eOUGMT FROM 
 
 tUlUs SpncJ^tLh FiLYuL 
 
L 
 

Tlie collection of select economical Tracts reprinted 
 by Lord Overstone, comprises the following articles, 
 viz. : — 
 
 Volume on Commerce. 
 
 1. Observations touching Trade and Commerce witli the 
 
 Hollander and other Nations. Presented to King James 
 by Su' Walter Raleigh, Knt. 
 
 2. Navigation and Commerce, their Original and Progi-ess, &c , 
 
 in which his Majesty's title to the Dominion of the Sea is 
 asserted against the Novel and later pretenders. By J. 
 Evelyn, Esq., S.R.S. 1674. 
 
 3. Extracts from a Plan of the English Commerce, being a 
 
 complete prospect of the trade of this nation, as well the 
 home trade as the foreign. Humbly offered to the con- 
 sideration of the King and Parliament. The second edi- 
 tion. 1730. 
 
 i. An Essay on the Causes of the Decline of the Fi reign Trade, 
 consequently of the value of the land of Britain, and on 
 the means to restore both. The second edition with addi- 
 tions. 1750. 
 
 5. A brief Essay on the Advantages and Disadvantages which 
 respectively attend France and Great Britain with regard 
 to Trade. With some proposals for removing the principal 
 Disadvantages of Great Britain, in a new method. By 
 .Tosiah Tucker, M.A. The third edition, corrected with 
 additions. 1753. 
 
 G. Proposals made by the Prince of Orange, to the States 
 General, and to the States of Holhind and West Freiz- 
 land, for redressing and amending tlui Trado of tlio 
 Republic. 
 
7, A Vindication of Commerce and the Arts ; proving that 
 
 they are the source of the greatness, power, riches, and 
 populousness of a State By J— B — , M.D. 1758. 
 
 8. New and Old Principles of Trade compared ; or a Treatise 
 
 on the Principles of Commerce between Nations. 1788. 
 
 Volume on the National Debt and Sinking Fund. 
 
 1. An Essay iipon Puhlick Credit. 1710. 
 
 2. A Letter to a Friend, in which is shown the Inviolable Nature 
 
 of Publick Securities. By a Lover of his Country. 1717. 
 
 3. An Essay on the Publick Debts of this Kingdom. In a 
 
 Letter to a Member of the House of Commons. 1726. 
 
 4. A State of the National Debt, as it stood December the 
 
 24th, 1716, with tlie Payments made towards the Dis- 
 charge of it out of the Sinking Fund, itc, compared with 
 the Debt at Michaelmas, 1725. 
 
 5. A defence of an Essay on the Publick Debts of this King- 
 
 dom, &c. By the Author of the Essay. 1727. 
 
 6. Representation of the House of Commons to His Majesty 
 
 George II, &c. (Commons Journals, 8 April, 1728). 
 
 7. Of Public Credit, &c. By David Hume, Esq. Published 
 
 in 1752. 
 
 8. Account of the National Debt, from Blackstone's Com- 
 
 mentaries, Book 1, Cap. 8. 
 
 9. An Appeal to the Pul)lic on the subject of the National 
 
 Debt. By Richard Price, D.D., F.R.S. 1774. 
 
 10. Extracts from a Tract entitled The Challenge ; or Patriotism 
 
 put to the Test, in a letter to the Rev. Dr. Price. By 
 Jos. Wimpey. 1772. 
 
 11. Note on the Sinking Fund established by Mr. Pitt, in 1786. 
 
 12. Considei'ations on the Annual Million Bill, and on the Real 
 
 and Imaginary Properties of a Sinking Fund. 1787. 
 
 13. An luquiiy concerning the Rise. Pi'ogress, Redemption, 
 
3 
 
 Present State, and Management of the National Debt of 
 Great Britain iuid Ireland. By Robei-t Hamilton, LL.D., 
 F.R.S.E. 1818. 
 
 A'olume on Paper Currency and Banking. 
 
 1. A Discourse concerning the Currencies of the British Planta- 
 
 tions in America, especially with regard to their Pjipcr 
 Money. With a Postscrii)t thereto. 1740. 
 
 2. Banks and Paper Money, from Essays, Moral, Political, ifec. 
 
 By David Hume, Esq. Published in 1752. 
 
 3. Essay on Paper Money and Banking, from Essays on the 
 
 Public Debt, Frugality, &c. Published in 1755. 
 
 ■4. Essay on Banks and Paper Credit, from Characteristics of 
 the present state of Great Britain. Published in 1758. 
 
 5. Note on the Suspension of Cash Payments at the Bank of 
 
 England, in 1797. 
 
 6. The Utility of Coixntry Banks, considered, ifec. 
 
 7. An Enquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit 
 
 of Great Britain. By Henry Thornton, Esq., M.P. 
 
 8. Note on the State of the Exchange between London and 
 
 Dublin, from 1797 to 1804. 
 
 9. Remarks on Paper Currency ; from a Treatise on the Coins of 
 
 the Realm. By the Earl of Liverpool. Published in 1805. 
 
 10. The High Price of Bullion, a Proof of the Depreciation of 
 
 Bank Notes. By David Ricaa-do. The fouith edition 
 corrected. 
 
 11. Report from the Select Committee of the House of Com- 
 
 mons on the High Price of Gold Bullion. Ordered to be 
 printed, 8 Jtme, 1810. 
 
 12. Observations on the Principles which regulate the Course 
 
 of Exchange ; and on the present depreciated State of the 
 Currency. By William Blake, Esq., F.R.S. 
 
 13. The Qufstion conceming the Depreciation of our Curr. ncv 
 
stated and examined. By W. Unskisson. Esq., M.P. 
 Third edition corrected. 
 
 Volume of Miscellaneous Tracts. 
 
 1. An Apology for the Builder ; or a Discourse shewing the 
 
 Cause and Effects of the Increase of Building. 168-5. 
 
 2. Giving Alms no Charity, and Employing the Poor a Griev- 
 
 ance to the Nation. Addressed to the Parliament of Eng- 
 land. ITOTTT 
 
 3. A View of'the Greenland Trade and Whale-Fishery, &e. 
 
 1722. 
 
 4. An Apology for the Business of Pawn-Broking. By a 
 
 Pawn- Broker. 1744. 
 
 5. Extracts from the Works of Dr. Franklin, on Population, 
 
 Commerce, <fec. 
 
 6. Reflections on the Formation and Distribution of Wealth. 
 
 By M. Turgot. 1 793. 
 
 7. Extract from an Inquiry into the Natm-e of the Corn Laws ; 
 
 with a View to the New Corn Bill proposed for Scotland. 
 1777. 
 
 8. A Ti-eatise on the Maritime Laws of Rhodes. By Alexander 
 
 C. Schomberg, M.A 1786. 
 
 9. A Dissertation on the Poor Laws. By a Well- Wisher to 
 
 Mankind. 1786. 
 
 10. Thoughts and Details on Scarcity, <fec. By the Right Hon. 
 
 Edmund Burke. 1800. 
 
 11. An Incpiiry into the Policy and Justice of the Prohibition 
 of the Use of Grain in the Distilleries,. &c. By A rchibald 
 Bell, Esq., Advocate. 1808. 
 
SCARCE AND VALUABLE 
 
 ECONOMICAL TRACTS. 
 
^;^* This Volume, printed by Lord Overstone for 
 distribution among his friends, has been edited by 
 J. R. M'=CuLL0CH, Esq. 
 
 Ao^^^ 
 
 7y<^' 
 
SELECT COLLECTION 
 
 SCARCE AND VALUABLE 
 
 ECONOMICAL TRACTS 
 
 FROM THE ORIGINALS OF 
 
 DEFOE, ELKING, FRANKLIN, TURGOT, ANDERSON, SCHOM- 
 BERG, TOWNSEND, BURKE, BELL, and OTHERS. 
 
 WITn A PBEFACE, NOTES, AND INDEX. 
 
 LONDON: 
 yi D C C C L i X 
 
.y 
 
 [TWO HUNDRED COPIES PRINTED] 
 

 PREFACE. 
 
 This volume of miscellaneous Tracts, being the last of the 
 series reprinted by Lord Overstone, contains the following 
 articles ; viz. 
 
 1. An Apology for the Builder; or a Discourse shewing 
 
 the Cause and Effects of the Increase of Building. 
 1685. 
 
 2. Giving Alms no Charity, and Employing the Poor a 
 Grievance to the Nation. Addressed to the Parlia- 
 ment of England. 1704. 
 
 3. A View of the Greenland Trade and Whale-Fishery, 
 with the National and Private Advantages thereof. 
 1722. 
 
 4. An Apology for the Business of Pawn-Broking. By 
 a Pawn-Broker. 1744. 
 
 5. Extracts from the AYorks of Dr. Franklin, on Popu- 
 lation, Commerce, &c. 
 
 6. Reflections on the Formation and Distribution of 
 Wealth. By M. Turgot. 1793. 
 
 7. Extract from an Inquiry into the Nature of the 
 
 Corn Laws ; with a View to the New Corn-Bill pro- 
 posed for Scotland. 1777. 
 
 8. A Treatise on the Maritime Laws of Rhodes. By 
 xVlexander C. Schomberg, M.A. 1776. 
 
 3C0731; 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 9. A Dissertation on the Poor Laws. By a Well-Wisher 
 to Mankind. 1776. 
 
 10. Thoughts and Details on Scarcity, presented to 
 Mr. Pitt, in November, 1795. By the Eight Hon. 
 Edmund Burke. 1800. 
 
 11. An Inquiry into the Policy and Justice of the Pro- 
 hibition of the Use of Grain in the Distilleries, 
 &c. By Archibald Bell, Esq., Advocate. 1808. 
 
 1. The tirst of the above-mentioned tracts, the " Apo- 
 logy for the Builder," pubhshed in 1685, is a well- written 
 and well-reasoned publication. The magnitude and in- 
 crease of London early became subjects of complaint. 
 The older inhabitants of the city regarded the new build- 
 ings with an evil eye, as tending, by increasing competi- 
 tion, to lower their profits and the value of their houses ; 
 the country gentlemen feared lest the drain for the town 
 should depopulate the country, raise wages, and lower 
 rents ; and di^^nes and moralists lamented that what 
 they called the simplicity and virtues of a country life 
 should be exchanged for the corruption and vices of the 
 city. And hence in the reign of Elizabeth, and at other 
 periods, various restraints were imposed on building in 
 the latter. But it is almost needless to add, that these 
 had but little effect ; and the author of the pamphlet now 
 laid before the reader shows that it was fortunate that 
 such was the case. The country is not the Eden nor the 
 town the Tartarus that writers unacquainted with the 
 one and the other would have us to suppose. On the 
 whole their ^drtues and their vices are pretty nearly 
 balanced. And it is farther obvious that the existence 
 of great towns, that is, of considerable portions of the 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 population congregated together^ and practising the arts is 
 necessary to national progress. Without them there 
 Avould be no market for the surplus produce of the 
 country; and its population, deprived of the advantages 
 resulting from the division of labour, would be thinly 
 dispersed over its surface, and immersed in poverty and 
 barbarism. These results are very well exhibited in this 
 tract. 
 
 The more " easy government of the people" is one 
 of the beneficial consequences which its author ascribes 
 to the growth of cities. But this is an erroneous in- 
 ference, its influence being quite the other way. Men 
 seldom entertain a just sense of their own importance, 
 or acquire a knowledge of their rights, or are able to 
 assert and vindicate them with courage and success, 
 till they have been collected into towns. An agricul- 
 tural population, scattered over an extensive country, 
 and without any point of reunion, rarely opposes any 
 very vigorous resistance to arbitrary and oppressive 
 measures. But such is not the case with the inhabi- 
 tants of towns ; they are actuated by the same spirit, 
 and derive courage from their numbers and union : 
 the bold animate the timid ; the resolute confirm the 
 Avavering ; the redress of an injury done to one citizen 
 becomes the business of all ; they take their measures in 
 common, and prosecute them with a vigour and resolution 
 that generally make the boldest minister pause in an 
 unpopular career.* The most superficial as well as the 
 
 * For some further illustrations of this topic, eee " Miller's 
 Historical View of the Euglish Goverumeut," iv., pp. 1U2— 137. 
 
most profound reader of history^ must acknowledge the 
 truth of this statement. The number and magnitude of 
 their towns, coupled with their trade and advantageous 
 situation, gave the people of the Low Countries courage 
 to undertake and means to carry on their long and despe- 
 rate struggle with the Spanish monarchy when in the 
 zenith of its power — a struggle which, by securing the 
 independence of the Seven United Provinces, contributed 
 more, perhaps, than anything else to consolidate and pro- 
 mote the great principles of civil and religious liberty. 
 
 2. The tract entitled " Giving Alms no Charity, '' 
 published in 1 704<, is one of the scarcest, as well as most 
 celebrated of the minor works of the author of Robinson 
 Crusoe. It was written in opposition to a Bill introduced 
 into Parliament by Sir Humphrey Mackworth, to autho- 
 rize the levy of a parochial rate for the carrying 
 on of manufactures in workhouses, at which the in- 
 mates in these establishments were to be employed. 
 Though highly instrumental in stopping the progress of 
 the Bill, and often referred to, this tract, from its extreme 
 rarity, has been seen by few of the economists of this 
 century. And this circumstance, and the attention that 
 is still given to the project, have procured for it a place 
 m this collection. 
 
 It would be easy to show that, except in very peculiar 
 cases, the adoption of Mackworth^s, or of any similar 
 scheme, would unavoidably lead to mismanagement, job- 
 bing, and abuse. But Defoe did not rest his opposition 
 to it on these grounds. He attacked its principle, and 
 contended that it was founded on au entirely erroneous 
 
PRKFACE. ix 
 
 theory. " For every skein of worsted the poor chiklren 
 iu a workhouse spiu, tliere must (said he) be a skeia the 
 less spun by some poor family or person that spun it 
 before." And hence he concluded that, by adopting the 
 scheme, Parliament would merely change the seats of 
 employment and pauperism ; taking, as he expresses it, 
 " the bread out of the mouths of the poor of one part of 
 the country, to put it into tlie mouths of the poor of 
 another part.''' 
 
 But though plausible, and stated with much ingenuity, 
 these arguments are not so conclusive as many have 
 supposed. The occupiers of workhouses and prisons have 
 to be supported, whether they are employed or kept in 
 idleness. And such being the case, and supposing it 
 were practicable to employ them so that the produce of 
 their labour should sell for more than the cost of the 
 material on which it is exerted, would it be prudent to 
 refuse to avail ourselves of their services? Whatever 
 they produce while in confinement is so much added to 
 the public wealth, and the suras required for their support 
 may be in so far reduced. It is no good reason for 
 refusing to profit by their labour to aUege, with Defoe, 
 that so much less labour must be performed elsewhere. 
 The fact is quite otherwise. Labour is not a constant 
 quantity. On tlie contrary, the demand for its produce 
 and, therefore, for itself is altogether illimitable. Occa- 
 sionally there may be an excess of one or of a few things ; 
 but it is impossible, seeing the endless craviugs of the 
 human mind, that there should ever be a surplus of the 
 various products of art and industry; or that if work- 
 people be thrown out of one business or employment, 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 there should not be an equivalent demand for them in 
 
 others. 
 
 Nee Croesi fortuua uuquam nee Persiea regna 
 Suffieient animo 
 
 Defoe has repeated the identical sophism which is always 
 in the mouths of those who are opposed to every improve- 
 ment. It might have been^ and no doubt was^ objected to 
 Arkwright's inventions, that for every skein of yarn spun 
 by a spinning-frame a skein the less would be spun by 
 the common hand-wheel. And if that had been held to 
 be a reason why the former should not be introduced, 
 the cotton manufacture, which supplies from 1,250,000 
 to 1,500,000 persons in the United Kingdom with sub- 
 sistence and the means of rising to distinction, would 
 never have had any footing amongst us. 
 
 But it is needless to insist upon what is now so 
 generally admitted and so very obvious. In matters of 
 this sort the author of Robinson Crusoe was quite as 
 prejudiced and purblind as the mass of those around him. 
 He had not read, or if he had read, he at all events had 
 not profited by the reasonings by which Sir Dudley 
 North and the author of the tract on the East India 
 Trade,* have conclusively shewn the advantage of new 
 and cheaper markets and of new and improved methods 
 of production. 
 
 But notwithstanding he erred in objecting to the 
 principle of Mackworth's project, and not to the abuses 
 inseparable from every attempt to carry it into practice, 
 Defoe's tract is extremely valuable. His observations on 
 the condition of the poor and the causes of poverty, and 
 
 * In the volume of Early English Traets on Commerce, reprinted 
 in 1856 for the Politieal Eeouomy Club. 
 
PREFACE, xi 
 
 ou the proper methods of bestowing charity, are alike 
 able and discriminating. They evince sound good sense, 
 free from all aftectation of sentiment or pliilanthropy ; 
 and are but little less applicable at present than at the 
 period when they vvere written. 
 
 3. The " View of the Greenland Trade and Whale- 
 Fishery," is valuable from its being the only original 
 work in the language, ou the subject of which it treats."*^ 
 At present, indeed, the interest that formerly attached 
 to the whale fishery, has greatly declined. But, for a 
 lengthened period it was considered of first rate im- 
 portance ; and was fostered and promoted by the aid of 
 liigh bounties and other encouragements. Hence it is not 
 a little surprising, that with the exception of this solitary 
 and little known tract, we have no separate work on 
 its rise and progress. It was prosecuted by the Dutch 
 with greater vigour and success than by any other peo- 
 ple; and at page 83, the reader will find an account 
 of the number of ships sent from Holland to the 
 fishery, from 1675 to 1721, with the number of 
 whales caught, and their produce in oil. The scarcity 
 of fish, which have been all but exterminated in some 
 seas where they were formerly found in the greatest 
 abundance, has been the main cause of the decline of 
 the fishery. 
 
 4. The fourth article in this volume, the " Apology 
 for Pawn-Broking," published in 1744, is an able, and, in 
 
 * Preface to Scoresby's Account of the Arctic Regions. 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 most respects, a conclusive tract. We have elsewhere 
 observed, in regard to this subject, that the practice of 
 pledging or pawning goods, in order to raise loans, 
 always exists in civilised societies, and is, on the whole, 
 productive of considerable advantage. Eut it may, at 
 the same time, be easily perverted and abused. By far 
 the largest portion of the bona fide borrowers of money 
 on pawn, consist of the lowest and most indigent classes; 
 and were the lenders not subjected to efficient regula- 
 tions, they might take advantage of the necessities of the 
 borrowers, (as, indeed, is frequently done, despite every 
 precaution), to inflict on them the most grievous extortion. 
 And, besides those whose wants compel them to have re- 
 course to pawnbrokers, they are resorted to by others who 
 wish to get rid of the property they have unlawfully ac- 
 quired. Not only, therefore, are they instrumental in 
 relieving the necessities of the poor, but they may also 
 without either intending or even knowing it, become the 
 most efficient allies of thieves and swindlers, by affording 
 them safe and convenient outlets for the disposal of their 
 ill gotten gains. Hence the policy of giving legislative 
 protection to a business so liable to abuse, has been 
 doubted by many. But though it were suppressed by 
 law, it would always really exist. An individual pos- 
 sessed of property, which he may neither be able nor 
 willing to dispose of, may be reduced to the greatest 
 difficulties; and in such case, what can be more con- 
 venient or advantageous for him than to get a loan 
 upon a deposit of such property, under condition that 
 if he repay the loan, and the interest upon it, within 
 a certain period, the property will be returned? It is 
 
said, indeed, that the facilities of raising money in this 
 way foster habits of imprudence ; that the first resort for 
 aid to a pawnbroker ahiiost always leads to a second ; 
 and that it is impossible so to regulate the business as to 
 prevent the ignorant and the necessitous from being 
 plundered. That this statement, though exaggerated, is 
 in some degree true, none can deny. On the other 
 hand, however, the capacity of obtaining supplies on the 
 deposit of goods, by affording the means of meeting 
 pressing exigencies, tends to prevent crime, and to pro- 
 mote the security of property ; and it would seem as 
 if the desire to redeem property in pawn would be a 
 powerful motive to industry and economy. It is 
 further, too, to be borne in mind, that it is not 
 possible, do what you will, to prevent those who are 
 poor and uninstructed from borrowing ; and that they 
 will in all cases obtain loans at a great sacrifice, and be 
 liable to be imposed upon. But the fair presumption is, 
 that there is less chance of improper advantages being 
 taken of them by licensed pawnbrokers, than by pri- 
 vate and irresponsible individuals. Although, however, 
 the business had all the inconveniences, without any 
 portion whatever of the good which really belongs to it, 
 it would be to no purpose to attempt its suppression. 
 Those who have property will not submit to the ex- 
 tremity of want, without endeavouring, at all hazards, 
 to raise money upon it. Any attempt to put down 
 pawnbroking would merely drive respectable persons 
 from the trade, and throw it entirely into the hands of 
 those wlio have neither property nor character to lose. 
 And hence the object of the legislature should not be 
 
to abolish what must always exist, but to endeavour, in 
 as far as possible, to free it from abuse, by enacting 
 such regulations as may appear to be best calculated to 
 protect the ignorant and the unwary from becoming the 
 prey of swindlers, and to facilitate the discovery of stolen 
 property. And this is the view of the subject taken in 
 the tract now reprinted.* 
 
 5. It is needless to draw the reader's attention to the 
 " Extracts from the works of Dr. Franklin, on Popula- 
 tion, Commerce, &c." They are characterised by all his 
 sagacity and good sense, expressed in his plain, perspicu- 
 ous style. Many of his views display great ingenuity ; 
 and he skilfully developes some of the leading principles 
 of commercial freedom. The bringing together of those 
 scattered portions of his works, and giving them a place 
 in this volume, have, no doubt, considerably increased 
 its value. 
 
 6. We have reprinted the " Reflections on the 
 Formation and Distribution of Wealth," of the justly 
 celebrated, M. Turgot, partly because the work is little 
 known in this country, but principally because it gives 
 within a short compass a well-condensed epitome of the 
 theory of the Economists. This tract was originally pub- 
 lished in 1767, nine years before the publication of the 
 Wealth of Nations. But there do not seem to be 
 any good grounds for regarding it, as some have 
 done, as the " germ'^ of the latter. In addition to 
 it. Smith had before him the lucubrations of Quesnay, 
 
 * " Commercial Dictionary," Art. Pawu-Brokers. 
 
rUEFACE. XV 
 
 tlic founder of the theory, with those of Dupont, the 
 elder !Mirabcau, the Abbe Baudcau, Letrosuc, and other 
 zealous apostles of the new doctrines. And Smith has 
 himself stated that he was in the habit of teaching in 
 Glasgow so early as 1753 those liberal and enlarged 
 views with respect to the intercourse between nations 
 that form so important a part of the Wealth of Na- 
 tions. But though they did not originate his views, the 
 writings of Turgot and other leading Economists un- 
 doubtedly gave a decided bias to the reasonings of 
 Smith. He stoutly resisted their conclusions in regard 
 to the improductiveness of manufactures and commerce ; 
 but, in compliance with their theory, he so far swerved 
 from the sound principles of his own system, as to admit 
 that there are other tests than the rate of profit which 
 they respectively yield by which to estimate the produc- 
 tiveness of the various branches of industry. Hence we 
 doubt whether Smith was really indebted for much that 
 was valuable to the Economists. He did not profit to so 
 great an extent as he might have done by the precision 
 of their definitions, and the scientific manner in which 
 they usually conducted their investigations. And his 
 masterly exposition of the advantages of industrial freedom, 
 and of the injurious operation of the protective system, 
 owes nothing to their labours. Nevertheless, theii' system 
 is both liberal and ingenious. And despite the funda- 
 mental errors which it involves, Smith was justified 
 in saying that when it appeared " it was the nearest 
 approximation to the truth that had been published upon 
 the subject of Political Economy." (Wealth of Nations, 
 p. 307). 
 
 Besides tiie tract on the Formation of Wealth, 
 
Turgot published a number of memoirs, letters, and 
 pamphlets, mostly on subjects connected with public 
 economy. He was not, however, a mere theorist. On 
 the contrary he was engaged for a considerable period 
 in the public service ; and his experience and the obser- 
 vations which he made in conducting the affairs intrusted 
 to his superintendence, furnished the materials for some 
 of his most valuable publications. In 1761 he became 
 Intendant of Limoges, a situation in which he distin- 
 guished himself by his efforts to -improve the provincial 
 administration, by providing, in as far as practicable, 
 for the more equal assessment of the taxes, commuting 
 or abolishing the charge of compulsory labour [corvees) 
 on account of the high roads, and so forth. After being 
 for a short while Minister of Marine, he was finally 
 chosen in 1774, by Louis XVI, to fill the important place 
 of Comptroller. General of Finance. Much was expected 
 of him in this position, and these expectations were not 
 disappointed. He established the freedom of the internal 
 corn trade throughout the kingdom ; abolished the system 
 of compulsory labour ; and began to introduce sundry 
 reforms of a searching and efficient character into the 
 various departments connected with the assessment, col- 
 lection and disposal of the public revenue. But these 
 measures, though indispensable, gave rise to a vast deal of 
 opposition ; and the outcry against them raised by the no- 
 bility, clergy, and others, who profited, or supposed that 
 they profited, by the abuses which Turgot had determined 
 to suppress, was so very violent that it speedily drove him 
 from power. It is but fair to Louis XVI, to state that he 
 approved generally of the proceedings of his minister; 
 and had he possessed sufficient firmness and decision of 
 
PREFACE. XVll 
 
 character to give him an effectual support, it is possible 
 tliat such improvements would have been effected in the 
 administration as might have gone far to avert the Revo- 
 lution. , But Louis was totally unequal to the crisis. And 
 the dismissal of Turgot having put an end to all hopes of 
 anything like an adequate reform being brought about 
 by constitutional means, nothing was left to obstruct, or 
 turn aside, the tremendous catastrophe which soon after 
 precipitated the throne, the aristocracy, the clergy, and 
 the entire system of government, into the abyss of ruin. 
 
 7. The publication, in 1777, of the " Inquu-y into 
 the Nature of the Corn Laws," marks an interesting aira 
 in the history of Economical Science. This will be evident 
 when we mention that the extract from it given in this 
 volume embodies the earliest explanation that is any- 
 where to be met with of the real nature and origin of 
 rent — a discovery of which it would be difficult to exag- 
 gerate the importance. And it is to be observed that its 
 author (Dr. Anderson) did not stumble upon it as it were 
 by chance, and without being aware of its value. On 
 the contrary, nothing can be -more complete and satis- 
 factory than his analysis of the circumstances in whicli 
 rent originates, and which occasion its increase and dimi- 
 nution ; and he did not fail to recur to the subject in 
 subsequent publications. But despite their being essential 
 to a right understanding of the principles of political 
 economy, and of tlic constitution of society, Anderson's 
 profound and original speculations do not appear to have 
 attracted any attention from his contemporaries. Though 
 published nearly at the same time as the Wealth of 
 Nations, Smith, to whom they might have been of in- 
 
XVIU PREFACE. 
 
 finite service, did not profit by them in revising any 
 subsequent edition of his great work. And so completely 
 were they forgotten, that when, in 1815, Malthus 
 and Sir Edward West published their tracts exhibiting 
 the nature and progress of rent, they were universally 
 believed to be the original discoverers of the laws by 
 which it is governed. And perhaps their originality can- 
 not be justly impeached. But whether this be so or not, 
 those who read the extract in this volume will be satisfied 
 that the true theory of rent had been quite as well and 
 satisfactorily explained by Anderson in 1777, as it was by 
 them in 1815.* 
 
 8. The Treatise of Schomberg on the " Maritime 
 Laws of Rhodes" is both interesting and learned. Anti- 
 quity is unanimous in commending the wisdom of the 
 Rhodian laws with respect to navigation. Previously to 
 their promulgation, this important subject appears either 
 to have been neglected, or at best regulated only by the 
 ill-digested, and often conflicting municipal ordinances 
 of different states. The regulations of the Rhodians 
 with respect to average contributions, and other diffi- 
 cult nautical questions, were so much esteemed, that 
 
 * Anderson vras a native of Hermandston, in Mid-Lothian, where 
 he first saw the light in 1740. Having been long engaged in the 
 business of farming in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen, the Uni- 
 versity of that city conferred on him, in 1780, the honorary degree 
 of LL.D. Anderson left Aberdeenshire in 1783, and resided for some 
 time in the vicinity of Edinburgh, where he projected and edited the 
 " Bee," a weekly publication. In 1797 he removed to London, and 
 there he edited " Recreations in Agriculture, Natural History, 
 Arts, &c." In vol. v., pp. 401 — 405, he gave a new and lucid expo- 
 sition of the theory of rent. He died in 1808. 
 
PREFACE. XIX 
 
 tliey were adopted into the legislation of Rome, And 
 having thence been transferred into the statute-books of 
 this and other commereial countries, they continue, even 
 at present, to be of the highest authority.* 
 
 AYe may further, perhaps, be allowed to mention, that 
 the reputation of Rhodes as a learned and polished city, 
 was nowise inferior to her celebrity as a first-rate empo- 
 rium. Towards the termination of the republic, and 
 during the early ages of the empire, the noble and 
 aspiring youth of Rome resorted in great numbers to her 
 hospitable shores to study science and philosophy. In 
 this respect, indeed, she was preferred by many even to 
 Athens. Among others, Cicero and Pompey studied at 
 Rhodes. Julius Ca3sar was taken by pirates when on his 
 way thither ; and Tiberius resided on the island for about 
 seven years. The tract now reprinted, illustrates these 
 and other circumstances, and may, therefore, be expected 
 to attract the reader's attention. 
 
 9. The next tract in this volume, " The Dissertation 
 on the Poor Laws,'' published in 1786, is the work of the 
 Rev. Mr. Townscnd, author of the " Travels in Spain. "f 
 It is extremely well-written. And though we dissent 
 entirely from his views in regard to the impolicy of a 
 public provision for the support of the poor, it must be 
 admitted that he has set some of the principal objections 
 to such provision in the clearest light, and has, also, 
 exposed many of the abuses with which the administra- 
 
 * For proofs of this statement see " Schomberg's Tract passim.'^ 
 t A work of the highest order of merit, and the best that had 
 been published ou the interesting country of which it treats, pre- 
 viously to its invasion by the Frcuch. 
 
XX PREFACE. 
 
 tiou of the poor laws was formerly infected. But the 
 tract is chiefly remarkable for its elucidation of the theory 
 of population. The statements given in it^ in reference 
 to the island of Juan Fernandez, afford as perfect an 
 illustration as can well be imagined of the balance between 
 population and food, and of their influence on each other. 
 They are not so much a foreshadowing of Malthus^ theory, 
 as the theory itself. And only required to have been 
 presented in a more detailed and systematic manner to 
 have anticipated the Essay on Population. 
 
 10. We come next to the " Thoughts and Details on 
 Scarcity,'' of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke. It ap- 
 pears from the preface to this tract, that it had been 
 presented in manuscript to Mr. Pitt in 1795, shortly 
 before the death of its illustrious author, but it was not 
 printed till 1800. And nothing could be more oppor- 
 tune than its appearance at a period when the country 
 was afflicted by scarcity. Mr. Burke protests, with his 
 usual ability and energy, and with even more than his usual 
 eloquence, against all attempts to interfere at such a crisis, 
 with the prices of corn, or the wages of labour ; and he 
 shows that though the pressure of scarcities may be 
 alleviated, it is not possible by any scheme of charity, to 
 exempt the labouring classes from the privations, calami- 
 ties, and sufferings inseparable from such visitations. His 
 observations on the shutting up of the distilleries, and on 
 the consumption of ardent spirits, are highly deserving of 
 attention, especially at the present moment, when so much 
 crude sophistry is afloat upon the subject. His exposure of 
 the worthlessness of the project, which had been repeatedly 
 brought forward, for warehousing corn in plentiful years 
 
PREFACE. XXI 
 
 at the public expense to serve as a resource in years 
 of scarcity is, also, most satisfactory. It were idle, indeed, 
 to imagine that such a scheme, even if it were approved 
 of, could be established on such a scale as to be of any 
 practical importance in making good the deficiency of a 
 really bad harvest. But on whatever scale it might be 
 tried, the abuse and waste it would inevitably occasion 
 would be so great, and so obvious, that it hardly required 
 the splendid eloquence of Burke to make the scheme be 
 rejected by the Parliament and the public. 
 
 Being printed in the various editions of Burke's works, 
 the appearance of this tract in this place may, perhaps, be 
 considered superfluous. But its extraordinary merit is 
 more than enough to justify its republication. It is cer- 
 tainly one of the best pamphlets of its class in the lan- 
 guage, if it be not the very best. And the possessors of 
 this volume will be glad to have so brilliant a gem, de- 
 tached from the mass of other matter in which it is usually 
 buried. 
 
 11. The last tract in this collection, " An Inquiry into 
 the Policy and Justice of the Prohibition of the use of 
 Grain in the Distilleries," appeared in 1808, from the pen 
 of Archibald Bell, Esq., Sherifi" of Ayr. It owed its 
 origin to the measure that was then under discussion, for 
 preventing distillation from corn ; the impolicy of which 
 had already been denounced by Burke, and is here fully 
 established. It may be supposed, perhaps, that there is 
 but little risk of any such prohibition being enacted in 
 future. This, however, is by no means clear. And 
 though it were, the tract is to be understood in a wider 
 sense, or as being an able and energetic protest against 
 
XXU PREFACE. 
 
 those ill-advised and quackish measures, by which it is 
 attempted to stave off some immediate evil, or to gain 
 some temporary advantage by trenching on those great 
 principles, all tampering with which is sure to be pro- 
 ductive of ruinous results. 
 
 This terminates the collection of Tracts, reprinted by 
 Lord Overstone. It will, perhaps, be generally admitted, 
 that the volumes are both interesting and valuable. But 
 the defects of the collection, whatever they may be, are 
 entirely to be set down to the account of the Editor, 
 and not of the Noble Lord who has defrayed the expense 
 of the publication. He made no stipulations of any kind. 
 I ventured to suggest to his Lordship that the reprinting 
 of a selection of the rarest and best tracts connected 
 with our trade, finance, paper currency, &c., w^ould be 
 desirable ; and having approved of the suggestion, he 
 left me to carry it out as I thought best. But for 
 this munificence on the part of my noble friend, not 
 one of these volumes would have appeared. And though 
 a better collection may be easily imagined, yet, such as 
 it is, it will hardly be disputed that it will assist in 
 preserving some valuable and little known works ; and that 
 it makes a desirable addition to the historical and politi- 
 cal literature of the empire. 
 
 J. R. M. 
 
 London.) December 1859. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. An Apology for the Builder ; or a Discourse 
 shewing the Cause Unci Effects of the Increase 
 of Building. 1685 1 
 
 II. Giving Alms no Charity, and Employing the Poor 
 a Grievance to the Nation. Addressed to the 
 Parliament of England. 1704. . .27 
 
 III. A View of the Greenland Trade and Whale- 
 
 Fishery, with the National and Private Ad- 
 vantages thereof 1722. . . . . 61 
 
 IV. An Apology for the Business of Pawn-Broking. 
 
 By a Pawn-Broker. 1744 105 
 
 V. Extracts from the Works of Dr. Franklin, on 
 / Population, Commerce, &c 161 
 
 VI. Reflections on the Formation and Distribution of 
 
 Wealth. By M. Turgot. 1793. . . .241 
 
 VII. Extract from an Inquiry into the Natm-e of the 
 Com Laws ; with a View to the New Corn- 
 Bill proposed for Scotland. 1777. . .319 
 
 VIII. A Treatise on the Maritime Laws of Rhodes. By 
 
 Alexander C. Schomberg, M. A. 1786. . . 327 
 
 IX. A Dissertation on the Poor Laws. By a Well- 
 
 Wisher to Mankind. 1786 395 
 
xxiv CONTENTS. 
 
 X. Thoughts and Details on Scarcity, originally pre- 
 sented to the Eight Hon. William Pitt, in 
 November, 1795. By the Right Hon. Edmund 
 Burke. 1800 451 
 
 XI. An Inquiry into the Policy and Justice of the 
 Prohibition of the Use of Grain in the Distil- 
 leries, &c. By Archibald Bell, Esq., Advocate. 
 1808 495 
 
 Index. 559 
 
A N 
 
 APOLOGY 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 BUILDER: 
 
 OR A *..' ;'.' ■ ''.* , 
 
 D I S C O U R S E 
 
 SHEWING THE 
 
 CAUSE AND EFFECTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 INCREASE 
 
 Building. 
 
 LONDON, Printed for Cave Pullen, at tjie Angel 
 m St. PaM/j-Church-yard, 1685. 
 
AN 
 
 APOLOGY 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 BUILDER 
 
 TO write of architecture and its several parts, of 
 situation, platforms of building, and the quality of 
 materials, with their dimensions and ornaments : To dis- 
 course of the several orders of columns, of the Tuscan, 
 Dorick, lonick, Corinthian, and Composit, with the proper 
 inrichments of their capitals, Freeze and Cornish, were to 
 transcribe a folio from Vitruvius and others ; and but 
 mispend the readers and writers time, since we live in an 
 age and country, where all the arts belonging to archi- 
 tecture are so well known and practised : And yet at the 
 same time and place to write an apology for the artist 
 may seem a greater trifling. In a time when since the 
 Grecian greatness their arts were never better performed. 
 In a place where buildings are generally so well finish'd, 
 that almost every house is a little book of architecture ; 
 and as the ancient artists made Athens and the rest of 
 their cities famous by their buildings, and still preserve 
 the memory of the places by the ruins of their excellent 
 arts : So the artists of this age have already made the 
 city of London the metropolis of Europe, and if it be com- 
 pared for the number of good houses, for its many and 
 3 large 
 
4 An Apology f 07^ the Builder. 
 
 large piazzas, for its richness of inhabitants, it must be 
 allowed tlie largest, best built, and richest city in the 
 world. But such is the misfortune of greatness to be 
 envied. The citizens, nay the whole nation is astonished 
 at the flourishing condition of this metropolis, to see every 
 year a new town added to the old one ; and like men 
 affrighted are troubled with misapprehensions, and easily 
 imposed on by the false suggestions of those that envy her 
 grandeur, and are augry with the builders for making her 
 so grtfit. 
 
 The citizens arc afraid that the building of new houses 
 will lessen the rent and trade of the old ones, and fancy 
 the inhabitants will remove on a suciden like rats that they 
 say run away from old houses before they tumble. 
 
 The country gentleman is troubled at the new buildings 
 for fear they should draw away their inhabitants, and de- 
 populate the country, and they want tenants for their 
 land. And both agree that the increase of building is 
 prejudicial to the government, and use for argument a 
 simile from those that have the rickets, fansying the city 
 to be the head of the nation ; and that it will grow too 
 big for the body. 
 
 This is the charge that is laid on the builders : Therefore 
 the design of this discourse is to answer these aspersions, to 
 remove these fears and false conceptions, by confuting 
 these popular errors, and shewing tliat the builder ought 
 to be encouraged in all nations as the chief promoter of 
 their welfare. 
 
 This is done by shewing the cause of the increase of 
 building, and the effects ; as they relate to the city, to the 
 count?'!/, and to the government. 
 
 Of 
 
All Apology for the Builder, 
 
 Of the Cause. 
 
 THE cause of tlie increase of building is from the 
 natural increase of mankind, tliat there are more born 
 than die. From the first blessing of the creation, increase 
 and multijj/i/, joined to the good government of a gracious 
 king. 
 
 There are three things that man by nature is under 
 a necessity to take care of, to provide food for himself, 
 clothes and a house. For the^r^^ ; all the rest of creation 
 as well as man is under that necessity to take care of: 
 For life cannot be maintained without food. 
 
 The second belongs only to man, and it is a question 
 by some, whether it is required of him by nature, or 
 custom, because in some countries (and those cold) men 
 go naked. 
 
 But as to the last, it is most certain, that man is 
 forced to build by nature, as all those creatures are, whose 
 young are born so weak (like the offspring of mankind), 
 that they require some time for strength after their birth, 
 to follow their parents, or feed themselves. Thus the 
 rabbit, the fox and lion make themselves burrows, ken- 
 nels, and dens to bring forth, and shelter their young, but 
 the mare, cow, sheep, ^r. bring forth in the open held, 
 because their young are able to follow them as soon as 
 folded. 
 
 So that the natural cause of building a house is to 
 provide a shelter for their young ; and if we examine man 
 in his natural condition without arts, his tenement differs 
 little from the rest of nature's herd: The fox's kennel 
 though not so large, being a lesser creature, may yet for 
 its contrivance in its several apartments be compared with 
 any of his cottages : Earthen walls, and covering are the 
 manner of both their buildings, and the furniture of both 
 their houses alike : Now as tiie rabbits increase, new bur- 
 5 rows 
 
6 A7i Apology for the Builder. 
 
 rows are made, and the boundaries of the warren are 
 enlarged. So it is with man, as he increaseth, new houses 
 are built, and his town made bigger. 
 
 When mankind is civilized, instructed with arts, and 
 under good government, every man doth not dress his 
 own meat, make his own clothes, nor build his oivn house. 
 He enjoys property of land and goods, which he or his 
 ancestors by their arts and industry gained. These pos- 
 sessions make the difference among men of rich and poor. 
 The rich are fed, clothed, and housed by the labour of 
 other men, but the poor by their own, and the goods made 
 by this labour are the rents of the rich mens land (for to 
 be well /ed, well clothed, and well lodged, without labour 
 either of body or mind, is the true definition of a rich 
 man). 
 
 Now as men differ in estates, so they differ in their 
 manner of living. The rich have variety of dishes, 
 several suits of clothes, and larger houses : and as their 
 riches increase, so doth their wants, as Sir William Temple 
 hath observed, men are better distinguished by what they 
 want, than by what they injoy. And the chief business 
 of trade is the making and selling all sorts of commodi- 
 ties to supply their occasions. For there are more hands 
 imployed to provide things necessary to make up the 
 several distinctions of men ; things that promote the 
 ease, pleasure and pomp of life, than to supply the first 
 natural necessities from hunger, cold, and a house only to 
 shelter their young. Now the trader takes care from time 
 to time to provide a sufficient quantity of all sorts of 
 goods for mans occasions, which he finds out by the mar- 
 ket : That is, by the quick selling of the commodities, that 
 are made ready to be sold. And as there are butchers, 
 brewers and cooks, drapers, mercers and taylors, and a 
 hundred more, that furnish him with food and clothes ; 
 so there are bricklayers, carpenters, playsterers, and many 
 more traders, that build houses for him, and they make 
 6 houses 
 
An Apology for the Builder. 7 
 
 houses of the first, second, and third rate of building in 
 proportion to the increase of the several degrees of men, 
 which they find out by the market, that is by letting of 
 houses already built : so that if it were thoroughly be- 
 lieved, that mankind doth naturally increase; this miracle 
 of the great increase of houses would cease, it is therefore 
 necessary to shew that man doth naturally increase. 
 
 This maybe sufficiently proved by Sacred History, that 
 the world was first peopled by the increase from Adam 
 and Eve, and after the Deluge repeopled by Noah and his 
 sons Shem, Ham, and Japhct. That the Jews began from 
 the single stock of Abraham by Isaac, and so from Jacob ; 
 and when Moses numbered them, which was not long dis- 
 tance of time (being computed to be about two hundred 
 and sixty years from Jacob) they were above six hundred 
 thousand fighting men, reckoning only from twenty years 
 old and upward, besides women and children. And when 
 numbered by David, which was about four hundred and 
 fifty years after, they were grown a very great nation, 
 being thirteen hundred thousand fighting men of Judah 
 and Israel. 
 
 But the late Lord Chief Justice Hale in his Discourse 
 on this subject Avas not contented to relye wholly on 
 arguments from authority of Holy Writ, and therefore 
 takes other topicks to confirm the relation of Moses con- 
 cerning the beginning of the world, and the peopling of 
 it by a natural increase. 
 
 I. From the novitij of History, That no authentick 
 history is older than four thousand years, and none so old 
 as Moses of the beginning of the world. 
 
 II. From the ChronoloQical Account of Times. That the 
 Assyrian, Erpjptian, and Grecian accounts arc to be found 
 out in what year of the world they began. 
 
 III. From the beifinnim) of the ancient Kingdoms, That 
 
 7 Rome 
 
8 An A'pologyfor the Builder. 
 
 Rome was built by Romulus in the seventh Olympiad, the 
 Assyrian monarchy began by Cyrus in 55 Olympiad, and 
 the Grecian by Alexander in 111. 
 
 IV. From the first invention of Arts, That the times of 
 the first invention of husbandry and making of wine are 
 as well known, as the later inventions of gun-powder and 
 printing. 
 
 V. From the beginning of Religions, That the time of 
 the inauguration of the heathen deities are known ; as 
 when that Jupiter, Bacchus, Ceres and Aesculapius, and the 
 rest of them were but men of great renown, and for their 
 good deeds after their death worshipped ; as well as when 
 Moses, our Saviour, and Mahomet were born. 
 
 VI. From the decays of Humane Nature ; but how far 
 that may be true, I leave to further inquiry. 
 
 VII. From the beginning of the Patres familias, or the 
 first planters of the continents and islands of the world ; 
 that Helen gave denomination to the Grecians called Hel- 
 lenista, Pelasigus to the Pelasgi, Latinus to the Latins, 
 and the place called Latium, Italus to the Italians, and Italy 
 is as much to be believed, as that the English gave name to 
 New England in America, and the names of the towns 
 there, London and New York. 
 
 VIII. Fro9n the gradual increase of Mankind ; That 
 considering the time of his first procreation, which is 
 agreed to be about 15 or 16 years, to the time he gives 
 over, which is about sixty : It cannot be otherwise be- 
 lieved but that in the space of five and forty years he 
 must produce a numerous ofi'-spring : And it is no wonder 
 amongst us ; for a person to live to see some hundreds 
 descended from his loyns. 
 
 8 Afterwards 
 
An ApologTjfor the Builder. 9 
 
 Afterwards he comes to a particular observation of the 
 increase of Euf/Iand by comparing the present state of it 
 with the survey set down in the Doomsday-Book, and 
 makes an instance in Gloucester-Shire, by which it ap- 
 peareth, that the inhabitants of that county since tliat 
 time are greatly increased. And last of all he argueth the 
 increase of London from the Bills of Mortality. 
 
 These are the arguments of the late Lord Chief Justice 
 Hale, to prove that mankind naturally increaseth, of 
 Avhich he discourseth at large in his book of the Oriyina- 
 tion of Mankind, and therein answereth all the objections 
 to the contrary. And because these two last arguments 
 from the survey of the Doomsday-Book, and Bills of 
 Mortality carry with them the greatest force, for they best 
 discover the matter of fact as to our own nation. I have 
 therefore made it my business to make a scrutiny into the 
 truth of them : As to the first, it is easie to make it 
 appear that there are thirty times more people in England 
 than there were in William the Conqucror^s time, when 
 the survey was taken. And as to the latter, I shall have 
 occasion to discourse of at large hereafter. 
 
 And if it were necessary to use any further arguments 
 for tlie proof this matter, they would plainly appear i)y 
 comparing ancient histories with modern in tlie descrip- 
 tions they give of the countries. As to the great woods, 
 the many little governments, and the manner of the peoples 
 living without arts : But not to wander over many 
 countries, and among several historians I will only take 
 the short description that Ccesar givetli of our own, to 
 shew how it differs from what it now is. 
 
 He says, " That the inner part of Britain is in- 
 " habited by such as memory rccordeth to be born in tlie 
 " island : And the maritime coast by such as came out 
 " of Belgia, cither to make incursions or invasions, and 
 *' after the war was ended they continued in the posses- 
 " siuns they had gained, and were called by the name of 
 9 the 
 
10 An Apology for the Builder. 
 
 " the cities from whence they came," '' It is true," he saith, 
 " The country is very populous and Avell inhabited, with 
 " houses like unto them in Gallia ." But that must be 
 understood as other countries of Europe were then. It 
 appears that in England there were many governments 
 and little colonies of people, '' for he reckons fom- kings 
 " in the county of Kent, besides some little states." And 
 he says, " Most of the inland people sow no corn, but 
 " live on milk and flesh, clothed with skins, and having 
 *' their fiices painted with a blew color to the end they 
 " might seem more terrible in fight. The Britans towns," 
 he says, " are places ditched about to make a shelter for 
 '' themselves and cattel. And their manner of fighting 
 " was by making sudden excursions out of the woods, 
 " and then retiring into them for shelter." All which 
 descriptions shew the country was not so populous as 
 now. 
 
 For where there are great woods, there is not room 
 for pasture or corn, to feed mankind : Besides they are 
 a shelter for beasts of prey, which man as he increaseth 
 doth every where destroy, and suffers no flesh-eaters to 
 live but himself, except .the dog and cat, which he 
 maketh tame for his use. The lion, wolf, and the bear 
 are not to be found in a populous country ; and it is the 
 first business of all the planters in America to destroy 
 the wild beasts, and the woods, to make room for them- 
 selves to plant in. 
 
 And the reason probably of those Roman causeways, 
 that we find in England, was to make roads through 
 great woods to the several Roman colonies ; though at 
 this time we find them in open champaign countries ; for 
 had the country been so then, they would certainly have 
 made them straiter than we now find them. 
 
 The many little governments shew the infancy of a 
 
 country, for from single families government first began ; 
 
 those governments were but so many families of great 
 
 10 men : 
 
An Apology for the Builder. II 
 
 men : Now tlie large boundaries that so many Uttle Go- 
 vernments take up in a country, make one half of the 
 country useless : For men arc afraid to plant or sow too 
 near their enemies country for fear they should lose 
 their harvest. Therefore the same land cannot feed so 
 many people as when it is under but one government. 
 
 Besides ivithoid arts, a great number of people cannot 
 live together; the earth by the arts of husbandry pro- 
 duceth ten times more food than it can naturally. And 
 neither can there be any great cities, for the inhabitants 
 have nothing to exchange for their food, for it is the arts of 
 the city which are paid for the provisions of the country. 
 
 To conclude, nothing is so plain from ancient history 
 as that Asia was first peopled, and (according to the 
 description of Moses) began about Babylon : And as man- 
 kind increased, and the country filled with inhabitants ; 
 arts were invented, and they possest more ground, till they 
 spread themselves into Egypt, and so over Africa, and 
 from thence into Greece, over Europe, and now Ew'ope 
 being full, their swarm begins to fill America. 
 
 And all the ancient descriptions of the countries of 
 Europe, in the times of the Roman greatness, are just such 
 as are now given of America, and differ vastly from what 
 they are now, in the number of cities, towns, and arts of 
 inhabitants. 
 
 For were America so well peopled as Europe is, those 
 great countries that are possest there by the Spaniards, 
 French, Dutch and English, some of them bigger than 
 their own countries in Europe, could not be so quietly 
 held, and injoyed by not a hundredth part of the people 
 of their own country. 
 
 And although the valor of the Roman soldiers, and 
 their aff'ccted bravery (grow a as it were a fashion, and a 
 popular emulation) conduced much to the greatness of 
 the Roman empire; yet nothing promoted its success so 
 much, and gave it such large extent as the infancy of Eu- 
 11 ro2)e 
 
12 An Apology Jor the Builder. 
 
 rope at that time^ being thinly inhabited ivith people, with- 
 out arts, and full of little monarchies and states. For had 
 it not been so, Caesar could never have over-run Gallia^ 
 Belgia, Britain, and some part of (ie7'mamj, and kept 
 them in subjection with only ten legions of soldiers, which 
 was but fifty thousand men ; for we have seen within these 
 late years much greater armies in Belgia alone, (that is 
 within the Seventeen Provinces,) and amongst them men 
 not inferior either in courage or skill in war, and yet have 
 not Avholly subdued one province. And perhaps had these 
 forces at the same time been sent into America, they 
 might have extended their conquest over as much ground 
 and over as many people as Ccesar did. 
 
 Nor was England so populous then as now it is ; for 
 had it been, Ccesar would never at first have ventured to 
 invade it with two legions ; and at the second time when 
 he designed a full conquest brought over with him but 
 five legions, that is but five and twenty thousand men. 
 
 For although some may think from the great armies 
 we read of; neer two millions of men under Cyrus and 
 Xerxes in Asia-, and of vast swarms of the Goths and 
 Vandals in Europe, in their invasions under King Attila 
 and others, that the world was more populous than now, 
 because we hear of no such numbers of late; yet if it be 
 considered, it demonstrates only the manner of their fight- 
 ing, and the infancy of the world ; the want of people, and 
 arts, rather than that it was populous. 
 
 For the Gentiles armies were made up after the man- 
 ner of the Jeivs, by taking all that were able to bear 
 amies, reckoning from about 20 years old to sixty. For 
 when C(Bsar had slain the army of the Nervii, being about 
 50000 men (a valiant people, one of the Seventeen. Pro- 
 vinces) ; the old men and women petitioning for mercy, 
 declared that there were not 500 men left in the whole 
 nation, that were able to bear arms. 
 
 And if the King of England should reckon his army 
 12 after 
 
An Apolocjii for the Builder. 13 
 
 nfter this manner; of his eight* millions of subjects (as 
 they are computed to be) there could not be less than 
 three millions that were able to bear armes, which would 
 be a greater army than ever we read of; which must 
 show that the world was thin of people ; since the Assy- 
 rian empire the oldest, and therefore most populous did 
 never raise so great a number. 
 
 And those great numbers shew that they wanted arts ; 
 for we read that the Athenians a small but learned people 
 baflfled and destroyed all the great army of Xerxes, 
 reckoned by some to be seventeen hundred thousand men ; 
 and Alexander with a small number of skilful and valiant 
 Greeks subdued the then inhabited world. 
 
 And although the Goths and Vandals, and the cold 
 parts of the world made their invasion for want of room 
 to live in, yet that proceeded from the ivant of arts. 
 
 For by arts the earth is made more fruitful^ and by 
 the invention of the compass and printing, the world is 
 made more habitable and conversable : By the first the 
 countries traffick and exchange the commodities they 
 abound with, for those they want. The timber, pitch 
 and tarr of the cold countries are exchanged for the wine, 
 brandy, and spices of the hot. By the latter all arts are 
 easier discovered ; by traffick and arts the inhabitants of 
 the cold countries are better fed, better clothed, and 
 better lodged ; which make them indure the extremities 
 of their climates better than formerly; and as they in- 
 crease they build new towns, inlarge their cities, and im- 
 prove their own country; instead of invading and de- 
 stropng their neighbours. 
 
 13 But 
 
 * If this statement be meant, as it appears to be, to apply to 
 England only, it is far beyond the mark ; for in 1G85, its population 
 was certainly under six millions. If, however, it be understood as 
 comprising the entire population of the British Islands, there will 
 1)e little to object to in it. 
 
14 An Apology for the Builder. 
 
 But to return home : It is plain that the natural in- 
 crease of mankind is the cause of the increase of the city, 
 and that there are no more houses built every year in 
 it, than are necessary for the growth of the inhabitants : 
 As will somewhat appear by the number of apprentices 
 made free, and marriages every year in the city. 
 
 By the best computation that I can learn, there are 
 no less than ten thousand married every year in the city ; 
 which is no great number considering the number of in- 
 habitants : And if we should allow two weddings in a 
 parish every week one with another, (there being a hun- 
 dred and thirty parishes in all) it will much exceed this 
 proportion. Now in some parishes there is seldom less 
 than ten in a week. And in Dukes-place, and St. Katha- 
 rine's, being privileg'd places, there is ordinarily twenty 
 or thirty in a week. 
 
 As to the number of apprentices that come every year 
 out of their time, there are not less than nine thousand ; 
 which will not be thought too great a number, if we 
 reckon the houses in the city, to be about fourscore thou- 
 sand : And if the fourth part of this number be allowed 
 for the gentry, or those which live without trades or pro- 
 fessions ; and the three other parts being sixty thousand, 
 for trades or professions; and one apprentice to every 
 house (though in some houses are three or four appren- 
 tices) ; and that in seven years the whole number come 
 out of their time ; then in every year a seventh part of 
 sixty thousand (which is about nine thousand a year) will 
 come out of their time. Now if Mr. Graunfs computa- 
 tion be right, that these houses contain eight persons, one 
 with another, then there ought to be a thousand houses at 
 least built every year for these nine thousand apprentices 
 that come out of their time, and the ten thousand wed- 
 dings to have room to breed in. And this proportion is 
 only sufficient to lodg them, and not for places to trade 
 in, for nine traders cannot live in one house. Therefore 
 14 some 
 
An Apology for the Builder. 15 
 
 some of their masters, or other traders must eitlicr die, 
 break, or being gro\Mi too rieh give over their trades to 
 make room for some of them to have places to trade in, 
 besides those that are furnish M with places by the new 
 houses. 
 
 But I find Islr. Grmint much mistaken in his account 
 about the number of inhabitants in each house in the out- 
 parts ; perhaps it was from tlic rebuilding of the city with 
 houses more capacious and more in number. For in this 
 last five and twenty years : the inhabitants are now a 
 third part more, as appeareth by the Bills of Mortality ; 
 for in the year 1660 and 1661 there died between thir- 
 teen and fourteen thousand a year, and now there dies 
 betwixt twenty -one and twenty-two thousand a year. So 
 that there ought to have been built above twenty-six 
 thousand honses in these twenty-five years, which is above 
 a thousand houses a year to lodg this increase, which are 
 much more than have been built in the out parts, for 
 it appears by Mr. Morgan's map of the city that there 
 have not been built in this time 8000 houses, that is not 
 300 houses one year with another. 
 
 But this is certain, that there are no more houses built 
 every year than are occasion for ; because there are ten- 
 ants for the houses, when built, and a continuance every 
 year to build more. For the builders will do as other 
 traders, who, when the market is over-stocked with their 
 commodities, and no occasion for those already made, for- 
 bear to make any more, or bring them to market, till a 
 new occasion requireth them. And when they find they 
 cannot lett those already built, they will desist from 
 building, and need no Act of Parliament to hinder them. 
 So that we may as well complain that there is too m\ich 
 cloth and stufl' made, too much corn sowed, too many 
 sheep or oxen bred, as that there are too many houses built ; 
 too many taylors, shoo-makcrs, bakers and brewers, as 
 there are too many builders. 
 
 15 Of 
 
An Apology for the Builder. 
 
 Of the Effects of the increase of Buildings, and first as 
 it relateth to the City. 
 
 NEW buildings are advantageous to a city, for they 
 raise the rents of the old houses. For the bigger 
 a town is, the more of value are the houses in it. Houses 
 of the same conveniency and goodness are of more value 
 in Bristol, Exeter and Northampton, than in the little 
 villages adjoyning. 
 
 Houses in the middle of a town are of more value than 
 those at the out-ends ; and when a town happens to be 
 increased by addition of new buildings to the end of a 
 town, the old liouses which were then at the end, become 
 nearer to the middle of the town, and so increase in 
 value. 
 
 Houses are of more value in Cheapside and Cornhill, 
 than they are in Shoreditch, White- Chappel, Old-Sti'eet,l 
 or any of the out-parts : and the rents in some of these 
 out-parts have been within this few years considerably 
 advanced by the addition of new buildings that are beyond 
 them. As for instance, the rents of the houses in Bishops- 
 gate-street, the Minories, &c. are raised from fifteen or 
 sixteen pounds per annum, to be now worth thirty, which 
 was by the increase of buildings in Spittle-Fields, Shadwell 
 and Ratcliff- Highway. And at the other end of the town 
 those houses in the Strand and Charing-Cross are worth 
 now fifty and threescore pounds per annum, which within 
 this thirty j-ears were not lett for above twenty pounds 
 per annum ; which is by the great addition of buildings 
 since made in St. James's, Leicester-Fields, and other ad- 
 joyning parts. But in those out-parts where no new 
 buildings have been added, as in Old-street^ Grub-street , 
 and all that side of the city which does not increase, 
 houses continue much of the same value, as they were 
 16 twenty 
 
An Apology for the Builder. 17 
 
 twenty years ago : And tlie reason of this is ; because 
 houses are of value, as they stand in a place of trade, 
 and by the addition of new buildings the place becomes to 
 be a greater thorough-fare, by the passing and repassing 
 of the inhabitants to these new buildings. 
 
 2. They are advantageous to the city, because they 
 increase the trade of it : The trade of the city is either 
 wholesale, or retail. Now the new buildings of Blooms- 
 berry, Leicester-Fields, St. James's, Spittle-Fields, ^c. are 
 like so many new towns for the wholesale-trader to traffick 
 in. The inhabitants of these places do eat, wear clothes, 
 and furnish their houses, and whatsoever commoditie they 
 use, come first from the merchants, or wholesale-trader. 
 For the city is the great mart for goods, from whence all 
 other places must be furnished ; so that the new buildings 
 axe beneficial to the wholesale trade of the city. And it 
 appears that they are likewise advantageous to the retail- 
 traders, because they can afford to give more rent for 
 their old houses, than they did formerly; for otherwise 
 none would believe that the tenants of Bishopsgate-street , 
 and the Minories could subsist and pay double the rent 
 for their houses within this thirty years, had they not a 
 better trade in those places than formerly. 
 
 Of the Effects of New Bidldivgs as they relate 
 to the Country. 
 
 NEW buildings are advantageous to the country ; 
 1. By taking off the commodities of the coimtry. 
 The materials of these houses, as stones, bricks, lime, 
 iron, lead, timber, ,SfC. are all the commodities of the 
 country. And whatsoever the inhabitants of these neAv 
 17 houses 
 
18 An Apology for the Buihhr. 
 
 houses have occasion for, either for food^ apparel, or 
 furniture for their houses, are at first the growth of the 
 country; and the bigger the town grows^ the greater is 
 the occasion and consumption of these commodities, and 
 so the greater profit to the country. 
 
 II. New buildings provide an habitation and livelihood 
 for the supernumerary and useless inhabitants of the 
 country. The younger sons of the gentry, the children 
 of the yeomen and peasants are by these means provided 
 with callings, imployments, and habitations to exercise 
 them in ; which sliould they have continued in the country, 
 would have been burdensome, and chargeable to their 
 friends, for want of imployments. 
 
 For there is always inhabitants enough left in the 
 country for the imployments of the country. For if the 
 countr}^ wanted people, there would be a want of their 
 commodities, for want of hands to provide them. 
 
 Now there is as much land plowed, and all sorts of 
 grain sown, and reaped every year, as there is occasion 
 for ; and sometimes more : For the Crown in some years 
 hath been at charge to export it. And there is as much 
 wooll provided and made into clothes and stuffs, as the 
 market can take oft', and so for all other commodities of 
 the country. 
 
 Nay there are more of all the country commodities 
 every year made than formerly : There are more stuffs, 
 more clothes sent up to Gerard's and Blackwell-Hall, as 
 appears by the entries of those halls ; and more sheep and 
 oxen sent to London, and eaten, than formerly. For 
 there are more people in the city to be fed ; so that there 
 must be more hands in the country to provide this greater 
 quantity of commodities : And the country does increase 
 as well as the city, as hath been already observed from the 
 Doomsday- Book. 
 
 Therefore if the rents of the lands fall in the country, 
 
 it must not be ascrib'd to the new -buildings draining their 
 
 18 inhabitants, 
 
An Apology for the Builder. 19 
 
 inhabitants, but to some other occasions ; which probal)ly 
 may be from the great improvements that arc made upon 
 the land in the country, either by draining of fens ; im- 
 proving of land by zanfoin ; or other profitable seeds ; 
 inclosing of grounds, or disparking and plowing of parks, 
 by which means the markets are over stock'd and fur- 
 nished at a cheaper rate than those lands can afford, who 
 have had no advantage from improvements : Or else the 
 market is removed at a greater distance, and the lands are 
 forced to abate in their price for the carriage ; the town 
 perhaps is decayed, that they used to furnish, and the 
 trade removed to some other flourishing place at a greater 
 distance ; occasioned some times by the death or removal 
 of some great clothier or trader ; or some other natm'al 
 obstruction of the place ; as the ehoaking up of some 
 haven, and the forsaking of the sea, which is the reason of 
 the decay of the Cinque-Ports. These or some other oc- 
 casions may make some particular mens farms fall in value; 
 but there is never a county in England, where the land 
 of the whole county doth not produce a third part more 
 in value than it did within a 100 years, and whosoever 
 will compare these present rents, with what they were 
 then, will find them generally increased. Therefore the 
 new buildings of this city cannot prejudice the country, 
 but are greatly advantageous to it. 
 
 Of the Effects of the New Buildings, as they relate 
 to the Government. 
 
 I."1^T"EW buildings are advantageous to the king and 
 X^ government. They are instrumental to the pre- 
 serving and increasing of the number of the subjects ; and 
 19 numbers 
 
20 /in A]Jologiifor the Builder. 
 
 numbers of subjects is the strength of a prince : for 
 houses are hives for the people to breed and swarm in, 
 without which they cannot increase ; and unless they are 
 provided for them from time to time in proportion to their 
 increase, they would be forced to go into the plantations 
 and other countries for habitations ; and so many times 
 become the subjects of other princes ; but at the best the 
 country loseth the profit of feeding them ; for they that 
 live in a city are unskilful and unfit for country life ; and 
 this is the reason why so many Scotch citizens are wancb'ing 
 pedlers : and that every town in Europe hath a Scotchman 
 for an inhabitant. 
 
 And that this will be the effects Avill appear plainly by 
 examining the growth of the city of London, since the 
 buildings have flourished, with its condition, when the 
 buildings were prohibited ; and we cannot make a better 
 discovery of it than by the Bills of Mortality, for it is 
 reasonable among such a number of mankind, such a 
 number should die ; and whether it be in such a propor- 
 tion as one in three and thirty, as Mr. Graunt and Sir 
 William Petty have observed, is not so material to this 
 purpose ; but it is a certain demonstration, that if the 
 burials have increased, the number of citizens hath in- 
 creased, though the proportion may be uncertain. 
 
 Now to begin the observation from the first Bills, that 
 were printed, which was in the year 1606, for the sjiace of 
 six and seven and twenty years, we shall find very little 
 increase in the city, for in 1606 and 1607, there died 
 between six and seven thousand a year ; and in the years 
 1632 and 1633 there died betwixt eight and nine thou- 
 sand : Now the reason of this was the people of England 
 were a little before that time under the same mistake, as 
 they are generally now, and cried out against the builders, 
 that the city would grow too big ; and therefore in the 
 38 of Queen Elizabeth they made a law to prohibit build- 
 ings in the city of London, which though it was but a 
 20 probationary 
 
An Apology Jo r the Builder. 21 
 
 probationary Act, to cotitinue only to the next sessions of 
 parliament (which uas but a short time) yet its effects 
 were long ; for it flighted the builders, and obstructed the 
 growth of the city ; and none built for thirty years after, 
 all King James his reign, without his Majesties license : But 
 for want of houses the increase of the people went into other 
 parts of the world ; for within this space of time were 
 those great plantations of New England, Virginia, Mari- 
 land, and Burmudas began ; and that tliis want of houses 
 was the occasion is plain ; for they could not build in the 
 country, because of the law against cottages. For people 
 may get children and so increase, that had not four acres 
 of ground to build on. 
 
 But the people of England at last were convinced of 
 this popular eiTor, and petitioned in parliament his Ma- 
 jestic K. Charles the Martyr, that he would take his 
 restraint from the builders ; and if the next period of 
 seven and twenty years be examined, wherein there was a 
 greater liberty of building, though in this space there was 
 a great rebellion and civil wars, which is a great allay to 
 the growth of the people, yet there appeareth a much 
 greater increase of the city of London; for in the years 
 1656 and 1657, the burials were twelve and thirteen thou- 
 sand. 
 
 But the flourishing condition of the city of London 
 raised a new clamour against the builders, and Oliver the 
 Usurper glad of any pretence to raise a tax, made use of 
 this clamor, and laid it upon the new foundations ; but 
 though it was an heavy and unjust tax upon the builders, 
 yet he got little by it, for the whole summ collected was but 
 twenty thousand pounds clear of all charges, as appears by 
 the records of the Exchequer ; however it had the same 
 ill effects to stop the builders, and growth of the city ; for 
 the people for want of houses in that time began that 
 great and flourishing plantation of Jamaica. 
 
 Now if the last period since his Majesties happy rcs- 
 21 tauration 
 
22 An Apology for the Builder. 
 
 tauration be examined, wherein the builders have had the 
 greatest liberty, it will appear that the inhabitants of the 
 city have increased more than in both of the former 
 periods, for the yearly Bills of Mortality are now betwixt 
 two and three and twenty thousands, so that the city is 
 since increased one third, and as much as in sixty years 
 before. 
 
 This is sufficient to shew that a nation cannot increase 
 without the metropolis be inlarged, and how dangerous a 
 consequence it may be to obstruct its growth, and dis- 
 courage the builders. It is to banish the people, and con- 
 fine the nation to an infant estate, while the neighbouring 
 nations grow to the full strength of manhood, and thereby 
 to render it an easie conquest to its enemies. 
 
 For the metropolis is the heart of a nation, through 
 which the trade and commodities of it circulate, like the 
 blood through the heart, which by its motion giveth life 
 and growth to the rest of the body; and if that declines, 
 or be obstructed in its growth, the whole body falls into 
 consumption : And it is the only symptome to know the 
 health, and thriving of a country by the inlarging of its 
 metropolis ; for the chief city of every nation in the world 
 that fiourisheth doth increase. 
 
 And if those gentlemen that fancy the city to be the 
 head of the nation, would but fancy it like the heart, 
 they would never be afraid of its growing too big; for I 
 never read of such a disease, that the heart was too big for 
 the body. And if we are of Machiavel' s opinion, this 
 simile is the best, for he saith, that citizens make no good 
 counseliors, for having raised their fortunes by parsimony 
 and industry, they are usually too severe in punishing of 
 vice, and too niggardly in rewarding of vertue. 
 
 2. It is the interest of the government, to incourage 
 the builders ; not only ])ecause they preserve and increase 
 the subjects, but they provide an imploy for them, by 
 which they are fed, and get their livelihood. 
 
 22 There 
 
An Apology for the Builder. 23 
 
 There are three great ways that the people in all 
 governments are imployed in : In providing food, clothes, 
 and houses. Now those ways are most serviceable to the 
 government, that imploy most of the people ; those that 
 are imployed in feeding of them, are the fewest in num- 
 ber ; for ten men may provide food enough for a thousand : 
 but to cloth, and build houses for them, requireth many 
 hands : And there is that peculiar advantage that ought 
 to be ascribed to the builder, that he provideth the place 
 of birth for all the other arts, as well as for man. The 
 cloth cannot be made without houses to work it in. Now 
 besides the vast numbers of people that are imployed in 
 digging and making the materials, the bricks, stone, iron, 
 lead, ^-c. all those trades that belong to the furnishing of 
 an house, have tlieir sole dependencies on the builders, as 
 the upliolsterers, chair-makers, §t. 
 
 But that which is the greatest advantage, they do not 
 only provide a livelihood to those that belong to the build- 
 ing, and furnishing of houses, but for the tenants of those 
 new houses : For the people being collected and living 
 together in one street, they serve and trade one with 
 another : For trade is nothing else but an exchange of one 
 mans labour for another : as for instance, supposing an 
 hundred men which lived at great distance before; some 
 in Cornwall, others in Yorkshire, and so dispersed over all 
 the countries in England, live together in one street ; one 
 is a baker, the other a brewer, a shoo-maker, taylor, i^x. 
 and so in one trade or other the whole hundred are im- 
 ployed : the baker gets his living by making bread for the 
 other ninety, and so do all the rest of them ; which while 
 they were dispersed at distances, were useless and could 
 not serve one another, and were ready to starve for want of 
 a livelihood. 
 
 3. But they get not only a livelihood, but grow rich : 
 
 There ariseth an emulation among them to out-live and 
 
 23 out-vve 
 
24 An Apology for the Builder. 
 
 out-vye one another in arts. This forceth them to be 
 industrious, and by industry they grow rich. 
 
 4. The increasing of buildings, and inlarging of town^, 
 preserveth the peace of a nation, by rendring the people 
 more easily governed. First it is the builders interest of 
 all sorts of men to preserve peace : Every man that 
 buildeth an house, gives security to the government for 
 his good behaviour. For war is the builders ruin. The 
 countryman may expect to enjoy his land again, though 
 for a time it be laid wast ; the merchant may hide his 
 goods, or remove them ; but when the town is besieged, 
 the houses are fired, the place made desolate, and nothing 
 is left to the builder but ruins, the sad remembrance of 
 his condition. 
 
 Besides, all cities are more inclined to peace, than the 
 country ; the citizens estates are in trade, and in goods ; 
 many of which grow useless in war, and lye in other 
 peoples hands, and their debtors run away, and take 
 sanctuary under the sword ; and citizens being usually 
 rich, cannot endure the hardship of war. Next, great 
 cities are more easily governed, because they are under 
 the eye of the Prince, as generally the metropolis is ; or 
 else under some governour, who by his rewards from the 
 Crown, is engaged to be very watchful in preserving the 
 peace, so that if they should grow factious, they are more 
 easily corrected. Thus the Ottoman power governs his 
 conquest by destroying villages and lesser towns, and 
 driving the people into capital cities, Avhich by the pre- 
 sence of some Basha are governed. Thus the King of 
 France in his late conquests in Flanders and Alsatia, burnt 
 some hundreds of villages ; but Luxembourg, Strasbourg, 
 and other great towns are preserved. And the bigger the 
 city, the more advantageous to the government ; for from 
 thence they are on a sudden the better supplied with men 
 and ammunition, to suppress any rebellion, or oppose a 
 foreign enemy. 
 
 24 Lastly, 
 
A)t Apologijjor the Builder. 25 
 
 Lastly, new buildings increase his Majesties revenues, 
 not only by the chiraney-moncy, which makes it a grow- 
 ing revenue ; but by the customs paid for the materials to 
 build and furnish the houses. Besides they being the 
 cause of the increase of the city, all the increase of the 
 revenues from the excise and customs (since the cities 
 increase) must be ascribed to them : which are a fourth 
 part more than they were five and twenty years ago. And 
 the excise is not only increased in the city, but it is so in 
 the country; which must not be ascribed solely to the 
 good raanagement, but chiefly to the natui'al increase of 
 the people. For if there be a third part more people in 
 the city than there were five and twenty years ago, there 
 must be a proportionable increase in the country to pro- 
 vide food and clothes for them. 
 
 To conclude, it was upon these considerations, that by 
 the building and inlarging of a city, the people are made 
 great, rich, and easily governed : That those ancient and 
 famous governments, Thebes, Athens, Sparta, Carthage, and 
 Rome, began their dominions, and inlarged them with 
 their cities ; and of late the States of Holland have followed 
 these examples. 
 
 The citizens of Amsterdam have thrice flung down 
 their walls to inlarge it ; so that from a little fisher-town 
 within less than 200 years it is become the third or fourth 
 city of Europe : and the rest of their cities have followed 
 their pattern ; and made grafts and streets at the charge 
 of the government ; endeavouring to outvie one another 
 by giving priviledges to incourage the builders and inha- 
 bitants. And these States have found the cff'ects of it; 
 for by this means they have changed their style fi'om the 
 Poor Distressed States, (as they wrote to Queen Elizabeth) 
 to the High and Mighty States of the United Provinces. 
 
 And if the city of London hath made such a progress 
 
 Avithin this five and twenty years, as to have grown one 
 
 third bigger, and become already the metropolis of Europe, 
 
 25 notwithstanding 
 
26 An Apology for the Builder. 
 
 notwithstanding the popular error the nation have been 
 infected withj and the ill censnres and discouragements 
 the builders have met with ; had they been for this last 
 hundred years encouraged by the government, the city of 
 London might probably have easily grown three times 
 bigger than now it is. 
 
 And if we consider what the natural effects of so 
 great a city must have been ; to be furnished with such 
 large provisions for war suitable to its greatness ; such a 
 vast number of ships ; being situate on an island and 
 navigable river; filled with innumerable inhabitants, of 
 such natural courage as the English are ; and to be so 
 easily transported on a sudden with all things necessary 
 for war, it would long before this time have been a terror 
 to all Europe; and now would have had the opportunity, 
 under the government of such a martial prince as now 
 reigns, to be made the metropolis of the world ; to have 
 caused England's monarch to be acknowledged lord of all 
 the navigable cities and sea-port-towns in the world ; to 
 have made an universal monarchy over the seas, an em- 
 pire no less glorious, and of much more profit, than of 
 the land ; and of larger extent, than either Ccesar's or 
 Alexander's. 
 
 FIN I S. 
 
 26 
 
Giving Ahns 720 Charity^ 
 And Employing the 
 
 POOR 
 
 A Grievance to the 
 
 NATION, 
 
 Being an 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 •Upon this 
 
 ."*^' 
 
 vVhether Work-houfes, Corporations, and Houfes of 
 Correction for Employing the Poor, as now prac- 
 tis'd in England ; or Parish-Stocks, as propos'd in 
 a late Pamphlet, Entituled, A Bill for the better 
 Relief J Imployment and Settlement of the Poory &c. 
 Are not mischievous to the Nation, tending to the 
 Destruction of our Trade, and to Encreafe the 
 Number and Misery of the Poor. 
 
 Addrejfed to the Parliament of England, 
 
 LO NBO N: 
 
 Printed, and Sold by the Booksellers of London and 
 Westminster. MDCCIV. , 
 
GIVING ALMS NO CHARITY. 
 
 To the KniyhtSy Citizens, and Burgesses in Parliament 
 Assembled. 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 HE that has truth and justice, and the interest of 
 England in his design, can have nothing to fear 
 from an English Parliament. 
 
 This makes the author of these sheets, however des- 
 picable in himself, apply to this Honourable House, without 
 my apology for the presumption. 
 
 Truth, Gentlemen, however meanly dress'd, and in 
 whatsoever bad company she happens to come, was always 
 entertain'd at your bar; and the Commons of England 
 must cease to act like themselves, or which is worse, like 
 their ancestors, when they cease to entertain any proposal, 
 that offers it self at their door, for the general good and 
 advantage of the people they represent. 
 
 I willingly grant, that 'tis a crime in good manners to 
 interrupt your more weiglity councils, and disturb your 
 debates; witli empty nauseous trifles in value, or mis- 
 taken schemes, and whoever ventures to address you, 
 ought to be well assur'd he is in the right, and that the 
 matter suits the intent of your meeting, viz. To dispatch 
 the weighty affairs of the kingdom. 
 
 And as I have premisM this, so I freely submit to any 
 3 censure 
 
30 Giving Alms no Charity. 
 
 censure this Honourable Assembly shall think I deserve, 
 if I have broke in upon either of these particulars. 
 
 I have but one petition to make with respect to the 
 author, and that is, that no freedom of expression, which 
 the arguments may oblige him to, may be construed as a 
 want of respect, and a breach of the due deference every 
 English man owes to the representing power of the 
 nation. 
 
 It would be hard, that while I am honestly offering to 
 your consideration something of moment for the general 
 good, prejudice should lay snares for the author, and 
 private pique make him an offender for a word. 
 
 Without entering upon other parts of my character, 'tis 
 enough to acquaint this Assembly, that I am an English 
 freeholder, and have by that a title to be concern'd in the 
 good of that community of which I am an unworthy 
 member. 
 
 This Honourable House is the representative of all 
 the freeholders of England ; you are assembl'd for their 
 good, you study their interest, you possess their hearts, 
 and you hold the strings of the general purse. 
 
 To you they have recourse for the redress of all their 
 wrongs, and if at any time one of their body can offer to 
 your assistance, any fair, legal, honest and rational pro- 
 posal for the publick benefit, it was never known that such 
 a man was either rejected or discourag'd. 
 
 And on this account I crave the liberty to assure you, 
 that the author of this seeks no reward ; to him it shall 
 always be reward enough to have been capable of serving 
 his native country, and honour enough to have offerM 
 something for the publick good worthy of consideration 
 in your Honourable Assembly. 
 
 Pauper ubiquejacet, said our famous Queen Elizabeth, 
 
 when in her progress thro' the kingdom she saw the vast 
 
 throngs of the poor, flocking to see and bless her; and 
 
 the thought put her Majesty upon a continu'd study how 
 
 4 to 
 
Givinij Alms no Chariti/. .'U 
 
 to recover her people from that poverty, and make tlieir 
 labour more profitable to themselves in particular, and 
 the nation in general. 
 
 This was easie then to propose, for that many useful 
 manufactures were made in foreign parts, which our peopl e 
 bought with English money, and imported for their use. 
 
 The Queen, who knew the wealth and vast numbers of 
 people which the said manufactures had brought to the 
 neighbouring countries then under the King of Spain, the 
 Dutch being not yet revolted, never left oft' endeavouring 
 what she happily brought to pass, viz. the transplanting 
 into England those s pr ings of riches and people. 
 
 She saw the Flemings prodigiously numerous, their 
 cities stood thicker than her peoples villages in some 
 pai'ts; all sorts of useful manufactures were found in 
 their towns, and all their people were rich and busie, no 
 beggars, no idleness, and consequently, no want was to be 
 seen among them. 
 
 She saw the fountain of all this wealth and workman- 
 ship, I mean the wool, was in her own hands, and Flanders 
 became the seat of all these manufactures, not because it 
 was naturally richer and more populous than other coun- 
 tries, but because it lay near England, and the staple of 
 the English wool which was the foundation of all their 
 wealth, was at Antwerp in the heart of that country. 
 
 From hence, it may be said of Flanders, it was not the 
 riches and the number of people brought the manufactures 
 into the Low Countries, but it was the mauufaeturcs 
 brought the people thither, and , multitudes of people 
 make trade, trade makes wealth, wealth builds cities, cities 
 enrich the land round them, land eurich'd rises in value, 
 and the value of lands enriches the (lovernnient. 
 
 Many projects were set on foot in England to erect the 
 woollen manufacture here, and in some places it had 
 found encouragement, before the days of this Queen, es- 
 pecially as to making of cloatli, but stuffs, bays, says, 
 5 serges. 
 
32 Owing Alms no Charity. 
 
 serges^ and such like wares were yet wholly the work of 
 the Flemings. 
 
 At last an opportunity offer'd perfectly unlook'd for, 
 viz. the persecution of the Protestants, and introducing 
 the Spanish inquisition into Flanders, Avith the tyranny of 
 the Duke If Alva. 
 
 It cannot be an ungrateful observation, here to take 
 notice how tyranny and persecution, the one an oppression 
 of property, the other of conscience, always ruine trade, 
 impoverish nations, depopulate countries, dethrone princes, 
 and destroy peace. 
 
 When an English man reflects on it, he cannot without 
 infinite satisfaction look up to Heaven, and to this Honour- 
 able House, that as the spring, this as the stream from and 
 by which the felicity of this nation has obtained a pitch of 
 glory, superior to all the people in the world. 
 
 Your Councils especially, when blest from Heaven, as 
 now we trust they are, with principles of unanimity and 
 concord, can never fail to make trade flourish, war suc- 
 cessful, peace certain, wealth flowing, blessings probable, 
 the Queen glorious, and the people happy. 
 
 Our unhappy neighbours of the Low Countries were 
 the very reverse of what we bless our selves for in you. 
 
 Their kings were tyrants, their governours persecutors, 
 their armies thieves and blood-hounds. 
 
 Their people divided, their councils coufus'd, and their 
 miseries innumerable. 
 
 D'Alva the Spanish Governor, besiegM their cities, 
 decimated the inhabitants, murthei-'d their nobility, pro- 
 scrib'd their princes, and executed 18,000 men by the 
 hand of the hang-man. 
 
 Conscience was trampFd under foot, religion and refor- 
 mation hunted like a hare upon the mountains, the inqui- 
 sition threatened, and foreign armies introduced. 
 
 Property fell a sacrifice to absolute power, the countrey 
 
 was ravag'd, the towns plunder'd, the rich confiscated, the 
 
 poor 
 
Giving Alms no Charity. 33 
 
 poor starved, trade interrupted, and the 10^/: penny de- 
 manded. 
 
 The consequence of this was, as in all tyrannies and 
 persecutions it is, the people fled and scattered themselves 
 in their neighboui's countries, trade languish^, manufcc- 
 tures went abroad, and never rcturn'd, confusion reiguM 
 and poverty succeeded. 
 
 The multitude that remain'd push'd to all extremities, 
 were forcM to obey the voice of nature, and in their own 
 just defence to take arms against their governours. 
 
 Destruction it self has its uses in the world, the ashes of 
 one city rebuilds another, and God Almighty, who never 
 acts in vain, brought the wealth of England, and the 
 power of Holland into the world from the ruine of the 
 Flemish liberttj. 
 
 The Dutch in defence of their liberty revolted, re- 
 nounc'd their tyrant prince, and prosper^ by Heaven and 
 the assistance of England, erected the greatest common- 
 wealth in the world. 
 
 Innumerable observations would flow from this part of 
 the present subject, but brevity is my study, I am not 
 teaching ; for I know who I speak to, but relating and 
 observing the connexion of Causes, and the wonderous 
 births which lay then in the womb of Providence, and are 
 since come to life. 
 
 Particularly how Heaven directed the oppression and 
 tyranny of the poor should be the Avheel to turn over the 
 great machine of trade from Flanders into England. 
 
 And how the persecution and cruelty of the Spaniards, 
 against religion should be directed by the secret over- 
 ruling Hand, to be the foundation of a people, and a body 
 that should in ages then to come, be one of the chief bul- 
 warksof that very liberty and religion they sought to destroy. 
 
 In this general ruine of trade and liberty, England 
 made a gain of what she never yet lost, and of what she 
 lias since encreas^d to an inconceivable magnitude. 
 
 7 A 
 
34 Giving Alms no Charity. 
 
 As lyAlva worried the poor Flemings, the Queen of 
 England entertain'd them, cherish'd them, invited them, 
 encouragM them. 
 
 Thousands of innocent people fled from all parts from 
 the fury of this merciless man, and as England, to her 
 honour has always been the sanctuary of her distressM 
 neighbours, so now she was so to her special and particular 
 profit. 
 
 The Queen who saw the opportunity put into her 
 hands which she had so long wished for, not only received 
 kindly the exil'd Flemings, but invited over all that would 
 come, promising them all possible encouragement, privi- 
 leges and freedom of her ports and the like. 
 
 This brought over a vast multitude of Flemings, Wal- 
 loons, and Dutch, who with their whole families settled at 
 Norwich, at Ipswich, Colchester, Canterbury, Exeter, and 
 the like. From these came the Walloon Church at Can- 
 terbury, and the Dutch Churches at Norivich, Colchester, 
 and Yarmouth ; from hence came the true born English 
 families at those places with foreign names; as the 
 DeVinks at Norwich, the Rebows at Colchester, the Pa- 
 pilons, &c. at Canterbury, families to whom this nation are 
 much in debt for the first planting those manufactures, from 
 which we have since raised the greatest trades in the world. 
 
 , This wise Queen knew that number of inhabitants are 
 the wealth and strength of a nation • she was far from that 
 oi)iuion, we have of late shown too much of in complaining 
 that foreigners came to take the bread out of our mouths, 
 and ill treating on that account the French Protestants 
 who fled hither for refuge in the late persecution. 
 
 Some have said that above 50,000 of them set- 
 tled here, and would have made it a grievance, tho' with- 
 out doubt 'tis easie to make it appear that 500,000 more 
 would be both useful and profitable to this nation. 
 
 Upon the setling of these forreiguers, the scale of 
 trade visibly turn'd both here and in Flanders. 
 
 8 The 
 
Giving Alms no Charity. 
 
 -y^ 
 
 The Flemings taught our women and children to spin, 
 the youth to weave, the men entred the loom to labour 
 instead of going abroad to seek their fortunes by the war, 
 the several trades of bayes at Colchester, sayes and perpets, 
 at Sudbury, Ipsivich, &c. stuffs at Norwich, serges at 
 Exeter, silks at Canterbury, and the like, began to flourish. 
 All the counties round felt the profit, the poor were set to 
 work, the traders gained wealth, and multitudes of people 
 flock'd to the several parts where these manufactures were 
 erected for employment, and the growth of England, both 
 in trade, wealth and people since that time, as it is well 
 known to this Honourable House; so the causes of it 
 appear to be plainly the introducing of these manufac- 
 tures, and nothing else. 
 
 Nor was the gain made here by it more visible than 
 the loss to the Flemings, from hence, and not as is vainly 
 suggested from the building the Dutch fort of Lillo on the 
 Scheld, came the decay of that flourishing city of Antwerp. 
 From hence it is plain the Flemings, an industrious nation, 
 finding their trade ruin'd at once, turned their hands to 
 other things, as making of lace, linnen, and the like, and 
 the Dutch to the sea afi'airs and fishing. 
 
 From hence they became poor, thin of people, and 
 weak in trade, the flux both of their wealth and trade, 
 running wholly into England. 
 
 I humbly crave leave to say, this long introduction 
 shall not be thought useless, when I shall bring it home 
 by the process of these papers to the subject now in hand, 
 viz. The providing for and employing the poor. 
 
 Since the times of Queen Elizabeth this nation has 
 gone on to a prodigy of trade, of which the encrease of 
 our customs from 400,000 crowns to two millions of 
 pounds sterling pjer ann. is a demonstration beyond the 
 power of argument ; and that this whole encrease depends 
 upon, and is principally occasioned by the encrease of our 
 9 manufacturers 
 
36 Giving Alms no Charity, 
 
 manufacturers is so plain, I sliall not take up any room 
 here to make it out. 
 
 Having tlius given an account how we came to be a 
 rich, flourishing and populous nation, I crave leave as con- 
 cisely as I can to examine how we came to be poor again, 
 if it must be granted that we are so. 
 
 By poor here I humbly desire to be understood, not 
 that we are a poor nation in general ; I should undervalue 
 the bounty of Heaven to England, and act with less un- 
 derstanding than most men are masters of, if 1 should not 
 own, that in general we are as rich a nation as any in the 
 world ; but by poor I mean burthen'd with a crowd of 
 clamouring, unimployM, unpro^^ded for poor people, who 
 make the nation uneasie, burthen the rich, clog our 
 parishes, and make themselves worthy of laws, and pe- 
 culiar management to dispose of and direct them : How 
 these came to be thus is the question. 
 
 And first I humbly crave leave to lay these heads down 
 as fundamental maxims, which I am ready at any time to 
 defend and make out. 
 
 1. There is in England more labour than hands to perform 
 it, and consequently a want of people, not of em- 
 ployment. 
 
 2. No man in England, of sound limbs and senses, can be 
 poor meerly for want of xcork. 
 
 3. All our work-houses, corporations and charities for em- 
 ploying the poor, and setting them to ivork, as now they 
 are employed, or any Acts of Parliament to empower 
 overseers of parishes, or parishes themselves, to employ 
 the poor, except as shall be hereafter excepted, are, and 
 will be publick nusances, mischiefs to the nation which 
 serve to the ruin of families, and the encrease of the 
 poor. 
 
 4. That 'tis a regulation of the poor that is ivanted in 
 England, not a setting them to tvork. 
 
 10 If 
 
 i 
 
Giving Alms no Charity. 37 
 
 If after these things are made out, I am enquir'd of 
 what this regulation should be, I am no more at a loss to 
 lay it down than I am to affirm what is above ; and shall 
 always be ready, when eall'd to it, to make such a pro- 
 posal to this Honourable House, as with their concurrence 
 shall for ever put a stop to poverty and beggery, parish 
 charges, assessments and the like, in this nation. 
 
 If such off'ers as these shall be slighted and rejected, 
 I liave the satisfaction of having discharg'd my duty, and 
 the consequence must be, that complaining will be con- 
 tinued in our streets. 
 
 ^Tis my misfortune, that while I study to make every 
 liead so concise, as becomes me in things to be brought 
 before so honourable and august an assembly, I am oblig'd 
 to be short upon heads that in their own nature would very 
 well admit of particular volumes to explain them. 
 
 1. I affirm, that in England there is more labour than 
 hands to perform it. This I prove, 
 
 1*^. From the dearness of wages, which in England 
 out goes all nations in the world ; and / know no greater 
 demonstration in trade. Wages, like exchanges, rise and 
 fall as the remitters and drawers, the employers and the 
 workmen, ballance one another. 
 
 The employers are the remitters, the work-men are the 
 drawers, if there are more employers than work-men, the 
 price of wages must rise, because the employer wants that 
 work to be done more than the poor man wants to do it, if 
 there are more work-men than employers the price of 
 labour falls, because the poor man wants his wages more 
 than the employer wants to have his business done. 
 
 Trade, like all nature, most obsequiously obeys the 
 great law of cause and consequence ; and this is the occa- 
 sion why even all the greatest articles of trade follow, and 
 as it were pay homage to this seemingly minute and in- 
 considerable thing, the poor man's labour. 
 
 I omit, with some pain, the many very useful thoughts 
 11 ' that 
 
38 Giving Alms no Charity. 
 
 that occnr on this head, to preserve the brevity T owe to 
 the dignity of that assembly I am writing to. But I 
 cannot but note how from hence it appears, that the 
 glory, the strength, the riches, the trade, and all that's 
 valuable in a nation, as to its figure in the world, depends 
 upon the number of its people, be they never so mean or 
 poor; the consumption of manufactures encreases the 
 manufacturers ; the number of manufacturers encreases 
 the consumption; provisions are consiim'd to feed them, 
 land improv'd, and more hands employed to furnish pro- 
 visions : All the wealth of the nation, and all the trade is 
 produc'd by numbers of people; but of this by the way. 
 
 The price of wages not only determines the difference 
 between the employer and the work-man, but it rules the 
 rates of every market. If wages grow high, provisions 
 rise in proportion, and I humbly conceive it to be a mis- 
 take in those people, who say labour in such parts of 
 England is cheap because provisions are cheap, but 'tis 
 plain, provisions are cheap there because labour is cheap, 
 and labour is cheaper in those parts than in others; 
 because being remoter from London there is not that 
 extraordinary disproportion between the work and the 
 number of hands ; there are more hands, and consequently 
 labour cheaper. 
 
 *Tis plain to any observing eye, that there is an equal 
 plenty of provisions in several of our south and western 
 counties, as in Yorkshire, and rather a greater, and I 
 believe I could make it out, that a poor labouring man 
 may live as cheap in Kent or Sussex as in the bishoprick 
 of Durham ;' and yet in Kent a poor man shall earn 7s. 
 105. 95. a week, and in the north 4s. or perhaps less ; the 
 difference is plain in this, that in Kent there is a greater 
 want of people, in proportion to the work there, than in 
 the north. 
 
 And this on the other hand makes the people of our 
 
 northern countries spread themselves so much to the south, 
 
 12 where 
 
Givinif Alms no Cliarity. 39 
 
 where trade, war and the sea carrying off so many, there 
 is a greater want of hands. 
 
 And yet 'tis plain there is labour for the hands which 
 remain in the north, or else the country would be depopu- 
 lated, and the people come all away to the south to seek 
 work; and even in Yorkshire, where labour is cheapest, 
 the people can gain more by their labour than in any of 
 the manufacturing countries of Germany, Italy or France, 
 and live much better. 
 
 If there was one poor man in England more than 
 there was w^ork to employ, either somebody else must 
 stand still for him, or he must be starvM ; if another man 
 stands still for him he wants a days work, and goes to 
 seek it, and by consequence supplants another, and this a 
 third, and this contention brings it to this ; no, says the 
 poor man, that is like to be put out of his work, rather 
 than that man shall come in I'll do it cheaper ; nay, says 
 the other, but I'll do it cheaper than you ; and thus one 
 poor man w anting but a days work would bring down the 
 price of labour in a whole nation, for the man cannot 
 starve, and will work for any thing rather than want it. 
 
 It may be objected here, this is contradicted by our 
 number of beggars. 
 
 I am sorry to say I am obliged here to call begging an 
 employment, since 'tis plain, if there is more work than 
 hands to perform it, no man that has his limbs and his 
 senses need to beg, and those that have not ought to be 
 put into a condition not to want it. 
 
 So that begging is a meer scandal in the general, in 
 the able 'tis a scandal upon their industry, and i?i the im,^ 
 potent 'tis a scandal upon the country. 
 
 Nay, the begging, as now practic'd, is a scandal upon 
 our charity, and perhaps the foundation of all our present 
 grievance. — How can it be possible that any man or 
 woman, who being sound in body and mind, may as 'tis 
 a})parent they may, have wages for their work, should be 
 13 so 
 
40 Giving Alms no Charity. 
 
 so base, so meanly spirited, as to beg an alms for God- 
 sake. — Truly the scandal lies on our charity : and people 
 have such a notion in England of being pittiful and 
 charitable, that they encourage vagrants, and by a mis- 
 taken zeal do more harm than good. 
 
 This is a large scene, and much might be said upon it ; 
 I shall abridge it as much as possible. — The poverty of 
 England does not lye among the craving beggars l)ut 
 among poor famihes, where the children are numerous, 
 and where death or sickness has deprivM them of the 
 labour of the father ; these are the houses that the sons 
 and daughters of charity, if they would order it well, 
 should seek out and relieve; an alms ill directed may be 
 charity to the particular person, but becomes an injury to 
 the publick, and no charity to the nation. As for the 
 craving poor, I am perswaded 1 do them no wrong when 
 I say, that if they were incorporated they would be the 
 richest society in the nation ; and the reason why so many 
 pretend to want work is, that they can live so well with the 
 pretence of wanting work, they would be mad to leave it 
 and work in earnest ; and I affirm of my own knowledge, 
 when I have wanted a man for labouring work, and ofFer^l 
 95 per week to strouling fellows at my door, they have 
 frequently told me to my face, they could get more a 
 begging, and I once set a lusty fellow in the stocks for 
 making the experiment. 
 
 I shall, in its proper place, bring this to a method of 
 tryal, since nothing but demonstration will affect us, 'tis 
 an easie matter to prevent begging in England, and yet to 
 maintain all our impotent poor at far less charge to the 
 parishes than they now are obligM to be at. 
 
 When Queen Elizabeth had gain'd her point as to 
 manufactories in England, she had fairly laid the founda- 
 tion, she thereby found out the way how every family 
 might live upon their own labour, like a wise princess she 
 knew 'twould be hard to force people to work when there 
 14 was 
 
Giving A Ims no Charity. 4 1 
 
 was nothing for them to turn their hands to ; but as soon 
 as she had brought the matter to bear_, and there was work 
 for every body that had no mind to starve^ then she ap- 
 plyM herself to make laAvs to oblige the people to do this 
 work, and to punish vagrants, and make every one live 
 by their own labour ; all her successors followed this laud- 
 able example, and from hence came all those laws against 
 sturdy beggars, vagabonds, stroulcrs, ^c, which had they 
 been severely put in execution by our magistrates, ^tis pre- 
 sumed these vagrant poor had not so encreas'd upon us as 
 they have. 
 
 And it seems strange to me, from what just ground we 
 proceed now upon other methods, and fancy that 'tis now 
 our business to find them work, and to employ them rather 
 than to oblige them to find themselves work and go about 
 it. 
 
 From this mistaken notion come all our work-houses 
 and corporations, and the same error, with submission, I 
 presume was the birth of this bill now depending, which 
 enables every parish to erect the woollen manufacture 
 within it self, for the employing their own poor. 
 
 'Tis the mistake of this part of the bill only which I 
 am enquiring into, and which I endeavour to set in a 
 true liglit. 
 
 In all the parliaments since the Revolution, this matter 
 has been before them, and I am justified in this attempt 
 by the House of Commons having frequently appointed 
 committees to receive proposals upon this head. 
 
 As my proposal is general, I presume to ofl'er it to the 
 general body of the House; if I am commanded to ex- 
 plain any part of it, I am ready to do any thing that may 
 be serviceable to this great and noble design. 
 
 As the former Houses of Commons gave all possible 
 
 encouragement to such as could offer, or but pretend to 
 
 offer at this needful thing, so the imperfect essays of 
 
 several, whether for private or publick benefit. I do not 
 
 15 attempt 
 
42 Giving Alms no Charity. 
 
 attempt to determine which have since been made, and 
 which have obtainM the powers and conditions they have 
 desired, have by all their effects demonstrated the weak- 
 ness of their design ; and that they either understood not 
 the disease, or know not the proper cure for it. 
 
 The imperfection of all these attempts is ackiiowledg'd, 
 not only in the preamble of this new Act of Parliament, 
 but even in the thing, in that there is yet occasion for 
 any new law. 
 
 And having surveyed, not the necessity of a new act, 
 but the contents of the act which has been propos'd as a 
 remedy in this case ; I cannot but offer my objections 
 against the sufficiency of the proposal, and leave it to the 
 consideration of this wise assembly, and of the whole 
 nation. 
 
 I humbly hope the learned gentleman, under whose 
 direction this law is now to proceed, and by whose order 
 it has been printed, will not think himself personally con- 
 cern'd in this case, his endeavours to promote so good a 
 work, as the relief, employment, and settlement of the 
 poor, merit the thanks and acknowledgment of the whole 
 nation, and no man shall be more ready to pay his share of 
 that debt to him than my self. But if his scheme happen 
 to be something superficial, if he comes in among the num- 
 ber of those who have not searchM this wound to the 
 bottom, if the methods propos'd are not such as will 
 either answer his own designs or the nations, I cannot 
 think my self oblig'd to dispense, with my duty to the 
 publick good, to preserve a personal value for his judg- 
 ment, tho' the gentleman's merit be extraordinary. 
 
 Wherefore, as in all the schemes, I have seen laid for 
 the poor, and in this act now before your Honourable 
 House ; the general thought of the proposers runs upon 
 the employing the poor by work-houses, corporations, 
 houses of correction, and the like, and that I think it 
 plain to be seen, that those proposals come vastly short of 
 16 the 
 
Givinci Alms no Charity. 43 
 
 he main design. These sheets are humbly laid before 
 ou, as well to make good what is alledg'd, viz. That all 
 hese work-houses, ^c, tend to the encrcase, and not the 
 elief of the poor, as to make an humble tender of plain, 
 lut I hope, rational proposals for the more effectual cure 
 f this grand disease. 
 
 In order to proceed to this great challenge, I humbly 
 esire the bills already pass'd may be review'd, the prac- 
 ice of our corporation work-houses, and the contents of 
 his proposed act examin^l. 
 
 In all these it will appear that the method chiefly pro- 
 losed for the employment of our poor, is by setting them 
 work on the several manufactures before-mention'd ; as 
 pinning, weaving, and manufacturing our English wool. 
 
 All our work-houses lately erected in England, are in 
 :eneral thus employed, for which without enumerating 
 articulars, I humbly appeal to the knowledge of the 
 everal members of this Honourable House in their 
 espective towns where such corporations have been 
 rected. 
 
 In the present Act now preparing, as printed by 
 irection of a member of this Honoui-able House, it ap- 
 pears, that in order to set the poor to work, it shall be law- 
 ulfor the overseers of every town, or of one or more 
 owns joyn'd together to occupy any trade, mystery, ^c. 
 ind raise stocks for the carrying them on for the setting 
 he poor at ivork, and for the purchasing wool, iron, hemp, 
 ^ax, thread, or other materials for that purpose. Vide the 
 let published by Sir Humphry Mackworth. 
 
 And that charities given so and so, and not exceeding 
 ;00/. per annum for this purpose, shall be incorporated of 
 ourse for these ends. 
 
 In order now to come to the case in hand, it is neces- 
 
 ary to premise, that the thing now in debate is not the 
 
 loor of this or that particular town. The House of Com- 
 
 Qons ai'c acting like themselves, as- they are the represen- 
 
 17 tatives 
 
44 Giving Alms no Charity. 
 
 tatives of all the commons of England, 'tis the care of all 
 the poor of England which lies before them, not of this or 
 that particular body of the poor. 
 
 In proportion to this great work, I am to be under- 
 stood that these work-houses, houses of correction, and 
 stocks to employ the poor may be granted to lessen the 
 poor in this or that particular part of England ; and we 
 are particularly told of that at Bristol, that it has been 
 such a terror to the beggars that none of the sti-ouling 
 crew will come near the city. But all this allow'd, in 
 general, 'twill be felt in the main, and the end will be an 
 encrease of our poor. 
 
 1. The manufactures that these gentlemen employ the 
 poor upon, are all such as are before exercis'd in England. 
 
 2. They are all such as are managed to a full extent, 
 and the present accidents of war and foreign interruption 
 of trade considered rather beyond the vent of them than 
 under it. 
 
 Suppose now a work-house for employment of poor 
 children, sets them to spinning of worsted. — For every 
 skein of worsted these poor children spin, there must be a 
 skein the less spun by some poor family or person that 
 spun it before ; suppose the manufacture of making bays 
 to be erected in Bishopsgate-street, unless the makers of 
 these bays can at the same time find out a trade or con- 
 sumption for more bays than were made before. For every 
 piece of bays so made in London there must be a piece the 
 less made at Colchester. 
 
 I humbly appeal to the Honourable House of Com- 
 mons what this may be call'd, and with submission, I 
 think it is nothing at all to employing the poor, since 'tis 
 only the transposing the manufacture from Colchester to 
 London, and taking the bread out of the mouths of the 
 poor of Essex to put it into the mouths of the poor of 
 Middlesex. 
 
 If these worthy gentlemen, who show themselves so 
 18 coramendablv 
 
GiviiKj Alms no Charity. 45 
 
 commeudably forward to relieve and employ the poor, will 
 find out some new trade, some new market, where the 
 goods they make shall be sold, where none of the same 
 goods were sold before ; if they will send them to any 
 place where they shall not interfere with the rest of that 
 manufacture, or with some other made in England, then 
 indeed they will do something worthy of themselves, and 
 may employ the poor to the same glorious advantage as 
 Queen Elizabeth did, to whom this nation, as a trading 
 countr}', owes its peculiar greatness. 
 
 If these gentlemen could establish a trade to Muscovy 
 for English serges, or obtain an order from the Czar, that 
 all his subjects should wear stockings who wore none 
 before, every poor child's labour in spining and knitting 
 those stockings, and all the wool in them would be clear 
 gain to the nation, and the general stock would be im- 
 proved by it, because all the growth of our country, and 
 all the labour of a person who was idle before, is so much 
 clear gain to the general stock. 
 
 If they will employ the poor in some manufacture 
 which was not made in England before, or not bought 
 with some manufacture made here before, then they offer 
 at something extraordinary. 
 
 But to set poor people at work, on the same thing 
 which other poor people were employed on before, and at 
 the same time not enerease the consumption, is giving to 
 one what you take away from another; enriching one poor 
 man to starve another, putting a vagabond into an honest 
 man's employment, and putting his diligence on the ten- 
 ters to find out some other work to maintain his family. 
 
 As this is not at all profitable, so with submission for 
 Hid expression, I cannot say 'tis honest, because 'tis trans- 
 planting and carrying the poor peoples lawful employment 
 from the place where was their lawlxil settlement, and the 
 hardship of this our law considered is intolerable. For 
 example. 
 
 19 The 
 
46 Giving Alms no Charity. 
 
 The manufacture of making bays is now establish'd at 
 Colchester in Essex, suppose it should be attempted to be 
 erected in Middlesex, as a certain worthy and wealthy 
 gentleman near Hackney once propos'd, it may be suppos'd 
 if you will grant the skill in working the same, and the 
 wages the same, that they must be made cheaper in Mid- 
 dlesex than in Essex, and cheapness certainly will make 
 the merchant buy here rather than there, and so in time 
 all the bay making at Colchester dyes, and the stajjle for 
 that commodity is removed to London. 
 
 What must the poor of Colchester do, there they buy 
 a parochial settlement, those that have numerous families 
 cannot follow the manufacture and come up to London, 
 for our parochial laws impower the Church-wardens to 
 refuse them a settlement, so that they are confinM to their 
 own countrey, and the bread taken out of their mouths, 
 and all this to feed vagabonds, and to set them to work, 
 who by their choice would be idle, and who merit the 
 correction of the law. 
 
 There is another grievance which I shall endeavour to 
 touch at, which every man that wishes well to the poor 
 does not forsee, and which, with humble submission to the 
 gentlemen that contriv'd this Act, I see no notice taken 
 of. 
 
 There are arcanas in trade, which though they are the 
 natural consequences of time and casual circumstances, 
 are yet become now so essential to the publick benefit, 
 that to alter or disorder them, would be an irreparable 
 damage to the publick. 
 
 I shall explain my self as concisely as I can. 
 
 The manufactures of England are happily settled in 
 diflFerent corners of the kingdom, from whence they are 
 mutually convey^ by a circulation of trade to London by 
 wholesale, like the blood to the heart, and from thence 
 disperse in lesser quantities to the other parts of the king- 
 dom by retail. For example. 
 
 20 Serges 
 
Giving Alms no Charity. 47 
 
 Serges are made at Exeter, Taunton, &c. stuffs at 
 Norwich ; bayes, sayes, shaloons, &e. at Colchester, Bock- 
 irig, Sudbury, and parts adjaceut/fiae cloath in Somerset, 
 Wilts, Gloucester and Worcestershire, coarse cloath in 
 Yorkshire, Kent, Surry, &c. druggets at Farnham, New- 
 bury, &c. All these send up the gross of their quantity 
 to London, and receive each others sorts in retail for their 
 own use again. Norwich buys Exeter serges, Exeter buys 
 Norwich stuffs, all at London ; Yorkshire buys fine cloths, 
 and Gloucester coarse, still at London ; and the like, of a 
 vast variety of our manufactures. 
 
 By this exchange of manvifactures abundance of 
 trading families are maintained by the carriage and re- 
 carriage of goods, vast number of men and cattle are 
 employed, and numbers of inholders, victuallers, and their 
 dependencies subsisted. 
 
 And on this account I cannot but observe to your 
 honours, and 'tis well worth your consideration, that the 
 already transposing a vast woollen manufacture from 
 several parts of England to London, is a manifest detri- 
 ment to trade in general, the several woollen goods now 
 made in Spittlefields, where within this few years were 
 none at all made, has already visibly affected the several 
 parts, where they were before made, as Nonvich, Sudbury, 
 Farnham, and other towns, many of whose principal 
 tradesmen are now removed hither, employ their stocks 
 here, employ the poor here, and leave the poor of those 
 countries to shift for work. 
 
 This breach of the circulation of trade must neces- 
 sarily distemper the body, and I crave leave to give an 
 example or two. 
 
 rU presume to give an example in trade, which per- 
 haps the gentlemen concernM in this bill may, without 
 reflection upon their knowledge, be ignorant of. 
 
 The city of Nonvich, and parts adjacent, were for some 
 
 ages eni])lov'd in the manufactures of stuffs and stockings. 
 
 21 The 
 
48 Giving Ahns no Charity. 
 
 The latter trade, which was once considerable, is in a 
 manner wholly transposM into London, by the vast quan- 
 tities of worsted hose wove by the frame, which is a trade 
 within this 20 years almost wholly new. 
 
 Now as the knitting frame performs that in a day 
 which would otherwise employ a poor woman eight or ten 
 days, by consequence a few frames perform'd the work of 
 many thousand poor people ; and the consumption being 
 not increased, the effect immediately appearM ; so many 
 stockings as were made in London so many the fewer 
 were demanded from JSorwich, till in a few years the 
 manufacture there wholly sunk, the masters there turnM 
 their hands to other business ; and whereas the hose trade 
 from Norfolk once return^ at least 5,000*. per week, 
 and as some say twice that sum, ^tis not now worth 
 naming. 
 
 ^Tis in fewer years, and near our memory, that of 
 Spittlefields men have fallen into another branch, of the 
 Norwich trade, viz., making of stuffs, drugets, <Sfc. 
 
 If any man say the people of Norfolk are yet full of em- 
 ploy, and do not work ; and some have been so weak as to 
 make that reply, avoiding the many other demonstrations 
 which could be given, this is past answering, viz. That 
 the combers of wool in Norfolk and Suffolk, who formerly 
 had all, or ten parts in eleven of their yarn manufactur'd 
 in the country, now comb their wool indeed, and spin 
 the yarn in the country, but send vast quantities of it to 
 London to be woven ; will any man question whether this 
 be not a loss to Norwich ; can there be as many weavers 
 as before? And are there not abundance of workmen 
 and masters too remov'd to London ? 
 
 If it be so at Norivich, Canterbury is yet more a 
 melancholy instance of it, where the houses stand empty, 
 and the people go off, and the trade dyes, because the 
 weavers have follow'd the manufacture to London; and 
 whereas there was within few years 200 broad looms at 
 22 work 
 
Giving Alms no Charity. 49 
 
 rork, I am well assured there are not 50 now employ'd in 
 hat city. 
 
 These are the effects of transposing manufactures, and 
 nterrupting the circulation of trade. 
 
 All methods to bring our trade to be managed by 
 ewer hands than it was before, are in themselves pcrni- 
 sious to England\u^QXi.evd\, as they lessen the employment 
 )f the poor, unhinge their hands from the labour, and 
 end to bi-ing our hands to be superior to our employ, 
 vhich as yet they are not. 
 
 In Dorsetshire and Somersetshire there always has been 
 I very considerable manufacture for stockings, at Colches- 
 er and Sudbury for bayes, sayes, §t. most of the wool 
 ;hese countries use is bought at London, and carried down 
 nto those counties, and then the goods being manufac- 
 mi-^d ai-e brought back to London to market ; upon trans- 
 posing the manufacture as before, all the poor people and 
 ill the cattel who hitherto were employ^ in that voiture, 
 ire immediately disbanded by theii' country, the inkeepers 
 Du the roads must decay, so much land lye for other uses, 
 as the cattle employ'd, houses and tenement on the roads, 
 and all their dependencies sink in value. 
 
 ^Tis hard to calculate what a blow it would be to trade 
 in general, should every county but manufacture all the 
 several sorts of goods they use, it would throw our inland 
 trade into strange convulsions, which at present is perhaps, 
 or has been, in the greatest regularity of any in the 
 world. 
 
 What strange work must it then make when every 
 town shall have a manufacture, and every parish be a 
 ware-house; trade will be burthen'd with corporations, 
 which are generally equally destructive as monopolies, and 
 by this method will easily be made so. 
 
 Parish stocks, under the direction of Justices of Peace, 
 
 may soon come to set up petty manufactures, and here 
 
 shall all useful things be made, and all the poorer sort of 
 
 23 people 
 
50 Giving Alms no Charity. 
 
 people shall be aw'd or byass'd to trade there ouly. Thus 
 the shop-keepers, who pay taxes, and are the support of 
 our inland circulation, will immediately be ruinM, and 
 thus we shall beggar the nation to provide for the poor. 
 
 As this will make every parish a market town, and 
 every hospital a store-house, so in London, and the ad- 
 jacent parts, to which vast quantities of the woollen 
 manufacture will be thus transplanted, too great 
 and disproportion' d numbers of the people will in time 
 assemble. 
 
 Tho' the settled poor can't remove, yet single people 
 will stroul about and follow the manufacturer ; and thus 
 in time such vast numbers will be drawn about London, as 
 may be inconvenient to the government, and especially 
 depopulating to those countries where the numbers of 
 people, by reason of these manufactures are very con- 
 siderable. 
 
 An eminent instance of this we have in the present 
 trade to Muscovy, which however designed for an improve- 
 ment to the English nation, and boasted of as such, ap- 
 pears to be converted into a monopoly, and proves 
 injurious and destructive to the nation. The persons 
 concerned removing and carrying out our people to teach 
 that unpolish'd nation the improvements they are capable 
 of. 
 
 If the bringing the Flemings to England brought with 
 them their manufacture and trade, carrying our people 
 abroad, especially to a country where the people work for 
 little or nothing, what may it not do towards instruct- 
 ing that populous nation in such manufactures as may in 
 time tend to the destruction of our trade, or the reducing 
 our manufacture to an abatement in value, which will be 
 felt at home by an abatement of wages, and that in pro- 
 visions, and that in rent of land; and so the general 
 stock sinks of course. 
 
 But as this is preparing, by eminent hands, to be laid 
 24 before 
 
Giving Alms no Charity. 51 
 
 before this House as a grievance meriting your care and 
 concern, I omit insisting on it here. 
 
 And this removing of people is attended with many 
 inconveniences which are not easily perceived, as 
 
 1. The immediate fall of the value of all lands in 
 those countries where the manufactures were before ; for 
 as the numbers of people, by the consumption of pro- 
 idsions, must where ever they encrease make rents rise, 
 md lands valuable ; so those people removing, tho' the 
 provisions would, if possible, follow them, yet the price of 
 them must fall by all that charge they are at for carriage, 
 md consequently lands must fall in proportion. 
 
 2. This transplanting of families, in time, would in- 
 troduce great and new alterations in the countries they 
 L'emoved to, which as they would be to the profit of some 
 olaces, would be to the detriment of others, and can by no 
 neans be just any more than it is convenient ; for no wise 
 government studies to put any branch of their country to 
 my particular disadvantages, tho' it may be found in the 
 general account in another place. 
 
 If it be said here will be manufactures in every parish, 
 md that will keep the people at home, 
 
 I humbly represent what strange confusion and parti- 
 cular detriment to the general circulation of trade men- 
 'iovid before it must be, to have every parish make its own 
 nanufactures. 
 
 1 . It wiU make om- towns and counties independent of 
 jne another, and put a damp to correspondence, which all 
 ivill allow to be a great motive of trade in general. 
 
 2. It will fill us with various sorts and kinds of 
 nanufactures, by which our stated sorts of goods will in 
 ;ime dwindle away in reputation, and foreigners not know 
 ;hem one from another. Our several maimfactures are 
 cnown by their respective names ; and our serges, bayes 
 ind other goods, are bought abroad by the character and 
 •eputation of the places where they are made ; when there 
 
 25 ' shall 
 
52 Giving Alms no Charity. 
 
 shall come new and unheard of kinds to market, some 
 better, some worse, as to be sure new undertakers will vary- 
 in kinds, the dignity and reputation of the English goods 
 abroad will be lost, and so many confusions in trade must 
 follow, as are too many to repeat. 
 
 3. Either our parish-stock must sell by wholesale or 
 by retail, or both; if the first, 'tis doubted they will make 
 sorry work of it, and having other business of their own 
 make but poor merchants; if by retail, then they turn 
 pedlars, will be a publick nusance to trade, and at last 
 quite ruin it. 
 
 4. This will ruin all the carriers in England, the wool 
 will be all manufactured where it is sheer'd, every body will 
 make their own cloaths, and the trade which now lives by 
 running thro' a multitude of hands, will go then through 
 so few, that thousands of families will want employment, 
 and this is the only way to reduce us to the condition 
 spoken of, to have more hands than work. 
 
 'Tis the excellence of our English manufacture, that 
 it is so planted as to go thro' as many hands as 'tis 
 possible ; he that contrives to have it go thro' fewer, ought 
 at the same time to provide work for the rest — as it is it 
 employs a great multitude of people, and can employ more; 
 but if a considerable number of these people be unhing'd 
 from their employment, it cannot but be detrimental to 
 the whole. 
 
 When I say we could employ more people in England, 
 I do not mean that we cannot do our work with those we 
 have, but I mean thus : 
 
 First, It should be more people brought over from 
 foreign parts. I do not mean that those we have should 
 be taken from all common employments and put to our 
 manufacture; we may unequally dispose of our hands, 
 and so have too many for some works, and too few for 
 others ; and 'tis plain that in some parts of England it is 
 so, what else can be the reason, why in our southern parts 
 26 ' of 
 
Giving Alms no Charity. 53 
 
 of England, Kent in particular, borrows 20,000 people of 
 other counties to get in her harvest. 
 
 But if more forreigners came among us, if it were 
 2 millions, it could do us no harm, because they would 
 consume our provisions, and we have land enough to pro- 
 duce much more than we do, and they would consume our 
 manufactures, and we have wool enough for any quantity. 
 
 I think therefore, with submissioii, to erect manufac- 
 tures in every town to transpose the manufactures from 
 the settled places into private parishes and corporations, 
 to parcel out our trade to every door, it must be ruinous 
 to the manufacturers themselves, will turn thousands of 
 families out of their employments, and take the bread out 
 of the mouths of diligent and industrious families to feed 
 vagrants, thieves and beggars, who ought much rather to 
 be compell'd, by legal methods, to seek that work which it 
 is plain is to be had ; and thus this Act will instead of 
 settling and relieving the poor, encrease their number, and 
 starve the best of them. 
 
 It remains now, according to my first proposal page 37, 
 to consider from whence proceeds the poverty of our 
 people, what accident, what decay of trade, what want of 
 employment, what strange revolution of circumstances 
 makes our people poor, and consequently burthensom, and 
 our laws deficient, so as to make more and other laws 
 requisite, and the nation concerned to apply a remedy to 
 this growing disease. I answer, 
 
 I. Not for want of work ; and besides what has been 
 said on that head, I humbly desire these two things may 
 be consider'd. 
 
 First, Tis apparent, that if one man, woman, or child, 
 can by his, or her labour, earn more money than will sub- 
 sist one body, there must consequently be no want of 
 work, since any man would work for just as much as 
 would supply himself rather than starve. — What a vast 
 difference then must there be between the work and the 
 27 work-men, 
 
54 Giving Alms no Charity. 
 
 work-men, when ^tis now known that in Spittle-fields, and 
 other adjacent parts of the city, there is nothing more 
 frequent than for a journey-man weaver, of many sorts, to 
 gain from 15*. to 30*. per week wages, and I appeal to the 
 silk throwsters, whether they do not give 8*. 95. and 10*. 
 per week, to blind men and cripples, to turn wheels, and 
 do the meanest and most ordinary works. 
 
 Cur Moriatur Homo, ^c. 
 
 Why are the families of these men starvM, and their 
 children in Avork-houses, and brought up by charity ; I am 
 ready to produce to this Honourable House the man who 
 for several years has gained of me by his handy labour at 
 the meau scoundrel employment of tile making from 
 16*. to 20s. per week wages, and all that time would hardly 
 have a pair of shoes to his feet, or cloaths to cover his 
 nakedness, and had his wife and children kept by the parish. 
 
 The meanest labours in this nation afford the work- 
 man sufficient to provide for himself and his family, and 
 that could never be if there was a want of work. 
 
 2. I humbly desire this Honourable House to consider 
 the present difficulty of raising soldiers in this kingdom ; 
 the vast charge the kingdom is at to the officers to pro- 
 cure men ; the many little and not over honest methods 
 made use of to bring them into the service, the laws made 
 to compel them ; why are gaols rumag'd for malefactors, 
 and the Mint and prisons for debtors, the war is an em- 
 ployment of honour, and suffers some scandal in having 
 men taken from the gallows, and immediately from villains, 
 and housebreakers made gentlemen soldiers. If men 
 wanted employment, and consequently bread, this could 
 never be, any man would carry a musket rather than 
 starve, and wear the Queen^s cloth, or any bodies cloth, 
 rather than go naked, and live in rags and want ; ^tis plain 
 the nation is full of people, and ^tis as plain our people 
 have no particular aversion to the war, but they are not 
 28 poor 
 
Giving Alms no Charity. 55 
 
 poor enougli to go abroad ; 'tis poverty makes men sol- 
 diers, and drives crowds into the armies, and the difficul- 
 ties to get English-men to list is, because they live in 
 plenty and ease, and he that can earn 20^, per week at an 
 easie, steady employment, must be drunk or mad when he 
 lists for a soldier, to be knock'd o'th'head for Ss. 6d. per 
 week ; but if there was no work to be had, if the poor 
 wanted employment, if they had not bread to eat, nor 
 knew not how to earn it, thousands of young lusty fellows 
 would fly to the pike and musket, and choose to dye lilce 
 men in the face of the enemy, rather than lye at home, 
 starve, perish in poverty and distress. 
 
 From all these particulars, and innumerable unhappy 
 instances which might be given, 'tis plain, the poverty of 
 our people which is so burthensome, and increases upon us 
 so much, does not arise from want of proper employments, 
 and for want of work, or employers, and consequently, 
 
 Work-houses, corporations, parish -stocks, and the like, 
 to set them to work, as they are pernicious to trade, 
 injurious and impoverishing to those already employed, so 
 they are needless, and will come short of the end proposed. 
 
 The poverty and exigence of the poor in England, is 
 plainly derivM from one of these two particular causes. 
 
 Casualty or Crime. 
 
 By casualty, I mean sickness of families, loss of limbs 
 or sight, and any, either natural or accidental impotence 
 as to labour. 
 
 These as infirmities meerly providential are not at all 
 concern^ in this debate ; ever were, will, and ought to be 
 the charge and care of the respective parishes where such 
 unhappy people chance to live, nor is there any want of 
 new laws to make provision for them, our ancestors having 
 been always careful to do it. 
 
 The crimes of our people, and from whence their 
 poverty derives, as the visible and direct fountains are, 
 
 29 1. Luxurv. 
 
56 Giving Alms no Charity. 
 
 i. Luxury. 
 
 2. Sloath. 
 
 3. Pride. 
 
 Good husbandry is no English vertue, it may have been 
 brought over, and in some places where it has been 
 planted it has thriven weU enough, but His a forreign 
 speciesj it neither loves, nor is belov'd by an English-man ; 
 and His observed nothing is so universally hated, nothing 
 treated with such a general contempt as a rich covetous 
 man, tho' he does no man any wrong, only saves his own, 
 every man will have an ill word for him, if a misfortune 
 happens to him, hang him a covetous old rogue, His no 
 matter, he^s rich enough, nay when a certain great man's 
 house was on fire, I have heard the people say one to 
 another, let it burn and 'twill, he's a covetous old miserly 
 dog, I wo'nt trouble my head to help him, he'd be hang'd 
 before he'd give us a bit of bread if we wanted it. 
 
 'Tho this be a fault, yet I observe from it something 
 of the natural temper and genius of the nation, generally 
 speaking, they cannot save their money. 
 
 'Tis generally said the English get estates, and the 
 Dutch save them ; and this observation I have made be- 
 tween forreigners and English-men that where an English- 
 man earns 20s. per week, and but just lives, as we call it, a 
 Butch-man grows rich, and leaves his children in very good 
 condition ; where an English labouring man with his 9s. per 
 week lives wretchedly and poor, a Dutch-man with that 
 wages will live very tolerably well, keep the wolf from 
 the door, and have every thing handsome about him. In 
 short, he will be rich with the same gain as makes the 
 English-man poor, he'll thrive when the other goes in rags, 
 and he'll live when the other starves, or goes a begging. 
 
