
 life, will only be received by a few. It is a lottery, 
 in which there are no blanks. 
 
 3. In all employments from which the indivi- 
 duals are removable at pleasure, the pension of 
 retreat, in consequence of the approach of the 
 period at which it will become necessary or due, 
 will add an increasing value to the salary, and 
 augment the responsibility of the individual em- 
 ployed. Should he be tempted to malversation, 
 it will be necessary that the profit derivable from 
 his malversation should compensate with certainty 
 not only for the loss of his annual salary, but also 
 the value of his future pension of retreat ; his fide- 
 lity is thus secured to the last moment of his con- 
 tinuing in office. 
 
 4. We ought not to forget the happiness, insured 
 to thepersons employed, resultingfrom the security 
 given to them by the provision thus made against 
 that period of life, which is most menaced with 
 weakness and neglect. Hence an habitual dispo- 
 sition to perform the duties of their office with 
 alacrity will arise ; they will consider themselves 
 as permanently provided for, and fixed in a situa- 
 tion in which all their faculties may be applied to 
 the discharge of its duties, without being turned 
 aside by vague apprehensions of future distress, 
 and the desire of improving their condition, which 
 
 12.
 
 180 B. II. Cu. VIII.— GIVE PENSIONS OF RETREAT. 
 
 SO often leads individuals successively to try diffe- 
 rent stations. Another advantage to the govern- 
 ment ; instead of being badly served by novices, 
 it will possess a body of experienced functionaries, 
 expert and worthy of its confidence. 
 
 The amount of these pensions ought to be 
 regulated by fixed rules, otherwise they will 
 become a source of abuse; offices will be bestowed 
 for the sake of the pension, instead of the pension 
 being bestowed for the sake of the office. They 
 ought also to increase according to the length of 
 service, leaving at all times an inducement to con- 
 tinued exertion, without which precaution the 
 services of experienced individuals, which it might 
 be desirable to retain, would frequently be lost.
 
 [ 181 ] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OF THE SALE OF OFFICES. 
 
 If it be desirable that the public servants should 
 be contented with small salaries, it is more desi- 
 rable that they should be willing to serve gra- 
 tuitously, and most desirable that they should be 
 willing to pay for the liberty of serving, instead of 
 being paid for their services. Such is the simple 
 but conclusive train of argument, in favour of the 
 venality of offices, abstractly considered. 
 
 Such an arrangement is attended with another 
 advantage. A sum laid out in the purchase of an 
 office renders the purchaser responsible in a higher 
 degree than he would be were he to receive a 
 salary equal to, or even exceeding in amount, the 
 interest of the money he has paid. The loss of 
 a salary paid by the public, is merely the cessation 
 of so much gain ; the loss of an office which has 
 been purchased, is the positive loss of so much 
 capital which the individual has actually pos- 
 sessed. The impression produced upon the mind 
 by these two species of loss is widely different. 
 The cessation of a gain is generally much less 
 severely felt than a loss to a corresponding amount. 
 The gain which depends upon external circum- 
 stances is always precarious, it cannot be reckoned 
 upon with certainty; on the other hand, if an 
 individual have purchased an office with his own 
 capital, he looks upon it as absolutely his own ; 
 it comes to be reuarded as a certain, fixed, and
 
 182 B.ll. Ch.IX.— OF THE SALE OF OFFICES. 
 
 permanent source of revenue, and as identified 
 with his original property upon which he has 
 always reckoned. 
 
 When a man purchases an office, it may be 
 fairly presumed that he possesses appropriate apti- 
 tude for the discharge of its duties. Are there 
 pecuniary emoluments attached to an office — the 
 office may be accepted for the sake of these emo- 
 luments. Are there no pecuniary emoluments — 
 the office can be desired only on account of its 
 duties, or of the natural rewards of honour and 
 power, which are inseparable from it. Such, at 
 least, is the ordinary state of things. It is how- 
 ever possible that such an office might be desired 
 as a means of obtaining some hidden profit preju- 
 dicial to the public ; but this would be a particu- 
 lar case, whose existence ought to be established 
 by proof. 
 
 It is not by names alone that we can determine 
 whether it is most advantageous for the public 
 that offices should, without emoluments, be given 
 away, or vi^hen with emoluments should be sold : 
 this question can only be determined by an accu- 
 rate account, exhibiting the balance of the sums 
 paid and received. If, however, there be any 
 offices without emoluments, for which purchasers 
 can be found; were it possible to sell purely 
 honorary appointments, offices connected with 
 public pomp and show, it would be entirely con- 
 sistent with good economy ; it would be to 
 convert a tax upon honour, unfelt by any one, but 
 established in favour of the purchasers, into hard 
 cash. A tax would thus be levied upon vanity. 
 The gain would be real, though the bargain, like 
 that of the Lapland sorcerers, were only for bags 
 of wind.
 
 B.ii. ch. i::.— or the sale or oifices. 18o 
 
 As it respects offices of which the emoluments 
 are fixed, the question of economy is simple ; the 
 amount of the emoluments does not differ from a 
 perpetual rent. But when an office is sold, the 
 profits of which, whether received from the public, 
 or levied upon individuals, are uncertain in 
 amount, this uncertainty causes a presumption 
 against the economy of the bargain: it is disad- 
 vantageous to the public to be subject to uncer- 
 tain expenses, and it is not probable that these 
 uncertain profits will sell for so large a price as 
 would willingly be paid for a salary equal to their 
 average amount. 
 
 Again, as to emoluments derived solely from indi- 
 viduals, these are a species of tax often created and 
 alienated at the same time in favour of the office. 
 The general presumption cannot but be unfavour- 
 able to taxes imposed under such circumstances. 
 In former times, when the science of political 
 economy was in its cradle, when taxes and the 
 methods of collecting them were little understood, 
 governments have frequently thus alienated large 
 branches of the public revenue. Tempted by an 
 immediate supply, they either did not or would 
 not regard the extent of the sacrifices they made. 
 The history of French finance is replete with 
 instances of this kind. The customs of Orleans, 
 which were originally purchased by a Duke of 
 Orleans for 60,000 francs, afterwards yielded to 
 his posterity a yearly revenue of more than u 
 1, 000,000 /rrmcs. 
 
 The venality of offices in that kingdom had 
 created an exceedingly complex, and consequently 
 exceedingly vicious system. The sale of offices 
 conferring hereditary nobility was especially mis- 
 chievous, since this nobility enjoyed a multitude 
 of exemptions. The nobles paid no taxes. Ilcuc6
 
 184 B. II. ch. IX.— of the sale of offices. 
 
 every creation of nobility vvasatax, equal in value 
 to the exemption granted, thrown upon those who 
 continued liable to pay them. 
 
 Should the price for which an office is sold form 
 a part of the emoluments of tlie head of the office, 
 and not be received by the public, this would 
 make no difference in the question of economy 
 as respects giving and selling. That the produce 
 of the sale is afterwards wasted, is an accident 
 unconnected with the sale. The emoluments re- 
 ceived by the head of the department may be too 
 large or not. if not loo large, the public gains by 
 the operation; since, in suppressing the sale, it 
 would be necessary to increase his emoluments 
 by other means. If too large, the excess might 
 be made applicable to the public service. 
 
 THE SALE OF OFFICES CONSIDERED W^TII RE- 
 SPECT TO PARTICULAR DEPARTMENTS. 
 
 Public opinion is at present adverse to the sale 
 of public offices. It more particularly' condemns 
 their sale in the three great departments of war, 
 law, and religion. This prejudice has probably 
 arisen from the improper use to which it has 
 sometimes been applied ; but whether this be the 
 case or not, the use of the word venal seldom, if 
 ever, but in an odious and dysolgystic sense, has 
 tended to preserve it. 
 
 " He who has bought the right of judging will 
 sell judgments," is the sort of reasoning in use 
 upon this subject. Instead of an argument, it is 
 only an epigram.* The members of the French 
 
 * Vendere jure potest, emerat ille prius. Apply the reason- 
 ing to ftnother subject : "He who has bought apples, will sell 
 apples." The consequence docs not follow ; lor he may chance 
 to eat or to give them away. 
 
 »
 
 B.II. Cii.IX.— OF THE SALE OF OFFICES. 185 
 
 parliaments were judges, and they purchased their 
 places ; it did not by any means follow that they 
 were disposed to sell their judgments, or that they 
 could have done so with impunity. The greater 
 number of these parliaments were never even 
 suspected of having sold them. Countries may 
 however be cited in which the judges sell both 
 justice and injustice, though they have not bought 
 their places. The uprightness of a judge does 
 not depend upon these but upon other circum- 
 stances. If the laws be intelligible and known ; 
 if the proceedings of the judges are public ; if the 
 punishment for injustice surpass the profit to be 
 reaped from it, judges will be upright, even though 
 they purchase their offices. 
 
 In England, there are certain judicial offices 
 which the judges sell, sometimes openly, some- 
 times clandestinely; the purchasers of these 
 offices extract from the suitors as much as they 
 can : if they had not purchased their places, they 
 would not have endeavoured to extract less. The 
 mischief is, not that this right of plundering is 
 sold, but that the right exists. 
 
 In the English army, the system of venality 
 has been adopted. Military commissions, from 
 the rank of ensign to that of lieutenant-colonel, 
 are sold, with permission to the purchasers to 
 re-sell them. The epigram upon the judges is 
 not applied here. The complaint is, that the 
 patrimony of merit is invaded by wealth. But it 
 ought to be recollected, that in this career the 
 opportunities for the display of merit do not occur 
 every day. It is only upon extraordinary occa- 
 sions that extraordinary talents can be displayed ; 
 and when these occur, there can be no difficulty, 
 even under this system, of bestowing proportionate 
 and approi)riatc rewards. Besides, though the
 
 186 
 
 B.II. Ch.IX.— OF THE SALE OF OFFICES. 
 
 patrimony of merit should by this means be in- 
 vaded by wealth, it would at the same time be 
 defended from favouritism, a divinity in less esteem 
 even than wealth. The circumstance which 
 ought to recommend the system of venalty to 
 suspicious politicians is, that it diminishes the 
 influence of the crown. The whole circle over 
 which it extends is so much reclaimed from the 
 influence of the crown. It may be called a cor- 
 ruption, but it serves as an antidote to a corruption 
 more to be dreaded. 
 
 It is the sale of ecclesiastical offices which has 
 occasioned the greatest outcry. It has been made 
 a particular sin, to which has been given the 
 name of Simonij. In the Acts of the Apostles, 
 we are informed that at Samaria, there was a 
 magician named Simon, to whose gainful prac- 
 tices an immediate stop was put by the preach- 
 ing and miracles of Philip, one of the deacons of 
 the church of Jerusalem, who had been driven to 
 Samaria by persecution. Simon therefore, regard- 
 ing Philip as a more fortunate rival, enrolled him- 
 self among the number of his proselytes, and when 
 the apostles Peter and John came down from Jeru- 
 salem, and by the laying on of their hands commu- 
 nicated to the disciples the gift of the Holy Ghost, 
 Simon, desirous of possessing something more 
 than the rest, offered to them money, saying, " give 
 me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, 
 he may receive the Holy Ghost." Upon which 
 Peter severely reprimanded him, and the magician, 
 supple as he was intriguing, asked forgiveness, and 
 thus his history closes. It is nowhere said he was 
 punished. 
 
 Upon the strength of this story, the Roman 
 Catholic church has converted the act of buying 
 or selling ecclesiastical benefices into a sin ; and
 
 B.ll. Cii. IX.— OF THE SALE OF OFFICES, 187 
 
 the English law, copying from the Catholic church, 
 has constituted such an act a crime. As the Roman 
 Catholic church, among catholics, is infallible, as 
 to them it must have decided rightly when it 
 declared such acts to be sinful. Our subject, how- 
 ever, leads us only to the consideration of the 
 legal crime ; and between this crime and the of- 
 fence of Simon Magus, there is nothing in com- 
 mon. Presentation to a living and the reception 
 of the Holv Ghost' are not the same things. If it 
 be the object of this law to exclude improper 
 persons, more direct, simple, and efficacious means 
 might be employed ; their qualifications might be 
 ascertained by public examinations, their good 
 conduct by the previous publication of their names, 
 with liberty to all the world to object against them. 
 Their moral and intellectual capacity being thus 
 proved, why should they not be allowed to pur- 
 chase the employment, or to discharge it gratui- 
 tously ? An idiot, once admitted to priests' orders, 
 may hold an ecclesiastical benefice, but were a 
 man, gifted like an apostle, to give five guineas 
 to be permitted to discharge the duties of that 
 benefice, he would be borne down by the outcry 
 against the simony he had committed. 
 
 What then is the effect of these anti-simoniacal 
 laws ? A priest may not purchase a benefice for 
 himself; but his friend, whether priest or layman, 
 may purchase it for him. He may not purchase 
 the presentation to a vacant benefice, but he may 
 purchase the right of presentation to a benefice 
 filled by a dying man, or by a person in good 
 health who will have the complaisance to resign, 
 and receive it again with an obligation, again to 
 resign whenever his patron requires it. In reading 
 these self-styled anti-simoniacal laws, it is difficult
 
 188 B.II, Ch. IX.— OF THE SALE OF OFFICES. 
 
 to discover, whether they are intended to prohibit 
 or to allow the practice of simony. Their only 
 real effects are to encourage deception and fraud. 
 Blackstone complains of their inexecution. He 
 did not perceive that a law which is not executed 
 is ridiculous.
 
 [ i«y ] 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 OF QUALIFICATIONS. 
 
 We have already seen that a salary may be em- 
 ployed as a means of insuring the responsibility of 
 an individual, and- as a moral antiseptic to preserve 
 him from the influence of corruption. By the sale 
 of offices, it has been seen that the actual expense 
 of a salary may be diminished, and even reduced to 
 nothing. It is therefore evident that the important 
 circumstance is, that the individual should possess 
 the requisite portion of the precious matter of re- 
 ward, and not that it should have been given to 
 him. If he possess it of his own, so much the 
 better ; and the more he already possesses the less 
 is it necessary to give him. In England, such are 
 the attractions of power and dignity, that the num- 
 ber of candidates for their possession has been 
 found so large, that it has been thought desirable 
 to limit the selection to the number of those who 
 possess the required quantity of this moral antisep- 
 tic; and this circumstance has given birth to what 
 have been called qualifications. 
 
 The most remarkable and important offices to 
 which these pecuniary qualifications have been at- 
 tached, are those of justices of the peace and mem- 
 bers of parliament. A justice of the peace ought 
 to possess at least 100/. per annum landed pfbperty. 
 There is no reasonable objection against this law. 
 The office is one of those for which an ordinarily 
 liberal education is sufficient. It is at the same 
 time such an office that the individual invested
 
 190 B, n. ch. X.— of qualifications. 
 
 with it might do much mischief were he not re- 
 strained by powerful motives. 
 
 As a quahfication for the more important office 
 of member of parliament, the law requires of the 
 member for a borough or city a similar qualifica- 
 tion of 300/. per annum, and of the member for a 
 county of 600/. per annum. This case differs 
 widely from the other. Sufficient talent for carry- 
 ing the laws into execution is possessed by a mul- 
 titude of individuals ; but few are able to deter- 
 mine what laws ought to be framed. The science 
 of legislation is still in its cradle ; it has scarcely 
 been begun to be formed in the cabinets of philo- 
 sophers ; among legislators in name, scarcely any 
 other practice can be found than that of children, 
 who in their prattle copy what they have learned 
 of their nurses. That a science may be learned, a 
 motive is necessary ; that the science of legisla- 
 tion may be learned, or rather may be created, 
 motives so much the more powerful are necessary, 
 as this science is most repulsive and thorny. For 
 the pursuit of this study, an ardent and persevering 
 mind is required, which can scarcely be expected 
 to be formed in the lap of ease, of luxury, and of 
 wealtJi. Among those whose wants have been 
 forestalled from their cradle, among those who 
 become legislators to gratify their vanit}', or relieve 
 their ennui, there can scarcely be found one who 
 could be called a legislator without mockery. How 
 shall he who possesses everything without the 
 trouble of thinking, be led to subject himself to 
 the labour of thought ? If it be desirable that le- 
 gislators should be men of enlarged and well-in- 
 structed minds, they must be sought among those 
 who possess but little wealth, among those who, 
 oppressed with their insignificance, are stimulated
 
 B. II, ch. X.— of qualifications. 191 
 
 by ambition, and even by hunger, to distinguish 
 themselves ; they must be sought among those 
 who possess the habits of Cyrus and not otSarda- 
 napalus. Among the children ot" luxury, of whom 
 the great mass of senators chosen by a rich people 
 will always be composed, there are but few who 
 will undergo the fatigue of studying the lessons 
 which, at the expense of so much labour, have been 
 furnished them by Beccaria and Adam Smith ! 
 Can it be expected, then, that from among their 
 number the rivals of these great masters should be 
 found ? Qualifications in this case tend to ex- 
 clude the individuals endowed with the greatest 
 moral and intellectual capacity. 
 
 The reasons however in favour of qualifications 
 are plausible. It is alleged, that the possession of 
 a certain property tends to guarantee the indepen- 
 dence of its possessor, and that in no other situa- 
 tion is independence more desirable, than in that of 
 a deputy appointed to watch over and defend the 
 interests of the people against the encroachments 
 of the executive power, supplied as that power 
 almost necessarily is with so many means of seduc- 
 tion. To this it may be replied, that it is not the 
 poor alone who are liable to be seduced ; multi- 
 tudes possessing property exceeding in value the 
 qualifications required, are biassed by the seductive 
 influence of places and pensions, whilst the poor 
 remain unmoved. 
 
 A law of this nature whose effect, were it strictly 
 executed, would be to exclude the most capable, is 
 made to be evaded, and in fact has constantly been 
 evaded: among those who have acted the most 
 conspicuous parts in the British House of Com- 
 mons, many have been able to enter there only by 
 an evasion of this law. Means might be provided 
 which would afford a perfect guarantee against
 
 192 B.II. Ch.X.— OF QUALIFICATIONS. 
 
 such evasions, but happily upon this, as upon 
 many other occasions, the veil that hides from 
 human weakness the distant inconveniences of bad 
 laws, hides also the means necessary for rendering 
 such laws efficacious. 
 
 Some years ago, a member, the honesty of whose 
 intentions could not be doubted, proposed to aug- 
 ment the qualifications for cities and boroughs 
 from 300/. to 600/. per annum. The proposition, 
 after having made considerable progress, fell to the 
 ground. 1 know not whether this happened from 
 a conviction of its trifling utility, or from one of 
 those accidents which in that slippery path equally 
 befal the most useful and most mischievous 
 projects. 
 
 When the greatest possible freedom is given to 
 popular suffrage, and even when no corrupt influ- 
 ence is used, the popular employment of wealth, 
 being of all species of merit that of which people 
 in general are best qualified to judge, and most 
 disposed to esteem, there naturally exists an 
 aristocracy of wealth. Is it desirable that this 
 aristocracy should be rendered necessary and 
 complete ?
 
 [ 193 1 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OF TRUST AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT. 
 
 The capacity of the individuals to discharge the 
 duties required of them having been ascertained, 
 and the most intimate connection between their 
 interest and the discharge of these duties having 
 been estabhshed, the only desirable circumstance 
 remaining is, to reduce the amount of the emolu- 
 ments to be paid for the discharge of these duties 
 to the lowest term. Suppose the amount expended 
 in the purchase of a given service to be a certain 
 sum, and that an individual equally capable of 
 rendering this service, should offer to render it at 
 jess expense, is there any good reason for refusing 
 such an offer? 1 can discover none. The accept- 
 ance of such a proposition is the acceptance of 
 a contract ; the service thus agreed to be per- 
 formed, is said to be contracted for, or let to farm. 
 To this method, the mode of obtaining services 
 by employing commissioners and managers, is op- 
 posed. 
 
 General reasonings upon this subject are insuffi- 
 cient to determine which of these two opposite 
 systems will be most advantageous in any particu- 
 lar department : the nature of the service must be 
 ascertained before the question can be decided. 
 
 If we confine ourselves to general principles, 
 contracts must be preferred to commissions. Un- 
 der the system of contracts, the interests about 
 which the individual is employed are his own ; 
 whilst, under the system of commissions, the in- 
 terests about which he is employed remain the 
 
 13
 
 194 B.II. Cii.XI.— OF TRUST AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT, 
 
 interests of the state, that is, the interests of 
 another. In the first case, the sub-functionaries 
 employed are the servants of .?.n individual, in the 
 other they are the servants of the public — fellow- 
 servants of those who are to watch over them. 
 " But the servants of the most negligent master," 
 says Adam Smith, " are better superintended than 
 the servants of the most vigilant sovereign." If 
 this cannot be admitted as an infallible rule, it 
 is at least more frequently true than otherwise. 
 
 Public opinion is, however, but little favourable 
 to the system of contracts. The savings which 
 result to the state are forgotten, whilst the profits 
 reaped by the farmers are recollected and exagge- 
 rated. Upon this subject the ignorant and the 
 ])hilosopher, those who judge without thought, and 
 those who pretend to have examined the subject, 
 are nearly agreed. The objections which they 
 bring forward against contractors (for they relate to 
 individuals rather than to the system) are suffici- 
 ently specious. 
 
 I. The contractors are ricli. Iftlieyare so, this 
 is not the fault of the system, but of the conditions 
 of the bargain made with them. 
 
 II. The contractors are ostentations and vain. 
 And if they burst with vanity, what then ? Such in- 
 appreciable, or rather imaginary evils, cannot be 
 brought into political calculations. Their vanity 
 will find a sufiicient counterpoise and punish- 
 ment in the vanity of those whom they incommode, 
 whilst their ostentation will distribute their wealth 
 among those whom it employs. 
 
 III. The contractors excite envy. This is the 
 fault of those who are envious, and not of the con- 
 tractors : it is another imaginary evil, in opposi- 
 tion to which may be placed the pleasure of detrac- 
 tion. Besides, if the contracts are open to all.
 
 n. II. Cn.XI.— OF TRUST AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT. 195 
 
 unless improvident bargains are made through 
 favour, corruption, or ignorance, rapid fortunes will 
 not often be accumulated by contractors. Should 
 they siill become rich, it will be because they have 
 deserved it. 
 
 IV. Contractors never Jind the laws too severe to 
 insure the collection of the taxes for which they have 
 contracted. They will procure severe and sanguinary 
 laws to be enacted. If the laws are severe and san- 
 guinary, the legisla-ture is in fault, and not the con- 
 tractors. Whether the taxes are managed by con- 
 tractors or commissioners, it is equally proper that 
 the most efficacious system of laws, for their col- 
 lection, should be established ; and certainly se- 
 vere and sanguinary laws are not the most effica- 
 cious. Contractors, therefore, are not likely to seek 
 the enactment of the most severe laws: there are 
 many reasons for supposing the contrary will be 
 the case. The better the law is executed, that is 
 to say, the more certainly punishment follows the 
 transgression of the law, the less severe need it be. 
 But under the inspection of the contractor, who 
 has so strong an interest in its execution, the law 
 has abetter chance of being put in execution, than 
 when under the inspection of a commissioner who 
 has so little, if any, interest in the matter. Upon 
 this point it is impossible to imagine by what 
 means two interests can be more intimately con- 
 nected, than those of the contractor and the state. 
 It is the interest of the contractor that all who 
 illegally evade the payment of the taxes should be 
 punished: this, also, is the interest of the state. 
 But it can never be the interest of the contractor 
 to punish the innocent: this would tend to excite 
 the whole people against him : of every species of 
 injustice, this is one which is least likely to meet 
 with tranquil and acquiescent spectators. 
 
 13.
 
 1 96 B. II. Ch. XL— OF TRUST AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT. 
 
 Adam Smith, who has adopted all these objec* 
 tions, little calculated as they seem to me to ap- 
 pear in such a work as his, also contends that 
 " the best and most frugal way of levying a tax, 
 can never be by farm.*" If this were true, it would 
 be a conclusive reason against ever letting taxes to 
 farm, and it would be useless to seek for others. 
 When a fact is proved, it is useless to trouble one- 
 self with prejudices and probabilities. 
 
 It is true, without the hope of gain, no contrac- 
 tor would undertake to collect the produce of a 
 tax, and to make the advances required. But 
 from whence ought the profit of the farmer to arise ? 
 This is what Adam Smith has not examined: he 
 supposes that the state would make the same pro- 
 fit, by establishing an administration under their 
 own inspection. The truth of this supposition is 
 altogether doubtful. The personal interest of a 
 minister is to have as many individuals, that is to 
 say, as many dependants, employed under him as 
 possible, that their salaries should be as large as 
 possible; and he will lose nothing by their negli- 
 gence. The interest of the farmer, or contractor, is 
 to have as few individuals employed under him as 
 possible, and to pay each one no more than he 
 deserves; and he will lose by every instance of 
 their negligence. In these circumstances, though 
 no srreater amount should be received from the 
 people than would have been collected by the 
 state, a contractor might reasonably hope to find a 
 source of profit. 
 
 Adam Smith has attacked, with as much force as 
 reason, the popular prejudices against the dealers 
 in corn, so odious and so much suspected under 
 the name of forestallers. He has shewn that the 
 
 * Wealth of Nations, b. v. ch. 2.
 
 B. II. Ch.XI.— OF TRUST AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT. 197 
 
 interest of the public is most intimately connected 
 with the natural, and almost necessary interests of 
 this suspected class of merchants. He might with 
 equal justice have extended his protection to far- 
 mers of the public revenue, a class of men nearly 
 as little beloved. 
 
 In every branch of politics, and especially in so 
 wide a field as his subject embraced, it was 
 nearly impossible that he should examine every 
 thing with his owrreyes. It was almost of neces- 
 sity that he was sometimes guided by general opi- 
 nion: this seems to me to have happened upon 
 this occasion. He forgot in this instance to apply 
 the principle already cited, and of which he had 
 elsewhere made such beautiful applications. 1 had 
 myself once written an essay against farmers of 
 the revenue ; I have thrown it into the fire, for 
 which alone it was fit. 1 know not how long I 
 should have retained the opinions it advocated, 
 had I not been better instructed by Adam Smith. 
 
 Note. — In Burgoyne's " Picture of Spain/' vol. ii. page 4, 
 &c. it is stated, that in that country Trust was found more 
 economical than Contract management. But he does not 
 state in what manner contracts were granted : whether favour 
 or corruption did not preside at their disposal ; whether the 
 trust management had not superior means of enforcing the 
 payment of the taxes ; nor whether their increased produce 
 was not, in part at least, owing to the increase of trade and. 
 wealth.
 
 [ 1!)N ] 
 
 CHAPTEli Xil. 
 
 OF REFORMS, 
 
 The emoluments annexed to any office being 
 shown to be in excess, and the mischiefs resulting 
 from such excess being ascertained, the next 
 question which occurs is, What remedy ought to 
 be applied ? The most obvious answer is a short 
 one: strike them off at once. But thus unquali- 
 fied, this answer is far from being the proper one. 
 
 Reform is the practical conclusion expected 
 as the reward for all the labour bestowed on the 
 examination of these theoretic propositions. Upon 
 this subject, nothing further remains but to point 
 out one limitation, without which every reform 
 can only be a greater abuse than the whole of 
 those which it pretends to correct. This limita- 
 tion is, tJiat no reform ought to be carried into 
 effect without granting complete indemnity to those 
 whose emoluments are diminished^ or whose offices 
 are suppressed. In a word, that the only legiti- 
 mate benefit to be derived by the public from 
 economical reform, consists in the conversion of 
 perpetual into life annuities. * 
 
 Will it be said, that the immediate suppres- 
 sion of these offices would be a gain to the 
 public ? This would be a mere sophism. The 
 sum in question would, without doubt, be gained 
 by the public, if it came from abroad, if it were 
 obtained by commerce, &c. but it is not gained 
 when it is taken from individuals who form a part 
 of that same public. Would a family be richer, 
 because the father disinherited one of his children
 
 B, II. Cii, XII.— OF RliFUIlMS. 199 
 
 that he might the more richly endow the oth^r*^ ? 
 In this instance, as the disinheriting of one cliiUI 
 would increase the inheritance of the oth^-rs, the 
 mischief would not be without some countervail- 
 ing advantage; it would be productive of good to 
 some part of the family. But when it relates to 
 the public, the emoluments of a suppressed place 
 being divided amongst the whole community, 
 the gain being distributed among a multitude, is 
 divided into impalpable quantities; whilst the 
 loss, being confined to one, is felt in its entirety 
 by him who supports it alone. The result of the 
 operation is in no respect to enrich the party who 
 gains, whilst it reduces the party who loses to 
 poverty. Instead of one place suppressed, sup- 
 pose a thousand, or ten thousand, or a hundred 
 thousand, the total disadvantage will remain the 
 same : the plunder taken from thousands will 
 have to be distributed among millions ; your 
 public places will be filled with unfortunate citi- 
 zens whom you will have plunged into indigence, 
 whilst you will scarcely see one individual who 
 is sensibly enriched in consequence of all these 
 cruel operations. The groans of sorrow and the 
 cries of despair will resound on every side; the 
 shouts of joy, if any such are heard, will not be 
 the expressions of happiness, but of that male- 
 volence which rejoices in the agony of its 
 victims. 
 
 By what means do individuals deceive them- 
 selves and others into the sanction of such mis- 
 chievous acts ? It is by having recourse to cer- 
 tain vague maxims, consisting of a mixture of 
 truth and falsehood, and which give to a question, 
 in itself simple, an appearance of deep and mys- 
 terious policy. The interest of individuals, it is
 
 200 B.II. Ch.XII.— OF REFORMS. 
 
 said, must give way to the public interest. But 
 what does this mean ? Is not one individual as 
 much a part of the public as any other ? This 
 public interest, which is thus personified, is only 
 an abstract term ; it only represents the aggregate 
 of individual interests. They must all be taken 
 into the account, instead of considering a part as 
 the whole, and the rest as nothing. If it were 
 proper to sacrifice the fortune of one individual to 
 augment that of the others, it would be still more 
 desirable to sacrifice a second and a third, and so 
 on to any greater number, without the possibility 
 of assigning limits to the operation ; since, what- 
 ever number may have been sacrificed, there still 
 remains the same reason for adding one more, la 
 a word, the interest of the first is sacred, or the 
 interest of no one can be so. 
 
 " The interests of individuals are the only real 
 interests. Take care of individuals, never molest 
 them, never suffer them to be molested, and you 
 have done enough for the public. 
 
 "Among the multiplicity of human affairs, indi- 
 viduals have often been injured by the operation 
 of particular laws, without daring to complain, or 
 without being able to obtain a hearing for their 
 complaints, on account of this vague and false 
 notion, that the interest of individuals ought to 
 give way to the public interest. Considered as a 
 question of generosity, by whom ought this virtue 
 to be displayed ? By all towards one, or by one 
 towards all ? Which then is the most selfish, he 
 who would preserve what he already possesses, or 
 he who would seize, even by force, what belongs 
 to another? 
 
 " An evil felt, and a good unfelt, — such is the 
 result of those magnificent reforms, in which the
 
 B. II. Cn. XII.— OF REFORMS. 201 
 
 interests of individuals are sacrificed to those of 
 the public."* 
 
 The principles here laid down, it may be said, 
 are applicable to offices and pensions held/or lij'e^ 
 but not to offices and pensions held during plea- 
 sure ; and which consequently may be revoked at 
 any time. May not these be reformed at any 
 time? No: the difference between the two is 
 only verbal ; — in all those cases in which it has 
 been customary for-those places, which are granted 
 during pleasure^ to be held for life, though the 
 possessor may have been led to expect other causes 
 of removal, he has never expected this. " My 
 superior," he has said to himself, " may dismiss 
 me, I know ; but I flatter myself I shall never 
 deserve to be dismissed ; I shall, therefore, retain 
 my office for life." Hence the dismission of such 
 an individual, without indemnity, is as great an 
 evil, as much unforeseen, and equally unjust, as 
 in the former case. 
 
 To these reasons, arising from justice and hu- 
 manity, may be added a prudential consideration. 
 By such indemnification, the interests of indivi- 
 duals and the public are reconciled, and a better 
 chance of securing the latter is obtained. Assure 
 those who are interested that they shall not be in- 
 jured, they will be among the foremost in facilitat- 
 ing reforms. By thus removing the grand obstacle 
 of contrary interests, the politician prevents those 
 clandestine intrigues, and private solicitations, 
 which so often arrest the progress of the noblest 
 plans. 
 
 It was thus that Leopold, the Grand Duke of 
 Tuscany, proceeded: — " Notwithstanding the mul- 
 
 * This passage is extracted from Mr. Bentham's work^ 
 Traites des Legislation, tome i. partic i. ch. 15. Ed. IS'20.
 
 202 B. II. Ch. XII.— OF REFORMS. 
 
 titude of reforms introduced by his royal highness 
 since his accession to the throne, there has not 
 been a single office reformed inTuscany, the holder 
 of which has not either been placed in some other 
 office {equal to that suppressed^ must be understood) 
 or who has not received as a pension a salary equal 
 in value to the emoluments of his office."* Upon 
 such conditions, the pleasure of reform is pure : 
 nothing is hazarded ; good only is accomplished ; 
 at least the principal object is secured, and the 
 happiness of no one is interrupted. 
 
 * " Indication Sommaire des Reglemens de Leopold, Grand 
 Due de Toscane." Bruxelles^ 1775.
 
 RATIONALE OF REWARD. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 REWARD APPLIED TO ART AND SCIENCE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ART AND SCIENCE DIVISIONS. 
 
 A CLOUD of perplexity, raised by indistinct and 
 erroneous conceptions, seems at all times to have 
 been hanging over the import of the terms art and 
 science. The common supposition seems to have 
 been, that in the vj\\o\e.Jield of thought 3.ud action, 
 a determinate number of existing compartments 
 are assignable, marked out all round, and distin- 
 guished from one another by so many sets of natu- 
 ral and determinate boundary lines : that of these 
 compartments some are filled, each by an art, 
 without any mixture of science; others by a sci- 
 ence, without any mixture of art ; and others, 
 again, are so constituted that, as it has never hap- 
 pened to them hitherto, so neither can it ever 
 happen to them in future, to contain in them any 
 thinsf either of art or science. 
 
 This supposition will, it is believed, be found in 
 every part erroneous ; as between art and science, 
 in the whole field of thought and action, no one
 
 204 B. III. ch. I.— apxT and science-divisions. 
 
 spot will be found belonging to either to the ex- 
 clusion of the other. In whatsoever spot a portion 
 of either is found, a portion of the other may be 
 also seen ; whatsoever spot is occupied by either, 
 is occupied by both : is occupied by them in joint 
 tenancy. Whatsoever spot is thus occupied, is so 
 much taken out o^ the waste; and there is not any 
 determinate part of the whole waste which is not 
 liable to be thus occupied. 
 
 Practice, in proportion as attention and exertion 
 are regarded as necessary to due performance^ is 
 termed art. Knowledge, in proportion as attention 
 and exertion are regarded as necessary to attain- 
 ment, is termed science. 
 
 In the very nature of the case, they will be 
 found so combined as to be inseparable. Man 
 cannot do anything well, but in proportion as he 
 knows how to do it : he cannot, in consequence 
 of attention and exertion, know anything but in 
 proportion as he has practised the art of learning 
 it.,.^ Correspondent therefore to every art, there is 
 nt least one branch o^ science ; correspondent to 
 every branch o{ science, there is at least one branch 
 of art. There is no determinate line of distinc- 
 tion between art, on the one hand, and science on 
 the other ; no determinate line of distinction be- 
 tween art and science, on the one hand, and unar- 
 tijicial practice and unscientific knowledge, on the 
 other. In proportion as that which is seen to be 
 done, is more conspicuous than that which is seen 
 or supposed to be known: that which has place is 
 apt to be considered as the work of art: in pro- 
 portion as that which is seen or supposed to be 
 known is more conspicuous than anything else 
 that is seen to be done, that which has place is 
 apt to be set down to the account of sc/ewcc. Day 
 by day, acting in conjunction, art and science are
 
 B. III. Ch. I.— ART AND SCIENCE— DIVISIONS. 205 
 
 gaining upon the above-mentioned waste — the field 
 of imartificial practice and unscientijic knoifledge* 
 Taken collectively, and considered in their con- 
 nection w^ith the happiness of society, the arts and 
 sciences may be arranged in two divisions, viz. 
 1. Those of amusement and curiosity ; 2. Those 
 of utility, immediate and remote. These two 
 branches of human knowledge require different 
 methods of treatment on the part of governments. 
 
 By arts and sciences of amusement, 1 mean 
 those which are ordinarily called the Jine arts ; 
 such as music, poetry, painting, sculpture, archi- 
 tecture, ornamental gardening, &c. &c. Their 
 complete enumeration must be excused : it would 
 lead us too far from our present subject, were we 
 to plunge into the metaphysical discussions neces- 
 sary for its accomplishment. Amusements of all 
 sorts would be comprised under this head. 
 
 Custom has, in a manner, compelled us to make 
 the distinction between the arts and sciences of 
 amusement, and those of curiosity. It is not how- 
 ever proper to regard the former as destitute of 
 utility ; on the contrary, there is nothing, the 
 utility of which is more incontestible. To what 
 shall the character of utility be ascribed, if not to 
 that which is a source of pleasure ? All that can 
 be alleged in diminution of their utility is, that 
 it is limited to the excitement of pleasure : they 
 cannot disperse the clouds of grief or of misfortune. 
 They are useless to those who are not pleased with 
 them : they are useful only to those who take 
 pleasure in them, and only in proportion as they 
 are pleased. 
 