 The reason is plain, a man with good husbandry, and 
 
 thought in his head, brings home his earnings honestly to 
 
 his family, commits it to the management of his wife, or 
 
 otherwise disposes it for proper subsistance, and this man 
 
 30 with 
 
Giving Alms no Charity. 57 
 
 witli mean gains, lives comfortably, and brings up a 
 family, when a single man getting the same wages, drinks 
 it away at the ale-house, thinks not of to morrow, layes 
 up nothing for sickness, age, or disaster, and when any 
 of these happen, he^s starved, and a beggar. 
 
 This is so apparent in every place, that I think it 
 needs no explication ; that English labouring people eat 
 and drink, but especially the latter three times as much in 
 value as any sort of forreigners of the same dimensions in 
 the world. 
 
 I am not writing this as a satyr on our people, ^tis a 
 sad truth ; and worthy the debate and application of the 
 nations physitians assembled in Parliament, the profuse 
 extravagant humour of our poor people in eating and 
 drinking, keeps them low, causes their children to be left 
 naked and starving, to the care of the parishes, whenever 
 either sickness or disaster befalls the parent. 
 
 The next article is their sloath. 
 
 We are the most lazy diligent nation in the world, vast 
 trade, rich manufactures, mighty wealth, universal corre- 
 spondence and happy success have been constant com- 
 panions of England, and given us the title of an industrious 
 people, and so in general we are. 
 
 But there is a general taint of sloth fulness upon our 
 poor, there's nothing more frequent, than for an English- 
 man to work till he has got his pocket full of money, and 
 then go and be idle, or perhaps drunk, till 'tis all gone, 
 and perhaps himself in debt ; and ask him in his cups 
 what he intends, he'll tell you honestly, he'll drink as long 
 as it lasts, and then go to work for more. 
 
 I humbly suggest this distemper's so general, so epi- 
 demick, and so deep rooted in the nature and genius of the 
 English, that I much doubt its being easily redress'd, and 
 question whether it be possible to reach it by an Act of 
 Parliament. 
 
 Tins is the ruine of our poor, the ivife mourns, the 
 31 children 
 
58 Giving Alms no Charity. 
 
 children starve, the husband has work before him, but lies 
 at the ale-house, or otherwise idles away his time, and 
 wonH work. 
 
 ^Tis the men that wont work, not the men that can get 
 no work, which makes the numbers of our poor; all the 
 work-houses in England, all the overseers setting up stocks 
 and manufactures won't reach this case; and I humbly 
 presume to say, if these two articles are removed, there 
 will be no need of the other. 
 
 I make no difficulty to promise on a short summons, 
 to produce above a thousand families in England, within 
 my particular knowledge, who go in rags, and their children 
 wanting bread, whose fathers can earn their 15 to 25*. per 
 week, but will not work, who may have work enough, but 
 are too idle to seek after it, and hardly vouchsafe to earn 
 any thing more than bare subsistance, and spending money 
 for themselves. 
 
 I can give an incredible number of examples in my 
 own knowledge among our labouring poor. I once paid 
 6 or 7 men together on a Saturday night, the least 10*. 
 and some 30*. for work, and have seen them go with it 
 directly to the ale-house, lie there till Monday, spend it 
 every penny, and run in debt to boot, and not give a 
 farthing of it to their families, tho' all of them had wives 
 and children. 
 
 From hence comes poverty, parish charges, and beg- 
 gary, if ever one of these wretches falls sick, all they 
 would ask was a pass to the parish they livM at, and the 
 wife and children to the door a begging. 
 
 If this Honourable House can find out a remedy for 
 this part;of the mischief ; if such Act? of Parliament may 
 be made as may effectually cure the sloath and luxury of 
 our poor, that shall make drunkards take care of wife and 
 children, spendthrifts lay up for a wet day ; idle, lazy 
 fellows diligent; and thoughtless sottish men, careful 
 and provident. 
 
 33 If 
 
Giving Ahns no Charity. 59 
 
 If this can be done^ I presume to say, there will be no 
 need of transposing and confounding our manufactui-es, 
 and the circulation of our trade ; they will soon find 
 work enough, and there will soon be less poverty among 
 us, and if this cannot be done, setting them to work upon 
 woollen manufactures, and thereby encroaching upon 
 those that now work at them, will but ruine our trade, 
 and consequently increase the number of the poor. 
 
 I do not presume to offer the schemes I have now 
 drawn of methods for the bringing much of this to pass, 
 because I shall not presume to lead a body so august, so 
 wise, and so capable as this Honourable Assembly. 
 
 I humbly submit what is here offered, as reasons to 
 prove the attempt now making insufficient ; and doubt 
 not but in your great wisdom, you will find out ways and 
 means to set this matter in a clearer light, and on a right 
 foot. 
 
 And if this obtains on the House to examine farther 
 into this matter, the author humbly recommends it to 
 their consideration to accept, in behalf of all the poor of 
 this nation, a clause in the room of this objected against, 
 which shall answer the end without this terrible ruin to 
 our trade and people. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 38 
 
El:.:--, -• 
 
 h 
 
 A 
 
 VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Greenland TRADE 
 
 Whale-Fishery. 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 JBtational anti ^rt\)ate 
 ADVANTAGES thereof. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for J. ROBERTS, near the Oxford- Arms In 
 Warwick-Lane. MDCCXXII. 
 
A View, 8fc. 63 
 
 TO 
 
 S/'r John Eyles, Bar. 
 
 Sub- Governor of the South-Sea 
 Company, SPc. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 IT was by your commands signified to me in the fol- 
 lowing letter of the 13th of July last, that I drew up 
 a brief account of the Greenland Trade, for the perusal of 
 the Coui't of Directors of the South-Sea Company; and 
 you will, I hope, forgive me that I have taken the liberty, 
 to print both your letter, and the said account as it was 
 laid before them ; being persuaded thereto from many 
 reasons, particularly in justification of my self, and as an 
 appeal to all the world for the truth of what is here laid 
 down, I having been supposed to mislead your judgment 
 by false allegations. I must have had the greatest as- 
 surance in the world to think of misguiding you, for tho' 
 you confess'd you was unacquainted with the trade, the 
 apt objections in the frequent conversations you allowM 
 me on this subject, and the curious enquiries you made, 
 shew'd your judgment too penetrating to be dcceivM ; and 
 left me no room to expect, that any thing that was in- 
 sinuating, and not grounded upon reason, could be imposed 
 upon you. Nor was there the least occasion for such an 
 attempt ; the thing will speak for itself; and I am per- 
 suaded, whoever examines into the nature and circum- 
 3 stances 
 
64 A View of 
 
 stances of the Greenland Trade, or considers the following 
 sheets, as carefully and accurately as you have done ; will 
 be convinc'd, that I have laid down nothing, but what is 
 true and practicable. 
 
 I am persuaded, and am sensible of your continued 
 zeal in this affair ; and as it will be a perpetual glory to 
 you, that in so critical a juncture, you undertook the care 
 and conduct of the South-Sea Company's distracted af- 
 fairs ; and that you have, (by standing boldly in support 
 of reasoD, against wild and extravagant schemes, with so 
 much steadiness and calm resolution) been an instrument 
 in no small degree, in composing their affairs, and recover- 
 ing their credit : It wijl be an addition to your character, 
 that, even in the midst of all the difficulties upon you, 
 greater than ever yet fell in weight upon one man in your 
 station, you could have temper enough, or find time suffi- 
 cient to employ your thoughts upon the enlargement of 
 their trade : But you never made this objection, which 
 was indeed the only one I fear'd ; that you was already 
 too much involved in other business to think of it. 
 
 Another reason I had for printing these sheets, is, 
 that the nation in general may see, that this trade may be 
 carried on from hence, equally at least, if not better, than 
 from other nations ; who, by the supineness of this king- 
 dom, have it wholly in their hands : That the inestimable 
 advantages the kingdom will receive by it, whatever be- 
 falls the particular undertakers, may be an inducement to 
 some patriots to encourage it by the assistance of the 
 Legislature, in whatever may, upon practice be found 
 necessary. 
 
 These reasons I thought sufficient, though I have 
 many others, for publishing these arguments about the 
 carrying on the Greenland Trade, which I need not take 
 up your time in relating particularly. 
 
 4 If 
 
the Greenland Trade, -^c. 65 
 
 If I may have your excuse^ I hope you will make my 
 apologies to the Court of Directors, Avhose care and zeal 
 for the Company's aflPairs, deserve the applause of the 
 proprietors : And I am confident, nothing but fear of 
 miscarriage in an attempt which has been successless to 
 others, has been the occasion of an alteration in their 
 thoughts, and their resolving, as they have done, not to 
 carry it on. 
 
 I may seem too fond of my own opinion if I should 
 say, that a little less precipitation in their thoughts, and a 
 little more consideration in the merit or demerit of what 
 I laid before them, might have given them a better opinion 
 of it : But you gave me reason sufficient ; the summer 
 was far spent, and it was absolutely necessary to come 
 to an immediate resolution, or else the proper vessels could 
 not be built in time. 
 
 I have added to what was laid before the Court of 
 Directors some further remarks, estimates and calcu- 
 lations which I have now collected, having omitted to 
 mention them in the first state, through the haste and 
 expedition with which you required it to be drawn. 
 
 I submit this wholly to your observation ; and am 
 with the highest deference and respect. 
 
 Your Honour's 
 most obedient, 
 
 and most Obliged 
 
 Humble Servant, 
 
 HENRY ELKING. 
 
 London, 
 Aug. 20. 1722. 
 
A View, 8fc. Q7 
 
 The Letter of Sir John Eyles, written to the Author, 
 and mentioned above, is as follows, viz. 
 
 London, July 13. 1722. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 IT is now seventeen months since you first discoursed me 
 upon the subject of the whale-fishing, inviting me into a 
 copartnership with several gentlemen who had thoughts of 
 undertaking it : And I must own, the reasons you gave me, 
 why it would be profitable to the undertakers, had almost 
 determin'dme to engage with them. But as foreigners were 
 now in the entire possession of this trade, originally carry' d 
 on solely by the English ; and all attempts that have been 
 made from hence of late years, to recover it, have been 
 fruitless ; I could not resolve upon it, till I had made a 
 more strict enquiry and examination : When I found by 
 the account you gave me, how extensive this trade might 
 be made ; the great numbers of ships that are annually 
 employed in it by our neighbours ; the multiticdes of sea- 
 men trained up thereby, and fitted for the service of their 
 country ; that it is a trade carry* d on to desolate seas, open 
 to all the world, unattended with the charges of ambas- 
 sadors and consuls, factors, &c. that needed no capitula- 
 tions with foreign powers, nor protection of convoys equal 
 to what other trades do in time of war ; that the whole 
 export is nothing but the product of labour, and the expence 
 of provisions and wages for seamen; I say, when I found 
 these things, I took a new turn of thought, and considered 
 7 this 
 
68 A View of 
 
 this trade in another view. It appeared to me so consider- 
 able, that even the South-Sea Company might undertake it : 
 so national, that all reasonable encouragement might be 
 expected from the legislature, ivhen their aid and assistance 
 might be ivanting. 
 
 hi this way of thinking, it became my duty, in the 
 station I am in, in that Company's service, to be well con- 
 vine' d, that I had good and sufficient ground to recommend 
 it to the Court of Directors : I started to you all the diffi- 
 culties and objections that occurred to me at several meetings, 
 to which you gave me answers that seem'd to me full and 
 satisfactory : You shew'd me plainly, by the methods you 
 propos'd, that an hundred ships might be manag'd ivith the 
 same ease as ten, and their stores effectually secured from 
 waste and embezzlement : Yoii left me at no loss in account- 
 ing for the miscarriages of some late expeditions to the 
 Greenlaud Seas, and chalk' d out a sure ivay to avoid the 
 en'ors they suffer' d by : To my objection concerning the 
 cheapness of the Dutch navigation, the agility and better 
 adaption of that people and country to this and other fish- 
 ing trades, you gave me many good reasons to think it a 
 great mistake ; and that, considered in the whole, the Dutch 
 navigation is dearer than ours : That we can be in no want 
 of people equally proper and experienc' d in this trade ; and 
 that our river is far more convenient than any place in 
 Holland, both in regard to the fitting out, and receiving the 
 ships in return from their voyage : And in short, that we 
 may have in almost every thing the advantage of foreigners : 
 These and many other matters, too many to be particularly 
 enumerated here, I question' d you upon, and you answered 
 to my perfect satisfaction. 
 
 Persuaded thus of the advantage this trade might be to 
 
 the South-Sea Company, the national service they would do 
 
 by carrying it on ; I did, now sixteen months since, propose 
 
 8 it 
 
the Greenland Trade, 8^c. 69 
 
 it to the Court of Directors, who at that time so far ap- 
 proved of it, that they, in the month of September last, 
 recommended it to a General Court, who agreed to it, and 
 gave the Court of Directors sufficient powers. 
 
 From this time, the copartnership first proposed by you 
 was no longer thought on ; and I persuaded you to drop 
 that design, and to depend upon the South-Sea Company . 
 You did so, and have ever since been in reasonable expecta- 
 tion, that preparations would have been made this summer, 
 for setting out upon the trade next spring ; and you are 
 not more surprized than my self, to find so great a back- 
 wardness in this affair. 
 
 Whether I had not capacity enough to see through the 
 fallacy of your answers to my enquiries, or to object to 
 the accounts you gave me, I know not ; but I ought to 
 have some di^dence in my self, since £ find noiv, at the 
 time this affair shoidd have been in agitation, and ships 
 building for the purpose, some others, without whose con- 
 currence it is impossible to proceed, differ of late very 
 much in sentiments with me upon this subject. 
 
 What I have to desire of you, and is the occasion of 
 this letter, is, that you ivill lay before the Court of Direc- 
 tors, in ivriting, the substance of what you from time to time 
 have said to me, upon my examining into the nature of this 
 trade : If you draiv it up under clear and distinct heads, 
 they may by frequent reading it, retain those arguments, 
 which in conversation or debate may slip the memory, or be 
 unobserv'd ; and be thereby either convinced, as I think I 
 am, of the practicableness of it, or be able to shew me those 
 errors or fallacies in your notions, which I have not been 
 able to find out of my self. 
 
 I desire you to be as careful and correct as jjossible, and 
 9 that 
 
70 A Vieiu of 
 
 that you will avoid putting down any thing that is insinuat- 
 ing only, and cannot be supported from reason or practice. 
 We must very soon determine, either to carry or not to 
 carry on this trade ; and therefore the more expedition you 
 dispatch this with, it will be the more acceptable to, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your Humble Servant, 
 
 JOHN EYLES. 
 To Mr. Henry Elkiug. 
 
 10 A VIEW 
 
the Greenland Trade, S^c. 
 
 VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Greenland TRADE, ^c, 
 
 THE Greenland trade hath in it all the qualifications 
 that are needful to recommend it to this nation : It 
 is qualified to enrich and make it more powerful : It is to 
 be spoken of with regret, that though it was first dis- 
 covei-^d by the English, it has been long since abandoned 
 to oui' more diligent neighbours the Dutch, and others ; 
 and this nation Las sufierM it to lie neglected, to their 
 infinite loss and dishonour. 
 
 Though it has been generally supposM, it will be found 
 upon examination a very great mistake, that the English 
 cannot manage this trade, which the Hollanders, Ham- 
 burgers, Bremers, French and Spaniards, all carry on to 
 advantage, and by which means they are made rich, even 
 out of our pockets, who sit still and buy those goods of 
 them for our ready money, which the English arc every 
 way better qualify^ to furnish to themselves, and even for 
 export to other nations ; as will be shewn in the following 
 sheets. 
 
 Nor is it any just objection to the practicableness of 
 
 this trade, to sa)', that it has been often attempted without 
 
 success ; since the reasons of that want of success, wliich 
 
 11 are 
 
72 A View of 
 
 are fully examinM in these sheets will appear to arise, not 
 from any deficiency in the trade, but from the evident 
 mismanagement of the undertakers; proceeding either 
 from ignorance, want of stock, want of conduct, or of 
 honesty. 
 
 It is a vulgar error, that the Dutch can build ships, or 
 sail ships, or catch whales, better and cheaper than the 
 English. Can they, who neither have timber of their own 
 growth to build, nor iron, tar and hemp of their own 
 growth to rig, or provisions of their own growth to victual 
 their ships, nor sufficient seamen, harponeers and steers- 
 men for the whale-fishing among their own subjects, ever 
 manage a trade cheaper than the English, who have most 
 of these materials and the provisions in their own country 
 or plantations, and cheaper than the Dutch ; and can, till 
 their own men are taught, hire the artists at the same 
 places, and upon as cheap terms as the Dutch ? 
 
 The author of this Tract undertaketh to account for 
 all the miscarriages of those gentlemen, who have for- 
 merly attempted this trade ; and to prove even to demon- 
 stration, how every one of those false steps may be 
 avoided, right and unerring measures be taken, and the 
 trade be render'd prosperous and suceessful, even beyond 
 what it has been, or can be, to the Dutch or any other 
 nation. 
 
 In order to this, and to make every observing reader 
 capable of making a judgment, both of what has been 
 done by other nations, and may be done by us ; the author 
 has, from unquestionM authorities, and from his owti long 
 experience, given here a clear, though brief account of 
 the Greenland trade in general, and of every thing be- 
 longing to it, that may contribute to the successful carry- 
 ing it on in this kingdom : Which account he has digested 
 into several chapters or sections, for the more clear 
 understanding the particulars ; and those chapters appear 
 under the following heads. 
 
 12 1. An 
 
the Greenla7ul Trade, dc. 73 
 
 1. An account how the whale-fishery is, and ought to 
 be performM, from the first outset to the return of the 
 3hips. 
 
 2. By whom this fishery is chiefly carried on, viz. by 
 the Hollanders, Hamburgers and Bremers ; and how much 
 it appears to their advantage. 
 
 3. A brief recapitulation of what happen'd in the 
 infancy of the Greenland trade ; how the English were 
 first in it, how the^^lost it, and what have been the causes 
 that all their attempts to retrieve it have been unsuccessful. 
 
 4. A full proof that England may retrieve this trade, 
 and are able to carry it on more to advantage than any 
 Dther nation ; and all the known objections to the contrary 
 answered and removed. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 An Account how the Whale-Fishery is, and ought to be 
 perform'd, from the Jirst Outset to the Return of the 
 Ships. 
 
 ALL the necessary fishing instruments, such as harp- 
 ing-irons or harpoons, lances, cutting-knives, nose- 
 hooks, lines, shalloops, casks, ^c. must be provided, and 
 the ships compleatly fitted, victuall'd and mann'd before 
 the end of March ; and every thing being on board, and 
 the ships fallen down to Gravesend, and cleared there, 
 must sail by the beginning of April for Greenland. 
 
 13 The 
 
74 A View of 
 
 The vessels most proper for the whale-fishing, are those 
 we call fly -boats, or cats, or hag-boats ; and should be 
 very strong built, and doubled at the bow, to resist the 
 shocks of the ice. The size of. those ships commonly 
 used, are from 200 to 500 ton, little over or under ; and 
 they are supply'd with men and shalloops as follows : 
 
 Ton. Shalloops. Men and Boys. 
 
 I 200 must have^4 I [ oq 
 
 450 
 
 50 
 
 The particular qualifications of the men for a ship of 
 about 300 ton, and six shalloops, are as follows, viz. 
 
 1 Chief Harpooneer, who commands the whole fishery. 
 
 1 Captain or master of the ship. 
 
 5 Other harpooneers. 
 
 6 Steersmen of the shalloops. 
 6 Managers of the lines. 
 
 1. Surgeon. 
 1. Boatswain. 
 
 1. Carpenter. 
 
 2. Coopers. 
 
 16. Common sailors. 
 
 2 or 3 Boys. 
 
 42 or 43 men in alL 
 
 The voyage to Greenland is generally performed in 
 four or five weeks. The fishery begins with the month of 
 May, and continues all the months of Ju?ie and July : 
 But whether they have a good fishing or a bad, they must 
 come away and be clear of the ice in the month of August, 
 so that in the month of September at farthest they must 
 be expected home; but a ship that meets with a fortunate 
 and early fishery in the month of May, may return in 
 June or July. 
 
 The whale-fishing is carryM on in the great Fi'ozen Sea 
 
 between the coasts of Greenland and Spitzbergen, in the 
 
 14 latitude 
 
the Greenland Trade, Sjc 75 
 
 latitude of 70 to 80 degrees north; and as they have here 
 ao night, but see the sun always, during the season of the 
 Sshery, above the horizon, they divide the time not by 
 lay and night, but into three watches, allowing one third 
 3f the crew to be at rest for eight hours, when they turn 
 )ut for the next ; and so alternately they are upon duty 
 sixteen hours, and asleep eight hours in every twenty four : 
 ^nd their eating-times are likewise divided thus, break- 
 last about four in the morning, dinner at noon, supper at 
 jight in the afternoon ; only with this exception, that 
 vhen they are in pursuit of a whale, then all hands are 
 jailed to help, without respect to sleeping-time, or eating- 
 ime, or any other business. 
 
 The whales are found among the ice, in the openings 
 md vacancies between it ; and thither the ships sail in 
 luest of them, running boldly in between great floating 
 slands of ice, which lye continually on either hand of 
 hem, commonly called fields of ice, and are often of 
 nany leagues circumference. To such large fields of ice 
 hey fasten their ships with a great hook, commonly called 
 I nose-hook, and a hawser or tow-line; picking a hole 
 irst in the solid ice, wherein the hook taketh hold. And 
 t is necessary to have ingenious and experienc'd com- 
 nanders, who by their observations are able to judge upon 
 rhat degrees of latitude to enter the ice, where and to 
 vhat place of the ice to fasten the ship, where to stay or 
 o remove, and where it is likely that whales will appear, if 
 lot discovered immediately ; and where 'tis proper to 
 ;hangc places, to avoid being surrounded with ice ; and 
 low to preserve the ship from being lost and ci-usliM to 
 lieces betw een the great islands of ice : Which are acci- 
 lents that sometimes happen by carelessness or ignorance. 
 
 The reasons why the whales arc found in great num- 
 
 )ers between those openings of the ice is, because there 
 
 hey find their food in prodigious quantities, being small 
 
 eater insects, some like small shrimps, or. snails without 
 
 15 shells : 
 
76 A View of 
 
 shells ; some of tlie shape of a spider, of the bigness of a 
 grey-pea, and of a dark-brown colour, being a fatty, trainy, 
 oily substance. The water-insects are no where seen but 
 in those parts of the seas ; and those only in places of 
 80, 100, or 120 fathom depth, which are crowded with 
 them even from the surface to the bottom. It is supposed 
 they breed among the weeds, or other things which nature 
 furnishes at the bottom of the sea ; for in deeper water 
 the sea^s clear, no insects are found, and consequently few 
 or no whales can be expected there, these little creatures 
 cou'd not be suthcieut to serve as food to so vast a body as 
 a whale, did he not find and swallow an immense quantity 
 of them together. 
 
 As soon as the ships come near 70 degrees, and ap- 
 proach the ice, they immediately fit out their shalloops, 
 and furnish every boat with lines, lances, harpoons, and 
 all things necessary for the work ; every shalloop or boat 
 having six men, [viz.) one harpooneer, one steersmen, one 
 manager of the lines, and three seamen to row, and six or 
 seven lines on board, the length of which is 125 to 130 
 fathoms each. 
 
 When they are entred between the ice, and they see a 
 whale, they row immediately up to him, as close as they 
 can, and the steersman of the shalloop, must direct the 
 same to the middle of the body, because the head is in- 
 vulnerable, and towards the tail is dangerous. The har- 
 pooneer seeing himself able to reach the whale, casts the 
 harpoon, or harping-iron, into his back, as near as is 
 possible behind the head, because there it takes the surest 
 hold, and doth not plow out so soon, as if cast nearer 
 towards the tail. 
 
 The most critical time of striking the whales with the 
 harpoon, is when in diversion they spout the water, which 
 they do with great violence and noise, playing upon the 
 surface of the water, without apprehension of disturbance. 
 
 The whale finding himself wounded, immediately 
 16 shoots 
 
the GreenkincI Trade, Sfc. 77 
 
 shoots under water, running away, notwithstanding his 
 prodigious bulk, witli the lines, as swift as a bird can fly. 
 The shalloops following as fast as they can, in the mean 
 time veering out the lines, which are tied one to another, 
 and coiled up in the shalloop; and the other shalloops, 
 upon a sign given, row up immediateh% and keep close to 
 the first, in order to furnish more lines, when they are 
 wanted. Thus they follow, till the whale, who cannot live 
 long under water, without air, appears again, then rowing 
 up to him, strike another harpoon into him. The whale 
 shoots away again, as before, but is seldom able to run off 
 above one or two lines length at the second wound, but 
 being tired, and losing much blood, comes up again, as 
 before, and then fainting, they attack him with the lances, 
 striking and sticking as many of them, and as deep as 
 they can into his body. The lances penetrating into his 
 entrails, put him into a great fury, but all the resistance 
 he is able to make, is to throw his tail about in a terrible 
 manner, and the skill of the steersmen in the shalloops is 
 seen upon this occasion ; for if they do not keep out of the 
 reach of his tail, one blow of it, will dash the shalloop in 
 a thousand pieces, but they dextrously avoid it, and keep- 
 ing close to his sides, and continuing to wound him with 
 the lances, he begins to spout blood instead of water, 
 which is a signal of his being mortally wounded ; as soon 
 as he is dead, they cut off his tail, and fastning a line to 
 the stump, joyfully tow him along, shouting and hollowing 
 to their ship, and fasten the whale to the side of the 
 same. 
 
 If they see more whales, they pursue their game with 
 all their might, and with five or six shalloops, they may 
 attack two whales at a time; and if two or three ships 
 have agreed to fish in company, or to assist one another 
 about the killing of one or more whales, they divide 
 amongst them what they catch, according to agreement. 
 
 When they come to work on the dead whale, they 
 17 begin 
 
78 A View of 
 
 begin with long and great knives to cut off the fat, 
 which we call the blubber. This fat is all round about his 
 body, upon his back and belly, to the thickness of six 
 inches, something more or less, but about his under lips, 
 a whale has sometimes blubber or fat, two or three foot 
 thick, and his two fins also are very fat. The body of the 
 whale serves them for a stage, and with irons fasten^ near 
 to the heels of their shoes, called ice-spurs, they preserve 
 and keep themselves from sliding oiF in the water. Thus 
 they work upon him, artfully turning the body, till they 
 have cut off the fat on all sides, and the fins, which we 
 erroneously call whale-bones, out of his mouth, or upper 
 jaws, where they grow in a very wonderful manner, and 
 hard to describe, and are about 500 in number. 
 
 When the fins and the blubber are thus all cut away, 
 and hoisted into the ship, they turn the rest of the body 
 a-drift, leaving it to the sharks, bears, birds, and other 
 voracious creatures, who always attend in great numbers 
 for it, as their prey. 
 
 The blubber is hoisted over into the ship in large 
 square pieces, after which it is cut upon the deck into 
 small pieces, such as can easily go through the bung-holes 
 in the hold of the ship, to the casks to which it is con- 
 veyed, or let down through a pipe, made of sail-cloth. 
 
 The whales are of different sizes ; they commonly 
 yield forty to fifty puncheons of blubber each whale ; 
 though there are some that yield sixty to eighty, even one 
 hundred puncheons ; and a whale of fifty puncheons, being 
 commonly counted a very good whale, hath 1700 to 1800 
 hundred weight of fins in his mouth. 
 
 If a dead whale be met floating upon the sea, the 
 property is to those who find it, and take first hold of the 
 same ; and to encourage the ships crew to be always very 
 watchful, he who discovers, or first sees the dead whale, 
 has a premium of a ducat, or half a guinea, for his dis- 
 covery. The train oil of such a dead whale, especially if 
 18 it 
 
the Greenland Trade, Sfc. 79 
 
 it died of it self, is of a reddish colour, and not so valuable 
 as of a whale that is immediately killed, but the fins are 
 3f equal goodness with those of another whale. 
 
 Besides the whales, there are several other monstrous 
 fishes found and catch''d in those seas. Namely, 
 
 The pot-fish, or the Sperma-Ceti fish, called by the 
 French cachelot : He is as big as the whale, having a 
 monstrous large head, whereout they can get and fill 13 to 
 20 barrels of brains ; and this brains, after purged and 
 refined, they call (but very falsly) sperma ceti. Besides 
 :his, they cut from his body several puncheons of blubber ; 
 but he is not near so fat as the whale. This is a fish of 
 prey, hath a row of great teeth in his mouth as white as 
 vory. One of these was caught last year, 1721, and 
 before he was killed, vomited up, or cast out of his mouth 
 X shark of 12 foot long, which it is supposed he had just 
 ;aken, and not quite swallowed when he was surprized and 
 iiird. The spout-holes of this fish are at his nose, and 
 lot behind in the neck, like the whale. But this fish is 
 seldom met Vvith. 
 
 The fin-fish is as big as the whale too, and is dis- 
 :inguished from the whale by a large fin on his back. 
 He is not so fat, nor hath such fins in his mouth as 
 s, whale ; so that they never are thought worth the trouble 
 ■)f catching, or to venture the harpoons and lines upon 
 tiim; being more nimble than the whale, he might run 
 iway with the lines, or endanger the shalloops. 
 
 Sometimes they meet with a fish called the unicorn, a 
 very beautiful spotted creature, with a horn growing out 
 3f his upper jaw, and pointing strait forward, from 3 to 
 12 foot long, according to the growth of the fish; which 
 is valued and sold as dear as ivory. This fish will yield 
 3ne or two barrels of blubber, the train oil of which is 
 [vhiter than that of the whale. 
 
 The morse or sea-cow, some call it the sea-horse, is 
 
 [bund here too, both in the water and upon the ice. It is 
 
 19 as 
 
80 A View of 
 
 as big as a large bullock^ and has two large teeth in the 
 upper jaw sometimes half a yard long, hanging downwards, 
 and bending inward like a hook. With these teeth he 
 will attack men, and lay hold of a boat, and may sink it 
 or tear it to pieces, unless the men are nimble, and kill 
 him before he can do mischief. His skin is thick, but 
 spungy and porous : His two fangs are sold for ivory ; and 
 they cut from a pretty large one about a puncheon of 
 blubber. 
 
 The seals, or dog-fishes, are often upon the ice in great 
 numbers, and they kill them very easily : One blow with a 
 staff upon their noses makes them fall. They yield very 
 good train ; and the fat of 12 to 20 seals will fill a pun- 
 cheon. Their skin is used by the trunkmakers, or dress'd 
 as leather, for several uses. 
 
 Many white bears are found upon the ice, swimming 
 from one island of ice to another : They feed upon fish, 
 and the flesh of the dead whales, after our fishermen have 
 turn'd them adrift as above. They kill them with lances, 
 or shoot them with musket-balls. Some of them are as 
 large as a cow : Their skin is valuable, and their fat yields 
 train-oyl too, but in small quantity. 
 
 When the fishery among the ice is over, the ships go 
 sometimes to the bays of Spitzbergen, and the men go 
 ashore to refresh themselves. There they find very good 
 deer, especially roebucks : They are very fat, and their 
 flesh is very delicious, occasion'd by the herbage and ex- 
 cellent fine grass, mixM with several choice wholesome 
 simples, on the rocks and mountains in that country. 
 These creatures are very tame at first, till by hunting 
 and shooting them they are made more shy. Their 
 flesh is a great refreshment to the seamen after their 
 fishery ; and they eat the venison boiFd with those whole- 
 some herbs, and they eat sallads thereof, especially of 
 20 scurvv-srrass. 
 
the Gree7iland Trade, ^c, SI 
 
 scurvy-grass, which grows there in great quantity. But 
 this diversion, and the pleasure of their repast, tempts 
 them often to mispend some of that valuable time there, 
 which ought to be wholly employM in the business of the 
 voyage. This has sometimes been done to the great loss 
 and disappointment of the employers ; and must there- 
 fore by all the strictness imaginable be prevented, by those 
 who hope for any success in these fishing expeditions. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 By whom this Fishery chiefly is carried on ; viz. by the 
 Hollanders, Hamburghers, and Bremers; and how 
 much it appears to be to their advantage. 
 
 WHILE all the Netherland provinces, tho' subject 
 to the King of Spain, were govern'd by their own 
 laws, and enjoy'd their ancient liberties, the greatest part 
 of the commerce of these parts of the world was in the 
 hands of the Flemings ; particularly, they had the manu- 
 factures, the navigation, and the fisheries of every kind : 
 And even to this day, the Hollanders, who are now 
 masters of the said fisheries, sell their herrings in foreign 
 markets under the name of Flemish herrings. 
 
 But when the King of Spain began, under the mi- 
 nistry of the duke D'Alva, to tyrannize and persecute, 
 invading both the civil and religious liberties of the 
 people, the inhabitants fled; and dispersing themselves 
 into several parts, carry'd with them the trade also. Thus 
 the manufactures came to England, and the navigation 
 and fishery went to Holland; which province, with six 
 others, maintaining their liberty, and Spain continuing to 
 21 oppress 
 
 c 
 
82 A View of 
 
 oppress the rest, and the Duke of Parma taking the city 
 of Antwerp in the year 1585, (which was to the Flemings 
 then, what Amsterdam is now to the Dutch) was the fatal 
 stroke and period of their trade and navigation. 
 
 Thus it is to be observed, that navigation, and the 
 commerce attending it, never thrive but in countries free 
 from exactions and impositions of absolute power : Free 
 people alone are capable of carrying on those things. 
 Hence it is, that the Butch having maintained their 
 liberty, drew to themselves the fishery of cod and herring ; 
 and, extending themselves in trade, have, among other 
 things, gotten likewise this most important article of the 
 Greenland, or whale-fishery. For, except the two Hanse 
 towns, Bremen and Hamburgh, free people like themselves, 
 the greatest part of this trade is in their hands. The 
 port of Bayonae in France, St. Jean de Luz and St. Se- 
 bastian in Spain, with the town of Bergen in Norway, all 
 put together, send but about 20 ships a year on this trade : 
 Whereas this very year, 1722. there have been sent to 
 Greenland, for the whale-fishing, 
 
 180 Ships from Holland. 
 52 Ships from Hamburgh. 
 24 Ships from Bremen. 
 
 But that the vigor with which the Hollanders pursue 
 
 this trade, and something of the gain they make by it, 
 
 may appear; and that the author of these sheets may not 
 
 seem to speak without sufficient authority ; here under is 
 
 a true list of the number of all the ships which have gone 
 
 from Holland for the whale-fishing, from the year 1675 
 
 inclusive, to the present year 1722 exclusive; with the 
 
 number of whales they have kilPd, and the quantity of 
 
 oil they have produced ; and is as follows : 
 
 N.B. There were sent to Greenland by the Hollanders, in the year 
 1670, 148 ships, which brought home 792 whales ; and in 1671, 155 
 ships brought 630 i whales : But in 1672, 1673, 1674, when they 
 were engaged in war with England and France, they sent no ships at 
 all, not being able to spare the seamen from their fleet. 
 
 23 VIZ. 
 
the Greenland Trader Hfc. 83 
 
 VIZ. 
 
 
 Number 
 
 Number 
 
 Puncheons 
 
 Year, 
 
 of Ships 
 
 of Whales 
 
 of Traiu- 
 
 
 sent out 
 
 killed 
 
 Oil 
 
 1675 
 
 148 
 
 881i 
 
 36260 
 
 1676 
 
 145 
 
 808f 
 
 32347 
 
 1677 
 
 149 
 
 686 
 
 30050 
 
 1678 
 
 110 
 
 11181 
 
 44750 
 
 1679 
 
 126 
 
 831 
 
 39857 
 
 1680 
 
 148 
 
 1373 
 
 52406 
 
 1681 
 
 172 
 
 889 
 
 30306 
 
 1682 
 
 186 
 
 1470 
 
 62960 
 
 1683 
 
 242 
 
 1343 
 
 43540 
 
 1684 
 
 246 
 
 1185 
 
 44730 
 
 1685 
 
 212 
 
 1383i 
 
 55960 
 
 1686 
 
 189 
 
 639 
 
 29543 
 
 1687 
 
 194 
 
 617 
 
 23211 
 
 1688 
 
 214 
 
 345 
 
 14600 
 
 1689 
 
 163 
 
 243 
 
 10120 
 
 1690 
 
 117 
 
 8181 
 
 34960 
 
 1691 No 
 
 ships did go from Holland, being in war 
 
 with France. 
 
 1692 
 
 32 
 
 62 
 
 2748 
 
 1693 
 
 89 
 
 175 
 
 8480 
 
 1694 
 
 62 
 
 156i 
 
 7562 
 
 1695 
 
 96 
 
 201 
 
 9106 
 
 1696 
 
 100 
 
 380 
 
 14975 
 
 1697 
 
 111 
 
 12744 
 
 42281 
 
 1698 
 
 140 
 
 14884 
 
 55985 
 
 1699 
 
 151 
 
 7754 
 
 30835 
 
 1700 
 
 173 
 
 907 
 
 36548 
 
 1701 
 
 207 
 
 2071J 
 
 67507 
 
 1702 
 
 225 
 
 697| 
 
 24388 
 
 1703 
 
 208 
 
 6464 
 
 24527 
 
 1704 
 
 130 
 
 65U 
 
 23701 
 
 1705 
 
 157 
 
 16644 
 
 52346 
 
 1706 
 
 149 
 
 4524 
 
 15299 
 
 1707 
 
 131 
 
 128 
 
 5431 
 
 1708 
 
 121 
 
 525| 
 
 20731 
 
 1709 
 
 127 
 
 1904 
 
 8237 
 
 1710 
 
 137 
 
 62 
 
 3379 
 
 1711 
 
 117 
 
 630i 
 
 20589 
 
 1712 
 
 108 
 
 370^ 
 
 14203 
 
 1713 
 
 94 
 
 256 
 
 12854 
 
 1714 
 
 108 
 
 1234 
 
 37490 
 
 1715 
 
 134 
 Carried over 
 
 696:} 
 
 25830 
 
 
 293281 
 
 1149362 
 
 
 23 
 
 1716 
 
84 
 
 
 A 
 
 View of 
 
 
 
 Number 
 
 Number 
 
 Puncbeons 
 
 Year 
 
 of Ships 
 
 of Whales 
 
 of Train- 
 
 
 sent out 
 
 killed 
 
 OU 
 
 
 Broughl 
 
 over 293281 
 
 1149632 
 
 1716 
 
 153 
 
 519 
 
 20216 
 
 1717 
 
 180 
 
 391 
 
 14463 
 
 1718 
 
 194 
 
 281f 
 
 13103 
 
 1719 
 
 182 
 
 308 
 
 10100 
 
 1720 
 
 158 
 
 412i 
 
 19092 
 
 1721 
 
 149 
 
 6671 
 
 23108 
 
 
 32908i 
 
 1250714 
 
 
 
 Whales. Punch, of T.O. 
 
 To the foregoing account is to be added the whalebone 
 or fins which have been brought home with all this blub- 
 ber ; and which from 32,908 ^ whales, must be more than 
 forty millions of pound weight : By all which it is ap- 
 parent, that in 46 years, the Hollanders have fish'd up out 
 of the icy seas of Greenland, a vast treasure, amounting 
 to no less than one hundred and fifty millions of guilders, 
 or about fourteen millions pound sterling. 
 
 This account may well be surprizing to those who 
 have hitherto had no just or right information of the 
 trade of the Greenland whale-fishing ; and will put an end 
 to any question, whether the same be worth while to be 
 undertaken, or no ? 
 
 I might have added here, the like list of the ships from 
 Hamburgh, since the year 1670, but it will be enough to 
 say, that they, with about fifty ships yearly, have taken 
 above 10,000 whales. 
 
 Nor hath it been less beneficial to those of Bremen, 
 who about the year 1690, had but four or five ships, but 
 encouraged since by the profits, they have augmented the 
 number every year. And these two towns have so great 
 a vent for those goods, by the Elbe and Weser, into the 
 most considerable parts of Germany, that to supply them, 
 their own ships are not sufficient, but they buy every year 
 great quantities of oil and fins of the Hollanders, to sup- 
 ply the German markets. 
 
 24 As 
 
the Greenland Trade, Sfc. 85 
 
 As to the Dutch, their spice trade it self, which is their 
 darling trade^ is not in a national view, so advantageous 
 to them, as this of the Greenland fishery. For all their 
 East-India goods are purchased with money, whereas the 
 Greenland fishery is carried on by a continual circulation 
 of commerce ; and taking out no money, brings back such 
 goods as draw money from all their neighbours. Nor are 
 the goods this ti-ade brings in, such as we call perishable 
 commodities, or which will spoil or waste in the keeping, 
 but they may be kept and laid up many years, without 
 loss. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 A brief Recapitulation of what happened in the infancy of 
 the Greenland Trade ; how the English were first in it ; 
 Jiow they lost it ; and what have been the causes that 
 all their attempts to retrieve it have been unsuccessful. 
 
 IT was about the year 1597, Queen Elizabeth then 
 reigning, when the English having happily planted 
 on the eastern coast of North-America, and flush'd with 
 the success of their adventures that way, began to spread 
 themselves into the North Seas, to make new discoveries, 
 in search after the north-east passages to China, and the 
 north-west passages to the South-seas. 
 
 In their searches this way, though they could not find 
 
 either of the passages they looked for, yet far from losing 
 
 all their labour, they made other discoveries, which fully 
 
 rewarded them for their diligence ; such their discoveries 
 
 25 were 
 
86 A Vieiv of 
 
 were of the North-Cape, the coast of Lapland, and the 
 port of Archangel in Russia, to the east ; Hudson's Bay, 
 Davis-Streights, and the coast of Greenland, to the west ; 
 and the Frozen-Sea, with the great island of Spitsbergen 
 to the North, and other islands of less note. 
 
 Here they were agreeably surprized, with a discovery 
 unexpected, of abundance of prodigious whales, and other 
 sea-monsters, and in such multitudes, as encouraged them 
 to make the first attempt at their fishing for, or catching 
 them for their oil, which was then a valuable and scarce 
 commodity in the world. 
 
 They began this trade in the year 1598, though with 
 few ships, and advanced mightily in it, about the year 
 1608, and carried it on with very great success, without 
 any rival, till the year 1612 ; then the Hollanders, in hopes 
 of like advantages, sent the first ships to Spitsbergen or 
 Greenland. But the English claiming the property, as 
 the first discoverers, would not allow the Dutch should fish 
 thereabouts, and share in so profitable a trade, and there- 
 fore attack'd their ships, anno 1613. took two of them, 
 and brought them to England, with all the oil of the 
 whales they had kilFd, and all their shalloops, fishing- 
 tackle, ^c. so that the Dutch valued their loss at 130,000 
 guilders, the said ships being full loaden, and having made 
 a good voyage. 
 
 However, the Dutch went on with their trade, as the 
 English did, though often bickering, till the year 1617, 
 when the English attack'd them again, but came to be 
 worsted ; the Hollanders took one of the English ships, 
 and carried her to Holland. But the States-General, 
 willing to give no off'ence to King James, caused the ship 
 to be restored, with all that was in her. And in order to 
 prevent the like for the future, sent over a deputation to 
 England, to treat upon the subject of the freedom of the 
 fishery with his Majesty ; who acting by pacifick councils, 
 did not encourage his merchants to disturb the Dutch, nor 
 26 decide 
 
the Greenland T7'ade, S^c. 87 
 
 decide that question as to the right; so it remained un- 
 determin\l, and both parties went on tishing as before. 
 
 The English merchants not being able to preserve an 
 exclusive trade, contented themselves with keeping pos- 
 session of those bays and harbours in the island of Spits- 
 bergen, which they had, and were then counted the best, 
 such as that now called Clock Bay, the Safe-Harbour, the 
 English-Bay, the English-Harbour, and several others. 
 The Hollanders settling more to the north, as at North- 
 Bay, South-Bay , Holland-Bay, Amsterdam-Island, and the 
 like. The Danes came afterwurds and placed themselves 
 between the English and the Dutch, at a place still called 
 the Danish-Bay. The Hamburghers came next, and they 
 pitch'd upon a place further west, callM Hamburgh-Bay, 
 After them the French and Biscayers, who finding all the 
 rest settled, they were obliged to take possession further 
 north than the Hollanders, at a place called the Biscay- 
 Hook. And all of them, as the island was further dis- 
 covered, and abundance of other bays and places found 
 out, shifted their stations as they found most for their 
 convenience ; the island, and the fishery also, being more 
 than sufficient for them all. 
 
 A.t that time the whales having never been disturbed, 
 were taken in great numbers near the shore, and the 
 blubber being cut off, was immediately carried on shore, 
 and boil'd into train-oil on the spot, the ships carrying 
 nothing home with them, but the pure oil, and the fins : 
 Accordingly, warehouses were erected, coppers or caldrons 
 set up on shore, and all the business done there. And the 
 fishery it self was so plentiful, that other ships were 
 obliged to go, to bring the oil which they had, more than 
 the fishing-ships could bring away. 
 
 But time and clumge of circumstances shifted the 
 
 situation of the trade : For the whales, by little and little, 
 
 forsook the shore, whether because of their being disturbed 
 
 there, by the multitude of ships and shalloops, or that they 
 
 27 found 
 
88 A View of 
 
 found greater quantities of the water-insects, which are 
 their food, between the ice ; or for what other cause, we 
 know not. But they have ever since been found in the 
 openings and spaces among the ice, and not in the bays 
 as before ; that is to say, not in any number ; and hither 
 the ships are obliged to follow them ; and by this altera- 
 tion, their warehouses and cookeries on shore, became 
 useless : So that now the blubber is stowM in puncheons 
 on board, and carried directly home to their respective 
 pcrts. The ruins of the warehouses and furnaces on 
 shore, in the several bays of Spitsbergen, are still to be 
 seen. 
 
 The fisherj'- being now wholly managed upon the high 
 sea, among the ice, made it more difficult and dangerous : 
 and several ships were lost in the beginning, before they 
 discovered the nature and situation of the ice ; and those 
 ships that would not venture to follow the whales so far 
 into the ice, returned often without catching any whales 
 at all ; which discom-aged the merchants, who at that time 
 carried on the trade in companies, and with a publick 
 stock; that they separated and dissolved not only in 
 England, but in Holland, and several other places. 
 
 But as the companies gave over that trade, several 
 private merchants took it up, especially in Holland, and 
 carried it on upon their particular accounts ; and that 
 with such success and advantage, that a great number of 
 ships were sent to Greenland, many more than ever the 
 companies did in any year before, and so it continues to 
 this day. 
 
 As for England, the publick calamity of a civil war 
 overspreading them at that time, was another cause that 
 interrupted and discouraged the merchants in this, as well 
 as in all their trades ; so that this fishery hath been lost 
 to them ever since, some particular attempts to retrieve it 
 excepted. 
 
 There was one attempt made in the year 1694, which 
 28 ' at 
 
the Greenland Trade, ^c. 89 
 
 at first gave good hopes of success, being undertalcen by 
 a company, composed of very eminent merchants, with a 
 good capital and stock, and established by an Act of 
 Parliament in their favour, particularly giving them ex- 
 clusive privileges, exempting them from paying any duties, 
 and their men from being press'd into the King's service, 
 &c. 
 
 But wanting due informations of the proper methods 
 of managing that whole affair ; and which was worse, 
 being ill serv'd by almost all the people they employed, 
 both at home and abroad, pushing them into extravagant 
 and unnecessary expences, and irregular measures in every 
 thing, they were obliged to give over the undertaking, 
 their stock being wasted and embezzel'd. And this com- 
 pany, and even the whole body of merchants in the nation, 
 were discouraged from going on with, or making any fur- 
 ther attempt of the same kind. 
 
 A brief Account of the particular mistalces of the Green- 
 land Company, and the ill conduct of their servants^ 
 mention' d above, which may be assigned as the reasons 
 of their miscarriage. 
 
 1. Their ships were intrusted with and commanded by 
 persons unacquainted with the business, who had not only 
 the command of the ship, but also of the fishery ; whereas 
 the chief harpooneer ought to command during the fishing, 
 that he may carry the ship where he knows is most proper 
 for the work ; which defect occasioned their misfortunes ; 
 for though they had some skilful foreign harpooncers, yet 
 for want of right conduct, they got no whales, or but few, 
 even when others made a good voyage. 
 
 2. Their captains had their certain pay, whether they 
 had success or not ; whereas they should have been paid in 
 proportion to their fishery only : But not being so in- 
 
 29 terested 
 
90 A View of 
 
 terested in the success of their voyage, when they found 
 it not easy to come to the whales among the ice, they went 
 away to Spitsber'gen, to the bays, and diverted themselves 
 with hunting the deer, and left the shalloops to look for 
 whales, where few or none were to be found ; and thus 
 they ruin'd the voyages, consumed the provisions, and 
 brought the company's stock in debt upon every voyage ; 
 and the tallow, hides, and horns of the deer, which they 
 kilPd ashore, being allowed to them as a perquisite, tbey 
 found their pleasure and particular profit more, by killing 
 the deer, than catching of whales. 
 
 3. When they came home, the blubber of the few 
 whales they had taken, was not boiled to advantage ; the 
 cookery was managed slovenly, and wastfully ; and the oil 
 was not well purg'd : The fins also Mere not well cur'd, nor 
 cleansed ; and when they came to market, they were 
 obliged to sell them considerably under the value of mer- 
 chantable fins. 
 
 4. Their lines, fishing instruments, harpoons, casks, ^c. 
 were not duly taken care of, or well preserved for further 
 service, but embezzelFd and spoil'd for want of care ; so 
 that when they should have been ready for the next year, 
 the company was obliged to buy uew, at a great and un- 
 necessary expence. 
 
 5. In furnishing and fitting out their ships, it was the 
 same ; they victualled extravagantly, paid an exorbitant 
 and unusual price for their shalloops, and likewise for 
 their fishing instruments, and were at so many unnecessary 
 expences for incidents, both at their setting out, and 
 coming in, as may appear by their accounts yet to be 
 seen. 
 
 6. The last ship they employed, was unhappily lost in 
 
 30 the 
 
the Gh^eenland Trade, S)C. 91 
 
 the ice, after a prosperous fishery, having eleven whales on 
 board. By all which disasters, the company's stock was 
 AAastcd, and the gentlemen discouraged from raising any 
 more, so that affair expired. And though by a subsequent 
 Act of Parliament, anno Annteprimo, the trade was again 
 laid open, yet no body hath since meddled with it. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 A full Proof that England may retrieve this Trade, and are 
 able to carry it on more to advantage than any other 
 Nation : And all the known objections to the contrary, 
 answered and removed. 
 
 IT is a vulgar en-or, but so rivetted in the minds of 
 ignorant people, that it will be very hard to persuade 
 them to the contrary, that the Dutch can fit out their 
 ships, and go to Greenland, and in a word, carry on the 
 tvhale-fishery cheaper and to more advantage than the 
 English. 
 
 If this were true, it might be one reason why it would 
 DC hard for the English to recover the Greenland trade, or 
 ndeed to carry on any trade at sea : But the contrary 
 s manifest ; and I shall make it appear, that the Dutch 
 ire so far from being able to carry it on cheaper than the 
 English ; that the English, on the contrary, are able to do 
 t cheaper than the Dutch, in almost all the articles ; from 
 ;he fitting out the ships, to the boiling of the blubber 
 ifter they are come home. 
 
 If this be made out, then instead of its being an 
 31 argument 
 
92 A View of 
 
 argument against it, it is an argument for tlie encourage- 
 ment of the English to recover this trade. For example : 
 
 It is first alledged, that the English do not build ships 
 so cheap as the Dutch ; and it may in one sense be true ; 
 but it is answered, that the English build stronger than 
 the Dutch, and their ships last longer, and are kept with 
 less repair ; which, as it is more th^n equivalent, so in the 
 balance of the merchants books, it will appear that the 
 English are the cheapest ships in the end : This is farther 
 evident, by the conduct of the King of Sicily, (now Sar- 
 dinia) the French nation, and the Flemish East-India 
 Company, and what is most to be admired, even to the 
 Czar of Muscovy, and others; who having occasion to 
 furnish themselves with ships of war, and ships for long 
 and hard voyages, to the East-Indies, Mississipjn, &c. 
 chose to build and buy them in England, rather than 
 build or buy in their own country, or Holland, notwith- 
 standing the difference of price, till the English govern- 
 ment thought fit to pass an Act to prevent them. 
 
 If the natural situation of any country hinders the 
 inhabitants from having the materials for their work so 
 cheap as their neighbours, they must comply with their 
 circumstances, and by the cheapness of their labour and 
 living, make up the deficiency, if they can ; and this is the 
 case of the Dutch. 
 
 It is evident, they have not any thing relating to the 
 building or fitting out a ship that is of their own growth ; 
 neither iron, timber, planks, masts, hemp, pitch or tar; 
 nor for victualling, have they either flesh, fish, or corn; 
 for bread and beer, all must be fetchM at the expence of 
 the first cost, freight, and other charges from foreign 
 countries. The English have timber, planks, lead, iron, 
 brass, pitch, tar, masts and yards, with corn for bread and 
 beer, flesh, butter, cheese, rice, &c. all the produce of their 
 own land and colonies: The only thing I meet with, in 
 which the Dutch may be said to outdo us, is, that they have 
 32 saw-mills. 
 
tlie Greenland Trade, Sjc. 93; 
 
 aw-mills, Mhicli we do not allow, because it is takinj^ 
 way the employment of the pooi'. Having then so many 
 f the materials of our own growth^ which they must buy 
 ith money, why cannot we build as cheap as the Dutch ? 
 say, Are may build cheaper than they in the end, because 
 ur work is better and stronger, and the materials which 
 re our own, are better than those used by the Dutch. 
 
 Besides, if it were true that the Dutch build as cheap, 
 ud as good to the merchant which is not, yet they being 
 )rcM to buy all their materials, cannot build so much to 
 \ie advantage of the publick interest, and general stock ; 
 ince speaking of that publick stock of the nation, so 
 inch of the timber, planks, and all the victuals, as is used 
 1 building and setting out of a ship in England, and is 
 tie growth of our own country, or of our plantations, costs 
 ideed nothing at all to the publick ; because so much of 
 ur own growth as is sent abroad, is clear gain to the 
 ublick stock of the nation. 
 
 Nor have the Dutch (which may be surprizing to some) 
 nfficient number of sea-men among their own subjects, 
 )r the work of the whale fishing : Nay not one half of 
 tiem ; but they are obliged every year to have many 
 liousands of the most necessary and most skilful, even 
 iich as commanders, harpooneers, steersmen, and sailors, 
 'om Jutland, Holstein, Scotland, Norioay, Bremen, Olden- 
 urgh, Delnienhorst, or Friesland, and the most and best 
 len they have, are from thence ; who after the fishery is 
 ver, go to their habitations, and carry the money they 
 ave earn'd, back with them to their families, returning 
 gain in the season, as before : And the same men are as 
 asy to be found by the English, and as willing to work 
 3r them, as for the Hollanders. 
 
 Again, which will perliaps seem as strange to some 
 
 eople, as the other, the wages of seamen is lower in 
 
 Ingland, than in Holland. For example : In England, 
 
 he seamen are hired for 24 to 26 shillings per month, 
 
 33 when 
 
94 A View of 
 
 when as in Holland, the ordinary pay is 16 to 18, or 
 20 guilders per month, which is from 30 to 36, or 40 
 shillings sterling. As to the commanders, harpooneers, and 
 steersmen, they have no pay, but according to what they 
 catch, every one having so much per puncheon on the oil 
 they bring home. By which their interest being coucern'd, 
 their diligence is secured. 
 
 Thus that objection, which has been thought so very 
 considerable, is removed ; fzr. that England cannot build 
 and victual ships as cheap as the Dutch, nor that they 
 would not be able to find skilful hands enough for the 
 carrying on the Greenland trade. On the contrary, as 
 they are well able to find them in those countries, as 
 above, so in a very few years, the British seamen will be as 
 skilful in the business, as their teachers ; and as we are in 
 no want of seamen, we shall not long need to send for any 
 numbers of them from abroad. Besides, abundance of 
 North British sailors are already expert in this work, 
 having often serv'd in the Dutch ships at Greenland ; and 
 on the first news of the British nation having undertaken 
 to revive the whale- fishing, will flock to London for em- 
 ployment : So that England can never want people for 
 their fishing, full as skilful as others. 
 
 But there is one particular more, in which the English 
 have infinitely the advantage of the Hollanders, and this is 
 in the easiness of their loading aud unloading the ships ; 
 which is a very considerable article in the charge of the 
 voyage. For example : 
 
 All who are acquainted with the situation of Holland, 
 know that their ships for Greenland, before they set out, 
 must ride at anchor between Sardam and Amsterdam ; and 
 there they must take in their casks, victuals, and fishing- 
 tackle ; which they must bring on board fi'om their several 
 distant warehouses, through the canals and sluices, in great 
 lighter-boats ; even the very fresh water, which they must 
 buy. AVhen ready to sail, they must have pilots over the 
 34 Pampus, 
 
the Greenland Trade, ^c. 95 
 
 'oDipus, and through the Zuider-Sea to Texel, where she 
 des till a favourable wind brings her to sea ; and the 
 ivner, or he who fits the ship out, must follow to Texel, 
 ) see if all the men are on board, and every thing ready 
 >r the voyage. And when they return, it is the like; 
 ith this addition, that the charge is so much greater, as 
 leir casks are now filled with blubber; require to be 
 irry'd to the cookery, and from thence to Amsterdam, 
 r other places; which lighteridges, and workmanship, 
 dotages, riding at anchor for several weeks, and keeping 
 le sailors all that time in victuals and pay ; is a very 
 reat charge for the owners, besides the spoiling, of the 
 asks and lines, and the leakage, caused by being so often 
 3moved from one place to another. 
 
 Whereas the situation of this river is so, that ships 
 lay load and unload at the warehouses and cookery, with- 
 ut paying any carriage, or lighters, or double workman- 
 lip ; preserving thereby all the lines, casks and other 
 materials, in a good condition, and prevent much leakage. 
 i.nd after a ship is clear'd at Gravesend, a favourable wind 
 rings her to sea the next tide after. And in these articles, 
 alculating all the particulars, it is plain, that England 
 ball save at least, every Greenland voyage, 50/. upon 
 very ship, which the Dutch are obliged to pay. And 
 ereby, I doubt not, is sufl&ciently proved, that we can 
 et out ships, and carry on the whale-fishing trade easier, 
 etter, and much cheaper than the Hollanders, 
 
 But the greatest encouragement and advantage for the 
 mdertakers, is the benefit of the custom which we enjoy 
 y the importation; the train-oil being free imported, 
 nd the whale-fins paying 52/. sterling per ton less than 
 I'hen imported from other countries : So that the adven- 
 urers have (when hereby is added the duty upon exporta- 
 ion of the fins in Holland, the commission, brokeridge, 
 reigh- money, freight, insurance, and other charges by 
 oading and unloading them) a sure profit and addition in 
 35 the 
 
9« A View of 
 
 the price of every ton of fins, of about 701. sterling more 
 than any nation beyond sea enjoys ; and is granted by the 
 legislature, to no other purpose, than to encourage the 
 inhabitants to this so advantageous trade. 
 
 And what by the increase and iularging of this trade, 
 for the future will be brought home more than this nation 
 needs of train-oil and whale-fins, both very current and 
 valuable commodities beyond sea. And being no duty at 
 all upon train-oil, and all the three-pence per pound 
 whale-fins being drawn back when exported, we can pro- 
 vide all those parts of Europe, which now buy from the 
 Hollanders, with these commodities cheaper than they are 
 able to do. Hamburgh and Bremen, with all their ships, 
 have not enough to supply Germany, but must buy many 
 thousand puncheons of train-oil every year from Holland, 
 Flanders, France, and parts of the Baltick Sea, buy quan- 
 tities of oil and soap boil'd of the Greenland oil ; parti* 
 cularly, Scotland buys and consumes much of this soap. 
 And when the Greenland oil is imported directly, the 
 soap-boiling trade must certainly increase hereby, and the 
 North-Britons need not go to foreign markets, nor to buy 
 whalebone of them : And this is in Ireland, Flanders, 
 France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, and all other 
 countries of Europe a wanted commodity. How could 
 Holland set out else so great a number of ships, if all 
 Europe did not pay them for this their industry, having 
 but a small consumption themselves of all that they bring 
 home? 
 
 Though it is not easy to guess at a sum, yet it may not 
 be improper to observe here, and there is no doubt of it. 
 That we have paid to the Hollanders, in no more than half 
 a century since we quitted that trade, some millions of 
 money for those commodities, which our own men might 
 have fished up out of the seas, aud which would have been 
 so much in our pockets, and at this time clear gain to the 
 publick stock. A treasure taken up out of the sea, is a 
 36 treasure 
 
the (jrcenland Trade, &r. 97 
 
 treasure gain'd : It must be so ; it caiuiot bu otherwise ! 
 And hereby it appears, that we bring home from Greenland 
 no goods, but such as we can sell to several mai'kets of 
 Europe for money, or have such merchandize in exchange 
 for it, as we should otherwise buy for money abroad : 
 And any objection that might be moved that way, is 
 removed. 
 
 And to speak further upon the surety of the advantage, 
 both to the adventurers as to the publick stock, and the 
 increase of trade and navigation, and of the money the 
 said trade may keep and bring into the nation ; it is cer- 
 tain, that we not only carry out our own product, but 
 indeed we carry out nothing of value but provisions for 
 the men, which they might be supposed to consume at 
 home, if they did not go at all, especially when our own 
 people come to be wholly employed, and so without car- 
 rying out any other produce, as above : The goods brought 
 lome, are caught out of the sea, and is no more or less, 
 'han the sweat and labour of our people, and the blessing 
 )f Almighty God ; and so all the oil and whalebone that 
 s brought home, is clear gain, except only the charges of 
 ;he voyage. 
 
 No merchandize is given in the exchange for it, 
 No bills of exchange paid for it, 
 No money carried out to purchase it. 
 
 The charges of the fitting out a ship and of the whole 
 'oyage, is expressed in two articles, called in the stile of 
 )usine8s. 
 
 Victuals and Wages, 
 
 Ware and Tear. 
 
 And these two will come for a ship with six shalloops, 
 
 xcept what must be paid to the parteneer-officers, and 
 
 teersmen, for their portions in the train-oil, and the 
 
 37 charges 
 
98 A View oj 
 
 charges of the cookery, by the return ; viz. for victuals 
 and wages, about 4.20/. sterling, for ware and tear, I reckon 
 180/. sterling, being in all both outset and return, 600/. 
 sterling. This is often repay'd by one whale, that yields 
 50 to 60 punchions of trail-oil, and 18 or 1900 lbs. weight 
 of fins, or more. And a ship bringing home 5 or 6, 10 or 
 12 whales, or a full loading of blubber and fins, it is easy 
 to calculate to what considerable profit such a voyage doth 
 amount to. 
 
 Much more might be said in commendation of this 
 fishery and trade, but I doubt not this will satisfy any 
 discerning reader ; and that no body can make any further 
 objections, or be longer prepossessed with imaginary dis- 
 couragement : I am confident, that if any society of men, 
 with a good stock, and a careful prudent management, 
 would undertake it, they would greatly find their account 
 in it ; and the nation in general would reap so immense 
 advantages by it, that it will naturally fall under the con- 
 sideration of the legislature, to give all reasonable en- 
 couragements that may be wanting to promote it. 
 
 38 APPENDIX. 
 
the Greenland Trade, S)C. 99 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 IT cannot be supposed tliat I have said in the foregoing 
 chapters, all that the subject of the Greenland fishery 
 will afford; to mention all the particulars, would fill a 
 large volume, this trade being extensive beyond what most 
 men imagine ; I shall only, to what has been said, add 
 some few remarks, which on second thoughts I could not 
 omit. 
 
 As to the first head; Hoiv the ivhale-fishery is per- 
 forni'd ? I should have given the method of boiling the 
 blubber, and how to purge the same, to make it neat and 
 clear train-oil ; and also of cleaning the fins or whalebones 
 to make them merchantable goods, after the return of the 
 ships : But I think it sufficient at present to say, that the 
 cookery of train-oil is done by the harpooneers, who know 
 how to boil it to the most advantage; it being to their 
 interest to do it well, because they are paid for the whole 
 voyage, proportionably to the quantity of clear train-oil 
 which they produce : The management of this cookery, 
 and the particulars thereof, are too many to be set down 
 here ; the curious can only be satisfied, by seeing the 
 regular method in which it is performed. The cleaning of 
 the fins, is a work rather of labour, than of art, and is 
 what most of the seamen that have used these voyages, 
 are well acquainted with. 
 
 Belonging to the second head, viz. The advantages 
 39 v)hirh 
 
100 A View of 
 
 which the Greenland ti-ade hath been to the Dutch, and 
 others : It would make a book by it self, to describe all 
 the advantages in due form, and how the na^^gation of 
 Holland is increased hereby, and what a number of ships 
 they employ in consequence of it ; by bringing in all the 
 materials necessary for the ships used in this fishery, being 
 timber, planks, deals, masts, caskstaves ; hemp, pitch, tar, 
 iron, corn, beef, butter, salt, stock-fish, ^r. voluminous and 
 bulky goods ; and they, not having them of their own 
 growth, the same are brought by sea to their ports : And 
 again, by exporting the train-oil, and the whale-fins, 
 to the several ports of Eio'ope, which they supply them 
 with ; I say, what innumerable ships are hereby con- 
 tinually kepi at sea, and what numbers of families are 
 hence maintained, are obvious to any who employ their 
 thoughts upon this subject. 
 
 And this trade has been a fund of seamen on any 
 emergency to the State, to furnish their fleets ; and it had 
 been impossible for them to fit out their navy on several 
 particular occasions, without the aid of these Greenland 
 seamen, who being under emergencies of state, kept at 
 home, and not sent to Greenland, their fleets, have been 
 speedily mann'd, even to the surprize of the world ; and 
 so they have often defended themselves against greater 
 powers, who have not so many seamen at hand, whereby 
 this fishery proves to be their great support, and con- 
 tributes considerably to the maintenance of their state, 
 liberty and safety : And they are so sensible of the con- 
 sequence of this trade to them, that by order of the States 
 in their daily publick prayers in all Churches, words to 
 this eff'ect are inserted ; (viz) That God will be graciously- 
 pleased to bless their land, and in particvdai', the great and 
 small fisheries. 
 
 As to the third head, and the causes of former miscar- 
 40 riages 
 
(lie Gremiland Trade, isr. 10 1 
 
 riages in the management of this trade : I think it is better 
 to bury these tilings in a decent silence, than farther to 
 enumerate past mistakes, and the disasters caused thereby. 
 It will be sufficient that I have shewn, how the same may 
 be certainly avoided for the future. 
 
 To the fourth chapter I have to add, relating to the 
 products of this fishery, viz. train-oyl and whale-fins; 
 that it is a great mistake to say of the first, that we have 
 oyl enough, and that there will beno'yeut for what is 
 imported from Greenland ; when we know how many other 
 parts of Europe want the train-oy], and the soap bci'.cd oi 
 the same. And if our own markets should be over-stockM, 
 and we send the oyl to foreign markets, we shall be able 
 to sell as cheap, nay, even cheaper than the Dutch, and 
 get more money by what we shall sell than they, accord- 
 ing to the several before-mentioned reasons. Nor ought 
 this trade to be merely for our own consumption, for that 
 would but lessen the value and esteem of it, by reason 
 that what will be consumed at home, will be but so much 
 saved, and no addition to the publick stock : But the gain 
 by exportations is what will increase our wealth and 
 riches. 
 
 As to the whale-fins, it appears by the Custom-house 
 books, that there hath been imported in the port of Lon- 
 don, from the year 1715, to 1721, one year with another, 
 about 150 tons yearly, even when the price hath been 
 very dear ; viz. 400/. per ton, little more or less, which is, 
 one year with another, 60,000/. a year, over and above 
 what is imported in all the other ports of Great Britain 
 and Ireland; which may moderately be supposed to be 
 100 ton more. Then the sum paid for whalebone 
 amounts to 100,000/. per annum, besides what probably 
 may be run clandestinely : All which hath hitherto been 
 clear loss to this nation, and clear gain to our neigh- 
 bours. 
 
 41 But 
 
102 A View of 
 
 But Avhat an alteration will it be, and what may not 
 such a trade come to in time ; when England shall not 
 only import all this her self, but can supply other parts of 
 Europe with the same as well as with train-oyl, whereby 
 such a treasure as now is carry'd away to oui' neighbours, 
 will be gotten and kept here at home ? What an infinite 
 number of seamen, tradesmen, and labouring poor people, 
 both at sea and on shore, will be employ' d and maintain'd, 
 by tMs trade? "Which will afford and set to business the 
 youth of our Ajharity-schools, and in few years make room 
 for great -numbers of them; and if they prove docile and 
 tractable lads, the-y may be brought up to be steersmen, 
 harpooneers, captains and commanders : And by a succes- 
 sion of such, this trade may be secured, never to be lost 
 again. The number of seamen must increase continually, 
 (much to the safety of oui* kingdom) because every year 
 this fishery will take up boys ; that is to say, sturdy able 
 youths, from fifteen to twenty years of age, and raw men 
 who have never been at sea; they being necessary for 
 mean and ordinary uses : All which after two or three 
 years service, may become expert and able seamen ; 
 then other boys and raw men will be employ'd in their 
 room ; so that this trade will be a perpetual nursery of 
 seamen. 
 
 All our foreign commerce must be supported (whether 
 in time of peace or war) at a great expence to the publick, 
 by maintaining consuls, residents, ambassadors, governors 
 and garisons, as well for correspondence and intelligence, 
 as preservation and defence. But this trade and fishery is 
 of a quite different nature ; it is carry'd on in the unin- 
 habited parts of the world, in open and otherwise unfre- 
 quented icy seas, at the sole cost of the undertakers, 
 without the least charge, burthen or incumbrance to the 
 publick : and therefore may justly claim more favour and 
 encouragement than any other trade whatsoever, 
 
 42 How 
 
the Greenland Trade, ^c. 103 
 
 IIow apprehensive the legislature always has been of 
 he value of the fishery, appears by the several Acts of 
 ParHament made for the encouragement of the same : 
 \.ud it is declared in the preamble of an Act, in the 14th 
 i^ear Caroli II. " That the piiblick honour, wealth and 
 ' safety of this realm, as ivell in the maintenance and sup- 
 ' port of navigation, as in many other respects, doth in an 
 ' high degree depend upon the improvement and encourage- 
 ' ment of the fishery." And particularly, to re-establish 
 ;his Greenland trade and fishery, I refer the reader to the 
 !\.cts made in the 25th year Caroli II. in the 4th and 5th 
 y^ear Gulielmi & MaricB ; in the 7th and 8th year Gidielmi 
 [II. and in the first year of Queen Anne; and it is hardly 
 n-edible, that so many beneficial Acts, and the good in- 
 tention of the legislature, till now, should have proved to 
 be of no effect. 
 
 It remains yet to be said, that a further neglect of this 
 tishery may be counted a dead loss to the nation, and is so 
 far a weakning or a check to the growth of the strength 
 3f this kingdom : Nay, worse ; because our neighbours get 
 that which we neglect and pay for ; growing in power and 
 riches, when we sit still, and prove, by continuing so, as 
 bad politicians as traders. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 43 
 
i 
 
AN 
 
 APOLOGY 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 BUSINESS 
 
 OF 
 
 P AW N-B RO KING 
 
 By a F AWN-BROKER. 
 
 Can there any Good "Thing come out of Nazareth ? 
 
 LONDON: 
 Printed in the Year M.DCC.XLIV. 
 

 THE 
 
 BUSINESS 
 
 OF 
 
 PAM^N-BROKING 
 
 Stated and Defended. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 SELF-DEFENCE is the first principle of the law 
 of nature, the right of every man, and extends 
 itself to every thing that is dear and valuable to a 
 man. And of all that is thus sacred and inviolate, moral 
 character justly challenges the next place to conscious 
 virtue and innocence. An attack upon moral character is 
 always found to awaken the utmost attention, and to 
 excite the keenest grief and resentment ; insomuch that a 
 meek and tame submission to attacks of this kind is 
 naturally and universally construed to be a symptom of 
 guilt, or of a most abject and cowardly spirit : This con- 
 sideration, it is humbly hoped, is a sufficient apology for 
 the present publication of the following sheets. 
 
 If we may for the present only suppose, that it is 
 
 no impossibility in nature, for a pawn-broker to be an 
 
 honest and virtuous man, the reader may judge what grief 
 
 and concern must seize him, upon reading tlie followmg 
 
 3 printed 
 
108 An Apology for the 
 
 printed vote; viz. That leave be given to bring in a Bill 
 for more effectually preventing the receiving stolen goods, 
 by regulating the pawn- brokers ; which may be thought to 
 imply that patvn-brokers are the cliief and principal re- 
 ceivers of stolen goods. 
 
 A receiver of stolen goods, knowing or suspecting them 
 to be suchj is a character so vile and detestable, that 
 words cannot aggravate, nor can any punishment well 
 exceed its demerit. 
 
 But the more black and heinous, and the more exten- 
 sive any charge is, the more solid, clear, and convincing, 
 ouglit to be the proofs upon which it is supported. 
 
 As I intend this for a general vindication of the busi- 
 ness of puivn-broking, I shall consider this important 
 objection in its proper place, amongst other the most 
 material objections that have, or can be, raised against 
 the business or profession. Before I proceed to the argu- 
 ment, I would premise, 
 
 1. That I do not pretend to vindicate the practices of 
 all who call themselves pawn-brokers ; for there are many 
 ranked under the general name, whom we know nothing 
 of and utterly disclaim : INIany, who, thinking our busi- 
 ness prodigiously gainful, if they have but a little money, 
 take in pledges ; and, for want of caution and experience, 
 commit many oversights and indiscretions; the reproach 
 whereof terminates upon the whole business. Nor will I 
 undertake to vindicate the practices of all who were regu- 
 larly initiated into business, by serving an apprenticeship 
 to it : And herein we are but upon a level with all other 
 professions ; for, I believe, there is no man so partial to 
 his own business, as not to see and condemn the raal 
 practices of some of his own profession. It is therefore, 
 for this and many other reasons, greatly to be wished, 
 that a cool, sedate, and impartial inquiry should be made ; 
 and a wholesome, rational, and salutary regulation of this 
 business should take place, by which it might be render'd 
 4 more 
 
Business oj Paum-hrohiny. 109 
 
 more ssife and honourable to those that follow it^ and 
 more useful and beneficial to the public. The pawn- 
 brokers desire nothing so much ; and, if they may but 
 hope to be heard without passion and prejudice, may 
 perhaps be the most able to give light into a design or 
 scheme of such a nature. 
 
 2. That as some parts of the following argument do 
 admit of proof by figures, we shall, in those places, appeal 
 to our reader's skill in arithmetic ; which, surely, no 
 force of prejudice (unless it should rise up to phrensy, or 
 fanaticism) will be able to destroy : But, as to those par- 
 ticulars, that do not admit of figurative or mathematical 
 demonstration, our reader must be content with argu- 
 ments drawn from facts, probability, and analogy ; and 
 these will satisfy every judicious and honest inquirer as to 
 those tilings, which do not in their own nature admit of 
 any other medium of proof. 
 
 S E C T. II. 
 
 WE begin this Section with the following posiii- 
 late. 
 That it is no crime or immorality, nor any offence 
 against the laws of the land, to receive a pledge or pawn 
 (as a security for money lent) from the lawful owner, or 
 from one deputed by the lawful owner ; or, to the best of 
 our knowledge, from such person; to restore it undi- 
 minish'd, and, to the utmost of our power, undamaged, 
 upon the demand of such proprietor, or the person who had 
 been deputed by such proprietor to pledge the same, upon 
 re-payment of the money, for the security whereof such 
 pledge or pawn was deposited : And further, that it is not 
 unreasonable or unfit to receive some premium or profit, 
 5 for 
 
110 An Apology for the 
 
 for having supplied a person ivith money at all reasonable 
 hours, and in such proportion as his necessity might 
 require. 
 
 As no reasoning creature can refuse this postulate, we 
 take it for granted ; and shall proceed next to inquire, 
 what the lowest premium (in the nature and reason of 
 things) may be, which a pawn-broker must and ought to 
 receive for the time, labour, expence, skill, and fortune, 
 which his business requires. 
 
 For this pnrpose, 1 shall humbly submit the following 
 propositions to consideration : 
 
 I. That to lend one hundred, or one hundred and fifty 
 pounds upon four hundred or five hundred distinct and 
 different pledges, ivill take up four hundred times the quan- 
 tity of time and trouble, that ivill be required to lend the 
 same sum upon one single pledge. Supposing therefore it 
 may take a broker but ten minutes to examine the nature of 
 the commodity , and to inquire as to property, &c. / believe 
 that it ivill be found, that a week's time ivill be pretty well 
 employed in lending money iijjon four or five hundred 
 different pledges, allowing him to attend business fifteen 
 hours in the day ; for he will not, in the whole week, (Sun- 
 days excepted) have above twenty hours to spare for the 
 common offices of life. But, supposing he should have very 
 near as many pledges to re-deliver, besides keeping books 
 for regular ent?'ies ; folding goods in such a manner, as 
 may best preserve them, placing them in such order in his 
 warehouses, that they may be found at a minute's warning, 
 and keeping those warehouses in order, will require more 
 hands than his own to execute. It may therefore be 
 reasonably supposed, 
 
 II. That such a person cannot perform his business as it 
 ought to be done, without the help of two servants at least ; 
 and, if these are, one or both, journeymen, wages must be 
 
 6 paid 
 
Business of Pawn-hroking. 1 1 1 
 
 jmid as ivell as they boarded ; and, if both apprentices, the 
 latter is of course. 
 
 III. Sitpposiuff a person thus employed from week to 
 week tlirovghout the year, it will follow, that he cannot be 
 at leisure to attend any other business for the support of 
 himself and family. 
 
 lY. If this should prove a pretty near calculation of 
 the number of pledges, which are fin common) received for 
 the sum mentioned ; it is easy to conceive, that much ware- 
 house-room is required, a house larger than ordinary abso- 
 lutely necessary ; and, I suppose, proportional rent and 
 taxes will be thought as necessary : It alsofolloivs, that the 
 pawn-brokers really do, what the Charitable Corporation 
 only pretended to ; (viz.) Supply the poor with small sums ; 
 for, if four or five hundred diffe^'ent pledges are received 
 for the sum of one hundred or one hundred and fifty 
 pounds, the sums cannot be very large. 
 
 Y. If a man of this business is single, he cannot possibly 
 do without a maid-servant to do the business of the house ; 
 and such servant must have board and wages. 
 
 YI. He may find it convenient or necessary to marry ; 
 and, I take it for granted, may lay claim to the common and 
 undeniable right of every man. I suppose, he and his family 
 can no more live without food, raiment, and physic, than 
 other people. 
 
 YII. If he has children, they must be fed, cloathed, 
 educated, and put out into the world, as well as those of 
 other men : And a pawn-broker is as much obliged as any 
 other man, by the law of nature, and of his country, to 
 perform this indispensible duty. 
 
 YIII. Lastly, He is obliged to contribute his proportion 
 
 towards the support of Government, and the public expence. 
 
 7 These 
 
112 An Apoloyyfor the 
 
 These propositions are most, if not all of them, self- 
 evident ; to attempt a proof of them would be an affront 
 to my reader's understanding : I shall therefore draw a 
 few corollaries, which necessarily follow from them : As, 
 First, That a pawn-broker must, at least, be allowed to 
 make such advantages by his business, as may enable him 
 to perform what is mentioned in the foregoing propositions. 
 We have seen already, that he cannot attend any other 
 business for the support of himself and family ; and if his 
 whole time, thought, labour, skill, and fortune, is hereby 
 ingrossed, he may reasonably expect sustenance from it ; 
 it being the ordinance and appointment of God, that 
 man should live by his labour. 
 
 Secondly, I infer, that those persons must be guilty of 
 most flagrant injustice and oppression, who (by taking 
 advantage of some laws hereafter to be mention'd) borrow 
 money of a pawn-broker , and, upon repayment thereof, will 
 not allow him such ^profit ov premium, as we shall presently 
 prove indispensibly necessary, to enable him to discharge 
 the obligations mentioned in the foregoing propositions. 
 
 This must needs be a complicated crime ; for, if it be 
 a sin or vice, by our words, actions ; or omissions, to act, 
 or speak ; to contradict or counteract the truth of any 
 known proposition whatever ; or, in other words, to act a 
 lye*, in which the very formal nature of vice consists; 
 what an aggravated offence must it be, to counteract the 
 truth of so many self-evident propositions ! 
 
 Let persons, thus acting, place themselves in our 
 stead ; sensible of the constant unavoidable charge we 
 are at for rent, servants, and perhaps, a growing family ; 
 willing, by om- labour and industry, to make some small 
 provision against old age, and to put our helpless children 
 (who may have no other resource) into some tolerable 
 8 way 
 
 * Vide Rel. of Nature delineated. Sect. I. Propositions 3, -J, ,(-c. 
 
Business of Pawn-broking. 113 
 
 way of beginning the world : Would not such persons 
 think themselves cruelly treated, to be obliged to accept 
 such a reward for their labour, as would not go above 
 one third, or half-way, towards defraying their necessary 
 charge? Again, if it is right and fit for any one man to treat 
 us in this manner, it is right and fit for every man to do 
 so : And what must be the consequence, but that we must 
 necessarily wrong our creditors, not pay our rent, and 
 other just demands mankind may have upon us, com- 
 oacnce bankrupts, and throw our families upon the parish ? 
 Certainly our most inveterate enemies will not say this is 
 right and fit ! 
 
 Thirdly, What monsters of iniquity must those be, who 
 (under the authority and colour of the law) lay snares 
 to oppress and plunder one of this business, for only 
 getting such a profit by his business, as may enable him 
 to discharge the obligations mentioned in the foregoing 
 propositions ! 
 
 We go on to the main point, {viz.) To find out (if pos- 
 sible) what premium or profit may, in the natm'e and rea- 
 son of things, be suitable and fit for a pawn-broker to 
 receive, in consideration of his labour, time, skill, and 
 fortune. And here it will be necessary to state and vin- 
 dicate the terms upon which we follow business at present : 
 For this purpose I shall transcribe a passage from a 
 public* paper, published about fourteen years ago, in 
 which \\xQ pawn-brokers fairly and justly vindicated them- 
 selves from the false and vile aspersions, cast upon them 
 by the then Charitable Coi'poration, who were, at that time, 
 endeavouiing to establish themselves upon oui* ruins : but 
 were shamefully defeated, and afterwards fulfilled and 
 accomplished, to the hurt and ruin of many families, 
 what the pawn-brokers had predicted: But it has happened 
 9 to 
 
 * Vide Daily Post-Boy, April 2fi, 1731. 
 
114 An Apoloyy far the 
 
 to the pawn-brokers, as the wise Solomon long ago ob- 
 served, Eccles. ix. 14, 15, 16. There was a little city, and 
 few men within it ; and there came a great king against it, 
 and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it : Now 
 there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom 
 delivered the city ; yet no man remembered that same poor 
 man. Then said I, wisdom is better than strength : never- 
 theless (or althd') the poor man's wisdom is despised, and 
 his words are not heard. 
 
 The passage is as follows ; {vizi) " I shall only pro- 
 " pose the two following questions : 
 
 " First, Whether my time and labour does not intitle 
 " me to as good a reward as other men receive ? 
 
 " Secondly, Whether my having been subjected to the 
 " will and profit of another, for the term of seven years, 
 *' may not deserve some consideration, as well as the ser- 
 " vitude of other men ? 
 
 " I humbly conceive, these two are the principal moral 
 " grounds upon which a tradesman thinks he has a right 
 " to make considerable advantages of his money in trade, 
 " above what he can make of it by putting it out to 
 " interest. Now if it has been generally allowed, that 
 " this is an equitable way of judging, in relation to trade 
 " in general ; it remains, that a reason be given, why I may 
 " not lay claim to a benefit, which all the rest of man- 
 " kind esteem their just right ? Perhaps some profound 
 " reasoner will reply ; But I am a fair trader, and you are 
 " not : I hope his stiling himself fair, and me unfair, will 
 " pass for nothing, till our actions are compared, and an im- 
 " partial judgment formed from them, and not from words. 
 
 '' For which end, suppose I lend a person twenty 
 *' shillings upon a pledge this day ; this person redeems 
 " his goods to-morrow (or he may let them lie a month, 
 " if he pleases) ; I expect six-pence profit for my time, 
 " trouble and laying out my money ; for this I am charged 
 " with getting 800 per cent, profit per annum : Now a fair 
 10 " trader 
 
Business of Pawn-hrohiny . 115 
 
 " trader lays out twenty sliilliiigs, sells his goods again for 
 " ready money, (it may be the same day) gets one shil- 
 " ling, and says he gets but five joer cent.; whereas reckon 
 " his profits j9er annum, and they wiU amount to 1600 joer 
 " cent. : My judgement is required as much to examine 
 " what I lend my money upon, as his is to inquire the 
 '' worth of the commodity he buys ; my money is as truly 
 " disbursed as his ; and it takes me up as much thought 
 " and time to lend twenty shillings, as it does him to lay 
 " out twenty shillings. 
 
 " K any tradesman in London buys goods with ready 
 " money to-day, and sells them for ready money to- 
 " morrow, I ask, whether it would trouble his conscience, 
 " if he got sixpence j9er pound profit, which he calls 2^ per 
 " cent. If any such person is to be found, let him cast the 
 " first stone ; in this case he has security in his hands, as 
 " well as I. But here the fair trader objects. You never 
 " make bad debts ; you have always more than double 
 " security in your hands ; I am exposed to contract bad 
 " debts, and meet with losses, which you are not liable to. 
 " In answer to this, I say, you do not know what losses I 
 " am liable to ; nor is it proper to acquaint every one with 
 '' them, unless I had a mind to increase them. 
 
 " But more particularly to answer this objection — I 
 " allow, you meet with many losses in trade, and it is un- 
 " certain Avhat a person may lose in a yearns trading : But 
 '' persons may, from a course of years, come to a general 
 " calculation of their losses, one year with another; and, 
 '^ I believe, it is a general rule with tradesmen, to allow 
 " so much a year for bad debts : Now, let any tradesman 
 " subtract this from his profits, and I will venture to 
 " compare profits with him ; supposing us to have an 
 " equal sum of money in trade, and to return our stock as 
 " often. 
 
 " Now I will ingenuously sliow you what my profits in 
 
 ■' general are : 1 have three thousand pounds capital 
 
 11 " stock 
 
116 All Apology for the 
 
 " stock in trade ; I return this twice in a year^ which 
 " amounts to six thousand pounds a year returns; I 
 " can make appear by my books, where I set down daily 
 " my returns, and the profit that day's return yields me, 
 " that at an average I do not make above nine per cent. 
 " profit of all my returns, by deliveries and sales : To 
 " explain this a little more particularly ; I deliver, it may 
 " be, in a day, some things that have lain but one month 
 " in my hands ; here is but two and a half j9er cent, profit. 
 " or, in sums, not quite two per cent. ; others, that have 
 " been three, four, five, six, or twelve months, Sfc. Con- 
 " sequently, I sometimes do not get twelve-pence in the 
 " pound, sometimes eighteen-pence, and perhaps (tho^ 
 " rarely) two shillings ; but, take one day Avitli another, one 
 " month with another I will prove (by my boOKS, or upon 
 " oath) the truth of what I have just now asserted, viz. 
 " That I do not at most make above nine per cent, profit, 
 " upon all the retm-ns I make in a year : The amount 
 " whereof is five hundred and forty pounds per annum, 
 " upon three thousand pounds capital stock in trade : Out 
 " of this is to be deducted my losses, the interest my 
 " money would produce out of trade, and the expences I 
 " must necessarily be at in negociating business ; and as 
 " to these, let it be consider'd, that two-thirds, at least, of 
 " the monies I return, is in sums under twenty shillings, 
 " and any one may easily perceive the numbers of parcels 
 " and persons I must have to do Avith. ]\Iust not this 
 " require several servants, constant attendance, and daily 
 " care and fatigue? 
 
 " Now, deduct one hundred and fifty pounds for the 
 " interest of my money ; and 1 am certain no considerate 
 " person can allow much less than one hundred and fifty 
 " pounds more for the necessaiy charges I am at in nego- 
 " tiating business ; there remains but two hundred and 
 " forty pounds to answer all losses, to keep myself, and 
 " those of my family that are not concerned in business, 
 12 " and 
 
Btisiness of Paivn-hroking . 117 
 
 " and to lay up for posterity. Monstrous accumulation ! 
 *' supposing I had but one thousand pounds in trade, my 
 " profit would hardly amount to one hundred and eighty 
 " pounds per ami. ; and what that will do, as to the 
 " charges of business, and keeping a family in the city 
 " of London, every one knows : But it is manifest 
 " there are multitudes of tradesmen in London, whose 
 " stocks do not exceed, if amount to, one thousand 
 " pounds, who live genteelly, and lay up money : Can 
 " they do this with one hundred and eighty pounds /)er 
 " ami. ? If they cannot, whose profits must be largest ? 
 
 " It will suffice to answer a seeming paradox in what 
 " I have asserted, that one thousand pounds in trade 
 " (allowing us to gain after the rate of thirty per cent. 
 *' per ami. for small, and twenty per cent, per a nn. for 
 " large sums) will not produce above one hundred and 
 " eighty pounds per ann. ; if it be but considered, that 
 " one third part of our stock in trade, namely what 
 " has lain above twelve or fiifteen months, pays no interest 
 "at all; for e\evj pawn-broker knows, that not one 
 " parcel in ten is redeem^ after it has been so long time 
 " on our hands : and I shall give a demonstration by-and- 
 " by, that even plate, the most certain commodity we 
 ^' deal in, will not pay us twelve per cent, per ann. for the 
 " time we keep it ; which is two years at least." 
 
 Here it is granted, that, upon the present scheme of 
 our business, it is usual for small pledges to take after the 
 rate of thirty per cent, per ann. ; and the reason why a 
 broker can't do it for less, and get a living profit by his 
 business, is this — we, having no limited time for selling 
 pawns, are obliged (for fear of law-suits) to keep large 
 and perishing stocks by us ; which dead part of our stocks 
 eat up and devour a considerable part of the profit arising 
 from the live part of our stock : And it is a common and 
 notorious practice for knavish and designing people, to let 
 their goods lie three, four, or five years, without ever 
 13 coming 
 
118 An Apology for the 
 
 coming to make a demand of them ; on purpose, that the 
 paivn-broker should (upon a presumption that the pledger 
 is either dead, or has no thoughts of redeeming them) ven- 
 ture to sell them ; and so to have an opportunity of suing 
 him, and recover whatever extravagant value they please 
 to set upon them : This is almost daily practised, and not a 
 little encourag'd_, in the courts of law ; and there have been 
 some people so artfully wicked, as to forswear their pro- 
 perty in their own goods, so becoming evidences for them- 
 selves, and escaping payment of costs, if they are cast. 
 
 But if litigious people are not universally so dex- 
 terously wicked as this, they are frequently such worthless 
 wretches, that a paivn-hroher , if (by great good luck) he 
 gets his cause, can have no other satisfaction for his costs 
 of suit, than (if they don't run their country) to throw 
 them into gaol; which it is hardly worth his while to do. 
 The lawyers very well know, that if a motion was made in 
 court for security to be given by the plaintiff for costs of 
 suit, in case he should be cast, it would not be regarded. 
 
 It is this vile and profligate part of mankind, aided 
 and abetted by pettifogging attorneys, solicitors, bailiffs, 
 and their followers, that are the people whom (for the 
 most part) the paivn-broker is so unfortunate as to be 
 engag'd against in law-suits : These wretches, having no 
 scruples as to what they say or sweai', provided it may 
 help them to gain their cause ; and being plaintiffs ; have 
 the opportunity of representing their cause in what light 
 soever they please ; abuse the ear of the court, inflame 
 juries, and carry their cause in triumph; whilst the poor 
 pawn-broker not only loses his cause, but incurs infamy. 
 
 Now was this difficulty removed, and was a pawn- 
 broker allowed by law to dispose of, and appropriate to 
 his own benefit, any pledge, after he had kept it a rea- 
 sonably limited time ; as, upon this consideration, he 
 would not be obliged to keep so large a dead stock upon 
 his hands, nor be liable to expensive and vexatious law- 
 14 suits. 
 
Business of Pavm-h roldng. 119 
 
 suits^ I think he may afford to lend small sums one-third 
 cheaper than is now usually done, provided he is allow'd 
 to take after the same rate, or whatever he and the 
 pledger can agree upon, (not exceeding the same rate) for 
 larger sums ; and be allow'd one month's profit certain, 
 tho' the pledge should happen to be redeem' d that day, 
 or the next ; which is not two j^er cent, upon the return, 
 and cannot be thought unreasonable, because the chief 
 labour and trouble is at the first taking of the pledge. 
 
 This reduction of the charge of borrowing small sums 
 would be a great relief to the honest and industrious 
 poor ; who (as things are now situated) are obliged to pay 
 dearer, on account of the wicked and designing pari of 
 mankind. 
 
 That a pawn-hrolier cannot do his business upon lower 
 terms than those proposed, shall be next demonstrated. 
 
 We will suppose one of this profession married ; and, 
 with his own and his wife's fortune together, able to put 
 two thousand pounds clear into trade ; which, surely, is 
 no contemptible beginning in almost any branch of 
 business. Now every one knows, that two thousand 
 pounds, after the rate of twenty per cent, will produce 
 no more than four hundred pounds per annum, was it 
 to be put out at once, and the interest to run on, with 
 out interruption, from the beginning to the end of the 
 year. But it so happens in this business, that I may 
 lend a person ten, twenty, or thirty pounds; which, 
 in a month or two, he repays without any warning; by 
 which means it may lie useless by me for another month 
 or two. This must frequently happen of course : As an 
 equivalent for which, we must suppose a broker cannot 
 keep less than two hundred pounds running cash by him ; 
 consequently has but the net improvement of one thou- 
 sand eight hundred pounds, which will amount but to 
 three hundred and sixty pounds; from whence likewise 
 must be deducted whatever he makes less than twenty 
 15 per 
 
120 An Apology for the 
 
 per cent, per annum, profit upon tlie goods he may have 
 to sell, as well as what losses he may be liable to, from 
 the various causes hereafter to be mentioned. For the 
 present, I will only suppose forty pounds to be deducted 
 from three hundred and sixty pounds; it will then be 
 reduced to three hundred and twenty pounds. What this 
 will do towards the support of a family, and laying up for 
 posterity, we shall see presently : For which purpose I 
 will lay before my reader the following Table of Calcula- 
 tion, made by the ingenious* Mr. Vanderlint, of the 
 necessary charges of a middling tradesman's family, in 
 the city of London. I will transcribe a passage from this 
 author, which immediately precedes the Table itself: 
 Says he; 
 
 " Another point, from whence I argue, that our trade 
 " is in a much worse state than it formerly was, shall be 
 " the following estimate of the necessary charge of a 
 " family in the middling station of life, consisting of a 
 " man, his wife, four children, and a maid-servant ; so as, 
 " 1 think, a person that has such a family, and employs 
 " one thousand pounds of his own money in trade, ought 
 " to live. For, if such families must not have neces- 
 " saries enough, and I believe it will appear I have allowed 
 " no superfluities, I think we ought to give up trade, and 
 " find some other way to live. For trade terminates 
 " ultimately in the consumption of things ; to which end 
 " alone trade is carried on : Therefore if those that employ 
 " in trade one thousand pounds of their own money shall 
 " not be able to supply such a middling family with need- 
 " ful and common things, what then becomes of the con- 
 " sumption of things ? Or, in other words, what becomes 
 " of trade ? For, to be sure, not one person in a good 
 " many is the real owner of such a sum. If therefore 
 16 " such 
 
 * A Wainscot Merchant. Vide his Essay on Trade. 
 
Business of Paivn-hroling, 
 
 121 
 
 " such families must retrench and abridge themselves of 
 " common needful things, those in trade below them, in 
 '' this respect, must much more do so, if they have 
 " families." 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 An Estimate of the necessary charge of a family in the 
 middling station of life, consisting of a man, his wife, 
 four children, and one maid-servant. 
 
 BREAD for seven persons per bead 
 per day - - . 
 
 Butter .... 
 Cheese - - - . 
 
 Fish and flesh-meat 
 Roots and herbs, salt, vinegar, muS' 
 
 tard, pickles, spices, and grocery, ex 
 
 cept tea and sugar 
 Tea and sugar - - - - 
 
 Soap for the family occasions, and 
 
 washing all manner of things, both 
 
 abroad and at home - 
 Threads, needles, pins, tapes, worsteds, 
 
 bindings, and all sorts of haberdashery 
 Milk one day with another 
 Candles about two pounds \ per week 
 
 the year round 
 Sand, fuller' s-earth, whiting, smallcoal, 
 
 brickdust . . . - 
 
 Ten-shilling small-beer, a firkin and a 
 
 quarter per week 
 Ale for the family and friends - 
 Coals, between four and five chaldron 
 
 per annum, may be estimated at 
 Repairs of household goods, aa table- 
 
 Unen, bedding, sheets, and every 
 
 utensil, for household occasion 
 
 Six shillings and two-pence weekly 
 for seven persons amount to near 
 
 17 
 
 
 Daily 
 Expence 
 
 Weekly 
 Expence 
 
 Yearly 
 Expence 
 
 d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 /. s. d. 
 
 
 n 
 
 4 
 
 5i 
 
 n 
 
 1 54 
 
 3 Of 
 
 3 Of 
 
 1 Of 
 
 10 24 
 
 
 1 
 
 3,1 
 7 
 
 9 01 
 
 4 1 
 
 
 n 
 
 104 
 
 6 1' 
 
 
 01 
 
 34 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1 3 
 
 
 " 
 
 - 
 
 W 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 2 6 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1 G 
 
 
 
 
 2 3 14 
 
 112 10 
 
 Cloath.- 
 
122 An Apology f 07' the 
 
 I. a. d. 
 Brought over 112 10 
 
 Cloaths of all kinds for the master of the family - - 16 
 
 Cloaths for wife, who can't wear much, nor very fine laces, 
 
 with ....... 16 
 
 Extraordinary expence attending every lying-in, 10/. sup- 
 posed to be about once in two years - - - 5 
 
 Cloaths for four children, at 71. per ann. for each child - 28 
 
 Schooling for four children, including every charge thereunto 
 relating supposed to be equal, at least, to 10s. per 
 quarter for each child ..... 8 
 
 The maid's wages may be - - - - - 4 10 
 
 Pocket expenses for the master of the family, suppo.?ed to be 
 
 about 4.?. per week - - - - - 1 8 
 
 For the mistress of the family, and for the four children, to 
 
 buy fruit, toys, <i:c. at 2s. per week - - - 5 4 
 
 Entertainments in return for such favours from friends and 
 
 relations . - - - - . - 4 
 
 Physic for the whole family one year with another, and the 
 
 extraordinary expence arising by illness, may exceed - 6 
 
 A country lodging sometimes, for the health and recreation 
 of the family ; or, instead thereof, the extraordinary 
 charge of nursing a child abroad; which, in such a 
 family, is often needful ----- 8 
 
 Shaving, 7s. 6rf. jxr quarter ; and cleaning shoes, 2s. Qd. 
 
 per quarter ...... 2 
 
 Rent and taxes may be somewhat more or less than - - 50 
 
 Expences of trade with customers, travelling-charges, Christ- 
 mas-box money, postage of letters, &c. for the sake of 
 even money, at least, - - - - - 19 8 
 
 Bad debts, which may easily be more than 21. per cent, on 
 
 the supposed capital of 1000?. - - - - 20 
 
 315 
 There must be laid up one year with another, for twenty 
 years, in order to leave each chUd, and a widow, if there 
 should be one, 500Z. apiece ----- 75 
 
 One 1000/. therefore, by this estimate, should gain, one 
 year with another -.---. 390 
 
 " AYhicli for the sake of a round sum (says this author) 
 " I will call forty per cent, per ann. in order to support 
 " such a family, and provide five liundred pounds apiece 
 " for four children and a widow, if there should be one 
 " left ; which, if not, will augment each chikVs share hut 
 18 " one 
 
Business of Pawn-hrokiity . 123 
 
 " one hundred and twenty-five pounds. And here I sup- 
 " pose a man to live twenty years^ from his marriage to 
 " his demise ; which I take to be about the term one man 
 " or woman with another doth live. I do not mean by 
 "^ this^ that no man or woman lives longer from the time 
 " of marriage than twenty years ; I know many live much 
 " longer ; but I am equally certain, that as many never 
 " reacli this term as others live beyond it : And it will 
 " also many times happen, that five, six, seven, eiglit, or 
 " more children must be brought up by some parents ; 
 " tho', perhaps, it will more frequently happen, that less 
 '' than four will be raised by others. 
 
 " But those that shall happen to have seven or eight 
 " children, will find the 75/. yjer ami. supposed in this 
 '' estimate to be laid up, in order to provide five hundred 
 '' pounds apiece for four children, hardly suflScient to bear 
 ^' the extraordinary charge which so many more children 
 " will occasion in this rank of living : And, surely, it 
 ^' must be very hard, that the man who happens to have a 
 '' numerous family (and many such there always are) 
 '' should thereby be rendered not only uncapable to pro- 
 '' vide any thing for them to set out in the world with, 
 '' but be reduced in a course of years, as he certainly 
 '' must, if a thousand pounds in trade will not produce, at 
 ■' least, forty per cent, per annum." 
 
 This gentleman is far from saying, that tradesmen 
 sau, at this time of day, make forty per cent, upon their 
 capital; but he pi-oves they ought to do it, in order only 
 for a suitable decent support of their families; and to 
 provide for posterity in such p)'oportion, that each child 
 may begin the world with the same advantage its parents 
 lid. This must be an incontestable rule of right ; for, 
 anless some such standard as this is fixed, we shall (every 
 generation growing poorer and poorer) dwindle by degrees 
 bo a nation of beggars. 
 
 It is now time to bring our extorting pawn-broker, 
 19 with 
 
124 An Apology for the 
 
 with his twenty and thirty per cent, upon the stage again ; 
 and hear what he may have to say for himself. He pleads, 
 " That if he has two thousand pounds in trade of his own, 
 " he must either not spend what this Table of Calculation 
 " allows, or he must provide nothing for his children, or 
 " must, in old age, be beholden to the parish/' 
 
 He is sensible, that the two last-mention' d articles, 
 viz. bad debts amounting to twenty pounds per ann. ; and 
 the article of expences with his customers, travelling 
 charges, &c. amounting to twenty per ann, more, may be 
 said to be superfluous, by reason of the nature of his busi- 
 ness. To this it is replied, that in this Table of Calcula- 
 tion nothing is allowed for the charge of servants in 
 business. The reason of this omission is conjectured to 
 be this ; viz. " the large sums which are given with ap- 
 " prentices in almost every trade, which will sufficiently 
 " defray the charge of boarding apprentices for seven j^ears 
 '' together :" But this is not our case ; for we have, for the 
 most part, but a trifling consideration, if any, with our 
 apprentices ; and yet few trades in London give better 
 wages to journeymen than we do. 
 
 So that if I board a journeyman, and pay him twenty- 
 five or thirty pounds yearly wages ; and likewise board an 
 apprentice, with whom I have had little or nothing ; this 
 will be more than an equivalent for the particulars men- 
 tioned in these two articles, tho', as to several of them, 
 we come in for our share. 
 
 The sum of all is this — j\Ir. Vanderlint, a judicious 
 and disinterested witness, proves, that a tradesman who 
 has one thousand pounds of his own in trade, cannot 
 support his family in a decent manner only, and la.y up so 
 much for each of his children, as may enable them to 
 begin the world with the same advantage their parents did, 
 unless he can make thirty-nine per cent, upon his capital. 
 
 The pawn-broker alleges, that upon the supposed 
 
 scheme, he cannot make above sixteen jjer cent, iipon his 
 
 20 capital ; 
 
Business of Paivn-hrokimj. ] 25 
 
 capital; tlicrefore cannot do that with two thousand 
 pounds of his own in trade, which the above-cited author 
 says, another ti'adesman with one thousand pounds of his 
 )wn in trade ought to do. 
 
 Let us just compare these two cases : 
 rhe one with one thousand pounds capital 
 
 must gain ... - 390/. per ami. 
 
 rhe other with two thousand pounds 
 
 capital, cannot gain above - - 320/. per ami. 
 
 3r, supposing no deductions at all, 400/. per aim. But I fear 
 ;here must be larger deductions from four hundred pounds 
 ler ann. than I have made, since we are able to prove 
 )y our books, that we cannot make above sixteen per cent. 
 ipon our capital ; tho' for small pledges we take after the 
 •ate of thirty per cent, per ann. or two and a half, upon 
 ;he return within the month ; which is occasion'd by our 
 lead stock already mention'd. 
 
 It may be ask'd, how then is it possible for pawn- 
 brokers to live at all ? It is next to impossible to do it, 
 vith no more than two thousand pounds capital in trade. 
 
 But how do they come at so much money, since it 
 lan^t be suppos'd many of them begin business with 
 luperior or equal fortunes to what is supposM ? 
 
 I answer, if they were persons of such profligate prin- 
 iiples and practices, as they are misrepresented to be, this 
 [uestion could not be answer' d ; but (if it involves no con- 
 radiction in itself) to suppose a man of this business 
 v^hose moral character is unblemished, the difficulty may 
 )ossibly be solved ; but of this hereafter. 
 
 I would here desire my reader to pause awhile, and 
 ake a review of the calculations, and see whetlicr he can 
 ind any flaw, any artifice, or statagem, to impose upon 
 lim at unawares : If not, will he not stand amazed, at 
 he opprobrious language so freely bestowed upon us? 
 ^s not here presented to his view a demonstration, as 
 )lain and certain as any one in Euclid's Elements, that, 
 21 upon 
 
126 An Apology for the 
 
 upon the scheme proposed, our gains cannot be half so 
 large as those of other middling tradesmen? Nay, that 
 they do not exceed what even the farmer must make of 
 his produce; it being a maxim, that if a farmer does not 
 make three rents, he cannot live. 
 
 From this calculation appears likewise the weakness 
 and absurdity of some notable projectors, v/ho are for 
 reducing the premium to 5 or 10 per cent, per ami. These 
 gentlemen would certainly deserve the thanks of the public, 
 could they inform us, by what rule in arithmetic they 
 can find it possible, upon these terms, for any paivn-broker 
 only to defray the charge of house-rent and servants, and 
 get such interest for his money as he might make of it, 
 without any trouble, or loss of time : For, as to the sup- 
 port of himself and family, and making a provision for 
 posterity, it seems, it is extortion and oppression in him, 
 however laudable it may be in any other man. 
 
 But what treatment soever we may have met with 
 from our fellow-creatures and fellow-subjects, the only 
 return I shall make is, to desire them seriously to con- 
 sider, that rash uncharitable censures are no marks of 
 an honest and virtuous mind; and if they do not pro- 
 ceed from malice, yet no plea, either of ignorance or in- 
 considerateness, can justify them in scandalizing or op- 
 pressing any man ; and that defamation, whether proceed- 
 ing from malice, interest, rashness, or prejudice, is none 
 of the least of crimes. 
 
 I shall proceed, in my next section, to state and con- 
 sider the most material objections that have, or can be, 
 made to this business. 
 
 SECT. 
 
[ 
 
 Bit^ineas of Pawn-brokiitg. 127 
 
 SECT IV. 
 
 BEGIN with the most formidable aud popular ob- 
 jection ; [vi^-] 
 
 Object. I. This business gives harbour and encourage- 
 lent to thieves. 
 
 Answ. One may reasonably ask, upon what proof, or 
 ppearance of proof, so heinous a charge is supported ? 
 lave there been any discoveries made by accomplices? 
 las any unhappy wretch, under sentence of condemna- 
 ion, brought these dark practices to light, and saved his 
 iwn life, by bringing three or four pawn-brokers to their 
 leserved punishment? Surely Wild, of infamous me- 
 nory, (who may be supposed to have known better than 
 nost people who were the receivers of stolen goods) might 
 lave saved himself, as well as served the public, by only 
 ;acrificing the one tenth part of the pawn-brokers to its 
 ust resentment. Surprising it is, that no one malefactor 
 who is not quite seared and hardened against the terrors 
 jf death and its awful consequences) should ever (for the 
 iase of his conscience) have opened such a scene of 
 wickedness I Is it not strange, that none of our servants 
 ^either from love of justice, or from pique and revenge, if 
 tve have happened to have had any difference with them, 
 ar in hopes of a reward) should have discovered such 
 mysteries of iniquity ? Again, have there been discoveries 
 aiade by search-warrants, of secret holes and hiding-places 
 in their houses or warehouses, wherein quantities of goods 
 liave been concealed, of which no entry has been made 
 in their shop-books ; any forges for melting down gold or 
 silver, to prevent a discovery ? How do pawn-brokers 
 behave towards constables, or others, upon any inquiry 
 after stolen goods ? Do they at once go and look for 
 them ; aud, if possessed of them, produce them ; or do 
 23 they 
 
128 Ah Apology for the 
 
 they deny such goods, which are afterwards found upon 
 them ? Have they any close conveyance at unseasonable 
 hours, any under-factors to ship them for abroad, and 
 vend them there ? 
 
 But, supposing two or three men, of this business, 
 were base and wicked enough to be guilty of some, or all, 
 of these practices, would it follow, that all the rest of the 
 business are guilty of the like ? By no means ; for, at 
 this rate, not a trade in London but might be charged 
 with such practices ; for there have been more of almost 
 every trade and business convicted thereof, than there have 
 been pawn-brokers : We may defy our enemies to prove 
 upon record, that three pawn-brokers have been convicted 
 of such villainy, ever since such a business has been heard 
 of in the nation. 
 
 Can any man in his senses suppose several hundi'eds 
 of people, continually engaged in such practices, and this 
 for these one hundred and fifty or tAvo hundred years last 
 past, and not three of them convicted ; notwithstanding the 
 vigilance of magistrates, the sharpness and severity of 
 judges, and the prejudice and prepossession of juries? 
 
 Again, what stronger temptations are pawn-brokers 
 under than other men, to be guilty of this vice ? It 
 must argue gross inattention, and want of reflection, to 
 imagine, that a man who takes a pledge, and proposes 
 to keep it two years, and whose warehouses are liable to 
 be searched on a bare suspicion, should be under a 
 stronger temptation to receive a stolen thing, than a man 
 who buys any commodity, and, it may be, sells it again 
 immediately, and is therefore not so liable to be detected. 
 I would not be understood to cast the least reflection 
 upon any set of tradesmen, (how liberal soever other 
 tradesmen may have been in this respect towards us) 
 when I say, a silversmith can more easily melt down and 
 dispose of a piece of plate than a pawn-broker can ; 
 because, if it should at last be discovered, it would not 
 24 appear 
 
Btisiness of Pawn-broking. 129 
 
 appear so black in him as in one of us ; it being his busi- 
 ness to convert old plate into new; and is supposed to 
 have bought it, and to have a right to do what he pleased 
 with it ; neither of which is our case. 
 
 INIoreover, the pawn-broker (by sad experience) knows, 
 what severity he must expect ; and that any other trades- 
 man may, with more hope of impunity, steal a horse, than 
 he look over the hedge. In short, unless it can be proved, 
 that we receive pawns with one hand, and buy in a clandes- 
 tine manner, and at an unreasonable price, with the other, 
 this charge is as weak as it is groundless. 
 
 It may perhaps be said, if there were no receivers, there 
 would be no thieves. 
 
 But how does it follow, that ^;at«;/i-6roATr5 are the 
 receivers? This doughty argument is of the syllogistic 
 kind, and should staud thus : 
 
 If there were no receivers, there would be no thieves. 
 
 But there are thieves ; and what is the fair and logical 
 conclusion? Why, ergo, there are receivers; and not, 
 ?rgo, pawn-brokers are the receivers, unless they are 
 proved to be so. 
 
 And why must so illogical and hasty a conclusion be 
 drawn from the premises? Axe pawn-brokers men of such 
 desperate fortunes and characters, as to run such hazards 
 IS these ? Can it be tl? ought that men, who have fortune 
 md credit so great, as to command capital stocks of two, 
 three, four, five, six, or eight thousand pounds ; should 
 stake their fortunes, families, reputation, and liberty, and 
 run the risque of suffering fourteen years transportation, 
 md this for the hope of getting two-pence, three- pence, 
 six-pence, twelve-pence, or even twenty shillings, or five 
 pour)ds? I take this opportunity to inform the world, (which 
 is pleased to talk so very much, and understands so very 
 little, of the nature of our business) that two or three thou- 
 sand pounds capital stock in trade is no uncommon, nor any 
 ijrcat matter with us : But shall in my turn, ask the in- 
 25 (luisitive 
 
130 A7i Apology for the 
 
 quisitive world the following question ; [viz.) That as 
 it cannot be supposed^ that many pawnbrokers have so 
 great fortunes of their own to begin the world with^ and 
 that many of them have large credit; how comes it to 
 pass, that a parcel of such contemptible and profligate 
 wretches can obtain such credit ? When I see this ques- 
 tion fairly answered, I will give up the argument. 
 
 Again, is there no other possible way of disposing of 
 stolen goods ? No man that keeps an open shop, to buy 
 as well as sell, in the whole nation ? No ships to convey 
 them to foreign parts ? Or, is it impossible for gangs of 
 thieves to send agents abroad with the goods they have 
 stolen, and so preventing their rising up in judgment 
 against them ? Of this I am certain, that thieves 
 must not be half so cunning as they are generally thought 
 to be, if they can find any other way of disposing of 
 goods, and yet chuse to pawn them, since they run a 
 great risque, whether they may not be stopped (as they 
 frequently are) at the pawn-broker's ; but, if not, it often 
 happens, that they are convicted several months after the 
 robbery committed, by the goods being found at a. pawn- 
 broker's, and by the evidence of himself, or his servants ; 
 whereas had the things been sold outright, they might 
 have passed through a great many hands, and no one 
 would have owned their ha\ing ever been possessed of 
 them, and so the criminal have escaped his deserved punish- 
 ment. I am sure it must afford high delight, and exquisite 
 diversion, to thieves and rogues, if they have had so much 
 address, as to conceal their main resort and harbour, and 
 the legislature should happen to be upon the wrong scent. 
 
 It may be urged, that tho' it be alloio'd, that pawn- 
 brokers do not ivickedly and designedly harbour and en- 
 courage thieves and villains, yet they may be accidentally 
 the .receivers of stolen goods, and so afford (tho' ivithout 
 and against their intention) encouragement to such villainy; 
 and as a proof thereof, it may be said, that there is hardly 
 26 « 
 
Business of Pawn-hrokiiKj. 131 
 
 I session, but more or less pawn-brokers are there, to give 
 'ridc/iee concerning stolen goods. 
 
 I would answer, since we are so often there, how 
 'omcs it to pass, that our mysteries of iniquity are not 
 here revealed, and some of us made examples of? Are 
 ve spared for our name's sake, or can we expect superior 
 ir equal mercy with a common thief? 
 
 But perhaps it is a manifest proof of the care and cir- 
 umspection we make use of, that we are not all of us 
 here every session, if it be but consider^, that a pawn- 
 roker must have but a small run of business, if he does 
 lot take in fifty distinct pledges, one day with another, 
 hroughout the year ; which amounts to twelve hundred 
 larcels of goods in a month. Now, supposing there are 
 lut five hundred pawn-brokers in London, the number of 
 ilcdges, multiplied by the number of pawn-brokers, will 
 mount to six hundred thousand pledges receiv'd in a 
 aonth^s time : Is it any thing surprising, that three, four, 
 ive, or even ten or twenty of these, should prove to be 
 tolen ? It is no such wonder, that paivn-brokers should 
 le more frequently there than others ; if it be but cou- 
 ider'd, that no one business in London, but this, depends 
 ntirely upon laying out money upon goods brought to 
 heir shops : For though a silversmith, goldsmith, and 
 nany other trades, keep open shops to buy, as well as to 
 ell ; yet it is not to be imagined, that Avhat they acci- 
 lently buy in their shops, bears any proportion to the 
 ither branches of their trade. Consider also, that the 
 mwn-broker deals in a far greater variety of goods than 
 >thcr traders ; and is, therefore, the more in danger of 
 )eing imposed upon. 1 believe it will be found, that, 
 nstead of being even accidental encouragers of thieves, 
 ve are both accidentally and voluntarily the greatest detec- 
 ors of them in the whole nation, and the greatest suf- 
 crers by them in every respect. How many persons, 
 ipou only advertising their goods, have had them restored, 
 27 and 
 
132 A)i Apology for the 
 
 and been deliver'd from a private and dangerous thief, by 
 means of i\\e pawn-brokers making a voluntary discovery 
 of them ! For which we may have sometimes (formerly) 
 receiv'd the thanks of the court ; but have generally found 
 mankind so ungenerous and ungrateful, as to make us 
 lose the money lent ; unless they have been compelPd to 
 the contrary, by their own advertisement ; and even then 
 not always, nor frequently without some litigation. 
 Again, the pawn-broker frequently stops suspicious persons 
 and things ; and even, when he is so unhappy as to be 
 imposed on, and receive a thing that is stolen, he is the 
 chief sufferer : The owner has indeed the trouble of a pro- 
 secution, but has his goods again for nothing ; so that the 
 pawn-broker is in truth the person robbed, and the thief is 
 detected and punish'd. What mighty encouragement do 
 parvn-brokers give to thieves, or thieves xo p)awn- brokers ! 
 
 Again, if any person will carefully peruse the sessions 
 papers, he will find, that the goods, which any of us are 
 concerned about, are most commonly of such a trifling 
 value, that no man can possibly think it worth his while 
 to run any hazard, could he have had them for nothing. 
 Strange that these trifles should come to light, when 
 more valuable things cannot be discover'd ! What then 
 becomes of them ? I answer, I know not ; nor am under 
 any more obligation to account for them, than any trades- 
 man, who, at any time, buys goods in his shop. But this 
 I know, that for upwards of twenty years I have been in 
 the business, I never had six things ofi'er'd to me, which 
 have been advertis'd either at Goldsmiths-Hall, or in the 
 public papers. 
 
 But there is one reason to be given, why we are not 
 so liable to be impos'd upon in things of value, as in 
 trifles ; and that is, because it is usual to send home with 
 strangers, who bring things of value ; but which cannot 
 be done for every trifling pledge of two or three shillings. 
 
 It may perhaps be alleg'd, that if pawn-brokers would 
 28 use 
 
Btisinesf! of Paum-hrohng, 133 
 
 use more care and caution than they do, and more fre- 
 'juenlly stop suspicious persons and tilings, they might 
 ietect more thieves. 
 
 I answer, as to care and caution, it more behoves a 
 oawn-broker to exercise it, than any other man in the 
 nholc nation : And can it be thought Ave arc so blind to our 
 Dwn safety and interests, as not to guard all in our power 
 igainst the loss of our money lent ; the being oblig'd to 
 ittend the sessions, and sometimes to be catechizM in 
 3pen court, besides the danger of a malicious indictment ; 
 md this sometimes for refusing to part with the goods 
 ivithout a prosecution? Every one knows how easy a 
 matter it is to find a bill before a grand jury ; and tho' 
 I man is ever so honoui-ably acquitted, yet it leaves a last- 
 ng reproach upon him to have been ever arraign'd, and 
 3ut upon a proof of his innocence, as to such flagrant 
 3rimes as those under consideration. And, as to dectect- 
 ng more thieves than we do, I should be very glad to 
 fnow, who will protect me from indictments, actions of 
 Wover, and for false imprisonment ; in case I should 
 lappen to be too sanguine, and stop a person or goods 
 jpon a mistaken suspicion ? Perhaps our adversaries 
 lever dreamt of these things amidst all tlieir visionary 
 dumberings. I have heard it suggested, that loe make 
 orivate sales of goods, and so conceal stolen goods. I 
 mswer, that we do generally sell wearing apparel, linen, 
 ifc. in large quantities ; it may be, fifty, sixty, eighty, or 
 )ne hundred pounds- worth at a time : But those that buy 
 ;hem are public dealers, who sell and distribute them to 
 ;he dealers in Monmouth-street, and other public places ; 
 50 that it is not for the sake of concealing goods, that we 
 sell them in this manner, but because it is the only way 
 Df vending them for despatch ; tho' most of the business 
 retail publicly in their own shops ; and we all sell jewels, 
 natchcs, and plate, in this manner. Once more, it may 
 perhaps be urged, that it is expressly said, [in the Act of 
 29 Parliament 
 
134 An Apology for the 
 
 Parliament made in the first year of King James I.) that 
 V)e are harbourers and encouragers of thieves, and dishonest 
 pei'sons. 
 
 To this it may be answered, that our ancestors, at 
 that time, were greatly inclinM to see invisible sights, and 
 to believe impossible facts ; for, in the very same session 
 of Parliament, there was an Act made against conjuration, 
 vntchcraft, and dealing with evil and wicked spirits; by 
 which it was made felony to consult, covenant with, en- 
 tertain, employ, feed, or reward, any evil and wicked 
 spirit, &c. 
 
 Now it is indisputable, that many hundreds, if not 
 thousands, of poor superannuated women liave been 
 legally convicted, and suffer' d death, by virtue of this Act, 
 for crimes impossible in nature to be committed : Yet 
 never have three pawn-brokers been convicted of the 
 crimes alleg'd against them in the other Act, tho' nothing, 
 in the nature of things, renders such practices impossible, 
 nor a discovery of them impervious. It is worth remark- 
 ing, how different their fates ! The one has had the 
 sacrifice of hundreds, if not thousands, of lives, in confir- 
 mation of the suspicion our ancestors had of witches, 
 conjurers, and the like ; and yet so sceptical are we 
 moderns, in these respects, that our legislature has, within 
 these few years, repealed the Act as far as it extends to 
 sorcery or witchcraft ; if it had been possible in nature. 
 But as to the other Act concerning pawn-brokers, or, as 
 the Act calls them, fripperers, tho' there have never been 
 three fripperers convicted upon this Act from that day to 
 this, in confirmation of the suspicion our ancestors had of 
 these men ; yet it is as firmly believed by us moderns, 
 thai pawn-brokers, alias fripperers, are receivers of stolen 
 goods, as tho' scores or hundreds of them had been con- 
 victed, or confess'd themselves guilty of such practices. 
 It is well if we don't derive from our ancestors, and still 
 retain, the happy faculty of seeing invisibles, and believ- 
 30 ing 
 
Ihisiness of Pawn-broking. J 35 
 
 ing incredibles ! For my part, as I have not the gift 
 of second sight, like the good people of the Orcadcs, it 
 appears to me, at first sight, that if huudreds of pawn- 
 brokers have been constantly harbouring and encouraging 
 thieves and rogues for these hundred and fifty years last 
 past ; and this without being detected and punish'd ; that 
 they are an overmatch for the Devil. Till now, I never 
 so much as suspected them to be conjurers; but begin to 
 be in bodily fear, lest I should have been, for the greatest 
 part of my life, a conjurer, without knowing any thing of 
 tlie matter. 
 
 I heartily beg my reader's pardon, and hope he will 
 excuse my prolixity upon this head at this time ; w liich, at 
 any otlier, would have been very impertinent ; but as the 
 principal present complaint against us is upon this topic, it 
 was necessary to offer all that I think may be said, having 
 the hard and almost impossible task of proving a negative ! 
 How far I have succeeded, must be left to consideration ; 
 and now I proceed to another objection. 
 
 Objection 2. This business is rather jjrejudicial than 
 serviceable to the public. 
 
 Ansiver. I humbly conceive this to be a gross mistake, 
 and to arise from the objector's ignorance of the sudden 
 and unexpected disappointments and embarassments, 
 which not only people of the lower rank, but even 
 those of a higher station, are liable to. Can any one, 
 who knows any thing of the world, be insensible of 
 the many difficulties master-workmen of all sorts are 
 plunged into, by ])eing disappointed of their monies 
 when due; and having, at the same time, journeymen to 
 pay, who cannot be put off without their wages, or perhaps 
 the want of a present supply for their family occasions? 
 Can any one be ignorant of the distress which working 
 people are expos'd to, from unforeseen accidents, sickness, 
 and the like ? How often from such causes, their goods 
 31 are 
 
136 An Apology for the 
 
 are liable to be seized for rent, by a needy or merciless 
 landlord ; or their persons, by an impatient creditor ? 
 HoAv often are even gentlemen disappointed of their rents 
 when due ? Sometimes engag'd in tedious and expensive 
 law or chancery-suits (where nothing can be done without 
 the ready penny) ; yet in such streights do not care to 
 expose their necesi?ities to their friends or acquaintance, 
 lest it should be to no purpose ; or perhaps, lest (in grati- 
 tude) they should be oblig'd to return the favour at 
 another time ; and so run the hazard it may be, of losing 
 the money lent. 
 
 But to put this matter out of dispute, we will only 
 suppose two eases : 
 
 The first shall be, a person of higher rank, who may 
 have a sudden occasion for twenty pounds (there being no 
 business of this nature) ; he is oblig'd to sell a parcel of 
 plate, or any jewels : Will not this be a far greater 
 damage to him, than paying after the rate of twenty per 
 cent, per ann. one, two, three, or six months for the loan 
 of such a sum (I choose to instance in plate, because every 
 one justly thinks this to be attended with as little loss as 
 any thing) ? I say, supposing a gentleman selling 
 seventy-three ounces of plate, he will lose, at least, six- 
 pence per ounce in the fashion, and the six-pence per 
 ounce duty (which all new plate pays to the king) ; which 
 together will amount to one shilling per ounce at least : 
 This loss will therefore come to three pounds thirteen 
 shillings. And as to more curiously wrought plate, his 
 loss in this will be far more in proportion, considering 
 what he must have paid for the fashion of any plate, 
 where the workmanship is something extraordinary. 
 