 By arts and sciences of curiosity, I mean those 
 
 * The foregoing paragraphs are extracted from Mr. Ben- 
 tham's " Chrestomathia^" part i. p. 508,
 
 20G B.Ill. Ch.I.— ART AND SCIENCE— DIVISIONS. 
 
 which in truth are pleasing, but not in the same 
 degree as the fine arts, and to which at the first 
 glance we might be tempted to refuse this quahty. 
 It is not that these arts and sciences of curiosity do 
 not yield as much pleasure to those who cultivate 
 them as the fine arts ; but the number of those 
 who study them is more limited. Of this nature 
 are the sciences of heraldry, of medals, of pure 
 chronology, the knowledge of ancient and barba- 
 rous languages, which present only collections of 
 strange words, and the study of antiquities, inas- 
 much as they furnish no instruction applicable to 
 morality, or any other branch of useful or agreeable 
 knowledge. 
 
 The utility of all these arts and sciences, — I speak 
 both of those of amusement and curiosity, — the 
 value which they possess, is exactly in proportion to 
 the pleasure they yield. Every other species of pre- 
 eminence which may be attempted to be established 
 among them is altogether fanciful. Prejudice apart, 
 the game of push-pin is of equal value with the arts 
 and sciences of music and poetr\^ If the game 
 of push-pin furnish more pleasure, it is more 
 valuable than either. Everybody can play at push- 
 pin : poetry and music are relished only by a few. 
 The game of push-pin is always innocent : it were 
 well could the same be always asserted of poetry. 
 Indeed, between poetry and truth there is a natural 
 opposition : false morals, fictitious nature : the 
 poet always stands in need of something false. 
 When he pretends to lay his foundations in truth, 
 the ornaments of his superstructure are fictions; 
 his business consists in stimulating our passions, 
 and exciting our prejudices. Truth, exactitude 
 of every kind, is fatal to poetry. The poet must 
 see everything through coloured media, and strive 
 to make every one else to do the same. It is true.
 
 B.iii. qll—art and science— divisions. 207 
 
 there have been noble spirits, to whom poetry and 
 philosophy have been equally indebted, but these 
 exceptions do not remove the mischiefs which 
 have resulted from this magic art. If poetry and 
 music deserve to be preferred before a game of 
 push-pin, it must be because they are calculated 
 to gratify those individuals who are most difficult 
 to be pleased. 
 
 All the arts and sciences, without exception, 
 inasmuch as they constitute innocent employments, 
 at least of time, possess a species of moral utility, 
 neither the less real or important, because it is 
 frequently unobserved. They compete with, and 
 occupy the place of those mischievous and dan- 
 gerous passions and employments, to which want 
 of occupation and ennui give birth. They are 
 excellent substitutes for drunkenness, slander, and 
 the love of gaming.* 
 
 The effects of idleness upon the ancient Germans 
 maybe seen in Tacitus : his observations are ap- 
 plicable to all uncivilized nations : for want of 
 other occupations they waged war upon each other: 
 it was a more animated amusement than that of the 
 chase. The chieftain who proposed a martial ex- 
 pedition, at the first sound of his trumpet ranged 
 under his banners a crowd of idlers, to whom peace 
 was a condition of restraint, of languor, and of 
 ennui. Glory could be reaped only in one field : 
 opulence knew but one luxury. This field was 
 that of battle ; this luxury that of conquering or 
 recounting past conquests. Their women them- 
 selves, ignorant of those agreeable arts which mul- 
 tiply the means of pleasing, and prolong the empire 
 of beauty, became the rivals of the men in courage. 
 
 * Traites de Legislation, torn. u. i^artle 4. (Ed. IS'iO.) "Des 
 moyens indirects de prevenir les dclits."
 
 208 B. ni. ch. I.— art and science-divisions. 
 
 and, mingling with them in the barbarous tumult 
 of a military life, became unfeeling as they. 
 
 It is to the cultivation of the arts and sciences 
 that we must, in great measure, ascribe the exist- 
 ence of that party which is now opposed to war : 
 it has received its birth amid the occupations 
 and pleasures furnished by the fine arts. These 
 arts, so to speak, have enrolled under their peace- 
 ful banners that army of idlers which would have 
 otherwise possessed no amusement but in the 
 hazardous and bloody game of war. 
 
 Such is the species of utility which belongs in- 
 discriminately to all the arts and sciences. Were 
 it the only reason, it would be a sufficient reason 
 for desiring to see them flourish and receive the 
 most extended diffusion. 
 
 If these principles are correct, we shall know 
 how to estimate those critics, more ingenious than 
 useful, who, under pretence of purifying the public 
 taste, endeavour successively to deprive mankind 
 of a larger or smaller part of the sources of their 
 amusement. These modest judges of elegance 
 and taste consider themselves as benefactors to the 
 human race, whilst they are really only the inter- 
 rupters of their pleasure — a sort of importunate 
 hosts, who place themselves at the table to dimi- 
 nish, by their pretended delicacy, the appetite of 
 their guests. It is only from custom and preju- 
 dice that, in matters of taste, we speak of false and 
 true. There is no taste which deserves the epithet 
 good^ unless it be the taste for such employments 
 which, to the pleasure actually produced by them, 
 conjoin some contingent or future utility : there 
 is no taste which deserves to be characterized as 
 bad, unless it be a taste for some occupation which 
 has a mischievous tendency. 
 
 The celebrated and ingenious Addison has dis-
 
 B. III. ch. I.— art and science-djvisions. 209 
 
 tinguished himself by his skill in the art of ridi- 
 culing enjoyments, by attaching to them the fan- 
 tastic idea of bad taste. In the Spectator he wages 
 relentless war against the whole generation of 
 false wits. Acrostics, conundrums, pantomimes, 
 puppet-shows, bouts-rimes, stanzas in the shape of 
 eggs, of wings, burlesque poetry of every descrip- 
 tion; in a word, a thousand other light and equally 
 innocent amusements fall crushed under the strokes 
 of his club. And, proud of having established his 
 empire above the ruins of these literary trifles, he 
 regards himself as the legislator of Parnassus ! 
 What, however, was the effect of his new laws ? 
 They deprived those who submitted to them of 
 many sources of pleasure ; they exposed those who 
 were more inflexible, to the contempt of their 
 companions. 
 
 Even Hume himself, in spite of his proud and 
 independent philosophy, has yielded to this literary 
 prejudice. *' By a single piece," says he, " the 
 Duke of Buckingham rendered a great service to 
 his age, and was the reformer of its taste!" In 
 what consisted this important service ? He had 
 written a comedy, I'lie Rehearsal, the object of 
 which was to render those theatrical pieces, which 
 had been most popular, the objects of general dis- 
 taste. His satire was completely successful ; 
 but what was its fruit ? The lovers of that species 
 of amusement were deprived of so much pleasure; 
 a multitude of authors, covered with ridicule and 
 contempt, deplored, at the same time, the loss of 
 their reputaion and their bread. 
 
 As the amusement of a minister of state, it must 
 be confessed, that a more suitable one might be 
 found than a game at solitaire. Still, among the 
 number of its amateurs was once found Potemkin, 
 one of the most active and respected Russian 
 
 14
 
 210 B. III. Cii.I.—ART AND SCIENCE— DIVISIONS. 
 
 ministers of state. I see a smile of contempt upon 
 tlie lips of many of my readers, who would not 
 think it strange that any one should play at cards 
 from " eve till morn," provided it were in company. 
 But, how incomparably superior is this solitary 
 game to many social games ; so often anti-social 
 in their consequences ! Thefirst, a pure and simple 
 amusement, stripped of everything injurious, free 
 from passion, avarice, loss, and regret. It is gaming 
 enjoyed by some happy individuals, in that state 
 in which legislators may desire, but cannot hope 
 that it will ever be enjoyed by all throughout 
 the whole world. How much better was this 
 minister occupied, than if, with the Iliad in his 
 hand, he had stirred up within his heart the seeds 
 of those ferocious passions which can only be 
 gratified with tears and blood. 
 
 As men grow old, they lose their relish for the 
 simple amusements of childhood. Is this a reason 
 for pride? It may be so; when to be hard to 
 please, and to have our happiness dependant on 
 what is costly and complicated, shall be found to 
 be advantageous. The child who is building houses 
 of cards is happier than was Louis XIV. when 
 building Versailles. Architect and mason at once, 
 master of his situation and his materials, he alters 
 and overturns at will. 
 
 Diruit, edificatj mutat quadrata rotundis. 
 
 And all this at the expense neither of groans 
 nor money. The proverbial expression of the games 
 of princes^ may furnish us with strong reasons for 
 regretting that princes should ever cease to love 
 the games of children. 
 
 A reward was offered by one of the Roman 
 emperors to whoever would invent a new pleasure; 
 and because this emperor was called Nero, or Cali- 
 gula, it has been imputed to him as a crime : as if
 
 B. HI. Ch. I.— art and SC7ENCE— divisions. '21 1 
 
 every sovereign, and even every private individual, 
 who encourages the cultivation of the arts and 
 sciences, were not an accomplice m this crime. 
 The employment of those critics, to whom we have 
 before referred, tends to diminish the existing stock 
 of our pleasures : the natural effect of increasing 
 years, is to render us insensible to those which re- 
 main : by those who blame the offer of the Roman 
 emperor, these critics should be esteemed the be- 
 nefactors of mankind, and old age the perfection 
 of human liTe. 
 
 In league with these critics are the tribe of sati- 
 rists ; those generous men, who without other 
 reward than the pleasure of humbling and dis- 
 figuring everything which does not please them, 
 have constituted themselves reformers of man- 
 kind ! The only satire I could read, without disgust 
 and aversion, would be a satire on these libellers 
 themselves. Their occupation consists in fo- 
 menting scandal, and in disseminating its poisons 
 throughout the world, that they may be furnished 
 with pretexts for pouring contempt upon every- 
 thing that employs or interests other men. By 
 blackening everything, and exaggerating every- 
 thing (for it is by exaggeration they exist) they 
 deceive the judgments of their readers : — innocent 
 amusements, ludicrous eccentricities, venial trans- 
 gressions and crimes, are alike confounded and 
 covered with their venom. Their design is to 
 efface all the lines of demarcation, all the essential 
 distinctions which philosophy and legislation have 
 with so much labour traced. For one truth, we 
 find a thousand odious hyperboles in their works. 
 Thev never cease to excite malevolence and anti- 
 pathy : under their auspices, or at least under the 
 influence of the passions which animate them, 
 language itself becomes satirical. Neutral expres- 
 
 14.
 
 212 B. III. Ch.I.— ART AND SCIENCE— DIVISIONS. 
 
 sions can scarcely be found to designate the motives 
 which determine human actions : to the words ex- 
 pressive of the motive, such as avarice^ ambition, 
 pride, idlenesr., and many others, the idea of dis- 
 approbation is so closely, though unnecessarily, 
 connected, that the simple mention of the motive 
 implies a censure, even when the actions which 
 have resulted from it have been most innocent. The 
 nomenclature of morals is so tinctured with these 
 prejudices, that it is not possible, without great 
 difiiculty and long circumlocutions, simply and 
 purely, without reprobation or approbation, to 
 express the motives by which mankind are go- 
 verned. Hence our languages, rich in terms of 
 hatred and reproach, are poor and rugged for the 
 purposes of science and of reason. Such is the 
 evil created and augmented by satiric writers.* 
 
 Among rich and prosperous nations, it is not 
 necessary that the public should be at the expense 
 of cultivating the arts and sciences of amusement 
 and curiosity. Indivdiuals will always bestow 
 upon these that portion of reward which is pro- 
 portioned to the pleasure they bestow. 
 
 Whilst, as to the arts and sciences of immediate 
 and those of more remote utility, it would not be 
 necessary, nor perhaps possible, to preserve be- 
 tween these two classes an exact line of demarca- 
 tion. The distinctions of theory and practice are 
 equally applicable to all. Considered as matter 
 of theory, every art or science, even when its prac- 
 tical utility is most immediate and incontestable, 
 appears to retire into the division of arts and 
 sciences of remote utility. It is thus that medi- 
 cine and legislation, these arts so practical, consi- 
 
 * See further on this subject in Mr. Bentham's " Table of 
 Springs of Action."
 
 B.III. Ch.I— ART AND SCIENCE— DIVISIONS. 213 
 
 dered under a particular aspect, appear equally 
 remote in respect to their utility with the specu- 
 lative sciences of logic and mathematics. On the 
 other hand, there is a branch of science for which, 
 at first, a place would scarcely have been found) 
 among the arts and sciences of curiosity, but which- 
 cultivated by industrious hands, has at length pre- 
 sented the characters of immediate and incontes- 
 table utility. Electricity, which, when first diso 
 covered, seemed destined only to amuse certai 
 philosophers by the singularity of its phenomena 
 has at length been employed with most striking 
 success in the service of medicine, and in the pro- 
 tection of our dwellings against those calamities, 
 for which ignorant and affrighted antiquity could 
 find no sufficient cause, but the special anger of 
 the gods. 
 
 That which governments ought to do for the arts 
 and sciences of immediate and remote utility, may 
 be comprised in three things — I. To remove the 
 discouragements under which they labour; 2. To 
 favour their advancement; 3. To contribute to 
 their diffusion.
 
 [ 214 j 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ART AND SCIENCE — ADVANCEMENT. 
 
 Though discoveries in science may be the re- 
 sult of genius or accident, and though the most 
 important discoveries may have been made by 
 individuals without public assistance, the progress 
 of such discoveries may at all times be materially 
 accelerated by a proper application of public en- 
 couragement. The most simple and efficacious 
 method of encouraging investigations of pure 
 theory^ the first step in the career of invention, 
 consists in the appropriation of specific funds to 
 the researches requisite in each particular science. 
 
 It may, at first sight, appear superfluous to re- 
 commend such a measure as this, since there are 
 few states which have not sometimes made such ap- 
 propriations, and since all governments, in propor- 
 tion as they have become enlightened, have been 
 more and more disposed to reckon such expenses 
 necessary. The most eificacious methods of em- 
 ploying the large funds which ought thus to be 
 appropriated, remain, however, to be examined. 
 
 It would be necessary that the funds applicable to 
 a given science, chemistry for example, should be 
 confided to the students of chemistry themselves. 
 They ought, however, to be bestowed in the shape 
 of reward. Thus the chemist, who upon a given 
 subject should have produced the best theoretic 
 dissertation, might be put into possession of these 
 funds, upon condition that he should employ 
 them in makins: the experiments which he had 
 pointed out. What more natural or useful re-
 
 B.lll. Cm, II.— ART AND SCIENCE— ADVANCEMENT- 215 
 
 ward could be conferred upon a philosopher, than 
 thus to be enabled, with honour to himself, to 
 satisfy a taste or a passion which the insufficiency 
 of his own fortune would have rendered rather a 
 torment than a pleasure ? His talents are rewarded, 
 by giving him new means of increasing them. 
 Other rewards often have a contrary effect, they 
 tend to distract his attention, and to give birth to 
 opposite tastes. 
 
 Ifthis method of encouraging theoretic researches 
 has been neglected, it has been because the inti- 
 mate connection between the sciences and arts, 
 between theory and practice, has only been well 
 understood by philosophers themselves ; the greater 
 number of men recognise the utility of the sciences 
 only at a moment when they are applied to imme- 
 diate use. The ignorant are always desirous of 
 humbling the wise; gratifying their self love, by 
 accusing the sciences of being more curious than 
 useful. " All your books of natural history are 
 very pretty," said a lady to a philosopher, " but 
 you have never saved a single leaf of our trees from 
 the teeth of the insects." Such is the frivolous 
 judgment of the ignorant. There are many disco- 
 veries which, though at first they might seem use- 
 ^ less in themselves, have given birth to thousands 
 of others of the greatest utility. It is in conduct- 
 ing the sciences to this point, that encouragements 
 might thus be advantageously employed, instead of 
 beingbestowed in whatare generally called rewards. 
 When the discoveries of science can be practically 
 employed in the increase of the mass of general 
 wealth, they receive a reward naturally propor- 
 tioned to their utility: it is therefore for such dis- 
 coveries as are not thus immediately applicable, 
 that reward is most necessary. Of this nature are 
 most of the discoveries of chemistry. Is a new
 
 216 B. III. ch. II.— art and science— advancement. 
 
 earth discovered ? a new air ? a new salt ? a 
 new metal ? the utility of the discovery is at 
 first confined to the pleasure experienced by those 
 interested in such researches. This ordinarilv is 
 all the benefit reaped by the discoverer: occu- 
 pied in making fuither discoveries, he leaves it 
 to others to reap their fruits. It is those who 
 follow him who apply them to the purposes of 
 art, and levy contributions upon the individuals, 
 who are desirous ofenjoying the fruits of his labour. 
 Ought the master workman, who sees no particular 
 individual upon whom he may levy a contribution, 
 therefore to go without reward.
 
 [ 217 ] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ARTS AND SCIENCE DIFFUSION. 
 
 The sciences, like plants, may expand in two 
 directions ; in superficies and in height. The su- 
 perficial expansion of those sciences which are 
 most immediately useful, is most to be desired. 
 There is no method more calculated to accelerate 
 their advancement, than their general diffusion : 
 the greater the number of those by whom they are 
 cultivated, the greater the probability that they will 
 be enriched by new discoveries. Fewer opportu- 
 nities will be lost, and greater emulation will be 
 excited in their cultivation. 
 
 Suppose a country divided into districts, some- 
 what similar to the English counties, but more 
 equal in size, say from thirty to forty miles in dia- 
 meter, the following is the system of establish- 
 ments which ought to be kept up in the central 
 town of each district. 
 
 1. A professor of medicine, 
 
 2. A professor of surgery and midwifery. 
 
 3. An hospital. 
 
 4. A professor of the veterinary art. 
 6. A professor of chemistry. 
 
 6. A professor of mechanical and experimental 
 philosophy. 
 
 7. A professor of botany and experimental hor- 
 ticulture. 
 
 8. A professor of the other branches of natural 
 history. 
 
 9. An experimental farm. 
 
 The first advantage resulting from this plan
 
 218 B.lll. Ch. III.— ART AND SCIENCE— DIFFUSION. 
 
 would be the establishment, in each district, of a 
 practitioner, skilled in the various branches of the 
 art of healing. An hospital, necessary in itself, 
 would also be further useful, by serving as a school 
 for the students of this art. 
 
 The veterinary art, or the art of healing as ap- 
 plied to animals, has only w^ithin these few years 
 been separately studied in England. The farriers, 
 who formerly practised upon our cattle, were ge- 
 nerally no better qualified for their duty, than the 
 old women whom our ancestors allowed to practice 
 upon themselves. The establishment of a professor 
 of the veterinary art in every district, might even 
 be recommended as a matter of economy : the 
 value of the cattle preserved would more than coun- 
 terbalance the necessary expense. This professor- 
 ship might, for want of sufficient funds, be united 
 to one of the others. 
 
 The connections of chemistry with domestic 
 and manufacturing economy are well known. The 
 professor of this science would of course direct 
 his principal attention to the carrying this prac- 
 tical part to its greatest perfection. His lec- 
 tures would treat of the business of the dairy; the 
 preservation of corn and other agricultural produc- 
 tions ; the preservation of provisions of all sorts ; 
 the prevention of putrefaction, that subtle enemy 
 of health as well as of corruptible wealth ; the pro- 
 per precautions for guarding against poisons of all 
 sorts, which may so easily be mingled with our pro- 
 visions, or which may be collected from the vessels 
 in which they are prepared. They would also 
 treat of the various branches of trade : of the arts 
 of working in metal, of breweries, of the prepara- 
 tion of leather, and the manufactures of soap and 
 candles, &c. &c. 
 
 Botany, to a certain degree, is necessary in the
 
 B.III. Cii.lII.— ART AND SCIENCE— DIFFUSION. 219 
 
 science of medicine: it supplies a considerable part 
 of the materials employed. It has a similar con- 
 nection with chemistry, and the arts which 
 depend upon it. The combined researches of the 
 botanist and chemist would increase our know- 
 ledge of the various uses to which vegetable sub- 
 stances might be applied. It is to them that we 
 must look for the discovery of cheaper and better 
 methods, if such methods are to be found : of 
 giving durability and tenacity to hemp and flax 
 for the manufacture of linens, ropes, and paper; 
 for discoveries respecting the astringent matters 
 applicable to the preparation of leather ; and for 
 the invention of new dyes, &c. and so on, to infi- 
 nity. Indeed, it is the botanist who must enable 
 the agriculturist to distinguish the most useful 
 and excellent herbs and grasses, from those which 
 are less useful and pernicious. 
 
 The professor of natural history would also 
 furnish abundance not only of curious but useful 
 information. He would teach the cultivator to 
 distinguish throughout all the departments of the 
 animal kingdom his allies from his enemies. He 
 would point out the habits and the different 
 shapes assumed by different insects, and the most 
 efficacious methods of destroying them and pre- 
 venting their ravages. It might, however, per- 
 haps appear, were we fully acquainted with the 
 history of all the animals which dwell with us 
 upon the surface of this planet, that there would 
 be found none whose existence was to us a mat- 
 ter of indifference. 
 
 I have placed in the last rank the institution of 
 an experimental farm ; not because its utility 
 would be inferior to all the others, but because its 
 functions may be easily supplied by individual 
 industry. In a country so well rej)lenished with
 
 220 B.III. Ch. III.— ART AND SCIENCE— DIFFUSION. 
 
 knowledge, wealth, and zeal, as England, there is 
 no district which could not furnish an abundance 
 of experiments in this dejDartment. Little more 
 would be necessary than to provide a register 
 into which they might be collected, and in which 
 they might receive the degree of publicity neces- 
 sary for displaying their utility. Such a register 
 England once possessed in the work of the 
 enlightened and patriotic Arthur Young. Such 
 a register, however numerous and excellent as 
 the hints dispersed throughout it were, was far 
 from supplying the place, and rendering useless 
 a system of regular and connected researches 
 in which instruction should constitute the sole 
 object.* 
 
 In enumerating the branches of knowledge with 
 ■which, on account of their superior utility, it is 
 most desirable that the great mass of the people 
 should be acquainted, it may well be supposed 
 that I ought not to forget the knowledge of the 
 laws. But that this knowledge may be diffused, 
 a determinate system of cognoscible laws, capable 
 of being known, is necessary. Unhappily, such a 
 system does not yet exist: whenever it shall 
 come to be established, the knowledge of the laws 
 will hardly be considered worthy of the name of 
 science. The legislator who allows more intelli- 
 gible terms to exist within the compass of lan- 
 guage, than those in which he expresses his laws, 
 deserves the execration of his fellow men. I 
 have endeavoured to present to the world the 
 outlines of a system, j* which should it ever be 
 
 * The Board of Agriculture, which, at the solicitation of Sir 
 John Sinclair, was formed during the administration of Mr. 
 Pitt, was designed to carry purposes similar to those recom- 
 mended above into effect. 
 
 t See An Introduction to Principles of Morals and Legislation.
 
 E.III. C'H.ril.— ART AND SCIENCE— DIFFUSION. 221 
 
 filled up, I flatter myself would render the whole 
 system of laws cognoscible and intelligible to all. 
 As to those arts and sciences which may be 
 learned from books, such as the arts of legislation, 
 history in all its branches, moral philosophy and 
 logic, comprehending metaphysics, grammar, and 
 rhetoric, — these may be left to be gathered from 
 books. Those individuals who are desirous of al- 
 leviating the pains of study, by the charms of de- 
 clamation upon these subjects, may be permitted 
 to pay for their amusements. There is however 
 one branch of encouragement which the hand of 
 government might extend even to these studies. 
 It might establish in each district in which the 
 lectures, of which we have already spoken, should 
 be delivered, an increasing library, appropriated to 
 these studies. This would be at once to bestow 
 upon students the instruments of study, and upon 
 authors their most appro])riate reward. 
 
 I should not consider knowledge in these de- 
 partments, at once so useful and so curious, ill 
 acquired, were it even acquired at the expense of 
 Latin and Greek, an acquaintance with which is 
 held in such high estimation in our days, and for 
 instruction in which the foundations are so abun- 
 dant. Common opinion appears to have consi- 
 dered the sciences more difficult of attainment than 
 these dead languages. This opinion is only a pre- 
 judice arising from the comparatively small number 
 of individuals who apply themselves to the study 
 of the sciences, and from its not having been the 
 custom to study them till the labour of these other 
 studies has been completed. But, custom and pre- 
 judice apart, it is in the study of the sciences that 
 young people would find most pleasure and fewest 
 difficulties. In this career, ideas find easy access 
 through the senses to the memory and the other
 
 222 B.III. Cn.in.— ART AND SCIENCE— DIFFUSION. 
 
 intellectual faculties. Curiosity, that passion 
 which even in infancy displays so much energy, 
 would here be continually gratified. In the study 
 of language, on the contrary, all is abstraction; 
 there are no sensible objects to relieve the memory ; 
 all the energy of the mind is consumed in the ac- 
 quisition of words, of which neither the utility 
 nor the application is visible. Hence, the longest 
 and most detailed course of instruction which need 
 be given upon all the sciences before mentioned, 
 would not together occupy so much time as is 
 usually devoted to the study of Latin, which is 
 forgotten almost as soon as learned. The know- 
 ledge of languages is valuable only as a means of 
 acquiring the information which may be obtained 
 from conversation or books. For the purposes of 
 conversation, the dead languages are useless, and 
 translations of all the books contained in them may 
 be found in all the languages of modern Europe. 
 What then remains to be obtained from them, not 
 by the common people, but even by the most in- 
 structed ? I must confess, I can discover nothing 
 but a fund of allusions wherewith to ornament their 
 speeches, their conversations, and their books : 
 too small a compensation for the false and narrow 
 notions which custom continues to compel us to 
 draw up from these imperfect and deceptive 
 sources. To prefer the study of these languages 
 to the study of those useful truths which the more 
 mature industry of the moderns has placed in their 
 stead, is to make a dwelling-place of a scaffolding, 
 instead of employing it in the erection of a build- 
 ing : it is as though, in his mature age, a man 
 should continue to prattle like a child. Let those 
 who are pleased with these studies continue to 
 amuse themselves ; but let us cease to torment 
 children with them, at least those children who
 
 B. III. Cii. III.— AFIT AND SCIENCE— DIFFUSION. 223 
 
 will have to provide for their ovvn subsistence, till 
 such time as we have supplied them with the 
 means of slaking their thirst for knowledge at those 
 springs where pleasure is combined with immediate 
 and incontestable utility. 
 
 It is especially by a complete course of instruc- 
 tion that the clergy, who might be rendered so 
 useful, ought to be prepared for their functions. 
 Within the narrow limits of every parish, there 
 would then be found one man at least well in- 
 structed upon all subjects with which acquain- 
 tance is most desirable. In exchange for this know- 
 ledge which constitutes the glory of man, 1 would 
 exchange as much as might be desired of that con- 
 troversy which is his scourge and his disgrace. 
 
 The intervals between divine service on the 
 sabbath might then be filled up by the communi- 
 cation of knowledge to those, whose necessary 
 avocations leave them no other leisure time for 
 improvement. An attendance upon a course of 
 physico-theology, it appears to me. would be a 
 much more suitable mode of employing this time, 
 than wasting it in that idleness and dissipation in 
 which both health and money are so frequently 
 lost. 
 
 There are three causes which tend to strengthen 
 an attachment to the dead languages. The first is, 
 the utility which they formerly possessed. At 
 the revival of letters, there was nothing to learn 
 but Latin and Greek, and nothing could be learnt 
 but by Latin and Greek. The period when this 
 utility ceased having never been fixed, custom 
 has led us to regard it as still subsisting. 
 
 A second reason is, the time and trouble ex- 
 pended by so many persons in learning them. 
 
 The price of any thing is regulated not only by 
 its utility, but also by the labour expended in pro-
 
 224 B. III. Ch.III.— ART AND SCIENCE— DIFFUSIO N. 
 
 curing it. Few would be willing to acknowledge 
 that they had spent a large portion of their life in 
 learning that, which when learnt was not worth 
 knowing. There are many individuals who have 
 learnt Latin and Greek, but have learned nothing 
 else. Can it be expected that they should ac- 
 knowledge these languages are useless ? As well 
 might a knight-errant have been expected to ac- 
 knowledge that his mistress was ugly ! 
 
 The third cause is, their reputed necessity. 
 This necessity, though purely conventional, is not 
 
 * " En effet, la plupart de ces savans ne sentent plus les 
 choses en elles-m6mes. lis sont comme ces imaginations 
 faibles, qui, subjuguees par recl&,t des dignites et des richesses, 
 admirent dans la bouche d'un grand ce qu'ils trouveraient 
 pitoyable dans celle d'un homnie du commun. Ainsi, I'ancienne 
 reputation et les langues savantes leur imposent, et changent 
 tout a leurs yeux. Telle pensee qu'ils entendent tous les jours 
 en Francois sans y prendre garde, les enleve s'ils viennent k la 
 rencontrer dans un auteur Grec. Tout pleins qu'ils en sont, 
 ils vous la citent avec emphase ; et si vous ne partagez pas 
 leur enthousiasme, Ah! s'ecrient-ils, si vous saviez le Grec ! 
 II me semble entendre le heros de Cervantes, qui, parcequ'il 
 est arme chevalier, voit des enchanteurs oti son ecuyer ne voit 
 que des moulins. 
 
 " Tel est I'inconvenient ordinaire de I'erudition, et il n'y a 
 que les esprits du premier ordre qui puissent I'eviter. L'igno- 
 rance, me dira-t-on, n'a-t-elle pas aussi ses inconveniens? 
 Oui, sans doute ; mais on a tort d'appeler ignorans ceux 
 memes qui ne sauroient ni Grec ni Latin. lis peuvent mfeme 
 avoir acquis en Fran9ois toutes les idees necessaires pour per- 
 fectionner leur raison, et toutes les experiences propres a assu- 
 rer leur godt. Nous avons des philosophes, des orateurs, des 
 poetes: nous avons m6me des traducteurs oti Ton peut puiser 
 toutes les richesses anciennes, depouillees de I'orgueil de les 
 avoir recueillies dans les originaux. Un homme qui, sans Grec 
 et sans Latin, auroit mis a profit toixt ce qui s'est fait d'excel- 
 lent dans notre langue, I'emporterait sans doute sur le savant 
 qui, par un amour der^gle des anciens, auroit dedaign^ les 
 ouvrages modernes.'' — La Mothe, Reflexions sur la Critique, 
 p. 148.
 
 B.III. Ch. III.— ART AND SCIENCE— DIFFUSION. 225 
 
 the less real. Public opinion has attached a de- 
 gree of importance to an acquaintance with them, 
 and he who should be known to be entirely igno- 
 rant of them, would be branded with disgrace. 
 So long as this law subsists, it must be obeyed. A 
 single individual is seldom able to withstand or 
 change the laws established by public opinion. 
 
 As the public mind becomes enlightened, these 
 laws will change of themselves. A sovereign may, 
 however, hasten these changes if he believe them 
 useful, and if he consider the attempt worth the 
 trouble. He may reward individuals for teaching 
 the arts and sciences, and thus establish a new 
 public opinion, which shall at first compete with, 
 and at length ultimately subdue the previous pre- 
 judice. 
 
 He may also attain the same end by another less 
 costly, but more startling method. He may pre- 
 scribe an attendance upon different scientific lec- 
 tures, as a necessary condition to the holding of 
 certain offices, and particularly of all honorary em- 
 ployments. To those who have completed their 
 course of attendance, an honorary diploma may be 
 given, which upon all occasions of public cere- 
 mony shall entitle those who possess it to a certain 
 precedence. 
 
 In the times of feudal barbarism, when war was 
 the only occupation of those who did not belong to 
 the commonalty or the clergy, the upper ranks in 
 society were necessarily military. The knight was 
 the warrior who could afford to fight on horse- 
 back ; the squire was one who, not being so rich 
 as the knight, could afford to be his principal at- 
 tendant, and this constituted their nobility. 
 
 In future times, when other occupations shall be 
 pursued and other manners established, it is possi- 
 ble that knowledge may confer rank in Europe, as 
 
 15
 
 226 B.III. Cn. III.— ART AND SCIENCE-DIFFUSION. 
 
 the appearance of it has for a long time past in 
 China. Wealth, independently of any convention, 
 possesses real power, and will always nningle with 
 everything which tends to confer respect. The 
 philosopher, to his title of honour, will unite the 
 idea of an individual sufficiently wealthy to have 
 supported the expense of a learned education: 
 Knowledge, whether true or presumptive, might 
 thus become a mark of distinction, as the length 
 of the nails is in China. 
 
 But it may be said, that something more than 
 attendance upon a course of scientific lectures is 
 necessary, if anj^thing is to be learned, and that the 
 law which should bestow honour upon attendance 
 would not insure study. If it were necessary to 
 have a nobility composed of real philosophers, 
 other methods must be pursued ; but when the 
 .object in view is merely to change the species of 
 knowledge in which they are to be instructed, from 
 what is useless to what is useful, what more need 
 be required ? When interesting objects of study are 
 substituted for those which are uninteresting, they 
 would not study less. 
 
 I know that public examinations are powerful 
 means for exciting emulation, but 1 have no desire 
 to place additional obstacles in the way of a plan 
 whose novelty alone would render it but too alarm- 
 ing : a project v/hich to many will appear ro- 
 mantic, need not be accompanied by an accessory 
 whose aspect is alarming, and whose utility is 
 problematic. 
 
 The most stupid and inattentive could scarcely 
 attend upon a long course of instruction without 
 gaining some advantage ; they would, at least, be 
 familiarised with the terms of art, which constitute 
 not only the first, but the greatest difficulty ; 
 they would form some idea of the principal divi-
 
 B.III. Cii. Iir.— ART AND SCIENCE— DIFFUSION. 227 
 
 sions of the country they traversed ; and should 
 they ever be desirous of directing a more par- 
 ticular examination to any particular division, 
 they will at least know in what direction to 
 seek for it. As all the world would then be 
 occupied with the study of the sciences, they 
 would pretend thus to employ themselves, and 
 would be ashamed to be entirely ignorant of 
 those things which were the subjects of general 
 conversation. 
 
 Russia is an instance of the ease with which a 
 new direction may be given to the opinions of a 
 whole people. Nobility of birth is but little 
 respected ; official rank is the only ground of dis* 
 tinction. This change has been effected by a few 
 simple regulations. Unless he is an officer, no in- 
 dividual, how rich or nobly born soever he may 
 be, can vote, or even sit in the assembly of the no- 
 bility. The consequence has been, that all classes 
 have pressed into the service of the state. If they 
 do not intend to make it their profession, they quit 
 it when they have attained the rank which confers 
 this privilege. 
 
 Note. — If Mr. Bentham had consented to revise his MSS. 
 which were written more than forty years ago, he might have 
 seen reason to alter many of his observations. 
 
 In England, much has been done in the interval. Public 
 opinion has sensibly changed respecting the value of classical 
 learning. It is highly esteemed at college, but elsewhere it is 
 now only considered as an accessory ; the most enlightened 
 parents regret that it is still the only object of instruction in 
 our puplic schools. 
 
 Since the establishment of the Royal Institution, many simi- 
 lar institutions have been foimed, and a general desire for 
 useful knowledge has been disseminated. The ladies have dis- 
 played a persevering ardour in their attendance on these means 
 of instruction, so much the more praiseworthy, as it has been 
 uniformly excited by inclination alone. Elementary worka 
 
 15.
 
 228 B.III, Ch. III.— ART AND SCIENCE-DIFFUSION, 
 
 have been multiplied ; but all this has been done by the exer- 
 tions of individuals^ without any encouragement from the state. 
 
 As to public education^ it is more easy to create than to re- 
 form. A good institution would be the best criticism upon the 
 bad. If two or three colleges were founded in London, suited 
 to the wants of the more numerous classes of those who are 
 destined to the pursuits of art, trade, or commerce, in which 
 not Latin or Greek (almost always useless in these avocations) 
 should be taught, but the national language, which has gene- 
 rally been neglected, together with all those branches of know- 
 ledge, which if not absolutely necessary, are always useful and 
 agreeable, we should soon see these seminaries draw together 
 a crowd of scholars, and the old colleges would be obliged to 
 correct their system in order to maintain their ground. 
 
 It may be said, that private schools may supply the defici- 
 ency 3 but there is a great difference between public and pri- 
 vate establisliments. Private education can only succeed by a 
 train of happy events, whilst in public education, a multitude 
 of circumstances are overcome. Besides, domestic education 
 is limited to the rich, whilst public instruction is adapted to 
 the most moderate fortunes. — Dumont.
 
 RATIONALE OF REWARD. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 REWARD APPLIED TO PRODUCTION AND TRADE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BENTHAM AND ADAM SMITH. 
 
 N.B. This fourth book was not included by 
 the author, in his plan, as a part of a treatise upon 
 rewards. It consists, however, of the most im- 
 portant application of the principles laid down in 
 the former part of this work, and particularly in 
 Book 1, ch. 15, Competition as to Rewards. It 
 is extracted from another of Mr. Bentham's ma- 
 nuscripts, entitled, A Manual of Political Eco- 
 nomy ; a work, which as it respects its foun- 
 dations and its results, is the same as Adam 
 Smith's Wealth of Nations, but from w^hich it 
 widely differs in plan and form. 
 