 Or if he should be oblig'd to sell a gold watch (not at 
 all damagM by wearing), which cost him twenty-five pounds; 
 the very maker or seller of that watch, could not allow 
 him above seventeen or eighteen pounds for it, if so 
 much : I need not calculate what this loss will amount to. 
 32 Now, 
 
Business of Paivu -broking. 137 
 
 Now, if he can pledge ciglity ounces of plate for 
 igliteen pounds, and redeem the pledge in a month's 
 xme, it will be but six shillings loss to him ; or, if he 
 annot redeem it in less than six months' time, it will be 
 »ut one pound sixteen shillings loss to him, or should 
 le be, at last, oblig'd to dispose of it, he is at liberty to 
 Lo this whenever he pleases : For none of us would refuse 
 L goldsmith's buying it, even in our own shops. 
 
 But, if we take an instance from lower life, where 
 here can be little or no opportunity to provide against 
 ludden and unexpected accidents, which people of this 
 ;lass are more frequently exposed to ; and suppose an 
 nferior tradesman distress^ for want of such a sum 
 IS twenty or forty shillings to pay his journeymen or 
 'ent; or to support himself or family in sickness; or to go 
 ;o market with for materials to work upon : Was there no 
 «uch business as we are pleading for, what a happiness 
 rt'ould such a man account it, that he could any where 
 borrow such a sum as forty shillings, and traffick with it 
 for three months together, for so small a charge as two 
 shillings, and not be oblig'd to sell his own or wife's 
 apparel, or household-goods, for it may be not one half 
 of what they cost him? And would any impartial by- 
 stander call him, that got the two shillings, an extortioner 
 or oppressor; or would he not more justly deem them 
 to be fools, or knaves, that so unjustly vilify'd their 
 neighbour ? 
 
 These two cases are supposed to arise from mere neces- 
 sity; but I humbly apprehehend it may be made appear to 
 be the interest of the small trafficker, sometimes to pledge 
 his goods, tho' not driven thereto by mere necessity : By 
 considering how much such a person may save by going 
 to market with ready money, buying advantageous bar- 
 gains unexpectedly, and the like. Suppose a man should 
 save but ten per cent, in the purchase of any commodity, 
 by going to market with ready money ; if he lias a pro- 
 33 bable 
 
138 An Apology for the 
 
 bable prospect of coming into his money in a reasonable 
 time, it will be worth his while to pledge any goods he 
 can spare, and to pay even after the rate of 20 per cent, 
 per ana. for the loan : for, supposing him to lay out ten 
 pounds, it saves him twenty shillings in the purchase ; if 
 he comes into his money, and redeems his goods in three 
 months time, it is ten shillings clear in his pocket ; and if 
 he should not come into his money under six months 
 time, he has had the chance of making a return or two 
 of his money for nothing : For when he has redeemed 
 his goods, and paid for the loan of the money, he is but 
 where he was, had he gone to market upon credit. 
 
 It may likewise deserve consideration, whether some 
 Acts of Parliament, made of late years, may not have so 
 affected small credit, as to increase the necessity of this 
 business. For, if small credit should happen to be 
 thereby rendered so precarious, that the creditor should 
 have very little better security for his debts than the 
 honesty of the debtor, he will be apt to think it too dan- 
 gerous and leaky a bottom to venture his property upon. 
 And if the small trader cannot obtain credit, he must 
 either go to market with ready money, or his business be 
 at a stand ; and, if he has not ready money of his own, 
 will be under a strong temptation to apply to the pawn- 
 broker. This consequence, I will be bold to say, is what 
 our Legislature never once designed. 
 
 The truth is, every man is at liberty, whether he will 
 come to our shops, or no. No one would come there, did 
 he not find his account in it, or, at least, imagine he did 
 so ; since no man chuses an evil as such : And if, upon 
 experiment, he finds himself mistaken, would he ever do 
 so again? 
 
 Methinks our enemies would do well, to give some 
 substantial reason, whence it comes to pass, that such mon- 
 sters and oppressors of mankind should ever have any busi- 
 ness to do : Yet so it is, that this business has found em- 
 34 ployment 
 
Business of Pawn-hrol-imj. 139 
 
 )loymcnt foi* its followers ever since comiiicrce and trade 
 )egan to lift up its head, and flourish in the nation. Again, 
 low happens it, that people should, for years together, 
 hink it better to pledge their goods as their occasions may 
 equire, and to pay such terrible interest for the loan, than 
 't once to sell their goods, and buy others, ivhen they had 
 'ot money so to do ? Should it be said, their pressing 
 lecessities put them upon it ; I answer, that necessity, 
 he more pressing it is, the more sharp sighted ; it being 
 )rovcrbially called, the mother of invention. This tempts 
 ne to think, that people have tried other experiments, 
 )ut find none more eligible; nay, perhaps, have ex- 
 )crienced, that no people will buy and sell with them for 
 uch a profit as we make of them. 
 
 If a poor man (thro' necessity) should be obliged to 
 ell his coat for five or ten shillings ; it cannot be sup- 
 )Osed he could put another in the room of it for so little 
 OSS as one shilling; because the buyer of the one, and 
 he seller of the other, would both get a profit out of him ; 
 vhereas he may pawn his coat for five or ten shillings, let 
 t lie a month or two, and redeem it again for three half- 
 jcncc, three-pence, or, at most, six-pence loss ; tho' the 
 ingodly and extorting pawn-broker has got after the rate 
 )f thirty j:;er cent, per annum for the loan. 
 
 Objection 3. If pawn-brokers are allowed to sell goods 
 pledged in any reasonably -limited time, and not to be 
 iccountable for the overplus that may remain, they will 
 nake vast advantages by ivhat they may have forfeited for 
 want of redemption ; and the pledger ivill be most grie- 
 vously oppressed. 
 
 Ansiver. The pledger is at liberty to redeem his goods 
 during the time limited ; or, if he cannot, may be able 
 to procure a friend to redeem them, and so have an oppor- 
 tunity of disposing of tiicm as he thinks proper : Or, if 
 not, may bring other tradesmen to buy them ; who, upon 
 35 payment 
 
140 An Apology f 07' the 
 
 payment of the charge due upon the loan, may have op- 
 portunity of buying them in our shops, which none of us 
 at this time refuse, where we have no apprehensions of a 
 snare laid for us by wicked and designing people ; either 
 of forcing the goods from us, without allowing us a rea- 
 sonable and living profit by our business, or furnishing 
 themselves with evidence to support an action of trover, 
 should we venture to sell them ; whilst they (if perishable 
 goods) retain any of the least value ; and so recover 
 against us, by dint of swearing, a far greater value 
 (besides costs of suit) than ever their goods cost them. 
 I have known persons who have made it their business to 
 go to Monmouth-street, and buy up for a very trifle, old- 
 fashioned and scoured brocade-silk gowns, old-fashioned 
 broad laces, or any thing that has an high-sounding name 
 in a court, and pawn them, let them lie three or four 
 years, and then sue the pavm-broker, if he refuses to 
 pay them ten times the value of the goods, or even of 
 what they cost them. I presume, the reader will easily 
 perceive how careful and cautious we are obliged to be in 
 the present situation; which care and wariness is no more 
 than innocent self-defence, tho' it may have the appear- 
 ance of artifice or cunning. 
 
 But, to give a further answer to this objection by a 
 quotation from the public ^paper already mentioned, it is 
 in answer to the objection, '' That ive lend so little upon 
 '' goods, that what loe sell we gain immensely by.'' The 
 reasons of this general mistake are ; 
 
 " First, the considerable disparity between the price of 
 " goods at the first hand, and the price of the same goods 
 " when they come to be sold to the immediate wearer : 
 " Commonly two or three profits are got out of them before 
 " that comes to be the case. For instance : A weaver, 
 36 " perhaps, 
 
 * Daily Post-Boy, April 26, 1731. 
 
Business q/' Pawn-broking. 141 
 
 " perhaps, sells <a piece of silk to a mercer, at four shil- 
 " lings per yard ; allows one yard in thirty for measure : 
 " This is, however, an advantage not universally known : 
 " This mercer, perhaps, sells this silk, by retale, at four 
 " shillings and six-pence, four shillings and nine-pence, 
 " or five shillings, per yard ; consequently the buyer esti- 
 " mates the intrinsic worth of what quantity he buys after 
 " the rate he gave the mercer for it ; not allowing for the 
 " loss that immediately accrues to the goods he buys, by 
 " separating that quantity from the rest of the piece, and 
 " consequently its being valued by all buyers but as a 
 " remnant ; much less allowing for the gain the mercer 
 " has gotten out of it, and the loss the buyer must sus- 
 " tain, was he immediately to offer those goods to sale to 
 " the same, or any other mercer ; who would certainly 
 " never give after that rate for a remnant, for which 
 " he can buy it in the whole piece fi'om the weaver. 
 " Now I think every considerate man must allow, that a 
 " thing is intrinsically worth so much, and no more, than 
 " what it will fetch at a common market. Add to this 
 " the charge the wearer is at, in making up the goods for 
 " his own use ; all which he supposes added to the in- 
 " trinsic worth thereof (which indeed is so for private 
 " use) ; but, as to a common market, is more than so 
 " much taken from it ; because then, if exposed to sale, 
 '• they will be valued but as second hand goods : Which 
 " leads me to observe ; 
 
 " Secondly, the great and almost incredible diflcrence 
 " between buying a thing new, and selling that thing at 
 " second hand. For instance: If you make you up a suit 
 " of superfine cloth cloaths, that shall cost you seven 
 " guineas ; I defy you, tho' you had never worn them, 
 " to sell them to any dealer in second-hand cloaths for 
 '' four pounds ten shillings ; altho' they are now new 
 " and fashionable for colour and cut : What can you then 
 " suppose to sell this suit for a year and half hence ? 
 37 '' And 
 
142 An Apology for the 
 
 " And what must a paivn-broker lend upon them (who 
 " proposes to keep these goods two years before he ex- 
 " poses them to sale, and runs the hazard of the moth, 
 " ^c. so as to get a moderate profit) ? Surely, any one 
 " would think three guineas, or three pounds ten shil- 
 " lings, sufficient : Yet if a pawn-hroker lends so much 
 " upon them, and keeps them two years, and then sells 
 " them ; he is presently exclaimed against for not lending 
 " half the value of the goods ; and people are apt, rashly 
 " and falsely, to charge the broker, as though he got clear 
 " as much as the goods cost them, more than he lent 
 " on them, from a mistaken j'ate of the intrinsic value of 
 " the goods from what they cost, and not from what they 
 " would sell for. Every one knows the various damages 
 " all sorts of new goods are liable to, by being kept so 
 " long a time : Woollens are in danger of the moths, silks 
 " of mildew ; and even linen goods will soon decrease ten 
 " per cent, in their value by lying by, and thereby losing 
 " colour, 6fC. ; which if any man disputes the truth of, let 
 " him make the experiment. It may here be objected, 
 " as to plate and jewels, they do not grow worse by keeping. 
 '' I answer, even as to these, people use the same standard 
 *' of judging as to their value, as they do in the other 
 " cases : Whereas it is indisputable, that they must lose 
 " considerably by selling ; unless any one supposes gold- 
 *' smiths or jewellers to trade for no profit. But, particu- 
 " larly, as to plate, every one knows, we lend, at least, 
 " four shillings per ounce ; and upon sterling, four shil- 
 " lings and six-pence per ounce, be it old or new. Now, 
 " supposing I lend four shillings and six-pence per ounce, 
 " and sell it, after having been two years out of my money, 
 " for five shillings and six-pence ; that is not above 
 " twenty-two and a half per cent, for two years ; conse- 
 " quently but eleven and a quarter per cent, per annum. 
 " As to jewels, the value is precarious. It may be said, 
 " no doubt hut you take care to lend little enough upon all 
 38 " hazardov.^ 
 
Business of Pawn-hrokin(j. 143 
 
 " hazardous goods. To which I reply ; if 1 happen to 
 " offer a person less upon any sort of goods, than others 
 " of my business will lend, I must necessarily lose my 
 " customers ; there being too many of our business for 
 " one person to lend just as he pleases upon goods ; and 
 " it is impossible, in things whose values are uncertain, 
 " for us to hold together ; and it would be somewhat sur- 
 " prising, if, amongst all our rogueries, we should be so 
 " very honest to one another, as not to undermine one 
 " another ; since this is daily practised by the fair traders 
 " themselves : And it is the same thing for one of us to 
 " lend so much upon goods, as to leave no room for a 
 " living profit when he comes to sell those goods, thereby to 
 " get the more business to himself; as for any shop-keeper 
 " to underfall the market, in order to gain customers." 
 
 But what if it should be capable of proof, that, at this 
 time of day, we think ourselves well off, if, in commodities 
 of a perishable nature, we get our own principal money 
 lent, or five or ten j)er cent, more than our principal, after 
 we have been out of our money two years? I fear, others, 
 as well as myself, have frequently lost as much of our 
 principal by the goods we have had to sell. 
 
 This arises from the nature of perishable goods, change 
 of fashions, the number of brokers, the tricks and frauds 
 which the pawn-broker is liable to, who cannot be sup- 
 posed to be an over-match for every man in his respective 
 calling, therefore must be often outwitted; and the urgent 
 necessities of the poor, who will go to five or six dif- 
 ferent shops to borrow six-pence extraordinary upon their 
 goods ; nay, rather than disoblige a customer, we must 
 frequently lend more than we know the goods would sell 
 for at a common market, in hopes it may yet be worth 
 their while to redeem them ; so far are we from having no 
 measures to keep with those we deal with. 
 
 "Whatever the world may think, it is a certain truth, 
 
 that our selling bears a very small proportion to the 
 
 •39 monies 
 
144 A7i A'pology for the 
 
 monies we lend in a year : If any pawn-hroker lends five 
 or six thousand pounds per annum, his business must be 
 ill-managed, and his pledges badly taken, if he sells more 
 than five or six hundred pounds of goods in a year. 
 
 This assertion can indeed only be proved by our books, 
 which we are far from being afraid of producing upon a 
 proper occasion. 
 
 Again, if people are obliged to sell their goods, how 
 can any law provide against the buyer's taking advantage 
 of the seller's necessity? To prevent which, must such 
 difficulties and embargoes be laid upon all commerce, that 
 no man can proceed in his buiuess ? This reminds me of 
 some surprising clauses in the Charitable Corporation Bill, 
 for regulating lending money upon pledges. One clause, 
 for instances, obliged every broker, to go, or send, to 
 every person's house, to give proper notice of an intended 
 sale, though the pledge was of never so small consequence. 
 Another clause (if I am not mistaken) obliged him to 
 make public sales by cant or auction, in which each indi- 
 vidual pledge was to be sold and set down by itself. One 
 would think, (with great submission) that the wisdom of 
 our superiors should have first enacted a law to prohibit 
 any persons removing their habitations, that we might 
 have known where to have found the pledger, in order to 
 our obeying this law : It should likewise have provided a 
 method for our paying a retinue of servants or porters, to 
 go on these important errands ; not to mention the charge 
 of hiring a room or hall large enough for these public 
 sales, paying the auctioneer, and clerks of undoubted 
 fidelities and abilities, to register what every pledge was 
 sold for, they being of such consequence, that four or five 
 hundred of them may sell for eighty or a hundred pounds : 
 It may be reasonably supposed, here would be work enough 
 for a pretty many. It likewise might not have been much 
 amiss, if we had been insured customers for what we had 
 to sell, since some of our goods can only be vended to 
 40 countrv 
 
Busin ess of Fawn-hrohing. 
 
 145 
 
 country-dealers : How all this was to be done with the 
 allowance of ten per cent, per ann. for all charges, I con- 
 fess myself quite at a loss ; nay, can hardly think it prac- 
 ticaljle in its own nature, if we had been allowed cent, 
 oer cent, for so doing. 
 
 Objection 4. But, was this business to be publicly 
 lUoived, it might prove a great means of helping bankrupts 
 to money, and so be detrimental to trade in general. 
 
 Answ. While there are so many of every business, 
 who are ready to buy bargains of persons in bad circum- 
 stances, and who can afford to give much nearer the value 
 Df goods, than we can be supposed to lend upon them, as 
 liaving an opportunity of selling them at a better market, 
 coming into their money again so much sooner than we pro- 
 pose to do, running little or no hazard of damage, change 
 )f fashions, and the like ; I say, while this is the case, 
 :here is not much danger from pawn-brokers. Besides, 
 sve are not over-forward of dealing with shopkeepers, lest 
 sve should happen to be brought in as creditors in a 
 statute ; or if not, yet, in case a person breaks, we may 
 tiave a great deal of trouble and vexation, with little or 
 Qo profit. 
 
 But, lest any apprehension should arise from hence, it 
 is an easy matter to insert a clause in the hoped-for regu- 
 iation, to limit what sum, at any one time, or at various 
 times, to any one person, a paivn-broker shall be suffered 
 to lend upon piece goods ; and to this the pawn-brokers 
 fiave no objection. 
 
 I have not heard much complaint upon this head. 
 From (our quondam very good friends and allies, in the 
 3ommon war witli the Charitable Corporation) the good 
 citizens of London. However, I raised this objection to 
 prevent their being under any uneasiness, as to this point ; 
 but have heard more complaints upon another head, which 
 is the next objection. 
 
 41 Objection 
 
146 An Apology foo' the 
 
 Objection 5, This business is found to give encourage- 
 ment to various mechanics, to jio-wn other peoples goods; 
 such as taylors, mantua-makers, &c. and journeymen ivork- 
 men their master^ s goods, which they have to manufacture. 
 
 Answ. This objection bas more weight in it, and, 
 perhaps, is better founded than all the rest put together. 
 
 But even here the law has provided a relief; for the 
 owner may sue, and recover his goods without paying the 
 pawn-broker the money lent ; and this upon the evidence 
 of the party who pledged them : And, if the pawn-broker 
 knowingly encourages such practices, he deserves to lose 
 his money ; but if, on the contraiy, he has been imposed 
 on and abused, he has a right to indict the pledger for a 
 fraud; and if the master-employer will not screen the 
 criminal, but heartily join with the pawn-broker, to 
 punish him to the utmost rigor of the laws ; a few exam- 
 ples made, will be a great means of preventing these 
 complaints for the time to come. The pawn-brokers 
 desire no alteration of the laws (in this respect) in their 
 favour ; but only care should be taken against combina- 
 tions betwixt master and man to rob the pawn-broker, 
 which is no strange or unusual thing. 
 
 I wish some of us, especially young beginners, may 
 not have afforded some reasons for complaints of this 
 nature : But, nevertheless, it is highly unreasonable for a 
 man who may have been hurt this way, to make no discri- 
 mination, whether this may have happened through 
 Ignorance or design : and to condemn the whole business, 
 for what may be only the fault, or, perhaps, the misfor- 
 tune, of one man. Yet how common is it to hear a man 
 loading every one of the business with the foulest calumny 
 and reproach ; wreaking his revenge, upon all possible 
 occasions, upon any one that falls in his way ! And, if 
 you can get him but cool enough, to give you the grounds 
 or reasons of his vehement dislike, perhaps he will tell 
 42 vou 
 
Busiiwss of Pawn-brokiiKj. 
 
 147 
 
 yon, that once he gave his coat, or his watch, to be 
 mended, and they were liawned, and he was forced to 
 redeem them. 
 
 If mankind knew but lialf the arts and contrivances 
 to impose upon pawn-brokers, the great difficulty of dis- 
 tinguishing between the master-employer and the under- 
 workman in many cases ; and that a taylor, journeyman 
 watch-maker, mantua-maker, or laundress, may have an 
 opportunity of imposing upon the pawn-broker other 
 peoples goods as their own, before his utmost vigilance 
 can prevent it ; I say, if mankind considered this, and 
 were as backward to slander and reproach, as they are 
 to praise and commend, much of the clamour and noise 
 ^\ould cease. However I think, that if the pawn-broker 
 loses the money lent, which I am certain he will do very 
 quietly, where there is no appearance of a designed fraud 
 and combination ; and (as I said before) the master or 
 employer would never screen the original cause of the 
 mischief; a few examples made will silence any material 
 complaints for the future. 
 
 It would likewise be a great means of preventing this 
 mischief, if master-employers and others would always 
 pay poor manufacturers, mantua-makers, taylors, and 
 Avasher-women, as soon as their work is done. I durst to 
 say, if any pawn-brokers have ventured knowingly to 
 deal with these sort of people, they have been prevailed 
 upon to do so by a plea of this nature, either true or 
 false. 
 
 But if QX\j person is so violently exasperated on this 
 account, that nothing will satisfy him but the total extirpa- 
 tion oii\\e pawn-brokers, root and branch; let him consider, 
 that he has his remedy against the pawn-broker at law ; 
 whereas, if there was no such business, the under- work- 
 man, §T. will be under a violent temptation, upon press- 
 ing necessity, to sell his goods outright ; and if the buyer 
 happens to keep an open shop in the city of London, or 
 43 any 
 
148 An Apoloyi/ Jor the 
 
 any other overt-market, he will fiud himself obliged to 
 pay for his goods before he can recover them, if it be true 
 (as I am informed) that goods (not being stolen) sold at 
 an overt-market, are irrecoverable. 
 
 This interesting consideration may, perhaps, a little 
 cool and moderate the heat and flame of those, who are 
 charitably disposed to set another man's house on fire, for 
 the sake of roasting their own eggs. 
 
 Objection 6. But this business is an encouragement to 
 idle and disorderly persons, who hereby having a ready 
 supply, will not care for loorking while they have any thing 
 left to pawn. 
 
 Answ. This objection was heretofore very gravely 
 urged against us, by the then managers of the Charitable 
 Corporation, which fell much heavier upon themselves; 
 for they proposed to supply all necessitous poor with suras 
 as low as one shilling, two-thii'ds cheaper than we com- 
 monly do ; and, consequently, gave just three times the 
 encouragement to idle persons to pledge their goods that 
 we do : And, if another corporation was to rise up, which 
 took no more than five per cent, it would give six times 
 the encouragement we do to such practices. 
 
 But this objection will have little weight, if it be con- 
 sidered, that the flourishing of all business depends upon 
 quick returns ; when trade is brisk, and every one in 
 action, frequent occasions for money will arise, and the 
 borrower will soon be in a capacity to repay the money 
 lent, and will pay for the loan of it without grambling or 
 abatements : Whereas, when little or no trade is stirring, 
 just the revei'se of all this will be the truth of the case ; 
 which, by the way, corrects a very great and general 
 error, viz. "That our business is best when others are 
 " upon the decline.^' 
 
 Whatever encouragement therefore our business may 
 
 afford to idle and disorderly persons, I am sure they will 
 
 44 aff'ord 
 
Business of Pawn-brokiny. 
 
 14.9 
 
 atford no eucourageraent to the business ; for if they 
 should have any thing of their own^ (which is much to be 
 questioned) that was of value sufficient, if they pledge it, 
 it is once for all, and we may never sec their faces again till 
 after two or three years time, when the}^ are pretty secure 
 tliey are sold; who (if they do nothing worse) will do us 
 the favour of coming to scold and brawl, in order to get 
 a small matter out of us for having disposed of their 
 goods; tho' it is very possible, if not highly probable, 
 we may have lost money by so doing. 
 
 Again, I suppose we are no more accountable for the 
 abuse that may be made of our business than other men. 
 Must not a vintner be allowed to sell wine, because 
 people may make themselves drunk with it? Or must 
 not an honest and skilful surgeon be suffered, lest he 
 should indirectly prove an encouragement to the com- 
 mitting of whoredom ? If this way of reasoning holds 
 good, I fear it may be thought necessary to put a stop to 
 all trade and commerce, lest it should corrupt that native 
 simplicity and integrity, so conspicuous, for the most part, 
 in places wljere the least traffick is carried on. In short, 
 if any profession is to be charged with the abuses that 
 have been made of it, either by some of themselves or 
 others, the most sage, honourable, and reverend, Avill not 
 escape severe censure. 
 
 Objection 7. But almost every man says, that pawn- 
 brokers ai^e a sad and pernicious set of men : And what 
 almost every body says, must be true. 
 
 Answer. There was once a time when Christians 
 themselves were every- where spoken against : And why ? 
 But because Christianity never had been examined with 
 attention and impartiality. I intend no profane compari- 
 son, when I say the business I have been endeavouring to 
 vindicate is indebted to the very same causes, for its being 
 generally and vulgarly disliked ; and it will be no difficult 
 45 matter 
 
150 An Apology for the 
 
 matter to account for the obloquy and reproacli cast upon 
 it^ if we only consider, that mankind, thro^ a strange 
 petulancy of temper, are forward enough to condemn what 
 they don't understand : That it is the interest of wicked 
 and designing persons to blacken and defame us, in order, 
 with the more ease, to make a prey of us : That others, 
 to prevent the least suspicion of their having any dealings 
 with us, rave and exclaim, whilst those who know and 
 consider things, do not choose to defend or vindicate us, 
 for fear of incurring the like suspicion. 
 
 Others, not considering the unavoidable charge of 
 negociating business, ignorant of our losses, and perishing 
 dead stocks, which we are obliged to keep, and comparing 
 our profits with the legal interest of money, give a great 
 loose to their rash and inconsiderate resentments : Others 
 are greatly angry and displeased with us, because some- 
 times our interests and theirs happen to clash and inter- 
 fere ; and eveiy one knows, that self-interest is of a very 
 inflaming nature, and a great provocative to zeal : And 
 if it falls out, that a man of this happy temper and com- 
 plexion of mind, happens to be upon a jury, *t is ten to 
 one but the rest of the pannel are kindled up to a flame 
 by the zeal of this one man ; and shall not unfrequently 
 bring in a verdict against the paivn-broker , in opposition to 
 the directions of the court, to the law of the land, and 
 the oath they have taken; and justify themselves in 
 so doing, to all their acquaintances, by " assuring them, 
 " that the pawn-brokers are a pack of rogues and villains ; 
 " and it is no great matter what becomes of them/^ 
 
 Add hereto; t}i2it pawn-brokers are but men, and sub- 
 jected to the common infirmities of human nature, mis- 
 takes, oversights, and indiscretions, for which no allow- 
 ances are ever made or thought of. But if any one pawn- 
 broker, or even his servant, happens to make the least 
 trip, it is immediately construed roguery and design ; and 
 not only the party concerned, but every man who is so 
 46 unhappy 
 
Jiusineiis of Paivn-hroking. 151 
 
 unhappy as to follow the business, is involved in the same 
 condemnation ! 
 
 Objection 8. Pi'ivate men ought to conform to the laws 
 of their country : And for such to live and act in defiance 
 of such laws, is great presumption and insolence, and con- 
 sequently immoral. 
 
 Ansicer. There is a wide difference between violating 
 the letter^ and violating the spirit, and ultimate design, of 
 a law. 
 
 There are two laws, which the paivn-broker, at first 
 sight, may appear to defy and oppose. 
 
 The first (if that may he called the law of the country, 
 which is only the traditional and repeated opinion of sages 
 learned in the law) is this ; viz. " That it is not lawful 
 ^' for a pawnee, ever to sell and appropriate to his oivn 
 " benefit the pledge or deposit, notwithstanding the most 
 "fair and open provisional contract had pass' d between the 
 " pa^vnor and the pawnee, to settle the time of redemption 
 " on forfeiture of the pledge." 
 
 "Which maxim or adage, it is humbly conceived is 
 founded upon this consideration ; " lest the pawnee should 
 " take advantage of the necessity or ignorance of the 
 " paivnor, and so over- reach and oppress him." 
 
 Now, if common law is founded upon common sense, 
 I shall leave it to the common sense of my reader to 
 determine ; 
 
 1, Whether the amount of this maxim is not this; 
 " lest A should oppress and plunder B, it shall be in the 
 " power of B to oppress and plunder A ? 
 
 2. Whether this maxim is not built upon taking a 
 point for certain and granted, which is disputable ad in- 
 " finitum; viz. "That the pawnor (for the most part) 
 " hath less wit, and more honesty, than the pawnee?" 
 
 To the first query it may be replied, " that the 
 
 "pawnee has his action for the debt against the pawnor." 
 
 47 True ; 
 
152 An Apology f 07' the 
 
 True ; but suppose the pawno?- is not to be found^ oi- 
 ls so poor as not to be able to redeem the pledge, and 
 so perverse as to refuse consent to the sale of the pledge, 
 unless compelFd by law ; the costs and charges whereof, 
 tlie pledge nor the pledger are able to defray ; or, if the 
 sura borrow'd, will not hold the borrower to bail, what 
 becomes oi the pledgee ? Or what is he the better for having 
 a collateral (especially a perishable) security in his hands? 
 Which question must likewise be left to the common 
 sense of my reader. Once more, and I have done putting 
 of questions. 
 
 Things standing thus, viz. If A, the pawnee, ventures 
 to sell or dispose of the pawn or deposit, B, the pawnor, 
 has an opportunity of suing A in trover ; and if A, the 
 pawnee, wants his money, or is doubtful or disatis- 
 fied with the pawn or collateral security, he may bring 
 his action for the debt. It is, therefore, a point which 
 the reader's common sense must determine, whether this 
 maxim of common law is not a natural and apt founda- 
 tion for expensive and vexatious law-suits ? 
 
 For my part, I shall not presume to oppose my com- 
 mon sense to the common sense of those gentlemen who 
 are duly and publicly authorized interpreters of the law, 
 because they may be able to assign wise and substantial 
 reasons for their opinions, which never have occurr'd to 
 me : And whom (notwithstanding the mistakes or mis- 
 carriages of some individuals) I look upon to be the 
 guardians and repositaries of the laws and constitution 
 of this realm ; and consequently, of all that is dear and 
 sacred to an Englishman. 
 
 Taking therefore this maxim as we find it, I shall 
 only endeavour to show, that a pawn-broker (if he is an 
 honest man) may violate the letter, without doing any 
 injury to the spirit and design of this law. 
 
 For instance ; if a pawn-broker keeps a pledge so long, 
 
 as it will bear to be kept without perishing ; or, if not 
 
 48 perishable. 
 
Business of Fawn-hroking. 153 
 
 )erishable, till such pledge -will only pay him a reasonal)lc 
 iiid moderate profit, and less than other tradesmen ex- 
 )ect for laying out their money; and never desires or 
 ittempts to defraud a person of his pledge, because it 
 lappens to be left for a small consideration, in a short 
 ime after its being so pawned ; but, on the contrary, keeps 
 ;uch pawn year after }ear, in consideration of its value, 
 md in expectation of its being redeemed ; and sliould 
 he same person find in his warehouse a perishable 
 )ledge, which has lain so long as to be in manifest 
 langer of becoming of no value, either to the pawnor 
 )r the pawnee ; and by sale whereof, if he don^t lose of 
 lis principal, thinks himself tolerably well ofi', if he can 
 nake five or ten pei' cent, above the principal, should 
 renture to sell it after he had kept it two years or more ; 
 [ say, however sucli man may transgress the letter, he 
 3annot, by fair construction, be said to sin against the 
 ;rue intent, meaning, and spirit of this law. 
 
 And that such a conduct is no impossibility in nature, 
 lay, that it may have taken place in fact, will best appear 
 3y our books ; and may likewise be credible, from what has 
 been already said in answer to Objection III., and by 
 this further consideration ; viz. " That complaints have 
 '■' not been exhibited in the courts against the pawn- 
 ' brokers for taking valuable pawns, and converting them, 
 '' in three, six, or twelve months time, to their own 
 ■^benefit; biit the suits commenced against them are, 
 ■' generally, for their having sold a pledge, \.\\o' never 
 '' demanded in three, four, or five years after it was 
 '' left." 
 
 I proceed to consider the statute-law, which the pawn- 
 broker is supposed to live and act in defiance to ; which 
 is the statute against usury and extortion. 
 
 And here the very same excuse may be alleged and 
 
 supported : For, if any man thinks the pawn-broker^ s 
 
 money, and the legal value thereof, the only thing to be 
 
 49 considered. 
 
154 An Ajyologyfor the 
 
 considered, he must be wilfully blind, or naturally short- 
 sighted. For, to judge fairly and reasonably, his time, 
 labour, servitude as an apprentice, and the expence of 
 servants, warehouse-room, ^c. must be taken into the 
 account : And, when reasonable allowances are made for 
 these, he will be found no more an usurer or extortioner, 
 than he that lends his money at five per cent, and has 
 no more charge or trouble, than to receive the produce 
 as it becomes due ; or than he that makes the most mo- 
 derate profit by buying and selling goods in his shop. 
 
 A farmer is allowed to make three rents of his land : 
 And why? Because one third goes to the landlord for 
 rent ; another third goes for the charges of cultivation ; 
 and the remaining third for the support of himself and 
 family : and as a reward for his skill and daily labour, to 
 fertilize and improve every /oo^ of land. 
 
 The case of the pawn-broker is e^VLCtlj parallel. The 
 interest his money would produce out of trade, or which 
 he must pay for money, if he borrows it, is one third ; the 
 charge of negociating business is another third ; and the 
 remaining third is for the support of himself and family, 
 as a reward for his skill in his business, (which either is, 
 or ought to be, very comprehensive) and his daily labour 
 and care in laying out, and receiving in, shilling by shil- 
 ling, or pound by pound, his capital stock : By which 
 means multitudes of people are relieved in their distress 
 and emergencies : And the honest paivn-broker is, perhaps, 
 as useful and necessary a person in his place and station, 
 and may as much deserve the countenance and protec- 
 tion of the public, as any other private man. 
 
 But, if any man thinks the statute against usury and 
 extortion of such vast consequence to the safety and 
 happiness of the community, that he cannot forgive the 
 least violation of a tittle, jot, or letter therein contained, 
 he would do well to consult the great Mr, Locke's dis- 
 course, intituled, " Considerations of the Loivering of 
 50 Interest, 
 
Jhisine^s of Pawn-hrokiiuj. 155 
 
 tferest, and Raising the Value of Money ;'' and afterwards 
 read Sect. 7tli, Prop. 4th and 9tli, of " The Religion of 
 ature delineated." 
 
 It is humbly apprehended, that, if it can be made 
 )pear, that this business is of indispensable necessity to 
 16 public, and may (under proper regulation) be ren- 
 3red of great service to the community ; and that our 
 nintry cannot be supposed to require impossibilities at 
 11' hands ; we are tacitly excepted from the literal 
 gour of this law, because our case is, in its own nature, 
 tceptionable ; and, we doubt not, will appear so to be, 
 coolly and impartially considered. Now, if so, it 
 ;quires nothing but a signification of the explicit and 
 pen consent of our country to such exception, to justify 
 3 in what we do : But, sijrely, no consent of our country 
 in justify an immorality; nor can any determinations 
 lereof alter the ratio's and habitudes of things. It may 
 lerefore be presumed, that our country wants only to 
 e duly and thoroughly informed of the true state of our 
 ise ; which when done, we may hope, from its justice 
 ad clemency, to be treated like men and Englishmen. 
 .nd as, by a Bill depending, our country has given us 
 plain intimation of its being at leisure to intend and 
 xamine us and our affairs, it cannot be deemed intruding 
 r officious, to offer ourselves, and our affairs, to its 
 srutiny ; Which if our country condescends to make, w^e 
 urably hope to vindicate ourselves in such a manner, as 
 3 remove its present seeming dislike ; to awaken its at- 
 gntion and indignation against our calumniators and 
 ppressors ; and to convince the world, that the honest 
 art of us have done nothing unworthy of men, English- 
 len, or Christians. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Having thus exhibited to the view and judgment of the 
 
 )ublic the reasons and grounds, upon which my own pri- 
 
 51 vate 
 
156 An Apology for the 
 
 vate judgment has determined in favour of tlie business or 
 profession, I shall, with great serenity and composure, 
 submit my private opinions to its discussion; and the 
 more so, as my country, a})ove all the nations of Eurojje, 
 is justly renowned for free and impartial inquiry; and 
 has, in so great and glorious a manner, broken in pieces 
 the shackles of ignorance, superstition, and bigotry. 
 
 It is agreed on all hands, that a business of this 
 nature, in some shape or other, is of absolute necessity : 
 And it has been demonstrated, that private men cannot 
 perform it upon lower terms than those proposed : And, 
 for the public to permit and suffer any part of the com- 
 munity to be defrauded and harassed, defamed, oppressed 
 and plundered, for not being infallible, or for not doing 
 impossibilities, is the greatest reflection upon its wisdom 
 and goodness. 
 
 Should it be said, that we are too officious, and have 
 obtruded ourselves upon the public; it may be replied, 
 that all trades, mysteries, and crafts have first existed, 
 before thej could possibly be taken notice of, and esta- 
 blished ; and, in this respect, are as much to be charged 
 with intrusion as we. But our country has, many years 
 ago, taken some notice of us ; and seemed, at that time, 
 chiefly intent upon affixing a true and proper name upon 
 us, and regulating some imaginary abuses ; but has never 
 yet signified its pleasure, that all business of this kind 
 should totally cease : And what it doth not prohibit, it 
 tacitly permits ; provided the thing done is not, in its own 
 nature, immoral. 
 
 And the same demonstration, which proves that pri- 
 vate men cannot perform this business under the terms 
 proposed, will prove, with increased force, that no bodies 
 corporate, or monopolies, can do what they may charitably 
 pretend to ; viz. Supply the poor with small sums, upon 
 pledges so low as one shilling, after the rate of ten per 
 cent, per annum. 
 
 52 For, 
 
Busi7iess of Fdivii-brokuKj. 
 
 157 
 
 For, if the private pawn-broker (trading upon his own 
 ock) cannot do it, whose personal care and skill are em- 
 oy'd in his husinoss ; why should it be thought possible 
 r any body corporate to succeed better ; since such body 
 )rporate must pay eighty, ninety, or an hundred pounds 
 7- annum interest for the sum of two thousand pounds, 
 id must intirely trust to the fidelity and skill of hirelings 
 id servants? And if they would answer the speciovis 
 ids proposed, must have warehouses in all parts of 
 le town ; but cannot do these things at a cheaper rate 
 lan the private pawn-broker. It will therefore always 
 I found, that, imder colour of supplying the poor with 
 iiall sums, a most pernicious and dangerous monoply will 
 ; erected, which will prove destructive and ruinous to the 
 ition. 
 
 But nothing of this kind is to be apprehended from 
 le private j^aivn-broker ; who is always under the 
 spection of the magistrates and courts of law and jus- 
 36 : and, should he attempt to defraud or oppress his 
 llow-subject, is much more easily to be detected and 
 inish'd, than bodies corporate, or their representatives, 
 dd to this, that the pawn-brokers, when numerous and 
 vided, will always have clashings and interferings of 
 irsonal judgments and interests ; which will etfectually 
 'event any combinations against the common good. 
 
 Farther, the establishment of such body corporate 
 ould be a manifest invasion of the rights of the pawn- 
 'oker ; who, at least, can plead prime occupance, and the 
 -escription of near two centuries in his own behalf ; not to 
 entiou his having borne the heat and burthen of the day; 
 is servitude as an apprentice and journeyman ; having, 
 jrhaps, a long and high -rented lease upon his hands, 
 id a numerous and dependent family : Upon all which 
 ;counts he has the best right of offering his service to 
 IS country. 
 
 Some late advertisements, and private whispers, make 
 53 me 
 
158 An Apology for the 
 
 me suspect, that something of a corporation-kind is in 
 embryo ; and not beinjij able otherivise to account for the 
 present sudden alarm of pawn-brokers being the receivers 
 of stolen goods: For, tho' most frequent and audacious 
 street-robberies have been committed of late ; yet (upon 
 the best inquiry I have been able to make) I do not find 
 the pawn-brokers, either accidentally or voluntarily, to 
 have been materially concerned in receiving the goods 
 stolen : Which, one would think, should have opened the 
 eyes of mankind, and have put them upon inquiring after 
 some other resource and harbour for thieves and stolen 
 goods, than the private pawn-broker. 
 
 But, if any corporation-schemcatist has thought to have 
 taken the paivn-brokers napping, and so destroy them 
 with a sudden stroke before they could call in the assis- 
 tance of their natural allies : I will venture to tell him, 
 that the pawn-brokers never sleep ; for the world takes 
 sufficient care, by a thorough application of pinchings and 
 tweakings, to keep them from nodding, and forgetting 
 themselves. Our enemies may sleep till they snore again ; 
 ay, and in their sleep may dream 
 
 Of Antliropophagi, and men whose heads 
 Do grow beneath their shoulders ! 
 
 But it highly becomes us to keep awake, especially at 
 this time ; and, in our turn, to requite the favours we 
 have so long and frequently received ; and humbly pre- 
 sent to the world an anti-narcotic, which may be safely 
 taken at any time, or in any place ; but promises sovereign 
 effects, at the bar, the bench, the guild, and in ^■5«--5«-*-^-5t-^ 
 
 In a word : We would humbly address ourselves to 
 those, who have it in their power to protect or suppress 
 us ; desiring to come to the light, that our deeds may be 
 reproved, if they deserve it, or our innocence made to 
 appear ; being chearfully disposed to do any thing in our 
 power, to give light into our business or practices, to those 
 54 who 
 
Business of Pawii-brokiiKj. 159 
 
 'ho have a right to make such iuquiry. We desire 
 othiiifr more than a cool, considerate, and impartial ex- 
 mination: It is hoped, that none of us fear the most 
 trict one that can be made ; however, I know one that 
 oes not. 
 
 If it should, upon such inquiry, be found, that we are 
 he men our enemies suggest, it is high time such vipers 
 rere intirely crushed ; but, if not, it is as timely and rea- 
 onable that the innocent should be vindicated and pro- 
 ected, who liave long groaned under unmerited calumny 
 ,nd oppression. 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 LEST the good citizens of London should take um- 
 brage at our stiling them omv friends and allies, and 
 hould superciliously reject alliance and amity with us, or 
 hould be too hastily induced to join in the opposition, 
 t may not be amiss to propose to them the following 
 lints : 
 
 1. That should the private /iflZi'n-Z'roA'er be suppressed, 
 he infallible consequence Avill be a cliaritable corpmration 
 )r p)etty-bank, which, like all other monopolies, will begin 
 rith the most laudable pretences, but will infallibly rise 
 )y degrees to the most enormous height, and swallow up 
 he trade of the nation; or (as heretofore) become a 
 nighty bubble to draw in certain persons charitably dis- 
 )osed to relieye the poor, and, at the same time, get 
 Qore interest for their money than any other fund will give. 
 
 Now, the private pawn-broker may be esteem'd a kind 
 >f advance-guard, or out-work, which must be first 
 lemolishM, before the common enemy can make his 
 ipproachcs. 
 
 55 :!. I lie 
 
160 An Apology, Sfc. 
 
 2. The private paivn-brokers do cause, perhaps, a 
 million of money to circulate in the channels of trade ; 
 which, otherwise, would be locked up in the public funds ; 
 or, what may be much worse, fall into the hands of a 
 charitable corporatio)i. 
 
 AVhether small credit bears, at this time of the day, 
 the most agreeable aspect? whether the ready money 
 trade is so very considerable, as to bear the lopping-off so 
 considerable a branch ? or, whether there is too much 
 ready money circulating in trade at this time ? must be 
 left to your consideration. 
 
 3. Whether, if the private paivn-broker , who is a sort 
 of mountaineer, and, at present, possess'd of an important 
 pass (tho' situated on a bleak, barren, and ingrateful soil) 
 should be driven from thence, he may not retreat to the 
 more warm and fertile plain, where there is already com- 
 plaint for want of elbow room ? And as he has, by thin 
 diet, and frequent incm'sions upon him, been inur'd to 
 hardship and fatigue, (whereby he may have acquir'd 
 a robust and athletic constitution) may not prove a 
 troublesome neighbour, and disturb their long and happy 
 repose? 
 
 4. If the ^v\\2±e paion-brokers should be so regulated, 
 as to be oblig^l to quit their posts of a sudden, one or 
 other of these must be the consequence ; either the com- 
 mon enemy, if prepared, will immediately get into posses- 
 sion ; or, for want of such supplement, the suddenly 
 distress^ and ungovernable multitude may possibly take 
 it into their heads to be their own carvers : And, as they 
 are not given to make the most nice, just, and accurate 
 distinction as to person or property ; the consequences 
 may be as fatal one way as the other. 
 
 These hints may be enlarged in their own meditations : 
 A word to the ivise is enough. ' 
 
 FINIS. 
 
EXTRACTS 
 
 FROM THi- 
 
 WORKS 
 
 OF 
 
 Dr. FRANKLIN, 
 
 ON 
 
 Population, Commerce, 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Observations couceruiug the Increase of Mankind, Peo- 
 pling of Countries, <fec. . . , . . . . . 165 
 
 Eemarks on some of the foregoing Observations, showing 
 particularly the effect which Manners have on Popula- 
 tion. By E. Jackson, Esq. . . . . . . . . 172 
 
 On the price of Corn, and management of the Poor . . 182 
 
 On Smuggling, and its various species . . . . . . 186 
 
 Observations on War . . . . . . . . . . 191 
 
 On the labouring Poor . . . . . . . , . . 193 
 
 Plan for benefiting distant unprovided Countries . . 197 
 
 On the Institution in Holland to prevent Poverty . . 201 
 
 Positions to be examined . . . . . . . . . . 203 
 
 Provisions made in China against Famine . . . . 205 
 
 isote respecting Trade and Manufactures . . . . 207 
 
 Notions concerning Trade and Merchants . . . . 207 
 
 Principles of Trade 208 
 
 Eeflections on Coin in general . . . . . . . . 233 
 
 Thoughts concerning the Sugar Islands , . . . . . 239 
 
FRANKLIN 
 
 Population^ Commerce^ ^c. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING THE INCREASE OF 
 MANKIND, PEOPLING OF COUNTRIES, &C. 
 
 Written in Pennsylvania^ 1751. 
 
 TABLES of the proportion of marriages to births, 
 of deaths to births, of marriages to the number 
 •f inhabitants, &c. formed on observations made upon the 
 (ills of mortality, christenings, &c. of populous cities, 
 rill not suit countries ; nor will tables formed and ob- 
 ervations made on full settled old countries, as Europe, 
 uit new countries, as America. 
 
 2. For people increase in proportion to the number of 
 tiarriages, and that is greater in proportion to the ease 
 nd convenience of supporting a family. When families 
 an be easily supported, more persons marry, and earlier 
 a life. 
 
 3. In cities, where all trades, occupations, and offices 
 re full, many delay marrying till they can see how to bear 
 he charges of a family ; which charges are greater in 
 ities, as luxury is more common ; many live single during 
 ife, and continue servants to families, journeymen to 
 rades, &c. Ilcnce cities do not, by natural generation, 
 upply themselves with inhabitants ; the deaths are more 
 ban the births. 
 
 5 4. Tn 
 
166 Franklin on 
 
 4. In countries full settled, the case must be nearly the 
 same, all lands being occupied and improved to the height ; 
 those who cannot get lands, must labor for others, that 
 have it ; when laborers are plenty, their wages will be low ; 
 by low wages a family is supported with difficulty ; this 
 difficulty deters many from marriage, who therefore long 
 continue servants and single. Only, as the cities take 
 supplies of people from the country, and thereby make a 
 little more room in the country, marriage is a little more 
 encouraged there, and the births exceed the deaths. 
 
 5. Great part of Europe is fully settled with husband- 
 men, manufacturers, &c. and therefore cannot now much 
 increase in people. America is chiefly occupied by Indians, 
 who subsist mostly by hunting. But as the hunter, of all 
 men, requires the greatest quantity of land from whence 
 to draw his subsistence, (the husbandman subsisting on 
 much less, the gardener on still less, and the manufacturer 
 requiring least of all) the Europeans found America as 
 fully settled, as it well could be by hunters ; yet these, 
 having large tracts, were easily prevailed on to part witli 
 portions of territory to the new comers^ who did not much 
 interfere with the natives in hunting, and furnished them 
 with many things they wanted. 
 
 6. Land being thus plenty in America, and so cheap, 
 as that a labouring man, that understands husbandry, can, 
 in a short time, save money enough to purchase a piece of 
 new land, sufficient for a plantation, whereon he may sub- 
 sist a family ; such are not afraid to marry : for if they 
 even look far enough forward to consider how their chil- 
 dren, when grown up, are to be provided for, they see, 
 that more land is to be had at rates equally easy, all 
 circumstances considered. 
 
 7. Hence marriages in America are more general, and 
 more generally early, than in Europe. And if it is 
 reckoned there, that there is but one marriage per annum 
 among 100 persons, perhaps we may here reckon two ; and 
 
 ti if 
 
Populntioii, Commerce, S)*f. 167 
 
 if in Europe, they have but four births to a marriage, 
 (many of their marriages being late) we may here reckon 
 eight, of which, if one half grow up, and our marriages 
 are made, reckoning one with another, at twenty years of 
 age, our people must at least be doubled every twenty 
 years. 
 
 8. But notwithstanding this increase, so vast is the 
 territory of North America, that it will require many ages 
 to settle it fully; and till it is fully settled, labor will 
 never be cheap here, where no man continues long a 
 laborer for others, but gets a plantation of his own ; no 
 man continues long a journeyman to a trade, but goes 
 among those new settlers, and sets up for himself, &c. 
 Hence labor is no cheaper now, in Pennsylvania, than it 
 was thirty years ago, though so many thousand lal)oring 
 people have been imported from Germany and Ireland. 
 
 9. The danger, therefore, of these colonies interfei-ing 
 with their mother country in trades, that depend on labor, 
 manufactures, &c. is too remote to require the attention of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 10. But, in proportion to the increase of the colonies, 
 a vast demand is growing for British manufactures ; a 
 glorious market, wholly in the power of Britain, in which 
 foreigners cannot interfere, which will increase, in a short 
 time, even beyond her power of supplying, though her 
 whole trade should be to her colonies. * ^ * -x- 
 
 12. It is an ill-grounded opinion, that, by the labor of 
 slaves, America may possibly vie in cheapness of manufac- 
 tures with Britain. The labor of slaves can never be so 
 cheap here, as the labor of Avorking men is in Britain. 
 Any one may compute it. Interest of money is in the 
 colonies from 6 to 10 per cent. Slaves, one with another, 
 cost 30/. sterling per head. Reckon then the interest of 
 the first purchase of a slave, the insurance or risk on his 
 life, his clothing and diet, expenses in his sickness and loss 
 of time, loss by his neglect of business, (neglect is natural 
 7 to 
 
168 Franklin on 
 
 to the man, who is not to be benefited by his own care or 
 diligence) expense of a driver to keep him at Avork, and 
 his pilfering from time to time, almost every slave being, 
 from the nature of slavery, a thief, and compare the whole 
 amount with the wages of a manufacturer of iron or wool 
 in England, you will see, that labor is much cheaper 
 there, than it ever can be by negroes here. Why then 
 will Americans purchase slaves ! Because slaves may be 
 kept as long as a man pleases, or has occasion for their 
 labor, while hired men are continually leaving their mas- 
 ter (often in the midst of his business) and setting up for 
 themselves. § 8. 
 
 13. As the increase of people depends on the en- 
 couragement of marriages, the following things must 
 diminish a nation, viz. 1. The being conquered; for the 
 conquerors will engross as many offices, and exact as 
 much tribute or profit on the labor of the conquered, as 
 will maintain them in their new establishment; and his 
 diminishing the subsistence of the natives discourages 
 their marriages, and so gradually diminishes them, while 
 the foreigners increase. 2. Loss of territory. Thus the 
 Britons, being driven into Wales, and crowded together in 
 a barren country, insufiicient to support such great num- 
 bers, diminished, till the people bore a proportion to the 
 produce; while the Saxons increased on their abandoned 
 lands, till the island became full of English. And, were the 
 English now driven into Wales by some foreign nation, there 
 would, in a few years, be no more Englishmen in Britain, 
 than there are now people in Wales. 3. Loss of trade. 
 Manufactures, exported, draw subsistence from foreign 
 countries for numbers, who are thereby enabled to marry 
 and raise families. If the nation be deprived of any 
 branch of trade, and no new employment is found for the 
 people occupied in that branch, it will soon be deprived of 
 so many people. 4. Loss of food. Suppose a nation has 
 a fishery, which not only employs great numbers, but 
 8 makes 
 
Population, Commerce, ^c. 1(59 
 
 makes the food and subsistence of the people cheaper : if 
 anotlier nation becomes master of the seas, and prevents 
 the fishery, the people will diminish in proportion as the 
 loss of employ and dearness of provision makes it more 
 difficult to subsist a family. 5. Bad government and in- 
 secure property. People not only leave such a country, 
 and, settling abroad, incorporate with other nations, lose 
 their native language, and become foreigners ; but the 
 industry of those that remain being discouraged, the quan- 
 tity of subsistence in the country is lessened, and the 
 support of a family becomes more difficult. So heavy 
 taxes tend to diminish a people. 6. The introduction of 
 slaves. The negroes brought into the English sugar 
 islands, have greatly diminished the whites there : the 
 poor are by this means deprived of employment, while a 
 few families acquire vast estates, which they spend on 
 foreign hixuries ; and, educating their children in the 
 habits of those luxuries, the same income is needed for 
 the support of one, that might have maintained one hun- 
 dred. The whites, who have slaves, not laboring, are 
 enfeebled, and therefore not so generally prolific ; the 
 slaves being worked too hard, and ill fed, their constitu- 
 tions are broken, and the deaths among them are more 
 than the births : so that a continual supply is needed from 
 Africa. The northern colonies, having few slaves, increase 
 in whites. Slaves also pejorate the families that use them ; 
 the white children become proud, disgusted with labor, 
 and, being educated in idleness, are rendered unfit to get 
 a li\ang by industry. 
 
 14. Hence the prince, that acquires new territory, if 
 he finds it vacant, or removes the natives to give his own 
 people room ; — the legislator, that makes eftectual laws for 
 promoting trade, increasing employment, improving land 
 by more or better tillage, providing more food by fisheries, 
 securing property, &c. ; — and the man that invents new 
 trades, arts or manufactures, or now improvements in 
 9 husl)andrv 
 
170 Franklin on 
 
 husbandry, may be properly called fathers of their nation 
 as they are the cause of the generation of multitudes, by 
 the encouragement they afiPord to marriage. 
 
 15. As to privileges granted to the married, (such as 
 the jus trium liberorum among the Romans) they may 
 hasten the tilling of a country, that has been thinned by 
 war or pestilence, or that has otherwise vacant territory, 
 but cannot increase a people beyond the means provided 
 for their subsistence. 
 
 16. Foreign luxuries, and needless manufactures, im- 
 ported and used in a nation, do, by the same reasoning, 
 increase the people of the nation that furnishes them, and 
 diminish the people of the nation that uses them. Laws 
 therefore that prevent such importations, and, on the 
 contrary, promote the exportation of manufactures to be 
 consumed in foreign countries, may be called (with respect 
 to the people that make them) generative laws, as, by 
 increasing subsistence, they encourage marriage. Such 
 laws likewise strengthen a country doubly, by increasing 
 its own people, and diminishing its neighbors. 
 
 17. Some European nations prudently refuse to con- 
 sume the manufactures of East India : — they should like- 
 wise forbid them to their colonies; for the gain to the 
 merchant is not to be compared with the loss, by this 
 means, of people to the nation. 
 
 18. Home luxury in the great increases the nation's 
 manufacturers employed by it, who are many, and only 
 tends to diminish the families that indulge in it, who are 
 few. The greater the common fashionable expense of any 
 rank of people, the more cautious they are of marriage. 
 Therefore luxury should never be suffered to become 
 common. 
 
 19. The great increase of offspring in particular 
 families is not always owing to greater fecundity of nature, 
 but sometimes to examples of industry in the heads, and 
 industrious education, by which the children are enabled 
 
 10 better 
 
Population, Coiiinierce, 6^c. I7l 
 
 better to provide for themselves, and their marrying early 
 is encouraged from the prospect of good subsistence. 
 
 20. If there be a sect, therefore, in our nation, that 
 regard frugality and industry as religious duties, and 
 educate their children therein, more than others commonly 
 do, such sect must consequently increase more by natural 
 generation than any other sect in Britain. 
 
 21. The importation of foreigners into a country that 
 has as many inhabitants as the present employments and 
 provisions for subsistence will bear, will be in the end no 
 increase of people, unless the new-comers have more in- 
 dustry and frugality than the natives, and then they will 
 provide more subsistence, and increase in the country ; 
 but they will gradually eat the natives out. Nor is it 
 necessary to bring in foreigners to fill up any occasional 
 vacancy in a country; for such vacancy (if the laws are 
 good, § 14, 16) will soon be filled by natural generation. 
 Who can now find the vacancy made in Sweden, France, 
 or other warlike nations, by the plague of heroism 40 
 years ago ; in France, by the expulsion of the protestants ; 
 in England, by the settlement of her colonies; or in 
 Guinea, by a hundred years' exportation of slaves, that 
 has blackened half America? The thinness of the in- 
 habitants in Spain is owing to national pride, and idleness, 
 and other causes, rather than to the expulsion of the 
 Moors, or to the making of new settlements. 
 
 22. There is, in short, no bound to the prolific nature 
 of plants or animals, but what is made by their crowding 
 and interfering with eacli other's means of subsistence. 
 Was the face of the earth vacant of other plants, it might 
 be gradually sowed and overspread with one kind only, 
 as, for instance, with fennel : and were it empty of other 
 inhabitants, it might, in a few ages, be replenished from 
 one nation only, as, for instance, with Englishmen. Thus 
 there are supposed to be now upwards of one million of 
 English soids in North America (though it is thought 
 scarce 80,000 have been brought over sea), and yet per- 
 
 1 1 haps 
 
172 F^xinklin on 
 
 haps there is not one the fewer in Britain, but rather 
 many more, on account of the employment the colonies 
 afford to manufacturers at home. This million doubling, 
 suppose but once in 25 years, will, in another century, be 
 more than the people of England, and the greatest 
 number of Englishmen will be on this side the water. 
 What an accession of power to the British Empire by sea 
 as well as land ? What increase of trade and navigation ? 
 What numbers of ships and seamen? We have been 
 here but little more than a hundred years, and yet the 
 force of our privateers in the late war, united, was greater, 
 both in men and guns, than that of the whole British navy 
 in Queen Elizabeths time. How important an affair then 
 to Britain is the present treaty* for settling the bounds 
 between her colonies and the French ? And how careful 
 should she be to seciu'e room enough, since on the room 
 depends so much the increase of her people ? 
 
 23. In fine, a nation well regulated is like a polypus : 
 take away a limb, its place is soon supplied : cut it in two, 
 and each deficient part shall speedily grow out of the part 
 remaining. Thus, if you have room and subsistence 
 enough, as you may, by dividing, make ten polypuses out 
 of one, you may, of one, make ten nations, equally popu- 
 lous and powerful ; or, rather, increase the nation tenfold 
 in numbers and strength. * * * * 
 
 Remarks on some of the foregoing Observations, showing par- 
 ticularly the Effect which Manners have on Population. 
 
 From Richard Jackson,t Esq. of London, to Benjamin 
 Franklin, Esq. at Philadelphia. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 It is now near three years since I received your excel- 
 12 lent 
 
 * In 1751. 
 
 t An English barrister of eminence, and an intimate friend of 
 Dr. Franklin. 
 
Population, Commerce, &^c. 173 
 
 lent Observations on the Increase of Mankind, t^c. in which 
 you have with so much sagacity and accuracy shown in 
 what manner, and by what causes, that principal means of 
 political grandeur is best promoted ; and have so well sup- 
 ported those just inferences you have occasionally drawn, 
 concerning the general state of our American colonies, 
 and the views and conduct of some of the inhabitants of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 You have abundantly proved, that natural fecundity is 
 hardly to be considered, because the vis yenerandi, as far 
 as we know, is unlimited ; and because experience shows, 
 that the numbers of nations are altogether governed by 
 collateral causes, and among these none of so much force 
 as quantity of subsistence, whether arising from climate, 
 soil, improvement of tillage, trade, fisheries, secure pro- 
 perty, conquest of new countries, or other favorable 
 circumstances. 
 
 As I perfectly concurred with you in your sentiments 
 on these heads, I have been very desirous of building 
 somewhat on the foundation you have there laid ; and was 
 induced, by your hints in the twenty-first section, to trouble 
 you with some thoughts on the influence manners have 
 always had, and are always likely to have, on the numbers 
 of people, and their political prosperity in general. 
 
 The end of every individual is its own private good. 
 The rules it observes, in the pursuit of this good, are a 
 system of propositions, almost every one founded in au- 
 thority ; that is, deriving their weight from the credit 
 given to one or more persons, and not from demonstration. 
 
 And this, in the most important as well as the other 
 affairs of life, is the case even of the wisest and philoso- 
 phical part of the human species ; and that it should be 
 so is the less strange, when we consider, that it is perhaps 
 impossil)le to prove that beiny, or life itself, has any other 
 value than what is set on it by authority. 
 
 A confirmation of this may be derived from the ob_ 
 13 servation, 
 
l74 Franklin on 
 
 servation, that, in every country in the universe, happiness 
 is sought upon a different plan : and, even in the same 
 country, we see it placed by different ages, professions, 
 and ranks of men, in the attainment of enjoyments utterly 
 unlike. 
 
 These propositions, as well as others framed upon them, 
 become habitual by degrees, and, as they govern the de- 
 termination of the will, I call them moral habits. 
 
 There is another set of habits, that have the direction 
 of the members of the body, that I call therefore mechani- 
 cal habits. These compose what we commonly call the 
 arts, which are more or less liberal or mechanical, as they 
 more or less partake of assistance from the operations of 
 the mind. 
 
 The cumulus of the moral habits of each individual, is 
 the manners of that individual ; the cumulus of the man- 
 ners of individuals makes up the manners of a nation. 
 
 The happiness of individuals is evidently the ultimate 
 end of political society; and political welfare, or the 
 strength, splendor, and opulence of the state, have been 
 always admitted, both by political writers, and the valuable 
 part of mankind in general, to conduce to this end, and 
 are therefore desirable. 
 
 The causes that advance or obstruct any one of these 
 three objects, are external or internal. The latter may be 
 divided into physical, civil, and personal ; under which 
 last head I comprehend the moral and mechanical habits 
 of mankind. The physical causes are principally climate, 
 soil, and number of subjects; the civil, are government 
 and laws ; and political welfare is always in a ratio com- 
 posed of the force of these particular causes ; a multitude 
 of external causes, and all these internal ones, not only 
 control and qualify, but are constantly acting on, and. 
 thereby insensibly, as well as sensibly, altering one another, 
 both for the better and the worse, and this not excepting 
 the climate itself. 
 
 14 The 
 
Popukttioii, Commerce, Sfc. 175 
 
 The powerful efficacy of mauuers in increasing a people 
 is manifest from the instance yon mention, the Quakers ; 
 among them industry and frugality multiply and extend 
 the use of the necessaries of life ; to manners of a like 
 kind are owing the populousness of Holland, Switzerland, 
 China, Japan, and most parts of ludostan, &c., in every 
 one of which, the force of extent of territory and fertility 
 of soil is multiplied, or their want compensated, by in- 
 dustry and frugality. 
 
 Neither nature nor art have contributed much to the 
 production of subsistence in Switzerland, yet we see fru- 
 gality preserves and even increases families that live on 
 their fortunes, and which, in England, we call the gentry ; 
 and the observation we cannot but make in the southern 
 part of this kingdom, that those families, including all 
 superior ones, are gi'adually becoming extinct, aftbrds the 
 clearest proof that luxury (that is, a greater expense of 
 subsistence than in prudence a man ought to consume) is 
 as destructive as proportionable want of it ; but in Scot- 
 land, as in Switzerland, the gentry, though one with 
 another they have not one-fourth of the income, increase 
 in number. 
 
 And here I cannot help remarking, by the bye, how 
 well founded your distinction is between the increase of 
 mankind in old and new settled countries in general, and 
 more particularly in the case of families of condition. In 
 America, where the expenses are more confined to neces- 
 saries, and those necessaries are cheap, it is common to 
 see above one hundred persons descended from one living 
 old man. In England, it frequently happens, where a man 
 has seven, eight, or more children, there has not been a 
 descendant in the next generation, occasioned by the diffi- 
 culties the number of children has brought on the family, 
 in a luxurious dear country, and which have prevented 
 their marrying. 
 
 That this is more owing to luxury than mere want, 
 15 a[)prars 
 
176 Franklin on 
 
 appears from what I have said of Scotland, and more 
 plainly from parts of England remote from Loudon, in 
 most of which the necessaries of life are nearly as dear, 
 in some dearer, than London, yet the people of all ranks 
 marry and breed up children. 
 
 Again : among the lower ranks of life, none produce 
 so few children as servants. This is, in some measure, to 
 be attributed to their situation, which hinders marriage, 
 but is also to be attributed to their luxury and corruption 
 of manners, which are greater than among any other set 
 of people in England, and are the consequence of a nearer 
 view of the lives and persons of a superior rank, than 
 any inferior rank, without a proper education, ought to 
 have. 
 
 The quantity of subsistence in England has unques- 
 tionably become greater for many ages ; and yet, if the 
 inhabitants are more numerous, they certainly are not so 
 in proportion to our improvement of the means of sup- 
 port. I am apt to think there are few parts of this 
 kingdom that have not been at some former time more 
 populous than at present. I have several cogent reasons 
 for thinking so of great part of the counties I am most 
 intimately acquainted with ; but, as they were probably 
 not all most populous at the same time, and as some of 
 our towns are visibly and vastly grown in bulk, I dare not 
 suppose, as judicious men have done, that England is less 
 peopled than heretofore. 
 
 The growth of our towns is the effect of a change of 
 manners, and improvement of arts, common to all Europe ; 
 and though it is not imagined that it has lessened the 
 country growth of necessaries, it has evidently, by intro- 
 ducing a greater consumption of them, (an infallible con- 
 sequence of a nation's dwelling in towns) counteracted the 
 effects of our prodigious advances in the arts. 
 
 But however frugality may supply the place, or pro- 
 digality counteract the effects, of the natural or acquired 
 16 subsistence 
 
Population, Commerce, '^c. 177 
 
 subsistence of a country, industry is, beyond doubt, a more 
 efficacious cause of plenty than any natural advantage of 
 extent or fertility. I have mentioned instances of frugality 
 and industry united with extent and fertility. In Spain 
 and Asia INIinor, we see frugality joined to extent and 
 fertility, without industry; in Ireland we once saw the 
 same; Scotland had then none of them but frugality. 
 The change in these two countries is obvious to every one, 
 and it is owing to industry not yet very widely diffused in 
 either. The effects of industry and frugality in England 
 are surprising ; both the rent and the value of the in- 
 heritance of land, depend on them greatly more than on 
 nature; and this, though there is no considerable dif- 
 ference in the prices of our markets. Land of equal 
 goodness lets for double the rent of other land lying in 
 the same county, and there are many years^ purchase 
 difference between different counties, where rents are 
 equally well paid and secure. 
 
 Thus manners operate upon the number of inhabitants ; 
 but of their silent effects upon a civil constitution, history, 
 and even our own experience, yield us abundance of proofs, 
 though they are not uncommonly attributed to external 
 causes; their support of a government against external 
 force is so great, that it is a common maxim among the 
 advocates of liberty, that no free government was ever 
 dissolved, or overcome, before the manners of its subjects 
 were corrupted. 
 
 The superiority of Greece over Persia was singly owing 
 to their difference of manners ; and that, though all 
 natural advantages were on the side of the latter, to which 
 I might add the civil ones ; for though the greatest of all 
 Q\\\\ advantages, liberty, was on the side of Greece, yet 
 that added no political strength to her, but in proportion 
 as it operated on her manners ; and, when they were cor- 
 rupted, the restoration of their liberty by the Romans 
 overturned the remains of their power. 
 
 17 Whether 
 
178 FranUin on 
 
 Whether the manners of ancient Rome were at any 
 period calculated to promote the happiness of individuals^ 
 it is not my design to examine ; but that their manners, 
 and the effects of those manners on their government and 
 public conduct, founded, enlarged, and supported, and 
 afterwards overthrew their empire, is beyond all doubt. 
 One of the eflFects of their conquest, furnishes us with a 
 strong proof, how prevalent manners are even beyond 
 quantity of subsistence ; for, when the custom of bestow- 
 ing on the citizens of Rome corn enough to support 
 themselves and families was become established, and 
 Egypt and Sicily produced the grain that fed the inhabi- 
 tants of Italy, this became less populous every day, and 
 the jus trium liberorum was but an expedient that could 
 not balance the want of industry and frugality. 
 
 But corruption of manners did not only thin the 
 inhabitants of the Roman empire, it rendered the 
 remainder incapable of defence long before its fall, 
 perhaps before the dissolution of the republic; so that 
 without standing disciplined armies, composed of men 
 whose moral habits principally, and mechanical habits 
 secondarily, made them different from the body of the 
 people, the Roman empire had been a prey to the barba- 
 rians many ages before it was. 
 
 By the mechanical habits of the soldiery, I mean their 
 discipline and the art of war ; and that this is but a 
 secondary quality appears from the inequality that has in 
 all ages been between raw though well disciplined armies 
 and veterans ; and more from the irresistible force a single 
 moral habit, religion, has conferred on troops, frequently 
 neither disciplined nor experienced. 
 
 The military manners of the noblesse in France, com- 
 pose the chief force of that kingdom ; and the enterprising 
 manners and restless dispositions of the inhabitants of 
 Canada, have enabled a handful of men to harass our 
 populous, and, generally, less martial colonies ; yet neither 
 18 are 
 
Popuhitioit, Commerce, &r. 179 
 
 are of the value they seem at first, because overbalanced 
 by the defect they occasion of other habits that would 
 produce more eligible political good : and military man- 
 ners in a people are not necessary in an age and country 
 where such manners may be occasionally formed and pre- 
 sei-ved among men enough to defend the state : and such 
 a country is Great Britain ; where, though the lower class 
 of people are by no means of a military cast, yet they 
 make better soldiers than even the noblesse of France. 
 
 The inhabitants of this country, a few ages back, were 
 to the populous and rich provinces of France, what Canada 
 is now to the British colonies. It is true, there was less 
 disproportion between their natiu'al strength ; but I mean, 
 that the riches of France were a real weakness, opposed to 
 tlie military manners founded upon poverty and a rugged 
 disposition, compared to the character of the English ; but 
 it must be remembered, that at this time the manners of 
 a people were not distinct from that of their soldiery ; for 
 the use of standing armies has deprived a military people 
 of the advantages they before had over others ; and though 
 it has been often said, that civil wars give power, because 
 they render all men soldiers, I believe this has only been 
 found true in internal wars following civil wars, and not 
 in external ones; for now, in foreign wars, a small army, 
 with ample means to support it, is of greater force than 
 one more numerous, with less. This last fact has often 
 happened between France and Germany. 
 
 The means of supporting armies, and consequently the 
 power of exerting external strength, are best found in the 
 industry and frugality of the body of a people living under 
 a government and laws that encouraged commerce; for 
 commerce is at this day almost the only stimulus that 
 forces every one to contribute a share of labor for the 
 public benefit. ^ 
 
 But such is the human frame, and the world is so 
 
 constituted, that it is a hard matter to possess one's self of 
 
 19 a 
 
180 Franklin on 
 
 a benefit, without laying one's self open to a loss on some 
 other side ; the improvements of manners of one sort 
 often deprave those of another : thus we see industiy and 
 frugality under the influence of commerce, which I call a 
 commercial spirit, tend to destroy, as well as support, the 
 government it flourishes under. 
 
 Commerce perfects the arts, but more the mechanical 
 than the liberal, and this for an obvious reason ; it softens 
 and enervates the manners. Steady virtue and unbending 
 integrity are seldom to be found where a spirit of com- 
 merce pervades every thing ; yet the perfection of com- 
 merce is, that every thing should have its price. We 
 every day see its progress, both to our benefit and detri- 
 ment here. Things, that boni mores forbid to be set to 
 sale, are become its objects, and there are few things 
 indeed extra commerciwn. The legislative power itself 
 has been in commercio, and church livings are seldom 
 given without consideration, even by sincere Christians, 
 and, for consideration, not seldom to very unworthy per- 
 sons. The rudeness of ancient military times, and the 
 fury of more modern enthusiastic ones, are worn ofi"; 
 even the spirit of forensic contention is astonishingly di- 
 minished, all marks of manners softening; but luxury 
 and corruption have taken their places, and seem the 
 inseparable companions of commerce and the arts. 
 
 I cannot help observing, however, that this is much 
 more the case in extensive countries, especially at their 
 metropolis, than in other places. It is an old observation 
 of politicians, and frequently made by historians, that 
 small states always best preserve their manners. Whether 
 this happens from the greater room there is for attention 
 in the legislature, or from the less room there is for ambi- 
 tion and avarice, it is a strong argument, among others, 
 against an incorporating union of the colonies in America, 
 or even a federal one, that may tend to the future reducing 
 them under one government. 
 
 20 Their 
 
Popukttion, Commerce, &,-<;. 181 
 
 Their power, while disunited, is less, but their liberty, 
 as well as manners, is more secure ; and, considering the 
 little danger of any conquest to be made upon them, 1 
 had rather they should sulFer something through disunion, 
 than see them under a general administration less equitable 
 than that concerted at Albany. 
 
 I take it, the inhabitants of Pennsylvania are both 
 frugal and industrious beyond those of any province in 
 America. If luxury should spread, it cannot be extir- 
 pated by laws. Wc arc told by Plutarch, that Plato used 
 to say. It ivas a hard thing to make laws for the Cyrenians, 
 a people abounding in plenty and opulence. 
 
 But from what I set out with, it is evident, if I be not 
 mistaken, that education only can stem the torrent, and, 
 without checking either true industry or frugality, prevent 
 the sordid frugality and laziness of the old Irish, and 
 many of the modern Scotch, (I mean the inhabitants of 
 that country, those who leave it for another being generally 
 industrious,) or the industry, mixed with luxm'y, of this 
 capital, from getting ground, and, by rendering ancient 
 manners familiar, produce a reconciliation between dis- 
 interestedness and commerce ; a thing we often see, but 
 almost always in men of a liberal education. 
 
 To conclude : when we would form a people, soil and 
 climate may be found at least sufficiently good ; inha- 
 bitants may be encouraged to settle, and even supported 
 for a while ; a good government and laws may be framed, 
 and even arts may be established, or their produce im- 
 ported : but many necessary moral habits are hardly ever 
 found among those who voluntarily oflFcr themselves in 
 times of quiet at liome, to people new colonies ; besides 
 that the moral as well as mechanical habits, adapted to a 
 mother-country, ai'c frequently not so to the new settled 
 one, and to external events, many of which are always 
 unforeseen. Hence it is we have seen such fruitless at- 
 tempts to settle colonies, at an immense public and 
 21 private 
 
182 Franklin on 
 
 private expense, by several of the powers of Europe ; and 
 it is particularly observable, that none of the English 
 colonies became any way considerable, till the necessary 
 manners were born and grew up in the country, excepting 
 those to which singular circumstances at home forced 
 manners fit for the forming a new state. I am. Sir, &c. 
 
 R. Jackson. 
 
 On the Price of Corn, and Management of the Poor. 
 To Messieurs the Public. 
 
 I am one of that class of people that feeds you all, and 
 at present is abused by you all ; — in short, I am a 
 farmer. 
 
 By your newspapers we are told, that God had sent a 
 very short harvest to some other countries of Europe. I 
 thought this might be in favor of Old England ; and that 
 now we should get a good price for our grain, which would 
 bring millions among us, and make us flow in money : 
 that, to be sure, is scarce enough. 
 
 But the wisdom of government forbad the exporta- 
 tion. 
 
 Well, says I, then we must be content with the market 
 price at home. 
 
 No, say my lords the mob, you sha^n't have that. 
 Bring your corn to market if you dare ; — we^ll sell it for 
 you, for less money, or take it for nothing. 
 
 Being thus attacked by both ends of the constitution, 
 the head and the tail of government, what am I to do? 
 
 Must I keep my corn in the barn to feed, and increase 
 the breed of rats? — be it so ; — they cannot be less thank- 
 ful than those I have been used to feed. 
 
 22 Are 
 
Population, Commerce, Sjc. 1 S3 
 
 Are we farmers the ouly people to be grudged the 
 profits of our honest labor? — And why? One of the 
 late scribblers against us, gives a bill of fare of the pro- 
 visions at my daughter's wedding, and proclaims to all 
 the world, that we had the insolence to cat beef and 
 pudding ! — Has he not read the precept in the good book, 
 T/iou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out 
 the corn ; or does he think us less worthy of good living 
 than our oxen ? 
 
 O, but the manufacturers ! the manufacturers ! they 
 are to be favored, and they must have bread at a cheap 
 rate ! 
 
 Hark ye, Mr. Oaf; — the farmers live splendidly, you 
 say. And pray, would you have them hoard the money 
 they get? Their fine clothes and furniture, do they 
 make them themselves, or for one another, and so kee]> 
 the money among them? Or, do they employ these ypur 
 darling manufacturers, and so scatter it again all over the 
 nation ? 
 
 The wool would produce me a better price, if it were 
 suffered to go to foreign markets ; but that. Messieurs the 
 PubKc, your laws will not permit. It must be kept all at 
 home, that our dear manufacturers may have it the 
 cheaper. And then, having yourselves thus lessened our 
 encouragement for raising sheep, you curse us for the 
 scarcity of mutton ! 
 
 I have heard my grandfather say, that the farmers 
 submitted to the prohibition on the exportation of wool, 
 being made to expect and believe that when the manufac- 
 turer bouglit his wool cheaper, they should also have their 
 cloth cheaper. But the deuce a bit. It has been growing 
 dearer and dearer from that day to this. How so ? Why, 
 truly, the cloth is exported ; and that keeps up the 
 price. 
 
 Now, if it be a good principle, tliat the exportation of 
 
 a commodity is to be restrained, that so our jjcople at 
 
 23 home 
 
184 
 
 Franklin on 
 
 home may have it the cheaper, stick to that principle, and 
 go thorough stitch -with it. Prohibit the exportation of 
 your cloth, your leather, and shoes, your iron ware, and 
 your manufactures of aU sorts, to make them all cheaper 
 at home. And cheap enough they will be, I will warrant 
 you — till people leave off making them. 
 
 Some folks seem to think they ought never to be easy 
 till England becomes another Lubberland, where it is 
 fancied the streets are paved with penny rolls, the houses 
 tiled with pancakes, and chickens, ready roasted, cry, Come 
 eat me ! 
 
 I say, when you are sure you have got a good principle, 
 stick to it, and carry it thorough. I hear it is said, that 
 though it was necessary and right for the ministry to 
 advise a prohibition of the exportation of com, yet it was 
 contrarij to law ; and also, that though it was contrary to 
 laiv for the mob to obstruct waggons, yet it was necessary 
 and right. Just the same thing to a tittle. Now they tell 
 me, an act of indemnity ought to pass in favor of the 
 ministry, to secure them from the consequences of 
 having acted illegally. If so, pass another in favor of the 
 mob. Others say, some of the mob ought to be hanged, 
 by way of example. If so, — ^but I say no more than I 
 have said before, tvhen you are sicre that you have got a 
 good principle, go thorough with it. 
 
 You say, poor laborers cannot afford to buy bread at a 
 high price, unless they had higher wages. Possibly. But 
 how shall we farmers be able to afford our laborers higher 
 wages, if you wiU not allow us to get, when we might 
 have it, a higher price for our corn ? 
 
 By all that I can learn, we should at least have had a 
 guinea a quarter more, if the exportation had been al- 
 lowed. And this money England would have got from 
 foreigners. 
 
 But, it seems, we farmers must take so much less, that 
 the poor may have it so much cheaper. 
 
 24 This 
 
Population, Commerce, ^c. 
 
 185 
 
 This operates then as a tax for the maintenance of the 
 poor. A very good thing, you will say. But I ask, why 
 a partial tax ? Why laid on us farmers only ? If it be a 
 good thing, pi'ay, Messieurs the Public, take your share of 
 it, by indemnifying us a httle out of your public treasury. 
 In doing a good thing, there is both honor and pleasure ; — 
 you are welcome to your share of both. 
 
 For my own part, I am not so well satisfied of the 
 goodness of this thing. I am for doing good to the poor, 
 but I diflFer in opinion about the means. I think the best 
 way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in 
 poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my 
 youth I travelled mucli, and I observed in different coun- 
 tries, that the more public provisions were made for the 
 poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course 
 became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done 
 for them, the more they did for themselves, and became 
 richer. There is no country in the world where so many 
 provisions are established for them ; so many hospitals to 
 receive them when they are sick or lame, founded and 
 maintained by voluntary charities ; so many alms-houses 
 for the aged of both sexes; together with a solemii general 
 law, made by the rich, to subject their estates to a heavy 
 tax for the support of the poor. Under all these obliga- 
 tions, are our poor modest, humble, and thankful ? and do 
 they use their best endeavours to maintain themselves, and 
 lighten our shoulders of this burthen ? On the contrary, 
 I aflBrm that there is no country in the world in which the 
 poor are more idle, dissolute, drunken, and insolent. The 
 day you passed that act, you took away from before their 
 eyes the greatest of all inducements to industry, frugality, 
 and sobriety, by giving them a dcpcudeuce on somewhat 
 else than a careful accumulation during youth and health, 
 for support in age or sickness. In short, you offered a 
 premium for the encouragement of idleness, and you 
 should not now wonder that it has had its efiect in the in- 
 25 crease 
 
186 Franklin on 
 
 crease of poverty. Repeal that law, and j^oli will soon see 
 a change in their manners — Saint Monday and Saint I'ues- 
 day will soon cease to be holidays. Six days shalt thou 
 labor, though one of the old commandments, long treated 
 as out of date, will again be looked upon as a respectable 
 precept ; industry will increase, and with it plenty among 
 the lower people; their circumstances will mend, and 
 more will be done for their happiness by inuring them to 
 provide for themselves, than could be done by dividing all 
 your estates among them. 
 
 Excuse me, Messieurs the Public, if upon this interest- 
 ing subject I put you to the trouble of reading a little of 
 my nonsense : I am sure I have lately read a great deal of 
 yours ; and therefore from you (at least from those of you 
 who are writers) I deserve a little indulgence. 
 
 I am yours, &c. Arator. 
 
 On Smuggling, and its various Species. 
 Sir, 
 
 There are many people that would be thought, and 
 even think themselves, honest men, who fail nevertheless 
 in particular jjoints of honesty ; deviating from that 
 character sometimes by the prevalence of mode or custom, 
 and sometimes through mere inattention ; so that their 
 honesty is partial only, and not general or universal. Thus, 
 one who would scorn to over-reach you in a bargain, shall 
 make no scruple of tricking you a little now and then at 
 cards; another that plays with the utmost fairness, shall 
 with great freedom cheat you in the sale of a horse. But 
 there is no kind of dishonesty, into which otherwise 
 good people more easily and frequently fall, than that of 
 defrauding government of its revenues by smuggling 
 26 when 
 
Population, CorMiierce, Sjc. 187 
 
 when they have an opportunity, or eucoiiraging smugglers 
 by buying their goods. 
 
 I fell into these reflections the other day, on hearing 
 two gentlemen of reputation discoursing about a small 
 estate, which one of them was inclined to sell, and the 
 other to buy ; when the seller, in recommending the place, 
 remarked, that its situation was very advantageous on this 
 account, that being on the sea-coast in a smuggling 
 country, one had frequent opportunities of buying many 
 of the expensive articles used in a family, (such as tea, 
 coffee, chocolate, brandy, w-ines cambrics, Brussels laces, 
 French silks, and all kinds of India goods,) 20, 30, and in 
 some articles 50 ^jer cent, cheaper than they could be had 
 in the more interior parts, of traders that paid duty. The 
 other honest gentleman allowed all this to be an advantage, 
 but insisted that the seller, in the advanced price he de- 
 manded on that account, rated the advantage much above 
 its value. And neither of them seemed to think dealing 
 with smugglers, a practice that an honest man (provided 
 he got his goods cheap) had the least reason to be ashamed 
 of. 
 
 At a time when the load of our public debt, and the 
 heavy expense of maintaining our fleets and armies to be 
 ready for our defence on occasion, makes it necessary not 
 only to continue old taxes, but often to look out for new 
 ones ; perhaps it may not be unuseful to state this matter 
 in a light that few seem to have considered it in. 
 
 The people of Great Britain, under the happy consti- 
 tution of this country, have a privilege few other countries 
 enjoy, that of choosing the third branch of the legislature ; 
 which branch has alone the power of regulating their taxes. 
 Now whenever the government finds it necessary for the 
 common ])enefit, advantage, and safety of the nation, for 
 the security of our liberties, property, religion, and every 
 thing that is dear to us, that certain sums shall be yearly 
 raised by taxes, duties, &c. and paid into the public 
 27 tieasurv, 
 
188 Franklin 07i 
 
 treasury, tlience to be dispensed by government for those 
 purposes, ougbt not every honest man freely and willingly 
 to pay his just proportion of this necessary expense ? Can 
 he possibly preserve a right to that character, if by any 
 fraud, stratagem, or contrivance, he avoids that payment in 
 whole or in part ? 
 
 What should we think of a companion, Avho having 
 supped with his friends at a tavern, and partaken equally 
 of the joys of the evening with the rest of us, would 
 nevertheless contrive, by some artifice, to shift his share 
 of the reckoning upon others, in order to go off scot-free ? 
 If a man who practised this, would, when detected, be 
 deemed and called a scoundrel, what ought he to be called, 
 who can enjoy all the inestimable benefits of public 
 society, and yet by smuggling, or dealing with smugglers, 
 contrive to evade paying his just share of the expense, as 
 settled by his own representatives in parliament ; and 
 wrongfully throw it upon his honester and perhaps much 
 poorer neighbours? He will perhaps be ready to tell me, 
 that he does not wrong his neighbours; he scorns the 
 imputation ; he only cheats the king a little, who is very 
 able to bear it. This however is a mistake. The public 
 treasure is the treasure of the nation, to be applied to 
 national purposes. And when a duty is laid for a particu- 
 lar public and necessary purpose, if through smuggling 
 that duty falls short of raising the sum required, and 
 other duties must therefore be laid to make up the defi- 
 ciency; all the additional sum laid by the new duties and 
 paid by other people, though it should amount to no more 
 than a halfpenny or a farthing per head, is so much 
 actually picked out of the pockets of those other people by 
 the smugglers and their abettors and encouragers. Are 
 they then any better or other than pickpockets ? and what 
 mean, low, rascally pickpockets must those be, that can 
 pick pockets for halfpence and for farthings ? 
 
 I would not however be supposed to allow in what I 
 28 have 
 
Popiilation, Commerce, ^c. 189 
 
 liave just said, that cheating the king is a less offence 
 against honesty, than cheating the public. The king and 
 the public in this case are different names for the same 
 thing ; but if we consider the king distinctly, it will not 
 lessen the crime : it is no justification of a robbery, that 
 the person robbed was rich and able to bear it. The king 
 has as much right to justice as the meanest of his subjects ; 
 and as he is truly the common father of his people, those 
 that rob him fall under the scripture woe, pronounced 
 against the sou tliat robbeth his father, and saith it is no 
 sin. 
 
 Mean as this practice is, do we not daily see people of 
 character and fortune engaged in it for trifling advantages 
 to themselves ? Is any lady ashamed to request of a 
 gentleman of her acquaintance, that when he returns from 
 abroad, he would smuggle her home a piece of silk or lace 
 from France or Flanders? T> rmy gentleman ashamed to 
 undertake and execute the commission ? Not in the least. 
 They will talk of it freely, even before others whose 
 pockets they are thus contriving to pick by this piece of 
 knavery. 
 
 Among other branches of the revenue, that of the 
 post-office is, by a late law, appropriated to the discharge 
 of our public debt, to defray the expenses of the state. 
 None but members of parliament, and a few public officers, 
 have now a right to avoid, by a frank, the payment of 
 postage. AVhen any letter not written by them or on 
 their business, is franked by any of them, it is a hurt to 
 the revenue ; an injury which they must now take the 
 pains to conceal by writing the whole superscription them- 
 selves. And yet such is our insensibility to justice in this 
 particular, that nothing is more common than to see, even 
 in a reputable company, a very honest gentleman or lady 
 declare, liis or her intention to cheat the nation of three- 
 pence by a frank ; and, without blushing, apply to one of 
 the very legislators themselves, with a modest request, that 
 29 he 
 
190 FranUin on 
 
 he would be pleased to become an accomplice in the crime, 
 and assist in the perpetration. 
 
 There are those who by these practices take a great 
 deal in a year out of the public purse, and put the money 
 into their own private pockets. If, passing through a 
 room where public treasure is deposited, a man takes the 
 opportunity of clandestinely pocketing and carrying off a 
 guinea, is he not truly and properly a thief? And if 
 another evades paying into the treasury a guinea he ought 
 to pay in, and applies it to his own use, when he knows it 
 belongs to the public as much as that which has been paid 
 in, what difference is there in the nature of the crime, or 
 the baseness of committing it ? 
 
 Some laws make the receiving of stolen goods equally 
 penal with stealing, and upon this principle, that if there 
 were no receivers there would be few thieves. Our pro- 
 verb too, says truly, that the receiver is as bad as the thief. 
 By the same reasoning, as there would be few smugglers, 
 if there were none who knowingly encouraged them by 
 buying their goods, we may say that the encouragers of 
 smuggling are as bad as the smugglers ; and that as 
 smugglers are a kind of thieves, both equally deserve the 
 punishments of thievery. 
 
 In this view of wronging the revenue, what must we 
 think of those who can evade paying for their wheels and 
 their plate, in defiance of law and justice, and yet declaim 
 against corruption and peculation, as if their own hands 
 and hearts were pure and unsullied? The Americans 
 offend us grievously, when, contrary to our laws, they 
 smuggle goods into their own country ; and yet they had 
 no hand in making those laws. I do not however pretend 
 from thence to justify them : but I think the offence much 
 greater in those who either directly or indirectly have been 
 concerned in making the very laws they break. And 
 when I hear them exclaiming against the Americans, and 
 for every little infringement of the acts of trade, or ob- 
 30 struction 
 
Population, Commerce, ^c. 191 
 
 struction given by a petty mob to an officer of onr customs 
 in that country, calling for vengeance against the whole 
 people as rebels and traitors, I cannot help thinking there 
 are still those in the world who can see a mote in their 
 brother's eye, ivhilethey do not discern a beam in their own; 
 and that the old saying is as true now as ever it was, one 
 man may better steal a horse, than another look over the 
 hedge. B. F. 
 
 / Observations on War. 
 
 By the original law of nations, war and extirpation 
 were the punishment of injury. Humanising by degrees, 
 it admitted slavery instead of death ; a farther step was, 
 the exchange of prisoners instead of slavery ; another, to 
 respect more the property of private persons under con- 
 quest, and be content with acquired dominion. Why 
 should not this law of nations go on improving? Ages 
 have intervened between its several steps ; but as know- 
 ledge of late increases rapidly, why should not those steps 
 be quickened? Why should it not be agreed to, as the 
 future law of nations, that in any war hereafter the fol- 
 lowing description of men should be undisturbed, have the 
 protection of both sides, and be permitted to follow their 
 employments in security ? viz. 
 
 1 . Cultivators of the earth, because they labor for the 
 subsistence of mankind. 
 
 2. Fishermen, for the same reason. 
 
 3. Merchants and traders in unarmed ships, who 
 accommodate different nations by communicating and 
 exchanging the necessaries and conveniences of life. 
 
 4. Artists and mechanics, inhabiting and working in 
 open towns. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to add, that the hospitals of 
 
 enemies should be unmolested — they ought to be assisted. 
 
 31 ' It 
 
192 Franklin on 
 
 It is for the interest of humanity in general, that the 
 occasions of war, and the inducements to it, should be 
 diminished. If rapine be abolished, one of the encourage- 
 ments to war is taken away ; and peace therefore more 
 likely to continue and be lasting. 
 
 The practice of robbing merchants on the high seas — 
 a remnant of the ancient piracy — though it may be acci- 
 dentally beneficial to particular persons, is far from being 
 profitable to all engaged in it, or to the nation that autho- 
 rises it. In the beginning of a war some rich ships are 
 surprised and taken. This encourages the first adventurers 
 to fit out more armed vessels ; and many others to do the 
 same. But the enemy at the same time become more 
 careful ; arm their merchaut ships better, and render them 
 not so easy to be taken: they go also more under the 
 protection of convoys. Thus, while the privateers to take 
 them are multiplied, the vessels subject to be taken, and 
 the chances of profit, are diminished ; so that many cruises 
 are made wherein the expenses overgo the gains ; and, as 
 is the case in other lotteries, though particulars have got 
 prizes, the mass of adventurers are losers, the whole ex- 
 pense of fitting out all the privateers during a war, being 
 much greater than the whole amount of goods taken. 
 
 Then there is the national loss of all the labor of so 
 many men dm'ing the time they have been employed in 
 robbing ; who besides spend what they get in riot, drun- 
 kenness, and debauchery ; lose their habits of industry ; 
 are rarely fit for any sober business after a peace, and 
 serve only to increase the number of highwaymen and 
 house-breakers. Even the undertakers who have been 
 fortunate, are, by sudden wealth, led into expensive living, 
 the habit of which continues when the means of support- 
 ing it cease, and finally ruins them ; a just punishment for 
 their having wantonly and unfeelingly ruined many honest, 
 innocent traders and their families, whose substance was 
 employed in serving the common interest of mankind. 
 
 32 On 
 
Population, Commerce, Sjc. 193 
 
 On the Laboring Poor. 
 
 To the Editor of ^ * * April, 1768. 
 Sir, 
 
 I have met with much invective in the papers for these 
 two years past, ag^ainst the hard-heartedness of the rich, 
 and much complaint of the great oppressions suffered in 
 this country by the laboring poor. Will you admit a 
 word or two on the other side of the question ? I do not 
 propose to be an advocate for oppression or oppressors. 
 But when I see that the poor are, by such writings, 
 exasperated against the rich, and excited to insurrections, 
 by which much mischief is done, and some forfeit their 
 lives, I could wish the true state of things were better 
 understood, the poor not made by these busy writers more 
 uneasy and unhappy than their situation subjects them to 
 be, and the nation not brought into disrepute among 
 foreigners, by public groundless accusations of ourselves, 
 as if the rich in England had no compassion for the poor, 
 and Englishmen wanted common humanity. 
 
 In justice, then, to this country, give me leave to 
 remark, that the condition of the poor here is, by far, the 
 best in Europe; for that, except in England and her 
 American colonies, there is not in any country of the 
 known world, not even in Scotland or Ireland, a pro- 
 vision by law to enforce a support of the poor. Every- 
 where else necessity reduces to beggary. This law was 
 not made by the poor. The legislators were men of for- 
 tune. By that act they voluntarily subjected their own 
 estates, and the estates of all others, to the payment of a 
 tax, for the maintenance of the poor, incumbering those 
 estates with a kind of rent charge for that purpose, 
 whereby the poor are vested with an inheritance, as it 
 were, in all the estates of the rich. I wish they were 
 benefitted by this generoiis provision, in any degree equal 
 33 * to 
 
194 Franklin on 
 
 to the good intention with which it was made, and is con- 
 tinued. But I fear the giving mankind a dependance on 
 any thing for support, in age or sickness, besides industry 
 and frugality during youth and health, tends to flatter our 
 natural indolence, to encourage idleness and prodigality, 
 and thereby to promote and increase poverty, the very evil 
 it was intended to cure ; thus multiplying beggars instead 
 of diminishing them. 
 
 Besides this tax, which the rich in England have sub- 
 jected themselves to in behalf of the poor, amounting in 
 some places to live or six shillings in the pound, of the 
 annual income, they have, by donations and subscriptions, 
 erected numerous schools in various parts of the kingdom, 
 for educating, gratis, the children of the poor, in reading 
 and Avriting ; and in many of those schools the children 
 are also fed and clothed. They have erected hospitals at 
 an immense expense, for the reception and cure of the 
 sick, the lame, the wounded, and the insane poor, for 
 lying-in women, and deserted children. They are also 
 continually contributing towards making up losses occa- 
 sioned by fire, by storms, or by floods, and to relieve the 
 poor in severe seasons of frost, in times of scarcity, &c. in 
 which benevolent and charitable contributions no nation 
 exceeds us. — Surely, there is some gratitude due for so 
 many instances of goodness. 
 
 Add to this all the laws made to discourage foreign 
 manufactures, by laying heavy duties on them, or totally 
 prohibiting them, whereby the rich are obliged to pay 
 much higher prices for what they wear and consume, than 
 if the trade was open. These are so many laws for the 
 support of our laboring poor, made by the rich, and con- 
 tinued at tbeir expense : all the difference of price between 
 our own and foreign commodities, being so much given by 
 our rich to oiu' poor ; who would indeed be enabled by it 
 to get by degrees above poverty, if they did not, as too 
 generally they do, consider every increase of wages, onW 
 34 as 
 
Poiyidation, Commerce, &^c. 195 
 
 as something that enables them to drink more and work 
 less ; so that their distress in sickness, age, or times of 
 scarcity, continues to be the same as if such laws had 
 never been made in their favor. 
 
 Much malignant censure have some writers bestowed 
 upon the rich for their luxury and expensive living, while 
 the poor are starving, &c. ; not considering that what the 
 rich expend, the laboring poor receive in payment for their 
 labor. It may seem a paradox if I should assert, that our 
 laboring poor do in every year receive the ivhole revenue of 
 the natron ; I mean not only the public revenue, but also 
 the revenue or clear income of all private estates, or a 
 sum equivalent to the whole. — In support of this position 
 I reason thus : the rich do not work for one another. 
 Their habitations, furniture, clothing, carriages, food, 
 ornaments, and every thing, in short, that they or their 
 families use and consume, is the work or produce of the 
 laboring poor, who are and must be continually paid for 
 their labor in producing the same. In these payments the 
 revenues of private estates are expended, for most people 
 live up to their incomes. In clothing or provision for 
 troops, in arms, ammunition, ships, tents, carriages, &c. 
 &c. (every particular the produce of labor), much of the 
 public revenue is expended. The pay of officers, civil and 
 military, and of the private soldiers and sailors, requires 
 the rest ; and they spend that also in paying for what is 
 produced by the laboring poor. I allow that some estates 
 may increase by the owners spending less than their 
 income ; but then I conceive that other estates do at the 
 same time diminish, by the owners spending more than 
 their income, so that when the enriched want to buy more 
 land, they easily find lands in the hands of the impo- 
 verished, whose necessities oblige them to sell ; apd thus 
 this difference is equalled. I allow also that part of the 
 expense of the rich is in foreign produce or manufactures, 
 for producing which the laboring poor of other nations 
 35 must 
 
196 Franklin on 
 
 must be paid ; but then I say, we must first pay our own 
 laboring poor for an equal quantity of our manufactures 
 or produce to excliauge for those foreign productions, or 
 we must pay for them in money, which money not being 
 the natiu'al produce of our country, must first be purchased 
 from abroad, by sending out its value in the produce or 
 manufactures of this country, for which manufactures our 
 laboring poor are to be paid. And indeed if we did not 
 export more than we import, we could have no money at 
 all. I allow farther, that there are middle men, who make 
 a profit, and even get estates, by purchasing the labor of 
 the poor, and selling it at advanced prices to the rich ; but 
 then they cannot enjoy that profit, or the incomes of 
 estates, but by spending them in employing and paying 
 our laboring poor, in some shape or other, for the products 
 of industry. — Even beggars, pensioners, hospitals, anrl all 
 that are supported b}^ charity, spend their incomes in the 
 same manner. So that finally, as I said at first, our labor- 
 ing poor receive annually the ivhole of the clear revenues 
 qf the nation, and from us they can have no more. 
 
 If it be said that their wages are too low, and that 
 they ought to be better paid for their labor, I heartily wish 
 that any means could be fallen upon to do it consistent 
 with their interest and happiness ; but as the cheapness of 
 other things is owing to the plenty of those things, so the 
 cheapness of labor is in most cases owing to the multitude 
 of laborers, and to their under-working one another in 
 order to obtain employment. How is this to be remedied? 
 A law might be made to raise their wages ; but if our 
 manufactures are too dear, they will not vend abroad, and 
 all that part of employment will fail, unless by fighting and 
 .conquering, we compel other nations to buy om* goods 
 whether they will or no, which some have been mad 
 enough at times to propose. Among ourselves, unless we 
 give our working people less employment, how can Are for 
 what they do pay them higher than we do? Out of what 
 36 fund 
 
Poimlalion, Commerce, S)C. \i)7 
 
 fund is the additional price of labor to be paid, when all 
 our present incomes are, as it were, mortgaged to them ? 
 Should they get higher wages, would that make them less 
 poor, if in consequence they worked fewer days of the 
 week proportionably ? I have said a law might be made 
 to raise their wages ; but I doubt much whether it could 
 be executed to any purpose, unless another law, now 
 indeed almost obsolete, could at the same time be revived 
 and enforced ; a law, I mean, that many have often heard 
 and repeated, but few have ever duly considered. Six 
 dai/s s/ialt thou labor. This is as positive a part of tlie 
 commandment, as that which says, the Seventh day thou 
 shult rest ; but w^e remember well to observe the indulgent 
 part, and never think of the other. <SY. Monday is gene- 
 rally as didy kept by our working people as Sunday ; the 
 only diflference is, that instead of employing their time 
 cheaply at church, they are wasting it expensively at the 
 ale-house. I am. Sir, yours, &c. 
 
 Medius. 
 
 Plan for Benefiting distant unprovided Countries* 
 
 By Messrs. Franklin and Dairy mple. 
 
 Aug. 29, 1771. 
 
 The country called in tlic maps New Zealand, \ia,s been 
 discovered by the Endeavour, to be two islands, together 
 as large as Great Britain : these islands named Acpy^ 
 nomawee and Tovy-poennammoo, are inhabited by a brave 
 and generous race, who are destitute of corn, fowls, and 
 all quadrupeds, except dogs. 
 
 37 These 
 
 * These proposals were printed upon a sheet of paper, and dis- 
 tributed. The parts written by Dr. Franklin and Mr. Dalryrnple ar& 
 easily dii?tiiiguishecl« 
 
198 Franklin on 
 
 These circumstances being mentioned lately in a com- 
 pany of men of liberal sentiments, it was observed that it 
 seemed incumbent on such a country as thiSy [England] to 
 communicate to all others the conveniences of life which 
 we enjoy. 
 
 Dr. Franklin, whose life has ever been directed to 
 promote the true interest of society, said, " he would with 
 all his heart subscribe to a voyage intended to communicate 
 in general those benefits which we enjoy, to countries 
 destitute of them in the remote parts of the globe." This 
 proposition being warmly adopted by the rest of the com- 
 pany, Mr. Dalrymple, then present, was induced to offer 
 to undertake the command on such an expedition. 
 
 On mature reflection this scheme appears the more 
 honoi'able to the national character of any which can be 
 conceived, as it is grounded on the noblest principle of 
 benevolence. Good intentions are often frustrated by 
 letting them remain indigested ; on this consideration 
 Mr. Dalrymple was induced to put the outlines on paper, 
 which are now published, that by an early communication 
 there may be a better opportunity of collecting all the 
 hints which can conduce to execute effectually the bene- 
 volent purpose of the expedition, in case it should meet 
 with general approbation. 
 
 On this scheme being shown to Dr. Franklin, he com- 
 municated his sentiments by way of introduction, to the 
 following effect. 
 
 " Britain is said to have produced originally nothing 
 but sloes. What vast advantages have been communicated 
 to her by the fruits, seeds, roots, herbage, animals, and 
 arts of other countries ! We are by their means become 
 a wealthy and a mighty nation, abounding in all good 
 things. Does not some dull/ hence arise fi-om us towards 
 other countries still remaining in our former state ? 
 
 " Britain is now the first maritime power in the world. 
 
 Her ships are innumerable, capable b;^ their form, size, 
 
 38 and 
 
Population, Commerce, &;c. l.')9 
 
 and strength, of sailing all seas. Our seamen arc equally 
 bold, skilful and hardy ; dexterous in exploring the re- 
 motest regions, and ready to engage in voyages to unkno^\ n 
 countries, though attended with the greatest dangers. The 
 inhabitants of those countries, onr fellow men, have canoes 
 only ; not knowing iron, they cannot build ships : they 
 have little astronomy, and no knowledge of the compass to 
 guide them : they cannot therefore come to us, or obtain 
 any of our advantages. From these circumstances, does 
 not some duty seem to arise from us to them ? Does not 
 Providence by these distinguishing favors seem to call on 
 us to do something ourselves for tlie common interest of 
 humanity ? 
 
 " Those who think it their duty to ask bread and otiier 
 blessings daily from heaven, would they not think it 
 equally a duty to communicate of those blessings when 
 they have received them ; and show their gratitude to 
 their great Beiiefactor by the only means in their power, 
 promoting the happiness of his other children ? 
 
 " Ceres is said to have made a journey through many 
 countries to teach the use of corn, and the art of raising 
 it. For this single benefit the grateful nations deified her. 
 How much more may Englishmen deserve such honor, by 
 communicating the knowledge and use not of corn only, 
 but of all the other enjoyments earth can produce, and 
 which they are now in possession of. Communiter bona 
 profundere, Beitm est. 
 
 " Many voyages have been undertaken with views of 
 profit or of plunder, or to gratify resentment ; to procure 
 some advantage to ourselves, or do some mischief to others : 
 but a voyage is now proposed to visit a distant people on 
 the other side the globe ; not to cheat them, not to rolj 
 them, not to seize their lands, or enslave their persons ; 
 but merely to do them good, and make them, as far as in 
 our power lies, to live as comfortably as ourselves, 
 
 " It seems a laudable wish that all the nations of the 
 39 earth 
 
200 Franklin on 
 
 earth were connected by a knowledge of each other, and a 
 mutual exchange of benefits : but a commercial nation 
 particularly should wish for a general civilisation of man- 
 kind, since trade is always carried on to much greater 
 extent with people who have the arts and conveniences of 
 life, than it can be with naked savages. We may therefore 
 hope in this undertaking to be of some service to our 
 country, as well as to those poor people who, however 
 distant from us, are in truth related to us, and whose 
 interests do, in some degree, concern every one who can 
 say Homo sum," &c. 
 
 Scheme of a voyage by subscription, to convey the con- 
 veniences of life, as fowls, hogs, goats, cattle, corn, iron, 
 &c. to those remote regions which are destitute of them, 
 and to bring from thence such productions as can be cul- 
 tivated in this kingdom to the advantage of society, in a 
 ship under the command of Alexander Dairy mple. 
 
 Catt or bark, from the coal trade, of 350 tons, estimated 
 
 at about £2000 
 
 Extra expenses, stores, boats, &c. 3000 
 
 500O 
 
 To be manned with 60 men at 
 
 U. per man per month 
 
 240 
 12 
 
 2880 per annum 
 3 
 
 Wages and 8640 for three years .... 8640 
 
 provisions 
 
 13640 
 Cargo included, supposed £15000 
 
 The expenses of this expedition are calculated for three 
 
 years ; but the greatest part of the amount of wages will 
 
 not be wanted till the ship returns, and a great part of the 
 
 expense of provisions will be saved by what is obtained in 
 
 40 the 
 
Population, Commerce, 8fc. 201 
 
 the course of the voyage by barter or otherwise, though it 
 
 is proper to make provision for contingencies. 
 
 ■i. ■J, ■J, .j, ^ ^ ^ 
 
 On the Institution in Holland to prevent Poverty. 
 
 " Craven Street, June 17th, 1772. 
 " To ]Mr. INIaseres, 
 '' Sir, 
 
 " I thank you for the pamphlet proposing to establish 
 Life Annuities in parishes, &c. : I think it an excellent 
 one. In compliance with your wish, page 25, 26, I send 
 it back with a few marginal notes (perhaps of no great 
 importance) made in reading it, requesting it may be 
 returned to me. 
 
 " In page 118 of Dr. Price's Book on Annuities, 
 second edition, you will find mention made of an institu- 
 tion in Holland. He had that information from me. 
 Those houses are handsome neat buildings with very com- 
 fortable apartments; some form the sides of a square, 
 with grass plats and gravel walks, flowers, &c., and some 
 have little separate gardens behind each apartment. Those 
 for men are called Oiitle Mannen Hayzen, for women Oude 
 Vrouwen Hayzen. I think the diff*erent kinds sometimes 
 make different sides of the same square. There is a 
 chapel for prayers, a common kitchen, and a common hall, 
 in which they dine together. Two persons such as best 
 like one another, and choose so to associate, are generally 
 lodged in one apartment, though in separate beds, that 
 they may be at hand to assist each other in case of sudden 
 illness in the night, and otherwise be mutually helpful. 
 The directors have also a room to meet in, who form rules 
 for the government of the house, hear corrplaints, and 
 41 rectifv 
 
202 Franklin on 
 
 rectify what is amiss. Gentlemen are directors of the 
 Oude Mannen Haus, ladies of the Oude Vrouwen Haus. 
 A committee of two are chosen every year, who visit often, 
 see the rules observed, and take care of the management. 
 At the end of the year, these are thanked off', and as an 
 honorable memorial of their service, their names, with the 
 year they served, are added to the gold-letter list on the 
 walls of the room. All the furniture is neat and con- 
 venient, the beds and rooms kept clean and sweet by the 
 servants of the house, and the people appear to live 
 happily, 
 f " These institutions seem calculated to prevent poverty, 
 which is rather a better thing than relieving it : for it 
 keeps always in the public eye a state of comfort and 
 repose, with freedom from care in old age, held forth as an 
 encouragement to so much industry and frugality in youth 
 as may at least serve to raise the required sum (suppose 
 50/.) that is to intitle a man or woman at 50 to a retreat in 
 these houses. And in acquiring this sum, habits may be 
 acquired that produce such affluence before this age ar- 
 rives, as to make the retreat unnecessary, and so never 
 claimed. Hence if 50/. would (as by your table) intitle a 
 man at 50 years of age to an annuity of 19/. 3^. 6f/|, I 
 suppose that in such a house, entertainment and accom- 
 modation to a much greater value might be afforded him, 
 because the right to live there is not transferable, and 
 therefore every unclaimed right is an advantage to the 
 house, while annuities would probably be all claimed. 
 Then it seems to me that the prospect of a distant annuity 
 will not be so influencing on the minds of young people as 
 the constant view of the comfort enjoyed in those houses, 
 in comparison of which, even the payment and receipt of 
 the annuities oxe, private transactions. 
 
 " I write this in hopes you will, after consideration, 
 
 favor me with your opinion whether (in addition to your 
 
 plan, which will still have all its advantages for smaller 
 
 42 sums) 
 
Population, Commerce, ^c. 203 
 
 sums) oue or more such houses in every county would not 
 probably be of great use in still further promoting industry 
 and frugality among the lower people^ and of course 
 lessening the enormous weight of the poor tax ? 
 
 " I enclose a little piece I wrote in America to en- 
 courage and strengthen those important virtues^ of which 
 I beg your acceptance, and am, M'ith great esteem, 
 " Sir, your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 "■ B. Franklin." 
 
 Positions to be examined. 
 
 1. All food or subsistence for mankind arise from the 
 earth or waters. 
 
 2. Necessaries of life that are not foods, and all other 
 conveniences, have their values estimated by the propor- 
 tion of food consumed while we are employed in procuring 
 them. 
 
 3. A small people with a large territory may subsist 
 on the productions of nature, with no other labor than 
 that of gathering the vegetables and catching the animals. 
 
 4. A large people with a small territory finds these 
 insufficient, and to subsist, must labor the earth, to make 
 it produce greater quantities of vegetable food, suitable 
 for the nourishment of men, and of the animals they 
 intend to eat. 
 
 5. From this labor arises a great increase of vegetable 
 and animal food, and of materials for clothing, as flax, 
 wool, silk, &c. The superfluity of these is wealth. "With 
 this wealth we pay for the labor employed in building our 
 houses, cities, &c. which arc therefore only subsistence 
 thus metamorphosed. 
 
 6. Maniifuciiires are only another shape into which so 
 much provisions and subsistence are turned, as were equal 
 
 43 in 
 
204 Franklin on 
 
 in value to the manufactures produced. This appears from 
 hence^ that the manufacturer does not, in fact, obtain 
 from the employer for his labor, more than a mere sub- 
 sistence, including raiment, fuel, and shelter; all which 
 derive their value from the provisions consumed in pro- 
 curing them. 
 
 7. The produce of the earth, thus converted into 
 manufactures, may be more easily carried to distant 
 markets than before such conversion. 
 
 8. Fair commerce is, where equal values are exchanged 
 for equal, the expense of transport included. Thus if it 
 costs A in England as much labor and charge to raise a 
 bushel of wheat, as it costs B in France to produce four 
 gallons of wine, then are four gallons of wine the fair 
 exchange for a bushel of wheat, A and B meeting at half 
 distance with their commodities to make the exchange. 
 The advantage of this fair commerce is, that each party 
 increases the number of his enjoyments, having, instead of 
 wheat alone, or wine alone, the use of both wheat and 
 wine. 
 
 9. Where the labor and expense of producing both 
 commodities are known to both parties, bargains will 
 generally be fair and equal. Where they are known to 
 one party only, bargains will often be unequal, knowledge 
 taking its advantage of ignorance. 
 
 10. Thus he that carries 1000 bushels of wheat abroad 
 to sell, may not probably obtain so great a profit thereon 
 as if he had first turned the wheat into manufactures, by 
 subsisting therewith the workmen while producing those 
 manufactures : since there are many expediting and facili- 
 tating methods of working, not generally known; and 
 strangers to the manufactures, though they know pretty 
 well the expense of raising wheat, are unacquainted with 
 those short methods of working, and thence being apt to 
 suppose more labor employed in the manufactures than 
 there really is, are more easily imposed on in their value, 
 
 44 and 
 
Populafion, Commerce, S)C. 205 
 
 and induced to allow more for them tlian they are honestly 
 worth. 
 
 11. Thus the advantage of having manufactures in a 
 country does not consist^ as is commonly supposed, in 
 their highly advancing the value of rough materials, of 
 which they are formed ; since, though six-pennyworth of 
 flax may be worth 20*. when worked into lace, yet the 
 very cause of its being worth 20^. is, that besides the flax, 
 it has cost 19^. 6d. in subsistence to the manufacturer. 
 But the advantage of manufactures is, that under their 
 shape provisions may be more easily carried to a foreign 
 market ; and by their means our traders may more easily 
 cheat strangers. Few, where it is not made, are judges 
 of the value of lace. The importer may demand forty, 
 and perhaps get thirty shillings for that which cost him 
 but twenty. \ 
 
 12. Finally, there seem to be but three ways for a 
 nation to acquire wealth. The first is by wai', as the 
 Romans did, in plundering their conquered neighbors. 
 This is robbenj. — The second by commerce, which is, 
 generally, cheating. — The third by agriculture, the only 
 honest ivay ; wherein man receives a real increase of the 
 seed thrown into the gi'ound, in a kind of continual 
 miracle wrought by the hand of God in his favor, as a 
 reward for his innocent life, and his virtuous industry. 
 
 ApriM, 1769. B. F. 
 
 Provision made in China against Famine. 
 
 Extract of a Letter to Dr. Percival. 
 
 I have somewhere read that in China an account is 
 
 yearly taken of the number of people, and the quantities 
 
 45 of 
 
206 Franklin mi 
 
 of provision produced. This account is transmitted to the 
 Emperor, whose ministers can thence forsee a scarcity- 
 likely to happen in any province^ and from what province 
 it can best be supplied in good time. To facilitate the 
 collecting of this account, and prevent the necessity of 
 entering houses and spending time in asking and answer- 
 ing questions, each house is furnished with a little board 
 to be hung without the door, during a certain time each 
 year ; on which board are marked certain words, against 
 which the inhabitant is to mark number or quantity, 
 somewhat in this manner : 
 
 Men, 
 Women, 
 Children, 
 Rice or Wlieat, 
 Flesh, &c. 
 
 All under 16 are accounted children, and all above, 
 men and women. Any other particulars which the go- 
 vernment desires information of, are occasionally marked 
 on the same boards. Thus the officers appointed to collect 
 the accounts in each district, have only to pass before the 
 doors, and enter into their book what they find marked 
 on the board, without gi^ang the least trouble to the 
 family. There is a penalty on marking falsely, and as 
 neighbours must know nearly the truth of each other's 
 account, they dare not expose themselves by a false one, 
 to each other's accusation. Perhaps such a regulation is 
 scarcely practicable with us.* 
 
 46 Note 
 
 * The above passage is taken from Dr. Percival's Essays, vol. iii. 
 p. 25, being an extract from a letter written to him by Dr. Franklin, 
 on the subject of his observations on the state of population in 
 Manchester and other adjacent places. B. V. 
 
Populatioti, Commerce, ^c. 207 
 
 Note respecting Trade and Manufactures. 
 
 Suppose a country, X, with three manufactures, as 
 cloth, silk, iron, supplying three other countries, A, B, C, 
 but is desirous of increasing the vent, and raising the 
 price of clotli in favor of her own clothiers. 
 
 In order to this, she forbids the importation of foreign 
 cloth from A. 
 
 A, in return, forbids silks from X. 
 
 Then the silk-workers complain of a decay of trade. 
 And X, to content them, forbids silks from B. 
 
 B, in return, forbids iron-w are from X. 
 Then the iron-workers complain of decay. 
 And X forbids the importation of iron from C. 
 
 C, in return, forbids cloth from X. 
 What is got by all these prohibitions ? 
 
 Answer. — All four find their common stock of the 
 enjoyments and conveniences of life diminished. 
 London, Julv 7, 1767. B. F. 
 
 Notions concerning Trade and Merchants. 
 
 1. Were it possible for men, remote from each other, 
 to know easily one another^s wants and abundances, and 
 practicable for them on all occasions conveniently to meet 
 and make fair exchanges of their respective commodities, 
 there would then be no use of the middle man or mer- 
 chant ; such a profession would not exist. 
 
 2. But since that is not possible, were all governments 
 to appoint a number of public officers, whose duty and 
 business it should be to inform themselves thoroughly of 
 those wants and abundances, aud to procure, by proper 
 management, all the exchanges that would tend to increase 
 the general happiness, such officers, if they could well dis- 
 charge their trust, would deserve honors and salaries 
 equivalent to their industry and fidelity. 
 
 47 3. But 
 
208 Franklin on 
 
 3. But as iu large communities, and for the more 
 general occasions of mankind, such officers have never 
 been appointed, perhaps from a conviction that it would be 
 impracticable for such an appointment effectually to an- 
 swer its purpose, it seems necessary to permit men, who, 
 for the possible pt^ofits in prospect, will undertake it, to 
 fetch and carry, at all distances, the produce of other 
 men's industry, and thereby assist those useful exchanges. 
 
 4. As the persons primarily interested in these ex- 
 changes cannot conveniently meet to make known their 
 wants and abundances, and to bargain for exchanges, those 
 who transport the goods should be interested to study the 
 probability of these wauts, and where to find the means 
 of supplying them ; and, since there exist no salaries or 
 public rewards for them in proportion to their skill, in- 
 dustry, and utility to the people in general, nor to make 
 them any compensation for their losses arising from in- 
 expertness or from accident, it seems reasonable that for 
 their encouragement to follow the business, they should be 
 left to make such profits by it as they can, which, where it 
 is open to all, will probably seldom be extravagant. And 
 perhaps by this means the business will be better done for 
 the general advantage, and those who do it more properly 
 rewarded according to their merits, than would be the case 
 were special officers to be appointed for that service. 
 
 [The Essay that follows was originally published in 1774, and is the 
 joint work of George Whately and Dr. Franklin. The original 
 work was indeed written by the former, and communicated to the 
 latter, who rarely ever perused a literary production without cor- 
 recting, improving, or augmenting its force and value, from his 
 own sources. The corrections and additions which were made by 
 Dr. Franklin, produced an amicable controversy between them, 
 who had the best claim to call himself the author of it, which was 
 closed by a determination to publish it, without any name, but 
 under this designation — " By a well wisher to the king and 
 country."] 
 
 48 PRTNCIPLES 
 
Population, Commerce, ^c. 209 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF TRADE. 
 
 Freedom and Protection are its best support ; Industry the 
 only means to render Manufactures cheap. 
 
 Of Coins, Exchange, and Bounties, particularly the Bounty 
 on Coin. 
 
 Commerce is generally understood to he the basis on tohich the 
 poicer of this country hath heen raised, and on ichich it must 
 ever stand. 
 Tous les siijets doivent leurs soins, et leurs lumieres, a Vetat. 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 To all those who have the welfare and prosperity of 
 these kingdoms at heart, the following Essay, containing, 
 we hope, useful and incontrovertible principles on the sub- 
 jects treated of, is very heartily and affectionately inscribed. 
 
 March, 1774. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Section 
 
 Trade or Commerce ; what . . . . . . 1 
 
 Its End ; Gain 2 
 
 Its best Support ; Freedom and Protection . . 4 
 
 Fundamental Maxims for an industrious People 20 & seq. 
 
 Trade benefited by Industry more than Money 26 
 
 Of Silver Coin, and its Scarcity . . . . 29 
 
 Of other Coins, and Paper Money .. .. 31 & seq. 
 
 Of Exchanges . . . . . . . . . . 34 
 
 Of a Par of Exchange 38 
 
 Of Bounties 40 
 
 Of Bounty on "Wheat, and its being continued 42 & seq. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 It is a vain imagination that we exist only for our- 
 selves, or our particular country. The all-wise Creator 
 has ordained that a mutual dependence shall run through 
 all his works ; and though our limited capacities will not 
 admit us fully to comprehend the nature and end of this 
 connected chain of things, yet we may, and indeed ought, 
 49 to 
 
210 Franklin on 
 
 to inquire into and consider every thing wliicli relates to 
 our mutual dependence upon one another, and the springs 
 and principles of our actions. 
 
 By this investigation we shall find that our wants, 
 whether real or ideal, our passions, and our habits, are 
 the springs of all our actions, and indeed the movers of 
 the general intercourse and commerce between one man 
 and another, one country and another. 
 
 j\Iost writers upon trade have made it their business to 
 support and explain some particular branches of traffic, or 
 some favorite hypothesis. We shall, in the ensuing essay, 
 use our best endeavors to remove from the friends of trade, 
 and mankind in general, some prevailing prejudices, and 
 to treat in a concise manner, upon a few self-evident 
 principles, and general maxims, under a persuasion, that 
 if such maxims and principles are just, all deductions and 
 discussions whatever may be tried by their standard. 
 
 Some very respectable friends have indulged us with 
 their ideas and opinions. It is with the greatest pleasure 
 we, in this second edition, most gratefully acknowledge 
 the fjivor; and must add, that should the public hold this 
 performance in any estimation, no small share belongs to 
 those friends. 
 
 § 1. Trade or commerce is the intercourse, as well 
 between nation and nation, as between one man and 
 another ; by which we acquire whatsoever may be 
 thought, or understood to be, of use or delight, whether 
 real or ideal. 
 
 2. The spring or movement of such intercourse is, 
 and ever must be, gain, or the hopes of gain ; as neither 
 the public, nor the individual, would intentionally pursue 
 any unprofitable intercourse or commerce. 
 
 3. Gain being the principle of trade, the whole 
 
 50 mvsterv 
 
1 Population, Co7 amerce, S)C. 211 
 
 mystery of trade must therefore consist in prosecuting 
 methods whereby gain or advantage may be obtained. 
 
 In transactions of trade^ it is not to be supposed tliat, 
 like gaming, what one party gains the other must neces- 
 sarily lose. The gain to each may be equal. If A has 
 more corn than he can consume, but wants cattle, and B 
 has more cattle, but wants corn, an exchange is gain 
 to each ; hereby the common stock of comforts in life is 
 increased. 
 
 4. Freedom and protection are most indisputal^le prin- 
 ciples whereon the success of trade must depend, as clearly 
 as an open good road tends towards a safe and speedy in- 
 tercourse ; nor is there a greater enemy to trade than 
 constraint. 
 
 5. Governments which have adopted those plain 
 simple principles have been greatly benefited. 
 
 6. Were princes, in general, to abolish all sorts of pro- 
 hibitory laws, trade in general would florish most in those 
 countries where the happy situation, the mildness of the 
 climate, the activity and industry of the inhabitants, 
 would furnish means for a speedy and useful intercourse, 
 reciprocally to supply any real or ideal want. 
 
 When princes make war by prohibiting commerce, 
 each may hurt himself as much as his enemy. Traders, 
 who by their business are promoting the common good of 
 mankind, as well as farmers and fishermen, who labor for 
 the subsistence of all, should never be interrupted or mo- 
 lested in their business, but enjoy the protection of all in 
 the time of war as well as in time of peace. 
 
 This policy, those we are pleased to call barbarians, 
 have, in a great measure, adopted ; for the trading sub- 
 jects of any power, with whom the emperor of Morocco 
 may be at war, are not liable to capture, when within 
 sight of his land, going or coming, and have otherwise 
 free hberty to trade and reside in his dominions. 
 
 As a maritime power, we presume it is not thought 
 .11 ridit 
 
212 Franklin on 
 
 right that Great Britain should grant such freedom, 
 except partially ; as in the case of war with France^ when 
 tobacco is allowed to be sent thither under the sanction of 
 passports. 
 
 7. We are no more to expect this, than that the 
 whole world should be governed by the same laws. In 
 our opinion, however, no laws which the art of man can 
 devise, will or can hinder, or entirely stop the current of, 
 a profitable trade ; any more than the severest laws could 
 prevent the satisfying of hunger, when any chance or 
 opportunity offered to gratify it. 
 
 8. Nevertheless, so far as it is possible, according to 
 the different modes and constitutions of each state, fi-ee- 
 dom and protection should be ever had in view by its 
 respective government, 
 
 9. For whatever law is enacted, abridging a freedom 
 or liberty, which the true interest of the state demands, 
 or which does not grant protection where it may be 
 wanted, must clearly be detrimental. 
 