 The Scotch Philosopher, having to discuss a 
 new subject which presented a controversy at 
 every step, thought it necessary to begin with an 
 exposition of facts. His work is principally his- 
 torical : he has described in a most admirable 
 manner the progress of society, from its state of 
 
 ** Translated from the French of Dumont.
 
 230 B,;1V. Cn. I.— BENTHAM AND ADAM SMITH. 
 
 primitive poverty to its present condition of 
 opulence; he has traced the march of industry in 
 its natural course, from agriculture to manufac- 
 tures, from manufactures to commerce, and from 
 internal to foreign commerce. In the midst of 
 these interesting pictures, the didactic part is only 
 incidental : he seems to have been fearful of pre- 
 maturely forming a system. He has collected the 
 elements of knowledge, and he has left to the 
 fermentation of time the care of bringing them to 
 perfection, and extracting their consequences. 
 
 The object of Adam Smith allowed of a happy 
 diversity, and he has chosen the easiest and most 
 ornamental method of effecting it; but it is neither 
 the shortest nor the most favourable for the purposes 
 of instruction. His movements are not progres- 
 sive ; he often retraces his steps : active minds 
 reproach him with being diffuse in argumentation, 
 and pretend that each of his chapters forms a dis- 
 tinct treatise. 
 
 Mr. Bentham has chosen a narrower and more 
 difficult path : he has considered the subject with 
 a reference to legislation alone, and uniformly has 
 confined himself to the practical part. This is 
 what the law ought to be on this point : this is 
 what ought to be done ; and above all this 
 ought not to be done, if it be desirable that the 
 national prosperity should be carried to the highest 
 possible pitch : such is his design. His progress 
 is marked by a didactic rigour: he advances from 
 definitions to principles, and from principles to 
 consequences. 
 
 This difHerence in design is not the only one 
 between the two works. Mr. Bentham has sim- 
 plified his subject, by referring everything to one 
 principle ; namely, the limitation of production and 
 trade bi/ the limitation of capital: a principle which 
 brings all his reasonings into a very small circle,
 
 B.IV. Ch. I.— BI^NTIIAM AND AUAM SMITH. 231 
 
 and which serves to unite into one bundle those 
 observations which cannot be so easily grasped 
 when they are disunited. His is not a new dis- 
 covery. This principle pervades, and, so to speak, 
 is diffused throughout the whole work of Adam 
 Smith, but is nowhere announced as a governing 
 principle: he has never directly employed it. Had 
 he clearly recognized it, he would have made it 
 the centre of his system: it would have been the 
 foundation upon which he would have erected his 
 whole superstructure, and he would have been 
 spared a multitude of repetitions and windings. 
 
 The Manual of Mr. Bentham would not tend to 
 supersede the necessity of reading the Wealth of 
 Nations. The historical part of that work, in 
 exhibiting the origin of things; in leading us to 
 reflect upon the phenomena of society ; in taking 
 down its machinery and exhibiting each part se- 
 parately, lays the foundation of the science. It is 
 thus, that the knowledge of anatomy and physi- 
 ology ought to precede the science of medicine, 
 properly so called. 
 
 I have extracted from Mr. Bentham's Manual, 
 those parts which belonged to my present work, 
 and which I could not have omitted without, in 
 some respects, leaving it incomplete. It is not, 
 however, for the learned that this part of the 
 work is intended : they are above these elements. 
 The study of political economy has become com- 
 mon and familiar, in comparison with what it was 
 when these writings were composed. Still, how- 
 ever, in them errors are attacked which are yet far 
 from being completely destroyed; and which have 
 a continual tendency to be reproduced. The pas- 
 sions of men are continually sowing in this field 
 briars and poisonous plants, which it is necessary 
 continually to extirpate. This little extract, which
 
 232 J3. IV. Ch.I.— BENTHAM AND ADAM SMITH. 
 
 may be read in half an hour, places in a new light 
 the grand principles of social order, security, the 
 free exercise of industry, the energy of the at- 
 tractive and remuneratory motives which induce 
 free men to labour, the comparative weakness of 
 the motives of constraint which induce slaves 
 to exert themselves. New arguments are fur- 
 nished wherewith to combat national jealousies, 
 the desire for distant establishments, and other 
 prejudices not less mischievous. 
 
 In conclusion, political economy is a science, 
 rather than an art. There is much to be learned 
 respecting it and little to be done. 
 
 Is it inquired what ought governments to do, 
 that wealth may be increased — the answer is,- 
 Very little, and nothing rather than too much. 
 What ought to be done for the increase of popula- 
 tion ?— Nothing. In the greater number of states, 
 the best methods of augmenting population and 
 wealth, would consist in abolishing those laws and 
 regulations whereby it has been sought to increase 
 them, provided such abolition were gradually and 
 carefully accomplished. 
 
 The art therefore is reduced within a small com- 
 pass : securitif and freedom is all that industry 
 requires. The request which agriculture, manu- 
 factures, and commerce presents to governments, is 
 modest and reasonable as that which Diogenes 
 made to Alexander: " Stand out of my sunshine." 
 We have no need of favour, we require only a 
 secure and open path. 
 
 In connexion with this Manual, I cannot omit 
 the opportunity of making a remark in favour of 
 those philosophers who have particularly culti- 
 vated the science of political economy. They have 
 taken no part in the dissemination of those splene- 
 tic and odious paradoxes respecting the inequality
 
 B. IV. Cii. I.— BENTHAM AND ADAM SMITH. 233 
 
 i)f ranks, the progress of wealth and civilization, 
 the enjoyments of" luxury and arts. It is they, on 
 the contrary, who have furnished the most solid ar- 
 guments wherewith to refute these subversive opi- 
 nions, and wherewith to justify social order. They 
 have replied to declamation by reasoning; to the 
 pictures of fancy, by facts ; to conjectures, by cal- 
 culations. They have shown that men in society 
 have a much greater number of interests in com- 
 mon, than of interests opposed to one another; 
 that ignorance alone separates them ; that the more 
 they are enlightened, the more closely they be- 
 come united ; that there is a sensible progression 
 among the human race towards perfection, although 
 its march may be irregular, and its movements 
 even sometimes retrograde. 
 
 What answer so victorious to the multitude of 
 complaints respecting the misery of the poorer 
 classes amongst us, as the real picture of the uni- 
 versal indigence of primitive societies ! Poverty is 
 not a consequence of social order: why is it con- 
 sidered as its reproach ? It is a remnant of a state 
 of nature. Wealth has been created by man : po- 
 verty is the condition of nature. The division of 
 ])roperty, of labour, the invention of machines, the 
 application of the elements to the purposes of pro- 
 duction, have increased the powers of the human 
 race a hundred-fold, and have in like manner aug- 
 mented the sources of abundance, so that famine, 
 that almost habitual scourge of savage nations, is 
 unknown among nations moderately well governed; 
 they have even a sufficient superfluity for the sup- 
 port of numerous classes who consume without 
 reproducing. To this security respecting subsist- 
 ence, the first benefit accruing from social order, 
 add the pleasures of gradual acquisition ; that sweet 
 association of industry with hope, that growing in-
 
 234 B. IV. Cn. I.— BENTHAM AND ADAM SMITH. 
 
 terestof life when one advances towards the object 
 of his desires ; that charm of property, the spur of 
 youth and pillow of old age. This system of in- 
 dustry is at the same time the foundation of mora- 
 lity, of reciprocal wants, of relative bonds, and of 
 public and private virtues. 
 
 The objection apparently the most specious is 
 happily found the most false. It has been pretended, 
 that individuals could only enrich themselves by 
 despoiling others ; that they were necessarily ene- 
 mies, and lived, as gladiators, only by destroying 
 one another. Trade has been confounded with 
 gambling, in which the gain of one is always 
 founded upon the loss of another. But on the 
 contrary, in a social undertaking, all the adven- 
 turers may reap their share of advantage ; since, all 
 other things equal, the more labour there is, the 
 greater will be the result. The sources of wealth, 
 if the government be not very bad, are always in- 
 creasing ; so that the number of the successful, 
 among the candidates for fortune, always increases, 
 and there are not any who are necessarily unsuc- 
 cessful. 
 
 The idea of beholding in those who enrich 
 themselves, only more daring and expert plun- 
 derers than others, is correct as that of the mis- 
 anthropist, who considers its criminal calendar as 
 an account of the habitual actions of the citizens 
 of any country. Without stopping to refute in 
 detail such absurd exaggerations, we shall only 
 point out a single clear and palpable proof of the 
 fact. When we look at North America, we may 
 there behold society in almost all its stages; we 
 may there trace the formation of wealth in the 
 furrows of agriculture, and its distribution through 
 the channels of industry. Industry, like an hy- 
 draulic machine, raises the waters as they proceed
 
 B. IV. Ch.I.—BENTHAM and ADAM SMITH, 235 
 
 from their source ; it turns them back again, re- 
 raises, and makes them circulate without cessation. 
 There is no waste in the whole process. The 
 wealth of one is so little founded upon the impo- 
 verishment of others, that, on the contrary, the 
 creation of one capital soon creates others, and the 
 level of all conditions is elevated at the same time. 
 The argument against civilization, drawn from 
 the power and number of those swarms of barba- 
 rians which issued from the north, is become, 
 when judiciously examined, a direct proof in its 
 favour. These barbarians had no home : deprived 
 of everything which attaches man to the soil which 
 gave him birth, they envied what they knew not 
 how to create, and destroyed instead of imitating. 
 The innumerable multitudes, which were gratui- 
 tously supposed, have vanished when it has been 
 considered that hordes, wandering in countries 
 covered with forests, could not have increased 
 above their narrow means of subsistence. Since 
 civilization has penetrated into these countries ; 
 since the means of enjoyment and combatting the 
 disadvantaoes of the climate bv the resources of 
 art have been multiplied, the people, more happy 
 and more numerous, have assumed habitudes 
 which have attached them to the possession of the 
 soil. Famine no longer obliges them to pounce 
 like vultures upon their wealthy neighbours: their 
 necessary wants supplied, their manners have been 
 softened. Production has supplanted pillage, and 
 they have become incorporated in that great family 
 of which they were the scourge. 
 
 A culpable insensibility ought not, however, to 
 be imputed to the admirers of social order, with 
 respect to the evils which they have not yet known 
 how to prevent. If happiness be produced by 
 natural and constant causes ; if it greatly exceed
 
 236 B.IV, Cm. I.— BENTHAM AND ADAM SMITH. 
 
 the evil; if it have a tendency to augmentation, 
 their admiration is justified. Happiness is of ne- 
 cessity; misery is accidental. Happiness arises 
 from the order of nature, misery from the igno- 
 rance of men. Happiness multiplies itself, and 
 every instance of its increase produces more; 
 misery carries with it its warning, and is its own 
 antidote. These considerations, far from cooling 
 our zeal in favour of the suffering part of society, 
 leave those without excuse who turn away from 
 assisting them. It is lawful to turn away our 
 thoughts from incurable evils, but we are criminal 
 if we allow those to exist which we can cure. 
 Omnisque non solum cessatio ignavia est : sed etiam 
 quaerendi defatigatio existimari debet turpissima, 
 ubi id quod quaeritur est pulcherrimum.* 
 
 * Scaliger.
 
 [ 237 ] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 WEALTH AND HAPPINESS— RELATION— INCREASE. 
 
 That the reader may not be detained by a 
 multitude of definitions, I shall confine myself to 
 a few preliminary explanations. Under the general 
 name of the matter of wealth,* every object is 
 comprehended which can be desired by man ; 
 which can be possessed by him ; which is actually 
 fit for his use, or which can be made so. 
 
 The wealth of a community is the aggregate 
 amount of the matter of wealth belonging to the 
 different individuals of which that community is 
 composed. 
 
 All wealth is either the spontaneous production 
 of the earth, or the result of labour, employed in 
 the cultivation of the earth, or upon the materials 
 which it yields. 
 
 Wealth may be employed in four ways: 1. For 
 subsistence ; 2. For enjoyment ; 3. For security 
 or defence ; 4. For increase. 
 
 As the matter of wealih cannot be employed in 
 any one of these ways, without being in a greater 
 
 * The compound term, " matter of wealth," is employed to 
 prevent ambiguity ; it carries with it a reference to quantity. 
 There are many things which may constitute part of the 
 matter of wealth, which, when taken separately or in small 
 quantities, would hardly be called wealth. Thus the wealth 
 of a stationer may consist of a mass of rags ; a small portion 
 of which lying upon a dunghill few would call wealth ; none, 
 however, could deny that they might constitute part of the 
 matter of wealth.
 
 238 B. IV. ch. II.— wealth and happiness, &c. 
 
 or less degree consumed, the stock existing at 
 any given period would be continually diminish- 
 ing, if constant exertions were not employed in 
 the increasing of it. 
 
 Wealth, considered as arising at successive 
 periods, is called income. 
 
 That portion of it which is employed for the 
 purposes of giving increase to its amount, is called 
 capital. 
 
 An individual who would in any manner em- 
 ploy himself in the accumulation of wealth, 
 ought to possess — 1. Materials on which to work ; 
 2. Tools wherewith to work ; 3. A place in which 
 to work ; 4. Necessaries for his subsistence while 
 at work. All these objects are comprised under 
 the name o^ capital. 
 
 In the order of history, labour precedes capital. 
 From land and labour, everything proceeds. But 
 in the actual order of things there is always some 
 capital already produced, which is united with 
 land and labour in the production of new values. 
 When an article of the produce of land or labour, 
 in place of being consumed or kept for the use of 
 him who has made it, or caused it to be made, is 
 offered in exchange, it then becomes an article of 
 commerce: it is merchandise. 
 
 The general wealth is increased : — 
 
 1. By the increased efficacy of labour. 
 
 2. By the increase of the number of workmen. 
 
 3. By the increase of capital. 
 
 4. By the more advantageous employment of 
 capital. 
 
 5. By means of trade. 
 
 In all civilised societies, a class of persons is 
 found who purchase of the manufacturer that they 
 may sell to the consumer.
 
 B. IV. Ch. II,— wealth and HAPPINESS, &c. 239 
 
 The whole of the operations of manufacture, 
 and of sale, may be described by the general terms 
 o{ production and trade. 
 
 The spontaneous actions of individuals, in 
 the career of production and trade, depend on 
 three conditions : Inclination^ knowledge, and 
 power. 
 
 Inclination to increase in wealth by labour and 
 economy may be wanting in some individuals, 
 but it predominates in men in general, and needs 
 no other encouragement than legal security for the 
 possession of what has been produced by it. 
 Knowledge, in the shape here in question, is a 
 result of the inclination which naturally leads men 
 to study, every one in his own concerns, the means 
 of preserving and increasing his M'ealth. By 
 power, in the shape here in question, I under- 
 stand that which consists in pecuniary capital, 
 which is in proportion to this capital, and cannot 
 exceed it. 
 
 As to inclination, government has no need 
 to do anything for its increase ; any more than 
 for the increase of the desire of eating and 
 drinking. 
 
 In respect of knowledge, it may contribute to 
 extend it, not only by means of general in- 
 struction, of which we have already spoken, but 
 also by information respecting particular facts; 
 respecting particular branches of production and 
 trade, and respecting particular new discoveries 
 to which it may give birth by reward and encou- 
 ragement, and which it may communicate by 
 publication. 
 
 In respect of power, in so far as it consists 
 in pecuniary capital, government cannot with 
 advantage create it : whatever it gives to one 
 individual it must have taken from another ;
 
 240 B. IV. ch. II.— wealth and happiness, &c, 
 
 but there is another species of power, which 
 consists in liberty of acting, which government 
 may grant without any expense: it has only to 
 repeal restrictive laws, to take away obstacles ; 
 in a word, to leave things to themselves. 
 
 Such are the outlines of an analytical plan, 
 by which, it is believed, it will be found, that 
 a circle is drawn around the subject.
 
 I 241 ] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PRODUCTION IS LIMITED BY CAPITAL. 
 
 No kind of productive labour of any importance 
 can be carried on without capital. From hence it 
 •follows that the quantity of labour, applicable to 
 any object, is limited by the quantity of capital 
 which can be employed on it. 
 
 If I possess a capital of 10,000/. and two species 
 of trade, each yielding twenty per cent, profit, but 
 each requiring a capital of 10,000/. for carrying 
 them on, are proposed to me, it is clear that I may 
 carry on the one or the other with this profit, so 
 long as I confine myself to one, but that in carrying 
 on the one, it is not in my power to carry on 
 the other ; and that if I seek to divide my capital 
 between them both, I shall not make more than 
 twenty per cent ; but I may make less, and even 
 convert my profit into a loss. But if this propo- 
 sition is true in the case of one individual, it is 
 true for all the individuals in a whole nation. 
 Production is therefore limited by capital. 
 
 There is one circumstance which demonstrates, 
 that men are not sensible of this truth, apparently 
 so obvious. When they recommend the encourage- 
 ment of particular branches of trade, they do not 
 pretend that they are more profitable than others ; 
 but because they are branches of trade, and they 
 cannot possess too many. In a word, they would 
 encourage trade in general; as if all trade did 
 not yield its own reward; as if an unprofitable 
 
 16
 
 242 B.IV. Ch. III.— PRODUCTION IS LIMITED BY CAPITAL. 
 
 trade deserved to be encouraged ; and as if a profi- 
 table trade stood in need of encouragement; as if 
 indeed, by these capricious operations, it were pos- 
 sible to do any other thing than transfer capital 
 from one branch of trade to another.
 
 [ 243 ] 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CAPITALIST THE BEST JUDGE OF HIS OWN 
 
 INTEREST. 
 
 The quantity of capital being given, the increase 
 of wealth will, in a certain period, be in proportion 
 to the good employment of this capital ; that is to 
 say, of the more or less advantageous direction 
 which shall have been given to it. 
 
 The advantageous direction of capital depends 
 upon two things : 1. The choice of the undertak- 
 ing ; 2. The choice of the means for carrying it 
 on. 
 
 The probability of the best choice in both these 
 respects, will be in proportion to the degree of in- 
 terest which the undertaker has in its being well 
 made, in connection with the means he has of ac- 
 quiring the information relative to his undertak- 
 ing. 
 
 But knowledge itself depends in a great mea- 
 sure upon the degree of interest which the indivi- 
 dual has in obtaining it; he who possesses the 
 greatest interest will apply himself with the 
 greatest attention and constancy to obtain it. 
 
 The interest which a man takes in the concerns 
 of another, is never so great as he feels in his own. 
 
 If we consider every thing necessary for the 
 most advantageous choice of an undertaking, or 
 the means of carr3nng it on, we shall see that the 
 official person, so fond of intermeddling in the 
 details of production and trade, is in no respect 
 superior to the individuals he desires to govern, 
 and that in most points he is their inferior. 
 
 16.
 
 244 15. IV. ch. IV.— capitalist the best judge, &c. 
 
 A prime minister has not so many occasions for 
 acquiring information respecting farming as a 
 farmer, respecting distillation as a distiller, re- 
 specting the construction of vessels as a ship- 
 builder, respecting the sale of commodities, as 
 those who have been engaged in it all their lives. 
 ' It is not probable that he should either have 
 directed his attention to these objects for so long a 
 time, or with the same degree of energy, as those 
 who have been urged on by such powerful motives. 
 It is therefore probable that in point of information 
 relative to these professions, he is inferior to those 
 who follow them. 
 
 Official persons, therefore, with fewer oppor- 
 tunities of instruction, less attention to the affairs, 
 and less practical information, are not in a condi- 
 tion to form a better judgment than those who are 
 interested, neither in the choice of the undertak- 
 ing nor the means of carrying it on. 
 
 If by chance a minister should become informed 
 of any circumstance, which proves the superior ad- 
 vantage of a certain branch of trade, or of a certain 
 process, it would not be a reason for employing 
 authority in causing its adoption. Publicity alone 
 would produce this effect : the more real the ad- 
 vantage, the more superfluous the exercise of 
 a*uthority. 
 
 To justify the regulatory interference of govern- 
 ment in the affairs of trade, one or other of these 
 two opinions must be maintained : that the pub- 
 lic functionary understands the interests of indi- 
 viduals better than they do themselves ; or that 
 the quantity of capital in every nation being infi- 
 nite, or that the new branches of trade not requiring 
 any capital, all the wealth produced by a new and 
 favourite commerce is so much clear gain, over 
 and above what would have been produced if
 
 B.IV. Cii. IV.— CAPITALIST THE BEST JUDGE, &c. 245 
 
 these advantages had not been conferred on this 
 trade. 
 
 These two opinions being contrary to truth, it 
 follows that the interference of government is al- 
 together erroneous, that it operates rather as an 
 obstacle than a means of advancement. 
 
 It is hurtful in another manner: by imposing 
 restraints upon the actions of individuals, it pro- 
 duces a feeling of uneasiness — so much liberty 
 lost, so much happiness destroyed. 
 
 This indeed is not a conclusive objection against 
 these laws, since it may be urged against the best 
 laws. All laws are coercive ; but this is a reason 
 for not making any laws, at least where their 
 utility does not more than overbalance this incon- 
 venience. 
 
 A measure of government, which would be un- 
 justifiable employed as a means of increasing the 
 national wealth, may be proper as a means of sub- 
 sistence (for example, the maintaining of maga- 
 zines of corn), or as a means of defence (for exam- 
 ple, encouragements given to certain branches of 
 commerce considered as a nursery for seamen) ; 
 but it is essential to know that it produces its de- 
 signed end, and not to mistake a sacrifice for an 
 advantage, a loss for a gain. Encouragements of 
 this nature do not the less belong to the class of 
 things which ought not to be done, when uncon- 
 nected with imperious circumstances, which pro- 
 duce the exception to the general rule.
 
 [ 246 ] 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FALSE ENCOURAGEMENTS LOANS. 
 
 Of all the means whereby a government may 
 give a particular direction to production, the loan 
 of pecuniary capital to individuals, to be employed 
 in any particular branch of trade, is the least open 
 to objection. 
 
 It ought, however, at all times, to be free from 
 objection with respect to justice and prudence. 
 All the treasure of the government, from whence 
 does it arise but from taxes, and these taxes levied 
 by constraint?* To take from one portion of its 
 subjects to lend to another, to diminish their actual 
 enjoyments, or the amount which they would have 
 laid up in reserve, is to do a certain evil for an 
 uncertain good ; is to sacrifice security for the 
 hope of increasing wealth. 
 
 If loans of this nature were always faithfully 
 repaid, their injustice would be limited to a certain 
 period. Let us suppose that the capital thus em- 
 ployed is 100,000/., and that the whole sum has 
 been levied in one year, the injustice of the mea- 
 sure will have begun and ended in a year; and if 
 tile money thus lent has produced an increase of 
 industry, it is an advantage to be set in opposition 
 to the evil arising from the tax. 
 
 But these loans have a natural tendency to be 
 ill employed, wasted, or stolen. Monarchs, and 
 
 * At least where the revenue of the government is not the 
 produce of land, or the interest of money formed by an accu- 
 mulation of rent. Of this nature is a part of the revenue of 
 the republic of Berne.
 
 B.IV. Ch.V.—EALSE ENCOURAGEMENTS— loans. 247 
 
 their ministers, are as liable to be deceived in the 
 choice of individuals as in the selection of parti- 
 cular branches of commerce. Those who succeed 
 with them prove only that they possess the talent of 
 persuasion, or understand the practices of courts ; 
 but these are not the things which produce suc- 
 cess in trade. It may be seen in the w^ork of 
 Mirabeau, upon the Prussian Monarchy, that 
 Frederick II., with all his vigilance and severity, 
 was often deceived by the ignorance or dishonesty 
 of those who obtained from his avaricious credulity 
 loans of this nature. Thus, in the train of the 
 first unjust tax for the formation of the capital 
 lent, follow other taxes, rendered necessary to re- 
 place the thefts and dilapidations to which the 
 first has been exposed. 
 
 It is also most probable, that the capital thus 
 employed will only be applied upon branches of 
 industry less productive than those towards which 
 it would naturally have directed itself. What is 
 the argument of the borrower? that the trade he 
 wishes to establish is new, or that it is necessary 
 to support an established trade : but why should 
 the government intermeddle with it, if not because 
 individuals who consider their own interests are 
 not willing to meddle with it ? The presumption 
 is therefore against the enterprise. 
 
 Suppose even that, by chance, ihis loan should 
 take the most advantageous direction possible, 
 the loan is not justified by this profit : it was 
 unnecessary. For employing capital in the most 
 advantageous manner, it is only necessary that 
 the most advantageous employment should be 
 known. If it be not well employed, it is that a 
 better employment is not known. It is know- 
 ledge which is wanted : it is proper to teach and 
 not to lend. If the government cannot tell which
 
 248 B. IV. ch. v.— false encouragements-loans. 
 
 is the most advantageous employment of capital, 
 it is still less able to employ it well ; if it can tell 
 which is the bestemployment, that is all it need do. 
 If the money of government had not taken this' 
 direction, that of individuals would, had they been 
 instructed and left free. 
 
 There are circumstances in which loans of this 
 nature are always iustifiable: when thev are not 
 employed for the encouragement of new enter- 
 prises, but only to afford support to particular 
 branches of commerce, labouring under temporary 
 difficulties, and which need only to be sustained 
 for a short time till the crisis of peril or suspen- 
 sion is passed. This is not a speculation on the 
 part of government, but rather an assurance against 
 a calamity, which it seeks to prevent or to lighten. 
 In such cases of distress individuals will not, of 
 themselves, assist the merchants whose affairs are 
 thus in danger: it is necessary, therefore, that 
 assistance be supplied; and, when supplied, it is 
 not in the way of regulation but of remedy.
 
 [ 249 ] 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 GIFT, OR GRATUITOUS LOAN. 
 
 Were we to judge from the number of instances 
 in which it has been adopted, we should conclude 
 that gratuitous grants of capital for the encourage- 
 ment of commerce were most excellent measures. 
 
 Their inconveniences are of the same kinds as 
 those of loans, but they greatly exceed them in 
 degree. In case of a loan, if it be repaid, the same 
 sum may serve the same purpose a second time; 
 and so of the rest. The oppressive act by which 
 the government obtained the capital need not be 
 repeated. But if, in place of being lent, it be 
 given, — so often as this favour is repeated, so often 
 must the amount be levied by taxes : and upon 
 every occasion it may be said, that the produce of 
 the tax is lost, if we consider the use which might 
 have been made of it in lightening the public bur- 
 thens. 
 
 Sometimes capital has been lent with this view, 
 without interest; sometimes at an interest below 
 the ordinary rate. In the first case, if it be repaid, 
 it is not the capital which is lost, but only the 
 interest ; in the second case, it is not all the inte- 
 rest, but only the difference between the lower 
 and the ordinary rate. It is still the same false 
 policy as to its kind ; all the difference is in the 
 degree. 
 
 It may be observed, that gratuitous grants are 
 more likely to be wasted than loans: it may be 
 because, in the latter case, responsibility is always 
 incurred ; it may be, because money received as a
 
 250 B.IV. Ch. VI.— GIFT, OR GRATUITOUS LOAN. 
 
 gift tends to produce prodigality: as it has been 
 obtained without labour, it seems to have the less 
 value. 
 
 In some cases, capital has been given, not in the 
 shape of money, but in that of goods ; by advanc- 
 ing to a manufacturer, for example, those articles 
 which he wants for the completion of his work. 
 
 This plan may have the good effect of insuring 
 the employment of the articles furnished upon the 
 intended object. Those articles, however, with 
 which the government interferes, are ordinarily 
 dearer and worse in quality than those which the 
 individual, with the same sum of money, could 
 have obtained at his own choice. It is not the best 
 method of treating men worthy of confidence ; and 
 it will not succeed with those who are unworthy 
 of trust, since, after they are put in possession of 
 them, they can convert the articles into money, 
 and spend the amount. There may be measures 
 which would obviate this danger : inspection, 
 suretyship, &c. ; but, when it regards a plan radi- 
 cally bad, the discussion of the comparative incon- 
 veniences of any particular scheme, whereby the 
 risk may be diminished, is not worth the labour it 
 would cost.
 
 [ 251 ] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BOUNTIES UPON PRODUCTION. 
 
 This mode of encouragement much exceeds 
 the two former in the career of absurdity. In the 
 two former cases it was an expense, a risk, with- 
 out sufficient reason for supposing it would prove 
 successful, and even without sufficient reason in 
 case of success. But a bounty is an expense in- 
 curred with the certainty of not obtaining the 
 object sought, and even because it is certain that 
 it cannot be obtained. 
 
 In the case of a bounty upon production, it is 
 not only the end which is absurd, but the means 
 also, which possess this particular character of con- 
 tributing nothing towards the end. 
 
 It is uniformly because the trade in question is 
 disadvantageous, that it is necessary to bestow 
 money upon its maintenance ; if it were advanta- 
 geous, it would maintain itself. It is because the 
 workman is not able to obtain from the buyer a 
 price for his merchandise which will yield an or- 
 dinary profit, that it is necessary that he should re- 
 ceive from the government a bounty which shall 
 make up the difference. 
 
 Whether the kind of product upon which it 
 operates be advantageous or not, the bounty has 
 no efficacy in increasing the ability of the pro- 
 ducer to augment it. Since it follows the produc- 
 tion, since he receives it when the thing is done, 
 and not before, it is clear that he has possessed 
 other means of producing it. The bounty may
 
 252 B.IV. Ch. VII.— BOUNTIES UPON PRODUCTION. 
 
 have operated upon his inclination, but it cannot 
 have contributed to his ability. 
 
 Bounties have been bestowed upon particular 
 branches of trade for all sorts of reasons ; on ac- 
 count of their antiquity, on account of their 
 novelty, because they were flourishing, because 
 they were decaying, because they were advan- 
 tageous, because they were burthensome, be- 
 cause there vv^ere hopes of improving them, and 
 because it was feared they would grow worse : 
 so that there is no species of commerce in the 
 world which could not, by one or other of these 
 contrary reasons, claim this kind of favour during 
 every moment of its existence. 
 
 It is in the case of an old branch of trade that 
 the evil of such measures is most enormous, and 
 in that of a new one that its inefficacy is most 
 striking. A long established branch of trade is in 
 general widely extended: this extent furnishes 
 the best reason for those who solicit these favours 
 for its support ; and, to give it effect, it ought at the 
 same time to be represented as gaining and losing; 
 gaining, that there maybe a disposition to preserve 
 it ; losing, that there may be a disposition to as- 
 sist it.* 
 
 In the case of a new branch of trade or industry, 
 the futility of the measure is its principal feature. 
 Here, there is no reason which carries the mask of 
 an apparent necessity — no pompous descriptions 
 
 * It is true, though it may not be worth the expense of 
 supporting it by bounties with a view to the increase of 
 wealth, it may be proper to assist it as a means of subsistence 
 or defence. It is still more true, that what ought not to be 
 done with the intention of supporting an unprofitable branch 
 of trade, may yet be proper for preventing the ruin of .the 
 workman actually employed in such business : but these are 
 objects entirely distinct.
 
 B.IV.Ch.VII.— BOUNTIES UPON PRODUCTION. 253 
 
 of its extent. All which can be alleged is that, 
 once established, it will become great and lucrative, 
 but what it wants, is to be established. What then 
 is done for its establishment ? measures are taken 
 which can only operate after it is established. 
 When the trade is established, it will have such 
 great success that it will yield, for example, fifty 
 per cent, profit ; but, to establish it, it requires 
 such large advances, that it is doubtful if those who 
 possess capital will make them, on account of the 
 risks which are almost al ways i nseparable from every 
 new undertaking. What course does the govern- 
 ment pursue? does it give capital? no, this 
 would be foolish. Does it lend capital? no, this 
 would be to run too great risk ; it will give a 
 bounty upon the article when it shall have been 
 made: till then, it says, we shall give no money. 
 Thus, to the fifty per cent, you will gain by your 
 merchandize, we will add a bounty often percent 
 — very well : and, according to this reasoning, at 
 what time will you refuse assistance ? You refuse 
 so long as the bestowment of it will be useful, 
 you grant it in order that something may be done, 
 and you do not give it till it is already done by 
 means independent of you. 
 
 Mistrust, shortsightedness, a suspicious disposi- 
 tion, and a confused head, are very susceptible 
 of union. Why are bounties preferred to advance 
 capital ? they are afraid of being deceived in the 
 latter case. If 10,000/. are given at once, nothing 
 may perhaps be done : to avoid this risk they give, 
 when the thing is done, 10,000/. per annum, which 
 they will never receive again. 
 
 Instead of being beneficial, the expense to the 
 state becomes more burthensome in proportion as 
 the trade becomes extended. The bounty insti- 
 tuted for one reason, is continued on an opposite
 
 254 B.IV. Ch. VII.— BOUNTIES UPON PRODUCTION. 
 
 account : at first it was given in order to obtain, 
 in the end it is continued for fear of losing, the par- 
 ticular branch of trade. What would have been 
 necessary for its establishment was a trifle, what 
 must be paid for its continuance, knows no bounds. 
 
 The capital bestowed upon a new branch of in- 
 dustry for an experiment, is always comparatively 
 a small sum; but what is given as a bounty is 
 always, or at least it is always hoped that it will be, 
 a large one : for unless a large quantity of the 
 merchandise is manufactured and sold, and conse- 
 quently unless a large bounty is paid for its pro- 
 duction and sale, the object is considered as un- 
 accomplished : it is considered that the bounty has 
 not answered its end. 
 
 When the article is one which would not have 
 been manufactured without the bounty, all that is 
 paid is lost ; but if it be one of those which, even 
 without the bounty, the manufacturers would have 
 found it their interest to produce, only a portion 
 of the bounty is lost. As it makes an addi- 
 tion, and that a very sensible addition to the ordi- 
 nary profit of the trade, it attracts a great number 
 of individuals towards this particular enterprise : 
 by their competition, the article is sold at the 
 lowest rate, and the diminution of price is in pro- 
 portion to the bounty itself (allowance being made 
 for the necessary expenses of soliciting and re- 
 ceiving it). In this state of things it would 
 appear, at first sight, that the bounty does neither 
 good nor harm : the public gains by the reduction 
 of price as much as it loses by the tax, which is 
 the effective cause of this reduction. 
 
 This would be true, if the individuals who paid 
 the tax in the one case were the same who profited 
 by the bounty in the other, if the measure of this 
 profit were exactly the measure of their contribu-
 
 B.IV. Cn. VIl.— BOUNTIES UPON PRODUCTION. 255 
 
 tion, if they received the one at the same time that 
 they paid the other, and if all the labour lost in 
 these operations had not cost anything. But all 
 these suppositions are contrary to fact. There are 
 not two taxes which affect all the members of the 
 state : there is not one which affects them all 
 equally. The tax is paid a long time before the 
 indemnification, by the reduction of price, is re- 
 ceived, and the expenses of this useless circulation 
 are always considerable. 
 
 After all that can be said, it is clear that a 
 bounty upon production cannot, in the long run, 
 produce an increased abundance of the article in 
 question, whatsoever maybe thediminution of price 
 which may result from it. The profit which the pro- 
 ducer will obtain is not greater than before : the only 
 difference is, that it comes to him from another 
 hand. It is not individuals who give it him in a 
 direct manner, it is the government. Without the 
 bounty, those who pay for the article are those who 
 enjoy it : with the bounty, they only pay directly 
 a part of the price ; the rest is paid by the public 
 in general ; that is to say, more or less, by those 
 who derive no advantages from it.* 
 
 Although a bounty upon production adds 
 nothing to the abundance of any article of general 
 consumption, it diminishes the price to the buyer. 
 Suppose that, in Scotland, there were a bounty 
 upon the production of oats, and that the bounty 
 were paid by a tax upon beer brewed from this 
 grain, oats would not be more abundant than 
 before ; but they would be sold at a less price to 
 the buyer (though the merchant would make the 
 
 * Adam Smith has made a mistake in saying, that a bounty 
 upon production was a means of abundance, on which account 
 it was better than a bounty on exportation.
 
 256 B.IV, Ch. VII.— BOUNTIES UPON PRODUCTION. 
 
 same profit), whilst the beer brewed with this grain 
 would be proportionally dearer : the consumer of 
 oats would not find himself richer than before, but 
 for the same price he would have a greater quantity 
 of this grain in the form of food, and less in the 
 shape of drink. 
 
 1 speak here of relative abundance, in proportion 
 to the ordinary consumption ; I speak of superfluity 
 compared with habitual wants. The lower this 
 commodity is in price, compared with others, the 
 greater will be the demand for it. More will be 
 produced in consequence of the increased demand, 
 but more will not be produced than is demanded. 
 The commodity, as it respects abundance, will re- 
 main upon the same footing as before. If a su- 
 perfluity is required, if a quantity be required ex- 
 ceeding what is commonly produced, other mea- 
 sures must be resorted to than a bounty on pro- 
 duction. 
 
 If a bounty upon production could be justified, 
 it would seem that it ought to be so in the case 
 where the article thus favoured was an article of 
 general consumption — as, corn in England, oats in 
 Scotland, potatoes in Ireland, and rice in India; 
 but it would only appear so as a means of pro- 
 ducing equality, and not under any other point of 
 view. In fact, this measure does not tend to pro- 
 duce abundance — what it does, is to take the 
 money out of the pockets of the rich to put it 
 into the pockets of the poor. A commodity of 
 general consumption is always the most necessary 
 of all the articles of life : it is always that of 
 which the poor make the greatest use. The richer 
 a man is, the more he consumes of other commodi- 
 ties beside this universal commodity. Suppose, 
 then, a bounty upon the production of oats in 
 Scotland; if nothing is consumed there but oats,
 
 B. IV. Ch. VII.— BOUNTIES UPON PRODUCTION. 257 
 
 or if there is only a tax upon oats, the persons 
 who reap the advantage of the bounty would be 
 those who bear the burthen of the tax, and that 
 in the same proportion, inasmuch as the expense 
 of levying the tax would be the only result of this 
 measure. But commodities of all kinds are con- 
 sumed in Scotland, and taxes are there levied 
 upon a great variety of commodities. Oats, the 
 commodity of the poor, being the object not of a 
 tax but a bounty, and the articles consumed by 
 the rich being the object not of a bounty but of a 
 tax, from the produce of which the bounty upon 
 the production of oats is paid, the result will be, 
 that the poor will obtain the commodity of which 
 they make the greatest use at a lower price. 
 