 10. We are well aware, that in many cases, indivi- 
 duals may endeavor at an intercourse or trade, whereby 
 the public, in one particular point, may seem injured; 
 and yet it may be out of the power of the state to hinder 
 it, without breaking in upon the freedom of trade ; so 
 that the Dutchman who, when Antwerp was besieged 
 furnished arms, ammunition, and provision to the 
 Spaniards, and gloried in it, though a chief magistrate of 
 Amsterdam, was not so very wrong in his principles in 
 general, as at first sight might appear : for this Dutchman 
 ran the risk of losing his ammunition, &c. which, if taken, 
 would have been indeed his loss, but a gain to the captors 
 his countrymen ; and if sold, and delivered to the enemy, 
 brought profit to him, and in consequence to the state of 
 which he was a member. This man, to evince how much 
 he held freedom in trade to be essential, used a very 
 strong figure ; when owning his having furnished the 
 
 52 enemy 
 
Population, Commerce, ^c. 213 
 
 enemy of the state with ammunition, &c. he added ; that 
 he v.ould, to prosecute his trade, sail through hell, at the 
 risk of singeing his sails. 
 
 It is generally a vain imagination, that if we do not 
 furnish an enemy with what he wants, he eannot be sup- 
 plied elsewhere. Since we are to suffer the mischief lie 
 may do with it, why should we not receive the profit that 
 arises on supplying it ? Thus might the Dutchman 
 have reasoned when he supplied the enemy with ammu- 
 nition, &c, 
 
 11. We have, as a first principle, laid down what we 
 apprehend every one must allow, that gain, or the hopes 
 of gain, is the mover of all intercourse or trade. Herein, 
 as above hinted, must be comprehended, all matters of 
 use, in the first instance : and then, matters of ambition, 
 delight, opinion : in one word, luxury. 
 
 12. Now things of real use can only be meat, drink, 
 clothing, fuel, and habitation. The several particulars 
 relative to these, every one's mind can suggest : to enu- 
 merate would almost be endless. 
 
 13. As to meat, in a country where corn, fruits, and 
 cattle can be raised, and bred : the inhabitants must be 
 wanting in industry, to cultivate the lands, or they can- 
 not, in the common course of things, want help from their 
 neighbors, for sustenance. 
 
 The same as to drink ; if for it they will content 
 themselves with the beverage made of their own corn and 
 fruits. 
 
 And so of clothing ; if they can be satisfied to be clad 
 with the manufactures made from the produce of their 
 own country. 
 
 As to fuel and habitation, there arc very few coun- 
 tries which do not afford these articles. 
 
 14. The real want of all or any of these neces- 
 saries, must, and ever will be, an incentive to labor; 
 either by every individual liimself, in the community, 
 
 53 or 
 
214 Franklin on 
 
 or by those, to whom an equivalent is given for their 
 labor. 
 
 15. When ambition, delight, opinion, otherwise 
 luxury, come to be considered, the field is extremely en- 
 larged ; and it Avill require a copious deliberation and 
 ascertainment. 
 
 16. For luxury may be carried to such a height, as to 
 be thought by some to be prejudicial to the state ; though 
 we, in a general sense, cannot well apprehend it can : in- 
 asmuch as what we call riches, must be the cause of 
 luxury, taken in all its branches. 
 
 17. Now riches, as we conceive them, consist in what- 
 ever either a state or an individual have, more than is 
 necessary, to procure the above essentials, which are only 
 of real use, viz. meat and drink, and clothes, fire and 
 shelter. 
 
 This more or abundance, from whatsoever cause it 
 may proceed, after the bartering for, and procuring those 
 essentials, would absolutely, and to all intents, be useless, 
 and of no manner of avail, were it not that delight, and 
 opinion, came in aid, to cause what we will call ideal 
 wants; which wants, our passions, put into our make by 
 the almighty hand that formed us, cause us to be almost 
 as solicitous to provide for, and to supply, as if such wants 
 were real. 
 
 18. We therefore must repeat, that from motives to 
 acquire what may be thought of real or ideal use, spring 
 the intercourse or trade between nations, as well as 
 between individuals: and it seems to be self-evident that 
 the produce of the land, and of industry in general, must 
 supply all our wants : and consequently our trade. 
 
 19. Now, though it is hardly to be expected, as above 
 hinted, that princes should allow of a general free trade 
 or intercourse, because they seldom know their own true 
 interest ; yet it does not follow that fundamental maxims 
 should not be attended to in governing an industrious 
 
 54 people. 
 
Population, Covunerce, S)C. 21. '5 
 
 people. Some of these principles we beg leave to expa- 
 tiate on. 
 
 20. Land, to bring forth its increase, must be culti- 
 vated by man and beast. It is therefore the duty and 
 interest of the state to rear both man and beast; and in 
 tlieir respective classes to nourish and cherish them. 
 
 21. Industry in all shapes, in all instances, and by all 
 means, should be encouraged and protected : indolence by 
 every possible method rooted out. 
 
 All that live must be subsisted. Subsistence costs 
 something. lie that is industrious produces by his 
 industry, something that is an equivalent, and pays for 
 his subsistence. He is therefore no charge or burden to 
 society. The indolent are an expense, uncompensated. 
 
 There can be no doubt but all kinds of employment 
 that can be followed without prejudice from interruptions ; 
 work that can be taken up, and laid doAvn, often in a day, 
 without damage ; such as spinning, knitting, weaving, 
 &c. are highly advantageous to a country : because, in 
 them, may be collected all the produce of those fragments 
 of time that occur in family business, between the con- 
 stant and necessary parts of it, that usually occupy 
 females ; as the time between rising and preparing break- 
 fast ; between breakfast and preparing for dinner, &c. 
 The amount of all these fragments is, in the course of a 
 year, very considerable to a single family ; to a state pro- 
 portionably. Highly profitable therefore it is, in this case 
 also, to follow that divine direction, gather up the frag- 
 ments, that nothing be lost. Lost time is lost subsistence; 
 it is therefore lost treasure. 
 
 Hereby, in several families, many yards of linen have 
 been produced from the employment of these fragments 
 only, in one year, though such families were just the 
 same in number as when not so employed. 
 
 It was an excellent saying of a certain Chinese em- 
 peror, " 1 will, if possible, have no idleness in my do- 
 5a minions : 
 
216 Franklin on 
 
 minions ', for if there be one man idle, some other man 
 must suffer cold and hunger." We take this emperor's 
 meaning to be, that the labor due to the public, by each 
 individual, not being performed by the indolent, must 
 naturally fall to the share of others, who must thereby 
 suffer. 
 
 22. Whatever can contribute towards procuring from 
 the land, and by industry, a produce wherewith other 
 nations may be supplied, ought highly to be encouraged. 
 
 23. Materials wanting in a country to employ its 
 inhabitants, ought by all means to be procured. Gold 
 and silver, those tokens of riches, used as such, and other- 
 wise of little use, are not near so estimable. The 
 bartering of them for such materials is manifestly ad- 
 vantageous. 
 
 24. These, as we apprehend, are incontrovertible 
 principles, on which a wise government will found its 
 resolutions. 
 
 25. That the use of the produce of other countries 
 for ideal wants ought to be discouraged, particularly when 
 the produce of the land, or of industry, are not given in 
 exchange for them, has been strongly urged by many. 
 On the grand principle of freedom in trade, we cannot 
 well admit it : for it is plain the luxurious will use, and 
 the trader, to prosecute his gain, will procure, such 
 foreign produce : nor do prohibitory laws, or heavy duties, 
 hinder. Nevertheless, to allow for a moment the 
 doctrine, we will remark, that only the establishing it as 
 a mode or fashion amongst the opulent and great, can 
 possibly effectuate a disuse or discouragement 
 
 In fact, the produce of other countries can hardly be 
 obtained, unless by fraud or rapine, without giving the 
 produce of our land or our industry in exchange for them. 
 If we have mines of gold and silver, gold and silver may 
 then be called the produce of our land. If we have not, 
 we can only fairly obtain those metals by giving for them 
 56 the 
 
Population, Commerce, ^c. 217 
 
 the produce of our land or industry. When we have 
 them, they are then only that produce or industry in 
 another shape ; which we may give, if the trade requires 
 it, and our other produce will not suit, in exchange for 
 the produce of some other country that furnishes what we 
 have more occasion for, or more desire. AVhen wc have, 
 to an inconvenient degree, parted with our gold and 
 silver, our industry is stimulated afresh to procure more ; 
 that by its means we may contrive to procure the same 
 advantage. 
 
 In this place it will be proper to observe upon an 
 erroneous doctrine, which has been often strenuously 
 insisted on, that the cheapness of provisions must render 
 manufactures cheap ; and that plenty of money conduces 
 to the benefit of trade. We shall endeavor to prove that 
 industry alone does both. 
 
 26. Providence has wisely ordained that there should 
 be different occupations and pursuits amongst men, and 
 that the rich and poor should be actuated by different 
 wants, whether real or ideal. It is next to impossible 
 that the rich should be without desires, or wishes for 
 greater acquisitions ; or the poor without being necessi- 
 tated to acquire what must supply their real w^ants. If 
 tlie rich curtail their desires, or wishes, their riches serve, 
 in proportion to their not using them, no more than ore 
 in an unworked mine. If the poor man, by one day's 
 labor can supply his real wants for tivo days, and sits idle 
 the half of his time, he may be considered in such idle 
 time as a monk or a cripple with regard to the com- 
 munity. If a thirst for acquisition move the rich man, 
 he industriously employs all his riches. If the scarcity of 
 provisions compel the poor man to work his whole time, 
 he assuredly, by his industry, must make more manufac- 
 tures than only working half of it. Hence we conclude, 
 that gain is the first mover ; and industry, and the desire 
 of supplying our wants, the intermediate movers of all 
 57 intcrcoiirsc 
 
218 Frankli7i on 
 
 intercourse or trade. We however must observe, that a 
 government truly Anse should always, as far as the general 
 good allows, be as solicitous to procure plenty of provi- 
 sions, whereby both man and beast may be kept in good 
 health and strength, as to encourage industry. For 
 industry cannot be sufficiently sustained without the 
 strength arising from plenty of provisions. 
 
 The common people do not work for pleasure generally, 
 but from necessity. Cheapness of provisions makes them 
 more idle ; less work is then done ; it is then more in 
 demand proportionally ; and of course the price rises. 
 Dearness of provisions obliges the manufacturer to work 
 more days and more hours : thus more work is done than 
 equals the usual demand ; of course it becomes cheaper, 
 and the manufactures in consequence. 
 
 27. As to plenty of money being a benefit to trade 
 and manufactures, we apprehend every one conversant 
 therein must know that the coin, by which we generally 
 understand money, of every respective state, is by no 
 means the mover of the intercourse or tradings of the 
 world in genera). Gold and silver in bullion, or in an 
 uncoined mass, are rather more so; being, in point of 
 value, a merchandise less liable to variation than any 
 other. It is true that coin may be liable, in the fluctua- 
 tion of trade, to be made a merchandise of; but as by 
 constant use, the pieces of coin become lighter than their 
 original weight, they thereby are less fit for merchandise. 
 We therefore may say, that coins, in general, can no 
 otherwise be useful, than as the common measure between 
 man and man, as serving to barter against, or exchange 
 for, all kinds of commodities. Certain it is that coins 
 cannot be ranked amongst those things which are only of 
 real use. Let us therefore suppose pieces of coin to be 
 counters ; and to simplify the matter still more, suppose 
 every manufacturer to have of these counters any sum 
 whatever, will it follow, that any sort of manufacture shall 
 58 be 
 
Population, Conunerce, &;a. 219 
 
 be industriously attended to, or more work done than 
 rtlicn no more counters than just enough to barter for the 
 i-cal wants of meat, drink, and clothes, &e. can be pro- 
 cured by labor? Surely no. It must be the desire of 
 supplying our wants, which excites industry as above 
 liinted, that alone sets that trade going, and only can 
 procure plenty of manufactures. 
 
 28. It is, nevertheless, the duty of government to 
 stamp coins or counters of different sorts and denomina- 
 tions, so that time, of all things the most precious, be 
 aot wasted in settling the respective exchangings amongst 
 ojankind. Nevertheless the plenty or scarcity of those 
 coins cannot entirely depend on any government, but on 
 ;he general circulation and fluctuation of trade, which 
 aiay make them a merchandise, without the least detri- 
 aient ; as it must be allowed, that the precious metals gold 
 md silver, of which such coins are principally composed, 
 ire no other than merchandise acquired from countries 
 ivhere there are mines, by those countries which have 
 aone, in exchange for the produce of their land, or of 
 :heir manufactm-es. 
 
 29. That the welfare of any state depends on its keep- 
 ing all its gold and silver, either in bullion or in coin, 
 must be founded on a very narrow principle indeed. All 
 republics we know of, wisely think otherwise. Spain, the 
 ^rand source of silver, has of late years, very justly, 
 allowed the free exportation of it, paying a duty, as in 
 Great Britain lead and tin do : nor prior to this permis- 
 sion could their penal laws in Spain hinder its being ex- 
 ported ; for it was a commodity which that kingdom was 
 under a necessity of giving as an equivalent for what was 
 furnished to them by other countries. 
 
 Could Spain and Portugal have succeeded in executing 
 
 their foolish laws for " hedyii)g hi the cuckoo,^' as Locke 
 
 calls it, and have kept at home all their gold and silver, 
 
 those metals would, by this time, have been of little more 
 
 51) value 
 
220 Franklin on 
 
 value than so much lead or iron. Their plenty would 
 have lessened their value. We see the folly of these 
 edicts ; but are not our own prohibitory and restrictive 
 laws, that are professedly made with intention to bring a 
 balance in our favor from our trade with foreign nations 
 to be paid in money, and laws to prevent the necessity of 
 exporting that money, which, if they could be thoroughly 
 executed, would make money as plenty, and of as little 
 value; I say, are not such laws akin to those Spanish 
 edicts : follies of the same family ? 
 
 30. In Great Britain, the silver coin bearing a dispro- 
 portion to gold more than in neighboring states, of about 
 five in the hundred, must, by that disproportion, become 
 merchandise, as well for exportation, as for the manu- 
 factures at home, in which silver is employed, more than 
 if it remained in the mass uncoined. This might be 
 remedied without injming the public, or touching the 
 present standard, which never should be done, only by 
 enacting that sixty-five shillings should be cut out of one 
 pound weight of standard silver, instead of sixty-two, 
 which are the number now ordained by law. We must 
 however remark, that, whenever by any extraordinary 
 demand for silver, a pound weight, bought even for sixty- 
 five shillings, can be sent abroad to advantage, or melted 
 down for manufactures, no prohibitory laws will hinder 
 its exportation or melting, and still becoming a mer- 
 chandise. 
 
 31. Coiners have pointed out, though at the risk of 
 the gallows, a measure which we think would be advisable 
 in some degree for government to adopt. They coin and 
 circulate shillings of such weight as to gain ten to foui'- 
 teen in the hundred, and upwards : as out of a pound of 
 standard silver they cut sixty-eight or seventy-one shil- 
 lings. That these light shillings or counters are useful, 
 though the public be so greatly imposed on, is evident. 
 It must be presumed, that every thing is put in practice 
 
 60 ^ by 
 
Population, Commerce, S^'c. 221 
 
 b}' government to detect and stop this manifest roguery. 
 Tf so, can it on the one hand be supposed the public 
 purse should bear the burden of this fraud? yet, on the 
 other liand, having no supply of legal shillings or 
 counters, the utility of the illegal ones forces them, as it 
 were, on the public. The power of the legislature to 
 correct the erroneous proportion of five in the hundred, 
 as above mentioned, is indubitable ; but whether every 
 [)rivate person possessed of these counters, or the public 
 purse, should be obliged to bear the loss on a re-coinage, 
 seems a difiicult point to determine ; as it may be alleged, 
 that every private person has it in his power to accept, or 
 refuse any coin, under the weight, as by law enacted, for 
 c^ach denomination. If the former, he does it to his own 
 wrong, and must take the consequences. The individual, 
 3n the other hand, has to allege the almost total want of 
 lawful counters ; together with the impossibility or 
 neglect of hindering those of an inferior weight from 
 being suffered to be current. It may be submitted; that 
 as the use of coin is for public utility, any loss which 
 arises in the coin either by wearing, or even by filing and 
 sweating, ought to be made good by calling in the coin 
 after a certain number of years from the time of coinage, 
 iiid receiving the money called in at the charge of the 
 public. We are well aware what latitude such a resolu- 
 tion might give to the coiners of shillings, the filers, and 
 the sweaters of gold ; but taking proper measures before- 
 hand, this evil might, we think, in a great degree be 
 prevented. 
 
 32. In the beginning of his present majesty's reign, 
 rjuarter guineas were wisely ordered to be coined; 
 whereby the want of silver coin was in some degree sup- 
 plied : which would still be more so, were thirds and two- 
 thirds of guineas to be coined. We cannot conceive why 
 this is not done ; except that these denominations are not 
 specified in his majesty's indenture with the master of 
 61 the 
 
222 Franklin on 
 
 tlie mint ; which in our humble opinion ought to he 
 rectified. 
 
 33. We think it not improper here to observe^ that it 
 matters not, whether silver or gold be called the standard 
 money ; but it seems most rational that the most scarce 
 and precious metals should be the unit or standard. 
 
 That as to copper, it is fit for money, or a counter, as 
 gold or silver, provided it be coined of a proper weight 
 and fineness : and just so much will be useful as will serve 
 to make up small parts in exchange between man and 
 man, and no more ought to be coined. 
 
 As to paper circulating as money, it is highly profit- 
 able, as its quick passing from one to another is a gain 
 of time, and thereby may be understood to add hands to 
 the community : inasmuch as those, who would be em- 
 ployed in telling and weighing, will follow other business. 
 The issuers or coiners of paper are understood to have an 
 equivalent to answer what it is issued for, or valued at ; 
 nor can any metal or coin do more than find its value. 
 
 § It is impossible for government to circumscribe, or 
 fix the extent of paper credit, which must, of course, 
 fluctuate. Government may as well pretend to lay down 
 rules for the operations, or the confidence, of every 
 individual, in the course of his trade. Any seeming 
 temporary evil arising, must naturally work its own cure. 
 
 34. As some principles relative to exchange have in 
 our opinion been treated of in a very confused manner, 
 and some maxims have been held out upon that subject, 
 which tend only to mislead, we shall here briefly lay 
 down what, according to our opinion, are self-e\ddent 
 principles. 
 
 35. Exchange, by bills, between one country or city 
 and another, we conceive to be this. One person wants 
 to get a sum from any country or city ; consequently has 
 his bill or draft to sell : another wants to send a sum 
 thither ; and therefore agrees to buy such bill or draft. 
 
 62 He 
 
Population, Comuurce, S)C. 223 
 
 He has it at an agrecd-for price, which is the course of 
 the exchange. It is witli this price for bills as with mer- 
 chandise ; when there is a scarcity of bills in the market, 
 they are dear ; when plenty, they are cheap. 
 
 36. We judge it needless to enter into the several 
 courses and denominations of exchanges which custom 
 hath established; they are taught at school. But we 
 think we must offer a few words, to destroy an erroneous 
 principle that has misled some, and confused others; 
 which is, that by authority, a certain par, or fixed price of 
 exchange, should be settled between each respective 
 country ; thereby rendering the currency of exchange as 
 fixed as the standard of coin. 
 
 37. We have above hinted, that plenty and scarcity 
 must govern the course of exchange ; which principle, duly 
 considered, would suffice on the subject ; but we will add, 
 that no human foresight can absolutely judge of the almost 
 numberless fluctuations in trade ; which vary, sometimes 
 directly, sometimes indirectly, between countries : con- 
 sequently no state or potentate can, by authority, any 
 more pretend to settle the currency of the prices of the 
 several sorts of merchandise sent to and fiom their respec- 
 tive dominions, than they can a par of exchange. In 
 point of merchandise, indeed, where there is a monopoly 
 of particular commodities, an exception must be allowed, 
 as to such articles ; but this is not at all applicable to 
 trade in general; for the encouragement of which we 
 cannot too often repeat that freedom and security are most 
 essentially necessary. 
 
 38. Another specious doctrine, much laliorcd by 
 theorists, in consequence of that relating to the par is, 
 that the exchange between any particular country being 
 above or below par, always shows whetlier the reciprocal 
 trade be advantageous or disadvantageous. It is, and 
 must be allowed, that in trade nothing is given without 
 adequate returns or compensations; but these are so 
 
 63 various 
 
224 Frmihlin on 
 
 various and so fluctuating between countries^ as often 
 indirectly as directly^ that there is no possibility of fixing 
 a point from whence to argue; so that should there 
 happen a greater variation than of two or three more in 
 the hundred^ at any certain period in the exchange, above 
 or below what is called the par or equality of the money 
 of one country to that of another, influenced by the fluc- 
 tuations and circulations in trade, it does not follow, that 
 a trade is advantageous or disadvantageous, excepting mo- 
 mentarily, if one may so say, which can be of no con- 
 sequence to the public in general, as the trade from 
 advantageous may become disadvantageous, and vice 
 versa ; and, consequently, the deducing of reasons from 
 what in its nature must be fluctuating, can only help to 
 embarrass, if not mislead. 
 
 39. To return to trade in general. Our principles, 
 we apprehend, may hold good for all nations, and ought 
 to be attended to by the legislative power of every nation. 
 We will not discuss every particular point : nor is it to 
 our purpose to examine the pretended principles or utility 
 whereon monopolies are generally established. That the 
 wisdom of government should weigh and nicely consider 
 any proposed regulation on those principles, we humbly 
 judge to be self-evident; whereby may be seen whether 
 it coincides with the general good. Solomon adviseth 
 not to counsel tvith a merchant for gain. This, we pre- 
 sume, relates to the merchant's own particular profit; 
 which, we repeat, must ever be the spring of his actions. 
 Government ought, notwithstanding, to endeavor to pro- 
 cure particular informations from every one ; not only 
 from those actually employed, or those who have been 
 concerned in particular branches of trade, but even from 
 persons who may have considered of it theoretically and 
 speculatively. 
 
 Perhaps, in general, it would be better if government 
 
 meddled no farther with trade than to protect it, and let 
 
 64 it 
 
Population, Commerce, ^c. 22/3 
 
 it take its course. Most of the statutes, or acts, edicts, 
 arrets, and placarts of parliaments, princes, and states, for 
 regulating, directing, or restraining of trade, have, we 
 think, been either political blunders, or jobs obtained l)y 
 artful men for private advantage, under pretence of public 
 good. When Colbert assembled some wise old merchants 
 of France, and desired their advice and opinion, how he 
 could best serve and promote commerce, their answer, 
 after consultation, was, in three words only, Laissez nous 
 faire : Let us alone. It is said, by a very solid writer of 
 the same nation, that he is well advanced in the science of 
 politics who knows the full force of that maxim — Pas trop 
 ijoiwerner : Not to govern too much. Which, perhaps, 
 would be of more use when applied to trade, than in any 
 other public concern. It were therefore to be wished, 
 that commerce was as free between all the nations of the 
 world, as it is between the several counties of England : 
 so would all, by mutual communication, obtain more 
 enjoyments. Those counties do not ruin one another by 
 trade ; neither would the nations. No nation was ever 
 ruined by trade; even seemingly the most disadvantageous. 
 
 Wherever desirable superfluities are imported, in- 
 dustry is excited ; and therefore plenty is produced. Were 
 only necessaries permitted to be purchased, men would 
 work no more than was necessary for that purpose. 
 
 40. Though we waive a discussion on particular 
 branches of trade, as the field is too hirge for our present 
 purpose ; and that particular laws and regulations may 
 require variation, as the difterent intercourses, and even 
 interests of states, by different fluctuations, may alter ; 
 yet, as what relates to bounties or premiums, which tiic 
 legislature of Great Britain has thought fit to grant, hath 
 been by some deemed, if not ill-judged, unnecessary ; we 
 hope our time not ill bestowed, to consider of the fitness 
 and rectitude of the principle on which mc apprehend 
 these bounties or premiums have been granted. 
 
 65 11. It 
 
226 Franklin on 
 
 41. It must, we think, on all hands be allowed, that 
 the principle whereon they are founded must be an en- 
 couragement tending to a general benefit, though granted 
 on commodities, manufactures, or fisheries, carried on in 
 particular places and countries, which are presumed or 
 found to require aid from the public purse for farther 
 improvement. 
 
 Of the bounties, some having had the proposed effect, 
 are discontinued : others are continued, for the very 
 reason they were first given. 
 
 In our opinion, no doubt can arise as to the utility of 
 these grants from the public purse to individuals. The 
 grand principle of trade, which is gain, is the foundation 
 of bounties : for, as every individual makes a part of the 
 whole public, consequently, whatever benefits the indi- 
 vidual must benefit the public : hereby the wasdom of the 
 legislature is most evident ; nor should it in any wise be 
 be arraigned, though iU success attended any particular 
 commodity, manufacture, or fishery, for the encourage- 
 ment of which bounties have been established. 
 
 We are well aware that it is not impossible the purpose 
 of bounty may have been perverted, with a view to im- 
 proper gain; but it is the duty of the legislature to use 
 the proper measures for preventing such iuiqinty. This 
 abuse, however, cannot be adduced as an argument against 
 the benefit arising from allowing bounties. 
 
 42. These principles in regard to bounties or premiums, 
 are applicable to most articles of commerce, except wheat 
 and other grain, which we shall consider and enlarge on, 
 as being of a complicated nature, and concerning which 
 mankind have, at particular times, been divided in 
 opinion. 
 
 43. It seems to us, that this bounty on grain was 
 intended, not only to encourage the cultivating of land for 
 the raising of it in abundance in this kingdom, for the use 
 of its inhabitants, bnt also to furnish our neighbors, 
 
 66 whenever 
 
P<>jnil((fiou, Commerce, S^c. 227 
 
 Avhcncver the kind liiuul of Providence should he pleased 
 to grant a superfluity. 
 
 44. It never can be presumed that the encouragement 
 by the bounty insures to the community an uninterrupted 
 c(mstant plenty ; yet, when the grower of grain knows he 
 may, by such bounty, have a chance of a foreign market 
 for any excess he may have, more than the usual home 
 consumption, he the more willingly labors and improves 
 his land, upon the presumption of having a vent for his 
 superfluity, by a demand in foreign countries; so that he 
 will not probably be distressed by abundance ; which, 
 strange as it may seem to some, might be the case by his 
 want of sale, and his great charges of gathering in his crop. 
 
 45. As there are no public granaries in this kingdom, 
 the legislature could devise no better means than to fix 
 stated prices under which the bounty or encouragement 
 from the public purse should be allowed. \V hcnever the 
 current prices exceeded those stipulated, then such bounty 
 should cease. 
 
 46. Few consider, or are affected, but by what is 
 present. They see grain, by reason of scanty crops, dear ; 
 therefore all the doors for gain, to the cultivators of it, 
 must always be kept shut. The common outcry is, that 
 the exporting our wheat furnishes bread to our neighbors 
 cheaper than it can be afforded to our poor at home ; 
 which affects our manufacturers, as they can thereby work 
 cheaper. To this last allegation we must refer to what we 
 have said, section 26 ; though the former, that wheat is, 
 by the bounty, afforded to our neighbours cheaper than to 
 us at home, must in general be without foundation, from 
 the several items of (charge attending the exportation of 
 grain, such as carriage, factorage, commission, porterage, 
 &c. The freight paid to our own shipping, to which alone 
 the bounty is restrained, must, when duly considered, 
 very sufficiently counterbalance the bounty ; so that more 
 than what is given out of the public purse is put into the 
 
 67 pockets, 
 
228 Franklin on 
 
 pockets of individuals for the carriage, &c. : therefore we 
 think we may well presume that, in general, grain ex- 
 ported comes dearer to the foreigner than to the consumer 
 in Great Britain. 
 
 47. Nothing can be more evident, we apprehend, than 
 that the superfluity of our grain being exported, is a clear 
 profit to the kingdom, as much as any other produce of 
 our labor, in manufactures, in tin, or any commodities 
 whatsoever. 
 
 48. It behoves us, however, indubitably, to have an 
 eye towards hav-ing a sufficiency of grain for food in this 
 country, as we have laid down^ section 26 : and were the 
 legislature to enact, that the justices of the peace, at the 
 Christmas quarter session, should have power to summon 
 all growers of grain, or dealers therein, and upon oath to 
 examine them as to the quantity then remaining ; returns 
 of which quantities should be made to the lords of the 
 treasury, to be laid before parliament ; the legislature 
 Avould, upon such returns, be able to judge whether it would 
 be necessary to enable his majesty, with the advice of his 
 council, to put a stop to any farther exportation at such 
 times as might be thought proper. 
 
 49. Or, it is submitted, whether the legislature would 
 not act more consistent with the principle of granting 
 bounties, by repealing the act allowing the present bounty 
 on the several sorts of grain at the now fixed prices, and 
 reduce these prices as follow : — 
 
 On wheat from forty-eight to thirty-six or thirty-two 
 shillings. 
 
 On barley from twenty-fciur to eighteen or sixteen a 
 quarter; and so in proportion for any other grain. In 
 short, diminish the present standard prices, under which 
 the bounty is granted, one quarter or one third. 
 
 50. In our humble opinion, this last method would be 
 by much the most simple and eligible, as consistent with 
 our grand principle of freedom in trade, which wouhl be 
 
 68 cramped 
 
Population, Commerce, ^c, 229 
 
 cramped if dependent annually on parliamentary deli- 
 beration. 
 
 51. The advocates for not lowering the present stipu- 
 lated prices that command the bounties from the public 
 purse may allege, that our ancestors deemed them necessary, 
 on the principle of granting any bounty at all, which we 
 have above hinted, section 43. We do not controvert the 
 wisdom of the principle for granting a bounty ; for it 
 must have been, and ever will be, an encouragement to 
 cultivation; and consequently it would be highly improper 
 wholly to discontinue it ; nevertheless, if it has answered 
 oue great end proposed, which was cultivation and im- 
 provement, and that it is incontrovertible the cultivator 
 has, by the improvements made by the encouragement of 
 the bounty, a living profit at the reduced prices of thirty- 
 two or thirty-six shillings, sixteen or eighteen, Sec. as 
 above, which probably, when our ancestors enacted the 
 law for granting the bounty, they understood the culti- 
 vators could not have ; it seems clear, that there ought to 
 l:»c the proposed change and reduction of the bounty prices, 
 as above mentioned. 
 
 5.2. The French, intent on trade, have a few years 
 since rectified a very gross mistake they labored under, in 
 regard to their commerce in grain. One county or pro- 
 vince in France should abound, and the neighboring one, 
 though almost starving, should not be permitted to get 
 trrain from the plentiful province, without particular 
 license from court, which cost no small trouble and ex- 
 pense. In sea-port towns wheat should be imported ; and 
 soon after, without leave of the magistrates, the owner 
 should only have liberty to export one quarter or one 
 third of it. They are now wiser; and through all the 
 kingdom the corn trade is quite free ; and what is more, 
 all sorts of grain may be exported upon French bottoms 
 only, for their encouragement; copying, we presume our 
 law, whenever the market prices for three following days 
 09 shall 
 
230 Franklin on 
 
 shall not exceed above forty-five sliilliugs sterling for a 
 quarter of wheat : our reason for mentioning this is only 
 to show that other nations are changing their destructive 
 measures, and that it behoves us to be careful that we pay 
 the greatest attention to our essential interests. 
 
 In inland high countries, remote from the sea, and 
 whose rivers are small, running from the country, not to 
 it, as is the case of Switzerland, great distress may arise 
 from a course of bad harvests, if public granaries are not 
 provided, and kept well stored. Anciently, too, before 
 navigation was so general, ships so plenty, and commer- 
 cial connexions so well established, even maritime countries 
 might be occasionally distressed by bad crops. But such 
 is now the facility of communication between those coun- 
 tries, that an unrestrained commerce can scarce ever fail 
 of procuring a sufficiency for any of them. If, indeed, 
 any government is so imprudent as to lay its hands on 
 imported corn, forbid its exportation, or compel its sale at 
 limited prices, there the people may suflfer some famine 
 from merchants avoiding their ports. But wherever com- 
 merce is known to be always free, and the merchant 
 absolute master of his commodity, as in Holland, there 
 will always be a reasonable supply. 
 
 When an exportation of corn takes place, occasioned 
 by a higher price in some foreign country, it is common 
 to raise a clamor, on the supposition that we shall thereby 
 ju'oduce a domestic famine. Then follows a prohibition, 
 founded on the imaginary distress of the poor. The poor, 
 to be sure, if in distress, should be relieved ; but if the 
 farmer could have a high price for his corn, from the 
 foreign demand, must he, by a prohibition of exportation, 
 be compelled to take a low price, not of the poor only, 
 but of every one that eats bread, even the richest ? The 
 duty of relieving the poor is incumbent on the rich ; but, 
 by this operation, the whole burden of it is laid on the 
 farmer, who is to relieve the rich at the same time. Of 
 70 the 
 
Population, Commerce, ^c. 231 
 
 the poor, too, those who are maintained by the parishes 
 have no right to claim this sacrifice of the farmer ; as, 
 while they have their allowance, it makes no difference to 
 them whether bread be cheap or dear. Those working 
 poor who now mind business five or four days in the week, 
 if bread should be so dear as to oblige them to work the 
 whole six, required by the commandment, do not seem to 
 be aggrieved so as to have a right to public redress. There 
 will then remain, comparatively, only a few families in 
 every district ; who, from sickness or a great number of 
 children, will be so distressed by a high price of corn, as to 
 need relief ; and these should be taken care of, by parti- 
 cular benefactions, without restraining the farmer's profit. 
 
 Those who fear that exportation may so far drain the 
 country of corn, as to starve ourselves, fear what never 
 did nor ever can happen. They may as well when they 
 view the tide ebbing towards the sea, fear that all the water 
 will leave the river. The price of corn, like water, will 
 find its own level. The more we export, the dearer it 
 becomes at home. The more is received abroad, the 
 cheaper it becomes there ; and as soon as these prices are 
 equal, the exportation stops of course. As the seasons 
 vary in different countries, the calamity of a bad harvest is 
 never universal. If then all ports were always open, and 
 all commerce free, every maritime country would generally 
 eat bread at the medium price, or average of all the 
 different harvests; which would probably be more equal 
 than we can make it by our artificial regulations, and 
 therefore a more steady encouragement to agriculture. 
 The nations would all have bread at this middle price ; 
 and that nation which at any time inhumanly refuses to 
 relieve the distresses of another nation, deserves no com- 
 passion when in distress itself. 
 
 We shall here end these reflections, with our most 
 
 ardent wishes for the prosperity of our country, and our 
 
 hopes that the doctrine we have endeavored to inculcate 
 
 71 as 
 
232 Franklin on 
 
 as to the necessity of protection and freedom, in order to 
 insure success in trade, will be ever attended to by the 
 legislature in forming their resolutions relating to the 
 commerce of these kingdoms. 
 
 PREFACE TO THE APPENDIX. 
 
 The clamor made of the great inconveniences suffered 
 by the community in regard to the coin of this kingdom, 
 prompted me in the beginning of his majesty's reign to 
 give the public some reflections on coin in general ; on 
 gold and silver as merchandize ; and I added my thoughts 
 on paper passing as money. 
 
 As I trust the principles then laid down are founded 
 in truth, and will serve now as well as then, though made 
 fourteen years ago, to change any calculation would be of 
 little use. 
 
 Some sections in the foregoing essay of principles of 
 trade, which might in this appendix appear like a repeti- 
 tion, have been omitted. 
 
 I always resolved not to enter into any particular 
 deduction from laws relating to coin ; or into any minutiae, 
 as to accurate nicety in weights. My intention was, and 
 still is, no more than to endeavor to show, as briefly as 
 possible, that what relates to coin, is not of such a com- 
 plex, abstruse nature as it is generally made ; and that no 
 more than common justice with common sense are required 
 in all regulations concerning it. 
 
 Perhaps more weighty concerns may have prevented 
 government doing more in regard to coin, than ordering 
 quarter guineas to be made ; which till this reign had not 
 been done. 
 
 But as I now judge by the late act relating to gold 
 coin, that the legislature is roused, possibly they may 
 consider still more of that, as well as of silver coin. 
 
 Should these reflections prove of any public utility, my 
 iind will be answered. 
 
 72 KEELECTIOXS 
 
Pojnilation, Commerce, Sfc. %V.^ 
 
 REFLECTIONS ON COIN IN GENERAL. 
 
 1. Coins are pieces of metal, on which an impression 
 is struck ; which impression is understood by the legisla- 
 ture to ascertain the weight and the intrinsic value, or 
 worth of each piece. 
 
 2 The real value of coins depends not on a piece; 
 being called a guinea, a crown, or a shilling; but the true 
 worth of any particular piece of gold or silver, is what 
 such piece contains of fine or pure gold or silver. 
 
 3. Silver and copper being mixed with gold, and cop- 
 per with silver, are generally understood to render those 
 metals more durable when circulating in coins; yet air 
 and moisture evidently affect copper, whether by itself or 
 mixed with other metal ; whereas pure gold or silver are 
 much less affected or corroded thereby. 
 
 4. The quantity of silver and copper so mixed by way 
 of alloy, is fixed by the legislature. When melted with 
 pure metal, or added or extracted to make a lawful pro- 
 portion, both gold and silver are brought to what is called 
 standard. This alloy of silver and copper is never reckoned 
 of any value. The standard once fixed, should ever be 
 invariable ; since any alteration would be followed by 
 gi'cat confusion and detriment to the state. 
 
 5. It is for public convenience, and for facilitating the 
 bartering between mankind for their respective wants, 
 that coins were invented and made; for were there no 
 coins, gold and silver might be made, or left pure ; and 
 what we now call a guinea's worth of any thing, might be 
 cut off from gold, and a crown's worth from silver, and 
 might serve, though not so commodiously as coin. 
 
 6. Hence it is evident that in whatever shape, form, or 
 quality, these metals are, they are brought to be the most 
 common measure between man and man, as serving to 
 barter against or exchange for all kinds of commodities ; and 
 consequently arc no more than an universal accepted mcr- 
 
 73 chandise ; 
 
234 Franklin on 
 
 chandise; for gold and silver in bullion, that is to say, in 
 an uncoined mass, and gold or silver in coin, being of 
 equal weight, purity, and fineness, must be of equal value, 
 the one to the other ; for the stamp on either of these 
 metals, duly proportioned, neither adds to, nor takes from 
 their intrinsic value. 
 
 7. The prices of gold and silver as merchandise, must 
 in all countries, like other commodities, fluctuate and vary 
 according to the demand ; and no detriment can arise 
 therefrom, more than from the rise and fall of any other 
 merchandise. But if, when coined, a due proportion of 
 these metals the one to the other, be not established, the 
 disproportion will be felt and proved ; and that metal 
 wherein the excess in the proportion is allowed, will pre- 
 ferably be made use of, either in exportation or in manu- 
 facture ; as is the case now, in this kingdom, in regard to 
 silver coin, and which in some measure is the occasion of 
 its scarcity. 
 
 For so long as 15 ounces and about one-fifth of pure 
 silver in Great Britain are ordained and deemed to be 
 equal to one ounce of pure gold, whilst in neighboring- 
 states, as France and Holland, the proportion is fixed only 
 14 and a half ounces of pure silver, to one ounce of pm'e 
 gold, it is very evident that our silver, when coined, will 
 always be the most acceptable merchandise, by near five 
 in the hundred, and consequently more liable to be taken 
 away or melted down, than before it received the impres- 
 sion at the mint. 
 
 8. Sixty-two shillings only are ordained by law to be 
 coined from 12 ounces of standard silver ; now, following 
 the proportion above mentioned, of 15-1- to '4^, no regard 
 being necessary as to alloy, 65 shillings should be the 
 quantity cut out of those 13 ounces, 
 
 9. No everlasting invariable fixation for coining can be 
 made from a medium of the market price of gold and 
 silver, though that medium might with ease be ascertained 
 
 74 so 
 
Population, Commerce^ '^c. 2t^C) 
 
 so as to hinder either coined gold or silver from becoming 
 a merchandise ; for whenever the price shall rise above 
 tliat medium, so as to give a profit, whatever is coined 
 will be made a merchandise. This in the nature of things, 
 must come from the general exchangings, circulation, and 
 fluctuation in trade, and cannot be hindered; but assu- 
 redly the false proportions may be amended by the legis- 
 latiu'e, and settled as the proportion between gold and 
 silver is in other nations ; so as not to make, as now is the 
 case, our coined silver a merchandise, so much to be 
 preferred to the same silver uncoined. 
 
 10. What has been said seems to be self-evident ; but 
 the following calculations made on the present current 
 price of silver and gold, may serve to prove beyond all 
 doubt, that the proportion now fixed between gold and 
 silver should be altered and fixed as in other countries. 
 
 By law, 62 shillings are to be coined out of one pound, 
 or 12 ounces of standard silver. This is 62 pence an 
 ounce. Melt these 62 shillings, and in a bar, this pound 
 weight at market will fetch 68 pence an ounce, or 68 
 shillings the pound. The difference therefore between 
 coined and uncoined silver in Great Britain is now nine 
 and two-thirds per cent. 
 
 Out of a pound or 12 ounces of standard gold, 44 
 guineas and a half are ordained to be coined. This is 
 3/. 175. lO^d. an ounce. Now the current market price of 
 standard gold is 3/. 19*. an ounce, which makes not quite 
 1^ per cent, difference between the coined and uncoined 
 gold. 
 
 The state, out of duties imposed, pays for the charge 
 of coining, as indeed it ought; for it is for public con- 
 venience, as already said, that coins are made. It is the 
 current market price of gold and silver that must gover)i 
 the carrying it to the mint. It is absurd to think any 
 one should send gold to be coined tliat should cost more 
 than 3/. 176'. \i)hd. an ounce, or silver more than 62 pence 
 75 the 
 
236 Franklin on 
 
 the ounce ; and as absnrd would it be to pretend^ that 
 those prices only shall be the constant invariable prices. 
 It is contended that there is not a proper proportion fixed 
 in the value of one metal to another, and this requires 
 alteration. 
 
 11. It may be urged, that should the legislature fix 
 the proportion of silver to gold as in other countries, by 
 ordering 65 shillings instead of 62 to be cut out of a pound 
 of standard silver, yet still there would be 4f per cent, 
 difference between coined and uncoined silver ; whereas 
 there is but about 1^ per cent, difference in gold. 
 
 On this we shall observe that the course of trade, not 
 to mention extraordinary accidents, will make one metal 
 more in request at one time than another ; and the legis- 
 lature in no one particular country, can bias or prescribe 
 rules or laws to influence such demand ; which ever must 
 depend on the great chain of things, in which all the 
 operations of this world are linked. Freedom and se- 
 curity only are wanted in trade ; nor does coin require 
 more, if a just proportion in the metals be settled. 
 
 12. To return to gold : it is matter of surprise, that 
 the division of the piece called a guinea, has not been 
 made smaller than just one half as it now is ; that is, into 
 quarters, thirds, and two-thirds. Hereby the want of 
 silver coin might be greatly provided for ; and those pieces, 
 together with the light silver coin, which can only now 
 remain with us, would sufficiently serve the uses in 
 circulation. 
 
 In Portugal, where almost all their coin is gold, there 
 are divisions of the moedas, or 27 shilling pieces, into 
 tenths, sixths, quarters, thirds, halves, and two-thirds. 
 Of the moeda and one- third, or 36 shilling piece, into 
 eighths, quarters, and halves. 
 
 13. That to the lightness of the silver coin now re- 
 maining in Great Britain we owe all the silver coin we 
 now have, any person with weights and scales may prove ; 
 
 76 as 
 
Population, Commerce, ^c. 237 
 
 as upwards of 70 shillings coined in the reign of king- 
 William, or dexterously counterfeited by false coiners, 
 will scarce weigh 12 ounces, or a pound troy. 
 
 14. All the art of man can never hinder a constant 
 exportation and importation of gold and silver, to make 
 up for the different calls and balances that may happen 
 in trade ; for were silver to be coined as above, 65 shillings 
 out of a pound troy weight of standard silver ; if those 
 65 shillings would sell at a price that makes it worth while 
 to melt or export them, they must and will be considered 
 and used as a merchandise ; and the same will hold as to 
 gold. 
 
 Though the proportion of about 14^ of pure silver to 
 one of pure gold, in neighboring states be now fixed, in 
 regard to their coin, and it is submitted such proportion 
 sliould be attended to in this kingdom, yet that proportion 
 may be subject to alteration; for this plain reason, that 
 sliould the silver mines produce a quantity of that metal 
 so as to make it greatly abound more in proportion than 
 it noAv does, and the gold mines produce no more than 
 now they do, more silver must be requisite to purchase gold. 
 
 15. That the w^elfare of any state depends on its keep- 
 ing all its gold and silver, either in bullion or in coin, is a 
 very narrow principle ; all the republics we know of, wisely 
 think otherwise. It is an utter impossibility ; nor sliould 
 it ever be aimed at; for gold and silver are as clearly a 
 merchandise as lead and tin ; and consequently should 
 liave a perfect freedom and liberty, coined and uncoined, 
 to go and to come, pass and repass, from one country to 
 another, in the general circulation and fluctuation of 
 commerce, which will ever carry a general balance witli it : 
 for we should as soon give our lead, our tin, or any other 
 product of our land or industry, to those who want them, 
 without an equivalent in some shape or other, as we should 
 gold or silver ; which it would be absurd to imagine can 
 ever be done by our nation, or by any nation upon earth. 
 
 77 16. From 
 
238 Franklin on 
 
 16. From Spain and Portugal come the greatest part 
 of gold and silver : and the Spanish court very wisely 
 permits the exportation of it on paying a duty, as in Great 
 Britain lead and tin do, -when exported ; Avhcreas hereto- 
 fore, and as it still continues in Portugal, penal laws were 
 enacted against the sending it out of the country. Surely 
 l)rinces by enacting such laws, could not think they had it 
 in their power to decree and establish, that their subjects, 
 or themselves, should not give an equivalent for what was 
 furnished to them ! 
 
 17. It is not our intention to descend into, or to discuss 
 minutely, particular notions or systems, such as, " That 
 silver, and not gold, should he the standard money or coin." 
 
 " That copper is an unfit material for money." 
 And " That paper circulating as, and called artificial 
 money, is detrimental" 
 
 Yet as these doctrines seem to proceed from consider- 
 ing bullion, and money, or coin, in a difierent light from 
 what we apprehend and have laid down, we will observe, 
 
 18. That it matters not whether silver or gold be 
 called standard money ; but it seems most rational, that 
 the most scarce and precious metal should be the unit or 
 standard. 
 
 19. That as to copper, it is as fit for money or a 
 counter, as gold and silver, provided it be coined of a 
 proper weight and fineness : and just so much will be 
 useful, as will serve to make up small parts in exchanges 
 between man and man. 
 
 20. That as to paper money, it is far from being de- 
 trimental ; on the contrary, it is highly profitable, as its 
 quick passing between mankind, instead of telling over, 
 or weighing metal in coin, or bullion, is a gain of what is 
 most precious in life, which is time. And there is nothing 
 clearer than that those who must be concerned in counting 
 and Meighing, being at liberty to employ themselves on 
 other purposes, are an addition of hands in the comrnuuity. 
 
 78 The 
 
Population, Commerce, ^c. 239 
 
 The idea of the too great extension of credit, by the 
 circulation of paper for money, is evidently as erroneous 
 as the doctrine of the non-exportation of gold and silver 
 in bullion or coin : for were it not certain, that paper 
 could command the equivalent of its agreed-for value, or 
 that gold and silver in bullion or coin exported, would be 
 retm-ned in the course of trade in some other merchandise, 
 neither paper would be used or the metals exported. It 
 is by means of the produce of the land, and the happy 
 situation of this island, joined to the industry of its in- 
 habitants, that those much-adored metals, gold and silver, 
 have been procured : and so long as the sea does not 
 overflow the land, and industry continues, so long will 
 those metals not be wanting. And paper in the general 
 chain of credit and commerce, is as useful as they are, 
 since the issuers or coiners of that paper are understood to 
 have some equivalent to answer for what the paper is valued 
 at : and no metal or coin can do more than find its value. 
 
 Moreover, as incontestable advantages of paper, we 
 must add, that the charge of coining or making it, is by 
 no means proportionate to thai of coining of metals ; nor 
 is it subject to waste by long use, or impaired by adultera- 
 tion, sweating, or filing, as coins may. 
 
 A Thought concerning the Sugar Islands. 
 
 Should it be agreed, and become a part of the law ot 
 nations, that the cultivators of the earth are not to be 
 molested or interrupted in their peaceable and useful 
 employment, the. inhabitants of the sugar islands would 
 come under the protection of such a regulation, which 
 would be a great advantage to the nations who at present 
 hold those islands, siuce the cost of sugar to the consumer 
 in those nations consists not only in the price he pays for 
 it by tiie pound, but in the accumulated charge of all the 
 taxes he pays in every war to fit out fleets and maintaiu 
 7M troops 
 
240 Franklin ^c. 
 
 tj'oops for the defence of the islands that raise the sugar^ 
 and the ships that bring it home. But the expense of 
 treasure is not all. A celebrated philosophical writer re- 
 marks^ that when he considered the wars made in Africa 
 for prisoners to raise sugar in America, the numbers 
 slain in those wars, the numbers that, being crowded in 
 ships, perish in the transportation, and the numbers that 
 die under the severities of slavery, he could scarce look on 
 a morsel of sugar without conceiving it spotted with 
 liuman blood. If he had considered alsothe blood of one 
 another, which the white natives shed in fighting for those 
 islands, he would have imagined his sugar not as spotted 
 only, but as thoroughly dyed red. On these accounts I 
 am persuaded that the subjects of the Emperor of Ger- 
 many, and the Empress of Russia, Avho have no sugar 
 islands, consume sugar cheaper at \'ienna and Moscow, 
 with all the charge of transporting it, after its arrival in 
 Europe, than the citizens of Loudon and Paris. And I 
 sincerely believe, that if France and England were to 
 decide by throwing dice, which should have the whole of 
 their sugar islands, the loser in the throw would be the 
 gainer. The future expense of defending them would be 
 saved : the sugars would be bought cheaper by all Europe 
 if the inhabitants might make it without interruption ; 
 and whoever imported the sugar, the same revenue might 
 be raised by duties at the custom-house of the nation that 
 consumed it. And on the whole, I conceive it would be 
 better for the nations now possessing sugar colonies, to 
 give up their claim to them, let them govern themselves, 
 and put them under the protection of ^11 the powers of 
 Europe as neutral countries open to the commerce of all, 
 the profit of the present monopolies being by no meaus 
 equivalent to the expense of maintaining them. 
 
REFLECTIONS 
 
 FORMATION AND DISTRIBUTION 
 
 WEALTH. 
 
 BT M. TURCOT, 
 
 COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE FINANCES OF 
 FRANCE, 
 
 In 1774, 1775, and 1776. 
 
 TRANSLATKD FROM THE FRENCH. 
 
 THIS ESSAY MAY BE CONSIDERED AS THE GERM OF THE TREATISE ON 
 " THE WEALTH OF NATIONS, WRITTEN BT THE CELEBRATED SMITH." 
 
 Condorcel's Life of Turgot. 
 
 LOXDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY E. SPRAGG, FOR J. GOOD, BOOKSKLLER, 
 
 NO. 159, NEW BOND STREET; 
 
 JOHN ANDERSON, NO. 62, HOLBORN HILL; and W. RICHARDSON, 
 
 ROYAL EXCHANCE. 
 
 793 
 

 "i^ 
 
REFLECTIONS 
 
 FORMATION AND DISTRIBUTION 
 
 WEALTH. 
 
 Ostendent terris hunc tantilm, fata. S.'s. 6. 
 
 § 1. The impossibility of the existence of Commerce upon 
 the supposition of an equal division of lands, where every 
 man should possess only v^hat is necessar'y for his own 
 support. 
 
 IF the land was divided among all the inhabitants of a 
 country, so that each of tliem possessed precisely 
 the quantity necessary for his support, and nothing 
 more ; it is evident that all of them being equal, no one 
 would work for another. Neither would any of them 
 possess wherewith to pay another for his labour, for each 
 person having only such a quantity of land as was neces- 
 sary to produce a subsistence, would consume all he 
 should gather, and would not have any thing to give in 
 exchange for the labour of others. 
 
 §. 2. The above hypothesis neither has existed nor could 
 continue. The diversity of soils and multiplicity of 
 wants, compel an exchange of the j^i'oductions of the 
 earth, against other productions. 
 
 This hypothesis never can have existed, because the 
 
 earth has been cultivated before it has been divided ; the 
 
 3 cultivation 
 
244 Reflections oti the Formation 
 
 cultivation itself having been the only motive for a divi- 
 sion, and for that law which secures to every one his 
 property. For the first persons who have employed them- 
 selves in cultivation, have probably worked as much land 
 as their strength would permit, and, consequently, more 
 than was necessary for their own nourishment. 
 
 If this state could have existed, it could not possibly 
 be durable ; each one gathering from his field only a sub- 
 sistence, and not having wherewith to pay others for their 
 labour, would not be enabled to supply his other wants 
 of lodging, cloathing, &c. &c., except by the labour of 
 his hands, which would be nearly impossible, as every 
 soil does not produce every material. 
 
 The man whose land was only fit to produce grain, and 
 would neither bring forth cotton or flax, would want linen 
 to cloath him. Another would have ground proper for 
 cotton, which would not yield grain. One would want 
 wood for his fire, and another be destitute of corn to 
 support him. Experience would soon teach every one 
 what species of productions his land was best adapted to, 
 and he would confine himself to the cultivation of it ; 
 in order to procure himself tliose things he stood in need 
 of, by an exchange with his neighbours, who, having on 
 their part acquired the same experience, would have cul- 
 tivated those productions which were best suited to their 
 fields, and would have abandoned the cultivation of any 
 other. 
 
 §. 3. The productions of the earth require long and 
 difficult preparations, before they are rendered fit to 
 supply the wants of men. 
 
 The productions which the earth supplies to satisfy the 
 different wants of man, will not, for the most part, admi- 
 nister to those wants, in the state nature afibrds them ; 
 it is necessary they should undergo different operations, 
 4 and 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 245 
 
 and be prepared by art. Wheat must be converted into 
 flour^ then into bread ; hides must be dressed or tanned ; 
 wool and cotton must be spun ; silk must be taken from 
 the cod; hemp and flax must be soaked, peeled, spun, 
 and Avove .into different textures; then cut and sewed 
 together again to make garments, &c. If the same man 
 who cultivates on his own land these different articles, and 
 who raises, them to supply his wants, was obliged to per- 
 form all the intermediate operations himself, it is certain 
 he would succeed very badly. The greater part of these 
 preparations require care, attention, and a long expe- 
 rience; all which are only to be acquired by progressive 
 labour, and that on a great quantity of materials. Let 
 us refer, for example, to the preparation of hides : what 
 labourer can pursue all the particular things neces- 
 sary .to'those operations, which continue several months, 
 sometimes several years? If he is able to do it, can he do 
 it withra/single hide ? What a loss of time, of room, and 
 of materials, which might be employed, either at the same 
 time or successively, to tan a large quantity of skins ! 
 But should he even succeed in tanning a single skin, and 
 wants one pair of shoes, what will he do with the re- 
 mainder? Will he kill an ox to make this pair of shoes? 
 Will he cut down a tree to make a pair of wooden shoes ? 
 We may say the same thing of every other want of every 
 other man, who, if he was reduced to his field, and the 
 labour of his own hands, would waste much time, take 
 much trouble, be very badly equipped in every respect, 
 and would also cultivate his lands verv ill. 
 
 § 4. The necessity of these preparations, bring on the 
 exchange oj productions for labour. 
 
 The same motive which has established the exchange 
 
 of commodity for commodity, between the cultivators of 
 
 5 lands 
 
246 Reflect iO)i8 on tha Formation 
 
 lands of different natures, has also necessarily brought on 
 the exchange of commodities for labour, between the cul- 
 tivators and another portion of society, who shall have 
 preferred the occupation of preparing and completing the 
 productions of the earth, to the cultivation of it. Every 
 one profits by this arrangement, for every one attaching 
 himself to a peculiar species of labour, succeeds much 
 better therein. The husbandman draws from his field 
 the greatest quantity it is able to produce, and procures 
 to himself, with greater facility, all the other objects of 
 his wants, by an exchange of his superflux, than he could 
 have done by his own labour. The shoemaker, by making 
 shoes for the husbandman, secures to himself a portion 
 of the harvest of the latter. Every workman labours for 
 the wants of the workmen of every other trade, who_, on 
 their side, toil also for him. 
 
 § 5. Pre-eminence of the husbandman iv ho produces, over 
 the artificer who prepares. The husbandman is the 
 first mover in the circulation of labour ; it is he who 
 causes the earth to produce the wages of every artificer. 
 
 It must, however, be observed that the husbandman, 
 furnishing every one with the most important and the 
 most considerable objects of their consumption (I mean 
 their food, and the materials of almost all manufactures) 
 has the advantage of a greater degree of independence. 
 His labour, among the different species of labour, appro- 
 priated to the different members of society, supports the 
 same pre-eminence and priority, as the procuring of food 
 did among the different works he was obliged, in his soli- 
 tary state, to employ himself in, in order to minister to 
 iiis wants of every kind. This is not a pre-eminence of 
 honour or of dignity, but of physical necessity. The 
 husbandman can, generally speaking, subsist without the 
 labour of other workmen; but no other workmen can 
 6 labour 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 247 
 
 labour, if the husbandman does not provide him where- ^ 
 with to exist. ^ It is this circulation, which, by a reci- 
 procal exchange of wants, renders mankind necessary to 
 each other, and which forms the bond of society : it is 
 therefore the labour of the husbandman which gives the 
 first movement. What his industry causes the earth to 
 produce beyond his personal wants, is the only fund for 
 the wages, which all the other members of society receive 
 in recompence for their toil. The latter, by availing 
 themselves of the produce of this exchange, to purchase 
 in their turn the commodities of the husbandman, only 
 return to him precisely what they have received. There 
 is here a very essential difference between these two y 
 species of labour, on which it is necessary to reflect, and 
 to be well assured of the ground on which they stand, 
 before we trust to the innumerable consequences which 
 flow from them. T 
 
 § 6. The wages of the workman is limited by the competi- 
 tion among those who work for a subsistence. He only 
 gains a livelihood. 
 
 The mere workman, who depends only on his hands 
 and his industry, has nothing but such part of his labour 
 as he is able to dispose of to others. He sells it at a 
 cheaper or a dearer price ; but this high or low price does 
 not depend on himself alone; it results from the agree- 
 ment he has made with the person who employs him. The 
 latter pays him as little as he can help, and as he has the 
 choice from among a great number of workmen, he pre- 
 fers the person who works cheapest. The workmen are 
 therefore obliged to lower their price in opposition to each 
 other. :_ In every species of laljour it must, and, in effect, /^ 
 it docs happen, that the wages of the workman is 
 confined merely to what is necessary to procure him a ^>^ 
 subsistence, zi . 
 
 7 § 7. The 
 
248 Refiections on the Formation 
 
 § 7. The husbandman is the only one whose industry 
 produces more than the wages of his labour. He, 
 therefore, is the only source of all Wealth. 
 
 The situation of tlie husbandman is materially different. 
 The soil, independent of any other man, or of any agree- 
 ment, pays him immediately the price of his toil. Nature 
 does not bargain with him, or compel him to content him- 
 self with what is absolutely necessary. What she grants 
 is neither limited to his wants, nor to a conditional valua- 
 tion of the price of his day's work. It is a physical con- 
 sequence of the fertility of the soil, and of justice, rather 
 than of the difficulty of the means, which he has employed 
 to render the soil fruitful. As soon as the labour of the 
 husbandman produces more than sufficient for his neces- 
 sities, he can, with the excess which nature affords him 
 of pure freewill beyond the wages of his toil, purchase 
 the labour of other members of society. The latter, in 
 selling to him, only procures a livelihood ; but the hus- 
 bandman, besides his subsistence, collects an independent 
 wealth at his disposal, which he has not purchased, but 
 which he can sell. He is, therefore, the only source of 
 all those riches which, by their circulation, animates the 
 labours of society : because he is the only one whose 
 labour produces more than the wages of his toil. 
 
 § 8. First division of society into two classes, the one 
 productive, or the cultivators, the other stipendiary, 
 or the artificer's. 
 
 Here then is the whole society divided, by a necessity 
 
 founded on the nature of things, into two classes, both 
 
 industrious, one of which, by its labour, produces, or 
 
 rather draws from the earth, riches continually renewing, 
 
 8 which 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 249 
 
 which supply the whole society with subsistence, and with 
 materials for all its wants; while the other is employed 
 in giving to the said materials such preparations and forms 
 as render them proper for the use of man, sells his labour 
 to the first, and receives in return a subsistence. The 
 first may be called the productive, the latter the stipendiary 
 class. 
 
 § 9. In the first ages of society, the p?'op)'ietors could not 
 be distinguished from the cultivators. 
 
 Hitherto we ha\e not distinguished the husbandman 
 from the proprietor of the land ; and in the first origin 
 they were uot in fact so distinguished. It is by the labour 
 of those who have first cultivated the fields, and who have 
 inclosed them to secure their harvest, that all land has 
 ceased to be common, and that a property in the soil has 
 been established. Until societies have been formed, and 
 until the public strength, or the laws, becoming superior 
 to the force of individuals, have been able to guarantee to 
 every one the tranquil possession of his property, against 
 all invasion from without ; the property in a field could 
 only be secured as it had been acquired, by continuing to 
 cultivate it ; the proprietor could not be assured of having 
 his field cultivated by the help of another ; and that 
 person taking all the trouble, could not easily have com- 
 prehended that the whole harvest did not belong to him. 
 On .the other hand, in this early age, when every indus- . 
 trious man would find as much land as he wauled, he 
 would not be tempted to labour for another. ' .It^ najes- 
 sarily follows, that every proprietor must cultivate his 
 own field or abandon it entirely. 
 
 § 10. Progress of society ; all lands have an owner. 
 
 But the land begins to people, and to be cleared more 
 
 and more. The best lands are in process of time fully 
 
 •9--<f ' occupied 
 
<lJ 
 
 250 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 occupied. There remains only for those who come last, 
 nothing but barren land, rejected by the first occupants. 
 But at last, every spot has found a master, and those 
 who cannot gain a property therein, have no other re- 
 source but to exchange the labour of their hands in 
 some of the employments of the stipendiary class, for 
 the excess of commodities possessed by the cultivating 
 proprietor. 
 
 § 11. The proprietors begin to be able to ease themselves 
 of the labour of cultivation, by the help of hired 
 cultivators. 
 
 Mean time, since the earth produces to the proprietor 
 who cultivates it, not a subsistence only, not only where- 
 with to procure himself by way of exchange, what he other- 
 wise wants, but also a considerable superfluity ; he is en- 
 abled with this superfluity, to pay other men to cultivate 
 his land. For among those who live by wages, as many 
 are content to labour in this employment as in any other. 
 The proprietor, therefore, might then be eased of the 
 labour of culture, and he soon was so. 
 
 § 12. Inequality in the division of property : causes 
 ivhich render that inevitable. 
 
 The original proprietors would (as I have already men- 
 tioned) occupy as much land as their strength would per- 
 mit them with their families to cultivate. ^ man of 
 greater strength, more laborious, more attentive about 
 the futiire, would occupy more than a man of a contrary 
 character. He, whose family is the most numerous 
 having greater wants and more hands, extends his pos- 
 sessions further; this is a first cause of inequality. — 
 Every piece of ground is not equally fertile; two men 
 with the same extent of land, may reap a very difl"erent 
 10 harvest ; 
 
and Distrlhution of Wealth. 251 
 
 harvest ; this is a second source of inequality. — Property 
 in descending from fathers to their chiklren, divides into 
 greater or less portions, according as the descendants are 
 more or less numerous, and as one generation succeeds 
 another, sometimes the inheritances again subdivide, and 
 sometimes re-unite again by the extinction of some of the 
 branches; this is a third source of inequality. Tl\e dif- 
 fereuce of knowledge, of activity, and, above all, the 
 (Economy of some, contrasted with the indolence, in- 
 ac'tlon, and dissipation of others, is a fourth principle of 
 inequality, and the most powerful of all : the negligent 
 and inattentive proprietor, who cultivates badly, who in 
 a fruitful year consumes in frivolous things the whole of 
 his superfluity, finds himself reduced on the least acci- 
 dent to request assistance from his more provident neigh- 
 bour, and to live by borrowing. If by any new accident, 
 or by a continuation of his negligence, he finds himself 
 not in a condition to repay, he is obliged to have recourse 
 to new loans, and at last has no other resource but to 
 abandon a part, or even the whole of his property to his 
 creditor, who receives it as an equivalent ; or to assign it 
 to another, in exchange for other valuables with which 
 he discharges his obligation to his creditor. 
 
 §13. Consequences of this inequality: The cultivator 
 distinguished from the proprietor. 
 
 Thus is the property in the soil made subject to pur- 
 chase and sale. The portion of the dissipating or unfor- 
 tunate, increases the share of the more happy or indus- 
 rious proprietor; and in this infinite variety of possessions, 
 it is not possible but a great number of proprietors must 
 possess more than they can cultivate. Besides, it is very 
 natural for a rich man to wisli for a tranquil er)joyment 
 of his property, and instead of employing his whole time 
 11 in 
 
 5) 
 
V. 
 
 252 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 in toilsome labour, he rather prefers giving a part of his 
 superfluity to people to work for him. 
 
 § 11. Division of the produce between the cultivator and 
 the proprietor. Net produce, or revenue. 
 
 By this new arrangement, the produce of the land 
 divides into two parts. The one comprehends the sub- 
 sistence and the profits of the husbandman, which are the 
 rewards for his labour, and the conditions on which he 
 agrees to cultivate the field of the proprietor ; the other 
 which remains, is that independent and disposable part, 
 which the earth produces as a free gift to the proprietor 
 over and above what he has disbursed ; and it is out of 
 this share of the proprietor's, or what is called the revenue, 
 that he is enabled to live without labour, and which he 
 can carry wherever he Avill. 
 
 § 15. A new division of society into three classes. Cul- 
 tivators, Artificers, and Proprietors^ or the productive, 
 stipendiary, and disposable classes. 
 
 We now behold society divided into three branches ; 
 the class of husbandmen, whom we may denominate cul- 
 tivators; the class of artificers and others, who work for 
 hire upon the productions of the earth ; and the class of 
 proprietors, the only one which, not being confined by a 
 want of support to a particular species of labour, may be 
 employed in the general service of society, as for war, 
 and the administration of justice, either by a personal 
 service, or by the payment^ of a part of their revenue, 
 with which the state may hire others to fill these employ- 
 ments. The appellation which suits the best M'ith this 
 division, for this reason, is that of the disposable class. 
 
 13 § 16. Resemblance 
 
 I 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 253 
 
 § IG. Resemblance between the two laborious classes. 
 
 The two classes of cultivators and artificers, resemble 
 each other in many respects, and particularly that those 
 who compose them do not possess any revenue, and both 
 equally subsist on the wages which are paid them out of 
 the productions of the earth. Both have also this circum- 
 stance in common, that they only gain the price of their 
 labour and their disbursements, and that this price is 
 nearly the same in the two classes. The proprietor 
 agreeing with those who cultivate his ground to pay them 
 as small a part as possible of its produce, in the same 
 manner as he bargains jvith the shoemaker to buy his 
 shoes as cheap as he can. In a word, neither the culti- 
 vator, nor the artificer receives more than a bare recom- 
 pense for his labour. 
 
 § 17. Essential difference between the two laborious 
 classes. 
 
 But there is this difference between the two species 
 of labour ; t hat the work of the cultivator produces not 
 only his own wages, but also that revqnue which serves to 
 payliU the different classes of artificers, and other stipen- 
 diaries their salaries : whereas the artificers receive simply 
 their salary, that is to say, their part of the productions 
 of the earth, in exchange for their labour, and which does i \ 
 not produce any increase. The proprietor enjoys nothing 
 but by the labour of the cultivator. He receives from him 
 his subsistence, and wherewith to pay for the labour of the 
 other stipendiaries. He has need of the cultivator by the 
 necessity arising from the physical order of things, by which 
 necessity the earth is not fruitful without labour; but the cul- 
 tivator has no need of the proprietor but by virtue of human 
 13 conventions. 
 
254 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 conventions, and of those civil laws which have guaranteed 
 to the first cultivators and their heirs, the property in the 
 lands they had occupied, even after they ceased to culti- 
 vate them. But these laws can only secure to the idle 
 man, that part of the production of his land which it 
 produces beyond the retribution due to the cultivators. 
 The cultivator, confined as he is to a stipend for his 
 labour, still preserves that natural and physical priority 
 . , which renders him the first mover of the whole machine 
 of society, and which causes both the subsistence and 
 wealth of the proprietor, and the salaries paid for every 
 other species of labour, to depend on his industry. The 
 artificer, on the contrary, receives his wages either of the 
 proprietor or of the cultivator, and only gives them in 
 exchange for his stipend, an equivalent in labour, and 
 nothing more. 
 
 Thus, although neither the cultivator and artificer gain 
 
 more than a recompence for their toil ; yet the labour of 
 
 the cultivator produces besides that recompense, a revenue 
 
 to the proprietor, while the artificer does not produce any 
 
 . revenue either for himself or others. 
 
 §18. This difference authorises another distinction into 
 the productive and barren classes. 
 
 We may then distinguish the two classes not dispos- 
 able into the productive class, which is that of the culti- 
 vators, or the barren class, which comprehends all the 
 other stijjendiary members of society. 
 
 § 19. How the proprietors may draw a revenue from 
 their lands. 
 
 The proprietors who do not cultivate their lands 
 themselves, may adopt different methods of cultivating 
 
 14 them, 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 255 
 
 tlicm, or make different agreements with those who rnlti- 
 tivate thorn. 
 
 § 20. First method, or cultwation by labourers on rvafjes. 
 
 Tliey may, in the first place, pay men hy the day or 
 tlie year, to work their fiekls, and reserve to themselves 
 the whole of the produce ; this includes a supposition that 
 the pi'oprietor pays all advances, both for seed, and the 
 wages of the labourers, until after the harvest. But this 
 method requires great labour and assiduity on the part of 
 the jDroprietor, who alone can direct his men in their 
 labour, see that they employ their* time well, and watch 
 over their fidelity, that they shall not carry away any part 
 of the produce. It is true that he may pay a^an of more 
 knowledge, and whose fidelity he knows, who, in quality 
 of manager and conductor, may direct the workmen, and 
 keep an account of the produce ; but he will be always 
 subject to fraud. Besides, this method is extremely 
 expensive^ \inless a large population, or want of employ in 
 otuer species of labour, forces the workmen to content 
 themselves with very low salaries. 
 
 § 21. Second method, cnUivation bj/ slaves. 
 
 In times not very distant from the origin of society, it 
 was almost impossible to find men willing to work on the 
 lands of another, because all the land not being as yet 
 occupied, those who were willing to labour, preferred the 
 clearing of new lands, and the cultivating them* on their 
 own account ; this is pretty much the case in all new 
 colonies. 
 
 In this situation violent men then conceived the ex- 
 pedient of obliging other men by force to labour for them. 
 They employed slaves. These latter have had no justice 
 15 ■ to 
 
256 
 
 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 to look for, from the hands of people, who have not been 
 able to reduce them to slavery without violating all the 
 laws of humanity. Meantime, the physical law of nature 
 secures to them their part of the productions which they 
 have raised ; for the master must necessarily nourish 
 them, in order to profit by their labour. But this species 
 of recompence is confined to mere necessaries for their 
 subsistence. 
 
 This abominable custom of slavery has formerly been 
 universal, and has spread over the greatest part of the 
 globe. The^rincipal object of the jyars earned jdu by the 
 ancients was, to carry off slaves, whom the conquerors 
 either compelled to work for them, or sold to others. 
 This species of thieving, and this trade, still continues, 
 _rK'' attended with all its cruel circumstances, on the coast of 
 
 Guine a, where the Eui'opeans encourage it by going thither 
 to purchase negroes for the cultivation of their American 
 colonies. 
 
 The excessive labour to which avaricious masters force 
 ' their slaves, causes many of them to perish ; and it be- 
 comes necessary, to keep up the number requisite for 
 cultivation, that this trade should supply annually a very 
 large number. And as war is the principal source which 
 supplies this commerce, it is evident that it can subsist no 
 longer than the people continue divided into very small 
 
 (nations, who are incessantly plundering each other, and 
 every district is at continued war with its neighbours. Let 
 England, France, and Spain carry on the most cruel hos- 
 tilities, the frontiers alone of each state will be the only 
 parts invaded, and that in a few places only. All the rest 
 of the country will be quiet, and the small number of 
 / / prisoners they could make on either side, would be but a 
 ' weak resource for the cultivation of each of the three 
 nations. 
 
 16 § 22 Cultivation 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 257 
 
 § 2.2. Cultivation by slaves cannot exist in great 
 societies. 
 
 Tlius when men arc formed into great societies, the 
 recruits of slaves are not sufficiently numerous to support 
 the consumption which the cultivation requires. And 
 although they supply the labour of men by that of beasts, 
 a time will come, when the lands can no longer be worked 
 by slaves. " The practice is then continued only for the 
 in^rior-work of the house, and in the end it is totally 
 abolished ; because in proportion as nations become 
 polished, they form conventions ibr the exchange of pri- 
 soners, of war. These conventions are the more readily 
 made, as every individual is very much interested to be 
 free from the danger of falling into a state of slavery. 
 
 § 23. Slavery annexed to the land, succeeds to slavery 
 properly so called. 
 
 The descendants of the first slaves, attached at first 
 to the cultivation of the ground, change their conditiou. 
 The interior peace among nations, not leaving wherewithal 
 to supply the consumption of slaves, the masters are obliged 
 to take gi'cater care of them. Those who were born in 
 the house, accustomed from their infancy to their situation, 
 revolt the less at it, and their masters have less need to 
 employ rigour to restrain them. By degrees the land they 
 cultivate becomes their country, they become a part of the 
 nation, and in the end, they experience confidence and 
 humanity on the part of their masters. 
 
 § 24. Vassalage .succeeds to slavery, annexed to the land, 
 andTthe slave becomes a lirojrrietor . Third method ; 
 alienation of the land for a certain service. 
 
 The administration of an estate, cultivated by slaves, 
 
 requires a careful attention, and an irksome residence. 
 
 1 7 The 
 
^^ 
 
 258 Re/lections on the Formation 
 
 The master secures to himself a more free, more easy, 
 and more secure enjoyment of his pro])erty, by interesting 
 his slaves in the cultivation of it, and by abandoning to 
 each of them a certain portion of land, on condition 
 of their paying him a portion of the produce. Some 
 have made this agreement for a time, and have only left 
 their serfs, or slaves, a precarious and revocable posses- 
 sion. Others have assigned them lands in perpetuity, 
 retaining an annual rent payable either in prbvisions or 
 in money, and requiring from the possessors certain ser- 
 vices. Those who received these lands, under the condi- 
 tion prescribed, became proprietors and free, under the 
 name of tenant, or vassal; and the ancient proprietors, 
 under the title of lords, reserved only the right of exact- 
 ing payment of the rent, and other stipulated duties. 
 Thus it has happened in the greater part of Europe. 
 
 § 25. Fourth Method. Partial colonization. 
 
 These lands, rendered free at the expence of rent, 
 may yet change masters, may di^dde or reunite by 
 means of succession and sale ; and such a vassal may in 
 his turn have more than he can cultivate himself. In 
 general the rent to which those lands are subject, is not 
 so large, but that, by cultivating them well, the culti- 
 vator is enabled to pay all_ad\'ances, and expences, pro- 
 cuie himself a subsistence, and besides, an excess of pro- 
 ductions which form a revenue. Henceforth the propri- 
 etary vassal becomes desirous of enjoying this revenue 
 without labour, and of having his lands also cultivated by 
 others. On the other hand, the greater part of the lords 
 grant oiit those parts of their possessions only, which are 
 the least within their reach, and retain those they can 
 cultivate with the least expence. The cultivation by 
 slaves not being practicable, the first method that offers, 
 and the most simple to engage free men to cultivate lands 
 18 which 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 
 
 259 
 
 which do not belong to them, was to resign to them snch 
 a portion of the produce, hs would engage them to culti- 
 vate better than those husbandmen who are employed at 
 aTTxed salary. The most common method has been to 
 divide it into equal parts, one of which belonged to the 
 cultivator and the other to the proprietor. This has given 
 place to the name (in France) of metayer {medietarius) or 
 cultivator for half produce. In arrangements of this 
 kind, which take place throughout the greatest part of 
 France, the proprietor pays all contingencies ; that is to 
 say, he provides at his expence, the cattle for labour, 
 ploughs, and other utensils of husbandry, seed, and the 
 support of the cidtivator and his family, from the time 
 the latter enters into the metairie until the first harvest. 
 
 § 26. Fifth method. Renting, or letting out the land. 
 
 Rich and intelligent cultivators, who saw to what per- 
 fection an active and well directed cultivation, for which 
 neither labour nor expence was spared, would raise the 
 fruitfuluess of land, judged with reason that they would 
 gain more, if the proprietors should consent to abandon, 
 for a certain number of years, the whole of the harvest, 
 on condition of recei%'ing annually a certain revenue, and 
 to be free of all expenees of cultivation. By that they 
 would be assured that the increase of productions, which 
 their disbursements and their labour procured, would 
 belong entirely to themselves. The proprietor, on his 
 side, would gain thereby, 1st, a more tranquil enjoyment 
 of his revenue, being freed from the cure of advances, 
 and of keeping an account of the produce ; 2nd, a more 
 equal enjoyment, since he would receive every year the 
 same and a more certain price for his farm : because he 
 would run no risk of losing his advances; and the cattle 
 and other effects with which the farmers had stocked it, 
 would become a security for his payment. On the other 
 19 hand 
 
260 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 hand J the lease being only for a small number of years, 
 if his tenant paid him too little, he could augment it at 
 the expiration thereof. 
 
 § 27. The last method is the most advantageous, but it 
 supposes the country already rich. 
 
 This method of securing lands is the most advantageous 
 both to proprietors and cultivators. It is universally 
 established where there are any rich cultivators, in a 
 condition to make the advances necessary for the cultiva- 
 tion. And as the rich cultivators are in a situation to 
 bestow more labour and manure upon the ground, there 
 results from thence a prodigious augmentation in the pro- 
 ductions, and in the revenue of the land. 
 
 In Picardy, Normandy, the environs of Paris, and in 
 most of the provinces in the north of France, the lands 
 are cultivated by farmers ; in those of the south, by the 
 metayers. Thus the northern are incomparably richer 
 and better cultivated than the southern provinces. 
 
 § 28. Recapitulatian of the several methods of making 
 lands productive. 
 
 I have just mentioned five different methods by which 
 proprietors are enabled to ease themselves of the labour 
 of the cultivation, and to make their land productive, by 
 the hands of others. 
 
 1. By workmen paid at a fixed salary. 
 
 2. By slaves. 
 
 3. By ceding their lands for rent. 
 
 4. By granting to the cultivator a determined portion, 
 which is commonly half the produce, the proprietor pay- 
 ing the advances necessary for the cultivation. 
 
 5. By letting their land to farmers, who undertake to 
 make all the necessary advances, and who engage to pay 
 
 20 to 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 
 
 261 
 
 to the proprietors, during the number of years agreed on, 
 a revenue equal to its value. 
 
 Of these five methods, the^first is too expensive, and 
 vCTjLiieldoiii. practised; the second is only used in coun- 
 tries as yet ignorant and barbarous ; the third is rather a 
 means of procuring a value for, than abandoning of the 
 property for money, so that the ancient proprietor is no 
 longer any thing more than a mere creditor. 
 
 The two last methods of cultivation are the most com- 
 mon, that is, the cultivation by metayers in the poor, 
 and by farmers in the richer countries. 
 
 § 29. Of capitals in general, and of the revenue of N^ 
 money. 
 
 There is another way of being rich, without labour, 
 and without possessing lands, of which I have not yet 
 spoken, and of which it is necessary to explain the origin 
 and connection, Avith other parts of the system of the 
 distribution of riches in society, of which I have just 
 drawn the outlines. This consists in living by what is 
 called the revenue of money, or of the interest which is 
 paid for the loan thereof. 
 
 § 30. Of the use of ^old and silver in co'fhmerce. 
 
 Gold and silver are two species of merchandize, like 
 others, and less valuable than many of them, because 
 they are of no use for the real wants of life. To explain 
 how these two metals are become the representative pledges 
 of every species of riches; how they influence the com- 
 mercial markets, and how they enter into the composition 
 of fortunes, it is necessary to go back again and return 
 to our first principles. 
 
 21 
 
 ,^ .S 1 . /V/.sV 
 
 ."^ '^ 
 
 
262 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 § 31. Rise of Commerce. Principle of the vsiLuation^-'of 
 commercial things. 
 
 y rReciprocal wauts first introduced exchanges of what 
 
 we possessed, for what we stood in need of > one species 
 
 of provision was bartered for another, or for labour.^ lu 
 
 ^ exchanging, it is necessary that each party is convinced 
 
 of the quality and quantity of every thing exchanged. In 
 
 I this agreement it is natural that every one should desire 
 
 ^ r I to receive as much as be can, and to give as little ; and 
 
 Xy^ ' both being equally masters of what they have to barter, 
 
 ^J^ ^ A it is in a man's own breast to balance the attachment he 
 
 Y^ >y'^ ^bas to the thing he gives, with the desire he feels to pos- 
 
 A- sess that Avhich he is willing to receive, and consequently 
 
 ' y^^ to fix the quantity of each of the exchanged things.^ If 
 
 t' -. ^the two persons do not agree, they must relax a little on 
 
 one side or the other, either by offering more or being 
 
 \ \t\ content with less. I will suppose that one is want of corn 
 
 \/ and the other of wine ; and that they agree to exchange 
 
 \ a bushel of corn for six pints of wine. It is evident that 
 
 by both of them, one bushel of corn and six pints of wine 
 
 are looked upon as exactly equivalent, and that in this 
 
 particular exchange, the price of a bushel of corn is six 
 
 pints of wine, and the price of six pints of wine is one 
 
 bushel of corn. But in another exchange between other 
 
 men, this price will be different, accordingly as one or 
 
 the other of them shall have a more or less pressing want 
 
 of one commodity or the other; and a bushel of corn may 
 
 be exchanged against eight pints of wine, while another 
 
 bushel shall be bartered for four pints only. Now it is 
 
 evident, that not one of these three prices can be looked 
 
 on as the true price of a bushel of corn, rather than the 
 
 . . others ; to each of the dealers, the wine he has received 
 
 '; was equivalent to the corn he had given. In a word, so 
 
 I long as we consider each exchange independent of any 
 
 22 otlirr 
 
and Distrihatioit of Wealth. 263 
 
 other, the vahie of each thing exchanged has no other 
 measure than the wants or desires of one party weighed 
 with those of the other, and is fixed only, by their 
 affreement. 
 
 § 32. Hoio the current value of the exchange of mer- 
 chandize is established. 
 
 JSIeautime it happens that many individuals have wine 
 to dispose of to those who possess corn. If one is not 
 willing to give more than four pints for a bushel, the 
 proprietor of the corn will not exchange with him, when 
 he shall know that another will give six or eight pints for 
 the same bushel. If the former is determined to have the 
 corn, he will be obliged to raise his price equal to what 
 is offered by others. The sellers of wine profit on their 
 side by the competition among the sellers of corn. No 
 one resolves to part with his property, before he has com- 
 pared the different offers which are made to him, of the 
 commodity he stands in need of, and then he accepts of 
 the best ofter. The value of the wine and corn is not 
 fixed by the two proprietors with respect to their own 
 wants and reciprocal abilities, but by a general balance of 
 the wants of all the sellers of corn, Avith those of all the 
 sellers of wine. For those who will Avillingly give eiyht 
 pints of wine for a bushel of corn, will give but four when 
 they shall know that a proprietor of corn is willing to 
 give two bushels for eight pints. The medium price be- 
 tween the different offers and the different demands, will 
 become the current price to which all the buyers and 
 sellers will conform in their exchanges ; and it will be 
 true if we say, that six pints of wine will be to every one 
 the equivalent for a bushel of corn, that is, the medium 
 price, until a diminution of supply on one side, or of (k-- 
 mand on the other, causes a variation. 
 
 2."3 § S.'J. CoiHiticrcc 
 
264 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 § 33. Commerce gives to all merchandize a current value 
 with respect to any other merchandize ; from ivhence it 
 follows that all merchandize is the equivalent for a 
 certain quantity of any other merchandize, and may be 
 looked on as a pledge to represent it. 
 
 Corn is not only exchanged for wine, but also for any 
 object which the proprietors of the corn may stand in 
 need of; as wood, leather, woollen, cotton, &c. it is the 
 same with wine and every other particular species. If a 
 bushel of corn is equivalent to six pints of Avine, and a 
 sheep is equivalent to three bushels of corn, the same sheep 
 will be equivalent to eighteen pints of wine. He who 
 having the corn, wants the wine, may, without inconve- 
 nience, exchange his corn for a sheep, in order afterwards 
 to exchange the sheep for the wine he stands in need of. 
 
 § 34. Every merchandize may serve as a scale or common 
 measure, by which to compare the value of any other. 
 
 It follows from hence, that in a country where the 
 commerce is veiy brisk, where there are many productions 
 and much consumption, where there are great supplies 
 and a great demand for all sorts of commodities, every 
 sort will have a current price, having relation to every 
 other species ; that is to say, that a certain quantity of 
 one will be of equal value to a certain quantity of any 
 others. Thus the same quantity of com which is worth 
 eighteen pints of wine, is also the value of a sheep, a piece 
 of leather, or a certain quantity of iron; and all these 
 things have, in the transactions of trade an equal value. 
 To express or make known the value of any particular 
 thing, it is evident, that it is sufficient to announce the 
 quantity of any other known production, which will be 
 looked on as an equivalent for it. Thus, to make known 
 what a piece of leather of a certain size is worth, we may 
 24 sav 
 
/^ 
 
 and Distribution of Wealth. 265 
 
 say indifferently, that it is worth three bushels of corn, 
 or eighteen pints of wine. "We may by the same method 
 express the vahie of a certain quantity of wine, by the 
 number of sheep, or bushels of corn it will bring in trade. 
 We see by this, that every species of commodity that 
 can be an object of commerce, may be measured, as I may 
 say, by each other, that every one may serve as a common 
 measure, or scale of comparison to describe the value of 
 every other species, and in like manner every merchandize 
 becomes in the hands of him w4io possesses it, a means 
 to procure all others — a sort of universal pledge. 
 
 § 35. Every species of merchandize does not present a 
 scale equally commodious. It is proper to prefer the 
 use of such as are not susceptible of any great alteration 
 in quality, and have a value principally relative to the 
 number and quantity. 
 
 But although all merchandize has essentially this pro- 
 perty of representing any other, is able to serve as a 
 common measure, to express its value, and to become a 
 universal pledge to procure any of them by way of exchange, 
 yet all cannot be employed with the same degree of facility 
 for these two uses. The more susceptible any merchan- 
 dize is to change its value by an alteration in its quality, 
 the more difficult it is to make it a scale of reference for 
 the value of others. For example, if eighteen pints of wine 
 of Anjou are equivalent in value to a sheep, eighteen pints 
 of Cape wine may be equivalent to eighteen sheep. Thus 
 he who to express the value of a sheep, would say it is 
 worth eighteen pints of wine, would employ an equivocal 
 language, and would not communicate any precise idea, at 
 least until he added some explanation, wliicii would be 
 very inconvenient. "We are, therefore, obliged to choose 
 for a scale of comparison, such commodities as being more 
 commonly in use, and consequently of a value more gcne- 
 "Zo rallv 
 
266 Rejiections on the Formation 
 
 rally known, are more like each other, and of which con- 
 sequently the value has more relation to the quantity than 
 the quality. 
 
 § 36. For want of an exact correspondence between the 
 value and the number or quantity, it is supplied by a 
 meaJLVXiluation, which becomes a species of real money. 
 
 In a country where there are only one race of sheep, 
 we may easily take the value of a fleece or of a sheep by 
 the common method of valuation, and we may say that a 
 barrel of wine, or a piece of stuif, is worth a certain number 
 of fleeces or of sheep. There is in reality some inequality 
 in sheep, but when we want to sell them, we take care to 
 estimate tbat inequality, and to reckon (for example) two 
 lambs for one sheep. When it is necessary to treat of the 
 relative value of other merchandize, we fix the common 
 value of a sheep of middling age and quality, as the symbol 
 of unity. In this view the enunciation of the value of 
 sheep, becomes an agreed language, and this word one 
 sheep, in the language of commerce, signifies only a cer- 
 
 "Tam value, which, in the mind of him who understands it, 
 carries the idea not only of a sheep, but as a certain quan- 
 tity of every other commodity, which is esteemed equiva- 
 lent thereto, and this expression is more applicable to a 
 fictitious .and abstract value, than to the value of a real 
 sheep ; that if by chance a mortality happens among the 
 sheep, and that to purchase one of them, you must give 
 double the quantity of corn or wine that was formerly 
 given, we shall rather say, that one sheep is worth two 
 
 ] sheep, than change the expression we have been accus- 
 tomed to for all other valuations. 
 
 § 37. Example of those mean valuations which become 
 an ideal expression for value. 
 
 There exists, in the commerce of every nation, many 
 26 examples 
 
and Distrihution of Wealth. 267 
 
 examples of fictitious valuatious of merchandize, which 
 are, as we may say, only a conventional language to ex- 
 press their value. Thus the cooks of Paris, and the fish- 
 mongers who furnish great houses, generally sell by the 
 ^iece. A fat pullet is esteemed one piece, a chicken half 
 a piece, more or less, according to the season : and so of 
 the rest. In the negro trade in the American colonies, 
 they sell a_car^o of negroes at the rate of so-jimdijier 
 negro, an^Lidian 2>icce. The women and children are 
 valued, so that, for example, three children, or one woman \ 
 and two children are reckoned as one head of negro. ' 
 They increase or diminish the value on account of the 
 strength or other quality of the slaves, so that certain 
 slaves are reckoned as two heads of negroes. 
 
 The Mandingo negroes, who carry on a trade for 
 gold dust with the Arabian merchants, bring all their 
 commodities to a fictitious scale, which both parties cal). 
 macutes, so that they tell the merchants they will give 
 so many macutes in gold. They value thus in macutes 
 the merchandize they receive ; and bargain with the mer- 
 chants upon that valuation. Thus in Holland they 
 reckon by bai)Ji^j[lorins, which is onh'^ a fictitious money, 
 and which in commerce is sometimes of a greater, some- 
 times of a less value than the coin which is denomi- 
 nated a florin. 
 
 § 38. All merchandize is a representative j^ledffe of every 
 object of commerce, but more or less commodious for 
 use, as it po.ssesses a greater or less facility to be 
 transported, and to be preserved without alteration. 
 
 The variation in the quality of merchandize, and in 
 the different prices in proportion to that quality, which 
 renders them more or less proper than others to serve as 
 a couimon measure, is also more or less an impediment to 
 their being a rc|)resoiitativo pledge of cvo-y other mer- 
 27 cliandize 
 
268 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 chandize of equal value. Nevertheless there is also, as to 
 this last property, a very essential difference between the 
 diflFerent species of merchandize. It is (for example) 
 evident, that a man who possesses a piece of linen, is more 
 certain of procuring^ for itj when he pleases, a certain 
 qifaii'tity of corn^ than if he had a barrel of wine of equal 
 value : the wine being subject to a variety of accidents, 
 which may in a moment deprive him of the whole 
 property. 
 
 § 39. All irmyhandize has tji^^o e&s&fitial properties of 
 money, m^measure and to'represent all value : and in 
 this sense all merchandize is money. 
 
 These two properties of serving as a cornmon measure 
 of all .value, aud of being a representative pledge of all 
 otjier commodities of equal value, comprehend all that 
 constitute the essence and use of what is called money : 
 and it follows from the details which I have just now 
 given, that all merchandize is^ in some respect, money ; 
 and participates more or less, according to its particular 
 nature, of these two essential properties. All is more or 
 less pro per to serve as a common measure, in proportion 
 as it is more or less in general use, of a more similar 
 quality, and more easy to be divided into aliquot parts. 
 All is more or less applicable for the purpose of a general 
 ^pledge of exchange, in proportion as it is less susceptible 
 of decay or alteration in quantity or quality. 
 
 § 40. Reciprocally all money is essentially merchandize. 
 
 We can take only that which has a value for a com- 
 mon measure of value, that which is received in commerce 
 in exchange for other properties; and there is no uni- 
 versal representative pledge of value, but something of 
 equal value. A money of convention is therefore a thing 
 impossible. 
 
 28 § 41. Different 
 
and Distribution of Wealtli. 269 
 
 § 41. Different matters are able to serve and have served 
 for current money. 
 
 IMany nations have adopted in their language and in 
 their trade, as a common measure of value, different 
 matters more or less precious. There are at this day, 
 some barbarous nations, who make use of a species of 
 little shells, called^ ^cowries. . I remember to have seen 
 when at college, some apric ot stones,eAchanged and passed 
 as a species of money among the scholars, who made use 
 of them at certain games. I have already spoken of a 
 valuation by heads of_cattle; some of these are to be 
 found in the vestiges of the laws of the ancient German 
 nations, who over-ran the Roman empire. The first 
 Romans, or at least the Latins, their ancestors, made use 
 of them also. It is pretended that the first money they 
 struck in brass, represented the value of a sheep, and bore 
 the image of that animal, and that the name of pecunia 
 has obtained from pecus. This conjecture carries with it a 
 great probability. 
 
 § 42. Metals, and p)articularly gold and silver, are the most 
 proper for that purpose, and why. 
 
 We are now arrived at the introduction of the pre- 
 cious metals into trade. All metals, as they have been 
 discovered, have been admitted into exchange, on account 
 of their real utility. Their splendor has caused them to 
 be sought for, to serve as ornaments ; their ductility and 
 their solidity have rendered them proper for utensils, more 
 durable and lighter than those of clay. But these sub- 
 stances cannot be brought into commerce without becom- 
 ing almost immediately a universal money. A piece of 
 any metal, of whatever sort, has exactly the same quali- 
 ties as another piece of the same metal provided they are 
 29 both 
 
270 Refiections on the Formation 
 
 both equally pure. Now the ease with which we can 
 separate, by different chemical operations, a metal from 
 other metals with which it is incorporated, enables us to 
 bring it to a degree of purity, or, as they call it, to what 
 standard we please ; then the value of metal differs only 
 as to its weight. In expressing, therefore, the value of 
 any merchandize by the weight of metal which may be 
 had in exchange, we shall then have the clearest, the most 
 commodious, and most precise' expression of value; and 
 hence it is impossible but it must be preferred in practice 
 to all other things. Nor are metals less proper than 
 other merchandize for becoming the universal token of all 
 value that can be measured : as they are susceptible of 
 <^ all imaginable divisions, there is not any object of com- 
 merce, great or small, whose value cannot be exactly paid 
 by a certain quantity of metal. To this advantage of 
 accommodating itself to every species of division, they 
 Kj^:-'' join that of being unalterable, and those which are scarce, 
 as gold and silver, have a great value, although of a 
 weight and size little considerable. 
 
 These two metals are then, of all merchandize, the 
 most easy to ascertain their quality, to divide their quan- 
 tity, and to convey' to all places at the easiest expence. 
 Every one, therefore, who has a superfluity, and who is 
 not at the time in want of another useful commodity, 
 will hasten to exchange it for silver, with which he is 
 more certain, than with any thing else, to procure him- 
 self the commodity he shall wish for at the time he is in 
 want. 
 
 § 43. Gold and silver are constituted, by the nature of 
 things, money, and universal money, independent of all 
 convention, and of all laws. 
 
 Here then is gold and silver constituted money, and 
 
 universal money, and that without any arbitrary agreement 
 
 30 among 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 271 
 
 among men;, without the intervention of any law, but only 
 by the nature of things. They are not, as many people 
 imagine, sign s of value; they havo ;m intrinsic value in 
 themselves, if they are capable of being the measure and 
 the token of other values. This property they have in 
 common with all other commodities which have a value in 
 commerce. They only diffeiLJii being at the same time 
 more divisible, more unchangeable, and of more easy con- 
 veyance than other merchandize, by which they are more 
 commodiously employed to measure and represent the 
 value of others. 
 
 § 44. Other metals are only employed for these uses, in a 
 secondary manner. 
 
 All metals are capable of being employed as money. 
 But those which are tocLCommen. have too little value in. 
 a large bulk to be employed in the current uses of com- 
 merce. Copper, silver, and gold, are the only ones which 
 have been brought into constant use. And even copper, 
 except among people to whom neither mines nor commerce 
 have supplied a sufficient quantity of gold or silver, has 
 never been used but in exchanges of small value. 
 
 § 4.5. The use of gold and silver, as money, has augmented 
 their value as materials. 
 
 It is not possible, but the eagerness with which every 
 one has sought to exchange their superfluous commodities 
 for gold and silver, rather than for any other commodity, 
 must have augmented the value of these two materials in 
 commerce. These are only thereby rendered more com- 
 modious for their employment as tokens, or common 
 measure. 
 
 § 46. Variations in the value of gold and silver, compared 
 with the other objects of commerce, and ivith each other. 
 
 This va lue is susceptib le of change, and in truth is 
 31 continuallv 
 
272 Refiectioiis on the Formation 
 
 continually changing ; so that the same quantity of metal 
 which answered to a certain quantity of such or such a 
 commodity, becomes no longer equal thereto, and it 
 requires a greater or less quantity of silver to represent 
 the same commodity. When it requires more, it is said 
 the commoditj^ is dearer; when it requires less^ that it is 
 become cheaper ; but they may as well say, that the silver 
 is in the first case become cheaper, and in the latter 
 dearer. Silver and gold not only vary in price, compared 
 with all other commodities, but they vary also with each 
 other, in proportion as they are more or less abundant. 
 It is notorious, that we now give in Europe from fourteen 
 to fifteen ounces of silver for one ounce of gold ; and that 
 in former times we gave only ten or eleven ounces. 
 
 Again, that at present in China, they do not give 
 more than twelve ounces of silver for one ounce of gold, 
 so that there is a very great advantage in carrying silver 
 to China, to exchange for gold, to bring back to Europe. 
 It is visible, that, in process of time, this commerce will 
 make gold more common in Europe, and less common in 
 China, and that the value of these two materials must 
 finally come in both places to the same proportion. 
 
 A thousand different causes concur, to fix and to 
 change incessantly the comparative value of commodities, 
 either with respect to each other, or with respect to silver. 
 The same causes conspire to fix and vary the comparative 
 value, whether in respect to the value of each commodity 
 in particular, or with respect to tUe totality of the other 
 values Avhicli are actually in commerce. It is not possible 
 to investigate these different causes, or to unfold their 
 effects, without entering into very extensive and very 
 difficult details, which I shall decline in this discussion. 
 
 32 § 47. T/it 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 273 
 
 § 47. The use of payments in money, has given room 
 for the distinction of seller and buyer. 
 
 In proportion as mankind became familiarized to the 
 custom of valuing all things in silver, of exchanging all 
 their superfluous commodities for silver, and of not part- 
 ing with that money but for things which are useful or 
 agreeable to them at the moment, they become accus- 
 tomed to consider the exchanges of commerce in a dif- 
 ferent point of new. They have made a distinction of j 
 two persons, the buyer and the seller : the seller is him ^ 
 who gives commodities for money ; and the buyer is him 
 who gives money for commodities. 
 
 § 48. The use of money has much facilitated the sepa- 
 ration of different labours among the different orders 
 of society. 
 
 The more money becomes a universal medium, the 
 more every one is enal)led, by devoting himself solely to 
 that species of cultivation and industry, of which he has 
 made choice, to divest himself entirely of every thought 
 for his other wants, and only to think of providing the 
 most money he can, by the sale of his fruits or his labour, 
 being sure with that money to possess all the rest. It is 
 thus, that the use of money has prodigiously hastened 
 the progress of society. 
 
 § 49. Of the excess of annual produce accumulated to 
 form capitals. 
 
 As soon as men are found, whose property in land 
 
 assures them an annual revenue more than sufficient, to 
 
 satisfy all their wants, among«,them there are some, who, 
 
 either uneasy re8pect;jng Sie fufure, or, perhaps, only provi- 
 
 33 dent, 
 
274 Reflections on the Foy'mation 
 
 dent, lay by a portion of what they gather every year, either 
 with a view to guard against possible accidents, or to aug- 
 ment their enjoyments. When the commodities they have 
 gathered are difficult to preserve, they ought to procure 
 themselves in exchange, such objects of a more durable 
 nature, and such as will not decrease in their value by 
 time, or those that may be employed in such a manner, as 
 to procure such profits as will make good the decrease 
 with advantage. 
 
 § 50. Personal property, accumulation of money. 
 
 This spefiies Q,f possession, resulting from the accumu- 
 lation of annual produce, not consumed, is known by the 
 name of personal property. Household goods, houses, 
 merchandize in store^ utensils of trade, and cattle are 
 under this denomination. It is evident men must have 
 toiled hard to procure themselves as much as they could 
 of this kind of wealth, before they became acquainted 
 with the use of money ; but it is not less evident that, as 
 soon as it was known, that it was the least Hable to alte- 
 ration of all the objects of commerce, and the most easy 
 to preserve without trouble, it would be principally sought 
 after by whoever wished to accumulate. It was not the 
 proprietors of land only who thus accumulated their super- 
 fluity. Although the profits of industry are not, like the 
 revenue of lands, a gift of nature; and the industrious 
 man draws from his labour only the price which is given 
 him by the persons who pay him his wages ; although the 
 latter is as frugal as he can of his salary, and that a com- 
 petition obliges an industrious man to content himself 
 with a less price than he otherwise would do, it is yet 
 certain that these competitions have neither been so 
 numerous or strong in any species of labour, but that a 
 man more expert, more active, and who practises more 
 (Economy tha.n others in his personal expences, has been 
 34 able 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 275 
 
 able, at all times, to gain a little more than sufficient to 
 support him and his family, and reserve his surplus to 
 form a little hoard. 
 
 § 51. Circulating ivealth is an indispensible 7'equisite for 
 all lucrative works. 
 
 It_is even necessary, that in every trade the work- 
 men, or those who employ them, possess a certain quantity 
 of circulating wealth, collected before-hand. We here 
 again, are obliged to go back to a retrospect of many 
 things which have been as yet only hinted at, after we 
 have spoken of the division of different professions, and 
 of the different methods by which the proprietors of 
 capitals may render them of value; because, otherwise, 
 we should not be able to explain them properly, without 
 interrupting the connection of our ideas. 
 
 § 52. Necessity of advances for cultivation. 
 
 Every species of labour, of cultivation, of industry, 
 or of commerce, require advances. When people cul- 
 tivate the ground, it is necessary tosow. before they can 
 reap ; they must also support themselves until after the 
 harvest. The more cultivation is brought to perfection 
 and enlivened, the more considerable these advances are. 
 Cattle, utensils for farming, buildings to hold the cattle, 
 to store the productions, a number of persons, in propor- 
 tion to the extent of the undertaking, must be paid 
 and subsisted until the harvest. It is only by means of 
 considerable advances, that we obtain rich harvests, and 
 that lands produce a large revenue. In whatever business 
 they engage, the workman must be provided with tools, 
 must have a sufficient quantity of such materials as the 
 object of his labour requires : and he must subsist until 
 the sale of his goods. • 
 
 35 § 53. First 
 
276 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 § 53. First advances furnished by the land although 
 uncultivated. 
 
 The earth was ever the first and the only source of all 
 riches : it is that which by cultivation produces all revenue; 
 it is that which has aflforded the first fund for advances, 
 anterior to all cultivation. The first cultivator has taken 
 the grain he has sown from such productions as the land 
 had spontaneously produced ; while waiting for the harvest, 
 he has supported himself by hunting, by fishing, or upon 
 wild fruits. His tools have been the branches of trees, 
 procured in the forests, and cut with stones sharpened 
 upon other stones ; the animals wandering in the woods 
 he has taken in the chace, caught them in his traps, or 
 has subdued them unawares. At first he has made use of 
 them for food, afterwards to help him in his labours. 
 These first funds or capital have increased by degrees. 
 Cattle were in early times the most sought after of all 
 circulating property ; and were also the easiest to accu- 
 mulate ; they perish, but they also breed, and this sort 
 of riches is in some respects unperishable. This capital 
 augments by generation alone, and affords an annual pro- 
 duce, either in milk, wool, leather, and other materials, 
 which, with wood taken in the forest, have effected the 
 first foundations for works of industry. 
 
 § 54. Cattle a circulating wealth, even before the cultiva- 
 tion of the earth. 
 
 In times when there was yet a large quantity of un- 
 cultivated land, and which did not belong to any indi- 
 vidual, cattle might be maintained without having a pro- 
 perty in land. It is even probable, that mankind have 
 almost every where began to collect flocks and herds, and 
 to live on what they produced, before they employed 
 36 themselves 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 277 
 
 themselves in the more laborious occupation of cultivating 
 the ground. It seems that those nations who first culti- 
 vated the earth, are those -who found in their country 
 such sorts of animals as were the most susceptible of 
 beiug tamed, and that they have by this been drawn from 
 the wandering and restless life of hunters and fishers, 
 to the more tranquil enjoyment of pastoral pursuits. 
 Pastoral life requires a longer residence in the same place, 
 afibrds more leisure, more opportunities to study the 
 difference of lands, to observe the ways of nature in the 
 productions of such plants as serve for the support of 
 cattle. Perhaps it is for this reason, that the Asiatic 
 nations have first cultivated the earth, and that the inha- 
 bitants of America have remained so long in a savage 
 state. 
 
 § 55. Another species of circulating/ ivealth, and advances 
 necessary for cultivation, slaves. 
 
 The slaves were another kind of personal property, 
 which at first were procured by violence, and afterwards 
 byway of commerce and exchange. Those that had many, 
 employed them not only in the culture of land, but in 
 various other channels of labour. The facility of accu- 
 mulating, almost without measure, those two sources of 
 riches, and of making use of them abstractedly from the 
 land, caused the land itself to be estimated, and the value 
 compared to moveable riches. 
 
 § 56. Personal proper txj has an exchangeable value, even 
 for land itself. 
 
 A man that would have been possessed of a quantity 
 
 of lands without cattle or slaves, would undoubtedly have 
 
 made an advantageous bargain, in yielding a part of his 
 
 37 land, 
 
p 
 
 278 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 land, to a person that would have offered him in exchange, 
 cattle and slaves to cultivate the rest. It is chiefly by 
 this principle that property in land entered likewise into 
 commerce, and had a comparative value with that of all 
 the other goods. If four bushels of corn, the net pro- 
 duce of an acre of land, was worth six sheep, the acre 
 itself that feeds them could have been given for a certain 
 value, greater indeed, but always easy to settle by the 
 same way, as the price of other wares. Namely, at first 
 by debates among the two contractors, next, by the cur- 
 rent price established by the agreement of those who ex- 
 change land for cattle, or the contrary. It is by the scale 
 of this current specie that lands are appraised, when a 
 debtor is prosecuted by his creditor, and is constrained to 
 yield up his property. 
 
 § 57. Valuation of lands by the proportion of their 
 xevenue, with the sum of personal property , or the value 
 for which they are exchanged : this proportion is called 
 the price of lands. 
 
 It is evident, that if land, which produces a revenue 
 equivalent to six sheep, can be sold for a certain value, 
 which may always be expressed by a number of sheep 
 equivalent to that value ; this number will bear a fixed 
 proportion with that of six, and will contain it a certain 
 number of times. Thus the price of an estate is nothing 
 else but its revenue multiplied a certain number of times; 
 twenty times if the price is a hundred and twenty sheep ; 
 thirty times if one hundred and eighty sheep. And so the 
 current price of land is reckoned by the proportion of the 
 value of the revenue; and the number of times, that the 
 price of the sale contains that of the revenue, is called so 
 many years purchase of the land. They are sold at the 
 price of twenty, thirty, or forty years purchase, when on 
 38 purchasing 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 279 
 
 purchasing them we pay twenty, thirty, or forty times 
 their revenue. It is also not less evident, that this price 
 must vary according to the number of purchasers, or 
 sellers of land, in the same manner as other goods vary 
 in a ratio to the different proportion between the offer ^ 
 and the demand. 
 
 § 58. All capital in money, and all amounts of value, 
 are equivalent to land producing a revenue equal to 
 some portion of that capital or value. First employ- 
 ment of capitals. Purchase of lands, (V ^ 
 
 Let us now go back to the time after the introduction 
 of money. The facility of accumulating it has soon ren- 
 dered it the most desirable part of personal property, and 
 has afforded the means of augmenting, by economy, the 
 quantity of it without limits. Whoever, either by the 
 revenue of his land, or by the salary of his labour or in- 
 dustry, receives every year a higher income than he needs 
 to spend, may lay up.. tha residue and accumulate it : thes&-- 
 accumulated values are what we name a capital. The 
 pusillanimous miser, that keeps his money with the mere 
 view of soothing his imagination against apprehension of 
 distress in the uncertainty of futurity, keeps his money in 
 a hoard. If the dangers he had foreseen should eventually 
 take place, and he in his poverty be reduced to live every 
 year upon the treasure, or a prodigal successor lavish it 
 by degrees, this treasure would soon be exhausted, and 
 the capital totally lost to the possessor. The latter can 
 draw a far greater advantage from it ; for an estate in 
 land of a certain revenue, being but an equivalent of a 
 sum of value equal to the revenue, taken a certain number 
 of times, it follows, that any sum whatsoever of value is 
 equivalent to an estate in land, producing a revenue equal 
 to a fixed proportion of tliat sum. It is perfectly the same ^ 
 whether the amount of this capital consists in a mass of 
 39 metal. 
 
280 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 metalj or any other matter, since money represents all 
 kinds of value, as well as all kinds of value represent 
 money. By these means the possessor of a capital may at 
 first employ it in the purchase of lands ; but he is not 
 without other resources. 
 
 § 59. Another employment for money in advances for 
 /^\ enterprises of manufacture or industry. 
 
 I have already observed, that all kinds of labour, either 
 of cultivation or industry, required advances. And I 
 have shewn how the earth, by the fruits and herbages it 
 spontaneously produces for the nourishment of men and 
 animals, and by the trees, of which man has first formed 
 his utensils, had furnished the first advances for cultiva- 
 tion ; and even of the first manual works a man can per- 
 form for his own service. For instance, it is the earth 
 that pro^ddes the stone, clay, and wood, of which the first 
 houses were built ; and, before the division of professions, 
 when the same man that cultivated the earth provided 
 also for his other wants by his own labour, there was no 
 need of other advances. But when a great part of society 
 began to have no resource but in their hands, it was ne- 
 cessar}' that those who lived thus upon salaries, should 
 have somewhat before hand, that they might either pro- 
 cure themselves the materials on which they laboured, or 
 subsist during the time they were waiting for their salary. 
 
 § 60. Explanation of the use of the advances of capitals 
 in enterprises of industry ; on their returns and the 
 profits they ought to produce. 
 
 In early times, he that employed labouring people 
 
 under him, furnished the materials himself, and paid from 
 
 day to day the salaries of the workmen. It Mas tlie cul- 
 
 iO tivator 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 281 
 
 tivator or the owner himself that gave to the spiuucr the 
 hemp he had gathered^ and he maintained her during the 
 time of her working. Thence he passed the yarn to a 
 weaver, to whom he gave every day the sahiry agreed upon. 
 But those slight daily advances can only take place in the 
 coarsest works. A vast number of arts, and even of those 
 arts indispensable for the use of the most indigent mem- 
 bers of society, require that the same materials should 
 pass through many different hands, and undergo, during 
 a considerable space of time, difficult and various opera- 
 tions. I have ah-eady mentioned the preparation of 
 leather, of which shoes are made. Whoever has seen the 
 workhouse of a tanner, cannot help feeling the absolute 
 impossibility of one, or even several indigent persons pro- 
 viding themselves with leather, lime, tan, utensils, &c. and 
 causing the requisite buildings to be erected to put the tan 
 house to work, and of their living during a certain space 
 of time, till their leather can be sold. In this art, and 
 many others, must not those that work on it have learned 
 the craft before they presume to touch the materials, lest 
 they should waste them in their first trials ? Here then is 
 another absolute necessity of advances. Who shall now 
 collect the materials for the manufactory, the ingredients, 
 the requisite utensils for their preparation ? Who is to 
 construct canals, markets, and buildings of every denomi- 
 nation ? How shall that multitude of workmen subsist till 
 the time of their leather being sold, and of whom none 
 individually would be able to prepare a single skin ; and 
 where the emolument of the sale of a single skin could 
 not afford subsistence to any one of them ? Who shall 
 defray the expences for the instruction of the pupils and 
 apprentices'^ Who shall maintain them until they are 
 sufficiently instructed, guiding them gradually from an 
 easy labour proportionate to their age, to works that de- 
 mand more vigour and ability? It must then be one of 
 those proprietors of capitals, or moveable accumulated 
 41 property 
 
282 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 property that must employ them, supplying them with 
 advances in part for the construction and purchase of ma- 
 terials, and partly for the daily salaries of the workmen 
 that are preparing them. It is he that must expect the 
 sale of the leather, which is to return him not only his 
 advances, but also an emolument sufficient to indemnify 
 him for what his money would have procured him, had he 
 turned it to the acquisition of lands, and moreover of the 
 salary due to his troubles and care, to his risque, and even 
 to his skill ; for surely, upon equal profits, he would have 
 preferred living without solicitude, on the revenue of 
 land, which he could have purchased with the same capi- 
 tal. In proportion as this capital returns to him by the 
 sale of his works, he employs it in new purchases for sup- 
 porting his family and maintaining his manufactory ; by 
 this continual circulation, he lives on his profits, and lays 
 by in store what he can spare to increase his stock, and to 
 advance his enterprize by augmenting the mass of his 
 capital, in order proportionably to augment his profits. 
 
 § 61. Subdivision of the industrious stipendiary class, in 
 undertaking capitalists and simple workmen. 
 
 Thus the whole class'employed in supplying the differ- 
 ent wants of society, with an immense variety of works of 
 industry, is, if I may speak thus, subdivided into two 
 classes. The one, of the undertakers, manufacturers and 
 masters, all proprietors of large capitals, which they avail 
 themselves of, by furnishing work to the other class, 
 composed of artificers, destitute of any property but 
 their hands, who advance only their daily labour, and 
 receive no profits but their salaries. 
 
 42 § 62. Another 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 283 
 
 § 62. Another employment of capitals, in advances to- 
 wards undertakings^of agriculture. Observations on the 
 use, and indispensable profits of capitals in undertakings 
 of agriculture. 
 
 In speaking first of the placing of capitals in manu- 
 facturing enterprizes, I had in view to adduce a more 
 striking example, of the necessity and effect of large 
 advances, and of the course of their circulation. But I 
 have reversed the natural order, which seemed to require 
 that I should rather begin to speak of enterprizes of agri- 
 culture, which also can neither be performed, nor ex- 
 tended, nor afford any profit, but by means of consider- 
 able advances. It is the proprietors of great capitals, 
 who, in order to make them productive in undertakings 
 of agriculture^ take leases of lands, and pay to the owners 
 large rents, taking on themselves the whole burthen of 
 advances. Their case must necessarily be the same as 
 that of the undertakers of manufactures. Like them, they 
 are obliged to make the first advances towards the under- 
 taking, to provide themselves with cattle, horses, utensils 
 of husbandry, to purchase the first seeds ; like them they 
 must maintain and nourish their carters, reapers, threshers, 
 servants, and labourers, of every denomination, who sub- 
 sist only by their hands, who advance only their labour, 
 and reap only their salaries. Like them, they ought to 
 have not only their capital, I mean, all their prior and 
 annual advances returned, but, 1st, a profit equal to the 
 revenue they could have acquired with their capital, ex- 
 clusive of any fatigue ; 2ndly. The salary, and the price 
 of their own trouble, of their risk, and their industry ; 
 3rdly. An emolument to enable them to replace the efiects 
 employed in their enterprise, and the loss by waste, cattle 
 dying, and utensils wearing out, &c., all which ought to 
 be first charged on the products of the earth. The ovcr- 
 43 pluo 
 
284 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 plus will serve the cultivator to pay to the proprietor, for 
 the permission he has given him to make use of his field 
 in the accomplishing of his enterprize ; that is, the price 
 of the leasehold, the rent of the proprietor and the clear 
 product : for all that the land produces, until reimburse- 
 ment of the advances, and profits of every kind to him 
 that has made these advances, cannot be looked upon as 
 a revenue, but only as a reimbursement of the expences 
 of the cultivation, since if the cultivator could not obtain 
 them, he would be loath to risk his wealth and trouble in 
 cultivating the field of another. 
 
 § 63. The competition between the capitalists, undertakers 
 of cultivation, fixes the current price of leases of lands. 
 
 The competition between rich undertakers of cultiva- 
 tion fixes the current price of leases, in proportion to the 
 fertility of the soil, and of the rate at which its produc- 
 tions are sold, always according to the calculation which 
 farmers make both of their expenditures, and of the pro- 
 tits they ought to draw ft-om their advances. They cannot 
 give to the owners more than the overplus. But when 
 the competition among them happens to be more ani- 
 mated, they sometimes render him the whole overplus, 
 the proprietor leasing his land to him that ofi"ers the 
 greatest rent. 
 
 § 64. The default of capitalists, undertakers, limits the 
 cultivation of lands to a small extent. 
 
 When, on the contrary, there are no rich men that 
 possess capitals large enough to embark in enterprizes of 
 agriculture ; when, through the low rate of the produc- 
 tions of the earth, or any other cause, the crops are not 
 sufiicient to ensure to the undertakers, besides the reim- 
 bursement of their capital, emoluments adequate at least 
 44 to 
 
and Distrihutio)i of Wealth. 285 
 
 to those they would derive from their money, by employ- 
 ing it in some other channel ; there are no farmers that 
 offer to lease lands, the proprietors are constrained to hire 
 mercenaries or metayers, which are equally unable to 
 make any advances, or duly to cultivate it. The pro- 
 prietor himself makes moderate advances, which only 
 produce him an indifferent revenue : If the land happens 
 to belong to an owner, poor, negligent, and in debt, to a 
 widow, or a minor, it remains unmanured; such is the 
 principle of the difference I have observed between pro- 
 vinces, where the lands are cultivated by opulent farmers, 
 as in Normandy and the Isle de France, and those where 
 they are cultivated only by indigent mercenaries, as in 
 Limousin, Augoumois, Bourbonnois, and several others. 
 
 § 65. Subdivision of the class of cultivators into under- 
 takers, or farmei's, and hired persons, servants, and 
 day-labourers. 
 
 Hence it follows, that the class of cultivators may be 
 di^nded, like that of manufacturers, into two branches, 
 the one of undertakers or capitalists, who make the ad- 
 vances, the other of simple stipendiary workmen. It 
 results also, that capitals alone can form and support 
 great enterprizes of agriculture, that give to the lands an 
 unvariable value, if I may use the expression, and that 
 secure to the proprietors a revenue always equal, and the 
 largest possible. 
 
 § 66. Fourth employment of capitals, in advances for 
 entejprizes of comniei'ce. Necessity of the interposition 
 of merchants, properly so called, between the producers 
 of the commodities and the consumers. 
 
 The undertakers cither in cultivation or manufacture, 
 
 draw their advances and profits only from the sale of the 
 
 45 fruits 
 
286 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 fruits of the earth, or the commodities fabricated. It is 
 always the wants and the ability of the consumer that sets 
 the price on the sale; but the consumer does not want 
 the produce prepared or fitted up at the moment of the 
 crop, or the perfection of the work. However, the under- 
 takers want their stocks immediately and regularly reim- 
 bursed, to embark in fresh enterprizes : the manuring and 
 the seed ought to succeed the crops without interruption. 
 The workmen of a manufacture are unceasingly to be 
 employed in beginning other works, in proportion as the 
 first are distributed, and to replace the materials in propor- 
 tion as they are consumed. It would not be advisable to 
 stop short in an enterprize once put in execution, nor is it 
 to be presumed that it can be begun again at any time. 
 It is then the strictest interest of the undertaker, to have 
 his capital quickly reimbursed by the sale of his crop or 
 commodities. On the other hand, it is the consumer's 
 interest to find, when and where he wishes it, the things 
 he stands in need of; it would be extremely inconvenient 
 for him to be necessitated to make, at the time of the 
 crop, his provision for the whole course of a year. Among 
 the objects of usual consumption, there are many that 
 require long and expensive labours, labours that cannot 
 be undertaken with profit, except on a large quantity of 
 materials, and on such as the consumption of a small 
 number of inhabitants of a limited district, may not be 
 sufficient for even the sale of the work of a single manu- 
 factory. Undertakings of this kind must then necessarily 
 be in a reduced number, at a considerable distance from 
 each other, and consequently very distant from the habi- 
 tations of the greater number of consumers. There is 
 no man, not oppressed under the extremest misery, that 
 is not in a situation to consume several things, which are 
 neither gathered nor fabricated, except in places con- 
 siderably distant from him, and not less distant from each 
 other. A person that could not procure himself the ob- 
 46 jects 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 287 
 
 jects of his consumption but in buying it directly from 
 the hand of him that gathers or works it, would be cither 
 unprovided with many commodities, or pass his life in 
 wandering after them. 
 
 This double interest which the person producing and 
 the consumer have, the former to find a purchaser, the 
 other to find where to purchase, and yet not to waste 
 useful time in expecting a purchaser, or in finding a seller, 
 has given the idea to a third person to stand between the 
 one and the other. And it is the object of the mercantile 
 profession, who purchase goods from the hands of the 
 person who produces them, to store them in warehouses, 
 whither the consumer comes to make his purchase. By 
 these means the undertaker, assured of the sale and the 
 re-acquisition of his funds, looks undisturbed and inde- 
 fatigably out for new productions, and the consumer finds 
 within his reach and at once, the objects of which he is in 
 want. 
 
 § 67. Different orders of merchants. They all have this 
 in common, that they purchase to sell ayain ; and that 
 their traffic is supported by advances which are to 
 revert with a profit, to be engaged in new enterprizes. 
 
 From the green-woman who exposes her ware in a 
 market, to the merchants of Nantz or Cadiz, who traffic 
 even to India and America, the profession of a trader, or 
 what is properly called commerce, divides into an infinity 
 of branches, and it may be said of degrees. One trader 
 confines himself to provide one or several species of com- 
 modities which he sells in his shop to those who chuse ; 
 another goes with certain commodities to a place where 
 they are in demand, to bring from thence in exchange, 
 such things as are produced there, and are wanted in the 
 place from whence he departed : one makes his exchanges 
 in his own neighbourhood, and by himself, another by 
 
 ^ 
 
 y 
 
I / 
 
 288 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 means of correspondents, and by the interposition of car- 
 riers, whom he pays, employs, and sends from one province 
 to another, from one kingdom to another, from Europe 
 to Asia, and from Asia back to Europe. One sells his 
 merchandize by retail to those who use them, another 
 only sells in large parcels at a time, to other traders who 
 retail them out to the consumers : but all have this in 
 common that they buy to sell again, and that their first 
 purchases are advances which are returned to them only 
 in course of time. They ought to be returned to them, 
 like those of the cultivators and manufacturers, not only 
 within a certain time, to be employed again in new pur- 
 chases, but also, 1. with an equal revenue to what they 
 could acquire with their capital without any labour ; 2. 
 with the value of their labour, of their risk, and of their 
 industry. Without being assured of this return, and of 
 these indispensable profits, no trader would enter into 
 business, nor could any one possibly continue therein : 
 tis in this view he governs himself in his purchases, on a 
 calculation he makes of the quantity and the price of the 
 things, which he can hope to dispose of in a certain time : 
 the retailer learns from experience, by the success of 
 limited trials made with precaution, what is nearly the 
 wants of those consumers who deal with him. The mer- 
 chant learns from his correspondents, of the plenty or 
 scarcity, and of the \\x\ce of merchandize in those difierent 
 countries to which his commerce extends ; he directs his 
 speculations accordingly, he sends his goods from the 
 country where they bear a low price to those where they 
 are sold dearer, including the expence of transportation in 
 the calculation of the advances he ought to be reimbursed. 
 Since trade is necessary, and it is impossible to undertake 
 any commerce without advances proportionable to its ex- 
 tent ; we here see another method of employing personal 
 property, a new use that the possessor of a parcel of com- 
 modities reserved and accumulated, of a sum of money, 
 48 in 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 289 
 
 in a word, of a capital, may make of it to procure him- 
 self subsistence^ and to augment, his riches. 
 
 § 08. The time idea of the circulation of money. 
 
 We see by what has been just now said, how the cul- 
 tivation of lauds, manufactures of all kinds, and all the 
 branches of trade, depend on a mass of capital, or the ac- 
 cumulation of personal property, which, having been at 
 first advanced by the undertakers, in each of these dif- 
 ferent branches, ought to return to them again ever}'^ year 
 with a regular profit ; that is, the capital to be again in- 
 vested, and advanced in the continuation of the same en- 
 terprizes, and the profits employed for the greater or less 
 subsistence of the undertakers. It is this continued ad- 
 vance and return which constitutes what ought to be 
 calTiecrfB^ circulation of money : this useful and fruitful 
 cTixiulation, which animates all the labour of society, 
 whrdi supports all the motion, and is the life of the 
 body politic, and which is with great reason compared | 
 to the circulation of the blood in the human body. For, '. PK*^ 
 if i)y any disorder in the course of the expenses of the | 
 difi'erent orders of society, the undertakers cease to draw 
 back their advances with such profit as they have a right 
 to expect ; it is evident they will be obliged to reduce 
 their undertakings; that the total of the labour, of the 
 consumption of the fruits of the earth, of the productions 
 and of the revenue would be equally diminished ; that 
 poverty will succeed to riches, and that the common 
 workman, ceasing to find employ, will fall into the 
 deepest misery. 
 
 § 69. All 
 
290 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 § 69. All extensive undertakings, particularly those of 
 manufactures and of commerce, must indispensibly have 
 been very confined, before the introduction of yokl and 
 silver in trade. 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to remark, that undertakings 
 of all kinds, but especially those of manufactures, and 
 above all those of commerce, must, unavoidably be very 
 confined, before the introduction of gold and silver in 
 trade ; since it was almost impossible to accumulate con- 
 siderable capitals, and yet more difficult, to multiply and 
 divide payments so much as is necessary, to facilitate and 
 increase the exchanges to that extent, which a spirited 
 commerce and circulation require. The cultivation of 
 the land only may support itself to a certain degree, be- 
 cause the cattle are the principal cause of the advances 
 required therein, and it is very probable, there is then no 
 other adventurer in cultivation but the proprietor. As 
 to arts of all kinds, they must necessarily have been in 
 the greatest languor before the introduction of money; 
 they were confined to the coarsest works, for which the 
 proprietors supported the advances, by nourishing the 
 workmen, and furnishing them with materials, or they 
 caused them to be made in their own houses by their 
 servants. 
 
 § 70. Capitals being as necessary to all undertakings as 
 labour and industry, the industrious man shares volun- 
 tarily the profit of his enterprize with the owner of the 
 capital who furnishes him the funds he is in need of 
 
 Since capitals are the indispensable foundation of all 
 
 lucrative enterprizes; since with money we can furnish 
 
 means for culture, establish manufactures, and raise a 
 
 commerce, the profits of which being accumulated and 
 
 50 frugally 
 
and Di.stn'bution of Wealth. 291 
 
 frugally laid up, will become a new capital : since, in a 
 word, money is the principal means to beget money ; tliose 
 Avho with industry and the love of labour are destitute of 
 capital, and have not sufficient for the undertaking they 
 wish to embark in, have no difficulty in resolving to give 
 up to the proprietors of such capital or money, who are 
 willing to trust them, a portion of the profits which they 
 are in expectation of gaining, over and above their 
 advances. fp\ 
 
 § 71 . Fifth employment of capitals, lending on interest ; 
 nature of a loan. 
 
 The possessors of money balance the risk their capi- 
 tal may run, if the enterprise does not succeed, with the 
 advantage of enjoying a constant profit without toil ; and 
 regulate themselves thereby, to require more or less profit 
 or interest for their money, or to consent to lend it for 
 such an interest as the borrower offers. Here another 
 opportunity opens to the possessor of money, viz. lending 
 on interest, or the commerce of money. Let no one mis- 
 take me here, lending on interest is only a trade, in which 
 the lender is a man who sells the use of his money, and 
 the borrower one who buys; precisely the same as the 
 proprietor of an estate, or the person who farms it, buys 
 and sells respectively the use of the hired land. The 
 Latin term for a loan of money or interest, expresses nt 
 exactly, usura pecunia, a word which adopted into the 
 French language is become odious, by a consequence of 
 false ideas being adopted on the interest of money. 
 
 § 72. False ideas on lending upon interest. 
 
 The rate of interest is by no means founded, as may 
 
 be imagined, on the profit the borrower liopes to make, 
 
 with the capital of which he purchases the use. This rate 
 
 51 like 
 
292 Reflectious on fhe Formation 
 
 like the price of all other merchandize, is fixed by the 
 circumstances of buyer and seller ; by the proportion of 
 the sura offered with the demand. People borrow with 
 every kind of view, and with every sort of motive. One 
 borrows to undertake an enterprize that is to make his 
 fortune, another to buy an estate, another to pay his 
 losses at play, another to supply the loss of his revenue, 
 of which some accident has deprived him, another to 
 exist on, in expectation of what he is able to gain by his 
 labour ; but all these motives which determine the bor- 
 rower, are very indifferent to the lender. He attends to 
 two things only, the interest he is to receive, and the 
 safety of his capital. He never attends to the use the 
 borrower puts it to, as a merchant does not care to what 
 use the buyer applies the commodities he sells him. 
 
 § 73. Errors of the schoolmen refuted. 
 
 It IS for want of having examined the lending of 
 money on interest in its true point of view, that moralists, 
 more rigid than enlightened, would endeavour to make us 
 look on it as a crime. Scholastic theologists have con- 
 cluded, that as money itself was not prolific, it was unjust 
 to require a premium for the loan of it. Full of these 
 prejudices they have fancied their doctrine was sanctioned 
 by this passage in the Gospel, mutuum date nihil hide 
 sperantes : Those theologians who have adopted more 
 reasonable principles on the subject of interest of money, 
 have been branded with the harshest reproaches from 
 those who adopt the other side of the question. 
 
 Nevertheless, there are but few reflections necessary 
 to expose the trifling reasons that are adduced to condemn 
 the taking of interest. A loan of money is a reciprocal 
 contract, free between both parties, and entered into only 
 by reason of its being mutually advantageous. It is evi- 
 52 dent. 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 2.93 
 
 dont, if the lender finds an advantage in receiving an 
 interest for his money, the borrower is not less interested 
 in finding that money he stands in need of, since otherwise 
 he would not borrow and submit himself to the payment 
 of interest. Now on this principle, can any one look on 
 such an advantageous contract as a crime, in which both 
 pai'ties are content, and which certainly does no injury 
 to any other person ? Let them say the lender takes 
 advantage of the wants of the borrower, to force the pay- 
 ment of interest, this is talking as absurd as if we were to 
 say, that a baker who demands money for the bread he 
 sells, takes advantage of his customer's wants. If in this 
 latter case, the money is an equivalent for the bread the 
 buyer receives, the money which the borrower receives to 
 day, is equally an equivalent for the capital and interest 
 he agrees to pay at the expiration of a certain time ; for 
 in fact, it isjan advantage to the borrower, to have, during 
 that interval, the use of the money he stands in need of, 
 and it is a disadvantage to the lender to be deprived of it. L t^ iW^**" 
 This disadvantage may be estimated, and it is estimated, /'.Jm-^*- 
 the i nterest is^ the rate. This rate ought to be larger, if ^ A*^*- 
 the lender r uns a risk of losing his capital by the borrower 
 becoming insolvent. The bargain therefore is perfectly 
 equal on both sides and consequently, fair and honest. 
 Money considered as a physical substance, as a mass of 
 metal, does not produce any thing ; but money made use ^ 
 
 of in advances in cultivation, in manufacture, in com- 
 merce, produces a certain profit ; with money we can • ' , 
 acquire land, and thereby procure a revenue : the person 
 therefore who lends his money, does not only give up the 
 unfruitful possession of such money, but deprives liimseL 
 of the profit which it was in his power to procure by it, 
 and the interest which indemnifies him from this loss can- 
 not be looked npon as unjust. The schoolmen, compelled 
 to acknowledge the justice of these considerations, have ) ' 
 allowed that interest for money may be taken, provided %k\ 
 y^ the 
 
294 Reflections on tJiP. Formation 
 
 the capital is alienated, that is, provided tlie lender gave 
 up his right to be reimbursed his money in a certain time, 
 and permitted the borrower to retain it as long as he was 
 inclined to pay the interest thereof only. The reason of 
 this toleration was, that then it is no longer a loan of 
 money for which an interest is paid, but a purchase, which 
 is bought with a sum of money, as we purchase lands. 
 This was a mode to which they had recourse, to comply 
 with the absolute necessity which exists of borrowing 
 money, in the course of the transactions of society, with- 
 out fairly avowing the fallacy of those principles, upon 
 which they had condemned the practice : but this clause 
 for the alienation of the capital, is not an advantage to 
 the borrower, who remains equally indebted to the lender, 
 until he shall have repaid the capital, and whose property 
 always remains as a security for the safety of such capital ; 
 — it is even a disadvantage, as he finds it more difficult to 
 borrow money when he is in want of it ; for persons who 
 would willingly consent to lend for a year or two, a sum 
 of money which they had destined for the purchase of an 
 estate, would not lend it for an uncertain time. Besides, 
 if they are permitted to sell their money for a perpetual 
 rent, why may they not lend it for a certain number of 
 years, for a rent which is only to continue for that term ? 
 If an interest of 1000 li\Tes pe?- annum is equivalent to 
 the sum of 20000 livres from him to keep such a sum in 
 perpetuity, 1000 livres will be an equivalent for the pos- 
 session of that sum for one year. 
 
 § 74. True foundation of interest of money. 
 
 A man then may lend his money as lawfully as he may 
 sell it; and the possessor of money may either do one or 
 the other, not only because money is equivalent to a 
 revenue, and a means to procure a revenue : not only 
 because the lender loses, during the continuance of the 
 54 loan; 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 295 
 
 loan, the revenue he might have procured by it ; not only 
 because he risks his capital ; not only because the bor- 
 rower can employ it in advantageous acquisitions, or in 
 undertakings from whence he Avill draw a large profit : 
 the proprietor of money may lawfully receive the interest 
 of it, by a more general and decisive principle. Even if 
 none of these circumstances should take place, he will not 
 have the less right to require an interest for his loan, for 
 this reason only, that his money is his own. Since it is 
 his own, he has a right to keep it, nothing can imply a 
 duty in him to lend it ; if then he does lend, he may 
 annex such a condition to the loan as he chuses, in this 
 he does no injury to the borrov.-er, since the latter agrees 
 to the conditions, and has no sort of right over the sum 
 lent. The profit which money can procure the borrower, 
 is doubtless one of the most prevailing motives to deter- 
 mine him to borrow on interest ; it is one of the means 
 which facilitates his payment of the interest, but this is 
 by no means that which gives a right to the lender to 
 require it ; it is sufficient for him that his money is his 
 own, and this is a right inseparable from property. He 
 who buys bread, does it for his support, but the right the 
 baker has to exact a price is totally independent of the 
 use of bread ; the same right he would possess in the sale 
 of a parcel of stones, a right founded on this principle 
 only, that the bread is his own, and no one has any right 
 to oblige him to give it up for nothing. 
 
 § 75. Answer to an objection. 
 
 This reflection brings us to the consideration of the 
 application made by an author, of the text, niutuum date 
 nihil inde sperantes, and shews how false that application 
 is, and how distant from the meaning of the Gospel. 
 The passage is clear, as interpreted by modern and rea- 
 sonable divines as a precept of charity. All mankind are 
 55 bound 
 
296 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 bound to assist each other ; a rich man who should see 
 his fellow creature in distress, and who, instead of gra- 
 tuitously assisting, should sell him what he needed, would 
 be equally deficient in the duties of Christianity and of 
 humanity. In such circumstances, charity does not only 
 require us to lend without interest, she orders us to lend, 
 and even to give if necessary. To convert the precept of 
 charity into a precept of strict justice, is equally repug- 
 nant to reason, and the sense of the text. Those whom I 
 here attack do not pretend that it is a duty of justice to 
 lend their money ; they must be obliged then to confess, 
 that the first words of the passage, mutumn date, contain 
 only a precept of charity. Now I demand why they 
 extend the latter part of this passage to a principle of 
 justice. What, is the duty of lending not a strict precept, 
 and shall its accessory only, the condition of the loan, be 
 made one ; it would have been said to man, '' It is free 
 for you to lend or not to lend, but if you do lend, take 
 care you do not require any interest for your money, and 
 even when a merchant shall require a loan of you for an 
 undertaking, in which he hopes to make a large profit, it 
 will be a crime in you to accept the interest he ofi'ers you ; 
 you must absolutely either lend to him gratuitously, or 
 not lend to him all ? You have indeed one method to 
 make the receipt of interest lawful, it is to lend your 
 capital for an indefinite term, and to give up all right to 
 be repaid it, which is to be optional to your debtor, when 
 he pleases, or when he can. If you find any inconve- 
 nience on the score of security, or if you foresee you shall 
 want your money in a certain number of years, you have 
 no other course to take but not to lend : It is better for 
 you to deprive this merchant of this most fortunate op- 
 portunity, than to commit a sin by assisting him." This 
 is what they must have seen in these five words, mutuum 
 date nihil hide sjjerantes, when they have read them under 
 these false prejudices. 
 
 56 Everv 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 297 
 
 Every man who shall read this text unprejudiced, will 
 soon find its real meaning ; that is, " as men, as Chris- 
 tians, you are all brothers, all friends ; act towards each 
 other as brethren and friends ; help each other in your 
 necessities; let your purses be reciprocally open to each 
 other, and do not sell that assistance which you are mu- 
 tually indebted to each other, in requiring- an interest for 
 a loan which charity requires of you as a duty." This is 
 the true sense of the passage in question The obligation 
 to lend without interest, and to lend, have evident relation 
 to each other ; they are of the same order, and botlj) in- 
 culcate a duty of charity, and not a precept of rigorous 
 justice, applicable to all cases of lending. 
 
 § 7Q. The rate of interest ought to he fixed, as the 
 price of every other merchandize, by the course of 
 trade alone. 
 
 I have already said, that the price of money borrowed, 
 is regulated like the price of all other merchandize, by 
 the proportion of the money at market with the demand 
 for it : thus, when there are many borrowers who are 
 in want of money, the interest of money rises; when 
 there are many possessors who are ready to lend, it falls. 
 It is therefore an error to believe that the interest of 
 monc}' in trade ought to be fixed by the laws of princes. 
 It has a current price fixed like that of all other mer- 
 chandize. This price varies a little, according to the 
 greater or less security which the lender has ; but on 
 equal security, he ought to raise and fall his price in pro- 
 portion to the abundance of the demand, and the law no 
 more ought to fix the interest of money than it ought to 
 regulate the price of any other merchandizes which have 
 a currency iu trade. 
 
 57 5 77. Mo 
 
 VI cy 
 
:.^ 
 
 298 Reflections on the Fonnation 
 
 § 77. Money has in commerce two different valuations. 
 One expresses the quantity of money or silver we give 
 to procure different sorts of commodities; the other 
 expresses the relation a sum of money has, to the in- 
 terest it will procure in the course of trade. 
 
 It seems by this explanation of the manner in which 
 money is either sold or lent for an annual interest, that 
 tliere are two ways of valuing money in commerce. In 
 buying and selling a certain weight of silver represents a 
 certain quantity of labour, or of merchandize of every 
 species ; for example, one ounce of silver is equal to a 
 certain quantity of corn, or to the labour of a man for a 
 certain number of days. In lending, and in the com- 
 merce of money, a capital is the equivalent of an equal 
 rent, to a determinate portion of that capital ; and recipro- 
 cally an annual rent represents a capital equal to the 
 amount of that rent repeated a certain number of times, 
 according as interest is at a higher or lower rate. 
 
 § 78. These two valuations are independent of each other, 
 and are governed by quite different principles. 
 
 These two diiferent methods of fixing a value, have 
 much less connection, and depeiid much less on each 
 other than we should be tempted to believe at first sight. 
 Money may be very common in ordinary commerce, may 
 hold a very low value, answer to a very small quantity of 
 commodities, and the interest of money may at the same 
 time be very high. 
 
 I will suppose there are one million ounces of silver in 
 
 actual circulation in commerce, and that an ounce of 
 
 silver is given in the market for a bushel of corn. I will 
 
 suppose that there is brought into the country in some 
 
 58 manner 
 
and Didrihution of Wealth. 299 
 
 manner or other, another million of ounces of silver, and 
 this augmentation is distributed to every one in the same 
 proportion as the first million, so that he who had before 
 two ounces, has now four. The silver considered as a 
 quantity of metal, will certainly diminish in price, or 
 which is the same thing, commodities will be purchased 
 dearer, and it becomes necessary, in order to procure the 
 same measure of corn vrhicli he had before with one ounce 
 of silver, to give more silver, perhaps two ounces instead 
 of ouc. But it does not by any means follow from thence, 
 that the interest of monej' falls, if all this money is car- 
 ried to market, and employed in the current expences of 
 those who possess it, as it is supposed the first million 
 of ounces of silver was; for the interest of money falls 
 only when there is a greater quantity of money to be lent, 
 in proportion to the wants of the borrowers, than there 
 was before. Now the silver which is carried to market is 
 not to be lent; it is money which is hoarded up, which 
 forms the accumulated capital for lending ; and the aug- 
 mentation of the money in the market, or the diminution 
 of its price in comparison with commodities in the ordi- 
 nary course of trade, are very far from causing infallibly, 
 or by a necessary consequence, a decrease of the interest 
 of money; on the contrary, it may happen that the cause 
 which augments the quantity of money in the market, 
 and which consequently increases the price of other com- 
 modities by lowering the value of silver, is precisely the 
 same cause which augments the hire of money, or the rate 
 of interest. 
 
 In effect, I will suppose for a moment, that all the 
 rich people in a country, instead of saving from their 
 revenue, or from their annual profits, shall expend the 
 Avhole ; that, not satisfied with expending their whole 
 revenue, they dissipate a part of their capital ; that a man 
 who has 100,000 livres in money, instead of employing 
 them in a profitable manner, or lending them, consumes 
 59 them 
 
300 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 them by degrees in foolish expences ; it is apparent that 
 on one side there will be more silver employed in com- 
 mon circulation, to satisfy the wants and humours of each 
 individual, and that consequently its value will be lowered; 
 on the other hand there will certainly be less money to be 
 lent ; and as many people will in this situation of things 
 ruin themselves, there will clearly be more borro\^ers. 
 The interest of money will consequently augment, while 
 the money itself wil) become more plenty in- circulation, 
 and the value of it will fall, precisely by the same cause. 
 
 We shall no longer be surprised at this apparent in- 
 consistency, if we consider that the money brought into 
 the market for the purchase of corn, is that which is daily 
 circulated to procure the necessaries of life; but that 
 which is offered to be lent on interest, is what is actually 
 drawn out of that circulation to be laid by and accumu- 
 lated into a capital. 
 
 § 79. In comparing the value of money ivith that of 
 commodities, ive consider silver as a metal, which is an 
 object of commerce. In estimating the interest of money, 
 \ we attend to the use of it during a determinate time. 
 
 In the market a measure of corn is purchased witli a 
 certain weight of silver, or a quantity of silver is bought 
 with a certain commodity, it is this quantity which is 
 valued and compared with the value of otl^er commodi- 
 ties. In a loan upon interest, the ol)ject of the valuation 
 is the use of a certain quantity of property during a cer- 
 tain time. It is in this case no longer a mass of silver, 
 compared with a quantity of corn, but it is a portion of 
 effects compared with a certain portion of the same, which 
 is become the customary price of that mass for a certain 
 time. Let twenty thousand ounces of silver be an equi- 
 valent in the market for twenty thousand measures of corn, 
 or only for ten thousaud, the use of those twenty thou.-^and 
 00 ounces 
 
and Disti'ibation of Wealth. 301 
 
 ounces of silver for a year is not worth less on a loan than 
 the twentieth part of the principal sura^ or one thousand 
 ounces of silver^ if interest is at five per cent. 
 
 § 80. The price of interest depends immediately on the 
 proportion of the demand of the borrowers, ivith the offer 
 of the lenders, and this proportion depends principally 
 OH the quantity of personal property , accumulated by an 
 
 V excess of revenue and of the annual produce to form 
 capitals, whether these capitals exist in money or in 
 any other kind of effects having a value in commerce. 
 
 The price of silver in circulation has no influence but 
 with respect to the quantity of this metal employed in 
 common circulation; but the rate of interest is governed 
 by the quantity of property accumulated and laid by to 
 form a capitalr It is indifferent whether this property 
 is in metal or other eft'ects, provided these effects, are 
 easily convertible into money. It is far from being the 
 case, that tlie mass of metal existing in a state, is as large 
 as tlie amount of the property lent on interest in the 
 course of a year; but all the capitals in furniture, mer- 
 chandize, tools, and cattle, supply the place of silver and 
 represent it. A paper signed by a man, who is known to 
 be worth 100,000 livres, and who promises to pay 100 
 marks in a certain time is worth that sum ; the whole 
 property of the man who has signed this note is answer- 
 a])le fur the payment of it, in whatever the nature of 
 these effects consists, provided they are in value 100,000 
 livres. It is not therefore the quantity of silver existing ! 
 as merchandize which causes the rate of interest to rise or 
 fall; or which brings more money in the market to be 
 lent; it is only the capitals existing in commerce, tliat is 
 to say, the actual value of personal property of every 
 kind accumulated, successively saved out of the revenues 
 and profits to be employed by the possessors to procure 
 them new revenues and new profits. It ia these accumu- 
 Gl lated 
 
302 Reflections on the Forination 
 
 lated savings which are offered to the borrowers, and the 
 more there are of them, the lower the interest of money 
 will be, at least if the number of borrowers is not aug- 
 mented in proportion. 
 
 § 81. The spirit of (Economy continually augments the 
 amount of capitals, luxury continually tends to destroy 
 them. 
 
 The spirit of oeconomy in any nation tends incessantly 
 to augment the amount of the capitals, to increase the 
 number of lenders, and to diminish that of the borrowers. 
 The habit of luxury has precisely a contrary effect, and 
 by what has been already remarked on the use of capitals 
 in all undertakings, whether of cultivation, manufacture, 
 or commerce, we may judge if luxury enriches a nation, 
 or impoverishes it. 
 
 § 82. The lowering of interest proves, that in Europe 
 (Economy has in general prevailed over luxury. 
 
 Since the interest of money has been constantly dimi- 
 nishing in Europe for several centuries, we must conclude, 
 that the spirit of oeconomy has been more general than 
 the spirit of luxury. It is only people of fortune who 
 run into luxury^ and among the rich, the sensible part of 
 them confine their expences within their incomes, and 
 pay great attention not to touch their capital. Those 
 who wish to become rich are far more numerous in a 
 nation than those which are already so. Now, in the 
 present state of things^ as all the land is occupied, there is 
 but one way to become rich, it is either to possess, or to 
 procure in some way or other, a revenue or an annual 
 profit above what is absolutely necessary for subsistence, 
 and to lay up every year in reserve to form a capital, by 
 means of which they may obtain an increase of revenue 
 62 or 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 30:i 
 
 or annual profit, which will again prodnce another saving, 
 and become capital. There are consequently a great 
 number of men interested and employed in amassing 
 capitals. 
 
 § 83. Recapitulation of the five different methods of 
 employing capitals. 
 
 y 
 
 I have reckoned five different methods of employing f^ 
 
 capitals, or of placing them so as to procure a profit. 
 
 1st. To buy an estate, which brings in a certain 
 revenue. 
 
 2d. To employ money in undertakings of cultiva- 
 tion ; in leasing lands whose produce should render back, 
 besides the expences of farming, the interest on the 
 advances, and a recompense for the labour of him who 
 employs his property and attention in the cultivation, 
 
 3d. To place a capital in some undertaking of 
 industry or manufactures. 
 
 4th. To employ it in commerce. 
 
 5th. To lend it to those who want it, for an annual 
 interest. 
 
 § 84. The influence which the different methods of 
 employing money have on each other. 
 
 It is evident that the annual returns, which capitals, 
 placed in different employs, will produce, are proportionate 
 to each other, and all have relation to the actual rate of 
 the interest of money. 
 
 § 85. Money invested in land, necessarily produces 
 the least. 
 
 ^ '% * ' 
 The person who invests his money in land let to a 
 solvent tenant, procures himself a revenue which gives 
 63 him 
 
304 RefiectioiiH on the Formation 
 
 liira ver}'- little trouble in receiving, and which he may 
 dispose of in the most agreeable manner, by indulging all 
 his inclinations. There is a greater advantage in the pur- 
 chase of this species of property, than of any other, since 
 the possession of it is more guarded against accidents. 
 We must therefore purchase a revenue in land at a higher 
 price, and must content ourselves with a less revenue for 
 an equal capital. 
 
 § 86. Money on interest ought to hrlng a little more 
 income, than land purchased with an equal capital. 
 
 He who lends his money on interest, enjoys it still 
 more peaceably and freely than the possessor of land, but 
 the insolvency of his debtor may endanger the loss of his 
 capital. He will not therefore content himself with an 
 interest equal to the revenue of the land which he could 
 buy with an equal capital. The interest of money lent, 
 must consequently be larger than the revenue of an estate 
 purchased with the same capital; for if the proprietor 
 could find an estate to purchase of an equal income, he 
 would prefer that. 
 
 § 87. Money employed in cultivation, manufactures, or 
 commerce, ought to produce more than the interest of 
 money on loan. 
 
 By a like reason, money employed in agriculture, in 
 manufactures, or in commerce, ought to produce a more 
 considerable profit than the revenue of the same capital 
 employed in the purchase of lands, or the interest of 
 money on loan : for these undertakings, besides the capi- 
 tal advanced, requiring much care and labour, and if they 
 were not more lucrative, it would be much better to 
 secure an equal revenue, which might be enjoyed without 
 64 labour. 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 305 
 
 labour. It is necessary then, that, besides the interest of 
 the capital, the undertaker should draw every year a profit 
 to recorapence him for his care, his labour, his talents, the 
 risque he runs, and to replace the wear and tear of that 
 portion of his capital which he is obliged to invest in 
 effects capable of receiving injury; and exposed to all 
 kinds of accidents. 
 
 X 
 
 88. Meantime the freedom of these various employments 
 are limited by each other, and maintain, notwithstanding 
 their inequality, a species of equilibrium. 
 
 The different uses of the capitals produce very un- 
 equal profits ; but this inequality does not prevent them 
 from having a reciprocal influence on each other, nor from 
 establishing a species of equilibrium among themselves, I j 
 like that between two liquors of unequal gravity, and which 
 communicate with each other by means of a reversed 
 syphon, the two branches of which they fill ; there can 
 be no height to which the one can rise or fall, but the 
 liquor in the other branch will be affected in the same 
 manner. 
 
 I will suppose, that on a sudden, a great number of 
 proprietors of lands are desirous of selling them. It is 
 evident that the price of lauds will fall, and that with a 
 less sum we may acquire a larger revenue ; this cannot 
 come to pass without the interest of money rising, for the 
 possessors of money would chuse rather to buy lands, than 
 to lend at a lower interest than the revenue of the lands 
 they could purchase. If, then, the borrowers want to 
 have money, they will be constrained to pay a greater 
 rate. If the interest of the money increases, they will 
 prefer lending it, to setting out in a hazardous manner on 
 enterprizes of agriculture, industry, and commerce : and 
 they will be aware of any enterprizes but those that pro- 
 duce, besides the retribution for their trouble, an eraolu- 
 65 ment 
 
306 Reflections on the Fonnation 
 
 ment by far greater than the rate of the lencler^s produce. 
 In a word, if the profits, springing from an use of money, 
 augment or diminish, the capitals are converted by with- 
 drawing them from other employings, or are withdrawn 
 by converting them to other ends, which necessarily alters, 
 in each of those employments, the proportion of profits on 
 the capital to the annual product. Generally, money 
 converted into property in land, does not bring in so 
 much as money on interest ; and money on interest brings 
 less than money used in laborious enterprizes : but the 
 produce of money laid out in any way whatever, cannot 
 augment or decrease without implying a proportionate 
 augmentation, or decrease in other employments of 
 money. 
 
 § 89. The current interest of money is the standard by 
 li'hich the abundance or scarcity of capitals may be 
 judged ; it is the scale on which the extent of a nation's 
 capacity for enterprizes in agriculture, manufactures, 
 and commerce, may be reckoned. 
 
 Thus the current interest of money may be considered 
 as a standard of the abundance or scarcity of capitals in a 
 nation, and of the extent of enterprizes of every denomi- 
 nation, in which she may embark : it is manifest, that the 
 lower the interest of money is, the more valuable is the 
 land. A man that has an income of fifty thousand livres, 
 if the land is sold but at the rate of twenty years purchase 
 is an owner of only one million ; he has two millions, if 
 the land is sold at the rate of forty. If the interest is at 
 five per cent, any land to be brought into cultivation 
 would continue fallow, if, besides the recovery of the 
 advances, and the retribution due to the care of the culti- 
 vator, its produce would not afford five per cent. No 
 manufactory, no commerce can exist, that does not bring 
 in five per cent, exclusively of the salary and equivalents 
 66 for 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 307 
 
 for the risque and trouble of the undertaker. If there is 
 a neighbouring: nation in which the interest stands only 
 at two per cent, not only it will engross all the branches 
 of commerce^ from which the nation where an interest at 
 five per cent, is established^ is excluded, but its manufac- 
 turers and merchants, enabled to satisfy themselves with 
 a lower interest, will also sell their goods at a more mode- 
 rate price, and will attract the almost exclusive commerce 
 of all articles, which they are not prevented to sell by 
 particular circumstances of excessive dearth, and expences 
 of carriages, from the nation in which the interest bears 
 five per cent. 
 
 § 90. Influence of the rate of interest of money on all 
 lucrative enterprizes. 
 
 _The price _of., the interest may be looked upon as a r 
 
 kind of J ^el, under which all labour, culture, industry, 
 or commerce, acts. It is like a sea expanded over a vast 
 conntiy ; the tops of the mountains rise above the sur- 
 face of the water, and form fertile and cultivated islands. 
 If this sea happens to give way, in proportion as it 
 descends, sloping ground, then plains and vallies appear, 
 which cover themselves with productions of every kind. 
 It wants no more than a foot elevation, or falling, to in- 
 undate or to restore culture to unmeasurable tracts of 
 land. Itis the abundance of capitals that animates enter- 
 prize ; and a low interest of money is at the same time 
 the effect and a proof of the abundance of capitals. 
 
 § 91. The total Riches of a nation consists, 1. in the clear 
 revenue of all the real estates, multiplied by the rate of 
 the price of land. 2. in the sum of all the moveable 
 riches existinr/ in a nation. 
 
 Real estates are^ equivalent to any capital, equal to their 
 
 annual revenue, multiplied by the current rate at which 
 
 67 ' lands 
 
308 
 
 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 lands are sold. Thus if we add the revenue of all lands, viz. 
 the clear revenue they render to the proprietor, and to all 
 those that share in the property, as the lord that levies a 
 rent, the curate that levies the tythe, the sovereign that 
 levies the tax ; if say I, we should add all these sums, 
 and multiply them by the rate at which lands are sold, 
 we would have the sum of all the wealth of a nation in 
 real estates. To have the whole of a nation's wealth, 
 the moveable riches ought to be joined, which consist in 
 the sum of capitals converted into enterprizes of culture, 
 industry, and commerce, which is never lost ; as all 
 advances, in any kind of undertaking, must unceasingly 
 return to the undertaker, to be unceasingly converted 
 into enterprizes, which without that could not be con- 
 tinued. It would be a gross mistake to confound the im- 
 mense mass of moveable riches with the mass of money 
 that exists in a state ; the latter is a small object in com- 
 parison with the other. To convince one^s self of this, 
 we need only remember the immense quantity of beasts, 
 utensils, and seed, which constitute the advances of agri- 
 culture; the materials, tools, moveables, and merchan- 
 dises of every kind, that fill up the work-houses, shops, 
 and warehouses of all manufacturers, of all merchants, 
 and of all traders, and it will be plain, that in the totality 
 of riches either real or moveable of a nation, the specie 
 makes but an inconsiderable part : but all riches and 
 money being continually exchangeable, they all represent 
 money, and money represents them all. 
 
 § 92. T%e sum. of lent capitals cannot be understood 
 without a two-fold reckoning. 
 
 We must not include in the calculation of the riches 
 
 of a nation the sum of lent capitals; for the capitals 
 
 could only be lent either to proprietors of lands, or to 
 
 68 undertakers 
 
and Distribution of' Wealth. 
 
 309 
 
 undertakers to enhance their value in their enterprizes, 
 since there are but these two kinds of people that can 
 answer for a capital, and discharge the interest : a sum of 
 money lent to people that have neither estate nor industry, 
 would be a dead capital, and not an active one. If the 
 owner of land of -100,000 livres borrows 100,000, his land 
 is charged with a rent that diminishes his revenue by that 
 sum. If he should sell it ; out of the 400,000 livres he 
 would receive, 100,000 are the property of the creditor. By 
 these means the capital of the lender would always form, 
 in the calculation of existing riches, a double estimate. 
 The land is always worth 400,000/. when the proprietor 
 borrows 100,000/. that does not make 500,000/. it only 
 follows, that in the 400,000/. one hundred thousand 
 belongs to the lender, and that there remains no more 
 than 300,000/. to the borrower. 
 
 The same double estimate would have place in the cal- 
 culation, if we should comprehend in the total calculation 
 of ca})itals, the money lent to an undertaker to be era- 
 ployed in advance for his undertaking; it only results, 
 that that sum, and the part of the profits which repre- 
 sents the interest, belongs to the lender. Let a merchant 
 employ 10,000 livres of his property in his trade, and 
 engross the whole profit, or let him have those 10,000 
 livres borrowed of another, to v/hom he pays the interest, 
 and is satisfied with the overplus of profit, and the salary 
 of his industry, it still makes only 10,000 livres. 
 
 But if we cannot include, without making a double 
 estimate in the calculation of national riches, the capital 
 of the money lent on interest, we ought to cull in the 
 othqr^inds of moveables, which though originally form- 
 ing an object of cxpeuce, and not carrying any profit, 
 become, however, by their durability, a true capital, that 
 constantly increases ; and which, as it may occasionally 
 be exchanged for money, is as if it was a stock in store, 
 which may enter into commerce and make good, when 
 69 necessary 
 
 
310 Refiections on the Formation 
 
 necessary, the loss of other capitals. Such are the move- 
 ables of every kind; jewels, plates, paintings^ statueSj^_ 
 ready money shut up in chests by misers: all those 
 matters have a value, and the sum of all those values may 
 make a considerable object among wealthy nations. Yet 
 be it considerable or not, it must always be added to the 
 price of real estates, and to that of circulating advances 
 in enterprizes of every denomination, in order to form the 
 total sum of the riches of a nation. As for the rest, it 
 is superfluous to say, though it is easy to be defined, as 
 we have just done, in what consists the totality of the 
 riches of a nation ; it is probably impossible to discover 
 to how much they amount, unless some rule be found out 
 to fix the proportion of the total commerce of a nation, 
 with the revenue of its land : a feasible thing, but which 
 has not been executed as yet in such a manner as to dispel 
 all doubts. 
 
 § 93. In ivhich of the three classes of society the lenders 
 of money are to be ranked. 
 
 Let us see now, how what we have just discussed about 
 the different ways of employing capitals, agrees with what 
 we have before established about the division of all the 
 members of society into three classes, the one the pro- 
 ductive class of husbandmen, the industrious or trading 
 class, and the disposing class, or the class of proprietors. 
 
 § ,94. The lender of money belongs, as to his person, to 
 — — - the disposing class. 
 
 We have seen that every rich man is necessarily pos- 
 sessor either of a capital in moveable riches, or funds 
 equivalent to a capital. Any estate in land is of equal 
 value with a capital ; consequently every proprietor is a 
 capitalist, but not every capitalist a proprietor of a real 
 70 estate; 
 
imd Distribution of Wealth. 311 
 
 estate; and the possessor of a moveable capital may cliuse 
 to confer it on acquiring funds,, or to improve it in enter- 
 prizes of the cultivating class, or of the industrious class. 
 The capitalist, turned an undertaker in culture or in- 
 dustry, is no more of the disposing class, than the simple 
 workmen in those two lines ; they are both taken up in 
 the continuation of their enterprizes. The capitalist 
 who keeps to the lending money, lends it either to a pro- 
 prietor or to an imdertaker. If he lends it to a proprietor, 
 he seems to belong to tlie class of proprietors, and he 
 becomes co-partitioncr in the property; the income of 
 the land is destined to the payment of the interest of his 
 trust; the value of the funds is equal to the security of 
 his capital. 
 
 If the money-lender has lent to an undertaker, it is 
 certain that his person belongs to the disposing class ; but 
 his capital continues destined to the advances of the enter- 
 priser, and cannot be withdrawn without hurting the 
 enterprise, or without being replaced by a capital of equal 
 value. 
 
 § 95. The use ivhich the money-lender makes of his 
 interest. 
 
 Indeed, the i nterest he d raws from that capital seems 
 to make him of the disjiosing class, since the undertaker 
 and the entcrprize may shift without it. It seems also 
 we may form an inference, that in the profits of the two 
 laborious classes, either in the culture of the earth or 
 industry, there is a disposable port ion, namely, that which 
 answers to the interest of the advances, calcidated on the 
 current rate of interest of money lent; it appears also 
 that this conclusion seems to agree with what we have 
 said, that the mere class of proprietors had a revenue 
 properly so called, a disposing revenue, and that all the 
 members of the other classes had only salaries or profits. 
 71 Thi. 
 
312 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 This merits some future inquiry. If we consider the 
 thousand crowns that a man receives annually, who 
 has lent 60,000 livres, to a merchant, in respect to the 
 use he may make of it, there is no doubt of this being 
 perfectly disposable, since the enterprize may subsist 
 without it. 
 
 § 96. The interest of the money is not disposable in one 
 sense, viz. so as the state may be authorized to appro- 
 priate, without any inconvenience, a part to supply its 
 wants. 
 
 But it does not ensue that they are of the disposing 
 class in such a sense, that the state can appropriate to 
 itself with propriety a portion for the public wants. Those 
 1000 crowns are not a retribution, which culture or 
 commerce bestows gratuitously on him that makes the 
 advance; it is the price and the condition of this advance, 
 independently of which the enterprize could not subsist. 
 If this retribution is diminished, the capitalist will with- 
 draw his money, and the undertaking will cease. This 
 retribution ought then to be inviolable, and enjoy an 
 entire immunity, because it is the price of an advance 
 made for the enterprize, without which the enterprize 
 could not exist. To encroach upon it, would cause an 
 augmentation in the price of advances in all cnterprizes, 
 and consequently diminish the cnterprizes themselves, 
 that is to say, cultivation, industry, and commerce. 
 
 This answer should lead us to infer, that if we have 
 said, that the capitalist who had lent money to a pro- 
 pi'ietor, seemed to belong to the class of proprietors, this 
 appearance had somewhat equivocal in it which wanted to 
 be elucidated. In fact, it is strictly true, that the interest 
 of his money is not more disposable, that is, it is not 
 more susceptible of retrenchment, than that of money 
 lent to the undertakers in agriculture and commerce. 
 72 But 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 313 
 
 But the interest is equally the price of the free agreement, 
 and they cannot retrench any part of it without altering 
 or changing the price of the loan. 
 
 For it imports little to whom the loan has been made : 
 if the price decreases or augments for the proprietor of 
 lands, it will also decrease and augment for the cultivator, 
 the manufacturer, and the merchant. In a word, the ' 
 proprietor who lends money ought to be considered, as a 
 dealer in a commodity absolutely necessary for the pro- 
 duction of riches, and which cannot be at too low a price. 
 It is also as unreasonable to charge this commerce with 
 duties, as it would be to lay a duty on a dunghill which 
 serves to manure the land. Let us conclude from hence, 
 that the person who lends money belongs properly to the 
 disposable class as to his person, because he has nothing 
 to do ; but not as to the nature of his property, whether 
 the interest of his money is paid by the proprietor of land 
 out of a portion of his income, or whether it is paid by 
 an undertaker, out of a part of his profits designed to pay 
 the interest of his advances. 
 
 § 97. Objection, 
 
 It may doubtless be objected, that the capitalist may 
 indifferently either lend his money, or employ it in the 
 purchase of land ; that in either case he only receives an 
 equivalent for his money, and whichever way he has 
 employed it, he ought not the less to contribute to the 
 public charges. 
 
 § 98. Answer to this objection. 
 
 I answer first, that in fact, when the capitalist has 
 
 purchased an estate, the revenue will be equal as to him, 
 
 to what he would have received for his money by lending 
 
 it ; but there is this essential difference with respect to 
 
 73 the 
 
3.1 4 Reflections on the Formation 
 
 the state, that the grice which he gives for his land, does 
 not contribute in any respect to the income it produces. 
 It wouhl not have produced a less income, if he had not 
 purchased it. This income, as we have ah'eady explained, 
 consists in what the land produces, beyond the salary of 
 the cultivators, of their profits, and the interest of their 
 advances. It is not the same with the interest of money ; 
 it is the express condition of the loan, the price of the 
 advance, without which the revenue or profits, which serve 
 to pay it, could never exist. 
 
 I answer in the second place, that if the lands were 
 charged separately witli the contribution to the public 
 expences, as soon as that contribution shall be once regu- 
 lated, the capitalist who shall purchase these lands will 
 not reckon as interest for his money, that part of the 
 revenue which is affected by this contribution. The same 
 as a man who now buys an estate, does not buy the tythe 
 which the curate or clergy receives, but the revenue which 
 remains after that tythe is deducted. 
 
 § 99. There exists no revenue strictly disposable in a state, 
 but the clear produce of lands. 
 
 It is manifest by what I Iiave said, that the interest of 
 
 money lent is taken on the revenue of lands, or on the 
 
 profits of enterprizes of culture, industry, and commerce. 
 
 But we have already shewn that these profits themselves 
 
 were only a part of the production, of lands ; that the 
 
 , produce of land is divided in two portions ; that the one 
 
 ,- was designed for the salary of the cultivator, for his 
 
 V ^. ^ profits, for the recovery and interest of his advances ; and 
 
 -^ ■ • that the other was the part of the proprietor, or the 
 
 revenue which the proprietor expended at his option, and 
 
 A " from whence he contributes to the general expences of the 
 
 state. 
 
 We have demonstrated, that what the other classes of 
 74 society 
 
 
and Distribution of Wealth. 315 
 
 society received, was merely the salaries and profits paid, 
 either by the proprietor upon his revenue, or by the agents 
 of the productive class, on the part destined to their wants, 
 and which they are obliged to purchase of the industrious 
 class. Whether these profits be bow distributed in wages 
 to the workmen, in profits to undertakers, or in interests 
 of advances, they do not change the nature, or augment 
 the sum of the revenue produced by the productive class 
 over and above the price of their labour, in which the 
 industrious class does not participate, but as far as the 
 price of their labour extends. 
 
 Hence it follows, that there is no revenue but the 
 clear ^produce of land, and that all other profit is paid, 
 either by that revenue, or makes part of the expenditure 
 that serves to produce the revenue. 
 
 § 100. The land has also furnished the total of moveable 
 riches, or existing capitals, and which are formed only 
 by a portion of its 2Jroductions reserved every year. 
 
 Not only there does not exist, nor can exist, any other 
 revenue than the clear produce of laud, but it is the earth 
 also that has furnished all capitals, that form the mass of 
 all the advances of culture and commerce. It has pro- 
 duced, without culture, the first gross and indispensible 
 advances of the first labourers ; all the rest are the accu- 
 mulated fruits of the oeconomy of successive ages, since 
 they have begun to cultivate the earth. This oeconomy 
 has eff'ect not only on the revenues of proprietors, but 
 also on the profits of all the members of laborious classes. 
 It is even generally true, that, though the proprietors 
 have more overplus, they spare less; for, having more 
 treasure, they have more desires, and more passions ; they 
 think themselves better ensured of their fortune ; and are 
 more desirous of enjoying it contentedly, than to augment 
 it J luxury is their pursuit. The stipendiary class, and 
 75 chiefly 
 
 ^ 
 
316 Rejections on the Formation 
 
 chiefly the undertakers of the other classes, receiving 
 profits proportionate to their advances, talents, and acti- 
 vity, have, though they are not possessed of a revenue 
 properly so called, a superfluity beyond their subsistence ; 
 but, absorbed as they generally are, only in their enter- 
 prizes, and anxious to increase their fortune; restrained 
 by their labour from amusements and expensive passions ; 
 they save their whole superfluity, to re-convert it in other 
 enterprizes, and augment it. The greater part of the 
 undertakers in agriculture borrow but little, and they 
 almost all rest on the capital of their own funds. Tlie 
 undertakers of other businesses, who wish to render their 
 fortune stable, strive likewise to attain to the same state. 
 Those that make their enterprizes on borrowed funds, are 
 greatly in danger of failing. However, although capitals 
 are formed in part by the saving of profits in the laborious 
 classes, yet, as those profits spring always from the earth, 
 they are almost all repaid, either by the revenue, or in 
 the expences that serve to produce the revenue ; it is 
 evident, that the capitals are derived from the earth as 
 well as the revenue, or rather that they are but an accu- 
 mulation of a part of the riches produced by the earth, 
 which the proprietors of the revenue, or those that share 
 it, are able to lay by every year in store, without con- 
 suming it on their wants. 
 
 § 101. Although money is the direct object in saving, and 
 it is, if we may call it so, the first foundation of 
 capitals, yet money and specie form but an insensible 
 part in the total sum of capitals. 
 
 We have seen what an inconsiderable part money 
 forms in the total sum of existing capitals, but it makes a 
 very large one in the formation of them. In fact, almost 
 all savings are only in money ; it is in money that the 
 revenue is paid to the proprietors, that the advances and 
 76 profits 
 
and Distrihution of Wealth. 817 
 
 profits are received by the undertakers of every kind ; it 
 is their money which they save, and the annual increase 
 of capitals happens in money; but all the undertakers 
 make no other use of it, than immediately to convert it 
 into the different kinds of effects on which their enter- 
 prizes turn ; thus, money returns into circulation, and the 
 greater part of capitals exist only, as we have already 
 explained it, in effects of different natures. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
EXTRACT 
 
 AN INQUIRY 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 Nature of the CORN LAWS; 
 
 with a View to the 
 
 NEW CORN-BILL 
 
 Proposed for Scotland. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 1777- 
 
EXTRACT 
 
 AN IN^IRY 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 Nature of the Corn Laws, &:c 
 
 > '-^'^» 
 
 I FORE SEE here a popular objection. It will be said, 
 that the price to the farmer is so high only on ac- , 
 count of the high rents and avaricious extortions of pro- 
 prietors. " Lower (say they) your rents, and the farmer 
 " will be able to afford his grain cheaper to the consumer." 
 But if the avarice alone of the proprietors was the cause 
 of the dearth of corn, whence comes it, I may ask, that 
 the price of grain is always higher on the west than on 
 the east coast of Scotland? Are the proprietors in the 
 Lothians more tender-hearted and less avaricious than 
 those of Clyddesdale? The truth is, nothing can be 
 more groundless than these clamours against men of 
 landed property. There is no doubt, but that they, as 
 well as every other class of men, will be willing to aug- 
 ment their revenue as much as they can, and therefore 
 will always accept of as high a rent for their land as is 
 offered to them. Would merchants or manufactures do 
 otherwise ? Would either the one or the other of these 
 3 refuse. 
 
322 Anderson on the 
 
 refuse, for the goods he offers to sale in a fair open way, 
 as high a price as the purchaser is inclined to give ? If 
 they would not, it is surely with a bad grace that they 
 blame gentlemen for accepting such a rent for their land 
 as farmers, who are supposed always to understand the 
 value of it, shall cliuse to offer them. 
 
 r It is not, however, the rent of the land that deter- 
 mines the price of its produce, but it is the price of that 
 produce which determines the rent of the land ; although 
 the price of that produce is often highest in those coun- 
 tries where the rent of land is lowest. 3 This seems to be 
 a paradox that deserves to be explained. 
 
 In every country there is a demand for as much grain 
 as is sufficient to maintain all its inhabitants ; and as that 
 grain cannot be brought from other countries but at a 
 considerable expence, on some occasions at a most ex- 
 orbitant charge, it usually happens, that the inhabitants 
 find it most for their intei'cst to be fed by the produce of 
 their own soil. But the price at which that produce can 
 be afforded by the farmer varies considerably in different 
 circumstances. 
 
 C In every country there is a variety of soils, differing 
 considerably from one another in point of fertility. These 
 we shall at present suppose arranged into different classes, 
 which we shall denote by the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, &c. 
 the class A comprehending the soils of the greatest fertility, 
 and the other letters expressing different classes of soils, 
 gradually decreasing in fertility as you recede from the 
 first. Now, as the expence of cultivating the least fertile 
 soil is as great, or greater than that of the most fertile 
 field ; it necessarily follows, that if an equal quantity of 
 corn, the produce of each field, can be sold at the same 
 price, the profit on cultivating the most fertile soil must 
 be much greater than that of cultivating the others ; and 
 as this continues to decrease as the sterility encreases, it 
 must at length happen, that the expence of cvdtivating 
 4 some 
 
Origin of Rent. 323 
 
 some of the inferior classes will equal the value of the 
 ■whole produce. ^ 
 
 cTliis being premised, let us suppose, that the class F 
 includes all those fields whose produce in oat-meal, if sold 
 at fourteen shillings per boll, would be just sufficient to 
 pay the expence of cultivating them, without afibrding any- 
 rent at all : That the class E comprehended those fields, 
 whose produce, if sold at thirteen shillings per boll, would 
 free the charges, without affording any rent ; and that in 
 like manner the classes D, C, B, and A, consisted of fields, 
 whose produce, if sold res[)ectively at twelve, eleven, ten, 
 and nine shillings per boll, would exactly pay the charge 
 of culture, without any rent. ^ 
 
 Let us now suppose that all the inhabitants of the 
 country, where such fields are placed, could be sustained 
 by the produce of the first four classes, viz. A, B, C, and 
 D. It is plain, that if the average selling price of oat- 
 meal in that country was twelve shillings per boll, those 
 who possessed the fields D, could just afford to cultivate 
 them, without paying any rent at all ; so that if there 
 were no other produce of the fields that could be reared 
 at a smaller expence than corn, the farmer could afford no 
 rent whatever to the proprietor for them. And if so, no 
 rents could be afforded for the fields E and F ; nor could 
 the utmost avarice of the proprietor in this case extort a 
 rent for them. In these circumstances, however, it is 
 obvious, that the farmer who possessed the fields in the 
 class C could pay the expence of cultivating them, and also 
 afford to the proprietor a rent equal to one snilling for 
 eveiy boll of their produce ; and in like manner the pos- 
 sessors of the fields B and A could afford a rent equal to 
 two and three shillings per boll of their produce respec- 
 tively. Nor would the proprietors of these fields find any 
 difficulty in obtaining these rents; because farmers, find- 
 ing they could live equally well upon such soils, though 
 paying these rents, as they could do upon the fields J) 
 o without 
 
324 Anderson on the 
 
 without any rent at all, would be equally willing to take 
 the one as the other. 
 
 But let us again suppose, that the whole produce of 
 the fields A, B, C and D, was not sufficient to maintain the 
 whole of the inhabitants. If the average selling price 
 should continue at twelve shillings j^er boll, as none of the 
 fields E or F could admit of being cultivated, the inhabi- 
 tants would be under the necessity of bringing grain from 
 some other country, to supply their wants. But if it 
 should be found, that grain could not be brought from that 
 other country, at an average, under thirteen shillings per 
 boll, the price in the home-market would rise to that rate ; 
 / so that the fields E could then be brought into culture, 
 and those of the class D could afford a rent to the pro- 
 prietor equal to what was formerly yielded by C, and so on 
 of others; the rents of every class rising in the same 
 proportion. If these fields were sufficient to maintain the 
 whole of the inhabitants, the price would remain perma- 
 nently at thirteen shillings ; but if there was still a defi- 
 ciency, and if that could not be made up for less than 
 fourteen shillings per boll, the price would rise in the 
 market to that rate; in which case the field F might also 
 be brought into culture, and the rents of all the others 
 would rise in proportion. 
 
 To apply this reasoning to the present case, it appears, 
 that the people in the Lothians can be maintained by the 
 produce of the fields A, B, C, D, and E, but the inhabi- 
 tants of Clyddesdale require also the produce of the fields 
 F ; so that the one is under the necessity of giving, at an 
 average, one shilling per boll more for meal than the 
 other. 
 
 Let us now suppose, that the gentlemen of Clyddesdale, 
 from an extraordinary exertion of patriotism, and an in- 
 ordinate desire to encourage manufactures, should resolve 
 to lower their rents, so as to demand nothing from those 
 who posssessed the fields E, as well as those of the class 
 6 F, and 
 
Origin of Rent. 325 
 
 F, and should allow the reuts of all the others to sink in 
 proportion ; would the prices of grain fall in consequence 
 of this ? By no means. The inhabitants are still in need 
 of the whole produce of the fiekls F as before, and are 
 under the necessity of paying the farmer of these fields 
 such a price as to enable him to cultivate them. He 
 must therefore still receive fourteen shillings per boll as 
 formerly. And as the grain from the fields E, D, C, B, 
 and A, are at least equally good, the occupiers of such of 
 these fields would receive the same price for their produce. 
 The only consequence, then, that would result from this 
 quixotic scheme, would be the enriching one class of 
 farmers at the expence of their proprietors, without pro- 
 ducing the smallest benefit to the consumers of grain — 
 perhaps the reverse, as the industry of these fai'mers might 
 be slackened by this measure. 
 
 If, on the other hand, by any political arrangement, 
 the price of oat-meal should be there reduced from four- 
 teen to thirteen shillings per boll, it would necessarily 
 follow, that all the fields of the class F would be aban- 
 doned by the plough, and the rents of the others would 
 fall of course : but with that fall of rent, the quantity of 
 grain produced would be diminished, and the inhabitants 
 would be reduced to the necessity of depending on others 
 for their daily bread, t Thus it appears, that rents are not 
 at all arbitrary, but depend on the market-price of grain ; 
 which, in its turn, depends upon the effective demand that 
 is for it, and the fertility of the soil in the district where 
 it is raised : so that lowering of rents alone could never 
 have the effect of rendering grain cheaper.^ 
 
TR RATI S E 
 
 ON THE 
 
 MARITIME LAWS 
 
 OF 
 
 RHODES. 
 
 BY ALEXANDER C. SCHOMBERG, M.A. 
 
 FELLOW OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD. 
 
 OXFORD: 
 
 SOLD BY D. PRINCE AND J. COOKE. 
 
 J. F. AND C. RIVINGTON, P. ELMSLY, AND 
 
 T. PAYNE AND SON, LONDON. 
 
 M.DCC.LXXXVl.. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 ANY research which tends to gratify a learned curi- 
 osity is at least innocent and amusing. If it serves 
 at the same time to explain the manners and customs of a 
 remote age^ or to illustrate any trait of national character, 
 it may justly be deemed both interesting and profitable. 
 Few branches of literature can attain this important end 
 so successfully as that which has for its subject the laws 
 and polity of states ; and there is none perhaps which has 
 reflected stronger light upon public and domestic history, 
 or proved a finer comment upon ancient philosophy and 
 polite letters, than the liberal study of juridical antiqui- 
 ties. How far the truth of this observation may appear 
 in the following pages I will not presume to say. They 
 were originally designed to form a part of the illustrations 
 annexed to the Chronological VicAv, but finding the mate- 
 rials more copious than were at first imagined, I deter- 
 mined to lay them before the public in a separate treatise. 
 By their judgment it must be determined how far an 
 enquiry into the maritime laws of Rhodes may contribute 
 to the amusement of the classical reader, or to the utility 
 of the student of civil law. 
 
A 
 TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 MARITIME LAWS 
 
 OF 
 
 RHOD ES. 
 
 THE Barou de Montesquieu has observed^ that the 
 laws of a well-regulated maritime state must ne- 
 cessarily be more varied and comprehensive than those of 
 any other."^ The reason is obvious. It is in such a state 
 that the commercial spirit is usually found to be most 
 active. This activity produces an extensive communica- 
 tion, which drawing together into one city the inhabitants 
 of different countries, gives rise to a multitude of cus- 
 tomsj interests and engagements, unknown to an inland 
 people. " Dissimilitudo civitatum, says Tully, varietatem 
 juris habeat necesse est.f So that in order to adjust the 
 controversies incident to this intercourse of nations, a 
 peculiar jurisdiction is requisite, and certain principles of 
 general jurisprudence must be adopted to conduct litiga- 
 tions and decide cases which do not fall within the reach 
 of municipal polity. To such an establishment Xenophon 
 alludes, when, pointing out the means of cncreasing the 
 public revenue, he exorts his countrymen to erect a kind 
 of maritime tribunal, and to bestow rewards upon such 
 .5 of 
 
 * Esprit des Loix. Liv. 2o. cap. 16. t Pro Balbo. §. 13. 
 
332 Schomberg on the 
 
 of the judges as should distinguish themselves by a dili- 
 gent discharge of their function.* 
 
 That a people who so happily applied the principles of 
 sound philosophy and natural justice to the various exi- 
 gencies of civil life, and who constructed a juridical system 
 more durable and extensive than their empire^f should 
 never have struck out any thing original in this essential 
 branch of legislation may appear somewhat singular. The 
 Romans did not even take the pains to digest or arrange 
 the materials which they borrowed ; and while they carried 
 every other part of jurisprudence to the highest pitch of 
 accuracy and refiuemeut_, were content to stand indebted 
 to one of their provinces both for the form and matter of 
 their maritime code. 
 
 It is the purport of the following treatise to attempt 
 an elucidation of this point, by shewing that the conduct 
 of the Romans was perfectly consistent with their national 
 character and form of government ; and that the peculiar 
 excellence of the Rhodian laws amply justified their 
 adoption. 
 
 It seems to be generally agreed that the Romans were 
 never very conspicuous as a maritime power, either in a 
 military or a commercial light. ]Many years had elapsed 
 from the foundation of their city before they became pos- 
 sessed of any thing that resembled a marine establish- 
 ment, and though toward the latter age of the republic 
 we read of some very surprizing naval exertions, the sea 
 6 certainly 
 
 * riopoi. p. 728. edit. Leunclav. The Naval Duumvirs had no 
 judicial authority at Rome ; but in the lower empire there seems to 
 have been an oflScer like our Consicl. Cod. Theodos. L. 7. De 
 Naviculariis. 
 
 + " Tanta sapientia fuisse Roma in Jure constitv^ndo putanda 
 est, quanta fuit in his tantis opibus Imperii comparandis." £>e Orat > 
 I. §. 44. 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 333 
 
 certainly was not their favourite element.^ Polybius 
 informs us that before the first Punic war, they had never 
 been engaged in an action at sea, and being ignorant of 
 the art of ship-building, had till that time been accus- 
 tomed to navigate in hired vessels. The same writer 
 indeed has given us some ancient treaties between Rome 
 and Carthage, the first of which carries us back to the year 
 of the city 245, and contains, among other curious par- 
 ticulars, certain restrictions on Roman fleets visiting the 
 coasts of Africa, and on their trade both there and in the 
 island of Sardinia ; but it must be observed, that though 
 this appears at first sight to contradict what has been 
 asserted of their ignorance in naval matters, it will be 
 found perfectly consistent, if we recollect the vicinity of 
 these countries to the coast of Italy.f The constant wars 
 in which Rome was involved with her neighbours, during 
 the first five centuries, may be a reason why she paid so 
 little attention to naval affairs. We find the smaller states 
 of Italy very early on the sea, and engaged in considerable 
 commerce for those times; particularly the Tarentines, 
 Tyrrhenians, Spinetes and Liburnians, the latter of whom 
 gave name to the most commodious kind of vessels used 
 by the Romans. The city of Spina also, according to 
 7 Dionysius, 
 
 * It is worthy remark that there is no trace of any maritime 
 law in the XII Tables, though at the time of the embassy into 
 Greece, those of Rhodes may be supposed to have had very extensive 
 influence. 
 
 Montesquieu's reason for this is perhaps too refined, see Esprit 
 des Loix, Liv. 21. c. 9. 
 
 t Polybii. Hist. Lib. .3. cap. 22. et seq. lie tells us these 
 Treaties were copied by him with great difficulty from some obscure 
 originals on brazen tablets in the Capitol. Barbeyrac, in his S^l■p• 
 plement to the Corps Diplomatique, has given some acute remarks on 
 them. Tom. i. Art. xcvii. ccli. ccxcvii. cccxxxii. and they have been 
 ably illustrated by Professor Ueyne in some Gottingen Dissertations, 
 Anno. 1780. 
 
334 Schomherg on the 
 
 Dionysius, became very powerful ; and some idea may be 
 formed of its opulence from the many ricli presents 
 brought by this state to the temple at Delphi. 
 
 The encreasing power and haughtiness of Carthage at 
 last exciting the jealousy of Rome, taught her the neces- 
 sity of supporting a marine force, and the famous victory 
 of Duillius, the first fruits of her application to naval 
 business, encouraged her to persevere in it.* By an 
 unexampled instance of exertion she in a few months 
 constructed a navy which enabled her to maintain a 
 superiority at sea, as is evident from her success soon 
 afterwards against the INIacedonians, and from the event 
 of the third Punic war, which ended in the total destruc- 
 tion of her rival, t 
 
 After this she sent out a very respectable fleet against 
 the piratical confederacy, which had received considerable 
 strength by a junction with the ruined inhabitants of 
 Carthage and Corinth. They invested every part of the 
 Mediterranean, and hovering about the mouth of the 
 Tiber, effectually cut off the communication between 
 Rome, and Sicily, the principal granary of the city. It 
 was upon this occasion that Pompey was invested with the 
 sole command of the whole Roman navy, (a species of 
 authority never before entrusted to an individual) and with 
 a fleet of more than five hundred sail held absolute sway 
 8 over 
 
 * The singular privilege which Duillius enjoyed in consequence 
 of this victory, of being preceded at night by torches and music, 
 gave great offence to many of the graver Romans. Cicero mentions 
 his having often met him, when a boy, with this pompous attend- 
 ance, and exclaims tantum licentice dabat gloria ! De Senectute : and 
 Florus observes upon it, that it seemed to him, like " a diurnal 
 repetition of a triumph, which other conquerors were modest 
 enough to confine to a single day." Lib. 2. cap. 2. §. 10. 
 
 t It was soon after the destruction of Carthage that Rome estab- 
 lished a trade between JStica on the African coast and the island of 
 Del OS, from whence she annually imported slaves into the city. 
 
Laws of Rhodes . 335 
 
 over the sea and the coasts, from the pillars of Hercules 
 to the Thracian Bospliorous. He totally broke the pirati- 
 cal league, and, in order to prevent its reunion on the seas, 
 settled its members in a large track of country at a great 
 distance from the coast.* 
 
 The dominion of the sea became much more confirmed 
 and extended under the emperors, some few of whom 
 were naturally inclined to favour it. In the Code of 
 Theodosius is a law of Constantino and Julian which 
 confers the rank of knight upon those who had borne a 
 naval command with honour ; and another of Valenti- 
 nian, which encourages persons of distinction to serve 
 their country in that station. Dionysius of Halicarnassus 
 terms Rome the mistress of the sea, not of the Mediter- 
 ranean only, but of whatever parts were na^dgable, and 
 says that she maintained considerable fleets. t The extent 
 of her power 150 years after this, is specified by Appian, 
 who mentions the islands of the Mediterranean and 
 Egean seas; the Cyclades, Sporades, Cyprus, Crete, 
 Rhodes and Lesbos, as subject to her; and in the days of 
 Arcadius and Honorius we find she had large fleets con- 
 stantly stationed at Alexandria, Carthage, Seleucia, and in 
 the Euxine, besides others of smaller note in the ports of 
 Italy and the islands. J 
 
 It is extraordinary that with all this authority in their 
 hands, the Romans should have been ignorant of the true 
 advantages to be derived from naval power. In ail their 
 equipments, the principal object was to extend their 
 empire, or to keep in awe the refractory provinces. Their 
 fleets were seldom employed to open new communications, 
 to discover new people, or to protect and encourage com- 
 9 mercial 
 
 * Florus, Lib. 3. cap. 6. t Lib. 1. 
 
 * Cod. Lib. 12. tit. CO, Cod. Theodos Lib. 8. tit. 7. §. 14. Cod. 
 Lib. 12. tit. 24. §. 2. 
 
336 Schomherg on the 
 
 mercial intercourse with distant climates. Except when 
 they attended the corn ships from Sicily and Alexandria, 
 or convoyed home the spoils of some conquered country, 
 we never hear of their being upon the seas but for mili- 
 tary purposes.* This (says a writer who cannot be too 
 often quoted) was perfectly suitable with the national 
 genius of " a people of soldiers, whose trade was their 
 sword, and whose sword supplied all the advantages of 
 trade, who brought the treasures of the world into their 
 own exchequer, without exporting any thing but their 
 personal bravery ; who raised the public revenues, not by 
 the culture of Italy, but by the tributes of provinces; 
 who had Rome for their mansion and the world for their 
 farm. In consequence of this martial spirit, adds he, 
 they lived on terms of defiance with all mankind. This 
 proved fatal to factories and correspondence. The world 
 was in arms, and insurances and under-writing were but 
 a dead letter.^f In a state where the military spirit thus 
 pervaded every rank and condition of life, it was not 
 probable that many should have either leisure or inclina- 
 tion for the pursuit of gain. Quisque Hostem ferire, 
 Murum ascendere, compici duni tale f acinus faceret prope- 
 rabat ; eas divitias, earn bonamfamam, magnamque nobili- 
 tatem putabayit was the sketch which Sallust drew of the 
 infant features of the republic, and the likeness was 
 10 tolerably 
 
 * This appears from the evidence of medals and inscriptions, 
 where the emblems and titles are uniformly of a military cast. See 
 Morisoti Orhis Maritimus. Lib. 1. cap. 26. 
 
 The corn traders were very early incorporated, and enjoyed 
 privileges at Rome. Dig. lib. 3. tit. 4. et Cod. Theodos. tit. De NavL 
 culariis. There were also officers appointed to superintend the dis- 
 tribution of this commodity, called Pmfecti Annonce, nearly upon 
 the same plan as the French Commissaires Des Vivres. Dig. lib. 48. 
 tit. 12. DeLege JuliA, De Annona. 
 
 t Taylor's Elenunts of Civil Law. Art. Property, pp. 501. 504. 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 337 
 
 tolerably preserved even at the time he wrote,^ except the 
 coutcntions of the forum then engrossed almost as much 
 of their attention as those of the field. 
 
 But the interests of commerce were not only neglected 
 by the Romans : it appears from some of their best 
 writers and from various regulations in the law books, 
 that mercantile pursuits met with peculiar discouragement, 
 and that trade, of whatever denomination, was expressly 
 forbidden to men of noble or illustrious families ; because, 
 says Livy, " Quaistus omnis iudecorus Patribus visus est," 
 tho' in a law of Honorius, which forbids all men of family 
 and fortune, or such as had borne any public offices, to 
 engage in trade, a different reason is assigned, " Ut 
 inter plebeios et negotiatores facilius fit emendi, venden- 
 dique commercium -j" f from the idea that a bargain is 
 likely to be more just when the buyer and seller are on a 
 level. The same honest principle, no doubt, which led 
 the Greek Emperor to condemn to the flames a vessel 
 richly laden which had been freighted by his wife. J 
 
 As a further restriction, the merchant and mechanic 
 were prevented by law from holding any dignity or exer- 
 cising any office in the state ; were forbidden to wear a 
 sword, except on journeys, under certain restrictions ; and 
 11 by 
 
 * Bell. Catilin. Every Roman was by birth a soldier, nor did he 
 think it honourable to quit his profession, or exchange it for another, 
 as long as he had vigour to pursue it. Cod. 4. 6.5. .31. Canitiem 
 Galea pTemimMS," says the poet. Though strictly speaking the time 
 of necessary service (the oitas rohusta or militaris as it is called) 
 terminated with the xlvith year. D. 48. 5. 15. 
 t Liv. xxi. §. 63. 
 
 t Zonaras, lib. 3. Montesquieu has given an example of the truth 
 of this maxim in the conduct of the Portuguese and Castilians on 
 their East India settlements. Esprit des Loix. Liv. 20. cap. 18. 
 Q. Claudius, a tribune, introduced a law, forbidding a man of sena- 
 torial rank, to possess a ship of more than 300 amphorae burthen ; 
 that being thought sulHcient for carrying the produce of his estate. 
 N.B. A Roman amphora contained about nine gallons. 
 
338 Schomherg on the 
 
 by a still severer and more material exception, were, in 
 the article of marriage, deprived of tLe hopes of ad- 
 vancing their families to public honours or employments.* 
 In short, what Cicero says of trade (which some have, I 
 think with little reason, construed into a compliment) may 
 be considered as the general opinion of his countrymen. 
 " Mercatura si tenuis, sordida putanda est ; sin magna et 
 copiosa, multa undique apportans, multisque sine vanitate 
 impartiens, noJi est admodum vituperanda."^ It cannot 
 be supposed that employments, so little respected or 
 12 understood 
 
 * See a Coustitution of Constantiae. Cod. Lib. 5. tit. 27. §. 1. 
 
 t De OJiciis. Lib, 1. These sentiments, which operated so 
 strongly against trade, are not the only instances of great resem- 
 blance between the institutions of Rome and Lacedajmon, where, 
 says Xenophon, traffic was confined to slaves or people of the lowest 
 class. Q. Was it by accident or design that Mercury was at Rome 
 regarded as the god of thieves as well as of merchants 1 
 
 I cannot forbear introducing in this place some sentiments 
 upon this subject, which notwithstanding the high character of the 
 person from whom they proceed, will not I believe be readily sub- 
 scribed to in this country. 
 
 Mr. Boswell asks Dr. Johnson, " What is the reason that we are 
 angiy at a trader's having opulence V Johnson. " Why, sir, the 
 reason is, (though I don't undertake to prove that there is a reason) 
 we see no qualities in trade that should entitle a man to superiority. 
 We are not angry at a soldier's getting riches, because we see that 
 he possesses qualities which we have not. If a man returns from a 
 battle, having lost one hand, and the other full of gold, we feel that 
 he deserves the gold ; but we cannot think that a fellow, by sitting 
 all day at a desk is entitled to get above us." Bosicell. " But, sir, 
 may we not suppose a merchant to be a man of an enlarged mind, 
 such as Addison in the Spectator describes Sir Andrew Freeport to 
 have been?" Johnson. "Why, sir, we may suppose any fictitious 
 character. We may suppose a philosophical day labourer, who is 
 happy in reflecting that by his labour he contributes to the fertility 
 of the earth, and to the support of his fellow creatures ; but we find 
 no such philosophical day-labourer. A merchant may, perhaps, be a 
 man of an enlarged mind ; but there is nothing in trade connected 
 with an enlarged mind." Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. 
 p. 409. This opinion, which would have been applauded at Rome 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 339 
 
 uiulcrstood as commerce and navigation were by the Ro- 
 mans, would find a very conspicuous place in their political 
 arrangements. It is true, many edicts to this purpose 
 occur in the law books, but we look there in vain for any 
 thing like a mercantile or maritime code.* Even those 
 laws which are found dispersed in the Corpus Juris Civilis 
 are thought not to be intended as general regulations, but 
 to refer merely to the corn trade, which, being of the 
 utmost consequence to a people whose territory was not 
 adequate to the furnishing of a sufficient quantity for 
 their own consumption, naturally forced the attention of 
 the Legislature to this branch of commerce, f 
 
 I thought it necessary to premise thus much on a 
 very copious and curious subject, not altogether uncon- 
 nected with our present purpose, and shall now proceed to 
 consider more at large the source from which the Romans 
 derived their marine laws. 
 
 13 This 
 
 and Sparta, never can be admitted at London, Hamburgh or 
 Marseilles. 
 
 * Dig. Lib. 14. tit. 1,2. Lib. 47. tit. 9. Lib. 48. tit. 12. Cod. Justin. 
 Lib. 4. tit. 33 et63. Lib. 11. tit. 1. Cod. Theodos. Be Naviculariis. 
 
 + See Suetonius Vit. Claud, cap. 19. Before the conquest of 
 Egypt, Sicily and Sardinia were the granaries of Rome. After that 
 event, the principal corn trade was carried on at Alexandria, and 
 Augustus established a regular fleet for that purpose, which was 
 called Sacra, or Felix Embole ; the Sacred, or Hajypy Freight. The 
 ceremonies observed on its arrival at the mouth of the Tiber, are 
 related with such circumstances as to give us the highest ideas of its 
 importance. Seneca. Epist. 78. Suetonius, in Vit. Aufjust. §. 88. 
 
 This had been the case from the earliest age of the repubUc, for 
 in the second year after the expulsion of the kings, when Porsenna 
 struck terror into Rome, by his approach to reinstate the Tarquins, 
 Livy says, "multa igitur blandimenta plebi ab scnatu data ; Annoncs 
 in primis habita cura, et ad frumentum comparaadum raissi, alii in 
 Volscos, alii Cumas." Lib. 2. cap. 9. Suetonius speaking of some 
 very pressing occasions to justify the use of slaves in the army 
 reckons, a timxult in a time when supj'lies of corn are scanty. Yit. Aug. 
 §. 2o. 
 
340 - Schomherg on the 
 
 This honour is due to the island of Rhodes^ the extra- 
 ordinary wisdom and justice of whose naval code^ gained 
 it admission into the most celebrated system of polity that 
 ever was devised ; whence, being partially adopted in the 
 Eastern Empire, it has imperfectly descended to these 
 times, and may be traced in most of the naval codes now 
 in use. 
 
 Though Cicero's observation, " Qui mare tenet, eum 
 necesse est rerum potiri," * appears not to have been 
 much understood at Rome, in his days, it was nevertheless 
 founded on reason and fadt, and has been since justified 
 by many striking examples. History, I believe, scarcely 
 offers an instance of an industrious maritime people, how- 
 ever inconsiderable in point of territory, who have failed 
 to arrive at great political consequenccf 
 
 I might confirm this remark by the examples of some 
 ancient and modern states, which must occur to my 
 reader's I'ccoUection, but shall confine myself to that single 
 one which is immediately connected with our subject. 
 
 There is no writer extant who treats expressly of the 
 Rhodians ; what we would know of them therefore must 
 be collected by fragments from various sources; fortu- 
 nately their extensive connections, and their activity for 
 so many years in the affairs of Greece and Rome, has 
 given them such a respectable place in history, that the 
 materials are not so scanty or unconnected as might be 
 conceived. 
 
 The Isle of Rhodes, lies in the Mediterranean Sea, 
 li about 
 
 * Ad Atticum. Lib. 10. Ep. 1. 
 t What Ceusoriuus, in Appiaii, says to the Carthagiuiau depu- 
 ties, cannot be taken as a serious argument. It was the interest of 
 the Romans to persuade them that a maritime situation was disad- 
 vantageous, and the earnestness with which he addresses them 
 proves what was his real opinion of the matter. Appian. Lib. 8. 
 De rehus Punicis, §. 86. edit. Schweighjeuser. 1785. 
 
Laivs of Bh odes . 341 
 
 about seven leagues from the coast of Lycia and Caria, 
 and is described as part of Asia Minor. Its original 
 inhabitants^ according to the best accountSj were Cretans 
 of the race of Hercules ; for, though they arc frequently 
 called descendants of the Dorians, and were themselves 
 fond of being so considered, it is well known, that colony 
 did not settle in the island till after the Trojan war.* 
 At this early period they appear to have been a powerful 
 and industrious people. Homer, in his celebrated cata- 
 logue of the confederated fleet dwells with peculiar satis- 
 faction on the " nine vessels which were brought by 
 Tlepolemus from this island,'^ and from what he says at 
 the conclusion of his little history of its original settle- 
 ment, it may be supposed then to have been in a flourish- 
 ing Tcondition f Pindar has also spoken in very high 
 terms of Rhodes, and figuratively describes its wealth and 
 fertility by saying that " the sun collected together clouds 
 which poured down showers of gold upon it," J the same 
 image that is used by Homer on the like occasion. Strabo 
 15 informs 
 
 * Strabo Geograph. Lib. 14. Pausanians. Lib. 9. Diodorus Sicu- 
 lus. Lib. 5. cap. 13. Aristides. Podiois, Uepi ofxovoias. p. 568. edit. 
 Jebb. Oxon. 1722. At the conclusion of this oration, Aristides, 
 urging them strongly to unanimity, says, " I am particularly pained 
 that you, who are so tenacious of your original language, as not to 
 admit a single expression, but what is Doric, in a matter of so much 
 moment as tlie welfare of your state, which depends on your unani- 
 mity, should be so little solicitous of preserving the Doric Harmon}/." 
 Loc. cit. p. .571. 
 
 t Iliad. IJ. G.5.3. 
 
 X Olymp. Od. 7. II. B. 670. The Ualia, a celebrated festival at 
 Rhodes, was not derived, as many have imagined, from aXy the sea, 
 but from the Doric nkios, for v^ioy, the sun, to whom the island was 
 dedicated: and it must be observed as something singular, that the 
 Rhodians, though for so many ages a maritime people, never offered 
 any sacrifice or celebrated any rites to the sea. 
 
 Pindar calls Rhodes rpinoKiv vaaov, from the three cities, Jalys- 
 sus, Lindus and Camirus, which it originally contained ; for the 
 
342 Schomherg on the 
 
 informs us, that in times of remote antiquity, by reason 
 of its superiority on the seas, the wisdom of its laws and 
 the industry of its inhabitants, no country in the world 
 exceeded Rhodes, and adds that it was this maritime 
 excellence alone which afterwards supported its influence 
 for so long a time among the ancient states, and strength- 
 ened its alliances with the Greeks and Romans.* 
 
 The fame which this island acquired, by its numerous 
 seminaries of learning, is known to every classical reader. 
 Thither ^Eschines retired, and opened that school of 
 Rhetoric to which, after his death, the greatest charac- 
 ters in Rome resorted.t Cicero and Pompey both studied 
 there, and Julius Caesar, we are told, having put to sea 
 for that purpose, was taken on his voyage by pirat s.J 
 But it was not alone the cultivation of eloquence, philo- 
 sophy, and the Greek language which attracted such a 
 number of visitants; the pure temperature of the climate, 
 the fertility of the soil, and the luxurious refinements of 
 the capital city, which once might be said to have rivalled 
 Athens herself, conspired to render Rhodes a desirable 
 retreat. § To this happy condition of the island a variety 
 16 of 
 
 city, that beai's the name of the island, was first built during the 
 Peloponnesian war, by the same architect, according to Strabo, who 
 constructed the Pirfeus at Athens. Geog. Lib. 14. p. 964. edit. 
 Amstelod. 1717. 
 
 * Loc. cit. 
 
 t See his Epistle to Philocrates, in which he describes his voyage ; 
 and Plutarch, In vit. Demosthen. 
 
 + lie was forced to remain in captivity, says Suetonius, forty 
 days, " non sine summa indignatione, cum uno Medico et cubicu- 
 lariis duobus." Lib. 1. §. 4. 
 
 § Strabo. Lib. 14. Athena9i Deipnosoph. §. 13. In Cicero's 
 familiar epistles, Brutus says to Cassius " Quid ergo est, inquis, tui 
 consilii ? Dandus est locus fortunse ; cedendum ex Italia, migran- 
 dum Rhodum." Lib. 11. Ep 1. And in another of Matius to Cicero, 
 " Mihi quidem si optata contingent, quod reliquum est vitac in otio 
 Rhodi degam." Lib. 11. Ep. 28. The emperor Tiberius passed seven 
 
Lmvs of Hho(fi's. 343 
 
 of writers liavc given testimony ; but in a more particular 
 manner the sophist Aristides, in his two orations to the 
 inliabitants. To him I refer my readerSj"*^ and hasten to 
 wi)at is more properly our concern, its marithiie conse- 
 quence and power. 
 
 Here we shall meet with numerous confirmations of 
 Cicero's remark.f In what light the Rhodians were con- 
 sidered by the Athenians, who of all the Grecian states, 
 stood the highest in naval power, may be collected from a 
 variety of facts in the history of that people, but more 
 particularly from a spirited oration of Demosthenes, 
 wherein he laboui's to persuade his countrymen that it is 
 both for their honour and their interest to deliver those 
 islanders from the oppressive oligarchy under which they 
 groaned ; and although at that time they had very little 
 reason to expect any favour from the Athenians, justly 
 dissatisfied with their conduct in the social war, yet of 
 such consequence did this orator consider their alliance, 
 that perhaps there is not extant a more laboured piece of 
 eloquence than that which he delivered upon this occa- 
 sion. J It did not fail to have its proper effect, and the 
 Rhodians became once more a free people. § From this 
 1 7 time 
 
 years of his life there, upou which occasion jMauilius has the foUuw- 
 
 iug complimentary lines. 
 
 " Virgiue sub casta felix tcrraque marique 
 Est Rhodos, hospitium recturi principis orbem : 
 Tumque Domus vere solis, cui tota sacrata est 
 Cum caperct lumen magni sub Caesare mundi." 
 
 Lib. 4. 763. edit. Bent. 1739. 
 
 * Loc. cit. t See p. 340. 
 
 X Utpi TTji ro)v Vaibioiv f\fv6(piai. See also Isocrates, For the 
 Peace. 
 
 § Ant. Xt'" IJ.OO. Some writers, it is true, give another account- 
 of this matter, asserting, that it was to the deatli of tliu famo<«s 
 Artemisia, who had confjuered their island and governed it \/itli 
 great rigour, and not to the eloquence of Demosthenes, that Rli/^des 
 
344 Schomberg on the 
 
 time the situation of their affairs was very flourishing, and 
 their alliance was courted successively by almost all the 
 contending Princes; yet, upon the most prudent prin- 
 ciples of policy, seldom adopted by powerful states, they 
 persevered in obser\ing such a strict neutrality, that we 
 do not hear of their being actively engaged in any dispute 
 for more than 40 years."^ Thus they naturally increased 
 in wealth and power, while their neighbours, constantly 
 engaged in obstinate and expensive wars, were gradually 
 wasting their strength and revenue. They became how- 
 ever at last (as might reasonably be expected) an object 
 of jealousy, and by refusing to join Antigonus, who had 
 earnestly solicited their assistance against Ptolemy, this 
 prince turned his whole force upon them in that famous 
 siege, which gave rise to more ingenious instruments of 
 destruction than any upon the records of antiquity.f 
 Notwithstanding the shock they received from such a 
 formidable attack, in their subsequent wars with the 
 Byzantines and Macedonians they still maintained their 
 usual superiority at sea; and, near a century after, in a 
 naval engagement off the island of Chios, gave Philip the 
 severest overthrow he ever experienced. J It was to them 
 18 that 
 
 was indebted at this time for its freedom. See Aul. Gellius. Lib. 10, 
 c. 18. Strabo. Lib. 14. 
 
 * It was this policy which induced them to make a voluntary 
 submission to Alexander the Great, whose arms they knew were irre- 
 sistible, and under whose protection they had nothing to fear. Quint. 
 Curtius. Lib. 4. Tiodorus tells us — This conqueror had a pecuHar 
 affection for Rhodes, and deposited his will in the Archives of that 
 city. 
 
 t Ant. Xt 304. 303. Campbell, Political Survey. Vol. 1. p. 33. 
 very justly observes that, their commercial interests naturally con- 
 nected them with Ptolemy, Diodorus Sic. Lib. 20. Plutarch, in vit. 
 -Oemetrii. Polyaeni Strateg. Lib. 4. cap. 6. 
 
 :|: Poly bins. Lib. 16. The whole account of this naval action is 
 wQrth consulting, for it abounds with instances of singular courage 
 
Laivs of Rhodes 345 
 
 that the eyes of Greece were turned for proteetion against 
 the oppressive requisition of the Byzantines, who at- 
 tempted to impose a tax upon all ships whieh entered 
 their sea ; and Polybius declares of them at this period, 
 that they conducted their enterprizes with such a degree 
 of activity and zeal, that he will not scruple to pronounce 
 them the most powerful and opulent state of Greece.* 
 
 The very essential service they rendered the Romans, 
 by harassing and cheeking the naval armaments of the 
 Carthaginians, promoted and confirmed a long alliance 
 between them ; an alliance to which, it is probable, that 
 Rome was indebted for all the maritime skill she after- 
 wards possessed, hivj has recorded a speech made by the 
 Rhodian ambassadors to the Roman Senate, Avhich carries 
 with it an air of haughtiness and independence very 
 unusual in addresses to that powerful people.! The sub- 
 ject of their embassy was nothing less than to insist that 
 the Romans should make peace with Perseus, against 
 whom, while they thought the cause was just, they had 
 materially assisted them ; and at the same time a second 
 embassy to the same purpose was dispatched to the army 
 in Macedonia, threatening that they would turn their 
 arms against the Romans if they refused to comply with 
 their requisition. The consequences, however, proved 
 extremely humiliating to the Rhodians ; the principal 
 partisans of Perseus Avere put to death, and the ambassa- 
 dors were obliged to appear before the senate habited in 
 mourning, and to plead forgiveness for their insolence in 
 a strain very opposite to their address in the preceding 
 year. J 
 
 19 Not 
 
 and skill, and conveys to us a very advantageous idea of the naval 
 power of the Rhodians. 
 
 * Lib. 4. cap. 5. f Lib. 44. 
 
 ;}: Ut supra. Lib. 45. Gellius has preserved some fragments of a 
 speech of Cato in behalf of the Rhodian Ambassadors ; among 
 
346 Schomberg on the 
 
 Not long after this, Cicero speaks of them as of a 
 people, '^ Quorum usque ad iiostram memoriam discipliua 
 navalis et gloria remansit/^ * though they had then very 
 visibly begun to decline both in power and wealth, and a 
 few years after were so far reduced that, notwithstanding 
 they retained, according to the historian, their naval skill, 
 they suffered a defeat at sea from the very people whom 
 they had taught to make use of a marine force.f Thence- 
 forth they took a less splendid part ; for though their island 
 continued to possess all its natural and acquired advant- 
 ages, a fruitful soil, commodious ports and arsenals, stately 
 edifices and schools of learning, yet the national character 
 was much degenerated from what it was in those days 
 when, with a laudable spirit of patriotic jealousy, they 
 would say as Aristides afterwards encouraged them in vain 
 to say ; " We are Rhodians. Will any nation, Greek or 
 Barbarian, contend with us on points of honour or 
 nobility, we wiU contend with them, we will exceed 
 them/' J Marcus Antonius was a great admirer of the 
 20 Ehodians 
 
 which are the following remarkable words. •' Rhodienses superbos 
 esse aiunt, id objectantes quod mihi a liberis meis minime dici velim. 
 Sint sane superbi. Quid id ad uos attinet 1 idne irascimiui si qiiis 
 superbior est quam nos ?" Lib. 7. cap. 3. 
 
 * Pro Lege Manilla. 
 
 + Appian. Lib. 4. De Bellis civilibus, §. 72. edit. Schweighjcuser. 
 1785. 
 
 X iElius Aristides. PoStoir, nepi Ofiovoias. p. 566. Tom. 1. edit. 
 Jebb. Oxon. 1722. 
 
 C. Cassius, 41 years before Christ, plundered the city of all its 
 pictures and statues, leaving only that of Apollo, upon which he 
 observed, in derision, that he had left the Rhodians nothing but the 
 , sun. How contrary this to the conduct of Demetrius upon a like 
 occasion, who not only abstained from plunder, but, at the end of the 
 siege, delivered to his enemies all the military machines which they 
 had constructed ! Plut. Vit. Dera. See also, his well known beha- 
 viour to Protogenes. The conduct of Cassius is still more reprehen- 
 sible, when we are told that he recoii/ed his education in the island, 
 Appian, ut supra. The historian's whole account of the general's 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 347 
 
 Rhodians it is said, and attcrnptcd to restore them to 
 some degree of poAver, but they made siicli an ill use of 
 his indulgencies that he was obliged to repeal them.* 
 Under the first emperors little occurs to illustrate their 
 history. That their condition could not have been very 
 flourishing we may infer from an observation which 
 Tacitus has made upon them, that the Romans granted 
 them liberty and deprived them of it, according as they 
 were found to deserve it by readily fulfilling their engage- 
 ments as allies in war, or to forfeit it by their internal 
 seditions.f And notwithstanding Pliny, who wi'ote at the 
 beginning of Vespasian's reign, calls Rhodes " Civitas 
 Libera et pnlcherrima," J we find, that under this very 
 emperor it became for the first time a Roman Province. § 
 In this state it remained, under the Greek empire, till the 
 7th century, when, together with other islands in those 
 seas, it yielded to the arms of the Saracens, We have 
 very short and imperfect accounts of this part of the 
 Rhodian history, and few events occur worthy of being 
 separately recorded. 
 
 21 It 
 
 conference with his old prscceptor Archelaus, who was sent to depre- 
 cate his vengeance, is highly interesting. §. 67. 
 
 * Appian, ut supra. Lib. 5. §. 7. He bestowed upon them some 
 islands in the Mediterranean, which they so severely oppressed with 
 taxes, that they were withdrawn from their jurisdiction in the fol- 
 lowing year. Loc. cit. The prevailing vices of the Rhodians seem to 
 have been luxurious living and a haughty spirit; the natural conse- 
 quences of great wealth and a long series of prosperity. Athen. 
 Deip. 10 .k 14,15. 
 
 t Tacit. Amud. Lib. 12. Yet, in the reign of Augustus, the 
 name of a citizen of Rhodes was purchased at a considerable price, 
 an example of which Athenajus has given us in Posidonius the 
 Stoic. 
 
 X Lib. 5. cap. 31. 
 
 § Suetonius, in vit. Ve.tpos. cap. 8. Orosius. Lib. 7. For some 
 curious specimens of Rhodian coins, see Iluberti Goltzii GrcecicB 
 universes Numisniata. Tab. xxiii. xxiv. 
 
348 Scliomherg on the 
 
 It may not be improper to mention, that soon after 
 Vespasian's death the island was desolated and the city 
 totally destroyed by an earthquake. This melancholy 
 event is spoken of by Pausanias^* and by Capitolinus in 
 his life of Antoninus Pius, during whose reign it happened, 
 but in a more particular manner by Aristides the Sophist, 
 who had studied there, and retained a strong affection for 
 the place.f His description of the calamity is extremely 
 picturesque and affecting. He expatiates largely on the 
 irreparable loss which all the civilized world must feel 
 from the destruction not only of so many noble specimens 
 of architecturCj sculpture, painting, and military engines, 
 but from being deprived of the advantage Avhich they 
 enjoyed of such commodious harbours and arsenals as 
 those of Rhodes. For he adds " of all these, and various 
 other splendid ornaments, which at once declared the 
 surprising opulence and strength of the place, no vestige 
 remains. Nothing now is \dsible but the bare rock on 
 which the city stood !" J 
 
 Though the humanity of Antoninus Pius induced him 
 to attempt the restoration of Rhodes, and great sums of 
 money were expended on the work, there is every reason 
 to think this was but partially executed, and extended only 
 to cleansing the harbour and rebuilding the magazines ; § 
 22 for 
 
 * Lib. 2. cap. 7. Lib. 8. cap. 43. 
 + In Rhodiac. p. 553, edit. Jebb. et Uepi ofiovoias, p. 571. 
 
 X Ut sup. passim. In the same Oration he recommends it to 
 them to send emissaries to different countries for the purpose of 
 collecting contributions for restoring the city, p. 360, and again 
 Tlepi ojjiovoias, p. 274. a custom not uncommon in other instances of 
 the same kind in ancient times ; and which, as Polybius observes, 
 had been practised before by the Rhodians on a similar occasion 
 with great success. Lib. 5. 
 
 § Pausauias, Arcad. lib. 8, dwells upon this admirable trait in 
 Antonine's character, which had shewn itself upon many other 
 occasions. 
 
Lidi'S of I^hodes. 349 
 
 for from tins period it is meutioncd as a convenient and 
 much frequented port : but we hear nothing of the learn- 
 ing, the valour, or the opulence of its inhabitants. After 
 groaning long under the Saracen yoke, it seemed to 
 recover something of its ancient spirit in the hands of 
 its next possessors, the famous Hospitalers or Kniglits of 
 St. John of Jerusalem, who maintained their ground from 
 the opening of the 14th century till the year 1521 ; when, 
 after incredil)le efforts of bravery and skill, they were 
 finally driven out by the victorious arras of Solyman the 
 Magnificent. Since that time the island has remained in 
 the hands of the Turks.^ It is not to our present pur- 
 23 pose 
 
 * Before the Hospitalers were dispossessed, they were known by 
 the name of Knights of Rhodes. After their expulsion they wandered 
 in search of a place of settlement for more than eight years, and 
 being at last put in possession of Malta by Charles the Fifth, they 
 adopted the name of that island, which they still maintain, together 
 with a very watchful jealousy over the Turks, and inhabitants of the 
 Barbary Coast. If we may rely on the public papers, the ancient 
 spirit of these islanders has not yet forsaken them ; for we there 
 read of a very gallant action with a superior number of Tunisian 
 Gallies, in which the Maltese admiral obtained a complete victory. 
 Morning Chron. Dec. 9. 1785. 
 
 It is somewhat singular that the history cff this people, which 
 exhibits such a splendid detail of events, should remain so little 
 known. Their unparalleled exertions for almost two centuries against 
 the infidels ; the admirable traits of civil wisdom in their government; 
 the characters and the conduct of an illustrious succession of Grand 
 Masters, whose extensive alliances rendered them respectable at all 
 the courts of Europe, and formidable to that power, whose arras 
 were then irresistible in the East, necessarily furnish very striking 
 and instructive examples. Their last attempt to repel the infidels, 
 though unsuccessful, abounds with more instances of true magnani- 
 mity than are to be met with in any other histcry of so short a 
 period. See Jac. Bosio. Istorin ddhi Hue. religione et ill"" militia di 
 San. O'iov. (Jierosolim, part. 2. lib. 1. and particularly lib. 2. part. 2. 
 for an epistolary address of the Grand Master to all the Christian 
 princes of P>urope. Their history is also written by I'Abb^ Vertot, 
 in 4 vols. 8vo. 
 
 N.B. The Hospitalers came into England about the year lion, and 
 
350 ScJiomberg on the 
 
 pose to dwell on the history of those religious militants, 
 it is sufficient to observe, that although (agreeably to the 
 spirit of their institution) they never encouraged commer- 
 cial intercourse among themselves, they have always been 
 very strenuous defenders of the traffic carried on in their 
 seas by other powers ; and that their expulsion from 
 Rhodes must consequently have proved detrimental to the 
 Levant trade, of which they constantly professed them- 
 selves the protectors.'^ 
 
 That nations of much higher antiquity than the 
 Rhodians had cultivated the art of navigation both with 
 military and commercial views, and had carried it to a 
 considerable perfection, there is the clearest evidence. 
 Eusebius has given them the fourth place only in his 
 catalogue of maritime states, who obtained the sovereignty 
 of the sea, and fixes it at about 900 years before the 
 Christian iEra, almost two centuries prior to the founda- 
 tion of Rome.f 
 
 But though the Rhodians cannot claim the honour of 
 being the earliest navigators, they have an undoubted 
 right to a much nobler praise, that of being the first 
 legislators of the sea : for there is nothing upon record 
 which can lead, us to suppose any of those maritime 
 powers which preceded them had ever appeared in that 
 2i character. 
 
 were held in such esteem that their Superior was the first lay baron, 
 and had a seat among the lords in parliament. At the Reformation 
 they shared the fate of the other religious orders, and were totally 
 suppressed, 32 Hen. VIII. c. 24. 
 
 * Morgan's Hist, of Algiers, vol. 1. 
 t The first in order are the Cretans, 1406 years before Christ : 
 next are the Lydians, 1179 : thirdly the Thracians 1000 ; and 
 fourthly the Rhodians, 916 years before Christ ; which, according 
 to the Marbles, is the age in which Homer flourished. Euseb. Chro- 
 nicon. Lib. 2. This part of his information, the chronologist tells 
 us, ho derived from a work of Castor the Rhodian Ilfpt to>u BaXaa- 
 o-oKpaTr]aavTai'. 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 351 
 
 character. There is therefore great truth as well as spirit 
 ill the assertion of an ancient jurist — " That to erect as it 
 were a throne for justice, on the ocean, and to teach her 
 to rejifulate the transactions of man on that unstable 
 element, with the same firmness and precision as on land, 
 was a grand and an original idea of the Rhodians." ^ It 
 is impossible to fix with any certainty the precise time 
 when these celebrated sea laws were first compiled. 
 Harmenopulus of Thessalonica, a juridical writer of the 
 12th centiiry, gives them the pre-eminence over all others 
 as well in antiquUij as authority, but does not tell us at 
 what period they first appeared. f The most general 
 opinion seems to be that they were probably compiled 
 about nine centuries before the Christian -^ra, or soon 
 after that time, when^ as we have already seen, Rhodes 
 first acquired the superiority on the seas, and maintained 
 it for the space of 21 years. if There are some indeed who 
 have called in question their great antiquity, attributing 
 them to that age when the city of Rhodes was founded ; 
 which, according to Strabo, was in the days of the 
 administration of Pericles at Athens, consequently five 
 centuries later than is usually conceived. But the geo- 
 grapher in the very chapter which contains this informa- 
 tion, seems to have been aware that a conjecture of this 
 sort might arise, and therefore warns his readers not to 
 date the naval skill of the Rhodians from this event; for, 
 says he, they were very famous as a sea-faring people 
 even before the institution of the Olympiads. § After all, 
 25 as 
 
 * Docimus. In Tractat. Tactatuum. Tom. 9. p. 642. 
 t Procheiridion Juris. Lib. 2. tit. 11. 
 X Eusebius ut supra. The learned Selden says they wore com- 
 piled in the days of Jehosaphat, which agrees with this period. 
 Mare claiisum. Lib. 1. cap. 10. 
 
 § Strabo. O'eoqrajih. Lib. 14. The first Olympiad, according to 
 the received mode of reckoning at present, was 770 years before 
 
352 Schomherg on the 
 
 as there is no express authority for the date of these laws, 
 this part of their history must rest solely upon conjecture; 
 nor can we boast of much accurate information on a point 
 of greater moment, the time of their reception at Rome, 
 and the degree of influence they held there ; though here 
 indeed our authorities are somewhat more clear and 
 satisfactory. 
 
 Before the sera of imperial Rome the subject is entirely 
 involved in obscurity. From what Cicero says in admira- 
 tion of the naval discipline of Rhodes,* no inference, I 
 think, can be drawn of its regulating the Roman marine 
 at that time ; indeed, from the silence of this writer in 
 many places, where he had an opportunity of introducing 
 some notices of those laws, it may be presumed they were 
 not collectively extant at Rome in his days, though it 
 appears probable that many of them were separately 
 admitted before that period. f If any reliance can be 
 placed on those fragments of imperial edicts, usually 
 prefixed to what is called a collection of Rhodian laws, 
 we must fix their first formal reception at Rome in the 
 reign of Tiberius Claudius, whose sanction appears at the 
 head of the compilation. :[: There is certainly no emperor 
 under whom an event of this sort was more likely to 
 happen. We have numerous instances of his attention to 
 maritime aff'airs, and of his particular aff'ection for Rhodes. 
 In the Roman code are two Acts of Senate ratified by 
 26 him, 
 
 Christ, which makes Strabo's account coincide with that of Eusebius, 
 and with the conjecture of Selden, 
 
 * Pro Lege Manilia. t Dig. Lib. 14. tit. 2. De Jactu. 
 
 X These fragments, as well as the laws themselves, are in Greek. 
 They are adopted by Leunclavius in his Jus Grceco Romanum, and by 
 Peckius in his Collection of the Rhodian Laws: though many are 
 inclined to suspect their authenticity. Gothofred thinks them an 
 epitome of some larger Edicts at the head of an original compilation 
 made by Michael Psellus, or some writer of that epitomizing age. 
 De Imperio Maris, cap. 8. 
 
Lcms of Rhodes. 353 
 
 him, for protecting the persons and property of the ship- 
 wrecked.^ Suetonius has recorded various other acts for 
 the regulation of commerce and the improvement of sea 
 ports_, especially that most material of all to the Roman 
 people, the port of Ostia.f To this may be added the 
 great privileges granted by him to such as should build 
 merchant ships, and that remarkable indulgence with 
 which he induced the corn-traders to put to sea in the 
 winter 4 His regard for the Rliodians appeared upon a 
 variety of occasions, and of this he gave them a most 
 signal proof, by restoring them their liberties when he was 
 laying many of the neighbouring states under heavy 
 restrictions. § 
 
 From the words of this emperor's edict in favour of 
 the Rhodian laws, it appears, that a body of mariners and 
 merchants had petitioned him to give the laws of contribu- 
 tion, which hitherto had been partially applied, a general 
 extent. II In consequence of which, by the advice of Nero, 
 commissioners were sent to Rhodes to make the strictest 
 enquiries into their maritime code, and from the articles 
 specified in theii' commission it certainly must have been 
 very comprehensive. They were to consult all the laws 
 respecting mariners, ship's masters, merchants and pas- 
 sengers ; freight, partnership and bargains ; trusts and 
 pledges; and besides this were to observe the form of 
 27 theb- 
 
 * Cod. Lib. 11. Tit. A.b. De Tncendio, RuiiiA, Naufragio. 
 
 t The situation of this port shews, that not only the trade, but, 
 in a great measure, the subsistence of Rome, must have depended 
 upon it. 
 
 X " Negotiatoribus certa Lucra proposuit, mscepto in se damno, si 
 cui quid per tempestates accidisset," Sueton. Vit. Claud, cap. 18. 
 Some writers think they discover the origin of Insuraiice in this Act 
 of Claudius. iloUoy. De Jure Maritimo et Navali. B, 2. cap. 7. 
 §. 1. 
 
 § Sueton. ut sup. cap. 25. 
 
 II See this matter fully explained below, where the lavj of ejection 
 is treated of. 
 
354 Schomherg on the 
 
 their vessels, the manner of constructing them, and to 
 make enquiries into every circumstance that had any 
 connection with naval matters.* 
 
 This commission Claudius confirmed by a public 
 decree, and delivered it signed with his own hand to the 
 consul Antoninus. There are some who contend that the 
 whole of this transaction is to be referred to the reign of 
 Tiberius, the successor of Augustus Cseaar, founding their 
 opinion upon the great affection which this emperor had 
 for Rhodes, and the favour he shewed to its magistrates 
 and men of learning.f But plausible as this appears, the 
 supposition is destroyed by the very words of the edict, 
 which are so plain that it is surprising any doubt should 
 have arisen on the subject. In the first place it was made 
 at the suggestion of Nero, the successor of Claudius, 
 whose partiality for that island was manifested on a variety 
 of occasions. It is reported of him, when he dispatched 
 Crato into Greece to collect the most curious Avorks of 
 art and bring them to Rome, that he excepted Rhodes, 
 and ordered him to remove nothing out of that island. 
 Tacitus says, that it was in a great measure owing to his 
 persuasion too that Claudius restored its liberties.^ 
 
 28 In 
 
 * Jics Navale Rhodiorum, in Principio. Allowing the authenti- 
 city of this Edict, Rome is more indebted to Greece for legislation 
 than is usually imagined by those who only take into consideration 
 the embassy which produced the decemviral code. 
 
 t The emperor himself resided in the island seven years. See 
 p. 342, Note. 
 
 X Annal. Lib. 12. It was probably on this occasion that the 
 following epigram was written. 
 
 Gf napos, af\tov, vvv Kaicrapos tj Podos'eifii 
 
 Nacrof, laov 6' avx<^ (f)eyyos ott' a/i0orepo)j/, 
 HStj cr^evvvvjxevav fie vea KnTt(f)coTi(Tfv uktis 
 AXte, KOI napa aov (peyyos fXafiy^re Nf pov. 
 IIws eiTTco ; rivi jjloXKov o(f)€i\op.ai ; os pev ebfi^ev 
 E^ akos^ OS 8' ribr} pvaaro dvopevrjv. 
 
 Lib, 1. Antholog. Antiphili Epig. cap. us pt](tovs. 
 
Lmos of Rlwdes. 355 
 
 lu the next place we are told the edict was delivered 
 to the Consul Antoninus, who can be no other than that 
 Q. Aterius Antoninus, the colleague of D. Junius Silanus, 
 during whose office, according to Tacitus, Rhodes obtained 
 her freedom.* 
 
 After Tiberius Claudius, the next sanction which the 
 Rhodian laws are supposed to have received, was from 
 Vespasian, who in general terms is said to have confirmed 
 them by an act of senate, in the consulship of Laurus 
 and Agrippinus. There appears, however, to be some- 
 thing suspicious in the account, for it not only wants the 
 concurrence of historians, none of whom take the least 
 notice of the event, but the names of the consuls under 
 whom it took place are not to be met with in the Fasti 
 Consulares.f 
 
 From Trajan they seem to have received no fresh 
 authority, for neither this emperor or Adrian are recorded 
 to have done more than express their general approbation 
 of them in the senate. J The last fragment in this collec- 
 tion is a rescript of Antoninus Pius, which as it is well 
 authenticated, will be more particularly considered below, 
 in treating of the law De Jactu, of which it forms one of 
 the most curious paragraphs. 
 
 We may reasonably ask, why laws once established by 
 29 proper 
 
 Nero was at this time only sixteen years old. 
 
 Thee, Phoebus, once, now Ccesar I obey, 
 In splendour equal to the God of Day, 
 O'er my deserted isle new lustre streams, 
 And Nero's glories darken Phoebus' beams ! 
 Say, most my partial thanks shall Phoebus claim, 
 Or shall I reverence most a Nero's name ? 
 That gave me first from ocean's gulf to rise, 
 This rais'd my sinking glory to the skies ! 
 
 * Loc. cit. A.B. 5.5. 
 t Gothofred. De Imperio Maris, cap. 10. 
 J In the Code, Lib. 11. tit. 4, 5. De incendio, &c. is a law of 
 
35Cf Schomberg on the 
 
 proper authority, should afterward require such frequent 
 confirmation? and this can be explained only by supposing 
 it to have been a necessary declaration of the emperor's 
 good will towards the island, whenever it was restored to 
 forfeited liberty : an act, the frequency of which we have 
 had occasion already to remark.'^ Thus it appears that 
 the binding authority of the Ehodian Laws at Rome 
 depended solely on the imperial sanction, from which, it 
 must be observed, that the influence they derived was 
 merely conditional, and was not permitted to operate 
 to the contradiction or derogation of the national 
 laws. They were considered, as the laws of Oleron are 
 by many of the maritime states of Europe, in the light of 
 ratio script a, as voluntary, not as necessary law ; and, as a 
 code of equity and general justice, were applied in all 
 naval suits, with the exception, however, of some particu- 
 lar laws, whose features were too severe to gain them 
 admission into a system of polity so mild and reasonable 
 as that of Kome.f Upon this head a jurist of the 
 Greek empire has observed, that there seems to have been 
 two evils which attended the original Rhodian laws, 
 namely, the dishonesty of those who were to interpret 
 and apply them; and that, which attends all human 
 institutions, an obscui'ity in their meaning from the 
 necessary revolutions in the customs and manners of the 
 world. The first evil gave rise to that cloud of glosses 
 and conceits which have obscured, rather than elucidated, 
 the original; and from the other have proceeded those 
 30 various 
 
 Adrian, which ordains, that the plunder of a wreck shall be repaid 
 by the proprietor of the land on which the ship was cast. 
 * p. 32. 
 t One of the laws rejected by the Romans, as unreasonably severe, 
 was that which condemned to immediate sale any ship of war driven 
 into a foreign port, even though no dispute subsisted between the 
 parties. 
 
Laios of Rhodes. 357 
 
 various laws which sprang up, as occasion required, and 
 ■which having never been formed into a separate body, 
 it is now become difficult, and, in most cases, impossible 
 to distinguish from the ancient code.* It is much to be 
 lamented that so valuable a system of marine regulations, 
 should not have survived in better condition. " Justinian, 
 (as Molloy expresses it) was an obsequious admirer of the 
 Rhodian laws and incorporated them into his inestimable 
 pandects. '^t Still we must regret, that they do not 
 appear there in their original form and language. They 
 are scattered so promiscuously over this immense compila- 
 tion, and are besides so involved in the questions and 
 interpretations of the jurists, that for want of being 
 properly specified by name, when they occur, they cannot 
 with any certainty be selected from that body of maritime 
 law which gradually accumulated under the emperors. I 
 am aware that many ingenious civilians have exhibited a 
 collection of naval regulations under the denomination of 
 the Rhodian laws, and have accompanied it Avith learned 
 observations ; and moreover that this collection has been 
 adopted without scruple by some excellent writers on 
 maritime aflfairs as authentic. J Simon Schardius pub- 
 lished it in the middle of the sixteenth century, with a 
 Latin translation in 41 distinct titles, from a MS., he tells 
 us, in the gi-eat Pithou's library, and this is the same 
 31 copy 
 
 * Docimus. 7;i Calcem Groeco-Romanu Edit. Freher. 
 t Introduction to his Book " De Jure Maritimo et Navali.'* 
 X Morisoti. Orlis Mantimus, Lib. 1. cap. 30. A book rich in 
 materials for that great desideratum, a good commercial history ; 
 which being, as I\rontesquieu has observed, a history of the commu- 
 nication of manl-iiul, must necessarily abound in events the most 
 interesting and important, that can occupy the attention of a social 
 being : he adds in the next chapter, that, the history of luxury would 
 make a splendid part of this narrative. Esp. des Loix. Liv. 21. cap. 
 5 et 6. Postlethwayte's Translation of M. Savary's Dictionary of 
 Commerce. Vol. 2. Art. Rhodes. 
 
353 Schomherg on the 
 
 copy which has been used by Marquhard, Freher, and 
 Leunclavius, in their editions of the Jus Grceco-Romanum. 
 Some few years after SchardiuSj a collection of the same 
 kind was published imperfectly by Pet. Peckius, whose 
 work has been since completed by Binnius from a MS. in 
 the library of Nic. Heinsius.* But, after all, it is scarcely 
 probable that these laws in their present form should be 
 of Rhodian extraction ; for, though they are said to have 
 been selected from Justinian^s laws, they will be found 
 upon comparison to bear very little analogy to any mari- 
 time cases in the Pandects. Add to this, that the Greek 
 in which they are written is far from being pure. It 
 abounds with those barbarisms which the language con- 
 tracted at Constantinople. Balduin, in short (a profound 
 antiquary and an accurate civilian) does not hesitate to 
 pronounce at once of them (somewhat too harshly indeed) 
 that they are " crude farragoes of naval matters." f They 
 33 form 
 
 * There is a JNIS. of these laws in the Bodleian library, num. 264. 
 18. presented among others to the University, at the instance of 
 Archbishop Laud, by Sir Thomas Roe, ambassador from King James 
 I. to the Great Mogul, and afterwards to the Ottoman Court. 
 
 t De Lege Rhodid Comment, p. 193. edit. Basil. To save those, 
 who wish to consult these cases, the trouble of searching for them 
 through the Corpus Juris Civilis, I have here set down with their 
 proper i-eferences some of the principal titles, that bear any rehxtion 
 to navigation and commerce. De Negotiis gestis. Dig. lib. 3. tit. 5. — 
 Nautse. Cauponis, Stabularii ut recepta restituant, 4. tit. 9. — 
 De Exercitoria Actione, 14. — tit. 1. et Cod. lib. 4. tit. 25 — Ad 
 Legem Rhodiam, de Jactu, eod. tit. 2. — De Institoria Actione, 
 eod. tit. 3. et C. 4. tit. 25.— De nautico faenore, 22. tit. 2. et C. 4, 
 tit. 33. — De incendio, ruina et naufragio, 47. tit. 9. — De com- 
 merciis et mercatoribus, C. 4. tit. 63.— De annonis et tributis, C, 
 10. tit. 16.— De Classicis, C. 11. tit. 12. — De litorum et itinerum 
 custodia, C. 12. tit. 45. — De naviculariis, sen uaucleris, publicas 
 species transportantibus, C. 11. tit. 1. — De praediis et omnibus 
 rebus naviculariorum, eod. tit. eod. — De navibus non excusandis, 
 eod. tit. 3.— Ne quid oneri publico ponatur, eod. tit. 4.— De nau- 
 fragio, eod. tit. 5. — De nauticis usuris, Authent. CoUat. 8. tit. 6. 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 359 
 
 form a complete title in the Basilical Code and from this 
 circuinstauce to<^etlicr with much internal evidence (not- 
 withstanding that they are said to be extracted from the 
 14th book of the Pandects) it is highly probable that they 
 are a compilation of the 9th or 10th century.* It is not 
 necessary to enter into a particular exposition of them. 
 For this I must refer my reader to some of the works I 
 have mentioned, particularly to that of Vinnius, in whose 
 commentaries he will find much historical and juridical 
 information. The whole collection consists of 51 articles, 
 all of them immediately relative to maritime aflfairs. The 
 form however in which they are presented to us appears to 
 be rather defective in point of order and perspicuity. In 
 some places, for instance, laws of the same tendency are 
 separated by those of a very opposite complexion, and in 
 others, articles are connected together, whose subjects do 
 not seem to bear any affinity .f To consider it as a 
 mai'ine code, it is far from being complete, but if we 
 allow its pretensions to originality and view it as a 
 remnant saved from the wreck of time and barbarism, 
 it certainly affords an extremely valuable specimen of 
 ancient jurisprudence, since fortunately there are very 
 few circumstances of any considerable importance for 
 which it does not in some measure provide. Such as for 
 the hiring and freighting of ships — the transporting of 
 passengers and goods — the delivering of things received 
 in good condition — the borrowing and trusting of money 
 33 for 
 
 Besides these there are some others, of which little more thau 
 the bare titles are extaut, that relate chiefly to the wages, privileges, 
 aud punishments of seamen. 
 
 * Lib. 5. 3. tit. 8. 
 
 t This is the case with Articles 9 and 10, which are separated 
 from the rest, on ejection aud shipwreck, by a variety of laws 
 respecting contracts, freight, &c. neither is there any obvious corres- 
 pondence between the 7th, bth aud 9th articles. Basilic. Lib. 53. 
 tit. 8. 
 
360 Schomherg on the 
 
 for sea voyages^ — the duties, wages &c. of mariners, and 
 above all, the rate and quality of contributions for losses 
 in common danger and for the salvage of goods : indeed if 
 we even agree to pronounce it a compilation of the lower 
 empire, its value will still be great, as we may fairly 
 conclude it to have been used as an epitome or manual 
 formed out of some original code. The objection made 
 to its present form, might easily be removed, as it is 
 capable of very methodical arrangement. The whole for 
 instance, might not improperly be divided into two parts, 
 mercantile law and nautical law; and each of these be 
 considered under the two separate heads of civil and 
 criminal jurisdiction. In the first part would be comprized 
 all those articles which have any reference to commercial 
 intercourse, such as freight, average, salvage, loans,* and 
 all bargains respecting contingencies to which a vessel is 
 liable before its departure during the voyage, and on its 
 return to port.f To the second part would belong such 
 laws as regulate the conduct of the master, the mariners, 
 and the passengers, towards each other; their manage- 
 ment and care of the vessel, and the privileges, duties, 
 and wages, allotted to their several stations.^ When 
 this arrangement was made, the second distribution into 
 criminal and judicial law would be obvious, § and if into 
 3i this 
 
 * The ancients always observed a distinction between the interest 
 of money lent by laud and by sea ; the latter (called by the moderns 
 Bottomry) was by them termed Foenus Nauticitm, which, on account 
 of the great hazard of the lender, was permitted to be exceedingly 
 high. See this fully treated of, Dig. Lib. 22. tit. 1, De usuris, 
 &c. and tit. 2. De Nautico Foenore ; and, for the modern practice, 
 Molloy, De Jure Marit et Navali. Book 2. chap. 11. 
 
 t See, in particular, Art. 9. 11. from 16. to 24. 27. 37. 42. 43. 44. 
 45. 46. and Articles 10. 27. 29. 30. 32. 41. which treat of shipwreck. 
 
 t particularly Art, from 1 to 8. and 12. 13. 15. 34. 36. 38. 48. 50. 
 51. 
 
 § The laws which may strictly be called 2'>enal, are contained in 
 the eight first Articles, and in Articles 12. 13. 15. 38. 48. 50. 51. 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 361 
 
 this collection were incorporated under their proper heads, 
 all the other sea laws which occur in the Roman code, 
 such as the opinions and commentaries of the old jurists 
 in the Pandects with the imperial constitutions contained 
 in the code and novels, we should then obtain perhaps 
 some clear idea of what at present lies in a very dark and 
 deranged condition, the state of the ancient maritime 
 law* 
 
 It is worthy of remark that among the Rhodian laws, 
 those of shipwreck and distress at sea occur most fre- 
 quently. The arts of ship-building and of navigation, 
 though zealously cultivated by many nations of antiquity, 
 were, if compared with their present state, extremely rude 
 and imperfect. The outward form and structure of their 
 ships was ill contrived for security or expedition, even in 
 the most prosperous weather, and rendered them in 
 tempests totally unmanageable ; nor was it much improved 
 by the shape or disposition of the sails and rigging.f If 
 to these defects we add the moderate skill of mariners, for 
 the most part confined to particular coasts, ignorant of 
 any fixed principles of their art and unassisted by that 
 infallible guide of modern navigators, the compass : can 
 we be surprized at the caution with which they entered 
 on a voyage ? or at the extreme care of the legislature 
 in preparing them to surmount the various accidents to 
 35 which 
 
 * Dr. Zouch's small but comprehensive work, Descriptio Juris et 
 Judicii Maritiraiy is too elementary, though perhaps if it were pub- 
 lished with a commentary and notes illustrative of modern sea laws 
 and usages, it would sufficiently answer the purpose. Peckius and 
 Schardius are too much occupied in verbal criticism to afford any 
 satisfactory expositions of their subject. See their editions of the 
 Naval Laws of Rhodes. 
 
 t Montesquieu has treated particularly of this matter. Esprit 
 des Loix. Liv. 21. G. and recites many curious facts of commercial 
 geography. 
 
362 Schomherg on the 
 
 which they were so liable?* What is here advanced 
 must not be understood to contradict any former asser- 
 tions of the nautical skill which many nations of antiquity 
 displayed; for it is founded merely on a comparison of 
 their efforts with the improved exertions of modern days. 
 Whoever consults the remarkable facts on this head col- 
 lected with infinite labour and discernment^ by Huet, in 
 his instructive History of the Navigation and Commerce 
 of the Ancients, must be struck with the number, bold- 
 ness and extent of naval expeditions carried on uuder such 
 disadvantageous circumstances. In short considering 
 the various obstacles which those early mariners had to 
 encounter, and the few motives to encourage them, 
 instead of arraigning their ignorance, we ought rather to 
 admire the progress they made in an art, which, of all 
 others, most requires the accumulated labour, ingenuity 
 and experience of ages to bring it to any degree of 
 perfectionf. 
 
 Though it was my original design to have confined 
 these enquiries to some leading historical facts relative to 
 the ancient sea laws, I cannot avoid giving the following 
 specimen of their wisdom and equity. The celebrated 
 law of ejection, as it is called,^ which forms the second title 
 36 in 
 
 * See the writers De re Naval i, in the 11th vol, of Gronovius's 
 Thesaurus Antiquitatum Orcecarum, particularly Lazarus Bayfius, 
 who has given plates of various kinds of ships and naval implements, 
 from antique marbles, medals, and has reliefs. The curious reader 
 will also find much information with respect to the state of the 
 ancient marine establishment in the 22d and six following chapters 
 of the first Book of Morisotus, with a good collection of naval coins 
 and inscriptions. 
 
 t Piracy was not the least of the dangers which attended Navi- 
 gation in those days. Justin says, that, among many nations, 
 " Latrociaium Maris Glorias habeatur." Lib. 43. cap. 3. and Montes- 
 quieu gives some good reasons for their contracted intercourse by 
 Sea. Liv. 21. 7. 
 
 X De Lege Rhodid, De Jactu. 
 
 i 
 
Laics of Rhodes. 363 
 
 in the fourteenth Book of the Digests, has always been 
 considered as an extract of indubitable authenticity. It 
 contains various provisions for security against danger and 
 for reparation of losses sustained at sea, particularly in 
 cases of shipwreck. Each of the articles of which it is 
 composed, appears to have been derived from some origi- 
 nal code of lihodian law, and is illustrated by the com- 
 ments and opinions of the most learned jurists. From 
 their works they were again selected by the compilers of 
 the Digests, and arranged by them in their present form. 
 The adversaries of Justinian might here perhaps with 
 some shew of justice give vent to the spirit of anti-tribo- 
 nianism ; for there is great reason to suppose that many 
 other articles of similar tendency, which occur in the 
 imperial law, were drawn from the same source, though it 
 is in this article alone that any such acknowledgment, 
 cither express or implied, can be found. It would be well 
 also if on this occasion as on many more, the carelessness 
 and inaccuracy of the compilers were the only things 
 complained of by their enemies, who have seldom omitted 
 an opportunity of imputing to their disingenuity those 
 losses, which more candid minds would attribute to the 
 natural decay of time, and the ravages of barbarism.* 
 But to return. 
 
 It is provided by the Rhodian law, that "if for the 
 sake of lightening a ship in danger at sea an ejection shall 
 take place, that which was given up for the general good, 
 shall be replaced according to the proportion of what is 
 saved, by a general contribution. " f Nothing can be 
 37 more 
 
 * An ingenious civilian, now living, speaking of Justinian'sboing 
 suspected to have destroyed the original works from which his 
 compilers copied, humourously compared his conduct to that 
 of a clumsy artist, who having been employed to paint the sign of a 
 badger, set persons to destroy all the badgers in the neighbourhood, 
 with a view of preventing a discovery of his unskilful imitation, 
 t Dib. Lib. 14. Tit. 2. De Lege Wwdid, De Jactu. § 1. 
 
364 Schomherg on the 
 
 more equitably devised than this law^ wliicli has by its 
 intrinsic merit gained admission into all the marine codes 
 of succeeding times.* To render this act of ejection 
 perfectly legal, it must be observed, that the three follow- 
 ing cases ought to concur : First, the ship must be in 
 evident danger of perishing v,iih. her cargo, secondly, the 
 resolution taken by the captain on this occasion, must be 
 in consequence of a consultation held with his officers 
 and crew on the subject, and lastly, the ship and cargo 
 must appear to have been saved by these means. 
 
 Agreeably to these three axioms it is to be concluded, 
 that the partial loss, thus voluntarily incurred to prevent 
 a total one of the ship and cargo, ought to be equally 
 borne by the ship and her remaining lading.f After this 
 general position, we have a variety of cases stated, and 
 some particular rules and exceptions specified. For 
 instance, " they, whose property has suffered ejection upon 
 the foregoing terms, shall have action against the master 
 of the ship, and the master against those who saved their 
 property in consequence of the ejection, in order that the 
 loss may fall equal." J 
 
 This is in exact conformity with a well known maxim 
 
 at this day, namely, that as the common law looks upon 
 
 38 the 
 
 * " William the Conqueror and Hen. 1st, made and ratified this 
 law, concerning goods cast overboard by mariners in a storm, in 
 imitation of the ancient Rhodian law, De Jactu." Molloy, De Jure 
 maritimo et navali. Book 2 chap. 6. See also Miege's Laics of Oleron. 
 Art. 8, 9, 10 the Wisbuy Laus, Art. 20, 21, 38, 46. and the laws of 
 the Hanse Towns, Tit. 8, 9. with Reinold Kuricke's Commentary. 
 N.B. — All these may be found in Malyne's Lex Mercatoria. 
 
 •f Beauw. Lex Mercatoria. Article Salvage, p. 135, tc. And 
 this conforms with the rule of modern practice, which holds that 
 average is only admissible in cases where the loss of one man's goods 
 contributes to the safety of another's, and not in all cases of a 
 partial loss at sea. Shower's Cases in Parliament. 20. 
 X Tit. 2. § 2. 
 
Laics of Rhodes. 365 
 
 the goods and cargo as a pledge for the freight, so the 
 marine law looks upon thcra as a security for ansAvcring 
 any average or contribution, and with this view, the 
 master is bound not to deliver the goods till the contribu- 
 tion is settled, they being tacitly obliged for the one as 
 well as the other.* 
 
 " For any damage sustained by the ship and its tackle 
 by a storm, no contribution can be demanded ; any more 
 than an artificer who shall break or injure his tools, can 
 require reparation from the person for whom he was 
 working/'t " But if (as it is specified afterwards) this 
 damage did not arise by storm, but was voluntarily 
 incurred, and with the general consent ; then, in confor- 
 mity with the first clause, it must come into the con- 
 tribution." X 
 
 " Every kind of goods, even jewels, money, &c. which 
 could not have been a burthen to the ship, are neverthe- 
 less not exempted from contribution. Indeed it should 
 seem reasonable that their proportion ought to be greater 
 according to their value. But apparel in use, provisions, 
 and all things necessary for the sustenance of the crew, 
 are exempt." 
 
 " In settling the terms of contribution, the goods lost, 
 are not to be valued at what they might fetch if carried 
 to market, but according to the original price they were 
 purchased at ; and on the contrary the goods, which are 
 to contribute, must be estimated not at what they origi- 
 nally cost, but at what they will sell for. Quoniam (as 
 it is expressed) detrimenti non lucri sit praestatio." § 
 
 39 " When 
 
 * Molloy. Book 2. chap. G. ^. 7. 
 
 t Tit. 2. §. 2. xMoUoy. Loc. cit. % Tit. 2. §. 2. 
 
 § The modern custom has been, that if goods are thrown over 
 
 before half the voyage is complete, then tliey are to be valued at the 
 
 price they cost ; if after half the voyage, then at the price which 
 
 goods of the same quality shall sell for at the place of the ship's 
 
366 Schomherg on the 
 
 " When in order to lighten a ship coming into port, 
 part of the cargo is put into a skiff or boat, and this shall 
 perish in the sea, the ship being saved, a contribution is 
 required, to indemnify those, whose property was thus, as 
 if by ejection, sacrificed for the general good. But if the 
 ship perish and the boat be preserved, no contribution is 
 to take place ; because it is never allowed but where ships 
 arrive safe." * 
 
 If in a storm by an ejection of one man's property the 
 
 ship be saved for a time and afterwards perish, and it so 
 
 happen that the goods then on board are picked up by 
 
 divers,t they must be contributory to the ejected goods, 
 
 40 which 
 
 discharge. In many cases, however, the Rhodian law still continues 
 in force. Beauw. Loc. cit. Molloy. Loc. cit. 
 