 1 a2:ree to this ; but does it follow that their 
 condition will be bettered ? Not at all. Oats 
 will be sold to the poor at a lower price, but they 
 will have less money wherewith to buy them. All 
 the means of subsistence in this class resolve 
 themselves into the wages of labour; but the 
 wages of labour necessarily depend upon the 
 degree of opulence which a country possesses; 
 that is, upon the quantity of capital applicable to 
 the purchase of labour in connection with the 
 number of those whose labour is for sale. The 
 low price resulting from the bounty will produce 
 no advantage to the labourers, whilst the wealth of 
 the country remains the same: if the commodity be 
 lowered in price, they will be less paid ; or, what 
 comes to the same thing, as they work for a ration 
 of oats, they will be obliged to give more labour 
 for this ration if oats are at a lower price. 
 
 All that relates to this mode of encouragement 
 may be summed up in a few words. 
 
 The natural course of things gives a bounty 
 upon the application of industry to the most 
 
 17
 
 258 B. IV. Ch. VIII.— BOUNTIES UPON PRODUCTION. 
 
 advantageous branches, a bounty of which the 
 division will always be made in the most equitable 
 manner. If artificial bounties take the same course 
 as the natural, they are superfluous ; if they take 
 a different course, they are injurious.
 
 [ 2-5y J 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 EXEMPTIONS FROM TAXES ON PRODUCTION. 
 
 An exemption from a tax capable of being im- 
 posed upon any article in tiie hands of the maker 
 or seller, is a modification of a bounty upon pro- 
 duction ; it is a disguised bounty. 
 
 This kind of negative favour may be extended 
 to every species of tax upon trade. The methods 
 of encouragement in this way are as numerous as 
 those of discouragement. \i\ of two rival manu- 
 factures, the one is weighed down by a tax, and 
 the other free, that which is taxed is, in respect of 
 that which is not, in the same situation as if both 
 were free from taxes, and a bounty Vv^ere bestowed 
 upon one. 
 
 But each manufacture is a rival to every other ; 
 if this rivalry is not special, it is at least general 
 and indirect. For what reason ? — because the 
 power of purchasing is limited, as to every indi- 
 vidual, by his fortune and his credit. Every arti- 
 cle which is for sale, and which he can desire, is 
 in a state of competition with every other ; the 
 more he expends for the one, the less can he spend 
 for the others. 
 
 Exemption from taxes upon production cannot 
 be blamed absolutely ; for it is to be wished, if the 
 thing were possible, that there were no taxes. 
 But, relatively, any particular exemption may be 
 blamed, when the article exempted has nothing 
 which justifies this particular exemption. If it 
 were equally fit for taxation, the favour granted to 
 it is an injury to other productions. 
 
 17.
 
 260 B. IV. Ch. Vlll.— EXEMPTION'S FROM TAXES, &c. 
 
 That an object fit for taxation be exempt, is an 
 evil. It renders necessary some other tax, which 
 by the supposition is less proper, or it allows some 
 injurious tax to remain. 
 
 Whilst, as to advantage, there is none. If more 
 of this untaxed merchandise is produced, less is 
 produced of that which is taxed. 
 
 The evil of an unjust tax is all the difference 
 between a more or less eligible tax, and the worst 
 of those which exist.
 
 [ 261 ] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BOUNTIES ON EXPORTATION. 
 
 In the case of Bounties upon Exportation^ the 
 error is not so palpable as in that o^ Bounties upon 
 Production., but the evil is greater. In both cases, 
 the money is equally lost : the difference is in the 
 persons who receive it. What you pay for pro- 
 duction, is received by your countrymen ; what 
 you pay for exportation, you bestow upon stran- 
 gers. It is an ingenious scheme for inducing a 
 foreiofn nation to receive tribute from you without 
 beins: aware of it ; a little like that of the Irishman 
 who passed his light guinea, by cleverly slipping it 
 between two halfpence. 
 
 As a bounty upon production may sustain a 
 disadvantageous trade, which would cease with- 
 out it, by forming its sole profit, it is also possible 
 that it may for a short time increase the profit of 
 an advantageous trade, which would support itself 
 without this aid. 
 
 Does the bounty support a disadvantageous 
 trade? It does not produce a farthing of profit 
 more than would have existed without it. Left to 
 itself, this trade would have ceased and made way 
 for a better ; and the community loses the profits 
 of a capital better employed in lucrative under- 
 takings. 
 
 Does the bounty support an advantageous trade? 
 The evil, in the end, will be greater, because the 
 extra profit drawing more rivals into this career, 
 their competition will reduce the price so low, that
 
 262 B.IV. Ch. IX.— BOUNTIES ON EXPORTATION. 
 
 the bounty will constitute at last the whole profit 
 of this trade. 
 
 However, till the price is thus reduced, the 
 bounty is a net gain for the first undertakers ; and, 
 the consumers beins: our feliow-countrvmen, a 
 part of this ill-employed money turns to their ad- 
 vantage by the low price of the commodity. 
 
 But in the case of a bounty upon exportation, 
 the nation which pays it never receives any advan- 
 tage : everything is lost, as if it were thrown into 
 the sea, or at least as if it had been given to 
 foreigners. 
 
 Without this bounty, the article would have been 
 exported, or it would not. It would have been 
 exported, if foreigners were willing to pay a price 
 which would cover the expense of the manufactur- 
 ing, of exporting, and the ordinary profit of trade. 
 It would not have been exported, if they did not 
 offer a sufficient price. In the first case, they would 
 liave obtained the article by paying its worth ; in 
 the second case, this disadvantageous commerce 
 would not have been carried on. 
 
 Suppose a bounty upon exportation, what are 
 its effects ? The foreigners who heretofore had 
 found the article too dear, become disposed to pur- 
 chase it : why ? Because you pay them to induce 
 them to do so. The more government gives to the 
 exporter, the less need the foreigner give. But it 
 is clear that he will not pay more than the lowest 
 price which will satisfy the exporter : he need not 
 give more ; since, if one merchant refuses to sup- 
 ply him at this price, another will be quite ready 
 to do it. 
 
 Suppose an article of our manufacture, already 
 purchased by foreign nations without a bounty 
 upon its exportation, what will happen if a bounty
 
 B.IV. Ch.IX.— BOUNTIES ON EXPORTATION. 263 
 
 is given? Solely the lowering of its price to the 
 foreigners. A bounty of one penny for every 
 pound in weight is given upon an article which 
 sells for five pence per pound ; the manufacturer 
 would not have found it worth while to have sold 
 it for less than five pence per pound ; he will now, 
 however, find the same profit in selling it for four 
 pence, because his own government makes up the 
 difference. He will sell at four pence, because, 
 if he do not, some other will ; and, because, in this 
 case, instead of selling for five pence, it may happen 
 that he will not sell at all. Thus the whole which 
 government gives is a net saving to the foreigners: 
 the effect in the way of encouragement is nothing. 
 The whole which is exported with the bounty is 
 neither more nor less than would be without it.* 
 
 Though a bounty does not render such a branch 
 of trade more flourishing than it would otherwise 
 have been, it will not render it /c5s flourishing; 
 but the more flourishing it becomes, the greater 
 will be the loss to the nation. 
 
 Disadvantageous branches of trade are often 
 spoken of. People are uneasy ; they fear that 
 certain manufactures, left to themselves, will be 
 unprofitable. It arises from error; it is not possible 
 that any branch of trade, left to itself, can be disad- 
 vantageous to a nation: it may become so by the 
 interference of government, by bounties, and other 
 favours of the same nature. It is not to the mer- 
 chant himself that it can become disadvantageous ; 
 for the moment he perceives there is nothing to be 
 gained, he will not persevere in it ; but to the 
 nation in general it may become so, — to the na- 
 
 ■* The same effect is produced when it is endeavoured to 
 favour the importation of corn, for example, by giving a 
 bounty to the first importers. Its effect is to increase the price 
 in foreign countries.
 
 264' B.IV. Ch. IX.— BOUNTIES ON EXPORTATION. 
 
 tion, in its quality of contributor ; and the amount 
 of the bounty is the exact amount of the loss. 
 
 The Irishman who passed his light guinea was 
 very cunning; but there have been French and 
 English more cunning than he, who have taken 
 care not to be imposed upon by his trick. When 
 a cunning individual perceives you have gained 
 some point with him, his imagination mechani- 
 cally begins to endeavour to get the advantage of 
 you, without examining whether he would not do 
 better were he to leave you alone. Do you appear 
 to believe that the matter in question is advanta- 
 geous to you — he is convinced by this circum- 
 stance that it is proportionally disadvantageous to 
 him, and that the safest line of conduct for him to 
 adopt, is to be guided by your judgment. Well 
 acquainted with this disposition of the human 
 mind, an Englishman laid a wager, and placed 
 himself upon the Pont-neuf, the most public tho- 
 roughfare in Paris, offering to the passengers a 
 crown of six francs for a piece of twelve sous. 
 During half a day he only sold two or three. 
 
 Since individuals in general are such dupes to 
 their self-mistrust, is it strange that governments, 
 having to manage interests which they so little 
 understand, and of which they are so jealous, 
 should have fallen into the same errors ? A govern- 
 ment, believing itself clever, has given a bounty 
 upon the exportation of an article, in order to force 
 the sale of it among a foreign nation ; what does 
 this other nation in consequence ? Alarmed at the 
 sight of this danger, it takes all possible methods 
 for its prevention. AVhen it has ventured to pro- 
 hibit the article, everything is done. It has refused 
 the six franc pieces for twelve sous. When it has 
 not dared to prohibit it, it has balanced this bounty 
 by a counter bounty upon some article that it ex-
 
 B.IV. Ch. IX.— BOUNTIES ON EXPORTATION. 265 
 
 ports. Not daring to refuse the crowns of six 
 francs for twelve sous, it has cleverly slipped some 
 little diamond between the two pieces of money, 
 and thus the cheat is cheated. 
 
 A strife of this nature, painted in its true colours, 
 and stripped of the eclat which dazzles by the 
 magnitude of the object and the dignity of the 
 agents, appears too absurd to be possible ; but for 
 one example among a thousand, we may refer to 
 what has happened between England and Ireland 
 respecting the trade in linens.
 
 [ 266 ] 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PROHIBITION OF RIVAL PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 This pretended mode of encouragement can 
 never be productive of good ; but it may produce 
 evil : hurtful or useless^ such is the alternative. 
 
 1. I say useless. It is a particular privilege of 
 this exercise of power, to be employed in certain 
 cases without doing any harm; and these cases 
 occur when the branch of production or trade 
 which is prohibited would not have been intro- 
 duced, even had there been no prohibition. In 
 former times, it was declared felony in England to 
 \ui\iOit pollards and crocards, a kind of base coin at 
 that time. This prohibition is yet in existence, 
 without producing any inconvenience. If, with the 
 intention of encouraging the increase of poultry, 
 or with any other similarly patriotic view, the im- 
 portation and increase of phoenixes were prohi- 
 bited, it is clear that the trade in poultry would 
 neither gain nor lose much. 
 
 Among all the species of manufacture which 
 England, with so much anxiety, has prohibited to 
 her colonies, there are many which, in comparison 
 with agriculture, are no more suitable to the 
 Americans than the breeding of phoenixes, the 
 cultivation of pine-apples in their fields, or the 
 manufacture of stuffs from spiders' webs. 
 
 Were the articles of foreign manufacture, loaded 
 with the expenses of importation, neither better in 
 quality nor lower in price than the articles of home 
 manufacture, they would not be imported ; the 
 prohibition exists in the nature of things.
 
 B.IV. Ch.X.— PROHIBITION OF RIVAL PRODUCTIONS. 267 
 
 2. Hurtful. By the prohibition of a rival ma- 
 nufacture, you wish to insure the success of a 
 favoured manufacture, and you at once create all 
 the mischiefs of a monopoly. You enable the 
 monopolists to sell at a higher rate, and you di- 
 minish the number of enjoyments ; you grant them 
 the singular privilege of manufacturing inferior ar- 
 ticles, or of ceasing to improve them ; you weaken 
 the principle of emulation, which exists only when 
 there is competition ; in short, you favour the 
 enriching of a small number of individuals at the 
 expense of all those who would have enjoyed the 
 benefit; you give to a few bad manufacturers an 
 excessive degree of wealth, instead of supplying 
 the wants of ten thousand good ones ; you also 
 wound the feelings of the people, by the idea of 
 injustice and violence attached to the partiality of 
 this measure. 
 
 Prohibitions of foreign manufactures are most 
 frequently applied to those objects which foreign- 
 ers can supply less expensively, on account of 
 some peculiar advantage arising from their soil or 
 their industry. By such prohibitions, you refuse 
 to participate in this natural advantage which they 
 ^"joy ' you prefer what costs you more capital and 
 labour; you employ your workmen and your capi- 
 tal at a loss, rather than receive from the hands of 
 a rival what he offers you of a better quality or at 
 a lower price. If you hope, by this means, to 
 support a trade which would otherwise cease, it 
 may be supported it is true ; but, left to itself, 
 capital would only leave this channel where its 
 disadvantages are unavoidable, to enter upon 
 others where it would be employed with greater 
 advantage. The greatest of all errors is to suppose, 
 that by prohibitions, whether of foreign or domes- 
 tic manufactures, more trade can be obtained.
 
 268 B.IV. Ch.X.— PROHIBITION OF RIVAL PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 The quantity of capital, the efficient cause of all 
 increase, remaining the same, all the increase thus 
 given to a favoured commerce is so much taken 
 from other branches. 
 
 The collateral evils of this prohibitory system 
 ought not to be forgotten. It is a source of ex- 
 pense, of vexation, and of crimes. 
 
 The expense most evidently lost, is that of the 
 custom-house officers, the inspectors, and other 
 individuals employed ; but the greatest loss is 
 that of labour, both of the unproductive labour of 
 the smuggler and of those who are, or who appear 
 to be, employed in the prevention of smuggling. 
 
 To destroy foreign commerce, it is only neces- 
 sary to sell everything and to purchase nothing: 
 such is the folly which has been passed off as the 
 depth of political wisdom among statesmen. 
 
 Among the transactions between nation and 
 nation, men have consented, at great expense, to 
 support disadvantageous manufactures, that they 
 may not buy of their rivals. We do not see such 
 monstrous extravagance on the part of individuals. 
 If a merchant were to act thus, we should say he 
 was hastening to ruin ; but his interest guides him 
 much better. It is only public functionaries who 
 are capable of this mistake, and they only when 
 they are acting on account of others. 
 
 Covetousness desires to possess more than it can 
 hold. Malevolence likes better to punish itself 
 than to allow a benefit to an adversary. 
 
 To have its eyes greater than its belli/, is a pro- 
 verb which nurses apply to children, and which 
 always applies to nations. An individual corrects 
 this fault by experience. The politician, when . 
 once affected by it, never corrects himself. 
 
 When a child refuses physic, mothers and nurses 
 sometimes induce it to take it by threatening to
 
 B.IV. Ch.X.— PROHIBITION OF RIVAL PRODUCTIONS. 269 
 
 give it to the dog or the cat. How many states- 
 men, children badly educated, persist in supporting 
 a commerce by which they lose, that they may 
 avoid the mortification of allowing a rival nation to 
 carry it on. 
 
 The statesman who believes he can infinitely 
 extend commerce without perceiving that it is 
 limited by the amount of capital, is the child whose 
 eyes are larger than his belly. 
 
 The statesman who strives to retain a disadvan- 
 tageous commerce, because he fears another nation 
 will gain it, is the child who swallows the bitter 
 pill for fear it should be given to the dog or the cat. 
 
 These are not noble comparisons, but they are 
 just ones ; when errors cover themselves with an 
 imposing mask, one is tempted to set them in a 
 light which will show thein to be ridiculous.
 
 [ 270 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 FIXATION OF PRICES. 
 
 The limitation of the price of commodities may 
 have two opposite objects: 1. The rendering them 
 dearer: 2. The rendering them cheaper. 
 
 The first of these objects is least natural: so 
 many commodities, so many means of enjoy- 
 ment : to put them within the reach of the largest 
 number, is to contribute to the general happiness. 
 This motive, however, is not unexampled, and in- 
 toxicating liquors are an instance of its exercise. 
 Legislators have often endeavoured, and not with- 
 out reason, to increase their price, with the design 
 of limiting their consumption on account of their 
 dearness. But imposing a tax upon them suffices 
 to increase their price ; there is no necessity for re- 
 sorting to the method of direct limitation. 
 
 Is the design of these limitations the obtaining 
 of the article at a low rate — the method will 
 scarcely answer its end. Before the existence of 
 the law, the article was sold at what may be called 
 its average or natural price ^ that is to say, it was 
 confined within certain limits : 1. by the compe- 
 tition between the buyers and the sellers: 2. by 
 a competition between the branch of trade in ques- 
 tion, and that of other branches to which the mer- 
 chant might find it to his advantage to transfer his 
 capital. 
 
 Does the law endeavour to fix the price at 
 a lower rate than this average or natural price — 
 it may obtain a transient success, but by little
 
 B. IV. Ch. XI.— FIXATION OF PRICES. 271 
 
 and little this branch of trade will be abandoned. 
 If the constraint is increased, the evil will grow 
 worse, the constraint in fact can only act upon the 
 existing stock ; this being sold at a forced price, the 
 merchant will take care not to replace it. What 
 can the law effect ? Can it oblige him to reple- 
 nish his storehouse with the same comuiodities ? 
 No legislator has ever attempted it, or at least no one 
 has ever attempted it with success. This would 
 be to convert the officers of justice into commercial 
 agents, it would be to give them a right to dispose 
 of the capitals of the merchants, and to employ the 
 merchants themselves as their clerks. 
 
 The most common fixation has been that of the 
 rate of interest. It will form the subject of another 
 chapter. 
 
 The fixation of the price of wages (especially 
 with regard to agriculture) has often been pro- 
 posed, and even carried into effect, for the most 
 opposite reasons : to prevent what is considered 
 as an excess ; to remedy what has been regarded 
 as a deficiency. 
 
 In this latter point of view, this measure is 
 liable to great objection. To fix the minimuin of 
 wages, is to exclude from labour many workmen 
 who would otherwise have been employed ; it is 
 to aggravate the distress you wish to relieve. In 
 fact, all that can be done, is limited to determining 
 that, if they are emplo3'^ed they shall not receive 
 less than the price fixed : it is useless to enact that 
 they shall be employed. Which is the farmer, 
 where is the manufacturer, who will submit to em- 
 ploy labourers who cost them more than they 
 yield? In a word, a regulation which fixes the 
 minimum of wages, is a regulation of a prohi- 
 bitory nature, which excludes from the com-
 
 272 B. IV. ch. XI.— fixation of prices. 
 
 petition all whose labour is not worth the price 
 fixed. 
 
 The fixation of the rate of wages, in order to pre- 
 vent their excess, is a favour conferred on the rich 
 at the expense of the poor ; on the master at the 
 expense of the workman. It is a violation, with 
 regard to the weakest class, of the principles of se- 
 curity and property.
 
 •273 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 TAXES EFFECTS ON PRODUCTION. 
 
 Taxes ought to have no other end than the 
 production of revenue, with as light a burthen as 
 possible.* When it is attempted to employ them 
 as indirect means of encouragement or discourage- 
 ment for any particular species of industry, go- 
 vernment, as we have already seen, only succeeds 
 in deranging the natural course of trade, and in 
 giving it a less advantageous direction. 
 
 The effects of particular taxes may appear very 
 complicated and difficult to trace. By considering 
 the subject in a general point of view, and distin- 
 guishing the permanent from the temporary effects 
 of taxes, this complexity will be disentangled and 
 the difficulty disappear. 
 
 First question: What are the effects of a tax im- 
 posed hij a foreign nation upon the articles of our 
 manufacture ? 
 
 Permanent consequences : — 1. If the exporta- 
 tion is not diminished, the tax makes no differ- 
 ence with respect to us : it is only paid by the 
 consumers in the state which imposes the tax. 
 
 2. If the exportation is diminished, the capital 
 which was employed in this branch of manufacture 
 withdraws itself and passes into others. 
 
 * This principle may admit some exceptions, but they are 
 very rare; for example, a tax may be imposed upon intoxi- 
 cating liquors, with the design of diminishing their consump- 
 tion by increasing their price. 
 
 18
 
 274 B.iv. ch.xh.--taxes~effects on production. 
 
 Temporary consequences: — This dinminution of 
 exportation occasions a proportional distress among 
 the individuals interested in this species of in- 
 dustry. The workmen lose their occupations; 
 they are obliged to undertake labours to which 
 they are unaccustomed, and which yield them 
 less. As to the master manufacturer, a part of 
 his fixed capital is rendered useless; he loses 
 his profits in proportion as the manufacture is 
 reduced. 
 
 Second question : What are the effects of a tax, 
 imposed by ourselves, upon the manufactures we 
 ourselves consume I 
 
 Permanent consequences : — 1 . If the consump- 
 tion is not diminished, no other difference is pro- 
 duced than the disadvantage of the tax to the 
 consumer, and a proportional advantage for the 
 public. 
 
 2. If the consumption is diminished, indivi- 
 duals are deprived of that portion of happiness 
 which consisted in the use of this particular ar- 
 ticle of enjoyment. 
 
 3. Capital, in this as in the preceding case, re- 
 tires from this branch and passes into others. 
 
 Temporary consequences : — If the consumption 
 is not diminished, the tax makes no difference: if 
 it is diminished, similar distress, in proportion as 
 in the case above. 
 
 Third question : What are the consequences of a 
 tax, imposed by ourselves, upon the manufactures of 
 our own country consumed by foreigners ! 
 
 Permanent consequences: — 1. Whilst the con- 
 sumption is not diminished, the operation produces 
 so much clear gain for us. The burthen of the tax 
 is borne by the foreigner, and the profit is reaped 
 by ourselves.
 
 B.IV. Ch, XII.—TAXES— EFFECTS ON PRODUCTION. 275 
 
 If the consumption is diminished, the capital 
 which loses this employment passes into others. 
 
 Temporary consequences : — Consumption not 
 diminished, no difference to us : consumption 
 diminished, similar distress in proportion, as in the 
 former cases. 
 
 It results from hence, that the permanent effects 
 of these taxes are always of little importance as to 
 commerce in general ; and that their temporary 
 efJ'ects are evil in proportion to the diminution of 
 the consumption. The evil is greater or less, 
 according as it is more or less easy to transfer 
 capital and labour from one branch of industry to 
 another. 
 
 The least hurtful of these taxes are those which 
 bear upon our own productions consumed by 
 foreigners. If the same quantity is exported after 
 the tax as before, so far from being prejudicial, it 
 yields us a clear benefit: it is a tribute levied upon 
 them precisely as if it were raised out of the bowels 
 of the earth. 
 
 The tax imposed by us upon foreign importa- 
 tions is paid by ourselves, and burthensome as any 
 other tax would be to the same amount. If the 
 consumption is not diminished, it would be better 
 that the tax upon this article should be imposed 
 by us, that we might profit by it, rather than the 
 country which produced it, and which would 
 otherwise enjoy the benefit. 
 
 A nation, which has a natural monopoly of an 
 article necessary to foreigners, has a natural means 
 of taxing them for its own profit. Let us take tin 
 for an example: England is the only country which 
 has mines of this metal, at least all others are too 
 inconsiderable to satisfy the demand. England 
 might, therefore, lav a considerable tax upon the 
 
 18.
 
 -76 B. IV. Ch.XII.— TAXES— EFFECTS ON PRODUCTION. 
 
 exportation of tin, without danger of smuggling, 
 because it might be levied at the mine, or at the 
 foundry. France could not impose an equal tax, 
 because it would give too great an allurement to 
 the smugglers. 
 
 These principles are easy of application to com- 
 mercial treaties : everything which is permanent, 
 whether it be called encouragement or discou- 
 ragement, has but little effect upon trade and 
 commerce in general ; since trade and commerce 
 are always governed by the capital which can be 
 employed on them. But international precautions 
 may be taken for the prevention of rapid changes, 
 from which temporary distresses result. Let every 
 nation make a sacrifice by refusing to impose taxes, 
 or to augment them, upon articles of its own ex- 
 portation: every nation would then receive indem- 
 nification by a reciprocal sacrifice. Commerce 
 would thus acquire stability; and that petty fiscal 
 warfare would no longer be carried on, which pro- 
 duces a dangerous irritation among the people, 
 always greatly disproportioned to the importance 
 of the object. 
 
 The object of the first chapter of the Commer- 
 cial Code ought to be to show the reciprocity of in- 
 ternational interests, to prove that there is no 
 impropriety, during the continuance of peace, in 
 favouring the opulence of foreigners; no merit in 
 opposing it. 
 
 It may happen to be a misfortune that our 
 neighbour is rich ; it is certainly one that he be 
 poor. If he be rich, we may have reason to fear 
 him ; if he be poor, he has little or nothing to sell 
 to, or to buy of, us. 
 
 But that he should become an object of dread, 
 by reason of an increase in riches, it is necessary
 
 B. IV. Ch. XII.— TAXES— EFFliCTS ON PRODUCTION. 277 
 
 tliat this prosperity should be his alone. He will 
 have no advantage, it" our wealth has made the 
 same progress as his own, or if this progress has, 
 taken place in other nations equally well disposed 
 with ourselves to repress him. 
 
 Jealousies against rich nations are only founded 
 upon mistakes and misunderstandings : it is with 
 these nations that the most profitable commerce is 
 carried on ; it is from these that the returns are the 
 most abundant, the most rapid, and the most 
 certain. 
 
 Great capitals produce the greatest division of 
 labour, the most perfect machines, the most active 
 competition among the merchants, the most ex- 
 tended credits, and, consequently, the lowest price. 
 Each nation, in receiving from the richest every- 
 thing which it furnishes, at the lowest rate, and 
 of the best quality, would be able to devote its 
 capital exclusively to the most advantageous 
 branches of industry. 
 
 Wherefore do governments give so marked a 
 preference to export trade } 
 
 1. It is this branch which exhibits itself with 
 the greatest show and eclat : it is this which is 
 most under the eyes of the governors ; and which 
 therefore most strongly excites their attention. 
 
 2. This commerce more particularly appears 
 to them as their work : they imagine they are 
 creators ; and inaction appears to them a species 
 of impotence. 
 
 All these pretensions fall before the principle, 
 that production is subordinate to capital. These 
 new branches of trade, these remote establish- 
 ments, these costly encouragements, produce no 
 new creations ; it is only a new employment of 
 a part of one and the same capital which was
 
 278 B. IV. Ch.XII.— FAXES— EFFECTS ON PRODUCTION. 
 
 not idle before. It is a new service, which is 
 performed at the expense of the old. The sap 
 which by this operation is strained through a new 
 branch, being diverted from another, gives a dif- 
 ferent product, but not an increase of produce.
 
 [ 279 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 POPULATION FORCED — INCREASE DESIRABLE? 
 
 Many volumes have been written upon the sub- 
 ject of population, because the means of promot- 
 ing its increase have generally been the subject of 
 examination. I shall be very short upon this 
 subject, because 1 shall confine myself to shewing 
 that all these means are useless. 
 
 If anything could prevent men from marrying, 
 it would be the trouble which is pretended lo be 
 taken to induce them to marry. So much uneasi- 
 ness upon the part of the legislator can only in- 
 spire doubts respecting the happiness of this state. 
 Pleasures are made objects of dread when con- 
 verted into obligations. 
 
 Would you encourage population ? render men 
 happy, and trust to nature. But that you may 
 render men happy, do not govern them too much. 
 Do not constrain them even in their domestic 
 arrangements, and above all, in that which can 
 please only under the auspices of liberty. In a 
 word, leave them to live as they like, under the 
 single condition of not injuring one another. 
 
 Population is in proportion to the means of 
 subsistence and wants. Montesquieu, Condillac, 
 Sir James Stewart, Adam Smith, the economists, 
 have only one opinion upon this subject.* Ac- 
 
 ♦ The name of Mr. Malthus, who will for the future oc- 
 cupy the post of honour in political economy upon the subject 
 of population, is not mentioned here, because this work was 
 many years anterior to his. This chapter, with many other 
 fragments, was communicated to the authors of the Bibliotheque
 
 280 B.iV. Ch. XI II.— POPULATION FORCED— INCREASE, &c. 
 
 cording to this principle, there is also a means of 
 increasing population, but there is only one : it 
 consists in increasing the national wealth, or, to 
 speak more correctly, in allowing it to increase. 
 
 Young womeii^ says Montesquieu, are 5^«^c^67^//j/ 
 ready to marri/. How should they not be ? The 
 pleasures, the avowed sentiments of love, are only 
 permitted in this condition : it is thus only tha 
 they are emancipated from a double subjection, 
 and that they are placed at the head of a little em- 
 pire. // is the young me7i, he adds, ivho need to be 
 encouraoed. 
 
 But whv ? Do the motives which lead men to 
 marry want force ? It is only by marriage that a 
 man can obtain the favours of the woman who, in 
 in his eyes, is worth all others. It is only by mar- 
 riage that he can live freely and publicly with an 
 honest and respectable woman, and who will live 
 only for him. There is nothing more delightful 
 than the hope of a family, where proofs of the 
 tenderest affections may be given and received; 
 where power blended with kindness may be ex- 
 ercised ; where confidence and security are found ; 
 where the consolations of old age may be treasured 
 up ; where we may behold ourselves replaced by 
 other selves. Where we may say, I shall not en- 
 
 Britannique, published at Geneva, and was inserted in the 
 7th vol., in 1798. If Mr. Malthus had known it, he might 
 have cited it as an additional proof, that his principle relating 
 to population was not a new paradox. But what was new, 
 was to make a rational and connected application of it ; to 
 deduce" from it the solution of so many historical problems; 
 to .survey Europe with this principle in his hand; and to prove 
 that it cannot be resisted without producing great confusion in 
 social order ; and this is what Mr. Malthus has accomplished, 
 in a manner as conclusive as respects his arguments, as in- 
 teresting in respect of his style and his details. — Note by 
 
 DUMONT.
 
 B. IV. tH.XllI.— POPULATION FORCED— INCREASE, &c. 281 
 
 tirely die. A man wants an associate, a confidant, 
 a counsellor, a steward, a mistress, a nurse, a com- 
 panion for all seasons. All these may be found 
 united in a wife. What substitute can be pro- 
 vided ? 
 
 It is not among the poor that there is any aver- 
 sion to marriage ; that is to say, it is not among the 
 labourers; that class, in the increase of which, alone, 
 the public is interested; that class which consti- 
 tutes the strength and creates the wealth of a 
 nation ; that class which is the last in the sense- 
 less vocabulary of pride, but which the enlightened 
 politician regards as the first. 
 
 It is in the countr\^ especially, that men seek to 
 marry. A bachelor does not there possess the re- 
 sources he can find in a town. A husbandman, a 
 farmer, require the assistance of a wife, to attend to 
 their concerns at all hours of the day. 
 
 The population of the productive classes is 
 limited only by their real wants ; that of the un- 
 productive classes is limited by their conventional 
 wants. 
 
 With regard to these, instead of inducing them 
 to marry by invitations, rewards and menaces, as 
 did Augustus, we ought to be well pleased when 
 they live in celibacy. The increase of the purely 
 consumptive classes is neither an advantage to the 
 state nor to themselves. Their welfare is exactly 
 in the inverse ratio of their numbers. If they 
 should insensibly become extinct, as in Holland, 
 where there is scarcely one citizen who does not 
 exercise some occupation, where would be the 
 evil ? A workman may in a moment be converted 
 into an idle consumer. A good workman is not 
 so soon made: he needs skill and practice; habits 
 of industry are slowly acquired, if indeed, after a 
 certain age, they can ever be acquired. On the
 
 28'2 B. JV. Ch. XIII.— POl'ULAi ion fOHCED— I\< HEASi:, Ac. 
 
 Other hand, when a consumer passes into the cla.ss 
 of labourers, it is generally owing to a reverse in 
 fortune, and he is in a state ofsuftering'. When a 
 labourer is transported into the class of consumers, 
 he is exalted in his own eyes and in the eyes of 
 others, and his happiness is increased. On all 
 these accounts, it is desirable that the class of 
 idlers be not increased: their own interest requires 
 it, and it is also a great good when their number 
 is diminished, whether by celibacy or their cui]- 
 version into labourers.* Convents have been con- 
 
 * The author is consistent, and Montesquieu appears to nie 
 not to be so. Book xxiii. ch. x. he has well explained the 
 true principle, but he has not followed it. 
 
 His elogium upon the regulations of Augustus respecting 
 marriage, is extremely singular. Tiiey have pleased Montes- 
 quieu by some vague idea of the protection of manners. Tiiey 
 violate every principle of reward and punishment; they are 
 neither analogous or proportional ; they punish a man because 
 he is unhappy or prudenjt, they reward him because he is happy 
 or imprudent; they coirupt marriage by mercenary and poli- 
 tical views ; and, after all, the object aimed at is missed. Mon- 
 tesquieu acknowledges the impotence of tliese laws. The be- 
 nefit of the remedy being null, there remains only the evil. 
 
 He blames Louis XIV. (ch. xxvii.) for not having sutSciently 
 encouraged marriage, by only rewarding prodigies of fecundity. 
 
 Louis XIV. did too much by his establisliuients for the poor 
 nobility, and he has been too frequently imitated. Humanity 
 was the motive of these foundations ; but this humanity was 
 equally productive of evil as it respected those who bore the 
 expense, and as it respected the class whom it was intended 
 to relieve, and who were not relieved. On the contrary, the 
 more the indigent of this order were assisted, the more tiiey 
 increased. In fact, every individual requires a certain quan- 
 tity of wealth to be in a state to marry. Does he mairv 
 imprudently, his distress is without doubt an evil j but it 
 operates as a warning to other persons of the same class. If 
 you oppose this natural effect, if you institute foundations for 
 families, if you grant pensions or other favours on account of 
 marriage, what follows ? It is no longer an establi>hnient 
 submitted to calculation, it i^ a luUery, u\ which h<jpe is con-
 
 H. IV. Ch.XIII.— POPULATION FOKCEO— INCREASE, &.c. '2H':l 
 
 stantly accused of hurting population. Poor con- 
 vents, and the mendicant orders, injure it, without 
 doubt, since they add to the number of idle con- 
 sumers. It is not so with rich convents ; they 
 add nothing to this number. He who possesses 
 the rent of land can command labour without 
 working himself; but what matters it whether a 
 fund, destined to the support of idlers, be trans- 
 mitted from father to son, or from stranger to 
 stranger } 
 
 Large cities are decried : they are the gulphs, 
 it is said, in which the population of the country 
 is lost. That which is furnished to the towns is 
 visible to all the world ; what is received from them, 
 is less apparent. It is the ancient quarrel of the 
 Belly and the Members. Cultivation increases in 
 proportion to the consumers. People live longer 
 in the country ; but that a greater number of per- 
 sons may be born there, it is necessary that the 
 capital of the towns, which animates labour, 
 should be sent thither. 
 
 This imaginary evil, the increase of towns, has 
 excited the most extravagant fears. Absurdity 
 has been carried so far, as to make rules for limit- 
 ing their bounds : they should rather have been 
 made for extending them. They would thus have 
 
 suited rather than prudence : many venture, but few succeed. 
 You intended to give support, and you have laid a snare. 
 What you did in order to diminish the evil, has only served to 
 make it worse. In pity to these unfortunate persons, they 
 ought not to be encouraged to marry. When they no longer 
 are deceived by hope, they will no longer be unhappy. 
 
 Ip England there is neither restriction nor encouragement, 
 and there is no dread lest the stock of nobility should fail ; 
 there is no dread lest celibacy should be hurtful to population. 
 The shameful and sad misfortune is not known there of the 
 existence of a class of persons set apart to idleness and poverty. 
 — Note by DuMONT. ,
 
 284 K.IV. Cii.XIll.— POPULATION FORCED— INCREASE, &c. 
 
 prevented contagious disorders ; they would have 
 rendered the air more salubrious. The opposite 
 regulations do not diminish the number of inha- 
 bitants, but oblige them to heap themselves up 
 within close habitations, and to build one city 
 upon another. 
 
 Are emigrations disadvantageous to a state ? 
 Yes, if the emigrants could have found employ- 
 ment at home : No, if they could not. But it is 
 not natural that labourers should exile them- 
 selves, if they could live at home. However, if 
 they desire so to do, ought they to be prevented ? 
 Cases must be distinguished. It is possible that 
 this desire may have been produced by some 
 momentary distaste, by some false idea, some 
 whim, which may mislead a multitude of men 
 before they have leisure to undeceive themselves. 
 1 will not therefore affirm, that circumstances may 
 not happen in which emigration may not be for- 
 bidden by a law of short duration ; but to convert 
 this prohibition into a perpetual law, is to change 
 the country into a prison ; is to publish, in the 
 name even of the government itself, that it is 
 not good to live there. It would be proper that 
 such a law should commence thus — " We, &c., 
 ignorant of the art of rendering our subjects happy, 
 and well assured that, if we give them an opportu- 
 nity to escape, they will go in search of countries 
 less oppressed, hereby prohibit," &c. 
 