 * By the law of the Admiralty, if a ship be lost before her 
 unloading, no freight shall be paid, but every one must bear his part 
 of the loss, and in such case even the mariners lose their wages. 
 Molloy. B. 2. Chap. 4. and B. 2. Chap. 3. 6. 7. For, as it is observed, 
 freight is the mother of wages, and wherever freight is due wages are 
 due also, and vice versa, provided the mariners have honestly per- 
 formed their parts. 1 . 3 <fe 4. 
 
 t Divers, called by the ancients Urinatores, were incorporated at 
 Rome in the same society with the fishermen, as appears from two 
 inscriptions in Gruter ; 
 
 Fl. Annio ann^o lemonia fortunato piscator urinatori. p. 
 cccLiv. and again. Ti. Claudio esquil. severo decuriali lectori 
 PATRONO corporis piscatorum et urinatorum. P. cocxci. They are 
 alluded to by Manilius in these lines, 
 
 '' Corpora qui mergunt undis ipsumque sub antris 
 Nerea et aquoreas conantur visere nymphas, 
 Exportantque maris prsedas, et rapta profundo 
 Naufragia, atque imas avidi scrutautur arenas." 
 
 Astronom. Lib. 5. v. 431. see also 
 a highly coloured description, beginning with 
 
 " Caeruleus ponto cum se Delphiuus in astra 
 " Erigit" A:c. and ending at v. 448. 
 and by Lucan, 
 
 — " animam servare sub undis. 
 Scrutarique stretum, si quid mersisset arenis." Lib. 3. v. 697. 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 367 
 
 which on the contrary if recovered are not liable to the 
 same conditions ; because the goods which simk with the 
 ship, were not, as in the case of those ejected, sacrificed 
 for the general safety. And here a question is put, 
 " whether goods which have received injury on board be 
 liable to contribution, because it seems unreasonable for a 
 person to sulSFer doul)ly ?" It is answered, " that the 
 person is to contribute according to the reduced value of 
 his property from the injury it has sustained." Another 
 question then arises, " whether if the damage has accrued 
 to him in consequence of an ejection, which has exposed 
 his goods to tlie weather, or has broken them by violent 
 usage, he is to contribute." And it is decided, " that he 
 is to deduct from the rate of the contribution the amount 
 of his own damages and to contribute the remainder." 
 But then again it is said, " suppose the damage is greater 
 than the rate of contribution — in that case the damaged 
 property must be brought into the average ; for it is very 
 immaterial whether it had been totally spoiled, or thrown 
 41 overboard, 
 
 The first institution of corporate, or, collegiate bodies at Rome, 
 appears to have been by Numa, who in order to unite the Romans 
 and Sabines more closely, took away the distinctions which had sub- 
 sisted between them, and distributed the two people indiscriminately 
 into separate fraternities, according to their difierent trades. Plu- 
 tarch, in Numa. p. 155. edit. Bryan. For full information on this 
 subject consult Dig, 3, tit. 4, and 47. tit. 22, and 46. tit. 1. 22, with 
 Taylor's EL of Civ. Law. art. Senatus-consvZtum Marcianum. p. 567 
 —573. 
 
 The rate of salvage was thus settled by the ancients, as appears 
 in the collection of Rhodian laws. A person saving any part of a 
 wreck at sea, shall have one ffth of what he saves. Art. 45. and a 
 third, a half, or a tenth, according to the depth of water. A tenth for 
 salvage on the coast, and a fifth for him, who saving himself, brings 
 something to shore. Art. 47. see also Beauw. Lex Mercat. art. )Salva(/e, 
 p. 135 (fee. for the modern practice. A proportion is also given 
 according to the bulk of the salvage, gold and silver paying less than 
 coarse and burthensome goods. Art. 40. 
 
868 Schomberg on the 
 
 overboard, and if in tlie latter case a recompense be made 
 to the owners, it is but just in the former, when the 
 injury can be proved to have happened in consequence of 
 an ejection.'^ * 
 
 " If a ship be cast away, the goods saved from wreck 
 are not liable to contribution, for the same reason that 
 property saved in a boat is exempt : and because as it is 
 elsewhere said ; property thus saved, belongs as entirely 
 to the owner, as if it had been rescued from fire/' 
 
 " If by the violence of a storm, or any other accident, 
 the masts and rigging be damaged or destroyed, and the 
 captain put into port to make a temporary refitment, for 
 this expence no contribution can be required/^ 
 
 There appears to be something unreasonable in this, 
 for the expence of refitting was certainly incurred for the 
 safety of the cargo. There is much more equity in the 
 rule at present observed, which enjoins, that although the 
 charges of bringing a ship into port are not to be brought 
 into an average, yet when this is done from indispensable 
 necessity, to escape a storm, to refit and so forth, then 
 even the wages and provisions are brought into an average, 
 and all the expences occasioned by this necessity are 
 discharged by general contribution. f 
 
 " Goods cast overboard to lighten the ship make no 
 derelict, but ai'e to be restored to their owners if found, 
 just as in the case of a burthen which a weary man has 
 laid by the road side, while he rests himself or goes in 
 search of assistance." J 
 
 42 « If 
 
 * Lib. 14. Tit. 2 §.4. t Beauw. p. 137. 
 
 t It is necessary to state the following distinctions which are 
 observed in property lost at sea. Wreck is properly applied to goods, 
 which, when a ship is sunk, or otherwise perished, are driven to land 
 by the sea. " Qiub naufragio ad terram appeUuntury For if the 
 goods are found floating on the sea, they are c&WqA. flotsam. When 
 they are cast overboard to lighten a ship, which notwithstanding this, 
 afterwards perishes, they are, jetsam ; and lagan or ligaji, when 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 369 
 
 " If you freight a ship, and your goods, without your 
 consent, and no necessity compelling, be put on board 
 another ship, in worse condition than the first, and are 
 lost, you have action against the master with whom the 
 agreement was made ; but the action will not lie, if both 
 the ships perish in the voyage/' The present rule is, thai 
 if there be extreme necessity and an empty ship is passing 
 by, the master may transfer the goods, and if that ship 
 perish, his conduct is unimpeachable ; but then it must 
 appear that the ship ^eeuiedi probable and sufficient." * 
 
 These are the principal clauses in that title of the 
 Digests, De Lege Rhodid de jactu , which as they all relate 
 to one point of maritime justice, I have thought proper to 
 select. There are a few others intermixed with them 
 upon different subjects, such as contracts, piracy and 
 freight, which it is not here necessary to mention. But 
 what has rendered this title particularly curious, is a small 
 historical fragment, there inserted, from some collection 
 of Rhodian laws by Volusius Msecianus, a jurist of the 3d 
 century. It is a rescript of Antoninus Pius in answer to 
 a petition of Eudamon, a merchant of Nicomedia, to that 
 emperor, wherein he states, that being shipwrecked among 
 the Cyclades, his property was seized upon by the officers 
 43 of 
 
 having been ejected and sunk to the bottom, the mariners with an 
 intent to get them again, fasten to them a buoy to mark the place 
 where they may be found. The Court of Admiralty therefore cannot 
 hold plea of wreck, Vjut it must be tried before the king's justices at 
 common law, as being infra corpus comitatus, the proper jurisdic- 
 tion of the Admiralty being sujira altum mare. 1 . Instit. 260. and a 
 note of Selden on Fortescue de laud. leg. Ang. Cap. 32. & 2 Instit. 
 168 But of the other three, flotsam, jetsam, and ligm, the Admiralty 
 hath jurisdiction. Bracton lib. 3. fol. 120. 
 
 Derelict, differs from each of these in being goods cast into the 
 sea without any hope or likelihood of ever recovering them, and are 
 so wilfully given up by the owner. Molloy. B. 2. Chap. .^. §. 4. 
 * Molloy. Book 2. chap. 4. §. 5. 
 
370 Schomherg on the 
 
 of revenue.* He addresses the emperor by the title of 
 sovereign, Kvpios and he is answered in the true spirit of 
 a Roman, who considered the world as one country, of 
 which Rome was the principal city.f Eyco jxev rou koct/xov 
 Kvpios, 6 he vo/jLO<i TT}<i 6aXa(Tar]<i. Tw vofiw rcov PoSccov 
 KpivecrOco T(p vavTiKO). '' I am sovereign of the world, 
 it is true, nevertheless controversies at sea must be 
 determined by the maritime laws of Rhodes, except (as 
 he adds) in cases where they contradict our own laws." X 
 This answer has given rise to various controversies 
 on the authority of the Rhodian laws at Rome; and 
 to innumerable disputes whether the emperors claimed 
 any dominion upon the seas. There certainly is 
 nothing here which implies a denial of this part of 
 the imperial power ; for as Gothofred justly observes, 
 " non imperium, sed judicium tantum legi Rhodise, 
 hac lege committit," § and even this is with limita- 
 tions, for it is no longer admissible than while it agrees 
 with the laws of Rome. The same writer gives the 
 following rational paraphrase of this answer, "you have 
 44 done 
 
 * The Cyclades were islands terrible to mariners and appear to 
 have been notorious for shipwrecks. Virgil says of them 
 
 " Sparsasque per requor 
 
 Cyclades et crebris legimus freta concita terris"' 
 
 ^n. 3. 237. 
 and Horace frequently meiitions them in this light. See lib. 1. Od, 
 1, lib. 3. Od. 29, et 1. 14. 
 
 + " Gentibus est aliis tellus data limite certo ; 
 " Romance spatium est Vrlis et Orlis idem." 
 
 Ov. Fast. lib. 2, v. 243. 
 X The application of the Rhodian law to this particular case was 
 in every light proper : for we are told, there was a separate governour 
 over the five provinces of Scythia, Mysia, Caria, the Cyclades, and 
 Cyprus, but that in maritime cases the governour of Rhodes had 
 supreme jurisdiction. See Novel 41, Tit. De Qu<estorilus, id est, 
 P/xefectis Insularum. et Nov. 50. et 163. Tiberius, during his retire- 
 ment there, acted with this power. Sue ton, Vit. Tib. 
 % De Imperio Maris, cap. 7. 
 
Lai"s of Rhodes. 371 
 
 done right, Eudremon, in applying to me for redress ; 
 conceiving, as it appears you did by calling me in your 
 petition Lord of the World, that I might extend my 
 authority at pleasure over the seas : But there are certain 
 laws of Khodes established at Rome for regulating naval 
 matters, and therefore, they must decide in this case." * 
 45 Were 
 
 * The emperor's delicacy in this matter deserves our attention. 
 It is well known that the ancient laws gave wreck to the sovex'eign. 
 Dig, Lib. 49. tit. 14. De Jure Fisci. 
 
 " Quicquid conspicuum, pulchrumque est gequore toto, 
 " Res Fisci est ubicumque natat." 
 
 Juvenal Sat. 4. v. 54. and upon this subject 
 many laws and edicts occur, see De IncendiOy Ruitid, itc. Dig. Lib. 
 47, tit. 9. et Dig. 43. 12, 13, 14, 15. et £>e acquir. possess, et rerum 
 Dominio. et Cod. lib. 11. Tit. 4 and 5. 
 
 Antoninus, very humanely altered this rule, declaring, that in 
 cases of distress " Fiscus mens sese nou iuterpouat. Quod enim jus 
 habeat fiscus in aliena calamitate, ut de re tarn luctuosS; compendium 
 sectetur ? " Cod. Lib. 11, tit. 5, De Navfragiis. 
 
 This reminds us of an ordonnance of Louis the XlVth, which sets 
 aside the old law, and permits the proprietors of shipwrecked goods 
 to reclaim them within a year and a day, paving the expence of 
 salvage. Ordon. de la Marine Art. 29, tit. 9, Liv. 4. and we are 
 informed that even after this prescribed time the claimers might 
 recover them. " Le Roi <fe M. L'Amiral ayant toujours eu la gran- 
 deur d'arae d'admettre les reclamations, quoique faites hors dii terns 
 prescrity Valin, Sur UOrd. de la Marine, loc. cit. 
 
 Wreck, originally in this country was given to the crown for two 
 main reasons of common law. 1st, That the property of all goods 
 must be in some person. 2d, That such goods as no person can claim 
 property in, do belong to the king by his prerogative, and when 
 navigation and commerce were less common and perfect, it was 
 difficult to prove in whom the property of wrecks at sea was. Others 
 have given as a reason, that wreck was bestowed on the king to 
 indemnify him for his charges in scouring the sea of pirates. 
 2 Instit. 107. Wreck may belong to the subject either by grant 
 from the king or by prescription. 2 Instit. IHS, Anciently, wreck 
 of the sea, <fcc. was " primi inveutoris, quasi totius populi, sed postea 
 ad regem translata fuerunt, quia non modo totius populi, sed Roipub- 
 licaeetiam caput est." 2 Instit. 168. Doctor and Stvxltnf.. Dial. 2, 
 chap. 51. 
 
372 Schomherg on the 
 
 Were it necessary _, a variety of testimonies might be 
 brought^ to shew that the emperors were actually con- 
 sidered and claimed to be held lords of the sea, and that 
 even private persons, by their permission, enjoyed peculiar 
 privileges upon that element. But I refer my reader to 
 the 13th chapter of Gothofred's excellent treatise, De 
 Imperio Maris, and to the 25th and 36th chapters in the 
 1st Book of Selden's Mai'e clausum, a work which has 
 given the fullest answer to those modern disputants who, 
 by ingenious refinements and hasty interpretations, have 
 46 attempted 
 
 The laws of Oleron are very severe on the plunderers of a wreck. 
 See Art. 24, 25. 28. 30, 31. They are to suffer excommunication, 
 and capital punishment, without the protection of any custom or 
 statute whatever, and if they do violence to the persons of the ship- 
 wrecked, they are to be plunged into the sea till they are half dead, 
 and then to be drawn out and stoned to death. " A lord of a manor, 
 who shall connive at these proceedings shall have his goods sold for 
 pious uses, and he himself shall be fastened to a stake in the midst 
 of his mansion house, which is then to be set on fire at the four 
 corners, and burnt to the ground, and a market to be established on 
 the spot, for the sale of hogs, and swine, to all posterity." 
 
 But by Stat. West. 1. cap. 4. & 17. E. 2. c. 11. If a man, a dog, 
 or a cat, escape alive, or the party to whom the goods belong, claim 
 within a year and a day, they are his ; and this royal claim was 
 renounced by Rich. I, in the isle of Oleron. 01. Lav>s, cap. 47. 
 Hoveden's Annals, fol. 678. By a law of Sicily A.D. 1221 the plunder 
 of shipwrecked goods was made capital. Pragmatic. Regni ^icilice. 
 Panorm. 1647. 
 
 Indeed a person under these circumstances was an object of 
 protection by the laws of almost all the civilized states of antiquity. 
 NAYArOS J/KO) |ei/oy, A2YAHT0N yevos 
 
 " Being a shipwrecked stranger, I am a person who ought not to 
 be plundered." Euripid. Helen, ver. 456. 
 
 And the acute author of Observations on the Statutes chiefly the 
 more ancient, thinks it " much to the honour of humanity, that in 
 every part of the globe, where any sort of civil policy prevails, 
 making prisoners those who are shipwrecked on their coasts, is pecu- 
 liar to Japan ; nor was this barbarian practice introduced among 
 them till after the expulsion of the Portuguese, Avho had made very 
 unjustifiable attempts on their religion and govermnent." p. 17. 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 373 
 
 attempted to deny, that any nation or prince, ever did or 
 can, with justice, claim an exclusive right over the seas. 
 I cannot, however, quit the consideration of this law 
 without taking notice of a very singular correction of 
 Antoninus's answer given us by Samuel Petit. Instead 
 of o 8e NOMOS tj;? 0a\aa-ar)<;,'he reads, o SeANEMOS, 
 which he thus explains ; " with regard to your shipwreck 
 I can give no redress, nor is it in my power to prevent 
 it in future. I am lord of the land it is true, but the 
 wind commands the sea ; and he then proceeds, as to a 
 second clause in the answer, to refer him to the Rhodian 
 code for relief against his plunderers.'^ * 
 
 47 Having 
 
 * Miscellan. 3, cap. 11. 
 
 With respect to the argument De Maris Dominio, there are very 
 early records that nations of high antiquity, claimed and held an 
 exclusive sovereignty over certain seas : for example, it is shewn in 
 the conditions of that treaty between Athens and Lacedfemon in the 
 fourth Book of Thucydides, and in those which are to be found in 
 the third Book of Polybius, between Rome and Carthage. The 
 inferences which can be drawn from the opinions of the Roman 
 lawyers on this article are very indecisive, for if one has asserted, 
 " Mare esse in primaevo jure quo omnia erant comrmmia .'" another 
 contends, " Videmus, de jure gentium, in Mare esse regim distincta, 
 sicut in terra." 
 
 Dion Chrysostom in his 34th oration says, that Trajan, in extend- 
 ing certain privileges to Tharsus, gave her right and dominion over 
 the river (Cydnus) and over the adjacent seas, and in Dig. Lib. 4. tit, 
 De rerum Divisione, we find the emperor Antoninus communicating 
 the same right to the fishermen of Formia. The exclusive privileges 
 enjoyed by private individuals on the sea, for the purposes of luxury, 
 were derived also from imperial authority, and serve for frequent 
 topics of ridicule, though never of complaint, to the Roman writers; 
 which would scarcely be the case, had they been considered as usur- 
 pations. See Pliny, JJist. Xat. Lib. 9. cap. 54. Sallust, Bell. Catilin. 
 §.17. iALirtial. Lib. 10, Epig. 30. 
 
 For what regards our own country in this dispute, it may be 
 proved, by many ancient records, and by a scries of undeniable 
 evidence brought down through various ages, that the kings of 
 England did very early claim to be, and were acknowledged sovereigns 
 of the sea, so much of it at least, as is the object of the controversy. 
 
374 Schomherg on the 
 
 Having thus endeavoured historically to trace the 
 origin, progress -and influence of the Rhodian laws at 
 Rome, in as clear a manner as the imperfection of the 
 materials will permit, and to give a slight specimen of 
 their character, it remains to enquire in a summary waj'", 
 what was their fate after the dissolution of the Roman 
 48 empire 
 
 4 Instit. 142. Selden. Mare Clau&um. c. 27. For I apprehend the 
 warmest advocates for exclusive privilege thereon, never attempted 
 to extend it either to the Atlantic, or the Southern Ocean. Thus 
 king Edgar is said Quatuor maria vindicare, and Sir J, Burroughs 
 cites a record in the Tower, having for its title " Of the Sovereign of 
 the English Seas, and the Office of Admiral thereon." Sovereignty of 
 the British Seas asserted, p. 7. and Edward III. calls himself and his 
 predecessors, " Domini Maris Anglicani circumquaque et etiam De- 
 fensores" Selden, notes on Fortesc. c. 32. " The extent of this dominion 
 was particularly ascertained by a treaty at Westm. Feb. 9. 1673-4, to 
 be from Cape Finisterre, to the middle point of the Land Van Staten 
 in Norway. 
 
 The duty of the flag, which is a consecutive acknowJegment of 
 this dominion, is as old as the reign of king John, since whose time 
 it has been constantly asserted by his successors. This mark of 
 respect indeed had always appeared to foreigners so unquestionably 
 our right, that the first instance of its being inserted as an article in 
 any treaty was in the year 1653. Treaty of Peace between the Com- 
 monu-ealth of England, and the United Provinces. Art. 15. 
 
 It is worthy of remark that, at the very time when the warmth 
 of this controversy had excited a general jealousy concerning the 
 imperium Maris, the Venetians asserted their right over the Adriatic 
 in a memorable instance. They insisted upon, and obtained the 
 privilege of transporting from Naples to Trieste, the king of Spain's 
 sister, who was espoused to the king of Hungary, threatening, that 
 if the Spaniards should presume to send any ships into their gulph 
 for this purpose, they would attack them as enemies to the republic. 
 A.D. 1630. Paucius. De Dominio Maris Adriatici. L. 2, c. 6, and 
 thus by one illustrious example they eiFectually put to silence all the 
 learned arguments of their adversaries. 
 
 N.B. — A fruitless attempt was made about half a century ago, to 
 revive the controversy by Mons. Deslande in his Essay on maritime 
 power, to which he appears to have been instigated by the Count de 
 Maurepas, intendant of the French marine. 
 
Lcuus of Rhodes. 375 
 
 empire liad produced a total change in the inhabitants, 
 manners and language of Europe. 
 
 The successive inundations of northern barbarism in 
 the 5th and 6th centuries, and tlie ravages of the Saracens 
 on the coasts and islands of the ISIediterranean sea in the 
 7th, necessarily gave a check to every species of liberal 
 communication, and thus proved equally fatal to the 
 interests of literature and of commerce. The latter in 
 particular received a very severe blow, by the extinction 
 of the Indian trade, which had long been the principal 
 branch carried on in the Greek empire, by the way of 
 Egypt. This was effectually cut off when the Saracens 
 took possession of Alexandria. It is not however to be 
 understood that commercial intercourse was totally ob- 
 structed. It still feebly subsisted, but the mode of carry- 
 ing it on was changed. The merchant, unwilling to 
 transport his property over an element infested by a 
 lawless enemy, to whose arms most of the maritime 
 powers had yielded, and finding the principal ports and 
 harbours either deserted or in possession of a people more 
 inclined to i)lunder than traffic, sought other channels of 
 communication. 
 
 The exchange of commodities was, during this period, 
 chiefly transacted by means of inland traders or travelling 
 merchants, who for this purpose established staples and 
 enterpots, and thus contributed to aggrandize many of 
 those towns which since have made so conspicuous a 
 figure in Germany and the Netherlands.* The foundation 
 of many new commercial states was also laid in these 
 ages, and, as the ancient channels became dry or ob- 
 structed, fresh sources of trade began to open on the 
 western and southern coasts of Europe. f 
 
 49 The 
 
 * Anderson's History of Commerce. Vol. 1 , p. 432. 
 t Anderson ut supra p. 235. Cedreni Compend. Hist. Par. 2. p. 
 477. Edit. Paris. Ockley's Conquests of the Saracem. 
 
376 Schomherg on the 
 
 The conquests of Charlemagne in Italy, and his esta- 
 blishment of Christianity in the north, are considered, by 
 some writers, as the causes of the revival of maritime 
 commerce, since at the same time that he diffused a 
 liberal and communicative spirit by the introduction of 
 the true religion, he removed in a great measure the 
 principal obstacles to its gratification, by scowering the 
 sea of pirates and rendering that passage from the north 
 to the south more safe and commodious. 
 
 But perhaps we are to look further back for the true 
 cause. The furious ravages of Attila, the Hun, in the 
 5th century, compelled many of the distressed inhabitants 
 of Italy to seek for safety in the marshes and islands at 
 the northern extremity of the Adriatic,* whence, in less 
 than four hundred years after their settlement, arose the 
 magnificent mart of Venice. f As early as the beginning 
 of the 8th century, we hear of her with a powerful fleet, 
 defending the Exarchate of Ravenna against the Lom- 
 bards, J and soon after this, defeating the views of Charle- 
 magne, who, jealous of the preference which she gave to 
 the Greek emperors, had sent a large armament into the 
 Adriatic. § It is to this state, in fact, that we are indebted 
 for the revival of the commercial spirit in Europe. She 
 seems first to have encouraged it in her neighbour and 
 powerful rival, Genoa, by whose communication of the 
 rich commodities of the East, a similar zeal was excited 
 among the nations on the Baltic, who were themselves at 
 last enabled to contend with them both, for the balance 
 50 of 
 
 * Joruandes. De Rebus Geticis. 
 t The reader may compare C'assiodorus Epist. 12, lib. 12, with 
 lib. 12, Ep. 24. aud consult Montesquieu Es}:). Des. Loix, Liv. 20. 
 c. 5. 
 
 X Essai de L'Histoire du Commerce de Venice, aud Muratori, 
 Antichita Italiane. Dissertazioni, 25'^ & 26'^ 
 ^ Loc. cit. 
 
Lair.^ of Modes. 377 
 
 of commercial power,* The superiority however of the 
 Italian cities must be confessed ; for at the time when the 
 Ilanseatic towns, having run their career of glory, were 
 gradually disuniting and yielding to the arms of neigh- 
 bouring princes, Venice of herself was able to sustain, and 
 in some measure defeat, the most formidable league sud- 
 denly raised against her, that is to be met with in the 
 history of modern times. f 
 
 If, during the period called the middle ages, any form 
 of maritime justice was acknowledged, it probably was 
 such as those fragments of the Rhodian code, preserved 
 in the Roman law, afforded^ A variety of causes con- 
 tributed to preserve an active intercourse between the 
 Italian provinces and Constantinople, where many parts 
 of Justinian's compilation were still read in the Greek 
 language, and where a new body of jurisprudence had 
 recently been formed, into which the laws of Rhodes were 
 admitted. J We have no authority for supposing that any 
 51 new 
 
 * De Mailly. Histoire de Gennes. 
 
 It must be observed that I here speak of maritime commerce 
 only. Inland traffic was promoted and established by very different 
 means. Montesquieu traces it, rather whimsically, from the intro- 
 duction of Aristotle's works, which first taught mankind to confound 
 the lending upon interest with 7isuri/, Uepi HoXireuis, lib. 1. cap. 9, 
 10. and encouraged a spirit of persecution against the Jews, who, 
 wearied with proscriptions, confiscations, and extortions, at length 
 found it necessary to render their property invisible. They invented 
 a secret and compendious mode of negotiation by bills of exchange 
 and paper currency, and thus gave, as it were, a soul to mercantile 
 communication. Esp. des. Loix, Liv. 21. cap. 16. 
 
 ■►■ Mainibourg, Histoire de la Ligue. The League of Cambray, to 
 which I allude, took place in the year 1510, a period when the naval 
 powers of Denmark and Sweden had greatly weakened the Ilanseatic 
 confederacy, and when the French and English, 1)y withdrawing 
 their principal cities from the alliance, threatened, for a time, its 
 total annihilation. 
 
 X The Codes of Leo and Constantine, Lib. 53. tit. 8. See Chrono- 
 logical View of Roman Law, p. 67. 
 
378 Schomherg on the 
 
 new system had been drawn up more early than the close 
 of the 11th century. At that time the people of Amalfi 
 had risen into great repute for skill in navigation, and 
 activity in trade. They were respected by all their neigh- 
 bours on the jNIediterranean coasts, and enjoyed peculiar 
 privileges in the east.* To this people we owe the first 
 code of modern sea laws, called, from the place of its 
 compilation. Tabula Amalfitana. The authority of this 
 code was acknowledged by all the maritime states, on 
 those seas, and continued in force for more than four 
 hundred years, as may be inferred fi'om the following 
 words of Marino Freccia, a writer at the close of the 16th 
 century — " Hinc in regno, non lege Rhodia, maritima 
 decernuntur, sed Tabula quam Amalfitanam vocant, omnes 
 controversiae, omnes lites, ac omnia Maris discrimina, ea 
 lege, ea sanctione usque ad hcec tempora finiuntur/' t 
 Yet, at the time this author wrote, its influence was not 
 so extensive as formerly. As trade increased, various 
 other ports of the Mediterranean acquired their share of 
 it, and, becoming powerful and opulent, Avere impatient 
 of receiving laws from a neighbouring rival. Each there- 
 fore, as occasion ofl'ered, set up for its own legislator, and 
 decided in particular cases, according to regulations of 
 its own, still however referring to the Amalfitan table in 
 52 points 
 
 * See Du Fresne's notes on Anna Comnena's History, p. 234. edit. 
 Paris. 
 
 By permission from the Caliphs they founded the famous hospital 
 of St. John, at Jerusalem, whose knights, as we have seen, became 
 inhabitants of Rhodes, and proved powerful protectors of that com- 
 merce, to which they were indebted for their existence. The honour 
 of inventing the compass is also by some attributed to the people of 
 Amalfi. Gemelli Carreri's Voyages, Book. 1. chap. 1. Giannone 1st. 
 di Napoli, Lib. 7, cap. 3. 
 
 •«• In Lib. De Sub/eudis. De Officio Admir. Lib. 1. Num. 8. This 
 writer, p. 327, tells us that Amalfi was a Metropolitan See, as early as 
 the year 904. 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 379 
 
 points of public concern. The sources of maritime law, 
 being thus multiplied, produced in process of time such 
 confusion and contradiction in the administration of 
 justice, that, at a general assembly, it was at last agreed 
 to digest the separate laws of each community into one 
 body. Accordingly, making use of the Amalfitan table 
 as a basis, they formed a superstructure of all such regu- 
 lations as appeared useful and consistent in the various 
 laws of Marseilles,* Pisa, Genoa, Venice, Barcelona,t 
 Aragon and the INIorea, and published them about the 
 close of the 14th century, under the name of Consolato 
 del Mare, a code which, to this day, retains most of its 
 original authority. J Whoever is at all acquainted with 
 the general spirit of this code will not hesitate in pointing 
 to the source whence it was derived. In many particular 
 articles we may discover the exact features of its original ; 
 and this internal evidence added to the reasons already 
 assigned for such a conclusion, afford, I think, very pre- 
 sumptive proof, that some parts at least of the Amalfitan 
 table were copied from such fragments of the Rhodian 
 laws as are preserved in the pandects of Justinian. § 
 
 While trade and navigation in the south were thus 
 
 regulated by two codes, the Table of Amalfi and the 
 
 53 Consolato 
 
 * ^Marseilles, at this day, one of the busiest ports in Europe, was 
 founded almost six centuries before Christ by a Greek colony, and is 
 celebrated as a place of great wealth and splendour by many ancient 
 writers. Strabo Lib. 4. Tacitus in Vit. Agricolce. Cicero Orat. pro 
 Val. FIocco. Montesquieu Esp. Des Loix Liv. 20. c. 5. 
 
 + Some are of opinion that the laws of Barcelona claim the 
 hono\ir of being the basis of modern mercantile jurisprudence. See 
 Robertson's State of Europe, p. 351, 
 
 The account I have given above, is founded upon the opinion of 
 Giannone. ht di Xapoli. Lib. 11. cap. 6. and of Freccia, Loc. cit. 
 
 X Zouch's Admiral Jurisdiction. Wei wood's Abridgment of sea 
 aws. Giannone, ut supra. The best edition of the Consolato del 
 Mare was published at Venice in 15G7, 
 
 § Ante page 377. 
 
380 Schomherg on the 
 
 Consolato del Mare, the spirit of commerce had revived 
 in another quarter of Europe, and the influence of these 
 ancient sea laws was seen to diffuse itself on the western 
 coasts and among the nations on the Baltic. The state of 
 maritime justice among the inhabitants of those regions, 
 before the 12th century, may easily be imagined. It was 
 suited well enough perhaps to the contracted intercourse 
 of the times, but must have been soon found inadequate 
 to the purposes of that extensive communication which 
 now began to be opened. 
 
 About the year 1194, king Richard I, on his return 
 from the Holy Land, rested for some time in tjie isle of 
 Oleron in the Bay Aquitain, or, as it is now called, of 
 Biscay, and having been convinced, perhaps during his 
 perilous voyage, of the great inconveniences to which 
 merchants and mariners in that quarter of the world were 
 perpetually exposed for want of a maritime code, he there 
 gave orders for a work of this kind to be compiled. 
 Such, according to the best authorities, was the origin of 
 the laws of Oleron, so justly celebrated for their wisdom 
 and equity, and for being the model of all the sea laws 
 in the west of Europe.* Jealous of the lustre which our 
 country derives from this circumstance, the French 
 54 writers 
 
 * Godolphiu in an "appendix to his View of the Admiralty 
 Jurisdiction," has given a collection of them in 47 articles. Selden 
 thinks, that Richard published them, not as duke of Aquitaine, but 
 by his right at that time, as king of England, to superintend and 
 direct all transactions on those seas. Mare Clausum. cap. 24. which 
 perfectly agrees with the opinion of another very learned English 
 civilian, who says of these laws, that " the western world received 
 them from the English, by way of deference to the sovereigntij of our 
 kings in the British Ocean, and to the judgment of our countrymen 
 in sea affairs." Sir Leoline Jenkins's Charge to the Cinque Ports. 
 p. Ixxxvii. 
 
 Henry II, about 20 years before, had promulgated a law of wreck 
 in that island, which was adopted by his son. Rymer's Fmlera 
 Tom. 1. p. 12. 20. Hen. II. A.D. 1174. 
 
Laws oj Rhodes. 381 
 
 writers have not been backward in asserting a superior 
 claim to this code. It was drawn up, they say, in the 
 French language, published in an island on the coast of 
 France, and intended solely for the service of that nation ; 
 since throughout the whole, no mention is made of the 
 Thames, or any river or port in England or Ireland, but 
 all is referred to Boui'deaux, St, Malo, and other sea ports 
 of France.* But no argument founded on the place 
 where it was compiled and promulgated can, I think, be 
 adduced in favour of their opinion, when it is considered 
 that the isle of Oleron, with other territories in those 
 parts of France, was then annexed to the crown of 
 England ; consequently, these laws were as much English 
 laws as if Richard had published them in Loudon. This 
 may also serve to answer the other part of their argu- 
 ment, for besides that it was more natural to insert the 
 names of places in the neighbourhood, than of such as 
 were remote, it must be obvious that Bourdeaux and 
 St. Malo were as much a part of the king's dominion, 
 as any sea ports in England or Ireland. As to the 
 language in which they are written, it is no other than 
 what was frequently adopted by our kings in their legal 
 acts and ordinances, and cannot therefore be used as a 
 reasonable proof in this particular instance. " I call 
 them the laws of Oleron, says a great civilian, not but 
 that they are peculiarly enough English, being long since 
 incorporated into the customs and statutes of our Admi- 
 ralties j but the equity of them is so great, and the use 
 and reason of them is so general, that they are known 
 and received all the world over by that rather than by 
 any other name." f With respect to the latter part of 
 this observation it must be remarked, that greater latitude 
 is hci'c given to those laws, than writers in general have 
 55 been 
 
 * Miege's, Sea Laws. p. 3. t Sir Lcoliue Jenkins, loc. cit. 
 
382 Schomherg on the 
 
 been willing to allow them. For it has been asserted, 
 that their influence never extended further than over the 
 western seas of Europe, and even in these was more 
 particularly confined to the coasts of France and Great 
 Britain, and it is added, that their authority, in this part 
 of the world, very much resembled that of the Rhodian 
 laws in the Mediterranean. " The sea laws instituted at 
 Oleron, says Molloy, never obtained any other, or greater 
 force than those of Rhodes formerly did, that is, they 
 were esteemed for the reason and equity found in them, 
 and applied to the case emergent." * Their warmest 
 admirers, in short, have limited their authority to that 
 ocean which extends from the Straits of Gibraltar to the 
 coast of Norway. These laws are said to have received 
 amendment and confirmation twice during the reign of 
 Edward III, particularly by the verdicts given in the 
 famous inquisition at Queensborough, in the year 1376,t 
 but since that time their influence has gradually become 
 feeble and contracted ; and as laws, more conformable to 
 modern custom, have been introduced, even the subject of 
 many articles has long ago grown entirely obsolete. J In 
 France they seem to have been originally admitted nearly 
 56 upon 
 
 * Molloy, Dejure maritimo et navali, Introduction. Grotius. Flor. 
 Spars, in Jus Justinian, p. 17. 
 
 ' t The Inquisition at Queensborough was held before two admi- 
 rals, and the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, (an officer of high 
 antiquity, as appears from a summons in the time of Ed. 1 see 
 Brady's Appendix. No. 6.) and the verdicts there given by 18 expert 
 seamen, appointed for the purpose of examining the maritime code, 
 were confirmed by the king's letters patent. Sir Leol. Jenkins's 
 /Speech in behalf of the jurisdiction of the Admiralty/, vol. 1. p. Ixxvii. 
 MoUoy. loc. cit. Seldeu, in his notes on Fortescue De laud. leg. Ang. 
 cap. 32. considers Roughton's translation, called, De Oficio Admirali- 
 tatis, rather, as a monument of antiquity than authority, and ascribes 
 it, with a copy of the Roll of Oleron (communicated to him by Sir 
 Walter Raleigh) to the time of Henry VI. 
 
 X Anderson's Ilistory of Commerce, vol. 1. p. 96. 
 
Laws of Rhodes, 383 
 
 upon the same footing as iu this country, and afterwards 
 to have experienced similar revolutions. By an ancient 
 record, entitled Droits ct Pre-eminences de VAmiral, this 
 officer is enjoined in the 10th title to found his decisions 
 on the laws of Oleron. In some subsequent records a 
 more extensive scope is given him, and the Oleron laws 
 are often superseded by public edicts and local usages ; 
 most of them have been variously modified, and some 
 parts abrogated by royal ordonnances ; * yet they still 
 maintain a place in their marine code, and hold, as with 
 us, a limited authority in nautical controversies.t 
 
 Various are the materials of which the maritime law 
 of England is at present composed. Besides the rules of 
 Oleron, the indisputable basis of the structure, many 
 useful principles have been adopted from the laws of 
 Rhodes and from the Roman civil law. " Julis Civilis 
 vel Caesarii usus, ab antiquis seculis etiam nunc retinetur 
 in Foro Maritime seu Curia Admiralitatis." J And surely 
 it may be considered as a fortunate coincidence, that the 
 works of Justinian should begin to diffuse their light over 
 Europe at the very time when commerce, by bringing 
 together the inhabitants of distant climates, had created 
 new situations and new interests among men, which 
 rendered some volume of natural justice absolutely neces- 
 sary. § To the species of law just mentioned may also be 
 57 added 
 
 * Particularly by Charles VI, Lewis XII, Francis I, and Uenry 
 III. 
 
 t Reglemens et Ordonnances sur la fait de I'Amiraute, published 
 at Rouen in the years 1543. 1554. 1594. 1602. 1604. See also 12 
 articles of the Marble Table 1673, (so called, from the place where 
 the admiralty sessions are held every week at Paris,) and the final 
 regulations in the year 1G81 Liv. 1. tit. 2. Ordonnances dela marine. 
 
 X Selden Dissert ad Fletarn. cap. 8. and Sir J. Ilayward's Life of 
 Edward VI, p. 29. 
 
 § During the 12th and 13th centuries, academies for the study of 
 the Roman Civil Law were established in almost every country in 
 Europe. That of Irnerius at Bologna erected A.D. 1150 seems to 
 
384 Schomhery on the 
 
 added some municipal institutions and customs peculiar 
 to certain places on the sea coasts ; " the wliole^ as Black- 
 stone observes, being corrected, altered and amended by 
 acts of parliament and common usage ; so that out of this 
 composition a body of jurisprudence is extracted, which 
 owes its authority only to its reception here by consent 
 of the crown and people." * 
 
 The first case in our law, extant, relative to marine 
 jui'isdiction, occurs in the reign of Edward I, and is 
 preserved in an old record in the Tower, which speaks of 
 the king's sovereignty on the seas, and the jurisdiction of 
 his deputy, the admiral, as being, even then, du temps 
 dont it n'y a de memoire.^ 
 
 58 But 
 
 have been the parent of all the rest. The schools of Moutpelier, 
 Toulouse, and Orleans, in which Azo and Accursius taught, spread 
 this science over France; and in the same age, Vacarius, whom 
 Selden calls a disciple of the Bolognese academy. Dissert, ad Flet. 
 cap. 7. read lectures on the civil law at Oxford. " Tunc (speaking of 
 this aera) leges et causidici in Angliam primo vocati sunt, quorum 
 primus, magister Vacarius hie in Oxenforclia legem docuit." Duck, 
 De usu &c. 1. 2. c. 8. §. 27 from a IMS. in the Cotton Library, and he 
 afterwards shews, that the study was much cultivated in England, 
 especially in this university. Ut supra from §. 28. to 38. The same 
 period, so propitious to Jurisprudence, proved equally favourable to 
 commerce. The foundation of the great mercantile commonwealth of 
 the Hanse Towns was laid. An immense number of cities in dif- 
 ferent parts of Europe received their chartei-s of independence. 
 The Oleron and Wisbuy Laws were promulgated, coinage and manu- 
 factories improved, and various other channels opened, through which 
 to facilitate and extend the communication of mankind. Anderson's 
 Hist, of Commerce, vol. 1. B. 3. 
 
 * Commentaries. B. 3. chap. 7. §. 3. see more particularly stat. 28. 
 Hen. VIII. 5. Eliz. c. 5. 13. Car. II. 9. 2. W. and M. 2. 22 and 31. 
 Geo. II. in the two last of which, the laws for regulating his majesty's 
 navies and forces by sea were collected and formed into one code. 
 
 N.B. — Duck thinks, that many parts of our maritime law are 
 copied from the Consolato del Mare. De usu &c. 1. 2. c. 8. §. 25. 
 
 t Selden's notes on Fortescue, cap. 32. 1 Inst. 439. 4 lust. Juris- 
 diction of Courts, c. 22. 
 
Laics of Rhodes. 385 
 
 Bat -whatever may have been the nature of the anti- 
 quity of this officer's power, it is generally agreed that 
 the Court of Admiralty, in which he presides, was not 
 formed into a regular establishment till the time of 
 Edward III, when that authority, which had before been 
 very irregularly exercised, became more permanent and 
 defined.* To discountenance the opinion of those, who, 
 59 not 
 
 * Seidell Loc. cit. 
 
 Though there be uo doubt that the office of admiral is of very 
 high antiquity, there appears no express mention of it before the 
 close of the 13th century 25 Ed. I. nor in our printed law does it 
 occur till, 8. Ed. II. Rymer's Fml. tom. 1. p. 17(5. Selden, iit suj). 
 In the beginning of the fullowing century, we meet with two or more 
 admirals at the same time, who are described as holding jurisdiction 
 over the north and south seas, distinguished by the mouth of the 
 Thames. But in 10. Rich. II. the office of sole admiral of England 
 was conferred for the first time by the king's letters patent on Rich. 
 Fitzalleu juu. Earl of Arundel and Surry. Spelman's Glossary, voc. 
 Admiral. F^dera. tom. 2. p. 162. 4. Inst. 75. Hale. C.L. 36. Since 
 then it has been considered of high dignity, and its authority 
 variously modified and limited, particularly by stat. 28. Hen. VIII, 
 and 5. Eliz. c. 5. It is at present exercised by person.s stiled, Lords 
 Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral of 
 Great Britain and Ireland, stat. 2. W. and 31. c. 2. and stat. 22. Geo. 
 II. c. 3. which adds, that uo sentence shall be valid unless the major 
 part of the commissioners present be of the privy council. 
 
 In France, the admiral is always a prince or a person of high birth 
 and quality. He sits in the king's house, and there holds his court, 
 which used to be the case with the admirals of England. This 
 court is composed of a lieutenant general, who presides, a particular 
 lieutenant, three counsellors, the king's advocate and soliictor, a chief 
 register, and two Serjeants, all appointed by the admiral, but holding 
 their commissions of tlie king. 
 
 The admiralty of Holland is divided into the five colleges of 
 Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hoorn, Middleljurgh, and Ilarlingen. Tliat 
 of Amsterdam is composed of 12 lords, or counsellors. Of these, 
 one is deputed by the nobility of Holland ; the cities of Amsterdam, 
 Leyden, Haarlem, Gouda, and Eadam depute one each, and the other 
 six are chosen by the six other provinces. The rest of the colleges 
 are nearly upon the same principle. Each of them has its particular 
 officers, namely, an advocate fiscal, a receiver general, a commissary, 
 
386 Schomhery on the 
 
 not distinguishing between tlie office itself and the place 
 where it was exercised, have carried this institution into 
 a much more remote period, it may be sufficient to refer 
 to Britton, who, in the introduction to his book on the 
 Ancient Pleas of the Crown Temp. Ed. I. will be found 
 not to have enumerated the Admiralty among the courts 
 of Justice at that time. This omission Lambard accounts 
 for, by saying that the office, afterwards delegated to the 
 admiral, was then in the king himself, and was exercised 
 by him, or by some lawyers who attended him ,• and he 
 is inclined to place the origin of the AdmiraVs, Court in 
 the days of Edward III, both on account of his reign 
 being remarkable for its naval and mercantile operations, 
 and because by a statute 2 Richard II. which regulates 
 the proceeding of that court, the king establishes it upon 
 the same footing as in his grandfather^s time, as if he 
 meant by these words to reduce it to its oriyinal autho- 
 rity.* In what this authority consisted, it is not difficult 
 to form a general idea, though some particular articles of 
 jurisdiction have been very warmly disputed. f It seems 
 to have had the exercise both of criminal and cff?7 justice 
 over all maritime persons, and in all causes proj^erly 
 maritime.^ This it continued to hold till 28 Hen. YIII. 
 when it appearing inconsistent with the genius of the 
 60 English 
 
 an overseer of the sailors, a commissioner of sales, a treasurer, who 
 is paymaster, a grand provost, with secretaries and officers for the 
 inspection of passports, and the receipt of duties. 
 
 N.B. — They may pass final sentence in all civil matters under 600 
 florins, but, above this sum, an appeal lies from their sentence to the 
 assembly of the states general. Postlethwayte, Diet, of Trade and 
 Commerce^ vol. 1. p. 21. 
 
 * Archeion. p. 48. 
 
 t Sir Ed. Coke's JurMiction of Courts, 4. Inst. c. 22 and 23. 
 Zouch's Jurisdiction of the Admiralty asserted. Godolphin's View of 
 the Admiralty Jurisdiction. 
 
 X Sir Leoline Jenkins's Speech in behalf of the Admiralty J wri^dic- 
 tion. vol. 1. p. Ixxvii. 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 387 
 
 English coustitution to admit of proceedings in criminal 
 suits without a jury, a statute was passed which enacted, 
 that for the future all cases of marine felonies should be 
 tried before commissioners nominated by the Lord Chan- 
 cellor, according to the laws of England.* Among these 
 commissioners, two common law judges are constantly 
 appointed, who, as Blackstone observes, in effect try all 
 the prisoners, and " this, he adds, is now the only method 
 of trying marine felonies in the court of admiralty ; the 
 judge of the admiralty still presiding therein, as the 
 Lord !Mayor is the president of the sessions of Oyer and 
 Terminer in London," f It is not to my present purpose 
 to enter particularly into the civil practice of this court, 
 the extent of its authority, or the forms of its proceed- 
 ings. Perhaps I may be thought to have carried ray 
 reader already too far from the main object of the enquiry, 
 I shall only add therefore, how in all contests respecting 
 tliis court, it should be remembered, that although the 
 proper region of its jurisdiction is said to be super altum 
 mare, it is not t\\e jAace only, but the nature of the case. 
 happening M'ithin such a place, that creates the jurisdic- 
 tion ; and therefore if a contract of marriage or a testa- 
 ment be made at sea, or if a lease or any obligation be 
 sealed there, the common law shall have cognizance of it, 
 and not the admiralty, because the case, thovgh on the 
 high sea, is not properly maritime. And so on the contrary, 
 in a case of which the admiralty hath original jurisdiction, 
 though circumstances afterwards arise properly the objects 
 Gl of 
 
 * It had been attempted in 8. Heu. VI. but the royal assent not 
 behig obtained, it miscarried. 
 
 N.B. — The jurisdiction of the C'uvine Ports was not inchided in 
 this statute, for tliis was always considered as distinct from, and 
 independent of the Lord High Admirals Court. Sir L. Jenkins, ut 
 supra. 
 
 ''f Commentaries. B. 4. c. 19. 
 
388 Schomberg on the 
 
 of common law, yet shall the maritime law prevail : thus 
 in the case of Sandys, and the East-India Company, it 
 was the opinion, that if it were an admiralty canse, the 
 matter being transacted infra corpus comitat, was not 
 material, for that a person might be taken up by execu- 
 tion out of the admiralty, upon sentence there, in any 
 county of England.* 
 
 If from the west, and from the coasts of the j\Iedi- 
 terranean, we turn our attention to the northern parts 
 of Europe, we shall there discover an industrious, and 
 active people, adopting similar schemes of legislation on 
 the shores of the Baltic. The same causes, no doubt, 
 which gave rise to the laws we have already described, 
 operated also in the production of that body of marine 
 law, knoAvn by the title of the JFisbuy Code, from an 
 opulent city of that name in the isle of Gothland, where 
 it was promulged. It is hardly possible to settle the 
 exact age of this compilation. Different writers, as guided 
 by their pai-ticular prejudices, have ascribed it either to a 
 very late, or a very early period. According to some, the 
 inhabitants of Gothland carried on an active trade, and 
 were, on other accounts, a respectable people, as far back 
 as the 9th century, and from this circumstance they infer 
 that these laws must be of very high antiquity, and were 
 the model by which those of Oleron were framed. Others, 
 with the best authority on their side, bring forward the 
 bright age of this island, and the foundation of its capital 
 city, to the middle of the 12th century, and retort, in 
 favour of the Oleron laws, a strong charge of imitation 
 62 on 
 
 * Skinner's Rep. Term. HiU. 35. Car. II. 9. 13. Rep. 53. 1. Sid. 
 158. 1. Salk. 35. Zouch ut sup. Assert. 3. For the practice of the 
 Admiralty court, consult an excellent little work Clarke's Praxis 
 Curice Admiralitatis, the 8vo edit, of 1743. with notes ; and for 
 valuable political information on the subject of maritime law 
 Wynne's edition of Sir L. Jenkins's works, his life in vol. 1. and 
 the letters at the end of vol. 2. 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 389 
 
 on the compilers of the northern code.* But which ever 
 has the best claim to originality, it is certain that these 
 two codes bear a very striking resemblance to each other, 
 not only in the general spirit, but even in the very letter 
 of some particular laws, a circumstance which may 
 perhaps be accounted for, without fixing the imputation 
 of plagiarism on either, by referring them both to one 
 common source, the laws of Rhodes, The probability of 
 such a conclusion, strengthened with much internal evi- 
 dence, will appear by reflecting upon the great communi- 
 cation that was opened, in the 12th century, between the 
 Baltic and the ^Mediterranean coasts, when the inhabitants 
 of the South began to exchange the luxurious jiroduce of 
 their climate, for the coarser, but equally useful commo- 
 dities of the north. t It was not possible for an inter- 
 course, where so many difierent claims, and such opposite 
 interests were concerned, long to subsist without having 
 recourse to some standard of justice, by which commercial 
 and nautical controversies might be adjusted. The salu- 
 tarj'^ eflects of those sea laws, already mentioned as pre 
 vailing in the south, must have strongly recommended 
 them to the notice of a rising nation of mariners, destitute 
 (as it is natural to suppose they were) of civil, or com- 
 mercial maxims, and that spirit of universal equity, by 
 63 which 
 
 * Lambecii. Origines Hamburgemes. page 12. Cleirac Us' et 
 Coustumes de la mer. See also Fasciculus de Jure nautico, p. 682 
 and Olaus Magnus. Hist. Lib. 10. cap. 16. Welwood's assertion that 
 " the laws of Oleron were afterwards translated into Dutch by the 
 people of Wisbuy, to serve them in their traffic on the coast of Hol- 
 land " is to be understood, not of the code here in question, but of 
 some particular laws which they found it necessary to adopt, to 
 regulate their intercourse with this newly-erected nation of traders. 
 Abridgment of Sea Lau-s. p. 13. 
 
 t Spain, Italy, and the Levant, furnished the northern traders 
 with spices, drugs, fruits, wine, cotton, <irc. from whom they in return 
 obtained, among other necessary articles, iron, copper, flax, hemp, 
 and timber. 
 
390 Schomhcry on the 
 
 which they are characterized, rendered them alike appli- 
 cable to naval suits in the Gulph of Venice, or of Finland. 
 The commendation which Grotius has bestowed on the 
 laws of Wisbuy implies a degree of excellence in them 
 not often found in the polity of rude nations, and con- 
 forms exactly with what has constantly been applied to 
 the Rhodian laws. " Quae de maritimis negotiis Insulce 
 Gothlandice Habitatoribus placuerunt, tantum in se habent, 
 tum aequitatis, tum prudentias, ut omnes oceani accolse eo, 
 non tanquam proprio, sed velut gentium jure, utantur/' * 
 Their authority is also described by a northern historian 
 in the following words. " In omni navigantium contro- 
 versiae, prsesertim a Consulatu Wisbycensi petitur et 
 datur jus et fententia definitiva, quid unicuique permit- 
 tendum vel auferendum erit." And the extent of their 
 influence is afterwards thus clearly defined by the same 
 writer. " Leges maritimae et decisiones omnium contro- 
 versiarum singulariter longe lateque usque ad Columnas 
 Herculis et uliimum 'mare Scythicum, exea (i.e. Lege 
 Wisbycensi) petuntur, et datae observantur." f It is 
 greatly to the honour of these ancient laws, that having 
 for many ages enjoyed unrivalled authority in all the 
 maritime tribunals of the north, they were thought worthy 
 of being adopted by the legislators of the Hanseatic 
 league, and acknowledged as the basis of their compila- 
 tion. J Reinold Kuricke, a learned commentator on this 
 64 work. 
 
 * Prolegomena ad Procopium. p. 64. 
 
 t Olaus Magnus Hist. lib. 2. cap. 24. and lib. 10. cap. 16. It is 
 not improbable, that since, by this account, the laws of Oleron and 
 Wisbuy must have been indiflfereutly used in many places, the dis- 
 pute of originality might have proceeded from the inaccuracy of 
 quoting them in those ignorant ages. 
 
 Wisbuy was in the 12th century a place of extraordinary splen- 
 dour, and the many noble specimens of art, found there even at this 
 day, may serve to justify the description given by Olaus. 
 
 X The society of the Hanse Towns began to be formed about the 
 
 i 
 
Li ( ii's of Rhodes. 39 1 
 
 work, informs us tliat before the close of the IGth 
 
 century, notwithstanding their extensive commerce, the 
 
 G5 Hanse 
 
 begiuuiugof the 13th century, for the protection of the Baltic trade, 
 and for more than 300 years was considered as a most formidable 
 maritime association. The nature, and extent of its original insti- 
 tution, are not easily ascertained. It seems to have consisted only 
 of a few considerable towns, situated on the Baltic Sea, at the head 
 of which were the cities of Lubec and Hamburgh. IMutual interest 
 was at first the only bond of their connection : a code of laws, and a 
 regular form of government was afterwards established, magistrates, 
 and other officers, with their respective tribunals appointed, a public 
 treasury erected, fleets and armies levied, and the union of the whole 
 confederacy cemented by the strongest political obligations. In the 
 14th century, which may be considered as the ?cra of its glory, the 
 Hanseatic League comprized 64 cities, which had as many more in 
 alliance with them. It was divided into four separate districts, 1st 
 The Vandalic, over which (and indeed over the whole) Lubec presided. 
 In this district were contained all the German cities along the Baltic 
 coast, from the Elbe, to the Oder. The 2nd district of the Rhine, at 
 the head of which was Cologne, comprised the countries of Cleves, 
 Overyssel, Gueldre, and the Circle of Westphalia. Brunswic formed 
 the 3d district and had under it most of the principal cities of Upper 
 and Lower Saxony. The last district was that of Prussia headed by 
 the city of Dantzic, and containing most of the towns from the 
 Vistula to the Gulph of Finland, Thus was this powerful confed- 
 eracy, besides a very extensive inland territory jiossessed of a sea coast 
 of more than twelve hundred miles in Germany only, and had in 
 alliance many large cities in England, France and Italy. In conse- 
 quence of these advantages, it for many years almost monopolized 
 the trade of the North, and, by preserving its alliances unshaken 
 bore a considerable part in the politics of Europe. Secure of effectual 
 protection, the Hanseatic States claimed exclusive privileges in trade 
 to the detriment of others ; they arrested the ships of different nations 
 upon the most frivolous pretences ; imprisoned the merchants, and 
 refused to release them without exorbitant ransoms : But as their 
 prosperity had naturally awakened the jealousy of their neighbours, 
 their arrogance contributed to inflame it, and in the end raised up 
 against them a combination which gradually effected their ruin 
 The dissolution of the confederacy however turned greatly to the 
 advantage of some of its parts. The cities of Hamburgh and Lubec, 
 in particular, gained in opulence what they had lost in power. 
 Finding themselves no longer at the head of an ambitious league, 
 
392 Sclioraherg on the 
 
 Hanse Towns had never published any code of maritime 
 law, but were entirely governed by those of Wisbuy and 
 Oleron. At a general meeting at Lubec, in the year 1614, 
 it was agreed to extract from them whatever should be 
 thought most useful, to adopt such of the Rhodian laws 
 as were extant, and, with the addition of certain local 
 usages, to form the whole into a systematic arrangement 
 under 15 titles, which should comprise a penalty for every 
 oflFence, and an equitable rule of decision for eveiy 
 dispute incident to the Baltic trader.* 
 
 66 Having 
 
 which had enabled them to exercise a kiud of commercial despotism 
 over their neighbours, they adopted milder maxims of trade, and 
 contenting themselves with a peaceful interchange of commodities, 
 preserved their liberties and political consequence. Davenant has 
 drawn a very splendid picture of the state of Hamburgh at the close 
 of the last century, and ranks her as the third commercial city in 
 Europe, London and Amsterdam being, as he says, the only ports 
 that could claim pre-eminence. See his Discourses on the Public 
 Revenue and Trade of England, Part II. An accurate account of the 
 Hanseatics would make an interesting part of the Commercial His- 
 tory, formerly mentioned as a great desideratum. The writers who 
 treat expressly of them are, Angelius a Werdenhagen, in a latin work, 
 De Rebus 2)ublicis Hanseaticis, 3 vol. 12°. and Knipschildius, Tractatiis 
 Hist-politico-Juridicus, de Juribus Civitatum Imperialium. Lib. i. 
 cap. 4, 
 
 Many important facts also may be gathered from Lambecius 
 Origines Hamhurgenses, from the northern historians, from Guicci- 
 ardini's History of the Low Countries, where their principal comptoir 
 was established, and fi-om Anderson's History of Commerce. 
 
 * What has been advanced of the strong resemblance between 
 the Oleron, Wisbuy and Hauseatic Codes, will be confirmed by refer- 
 ring to the following articles in each, which contain indisputable 
 proofs of imitation. 
 
 Oleron. 
 
 
 Wisbuy. 
 
 Hanse. 
 
 Art. 1,2 
 
 Art 
 
 13, 14, 15 - 
 
 Tit. 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 
 - 19 
 
 
 14 - Art, 2 
 
 8, 9, 10 
 
 
 - 12, 20, 21, 38 
 
 
 8, 9, 10, 
 
 14 - 
 
 
 - 26. 50. 67. 70 
 
 
 - 
 
 18 - 
 
 
 - 31 - 
 
 
 . 
 
 19 
 
 
 - 32 - 
 
 
 4 - Art. 21 
 
Laws of Rhodes. 393 
 
 Having thus briefly pointed out the origin and nature 
 of tliose several maritime eodes, in wliieh any traces of 
 the Rhodian laws can be discovered, I shall only further 
 observe, it is no small proof of their superior excellence, 
 that being transplanted out of their native soil, in Greece, 
 they have flourished in veiy opposite climates and situa- 
 tions, and that though conveyed, as we have seen, in a 
 mutilated condition, from one extremity of Europe to the 
 other, yet amidst all the revolutions in government and 
 trade, their authority has been confirmed, and their equity 
 acknowledged in every country which has at any time 
 been the seat of naval, or commercial empire. 
 67 
 
 Besides these more striking instances, others might be selected 
 which have a slighter, though a sufHcient resemblance, to justify the 
 supposition, that they were copied from each other ; though upon 
 the same principle, as we have shewn, they may all three be referred 
 back to the Comolato del Mare, and from thence to the one general 
 source of maritime justice, The Ancient Laws of Rhodes. Compare 
 in particular. Titles 8 and 9, Jiir. Hanseatic, edit. Kuricke, with the 
 Rhodian Lam, De Jactu. 
 
 THE END. 
 
DISSERTATION 
 
 ON THE 
 
 POOR LAWS 
 
 BY A 
 
 WELL-WISHER TO MANKIND. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR C. DiLLV IN THE POUJ-TRV, 
 
 M.DCC.LXXXVI, 
 
I 
 
A 
 
 DISSERTATION 
 
 ON THE 
 
 POOR LAWS. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 TO a mau of common sensibility nothing can be more 
 distressing, than to hear the complaints of wretch- 
 edness, which he hath no povver to redress, and to be 
 daily conversant with misery, which he can neither fly 
 from, nor relieve. \ This at present is the situation of the 
 clergy, who, in virme of their office, are obliged to visit 
 the habitations of the poor. Here they see helpless in- 
 fancy and decrepit age, the widow and the orphan, some 
 requiring food, and others physic ; all in such numbers, 
 that no private fortune can supply their wants. Such 
 scenes are more distressing, when, as it sometimes hap- 
 pens, the suffering objects have been distinguished for 
 industry, honesty, and sobriety. The laws indeed have 
 made provision for their relief, and the contributions are 
 more than liberal which arc collected for their support ; 
 but then, the laws being inadequate to the purposes for 
 which they were designed, and the money collected being 
 universally misapplied, the provision, which was originally 
 3 made 
 
398 Townsend on the 
 
 made for industry in distress, does little more than give 
 encouragement to idleness and vice. The laws themselves 
 appear beautiful on paper^ and will be the admiration of 
 succeeding ages, when, in the revolution of empires, the 
 whole fabric of our government shall be dissolved, and our 
 nation, as a separate kingdom, shall exist no more. These 
 laws, so beautiful in theory, promote the evils they mean 
 to remedy, and aggravate the distress they were intended 
 to relieve. Till the reign of Q. Elizabeth they were un- 
 known in England ; and to the present moment, they have 
 never been adopted by any other kingdom upon earth. 
 It has been most unfortunate for us, that two of the 
 ' greatest blessings have been productive of the greatest 
 , evils. The revolution gave birth to that enormous load of 
 debt, under which this nation groans ; and to the refor- 
 , mation Ave are indebted for the laws which multiply the 
 poor. 
 
 At the dissolution of the monasteries, the lazy and the 
 indigent, who were deprived of their accustomed food, 
 became clamorous, and, having long since forgot to work, 
 were not only ready to join in every scheme for the dis- 
 turbance of the state, but, as vagrants, by their numbers, 
 by their impostures, and by their thefts, they rendered 
 themselves a public and most intolerable nuisance. To 
 stop their mouths, and to make them employ their hands 
 in honest labour, was the intention of that day. But at 
 the same time the laws took under their protection some 
 objects of distress, who for near two hundred years, from • 
 a noble kind of pride, refused the proffered aid, or received 
 it with reluctance ; and who at the present moment would 
 be more effectually relieved, if no other laws existed but 
 the first great laws of human nature, filial affection, and 
 the general benevolence of mankind. The world it must 
 be confessed, is wicked enough : yet amidst all their 
 wickedness men seldom want compassion, unless the cir- 
 . jcumstances in which they find themselves are peculiarly 
 4 distressing. 
 
Poor Laws. 399 
 
 distressing. Should we " iu the straitness of a siege 
 bchokl men eating the nesh of their sons and of their 
 daughters; shoukl we see among them a man tender and 
 dcHcate, whose eye should be evil towards his brother and 
 towaids the wife of his bosom, and towards the remnant 
 of his children, so that he should not give to any of them 
 of the flesh of his children whom he should eat ;" * we 
 must not from such instances conclude that all men, or 
 even most men, are destitute of mercy and compassion, 
 or that man in general can be kind and beneficent only by 
 compulsion. No doubt in every district will be found 
 some, who are strangers to the finer feelings of the human 
 heart ; but at the same time in every district will be found 
 some, who are endued with generosity of soul ; and others, 
 who under the influence of piety will rejoice to relieve the 
 wants and distresses of their fellow creatures. In every 
 place some will be distinguished for benevolence, others 
 for brutality ; but in general man is what his situation 
 makes him. Is he happy himself in the enjoyment of 
 ease and affluence ? In such circumstances " he will be 
 eyes to the blind and feet to the lame; he will be a father 
 to the poor ; the blessing of those that are ready to perish 
 will come upon this man : he will cause the widow's heart 
 to leap for joy.^'f Let the same man be straitened in his 
 circumstances, let him be burthened with taxes, let him 
 be harassed by the clamours and distracted by the inces- 
 sant demands of the most improvident and lazy of the 
 surrounding poor ; and he will have little inclination to 
 seek for objects of distress, or to visit the sequestered 
 cottage of the silent sufferer. It is generally found, that 
 modest worth stands at a distance, or draws nigh with 
 faltering tongue and broken accents to tell an artless tale; 
 whilst the most worthless are the most unreasonable in 
 f) their 
 
 * Deut. xxviii. 53. 
 ''r Job. xxix. 
 
400 Townsend on the 
 
 their expectations^ and the most importunate in their soli- 
 citation for relief. If the latter, from any imperfection of 
 our laws, get ahundantly too much, the former must of 
 necessity obtain too little. If, agreeable to the general 
 practice of the labouring poor, a man, previous to his 
 marriage, or whilst his family is small, has made no pro- 
 vision for his future wants; if all, to whom he might 
 naturally look for aid, are in the same circumstances with 
 himself; and if the charity of those among his neigh- 
 bours, who are distinguished for benevolence, nay, of all 
 who have the common feelings of humanity, is exhausted ; 
 if they who are most willing are least able to relieve him; 
 we must expect to see distress and poverty even among 
 
 ' those who are worthy of compassion. This at present is 
 the case in England. There never was greater distress 
 among the poor : there never was more money collected 
 for their rehef. But what is most perplexing is, that 
 poverty and wretchedness have increased in exact propor- 
 tion to the efforts which have been made for the comfort- 
 able subsistence of the poor; and that wherever most is 
 expended for their support, there objects of distress are 
 most abundant ; whilst in those countries or provincial 
 districts, where the least provision has been made for their 
 supply, we hear the fewest groans. Among the former 
 we see drunkenness and idleness cloathed in rags ; among 
 the latter we hear the chearful songs of industry and 
 
 I virtue. 
 
 If laws alone could make a nation happy, ours would 
 be the happiest nation upon earth : idleness and vice could 
 not exist ; poverty would be unknown ; we should be like 
 a prosperous hive of bees; all would have enough and 
 none too much. The reverse of this we find to be the 
 case : poverty and vice prevail, and the most vicious have 
 access to the common stock. If a man has squandered 
 the inheritance of his fatuers ; if by his improvidence, by 
 his prodigality, by his drunkenness and vices, he has dis- 
 6 sipated 
 
Poor Laws. 401 
 
 sipatcd all his substance ; if by liis debaucheries he has 
 ruiued his constitution, and reduced himself to such a 
 deplorable condition that he hath neither inclination nor 
 ability to work ; yet must he be maintained by the sweat 
 and labour of the sober and of the industrious farmer, 
 and eat the bread which should be given only to virtue in 
 distress. If in all cases, this bread, so ill bestowed, were 
 superabimdant ; if the industrious farmer were himself in 
 ease and affluence : the grievance would yet be tolerable. 
 But in this day it often happens that the industrious 
 farmer is opprest with poverty. He rises early, and it is 
 late before he can retire to his rest ; he works hard and 
 fares hard ; yet with all his labour and his care he can 
 scarce provide subsistence for his numerous family. He 
 would feed them better, but the prodigal must first be 
 fed. He would purchase warmer cloathing for them, but 
 the children of the prostitute v[i\xs,t first be cloathed. The 
 little which remains after the profligate have been cloathed 
 and fed, is all that he can give to those, who in nature 
 have the first claims upon a father. If this evil could be 
 stemmed, whilst the present laws subsist, he might yet 
 have hope ; but when he considers, that all the efforts, 
 which have been made in his own parish or in others, have 
 been vain, and that the evil is constantly increasing, he is 
 driven to despa:ir of help, and fears that he shall be himself 
 reduced to work for daily hire. It will be evident that 
 his fears are not altogether groundless, if we consider, that 
 even in parishes, where no manufactures have been estab- 
 lished, the poor rates have been doubling, some every 
 fourteen years, and others nearly every seven years ; 
 whilst in some districts, where the manufactures are car- 
 ried on to a considcral)le extent, the poor rates are more 
 than ten shillings in the pound upon the improved rents. 
 That the distress does not arise from the high price of 
 com, will be clear, if we consider, what may perhaps here- 
 after be more fully stated, that ah hough for these two 
 7 hundred 
 
402 Toivnsend 07i the 
 
 hundred years the price of wheat has fluctuated between 
 wide extremes^ yet upon comparing the average prices 
 within that period, the ancients did not find a cheaper 
 market than the moderns. If we take the average of the 
 sixty years which terminated at the commencement of the 
 present century, we shall find the price of wheat to have 
 been six shillings and four pence halfpenny per bushel, 
 whereas in the subsequent sixty years it was only five shil- 
 lings ; and for the last twenty years, ending with the year 
 1782, not more than six shillings and sixpence : yet during 
 that long period in which provisions were the cheapest, 
 the poor rates were continually advancing. That the 
 distress does not arise from the high price of soap, leather, 
 candles, salt, and other small articles needful in a family, 
 will appear not only from the superior advance in the price 
 of labour (in the proportion of six to four within a cen- 
 tury) ,* but from hence, that where the price of labour is 
 the liigliest and provisions are the cheapest, there the poor 
 rates have been the most exorbitant. In Scotland they 
 have no legal provision for the poor, yet labour is cheaper 
 and corn is dearer than they are in England. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 UNDER the best administration, the laws relating to 
 the poor give occasion to much injustice; under 
 the worst, they are too often the instruments of oppression 
 and revenge. If the intentions of the magistrate are 
 good, his compassion may be ill directed ; but if at any 
 time his judgment is blinded by his passions, in the keen- 
 ness of his resentment for some real or imaginary affront, 
 he is apt to forget the purpose for which the administra- 
 8 tion 
 
 * Sir William Petty, P. Arithmetic. 
 
Poor Laics. 403 
 
 tion of the poor laws was committed to his care, and to 
 abase his power, by granting, when the property of his 
 own tenants is not to be affected by it, the most ample 
 relief to the most unworthy objects. This indeed would 
 seldom happen, if none but gentlemen of a liberal educa- 
 tion were put into the commission of the peace; or if, 
 agreeable to the original constitution of our government, 
 this office were elective. But should the wisest and the 
 best of men be chosen, yet we could not expect that such 
 would every where be found willing to devote their time 
 and whole attention to the administration of those laws, 
 whose natural tendency is to increase the number of the 
 poor, and greatly to extend the bounds of human misery. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 ALL who are conversant with Tacitus have admired 
 the extent of his knowledge, the shrewdness of his 
 remarks, and the nervous strength of his expression. In 
 a speech which he puts into the mouth of the Roman 
 emperor Tiberius, we find this passage : " Languescet in- 
 dustria, intendetur socordia, si nullus ex se metus aut 
 spes, & securi omnes aliena subsidia expectabunt, sibi 
 ignavi, nobis graves.^'* Hope and fear are the springs of 
 industry. It is the part of a good politician to strengthen 
 these : but our laws weaken the one and destroy the other. 
 For what encouragement have the poor to be industrious 
 and frugal, when they know for certain, that should they 
 increase their store it will be devoured by the drones ? f 
 or what cause have they to fear, when they are assured, 
 that if by their indolence and extravagance, by their 
 drunkenness and vices, they should be reduced to want, 
 9 they 
 
 • I., ii. p. 73, 74, edit. Els. t Hesiod, 302. 
 
404 Townsend on the 
 
 they shall be abundantly supplied, not only with food and 
 raiment, but with their accustomed luxuries, at the ex- 
 peuce of others. The poor know little of the motives 
 which stimulate the higher ranks to action — pride, honour, 
 and ambition. In general it is only hunger which can 
 spur and goad tbem on to labour; yet our laws have said, 
 they shall never hunger. The laws, it must be confessed, 
 have likewise said that they shall be compelled to work. 
 But then legal constraint is attended with too much 
 trouble, violence, and noise ; creates ill will, and never can 
 be productive of good and acceptable service : whereas 
 hunger is not only a peaceable, silent, unremitted pres- 
 sure, but, as the most natural motive to industry and 
 labour, it calls forth the most powerful exertions ; and, 
 when satisfied by the free bouuty of another, lays a lasting 
 and sure foundation for good will and gratitude. The 
 slave must be compelled to work ; but the freeman should 
 be left to his own judgment and discretion ; should be 
 protected in the full enjoyment of his own, be it much or 
 little ; and punished Mhen he invades his neighbour's pro- 
 perty. By recurring to those base motives which influence 
 the slave, and trusting only to compulsion, all the benefits 
 of free service, both to the servant and to the master, 
 must be lost. 
 
 It is universally found, that where bread can be ob- 
 tained without care or labour, it leads through idleness 
 and vice to poverty. Before they discovered the gold and 
 silver mines of Peru and Mexico, the Spaniards were dis- 
 tinguished among the nations of Europe for their industry 
 and arts, for their manufactures and their commerce. But 
 what ^re they now ? a lazy, poor, and miserable people. 
 They have been ruined by their imaginary wealth. The 
 declension of the Spaniards has been attributed to the 
 expulsion of the Moriscoes ; and the blow was certainly 
 severe, but not altogether adequate to the effect. The 
 number expelled was more than six hundred thousand, 
 10 besides 
 
Poor Laics. 405 
 
 besides those who died by the s-n-ord, by famine, or by the 
 senteuccs of the Inquisition. The principal charge brought 
 against them was their obstinate adherence to the Maho- 
 metan religion: the pohtical reason assigned for their expul- 
 sion was, that by their industry, temperance, and frugality, 
 they were able to work cheaper than the Spaniards, whilst 
 by their sobriety they contributed little to the public 
 revenue ; but the real cause of this impolitic measure was 
 an order from the Pope, that these infidels should be con- 
 verted at the expence of the Spanish clergy. The Arch- 
 bishop of Valentia was to pay three thousand six hundred 
 ducats yearly, and the other bishops in proportion to their 
 incomes, for the support of an Arabic mission.* Thus 
 the temperate, the frugal, and the industrious, being 
 banished from the kingdom, whilst the indolent found a 
 constant influx of gold and silver from abroad, the whole 
 nation sunk by degrees into the present state of torpid 
 inactivity. It is more than one hundred and seventy 
 years since this event, and yet in all that time Spain has 
 not recovered her population. The quantity of gold acd 
 silver imported annually into Cadiz and Lisbon has been 
 reckoned six millions sterling.f Here we find a sufficient 
 cause for the decay of their industry and arts. 
 
 Our poor began only to appear in numbers after the 
 dissohition of the monasteries. Then it was they first 
 attracted notice ; but they had existed long before, always 
 most abundant in the vicinity of the religious houses. At 
 the present moment we are told, that in Naples six thou- 
 sand Lazaroni are daily fed by the monastic orders, under 
 the specious name of charity, not upon a sudden emer- 
 gency, but statedly, and as the only means of their sub-* 
 sistencc. As a peace o9"ering this may be politic and wise, 
 11 well 
 
 * Geddes, Account of the Moriscoes. 
 t Smith, Wealth of Nations 
 
40G Townsend on the 
 
 Avell calculated to conciliate the good opinion of the un- 
 thinking mind, and to command the admiration of the 
 vulgar; but at the same time it is inconsistent with the 
 most established principles of political oeconomy : for as 
 industry and frugality are the only foundation of national 
 prosperity ; so temperance and labour are the only source 
 of happiness and wealth to individuals. A learned Jesuit, 
 who has lately written and is now publishing an elegant 
 defence of that society, assumes great merit from this 
 circumstance, that instead of extorting for themselves a 
 scanty pittance from the vitals of the people, such was the 
 benevolence of these holy fathers, and such the abundant 
 wealth of their establishments, that they relieved all in 
 the surrounding villages, who made application to their 
 charity. Their intentions, no doubt, were good, but their 
 bounty must have been misapplied. He, who statedly 
 employs the poor in useful labour, is their only friend ; 
 he, who only feeds them, is their greatest enemy. Their 
 hopes and fears should centre in themselves : they should 
 i have no hope but from their own sobriety, diligence, 
 \ fidelity, and from the well-earnt friendship of their em- 
 ployers ; and then their only fear would be the fear of 
 forfeiting by their misconduct, that favour and protection 
 which would be their principal resource in times of sick- 
 / uess and distress. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 A WISE legislator will endeavour to confirm the 
 natural bonds of society, and give vigour to the first 
 principles on which political union must depend. He will 
 preserve the distinctions which exist in nature independent 
 of his authority, and the various relations which, antece- 
 dent to his creation, connected man to man. He will 
 study the natural obligations which arise from these rela- 
 12 tions, 
 
Poor Laws. 407 
 
 tious, that he may strengthen these connections by the 
 sanction of his laws. Among the first of these relations 
 stands the relation of a servant to his master; and the 
 first duty required from a servant is prompt, chearful, and 
 hearty obedience. On this condition alone can the con- 
 nection be preserved, as without due subordination all 
 government must end. But our laws tend to wcakenA 
 these bonds, and to destroy this subordination, by com- 
 pelling the occupier of laud to find employment for the 
 poor. "\A'ith this provision, what have they to fear when 
 discharged from service ? If one will not employ them, 
 another must. If the work be slighted or neglected, if it 
 be deserted in the pressing hour, or spoiled in the execu- 
 tion, it is to little purpose for the master to complain; he 
 can have no redress. Does he seek relief from the civil 
 power ? The unequal contest is begun, and the remedy 
 will be worse than the disease. Both the servant and the 
 master know when the work is ill performed, or when the 
 servant has not earnt his wages, even when legal proof is 
 wanting. If then the master has no other remedy, he is 
 at the mercy of his servants ; he must connive at their 
 neglects, and bear their impertinence with patience. 
 There is no alternative but this, or to maintain them with- 
 out work. The appeal in this case to a magistrate is from 
 a superior tribunal to the inferior, from the stronger to 
 the weaker. Where the natural sanctions are sufficient to 
 secure obedience without disturbing the peace and good 
 order of society ; there a wise legislator will be careful 
 not to interfere, lest, by weakening these, without being 
 aljlc to substitute better in their place, he should stop the 
 course of justice and protect the guilty. Tlie wisest legis- 
 lator will never be able to devise a more equitable, a more 
 effectual, or in any respect a more suitable punishment, 
 than hunger is for a disobedient servant, ^unger will " 
 tame the fiercest animals, it will teach decency and civility, 
 obedience and subjection, to the most brutish, the most 
 13 obstinate. 
 
408 Townse/id on the 
 
 obstinate, and the most perverse?? A good servant need 
 not be afraid of wanting work.^ If one master should 
 dismiss him from his service, others will be happy to 
 receive [him. But should a man be notorious for a thief, 
 and for spoiling or neglecting work ; should he be either 
 so false, so vicious, or so ill-tempered, that no master 
 would be willing to employ him ; it would certainly be just 
 that he should suffer hunger till he had learnt to reform 
 his conduct. There are perhaps few parishes which can- 
 not produce some of this untoward disposition. Indeed 
 it is the general complaint of farmers, that their men do 
 not work so well as they used to do, when it was reproach- 
 ful to be relieved by the parish. 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 IT may seem strange in a country Avhere agriculture, 
 arts, manufactures, and commerce, are most flourish- 
 ing, all of which have a mutual and corresponding in- 
 fluence on each other, to say that the laws discourage 
 manufactures ; yet this may be said of the poor laws in 
 England. By our present system we prevent their intro- 
 duction, check their progress, and hasten their departure. 
 If the rental of a parish were not bound to provide for 
 the increasing poor, every gentleman of landed property 
 would be solicitous to have manufacturers established on 
 his estates, in order to consume the produce of his lands. 
 By multiplying the consumers he would enhance the value 
 of all the various products of the soil : he would enjoy 
 the monopoly of hay and pasture, and share with all his 
 neighbours to a given distance in the sale of corn. But 
 when he considers that manufactures fluctuate, that the 
 benefit which he is to derive from them will not bear 
 proportion to the burthen which he must entail upon his 
 property ; he will rather wish to keep them at a conve- 
 14 nient 
 
409 
 
 nient distance. The principal benefit he can expect is, 
 that the vahie of his pastures should be doubled : but even 
 ■whilst the manufacture prospers, the demands of the poor, 
 both upon his arable and pasture, will be more than 
 doubled, and \Yhen it fails, the ])oor's rate will swallow up 
 the whole. The surrounding parishes will reap the chief 
 advantage : he will have the happiness to see them flourish ; 
 but the load and burthen of the poor will remain upon 
 his own estkte. " Sic vos non vobis fertis aratra, boves."* 
 In every parish, as the law now stands, they who have 
 legal settlements, have the monopoly of labour, because 
 the labouring poor are confined to their respective parishes. 
 This provision is perfectly consistent with the whole system 
 of our poor laws, and was designed not only to prevent 
 the evils which naturally arise from vagrancy, and which 
 might be equally prevented by more wholesome laws ; but 
 to protect each parish from intruders, who might become 
 chargeable either for themselves or for their children. 
 This provision is productive of considerable evils, which the 
 legislature has never yet been able to remove : for not only 
 have the industrious poor been restrained from seeking 
 employment where they would otherwise have been received 
 with joy, and confined to their own parishes, in which they 
 were regarded with an evil eye ; but for want of competition 
 the price of labour to the manufacturer has been much ^ 
 
 enhanced. "With a certificate, indeed, the poor are per- v Oy' 
 
 mitted to reside in any parish where work is to be had, \j a 
 
 but then a certificate is not easily obtained. Now it is \. r-^ ";>, Y 
 evident that by raising the price of labour you must NTNj/ \j^' 
 directly check the progress of the manufactures ; and by • \^(p 
 
 experience it is found, that the same effect arises indirectly ^ 9\ 
 to a more considerable extent ; for in proportion as you / <iV^^ 
 advance the wages of the poor, you diminish the quantity ^ ^ 
 of their work. All manufacturers complain of this, and 
 15 universally 
 
 * Virgil's Complaint. 
 
410 Toiunsend on the 
 
 universally agree^ that the poor are seldom diligent, except 
 when labour is cheap, and corn is dear. It must be con- 
 fessed that too many of them have some little resemblance 
 to the animal described by travellers under the name of 
 Nimble Peter ; a creature so inactive, that, when he has 
 cleared one tree, he will be reduced to skin and bones 
 before he climbs another, and so slow in all his motions, 
 that even stripes will not make him mend his pace." * 
 Drunkenness is the common vice of poverty ; not perhaps 
 of poverty as such, but of the uncultivated mind ; for it 
 is the characteristic of unpolished nations to be fond of 
 intoxicating liquors. Whatever be the cause, it is noto- 
 rious, that with the common people the appetite for strong 
 drink is their prevailing appetite. When therefore, by 
 the advance in wages, they obtain more than is sufficient 
 for their bare subsistence, they spend the surplus at the 
 ale-house, and neglect their business. Is a man drunk 
 one day? He will have little inclination to work the 
 next. Thus for every drunken fit two days are lost. By 
 frequent repetition the habit is confirmed, and, by reduc- 
 ing the number of working days, their value is enhanced. 
 In proportion to this loss, the price of labour Nvill 
 be raised. As long as men have nothing to fear, either 
 for themselves or for theii' families, this practice will pre- 
 vail. Where the price of labour is advanced, the indus- 
 trious and the sober will by degrees acquire a taste for 
 luxury. They will not be contented with bare subsistence, 
 with a sufficient quantity of coarse yet wholesome food, 
 with warm but home-spun garments, and with healthy 
 but unfurnished cottages; they will contract habits of 
 refinement, which, when suflered to promote their indus- 
 try, will be useful both to themselves and to the pubUc ; 
 but which, in all cases, will have a tendency to keep up 
 16 the 
 
 * Dampier, Vol. ii. Part ii. p. 61. 
 
Poor Laius. 411 
 
 the price of labour, and to advance the price of all those 
 articles which they consume. Even they who do not 
 work must eat, and, by increasing the demand for corn, 
 will enhance its value, and consequently the price of 
 labour. In this case action and rc-action are equal, but 
 not opposite. The hiijh price of labour raises the value 
 of provisions, and the high price of provisions enhances 
 the value of labour. They are both increased by the 
 present system of our poor laws, and have both a ten- 
 dency to check the progress of manufactures, and to 
 hasten their departure. The most specious argument 
 produced against granting a free trade to the sister king- 
 dom was, that, having labour cheap, and not being bur- 
 thened M'ith a poor's rate, she would be able to undersell 
 us in the market, and thereby ruin our manufactures. 
 Should England repeal the present laws, and make a 
 better provision for the frugal, the sober, and the indus- 
 trious, among the poor, Ireland could no longer boast of 
 this advantage. 
 
 Manufactures always seek the cheapest countries. As 
 they are leaving the southern counties and travelling to 
 the north, so in time will they leave the north, and, to a 
 considerable degree, quit the kingdom, unless some wise 
 regulations are established for the better relief and 
 government of the labouring poor. 
 
 The poor laws to a certain degree discourage improve- 
 ments in agriculture ; for it is certain, that more waste 
 land would be taken into tillage, if gentlemen were not 
 alarmed by the increasing burthen of the poor. Against 
 the claims of the church, provision has been made by an 
 exemption from tythes for seven years; but the demands 
 of the poor admit of no exemption. Monied men have 
 greatly the advantage over the owners and occupiers of 
 land, as being free from those heavy taxes, which the 
 latter pay to the king, to the church, and to the poor. 
 When the poor's rate amounts to ten shillings, or even to 
 17 four 
 
412 Townsend on the 
 
 four shillings in the pound, who will be at the expence of 
 clearing, fencing, breaking up, manuring, cropping, the 
 waste and barren parts of an estate ? Certainly no gentle- 
 man can do it with a view to profit. In Scotland the 
 suras are immense which have been expended for this 
 purpose ; but in England a man of property would choose 
 rather to take the public for his debtor^ than to be him- 
 self a debtor to the poor ; more especially as it is not 
 possible for him to conjecture what will be the extent of 
 this unlimited rent-charge upon his estate. Were it not 
 for this incumbrance agriculture would certainly be pushed 
 much farther than it has ever been, and many thousand 
 acres of the poorer commons, heaths, and moors, would 
 be inclosed and cultivated. The best writers have com- 
 plained, that by a tax, similar in its operation to our poor's 
 tax, agriculture in France has been depressed, the assess- 
 ment being made in proportion to their stock in trade. 
 The conduct of the French in this respect is not more 
 absurd than ours. How widely different has been the 
 operation of our land-tax ! It has been a spur to indus- 
 try, because from the beginning the proportion has been 
 never changed. To be consistent in principle, the legis- 
 lature should either limit the sum to be collected for the 
 poor, or if agriculture is to be effectually checked, they 
 should equalize the land-tax. Had this tax followed our 
 improvements with a tight grasp, and with a watchful eye, 
 like the church, and like the poor, England would not at 
 this day discover the smiling aspect which all foreigners 
 admire, when they every where behold our vallies cloathed 
 with flocks, and our hills with corn. A wise politician 
 will study to remove every obstacle which can retard the 
 progress of improvement : but such is the system of our 
 laws, that the greater the distress among the poor, the 
 less will be the inducement to cultivate our more stubborn 
 and unprofitable lands. 
 
 18 SECT. VI. 
 
Poor Lcnus. 413 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 A DISTINGUISHED writer of the present century has ^.J^' 
 clearly stated some advantages which the commu- 
 nity derives from the introduction of luxury, and would 
 from thence coucludc, that private vices are public benefits. 
 His conclusion we cannot grant him ; nor can we allow 
 the premises, if by luxury be meant any thing inconsis- 
 tent with morality. If in our idea of luxury we include 
 only the comforts and conveniences of life, then a taste 
 for luxury must be productive of industry and virtue, must 
 increase the happiness of individuals, and promote the 
 welfare of the state. If men were contented to go naked, 
 to lie under hedges, and, according to the fiction of 
 the poets, to feed on acorns, there would be none to labour 
 till the acorns w^ere consumed. In general the industry 
 of man bears proportion to his real or imaginary wants.- 
 Could the landlord be contented with the produce of his 
 native soil, he would cultivate only what would be suffi- 
 cient for the consumption of his family ; or could the 
 labourer be contented with what was barely sufficient to 
 satisfy his hunger, when he no longer felt the cravings of 
 his appetite, he would cease to labour. But as their wants 
 are multiplied, the master is willing to employ more work- 
 men, and the workman himself is reconciled to constant 
 labour. There was a time when the inhabitants of Europe 
 had neither rum, brandy, spices, tea, sugar, nor tobacco : 
 they now covet these, and these new desires have pi'oduccd 
 new effijrts to gratify them. There was a time when they 
 had neither linen, shoes, nor stockings ; they now feel the 
 want of these, and receive them as the rewards of industry. 
 But supposing that, with these new desires, they could 
 obtain not only linen, shoes, and stockings, but spices, 
 spirits, tea, sugar, and tobacco, without care or labour, 
 what encouragement would they have to industry ? By 
 19 the 
 
414 Townsend on the 
 
 the present system of our poor laws, at least as they are 
 now administered, the benefits which arise from luxury, 
 in promoting industry among the labouring poor, are lost ; 
 and the most improvident may rest assured, that he shall, 
 at all events, share these superfluities with the most active 
 and laborious ; and that in times of scarcity his wants 
 shall be the first supplied, and his comfort the first con- 
 sulted. To be consistent, the legislature should make the 
 same provision for farmers, manufacturers, and merchants; 
 that in case, by their profusion or neglect of business, 
 they should be insolvent, their debts might all be paid, 
 and themselves, together with their families, might be 
 supported in the style and manner to which they had been 
 accustomed ; all out of the revenues of the state, or by 
 special rates to be collected ; not by voluntary donations, 
 but by compulsive payments, and not merely from the 
 opulent, but from those who had themselves been strug- 
 gling with poverty and want : nay, to be consistent, they 
 should pass a law that no man should reap the fruit of 
 his indiscretion ; or, to be perfectly consistent, they 
 should repeal all penal statutes. 
 
 Hesiod, in his Georgics, or didactic poem on agricul- 
 ture, describes with beautiful simplicity the excellent 
 effects of emulation, representing two kinds of strife and 
 contention among men ; the one productive of violence, 
 the other of peace, harmony, and plenty. The one is 
 intent only upon plunder, whilst the other seeing wealth 
 as attendant upon industry, is induced to labour, in order 
 to obtain those comforts which the diligent only can 
 command. 
 
 Etr (lepov yap ris re i^cov epyoio ^ari^cov 
 TlXovcTiov, OS (TTTevSei fiev apo/xp-fvai r)8e (pvrevecv, 
 OiKov rev deadaC ^rjXoi 8e re yeirova yeiroov 
 Ety a0ei'oi' o-rrevdouT' ayaOr) 8'epis t]8( ^poroia-i. 
 
 E Kal H/i. 21. 
 
 This principle has been perverted by our laws ; and 
 20 now 
 
Poor Laws. 415 
 
 now the person who excites the envy and emulation of the 
 lazy and improvident, is not the man who hy his activity 
 is acquiring affluence, but the indolent poor in every 
 parish, who hy his impudence and by his importunity has 
 obtained the most ample and the most unmerited relief. 
 This our poet has described as the natural emulation 
 among beggars. Kau 7rTco)^o<; ittoj'x^co cpdoveec. 
 
 SECT. VII. 
 
 IT seems to be a law of nature, that the poor should be 
 to a certain degree improvident, that there may 
 always be some to fulfil the most servile, the most sordid, 
 and the most ignoble offices in the community. The 
 stock of human happiness is thereby much increased, 
 whilst the more delicate are not only relieved from 
 drudgery, and freed from those occasional employments 
 which would make them miserable, but are left at liberty, 
 without interruption, to pursue those callings which are 
 suited to their various dispositions, and most useful to the 
 state. As for the lowest of the poor, by custom they are 
 reconciled to the meanest occupations, to the most labo- 
 rious works, and to the most hazardous pursuits; whilst 
 the hope of their reward makes them chearful in the 
 midst of all their dangers and their toils. The fleets and 
 armies of a state would soon be in want of soldiers and 
 of sailors, if sobriety and diligence universally prevailed : 
 for what is it but distress and poverty which can prevail 
 upon the lower classes of the people to encounter all the 
 horrors which await them on the tempestuous ocean, or 
 in the field of battle ? ^ ^len who arc easy in their cir- 
 cumstances are not among the foremost to engage in a 
 seafaring or military life. There must be a degree of 
 pressure, and that which is attended with the least vio- 
 lence will be the Ijcst. When hunger is either felt or 
 21 feared. 
 
416 Townsend on the 
 
 feared, the desire of obtaining bread will quietly dispose 
 the mind, to undergo the greatest hardships, and will 
 sweeten the severest labours. The peasant with a sickle 
 in his hand is happier than the prince upon his throne. 
 
 Now a fixed, a certain, and a constant provision for 
 the poor' weakens this spring; it increases their improvi- 
 dence, but does not promote their chearful compliance 
 with those demands, which the community is obliged to 
 make on the most indigent of its members; it tends to 
 destroy the harmony and beauty, the symmetry and order 
 of that system, which God and nature have established in 
 the world. The improvident among the poor have been 
 advancing in their claims : they now begin to understand 
 that they have a legal right to all. When this, which 
 hitherto has been only felt, shall be clearly seen, and 
 universally acknowledged, nothing will remain but to cast 
 lots, who among the active and the virtuous shall perform 
 the vilest offices for the indolent and vicious. 
 
 SECT. YIII. 
 
 OUR poor laws are not only unjust, oppressive, and 
 impolitic, nor are they merely by accident inade- 
 quate to the purpose for which they were designed ; but 
 they proceed upon principles which border on absurdity, 
 as professing to accomplish that which, in the very nature 
 and constitution of the world, is impracticable. They say, 
 that in England no man, even though by his indolence, 
 improvidence, prodigality, and vice, he may have brought 
 ■ himself to poverty, shall ever suffer want. In the progress 
 of society, it will be found, that some must want; and 
 then the only question will be this. Who is most worthy 
 to suffer cold and hunger, the prodigal or the provident, 
 the slothful or the diHgent, the virtuous or the vicious? 
 In the South Seas there is an island, which from the first 
 22 discoverer 
 
Poor Laws. 417 
 
 discoverer is called Juan Fernandes. In this sequestered 
 spot, John Fernando placed a colony of goats, consisting 
 of one male, attended by his female. This happy couple 
 finding pasture in abundance, could readily obey the first 
 commandment, to increase and multiply, till in process of 
 time they had replenished their little island.* In ad- 
 vancing to this period they were strangers to misery and 
 want, and seemed to glory in their numbers : but from 
 this unhappy moment they began to suffer hunger ; yet 
 continuing for a time to increase their numbers, had they 
 been endued with reason, they must have apprehended the 
 extremity of famine. In this situation the weakest first 
 gave way, and plenty was again restored. Thus they 
 fluctuated between happiness and misery, and either suf- 
 fered want or rejoiced in abundance, according as their 
 numbers were diminished or increased; never at a stay, 
 yet nearly balancing at all times their quantity of food. 
 This degree of sequipoise was from time to time destroyed, 
 either by epidemical diseases or by the arrival of some 
 vessel in distress. On such occasions their numbers were 
 considerably reduced ; but to compensate for this alarm, 
 and to comfort them for the loss of their companions, the 
 sur^-ivors never failed immediately to meet returning 
 plenty. They were no longer in fear of famine : they 
 ceased to regard each other with an evil eye; all had 
 abundance, all were contented, all were happy. Thus, 
 what might have been considered as misfortunes, proved 
 a source of comfort; and, to them at least, partial evil 
 was universal good. 
 
 When the Spaniards found that the English privateers 
 
 resorted to tliis island for provisions, they resolved on the 
 
 total extirpation of the goats, and for this purpose they 
 
 put on shore a greyhound dug and bitch. f Tl.cse in their 
 
 23 turn 
 
 * Dampier, Voh i. Part ii. p. 83. f Ulloa, B. ii. C. 4. 
 
418 Toivnsend on the 
 
 turn increased and multiplied, in proportion to the quan- 
 tity of food they met with; but in consequence, as the 
 Spaniards had foreseen, the breed of goats diminished. 
 Had they been totally destroyed, the dogs likewise must 
 have perished. But as many of the goats retired to the 
 craggy rocks, where the dogs could never follow them, 
 descending only for short intervals to feed with fear and 
 circumspection in the vallies, few of these, besides the 
 careless and the rash, became a prey ; and none but the 
 most watchful, strong, and active of the dogs could get a 
 sufficiency of food. Thus a new kind of balance was 
 established. The weakest of both species were among the 
 first to pay the debt of nature ; the most active and vigo- 
 rous preserved their lives. It is the quantity of food 
 which regulates the numbers of the human species. In 
 the woods, and in the savage state, there can be few 
 inhabitants ; but of these there will be only a proportion- 
 able few to suffer want. As long as food is plenty they 
 will continue to increase and multiply ; and every man 
 will have ability to support his family, or to relieve his 
 friends, in proportion to his activity and strength. The 
 weak must depend upon the precarious bounty of the 
 strong ; and, sooner or later, the lazy will be left to suffer 
 the uatui-al consequence of their indolence. Should they 
 introduce a community of goods, and at the same time 
 leave every man at liberty to marry, they would at first 
 increase their numbers, but not the sum total of their 
 happiness, till by degrees, all being equally reduced to 
 want and misery, the weakly would be the first to perish. 
 
 To procure a more ample, certain, and regular supply 
 of food, should they cut down their woods and take to 
 breeding cattle, this plenty would be of long continuance ; 
 but in process of time its limits woidd be found. The 
 most active would acquire property, would have numerous 
 flocks and numerous families ; whilst the indolent Avould 
 either starve or become servants to the rich, and the 
 24 communitv 
 
Poor Laws. 419 
 
 commimity wonld continue to enlarge till it had found its 
 natural bounds, and balanced the quantity of food. 
 
 Should tliey proceed to ayrkidture, these bounds 
 would be much extended, and require ages before the 
 straitness would be felt again. In process of time a com- 
 pleat division of labour would take place, and they would 
 have not only husbandmen, but artists, manufacturers, 
 and merchants, monied men and gentlemen of landed 
 property, soldiers and men of letters, with all their ser- 
 va\its, to exchange their various commodities and labours 
 for the produce of the soil. A noble author, in the north 
 of Britain, is of opinion, that " a nation can scarce be 
 too popidous for husbandry, as agriculture has the singu- 
 lar property of producing food in proportion to the num- 
 ber of consumers."* But is it not clear, that when all 
 that is fertile has been cultivated to the highest pitch of 
 industry, the progress must of necessity be stopped, and 
 that when the human species shall have multiplied 
 in proportion to this increase of food, it can proceed no 
 further "'' Indeed, as we have remarked already of the 
 savage state, should they establish a community of goods, 
 their numbers for a time would certainly increase; but 
 the quantity of food not being augmented in proportion, 
 and that which had been sufficient only for a given num- 
 ber being now distributed to the increasing multitude, all 
 would have too little, and the weakly would perish sooner 
 than if he who tilled the soil had been left to reap the 
 undivided fruits of his industry and labour. Nations 
 may for a time increase their numbers beyond the due 
 proportion of their food, but they will in the same 
 proportion destroy the ease and comfort of the affluent, 
 and, without any possible advantage, give universality to 
 that misery and want, which had been only partial. The 
 25 course 
 
 * Sketches on Man, p. 56. 
 
420 Townseiid on the 
 
 course of nature may be easily disturbed, but man will 
 never be able to reverse its laws. 
 
 The earth is no where more fertile than it is in China, 
 nor does any country abound so much in people ; yet the 
 cries of deserted children prove, thai; even they have found 
 limits to their population. Few countries have been more 
 productive than the land of Canaan was -, a land described 
 as flowing with milk and honey, fertile in corn, and rich 
 in pastures : yet even in the land of Canaan they had many 
 poor; and it was said to them, but not in the way of 
 threatening, "the poor shall never cease from among 
 you." * Indeed it was impossible they ever should, be- 
 cause whilst men have appetites and passions, what but 
 distress and poverty can stop the progress of population ? 
 The inhabitants of Europe are said to have doubled their 
 numbers every five hundred years : from which we may 
 infer that their quantity of food has been doubled in these 
 periods. Throughout America, for the same reason, they 
 have been doubled every five-and-twenty years; and in 
 some colonies, in the space of fifteen years. 
 
 If a new and equal division of property were made in 
 England, we cannot doubt that the same inequality which ■ 
 we now observe would soon take place again : the impro- 
 vident, the lazy, and the vicious, would dissipate their 
 substance ; the prudent, the active, and the virtuous, 
 would again increase their wealth. If the legislature were 
 to make this distribution, the evil would not be equal to 
 the injustice of the measure: things would soon return 
 into their proper channel, order and subordination would 
 be again restored, diligence would be encouraged, and the 
 virtuous would be fed. But by estabhshing a permanent 
 community of goods, and neither increasing the quantity 
 of food, nor limiting the number of those who are to share 
 26 it, 
 
 * Deut. XV. 11. 
 
Poor Lai vs. 421 
 
 itj they divert the occasional siirphis of national wealth 
 from the industrious to the lazy, they increase the number 
 of unprofitable citizens, and sow the seeds of misery for 
 the whole community ; increasing the general distress, 
 and causing more to die for want, than if poverty had 
 been left to find its proper channel. 
 
 It is well known that our commons, without stint, 
 starve all our cattle. Here we clearly see the natural 
 eff'ects of that community of goods, which the poor laws 
 would render universal. In the infancy of the Christian 
 church, this experiment was fairly tried ; but even M'hilst 
 the Apostles, blest with a perfect knowledge of the human 
 heart, were yet alive, it was found to be intolerable. We 
 have adopted it in England ; and what has been the con- 
 sequence ? Are poverty and Avretchedness unknown? or 
 rather, are not poverty and wretchedness increasing daily, 
 in exact proportion with our efforts to restrain thcQi ? 
 One of the neatest writers of the English nation, who 
 understood this subject, has well obs^erved, ''the suffer- 
 ings of the poor are less known than their misdeeds : they 
 starve, and freeze, and rot among themselves ; but they 
 beg, and steal, and rob among their betters. There is not 
 a parish in the liberty of Westminster, which doth not 
 raise thousands annually for the poor ; and there is not a 
 street in that liberty, which doth not swarm all day with 
 beggars, and all night with thieves.'^ His expression is 
 nervous, his description animated; but even the simple 
 truth, wlien divested of all its ornaments, must excite 
 astonishment. Tlie effect is striking ; but the cause of 
 this phrenomenon will be evident to those only who can 
 examine it with a fixed attention. 
 
 There is a parish in the West of England which has 
 never wanted poor, and in which, excepting for one short 
 period, the poor have never wanted work; yet their 
 poverty and misery have uniformly advanced constantly, 
 outstripping all efforts which have been made to provide 
 27 for 
 
422 Townsend on the 
 
 for their distress. The farmers at this time pay ten shil- 
 lings in the pound on the improved rents ; yet wretched- 
 ness seems to have taken up its residence in every cottage, 
 and the most miserable are they whose gains have been 
 the greatest. 
 
 SECT. IX. 
 
 ON the subject of population we have had warm 
 disputes, whilst some have lamented that our num- 
 bers are decreasing, and others with confidence have 
 boasted that our population has rapidly advanced; all 
 seeming to be agreed, that the wealth of a country con- 
 sists in the number of its inhabitants. When industry 
 and fiaigality keep pace with population, or rather when 
 population is only the consequence of these, the strength 
 and riches of a nation will bear proportion to the number 
 of its citizens : but when the increase of people is unna- 
 tural and forced, when it arises only from a community of 
 goods, it tends to poverty and weakness. In respect to 
 population, some countries will reach their ne plus ultra 
 sooner, and some later, according as they surmount the 
 obstacles which impede their progress. This period can 
 be retarded by improvements in agriculture, by living 
 harder or by working more, by extensive conquests or by 
 increasing commerce. 
 
 The cultivation of rice in China enabled them to feed 
 some millions of people, more than could have been main- 
 tained by any other grain ; whereas in the highlands of 
 Scotland, where neither rice nor yet wheat will grow, 
 the inhabitants soon became a burthen to the soil. Their 
 chief dependance for supporting the present population is 
 on frugality, and constant, steady, unremitted labour, 
 without any hope of being able to advance their numbers. 
 Oatmeal and water, with a little milk, is their common 
 28 food. 
 
I'ooi' Laws. 423 
 
 food, and to procure this they work as long as they can 
 see. They till the soil ; they wntch their cattle ; and, at 
 their leisure hours, they spin all the linen and the woollen 
 which their families consume. 
 
 The Romans, even when they had lost their domestic 
 industry and habits of occonomy, were able to feed their 
 increasing citizens by tribute from the distant provinces, 
 as the Spaniards do by purchasing provisions with the 
 gold and silver of Peru. The Dutch have no other refuge 
 but in good government, industry, and commerce, for 
 which their situation is most favourable. Their pastures 
 are rich, but not sufficient to maintain half the number of 
 their inhabitants, who are employed and fed by every 
 nation upon earth, but reside in Holland for the conve- 
 nience of the water-carriage, the security of their persons, 
 and the protection of their property. 
 
 AVlien a country is so far advanced in population as to 
 be distressed for food ; and when the forementioncd re- 
 sources have been exhausted, it has then reached its 
 utmost limits ; and in such a case, against increasing want 
 there can be two remedies only which are natural, and 
 one unnatural : for either none must marry, but they who 
 can maintain a family, or else all who are in distress must 
 emigrate. If these natural remedies are rejected, it can 
 remain only for the poor to expose their children the 
 moment they are born, which is the hoirid practice adopted 
 in the richest country upon earth to preserve the commu- 
 nity from famine. With regard to celibacy, we may 
 observe, that where things are left to a course of nature, 
 one passion regulates another, and the stronger appetite 
 restrains the weaker. There is an appetite, which is and 
 should be urgent, but which, if left to operate without 
 restraint, would multiply the human species before pro- 
 vision could be made for their support. Some check, 
 some balance is therefore absolutely needful, and hunger 
 is the proper balance ; hunger, not as directly felt, or 
 29 feared 
 
424 Townsend on the 
 
 feared by tlie individual for himself, but as foreseen and 
 feared for his immediate offspring. Were it not for this 
 the equilibrium would not be preserved so near as it is at 
 present in the world, between the numbers of people and 
 the quantity of food. Various are the circumstances to 
 be observed in different nations, which tend to blunt the 
 shafts of Cupid, or at least to quench the torch of Hymen. 
 In many parts of Europe we see multitudes of both sexes, 
 not from policy, but from superstition and religious pre- 
 judice, bound by irrevocable vows of chastity. In other 
 parts we hear of numbers who are compelled to spend 
 their days in a seraglio, where it is not to be expected that 
 all should be prolific ; whilst in consequence of this un- 
 justifiable practice, a corresponding number must pass 
 through the world without leaving a representative behind 
 them. But in every country, at least on this side the 
 Atlantic Ocean, we find a similar effect from prudence ; 
 and without the assistance of either a seraglio, or a con- 
 vent, the younger branches of the best families have been 
 left to wither. In every country mvdtitudes would marry, ' 
 if they had a comfortable prospect for themselves, and for 
 their children; but if all should listen to this call of 
 nature, deaf to a louder call, the whole world in a few 
 years would be distressed with famine. iTet, even in such 
 a case, when it is impolitic that all should marry, this 
 should be wholly left to every man's discretion, and to 
 that balance of the appetites which nature has established. 
 But if, notwithstanding the restraints of distress and 
 poverty, they who are not able to maintain a family will 
 yet marry, there can be no resource but in emigration. 
 In the highlands of Scotland, when the inhabitants 
 became a burthen to the soil, they tried every possible 
 expedient ; and, when all others failed, their young men 
 with reluctance turned their back upon a country which 
 was not able to support them. It is well known that 
 their emigrations are considerable. They do not issue 
 30 forth 
 
Poor Laws. 425 
 
 forth in assembled multitudes, like swarms from the nor- 
 thern hives of old ; nor do thcy^ like a torrent, overflow 
 and desolate the adjacent eountries ; but, like the silent 
 dew, they drop upon tlie richest pastures, and wandering 
 to the remotest corners of the earth in quest of food, with 
 the industry of bees they collect their honey from the 
 most luxuriant flowers. These active, hardy, and labo- 
 rious people, are to be found in the temperate, in the 
 torrid, and in the frigid zones, in every island, and on 
 every habitable mountain of Europe, Asia, Africa, and 
 America. Yet in their native country the numbers never 
 fail : the supply is constant. Now, if, instead of collecting 
 for themselves wherever food is to be found, these wan- 
 derers had been equally supported on their barren moun- 
 tains by contributions from the more fertile vallies of the 
 South, can we imagine that the births in Scotland would 
 be fewer than they are at present? The overflowings of 
 their population might have been accelerated, but could 
 not thereby have been retarded. Having no contributions 
 from the South, they have quitted their country, and 
 made room for others. We are told, upon the best au- 
 thority,* that in the highlands of Scotland, a woman will 
 bring twenty children into the world, and rear only two. 
 Had she sufhcient food for more, more would live. The 
 Avomcn there, hke the women in all countries which are 
 come to their utmost height of population, are more 
 prolific than the soil. To provide more food on their 
 bleak and barren mountains, is beyond a question. But 
 if now, to rear these twenty children, a poor's rate were 
 to be collected in more fertile countries, yet in eountries 
 which are fully peopled in proportion to their labour and 
 to the produce of the soil, is it not evident, that the scarcity 
 and distress would only be transferred, and that the 
 31 children 
 
 * Smith, Wealth of Nations, 
 
426 Toivnsend on the 
 
 children of the South must die, that the children of the 
 North might live ? But supposing these should live ; yet 
 at best they could only take the place of those that died, 
 and more women in the North would increase and mul- 
 tiply, till they felt the same degree of pressure which 
 they feel at present. Neither Switzerland nor the coast 
 of Afi-ica are depopulated by emigrations, because the 
 quantity of food in each remains unaltered. It is with 
 the human species as with all other articles of trade 
 without a premium ; the demand will regulate the market. 
 By establishing a community of goods, or rather by 
 giving to the idle and to the vicious the Jirst claim upon 
 the produce of the earth, many of the more prudent, 
 careful, and industrious citizens are straitened in their 
 circumstances, and restrained from marriage. The farmer 
 breeds only from the best of all his cattle ; but our laws 
 choose rather to preserve the worst, and seem to be anxious 
 lest the breed should fail. The cry is, Population, popu- 
 lation ! population at all events ! But is there any rea- 
 sonable fear of depopulation ? We have seen that corn 
 upon an average has been considerably cheaper since the 
 commencement of the present century, than it was for an 
 equal term before ; yet wages have been raised in the 
 proportion of sis to four, and the rent of land is doubled. 
 May we not infer from hence, that the produce of the 
 soil must have increased nearly in the same proportions. 
 If we consider the improvements which have been made 
 in agriculture, by clearing woods, inclosing wastes, drain- 
 ing morasses, laying the common fields in severalty, and 
 making roads; by the introduction of clover, saintfoin, 
 turnips, and potatoes; by the breaking up of extensive 
 downs ; and by the superior skill of the present race in 
 the management of all sorts of land, with respect to 
 stocking, manuring, cropping, not forgetting their superior 
 weight of capital to work with ; we shall cease to wonder 
 at this vast increase of produce. But is it possible that 
 32 the 
 
Poor Laius. 427 
 
 the produce should be thus increased, and not the people 
 also Avho consume it ? "We need not desire any man to 
 visit London, Norwich, Bath, Bristol, Hull, Liverpool, 
 Leeds, Wakefield, Manchester, and Birmingham ; we need 
 not call upon him to view our mines of coal, copper, lead, 
 iron, and tin, with all the new manufactures which depend 
 on these : but let him at least count our flocks, and calcu- 
 late the quantity of corn produced by recent improve- 
 ments in our tillage ; then let him ask himself if our 
 population is increased. 
 
 Whilst food is to be had, there is no fear of wanting 
 people. But should the population of a country get 
 beyond the produce of the soil, and of the capital engaged 
 in trade, how shall these people find employment ? When- 
 ever this shall be the case, the evil will increase, and the 
 capital will go on constantly diminishing ; like as in pri- 
 vate life, when a gentleman breaks in upon his principal 
 to pay the ordinary expences of his family. When a 
 trading nation is obliged to spend more than the revenue 
 which is derived fi'om commerce, and not from accident, 
 but as the effect of some abiding cause, exceeds con- 
 tinually the profit of its trade, without some substantial 
 reformation, the ruin of that nation will be inevitable. 
 Should the capital itself accumulate, the interest of money 
 would be lowered, the demand for labour would increase, 
 and the superlucration on this increase of trade w ould 
 continue to enlarge the capital. Speculation apart, it is a 
 fact, that in England we have more than we can feed, and 
 many more than we can profitably employ under the 
 present system of our laws. 
 
 SECT. X. 
 
 ALL the effects which I have been describing, have 
 not been fully felt. Let it however be remembered, 
 that a distinction must be made between those evils which 
 33 have 
 
428 Toivnsend on the 
 
 have already been severely felt, and the greater evils which 
 in the course of nature and due time may be expected. 
 The tendency of a law may be most destructive ; yet, by 
 adventitious circumstances, the bad consequences may be 
 checked and prevented for a season. It is not to be 
 imagined that men, who by close application and watchful 
 attention to their business, by rigid frugality and hard 
 labour, have made a decent provision for their families, 
 should freely part with a considerable proportion of their 
 property, or suflPer it to be taken from them without 
 strong efforts to retain it. For more than a century the 
 struggles have been obstinate and unremitted, yet for 
 more than a century the poor's rates have been constantly 
 increasing. From time to time, as men remarked the 
 rapidity of this progress, their exertions were more than 
 common, and some transient reformation was effected. 
 When at last they found, that the)'^ had no other way 
 remaining to protect the fruits of industrj^ from the ex- 
 travagant demands of indolence, and from the undistin- 
 guishing benevolence of power, they adopted, from necessity 
 and not from choice, the miserable expedient of building 
 work-houses. Till these are completely filled, and even 
 after they are full, they serve a double purpose : they 
 disarm the magistrate, they intimidate the poor. 
 
 As the law now stands, the parish officers, in certain 
 cases, may build houses on the waste for the reception of 
 the impotent and aged; but they have been hitherto so 
 prudent as not to exercise a power, which would be 
 destructive to themselves, without being beneficial to the 
 poor. Happily the justices of peace have no legal autho- 
 rity to augment the number of our cottages. There can 
 be no compulsion in this case. Some of them indeed 
 have indirectly attempted this, but they have been resisted 
 by the more provident and wary in most parishes. Hence 
 the number of houses becomes a gage, at once to measure 
 and to regulate the extent of population. In every 
 34 village 
 
Poor Laivs. 429 
 
 village will be found plenty of young men and women, 
 who only wait for habitations to lay the foundation of 
 new families, and who witli joy would liasten to the altar, 
 if they could be certain of a roof to shelter them at night. 
 It has been chiefly from the want of houses that the poor 
 have not more rapidly increased. If the most opulent 
 parishes in the kingdom were obliged to find habitations, 
 as they are to provide work, or food and raiment for the 
 poor, they would be themselves reduced in a course of 
 years to such extreme distress, that all moveable stock 
 would be carried off, the land would be left uncultivated, 
 the houses would go to ruin, and the poor would starve. 
 As the rents have been advancing, new houses have been 
 built ; but hitherto the progress has been retarded by the 
 superior value of money in the public funds. Should the 
 present law subsist, the value of land will sink, and the 
 rent of cottages will rise; each in proportion to the 
 burthen of the poor, and the demand for houses. It is 
 true, by a statute made in the thirty-first year of Queen 
 Elizabeth, there is a penalty on every person who shall 
 build a cottage without assigning four acres of land to be 
 held for ever with it : but this statute, with which her 
 famous poor law is in perfect harmony, and which, if 
 observed, would have prevented the greatest evils felt and 
 to be feared from that unlimited provision for the poor, 
 has been long neglected, or perhaps was never regarded. 
 The penalty is ten pounds for the first erection of the 
 cottage, and forty shillings per month as long as it shall 
 be occupied. Had tliis law remained in force, or had it 
 been constantly observed, the poor would not have multi- 
 plied ; but then the manufactures would not have 
 flourished in the kingdom as they do at present. Under 
 this law it is evident, that no poor man could marry till 
 there was a cottage vacant to receive him ; for no inmates 
 were allowed. 
 
 The last circumstance which remains to be assigned, 
 35 as 
 
430 Toionsend on the 
 
 as having checked and prevented for a season the evil 
 consequcDces resulting from our poor laws, is the shame 
 and reproach of being relieved by a parish : but these 
 have long since ceased to operate. It is high time, there- 
 fore, that more effectual provision should be made for the 
 protection of industry in affluence, and for the relief of 
 industry in the seasons of distress. 
 
 SECT. XI. 
 
 THE best politicians in Europe have condemned the 
 present system of our poor laws. Among these we 
 may reckon two great and distinguished writers; one 
 universally admired for his incomparable work on the 
 spirit of laws; the other for his most elegant and judi- 
 cious comment on the laws of England, A nobleman, 
 who stands foremost among the literati in the north of 
 Britain, has more freely and more fully delivered his 
 opinion, and perfectly coincides in sentiment with those 
 able lawyers. These respectable authors have condemned 
 the principles, whilst others have blamed only the execu- 
 tion of our laws. But all who are even in the least 
 degree acquainted with the subject have lamented, that 
 two millions should be annually expended on the poor 
 without relieving their distress. 
 
 V^ SECT. XII. 
 
 ;Nv V XF it were possible to meet with proper persons to 
 ^"^ )SJ X ext 
 
 ^>j yy- — . execute our laws, they would not be so hurtful to the 
 
 Ni ^ W community as they are at present. But where shall we 
 
 v\ V find men qualified to be at once trustees and guardians 
 
 J;^v^ for the public and for the poor ? An overseer should be 
 
 \j^x endued with more than common patience ; willing to hear 
 
 "J^ Ni with calmness and composure the complaints of the most 
 
 *^^^x^ 36 untoward 
 
Pour Laws. 431 
 
 untoward and perverse ; blest with a command of temper 
 such as few possess. He si ould be diligent and active, 
 that he may visit the habitations of the poor, and examine 
 with his own eyes tlie nature, the extent, and the cause of 
 their distress. He should be a man of good understand- 
 ing, sharp, sensible, and well-informed, that he may know 
 what is the best, the cheapest, and the most effectual 
 method, at once to relieve and to employ the poor. He 
 should be a man of penetration, quick in discerning, and 
 ready in detecting the false pretences of impostors. He 
 should be a man of the most humane and compassionate 
 disposition ; not merely that he may shed the sympa- 
 thizing tear, but that he may exert himself to the utmost 
 to comfort and support the sick, and properly to sweeten 
 the bitter cup for those who are drinking the dregs of 
 life. He should be at the same time a man of firmness 
 and resolution ; not to be worn out and teazed into com- 
 pliance, nor yet to be moved either by threats or by 
 deceitful tears. He should be inexorably just, considering 
 the public fund, out of which he is to relieve the poor, as 
 a most sacred deposit committed to his care, in confidence 
 that he will administer it to the best of his judgment and 
 ability. He should be a man of a disinterested and honest 
 disposition, that, in the discharge of this important trust, 
 he may neither directly nor indirectly defraud the public, 
 either to favour his friends or to promote his trade. In 
 one word, if in him should centre all the excellencies, 
 which are scattered with a sparing hand among the human 
 race; if he had no other trade, occupation, or pursuit 
 which required his attention ; if, thus qualified, he were 
 willing to give up his time for the benefit of the public, 
 and for the comfort of the poor ; if a succession of such 
 ■were to be found, and if their power were supreme, 
 subject to no controul from the interference of a magis- 
 trate ; the burthen might yet be tolerable, and some of 
 the evils, naturally attendant on the present system of our 
 37 poor 
 
432 2'ownsend on the 
 
 poor laws, instead of being severely felt, would for the 
 present be seen only at a distance. 
 
 Many parishes have been sensible of this difficulty, 
 more especially in the cloathing counties : but as if, 
 whilst they severely felt it, they had only indistinctly 
 seen it, they have made application to parliament, 
 complaining that the business was too much for the 
 attendance and attention of four overseers ; and therefore 
 praying, that one additional overseer might be appointed 
 with absolute and sole authority to grant relief. Their 
 argument appears to be absurd, but their meaning is 
 precise and clear. They would be thus at liberty to 
 choose the most proper person for the charge ; and he, 
 having little else to do, could pay more attention to the 
 business. The event has in some measure answered their 
 expectation ; but, at best, this can be considered only as a 
 good expedient to palliate one of those many bad effects 
 which flow from a pernicious law. 
 
 SECT. XIII. 
 
 TO remedy these evils, various have been the schemes 
 recommended to the public, by men who have been 
 revered for the strength of their understandings, the 
 extent of their knowledge, and the uprightness of their 
 intentions. They have chiefly recommended palliatives ; 
 and such only have been tried, yet with little or with no 
 efi*ect. They have indeed checked the evil for a time, and 
 only for a time, to return with accumulated force : for, 
 notwithstanding all their eflPorts, tiie tax collected to 
 relieve the poor is swelled in many places from ten or 
 twelve pounds annually to five hundred pounds a year, 
 where no manufactures have been established ; and in the 
 manufacturing parishes, from little or nothing to fifteen 
 38 hundred, 
 
Poor L( 
 
 433 \) 
 
 \ 
 
 r^'^ 
 
 hundred, two thousand, and even three tliousand pounds 
 a year. 
 
 The legislature began with requiiing the consent of 
 two justices of peace, before the overseers could have 
 power to relieve the poor.* They then insisted that 
 none should be relieved, but those who were put upon the 
 list b}' the parishioners assembled in their vestry, or by 
 authority under the hand of a justice.f After this it was 
 enacted, that no j usticc of peace should grant an order, 
 ■without having examined upon oath the party making 
 application to him for rehef.J Upon all these occasions 
 we hear the legislature constantly complaining that the 
 evil still went on increasing. 
 
 The expedient which has been most often tried, has 
 been to compel both the pauper and his family to wear 
 the Roman P in scarlet cloth upon their shoulders ;§ and 
 from this much was expected, but in vain. It has 
 operated, indeed, as a partial repeal of a bad law, repeal- 
 ing however all that could be considered as valuable, and 
 leaving all that is noxious to the state ; discouraging only 
 the ingenuous, the modest, and the meek, that there may 
 be the more for those who, lost to shame, have long since 
 forgot to blush. Of all human inventions, none can be 
 more cruel than this. You invite the poor, you offer him 
 relief, but you will give it only upon this condition, that 
 he shall receive it with a mark of infamy. The overseers 
 are liable to a fine, if they do not impose this mark upon 
 the indigent ; but such is their humanity, that they risk 
 the penalty rather than reproach the wretched with his 
 poverty. Should they give this badge to some, they must 
 impose it upon all. The worthless and the impudent 
 would not regard it ; the modest would sooner die than 
 39 wear 
 
 * 43 Eliz. 
 
 t 3 and 4 W. and M. 
 
 : 9 Geo. I. c. 7. 
 6 8 and 9 W. c. 30. 
 
434 To'wnsend on the 
 
 wear it. There is no doubt that time would reconcile 
 them to it^ more especially when they saw none or few 
 without it ; but then, what purpose would it answer ? 
 Whilst it took effect, it would be hurtful : when it ceased 
 to operate, it would be useless. 
 
 Finding the futility of this device, the mOst common 
 refuge has been to parochial and provincial workhouses; 
 against which there appear insuperable objections. It was 
 thought, that with watchful attention the poor would do 
 more work under one roof, and be fed much cheaper, than 
 when dispersed in their several cottages. An expectation, 
 however, which experience has never yet confirmed. 
 Even in parochial workhouses, and in those which are 
 under the best regulation, the poor do so little work, that 
 the produce of their labour almost escapes our notice, 
 whilst they are maintained at a most enormous expcnce. 
 In their cottages they might live comfortably on the 
 average of four pounds each ; whereas under the manage- 
 ment of the public they cost from rive to ten, and even 
 twelve pounds each, per annum. It is not reasonable to 
 imagine, that men, deprived of liberty, will work for 
 others with the same chearful activity as when working 
 for themselves ; or that they will be contented with the* 
 hard and homely fare, which they could eat with thank- 
 fulness, whilst as freemen they were surrounded with their 
 friends. It is hope that must sweeten all our labours. 
 Let a man have no pursuit, no exercise for his hopes and 
 fears, and you may as well take the marrow from his 
 bones, which was designed by nature to supple all his 
 joints. You may feed him well; but, without making 
 him a more useful member in society, you will leave him 
 to drag on a miserable existence, a burthen to himself and 
 to the public. It is now a maxim universally received, 
 that the service of a slave is the dearest service Avhich can 
 be had. Let a man consult his own feelings, and the 
 reason will be obvious. 
 
 40 The 
 
Poor Laws. 435 
 
 The terror of being sent to a workliousc acts like an 
 abolition of the poor's tax on all who dread the loss of 
 liberty. It is in effect a virtual repeal, as far as it 
 extends, of those laws, which should long since have given 
 place to better regulations. But unfortunately the most 
 worthy objects suffer most by this repeal, and the advant- 
 age to the public is little more than negative. The quiet 
 and the cleanly dread the noise and nastincss, even more 
 than the confinement of a workhouse. They pant for the 
 pure and wholesome air; which they can never hope to 
 breathe where numbers are confined within narrow limits, 
 and sigh for that serenity and peace, which they must 
 despair to find where the most profligate of the human 
 species are met together. By the fear of being sentenced 
 to such society, many, who deserve a better fate, struggle 
 with poverty till they sink under the burthen of their 
 misery. Against county workhouses, improperly called 
 houses of industry, the objections are much stronger. 
 The buildings, the furniture, the salaries, the waste, and 
 the imposition, every thing is upon a large and expensive 
 scale, without its being possible to preserve, for any length 
 of time, a system of oeconomy. At first,^ indeed, there 
 "•flight be great exertion ; but the novelty being over, few 
 gentlemen would be found public spirited enough to con- 
 tinue their attendance and attention to a business in 
 which, as individuals, they would be so little interested, 
 and for which they must give up more important or more 
 pleasant engagements and pursuits. By experience it is 
 found, that without reckoning interest upon the prime 
 cost of either furniture or buildings, the poor in these 
 extensive establishments are not maintained for less than 
 I have stated. But whilst the expence is so enormous, 
 are they happy? Far from happy, they are wretched. 
 With all the discomforts of a parochial workhouse, they 
 feel themselves in a hopeless state of banishment from 
 their relations and connections. It is true, they eat, they 
 41 drink, 
 
436 Toivnseiid on tha 
 
 drink, and they are miserable. This kind of banishment 
 r< has the same effect in part as a repeal of the poor laws, 
 because few are willing to be thus relieved. These houses 
 of industry cannot be vindicated, either in point of 
 comfort or oeconomy : if they have therefore any merit, 
 it can be only that kind of merit which I have stated ; 
 and if it be wise to have recourse to them, it would be 
 much wiser directly to repeal the laws, against the depre- 
 dations of which these houses are to protect your property. 
 A county workhouse, at best, may be considered as a 
 colony to which a few of the superabundant members of 
 the community have been transported to make room for 
 others; or it maybe considered as a new manufacture, 
 beneficial in its progress to employ the idle hands : bene- 
 ficial, if it were possible to make a profit on their labour > 
 yet like other manufactures, under the present system of 
 our laws, increasing the number and the distresses of the 
 poor. 
 
 That gentlemen of landed propei'ty should have taken 
 the alarm, and that all who feel the burthen of the poor 
 should w ish to be relieved, is not to be wondered at. Yet 
 surely we may be permitted to express astonishment, that 
 when in the year 1775 the House of Commons were to 
 provide a remedy for the growing evil, no expedient 
 shoidd present itself, but to erect county workhouses. 
 They resolved, 1°. That the laws relating to tlie poor 
 are defective, and the good purposes intended by 
 them in many respects prevented. 
 2°. That the money raised for the relief of the poor 
 is a grievous, and, if no new regulations are made, 
 will be an increasing burthen upon the public. 
 They then recommended county workhouses, leaving 
 the parishes at liberty to draw at discretion on the county 
 stock, for the relief of such as were not proper objects for 
 a workhouse. 
 
 The counties, however, were not weak enough to 
 42 accept 
 
Pool' Lmcs. 437 
 
 accept an offer which must have entailed a tax of four 
 shilhngs in the pound on their estates for ever, without 
 procuring any benefit to the public, to the land-owner, to 
 the fiirmer, or to the pooi'. 
 
 Another expedient, and the last which I shall men- 
 tion, is the most abominable that ever was invented ; it is 
 to farm the poor. In some parishes they are farmed at 
 so much a head, but in others the contract is for a given 
 sum. In one parish in Gloucestershire a contractor has 
 agreed to take all the expence of the poor upon himself 
 for a very moderate consideration. Taking the present 
 numbers in confinement, he has only two shillings a week 
 for each ; yet out of this he is to be at the charge of all 
 litigations and removals, and to relieve all others who are 
 not proper objects for a workhouse, and after all to make 
 a profit for himself. 
 
 All these expedients have the same tendency. They 
 are adopted with a professed intention to lower the poor 
 rates ; and it is confessed, that many are thereby deterred 
 from making application for relief, who would otherwise 
 be a burthen to the public. But then is not this a 
 partial, impolitic, oppressive repeal of a bad law, without 
 reducing the tax ; for it continues to increase, and without 
 making a better provision for those among the poor who 
 are most worthy of attention ? 
 
 Having thus endeavom'cd to display the imperfections 
 which are most obvious in our management of the poor, 
 let us now examine the provision made for theii' relief by 
 other nations. 
 
 In the early ages of the world there could be no great 
 difficulty in this matter, as the quantity of food was more 
 than could be consumed. In process of time, when pro- 
 perty had got footing in the world, they, who had neither 
 flocks nor herds, became slaves, and, selling themselves 
 for lu'cad, together with their cliildren, constituted the 
 principal treasure of the rich. Whou the rich had so far 
 13 increased 
 
438 Townsend on the 
 
 increased their stock, that their cattle had not sufficient 
 room to feed, they quitted their ancient habitations, and 
 sought new settlements. Thus it is said, that Abraham 
 was very rich in cattle, that he had sheep and oxen, and 
 men servants and maid servants, and camels and asses, 
 and silver and gold. The same nearly was the prosperity 
 of Lot. But when the land was not able to bear them 
 with their flocks and with their herds, they agreed to part, 
 and Lot chose for himself the plains of Jordan. When 
 the off'spring of Abraham settled in the land of Canaan, 
 they continued the same mode of relieving the distressed, 
 only with this exception, that in the seventh year the 
 poor, who had sold himself, was to go out free. This 
 custom of exchanging their liberty for bread was followed 
 by most of the nations upon earth, and was the general 
 practice of the world, till Christianity prevailed, and 
 became the estabUshed rehgion of the Roman empire. 
 The milder genius of this religion, which proclaims liberty 
 to the captive, and the opening of the prison doors to 
 them that are bound, abhorrent to slavery in all its forms, 
 has almost banished that cruel custom from our world ; 
 and in its stead has made the best possible pro^ision for 
 the poor, leaving them to be supported by the free bounty 
 of the rich. It is true, the mistaken zeal of its first 
 converts, inflamed by the expectation of that transcendent 
 glory which the gospel had revealed to them, poured 
 contempt upon their visible possessions of houses and of 
 lands. These they sold, and being all of one heart, and 
 of one soul, they agreed to have all things common."'^ 
 But no such community of goods received the sanction of 
 di-sdne authority. When Peter reproached Ananias, it 
 was for his falsehood only : " Whilst the land remained, 
 was it not thine own ; and after it was sold, was it not in 
 thine own power ?^'t 
 
 44 The 
 
 * Acts iv. 32. t Acts v. 4. 
 
Poor Laws. 439 
 
 The positive injunctions of the gospel arc clear and 
 distinct, and should never have been forgot " Every man 
 according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give ; 
 not grudgingly, or of necessity : for God loveth a ehearful 
 giver." * These voluntary contributions were collected on 
 the first day of every week, when they assembled at theii- 
 public worship. The Christian dispensation gives the 
 highest encoui'agement to the overflowiugs of benevolence, 
 but at the same time leaves every man at liberty to give 
 or not to give, proceeding upon this maxim, that it should 
 be lawful for a man to do what he will with his own. 
 Whilst however the followers of this religion are left to 
 their own judgment and discretion, they are under the 
 strongest obligations to be liberal in their donations, and 
 to relieve the distresses of their fellow creatures to the 
 utmost of their ability. In the description of the great 
 and final judgment of the world, it is said, " AVhen the 
 Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels 
 with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. 
 And before him shall be gathered all nations ; and he 
 shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd 
 divideth his sheep from the goats : and he shall set the 
 sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then 
 shall the King say unto them on his right hand. Come, ye 
 blessed of my Fathei', inherit the kingdom prepared for 
 you from the foundation of the world. For I was an 
 hungered, and ye gave me meat : I was thirsty, and ye 
 gave me drink : I was a stranger, and ye took me in : 
 naked, and ye clothed me : I was sick, and ye visited me : 
 I was in prison, and ye came unto me. For inasmuch as 
 ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye 
 did it unto me,"t From this description we must not too 
 hastily conclude that the charity of Christians is to be 
 indiscriminate and blind. Among the various objects of 
 4.") distress 
 
 * 2 Cor. ix, 7. + ^Matt. xxv. 
 
440 Toivnsend on the 
 
 distress a choice is to be made, selecting first those which 
 are most worthy, and reserving the residue for those who 
 have nothing but their misery to excite compassion. Let 
 the virtuous citizen be fed, then let the profligate and the 
 prodigal share all that prudence and frugality shall have 
 left behind them. To reverse this order is neither politic 
 nor just : for surely nothing can be more inconsistent 
 with equity, than to give the bread of industry to indo-' 
 lence and vice. Christian charity was never meant to 
 discourage diligence and application, nor to promote 
 among men a wanton dissipation of their substance. The 
 Apostle of the Gentiles, both by example and by precept, 
 teaches a lesson which too many among the poor have yet 
 to learn. We hear him thus appealing to his converts : 
 " We did not eat any man's bread for nought ; but 
 wrought with labour and travel night and day, that we 
 might not be chargeable to any of you : not because we 
 have not power, but to make ourselves an example ui^to 
 you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this 
 we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither 
 should he eat.''* 
 
 For many centuries the nations of Europe had no 
 other way of providing for their increasing poor, when 
 occasional benefactions became inadequate to their wants, 
 but by driving them out, like swarms, to seek new settle- 
 ments. It was not then difficult for warlike tribes, issuing 
 forth in countless numbers, with their flocks and with 
 their herds, to make an impression, when at any time 
 they turned their arms against the peaceable inhabitants 
 of more cultivated countries. But now that all have 
 quitted the shepherd life and taken to agriculture ; now 
 that each nation, although more numerous than formerly, 
 is hemmed in by nations equal to itself in numbers, 
 46 wealth, 
 
 * 2 Thesi. iii. 8—10. 
 
Poor Laws. 441 
 
 wealth, and military ardour; it is become necessary to 
 provide for their poor at home. This they have attempted 
 by public hospitals and private benefactions. AVith re- 
 gard to hospitals, they find that these only remove the 
 evil for a time, and in the issue extend the bounds of 
 extreme poverty and wretchedness. They at first pleased 
 themselves with the idea, that they had put an end to 
 human misery ; but they soon found it returning back 
 upon them, and the vacant places, which had been left by 
 those provided for in their public hospitals, filled up again 
 by objects of distress. "When at Lyons they opened an 
 hospital with forty beds for the reception of the poor, 
 they could fill only half that number, but now eight 
 hundred beds are not sufficient ; and when they built the 
 hospital of Saltpetriere, near Paris, it had few inhabitants, 
 but now they lodge twelve thousand ; and yet to their 
 astonishment they find, that instead of having banished 
 distress and poverty, they have increased the number of 
 tlie poor. The effect has filled them with amazement ; 
 but they do not seem to have as yet discovered, that they 
 have been attempting to stop a rapid river in its progress, 
 and to push back the waters of the ocean. 
 
 In Holland their chief dependence is on voluntary 
 contributions, and a rigid execution of the laws ; and in 
 Holland are to be seen more industry" and fewer criminals, 
 than are to Ije found in the best governed countries in 
 Europe of the same extent. 
 
 SECT. XIV. 
 
 I AM now come to the most arduous part of my 
 undertaking. Some remedy must be found for the 
 growing evil, aiul those which have been hitherto proposed 
 !iave been found inudeciuate. In hniiig down a plan, I 
 -ir shall 
 
442 Townsend on the 
 
 r. 
 
 shall begin with establishing the general principles on 
 which we must proceed. 
 
 It is evident then, that no system can be good which 
 
 I does not, in the first place, encourage industry, oeconomy, 
 
 \ and subordination; and, in the second place, regulate 
 
 { population by the demand for labour. 
 
 ^' To promote industry and ceconomy, it is necessary 
 that the relief which is given to the poor should be limited 
 and precarious. " Lauguescet industria, intendetur so- 
 cordia, si nullus ex se metus aut spes ; et securi omnes 
 aliena subsidia expectabunt, sibi ignavi, nobis graves." 
 No man will be an oeconomist of water, if he can go to 
 the well or to the brook as often as he please j nor will 
 he watch with solicitous attention to keep the balance 
 even between his income and expenditure, if he is sure to 
 be relieved in the time of need. The labouring poor at 
 present are greatly defective, both in respect to industry 
 and oeconomy. Considering the numbers to be main- 
 tained, they work too little, they spend too much, and 
 what they spend is seldom laid out to the best advantage. 
 When they return from threshing or from plough, they 
 might card, they might spin, or they might knit. We 
 are told, that one thousand pair of Shetland stockings are 
 annually imported into Leith, of which the price is from 
 five to seven pence a pair : yet labour at Lerwick, the 
 small capital of Shetland islands, is ten pence a day. 
 These stockings are made at leisure hours. In these 
 islands they have no dependance but upon their industry 
 and frugality. They consume neither. tea, nor sugar, nor 
 spices, because they cannot afford to purchase these 
 useless articles ; neither do they wear stockings or shoes, 
 till by their diligence they have acquired such afHuence as 
 to bear this expence. How difterent is theirs from the 
 dress and diet of our common people, who have lost all 
 ideas of oeconomy ! If by their industry they could 
 procure these articles of luxury, or if their linen, their 
 48 cotton. 
 
Poor Laws. 443 
 
 cotton, and their silk, were spun, and wove, and knit in 
 their own houses, and at leisure hours, their desire to 
 obtain these things would be advantageous to the state : 
 but surely, if in the colder regions of the North these are 
 not essential to their existence, or even to their happiness, 
 they should be considered in the South only as the 
 rewards of industry, and should never, from the common 
 fund, be given promiscuously to all, as they will inevitably 
 be, unless that fund shall have some other limits besides 
 the wants and expectations of the poor. Unless the 
 degree of pressure be increased, the labouring poor will 
 never acquire habits of diligent application, and of severe 
 frugality. To increase this pressure, the poor's tax must 
 1)0 gradually reduced in certain prop6rtions annually, the 
 sum to be raised in each parish being fixed and certain, 
 not boundless, and obliged to answer unlimited demands. 
 This enormous tax might easily in the space of nine years 
 be reduced nine-tenths ; and the remainder being reserved 
 as a permanent supply, the poor might safely be left to 
 the free bounty of the rich, without the interposition of 
 any other law. But if the whole system of compulsive 
 charity were abolished, it would be still better for the 
 state. I am not singular in this opinion. Baron Mon- 
 tesquieu has given his opinion, " Que des secours passa- 
 gers vaudroient mieux que des etablissemens perpetuels -/'^ 
 and our own countryman, who had been long conversant 
 with this business, has told us, '' I am persuaded that to 
 provide for the poor, who are unable to work, might be 
 safely left to voluntary charity, unenforced by any com- 
 pulsive law.'^t 
 
 To assist the industrious poor, who have neither tools 
 
 nor materials, but more especially to train up the children 
 
 of the dissolute in useful labour, there might be in each 
 
 parish one or more work-shops, where they might be 
 
 49 certain 
 
 * L. xxiii. C. 29. + Fielding on Robbers. 
 
444 Townsend on the 
 
 certain of employment, and of daily pay for the work 
 performed. In these shops they should neither be lodged 
 nor fed, being taught to depend each for himself on his 
 own diligence and patient application to his business. 
 The building, the tools, and the materials, would be all 
 that required assistance from the public fund. 
 
 The grand resource however should be from the 
 labouring poor themselves, previous to their being incum- 
 bered with families. They have throughout the kingdom 
 a number of friendly societies established, which have 
 been productive of good effects, and in some places have 
 reduced the rates. But these societies have more than 
 one defect. All their members contribute equally to the 
 public fund, without* respect to their ability, to the pro- 
 portion of their gains, or to the number of their children. 
 By this regulation some pay too little, others pay too 
 much. The sum, which they deposit weekly, is insigni- 
 ficant and trifling when compared with what it ought to 
 be. But the greatest misfortune is, that they are alto- 
 gether left to their own option to join these societies or 
 not ; in consequence of which liberty, many of these 
 associations for mutual assistance are going to decay. If 
 this be indeed a good expedient, it should be pushed as 
 far as it will go : it should be firmly established, made 
 universal, and subjected to wholesome regulations. The 
 unmarried man should pay one quarter of his wages 
 weekly, and the father of four young children not more 
 than one thirtieth of his income, which is nearly the sum 
 which all contribute to their present clubs. To drive 
 them into these societies, no man should be intitled to 
 relief from the parochial fund who did not belong to one 
 of these. Thus Avould sobriety, industry, and oeconomy, ' 
 take place of drunkenness, idleness, and prodigality, and 
 due subordination would be again restored. 
 
 As long as it should be found expedient to retain a 
 
 \ given proportion of the present poor tax, the disposal of 
 
 50 this 
 
Poor Laws. 445 
 
 tins should be wholly at the discretion of the minister, , 
 churchwardens, and overseers, or the majority of them, | 
 subject only to the orders of a vestry. By this provision | 
 the subordination of the poor would be more effectually 
 secured, and the civil magistrate would be at liberty to 
 bend his whole attention to the preservation of the peace, 
 and to the good government of the people. 
 
 This plan would be aided and assisted much by laying 
 a sufficient tax upon the alehouses to reduce their number, 
 these being the principal nurseries for drunkenness, idle- 
 ness, and vice. 
 
 Should things be left thus to flow in their proper 
 channels, the consequence would be, that, as far as it is 
 possible according to the present constitution of the 
 world, our population would be no longer unnatural and 
 forced, but would regulate itself by the demand for 
 labour. 
 
 There remains one thing more for the legislature to 
 do, which is to increase the quantity of food. This may 
 be done with ease, by laying a tax upon all horses used in 
 husbandry, gradually increasing this tax till the farmers 
 have returned to the use of oxen. This change would 
 enable England not only to maintain her present popula- 
 tion, but greatly to increase it. The land which now 
 supports one horse, in proper working order, would bear 
 two oxen for draft and for the shambles, if not also one 
 cow for the pail ; or any two of these, with a man, his 
 wife, and his three children. If we consider the number 
 of horses at present used for husbandry in this island, 
 should only half that number give place to oxeu, it would 
 not be easy to calculate, or even to conceive, all the 
 benefits and advantages which the public would derive 
 from this vast increase of food. In mauy parishes where 
 they have no manufactures, but the cultivation of the 
 soil, the horses consume the produce of more land than 
 the inhal)itants themselves requiie. Suppose a parish to 
 ol consist 
 
446 Tovmsend on the 
 
 consist of four thousand acres of arable and pasture land ; 
 let this be cultivated by one hundred and fifty horses^ and 
 let it feed one thousand souls : now if, for the present, 
 we allow only two acres of oats and two of hay for each 
 of the horses, the amount will be six hundred productive 
 acres, which will be more than sufficient to feed the given 
 number of inhabitants. But the fact is, that a horse, to 
 be fully fed, requires five ton of hay, and from thirteen 
 to three- and-twenty quarters of oats, per annum, accord- 
 ing to his work. Some farmers allow the former, and the 
 latter is given by the great carriers on the public roads, 
 which would bring the computation to about eight acres 
 each for horses used in husbandry ; but then few farmers 
 sufi'er their liorses to be highly fed. If we allow three 
 acres of pasture for each ox or cow, and consider, that in 
 calculating the quantity of land sufficient to maintain a 
 team of horses, the needful fallows must be carried to 
 account, we shall not be at a loss for food, when we have 
 substituted two oxen, and one family of five persons, in 
 the place of every horse. 
 
 It must be confessed, that the tax on horses would be 
 apparently a tax on husbandry, but in reality it would 
 only be a tax on pride and prejudice. Neither would it 
 be a tax for the purpose of revenue, which would certainly 
 be most impolitic ; but it would be a tax for the regula- 
 tion of trade, beneficial to the public, and highly advanta- 
 geous to the farmer. In China they use few cattle in the 
 cultivation of the soil, and therefore they are able to 
 support a more abundant population. By reverting to 
 the antient practice of ploughing with oxen instead of 
 horses, we should enjoy the same advantage ; and till the 
 population of our country had found its utmost limits, 
 we should rejoice in affluence. 
 
 "With the same intentions, the legislature should 
 
 facilitate the laying common fields in severalty, leaving 
 
 the inclosure of these lands to every man's discretion. 
 
 52 Wherever 
 
Poor La'ws. 447 
 
 Wherever tlicse allotments have been carried into execu- 
 tion, the value of land has been nearly doubled. Yet, 
 independent of the exertion, the time, and the fatigue, 
 requisite to procure a private act of parliament for this 
 purpose, the expeuce of the act itself, and of the con- 
 sequent inclosure, is more than many arc ■willing to incur. 
 That the improvements of land should be subject to this 
 expence is not just, and that men should be obliged to 
 inclose these lands is neither just nor wise: because 
 hedge-rows consume much land, stint the growth of corn, 
 cause it to lodge, prevent its drying, and harbour birds. 
 If men are left at liberty, without restraint, when they 
 find it for their interest to inclose, they will inclose. 
 
 Should the House of Commons, agreeable to the 
 resolutions of 1775, enter seriously into this business, 
 and adopt such regulations as may effectually relieve the 
 public from the grievous and still increasing burthen, 
 which for more than half a century has been the subject 
 of serious investigation and of loud complaints ; it will 
 be necessary for magistrates to pay more than common 
 attention to the police, till industry and subordination 
 shall be once more restored. The reins have been held 
 with a loose hand, at a time when the idleness and 
 extravagance, the drunkenness and dissipation, with the 
 consequent crimes and vices of the lower classes of the 
 people, called for the most strenuous exertions of the 
 magistrate, and the most strict execution of the laws. 
 
 If the labouring poor, in health, previous to marriage, 
 and whilst their families are small, are compelled to raise 
 a fund for their own support, in case of sickness or old 
 age ; there can be no doubt, that when at any time, from 
 peculiar circumstances, this fund shall prove inadequate, 
 the most liberal contributions will be made to relieve any 
 occasional distress. No one can doubt of this, who has 
 witnessed the generous efforts which were lately made to 
 assist the woollen manufacturers in Gloucestershire 
 n.'i durinsr 
 
448 Townsend on the 
 
 during the stagnation of their trade. Money was col- 
 lected for them from all the adjacent counties, and in the 
 metropolis, to feed and to employ them. At Minchin 
 Hampton in particular, when the poor's tax was seven 
 shillings in the pound on the rack rents, and their poor 
 were more than commonly distressed, two thousand two 
 hundred persons were cloathed, fed, and set to work, by 
 ■voluntary benefactions. It should be added, for the" 
 credit of these poor people, that they worked from six in 
 the morning till eight at night. Had the manufacture 
 fallen to rise no more, the manufacturers must in reason 
 have retired, or must have turned their hands to something 
 else ; because no fund, no tax, no charitable contributions, 
 can support such a multitude of people when theii* trade 
 is gone. In cases of sudden emergency assistance will be 
 loudly called for, and the affluent will not be tardy in 
 sending a supply. The English have never yet been 
 charged with want of charity. There need not many 
 arguments to excite their pity and compassion : the only 
 difficulty is to restrain the impetuosity of their benevo- 
 lence, and to direct their bounty towards the most worthy 
 objects. 
 
 Besides these sudden emergencies, affecting Avhole 
 districts where extensive manufactures are established, 
 individuals must be ever subject to occasional distress, 
 from various accidents and from unexpected losses, which, 
 without the kind assistance of a friend, they are not able 
 to support. In such circumstances, where can the sufferer 
 look for help ? Not to the overseers of the poor ; for 
 their authority does not extend beyond food and raiment. 
 To make good his losses, and to support him in his station, 
 industry in distress can find no sufficient refuge but in 
 the generous aid of his more affluent and charitable 
 neighbours. This refuge will never fail him ; nor will 
 they ever suffer him to want, if they are able to relieve 
 him, and if he has proved himself worthy of compassion. 
 .^4 To 
 
Poor Laws. 449 
 
 To relieve the poor by voluntary donations is not only 
 most wise, politic^ and just; is not only most agrccaljle 
 both to reason and to revelation ; but it is most effectual 
 in preventing misery, and most excellent in itself, as 
 clierishing, instead of rancour, malice, and contention, 
 the opposite and most amiable affections of the human 
 breast, pity, compassion, and benevolence in the rich, 
 love, reverence, and gratitude in the poor. Nothing in 
 nature can be more disgusting than a parish pay-table, 
 attendant upon which, in the same objects of misery, are 
 too often found combined, snuff, gin, rags, vermin, inso- 
 lence, and abusive language ; nor in nature can any thing 
 be more beautiful than the mild complacency of benevo- 
 lence, hastening to the bumble cottage to relieve the 
 wants of industry and virtue, to feed the hungry, to 
 cloath the naked, and to sooth the sorrows of the widow 
 with her tender orphans ; nothing can be more pleasing, 
 unless it be theii* sparkling eyes, their bursting tears, and 
 their uplifted hands, the artless expressions of unfeigned 
 gratitude for unexpected favours. Such scenes will fre- 
 quently occur whenever men shall have power to dispose 
 of their own property. When the poor are obliged to 
 cultivate the friendship of the rich, the rich will never 
 want inclination to relieve the distresses of the poor. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 65 
 
THOUGHTS AND DETAILS 
 
 ON 
 
 SCARCITY, 
 
 ORIGINALLY PRESENTED TO 
 
 THE RIGHT HON. WILLIAM PITT, 
 
 IN THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER, 
 
 795 
 
 BY THE LATE 
 
 RIGHT HON. EDMUND BURKE 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR F. AND C. RIVINGTON, 
 AND J. HATCHARD. 
 
 1800. 
 
Burke on Scarcity. 453 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Beaconsfield, Nov. 1, 1800. 
 
 ri"^ HE wisdom, which is canonized by death, is 
 i. consulted with a sort of sacred veneration. A 
 casual remark, or an incidental maxim in some ancient 
 author, an interesting narrative, or a pointed anecdote 
 from the history of past times, even though they bear but 
 a remote and general application to the exigency of our 
 own immediate situation, are caught up with eagerness, 
 and remembered with delight. But how much more 
 important is the instruction which we may derive from 
 the posthumous opinions of those who, having been most 
 eminent in our own times for superior talents and more 
 extensive knowledge, have formed their observation on 
 circumstances so similar to our own, as only not to be the 
 same, yet who speak without influence from the little 
 prejudices and passions, to which accident, folly or male- 
 volence may have given birth in the present moment. 
 
 The late Mr. Burke, in the estimation of those who 
 were most capable of judging, stood high, both as a 
 scientific and a practical farmer. He carried into his 
 fields the same penetrating, comprehensive, and vigorous 
 mind, which shone forth so conspicuously in all his 
 exertions on the stage of public life. Wherever he was, 
 in whatever he was engaged, he was alike assiduous in 
 collecting information, and happy in combining, what he 
 acquired, into general principles. All that the ancients 
 have left us upon husbandry was familiar to him, and he 
 once encouraged and set on foot a new edition of those 
 3 valuable 
 
454 Burke on 
 
 valuable writers ; but, though he might occasionally 
 derive new hints even from those sources, he preferred 
 the authority of his own mind to that of Hesiod or Virgil, 
 of Cato or Columella. He thought for himself upon this, 
 as upon other subjects; and not rejecting sound reforms 
 of demonstrated errors, he was, however, principally 
 guided by the traditionary skill and experience of that 
 class of men, who, from father to son, have for genera- 
 tions laboured in calling forth the fertility of the English 
 soil. He not only found in agriculture the most agree- 
 able relaxation from his more serious cares, but he 
 / regarded the cultivation of the earth, and the improve- 
 
 ment of all which it produces, as a sort of moral and 
 religious duty. Towards the close of his life, when he 
 had lost his son, in whom all his prospects had long 
 centered, after lamenting, in an elegant allusion to Virgil, 
 that the trees, which he had been nursing for many years, 
 would now afford no shade to his posterity, he was heard 
 to correct himself, by adding, " Yet be it so : I ought 
 not therefore to bestow less attention upon them — they 
 grow to God." 
 
 Agriculture, and the commerce connected with, and 
 dependent upon it, form one of the most considerable 
 branches of political economy ; and as such, Mr. Burke 
 diligently studied them. Indeed, when he began to 
 qualify himself for the exalted rank which he afterwards 
 held among statesmen, he laid a broad and deep founda- 
 tion ; and to an accurate research into the constitution, 
 the laws, the civil and military history of these kingdoms, 
 he joined an enlightened acquaintance with the whole 
 circle of our commercial system. On his first introduc- 
 tion, when a young man, to the late Mr. Gerard Hamilton, 
 who was then a Lord of Trade, the latter ingenuously con- 
 fessed to a friend still living, how sensibly he felt his own 
 inferiority, much as he had endeavoured to inform himself, 
 and aided as he was by official documents, inaccessible to 
 4 any 
 
Scarcity. 455 
 
 any private person. He was also consulted, and the 
 greatest deference was paid to his opinions by Dr. Adam 
 Smith, in the progress of the celebrated work on the 
 Wealth of Nations. 
 
 In parliament, Mr. Burke very soon distinguished 
 himself on these topics. "When the first great permanent 
 law for regulating our foreign corn-trade was under the 
 consideration of the House in 1772, he was one of its 
 principal supporters, in a speech admired at the time for 
 its excellence, and described as abounding with that know- 
 ledge in ceconomics, which he was then universally allowed 
 to possess, and illustrated with that philosophical discri- 
 mination, of which he was so peculiarly a master. About 
 the same time, too, he zealously promoted the repeal of 
 the statutes against forestallers ; a measure not lightly 
 and hastily proposed or adopted in the liberal impulse of 
 an unguarded moment, but the result of various investi- 
 gations made by the House, or in diiFerent committees, 
 during six years of scarcity and high prices ; a measure 
 which, although two Bills of a contrary tendency had 
 formerly been introduced and lost, so approved itself, at 
 length, to the reason of all, that it was ordered to be 
 brought in, without a single dissentient voice. Yet, 
 though such was his early pre-eminence in these pursuits, 
 to the last hour of his life, as his fame spread wider and 
 wider over Europe, he availed himself of the advantage 
 which this afforded him, to enlarge the sphere of his 
 enquiries into the state of other countries, that he might 
 benefit his own. The consequence of all was, he every \ 
 day became more firmly convinced, that the unrestrained 
 freedom of buying and selling is the great animating 
 principle of production and supply. 
 
 The present publication records Mr. Burke's most 
 
 mature reflections on these interesting subjects ; the more 
 
 valuable, because the sentiments which he delivered on 
 
 the occasions already mentioned, have not been preserved 
 
 5 to 
 
4-56 Burke on 
 
 to us, either by himself or by others. He was alarmed 
 by the appearance of the crop in 1795, even before the 
 harvest. In the autumn of that year, when the produce 
 of the harvest began to be known, the alarm became 
 general. Various projects, as in such cases will always 
 happen, were oflFered to Government ; and, in his opinion, 
 seemed to be received with too much complaisance. 
 Under this impression, anxious as he ever was, even in 
 his retirement, and in the midst of his own private afflic- 
 tion, for the pnblick safety and prosperity, he immedi- 
 ately addressed to Mr. Pitt a memorial, which is the 
 ground work of the following tract. Afterwards, con- 
 sidering the importance of the matter, and fearing a long 
 cycle of scarcity to come, he intended to have dilated 
 the several branches of the argument, and to have 
 moulded his " Thoughts and Details" into a more popu- 
 lar shape. This he purposed to have done in a series of 
 letters on rural oeconomics, inscribed to his friend 
 Mr. Arthur Young. It may be remembered, that he even 
 announced this design in an advertisement. But his 
 attention was irresistibly called another way. His whole 
 mind was engrossed by the change of policy which dis- 
 covered itself in our councils at that period, when forget- 
 ting the manly arts, by which alone great nations have 
 ever extricated themselves from momentous and doubtful 
 conflicts, we descended, against the remonstrances of our 
 allies, to the voluntary and unnecessary humiliation of 
 soliciting a peace, which, in his judgment, the animosity 
 of our insolent enemy was not then disposed to grant, 
 and which, if ofFered, we could not then have accepted, 
 without the certainty of incurring dangers much more 
 formidable than any that threatened us from the protrac- 
 tion of the war. He hastened to raise and re-inspirit the 
 prostrate genius of his country. In a great measure he 
 succeeded, and was still employed in the pious office, 
 when Divine Providence took him to receive the reward 
 6 of 
 
Scarcity. 457 
 
 of those, who devote themselves to the cause of virtue 
 and religion. After his decease, two or three detached 
 fragments only of the first letter to Mr. Young were 
 found among his papers. These could not be printed in 
 that imperfect state, and they seemed too precious to be 
 wholly thrown aside. They have been inserted, therefore, 
 in the ^Memorial, where they seemed best to cohere. 
 
 The memorial had been fairly copied, but did not 
 appear to have been examined or corrected, as some 
 trifling errors of the transcriber were perceptible in it. 
 The manuscript of the fragments was a rough draft from 
 the author's own hand, much blotted and very confused. 
 It has been followed with as much fidelity as was possible, 
 after consulting those who were most accustomed to 
 Mr. Burke's manner of writing. Two or three chasms 
 in the grammar and sense, from the casual omission of 
 two or three unimportant words at a distance, have been 
 supplied by conjecture. The principal alteration has been 
 the necessary change of the second for the third person, 
 and the consequent suppression of the common form of 
 affectionate address, where Mr. Young is named. That 
 gentleman alone can have reason to complain of this 
 liberty, inasmuch as it may seem to have deprived him of 
 that, wliich in some sort was his property, and which no 
 man would have known better how to value. But, it is 
 hoped, he will pardon it, since in this manner alone these 
 (joldcn fragments (to borrow a favourite phrase of critics 
 and commentators) could have been made, as they were 
 designed to be, of general utility. To the reader no 
 apology is due, if the disquisitions thus interwoven may 
 seem a little disproportioned to the summar}' statements 
 of the original Memorial. Their own intrinsic worth and 
 beauty will be an ample compensation for that slight 
 deformity; though perhaps in such a composition, as this 
 professes to be (and the title is Mr. Burke's own) nothing 
 of the kind could have been fairly regarded as an irregu- 
 7 lar 
 
458 Burke on 
 
 lar excrescence, had it been placed by himself, where it 
 now stands. 
 
 The Memorial, which was indeed communicated to 
 several members of the king's Government, was believed 
 at the time to have been not wholly unproductive of good. 
 The enquiry, which had been actually begun, into the 
 quantity of corn in hand, was silently dropped. The 
 scheme of public granaries, if it ever existed, was aban- 
 doned. In parliament the ministers maintained a prudent 
 and dignified forbearance ; and repressed in others, or 
 where they could not entirely controul, interposed to 
 moderate and divert, that restless spirit of legislation, 
 which is an evil that seems to grow up, as the vehemence 
 of party-contention abates. The consistency and good 
 sense of the Commons defeated an attempt, which was 
 made towards the close of the sessions, to revive against 
 forestallers of one particular description, some portion of 
 the exploded laws. 
 
 Last year, on the approach of our present distresses, 
 the same excellent temper of mind seemed to prevail in 
 Government, in Parliament, and among the people. There 
 was no proposal of taking stock, no speculation of creat- 
 ing a new establishment of royal purveyors to provide us 
 with our daily dole of bread. The corn merchants were 
 early assured that they should not again have to contend 
 with the competition of the Treasury, in the foreign 
 market. A committee of the House of Commons ventured 
 to dissuade the stopping of the distilleries in a report, 
 very closely coinciding with the reasoning of Mr. Burke. 
 Little or no popular declamation was heard on the 
 miseries of " the labouring poor ;" not a single petition 
 was presented, or motion made, against forestallers. The 
 least objectionable of the experiments suggested, to 
 encrease the supply or lessen the consumption, were 
 adopted. It is hardly worthy of mention, as an excep- 
 tion, that a parliamentary charter was granted to a 
 8 company 
 
Scarcity. 459 
 
 company of very worthy and well-meaning persons, who, 
 on the notion of a combination (which, by the way, they 
 totally failed in proving) among the trades that supply 
 the capital with bread, opened a subscription for under- 
 taking to furnish nearly one-tenth of the consumption. 
 They were contented to do this with limited profits merely 
 as humane badgers and jobbers, charitable millers, senti- 
 mental mealmen, and philanthropic bakers. But dis- 
 trusting a little their own suflScieucy for their new 
 business, they naturally desired to be exempted from the 
 operation of the bankrupt laws ; and their bill was carried 
 by a very small majority, consisting of partners in the 
 firm. All this while, under trials much more severe than 
 in the former dearth, the inferior classes displayed a 
 patience and resignation, only to be equalled by the 
 alacrity and zeal, which the higher and middle orders 
 every where manifested, to relieve the necessities of their 
 poorer neighbours in every practicable mode. 
 
 The present is a season of ferment and riot. The old 
 cry against forestallers has been raised again with more 
 violence than ever. It has been adjudged, for the first 
 time, it is presumed, since the repealing act of 1772, that 
 they are still liable to be punished by the common law, 
 with fine and imprisonment at least, if not with whipping 
 and the pillory, according to the notion which the judge 
 may entertain of their crime. The interpreters of the 
 law must expound it, according to their conscientious 
 judgments, as it is, and the doctrine is not quite new; 
 it has certainly been suggested in grave books since the 
 repeal, yet men of sober minds have doubted, and will 
 doubt, whether in the whole code of customs and usages, 
 derived to us from our ancestors, there can be found any 
 one part so radically inapplicable to the present state of 
 the country, as their trade law ; which, formed before 
 commerce can be said to have existed, on mixed considera- 
 tions, of police for the prevention of theft and rapine, 
 y and 
 
460 Burke on 
 
 and of protection to the interest of the lord in the rights 
 of toll and stallage, permitted no transaction of bargain 
 and sale in any kind of commodity, but openly at a 
 market, or a fair, and more anciently still, with the 
 addition of witnesses also before the magistrate, or the 
 priest : which knew of no commercial principle, but that 
 of subjecting, in every instance, the grower, the maker, 
 or the importer, native and foreigner alike, to the con- 
 sumer, and for that purpose prohibited every intermediate 
 profit, and every practice by act, by word, or by writing, 
 that could enhance the price ; by which, if the dragging 
 of the mouldering records into day be not a mere robbery 
 of the moths and worms, should a gentleman encourage 
 fishermen, brewers, and bakers to settle on his estate, it 
 may be pronounced ?i forestallage of the next town, and a 
 silk merchant, should he ask too much for his raw and 
 organzine (the unfortunate Lombard in the assize-book 
 only asked, he did not get it from the poor silkewemen) 
 may be punished by a heavy fine ; which cannot now be 
 partially in force against one set of dealers, and abrogated 
 by disuse with regard to all others ; which, if generally 
 applied for a single term, without the interposition of 
 that wisdom of parliament, over which this resort to the 
 common law is by some regarded as a triumph, would 
 more efl'ectually clog, distress, and ruin our foreign and 
 domestic commerce in aU its branches, than a confederacy 
 of the whole world against us in many years. Be the 
 late convictions, however, what they may, in legal merits ; 
 their practical efi'ects have been much to be deplored. 
 Gross minds distorted them into authorities to prove, that 
 there was plenty in the land, and that the arts of greedy 
 and unfeeling men alone intercepted the bounty of Pro- 
 vidence. Meetings were called ; non-consumption agree- 
 ments were signed, and associations were formed, chiefly 
 in cities and great towns, to prosecute those, without 
 whom cities and great towns can never be regularly fed. 
 ]0 There 
 
Scarcity. 461 
 
 There is no weak, no wild, no violent project, which did 
 not find countenance in some quarter or other. The fall 
 of the market immediately after the harvest, and the 
 subsequent rise, though the natural effects of obvious 
 causes, enereased the public agitation ; and the multitude 
 began to pursue their usual course of providing in the 
 shortest way for their instant wants, or of terrifying, or 
 punishing those, whom they had been taught to consider 
 as their oppressors ; unconscious or unconcerned that they 
 were thus only preparing for themselves a tenfold aggrava- 
 tion of their own future sufferings. The eyes of all were 
 now turned towards parliament, not for a train of judicious 
 measures, which, if it be possible, may hereafter again 
 equalize the production with the consumption of the 
 country, but for an immediate supply ; as if the omnipo- 
 tence of parliament could restore a single grain that has 
 been injured by the most contemptible insect. 
 
 At such a juncture, however unfavourable it may be 
 to the popularity of this little tract, the publication of it 
 was felt to be a duty. He who wrote it, ever set that 
 consideration before him as the first motive of all his 
 actions. While he lived, he never ceased, publickly and 
 privately, to warn his country and her rulers, against 
 every danger which his wisdom foresaw. He now gives to 
 her and them, this solemn warning from his grave. 
 
 11 
 
THOUGHTS AND DETAILS 
 
 SCARCITY. 
 
 OF all things, an indiscreet tampering with the trade 
 of provisions is the most dangerous, and it is 
 always worst in the time when men are most disposed to 
 it : — that is, in the time of scarcity. Because there is 
 nothing on which the passions of men are so violent, and 
 their judgment so weak, and on which there exists such a 
 multitude of ill-fo^^ndcd popular prejudices. 
 
 The great use of government is as a restraint ; and 
 there is no restraint which it ought to put upon others, 
 and upon itself too, rather than on the fury of speculating 
 under circumstances of irritation. The number of idle 
 tales spread about by the industry of faction, and by the 
 zeal of foolish good-iritention, and greedily devoured by 
 the malignant credulity of mankind, tends infinitely to 
 aggravate prejudices, which, in themselves, are more than 
 sufficiently strong. In that state of affairs, and of the 
 publick with relation to them, the first thing that Govern- 
 ment owes to us, the people, is information ; the next is 
 timely coercion : — the one to guide our judgment ; the 
 other to regulate our tempers. 
 
 To pro%-ide for us in our necessities is not in the 
 power of Government. It would be a vain presumption 
 in statesmen to think they could do it. The people main- 
 tain them, and not they the people. It is in the power of 
 13 Government 
 
464 Burke on 
 
 Government to prevent much evil ; it can do very little 
 positive good in this, or perhaps in any thing else. It is 
 not only so of the state and statesmen, but of all the 
 classes and descriptions of the rich — they are the pen- 
 sioners of the poor, and are maintained by their super- 
 fluity. They are under an absolute, hereditary, and 
 indefeasible dependance on those who labour, and are 
 miscalled the poor. 
 
 The labouring people are only poor, because they are 
 numerous. Numbers in their nature imply poverty. In 
 a fair distribution among a vast multitude, none can have 
 much. That class of dependant pensioners called the 
 rich, is so extremely small, that if all their throats 
 were cut, and a distribution made of all they consume 
 in a year, it would not give a bit of bread and cheese 
 for one night's supper to those who labour, and who in 
 reality feed both the pensioners and themselves. 
 
 But the throats of the rich ought not to be cut, nor 
 their magazines plundered ; because, in their persons they 
 are trustees for those who labour, and their hoards are the 
 banking-houses of these latter. Whether they mean it 
 or not, they do, in eflFect, execute their trust —some with 
 more, some with less fidelity and judgment. But on the 
 whole, the duty is performed, and every thing returns, 
 deducting some very trifling commission and discount, to 
 the place from whence it arose. When the poor rise to 
 destroy the rich, they act as wisely for their own purposes 
 as when they burn mills, and throw corn into the river, to 
 make bread cheap. 
 
 When I say, that we of the people ought to be 
 informed, inclusively I say, we ought not to be flattered : 
 flattery is the reverse of instruction. The poor in that 
 case would be rendered as improvident as the rich, which 
 would not be at aU good for them. 
 
 Nothing can be so base and so wicked as the political 
 
 cantiiig language, " The labouring poor." Let compas- 
 
 14 - sion 
 
Scarcity. 4G5 
 
 sion be shewn in action, the more the better, according to 
 every man's ability, but let tlierc be no lamentation of 
 their condition. It is no relief to their miserable circum- 
 stances ; it is only an insult to their miserable understand- 
 ings. It arises from a total want of charity, or a total 
 want of thought. Want of one kind was never relieved 
 by want of any other kind. Patience, labour, sobriety, 
 frugality, and religion, should be recommended to them ; 
 all the rest is downright fraud. It is horrible to call 
 them " The once happy labourer.'' 
 
 Whether what may be called moral or philosophical 
 happiness of the laborious classes is increased or not, I 
 cannot say. The seat of that species of happiness is in 
 the mind ; and there are few data to ascertain the com- 
 parative state of the mind at any two periods. Philoso- 
 phical happiness is to want little. Civil or vulgar 
 happiness is to want much, and to enjoy much. 
 
 If the happiness of the animal man (wliich certainly 
 goes somewhere towards the happiness of the rational 
 man) be the object of our estimate, then I assert, Avithout 
 the least hesitation, that the condiiiou of those who labour 
 (in all descriptions of labour, and in all gradations of 
 labour, from the highest to the lowest inclusively) is on 
 the whole extremely meliorated, if more and better food 
 is any standard of melioration. They work more, it is 
 certain ; but they have the advantage of their augmented 
 labour ; yet whether that increase of labour be on the 
 whole a good or an evil, is a consideration that would lead 
 us a great way, and is not for my present purpose. But 
 as to the fact of the melioration of their diet, I shall 
 enter into the detail of proof whenever I am called upon : 
 in the mean time, the known difficulty of contenting 
 them with'' any thing but bread made of the finest flour, 
 and meat of the first quality, is proof sufficient. 
 
 I further assert, that even under all the hardships of 
 
 the last year, the labouring people did, either out of their 
 
 15 direct 
 
466 Burke on 
 
 direct gains, or from charity, (which it seems is now an 
 insult to them) in fact, fare better than they did, in 
 - seasons of common plenty, 50 or 60 years ago; or even at 
 the period of my English observation, which is about 
 44 years. I even assert, that full as many in that class, 
 as ever were known to do it before, continued to save 
 money ; and this I can prove, so far as my own informa- 
 tion and experience extend. 
 
 It is not true that the rate of wages has not encreased 
 with the nominal price of provisions. I allow it has not 
 fluctuated with that price, nor ought it ; and the squires 
 of Norfolk had dined, when they gave it as their opinion, 
 that it might or ought to rise and fall with the market-price 
 ;A,of provisions. The rate of wages in truth has no direct 
 ^relation to that price. Labour is a commodity Hke every 
 ; other, and rises or falls according to the demand. This 
 is in the nature of things ; however, the nature of things 
 has provided for their necessities. Wages have been twice 
 raised in my time, and they bear a full proportion, or even 
 a greater than formerly, to the medium of provision 
 during the last bad cycle of twenty years. They bear a 
 full proportion to the result of their labour. If we were 
 wildly to attempt to force them beyond it, the stone which 
 we had forced up the hill would oidy fall back upon them 
 in a diminished demand, or, what indeed is the far lesser 
 evil, an aggravated price of all the provisions, which are 
 the result of their manual toil. 
 
 There is an implied contract, much stronger than any 
 instrument or article of agreement, between the labourer 
 in any occupation and his employer — that the labour, so 
 far as that labour is concerned, shall be sufficient to pay 
 to the employer a profit on his capital, and a compensa- 
 tion for his risk ; in a word, that the labour shall produce 
 an advantage equal to the payment. Whatever is above 
 that, is a direct tax ; and if the amount of that tax be left 
 to the will and pleasure of another, it is an arbitrary tax. 
 16 If 
 
Scarcity. 467 
 
 If I imderstand it rightly, the tax proposed on the 
 farming interest of this kingdom, is to be levied at what 
 is called the discretion of justices of peace. 
 
 The questions arising on this scheme of arbitrary 
 taxation are these — Whether it is better to leave all 
 dealing, in which there is no force or fraud, collusion or 
 combination, entirely to the persons mutually concerned 
 in the matter contracted for ; or to put the contract into 
 the hands of those, who can have none, or a very remote 
 interest in it, and little or no knowledge of the subject. 
 
 It might be imagined that there would be very little 
 difficulty in solving this question ; for what man, of any 
 degree of reflection, can think, that a want of interest in 
 any subject closely connected with a want of skill in it, 
 qualifies a person to intermeddle in any the least affair ; 
 much less in affairs that vitally concern the agriculture 
 of the kingdom, the first of all its concerns, and the 
 foundation of aU its prosperity in every other matter, by 
 which that prosperity is produced ? . 
 
 The vulgar error on this subject arises from a total 
 confusion in the very idea of things widely different in 
 themselves ;— those of convention, and those of judicature. 
 AVhen a contract is making, it is a matter of discretion 
 and of interest between the parties. In that intercourse, 
 and in what is to arise from it, the parties are the masters. 
 If they are not completely so, they are not free, and 
 therefore their contracts are void. 
 
 But this freedom has no farther extent, when the 
 contract is made ; then their discretionary powers expire, 
 and a new order of things takes its origin. Then, and 
 not tiU then, and on a difference between the parties, the 
 office of the judge commences. He cannot dictate the 
 contract. It is his business to see that it be enforced ; 
 provided that it is not contrary to pre-existing laws, or 
 obtained by force or fraud. If he is in any way a maker 
 or regulator of the contract, in so much he is disqualified 
 1 7 from 
 
468 Burke on 
 
 from being a judge. But this sort of confused distribu- 
 tion of administrative and judicial characters, (of which 
 we have already as much as is sufficient, and a little more) 
 is not the only perplexity of notions and passions which 
 trouble us in the present hour. 
 
 What is doing, supposes or pretends that the farmer 
 and the labourer have opposite interests ;— that the 
 farmer oppresses the labourer; and that a gentleman 
 called a justice of peace, is the protector of the latter, 
 and a controul and restraint on the former ; and this is a 
 point I wish to examine in a manner a good deal different 
 from that in which gentlemen proceed, who confide more 
 in their abilities than is fit, and suppose them capable of 
 more than any natural abilities, fed with no other than 
 the provender furnished by their own private speculations, 
 can accomplish. Legislative acts, attempting to regulate 
 this part of ceconomy, do, at least, as much as any other, 
 require the exactest detail of circumstances, guided by 
 the surest general principles that are necessary to direct 
 experiment and enquiry, in order again from those details 
 to elicit principles, firm and luminous general principles, 
 to direct a practical legislative proceeding. 
 
 First, then, 1 deny that it is in this case, as in any 
 other of necessary implication, that contracting parties 
 should originally have had diff'erent interests. By acci- 
 dent it may be so undoubtedly at the outset; but then 
 the contract is of the nature of a compromise; and 
 compromise is founded on circumstances that suppose it 
 the interest of the parties to be reconciled in some 
 medium. The principle of compromise adopted, of con- 
 sequence the interests cease to be different. 
 
 But in the case of the farmer and the labourer ; their 
 interests are always the same, and it is absolutely impos- 
 sible that their free contracts can be onerous to either 
 party. It is the interest of the farmer, that his work 
 should be done with effect and celerity ; and that cannot 
 18 ' be. 
 
Scarcitij. 469 
 
 be, unless the labourer is well fed, and otherwise found 
 with such necessaries of animal life, according to its 
 habitudes, as may keep the body in full force, and the 
 mind gay and cheerful. For of all the instruments of his 
 trade, the labour of man (what the ancient writers have 
 called the instrumentum vocale) is that on which he is 
 most to rely for the re-payment of his capital. The other 
 two, the semivocaJe in the ancient classification, that is, 
 the working stock of cattle, and the instrumentum mutum, 
 such as carts, ploughs, spades, and so forth, though not 
 all inconsiderable in themselves, are very much inferior 
 in utility or in expenee ; and without a given portion of 
 the first, are nothing at all. For in all things whatever, 
 the mind is the most valuable and the most important ; 
 and iji this scale the whole of agriculture is in a natural 
 and just order; the beast is as an informing principle to 
 the plough and cart ; the labourer is as reason to the 
 beast; aud the farmer is as a thinking and presiding 
 principle to the labourer. An attempt to break this chain 
 of suljordiuation in any part is equally absurd ; but the 
 absurdity is the most mischievous in practical operation, 
 where it is the most easy, that is, where it is the most 
 subject to au erroneous judgment. 
 
 It is plainly more the farmer's interest that his men 
 should thrive, than that his horses should be well fed, 
 sleek, plump, and fit for use, or than that his waggon and 
 ploughs should be strong, in good repair, and fit for 
 service. 
 
 On the other hand, if the farmer ceases to profit of 
 the labourer, and that his capital is not continually manured 
 and fructified, it is impossible that he should continue 
 that abundant nutriment, and cloathing, and lodging, 
 proper for the protection of the instruments he employs. 
 
 It is therefore the first and fundamental interest of 
 
 the labourer, that the farmer should have a full incoming 
 
 profit on the product of his labour. The proposition is 
 
 19 self-evident, 
 
470 Burke on 
 
 self-evident, and nothing but the malignity, perverseness^ 
 and ill-governed passions of mankind, and particularly the 
 envy they bear to each other's prosperity, could prevent 
 their seeing and Acknowledging it, with thankfulness to 
 the benign and wise disposer of all things, who obliges 
 men, whether they will or not, in pursuing their own 
 selfish interests, to connect the general good with their 
 own individual success. 
 
 But who are to judge what that profit and advantage 
 ought to be|? certainly no authority on earth. It is a 
 matter of convention dictated by the reciprocal conve- 
 niences of the parties, and indeed by their reciprocal 
 necessities. — But, if the farmer is excessively avaricious? 
 — why so much the better — the more he desires to 
 increase his gains, the more interested is he in the good 
 condition of those, upon whose labour his gains must 
 principally depend. 
 
 I shall be told by the zealots of the sect of regulation, 
 that this may be true, and may be safely committed to 
 the convention of the farmer and the labourer, when the 
 latter is in the prime of his youth, and at the time of his 
 health and vigour, and in ordinary times of abundance. 
 But in calamitous seasons, under accidental illness, in 
 declining life, and with the pressure of a numerous 
 ofi^spring, the future nourishers of the community but the 
 present drains and blood-suckers of those who produce 
 them, what is to be done ? When a man cannot live and 
 maintain his family by the natural hire of his labour, 
 ought it not to be raised by authority ? 
 
 On this head I must be allowed to submit, what my 
 opinions have ever been ; and somewhat at large. 
 
 And, first, I premise that labour is, as I have already 
 intimated, a commodity, and as such, an article of trade. 
 If I am right in this notion, then labour must be subject 
 to all the laws and principles of trade, and not to regula- 
 tions foreign to them, and that may be totally inconsistent 
 30 with 
 
Scarcity. 471 
 
 with those principles and those laws. When any com- 
 modity is carried to market, it is not the necessity of the 
 vender, but the necessity of the purchaser that raises the 
 price. The extreme want of the seller has rather (by the 
 nature of things with which we shall in vain contend) the 
 direct contrary operation. If the goods at market are 
 beyond the demand, they fall in their value ; if below it, 
 they rise. The impossibility of the subsistence of a man, 
 who carries his labour to a market, is totally beside the 
 question in this way of viewing it. The only question is, 
 what is it worth to the buyer ? 
 
 Bmt if authority comes in and forces the buyer to a 
 price, what is this in the case (say) of a farmer, who buys 
 the labour of ten or twelve labouring men, and three or 
 four handycrafts, what is it, but to make an arbitrary 
 division of his property among them ? 
 
 The whole of his gains, I say it with the most certain 
 conviction, never do amount any thing like in value to 
 what he pays to his labourers and artificers ; so that a 
 very small advance upon what one man pays to many, may 
 absorb the whole of what he possesses, and amount to an 
 actual partition of all his substance among them. A 
 perfect equality will indeed be produced ; — that is to say, 
 equal want, equal wretchedness, equal beggary, and on the 
 part of the partitioners, a woeful, helpless, and desperate 
 disappointment. Such is the event of all compulsory 
 equalizations. They pull down what is above. They 
 never raise what is below : and they depress high and low 
 together beneath the level of what was originally the 
 lowest. 
 
 If a commodity is raised by authority above what it 
 will yield with a profit to the buyer, that commodity will 
 be the less dealt in. If a second blundering interposition 
 be used to correct the blunder of the first, and an attempt 
 is made to force the purchase of the commodity (of labour 
 for instance), the one of these two things must happen, 
 21 either 
 
472 Burke on 
 
 either that the forced buyer is ruined, or the price of the 
 product of the labour, in that proportion, is raised. Then 
 the wheel turns round, and the evil complained of falls 
 with aggravated weight on the complainant. The price 
 of corn, which is the result of the expence of all the 
 operations of husbandry, taken together, and for some 
 time continued, will rise on the labourer, considered as a 
 consumer. The very best will be, that he remains where 
 he was. But if the price of the corn should not com- 
 pensate the price of labour, what is far more to be feared, 
 the most serious evil, the very destruction of agriculture 
 itself, is to be apprehended. * 
 
 Nothing is such an enemy to accuracy of judgment as 
 a coarse discrimination ; a want of such classification and 
 distribution as the subject admits of. Encrease the rate 
 of wages to the labourer, say the regulators — as if labour 
 was but one thing and of one value. But this very broad 
 generic term, labour, admits, at least, of two or three 
 specific descriptions : and these will suffice, at least, to 
 let gentlemen discern a little the necessity of proceeding 
 with caution in their coercive guidance of those whose 
 existence depends upon the observance of still nicer dis- 
 tinctions and sub-divisions, than commonly they resort to 
 in forming their judgments on this very enlarged part of 
 economy. 
 
 The labourers in husbandry may be divided : 1st, into 
 those who are able to perform the full work of a man ; 
 that is, what can be done by a person from twenty-one 
 years of age to fifty. I know no husbandry work (mow- 
 ing hardly excepted) that is not equally Avithin the power 
 of all persons within those ages, the more advanced fully 
 compensating by knack and habit what they lose in 
 activity. Unquestionably, there is a good deal of dif- 
 ference between the value of one man's labour and that 
 of another, from strength, dexterity, and honest applica- 
 tion. But I am quite sure, from my best observation, 
 22 that 
 
Scarcity. 473 
 
 that any given five men vrill, in their total, afford a pro- 
 portion of labour equal to any other five within the 
 periods of life I have stated ; that is, that among sueh 
 five men there will be one possessing all the qualifications 
 of a good workman, one bad, and the other three mid- 
 dling, and approximating to the first and the last. So 
 that in so small a platoon as that of even five, you will 
 find the full complement of all that five men cmi earn. 
 Taking five and five throughout the kingdom, tliey are 
 equal : therefore, an error with regard to the equalization 
 of their wages by those who employ five, as farmers do at 
 the very least, cannot be considerable. 
 
 2dly. Those who are ^ble to work, but not the com- 
 plete task of a day-labourer. This class is infinitely 
 diversified, but will aptly enough fall into principal divi- 
 sions. Men, from the decline, which after fifty becomes 
 every year more sensible, to the period of debility and 
 decrepitude, and the maladies that precede a final dissolu- 
 tion, Women, whose employment on husbandry is but 
 occasional, and who differ more in effective labour one 
 from another than men do, on account of gestation, 
 nursing, and domestic management, over and above the 
 difference they have in common with men in advancing, 
 in stationary, and in declining life. C/iildre?i, who pro- 
 ceed on the reverse order, growing from less to greater 
 utility, but with a still greater disproportion of nutriment 
 to labour than is found in the second of these sub-divi- 
 sions ; as is visible to those who will give themselves the 
 trouble of examining into the interior economy of a 
 poor-house. 
 
 This inferior classification is introduced to shew, that 
 laws prescribing, or magisti'ates exercising, a very stiff, 
 and often inapplicable rule, or a blind and rash discretion, 
 never can provide the just proportions between earning 
 and salary on the one hand, and nutriment on the other : 
 whereas interest, habit, and the tacit convention, that 
 23 arise 
 
474 Burke on 
 
 arise from a thousand nameless circumstances, produce a 
 tact that regulates without difficulty, what laws and 
 magistrates cannot regulate at all. The first class of 
 labour wants nothing to equalize it : it equalizes itself. 
 The second and third are not capable of any equalization. 
 
 But what if the rate of hire to the labourer comes 
 far short of his necessaiy subsistence, and the calamity 
 of the time is so great as to threaten actual famine ? Is 
 the poor labourer to be abandoned to the flinty heart and 
 griping hand of base self-interest, supported by the sword 
 of law, especially when there is reason to suppose that the 
 very avarice of farmers themselves has concurred with the 
 errors of Government to bring famine on the land. 
 
 In that case, my opinion is this. Whenever it hap- 
 pens that a man can claim nothing according to the rules 
 of commerce, and the principles of justice, he passes out 
 of that department, and comes within the jurisdiction of 
 mercy. In that province the magistrate has nothing at 
 all to do : his interference is a violation of the property 
 which it is his office to protect. Without all doubt, 
 charity to the poor is a direct and obligatory duty upon 
 all Christians, next in order after the payment of debts, 
 full as strong, and by nature made infinitely more 
 delightful to us. Pufi'endorf, and other casuists do not, 
 I think, denominate it quite properly, when they call it 
 a duty of imperfect obligation. But the manner, mode, 
 time, choice of objects, and proportion, are left to private 
 discretion; and perhaps, for that very reason it is per- 
 formed with the greater satisfaction, because the discharge 
 of it has more the appearance of freedom ; recommending 
 us besides very specially to the divine favour, as the 
 exercise of a virtue most suitable to a being sensible of 
 its own infirmity. 
 
 The cry of the people in cities and towns, though 
 unfortunately (from a fear of their multitude and com- 
 bination) the most regarded, ought, in fact, to be the least 
 24 attended 
 
Scarcity. 475 
 
 attended to upon this subject; for citizens are in a state 
 of litter ignorance of the means by which they are to be 
 fed, and they contribute little or nothing, except in an 
 infinitely circuitous manner, to their own maintenance. 
 They are truly " Fruges consumere nati." They are to 
 be heard with great respect and attention upon matters 
 within their province, that is, on trades and manufac- 
 tures ; but on any thing that relates to agriculture, they 
 are to be listened to with the same reverence which we 
 pay to the dogmas of other ignorant and presumptuous 
 men. 
 
 If any one were to tell them, that they were to give in 
 an account of all the stock in their shops; that attempts 
 would be made to limit their profits, or raise the price of 
 the labouring manufacturers upon them, or recommend to 
 Government, out of a capital from the publick revenues, 
 to set up a shop of the same commodities, in order to 
 rival them, and keep them to reasonable dealing, they 
 would soon see the impudence, injustice, and oppression 
 of such a course. They would not be mistaken ; but 
 they are of opinion, that agriculture is to be subject to 
 other laws, and to be governed by other principles, 
 
 A greater and more ruinous mistake cannot be fallen 
 into, than that the trades of agriculture and grazing can 
 be conducted upon any other than the common principles 
 of commerce ; namely, that the producer should be per- 
 mitted, and even expected, to look to all possible profit 
 which, without fraud or violence, he can make ; to turn 
 plenty or scarcity to the best advantage he can ; to keep 
 back or to bring forward his commodities at his pleasure ; 
 to account to no one for his stock or for his gain. On 
 any other terms he is the slave of the consumer ; and 
 that he should be so is of no benefit to the consumer. 
 No slave was ever so beneficial to the master as a freeman 
 that deals with him on an equal footing by convention, 
 formed on the rules and principles of contending interests 
 25 and 
 
476 Burke on 
 
 and compromised advantages. The consumer, if he were 
 suffered, would in the end always be the dupe of his own 
 tyranny and injustice. The landed gentleman is never to 
 forget, that the farmer is his representative. 
 
 It is a perilous thing to try experiments on the farmer. 
 The farmer's capital (except in a few persons, and in a 
 very few places) is far more feeble than commonly is 
 imagined. The trade is a very poor trade ; it is subject 
 to great risks and losses. The capital, such as it is, is 
 turned but once in the year ; in some branches it requires 
 three years before the money is paid. I believe never 
 less than three in the turnip and grass-land course, which 
 is the prevalent course on the more or less fertile, sandy 
 and gravelly loams, and these compose the soil in the 
 south and south-east of England, the best adapted, and 
 perhaps the only ones that are adapted, to the turnip 
 husbandry. 
 
 It is very rare that the most prosperous farmer, 
 counting the value of his quick and dead stock, the 
 interest of the money he turns, together with his own 
 wages as a bailiff or overseer, ever does make twelve or 
 fifteen ^jer centum by the year on his capital. I speak of 
 the prosperous. In most of the parts of England which 
 have fallen within my observation, I have rarely known a 
 farmer, who to his own trade has not added some other 
 employment or traffic, that, after a course of the most 
 unremitting parsimony and labour (such for the greater 
 part is theirs), and persevering in his business for a long 
 coiu'se of years, died worth more than paid his debts, 
 leaving his posterity to continue in nearly the same equal 
 conflict between industry and want, in which the last 
 predecessor, and a long line of predecessors before him, 
 lived and died. 
 
 Observe that I speak of the generality of farmers who 
 
 have not more than from one hundred and fifty to three 
 
 or four hundred acres. There are few in this part of the 
 
 26 country 
 
Scarcity. 477 
 
 country witliin the former, or much beyond the latter, 
 extent. Unquestionably in other places there are much 
 larger. But, I am convinced, whatever part of England 
 be the theatre of his operations, a farmer who cultivates 
 twelve hundred acres, which I consider as a large farm, 
 thongh I know there are larger, cannot proceed, with any 
 degree of safety and effect, with a smaller capital than 
 ten thousand pounds ; and that he cannot, in the ordinary 
 course of culture, make more upon that great capital of 
 ten thousand pounds, than twelve hundred a year. 
 
 As to the weaker capitals, an easy judgment may be 
 formed by wliat very small errors they may be farther 
 attenuated, enervated, rendered unproductive, and perhaps 
 totally destroyed. 
 
 This constant precariousness and ultimate moderate 
 limits of a farmer's fortune, on the strongest capital, I 
 press, not only on account of the hazardous speculations 
 of the times, but because the excellent and most useful 
 works of my friend, !Mr. Arthur Young, tend to propagate 
 that error (such I am very certain it is) , of the largeness 
 of a farmer's profits. It is not that his account of the 
 produce does often greatly exceed, but he by no means 
 makes the proper allowance for accidents and losses. I 
 might enter into a convincing detail, if other more 
 troublesome and more necessary details were not before me. 
 
 This proposed discretionary tax on labour militates 
 with the recommendations of the Board of Agricultm-e : 
 they recommend a general use of the drill culture. I 
 agree with the Board, that where the soil is not excessively 
 heavy, or incumbered with large loose stones (which how- 
 ever is the case with much otherwise good land), that 
 course is the best, and most productive, provided that the 
 most accurate eye; the most vigilant superintendence; 
 the most prompt activity, which has no such day as to- 
 morrow in its calendar; the most steady foresight and 
 prc-disposing order to have every body and every thing 
 27 ready 
 
478 Burke on 
 
 ready in its place, and prepared to take advantage of the 
 fortunate fugitive moment in this coquetting climate of 
 ours — provided, I say, all these combine to speed the 
 plough, I admit its superiority over the old and general 
 methods. But under procrastinating, improvident, ordi- 
 nar}'^ husbandmen, who may neglect or let slip the few 
 opportunities of sweetening and piirifying their ground 
 with perpetually renovated toil, and undissipated attention, 
 nothing, when tried to any extent, can be worse, or more 
 dangerous : the farm may be ruined, instead of having 
 the soil enriched and sweetened by it. 
 
 But the excellence of the method on a proper soil, 
 and conducted by an husbandman, of whom there are few, 
 being readily granted, how, and on what conditions, is this 
 culture obtained? Why, by a very great encrease of 
 labour ; by an augmentation of the third part, at least, of 
 the hand-labour, to say nothing of the horses and ma- 
 chinery employed in ordinary tillage. Now, every man 
 must be sensible how little becoming the gravity of legis- 
 lature it is to encourage a board, which recommends to 
 us, and upon very weighty reasons unquestionably, an 
 enlargement of the capital we employ in the operations of 
 the land, and then to pass an act which taxes that manual 
 labour, already at a very high rate ; thus compelling us to 
 diminish the quantity of labour which in the vulgar course 
 we actually employ. 
 
 What is true of the farmer is equally true of the 
 middle man ; whether the middle man acts as factor, 
 jobber, salesman, or speculator, in the markets of grain. 
 These traders are to be left to their free course ; and the 
 more they make, and the richer they are, and the more 
 largely they deal, the better both for the farmer and 
 consumer, between whom they form a natural and most 
 useful link of connection : though, by the machinations 
 of the old evil counsellor. Envy, they are hated and 
 maligned by both parties. 
 
 28 I hear 
 
Scarcity. 479 
 
 1 hear that middle men are accused of monopoly. 
 "U'ithout question, tlie monopoly of authority is, in every 
 instance and in every degree, an evil ; but the monopoly 
 of capital is the contrary. It is a great benefit, and a 
 benefit particularly to the poor. A tradesman who has 
 but a hundred pound capital, which (say) he can turn but 
 once a year, cannot live upon a profit of 10 per cent. 
 because he cannot live upon ten pounds a year ; but a 
 man of ten thousand pounds capital can live and thrive 
 upon 5 per cent, profit in the year, because he has five 
 hundred pounds a year. The same proportion holds in 
 turning it twice or thrice. These principles are plain and 
 simple ; and it is not our ignorance, so much as the levity, 
 the envy, and the malignity of our nature, that hinders us 
 from perceiving and yielding to them ; but we are not to 
 suffer our vices to usurp the place of our judgment. 
 
 The balance between consumption and production 
 makes price. The market settles, and alone can settle, 
 that price. Market is the meeting and conference of the 
 consumer and producer, when they mutually discover each 
 other's wants. Xobody, 1 believe, has observed with any 
 reflection what market is, without being astonished at the 
 truth, the correctness, the celerity, the general equity, 
 with which the balance of wants is settled. They who 
 wish the destruction of that balance, and would fain by 
 arbitrary regulation decree, that defective production 
 should not be compensated by encreased price, directly lay 
 their axe to the root of production itself. 
 
 They may even in one year of such false policy, do 
 mischiefs incalculable ; because the trade of a farmer is, 
 as I have before explained, one of the most precarious in 
 its advantages, the most liable to losses, and the least 
 profitable of any that is carried on. It requires ten times 
 more of labour, of vigilance, of attention, of skill, and 
 let me add, of good fortune also, to carry on the business 
 of a farmer with success, than what belongs to any other 
 21) trade. 
 
480 Burke on 
 
 trade. Seeing things in this light, I am far from presum- 
 ing to censure the late circular instruction of Council to 
 lord lieutenants — but I confess I do not clearly discern 
 its object. I am greatly afraid that the enquiry will raise 
 some alarm as a measure, leading to the French system of 
 putting corn into requisition. For that was preceded by 
 an inquisition somewhat similar in its principle, though, 
 according to their mode, their principles are full of that 
 violence, which here is not much to be feared. It goes on 
 a principle directly opposite to mine : it presumes, that 
 the market is no fair test of plenty or scarcity. It raises 
 a suspicion, which may affect the tranquillity of the 
 public mind, " that the farmer keeps back, and takes 
 unfair advantages by delay ;" on the part of the dealer, it 
 gives rise obviously to a thousand nefarious sjieculations. 
 
 In case the return should on the whole prove favour- 
 able, is it meant to ground a measure for encouraging 
 exportation and checking the import of corn? If it is 
 not, what end can it answer ? And, I believe, it is not. 
 
 This opinion may be fortified by a report gone abroad, 
 that intentions are entertained of erecting public grana- 
 ries, and that this enquiry is to give Government an 
 advantage in its purchases. 
 
 I hear that such a measure has been proposed, and is 
 under deliberation, that is, for Government to set up a 
 granary in every market town, at the expence of the state, 
 in order to extinguish the dealer, and to subject the farmer 
 to the consumer, by securing corn to the latter at a 
 certain and steady price. 
 
 If such a scheme is adopted, I should not like to 
 answer for the safety of the granary, of the agents, or of 
 the town itself, in which the granary was erected — the 
 first storm of popular phreuzy would fall upon that 
 granary. 
 
 So far in a political light. 
 
 In an economical light, I must observe, that the con- 
 30 structiou 
 
Scare It y. 481 
 
 struction of such granaries throughout tlie kingdom, 
 would be at an expencc beyond all calculation. The 
 keeping them up would be at a great charge. The 
 management and attendance would require an army of 
 agents, store-keepers, clerks, and servants. The capital 
 to be employed in the purchase of grain would be enor- 
 mous. The waste, decay, and corruption, would be a 
 dreadful di*awback on the whole dealing ; and the dissa- 
 tisfaction of the people, at having decayed, tainted, or 
 corrupted corn sold to them, as must be the case, would 
 be serious. 
 
 This climate (whatever others may be) is not favour- 
 able to granaries, where wheat is to be kept for any time. 
 The best, and indeed the only good granary, is the rick- 
 yard of the farmer, where the corn is preserved in its own 
 straw, sweet, clean, wholesome, free from vermin, and 
 from insects, and comparatively at a trifle of expence. 
 This, with the barn, enjoying many of the same advan- 
 tages, have been the sole granaries of England from the 
 foundation of its agriculture to this day. All this is done 
 at the expence of the undertaker, and at his sole risk. 
 He contributes to Government ; he receives nothing from 
 it but protection ; and to this he has a claim. 
 
 The moment that Government appears at market, all 
 the principles of market \vill be subverted. I don^t know 
 whether the farmer will sufffer by itj as long as there is 
 a tolerable market of competition; but I am sure that, 
 in the first place, the trading Government will speedily 
 become a bankrupt, and the consumer in the end will 
 suffer. If Government makes all its purchases at once, it 
 will instantly raise the market upon itself. If it makes 
 them by degrees, it must follow the course of the market. 
 If it follows the course of the market, it will produce no 
 effect, and the consumer may as well buy as he wants — 
 therefore all the expence is incurred gratis. 
 
 But if the object of this scheme should be, what I 
 31 suspect 
 
482 Burke on 
 
 suspect it is, to destroy the dealer, commonly called the 
 middle man, and by incurring a voluntary loss to carry 
 the baker to deal with Government, I am to tell them that 
 they must set up another trade, that of a miller or a 
 mealman, attended with a new train of expences and risks. 
 If in both these trades they should succeed, so as to 
 exclude those who trade on natural and private capitals, 
 then they will have a monopoly in their hands, which, 
 under the appearance of a monopoly of capital, will, in 
 reality, be a monopoly of authority, and will ruin what- 
 ever it touches. The agriculture of the kingdom cannot 
 •stand before it. 
 
 A little place like Geneva, of not more than from 
 twenty-five to thirty thousand inhabitants, which has no 
 territory, or next to none ; which depends for its existence 
 on the good-will of three neighbouring powers, and is of 
 course continually in the state of something like a siege, 
 or in the speculation of it, might find some resource in 
 state granaries, and some revenue from the monopoly of 
 what was sold to the keepers of public-houses. This is 
 a policy for a state too small for agriculture. It is not 
 (for instance) fit for so great a country as the Pope pos- 
 sesses, where, however, it is adopted and pursued in a 
 greater extent, and with more strictness. Certain of the 
 Pope's territories, from whence the city of Home is sup- 
 plied, being obliged to furnish Rome and the granaries of 
 his holiness with corn at a certain price, that part of the 
 ' papal territories is utterly ruined. That ruin may be 
 traced with certainty to this sole cause, and it appears 
 indubitably by a comparison of their state and condition 
 with that of the other part of the ecclesiastical dominions 
 not subjected to the same regulations, which are in 
 circumstances highly flourishing. 
 
 The reformation of this evil system is in a manner 
 
 impracticable ; for, first, it does keep bread and all other 
 
 prorisions equally subject to the chamber of supply, at a 
 
 33 pretty 
 
Scarcity. 483 
 
 pretty reasona])le and regular price, in the city of Rome. 
 Tliis preserves quiet among the numerous poor, idle, and 
 naturally mutinous people, of a very great capital. But 
 the quiet of the town is purchased by the ruin of the 
 country, and the ultimate wretchedness of both. The 
 next cause which renders this evil incurable, is, the jobs 
 which have grown out of it, and which, in spite of all 
 precautions, would grow out of such things, even under 
 Governments far more potent than the feeble authority of 
 the Pope. 
 
 This example of Rome which has been derived from 
 the most ancient times, and the most flourishing period of 
 the Roman empire (but not of the Roman agriculture) 
 may serve as a great caution to all Governments, not to 
 attempt to feed the people out of the hands of the magis- 
 trates. If once they are habituated to it, though but for 
 one half-year, they will never be satisfied to have it 
 otherwise. And, having looked to Government for bread, 
 on the very first scarcity they will turn and bite the hand 
 that fed them. To avoid ihoX evil, Government will re- 
 double the causes of it ; and then it will become inveterate 
 and incui'able. 
 
 I beseech the Government {which I take in the largest 
 sense of the word, comprehending the two Houses of 
 Parliament) seriously to consider that years of scarcity or 
 plenty, do not come alternately or at short intervals, but 
 in pretty long cycles and irregularly, and consequently 
 that we cannot assure ourselves, if we take a wrong 
 measure, from the temporary necessities of one season ; 
 but that the next, and probably more, will drive us to the 
 continuance of it ; so that in my opinion, there is no way 
 of preventing this evil which goes to the destruction of 
 all our agriculture, and of that part of our internal com- 
 merce which touches our agriculture the most nearly, as 
 well as the safety and very being of Government, but 
 33 manfully 
 
484 Burke on 
 
 manfully to resist the very first idea, speculative or prac- 
 tical, that it is within the competence of Government, 
 taken as Government, or even of the rich, as rich, to 
 supply to the poor, those necessaries which it has pleased 
 the Divine Providence for a v/hile to withhold from them. 
 "We, the people, ought to be made sensible, that it is not 
 in breaking the laws of commerce, which are the laws of 
 nature, and consequently the laws of God, that we are to 
 place our hope of softening the divine displeasure to 
 refaove any calamity under, which we suffer, or which 
 hangs over us. 
 
 So far as to the principles of general policy. 
 
 As to the state of things which is urged as a reason to 
 deviate from them, these are tlie circumstances of the 
 harvest of 1795 and 1794. With regard to the harvest 
 of 1794, in relation to the noblest grain, wheat, it is 
 allawed to have been somewhat short, but not excessively; 
 and in quality, for the seven and twenty years, during 
 which I have been a farmer, I never remember wheat to 
 have been so good. The world were, however, deceived 
 in their speculations upon it — the farmer as well as the 
 dealer. Accordingly the price fluctuated beyond any 
 thing I can • remember ; for, at one time of the year, I 
 sold my wheat at 14Z. a load, (I sold off all I had, as I 
 thought this was a reasonable price), when at the end of 
 the season, if I had then had any to sell, I might have 
 got thirty guineas for the same sort of grain. I sold all 
 that I had, as I said, at a comparatively low price, because 
 I thought it a good price, compared with what I thought 
 the general produce of the harvest ; but when I came to 
 consider what my own total was, I found that the quantity 
 had not answered my expectation. It must be remem- 
 bered, that this year of produce, (the year 1794) short, 
 but excellent, followed a year which was not extraordinary 
 in production, nor of a superior quality, and left but little 
 34 in 
 
Scarcity. 485 
 
 iu store. At first this was uot felt, because the harvest 
 came in unusually early — earlier than common, by a full 
 mouth. 
 
 The winter, at the end of 1794, and beginning of 
 1795, was more than usually unfavourable both to corn 
 and grass, owing to the sudden relaxation of very rigorous 
 frosts, followed by rains, which were again rapidly suc- 
 ceeded by frosts of still greater rigour than the first. 
 
 Much wheat was utterly destroyed. The clover grass 
 suffered in many places. AVhat I never observed before, 
 the rye-grass, or coarse bent, suffered more than the 
 clover. Even the meadow-grass in some places was killed 
 to the very roots. In the spring, appearances were better 
 than we expected. All the early sown grain recovered 
 itself, and came up with great vigour; but that, which 
 was late sown, was feeble, and did not promise to resist 
 any blights, in the spring, which, however, with all its 
 unpleasant vicissitudes passed off very well ; and nothing 
 looked better than the wheat at the time of blooming :— 
 but at that most critical time of all, a cold dry east wind, 
 attended with very sharp frosts, longer and stronger than 
 I recollect at that time of year, destroyed the flowers, and 
 withered up, in an astonishing manner, the whole side of 
 the ear next to the wind. At that time I brought to town 
 some of the ears, for the purpose of shewing to my friends 
 the operation of those unnatural frosts, and according to 
 their extent I predicted a great scarcity. But such is the 
 pleasure of agreeable prospects, that my opinion was little 
 regarded. 
 
 On threshing, I found things as I expected — the ears 
 not fillei, some of the capsules quite empty, and several 
 others containing only withered hungry grain, inferior to 
 the appearance of rye. My best ears and grains were not 
 fine : never had I grain of so low a quality — yet I sold one 
 load for 21Z. At the same time I bought my seed wheat 
 (it was excellent) at 23/. Since then the price has risen, 
 35 and 
 
486 Burke on 
 
 and I have sold about two load of tlie same sort at 23/, 
 Sucli was the state of the market when I left home last 
 Monday. Little remains in my barn, I hope some in 
 the rick may be better : since it was earlier sown, as well 
 as I can recollect. Some of my neighbours have better, 
 some quite as bad, or even worse. I suspect it will be 
 found, that wherever the blighting wind and those frosts 
 at blooming time have prevailed, the produce of the wheat 
 crop will turn out very indifferent. Those parts which 
 have escaped, will, I can hardly doubt, have a reasonable 
 produce. 
 
 As to the other grains, it is to be observed, as the 
 wheat ripened very late, (on account, I conceive, of the 
 blights) the barley got the start of it, and was ripe first. 
 The crop was with me, and wherever my enquiiy could 
 reach, excellent ; in some places far superior to mine. 
 
 The clover, which came up with the barley, was the 
 finest I remember to have seen. 
 
 The turnips of this year are generally good. 
 
 The clover sown last year, where not totally destroyed, 
 gave two good crops, or one crop and a plentiful seed ; 
 and, bating the loss of the rye-grass, I do not remember 
 a better produce. 
 
 The meadow-grass yielded but a middling crop, and 
 neither of the sown or natural grass was there in any 
 farmer's possession any remainder from the year worth 
 taking into account. In most places, there was none at 
 all. 
 
 Oats with me were not in a quantity more consider- 
 able than in commonly good seasons ; but I have never 
 known them heavier, than they were in other places. 
 The oat was not only an heavy, but an uncommonly 
 abundant crop. My ground under pease did not exceed 
 an acre, or thereabouts, but the crop was great indeed. 
 I believe it is throughout the country exuberant. 
 
 It is however to be remarked, that as generally of aU 
 36 the 
 
Scarcity. 487 
 
 the grains, so particularly of the pease, there Avas not the 
 smallest quantity in reserve. 
 
 The demand of the year must depend solely on its own 
 produce ; and the price of the spring-corn is not to be 
 expected to fall very soon, or at any time very low. 
 
 Uxbridge is a great corn market. As I came through 
 that town, I found that at the last market-day, barley was 
 at forty shillings a quarter ; oats there were literally none ; 
 and the innkeeper was obliged to send for them to London. 
 I forgot to ask about pease. Potatoes were 5*. the 
 bushel. 
 
 In the debate on this subject in the House, I am told 
 that a leading member of great ability, little conversant in 
 these matters, observed, that the general uniform dearuess 
 of butcher's meat, butter, and cheese, could not be owing 
 to a defective produce of wheat; and on this ground 
 insinuated a suspicion of some unfair practice on the 
 subject, that called for enquiry. 
 
 Unquestionably the mere deficiency of wheat could 
 not cause the dearness of the other articles, which extends 
 not only to the provisions he mentioned, but to every 
 other without exception. 
 
 The cause is indeed so very plain and obvious, that the 
 ■wonder is the ^other way. When a properly directed 
 enquiry is made, the gentlemen who are amazed at the 
 price of these commodities will find, that when hay is at 
 six pound a load, as they must know it is, herbage, and 
 for more than one year, must be scanty, and they will 
 conclude, that if grass be scarce, beef, veal, mutton, 
 butter, milk, and cheese, must be dear. 
 
 But to take up the matter somewhat more in detail — 
 if the wheat harvest in 1794, excellent in quality, was 
 defective in quantity, the barley liarvest was in (juality 
 ordinary enough : and in quantity deficient. This was 
 soon felt hi the price of malt. 
 
 Another article of produce (beans) was not at all 
 37 plentiful. 
 
488 Burke on 
 
 plentiful. The crop of pease was wholly destroyed, so 
 that several farmers ]iretty early gave up all hopes on that 
 head, and cut the green haulm as fodder for the cattle, 
 then perishing for want of food in that dry and burning 
 summer. I myself came off better than most — I had 
 about the fourth of a crop of pease. 
 
 It will be recollected, that, in a manner, all the bacon 
 and pork consumed in this country, (the far largest con- 
 sumption of meat out of towns) is, when growing, fed on 
 grass, and on whey, or skimmed milk ; and when fatting, 
 partly on the latter. This is the case in the dairy 
 countries, all of them great breeders and feeders of swine ; 
 but for the much greater part, and in all the corn 
 countries, they are fattened on beans, barley meal, and 
 pease. When the food of the animal is scarce, his flesh 
 must be dear. This, one would suppose, would require 
 no great penetration to discover. 
 
 This failure of so very large a supply of flesh in one 
 species, naturally throws the whole demand of the con- 
 sumer on the diminished supply of all kinds of flesh, 
 and, indeed, on aU the matters of human sustenance. 
 Nor, in my opinion, are we to expect a greater cheapness 
 in that article for this year, even though corn should 
 grow cheaper, as it is to be hoped it will. The store 
 swine, from the failure of subsistence last year, are now 
 at an extravagant price. Pigs, at our fairs, have sold 
 lately for fifty shillings, which, two years ago, would not 
 have brought more than twenty. 
 
 As to sheep, none, I thought, were strangers to the 
 general failure of the article of turnips last year ; the 
 early having been burned as they came up, by the great 
 drought and heat ; the late, and those of the early which 
 had escaped, were destroyed by the chilling frosts of the 
 winter, and the wet and severe weather of the spring. In 
 many places a full fourth of the sheep or the lambs were 
 lost, what remained of the lambs were poor and ill fed, 
 38 the 
 
Scare it I/. 489 
 
 the ewes having had no milk. The calves came late, and 
 they were generally an article, the want of which was as 
 much to be dreaded as any other. So that article of 
 food, formerly so abundant in the early part of the sum- 
 mer, particularly in London, and which in a great part 
 supplied the place of mutton for near two months, did 
 little less than totally fail. 
 
 All the productions of the earth link in with each 
 other. All the sources of plenty, in all and every article, 
 were dried or fi'ozen up. The scarcity was not as gentle- 
 men seem to suppose, in wheat only. 
 
 Another cause, and that not of inconsiderable opera- 
 tion, tended to produce a scarcity in flesh pronsion. It 
 is one that on many accounts cannot be too much re- 
 gretted, and, the rather, as it was the sole cause of scarcity 
 in that article, which arose from the proceedings of men 
 themselves. I mean the stop put to the distillery. 
 
 The hogs (and that would be sufficient) which were 
 fed with the waste wash of that produce, did not demand 
 the fourth part of the corn used by farmers in fattening 
 them. The spirit was nearly so much clear gain to the 
 nation. It is an odd way of making flesh cheap, to stop 
 or check the distillery. 
 
 The distillery in itself produces an immense article of 
 trade almost all over the woi'ld, to Africa, to North 
 America, and to various parts of Europe. It is of great 
 use, next to food itself, to our fisheries and to our whole 
 navigation. A great part of the distillery was carried on 
 by damaged corn, unfit for bread, and by barley and malt 
 of the lowest quality. These things could not be more 
 unexceptionably employed. The domestic consumption 
 of spirits, produced, without complaints, a very great 
 revenue, applicable, if we pleased, in bounties to the 
 bringing corn from other i)laces, far beyond the value of 
 that consumed in making it, or to the encouragement of 
 its encrcased production at home. 
 
 39 As 
 
490 Burke on 
 
 \As to what is said, in a physical and moral view, 
 against the home consumption of spirits, experience has 
 long since taught me very little to respect the declama- 
 tions on that subject — whether the thunder of the laws, 
 or the thunder of eloquence, " is hurled on gin," always 
 I am thunder-proof. The alembic, in my mind, has 
 furnished to the world a far greater benefit and blessing, 
 than if the opus maximum had been really found by 
 chemistry, and, like ]\Iidas, we could turn every thing into 
 gold. 
 
 Undoubtedly there may be a dangerous abuse in the 
 excess of spirits ; and at one time I am ready to believe 
 the abuse was great. T\Tien spirits are cheap, the business 
 of drunkenness is achieved with little time or labour ; 
 but that evil I consider to be wholly done away. Obser- 
 vation for the last forty years, and very particularly for 
 the last thirty, has furnished me with ten instances of 
 di'unkenness from other causes, for one from this. Ardent 
 spirit is a great medicine, often to remove distempers — 
 much more fi-equently to prevent them, or to chase them 
 away in their beginnings. It is not nutritive in ayiy great 
 degree. But, if not food, it greatly alleviates the want of 
 it. It invigorates the stomach for the digestion of poor 
 meagre diet, not easily alliable to the human constitution. 
 Wine the poor cannot touch. Beer, as applied to many 
 occasions, (as among seamen and fishermen for instance) 
 will by no means do the business. Let me add, what wits 
 inspired with champaign and claret, will turn into ridicule 
 — it is a medicine for the mind. Under the pressure of 
 the cares and sorroAvs of our mortal condition, men have 
 at all times, and in all countries, called in some physical 
 aid to their moral consolations, — wine, beer, opium, 
 brandy, or tobacco. 
 
 I consider therefore the stopping of the distillery, 
 
 ceconomically, financially, commercially, medicinally, and 
 
 in some degree morally too, as a measure rather well 
 
 40 meant 
 
Scarcity. 491 
 
 meant than well considered. It is too precious a sacrifice 
 to prejudice. 
 
 Gentlemen well know whether there be a scarcity of 
 partridges, and whether that be an effect of hoarding 
 and combination. All the tame race of birds live and die 
 as the wild do. 
 
 As to the lesser articles, they are like the greater. 
 They have followed the fortune of the season. Why are 
 fowls dear? was not this the fjirmer's or jobber's fault. I 
 sold from my yard to a jobber, six young and lean fowls, 
 for four and twenty shillings ; fowls, for which, two years 
 ago, the same man would not have given a shilling 
 a-piece. — He sold them afterwards at UxbridgC; and they 
 were taken to London to receive the last hand. 
 
 As to the operation of the war in causing the scarcity 
 of provisions, I understand that INIr. Pitt has given a 
 particular answer to it — but I do not think it worth 
 powder and shot. 
 
 I do not wonder the papers are so full of this sort 
 of matter, but I am a little surprised it should be men- 
 tioned in parliament. Like all great state questions, peace 
 and war may be discussed, and difi'erent opinions fairly 
 formed, on political grounds, but on a question of the 
 present price of provisions, Avhen peace with the regicides 
 is always uppermost, I can only say, that great is the 
 love of it. 
 
 After all, have we not reason to be thankful to the 
 giver of all good ? In our history, and when " The 
 labourer of England is said to have been once happj'," 
 we find constantly, after certain intervals, a period of real 
 famine ; by which, a melancholy havock was made among 
 the human race. The price of provisions fluctuated 
 dreadfully, demonstrating a deficiency very different from 
 the worst failures of the present moment. Never since 
 I have known England, have I known more than a com- 
 parative scarcity. The jjricc of wheat, taking a number 
 41 of 
 
492 Burke on 
 
 of years together, has had no very considerable fluctua- 
 tion, nor has it risen exceedingly until within this twelve- 
 month. Even now, I do not know of one man, woman, 
 or child, that has perished from famine ; fewer, if any, I 
 believe, than in years of plenty, when such a thing may 
 happen by accident. This is owing to a care and super- 
 intendance of the poor, far greater than any I remember. 
 
 The consideration of this ought to bind us all, rich 
 and poor together, against those wicked writers of the 
 newspapers, who would inflame the poor against their 
 friends, guardians, patrons, and protectors. Not only 
 very few (I have observed, that I know of none, though 
 I live in a place as poor as most) have actually died of 
 want, but we have seen no traces of those dreadful exter- 
 minating epidemics, which, in consequence of scanty and 
 unwholesome food, in former times, not unfrequently, 
 wasted whole nations. Let us be saved from too much 
 wisdom of our own, and we shall do tolerably well. 
 
 It is one of the finest problems in legislation, and 
 what has often engaged my thoughts whilst I followed 
 that profession, " What the state ought to take upon 
 itself to direct by the public wisdom, and what it ought 
 to leave, with as little interference as possible, to indi- 
 vidual discretion.^^ Nothing, certainly, can be laid down 
 on the subject that will not admit of exceptions, many 
 permanent, some occasional. But the clearest line of 
 distinction which I could draw, whilst I had any chalk to 
 draw my line, was this : That the state ought to confine 
 itself to what regards the state, or the creatures of the 
 state, namely, the exterior establishment of its religion; 
 its magistracy ; its revenue ; its military force by sea and 
 land ; the corporations that owe their existence to its fiat ; 
 in a word, to every thing that is truly and properly public, 
 to the public peace, to the public safety, to the public 
 order, to the public prosperity. In its preventive police 
 it ought to be sparing of its efibrts, and to employ m cans 
 42 rather 
 
Scarcity. 498 
 
 rather few, unfrcquent, and strong, than many, and fre- 
 quent, and, of course, as they multiply their puny politic 
 race, and dwindle, small and feeble. Statesmen who 
 know themselves will, with the dignity which belongs to 
 wisdom, proceed only in this the superior orb and first 
 mover of their duty, steadily, vigilantly, severely, cour- 
 ageously : whatever remains will, in a manner, provide for 
 itself. But as they descend from the state to a province, 
 from a province to a parish, and from a parish to a private 
 house, they go on accelerated in their fall. They cannot 
 do the lower duty ; and, in proportion as they try it, they 
 ■will certainly fail in the higher. They ought to know the 
 different departments of things; what belongs to laws, 
 and what manners alone can regulate. To these, great 
 politicians may give a leaning, but they cannot give a 
 law. 
 
 Our legislature has fallen into this fault as well as 
 other Governments ; all have fallen into it more or less. 
 The once mighty state, which was nearest to us locally, 
 nearest to us in every way, and whose ruins threaten to 
 fall upon our heads, is a strong instance of this error. I 
 can never quote France without a foreboding sigh — 
 E^SETAfHMAP ! Scipio said it to his recording Greek 
 friend amidst the flames of the great rival of his country. 
 That state has fallen by the hands of the parricides of 
 their country, called the Revolutionists, and Constitu- 
 tionalists, of France, a species of traitors, of whose fury 
 and atrocious wickedness nothing in the annals of the 
 phrenzy and depravation of mankind had before furnished 
 an example, and of whom I can never think or speak 
 without a mixed sensation of disgust, of horrour, and of 
 detestation, not easy to be expressed. These nefarious 
 monsters destroyed their country for what was good in it : 
 for much good there was in the constitution of that noble 
 monarchy, which, in all kinds, formed and nourished great 
 men, and great patterns of virtue to the world. But 
 43 ' thouffh 
 
494 Burke on Scarcity. 
 
 thougli its enemies were not enemies to its faults, its faults 
 furnished them with means for its destruction. My dear 
 departed friend, whose loss is even greater to the public 
 than to me, had often remarked, that the leading \ace of 
 the French monarchy (which he had well studied) was in 
 good intention ill-directed, and a restless desire of govern- 
 ing too much. The hand of authority was seen in every 
 thing, and in every place. All, therefore, that happened 
 amiss in the course even of domestic aflFairs, was attri- 
 buted to the Government; and, as it always happens in 
 this kind of officious universal interference, what began 
 in odious power, ended always, I may say without an 
 exception, in contemptible imbecility. For this reason, 
 as far as I can approve of any novelty, I thought well of 
 the provincial administrations. Those, if the superior 
 power had been severe, and vigilant, and ^dgorous, might 
 have been of much use politically in removing Government 
 from many invidious details. But as every thing is good 
 or bad, as it is related or combined. Government being 
 relaxed above as it was relaxed below, and the brains of 
 the people growing more and more addle with every sort 
 of visionary speculation, the shiftings of the scene in the 
 proxancial theatres became only preparatives to a revolu- 
 tion in the kingdom, and the popular actings there only 
 the rehearsals of the terrible drama of the republic. 
 
 Tyranny and cruelty may make men justly wish the 
 downfall of abused powers, but I believe that no Govern- 
 ment ever yet perished from any other direct cause than 
 its own weakness. ]My opmion is against an over-doing 
 of any sort of administration, and more especially against 
 this most momentous of all meddling on the part of 
 authority; the meddling with the subsistence of the 
 people. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
INQUIRY 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 POLICY AND JUSTICE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PROHIBITION OF THE USE OF GRAIN 
 
 IN THE 
 
 DISTILLERIES : 
 
 INCLUDING 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE NATURE AND USES OF A 
 
 VENT TO SUPERFLUOUS LAND-PRODUCE; AND A 
 
 PARTICULAR APPLICATION OF THE GENERAL 
 
 QUESTION TO THE PRESENT SITUATION OF THE 
 
 COLONIAL INTERESTS. 
 
 BY ARCHIBALD BELL, ESQ. ADVOCATE. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 \ PBINTED FOR AND SOLD BY ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND CO. 
 
Bell on Dixtilhriex. 497 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction , . . . 501 
 
 Soct. I. Of the Opei-ation of Distilleries in a Coimtry 
 which supplies its own Consumption, or 
 affords a surplus for Exportation . . . . 508 
 
 1. Of their Operation in Years of Average Pro- 
 
 duce ibid, 
 
 2. Of their Operation in Years of Deficient Pro- 
 
 duce 519 
 
 Sect. II. Of the Operation of Distilleries in a Country 
 
 which Imports a part of its supplies, . . . 534 
 
 1. Of their Operation in Years of Average Im- 
 
 portation ibid . 
 
 2. Of their Operation in Years of Deficient 
 
 Importation 541 
 
 Sect. III. How far the present distresses of the Colonial 
 Proprietors alone, afibrd a just ground for 
 the suspension of the use' of Grain in Dis- 
 tilleries 54!) 
 
 1 . How far the present distresses of the Colonii>ts 
 
 are entitled to any relief from the Public ibid. 
 
 2. How far the mode of relief at present sug- 
 
 gested is a proper one 551 
 
Bell on Distilleries. 4f)0 
 
 ADVERT 1 S E M E N 'l\ 
 
 TO those who are familiar with the doctrines of 
 political economy, the minuteness of illustration 
 and detail, in the following remarks, may appear super- 
 fluous. But when we consider how important it is, in a 
 popular Government like ours, that the public be possessed 
 of just notions on schemes of national policy ; and, when, 
 we see such fundamental and exploded errors advanced on 
 a subject so interesting as the present, I am hopeful that 
 they who least require a detailed explanation, will be the 
 most sensible of its utility. 
 
 It will also be found, that the principles which I have 
 endeavoured to establish are of general application, and 
 may enable us to judge, not merely of the present 
 measure, but of all similar schemes of policy. They 
 indeed involve the most extensive and fundamental doc- 
 trines in the science of political economy. 
 
 I likewise hope that some of tlic facts and reasoniugs 
 which I have advanced, may tend to dissipate those 
 groundless alarms on the subject of scarcity, which some 
 persons seem at present to feel ; a passion which, of all 
 others, is the most apt to bewilder the public opinion, 
 and to urge a headlong adoption of those measures which 
 are the most likely to create or aggravate sucli a calamity. 
 
 The present situation of our colonies I shall also touch 
 upon, as connected with the more general questions which 
 
500 '" Bell on Distilleries. 
 
 arise on the present subject : though on this, as being 
 less important in itself, and less within my opportunities 
 of information, I shall be more brief. 
 
 The Report of the Committee of the House of Com- 
 mons, relative to the distillation of sugar, and the very 
 large and important mass of evidence contained in the 
 Appendix, I have had the benefit of perusing. Any 
 testimony of mine to the ability, patience, and candour 
 with which that respectable body have conducted their 
 researches, would be impertinent. I have taken the 
 liberty of dissenting from their opinion ; but I have 
 stated the grounds of my dissent, and, I hope, with that 
 becoming deference and moderation which should always 
 accompany free inquiry. If any thing material in the 
 evidence laid before the Committee should have escaped 
 me, it will perhaps be excused, from the shortness of the 
 time allowed for its perusal. 
 
 INQUIRY 
 
Bdl on Distilleries. 501 
 
 INQUIRY 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 POLICY AND JUSTICE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PROHIBiriON OF THE USE OF GRAIN 
 
 IN THE 
 
 DISTILLERIES, &c. 
 
 THE distress of our West India Colonies has for some 
 time excited the public attention ; and as the 
 persons chiefly interested in colonial produce, though a 
 small, are not an unimportant class of the community, 
 endowed with the spirit, and possessing the weight and 
 activity of an affluent corporation, it is by no means sur- 
 prising that their complaints have been heard. They 
 have laid them before the pul)lic in various shapes ; and, 
 with the common propensity of human nature, in exam- 
 ining into the source of their distresses, they have found 
 every one to blame but themselves. They have accounted 
 for the present stagnation of their commodity in their 
 hands by every cause but the true one, — their own 
 imprudent speculation. 
 
 That the present glut of sugar has arisen from an 
 7 over 
 
502 BelJ on 
 
 over cultivation of that produce, so as to overstock the 
 market of the world ; and that our planters must sooner 
 or later diminish their cultivation, now that more fertile 
 soils are reviving, and entering the competition ; seem to 
 me truths, which can hardly be doubted by any whose 
 opinion is not in some degree biassed by their interest. 
 The thing is probable in theory ; and, were any con- 
 firmation of it wanted, it would be derived from the 
 inadequate causes assigned for their present difficulties by 
 the colonists themselves. It may perhaps be doubted, 
 whether persons so suffering, are entitled to any relief 
 from the public ; or, whether they ought not to be left 
 to that correction which the immutable laws of nature 
 have provided for rash speculation. This is a question, 
 however, on which I at present forbear to enter. My 
 chief purpose is, to inquire how far, if any relief is to be 
 granted, that which has been proposed, of confining the 
 home distillation to sugar, be a proper one. I shall 
 endeavour to shew, that it is improper in every view ; 
 impolitic in regard to the public interest; and unjust 
 towards our home cultivators. 
 
 When the subject of prohibiting distillation from 
 grain was so much agitated a few years ago, the com- 
 plexion of the question diflfered materially from what it 
 is at present. It was then debated entirely on general 
 grounds. The only interests considered were those of 
 the public, and of the home grower; the consumer and 
 producer of our domestic supplies. The interests of the 
 colonists were not at all insisted on. Indeed the idea of 
 distilling from sugar does not then seem to have been 
 generally entertained. The question was argued as if the 
 stoppage of the distillery would altogether suspend the 
 formation of ardent spirit ; and hence two arguments 
 were applied to it, on either side, which do not touch it in 
 its present shape. The one was in favour of the distillery, 
 on the score of its use to the revenue : the other against 
 8 it 
 
Distilleries. 503 
 
 it, on the effects of the consumption of distilled spirit on 
 the health, morals, and happiness, of the people. 
 
 As an object of revenue, the distillery certainly has its 
 advantages, chiefly in the view of easy collection. In any 
 other light, it seems less important, as the grain used there, 
 if consumed in the support of any other species of industry, 
 would afford the same, or nearly the same revenue, levied 
 on the produce of that industry, whatever it might be. 
 
 The objection to distillation, on the score of its moral 
 effects, has, I confess, always appeared to me by far the 
 strongest counterpoise to the great benefits which it 
 yields. When I consider the excessive indulgence in 
 ardent spirits, which always attends their abundance ; the 
 destruction which it occasions to the health, morals, 
 economy, and industry of the people ; the ruin of natural 
 affection, and the general depravity and misery which it 
 brings on the lower orders, and their families ; I am some- 
 times staggered in my prepossession of leaving all industry 
 free, and inclined to prohibit a manufacture of poison, as 
 I would any other public nuisance. I have need to 
 recollect the other great benefits arising from tlie practice ; 
 the general encouragement which it gives to agriculture, 
 and the resources which it yields in occasional scarcity, 
 before I can reconcile myself to its public toleration. In 
 considering this objection, it is somewhat amusing to 
 reflect on the different impression of arguments on dif- 
 ferent minds. This, which I look upon as so weighty, 
 and indeed the only one of the smallest weight against 
 distilleries, has, I suppose, never been a feather in the 
 balance in determining the legal provisions on the subject. 
 The minds of statesmen and legislators are swayed by far 
 other considerations. Indeed I fear I shall risk any little 
 credit my other notions might gain, by dwelling on so 
 simple an objection. 
 
 But however this may be, the above objection is no 
 
 otherwise important to the present inquiry, than as a 
 
 9 curious 
 
504 Bell on 
 
 curious speculation ; for wlietlier the measure now pro- 
 posed be adopted or not, the quantity of distilled spirit will 
 probably not be diminished. The only question is, whether 
 it shall be manufactured from grain or from sugar? I 
 believe the spirit distilled from sugar is rather more 
 noxious than that distilled from grain ; but this difference 
 is probably not so material as much to affect the argu- 
 ment. Neither, on the other hand, does the question of 
 revenue enter into consideration, for the quantity of 
 manufactured spirit, and consequently the duties, will 
 probably remain much the same. 
 
 The interest of the distillers seems likewise to be 
 pretty much unconnected with the present question. For 
 though it appears, by the evidence before the committee, 
 on the one hand, that corn is in general preferred for 
 distillation ; and, on the other, that the suspension might 
 profit individuals who have speculated in the view of its 
 taking place ; it would seem, that an arrangement of 
 duties may make the matter pretty nearly indifferent to 
 them as a body.* 
 
 A new and important interest, however, has made its 
 appearance on the present occasion, which was scarcely 
 thought of formerly, — that of our Colonial proprietors. They 
 have, some time ago, applied to Parliament for assistance 
 in their present distresses ; have suggested the suspension 
 of the corn distillery as one mode of relief; and have had 
 sufficient influence with the Committee of the House of 
 Commons, appointed to inquire into their case, to induce 
 them to recommend it ; after having failed in a like sug- 
 gestion to a former Committee. f 
 
 10 Like 
 
 * See the evidence of Mr. T. Smith (of Brentford), and Mr. T. 
 Smith (of the house of Stein, Smith, & Co.) in the Appendix to the 
 Report, particularly p. 34-81. Mr. D. Montgomerie, p. 126-8. 
 
 t " The result, therefore, of the inquiry of the Committee is, 
 " that however strongly they may feel the distresses and the diffi- 
 
Distilleries. 505 
 
 Like all bodies too who call for monopolies, they have 
 not limited their argument, in suggesting the present 
 measure, to their own necessities. They have endeavoured 
 to persuade their countrymen, that the public interest is 
 as much concerned in the suspension of the corn distillery 
 as that of the colonists ; and, as is usual, they have per- 
 suaded many uninterested persons that this is the case. 
 "We have been told so even from very high authority, and 
 are daily told so in a mass of crude speculation on this 
 subject, which now overflows the country. The Report 
 of the Committee likewise, though, of course, it enlarges 
 on the colonial difficulties, does, however, urge certain 
 grounds for the adoption of the present measure, on 
 public views, connected with the present state of our 
 foreign relations. This makes it necessary to consider the 
 question on general principles, as well as with a particular 
 view to the present distresses of the colonists. Nor are 
 such general principles confined in their application to the 
 question now agitated, but will enable us to judge of the 
 same, or similar proposals, at all times and seasons. It 
 is useful to be set right in regard to first principles, even 
 if we should occasionally depart from them. We shall 
 thus be better able to estimate the grounds alleged for 
 such departure, as well as to determine its nature and 
 limits. 
 
 The present inquiry, therefore, divides itself into two 
 
 branches. The first involves the question. Are there any 
 
 1 1 grounds, 
 
 " culties uudor which the West Indian trade at present labours ; 
 " however anxious they may be to recommend the adoption of any 
 " measure which may tend to afford, even a temporary relief, from a 
 " pressure so heavy and alarming, they do not think the measure of 
 " permitting the use of sugar and molasses, for a time to be limited, 
 " in the breweries and distilleries, one that would give to the West 
 " Indian trade any relief adequate to its distresses, consistent with the 
 " interests of other branches of the community, or with the safety of 
 " the revenue.'' Rep. from the Distillery Conuuittee, Feb. 1807. 
 
506 Bell on 
 
 grounds, in the present circumstances of this country, 
 independent of the distresses of the colonists, to justify 
 the suspension of distillation from grain? The second 
 involves the question, Supposing there are no such 
 grounds, is the interest of the sugar colonists a sufficient 
 reason for such a measure ? 
 
 The first or general inquiry further subdivides itself 
 into two branches. The present circumstances of this 
 country, unconnected with the interest of the colonists, 
 may be considered, in the first place more generally, as 
 relative to a great nation producing its own supplies, and 
 at amity with all the world. In the second place, under 
 its present peculiar aspect, as importing a part of its 
 supplies from foreign states ; while there is a chance of 
 these supplies being interrupted, from the violence of war, 
 in the present extraordinary combination against us. 
 
 These two branches T shall consider in the two first 
 sections, and I think they will exhaust all the views which 
 have been taken of the subject unconnected with the 
 interest of the colonists. 
 
 In the second place, supposing it to be made out, that, 
 on all and each of these general grounds, the proposed 
 suspension of the distillery would be unadvisable, I shall 
 next enquire. Whether the present distresses of the colo- 
 nists are a sufficient ground for granting them relief, by 
 the suspension of the distillery of grain, either in the 
 view of justice to the home cultivator, or policy towards 
 the public? This will form the subject of a third 
 section. 
 
 In all speculations regarding public measures, the 
 great object of inquiry is the interest of the public. The 
 interest of individuals, or classes of individuals, must be 
 considered only as subordinate to this great interest. It 
 is not to be inferred from this, that I maintain that 
 12 injustice 
 
Distilleries. 507 
 
 injustice is to be committed towards smaller classes, when 
 the interest of the public requires it ; because I believe 
 it to be a rule without one exception, that it never can be 
 for the public advantage, to prefer one class before 
 another in the free direction of their industry. In the 
 following observations, therefore, when I speak of the 
 interest of the home grower, or of the colonist, I always 
 speak of it, not in exclusive relation to either of those 
 classes of individuals, but as subordinate to the interest 
 of the public. When I speak of anything tending to the 
 prosperity or discouragement of our farmers, I mean only 
 in so far as the public interest is concerned in that pros- 
 ])erity or discouragement. When I speak of the pro- 
 priety or impropriety of granting relief to the colonists, 
 or of the mode of relief at present suggested, I speak of 
 it, neither with favour nor dislike towards them as a body, 
 but only in as far as it is for the public interest that any 
 relief, or that such relief, should be granted. 
 
 It is further to be attended to, that the measure now 
 in agitation is not merely the free permission of import- 
 ing sugar, or, what is the same thing, an equalization of 
 the duties on sugar, and on corn, used in distilleries. It 
 will be seen that, according to all the principles on which 
 the following argument is maintained, I not only approve 
 of such free importation as a temporary measure, but as a 
 permanent system. AVhat is proposed in the Report of 
 the Committee, and what I object to, is the monopoly of 
 the distilleries granted to the colonist, and the forcible 
 exclusion of the home grower from the competition. 
 
 13 SI-XT. 1. 
 
508 Bell on 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 Of the Operation of Distilleries in a Country ivhich sup- 
 j)lies its own Consumption, or affords a Surjilus beyond 
 it. 
 
 THE operation of distilleries on a country producing 
 its own supplies, or affording a surplus, may be 
 considered under two views : I. In years of average 
 home produce : and, II. In years of scarcity from defi- 
 cient home produce. 
 
 I. To enlarge on the importance of a flourishing 
 agriculture, to the strength and prosperity of a state, does 
 not seem at present necessary ; for it is a truth which the 
 most erroneous systems of oeconomical policy never could 
 entirely hide, and is one on which the public opinion 
 seems now to be pretty well awakened, although the 
 general views on this subject are still far from being 
 wholly just. The land produce of a state, though not the 
 only source of wealth (as some of its indiscreet favourers 
 have maintained) is at least the most important branch of 
 it, the foundation of all the rest, and the measure of their 
 extent and limits. In a large territory, the amount of 
 subsistence which can be imported, must necessarily be 
 small;* and as the population of a state is regulated by 
 its means of subsistence, a large territory can only be 
 populous in proportion to the means of subsistence which 
 it raises within itself. It follows, that aU other branches 
 of industry, which are carried on by that population, must 
 be regulated by the amount of the land produce. From 
 these plain premises I do not infer (as some very able men 
 have done) that agriculture should receive any peculiar 
 encouragement from the law, beyond other branches of 
 11 industry ; 
 
 * Smith's Wealth of Nations, B. 4. c. 2. 
 
Distilleries. 509 
 
 iiulustrv ; because I think such encouragcmcut can do it 
 no good. But 1 infer, that it should sulier no positive 
 restraint or discouragement to the advantage of other 
 branches of industry ; because, though some limited 
 branch of industry may profit by such preference, the 
 industry and prosperity of the country in general must 
 suffer exactly in proportion as agriculture suffers. 
 
 Mr. Malthus (whose profound and original specula- 
 tions have formed an sera in political science) has, how- 
 ever, shewn, that it is not merely the gross amount of 
 land produce in a state, in proportion to the extent of 
 territory, which is the cause of domestic prosperity, but 
 the relative amount of that produce, in proportion to the 
 numbers of the people. Thus, if two nations possess an 
 equal extent of territory, and raise an equal produce, and 
 one contain ten millions of mhabitants, the other tivelve 
 millions ; in the former, the food being divided in larger 
 shares among the people than in the latter, the former 
 people will enjoy greater comfort and happiness than the 
 latter, in common and average years. 
 
 But although the gross amount of produce, in propor- 
 tion to territory, and its relative amount, in proportion to 
 population, be diflerent things, and it be possible to con- 
 ceive the gross produce, in proportion to territory, to be 
 large, while the relative produce is small, and the people 
 but moderately supplied (which I believe is the case in 
 China) ; yet I imagine, in general, large gross produce 
 and relative abundance uiriformly go together, where no 
 impolitic laws or usages encourage a superfluous popula- 
 tion, or interrupt the commerce of grain. — Wherever 
 these arc left free to the operation of nature, a large gross 
 produce is uniformly attended with a relative abundance 
 among the people. 
 
 In regard, again, to the public strength of a country, 
 
 as opposed to other states, it is needless to shew how much 
 
 tills depends on tlic amount of its land produce, in pro- 
 
 15 portion 
 
510 Bell on 
 
 portion to the land produce of other states. If two 
 neighbouring nations are equal iu extent of territory, 
 that wliich produces the largest supplies, will maintain 
 the largest population, and a given proportion of that 
 population will, of course, constitute a larger force than 
 the same proportion of the other population. On the 
 other hand, if two neighbouring nations are of unequal 
 size, the smaller may, by a superior agriculture, support 
 an equal population, and, of course, equal armies. In 
 the particular circumstances, therefore, of every state, its 
 force must be measured by the extent of its supplies. If 
 France be twice as large as Britain, or (what, in the 
 existing state of any two countries, is the same thing) 
 have twice as many acres in culture, and yet Britain raise 
 twice as much grain per acre, Britain will be as populous 
 as France, and will be able to support equal armies. — This 
 is supposing the gross produce of both countries to be the 
 same ; their respective numbers to be the same ; and the 
 proportion of these numbers which they maintain in war, 
 also the same. 
 
 But, strictly speaking, the power of a nation to main- 
 tain armies does not depend so much on the amount of 
 its population, compared with the population of other 
 states, as on the amount of its supplies, compared with 
 the suppKes of other states. I have observed that, though 
 population always bears a near relation to supply, yet it 
 does not always bear exactly the same relation to it. In 
 one nation the supplies may be more abundant in propor- 
 tion to the numbers, or, what is the same thing, the 
 people less numerous in proportion to the supplies than in 
 another nation. Now, in such circumstances, the nation 
 whose abundance is the greatest, though it use its whole 
 supplies in peace by the various modes of consumption, 
 may, in war, by a retrenchment of its consumption, yield 
 larger supplies than its poorer neighbour can do, to the 
 maintenance of an army, and of those arts necessary to 
 16 the 
 
Distilleries. 511 
 
 the supply of an army, and, of course, support a larjrer 
 army. Its population, thoujih in numbers only equal to 
 that of its rival, yields in war a greater disposable propor- 
 tion without diiuinishing- the land produce, provided the 
 consumption in the richer nation be diminished in the 
 same proportion. The richer nation can support an army 
 of 120,000 men, equalhj well appointed and supplied, as 
 the poorer can support an army of 100,000 men. — Or, 
 the richer nation can support an army of 100,000 men 
 better appointed and supplied than the poorer nation can 
 support the same number. 
 
 It appears, therefore, that the public strength of a 
 state, as well as its domestic prosperity, is in proportion 
 to the amount of its supplies. 
 
 The encouragement of a great land produce, therefore, 
 becomes the first of all objects, towards both the domestic 
 happiness and the public security of a state; and while 
 on this subject, it is pleasing to reflect, that the example 
 of our own country is the best confirmation of the above 
 doctrines. No long settled community, of equal extent, 
 has, perhaps, ever yielded so large a produce as Great 
 Britain ; has supported its population in such general 
 abundance ; or possessed such prodigious resources for 
 offence and security. The average land produce of Great 
 Britain is as much superior to that of other nations, as 
 her manufactures and commerce.* This she has attained, 
 not from the perfect rectitude of her policy in regard to 
 agriculture, but because the errors she has committed 
 have been fewer than those committed by other nations ; 
 1 7 and 
 
 * Mr. Ar. Young (the justness and importance of whose practical 
 o})servations in political economy shine through the uncertainty of 
 his general principles) has remarked, that England has always been 
 as mucn superior to France in agriculture as in other branches of 
 industry. By his calculation, the produce of this ct)uutry was to 
 that of France when he travelled (1789-92) as 28 to 18 
 
512 Bell on 
 
 and the consequences of them have been more completely 
 palliated. The first of these advantages she has derived 
 from the influence of the public voice and interest over 
 her public councils ; the second from the freedom of 
 individual exertion, overcoming the restraints of an inju- 
 dicious policy. 
 
 Such, then, being the importance of increasing the 
 actual land produce of a country, it may be laid down as 
 an axiom, that every positive restriction, which limits the 
 power of the farmer to augment the land produce, is 
 immediately injurious to him, and consequentially inju- 
 rious to the community. I say every positive restriction, 
 which gives the preference to some other branch of 
 industry over his ; for, as far as respects a free competi- 
 tion, though that may sometimes diminish the farmer's 
 profits in the mean time, it will be for the advantage of 
 the community. It is only when the farmer asks some 
 monopoly, that his interest and that of the public can 
 ever be opposed. 
 
 It is the mterest of the farmer to have an abundant 
 produce, but yet somewhat under the demand of the 
 market. It is the interest of the public that the produce 
 should be abundant, and the market pretty fully supplied. 
 In other words, the farmer wishes for plenty, and tolerably 
 high prices ; the public for plenty, and tolerably low 
 prices. But while, on the one hand, it is not the interest 
 of the farmer to have too high prices, which can only 
 proceed from very deficient produce ; on the other hand, 
 it is not the interest of the public to have too low prices, 
 proceeding from over-abundance, which may discourage 
 the farmer, and induce him to retrench his cultivation. 
 Such retrenchment naturally leads back to scarcity, and a 
 change of this kind, from plenty to scarcity, is a much 
 greater evil than if the produce had never exceeded the 
 lowest point of the vibration. Though it be the interest 
 of the public, therefore, tliat grain should be cheap, it 
 18 never 
 
DistiUertes. 513 
 
 never can he its interest that grain shonkl he so eheap as 
 to injure tlic eultivator. Such an ovcr-clicapucss may 
 sometimes arise in the course of nature, hy the farmer's 
 improvident over -trading, and, in such a case, shouhl he 
 left to remedy itself hy natural means. It will, however, 
 scarcely ever amount to an evil, if things he left to their 
 own course, and nothing ohstruct the natural efforts of 
 competition to relieve itself. But whenever the cheapness 
 is produced artificially, or hy forcihle means, it may be 
 pronounced pernicious, as injm'ious to the puhlic in the 
 long-run, as immediately to the grower. 
 
 Cheapness and dearness, it is to be observed, are 
 variable terms, importing the relation between the demand 
 and the actual supply. It is therefore impossible to fix 
 them by any definite standard, or determine when either 
 is excessive. When matters are left free each will accu- 
 rately adapt itself to the actual amount of supplies. Corn 
 will never be cheap but when it ought to be cheap, nor 
 cheaper than it ought to be : — It will never be dear unless 
 when it ought to be dear, nor dearer than it ought to be. 
 The cultivatoi-'s complaints of low prices on the one hand, 
 or, as it is usually termed, the loant of adequate returns to 
 the grower, are just as unreasonable as the public com- 
 plaints of high prices on the other. The return in the 
 market, when matters arc left free, must be the adequate 
 and proper return, in proportion to the amount of produce. 
 If this last be too large, the farmer has overtraded, by 
 advancing cultivation too rapidly, and must diminish it. 
 This is the only sense in which I use the word cver- 
 chcapness, when arising from natural causes, and the 
 only remedy I would propose, however low prices might 
 fall. 
 
 There are two modes in which the farmer's profits may 
 
 be lowered, and abundance created by forced expedients, 
 
 which, in a course of average seasons, have nearly tlie 
 
 same effect ; namely, the sto])page of liis market, anu the 
 
 ID increase 
 
61-4 Bell on 
 
 increase of produce ; — tlie one professing to attain its end 
 by restraint, the other by encouragement. 
 
 In the annals of legislation, we are no strangers to 
 various schemes of policy which have professed to lower 
 the price of grain by forced limitations of the market. 
 The famous minister Colbert, wishing to encourage the 
 manufactures of France, bethought himself of increasing 
 the plenty, and lowering the price of grain, by prohibiting 
 its export. In this way, no doubt, there was suddenly 
 thrown back on the home market the whole quantity 
 usually exported, and the consequence must have been an 
 immediate plenty and cheapness. But all the effect of 
 this was very soon over ; for the farmers finding a glut of 
 their commodity on their hands, and the prices so low as 
 to yield them no adequate return, (an expression which 
 in this case might be used with propriety,) were forced to 
 retrench their cultivation, and thus reduce the produce to 
 what it was formerly, exclusive of the export. The object 
 desired, therefore, was almost immediately defeated. But 
 this is by no means stating the full amount of the evil. 
 For the discouragement to agriculture, from the closing 
 up an indefinite vent to its produce, will always diminish 
 that produce, or prevent its gradual increase, in a propor- 
 tion far beyond the actual amount consumed by that vent 
 at the time of the restriction. The policy of M. Colbert, 
 therefore, not merely defeated its own end ; not merely 
 did not promote the cheapness, and advance the industry 
 which he favoured; but was probably greatly injurious 
 to it. He snatched at a hasty advantage by sacrificing 
 the spring which was to prolong and augment it. The 
 character of his policy (to use the illustration of Montes- 
 quieu on another subject) resembled the eagerness of the 
 savage who, to get at the fruit, cuts down the tree. 
 
 The an? logy between the above policy and that of 
 prohibitiuc distillation fi-om corn, is obvious and com- 
 plete. The distillery affords the farmer a steady, con- 
 20 venient 
 
Distilleries. 515 
 
 venicnt, and profitable market for his produce, exactly in 
 the same way as export. It is also indefinite in extent ; 
 and if the vent which it furnishes be in general more 
 limited than that of export, it is nearer, more sure, and 
 not dependent, like the other, on the demand of other 
 states, or our connection with them. Like the former, it 
 encourages a considerably larger produce than it actually 
 consumes.* The effect of a stoppage of this vent, like 
 that of the other, is to throw the whole grain used there 
 into the common market, which, while it occasions a 
 transitory cheapness, will lower the farmer's profits, and 
 finally reduce his cultivation to the full amount of the 
 grain usually distilled, and probably much further. 
 
 In short, the analogy, so remarkable in other in- 
 stances, between produce and population applies perfectly 
 here. A free emigration increases the numbers of the 
 people in the same manner as a free export, or other vent, 
 increases produce. All attempts to force either, by direct 
 encouragements, are miavailing. All attempts to stop 
 their natural vents lead to the very decrease that is 
 feared, t 
 
 21 There 
 
 * This opinion i3 distinctly expressed by that very intelligent 
 cultivator Mr. Wakefield, in his evidence before the Committee, 
 App, to Rep. p. 109-111. The operation of even a very limited vent 
 in encouraging produce is described by Mr. A. Young, in his evi- 
 dence before the Committee. The quantity of grain used in the 
 distilleries of the United Kingdom, is stated in the Report to amount 
 to 781,000 qrs. 470,000 in Britain, and 311,000 in Ireland. 
 
 t They who doubt of the effects of a free and regular emigration 
 in increasing numbers may, I think, be convinced by perusing 
 Mr. Malthus's account of the irruption of the barbarous nations of 
 the north of Europe. That author has completely solved the problem 
 of their excessive numbers, which had puzzled so many of his pre- 
 decessors. Dr. Ferguson has compared the attempts to increase 
 population to the assisting a water-fall with an oar. The fears of its 
 decay from emigration resemble the fears of the river running out, 
 and leaving its channel dry. Sec this matter enlarged on, and 
 
516 Bell on 
 
 There are, however, certain reasouers who have denied 
 that the home grower would sustain any loss from the 
 stoppage of distillation. He would save as much, accord- 
 ing to them, in the reduced wages of labour and poor 
 rates, the easier maintenance of his family, &c. conse- 
 quent on the cheapness, as he would lose by the fall of 
 grain. If this be true, the price of grain is of no conse- 
 quence to the farmer, and the fixation of a maximum, 
 however low, would be to hira a matter of indifference. 
 By the same reasoning we may satisfy the woollen manu- 
 facturer, that a fall in the price of cloth is nothing against 
 his interest, as he might then clothe his workmen, 
 servants, and family cheaper than before. It is painful, 
 at this time of day, to be obliged to reply seriously to 
 such folly. Were the argument intended to convince 
 those only whom it professes to address (the farmer or 
 manufacturer), it would be idle, indeed, to take notice of 
 it. Their interest and experience tell them its absurdity 
 too plainly to allow them to be deceived. Let others be 
 convinced, from what is observed of their conduct (if 
 unable to see it themselves), that a forced decrease in the 
 price of any commodity is never compensated to the 
 dealer by the lower wages of his workmen, or any other 
 consequences of the fall. If the farmers in this country 
 consider the stoppage of the distillery as a matter of 
 indifference to them, I have done with my objections. 
 
 Such, then, will be the consequence of stopping dis- 
 tillation, or any other natural vent to home produce, in a 
 course of average years. The effect of taking away a vent 
 to produce, in case of the occurrence of scarcity, I shall 
 afterwards attend to. 
 
 But the forced limitation of the market is not the 
 
 only device that has been fallen upon to increase abund- 
 
 22 ance, 
 
 practically applied, iu Lord Selkirk's excellent treatise on the High- 
 laud Emigrations. 
 