 Would not this be to aggravate the evil ? Could 
 all the frontiers of a great country be guarded ? 
 Louis XIV., with all his authority, could he ac- 
 complish it ? As many persons as were thus 
 enchained, so many discontented and unhappy 
 persons, who would be looked upon with distrust, 
 vyhom it would be necessary perhaps to repress 
 by violence, and who would become enemies
 
 B.IV. Ch. XIII.— POPULATION FORCED— INCREASE, &c. 285 
 
 when they found themselves treated as such. 
 Others, who had never thought of quitting their 
 country, would become uneasy when they found 
 themselves obliged to remain ; whilst others, who 
 might have thought of establishing themselves 
 there, would take care not to do it. For those 
 individuals retained against their will, you lose 
 those who would have come among you volun- 
 tarily. 
 
 lingland has sustained temporary losses of men ' 
 and capital by emigrations to America; but what 
 has happened ? she has received from that coun- 
 try a mass of productions which have more than 
 compensated the loss. The men and capitals 
 carried away, employed upon new lands, have 
 produced a benefit more considerable for England 
 itself, than if they had been employed upon her 
 own. To exhibit this clearly, would require a 
 multitude of facts and calculations; but it may be 
 presumed to be the case, from the vast extent of 
 this new commerce. 
 
 On the subject of emigration, the wisest part 
 then is to do nothing. Under the guidance of 
 liberty, the benefit is certain ; under the guidance 
 of constraint, it is uncertain. 
 
 After this, the advantages of emigration are 
 easily estimated. In order to people a country as 
 yet unfilled, if will be advisable to invite thither 
 strangers who depend upon their labour alone. It 
 may even be advantageous to make them advances 
 for their support, in order to establish them. 
 
 In respect to methods of preventing the destruc- 
 tion of the species, they belong to that branch of 
 police which is employed about the means of sub- 
 sistence and the public health. We may be tran- 
 quil, therefore, upon the subject of population. 
 There will be everywhere an abundance of men,
 
 2S6 B.IV. Ch. XIII. —POPULATION FORCED— INCREASE, &c. 
 
 provided they are not deprived, by a hard and ty- 
 rannical government, of what is necessary for 
 subsistence and enjoyment, of which contentment 
 constitutes a part.* 
 
 * I have under my eyes a large political work of M. Beau- 
 sobre, counsellor to the King of Prussia, in which, at the 
 article Population, he gives no less than twenty recipes for in- 
 creasing it. The nineteenth is as follows: — "It is proper to 
 watch during the fruit season, lest the people eat that which 
 is not ripe." He ought to have provided the means for car- 
 rying this regulation into execution ; to have indicated the 
 number of inspectors who should judge of the ripeness of 
 fruit, the watchmen who should be stationed over it, and the 
 magistrates who were to judge of its infractions. 
 
 Another method consists in "hindering men from marrying 
 very disagreeable women." He neither says to what judge he 
 would remit this delicate inquiry, nor upon what principles he 
 would have the ugliness of women proved ; nor the degree of 
 inquiry which ought to be permitted, nor the fees that ought 
 to be paid. The remainder is very nearly in the same taste. 
 
 Hindering the marriage of old men with young women, that 
 of young men with women much older than themselves ; hin- 
 dering the marriage of persons not likely to have children : 
 there are other recipes of this political pharmacopoeia little less 
 ridiculous, but not less useless. 
 
 His complaints respecting prostitution are reasonable, if they 
 had for their object the misery of the class of courtesans, 
 victims of a constrained celibacy. They are of no force as 
 respects population, which suffers nothing. 1 refer to what 
 has been said upon this subject in Les Traites de Legislation, 
 torn. ii. partie 4. (Ed. 1820) ; " Des moyens indirects pour 
 prevenir les Delits, ch. 5 : Faire en sorte qu'un desir donne se 
 satisfaire sans prejudice, ou avec le moindre prejudice pos- 
 sible."
 
 [ 287 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 COLONIES DESIRABLE ? 
 
 When an excess of population, in relation to 
 territory, exists or is foreseen, colonization is a very 
 proper measure. As a means of increasing the ge- 
 neral wealth of a country, or of increasing the 
 revenue of the mother country, it is a very impro- 
 per measure. All the common ideas upon this 
 subject are I'ounded in illusions. 
 
 That colonies add to the general wealth of the 
 world, is what cannot be doubted ; for if labour is 
 necessary to production, land is no less so. The 
 soil also of many colonies, independently of what 
 it annually produces, is rich in raw materials, 
 which only require that they should be extracted 
 and carried away, to give them value. But this 
 wealth belongs to the colonists, to those who oc- 
 cupy the land, and not to the mother country. 
 
 When first established, colonies are not in a 
 conditi(jn to pay taxes ; in the end they will not 
 pay them. In order to establish them, to protect 
 them, to keep them in dependance, expense is re- 
 quired ; and all these expenses must be discharged 
 by taxes levied upon the mother country. 
 
 Colonization requires an immediate expense, an 
 actual loss of wealth, for a future profit, for a con- 
 tingent gain. The capital which is carried away 
 for the improvement of the land in the colonies, 
 had it been employed in the mother country would 
 have added to its increasing wealth, as well as to 
 its population, and to the means of its defence ;
 
 288 B.IV. Ch. XIV.— COLONIES DESIRABLE? 
 
 whilst, as to the produce of the colonies, only a 
 small part ever reaches the mother country. 
 
 If colonization is a folly when employed as a 
 means of enrichment, it is at least an agreeable 
 folly. New enjoyments, insomuch as enjoyments 
 depend upon the novelty and variety of objects, 
 result from it. The substitution of sugar for 
 honey ; of tea, coffee, and chocolate, for the beer 
 and meat which composed the breakfast of maids 
 of honour in the reign of Elizabeth ; of the indigo 
 which varies our dyes ; the cochineal which fur- 
 nishes the most brilliant scarlet ; the mahogany 
 which ornaments our apartments ; the vessels of 
 gold and silver which decorate our tables, are all 
 sources of enjoyment, and the pleasure which re- 
 sults from these objects of luxury is, in part, the 
 profit of colonization ; whilst the medicinal and 
 nutritive plants which have been received from the 
 colonies, in particular bark and potatoes, are pos- 
 sessed of much superior utility. 
 
 Novelty and variety, in respect of means of en- 
 joyment, add nothing to the quantity of wealth, 
 which remains as it was, if the old productions are 
 supplanted by the new ones. It is thus also with 
 new fruits, new flowers, new colours, new clothes, 
 new furniture, if the new supplant the old. But 
 as novelty and variety are sources of pleasure, in 
 proportion as they are increased, wealth increases 
 also, if not in quantity, at least in value. And if 
 these new wants are incentives to new labour, a 
 positive increase of real wealth results from them. 
 
 These advantages, such as they are, can only be 
 derived from a colony situated in a climate whose 
 productions cannot be naturalized in the mother 
 country ; whilst as to the mines of Mexico and 
 Potosi, their effect has been to add to the quantity
 
 B.IV. Ch. XIV.— COLONIES DESIRABLE? 289 
 
 of vessels composed of the precious metals and to 
 the quantity of coin. The addition to the vessels 
 increases the amount of real wealth ; the addition 
 to the coin has all been lost: the new mass of gold 
 and silver has had no other effect than to depreci- 
 ate the old, and to diminish in the same proportion 
 the value of all pecuniary revenues, without adding 
 to the amount of real capital or future wealth. 
 
 However, in taking all interests into the calcula- 
 tion, it is certain that the welfare of mankind has been 
 increased by the establishment of colonies. There 
 can be no doubt on this subject, in respect to the 
 nations who by degrees have become established 
 there, and who owe their existence to coloniza- 
 tion ; the mother countries also have themselves 
 gained in happiness in another point of view. Let 
 us take England, for example. According to the 
 progress which population has made during the last 
 century, it may be supposed that it w^ould soon 
 have attained its extreme limits, that is to say, that 
 it would have exceeded the ordinary means of sub- 
 sistence, if the superabundance had not found 
 means of discharging itself in these new countries. 
 But, along time before population has reached these 
 limits, there will be a great diminution of relative 
 opulence, a painful feeling of general poverty and 
 distress, a superabundance of men in all the labo- 
 rious classes, and a mischievous rivalry in offering 
 their labour at the lowest price. 
 
 For the benefit of mankind at large, it is desira- 
 ble that the offsets which are to be employed as 
 new plants, should be taken from the most healthy 
 stocks and the most flourishing roots ; that the 
 people who go forth to colonize unoccupied lands, 
 should go forth from the nation whose political 
 constitution is most favourable to the security of 
 individuals ; that the new colonies should be 
 
 19
 
 293 B.IV. Ch. XIV.— COLONIES DESIRABLE? 
 
 swarms from the most industrious hive ; and that 
 their education should have formed them to those 
 habits of frugality and labour which are necessary 
 to make transplanted families succeed. 
 
 It may often be advantageous for colonies to re- 
 main a long time under the government of the 
 mother country, provided always that such govern- 
 ment be what it ought to be. 
 
 It would, without doubt, have been advantage- 
 ous to Egypt to have remained under the govern- 
 ment of Great Britain ; a government which would 
 have bestowed upon it peace, security, the fine 
 arts, and the enjoyment of the magnificent gifts 
 which nature has lavished upon it. But, in respect 
 to wealth, the possession of Egypt, far from being 
 advantageous to England, would have proved only 
 a burthen. 
 
 I hear a universal cry raised against this paradox. 
 So many profound politicians, divided upon every 
 other point, are unanimous upon the importance 
 of colonies, — are they only agreed, that they may 
 fall into an error? So many merchants, — have 
 they deceived themselves in so simple a calculation 
 as that of the profit or loss of colonial commerce ? 
 The experience of two or three centuries, — has it 
 not opened the eyes of governments ? would it 
 not be extraordinary that they should still obsti- 
 nately sustain the enormous weight of these distant 
 establishments, if their advantages were not clear 
 and manifest ? 
 
 I might reply, that a long train of alchymists, 
 after all the misfortunes of their predecessors, long 
 continued obstinately to seek after the philoso- 
 pher's stone, and that this great work yet has its 
 partisans. I might reply, that many nations in the 
 East have, during many ages, been governed by 
 astrology. I might enumerate a long list of errors
 
 B.IV. Ch. XIV.— COLONIES DESIRABLE? 291 
 
 which have misled both governments and people. 
 But a question of this nature ought not to be ob- 
 scured by declamation. He who alleges the 
 number of partisans by which a system is supported 
 instead of supporting it by proofs, desires to inti- 
 midate and not to convince his adversary. Let us 
 examine all the arguments by which the advan- 
 tages of colonies, in respect of wealth, have been 
 endeavoured to be proved : we shall not find a 
 single one which is not in opposition to the most 
 firmly established principles of political economy. 
 
 I. The loealth of the colonies is poured into the 
 mother country ; it is brought thither by commerce, 
 it consequently animates manufactures, and they 
 support the large towns : the prosperity of Bordeaux, 
 for example, is one proof; its wealth depends upon 
 its trade with the West Indies^ 
 
 This reasoning proves nothing in favour of a 
 system of colonies ; there is no necessity for go- 
 verning or possessing any island in order that we 
 may sell merchandise there. The inhabitants of 
 the Antilles stand in need of the productions of 
 England and France. Were they independent 
 states, it would still be necessary that they should 
 buy them : during their state of dependance what 
 can they do more ? They will not give their sugars 
 to the mother country ; they exchange them for 
 corn and cloth. Those who supply these commo- 
 dities, if they had not sold them to these parties, 
 would have sold them to others. Suppose that the 
 inhabitants of St. Domingo, in place of buying 
 their corn in France, were to buy it in England ; 
 France would lose nothing, because, on the whole, 
 the consumption of corn would not be less: Eng- 
 land having supplied St. Domingo, would not be 
 able to supply other countries, which would be 
 obliged to supply themselves from France. 
 
 19.
 
 292 B.iv. ch.xiv.-colonies desirable? 
 
 Trade is in proportion to capital. This is the 
 principle; the total amount of trade in each 
 country is always in proportion to the capital which 
 each country possesses. I ann a merchant ; 1 have 
 a capital of 10,000/. employed in commerce; — 
 suppose Spanish America were opened to me, 
 could I, with my 10,000/., carry on a greater trade 
 than I do at present ? Suppose the West Indies 
 were shut against me, would my 10,000/. become 
 useless in my hands ? should 1 not be able to apply 
 them to some other foreign trade, or to make them 
 useful in the interior of the country, or to employ 
 them in some enterprise of domestic agriculture ? 
 It is thus capital always preserves its value. The 
 trade to which it gives birth may change its form 
 or its direction, may flow in different channels, 
 may be directed upon one manufacture or another, 
 upon foreign or domestic undertakings ; but the 
 final result is, that these productive capitals al- 
 ways produce ; and they produce the same quan- 
 tity, the same value, or at least the difference does 
 not deserve attention. 
 
 It is therefore the quantity of capital which 
 determines the quantity of trade, and not the ex- 
 tent of the market^ as has been generally believed. 
 Open a new market, the quantity of trade will not, 
 unless by some accidental circumstance, be in- 
 creased. Shut up an old market, the quantity of 
 trade will not be diminished, unless by accident, 
 and only for a moment. 
 
 Should the new market be more advantageous 
 than the old ones, in this case the profit will be 
 greater, the trade may become more extended ; 
 but the existence of this extra profit is always 
 supposed but never proved.* 
 
 * Bryan Edwards, in his History of the West Indies, even
 
 n. IV. ch. XIV.— colonies desirable ? 29o 
 
 The mistake consists in representing all the pro- 
 fit of a new trade, as so much added to the amount 
 of national profit, without considering that the 
 same capital employed in any other branch of 
 trade would not have been unproductive. People 
 suppose themselves to have created^ when they 
 have only transferred. A minister pompously 
 boasts of certain new acquisitions, certain esta- 
 blishments upon far distant shores, and if the ad- 
 ventures which have been made have yielded a 
 million profit, for example, he does not fail to be- 
 lieve that he has opened a nev/ source of national 
 wealth; he supposes that this million profit would 
 not have existed without him, whilst he may 
 have occasioned a loss : he will have done so, if 
 the capital employed in this new trade has only 
 yielded ten per cent, and that employed in the 
 ordinary trade, has yielded twelve. 
 
 The answer to this first objection may be re- 
 duced to two points. 1. That the possession of 
 colonies is not necessary to the carrying on of 
 trade with them. 2. That even when trade is not 
 carried on with the colonies, the capital which 
 such trade would have required, will be applied as 
 productively toother undertakings. 
 
 II. The advocates of the colonial system would 
 consider the above answer extremely weak ; they 
 
 in exaggerating the utility of colonies, does not suppose the 
 rate of profit upon capitals employed in the plantations greater 
 than seven per cent., whilst it is fifteen per cent, upon capital 
 employed in the mother country.* 
 
 • This fifteen per cent, was taken from one of the finance pamphlets 
 of Treasury Secietary Rose. Some years before, to a question put by me 
 to the late Sir Francis Baring, the answer was, six per cent. This meant, 
 of course, over and above interest, then at five per cent. — ^Communicated 
 bi/ the Author,
 
 294 B.IV. Ch. XIV.— COLONIES DESIRABLE? 
 
 see in this commerce two circumstances which 
 render it more advantageous than that which is 
 carried on with free nations. 
 
 " IVe established,'' say they, " a double mono- 
 jjoly against the colonist ;Jirst, the monopoly of their 
 productions, which lee permit them to sell to us 
 alone, and ivhich we thus obtain from them at the 
 lowest price. Secondly, the monopoly of their pur- 
 chases, ichich we oblige them to make among our- 
 selves, so that we are able to sell our produce and 
 manufactures to them, at a dearer rate than we 
 could to a free people, among whom, other nations 
 would enter into competition with us." 
 
 Let us examine the effect of these two mono- 
 polies separately. 
 
 1. You prevent your colonies from selling their 
 productions to any but yourselves ; but you can- 
 not oblige them to cultivate their lands, or to ma- 
 nufacture at a loss. There is a natural price for 
 every commodity, determined by the average rate 
 of profit in commerce in general. If the cultiva- 
 tor connot obtain this natural price, he will not 
 continue to cultivate ; he will apply his capital to 
 other undertakings. The monopoly may produce 
 •a forced reduction of priceybr a time; but the co- 
 lonist will not continue to cultivate sugar, if he 
 lose by its cultivation instead of gaining. It is 
 therefore impossible for this monopoly to produce 
 2i constant reduction of the price of commodities 
 below their natural price ; whilst free competi- 
 tion is sufficient to reduce them and keep them 
 at this natural price. The high price which you 
 ■wish to remedy by the monopoly is an evil which 
 will cure itself. Large profits in any one branch 
 of trade will draw thither a large number of com- 
 petitors: all merchants are rivals, and their rivalry
 
 B. IV. Cm. XIV.— COLONIES DESIRABLE * 295 
 
 naturally produces a reduction of price, till the 
 rate of profit in each particular branch of trade is 
 upon a level with all others. 
 
 2. You may oblige your colonist to buy every 
 thing of you, but the advantage you expect to 
 derive from this exclusive commerce is decep- 
 tive. 
 
 If it respect commodities and manufactures, 
 which, owing to a natural superiority, you are 
 enabled to furnish of better quality and at a lower 
 price than foreigners, it is clear that, without mo- 
 nopoly, your colonists would rather buy them of 
 you than of others. The monopoly will not en- 
 able you to sell them at a higher price ; your mer- 
 chants, being all in a state of competition with 
 each other, naturally seek to support each other by 
 offering their goods at the lowest price possible. 
 
 While as to the productions and other articles 
 which you are not able to furnish them upon 
 terms equally favourable with foreigners, it is 
 certain that, without the monopoly, your colonists 
 will not buy them of you. Ought we to conclude, 
 that the monopoly will be advantageous to you ? 
 Not in the least. The nation in general will gain 
 nothing. It will only follow, that a species of in- 
 dustry will be cultivated among you, which does 
 not naturally suit you; that bad commodities will 
 be produced, and bad manufactures carried on. 
 
 The monopoly is similar to a reward bestowed 
 by government, for the maintenance of manufac- 
 tures inferior to those of other nations. If this 
 monopoly did not exist, the same capital would be 
 applied to other species of industry in which you 
 have a decided advantage. Instead of losing by 
 this arrangement, you will gain a more stable pros- 
 perity ; since the manufactures, which cannot be 
 maintained but by forced means, are exposed to a
 
 296 B.IV. Ch. XIV.— COLONIES DESIRABLE? 
 
 thousand vicissitudes. Observe further, that this 
 monopoly is burthened with a counler monopoly. 
 It is not permitted to you to purchase productions 
 similar to those of your colonies, when you find 
 them elsewhere at a lower price. In compensation 
 for the restraint you impose upon your colonies, 
 you impose one upon yourselves. If they can buy 
 only of you, you can buy only of them. How 
 many inconveniences result from this 1 When 
 the harvest has been deficient in your colonies, 
 you are not able to supply yourselves from those 
 places where the season has been more favourable; 
 in the midst of abundance you are suffering from 
 dearth. The monopoly has no effect in lowering; 
 the price of commodities ; but the counter mono- 
 poly is certain occasionally to produce extraordi- 
 narily high prices. 
 
 III. The partisans of the colonial sj'stem con- 
 sider colonies under another point of view — the 
 advantage they produce to the revenue. The taxes 
 levied upon the commerce of the colonies^ whether 
 upon importation or upon exportation^ produce a 
 revenue lehich would cease, or be much diminished., 
 if they leere indepe7ident. 
 
 The taxes levied upon the commerce with the 
 colonies may produce a considerable amount ; but 
 if they were free, would they carry on no com- 
 merce ? Could not this commerce be taxed ? 
 Could it not be taxed as heavily as smuggling 
 would permit ? England levies taxes upon its 
 commerce w^ith France ; France levies taxes upon 
 its commerce with England. The possession of 
 colonies is not necessary to the levying of taxes 
 upon the commerce carried on with them. 
 
 I do not repeat here, that your taxes upon the 
 articles of their production, and upon those of 
 your importation from the colonics, arc taxes of
 
 B.IV. Cii. XIV.— COLONIES DESIRABLE? 297 
 
 which you pay every farthing yourself: this has 
 already been demonstrated. What you make the 
 colonies to pay, are only the taxes upon your ex- 
 portations to them. 
 
 I allow that you may thus gain more from your 
 colonies than you would be able to gain from foreign 
 nations ; since the foreigners can quit your market 
 when they please, if they cannot obtain among you 
 certain articles so cheap as from others ; — you are 
 therefore obliged to humour them. But your own 
 subjects, obliged to supply themselves from you, 
 are obliged to submit; you keep them in a prison, 
 and you can put w^hat price you please upon their 
 existence. 
 
 An advantage, however, of this nature can only 
 be deceptive. When you have made a prison of 
 your colonies, it is necessary to keep all the 
 doors carefully shut : you have to strive against 
 the Proteus of smuggling; fleets are necessary to 
 blockade their ports, armies to restrain a discon- 
 tented people, courts of justice to punish the 
 refractory. How enormous are the expenses to 
 be deducted, before this forced commerce will 
 yield a net revenue 1 
 
 To the amount of the expenses of peace, add 
 that of a single armament, of a single war, and 
 you will perceive, that dependant colonies cost 
 much to the mother countr}^ and never yield an 
 equal return ; that, far from contributing to the 
 strength of a state, they are always its weak and 
 vulnerable points ; that they keep up among 
 maritime nations continual jealousy, and that thus 
 the people in France, and in England, are sub- 
 jected to heavy taxes, which have no other effect 
 than to render the productions of the colonies 
 dearer than if they were free. 
 
 To these considerations, opposed to the colonial
 
 298 B. IV. Ch. XIV.— COLONIES DESIRABLE? 
 
 system, drawn from political economy, many others 
 may be added, derived from justice and huma- 
 nity. This system is often mischievous to the 
 people submitted to it ; government is almost 
 always, as it respects them, in a state either of 
 jealousy or indifference: they are either neglected 
 or pillaged ; they are made places of banishment 
 for the reception of the vilest part of society, or 
 places to be pillaged by minions and favourites, 
 whom it is considered desirable suddenly to enrich. 
 The sovereign, at two thousand leagues distance 
 from his subjects, can be acquainted neither with 
 their wants, their interests, their manners, nor 
 their character. Their most legitimate and weighty 
 complaints, weakened by reason of distance, 
 stripped of everything which might excite sensi- 
 bility, of everything which might soften or subdue 
 the pride of power, are delivered, without defence, 
 into the cabinet of the prince, to the most insi- 
 dious interpretations, to the most unfaithful repre- 
 sentations : the colonists are still too happy, if their 
 demand of justice is not construed into a crime, 
 and if their most moderate remonstrances are not 
 punished as acts of rebellion. In a word, little is 
 cared for their affection, nothing is feared for their 
 resentment, and their despair is contemned. The 
 most violent procedures are easily disguised, under 
 an appearance of necessity, and the best intentions 
 will not always suffice to prevent the sacrifice of 
 the public to private interests. 
 
 If we proceed to consider the situation of colo- 
 nies in detail, we shall not fail to be struck with 
 its disadvantages. Have the colonists any law- 
 suits in their mother country — their witnesses 
 must cross the seas ; they are at the mercy of their 
 agents ; years glide away, and the expenses of 
 justice continually accumulate. Is there danger
 
 B.IV. Ch. XIV.— COLONIES DESIRABLE? 299 
 
 of a revolt — Are they threatened by an enemy — 
 succours arrive when the mischief is done. The 
 remedy oftentimes proves an additional calamity. 
 Do they want food — famine has laid waste the 
 country, before the mother country has been ap- 
 prised of their necessities. 
 
 These are not mere assertions ; they are borne 
 out by a faithful summary of the history of every 
 colony. It is tragical, even to horror ! The evils 
 suffered in these establishments, from the igno- 
 rance, the weakness, or the insensibility of Euro- 
 pean governments, exceed everything which can 
 be imagined. When we consider the multitude 
 of men destroyed, the fleets lost, the treasures 
 swallowed up, the establishments pillaged, we are 
 astonished to hear colonies spoken of as a means 
 of enrichment. The natural development of their 
 fruitfulness, and of their industry, has been re- 
 tarded for ages ; they have been covered a thou- 
 sand times with ruins; nations have impoverished 
 themselves, that they might hold them in servi- 
 tude, when they might have been sharers in their 
 wealth by leaving to them the enjoyment of the 
 benefits of liberty. 
 
 There are many arguments which prove the 
 inutility of their dependance : North America 
 presents a striking fact which ought to enlighten 
 Europe. Has the trade of England diminished 
 since her former subjects became free? Since 
 she lost these immense possessions, has she exhi- 
 bited any symptoms of decay ? Has she had fewer 
 sailors ? Has her maritime power been weak- 
 ened ? She has found a new source of wealth in 
 the independence of the United States. The 
 emancipation of this great country has carried 
 thither a greater number of men, more capital, 
 and more industry. Great Britain, relieved from 
 the expense of defence and government, has car-
 
 300 B.IV. Ch. XIV.— COIXJNIES DESIRABLE? 
 
 ried on a more advantageous commerce with a 
 more numerous and wealthy people ; and it is thus 
 that everything concurs in proving, that the pros- 
 perity of a nation is a benefit in which all others 
 participate — every one in proportion to his means; 
 and that the colonial system is hurtful to Euro- 
 peans, only because it is hurtful to the colonies. 
 
 Let us, however, see the consequences which 
 we ought to draw from these data. 
 
 1. Ought we not to form any colonial establish- 
 ment ? Certainly not with the intention of en- 
 riching the mother country : it is always a certain 
 expense for a contingent and far distant profit. But 
 we have seen that, as a means of relieving the 
 population, of preventing its excess, by providing 
 a vent for those who find then^selves overburthened 
 upon their native soil, colonization offers an ad- 
 vantageous resource ; and when it is well con- 
 ducted, and free from any regulations which may 
 hinder its prosperity, there may result from it a 
 new people, with whom we shall possess all the 
 connections of language, of social habits, of natural 
 and political ties. 
 
 2. Ought colonies already possessed to be eman- 
 cipated ? Yes, certainly ; if we only consider the 
 saving of the expenses of their government, and 
 the superior advantages of a free commerce. But 
 it is necessary to examine what is due to colonial 
 establishments; to a family which has been created, 
 and which ought not to be abandoned. Can they 
 maintain themselves? Will not their internal 
 tranquillity be interrupted ? Will not one class of 
 the inhabitants be sacrificed to another — for exam- 
 ple, the free men to the slaves, or the slaves to the 
 free men ? Is it not necessary that they should 
 be protected and directed, in their condition of 
 comparative weakness and ignorance? Is not 
 their4)rcsent state of dependance their safeguard
 
 B.IV. Ch. XI v.— COLONIES DESIRABLE? 301 
 
 against anarchy, murder, and pillage ? Siicii are 
 the points of view under which this question 
 ought to be considered. 
 
 When we shall have ceased to consider colonies 
 with the greedy eyes of fiscality, the greater 
 number of these inconveniences will cease of 
 themselves. Let governments lay aside all false 
 mercantile notions, and all jealousy of their sub- 
 jects, and everything which renders their yoke 
 burthensome will fall at once : there will no 
 longer be any reason to fear hostile dispositions, 
 and wars for independence. If wisdom alone were 
 listened to, the ordinary object of contention 
 would be reversed, the mother country would 
 desire to see her children powerful, that they 
 might become free, and the colonies would fear 
 the loss of that tutelary authority which gave them 
 internal tranquillity, and security against external 
 foes.
 
 [ 302 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WEALTH MEANS OF INCREASE. 
 
 If we trace the progress of wealth in its natural 
 channel, we shall clearly perceive that the inter- 
 position of government is only beneficial and ne- 
 cessary when employed in the maintenance of 
 security, in the removal of obstacles, or the disse- 
 mination of knowledge. 
 
 Wealth may be increased — 
 
 I. By increasing the efficacy of labour. 
 
 II. By increasing the number of labourers. 
 
 III. By the more advantageous employment of 
 capital. 
 
 IV.. By increasing the mass of capital. 
 V. By means of trade. 
 
 I. By increasing the efjicaey of labour. 
 
 This subject might furnish most interesting and 
 instructive historic details ; we shall confine our- 
 selves to a simple enumeration of the means 
 whereby it may be accomplished. 
 
 The efficacy of labour may be augmented — 
 
 1. By increase of skill and dexterity. 
 
 2. By saving the time occupied by superfluous 
 movements. 
 
 3. By the invention of machines. 
 
 4. By employing, instead of human labour, 
 more powerful and less costly prime movers, as 
 water, air, fire, explosive powders, and beasts of 
 burthen. 
 
 The two first advantages are obtained by the 
 division of labour : the third necessarily results 
 from it. Adam Smith has developed this grand 
 means of attaining perfection with an attention,
 
 B. IV. Ch. XV.— wealth— means of increase. 303 
 
 and, so to speak, a particular affection. He relates, 
 that the process of converting a morsel of brass 
 wire into a pin requires eighteen operations, and 
 employs as many different workmen, of whom the 
 greater part borrow the assistance of machines ; 
 whereby, although ten workmen would not sepa- 
 rately have been able to make more than 240 pins 
 a day, they are enabled to make 4800. It is hence 
 that this little branch of national wealth, which 
 affords a more commodious adjustment than the 
 buckles of the Romans, and the skewers em- 
 ployed by Queen Elizabeth, has increased in pro- 
 portion. What our country people throw away 
 would have been luxuries in the court of Darius. 
 
 5. By the simplification of intermediate pro- 
 cesses. 
 
 6. By the saving of materials. The extension 
 given to the quantity of gold employed in gilding 
 silver wire, is an example equally suited to astonish 
 the natural philosopher, and to charm the political 
 economist. 
 
 Chemistry has introduced a multitude of eco- 
 nomical processes into all the arts; it has taught 
 the means of economically applying fuel ; of pro- 
 ducing great effect with little expense, it has sub- 
 stituted less costly for more expensive materials ; it 
 has imitated, and even rivalled, the productions of 
 ^ nature. 
 
 7. By the improvement of the products, that 
 is to say, in proportion to the price. It is thus 
 that porcelain has supplanted the coarse pottery of 
 former times: the potteries of Wedgwood and 
 Bentley have excelled the porcelain of China. 
 
 8. By the diminution of the expense of carriage, 
 by the multiplication of roads, canals and iron rail- 
 ways. The advantages which the low countries have 
 derived from their canals is incalculable. Govern-
 
 304 B. IV. ch. XV.— wealth— means of increase. 
 
 ments may often usefully interfere in respect to 
 these objects, either by advancing the capitals and 
 sharing in the benefit, or by granting to the indi- 
 viduals interested the powers necessary for making 
 arrangements among themselves, and defraying 
 the expense. When however it is necessary for a 
 government to take charge of these works, it is 
 a proof that confidence does not exist ; 1 mean 
 confidence in the stability of the actual order of 
 things, and in the protection of the laws. No 
 other circumstance speaks so highly in praise of 
 the British government, as the disposition of indi- 
 viduals to unite in carrying on great undertakings 
 in canals, docks, ports, &c. ; a disposition to un- 
 dertake such works denotes the prevalence of a 
 feeling of security, which unites the future to the 
 present, and embraces an horizon of large extent. 
 
 The advantage of machines consists in the in- 
 creased efficacy of labour. To reduce the num- 
 ber of men employed upon any species of labour 
 by half, without diminishing the quantity of the 
 product, is in fact the same thing as doubling the 
 number of men employed, with the same degree 
 of efficacy as before. That which required two 
 thousand men for its performance, being performed 
 by one thousand, there remains one thousand men 
 who may be employed either upon similar or other 
 works. 
 
 But this supposes that the workmen, no longer 
 required in the production of a given quantity of 
 labour, are otherwise employed ; for if they were 
 without employment, the quantity of wealth pro- 
 duced would remain the same after the invention, 
 as before. 
 
 If a manufacturer found himself thus in a con- 
 dition to execute, with one thousand workmen, 
 what had heretofore required two thousand, it
 
 B.IV.Ch.X v.— WEALTH— MEANS OF INCREASE. 305 
 
 appears, at first sight, that the natural result would 
 be, that he would employ the two thousand work- 
 men to produce a double quantity of work. But 
 unless his pecuniary capital be augmented, it will 
 be impossible for him to employ the same number. 
 The new machines, the new warehouses required 
 for this increase of produce, require a proportionate 
 increase of capital. The most ordinary case, 
 therefore, will be the reduction of the number of 
 workmen; and, as it respects them, the conse- 
 quence is a temporary distress. 
 
 It is upon this circumstance, that the popular 
 opposition to the improvement of machines de- 
 pends ; it is a very reasonable opposition on the 
 part of the handicraftsmen. It is they who suffer, 
 whilst the benefit is, in the first instance, for the 
 manufacturer, and in perpetuity for the public, 
 who obtain a better article at a less price. 
 
 There are two kinds of countries where this 
 objection has no force — countries badly peopled, 
 and countries where the people are slaves. Do 
 you desire an increase of population — Do you 
 desire children, who may become workmen in 
 future — I give you full grown men ; workmen 
 actually prepared. You would charge yourself 
 with the expense of their education ; 1 relieve you 
 of it. You are willing to receive foreigners, and 
 I give you natives. Such is the language an 
 inventor may address to a sovereign ; whilst to the 
 individual proprietor, he may say, — With one 
 hundred slaves you are now able to raise a certain 
 quantity from your mines ; with fifty you will, in 
 future, be able to raise the same quantity. If it 
 were necessary to support the others in idleness, 
 where would be the evil ? 
 
 In stationary or retrograde countries, where the 
 dismissed workman cannot easily find a new em- 
 
 20
 
 306 B. IV. Ch. XV.— wealth— means of increase. 
 
 ployment to which to apply himself, where there 
 exists no capital ready to furnish him an employ- 
 ment that suits him, this objection would not be 
 without force. It is however a transient evil, to 
 which transient remedies ought to be applied. 
 
 II. By the increase of the number of labourers. 
 
 I have nothing further to add upon this subject 
 to what has been said in the chapter on po- 
 pulation ; but I shall point out those things 
 which, in an indirect manner, tend to produce 
 this effect. 
 
 1. By the banishment of all prejudices unfa- 
 vourable to labour. Honour has tied the hands of 
 some; religion of others. Some have been kept 
 in a state of perpetual idleness, others in a state of 
 periodical idleness. In some Catholic countries, 
 the Saints' days occupy more than one hundred 
 working days. The loss of these days alone 
 ought not only to be considered, but also the 
 bad habits which this idleness encourages. They 
 have not worked upon the Saint's day ; they do 
 not work on the day following, because they were 
 intoxicated the day past. 
 
 2. The amount of labour may be increased by 
 giving productive employments to those classes of 
 men who, owing to their station in life, produce 
 nothing, — to prisoners, beggars, monks, and sol- 
 diers. It has been pretended that, to make a good 
 soldier, an individual ought to follow no other trade; 
 an exception ought at least to be made in favour 
 of those kinds of labour which may be useful in 
 "war, as the digging of ditches, the construction of 
 bridges, the throwing up of embankments, and the 
 formation and repair of roads.* These employ- 
 
 * It is said, that the success of the American armies was partly 
 owing to their skill in these employments. Composed almost
 
 B.IV. Ch.XV.— WEALTH— MEANS OF INCREASE. 307 
 
 ments afford an inexhaustible means of increasing 
 the most permanent part of the capital of a nation. 
 
 3. Substitute alluring for coercive motives: re- 
 ward for punishment. With suitable precautions, 
 abolish all services in kind, all forced labour and 
 slavery. A country peopled with serfs vyill be 
 always poor. Pay for labour in money, and the 
 reward, mingling drop after drop with the labour, 
 will sweeten its bitterness. Every free labourer 
 is worth two slaves. This reflection is often 
 presented in this work, but it is so just and 
 favourable to humanity, that it cannot be too 
 often repeated ; we ought not to be afraid to 
 repeat it. 
 
 111. The more advantageous emploijment of 
 capital. 
 
 We have already seen that, under the guidance 
 of individual interest, capital of itself takes the 
 most advantageous direction, at least certainly 
 more advantageous than when under the guidance 
 of government. 
 
 Of all employments of capital, the most advan- 
 tageous for the state, is the cultivation of the earth. 
 It is, at the same time, as has been demonstrated 
 by Adam Smith, the most beneficial in itself, and 
 the most attached to the state. Most advanta- 
 geous: the capitalist must find it nearly as advan- 
 tageous as any other, since, unless this be the case, 
 he will not engage in it ; and this, after he has de- 
 ducted the rent he pays to the landlord, and which 
 often amounts to a third of the produce. It is thus 
 that the state gains by this employment more than 
 
 entirely of husbandmen, they excavated ditches and formed 
 entrenchments and other works connected with camps, with a 
 facility which astonished their adversaries. The Russian 
 armies possess the same advantage in a still higher degree. 
 
 20.
 
 308 B.IV. Ch.XV.-^WEALTH— MEANS OF INCREASE. 
 
 it can possibly gain by any other. More attached 
 to the state : the workman may carry away his in- 
 dustry, the money-lender his capital, the merchant 
 may change his warehouses, but the farmer cannot 
 carry away the land. 
 