Distilleries. 517 
 
 ancc, and lower prices. Some persons expecting to attain 
 tlic same end by encouragement, as in the former case 
 was expected by restraint, have proposed a bounty on the 
 improvement of wastes, or breaking up grass lands. But 
 it seems evident, that, in as far as this is forced beyond 
 the natural demand of the market, the former cultivation 
 will just suflfer in proportion as the new cultivation 
 increases ; and the supplies will merely be raised in 
 different places, w^hile their aggregate amount will remain 
 the same. But, indeed, any encouragement of this kind 
 must be so insignificant, that I rather think it will produce 
 no effect at all. The effects of such a measure as to 
 scarcity, and with the view of diminishing importation, 
 I shall afterwards consider. 
 
 But while the direct encouragement of home produce 
 is unavailing, or injurious to the farmer, and, in neither 
 view, will lead to any increase of supplies, all obstacles to 
 its free progress should be removed. This is indeed the 
 whole length that the encouragement to improving wastes, 
 or turning grass lands into tillage, should or can go ; and^ 
 while thus free, the interest of the farmer and the public 
 always go together. 
 
 The farmer, like the undsrtaker of every other branch 
 of industry, must lay his account with the competition of 
 every other person who pursues the same, or any other 
 trade, in a lawful manner. If any other person pursue 
 his trade in the way of breaking up waste lands, he does 
 no more than he is entitled to, and has no preference over 
 those who cultivate the more improved soils. The too 
 rapid cultivation of wastes is a thing impossible, if left 
 wholly to private interest and industry, because the 
 inducement to that practice is only in proportion to the 
 high price, or scarcity of land produce ; and as the 
 scarcity is relieved, or prices fall, the inducement to culti- 
 vate wastes must fall in proportion. The operation of 
 improving wastes must therefore be gradual, and suited 
 23 to 
 
618 Bell on 
 
 to the public demands. The public demands, on the 
 other hand, will adjust themselves to this natural and 
 permanent increase of produce, and the community will 
 receive a lasting benefit, while the class of cultivators will 
 suflfer no injury. 
 
 An analogy has been drawn from the plan of increasing 
 supplies by the above means, to that of increasing them 
 by the suspension of the distilleries ; and although there 
 be a diflference between them in the view of scarcity, as 
 shall afterwards be shewn, yet in the continuance of 
 average supplies, I think the analogy may be admitted. 
 The interference in regard to both is equally wrong ; the 
 farmer is injured by both ; and the public will ultimately 
 be so too; only, as the power of the legislature can 
 operate much more surely in suspending the distillery 
 than in forcing improvement, the injurious effects of the 
 former will be more strongly felt. On the other hand, as 
 the free competition of the culture of wastes can do no 
 harm, neither can the free admission of the colonial 
 produce into the distilleries. 
 
 Another mode of increasing the home supplies, from 
 which an analogy has been drawn to the suspension of the 
 distilleries, is the importation of com. This case just 
 resembles the last. If importation were promoted by a 
 bounty, or other encouragement, while there was no call 
 for it from scarcity, it would be equally wrong with the 
 forced importation of sugars by the suspension of the 
 distilleries. Did any of our colonists grow rice, and did 
 we give it some exclusive encouragement in our market, 
 the case would be just the same, at least in average 
 seasons. Such encouragements, however, never have been 
 given to foreign growers. They are never even allowed 
 the fair competition of our market, (which I think both 
 they and the colonial proprietors ought to be,) but all 
 that they send in common years is loaded with heavy 
 duties. Were the colonists at present asking no more 
 24 favour 
 
Distilleries. 519 
 
 favour than the utmost that has been ever extended to the 
 foreign growers of corn, during average years, I should 
 be far from objecting to their demands. 
 
 The discouragement of the British grower, therefore, 
 from the improvement of wastes, or importation, can 
 never bear any resemblance to his discouragement from 
 the stoppage of his market, while the one is free, the other 
 compulsive. 
 
 II. I have thus, I think, sufficiently shewn the bene- 
 ficial efiect of distilleries, and other vents, in encouraging 
 cultivation in common and average years ; and the inju- 
 rious consequence of a forced suspension of them, both 
 to the home grower and the public. I now proceed to 
 inquire into the nature of their operation in seasons of 
 scarcity, and the consequence of their suspension in such 
 an event. The scarcity to which I at present allude, is 
 that which arises from deficient home produce, as I am 
 now considering the question abstracted from the circum- 
 stance of importation. 
 
 They who have given the attention which it deserves 
 to the excellent work of Mr. Malthus, must be aware of 
 the uniform relation maintained between the population 
 of any country and its means of support; of the con- 
 stant tendency of the former to encroach upon the latter ; 
 and of the inadequacy of the utmost assignable produce 
 in any country to maintain the people in plenty and 
 happiness, unless the natural tendency to increase be 
 repressed by some forcible check, either directly or indi- 
 rectly, a certain length below the means of subsistence. 
 
 AVhenevcr the means of subsistence, however, are, 
 from any cause, unusually abundant, and the people enjoy 
 great comparative ease and comfort, the disposition to 
 early marriage will speedily augment their numbers, 
 which will rise till they begin to press against the limits 
 of subsistence. This will bring a gradual decrease in the 
 25 ~ comforts 
 
520 Bell on 
 
 comforts of the people, and again reduce tlieir numbers, 
 till they fall below the decreased means of support, and 
 are then prepared to oscillate as before. This natural 
 oscillation is far from being a light evil, as the periodical 
 sufferings of scarcity greatly overbalance the additional 
 comforts enjoyed in seasons of great abundance ; so that, 
 upon the whole, it would be far better for a people to 
 have a steady supply, though not larger than the lowest 
 amount in the scale of vibration just stated. Yet the 
 evil, though far from light, would be trifling compared 
 with what it really amounts to, were the products of the 
 soil exposed to no other casualty than such a gradual 
 periodical vibration as the above, only influenced by the 
 increase or decrease of population. Were the products 
 of the soil, like the products of other manufactures, 
 wholly dependent on the exertions of man, they might 
 suit themselves pretty accurately to the demand through- 
 out every year, or series of years, and increase or diminish 
 the supplies to a known and definite amount. But in 
 determining the amount of land produce, another power 
 must co-operate, over which man has no controiil, namely, 
 the influence of the seasons. This may occasion a sudden 
 disproportion in the supplies, which can occur in no 
 branch of industry wholly dependent on human exertion -, 
 while, at the same time, a deficiency of supply in this can 
 much less be endured than in any other. It is not, 
 therefore, a sufficient security against famine that a nation 
 yields such a produce as to maintain all its people 
 moderately in average years, if that produce really be all 
 consumed as human food. It is necessary that a con- 
 siderable surplus be raised for consumption in some other 
 way than as human food, which may exist as a resource 
 on a sudden deficiency, and may be thus turned from 
 whatever other purpose it was destined for, to the use of 
 man. To dispose of this surplus in average years, the 
 following methods seem to be the chief : — 1. Storing up 
 26 in 
 
Distilleries. 521 
 
 in granaries at the public expcucc, to be opened in times 
 of scarcity. 2. Storing up by private individuals engaged 
 in the commerce of grain. 3. A degree of waste in con- 
 sumption and preparation, as the food of man, and the 
 maintenance of inferior animals for luxury, which may be 
 denominated profuse consumption. 4. Export to foreign 
 countries; and, 5. The distillery and brewery. In the 
 two first of these ways, superfluous produce is disposed of 
 by accumulation, in the three last by consumption. 
 
 If the grain disposed of in any or all of these ways 
 amount nearly to the utmost deficiency to be expected 
 from an unfavourable season, the security against extreme 
 want is as great as the nature of things will permit. 
 They all serve the double purpose of an indefinite vent 
 and encouragement to increased production in common 
 years ; and of a security against scarcity, both by repress- 
 ing the over-increase of population in common years, 
 and by yielding, in bad seasons, for the food of man, 
 the supplies w^hich were raised for their market. 
 
 1. The first of these methods of disposing of surplus 
 produce, the storing up in public granaries, is by far the 
 worst of the whole ; and never need be resorted to in any 
 country where impolitic restrictions do not impede the 
 natural operation of the rest. When such a system of 
 public storing is adopted, it can only be carried into effect 
 by means of a tax on the people ; and we may be sure 
 that the fund so raised will be expended under the direc- 
 tion of Government, with much less judgment and 
 economy, and the gi-ain purchased will be much worse 
 preserved, and more improperly applied, than if the same 
 end were pursued by individuals engaged in the commerce 
 of grain, under the free protection of the law. Their 
 own interest will direct such men when and how far to 
 purchase and store up, and when and how far to sell, in 
 the manner best for the interest of the community. 
 Accordingly, in most of the civilized nations of the world, 
 27 the 
 
522 Bell on 
 
 the duty of storing up has been pretty much relinquished 
 by Government^ and left to individual dealers. In the 
 despotic and barbarous nations of the East, however, 
 where agriculture labours under so many oppressions, the 
 practice is still adhered to from necessity. In China, 
 where an unwieldy government, and absurd prejudices 
 among the people, combine to fetter internal industry, 
 and forbid the export of corn, the practice of storing up 
 grain for the public is carried to a considerable length ; 
 and, at the same time, we learn its inefficacy to relieve 
 the frequent scarcities which occur in that country. We 
 are told, that when a scarcity occurs, and the emperor's 
 granaries are ordered to be opened, they are often found 
 nearly empty, from the knavery of those having charge 
 of them. Many difficulties are thrown in the way of 
 transporting the grain, and the poor people are allowed 
 to die in such numbers, as to reduce them within the 
 limits of the subsistence which they can procure for 
 themselves.* These evils, though, perhaps, aggravated 
 from the bad government of China, are inherent in all 
 such schemes of preserving a public supply. As already 
 said, such schemes can never be needed w^here that matter 
 is entirely committed to free individual exertion. 
 
 3. It has been the policy of all barbarous govern- 
 ments to discourage large dealers in corn, from the idea 
 that their accumulation of grain might produce artificial 
 scarcity ; and this policy, with other prejudices of the 
 same kind, has thrown the task, as already hinted, into 
 much worse hands, that of the governments themselves. 
 I need not mention the follies which have filled our 
 statute-book on this subject, nor the disgraceful prejudices 
 which appeared upon it during the last scarcity ; even in 
 those whose public station left no excuse for their igno- 
 28 ranee. 
 
 * See Barrow's Account of Cliiua, aud Life of Lord Macartney. 
 
Distilleries. 5*23 
 
 ranee. It is only, indeed, because our laws have yielded 
 to the general feeling of public interest, and are not 
 enforced, that we are not all made sensible of their 
 mischief. "Were corn-dealers generally to be prevented 
 from purchasing, or forced to sell, at the will of the 
 legislature, or of judges, we should feel by experience the 
 miseries of deficient supply. The interest of the corn- 
 dealer, where he is left free, necessarily, in all respects, 
 coincides with that of the public. It leads him to accu- 
 mulate when corn is cheap, and thus takes an useless 
 siu'plus out of the market ; and to sell sparingly as 
 scarcity increases, which diminishes consumption, and 
 preserves the supplies from absolute failure before the 
 ensuing crop. Any interference with this operation by 
 the law must, as far as it goes, produce mischief to the 
 public as well as to him.* 
 
 3. The vent of a luxurious home consumption in the 
 food of man, and the inferior animals, is probably in all 
 countries the most important resource in seasons of 
 scarcity. It is both the greatest in extent, and has the 
 singular advantage of being less liable to interruption 
 than the rest from the interference of governments. The 
 degree of waste in the preparation of food by the richer 
 orders of society ; the maintenance of a number of horses, 
 and other animals, for luxury ; as well as the over 
 abundant feeding of those which are necessary ; all oeea- 
 siou a vast consumption of corn, and of herbage, from 
 land that may be turned to corn, which in common years 
 disposes of a large surplus, beyond the necessary con- 
 sumption of man ; in so far represses the population in 
 those years; and aflFords an important supply to be set 
 free for the use of man in times of scarcity. Those well- 
 meaning persons who lament the waste of luxury, and 
 29 the 
 
 ♦ See Smith's Wealth of Natious, 13. 4. c. 5. 
 
524 Bell on 
 
 the number of useless animals that consume the food of 
 man in this country, may hence see how ill-founded are 
 their regrets and apprehensions. Were every useless 
 horse sent out of the kingdom, the number of those 
 useful diminished as far as possible, and were all fed in 
 the most frugal manner, the plenty of the people would 
 no doubt be in the mean time increased ; but the popula- 
 tion quickly augmenting (as well as produce diminishing 
 in various ways, from so absurd a measure,) the people 
 would soon arrive at the same point of relation to the 
 means of support, and their comforts would remain 
 unaltered. All the advantage would be an actual increase 
 of numbers even in common years. But if a scarcity 
 were to occur, the situation of the people would be much 
 worse. There would be no produce raised beyond what 
 was annually consumed by man ; any retrenchment from 
 the usual moderate supply would occasion the severest 
 suffering ; and deficiency to any considerable amount 
 would create absolute famine. Accordingly, it is in 
 China, where the inferior animals are extremely few in 
 proportion to man, that this dreadful calamity most fre- 
 quently occurs. In Great Britain, where the number of 
 the inferior animals in proportion to man is unusually 
 large, scarcity has probably been less felt than in any 
 country on the globe.* 
 
 30 It 
 
 * The consumption of the aggregate number of horses kept in 
 Great Britain, has been calculated by a very competent judge, 
 Dr. Coventry, Professor of Agriculture in the University of Edin- 
 burgh, in an estimate which he has favoured me with, at the produce 
 of sixteen millions of acres, which, at the rate oi four quarters per 
 acre, might yield sixty four millions of quarters of grain. In thus 
 explaining, however, the use of a number of horses, or other inferior 
 animals, I would not be understood to approve of that waste of 
 labour which we often see, especially in England, in the employment 
 of unnecessary horses for carriage or agriculture. These, in regard 
 to labour, are absolutely useless, yielding neither profit nor pleasure ; 
 
Distilleries. 525 
 
 It may be said, indeed, that the food wasted in luxu- 
 rious preparation, or consumed hy the lover animals, in 
 common years, is a resource in time of scarcity, only on 
 the supjiosition that the waste is then retrenched, and the 
 consumption of the lower animals diminished or suspended 
 at such a season ; whereas, the rich, it may be said, will 
 continue to pamper themselves and their useless horses, 
 though the people should starve. But to this it may be 
 replied, that the interests of the public are fortunately 
 not left to depend on the feelings of moral duty on such 
 occasions, but are enforced by the infallible provisions of 
 nature. The rise of prices, which must happen on a 
 scarcity, will force the rich, in spite of themselves, to 
 retrench their superfluities ; and it is in the admitting of 
 this retrenchment that the habitual existence of a super- 
 fluity is so useful. The delicacies of the table must be 
 retrenched, the maintenance of all inferior animals must 
 be reduced, and the number of those merely kept for 
 luxury or convenience must be lessened, through all 
 classes of the community, (except, perhaps, among a small 
 number of the most affluent) by the natural pressure of 
 scarcity and high prices, however ill disposed individuals 
 may be to such retrenchments ; and the food raised to 
 supply the luxurious consumption, will necessarily be 
 turned to the use of man.* 
 
 31 4. The 
 
 and though the keeping of them we see has some advantage, it is 
 paying too dear for it. "We might as well throw the grain they 
 consume into the sea. Besides, if dismissed, they would probably 
 not altogether disappear, but be turned to more useful purposes. 
 
 * The above considerations (as already hinted) may relieve 
 the fears of certain well-meaning people, as to the political evils at 
 least (contradistinguished from the moral evils) of excessive luxury. 
 The greater the general luxurious consumption of a country, the 
 better is it secured against the risk of scarcity ; nor can it go to a 
 further extreme in this respect, than will be for its own advantage. 
 
 Neither can I help taking notice of the amusing inconsistency of 
 
526 Bell on 
 
 4. The export to foreign countries^ when the state of 
 our produce admits of it, affords no doubt a very useful 
 vent. In as far, therefore, as perfect freedom of export 
 goes, this vent ought to be encouraged ; but, it is less to 
 be relied on than those which exist within the country. 
 For, in the first place, it depends for its continuance on 
 the state of supplies in the foreign importing countries ; 
 and should their agricultural produce increase, so as to 
 equal their demands, our market with them must gradu- 
 ally be closed. The plan of persisting to force a market 
 by a bounty on export, has been recommended by very 
 able men ; * yet I cannot but think it a vain and frivolous 
 attempt, useless, if our produce be so abundant as natu- 
 rally to yield a surplus for export, and ineffectual, if it be 
 not. Secondly, not only is the vent of export subject to 
 this gradual stoppage, by the natural rise in the prosperity 
 of the foreign countries ; but if on a scarcity at home 
 this exported surplus be retained for our own necessities, 
 the importing nations whom we used to supply, on finding 
 that we withdraw this supply occasionally for our own 
 relief, will suffer so much that they will cease to depend 
 on it, and use every exertion to increase their home 
 growth, or seek for their supplies elsewhere. Thirdly, a 
 year of plenty may occur, as well as of scarcity. In a 
 year of plenty, the foreign market may not extend to 
 admit of an enlarged export. It may even be interrupted 
 by temporary causes. A glut then returns upon our own 
 market, which discourages cultivation so as to reduce our 
 produce to our own supply. The vent of export, there- 
 33 fore, 
 
 certain reasoners, who in one breath lament the luxury and corrup- 
 tion of the times, and the next exclaim against the load of taxes. 
 Now it is very apparent, that the more we are relieved of taxes, the 
 more luxurious, and (as far as it depends on luxury) the more cor- 
 rupted we shall become. 
 
 * Malthus, Essay on Pop. B. 3. c. 7—10. 
 
Distilleries. 527 
 
 fore, depends on variable causes, and lias not that princi- 
 ple of continuance, nor that power of suiting itself to 
 circumstances, which the modes of home consumption 
 possess. 
 
 "While, therefore, for the above reasons, T think the 
 vent of export less to be depended on than the other 
 vents which we command at home ; and that it is idle to 
 attempt its encouragement by a positive bounty ; I still 
 consider it to be a very useful resource, when the state of 
 our home produce, compared with that of other countries, 
 naturally leads to it. It should be encouraged as far as 
 perfect freedom of export goes ; and while, on the one 
 hand, I disapprove of its extension by a bounty ; on the 
 other hand, I think it should never be impeded, even in 
 seasons of scarcity, but left to suit itself naturally to our 
 home demand. The analogy between this and the other 
 forms of disposing of superfluous produce, is complete. 
 The interest of the corn dealer in exporting, is precisely 
 similar to his interest in accumulating. He never will 
 export when high prices make it his interest, and the 
 interest of the public, that he should accumulate. He 
 regulates the one and the other in the way most beneficial 
 to himself and the public, when left wholly free. It is as 
 inexpedient to impede or controul him in regard to the 
 one, as in regard to the other. 
 
 5. The distillery and brewery afford a vent to the 
 home produce, which resembles all the former, and, as far 
 as it goes, is attended with the very same good effects. 
 In average years, it takes out of the market a certain 
 quantity of corn beyond what is necessary for human 
 subsistence, thus encouraging increased produce, and 
 repressing population ; and when scarcity occurs, it yields 
 this surplus to be turned to human food. As formerly 
 hinted, too, this disposal of superfluous produce, like the 
 three first mentioned, has an advantage over the vent of 
 foreign export, as affording a market nearer, more certain, 
 33 more 
 
528 Bell on 
 
 more under the eye of the farmer, and less dependent on 
 our relations to other states, or their internal regulation 
 and prosperity. While always ready to give up its con- 
 sumption naturally when necessity requires, and to yield 
 the produce raised for that consumption to the use of man, 
 it is a market equally ready to revive on the recurrence 
 of plenty, to suit its consumption to the state of produce, 
 and thus equalize the supplies throughout successive years. 
 The operation of distilleries in this way is precisely analo- 
 gous to that of the corn dealer and exporter, and the 
 prejudices on the one subject exactly resemble those on 
 the other. 
 
 The result of the above observations seems to be, that 
 the four latter modes of superfluous consumption (which 
 have a strong analogy to each other) are all eminently 
 useful in common years, as aflPording an encouragement 
 to land produce, while they somewhat repress the conse- 
 quent increase of population ; and, on the recurrence of 
 scarcity, yield a sure and valuable resource. That while, 
 on the one hand, it is absurd to encourage them for the 
 interest of cultivation by positive bounties; on the other 
 hand, it is wrong to repress them for the public supply, 
 even in the greatest necessity, because they then naturally 
 suit themselves to the public wants in the best possible 
 manner, when left alone. 
 
 In applying the above general principles more particu- 
 larly to the measure of suspending the corn distillery, 
 now in agitation, it is natural to inquire, First, Whether 
 there does at present exist any necessity for throwing the 
 grain usually consumed there into the common market, 
 from a scarcity of provisions? Secondly, If not, what 
 will be the consequence of doing so prematurely, and 
 before the necessity comes? and. Thirdly, Even in the 
 case of actual pressure from scarcity, should such a com- 
 pulsive measure ever be resorted to ? 
 
 First, As to the existing state of ovir home supplies, 
 34 that 
 
DistUleru's 529 
 
 that there is at present any defioicney of these, the eurrent 
 rate of prices abundantly disproves. The wheat crop 
 reaped last autumn in this country, it is generally allowed, 
 vras rather an abundant crop ; and indeed this fact, as I 
 take it, is proved iu the best of all ways, by the rate of 
 prices just alluded to. We are now nine months from the 
 last harvest, and within three of the next, and the market 
 price of wheat, which is our regulating standard, is as 
 low, or rather lower, than it has been on an average of 
 these several years past ; a mere trifle above what it was 
 immediately after the last harvest ; and very nearly sta- 
 tionary since the month of November. The price in the 
 London market, on the 16th of the present mouth of 
 May, was fi-om 50 to 78 shillings the quarter. The price 
 for the preceding month of April, was from 6J^ to 7 \> 
 shillings ; that for October last, from 5 i to 68 ; that of 
 May last, from 64 to 80; that of May 1806, from 70 to 
 84 ; that of May 1805, from 80 to 100. Yet on none of 
 those occasions was there any idea of stopping distillation, 
 though the prices were often a good deal higher than at 
 present. In short, the prices are at this moment lower 
 than they have been, at an average, for some years past, 
 and have not risen materially since last harvest. Tliere 
 is at present rather an abundance than a scarcity in the 
 country.* 
 
 It is no doubt true, that oats and barley are compara- 
 tively at high prices, but this is obviously nothing to the 
 purpose in view of scarcity ; and is besides owing to 
 temporary causes, which cannot be expected to influence 
 another crop. In the view^ of scarcity, it is not the 
 35 relative 
 
 * The abundance of the last crop of wheat, the present moderate 
 state of prices, the small import, and the sufljcioncy of this country 
 to supply itself, are also stated by Mr. Wakcfickl, A pp. to llcp. p. 
 110. Mr. Claud Scott, p. II G- 17. Mr. Kent, p. 121. Mr. Mackenzie, 
 p. 122-3-4. 
 
530 Bell on 
 
 relative abundance or price of particular kinds of produce ; 
 still less of the smaller and less important ; but the actual 
 amount of the wliole consumable produce in the country, 
 or the standard price of bread-corn, that is the only 
 matter of importance. The abundance of the people 
 depends on the quantity of human subsistence ; and it is 
 idle to talk of the people suffering from the want of oats 
 and barley, when wheat is plenty. The distUlers have, it 
 is said, in some places, tried to introduce wheat into their 
 manufacture, yet even this has not sensibly affected the 
 price of that article. 
 
 But further, the present relative scarcity and high 
 prices of oats and barley, have arisen from temporary 
 causes : — partly from both being comparatively an under 
 crop last season, particularly in Scotland :• — partly from 
 the general failure of the pulse crop ; — and partly from 
 the sudden demand from the distilleries, which the pros- 
 pect of the present measure has occasioned. None of 
 these causes can be reckoned upon for another season.* 
 
 That there is no call for stopping the distillation from 
 any present want of subsistence in the country, is there- 
 fore apparent. The people are at present eating bread as 
 cheap as they have done for some years past, indeed rather 
 cheaper; and no ground now exists for such a measure, 
 that has not existed for all that time. 
 
 That there may be want in some particular districts at 
 present, I will not deny. This may be a good reason for 
 affording them relief from the abundance of other dis- 
 tricts, but is none for a general measure like stopping 
 distillation, when the state of prices shews that there is a 
 general plenty in the country. 
 
 36 But, 
 
 * Notwithstauding these causes, (as to which all the agricultural 
 gentlemen agi-ee,) the price of barley, 'though certainly high, does 
 not seem to be very extravagant. See Mr. Mackenzie's Evidence. 
 App, to R^. p. 120. 
 
nistillcries. 531 
 
 But, secondly, It is said, that althouji;li no scarcity now 
 exists, the present or future crops may fail. It may then 
 exist ; and we must take precautious against that event. 
 
 To this I reply, that the present or future crops have 
 as good a chance of being abundant as deficient. This is 
 a contingency which no man can foresee ; and there can 
 be no reason for taking the precaution now, which will 
 not always exist. This system of perpetual precaution, 
 therefore, just amounts to a standing prohibition of the 
 distilleiy of grain. 
 
 But in case the calamity of deficient produce should 
 at some future time actually befall us, what will be the 
 effect of this premature precaution? The grain raised 
 for distillation being forced back on the gix)wer, or dealer, 
 and the general prices falling, he will cease to raise the 
 same quantity by the whole amount of what was usually 
 distilled, probably by a good deal more. This quantity 
 will therefore disappear from the market. If it had been 
 displaced by corn, even forcibly encouraged from waste 
 lands, or imported by a bounty, as formerly mentioned, 
 the same, or nearly the same, quantity of subsistence 
 would still have been within the country ; and that part 
 of it consumed by the distillery, would still have re- 
 mained to be set free for human use on the occurrence 
 of scarcity. But, in the present case, the grain displaced, 
 is replaced by sugar, a commodity which, in the utmost 
 necessity, cannot be turned to human support. No 
 resource will therefore remain from the suspension of 
 distillation, when necessily shall call for that measure, if 
 we now adopt it without any necessity. 
 
 But, thirdly, it may be said, that it is no longer time 
 to betake ourselves to this resource, when the necessity 
 has arrived, for then the corn will have been actually 
 distilled. To this I reply, that there will be abundaut 
 time to take the precaution ; and, indeed, the remedy 
 will apply itself in the best way, without any such pre- 
 37 caution. 
 
53'2 Bell on 
 
 caution. The grain raised for distillation is not all dis- 
 tilled in one day or week ; it is done gradually. As grain 
 becomes scarce, and prices rise, it will be distilled more 
 slowly every day, because the distiller can less afford to 
 purchase it, or, if he has purchased, he will cease to distil 
 it, as spirits fall in price, from the people giving up the 
 consumption of them.* This will happen the sooner, if 
 the importation of sugar be at the same time free. The 
 distiller will thus either leave his stores to the corn-dealer, 
 or become the corn-dealer himself. The evil thus neces- 
 sarily cures itself, without any public interference. In 
 the same manner, at such seasons the luxurious consump- 
 tion of individuals will be retrenched ; superfluous horses 
 will be underfed, or dismissed ; export will cease ; tlie 
 corn-dealer will be enabled to accumulate, as far as his 
 capital will permit ; and the more he accumulates, the 
 greater is the public security, that the scarcity will not be 
 increased to famine. No stoppage can be put to luxu- 
 rious consumption, farther than what moral duty and 
 interest enforce. None should be put to export or distil- 
 lation, otherwise a part of the produce is forced on the 
 market, which there is no capital to store up, and re- 
 trenchment is prevented from taking place among the 
 people so soon as it ought to do. Corn will never be 
 exported, when a good price can be got at home;— It 
 will never be distilled, when it can be sold higher for food. 
 38 No 
 
 * This idea is very justly expressed by Mr. Ferguson, in his 
 evidence before the Committee. " I cannot judge with regard to 
 " the powers of merchants in importing grain ; but it has always 
 " appeared to me, that one of the greatest and best founded securi- 
 " ties against the effects of a famine, is to promote the flourishing of 
 " the distilleries, the consequence of which would be, that when a 
 " famine really occurred, people would give up the use of spirits, 
 " which is not a necessary of life, and leave the grain for food, which 
 " used in favourable years to be applied to the production of spirits." 
 — App. to Rep. p. 158. 
 
Distilleries. 533 
 
 No stop should be put to the accumulation of the 
 corn-dealer, whose storing up helps to enforce early re- 
 trenchment, and whose stores come forth as scarcity 
 increases, and prevent that extreme of misery which a 
 rash over-consumption would have occasioned. The same 
 rule of perfect freedom equally applies to ail these modes 
 of consumption. The arrangements of nature need no 
 assistance from the feeble and presumptuous efforts of 
 man, whose interference only disturbs what it cannot 
 amend. In the system of human improvement, that 
 knowledge, I believe, is as important and as slowly 
 acquired, which informs us what we cannot do, as that 
 which informs us what we can. 
 
 It may perhaps be prudent to prohibit export and 
 distillation, when these vents are nearly closing of their 
 own accord, to pacify the excusable prejudices of the 
 people in times of severe scarcity. As to the corn-dealer, 
 no interference with him should ever be attempted. 
 The people may be assured, that any immediate relief 
 received in that way will sooner or later lead to aggravated 
 misery.* 
 
 It appears, on the whole, then, that the operation of 
 distilleries is to lead to an augmentation of produce, 
 beyond the amount which they consume ; and that they 
 should never be suspended, except in extreme necessity, 
 which does not at present exist, nor is likely to exist, 
 (from deficient home produce,) in this country. 
 
 The above doctrines seem to be just, with regard to a 
 39 country 
 
 * There is not a more irrational sentiment than one which w<? 
 often see entertained, of indignation at the prolits of fanners and 
 corn-dealers. There is no class of tlie connnunity hi whose hands 
 the accumulation of capital tends so directly to the public good. 
 
534 Bell on 
 
 country which produces the full supply of its inhabitants. 
 But some persons conceive, that the circumstance of our 
 importing a part of our subsistence from abroad, together 
 with the present strange and gloomy aspect of our foreign 
 relations, alters the application of the above principles, 
 and justifies a departure from them now, which, at other 
 times, might be wrong. This leads me to the second 
 branch of my inquiry, in which I shall endeavour to shew, 
 that our peculiar situation, as an importing country, makes 
 no exception to the principles above laid down, but rather 
 lends them additional weight. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Of the Operation of Distilleries in a Country ivhick 
 imjjorts a 2^urt of its Supplies. 
 
 THE operation of distilleries, with respect to importa- 
 tion, may be considered under two views, analogous 
 to those taken in the last section. — I. In regard to 
 average years of importation, that is, where our supplies 
 from abroad are liable to no interruption. — II. In regard 
 to years of interruption to our foreign supplies ; which 
 may proceed either from a bad season in the exporting 
 countiy, or from war. 
 
 I. Tt is not material to the present question, that I 
 should ascertain very accurately the amount of our im- 
 portation, in proportion to our demand, for some years 
 back. It has never, I believe, been determined with great 
 certainty ; and though my own suspicion is, that it is 
 considerably smaller than has been supposed, I feel little 
 concern iu the inquiry, even in a general view, because I 
 40 think 
 
Distilleries. 535 
 
 think it a matter of vciy trifling moment.* I am dis- 
 posed to agree with Dr. Sniitli, that the imported supplies 
 of a large territory never can bear any considerable pro- 
 })ortion to its consumption ; still less in a country like this, 
 ■where the agriculture is superior to that of any ou the globe. 
 I believe the importation does not now amount, nor is ever 
 likely to amount, nearly to the supply which is carried off 
 by the various modes of superfluous consumption in 
 average years. I believe, therefore, we may regard, 
 without much apprehension, the utmost possible limits to 
 which importation can extend. 
 
 There have been very able heads, however, who have 
 entertained different notions. Mr. Malthus, in particular, 
 augurs, from the progressive increase of importation, the 
 gradual decline of our own agriculture, and the final ruin 
 of the country.t And this view, it is to be observed, is 
 distinct from the advantages of an export, and the loss of 
 subsisting by import, in case of a sudden deficiency of 
 home produce : For this length I am not unwilling to go ; 
 though I think the danger, even here, less than is com- 
 monly apprehended. But the above author surely argues 
 Avith an inconsistency very unusual with him, when he in 
 one page prognosticates the progressive decline of our 
 agriculture, from the progressive increase of import to a 
 great extent; and, in the next, founds upon Dr. Smith's 
 assumption, that in an extensive country, importation 
 never can be carried far. This is not the time for ex- 
 posing farther the above fallacy ; nor is it indeed, any 
 part of my business so to do : for the greater the amount 
 of our importation ; — the more likely it is to extend ; — 
 41 and 
 
 * The average amount of corn imported into this country, for 
 five years past, is stated in the Report at 770,000 quarters. But 
 from this must be deducted our exports, to ascertain the balance of 
 import. 
 
 t Es?ay on Pop. B. 3. c. 9, lo. 4to edit. 
 
536' Bell on 
 
 and the more ruinous the consequences to follow from it ; 
 — the more useful is the vent of distillation, and the more 
 inexpedient the stoppage of it. 
 
 I am fairly entitled to use the argument of the disad- 
 vantage of importation against the supporters of the 
 present measure, as they have enlarged on the danger of 
 that circumstance, and have, indeed, approved of the 
 stoppage of the distilleries, as the means of lessening it. 
 Many great authorities have agreed in the same notions 
 respecting importation ; and although I cannot go their 
 length on general views, I certainly consider the opposite 
 state of produce, which yields an export, as more de- 
 sirable, (when the natural circumstances of a country lead 
 to it,) chiefly as a resource against the occasional defi- 
 ciency of home supplies. Assuming, therefore, that it 
 would be better for us were the balance of our corn trade 
 with foreign nations turned the other way ; or, at least, 
 that we supplied ourselves ; the question comes to be, — Is 
 the operation of distilleries favourable or unfavourable 
 towards diminishing importation, and attaining this end ? 
 
 In the former section I endeavoured to shew, that the 
 effect of every indefinite vent for home produce was pro- 
 gressively to increase that produce, and that in a larger 
 proportion than the vent actually consumed ; and, on the 
 other hand, that the forcible stoppage of any vent, not 
 merely diminished the produce to the amount thereby 
 consumed, but much further. The vent of free export, 
 when a country yields a surplus for that pm-pose, creates 
 an additional supply, much larger than the surplus 
 actually exported : and, on the other hand, when this vent 
 is shut up (as was done by Colbert) it will probably 
 diminish produce, not merely to the amount which had 
 been usually exported, but much further. 
 
 Exactly the same principle applies to distilleries, and 
 
 that whether the country where they are permitted possess 
 
 also a surplus to export, or whether, like this country, it 
 
 4:2 need 
 
Distilleries. 537 
 
 need imported supplies. The distilleries j'iold an inde- 
 finite vent to home produce, and probably create a much 
 further production than they consume themselves; and, 
 on the other hand, the stoppage of this vent will occasion 
 a greater diminution of produce than they consume them- 
 selves. The vent of the distilleries is chiefly for our home 
 produce, and, of course, is an encouragement to our home 
 growers. It is stated in the Report of the Committee, 
 and probably with truth, that little or no imported grain 
 is used there. The more therefore this market is ex- 
 tended, the greater chance will our home growers have of 
 increasing their produce, of gradually forcing the foreign 
 importation out of the market, and finally turning the 
 balance the other way. On the other hand, the stoppage 
 of distillation in so far diminishes the capital of our home 
 growers, lessens their produce to a greater amount than 
 was consumed by that vent, and in so far gives a greater 
 advantage in the competition to the grower of foreign 
 corn. 
 
 The same causes, in short, which lead to an increase 
 of home produce in a country which produces its own 
 supplies, or exports a surplus, lead equally to such increase 
 in a country that imports ; and tend to diminish importa- 
 tion. The vent of the distillery is one of these causes ; 
 tends obviously to diminish importation ; and, as far as 
 that is an evil, is therefore more essential in a country 
 where importation prevails, than in one which supplies 
 itself. 
 
 Mr. Maltlius accordingly, and others who join with 
 him in the apprehension of an increased dependence on 
 foreign supplies, have proposed as the means of preventing 
 this evil, a bounty on the export of corn ; thus endeavour- 
 ing, for the encouragement of the farmer, to force a vent 
 for his produce which did not exist of itself. That author 
 must be a little surprised to see persons, professing the 
 same opinion with him, endeavouring to attain the same 
 43 end 
 
538 Bell on 
 
 end by stopping n-p a vent for home produce in the suspen- 
 sion of distilleries. I am far from approving of tlie first 
 of those measures, because I think it, as commonly ap- 
 plied, ineffectual toward either encouraging home produce, 
 or diminishing importation ; and, if raised, so absurdly 
 high as to produce a temporary effect that way, would be 
 pernicious. The same objections stated in last section to 
 the attempt of forcing cultivation, in the view of increas- 
 ing produce, apply to the attempt to force cultivation or 
 export, in the view of diminishing importation. I think 
 the evil of importation is not such as to require any 
 remedy, and, if it did, that the remedy proposed would 
 not cure the evil. But, certainly, on the principles of 
 those who hold the necessity of forcible means to diraiuish 
 importation, the plan of a bounty on production or export, 
 a direct encouragement to home produce, seems more 
 feasible than the stoppage of the distillery, a direct dis- 
 couragement to it. I believe the former will not do the 
 good intended, but it will at least not increase the evil 
 feared, which the latter assuredly will. 
 
 While on this subject, I cannot help adding one 
 observation. The Legislature, influenced by the fears of 
 a decreasing home produce, lately returned to the measure 
 of granting a bounty on the export of corn, after having 
 formerly virtually taken it away.* I do not inquire 
 whether this was a wise measure or not ; but surely those 
 by whom it was adopted considered it as an encourage- 
 ment to the British farmer, and that the British farmer 
 stood in need of such encouragement. But if the state 
 of our home produce was such as to require this forcible 
 enlargement of its market, and if it still continues to 
 44 need 
 
 * By the Corn Act of 1773. By this act, the bounty price was 
 lowered from 4Ss. to 44d. the quarter. The same rate was continued 
 by the Corn Act 1791. It was again raised by the late act in 1804. 
 
Distilleries. 539 
 
 need it, with what consistency can the same Legislature 
 forcibly close another market to this produce, much more 
 beneficial, I bcHeve, than all the advantage it has reaped 
 from the bounty? Both of these expedients may be 
 wrong, as I believe they are ; but it is quite impossible, I 
 should think, that both can be right. 
 
 But it is said by some persons, that the corn displaced 
 by the present measure from the distillery, and thrown on 
 the market of general consumption, will not disappear 
 from the country, but will only displace in its turn so 
 much of the imported corn. To this, however, it is an 
 obvious reply, that if our home growers cannot at the 
 present prices compete with the foreign growers, and 
 wholly prevent importation, they will still less be able to 
 do so when prices are further reduced by the stoppage of 
 the distillery. Nobody surely imagines that the small 
 importation which we at present need arises from our 
 having no spare land to produce it ourselves. It is 
 because, in the present circumstances of the country, 
 foreign growers can supply us with that small quantity 
 cheaper than our home growers can supply us : And it is 
 proper the foreign growers should do so, when the cir- 
 cumstances of the country naturally require it. It is 
 clear, therefore, that if importation be no further bur- 
 dened than at present, the foreign growers will quickly 
 displace our home growers to the whole amount set free 
 from distillation, probably somewhat farther. 
 
 Here, however, the advocates of a restrictive policy are 
 at no loss ; but, according to their usual mode, proceed to 
 rectify one error by committing another. They have a 
 beautiful scale of gradations regarding home and foreign 
 prices, Mhereby they relieve nature of her cares for man, 
 and take into their own skilful hands the adaptation of his 
 wants and su[)plies.* As prices arc forced down by the 
 45 stoppage 
 
 * In arranging tliie scale our landed interest have too much 
 
540 Bell on 
 
 stoppage of the distillery, the duties on importation are 
 forced iqj, and the discouragement of our home grower is 
 compensated by the equal discouragement of the foreign 
 grower. This plan, therefore, proceeds on the grand 
 principle of the mercantile system, the advancing our- 
 selves, not by a just protection of our own industry, but 
 by repressing that of others. But, like all the feeble and 
 meddling devices of that policy, it will produce the mis- 
 chief without the good intended. The foreign grower 
 will be injured, but the home grower will not be relieved 
 in the same proportion. The free vent of distillation will 
 not nearly be made up to him by all the rise of duties on 
 the imported corn. He will raise less than he did ; less 
 will be imported than before, from the additional duty ; 
 the prices on both will rise, and the general supply of the 
 country will be diminished. 
 
 But even supposing, what will not happen, that, by the 
 rise of duty on importation, the whole corn set free from 
 the distillery is forced on the common market, and dis- 
 places foreign produce to that extent, so that the home 
 grower suflFers nothing, and the general amount of subsis- 
 tence raised in the country remains the same ; — what 
 happens in the case of a deficient season ? There is no 
 fund fit for human subsistence consumed in the distillery. 
 The article used there is sugar, which cannot on any 
 necessity be turned to such a purpose. In so far, there- 
 fore, as that fund goes, the public is deprived of the 
 resource altogether. 
 
 The way in which the British farmer will be enabled 
 
 (if ever) to disi^lace the foreign grower in the home 
 
 market, and, perhaps, to turn the scale of exportation the 
 
 other Avay, is not by giving him the vain encouragement 
 
 46 of 
 
 interfered, and have set an ill example, which is now turned against 
 themselves. 
 
Distillei 'ies. 541 
 
 of a bounty : still less by forcibly closing any of the vents 
 to his produce^ even if, to make amends, the foreign 
 grower is also repressed at the expence of the public ; — 
 but by permitting him the free disposal of his produce, 
 protecting him in the exercise of all his rights, removing 
 obstructions in his way, avoiding all further interference 
 in his concerns, and leaving him to the natural competi- 
 tion of the market. 
 
 I think it is then pretty clearly made out, that the 
 effect of distilleries, in average years of importation, is 
 to lead to a progressive increase of home produce, and 
 consequently to a progressive diminution of import ; and 
 that their suspension tends directly the other wa3^ But 
 it is said, that although this may be the case when there 
 is no probability of the sudden interruption of supplies, 
 yet, in the present strange and melancholy aspect of 
 public affairs, when we must expect the certain suspension 
 of supplies from abroad, it is advisable to throw the grain 
 usually consumed in distillation, into the common market. 
 This I shall now consider. 
 
 II. The sudden failure of supplies from abroad, may 
 be occasioned either by a deficient season there, or by the 
 shutting of their ports against us in war. With regard to 
 both, I think it maybe shewn in the first place, that there 
 is no such probability of either taking place, at present, 
 as to call for any change in our policy ; and secondly, if 
 they should take.place, at a future time, that the best 
 way of preventing their bad consequences is to continue, 
 not to suspend, the distillation from grain, as a general 
 system. And even if the deficiency should happen during 
 next season, that the forcible suspension of the distillery 
 is unnecessary. 
 
 With regard to a bad season in the exporting countries, 
 
 it is an accident which we cannot look forward to with 
 
 certainty, any more than to a bad season at home. The 
 
 . 47 argument 
 
542 Bdl 071 
 
 argument formerly applied to the one equally applies to 
 the other. If we are to abolish distillation at present, on 
 such a contingency, we may abolish it always. If the 
 contingency does not happen when expected, we have not 
 only taken a needless step, but have deprived ourselves of 
 the resource which would have relieved us when it did 
 happen. When the pressure is felt it is time to apply the 
 remedy ; and even then, the less we interfere the better, 
 as the remedy will apply itself. 
 
 The chance of a failure of supplies from the shutting 
 up of the ports of Europe and America, is one which, 
 being chiefly in view at present, will require a somewhat 
 fuller consideration; although the very same principles 
 apply to it as to the failure from a deficient season abroad 
 or at home. 
 
 When we look with such apprehension to the failure 
 of foreign supplies, as many persons do at present, it is 
 natural to inquire, in the^r^^ place, into the probability 
 of that event happening, so as to give us any material 
 distress : and towards determining this point, the expe- 
 rience of the last nine months is peculiarly instructive. 
 The whole ports of the Continent, from which we usually 
 received supplies of grain, have been under the controul 
 of our enemies, as far as such controul can be carried, 
 ever since the last harvest was reaped. As far as the 
 strictest embargo could prevent it, therefore, all supplies 
 to this country have been stoj)ped since that time. 
 America, the only other country from which we receive 
 supplies, has, more lately, adopted the same measure ; 
 and, (although I still hope the returning reason of both 
 countries will prevent a rupture so injurious to both), the 
 embargo there has been for some time enforced as strictly 
 as the government could enforce it. Yet, what has been 
 the consequence of all this ? The price of bread-corn, as 
 formerly mentioned, is at this moment rather lower than 
 the average of some years past ; has continued nearly 
 48 stationary 
 
Distilleries. 643 
 
 stationary since last harvest ; and we are now within three 
 months of the next without any sensible rise. 
 
 The inference which I draw from this is, cither that 
 our importation is so small in proportion to our home 
 supplies as to be absolutely insignilicant ; or, that the 
 utmost power of governments, stimulated by all the bit- 
 terness of human violence and folly, cannot obstruct those 
 great provisions of nature, by which an over produce tends 
 towards the place of demand, and thus equalizes supply, 
 and relieves the mutual wants of mankind. Either of the 
 al)ovc alternatives relieves us from any fear of material 
 deficiency from the interruption of foreign supplies.* 
 
 As, in the last section, therefore, I concluded that it 
 woald be unreasonable to take the precaution of stopping 
 the distilleries on the possibility of a scanty future pro- 
 duce ; so I may now conclude that it would be as 
 unreasonable to take it on the possibility of a failure of 
 imports ; from which, it appears, we have a greater 
 security than we can have in regard to the season. 
 
 But in the second place, supposing that such deficiency 
 of the usual importation should happen to a considerable 
 amount, is the immediate suspension of distilleries a likely 
 way of guarding us against its eflects ? The arguments 
 formerly applied to cases of sudden deficiency from other 
 causes are precisely applicable here. 
 
 In as far as the chance of deficiency from abroad is 
 
 increased by the present interruption, we have the more 
 
 occasion for superfluous vents to extend our produce at 
 
 49 home. 
 
 * See evidence of Mr. Claude Scott, p. 110-17 ; Mr. Kent, p. 121 ; 
 and Mr. Mackenzie, p. 122-3-4. From this statement it appears 
 that, during the year 1807, we have received from foreign countries, 
 notwithstanding the embargoes, pretty nearly the average supplies, 
 which have reached us for some years past. From Holland 2;33,(M)0 
 qrs. and even from France 27,000 qrs. It is probable we shall 
 receive as much next year notwithstanding the restrictions. If we 
 should not, we can do very well without it. 
 
544 Bell on 
 
 home. The failure oi" foreign supplies may not be felt 
 the next year, but it may be felt the year after^ or some 
 future year. If it be felt the next year, we have gained 
 little, for we might have resorted to the present measure 
 when Ave saw the proof of the failure in the rise of prices ; 
 or rather, we might have permitted the rise of prices to 
 produce the same effect naturally. But if the pressure be 
 delayed till some after year, the resource will be lost, from 
 our farmers having diminished their cultivation, distrust- 
 ing a market so uncertain as the distillery becomes by 
 such frequent interference. 
 
 Indeed, in a general review of this subject of our 
 foreign supplies, I think we shall find it too insignificant 
 materially to influence any branch of our policy. When 
 we consider the proportion which the average importation 
 of late years, of 700,000 quarters of all sorts of grain, 
 bears to our demands, we need have little appi'chension of 
 material suffering, were the whole of this supply with- 
 drawn for the next year. It appears that, by the distil- 
 leries alone, 470,000 quarters of barley are used in Britain, 
 which is only calculated as one-sixteenth of the whole 
 barley crop.* Of course the brewery must consume a 
 vast deal more. A little retrenchment of these two modes 
 of consumption, on the natural rise of prices, would supply 
 the whole deficiency. But when we look to the vast 
 amount of corn consumed by superfluous horses, and the 
 over-abundant feeding of other animals, we must be 
 satisfied, that a very slight diminution in this quarter 
 would, in an addition to the above, much more than over- 
 balance the whole foreign supplies withheld from us. The 
 deficiency, I should thiuk, would scarcely be felt in the 
 50 price 
 
 * This, together with the 311,000 qrs.used in the Irish distillery, 
 amounts to 781,000 qrs, which is 81,000 qrs. beyond the average 
 importation of all sorts of grain. 
 
Distilleries. 545 
 
 price of bread corn. It might, however, be slightly felt 
 for one season ; and this would stimulate the farmer to a 
 production that would probably, in one season more, fully 
 supply our home demand, and even turn the balance of 
 export in our favour. On the other liand, this premature 
 and unnecessary interference will give a shock to the 
 agi-icultural products, otherwise advancing, and, we may 
 be sure, will expose us to an increased importation at some 
 future time. 
 
 But, indeed, I think there is little probability that we 
 shall be exposed even to the above trial. I have no doubt, 
 from what has appeared this year, that we shall receive 
 our usual supply from foreign states next year, and every 
 future year, as long as we want and can pay for it. 
 
 The above is no doubt on the supposition that the crop 
 now growing proves equal to the average of the last few 
 years, which may yet not be the case. There is an equal 
 chance, however, that it will prove abundant as that it will 
 fail. Its failure is a contingency which we have no more 
 reason to reckon upon now than at any other time. If 
 that misfortune should come, we must endeavour to palliate 
 it, by retrenchment of every kind, the best way we can (for, 
 as Dr. Smith observes, a real scarcity cannot be remedied, 
 it can only be palliated) ; and the rise of prices will at 
 otice indicate the evil, and enforce the remedy. The 
 diflPerence made by all the foreign supplies which we ever 
 did, or ever can receive, on a serious deficiency, is very 
 trifling. It is known how little proportion the utmost 
 importation of 1800 and 1801 bore to our demands. It 
 is upon our domestic agricultui'c that we must mainly 
 depend; and to tamper with it by closing its natural 
 vents, and deranging its system, when called for by no 
 visible need, is to stop its progressive increase, and lead 
 to that real calamity which now only exists in the 
 imagination. 
 
 51 Upon 
 
546 Bell on 
 
 Upon the state of produce in Ireland I have said 
 nothing, as I have not the means of ascertaining accu- 
 rately the prices there for some years back. It is, how- 
 ever, I believe, admitted, that no general scarcity exists 
 there at present, such as to justify the suspension of the 
 distillery. And, indeed, Ireland in this, as in other 
 interests, ought never to be considered separately from 
 Great Britain. If a free commerce of grain between the 
 two countries be established, a partial deficiency there will 
 be relieved by the abundance elsewhere ; and should be 
 no more a ground for legislative interference, than a partial 
 deficiency in any district of this island. 
 
 It appears, indeed, from the report, that the Committee 
 is in doubt Avhether to recommend the prohibition of the 
 distillery in Ireland. Their doubts, however, are uncon- 
 nected with the view of scarcity, and merely proceed on 
 difficulties regarding the revenue. If the suspension be 
 not extended to that country, a new host of restrictive 
 expedients must be embodied, to prevent the passage of 
 corn spirits from thence into this country. 
 
 As to the importation of corn needed by our colonies, 
 which, in case of a rupture with America, must be sup- 
 plied from elsewhere, I have added a state of its amount 
 for the years 1804, 1805, and 1806. But in the first 
 place, I think there is little fear of their being deprived of 
 this supply ; and secondly, it is stated by Mr. Blackburn 
 to be his opinion^ that Jamaica at least 
 itself.* 
 
 The whole argument treated in the two foregoing 
 
 Sections may then be summed up in the following 
 manner. 
 
 53 In 
 
 * App. to Rep. p. 23. 
 
Distilleries. 547 
 
 Tu a course of years of average supply, whether 
 entirely drawn fii'ora home produce, or partly imported, 
 the effect of distillation, like that of every other natural 
 and indefinite vent, is to lead to a progressive increase of 
 home produce, followed, in the one case, by the general 
 extension of population and comfort, in the other, by the 
 progressive diminution of import in the first place, and 
 ultimately by the same extension of population and com- 
 fort. If the subsisting by importation, then, be considered 
 as an evil, the distillery is still more indispensable in a 
 country where that prevails, than in one which produces 
 its own supplies ; because the home cultivation has the 
 more need of encouragement, to enable it to contend 
 with the importation, and at length displace it. 
 
 But the benefit of the distillery, and other modes of 
 superfluous consumption, though great in ordinary years, 
 cannot be fully appreciated till the reecurrence of scarcity ; 
 whether proceeding from deficient home produce — defi- 
 cient foreign produce — the interruption of war — or from 
 all these taken together. At such a season, the super- 
 fluous produce raised for the consumption of the distil- 
 leries, affords a fund of subsistence, w^hich will be set free 
 for human food by the natural rise of prices; or, when 
 the necessity becomes very high, may be set free by 
 Legislative interference. This last, however, should, in 
 general, be delayed till the whole effect had been nearly 
 produced in the natural way. To encroach forcibly on 
 this spare fund at any season of moderate plenty, or easy 
 prices, is to deprive the country of it when the necessity 
 arrives, by the discouragement of cultivation, which will 
 probably be to a much greater amount than in proportion 
 to the produce which the vent itself consumed. There is 
 at present no such deficiency, or likelihood of deficiency, 
 from any cause, as to induce us to risk such discourage- 
 ment. 
 
 53 T have 
 
548 Bell on 
 
 I have thus endeavoured to shew^ that on general and 
 permanent principles, whether regarding this country as 
 producing its own supplies, or importing a part of them, 
 and whether during moderate years, or in the case of 
 scarcity, the vent of the distillery to our home produce is 
 a groat public benefit ; and it never can be for the public 
 benefit that this vent should be forcibly interrupted. 
 
 We are told, however, that admitting the justice of all 
 the above general principles, the present departure from 
 them is too trifling and temporary, to be considered as an 
 important exception. Admitting that the interest of the 
 public, and of the home grower, will be injured by the 
 stoppage of the distilleries, as far as their consumption 
 goes, this consumption, it is said, is comparatively trifling. 
 The wants of the colonists are urgent, and require imme- 
 diate relief. The distilleries will afford them such relief; 
 while the want of their vent will be little felt by the 
 farmer. Whatever might be the eff'ect of a permanent 
 suspension, the present expedient will be but temporary ; 
 and even during its continuance ; a power is proposed to 
 be lodged with the King in Council, to open the distil- 
 leries again, in case the price of barley fall too low. This 
 view then gives up the question on general grounds, and, 
 admitting that the public and the British growers both 
 suffer from the suspension of distilleries, only maintains, 
 that they should voluntarily submit to this suffering, for 
 the relief of the distressed colonists. 
 
 This leads me to the third branch of the subject, which 
 I proposed to consider. 
 
 54 SECT. III. 
 
JJustilleries. 549 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 How far the present Distresses of the Colonial Proprietors 
 alone, afford a just Ground for the proposed Suspension 
 of the Distillery. 
 
 THIS inquiry naturally divides itself into two 
 branches : First, Whether the colonists should 
 receive any relief? and, Secondly, Whether the relief 
 proposed by the suspension of the distillery of corn be a 
 proper one ? 
 
 I. In the outset of these remarks, I intimated my 
 opinion that the present distresses of our colonists had 
 arisen from an over extension of the cultivation of sugar, 
 during the temporary unproductiveness of other islands ; 
 that now, on the revival of more fertile soils, there is a 
 quantity produced beyond the present demand of the 
 world, and that our colonists never can be effectually 
 relieved, till they reduce their cultivation.* Tlie first 
 55 question, 
 
 * Notwithstanding the respectable authority of the Report of the 
 Committee of the House of Commous, 24th July, 1S07, to the con- 
 trary, I cannot help adhering to this opinion. The chief cause of 
 the colonial distresses assigned there, is the import to the continent 
 from the hostile islands, by neutral vessels. But this would never 
 account for the difficulty, unless there were an over produce ; for, 
 during former years of peace, when the intercourse of the continent 
 with its colonies must have been still more free and extensive, the 
 present distresses were not complained of. It is further stated in 
 the present Report, that the existing surplus of sugar from the old 
 Britiah colonies, of 1,312,419 cwts., is not equal to the continental 
 demand of the last peace. But it is to be considered, that on a 
 peace all the other islands would also find greater facility in sending 
 their produce to the continent, so that, probably, very little of the 
 above surplus would find a vent there. The fact of the rapid increase 
 of colonial produce, is indeed distinctly admitted by Mr. llibbcrt, a 
 
550 Bell on 
 
 question, then, that naturally occurs is, What right the 
 colonists have to public relief of any kind, more than every 
 other unsuccessful speculator, who is ruined by his own 
 imprudence, or by unforeseen accidents? Whether or 
 not it would be for the general advantage that relief were 
 attempted in all such cases, is, I think, a question of little 
 doubt. It would not only be impossible, but if possible 
 would be wrong ; as it would be an endeavour to antici- 
 pate the great corrective which nature has provided for 
 human improvidence, in the sufferings which follow it. 
 Even in the case of misfortunes produced by no impru- 
 dence, the same rule must hold; for it cannot be other- 
 wise. How far the growers of sugar can shew any grounds 
 for making their case an exception from the general rule, 
 and extending that relief to them which cannot be ex- 
 tended to others, it is not my present business to inquire, 
 even if I had the proper time and means of inquiry. 
 Cases may occur, where, from motives of compassion to 
 the sufferers, it may be excusable to extend such relief; 
 but I doubt exceedingly, whether, in an enlarged view, it 
 ever can be for the public advantage to infringe the 
 general rule. I doubt if the public ever will suffer so 
 much from the ruin of a few imprudent individuals, as it 
 will from the cost of relieving them, and from the encour- 
 agement which such relief gives to further imprudence. 
 
 As already said, however, I do not wish to push general 
 principles too far. Justice may sometimes relax from her 
 rigid equality : And I have not the means of deciding, 
 whether the case of the colonists may not be such as to 
 justify some deviation in their favour. If their difficulties 
 have been in part occasioned by the public measures of 
 the country, their claim is no doubt the stronger. 
 
 56 At 
 
 member of the present Committee, who was examined. App. p. 
 16G-7. The immense import of slaves, of late years, is also stated by 
 o*.her witnesses. 
 
Distilleries. 551 
 
 At the same time, it is not to be forgotten, that the 
 present distresses of the colonists will never be removed 
 by any temporary expedient. If they depend on a general 
 canse, (the over culture of their couDnodity,) the only 
 eft'ectual remedy rests with themselves. If, by such forced 
 enlargements of their market as this, they be encouraged 
 to persevere in their present gro^vth, the evil will receive 
 but a slight palliation ; and at the end of any given period 
 of suspension of the distiller}', the colonists will require 
 the continuance of the same violent expedient, as much as 
 thoy do now, perhaps more. 
 
 We are further told in the Report, of the advantage 
 derived from the colonies to the shipping and revenue. 
 As to the shipping, it has probably partaken ft. little of the 
 over-trade of its employers, and the allowing it again to 
 find its own level, will do the country no serious injury. 
 As to the revenue paid on sugars, it is equally plain, that 
 if we force that commodity by encouragement, we tax 
 ourselves to enable it to pay this revenue ; or, in other 
 words, pay it ourselves in the most expensive form. As 
 already said, however, I am not noAV opposing the granting 
 of assistance to the colonists as a general measure, 
 
 II. But if such assistance is to be granted, it should 
 surely be in a way the least unjust towards any particular 
 class of the community, and the least injurious to the 
 whole. The projected mode of relief, by the suspension 
 of distilleries, is objectionable on both these grounds. It 
 is unjust towards the class of our home cultivators, and 
 inexpedient in regard to the public interest. 
 
 It is unjust towards our home cultivators, in laying 
 that burden on them, which, if borne, should be borne l)y 
 the whole community. It is a positive restriction on their 
 industry, in favour of the colonial industry. Nay, the 
 injustice is not merely in laying the burden on the limited 
 class of cultivators, (though the whole will suffer), but in 
 57 laying 
 
552 Bell on 
 
 laying its immediate weiglit on a small number of that 
 class, the growers of barley. This hardship is great at 
 any time, inasmuch as it forces into a different mode of 
 culture, those soils which are best fitted for that produce ;* 
 and it is peculiarly aggravated in being imposed, without 
 previous warning, at this season of the year, when the 
 barley crop is already sown, or the land so prepared for it, 
 as not to be conveniently turned to any other produce. 
 
 But it is said, the whole amount of grain used in dis- 
 tillation is small, and the loss to the British farmer will be 
 trifling. It is further said, that the measure is temporary, 
 and will be attended with no serious inconvenience. 
 
 With regard to this loss, I cannot correctly speak. 
 The quantity of barley annually consumed in distillation 
 in Britain is stated, in the Report, at 470,000 quarters, or 
 about l-16th of the whole. The loss to the farmer, even 
 from an immediate want of sale to the above amount, is 
 not inconsiderable. But it is to be observed that this 
 argument cuts two ways. If the want of this vent be a 
 trifling loss to him, it will be but a trifling advantage to 
 the colonists ; and the smaller the burden is, the less 
 difficult will it be for the public to relieve it in some other 
 way. However small it is, it must bear much harder 
 when laid on one limited class of the community, than if 
 equally imposed on all. I can see no reason why such a 
 tax, if necessary, should be wholly borne by our home 
 growers. Unequal taxes, even for the support of the 
 state, are always to be regretted ; but they become some- 
 what more intolerable, when imposed for the relief of a 
 small class of individuals, whose distresses are at least a 
 58 presumption 
 
 * " I consider the cultivation of barley as almost necessary to 
 the existence of Norfolk." Evid. of Mr. Nathaniel Kent, App. p. 
 118. The impossibility of turning barley laud so well to any other 
 culture, is also stated by Mr. Cox and Mr. Henning, p. 149, Mr. 
 Elmar, p. 153, and Mr. Wakefield, p. 109. 
 
Distilleries. 553 
 
 presumption of their imprudence. However, this is a 
 point which the British cultivators best know themselves. 
 If they consider the stoppage of the distilleries as no 
 hardship, I am satisfied. If they feel no grievance, they 
 will not complain. If, on the other hand, as I rather 
 suspect, it will be a very serious evil to the cultivators in 
 general, and to the growers of barley in particular, they 
 should, I think, take all legal means to oppose it.* I 
 have endeavoured to shew, that in supi)orting their rights, 
 and their interests, on the present occasion, they will 
 promote the interests of the public. 
 
 But it is not the immediate loss that is the chief evil 
 in the present measure. The future injury to agriculture, 
 from the derangement of the system of cropping, and the 
 want of a sure market, are far more important. Security 
 in his market, is the great stimulus to the farmer's exer- 
 tion ; and if this be infringed, he must abandon his 
 culture, in the prospect of that market, altogether. The 
 mischiefs of a fluctuating policy towards any branch of 
 industry, are perhaps more than can be easily calculated. 
 This is the great objection to the present suspension, as a 
 temporary measure. It is not so much the loss which the 
 farmer will suffer for this one year ; as the general loss to 
 cultivation, from his never being sure, when, or for what 
 reason, the measure may be repeated. In this particular 
 view, it is even worse than if the stoppage were perma- 
 nent ; for in that case the farmer would change his system 
 of culture, and endeavour to push a steady maz'ket some 
 other way.t 
 
 Neither docs the palliative of lodging a discretionary 
 
 power tvith the King in Council, to permit tiic distillation 
 
 59 of 
 
 ♦ On this point, the testimony of all the agricultural gentlemen, 
 examined before the Committee, is uniform. 
 
 ■'• " It is," says Mr. Wakefield, " the bane of a farmer to be 
 " driven out of his natural course." App. to Rep. p. 113. 
 
554 Bell on 
 
 of grain, at all remedy this fundamental objection. It 
 only introduces the principle of interference and fluctua- 
 tion into that market still more completely than before. 
 
 Indeed, a moment's reflection must convince us that 
 this argument, of the measure being but temporary, is 
 one which must apply always when the same thing is in 
 agitation. No civilized nation, I suppose, ever enacted 
 that the distilling of corn should always be illegal. Even 
 France, who has been so justly censured for her weak 
 policy, in regard to the corn trade, did not prohibit 
 export at all times. Her error only lay in resorting to 
 that measure too lightly and frequently, and in listening 
 to the vain alarms of future Avant, upon every trifling rise 
 of prices. It was from this fluctuating system, rather 
 than from permanent discouragement, that her agriculture 
 suffered. But with all her folly, I doubt if she ever 
 resorted to the prohibition of export, when not in force, 
 as we are now called upon to suspend the distillery, at a 
 time of actual abundance, and without any certain pros- 
 pect of future deficiency. I doubt if she ever did so for 
 the mere convenience of her colonial proprietors, without 
 want being either felt or reasonably expected at home. 
 
 Within the last /or/y years, it appears, that the distil- 
 ling of corn has been suspended only twice before this 
 time :* — The suspensions, I am sorry to observe, are both 
 lately. The relief obtained by the public, on those occa- 
 sions, was probably trifling ; but the discouragement to 
 agriculture, from the frequency of the measure, may be 
 both important and permanent. On those occasions, 
 however, there was some apology for it, from the public 
 necessities actually felt, and the market of the distillery 
 natm'ally declining of itself. At present there is no such 
 60 excuse ; 
 
 * From 10th July 1795 to 1st Feb. 1797, aud from 8tli Dec. 1800 
 to 1st Jan. 1802. App. to Rep. p. 205. 
 
Distilleries. 555 
 
 excuse : and the evils of the fiuctuating system are con- 
 tinued and augmented.* 
 
 On the whole, when I consider the importance of a 
 floimshing aginculture to the prosperity, and even ex- 
 istence of a state — the dependence of all other brandies 
 of industry upon it for their support or extension — its 
 influence on our social liappiness, as well as our public 
 strength — the preference which our laws have so often 
 given to less important branches of industry — the many 
 obstructions Avhich naturally or artificially retard its pro- 
 gress — and, I may add, the general character of that class 
 of men who are peculiarly connected with it — when I 
 consider these things, I am disposed to regard our agri- 
 cultural industry with a sort of superstitious reverence ; 
 to think it should not be lightly tampered with, to serve 
 occasional views ; and to consider any unnecessary en- 
 croachment on it as loosening one of the foundations of 
 onr strength, which cannot be even slightly displaced, 
 without a shock to the stability of the whole. 
 
 But if such superior estimation of agriculture be a 
 
 prejudice in feeling, I carry it no such length in practice. 
 
 I desire for agriculture no preference over other branches 
 
 61 of 
 
 * The following observations of ]\Ir. Young, when speaking of the 
 vine culture in France, are equally just and important : " Tliere are 
 " two reasons why vines are so often found in rich plains ; the first 
 " is, the export of wheat being either proliibited or allowed with 
 " such irregularity, that the farmer is never sure of a price ; but the 
 " export of wine and brandy has never been stopped for a moment, 
 " The effect of such a contrast in policy must have been considerable, 
 " and I saw its influence in every part of France, by the new vine- 
 '' yards already planted, or begun to be planted, on corn lands, while 
 " the people were starving for want of bread ; of such consequence 
 " in agriculture, is a steady unvarying policy. The fact is tlie more 
 " striking in France, Ijecause the vine culture is very much burdened 
 " in taxation, but always possessing a froe trade, it thrives." Trav. 
 in France, Vol. I. p. 388. 
 
556 Bell 0)1 
 
 of industry. It needs no such assistance ; it can benefit 
 by no such assistance. All that it requires is that equal 
 protection which an enlightened legislature will extend to 
 every branch of lawful industry ; and to which it cannot 
 surely be the least entitled, when the most valuable of the 
 whole. 
 
 But so little am I disposed to carry its pretensions too 
 far, and so little influenced in my present argument by 
 any disregard of our colonial industry, that were the 
 present measure designed to give the same exclusive 
 advantage to our home growers over the colonists, as it 
 gives to the colonists over them, I should equally dislike 
 it. For this reason, were the intention only to give a 
 free admission of sugar to the distillery, I should be far 
 from objecting to it ; — as far as I should be from object- 
 ing to a free export of our home produce to the colonies. 
 Such mutual intercourse would not only be advisable as a 
 present expedient, but as a permanent regulation. Let 
 our colonists have constant free access to the market of 
 distillation, and push it as far as they can.* Our home 
 growers will never suffer materially from this in common 
 years ; and when prices rise, the natural competition of the 
 sugar will, without violence, gradually displace the grain, 
 and set it free for human consumption. The more deeply, 
 and in the greater variety of lights, we view this great 
 principle of competition, the more shall we be convinced 
 that it adjusts all things best for the public advantage. 
 
 It is on this last ground, indeed, that I feel the chief 
 62 objection 
 
 * The difficulties of equalizing the duties caunot, I should think, 
 be insurmountable. If they should, however, I think matters must 
 be allowed to remain as they are ; partly because all changes of this 
 kind are attended with some evil ; and partly because, when we are 
 driven to a choice between our home agriculture and our colonies, 
 there can be no doubt which must yield. The relief of the colonists 
 may be managed in some other way. 
 
Distiller IPS. 557 
 
 objection to the proposed measure, and am least disposed 
 to allow the particular reasons alleged as an excuse for it. 
 However minute in extent, or limited in time, its opera- 
 tion may be, it bears too strongly the marks of a depar- 
 ture from the great law of equal and steady protection, 
 and too much resembles the sacrifice of general interests 
 to the spirit of mercantile monopoly. It had better 
 appear (if it must appear) under any form than tliis. To 
 depart from the princijiles of a general policy on every 
 trifling occasion, and to substitute for it the petty resource 
 of temporary and shifting expedients, is a system of legis- 
 lation the least becoming a great and civilized people. I 
 think I have sufficiently shewn the manner in which the 
 present expedient would operate unjustly towards a parti- 
 cular class of the community, and injuriously towards all. 
 But even in cases where this cannot be so clearly discovered, 
 we may rest assured, that every positive interference to 
 promote, retard, or direct the industry of individuals, is at 
 bottom prejudicial, and will be attended in its course with 
 more evil than can be foreseen at the time. This great 
 truth has been established in the inestimable work of 
 Dr. Smith, on grounds so sure, and by an induction so 
 patient and extensive, that since his time I do not think 
 one exception has been shewn to it, which can satisfy a 
 sound and impartial mind. The only exception which he 
 himself has made, (the approval of a fixed rate of interest 
 for money,) is one of the few great errors he has com- 
 mitted.* That we should ever see this principle carried 
 (53 to 
 
 * The three great branches of our policy, wherein we have chiefly 
 attempted to regulate by positive institution the provisious of nature, 
 are our system of corn-laws, of poor-laws, and of laws respecting 
 usury. The consequence is, what might have l)een expected, in all 
 of these systems, inconsistent doctrine, ineffectual expedients, and a 
 constant desire to regulate by compulsive rules, which are silently 
 undone by the operations of nature. We leave the road which is 
 
558 Bell on Distilleries. 
 
 to its full extent in practice, I am not so sanguine as to 
 imagine. As lie has himself observed, the passions, the 
 ignorance, and, what is worse, the narrow interests of 
 men, unite to oppose it. But it is surely not too much to 
 expect that we should keep the height we have gained, 
 and not, in this enlightened age, fall back into the preju- 
 dices of barbarous times, and forge new fetters for our- 
 selves, while we feel the weight of those already entailed 
 upon us. 
 
 64. 
 
 short, straight, and open before us, and exert our ingenuitv to clear 
 and level the circuitous by-path which we have perversely chosen. 
 People wonder, that the regulations daily multiplied in these systems 
 do not render them perfect at last, and cry out for more amend- 
 ments ; but they are not aware, that the only error is, that there 
 should be a compulsive institution on any of them, in our statute- 
 book. 
 
 The only new laws that will ever improve any of these branches 
 of internal policy, will be such as abrogate the old, without putting 
 any thing in their place. But this must be cautiously and gradually 
 done. It is the great loss of artificial systems, that their very evils 
 ensure their continuance. 
 
 On this subject, I beg leave to refer to the masterly Treatise on 
 Usury, by Mr. Bentham. I wish that gentleman, in some of the late 
 hints which he has given towards the improvement of our domestic 
 policy, had preserved the same temperate and practical spirit which 
 appears iu that performance. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Ads of Parliament for encouragement 
 of the Whale Fishery, referred to, 
 103 
 
 Admiralty Court — Establishment, con- 
 stitution, and jurisdiction of this 
 Court, 385-8 ; constitution of Ad- 
 miralty Courts of France and Hol- 
 land, 385, note 
 
 Agriculture, Board of, its mistakes, 478 
 
 Agriculture — An equal division of lands 
 never has existed, nor could con- 
 tinue, 243, 250; the husbandman 
 the first mover in the circulation of 
 labour, 247; different methods of 
 cultivating land, 254-5, 2G0-1; by 
 hired labourers, 255 ; by slaves, ib, ; 
 by alienation for certain services, 
 257 ; by partial colonization, 258 ; 
 by renting or letting out lands, 259 ; 
 necessity of advances for cultivation, 
 273 ; emidoyment of capital in un- 
 dertakings of agriculture, and i)rofits 
 thereof, 283 ; eft'ect of competition 
 of capitalists on cultivation, 284 ; 
 subdivision of class of cultivators 
 into farmers and hired servants or 
 day labourers, 285 ; money em- 
 ployed in cultivation ought to pro- 
 duce more than money on loan, 304, 
 476; effect of Poor Laws on agri- 
 culture, 411 ; impolicy of inter- 
 ference of magistrates to fix the 
 price of labour, 407-474; chain 
 of subordination between farmer, 
 labourer, cattle, and farming im- 
 plements, 4Cy; different descrip- 
 tions of agricultural labour, 
 472 3; the trades of agriculture and 
 grazing must be regulated by the 
 common principles of commerce, 
 475, 513, 517; agriculture a poor 
 trade, 476-7, 479-480 ; impropriety 
 
 of inquisition into farmer's stock, 
 mode of culture, and profits, 480; 
 effects of severe weather on the 
 harvests of 1794-1795, 484-8; the 
 land produce of a State the most 
 important branch of its wealth, 508; 
 advantage of free competition in 
 agriculture, 512; interest of the 
 farmer and the public stated, 512 ; 
 disposal of superfluous produce by 
 accumulation and consumjjtion, 
 521 ; the distillery and brewery 
 advantageous vents for home pro- 
 duce, 527 ; importance of agricul- 
 ture, 555 
 
 Alms — ' Giving Alms no Charity,' 27-59 
 
 Alva, Duke of — His tyranny in Flan- 
 ders, destruction of her trade, 32, 
 33, 81 
 
 Amalfi, importance of in the 11th cen- 
 tury, 378 ; origin and nature of the 
 Tabula Amalfitana, ib. 
 
 America, rate of, increase in, contrasted 
 with that in Europe, 166-7, 171-2, 
 420 
 
 Amsterdam, growth and importance of, 
 25 
 
 Anderson, Adam, his History of Com- 
 merce, referi-ed to, 375, 382, 384, 
 392 
 
 Anderson, Dr. James — Extract from 
 his Inquiry into the Nature of the 
 Com Laws, S^c, 321-5 ; account 
 of him and his works, preface, 
 p. xviii, note 
 
 Anna Comnena's History cited, 378 
 
 Antwerp, importance of, in Elizabeth's 
 time, 31 ; cause of tlie decay of, 35 
 
 " Apology for the Builder, or a Dis- 
 course showirg the cause and effects 
 of the increase of Building, 1-26 
 
 Appian, referred to, 340, 346-7 
 
 Armies, composition of, in early times, 
 12; source of national power to 
 maintain them, 510, 51 1 — See If'«r 
 
560 
 
 Arts — Without them a great number of 
 people cannot live together, 11 
 
 Asia, first peopled in the neighbourhood 
 of Babylon, 11 
 
 B. 
 
 Barbeyrac, John, his " Supplement to 
 the Corps Diplojnatigue," cited, 
 333 
 
 Barley — "Jm Inquiry into the Policy 
 and Justice of Prohibiting the use 
 of Grain in Distilleries," 493-558 ; 
 estimated quantity of barley used in 
 the distilleries, 544, 552 
 
 Barrow, Sir John, his "Life of Lord 
 Macartney," cited, 522 
 
 Beauw. Lex Mercatoria, cited, 3G4, 
 366-7-8 
 
 Begging, in the able, a scandal on their 
 industiy, and, in the impotent, a 
 scandal on the country, 39 ; evils of 
 it, ib. ; if the craving poor were in- 
 corporated they would be the richest 
 society in the nation, 40 ; necessity 
 for laws ao:ainst bejrgars, 41 
 
 Bell, Archibald — '■^ An Inquiry into the 
 Policy and Justice of the Prohi- 
 bition of the use of Grain in the 
 Distilleries, 495-558 
 
 Bills of Exchange — See Exchange 
 
 Bills of Mortality, referred to, as to 
 rate of mortality in London, 20, 22 
 
 Blubber — See Whale Fishery 
 
 Bosio, referred to, 349 
 
 Bounties, arguments for and against, 
 225, 232, 517-8, 526-7, 537-8, 
 541, 555-6 
 
 Bracton, Henry de, cited, 369 
 
 Bj-emen, her whale fishery, 81 ; number 
 of her vessels employed therein in 
 1722. 82 
 
 Breweries, considered as a vent for home 
 produce, 5^-8, 544 
 
 Britain, Julius Caesar's description of, 
 quoted, 9-10 — Set England 
 
 Building — ^'Apology for the Builder, 
 or a Discourse showing the Cause 
 and Effects of the increase of Build- 
 ing,'^ 1-26; cause of the increase 
 of building, 5 ; effect of the increase 
 of, in the city, 16 ; on the country, 
 17; on Government, 19; restraints 
 on building temp. Elizabeth and 
 James I., 20-21 ; Cromwell's taxes 
 on new houses, 21 
 
 Burke, Rt. Hon. Edtnund— "Thoughts 
 and Details on Scarcity," 451-494 
 
 Burroughs, Sir J., his " Sovereignty of 
 the British Seas asserted," referred 
 to, 374 
 
 Buyer — See Purchase 
 
 Ccesar, Julius, his description of Britain, 
 quoted, 9-10 
 
 Campbell, Dr. John, his " Political 
 Surrey " cited, 344 
 
 Capital, of capital in general and the 
 revenue of money, 261 ; formation 
 of, 273; purchase of lands, the 
 first employment of, 279; employ- 
 ment of, for enterprises of industry 
 and returns thereof, 280; for under- 
 takings in agriculture, 283; and for 
 undertakings of commerce, 285 ; 
 capital as necessary to all under- 
 takings as labour and industry, 290 ; 
 fifth employment of capital, 291 ; 
 lending on interest, ib. ; nature of a 
 loan, 291 ; the spirit of economy 
 augments and luxury tends to destroy 
 capitals, 302; recapitulation of the 
 five different methods of employ- 
 ing capitals, 303 ; these various em- 
 ployments limit each other, 305; 
 the current rate of interest the test 
 of the abundance or scarcity of 
 capitals, 306 ; the land has fur- 
 nished the total of moveable riches 
 or existing capitals, 315; money 
 and specie form but an insensible 
 part in the total sum of capitals, 
 316; return for capital employed 
 in agriculture small and precarious, 
 476-7 ; monopoly of capital no 
 evil, 479 — See also Money 
 
 Charity, " Giving Alms no Charity," 
 by Defoe, 27-59; true charity con- 
 sidered, 439, 440; objections to 
 compulsive charity, 443 ; Puffen- 
 dorf's definition of, objected to, 
 474. 
 
 Cheapness — See Prices 
 
 China, mode of providing against fa- 
 mine in, 205, 522 ; Chinese mode 
 of collecting statistics, 206 ; over- 
 population of, 420, 422 
 
 Chronology, Assyrian, Egyptian, and 
 Grecian, referred to, 7 
 
 Cicero, quoted, 331, 334, 338, 340, 341, 
 346, 379 
 
 Cities, hindrances to increase of popu- 
 lation in large cities, 1 65 
 
 Coin, functions of coin or money, 218, 
 
561 
 
 233; duty of Government to pro- 
 vide coins or counters, 219 ; re- 
 flections on coin in general, 233-9 ; 
 definition of, 233; test of the value 
 of, 233 ; the standard should be in- 
 variable, 233 ; the stamp neither 
 adds to, nor diminishes the intrinsic 
 value of the metal, 234 ; coins are 
 but merchandise, 234-7 ; the cost 
 of coining is properly paid by 
 Government, 23o; why metals are 
 most suitable for money, 269-271 
 — See also Money. 
 
 Coke, Sir Edward, cited, 386 
 
 Colbert, M., his error in prohibiting 
 the export of grain pointed out, 
 514 
 
 CtJionies, origin of, 8 ; causes of the 
 planting of our North American 
 colonies, 21 ; influence of West 
 India colonists in England and in 
 Parliament, 501, 504; causes of 
 their distress, 501, 502, 549, 552; 
 distress of colonial proprietors no 
 just ground for suspending the use 
 of grain in distilleries, 549, 558 ; 
 how far the distresses of colonists 
 are entitled to relief Irom the pub- 
 lic, 549 
 
 Commerce, alleged effect of, to soften 
 and enervate national manners, 
 180 ; definition of commerce, 23, 
 204,210; principles of trade, 209; 
 freedom and security its best sup- 
 port, 211-12, 214, 478, 509, 556 ; 
 commerce would be impossible were 
 there an equal division of lands, 
 243 ; rise of commerce, 262 ; activ- 
 ity of commercial spirit in a well 
 regulated maritime state, 331 ; a 
 good commercial history a great 
 desideratum, 357 — See Trade 
 
 Commons, House of, eulogy on, 29, 30, 
 59 
 
 CommoiiJi, cited to show the natural effect 
 of community of goods, 421 ; inclo- 
 sures recommended, 446 
 
 Competition, advantages of free compe- 
 tition, 556 
 
 " Consolato del Mare," origin of this 
 code, 379 
 
 Contract, nature and effects of a con- 
 tract, 467-8 
 
 Copper, its usefulness for small money, 
 238 
 
 Corporations, monopolies of, destructive 
 to trade, 49-50 
 
 Corn-Laws, impolicy of, 557 
 
 Com, observations on the price of, and 
 impolicy of regulations relative 
 
 thereto, 182-5; bounties consi- 
 dered, 225, 232, 517, 518, 526-7, 
 537-8, 541, 555-6; extract from 
 an "Inquiry into the nature of the 
 Com Laws," Sic.., 319-325 ; advan- 
 tages of free-trade in, 518, 539; 
 the interest of the corn-dealer coin- 
 cides with that of the public, 523, 
 533 
 Cromwell, his tax on new houses, 2 1 
 Customs, astonishing increase of this 
 branch of the revenue, 35 
 
 Dampier's Voyages, cited, 410, 417 
 Davenant, Dr. Chas., referred to, 392 
 Dearness — See Price 
 Defoe, Daniel, his Tr&ct "Giving alms 
 
 no charity, &c.," 27-59 
 De Mailly, Hist, de Genes, cited, 377 
 Detnand and Sujiply — See Price. 
 Derelict, definition of the terra, 369 
 "Dissertation on the Poor Laws," H^c, 
 
 by Townsend, 395-449 
 Distilleries — Impolicy of stopping dis- 
 tilleries in time of scarcity, 489-91; 
 Mr. Archibald Bell's " Liquiry into 
 the Policy and Justice of the Pro- 
 hibition of the use of Grain in the 
 Distilleries," 495 558; the distil- 
 lery considered as an object of 
 revenue, 503; as to its moral 
 effects, 503 ; benefits arising from 
 distillation, ib., 527, 533, 547; 
 estimated consumption of barley in, 
 544, 552 ; operation of distilleries 
 in a country supplying its own con- 
 sumption, or affording a surplus for 
 exportation, 508-534 ; operation 
 of, in years of average produce, 
 508-519; operation of, in years of 
 deficient produce, 519-534 ; opera- 
 tion of, in a country which imports 
 part of its supplies, 534-548 ; opera- 
 tion of, in years of average importa- 
 tion, 534-541; operation of, in 
 yearsofdeficientimportation, 541-8; 
 distress of colonial proprietors, no 
 just ground for sui-ptnding the 
 use of grain in distilleries, 549- 
 558 
 Doomsday Book, referred to, 9 
 Dmnkeriucss, prevalence of, among 
 English poorer classes, 57 ; objection 
 to distillation on the score of its 
 moral effects, 503 
 Dutch— i>ee Holland. 
 
562 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 E. 
 
 Elking, H.—'' Letter to Sir J. Eyles 
 on the Greenland Whale Fishery,'' 
 63-5; his " View of the Greenland 
 Trade," &c., 71-103 
 
 Emigration, causes of, temp. Elizabeth 
 and James I, 21 ; considered as a 
 relief for surplus populations, 424-5 
 
 England — Caesar's description of Britain 
 qudtedj 9-10; her gain in conse- 
 quence of religious persecutions 
 abroad, 33-5 ; England always the 
 sanctuary of her distressed neigh- 
 bours, 34; the English by mis- 
 taken charity encourage vagrants, 
 40; luxury, sloth, and pride of 
 English poorer classes, 56-8 ; cora- 
 jfarative thriftiness of the Dutch, 
 56; natural advantages of England 
 in the whale fishery, 72, 91-8 ; how 
 the English lost the Greenland trade 
 after being first in it, 85-9 ; argued 
 that England can carry on this 
 trade more advantageously than any 
 other country, 91-103; England 
 the only country that enforces the 
 support of the poor, 193-5 ; incum- 
 bent on such a country to com- 
 municate to all others the conve- 
 niences of life she enjoys, 198 ; her 
 coquetting climate, 478; source of 
 her power, 511 ; cause of her com- 
 parative freedom from scarcity, 524 
 
 Eusebius, referred to, 350-1 
 
 Exchange, origin and definition of, 
 222-3; nature of the par of ex- 
 change, 223; the course of, how 
 governed, ib. 
 
 Exports, all prohibiiion of exportation 
 of gold and silver unavailing, 237; 
 bounties on exportation, vain and 
 frivolous expedients, 526, 538-9 
 
 Eyles, Sir John—H. Elkings' letter to 
 him as to the Greenland whale 
 fishery, 63-5 ; letter of Sir J. Eyles 
 to Mr. U Elkings, 67-70 
 
 Famine, provisions made in China 
 against it, 205, 522 ; " Thoughts 
 and Details on Scarcity, by Right 
 Hon. Edmund Burke," 451-494; 
 resources in times of scarcity,523-8 ; 
 a real scarcity cannot be remedied, 
 but only palliated, 545 
 
 Farmer, his interest and that of the 
 labourer the same, 468, 470 ; his in- 
 interest and that of the public 
 stated, 512, 533— See also Agri- 
 culture, 470 
 
 Fielding, Henry, his tract on robbers, 
 cited, 443 
 
 Fitis — See Whale Fishery 
 
 Fishery, — See Whale Fishery, — other 
 fish found during whale-fishing, 79 
 
 Flanders, woollen manufactures of, in 
 Elizabeth's time, 31 ; ruin of the 
 trade under Spanish rule, 32-3, 81; 
 transfer of her manufactures to 
 England, 33-5, 81 ; settlement of 
 Flemish families in England, 34 
 
 Florus, cited, 334, 335 
 
 Flotsam, definition of the term, 368 
 
 Food, consumption of, by English people, 
 unusually large, 57 ; circumstances 
 bearing on population and their 
 means of subsistence, 203, 418, 423, 
 429-30, 508-9, 519, 520, 530; 
 luxurious consumption in the food 
 of man and inferior animals, a most 
 important resource in seasons of 
 scarcity, 523 ; estimated consump- 
 tion of food by horses in Great 
 Britain, 524, note 
 
 Forestalling, absurdity of penal laws 
 against, 459, 522-3, 533 
 
 France, evils of its Government prior 
 to the revolution, 494 
 
 Franklin Dr. Benjamin, Extracts from 
 his works on Population, Com- 
 merce, Sfc, 161-240 
 
 Free Trade, it can never be for the 
 public advantage to prefer one class 
 before another in the free direction 
 of their industry, 507; monopoly 
 objected to, ib.; bounties objected 
 to, 518, 526-8, 537-8; feeble and 
 meddling devices of the restrictive 
 policy, 540 ; advantages of free 
 trade, 541, 556 — See also Trade 
 
 Friendly Societies, formation of, re- 
 commended, 442 
 
 G. 
 
 Gain, or the hope of it, the mover of 
 
 all intercourse or trade, 210-11, 
 
 213 
 Geddes, Dr. M., his account of the 
 
 Moriscoes, cited, 405 
 Gellius, cited, 344, quoted, 346 
 Giannone, his " History of Naples " 
 
 cited, 378-9 
 
563 
 
 " Godulphin on Admiralty Jurisdic- 
 tion," cited, 380, 386 
 
 Gold and Silver, uses of, considered, 
 218-222, 234, 261, 269, 271; 
 the most scarce and precious metal 
 should be the standard, 222, 238; 
 effects of the fluctuation in their 
 relative value, 23-1-5, 271-2 ; pro- 
 hibition of exportation of, use- 
 less, 237 ; why gold and silver 
 are most j)roper for money, 269, 
 271 ; all undertakings must have 
 been very confused before the use 
 of gold and silver, 290 ; money 
 and specie form but an insensible 
 part in the total sum of capitals, 
 316 ; the stamp on coin neitlier adds 
 to nor dimishes the intrinsic value 
 of the metal, 234 
 
 Goihofred, quoted, 370, 371, cited, 372 
 
 Government, happy government of 
 England, 32 ; tyraimical rule of 
 the Spaniards in Flanders, 32, 81 ; 
 effect of bad government on popu- 
 lation, l('i9; causes which advance 
 or obstruct the strength, splendour, 
 and opulence of a state, 174 ; duty 
 of government to provide coins or 
 counters for exchange, 219 ; go- 
 vernment interference with trade 
 objectionable, 225, 463, 480-3, 
 489, 491, 495; truth of Cicero's 
 observation, " Qui mare tenet etcm 
 necesse est rerum. jjotiri," 340 ; 
 dutiesofa government, 463-4, 492-4; 
 monopoly of authority on the part 
 of Government ruinous, 482 ; evils 
 of the French Government prior to 
 the Revolution, 494 ; "good inten- 
 tions ill directed, and a restless 
 desire of governing too much," 494 ; 
 it never can be for the public ad- 
 vantage to prefer one class before 
 another in the free direction of their 
 industry, 507; causes of domestic 
 prosperity, 509 
 
 Grain— See Barky, Corn, and Wheat 
 
 Granaries, impolicy of erecting public 
 granaries, 480-3, 521-2; effect of 
 this jiractice in China, it/. 
 
 Graunt, Mr., cited, as to rate of mor- 
 tality in London, 20 
 
 Great Britain — See Engtaiid and Scot- 
 land 
 
 Greenlatid Trade, "Vieu' of t fie Green- 
 land Trade and Whale Fishery, 
 v^ith the national and private ad- 
 rantages thereof," 61-103; this 
 trade considered as a nursery fo;- 
 seamen, 67, 100, 102, infancy and 
 
 progress of this trade, 85, 89 ; 
 
 argued that England can carry on 
 
 this trade more advantageously than 
 
 any other nation, 91-8 
 Greenland Company, causes of its failure 
 
 in the whale-fishery, 89, 91 
 Gronovius, " Thesaurus Antiquitatum 
 
 Greecarum," cited, 362 
 Grotius, cited, 382, quoted 390 
 Gruter, two inscriptions quoted from, 
 
 366 
 Guicciardini, his history of tiie Low 
 
 Countries referred to, 392 
 
 H. 
 
 Hale, Chief Justice, his " Origination 
 of Mankind," cited, 7, 9. 
 
 Hamburg, her whale fisheries, 81 ; num- 
 ber of her vessels employed whale 
 fishing in 1722, 82; her commer- 
 cial importance, 392 
 
 Hanse Towns, rise of, 384 ; their origin, 
 390-2, notes 
 
 Happiness, philosophical, and vulgar 
 happiness distinguished, 465 
 
 Hayward, Sir J., his " Life of Edward 
 VI.," referred to, SSS 
 
 Hrsiod, cited, 403 ; quoted, 414 
 
 Holland, rise of, 25, 33; thriftiness of 
 the Dutch as com])ared with the 
 English, 36 ; her great fisheries, 
 81-5 ; number of her vessels em- 
 ployed whale fishing in 1722,82; 
 table showing the results of her 
 whale fishing from 1675 to 1721, 
 83-4 ; origin of the Dutch whale 
 fishery, 86 ; argued that the English 
 could carry on this trade more 
 advantageously than the Dutch, 
 91-8; description of institution in 
 Holland for the prevention of 
 poverty, 201-2, 441 
 
 Homer, cited, 341 
 
 Horace, cited, 370 
 
 Horses, tax on, proposed, to encourage 
 substitution of oxen, 445; estimated 
 amount of food consumed by them 
 in Great Britain, 524-5, notes 
 
 Houses, relative value of, in different 
 localities, 16-17; Cromwell's tax on 
 new houses, 21 ; "Every man ti:at 
 builileth an house gives security to 
 the Government for bis good be- 
 haviour," 24 
 
 Hoveden's Annals, referred to, 372 
 
 Huel, his " History of the Navigation 
 and Commerce of the Ancients, 
 citwl, 362, 
 
564 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Importation — See Trade 
 
 Inclosures of Commons, recommended, 
 44G-7 ; impolicy of bounties on the 
 improvement of wastes, 517 
 
 Industry, in all shapes, in all instances, 
 and by all means, should be en- 
 couraged and protected, 215; fun- 
 damental maxims for an industrious 
 people, 215-C; trade is benefited 
 by industry more than money, 217 
 
 Interest — The revenue of money, 261 ; 
 nature of a loan, 291 ; lending on 
 interest, 291 ; false ideas on this 
 subject, ib. ; errors of the school- 
 men refuted, 292-4 ; true founda- 
 tion of interest of money, 294 ; 
 answer to an objection, 295-7 ; 
 the rate of interest ought to be 
 fixed in the same manner as the 
 price of every other merchandise, 
 297 ; the lowering of interest 
 proves that economy prevails over 
 luxury, 302; money on interest 
 ought to bring a little more income 
 than land, 304; the current interest 
 of money the test of the abundance 
 or scarcity of capitals, 306 ; influ- 
 ence of the rate of, on all lucrative 
 enterprizes, 307 ; the use wliich the 
 money lender makes of his interest, 
 311 ; impolicy of laws against usury, 
 557-8 
 Inventions — Early history of some well 
 known, 8 ; effects of the inventions 
 of the compass and printing, 13 
 Ireland, it ought never to be considered 
 separately from Great Britain, 54() 
 
 Jackson, R., his remarks on Dr. 
 Franklin's observations, shewing 
 the effect of manners on popula- 
 tion, 172-82 
 
 Jenkins, Sir Leoline, cited, 380-2, 
 386-388 
 
 Jetsam, definition of the term, 368 
 
 Johnson, Dr. Samuel, his opinion of 
 merchants, cited, 338 
 
 Jornatides, Be rebus Geticis, cited, 376 
 
 Justin, quoted, 362 
 
 Justinian, his admiration and use of the 
 Rhodian law*, 357, 363 
 
 Juvenal, quoted, 371 
 
 Karnes, Lord, his " Sketches on Man," 
 
 quoted, 419 
 Knights Hospitallers, their connection 
 
 with Rhodes, 349-50.— See 22Ao<Zes 
 
 Labou) — Three great employments of 
 the people, 23 ; wages of, how re- 
 gulated, 37, 218, 411, 466, 470; 
 trade how affected by labour, 37 ; 
 slave and free labour compared, 
 167, 434; necessity, not pleasure, 
 the incentive to labour, 218 ; 
 circumstances which bring on the 
 exchange of productions for la- 
 bour, 245 ; the husbandman the 
 first mover in the circulation of 
 labour, 246 ; origin of hired labour, 
 250 ; the division of, facilitated by 
 the use of money, 273; capital as 
 necessary to all undertakings, as 
 labour and industry, 290; labour, 
 like every other commodity, rises 
 or falls according to demand, 466, 
 470-1 ; ruinous effects of interfer- 
 ence with this natural jirinciple of 
 regulation, 471-2 ; different descrip- 
 tions of agricultural labour, 472-3 
 
 Labourers — The English labouring peo- 
 ple eat and drink three times as 
 much in value as any foreigners 
 of the same dimensions, 57; re- 
 semblance and essential differ- 
 ence between two laborious classes, 
 cultivators and artificers, 253 ; cul- 
 tivation of land by hired labourers, 
 255; by slaves, ib.; sub-division of 
 industrious stipendiary class, 282 ; 
 sub-division of class of cultivators, 
 285 ; labourers miscalled the poor, 
 464 ; cant about, " the Once 
 Happy Labourer," exposed, 465; 
 his improved condition, ib., 466; 
 his interest and that of the farmer 
 the same, 468-470 
 
 Lagan, definition of the term, 368 
 
 Lambecius, Origines Hamburgenses, 
 cited, 392 
 
 Land — Increase in the value of land in 
 England, 19; commerce would be 
 impossible were there an equal divi- 
 sion of lands, 243; such division 
 never has existed, nor could con- 
 tinue, 243, 250; causes and conse- 
 
565 
 
 quences of inevitable inequality of 
 its division, 250-2 ; net jiri)duce or 
 revenue of land, 252 ; how pro- 
 prietors may draw revenue from 
 their lands, 234 ; different methods 
 of cultivation, 254, 200-1 ; renting 
 or letting out land, 25'J; land 
 the first source of wealth, 270, 
 5U8 ; personal property has an 
 exchangeable value for land, 277 j 
 valuation of, and price of lands, 
 278 ; purchase of, the first em- 
 ployment of capital, 279; money 
 invested inland necessarily produces 
 a less income than other invest- 
 ments, 303 ; no revenue strictly dis- 
 posable in a state but the clear 
 produce of lands, 314 ; the land has 
 furnished the total of moveable 
 riches or existing capitals, 315 ; 
 unfounded clamours against the 
 owners of, 321 j origin and nature 
 of rent explained, 322-5 
 
 Land-tax, operation of, 412 
 
 Laws — " Schombery's Treatise on the 
 Maritime Lairs of Rhodes," 327- 
 393; the Romans formed no mari- 
 time code, 332; spurious codes 
 called Rhodian, 357 ; dark and de- 
 ranged condition of the ancient 
 maritime law, 361 ; various ques- 
 tions in the law of salvage discussed, 
 365-9; the terras "Flotsam," 
 " Jetsam," " Lagan," and " De 
 relict," defined, 368 ; " Mieye's 
 Laivs of Oleron " referred to, 
 364 ; origin and nature of the 
 Tabula Amalfitana, 378; and 
 of the Consolato del Mare, 379 ; 
 and of The Lairs of Oleron, 380 ; 
 of the Wisbity Code, 388 ; and of 
 the Hanseatic Code, 392; duties of 
 a wise legislator, 403, 400-7, 507— 
 See also Poor-Lavs 
 
 Livy, quoted, 337 ; cited, 345 
 
 Loan — Nature of a loan explained, 291. 
 See also Interest 
 
 Locke, John — " His considerations of 
 the lowering of interest and raisiny 
 the value of money," cited, 154-5 
 
 London, the metropolis of Europe, 3-4, 
 25; remarks on its jiopulation, 13- ' 
 15 ; relative value of houses in dif- 
 ferent localities, 10 ; growth of, 20, 
 22, 25; rate of mortality in 20 ; ; 
 advantages of her position, 20 
 
 Liicnn, quoted. 366 
 
 Luxury, considered as a hindrance to 
 population, 165, 169; effect of 
 foreign luxuries, 1 70, ; and of home 
 
 luxury, ib., 214, 216, 523, 525, 
 note ; luxury an incentive to trade, 
 213-14, 210, 413; thespirit of eco- 
 nomy augments, and luxury tends 
 to destroy, capital, 302; the luxu- 
 rious consumption of food by man 
 and the inferior animals comes to 
 be the most important resource 
 in seasons of scarcity, 523 
 
 M. 
 
 Machiavel cited, 22 
 
 Maimboury, " Histoire de la Liyue," 
 
 cited, 377 
 Malthus, Rev. T., cited, 509; referred 
 to, 515, 519, 520; his inconsistency 
 pointed out, 535-8 
 
 Malyne's Lex Mercatoria, cited, 304 
 
 Manners, effect of, on population, 173- 
 182 ; habits moral and mechanical, 
 174; national manners defined, 174; 
 effect of commerce to soften and 
 enervate national manners, 180 
 
 Manufactures, those of Flanders driven 
 away by the tyr mny of Alva, 33 ; 
 effects of shifting the seats of manu- 
 factures in England, 47-9, 50-55, 
 59 ; effect of the knitting frame on 
 the stocking manufacture, 48 ; 
 alleged causes of the decay of, in 
 certain towns in England, 48-9; 
 parish manufactures for the poor 
 objected to, 49-55 ; origin of manu- 
 factures, 203- i ; advantages of, 
 205 ; money employed in manu- 
 factures ought to produce more 
 than money on loan, 304 ; effect of 
 our Poor Laws on manufacturers, 
 408-9, 411 
 
 Maritime Laws — See Laws 
 
 Marriaye, facilities and hindrances to 
 their effects on population, 106 — 
 See Population 
 
 Market, nature and functions of a market 
 defined, 479 
 
 Marseilles, origin of, 379a 
 
 Martial, cited, 373 
 
 Merchants. Notions concerning trade 
 and merchants, 207-8; necessity 
 for the interposition of, between 
 producers and consumers, 285-7; 
 different orders of merchants, 2H7-9 
 
 Metropolis. The metropolis is the heart 
 of a nation, 22 
 
 Mieye's " Laws of Oleron," referred to, 
 364, 381 
 
 Molloy, " DeJnre Maritimo et Navali," 
 
566 
 
 referred to, 353, 357, 3G0, 364, 
 365, 366, 369, 382 
 Money. Trade benefited by industry- 
 more than by money, 217; func- 
 tions of coin or money, 218, 233, 
 261 ; advantages of paper money, 
 238-9 ; the revenues of money, 
 261 ; merchandise is money, and 
 money is merchandise, 268 ; mat- 
 ters used for money, 269 ; why 
 metals most suitable for money, ib. ; 
 from money payments originated 
 the distinction between buyer and 
 seller, 273 ; the use of, has facili- 
 tated the division of labour, ib. ; 
 accumulation of, as personal pro- 
 perty, 274 ; circulating wealth an 
 indispensable requisite for all lucra- 
 tive works, 275; true idea of the 
 circulation of money, 289 ; true 
 foundation of interest of money, 
 294 ; money in commerce has two 
 valuations, 298 ; these valuations 
 are independent of each other, and 
 are governed by quite different 
 principles, 298-300; on what the 
 price of interest depends, 301 ; in- 
 fluence which the different methods 
 of employing money have on each 
 other, 303 ; money invested in land 
 necessarily produces the smallest re- 
 turn, ib. ; money on interest ought 
 to bring a little more income, 304 ; 
 money employed in cultivation, ma- 
 nufactures, or commerce ought to 
 produce still more, ib. ; the current 
 rate of interest of, the test of the 
 abundance or scarcity of capital, 
 306 ; influence of the rate of interest 
 of, on all lucrative enterprises, 307 ; 
 to what class of society the lender 
 of money belongs, 310; the use 
 made by the money lender of his 
 interest, 311 ; question whether the 
 money lender should contribute to 
 the public charges, 312-14 ; money 
 and specie form but an insensible 
 part in the total sum of capitals, 
 316 
 
 Monopolies of corporations destructive 
 to trade, 49-50, 156-7, 159-60; 
 monopoly of capital not an evil, 
 479; monopoly of authority by 
 Government ruinous, 482 ; mono- 
 polies objected to, 507 
 
 Montesquieu, Baron, cited, 331, 333, 
 337, 357, 361, 376-7, 379; 
 quoted, 443 
 
 Morqan's History of Algiers, referred 
 'to, 350 
 
 Morgan, Mr., his Map of London 
 referred to, 15 
 
 Morisoti, " Orbis Maritimus," cited, 
 336, 357, 362 
 
 Mortality — See Bills of Mortality 
 
 Moses, confirmation of his relation con- 
 cerning the beginning of the world, 
 7-8 
 
 Multiplication — See Population 
 
 Muratori, referred to, 376 
 
 N. 
 
 Naples, number of poor in, 405. 
 
 Navy, rise of the Roman, 334 ; truth of 
 Cicero's observation, " Qui mare te- 
 net, eum necesseest rerum potiri," 
 340 ; the Roman emperors claimed 
 to be lords of the sea, 372 ; 
 extent of the sovereignty of the 
 British seas, 374; duty of the flag 
 and its antiquity, 374 
 
 New Zealand, discovery of, 197 
 
 Ockley's "History of the Saracens 
 referred to, 375 
 
 Oil, table showing the quantity of train- 
 oil produced by the Dutch whale 
 fishery from 1675 to 1722, 83-4 
 
 0/e/'0«, laws of, referred to, 364, 372; 
 origin of this code, 380-3 
 
 Oxen, tax on horses proposed to en- 
 courage the substitution of oxen, 
 445 
 
 Paper-money, its advantages, 238-9 — 
 See also Money 
 
 Pausanias, referred to, 348 
 
 Pawnbrohing, " An Apology for the 
 business of Paivnhruking," 105- 
 160; what profit a pawnbroker 
 should have, 113; his rate of profit 
 comparatively moderate, 114-120, 
 154 ; estimate of the charge of 
 maintaining a family in his rank, 
 121-2; answer to objection, that 
 this business gives harbour and en- 
 couragement to thieves, 127-135; 
 objection, that this business is rather 
 prejudicial than serviceable to the 
 public, answered, 135-9; answer to 
 
567 
 
 objection, that pawnbrokers make 
 undue ailvantage of the sale of un- 
 redeemed goods, 139-145 ; answer 
 to objeetion that tliis business 
 may aid fraudulent bankrupts, 145 ; 
 objectiou, that it is an encourage- 
 ment to workpeople to pawn the 
 goods of their masters, answered, 
 14G-8 ; objection, that it encourages 
 the idle and disorderly, answered, 
 148-9 ; remarks on the general 
 though undeserved bad character 
 given to pawnbrokers, 149-51 ; 
 answer to objection that this occu- 
 p:ition is illegal and immoral, 
 151-5; a business of this kind is 
 absolutely necessary, 15G; alleged 
 private pawnbrokers can carry on 
 the business more economically 
 than corporate or privileged com- 
 panies, 156-(I0 
 
 Peace, increase of building, tends to 
 secure the preservation of peace, 24 
 
 Persecution, its ruinous effects on trade, 
 33 
 
 Petti/, Sir IFw., his estimate of the 
 increase of the population of Lon- 
 don, 20, cited, 402 
 
 Pindar, quoted, 341 
 
 Pliny, cited, 347, 373 
 
 Plutarch, referred to, 344 
 
 Polyhim, cited, 333,344-5, 348, 373 
 
 Poor Laws, inadequacy of these laws, 
 185-6, 397, 400,"404, 407, 412, 
 414, 41G.422, 426, 432, 557, 
 note; their beauty in theory, 398; 
 their origin, ib. 
 
 Poor, difference between rich and prior 
 men pointed out, 6, 404. " Giviiiij 
 alms no charity, and employing 
 the poor a grievance to the 
 nation, 27-59 ; workhouses de- 
 clared to be nuisances, 30, 404, 
 428, 434; a regulation and not 
 the employment of the poor 
 is wanted, 36, 49, 404, 434; 
 inexpediency of employing them on 
 manufactures, 41-55, 404; ex- 
 amples, 46-8; effect of the la«iof 
 settlement, 46, 409 ; impotent p<\or 
 must be maintained, 55 ; otllcr 
 poverty in England caused by criiiite, 
 ib. ; luxury, sloth, and pride of the 
 English working classes, 56-58, 19?^ 
 410, 415, 442 ; impolicy of existing 
 poor laws, 185-6, 397-8, 400, 4041 
 407-412, 414.416.422,426-432-557;] 
 observations on the hibouringpoor,' 
 193-7, 410; England the only 
 country that enforces the support 
 
 of the poor, 193-5, 398 ; Institution 
 in Holland for the prevention of 
 poverty, 201-2, 441; Townsend's 
 " Dissertation on the Poor-hiws," 
 395-449 ; origin of poor-laws, 398, 
 405, 429; great increase of poor's 
 rates, 401-2, 411-12, 422, 430, 
 432-3 ; poor encouraged and sup- 
 ported by the monastic orders, 
 405-6 ; expedients which have been 
 devised for keeping down the poor 
 rates, 433-7 ; badges, 433 ; work- 
 houses, 434; farming the poor, 437 ; 
 true charity considered, 439-440; 
 advantages of voluntary contribu- 
 tions, ib., 441,443, 449; remedies 
 proposed for evils of poor-laws, 
 441-449 ; limited relief, 442; home 
 manufactures, ib. ; voluntary con- 
 tributions, 444, 449 ; workshops 
 for training the young, 443; 
 friendly societies, 444, 447; taxes 
 on alehouses and horses, 445; in- 
 closure of commons, 410-17 ; the 
 labouring classes miscalled the poor, 
 464 ; the rich are the pensioners 
 of those who labour, and are main- 
 tained by their superlluity, 464 ; 
 numbers in their nature imply 
 poverty, 464 
 Population, the natural increase of 
 mankind, the cause of the in- 
 crease of building, 5 ; state of po- 
 pulation in early times, 7 ; potency 
 of the principle of increase, 8 ; 
 Asia first peopled, 11; gradual 
 progress of population, 11 ; 
 that 'of London, 13-15 ; three 
 great employments of the people, 
 23 ; Dr. Franklin's observations on 
 the increase of mankind, peopling of 
 countries, &c., 165-172; increase 
 of mankind in old and new coun- 
 tries, 1G6, 175,420; Mr. Jackson's 
 remarks on Dr. Franklin's obser- 
 vations showing the effect of man- 
 ners on population, 172-182; in- 
 dustry and frug.ility considered as 
 abettors of the principle of increase, 
 175 ; circumstances bearing on po- 
 pulations and their means of sub- 
 sistence, 203, 508; effects of the 
 law of multiplication among lower 
 animals, 417-18 ; means by which 
 numbers are regulated and checked, 
 418, 423-7, 429-30, 508-9, 519-20, 
 530; numbers in their nature 
 imply poverty, 464 ; objection to 
 distillation on the score of its moral 
 effects. 503 
 
568 
 
 Postlethwaj/te's Dictionary of Com- 
 merce, cited, 357, 386 
 
 Precious Metals — See Gold and Silver 
 
 Preface to this collection, by J. R. 
 McCulloch, Esq., i-xxii 
 
 Price, Dr., his Book on Annuities, 
 referred to, 201 
 
 Prices, effect of price of labour on other 
 prices, 38 ; observations on the 
 price of corn and impolicy of regula- 
 tions relative thereto, 182-5; price 
 of land, how ascertained, 27S; on 
 what the price of interest depends, 
 301; prices of wheat, &c., at different 
 times, 402, 487 ; action and re- 
 action of the prices of labour and 
 provisions on each other, 411,406 ; 
 impolicy of attempts to regulate 
 prices of labour by authority, 
 471-2; prices, how fixed, 479; 
 artificial cheapness pernicious, 513; 
 cheapness and dearness variable 
 terms, ib. — See Wages 
 
 Profit, pawnbrokers' rate of profit 
 declared to be moderate, 114-120 ; 
 profits which ought to be produced 
 by advances of capitals for enter- 
 prises of industry, 280 ; and by 
 advances for undertakings in agri- 
 culture, 283 ; and by advances for 
 undertakings of commerce, 289; 
 profits of agriculture small, 4/6-7 
 
 Prohibition of export of gold and silver 
 unavailing, 237 
 
 Property, effect of insecurity of property 
 on population, 169; definition of 
 personal property, 274 ; personal 
 property has an exchangeable value 
 for land itself, 277 
 
 Provisions, price of, how affected by 
 price of labour, 38, 218, 411,466; 
 danger of indiscreet tampering with 
 the trade of provisions, 463 
 
 Puffendorf, his definition of charity ob- 
 jected to, 474 
 
 Purchase, the use of money gave rise to 
 the distinction between seller and 
 buyer, 273 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quakers, cause of the increase of thi 
 
 sect, 175 
 Quintus Curiius, cited, 344 
 
 R. 
 
 Reflections on the Formation and Dis- 
 
 tribution of Wealth," by M. 
 Turyot, 241-317 
 
 Religion, origin of the Heathen deities, 8, 
 religious persecution destructive 
 of trade, 32-3, 82 
 
 Rent, valuation of lands by the proportion 
 of their revenue, 278 ; origin and 
 nature of rent explained, 322-5 
 
 Reports of Parliamentary Committees 
 on Distillation, referred to, 500, 
 504-5 notes, 515, 529-30, 532, 543, 
 550, 552-3, 554 
 
 Revenue, astonishing increase of the re- 
 venue of customs, 35 ; net produce 
 or revenue of land, 252, 344 ; 
 revenue of money, 261 — See also 
 Taxation and Interest 
 
 Rhodes, " Schomberg's Treatise on the 
 Maritime Laivs of ," 327-393; ex- 
 cellence of these laws, 332 ; adop- 
 tion thereof by the Romans, ib., 
 340, 353-5, 371, 377; no writer 
 extant who treats expressly of the 
 Rhodians, 340 ; short account of 
 Rhodes, its origin, inhabitants, 
 resources, power, and fate, 340-9; 
 it became a Roman province tetnp. 
 Vespasian, 347 ; its destruction by 
 an earthquake, 348; Knights of 
 Rhodes or Hospitalers, 349-350 ; 
 Rhodes favoured by the Roman 
 emperors, 354-5 ; alleged evils at- 
 tending the Rhodian law, 356 ; 
 spurious collections denominated 
 the Rhodian laws, 367-8 and note; 
 law as to general contribution on 
 account of goods thrown overboard 
 to lighten a ship in danger, adopted 
 from the Rhodian law, 363-4 ; this 
 law the foundation of other codes, 
 389 ; superior excellence of the 
 Rhodian Laws, 393. 
 
 Riches, what constitutes a rich man, 6 ; 
 in what the total riches of a 
 nation consists, 307 ; land has fur- 
 nished the total of moveable riches, 
 315 ; the rich are the pensioners of 
 those who labour, and are main- 
 tained by their superfluity, 464 
 
 Robertson's " State of Europe," cited, 
 379 
 
 Romans, early extension of Roman rule 
 accounted for, 11-12; Rome never 
 conspicuous as a maritime power, 
 332,370; they possessed no maritime 
 code of their own, ib., 340 ; rise of 
 their navy, 334-5 ; character of the 
 Romans, 336; their neglect and 
 discouragement of commerce, 337 ; 
 Roman emperors claimed to be 
 
569 
 
 lords of the sea, 372 ; ruinous 
 
 system of the Papal government as 
 
 to trade in corn, 4S2-3 
 Russia, trade to Muscovy converted 
 
 into a monopoly, 50 
 Rymer's Feeder a, cited, 380, 385 
 
 Sale, origin of distinction between seller 
 and buyer, 273 
 
 Sallus/, quoted. 336; cited, 373 
 
 Scarcity, provision made by the Chinese 
 as^ainst it, 205, 522 ; " Thoughts 
 and Details on Scarcity," by Right 
 Hon. Edmund Burke, 451-494; 
 danger of tampering with the trade 
 of provisions, especially in times of 
 scarcity, 463 ; natural resources in 
 time of scircity, 523-8 ; famine 
 can only be palliated, not remedied, 
 545 — See also Famine 
 
 Schomherg, Alex. C, his " Treatise on 
 the Maritime Laws of Rhodes," 
 327-393 
 
 Scotland, cause of increase of gentry in, 
 175; emigration from Highlands 
 of, 424-5, 516, note 
 
 Seamen, the Greenland whale fishery a 
 nursery for seamen, 67, 100. 102; 
 number required for whalers of 
 different tonnage, 74 ; particular 
 qualifications necessaiy for this ser- 
 vice, ib. 
 
 Selden, referred to, 351-2, 369, 372, 
 374, 380, 382-4 
 
 Selkirk, Lord, his "Treatise on High- 
 land emigration," referred to, 516, 
 note 
 
 Seneca, cited, 3.''.9 
 
 Ships, number employed by Holland, 
 Hamburgh, and Bremen inthewhale 
 fishery in 1722, 82; table showing 
 number of Dutch ships thus em- 
 ployed from 1675 to 1721, 83-4 
 
 Shower, Sir 13., his "Cases in Parlia- 
 ment," cited, 364 
 
 Slaves, free and slave labour compared, 
 167-8, 434; effect of the employ- 
 nient of, on population, 169, 210 ; 
 cultivation of land by slaves, 255 ; 
 cultivation by slaves cannot exist 
 in great societies, 257 ; slavery an- 
 nexed to the land, ib.; vassalage, 
 ib. ; slaves a species of circulating 
 wealth, 277 
 
 Smith's " Wealth of Nations," cited, 
 405, 425, .^08, 523,535,545, 557 
 
 Smuggling, observations thereon, and 
 on its several species, 186 ; laxity 
 of public morals on this subject, 
 189 
 
 Society, the happiness of individuals the 
 ultimate end of political society, 
 174; causes which advance or ob- 
 struct the strength, splendour, and 
 opulence of a state, ib. ; first divi- 
 sion of society into two classes, 
 productive and stipendiary, 248 ; 
 progress of, and ownership of land, 
 249 ; to what class of soi-iety the 
 lender of money belongs, 310 
 
 Soldiers, English soldiers chosen from the 
 lowest ranks and from malefactors, 
 54 ; effects of national manners on 
 soldiery, 178-9 
 
 Spain, cause of thinness of population 
 in, 171, 404-5 
 
 Specie — See Gold and Silver 
 
 Spelman's " Glossary," referred to, 
 385 
 
 Standard, the most scarce and precious 
 metal should be the unit or stan- 
 dard, 222, 238 ; the standard for 
 coin should be invariable, #233 ; 
 qualiities necessary for a standard 
 of value, 265-271 
 
 Statistics, Chinese mode of collecting 
 statistics, 205-0; impropriety of 
 inquisition into farmers' stock, 
 mode of culture, and profits, 480 
 
 Stockings, effect of the knitting frame 
 on the manufacture of, 48 ; manu- 
 facture of, in Dorset and Somerset- 
 shire, 49 
 
 Slriho, cited, 341, 351, 379 
 
 Suetonius, cited, 339, 340, 353, 370 
 
 Sugar, thoughts on the sugar islands, 
 239, 210; parliamentary report on 
 distillation of sugar, referred to, 
 500, quoted, 504-5, note; glut of 
 sugar, and distress consequent on 
 over-cultivation in the Wcat India 
 Islands, 501-2 
 
 Table, showing the produce of the 
 Dutch whale fishery from 1675 to 
 1722, 83-4 ; showing the household 
 expenses of a man of middling rank 
 of life, witli wife, 4 children, and 
 servant, 121-2 
 
 " Tabula Amalfitana," origin of this 
 code, 378 
 
 Tacitus, cited, 379, quoted, 401 
 
570 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Taxation, Cromwell's tax on buildings, 
 21 ; chimney money, 25 ; tax on 
 ale-houses proposed, 445. and on 
 horses to induce the substitution of 
 oxen, 445 ; an equalization of wages 
 equivalent to a tax on agriculture, 
 4G7; the distillery considered as an 
 object of revenue, 503 ; unequal 
 taxation for support of the ^^tate is 
 always to be regretted, but is in- 
 tolerable if imposed for the relief 
 of an imprudent class, 552-3 
 
 Taylor's Elements of Civil Law, quo- 
 ted, 33G, cited/367 
 
 Temple, Sir Wm., cited, 6 
 
 Thucydiths, cited, 373 
 
 Townsend, Rev. J., his ^^Dissertation 
 on the Poor Laics," 395-449 
 
 Trade, definition of, 23, 204, 210; 
 tyranny and religious persecution 
 destructive of, 3?, 33, 82; trade, 
 how affected by the poor man's 
 labour, 37; monopolies of corpora- 
 tions destructive to trade, 49, 50 ; 
 advantages of the Greenland trade 
 and whale fishery, 61-103 ; infancy 
 and progress of this trade, 85-9 ; 
 aptitude of the English for carry- 
 ing it on more advantageously than 
 any other nation, 91, 103; effect of 
 loss of, on population, 1(J8; effect 
 of commerce to soften and enervate 
 national manners, 180^; definition of 
 fair commerce, 204 ; notions con- 
 cerning trade and merchants, 207- 
 8; principles of trade, 209; gain, 
 its chief end, 210-11, 213; freedom 
 and security its best support, 211, 
 212,214,478, 509, 556; evils of 
 prohibitory laws, 211, 216, 495- 
 558,539; trade benefited by in- 
 dustry more than money, 217 ; the 
 course of exchange, how governed, 
 223 ; government interference with 
 trade objectionable, 225, 463, 480- 
 3, 489-491, 495-558, 514; boun- 
 ties considered, 225, 232, 517-18, 
 526-7, 537-8; rise of commerce. 
 262 ; principle of the valuation of 
 commercial things, 262, 513; cur- 
 rent value of the exchange of mer- 
 chandise, how established, 263 ; 
 qualities necessary for a standard of 
 value, 265, 271 ; merchandise is 
 money, and money merchandise, 
 263; employment of capital in en- 
 terprises of commerce and returns, 
 285 ; necessity for the interposition 
 of merchants between producers 
 and consumers, 285-7, 478; dif- 
 
 ferent orders of merchants, 285-7 ; 
 money employed in trade ought to 
 produce more than that on loan, 
 304 ; activity of commercial spirit in 
 a well regulated maritime state, 331 ; 
 commerce neglected and discouraged 
 by the Romans, 337-8 ; Cicero, 
 Xenophon, and Dr. Johnson, 
 quoted, as to commerce, 338 ; 
 check to commerce in the middle 
 ages, 375 ; causes of its revival, 
 376, 377; danger of tampering 
 with the trade of provisions, es]ie- 
 cially in times of scarcity, 463, 
 489, 491, 539 ; the trades of agri- 
 culture and grazing can only be 
 conducted on the ordinary princi- 
 ples of commerce, 476, 513, 51 7 ; 
 agriculture a poor trade, 476-7, 
 479,480; the laws of commerce, 
 the laws of nature, and conse- 
 quently the laws of God, 484 ; evils 
 of overtrading, 501-2, 513, 549, 
 551 ; advantages of free com])eti- 
 tion, 556 
 
 Turyot, M., his "Reflections on the 
 Formation and Distribution of 
 Wealth," 241-317 
 
 Tyranny, destructive of trade, 32 3, 82 
 
 U 
 
 Ulloa's Travels, cited, 417 
 
 Usury, statute against, not applicable to 
 pawnbrokers, 153-5; impolicy of 
 laws against usury, 557-8 — See 
 also Interest 
 
 Valin, quoted, 371 
 
 Value, the current value of the exchange 
 of merchandize, how established, 
 263 ; qualities necessary for a stan- 
 dard of value, 265, 271 ; why gold 
 and silver are the most commodious 
 measures of value, 271 
 
 Vanderlint, Mr., his Essay on Trade, 
 quoted, 120-1 
 
 Venice, origin of, 376 
 
 Virgil, quoted, 370, 409 
 
 W. 
 
 Wages, how regulated, 37, 218, 247, 
 466, 470-1, 516; disastrous effects 
 
INDKX. 
 
 571 
 
 of any interference 
 wages, 4 71 
 
 to renjulate 
 
 IVar is the builder's ruin, 24 ; dislike 
 of war by citizens, 24 ; ruinous to 
 trade, S2-'.i, 88 ; observations on 
 war, 191 ; many of the horrors of 
 war abolished by civilised nations, 
 191; persons who should be un- 
 disturbed in their occupations, ib. ; 
 source of the power of a nation to 
 maintain armies, 510; limited in- 
 fluence of war on the export of 
 provisions, 543, and note 
 WeallA, national wealth, how produced, 
 38, 203-4, 340-3, 403, 400 ; defini- 
 tion of wealth, 203, 214; three'modes 
 of acquiring national wealth, 205 ; 
 "Reflections on the Formation and 
 Ditstribution of Wealth," by M. 
 Ttirgot, 241-317; circulating wealth 
 an indispensable requisite for all 
 lucrative works, 275 ; land the first 
 source of riches, 276, 508; dif- 
 ferent sorts of circulating wealth, 
 ib., 217 ; in what consists the total 
 riches of a nation, 307 
 Welwood's "Abridgment of Sea Laws," 
 
 cited, 379, 389 
 West Indies — See Colonies 
 Whale Fishery, "A View of the Green- 
 land Trade and Whale Fishery, 
 with the Nationafand Private Ad- 
 vantages thereof," 01-103 ; how 
 this fishery is and ought to be 
 performed from the first out- 
 set to the return of the ship, 
 73-81, 99 ; qualifications necessary 
 for men employed in this fishery, 
 74 ; mode of killing the whale, 
 76-7; the fishery chiefly carried on 
 by Hollanders, Hamburgers, and 
 
 Bremens, 81 ; how advantageous to 
 them, 83-4, 99-100; table showing 
 the extent and results of the Dutch 
 fishery from 1075 to 1721, 83-4; 
 mistakes of the Greenland Company 
 in carrying on the whale fishery, 
 and causes of their failure, 89-91, 
 100-1 ; Acts of Parliament for the 
 encouragement of, cited, 103 
 
 Wisbuy Code, origin of, 388-390 ; com- 
 mended by Grotius, 390 % 
 
 Wheat, price of, at different times, 402 
 
 Wool, manufacture of, in Flanders temp. 
 Elizabeth, 31-2 
 
 Workhouses, characterised as nuisances, 
 36; alleged that they increase the 
 number of the poor, 43 
 
 X. 
 
 Xenophon, cited, 331-2, 338 
 
 Voung, Arthur, his alleged over-estimate 
 of the farmers' profits, 477; his 
 travels in France referred to, 511, 
 quoted, 555 ; his evidence before 
 the Commons' Distillery Commit- 
 tee, referred to, 515 
 
 Zouch, Dr., his " Descriptio Juris et 
 Judicii Maritimi," cited, 308, 
 referred to, 379, 388 
 
 PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE, W.C. 
 

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