 For the encouragement of this most advanta- 
 geous employment of capital, what ought govern- 
 ment to do? Nothing: that is to say, nothing in 
 the way of positive encouragement ; for it cannot 
 too completely remove the clogs and obstacles to 
 the free alienation of landed property,* or too 
 greatly favour the conversion of goods held in 
 common into individual property. j" 
 
 The condition most favourable to the prosperity 
 of agriculture exists when there are no entails, no 
 unalienable endowments, no common lands, no 
 right of redemption, no tithes, or taxes or dues 
 which punish industry, and levy a contribution 
 upon agriculture, increasing in proportion to the 
 expenses incurred, and the greater care paid to 
 cultivation. 
 
 Generally speaking, the great landed proprietors 
 give themselves little care about the improvement 
 of their domains. Some leave larc:e tracts of 
 country, sufficient for the maintenance of hun- 
 dreds of families, in a state of nature, that they 
 may enjoy the pleasures of the chase; others, pro- 
 digal in proportion to their wealth, expend every 
 thing in present enjoyments, and trouble them- 
 selves but little with the future. Where the sys- 
 tem of leases and farms is upon a good footing, the 
 evil is not great ; but it is altogether otherwise 
 when the administration is in the hands of a super- 
 
 * Upon this subject, see Traites de Legislation, torn. i. 
 p. 275 (Ed. 1820). 
 
 t Ibid, tom.i. p. 305 (Ed. 1820).
 
 B. IV. Ch. XV.— WEALTH— MEANS OF INCREASE. 309 
 
 intendent, still less interested than his masters in 
 the increase of the rent. Were large properties 
 divided into three or four })arts, the proprietors 
 would be animated with an entirely different spirit. 
 The spur of necessity would render them intelli- 
 gent and industrious. A nobleman would employ 
 twenty gardeners in raising pine apples and taking 
 care of bowling greens. Five manufacturers would 
 employ twenty husbandmen in producing corn for 
 themselves and a hundred workmen. But let it 
 not be supposed that I recommend agrarian laws 
 and forced divisions: this would be to cutoff an 
 arm, in order to avoid a scratch. 
 
 In the scale of public utility, so far as it depends 
 upon the general wealth, after agriculture come 
 those manufactures whose products are sold within 
 the country; after these, the manufactures whose 
 products are exported ; and in the last place, the 
 carrying trade. Adam Smith has demonstrated 
 this. Thus much for theory ; it does not follow 
 that in practice it would be proper to favour a 
 branch of industry higher in the scale, at the ex- 
 pense of one which is placed below it. They all 
 exercise a reciprocal influence upon one another, 
 and benefits are divided among them with suffi- 
 cient equality. If for a moment one branch be- 
 comes more advantageous than the others, a greater 
 number of adventurers are soon drawn towards 
 this side, and the equilibrium is not long in re- 
 establishing itself. If any species of industry is 
 more constantly useful to a nation, it is because 
 the benefit more certainly remains; because the 
 wealth which it produces is more secure. 
 
 IV. By increasing the mass of capital. 
 
 The mass of capital is increased, when the pro- 
 ducts of labour exceed the amount of products 
 consumed.
 
 310 B. IV. Ch.XV.— WEALTH— MEANS UF INCREASE. 
 
 The addition made to the wealth of a nation in 
 one year, is the total amount of the savings of all 
 the individuals composing that nation in that year. 
 It is the difference between the values produced 
 or imported, and the values destroyed or exported 
 in the course of the same year. 
 
 The addition made to the pecuniary wealth of a 
 community is, in the same manner, the difference 
 between the sum produced or imported, and the 
 sum destroyed or exported in the period in ques- 
 tion. 
 
 In the case of an individual, increase of money 
 is increase of wealth. If his fortune consist to-day 
 of one thousand guineas, and he has two thousand 
 to-morrow, he will be twice as rich as he was the 
 day before : he can command twice the quantity 
 of the products of all kinds of labour. 
 
 The case is not the same with a nation. If its 
 coin be to-day 1,000,000/. sterling, and to-mor- 
 row it were to be 2,000,000/. its wealth would not 
 be doubled as was that of the individual. As it 
 respects its internal condition, the nation would 
 not be richer than before. Instead of having at 
 its command a double quantity of productions, it 
 would only have the same. 
 
 It is true that, in exporting to other nations this 
 suddenly acquired mass, the communit}^ in ques- 
 tion would obtain an addition to the mass of its 
 non-pecuniary wealth ; but in proportion as this 
 exchange is made, the case which we have sup- 
 posed does not continue the same. It ceases to 
 possess the additional million of coin. 
 
 This apparent contradiction between the two 
 cases is easily removed. When an individual 
 finds the quantity of coin which he possesses sud- 
 denly doubled, the value of the coin is not dimi-
 
 B.IV. Ch.XV.— WEALTH— MEANS OF INCRliASE. 311 
 
 nished by this addition : the community to which 
 he belongs does not possess more than before, sup- 
 posing that the amount has not been received from 
 abroad. The proportion between the amount of 
 coin and the things to be sold remains exactly the 
 same. 
 
 The value of all the things sold in the course of 
 a year is equal in value to the sum of the coin 
 given in exchange for them : that is, to the value 
 of the actual quantity of the coin multiplied by 
 the number of times it has been exchanged. Each 
 of these masses is equal in value to the other; 
 since, by the supposition, the one has been ex- 
 changed for the other. 
 
 This equality exists, whatever may be the dif- 
 ference in quantity between these two masses. 
 When the million of coin, circulating three times 
 during the year, has purchased the whole mass of 
 goods which were to be sold, it has given to all 
 its successive possessors the enjoyment of this 
 mass. When, taking the same course, the two 
 millions of coin have produced the same effects, 
 they have only performed what the single million 
 had performed before, since, by the supposition, 
 the mass of goods has not been increased. In other 
 terms, that is to say, the new mass of coin is swal- 
 lowed up in the general mass of coin, and as much 
 as it has increased its quantity so much has it 
 diminished its value. 
 
 The addition made to the coin of the commu- 
 nity, produces a proportional increase in the price 
 of all vendible commodities, in the pecuniary 
 price of all commodities not pecuniary ; and con- 
 sequently it may be in the price of every article, 
 it maybe in that of the greater number of ar- 
 ticles.
 
 312 B.IV. Ch. XV.— WEALTH— MEANS OF INCREASE. 
 
 If an addition made to the coin of a commu- 
 nity, is employed in creating a portion of wealth 
 not pecuniary, which would not have been created 
 without it, if it produces by labour or exchange 
 an increase of real wealth, the result is no longer 
 the same. In proportion as the real wealth is in- 
 creased, the addition made to the coin ceases to 
 produce a diminution of relative value. 
 
 In order to simplify the case and render it more 
 striking, I have supposed a large and sudden ad- 
 dition. It is very seldom that an addition of this 
 nature takes place with respect to the precious 
 metals ; but it has often happened with respect to 
 paper money. 
 
 Thus the increase of the price of commodities, 
 all other things remaining the same, is a proof of 
 an addition to the coin and a measure of its quan- 
 tity. 
 
 This defalcation of value is equivalent to an m- 
 direct tax upon pecuniary revenues; a tax which 
 may continually increase in amount; a tax which 
 benefits those who issue the paper money, and of 
 which the weight presses entirely upon the pos- 
 sessors of fixed revenues. There is a compensa- 
 tion for this tax to producers and merchants, who 
 may raise the price of their commodities to all 
 those who have part of this new money ; but 
 those, whose fortune consists in a pecuniary re- 
 venue which cannot be increased, bear all the bur- 
 then.* 
 
 When this diminution of revenue takes place 
 
 * It is not without distrust that I here give this feeble ex- 
 tract, from a manuscript work of Mr. Bentham's, On Prices 
 and upon the causes which increase Prices. It embraces so 
 great a number of questions, that it is not possible to give a 
 correct outline of the whole in so short an abridgment.
 
 B. IV. Ch. XV.— WEALTH— MEANS OF INCREASE. 313 
 
 gradually, although it is an evil, this evil may re- 
 sult from the general prosperity, and may be com- 
 pensated by a greater benefit. Losses which oc- 
 cur in the ordinary course of affairs, are experienced 
 and hardly felt ; they may be provided against. 
 But when the government itself interferes by ope- 
 rations, whose effects are as great as they are sud- 
 den, in order to give a sudden increase to the mass 
 of pecuniary capital, whether metallic or otherwise, 
 it confounds all the calculations of prudence, it 
 ruins one part of its subjects, and its imaginary 
 wealth becomes the instrument of its destruction. 
 This is what was experienced in France under the 
 system of Law, and again under the reign of the as- 
 signats. 
 
 V. By means of trade. 
 
 Some advantage results from every exchange, 
 provided it be made intentionally and without 
 fraud, otherwise such exchange would not be 
 made ; there would be no reason for making it. 
 Under this point of view, the two contracting par- 
 ties receive an equal benefit, each one of them 
 surrenders what suits him less, that he may ac- 
 quire what suits him more. In each transaction 
 of this kind there are two masses of new enjoy- 
 ments. 
 
 But though all trade is advantageous, a particu- 
 lar branch may be more advantageous to one of the 
 parties than to the other. It is more advanta- 
 geous to you than it is to me, if for an article 
 which only costs you one day's labour, you obtain 
 from me an article which has cost me two. The 
 real balance of trade is the quantity of labour re- 
 ceived exceeding the quantity of labour given in 
 exchange. 
 
 It is not necessary in this place to examine to
 
 314 B. IV. ch. XV.— wealth-means of increase. 
 
 what degree, soil, climate, situation, natural cir- 
 cumstances, &c. may give this advantage to one 
 state over another ; since this knowledge can have 
 scarcely any influence upon practice. It is of 
 greater importance to observe, that it may in a 
 certain degree be acquired by art, and that the 
 superiority of workmanship or of instruments is a 
 species of monopoly established by fortune in 
 favour of genius. Time is saved by ingenuity. 
 The greater the number of new inventions in a 
 country, whose productions are carried into foreign 
 lands, the more favourable will the real balance of 
 commerce be to that country. The advantages 
 belonging to dexterity are more permanent than 
 those resulting from knowledge. The discoveries 
 of chemistry are speedily disseminated. The skill 
 of the Bengalese workmen will remain peculiar to 
 them for ages. 
 
 The great politicians whoso much value foreign 
 commerce, consider it as a means of obtaining a 
 balance in gold, and they hasten to interfere to 
 prevent those exchanges which require an expen- 
 diture of the precious metals. If a merchant 
 wish to send coin from London to Paris, it is to 
 make a payment which will cost him less in this 
 manner than any other, or that he may obtain 
 some kind of merchandise which he values more 
 than the coin. The politician is more clever than 
 this. He is not willing that this gain should be 
 made, because, he thinks, thus to gain would be to 
 lose. Preventing the profits of every one is the 
 method he has discovered of preventing loss to all. 
 He has therefore been employed in heaping one 
 law upon another, that he may prevent the expor- 
 tation of the precious metals : success would be a 
 great misfortune, but it has never been obtained.
 
 B.IV. Cii. XV.— WEALTH— MEANS OF INCREASE. 315 
 
 Want of success in diminishing the evil has only 
 increased the folly. 1 say in diminishing the evil, 
 for it never entirely disappears. There will, for 
 example, always be a greater or less expense on 
 the part of the government in endeavouring to 
 execute the law; more or less vexation, more or 
 less restraint, a larger or smaller number of indivi- 
 duals punished for having rendered service to the 
 country (by the breach of the law.) People will be 
 accustomed to elude the prohibitions, and to es- 
 cape the vigilance of government. Money being 
 more or less lowered in value, the price of manu- 
 factures will be raised in proportion, and the expor- 
 tation of manufactures diminished. Such has been 
 the folly exhibited in Spain and Portugal ; yet are 
 they too happy only to have half succeeded. 
 Grant to Midas his wish, he will die of hunger 
 upon a heap of gold. 
 
 In recommending freedom of trade, I suppose 
 the minds of merchants in their sound, that is, 
 their ordinary state. But there have been times 
 when they have acted as though they were deliri- 
 ous ; such were the periods of the Mississippi 
 scheme in France, and the South Sea scheme in 
 England. The other classes of people would have 
 had ground for seeking to divert their fellow citi- 
 zens from the purchase of the smoke sold by 
 Law, or of the bubbles of the South Sea. What is 
 here said, maybe compared with the observations, 
 in the preceding chapter, upon emigration. In 
 laying down general rules, fortuitous and transient 
 cases ought not to be forgotten. 
 
 What has been said respecting the precious 
 metals is true respecting every article of trade and 
 commerce, considered as general wealth. There 
 cannot beany incompatibility between the wealth
 
 31G B.IV. Ch.XV.— WEALTH— MEANS OF INCREASE. 
 
 of each and the wealth of all. But the same rule 
 does not apply to subsistence and defence. Indi- 
 viduals may find their individual profit in com- 
 mercial operations which may be opposed to the 
 subsistence of all, or the defence of all. This 
 particularly may happen to a small community in 
 the neighbourhood of a large one. Establish an 
 unlimited freedom of trade in the small commu- 
 nity, the great one may ruin it by means of gold. 
 In case of famine, it might purchase all its provi- 
 sions ; at the approach of war, it might purchase 
 all its arms. 
 
 The conduct to be pursued, to insure the pos- 
 session of the means of subsistence and defence, 
 are infinitely diversified by the situation, the 
 soil, the climate, and the extent of the country to 
 which it may refer. 
 
 The great difficulty to be overcome as it re- 
 spects subsistence, is the difference between good 
 and bad harvests. If the produce is less than the 
 consumption, the evil is evident ; if it is greater, 
 the abundance lessens the price, the farmer is 
 ruined or discouraged, and the year of plenty may 
 be followed by one of dearth. For the produc- 
 tion of equality, some have established public 
 granaries for storing up the superabundance of 
 years of plenty ; others have encouraged cultiva- 
 tion as much as possible, depending upon foreigners 
 for drawing off the excess. Were we to judge 
 from abstract reasoning alone, the first plan would 
 appear best calculated to prevent accidents ; but, 
 forming our judgments from facts, the second 
 appears least subject to abuse. It is from the 
 adoption of this plan that England has enjoyed 
 an abundance sufficiently regular. Freedom of 
 trade, therefore, appears the best method for
 
 B. IV. Ch.XV.— WEALTH— MEANS OF INCREASE. 317 
 
 insuring an abundance of the means of subsist- 
 ence. 
 
 In respect to subsistence and defence, there is 
 no better security than that which results from 
 the general prosperity. A superabundance is the 
 best security against want.* 
 
 After the examination we have given to the 
 different methods by which real wealth may be 
 increased, we see that government may rely upon 
 the intelligence and inclination of individuals for 
 putting them in operation, and that nothing is 
 necessary to be done on its part but to leave them 
 in possession of the power, to insure to them the 
 right of enjoyment, and to hasten the develop- 
 ment of general knowledge. All that it can do 
 with success may be ranged under this small 
 number of heads: — 
 
 1. To encourage the study of different branches 
 of natural philosophy. The difficulties of science 
 form a barrier between practice and theory, be- 
 tween the artisan and the philosopher. 
 
 2. To institute prizes for discoveries and expe- 
 riments. 
 
 3. To cause the processes employed in every 
 branch of trade to be published. The French 
 government, rising above little jealousies, has dis- 
 tinguished itself in this manner, and has rendered 
 itself a benefactor to the human race. 
 
 4. To cause everything of the same nature in 
 foreign countries to be observed with attention, 
 and to give the knowledge they obtain the same 
 publicity. 
 
 6. To cause the price of different articles of 
 
 * See Traites de Legislation. " Des lols relativement a la 
 subsistance et ^ I'abondance."
 
 318 B.IV. Ch. XV.— WEALTH— MEANS OF INCREASE. 
 
 trade to be published. The price of an article is 
 an extra reward for whoever can manufacture or 
 furnish it at a cheaper rate. 
 
 6. To grant patents for a limited number of years, 
 
 7. To class with the crime of forgery the in- 
 justice done by the artisan who puts upon his 
 own productions the mark of another. In order 
 to prev^ent the commission of this crime through 
 ignorance, it would be necessary to establish a 
 register, in which every artisan might make an 
 entry of his mark. This would tend to secure 
 the privilege which nature has established in 
 favour of skill, and which the legislator ought to 
 maintain. It can never be obtained without 
 labour, and it can never be abused. 
 
 With respect to a great number of inventions in 
 the arts, an exclusive privilege is absolutely neces- 
 sary, in order that what is sown may be reaped. 
 In new inventions, protection against imitators is 
 not less necessary than in established manufac- 
 tures protection against thieves. He who has no 
 hope that he shall reap will not take the trouble 
 to sow. But that which one man has invented, 
 all the world can imitate. Without the assist- 
 ance of the laws, the inventor would almost always 
 be driven out of the market by his rival, who, 
 finding himself without any expense in possession 
 of a discovery which has cost the inventor much 
 time and expense, would be able to deprive him 
 of all his deserved advantages, by selling at a lower 
 price. An exclusive privilege is of all rewards 
 the best proportioned, the most natural, and the 
 least burthensome. It produces an infinite efl'ect, 
 and it costs nothing. " Grant me fifteen years," 
 says the inventor, " that I may reap the fruit of 
 my labours ; after this term, it shall be enjoyed by
 
 B.IV. Ch.XV.— WEALTH— MEANS OF INCREASE. 319 
 
 all the world." Does the sovereign say " No, 
 you shall not have it," what will happen ? It 
 will be enjoyed by no one, neither for fifteen 
 years nor afterwards: everybody will be disap- 
 pointed ; inventors, workmen, consumers, every- 
 thing will be stifled, both benefit and enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
 Exclusive patents in favour of inventions have 
 been long established in England ; an abuse, how- 
 ever, has crept into the system of granting them, 
 which tends to destroy the advantage derivable 
 from them. This privilege, w^hich ought to be 
 gratuitous, has afforded an opportunity for plun- 
 dering inventors, which the duration of the 
 custom has converted into a right. It is a 
 real conspiracy against the increase of national 
 wealth. 
 
 We may picture to ourselves a poor and timid 
 inventor, after years consumed in labour and un- 
 certainty, presenting himself at the Patent Office 
 to receive the privilege which he has heard that 
 the law bestows upon him. Immediately, the 
 great officers of the crown pounce upon him to- 
 gether, as vultures upon their prey : a solicitor- 
 general, who levies four guineas upon him; a 
 keeper of the privy seal, four guineas and a half; a 
 keeper of another seal, four guineas ; a secretary 
 of state, sixteen guineas ; the lord chancellor, 
 who closes the procession, as the first in dignity, 
 so also the first in rapacity, he cannot take less 
 than twenty-six guineas. Need it be added, that 
 in carrying on this process of extortion, recourse 
 is had to fraud ; that the individual applying for 
 a patent is referred from office to office, that 
 different pretexts may be afforded for pillage; 
 that not one of these officers, great or small, takes 
 the trouble to read a single word of the farago of
 
 320 B. IV. Ch. XV.— WEALTH-MEANS OF INCREASE/ 
 
 nonsense which they sign, and therefore that the 
 whole parade of consultation is only a farce.* 
 
 Suppose a law, granting the patent as at pre- 
 sent, without condition. Suppose another law, 
 prohibiting the obtaining of a patent under a 
 penalty of fifty guineas. What exclamations 
 should we not hear against such contradictory 
 laws and such folly ! And yet this supposed folly 
 is only half as great as the folly actually displayed. 
 People always allow themselves to be duped by 
 words. The law, or rather the customary abuse 
 which has the force of law, instead of a permisr^ 
 sion, is, as it respects the greater number of inven- 
 tors, a real, although masked prohibition. If you 
 wish to strip off this mask, translate the language 
 of each into the language of the other. 
 
 These insults and oppressions have sometimes 
 been approved as tending to repress the temerity 
 of projectors ; in the same manner taxes upon 
 law proceedings have been applauded as tending 
 to repress the temerity of suitors. As if poverty 
 were synonymous with temerity; as if the rich 
 onlv had need of the assistance of the laws, or that 
 they only were worthy of it ; as if, indeed, this 
 reason for only half opening the doors of the tem- 
 ple of Justice were not equally conclusive for 
 closing them altogether! 
 
 * It is scarcely necessary to remark that, in blaming the 
 abuse, no reproach is intended to be cast upon the individuals, 
 who, finding it established, profit by it. These fees form as 
 lawful a poi'tion of their emoluments as any other. It is, 
 however, to be desired, that in order to put a stop to this 
 insult and oppression, an indemnification were granted at the 
 public expense equal to the average value of these fees. If it 
 be proper to levy a tax upon patents, it ought, instead of being 
 levied in advance upon capital, to be postponed till the patent 
 has produced some benefit.
 
 [ -21 ] 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 RATES OF INTEREST EVILS OF FIXATION. 
 
 If it be reasonable for legislators to encourage 
 inventive industry by factitious rewards, it is much 
 more reasonable that they should not oppose obsta- 
 cles to the productiveness of natural rewards. 
 
 The natural reward of inventions, when carried 
 into effect, is the profit to be derived from them in 
 the way of trade. But all trade requires capital. If 
 the inventor has it of his own, it is well; if not, 
 he must seek it from others : many circumstances, 
 however, conspire to hinder his obtaining it. 
 
 Does he endeavour to borrow it, upon what 
 conditions can he hope to find a lender ? Upon 
 the ordinary conditions, it is naturally impossible 
 that he should find one. A new undertaking 
 cannot fail of being hazardous, if it were only 
 because it is new. It is therefore necessary to 
 grant to the lender an advantage proportionate to 
 the apparent degree of risk. There are two me- 
 thods of granting this advantage. The English 
 laws proscribe them both. One method consists 
 in granting interest at a rate superior to the ordi- 
 nary rate : but this is prohibited by the laws 
 fixing the rate of interest. This prohibition is 
 partly inefficacious, and partly pernicious ; that it 
 was altogether useless would be its greatest elo- 
 gium.* 
 
 * For the proof of these positions, the reader is referred to 
 Mr. Bentham's '' Defence of Usury, showing the Impolicy of 
 the legal Restjaints upon Pecuniary Bargains," Inconsistency 
 
 21
 
 322 B.IV. Ch. XVI.— RATES OF INTEREST— EVILS, &c. 
 
 The second method consists in granting a varia- 
 ble interest, proportioned to the profits of the 
 undertaking.* 
 
 In France, there is one branch of commerce at 
 least in which it is possible to limit the portion of 
 property that one is willing to risk. It is in the 
 business of banking. The sum employed in this 
 manner is said to be en commandite. If this liberty 
 is useful in this branch of commerce, why should 
 it not be equally so in every other; and especially 
 in newly-discovered branches, which have so many 
 natural obstacles to overcome, which it is needless 
 to increase by legal interference? This liberty, under 
 certain restrictions for the prevention of monopo- 
 lies from the unrestrained accumulation of capital, 
 has been established in Ireland. When will Eng- 
 land have the wisdom to imitate this example? 
 
 An inventor therefore in want of funds can only 
 apply to a tradesman, or merchant, to enter into 
 partnership with him; but persons engaged in 
 business are those who have the least portion of 
 disposable capital ; and, as they are enabled to make 
 their own terms, inventive industry is often stifled 
 or oppressed. 
 
 Were it lawful for every one to engage in com- 
 mercial undertakings for a limited amount, how 
 
 is the natural companion of laws dictated by narrow views : it is 
 lawful to lend or borrow, at any rate^ in maritime enterprises ; 
 as if the pretended dangers and pretended abuses, which render 
 the indefinable evil, named usury, so much the object of dread, 
 could only exist upon dry land, and depended upon the solidity 
 or fluidity of the element, upon which the enterprises were 
 carried on. 
 
 • In England, a capitalist cannot employ any portion of his 
 capital in trade, without being considered a trader 5 and, con- 
 sequently, responsible in the whole extent of his fortune. 
 There is not statute law to this effect, but it said to be a rule 
 of common law.
 
 B. IV. Ch. XVI.— RATES OF INTEREST— EVILS, &c. 323 
 
 many facilities would be afforded to men of ge- 
 nius ! All classes of society would furnish assist- 
 ance to inventive industry : those who wished to 
 risk only a small sum, those who could annually 
 dispose of a certain sum, would be enabled to 
 engage in this species of lottery, which promised 
 to yield them an interest above the ordinary rate. 
 The most elevated classes might find an amuse- 
 ment in descending into the territories of industry, 
 and there staking a small part of that wealth 
 which they risk upon games of chance. The 
 spirit of gaming, diverted from its pernicious 
 direction, might serve to increase the productive 
 energy of commerce and art. 
 
 There are some who are natural enemies to 
 merit of every kind: every conquest achieved by 
 industry, in the career of invention, is a loss to 
 them ; every discovery an injury. Common-place 
 men have a common interest which they under- 
 stand but too well; it is, that all should be 
 common-place like themselves. It is to be re- 
 gretted that, Adam Smith, in his " Wealth of 
 Nations,^^ a work which will rise in public esti- 
 mation in proportion as genius shall be held in 
 honour, should have furnished arms, which the 
 adversaries of genius may direct against that 
 work itself. It is to be regretted that, under the 
 odious name of projects, a name applied to the 
 most useful enterprises, even to the moment when 
 they receive the sanction of success, they may 
 there be seen indiscriminately stamped with the 
 seal of opprobrium, and indiscriminately enveloped 
 with contempt. 
 
 It is not only that he may prevent prodigals 
 from obtaining money, but that he may prevent 
 its reaching the hands of projectors, whom he 
 places together upon the same level, that he ap- 
 
 21.
 
 324 B. IV. Ch.XVJ.— RATES OF INTEREST— EVILS, &c. 
 
 proves of the fixing of the rate of interest upon the 
 footing" upon which he found it. " If the legal rate 
 of interest in Great Britain, for example, was fixed 
 so high as 8 or 10 per cent, the greater part of the 
 money, which was to be lent, would be lent to 
 prodigals and projectors, who alone would be 
 willing to give this high interest. Sober people, 
 who will give for the use of money no more than a 
 part of what they are likely to make by the use 
 of it, would not venture into the competition. 
 A great part of the capital of the country would 
 thus be kept out of the hands which were most 
 likely to make a profitable and advantageous use 
 of it, and thrown into those which were most 
 likely to waste and destroy it. Where the legal 
 rate of interest, on the contrary, is fixed but a 
 very little above the lowest market rate, sober 
 people are universally preferred as borrowers to 
 prodigals and projectors. The person who lends 
 money gets nearly as much interest from the 
 former as he dares to take from the latter, and his 
 money is much safer in the hands of the one set of 
 people than in those of the other."* 
 
 This is not the only passage in which this au- 
 thor attacks projectors (see b. i. ch. iv.) ; but it 
 is here that he attacks them more directly ; whilst 
 as to prodigals, it has been elsewhere shewn that it 
 is not to them that money is lent, or that any are 
 willing to lend at extraordinary interest. Friends 
 will either not lend at all, or will lend at the ordi- 
 nary rate. Strangers will only lend to those who 
 are without industry, upon security. But he who 
 has security to offer, has no need to give a half- 
 penny more, because he is a prodigal. It is upon 
 his security that the money will be lent, and not 
 
 ^ Wealth of Nations, "b. 2. ch. iv
 
 B.IV. Cii. XVI.— RATES OF INTEREST— EVILS, &c. 325 
 
 upon his character. Whether the security offered 
 be present or future, certain or contingent, pro- 
 duces no difference; a future or contingent secu- 
 rity by means of a valuation, becomes as good a 
 pledge as if it were present or certam. In a word, 
 if money be lent upon the industry of the bor- 
 rower, it is lent not to a prodigal, but to a pro- 
 jector. It is therefore upon the latter class alone, 
 that the burthen of these prohibitory laws presses. 
 An opinion which derives all its force from the 
 authority of the individual who publishes it, can- 
 not be better combatted than by that authority 
 itself. 
 
 1. The prosperity of England has been progres- 
 sive ever since the number of projectors has been 
 not only in an uninterrupted, but in an accelerated 
 state of increase. 2. The aggregate of the good 
 economy has always been greater than the aggre- 
 gate of the bad. 3. With respect to commerce, 
 each individual is a better judge of his own interests 
 than government can be for him. And 4. General 
 laws must be much more defective with respect to 
 commercial regulations. Themembersof a govern- 
 ment may take notice of particular cases, but ge- 
 neral laws can never regard them. 
 
 These are the general propositions of the work 
 of Adam Smith. Truths precious and irrefragable, 
 which no one has more successfully laboured to 
 unfold than this illustrious politician. But if these 
 principles are followed out, no laws ought to exist 
 for the restraint of projectors, and for preventing 
 them from obtaining the capital of which they 
 stand in need. 
 
 The censure which condemns projectors falls 
 upon every species of new industry. It is a general 
 attack upon the improvement of the arts and
 
 526 
 
 B.IV. Ch. XVI.— RATES OF INTEREST— EVILS, Ac. 
 
 sciences. Every thing which is routine to day 
 was originally a project. Every manufacture, 
 how old soever it may be, was once new; and 
 when new, it was the production of that mis- 
 chievous and bold race who ought to be destroyed 
 race of j3rojectors ! — 
 
 1 know not what can be replied to this, unless 
 it be said, that the past projects have been useful ; 
 but that all future projects will not be so. Such 
 an assertion would, however, require proof, strong 
 in proportion to its opposition to general opinion. 
 In every career, experience is considered as worth 
 something. The warning to be derived from past 
 failures may contribute to future security, if not to 
 success. 
 
 Were it even proved, that no projector ever en- 
 gaged in a new branch of industry without being 
 ruined, it would not be proper to conclude, that 
 the spirit of invention and of projects ought to be 
 discouraged. Each projector, in ruining him- 
 self, may have opened a new path, by which 
 others may have attained to wealth. So soon as a 
 new dye, more brilliant or more economical than 
 the old ones, a new machine, or a new practice 
 in agriculture has been discovered, a thousand 
 dyers, ten thousand mechanicians, a hundred thou- 
 sand agriculturists may reap the benefit : and 
 then — though the original author of the invention 
 have been ruined in the bringing the discovery to 
 perfection — as it respects the national wealth, of 
 what consequence is this, when considered as the 
 price of so much gain ? 
 
 That restrictions of this nature are inefficacious, 
 has been successfully shewn by Adam Smith him- 
 self.* But if inefficacious, this is sufficient reason 
 
 * See b. i. ch. ix.
 
 B.IV. Cm. XVI.— RATES OF INTEREST— EVILS, &c. 327 
 
 for their condemnation : unless they effect the 
 purpose designed, the are positively mischievous. 
 
 They tend, in the first place, to drive away useful 
 projectors. 1 do not say that they drive away all ; 
 had that been the case, we should not have at- 
 tained our present degree of prosperity. But they 
 drive away a part. Unhappily we cannot know 
 what part, nor how great a part of their number. 
 The talent required for operating upon matter, or 
 directing the powers of nature, is extremely dif- 
 ferent from that required for operating upon the 
 mind, — the talent of meditating in a study, and 
 thereby making discoveries, from that requisite for 
 making known those discoveries to the world. 
 The chance of success in the career of invention 
 is in proportion to the talent ofthe individual ; the 
 chance of obtaining a loan of capital from another 
 to make an invention productive, is in proportion 
 to his reputation. But this latter, far from being 
 in direct, is naturally in inverse proportion w ith 
 the former. The more unaccustomed an indivi- 
 dual is to society, the greater his dread of mingling 
 in it, the less is he at his ease ; the less is he mas- 
 ter of his faculties when he is obliged to mingle 
 with it. The effect produced upon the mind of 
 the individual who has, or who supposes that he 
 has, made a great discovery, is a mixture of pride 
 and timidity, both which feelings concur in aliena- 
 ting the minds of men, and diminishing the proba- 
 bility of success in every enterprize, in as much 
 as it may depend upon the degree in which such 
 individual succeeds in rendering himself and his 
 projects estimable in the eyes of others. This 
 pride has for its cause the superiority which he 
 believes himself to possess above them ; this timi- 
 dity is caused by the faint hope he possesses of 
 making them sensible of this superiority. But
 
 328 
 
 B.IV. Ch.XVI.— UATKS OF INTEREST— EVILS, &c. 
 
 though pride united with courage is one of the 
 most powerful means of subjugating men, pride 
 united with timidity is one of the most certain 
 causes of exposure to their aversion and contempt. 
 'I hat disposition which, under the name of mo- 
 desty, is so much praised as a companion well 
 adapted to the introduction of true merit, and 
 wdjichis so necessary when inferiority of situation 
 will not allow the employment of boldness in the 
 service, is not true timidity, but skill which has 
 learnt to assume this appearance ; it is skill, which 
 to strength, and consciousness of that strength, 
 unites the knowledge of when, and how, and in 
 what sense, and in what proportion this strength 
 ought to be displayed, for the most favourable ex- 
 hibition of its pretensions ; and when, and how, 
 and in what sense it ought to be hidden, that the 
 protector whose assistance is desired, may enjoy 
 the feeling of his own superiority. If ever timi- 
 dity has effected anything at the expense of that 
 assurance which assumes its appearance, it has 
 been when allied with beauty, which causes every- 
 thing to be forgiven, and which nothing can resist. 
 Separated from this powerful protectrix, it labours 
 in grief, in darkness, in awkwardness, embarrass- 
 ment, and false shame ; the bugbears of love and 
 of esteem, but the frequent and afflictive com- 
 l)anions, and most cruel enemies, of merit and 
 solitary genius. 
 
 Not to speak of the obstacles which oppose the 
 progress of an inventor encumbered with his ro - 
 jects and his wants, before he reaches the anti- 
 chamber of the rich, or the noble whom it may be 
 necessary to persuade, suppose these obstacles 
 overcome, and that he is admitted to their pre- 
 sence ; how will the poor inventor, the necessi- 
 tous man of genius behave when he has arrived
 
 K.IV. Ch. XVI.— RATES OF INTEREST— EVILS, Ac. 32i> 
 
 there ? Oftentimes he will lose his presence of 
 mind, forget what he was about to say, stammer 
 out some unconnected propositions, and findincj 
 himself despised, indignant that his merit should 
 be thus treated, he will retire, resolving never 
 again to expose himself to such an adventure ; 
 and even when he is not devoid of courage, there 
 is nothing more different, though in certain points 
 the connection may appear most intimate, than 
 the talent of conceiving new ideas of certain kinds, 
 and the talent of developing these same ideas: 
 altogether occupied with the idea itself, the in- 
 ventor is most frequently incapable of directing 
 his attention to all the accessories which must be 
 re-united before his invention can be understood 
 and approved; his attention being entirely occu- 
 pied with what is passing in his own mind, he is 
 incapable of attending to what passes in the minds 
 of others; incapable of arranging and directing his 
 operations, so that he may make the most favour- 
 able impression upon them. 
 
 Thus the ingenious philosopher, who has deli- 
 vered the most excellent instructions respecting 
 the art of developing the thoughts of others, and 
 who possessed in so perfect a degree the talent of 
 developing his own, well knew how necessary it 
 was, that in every career of invention, except 
 that of eloquence, minds should be attended by 
 an accoucheur. How many difficulties did not 
 Diderot experience in effecting this development, 
 he who possessed this talent in so excellent a 
 degree, where the two parties were agreed, had a 
 common interest and were equally well disposed ! 
 How numerous were the difficultiesexperiencedby 
 the ingenious artists of every description to whom 
 he applied in making him comprehend the fruits
 
 330 B.IV. Ch. XVI.— RATES OF INTEREST— EVILS, &c. 
 
 of their studies, when they had for their interpre- 
 ter the man the most capable and the best dis- 
 posed to understand them ! How much more 
 difficult would they have found it had they been 
 applicants for the assistance necessary to render 
 their projects available to a rich ignoramus, filled 
 with the idea of the necessity which existed for 
 his assistance, and puffed up with that pride 
 which commonly accompanies wealth, when un- 
 attended by that politeness which education 
 teaches, and full of that distrust which a poor 
 projector cannot fail to inspire in the mind of an 
 individual favoured with the gifts of fortune ! 
 
 Should the inventor succeed in making his plan 
 understood, he will still find it difficult to make 
 the interest of the capitalist accord with his de- 
 sires : it is in this respect that the prohibition 
 displays its mischievous qualities. How shall 
 the poor inventor dare to propose a loan at the 
 ordinary rate of interest? This rate may at all 
 times be obtained without risk. Where then 
 would be the advantage to the capitalist in such a 
 bargain ? Is it possible that it could be otherwise 
 than disadvantageous to him ? A loan at the or- 
 dinary rate of interest cannot be hoped for ; it is 
 only to a most intimate friend that such a loan 
 would be granted. Deprived of this resource, 
 how shall he dare to propose to the individual 
 whose assistance he seeks, to expose himself to 
 the rigour of the laws ? Scarcely daring to ask 
 for the assistance he needs, upon the most secure 
 and unexceptionable conditions, how shall he pro- 
 pose conditions which the laws consider criminal ? 
 Whilst there are laws against usury, it may be 
 said, there will still be usury. Yes, and whilst 
 there are laws against theft, there will still be
 
 B.IV. Ch. XVI.— KATES OF INTEREST— EVILS, &c. 331 
 
 thieves: does it follow^ that the laws which forbid 
 theft are without effect, and that theft is as com- 
 mon as if these laws did not exist r 
 
 In the same proportion as the tendency of these 
 prohibitory laws is unfavourable to true merit in 
 the career of invention, is it favourable to the 
 cheat which assumes the appearance of merit, 
 were it only by the advantage given to imposture, 
 by preventing merit from entering into the com- 
 petition. The essential requisite is not merit, but 
 the gift of persuasion : this gift most naturally 
 belongs to the superficial man, who knows the 
 world, half enthusiast and half rogue; and not to 
 the studious and laborious individual, who is 
 only acquainted with the abstract subjects of his 
 studies. It is true, that at all times truth pos- 
 sesses powerful advantages ; but these advantages 
 are less in proportion as the career to which it 
 relates is more removed from the ordinary routine, 
 respecting which, ordinary minds are capable of 
 forming a judgment upon what is presented to 
 them. It has therefore happened, that of all pro- 
 jectors, those have been treated with the greatest 
 confidence, whose projects are now known to have 
 been founded upon no basis of truth. Were it 
 possible to ascertain the amount furnished under 
 the existing laws against usury by capitalists, to 
 the authors of useful and practicable projects, it 
 would most probably be found less than the 
 amount which in the same space of time has been 
 drawn by the professors of alchemy from the ava- 
 ricious credulity of the ignorant or half learned. 
 
 Truth possesses, however, this advantage over 
 error of every kind: it will ultimately prevail, 
 how frequent or how deplorable soever may have 
 been the disgraces it has undergone. This error 
 respecting prohibitory laws is nearly discredited ;
 
 332 B.IV. Ch. XVI.— RATES OF INTEREST— EVILS, &c. 
 
 this source of delusion is nearly closed for ever. 
 As the world advances, the snares, the traps, the 
 pitfalls, which inexperience has found in the path 
 of inventive industry, will be filled up by the 
 fortunes and the minds of those who have fallen 
 into them and been ruined : in this, as in every 
 other career, the ages gone by have been the 
 forlorn hope, which has received for those who 
 follow them the blows of fortune. There is not 
 one reason for hoping less well of future projects 
 than of those which are passed ; but here is one 
 for hoping better. 
 
 The more closely the reasons, on account of 
 which Adam Smith would have desired to dis- 
 courage projectors, are examined, the more asto- 
 nishing it appears that he should have so widely 
 deviated from the principles he had himself laid 
 down. It is probable, that his imagination had 
 been pre-occupied with the idea of certain incau- 
 tious or dishonest projectors, the history of whose 
 proceedings had fallen under his own observation, 
 and that he had a little too promptly taken these 
 few individuals as exact models of the whole race. 
 To preserve himself from the error of too hasty 
 and indiscriminate generalizations, never to allow 
 any proposition to escape without having made 
 all the reservations necessary to confine it within 
 the limits of the exact truth, is the last boun- 
 dary, and even now the ideal boundary of human 
 wisdom.* 
 
 * Adam Smith, after having read the letter upon Projects, 
 which was addressed to him, and printed at the end of the 
 first edition of " The Defence of Usury," declared to a gen- 
 tleman, the common friend of the two authors, that he had 
 been deceived. With the tidings of his death, Mr. Bentham 
 received a copy of his works, which had been sent to him as a 
 token of esteem.
 
 B.IV. Ch. XVI.— RATES OF INTEREST— EVILS, Ac. 333 
 
 Nothing would more contribute to the prelimi- 
 nary separation of useless from useful projects, 
 and to secure the labourers in the hazardous routes 
 of invention from failure, than a good treatise upon 
 projects in general. It would form a suitable ap- 
 pendix to the judicious and philosophical work of 
 the abb^ Condillac upon Systems. What this is 
 in matters of theory, the other would be in matters 
 of practice. The execution of such a work might 
 be promoted by the proposal of a liberal reward for 
 the most instructive work of this kind. 
 
 A survey might be made of the different branches 
 of human knowledge ; and what each presents as 
 most remarkable in this respect might be brought 
 to view. Chemistry has its philosopher's stone ; 
 medicine its universal panacea ; mechanics its 
 perpetual motion ; politics, and particularly that 
 part which regards finance, its method of liqui- 
 dating, without funds and without injustice, na- 
 tional debts. Under each head of error, the in- 
 superable obstacles presented by the nature of 
 things to the success of any such scheme, and the 
 illusions which may operate upon the human 
 mind to hide the obstacles, or to nourish the ex- 
 pectation of seeing them surmounted, might be 
 pointed out. 
 
 Above all, dishonest projectors, impostors of 
 every kind, ought to be depicted : the qualities of 
 mind and character which they possess in common 
 should be described ; their volubility, their rapi- 
 dity, that lightness, natural or affected, with which 
 they treat the arguments opposed to them; that 
 manner which they have, and which it is neces- 
 sary they should have, of declaiming, instead 
 of analysing and reasoning; of flying off in tan- 
 gents when they are pressed — of giving birth to 
 incidents ; of pretending to be tired with the spe-
 
 334 B.IV. Ch. XVI.— RATES OF INTEREST, EVILS, Ac. 
 
 cies of opposition they experience; of attaching 
 themselves to the manner in which questions and 
 doubts, or arguments, are proposed to them, in- 
 stead of to the foundations of things themselves; 
 of complaining of the prejudices which they pre- 
 tend are experienced against them ; and in quit- 
 ting the ground under those circumstances, in 
 which, if they were sincere, it would be most 
 proper for them to maintain themselves there. 
 
 But throughout the whole work, that tone of 
 malignity, which seems to triumph in the disgraces 
 of genius, and which seeks to envelop wise, 
 .useful, and successful projects, in the contempt and 
 ridicule with which useless and rash projects are 
 justly covered, should be guarded against. Such 
 is the character, for example, of the works of the 
 splenetic Swift : under the pretence of ridiculing 
 projectors, he seeks to deliver up, to the contempt 
 of the ignorant, the sciences themselves. They 
 were hateful in his eyes on two accounts: the one 
 because he was unacquainted with them ; the 
 other, because they were the work, and the glo- 
 rious work, of that race which he hated ever since 
 he had lost the hope of governing part of it. 
 
 The projectors who seek to deceive ought to 
 be unmasked ; those who are deceived, to be in- 
 structed: the interestsof science and justice equally 
 demand that they should be distinguished. I 
 cannot discern what purpose ridicule can serve, if 
 it be not to confound the distinction between 
 useless and useful projectors. 
 
 In conclusion, some general counsels might be 
 added for the use of those who, little versed in 
 the fundamental sciences in which the respective 
 projects take their rise, may find themselves in a 
 situation to be addressed by the author of a pro- 
 ject, with the design of obtaining their assistance.
 
 B.IV. Ch. XVI.— RATES OF INTEREST— EVILS, &c. 335 
 
 In effect, it is true that the whole work would be 
 a collection of more or less approved counsels ; 
 but, in making the recapitulation, some general 
 remarks might be added, which would not have 
 been suitable elsewhere, but which might be par- 
 ticularly useful here. They might, for example, 
 be advised to apply to those learned individuals 
 who would be able to supply their ignorance : the 
 class of learned men who ought to be found com- 
 petent judges in each department might be pointed 
 out. Instructions might be furnished to enable 
 them to judge of the counsels of the judges them- 
 selves, by warnmg them of the interests and pre- 
 judices, to the seduction of which these judges 
 may themselves be exposed.
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 I
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 (A.) Book I. ch. viii. p. 62. 
 
 On Subscriptions to Matters of Opinion. 
 
 Of the two English Universities, Oxford is the most 
 ancient and most dignified. Of its numerous statutes 
 which are penned in Latin, as many as fill a moderate 
 duodecimo volume are published, as the title page de- 
 clares, for the use of youth : and of these care is taken, 
 (for the honour of the government let it be spoken) that 
 those, for whose observance they are designed, shall not, 
 without their own default, be ignorant : since, at every 
 man's admission, a copy is put into his hands. All these 
 statutes, as well those that are seen as those that are not 
 seen, every student at his admission is sworn in Latin to 
 observe, " So help me God," says the matriculated per- 
 son, " touching as 1 do the most holy Gospel of Christ."* 
 
 The barbers, cooks, bed-makers, errand-boys, and other 
 unlettered retainers to the university, are sworn in En- 
 glish to the observance of these Latin statutes. The 
 oath thus solemnly taken there has not, we may be 
 morally certain, for a course of many generations, per- 
 haps from the first era of its institution, been a single 
 person that has ever kept. Now, though customary, it is 
 perhaps not strictly proper, as it tends to confusion and 
 
 * Tu fidem dabis ad observandutn omnia statuta. privilegia, et con- 
 suetudines hujus universitatis Oxon. Ita te Deus aojuvet, tactis sacro 
 Sanctis Christi evangeliis.— Parecfcote sive Excerpta e Carport Statutorum, 
 p. 250, Oxon. 1756. 
 
 22
 
 338 APPENDIX, 
 
 On Subscriptions to Matters of Opinion. 
 
 to false estimates, to apply the term perjury, without dis- 
 tinction, to the breach of an assertive and to that of a pro- 
 missive declaration — to the breach of an oath and to that of 
 a vow, and to brand with the same mark of infamy a solemn 
 averment, which at the time of making it was certainly 
 false, — and a single departure from a declared resolution, 
 which at the time of declaring it might possibly have 
 been sincere.* But, if they themselves are to be believed 
 who have made the oath, and who break it, — the university 
 of Oxford, for this century and half has been, and at 
 the time I am writing is, a commonwealth of perjurers. 
 The streets of Oxford, said (the first) Lord Chatham 
 once, " are paved with disaffection." That weakness is 
 outgrown : but he might have added then (if that had 
 been the statesman's care) and any one may add still, 
 " and with perjury." The face of this, as of other pros- 
 titutions, varies with the time : purjurers in their youth, 
 they become suborners of perjury in their old age. 
 
 It should seem that there was once a time, when the 
 persons subjected to this yoke, or some one on their be- 
 half, began to murmur : for, to quiet such murmurs, or at 
 «ny rate to anticipate them, — a practitioner, of a faculty 
 now extinct, but then very much in vogue, — a physician 
 of the soul, a casuist, was called in. His prescription, at 
 the end of every one of these abridged editions of the 
 statutes ; his prescription, under the title of Epinomis seu 
 explaiiatioJuramentl,&iC. stands annexed.f This casuist is 
 kind enough to inform you, that though you have taken 
 an oath indeed, to observe all these statutes — and that 
 without exception, yet, in ninety-nine instances out of a 
 hundred, it amounts to nothing. What, in those instances 
 you are bound to do is — not to keep your oath, but to 
 take your choice whether you will do that or suffer — 
 not to do what you are bid ; but, if you happen to be 
 found out (for this proviso, I take for granted, is to be 
 supplied) to b€ar the penalty. For — what now do you 
 think your sovereign seriously wishes you to do, when he 
 
 * " Statuimus," say these reverend legislators, " idque sub poena per- 
 jurii," in a multitude of places. 
 
 f The title at length is Epinomis seu Explanatio Juramenti quod de 
 ebservandis Staiulis UniversHatis a singulis pretstari solet: ^uateuus 
 scilicet, seu qiiousque oHigare jurantes eensendum est.
 
 APPENDIX. 339 
 
 On Subscriptions to Matters of Opinion. 
 
 forbids you to commit murder? that you should abstain 
 from murder at all events? No surely; but that, if you 
 happen to be found out and convicted, you should sit 
 quiet while the halter is fitted to your neck. 
 
 Who is this casuist, who by his superior power 
 washes away the guilt from purjury, and controuls the 
 judgments of the Almighty? Is it the legislator himself ? 
 By no means. That indeed might make a difference. 
 The sanction of an oath would then not with certainty be 
 violated; it would only with certainty be profaned. It 
 was a Bishop Saunderson, who in the bosom of a Pro- 
 testant church, before he was made a bishop, had set up 
 a kind of confessional box, whither tender consciences 
 repaired from all parts to heal their scruples. 
 
 This institution, whether it were the fruit of blind- 
 ness or of a sinister policy, has answered in an admira- 
 ble degree some, at least, of the purposes for which it 
 was probably designed. It has driven the consciences 
 of the greater part of those by whom the efficient parts 
 of government are one day to be filled, into a net, of 
 which the clergy hold the cords. The fear and shame of 
 every young man of sense, of spirit, and reflection, on 
 whom these oaths are imposed, must at one time or 
 other take the alarm. What! says he to himself, am I a 
 perjurer? If he asks his own judgment, it condemns 
 him. What then shall he do ? Perjury, were it only for 
 the shame of it, is no light matter: if his education has 
 been ever so loose, he has frequently heard it condemned ; 
 if strict and virtuous, he has never heard it mentioned 
 without abhorrence. But, when he thinks of the guilt of it, 
 hell yawns under his feet. What then shall he do? Whither 
 then shall he betake himself? He flies to his reverend in- 
 structors in a state of desperation. " These men are older 
 than myself," says he, " they are more learned, they are 
 therefore wiser : on them rests the charge of my education. 
 My own judgment, indeed, condemns me; but my own. 
 judgment is weak and uninformed. Why may not I trust tc 
 others ? See, their hands are outstretched to comfort me ' 
 Where can be the blame in listening to them? in being 
 guided by them ? in short, in surrendering my judgmen 
 into their hands ? Are not they my rulers, my instructors 
 
 22.
 
 340 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 On Subscriptions to Matters of Opinion. 
 
 the very persons whom my parents have appointed to 
 take charge of me, to check my presumption, and to in- 
 form my ignorance? What obligation am I under, nay 
 what liberty have I to oppose my feeble lights to theirs ? 
 Do they not stand charged with the direction of my con- 
 science? charged by whatsoever I ought to hold most sa- 
 cred ? Are they not the ministers of God's word ? the depo- 
 sitaries of our holy religion ? the very persons, to whose 
 guidance I vowed, in the person of my godfathers and 
 godmothers, to submit myself, under the name of my 
 spiritual pastors and masters? And are they not able 
 and willing to direct me ? In all matters of conscience, 
 then, let me lay down to myselfthe following as inviolable 
 rules : — not to be governed by my own reason ; not to 
 endeavour at the presumptuous and unattainable merit of 
 consistency ; not to consider whether a thing is right or 
 wrong in itself, but what tJiei/ think of it. On all points 
 then let me receive my religion at their hands ; what to them 
 is sacred, let it to me be sacred ; what to them is wicked- 
 ness, let it to me be wickedness ; what to them is truth, let 
 it to me be truth ; let me see as they see, believe as they 
 believe, think as they think, feel as they feel, love as they 
 love, fear as they fear, hate as they hate, esteem as they 
 esteem, perform as they perform, subscribe as they sub- 
 scribe, and swear as they swear. With them is honour, 
 peace, and safety ; without them, is ignominy, contention, 
 and despair." Such course must every young man, who 
 is brought up under the rod of a technical religion, dis- 
 tinct from morality and bestrewed with doubts and dan- 
 gers, take on a thousand occasions, or run mad. To 
 whom else should he resort for counsel ? to whom else 
 should he repair? To the companions of his own age? 
 They will laugh at him, and call him methodist : for 
 many a one who dreads even hobgoblins alone, laughs at 
 them in company. To their friends and relations who 
 are advanced in life, and who live in the world ? The 
 answer they get from them, if they are fortunate enough 
 to get a serious one, is — that in all human establishments 
 there are imperfections ; but that innovation is dangerous, 
 and reformation can only come from above : that young 
 >^en are apt to be hurried away by the warmth of their
 
 APPENDIX. 341 
 
 On Subscriptions to Matters of Opinion. 
 
 temper, led astray by partial views of things, of which 
 they are unable to see the whole : that these eifusions of 
 self-sufficiency are much better repressed than given 
 way to : that what it is not in our power to correct, it 
 were better to submit to without notice : that prudence 
 commands what custom authorises — to swim quietly with 
 the stream : that to bring matters of religion upon the 
 carpet, is a ready way to excite either aversion or con- 
 tempt : that humanity forbids the raising of scruples 
 in the breasts of the weak, — good humour, the bringing 
 up of topics that are austere, — good manners, topics 
 that are disgusting : that policy forbids our offending 
 the incurious with the display of our sagacity, the 
 ignorant with the ostentation of our knowledge, the 
 loose with the example of our integrity, and the power- 
 ful with the noise of our complaints : that, with regard 
 to the point in question, oaths, like other obligations, 
 are to be held for sacred or insignificant, according to the 
 fashion : that perjury is no disgrace, except when it 
 happens to be punished : and that, as a general rule, it 
 concerns every man to know and to remember, as he 
 tenders his peace of mind and his hopes of fortune, that 
 there are institutions, which though mischievous are not 
 to be abolished, and though indefensible are not to be 
 condemned. 
 
 A sort of tacit convention is established : " give your 
 soul up into my hands — I ensure it from perdition. Surely 
 the terms, on your part, are easy enough : exertion there 
 needs none: all that is demanded of you is — to shut 
 your eyes, ears, lips, and to sit quiet. The topic of 
 religion is surely a forbidding enough, as well as a for- 
 bidden topic: all that you have to do then, is to think 
 nothing about the matter ; look not into, touch not the 
 ark of the Lord, and you are safe." 
 
 (B.) Book I. ch. viii. p. 62. 
 
 Mischievousness of Reward latent — Exemplifications. 
 
 When a reward is groundless, it may be either simply 
 groundless, or positively mischievous : the act, which it
 
 342 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mischievousness of Reward latent — Exemplifications. 
 
 is employed to produce, may be either simply useless, or 
 pernicious. 
 
 It would be a nugatory lesson to say, that reward should 
 not be applied to produce any act, of which the tendency 
 is acknowledged to be pernicious : and this, whether 
 such act have been aggregated to the number of offences 
 or not. The only cases which it can be of any use, in 
 this point of view, to mention, are those in which the 
 mischievousness of the act, or the tendency of the re- 
 ward to produce it, is apt to lie concealed. 
 
 To begin with the cases, which come under the former 
 of these descriptions : those in which the mischievousness 
 of the act is apt to lie concealed. One great class of pub- 
 lic services, for which rewards have been or might be 
 offered, are those which consist in the extension of 
 knowledge, or according to the more common, though 
 obscure and imposing phrase, the discovery and propa- 
 gation of truth. Now there is one way in which rewards 
 offered for the propogation of truth (that is, of what is 
 looked upon, or yjrofessed to be looked upon, as truth) 
 cannot but have a pernicious tendency : and that of 
 whatever nature be the proposed truth. A point being 
 proposed, concerning which men in general are thought 
 to be ignorant or divided, if a man sincerely desired 
 that the truth relative to that point should be as- 
 certained, and in consequence of that desire is content 
 to furnish the expense of a reward, the natural course 
 is — to invite men to the enquiry. " How stands the 
 mutter? Which of the two contradictory propositions is 
 the true one?" To u qnestion of some such form as this, 
 he requires an answer. The service then to which he 
 annexes his reward, is the giving an answer to a ques- 
 tion; such an answer as upon examination shall appear 
 to be a true one, or to come nearest to the truth. The 
 tendency of a reward thus offered, to produce the disco- 
 very of the truth, is obvious: the tendency of it will, at 
 least, be to produce the discovery of what to him, who puts 
 in for the reward, shall appear to be truth. Whatelse should 
 it tend to produce? My aim being to establish what to 
 you shall appear to be the truth, what other means have 
 I of doing this, but by advancing what appears to me to 
 
 I
 
 APPENDIX. 343 
 
 Mischievousness of Reward latent — Exemplifications. 
 
 be so? Accordingly, thus to apply the reward, is to pro- 
 mote a sincere and impartial enquiry, and to pursue the 
 best, and indeed only course that by means of artificial 
 reward can be pursued for promoting real knowledge. 
 
 Another course, which has been sometimes taken, 
 is — to assume the truth of the one of two contradictory 
 propositions, that may be framed concerning any object 
 of enquiry, — and to make the demonstration of the truth 
 of that proposition the condition of the reward. In this 
 course the tendency of the reward is pernicious. The 
 habit of veracity is one of the great supports of human 
 society : a virtue which in point of utility ought to be, 
 and in point of fact is, enforced in the highest degree by 
 the moral sanction. To undermine that habit, is to un- 
 dermine one of the principal supports of human society. 
 The tendency of a reward thus offered is to undermine 
 this virtuous habit, and to introduce the opposite vi- 
 cious one. The tendency of it may be to produce what 
 is called logical truth, or not, as may happen : but it is, 
 at any rate, to produce ethical falsehood : it may tend 
 to promote knowledge or error, as it may happen ; but it 
 tends, at any rate, to promote mendacity. The proposition 
 either is true or it is false : and, be that as it may, men 
 are either agreed about its being true, or they are not. 
 In as far as they are agreed, the reward is useless; in as 
 far as they are not, it tends to make them act as if they 
 were, and is pernicious. 
 
 It may be said — no : all that it tends to do, at least all 
 that it is designed to do, is to call forth such, and such 
 only, whose opinion is really in favour of the proposition, 
 and to put them upon giving their reasons for it : it is not 
 to corrupt their veracity, but to overcome their indolence. 
 But whatever may be the design, the former is in fact 
 its tendency. On the one side, they have reward to urge 
 them; on the other, they have impunity to permit them. 
 For, when a man declares that his opinions on a given 
 subject are so and so, who can say that they are other 
 wise ? Who can say with certainty, what are a man's 
 private opinions? And, if the effect is bad, what signifies 
 the intention? Or how, indeed, can the intention be
 
 344 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mischievousness of Reward latent — Exemplijications. 
 
 pure, if it be seen that the effect is likely to be a bad 
 one? 
 
 Thus would it stand, were it doubtful whether there 
 are any persons or no, whose unbiassed opinions are on 
 the opposite side to that on which the demonstration is 
 sought to be procured. But the case always is, that it 
 is clear there are such persons: that it is the very per- 
 suasion of there being such, that is the cause of offering 
 the reward ; and that the more numerous they are, the 
 more likely it is to be offered, and the greater it is likely 
 to be. Such then is the danger of promoting mendacity : 
 to avoid which danger, it may be laid down in short terms, 
 as a general rule, that Reward should be given, not for de- 
 monstration, but for enquiry. 
 
 More than this, a reward thus applied tends always, in 
 a certain degree, to frustrate its own purpose ; and is so far, 
 not only inefhcacious, but efficacious on the other side. It 
 does as good as tell mankind — that, in the opinion of him 
 at least by whom the reward is offered, the probability 
 is, that men's opinions are most likely to be on the op- 
 posite side; and in so far gives them reason to think, 
 that the truth is also on that opposi>te side . " People in 
 general," a man will naturally say to himself, " are not of 
 this way of thinking : if they were, what need of all this 
 pains to make them so ?" This then affords another rea- 
 son why reward should be given — not for demonstration 
 but for enquiry. 
 
 Such, accordingly, has been the course pursued in 
 relation to almost every branch of science, or supposed 
 science. The science, or supposed science of divinity, 
 furnishes exceptions, which are perhaps the only ones. 
 What should we say to a man who should seek to pro- 
 mote physical knowledge by such devices? What should 
 we say to a man, who instead of setting men honestly 
 and fairly to enquire whether, in regard to living powers, 
 for example, the momentum were in the simple or in the 
 duplicate proportion of the velocity ; whether heat were 
 a substance, or only a quality of other substances ; whe- 
 ther blunt or pointed conductors of electricity were the 
 safest; should pay them for endeavouring to prove — that
 
 APPENDIX. 345 
 
 Mischievousness of Reward latent — Exemplifications. 
 
 in living forces, the momentum is in the simple proportion 
 only, that heat is only a quality, and that blunt con- 
 ductors are the safest? 
 
 In divinity, however, examples of this method of ap- 
 plying reward are frequent. 
 
 It may be said, that an exception ought to be made 
 from the rule, in the cases wherein, whichever side the 
 truth may be, the utility is clearly on the side thus 
 favoured. Thus, there is use, for instance, in the people's 
 believing in the being and attributes of a God : and that 
 even in a political view, since upon that depends all the 
 assistance which the political can derive from the relio-i- 
 ous sanction : and that there can be no use in their dis- 
 believing it. That there is use again, in the people's 
 believing in the truth of the Jewish prophecies ; since 
 upon that depends one argument in favour of the truth 
 of that history, the truth of which is one main ground of 
 men's expectation of the rewards and punishments be- 
 longing to that sanction. This observation certainly 
 deserves great attention. It exhibits a reason which 
 there may be for making an exception to the rule. It 
 does not, however, invalidate the arguments adduced, 
 as above, in favour of it : it does not disprove the pro- 
 bability of the mischiefs on the apprehension of which 
 it is grounded. What it does, is to exhibit a benefit as to 
 acting in balance against these inconveniences. If then 
 the interests of religion be at variance with those of 
 virtue, and it be necessary to endanger the one, in 
 order to promote the efficacy of the other, — so then it 
 must be. 
 
 It is to be observed, that all the advantage which can 
 accrue to the cause from this manoeuvre, is composed of 
 the difference between what it may derive from these 
 hireling advocates, and what, were there no such artifi- 
 cial encouragement given, it would derive from volun- 
 teers. On this head it may be worth considering, whether 
 the calling forth of the one does not contribute to pre- 
 vent the enlistment of the other. " What need is there 
 for me, a stranger, to give myself the trouble, when there 
 are so many others whose particular business it is, and 
 who are so well paid for it?" Of this sort is the language.
 
 346 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mischievousness of Reward latent— 'Exemplificatwns. 
 
 which a man will very naturally hold with himself on 
 such occasions. 
 
 A strange circumstance it would be indeed, — and one 
 which would afford no very favourable presumption 
 either of the truth or of the utility of the cause which it 
 is meant to favour, — if all the unbiassed suffrages of 
 any considerable majority in number or value of the 
 thinking men should, if left to themselves, be on the op- 
 posite side. Great, indeed, must be the penury of un- 
 bought advocates, that can make it advantageous, — I da 
 not say merely to the cause of truth, but to any cause, 
 however wide of the truth, — to apply to mercenaries for 
 assistance. Of how little weight the suffrages of the 
 latter are in comparison of those of the former, — let any 
 one judge, who has observed the superior eclat with 
 which the work of a layman is received, when it hap- 
 pans to be on the side of orthodoxy. 
 
 But, however the matter may stand with regard to 
 questions of political importance, in which utility is 
 clearly on one side, — ^whatever reason there be for violating 
 the law of impartiality in this case, it ceases altogether 
 when applied to the merely speculative points, which form 
 the matter of those articles of faith, to which, on a variety 
 of occasions, subscriptions or other testimonies of accep- 
 tation are required. These will serve as one set of in- 
 stances of the other branch of the cases, where the mis- 
 chievous effects of reward are apt to lie concealed : viz. 
 where, in the case of a line of conduct produced by 
 a reward, apparent or no, the tendency of the reward 
 to produce it is apt not to be apparent at first glance ; 
 inasmuch as it may escape observation, that the ad- 
 vantage held forth acts to this purpose in the capacity 
 of a reward. 
 
 For an emolument to operate in the capacity of a 
 reward, so as to give birth to action of any kind, it is not 
 necessary that it should be designed so to do. When- 
 ever any such connexion is established, between emolu- 
 ment on the one part, and a man's conduct on the other, 
 that by acting in any manner, he sees that he acquires an 
 emolument, or chance of emolument, which without 
 acting in such manner he could not have, — the view of
 
 APPENDIX. 347 
 
 Mischievoiisness of Reward latent — Exemplifications. 
 
 such emolument will operate on him in the capacity of a 
 reward. It matters not, whether it be the sole act which 
 is to entitle him to the reward, or only one act amongst 
 many. It matters not, whether it be the act to which the 
 reward is professedly annexed, or any other act of which 
 no mention is made. It may not be held up to view in 
 that character -. it may even be not held up to view at all. 
 In this unconspicuous way an emolument may operate, and 
 in a thousand instances does operate, in the capacity of 
 a reward, on a long and indefinite course of action; in 
 short, on the business of a whole life. Whenever, on the 
 part of the same person, two acts are so connected, that 
 the performance of the one is necessary to his having it 
 in his power to perform the other, a reward annexed 
 to the latter operates eventually as if annexed to the 
 former ; and, whether designedly or not, it promotes 
 the production of the one act as much as of the other. 
 In this case, the having performed the prior act is 
 said to be a qualification for the being permitted to per- 
 form the posterior. The emolument annexed to the act 
 professedly rewarded, is therefore, in this case, as much a 
 reward for assuming the qualification, as a reward for 
 performing the act, for the performance of which a man 
 is required to qualify himself by the performance of the 
 other. 
 
 In England (for I will go no farther) the subscribing a 
 declaration of this sort is made a qualification for many of 
 the principal emoluments to which a man can aspire : for 
 every preferment in the church; for the liberty of engag- 
 ing in the instruction of youth ; for admission to the 
 benefits of that mode of education which is looked upon 
 as most liberal and advantageous, and thereby to the 
 enjoyment, or the chance of the enjoyment of any one of 
 that ample stock of emoluments, which have been pro- 
 vided in the view of inducing young persons to put 
 themselves in the way of that favourite mode of educa- 
 tion. The articles, or propositions, to which this sub- 
 scription is required, are termed Articles of Religion. 
 By subscribing to these articles a man declares, that he 
 believes the truth of certain facts which they aver. 
 Among these facts there are many, which, whetlvdr true
 
 348 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mischievousness of Reward latent— ^Exemplifications. 
 
 or not (a point which is nothing to the present purpose) 
 are plainly, in a political view, of no sort of importance 
 whatsoever. I say of no importance ; since they con- 
 tribute nothing to the furnishing either of any motive to 
 prompt to action, or of any rule or precept to direct it. 
 Be they true, or be they false, — nothing is to be done in 
 consequence ; nothing to be abstained from. 
 
 The mischievous tendency, which the giving a reward 
 has in this case, is much more palpable than what it has 
 in the other ; because the probability of its giving birth 
 to falsehood is the greater. 
 
 1 . In the case of demonstrative lectures, all that it is 
 absolutely necessary a man should do, is — simply to state 
 the arguments, in favour of the proposition in question : 
 he does not necessarily assert his own belief of the truth of 
 it. " Such are the reasons," he may say, " which induce 
 other people, and which, if attended to, may perhaps in- 
 duce you to believe it : whether they are conclusive or 
 not, it lies upon you to judge : as to myself, whether I my- 
 self believe it or no, is another matter. I do not tell you : 
 I am not bound to tell you." In the case of subscrip- 
 tion, he directly, plainly, and solemnly says — I believe it. 
 
 2. In the next place, the probability of falsehood is 
 much greater in this case than in the other. In the case 
 of demonstrative lectures, men are reasoned with, lest 
 otherwise they should not believe. In the case of sub- 
 scriptions, men are rewarded for subscribing, because it 
 is known many do not believe. Had men never disbe- 
 lieved or doubted, they never would have been called 
 upon to subscribe. It would have been useless and 
 needless ; nor would any one have thought of it. 
 
 Those who are inclined to place in the most favour- 
 able point of view the political efficacy of subscriptions 
 to such articles, have called them articles of peace : as if 
 there were nothing more in saying, I believe this propo- 
 sition, than in saying, I engage not to say anything that 
 tends to express a disbelief of it. 
 
 They would have been much better named had they 
 been termed articles of war. 
 
 In regard to speculative opinions, there are but two 
 cases ip which men can be said to be at peace : — when
 
 APPENDIX. 349 
 
 Mischievousness of Reward latent— Exemplifications. 
 
 they think about it, and are of the same opinion ; and 
 when they think nothing about the matter : unless we 
 reckon as a third, that of their thinking about it, and 
 differing about it, and not caring about the difference. 
 That the expedient in question has no tendency to pro- 
 mote peace of the first kind has been already shown. It 
 is equally clear, that it has none to produce peace of 
 either of the two other kinds. The tendency of it is just 
 the contrary. If left to himself, there is not one person 
 in a hundred who would ever trouble himself about the 
 matter. Of this we may be pretty certain. What motive 
 should he have? What should lead him to it? What 
 pleasure or what profit is there to be got by it? If left 
 then to themselves, the bulk of mankind, — or, to speak 
 more properly, the bulk of those whom it is proposed 
 thus to discipline, — would think nothing about the matter. 
 They would therefore be in a state of the profoundest 
 and most lasting peace. If this should not be granted, 
 at least it will be granted, that it would be possible for 
 them to be so. Subscriptions render it impossible. For 
 making peace between men, subscriptions are just the 
 same sort of recipe, that it would be for making peace 
 between two mastiffs, to set a bone before them, and then 
 tie them to the same stake. 
 
 When both parties are at liberty, both parties are at 
 their ease, and there is peace between them. But when 
 the stronger party says to the weaker, — " Stand forth and 
 lie in the sight of God, or give up the choicest advantages 
 of society, that we may engross them to ourselves," what 
 sort of peace is it that can subsist between them ? Just 
 that sort of peace which subsists between the house- 
 breaker and the householder, when the one has bound 
 the other hand and foot and gagged him. It is not to be 
 denied, but that there may be some sort of uneasiness 
 between them in the first-mentioned state of things : to 
 wit, where, neither of them being sacrificed, they are both 
 at liberty, and both of them protected. But what sort of 
 uneasiness is this ? Just that sort of uneasiness which 
 may, perhaps, subsist between two neighbours, at the 
 thoughts that neither of them can break into the other's 
 house. Against this sort of uneasiness, peace, it must be
 
 350 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mischievousness of Reward latent — Exemplificatiom. 
 
 confessed, affords no remedy : but, from the possibility 
 of there subsisting this sort of uneasiness between two 
 neighbours, or two nations, who ever thought of speaking 
 of them as not being at peace ? 
 
 If this method of insuring peace were good in one 
 case, how should it be otherwise in any other? Religion, 
 or rather the nonsense which has been grafted on it — 
 (for, the part that is capable of being made useful is not 
 thus exposed to controversy) — religion, I say, is not 
 the only topic which has given rise to controversy. 
 So long as there is any man whose knowledge falls 
 short of omniscience, and whose faculties are liable 
 to error, men will have their differences : they will 
 differ about matters of judgment, and about matters of 
 taste : about the sciences, about the arts, about the ordi- 
 nary occurrences of life : in short, about everything 
 which has a name. It would then be making peace among 
 the lovers of music to make them swear, before God, 
 that they think the Italian style, or that they think the 
 French style of music is the more pleasing : among the 
 lovers of heroic poetry, that they think it best in blank 
 verse, or that they think it best in rhyme : among the 
 lovers of dramatic poetry, that the unities of time and 
 place may be dispensed with, or that they must, at any 
 rate, be observed. It would be making peace between 
 an affectionate pair, to question them about every pos- 
 sible point of domestic management, till some slight 
 diversity were found in their opinions, and then force 
 one of them to swear, before God, that he was convinced 
 his own opinion was the wrong one. It would be making 
 
 peace but surely by this time, the pacific tendency of 
 
 this policy must be sufficiently understood. 
 
 Another mischievous effect of this policy is the ten- 
 dency it has to vitiate the understanding. Over a man's 
 genuine opinion, such forms, it has been shown, can 
 have no influence : either his veracity must give way, or 
 his understanding, or both : he must deceive either him- 
 self or others. A deceit of some kind or other he must 
 put on somebody; either on himself or others. There 
 is one thing which a man cannot do ; that is, destroy the 
 force of arguments which are actually present to his
 
 AFPENDIX. 3^1 
 
 Mischievousness of Reward latent — Exemplifications. 
 
 mind. There is another thing which he is enabled to do 
 in a great measure ; that is, keep them from getting 
 there. This, accordingly, is what, if the consciousness 
 of falsehood sits uneasy on him, he will labour to do 
 with all his might. To believe, is not in his power : 
 for, when all the arguments that have ever been urged, or 
 can be devised in favour of the proposition, are col- 
 lected and applied to his mind, and make no impression, 
 what help is there? What may perhaps be in his 
 power, is — not to disbelieve : and that, if possible, he will 
 do. But thus to shut the right eye, if one may so say, 
 of the understanding, and keep open only the left, is not 
 the work of a minute nor of an hour. He must make 
 many ineffectual attacks, and return as often to the 
 charge. He must wage war against the stubbornness of 
 the understanding : he must bring it under the dominion 
 of the affections. He must debilitate its powers : he must 
 render it incapable of placing, in a clear light, the difference 
 between right and wrong. In a word, he must instil into 
 his mind a settled habit of partiality and bad reasoning: 
 a habit of embracing falsehood with facility, and regard- 
 ing truth, not with indifference merely, but with sus- 
 picion, in the apprehension of being brought by it into 
 trouble. 
 
 One might imagine, that it could not have both these 
 bad effects at once : that if it have the one, it cannot 
 have the other: if a man disbelieves, his understanding, — • 
 if he believes, his morals, — are yet safe. But, whoever 
 thinks thus is led away by words : he does not understand 
 aright the workings of the human mind. He supposes 
 the mind fixed as between two rocks : whereas it is per- 
 petually shaken, and tossed about, as by a thousand waves. 
 He supposes a man at all times perfectly conscious of 
 the state of his own mind : and aware of the momenta 
 and directions of the incessantly fluctuating forces that 
 are operating on him. But this is not the case with one 
 man in a million, in any the least degree : nor perhaps 
 with any man in perfection. Thus it is also with hypo- 
 crisy and fanaticism : it might naturally be imagined, 
 that the one excludes the other; but repeated expe- 
 rience, and long continued observation, have at length
 
 352 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mischievousness of Reward latent — Exemplifications. 
 
 opened the eyes of most men upon that head : and it 
 seems now to be pretty generally understood, that these 
 two seemingly incompatible bad qualities are found fre- 
 quently in the same receptacle. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 to the taste of general readers, especially in the 
 present day. In two volumes 8vo. (at a tithe of 
 the expense) Dr. Busby has concentrated as much 
 informatiou on the subject as curiosity will gene- 
 rally require, whether of students or amateurs ; 
 and pushes his enquiries as far back, not only as 
 his predecessors, but also as his successors can 
 ever go — to the origin of Music and of the 
 world." 
 
 After a brief analysis of the contents of the 
 several chapters, the Editor adds :— " Thus curious 
 
 and multifarious are the contents of theie interest- 
 ing volume?, which are throughout interspersed 
 with musical examples; and, without pledging our- 
 selves to all the opinions of Dr. Bushy, we can 
 cordially recommend the work both as instructive 
 and entertaining; particularly to musical students, 
 who, with a rapid and perhaps tasteful execution, 
 often betray a sad ignorance both of the theory 
 and history of their favourite art." — Pliilan. Gaz, 
 
 PRECEPTS and OBSER- 
 VATIONS on the ART of COLOURING, 
 in Landscape Painting. By the late Wm. 
 Oram, Esq. of His Majesty's Board of 
 Works. Arranged from the Author's Ori- 
 ginal MS. and published by G. Clarke, 
 Esq. F.S.A. with plates, 4to. 15s. boards. 
 
 CAMERA, or ART of DRAMM- 
 ING in WATER COLOURS; with In- 
 structions for Sketching from Nature, com- 
 prising the whole process of Waler-colourcd 
 Drawing, familiarly exemplified in Draw- 
 ing, Shadowing, and Tinting a complete 
 Landscape, in all its progressive stages ; 
 and directions for compounding and tising 
 colours; Sepia, Indian Ink, Bister, &c. 
 By J. Hassel. 8vo. 5s. boards. 
 
 " If the pages of this little volume are perused 
 with attention, and the rules which it contains 
 carefully adopted, the ingenious pupil will tind that 
 he can make considerable improvement without the 
 aid of any other master. To assist the learner a 
 Landscape is presented on three distinct sheets; 
 the first is an outline, the second is shaded, and 
 the third is coloured. These views will be found 
 of essential service; they illustrate the description, 
 and are illustrated by it." — Imperial Mag. 
 
 By the same Author, 
 
 EXCURSIONS of PLEASURE, and 
 SPORTS of the THAMES : illustrated in 
 a Series of 24 Engravings, coloured after 
 Nature ; accompanied by a Descriptive 
 and Historical Account of every Town, 
 Village, Mansion, and the adjacent Coun- 
 try, on the Banks of the River; the places 
 and |)eriods for enjoying the Sports of Ang- 
 ling, Shooting, &c. &c. Also, a particular 
 Account of all Places of Amusement in it 
 Vicinity, &c. Fcap. 8vo. Tis. boards. 
 
 AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, &c. 
 
 The BRITISH FARMER'S 
 
 CYCLOPAEDIA; or, Complete Agricul- 
 tural Dictionary ; including every Science or 
 Subject dependant on, or connected with. 
 Improved Modern Husbandry; with the 
 Breedings Feeding, and Management of Live 
 Slock; the Modern Art of Farriery ; Cure for 
 the Diseases of Dogs; the Management of 
 J}ecs; the Culture of Frui/ and Forest Trees; 
 of Ci/der; of Mall Liquor, and Made IVines ; 
 with Forty-Two Engravings coloured and 
 plain. By Thomas Potts. 4to. 31. Ijs. 6d. 
 boards. 
 
 The PRIVATE BREWER'S 
 
 GUIDE to the ART of BREWINCJ A[,E 
 and PORTER, particularly adapted to the 
 Use of the Familiesof the Kobilify, Gentry, 
 Farmers, and private Brewers, with com- 
 plete instructions for Country Victuallers 
 who brew at home. — Also, an account of 
 Drugs, Tables of Duties, Laws of Excise, 
 the art of sweetening Casks, Instructions 
 for making up Spirits, purchasing Wines, 
 ^■c. the whole on a plain and entirely 
 new plan. By John Tin k, late of Croy- 
 I don, Brewer. 8vo. 9s. boards.
 
 10 
 
 Miscellaneous Works, jmblishcd by 
 
 IMPORTANT HINTS and 
 
 DISCOVERIES in AGRICULTURE; 
 
 or, a New System of Farming in general ; 
 wliereby such essentia) advantage is gained 
 over the general system in practice, as is 
 judged nearly to equal the rent ; or, com- 
 paratively speaking,' almost to reduce a 
 Farm to no Rent, and also employing the 
 Poor, and reducing the Rates. By C. 
 Drury, late of Mansfield. Fourth Edition, 
 enlarged and improved. 8vo. Ids. boards. 
 
 By the same Author, 
 
 DISCOVERIES of a particular rapid 
 Method of Feeding Pigs, at half the usual 
 expense. 2s. 6d. 
 
 An ESSAY on the SOILS 
 
 and COMPOSTS indispensably necessary 
 in the propagation and culture of the more 
 rare and valuable ornamental Trees, Shrubs, 
 Plants, and Flowers, of the Pleasure-gar- 
 den, Flower-garden, and Greenhouse Col- 
 lection. By Tho. Haynes. 12aio. 5s. bds. 
 
 The EXOTIC GARDENER; 
 
 in which the Management of the Hot- 
 house, Green-house, and Conversatory, is 
 clearly and fully delineated, according to 
 modern practice ; with an- Appendix, con- 
 taining Observations on the Soils suitable 
 to tender Exotics. By J. Cushing. Third 
 Edition. 8vo. 10s. 6d. boards. 
 
 The FARMER, MALT- 
 
 STER, and BREWER'S Practical Memo- 
 randum Book ; containing a concise Trea- 
 tise on the different Methods of Making 
 Malt, and of [)ri)moting the various pro- 
 cesses depending upon and resulting from 
 this article, from the" Seed in the ground 
 to the last stage of manufacturing and 
 using it; with Remarks on Germination, 
 Fermentation, Sprinkling, Drying, &c. ; 
 the use of the Thermometer ; latest Laws 
 and Regulations relative to the sale and 
 manufacturing of Malt ; how to produce 
 Liquors of the finest quality, &c. &c. ; 
 with a variety of suggestions relative to 
 Domestic Brewing. To which is added, an 
 Abstract of the New Beer Act. The whole 
 interspersed with many valuable Notes and 
 Illustrations from the best authorities, 
 &c. &c. By J. S. Forsyth. 2s. 6d. bds. 
 
 HOME-BREWED ALE; or. 
 
 Plain Practical Instruction to Private Fa- 
 milies, for Brewing their own Liquor; 
 with Directions for purchasing Brewing 
 vessels, and preserving Yeast for future 
 use. By a Housekeeper. 2s. sewed. 
 
 ESSAYS on the MANAGE- 
 MENT of the DAIRY, shewing the mo- 
 dern Practice of the best districts in the 
 Manufacture of Butter and Cheese, de- 
 duced from a series of Observations made 
 during thirty years practice. By J. Tuam- 
 LEY and others. A new and enlarged Edi- 
 tion, with plates. 12mo. 7s. boards. 
 
 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 
 
 A GENUINE GUIDE TO 
 
 HEALTH ; or. Practical Essays on the 
 most approved Means of Preserving Health, 
 and preventing Diseases. To which are 
 added. Cursory Observations on Intem- 
 perance and various Excesses, and the ex- 
 traordinary intluence they have on the 
 Frame, with suggestions to counteract their 
 baneful effects; also Strictures on the pe- 
 culiar regimen and management of Invalids, 
 Women in Child-bed, and Infants, with 
 ample Instructions to select such Articles 
 of Food, &c. as are best adapted for them. 
 By T. F. Churchill, M.D. Professor of 
 Medicine, &c. ]2mo. 4s. sewed. 
 
 " Dr. Chlrchih has judiciously divided his 
 subjects info distinct Essays, each of which con- 
 tains a fund of useful as well as improving matter; 
 and if his maxims are adopted, they will evidently 
 prove of universal advantage." — Gent.'s Mag. 
 
 A COLLECTION of Valuable 
 
 and Original RECEIPTS, for Making very 
 superior rich-davoured Imitations of Fo- 
 reign Wines and Liquors. By J. Fitch. 
 2s. 6d. 
 
 MARCH'S COMPLETE 
 
 FAMILY BOOK-KEEPER; or. House- 
 keeper's Assistant, for the current Year ; 
 upon an improved plan; being an easy, 
 concise, and regular method of keeping an 
 exact Account of Household Expenses. 
 
 " Maich's Family Book-keeper is a very use- 
 ful work, and saves much trouble; the various 
 articles of expense being printed, with a column 
 for every Day in the Year, so that at one view the 
 amount of expenditure on each, and the total sum, 
 may be known." — Domestic Cookery. 
 
 The FOOTMAN'S DIREC- 
 TORY and BUTLER'S REMEMBRAN- 
 CER. The Fourth Edition, with consider- 
 able Additions and Improvements. 12mo. 
 4s. 6d. boards. 
 
 " No Kitchen or Servant's Hall, in houses 
 where men-servants of any description are kept, 
 ought to be without the work we are now review- 
 ing;; and will be of great use in those respectable 
 families of the middle classes, where the duties of 
 a loulmau are performed by female servants." 
 
 European Mag.
 
 W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, Stationers -Hall-Court. 
 
 11 
 
 COOKERY and CONFEC- 
 
 TIONARY ; an original W()rk,comprisinf; 
 tlie varieties of English and French Cook- 
 ery and Confectionary. By John Con- 
 RAUK Cooke. Price 6s. bds. or 7s. bound, 
 
 " This book is in every sense a valuable practi- 
 cal Manual, combining elegance with utility and 
 economy." — Literary Magnet. 
 
 "■ In confectionary, Mr. Cooke displays two-fold 
 excellence in illustrating his receipts in that de- 
 partment, by a series of etchings of tasteful designs 
 in ornamental pastry, and drawingsof confectionary 
 implements." — Monthly Critical Gazette. 
 
 " On"- great advantage peculiar to this important 
 family Manual is, that the weights and measures 
 of the different articles are accurately defined, as 
 well as the time required for roasting, boiling, 
 frying, &c."— XiTne's Telescope. 
 
 The LADY'S ECONOMI- 
 CAL ASSISTANT ; or the Art of Cutting- 
 out, and Making the most useful Articles of 
 Wearing Apparel, without waste ; ex- 
 plained by the clearest Directions, and 
 numerous Engravings of appropriate and 
 tasteful Patterns; designed for domestic 
 use. By the Author of " Domestic Cook- 
 ery." Second Edition. 12s. boards. 
 
 A SET of TABLES of all the 
 
 Measures of capacity used, generally and 
 provincially, within the Dominions, at home 
 and abroad, of the British Empire ; as 
 collected by orders of Government. And 
 the Wine, Ale, Irish, and Winchester Mea- 
 sures actually shown in Imperial Measure, 
 as required by Act of Parliament. To- 
 gether with a variety of other Tables upon 
 the same subject. By Wivi. Gutteridge, 
 Ganger. 12mo. 5s. half-bound. 
 
 COTTAGE COMFORTS; 
 
 ■with Hints for promoting them, gleaned 
 from experience; enlivened by authentic 
 Anecdotes. By Esther Copley (late 
 Hewlett.) Fourth Edititm. 2s. 6d. bds. 
 
 " This little volume will be found to contain 
 many useful hints, under the following general 
 heads: — Moral Character — Choosing a Cottage — 
 Entering upon a Cottage — Furnishing a Cottage — 
 Income and Expenditure — Cottage Cookery — 
 Management of a Dairy — Keeping Animals — Gar- 
 dening — Management of Infants — Education of 
 Children— Sickness — Cookery for the Sick — Medi- 
 ci ne — Recreation— Cottage Library — Contentment 
 and Loyalty— Conclusion." 
 
 By the same Author, 
 
 The YOUNG SERVANT'S FRIEND- 
 LY INSTRUCTOR; or, a Simimary of 
 the Duties of Domestic Servants. Is. sewed. 
 
 The DOMESTIC PH ARM A- 
 
 COPGEIA; or. Complete Medical Guide 
 for Families; with an Appendix of Fa- 
 vourite and Domestic Remedies, Medica- 
 ments, &c. which being calculated to meet 
 and combat successfully all incidental At- 
 tacks of Disease, it is incumbent on every 
 prudent Family to possess, 6s. boards. 
 
 The MOTHER'S MEDICAL 
 
 POCKET-BOOK, containing Advice, 
 Physical and Medical, to Mothers and 
 Nurses, relative to the rearing of Infants, 
 from the hour of Birth: including Practi- 
 cal Observations on the Management of 
 Pregnant and Lying-in Women ; flat and 
 sore Nipples; Suckling; Swathing and first 
 Dressing the Child ; the use of Cold Water 
 Affusion; Tepid Bath; Exposure of the 
 Head ; Air and Cleanliness ; the use of the 
 Cradle ; Crying of Children ; Diet, cScc. &c. 
 with the Symptoms and Treatment of the 
 most ordinary Diseases to which Children 
 are liable, &c. By J. S. Forsyth, Sur- 
 geon-Accoucheur, London. Is. sewed. 
 
 " We can safely pronounce this work to be con- 
 siderably belter calculated, than any of the kind 
 extant, for the purpose intended. It combines, in 
 well arranged order, all that is necessary to be 
 known and attended to in the rearing of Infants, 
 from the time of birth onwards; with the method 
 of treating the various complaints to which children 
 in general are liable, as far as domestic medicines 
 may be trusted to, &c. Neither is the Mother or 
 the Nurse forgotten. The treatment of Sore 
 Breasts, with general directions in both capacities, 
 are explicitly laid down for their guidance, &c. 
 A work of this kind has been long wanted in pri- 
 vate families " — Land. Medical Mag. 
 
 The MIRROR of the 
 
 GRACES; or. The English Lady's Cos- 
 tume: combining and harmonizing Taste 
 and Judgment, Elegance and Grace, Mo- 
 desty, Simplicity, and Economy, with 
 Fashion in Dress ; and adapting the various 
 articles of Female Embellishments to dif- 
 ferent Ages, Forms, and Com|)lexions; to 
 the Seasons of the Year, Rank, and Situ- 
 ation in Life; with useful Advice on Fe- 
 male Accomplishments, Politeness, and 
 Manners; the Cultivation of the Mind, and 
 the Carriage of the Body: offering also the 
 most efficacious Means of preserving Beau- 
 ty, Health, and Loveliness. By a Lady of 
 Distinction. New Edition, price 3s. 18mo. 
 boards ; or fine paper with coloured plates, 
 6s. 6d. boards. 
 
 " A neat little volume, calculated for the toilet 
 of a lady; full of useful information, and lessons 
 from which many may profit." — Ladies' Mag. 
 
 The LIFE PRESERVING 
 
 MANUAL, comprising all the means most 
 proper to be instantly adopted, w ith a view 
 to preserve life, restore animation, lessen 
 the danger, or alleviate the sufferings, in 
 every case of accident, injury, and sudden 
 illness to which the human frame is liable ; 
 with instructions and cautions calculated to 
 prevent the recurrence of the most frequent 
 and fatal accidents. By S. G. Wilks, M.D. 
 12mo. 2s. 6d. boards. 
 
 NISBET'S MEDICAL 
 
 GUIDE for the INVALID to the Princi- 
 pal WATERING-PLACES of GREAT 
 BRITAIN : containing a View of the Me- 
 dicinal Effects of the Waters of each Place. 
 12ino. 5s. 6d. boards.
 
 12 
 
 Miscellaneous Works, published hrj 
 
 POLITICAL ECONOMY. 
 
 A COMPENDIOUS and 
 
 PRACTICAL SYSTEM of BOOK- 
 KEEPING, for SAVINGS BANKS; to- 
 gether with TABLES for computing the 
 Interests on Deposits at the several rates 
 of 3L 8s. 5Jd. and 31. 6s. 8d. per Cent. ; ex- 
 emplified with Specimens of the Account 
 Books in use at the Southwell Savings 
 Bank : and illustrated by Explanatory 
 Ilemarks, shewing the Expenses of Ma- 
 nagement, as well as the Method of cal- 
 culating Interest, concisely and correctly, 
 either with or without Tables. By the 
 Reverend John Thomas Becher, M. A. 
 Prebendary of the Collegiate Church 
 of Southwell, Chairman of the Quarter 
 Sessions for the Newark Division of the 
 County of Nottingham, and for the Liberty 
 of Southwell and Scrooby. 2s. 6d. sewed. 
 
 The Table for computing Interest at the 
 rale of 31. 8s. SJd. per Cent, may be bad, in 
 Large Types, w ithout the System of Book- 
 keeping, so as to be mounted on Pasteboard, 
 for Practical Use. Price Is. 
 
 By the same Author, 
 
 The CONSTITUTION of FRIENDLY 
 SOCIETIES, upon LEGAL and SCIEN- 
 TIFIC PRINCIPLES, exemplified by 
 the Rules and Tables of the Southwell 
 Friendly Institution, according to the Sta- 
 tute lU Geo. IV. cap. 56 ; examined, cer- 
 tified, and recommended by Johv Tidu 
 Pratt, Esq. the Barrister at Law, ap- 
 pointed to certify the Rules of Friendly 
 Societies, as well as by W. Morgan, F.R.S". 
 and A. Morgan, Esq. Joint Actuaries of 
 the Equitable Assurance Company ; to- 
 gether with complete Tables for calculat- 
 ing, at every ])eriod of life, the value of 
 Assurances for Sickness, Annuities, Rever- 
 sions, and Endowments, effected by mem- 
 bers of Friendly Societies : to which is 
 added, a System of Book-keeping now in 
 general use among such Institutions. The 
 Fifth Edition. 8vo. 6s. boards. 
 
 " To such a Philanthropist as Mr. Becher, the 
 whole nation owes a statue : the practical and easy 
 good which he recommends will influence the 
 morals, and augment the happiness of posterity to 
 an invaluable extent." — Ge;it.'» Mag. 
 
 The PRACTICAL MEANS 
 
 of REDUCING the POOR'S RATE, 
 
 encouraging Virtue, and increasing the 
 Comforts of the aged, afflicted, and deserv- 
 ing Poor, as well as suppressing able- 
 bodied Pauperism, by a proper application 
 of the existing Laws respecting Select Ves- 
 tries and Incorporated Houses of Industry. 
 By the Rev. J. Bosworth, M. A. &c. 
 8vo. Is. 6d. sewed. 
 
 " In this well-written pamphlet a becoming 
 deference is paid to the Legislature. We admire 
 the modesty, which, with the clearest reasoning-, 
 and a detail of the most desirable practical results, 
 does not advance a step without the sanction of the 
 existing laws. We have, indeed, seldom seen so 
 large and interesting a bod^' of facts brought to- 
 gether in so small a compass." — Gent.^s Mag. 
 
 TREATISE on the IMPOR- 
 TANCE of EXTENDING the BRITISH 
 FISHERIES; containing a Description 
 of the Iceland Fisheries, and of the 
 Newfoundland Fishery and Colony : 
 together with Remarks and Propositions 
 for the better Supply of the Metropolis and 
 the Interior with cured and fresh Fish: 
 elucidating also the necessity of encourag- 
 ing and supporting Commerce, and the 
 general Industry of tlie Country. By 
 S. Phelps. 8vo. 6s. boards. 
 
 By the same Author, 
 
 An ANALYSISof HUM AN NATURE; 
 or, an Investigation of the Means to Im- 
 ])rove the Condition of the Poor, and to 
 promote the Happiness of Mankind in 
 general ; comprising also, the Progress and 
 present State of Political, Moral, and Re- 
 ligious Society. 2 vols, 8vo. 21s. boards. 
 
 The LIFE of ABRAHAM 
 
 NEWLAND, Esq. late Principal Cashier 
 at the Bank of England, from Authentic 
 Documents; to which is added, a History 
 of that Great National Establishment, with 
 the Charters and Statutes passed relative 
 to it, from the time of its incorporation ; 
 with an elegant Portrait. 8vo. 5s. boards
 
 W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, St atiomrs' -Hall-Coitrt . 
 
 13 
 
 SURGERY AND MEDICINE. 
 
 A MANUAL of SURGICAL 
 
 ANATOMY ; containing a minute de- 
 scription of tiie Parts concerned in Opera- 
 tive Surgery, ^vitii the Anatomical lillVcts 
 of Accidents, and Instructions for tlie Per- 
 formance of Operations. By II. M. 1'^d- 
 VTARDS, D.M.P. Translated, with Notes, 
 by William Coulsoiv, Surgeon to tlie Ge- 
 neral Dispensary, &c. &c. 18mo. 7s. bds. 
 
 " We recommend this Manual to the student and 
 to the practitioner ; to the former, as a nsefnl com- 
 panion in the dissecting-room, and to the latter as 
 a valuable and convenient book of reference." 
 
 Lancet. 
 
 " This is a very useful Manual : by unitini; the 
 study of Anatomy and Surgery, it supplies a dcti- 
 cieucy long felt by the student and by the general 
 practitioner. To the surgeon engageil extensively 
 in practice, at a distance from the Schools, whose 
 opportunities (always few) of renewing and increas- 
 ing his stock of practical Anatotuy, this little book 
 ■will prove an invalnahle work for constant and 
 easy reference, and it well merits to be on the table 
 of every surgeon so situated." — Literary Gazette. 
 
 " The work contains a great deal of practical in- 
 formation, which cannot fail to be interesting to the 
 student and practitioner. The translation is well 
 executed , and Mr. Conlson has increased its value 
 by the addition of notes, containing information 
 derived from the records of both English and Ger- 
 man Surgery." — Lond. Med. and Physical Jour. 
 
 The LECTURES of Sir AST- 
 ley COOPER, Barf. F.R.S. Surgeon 
 to the King, &c. &c. on the PRINCI- 
 PLES and PRACTICE of SURGERY ; 
 with additional Notes and Cases, hy Frf.- 
 nERicK Tyrrf.ll, Esq. The Third Volume, 
 8vo. IDs. 6d. bds. 
 
 The Fourth and concluding Volume is in 
 the Press. 
 
 A MANUAL of COMPAR 
 
 ATIVE ANATOMY, translated from the 
 German of J. F. Blumenbach, with addi- 
 tional Notes by VV. Lawrence, Esq. F.R.S. 
 Surgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, &c. 
 Second Edition, revised and augmented, ac- 
 cording to the last Goettingen Edition ; with 
 numerous Additions and Illustrations, de- 
 rived from the most recent labours of Com- 
 parative Anatomists. By William Coul- 
 soN, Surgeon to the General Dispensary, 
 and Honorary Member of the Medico-Chi- 
 rurgical Society of Berlin. 8vo. 14s. bds. 
 
 " The most useful elementary work on Compara- 
 tive Anatomy which we yet possess is the Short 
 System of Professor Blumenbach. This has been 
 translated into English, in one volume octavo, with 
 numerous additional notes, and an introductory 
 view of the classification of animals, by one of the 
 ablest of British Anatomists, Mr. Lawrence."— S«j;. 
 •plement to the Eiic. Brit. Xn. Animal Anatomy. 
 
 '• A i:ew edition having then become requisite, 
 Mr. Coulson, at the request of Mr. Lnvrence, un- 
 dertook the task, and has accomplished it with much 
 judgment and ability. He has not only added new 
 matter in parts where it was requisite, but has al- 
 tered the arrangement with the rflect, in general, 
 of improving it." — Ediii. Med. Jour, Apr. 18Cf). 
 
 A CONSPECTUS of Pre- 
 scriptions in medicine, SURGE- 
 RY, and MIDWIFERY; containing up- 
 wards of a Thousand modern Formula", in- 
 cluding the New French Medicines, and 
 arranged Tables of Doses, selected from the 
 highest Professional Authorities; intended 
 as a Remembrancer for General Practi- 
 tioners. Second Edition, enlarged and im- 
 proved, 18mo. 5s. sewed. 
 
 A MANUAL of PATIIOLO- 
 
 GY ; containing the Symptoms, Diagnosis, 
 and Morbid Characters of Diseases ; toge- 
 ther wilh an Exposition of the diflerent Me- 
 thods of Examination, applicable to AU'ec- 
 tions of the Head, Chest, and Abdomen. 
 By L. Martinet, D.M.P. Translated, 
 with Notes and Additions, by Jones Quaix, 
 A.B. M.B. and one of the Lecturers on 
 Anatomy in the Medical School, Alders- 
 gate-street. Third Edition, revised, with 
 additional Notes. 18mo. 6s. boards. 
 
 " We are glad to see that the favourable opinion 
 which we expressed of this work has been con- 
 lirmed by the rapid sale of the first e<lition. This 
 second edition is considerably improved, and is still 
 more entitled to public patronage." — Dr. Johnson's 
 Medico-Chlrurg. Rev. Jan. 1828. 
 
 " We strongly recommend AL Martinet's Ma- 
 nual (by Quain) to the profession, and especially to 
 students. If the latter wish to study diseases to 
 advantage they should always have it at hand, both 
 when at the bedside of the patient, and when mak- 
 ing post mortem examinations." — American Jour- 
 vat (if the Medical Sciences. 
 
 A TREATISEon MIDWIFE- 
 
 RY; developing new principles, which 
 tend materially to lessen the sull'ering of 
 the Patient, and shorten the duration of la- 
 bour. The Second Edition, considernbiy 
 improved, and illustrated with luinu-roiis 
 Cases; comprising, also, additional obser- 
 vations on premature expulsion of the 
 Ovum, and retention of the Placenta. By 
 John Power, M.D. Physiciui-Accouclieur 
 to the New Westminster Lying-in Cliaiity, 
 and to the Dorcas Society, Member of ilie 
 Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh, and 
 Lecturer on Midwifery and the Diseases of 
 Women and Children, &c. &c. 8vo, 8s. 
 boards. 
 
 " We are inclined to think our author has brought 
 forward many ingenious views, and suggested many 
 useful measures relative to the principles and prac- 
 tice of his art." — Mcdico-Chir. Jour. 
 
 " This book contains much sound practical infor- 
 mation." — London Medical Repository. 
 
 " Although we cannot altogether coincide with 
 Dr. Power in the full extent of his doctrine re- 
 specting the absence of pain <luring the healthy and 
 regular contraction of the uterus, we are inclined to 
 think that, wore the practice which he has so ably 
 advocated more generally adopted, much suffering 
 might be saved, and many tedious and unmanage- 
 able cases be wholly iircvented, by a speedy and 
 ea.'iy process of parturition." — Man. Review.
 
 14 
 
 Miscellaneous Works, 'published by 
 
 ELEMENTS of DESCRIP- 
 TIVE and PRACTICAL ANATOMY: 
 
 for the Use of Students. By Jones Quain, 
 A.B. M.B. Member of the Royal College of 
 Surgeons, and one of the Lecturers on Ana- 
 tomy in the Medical School, Aldersgate- 
 street. 8vo. 16s. boards. 
 
 Though written designedly for Stu- 
 
 dents, we can conscientiously recommend it to 
 Practitioners, as an excellent book of reference ; 
 and to Pupils, as a most useful assistant in their 
 operations inthe dissectiug-roora, and a no less in- 
 Btructive companion in the studies of their cham- 
 ber." — Medico-Chirurgical Review. 
 
 " This book must prove invaluable to students 
 engased in dissections, and of scarcely less value to 
 established practitioners." — Lancet. 
 
 CANINE PATHOLOGY ; 
 
 or, a Description of the Diseases of Dogs, 
 with their Causes, Symptoms, and Mode of 
 Cure. By Delabere Blaine. Second 
 Edition. 8vo. 9s. boards. 
 
 A PRACTICAL ESSAY on 
 
 DISEASES and INJURIES of the 
 BLADDER, (in which the formation of 
 Stone is explained upon entirely new prin- 
 ciples,) and being the Essay to which the 
 Royal College of Surgeons adjudged the 
 Jacksonian Prize for the year 1821. By 
 Robert Bingham, Fellow of the Royal 
 College of Surgeons. 8vo. 14s. boards. 
 
 By the same Author, 
 
 PRACTICAL ESSAYS on STRIC- 
 TURES of the URETHRA and DIS- 
 EASES of the TESTICLES; including 
 Observations on Fistula in Perinjeo and 
 Hydrocele, illustrated by numerous Cases 
 and an Engraving, and prefaced with some 
 Remarks on Life and Organization. 8vo. 
 12s. boards. 
 
 MEDICAL JURISPRU- 
 DENCE. By J. A. Paris, M.D. F.R.S. 
 F.L.S. Fellow of the Royal College of 
 Physicians; and J. S. M. Fonblanqoe, 
 Esq. Barrister at Law. 3 Vols. 8vo. 11. 16s. 
 boards. 
 
 LAW AND MISCELLANIES. 
 
 An ACCOUNT of PUBLIC 
 
 CHARITIES, digested from the Reports 
 of the Commissioners on Charitable Foun- 
 dations; with Notes and Comments, by the 
 Editor of the " Cabinet Lawyer." 8vo. 
 12s. boards. 
 
 " The important and curious particulars re- 
 specting each Charity are brought under one 
 head, unincumbered wilh trifling and tedious de- 
 tails. We are much mistaken, or this instructive 
 and amusing compilation will not only stimulate 
 the public generally to new and reiterated de- 
 mands for a better administration of the charities 
 so abundantly scattered throuihout the country, 
 but will excite, in the places most interested, 
 zealous efforts to reform their abuses and extend 
 their benefits." — Examiner. 
 
 " The compiler has added some very curious and 
 pertinent notes." — Times. 
 
 A COMPENDIOUS LAW 
 
 DICTIONARY, containingboth an expla- 
 nation of the Terms and the Law itself; in- 
 tended for the Use of the Country Gentle- 
 man, the Merchant, and the Professional 
 Man. By Thomas Potts, Gent. A new 
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 LIST OF PLAYS. 
 
 CONTAINED IN 
 
 OXBERRYS " NEW ENGLISH DRAMA/^ 
 
 See above, page 4. 
 N.B. — The Farces are distinguished by an (*) Asterisk. 
 
 JVo. Portrait. 
 
 1 A New "Way to Pay Old Debts Mr. Kean. 
 
 2 Rivals Mrs. Davison. 
 
 3 West Indian Mr. Johnstone. 
 
 4 Hypocrite Mr. Oxberry. 
 
 5 Jealous Wife Mrs. Glover. 
 
 6 She Stoops to Conquer. Miss Brunton. 
 
 7 Richard III Mr. Cooke. 
 
 8 Beggar's Opera Mr. Incledon. 
 
 9 Wonder Mr. Harley. 
 
 10 Duenna Mr. T. Cooke. 
 
 11 Alexander the Great.... Mr. Egerton. 
 
 12 Lionel and Clarissa Mr. Dovvton. 
 
 13 Hamlet Mr. Kean. 
 
 14 Venice Preserved . Miss O'Ncil. 
 
 15 Is he Jealous ? Mr. Wrench. 
 
 16 Woodman's Hut Mr. Smith. 
 
 17 Love in a Village Mr. Isaacs. 
 
 18 Way to Keep Him Mrs. Orger. 
 
 19 Castle Spectre Mr. Rae. 
 
 20 Maid of the Mill Mr. Braham. 
 
 21 Clandestine Marriage Mr. W. Farren. 
 
 22 Soldier's Daughter Mr. Elliston. 
 
 23 Othello Jfrs.W. West. 
 
 24 Distrest Mother Mr. Macready . 
 
 25 Provoked Husband Mr. Emery. 
 
 20 Deaf and Dumb Mrs. C. Keinble. 
 
 27 Busy Body Mr. Munden. 
 
 28 Belles' Stratagem Mrs. Edwin. 
 
 29 Romeo and Juiiet Mr. C. Kemble. 
 
 30 Recruiting Officer Mrs. Mardyn. 
 
 31 Bold Stroke for a Wife Mr. Bannister. 
 
 32 Road to Ruin Mr. Mathews. 
 
 33 Beaux' Stratagem Mr. Jones. 
 
 34 As You Like it Mr. Fawcett. 
 
 35 King John Mr. C Kemble. 
 
 36 Country Girl Mr. Russell. 
 
 37 Jane Shore Mrs. Bnnn. 
 
 •38 Critic Mr. Terry. 
 
 39 Coiiolanus Mr. Kean. 
 
 «40 Rosina Miss Carew. 
 
 41 .Suspicious Husband Mrs. Egtrton. 
 
 *42 Honest Thieves Mr. Dowton. 
 
 *43 Mayor of Garratt Mr. Russell. 
 
 44 Merry AVives of Windsor .. Mr. Wewitzcr. 
 
 45 Stranger Mrs. Siddons. 
 
 •46 Three' Weeks after Marriage.. Mrs. Faucit. 
 
 47 King Lear Mrs. W. West. 
 
 48 Inconstant Mr. De Camp. 
 
 *49 Shipwreck Mrs. Bland. 
 
 *50 lluganlino Mr. Wallatk. 
 
 51 Wild Oats Mr. Knight. 
 
 52 Rule a Wife and Have a Wife Mrs. Glover. 
 
 *53 Magpie Mi.-s Kelly. 
 
 *54 Quaker Mr. Incledon. 
 
 55 Merchant of Venice Miss Povey. 
 
 56 Wheel of Fortune Mr. Kemble. 
 
 57 Rob Roy Miss Stephens. 
 
 *58 Citizen Mrs. Davison. 
 
 *59 Deserter Mr. Wilkinson. 
 
 No. 
 
 •00 
 61 
 02 
 
 *03 
 64 
 65 
 66 
 
 •or 
 
 68 
 09 
 
 *70 
 
 •71 
 72 
 
 •73 
 74 
 75 
 
 •70 
 
 7r 
 
 *78 
 
 *79 
 
 *80 
 
 81 
 
 •82 
 
 83 
 
 •84 
 
 85 
 
 •SO 
 
 ST 
 
 *88 
 
 89 
 
 90 
 
 *91 
 
 •92 
 
 93 
 
 *94 
 
 •95 
 
 90 
 
 97 
 
 98 
 
 99 
 
 IDO 
 
 Ml 
 
 102 
 
 lo:; 
 
 104 
 105 
 
 loo 
 
 107 
 108 
 109 
 110 
 
 *lll 
 112 
 113 
 114 
 
 *115 
 116 
 117 
 118 
 
 Portrait. 
 
 Miser Mr. W. Farren. 
 
 Guy Mannering Mr. Listen. 
 
 Cymbeline Mr. Farley. 
 
 Lying Valet Mr. Mathews. 
 
 Twelfth Night Mr. J. Russell. 
 
 The Confederacy Mrs. Orger. 
 
 Douglas Mr. H. Johnston. 
 
 Who's the Dupe Mr. Bannister. 
 
 Know Your own Mind Mr. Palmer. 
 
 Macbeth Mr. Macready. 
 
 Tobacconist Mr. Garrick. 
 
 Midnight Hour Mr. Lewis. 
 
 The Grecian Daughter Mrs.Bartley. 
 
 Fortune's Frolic ;,Ir. Knight. 
 
 Henry IV Mr. Bartley. 
 
 Evadne ; or, the Statue Mr. C. Kemble. 
 
 Review; or theWags of Windsor Mr.Fawcett. 
 Every Man in his Humour.. Mr. Oxberry. 
 
 Blue Devils Miss Mellon. 
 
 Love Laughs at Locksmiths Mr. G. Smith. 
 
 Follies of a Day Mr. De Camp. 
 
 Measure for Measure Mr. Lislon. 
 
 High Life below Stairs .... Mr. Harley. 
 
 Julius Caesar Mr. Young. 
 
 Spoiled Child Mrs. Baker. 
 
 Man of the World Mr. Cooper. 
 
 Midas Madame Vestris. 
 
 Every One has his Fault Mr. Johnson. 
 
 Bon Ton Mr. Emery. 
 
 Two Gentlemen of Verona .. .^liss Hallande. 
 
 Tempest Miss M. Tree. 
 
 Liar ^ Mr. G^ittie. 
 
 Blue Beard Mr. Suctt. 
 
 Cato Mr. Kemble. 
 
 Padlock Mr. rearnian. 
 
 The Wedding Day Mr. Terry. 
 
 George Barnwell Mr. Cooper. 
 
 The Travellers Mr.Fitzwilliam. 
 
 Wallace Mr. Macready. 
 
 King Henry V Mr. Blanchard. 
 
 Sylvester Daggerwood .... Mr. Rteve. 
 Rluch Ado about Nothing .. Miss Chester. 
 
 The Gamester Mi. Cooke. 
 
 Rich and Poor Mr. Horn. 
 
 The Chapter of Accidents .. Mr. Liston. 
 
 The Wood Da-mon Miss Kelly. 
 
 King Henry VIII Mrs. Siddons. 
 
 The Winter's Tale Mrs. liunn. 
 
 Kenihvorth Mrs. Bunn. 
 
 Pizarro Mr. Kemhle. 
 
 Trip to Scarborough Mr. Browne. 
 
 i'he Devil to Pay Mrs. Jordan. 
 
 All in the Wrong Mr. Jones. 
 
 Tamerlane Mr. Macready. 
 
 Lodoiska Mrs. Crouch. 
 
 Love a-la-mode Mr. Johnstone. 
 
 A Roland for an Oliver .. .. Miss Foole. 
 
 Bertram Mr- Pope. 
 
 Artaxerxes Miss Love. 
 
 OXBERRY'S OLD ENGLISH DRAMA, 
 
 UNIFORM WITH THE ABOVE; 
 
 2 vols. 12mo. 9s. bds., or separately, Is. each. 
 
 viz. 
 
 The Jew of Malta. Edward tlie Second. Dr. Faiistus. Lust's Dominion. 
 
 The Massacre at Paris. Tamburlaine the Great, in Two Parts. Dido.
 
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